>Be Prince Artemis
>Son of Princess Luna
>Not exactly in line for the throne, but still royal
>Going to bed for the night while Mom attends to her nightly duties protecting the realm of dreams
>Often times she'll pay special attention to any kind of dream you have
>Making you feel babied
>Though sometimes something else happens
>Where it doesn't quite feel like a dream
>It feels more like your spirit has actually gone somewhere that actually exists
>This has been happening more frequently, and also becoming more clear each time it happens
>Your vision is still a bit fuzzy, but it looks like you're in some kind of study
>An indistinct figure sits by the fireplace reading a book
>They suddenly look up towards you after some time like they weren't expecting you
>"Ah, it's you again."
>They say, and it's the first time you've understood what they said
>Before although you could tell they were speaking the words were too quiet and garbled
>You feel like they're important somehow
>Like you have some kind of connection to them
>There are so many questions you would want to ask
>Yet don't want to get your hopes up too high as far as getting them answered
>First would probably be the most basic
"Who are you?"
>He looks confused
>"I'm actually not too sure myself... I've been here so long I've forgotten much of everything that's not in these books."
>Then he'd be a lot less helpful than you'd hoped
>You'd suspected he might have something to do with your father, or even be him
>In fact you still suspect it, but you're just not sure
"Are you dead?"
>Another gut feeling you have is that he's a spirit, or that this might be something related to the afterlife
>"It's... Complicated."
>You raise an eyebrow
"What do you mean by that?"
>They pause while looking away as if about to confess something
>"I don't remember what happened, but I remember what I felt."
>Setting it up before continuing
>"I was arrogant and foolhardy. Thought my magic talent meant I could do anything, handle anything, and I felt invincible... I was wrong... So very wrong..."
>He takes a few deep breaths while trying to think
>"Now I'm stuck here, and I don't remember why."
"Where is 'here'?"
>"You're like I was. I can tell. You want all the answers, don't you?"
>Of course you do
"About magic? Where does it actually come from? What IS magic? As in what is it's true nature?"
>His gaze is piercing now
>"If there's anything I know it's that nothing good comes of digging too deep into that. I'm pretty sure I tried once, but anyone who gets close to it... They're destroyed by it."
>Why?
>By What?
>Though you can feel your time drawing short
>Your senses in this place fades, and your vision goes to black
>As you wake up to laying in your bed with your eyes closed
>Leaving you with more questions than answers
>As well as a burning desire to find those answers
>Mom is holding you in her trance she's in for dreamwalking

>You check the clock on the night stand after opening your eyes just a little
>It's not time to get up, but you feel like you can't go back to sleep either
>You end up just laying there thinking
>Practically everything you do revolves around magic, and yet you know so little about it
>Sure you know plenty about how to use it, but that's not all there is to it
>There are so many mysteries surrounding it that you just can't seem to find any information on
>The harder it becomes to find anything out the more you want to try harder
>Plus, you're positive this all has something to do with the disappearance of your father, Starswirl the bearded
>Being the son of a legendary wizard gives you all the more reason to dedicate yourself to discovery when it comes to magic
>You're certainly a favourite at the royal magic academy
>You already graduated so you really just study whatever you want freely
>They'd even offered to hire you on as a professor, but you don't want to be tied down by anything
>Being a royal by tittle only with no real power or responsibility suits you just fine
>After a while you feel anxious to go do something
>Mom's arms sleepily try to keep you with her, but you can't just lay in bed all day
>After getting out of bed and getting ready you head to the library of the royal academy
>As you often do
>Though you try scouring the dark corners
>Finding any books that seem unusual or particularly old
>Especially if they seem like they weren't meant to be found
>At least without actually going into the forbidden section of it
>Since you don't know how to get in undetected
>If you could just get in there you're sure you could find something useful
>Though you're not sure who would know, much less tell you how
>While you're wandering a familiar voice calls out to you
>"Hey Arty! I knew I'd find you here!"
>It's your slightly younger cousin Summer Solstice
>She's wearing her royal gown that's similar to aunt Celestia's
>Though with a shorter dress that's more like a skirt because she like to run around the place
>She tackles and starts hanging off you
>Though more like on top of you since you don't exactly have a large frame
>"Are you excited for your coming of age ceremony?!"
>Oh, right
>You'd basically forgotten about it
>It's supposed to be a big deal, but it's not like the distinction will be important to you
>Really only matters for royals who are actually in the line of succession
>Which reminds you she is
>Though this also reminds you there are some...
>Most, who would prefer if you were in the line of succession instead
>Mainly because she's kind of slow and airheaded
>You don't want that though
>Politics is bullshit, you don't want to deal with people's problems, and you were so done with it from the moment you saw your aunt in action as ruler
>You don't want to have anything to do with running things
>Those bored nobles and such should just learn how to do shit for themselves

>Rather than expecting royalty to fix everything for them
>Actually that's too generous
>Most of the time they're bitching about non-problems they made up
>Fuck 'em
>Oh, right
>Your cousin still expects a response
"Not really. I don't really even remember when it is. Isn't it still a month away or something? Besides, what's the point?"
>She squeezes you tighter while looking annoyed
>"Of course it still matters! That's also when you'll have to commit to a fiancée!"
>She pauses for a moment and giggles
>"Who is it going to be mister popular~? Do you know who I think it should be~?"
>She asks like you don't know
>Also she reminded you that you're apparently one of the most eligible bachelors in the nation
>You don't know you got to be considered that being a loner of a nerd
>You'd be tempted to say because of your position, but it's not like your technical royal status comes with many perks to make you desirable
"I don't know... Though It's obvious you think it should be you. You only say so constantly."
>"Of course, Arty! You're so smart, and I don't know what I'd do without you!"
>You sigh
"You could just learn to take care of yourself and make good decisions."
>She pouts a little
>"But I don't wanna! I want you to take care of me!"
>Bothering you is really the only reason she comes here
>You don't think you've ever seen her read a book
>You're not actually very interested in picking a mate
>Though even if you were she'd definitely be somewhere around the bottom
>It's not that you hate her or anything that extreme
>She's just kind of annoying, and you don't feel like she's a good match for you
"Bah, I'm just not going to worry about it. I have other stuff to attend to."
>She gets even more annoyed
>"Like reading those dusty old books?! Even aunt Lulu thinks you spend too much time reading!"
>You guess it should say something that even Mom thinks so
>Though you're not about to drop your investigation
"I'm researching important shit here!"
>"What could possibly be more important than love and romance?!"
>It actually sounds like she's serious in saying that
"Magic practically runs everything around here, and you're never curious about how it works or wher3e it comes from?!"
>"Nope!"
>She responds like she's proud of it
>"Give me a kiss, and I'll leave you alone for a bit~."
>Adding teasingly
>She gets a lot of kisses from you this way
"Fine..."
>You then turn around towards her and give her a quick kiss
>Summer then kisses you back a few times before getting off of you
>"Okay, I'll be seeing you later before you get too grumpy!"
>She then scampers off with a bounce in her step
>You'll definitely admit she's 'grown up' a bit as certain parts of her bounce more than others
>Though you think it's only her body that's grown
>You sigh before remembering where you left off
>Actually maybe you could step out of the library
>This hasn't really been getting you anywhere
>Plus you might learn who knows what better by talking to people