Login

A Chance Meeting of Two Moons

by Evilhumour

Chapter 14: Chapter ten Artemis

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Chapter Ten - Artemis

Artemis yawned, stretching his neck. Pulling his hooves closer, he went over what he and Luna had talked about.

Or at least he tried; he was far too tired from pulling an all day workload before with Solaris, and he was nearing a second one in this realm if his sleep-addled mind was correct. If he didn’t catch some proper sleep soon he would be a true mess, and he wouldn’t be able to raise the mo-

With a jolt, he tried to leap out of whatever he was laying on to go fix that important duty of his!

Again, the key word was try. With a grunt and a meep, he smashed his forehead into something hard, rolled off the object he was lying on and landed on his tail. Using his right hoof to rub his head, and his left hoof to hold the very soft pillow to his chest, he tried to sit upright and open his tired eyes.

What he saw was a dark purple clump of something with a horn sticking out-

SWEET FAUST IT’S DUSK SHINE’S SHE-SELF!

With a yelp, Artemis threw the pony off himself before he could think better of it. He tried to catch the poor mare with his magic but a familiar glow caught her before she hit the wall.

“I suppose it was lucky of me to check up on you two when I did,” a soft, compassionate voice chided him, gently placing the very startled mare on the floor. “Although, I am surprised, Twilight, that you yelped; I thought you made a plan to let Artemis know about this whole thing quietly.”

The alicorn huffed, shaking her mane that was clearly caked in dried drool. “It wasn’t me, Princess!” She glared at him, causing Artemis to fold inwards.

“A thousand apologies, dear Twilight! We art most ashamed of our horrendous behaviour and-”

His panicked rambling was cut off when Celestia placed a hoof on his lips. His eyes slowly focused on it, the hammering of his heart fading away from his ears. Those ears fell to the side of his head and he felt himself blush at how he had been acting. He had not slipped into the old tongue for a very long time and it was embarrassing to do so now.

Celestia kept her hoof on his mouth, most likely waiting until he had calmed down further. He forced himself to slow his breathing to a more reasonable pace and tried to force his hindlegs out from under himself so he could get into a more appropriate sitting position.

She then placed a hoof on his shoulder as if to steady him, and he tried not to flinch from the touch. Too much, at least. Eying the balcony, he knew he was still too exhausted to rush over there. His heart raced again, the panic returning.

“-id leave, Twilight, this is not up for debate.”

“Okay Prin- Celestia,” the mare whined slightly, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her with a click.

“Now that we are alone, will you be okay, Prince Artemis?” She sounded concerned, very concerned.

Artemis gave a weak nod, his panic starting to ebb away again, but very slowly this time. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to remember that it was not the past, it was going to be okay, he was okay-

“G-good,” Celestia said hesitantly. Artemis opened his eyes to see a hoof reaching out to pull him into an embrace. “I-”

“D-don’t,” Artemis squeaked out, scooting backwards. “Please, leave Us be for the moment.”

Celestia licked her lips in concern, turning her head to the side. “The bathroom is over-”

“Th-thank thee.” Artemis stuttered, trying his hardest not to remember that night as he ran into the bathroom. Not now, not here.

Not ever.

He splashed some cold water on his face, trying to gain some control over himself. He had to remind himself of how much he had progressed in the past, that it would certainly not happen again. Not in this time and day and certainly not with his brother’s prized student and close friend.

He blinked at his reflection before sighing.

It was Celestia and her precious student, although it finally dawned on him to why he was able to be with Celestia before without falling to pieces. He snickered, wondering how she might take it if she learned that he saw her as his br-

“Feeling better Prince Artemis?” Celestia looked at him from the doorway, still very concerned.

“Yes Celestia,” he nodded his head, feeling in control once more. “And no, I do not wish to ‘talk about it.”

He watched her react to that. Normally, he would expect her to nod like Solaris did, not giving him any real indication on his thought of the matter.

Instead, she bit her lip, nodding her head slightly as she muttered “Okay.”

It seemed that both of their masks were gone at the moment…

“Thank you for understanding,” he muttered softly, moving back into what he quickly realized was Luna’s bedroom, judging by the organized piles of paper throughout the room that were similar to his own chambers back in his realm.

…Which meant he had been sleeping in Luna’s bed with a ma- Twil- the female version of his brother’s student! He nearly became as red as that farmer mare from the Apple clan, his embarrassment and panic nearly sending him to floor before he stomped down on it firmly.

Celestia coughed, eying the floor, clearly wishing to ask exactly what the issue was, but was restraining herself and trying to find something else to talk about. “I-I take it that you spoke to Luna when you fell asleep. Do you have any information to share?”

Artemis sighed, dreading this as his mind pulled out the horrid possibility that both of them had come to in their dream realm. One that would just crush him, but… seemed in par with everything in his life. “Luna,” he pawed at the ground, trying to find the courage to say it. “Is for the most part fine. She did not suffer anything like I did here…”

“What’s wrong, Artemis?” It was short and to the point, Celestia clearly picking up his sudden sadness.

“We came to a possible hypothesis to why you and my brother acted as you did…” He needed to get it out now, otherwise he would never have the courage to do so again. He hated feeling like this, being so unsure of everything. “It is our belief that due to being in our dream realm, it might have influenced you two into acting in the setting of how the dream realm was set by the dreamer. As neither Luna nor I have been with another and finding another like us, it might have caused our minds to react by sending out chemicals for lust for the other. It is why we request to have Twilight Sparkle and Dusk Shine with us when we meet tonight, as they are both the alicorns of magic and-”

“Very undereducated in the social aspects of another pony.” Celestia finished with a sad tone.

Oh Faust no. This would be truly devastating if her precious student acted like she did last night.

“Yes,” Artemis folded inwards, sitting down on the floor. “We are aware of how wrong it is to use a pony like that, but-”

“I understand completely.” She bit her lip, hoping that this was not the reason why she’d kissed Solaris. That would be too cruel for everypony if it were true, as she knew exactly what it would mean for her sister and this poor pony next to her. “I truly hope it was because I was a damn lusty fool of a mare that couldn’t keep her hooves to herself rather than that,” she muttered softly, nearly to tears.

“As wrong as it is, I hope so too, Celestia.” He looked at her sadly, seeing that she’d sat down across from him. “To hurt a mare, anypony, like that would be truly monstrous.” Oh Faust, why were all the kind, loving, and tender stallions taken? Even with the possibility that their feelings for each other were false, he still wished to protect her sister and didn’t even think of his own happiness. “Although it would be par the course for somepony of my pa-”

Celestia surprised him by pulling him into a tight, compassionate hug. “Arty, I have seen so few stallions that would care for a mare they knew they loved as much as you did for a mare you might love.”

Artemis felt the tension drop out of his body, thinking of how long ago Solaris would do the same for him, holding him close and easing his worries. “I do not know what the case may be, but I have a strong feeling that this is nothing but true feelings for each other.”

Artemis gulped, and then nodded his head, burying himself into her bulk. “I-We need to know.” He let out a small sob, still worried that everything was just him being so hopeful for a chance to be with a mare that he was faking these feelings for Luna without even knowing it. She deserved better than that.

She deserved better than him.

“I know,” Celestia leaned down to give him a gentle peck on the forehead, but stopped herself from treating Artemis like she would any other pony. He was special to Luna, and thus special to her. So instead, she gave him a gentle nuzzle and rubbed his back very softly. “I know.”

Disengaging herself from the stallion and standing on her long legs, she gave him a sad nod, torn up about how much doubt he had in himself and that horrid possibility. The realization that Luna was more than likely was feeling the same nearly knocked her legs out from under her.

“I will go inform Twilight about our plan, to see if she and Dusk Shine can lend any insight to why you have switched places with Luna.” She made it clear to Artemis that she would not tell her former precious student about the second reason why they were to be there. It had be done without any possible chances of outside influence beforehoof, to truly see what the truth was. “Please, take all the time you need to clean up.”

Artemis gave her a weak nod, eying the bathroom. “A shower does sound good…” He gave her a small laugh, and trotted off to the washroom.

Celestia chuckled at that, waiting until the door to the bathroom closed before leaving her sister’s room, closing the door with a click.

Author's Notes:

Sadly, I was unable to get Ninja to beta this or Luna's chapter. I do promise a much longer chapter for the next set of chapters.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_vSZTEPNzJqXE_g1Ngf3CX4lTia1Wt39RIqZFtY8m1o/edit?usp=sharing

Next Chapter: Chapter Ten Luna Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch