True Colors

Golden Halls

Twilight Sparkle gasped at the sight before her. The Everfree Forest created a thick canopy over the ground, shrouding it from view. Yet in it’s center a massive structure rose out of a clearing. The ground around the building was perfectly visible, trees near it having been cleared, and ponies, mostly royal guards, could be seen trotting about completing their day-to-day tasks. The structure in the center of the clearing was The Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle. A building every little filly dreamed of living in when they were foals, and now she was going to live out the dreams of all those foals. Well, not exactly. Most fillies would dream of being taken in by the empresses’ to live as royalty. Twilight, on the other hoof, was going to live there as a slave. Still, as a personal slave to the ruler of the night she wouldn’t be living in too bad of conditions…Would she?

Twilight raised a hoof to her chin in thought as her mind, paranoid from growing up in the streets, turned to the worst possibilities. The servants in the castle might push her around, or the guards. “Or I might be forced to live in the pens with the guard animals!” She thought.

The idea made Twilight shiver in fear violently. Said movement earned a stern stare from Nightmare Moon. Twilight stopped immediately. For though she could not see the look, due to the empress sitting behind her, she could feel the alicorn‘s eyes boring into her back. The unicorn remembered being told not to move much during the flight, lest she unbalance the small chariot. This was only the second time she had actually moved, which was quite a feat considering the travel time, but she did not want to test her master’s patience.

Twilight had been let out of the cell in Gravel Pie’s basement after she had finished the blood oath, which still disturbed her, and had been stripped of her dress, Nightmare stating she’d look more presentable without the ragged cloth. After heading outside, catching a brief glimpse of the disappearing panic, Twilight had been hurried into the empress’ chariot, and they had left with hardly a word to the duke. The unicorn was confused about what was obviously rude manners, but she was perceptive enough to realize something had upset Nightmare Moon and it would be stupid to ask.

Twilight was jarred out of her thoughts as the chariot landed roughly onto the stone path in front of the castle. Her eyes were drawn up as the castle seemed even larger from the ground. In fact, it was absolutely intimidating. She wasn’t sure how big it was, but she suspected it would take more than a day if one were to try to explore every inch of it. The castle was constructed mostly of large white stone bricks while the conical roofs of the many separate towers and the angled roof of the monastery-like main entrance appeared constructed of smooth polished ebony that looked almost like metal from its shine.

Lining the edges of the roofs, walls, windows, and entrances was pure gold, as shown by its orange luster. The front doors were easily large enough to admit the Dragon. Twilight would have wondered how the ponies managed to open it were it not for two burly unicorns in royal guard armor on either side of the massive double-doors. The doors themselves were made from mahogany, and were studded with half-orbs of impure yellow gold. The gold was also formed into the shape of pony-head knockers in the center of each door, and above the doors were two beautiful blue glass windows that ran straight to the roof. Twilight was almost tempted to say they were made from crystal, with the way they shined, but she knew better than that.

Suddenly, she felt a breeze at her back, and realized the empress had left the chariot. Hurriedly, the young mare exited as well, and trotted to catch up with her new master, who was already proceeding to the grand entrance. As she reached Nightmare’s backside she lowered her head and looked around nervously. She felt very out of place here, and while the guards on the sides of the stone path’s stares were impassive they felt very accusing to the unicorn. She was still uncertain what the empress intended to do with her, but she felt safer in close proximity to the alicorn, if for no other reason than that she would be angered if something happened to her “property.”

As the two ponies made their way to the entrance the two unicorn guards’ horns lit up in grey and green auras. The doors were covered by the light at their edges, and opened, allowing the two to pass. Twilight followed Nightmare as close as she dared, but as she entered the main hall her pace began to slow. She raised her head as she took in the sight.

The floors were made out of white and dark-grey marble arranged in a checkered square pattern that led straight down to a large set of stairs at the end of the hall, which split into two smaller sets of stairs heading to the right and left. The walls were a warm polished rosewood whose grain was nearly invisible, and all along them were rounded archways that were easily three times the size of Nightmare Moon, all leading to different passages in the castle. Lastly, the roof, while ebony on the outside, was a white stone on the inside that seemed to emit light on it’s own. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was magic, or just her mind playing tricks on her.

Suddenly, she was made aware of a third set of clopping hooves. Looking about the mare saw several passages had pairs of guards in front of them, but the sound wasn’t coming from any of those ponies. No. The source of the sound was made clear when a large earth stallion came from one of the guarded halls. He was massive for a pony, easily standing at shoulder-height to Nightmare Moon, and well-muscled. Yet the muscles were not a dominating feature. While they were noticeable they did not seem as ridiculous as the stallion’s height. His fur and mane were dark grey, with a few lines of white in his mane, but still held strands of black here and there from a time years before. Upon his flank was the image of a gravestone, but it did not unnerve Twilight as much as the golden eye patch that seemed bonded over his left eye, a faded scar from long ago running behind it. The metal eye patch held the emblem of a star shining between two large orbs that seemed to be the sun and the moon. Twilight had no idea what it meant, but it was clearly the stallion’s symbol of office, and it was the only the thing that deemed him more than a commoner to the unicorn’s eye. For the only other clothing upon him was a simple red robe with a blue sash tied around it at his wait, and four undecorated steel bracers tied to his legs.

The stallion crossed in front of Nightmare as she made her way to the stairs at the back of the main hall, Twilight in tow. The two ponies stopped in front of one another, and the stallion bowed his head respectfully. Nightmare responded in kind, her head moving only slightly, and a silence settled across the hall. The two ponies simply stared at one another, as if waiting for the other to begin. Finally the stallion spoke up, “You are back earlier than expected, empress.” His voice was aged, but still flowed smoothly as silk.

“Indeed. Things did not go as hoped.” Nightmare Moon responded honestly.

“Heh.” The stallion smirked, “Were you expecting any different?”

“Not much so.” Nightmare answered, shaking her head. “Why are you smiling, Artillerus?”

“Because I know a good number of ponies who owe me money now. If you’ll excuse me, ma’am.”

Nightmare Moon frowned at the comment about betting on her success, but did not mention it, simply nodding her head in permission. The stallion walked around the alicorn, and continued on his way. As he passed his one brown eye fell on Twilight. It’s stare did not seem as accusatory as the guards’, merely analytical. Still, Twilight shied away from it, and trotted over to the side of Nightmare opposite the stallion. As his hoofsteps faded away and the two began climbing the stairs Twilight asked, “Who was that stallion?” Remembering who she was talking to she hastily added, “If you don’t mind me asking, empress.”

“That was Legate Artillerus. General of the Celestial Army and captain of the Royal Guard.” The alicorn explained as they turned to the stairs on the right, “And he’s not a stallion.”

Twilight absorbed the information, but her mind seemed to reject the latter half of the answer. “Wait, what!?”

“He’s a gelding. As are all high-ranking members of the Royal Guard.” Nightmare answered intuitively.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened at information. She suddenly felt sorry for the Legate, but the pity quickly turned to worry as her pessimistic mind began imagining them doing something similar to her, for one reason or another. She gulped at the thought. The nagging fear continued to bother the unicorn as she and her master made their way through the castle. Turn here. Stairs there. Corridor here. The travel took ten minutes in all, plenty of time for Twilight to stew over her fears. She was finally snapped out of her thoughts when they came to another pair of grand double doors. One door was ivory with obsidian decorations carved on it to depict the sun shining over a village. The image of the village continued to the next door, which was ebony, where it was constructed of alabaster and a full alabaster moon shone over it. Beside the doors were two royal guards who opened them for the two mares.

The room they entered continued much the same style of the rest of the castle with it’s checkered floors and rosewood walls, but in front of the walls columns of grey stone rose to hold up the long curved stone ceiling. In front of each column stood a royal guard, their armor an odd turquoise instead of the usual gold painted steel, and at the end of the hall-like room Twilight saw the reason why there was so much security. On a platform slightly raised above the floor were two thrones. One was obsidian and had a crescent moon carved on the top of it’s back. The other was alabaster with a sun carved on it, but what caught the young mare’s eye was the figure sitting upon it.

There, on the throne, was an unmistakable white alicorn. Her mane and tail, colored in stripes of pink, blue, green, and purple, flowing about magically, like Nightmare’s own. A sun decorated her flank, and her four hooves bore shoes of pure gold, much like the gold outside. Upon her neck was a large engraved thick necklace almost like a collar with a great purple sapphire in it’s center, and her crown bore a smaller one just hidden behind her horn, both adornments being made of pure gold as well. This was Celestia. The other empress of The Celestial Empire and sovereign of the day.

Twilight Sparkle’s legs started shaking, and she had to fight the need to hide or bow. For Nightmare Moon was still proceeding through the room, and she had to follow. Celestia rose from her throne, and practically glided across the room, her hooves never making a sound as a testament to her strength. The two alicorns met in the center of the room, and it was at this point that Twilight Sparkle gave in to her instincts and bowed, though it looked more like she laid down. At this range Twilight could make out more subtle differences between the two sisters. Nightmare Moon was skinnier than Celestia. That is not to say that the white alicorn was fat, but, where as Nightmare was mostly taut muscle stretched thin, Celestia had a more normal frame. She was neither fat nor skinny, and no muscles were visible. The day-empress’ purple eyes briefly flashed over Twilight, and in that instant the mare could swear she saw something cold and distant. Yet the eyes were off her in a second, leaving the unicorn to wonder if it had been her imagination. “Nightmare.” Celestia greeted warmly, a smiling stretching cross her snout.

“Sister.” The black alicorn responded more formally, but with a genuine smile as well.

“You are back early sister. How bad was it?” Celestia asked.

“How does she know it went bad?” Twilight questioned herself.

“The duke set his guards on the crowd that gathered for the speech.” Nightmare answered her sister.

“Ooooh,” Celestia frowned. “That is bad.”

“Indeed.”

“It appears I owe the Legate some gold.”

Nightmare did not respond, but Twilight could see her jaw tighten.

“And what have you brought with you?” Celestia asked flicking her eyes to Twilight once more, though the unicorn thought the eyes looked kinder than before.

Nightmare Moon turned her gaze to Twilight before answering, “This is Twilight Sparkle. My personal slave.”

Celestia’s brows raised in mild surprise. “Personal slave? And here I thought you said it went bad.”

“It did.” Nightmare said, turning her attention back to her older sister.

Celestia smirked playfully. “Ah, but you still gained something from it.”

Nightmare scowled at her sister’s apparent inability to take the situation seriously. “Guard.” She called.

One of the many guards in the room trotted forward. “Take Twilight Sparkle here to a guest room. The closest to mine for convenience. I wish to speak to my sister alone.”

The guard apparently did not take insult at the fact that he and his companions did not, it seemed, count as ponies in this situation. For he simply bowed, and nudged Twilight Sparkle to her feet. The unicorn stared at Nightmare briefly before following the stallion, “Or is he a gelding too?”, out of the room.

As the two exited the doors to the throne room closed behind them, and Twilight attempted to start up a conversation, “Umm…So what’s it like being a royal guard?”

The guard did not respond. “I imagine it’s hard to stay so still all time.” She tried again.

She frowned as she was ignored once more. “I notice your armor’s different from the others. Why is tha-”

“Quiet, slave.” The guard finally responded.

The mare lowered her head with a sigh. She wasn’t going make the guard talk anytime soon, regardless of the innocence of the question.

As soon as the door closed behind Nightmare she began, “Sister, this is no time for jokes.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked in an innocent tone.

“Stalliongrad’s in worse condition than either of us thought. The edge of the town is hardly livable.” Nightmare explained.

“Hardly? So it can still be saved.” Celestia responded.

“If it were to be they would need a lot more money, and more jobs, as well, so that the homeless there can afford the reconstructed buildings.” Nightmare stated.

“If they need more jobs they can always map out the region more accurately.” Celestia suggested.

“That alone won’t do, and you know it. I doubt many of them have access to parchment and ink, anyway. That slave I brought with me had never seen a book before.” Nightmare objected.

“Really? Why did you bring her anyway?” Celestia asked. “Feeling lonely?”

The younger alicorn’s eyes widened at the accusation, and her lip twisted into snarl that could rival a manticore’s. “I brought her because she has potential.” She growled out.

Celestia snickered and replied, “I’m only joking, dear little sister. If you were really feeling that way you could have any stallion you want. You wouldn’t take some random mare off the streets.”

Nightmare Moon relaxed somewhat at the word, but an irritated flicker was still present in her eyes. “Of course, I have to wonder what you mean by potential.” The older alicorn continued.

The night-empress’s muscles tensed once more, though it was hardly less noticeable. She couldn’t tell Celestia that the unicorn had stolen from her. Her sister might insist on killing Twilight. Of course, Celestia wasn’t always predictable. The older alicorn might just brush it off with a laugh, and accept Nightmare’s decision as punishment enough. It was not worth the risk though. Time to lie, and, as her sister had shown her more than once, the best way to lie was to tell the truth. “The town guards caught her while I was meeting with duke. Apparently she can teleport.” Nightmare explained.

“Is that all?” Celestia asked.

Teleportation, though rare, was not special enough to warrant Nightmare changing Twilight’s original punishment to bring the mare with her. “They were going to put her to death for stealing from the duke. I intervened on a whim, and, after talking to her, came to the conclusion that she was both very talented in magic and intelligent.”

“On a whim? That sounds more like me than you. What about her caught your eye?” Celestia asked.

Nightmare’s body grew even more tense at the question. Celestia seemed to sense the weakness, and before the alicorn could respond she pressed on, “What did she do? Did she give you a look?”

“A look?” Nightmare barely had time to think to herself as Celestia leaned forward, face an inch from hers.

“Or was it more? Did you enjoy it?” The white alicorn asked.

The night-empress’ jaw dropped slightly as her older sister leaned back with laugh. “You were always so easy to fool, falling for every single tease.”

Nightmare Moon’s eye twitched momentarily before her mouth returned to a snarl. “Tia will you take this seriously or not!?” She yelled.

Smiling the day-empress replied, “Well, now that I’ve gotten you to use my name I will, but let’s talk about this tonight, at dinner. You look tired.”

Nightmare breathed heavily, giving up. She was tired. She didn’t even question how her sister knew. They’d known each other for so long, and Celestia had always begin good at telling things about a pony in a glance. “Fine.” The younger alicorn agreed. “But keep thinking about Stalliongrad in the meantime. The town needs help.”

“Of course.” Celestia responded politely, and turned to head back to her throne.

Nightmare, likewise, turned to the door, and left the room. Talking to her sister had only added to her exhaustion, and, while she was used to hardly resting, she still needed sleep.

Twilight Sparkle had occupied herself in the silent trip to her new quarters by observing her surroundings. After one was over the initial shock of grandeur they would notice the castle mostly settled into a monotonous continuum. “Mostly.” Twilight thought because she was certain that rooms like the empresses, maybe even a few offices, were probably unique.

Of course, on the way Twilight and her escort came across numerous ponies. This surprised Twilight as most ponies she passed were not guards, but, instead, servants. They were the first servants Twilight had seen, and they all seemed to hold an air of superiority that made her look away whenever they would stare at her. “They must take their jobs as a privilege.” The unicorn thought.

Half of her wanted to mock the servants for not being as grand as she was sure they thought they were, this coming from bitter years in the streets. The other half refused because, where she came from, jobs were a privilege. To be able make money meant being able to support oneself in far better way than skulking in the streets, and waiting for a merchant or hungry guard to be distracted. Twilight still wouldn’t be making any money, but at least she wouldn’t starve like she’d done some days. She’d also have a bed from the sound of things. At least, if Nightmare Moon didn’t change her mind about the unicorn’s lodgings. “Ooooh,” A sudden thought occurred to her. “Maybe if I serve the empress well enough she’ll let me have access to the royal library!”

The idea made Twilight giddy, and it took some willpower for her not squee in front of the guard. All those books. All that knowledge. Why it might take her weeks, NO, months to learn everything in the library. Of course, she wasn’t sure if there was such a thing as a royal library, but castles were supposed to have treasure, right? Certainly there was no better treasure than knowledge. Twilight smiled to herself blissfully, and held her head high. This was the first time she’d smiled since she’d seen Empress Moon she realized. Maybe being a slave wasn’t going to be so bad after all. It was at this point that her fears of torture and spaying suddenly reared their heads, and her smile became glassy. Curse her paranoid mind. It did her no favors right now.

Soon, Twilight and her guard arrived at their destination. A simple wooden door stood in the wall of the passage they were in. A spiral staircase that headed up one of the towers of the castle stood right next to it. “Her grace’s room is at the top of the tower.” The guard explained.

“Thank you.” Twilight said.

The guard snorted, looking at her out the corner of his eye. “Do not thank me.” He said. “I tell you only because it is expected of you to know, and it may reflect poorly upon me were I not to explain this.”

With that comment, the guard turned back the way they had come to return to his post in the throne room. Twilight briefly wondered how it would reflect poorly on a single guard. Surely, the empresses didn’t know his actual name? Then again, maybe they didn’t need to. His armor was different from the regular royal guards. Perhaps he belonged to a smaller detachment of them. If so, all the empresses need do was tell whoever was in charge of it that one of guards had disappointed them, and the group would sort out who itself.

Shaking her head, Twilight tossed the thought to side, and turned to the door. After a second of staring the mare entered her new room. It was fairly simple. A wooden room with a desk and chair in it’s far left corner and a window in it’s right. A blue rug laid out in center of the room, but none of these caught Twilight’s attention at the moment. In the center of the back wall was a large four-post bed. The unicorn’s eyes widened, and, after carefully shutting the door behind her, the mare charged across the room to jump onto the bed. The piece of furniture’s carefully arranged covers flopped up and over the laughing mare, and the pillows at it’s head became unsettled. She’d never had a bed before. She’d always slept on the cold hard ground, but this… Oh, this felt just like she’d always dreamt it would. Twilight began to roll around the bed like a foal, laughing in pure joy. The covers were entangled by her, and wrapped around the mare as she continued without a care in the world.

Nightmare Moon proceeded down the hallway as stoically as ever. Her business with her sister concluded, she wished to retrieve her slave. She needed massage. She doubted Twilight Sparkle would do too good of a job, but anything was better than nothing after these past two days.

As she approached the stairwell that led to her room, and the guestroom that she’d told the guard to bring Twilight to, she noticed the servants in the area looking down the hall with confused or concerned glances. This bothered Nightmare slightly. Normally, the servants were too uptight to let their minds wander in the way their expressions indicated they were now, and the ruler of the night had an idea what was causing this. Soon, she heard laughter. It was faint at first, but quickly grew in strength the closer Nightmare came to her destination. The alicorn’s minor agitation turned to confusion as she stood in front of the door she knew her slave to be behind. For the first time in decades, she hesitated. Then she opened the door.

The world seemed to freeze as the empress took in the sight before her. Her slave was laying on the disheveled bed, cocooned in it’s covers. She stared at the purple mare. The purple mare stared back. Nightmare closed her eyes and turned around. Taking a deep breath the alicorn spoke up, “Twilight Sparkle, get up. I have something for you to do.”

The sound of rustling covers filled the air as the unicorn responded more eagerly than the alicorn had ever heard her before. “Yes ma’am!”

Author's Note: Apologies for the shorter chapter. The next one will likely be longer. Regardless, the antagonists have now been introduced, and I hope you guys will come to enjoy them. For now, though, they are not threats yet. Also, I realize the castle looks nothing like the ruins from the show, but continuity in that area is not something I'm going to strive for. There was hardly anything in the second episode to work with there, and this is an AU. Lastly, I hopy you all enjoyed Twilight being cute. I know I do.