"Well met, Captain Shining Armor," Luna said with a nod. "Art thou ready for another foray into the Everfree?"
Shining Armor tried not to shudder at the thought of his last trip into the Everfree Containment Zone. The night of Equestria's other princess's return had been terrifying for everypony involved, much less for those like him who had been right in the thick of it struggling against the terrible power of Nightmare Moon.
And that was probably why she had brought it up, Shining Armor thought as he caught the slight smile on Luna's face. The alicorn might have reconciled with her sister and abandoned her dreams of tyranny, but the months since then had made it clear that the Princess of the Night was an intense pony with a forceful personality and a distinct unwillingness to mince words or dance around uncomfortable subjects. Even with the rare pony like him who had managed to win her respect. Shining Armor kept that in mind as he forced himself to meet her gaze.
"Yes, your Grace," he answered in his impassive officer's voice. "In fact, we've brought in a civilian expert to help with that."
Shining Armor nodded to the smaller purple unicorn behind him. "Meet Twilight Sparkle, Canterlot's top—"
Luna snorted. "You jest." She paused. "Thou art jesting, correct?"
"Hey!" shouted the peeved purple pony in the decidedly not appropriate for fieldwork white lab coat. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Shining Armor saw trouble brewing and leapt to intervene. "Twily—, er, Twilight Sparkle is an expert on magical spell matrices and has done extensive research on the effects of the Everfree—"
Luna was still chuckling. "Yes, yes, that is all very well and good, but this is a task for warriors, not school fillies."
She smirked at Twilight. "We shan't have our attentions divided babysitting an amateur who is sure to panic and lose her head at the first—"
There was a lavender flash and suddenly Twilight Sparkle was staring Luna in the eye from a few inches beneath Luna's chin. Luna flinched.
"I graduated at the top of my class in Practical Abjuration and Applied Evocation," she said crisply. "I am the ONLY pony to successfully subdue a rampaging Ursa and I am fully cognizant of the hazards of the Everfree Death Jungle, including magical predators capable of hunting dragons that did not exist prior to your banishment." Twilight leaned forward, close enough to kiss. "You need me."
There was a long pause before she added, "Princess."
Another lavender flash and Twilight was walking out the door of the temporary command post. Luna turned to watch her go.
Shining Armor hid his smile as the princess tried to process what had just happened. "Satisfied?"
"Verily," Luna said. Her expression turned from stunned to thoughtful.
"Intelligent, passing bold and possessed of a fine pair of flanks," she mused. "Mayhaps I should get to know this Twilight Sparkle. Our bed has been empty for far too long since Our return."
Shining Armor's smile turned brittle.