Cadance looked over at Twilight “Thank you, little sister. You’re right, I’m way too tired for another pillow fight.”

Twilight laughed “I’m upset at your actions, Cadance, not cruel. I would never make you participate in another pillow fight so soon after ours.”

Artemis looked over “Even if she was willing to allow that, I would have stopped it. Like Twilight, I’m not happy about what you did but I’m not going to make or allow you to fight repeatedly. That would just be cruel.”

Cadance just smiled and watched as Twilight and Artemis turned to their plates and devoured their food. After eating, they both lay their heads on their forehooves and watched as their friends argued over who was on what team.

Twilight waited a couple of minutes before she cleared her throat, catching everybody’s attention. “This is hardly a party if all you do is argue. Since you are clearly having trouble, I’ll decide for you. Celestia and Shining Armor, you two are the team captains. Take turns picking your teams from the remaining ponies.”

Shining Armor grinned “Great idea, Twily! I pick Rainbow Dash.”

Celestia smiled “I like that idea as well. I pick Pinkie Pie.”

“Spike”

“Applejack”

“Rarity”

“Fluttershy”

Twilight turned to Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang. “Do you two want to participate?”

Artemis laughed “Good idea, Twilight.” He looked over at his guards “Go join in, you two. It’s a party, have some fun. We’ll call you if something happens.”

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang grinned, bowed and walked over to the pending pillow fight. Silver Shadow joined Shining Armor’s team and Midnight Fang joined Celestia’s.

Shining Armor, Rainbow, Spike, Rarity and Silver Shadow went to one side that third of the room. Celestia, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Midnight Fang moved to the other.

Cadance gathered all of the pillows and divided the pile evenly in half before giving each side their ammunition. “Three, two, one, go!”

Immediately, the air filled with flying pillows.

Artemis turned to Cadance and cleared his throat, making her look up at him “Go get a snack and a drink. I can hear your stomach from here.”

Cadance blushed “I’ll be right back”

A few minutes later, she came back with a plate of food and a drink and lay down to eat. “What do you two want to do next?”

Twilight looked around before her eyes settled on the ingredients for s’mores. She smiled and levitated the tray of ingredients over to her, setting them down in front of herself and Artemis. “As soon as they’re done, they’ll be hungry. I was thinking that we should make these for everyone while they rest.”

Cadance smiled and nodded

Artemis looked confused “What do you make with these, Twilight?”

Twilight stared at him “You’ve never had s’mores?”

“What’s a s’more?”

Twilight exchanged glances with Cadance before she immediately set about making one, using her magic to heat the marshmallow. As soon as it was ready, she levitated it over to Artemis.

He took it in his magic and looked at it for a moment before taking a small bite. Twilight and Cadance watched as his eyes widened and he immediately ate the rest of it. “That was great!”

“No fair! You’re supposed to wait for everyone else, Twilight!”

Twilight looked up to see everyone standing in front of her. Pinkie was looking very upset. “I’m sorry, Pinkie. I found out that Artemis had never had a s’more before, so I just had to make him one.”

“What?!” Pinkie, and everyone else just stared at Artemis “How could you have never had a s’more before?”

Twilight spoke up before Artemis could answer. “Pinkie, the recipe for s’mores was invented while he was still on the moon. Since he came back, he has been busy working. The only exception is usually Nightmare Night and we don’t serve s’mores then, just candy and apples.”

Pinkie pouted “OK” Then she looked at Artemis “It was good, right?” She brightened as he nodded.

Twilight looked at them “You guys just rest for a few minutes. I’m going to make the s’mores for everypony while you recover.”

She laid out the graham crackers to see that there were enough to make two of them for everyone present. Well, three for Artemis. She broke the chocolate into pieces and laid them on the crackers. Everyone watched as all of the marshmallows rose into the air as she ran a magic fire over them, toasting them all at the same time. Then she put the marshmallows on the chocolate and the second graham cracker on top of each treat. Then she levitated two of them to everyone in the room.

She looked at Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang “Yes, you two get some and no, you are not allowed to refuse them.”

Everyone else laughed as both guards immediately shut their mouths and took their treats. “Thank you, princess” replied Silver Shadow

Twilight looked at Pinkie “Was there anything else you had planned for tonight?”

Pinkie shook her head “We did it all! Well, I didn’t count on you two disappearing for a while.”

Twilight blushed as everyone else laughed “That was Cadance’s plan, Pinkie, not mine.” She looked at everyone. “Let’s go the part of the room for sleeping. I’m sure everyone is tired. Even if we don’t sleep yet, we should relax.”

Everyone nodded and followed her over to the right side of the room.

Twilight turned to see that Artemis, Celestia and Cadance were levitating their pillows as they followed her.

Artemis set his on the floor and watched as Celestia placed hers on one side if it and Cadance put hers on the other. He lay down and looked up at Twilight. She smiled as she walked over and lay next to him. He watched as she lit her horn and brought a lavender blanket over, covering them both. Celestia lay next to him so that Twilight was between her and Artemis. Cadance lay on Artemis’ other side and pulled Shining Armor down next to her.

The girls and Spike looked around but didn’t move. After a moment, they looked down in surprise as they saw Twilight’s horn glow. Everyone watched as she created a very large circular cushion. It was designed kind of like a pizza that had been cut into six slices. Each slice was colored for one of the girls and had their Cutie Mark in the center of it. The sixth slice, next to Rarity’s, was purple and had a green flame for Spike. They cheered as Twilight put it on the floor, not far from Cadance and Shining Armor’s pillow.

“It’s beautiful, Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed

“It’s actually cool enough for me to lay on!” added Rainbow

Spike stared at his slice and the green flame that only he could produce. He couldn’t say anything, so he hugged Twilight before walking over and curling up in the spot she made for him. The girls followed, each laying on their Cutie Marks. Rarity chose a large velvet blanket and brought it over, covering all of them.

Artemis felt something move and looked down to find that Celestia had curled herself around him and Twilight with her head nestled against his chest. He watched in shock as she relaxed completely and, for the first time since he returned, fell asleep against him while he was still awake. Twilight noticed the tears welling in his eyes and just smiled.

Cadance, Shining Armor, Silver Shadow, Midnight Fang, Spike and the girls looked on in confusion. Before anyone could ask, Twilight spoke up.

“I’ll explain,” she said quietly “Celestia recently admitted to being afraid of Artemis. She feared that he would be taken over by darkness and she would have to face losing him all over again. As a result, she has not let herself completely relax or fall asleep around him while he was still awake since his return, until now.”

Everyone smiled as Cadance nuzzled Artemis from one side as Twilight kissed his cheek on the other.

Twilight brought her head close to his ear and whispered “I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep now. However, I have a request.”

His eyes widened as he looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

She smiled “I want you to come into my dream tonight. There is something I want to talk to you about. I just thought of an idea of how we can spend more time together.” She kissed him on the cheek again before laying her head on his shoulder and snuggling close. She smiled as he wrapped a hoof around her and hugged her tight. After she saw him nod, she closed her eyes, nuzzled him and fell asleep.

Artemis looked over to see that the girls and Spike were already yawning and snuggling together. Within minutes, they were all asleep. He felt something shift on his right side and looked over to see Cadance snuggle closer to him while hugging Shining Armor tight. They both had their eyes closed and, a couple of minutes later, they too were sound asleep.

Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang smiled as they saw how touched their prince was as he looked around at the ponies and dragon that were sleeping around him. They looked on as he nuzzled into Celestia’s neck, hugged Twilight closer and fell asleep himself.

Artemis appeared in Twilight’s dream to find himself in her bedroom in her castle in Ponyville. Looking around, he noticed that she was not in the room with him. He was about to head out into the hall when he glanced over to the balcony. She was laying on the violet cushion he had given her and reading a book by the light of the full moon.

His breath caught as he noticed how beautiful she was under the light of his moon. For a moment, he just stared at her before he walked out onto the balcony and joined her.

She looked up as he approached and smiled, closing her book and levitating it into her room. She watched as he lay down next to her, covered her with a wing and pulled her close. Before she could say anything, she noticed the tears in his eyes. Worried, she nuzzled him “Are you alright?”

He nodded, rolled onto his side, pulled her into his forehooves and hugged her tight.

Suddenly, she understood. “It’s Celestia’s actions, how she fell asleep next to you, isn’t it?”

He nodded again and hugged her tighter. She smiled and nuzzled him before laying her head on his chest. For a while, they just lay like that.

Eventually, he stirred “What did you want to talk about?” He felt her shift her head and nuzzle him again.

“First, I have a question. How busy are your weekends?”

Surprised, he thought a moment before answering. “Not very. There is no court on the weekends. I usually just spend them reading or with Celestia. Why?”

“Good” she replied “I was thinking that we could set up a schedule of sorts. Two weekends of every month will stay unchanged so you can spend time with Celestia. However, the other two are for us. We can visit each other, alternating locations. This weekend, you come to Ponyville and visit me for two days. Two weeks later, I’ll come to Canterlot for two days. After that, we just continue the pattern.” She paused “I know we have the dream realm and letters, but it would be nice if we could visit each other too. What do you think?” She squealed in surprise as he rolled them over and released her.

Before she could say anything, he kissed at her. “I was worried that we’d have to wait until the next time one of us could take a vacation to actually see each other. I love this plan.” He nuzzled her “I don’t care what Celestia says, I’ll be in Ponyville this weekend.”

She smiled and returned his nuzzle. “Good. I was worried that it might not work.”

He hugged her “We’ll make it work, regardless of whatever else happens.”

They spent the rest of the night cuddled together, just watching the stars.

The next morning, Celestia and Artemis woke to the call of the sun and moon. Neither of them got up or really moved at all. Celestia lit her horn but when Artemis did not she paused and looked at him, confused.

He looked at her for a moment before speaking softly. “Do not wake them this time, sister. Please. Just go back to sleep and let everyone sleep in.”

She nodded and watched as he lit his horn, lowering the moon and stars. She rose the sun before drawing the curtains over the windows. Then she nuzzled Artemis and closed her eyes. She didn’t actually go back to sleep, she just enjoyed the company and the newfound feeling of closeness she had with her brother.

Artemis, however, did go back to sleep and returned to Twilight’s dream. Neither of them spoke, they just cuddled together for a couple more hours.

Twilight and Artemis opened their eyes to find that everyone else was already awake and eating breakfast. Looking in front of them, they saw two plates of pancakes sitting there. Twilight’s had maple syrup and powdered sugar and Artemis’ had Pinkie’s blueberry compote.

After breakfast, Cadance and Shining Armor stood. “Mom and Dad want to see us again.” Shining Armor said, looking around “I’m not sure why, but Mom said that there was something she needed to tell me and Cadance about.” With that said, they left.

Celestia looked at Twilight and the girls. “You should get back to Ponyville. You’ve been here for a few days longer than I initially planned. There must be things that you have to take care of at home.”

The girls all nodded

Twilight turned to Celestia “You’re right, we should get home. However, before I leave, I’m making something clear. You pulled Artemis away from his vacation in Ponyville and didn’t let us go back.” She paused and gave her a look. “I expect him there this weekend and will not take no for an answer.”

Artemis spoke up before Celestia could reply. “Twilight has already spoken to me about this, and I agree. She’s just being nice and telling you before I disappear for the weekend.”

Celestia smiled sheepishly at Artemis “I’m sorry, in the aftermath of the trial, I forgot about that.” She turned to Twilight “Don’t worry, I have no problem with that, Twilight.”

Celestia and Artemis walked with Twilight, Spike and the girls to the side entrance to the castle. There was a chariot ready and waiting with two of Celestia’s Day Guards harnessed and ready to go. The girls and Spike climbed into the chariot and waited.

Twilight turned to Artemis and kissed him “I’ll see you, physically, this weekend. Don’t forget to visit my dreams in the meantime.”

He nuzzled her “I won’t. I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed her once more before she turned and climbed into the chariot.

Twilight nodded to the guards. They spread their wings and took off, pulling the chariot into the sky.

The flight to Ponyville was quiet. When they landed, they saw that at least half of Ponyville was waiting for them. After they got off the chariot, Twilight told the guards that they could rest if they needed to before going back to Canterlot. They shook their heads, thanked her for the offer and took off again.

Mayor Mare stepped forward “Welcome back, Princess Twilight. When you have time, I would like to speak with you about what has happened in your absence.”

Spike hopped on Twilight’s back “I’ll go open the library, Twi.” He hugged her before hopping off and heading for the castle.

The girls all called their goodbyes and headed to their homes to get to work.

Twilight turned to Mayor Mare “Let’s head to the Town Hall and discuss this now. If anything went wrong, the sooner I find out about it, the sooner I can fix it.”

Mayor Mare nodded as she and Twilight headed for her office in the Town Hall. It turned out, Twilight discovered, that nothing at all had gone wrong in her absence. Mayor Mare merely wanted to know what had happened at the trial. She had decided not to go to Canterlot for it because it would have left Ponyville with no leader. That being the case, she decided to ask Twilight for the details.

After informing Mayor Mare of the events of the trial, Twilight left the Town Hall and flew to her castle. Once she got there, she went into the library, stopped and just stared. There were so many ponies there that there was a line just to check out books.

That’s never happened before. She thought as she rushed to help Spike. Soon, they had a routine set up where Spike went to find the books and she checked them out. It continued like that all day. By the time the library closed, both she and Spike were worn out.

Twilight and Spike walked out into the hall.

Spike sighed, obviously tired “What do you want me to make for dinner, Twi?”

Twilight laughed and nuzzled him. “You are not making anything, Spike. You’re clearly tired and I’m not going to make, or allow, you to prepare anything. We’re going out for dinner.”

He sighed in relief. “Thank you”

She giggled and summoned something that she quickly hid in a wing as they walked out of the castle, heading for Sugarcube Corner.

Waiting for them, were the girls. Twilight and Spike stopped in surprise. “What the-?” she asked

Rarity smiled “How busy was the library, Darling?”

Spike sighed as he was finally able to sit down, for the first time all day. “Hopping all day. We didn’t even get a chance to sit down.”

“Why did you ask?” asked Twilight

Applejack laughed “It was the same for all of us. It seems that the bake sale and the party Pinkie threw got the word out about Ponyville goods and now everypony wants some. Apple Bloom took a ton of orders from ponies that want Apple Family baked goods. Ah spent all day bucking apples so that we’d have enough to make our family recipes.”

Rarity laughed as well, shaking her head. “The boutique was the same. I came home this morning to find that Sweetie Belle has been quite the little secretary while I was away. She filled an entire notebook of orders for clothes that ponies saw at that bake sale. Word got out and ponies came from Canterlot just to place an order. I wasn’t even able to work on them today because the shop was crowded with more ponies with order requests. I also wasn’t able to allow Sweetie Belle to go play because I needed her help all day.” She shook her head again, amused “I may have to hire her as a secretary until things calm down.”

Pinkie giggled “Us too. As soon as I got home, Pound and Pumpkin pushed me right into the kitchen. I was baking all day! Mrs. Cake also took lots of orders for cakes and even orders for parties that ponies want me to throw for them. I’m booked through next month!”

Rainbow spoke up “Things weren’t as busy for me but that’s only because I don’t have a shop. I just had to deal with the Weather Team. They want to have a major storm planned for tomorrow and need my help.”

Fluttershy added “I wasn’t that busy today, but that will change soon. I found that Scootaloo has been taking orders from ponies that want me to either groom their animals or have my songbirds perform for them. I’m going to be very busy, starting next week.”

Twilight shook her head “Wow”

They all looked up as Mr. and Mrs. Cake walked up with food for everypony.

“Thank you” Twilight said, looking up as a daisy sandwich was placed in front of her. She saw an extra-large portion of hay fries in front of Spike and pulled it towards her.

“Hey! That’s mine!” he exclaimed, only to stop in shock as she pulled a large turquoise out from under her wing and crushed it into small pieces with her magic, allowing the gem to fall onto his dinner.

“Are you still mad at me?” Spike looked at Twilight to see her smiling at him. “I thought you deserved something special for dinner after all of your hard work today.”

He shook his head repeatedly as he licked his lips, looking at his dinner. Twilight laughed as she placed the plate in front of him. “Dig in.”

After dinner, they all went home and the girls went straight to bed.

Twilight wasn’t even able to stay up long enough to see the moon rise. I wish he was here with me. It doesn’t feel right sleeping by myself. She thought as she fell asleep.

In Canterlot, Artemis had gone to his room to get some more rest in preparation for Night Court. I already miss her and it hasn’t even been a day. It’s going to be weird sleeping without her. He lay down on his bed. “At least, her scent is still here.” He muttered before pulling his blanket over himself and casting a sleeping spell.

He woke up several hours later to the pull of the moon. After raising the moon, he briefly checked in on the dream realm and was surprised to find that Twilight, Spike and the girls were all already sound asleep. Shaking his head, he made sure all of them would have pleasant dreams before leaving the dream realm.

He walked out of his room to find that Silver Shadow, Midnight Fang and Steel Night waiting for him. “Steel Night? What are you doing here? You should still be on leave.”

Steel Night grinned at him “Cherry Blossom is adamant that I return to guarding you. She’s afraid of another attack or attempt on your life, my prince. She began talking about it yesterday and wouldn’t leave it alone until I agreed.” He shook his head and chuckled “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Silver Shadow spoke up “It actually comes at a good time, my prince. I must return to my duties as Captain of your Night Guard. Things need to be changed to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. If it pleases you, Prince Artemis, Steel Night will be replacing me. He will be your personal guard, alongside Midnight Fang.”

Artemis looked at Steel Night “Are you sure about this? Moonlight Shadow isn’t even two weeks old yet.”

Steel Night nodded “It would be an honor, my prince.”

Artemis nodded “Very well. Silver Shadow, you have permission to return to your duties. Thank you for your efforts in protecting Twilight and myself over the last week.”

Silver Shadow bowed “Of course, my prince” before walking to a balcony and flying to his office to get to work.

Artemis walked down the hall towards the dining room, Steel Night and Midnight Fang falling into step behind him.

In the dining room, Artemis found Celestia waiting for him. “Good Evening, Artemis. Did you sleep well?”

He nodded “With the help of a sleeping spell, yes. I will likely need to do that for a couple of days until I get back into my normal sleeping pattern.”

She smiled at him “At least you’re not going to be missing out on sleep. I asked Apple Crunch to make us some herb and cheese stuffed ravioli for dinner. It should be ready soon.”

“Good” replied Artemis “I’m hungry”

As soon as their dinner arrived, they both ate rather quickly. When they finished, Artemis stood and nuzzled his sister. “I must go to Night Court. Good Night, Celestia.”

She smiled and returned his nuzzle “Good night, Artemis”

They walked out of the room together before going their separate ways.

Artemis thought he was in store for a quiet, boring session of Night Court. He was in for a surprise.

As he got closer to the throne room, he heard voices coming from inside. What’s going on? He thought as he walked up to the door. There shouldn’t be anypony in here, my Night Courts should be empty now that Blueblood and his conspirators have been imprisoned.

Next Chapter: Chapter 34 Estimated time remaining: 31 Hours, 11 Minutes