Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike tackled Twilight in a hug while Pipsqueak, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did the same to Artemis, much to his surprise.

“Are you really going to be here for a whole week, Prince Artemis?” asked Pipsqueak

Artemis nodded

“YAY!!!” shouted all four of the young ponies as well as Pinkie.

“You had better not be late for your party tomorrow!” she shouted

Twilight tilted her head, puzzled “What party is that, Pinkie?”

Pinkie bounced around Twilight and Artemis “The “Welcome Back to Ponyville” party that Princess Celestia told me to throw for Prince Artemis tomorrow, of course!”

“It’s true, Twi” said Spike “She sent me a letter yesterday.”

Twilight shook her head and raised her voice “Thank all of you for greeting us, but we need to relax for a while. Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike and Mayor Mare. I need all of you to come with us. The rest of you, we’ll see you at the party tomorrow.”

Everypony in the crowd nodded “Welcome back, Princess” came as a chorus.

What Twilight and Artemis didn’t notice, was that the crowd didn’t actually go anywhere. They wanted answers and they were willing to wait for them.

The ponies, and dragon, that Twilight had named followed her, Artemis and their bat pony guards into her castle. In the receiving room, they found cushions laid out and a table full of food made by Applejack.

After they had eaten their fill, Rainbow spoke up.

“All right, Twi, what happened?!”

“Rainbow!” shouted the rest of the girls as Twilight looked on.

“What?” Rainbow asked “Celestia said we couldn’t ask Artemis. She never said I couldn’t ask Twi.”

Twilight sighed and shook her head as she lay down in preparation for the long explanation. “Artemis, would you like to go to another room to relax? You don’t need to go through it again.”

Artemis shook his head, lay down next to her and covered her with a wing. “No, I will stay here to help you explain what I have done.”

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang moved to stand behind them.

Everyone else in the room just stared

Twilight looked at each of them individually “Before you ask, I will answer what you are probably thinking. Yes, Artemis and I are dating.”

Rarity looked both hurt and upset “Twilight, how could you do this to me?” she whined

Before Twilight could answer, Artemis spoke up. “She did nothing to you, Rarity. Last night, she told me how you feel. Honestly, though, I fell for Twilight three years ago.” He paused “Yesterday, Twilight’s mother asked me why I chose her daughter. I will tell all of you the same thing I told her.”

The rest of the ponies, aside from Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang, in the room each chose a cushion and laid down. Spike dragged his over to Rarity and settled down next to her.

Artemis cleared his throat “I’m sure you all remember the first time that you used the Elements of Harmony. Do you also remember how Twilight’s eyes shone white?”

The girls nodded

“She tried to explain that she saw pitch black and a little bit of blue. She said something about having to protect the blue. But that doesn’t make sense, why would she have needed to protect a color?” responded Rarity

“Because the colors corresponded to our souls.” Artemis replied “The black was the evil soul of Night-Terror Knight, before the Elements purified us. However, the blue that Twilight saved and protected, was my soul.”

“What?!” exclaimed everyone else in the room, including the Night Guards, looking at Twilight.

Twilight nodded “It wasn’t until yesterday, when Artemis explained what the colors meant, that I fully understood what I had done.”

Artemis nuzzled her “After I first returned, all of the ponies in Equestria, even you girls, were terrified of me and did nothing but scream and cower or run away whenever I tried to approach them. The only exceptions were Celestia, a few of my guards, and Twilight. She went out of her way to help me. That is when we became friends. As time passed, I began to feel more for her but I was afraid to say anything because I feared she would reject me and I would lose my only friend. Then, there is what happened three days/two nights ago. After that, I knew I had to tell her.”

“You said that the Elements purified you both?” Fluttershy asked carefully and quietly.

Artemis nodded “Night-Terror Knight, or Night, as he now likes to be called, is still present within me. Do not worry, he has been purified, just as I have and no longer wishes to cause any trouble.”

“Okay. Ah get all of that and Ah will take your word for it, for now. What Ah don’t get is how Twi knew there was trouble in Canterlot the other day. She was here with us.” Said Applejack as the other girls and Mayor Mare nodded in agreement.

“Do you remember last Nightmare Night?” asked Twilight “How upset Artemis was? Then, how tired I was for the next couple of days?”

The girls nodded

“You told us at the time, that you had cast a very complex spell but you wouldn’t say any more about the spell you had used.” confirmed Rarity

“Well, we all know what happened the last time Artemis got really upset. So, I spent most of the night trying to get him to tell what was bothering him. When he refused, I used the spell I had been researching and just restored, without telling anyone. It links my senses to his magic. That way, if anything happened to him, I would know about it. The main downside to that spell is that it takes an enormous amount of magic to cast. It took two days for me to completely recover from casting it.”

She paused “Three days ago, what I sensed was his magic suddenly disappearing. Naturally, that worried me and I had to go check it out. The link caused by the spell allowed me to sync a teleportation spell to it so that I got sent directly to his last location. In this case, the throne room of Canterlot Castle.” She looked at the girls “What I found was pure chaos. Dozens of ponies were running around, screaming. Celestia was standing off to the side and staring at the center of the room, in horror. I looked to the center of the room, myself, and saw Night-Terror Knight glaring at Blueblood.”

Suddenly, Rainbow was right in Twilight’s face, causing her to rear back a bit. “WHAT?! Why didn’t you get us?! We’re supposed to-“

Just as suddenly, Rainbow found herself thrown back several feet. She righted herself in mid-air and looked back at Twilight.

Twilight, in turn, was looking at the two Night Guards.

They were now standing in front of Twilight and Artemis, wings spread, and glaring at Rainbow.

Twilight smiled “Silver Shadow, Midnight Fang, there is no need to worry. This happens all the time. Rainbow’s heart is in the right place, but she can be impulsive and a bit brash.”

“Very well” responded Silver Shadow

“She had better not try that again.” growled Midnight Fang as they both returned to their places behind Twilight and Artemis.

Twilight looked back at them “I appreciate your concern but I thought Artemis was the one that you two protect like that, not me.”

“He is, my princess.” Replied Silver Shadow “However, we now know the full extent of what you have done for our prince. As well as the fact that we have also been present for everything that has happened over the last few days.”

“Not to mention the fact that you are the one our prince has chosen as his mare.” Continued Midnight Fang “The protection that we provide for him now extends to you as well, my princess.”

They both bowed as Twilight stared, not expecting that answer

“As it should. Twilight, you are my mare and I will make sure you are kept safe.” Artemis put in, tightening his wing around her “I would have asked them to do that soon enough. I am glad they took it upon themselves to begin protecting you.” He looked back at his guards as well. “Though, the ponies and dragon in this room will not cause harm to either of us. You can relax a little.”

The guards both shook their heads “I’m sorry, your highness. We will not relax when there are ponies around that act like that towards the two that we have vowed to protect.” Answered Silver Shadow while Midnight Fang nodded.

Twilight stared for a moment then turned to Artemis “We are not talking them out of it, Artemis.” She looked back at the two guards “Very well, Rainbow will behave herself. Right, Rainbow?”

Rainbow, who had returned to her cushion, nodded. She, and everyone else in the room, were wide eyed and just staring at the Night Guards.

“Anyway, Rainbow, I did not bring you girls with me because I didn’t know what was going on in Canterlot. I didn’t summon you after I got there because there was no time. I needed to contain the threat and calm everypony down.”

Rarity stared “Then, what did you do, darling? How could you have stopped him by yourself?”

“First, I had all of the ponies stop running and move to the edges of the room. Then, I walked to the center of the room, myself. Night responded by launching a bolt of darkness in my direction.” Responded Twilight “He later told me that he did that because he wanted to scare me away so I wouldn’t get hurt.”

Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide in her mane “W-what did you do?”

Twilight shrugged “I put up a barrier. Then, he put up his own barrier to try to keep me out.”

Applejack smirked “Did it work?”

Twilight smirked as well “No, I walked right through it.” She paused as the girls, even Mayor Mare, laughed. “Then I enclosed both of us in my force field so he couldn’t go anywhere. Yes, he tried. No, it didn’t work. We talked for a few minutes before I asked him if he could let Artemis out or if I needed to call the five of you. He let Artemis out.”

Colorful confetti burst over Twilight’s head “YAY Twilight!!!” shouted Pinkie

Twilight blushed

“No, no, Darling. No modesty for you! You took on a pony that it took the six of us to defeat the first time, and did it by yourself!”

Before Twilight could reply, Mayor Mare spoke up “I agree with Rarity, princess. However, I am confused. What could have caused the situation in the first place?”

“About that . . .” Twilight looked at Rarity “You now have another reason to hate Blueblood, Rarity.”

“Darling, whatever do you mean?”

“He is the one that caused all of this. Every night, for months, he and other members of the nobility would go to Artemis’ Night Court and bother him. They started by demanding that he authorize amendments to the most obscure laws that he could find. Then, he kept telling him that he was only there to pass messages to Celestia and not a real prince. More recently, he started criticizing Artemis’ job with the night sky, telling him that it wasn’t being done right.”

Twilight paused to catch her breath and take a sip of the drink that Spike brought her. She looked up to see that everyone across from her had frowns on their faces. Before she could continue, Artemis pulled his wing tighter around her. She nuzzled him before continuing.

“Then, three nights ago, he went into Night Court and demanded that Artemis give control of the night sky to Celestia and renounce his title as prince on the grounds that he wasn’t a “real prince”. That is what angered Artemis to the point that he lost control and Night came out.” She turned and nuzzled Artemis again.

“What?!” Exclaimed the girls and Spike, Mayor Mare just stared with her mouth open.

Twilight looked up at everyone “It gets worse.”

“Worse? How?” demanded Rainbow

Twilight nodded “Let me tell you about Day Court the next day.”

She shifted a bit closer to Artemis and continued “Celestia insisted on a joint court, all three of us presiding. Right before Day Court started, Artemis pulled out a stack of papers that Blueblood had submitted to Night Court for approval. Somehow, the idiot accidentally included something he didn’t mean to. I just had to look through the stack and find it. Eventually, I found the document that he had drawn up as a plan to have Artemis removed from power. That wasn’t enough for him, though. The plans also included details for a plan to force Celestia banish Artemis to the moon again. Permanently.”

She stopped as she felt Artemis put a hoof around her and pull her in for a tight hug. She noticed that he was shivering uncontrollably again. “Shh, it’s OK” She whispered as she nuzzled him. “I promise, I won’t let that happen.” He nodded, but hugged her even tighter. Everyone looked on in stunned silence as Twilight calmed Artemis. It took several minutes of her nuzzling and whispering for him to calm down to the point where he stopped shivering.

They both felt a surge of power and looked up to see that the girls were each on their hooves. They each, even Fluttershy, had a glare on their faces that would send a normal pony running in terror. Pinkie’s mane and tail were gray and flat. Each of them was shimmering with barely restrained power.

“Whoa, girls! Calm down! You’re about to summon your Elements!” Twilight shouted. After several more minutes, and many deep breaths, she managed to get them to calm down enough that they were no longer glowing.

“Twilight”

She turned to find Applejack, barely maintaining her calm.

“Where. Is. He?”

Twilight shook her head. “Celestia stripped him of his title and position. Then she had him imprisoned in the Royal Dungeons. He is awaiting trial on charges of treason and conspiracy against the crown.”

“Good. If he wasn’t, Ah’d kill him”

“Right” Rainbow growled “I still wanna get my hooves on him. Nopony treats Artemis like that.”

Suddenly, Pinkie bounced over and gave Artemis a hug, causing him to look at her in shock. “What a Mean Meanie Pants! Don’t worry! Now, I’m gonna make sure your party tomorrow is Super-Duper Extra Fun and Special! We also have to celebrate our new favorite couple!”

They looked over at Artemis and noticed that he still looked scared and extremely upset.

“Twilight,” Spike spoke up “Should I prepare a room for Prince Artemis?”

Artemis looked at her, shocked and hurt.

“No, Spike. He’ll be in my room with me.”

She looked at the girls

“Before you get all upset and start saying that “It’s too soon” and other such nonsense, it’s something Celestia started two nights ago. She refused to have a room prepared for me and insisted that I sleep in his room with him, to help him feel better and make sure he wasn’t alone. It’s something of a routine now and one that I have no intention of stopping.” She paused and looked at Spike “You can, however, set up two rooms. One for Silver Shadow, and one for Midnight Fang. Make sure they are both on the same floor as my room.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, Artemis and I are going out onto the balcony for a few minutes. I think we both need some fresh air.” She turned to Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang. “Please, stay here. We’ll be right back.”

They both bowed “Of course, my princess.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 19 Estimated time remaining: 34 Hours, 48 Minutes