"Very well, indeed," Nightmare Moon said, running her gaze over the documents she had just received. Then her eyes turned to the stallion who had carried them to her. "You served me well, little pony."
He bowed in response. "I was merely carrying out my duties, my Queen. As every citizen should, and as every other of your subjects would have in my place."
The alicorn set the documents down beside her throne. "You overestimate the ponies I rule over greatly. Not many share your understanding of what their role should be."
"A great tragedy, my Queen." The pony bowed even lower. "What shall I do next? I eagerly await your orders."
He had planned to rest after delivering what he'd been carrying, and still intended to in the event Nightmare Moon dismissed him, but being in the same room as her he could not dare do anything other than ask to receive her will. If only the commoners could too witness her magnificence up close, he thought, they would no longer waver in their loyalty to her.
Nightmare Moon smiled her odd and twisted grin at the display of devotion before her, clearly pleased by it. "You have done well. You have carried out your orders more diligently and more efficiently than many others would have, and I see that you have placed priority on your mission above yourself, but not so far as to compromise the result by damaging your own capabilities. This is admirable, and I believe you should be rewarded for it."
The stallion's breath almost caught in his throat. "My Queen, I-" He stopped, his heart beating faster, as he heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps, and barely able to muster the strength to he looked up to see his Queen, shrouded in a mantle of darkness and power, moving towards him.
"Rise, and follow me," Nightmare Moon said as she walked past the pony, without even looking at him.
That was all the stallion needed. Like in a dream, the ache in his limbs suddenly disappearing, he almost floated behind the divine mare guiding his path. Through tall corridors flanked by banners and statues, through halls decorated by depictions of his Queen's glory, down winding staircases and deep below into the lowest reaches of the castle, hidden behind locked doors and secret passages. He could not have been able to remember the path there, too entranced by the presence of the Goddess of the Night closer to him than any mortal pony had the right to experience.
Finally, Nightmare Moon stopped, and turned back to the stallion. "You want to serve your Queen, right, little pony?" she asked.
"Yes, my Queen. Above everything, my Queen."
"Very well." The alicorn opened one last door. "I have been looking for ponies like you. Strong, loyal, smart, and willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I have decided to create a new order of guards, directly under my command, and I believe you fit to be the first of its members." She nodded towards the room in front of them.
"It is an honour, my Queen." Without hesitation, the stallion stepped inside the room.
Nightmare Moon smiled her cruel smile again. "Very well. Your new training will begin shortly, little pony. I expect great things to become of you." She began to close the door, adding, "And remember. You are doing this for your Queen."
The door clicked shut, and locked itself closed. Nightmare Moon began to walk away, as a unicorn watched the scene, their head low. "My Queen," they hesitantly began to speak, "I-"
"I trust that this will not result in a failure. Do not disappoint me." And with that, the alicorn walked away.