Author's Note

Hello everyone,

I'm afraid I had to change the tags along with the rating of the story. While there is an... intimate scene, it's not explicit clop, nor will there be. However I couldn't justify the teen rating anymore.
I apologise if this stops people from reading, but I'm quite happy with the scene and I hope you will be too. I did try and do it tastefully. As always, if you see any problems, please feel free to let me know.
Regardless, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy.

Love and Peace,
LadyMaria

9 - Ink

The throne room of Canterlot palace was big. Longer than it was wide, you’d need binoculars to see the other end clearly. The polished marble floor was divided down the middle by crimson matte tiles that ran from the throne room doors, down to the dais at the other end. Corinthian style columns separated stained glass windows showing important parts of the country’s history. Prismatic light shone through, bathing the room in a glow of every colour from the darkest red to the most vibrant purple, yet somehow did not overwhelm.

Long banners hung from tiered seating held up by the columns that looked down onto the floor below, alternating from a golden sun to a silver moon all the way down to a final banner depicting two alicorns, white and blue, swirling and chasing each other as Yin chases Yang. This hung above a raised dais that held two thrones. Both high-backed, one was gold with red cushions and the other, to the right of the first, was a deep royal blue with black cushions. Both however, where empty.

Instead, on the stairs of the dais, sat Celestia. She looked up as the throne room doors closed with an almighty bang, signalling to all in the room that someone had had just entered, and smiled as she rose to meet us half way. “Artemis.” She said while throwing her arms around me. “I missed you.”

I smiled too, and put my arms around her. “I’ve only been gone a day.”

“Yes.” She said. “A day and a thousand years with change.”

I let go but kept my hands on her waist. “Yeah… Well… I’m here now.” I said with a sheepish smile.

She took on an impish expression. “Yes. You’re here now.” I hate when she has that face. It does not end well for me.

“What does that mean?” I asked warily. She ignored me and turned to my apprentice.

“Miss Heartstrings, how are you?”

Lyra startled at being addressed but recovered quickly. “I’m fine, your highness. Thank you for asking.”

“That’s good to hear. However, you look rather damp. Might I suggest you go and get dry? One of the guards can show you to your room.” She gestured to her side and a guard ran up to her and saluted.

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” The guard started walking and Lyra followed. Celestia called to her. “I’ll have someone sent to guide you down for dinner!” Lyra waved back in acknowledgement.

Celestia turned to me. “And now we’re alone.”

I looked to the many guards stood against the walls. “Yeah… Alone…” She rolled her eyes.

“Come on.” She walked to the back of the dais and pushed on the marble wall. A door that blended in perfectly swung open and she guided me inside. We seemed to be in some sort of waiting room. Two long couches sat in the middle of the room facing each other. A gigantic mirror took up most of the wall on the right and the left wall had two vanity mirrors placed on desks with various bottled of perfume and makeup. Likely for touch-ups before the Princesses faced their adoring public. “Now we’re alone.”

“Yes, we are.” I pulled her close, and very slowly and delicately, pressed our lips together. I was nervous about doing this. I wasn’t sure how she'd feel about me being so affectionate. Especially after I’d been away for so long. My gamble payed off however and she sighed contentedly against me. After a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around my back and the kiss deepened. I was in heaven.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and she slowly pulled back to look up at me, biting her bottom lip. “I can’t tell you how much I missed that.”

“I’m sor-.” She put a finger on my lips.

“Don’t. Not now.” She pulled me close to rest her head on my chest. “Just let me enjoy this.” After a few seconds, she spoke up again. “You need to talk to Luna before dinner.”

I sighed. “I know.”

She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t want to see her?”

“Its not that. I’d love to see her. I’m just…” I paused and looked away.

“What, what is it?”

I sighed again. “I’m just… Scared. Okay?”

“Oh Artemis.” She cupped my cheek in her palm. It was so soft. “What are you afraid of?”

“Does she… Does she hate me for what I did?”

Now it was Celestia’s turn to sigh. “I am not Luna. It is not my place to say what my sister does or does not feel. You will simply have to ask her yourself.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“I shall see if she’s ready for you.” Her horn started to glow and her eyes turned bright white. She started mumbling, like she was talking to herself. It was quite creepy to be honest. After a few very long seconds, her horn dimmed to normal and her eyes took back their vibrant magenta hue. She smiled. “She’s ready.”

I nodded again. “But am I?”

She smiled. “I know you are.”

The guard left without a sound after guiding me to Lunas rooms. This was it. Beyond this door was the best friend whom I failed. Will she tell me that she doesn’t want to see me again? Gods I hope not. Knowing that I failed so badly that Luna would abandon me… That was unthinkable. There’s only one way to find out. I stepped up to the door and knocked.

After a few tense seconds the door creaked open and I tentatively walked inside. Inside was dark. Not only because of lack of light, but the colours too. Dark blues, blacks and silvers where the main tones of the room, the colour seemed to darken the further towards the ceiling. And in the middle stood my best friend. Luna.

She stood slightly shorter than Celestia. Wearing a black dress with a simple silver corded belt around her waist. A perfect mirror of her sisters. Her dark blue fur contrasted with her dark silver eyes. Her dark blue hair billowed lazily about her head, much like her sisters, and where Celestia’s sparkled as if filled with morning dew, Lunas glittered with a million, million stars, comets and nebulae.

“Hi Lu-” I began to say. But she ran across the room and threw herself into my arms. I held tight, and I couldn’t help the smile that began to grow on my face. I probably shouldn’t have been happy that she was sobbing into my chest, but I was just so thankful that she didn’t… Throw me out? Scream at me? Tell me that she never wanted to see me again? I don’t even know. I just held her and stroked her back as she let out over a thousand years of emotions. I could hear her mumbling something.

“We’re sorry, we’re sorry, we’re sorry. Please, don’t hate us.”

My heart broke at that moment. She… She thought I’d hate her? “Luna.” I spoke softly, still holding her. “Luna please listen to me.” She stilled; her sobbing slowed to shaking breaths. “Luna, what happened was in no way, shape or form, your fault.” She pulled back and looked at me. “It’s mine.”

“W- What?”

I nodded. “I was your teacher, Luna. Your mentor. You’re friend. If I had just seen the signs, it never would have happened.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “That is a failure I will take with me for the rest of my life. That failure… It changed everything.” I opened my eyes to peer into hers. “And it’s all my fault.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She pulled me close again. “We were filled with so much venom. Jealousy towards our sister for getting attention from our subjects and you. Hatred towards the very ponies we sought to protect, all because they wouldn’t acknowledge us. Of course, they didn’t trust us with how we acted.” She finished with a shake of her head.

“But don’t you see? If I hadn’t been so blinded to your struggles, all of this never would have happened. If only I had paid more attention to you, that parasite would have had nothing to latch onto.” Luna looked nervous. “But I can see I’m not convincing you?” She shook her head. “Would you rather me just say what you want me to say?” She nodded. “Fine, but only if you say it too.”

“Together?” She asked.

“Together.”

“Very well.” We broke apart and looked each other in the eye. “On the count of three.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“I (We) forgive you.”

We both laughed and came together again. “Will you be joining the three of us for dinner?” I asked.

“Of course, we’re looking forward to meeting your new apprentice. we want to see how she stacks up to our might.” She said with a smile, flexing her arms.

I snorted. “I only just started training her.”

“All the more reason to assert dominance now.”

I shook my head. “What are you, a dog?”

“Gods no, I’m a pony.”

There was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal Celestia. “So, I take it you both haven’t maimed each other?”

“That’s what you thought would happen?” I asked.

She giggled. “No of course not.” She then went very serious. “But I had to check. You know, obligations and all that.” She looked to Luna. “Do you mind if I borrow my spouse for a while?”

Luna smiled. “Not at all, Sister.”

Celestia smiled and pulled me out into the hall. “I’ll see you at dinner!” I called back in the direction of Lunas room, but I wasn’t sure she heard me. “Where are we going?” I asked as I was pulled.

“We are going to get you cleaned up. I think a nice hot shower would do nicely.”

That did sound nice. “But I haven’t got a change of clothes.”

“Nonsense.” She said. “I’ve had some tailored for you.”

What? “What?”

“Yes, I'd say by this point, your closet is almost as big as mine.”

“But you had no idea if I was coming back.”

Celestia stopped pulling me and simply started walking, albeit a slow pace. “I know. It was… Well let’s just say it gave me hope where there was none. A way to grieve perhaps?”

“Oh Celly…” I reached out to her shoulder but didn’t touch her.

She turned to me and smiled. “Its okay. Its like you said; I’m fine, your fine, so it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re back together now; hopefully for a long time.” She leaned into me as we walked. “I couldn’t be happier.”

I took her hand as we walked.

We arrived at Celestia’s room. A relatively plain door with two Day Guard either side who saluted as we entered. The layout of the interior was very similar to Luna’s, only with the furniture different. I actually liked this one a lot more, but I may be biased. Celestia waisted no time going into the bathroom and turning on the shower. I just stood in the middle of the room; I didn’t want to touch anything before getting clean.

She came back in with a smile. “Well, its ready. You go in and get clean and I'll have some clean clothes brought in.”

I smiled and did just that.

The hot water felt alien as it ran over my pale skin. Back at the cabin, I usually just used cold water. Sure, I could magically heat it, but what was the point? Cold water was quick, easy, and got the job done. I sighed as the steam entered my lungs and I got to work cleaning. “I suppose few luxuries are nice…” I said to no one.

Sure enough, when I exited the shower, clean clothes where folded and waiting for me on the counter next to my jewellery. My normal clothes where gone. I dried, brushed my silver-white hair back and unfolded the outfit. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t overly gaudy. In fact, it was just to my taste. Relatively plain, yet with a few decorative swirls and plain pants. Something that wouldn’t be out of place around high society, but something I would still feel comfortable in.

I got dressed, replaced the jewellery in my ear, and left the bathroom feeling cleaner than I had in centuries.

“My, my.” Celestia said with a wry smile as she looked me up and down. “Is that you Artemis? I could have sworn this is the right room. Must be my mistake…”

“Ha ha.” I deadpanned.

“You look good. You know its been so long I had forgotten what you actually look like.”

I couldn’t help the light blush that came to my cheeks. “Yeah well, you told me to get cleaned up, so, yeah…” I scratched the back of my head.

“I always know best.” She said with a wink. “Its time for dinner, I lowered the sun while you were in the shower-”

Aww, I wanted to see that…

“-and Luna has done most of her work early, so we’re free for the night.”

“Okay, so are we heading down now?”

“If you’re ready.”

“I am.”

She opened the door. “Then let’s go.”

Celestia led me to the personal dining room. Tiny when compared to the grand hall, the place for political dinners and any other such large gatherings. This room was very cosy and intimate. A fireplace crackled close enough to the table to be warm, but not so close as to be uncomfortable. The room was decorated in warm reds and golds and a large window overlooked the palace gardens. When we arrived, Luna and Lyra where already seated next to each other at the round dining table, Luna talking animatedly about one of her previous exploits.

“-And then we had to dive out of the way of her fire blast!” She said laughing all the while. “We swear, we’ve never seen her so ticked off!”

Lyra was listening intently as me and Celestia took our seats. She sat next to Luna, and me next to her. “I can’t even imagine her like that…” Lyra said.

“Oh yes.” Luna nodded. “My sister has quite the temper, especially if you poke and prod for a while. A sleeping mother bear if we’ve ever seen one.” It was at that moment that Lyra noticed the subject of her and the Night Princess’ conversation sat down with an impassive expression.

“P- Princess Celestia!” She exclaimed with a bow of her head. Celestia smiled.

“Please, Lyra.” She said holding up a hand. “There’s no need for that. Not when we are alone.” Lyra nodded in acceptance. “I see you’re both getting along well.”

“Oh yes sister.” Luna said. “Young Lyra Hearstrings is a delightful conversationalist.” She looked to me. “You chose well, Teacher.”

I sighed. “Please don’t call me that. You’re not my student anymore, Lu.” A butler entered the room through a side door and took our orders. The Canterlot kitchens are a marvel. They have staff on call twenty-four-hours a day, ready to take you order at a moments notice. And you can order anything. Celestia ordered a plate of sushi, Luna ordered a mushroom risotto, Lyra ordered a hayburger and fries, and I ordered a cucumber sandwich, and an apple. Luna looked at me like I was crazy.

“That’s all you want? Truly?”

“I don’t really eat much, you know that.”

“Still…”

“Ugh fine.” I called for the butler to come back. “I’ll have what Celestia is having.” He bowed and left. I pulled out my flask and set it on the table.

“Oh no you don’t.” Celestia said. She took the flask and put it in her robes.

“Hey!” I said. “I need that.”

“Not tonight you don’t. I’m going to break you of this habit if it’s the last thing I do.” I slumped down in my chair and huffed. Lyra giggled. “You can have one glass of wine. Then you can have juice or water.”

“If we are partaking in alcohol tonight, then we think we shall have a flagon of ale.” Luna said with determination. She turned to Lyra. “What about you friend, will you partake?” Lyra smiled at being called friend by the princess and nodded.

“Hold it.” Celestia interrupted. “Pardon my rudeness, Miss Heartstrings. But how old are you?”

Lyra suddenly looked nervous, even though she had no need to be. “I- I’m twenty-two your High- I- I mean… Celestia.”

Celestia smiled. “Just making sure, I wouldn’t be a very good princess if I let someone who was underage drink.”

“If they’re having ale then that’s what I’ll have.” I said. “I’m not having that old grape juice.” Celestia rolled her eyes. “So, what where you two talking about before we came in?”

Lunas eyes lit up. “Oh, we were just telling our new friend about the time we would replace sister’s tea leaves with actual leaves, ground up and dried so she wouldn’t notice. Only every other day though.” She turned to lyra conspiratorially. “Otherwise she would expect it.” Luna laughed again. “Although there was that one time when we did it every day. So much so, that she immediately threw out the new box that she got shipped in specially from the far east. Little did she know that we had stopped doing it a week before and she had been throwing out her real tea the entire time.” Luna was laughing hard at this point, as was Lyra.

I smiled. It was really nice to see my best friend and apprentice getting along so well. Truth be told, I was quite nervous about that. Luna can be intense, especially if she doesn’t like you. “Hey Lyra.” I said. “Did you know, that as the country was being founded, we obviously had to create rules.” Lyra nodded, listening. “Well Celly here had the bright idea to try and reform the entire language.”

Celestia put her hands on her face in embarrassment. “Oh no.”

Luna grinned.

“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.

“Well-” I began.

Celestia grabbed my arm. “Artemis, stop! I haven’t even told Twilight this.”

“Nay sister!” Luna said. “Let her tell the story.”

Celestia acquiesced and sighed.

I continued. “She thought that it would be a wonderful idea to change words like ‘people’ to ‘ponies’. Things like ‘everybody’ to ‘everypony’ and so on.” Lyra looked to Celestia with a raised brow. Celestia was red in the face. “I had to explain to her that not only was that extremely racist and non-inclusive to non-pony species, but also fucking stupid.”

“Hey! Come on.” Celestia said, smacking my arm. “Can we please not use that language at the dinner table.”

I snorted and turned to Lyra, bringing my hand up to my face as if to talk in secret. “Yeah, that’s what I said when she brought that idea up.” Lyra and Luna both laughed. Celestia could help but be infected by the good mood and giggled too.

Dinner was relatively quiet after that. We were either caught up in quiet conversation, the princesses refusing to talk about anything to do with their titles or the country, citing ‘no work talk at the dining table,’ or companionable silence. Dinner forks scraping and chopsticks clicking.

When it was over, Luna stood. “Sadly, we must depart now. We are still ‘on the clock’ as they say.” She hugged me. “I shall see you on the morrow?”

“Of course.” I said will a smile.

“Excellent.” She turned to Lyra. “Fare thee well, Lyra Heartstrings. We suppose, if we are to see your teacher on the morrow, then we shall see you as well.”

Lyra nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.” Surprisingly, Luna leaned down to hug her.

“You are very enjoyable to be around, Lyra Heartstrings. We were wondering, would it be alright if we called you… friend?”

Lyra's smile widened. “Of course! Although, you already did at the table.”

Luna looked sheepish as her ears drooped. “We know, we weren’t sure if we had overstepped our bounds… We are sorry.”

Lyra hugged tighter. “Oh, Luna. Don’t be! It made me happy.”

Luna let go and fisted the air triumphantly. “Huzzah! With you and Twilight Sparkle, that makes four! Thank you very much, young Lyra.” Her face became saddened. “Unfortunately, we really do have to go now. Until next time, friend.” She walked off humming a happy tune.

When she was out of sight, Celestia spoke up. “Thank you, Lyra. That was a very nice thing you did.”

“Oh, its nothing, I really do enjoy being around her.”

“All the same, thank you. She doesn’t get out anymore apart from special occasions. She's still recovering from her time away you see.” Lyra nodded in understanding. Celestia turned to me. “And you need to spend more time with her now that you’re back.”

I held up my hands placatingly. “I will, I promise.” She nodded.

“Very good. Lyra, thank you for your wonderful company tonight.” She gestured to a guard. “This fine stallion will show you to your room.”

I caught Lyra’s attention before she turned to walk away. “Hang on, before you go.” I reached into my pocket and gave her a small stone. Just an ordinary rock one would find on a dirt road.

“What’s this for?” She asked.

“Homework. I want you to try to levitate that. But without using your horn. Force of will only.” One of the guards gave me side glance like I was crazy.

“Well… I’ll try. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

“If you think you’ll fail, you will. Don’t be discouraged.” She nodded and followed the guard down the hall.

Celestia sighed wistfully. “I miss that.”

“What, teaching or being taught?”

Celestia’s eyes glittered. “Yes.”

“Don’t you still teach Twilight?”

“She teaches herself these days, She’s not a little filly anymore.”

“No.” I agreed. “She’s neurotic monster.”

She snorted. “Don’t be mean.”

I looked to the guards. “So, which one is showing me to my room?” Celestia grabbed by hand and started leading me down the hall.

“Oh no you don’t, My bed is big enough for both of us.”

I stopped her. “Wait, seriously? I mean… Are you sure?”

She started walking again, still holding my hand. “Artemis, I have been without you at my side for too long.”

“I know. I’m sor-”

“Will you stop saying that? I know you’re sorry. I Know you had your reasons, but frankly, those reasons aren’t good enough.” We entered her room and she closed the door. Her horn lit on she drew the curtains and candles flickered to life. “I told you you’re going to have to make it up to me.” She looked to the bed, then brought her head up and kissed me gently on the corner of my mouth. “I’ll be right back.” She left and went into the bathroom and closed the door.

I stood there like a statue. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Is… Is this really happening? I grabbed my arm and pinched really hard. Ouch. Yep. It’s happening. I took off my new clothes so I was only in my underwear, folded them neatly and put them on the couch. I put my hand up to my mouth, breathed a few times and sniffed. Yeah… I mean, passable. I then sat down in front of the fireplace and waited. I could hear the shower running. I could hear her singing. I couldn’t quite make out the words, but the tune was lovely. She was always talented in that regard, I can sing okay, but Celestia…

I closed my eyes and listened. Before I knew it, I was being tapped on the shoulder. “Hey, sleepy head.”

I opened my eyes and looked to the tapping. My jaw hit the floor. Celestia stood wearing a fluffy bath robe, hair light pink as it wrapped, still slightly damp, around one shoulder. Her skin was practically glowing and she had a smile that was impossible not to imitate. I did just that and said, “Hey yourself.” But I’m pretty sure it came out, “Garbs caflargen.”

Celestia giggled. “Such a way with words.” She gently took my hand and guided me up. “Come on, you. We have a lot to catch up on.” She guided me over to the bed. I took off my underwear slowly and slinked under the covers, my face reddening as her eyes never left me. Its nice to feel beautiful after so long alone. She made sure I was watching her before she undid her robe. Then, she did.

She stood, utterly incandescent in her beauty. It was infuriating how easy she made it look. And then, she had the unmitigated gall to look shy. Her face reddened, she looked away and she crossed her arms under her breasts. “I haven’t… I haven’t… Changed. Have I?” Oh, Celly…

I said nothing and opened the covers, inviting her to climb inside. She did, and we brought our bodies together, sharing in each other’s warmth, both emotional and physical, pent up after a millennia away from each other’s embrace. It was strange. It was like, all of a sudden, a puzzle piece I had been missing for over a thousand years clicked back into place and at that moment, I couldn’t have been happier.

I awoke with something feeling… Off. I wasn’t sure of the time, maybe… three in the morning? The room was pitch black, not even Luna’s moonlight could penetrate the black-out curtains. I turned to the side and felt for my spouse. Sure enough, the beauty was sleeping soundly, her head buried in the pink nest of her mane and pillow, snoring very softly. I smiled and wrapped my arm gently around her mid-section and pulled her close. She mumbled something, and my head joined the nest.

But something was wrong. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was in a warm, comfy bed, next to the love of my life, in the safest country in the realm. Yet I couldn’t shake that uncomfortable feeling. I pulled away from Celly slightly and looked around the room. It was hard to see anything in the blackness. I could faintly make out the outline of the large fireplace, nothing out of the ordinary there… Then I saw something that made my heart stop and my blood run cold. The kind of feeling where survival instinct takes over and you can do nothing but stay perfectly still. You didn’t have a choice in the matter.

In the corner of the room by the window where Celestia’s desk sat, where two, faintly glowing, floating cyan orbs. I don’t remember anything like that being in the room…

After a minute or two of staring at the unmoving orbs, I managed to pull myself together enough to reach out my hand towards the desk area and sent out a small effort of will along with a snap of my fingers. One of the candles on the desk lit and illuminated the area for me to get a look at what I was seeing.

To my shock, in the candlelight stood one of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen. About the size of a normal pony, completely naked and with oily black skin that seemed to ripple and undulate in the flickering candlelight. It’s face, completely impassive as it stared at me with those cyan orbs. No hair covered its slick looking body, but a blue-ish frill ran from the top of its overly round head, down its spine. Translucent fangs poked out from where the hard, black, oily looking plates on its head stopped to give way to fleshy looking lips.

I did the only thing that I could think of in that moment. I screamed like a little girl.

The creature screamed too, but in a more threatening manner. It came out as a screeching hiss, as the frills on its head and down its back rippled wildly. Of course, all this screaming woke Celestia, who also started screaming. We all stopped and I looked across the room to my staff. The creature looked too. I leapt out of the warm bed and into the cold, unheated mountain air that permeated the room and made for my staff. The creature was quicker. It reached down to Celestia’s desk, picked up an inkwell, and threw it at my face.

It hit me with remarkable accuracy and exploded, blinding me as the ink entered my eyes and I counted my blessings that no glass followed. I was mid dash for my staff at this point but the shock of being hit gave me pause, and I couldn’t quite stop myself as I flew head first into the wall my staff was leaning on.

Now blinded and with a likely concussion, I fumbled around to find my staff, did, and then brought myself to my feet. Celestia lay in bed, covering herself as she was still, wide eyed from shock. She did nothing to stop the creature bending forward slightly to reveal a pair of translucent wings that flickered to life. The creature then leapt out the door and down the hall. I rubbed my eyes enough to be able to see slightly and gave chase.

Outside the room, the two door guards looked on in shock as the strange creature exited the room in hurry, followed by a naked, ink covered human running after it. “Stop!” I shouted.

“Stop!” The guards parroted.

Unfortunately, the creature had a head start and rounded a corner ahead. “Artemis!” I heard from behind me. Celestia probably, but I didn’t stop. I rounded the corner and ran into… Miss Raven Inkwell, knocking us both down. I quickly leapt to my feet and looked around, the creature was gone. What the…

“Ouch…” I heard from the mare.

“Oh, sorry about that.” I said, leaning down to help her up. “Are you okay?”

“I’m… I think so…” She said rubbing her head. She looked at me and went bright red as she realised that I was stark naked and promptly looked away.

I ignored her reaction and asked, “You didn’t happen to see an incredibly ugly insectoid creature flitting this way, did you?”

She looked perturbed. “N- No I didn’t. And if I did, it’s not like I would remember with that bump to the head you gave me…” She said still not looking at me.

I laughed sheepishly and rubbed my head. “Right, sorry about that.” Celestia and the guards caught up and she handed me a damp washcloth and a robe which I put on.

“What in Equestria was that thing?” She asked as I rubbed at my face with the cloth to get the worst of the ink off.

“I have absolutely no idea.” I responded. I then got angry and turned to the door guards. “What in the hells is wrong with you two? How did that creature get in the room?”

They both stiffened “We- We’re sorry ma’am, we don’t know. We were there the whole shift; nothing went inside except for you and Princess Celestia.” The other guard nodding fervently.

“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked, they nodded. “It’s very late, are you sure you didn’t nod off or something?” They shook their head. “Great.” I said and started walking back to the room.

“Artemis.” Celestia said as she followed me. “Do you really not know what that thing was?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t. And that disturbs me more than looking at the things face did.” I then stopped and thought for a minute. “Oh no…” I said under my breath. Celestia heard me.

“What, what is it?”

I frowned and looked at her. “You’re not going to like it.”

“Just tell me.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. "If those guards were outside the door from when we entered… Then…” I felt sick.

“Artemis, you’re scaring me.”

I stood up straight and looked at her. “Then it was in the room with us the entire time.”