Luna walked down the corridor to Celestia's room. She had allowed Midnight to take a night off with Octavia, ostensibly for him to properly recover from his breakdown, but more so that she could find out what had happened to him to plant the seeds in his mind. She opened the door to Celestia's room to find her sitting on her bed, a box open beside her. She looked up.

"Come in Luna. I have been expecting you."

Her voice was calm, but tense. Luna could sense something else, but it was something defined only by the way it couldn't be defined. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside her sister and the box.

"I noticed the breakdown that Midnight Guardian had. I expected you sooner, but I suppose that you didn't want to hurt him by letting him know what you were doing."

Luna nodded, keeping her mouth closed.

"He is a hero Luna. The things that he has done for Equestria..."

Celestia's voice trailed off. She looked down, tears filling her eyes. Looking up, into Luna's eyes, she said, in a voice so serious that Luna shook inside, "He is the greatest hero that Equestria has ever had. You must always remember that. He has saved this country so many times..."

She stopped again, her vehemence melting in the tears. Luna looked confused, her head reeling at the thought of Midnight being a hero. Surely Equestria hadn't been to war. There was no possible way... She voiced the thought. Celestia laughed harshly, the strangeness of her emotion eating to Luna's core.

"No Luna. Equestria has never been to war. That is why Midnight Guardian is a hero. You thought that his name was because he protected you. He has protected much more than one princess. I have no doubt that if it wasn't for him, all of Equestria might not be here."

Luna reeled back at the sheer suggestion. Surely, Celestia couldn't be serious, although the look in her eyes seemed to suggest it. Celestia pushed the box forwards, sliding it over to Luna. She picked a piece of paper off of the top and handed it to Luna. Luna began to read.

August 14, 989

Location classified

Indictment order for Sgt Midnight Guardian into the Equestrian special operations group. Report for selection and training to E 22 N 58 at 1700. You will be picked up there. Tell no one where you are going. This is classified level 1.

General Lightning

Luna let the paper drop to the bed. ESOG was real, or had been real. The mythical general Lightning was real. And Midnight had been a part of it. She looked into the box. Slotted inside were DVD's and crystals. Luna looked up at Celestia. Celestia responded by picking up a crystal and casting a spell. Luna felt her mind go blank.

The pegasi were dressed in black, helmets covered their heads, the dark shape of the helicopter followed them down as they ran overwatch on the area. I stood on the helicopter, holding my helmet pressed to my side. I looked down at the twenty mares and stallions waiting below. They seemed so small, their mouths open in shock. Helicopter technology had been a well kept secret for close to 100 years. Slowly, it descended, the wind whipping around the ponies on the ground. The pegasi had trained with helicopters and were able to maintain their flight control. I had trained them personally. The helicopter was only a few feet off of the ground now and so I jumped off, braced for landing and retained my hooves in front of the new recruits. Their mouths were still open. All of them, except for one, a young stallion in the front of the group.

He was a unicorn, dark, a blade as a cutie mark. A deep navy blue colour would be good in his new line of work, if he made it. But this was usually how it worked. Those who retained composure at the first sight of a helicopter would almost always pass basic training. As the helicopter lands behind me, my aide jumps out. I turned to him, speaking just loudly enough for him to hear me over the noise of the helicopter, but not loudly enough for the other ponies to hear.

"What is the name of that navy blue unicorn in the front row?"

My aide looked at the unicorn, then consulted his paperwork.

"Sergeant Guardian sir, Sergeant Midnight Guardian."

"I think he will do well."

"His scores are good sir, but anypony can fail."

"I know."

I turned back to the ponies arrayed before me. They dressed ranks, kit bags over some shoulders. Others hadn't packed. It was like this every year.

"Listen up!" I shouted. "You all belong to me now. If you pass training, you will become part of ESOG. If you fail, your memory of this rendez-vous will be wiped and you will be sent home. This is your only chance. There are no return attempts. You have only this one chance. If you blow it in training, same thing. If you think that you will not succeed, leave now."

There was some milling about then. Some turned and began to walk, two unicorns in black fatigues teleported in front of the group and cast the memory removal spell. They also put them into a deep sleep. I surveyed the mingling ponies and found one pair of eyes. They were looking straight into mine. It was unnerving. I recognised the pony instantly. It was Midnight Guardian.

Luna jerked back, her head recoiling from the unnatural memory. She looked up at Celestia, who simply replaced the crystal in the box.

"M- memories," stammered Luna. "They contain memories?"

Celestia nodded. Luna looked into the box. There were dozens of crystals in the box. Dozens of memories, all of them about Midnight and all after he had joined ESOG.

"The other boxes will be in your room. This is the spell to access the memories."

Celestia's horn flared again, and the memory of casting the spell, focusing on the feeling of the spell appeared in Luna's mind. She knew how to cast the spell now. Looking up at Celestia, she simply nodded.

"Go then, sister. I will watch for tonight. Go to your room and find the truth about your loyal guard."

Author's Note

There is the first chapter about Midnight Guardian's backstory. It is timed after the events of the next chapter of Luna's Boredom Cure. (Chapter 16) Personally, I like the memory crystals. Let me know what you all think. If you want me to get back to permanent third person, let me know about that too. I prefer third person, but I like the way that it works. Anyway, I hope that reading this intrigues you.
It has been a pleasure entertaining you and happy, or excited reading.