Mindful Soul looked up at me over her notebook. “Well?”

“Well, what?” I asked.

She snorted. “You think I’m going to gloss over the part about you resigning just because you dazzled me with wedding plans?”

“I was hoping so, yes.”

“Silent Knight, you’ve been coming to see me twice a week for over a month. I feel like we know each other. Do you really think that was going to work given our time together?”

“I was hoping so, yes,” I repeated.

She set her notebook down and said, “You’re a stubborn pony. Well, then, how is the hunt for a new officer going?”

I shrugged. “They’re not me.”

“Maybe you’re not the pony that should be doing the hunting?”

How could I entrust such an important task to anypony else? I knew Princess Luna. I knew what she needed. I leaned back in my seat and shook my head. “I’m not officially doing it. I’m just going to have a short list of suggestions for Vice Colonel Glamour is all.”

“Yes, but don’t you find it depressing to be looking for your own replacement when you don’t want to be replaced?”

That was an understatement. “Of course, I do, but it doesn’t change the facts. She can’t try to guard me while I guard her. Her safety is more important than my happiness.”

Mindful Soul picked up her notebook and took a few notes. Great, I’d said something relevant or important. “You honestly believe that?”

“Yes,” I replied, trying to keep my voice even with short, clipped sentences. It kept the emotion at bay. “She’s an alicorn princess. She’s important. We need her. Me? I’m a royal guard. We don’t normally stay in the same place for long. I’ve had the opportunity to be with her for years. We’ve gotten too close. I’m compromised.”

“I see. And you think she’s just going to let you go?”

I snorted. “She doesn’t have a choice. She can’t stop me from resigning my position. We’ll still be friends. I’ll just… I don’t know… be somewhere else, wearing gold armor and doing who knows what.”

More notes. “And that bothers you.”

There was no point in lying to her. “Of course it does! I’ll be a palace guard or a city guard. Just one of thousands instead of one of tens...” I clenched my jaw and breathed out. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s going to happen, okay? Shouldn’t you be teaching me to try to accept it?”

The unicorn chuckled. “I’m trying. Your plan is to just bottle it up. Need I remind you how that worked out with your guilt?”

I stared at her, trying not to grind my teeth. “Nopony likes a know-it-all doctor.”

She grinned a bit and raised a hoof. “Sorry. You see my point, though. How about we work on your guilt and stress? Any more anger issues?”

“Yes, but not as often. I’ve kept it all in check, too. No more destruction of property. I just go pummel the heavy bag.”

She paused and then said slowly, “That isn’t what I taught you.”

I shook my head. “No, but counting down from ten doesn’t work for me. Exercising does, and it keeps me fit. We call that compromise.”

“Fair enough. Just make certain you’re not substituting that heavy bag for ponies.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She set her notebook aside and then nodded at me. “That is our time today. I think we should start seeing each other once a week. I’ll let Warrant Orchid know.”

My brow lifted. “Oh? Tired of me already?”

“Not at all, but you seem to be doing better. You’re not planning any other dangerous actions. You’ll need more work, but I think once a week will suffice. If it doesn’t, we can readjust.”

I stood and nodded. “Fair enough. See you next week, then.”

“Yes indeed. Take care.”

I left the office and headed out into the waiting room. There was a blue filly sitting in one of the chairs with her head buried in a copy of Crystal’s Her Silent Love. The book seemed to be everywhere. Why was a filly here and reading a romance novel? Mindful had said she had younger ponies for patients, but that book wasn’t really for ponies that young.

Unless she wasn’t that young. Slowly, I started to tiphoof towards the door. Easy, Silent Knight. Be small, act small. She won’t see you. When I was halfway, to the door the book came down.

“Lieutenant?” Azurite asked in surprise.

I stopped. “Yes?”

“You took my advice!” she exclaimed, hugging the book to her chest.

“Yes. Please don’t tell.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to be ashamed. Everypony knows I go to therapy.”

That was an understatement. “I understand, but please don’t tell. I don’t want everypony to know my business.”

Her ears wiggled and then dropped slightly. “Well… alright. If that’s how you feel.”

“Don’t tell Sunny.”

Azurite gasped. “I can’t not! She’ll know. She smells it when I have a secret and she always gets it out of me. Nothing can stop her!”

My brow arched. “Try hard?”

The unicorn shook her head and chirped, “I’m sorry! I don’t want to tell you a lie. She’ll get it out of me one way or the other.”

I glared. “I could silence you.”

Mindful Soul cleared her throat. “Please don’t kill Azurite in my waiting room, the paperwork would be immense.”

“Yeah… don’t silence Azurite in her waiting room,” Azurite said, getting up and heading over to the other unicorn.

Mindful Soul lightly patted the blue mare on the mane. “And you’re going to have to tell Sunny that you can’t tell her. Silent Knight has a right to privacy.”

Azurite gasped. “She’ll torture me!”

“You need to learn to say no. Head on inside. I set out the plushes you like.”

I knew it! It was all about the plushes with Azurite. Thank goodness Mindful Soul was a good doctor. Celestia knows I didn’t want a recommendation based on who had the best toys to play with during therapy. Although she did have some pretty good toys.

Construction, like many things in life, never seemed to go to plan. The remodeling and expansion of Princess Luna’s wing of the palace was meant to be completed before she returned from Haven. That date was coming fast if she kept to her schedule, and I suspected she would. She wouldn’t want to miss her own parties, especially not since I’d correctly sent out all the invitations.

The princess would be thrilled I was capable of a simple menial task, but she would be far less pleased with the fact that the construction work was behind schedule. Not a day or so, but weeks. It was impossible it would be completed before Princess Luna’s well-planned and highly publicized Nightmare Night party.

I moved the event to the grand ballroom, and Princess Celestia had been more than happy to provide that space to us. She was the co-host so that only made sense. It was also the fanciest place in the kingdom, so I doubted any pony would feel slighted by the change of venue.

In a way, that had been the easy part. The more difficult duty was the one I was attempting to perform now: ensuring that Princess Celestia’s assistant Raven didn’t kill the project manager or set fire to the construction company.

“You said this would be done by today,” Raven growled in a low voice. “Do you realize how many events and plans we’re going to have to rework to accommodate you?”

The project manager looked nervous. “I’m really sorry, ma’am. This palace is hundreds of years old! There are a lot of things to consider. Code upgrades, new materials, hidden problems, and the fact we’re building on the side of a mountain.”

Raven groused, “Didn’t you factor that into your schedule and bid?”

Sheepishly, the stallion rubbed a forehoof over his chest. “Well… we did. Just not to this extent.”

“How long?” Raven demanded.

“I’m sorry?” he replied.

“How long? How long until you’re done? Give me a real date. I need it now so I can start changing plans and so Lieutenant Knight there can tie up a ton of royal guards protecting the construction site.”

My ears flicked. She was right about that. The Palace Guard was getting a lot of extra hours. My House Guard, too. Although with the princess away in Haven, it wasn’t a big deal. We were mostly guarding empty halls and rooms.

“It is tough to say…” the stallion trailed.

“No. You’re a professional. An engineer or an architect or both. You will have a date for me by the end of today. Am. I. Clear?” Raven enunciated by advancing a step closer to him with each full stop.

“Yes, ma’am!” he replied before slowly backing away from us.

Raven bristled and took two steps after the project manager. She’d probably have taken a third, but I flicked a wing in front of her. “He is no good to us dead, ma’am.”

“I wasn’t going to kill him,” she huffed. “I just wanted to show him how many things were in my schedule by repeatedly rapping it against his face.”

Laughing would probably not have been appropriate and it took effort not to do so. I kept my composure by some small miracle. “Come on, let’s go to the officer’s club. I’ll buy you a fizzy drink.”

The mare sighed. “I’d love to, but I’ve got things to do. I need to start working on all of this. Do I need to go to Glamour, or are you still good to handle all of the Royal Guard issues?”

“I’ll handle it. The Palace Guard lieutenants just nod and comply when I come to visit. No need to involve the brass, just leave this to me.”

“And don’t forget that Princess Luna will be back today. Good luck with that, Lieutenant,” Raven said before heading towards Princess Celestia’s wing.

“Thanks,” I replied as I wandered over to the table that had all of the drawings and plans for Princess Luna’s wing. It was an ambitious project for sure. I flipped through a few before I found the administration area.

After a brief glance to see who was paying attention, I quietly drew a new door on my office and made some notes about the materials for it. One problem solved.

While she was gone, I’d made certain that Princess Luna’s bedroom, personal quarters, and office were completed. There wasn’t much that had to be done there anyway, just some new windows, better security, and some space reconfiguration.

The least I could do was ensure that she would be comfortable during this insanity. She should be comfortable, and my door should be soundproof.

On my way to the courtyard, I grabbed Div to help me carry the princess’s bags. The two of us stood together looking up at the sky, waiting a little awkwardly in silence. There was no sign of the chariot yet.

“Sir?”

I looked over at him. “Yes?”

“Are you excited about getting married soon? The princess has been talking about it a lot when I’ve been on duty.”

Had she now? Loose lips sink pony ships. “More or less. I’m committed to Crystal Wishes and I’m thrilled to have her in my life. I can’t say I’m too much on the ceremony of it.”

Div nodded. “I understand. I don’t regret having a ceremony, but I was pretty worked up about it.”

“Yeah? You got married out west, right?”

A small smile appeared on his face and his voice turned dreamy. “I did. It was this whole crazy thing, but it was nice.”

“I didn’t get an invitation,” I said, keeping my tone even.

Div cleared his throat and looked the other way. “Uh… no, sir. It was small. Close friends and family only.”

I kept my grin on the inside. “And your entire squad. Since they all took the time off and I had to rework coverage.”

The stallion coughed and nodded. “Close friends, sir. Sorry, sir.”

“Of course,” I replied. “I’m kidding, Div. It’s fine.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “You shouldn’t do that, sir. We’re not used to it.”

“Oh yeah? How about I—”

Div pointed. “Oh look, there they are!”

My eyes followed his hoof and sure enough the chariot was in sight. “Saved by the princess.”

Div quickly nodded and started to trot to where the chariot was coming in for a landing. Once it was safely down, the stallion immediately busied himself with getting Princess Luna’s bags. Smart pony. He’d make a great sergeant someday.

Iridescence and the princess disembarked and started to come my way. I could see their eyes shifting to the new wing where there was still scaffolding and the noise of continued construction.

I bowed when they reached me. “Welcome home, Princess.”

“Thank you, Silent Knight.” Princess Luna’s brow rose as she looked down at me. “Forgive me if I am mistaken, but it appears as if the renovations are incomplete.”

I remained in my low bow. If I didn’t look her in the eyes, she couldn’t zap me. “They are not only incomplete, but also very far behind schedule, Princess. Raven is livid. I did, however, see to it that your quarters were completed first so that you’ll be comfortable.”

“Very well,” she said with clear disdain in her voice. “Why don’t we head inside so that you can fill me in? Perhaps we should summon the project manager so that he can explain it to me face-to-face.”

“Of course, Princess,” I replied while I hid a smirk. If that pony was afraid of Raven, he’d be terrified of the princess. Perhaps that would work to our advantage.

It felt weird being in my quarters, but today it was more convenient to meet there before heading to the florist. The gap between when I got off work and our appointment made the timing of things awkward. Going straight there would make us too early, and heading to her place meant we’d just be in Velvet’s way. She was practicing for an upcoming production, and that always made her extra crabby about ponies in her space.

Crystal and I almost never spent time at my place anymore. The funny thing was, neither did Winterspear. She was typically over at Iridescence’s just like I was over at Crystal’s. It made the once-familiar space feel strange and foreign. Not like ‘home’ at all.

“Red,” Crystal said as she laid a card down.

I set a red moon on the stack. She set a green moon over that.

I looked down at the cards in my hoof. “How much longer until our appointment?”

“We’ll have to leave soon.” She looked up at me with a coy smile. “Are you hinting that you’re not enjoying the game?”

She knew the answer. It was a fine game to kill a few minutes, but there wasn’t a lot of strategy. Just hold onto a wild card until that was all you had left in hoof. I was about to point that out when the door opened.

Winterspear walked in. She had bags under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in a week. Iridescence followed along behind her, looking about the same. Their manes were frazzled and both dragged their hooves across the floor.

Dot came last, practically bursting with energy. Her saddlebags were packed full of games, coloring books, crayons, and colored pencils. With a surprised whinny, she galloped over to us. “Hi Miss Crystal! How’re you?”

Crystal smiled. “I’m doing well. How are you, Dot?”

“I’m AMAZING!” she squealed. “I had a sleepover last night with six other fillies. We were up all night and I’m not even tired. Do you believe that?”

I looked over to the couch where Winterspear had collapsed. She had closed her eyes and I grinned. “I believe it.”

“Dot, why don’t you sit down and color,” Iridescence suggested before slouching into the easy chair.

“I can’t! I’m too excited. Also, I’m really, really, super sorry we broke that water line in the bathroom this morning. It was an accident.”

Water line?

“I know, sweetie. I said it’s fine,” Iridescence replied.

Winterspear didn’t open her eyes. “Silent Knight, by the way, Dot and Iridescence are going to be staying here a few days.”

“No problem.” Somepony might as well make use of the space.

Crystal looked up at the clock and then over at me. “We need to get to the florist, sweetie.”

Ah, yes, our wedding appointment where I pretended like I knew the difference between flowers. It wasn’t important to me but Crystal being happy was, so I agreed to come along.

“Florist? As in flowers?” Dot asked as she started to bounce. “Can I go? Please! Please! Since I’m going to be the flower filly I should go! I can help, right?”

Iridescence lifted her head. “Dot, I think Silent Knight and Crystal Wishes will want to pick out their own flowers.”

“But I’m the flower filly! Flowers! This is like my responsibility.”

I looked at Crystal. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to take Dot along, and she gave me a subtle nod in agreement. I cleared my throat. “You know, Dot, why don’t you come with us? Crystal would value your opinion.”

“I would,” Crystal put in with a voice full of sincerity.

“Yay! Let’s go! Let’s go right now,” Dot squealed in delight before grabbing Crystal’s hoof and dragging her towards the door.

Crystal giggled and let the filly lead her out.

Iridescence looked over at me, eyes loving and soft. “You are truly the greatest pony in the world right now.”

With a chuckle, I nodded. “I know. You two take a nap. You both look like you need it.”

I was pretty sure Winterspear was already asleep, so I didn’t wait for her gracious response. She could thank me later.

Crystal, Dot, and I had made it to the florist in record time. Mostly because Dot was more excited than I’d ever seen her. She’d practically dragged Crystal the whole way. Once we’d arrived, the florist had given us a brief introduction and explanation. I didn’t get any of it.

Now we were all standing in front of the counter, surrounded by more flower types than I knew existed, while Crystal and Leafy Roots discussed the bouquet. I’m pretty sure it was the bouquet, anyway. I’d zoned out a little bit. Okay, more like a lot. Stallions and bouquets don’t mix.

“You see, the wedding is going to be in a rose garden. We’re expecting to be surrounded by beautiful red roses. I don’t want the bouquet to be washed out by that,” Crystal explained.

Leafy Roots asked, “So you don’t want red roses in your bouquet, then?”

“Well, I do! Just not those red roses. Plus, white roses as well. Do you have a different kind of red roses?”

Leafy blinked and looked over at me. I just shrugged. Wasn’t it her job to understand mares? It certainly wasn’t mine. “Well, Miss Wishes, I’m not sure what kind of roses are going to be in the garden… but I do have some pink roses and some lighter red ones. Perhaps crimson ones?”

Dot softly groaned. I patted her on the head. I didn’t blame her for being bored, too.

Crystal shifted and then waved a hoof. “Could you show me some of the things you’ve done for past weddings? Maybe a visual would be helpful when it comes to what I’m trying to explain.”

“Oh, that’s an excellent idea.” Leafy pulled out a photobook, set it on the counter, and opened it. “I’ve had the pleasure of doing the flowers for numerous weddings. I just know we’ll find something in here close to what you’re looking for.”

I picked Dot up and set her on my back so that she could see. She nuzzled my cheek and chimed, “Thanks!”

“Yup,” I replied before zoning out again.

Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the wedding. I just didn’t care about different color roses, bouquets, or things of that nature—literally, in this case. It would have suited me just fine to go before the military officiant and marry Crystal, but she wanted a wedding and I wanted her to have it. She’d earned that much for sure.

“No, no, no!” Dot finally squealed. The little filly hopped off my back and onto the counter. “Don’t you see, ma’am? She wants it like this!” She pointed her hoof at one bouquet. “Then you take out the red ones. Put in three whites here, a crimson there, and maybe mix in something other than a rose to contrast.”

I reached for Dot to pull her off the counter. We didn’t allow tantrums, not even in florist shops… although in this case I couldn’t blame her. I was five minutes from throwing one of my own. My hooves came to a stop immediately, however, when my eyes caught sight of sudden white in a sea of green.

“And then you’ll need to wrap it in a pearl ribbon to offset the green. Maybe throw some foal’s breath in there, too, for extra flare,” Dot prattled on.

Crystal gasped and looked at me. I was frozen, my hooves still reaching out towards the filly.

Dot trailed when she noticed we were all staring. “... What?”

“Dot,” Crystal said softly with a smile. “Look, sweetie.” She pointed a hoof at the filly’s flank.

Dot craned her neck to look back at herself and gasped. “My cutie mark?! I got my cutie mark!”

She had indeed. It was two white-petaled flowers with golden centers, their stems woven together and a tiny heart where they crossed.

Leafy Roots softly laughed. “Well… maybe I should hire her.”

The filly leapt off the counter and into my waiting hooves. She threw hers around my neck in a heartfelt embrace. I’d never seen a pony get their cutie mark before. Other than me, of course. It was truly magical.

“Take me home! I want to show Iridescence. Please, can we go home?” Dot begged as she held onto me tightly.

Crystal waved a hoof at me. “I can finish up here now that Dot better expressed what I wanted. You take her home.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” I replied before shifting Dot onto my back and heading for the door. “Hold on, we’re flying home.”

“Yay!” Dot squealed and grabbed my mane.

It took a lot of effort to fly straight as she tugged my head back, but I soldiered on and got us home safely.

“Hurry! Hurry!” Dot chimed as I put my key in the lock and opened the door. Before I could give any kind of warning, the filly zipped inside and into Winterspear’s bedroom.

“Dot, wai—” It was far too late.

Thankfully, there was no surprised yelp or scream of embarrassment. It was more of a grunt and wheeze, like when you throw a sack of potatoes on an unsuspecting pony. Not that I’d ever done that.

“Look! Look! Look!” Dot practically screamed. “Iridescence, Winterspear, look!”

I approached the bedroom door slowly while walking as loudly as possible. I pushed it open and stuck my head in. Dot had her forelegs on Iridescence’s chest while she posed to proudly show off the cutie mark.

Both mares looked extremely out of it and confused. As they got their wits about them and recognition dawned on Iridescence, she gasped and grabbed her little sister. “Dot! Congratulations! What happened?”

Both mares looked my way with surprise on their faces. I merely shrugged while Dot started to explain the story in her own way.

While the three of them started to make plans for a celebration, I just smiled and turned away from the door. Now we’d have to plan a wedding and a party. Not that that was a bad thing, of course; it was just a valid concern.

Dot was a filly of great tastes and, after her party, she’d officially be a young mare. I doubted the world would ever be the same after that.

Author's Notes:

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