A day passed. Phebe brought the Changelings safely to the Everfree and, beyond that, took them to the broken castle deep inside. “We're here.” She stopped at the front gate of the castle. She commented, “It's hard to believe we came this far with no Guardians, no ponies, and no Timberwolves.”
Artemis gazed back and forth from the broken palace to Phebe and then to his fellow Changelings. “Well, no more need for disguises.” They all resumed their original forms. “Everyone, get some rest. Later, we'll look for food and water.” His people nodded and entered the building. “Phebe, can we go for a walk?”
She cocked her head. “A walk? It's not exactly safe outside the castle walls.”
“Then we'll walk inside the walls.” He entered the building. “Come on. It'll be fun.” Uncertainty lay all over his request. Did he have something specific in mind or did he simply wish for a walk? “Phebe, please?”
Following him in, she conceded, “All right. I've only ever been inside once before, and I never got beyond the throne room.” As they started towards the throne room, he chuckled. Wondering what that was about, she inquired,“What?”
“Well, I was just thinking of how stunning you look right now.” Thunk. She bopped him over the head. “Ow! What was that for?”
“That was not the reason you laughed.” Even as she walked, she maintained a stare; she looked hard into his eyes. “If that were true, you wouldn't have laughed in the first place.” Whether right or or wrong, she didn't believe he would find her beauty amusing. If it were funny, she thought that called into question whether she was as attractive as he said. He probably had something else on his mind that he didn't want to share. Regardless she didn't care too much about it.
After rolling her eyes, she looked ahead again. They arrived at the first junction of passageways, so she turned left and right. “Well, the thrones are there.” She pointed forward, and he eyed where he hoof pointed.
“What is this place, anyway?” He inquired sincerely. A pensive expression fell over her, while her hoof placed itself under her chin. “Do you even know?”
“Not exactly.” Shoulders lifted into a shrug. “Anyway, let's go.” The two of them pressed forward taking a random turn. “This way seems good enough.” Some silence followed. Once they had gone a ways down the hall, she stopped. “All right. What is this about, Artemis? You're never this quiet.”
Avoiding making eye contact, he replied, “I don't know... what you mean... heh.”
“Uh-huh.”
“All right, fine,” he blurted. “It's hard to keep a secret for long. I talked with your friend Ferris Wheel. I asked him-” As he was speaking, a loud crash sounded from the end of a hall. Cutting of his train of thought, he asked“What was that?”
“I don't know, but let's find out.” They trekked cautiously following the direction of the sound had come from. Getting to the end of the passageway, they arrived at a library. The place was old and worn. Many of the shelves—one of which had fallen over--were decrepitand the books—hundreds of which were strewn across the floor--dusty and blackened. Even the few tables and chairs were broken and rotting.
Artemis delved into the messy room of books—taking care not to crush any valuable literature along the way. Phebe simply stared at the room. Suddenly, they heard some rustling underneath the fallen shelf. “Someone's under there!” she shouted. Responding promptly to the emergency, Artemis rushed over. Nonetheless, by the time he got to the shelf, it began lifting off the ground.
A muddled voice came from underneath the massive bookcase; it was loud enough to understand. “Wow, that's my luck; I'm searching for some dirt on the Guardians, and I wind up toppling over the very books I need to read.” With one swift motion, the whole shelf lifted and flopped over. Thankfully, it was tossed in the direction opposite Artemis.
Thereafter, a familiar form stood up. Black Star! Phebe gasped. How-how did he-!? The same state of surprise overtook Artemis.
Scanning the floor around him, Star commented, “I hope I didn't ruin any of them.” When he grabbed the nearest book, he accidentally crushed it to powder between his hooves.. “Wow. Just wow. One would think after all this time I would learn to overcome my clumsiness.” He hadn't seem to have noticed either Artemis or Phebe at this point. Then again, since they were in plain sight, he might have been ignoring them for some inane reason. “I mean... how did I even pull the shelf down?” He laughed boisterously, “HAHAH! Just another day in the life of... well, No One. Heheh.” Finally, he looks up and sees the Changeling and Unicorn. “Oh. Hi guys!” he cheered.
Soon after, Black smiled. “You weren't supposed to see that.” A dark cackle left his mouth. “I'm going to have to kill you now.” He suddenly jumped at Artemis causing him to jump. Even Phebe was startled. The next event involved Black throwing himself onto the floor in a fit of laughter. “Pffft-BWAHAHAH! Your face-AHAHAHA. You're all like 'ahhhh!'” he screamed in a girly voice. “Hahahah! Classic!” Artemis and Phebe unfavorably glared at him, and once Black noticed, he ceased his laughing. “Oh, right. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.”
“How did you do that?” Artemis asked bringing them to the matter at hoof.
“Which part?”
“The super strength.”
“That's a secret.”
Perhaps my concerns about him were right. Phebe pondered. There is no way an Earth Pony could do what he just did. No pony has that kind of strength except maybe Princess Celestia. She opened her mouth. “Since the Timberwolf attack, I've been a bit concerned. Didn't you disobey I AM by helping us defend? Weren't you told not to help me?”
Black Star stopped at the collapsed bookshelf, put a hoof on it, and then gazed upward. “I suppose that's true.” His upbeat tone faded. “What's your point?”
“How can we trust you?” She affirmed solidly, “You show kindness and sincerity, but, I'll strike at the heart, you're a loose cannon.” In the midst of speaking, she felt there could be a better time to discuss this subject--specifically, since she had just reunited with Black without even giving a greeting. Having already started, she figured she would finish. “If you were a normal pony, I would look past that, but seeing all that you can do... I don't know I can trust you.” She hesitantly pointed to Black. “You have so many unknowns about you. If you want us to trust you, you have to tell us who you are, what you are, where you come from, etc.”
Curtly, Black replied, “I have Dragon in my lineage.” What did that even mean?
The other two cocked their heads, though Artemis verbalized their confusion, “You're half-Dragon?”
“No, not quite.” Looking to them, he stated, “I have Dragons as ancestors.” The Changeling and the Pony looked at each other for several moments. Phebe wondered what Black Star meant. His words tended to riddle the mind, particularly when they dealt with his past and background. “I know what you're thinking. Why don't I have any physical appearance as a Dragon? Easy, there's not enough Dragon blood in me to cause me to look as one. I just happened to end up with their strength. Additionally, I have some Dragon magic; that's how I get around so fast.” His eyes trained on the ground, and his focus remained there for long seconds. At last, he looked up at them. “Does that help?”
Not really. Phebe wondered about the pause. He's still hiding something. Even so, she tried to grasp if his explanation managed to shed any light on his mysterious abilities. I can almost understand the strength, but he doesn't appear that strong. I don't think he could have lifted the shelf unless he does have magic. Hoping to confirm what he said about himself, she began mentally listing all the information she knew about Dragons. She hadn't had a personal encounter with any, but in her days in the Badlands, she often saw them at a distance. Additionally, Pyre taught her a good deal about them, and she studied some further in her spare time. Despite all this, never had she once heard of a Dragon with magic. If he was truly part Dragon, he would have to be a breed unknown to Equestria. Several other curiosities popped into her mind. Where did he come from? Could he have more than Dragon and Pony blood in him? What other secrets was he keeping? Why did he have to keep them? After sifting through the questions, she came to the one thing she needed to say—not ask. She was going to get to Black Star's heart—his motivation. “You still disobeyed I AM.” Artemis stayed by Phebe's side, but he kept silence.
“Huh?”
“Don't 'huh' me.” Strength entered her vocal chords. “I'm glad you helped; I'm happy that you saved as many as you did. Yet,” she said while motioning aimlessly with her hoof, “you don't seem to care that you went against his direct command.”
Black squinted at her. “All right. What are you getting at?”
She squinted in return. “If you're not here to obey I AM, then why are you here? It's obvious you're withholding a lot of information from us. I can live with some of that, but you must tell us why you are helping us. Spill out your motives—all of them, every detail. Spare nothing.” Her lips curled into a smirk. “I'll know if you're still hiding something.” Though she noticed his obvious pause, she didn't have as much of an ability to see through a person as she made out she could. Nonetheless, she bluffed that last statement in order to corner Black Star.
“Why?” He repeated, before asking a second time. “Why?” His voice carried drudgingly. “I...” An expression of lifelessness marked him, and his eyes stared off into nothingness.
Phebe knew that face; it was that of grief. She thought back to her first real conversation with Black. Labil Nasha had just died, the Guardians were running amok in the tunnels, and she was crushed. He came along to console her. Her memory was hazy, but she remembered one illustration Black used. He had a torch lit and stuck his hoof into it causing a burn. Then he mentioned how he understood her, for he had lost a lot. Fast-forwarding, she recalled her last major conversation with him. It was the night before the Timberwolf attack on Dodge when she intended on killing herself. After he rescued her from the clutches of those beasts, they talked awhile. He told her his story. He lost his parents, was sent to a faraway country with his brother, and was adopted by the king of that land. Later, the king died, and his brother went crazy and killed Black's fiancee. At some point, Black also mentioned that he had lost two wives in addition to that fiancee. Phebe could only wonder how much more Black had lost during his lifetime.
Is that why? She had enough of an idea to make an educated guess. “It has something to do with all that you've lost, doesn't it?”
Black snapped to attention. “How did you-” Shaking his head, he continued, “Never mind. Yes. You're right.” His demeanor changed from sad to serious. “I've seen so many... suffer. I've suffered. Huh, I don't know where I was going with that.” His hoof tapped his head. “Silly brain. Where was I going? Oh yeah! Hah, why do I care? I don't know. The best I can say is I don't want to see anyone else suffer as I have. That's not even what I want to say, but I can't really word my thoughts right now.” He turned to the fallen shelf and readied to lift it. “That said, I do care, and I don't just care about you and the Changelings. I care about Equestria and its people. Looking at the Guardians, I see they stand opposed to those I care about. I'm a soldier; I will defend those who I love.” He carefully picked up the shelf and moved it far out of the way. That done, he began picking up the books that had been underneath it. “I don't care about their motives, their experience, or their history. I will fight them however I must. Right now, I can't fight them directly because of the commandment from our God, but he said nothing about equipping you with information that would aid in your battle against them. In fact, that may be why he doesn't want me to fight. Perhaps I can find what is ultimately needed to stop them.” He picked up a book, set it on a table, and flipped the cover open. “Does that satisfy? Or do I need to go into further detail?”
“No. For now, that's good.” Phebe turned around and began walked to the edge of the room. “Black, find us what we need. We're counting on you.” She hoped to encourage Black after he had spilled his heart out to them. Artemis hesitantly followed, and the two returned to the throne room.
Once there, Artemis spoke to her, “I'm not even going to ask how you managed to perceive so much about him. Though, I... am curious about one thing, if I might have your opinion.” He averted his gaze.
“Hm? What's that?” She noted his inability to look her in the eye. Something was making him nervous.
He sighed. “I don't know about his methods. For now, he's not fighting the Guardians directly, but...” Oddly enough, anxiety built up on him. She could see in the slight shaking of his legs. “Are you happy that he is so harsh? He said he would do whatever is necessary to stop the Guardians. Is that what you want?”
Phebe couldn't place it, but there was something weighing on him. “Well, I don't always like his methods, but he gets the job done. You saw him in Dodge; he helped save quite a few lives.”
“And, that's what you want?” The question struck her as exceedingly strange. She didn't even know what he meant.
“I suppose?” After a brief consideration, she affirmed, “Yes, if it saves lives.” Artemis nodded slowly. “Why?”
He smiled lightly and looked her in the eye. “Never mind.” His wings began to buzz. “I'm going to get some water. I saw a river nearby, so I shouldn't be gone long.” He lifted off the ground and left through the open ceiling.
“What was that about?” Curiosity beat her on the brow. If I knew as much about Artemis as I do Black Star, I might be able to nail what's bugging him. Wait. The severeness of that problem dawned on her. I know a lot more about my adopted “father” than I do about the one I'm supposed to marry. In fact, I know almost nothing about his life. She affirmed, Wow, I'm stupid. When she noticed another Changeling strolling through the throne room, she explained, “Hey, in case anyone wonders, Artemis and I will be at the river. I don't know when we'll be back, but in the meantime, if you could, find a container for us to store our water supply.”
She nodded to Phebe and replied, “Sure thing. I'll get the others to look too.”
“Thanks.”
~~~~~
Phebe journeyed fifteen minutes from the castle to the river which Artemis had mentioned earlier. She also had seen it on the way to the castle. Immediately upon arriving, she saw him sitting by the water. He was talking to himself while staring at his reflection. He hadn't noticed her yet. Maybe this is my chance to know him better. She quietly moved behind and tree and began to listen to his monologue.
“I have such a huge horseshoes to fill,” he said. Splash. She couldn't see him from her position, but she supposed he struck his watery reflection. “I think I should marry such a wonderful person. Who am I to deserve that? To think I was planning on proposing to her today.”
Wha-what!? She jolted her head backward accidentally smacking the trunk. Gah, ow. Artemis went silent. I hope he doesn't find out I'm here—at least, not yet.
“Now I'm hearing things.” He paused. “Providing One, I haven't heard from you in awhile. Did I do something wrong? Is that why I can't hear you anymore? Have you stopped speaking? I don't know...” Another pause came, and it was tied to a sigh of hurt. “How can I lead your people? I've already lost some, and I can't protect them. I can't lead them. Black Star is a much better leader than I. He knows what he is doing, and he has no fears about doing what must be done. Phebe is a better protector. I can't even hurt the Guardians, but she can kill them.”
Oh, silly Artemis. I need you. She wanted to move in and console him, but as she did, her heart skipped a beat. More severely, breathe escaped from her lungs. She was forced to sit down, and once she did, she felt better. What? She tried a second time to go to him, but the result was the same. I AM I'm supposed to stay here, is that correct?
“Will you speak to me, Providing One?” He asked. The hurt of his heart was tangible through his speech. “I'm longing for something. Anything. Please...” Audible sobbing entered the air. “Queen... why... why are you gone!?” Splash! “Adelcite... you're gone too.” Briefly, his crying transformed into bawling. When he recovered, he mentioned a familiar name. “Shoe... Lace... just be okay. Providing One... protect him. I helped raise him and train him. You know that. I always thought of him as a brother—more than any other hive member. Dark Shade told me we lost him in the Badlands... but could he still be alive? Please, Providing One... my one request is that you protect him. Keep him safe.”
Hoofsteps sounded thereafter. Artemis passed the tree which Phebe hid behind. At first, he didn't notice her, but after several steps, he turned around. He saw Phebe sitting there. Silently he stared, and she stared back. At least a minute passed without word or action.
Still want to comfort him, she then broke the dearth. Rushing forward and giving him a hug, she spoke quietly into his ear. “Artemis, please propose to me.” She was caught in the emotion of the moment—failing to think before speaking.
Despite his previously broken state, he calmly replied, “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Well...” He pulled away from the hug but afterward gazed directly into her eyes. “While you were in jail, I talked with Sheriff Ferris about the basics of marriage, but I still don't know enough. I have a few questions to ask Black Star before I can rightly propose to you. Don't worry, Phebe. Soon.”
Trusting that he knew what he was doing, she conceded. “All right.”
“So... about getting that water?” A grandiose smile formed on both their faces.
“Oh, that's easy!” She dashed to the water's edge. Her horn began to glow, but within moments, the glow fizzled. She had forgotten a minor detail; her horn had yet to fully regrow. “Oh crabapples! I apologize... I won't be able to get the water.”
“Hehehe.” Artemis moved beside her. “Allow me.” His horn took its green radiance. A three gallon ball of liquid lifted from the surface of the river. “It'll work, but I can't match a certain very special Unicorn.”
“Uh-huh.” She rolled her eyes at the obvious complement. “Says the Changelings who cured my blindness with apple pie.”
“Hey, that wasn't me!” He protested playfully.
“Uh-huh, sure.” The two of them marched happily towards the castle, water in tow.