The Axton and Zero Chronicle

Having slept soundly in the room which he was designated by the castle staff (specifically by a mare named Well Rest), Axton awoke to the sounds of hustle and bustle in the castle, as though the very walls were alive with the murmuring buzz of daily activity. Servants and maids outside the rooms rushed around the room delivering specific orders, dishes of in-room breakfasts bountiful enough to feed a small regiment of soldiers (for such services were indeed provided under the hospitality of the two Diarchs) and various items of clothing for the dignitaries from various countries to wear. At this point, Axton's brain just about clocked that he had slept in the clothes he had brought with him to the capital city..... meaning that he had no spare clothes to wear. Horseapples.

Whilst considering on a scale of one to banished-to-the moon he was in terms of being absolutely out of options for attire, there was a knock on the door; seeing no other option but to answer it, Axton hesitantly walked toward said entrance to open it. As he did so, the luxury of this room was once again visited upon in Axton's mind, as the plush velveteen carpet brushed his feet and the smell of scented vanilla candles permeated the room; he quickly reminded himself to thank the Lunar Princess upon seeing her again, noting also to ask for a spare pair of clothes when possible. At this point, whatever deity of fortune decided to smile down upon him as the servant waiting at the door smiled gently at the young colt, delivering unto him a set of oddly uniform clothes along with some toiletry items and a plate of well done breakfast pancakes. The latter had Axton salivating as they were covered in a slowly trickling golden river of syrup, the pancakes pleasantly thick in proportion to the rest of plate, each one lounging lazily atop one another with a decadence that only the most royal of breakfasts could provide.

Hastily thanking the servant with a quick nod of the head and sentiment, he quickly dug into the breakfast; he nearly did a double take as each forkful entered his mouth; each heavenly bite seemed to melt on his taste buds, with the syrup being just sweet enough not to be sickly, tinged with vanilla and lemon shavings put into the mix. The process of savoring each and every mouthful took approximately half an hour, after which he asked for both the recipe and seconds, finishing the second helping in minutes before going off to sanitize with the provided toiletries; after having dried from the shower, he noticed a small footnote on the collar of the clothing given, unable to fully inspect it in its packaged and folded state.

The note read 'Axton,

should you choose to accept the offer of becoming my student in the various studies I have offered, we would like to bestow unto thee a 'uniform' of sorts in which you can be identified by the castle staff, delegates and so forth. Said uniform is magically enhanced to be flexible to your form as both the Royal Tailoring Department and I were quite unaware as to your clothing sizes. I hope highly that you accept, as you have so much potential within your recent Alicorn transformation. I look forward to your decision with an eager mind.

Best Regards,

Princess Luna, Diarch of the Moon.'

At this, Axton was thrown much into contemplation; on one hand, he would naturally jump at the chance to study under an astute mentor let alone the Princess of the Night herself! Yet.... he found himself reluctant, as he was still going out with Applebloom, was still quite young and quite obviously had only partook in basic education up to this point, with the rest of his life ahead of him. Was he willing to throw all that away just to go study his alicorn form more? Questions for later, he supposed. Putting on his old clothes, he carried his uniform to a meeting point designated on the back of the note; naturally, this was the olde-world night themed Audience Room.

Ponderously walking along the corridors again, this time with a little more difficulty due to having to constantly dodge in and out of roaming servants/maids, Axton ended up at the Audience Room doors once again. Oddly enough, the two Lunar Guards who escorted him to the gates were there, stoic and alert as usual; this general expression was the norm with the Lunar Guard, whom of which had to remain constantly vigilant due to the constant attempted break-ins of burglars, assassins and other various ner'-do-wells who seem to have the illusion that the night is somewhat safer for such operations.

Giving a nervous nod to the set of guards, Axton headed into said Audience Room; once again, he was enveloped by the scene of the nightly chamber with its paintings and portraits and was nonetheless amazed once more. Sitting on a pseudo-throne (it was really just a large chair; the real Lunar Throne was in the Throne Room) was the Princess of the Night herself, who gave an almost relieved smile at the appearance at Axton. This look that she gave, however, was combined with a small flicker of concern at noticing the young colt's reluctance to wear the outfit she had tailored for him.

"Greetings, Axton; it warms my heart that you decided to speak to me before deciding. The last time I requested such a thing of a pony.... uh, that's a story for another time." She chuckled nervously, seeming a bit put off at lowering her chances at recruiting the young colt "Anyway, have you considered our proposal?"

With a hesitant expression that contained thought well beyond his age group, Axton replied "I'm.... not so sure about this, your highness." Noticing Luna's almost instantaneous dismay, he hastily added "It's not that I don't want to study under you, your majesty. It's more due to the fact that I'm worried that I won't be able to do a lot of things I care about. Like see family, friends.... other people too, who I'm sure you're aware of; I can't risk losing out on my education either, as I'll most definitely need it in the future."

Luna, for the most part, seemed quite impressed at the thought Axton put into this, but was saddened both by the more-than-mature for his age worldliness and this response. However, she rallied herself and countered with "I... would not seek to take you away entirely from your current life. As I'm very sure, you are aware of one Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

A small nod was given from Axton, at which point Luna continued along with "As you know, she studied under my sister, Celestia. Now, as with her I have full intention to allow you your physical freedom should you choose to accept; I would not be so uncouth as to not do so, after all. That means you'd be able to visit anyone you'd wish to at the behest of delaying your studies for a short while, which is of no large worry to me should it guarantee your satisfaction."

Delighted to hear this, Axton sighed in relief, wiping mock sweat from his brow "And here I thought I was gonna be cooped up somewhere for most my life; no offence, Princess, but you hear a LOT of horror stories like that." He shuddered in afterthought, remembering the stories around the Apple and Coglink campfires.

A small chuckle elicited from the diarch as she relaxed a little, visibly relieved; internally, she was panicking, wondering if she'd fail to live up the standards expected of her by the general public and of course by her sister (which was a big enough shadow to escape from as it was).

"Very well, young Axton; with your consent, please go and dress into thine uniform and meet us at the royal chariot stables. If you need to find the way, please seek the guidance of my Lunar Guard; they will be more than happy to help thee." Luna proclaimed, slipping out of the usual Equestrian tongue for a brief moment; this was most likely due to her excitement and was often a bad habit of hers, most notably noticed by Celestia.

With this, the Lunar Diarch stood and promptly cantered from the room in a fit of un-princessly joy and childlike giddiness, away from the Audience room and beyond; safe to say, Axton himself was left quite perplexed at the sudden change in Luna's demeanor and stance, but chose to accept it anyhow (being in the same village as Pinkie Pie makes one quite accustomed to randomness). In turn, he then left the room to go and complete the needed tasks in hand set by Luna.

Approximately one hour later, at the Royal Canterlot Chariot Stables...

Leading the way, two heavy set Lunar Guards (likely heavy defense Lunar Guardstallions if the halberds they carried were anything to go by) opened to the swinging doors into the stables; like every other part of the castle, this place was bustling with staff running about, albeit with a role change from maid or butler to stable hand and carriage handler. One of the things that fascinated Axton the most about the stables was that it was split entirely into two departments, Solar and Lunar; a strange choice, but one that clearly set up a dual decor of bright yellows and dark blues intermingling with one another.

Making his way over to the designated carriage, third one along on the right, Axton was quite shocked; standing in front of him was something equine but not quite natural in nature. Before him stood what looked like a quadruped stallion, plated all in a dark blue metal, with eyes a blazing and commanding white; the plates of the stallion horse shimmered a dark indigo in the low light of the stables, glinting almost menacingly at him.

"Don't worry about Shadow; he's just as loyal as any of the other fine steeds in this stables, if not more so." Princess Luna spoke up, standing beside the carriage; not expecting her presence, Axton immediately jumped and flinched, bowing in reaction.

"S-sorry, Princess! I didn't notice you there!" Axton exclaimed, bowing so low that he was nearly bent double over in a forward position. This only made Luna giggle slightly, shaking her head.

"Although it may seem strange, you may refer to me as Luna; unlike my sister, I've never been one for maintaining titles between my students, which was a wont circumstance between her and Twilight." She smiled gently down at the young stallion, raising him up again with a delicate hand "Besides, you're an alicorn which, by the Royal Equestrian Standards, technically makes you a Prince."

Axton, slightly stunned by the situation, could only nod as Luna smiled again and carried on with "Please step into the carriage, Axton; we have a castle to visit."

Still rather dazed, Axton followed Luna into the carriage gently, making sure to make at least an attempt at some form of student-teacher formality between the two. The only fact that he couldn't completely process at the time is that he was technically a Prince; how was he going to explain this to Apple Bloom and his family? Would the new status drive a wedge between them? These worries bit away at Axton quietly as he sat in the carriage, much to the notice of the adjacent Princess. The chariot flew into the day's sky a small while later, a shadow on a bright horizon.