Artemis woke to the sun shining in his eyes and turned his head to get out of the sunlight. I have to thank Celestia, she must have lowered the moon and stars for me.

He looked down at Twilight and let out a sigh. “It’s too bad that was just a dream.” He said quietly, not knowing she was also awake.

Twilight woke up to a slight movement and found that Artemis was just waking up as well. She heard him sigh. Why does he sound sad? Does he regret last night? Then she heard him speak in a voice that was just above a whisper.

She smiled as she suddenly understood. I could just tell him that it wasn’t a dream, but I have a better idea. She raised her head and kissed him. Then she pulled away and stood, facing away from him. “I need a bath.” She looked over her shoulder and raised her tail, showing him the aftermath of the night before. “We made a mess last night.” She lowered her tail again and walked over to the door to the bathroom. Once there, she looked back at him, smiling at the shocked look on his face. “Can you join me, please? I’m going to need some help.”

He was startled when she lifted her head and kissed him. Did I wake her? I didn’t mean to . . . When she pulled away and stood, he was disappointed. She doesn’t want to stay and relax in bed?! Why, what’s wrong? He heard her say “I need a bath” and looked up at her. Only be further startled as she looked back at him, lifting her tail. “We made a mess last night” she continued. He noticed, eyes wide, that she had something white and flaky covering her backside. T-that wasn’t a dream?! He could only watch in shock, as she walked over to her bathroom. He saw her pause at the door, smile at him and ask him join her. It was only then that he was finally able to shake himself out of his daze enough to stand and reply.

“Of course.”

They walked into the bathroom together. In the middle of the room, a tub was sunk into the floor. It was large enough for at least five ponies of Artemis’ size to comfortably bathe in at once. Artemis looked on as Twilight used her magic to set the water temperature and began to fill the tub.

His attention, however, was on her. She was absently swishing her tail from side to side as she started to fill the tub. Just watching her, he felt something in him stirring. I-I want her. Now. He walked up behind her, his wings flaring to their full length. “Twilight-” was all he could get out before instinct took over and he mounted her.

Twilight heard him walk up behind her, but didn’t mind. She then heard him say her name. She raised her head and tried to ask “Yes?” Instead, it came out as a scream of pleasure as she felt him enter her. “YES!!!”

He heard her scream and knew that there was no way he could stop now. Immediately, he began thrusting in and out of her.

She instinctively widened her stance and spread her hind legs. Yes, yes, yes! She shivered and moaned under him for a couple of minutes before she suddenly began to shake uncontrollably and let out a scream that echoed around the bathroom, her wings flaring from her sides.

Immediately, the large purple door her room flew open as Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang ran in. They looked around in confusion, seeing nothing. Then Twilight began to moan again. They followed the noise to the closed door to the bathroom.

Eyes wide, they stared at each other for a moment before, suddenly, they understood what was going on and grinned.

“It’s about time they did this.” Silver Shadow muttered, shaking his head.

Midnight Fang nodded

They both walked back out into the hallway and returned to guarding the door to their princess’ room.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Artemis smiled, watching his mare scream as she went over the edge. It was then that he noticed that she was shaking so much that she was beginning to have trouble standing. He wrapped a foreleg around her barrel, and held her close, as he kept thrusting.

He looked at her body before leaning down to nibble, lick and kiss his way up her neck, not really sure why he was doing so. He skipped further forward to her horn.

She let out a loud gasp as she felt him lick her horn, from base to tip, before taking the whole thing in his mouth. She moaned loudly as she began to shake again, another orgasm approaching quickly.

Artemis knew he was close, so he sped up his thrusting and sucked her horn harder, swallowing the sparks of magic she was releasing. Suddenly, he let go of her horn. With a loud groan of pleasure, he released his seed into her, filling her womb.

As she felt his seed enter her, Twilight’s entire body shook beneath him and she screamed so loud that she shook her entire castle. She was in so much pleasure, she hadn’t even noticed that she was using her Royal Canterlot Voice.

Their legs gave out and they collapsed into a trembling pile as their orgasms ended. Twilight just lay there, panting, enjoying the fact that she could still feel him inside her. “W-wow! That was incredible, even better than last night!” she paused and laughed “I bet all of Ponyville heard that!”

He laughed as well and kissed her as he gently pulled out “I bet they did.” He looked at their bodies. “Now we really need to take a bath.” He observed

The tub was full, by this point. So Twilight turned off the water and they did just that.

They took their time and made sure they were both completely clean before they dried off. Then they walked out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and out into the hall.

In the hallway, they found Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang waiting for them, both looking very pleased.

“Congratulations, my prince.” Silver Shadow said, smiling. He and Midnight Fang turned to smile at Twilight. “We now have our Princess of the Night.”

Twilight stared, eyes as big as saucers. “W-what?! How did you-? Wait, was I really that loud?”

Artemis laughed “I know you meant it as a joke, but I think all of Ponyville really did hear you.” He paused to nuzzle her “There is little chance that they did not when you screamed in the Royal Canterlot Voice.”

Twilight stared “I-I did what?!”

Artemis, Silver Shadow, and Midnight Fang laughed as Twilight’s entire face turned bright red.

Artemis nuzzled her again before giving her a hug. “It’s alright, Twilight. I’m just glad I was able to bring you such pleasure.”

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. She paused, realizing something “I’m hungry”. Her stomach very quickly backed that statement up with a loud grumble.

Artemis laughed “I am as well. Let’s go get some breakfast.”

As their prince and princess walked down the hall, Midnight Fang looked at Silver Shadow and muttered “I’d be surprised if they weren’t.”

Silver Shadow laughed and nodded “Come on, we’d better follow them. We don’t want a repeat of yesterday.”

At that, they both quickly caught up to the ones they were charged with guarding and walked out of their princess’ castle.

Like yesterday, they were greeted by everypony that saw them.

The difference was that, this time, there was a group of ponies waiting for them at the base of Twilight’s tree-like castle. The foals shouted their greetings and ran over to give both Artemis and Twilight hugs before going back to their parents.

The adults all had very large grins on their faces as they wished the prince and princess good morning. Twilight noticed this and turned bright red, causing them all to laugh.

None of them asked the obvious question. For them, the fact that she immediately turned red like that, automatically confirmed what they had heard this morning. They weren’t upset at all. In fact, they couldn’t be happier for her. The crowd parted and allowed them to walk to Sugarcube Corner, calling “Congratulations!” to the couple as they walked away.

Artemis and Twilight walked into Sugarcube Corner to find it practically empty, except for one dragon and six mares. They all looked up as Artemis, Twilight, Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang walked in.

Off to the side, was a long table set up with many different types of fruit and breakfast pastries. Another table had several bottles of apple and orange juice.

“See? I told you they were going to come here for breakfast!” shouted Pinkie

They all noticed that Twilight was blushing and smiled.

Rainbow grinned “So, Twi, I heard you had a good time this morning.”

Twilight sighed “You and everyone else in Ponyville. I really should put a soundproofing spell around my room.”

Everypony laughed

She shook her head and looked at each of her friends. “Well, girls? What are you waiting for? I know you all want to tease me about it. Go ahead, get it over with.”

They all stared at her for a moment before Pinkie pouted “That’s not fair. It’s no fun when you’re expecting it!”

The rest of them laughed

Twilight stared at them “You’re not going to complain? I know all of you, especially you, Rarity, think that this was way too soon. We’ve had discussions where we each promised that we would wait at least six months! I wasn’t even able to wait a week!”

“Well,” Fluttershy began “when we promised each other that, we didn’t count on anyone trying to kill the one we love.”

Applejack laughed “Fluttershy has a point, Twi.” Suddenly, she got serious. “Yesterday, for a few moments there, we all thought that Artemis was going to die. Ah’d be surprised if you didn’t have some fun after that.”

Rarity hugged Twilight “In fact, after you went back to your castle last night, we got together and talked. We decided that, if you two didn’t do anything by tomorrow, we were going to lock the two of you in your room until you did.”

“W-what?!” Before she could get out anymore of her question, her stomach growled again.

Artemis laughed “We should probably eat, Twilight.”

She blushed and nodded before going to the food table and putting together a plate before getting a bottle of apple juice and sitting down at the table.

Artemis did the same and sat next to her. Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang made plated for themselves and joined them, sitting at the other end of the table.

After they had all finished their food, Mayor Mare cleared her throat. “Princess Twilight, in the chaos of yesterday, I forgot to tell you the results of the bake sale. We made two thousand, three hundred and forty-three bits.”

Twilight stared “Didn’t you say that we were only four hundred bits short?”

Mayor Mare smiled “Yes, princess. It seems that we made enough to pay for the raw materials that Applejack and Pinkie used to make the baked goods. Additionally, we are already well on our way to being set for the next budget period.”

Twilight smiled as well “Good. We shouldn’t have this problem again.”

Artemis cleared his throat “Twilight, have you decided on an activity or plan for the day?”

Twilight looked up at him “Actually, yes. I just don’t know if you’re going to be OK with it.”

He tilted his head, but waited for her to continue

“After all of the stress of the last several days, I thought it would be good to relax at the spa. I don’t know about you, but I could use a good massage.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a spa. My sister employs ponies that take care of our wings when we are too busy to do so ourselves, but that’s it.”

“What?!” asked Rarity, aghast. “No, no, no, Darling! That is just terrible!” she turned to Twilight “You simply must get him to the spa!”

Twilight looked up to see that the Aloe sisters, the ponies that run Ponyville Day Spa, walking past Sugarcube Corner. “Let me go ask when their next opening is. I’ll be right back.” She stood, walked outside, caught up to the sisters and began to ask her questions.

Meanwhile, inside Sugarcube Corner, the girls and Spike turned to Artemis.

“Is it alright if we skip the title and just call you Artemis? That’s going to get really annoying after a while.” Asked Spike

Artemis nodded “As long as we’re not in a formal situation, that’s fine. I don’t allow everypony to do that, but the five of you, as the Elements of Harmony, have earned it because of all that you have done for me. As for you, Spike, I hope we can become closer, especially considering my relationship with Twilight.”

“About that,” Spike jumped on the table, walked up to Artemis, and looked him in the eye. “Twilight hatched me, raised me, and has taught me everything I know. She is my mother, big sister and best friend. DO NOT hurt her!”

Before Artemis could reply, the girls chimed in as well.

“Ah was going to say something similar, but Spike beat me to it.” Applejack spoke up “We may not have known her as long as Spike has, but she is important to all of us.” She gave him a look. “If you hurt her, Ah’m gonna buck ya into next week.”

“We are not saying this just because she is a princess,” added Rainbow “So don’t even start with that stuff.” She paused “If she gets hurt, I’ll make sure that you get struck by lightning. A lot.”

“If you hurt her,” started Fluttershy, with an uncharacteristically serious look on her face “I will send my animals after you and they will not be nice.”

Artemis stared at them for a moment but before he could respond, Twilight walked back in.

“The Aloe sisters said that they were expecting this and have cleared the entire day for us, Artemis. In fact, the only ponies they have on the schedule for today are the two of us. They are already waiting for us, so we’ll go after we finish eating.” She paused, looking at the ponies in the room “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Darling!” Rarity replied, smiling “Come on, eat your food. We need to get Artemis to his first day at the Spa!”

W-wow. And I thought her parents were going to be tough. Artemis noticed Twilight looking at him, smiled at her and took a bite out of a blueberry muffin.

Twilight was confused by their behavior, but decided to let it go. She shook her head and went back to her bagel and fruit.

After they finished their breakfasts, the group walked out of the bakery. Mayor Mare went to Town Hall to get started on work for the day.

Applejack headed to Sweet Apple Acres to get to work. “We used a lot of apples yesterday so I have to go buck some more.” She said as she left.

Pinkie grinned as she bounced around the group. “We sold ALL of the cakes and cupcakes we had yesterday! Now I have to go make more.” She paused “I also have to take care of Pound and Pumpkin today. I know! I’ll have them bake with me!” She waved and went back into the bakery.

“Yesterday’s party has given me some new design ideas that I just have to try out!” squealed Rarity “I’ll see you later!” she paused “Spike can you come with me? I’m going to need your help!”

Spike ran over to her immediately “Sure, Rarity!” They headed to Rarity’s boutique.

“I need to go meet up with the Weather Team about the weather schedule for the next couple of days. We may have to move that storm that’s scheduled for tomorrow.” Rainbow said “I don’t know how long it’s gonna take, so I’ll see you later.” She waved and flew off.

Fluttershy ducked her head “I have to go apologize to my animals. I didn’t spend much time with them yesterday.” She smiled and walked towards her cottage.

Twilight and Artemis stared after them before looking at each other. “That was weird.” She said

Artemis nodded “I agree”

Before they could say anything else, they arrived in front of the Ponyville Day Spa and found the Aloe sisters waiting out front. “Princess Twilight and Prince Artemis, Welcome. Today, we have both of you scheduled for our Whole Body Package. We have thrown in our Wing Special as an added bonus. And, NO, we will not be taking payment for this service.” Not allowing either alicorn to respond, the sisters pulled them inside to get started.

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang took positions on either side of the front door, not willing to allow anything, or anyone, to interrupt the relaxation of their prince and princess.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Celestia was having an interesting day.

It had started out normal enough. She woke at the time to raise the sun. Smiling, she lowered her brother’s moon and stars. It’s only fair that, after last night, he gets a chance to sleep in. Once the moon was lowered, she set about raising the sun.

She then walked over to her desk and pulled out the scroll that Twilight had sent her the night before. She paused before pulling out a quill and two blank scrolls and writing two letters.

The first was to Cadance and Shining Armor. In it, she told them that there was an attack on Artemis and Twilight in Ponyville and Artemis’ life had almost been taken.

The second letter was to Twilight’s parents. She simply asked that they come in to the castle for some important information.

Celestia used her magic to send one to Cadance and asked a guard to deliver the other to Twilight Velvet and Night Light Sparkle.

She was on her way to the dining room for breakfast, when there was a flash of light. In front of her, a letter suddenly appeared. Knowing that it had to be from Cadance, she opened it to find the shortest letter Cadance had ever sent her.

“We’re on our way”

Next Chapter: Chapter 24 Estimated time remaining: 33 Hours, 49 Minutes