Return Visit

by Bronyxy

2 Student of the Night

The next few days went past in a blur. When Dusk had first been approached to see if he was interested in picking up some of Artemis’ duties, he had at once been thrilled to be given the opportunity to learn such high level magic, but also concurrently plunged headlong into a cycle of self-doubt apparent from his hyperventilating. His friends had all come to recognise this response, and even adopted the term ‘dusking’ amongst themselves, although none had ever dared tell him this to his face.

When the former prized student’s breathing had settled down to more socially acceptable levels, Artemis took the opportunity to pull up a flipchart and draw out a family tree of his responsibilities, ranging from where he collected lavender to fill the wall sconces every evening, through to raising the moon. Once he had introduced each of these individual duties, he shot Dusk a look, gauging his attentiveness, and then watched his expression as he added one additional item to the list, an activity that he had placed even higher than controlling the moon; dream walking.

Dusk looked back at him quizzically, “I thought raising and lowering the moon was the most important job you did?”

“Not at all” Artemis replied, “You may recall that my brother was able to take care of that duty during my extended absence, but even he, with all the magic at his disposal cannot enter the dream realm. In fact, this is the only one of my activities that nopony else has ever demonstrated the ability to master.”

His unwavering teal eyes were met with a degree of apprehension in Dusk’s purple ones. “Would you like me to show you? Perhaps you will have an aptitude for it.”

Silence settled between them, broken only by Solaris turning towards his former prized student and giving an appreciative nod.

“We could make a start tonight” Artemis offered, raising one eyebrow and adding casually, “Unless, perhaps, you may have something more pressing to do?”

Dusk worked his mouth in the same way as a goldfish does, but no sound came out.

“Huzzah! No objections then” Artemis cheered, casting a mischievous grin towards his brother, then turning his attention back to the Prince of Friendship, “Everything we need is prepared and awaiting our pleasure atop my tower, please follow me.”

With this, the midnight blue stallion strode purposefully out onto the Royal balcony followed by his newly appointed student, and stretched his wings, taking delight in feeling the breeze simply play across his feathers. He stood there for a brief moment and sniffed the crispness of the air, clearing his mind, before taking a glance over his shoulder to ensure Dusk had followed. He shot a reassuring look at his stunned companion, then squatted down slightly to tension his haunches, and sprang into the air, large wings pounding to get airborne.

Solaris remained behind on the balcony, watching the two alicorn Princes ascend as silhouettes against the backdrop of purples and ochres that rushed to fill the sky once the last thin strip of gold had hidden its face below the horizon. He chuckled to himself and shook his head gently at the sight, before turning and going back into the castle where he intended to remove his hoof guards, kick back and indulge in a little light reading with a glass of fine port.

Artemis touched down adeptly in the limited space on the balcony outside his study at the top of the tall white tower. Dusk followed suit, knowing that he was one of the very few ponies who had an open invitation to land here; every pegasus knew to whom this platform belonged, and that its owner generally slept during the daytime, so kept a wary distance lest they incur his displeasure.

“So” he declared, in a fine schoolmasterly voice, “Our immediate duty will be to raise the moon. Pay attention please …”

Dusk watched as Artemis summoned his magic and then raised both forelegs into the air waving them in a manner that may have been considered comical, were it not that he was so close to those flailing hooves. The movements seemed so much more extravagant than the calm and composed mannerisms employed by his brother when raising the sun, and he focused intently to pick up on the subtle nuances of the actions.

Once the moon had been introduced to the night sky and greeted them with its soft glow, Artemis returned his hooves softly onto the balcony and allowed the pale blue aura around his horn to fade.

“The moon behaved well tonight” he observed, “Sometimes it can be mischievous and lead us a merry dance before it complies.”

“Talking of dances” Dusk began, “If you don't mind my asking; what were those hoof waving moves for?”

Artemis looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, as if sizing him up before he chose to answer.

“For me, the individual elements of the night sky are the separate performers in an orchestra, poised to deliver an inspiring symphony, provided that they are synchronised and cued in the right way.”

“My role is that of their conductor, and I see it as my responsibility to ensure that all the beautiful pieces are brought together correctly to deliver the most pleasing effect. Once everything is in its place and working as it should, then the moon makes its entrance, as the virtuoso soloist to begin the evening’s performance.

“You see, raising the sun is in itself a single action, which is why my brother can afford to adopt a more laid back style. If the sun is reluctant to rise, then he simply directs more energy towards it. Such an approach could never work with all the subtle elements of the night sky, which is why I have to be much more creative in summoning them.”

“So its not just raising the moon then?” asked Dusk, “There’s a lot more to it than that.”

“Decidedly so, but we choose to refer to it in its simplest form to avoid complicated explanations that most ponies have neither the interest nor the patience to hear.”

“I am not most ponies” checked Dusk.

“Agreed” confirmed Artemis, showing him a paternal smile, “Or I should not be choosing to share all this with you.”

Solaris was in his study, the subdued candle lighting being sufficient to read by, but at the same time not enough to suppress the orange light from the small pile of seasoned logs burning in the fireplace. His hoof guards lay discarded by the door where he had entered and simply shaken them off for the joy of feeling free, the first tangible step in the process of his nightly unwinding and distancing himself from the problems of the day.

He reclined happily, a cut crystal goblet containing a mellow port on one side as he once more read through the scroll that Dusk had written on the occasion of the fillies accidently entering his world. Having a letter from his prized student was a treasure in itself, but it was quite another to reflect that this particular one had been received by hoof personally from none other than Princess Celestia herself.

Having read it through a good half dozen times, he took a sip of the full bodied port and allowed his eyes to close, thinking about Princess Celestia once more; they were, he conceded, overdue for an opportunity to meet up. He carefully retied the scroll and filed it away, picking up a copy of “Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit” to remind himself of how it had all begun.

He walked back from the bookcase to his reclining chair, rifling through the pages until he found a bookmark at the chapter entitled “Alternate Universes and You”, then settled back for a comfortable read.

Once he had read the chapter, he rose to pour himself another port and a smile crossed his face as he tried to imagine how hard Dusk would be working at this precise moment under his brother’s keen tutelage.

The next morning, a well-rested Solaris rose in the calm of the pre-dawn to meet Artemis and catch up on the previous night’s events, so they could exchange responsibility for safeguarding Equestria. He strolled out confidently onto the Royal balcony to find two ponies already awaiting his pleasure.

Artemis walked forward with a hint of youthful prance in his step, but behind him followed his utterly exhausted protégé, wings drooping almost as badly as his eyelids, struggling to place one hoof in front of the other.

“Ah, good morning Artemis” the white stallion beamed, “A good night for you and your student, I trust?”

“Yes, thank you dear Brother. Young Dusk Shine has quite an aptitude for the magic of the night” he bubbled enthusiastically, “And he may even be in possession of that rare quality which I can mould into making him a dream walker too!”

Solaris chuckled and nodded approvingly, turning his attention to his drained companion.

“And what about you, Dusk?” he enquired, watching out the corner of his eye as Artemis seemed to be almost dancing on the spot, “How was it for you?”

“So … much … to … learn …” came the croaked reply, the student’s big purple eyes barely managing to raise themselves sufficiently to meet the stallion’s.

“I do believe refreshment to be in order” noted Solaris, “The kitchen staff have provided extra coffee on the offchance it may be needed. Now, which of you will be lowering the moon this morning?”

“Has the new coffee pot I ordered been delivered?” asked Artemis, noticeably avoiding the question to eye his brother suspiciously.

“Oh, is that what it is?” came the reply, “We weren’t sure whether it belonged in the dining room or in one of the art galleries …”

Artemis heaved an overly theatrical sigh of exasperation, and tried to fix his brother with an annoyed stare, but the sparkle in his eyes betrayed his good mood, and the corners of his mouth broke into a grin, the intensity of his stare quickly dissolving as they began to laugh and share the moment.

“Yes, of course it’s there” conceded Solaris, giving Artemis a playful pat on the shoulder, “And once again I am sorry for the loss of your previous artefact.”

“’Twas not so much that, dear brother, but moreover that spherical aberration chosen to replace it.”

“I will see if I can find out who ordered it for you” offered Solaris, somehow having trouble maintaining eye contact, “But it may take some time …”

“No need” proclaimed Artemis breezily, “I have located the signed requisition.”

“Oh … you have …” Solaris faltered, seeking desperately to change the subject, “But that can wait for now, can’t it? It looks like our young friend is in rather urgent need of coffee, whatever shaped vessel it comes in.”

“Quite so” Artemis agreed, trying his best to sound earnest as he fought to conceal the victorious smirk spreading across his muzzle, and fell in behind his brother who was walking across the balcony towards the Royal dining room, “Quite so.”