“Twilight?” Celestia asked “Are you coming?”

Not turning her gaze from the sunrise, Twilight shook her head “No. It is important that you two talk about this. It is equally important that it is just the two of you there when you do so. As such, I have no part in this particular conversation and don’t belong in it. Don’t worry about me. I’ll ask a servant to bring me something to eat in a bit.”

Celestia and Artemis looked at each other and lit their horns, only to find that Twilight had surrounded herself in her magic.

“I mean it.” she said “Go.”

Artemis paused “If you’re sure. I’ll be back soon.”

Twilight nodded, still looking outside.

As Celestia and Artemis walked out of his room, the Night Guards posted at the door looked at each other in confusion. However, it was their job to protect their prince, so they fell into step and followed the royal siblings.

As they arrived in the dining room, they saw Apple Crunch, Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang waiting for them.

The three of them looked around for a moment before Silver Shadow stepped forward. “Good Morning, your highnesses. Where is Princess Twilight?”

Artemis looked over at him “She is in my personal chambers.”

Midnight Fang stepped forward as well “Would you like us to go get her, my prince?”

Artemis shook his head “Something has come up that my sister and I must speak about. Twilight has insisted that Celestia and I discuss it alone and has elected to eat breakfast in my chambers.”

Celestia looked at Apple Crunch “Pancakes and fruit for myself and my brother. Please make Twilight’s favorite breakfast for her.” She then looked to Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang. “Once it is ready, please take it to her.”

Artemis joined in “I agree. After that, make sure you stay with her, no matter what she says.”

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang both widened their eyes before bowing. “Of course, your highnesses.”

Celestia and Artemis sat down and waited.

Soon, Apple Crunch came into the room with a couple of chefs behind him. He gave Silver Shadow a covered tray. “Fried Oatmeal Cakes drizzled with honey, for Princess Twilight. I also included a mug of hot chocolate and a bowl of fruit.”

Silver Shadow passed the tray to Midnight Fang and thanked Apple Crunch before he turned to Artemis. “Should we bring Princess Twilight to meet you somewhere after she eats, your highness?”

Artemis shook his head “I will head back to my chambers after I’m done here.”

“Yes, your highness.” With that, they walked out of the room.

Celestia looked at her guards as well as Artemis’ “Please wait outside of the room until we tell you to come in.” she looked at Apple Crunch “The same applies to you and the other chefs.”

“Of course, princess” came as a chorus from all of those she addressed

Twilight was startled as a knock sounded on the door. She turned to it “Yes?”

The door opened to reveal Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang. They walked into the room with a tray. Silver Shadow bowed “Princess Celestia ordered breakfast for you, princess, and asked that we bring it to you.”

“I see. Thank you. You can go back to Artemis now.”

They looked at each other

“Actually, princess,” said Midnight Fang “Prince Artemis specifically told us to stay here with you, no matter what you tell us.”

Twilight’s eyes widened “Oh. Okay.” She shook her head and turned to her breakfast.

Back in the dining room, Artemis and Celestia were just finishing their breakfasts. They looked at each other for a moment before Celestia lit her horn and cast a soundproofing spell on the room. Then they turned to each other.

“I’m sorry, Artemis” Celestia whispered, tears welling up in her eyes “I know you asked me about it a while ago. I didn’t mean to lie to you, I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that I am afraid of you. I don’t think I can bear it if I were to lose you again.”

Artemis moved next to his sister and drew her into a hug. He was slightly smaller than her, so the gesture was a little awkward, but comforting nonetheless. “I am more than a little upset that you lied to me, sister, I’m not going to lie. And it is neither easy nor comfortable to know that my only sister is afraid of me. However, I promise you that you won’t lose me ever again.”

She looked at him “Yes, I will. He took over you just the other night. It’s is clear that he can do so at any time.”

Artemis nuzzled her “You seem to have forgotten something important. Three things, actually. The first is that he has clearly changed since we were both purified by the Elements. Last night, he told Twilight and myself that he has no interest in taking over me. I’m pretty sure that the only reason he did so a few nights ago was that he was even angrier at Blueblood than I was and wanted to do something about it.”

She returned his nuzzle “What is the second thing?”

Artemis smiled “Twilight made Night swear that he will not harm or even try to possess either of us. She told him that if he were to ever break his promise, she will not hold back when she goes against him. I doubt he will try anything.”

Artemis and Celestia were surprised as they heard Night’s voice echo throughout the room. “I won’t. That mare will find a way to kill me and I don’t have a death wish.”

Celestia’s eyes widened and she giggled lightly “And the third?”

Artemis’ smile grew “Twilight and her friends control the Elements now. If, for some reason, the first two fail and I am returned to my Nightmare form, it won’t be for long. Twilight has already promised me that she will do anything she can to keep me here.”

Celestia closed her eyes. “Of course. I forgot that you now mean just as much to her as you do to me, maybe more. She will help me in keeping you safe.”

Artemis’ eyes went wide “I-I mean as much to her as I do to you?”

Celestia let out her first real laugh of the morning. “Of course you do. She has clearly tuned her senses to you or your magic so that she knows when you are in trouble. How else can you explain the fact that you were still turning into your Nightmare form when she arrived? Then there is the fact that she didn’t fly or take the train. She teleported from Ponyville directly to where you were here in the castle. Do you have any idea how much magic it takes to teleport over that distance? I’ve only done it once, and I had to borrow power from the sun.”

Artemis suddenly had to sit down “I-I had no idea”

Celestia hugged him “You are very lucky, little brother. Please, take care of my former Faithful Student.” She looked at him “I will try to work on my fears. I will also do my best to trust you more. But, please remember that I am here for you. You can tell me anything. I don’t care if you wake me up if you need to talk.”

Artemis nodded as he returned her hug “I will, sister.”

Celestia smiled “Let’s go. I want to say goodbye to her and see both of you off. Court can wait.”

She released the spell on the room and they walked out together.

A few minutes later, Artemis opened the door to his room and walked in, looking around for Twilight. He found her lying on his bed, reading one of her new astronomy books, with Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang standing next to the bed. Celestia followed him into the room but stayed by the door as he walked over to his bed.

Twilight looked up as Artemis walked over to the bed. “Artemis? Is everything al-mmph?!” She was suddenly cut off as he pulled her into a kiss and wrapped her in his wings. When he finally pulled back, he was breathing heavily but she was breathless.

She put her head on his chest to keep the room from spinning while she caught her breath. “W-wow” she panted “Where did that come from?” She looked up at him as he nuzzled her.

“Celestia explained exactly what you did for me the other night. Including something I hadn’t noticed.” He whispered

“What do you mean?” she asked quietly, worried that he had found out about what she had done.

“Is it true that you tuned your senses to me or my magic?” he whispered back

Twilight’s eyes went wide and filled with tears, thinking Artemis was angry at her. “I-I’m so sorry, you weren’t supposed to know. I wouldn’t normally do that, it’s just that I was worried about you-” She wasn’t able to get out any more of her apology because he kissed her again to shut her up.

She looked down as the kiss broke and continued “Give me a moment and I’ll cancel the spell.”

“NO!” came his very quick reply “I want you to keep the spell going.”

She looked up in shock “But why-?” she stopped as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“The connection that spell provides is what allowed you to tell that I was in trouble.” he whispered, too choked up to speak any louder “If you hadn’t cast it, it’s quite possible that you would not have been able to help me in time.” He gave her a tight hug “Thank you, Twilight”

She looked up at him, with tears still in her eyes “Y-you’re not mad that I cast it on you without your permission?”

He smiled and nuzzled her again, before wiping away her tears. “Not at all. If you hadn’t, I’d likely be sealed in the moon right now.”

Silver Shadow’s jaw dropped and he just stared at the pony that he was seriously beginning to think of as his princess, just as Prince Artemis was his prince.

He was a bat pony so he could not use magic. However, as Captain of the Night Guard, it was his job to see to the protection of Prince Artemis. To that end, he had read up on the use of magic. As a result, he knew the theory of one pony tuning their senses to the magic of another. The book that he had read said that the spell was immensely difficult, so much so, that it had never been cast. The book was obviously wrong, as it was that spell that had allowed her to save Prince Artemis. So that is how she knew about the trouble here. I wondered about that. She arrived so quickly that I knew there was no way that anypony had sent her a letter requesting help.

Midnight Fang saw the look on Silver Shadow’s face. What’s wrong? He thought as he sent a questioning glance his way.

Silver Shadow gestured to the hallway and followed him out of the room. Once there, he explained what he knew of the spell that Princess Twilight had used.

Midnight Fang’s eyes became as big as saucers “That is how she found out that our prince needed help?!”

Silver Shadow nodded “We are going to have to take very good care of her.”

Midnight Fang nodded as well “No harm shall come to her as long as we are around.”

Celestia heard this exchange and smiled

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang went back into Artemis’ room

There, they saw Artemis and Twilight standing and walking towards the balcony. Celestia, Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang followed.

Artemis suddenly stopped and looked at Twilight. “When did you cast that spell on me in the first place? The last few days are the first time that I have seen you since last Nightmare Night. Any other communication I have had with you has only been through letters.”

Twilight blushed and looked off to the side “When you came to Ponyville this last Nightmare Night. I noticed that you were upset at something and asked you several times throughout the night to tell me about it, but you wouldn’t. You kept saying that you just wanted to have fun. All of Equestria knows what happened the last time you got really upset. That made me worried enough that I decided to take drastic action.”

Artemis laughed “I should have known that you weren’t going to leave it alone.”

Celestia laughed as well “I’m very glad she didn’t. Though, I am confused about that spell. Everything I know about it says that it should work in theory, but no one could get it to work in practice.”

Twilight blushed even brighter “You are right that there is no way that the spell in the book would work. However, I was studying it and figured out what they had done wrong. After that, it was simply a matter of fixing it. The hardest part about the spell now, is how much magic it takes to cast. Not many ponies have enough to do so on their own. In fact, I think that Shining Armor is the only non alicorn that may be able to manage it.”

“Let me get this straight,” Celestia said slowly “you fixed another really old spell?”

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it and just nodded

Celestia shook her head “I’m going to start a book of spells that you have fixed.” She paused “Don’t forget to send me the corrected version of the spell.”

By now, Twilight’s entire face was bright red but she nodded. Every other pony in the room laughed.

Once it had died down and the five of them were on the balcony, Twilight looked at Artemis “How are we going to be travelling?”

Artemis smiled and spread his wings “All four of us have wings, so I thought we would just fly.”

Twilight smiled, nodded and spread hers as well. She looked at the two Night Guards “Is there anything you two need to go get or are we ready to go?”

“Don’t worry, princess. We are ready.” Responded Silver Shadow while Midnight Fang nodded at the spears strapped to their backs and their saddle bags before they both spread their wings.

“Have fun!” Said Celestia “Twilight, you’d better come back next week. You and Artemis owe me a sleepover!”

Twilight and Artemis both laughed as she nodded. I might bring the girls with me. If it’s a sleepover she wants, Pinkie will make sure she gets one. I’ll bring it up to Artemis later. Then, the four of them took to the air and headed towards Ponyville.

The flight was fairly quiet as they just enjoyed the thrill of flying.

As they got close to Ponyville, they saw a large group of ponies waiting for them. All of Ponyville, it turned out. The four of them landed to cheers.

Next Chapter: Chapter 18 Estimated time remaining: 34 Hours, 59 Minutes