When it is peacetime, there is organization in everything military. When it is wartime, it is more like organized chaos. Even so, Shining Armor was more than ready for the challenge. Two days later, the two princesses stood at attention as Captain Shining Armor and an underling gave a report on the state of the preparations for war.
“We have only one source of information, but all signs indicate we might see an attack in weeks. Maybe even days, if Inas'i knows we're preparing.”
“And does he?” Celestia asked.
Shining Armor gave a tight nod. “We think so. We've mustered in every fighter we can. We've pulled in reserve guards, retired guards, militias; if we have them, we're arming them and training them.”
“Excellent,” Luna said.
As Luna spoke, Shining Armor winced slightly. Luna's quick eye caught the motion, and she frowned. “What is it, Captain?” she asked.
“It is the... well... it's nothing personal, of course, but...” Shining Armor never stuttered, so the fact that he was doing so now meant something big was coming.
“Speak,” Luna commanded, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“The Lunar Guards.”
Luna smiled. “They will be ready and willing to fight.”
“That's the problem.”
Luna's expression dropped instantly. “What?”
Shining Armor spoke quickly now, as if afraid he would lose his nerve if he slowed his pace. “The general consensus among the solar troops and most of the ponies in general is ‘they are not wanted’. The troops are afraid of them. And some have even gone so far as to say they will not join if they are forced to fight with the Lunar Guard.”
Luna stood in shock, her jaw working silently as she struggled to process this. “But... but... but... my Lunar Guard is beautiful...” she stammered.
“'Scary' is more like it,” the junior Solar guard muttered, but was silenced with a quick glance from Celestia.
“So now they are not to join in the fight for Equestria? How fair is that?” Luna's attitude quickly turned angry. “Are we not as much citizens? Have we not sworn to defend our homeland and way of life as well?”
Celestia looked at her. “I'm sorry,” she said. Those two words said a lot more than they appeared at face value.
Luna's eyes narrowed and she grit her teeth. Lifting herself off her throne, she marched rigidly down the steps and headed out of the throne room. But before she exited, she paused. Without warning, she quickly turned around and punched one of the supporting pillars as hard as she could. Her hoof tore chunks of marble out, scattering them across the floor.
With a herculean effort, she set her hoof down and managed to restrain her seething anger. “Very well. I shall inform my guard,” she said stiffly, before continuing out the door.
Shining Armor stood in shock at what he had just seen. “She is... much stronger than I would have expected,” he finally managed to say.
Celestia shrugged that off. “Well, if you do nothing but train for revenge for a thousand years, that does tend to happen.” Her tone shifted. “I trust I will not regret forcing her to stand down?”
Shining Armor snapped back to his professional manner. “Of course not, your highness.” He paused. “I hope not. For Equestria, I hope not.”
* * *
Luna appeared in a hidden alcove in the castle. Not even Celestia knew where it was. Well, in all honesty, she might have found it in the thousand years Luna had been gone; but there were some things the Sisters just did not do. Each had their own secrets, and both had learned to respect the other's privacy.
With a quick flare of magic, she opened the door and entered the long, dark hall. Being Princess of the Night, she could see in the dark just as well—if not better than—she did during the day (a fact that often annoyed Celestia, as her dominion had granted her no such powers). She paused before continuing. She listened for... yes, there it was. The sound of armor and fur rubbing against each other, so soft that had she not been listening for it with her sharp hearing, she would have missed it.
She smiled, glad that the watchpony had been paying attention. Once, many years ago, the watchpony had fallen asleep. The punishment for that had been a full week in Solar Armor.
Well, that was the original plan. Luna had remitted the punishment after one day, after seeing how miserable he had become.
Rumors flew fast and hard about the Lunar Guard. She enjoyed the mystery, though. That was one of the Night things, after all. Mystery, intrigue, and, above all, power.
* * *
A Lunar guard in full armor ran through the dormitories, one bat-like wing outstretched so the metal bracer that protected it would hit the metal poles of the bunk beds. The resounding clangs were accentuated by his happy shouts.
“Mother's coming! Mother's coming! Get up, everypony!”
* * *
When Luna entered the barracks themselves, her whole Lunar Guard had lined up in two lines, forming a living pathway for her to walk. Each bowed as she passed. Each looked up expectantly at their leader, expecting some happy surprise.
Her sour expression quickly sent those hopes down. In flames. Down a canyon. Into a river. Washed down into the deep ocean. Dragged down a whirlpool. Crushed into smithereens by the pressure at the bottom of the sea. Buried in a deep crevice to never be seen again.
Luna threw herself on her seat. Well, it had been a seat at one time. But it had deteriorated with age, and had been broken during an impromptu sparring match over dessert one night. As a joke, somepony had replaced it with a beanbag chair, and Luna ended up loving it so much that it was kept.
That was actually a fairly accurate representation of how the Lunar Guard worked. Jokes, pranks, and playfulness were their unofficial mottoes; and more often than not, it worked.
“Your highness?” her captain Farsight asked, stepping up hesitantly. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” Luna said, the sarcasm evident in her voice. “Nothing whatsoever. Just that Equestria is going to be invaded by magic-wielding griffons, and our help is not wanted. Our service is being refused. We are not being summoned for the battle.”
Surprised, angry mutterings answered her. She raised a hoof for silence, which was instantly granted.
“I am just as angry at this as you all are.” She sighed. “Why does nopony love the night?”
The question was rhetorical; being under-appreciated was just one of those things you got used to when you were a Lunar Guard.
“But we can help!” another guard shouted.
“The Solar Guard is sunk without us!” another added.
“I know!” Luna hissed, frustrated as well. “But I can do nothing about it. Celestia has spoken,” she said, a hint of bitterness entering her voice there at the end.
She sighed and rubbed her temples with her hooves. “I meant not to trouble you all... You have been more than helpful and have served more than faithfully. But this is our lot, is it not? Fear and distrust.” She sighed and lifted herself up. “I am sorry, Lunar Guard... I had hoped to bring better news.” Her eyes hardened. “Perhaps when Equestria is nearly fallen, they will finally embrace the Night.” She walked out of the common room, not making eye contact with anypony.
Silence reigned in the room, until Farsight spoke, succinctly summarizing everypony's thoughts.
“Well, that sucks.”
* * *
The young pegasus Sky Dancer sat at the table, feeling more than a little depressed by the news. She was the newest Lunar Guard, about to have her first real fight... and got it taken away in an instant. Like most of the other Lunar guards in the room, she was dressed in her full uniform in the hopes that the announcement would be reversed, but judging by the amount she was drinking, this was but a vain hope. It wasn't even alcoholic; but somehow it soothed the pain nonetheless.
“I faked my own death for this?” she muttered in disgust, glaring at her mug as if it were the source of her problems.
“Aye,” another voice answered, “I did too, an' it's not quite what I was hoping for.” Being one of only a few females in the Lunar Guard, Sky Dancer was used to random Lunar stallions coming up and talking to her, and this time was no different. This time, though, she recognized her visitor: Red Hoof, the big earth pony. They said his hoof was always red with blood because he was always getting into fights and punching somepony, but when he wasn't drunk, he was a bit of a softie. He chortled as he continued, “But, after all, drownin' at sea is a bit of a painful death, though, so I'm right glad it wasn't for real.”
Sky Dancer rolled her eyes. Typical... always with something offbeat to say. As long as he was here, though, she decided to attempt some serious conversation. “So why does the Solar Guard hate us so much?”
“I'd wager they be jealous. Under Royal edict 334b...”
“You're making that number up,” she accused.
“Am not... The Guard training was divided 'tween the Princesses, and at no time were they crossed. So while the Solar Guard's training has evolved through the years, the Lunar Guard's training has stayed the same since Mother got sent to the moon. So while we're still scrappy, fightin' war machines,” (here he flexed his muscles, prompting an eyeroll from Sky Dancer), “the Solar Guard has been reduced to so much of a shiny police force.”
“That doesn't explain why they hate us, though,” Sky Dancer protested.
Red Hoof looked at Sky Dancer. “Oh, right. You're new, aren'tcha? Well, you'll find out soon enough, but the Solar Guard and the Lunar Guard ain't exactly on the greatest of terms, if'ya catch my drift.”
“Why not?” Sky Dancer was curious. She had been recruited directly out of the Academy, so she hadn't learned anything about the internal workings of the Guard yet.
Red Hoof coughed awkwardly as memories popped back into his head.
“So, you seen the Lunar Guard that's supposed to take our places?”
“Nope. They're freaky, though.”
“You know, I hear that sometimes members of the Lunar Guard fake their deaths so they can stay with Luna forever.”
“Yeah, I heard that too.”
“I mean, I would. If I were a freak batpony, I wouldn't want to hang around normal ponies. They've got a face not even a mother could love.”
One lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I hear they call the princess 'mother' behind her back.”
“Well, she'd be the only one who could love the little freaks, that's for sure.”
A third voice entered the conversation. “Most amusin'.”
The two solar guards spun around, weapons raised, but saw nothing.
“You seem to like jokes,” the voice observed dryly.
“Where are you?” one demanded, slowly starting to back up, casting anxious looks around him.
“I've got a joke f'r you. What do you call a Solar Guard who i'n't watchin' where he's goin'?”
The solar guard turned around—and found himself with a wingknife at his throat, a Lunar Guard holding it, smiling widely with his sharp teeth.
“A solar shish-ke-bob.” Laughing uproariously at his own joke, he turned to walk away. Another laugh joined his, and a second Lunar Guard walked by from behind the stunned Solar Guards. Neither had been visible before. They kept walking, quickly disappearing into the shadows.
They could hear their playful voices long after they had lost sight of the strange ponies.
“They didn't laugh much, did they?”
“Aye, but rememb'r—they be solar guards. They wouldn't know a good joke if'n it jumped in front of 'em and bit 'em on the flank, no they wouldn't!”
“How can something jump in front of you and bite your flank at the same time?”
“Ach, I didn't say at the same time, you idiot.”
“Thanks for an amazing night, but I have to go before someone sees me.”
The solar guard sneaked out, treading softly down the hall, opened the door, turned and closed it softly... then nearly screamed when he turned around and saw a Lunar Guard standing there.
“What're ye doin'?” he asked, playfully.
The solar guard stammered. “Uh... nothing.... You?”
“Patrollin', as per me orders.”
“Yes, well, carry on, I suppose.”
Recognition dawned in Red Hoof's eyes. “You're the one who made fun of me for callin' Luna 'mother', aren'tcha?”
Realizing his position, the solar guard stammered, “Well, yes, but....”
The Lunar Guard took a step backwards and threw his head back.
“Please don't,” the solar guard begged.
Too late.
“WAAALK OF SHAAAAAME!!” Giggling uncontrollably, the Lunar guard sprinted down the hall (not being very quiet at all) and soon faded into the shadows.
“So, I guess y' could say that part of it is me doin',” Red Hoof said, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head with a hoof.
Sky Dancer giggled but then paused. “But aren't the Solar Guard all stallions?” Her eyes widened. “Don't answer that.”
Red Hoof tried his best to not laugh. He failed. When he had himself under control again, he tried to comfort her. “Don't you worry none. The Night will Rise again.”
“They've been saying that for years. Nothing has changed,” a third voice interjected behind them.
Red Hoof rolled his eyes. “Well, excuse me if I haven't given up all hope yet, Sparky.”
“Yeah? Well, the day that the Lunar Guard gets hailed as the saviors of Equestria, I'll make you a triple batch of cookies and won't eat any myself.”
“Good. Then I hope you're good at makin' chocolate chip, 'cause those are me favorite.”
Sparky snorted and walked away.
“Do you think we’ll get to see any action?” Sky Dancer asked.
Red Hoof sighed. “Aye, I hope so. I think we’ll see somethin’ at least. I mean, it’s not like Celestia’s gonna try to end this with a peace negotiation, now, is she?”
* * *
Luna slammed her hooves against the table in frustration. “A peace negotiation? You cannot simply invite warmongers over for tea and crumpets and expect both parties to leave happy!” she spat.
Celestia gave a tiny chuckle. “You haven't tried our crumpets recently, then.”
“Celestia! Do you not recall what happened last time the griffons went to war?”
Celestia looked at Luna coldly. “I remember. I was there as well.”
“I have no doubt that this time will be bloodier and even more destructive, especially if that of the magic is as true as you fear.”
“Perhaps,” Celestia said. “But blind panic helps nopony.”
“It is not blind panic!" Luna insisted. "It is reasoning and logic and learning from the past!”
The room grew colder as Celestia glared. “I have learned from the past, and I have learned to not make decisions I may come to regret. I will not go out and attack.”
Luna calmed ever so slightly as she realized her sister was talking about her. “I hope the deaths of our little ponies is not what it takes to change your mind, Celestia.”
* * *
Unfortunately for Luna, her words rang prophetic. The next morning at high noon, a large platoon of griffons gathered in the forest next to one of the outlying border cities of Equestria. The sun was high... and their magic was strong.
“What a nice little village…" Inas'i whispered. "Destroy it.”