“Then what is it about?” Artemis asked softly

“How important is a promise to you?” she asked “When it’s between friends, it is one thing, but what happens when it’s between family members? The idea of a promise is the same, but with the addition that it’s your family.” She looked up at him “How would you feel if Celestia made a promise to you that she kept your whole life, only to break it just so that she could embarrass you in front of me?”

Artemis had no answer for that so he just hugged her.

“They can say that they didn’t mean it, that they just got carried away and told you the story for every picture they saw, as they saw it. In fact, I bet that is what happened.”

She paused to wipe her eyes

“However, Dad specifically said that they were going to embarrass me twice as much because they didn’t get to do it with my brother. How is that my fault? They didn’t get to embarrass him like they wanted to, so they decided to take it out on me? What did I do to deserve that?”

She shook her head

Artemis hugged her tighter “I-I’m sorry”

She nuzzled him. “Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know, so you couldn’t have asked them to stop.”

He shook his head “I saw that you were upset. I should have asked them to stop.”

He paused “Why did you allow them to continue when you didn’t like the topic?”

“You heard what my father said in court this morning. Once my mother gets an idea into her head, stopping her is not going to happen. Dad also has been looking forward to doing this, practically since I was born.” She looked at him and smiled “But the main reason I didn’t stop it is because I saw how happy you were.”

Artemis stared at her “What do you mean?”

Twilight nuzzled him “I haven’t seen you laugh so hard since Nightmare Night. You haven’t had much of a reason to laugh for the last couple of days, so I figured I would let you enjoy yourself. I thought that a bit of embarrassment was worth it, because it was making you happy.”

If he hugged her any tighter, he would have split her in half. “You didn’t have to do that but thank you.”

She smiled at him before she frowned “Oh no”

He looked at her “What’s wrong?”

She looked at the door to her room “My parents are going to want answers.” She sighed “I’m going to have to explain it all over again.”

Artemis smiled “You don’t have to explain anything. I’ve had a communication spell going since I walked into your room. They heard everything we said.” He saw the question on her face and his smiled widened “You were clearly upset and I didn’t want you to have to talk about it multiple times but I thought that they deserved to at least know why you were so upset.”

She smiled back and nuzzled deep into his neck “Thank you”

“Of course” he replied “Are you ready to leave the room? It’s almost time for me to raise the moon.”

She took a deep breath, stood and nodded “By the way, I really like this cushion you made. Can I keep it?"

Artemis stood as well and hugged her “Of course” He paused to kill the communication spell.

She teleported the cushion to her bedroom in her Castle in Ponyville. Then she noticed that Artemis was about to open the door. “Wait”

He turned to her. “Yes-” was all he managed to get out before she captured his lips in a deep and powerful kiss.

“Thank you”

The only thing he could say was “Wow”. He was tingling all over.

She giggled and gave him a moment to pull himself together before she opened the door. They went into the hall and down the stairs where they found Twilight Velvet and Night Light in the living room.

Both of them looked up at Artemis and Twilight as they came into the room. Velvet and Night Light looked at each other.

Velvet smiled at Artemis “Thank you, Artemis. If you hadn’t gone in to talk to her, she would have locked herself in there for hours.”

Night Light looked at Twilight “You don’t have to say anything, Twilight. Please, can you just listen to what I, make that we, have to say?"

Twilight’s eyes widened but she nodded

Night Light smiled “Thank you, sweetie. First of all, I’m sorry. I did go overboard. I got so caught up on the missed opportunity with your brother that I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it with you.”

Velvet cut in “I’m sorry, too. You’re right. What we did was not fair to you. It is our fault that we missed the opportunity with your brother and we had no business taking it out on you.

Night Light stepped back in “You are also right that we got carried away with making sure that we told the story for each and every photo. We forgot that there was one that we were supposed to skip. That does not excuse the fact that we broke the promise that we made to you and your brother.” He paused as he saw Twilight open her mouth.

“Are you going to tell Shiny about that or should I?” she asked

Velvet shook her head “We are the ones that broke the promise we made to the two of you. We’ll tell him the next time we go to the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight smirked “Don’t forget to bring his baby pictures. I’m sure Cadance would love to see them.”

Velvet’s face broke into a large grin. “Twilight, that’s a great idea! And, no, we will not tell him that the idea came from you.”

Night Light’s grin was even larger than his wife’s “We will simply say that we are doing what we were not able to before their wedding.”

Twilight paused before summoning a scroll and quill. She wrote a letter to Cadance and Shining Armor telling them that she did not want to leave them in the dark like they had done to her. She explained Blueblood’s plan and how it was stopped. She continued with the fact that she and Artemis were dating and asked Cadance to stop bugging her to find somepony. She ended with the fact that Celestia and their parents all knew about and approved of the relationship. She and Artemis signed the letter before she asked Velvet and Night Light to sign underneath her signature.

She closed her eyes in concentration and focused on Cadance. She then sent the letter to her with the mail spell she recently learned to take some of the stress off of Spike or to send her scrolls late at night when he was asleep.

Not even two minutes later, all four of them jumped as a letter appeared in front of Twilight. She opened it to find that it was from Cadance and Shining Armor.

Dear Twilight and Uncle Artemis,

Thank you, Twilight, for stopping Blueblood’s plan and saving Uncle Artemis!

Congratulations on your courtship! I am glad that you both finally found somepony. As the Princess of Love, I can guarantee that the two of you will be very happy together.

This is Shining Armor. Good job, Twily! I’ll make you into a member of the royal guard yet, little sister.

Congratulations on your relationship.

Prince Artemis, I’m sure my father has already said this but, as her Big Brother, I will say it again. DO NOT hurt my sister!

Love,

Cadance and Shining Armor

Artemis smiled, summoned a scroll of his own and borrowed Twilight’s quill before writing a quick letter.

Dear Shining Armor,

I won’t. If she doesn’t kill me, Celestia will.

Sincerely,

Artemis

Twilight looked over Artemis’ shoulder, quickly reading the letter, and burst out laughing as he sent it to Shining Armor. She wasn’t sure how her brother would react but she could almost hear Cadance laughing.

Artemis smiled, glad she was in a better mood. “Please, excuse me for a moment. I need to raise the moon.” He walked through the kitchen and out into the backyard. Once there, he lit his horn, raising the moon. A flare of his magic brought out the stars. His job done, he headed back inside.

As he returned to the living room, he was surprised to find two of his Night Guard bat ponies talking with Twilight. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?” he asked as he walked up to them.

They both turned to him and saluted. “Everything is fine, my prince.” One of them replied “Princess Celestia sent us to escort the two of you back to the castle. She did not tell us why, just that she wanted us to bring the two of you to her.”

Artemis looked at Twilight and they both shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but we’d better go find out.”

Twilight nodded and turned to her parents “I’m sorry. We are going to have to cut this evening short.”

Velvet hugged her daughter “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Maybe we will stop by when you come back next week.”

Twilight gave both of her parents a look. “Not in the middle of court.”

Night Light smiled and hugged her “Of course, sweetie”

Twilight, Artemis and their two bat pony guards walked out the front door before spreading their wings and taking flight.

As they drew closer to the castle, Twilight noticed that they were steering towards the balcony to Celestia’s tower and her personal chambers. She turned to the guards “It’s OK, we can take it from here.”

Artemis nodded “We will go see what my sister wants.”

They both bowed and headed for a different balcony. They would make their way through the castle and wait outside of the Sun Princess’ chambers.

Artemis and Twilight landed on Celestia’s balcony and walked into her room.

She looked up at them “What are you doing here so early?”

Artemis stared at her “You sent guards to Twilight’s parents’ house with orders to escort us to see you.”

Celestia paused “Yes, but I thought you would be there for another couple of hours before returning.”

“Sister, I don’t think that’s what you told the guards. They told us that they were asked to bring us to you, so that’s what they did.”

Celestia winced “I’m sorry, I just wanted to spend a little time with you two before you go to Ponyville in the morning. I didn’t think you would be back so soon.”

Twilight shook her head “You are the most senior of the four alicorns. Of course, any guard is going to take your orders and follow them to the letter.” She smiled “So, what did you want to do?”

“Sister, we will stay with you for a short time.” Artemis said, before Celestia could answer “After that, I really would like to retire to my chambers.”

Twilight nodded “I agree, you did get us up at sunrise. So, we didn’t get much sleep.”

Celestia nodded “Very well. Please come here. I want you both next to me.”

Artemis and Twilight walked over to Celestia’s bed and joined her on it.

Twilight looked up at her “No, we are not going to sleep in here.”

Artemis looked at Twilight in surprise

Celestia merely giggled “How did you know that was my plan?”

Twilight giggled as well “I was your student for many years. You always used that trick on me when you wanted me to sleep in here with you. As soon as I got into your bed, you would give me a pillow that you had cast a sleeping spell on.”

Celestia smiled “Is it so wrong that I want the two of you to spend the night with me?” She quietly levitated over a couple of those pillows that Twilight had mentioned, only to find that she couldn’t get them to her brother and Twilight. She looked up in surprise to find that the two of them were covered in Twilight’s magic.

Twilight and Artemis just stared at her.

“Sister, we said no. There is nothing wrong with you wanting us to spend the night in here with you. However, we explicitly said that we were going to retire to my chambers for the night.” He climbed off the bed and stood up. “We will see you in the morning. Good Night, Sister.”

Twilight got up as well “Don’t forget, you said you’d let me sleep in. Good Night, Celestia.” They walked to the door.

“Wait”

They both turned to find her standing behind them. “I’m sorry. That was a combination of my bad attempt at a prank and the fact that I really would like the two of you to sleep in here tonight.” She paused “Why don’t you want to?”

Artemis smiled “I would like a repeat of last night. It was both comforting and relaxing.”

Twilight nodded “Me too. Also, if we are going to sleep in, we won’t be able to do it in here. You literally get up before the sun and expect those sleeping in your room to do the same, again I know from experience.” She paused and tilted her head “If you want us to have a sleepover with you, let us a day or so know in advance. We would be happy to agree to a sleepover, just not when we already have something planned.”

Artemis nuzzled his sister “I agree”

Celestia smiled as well “I understand. Good Night, both of you.”

Artemis and Twilight turned back to the door, opened it and walked out. They were met by the same guards that had escorted them to the castle. The guards fell into step behind the two alicorns as they walked to Artemis’ tower. Once there, the guards opened the door for Artemis and Twilight. After they entered the room and closed the door, the guards positioned themselves on either side of it.

Once inside Artemis’ room, Twilight and Artemis walked over to his bed and lay down. Artemis pulled her close and held her tight. Twilight turned to look up at him just as he looked down at her. Their lips met. Instinctively, they pressed closer and deepened the kiss. The kiss went on for a couple of minutes before they broke it. Twilight let out a happy sigh and snuggled closer to Artemis, closing her eyes. “Good Night, Artemis”

It took him a moment, but then he looked down at her and smiled. “Sleep well, Twilight”

She smiled and nuzzled into his chest “I will”

With her eyes closed, she missed seeing his face light up as he stared down at her. He softly kissed the top of her head before laying his own on a pillow. He was not tired yet, so he just held her as she fell asleep against him.

He was getting nervous about the prospect of facing Twilight’s friends and the rest of Ponyville after what he had done. However the knowledge that Twilight would be there with and for him calmed him somewhat. After a while of just watching her sleep, he finally relaxed enough to fall asleep himself.

It was as he entered his own dream that he heard a familiar voice.

“Welcome, Artemis”

Next Chapter: Chapter 16 Estimated time remaining: 35 Hours, 20 Minutes