As Celestia rose the sun, she made her way quietly out of the castle, her precious child Mythic Light was snoozing on her back. Today the two of them would head to the Crystal Empire to meeting Shining Armor, Cadance and their daughter, Flurry Heart. It would be the first time that the two youngest alicorns would meet and all the parents involved hoped that the two would become firm friends very soon. A squadron of guard ponies were waiting outside, preparing the carriage for the royal family.
“All set, my sister?” A voice went and Celestia turned to see Luna next to her, coming down from her tower after lowering the moon. Celestia noded.
“Everything is ready, I can’t wait for Mythic and Flurry to meet. I hope all goes well on your end.” Celestia replied, looking down at Mythic with fondness
“Do not worry, Celestia.” Luna said, “I will make sure everything is ready for your return.” She reaches over and kisses Mythic Light. “Farewell for now, my sweet nephew. Have fun with your cousin.”
Mythic Light stirs a little before settling down. The carriage door opened and Celestia entered the carriage. The two sisters waved goodbye as the carriage rolled away and as soon as its out of sight, Luna turns back towards the castle, it was time to begin her work. In the solar chambers, Celestia and Luna had been working on a new nursery for Mythic and wanted everything to be perfect for him. Already, they had caught Mythic trying to get into the room on four separate occasions.
“Curious as a kitten, that’s what he is…” Luna sighed, entering the room in question. Sundancer was already there, arranging the furniture. Luna looked around the room, a calm sky blue colour was the main colour on the walls and ceiling. A sun was painted on the ceiling looking down on a grassy green carpet covered in butterflies, breezies and other cute animals. A Toy chest and various other playthings were already in place.
“If all else failed, Sister, you could go into interior design.” Luna mused as Sundancer noticed her and bowed to her. Luna waved to her as she continued looking around. Her eyes eventually settling on the new crib. It was a larger version of the one in Celestia’s room now with soft blue drapes covering it. The crib was also specially enchanted to gently rock whenever Mythic was awake or when Celestia was near. It was truly a nursery fit for a prince but Luna felt just a little more could be added.
“Sundancer…” Luna started, “Do we have any more colour change paint? The stuff that the astronomers use in their observatory?”
“I believe so, your highness.” Sundancer replied, “Do you wish me to fetch them?”
“Please do,” Luna said and Sundancer headed off, “My sweet nephew… I just want to add a little something to make this room perfect.”
***
Her work in the nursery complete, Luna started wandering the castle. Due to Celestia’s absence, daycourt was suspended until her return which left Luna alone to do what she wanted until sunset and night court. While she wandered, her thoughts kept coming back to what she and Celestia discussed at the Gala. It was vital that they put positive stallion influences in Mythic’s life, whatever disagreements the sisters had they both agreed on this point:
A mare cannot teach a colt how to be stallion
Those important lessons could only be taught by other stallions. Shining armour was a good start but as the joint ruler of the crystal empire, he would be too far away to help Mythic on a day to day basis. Luna has her own plans to help with this scenario but a few more options wouldn’t hurt.
As Luna walked, she came across The Royal Guard training grounds. The guards were lined up and at attention in front of Lieutenant Watchful Gaze.
“At ease, troops.” Watchful Gaze said, “Thank you for being present for these proceedings. It is my honour and privilege to announce the new Captain of the Royal Guard. This pony has earned not only distinction within the ranks of the Equestrian Military but also the recommendation of Shining Armour himself. Please welcome the new captain, Fortress Warden.”
A tall, grey unicorn strode forward, wearing the purple armour that Shining Armor once donned. Watchful Gaze handed him the helmet before saluting him. Luna looked on with interest, Fortress Warden had gained quite the reputation in the army. Shining Armor and Fortress Warden served in the same military unit and while Shining had left the military early to pursue the royal guard, Fortress remained. His records were exemplary, in 7 years of service he earned 3 Medals of Valor and a Pink Heart of Courage. When it came to selecting a new captain of the guard, he was the obvious choice. As Fortress turned to the guard, they saluted him.
“At ease, Guardponies.” He said, “First off, I wish to thank my old friend, Shining Armor, for his recommendation to this post. He has placed great trust and faith in me and I strive to live up to his recommendation everyday that I am here. I also wish to thank Princess Celestia for her approval. I think I speak for everypony gathered when I say that acknowledgement and approval for the princesses is worth more than any medal or any prize we could be awarded in life.”
There was a general murmur of agreement from the assembled guards. Fortress then cleared his throat for attention.
“With all this being said…” he said, setting his eyes on the guards. “Things need to change around here and they need to change now. The royal guard has become the butt of jokes amongst some of the populace for our failure to do our job. The Tirek incident, The Everfree forest calamity, the Storm King Invasion, the theft of the time scroll and the two changeling invasions. Not a pretty sight.”
With every incident Fortress brought up, various reactions came up. From scowls at their new commander to hanging their heads in shame, it was true that the guard had suffered some bad years lately and being reminded of all the invasions would tick anypony off.
“But… I do not blame you for any of what has happened.” Fortress continued. “Nor do I blame Shining Armor for any of it. You all fought bravely and valiantly against forces whose powers you couldn’t possibly imagine. In fact, I hold myself guilty for many of these invasions. I served on the border posts with my unit and yet we allowed both of the changeling invasions to happen on our watch. I was angry at myself for allowing invaders to reach the very heart of Equestria without even a fight. Now though, I am no longer angry and I can see it in your eyes as well, you want to make sure it never happens again.”
The ponies looked up and started nodding.
“You want to get stronger, tougher and ready for anything that they will throw at us. You want to do it not to restore your own personal honour, but the honour of the royal guard. You want to make the public to believe in you again and you want to make Princess Celestia proud of you.”
The ponies started getting rowdier, cheering the commander.
“As the captain of the royal guard, I will do all I can to make those ambitions real. Starting today, the sun has risen on a new dawn for the Solar Guards. All those in favour of embracing that new dawn, let me hear you!”
“HOORAH!” The guards shouted in unison, as if infused with new energy. As they cheered and readied themselves for new training, Luna smiled upon the display. Fortress Warden was everything he was said to be, perhaps he could be a good father figure of Mythic. The new captain looked to see her and saluted her. Luna nodded as she headed off, they both had other duties to attend to.
***
Luna sat in her office in the Lunar Chambers, awaiting her guest. It was time to put her own plans into motion. One thing Mythic was going to learn very quickly was that there was more to pony kind than just Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies. While the other races Mythic would be introduced to as part of his education and royal duties, it was important that he became familiar with Luna’s personal guard and subjects, the Thestrals. Not only that, but since the Thestrals tended to have large families, Luna could kill two birds with one stone and find a suitable for Mythic to look up to.
“Your highness, Black Rook is here to see you.” The familiar voice of Raven went.
“Thank you Raven.” Luna said and the door opened to reveal the Thestral guardsman. Black Rook walked inside and saluted his ruler.
“Your Majesty, I have come as requested.” Black Rook said and Luna nodded.
“Thank you for coming at such short notice, Lieutenant.” Luna replied. “We have much to discuss. Your family has served my sister and I for a very long time, correct?”
“We trace our roots back to the original Full Moon Brigade, your majesty.” Black Rook said “We are proud of the fact that we have been useful to the royal family for so many years.”
Luna nodded. One thing she would always be thankful to Celestia for is keeping the Thestrals safe for 1000 years. It would have been so easy for her to just let them rot alongside their fallen leader, to shoulder the blame for her previous actions. Celestia wouldn’t allow it to happen, she protected them from persecution and allowed them to thrive without her.
“You should be proud, Black Rook, you and your family have been treasured guards for all that time. I believe you are a father yourself?”
“3 Children, your majesty. Two colts, one filly.”
“Wonderful to hear,” Luna pondered, “Now the reason I have asked you hear today is that I have an important task for you.”
“Whatever it is, I will give it my all, your majesty.” Black Rook expressed. Luna couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Do not worry, it is nothing as dangerous as you might be thinking.” Luna started. “As you know, my sister has recently given birth to a child. My precious nephew, Mythic Light. One thing that my sister and I agree on is that he will need proper guidance in his life and the thestrals will be a large part of it. The differences between Equestria during day and during the night are many and it would be good if my nephew had someone dependable like you to teach him about these things.”
Luna stopped hear to let her message sink in. The look on Black Rook’s face told her the entire story. He knew exactly what she was asking him to do and didn’t know how to respond.
“I wouldn’t give this task to any thestral, Black Rook.” Luna said, getting his attention. “I am giving you this assignment because I believe I can trust you with it. Your loyalty to my family has been unwavering and I fully believe that you could give my nephew the guidance that he will need. The amount of lessons and history your family alone could teach him alone is worth me asking this of you. I will stress that you can absolutely say no to me and you will not lose your position. So I ask you one more time, will you accept this task?”
Black Rook shifted awkwardly, clearly feeling the weight of the task his princess had just placed on him.
“I will have to talk with my family about this, your majesty, but I will accept this task. I will not fail you.”
Luna breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Black Rook. I am truly relieved to hear you say that. I know you will succeed in this task.”
Black Rook blushed under the princess’ words.
“Its funny you should bring up a task like this your highness. I believe someone in my family is going to be over the moon with this.”
***
As the carriage trundled through the streets of Canterlot, the city was waking up to start their day. Shops were opening up and Pegasi were arranging clouds in accordance with their weather schedule. The carriage stopped outside one of Celestia’s favourite bakeries to grab the freshest bread and cakes for the journey ahead. Unbeknownst to Celestia, on top of a nearby building, a thestral girl watched the carriage. As the carriage rolled along the girl sighed.
“Aww, there goes the little prince off on an adventure.” She said, “Hope you have fun wherever you go, my prince.”
“Do you enjoy making me worried about you, Black Rose?” A voice went and the Rose turned to see her mother landing beside her. “Why must you always disappear like that?”
“I just wanted to watch the carriage go by, is that so wrong?” Black Rose retorted, “I’m not gonna be able to see the prince for a while so I wanted to see him off in my own way.”
Rose’s mother sighed, knowing that there was no negotiating with Rose over this matter.
“Just please, leave a note so I know where you’ve run off to or at least talk to me about this?” she said “I don’t mind you flying around Canterlot but if you could just casually say ‘going off to see the carriage go by’ you know would I accept that.”
“Yes Mama.” Black Rose said, genuinely feeling sorry for making her mother worry. Rose’s mother gently stroked her daughters mane.
“As long as you understand this time, that’s all that matters.” She said, “Now come along, there are important matters we must get to.”
“Okay!” Black Rose said, looking back to watch the carriage disappear beyond the buildings. “See you soon, Mythic Light!”