Celestia looked up. The white alicorn saw past the vaulted ceiling of her main hall. She didn't even see the clouds or her own sun blasting the world with its warmth. She didn't hear the low rumble of pony voices in the room. She saw the moon, low on the horizon, starting to rise into the afternoon. "I promise you, my sister, when you return there will be ponies who can help you."
"Your Highness, I beg your pardon, but we are all ready." The captain of the royal guard had snapped to attention. He wasn't certain what was going on, or what his princess planned.
"Thank you, Captain Rocks." Celestia turned her gentle gaze to the other important pony present. "And Honey Drops, your agents are ready?"
The mare on her other side gave a lazy salute, almost a parody of Rocks'. "Of course, Your Highness. Most are recruits, but I promise you every single one of them knows monsters like the back of their hooves."
Celestia bet they did. After all, she and Luna had written most of the books on monsters themselves. The alicorn had a moment when she thought about her younger days, with her sister. "Very well, let's begin this. Mares and gentlecolts," Celestia's voice rose to spread to the far corners of the big hall, "welcome to the start of something big. As you know, your training is at an end and now you will be paired up and sent out into the world, to protect Equestria."
Twilight watched and listened with rapt attention. She had been studying monsters and their weaknesses, she knew every little detail of every single one. She glanced around, flicking her purple and gray mane to the side.
"Please, we have taken great care to make sure each of you is partnered with the perfect pony. Now, Captain Rocks?" Celestia looked to the guard captain.
The stallion grinned, throwing a look over to his equal from the less overt group that Princess Celestia had called here. "Private Hearts, you will be paired with…"
Night Talon narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to be in this, but all the guard not directly on duty to Princess Celestia were present and had to be ready for this. Monsters were not his thing. He shifted in his armor. The enchantments he was starting to get used to. His fur was kept a constant gray, mane and tail a silver with light blue streaks. But it was uniform and he wasn't too concerned.
"I said, corporal Talon!" The captain sounded angry and Night stood straight and threw a sharp salute. "You are paired with Recruit Velvet." Captain Rocks looked the young stallion in the eyes, making sure he understood.
"Yes sir!" Night Talon felt stupid for the exclamation but his training had been successful at one important thing. Night followed orders.
Twilight looked at the guardspony, blinking. He sounded so rough and precise. Working her way through the crowd to the front of the room, she stood before Honey Drops. "Ma'am?"
"Congratulations Twilight Velvet, you passed." Honey gestured with a hoof to a pile of equipment. "Your gear. You are to head out past Manehatten, you got the cherry."
Excitement built in Twilight, she had studied the bugbears and now she was going to be able to see them.
Night saw the mare and immediately regretted this whole day. She looked exactly like what he wanted to have nothing to do with. Fresh out of her 'school', she probably didn't know the first thing about fighting.
"Night Talon?" At the stallion's nod, Honey Drops continued. "This is your partner, Twilight Velvet. You will be heading out to bugbear territory to make sure they are keeping to their borders."
Celestia tried to hide the extra notice she took in the two. In the end, the alicorn couldn't help herself. "Twilight, Night." She favored each surprised unicorn with a look. "You have an important job to do, I would be willing to trust it to no other. Twilight, help this brave stallion find his path and Night, keep yourself and Twilight safe." She wanted to demand they stay in the city, she wanted to make sure they were safe. Her dream, a prophetic one, had been quite clear on things. "I wish you both the best of luck."
Twilight blushed at the royal interest. "Of course, Your Highness. You'll see, we will make sure they haven't stepped an inch wrong!"
When Celestia's look came to him, Night felt flustered. "You-Your Highness! I promise I will complete my mission!"
The pair were practically rushed out the door and castle both. With their packs all ready, they looked at the pile of papers that had accompanied the equipment. "Twilight, was it?" Night Talon took a deep breath and looked to the mare. "I know this is meant to be a team thing, but I promise you, stick behind me and I will get us through this." The only problem was, as he realized the moment after he closed his mouth, Night Talon had no idea where they were going.
Looking down at their mission information, Twilight gave a nod and gestured to the train station. "We have to get to Manehatten first, you want to lead?" Her look spoke volumes to the stallion. She knew all too well that he was unsure of where to go. "Will this be your first time outside Canterlot?"
Night blushed under his helmet. He wanted to lie, to tell her he was a great, experienced guard. His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "No, I… this will be the first time."
A leg slung over his shoulder, the gold armor taking the weight of the mare's leg as she pulled him a little closer. "Well, this will be new for both of us then." Twilight gave Night a wink and drew her leg back from the surprised stallion. Arching her tail and flicking it as she walked, she looked back over her shoulder to see Night blushing a little more and looking shocked. "Coming?"
There was nothing else for it, Night trotted after the mare and realized that she wasn't all bad. She had admitted it was her first time out of the city as well, so maybe she wasn't as bad as those old monster hunters. "Yes, your ladyship." He grinned at the false title, and more so at her slight curtsey.
"Bugbears?" Night trotted fast enough to get shoulder-to-shoulder with the mare. "So you are meant to be the expert on them, what are they and why are we going there?"
"Well, they are big, wild beasts, resembling a bear and a bumblebee, if you stitched them together." Twilight pulled a book from her bag, keeping pace with the guard. "See?"
"Bumblebear would be a better name. Bugs are things you squish and that," Night gestured to the picture with a size-comparison of a pony beside it, "is not small enough to squish."
Twilight giggled at the name. "Well, can't go changing it now, nopony would know what we are talking about. As for what they are, they are a nuisance. Normally they are calm and easily left alone. When the right season comes… they get really angry and territorial." She flicked over a page to show the land they were heading to.
"Wow, how far away is that?" Night was captivated, they were leaving Equestria completely.
Tucking the book back, Twilight drew forth the map she had gotten with her kit. "This here is where we are going." She poked the bugbear lands with a hoof. Night gave a low whistle as he saw they were indeed leaving the country.
"Will we be in danger?" It was one thing to keep ponies in order, to look good for visiting dignitaries, but quite another to contemplate having to fight something that outweighed him several times over.
"Not at first, this change-over is happening now because their angry season will start in about two weeks." The pair had reached the station; Twilight drew out the two special tickets that had been provided. "Two to Manehatten, please."
"Of course!" The ticket pony pushed the travel passes back and pressed two blue tickets on top. "Front car, there will be a few of you heading out that way."
"Few of us?" Twilight blinked in surprise at the comment.
"Yeah, few like him, with another pony along for the ride." The old stallion gestured at Night. "You take care of her now, a nice filly like this is worth guarding, as I bet the Princess knows."
A chill ran through both ponies. Night felt the hoof of fate, clear as the two moons on his flank. Twilight shivered at the sensation, she suddenly had the oddest feeling that she would be paired with this stallion for a long time.
"That's your train, you know?" The words shook both ponies from their surprise and they eeped and took off for the platform at a gallop. The train was already rolling and Twilight was weighed down with the supplies and her pack, but her partner had his hefty armor.
Night made it onto the train first and just as Twilight thought she wouldn't make it, the train starting to pull away, a strong grip wrapped around her and lifted her off her hooves. Night's face, his horn aglow, peeked from the doorway. Twilight laughed as she was pulled closer and finally got on board the train. "Thanks!" She wrapped both forelegs around Night's neck and hugged the metal-clad stallion. "I nearly didn't make it."
"Couldn't let that happen." Night pondered a moment. He could have, he could have sent a message from Manehatten and told the guard his incompetent partner couldn't even catch a train. But then he might get saddled with a pony who really wasn't nice. He froze, his world shaking as a kiss landed on his cheek. "T-T-T-Twilight…"
The unicorn mare grinned and blushed both, it had been bold but his declaration had made her feel so positive she couldn't resist it. She didn't regret it, the blush in Night's cheek had her smile brightly at him and trot off, leaving him to watch her walk down the hall. "Now, where is room seven…" She looked along the doors. "Here."
Night finally shook the shock of being kissed and took off after the odd mare. He immediately regretted this, his eyes watched her as she examined door after door until she found their allotted berth. "That's ours?" His question was silly, she was already walking in, but he wanted to see her eyes again. When she turned and he gazed into those soft blue eyes he missed her words. He had to shake his head and trot after her.
"So which bunk do you want?" Twilight thought the stallion had spaced out a little and she was right, but he seemed more with it now.
Night realized something suddenly, something he needed to do. "Miss Velvet, my name is Night Talon." He held out a hoof.
"I know, I researched all the guards. Night, my name is Twilight Velvet, you can call me Twilight." She held out her hoof and they clopped them gently together. "And since you don't seem to have an opinion, I'll take the top bunk." Twilight shucked off her pack and settled on the couch to go through their things.
Night looked at the other side and sat down opposite the mare. Using his magic he pulled the door shut. Sitting still, he realized how uncomfortable his armor was when he wasn't standing.
Twilight's head lifted at the muttering. "Something wrong?" She looked at the stallion curiously.
"Yeah, armor is made to be uncomfortable when you sit down, I swear it is, just to keep new recruits standing all day." Night lifted off his helmet. It wouldn't break the enchantments, not just that piece.
"Well, you could take it off, hopefully you won't need it for the whole trip." Twilight set her maps down beside her, her horn aglow as she sorted through them. Night twisted again as another pinch came and finally he had had enough. Leaning around, he nipped at the buckle and felt the armor start to slip back. As it slid from his back and was off the enchantment slid from him as well. "W-W-What… what happened?"
Gray-brown fur flowed to azure. Silver mane to blue. Night Talon was himself again. "What? Oh! All guard armor is enchanted. We can't all look the same, so magic helps. You didn't honestly think Princess Celestia only hired brown-coated silver-maned stallions?"
Twilight giggled a little at that. "I guess not. Oh, two moons?" She was looking at Night's cutie mark. "That is pretty cool, kind of matches my stars." The unicorn mare suddenly blushed hotly, she turned her gaze to the window. "Hey, look, birds!"
Night too was blushing, he looked to her flank to see the stars, then snapped his eyes to the window. "Yup, birds. Look at them go." The damage was done, he couldn't stop thinking about her flanks and their cutie marks, matching his own as symbols of the night. A hoof came up and smacked him on the cheek, it was his own.
"What's wrong?" Twilight looked to Night, blinking and distracted from her 'forced distraction' by his self-abuse.
Slumping down to the couch, Night closed his eyes to not look at anything else incriminating. It wasn't like their names, their cutie marks, and now even their jobs, matched. No siree. "Nothing, I might try to get some sleep."
Twilight nodded, the night was coming on and although she loved to gaze out at stars, she knew she would need to be ready and primed for the big day ahead of her. "Yeah, I might too." Getting up, she couldn't help looking at the stallion's flank, the cutie mark that matched her own, and gulping. Nope, she wouldn't think about that until she slept, then dreamt about it. Nope, not at all.