Prologue - Frontier
Equestria 3:00am, 2nd of Alzeri, 2 Months after the reveal of Artemis, Octavia's Roof
An unscheduled late winter shower had coated everything in a blanket of white, and the unexpected cold gave the air a frigid bite. Cold nights were a personal favorite of his, perfect for thinking alone or sharing warmth with another. As he heard the familiar whirring gears of the rooftop ladder descending, Artemis was keenly aware that he would be alone no longer. As of late he had become a frequent visitor to Octavia and Vinyl’s rooftop deck, anytime he and Luna had an argument he could be found in the Valley, the Apple Family barn, or the roof depending on how alone he felt like being. It was then that a white mare came into view, pushing the glass hatch open.
“I told you he was up here,” called down Vinyl as she tightened her scarf. “Yeah I know it’s late, just grab your coat and get up here.”
Though he hadn’t really been waiting for her to show up, he had been expecting her. Vinyl would always stop whatever she was doing to try to help whenever he and Luna fought. Her selflessness at times was one of the things he admired about her, though it sometimes contrasted with Octavia’s usually blatant selfishness.
“Another bad one huh?’
“Aren’t all fights with your lover ‘bad ones’?”
“Not always, I mean she’d never admit it but Octy sometimes starts fights just for the awesome make-up sex” snickered Vinyl as her grey partner climbed onto the deck.
“Like I would ever do such a thing, it’s more like you screw up intentionally to start the arguments.”
“Hey I’ve never denied doing that, but that also doesn’t not make you an accomplice.”
"What does that even mean?"
Artemis couldn’t help but smile at their playful bantering, their playful innocence was a refreshing injection of hope into a relatively bleak outlook on the future. He longed for a day to come when he could be as carefree, and while his reprieve of leadership duties was his opportunity, it was far from carefree or happy.
“If you haven’t noticed its freezing out here, focus. Artemis why have you and Luna been fighting so much lately? It wasn’t like this before, was it? Because if it was, this hardly seems like the perfect love you described.”
“Octy come on! Rude much?”
“She's right though, we are at a bit of an impasse. Luna has dug in, and I don’t see an acceptable alternative. Yet again I can’t even be angry with her because the fact that she is so adamant on the subject is part of why I love her and why I’m here today,” Artemis sighed. Things were so much simpler before he involved himself with the others. Back when he only cared for the welfare of the wolves and no one else. What happened to the rest of the world wasn’t even an afterthought.
“Dude can you stop with the vague allusions, and just tell us what you are fighting about? Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective to help smooth things along.”
“Woah Vinyl, allusions? That’s a new one, where’d you hear it?” smirked Octavia much to the annoyance of Vinyl. “She does have a point though, and you will keep having these fights until you come up with a solution. As much as I love talking with you outside in the middle of the night during a coldsnap, the sooner I can get back to warmth of my bed the better.”
“Nothing would be gained from telling you, I’m sorry to say,” sighed Artemis. “While I appreciate your offer and entirely selfless desire to help, it would only place an unnecessary burden on you.”
“Come on, you can trust us Artemis. We’re your friends, we aren’t here to tell you that you’re always right. True friends will tell you when you’re wrong, and knock you back onto the right path when you stray too far,” smiled Vinyl cheerfully.
“Luna and I have lived for countless millennia, do you honestly believe you can think of a solution we cannot?”
“Not really, but that doesn’t mean it can’t help.”
“Also doesn’t mean it won’t hurt either.”
“ARTEMIS! I’m freezing my flank off out here, let us help you or I’m going to bed!”
As he was going to tell her to go to bed, he remembered his own words and the urging of Twilight. “Nothing survives in this world on its own” and “Trust your friends”. Last time he had done that, he lost damn near everything that ever mattered to him. Before he could begin his sentence, another thought came to mind. “What more do I have to lose?”
“What should happen to the griffons?” whispered Artemis in the silence. “What should happen to the ones who slaughtered my subjects and sought to wipe them from this world? That is what we have been arguing over.”
Both Vinyl and Octavia froze for a moment, neither of them had even considered that as a potential source of conflict. Both of them figured it had something to do with his relationship with Celestia. Helping mend a broken friendship was something they could do, but deciding the political consequences for attempted genocide was beyond them.
“Should I go rip them limb from limb, stain the earth in their blood, burn everything they’ve touched, and salt the land? Reduce the territory known as the Griffon Kingdom to a smoldering blight on this world, scarring it in such a way that it would never heal as warning to all of the consequences of crossing me? Does that sound a little extreme? I’m not sure because the baser side of me feels like it’s a perfectly reasonable response!”
Vinyl and Octavia wanted to respond, but they could tell this was only the tip of the iceberg. The damn had burst and it wasn’t going to stop until it was empty.
“And Luna, bless her heart, is adamantly against it. Saying that the world will not stand by while I butcher the Griffons, and that I would be forcing her to stand against me. While she may be right, it is no less aggravating on too many levels. WHERE WAS THE WORLD WHEN THEY CUT DOWN MY WOLVES? She knows I wouldn’t want to put her in that situation, but what are the alternatives? She suggests sanctions. Sanctions? Sanctions! Flimsy restrictions on trade and diplomatic allies to isolate them economically and politically? That might work on some countries, but if the Griffon Kingdom hasn’t changed, which they likely haven’t, they will do nothing. The ones who will suffer will be the poor subjects while the king sits on his throne fat and happy, and even worse it doesn’t teach them the all too important lesson. To complicate things further, the ones who were actually responsible are long dead and buried. Death is surprisingly kind, but she wouldn’t let me resurrect and torment the ones who caused all of this. Am I expected to just let it go? I don’t know! I don’t even know what I want!”
For a time the only thing that could be heard was the howl of the wind, the questions in the angry rant lingering in the air far longer than anyone would’ve liked. However it wasn’t too long before Octavia found her voice.
“Well, you were right about one thing. Neither Vinyl nor I can tell you how to respond to the griffins.”
“I knew you wouldn’t.”
“However I can tell you that no one can decide this for you. Instead of distracting yourself with us whenever you have an argument, you NEED to think about this. I understand it is a difficult subject, but you need to face the reality of what happened and figure out how to deal with it. Right and wrong are irrelevant to your feelings, figure out what you want. Then after you know what you want, figure out the right thing to do. Anger and rage is normal, it’s a miracle every day I go without strangling some insufferable clown. As long as I don’t actually do it, I won’t end up in prison. Same principle here, just on a bigger scale.”
“Don’t you think I have tried to think abo-“
“No, you haven’t. That’s why you’re here and this hasn’t been settled yet. You’re probably using anything possible to distract yourself. Just because you don’t always come here after an argument doesn’t mean you aren’t with someone or something else. You need to get away from it: the city, Luna, us, everything. Just go somewhere and think.”
Octavia had been annoyingly right, he hadn’t been doing everything he could to think of a solution. He had been distracting himself with anything that was available, and avoiding the problem wasn’t going to make it magically go away.
“You’re right,” sighed Artemis as a shudder went through his body. A realization struck him, freedom. Now as he was, he had no obligations that required constant attention or presence. He was free to do what he wanted. As he stood there looking off into the distance he got the urge to do what he used to do before he took on the responsibilities of running a country, and he made a decision. “You’re right, and I’m going to do something about it.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to do what you said, I’m going to go and think. Not sure where, but I think I’m just going to wander until I figure something out.”
“Uhh not really what I had in mind, but if you think it will help Vinyl and I will support you. Are you just going to wander around the city or did you have some place in mind?”
“I was thinking of going back to wandering the world, before I unified the wolves it was all I did. In fact it was because I wandered that I realized how scattered and endangered the wolves were when compared to other more organized and unified countries. I traveled the world just thinking and gaining experiences. I think it will do me some good to try it again.”
Vinyl who had been strangely quiet seemed to react to her name being mentioned. Normally she was the one comforting Artemis, but she was glad that Octavia had taken the lead this time. She wasn’t sure what to make of any of this, and part of her felt like they should try harder to keep him away from destroying everything.
“Hey Artemis, it’s your decision but just remember what I told you before when I was talking about revenge. It’s never as satisfying when the time comes and it won’t ever make up for the pain you feel now.”
“Luna tells me that often, she is terrified by the idea of me being consumed by the same darkness that claimed her. Her genuine fear pains me every time I see it, but even still I can make no promises as to what I will do. I will keep it in mind though.”
“Good enough, so same deal as last time? Promise us you won’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“It’s a deal.”
“Sweet, but when are you leaving though? We got time to party?”
Artemis thought about it briefly. Ideally he would leave now, but he had to tell everyone and the only one awake besides Vinyl and Octavia was Luna. He stopped himself before he could continue his thought, he was making excuses again. This was something he needed to do sooner rather than later; he would not put it off any longer. He knew he should probably have a longer discussion with Luna about it, but he knew neither of them was really ready to speak to each other so soon. Both he and Luna subscribed to idea that it was easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. They would know the other was safe and alive, and that would have to do for now.
“Sorry Vinyl I think I’m going to leave right now actually, not sure how long I’ll be gone though. Knowing me though, it’ll probably be a while. Will you two be able to manage without me?” Artemis said with a smirk.
Vinyl and Octavia had the least problems of the ponies he kept track of that ever called him. Fluttershy called him the most which he didn’t mind it all, her kindness made her company always welcome sometimes to the dismay of Discord. Neither Rarity nor Rainbow Dash had ever called for him which he didn’t mind at all either, his strange tension with Rarity had only ballooned into open dislike in his time trying to get to know her. While Rainbow Dash never called him, he had on more than one occasion stopped her from hitting the ground or a cliff at Mach one. Pinkie Pie only called him as a taste tester for her various kitchen experiments, but he noticed she only seemed to call him during those times he was alone during the day and not asleep. Though it happened very rarely, he appreciated the sweetness behind her intentions. He had the utmost confidence in Applejack and Twilight to be able take care of any problem they faced without him. Applejack was stubborn but she’d find a solution in her own way, and Twilight would rely on her friends for help if there was a problem she couldn’t solve with an enormous amount of magic.
“Oh no, however will we manage without our big fuzzy security blanket?” Vinyl smirked as she gave Artemis a hug. “We’ll be fine, just take care of yourself big guy.”
“Yeah be careful out there, I’d hate to have to gallivant across the world with Luna and Vinyl to get revenge on your killer,” smiled Octavia as she playfully punched his leg. “Seriously though don’t go causing any international incidents, remember what I said about not strangling ponies. Take your time, and be safe.”
Artemis scooped both the mares into warm hug before answering with a soft, “I will”.
"We'll do the party when you come back, make sure we have something to celebrate."
Artemis set the mares down, before bolting off into the night. He hadn’t really checked any maps since he had been free, he had meant to but never got around to really studying the new country borders. As he sprinted on all fours he was glad he hadn’t done his homework, he preferred not knowing where he would end up. He naturally knew he was headed north, but he figured at some point he would change directions on a whim. Once he was out of Canterlot, it would just be him and nature as he traveled across the land. It would be hard not seeing physically seeing Luna, but he needed to take care of this for their and the world’s sake. For once taking care of his needs was all that really mattered.
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Well, looks like Artemis is a free wolf, sort of, now that he's off and out and about to wander Equestria again. Hopefully there aren't any skittish ponies that haven't heard the news about a wolf-king shacking up with their Princess and panicking about the big bad carnivore when they see him
Also, I feel like if he could resurrect some dead griffons to torment them, then why...couldn't...he...resurrect some wolves
While not introduced in this story, possibly in the slight prequel in the works, Death is a force like Luna, Celestia, and Artemis. Even though they are immortal demi-gods with lots of freedom and power, they have rules they should respect in regards to magic especially within their domains. Death would likely be willing to give a few of the souls of the top griffons involved a break from damnation to let Artemis get answers or closure via torture. Bringing their soul back to talk and interact with them is not quite the same as resurrection. Resurrection is one of those rules, while Death is technically able to do it she understands that there are major ramifications and it never ends well so she just doesn't allow it. She may be willing to bend rules with the very recently deceased (think minutes), after that they gone.
Glad someone asked
Is that Star Trek?