The Twin Queens Consort

Haze, and Cherry. The names of their new prisoners. Not that it meant much to Anontios.

Haze remains in their Cell, in the dungeon below, under constant guard. Depending on Cherry's behavior, his treatment and access to sustenance varies. For the moment, his injuries are bound; as are his limbs. He's still light-headed, and mumbles for Cherry when he's awake. Suit removed, his cutie mark of a foggy mountain range is clear, sat on almost mustard-yellow fur, his mane a stark red compared to Cherry's pink.

Cherry, now stripped of her uniform, fully reveals her off-whitish fur, matted pinkish mane and tail, and a cutie mark in the style of a pair of cherries, surrounded by a sparkle of deep red. A harsh, metal collar sits on her neck, denoting her new position; no magic reducer sits on her horn, for there is little point. It's now a broken fragment of a once-full horn, sputtering red sparks weakly; while a Unicorns horn can be healed, it's a dicey process, and requires the fragments to be carefully re-assembled to the base of the horn. Of which, Chrysalis has hidden, using it as motivation.

Motivation, for her compliance, and her information. Chrysalis primarily enjoys teasing both out of the broken Mare, as she's escorted around the Castle, kept close to Queen Chrysalis as a twisted Advisor of sorts. Constantly guarded by a pair of Changeling Guard, for the moment, Queen Chrysalis was keeping herself busy manipulating her plans around what she extracted from the Pony, leaving Anontios to accompany Nightmare Moon.

The Nurse Drone assigned to Anontios long-term health has made a sufficient recovery, and returned to following him. At a distance, thanks to a possessive glare from Nightmare Moon.

The rhythmic hammering of the Castles Forge denoting its workers currently hard at work, clanking, whirring and bellows blowing. Nightmare Moon stands a stern watch over them, as a mixture of both Changeling and Thestral forge a specific request. Nightmare Moon had figured her reward; and while she enjoyed the view, she wanted her Weapon to be armed appropriately. So he was to be forged and clad in proper armor, and granted sufficient steel to bear.

Stood by the window, Anontios catches a rare glimpse of outside the Twin Queens Castle; the last time he saw it, he'd been with Queen Chrysalis, hunting a Cockatrice. A small distance from the castle, the fog swirls gently in the distance. An 'Eye of the Storm' situation, the roiling the mist that guarded the Twin Queens land stopped as it neared the castle, allowing for a small settlement of Thestrals and Changelings to form around its exterior. Outside, it's far more akin to an actual town or village, a variety of the two species going about their day-to-day, conversing and working under the eternal dusk that has permanently gripped their lands; something that both the Thestrals and the Changelings seem partial to, preferring to shy away from the day.

The forge is lead by a short, but burly Thestral with a deeply rich chocolate coat, and a splatter of a short black mane, a pair of crossed hammers on his flank. Aided by several assistants, mostly Thestrals, though a Changeling is among their rank, they mix the tasks between working the metal, measuring Anontios, and taking directions from Queen Nightmare. She's very involved in the process.

Currently, the burly Thestral is trying to decipher the dusty, worn tome that Queen Nightmare Moon has placed in front of it. It was one of the few sources that spoke of his still unknown origins; but such was not her concern at the time.

"Pallid Pauldron. As you can see, it's depictions clearly show Pauldrons, Vambraces, a proper Helmet..." Nightmare Moon explains, pointing to a... very primitive drawing of Anontios.

"And not much else." The Thestral, 'Pallid Pauldron', tsks."...My Queen, should we not fit it with a Breastplate? If this is to be your personal Right-Hand Weapon, enactor of your will..."

Nightmare Moon huffs. As head Forgemaster, Pallid was afforded a very slight allowance in demeanor towards her Queen. Primarily, because Pallid did such good work, and had a real head for these things. However, so did Nightmare Moon.

"We do not see the need for such." Nightmare Moon protests. Normally, that would be the end of it. But, Pallid, pushed by the oddness of just who the armor was for, makes a final nudge.

"What if we asked... it, your Majesty? What might it prefer?" Pallid offers, expecting a scolding.

Instead, Nightmare Moon's eyes crawl over the Forge, settling on Anontios. Back facing her, hands clasped, watching their little dusk-ruled world from the window.

"... Very well. Anontios. Explain why you would dress the way you did, in these depictions. How did you normally arm yourself?" She prods, both Nightmare and Pallid looking to the Human. "How did your armies march on your foe?"

Softly taken from his pleasant watch over the quiet town that surrounded the Twin Queens Castle, he turns to face them; and his memories trickle. The question allows him answers, momentarily.

A dusty, sand-ridden arena. Small. Stonework surrounds, a much more meager version of the one the Twin Queens had built. Anontios wears little, and is armed with little; a pauldron scavenged from one of the other contestants, a blade bloody with its masters innards.
"I had no Armies, nor fought in one. I fought in the Pits, armed with whatever the fallen could offer. Grant me whatever you see fit, and it will be used. The less I wear, the harder it is for Magic to grasp me; but the more I wear, the more mistakes I can make." Anontios states simply.

Nightmare and Pallid share a glance. Nightmare takes a few, curious steps towards Anontios.
"No Armies? What did you fight?"

"Man. Beast. Slave. Gladiators. Anything in the Pit." Anontios answers quickly. There's a dull pulsing in his skull, like a headache is forming. Answers flow, but their sources do not. Only meager glimpses of the Arena's he's seen, the people he's fought. They're already fading away.

Nightmare Moon is close now, tilting her head. She's inches away, looking over his face with half-lidded eyes.
"...And why did you fight? What for? What drove you to... tear apart your enemies, to carve your path forward?"

"Freedom." He states simply; his gaze twisting from the distant, at-attention stare, to a piercing gaze that met Nightmare Moons eyes. The irony is a blunt, dull stab into the fun Nightmare had been having with her Weapon, and she takes a step back. Anontios is just as quick to break the gaze, and returns to idly staring at the wall.

She had been foolish. This was a creature bound by Magic alone, tied to their Desires from accident. A snarl slowly settles on her face.
"You have served another, in this Capacity?" She tests, expecting nothing good.

"...No." Anontios mumbles. The headache is throbbing, making him squint.
"My treatment in my prior life is... incomparable. I have no reason to waste this granted life with anything but gratitude, and servitude."

"And do you say that in an attempt to appease us?" She snarls. Pallid takes a generous step back.

Anontios, however, takes a generous step forward, closing the distance between himself and Nightmare Moon. She looks at him with surprise; there's but a singular moment granted. A moment, where she is too surprised to lash out -- and a moment, where the headache... fades, as he gazes into her eyes. But, so do the memories.

His hand cups her cheek, and he kisses her.

Pallid, and the Apprentices, watch slack-jawed as their most cruel and evil Regent is... lovingly kissed, and caressed across the cheek by his thumb.

No tongue. No force. The hand does not hold her in place, it merely offers a warm comfort, his lips pressed to hers; a tender testament.

Nightmare Moon is frozen, staring at him. Processing. She finds herself still returning the kiss -- something she chastises herself for as he pulls away.

"I serve you, because the Magic in my heart thrums with the demand that I do." Anontios whispers. "But I obey it, more than willingly, because it is for you that it demands I serve."

"What, you obey because we treat you better than your prior Master?" Nightmare scoffs -- but she does not pull away from the hand. A testing poke, from the depths of her own heart.

"Much better. I've never shared my Master's bed before." He leans close, and whispers in her ear -- the borderline raunchy answer, compared to his usual subservient, loyalty-spouting answers throws Nightmare for a loop, and then some.

Pallid and the apprentices watch as the near-pitch-black Nightmare Moon's face glows into a deeply-set blue blush.

Still, she does not pull away.

Maybe she was foolish. But... perhaps, with him, she was allowed to be?