In the tent, Swift stood in front of the table showing the estimated forces of both sides, deliberately distorted in favour of changelings to deceive anyone who had not taken part in the military manoeuvres.

Nightmare Moon followed him after ordering Shadowbolt Nebula to ensure that no one approached the command tent without her consent. She erected a dome around the tent with her magic, preventing any sound from escaping. Assured of discretion about the upcoming conversation, she went to the rack and stabbed her sword into the ground. She stared at the battle armour in front of her, the royal attire that she hadn’t touched since she had the tantabus for a body. After a long moment lost in her thoughts, she turned her attention to the bat pony who had wisely waited for the nightmare to begin. With a regal posture, she stepped closer to the table, opposite of Swift, facing him. "Private Swift Chess, I'll only say it once. Drop the mask."

"My Queen?" Swift replied cautiously.

"Out of respect for your relationship with the late Lieutenant Antares, I initially closed my eyes to your deplorable behaviour in my army. But leaving your post without receiving orders two days ago cannot be left unpunished. Especially when I see that you're able to detect a disguised changeling. It is increasingly difficult for me to accept this mockery of a soldier you claim to be on a daily basis in my army," the queen said.

He looked away from her, his gaze downcast. "Identifying the changeling was just luck. Cute Bite gets angry when anypony uses her birth name too often. As for the rest, it's not a mask, my queen. It's a promise. A promise from a jester to a knight to protect a pawn."

"Why have you made such a promise? Antares' sister shows exemplary behaviour. Why should she need protection?"

Swift looked Nightmare Moon in the eyes. "At first, it was mainly to quiet Antares' mind, because the royal assassin had to be entirely focused on what she did when she covered her hooves with moon blood," he said with a teasing smile.

The queen gave a knowing smile to the bat pony. "Arrant rascal. You go so far as to slip old codes of her missions into the middle of our conversation, but if you think I didn't know that you knew about Antares' dark secret, you're wrong, Private Swift Chess. Antares never hid from me that she saw you after each mission. She called it her reward. At first, I admit that I was afraid you would reveal such a secret. So I had you watched for a while. But all the reports mentioned just a comedian who had only eyes for Antares."

Swift was embarrassed. He looked away, scratching his cheek with his left-wing thumb. "Her first mission was not without consequences. When she came to knock on my window right after the assassination, I did what I could to help her. It is true that it has become a habit from then on." He dared to look at the queen of the night from the corner of his eyes. "Has she always told you everything?"

"Since you have proven your reliability for years now, I will reveal something to you. Every Royal Assassin has always had a fictitious position of Lieutenant. This is because they were the only ones who knew more than anyone else on the Moon how I ruled. Therefore I always forged a precious relationship with each of them, generation after generation. I have always been a confidant to them, allowing myself to reveal a side of me that I could not show to my subjects. So when Antares told me that she had come to your house before she reported to me, I felt jealous. A feeling I hadn't experienced in centuries." At these words, the memory of that exact moment came back to haunt her mind and prick at her heart. Suddenly, she was caught up in the feeling that dominated her life. Her jaw tightened as her body moved on its own, her forehoof slowly carving a furrow in the ground. The memory ended as if the bubble in which she was locked had burst. She suddenly regained awareness of reality. Realising what she had done, she turned her back to the trace in the ground, staring at her armour. She continued the conversation in the same serious tone as before. "You have never failed Antares, nor I, your sovereign, Swift Chess, despite all the knowledge you should not have had."

"Knowledge is power, my Queen, and I made smart use of my knowledge for the good of my friends. And right now, I'm fighting the greatest threat that has the power to break my promise. Even if their lineage has dedicated itself, generation after generation, to assuming the role of your royal assassin, I will not let you make Cute Bite her sister’s' successor."

"What are you implying, soldier?" asked the alicorn, her face darkening suddenly.

"I lied to Cute Bite. I regret that I made her take the role of your former aide de camp on the spot during the night of the genocide. I thought you would have offered her a distinction, even a promotion to Corporal. But I was wrong, and I regret my decision. When I see the consequences, I realise that I offered you a valid reason to give her this promotion, directly from soldier to major, followed by these responsibilities. Not to mention her combat prowess improved in record time. You push her to advance until you get the promotion of the pawn. You want to make her a knight, your new royal assassin. Admit it!"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Who do you think you're talking to, mortal?!" shouted Nightmare Moon, standing up high and wide, wings spread, threatening.

"To my queen! That I respect as much as I fear! However, this promise I made to my friend forbids me to remain inactive! Antares sleeps forever, following a zeal of loyalty, and I will not let anyone disturb her rest. Not even you. I would watch over it until my last breath," Swift replied, standing up in response, aggressive but, at the same time, submissive to the mare facing him.

The tent fell utterly silent. Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Poor foal. Making a gambit of the king. Just because of a supposed pawn promotion," she noted, adopting a neutral position. "Stand at ease, soldier Swift. If there is one lesson I have learned the hard way, it is not to stand up against friendship. I'll assuage your fears. But first, tell me: Why the name change?"

Swift returned to a more neutral position, but remained attentive to his queen's gestures; he couldn’t lower his guard now. "For Cute Bite, her older sister was her first idol. She replayed the missions she imagined her older sister would accomplish in your name: conquer strongholds, defeat armies, defeat Celestia for the sole glory of the Eternal Night. Her imagination was far from reality. As she saw her resting serenely in the coffin, she couldn't accept that her sister didn't have the glorious future she imagined. And so, she left to fill the administrative papers to bear her sister's name. As determined as I am to protect her, even against the princesses who rule Equestria, with her mindset, she is ready to challenge them so that her sister's name will become a legend."

Nightmare Moon smiled slightly, reminiscing. She thought back to the day when she summoned the major to talk about the adult name she had chosen to wear. "Now I understand better why the descendant of a line of strategists wants to stagnate at the bottom of the basket, when his instructors have denoted a potential that you refuse to exploit: You seek to remain in her entourage."

Swift's resolve could be seen in his eyes. "I will do whatever it takes to keep my promise. If I were to evolve as a strategist myself, I would lose sight of her. That would increase the risk of facing Antares after my death, and she would break my teeth. And I don’t want to be a mockery in the afterlife."

The alicorn looked to her armour still waiting on the rack, thinking of that day when Luna, then immature, gave in to a desire to see the night as revered as the day. The dark words of the illegitimate monarch of the Crystal Empire repeated themselves in her mind, which allowed herself to be consumed by the nightmarish angst that she had been repressing all that time. She remembered her first words as if they were yesterday: A royal duty, a promise to herself which now could no longer be fulfilled. The bitterness that resulted from it, she wished on no pony, let alone one of her subjects. "The reason I promoted her to the rank of Major and gave her the position of Aide-de-Camp is not to make her my royal assassin. Certainly, she would have become Antarès’ successor, if, among other things, she had been ten years younger, as this kind of work requires a huge amount of training. As to the other thing you’ve mentioned, you are wrong on one point: She is a born warrior, naturally gifted for close combat. I think we’re justified to say that the talent is in her blood, which wouldn’t be surprising, given her lineage. To sum all of this up: I unknowingly wanted to grant both your wishes. If she continues along this path, she could become a high-ranking officer in the Lunar Guard. That is my way of rewarding Antares for her loyalty posthumously. Does that reassure you, Swift Chess?"

Upon hearing those words, he hesitated, thinking for a moment. In the end, he shook his head weakly. "No, my Queen. It is very simple to say one thing and then act completely differently. That is, after all, part of employing assassins. I want to believe your words with all my heart, but I can only determine their truth on her deathbed."

She understood his point of view and wanted to put his mind at ease. "I understand. In that case, I see only one option." She made the magic bubble disappear. "Major Antares! Come in!"

Antares entered the tent, observing them quietly.

"Major Antares, from now on Private Swift will be your second-in-command. He'll be taking orders directly from you only. He seems to have provisions for military tactics, which is why you will hone that skill with his help. But one thing at a time. Shadowbolt Nebula!"

Nebula entered a moment later, greeting the assembled ponies by placing the thumb of her wing on her head.

"Major Antares, your second officer left his post without having received the order. The punishment?" asked Nightmare Moon.

Antares considered the situation, the new orders, and her options. "Private Swift Chess, for insubordination, you will spend the rest of the week in solitary confinement. Dry bread and water for all meals. We'll see if you still have the heart to disobey as a result of this isolation."

Nebula once again did not wait to see how he would react to this. Instead, she drew her weapon and escorted Swift out of the tent. Antares turned toward the alicorn, her head held high. Nightmare Moon stored her claymore in the sheath Antares wore. "Get some rest. We'll meet Chrysalis in an hour. Whatever happens, killing must be the last resort. If the situation turns violent, incapacitate them. It's not as if they can affect me, so in the event that the situation gets bad, your retreat is a priority. This is an order."