The sun rose as Equestria was welcomed to another warm and hopeful day. The rays of the morning star covered the city of Canterlot like a blanket, for one pony, they were fast asleep in their quarters. The sound of snoring indicated they had a hard night full of activity. Emerald awoke with a groan as his eyes sensed the sun's rays despite being closed. He slowly opened his eyes as he put a hand out to cover them and help adjust the light entering his retinas.

"Morning already?" groaned Emerald as he sat up. The unicorn guard yawned as he sat up and stretched his limbs. "How... how did I get here?"

The royal guard was wondering how he ended up in his own room, as the last thing he recalled was smelling the scent of lavender. As Emerald put his hand to his head to cease some pounding, his memory returned as the events of last night played in his mind.

It was sometime in the middle of the night as the moon was high above the sky. The light from the moon shined through a window as it peered into a room; the room belonged to none other than a studious unicorn as she was fast asleep. Twilight lay on her side with the blanket covering her naked body as her hair was spread out. Near the bedside was Emerald as the stallion was putting on the last of his clothing; after a wild and pleasurable night, the guard was looking to head back to his quarters. He turned to look at the mare as the smile on her face meant that she enjoyed their night.

Emerald couldn't deny that he also enjoyed it, but... it was over. His duty as Twilight's bodyguard was done, and now... he would be moving on to his next assignment. The stallion headed to the stairway and heard a soft squeak just as he headed out. Twilight moved about in her sleep as she hugged the pillow she rested on, imagining it was Emerald. Upon seeing her act, the guard sighed as he returned to the bed and stood over the studious mare. He gently planted a kiss on her head while running his fingers through her hair and gently stroked her forehead.

"So long... Twilight," said Emerald as he said goodbye.

The guard turned and headed down the stairs and out to the tower as he returned to his quarters. The memory ended as Emerald removed his hand from his head.

"Right... now I remember," said the guard. "Well, hopefully, the next guard she has isn't too bad."

Emerald then got up as he prepared himself for his new assignment.

After getting clean and dressed, Emerald exited his room as he proceeded toward his destination. The guard was scheduled to meet his buddy, who would give him his new assignment and show him to his new post. Emerald made his way to the castle as he saw the many guards walking about on patrol; the unicorn saw his buddy as he was currently directing some guards to their post.

"Lieutenant Onyx!" shouted Emerald as he made his presence known and followed procedure.

"Private Emerald!" said Onyx as he dismissed the guards who disbursed to their post and saluted at his friend.

"What's up, bud?"

"Well, you seem to be in high spirits today," said Onyx as he noticed his buddy happier than usual. "Pleasant night?"

"Well... you could say that," chuckled Emerald, rubbing his neck. "Anyways, I appreciate you hooking me up with this, bud. Can't wait to get started."

"Yeah, about that, bud... um..."

"Is something wrong?" asked Emerald as he saw his buddy struggling to find his words.

"Well, yes, I mean maybe. Walk with me, bud," said Onyx as he gestured for his pal to follow him.

"So, what's up?" asked Emerald as the two guards walked along the castle gardens. "Am I not going to be in front of the castle?"

"See, that's the dilemma. I had everything ready for you, bud, for your new position, but... I got this letter from the Princess this morning. Take a look at it." said Onyx as he presented the scroll given to him by the Princess of Equestria and handed it over to Emerald.

The private took it and looked at it. He began to read the Princess's writing as his eyes widened at the words on the piece of paper; Emerald then looked at his buddy once he finished reading it several times.

"Is this... real?" asked Emerald.

"I thought the same thing, bud. But... it checks out. It seems the Princess has been so impressed by your work as her pupil's bodyguard that she personally informed the Princess about keeping you on duty." stated Onyx.

"She... asked the Princess for this request?" reiterated Emerald as he found it hard to believe that Twilight informed her mentor to have him remain her bodyguard.

"Yup, and she approved of it. You must have done some good work if she's asking to have you remain her bodyguard for the foreseeable future. At least right now. So... what did you do to make her really like you?" asked the Lieutenant, wanting to know how his buddy impressed the princess' pupil.

"I... I can't even describe it," sighed Emerald.

"Well, whatever you did worked. I guess, though, this isn't what I had in mind when I said to help you get noticed by the Princess. But hey, you know, the princess' student put in a good word, and now she's taking notice of you. So, my plan kinda worked, ish." said Onyx. "Maybe this might be better for you. Maybe if you continue to do good work for her student, the Princess might ask for you to be part of her bodyguard squad. That's way better than guarding the castle gates."

"Yeah, I guess," said Emerald, still baffled by Twilight's request to her teacher to keep him as her bodyguard.

"Trust the process, right?"

"Trust the process," sighed the private as he just made the letter vanish. "So... what do I do now?"

"Well, since this came out of nowhere, I've gotta work out the details with the others and move some stuff around. That's going to take time, but... as for you, bud. Well... I guess you got the day off. So, enjoy it." smiled Onyx as he was willing to let his best friend have some time to himself.

"You sure? Not that I'm rejecting your proposal, it's just..."

"Go ahead, bud. Take the day off. Like I said, this is going to take some time to fix. But we'll meet up with the guys later for some drinks. Cool?"

"Cool. I appreciate you helping me again, bud. Even if... this isn't what you had in mind." said Emerald as he gave Onyx a quick bro hug as they chuckled.

"Don't sweat it, Em. You helped me a lot in cadet school; now, I'm returning the favor. It's what bros do." responded Onyx to his pal. "See ya later, Em."

"See ya."

Emerald saluted his friend as he left to handle some business and paperwork. The private then made the letter reappear as he looked at it; he glanced at it before seeing the signature of Twilight's as he lifted his gaze to see the mare's tower in the distance.

"Looks like we gotta have a serious talk," mumbled the guard while looking at the building.

Twilight was in her secret lab as the mare was wearing her lab coat; she was looking under a microscope as she was currently doing some experiments for her other works.

"Mmm. Fascinating," mumbled the girl as she saw what was happening after dropping some drops onto the speck she was examining and seeing its chain reaction.

"Biology is stable, yet when induced with a highly concentrated liquid, it forms separation," said the mare as she recorded her observations.

Twilight was about to look at another sample when she heard the door upstairs swing open. She merely glanced up to see Emerald standing there; the mare had just returned to her science as the guard, now in his regular clothing, began to walk down the flight of stairs.

"Hey," said Emerald with a firm tone.

"Hey," said Twilight as she didn't bother to look at the guard and focused on her microscope.

"Working hard?" asked the guard.

"For your information, I'm busy doing some extra credit for myself," scoffed Twilight.

"I see. You really are passionate about science and magic, huh?" said Emerald.

"It's my talent. Anyways, why are you here?" asked the mare.

"I'd figured you'd be answering that!" stated the guard as he made the scroll appear.

The studious mare looked at the guard holding the scroll of her teacher. She levitated toward her as she glanced at it while reading; it clicked in her head why the guard was here and came in so suddenly as she sighed and made the scroll flicker into embers.

"So?" asked Emerald.

"What does it matter?" said Twilight as she rolled her eyes and walked away.

The mare grabbed another sample as she looked to return to her microscope but saw it wasn't on the table. She blinked as she heard a whistle and saw Emerald holding it; the guard wanted some answers from the mare, and he was going to get them one way or another.

"Talk," said Emerald.

"Wh-"

"Give me answers, or I'll destroy this thing!" shouted the guard.

"You wouldn't?" said Twilight, not buying Emerald's bluff.

"You want to take that chance?" said Emerald, holding his other hand up as his horn and hand lit up with magic.

The guard was serious about destroying Twilight's equipment, but the mare sighed and gave in.

"How ironic that you're blackmailing me now," mumbled the mare.

"Yeah, learned it from an adorkable mare. Now... you going to give me an explanation?"

"Fine," said Twilight as Emerald ceased his magic.

Twilight leaned against the table and turned to the side to look at Emerald. The mare eyed the stallion that served her so well the past moon as her bodyguard that the least she could do was explain her logic to the guard.

"So... I talked with my mentor and... I told her how impressed I was with your work. Don't fret; I didn't mention our activities if that's what you're worried about." said Twilight. "All I said was that I was pleased with your services and requested you be my bodyguard for the foreseeable future at least."

"Okay, well... that's good to know," said Emerald, glad the Princess didn't know about the special services the guard was doing with Twilight.

"So, there you have it? Happy?"

"That's not your real reason, is it?" countered Emerald.

The slight hesitation that Twilight did confirmed the guard's statement.

"Why does it matter what my reasoning is?"

"It matters to me," said the stallion as Twilight placed her hands on the table. "You owe me that for... everything I did for you."

Twilight remained in silence as she processed what Emerald said. The mare struggled to tell the guard her real intention behind her request to keep him on as her bodyguard. The unicorn's guilty conscience was taken much as she let out another sigh.

"I... I'm not sure. I mean, I'm not totally confident about why I did what I did. But... I can't fully explain it. But last night, when we... did it, I felt a sense of clearance. Let me ask you, did you enjoy last night?"

"It was... okay," responded Emerald.

"Just okay?" said Twilight.

"It was... exceptional," said the guard as he did have a wonderful time with the mare standing before him.

"Glad to hear that," said Twilight, having a small smile about her and Emerald's love-making session was a success for both ponies. "I guess... when we did it, I felt warm. It felt so good. I can't put into words what I felt, but it... felt so right. I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"Well, no. I mean... I understand what you're saying," said Emerald as he was feeling the same way as Twilight following last night's activity.

Silence soon followed as neither pony said anything to the other. The room was so quiet that you could hear the slight breeze hitting the window as it seemed to whisper to the pair's ears. Almost enticing them to speak or take action.

"So... what do we do now?"

"I guess we're friends," said Twilight. "Friends with... benefits, if that's alright with you?"

"Well, that's... not something I was expecting," said Emerald, as he didn't hate the idea of Twilight's proposal. Just that it was unexpected.

"I'll accept that," said Twilight as she took off her lab coat.

The guard looked at the mare as she undid her hair bun; Twilight then approached Emerald, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gazed into his eyes. The stallion looked at the mare as he placed his hands on her hips; the two ponies looked at each other differently regarding last night's activity and their small conversation. Twilight soon pulled Emerald in as their lips made contact; the kiss was simple, filled with just as much passion as their lust-filled ones.

It didn't last long either as Twilight pulled back and Emerald stroked her cheek. The mare smiled as it got the stallion to smile; she rested her head under Emerald's chin and closed her eyes. The guard could feel Twilight's heartbeat as it gave off a calming sound; he tightened his embrace around the studious mare as he lulled over the thought of not only continuing to be her bodyguard. Maybe it was for the best. When they finished last night, there were lingering thoughts as he wondered if this would change their relationship. Now... he didn't know what to think.

Well, at least he would still see Twilight. The guard didn't notice it, but inside, he was developing something for the mare. Not just because of the sex they had but because of her other qualities. One thing was certain: having a mare like Twilight all to himself was a bragging right he would take pride in. If only he could tell his boys that he was not only getting laid but with the princess' pupil nonetheless. But for Twilight... he was willing to keep this special relationship between them a secret until they were ready.

A smaller chapter than usual. But it was moreso to go over Twilight's request of wanting to keep Emerald as her bodyguard to continue for her own personal reasons. Next chapter will be different as I won't say much on what it is, just know it's going to be something.