My eyes flitted open, and I began to hear birds chirping away outside, spurred on by the heat of the high noon sun. I looked over to the fixed clock back on the bedside table, along with a fresh pitcher of water and accompanying glass. After last night, I didn’t get up until midday. I could feel the invigorating rays of sunlight permeate my room, so with a bit of magic, I opened the balcony doors to let in the summer ambience waft inside. With my bed head strewn about the pillows and my limbs splayed in every direction, I laid in bed as relaxed as could be, without a care in the world.

The door being slammed open opening minutes after waking up was like a bomb going off. My eyes snapped open in anger as Celestia brazenly strolled into my room, scaring off and silencing the birds outside.

I turned my head and glared at her. “A little common courtesy would be nice.”

“I do apologise,” Celestia said, “but the guards just found one of the stolen scrolls from last night.” As I reluctantly got out of bed, Celestia magicked two scrolls out of thin air and pulled two more from the shelves. “I had several keen-eyed pegasi comb a wide area on the off-chance they’d apprehend the intruder. Despite being long gone, one of the pegasi found this on their return trip.”

I wasn’t sure how important one scroll was to warrant sending someone several hours out of their way for it, but I was glad we found a piece of the puzzle. “Which one is it?”

“The mountain range. The only one missing is the plains between the hills and the forest.” I peered over Celestia’s shoulder as she unfurled each map. “I also procured replacements for the damaged and missing scrolls.”

“If they weren’t interested in the mountains or the forest, why keep the one map and ditch the other?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Celestia said.

I dragged a hoof down my face in mock despair and groaned. “Why do I get the uneasy feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg?”

“That’s part of the reason I came here. I sent word with a messenger that we will be recruiting new guards, to be passed around the villages and towns en route to the minotaur kingdom.”

“The minotaur kingdom?” I said. Luna had mentioned minotaurs, but I didn’t understand why Celestia would reach out to them.

“We’ve known each other for a while, and their King owes us a favour for helping him out some time back. He’ll be sending a few of his officers to train the newcomers,” Celestia said while putting the maps back. “The messenger will be back tomorrow, and hopefully everypony else will be here by the end of the week. In the meantime, we’ll need to start making preparations on temporary living quarters for the recruits.”

She was avoiding the question. “How do the maps tie in with this?”

“Stepping up security will allow us to send a team to investigate the area for nefarious activity, and maintain a presence at the castle.”

That was the answer I was looking for. “And how long is that going to take?”

“Training will likely take a few weeks at least. I’d be satisfied if we wind up with thirty guards by the end of it,” she said with a short chuckle.

My dad was in the marines, and he had to undergo twelves weeks of hell. I doubted three weeks would result in guards of equal calibre, but only time would well.

“I’m glad that’s all sorted out. Now, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Proceedings in the throne room have been postponed for the next three days to prepare for the the recruits, giving us ample opportunity to finish any work we’ve yet to complete by week’s end. If everything goes well, this week should be rather mild.”

“Yeah, it’s been a rough few days,” I said, awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck.

“Everything will be fine, Lulu,” Celestia said with a short nuzzle. I hadn’t heard her call me that before, but it was kind of cute and I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Take the rest of the day to yourself. Setting up accommodations for the recruits will be relatively simple, something the staff can manage, and I’ll make a start on the remaining work in the meantime.”

As she finished, a soft knock came from the door. “I had lunch prepared for you, so eat up and enjoy your day.” Smiling in my direction, Celestia left and let in a maid carrying a covered tray with her magic. She lifted the lid of the tray to reveal a delicately prepared selection of sliced and decorated fruits: apples, pears, oranges, and pineapple arranged around a stack of still-steaming pastries. I had to remind myself to mention to the cooks that, just because you’re serving royalty, breakfast, lunch, and dinner doesn’t always have to look like a work of art.

Afterwards, I made sure to brush and tidy up. Just because I was a princess doesn’t mean I get to slack off. After all, a certain level of decorum was expected from royalty, and it was a welcome change of pace to have everyone actually looking me in the eyes instead of a few degrees lower. Once I was presentable, I gathered the books and my notes, then made my way down to the library with my free time. Studying to get through school was one thing, but magic actually had substance and tangible use. Levitation, teleportation, and figuring out the dream magic were all creative experiences. I even found out how to remove Celestia’s magical signature from the lock on my door! Now you have to knock and wait like a polite person, I thought impishly.

My duties were completely forgotten about that day, and I did what I normally did on any sunday: blob the hell out. If I was called on to sort something out, I would’ve resigned it to the following day. Even a princess needs a day off.

Due to my comforted isolation during the day, I didn’t see hair or hide from Celestia until well after dinner. It was only a matter of time until she showed up to my room, and I already knew how it was going to play out. I had just finished putting away my notes and books as I heard the frustrated attempt of a door trying to be opened, like a parent barging in unannounced. Then came the louder-than-necessary knocking.

I went over to open the door. “Yes?” I said, more smugly than I should’ve.

Celestia blinked. “Why’d you alter the spell?”

“Aren’t I entitled to a modicum of privacy? What if I was indecent?”

“What could you possibly be doing that would constitute indecency?”

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “Mas–”

“Okay!” Celestia interrupted exceedingly quickly. “Okay. I’m sorry, Luna. You’re right, I should’ve knocked. In any case, how was your day?”

I took pleasure in her embarrassment. “All things considered, it was good, thank you,” I said with a smile.

“If I may… Why the sudden interest in studying?” Celestia said, gesturing to the state of my desk.

If I can convince Celestia that I’m really Luna, then she’ll believe anything I say, I thought. “I wanted to get better at magic, so I went back to basics. Why do you ask?”

“I usually have to come to your room if I want to talk. Now you’ve become more active with court, and you’re spending more time studying?”

I put on my best poker face. “Maybe falling out of bed and hitting my head knocked some sense into me.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I see you’ve still retained your sense of humour despite two head injuries within a week.”

“You’d have to be pretty stiff not to have a good laugh,” I mused.

“Tonight,” Celestia continued, “I’m putting two guards outside your door and having a few more patrol the grounds. If that pegasus decides to return, maybe we’ll catch him.”

“Can you guarantee the spell will hold up?” I would have thumbed over my shoulder at the balcony doors, so I pointed directly at them with a hoof.

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“You’re giving me extra guards, so making sure the spell works would be an idea.” I walked to my bedroom door and opened it, finding a pegasus and unicorn standing outside. Perfect

I tapped the pegasus on the shoulder and he looked to me with curiosity, where I whispered into his ear. He looked to me with surprise. His eyes darted between me and the big doors in my room. “Of course, Your Highness.” He was all too quick to depart, and I went back into the room to see Celestia giving me a confused look.

“What did you say to him?” she asked.

To Celestia’s chagrin, I said I’d give him a kiss if he broke through the double doors.

It went to show that, even across dimensions, males will do dumb stuff with enough persuasion.

Now, watching birds hitting windows is funny enough, but watching bird-horses do the same thing left me clutching my sides in agony. As thoroughly displeased as Celestia was, she couldn’t deny the results, even though the method was rather... primitive.

I wasn’t cruel enough to leave the guard hanging, though, and he got carried off seeing twice as many stars.

Celestia looked down at me through the corner of her eye as she left. “Now I have to procure another guard,” she said with an annoyed snort.

Celestia left in a comical huff, and I crawled into bed for an early night. With the guarantee the spell would hold up, I wasn’t overly concerned about anyone breaking in.

The sun intruded on my sleep with loud knocking before it streamed through my windows. Despite Celestia saying otherwise, I was positive she asked me to oversee preparations for the recruits as petty vindictiveness for removing her signature from the lock. That, or she was trying to get back at me for the guard last night.

I wondered how many jokes I could pull against Celestia before she looked like she’d have an aneurysm.

After breakfast, I went about following the list while Celestia was holed up in her study with paperwork, creating forms and the like for the recruits, as well as sending messengers to nearby markets to arrange for extra food to be delivered to the castle.

Everyone was diligently going about their jobs; the woodsmiths crafted removeable bed frames to make bunk beds (a suggestion of mine that the smiths were pleasantly surprised with); the kitchens were bustling, and I even managed to squeeze in a bit of study when I wasn’t busy with the list, but I didn’t get too far with the spell I was working on.

When it came to spell work, the only thing I wasn’t immediately able to create a work-around for was my lack of ability to actually cast spells without the aid of an array on parchment. I needed to internalise how to cast magic and understand it on a more fundamental level. Only then could I really become stronger and not rely on parchment as a crutch. There was an array for telekinesis, something which I could do with proficiency, so it was a matter of the application of principal. The castle was too hectic with what was going on, so moments to practice were almost nonexistent, and I was still having problems with my dream magic.

Luna’s journal was proving immensely useful. I kept note of useful spell combinations, reminders, appointments, and I kept tabs on my day-to-day if Luna decided to read through upon her return. While teaching myself magic from scratch was an interesting and exhausting experience, I needed help if I was going to make any headway in completing my spells. The only question was who to ask? I thought about asking Celestia, but I was worried about her finding out my secret if we spent too much time together. She seemed rather oblivious, writing off my peculiar behaviour as just the circumstances since my arrival, though she was my only hope at that point. Maybe asking if she knew somebody who could teach me? It was an idea, but there were more immediate matters to busy myself with.

A good number of the castle’s rooms had been retrofitted with four beds to a room (complete with angled ladders for ease of climbing to the top bunks) by the time the first of the ponies began arriving. We even managed to find some extra footlockers (hooflockers?) in storage, though I doubted there’d be enough of those to go around.

I was in my room with some scrolls that Celestia said I needed to sign off on when I got a knock on my door. With a final flick of the quill on the last scroll, I heaved a satisfied sigh and went to see who it was.

“Your Highness, volunteers for the guard have begun showing up at the castle gates. What would you have me do with them?” a guard said.

“Show them to the common room that has been prepared and tell them to wait. After I get these scrolls to Celestia, I’ll show everypony to their rooms.”

I levitated over the veritable pyramid of scrolls, stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind me. The guard, however, took a few steps back and stared at me like a puppy wanting a biscuit. It was slightly unnerving.

“...Is everything alright?” I queried.

“I, uhm… Yes! I just… wanted to say thank you.”

I just rolled my hoof as a prompt for him to continue.

“For the other night,” he amended with a blush, awkwardly looking to the side.

For the other… Oh! “Oh, you were the fellow that almost knocked himself out flying into my door. To be honest, I’m surprised you remembered, given your condition.”

“When you’re offered something as coveted as that, the accompanying request can be difficult to turn down.”

Coveted, eh? I thought with a raised eyebrow. I’ll be sure to remember that one…

I began walking towards Celestia’s study, the guard staying beside me. “It makes me wonder what else I could get away with,” I said with a devious smile, giving the guard a knowing look. He did a double take, flushed even harder, then quickened his pace until he turned down a corridor. I couldn’t help but have a good-natured laugh at the guy’s expense.

I made it to Celestia’s room, and I actually had the decency to knock.

The door began to open. “I’m bus–oh, it’s you, Luna. How can I help?”

“Just returning your mountain of scrolls,” I said sardonically while levitating them over to her.

She blinked in surprise. “That was quick.”

Years of working in an office will do that to you. “Volunteers for the guard have started to arrive, so I had to be brief. I’ll show them to the quarters that have been prepared while you make sure everything is in order.”

“Already?” she said, unrolling a few of the scrolls to check my work. She raised an impressed eyebrow at my handiwork, but didn’t say as much before continuing. “The surrounding villages would’ve had a shorter commute, I suppose, so by all means show them around.”

Celestia stiffed me on “thanks” and “goodbye”, then shut the door while I was still standing there. I stuck my nose up at her on principal and began making my way to the prepared common room. It wasn’t anything to sneeze at; the room itself had a hearth with a lit fire to make first arrivals feel welcome; there were bookshelves stocked with reading material, paintings and tapestries for decoration and warmth, and in the middle of the room was a large table and chairs to dine at, should they choose to instead of in the comparably massive dining hall.

I laid down on one of the couches placed against a wall until I heard the tell-tale sounds of cacophonous hoofsteps and excited mumbling coming from a large group of ponies, followed up by the same guard’s voice telling them to quiet down. He cracked the door open and stuck his head in and found me comfortably reclining on the couch.

I got up and made my way over, giving the guard a simple nod to let them in. He closed the door so it was ajar to make an announcement.

“Introducing Her Highness, Princess Luna.” Once the door opened, he was smart enough to stand off to the side to avoid being trampled as everyone began pouring in.

“Welcome all,” I proudly proclaimed so all could hear, “to The Castle of The Two Sisters!” I was met with bows from the ponies, and as everyone came through, I was genuinely surprised at a few of those that signed up. Four gryphons came in the door, and my eyes were glued to them as they each bowed deeply, flaring their wings open for a moment before closing them and joining the rest. As the last of them trickled in, I closed the door and turned my attention to everyone present as they idled about the room. To further my surprise, a few of the pegasi, well... they weren’t pegasi in the sense that I thought. Their wings had elongated fingers of bone that fanned outward, a skin-like membrane replacing what would have otherwise been feathers, and they even had the cutest little tufts of fur on the tips of their ears.

Eyes darted all around the room, with numerous glances toward me. I stood next to the guard, briefly clearing my throat, and he took the hint to give a loud, shrill whistle to get everyone’s attention. They all paused what they were doing as silence fell upon the room, so I took the opportunity to address them all in the best authoritarian way I could. Being royalty helped put the scare in, too.

“Thank you all for signing up for this occasion! But first, let me lay a few ground rules during your stay. One: No fraternising. If you do decide to fool around, make sure you invite me.” That was met by shocked stares of disbelief. “To that end, the rooms through the corridor on the left are for males, the right for females, and my room is in the east tower.

“Two: Stay sober. If you find yourself wanting to drink, by all means, drink. However, that just means everypony else gets to watch you make a complete idiot out of yourself, and it will be considered entertainment for Celestia and I.

“Three: You’re here to be trained as guards, so you’d better start acting like it. Until such a time as you finish training, your orders will come from Celestia and myself, the scullery maids, and everypony else in between.”

One stallion raised his hoof.

“You there, a question?” I said.

“How is taking orders from scullery maids going to help us?”

“I’m glad you asked,” I said with a smirk. “If you can’t protect cutlery and plates from dirt, how could you expect to protect me?” It wasn’t likely that any maids would give them orders, but it was on principal. “Any other questions?”

A mare raised her hoof.

“Yes, you?”

“Were you being serious about your first point?”

“The only way to find out is by breaking the rules, and that’s not something you’ll want to have happen.”

“What happens if somepony breaks the rules?” she continued.

“If you break any rules Celestia and I lay out, present and future, then my friend here,” I said with a nod towards the guard, “will personally see to your punishment. Clear?”

That was met with thick gulps and intimidated nods of understanding, much to my amusement. I’d be lying if I said pulling rank as a princess didn’t feel good, though “my friend” was giving me a rather perturbed look.

I cleared my throat and put on a more friendly visage. “To round everything off, a word from me to you. I don’t bite, so if you see me about, feel free to say hello or strike up a conversation, though do so on your own time. And since you lot are the first to arrive, feel free to get comfortable and explore the castle and its grounds while everypony else takes their time getting here. You’ll need it, too.

“Any parting questions?”

A male gryphon with a cocky grin raised his talon. “Considering the first point you made, what if we want to just pay you a visit?”

I nodded at “my friend” again. “You’ll have to make it past him.”

The gryphon’s smile quickly was promptly wiped clean.

“If there’s no more questions, I do have other matters to attend to. If you need me, you know where to find me. Now, enjoy your freedom while it lasts!”

Despite knowing Celestia for about a week, it was safe to say she’d have more work waiting for me. As I left the newcomers to their own devices for the meantime, my accompanying guard decided to pipe up.

He cleared his throat. “A candid question if I may, Princess?”

“Ask away.”

“Would you mind explaining what that was all about?”

I tilted my head at the question. “Pardon?”

“The thinly veiled threat you made by using me as the example.”

“I was being emphatic, though I do apologise if it made you feel uncomfortable.”

“Think nothing of it, Princess.”

I ‘tsked’. “Between you and me, I positively loathe formal titles. You can just call me Luna if you’d like. I also didn’t catch your name the other night, sadly.”

“Comet, Your Highness,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“In any case,” I said as we arrived at my bedroom door, pushing it open. “Step into my office and take a seat.” I pulled over an extra cushion and sat down with Comet at the desk. “Now, what do you think of the current state of the guard?”

“If I’m to be honest, it’s a bit... fragmented. We get our orders from Celestia and yourself and we follow them, but outside of that, everypony tends to mill about without purpose waiting for shift change. Unlike the minotaurs, there’s no real hierarchy in our guard.”

“Yes, I have noticed that,” I said distastefully. Celestia and Luna must have been pretty slack when coming up with the structure. “I’d go so far to say it’s a matter of; ‘How have you not been invaded yet?’ And that brings me to my next point.

“I’m going to need somepony to take responsibility for these recruits.” Comet’s eyes widened when he realised what I was saying. “We can’t have an excess of guards wandering around without structure and purpose.”

“B-but, I… W-why me?”

“Since there’s no real chain of command, I’m going to be implementing one, and you were in the right place at the right time.” If Comet wasn’t already sitting down, his ass would’ve dropped like a lead balloon under the weight of what I was telling him.

“I’m assuming you caught wind of what happened to me the other night?”

“I only heard that you were assaulted.”

“Celestia and I have a couple reasons for hiring extra guards. Beef up security around the castle so I don’t get jumped again, but what you didn’t hear is why I was assaulted. The attacker stole some maps, one of which was recovered. Since this stallion was so hell-bent on breaking into my room, he must’ve been after something that involved the land depicted on the maps.” I levitated out the maps in question and unfurled them. As Coment’s looked them over, I caught the distinct glint in his eye when you realise something’s out of place.

“Do you see something?” I asked.

“Which of these did the thief steal?”

I pointed out the map of the plains.

“Hmmm… The last time I flew over, I saw a massive canyon that was created by a powerful earthquake several years ago. The town inside the mountain range was half destroyed.”

“What’s the town called?” I asked.

“Mercy.”

I froze, realising that’s where Hayseed lived. I cleared my throat to regain my composure. “And in the time since the earthquake, somepony decided they needed maps for an unknown reason.”

“Princess, you mentioned two reasons for the extra security?”

“As Celestia said, extra guards will allow us to keep security tight around the castle so we can afford the resources to send a detachment to investigate the area. And that’s where you come in. If you’d be willing to go through the training to refresh and sharpen your skillset, I’d be willing to make you a commanding officer of a contingent of these guards for this very mission.”

“Y-you… want me to–”

“Yes,” I finished for Comet, “provided you can complete the course.”

“Hold on a second, let me get this straight.” Comet took a breath to calm his thought processes. “Somepony broke into your room, assaulted you, stole a map, and now Celestia is hiring more guards under the guise of extra security so the two of you can send a detachment to investigate nefarious activity? But the one he took doesn’t even have the chasm on it!”

“You’ve helped me a great deal with this matter, Comet. Moreso than Celestia. Although… Your mention of the chasm brings something else to light.”

“It’s a giant hole in the ground,” he deadpanned.

“Don’t be so quick to judge. Whoever wanted the map knows something about that hole that we don’t. Whatever that something is, we have to find out what makes it so important before they do.”

Author's Notes:

I hope you guys are liking the more frequent updates!