Settling Down (Private)

"Indeed, but my plan for today is to become familiar with my new home, and then gather every reference material you have on changeling culture and find a place where I can sit comfortably with a stack of books, and give myself a baseline knowledge of your culture, as to act less the fool in public. Perhaps then I'll venture outside the library and try to integrate with the public..." Sword briefly though about being surrounded on all sides by changelings, visibly shuddered, and shook his head as if to clear it. "Perhaps with a few drinks before hand..." he mumbled before adjusting the temperature of the bath to his liking, and wasting no time settling in. "Not so much preening, although I'd imagine I've a few stray feathers loose after yesterday, I mainly just need to straighten my feathers out,and rinse them off. I could use help scrubbing my back though. Us... less telekinetically proficient ponies have a bit of an issue with that area." Sword replied with a smile, bringing his right wing around to his front, using his hoof to smooth out the feathers, and wash the little bits of sand that would have collected there from his trip to the hospital yesterday. "I can see why changelings prefer their insect style wings when living in the desert love. The new environment here is going to necessitate more frequent grooming of my wings, not to mention my coat, although that will be much less hassle than this..." Looking up from his wing, he let out a small laugh. "But I'll not bicker too much about the desert, I promise." Unable to reach a feather out of place towards the base of his wing, he turned to Tetti again. "Would you mind getting that one for me? I seem to lack the required dexterity to groom my own damnable wings..."

Tetti giggles. "Well yes, we find insectoid wings to be very convenient for the environment but we didn't exactly get consulted on what kind of wings we preferred, or where we'd end up making a kingdom of our own. The first was the simple mechanism of evolutionary change, although I suspect that it was somewhat guided by magic; since we have deity-like living ponies, some manner of actual deity at work isn't an extremely great leap of logic although if such a being or beings exist, they have no apparent wish to be known." She nuzzles gently along one of his wings, rubbing her cheek against the soft feathers lightly enough not to push them out of alignment, before she lights her horn and a brush floats off its hanger towards Sword's back. "But whether a goddess made pegasi or natural processes did, feathers are soft and are almost as much fun to touch as their owner is."

When Sword asks her to, Tetti leans in and very gently takes the tip of the feather between her teeth and carefully sets it straight . She takes the opportunity of being near the base of his wings to nuzzle at where the cords of his flight muscles ripple with fitness beneath his skin. She then soaps the brush and begins to firmly scrub his back. "I'd be happy to help you find that pile love," she says as she works. "Lots of history and culture books wandering around this library although much of it is a copy of the Royal Archives in Canterlot, accumulated over the last thousand years. And I'd be more than happy to be your highly affectionate pig-tailed guide on the culture of changelings. I'm so happy to help, in fact, that I'll start right now: we've got a real thing for friendly physical contact." She pauses and if he looked back, he could see her grinning at him. "So you might want to line up those stiff drinks if you plan to tour Scarabi."

"The very name of your species indicates your ability to adapt to your environment. If it wasn't for your para..." Sword shook his head, and frowned for a moment, before brightening back up. "Symbiotic nature with the sapient species around you, I'd almost be comfortable calling you the apex of evolution." As she nuzzles along his wing, he'd shiver reflexively, before forcing his wing to hold still while she straightened his misaligned feather, a happy groan slipping from his lips as she nuzzled the base of his wings. "Mhmmm... keep doing that and you'll end up fat on love dear..." Feeling the brush being brought to bear on his back, he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Yes... this should become a daily morning thing for us. A nice hot bath for the two of us."

Still, as she began to speak about the overtly kinesthetic nature of the populace, he failed to stifle a small groan. "Something I will hopefully become more accustomed to overtime. But also something I intend to put off for at least a day's worth of reading and listening. And as tempting as it would be to kick back several shots before leaving the library, I doubt that'd leave a good impression of me, and would also leave a bad impression of you as well. So, for now I think I will simply leave my band in the library whilst I am out and about, and perhaps attempt to welcome said physical contact in staggered out periods. Although if I freak out, you have full permission to immobilize me so I don't accidentally injury anypony."

"No, what you started to say was fair enough love," Tetti says as she keeps firmly scrubbing, continuing to lightly nuzzle his wings. "The nature of the feeding is parasitic, in the sense that no benefit is inherently returned, much like how a pony doesn't immediately supply the apple tree with nutrients to replace the apple they picked and ate. But as with all of the other pony races, we chose symbiosis at roughly the same time that our original septarchy was developed, when changelings lived under the auspices of the Dual Thrones. Like earth ponies chose to contribute to symbiosis with their talent for cultivation, and unicorns with their innate connection to magical energy, and pegasi" here she leans up far enough to kiss the leading edge of the nearest wing "with their weather-shaping abilities, the love-sipping ponies with wings, horns, hooves, and natural armor contributed protection."

Tetti slips into the large tub with him and scoots up so she's snuggled against his side. "Of course there have always been changelings who couldn't free themselves from the past, and it was because such a racist was briefly a matris queen--the leader of the seven queens that made up the original septarchy--that we came to be forced to live in a desert waste. The impulse is an anachronism, though, something that only insular nobles with more ego than sense believe in because no ordinary changeling could be such a fool." She leans up and kisses his cheek before nuzzling into the side of his neck. "I'd love for this to become our daily thing, Sword... I rarely get an excuse to truly enjoy a bath anymore. Maybe for the time being we could relax in a nice hot bath, snuggle, and I fill in any gaps that the books left. Maybe we could sip scotch while we're at it." She gives him a wide grin as she says this. "And Sword, love, I think I'll reserve restraints for if we're ever feeling adventurous while alone." Her grin gets wider and he can tell she's suppressing a giggle.

Sword shook his head as she continued to firmly scrub him. "No, the proper term would be commensalism I'd say. It has the potential to be parasitic, but from what I can tell its not inherently harmful. The host species just doesn't obtain any benefit from the feeding." chuckling for a moment, he raised his hoofs and made mock air quotes "Any benefits." he emphasizes with a humored tone. "Still, strictly biological relationships shouldn't..." his words got caught in his throat as Tetti began to kiss the edge of his wing, sending a shiver down his back, and a rising feeling in his chest. "Good goddesses love... you're gonna leave me with a wingboner for the better part of the day if you keep that up." Putting a hoof around her as she snuggled up close to him, he nodded in agreement with her. "Well there's always a contemptuous part of society that desires to be an evolutionary dead end, but there's not much you can do about it." As she kissed his cheek, he'd blush ever so slightly whilst break out into a full on grin. "I for one think we're making massive inroads when it comes to inter-species relations. And I agree: There's no good reason to leave a perfectly pleasant bath, although I can think of several reasons to keep you away from my poison of choice. And I can also think of many many reasons for restraints in that regard as well...."

After letting his voice (and thoughts) trail off for a moment, he figured he might as well begin with a few questions. "Well in regards to changeling culture and such, I might as well fill in what gaps are left in my physiological knowledge of your race. Especially one thing that's been nagging at my thoughts for awhile now." Giving her body a once over look, he continued. "I could be ignorant and completely wrong, but the royalty of most pony species tends to be a fair bit bigger than even the largest of stallions, and I do have a few comparisons of other changeling royalty, namely the sisters of your's I've already met." Sword ran a hoof down her belly as he spoke. "So it seems very off to me that you are not at least as big as me. Is this really your actual natural form? Or is it a changeling form, but not quite your natural resting state of being?"

Tetti tilted her head thoughtfully. "That makes sense," she says in response to Sword's point about commensalism. "And one of these days, I will conquer the dread specter that is the scotch and be able to sip with my handsome hunk of winged stallion and not get stupid plastered." She pauses. "Perhaps not downing an entire bottle at once would be a good start."

She smiles at him when he asks about her actual size. "Honestly love, it's a bit hard to answer that. Thryssa actually exaggerates her size a little because as the head of the military and the heir apparent, it's expected that her stature will be similar to Mother's. Mother is naturally as tall as she is, partly a consequence of being queen, partly because of simple ordinary genetics. I myself..." she trails off. "Frankly, I've kind of forgotten. I've spent so much time being smaller and less noticeable by choice that I'm not sure what my actual stature is anymore. With enough training and focus, a changeling can alter what they mentally envision as their natural form to such a degree that they stop being able to assume the form they were born with. Historically, the changeling royalty tended to be naturally very tall but because we marry for love, a majority of changeling royals began to be about the size of ordinary changelings, but for our distinctive wings. It was about, oooh, three hundred years ago that a tradition was started where the next in line would significantly exaggerate their size when they assumed the throne to create the illusion of the next queen growing large from the infusion of immense power."

She chuckled. "It's a silly tradition and the ordinary changeling isn't so gullible that they can't tell the difference between real and pageantry, but the tradition has become entrenched enough that it's considered just part of the fun to go along with the show and enjoy the dramatic ascension display. Thryssa is the first to break the tradition, but we're heading towards a time when totally changing the way things are will be something we'll all have to deal with. Integrating again among other ponies will require a new culture of sorts, a new way of doing things, and being slower to mass-glomp others in a fit of friendly exuberance. When our royalty is beside the Equestrian royalty, it simply won't do to posture and play pretend about physical size." She snuggles him. "Although I insist on staying snuggle-sized for your convenience. Not that I have much choice, as I said, but I'm pretty happy as a cute little mare in the strong hooves of her big strong stallionfriend and love."

Sword gave a good hearted chuckle, and an affectionate squeeze as she described his poison of choice. "Not so much a dread spectre as much as something we don't drink by the bottle there love. It tends to leave you, and pardon my choice of words here, fucked up."

While she explained the size aspect, Sword retracted his wings, them feeling fine now. "I see... it would make sense that a race of shapeshifters would be able to choose their base form. I'm just so used to dealing with large royalty I was operating on a base assumption that changeling royalty functioned the same way. Still, I have to say I do prefer your smaller snuggly self. And on the topic of your sister Thryssa, at some point I will have to meet your warrior sister. That aught to be an interesting encounter to say the least." Sword laughed for a second. "One I think will wear armor for, if she acts the way I think she does."

"But it was a fun fucked-up," Tetti winks to him. "I'm sure it's something to enjoy if you learn the difference between an amount that's enjoyable and an amount that'll make you sick or impaired. That's great, I'm a big fan of learning new things, which is why I live in a library instead of a room at the palace the way Thryssa and Lepi do."

She shrugs in response to him saying that he's used to thinking of royalty as being larger than most ponies are. "I think that in the past, changeling royalty functioned the way the Sisters do. But a thousand years ago was a much different cultural time, when it was acceptable and highly encouraged to follow propriety and bloodline over your heart. More or less, changeling royalty used to breed for being more physically imposing, to create an impression of near-equality with Celestia and Luna. It was never a terribly stable way of doing things because royalty thrives on love energy just as much as any other changeling does, so ignoring the impulse to gravitate to a more secure source of love took incredible discipline. After we ended up out here, Queen Amaryss more or less said 'buck that noise' and changed tradition by personal example."

She lightly nuzzles at him. "I think wearing the armor would be best. Thryssa isn't the most tolerant soul and she's come to the conclusion, with fairly strong discouragement from Mother, that being a proper heir to the throne means having a very long memory and nursing a... grudge, I guess, that's pointless and incorrect. Though a pony like Sugary Market seems to have deeply impressed her, she's not terribly fond of non-changelings. I think Mother tolerates her misguided feelings because she's confident that by the time she passes away, Thryssa will lack the option of acting on them and prejudices are pretty harmless if you just gripe to yourself and never actually do anything about them." She chuckles. "She might do a bit more than gripe around you, though, because you're a big, strong, well-conditioned warrior who won't take her imperious attitude lying down and if it comes to it, can spar with her without much risk to your well-being. Not that I'd be overjoyed to see my big sister and my lover beating each other up but my books tell me that among true-blue dyed-in-the-wool warrior types, a good spar is the basis for a respectful relationship, if not a friendly one."

"Fun for you love, but I was out a 100 bit bottle of scotch, which your... eccentric sister was kind enough to compensate me for." Sword replied, listening to her continue onwards. "It seems rather silly for a race of shapeshifters to breed for size if you ask me. There's no need for eugenics when you can just alter your form to be as big as Celestia's fiery flanked ass." Sword paused for a moment, as if to question whether or not he'd just said that, shrugged and continued. "But aside from what some misguided ponies may label as blasphemy, it is indeed a good thing you had a sensible queen come along and put that nonsense to an end. On a rather dark, but amusing tangent, I spent more of my time hunting down Eternal Day cultists than anything else during my tenure as Luna's agent. Celestia always spoke of such cults with a level of disgust one would expect out of a foul mouthed working mule. Then again they wanted her sister dead, so that made sense of course."

Sword returns her nuzzle with a smile. "Well I'll keep that in mind love. I'm not exactly itching for a fight with anypony, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, but if she insists I'll not stop her. Although the whole honor and chivalry one on one combat was never something I was entrenched into, Luna never saw any purpose in teaching me such a temperance. But I can't say a little practice wouldn't be welcome."

"Celestia has always been as fiercely loyal to her little sister as I am to my three sisters and they are to me," Tetti says as she cuddles him idly. "I think that the incident of Nightmare Moon broke her heart so severely that it made her a different pony, a kinder and more tolerant pony, and I'm sure that she's careful to be much more attentive to Luna than she used to be." Her smile fades a little. "Although the thing that ultimately led to us being sent into the badlands was that our great queen Amaryss trusted that her little sister Malyss was as gentle and tolerant a queen as she was--and she was nothing of the sort. It is because of Malyss that anything like racism has the social stigma it does: a virulent, violent, and cruel racist, her tenure before her heartbroken big sister clapped her in irons gave Celestia no other choice."

She lays there, lost in thought a few moments, before regaining her smile. "But that's far more than enough of that. I can easily see why Luna wouldn't busy herself teaching you to fight fair. As Thryssa likes to say, if you ever get into a fair fight, someone did something wrong. I'm sure she taught you to seduce a mare and gently cut her throat or poison her drink, or to put a blade in the heart while they slept, or do something else completely unfair but also completely practical and efficient. But since you don't mean to kill Thryssa and she certainly would never seek to kill you, observing some facade of a fair fight is harmless. Assuming she means to test you in that way, of course."

"It seems our royals are more similar than they know love." Sword adjusted himself slightly whilst Tetti lied there lost in thought. "Yes... she..." Sword's demeanor fell slightly for a moment "She did. And many other things... Although my mare seduction skills I still appreciate to this day." Sword untangled himself from Tetti, shifting himself out of the tub. "But we can sit and soak all day love, and let said sister speculate about me, or we can get this out of the way as soon as possible. So." Sword playfully splashed her from outside the tub. "So, lets get dried off and out the door love. I've culture shock to meet dead in the face and a violent sister of yours to confront."

Tetti giggles as he splashes her and because he's outside the tub, she's helpless to splash back. She solves the problem by wrapping a globule of water in a thin bubble of magic, floating it over to above his head, and letting it go. The tiny cascade then falls into a large dish-shaped magical barrier so it doesn't get on the floor and she dumps it back into the tub. Having "splashed" him and taken such care to make sure it didn't get on the floor, she naturally steps out of the tub and stands there dripping on the floor. "Yeah, soaking all day doesn't turn out well. I tried it once, using my construct to retrieve ample reading material, and somehow got wrinkled chitin from it. Well, that and Lepi popping in to dump a carton of high-foam bath salts into the water that turned me rainbow-colored for the next week as well as flooding the bathroom. I beat my Lepi-punting record that day." She pauses and sighs at the memory. "My little sister has far too much time on her hooves."

She floats over two towels and starts vigorously drying the two of them off with them. As befitting royalty, the towels are of some kind of cotton blend that feels silky soft and yet appears to be extremely absorbent because most of the rubbing action from drying is that silky fabric giving him a brief full-body caress. She then buzzes her wings to get off the ground slightly so she can dry under where she's standing, brushes over the floor with the towels, and rolls them up to be left on the counter. "I'll take care of them later," she says before walking over and briefly leaning against him. "Time to give you a culture-stroke... er, shock." She grins widely and winks before heading out the door of the bathroom, her room, and into the library proper. It's easily a match for the Royal Library in Canterlot, a dizzying array of books and shelves stretching everywhere. Yet Tetti follows a snaking path through the morass with a deftness and ease that strongly suggests that she could walk it blindfolded. Sword would see, however, that the library is so open that it would be a very simple matter to simply fly to the prominent doors if he felt like it.

When they both arrive at the doors leading out, Tetti grips the fixtures in her magic and looks at him. "Brace yourself, handsome." And then she pulls them in and a city of polished obsidian teeming with black chitin-coated ponies fills his vision. Immediately, any changeling near them turns as they walk by and greet Tetti in various ways, from a quick wave to a smile to a 'hi Princess'. Their greeting for Sword is a bit more uniform and enthusiastic: they appear to move from the street to surrounding him with broad smiles and enthusiastic buzzing of their wings without having any apparent need to cross the space in between.
"Hello!"
"Finally caught one, Princess Tetti?"
"He's cute!"
"Mmm, look at that muscle...~"
"You got yourself a soldier stallion? Way to go, Princess!"
Tetti stands there giggling as more changelings notice the ones crowding around Sword and the flow of ponies going about their business starts diverting itself into a growing mass of curiosity, friendliness, interest, and a vague universal aura of welcome.

Sword's ears flattened, along with his mane over his face as Tetti drenched him, a rather dour look on his face appearing as he flicked his ears and brushed his soaked mane to the side so he could see again. "That's cheating." He fake pouted for a moment before smiling slightly. "Defeated by my one true weakness, but don't go telling anyone that love. And remind me to see if Lepi still has any of those salts. I'm in the line of fire as well now that I live with you. Wouldn't want too..." He gets cut off as Tetti begins to vigorously dry them off with her fine towels, him blowing his mane off his face for the second time in a minute now. "...End up as a cheap knock off of Rainbow Dash. And I agree, lets get this out of the way. preferably without a stroke. I'm still a little young for that love."

Sword follows her out of the library, retrieving his band and taking note to commit the path to memory for later convenience. As she begins to open the door, he sighs deeply before looking outside at Scarbi, and the mass of changelings that were beginning to close in to greet their princess and get a closer look at her new companion. When they begin to crowd around him, he grits his teeth as the feeling of eminent threat grew to an almost unbearable level, his band glowing a faint blue in response to his stress. His stance changes, wings open slightly and knees slightly bent, muscles tense and ready to move. "...Could I... have a bit of space..... please?" Sword asked in a tone that smacked of forced courtesy, hoping they'd take heed and give him a bit of space so he could breathe and adjust for a moment before trying to deal with what would most assuredly be a barrage of questions and stares.

The changelings crowding around him stop as he grits his teeth and start easing back away from him even before he asks them to. Several of them look at Tetti with obvious uncertainty.
"Ochlophobia," she says simply, turning and walking closer to him with the changelings parting from her path as she does. The changelings around him silently 'ah' and nod in understanding, several of them giving him a look of sympathy before stepping back several more steps and turning to pass the word along. Whatever 'ochlophobia' means, it appears to be some kind of code word or something, because the crowd immediately disperses, many pausing just long enough to give him slightly embarrassed smiles and tentative waves.
"I'm sorry for the culture stroke love," she says as she gives him a light nosing. "But while I know it made you uncomfortable and unhappy, I wanted to demonstrate that as snuggly and friendly as my people are, a soft word or two is more than enough to clear up misunderstandings. Granted, I'm pretty sure you are't actually ochlophobic--any sort of paralyzing psychological condition would probably have taken you out of the running as Princess Luna's agent immediately--but it was a harmless lie. So, let's head towards the market district because it's sort of the hub of the city and you can get anywhere from there."
Sword would notice that as they walked, the changelings would make sure he was given plenty of space. He'd get an impression of a mix of wariness and altruistic concern in the gesture, as if they're worried that crowding in too close will frighten him in some way; the old saw that nothing travels faster than gossip appears to be appropriate for this situation. He'd also notice, if he hadn't already, that the layout and architectural design of Scarabi seems very much like Canterlot with some buildings appearing to be explicit copies of structures in Equestria's capital.

Sword visibly relaxes as the changelings crowding around him begin to retreat at the advice of their princess, glow from his band fading, his stance settling back to normal. He keeps his head lowered in shame however, until an encouraging nosing from Tetti caused him to raise it, and nuzzle her back. "Its quite alright love... had to happen at some point. And I'm glad the general population is understanding enough of my... condition." Stepping in line with her, he walked with Tetti through the streets of Scarbi. "Well, I was removed from my position as Luna's agent following my injury and psychological examination love. Although it wasn't for ochlophobia. What I'm exhibiting is more of a acute tramua-induced paranoid psychosis. Granted, I was released from my treatment as there was no prediction of my psychosis being triggered. Then again, who'd have predicted I'd move to a city of changelings"

As they strolled through the hub of the city, Sword would nod politely at passing citizens, taking note of the architectural similarities of the two nation capitals "Huh... getting some Canterlot vibes around here love. Is that intentional, or just a coincidence?"

"Intentional," Tetti says. "There's always been an extremely strong nostalgia towards our historical home, which is Equestria proper. We use the bit for currency, model the layout of Scarabi around Canterlot, and imitate the building styles of Princess Celestia's capital with our own. At the time that the foundations of Scarabi were laid, there was still a strong hope that after a short time to cool down, the exile would end and we'd be back in verdant lands under the authority of the Dual Thrones. By the time reality was recognized, the skyline was already looking so very Canterlot that there was something akin to a collective shrug and the pattern continued. The only genuinely original building designs in the city are the palace and the foundry, and the palace mostly because its first occupant had agoraphobia on top of her intense shyness, and she wanted a home that was more intimate and familiar rather than the soaring ceilings of the palace in Canterlot." She smirks a little. "For some idea of how she was reported to be, imagine the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, being crowned queen and expected to be around strangers all day every day. Admittedly, Fluttershy would probably suffer a crippling nervous breakdown in two seconds flat whereas Amaryss was made of sterner stuff, but her discomfort around large numbers is roughly comparable."

The market district turns out to be an immense bazaar winding through a large open space ringed on all sides by a shops. In addition to produce that might have easily come from the deserts and the Hospitaller Refuge, there are things that Sword could tell couldn't possibly come from a desert nations, such as varieties of wood products and produce that requires cool, well-watered land that even the pleasantly-cool and irrigated land of the Refuge could't supply. Notable would be a statuary shop off to a side where incredibly lifelike sculpture in all manner of stone and metals are on display, including one that appears quite old of a very elderly pegasus mare whose posture and carriage seem oddly stiff, as if she'd received the detailed attentions of a taxidermist. Tetti eyes the statue, gives a small shudder, and very gently guides him away from it towards the easily most prominent feature of the market district: a towering foundry with no less than ten forges based on the number of smokestacks belching soot into the air.

"Oh? You kept the same currency?" Sword asked as she mentioned that very fact, brightening up. "Oh thank the moon, my pension is still worth something then. Oh, and I guess its neat that you guys stuck as close to Equestria as possible. Not that I've got a keen eye for architecture or anything. I can read a blueprint well enough I suppose. As for your Fluttershy-esq regent, I've no idea how she survived the duties of the crown." He looked around to the population surrounding them. "Especially with how... snuggly her subjects must have been, if this era's populace is anything to go by that is."

As they walked, as a very forced effort to be politely social, Sword would nod to changelings passing them, occasionally waving as well. "It seems they import from somewhere... Griffin Kingdoms maybe? Or Equestria, but the transportation over the desert would be suspicious and extremely inhospitable for convoys. Still, he'd keep his thoughts to himself, until he saw the statue that Tetti shuddered at, an expression of "Ugh" appearing on his face. "Tacky." was the only word he'd give that as he followed her guiding away from it. "Hmmm. how much further to the palace love? I would very much like to get my hooves off the ground and take to the air if possible."

"Yes, we kept the same currency," Tetti tells him as they reach the foundry. "It make it very convenient to do trade with Equestria--not that they're aware of who they're trading with, mind you--because we don't have to convert between their money and ours constantly. That, and we've got a really strong sense of nostalgia for Equestria." She smirks at the comment about Amaryss. "I can imagine her squeaking and curling into a defensive ball whenever anyone tried to hug her, but much of my knowledge of how severe her phobia was is fourth-hand, rumors passed along from a servant to another while someone overheard and gossiped until it made its way into writing. The only thing I know for sure is that she had a fairly long and quite prosperous reign."

Tetti stops just short of the foundry when he asks about the palace. "Oh! Thought you wanted to go looking around the foundry first... my mistake love." She leans up and kisses him apologetically. "As to the palace... well..." She points above their head and when Sword looks up, he can see the entire palace floating in midair directly above the center of the city... which is the market they're currently in. "We're never far away from the palace," she adds.

"Yes, I'm fairly certain there's more changelings amongst the Equestrian population than most would be comfortable with. And amusingly enough, changelings are not the only ones with socially awkward royalty. As it turns out, a millennium on the moon does one no favors when it comes to social interaction. Luna spent a good few months addressing everyone in the "Royal Canterlot Voice" before a certain lavender mare politely suggested she tone it down a bit."

When Tetti points up to the palace, Sword nods. " Not that a tour of the foundry sounds like a lovely way to spend an afternoon, I think informing your family you brought a companion home would be the most pertinent item on the menu for today. Apart from that..." Sword pauses for a moment to try and conjure forth an adjective for Tetti's sister Lepinora, shaking his head. "free-spirited sister of yours who's already met me, none of your other family members are aware of my presence. Hell I'm not even sure if she noticed me, she seemed rather busy at the time we visited. So I'd rather take on the family whilst I'm nice and well rested, and not tired from pounding the pavement on a tour of the city dearest." Moving into a crouch, Sword spread his wings and took off into flight, running forward a few steps before leaping into the air and flapping his wings to gain altitude as he flew up to the palace.

Tetti chuckles. "Yes, I heard all about that from Lepi. Poor Luna... she comes home and spends a while blowing innocent ponies off their hooves because she's under the impression that earthshaking divine pronouncements are still the 'in' thing. I'm glad Twilight Sparkle told her otherwise, although there's some irony in the socially-awkward scholar instructing the socially-awkward princess in how to be less socially-awkward."

When Sword responds to the palace being pointed out by launching himself into the air, Tetti stands there looking somewhat surprised for a moment before shrugging and buzzing her wings after him. "I'm sure that everyone actually knows you're here, love," she says as the draws even with him. "They may not have physically met you yet, but I'm sure Lepi mentioned you and if she didn't, Thryssa and Mother have ways of knowing who's walking around the city if they're a new face. Mother because, well, her capital city is sort of the center of her magical power so I think she feels the addition of a pegasus and a unicorn like the twitches on the strands of a spiderweb, because both have their own brand of magic."
She buzzes her wings a little harder to draw slightly ahead of him and then leads him slightly off to the left where there're located two towers near to one another and then to the crenulated walking space that stretches between them, a door leading down into the two towers off to either side of their landing point.
"This will be the fastest route to the throne room, love," she tells him with a smile. "At bare minimum, you'll be able to meet Mother there and if he's back from council, Father as well." She looks back at him and grins. "I hear that meeting the father is always a stallion's favorite part of meeting the parents."

"Yes, well I wouldn't be much of a suitor for you if I didn't meet your parents now would I? Unless you'd prefer them to pay an unexpected visit whilst you were cooking." Sword replies as Tetti passes in front of him, turning slightly to the left in time with her. "Yes, so I've heard. So what should I lead with first love? The Ex-Professional Assassin of Diarch Luna? Or "Stallion in a park I met who seemed interesting enough" Sword angles himself for the descent, and lands rather softly on the walkway. "Or how about the rehabilitated scotch aficionado who has a phobia of your race?" Sword finishes with a wry smirk. "I'll let you choose Dear. All should have an amusing response."

"I think you should go with introducing yourself as an associate of Princess Luna," Tetti said as she pulls open one of the doors and starts down the corkscrew steps into the castle proper. "Generally speaking, my race has a far deeper affection for Luna and learning that you're associated with her, even in a strictly professional sense, will make a good impression."
The corkscrew stairs open into a nice high hall with smooth stonework floors and angled slits cut into the stone of the towers so that they provided ample light while being all but impossible to fire an arrow through if ti came to it. The first wall they see has many tapestries hanging, one of them bearing Tetti's cutie mark and the others likely bearing the cutie marks of the rest of her family. Furthest left is a green heart encircled by a silver crown, and right beside it is a cutie mark of an open dragon's eye above the crossed handles of two downward-angled hammers. Next is a cutie mark of a crown resting on the head of a double-bit axe, then a gap where another tapestry is clearly intended to go, then Tetti's, and finally one of a downward-facing mason's compass crossed by a paintbrush with its tip coated in rainbow paint, a needle and thread arcing above it, and a trio of green heart-shaped jewels arcing under it.
"Well, the entire family is definitely in the city then, and likely in the palace as well," Tetti says with a smile. "C'mon love... throne room's this way." And off she trots, going past numerous gaurds whose ceremonial armor would remind Sword of the Equestrian Royal Guard, although a mix of styles between the lighter armor for the day guard and the burnished dark metals of the night.

Sword nodded and followed her down the staircase. "I'll bear that in mind love, and remain grateful changelings didn't choose to venerate the Fire-Flanked One." He'd continue to follow her, looking over the tapestry with her cutie mark emblazoned on it as he did so. "Wonder if I'll ever not be serving royalty... Wait.. Nah, we'll think about that later. Think about it when that fine flank isn't swaying right in front of my face... Shaking his head to clear that last thought, he stepped back in stride with Tetti, taking in the royal seals of his new home, committing them to memory for later reference, and also giving the guard a once over, a simple nod of recognition his only acknowledgment to them, letting them focus on their jobs. "Sounds good love. We can kill several birds with one stone then. Not sure if I'm nervous or excited to be honest though."

"As you're well aware, love, Luna is much more subtle and into things like teaching her servants how to properly infiltrate all the way to a target's bed." Tetti grins widely. "So yes, we venerate her more than Celestia because she's much more in tune with a race of shape-shifting ponies. Also, moonlight does lots of fantastic things for romance and since we're all about the love... well, we sort of owe her for the help."
A they proceed towards the throne room, they'd see two guards in ornate but visibly battle-ready armor carrying lucerne hammers resting in partial sheathes on their armor for very easy access if needed. The hammers are prettily decorated but like the armor, look like they're for use rather than show. Upon seeing Sword and Tetti walking, both guards make a beeline for them and put themselves in their path with low bows.
"Deepest apologies, Princess Tettidora, but you may wish to... delay your audience with your mother," one says, her voice slightly cultured with a hint of Manehattan.
"Is there a problem?" Tetti asks, looking concerned.
"Not as such, Princess," the other replies, male but with a similar accent. "But council is just ending and we fear that... certain of the nobility may be inclined to spoil what will no doubt be a very pleasant..."
"Another one?" A more cultured female voice with a bit a a nasally whine to it asks from behind the two guards. Sword would see Tetti slump a little and sigh audibly, clearly recognizing the voice.
"Do move aside," the voice commands and the two guards sidestep with clear reluctance as a changeling mare, a noble from her richer dress, walks in between them with her eyes narrowed to slits that make it heard to tell what her irises are colored. "Just what I thought, another of those blasted Equestrians."
Tetti frowns at her. "Be polite, Call I owe pee, he's a guest."
The  mare, Calliope apparently, compresses her lips in an expression of distaste. "Calliope."
"That's what I said, Call I owe pee," Tetti replies without her expression or tone changing at all. "And I reiterate, be polite to my guest."
Calliope snorted. "You royals and your guests... welcoming these... common drek into the palace. Do you know what your eldest sister's guest did? Do you?"
"I'm sure you're about to tell me."
"He... he... insulted me! He sassed me, to my face!"
"By 'sass', I'm sure you mean he explained that he could embed you in the nearest wall to the applause of everyone watching," Tetti says, her tone turning dry. "Get lost, Calliope. You're between me and a pleasant time with my parents and my paramour."
"I will most certainly not!" Calliope declares. "You will respect my title and name, Princess."
"Oh, yes, I most certainly will." Tetti grins at her with fangs. "Honor Guard, please respectfully remove the honored lady from my path. If she makes trouble, dropkick her plot. Respectfully."
Calliope turned vividly red in the face as the two guards start hustling her off to a side. "You... you...!"
"Yes, me and the handsome pegaus flanking me," Tetti smiles at her in a very exaggerated and very fake way. "Thank you, guard. C'mon, handsome... Mum, Da, and important nobles await us."

Indeed Love, and..." Sword would pause halfway through his response as the guards cut them off. He decided to let Tetti lead for the moment, it being her guard and palace after all. Still, he couldn't help cutting in. "Ah, racist nobility. Some things never change no matter the race or country. I'll even bet..." Hearing the tell-tale sound of a pretentious noble chiming in, Sword grinned. They even sound the same... He mused to himself. As Calliope narrowed her eyes at him, Sword fixed his gaze to hers, returning her glare with a stare of calm confidence. "Frankly Calliope, I was hoping the changelings would have evolved beyond the need for a class of nobility beyond the royalty, but it seems they carried on with the tradition of a social class of posturing racist cowards who lack the backbone to carry out the threats their large mouths and tiny brains vomit forth. As for the other Equestrian, he was probably polite enough to only imply that he'd embed you in a wall." Chuckling as Tetti told the blustery noble to get lost, he draped a wing over her. "Take the princess's advice, and let the nice guards escort you away, lest the princess ask me to embed you in a wall." Waving cheekily at Calliope as she was carted off by the guards, Sword had himself a little fit of snorting laughter. "Goddess, they're exactly the same love. Let's go meet the family dear, sans the arrogant nobility."