Chapter 1 - Arrival and Deployment

"Get your lazy hind quarters up, Lieutenant Star Blade!  You are NOT being paid to sleep 12 hours a day during guard duty at the Crystal Empire!"

The young unicorn of the Guard blinked owlishly.  He yawned, stretching himself awake.  "Sorry Captain Stone Shield, Sir.  Seriously, Stoney, can you tone down the drill instructor voice?  You're giving the Royal Canterlot Voice a run for the money."

The Captain looked somewhat offended, then replied in a somewhat softer tone, "Only if you'll actually see a doctor, Star.  You get sleepy at practically a drop of a hat.  That's not good for anypony."

"And I keep telling you"- Star Blade replied as he telekinetically got dressed in his guard uniform -"I have a perfectly good reason to be this sleepy all the time.  I'm...errgh...just fine with my sleeping tendencies."

Stone Shield grumbled in exasperation, "See, this...this is why you keep getting passed for promotions.  When Shining Armor got married and they had to select his replacement as Captain of the Royal Guard, I got selected over your sleepy head.  You became my second in command at my request, you know.  Having a best friend as your commanding officer shouldn't be something to take advantage of."

Star Blade finished shaking himself awake, then said, "Remind me why were out here in the middle of the Celestia-forsaken arctic north again?"

Stone Shield glared at Star Blade, facehoofing as he said, "You haven't looked out the window, have you?"

Star Blade fully woke up at that point.  "Oh yeah, that's right."  He looked out the nearest window.  Where before there was arctic winds and blowing snow, there was now bright sun and blue sky.  Light reflected from nearby crystalline spires and buildings.  "We've been sent to assist in the situation with the Crystal Empire."

"That's been solved.  We're now playing cleanup, apparently.", Stone Shield corrected, reading from a scroll.

Star Blade blinked.  Apparently the situation changed en-route from Canterlot to the Empire.  Star began to playfully grouse, "It figures that Ca... Prince Shining Armor would have the situation handled before we even get there.  I like he still remembers his old job as Captain of the Guard enough to ask us for help, but seriously... I'd like to get SOME action when we get there at least."

Captain Stone Shield continued reading the from the debriefing scroll, though the information was very lax.  "We should be glad this is just a cleanup and assist situation.  If he had failed, we would've had to break out the containment spells.  Do you really want to try to contain what he had to face?"

"Not on my own, if I could help it.", Star Blade blatantly, and sarcastically, lied.

"Enough with the bravado!  We're here.", Stone announced.

The two officers joined the other guardponies as they filed out of the train.  Star Blade glanced over and noticed who was getting on the train.  He nudged Stone Shield, "Ca...er...Prince's Sister and company at 9 o'clock."

Every guard glanced over at Twilight Sparkle and company.  The guards were all unique in that they can say they've observed the behavior, and thus the actions, of Twilight Sparkle and her rather unique friends.  They always noted that the stories about those actions grew, shrank, and certainly changed with the telling.  Many actually attributed Luna's return and Discord's defeat to Celestia herself, for instance.

Only the changeling's defeat, brought about by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, was reported accurately...more or less.  It wasn't the place for guardsponies to correct the thinking of the subjects, however.

Stone looked up, and nudged back, "Prince at 11 o'clock, idiot.  Stand ready!"

Star promptly went into 'guard-mode' along with the others.  Regardless of the camaraderie his old troop had with their former captain, they wanted to maintain a sense of decorum and respect to his new station... at least in public.  The contingent of guards all saluted the Prince, who returned it.  Stone Shield then provided orders to the rest of the guard that had filed out of the train.  "All right men.  The Prince will further brief the Lieutenant and I on the situation here.  Let's commence support and secure procedures to ensure a safe transition to the rule of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor.  Move out!"

Once the rest of the guards started filing off and commencing their patrol, however, Shining Armor promptly shared a private hoof bump with his former seconds in command.  "Your trip went well, guys?"

Star replied, "It was a train ride that completely lacked insulation and had no central heat through an arctic wasteland.  What do you think?"

Shining Armor said, "You still slept through 3/4th of the ride, didn't you?"

Star Blade shrugged.  "Of course."

Stone Shield chuckled, "How exactly are things here, Prince?  Your missive wasn't really clear what changed."

"In short, we succeded in truly protecting the empire before you got here.  Thanks to my sister and her friends, we finally set it up so that King Sombra was defeated.", he turned to the other two and smirked, "It was kind of cool, actually.  We may have set it up, but the crystal ponies THEMSELVES landed the final blow."

He talked as he continued walking, "Anyway, the crystal ponies have decided to swear fealty to Princess Cadence, and through her Princess Celestia.  We need to begin getting eyes out there and others to train new guards here for true stability."

Stone Shield furrowed his brow a little bit, "I don't understand, Shining.  If the crystal ponies are happy as you say, are we even necessary?  Between the barrier and several other factors, we should be even less necessary here than we are back in Canterlot."

Star Blade replied, "Think about it, Stoney.  I've been reading some of Shining Armor's briefing about the events here.  This barrier, if it's like the barrier that Princess Cadence set up when she and Shining first showed up, will only protect against obvious evils.  That leaves..."

"Lackeys."- Stone Shield concluded distastefully -"Those that actually contributed to Sombra's dark power, and their own... betraying their fellow ponies in the process.  It's one of the possible ways Sombra may have beaten the Crystal Heart originally."

"You will also"- Shining continued, irritably interrupting the exposition -"be watching for any leftover spells or monstrosities that King Sombra left behind.  That's the literal clean up.  You'll be especially protecting the crew that will clean up the remnants and purify the ground where they landed."

"The remnants?", Star and Stone both asked.

They had arrived at the outskirts of the Empire when they noticed that one section was cordoned off.  In the cordoned off area, the ground seemed a little strange.  There were several plumes of black ...smoke?... that rose from the area.  Several ponies in Hazmat suits were watchful of those plumes.  Guards that had arrived earlier were protecting some mages that kept the area contained.

Stone Shield and Star Blade, confused, looked at Shining for an explanation.  The Prince looked nervous, as if unsure about the reaction of his former subordinates.

"Remember when Cadence and I repulsed the changelings from Canterlot?", they nodded in response, so Shining Armor continued, "Apparently, Sombra was composed of something different...or something fragile.  He didn't get expelled so much as...well...exploded from the empire."

Stone and Star stared.  "...what?", they said in unison.

Star boggled at the smoke plumes "...so THAT'S coming from Sombra?  Or ...the...pieces of him that remained?!"

Shining Armor nodded.

Star Blade turned to his former and current captains, wide-eyed and slightly giggling.  "I think we need to hear the whole story of THIS mess.  I think I need to know why!... and for that matter how!... How in the name of Celestia do we protect ponies who can do that to someone."  Taking a breath, he continued, "And I think we're gonna need a few drinks during that telling."

Without waiting for a reply, he promptly stormed off to ask directions to the nearest watering hole.