Max sighed. He wasn't certain how long he'd sat there, staring at the ceiling after Luna had left but it had to have been a while. Even with the fuzzy sensations of his buzz diluting his sense of time, it was hard to miss the fact that the flavor of the emotions outside the door had died to a fizzling boredom. Oh, he could feel that the knights were awake, but it was a close thing.

Rolling off the bed and making his way to the bathing room, he managed to wipe himself down in the lukewarm water. It seemed the water wasn't always hot, but he was too distracted to really think about it. He was also fairly certain that since Luna and Celestia were bathing every day and hadn't done much lately the water would work for now. Some people may not have clean water at all, so who was he to complain?

Stepping out and drying himself off, he nearly slipped once or twice trying to get his hooves dry. It turned out that drying your hooves with your hooves was tougher than he thought. There was also the constant itching sensation that had spread from just his shoulders to most of his body, but there wasn't much to be done for that.

Tossing the towel away with a grunt of irritation, he opened the door and nearly took a spear-shaft to the muzzle. The guards had jumped in shock at the sudden movement, wheeling around to confront whatever had just left the princess's room. In fact, one of the spears had actually grazed his chitin. It likely would have cut him if not for the hard shell, and he scowled at the unicorn.

"Ya know, if it was Luna who had just walked out here, you would have cut her just below the eye."

"You uh, you should return to your room, creature," the guard stuttered, a bit of fear mixed with his confusion.

"Have you guys seriously not...you have notices don't you? You guys talk about what's happened last shift, right?" Max asked the guard.

As they shared a confused glance, Max flung his head in exasperation.

"Oh my gosh, you guys are hopeless. You need to discus, discus? No, that's the thing you shoot. Dis- fuck it, you need to talk to the people you take over for. I mean, what if the Princess got sick and all her fur fell out? You'd like, freak out and stab her or something. What would you say then? 'Oh sorry, Luna! Didn't recognize you and nobody told me you got into a fight with a barber.' Yea, that would work. She'd prob'ly shove that spear of yours right up your ass."

Taking off down a random hallway before the guards could refute the statement, Max decided to find out more about this place. If he was going to be stuck here for any length of time, it would behoove him to know how to get around. After all, if you act like you're allowed to be there, sometimes you can get away with wandering around.

'Ha! Behoove.'

"Hey, wait! You cannot just wander the castle!"

Then again, it didn't always work. Normally Max would have stopped, trying to explain to the guard that if a guy walks out of the queen/ruler/head honcho's room and aforementioned ruler has said nothing against it, there's a good chance said individual is there legitimately. This was not such a time.

Sticking his tongue out at the group of guards, the stallion took off down the hallway with a shout of "You'll never catch me, coppers! Bwahahahaha!"

Celestia took another sip from her tea cup, the pot sitting on a tray beside her as she looked over yet another request for aide from yet another nearby village. While the alicorns were more than willing to aide any ponies who approached them, she was finding increasingly difficult to do for several reasons. First was the sheer number of requests. There were almost fifty small villages scattered along the countryside, many not even having roads between them and no discernable landmarks to find them with. The second issue she was running into was funding the help she was sending. Pegasi and Unicorn Nobility were set on reinstating their rule with the disappearance of Discord and that meant knights moving to claim the towns for their princesses.

The knights themselves caused no small amount of trouble, finding it their right to take food and lodging from their new serfs, but the main issue was that the rise in villages had led to a rise in banditry. Griffons were making appearances, yes, but she was disgusted to hear that pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies were all attacking settlements as well. In fact, the report she'd that the two sisters had received about nearby bandits was reportedly a flock of pegasi. Luna wouldn't be happy about that. Not one bit.

She was drawn from her thoughts by the sounds of several guards rushing through the garden. They looked around quickly, one even looking through the bushes around her, before the group continued on their panicked search. So quickly did they tera through the area she could not even get them to explain what they were searching for. A fit of hysterical laughter came from the direction of their arrival as into the courtyard stumbled the changeling.

"Those guys..." The changeling chuckled to himself. "That was too easy."

"I would ask that you not unduly harass my subjects," Celestia scolded, causing the stallion to jump.

"Sunny? What are you doing up so...is it late or early for you?" Max asked, looking to his hoof for some reason. Not finding what he was looking for, he raised the other leg, waving his forelegs a bit as he nearly lost his balance.

"I could'a sworn I had my watch on me...would it still tell the right time? Hey Tia, how many hours in a day here?"

The alicorn blinked in shock at the casual address before shaking her head.

"About twenty eight, why?"

"Damn. My watch wouldn't work anyway. Earth's a twenty-four hour cycle of day and night."

Wandering over to a nearby patch of grass, the changeling dropped his rear to the ground heavily and looked over her collection of papers.

Normally she may have taken his actions as insulting but there was something off about him. It was almost as if...

"Have you been drinking?"

"Huh?" he asked, his attention snapping to her. "Oh, drinking? No, not really, well kinda, but it's not the same. I noticed I got tipsy the time I drank your sister's cum so I did it again earlier. Without Discord's energy plugging me up it all goes straight to my system, so instead of a buzz, I get full on drunkenness. Which is awesome, because I don't want to think about...and now I'm thinking about it again, great."

His eyes, which she now noticed were glowing with a red and pink swirling light, locked on her as an idea struck him.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I-"

"Absolutely not! We will not allow ourselves to be used for thy intoxication!" Celestia shouted as her cheeks lit up scarlet red, blowing away a few papers and causing Max to squint through the sonic burst.

"Sheesh I was gonna ask if you guys had any actual wine or something, see if it would actually work on me," The stallion grumbled, watching the paperwork that was scattered about.

"It likely wouldn't taste half as good anyway. Your cum, I mean. It would prob'ly end up 90% lust, so while yea it would get me drunk, nobody likes drinking pure alcohol. Heck, I'm pretty sure that would get people sick."

Grabbing a piece of paper in his hooves, he began twisting it this way and that, bending and creasing it in a strange pattern that, while alien, seemed to have a purpose. He appeared less than pleased by the end result, however.

"Yuck, parchment airplanes suck."

"Parchment? This is paper, and what are you doing with my-" Celestia trailed off, distracted by the curious design. With a flick of his hoof, the shape floated through the air, actually managing to glide for a limited time before finally being reclaimed by the world.

As she picked up the shaped paper in her magic to get a closer look, the stallion began inspecting another sheet closer.

"Huh, so it is," the changeling conceded. "I guess I assumed it would be something else. It's thicker than the paper I'm used to. Looks sturdier too. Prob'ly made a different way as well."

"Of course it is thicker. If it was not, the messages would not survive the journey," Celestia explained. The paper was not imbued with magic, so it appeared to be the shape that had carried it. Strange.

"I've heard some ponies shape paper as an exercise, but I've never seen it myself. Who taught you this?"

"Uh, paper airplanes are something everyone learns. Mostly when we're supposed to be learning other things," he responded with a grin. "Oh, and paper footballs, and paper claws...those wont work anymore I don't think. Maybe if I make it really big- no, then I won't be able to walk... Duh, wings. First I need to learn how to use them, though."

As the large changeling began buzzing his wings experimentally, Celestia's ears perked at the sound of approaching hooves. It seemed the guards were making their way back while looking for the stallion. He seemed to hear them as well, as his ears perked and his head shot to the left, looking in the direction of the commotion. A wide grin spread across his muzzle one moment, the next he launched himself over her reclined form, diving into a nearby bush.

"The beast must be around here somewhere, look again! Pardon us, your highness. We shall depart momentarily."

Watching the group of guards begin to go over the areas again, Celestia nearly found herself giggling as she watched them comb the garden, never seeming to notice the glowing red and pink eyes that were peeking out from the large bush behind her. Unbidden, a thought came to the white alicorn. A thought that caused her to smile.

"Tell me gentlecolts. This creature that you pursue, it would not happen to be large and black, would it? A shining carapace? A jagged horn atop its head?"

At each description, the stallions nodded eagerly.

"You have seen it, my lady? We must stop it before it eats somepony!" one nearly shouted.

Her eyes meeting Max's, her grin only grew. He knew what she was about to do, she could see it in his eyes.

"You mean this monster?"

Before anyone could react, Celestia lit her horn with magic. A strangled yelp came from behind her as she levitated the changeling into the open, hanging by his tail. She giggled into a hoof as the male glared accusingly at her.

"Traitor," he muttered, crossing his forelegs in a foalish pout.

Seeing a few of the guards reaching for weapons, she was surprised. He'd been in the castle for almost four days now including attending night court with her sister. How did they not know about him?

"He is no monster, mine subjects. Away with your weapons. Max has resided here for several days now, have none been informed of this?"

"I, do remember something about Princess Luna having a new pet," one said cautiously.

"Pet? I know we're close and all, but I don't think either of us is ready for pulling out the collars yet. Is that a thing here?" the changeling muttered before turning to Celestia.

"Do you guys do pet play and dominance stuff? What about stripping, how does that work? Like, do you put on clothes while playing strip poker or something? I mean, stripping wouldn't mean much if women-er, mares were always naked, right? Damn, now I want to see Luna in a one-piece. I'd say bikini, but I don't think that would look right, I mean part would be inconsequential, and the other part would disappear between...do ponies wear swim-suits?"

Celestia barely managed to contain her blush.

'He's so...crass. How does Luna stand him?'

Outwardly though, she managed to contain herself. If only barely.

"I would like you to keep an eye on him, gentlecolts. If you like, I'm certain a few of the night watch would be interested in learning how to stop a drunken pony. It should prove quite the challenge, doing so without magic and with a creature of this size."

"Oh sure, throw me to the guards. Thanks a lot, sunbutt," the changeling griped.

Her magic released him, dropping him a few inches onto his head where he landed with a thud.

"Oops! Oh dear me, we must apologize. Your lack of manners just shocked us into losing our grip."

Not even rising from the heap Celestia dropped him in, he grinned.

"You're learning. I'll get you rolling around in mud soon enough, Celestia. Of your own free will."

Rising from the awkward position and walking around the still gawking guards, he looked back at her. His eyes tracked to her form for a moment, before he took off down the hallway at full gallop.

"Luna's coat is softer and shinier than yours!"

Watching as the stallion took off down a hallway, cackling madly and nearly bowling over a serving filly in the process (he instead opted to leap over her, leaving the poor dear shaking in both fear and confusion), Celestia sighed. He was a strange creature. She began to pick up her papers before turning in for the night when she realized the guards were all still staring at her.

"Is there a problem, gentlecolts?"

"You, you allow the creature to speak to you so? Should we not punish him?" one asked, his eyes shifting from the corridor to her. "This creature, he wanders your halls and speaks to you like a commoner, your highness. It is-"

"If you wish, alert Luna of Max's misbehavior. The changeling is her guest, so if he offends somepony the issue is to be brought to her. As for his treatment of us..."

Celestia rose slowly, stretching out her wings and legs before answering.

"We take no offense from the words of an intoxicated creature that is drowning the problems brought on by Discord's trickery in strong drink. Return to your duties and spread the word that he remains here at Luna's behest."

As the guards went their separate ways, Celestia stopped for a moment. It had been quite a long while since she'd last enjoyed a laugh and while the stallion was almost overwhelmingly disrespectful, it had distracted her. A distraction that she felt was most welcome.

'I don't want to help one of you just to see the other fall.'

Celestia gave a huff as a smile broke out on her face. She'd been feeling worried about this situation lately, but perhaps she could start worrying about other things now. The changeling seemed to be a positive influence, even if he was slightly unsettling. As for Discord, he seemed different last time. He left of his own will, finding amusement elsewhere and apparently going on a journey of self discovery.

The idea of Discord sitting before a scholar while studying the concept of chaos was silly and somehow seemed to suit the chaotic being. Perhaps everypony would learn something from this incident.

Perhaps, at the end of the day, everypony would have gained something.

"Tia! Help! They're taking me away! I'm too pretty to go to the dungeons, and I just got some of my chitin polished, and Luna's gonna be really upset, and I can't scratch my itches like this, and I'm too young to meet Bubba!"

Stopping and staring as the guards dragged the bound and blubbering changeling in the direction of the throne room, she shook her head and let lose a fit of giggles. While she wasn't thrilled about the process, the results of his intoxication were entertaining if nothing else. Most of the ponies kept their drunken antics outside of the castle out of respect for the alicorns. Sometimes though, there was nothing like watching somepony make a fool of themselves for the entertainment of others.

Walking back to her room, she levitated a single sheet of paper before her, creasing it carefully to copy the pattern she'd seen earlier.

'Do not laugh. Do not laugh at the sight of Max tied up and being dragged by several guards.'

Luna was pleasantly surprised to hear that the stallion was up and about in spite of his earlier issues. She was curious when she'd seen a group of guards rushing about looking for something, though none wished to bother her with the details of their search. Now, seeing the changeling being dragged along by the guards, she was fairly certain she knew what had occurred. The questions now were, what did he do and why did some of the guards still not seem to know about him?

The guards deposited the bound and gagged creature before her, nearly drawing a giggle from the lunar alicorn at his trying to drag a hoof up his neck while staring at the guard. She was uncertain what the gesture meant, but it was likely less than kind.

"Max, pray tell, why are the guards of the castle dragging you about?" she asked, ignoring the confused petitioner that was staring in a mix of awe and fear at the strange creature.

Max began mumbling through the gag, seemingly attempting to explain the circumstances before breaking into muffled laughter. Luna rolled her eyes, using a quick burst of power to remove the gag.

"Well, I got kind of bored and realized that I didn't know anything about the castle, so I figured I'd take a look around. Some of the guards told me I needed to stay in my room, which was odd cuz, you know, it wasn't actually my room. I tried talking them out of it, and they refused, so I just decided to take off down the hallway while they discussed things amongst themselves...and they took exception to that," he explained, still lying on the ground before the throne.

"And at no point in this fiasco did you think to approach me? Or perhaps ask to be brought to me?" Luna asked while keeping her face straight.

"Well, throne rooms tend to be full of guards, and with some guards already angry well, that's only going to get worse and worse, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. I learn the layout of the castle and get some exercise!"

"And how is that plan working out for you?" the mare asked, leaning forward slightly with a condescending glint in her eyes.

"Well, it would be better if it was a pretty mare that had tied me up instead of a bunch of sweaty guards, but I suppose I have to take what life gives me," Max said dismissively. "Oh, no one will answer me, do ponies wear swimsuits? I mean, you guys don't normally wear anything, so I was curious. And do you happen to know why everyone's so-ph mmphr rrph rrg br... rhr, shry rp."

"Max, we will be taking a break momentarily. Please do not go anywhere."

Turning from the re-gagged changeling, she redirected her attention to the confused peasant petitioning her.

"You were saying, mine subject?"

The muffled laughter from the stallion brought a smirk to her muzzle in spite of her best efforts. He was just too fun to tease and often made it too easy.

While waiting for Luna to finish up Max began humming 'Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,' idly staring at the ceiling. It seemed he was to be court jester for the moment, which was fine. It was something he'd put on his next resume. Jester for pony princess. That would probably go farther than royal consort of pony princess. Though the guards were probably going to be naming him 'royal pain in the ass' or something like that.

'Ha! As soon as I figure out flying, those tin cans won't stand a-oh wait, pegasi. Damn.'

While Max was busy trying to find a way to defeat the castle guard on his own, with most of his ideas having horrible flaws, Luna finished speaking with the petitioner and called the court to recess. The first clue the changeling had that Luna was done was a grip on his tail dragging him along behind the dark alicorn as she walked out through a door.

'It's a good thing I have chitin, or this would be really painful. Instead it feels nice on the itchy parts. Maybe if I aim my butt, ooh, right there.'

"What shall we do with you, Max..." the mare asked as they came to a halt in a dining room, shaking her head in mock irritation. He knew it was mock. She tasted too happy to be really angry. Instead of answering he splayed his legs, pointing at her then tapping his lower barrel with his bound hooves.

She flashed with a quick burst of emotions before settling back on amusement, pulling the muzzle back off of his-

"Why is it called a muzzle if it goes on a muzzle? Who thinks up these names? Why is a face called a muzzle, but a muzzle isn't always a face?"

"You are being silly, hush. It is lunch time, and I'm hungry. Perhaps later," Luna told him, using magic to remove the rest of the ropes.

Finally free, Max went about stretching and making sure the journey across the floor hadn't done any irreparable damage to his shell. There were actually a few sections that looked pretty scuffed, though he couldn't tell if it was the guards or Luna who had done the most damage. While messing with them had been fun and they'd never really done enough to hurt him through his shell, a fleshy being would have at least walked away with a few cuts and bruises.

"Nothing too damaged?" the mare asked from her seat.

"No, just making certain of that though. I can't say I've been kind to the shell today," Max responded as he began moving to a free seat. "Between you dragging me and getting tackled by the guards, several times I might add as they seemed to think for some silly reason that just because you catch someone means they'll stay caught. Absolute nonsense. Your sister actually caught me before they did."

Levitating the slow male into his seat, Luna took a moment to digest the statement.

"Tia was still awake? I would have thought she'd been in bed by now."

"Likely is by now," the changeling muttered, looking at the meal before them. It wasn't skimped on by any means, but he wasn't very interested in it. Besides, he'd already tried hay. Wasn't exactly spectacular. Instead of adding anything to his plate, he opted for rising and moving over to Luna's place. He certainly didn't seem to require physical contact to taste the emotions in the air, but the contact both encouraged more of the same, and he found the mare to be pleasantly warm.

"I suppose it would be cruel of us to eat without offering you anything," Luna said with a smile. "We trust it is to your liking?"

"Could use some seasoning," he quipped, leaning into her. "Bleah, I'm weird."

"We find it fairly benign. We have found nothing wrong with out senses or emotions. Though we suppose we would not be able to tell..." Luna trailed off before shrugging her wings.

"We feel better overall since your arrival. It still weighs upon us, that our court is still so quiet. Even those who arrived the other night did so to see the strange being that was speaking in the throne room. A changeling speaking in the night court draws more attention than an alicorn princess who moves the moon..."

"Hey now, it's my turn to be a whiner," Max joked, sidling up beside the mare. "You get to wait your turn and be a supportive person until I feel better. Then you can go back to being miserable and I can look for new ways to cheer you up. It's gonna' have to wait until after this molting thing, though. I'm nervous, but also curious. I remember seeing snakes and spiders molting, but I never learned how it actually works."

Chuckling, the stallion wrapped his forelegs around her and whispered into her ear.

"I'll probably be soft for a bit. A big squishy bug."

Looking at him out of the corner of her eyes, the mare lit her horn brighter as she ate, and Max shuddered as the magic washed over him like a thousand tiny fingers. While he was getting to the point of having to ignore the itching, Luna had just managed to scratch every part of his body at once.

"Oh wow. You need to teach me how to do that," he muttered, shivering at the magical touch.

"We shall see," Luna said, before slowing to look at him.

"What?"

"Our magic seems to have less difficulty having an effect on you," she explained. "Yet another thing to think about, we suppose. If it is in fact easier, it may be because it is my emotions you are using for sustenance. In the Laws of Magic, Tia always said that like affects like much more easily."

"Huh," the changeling hummed before cuddling closer. "I guess symbiosis is a thing. Either your right, or it's the fact I trust you so my body responds to that. I don't think you'd hurt me, so any magic you'd use could only help."

Nibbling on the mare's neck, he chuckled.

"Of course, I don't think mine is the only body learning to accept the presence of another am I?"

"Stop it!" Luna giggled, pushing him away. "We still have court. We refuse to sit on the throne while aroused. Not only would it be unpleasant, but we will not do that to our sister."

The changeling backed off with a pout.

"Fine, I'll just go off to starve. Don't mind me."

"You shall not starve if you are not nibbling our neck all night," Luna retorted, catching his tail in her magic. As he turned to see what had caught him, she met his lips in a quick kiss.

"There. That shall sustain you for now. We shall see that you are...properly fed later," she said with a hungry grin.

"Oh, awesome. Cuz I was getting kind of hungry and- I'm kidding, Luna," he said as her face fell. "I'll hang around for the rest of the night, okay? Sitting in your room was even more boring than night court."

"More tedious than night court? Lies." the mare said with a haughty sniff. "We are aware of nothing more tedious than sitting on the throne for hours by ourselves. Curses, do not tease us anymore while we have court, sitting like this will be uncomfortable. Of course, we shall make our discomfort your problem later, you realize."

Max blinked, staring at nothing for a beat before focusing on her.

"I see no problem with this."