A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry for the late update on my stories and all. I've been going through some family stuff and what not but I'm on vacation right now so I'd thought it might be a good time to start updating all my stories since I have time and I need something to distract me. Been a while since I wrote for this story, huh? lol. Well here is the next chapter of my MLP fic.
I hope you enjoy! :3
Twilight sat in silent excitement on the flying chariot that was headed back to Ponyville. Every minute or so she'd find herself either squealing or smiling from ear to ear, giggling as she thought of Prince Artemis who had finally arrived the princesses' castle and was even staying there temporarily so that they would get a chance to talk. Beside her, Spike was beginning to doze off, his head slinking to one side, nearly towards the edge. He had been up as long as she had but seemed to need his naps more than her. Twilight let out a happy sigh and quickly pulled him towards her with one of her wings, letting him rest against her comfortably. Putting a hoof to her mouth, she covered a yawn of her own. She may have been tired herself but she didn't feel it. Not with everything that had happened...with everything they could learn. An alicorn prince who was extremely powerful? A long lost kingdom? How could she not feel excited? It'd be a miracle if she'd be able to fall asleep in the next week. It had only been a few hours since she had left and she knew the mysterious stallion would need to rest for a day or two before they began discussing other more important matters, but who knows what could happen after that. All the things they could learn from him...long lost royalty finally revealing their presence to ones that had rules for centuries. For all they knew, there could be even more alicorns they didn't know about out there. The possibility to learn about histories they didn't even knew existed a few days ago and not to mention uniting the other alicorns...meaning...she couldn't even...it was just so...great!
The young princess looked upwards to the darkening sky, the sun nearly set behind the low clouds. It had already gotten so late without her even knowing. Looking for the prince must have taken longer than she had remembered. Plus, she has to factor in that she actually passed out after the spell had taken her to that area. She had completely forgotten about it until just now. There were only so many hours in the day and even after all the events that had taken place today and yesterday, Twilight still found herself itching to dive into all the books in her library and see if was anything that she could have missed. Maybe there was one out of the 18,427 books in her collection that she missed that could tell her more about everything. She didn't think that she could wait a few days until she saw them all again. Twilight blinked once in realization, as the chariot began to descend to the ground below where the top of her tree castle had come into view. She was home again. Contrary to all that she told herself before, the young mare yawned again, suddenly feeling very fortunate to have a bed waiting for her inside.
A small smile crossed her face and she smiled in satisfaction being back after a long day. Once on the ground, one of the guard pegasi made his way over and opened the chariot door for her to exit. Twilight glanced in Spike's direction and gently nudged him with her wing. Her purple companion barely stirred at her touch and only seemed to fall into a deeper sleep. She guessed he was way ahead of her at sleeping. The young princess sighed and laughed as she made her way out, setting her hooves on the familiar ground before her. She then used her magic, placing a sleeping Spike onto her back, as she usually did, which she had grown to be comfortable with even when he had come to have his own wings. Twilight thanked the guard for safely getting her home and then began to make her way towards the castle, letting out another yawn. Still, she didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep easily.
The warm night air swirled gently around her making a gentle and comforting sound in the trees as they rustled in the wind. She didn't know why but for some reason experiencing things as simple as this made her feel like something amazing was about to happen...good or bad she couldn't tell just yet. Twilight reached the door and put a hoof against its wood, already beginning to let them in. She had to have opened it less than a crack before she felt two hooves wrap around hers, pulling her inside. The young princess let out a small yelp in surprise as she was literally swooped off her hooves. She was disoriented for a moment, and she could feel her head spinning a bit from the sudden movement forward. Twilight was barely seeing straight before she saw Starlight Glimmer pushing a concerned face to hers, much closer than she was used to.
"Twilight! You're back!", her friend said, looking over her body.
"Yep. Looks like it", the young princess, replied with a small smile.
"Finally! It feels like we've been waiting forever", Rainbow Dash chimed in, flying into the room from out of nowhere.
"Are you ok? After it started getting dark we began to get worried", Fluttershy said, walking to next to Starlight.
"We barely knew what to do with ourselves over it.", Rarity added, walking into the main hallway.
"Yeah...we kind of just stuffed our faces in the meantime, though", Applejack said, coming up beside Fluttershy.
"I'm still stuffing my face!", Pinkie Pie said happily, suddenly hanging from the ceiling next to her and stuffing a muffin into her mouth.
"Hey, Twilight! How's it hanging?", she said, happily smiling. She plopped onto the ground a second later, still smiling. The sound must have woken Spike because she could already feel the small dragon stirring on her back. He slid off, planting his feet on the floor and letting out a loud yawn, stretching his arms over his head.
"Hey", Spike said, letting out another yawn.
"We're home, already, huh? What's everyone standing around for?", the dragon said, looking completely awake from the nap he had.
"We were all waiting for you and Twilight to come home", Applejack said.
"Me too. It's been a long day...for all of us", Twilight said, rubbing Spike's head. There was sudden silence in the room after that. Her friends all exchanged glances with one another, looking as though they were thinking whether or not to ask the one thing they had on their minds. Her group of friends then all looked in her Spike's directions, all of them looking anxious and looking as though their curiosity was eating them alive. Fluttershy's was nervously rubbing her leg with one hoof as she looked at the floor trying to calm herself down while Rainbow Dash was tapping her hoof against the floor, her eyes darting back and forth. The others were having similar reactions. They all wanted to ask. They all wanted to know. Everything that had happened today...what she had experienced...Twilight knew it was only the start of everything. Starlight was the first to break the silence when she cleared her throat, looking in her direction as walked a few steps towards her. Her eyes were once again twinkling with the same wonderment from that morning. It was the same way Twilight had been feeling since she had left on her journey.
"So...Twilight...uh...Spike…", the purple pony trailed off, taking a deep breath in and then out.
"Did you find him?", she finished.
"The...the alicorn! Did you see him?", she added.
Twilight looked at her for a moment before a smile crossed her face. Still smiling, she nodded happily.
"Yes. I found him. I...well...it's kind of a long story, actually.", the young princess said, brushing her mane out of her face. As soon as she said it, the room immediately erupted with the excited chatter of her friends as they crowded around her and Spike in awe and asking questions. Twilight couldn't blame them. Her mind was still spinning all that she had learned in the last couple of hours. It was more than a normal reaction in her opinion, much like all the ponies in Ponyville. Twilight didn't even know if she'd be able to show her face there again without somepony wanting to ask about the newfound prince.
"So what was he like?", Rainbow Dash asked.
"Where did he come from?", Starlight asked in the circle.
"What brought him to Ponyville?", Applejack chimed in.
There were more questions from her friends...a lot of them that were yet to be answered. Everyone was so excited and seemed to be asking all different kinds of questions so quickly that their voices melded into nothing more than an almost inaudible chatter. Twilight let out a small laugh, finding that she was still in the same state of mind as them. She really wasn't tired at all. The young princess laughed again and smiled, looking at her friends.
"How about we take this conversation to the throne room?", Twilight suggested.
"Sounds like a plan", Pinkie Pie said, ready to zoom over.
"Are you sure, Twilight? It has been a long day and all. Aren't you tired?", Fluttershy asked in her usual sweet voice.
The young princess smiled at the consideration her friend was showing her. But even so...she was feeling more than a bit giddy and talking about her adventure might be good for her to get it out of her system so that she would be able to to get a few winks of sleep later.
"Well...I feel fine. But I mean if you all don't feel like hearing about it right now, we can always talk about it some other time", she said almost teasingly.
"Oh, that's ok! We can talk now", Starlight said, itching with the urge to know everything that happened.
"Yes. It would be quite the treat to hear all about it", Rarity said.
"Then, let's go", Spike said, running ahead of them down the hall.
The group walked the short distance towards the room, everypony still asking their questions. Twilight thought it would be best to not go into too much detail while they walked because every now and them one of them would stop her to explain a specific part of their encounter. She wanted to save it all for when they were seated comfortably. When the entryway for the grand room came into focus Rainbow Dash quickly flew inside where the dragon was waiting. They were all quickly seated and turned their attention back her, even more so than before. Twilight only looked back at them with a smile and let out a giggle. Rainbow Dash must have had enough of the friendly runaround she was giving her because a moment later, she slammed her hoofs onto the table and let out a loud groan.
"Well don't just keep all the juicy stuff to yourself, Twilight", she said, grinning.
"Yeah, tell us! Tell us!", Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down in her seat.
Twilight smiled again and let out a happy sigh, trying her best to contain her own enthusiasm. She was ready to tell them everything she'd experienced.
"His name is Prince Artemis", Twilight began.
Artemis opened his eyes to his dark surroundings, seeing invisible flickers of white spots as his eyes adjusted to the comfortably dark room. He did not know how long he had been asleep for but he could only assume it was a lengthy amount of time. The sun which had once coated his temporary quarters in its glory was long gone only to be replaced by the night, which he'd always welcome with an open heart. The stallion must have been exhausted, as he was taken under sleep's spell the moment he walked into the room the princesses had prepared for him. It had been hours...hours since meeting the young princess Twilight...arriving in Canterlot and meeting the others...first laying his eyes on Princess Luna. Artemis winced slightly at the thought of her, feeling the same familiar jolt of energy throughout his body. Even now, he still could not determine why he had felt that way when he had met her. It was indescribable and refused to be explained. An enigma...that's what it was...both the feeling and Luna. Artemis raised himself from the bed and stood, turning his head to look at the large window. The curtains were closed but he could still see the light of the moon streaming in through the thin slits. The stallion smiled, already knowing that he would not be able to let the chance to see such a lovely night slip by. How could he? Artemis made his way over to the window, feeling his heart thump in anticipation as if it knew he was going to be left in awe from what he was about to witness. He easily used his magic to pull the tassels of the heavy drapes apart, opening them and drowning the large room in the bright light of the full moon above.
He stood there for a moment, bathing in its rays before feeling the need to go nearer. It was more than convenient that there was in balcony through the glass doors. Without another thought, Artemis pushed through the doors and walked further out, feeling the coolness of the night air wash over him and the beauty of the moon engulf his entire being. He breathed in the crisp and clean air deeply before exhaling out with a satisfied smile. Though he was never able to understand it, Artemis always felt the most at ease at night. It surely was not because of the ability to sleep, as he never did at these times. It was more than that. The serene moon looking down on those fortunate to be in its presence...the welcoming feeling of the beautiful darkness that seemed to go on forever...even the billions upon billions of stars that shone like priceless gems against it...it was...everything...too much perfection not to gaze upon. He walked out as far as he could until his hooves were directly in front of the elegantly crafted railing, the refreshing feeling of the breeze engulfing him. Artemis raised his head to look directly at the moon, completely mesmerized by its purity. He did not think that he would be able to look away from it for the entire night. Here….right now in nothing but the night, he felt completely relaxed. The darkness had always been the most pleasant of company he could ask for. Artemis closed his eyes for a moment, feeling himself transition into an almost meditative state as he listened to the sounds of the night and feeling it take over him. He did not know how long he had been like that before he was pulled out of his peaceful trance when his ears perked up, having picked up on the slight sound of wings flapping in the distance. Artemis opened his eyes to see a dark figure flying above him in the sky. The prince focused his vision and could feel energy humming from within his chest and then quickly throughout the rest of his body when he recognized the pony overhead as Princess Luna, her silky mane flowing behind her and coat shining perfectly against the twilight dark sky. Without warning, their eyes met and he could see the mare's own widen in surprise for a moment before she quickly turned away, disappearing into the night. Artemis stared after her and could not help but find himself to be lucky to have been witness to the lovely night and also the lovely mare who created it.
A/N: Please rate and comment! ^0^