Celestia sighed as she finally signed the last of the paperwork for the night. With barely a thought, the scroll rolled up on itself. Five other scrolls joined it in the air before they were tied together with a silky ribbon. The alicorn then tucked the scrolls into a near-by saddle bag that was decorated with suns. With her magic, it gently floated onto the princess. It had been a long time since she last wore something like a saddle bag, and she couldn't help but feel a bit like a rebel for wearing it. Apparently, it was "against the rules" for royalty to wear dresses made from the finest materials or jewelry made from gold and diamonds.

Going through a mental checklist, Celestia gasped when she realized she almost forgot something. Again, the princess grabbed something with her magic. Six individual envelops, each with a different seal, floated off of her desk and into the saddle bag. A small red book followed them, and a little click! was heard as the bag snapped shut.

Taking on a more serious air, Celestia stood and took in a deep breath. As she exhaled, her body began to tingle all over. A quick spell of dizzyness then overcame the alicorn as her magic "jumped" her to a different location. Her hooves finally touched solid ground. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a steel blue mare who was kneelling on her front legs.

"Please, you do have no need to bow down to me here." Celestia said with a faint smile on her face. "I have finished the last of the paperwork, Cosmeta."

Standing back up, Cosmeta nodded. "We shall procede with the rest of the preparations then. If you don't mind, your highness, please follow me." The mare instantly turned around and began to trot down a long narrow hall.

Celestia followed her obediantly. As they walked, all she could hear was the sound of their hoof steps. The building was eerily quiet, but it was quite late when she had arrived. Everypony else who worked there must have hit the hay earlier. The princess felt bad for not finishing the paperwork sooner, and she examined the unicorn infront of her. She swayed just slightly that it would have gone unnoticed by most ponies. She couldn't see her face, but she didn't expect to see any bags under her eyes. Cosmeta always had to be presentable before meeting with others.

Finally, she spoke up. "I apologize for making you stay up late."

"Oh, it's fine." Cosmeta assured the princess as they finally arrived at their destination: her office. Pushing the door open, she explained, "I would still be up because of all of this commotion. Our division rarely has any work to do, so we're all a bit rusty and we're trying to catch up with the work." A hoof flew up to her mouth. "Please forgive me, Princess, for I sound like I'm complaining."

"Rest assured that I did not think that you were." The alicorn smiled as she sat in a padded chair that looked like it was made for foals when compared to her. Using her magic, Celestia sat her saddle bag on the desk infront of her and emptied out its contents. "Here are the papers," she explained, pushing them towards the other pony.

A magical aura surrounded her horn as Cosmeta carefully untied the ribbon and unrolled one of the scrolls. Her silver eyes scanned the paper and she nodded. She did the same to the remaining scrolls. "Everything seems to be in order.... We will start immediantly tomorrow." Her eyes then fell on the envelops and the little red book. "Are these for them?"

Celestia nodded. "I was hoping that you would hand them out once they were ready. The book will give them a bit of insight for this new challenge."

"A book of folktales will?"

"It's not just folktales. That book is full of history." Cosmeta observed the princess. She seemed extremely serious about this.

"Well, if you say so, Princess." The mare yawned as she levitated the envelops and the book into a file cabinet before locking it. "This must be serious if we are sending them away."

Celestia nodded and said, "Well, their safety comes first. They are the only ones being targetted after all. I try not to use the Elements of Harmony when me and my guards can take care of it. Plus, they might learn something important about friendship."

Cosmeta chuckled. "You're always about friendship and the lessons that you learn from it."

"This kingdom was based on friendship, and everypony must remember that. We don't want to make the same mistakes again."

"Yes, we've all heard the story before." The blue mare waved her hoof. "I'm sorry, but is that everything?" She yawned again. A hint to the princess that they should wrap things up.

"That should be everything." A slipper-clad hoof touched a white chin. "Though I do have a feeling like I'm forgetting something...." Celestia closed her eyes as she thought for a moment. "Hmmm.... Maybe it wasn't that important after all. Anyways, when should I bring them here?"

Cosmeta pondered that for a moment before answering, "As soon as possible, I suppose. Give them about half a day to get ready, but they shouldn't be packing their things. They may only bring very important items with them.... Oh, but they'll need others to watch over their homes and businesses...."

Celestia smiled. "Do not worry about that. I have already hired a few respectable ponies for that job. That was one of the first things I made sure to get done before doing the rest of the preparations. That's one reason why it took me so long to get the paperwork done." The regal pony stood. "Well, I should take my leave now." She bowed her head. "Sleep well tonight." A flash of bright light engulfed her as she teleported back to palace.

Once she was back in the safety of her room, Celestia let herself yawn. She took a step towards her bed when something crackled. Lifting up her hoof, Celestia paled when she saw another page of paperwork.

Author's Note

Sorry, this is crappy. The later chapter will be better though, because that's when we get to the good part!