Chapter 10: Twilight's Other Brother and the Guard's Secret
Sunset was lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, bored out of her mind. Shining Armor had decided to put a pause on their magic training ever since Starlight decimated a part of the garden, so after school and her lessons with Celestia, she had absolutely nothing to do.
“I thought lazing around would be fun, but this is driving me nuts,” Sunset mumbled, turning onto her side. She faced towards her door. After a moment, she sighed and slowly got out of her bed.
Making her way to the door, she opened it slightly, sunlight leaking through the slit. She hissed as it hit her eyes, blinking multiple times, trying to adjust to the brightness.
“I should really open my window more often,” Sunset muttered as she walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. A slight breeze ran through her coat, mixing well with the warm rays of the sun.
Sunset continued on, trotting towards the castle and through the halls. She wandered around with no destination, mindlessly wandering around the castle. She passed by castle staff and guards, exchanging brief greetings.
“I wonder what Twilight’s up to,” Sunset mindlessly said out loud.
“She’s probably taking care of Spike right about now,” a stallion chuckled, turning the corner.
“Woah!” Sunset slightly jumped back a little, surprised at the sudden appearance of Twilight’s brother. “Oh, it’s just you.”
Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “Good to see you too, Sunset.”
“Good to see you too buddy,” Sunset smirked, nudging him playfully. “Anyways, you said Twilight’s probably with Spike?”
“Yup,” Shining Armor nodded. “She’s most likely in her room reading him a book or something like that.”
“And where would her room be?” Sunset asked.
Shining Armor cocked an eyebrow.“You don’t even know where her room is?”
“We usually hangout in my room or the garden,” Sunset shrugged. “I’ve never seen her room before.”
“Well she actually doesn’t have a room per se,” Shining Armor said. “Rather, she has a whole tower to herself. Kind of like you.”
“Does Celestia just give all her students their own tower or something?” Sunset chuckled.
Shining Armor chuckled along with her. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“So where’s her tower?”
“It’s in the south wing, just past the library,” Shining Armor directed her. “It’s a pretty tall tower so you can’t miss it.”
Sunset grinned. “How convenient for her, being right next to the library.”
“I think Celestia took that into account when assigning her a living space,” Shining Armor sighed. “Although, her room was already filled with bookshelves lined with books.”
“So she has her own little library in her room? How fitting.”
“That’s what my parents said,” Shining Armor chuckled. “Are you going to head over there now?”
Sunset nodded. “I’ve been bored out of my mind ever since we put a pause on magic practice. I have so much free time I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Celestia’s lessons are time consuming, no?” Shining Armor tilted his head.
“Depends on the day,” Sunset shrugged. “Sometimes they take hours, sometimes just a couple minutes.”
“What do you even do in a couple minutes?”
“Well she basically just tells me to read up on something before the next lessons, and dismisses me,” Sunset explained. “She said she doesn't like to have short lessons like that, but sometimes she’s just too busy with ruler stuff.”
“Running a nation is just a little hard,” Shining Armor grinned.
Sunset grinned back. “Just a little.”
“So I’m guessing today was one of those short lessons?”
“Yeah,” Sunset sighed. “Something about Ponyville, the Everfree Forest, and timberwolves.”
“I briefly remember Captain telling me about some issues down in Ponyville,” Shining Armor said. “I guess it’s a bigger problem than I thought, if Celestia has to get involved.”
“I guess so.”
“Well, I shouldn’t keep you any longer,” Shining Armor said. “Plus, I have to report to the Captain soon.”
“Alright!” Sunset smiled. “Say hi to him for me.”
“Will do,” Shining Armor nodded before heading towards the guard’s quarters.
Sunset turned towards the south wing, making the trek towards Twilight’s “room.” As usual, she passed some guards and castle staff, eventually arriving at the south wing. This area was where a lot of the storage was. The treasury and artifact vault were the most important among the rooms.
Sunset wandered around, looking at all the rooms. There was occasionally a bedroom, but she couldn’t seem to find the tower.
“You can’t miss it…” Sunset muttered to herself.
“What are you doing in the south wing, Sunset?” somepony called out to her from behind.
Sunset turned around to see a familiar face down the hall.
“Moonlight!” Sunset trotted over to her. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Heh, yeah,” Moonlight rubbed the back of her neck. “Being night patrol and all, I don’t really do much during the day.”
“Wait, is that why you’re absent for O&O so often?”
Moonlight sheepishly grinned. “Yup. I’m probably still sleeping when you guys are playing.”
“You miss out on sleep to play then sometimes?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Oh man, I would never take a night shift anywhere,” Sunset sighed.
“Don’t knock it till you try it,” Moonlight said. “It’s kind of relaxing, even if I’m supposed to be alert and all.”
“Uh huh…”
“Anyways, as I said earlier, what are you doing in the south wing? There’s not really anything that interesting down here.” Moonlight asked. “I mean, the libraries down here! Talk about booooring.”
“Don’t let Twilight hear you say that,” Sunset snickered. “But that’s what I’m doing down here, looking for Twilight’s room.”
“Do you know what area it’s in? I might be able to guide you there.”
“Apparently it’s just past the library,” Sunset said. “Shining Armor said it’s a large tower that nopony can miss.”
“Wait, Twilight stays in that tower? I did not know that,” Moonlight tapped her chin. “I know where it is, follow me!” Moonlight said before walking down the hall.
“Sounds good!” Sunset said, walking close behind her.
Sunset and Moonlight walked through the halls, passing guards and some of the royal scholars. Moonlight would often greet the male guards with a wink or smile, even sometimes putting a little more sway in her hips.
“Do you flirt with every guard?” Sunset snickered.
“Yes, yes I do,” Moonlight winked, a mischievous grin on her face. “It’s kind of fun to see their reactions. Someponies get flusters, while some flirt back. It’s like a guessing game, trying to figure out how they’ll react before I do anything.”
“And why do you do that?”
“Well I just said it was fun,” Moonlight said. “But also because it helps pass the time and strikes up conversations.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sunset nodded. “I can’t imagine having to just walk around for hours on end.”
“It doesn’t really bother me anymore, but when I first started I almost died of boredom everyday.”
“Definitely not the job for me, that’s for sure,” Sunset chuckled.
“Yup,” Moonlight simply said.
They continued their way into a very large courtyard. It was large enough to have separate buildings inside of it, one of them being the library. Right behind it was a tall tower.
“I’m guessing that’s where Twilight stays,” Sunset pointed at the tower.
“Well if what Shiny said was true, then yes, it would be where Twilight stays.”
“Did you just call him Shiny?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “He hates it when I do that.”
“He doesn’t seem to mind it,” Moonlight smirked. “But Cadance does.”
Sunset frowned. “You know they’re dating, right?”
Moonlight rolled her eyes.“Of course I do, they make it so obvious. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try anything. I don’t even like Shiny like that.”
“Uh huh…” Sunset nodded slowly. “Well, I’m going to go to Twilight. You wanna come along?”
“Nah, I have to go meet up with my lieutenant soon,” Moonlight sighed. “There’s a big meeting today with all the branches.”
“I was wondering why you were up.”
“Guess you found out without even asking,” Moonlight chuckled. “Well, I’ll start heading there now. See you around, and hopefully at O&O sometime.”
Sunset waved as Moonlight walked away back towards the main castle.
“Well, guess I’ll go check what Twilight’s up to,” Sunset said as she turned around, looking towards the tower.
Trotting over to the entrance, she groaned as she saw the large amount of stairs leading up to the entrance. She begrudgingly started climbing them, eventually reaching the top.
“How does Twilight do this everyday?” Sunset mumbled. “Maybe I’m just out of shape…”
After catching her breath, she knocked on the door. A few moments later, she heard a faint voice.
“Coming!”
Followed by some trotting then loud thumps, almost if somepony was falling down a flight of stairs.
“Ow…” Sunset heard the filly say. “I really have to watch my step, huh Spike?”
“Uh… you okay Twilight?” Sunset called through the door. “I heard some loud noises.”
Twilight slightly opened the door, peeping through the slit. “Sunset! What are you doing here?”
“Just dropping by to hang out,” Sunset said. “I got kind of bored doing nothing.”
“O-Oh okay!” Twilight nodded, unlatching the chain and fully opening the door. “Come on in. It might be a little messy because I was playing with Spike and reading.”
Sunet shrugged. “I don’t expect a filly’s room to be tidy anyways.”
“It’s tidy most of the time,” Twilight frowned. “You just happened to come when it’s messy.”
“Uh huh…” Sunset nodded slowly, walking into the tower. Looking around the spacious room, Sunset whistled. “Quite the place you have here.”
“It’s a little too big for me,” Twilight said, closing the door behind her. “But I’m happy because I can store more books here!”
“Shining Armor did mention you had your own library in here…” Sunset mindlessly said, still looking around.
The tower’s first floor was very spacious, only a few pieces of furniture spread around. There was a bed tucked into a corner with a night stand and plant. Oddly enough there was a balcony right next to the bed with no door. Opposite to her bed was another balcony, with once again no door. Right in the middle of the room was a table with four chairs, lots of books, quills, and scrolls scattered on it.
“Why do you have two balconies?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “And why do they have no doors?”
“I don’t really know,” Twilight shrugged. “I just put a curtain over them most of the time, especially if it's too hot or cold.”
“How about if it’s too windy?”
Twilight smiled. “I just nail them down.”
“That’s why there’s cracks in the wall…” Sunset shook her head. “What about upstairs?”
“That’s my favorite place! C’mon follow me,” Twilight said, excitedly running up. Sunset opted to walk up the stairs instead.
Reaching the top, Sunset stood there, eyes wide.
“They were not lying, this place really is a library.”
There were at least six bookshelves, lined with all kinds of texts. One one of the shelves were incredibly tall, needing a roughly twelve foot ladder just to reach the top. The other shelves were overhead, built into the wall that was underneath a balcony. It seemed the ladder was also used for these shelves.
“I do like reading after all,” Twilight giggled.
Sunset sighed. “Like is an understatement.”
A burp and coo caught Sunset’s attention. She turned towards the source of the noise, finding a baby dragon on the floor, sucking on his own tail.
“I’m going to guess that’s Spike,” Sunset eyed the dragon.
“How do you know his name?” Twilight tilted her head. “I never told you, did I?”
“Celestia and Shining Armor mentioned him once or twice,” Sunset simply said.
Twilight levitated the baby dragon onto her back. “Well then, Spike, meet Sunset. You know, the pony I talk to you about.”
Spike stopped sucking on his tail and stared at Sunset. He cooed once again, smiling at the Sunset.
“Aww aren’t you a cutie,” Sunset said, rubbing his cheeks.
“He’s so cute!” Twilight chirped. “Except when he burps fire. That’s a little scary.”
“Wait, he burps fire?” Sunset backed up cautiously. “Isn’t that, like, really dangerous? Especially in an enclosed area like here?”
Twilight shrugged. “Celestia put a fireproofing spell on almost everything in here. She even stationed some firefighters nearby just in case.”
Sunset nodded slowly. “So it should be safe?”
“Yup!” Twilight grinned. “There was this one time he set a book on fire though. It wasn’t fireproof because I got it from the library.”
“Sounds real safe…” Sunset muttered.
Spike wailed his small arms around, the smile still on his face.
Sunset sighed. “I guess it’s alright since he’s cute.”
“I was pretty mad at him at first because he destroyed a book, but Celestia told me that he can’t control his fire at such a young age so it’s to be expected,” Twilight said. “Though, I was still a little sad. I even buried the ashes in the garden.”
Sunset chuckled. “So that’s why there’s that random gravestone in the garden.”
“Uh huh!” Twilight nodded.
“So what do you usually do with Spike?” Sunset asked.
“Well most of the time I just read him books,” Twilight said, levitating him down on the ground. “He just sits there babbling while I read. Occasionally he claps his little hands together and coos, especially if I’m reading something interesting!”
“What kind of books do you read to him?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow.
“Oh you know, spell books, ancient tomes, things like that.”
Sunset’s face deadpanned. “I don’t think he understands a thing you're saying then.”
Just then, Spike frowned, glaring at Sunset.
“I beg to differ,” Twilight grinned, motioning towards the baby dragon. “See? He reacted to what you just said!”
“Maybe he’s just grumpy?” Sunset said.
Spike’s frown deepened, shaking his head.
“Huh, I guess he really does understand us,” Sunset acknowledged. “He doesn’t talk though?”
“He occasionally repeats a word I say while reading while babbling,” Twilight said. “I’m sure in a couple months he’ll be able to talk just fine!”
“Can he even walk?”
“He can waddle a few steps before falling, but that’s progress!”
“He really is just like a foal,” Sunset said. “Expect the whole fire burp thing.”
The baby dragon babbled a bit before yawning, his eyes semi-closed.
“Aww are you tired Spike?” Twilight nuzzled him. “We did read a lot and you didn’t even have your nap yet!”
Sunset chuckled. “Wait, he has a scheduled nap as well?”
Twilight nodded.“Celestia told me that babies need their rest to grow, so I have wrote down a whole schedule for him.”
“Huh, how interesting,” Sunset simply said.
“We’re a bit off schedule so maybe that’s why he’s more tired than usual,” Twilight said, observing the baby dragon who was on the verge of falling asleep. Twilight levitated him into a small basket, gently placing him down into the soft blanket.
“Sweet dreams,” Twilight whispered to Spike, who was already fast asleep.
“So you’re kind of like his mom?” Sunset asked, looking down at the sleeping dragon.
“I think of myself more as his big sister,” Twilight smiled. “And he’s my little brother.”
“He probably thinks of you as his mom if I’m being honest here,” Sunset chuckled.
“I guess you’re right…” Twilight pondered it. “I’m too young to be a mom though!”
“Well duh.”
“So now that Spike's asleep, we should do something!” Twilight changed the topic.
“What should we do?” Sunset asked.
“Read a book?” Twilight grinned.
“That’s the only thing you ever want to do,” Sunset chuckled. “How about we go on a little walk? Pay a visit to some of our guard friends.”
“As long as we aren’t out for too long,” Twilight looked back at Spike. “I have to be back once Spike wakes up.”
“How long does he usually nap?”
“About two hours.”
“We’ve got some time then,” Sunset said, walking towards the stairs. “C’mon, let’s go!”
“O-Okay!” Twilight ran after Sunset who was already halfway down the stairs.
Sunset and Twilight walked through the halls of the castle. Their destination was the guards quarters.
“Think we’ll find Sharp Arrow?” Twilight asked.
Sunset looked at the filly. “How do you know Sharp Arrow?”
“Him and Shiny would be together a lot,” Twilight said. “Something about training him to become the next Captain. He’s super nice!”
“He is nice…” Sunset smiled. “He let me off the hook one time when he caught me practicing magic by myself.”
Twilight gasped. “A student usually gets suspended or even expelled if somepony finds them doing that!”
“It was probably because I’m Celestia’s student,” Sunset laughed. “He did scold me though, so I wasn’t let off scot free.”
“You basically were!”
Sunset shrugged. “Guess I’m lucky.”
The two continued through the uncharacteristically empty halls. There were less guards than usual.
Twilight looked around her. “Where are all the guards?”
“Moonlight told me that the guards had some sort of meeting going on,” Sunset said. “I wonder what the meeting’s about.”
“Let’s go find out!” Twilight grinned, galloping down the hall.
“Hey, wait up!” Sunset called after her, galloping behind her.
The two ran through the halls, making it to the guard’s quarters. Twilight finally slowed down, standing in front of a giant double door. Sunset eventually caught up to her, slowing down. Panting hard, she stopped right next to Twilight.
“How are you not tired?” Sunset groaned.
“Walking up and down my tower’s stairs everyday really helped,” Twilight giggled. “But look, we’re here!”
Twilight looked up to the doors. “Where are we exactly?”
“Where they’re holding the meeting!”
Sunset tilted her head. “How do you know they were here? Aren’t there a lot of meeting halls in the guard’s quarters, let alone the castle.”
“I asked one of the guards when we were running here.”
Sunset was even more confused. “I didn’t see you stop once though?”
“Okay, maybeeee I didn’t ask him…” Twilight grinned. “I may or may not have read his mind.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Sunset weakly laughed. “What can’t you do?”
“Cook!” Twilight chirped.
“Good to know,” Sunset rolled her eyes, getting closer to the door. She put her hoof against it, opening up just a little crack. Peeking an eye through, she scanned the room.
“What do you see?” Twilight whispered.
“Uhhh… just a bunch of guards standing around,” Sunset relayed back. “I don’t think the meeting has even started. They’re kind of just chatting with each other.”
“Let me take a look!”
Sunset moved out of the way slightly, allowing Twilight to peek in with her. They both looked around the room. The guards were still all in their armor, standing around. Directly across from the door was a stage with a microphone, a couple of ponies standing up there as well.
“I think I see Sharp Arrow,” Sunset squinted. “Is that him on the far left of the stage?”
Twilight moved her eyes towards the left side, spotting a white-coated stallion with gray armor.
“That’s definitely him,” Twilight said. “I can recognize that armor from anywhere.”
“I think that’s your brother right next to him as well.”
Looking at the other white-coated stallion right next to Sharp Arrow, Twilight nodded. “It is Shiny!”
“Shhh!” Sunset looked down at Twilight.
Twilight weakly laughed. “Sorry.”
They continued to watch as the guards just continued to talk amongst themselves. Some would occasionally look up to the stage.
“What are they meeting about?” Twilight asked.
Sunset was about to reply when the majority of the lights in the room turned off, only the stage lit up.
“I think it’s starting,” Sunset said.
Sharp Arrow walked to the center of the stage where the microphone was, smiling at everypony there. He waited till all the murmuring quieted down before clearing his throat.
“I gathered all of you here today because there is something serious happening soon,” He paused dramatically, the room deathly quiet. Anxiety and dread filled some of the guards.
“There is a very important event just on the horizon. You may be wondering what could be so important that I would have to summon almost every guard in the castle, and some of you may be getting the jitters just from hearing this, but I can assure you that everything is just fine.”
Relieved sighs filled the room.
“However!” Sharp Arrow quickly said. “We cannot be complacent. We must act now, and make sure that we do it quietly.”
“General Sharp Arrow, stop teasing them so much,” Sharp Edge rolled his eyes. “Can’t you see you’re scaring some of the noobies?”
“Yeah, just get to the point,” Thunder Sparks chuckled loudly. “It’s not like it’s anything dangerous.”
Sharp Arrow sighed. “Really you two?”
“I also agree with them,” Shining Armor said. “I think we should just let them know what’s happening. It isn’t good to make them uneasy.”
“Fine, fine,” Sharp Arrow said. “As I said before, don’t worry, nothing bad is happening. There is something big, and that is…”
Sharp Arrow paused, nodding at some ponies on the side of the stage. They nodded back, and pulled down two ropes.
Behind the curtain that fell was a portrait of Celestia, as well as a long banner.
“Princess Celestia’s birthday!”
“Wait, that’s it?!” Sunset shouted a little too loudly.
“Uh oh,” Twilight said as they watched two guards rush towards the door. “Should we run?”
“That would just make us more suspicious,” Sunset said. “Plus, it’s not like we’re spies or anything. The most trouble we’ll get in is an earful from Shiny or Sharp Arrow.”
“I guess you’re right,” Twilight said, sitting down. Sunset opted to just stand back a bit, watching the door fling open.
“Who’s there?” a dark gray coated guard yelled, looking at the two mares. “Oh, it’s just you two.”
“Who is it?” A white coated guard asked, stepping into the hall.
“Just Celestia’s students,” the first guard casually remarked. “You two spyin’ on us, huh?”
“We got a little curious,” Twilight sheepishly smiled.
Sunset sighed. “I thought this meeting was for something super important, but it’s just for Celestia’s birthday?”
The two guards gasped in horror. “What do you mean ‘just’ Celestia’s birthday?!” The dark gray coated guard shouted.
“I mean everypony has a birthday, what makes hers so special?”
“Sunset, she’s kind of the ruler of Equestria,” Twilight reminded her.
“Oh yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sunset rubbed her chin. “Eh, still doesn’t make much of a difference to me.”
“I’m going back inside to report what happened to Captain Sharp Arrow,” the dark gray coated said, trotting back into the hall.
“Well unlike you, we guards take her birthday very seriously,” the white coated guard said pridefully. “She’s kind of like our work mom to be honest.”
Sunset tilted her head. “What does that even mean?”
“Well, since we don’t really go home too often we don’t get to see our families,” he started to explain. “We kind of grew attached to her.”
“That sounds kind of weird,” Sunset stifled a snicker.
“It’s not weird!” He denied her. “She’s not only kind to us, looking after us and all that. She even remembers all our names! Do you know how many guards there are?”
“A lot, I would hope,” Twilight chirped.
“Yes, there is a lot,” the guard nodded. “She shows interest in our passions, and she’s even bigger than us! It just seems natural to see her as a motherly figure, and since we see her as our mom, we want to protect her more!”
Twilight nodded, thinking of Celestia. “I fully agree.”
“Well I can kind of see where you’re coming from…” Sunset said. “I bet some of you even called her mom by accident.”
“Oh, we have,” he chuckled. “I think even Lieutenant Shining Armor and Captain Sharp Arrow slipped up once or twi-.”
The guard suddenly shouted, a loud slapping noise echoing through the hall.
“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone outside of the guard, Private Sundance.”
Twilight and Sunset turned their attention to the pony responsible for the slap, seeing Shining Armor glaring at the guard.
“Shiny!” Twilight shouted, running up and hugging his forelegs.
“Hey there Twily,” he said, his glare instantly vanishing. He locked her head in between one of his forelegs, nooging her. “You’ve been spying on us, huh?”
“W-We weren’t spying! We were just watching without permission,” Twilight said, trying to pull herself free from his grip.
“I think that’s spying,” he chuckled, finally relenting. Twilight stumbled back a bit and started fixing her mane. “Good to see you again too, Sunset.”
“Yeah, good to see you,” she paused. “Shiny.”
“Ugh, not in front of the guards,” Shining Armor hissed. “What did I tell you about calling me that anyways?”
“That you love it?” Sunset smirked.
Shining Armor groaned. “No, that’s not what I said at all! I told you not to.”
“That’s not what I remember,” Sunset said, feigning ignorance.
“Do what you want,” Shining Armor sighed, giving up on her. “So I’m guessing you two know why we’re having this meeting?”
“Celestia’s birthday!” Twilight answered.
Shining nodded. “It’s a very important event for everypony in the castle, so don’t mess it up for us.”
“How would we do that?” Sunset cocked her eyebrow. “Actually, why would we do that? We both like Celestia. For the most part.” She mumbled the last part under her breath.
“Hm?” Shining Armor narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”
“You don’t have to worry,” Sunset smiled. “I promise I won’t do anything to mess up whatever you all have planned. Mainly because it would be a pain to face both the guards and Celestia’s wraith.”
“I’ll take your word for it…” Shining Armor hesitantly said. “I guess since you both already know, we can let you in on what we’re going to do. But you have to keep it a secret from Celestia, you got it?”
“Ooo… a secret!” Twilight said. “I like secrets.”
“Got it,” Sunset nodded.
“Alright, come on in,” Shining Armor turned around, walking into the meeting hall. Sunset and Twilight followed behind him.
They made their way to the stage with Shining, standing next to the higher ranking officers. Some guards would glance over to them, but most of their attention was on Sharp Arrow, who stood in the middle.
“Alright, now where was I?”
“You just revealed that Celestia’s birthday is coming up!” Somepony from the crowd shouted.
“Ah, thank you very much Silver Shine,” Sharp Arrow said. “Now, well know how important Celestia’s birthday is for us guards…”
Sharp Arrow continued on about how important Celestia’s birthday was to them, the guards cheering.. Meanwhile, Sunset rubbed her chin, contemplating something.
“Did he just call that pony by name?” she asked, turning to Shining.
“Well duh,” Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “Captain Sharp Arrow tries to remember every guard’s name. He usually recognizes them by voice rather than face though.”
“That’s actually kind of impressive,” Sunset said. “Everypony must respect him alot.”
“Indeed we do,” Shining Armor nodded.
“Alright, let me explain what we’re going to do this year,” Sharp Arrow said, finally finishing up the importance of Celestia’s birthday. “This year we’re going to throw her a surprise party!”
The guards erupted into cheers.
“Settle down everypony,” Sharp Arrow smiled. “I know we’re all excited but we have to keep it low-key, remember? We don’t want any other pony to know besides us and the kitchen staff.
“Not all the castle staff know?” A guard shouted.
“Nope, only the kitchen staff because they’re catering it, as always. We’re responsible for decorating it this year, so if you are artsy please stay after the meeting is adjourned.”
There were a couple murmurs among the crowd that quickly died out.
“That’s pretty much everything for today. I just wanted to let everypony know what we’re up to this year for Celestia’s birthday,” Sharp Arrow announced. “We’ll be having more meetings in the near future, so please try and keep your schedules open. If nopony has any questions or concerns, you may all return back to your duties.”
Sharp Arrow stepped away from the center of the stage while the guards filed out of the room. Some guards lingered, walking closer to the stage.
“Oh, what brings you two here?” Sharp Arrow asked, his attention on Sunset and Twilight.
Sunset shrugged. “Just trying to not be bored.”
“We were also a little curious!” Twilight added.
“I’m sure Lieutenant Shining already asked you not to tell Celestia, so I’m not going to pester you two about that,” Sharp Arrow laughed. “Though I will ask if you would like to join us in decorations. If you don’t want to do that, I have a special job I could use some help with.”
“I’m not very artsy, so I’ll have to pass on decorating,” Sunset mumbled. “Celestia would probably ask which foal helped…”
“Something special? That sounds fun!” Twilight chirped. “What is it?”
“Well, we want to get a special gift and cake for Celestia, but we have no idea what to get for both of them,” Sharp Arrow sighed. “With her being the ruler of Equestria, there’s almost nothing she can’t get, and I’m sure you already know her knowledge on cake is quite extensive.”
“Scarily extensive,” Sunset chuckled. “So you want us to find a special cake and gift for her?”
“Since you’re her personal students, I figured it’d be a little easier for you two to figure out something she’d want.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Twilight said. “Let’s do it!”
“Eh, why not,” Sunset shrugged. “We’re in I guess.”
“Glad to hear it,” Sharp Arrow smiled. “Now, if you two need help feel free to come to me or Lieutenant Shining. We’ll try our best to help out.”
“You heard him,” Sunset shrugged, nudging Shining’s side.
“Well, I’m going to gauge these guard’s abilities in decorations, so I’ll be leaving first.”
Sharp Arrow stepped down from the stage, gathering the ponies around him. He quickly gave little talk to them before they all followed him out of the room.
Now the only ponies left in the large meeting hall were Sunset, Twilight, Shining, and Moonlight.
“So I guess that’s that,” Sunset said. “That little adventure was fun.”
“Didn’t think I’d see you so soon,” Moonlight chuckled.
“Why are you still here?” Shining cocked an eyebrow, staring Moonlight down.
“Woah, stop looking at me like that,” Moonlight winked at the stallion, a smirk on her face. “Your marefriend might get jealous.”
Shining Armor sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah, whatever…”
“You’re no fun anymore,” Moonlight frowned. “You used to get so flustered whenever I teased you. Now look at you! So boring.”
“Anyways…” Shining Armor cleared his throat. “I think we should be getting back to work. Am I right, Moonlight?”
“Yes sir,” Moonlight saluted playfully, a large grin on her face.
Rolling his eyes at her, he turned his attention to Twilight and Sunset. “You two should probably start thinking of some things to get Princess Celestia. Especially that cake.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Sunset said. “We have the list master right here!”
Twilight looked up at Sunset, confused. “Am I the list master?”
Sunset chuckled. “Yes, yes you are.”
“Cool!” Twilight chirped.
“Well, if you two got it down, I’ll leave you two,” Shining said. “Moonlight, go get some rest. You still have the night shift, you know.”
“Yes sir,” She said with a little less enthusiasm. She grudgingly walked out the hall with Shining Armor.
Sunset looked over at Twilight.“So,what should we do now?”
“Make a list?”
Sunset nodded. “Want to go to your room?”
Twilight grinned. “Yup!”
So this chapter is more of a set-up for the next. It's quite the fluff chapter to be honest, but I still had blast writing it. Also, if you want to understand why I wrote the guards viewing Celestia as their mother, I woud suggest reading the fanfiction:
"Thanks, Mom." by naturalbornderpy
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/333395/thanks-mom
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you in the next! 
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This was very good. I loved Spike's introduction to the story.
"Thanks, Mom" was a really sweet story. Love that you are taking that idea for your story to do more with it. Moonlight... as in the Moonlight Raven girl from like season 5 or 6? I like her
who knows... she might teach Twilight how to playfully flirt with stallions... no wait that would look so weird have you not seen her dance 
Yes, Spike is a lot more aware than other babies. Same for Flurry Heart as well. Can't wait for Spike to be the voice of reason and might become best friends with Sunset.
Oh no.... SUNSET!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!! That is how Twilight became the list master... now we all be doomed...
Hope to see colts like Flash and Timber Spruce since they are both Twilight's and Sunset's crushes/boyfriends from the EG films? Too bad they never continue it sadly because next film would have the human Sunset as the villain.
Edit: Oh maybe Twilight meets Timber like the film at the Everfree camp which she will meet Applejack since she was there before. That would be a twist.
Celestia is mom to all, though I'm kinda surprised Sunset doesn't feel that way. Too cool for a mother figure?
11251145
Hehe, very true!
11253509
Hmmm maybe? We'll just have to wait and see.
11262464
I loved "Thanks, Mom" when I first read it, and it popped into my mind while I was writing this chapter. Also, Moonlight is an OC I created who is one of the guards they play O&O with! She is quite flirty, but I don't know if she'll teach Twilight that. If anything, Twilight would teach herself or better yet, not even be interested in that kind of thing!
Spike is always so reasonable, at least when it didn't come to Rarity. I really liked him as a character, espcially in later season. I wish that they did a bit more for Flurry Heart though.
We were doomed from the start. Twilight would've became the list master even if Sunset didn't say anything.
I did want to add Flash Sentry eventually, but probably as a student at the school!
11262553
I think she's just hiding the fact she views Celestia as a mother
11267467
They could had done more with Flurry Heart. Like the show seems to really hint the fact she probably understands more going on when she was first born then any other baby. Have you read “Flurry Hearts Story” series by AleximusPrime? It’s a really good sequel series to the ending of S9 and makes it way much better and MLP like.
I don’t see Flash being in the same school with the unicorns since well this school at the time only focus on Unicorns. It would be interesting for Twilight to get her crush of Flash at that young age trying to figure it out with books 📚
11267588
No I haven’t read that yet, but it sounds adorable and awesome! I’ll take a look soon
And whoops! I totally forgot Flash Sentry was a pegasus
He’d probably be hanging out in the barracks then since he became a guard, huh?
11267852
Probably yea or at least Shining Armor might give a tour to new students to see what being a guard is all about?
Here is a link to the Flurry Hearts Story
I think i read that one before, interesting take on the guards
so cute Mommy Twilight, even if she is to young, it is still cute