Twilight just looked at him for a moment “Astronomy is the science of studying the night sky. There are many ponies that do nothing but study the stars and write about the things they discover.”

This time, it was Artemis that froze. “ . . . Ponies stay up at night to study my stars?”

Twilight nodded and pulled him into another nearby store. “This store sells telescopes and other things used for observing the night sky.”

The owner of the store looked up to see who had entered and nearly fainted in surprise at the sight of the Prince and Princess.

Twilight slowly led Artemis around the store and explained what each thing they sold was for and how it was used.

Artemis stopped suddenly and asked “Twilight, how do you know so much about astronomy and this store?”

Twilight blushed “I’ve been an amateur astronomer for years now, ever since I was a little filly.”

Both Artemis and Twilight jumped as laughter boomed around them. They spun to the source to find an aging unicorn behind the cash register. “Princess,” he said “if you are an amateur, I’d like to see what you call the experts. You do realize that the experts still refer to you as a subject-matter expert, right? They have done so for years, since you wrote that book of yours. The first one, I mean.”

Twilight blushed

The first one? . . . Subject-matter expert? Artemis thought before he asked “Books?”

Twilight looked up at him, before turning her gaze to the floor, her face still red. “Just a few papers I wrote while I was in school that got turned into books after some of my teachers read them.”

The store owner chuckled “Still modest, I see.” Turning to Artemis, he said “If you want an introduction to Astronomy, Your Highness, I recommend that you read her books. I have them right here.” With that, he turned to a shelf on the wall behind the counter that the cash register sat on and pulled three books down in his magic.

Without hesitation, Artemis said “I’ll take them” as he paid for the books before taking the first one in his magic, he opened it and began to read.

“What have you gotten me into?” Twilight whispered to the owner.

The store owner was about to answer when they both heard a sharp intake of breath followed by a faint sob. They turned to Artemis to find tears in his eyes.

“Artemis, are you OK?” asked a concerned Twilight before she found herself wrapped in the tightest hug that Artemis had ever given her.

“No one has ever . . .” Artemis choked out before he had to stop. He shook his head and hugged her tighter before continuing “One thousand years ago, I just wanted ponies to look up at and enjoy my night but it was always feared.” He paused to get his emotions under control. “Why didn’t you tell me about this when you were writing it?”

Twilight’s blush returned full force as she said “I wrote the paper that turned into that book when I was twelve . . .”

Artemis’ jaw dropped

The store owner laughed again “Are you going to tell him about your early years studying under Princess Celestia, or should I?”

Twilight stared at him “Don’t you dare!”

This piqued Artemis’ curiosity “What are you talking about?” Seeing that Twilight wasn’t going to say anything, he turned to the store owner for the answer.

The unicorn smiled “Years ago, before you returned, several night guards often frequented this store. They would always have a new story about a small lavender unicorn filly and how they would often find her asleep under a telescope, using star charts as her pillow.”

Artemis just stared at Twilight

She blushed “What? I told you I’ve been an amateur astronomer since I was a little filly. I just had a little trouble staying up late when I was that young. I was only eight at the time.”

Walking out of the store, they decided to head to the park. Once there, they found a spot off to the side and lay side by side as they each read one of their new books. That is, of course, until the foals that were playing nearby noticed them.

“Look!” one of them shouted “It’s Prince Artemis and Princess Twilight!”

The other foals all dropped what they were doing and ran over to them. The parents of the foals looked up, nervous that their foals were bothering the prince and princess. They had all heard about what had happened this morning and were debating calling their foals back.

That changed when one of them climbed onto Artemis’ back and slid down on to Twilight’s. He landed so that his hoof stroked a ticklish spot on her side, causing her to giggle. The foals all squealed in delight before rushing up and tickling both of them. Artemis merely chuckled but Twilight was sent into a laughing fit, as she was very ticklish.

Artemis was broken from his laughter by a soft poke to his chest. He looked down to see a small earth pony filly looking up at him shyly.

“Can I touch your wings, please? My friend has wings but yours are much bigger.” she asked.

The parents were horrified but Artemis merely smiled and stretched out his wings. Twilight did the same as they both suddenly had foals climbing all over them. Those that couldn’t fit on their backs crowded around them so that they could reach.

One of the foals suddenly said “Princess Twilight’s wings are softer but Prince Artemis’ are bigger and stronger!”

Before he could respond, Artemis suddenly felt the tug of the moon. He gently lifted the foals off of his back, stood and walked over to a clear space in the center of the park. He flapped his wings and lifted into the air as his horn began to glow. The moon rose with him and a final pulse of energy from his horn caused the stars to appear. He landed and opened his eyes to find the foals, and some of the parents, all staring at him in awe. He walked over to Twilight and lay back down by her side.

“That was so cool!” one of them shouted

“The stars are so pretty!” exclaimed another

The other foals were all shouting something similar when one of them noticed tears in Artemis’ eyes. “Oh no! We made him cry!”

Twilight smiled at the little pegasus colt “He may be crying, but he is not sad. He is crying because he is happy.”

The little colt snuggled up to Twilight, in between her forehooves, and looked up at her. “Then why is he crying?”

The parents looked on as Princess Twilight nuzzled the little colt before she answered his question. ”A long time ago, ponies were afraid of the night and hid from it. They were also mean to him. Now, he is learning that there are ponies that like his night and believe that his stars are beautiful. He is not used to ponies thinking that way. Seeing the way you and your friends reacted to watching him raise to moon and stars has made him happy because you have given him what he has always wanted.”

The colt looked up at her with wide eyes “Really?”

Twilight nodded “He has always wanted ponies to look up at his moon and stars and enjoy his lovely night sky. He wanted ponies to be able to look at his night sky and not be afraid.”

The foals looked at each other before one of them spoke up “Why would we be scared? It’s too pretty to be afraid of.”

Artemis’ eyes had been slowly filling with tears again as he listened to Twilight explain the situation to the foals. The last statement became too much as he put his head on his forehooves and began to sob quietly. He felt something on his neck and opened his eyes to see Twilight nuzzling him. Then, much to his surprise, the foals gathered around and nuzzled him as well. Those that couldn’t reach from the ground climbed onto Twilight’s back in order to get to him. He was so shocked that he stopped crying.

Unable to stop himself, he turned to Twilight and pulled her into a long and deep kiss. The parents of the foals smiled at this. The foals themselves stared before firing off question after question.

“Ooh, are you two together, like mommy and daddy?”

“When are you going to get married?”

“Are you going to have a baby?”

“Ooh, I wanna be the baby’s friend!”

“Me too! We’re going to have so much fun!”

Artemis and Twilight broke the kiss and stared at the foals before looking at each other and blushing. This gained laughter from the parents as they came to collect their foals, telling them that it was now time to go to bed.

The mother of the pegasus colt, still in Twilight’s forehooves, walked up to get her son. “We heard all about this morning and are so glad you are feeling better, Prince Artemis. Princess Twilight, thank you for putting a stop to Blueblood’s crazy plan.” She held up a hoof as Twilight was about to protest “I know you are going to claim that you did nothing special, but none of us agree with that. My husband was in Day Court today and told us all about what happened. We also talked to a couple of Night guards about what happened last night. We know what you did and we thank you for saving our prince.” She paused “We have pooled our money and paid for a dinner for two at the restaurant behind you. The reservation is in your name, my prince.” She winked “Enjoy your date, Your Highnesses.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 11 Estimated time remaining: 36 Hours, 7 Minutes