The day of the Emperor’s arrival
As stressful as the job of Captain of the Royal Guard could be, Shining Armor had to admit that the job did come with benefits, like his own personal coffee supply. It was part of his morning ritual: he put the coffee on as soon as he woke up, then brushed his hair and put on his dress jacket just in time for it to be done. The warmth of the drink was almost enough to pull him together in the mornings; the caffeine did the rest. Silently, he praised the all-powerful, awe-inspiring magic of caffeine as he walked down the palace corridors.
Something definitely didn’t seem right to him, though. As of late, there’d only been three others around, but the hallways of the palace were teeming with activity, with a guard posted on nearly every door. Maybe Celestia had been training others and made Skipper the new commander, but he doubted that Skipper would have taken to it so quickly.
As he reached the barracks of the Day Guard, which were understandably empty, he saw a letter on the bed that Skipper had, until recently, occupied. Underneath it were a few other letters, none of which were labelled at all. He didn’t know what to think, so he picked up the stack and took them back to his office.
Celestia was waiting for him when he arrived. “Ah, Shining Armor,” she started. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. It’s to do with Cloud Skipper and Midnight Blossom.”
“Yes?” Shining asked. He was starting to get confused.
“They won’t be taking any more rounds for a while. Neither will Gilda. There’s been a complication, and they’ve had to disappear. But the Guard is back to full strength now, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What happened to them? They were pretty important before...”
“It’s a long story, but you might be able to learn more if you open those letters.” Magically, she picked up a letter-opener and passed it to Shining. He cut open the first letter, which was written in a neat, if cramped, script:
Dear Shining Armor:
I wanted to thank you for how well you’ve treated me over the past few months, but I’m unable to do so in person. Something’s come up, and I’m not sure if I can explain it. Somepony... or someone, rather, told us that the timelines are frayed, whatever that means. He said Celestia would know, and he’d explain to us later.
Though for now I’m not going to exist in this world, in my heart, I know we’ll meet again. You might not recognise me, and I probably won’t know you right away, but I hope that won’t make our reunion any less meaningful. Goodbye, and thank you.
~Midnight Blossom
“The timelines are frayed?” Shining asked.
“Time flows like a river, splitting into tributaries. Sometimes, the tributary that one lives in can get out of control, and has to be dammed off for everypony’s safety. I imagine the story you knew of Skipper and Midnight was such a situation. But there’s still more letters to open.”
She picked up the second letter off the floor, and Shining opened it. This one was written in a loose, almost childlike manner, as though they hadn’t had to write before:
I’ve never been good at saying goodbye, so instead, I’m going to tell you, and myself, that this isn’t the end. We’ll all come back for more, because that’s just what we do.
“Who wrote this one?” Shining asked. “I can barely even read it...”
“I believe it was Cloud Skipper. He never had much of a reason to learn to write before.” With that explanation, Celestia opened the third letter. It was written in a language he didn’t understand, so he passed it to the princess to translate:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that hardly anything ever wraps up with a neat bow. Stories are left unfinished all the time, and all we can do is find our own forms of closure. It’s probably no comfort to you, but I hope you find some closure from our story.
May the wind be ever under your feathers, even though you don’t have any.
“May the wind... That’s a griffon thing, isn’t it?”
“Correct. Gilda gave me the same salutation before. But we’re still not finished yet.” The fourth letter seemed almost mechanical in its print:
Take care, my old friend. I’d hate if you were unable to match wits again.
Shining shuddered at the statement, throwing it away harder than necessary. “Is that all of them?” he asked, and Celestia nodded. “So what do we do now?”
“Live as we did before, with a full Guard and no Nightmare Moon to worry about. Life goes on, as life always does. But just in case, for their sake, don’t forget the two Guards who held Canterlot together at the seams during the longest night of the year.” Shining nodded slowly in understanding. “Now, come with me. We mustn’t keep the Emperor waiting.”