//------------------------------//
// 4: Reflections 
// Story: Lunar Convergence 
// by Lord_Artemis 
//------------------------------//

	If anypony were to wander in the study lounge that was occupied by the three princes, they would have thought they were stewing in boredom. Silence reigned, Artemis was lying on couch near a chalkboard doing some idle calculations at the end of a rather impressive mathematical model. Solaris had an odd pair of spectacles perched on his snout, looking akin to those of a jeweler, and was studying a magic band that had been recently forged. Dusk, on the other hoof, was in a meditative state by the mirror, calmly balanced on top of his wings as he did unassisted push-ups with the feathery appendages.

        “Brother, come look at this!” Solaris said softly across the room, to which the lunar alicorn perked up and looked over. Trying to roll over, he grimaced and opted to magically slide the couch over. When the two were close enough, Solaris floated his glasses over to his brother and held the band for him to see.

        “I changed this sigil to allow for continuous spells, like you were wondering about, and now it should be able to do something like invisibility for hours at a time, if not longer. I think that might be a poor use of it, because a ring of invisibility would be much easier, but this one can be toggled without removing it.” Artemis nodded along to what his brother was saying, carefully analyzing the fine marks in the wrought magically-infused metal.

        “So you said this one is much better than your first attempt, right Dusk?” He asked, rousing the pony from his stupor to respond. “Well, yeah. I would say that it can handle much more complex arcane usage, as well as the protection from wear on the inscription by a small constant shield spell around the surface. When a pony is wearing that, it is the strongest part of their body, even if they had armor on.”

        “Will that impede the touch activation of the spell?” Solaris inquired, taking the band back and rotating it to look for the inscription. His former student rotated it for him to show it on the inside surface, spiraling around the curvature of the metal, before replying. “No, that is more of a proximity thing, which can also be tuned if this is worn in a not as easy to reach area or underneath clothing or something.”

        “Good work, it seems you thought of everything.” Artemis praised, nodding his head thoughtfully. “Since this one seems to be complete, can I borrow it to use that… ah… mirror spell we discussed?” he looked over at his brother, not wanting him to know what he was planning because he knew that the teasing would never end.

        Dusk quirked an eyebrow, and Artemis gave a slight glance over to his brother, who was still inspecting the artifact. The former student’s eyes widened slightly, before rolling them at the cosmic brothers’ antics. “I hardly think that will be necessary,  it wouldn’t be too complicated, I could probably cast it…” He trailed off as he realized that Artemis couldn’t use nearly the level of magic that would be required, at least not until he further healed.

        “Sure thing, was that what you were calculating over there?” Dusk changed the subject quickly. “Actually, I was trying to weave the spell with another. I think I could use a little help to inscribe it, but otherwise I will be fine.” Artemis waved a hoof dismissively.

Suddenly, the portal blazed, and out popped a scroll. All eyes in the room suddenly jerked over to the letter, and it quickly came floating over in Artemis’ magical grasp. He shot a glare at his fellow alicorns as they tried to read the letter over his shoulders, and he shooed them away with a flip of his working wing. Solaris chuckled and backed off, while Dusk sighed in exasperation and went over to study the board Artemis had been working on.

Dear Prince Artemis,
        
        Thank you so much for your letter of warning, though it did come a little late. It is not your fault, because I didn’t think to go check my mirror before attempting to  archive the amulet. It put forth quite the resistance, but my sister and I managed to get the artifact into the magically nullified vault where it was powerless. Still, your concern is comforting to hear, as it is nice to have somepony looking out for me with such a unique perspective.

        In regard to your earlier question, yes  I do have a mass produced mirror, which was a gift I received in a white elephant gift exchange last Hearth’s Warming from my niece, Cadance. Since it was just between us four princesses, she picked a rather...  pink make-up mirror, which almost was a gag gift in how gaudy it was. Regardless, I still have it in it’s packaging, so here is the item number and batch number.

        ITEM ID: 21848563201 BATCH #: 365821

        It was made by Mare Image mirror productions in Fillydelphia. It is a rather high quality mirror, and they likely would have sold it by now, but it is worth looking for. I did some calculation, and as long as it is in the same batch, and the company is not considerably different in your dimension, any mirror from that batch should work well for the spell.

        In fact, when I showed Twilight Sparkle, the youngest princess in our realm (and the female counterpart to your Prince Dusk Shine), she made the same comment about the ill effects of not using atomically identical mirrors, saying that it would be about 5 minutes per hour of use. I was thinking of sending the mirror to the artificery for inscripting with the scrying spell modification, but since I have no blood or hair of yours that won’t make it veiw me instead, nor do I know if you have the mirror yet, I can’t give them a full set of sigils. Since my artificers are quite efficient, and no doubt yours are as well, I will wait for you to reply with a description of your mirror and location and any other information that could make this any easier.

        Write once you are ready, I look forward to seeing you again through this interesting scientific venture. My sister sends her regards to your brother, though I omit her exact phrasing for the sake of maintaining civility and propriety.

        Till then,

        Princess Luna

        Artemis let out a long slow breath, smiling to himself as he read the last few lines. After tracing Luna’s signature with his eyes for the third time, he shook himself and spoke. “Princess Luna says her sister says hi.” He turned to see his brother smile at this, then turned to Dusk who still looked to be a little on edge about the whole Princesses thing. Thinking back to the letter, he summoned a small mirror Dusk had been experimenting on from across the room. He quickly pictured Luna in his mind, concentrated hard on her, then carefully cast the simple scrying spell taught to most unicorns in school. Almost instantly the surface changed from mirrored silver to an image, though it was not what he wanted. All he saw was himself, sitting on the couch in the study lounge, looking into a mirror. He sensed the psychic presence of the observation, and stopped the spell. His horn stung and throbbed slightly from the effort, but he was pleased that he had managed to pull even such a simple spell in its entirety.
        “Dusk, can you scry Luna?” He asked his friend, who looked over with a little confusion. “Umm…” “Just try to scry her normally with this mirror.” He floated the small desk mirror over to the confused lavender alicorn.

“You remember how she looked, right?” “You kidding? How could anypony forg… I mean… Yes I do.” He quickly grabbed the mirror at the stern look from Artemis, blushing slightly. He closed his eyes and his horn blazed and the mirror changed to an image, but when he turned it for his friend to look at it, the surface showed the same view of the study lounge with Artemis laying in the middle. “You see? This is why I had to alter the spell. There is no real way to distinguish between the two of you with such a low level spell, and easier than that would just have a mirror scry the surface of itself, but then change it to look only outwards. That way, it couldn’t find its own surface and had to look for a mirror that was doing the same spell, and then it could show the surface of the other copy of the mirror. The mirror is filling all the requirements, as it is showing it’s own surface, not looking at itself, and the spell connects itself.”

“That makes sense, and here I thought you were just trying to show off your admirable prowess with magic.” Artemis said brightly to Dusk, smiling in a genuine way that took even Solaris by surprise. It was refreshing to see how lifted the normally brooding alicorn’s spirits were, and the two other princes looked at each other knowingly with a smile.

“I am just glad your little filly-friend is alright…” Solaris teased, laughing as his little brother rolled his eyes dramatically and kicked a hoof at him. Clearing his throat, Artemis rolled the note up and glanced over at Dusk. “By any chance, do you happen to know if there is a mirror company named Mare Image in Fillydelphia? They have a mirror I would like to purchase.”

Dusk scratched his head, scanning through as many memories as he could bring forth before sighing. “I am not that into doing my hair and fixing my make-up, so I don’t exactly keep up with the beauty care companies in Equestria. You should really be asking Elusive, he might even sell some of their mirrors in his boutique for all I know.”

        Solaris summoned a thick folder of official documents, leafing through a few while with a concentrated look on his face. “I think I remember a name like that… I have been going through a lot of the backlog of economic bureaucracy that built up with the new corporate taxes imposed by parliament… Ah! Here we are.” He pulled a sheet out and set the folder down on a desk. “Hmm… That’s odd.”

        Artemis got up and looked at the official paper, then huffed in frustration. It was the report of Mare Image mirror production filing for bankruptcy. “Well… That is unfortunate…” was all he could say, his heart sinking as his plan fell apart.

“Wait, hold on! This was last week! They couldn’t maintain profits with the new taxes, and had to increase their prices to the point that they weren’t selling any more! Their sales have been down for months, since before Hearth’s Warming shopping season, even. That could mean that they still have a lot of the mirrors from that batch in stock!” Solaris said in excitement, elbowing his downtrodden brother and smiling at him. “I will have my financial minister alert the local chamber of commerce, and see if the facility and store would allow a royal visit, even after it is closed.”

Artemis widened his eyes at the news, and smiled again as he felt a sense of hope return to him. “No, take me there now. There is no way they would turn us away, and I need to… I want to get back to Princess Luna as soon as possible.”

“Umm, hold on there, Arty. I don’t think surprise visits are all that welcome at closed businesses, even from us. Plus, and I hate to say this, but you look more fit to be touring a hospital room than a factory.” Solaris grimaced in concern, not wanting to offend his brother but also not wanting the public to see so much medical equipment strapped onto their invincible protectors.

Artemis narrowed his eyes, looked himself over, and turned to a nearby chalkboard. He hastily sketched a set of sigils, and picked up the new magical band. “Do you think you could do this?” He asked Dusk, offering the magical band to him with a pleading look. The student recognized the disguise self spell, and quickly erased a couple of the sigils and replaced them with more appropriate ones for this usage.

“This should make you look like your old self again, though you will have to really work hard not to walk funny or bump any metal parts of you into anything or anypony. And the clicking…” He scratched his chin, then added a few more sigils to the end of the string. “A silence spell with an emanation radius of half a meter from your center. That way you can still speak with it is cast, but your torso will make absolutely no noise.”

“That seems perfect. How long will the artificers need?” Artemis asked, only to stop and watch as his friend carefully imprinted the sigils into the material, casting the spell into the marks and sealing the magic in.

“I have spent a little while teaching myself the basics, since I was spending so much time with them. Try it out!” Dusk replied with enthusiasm. Artemis dutifully slid the band up his left hoof, to midway up his leg, below the knee. He reached over and tapped the artifact, and everypony gasped as he shimmered briefly before settling into the exact likeness of his uninjured self. His mane billowed, and though the stars in it didn’t twinkle, it looked quite convincing. His coat was flawless, no scar or bandage visible, his braces and splints were invisible and didn’t click as he turned and twisted to look at himself in his full length mirror. He lifted a hoof and looked under it, only to feel a sharp pain run along his back and he fell into a heap on the floor.

“Yeah. Still injured, just don’t look it.” He said through clenched teeth, trying to get his pinned wing out from under him without flexing the torn muscles in it. He tapped a hoof against his leg, then quirked an eyebrow and tried again. After a few tries, he managed to hit the right part of the band and ended the spell, chuckling to himself. “It is hard to turn this thing off when it is invisible too…”

“Oh, I can fix that!” Dusk said helpfully, before removing the artifact and fine tuning a few sigils. “There, now it is easier to activate and deactivate. Just tap on it or right next to it to toggle your disguise.”

The Lunar Prince did this a few times, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the stark contrast of his mutilated form and the perfect appearance from the spell. In fact, all three ponies felt a little uneasy with the strange transformation that the band caused.

“Alright, in that case, I see no reason not to head out now.” Solaris stated, eager to focus on anything else at that moment. Artemis stood up and the three princes gathered close, a bright light surrounding them as they teleported to Fillydelphia.

When they got their bearings, they found themselves near the river behind a sandwich shop that the brothers had discovered the last time they visited together. Artemis glanced at his reflection in the glass of the shop’s window, and took a deep breath. “Alright, this is the only place I knew well enough to teleport to. I don’t know if we can just ask somepony where the store is or…” 

“Penrose and 26th, if they were referring to the store address on the document.” Dusk interrupted, looking at the street signs nearby. His fellow princes looked questioningly at him, and he just shrugged. “I can read fast and remember things like that. It seemed important at the time. Since we are on 20th, and that way is 19th, lets go the opposite direction till we hit 26th. Then we just ask which way to Penrose. Simple.”

The three headed out, causing quite a few double-takes and wide-eyed stares from the ponies they passed. Thankfully, it was not crowded out, and there was little commotion that impeded their progress, until they stood outside the Mare Image store.

“I guess this store is just too girly for most colts to go in, so I can see why their limited clientele wouldn’t want to pay a premium.” Dusk observed as they approached the gaudy facade and knocked on the door. A sweaty, middle aged, and balding colt walked up to the window, his sour expression suggesting he was tired of turning away ponies who couldn't read the closed sign, before he almost jumped in surprise at the sight of three princes standing outside the glass door. He bowed, then opened the door and bowed again, blubbering something about how honored he was to host the royal visitors and apologies for the inconvenience and such, before Solaris stopped him with a hoof.

“We need a particular mirror from your stores, there has been a strange matter come up at the castle, and there is no time to explain.” Solaris said, his steely confidence and commanding presence snapping the colt to attention. “I… uh… so sorry, your highness, but… uh… I was just hired to clean up the place before they sold the property. I moved all the inventory to the store rooms in the back, right next to the entrance to the factory. I can’t sell you anything, and I don’t know anything about the mirrors, so umm…”

The Solar Prince produced a sack from his side and dropped it between them. The colt jumped at the clinking sound it made, and picked it up. When he looked inside, his eyes widened with awe. “Pay the company full market price for it, and keep the rest.”

“But, my lord, this is hundreds of bits! A mirror here won’t cost more than fifty, not even the full length ones!” He stepped reverently out of the way as he was passed by the three princes, Artemis turned around and smiled at him. “Seems like your lucky day, then.” After receiving a clumsy salute, he saluted in kind, carefully using his right hoof so he could reach his brow. “Your assistance of the crowns is appreciated. Continue your work, and don’t let us bother you.”

~~~

After a dozen boxes full of mirrors, Dusk called out to his fellow princes. “Look, here are twenty nine mirrors from batch 365821.” They split up the pile to look through for serial numbers. Artemis blanched at the horrendously gaudy and effeminate mirrors they held. Pink plastic frames twisted in the shapes of flowers on the corners, and the surface had a brushed heart motif.

Solaris was snickering to himself as he read the numbers on the base of each mirror, unable to shake the image of his younger brother carrying one of these around from his mind. Dusk had begun  chuckling too as he looked over at how uncomfortable Artemis was with the make-up mirrors. “Oh! Here we go... no wait, off by one.” Solaris said, showing them mirror number 21848563202.

Dusk shrugged, figuring that a mirror that was the next mirror made would be close enough, until Artemis laughed in delight and showed them mirror number 21848563201. “Perfect!” The purple alicorn replied, placing the rest of  the mirrors in the box and storing the correct mirror in his saddlebags. “I guess that they are more popular over in their dimension, because they have a higher proportion of females to males. Huh, that must be weird.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Didn’t you get an issue of playcolt in the white elephant a few months back?” Solaris said, chuckling as Artemis’ cheeks tinted red. He had never been able to live that down after his nephew found out that he was having a child before his uncle had even had a mare-friend.

“Hey, I would have been just as embarrassed if I had gotten it.” Dusk said comfortingly to the blushing prince. “Yeah, well it makes sense for you to still be a virgin, you haven’t had millennia to dip your hoofs in those waters!” Solaris laughed heartily.

“Well, I saw what it did to you last time, and I think I will continue steering clear of melting any ice caps, thank you very much.” Artemis jeered back. His brother sighed dramatically and put a hoof to his forehead. “Brother, you missed out on this one, but there is a rather famous quote that came about in the last millennium. ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’”

~~~

Luna set her book down on her bedspread, adjusting her prone position before summoning forth her mug of hot chocolate. Her eyes scanned through the page as she blew gently on the steaming beverage, before taking a gentle sip. She needed a little break after her trials earlier, and nothing beat sinking her intellectual teeth into a good book. The journal was the accounting of the famous, or rather, infamous trans-dimensional teleportation test at Celestia’s School for gifted unicorns. Several graduate students were granted access to the magical test lab in Canterlot, and were trying to open a portal into another realm. Long story short, the experiment went ary, a crack in space-time was created which sucked in some of the lab equipment before Celestia sealed the fissure with her magic and a strange artifact, which she knew to be one of Father’s heirlooms.

What she was interested in was how the unicorns had went about their set up, and the lengthy calculations that they made. Years of work from a brilliant and hardworking team would most certainly be helpful, and Luna studied the work carefully.

After a few hours of her diligence, her attention was stolen from the book by a flash from her mirror, and another note. She smiled, and jumped out of bed excitedly, setting the book on her nightstand. She trotted over to the note and picked it up, then carefully unrolled it and read. As she took in the update from Artemis, she smiled and clapped her hooves together, giggling in anticipation.

She looked over to her desk, and magically grasped the pink mirror and marker sitting on it. She turned the mirror over, and deftly copied the last few details from the letter onto the back of the mirror with the permanent marker. Checking the template sigils to make sure that the smiths would be able to read and inscribe them, she teleported the mirror with a page of directions to the artificiery.

Calculating her time, she figured that the mirror would be back in an hour or less, so she had to get ready. She gathered several quick reference history books, a few paintings of ponies of interest, such as her sister and the elements of harmony. When she was looking around, she noticed her reflection in her mirror, and immediately went to take a shower. Nothing wrong with looking my best…

~~~

“Apparently, though they followed your directions, the artificers were… heh… a little confused and curious about your request.” Solaris read, looking over the note returned with the mirror. Said mirror was being scrutinized by Artemis, who was checking every line and dot.

“I don’t care for what they say, this is important!” He responded quickly, his heartbeat accelerating as the tension built. “The time doesn’t seem to be off by any considerable margin between our realms, so I will set a time for us to try casting the spell.”

As he said this, the portal glowed and a sheet of paper fell out, causing Dusk to go over and inspect it. “It says that she will begin casting the spell at a quarter past four this afternoon in her time, and continue casting for fifteen minutes. if the mirrors do no connect in that time, she will write again.”

Glancing at a clock, Artemis’ eyes widened. He had only three minutes to get ready, and he hadn’t even had a chance to shower since getting back from Fillydelphia. “I need to get ready! I can’t possibly let her see me like this! I… I…” He frantically looked around the room, and the other two princes simply looked at him. Feeling a bit self-conscious, he looked down at himself, only to see his pristine coat looking cleaner than ever. Confused, he looked over himself with awe as it appeared that he had already showered. “Well, I guess I thought ahead and already did, though I can’t seem to remember showering since our return to save my life… Hmm…”

Now his companions looked to each other with worry in their eyes, and Dusk carefully broached the subject. “You… umm… actually are wearing that magical band… remember? The one I have been working on?” A concerningly long moment stretched in silence, before realization etched on the Lunar Princes face.

“O-Oh…” Artemis absentmindedly tapped his hoof to the opposing foreleg and watched his image peel away. It was actually rather shocking to Solaris and Dusk to see the alarming transformation, and the latter had to hold in a gasp. It was so much easier to look at him in his complete state, that for a moment, looking at the rent remains seemed to be the illusion, and he had just cast the spell rather than cancel it.

“A… a shower might take a little too long… I mean, she won’t be able to smell you from the other side of the mirror, right? Just… uhh… make yourself look presentable real quick and brush your mane out a little, and you will be ready to go.” Solaris quickly changed the subject, trying to interject some fatherly advice to get everypony’s mind off the dilapidated state of his brother.

Artemis shook his head, and tapped the band again. “I would prefer her to see me like this. I look less weak in this condition, and I honestly need all the help I can get for strength.” Shaking out his mane, he flexed his shoulders and felt a snap in his wing, though he didn’t hear the clicking noise that normally would have accompanied it. Good thing the spell works. He thought as he kept a grimace from his features, so his companions wouldn’t know the disconcerting pain running down his back.

“She has already seen you in your state, even worse really! She was there when it happened on the moon, remember?” Dusk pleaded, not pleased with the attitude his friend was demonstrating towards his injuries. Being a little bit self-concious was one thing, this sort of avoidance was unhealthy.

“Well, I needn’t remind her of that. Best to leave that to the past, and put my best hoof forward now that we have such a wonderful opportunity… for science, of course.” Artemis was already sliding on his formal regalia, agitation evident in his demeanor.

Solaris and Dusk watched as He lifted a hoof and twisted to get his chestplate on, but froze mid-action. His face contorted and air hissed from his nose, his concentration breaking and dropping the heavy metal armor to the floor. Solaris rolled his eyes and quickly floated all of the remaining armor into place, waiting patiently for his brother to recover enough to snap the buckles and clasps of his armor on.

“Thank you, now if you will excuse me…” He meaningfully looked at the door of the study room, and opening it for the two stallions to leave. Dusk looked unsure, but Solaris promptly grabbed him and walked out, closing the door behind him. 

“But… I don’t… he!” Dusk exclaimed as his former mentor walked him out. “Don’t worry about him, he is just too stubborn to listen to reason right now. Give it a little time, and if this Princess Luna is anything like my Celestia, she will bring him around, and maybe even talk some sense into him.” Solaris smirked, and the two trotted off down the hall.

Glancing at the clock, he prepared his mind to activate the spell. Lighting his horn, he pressed a hoof to the small pink mirror’s inscription and let the arcane process flow. The surface went black as the spell scanned outwards, and after a few minutes, Artemis started to lose hope. He checked the clock, and it was only twenty minutes past, so he had time. As he turned to look back, the mirror blazed to life, and quite an interesting reflection stared back at him.

~~~

“Greetings!” Princess Luna said, smiling that she had succeeded in the magical equivalent of a bull’s-eye on her first shot. “Greetings to you as well!” Artemis replied, his face bearing a matching smile. “What an astounding success!” They both said in chorus.

They both raised matching eyebrows at this, and then began laughing. It was a nice easy laugh, and Luna felt it lighten her mood considerably. The nervousness she had felt while waiting for the spell to connect started to dissipate, and noticed Artemis’ shoulders relax.

“So…”

 “So… How do you do, Princess Luna?” Artemis bowed his head, then returned his eyes to meet hers. As Luna was about to reply, Artemis’ expression changed to puzzlement. “Wait, have we been formally introduced? I know we have met before and we have been writing to each other, but I don’t remember properly getting to know you.”

Luna thought about it for a second, before looking at him again. “Does it matter? You know my name, I know yours, and it is not as if we don’t know each other, in a way.” Artemis glanced away at this, embarrassment burning across his face. “Then again, I think I remember doing that back on the moon when… when we last met.” She quickly added, trying to defuse the situation, which had turned awkward faster than she had expected.

“Oh? I don’t really remember that much, so I will take your word for it.” Artemis said, smiling a little for how considerate she was being. Something clicked in Luna’s mind, and she cleared her throat to change the subject.

“Speaking of which, how are you? It seems as if you have recovered quite well since I last saw you!” The stallion’s eyes widened, and there was a bit of a pause before he responded. Scratching the back of his head, he chuckled a little, desperately trying to think of an explanation.

“Yeah, uhh… I was under the care of some of the finest doctors in Equestria here, so… Quick recovery and all.” The prince tried to blow off the matter by nonchalantly waving a hoof as if to dismiss the notion, but found his brace wouldn’t quite allow for that. He glanced at his hoof, which looked like it was pointing at something on the other side of the room, and quickly set it back on the floor.

“Yes, quite…” Luna looked around, and realized she didn’t recognize the room Artemis was standing in. “Where are you? I thought you would be in your room, as I am.”

“Oh, I would, but during the whole… fiasco, Prince Dusk Shine saw it fit to remove my room from the castle. While I know why he acted the way he did, I still can’t help but think that he could have been a little less… enthusiastic.” He chuckled ruefully, thinking of his friend’s antics.

“Well, he certainly could have. In my world, Princess Twilight Sparkle simply put up a magic barrier to contain the room. That is actually the protocol here, and is taught in school to most unicorn students. Is that not the case in your world?”

“No, it is, Dusk just…” Artemis paused as he remembered the story Solaris has told him. “He has a different reaction based on his experience. He can attribute that to his time serving in the force, though that was... before my time.”

“Now that you mention it, why was he in the army? While I was gone, Celestia didn’t even need an army, nor would the gentle soul Twilight ever join it. I would have thought our versions of them to be more similar.”

Artemis sighed, and picked up the mirror. “Let me show you.”

~~~

“And this is where new recruits get their armor measurements. We have an entirely voluntary return policy on armor once they leave the service, but most ponies will donate theirs to be resized for the next draft” Artemis turned the mirror so that Luna could see the bustling line of ponies, almost all stallions, waiting for a small group of ponies with measuring tapes. “Some decide to keep their armor as a keepsake, so we are constantly forging new sets. This demand for iron is why there was a… rather heated conflict with the dragons, no pun intended, when we sent exploration teams into the mountains just this side of Draconia.” Luna giggled at this, fascinated in the tour of the familiar but strangely different Canterlot Castle. “The geological surveys came back with signs of rich ore deposits, but, of course, also thick jewel veins and striated layers of gem formation. These, the dragons defended jealously, and we fought for a few years before coming to peace terms on a seventy percent gem cut. We got the metal, which was useless to them, and they got most of the gems, which we could use, but weren’t terribly necessary.”

“I remember that we just tried to set up negotiations, and after a couple months, we were getting mine permits from the dragons in the very same mountains…” Luna interjected, remembering the incident a vastly different way in her history. “They were aggressive, but we didn’t need to go to war.”

“Well, our first survey team was slaughtered without warning, and they quickly took our dig sites on their mountains as an act of war. We simply returned with force and met them.” Artemis was confused as to how their team had fared so poorly compared to Luna’s. “This is another slight deviation in our timelines that shows our side to be a bit more… violent? Dangerous? I can’t quite put my hoof on it.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully, before quickly blocking Lunas view with his side.

“Artemis? What is going on?” Luna called, before she heard Artemis clear his throat and greet some ponies. “As you were, men. Keep doing Equestria proud!” Loud, booted hoofsteps could be heard as a small troop of infantry marched by the prince. After the noise died down, he brought the mirror back in front of him, his cheeks slightly red.

“Sorry about that, I… didn’t quite know how to explain their prince talking to a pink makeup mirror in the hallway. The new troops don’t need that confusion getting in the way of their training.” Artemis trotted out of the main hallway into a more secluded side passage to continue their conversation.

“Oh, you don’t have to be embarrassed! I think the mirror really compliments your coat… because that is what it does for mine.” Luna giggled again, reveling in the discomfort she was causing her male self. She went up to a mirror and turned the mirror so he could see her pose and show off the pink compact.

After a few moments, Artemis found his tongue and replied. “Your right, you really do look good with that mirror.” It was Luna’s turn to blush, not expecting the compliment from her tongue tied contact. “I mean… the colors work well on you… I just don’t try for that, uhh, girly chic normally.” He chuckled awkwardly, posing himself with the mirror in the same way, and doing quite a good impression of Luna at the same time.

Luna laughed at the spectacle she saw, enjoying the aesthetic dissonance between the well built and tough looking prince, and the effeminate mirror and pose he was attempting. After a few moments, both ponies were at a loss for words. “Anyways…” They both said in sync, grinning as the bizarre coincidence occurred again for the tenth or fifteenth time.

“Hmm, I have an idea. rather than see what is different about our worlds, why don’t we see how similar we are.” Luna suggested. “I mean, they are.” Artemis nodded thoughtfully for a moment, before smiling. “No, actually, let’s see how similar we are. That could highlight some of the key differences and similarities between our worlds, since we are integral parts of each. Perhaps a word reaction, like saying the first word that comes to your head when I say a word.”

“Alright, should we write this down? I have a feeling that we may influence each other slightly when we say our words. Perhaps bring up a memory that we both have, but for you a different memory would have a bigger impact if I hadn’t said mine. Do you know what I mean?” Luna ran through several scenarios in her head.

“I know exactly what you mean. Let me get back to my room and grab a quill and some paper.” Artemis said as he quickly trotted off towards the night wing of the castle. After a few steps in silence, Luna piped up, a little worry evident in her tone.

“Your room? You mean the study room?” She could tell where he was heading from the hallways he took, and his destination was certainly his private chambers, but she asked anyways to see what he was thinking. He immediately stopped, looking around as if he was lost. This was not what Luna wanted to see.

“Oh… uh… force of habit, I guess. Right, to the study room.” Artemis said belatedly, doing a quick about face and heading off in the opposite direction. Neither pony spoke as he made his way down hallway after hallway, navigating the maze that was Canterlot Castle proper.

“Wouldn’t it be quicker to just teleport?” “No… I, umm… Don’t want to lose the mirror in the process, that could sever the link.” Then how about you fly across the courtyard, that is a quicker path.” “I think they are being used for drill right now, I don’t want to interrupt them.”

Luna grew more and more concerned as Artemis avoided each question, twisted his answers, seemingly trying to avoid speaking about something. While he trotted the rest of the way, she pulled out paper and mulled over some words to use in their exercise that might help her identify what was bothering him so much.

“Here we are. I am sure I will be able to find some paper around here somewhere.” Artemis glanced around the room before his eyes alit on the chalkboards in the room, detailing the designs for the band he was wearing. “Actually, the room I am staying in has a nice writing desk. I will go there instead.” He trotted back out and down the hall to the guest quarters he was using, and lit the lamps inside. He was relieved when he saw that his bed was made and covers were clean, his writing desk was tidy and the trash was taken out. Have to remember to thank the maids, they were early today.

“This is one of Celes… I guess Solaris’ guest chambers. That was… nice of him to let you use it?” Luna commented, ending her statement as a question to see if Artemis saw it that way. To be confined to anything less than royal quarters was completely below him, and she knew it, but this was just an intermittent arrangement.

“I appreciate what my brother has done for me in this… time of trouble. His hospitality and support really has been welcome after so many… less than optimal things occurred.” Artemis had a tightness in his voice that Luna recognized to be the same strain she had when talking about her sister’s… well, sisterliness.

Artemis floated the mirror over to the desk and set it there, gathering his writing supplies as Luna looked on. He gingerly focused on one item at a time, demonstrating an attentive and careful demeanor that struck Luna as odd.

After a few studious moments, they faced each other, quills floating and ready, and began thinking of questions to ask.

“Do you know the speed of light?” Luna asked, tapping her quill to her chin thoughtfully, and in the process leaving a small dark spot of ink. Not noticing this, Artemis mimicked the action, tapping his quill as he pondered the question. 

“If I told you, would I have to explain the frame of measurement? I am pretty sure that we won't be able to distinguish with arbitrary units I invited in the dawning of the scientific era.” Artemis looked back at Luna, and grinned at the ink spot. Then, his eyes widened, and he touched his own chin, causing his female reflection to giggle. 

“I guess you are right, and I doubt that fundamental concepts like the rate at which causality functions will be different. I mean, we speak the same language, and our spells were compatible, which means our dimensions must be compatible to a very extensive degree.” Luna was still grinning as she said this, and Artemis smiled back at her impeccable deduction.

“Well then… I guess that just leaves politics and society. I believe you have already seen some differences between our worlds, as your questions and insights have demonstrated. In fact, the very nature of our previous meeting was due to a slight misalignment between the realms. Since we did not meet at the same time on the moon, things went downhill and…” Artemis lifted his left wing, attempting to let his injuries make his point for him. Luna's curious expression prompted him to look back and take in the sight of his side, looking as good as new and free of any blemish.

He felt as if the cogs in his mind were missing a few teeth as the discomfort he felt was not reflected in the body he saw. After a few moments of starting, Luna cleared her throat nervously. “Are you alright?”

Then it clicked, he recognized the cold press of the band on his coat, and realization flooded uncomfortably back to him. These lapses were taking their toll as panic and fear wrestled with anger just below his skin, making it that much more difficult to turn calmly back to Luna and shrug nonchalantly. “I am fine. I just… it didn’t end well.”

Luna nodded gravely, her earlier concern growing in the back of her mind. There was something wrong with her male half, and he was trying to hide it in a way that she knew all too well. 

“No. Are you alright?” She asked, emphasizing the word with a serious look. Artemis looked startled at the sudden question, not really thinking he was all that bad of a liar. After a few moments of silence, he sighed and shook his head.

“I have lived a thousand years with the burden of the Daemon, but no matter how terrible he was, I would always fight to contain him. Even when he controlled me, I would fight. But I didn't even know he was there this time, and he was able to control me without contest, use me almost as if he was manifest…” Artemis trembled slightly, matched by Luna's shudder at the memory. 

“I know just what you mean. I guess we just have to be glad that we didn't do anything irreversible while we were… influenced. I do have to apologize to prince Blueblood, I didn't know he was so scared of spiders.” Artemis gave her a puzzled look, easily recognizing the name as the male equivalent of his niece. 

“You did that too? In my world, my niece Bluebelle came to me, complaining as usual, and I gave her the psychic image of spiders.” He chuckled sheepishly, grimacing at how mean the act was in hindsight. 

“Yes, I did the very same thing! That is almost beyond probability… unless there is some sort of cosmic force keeping our worlds parallel. I am not too superstitious, knowing all that I do, but there are too many coincidences to attribute to anything but… fate?” Luna and Artemis looked thoughtfully at each other.

“I have no better explanation. That would make sense, maybe that there are some points of dimensional convergence that reunite our worlds, and who knows, maybe others. The frequency of these points would dictate the similarity of two worlds, and in our case we hit them often. I can imagine no other scenario in which we would both pick something as arbitrary as spiders, and what, have the same outcome in the war with dragons.” Artemis nodded to himself as his theory formed.

On the exact same train of thought, Luna nodded in time with him, until she realized that he had just changed the subject on her. “That is fascinating, and something to discuss further, but not now. I am concerned about your well being, since your fight with the daemon was much more violent than mine.”

“Yours? You battled Him? You said the amulet gave you trouble, but I didn't think much of it. What happened?” Artemis had a concerned look at this, and Luna had conflicting feelings on how much she should worry him.

“When I took the artifact to the vault, it acted as if it had a mind of its own, struggling against me, and almost allowing for Nightmare Moon to manifest. My sister was there and I had a couple guards around, so I was assisted and we banished the Daemon before She could do anything.” She tried to keep a nonchalant and even tone while describing it, just so that her male half wouldn't be bothered by the story.

“That sounds terrible! I thought that it wasn't serious! I should have been there to… hmm. That brings up a different problem, that I can't reach you in any way except this and letters.” Artemis frowned, running into the same issue they already were having trouble with.

“Do not blame yourself pointlessly, it is in the past and I wasn't hurt or anything. All we can do now is think of the future. You had a much more serious encounter, and I can recognize when you are hurting because it is the same way I would hide it. You may have wanted to meet me because of how similar we are, but you will have to deal with the fact that I think the same way you do, and I am going to help you whether you want me to or not.” Luna tried to channel the most nurturing and motherly side of Celestia, and it had its desired effect. Artemis bowed his head, solemnly nodding like a scolded child. I guess she does know what she is doing, some of the time, at least.

Artemis’ stomach turned, the spell hiding his injuries feeling more like a lie under her scrutiny. He felt comforted that she cared, but was still unwilling to look as weak as he felt, at least not in front of her. “Sorry, Luna. I should have known that you would take as little nonsense as I. Perhaps I would feel more comfortable discussing this in person…” He left the end of his statement as almost a question, butterflies fleeting slightly in his stomach the prospect. 

A similar effect was caused in Luna, who hid a shy smile behind a cough. I could probably get through to him better that way… how hard could it be?

“If you feel that way, I suppose we should work towards a method of meeting.” Artemis grinned unabashedly at this, an almost foal-like excitement painting across his features. He quickly pulled out writing supplies and looked through the mirror. Luna couldn’t help but flash a smile back as she summoned a chalkboard to her room and stood up.

Science! The two lunar alicorns thought in unison, chalk meeting board as quill met parchment.