"Captain's complements. He wants to see you in fulldress at the doors to throne room before the start of your work shift."
There were few words that could inspire more uncertainty, more panic, in the heart of a member of the Guard than those. Hence when Lieutenant Shining Armor was given those very words, his constant doubletime marching and visible worry were not wholly unjustified. When he finally reached the doors to the throne room, he was greeted by the Captain of the Guard himself.
The Captain then was a crusty old unicorn named Gibraltar, medium-brown in coat color and with a gray mane and tail. His special talent being what we would call "earthbending", he had spent many long years in field service and only came to Canterlot to spend the last years of his military career in peace. The return of Nightmare Moon was the first in a series of events that would eventually prove the need for younger blood in charge, and Shining Armor eventually directly succeeded Gibraltar as Captain of the Guard.
"Reporting as instructed, sir!" Shining Armor barks out in standard military measure, giving a right hoof salute but his fulldress uniform slightly disheveled from the doubletime marching it took to get there.
"Go straight in, Lieutenant. Princess Celestia herself has something for you." Captain Gibraltar replies in his gruff tone, born of many years in the field.
"Yes sir!" was Shining Armor's reply, going a little louder than necessary due to nerves. He turns to face the door and it is opened by two guards.
Shining almost stopped in his tracks when he saw what was on the other side of the door: an entire honor guard lined up the main carpet leading to the thrones of the Canterlot princesses! At the end was Celestia herself, accompanied by a weakly smiling Luna standing to her left.
"Come forward to bow before us, Lieutenant!" Celestia proclaims in her most proud "royal" voice.
After but a moment's hesitation, Shining Armor slowly marches between the saluting honor guard. He recognizes a number of faces - some of the guards are his subordinates, a few others are equals in rank, and at the head of the guard is Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas, the unicorn commanding officer of the afternoon shift Shining Armor was part of. Shining finally stops just before the throne and bows to both princesses smiling down at him.
"Ascend, Lieutenant, and take the place of honor on my right." Celestia speaks, the traditional phrasing of one singled out for an extraordinary honor. Shining is so startled by this phrase that it takes him several seconds for him to rise from the bow, move to Celestia's right and assume the tallest, proudest pose he can make.
"Members of the Guard, as you all know so well, yesterday was a day that will forever be recorded in history books." Celestia begins in her serious tone, indicating a deliberately prepared speech. "The prophecy of the return of 'Nightmare Moon' was fulfilled, and I dispatched my pupil of magic Twilight Sparkle to learn about the magic of friendship and use it to bring forth the Elements of Harmony that defeated the monster. My beloved sister was restored to us after a thousand years of exile."
The princess of the sun pauses briefly, as if fighting back emotion, before continuing: "Now that my dear sister, Princess Luna, had been restored to us she will need much help in the days and weeks to come, and I wondered who was willing to rise to accept that monumental task. It did not take me long to learn that the Lieutenant standing here - blood brother of my pupil of magic - was more than willing to continue what his younger sister and her new friends had started. In recognition of that extraordinary act of valor and self-sacrifice, I now acclaim him in assembly of the Guard as a Lieutenant Captain and give him charge of the shift of the night. Hail your new Lieutenant Captain!"
On that command, the entire Honor Guard, joined now by Captain Gibraltar shouted "HAIL THE ONE WORTHY OF HONOR!", as was custom in the Royal Guard. A relieved and thrilled Shining Armor broke a small but "bright" smile. The phrase was repeated as Luna used her unicorn magic to grab the Lieutenant Captain insignia; she herself would do the switching out of insignia that officially marked a promotion in the Guard.
Careful application of magic removed the Lieutenant insignia off Shining Armor's uniform, then pinned the Lieutenant Captain insignia in its place. What happened next was apparently not part of the script: Luna giving a royal kiss on the cheek, which immediately caused Shining to blush intensely and Celestia to giggle.
Mere seconds later, the honor guard let out a coordinated "HIP-HIP-HURRAH! HIP-HIP-HURRAH! HIP-HIP-HURRAH!", followed by various affirmations regarding princesses and country. Captain Gibraltar, having walked between the honor guard himself and turned so that his right side faced the princesses (it was royal protocol to never have a rear end directly facing a princess while in close proximity to one), calmed the cheering with a loud call to attention.
"I have been informed that Princess Celestia has a personal debriefing for the Lieutenant Captain regarding his new assignment. Some guards will be shuffled around to accommodate the changed circumstances, those affected will be notified as soon as information becomes available. All guards are dismissed to their regular posts. Glory to the kingdom of Equestria!" Captain Gibraltar exclaims in his gruff warrior tone.
The honor guard repeats the last line, then begins filing out in pairs toward a right side door. This was done to keep military protocol, as going out the main door would have required turning around and giving indecent exposure to the princesses. When the last pair filed out, Captain Gibraltar turned right and bowed before the princesses and Shining Armor again.
"Captain, you are dismissed to go make whatever roster changes and reports you deem necessary to accommodate the Lieutenant Captain's new position. I will deal with the rest." Celestia tells her Captain, who in turn bows and makes his way to the same side door the rest of the honor guard had exited through.
It was but a short walk from the throne room to the royal resting chamber, a frequent location for indulging diplomats and other dignitaries over games of strategy, including a version of chess. Shining Armor had been in there before, but not for a long time until now. It was infinitely clear that Celestia desired a location where she could take the mask of her position off.
With the doors closed and no one else present, the firm seriousness on Celestia's face gave way to a motherly smile as she spoke: "First your younger sister, and now you. If only your parents had three more to send for the service of the kingdom!"
"I'm sure they would be very flattered to hear you say that, Your Highness." Shining Armor replies, still modestly blushing.
"They would, but that's not the reason I wanted to do this in private." Celestia states, pulling down a box full of colorful figurines using magic and placing the box on a small stand near a chessboard.
"Is this a game I am expected to win or lose, Your Highness?" Shining Armor asks, referring to the concept of deliberately losing a game with Celestia in order to please her.
"There is no game, Lieutenant Captain. I am using this as illustration." Celestia explains, positioning herself on one side of the board. Shining hesitantly moves to the other side to watch what she does.
"I've never believed in coincidences, Shining Armor. Tell me, do you remember the 'Sonic Rainboom incident' that happened eight years ago?" the princess of the sun now asks of her guard officer.
Shining was briefly startled, as Celestia had changed to a first-name-basis tone that had previously only been used when Princess Cadance was the subject of discussion. Nevertheless, he quickly recovered with a smile: "How could I forget, Your Highness? It helped my sister get her cutie mark and made her your apprentice. I had just started Academy training then, but I remember helping with the clean-up effort and being in awe of what my little sister could do."
"Yes, it was a momentous occasion, but not the only one the incident produced." Celestia says as she magically removes a figure of Twilight Sparkle from the box and places it on the chessboard. "As you know, there was an extensive investigation into the incident that lasted weeks. Some of the most interesting facts either were left off the final report released to the public, or I only learned later through the eyes and ears I have posted throughout the kingdom."
Shining knew what Celestia was talking about when she meant "eyes and ears"; all members of the Royal Guard were obligated by duty to pass along up the command chain any gossip or other interesting facts they had learned from those they had made friends with. This kind of passing on of information was deemed more trustworthy than the "official" news sources that would be biased toward "whitewashing" reports intended for Celestia.
"I learned through these sources that there were other fillies that got their marks as a result of that event." Celestia explains, pulling figures out of the box as she is talking and placing them in a pentagonal arrangement around Twilight's figure. "The pegasus Rainbow Dash, likely instigator of the event according to weather pony Sprinkle Medley. Earth pony Applejack, who went back to work on the family farm after seeing the rainbow in the sky, according to Guard Upper Class Meadow Song. Pegasus Fluttershy, a friend of Rainbow Dash who learned her love for animals as a result of the incident. Unicorn Rarity, who according to Guard Upper Class Caramel, witnessed the incident's shockwave crack open a large rock revealing gemstones inside and starting her love of gems. And finally, Earth pony Pinkie Pie, who was inspired to throw a party after experiencing the phenomenon firsthoof, igniting her love for throwing them."
The figures of the "Mane Six" now were arranged on the chessboard, Twilight centered on a pentagon made by the other figures. "All five of the others got their cutie marks from the same event as your sister, all five of them were living in Ponyville at the same time, and all five of them ended up matching an Element of Harmony, as did your sister. It was merely a simple matter of slotting your sister into that group of friends. There are NO coincidences in this situation, Shining Armor."
Celestia pauses for a minute to let an awestruck Shining Armor absorb the implications of what was placed in front of him.
"What happened to Twily? Where is she?" was the first words Shining Armor could speak after the long, awed silence he had come under.
"I have given her a new assignment in Ponyville, to learn more about the magic of friendship." Celestia replies. She must have seen his falling face because she then added: "It is not a permanent separation, I intend for you to see her again eventually. She has a new assignment now, and so do you, Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor."
"Luna. Princess Luna." Shining replies as the bolt of realization hits him square between the metaphorical eyes.
"You have guessed correctly. But you will not be helping her alone. Just as Twilight Sparkle will not learn friendship unaided, so will Luna's recovery not rest entirely on your efforts alone." Celestia continues, pulling out three more figures from the box and placing them on the opposite side of the chessboard near Shining. One figure was Luna, another himself and the third...
"Princess Cadance?!" Shining almost gasped out. He had not seen the adoptive niece of Celestia that had fallen for him since she had been dispatched to tour the kingdom - spreading love and solving problems wherever she went - the previous year.
"I have already issued the order recalling her to Canterlot, she will return within the next week or two. I have watched the relationship between you and her grow strong, pass through separation and trials thick and thin. I know how much she is in love with you and wants you in marriage, but I withheld my agreement in knowledge of the coming prophecies. Now that they have come and gone, I have no reason to withhold the agreement any longer."
"I... I'm not sure what to say, Your Highness." Shining replies with an overwhelmed expression.
"You don't need to say anything. My niece is coming back, and I intend to give my full blessing to your union with her when she does. But I will tell her then what I will tell you now: Help my sister. Do everything in your power to help her recover from the thousand-year darkness she was shrouded in. Do you understand, Shining Armor, Lieutenant Captain of the Guard?"
Shining straightens himself up and gives a slow, somber salute: "Yes, Your Highness. Yes, I do."
