"Well then..." The Shadhavar said, turning on his hooves to stand before Twilight. "Princess Twilight Sparkle...I, Oscuridad, Shadhavar Lord and Captain of the Royal Night Guard, make an eternal blood oath to serve Princess of the Night Empire; Twilight Sparkle."
Rarity's eyes sparkled at the romance of the oath and watched as Oscuridad raised his foreleg to his mouth.
"Oh not this again." Twilight whispered.
"Why what happens next?" Rarity asked excitedly. "This is just like in one of those old novels you keep sending me!" she whispered.
Oscuridad opened his mouth wide, showing his fangs, and bit down hard on his leg. He released his hold on his leg and let the blood flow to the ground. Rarity stood gaping at him. Fluttershy nearly fainted again, Applejack merely took a step back in surprise. Rainbow Dash gagged, Pinkie froze in place, having turned completely white. Twilight winced but frowned at the fact that she was beginning to get accustomed to it.
He then got back to his full stature, saluting her with his bleeding hoof. "Princess, I offer my services as a soldier and a guards pony, and promise to never betray you, to fight for your sake to my death, and pray that I never fail you!"
"uh... thank you, Captain Oscuridad."
Oscuridad bowed deeply once again and turned around. "Now then Princess, if I could give you the rest of the tour?"
Twilight nodded, waiting for her friends to recover before following the Shadhavar down the dark tunnels. They came to a great spiralling room, with a single column in the center that met up with the top of the spiral, she imagined this must be what it was like to be inside the shell of a giant snail. "Here is your throne, Princess."
Twilight raised an eyebrow and trotted up to the column, realizing that there was a deep groove inside it, big enough for several ponies to sit inside it. The crystal's transparency was messing with her. She couldn't see small details unless she was at the right angle, and even the groove was invisible until she got within a few feet of it.
"This place is amazing Oscuridad..." Twilight commented. "But why's the throne room so hard to get to? Aren't I suppose to be able to meet with hundreds of ponies a day?"
Oscuridad frowned. "I had to protect the library tree, and I assumed you wouldn't want to assume your duties until it's time for you to head to the Castle."
"Well... that's right... but... ah, never mind. It doesn't need to make sense, I'll get used to it. So, beside the throne room at the top and the library at the bottom, what were in the tunnels we passed by?"
"Our rooms, that is, your bodyguards and mine. I assume you'll want to sleep in your tree, but just in case I've prepared a queen suite for you. As well as several guest rooms, just in case and so as not to waste space."
"Just imagine the slumber parties Twilight!" Pinkie said happily.
Twilight shivered. "I don't think I want to do any slumber parties for a while..."
Just then a chiming of a bell sounded throughout the tower. "What was that?!" Shrieked Rainbow.
Crescent frowned and flew to the nearest wall, putting her hoof on it and causing pentagons of transparencies to appear around her. "Captain." She said in a whispery voice. "We have visitors, one of them seems to have noticed your doorbell."
Oscuridad made his way to the newly created window as well and looked down. "Princess, do you recognize any of them?"
Twilight peered down. "I recognize most of them, they're just ponies from around town... oh! The one by the door is the mayor."
Oscuridad gave a sly smile to Twilight. "You know how you were saying that the Throne Room should be easily accessible to visitors? Well..." He bowed slightly to his Princess. "forgive my constant bragging, your Majesty, but I am quite proud of this tower, and of all the spells I've built in." His horn glowed and she noticed the archway on the side of the door they just entered from. It glowed for several seconds with dark magic, before a wall appeared under the arch, making the formerly curving slope of the wall into a completely straight one. Then a crack appeared down the middle. "Open the doors for our guests, if you so please, your Majesty."
Twilight looked at the door hesitantly before making her horn glow and pushing it open. A confused and nervous Mayor Mare was standing outside, as well as the majority of the town.
"Uh..." Mayor Mare began.
Crow snickered and grabbed Pinkie Pie, standing next to the archway. "Princess, if you'd please go to your throne with the rest of your friends?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow but she moved over to the Crystal Throne and laid down inside it, her friends standing on her left, with the Captain, the rest of her guards on her right.
"Announcing... Pinkie, if you'd please?"
"Mayor Mare!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, unsure of what was happening.
Crow gave a short bow. "You may now enter."
"Uh.. thank you..." Her eyes widened as she got a better look at the Longma, she paled and could hear her heart beating. She walked stiffly before the throne and gave a short bow. "um... Princess Twilight Sparkle, your majesty... uh, your highness..."
"Just Twilight will be fine, Mayor."
Oscuridad frowned.
"...um... thank you. Well anyway, I was wondering, just wondering! Not complaining, but uh... where did this tower come from?"
Twilight gestured to the Shadhavar on her left. "Captain Oscuridad made it for me... we're still testing it out right now, but if you think that it's bad for the town we can get rid of it without a trace, right Captain?"
Oscuridad bristled. "Excuse my rude breach on your conversation, your majesty, but you're leaving such a big decision to a random townspony?"
"She's not a random townspony, she's the mayor! And this town is under her authority, as well as the public library. Of course we'll go along with her decision."
Oscuridad frowned. "Then I believe the first step should be to secure the rights to this land and the library..."
Twilight turned toward him, surprised. "What do you mean?"
"You should be able to say you own your own house, Princess."
"...I..."
"Um.. I'll have a word with the town council, I'm sure we can arrange to have the property transferred to Princess Sparkle officially soon... but uh...." She gulped. "I actually came to ask about the official status of Ponyville..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... Ponyville and the surrounding area was deeded to the Apple Family originally, which have since given more and more of it away to the town as it expanded... but Celestia always had the ability to take it away.. so really what I'm wondering is... are we under your command right now, I mean, is the town yours?"
Twilight blinked. "Um... as far as I'm aware the town hasn't changed ownership or anything similar... as a Princess of Equestria I'm kind of in control, but really, things will be the same as ever." I hope. She added silently.
"Ah! Well, that's good! Not that it would be bad having you in charge, what I mean is... er... thank you for your time, Princess?" Mayor Mare bowed and hurried back outside, but found Crow blocking her way.
"The Princess hasn't dismissed you."
"Uh, dismissed?"
Crow nodded and moved out of the way. Mayor Mare took in a breath of relief and trotted back outside, jumping when the doors closed automatically behind her. Twilight hurried to the window and watched as the Mayor broke into a gallop, running off toward the town hall. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "How could something like that be so stressful?!I just had to answer her questions...."
"Wow Twi, it was like you were a real Princess there!" Rainbow Dash said happily. She winced as Sanguine and Den glared at her. "What?"
"Princess Twilight is a real Princess. She does not need to prove herself, and that title can never be taken away." Den said gruffly.
"Alright, alright... sorry." Rainbow sighed. "Man, you guys are stuffy. I was just joking around."
"Joke in a way that doesn't insult the Princess." Jaeger said simply.
Oscuridad stood in front of Twilight and made the window disappear again. "Princess, far be it from me to deride or instruct you," Twilight rolled her eyes, knowing that meant he was going to deride and instruct her, "but I was informed that you spent your entire life near court? That you accompanied and learned from Princess Celestia herself as she ruled Equestria? That was truly a poor display of court prowess. This was your first official act as Princess, and you were... how should I say... hesitant and passive.. you put yourself below a simple Earth Pony. You allowed her to stutter and asked her to disregard your authority, when in fact, your authority was the reason she was here."
Twilight winced.
"Perhaps in Solar court anypony can stroll in and waste the Princess's time, behaving however they wish, and then leave whenever they want... but the Lunar Court is a place of formality and seriousness. The Mayor's questions, if she had been instructed to speak clearly to begin with, could have been answered accurately in seconds! When your subject is acting incompetently, you must remind them to be respectful and serious!" Oscuridad growled.
Twilight frowned. "The Solar court wasn't like that. I... I did spend a few days at court, quite often actually... but I was usually studying other things at the time. And from what I saw Celestia wouldn't ever have to deal with simple questions like these, she'd just redirect it to a Pony's who's specialized in that!" She marched over to Oscuridad and stood as tall as she could, stretching her wings. "I don't have anything like that yet! I was just inexperienced and unsure for a few minutes!" She blushed, realizing she had gone on a tangent, before standing down and pulling her wings back in. "I.... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown up like that..."
"No Princess! I was being disrespectful, I am merely your servant, it is not my place to even critique you. I apologize, mistress!"
Twilight's eyes widened. "Mistress? That's a new one."
"Mistress, your Majesty, Queen, my liege, Princess, Empress, Night-bearer, Lunar Queen, Mare of the Moon, possibly Nightmare, the Dark Lord, the Shadow Lady, Honorable one, etc.. you have plenty of titles." Den supplied.
"Huh..." Twilight blinked. "Wait... I'm the Mare in the Moon?"
"No, Mare of the Moon." Den corrected. "It's basically the same as saying that you represent the night, the same as the Moon."
Twilight frowned. "Those are all things they called Nightmare Moon..."
Den nodded. "Of course, you're her successor after all."
Twilight was beginning to feel sick. "I... think I'm tired... I didn't get much sleep last night-"
"You got a good four and half hours in." Crow said cheerfully. Sanguine and Den hit him on the head.
"I thought we were going to stop mentioning that." Sanguine sighed.
"-and the train ride and all... of, well this" she gestured randomly to the tower walls, "is tiring me out... I think I'm going to go take a nap. Oscuridad, try and find something for you and the other guards to eat."
"Yes, Princess."
"Sorry to push you guys out like this.." Twilight apologized to her friends.
"Nah, we understand. Mus' be tough, first day being the Princess of a whole Empire." Applejack said happily, reaching in for a hug. Six Longma and a Shadhavar jerked forward to intercept them, but Twilight stepped back first.
"All five of them can hug me, alright?! You guys aren't taking that from me!"
"Y-Yes Princess." Jaeger said, motioning for the guards to step back.
The six mares shared a group hug. They said their goodbyes and Oscuridad opened the direct-to ground level portal arch again. Oscuridad watched as the five of them left. As the guards began leading Twilight back down to the library Oscuridad stopped Jaeger. "Follow them for as long as they stick together.. then keep following the largest group... report back to me with what they're talking about. Afterwards, you'll guard the Throne Room."
"....yes sir." Jaeger pressed his hoof to the wall, and instead of a transparent window, the wall actually opened for him. He flew out and watched as the wall closed. He flew after the five friends.
~~~~
Twilight watched as Oscuridad trotted quickly to keep up with them, apparently staying behind with Jaeger for another minute after they left. He was busy flattening out his mane of darkness after jostling it trotting after them.
"Where's Jaeger?" Twilight asked.
"He's guarding the throne room." Oscuridad said nonchalantly. "It's an important job... but not one for a bodyguard. We'll have to bring in more Longma as staff and guards..."
"Why not just ponies from here? I mean, why have soldiers stand outside every door when we can just hire some security guards?" Twilight offered. She frowned as Oscuridad continued trying to fix his mane during the conversation. He must have galloped after them. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced at his leg. "Hey... about your leg... how did you make it stop bleeding so fast?"
"Hm? Oh, we just heal a little faster, that and a few regeneration spells done on most of the soldiers a few weeks ago..." He gave a dark chuckle, "Well, I suppose it was a thousand years ago, the longest lasting regeneration spell in history I suppose."
Twilight nodded. They went down the stairway and came out to the library, and then they went up a much shorter staircase to her bedroom, she smiled at Spike, already tucked in, and climbed into the bed. Making sure that all the guards were outside she sighed out one last command. "You're probably all going to stand at my door til I wake up, but some of you should try getting some sleep too... you've probably stayed awake a lot longer than I have... and you're probably a lot more.. tired and confused too... ~yawn~... well, g'night."
"Good Night, Princess of the Night." one of them said from the other side of the door.
Her eyes drifted slowly shut. "I'm a Princess..." she smiled to herself.
~~~~
"This is amazing!" Rarity said cheerfully. "She's an official Princess now! She has the tower, the guards, the authority, the jewels, everything! I'm so happy for her. Did I ever tell you all about how I wanted to become part of the Royal family?"
Rainbow Dash smirked. "Yeah, you talked about it all the time back in the day, I guess the Gala really got to you, eh?"
"Oh you wouldn't believe the disappointment."
"Ah think we all can, Rare."
Rarity chuckled. "I suppose you're right."
"So, what do we call her now?" Fluttershy asked.
"What do you mean Shy?" Rainbow asked.
"Well... it's just... she's a Princess now..."
"She was a Princess before too."
"...well... yes... but, it's different now."
"Why?"
"Well..." Fluttershy began. "she has real responsibilities now... before the biggest change was that she could fly... now... well, we can't even hug her without being glared at by those scary dragon ponies..."
"Don' worry, we'll figure a way around it." Applejack assured.
"Of course we will, Dear." Rarity said as well, "but we should probably be more formal around the guards... what should we call her? She has all those titles... oh... just imagine, signing all your letters with a string of formal titles!"
"It sounds like a hassle." Rainbow said simply.
"Well, yes, but it's also very regal and impressive." Rarity said with a smile. "Perhaps we should call her Princess Twilight in public..."
"no, no! We should call her Nightmare Sparkle!" Pinkie said, giggling.
"Pinkie, that's nothing to joke about!"
"Why not? Twilight's her replacement, after all. Why not call her Nightmare Sparkle?" Rainbow Dash countered. "But I for one am still calling her Twi, public or not."
"Hm. That seems like the best course of action." Rarity agreed. "She might get insulted if we start using all those titles, despite how regal they are."
The friends then went their separate ways, back to their own homes, and Jaeger, came out of hiding and flew back to the Tower.
~~~~
Oscuridad smiled. "And they really said all those things?"
"Yes sir."
"If twisted just right..." he began.
"Sir, they were clearly joking."
"They were debating about their level of familiarity with the Princess and mocked her and her titles.. these ponies are obviously not suitable to be my Princess's companions..." He gave a toothy grin to Jaeger, who shivered. "..I'll... make sure Twilight learns of this at the appropriate time and place... this is in her best interest after all.. those sun-loving peasants are clearly a bad influence on her."
Jaeger frowned. "Far be it for I to question you, Captain..."
"Good, then don't."
"But... aren't you overstepping your bounds? The Princess is free to choose her own friends."
"What? I'll merely advise her, and I won't say anything but the truth..." he walked away from the bodyguard before he could retort. "Just not the whole truth."