The Princesses stood on the balcony shoulder to shoulder, watching the training fields below.

The grounds were filled with recruits.

Volunteers had been all too eager to sign up after the invasion, but even for the amount of new ponies adorning armor and PT clothing below, their numbers were nothing compared to what they had before the infiltration by the changelings.

"Any likely candidates?" asked the larger of the regal siblings, her majestic mane flowing behind her in the elevated air's breeze, caught by the tower's altitude.

Luna shook her head, not diverting her eyes from the fields below, and a third pony descended a short way from the buttresses to the balcony.

"We lost four of them," explained Celestia, looking earthward again, "The time for mourning has passed. We can't afford to be at a disadvantage for long. The Guardians are invaluable to Equestria."

The newcomer, a crystalline, turquoise mare, a black patch over her right eye, leaned against the balcony's railing, watching intently as the stallions below sparred, marched, and drilled.

For some reason, her gaze found a unicorn stallion apart from the action; he was resting, apparently having completed his PT before the others in his squad, as the others in his unit's colors were still doing pushups. He was not imposing, nor was he anything exceptional to behold, but Persephone was drawn to him nonetheless.

It wasn't long before a group of the unit's much more threatening stallions finished their training as well, and approached him in a group of four.

Even from this distance, the mare could see words being exchanged; they weren't words of kindness.

The stallion, a beige unicorn with a monochromatic red mane, rose, barely coming up to the others' shoulders. The biggest of the opposing group shoved him, and the unicorn said something in return.

The other reared back to strike him, adorning a glaring grin on his face, but the stallion countered swiftly. He moved like a blur, throwing lightning fast jabs and kicks, dodging blows and redirecting the others' momentum, grappling a foe to the ground, only to hop back up and do the same to the next oncoming opponent.

Before the sergeant could reach the group, the four lay on the ground, and the beige stallion stood at attention as the sergeant began bellowing audible curses into his face.

"Brute," mumbled Celestia as the stallion was ushered into a physical training pit, the most severe of field punishments for the trainees, by the sergeant.

Before the unicorn reached the pit, he stopped, and turned his gaze to the tower, staring confidently at the three silhouetted mares on its balcony, and then hopped into the sand to begin his suffering.

"Ugh," Celestia groaned again, "He doesn't belong in our army."

"You're right, he doesn't," agreed Persephone, seeing the same thing she was thinking in Luna's eyes.

The Princess of the Night finished the thought.

"He belongs in the Guardians."

Celestia looked to the two in shock, but Luna and Persephone only watched as the stallion quickly cranked out his sentence in pushups and sit-ups, looking back to the tower with a sort of fascination when he was finished.

Luna and Persephone looked at each other, and though faintly, smiled.

Author's Notes:

It's Back!
I had a lot of fun with this story, and I understand a lot of people liked it as well. If I get twenty-five followers or fifty likes on this story, there will be a sequel in bound. Cool. Thanks for reading!