Once upon a time, the guards were allowed a long weekend once a year without having to take leave (provided they still completed Sun-day and Moon-day worship while away). This often caused nervousness in the senior leadership, wondering if the guards would stay safe and complete all their assigned tasks. Then, one weekend, they didn't have to wait and worry -- their worst fears became real.
Three years ago on that very weekend one guard had forgotten to leave a paperwork trail back to the barracks. He got lost and was unable to find his way home, and wound up taking shelter at a local bar. In the time before his sergeant caught up with him, poor Binky Bash had consumed a total of five beverages, and been snu-snu'd by a local mare. The event was so traumatic that the guard had immediate Hockholm syndrome, constantly seeking to go back to his tormentors.
Since that unfortunate event, all guards under the age of thirty winters had been mandated to fill out a few short items notating exactly when and where they would be visiting which residences during their time out of the barracks. These forms were to be filled out in triplicate. When the entire process was completed properly, one copy would stay with the clerk for records, one copy would be dropped by the guard as he went along his way, and one set was burned for kicks and giggles to heat the records room.
Guardspony Ridgeline was sorting through his forms, making sure that everything was in order. One page slipped and fell out of the pile as he scooped it up and dumped it wholesale into his saddlebags before running headlong out of the barracks. There was no way he could be stopped now. The door slammed behind him, plunging the room into silence and darkness.
For twenty minutes nopony disturbed the quiet, until the door burst open with the same violence it had closed. Stable Sergeant Smiles strode in, his eyes immediately taking in every detail, noting how the beds had been made with suspicion. He flicked a bit out to one of them and had to lean out suddenly to catch it in his teeth as it bounced from the bedspread. Everything was exactly as he had expected. Well...aside from the loose piece of paper under the desk.
With a triumphant growl, Smiles scooped it up, and cast his eyes over the parchment.
"Oh Ridgeline...we are going to have so much fun when you get back."