Part 5 - Family
Dumbstruck.
Celestia felt a bit of pride as her mind worked through the shock, the gears of thought relentlessly working to bring order to chaos and sense to nonsense. Just now she had nailed down the word that most accurately described her reaction to the scene in front of her. It was, however, the only thing her mind could do at the moment, aside from studying the tiny figure clutching Luna's neck.
It was a filly, that much even Celestia's addled mind could register. Her coat was a pale shade of sky blue, her mane and tail a darker shade of that color and grown out to give substantial length. A pair of wings adorned her back, and the nub of a young horn barely made its way past her mane, marking her as an alicorn; all in all, she looked like a miniature version of Luna upon her cleansing by the Elements of Harmony, only with reversed colors. And right now, she had her forelegs wrapped around Luna's neck in a deathgrip of a hug. “You're home! You're home!” she happily squealed, as she nuzzled Luna's neck.
“Yes I am,” Luna replied, having already recovered from the adorable ambush. She wrapped both of her forelegs around the filly and hugged her back. “I'm guessing you missed me?”
“Yes!” the filly replied, as she leaned her head back to look into Luna's eyes and smile the sort of smile that only the innocent can have. “Missus McCall said you'd be back late but it was getting really really late and I was worried you forgot about coming home because you were celebrating or something but now you're here and...” Something seemed to register in the filly's mind just then, and she slowly turned her head to look over at Celestia. An expression of shock and awe overtook the little one's features, and her mouth opened and closed several times as her tiny brain attempted to understand the sight before her.
“Artemis,” Luna began, with a smile on her muzzle as she watched the filly and her sister exchange flabbergasted looks. “Remember those stories I told you about my sister?” she asked, and then stifled a chuckle as her filly nodded her head without even looking back. “Well, this is her, this is your aunt Celestia.”
“Really?” Artemis asked, as she finally swiveled her head back to face the dark alicorn.
Luna only nodded, and then gently nudged the filly to move off of her barrel. “Really,” she said, with a broad smile, as the filly climbed off. Luna quickly shifted around on the floor until she had her hooves beneath her, and then stood and faced the still silent sun princess. “Celestia, please say hello to my daughter, Artemis.”
This finally jolted Celestia's mind out of its inaction, and she blinked several times before her manners reasserted themselves. She smiled warmly, and lowered her head a bit to look less imposing to the filly. “Hello, Artemis. It's so good to meet you,” she said, her voice revealing none of the questions or stresses of the moment that rebounded in her head.
“H–hello,” the filly nervously replied, her head downcast so that Celestia could only see a hint of her eyes.
“Artemis, that's not polite,” Luna said, in a tone that was even yet held a tiny note of admonishment. “You know that when you meet new people you need to look them in the eyes and introduce yourself.”
“Yes, momma,” Artemis replied, and then took in a deep breath. She held it for a moment, and then looked up and straight at Celestia, who blinked as she looked into the filly's startlingly violet eyes. “Hello, aunt Celestia, my name is Artemis Revenio, I'm happy to meet you.”
Celestia couldn't help but smile, despite the awkward nature of the filly's words. “Well, that makes two of us,” she said, and then gave a look to her sister. “Or perhaps three?”
“Indeed,” Luna replied, with a brief smirk. “But let us not dally out here when there is a fine home yonder,” she added, with a wave of her foreleg towards the open door.
Artemis giggled at that. “You're talking funny again, momma,” she said, and then promptly started trotting back through the entrance she had launched herself from only a few minutes prior.
“Yes, being around Celestia does that to me,” Luna replied, as she waved her sister to move in ahead of her. Celestia decided that it would be better to follow along with the flow, and she moved into the suite's foyer. Here she paused and gave a long, hard examination of her sister's apartments.
The first thing that struck her was just how soft and muted the colors were. Most ponies in Equestria preferred bright, saturated colors in just about every decorative work they made, yet here the walls were done in a series of warm, dark earth tones, the furniture a mixture of soft browns and greens, and the ceiling an off-white that neither punished the eyes nor looked filthy, as some shades of that color tended to appear. Even the decorative objects and paintings sitting on tables or hanging on the walls were, for the most part, understated, though surprisingly bright and vivid flowers were placed in several vases around the various rooms she could see from the foyer.
An interesting layout, Celestia mused, as Luna walked in and shut the door behind her. The foyer was little more than a semi-closed off area that opened into a small sitting room with several chairs of obviously human design, and one backless couch that was the right size for a pony. Instead of a hallway leading to the other rooms, the whole suite seemed open to the foyer and receiving area, with only partial walls between the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen to provide some sense of separation between the various spaces. Celestia found she rather liked the effect, as it made the suite feel more like an large room in a mansion than a series of claustrophobic spaces wedged into a one-hundred-story tower. A small hallway did lead off from the far end of the joint living/dining room, and several doors could be seen down it; bedrooms and the water closet, no doubt, Celestia concluded.
So intense her scrutiny of the rooms had been that she had almost missed the smallish human working on something in the kitchen. “Good evening, miss Revenio,” the woman said, with a warm smile, though it was soon gone as she laid eyes on Celestia. “Oh, my Lord,” she muttered.
Luna smiled as she walked to interpose herself between the human and her sister, just off to the side of their line-of-sight. “Heather, this is Celestia, my sister from back home,” she said, as she pointed a foreleg to the elder alicorn. “Celestia, this is missus Heather McCall, my house servant.”
“Oh dear, why didn't you tell me you were bringing a guest?” McCall said, her voice chiding as she set down the cookware she was washing and walked out of the kitchen. “And your sister, too! Why that's a special occasion,” she added, as walked over to stand in front of the two alicorns and wiped her hands on the apron she wore. “I beg your pardon, miss Celestia, but your sister can be quite forgetful at times,” the human finished, with a warm smile as she offered a hand.
“That is quite alright,” Celestia said, somewhat haltingly as she was taken aback by the motherly ambiance McCall exuded. Even as unfamiliar as she was with the bipeds, Celestia could easily tell this human was at the least middle-aged, somewhat plump, and had the sense to both chastise Luna for her lapse and yet still sound as if she were affectionate towards the dark alicorn. “I didn't exactly announce my arrival before I, uh, dropped in,” Celestia added, as he brought up a foreleg and shared a hoof/handshake.
“Still, a call on the comm would have been nice,” McCall replied as she released Celestia' hoof. “Ah well, no sense going on about it, the deed's done and all,” she added, and then glanced over to Luna. “Have you two eaten yet?”
“We ate some at Bruno's,” Luna replied. “But we kind of left early, so we could use a bit of food. Dessert, preferably,” she added, and then winked towards the human. “'Tia loves her cake, and she's had a rough day.”
“Now Luna,” Celestia interjected, as her wits finally started to operate again. “There's no need for any extra work, I'm sure I can last until the morning.”
“Oh nonsense, dearie,” McCall replied to the elder pony, and then turned to head back into the kitchen. “I don't mind a bit. Just give me a couple of hours and I'll whip up a nice chocolate double-layer cake.”
“Actually,” Luna interrupted, with a slightly raised voice, which prompted McCall to stop walking and talking, and then turn to face her employer. “I was feeling more in the mood for something special to mark the occasion,” Luna explained, with a gentle smile. “Could you take some petty cash and run to the bakery on C-level 5, section 12?”
McCall's face lit up at that, and her warm smile returned. “Oh yes, Franz's Bakery,” she said, as she started to untie her apron. “I think I know what you're wanting, dearie. Shouldn't take me more than a half-hour to run there and back, plus a few minutes for the staff to get the order ready.”
“Thank you, Heather,” Luna said, as her smile widened. “And don't be afraid to get something for yourself.”
“Oh don't offer me that, you know I'll take you up on it,” McCall replied, with a chuckle, as she went to a counter and collected a few items. Soon enough she stepped out and walked past the two alicorns and headed for the door. “I'll be sure to ring when I get back.”
Luna and Celesta offered their goodbyes, and then waited patiently for McCall to leave. Once she had, Celestia immediately turned to regard her sister with a questioning look. “I don't know whether to chastise you for sending an old lady out to run an errand, or to thank you for finding a way for us to talk in private,” she said, evenly.
Her sister chuckled. “Don't worry about Heather, she's only in her mid-50s and still going strong,” Luna said, and then turned to lead her sister deeper into the suite. “Human medicine is far more advanced than Equestrian in some respects, although deficient in others. Provided nothing truly serious happens, Heather can expect to live for another century in good comfort.”
“Fascinating,” Celestia murmured, as she took in the figure. “Where are they deficient, then?”
“Large scale repair, mostly,” Luna replied, as she led her sister into the living room, and then paused to look over to a corner that had been hidden by one of the partial walls. Artemis sat pony-style on a pillow on the floor in front of a piece of furniture upon which sat one of the strange screens that had moving pictures. A strange object was held in front of her in a magic field, and her attention was intently focused on manipulating it and watching the screen. “Artemis!”
“Huh?” the filly uttered in reply, without looking back from whatever it was she was doing.
Luna frowned at that, and then lit up her horn. The blue glow of her magic overlaid the dark blue, almost purplish aura of the younger alicorn, and the odd device was removed from her magical grasp. “Awww!” Artemis whined, as she stood to face her mother with a pout. “I was playing Cogs of Carnage!”
“Later,” Luna stated, her voice brooking no argument. “We have a guest, and it's not polite to ignore a guest,” she said, as she pressed a button on the device, and the screen faded to a soft-white menu. “Besides, I need to take off my armor and wash up a bit, so I'll need you to keep my sister from jumping into the pantry and making off with all of our snacks when I'm not looking.” Her voice took on a jovial quality at the last.
Celestia harrumphed at that, as she lifted her muzzle in mock disdain. “Please, as if I would stoop to stealing your snacks,” she said, and then lowered her head to grin at Luna. “It would be more satisfying to just gobble them up right in the pantry.”
Artemis giggled at that, despite the hackneyed nature of the banter. “Okay, momma,” she said, her voice back to normal. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.”
“That's quite alright,” Luna replied, as she set the device down next to the screen, and then turned said screen off with a remote push of the power button. “Now, I'm going to wash up. Be good for your aunt.”
“I will,” Artemis promised, and then sat on her haunches and looked up at Celestia as her mother trotted down the short hall to the bedrooms. “Momma says you're a princess,” Artemis said, once she heard Luna close a door behind her.
“Indeed I am,” Celestia replied, as she looked around the living area for a seat. She found a nice backless couch to lay upon, and quickly did so while Artemis nudged her sitting pillow around so she could lie on it and face her aunt. “In fact, your mother is a princess, too.”
The filly nodded at that. “That's what she said,” Artemis replied. “Do you really live in a castle?” Her tone picked up at this, and her eyes grew a bit wider.
Celestia had to pause at that, and she took a moment to wonder why a filly would find that surprising. Then again, I'm sitting in some strange mega-building in an alternate reality filled with technologically-advanced water-apes and having a talk with my sister's daughter, the mare reminded herself. Everything is already upside-down and backwards, need I question every tiny thing until I've driven myself mad? “Yes, little one,” she said, after a moment. “I live in a castle in the royal city of Canterlot.”
Artemis frowned at that, and then tilted her head. “Don't you mean Camelot?” she asked.
Celestia found herself frowning back for a half-second. “What do camels have to do with it?” she asked back, neutrally.
The filly giggled at that. “Not camels, silly,” she admonished her aunt. “Camelot. The place with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and stuff like that!”
Again, Celestia found herself frowning ever so slightly. “I'm afraid I haven't heard of that before,” she admitted, slowly. Then she smiled as an idea entered her head. “Why don't you tell me about them?”
* * * *
Luna sighed in relief as she clambered out of the shower and onto the tile floor of her bathroom. Nothing like hot water to wash away the terror, she wryly thought, as she used her magic to levitate several towels from a nearby rack and brought them over to rub her coat, mane, and tail dry. Or at least mildly damp, the alicorn mused as she finished her task, and then hung the towels back up to dry. I can let the last bit air dry; I had best get back to 'Tia and have our little talk.
A tug of her telekinesis pulled the door to the bathroom open, and Luna walked down the carpeted hallway at an easy pace. When she heard Artemis talking, though, she stopped just around the corner and listened.
“...And then a soldier saw a snake, and it was gonna bite someone so he pulled out his sword,” the little filly said.
“Oh my,” Celestia said, her tone having a tinge of sadness. “But didn't both leaders tell their armies to attack if anyone drew a weapon?”
“Yeah,” Artemis replied, gloomily. “They had everything set up an' stuff for peace, and then something dumb like that happens, so they all fought. Arthur and most of the knights die, but Mordred dies too, so that kinda balances out a bit.”
“I see,” Celestia said, and Luna had to stifle a chuckle as she heard the wry tone in her sister's voice. She's been wearing out those words today, the dark alicorn thought as the conversation started up again. “But Arthur had no heirs, right? Who ruled Camelot after that?”
A brief pause and the sound of shifting material told Luna that her daughter had shrugged a reply. “No one knows, really, except Camelot wasn't strong anymore and couldn't protect Britain like it did before, so the whole island gets invaded over and over again.”
“That is a very sad story,” Celestia replied, after a moment.
“Yeah,” Artemis agreed. “But I still kinda like it.”
Luna decided she had eavesdropped enough, and she casually walked out from behind the corner, though with a slight bit of extra energy in her step to make sure her hooves made a noise on the carpet. Once around, she saw both Celestia and Artemis looking up at her, and she smiled. “So, how are you two getting along?” Luna asked, as she walked over to stand by the other ponies.
Celestia smiled up at her sister. “Splendidly,” she replied, and then turned the smile to Artemis. “Your daughter has quite the penchant for storytelling,” she complimented, which made the filly blush a bit.
“She has been rather interested in mythology since I told her the origin of her name,” Luna explained, with her own indulgent smile towards the filly. “It doesn't hurt that my own name has a parallel in human myth.”
“Oh?” Celestia asked, as she turned to give Luna a raise eyebrow expression.
Luna chuckled at the surprised tone. “Yes. They call their homeworld's moon 'Luna', after a pagan goddess that represented it.”
“Sounds like somepony I know,” Celestia said, and raised a foreleg to tap the hoof against her chin.
A giggle from Artemis garnered the adult ponies' attention. “Somepony?” she asked, with a grin. “That's silly, aunt Celestia.”
“How is that silly?” the elder alicorn asked, a bit of genuine confusion mixing with her good-natured tone.
“Humans prefer a more general term like 'someone' or 'somebody',” Luna interjected. “Given there are no other sapient ponies in this reality, I've dropped using our native term, so Artemis has only heard the human version.”
Celestia blinked at that, and she turned her head so that she could fully regard Luna with a steady, quizzical gaze. Luna felt the unspoken questions piercing her soul, and so she smiled wanly and then turned to look at her daughter. “Artemis, your aunt and I have to talk a bit about some things, so you can go back to your game now.”
“Really?” Artemis asked, and then flapped her wings in excitement when Luna nodded. “Yay! Grub swarm, here I come!” she exclaimed, as she quickly turned to the odd devices she had been playing with before. Her horn lit up and soon the screen was back on and the strange controller was hovering before her again.
“Just keep the volume down,” Luna admonished, and then turned to Celestia and gestured with a wing towards the sitting area. Her sister nodded in understanding and stood up to walk with Luna towards the indicated seats, of which Luna quickly claimed one of the human-shaped chairs. “You may have the divan,” she stately declared, with a look of mock imperiousness on her face.
Despite the tension that had been building since she entered Luna's home, Celestia chuckled. “My, how gracious of you, princess,” she replied, with equally sardonic gratitude.
Luna smiled at the other pony as she sat down, but soon let her face drop into a mask of neutrality. “So...” she said, but then found she had no idea how to begin. “Uhm, how's Equestria?” she asked, with a forced smile.
Celestia raised an eyebrow again, and then sighed. “How bad is the news I'm about to receive?” she asked, tiredly.
“What makes you think it's bad news?” Luna asked, feigning nonchalance.
“Because you always get nervous and talk about picayune things when you have bad news to bear,” the elder alicorn said, some amusement now tinging her tired voice as she offered a small smile.
A nervous chuckle escaped Luna's lips, and she had to shake her head a bit. “Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning?” she asked.
“That would be a good idea.”
“Alright, then. Just let me cast a muffle spell to make sure Artemis cannot overhear us,” Luna replied, and then lit up her horn for a moment. “There, all set. Now, it all started in my bedroom...”
* * * *
“...So after that, I joined Malcolm's team. I've been working with them ever since.”
Celestia nodded as she digested Luna's retelling of the events that brought her to this world. And I thought I had it bad, she mused. Although at least Luna had a bit of time to assimilate a few ideas before she was shot in the head. She absentmindedly brought up a foreleg and rubbed a hoof against her face at that thought. “Well, it seems this reality has a nasty welcome for new arrivals,” she observed, with a smirk.
Luna chuckled. “Verily,” she replied, and then took in a breath and sighed again. “Of course, that doesn't describe everything.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed. “For instance, did you start research on finding a way back?” she asked, patiently.
“Of course,” Luna replied, bristling slightly under her sister's gaze. “I had most of the Unreal Engine spell memorized, and what little I couldn't recall would be easily deduced. The materials were expensive at first, as gemstones appear to be rather uncommon on most worlds in this reality. But the Tournament pays well, if you can put on a good show,” she said, and then smiled, though it had a hard edge to it. “And if there's one thing I learned from the Nightmare Night fiasco in Ponyville all those years ago, it's that I can put on quite the show.”
“Mmm,” Celestia hummed, and then took a sip of the tea Luna had made partway through her story. “You have always been the more hooves-on mare out of us,” she added, with a faint, but genuine smile of encouragement. “Which is why I'm asking about your research.”
“Ah, yes,” Luna said, and then blushed slightly as she realized she had become sidetracked. “Well, I had to first figure out a way to manufacture spellcaster's chalk, which took about a month, and then my attempts to recreate the Unreal Engine spell took an additional six months,” the dark alicorn explained, and then paused to sip her tea. “After that, I started trying to track down the recall function of the original spell... it didn't work as I'd hoped it would, of course, else you would not have been forced to look for me.”
Celestia merely nodded to that, and then waited patiently as Luna gathered her thoughts. “I tried my best,” the latter said, as she resumed her story. “But I found not a single trace of any spellwork, my own or another being's. I spent six weeks before I finally decided that I was not going to find my way back from the original spell.
“So instead I redesigned the engine, added in some safety features so I wouldn't be drawn in against my will again, and had a nice, long 'talk' with the central computer here in New Santiago about not meddling with the affairs of wizards.” Luna paused at this to smirk, and for once Celestia found herself mirroring the expression as the two shared a memory. Soon enough, however, the moment passed and Luna continued on. “I started looking for Equestria the hard way.”
“The hard way?” Celestia asked, though her confusion was brief as a thought entered her mind. “You mean you tried to look through the various realities one by one?”
Luna nodded, a forlorn look on her face. “Ridiculous, I know, but what else was I supposed to do?” she asked, and then shook her head. “I figured I was immortal, I had time to look.” She paused again, and then shook her head. “What I didn't figure on was how... trying this reality can be if one isn't fully acclimated.”
Celestia frowned. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, with a raised eyebrow.
Her sister dismissively waved a foreleg. “I'm sure you are not oblivious to how abrasive it can be here?” she asked back, and then waited for Celestia to nod. “Well, let me just say that attempting to split my time between work and study ended up poorly,” Luna explained, and then briefly bit her lip. “My performance was waning, to the point that Malcolm said that, novelty or no, I would have to be dropped from the team. Ultimately I needed to devote more time to work, or to my trip home. Sadly, I chose the former.”
“I see,” Celestia murmured, and then sipped her tea again. “So you gave up until today?”
“Hardly,” Luna replied, and then sighed. “I spent months telling myself that it would only be a little while, all I had to do was last until the end of the season,” she explained, and then hung her head. “And then at the end of the season, it completely slipped my mind to restart my project.
“It wasn't until a particularly nasty post-season fight sidelined me with a serious injury that I managed to get time to think,” Luna continued. “That was four months later, and when I realized I had abandoned my work since then, well... I might have lost it a bit,” she concluded, with a blush.
“You were hurt?” was Celestia's first response. “I thought those human machines prevented permanent injury and death?”
“Mostly, yes,” Luna replied. “But they are not perfect; sometimes a mistake is made,” she added, and then shifted on the oversized recliner she was perched upon. “I was left with a nasty hole in my side that the machines did not recognize as a wound, for some reason, and I was immediately taken out of the game and sent to a hospital. Fortunately they managed to staunch the blood flow and sew me up, but I still had a good month of recovery before I would be able to work again. It left me with a scar, as well.” At this, the younger alicorn got down from the seat, turned to her right, and then lifted her left wing to expose her side. A light break in her oat stretched from just under where the wing joined the rest of her body, ran down and across her ribs, and then finally ended just past the end of the bone cage.
Celestia grimaced as her sister lowered her wing and then returned to her seat. “That must have been a terrible wound,” she observed, as a fresh pain ran through her heart at the idea of her sister being injured so. “But we both know scar-healing spells; why keep it?”
Luna opened her mouth as if to explain, but something made her freeze, and then blush. “Er, well, that's the next part of my story,” she said, quietly, as she folded her wing to its normal resting position. “As I took time to heal, I realized I had abandoned my research into getting home. That recognition hit me rather hard.”
“Why?” Celestia asked, quizzically. “It seems you had a good excuse.”
“That's just it,” Luna replied, with a shake of her head. “It was an excuse. I told myself it was fine to wait on it, that I had time. All the time in the world, in fact,” she added, and then laughed ruefully. “You get it, right 'Tia?” Luna asked, as she fretfully looked into her sister's eyes. “You get it, right? All... the time...”
“...In the world,” Celestia finished, and then nodded her head sadly. “Yes, my sister. If there's anypony else in the world who understands that, it's me.”
The worried look on Luna's face ebbed, and she nodded. “I knew you would,” she said, quietly; so quiet that Celestia had to strain over the unrecognizable, muted sounds coming from the living room. “I sort of lost some of my perspective,” Luna continued, as she glanced down to the floor. “A month off, nothing to do but sit around, and I hadn't yet embraced much of what this world had to offer, save the Tournament and books. But even reading can only take you so far, despite what your protégé would insist, and realizing I had been neglecting my efforts to get home and thus leaving me stuck here longer all moved me to resume and redouble my efforts in looking through the engine for home.
“I must have spent fourteen hours a day just running the spellwork,” Luna somberly said, as she looked up to stare at a wall while her mind traced over her memories. “I did that for two weeks straight, and I never found anything even remotely close to our home... until, at last, I did.”
Celestia blinked at the last, and then leaned her head forward to garner Luna's attention. “What do you mean?”
“I found a world that, for all intents and purposes, looked like Equestria,” Luna explained, as she turned her head to match her sister's gaze. “I took some time to scry around a bit, and it looked like home. So much so that after gathering a few things I initiated the teleport spell and jumped there as soon as I could.” She paused at that, and then offered another rueful smile. “There was, however, one significant difference that I did not realize until after I arrived.”
* * * *
The air crackled with energy as the teleport spell released, and Luna clenched her eyes shut and breathed deep as the effects of inter-dimensional travel made her head swim a bit. By the Creator, that stings, she thought, as she shook her head to try and get a hold of herself.
Soft gasps met her ears just then, and the night princess opened her eyes to see that she had arrived in the city square just outside of the royal palace in Canterlot, as she had intended. All around her were the various denizens of Equestria's capitol city, and everypony within eyesight had stopped to gawk at the sudden and unexpected light show of Luna's arrival, including the pair of guards standing watch at the palace's gate.
For her part, though, Luna could only smile broadly and expand her chest in pride. “I did it!” she shouted, and then laughed. “Mine exile is over! Huzzah!” With that, she turned and trotted over towards the gate, fully intending to see her sister at once.
She made it across the drawbridge before the two earth pony guards interposed themselves between her and the open gate, their hoof-carried spears leveled at her chest. “Halt, and identify yourself!” one of the armored mares demanded.
Luna stopped and stared, dumbfounded at the brazen display. Soon enough she regained her wits, and her face twisted in anger. “What manner of foalishness is this?” she demanded, her voice revealing the rise of her sudden temper. “Who art thou, who dares to threaten your princess with a brazen display of treachery?”
“We don't have any princesses that look like you,” the mare who'd spoken replied, sharply. “Now, identify yourself, or be arrested.”
Another moment of silent shock washed over Luna, and was only broken by the sound of many hooves coming from beyond the palace gate. Confused, she looked up to see two full squads, once each of uniccorns and pegasi, rushing to the gate, lead by one rather large mare in purple armor. “What's going on here?” she demanded, as she reached the earth pony guards.
“This strange mare is attempting to gain entrance to the palace, captain,” the leader of the two gate guards replied, without taking her eyes off of Luna. “She appeared out of nowhere only moments ago in some sort of spell.”
“Of course I did,” Luna said, garnering their full attention, as she assumed an imperious stance. “I hath been gone for a year, surely mine sister hath been worried of my disappearance?” she asked, and then frowned as something niggled in the back of her mind. Something is wrong here, she thought, but then put the idea aside; insurrection was afoot and she was not going to allow it.
“Your sister?” the large unicorn asked, as she stepped forward to stand even with the two earth ponies. Behind them the two squads of guards dispersed and assumed defensive positions, which irritated Luna with their intransigence. “And who might that be?”
Luna snapped her head back as if slapped. “Am I so easily forgotten?” she demanded, her tone a mixture of hurt and anger at the apparent betrayal. “Even sealed away in the moon for a thousand years, ponies at least remembered me from Nightmare Night. Yet I am gone for merely a year and some days and thou cannot remember mine sister is Celestia, princess of the sun?”
Her words finally seemed to have an equally confusing effect on ponies who accosted her. “What are you talking about?” the leader asked, confused. “Prince Arcturus was sealed in the moon for a millennium, and his brother, prince Solaris, moves the sun across the sky,” she explained, and then gave a hard look over Luna. “Granted, you sorta look like prince Arcturus, but he isn't a mare.”
Again, Luna was dumbfounded, and she took a solid minute to process what had been said before she uttered a reply. “What,” she stated, flatly.
“I said—” the leader began to reply, but was cut off as Luna snapped.
“I heard what thou said, wretch,” Luna shouted, in full Canterlot Royal Voice. The ponies in front of her all slid back half a body-length from the sheer force of her angry outburst. “What thou says is impossible, lest there hath been an uprising in mine absence,” she added, as she lowered her head and sent her horn aglow. “Prithee that the Creator grant you forgiveness if this is so, for if one hair on mine sister's head hath been damaged then I shall burn this palace to ash in order to wreak my vengeance!”
The unicorn mare lit up her horn in response, and within seconds a large, purple dome shield sprang into existence around the palace, its edge interposing itself between Luna and the guards. Once satisfied that the shield was in place, the mare turned her head to look back at one of the pegasus guardsponies. “Alert the barracks and the prince!” she ordered, and then turned her head back around to face the aggressor, just in time to see Luna disappear in a flash.
...And then reappear, inside the shield, just in front of the guards. The ponies all gasped in shock and started to react, but were too slow as Luna's magic reached out for every pony at the gate, and then hurled them to the ground. “Thou seeks to oppose me?” the dark alicorn asked, as her eyes held the hint of a glow behind her blue irises. “I hath destroyed shoggoths, scourged dragons, and fought in the Grand Tournament against beings the likes of which would make thee wet thyself in terror. Your shield is but a trifle to the regent of the moon!”
The guardsponies all writhed on the ground, as they attempted to free themselves from Luna's telekinetic grasp. “Let us go!” their leader demanded.
“Not until thou surrenders and takes me to mine sister!” Luna countered.
“Release them,” a new voice sounded from the direction of the gate. It was deep, commanding, and masculine, and Luna couldn't help but look up at its owner, and then gape in complete shock.
An alicorn stood before her, with a pristine white coat, flowing, regal mane and tail, and broadly spread wings. Immediately Luna's mind tried to peg this being as Celestia, yet her sibling was certainly not a stallion, as this being was. “Wh–who art thou?” she asked.
“I am prince Solaris,” the stallion replied, as he slowly advanced, his wings still spread and horn aglow. “And you are threatening my subjects; an act I will not tolerate. Now, release them.”
Luna blinked at this, and her mind started to make connections. Predominantly mares in the guards, masculine names... She almost absentmindedly released her hold on the guardsponies, and then slowly sat down on her rump. I have to test this idea, her mind demanded, and she looked up to spit the stallion alicorn with a hard look. “How do you like your alfalfa?” she asked, with a raised eyebrow.
There wasn't much to see on “Solaris'” face, but Luna had spent centuries observing her sister enough to see the nervous tics she still revealed when surprised or disgusted. A mirror of both played themselves out on the prince's face, and he frowned. “I... beg your pardon?”
Luna didn't reply, but instead turned her gaze to the side a bit, and then took in a deep breath. Slowly, she let it out, and then uttered a single word: “Fuck.”
* * * *
“Luna!”
“What?” Luna asked, as she gave her sister an innocent look. “How else was I supposed to react when I found out I was in a parallel reality where everypony had their sexes reversed? Including ourselves, mind you.”
“Still,” Celestia countered, her tone chastising. “Such language is unbecoming of a princess, and especially of a representative to another reality.”
Luna raised an eyebrow at that. “Somehow I missed that particular bit of protocol,” she said, with a smile.
Celestia sniffed and jerked her muzzle up. “Well, consider it minted as soon as we return home,” she replied.
Another look of concern moved over Luna's face, though it was quickly replaced with a more pensive expression. “Yes, well... in any case, Solaris and I had a bit of a long talk. One that eventually included my counterpart, Arcturus, and prince Tempo,” she said, and then winked. “I'll let you guess who the last one was.”
“Cadence's alternate?” Celestia asked, and then waited for Luna to nod. An idea entered her head then, and she frowned. “Wait, does that mean you accosted Shining Armor at the gate?”
“Glimmering Shield, actually,” Luna replied, with a smirk. “Almost everypony there had their names changed to something more befitting their gender.”
“I see,” Celestia said, and then took a moment to sip at her tea. She made a face, as it had cooled by now, but soon put the taste out of her mind. “So, what happened then?”
Luna collected her thoughts for a moment, and then replied. “Well, it took me bringing up a few events in the past that only your or I—or, apparently, our alternates—would remember, but they eventually believed my story about who I was and where I was from,” she explained, and then climbed out of her chair. Her horn lit up a moment later, and soon the tea service was all being carried away by her magic. “I asked to stay there a while, as I was tired of this reality,” Luna continued, as she turned and walked into the kitchen. “They agreed, after a few simple ground rules were established.”
“Really?” Celestia asked, as she climbed off her couch and then followed her sister into the other room. There she watched in mild fascination as the night princess, who had a small army of servants back home, washed her own tea service in the kitchen sink. “What sort of rules?”
“Reasonable ones,” Luna replied, as her magic lifted up some towels from a drawer so she could dry the ceramic dishes. “Obviously not to interfere in their government, or with their 'raising' the celestial bodies,” she added, and then snorted. “As if I could.”
“Indeed,” Celestia murmured, as her face flushed a bit in memory of her last conversation with Twilight Sparkle. Was that only this morning? She asked herself. It feels like ages ago.
“They also didn't want me to stay in Canterlot,” Luna went on, somewhat absentmindedly as she split her attention between the story and her work. “They had some official reasons, but I rather suspect that prince Tempo was still upset with my rough handling of his wife. So after some consideration, I decided to stay in Ponyville, since it has been so momentous to our nation these past few years.”
“Oh? And how was that?” Celestia asked, genuinely curious.
Luna was silent for a moment, and just wiped the tea kettle out with a towel as she thought. “Interesting,” she said at last. “As soon as I arrived, a rather energetic and party-obsessed stallion ambushed me with a pneumatic cannon loaded with confetti.”
Celestia couldn't help but laugh. “Pinkie Pie?” she asked, with a grin.
“Aye,” Luna replied, with a brief glance back to share in the smile. “Or I should say 'Bubble Berry',” she added, as she returned to her dish work. “Typical element of laughter, you know, so energetic, so friendly, overbearing to a fault.” She glanced back a second time and shot Celestia a knowing expression.
“Don't give me that look,” Celestia protested, with a sniff. “It's not my fault you got the boring elements.”
“Honesty, Loyalty, and Magic are not the 'boring' elements,” Luna retorted. “In any case, I endured the inevitable 'welcome-to-Ponyville-princess-Luna-from-another-reality' party, and subsequently met the other bearers of that world.” She paused, and then chuckled. “You should have seen the looks on their faces, 'Tia. I think most of them were torn somewhere between awkward aversion of the eyes to downright ogling my flank.”
That statement caught Celestia off guard, and she gave a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn't been drinking tea at the time. “What?” she asked, in surprise.
Luna chuckled. “Stallions, 'Tia, remember?” she asked. “All except Dusk Shine. I think he was mad at me for my encounter with Glimmering Shield, as well, though it was leavened with his innate curiosity and forgiving nature.”
Celestia blinked at the name, and she gaped slightly at her sister. “You mean Twilight Sparkle's alternate?”
“Of course,” Luna replied, with a shaky smile. “Whom else would I refer to?”
Something in her answer niggled at Celestia's mind, and she frowned a bit as she took in the mare before her. “Luna, what's wrong?” she asked.
“What makes you think something is wrong?” Luna asked back, her smile still crooked.
“Because, 'Honesty', you can't lie worth a spit,” Celestia countered, and then nodded towards the sink. “And because you've been drying that teapot for the last five minutes.”
Luna balked, and then glanced over to the teapot hovering over the sink. She sighed, and then set the pot to the side and then placed down the drying towel, as she had finished every other piece already. “My time in that version of Equestria is... somewhat of a mixed bag for me,” she said, as she turned to walk out of the kitchen and back towards the sitting area.
“How so?” Celestia asked, as Luna passed her. “It sounded rather nice to me; a lot better than here, anyway,” she added, as she turned to follow her sister. “Why didn't you stay there? Why come back here, of all places?”
Luna sat down on her earlier seat, and then waited patiently for Celestia to regain hers before she replied. “While I was welcomed at first, as time wore on there was a tension that started,” the younger alicorn explained. “At first I thought it was merely the oddity of dealing with a gender-reversed version of someone they know. Creator knows I had a hard enough time dealing with it myself.
“Eventually, however, I realized that my rough handling of the guardsponies was only the beginning,” Luna continued, and her voice dropped a bit. “I... I wasn't proud of it, but I didn't see what was wrong with it. At least, not until the other incidents.”
Celestia frowned at the odd turn of the conversation. “Other incidents?” she asked.
“Aye,” Luna replied, and then took in a deep breath. “Ponyville, as you know, has had more than its fair share of issues, recently, including an increase in monster attacks from the Everfree Forest.” She paused then, and waited for Celestia to nod her understanding. “Two of those incidents occurred while I was staying in Ponyville. The first was a pack of timberwolves that attacked three young colts near the Apples' farm. It was fortunate that I was close by looking for spell reagents to resume my research, and I rushed in and dispatched the creatures.”
“And that was a problem?” Celestia asked, confused.
Luna bit her lower lip. “Not the result, but rather, the method I used,” she said, slowly. “Instead of frightening them off, or merely flinging them away, I used lethal force on the timberwolves. I even hunted down the few that tried to run and destroyed them, so they could not attack again later on.”
Celestia leaned back at that, as surprise washed over her face. “That... was a bit extreme, wasn't it?”
“It depends on whom you ask,” Luna replied, evenly. “Applejack—yes, that name finds use with the male gender as well—was frankly nonchalant about the experience, and dare I say happy that the wolves were gone for good. Most other ponies, however, thought I had gone too far,” she explained, and then glanced to the side. “I argued against them, said it was only logical to destroy a threat before it could come back to bite you in the flank, but most didn't see it that way.
“Then the second incident came along,” Luna continued, as she continued to look away from her sister. “Three adolescent dragons attacked Ponyville, in an attempt to garner revenge against Spina—the alternate of your student's dragon assistant—for something she did. They hurt several ponies and nearly killed Dusk Shine, and for that I...” Her breath caught in her throat, and she glanced to the side again as tears formed in her eyes.
An understanding came together in Celestia's head, and she gasped lightly. “You killed them?”
“Two,” Luna replied, sadly. “But not in cold blood; they attacked me when I intervened, and even after I gave them several chances to retire, they continued to press their attack. One even grabbed Dusk to use as a pony shield,” she added, and then her voice took on a hard tone. “I ripped her damn neck apart, then fell upon the other one in a blind rage. The third wisely chose to run at that point, and I managed to keep myself from following.” Luna paused, and then looked to her sister with tearful eyes. “But it was close, 'Tia. If she hadn't run when she did... I don't know what I would have done.”
Emotion moved through Celestia as she contemplated her sister's confession. Disgust, shock, and fear all mingled together, yet the sad, pathetic look Luna gave her gave rise to far more powerful ones; sympathy, and love. “Luna,” she said, as she climbed off the divan and moved over to stand in front of the younger mare. “I won't pretend that what you did was something I would do myself,” she began, carefully, as she placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder. “But from what you describe, it was not disproportionate to the threat they represented.”
“It doesn't matter,” Luna replied, as she brought up a foreleg to wipe away some of her tears. “Whether I was justified or not, the fact I resorted to such actions showed something that I had worried about since the end of that first, terrible game in this reality,” she added, and then sniffed. “I felt satisfaction, even pleasure at killing my foes. I used more violence than was necessary, and I never once thought to try another method that might not require it.”
“Luna—” Celestia began, but was cut off as her sister snapped at her.
“I'm tainted, 'Tia,” she said, mournfully. “I want to blame this reality, blame its bloodthirsty crowds and easy acceptance of death and carnage... but the fact is I've always been this way,” Luna added, and then cast her gaze down.
“That's untrue and you know it,” Celestia replied, forcefully, as she gave a shake to her sister's shoulder. “You have never—”
“Rose up against you in an attempt to usurp your power?” Luna interrupted, as she looked up at Celestia with an expression consisting of equal parts of melancholy and recalcitrance. “Attempted to kill innocent ponies who only wanted their sun back? Made a foal of myself time and time again because I refused to learn how much Equestria had changed while I was locked in the moon for my hubris?”
“Stop that,” Celestia ordered, her tone hard as steel, and then waited to make sure Luna wouldn't interrupt her again. “You are a kind, compassionate pony who cares about her subjects,” the sun princess began, her voice low. “Your passion is legendary, and your zeal commendable, if sometimes misplaced. But know this: you are my sister, and so long as you have love in your heart and friends to guide you, then whatever you do, even if it is a mistake, cannot be unforgivable.” Celestia lowered her hoof and then leaned forward to give Luna a soft nuzzle. “You are not tainted, my wonderful sister. You cannot be, not with the way you've acted since we arrived here, at your home. I have seen and heard nothing more than the actions of somepony who cares so much for others that she is willing to do whatever she needs to do to protect them.
“Perhaps what you did was unnecessary,” Celestia allowed, as she pulled back. “But perhaps it wasn't; nopony can tell the future, after all, and your reaction to those attacks was well within your rights, both as an individual and as a ruling princess.”
Silence met her remarks, broken only by the muted sounds of Artemis' game from the other room. Luna stared at the floor for several long moments, with only an occasional sniffle to show she was still aware. Finally, she sighed, and then looked up towards Celestia. “You'll see,” she said, softly.
“See what?” Celestia asked, confused.
“What I am, what I've become,” Luna said, and then took in a deep breath. “And why I cannot return home.”
Celestia backpedaled at that, shock written on her face. “Luna... No, don't even speak of that,” she forcefully said. “I came here to retrieve you, to save you if you needed it. I'm not going to let you stay here when I return home.”
“Wait until you see the records of my matches before you make such a decision,” Luna advised, slowly. “I have some of my most... flashy performances stored in the media center in the living room. Tonight, after Artemis goes to sleep, we'll watch some, and then you can decide whether you really want me back.”
“I've decided now,” Celestia insisted, with a stomp of a foreleg. “I am not going to leave you here to suffer alone.”
“I'm not entirely alone,” Luna replied, evenly. “I do have Artemis.”
“An even better reason to come home,” Celestia stated. “Your daughter deserves to be raised amongst her own kind, don't you agree?”
A moment of silence met that question, before Luna sighed again. “What is her kind, 'Tia?” she asked, softly. “She was born here, has grown here, has absorbed this culture and its ways. I may have acclimated to this place, but Artemis has known nothing else. She may be a pony in shape, but her heart and personality are human, and all that implies.” Luna paused, and then looked up at Celestia. “Would you bring an eight-year-old child from the only culture, the only home she's ever known, just to give her what you think is a better life?”
“Yes,” Celestia replied instantly. She then took a moment to think, and then shook her head. “But... she is your foal, Luna. I won't tell you how to raise her, but I insist that you at least give me a chance to convince you.”
Luna nodded at that. “Fair enough,” she said, sadly. “So long as you give me a chance to try and convince you.”
Celestia frowned, but soon nodded in agreement. “Very well,” she said, and then glanced to a clock on the wall. “Your house servant should be back soon,” she observed.
Luna took the non sequitur in the spirit it was offered, and nodded an affirmation. “Verily. She will most likely take a bit longer than she said, as she understood my desire to speak with you in private.”
“I noticed,” Celestia replied, and then smiled at her sister. “You picked a good one, Luna; another reason you can't be so vile as you claim.”
The dark alicorn winced a bit at the jab at her position, but decided to let it pass. “Heather is a godsend,” she agreed, and then managed a small smile of her own as her tears started to dry. “She's so wonderful with Artemis, almost like a grandparent.”
Celestia nodded absentmindedly at that, as Luna's words brought up a question that had yet to be answered. “Speaking of which,” she began, slowly, and then paused to pick her words. “Luna... just who—or what—is Artemis' father?”
Luna blanched at that, and then glanced to the side and bit her lip. A moment of thought seemed to inspire her, and she turned her head back to face Celestia. “There's a second reason why I was uncomfortable in staying in the gender-bent Equestria,” she said, slowly. “After a time, I became close with a pony there, and he and I were... intimate.”
“I gathered that,” Celestia replied, dryly. “But why would that be a discomfort? Did you just sleep with him to use him?”
“Never!” Luna snapped, as anger flashed through her eyes. She paused at that, breathed deeply, and then continued in a softer tone. “Nay, it was a mutual and deep respect for one another, 'Tia, of that you can be sure. However, the dragon incident occurred not long after, and the stallion of which I speak had rather mixed feelings on the issue.” Luna bent her head down at that, and then wiped her eyes with a foreleg as she started to cry again. “On top of that, he was mortal, and we both know how such relationships are so short and bittersweet, even if it lasts the rest of their life. When added all together, I felt it would be best if I simply left.”
Silence fell over the sisters again, as Celestia contemplated Luna's explanation. “Did he know?” she finally asked. “Did you know?”
Luna shook her head. “Nay,” she replied, softly. “I did not find out until I arrived back here and had a physical for the next season of the Grand Tournament. It was a season I obviously sat out, until I could deliver my foal. If I had known before... well, I'm not sure if I would have made the same decision. Nor am I sure I wouldn't have done the exact same thing.”
“I see,” Celestia murmured. She thought for a moment, and then began to pace to work off some of her emotional energy. Almost as soon as she did, however, she stopped as a new idea entered her head. “Wait a moment... Luna?” she asked, and then waited for the other mare to look up at her. “Artemis is an alicorn, yet you said you laid with a mortal?”
“Aye,” Luna replied, and then offered a wan smile. “She has his eyes, you know.”
It took only a moment for Celestia's brain to bring back the color of the filly's eyes, and then several tidbits from her conversation with Luna. Her mind pieced these items together, and the realization they spawned slammed into her like a freight train. “You... slept... with my student? With Twilight Sparkle?”
“Dusk Shine, actually,” Luna replied, and then managed a sad smirk. “And technically, he's not your student, Celestia.”
“Same difference!” Celestia nearly shouted, as she gazed wide-eyed at Luna. “And how could she—he spark an alicorn foal?”
“Methinks you should already know that answer, if the tale of how she became your personal student is true,” Luna wryly observed. “Male or female, the current bearer of magic is possibly one of the strongest unicorns in Equestria. She might even ascend one day.”
“Indeed,” Celestia muttered, and then sighed. “Well... what's done is done. Though I do have a question,” she added, and then waited until she had her sister's full attention. “If—and I'm only saying 'if' right now so don't discount this out of hoof—you and Artemis come back with me, how would you handle your relationship with Twilight Sparkle? How would you handle your filly's relationship with her?”
“Well, I don't intend to tell them, if that's what you mean,” Luna replied, evenly. “And I would not pursue a relationship with Twilight beyond that of a friend. That ship has sailed, or so the humans say; I have had eight years to get over it, and while there are regrets, there is no desire for more than that.
“As for Artemis, I would very much love it if she and Twilight got to know each other well,” Luna continued, and then smiled. “Whether or not she's the actual father, it just seems appropriate.”
“Perhaps,” Celestia allowed. The two fell into silence again, as they both worked to process the long conversation. Eventually, the sounds coming from the living room impugned upon the sun princess' consciousness, and she frowned as some of the noises seemed disturbingly familiar to some bad memories in her past. “Luna, just what sort of game is Artemis playing?”
Something seemed to change in Luna at that, as her deflated body seemed to revitalize as she stepped off of her seat. “Let's go see, shall we?” she asked, with a smirk, as she cancelled her sound-muffling spell. She walked past her confused sister and led Celestia into the living room, where once again Artemis was settled in front of the multimedia center and levitating a controller.
Celestia frowned a bit as she finally paid more than a cursory glance to the screen. What she saw shocked her a bit, as a figure, seemingly guided by movements of a stick on the odd device Artemis levitated, moved around a grim, blasted landscape, shooting larger, uglier bipeds with fantastic weaponry. Celestia was about to question whether such a game would be appropriate for a filly—or anypony to play—when her train of thought was stopped old as Artemis guided her avatar up behind one of the enemy bipeds, and then revved up some sort of device on the weapon. A split second later, the enemy was bisected in a shower of blood and gore, even as it screamed in pain.
Far more disturbing to Celestia, however, was the childish giggle that left Artemis' muzzle. “Die, grub!” the filly jeered.
“Artemis,” Luna said, her voice now very much in control as if her repeated breakdowns in the other room hadn't happened.
The little filly startled at the mention of her name, and she quickly paused the game and then stood and turned around to face her mother and aunt. “Yes, momma?”
“I thought I turned the mature filter on for that game?” the dark alicorn asked, her voice dropping a bit in parental disappointment.
Artemis smiled sheepishly, and unconsciously rubbed one foreleg against the other. “Uhm... yeah...?” she said, unsure of what specifically would get her out of the situation.
Luna sighed. “Did Hazel come over and bypass it? Again?”
“Uh... maybe?” Artemis offered, with an unsure smile.
“I'm going to have a talk with that girl's parents soon,” Luna muttered, even as she lit up her horn and turned the game off again. “I told you, no blood and gore until you're twelve.”
“But mooooomm!” Artemis whined. “That's four yeeaaarrrs from now!”
“I know, but you can wait,” Luna replied, evenly. “Now, be honest with me: did Hazel bypass any other mature locks while she was here?”
The filly blinked, and then looked down and shuffled her hooves. “Just the gamestation,” she said, and then looked back up into her mother's eyes. “I swear.”
Luna gave Artemis a long look, but then nodded. “Alright. I won't punish you this time, but if I catch you playing an unlocked game again I'll chuck the bloody thing in the garbage.”
Artemis' eyes widened at that, and she quickly prostrated herself before her mother. “No, please! Please don't do that momma!” she begged, as she held up both forelegs in a pleading position.
“Just be good and it won't happen,” Luna replied evenly, and then smiled. “Now get up. Your aunt Celestia and I are done talking, and I think she would like to get to know you better.”
Celestia shook herself out of her shock-induced stupor at that, and then smiled down at the filly as the latter regained her hooves. “Indeed. That story you told me was great, but now I want to hear about you,” Celestia said.
“Really?” Artemis asked, her tone revealing her befuddlement. “Why?”
“Because you're a wonderful little filly,” Luna said, as she learned her head down to nuzzle her daughter. “And because Celestia has 'empty-nest syndrome'.”
“I do not!” Celestia rejoined, with a sniff. “How do you even begin to accuse me of that?”
Luna smiled as she brought her head back up and gave her sister a wink. “Come on, 'Tia, even though I was only back for two years, the palace servants couldn't help but talk about how empty the place seemed without a certain purple filly running around.”
Celestia blushed at that, and she gave Luna the hardest, most mean-spirited glare she could muster. “You fight dirty.”
“It's the human way!” Luna replied, with a chuckle. “Anyway, let's sit down and talk,” she added, and then led the other ponies towards the couches. “Artemis, how would you like to tell your aunt about our trip to Terra?”
“Ooh!” Artemis uttered, her face lighting up as she hopped onto the couch Luna picked and then quickly moved to nestle next to her mother. She did, however, position herself so she could face Celestia, and the filly looked up at the elder pony as the latter finished settling in on a divan. “You wanna hear about it, aunt Celestia?” Artemis asked. “It's really neat 'cuz we saw all sorts of cool stuff like the Everglades and the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall and—”
“Why don't you start at the beginning of our trip?” Luna gently interrupted, and then smiled as Artemis nodded and began again.
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I just know y'all're gonna hate me for this.
Meh, don't care. This is where the dang story ran in my head, so it's where I'm going. I'm not just jumping the shark, I'm shipping the ponies, sticking snakes on a plane, and pulling a Hong Kong Handover. Basically, I'm a hack. BUT, some people find this sort of thing amusing. So... yeah. Anyways, enjoy.
Still, is there too much telling, not enough showing? I want the emphasis on the sisters, not Luna's adventure in [SPOILER CENSOR], yanno?
I'm not sure if I'm 100% done with this chapter, but I'm satisfied enough with it for now. Not sure if I'll come back for another edit pass or just move on to part 6.
Also, thanks to The Descendant for letting me use the title of Luna ("Revenio") here.
Anyway, enjoy some Two Steps From Hell:
ok how did you get both slice of life and adventure tags?
1745498
The same way you get Neon to form molecular bonds; lots of heat, pressure, and artificiality.
1745506 ......
Awesome chapter once again! I don't mind the whole Luna-did-Tia's-genderbended-student thing, and the telling of Luna's tale is IMO just fine.
Keep it up!
UT2K4?
Will drop in read later list.
Huh. Interesting. Though I have to ask if you were hinting at Solaris and Arcturus not actually being able to move the sun and the moon. Anyway I'm quite glad to see this get an update and so soon after the last one.
1745720
I deliberately left that open to interpretation. Though myself I have a certain view on it that is my headcanon.
Updates... hopefully will come quicker. I feel like working on this story at the moment. But I don't want to promise anything, as whenever I do my muse decides to screw me over and make me want to do something else.
What do you think of Artemis? Too much, not enough? Crap? Good?
1745726
Cowawhaty?
1745764
Ah. No, she's not like that. Luna's doing her best to make sure the filly understands that treating others with appropriate amounts of respect is a good thing.
1745788
You can respect certain parts of your enemies. Especially the parts that are easy to run a chainsaw bayonet through.
Lots of side references... R63 Alt-verse, Timberwolf and Dragon encounter come from some other fics, though obviously altered, and of course... limited reference to potential Alicorn Twilight.
Good chapter all told!
1745758 Artemis could use a bit more to flesh her out. Just be wary of making her too Nyx-like. Find some quirks that work with her and Luna. Also good idea on leaving it open to interpretation, mainly because once you start messing with multiple realities, it gets more and more complicated. I just submit to the idea that each universe's Luna and Celestia have different levels of strength. Anywhere from "It's just an illusion" to "Oops, I accidentallied snuffed out the sun.....Luna! Have the kitchen's cook up some cabbage and baked beans and grab a match!"
Unreal tournament, really? and with Luna instead of Twilight like this stuff usually happens to?
going on my to read list.
Gah, can't tell you just how much I hate fictional situations like this. I know exactly the ways this could end and it just tears me up. Truly one of the worst things I've had to come across in my years of fiction.
1745498
Because he's just that AWESOME....
I don't mind the shipping and I don't mind Artemis, I think having a child is rather nice for Luna. The only thing about the fic that bugs me is the whole not moving the sun and the moon bit.
Well I for one liked this chapter. A lot of development and world building. Also crazy R63 Luna X Twilight is a bonus.
I want to love you in ways that should be illegal if they aren't already... In ways where your mind will scream "No!" but your body will bellow "YES!"
Did I just make that a bit too awkward?
I did, didn't I... Alright, I'll just go now...
This was the best fucking fic I've read in a long time, possibly forever. Shit, I love this kind of thing.
1745958
Fleshing out? Sounds good.
Nyx? I didn't even have that character in mind, frankly. Artemis was more of my idea of "what happens when you raise a pony up in a human environment?" and "mix R63 Twilight and Luna".
I know it's a sticking point for a lot of people that I don't consider Celestia and Luna moving the sun and moon, but I just prefer a bit more grounded approach. Yeah, I know, colorful talking ponies and all, but even then moving a solar mass and a moon around like that just stretches my suspension of disbelief just a bit too much, even for a cartoon.
1747675 Ehh, I'm guessing that's why most people like to consider them goddesses or at the very least demi-goddesses. Personally, while I respect you and your works, more often than not I find I truly despise the whole deception angle. Mostly because in comparison to the sweet and innocent show, the idea that Celestia and Luna are deceiving their subjects to maintain their power just seems too dang cynical. I imagine a lot of people feel the same way. there are plenty of ways of rationalizing that. Heck one fairly recent fic did an excellent job of finding a middle ground for being able to move the sun and moon: Both are artificial and were created to replace the original sun and moon when Discord tore their world away from it's solar system. Heck, other stories get around it by having the Sisters use their power to rotate the planet instead of physically shifting the sun or the moon....then there are the times you need to gut punch the critical side of your brain and just yell "CUTE COLORFUL TALKING PONIES WITH MAGIC!" at it. Then kick it in the ribs a few times.
Very nice chapter.
Yay! New chapter!
Artemis is adorable, BTW.
1747844
I understand that, but I'm just too deeply rooted in my understanding of stellar physics to adequately accept in my own stories the idea of moving a bloody star around. In other person's stories? Sure, I'll bite, so long as it's not a big part of the story. But Newtonian physics is just too damn elegant for me to abandon it, even for colorful, magical, talking ponies.
I saw that fanfic you mentioned, and I admit it's not a bad idea; might've used it myself had I thought of it first. The rotate the planet one I like, as well, though that still raises Celestia and Luna to truly Godlike powers, or at least Spacebat levels of insanely advanced tech. I don't know about other people, but I have trouble sympathizing and empathizing with beings that make me look like an amoeba. I want the princesses to be accessible, relatable, and sympathetic as both supporting characters and protagonists. And I can't really do that if they can fling stars around because frankly, that's not even the same fucking epoch as us. That's Tier-III "can use the entire energy output of a galaxy" style "don't fuck with this species" kind of mojo there. Which is fine if you want to live there, but stories generally lose their appeal when the local goddess can wave her horn and suddenly everything is peachy keen. My decision to limit the princesses' power is my preferred method of preventing that, as it allows me to have threats to their life and limb that aren't a, as the Foundation puts it: "XK End-of-the-world Scenario". Basically, when you've got goddesses at your disposal, the necessary threats have to be ratcheted up to match them, otherwise the stories become boring. OR you contrive excuses for why they can't help. Case in point with the last episode, where Celestia is conveniently out of the country (and Luna is apparently chopped daisies
). It works for the show, but that's because the show is soft and fluffy. I'm kinda writing something with a bit more bite, so I tend to bring the protagonists down to reasonable levels, rather than have mind-bending extra-normal "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! AGAIN! FOR THE 27TH TIME! THIS FUCKING YEAR!" kind of threats.
...So yeah, that went on. But my point stands, in that I feel this makes them more interesting and sympathetic characters, which means a better story.
1745404 For this chapter's purpose? It's the perfect balance between telling and showing.
This was indeed a very entertaining chapter, especially the moment when Celestia realises who's Artemis' father.
I guess this pic describes it well:
scranton.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw6245-Mother_of_me....png
At least that was my reaction for a few sec before bursting into an uncontrollable laughter that would have put even Pinkie Pie to shame!
I loved the way you implemented the R63'verse, mostly because I read that story that started it. Btw, it was nice to see that DHX acknowledged that story in "Magic Duel", even if "R63 Applejack" was just an orange painted Big Macintosh but still non the less funny!
Kudos to Luna for her great foalraising skills, only minimal swearing in a violent video game meant for 18+ year olds.
Im honestly start to think that todays age ratings for games are there more to protect the older gen. from the idiocy of the younger ones, then to prevent said younglings from getting their hands on that game.
Im looking forward to Artemis describing Earth/Terra (god knows I love the latin name) and Luna showing Celly some of her Tournament recordings Something tells me that the elder sister is going to puke, vomit and blow chunks up, mostly because of that inbound cake.
1749125 Actually that's one of the fun parts of writing them as goddesses is finding out when it's a good time for them to step in or let the ponies take care of it themselves. Kind of a "When to use power and when NOT to use power" scenario. Though I'm surprised you dislike Queen Chrysalis and her changelings so much when the Queen brought Celestia down several pegs. I mean we actually see her get hurt, showing she's not nigh indestructible and all-powerful even if it did hurt to see a character we like get hurt. Many bronies would get angry if they saw Fluttershy cry. I don't know if I would, but I do know I would find a way to rip out someone's soul just so I could punch their soul in the balls if I saw the Princesses get hurt/cry....and maybe Cadance-berg.
static1.fjcdn.com/comments/The+hands+with+the+touching+you+read+in+_bcd547f1012bf0d745099d27b4dee5d7.jpg
I saw, I came, now I must stay to clean up the mess.
1749731
That's half the reason I adore Dashie so much, is she's the bearer of Loyalty. (Yeah yeah, I know she has trouble with it, but then so do all the ponies: I think it's kinda natural, given the nature of the show and also the nature of their elements to renew the idea constantly.)
Yeah, see, the thing is, I'm also loyal.
The other half is because she's so awesome.
So even if I do like the fact that Celestia was knocked about and thus shown not to be the überpony that many fans make her out to be, I'm more than willing to burn all the Changelings for their grievous attack, not only on Celestia but all the innocents in Canterlot. Because I'm the kind of loyal guy who hates New York City, for instance, and I wouldn't mind if they all just shut up and ran back to their stupid cesspool of a city and never came out. But a terrorist hurts one of them, and by God, I will fuck that asshole up. Because to me loyalty means something.
But anyway, I just refuse to see Celestia and Luna as goddesses. Not only because of the aforementioned reasons, but also because I would feel it kind of treads the line of blasphemy, and while I know it's fiction and all, I'm not comfortable writing stuff like that out myself, even if I'm willing to tolerate it in stories others write.
1749996 Blasphemy? Interesting to say the least, though I can say it's not the first time I've heard similar feelings about them portrayed as such...I still find it as goofy now as I did then but that's just me.
1750177
You do NOT piss off God. Simple as that. 
"Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me." That's pretty darn clear, man.
Coming back to what you said in the previous chapter: That makes the name Artemis even more ironic.
Artemis is a moon goddess but also a hunter goddess, a dark magic goddess (as Hekate), an expert archer and (along with her twin brother and sun god Apollo) a goddess of sudden death.
Meanwhile Luna is the Roman name for Selene, a goddess of the moon whose only input in the myths is having a bunch of children with a guy in magical coma, she never exchanged a word with.
I was always thinking about it in terms of attuning to the given celestial body (as you did for Celestia and Luna) and "moving the sun with the sun's power" rather than just "moving the sun". That explains why they wouldn't be that powerful otherwise.
Either that or they have more Discworld-like physics with the planet in the center and a moon-sized sun orbiting around it.
I like how Luna now puts humans in the same category as shoggoths and dragons
Cogs of War... Gears of War...
Dead Space... Necro(?) Space...
HALO... Ring Worlds(?)...
what else?
1750997
Humans, Skaarj, Gen'mokai, cyborgs, robots, and Juggernauts; all of which she has a healthy respect for their prowess, if not other aspects they have.
The story's good, Luna got a kid, eating meat, and murdering the tar out of enemies. I was thinking that "Artemis" would be a name of her human lover, but foal was even better. Keep on, upvote, fav and follow.
Also for a short moment i derped and remembered the story as "ASDM", which got decrypted by my mind as "Alicorn Sisters DeathMatch"
1751633
Wasn't that "Cogs of Carnage"?
Oh MY GODS that is some good stuff. I just knew it I knew that It was Dusks kid ha!
1750209 Ah but that opens a whole new can of worms. The one that certain peoples are still killing others over.
1752731
As if people need religion as an excuse to kill each other when there are so many others they can—and do—use.
1753760 Like race! And for a moment there, I was tempted to use Spork's "This one time at Concentration Camp" pic, but that would have probably been a bit much....Kinda like Spork.
1755892
Sometimes I wonder if Spork was exposed to the Internet at a young age and subsequently never developed human emotions as we know them.
1756366 He's a cybernetic badger, what'd you expect?
1757149
An insane cyber-badger from another reality who feeds on hatred and suffering. If you're going to quote my feverish ramblings, get them right.
1757196 Bah! I'm paraphrasing, ya heathen. (Can you guess that quote?)
1757235
The quote matrix in my brain only works when it feels like it. I'm sure I've probably come across that one at some point, but right now I'm drawing a blank.
So enjoy a picture of my frustration.
1757245
i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/stryke81/MLP/128495-berry_punchmacro.jpg
It was Dutch from Halo 3 ODST
1757374
Does she really look like that in that episode? Because seriously, that would be awesome.
I should do something with Berry Punch; a story about her drunken escapades perhaps? Maybe twine it with my versions of Lyra and Macintosh.
Figures, just went I'm working on Chapter 16 of FS a new idea hits.
It shall have to wait.
Also do you have any sort of job? You're online at times I would normally categorize as "unemployed layabout"-esque.
1757407 College student. Had my finals yesterday. Also drunk Berry Punch with Lyra and Big Macintosh antics would be hilarious.
1757656
Lucky bastard. Don't get used to having time off; you'll lose it soon enough.
I might have to write that sometime soon, then.
1757656 Oh believe me, I know. One of the reasons I won't be immediately job searching is i have an upcoming surgery and I'm not sure how long it'll put me out of business.
Small typos:
?
A light break in her oat
-(c)oat
denizens of Equestria's capitol city
-capit(a)l
-==-
I wonder will Artemis call Twilight her aunt? And what would be Sparkle reaction - this