Twilight Sparkle found herself walking through the halls of Canterlot Castle, contemplating her morning of watching and observing. While there was no formal designation of "Apprentice Princess," it seemed a fitting way to describe Twilight's current "duties." With no experience in any formal leadership, Twilight was generally kept away from any important decisions, or even minor royal duties. She was, however, expected to observe the various meetings, decisions, and deliberations attended to by her close mentor, Princess Celestia. The idea was that by observing Celestia's work day, Twilight would get an early feel for the etiquette and general nature of ruling a nation. While sound in theory, Twilight still wondered if she was ready for such a responsibility; she didn't know what not to do, or which dilemmas she should prioritize, or how to handle whatever staff and subordinates she would have at her disposal, or...

*Whap!*

Twilight had found herself so worried about the duties of princesshood, that she had forgotten her duties as a quadruped in motion to look where she was going. Looking up, she saw an all too familiar yellow-orange face staring her back.

An awkward moment passed before either of the individuals seemed to process what had just happened. Eventually, a yellow-orange hoof was extended to the purple pony princess that was scandalously sprawled on the floor below.

Overcoming gravity and a sense of deja vu, Twilight found herself once more on her feet. The two exchanged embarrassed looks, a few nervous laughs, and a few awkward glances at each other. Not wanting to spend all day over a small physical kerfluffle, Flash Sentry decided to break the ice with his Twilight tested catch phrase, "We have got to stop bumping into each other like this." Twilight could only silently nod as the two ponies began to walk their separate ways.

Once she had made some distance from Flash, Twilight began to once again flood her mind with racing thoughts. Unlike her earlier thoughts, these thoughts were far less professional. She began to think about how odd she felt when around the otherwise nondescript Flash Sentry. How she found herself attracted to him.

"Well," thought Twilight, "he is fairly good looking, and..." all of a sudden Twilight found herself with the first mental blank she had drawn all day. Now that she thought about it, her feelings for him were fairly shallow and carnal. After all, the pony Flash Sentry wasn't the Flash Sentry she had spent any significant amount of time with. Was he just a hot piece of ass and a pretty face to her?

"Grrr," growled an exasperated Twilight, "what am I thinking, I've never been into guys before. And yet, I can't help thinking about this one. I've seen pictures of good looking stallions before, and even been around some, so why am I starting to lose my mind over this one."

Deciding to retreat to her guest room in the palace to collect her thoughts, Twilight closed the door behind her and laid down on her bed. As it stood, she had the rest of the day to herself, and no idea of how to spend it. With no work related distractions to ease her mind, her thoughts once again drifted to the source of her persistent lust.

"Alright, so I think he's handsome. I think Big Mac is handsome but I don't get worked up over him. What makes Flash different. Let's see, he is easy on the eyes, not a complete jerk, and a guard." Twilight realized that was all she knew about him. Knowing so many stallions with the first two traits forced her to consider the importance of the last part.

"Guards," said Twilight, "I guess I have a thing for guards. But why? Is it the uniform? No, I've seen guards my whole life and never cared. Maybe it's the standing still for long periods of time? No that's stupid. Is it the sense of sacrifice and duty? Dedicating their lives to serving the princesses and showing them devotion? Serving them faithfully? Carrying out their wishes even at personal discomfort?" Twilight began to feel a little warm as she pondered the guards' inherent submissiveness to their princesses. Flash's inherent submission to her.

This line of thought brought out a darker side to Twilight that had been long suppressed. Ever since she was a foal, Twilight had been something of a control freak. One of the reasons she had avoided socialization in her youth was that ponies were a somewhat unpredictable lot. And while they still possessed free will and personality, guards were, at least on duty, very predictable. They had a schedule, they had assigned duties, they worked to a specific code of conduct, they all wore a uniform that designated a particular duty, and they all had a particular hierarchy they adhered too. A hierarchy Twilight was now at the top of for all intents and purposes. In fact, Flash was the first new guard to join the palace roster since Twilight's ascension. The first guard to have only known duty with Twilight as one of his sovereigns. The first guard to completely and truly be HER guard. At least that was how Twilight was beginning to see it. All the other guards knew her as "Celestia's Intern." Flash only knew her as Princess Twilight Sparkle. In that regard, he was special, not just another guard.

"Of course, he is also special in another way," Twilight spat out with a hint of anger, "no other guard has consistently been in a collision with their charges." If Flash represented a new era marked by Twilight's Princesshood, then Twilight's tenure as a fully empowered member of the royal house signaled a decline in standards, quality, and discipline. Rather than find herself utterly horrified at the very prospect, Twilight instead found herself sensing opportunity. "A princess helps rule Equestria," pondered Twilight, "and that mostly means solving problems and making sure everything is running smoothly." Twilight would prove that her reign was not to be a disastrous and rushed mistake by solving the current discipline problem infecting the royal guard. If Flash was HER guard, then it was HER responsibility to solve the problem he represented.

With her mind made up, Twilight began heading toward the entrance to the dungeon. For it was there that disciplinary action relating to the Royal Guard was carried out (about the only real use the entire facility was ever really used for barring extreme cases). Twilight didn't want to rush in to her first foray as an acting Princess of Equestria. She would review the tools and amenities at her disposal, read a few books concerning proper punishment, and form a thorough, well thought out plan by which she could make her mark as an administrator worth of the royal house. After which she would schedule a time to perform her duties, prepare the chamber she had chosen for the task at hand, and, last but not least, issue a summons for Flash Sentry to meet her at the designated time and place.

Author's Note

This chapter sets the mood. Next chapter starts the clop. If you want the latter, check out the next one.