After the two alicorns left the room, the girls and Mayor Mare gathered around the two guards.

“Do you think they have “gone all the way” yet?”

“Rainbow! It is way too early in their relationship for that!”

“Actually, Miss Rarity, Miss Rainbow, they have not. I believe that they are waiting until they are farther into their relationship. However, Princess Celestia is hoping that they will do it anyway and soon. It is another reason that she did not allow Princess Twilight to have her own room. She told me so herself, when I asked why she would not let me prepare a room for our princess during her visit.” Said Silver Shadow “She believes that the closeness that such an act provides, as well as the boost to their relationship, is exactly what Prince Artemis needs. She told me this, on the day after Princess Twilight arrived, in hopes that I will attempt to nudge them closer together.”

“Given how close they are to each other, I think it will happen soon. If they don’t do anything tonight, it will likely be tomorrow.” Added Midnight Fang

“Sorry, Rarity!” said Pinkie as she bounced around the group “If Princess Celestia likes the idea and is trying to get them to do it, you’re kind of out voted.”

“If it’s going to make him feel better, I think they should do it.” Fluttershy quietly added “We made him feel really bad today. He had to relive all of those awful things, just because we wanted to know what happened.”

“That’s right” muttered Rarity “Now I understand why Twilight wanted him to go to another room for the conversation.” She paused “Why didn’t he want to leave the room? He could have avoided all of that suffering.”

“Ah think Ah get it.” spoke up Applejack “It wasn’t the room that he didn’t want to leave, it was Twilight. Ah think she is the main source of comfort for him right now. Didn’t you girls notice that whenever he got upset, he would pull her closer?”

“Yeah” Rainbow said, in a much quieter voice than usual “Other times, she would scoot closer to him when she knew she was about to get to something he wouldn’t like. Or, when she noticed that he was getting upset, she would stop and nuzzle him.”

They heard hoofsteps and looked up as Twilight and a calmer, but still clearly upset, Artemis returned to the room. He laid down on the cushion that they had shared as Twilight walked up to the group.

“Rarity” she said quietly “Is it OK if Spike spends the night with you and Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity nodded

“I’m sorry, Spike. I don’t mean to make you leave. It’s just that . . .” She paused and looked at Artemis, who was laying down, obviously upset. “Reliving the last few days has upset him far more than either of us thought it would. It seems that it’s brought back unpleasant memories from his banishment.” She sighed “He’s supposed to be here for a vacation.”

Rarity and Spike looked at each other and nodded “Its fine, Twilight. I would love for Spike to help me in the shop tonight and tomorrow, before the party.”

“Applejack, I think there is enough of the food you brought left for dinner for all of us. Can you help me take it to the kitchen so we can warm it up?” Twilight asked

Applejack glanced behind Twilight at Artemis, seeing him lift his head and look over at the mention of her leaving the room. She shook her head “You stay here, Twi, he needs you. Pinkie and Ah got it. Rainbow and Fluttershy can take care of the drinks and Rarity can get the plates, silverware and glasses.”

Spike touched Twilight’s leg “I’ll go set up those rooms for you, Twi. They will be the ones right across from your room. I’ll leave with Rarity, after dinner.” He paused “Are you sure that you don’t want us to leave before dinner, so that you can have your first date?”

Twilight laughed gaining the attention of everypony in the room “We already did that, in Canterlot. Celestia insisted on it, practically shoving us out of the castle, two nights ago. And no, I want all of you here for dinner. You too, Mayor Mare.”

Mayor Mare nodded and opened her mouth to ask Twilight a question but Twilight beat her to it.

“I know you want to talk about the budget. It was due yesterday, right?”

Surprised, Mayor Mare nodded “We are four hundred bits short.”

Twilight tilted her head in thought. “Applejack and Pinkie. I will buy the necessary ingredients for both of you. At tomorrow’s party, make it before, we will hold a bake sale. Rarity, do you still have those outfits from the impromptu fashion show last week? If so, bring them as well. We’ll use the money we make for the budget. I’ll cover whatever amount we are short, if we’re short at all after tomorrow. If we end up making extra, some will go to cover the raw materials expense and the rest will be set aside for the next budget period.” She looked at Mayor Mare “Do you think that will work?”

Mayor Mare nodded, smiling “I think it’s brilliant! If it works, I think we may do something similar for every budget period. We’ll just change the themes to fit the season and/or any nearby holidays. We can add themed clothes to the sale as well. Great idea, princess! I’ll get started on it first thing in the morning!”

Rarity hugged Twilight excitedly “Darling, it’s an amazing idea! It will also bring extra business to my boutique, Applejack’s farm and the Cake’s bakery! Of course I’ll help!”

Applejack smiled “Ah will have to ask Granny Smith, but Ah think she’ll like it!

Pinkie bounced over to and landed on top of Twilight, who saw her coming and braced herself. “I have to ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake, but I bet they’ll say yes! I love it, I think it’s going to be super fun! Ooh, Ooh I bet I can have Pound and Pumpkin help me sell stuff. They both think it is really fun and they’re super cute! I bet the Cakes will let me as long as I’m super-duper careful!”

Everyone looked at Rainbow as her stomach growled.

She laughed “We’d better get dinner heated.”

Spike walked back into the room, followed by Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang, and over to Twilight “The rooms are ready, Twi, and I already showed them where they are.”

“Thank you, Spike.”

Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back and spoke quietly “While we get things ready, you should go sit with Artemis.”

“I feel bad, making you do all of the work. Are you sure you don’t want me to help?”

“That is how you can help.” Fluttershy said “We made him feel like this by demanding that you tell us what happened. We should have waited until you were alone before asking about it. As much as we want to, we can’t make him feel better. You are the only one that can do that.”

The other girls nodded as Pinkie pushed Twilight towards the cushion the two of them had shared.

Twilight turned and walked to Artemis, laying down next to him. Immediately, he curled around her and gave her a tight hug. She nuzzled into the side of his neck and closed her eyes.

Everypony smiled and went off to get dinner re-heated.

It didn’t take long for the girls and Spike to come back with dinner.

Twilight levitated a couple of apple fritters to her and ate one while shoving the other into Artemis’ mouth, gaining laughter from everyone else in the room.

Artemis was shocked but chewed and swallowed the fritter. “That was delicious! What was it?”

Twilight smiled “Applejack’s apple fritters. They are among my favorite things to eat. She always brings me some when she makes them.”

Artemis looked at her “Why did you make me eat it then?”

Twilight nuzzled him “She brought much more than usual. I think she brought extra for you to try. Besides, they are really good and I wanted you to try them.” She paused to eat another one. “Do you want more?”

She looked up in time to see him nod and smiled as she pushed a plate of them towards him.

Applejack also smiled as she saw how quickly the plate was emptied and decided to bring more tomorrow.

After everyone had eaten their fill, they all stood. It was decided that they would meet up at around ten the next morning to set up for the bake sale. With that decided, everypony said their good nights and left.

Once outside, the girls, Spike and Mayor Mare were met by the rest of Ponyville. The looks on their faces made it clear that they were not going anywhere until they were told what was going on.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ran up to their sisters. “He looked upset.” Complained Apple Bloom “Why was he so upset?”

Applejack looked at everypony. Clearly, they wanted answers, too. “We can tell you what happened, but it will have to be under a couple of conditions. The first is that ya’ll have to be quiet. Twilight’s trying to calm him down. He’s even more upset now because he had to tell us what happened. The second condition is that nopony is allowed to ask him about it or mention it to him at all. He’s here for a vacation, understand?”

Everypony nodded

Pinkie walked forward and lay down. Pound and Pumpkin immediately climbed onto her back and lay down. “Foals, come here. I’m gonna tell you guys what happened without all of the big words that we’ll tell the grown-ups, OK?”

The rest of the foals and young ponies gathered around her as she started to speak.

“Three days ago, Twilight teleported to Canterlot. She’s really good at magic, so she could tell that something was wrong with Prince Artemis. When she got there, she saw Night-Terror Knight. He attacked her before she trapped him in her force field. They talked for a little bit and then she asked him to turn back into Prince Artemis. And he did!”

The foals cheered

“Then, two days ago, Twilight, Princess Celestia and Prince Artemis had court together where they listened to the problems of other ponies and tried to fix them. That was when Twilight found a paper that Blueblood wrote.”

Sweetie Belle spoke up “I remember Rarity talking about him! Isn’t he a prince?”

Pinkie shook her head “No, Princess Celestia told him that he’s not a prince anymore and put him in the Royal Dungeons! She did that because he was really mean to Prince Artemis. He told Prince Artemis that his night sky was not right and ugly! He also had a plan to make Princess Celestia send Prince Artemis to the moon forever! Remember, he was trapped there for a thousand years! Thinking that he might have to go back has made him really scared and upset.”

“No Way! We want him to stay here!” shouted Pipsqueak

“It’s OK. Twilight found his plan and stopped it!”

“Yay!” The foals cheered “She saved him!”

Pinkie nodded

“He’s here for a week because he needs a vacation. That’s why we’re having a big party tomorrow! We need to make sure he’s feeling better before he has to go back to Canterlot.”

Meanwhile, the grown-ups had gathered around the rest of the girls, Spike and Mayor Mare. They were told the full version of the events of the last few days. Most of them were shaking with varying levels of anger by the end of the tale.

Pinkie bounced to the middle of the group, Pound and Pumpkin squealing in delight as they hung on for the ride. “Everypony listen up! There is something else you need to know! Twilight and Prince Artemis are dating, now!”

“Good!” said Sweetie Belle “If they get married, maybe he’ll move here! Then, he wouldn’t have to be near those mean ponies anymore!”

Suddenly, the sky got dark as the sun set. Everypony looked up to see Twilight and Artemis on the highest balcony. They watched him raise the moon and stars. Once he had finished, they let out a loud cheer. That caught the attention of Twilight and Artemis, making them look down at the crowd.

After they went back inside, Mayor Mare told everypony about the bake sale that Princess Twilight had come up with to make the extra money for the budget that was planned for the next day, before the party. Everypony decided that it was time to go home and prepare for the next day.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Artemis cuddled together for a long time. After a while, Twilight looked at Artemis “Let’s head to my room, go out onto the balcony and watch the sunset.”

She led them to the top of the tree-like castle and into her room, before walking onto the balcony and sitting down. He followed her out, sat next to her and wrapped a wing around her shoulders.

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang stayed in the hall, guarding the large purple door to the bedroom that their Prince and Princess were sharing.

Artemis and Twilight watched as Celestia’s sun sank below the horizon. Then, Artemis raised his head and lit his horn. They watched as the moon rose and the stars came out.

Then they heard cheers and looked down towards the front of the castle. There, they saw that most of Ponyville was still assembled.

Twilight was about to say something when she noticed that Artemis clearly didn’t want to be around too many ponies at the moment. She smiled and stood, waving to the Ponies below before leading him back into her room and to her bed. They both got under the blankets and he immediately pulled her closer. She smiled and snuggled against him. After a while, he relaxed against her.

Neither of them were that tired, so they just lay there and enjoyed each other’s touch. Eventually, Artemis shifted against her.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

“Hmm? For What?”

“Everything. You have done so much for me.”

She nuzzled deep into his chest “I just wanted to help.”

He smiled and returned her nuzzle “You have. More than anypony else ever has and more than you’ll ever know.”

She shifted her head to look up at him before pulling him into a kiss. One led to another and another. Soon, they were in a desperate make out session. Eventually, Twilight forced herself to stop, though she really wanted more. It’s way too early in our relationship. Soon, though. She promised herself as she panted heavily. She returned her head to his chest and allowed her heartbeat to calm as she stared out the window at the moon.

Artemis found himself very disappointed as she stopped and pulled away. Probably for the best, we’ve only had one date. Soon. He thought as he caught his breath. He felt her put her head back on his chest and smiled. I seem to be her new pillow. She has done this every night since we started sleeping together. I can’t complain, though. Just holding her like this is the most comforting, and comfortable, thing I’ve ever experienced. He felt her shift her head, followed her gaze and his smile widened.

He wrapped his hooves around her in a gentle, but firm, hug. He placed his head on a pillow as he watched her, not the moon. She soon closed her eyes and fell asleep. He closed his eyes, letting her gentle breathing calm him. Soon, he joined her in the dream realm.

Next Chapter: Chapter 20 Estimated time remaining: 34 Hours, 38 Minutes