And Now For Something Exactly the Same

by Damaged

Chapter 18 Part 2

The sounds of Ponyville were more muted here, with some hills, trees, and distance between them and the burgeoning town. "This will do us. Settle in and have some rations. We're not going in without our missing members."

Relaxing, the three squads set about waiting for the return of the two Monster Hunters, and only had to wait an hour for Fresh Baked and their companion to rejoin them. Lyra spent the time refining her plans for the fast-travel system. Her chief requirement now was a check on the unicorns to ensure they weren't pushing too hard.

"We're ready to go, Lyra." Fresh Baked felt no worse for wear for having run all the way in, but she was looking over Lyra's shoulders at the notes the mare was writing. "I should have felt his fatigue."

"You weren't specifically looking for it, plus he was a new member to your squad. I'll figure something out to make this safer." Seeing Fresh look over her shoulder, Lyra held out her notes. "Do the Monster Hunters always have three unicorns per squad?"

"Hrmm. Luck of the draw. Ah, I see. Hoping to have the third unicorn use a spell to check up on the other two? No, there's no guarantee there will be more than two unicorns per squad." Tapping at that point on the list, Fresh asked, "Have you considered an item? I've long advocated for safety status gems to keep track of a unicorn's magical health. As a tribe, we're all too often pushing ourselves more than we should—like teleporting whole squads all the way to Ponyville."

"Yeah, yeah, but as a sergeant I can tell ponies what to do and do something different." Lyra stuck her tongue out at Fresh.

Rolling her eyes, Fresh asked, "Did it even cause you any strain, or is Celestia's Problem-Solver immune to regular unicorn problems?"

Counter-eye-rolling, Lyra gestured a hoof toward Ponyville proper. "I live in a town with Twilight freakin' Sparkle and her friends. Whenever I need ego deflation, I sit in the middle of town and watch them defeat some world-destroying monster."

"And yet, I heard tell that a certain unicorn tutored with and was good friends with that same Twilight Sparkle."

"I was a dumb pony who got dragged into Princess Celestia's school by luck. I needed all the help I could get." Folding up her notes, Lyra banished them back to her writing desk at her home in Ponyville. "Well, let's get these ponies working before they see the cozy life in Ponyville and all decide leave the Guard."

"No town is that comfortable to live in." Clearing her throat with a growl and a swig of water from her canteen, Fresh turned and walked to her squad to get them formed up.

Lyra watched the other two squads likewise prepare to move, and without her needing to raise her voice. "Bonny, what's the order of march?"

Pausing a moment to drink-in the love of her wife, Sweetie Drops turned to the assembled. "I want Glider's squad taking the lead on this, with Fresh bringing up the rear. You know the standard tactics for this, so I won't repeat them to you now. The Castle of the Two Sisters is down this path, over a pair of bridges, and shouldn't be too hard to reach. Let's move."

The march into the forest made the trees shake with the echoing of all those armored hooves. Everypony was tense and ready for anything, though the first bridge being washed away was not among their plans.

"This river is just a little too wild for us to swim it." Sweetie sighed and looked aside to Lyra. "You're going to teleport us—"

"I'm going to teleport us. But I think it'd be a good idea to put together the pegasi from both Monster Hunter squads to secure the shore would be a good idea. I'll send one of the squads across, half the pegasi can fly back—which gives us a squad of Monster Hunters on both sides—then I'll send the Research and Acquisitions squad, and finally the last Monster Hunters and myself." Lyra used her magic to create a model of the river mid-air, and showed how she planned to move ponies.

Reaching her hoof up, Sweetie tried to push all the ponies back to the other side, and was thankful when Lyra moved the little figures at her touch. "Can't we just have all the unicorns send us all over at the same time?"

"We could, so long as every unicorn has a firm grasp of teleportation. Also, that's a fair distance for most unicorns to teleport so many."

"But not you?" Sweetie smirked at her wife.

"Yeah, me too, but I know my limits—and I've been working on group teleportation lately. The only teleport that will be hard will be the last one, because I'll have to go with it."

"Why, though? You, me, a bunch of pegasi to keep our numbers up. You and me go sailing across and we'll be fine, right?"

As Sweetie suggested it, Lyra mapped it out on the diagram. "Huh, yeah, that would work. This is like the wolf, goat, and cabbage thing."

"'Wolf, goat, and cabbage thing'?"

"It's a logic problem. You have a boat that has room for two. You and one other. You have a goat, a cabbage, and a wolf. How do you get all three across the river when the goat will eat the cabbage if you leave them alone and the wolf would eat the goat." As she explained it, Lyra saw Sweetie's face turn to horror. "It's a human thing, the goats aren't intelligent there. So the trick is you take the goat across first, then go back, then take the cabbage across, and bring the goat back with you, then you take the wolf across, go back alone, and then take the goat over."

"But the wolf would eat the cabbage."

Opening her mouth to correct Sweetie, Lyra just groaned. "When did you get this sadistic streak?"

"When I married a mare who was right way too often and needed her ego trimmed on the regular." Bumping her flank against Lyra's, Sweetie was tempted—as always—to kiss her too. "Tell the squads how we're tackling this. Get our pegasi moving."

"Listen up, we need to get across this river and we don't have time to build a bridge. We have a plan put together. Every pegasus will head over to the other side to establish some safe ground with their numbers. I'll teleport Glider's squad over. I want every pegasus except for Gliders' to come back to this side. I'll then send Deep's squad, then Fresh's squad, then I'll teleport myself and the commander, and the remaining pegasi can fly back across to join us." Lyra noticed a few raised eyebrows on the unicorns in the group, but none more raised than Fresh Baked's. "Any questions?"

"Let me check your energy level before you do this. I'm not doubting you, sergeant, but you have put-in a lot of work today, and I don't want to lose another good unicorn." Fresh stepped forward, already working to recall the simple diagnostic spell. The spell she should have used on Misty.

"Thank you, Fresh. I'll confess I was feeling a bit drained earlier." Lyra had predicted, though, that her energy should be back to full following the repeated teleports from earlier. "I've always been better at training my regeneration rather than my capacity. It's why I had to cheat so much with making teleport spells."

"Cheat?" Fresh cast the spell and blinked as it gave her a sense of Lyra's magical wellbeing. "You're at full power. There's no sign of any distress or imbalance. I'd give my tail for that kind of magic regeneration."

"You're welcome, sergeant, to put your name down for retraining. I can show you the techniques used to build and maintain your magic regeneration rate." It was a challenge. Lyra didn't have any problem instructing experienced unicorns in how to improve their magic, but sometimes said unicorns didn't want to learn new methods.

Huffing out a breath, Fresh fought against her desire to appear tough and shook her head to clear the cobwebs out. "Seeing how hard you've worked today, I'd be crazy not to take you up on that."

Holding up her hoof, Lyra bumped it with the one Fresh offered her. "I'll see to your training myself. Now, how far have those pegasi gotten?" Looking across the river, Lyra could see the pegasi nearing the opposite shore. "Alright, Glider's squad, get ready for a push."

Fresh was more intrigued by Lyra's performance now, not having released the status spell. There was a series of small pulses of magic that left Lyra before she could feel the intense drain as Lyra cast the big teleport spell, but the way it spiked back up again was almost as big a shock. It only took Lyra four minutes to be back to where she'd started.

"Deep Well!" Lyra used the time it took the Research and Acquisitions squad to form up to ensure she'd recovered after the first teleport. When they were ready, she aimed and sent the entire squad hurtling through wherever teleportees went, only for them to land on the other shore.

While the pegasi on the other shore started flying back, Fresh bit her lip. "Lyra, what were those smaller pulses in your magic before the first big teleport?"

"Still had your spell up, huh? I am cheating. I always cheat, when I can. If you got Twilight Sparkle to teleport us across this river, she'd burn princess-levels of magic to do a point-to-point teleport. It would be exacting and leave her drained for a day or two." Trying not to preen, Lyra used her magic to pick up a small scattering of rocks. "But, if you use a distance-heading teleport instead, it uses far less magic."

"But you have to get the distance right, or you plunge them in the river?"

"Exactly! So…" With four quick jolts of tiny levels of magic, Lyra sent the rocks across the river in a walking series of teleports to judge distance. "Three hundred and twenty-two pony lengths."

"I almost preferred not knowing. You really do cheat then?"

"Every single time." As she said the last word, Lyra turned to look back across the river and, with the pegasi swooping in above them, she sent Fresh and her squad to the far bank—making sure Fresh herself landed right on top of one of the little rocks.

"You're putting in a lot of work on her, Lyra." Sweetie gave up all pretense and kissed her wife on the cheek. "She seems interested, at least. Planning on stealing her away from the 'Hunters?"

"Nope, the opposite, actually." With just the two of them, Lyra aimed her teleport to a clear bit of shore beside Fresh and her squad. The drain was far less than before, and with her regeneration she'd be able to accomplish it again moments later. "Taa-daa!"

The rest of the march to the castle was uneventful, even the bridge that covered a ravine had been repaired by someone. They marched right up to the dilapidated castle and inside the main gate.

"Alright. I want Fresh and her squad guarding the gate here. Glider, your ponies will work patrols of the castle while Deep's will get to work. Sergeant Deep Well, you have the lists of where everything should be?" Sweetie asked.

"I wish to enter a formal complaint about your emphasis on 'should'." Daring knew exactly what Sweetie was talking about. She didn't expect a single one of the items to be where the notes said, but it was a nice try by their author.

"Formally noted, sergeant. Let's get started, Guardponies!" Sweetie was relieved to see that the squads knew what to do from there on. Fresh's squad assembled a palisade at the front gate while Glider assigned teams of three into patrols. The rest was Daring and her trained ruin-raiders taking the castle apart inch by inch to retrieve everything on their list.

As night fell, watches were assigned and the ponies all gathered together in the treasure vault of the castle. It had only one escape route, but it also had just one way anything could come at them.

Settling down away from the rest of the squads, Daring pulled out a pack of her rations to eat. But, even as she started working on reconstituting a meal out of the magically preserved packages, her solitude was intruded upon.

"How are you holding up?" Lyra asked as she sat down beside Daring.

Daring knew it was her trying to be friendly, but she still wished she could have a little alone time. "You mean apart from working with more than just myself?"

"You're welcome to leave at any time, but I'd appreciate it if you could make sure this lot can do their job first."

"You're a monster, you know that? It would be so much easier to just slip away and go back to my old gig if you didn't say things like that." Pulling an apple out of a magic bag that had packed it flat surprised Daring, though she did her best not to show it. "Those lists—who wrote them? I know I joked about them always being bad, but these are accurate."

"Can I read one?"

"Here, try this one. Not only was it exactly as described, but it was exactly where the notes said." Daring passed over one page that had her own notes scrawled down the sides, between lines, and even over some of the writing. When Lyra snorted and laughed, it got a good frown from Daring. "What?"

"Guess it takes somepony who knows her handwriting." Lyra passed the page back. "That's Princess Celestia's writing."

Daring just stared at Lyra for several seconds before shaking her head. "I can't keep up with all this. You know the princess well enough to recognize her hornwriting? What next?"

Pulling an apple out of her own rations, Lyra polished it on her own shoulder a little. "I was her student for like six years. If you ask me, I kinda still am."

"You couldn't be normal?" The moment Daring said it, she realized this was the last thing to say in her position. "I retract the question."

After a few more chuckles, Lyra asked, "How much longer?"

"Here? If all these notes are this accurate, another day and a half." Daring was unsurprised when Sweetie walked over and sat down beside Lyra.

Knowing they were both looking at her, Sweetie started casually opening her rations bag. She waited right up until Lyra opened her mouth to speak. "You handled that squad well today, Deep."

"No I didn't. I just told them what to do and did it like she does." Pointing a hoof at Lyra, Daring bit another mouthful off her apple.

Lyra shrugged. "I just did the same thing but with Sergeant Broad Strokes. After a bit I figured out my own ways to do some of it. When this is done, have you considered staying on?"

"What? Keep running this?"

"No." Sweetie was in the process of tipping all the sugar from the little packets she'd gotten into an empty pan and setting the pan over the little magic heater. "You get reclassified as a specialist, and you get to do your own thing. We'll feed you location information."

"So you'd just let me—what? Go raiding wherever you get information of artifacts?"

"Sometimes one pony can get in and out easier than a whole bunch." Lyra was focused more on what Sweetie was doing than her own rations. "What are you doing?"

With the sugar melted, Sweetie pulled out her apple and stuck one of the provided forks into the bottom of it. "You knew I had a sweet tooth when you married me." She used the fork to roll the apple in the toffee and then used a hoof to pick up the little tray and tipped it over the apple.

Looking down at their apples, half eaten, both Lyra and Daring had regrets.

"Isn't that hot?" Daring asked, gesturing at the tray.

"Fireproof hooves. She grew up working in a kitchen." Lyra took mental notes to make candy apples with the squads with the following days' rations.

Waiting for the toffee to cool, Sweetie held out a hoof toward the notes. When Daring passed them to her, she started reading over them, nodding. "Good work so far—you've made great time. Keep it up, and we'll be out of here in two days."

The three set about making a more substantial dinner, trading unneeded items from their own rations for things they needed more of for their desired supper. Lyra and Sweetie both settled down and leaned slowly against each other so they could sleep with their cheeks pressed together.

Daring thought about her options and finally just shifted to her side and lay down. Her head barely touched down before she startled awake at a terrifying sound. A sonorous voice in the distance howled the call of a timber wolf. Then another picked it up. Then more.

The normal plan, when hearing such predators, was to spread her wings and get the heck away. Gear could be replaced and artifacts could be collected later. She jumped to her hooves and turned to wake Lyra and Sweetie—only to see both were already up and moving. She joined them.

"Timber wolves. I heard four, but that means there'll be more." Sweetie was glad she didn't need to give the Monster Hunters orders on how to handle the beasts as she advanced to the front ranks. "Scouts! Do we have a count?"

Lyra spotted the pegasus making his way over and let him have access to Sweetie. Her own mind was already working on solutions to problems their position afforded them. The treasure room was reasonably well-secured, even after a thousand years, but she knew timber wolves could be tricky.

"The pack's a big one. I saw the four howlers—big suckers—and four others. There'll be at least one or two I didn't see. Expect ten."

Using her magic, Lyra sent out tendrils of mist into the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room. She walked around, only vaguely aware that Daring was following her. On the third wall she checked, she found what she was looking for. "Can you mark this spot right here?"

Following Lyra's request, Daring pulled some chalk from her bags and started drawing a cross on the stonework. "What is—?"

With no time to shout a warning, Lyra grabbed Daring in her magic and teleported both of them backwards two ponylengths—just as a timber wolf smashed through the wall. "I hate it when I'm right. Sweetie!"

Sweetie's ears turned before she registered the shout fully. She turned to see dust coming from the back corner of the room. It took conscious effort to not lock down and harden herself up. "Lyra! Bring me!"

The teleport went off and Sweetie was standing between Lyra and a timber wolf. "Fresh! We have another back here!" Even as her voice was ringing out, Sweetie rushed forward, turned, and aimed squarely at the timber wolf's chest with both back legs.

Daring felt a shiver through the ground as Sweetie's hooves connected, and she heard a dull snapping sound as the rotting log that formed the timber wolf's chest cracked. She looked around, trying to work out what she could do, only to see Lyra send a dark red beam from her horn right into the timber wolf's face.

As the beast backed out of the hole, another lunged into it and leaned down to clamp its jaws around Sweetie's barrel.

"That's it, you big piece of rotting wood, spend all your time on me." Sweetie kept all four legs locked to the ground as she reached into the timber wolf with her talent and started to suck the magic out of it.

Seeing the timber wolf's eyes dim, Lyra aimed her horn just as two new beams flew past her and slammed into the side of the beast. Dumping the pattern and swapping for a shield, Lyra wrapped it as best she could around Sweetie, grunting with effort as her wife's talent sucked a lot of the energy from it.

Daring didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she rushed in fast and grabbed Sweetie up and onto her back. The strain was far more than she could have expected from one pony, but she reminded herself that Sweetie's armor was not the lightweight stuff she herself wore.

Lyra managed just two steps toward the onrushing Daring before her legs gave out. The blast that had hit her shield was the last straw for her magic and consciousness both. Folding her limbs, her last view was of the hard floor coming up to meet her.

"I can't believe I'm thinking what would Lyra do." Daring set down Sweetie and turned back to the gap. The timber wolf, its head a smoking hole, was being dragged back out. "I need somepony to shore up this gap! Any unicorns here know stone-summoning magic?"

Fresh Baked arrived at the hole just as two unicorns from R&A did. "Good thinking. Can you two pull stone up from underground?" She looked to the two unicorns—only one nodded. "Get on it. I want it as thick as you can make it. I'll keep the beasts out."

What shocked Daring was the corporal looked to her and not Fresh. "You assist the sergeant, Stellar. Swing, help me check on these two. I'll be damned if I'll be the one to report to Princess Celestia that we lost them."

And that was when Daring did the hardest thing of her entire life—she turned her back on the hole where imminent danger could come and left it to somepony else. "Check Sweetie first. Lyra collapsed from using magic, but Sweetie was hooves-deep with that thing."

Swingette wasn't as good with combat magic, but she could assess and heal basic wounds with her magic. "She's being squeezed by her armor. You need to help get it off her."

Games about her hiding her true self were all well and good, but Daring needed to use force—which meant she needed to use her wings. Pulling on the straps at her belly, breast, and rear, she shoved the armor free and reached out with her wings to start unbuckling Sweetie's armor.

"S-Sergeant?" Swingette, like most young adults keen on adventure, had read Daring Do novels. She couldn't keep back the shock in her voice at seeing that her sergeant had been a pegasus and had the right cutie mark.

"If it's not about Sweetie or Lyra, I don't want to hear it." It wasn't easy to get the armor off, and Daring could see why. Two big dents on each side where the beast had been crushing the heavy plates inward held fast around Sweetie. "I'm going to stand on the bottom plates and lift this side, okay? When I do, pull her out from inside it."

Clamping down on her excitement, Swingette used her magic to carefully form a sleeve around Sweetie—within her armor—and when Daring gave the signal, she pulled her out of the damaged steel. "Two broken ribs on this side and probably two more on the other if it's like this. Hold on, these aren't easy to fix."

Daring was about to say something when Swingette's horn lit up in a spiral of gold and silver, sending a trail of the twin-toned magic into Sweetie. Healing magic, she knew, was uncommon.

The exquisite pain of having three of her ribs pull themselves back into shape dragged Sweetie from unconsciousness. She shouted in pain as the bones knitted, but held as still as she could when she realized what was going on.

"I barely had enough to fix that, and couldn't spare anything to make it painless—sorry, commander."

Grimacing against the lingering shadow pain that was threatening to drag her unconscious again, Sweetie drew up her magic and pushed the agony aside. "No problems, Corporal Swingette. Thank you for making this a shorter recovery."

"Okay, corporal, now we check the sergeant." Turning to Lyra, Daring could see her laying still on the ground, but could see her chest moving.

Extending her magic to Lyra, Swingette felt for any problems. "She's fine. Magic drain and a little feedback." She drew back and then sent just a little twitch of her magic to settle Lyra's sleep. "She'll wake up weak tomorrow and with a headache."

"That's a normal Saturday morning for her." That's when Sweetie noticed Daring Do without her concealing armor on. It only took a glance at Swingette to see the mare almost exploding with questions. "Corporal, not a word to anypony else about our sergeant here."

Daring wasn't sure if it was disappointment or hope that blossomed. She could see the same slavish level of fan-excitement in Swingette as she'd seen in ponies in her past that discovered she was both real and in front of them.

There were so many words Swingette wanted to throw at Sweetie to argue about why she should drop it, but when her mouth opened she only had one to give the commander she respected. "Sir!" She turned to Daring. "Sir, can I help you with your armor?" It was a secret, after all—a Daring Do secret—and she was in on it.

Surprised by the discipline, Daring resigned herself to a nod. "Thank you, corporal."

Inspecting her own armor while Daring was hidden once more under the guise of Sergeant Deep Well again, Sweetie noticed how much it had been dented in when the timber wolf had bitten down on her. "I need to get this back to Sharp Horn." That's what she told herself, anyway. Sweetie didn't want to admit that she was sentimental for the heavy armor that had protected her for so long.

With the breach filled by layers of reinforced stone, Fresh Baked turned her attention to those recovering from the attempted flanking. A look back revealed Lyra resting on the ground (the slight rising and falling of her armor a huge relief) while Sweetie seemed to stand over her like a furious queen. "Not far from the mark."

"Sergeant?" Stellar Pie asked.

"Disregard that, corporal. Back to your squad now—it's going to be a long night." Approaching Sweetie, Fresh cleared her throat. "Captain, don't try to face off timber wolves alone, please? You have two squads of Monster Hunters here—use us." But, when Sweetie narrowed her eyes as Fresh, a deep sigh was her first response. "But thanks. Having them come up behind us would have been awkward."

"You're welcome, sergeant." Sweetie nodded to Fresh.

---

The remainder of their time at the Castle of the Two Sisters was spent mercifully quiet. The Research and Acquisitions squad completed their list and had several crates of extra scrolls and intact parchments.

What annoyed Lyra was having a corporal insisting she not do anything strenuous—it was only made worse by the fact that the first time she tried to do something strenuous with her magic, it made her feel worse. "You are the worst doctor ever, Swingette. When we get back to Canterlot, I'll take you on a forty-lap run around Canterlot, then give you a full magic review."

The threat, so Swingette had learned, was part of her sergeant's humor. "You know, sergeant, that when a member of the Guard is injured, it is up to the most senior medic to assess their condition, and no matter the rank of either, the medic has seniority."

It was exactly what Sweetie had established the moment Lyra had woken up and tried to tell Swingette to leave her alone. "This is the eighteenth time you've reminded me. Yes, I know that." Everypony else was stacking up crates and preparing their equipment to leave the castle with, while all Lyra was allowed to do was watch.

"That said, I would appreciate some more training with my non-healing spells, when you're cleared for duty again." It was a dream of Swingette's to be as good with magic as she'd seen and heard of Equestria's heroes being. "Y-Your teleports, some ponies say, are almost as good as Twilight Sparkle's."

"The same pony taught both of us"—Lyra smiled at the memories of school life—"but Twilight mentored me on magic, and we taught each other a lot of tricks with targeted spells. How good is your maths?"

Swingette's ears perked at the odd way Lyra tacked an S on the end of math. "Utterly terrible."

"Perfect! So you get to start how I did and I can teach you all the cheating ways to seem like an amazing teleporter." Without using her horn, Lyra started in on teaching how to use more of her "cheating" teleports than she normally did for recruits. "The trick is to get better at memorization. If you memorize different versions of a teleport with the distances and targets pre-calculated, you don't have to know maths."

"That—that really is cheating. Okay, so memory exercises are a big part of it." Swingette produced a notepad and pencil to start writing things down. "The other problem I have with them is the amount of magic they use."

"Yeah, that's going to be more hard work. You'll need to expand your amount of stored magic enough to cover at least two teleports quickly, but then you'll want your regeneration as high as you can manage."

"Right, so I need to work on both of those. How much work did it take to reach your level of regeneration?" It was something Swingette could be truly envious of. Even the Monster Hunters' unicorns had muttered in shock at how much magic Lyra had sustained in the repeated teleports.

"Per day, you mean." Lyra smirked. "I spend an hour every morning and another every night, when possible, to drain my magic down to nothing and keep it there. Constant work will make you able to reach the dizzying height that lets you look up and see Twilight Sparkle towering above you."

It got an appreciative laugh from Swingette. "She's that good?"

"The best way to explain it is a pony with exceptional capacity for magic, a natural affinity for all types of magic, and a mind that grasps every single aspect of it all and can bend all the rules to align with her desire."

"W-What about alicorns?"

"Like Cadance? Or like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Lyra cursed herself for forgetting Cadance's title, but that was the problem with having royal best friends.

"Uh, any of them?"

"Twilight's magic knowledge is probably a few orders of magnitude greater than Princess Cadance's, and she wouldn't complain about that comparison. Princess Celestia has over a thousand years of knowledge and experience with magic, but despite that I think Twilight's intuition probably exceeds hers. Princess Luna is unknown. I have spoken to her only briefly on magic, and everything she seems to know is either related to dream magic or direct combat spells. Some of them aren't even spells—she just throws raw magic."

"You taught us that—"

"… that throwing raw magic is inefficient. It is, but there is one way in which it excels in combat, and that is for blasting through defenses and counters. To stop a blast of raw magic, you need an equal amount." Watching Daring organizing all the ponies into small groups to carry the big crates, Lyra let out a sigh. "I have to be content in the knowledge that I can never account for that. Alicorns can use a bludgeon to knock away anything with smaller magic capacity than them—and that includes just about everything in the world."

That made Swingette think about all the combat situations she'd read reports on. "Why didn't Princess Celestia use that on Queen Chrysalis?"

"When they invaded?" Lyra waited for a nod before continuing. "Bystanders. Instead she tried a more precise application of her magic directly into Chrysalis' horn. She didn't account for how much energy Chrysalis had. Apparently changeling queens can feed to insane capacities."

"Ahh…" It was hard to contemplate a monster like Chrysalis in her own terms. Swingette hadn't faced anything that needed that kind of reaction. Then she remembered the timber wolves of two night previous—the reason Lyra wasn't up to her duties. "It sometimes seems like the world's full of nasty things, but ponies have been pushing it back for a long time, haven't they?"

"Yeah, and we'll be pushing it back for a while yet." Arching her back, Lyra was happy to at least be allowed to wear her armor. A glance over at Sweetie, walking around without hers on, made her frown a little. They were supposed to be above this roughhousing now they had command positions.

Walking up to her squad with Lyra beside her, Swingette looked at the vast quantities of chests they'd liberated. The entire squad of Research and Acquisitions as well as half a squad of Monster Hunters were lugging their cargo. "Sergeant Deep Well is— You knew?"

"Let's avoid talk of this out here where anypony can overhear. A loose word or two could cost a pony her livelihood." Lyra hated being in the protected section of their column, but without her magic she was useless. "You understand?"

"Yeah." Swingette checked Lyra over with her magic, noting the snarl in the other mare's horn was slowly clearing. "I want to shout it from the rooftops of Canterlot, though."

The walk back through the Everfree Forest was uneventful, and their expedition arrived on the outskirts of Ponyville before the end of the day. Marching around the town was deemed the best idea, and soon the Guardponies were waiting at the train station.

"Why don't we march them all the way back? Is it really better to take the train?"

Without anything else to do, Lyra had been building a stronger rapport with Swingette. She nodded. "We are down several active members. There's no point risking something screwing up on the last leg of the mission. This was always a contingency."

Swingette gestured up toward Canterlot. "I just—I expected us to trot into Canterlot, cheered on as heroes."

"Every Guardpony is a hero, Swingette. I'd probably be struggling to walk still if it wasn't for your magic. And, from what I heard, you helped save Sweetie's life. That's something that makes you a hero to me." Lyra was just about to say something more when she heard a laugh behind her—a carefree and excited laugh. When she turned, it was just as Scootaloo was about to rush against her.

"Hold up! No attacking my patient—with hugs or otherwise. Please take it slowly miss…?" Swingette stood between Lyra and Scootaloo, her horn glowing in support of the barrier she'd put up.

"Relax, corporal, that's my daughter Scootaloo. I can still hug her, and for that I will pull rank on you." Lyra was pleased that Swingette didn't put up any fight on the matter. Wrapping a foreleg around Scootaloo, Lyra let out a happy sigh. "How'd your last few days in the Royal Guard go?"

"It was amazing! Wait, why are you her patient?" Scootaloo stepped back from the hug and looked Lyra over, trying to find signs of harm.

"Sweetie and I found ourselves in a bit of a bind with a pair of timber wolves. If you think I look bad, you should see how they came out of it." Nodding to her side, Lyra indicated Swingette. "This is Corporal Swingette of Research and Acquisitions. Corporal, this is my daughter, Cadet Scootaloo recently of the Royal Guard."

"Wait! You're that filly? We heard that the Royal Guard was opening back up to mares because a filly wanted to apprentice there." Swingette looked between Lyra and Scootaloo for a moment. "I should have known the ponies who would rush to take on a bunch of timber wolves on their own would be the parents of that filly. Hi, Scootaloo, can you help me to make sure your mom doesn't try to do anything crazy?"

"Sure. Magic injury again? Let me guess, a few days of rest for her horn… Did she try to use magic on Sweetie when she was grounding—again?" Scootaloo gave Lyra her best sergeant-sizing-up-a-corporal look.

"She's got your number, sergeant."

"I don't need help like that, corporal." Lyra had a big grin despite the wording. "What's got you in Ponyville, Scoots?"

"Just meeting up with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom before school starts next week." Spreading her wings, Scootaloo jumped through a few evasive movements that amounted to her bouncing around. "And I wanted to teach them some sweet new moves I learned—Oh, not fighting ones, dancing. For my last day, Princess Luna took me to a party, she said I was her bodyguard there, but Sharp Fang came too. Anyway, we met Vinyl there on her day off, and because it was Princess Luna, she did a set anyway, and we danced and danced!"

Pure and simple delight banished Lyra's worries as she heard that. A filly should get out to dance at parties, though it would be best if she didn't require orders from a princess to do it, or so she thought. "Did they let you keep the spear?"

Rolling her eyes and flopping her ears down to the sides, Scootaloo looked up at Lyra with as much drollness as he face could manage. "What do you think? I got to keep the fancy armor, though. Captain Bright Feather said I'd earned it."

"Are you kidding? The Terror of the Royal Guard? Of course you deserve your armor." Swingette gave a firm nod to show what she thought about that.

Scootaloo could see the crates of hidden items all packed up. It didn't take a genius to figure out that when three squads of Guardponies marched through town with what was probably treasure, it was probably also something that didn't particularly want to garner attention. "Anyway, I gotta go. I promised the girls we'd meet at Sweet Apple Acres. Bye!"

"Hold up, Cadet." Sweetie Drops reached out a foreleg and easily pulled Scootaloo into a hug, blindsiding her. "Take care."

Throwing her forelegs and wings into the hug, Scootaloo was surprised to realize Sweetie wasn't wearing her armor. It was a worrying thought since she knew Sweetie never took her armor off on missions. Now she had a pile more questions and knew she couldn't ask them out here. "Thanks, Mom."

"We should be back from Canterlot tonight." It still amazed Sweetie that Scootaloo was calling her mom.

"I'll cook then. I promise I won't let Sweetie Belle help again." It had been a good effort, but Scootaloo had struggled to find things such a novice cook could do without leaving her feel left out.

"Sorry to interrupt." Sweetie slowly let go, a little thrill of delight going through as Scootaloo hugged her a moment longer before she released too.

"Don't be sorry. I like your hugs." Giggling, Scootaloo took off at a gallop before pumping her wings and launching into the sky.

Lyra stepped up beside Sweetie and leaned her shoulder against the mare she loved. "Every time I see her, I'm amazed by how strong she is."

"Sergeant, you have my permission to kiss freely," Sweetie said. Lyra was fast, real fast. Sweetie barely had a moment to savor the touch of lips against her cheek and she'd withdrawn again. "Let's get this lot back to Canterlot and get this load signed off to the princess."

---

What met them in Canterlot was a squad of Royal Guard to escort them to the castle.

"Stall them," Sweetie told Lyra.

"What? Wh—?" It was too late. Sweetie had galloped off to the Guard training fields before Lyra had gotten the first syllable out. "Citron! Funny seeing you here." When Swingette tried to say something to interrupt her, Lyra made a firm gesture for her to keep back. "You'll just have to wait while we check over the manifest for all this."

One of Citron's eyebrows raised. "Lyra? What's going on?"

"Orders, sergeant. You know how it is with commanders, surely?" Lyra looked to Daring Do and nodded. "Captain wants us to verify the manifest. Just standard procedure." She hoped Daring would get the hint.

"Of course." Turning, Daring raised her voice. "You know the drill. I want every crate's contents double-checked before it leaves this station platform."

By the time Sweetie returned—wearing standard armor—she found Lyra standing between a grumbling Royal Guard sergeant and the rest of Research and Acquisitions squad—who were slowly sorting their way through the third box they'd brought with them. "What's going on here?"

"Just following standard procedures, Commander. All inventory must be checked against the manifest before surrendering it to any other guard unit." Lyra stood proud, awaiting Sweetie's telling-off.

"Sergeant, that procedure was revised a week ago. So long as a commanding officer of captain rank or higher is present, any amount of inventory can be transferred without a cross-checked manifest." It was all complete and utter nonsense, but it was just believable enough in a new Guard branch. "Get the crate in order and let's get things moving."

With the obstruction (Lyra) allowing the gears to move again, the Monster Hunters, R&A, and Royal Guards moved with swift efficiency through Canterlot to the castle. The stairway up to the castle was navigated easily and all the crates were diverted to the interim holding room (which was also the new entrance to the crystal caverns storage vaults).

It was some surprise to see Luna and Celestia join them in the holding room. Lyra ordered the three squads loosely under her control into rank and file while Citron had his fall into a flank position with the two princesses.

Sweetie Drops strode forward with the manifest of all their items. "Your Highnesses, we collected everything asked for and a range of items that you'd advised were secondary targets." She held out the paperwork and released it when a gold glow wrapped it.

"Were there any problems?" Luna asked. She could tell that one squad of Monster Hunters was a pony a short, and she recognized that Sweetie's armor was different.

"My staff sergeant can debrief if you'd like. I can ensure you have reports on the entire mission no later than tomorrow afternoon." Sweetie turned her head slightly until she could see Lyra behind her, then nodded.

Walking up, Lyra snapped off a deep bow to the princesses. "With your permission?" When Celestia gave her a bemused look that Lyra recognized as her I'll give you a title if you push this game further, she relented. "We had two incidents.

"The first incident was while trialing the new fast-march method I'd devised for accelerated movement of Guard squads beyond even train speeds without the use of long-range teleportation. Corporal Misty Vapor of Sergeant Fresh Baked's Monster Hunters suffered a minor case of overreach with his magic, resulting in an imbalance that I netted. I engaged with Sergeant Fresh Baked as to how we could better detect a pony trying to do more than their capability in this way—that information will be in my report.

"The second incident was after reaching the location and spending some time excavating the required objects. We were securing camp for the night when a pack of timber wolves attacked. The two squads of Monster Hunters were doing an excellent job of keeping them back from the entrance to our little cul de sac, but during my investigation of a hunch, I discovered the possibility they could make it not a cul de sac. Which is when a timber wolf broke in through the weakened castle wall. Commander Sweetie Drops and myself engaged with two timber wolves and drove them back long enough for the Monster Hunters to take over.

"During the second incident, I suffered from magical feedback and Commander Sweetie Drops had her armor crushed in the jaws of a timber wolf."

Luna was first of the princesses to recover from the information attack—she had become far more used to them with Moon Dancer as her advisor. "Quite the stumbling block. Do you have an estimate for when all ponies will be recovered?"

"I haven't checked on Corporal Misty Vapor, but they should be fully recovered already. My own recovery is estimated in another two days at most. Commander Sweetie Drops will require a new suit of armor," Lyra said.

While Lyra had been giving her report, Celestia was reading the manifest. She trusted her Guardponies to tell her anything immediately important, and it also proved a good moment for Luna to get further involved in the Guard. Then her eyes caught sight of two lines in the manifest. "Excellent work, everypony. Since this mission involved combat, I will accept citations for your squads in your reports. Dismissed, everypony."

Lyra and Sweetie didn't move a muscle. Seeing this, Swingette was conflicted. "C-Commander?"

"What's the trouble, Corporal Swingette?" Sweetie asked.

"I am supposed to be keeping an eye on Sergeant Lyra Heartstrings. I don't want to compromise her recovery."

"You have my promise she won't be undertaking any magic while in this room. You may wait outside." Sweetie waited for the hoofsteps to leave the room and the Royal Guard at the entrance to close the big doors. "Sorry about that. She took her duty very seriously."

"That's not a fault, nor something you should apologize for. The most important items are in crate four." Celestia didn't wait for anypony else present, she used her magic to pluck the top off the crate and withdraw what she needed. "No word of this is to leave this room or the ponies within it."

The crowns. Lyra had seen them when they'd been unpacked, but seeing Celestia holding them gave them far more weight than before. They weren't the simple tiaras any of the princesses wore day-to-day—these were ornate and huge.

"Our crown jewels. It's been far too long since I've seen these crowns." Luna approached her sister and picked up the smaller of the two in her magic. "These are only required at two moments—or so your own laws dictated. Your own coronation and the coronation of others. You didn't crown Cadance here, did you?"

"She was always destined to rule the Crystal Empire. I was but a leaf on the wind of fate with that mare." Celestia raised her crown up and put it on her head. "Equestria itself will have a new princess shortly, and I intend to crown her such."

"Twilight." The word slipped from Lyra's lips without her realizing or intending it. She felt like destiny had formed the word and put her breath behind it.

"Yes. Twilight Sparkle is about to face a test she is uniquely able to conquer. She may still fail, but I trust that harmony is taking a special part in this. You realize why you can't mention a word of this?" Looking at Lyra, Celestia felt the weight of her crown for the first time in centuries. It was heavy, but she was larger than the young mare who'd first worn it.

Together, Lyra and Sweetie dipped their heads.

"Your part in this was preparatory, and still is. The coronation will need to be catered. There will be the usual fare for most ponies wishing a good feast, but my nobles will require something more… exciting."

Lyra snorted at the command. "The preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala were for this?"

"My apologies for the ruse," Celestia said.

"The Gala will be perfect to use as cover so we can start training the kitchen now. I'll talk to Zecora about some truly mouth-destroying canapes."

"You have that look in your eyes, Lyra." Sweetie stole a quick kiss on her wife's cheek. "Tell me what you need me to do and I'll make sure you have assistance."

"Ahem." Luna hated herself for breaking up the nice, normal moment between two of the more trustworthy ponies she knew. "We all have work ahead of us. I'll expect your reports tomorrow."

It was dismissal, not that Sweetie could fault Luna in making it. "Of course, Your Highnesses." She bowed her head and started to turn, matching stride with Lyra toward the exit.

When the two were outside, Luna let out a sigh and turned to her sister. "Does it get easier?"

"Does what get easier?" Celestia had some idea of what Luna was asking, but she felt it important her sister say the words aloud.

"Giving ponies orders. Ponies who are—Ponies that don't deserve to be ordered around." The last sentence came out with more fire than Luna had expected, surprising even herself at her vehemence.

"They don't. They deserve a peaceful life of finding their heart's desire in love, work, and friendship. They deserve to be able to do as they please and not want for anything." It was a setup, of course. Celestia looked at her sister and quirked an eyebrow. "Care to finish it?"

"Is it that our duty is to make sure they're able to do that?"

"Partly. The world is not as forgiving as we are, Luna, and some ponies recognize that. They realize that for everypony else to be safe and happy, they need to adjust their own destiny to one of protector. They need to be the shield and spear that stands between Equestria and the things that wish it to end."

"Like you?" Luna asked.

"Like both of us, both of them, and all the brave ponies in this room." Looking around the few Royal Guard present, Celestia gave each a smile all their own.

"And Twilight?"

"Has walked the path she has not because I put her on it, but because it was always hers. I may have nudged her a little from time to time, but that was never more than—"

"You pushed her in my way," Stepping around, Luna faced her sister straight on. "That was more than a nudge."

Celestia nodded. "Perhaps, but I was desperate, and Harmony showed me the way."

"A vision?" Luna asked, getting a nod. "Why did life get this complicated?"

"It was always this complicated, Luna. It wasn't until I was able to see past my own shadow that I realized that." Reaching out a foreleg, Celestia was relieved when Luna gathered her up in a hug. "I've been scared and alone for so long I wasn't sure I would be able to share. You've taught me that I can, and soon Twilight will show us both that we can let go."

"You, maybe. I have time I wish to catch up on, sister." Squeezing Celestia for all she was worth, Luna let out a happy sigh. "And I'd like my big sister along for a while yet—I have so much more to learn."

Author's Note:

Tufts: Do you ever regret giving up so much of your power?

"Not at all. Equestria has seen fit to give me enough magic to do some things still, for which I am thankful, but the bulk of my magic is back in Thestralia being used for good. Is this not what being alive is about?" Reaching to his back with a thumb, Tufts lifted Garawang up and under his wing. "To ensure that the world—or worlds in this case—are a better place for the next generation."

---

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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Comments

[Epyrios]

The part where Scoots meets Lyra again after the expedition has a doubled sentence:

"I don't need help like that, corporal." Lyra had a big grin despite the wording. "What's got you in Ponyville, Scoots?"

"I don't need help like that, corporal." Lyra had a big grin despite the wording. "What's got you in Ponyville, Scoots?"

Otherwise... A great chapter as usual.

[Bloody_Tofu]

As stated above. It’s nice to see there vulnerable side as well as their strengths.

You know Lyra is going to have a field day once Twilight gets wings.

[redmar]

This was an interesting chapter and I'm glad that the Timberwolves didn't cause more trouble.

[harts fire]

ok this is strange i found a ops in the story..

"I don't need help like that, corporal." Lyra had a big grin despite the wording. "What's got you in Ponyville, Scoots?"
"I don't need help like that, corporal." Lyra had a big grin despite the wording. "What's got you in Ponyville, Scoots?"

pretty sure you only need one of those.
ok back to the story now.

[harts fire]

amazing this chapter is amazing, and the hints of things that Destiny has planed vary interesting.

[Damaged]

11028950
11029288
Thanks! Ugh, this is why I shouldn't publish late at night. All fixed now!

[Booster Spice]

Thats a lot of bite against heavy metal plate. Then again, Everfree magic.

[harts fire]

11029350
it happens no big deal.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I do enjoy these background missions highlighting how all the pieces came into place by the time the canon camera settled on them. Now comes the question of how well Lyra can keep her mouth shut regarding Operation: Book Princess, but if she can handle Daring Do, she should be able to handle this. On that note…

To Daring, what are you thoughts on further collaboration with the Guard?

[Kiper]

"Stall them," Sweetie told Lyra.

This whole scene left me confused. Was it just so Sweetie could get some replacement armor, or did it have another reason that I haven't figured out?

[Damaged]

11063715 She wanted to appear in uniform as the commander of the mission, even if Celestia and Luna would have understood, I wanted this to show how naked she feels without it.

[tsaukpaetra]

Haha Sweetie basically has her identity in being a Guard.
Mission success, everypony came home intact!
A spicy coronation? Well since she didn't have a big ruckus at the gala we suppose that will do too.
Surprised there isn't a secret clique of Daring Do Confirmed And I'm Not Allowed To Tell You ponies. 😎