Prologue: Letters to the Princess
Phalanx looked around the small room he was given in the Royal Guard barracks. He was glad that the Canterlot guard had room to give the troops private quarters rather than force them all into one room with rows upon rows of bunk beds. He was even surprised with how lax the rules for decorations were. He had friends from the academy who were stationed out by Appleloosa and Saddle Arabia, and they weren't allowed posters or even plants.
Meanwhile, the pegasus looked around his room. A couple of his old soldier toys from his childhood lined the shelf next to his books. On the walls he set up a few posters. Most were various movies he loved, but one was of the Wonderbolts. He was a fan of the fliers, and once considered pushing himself to join them. Time moved on though, and he came to realize that he found protecting the princesses a more... Noble job.
Either way, he was here now. It filled him with pride, being able to say he was now protecting Equestria's grand princesses. It was exciting, yet terrifying. He was scared about the various threats he would be facing, and all the responsibility that protecting a princess entailed. He was already psyching himself out, and it wasn't even his first day on the job.
"Come on Phalanx, keep it together," He sighed and lifted a hoof to his muzzle, lightly smacking himself to get the jitters out. He looked around the room one last time, going over a mental checklist of his various decorations and necessities. He had hung up his posters, set up his shampoo and brush, had his personal set of armor on its stand... He was set up. All that was left was to talk to his commanding officer.
He stepped out of his room, shutting and locking the door behind him, before he started making his way down the hall. This wing of the castle was nice, but far from opulent when compared to the wings the princess and the guests used. It was all white marble columns and the dark tiled floor, all pragmatism for the Royal Guards.
He walked down the hall, up a flight of stairs, and down another hall towards his commanding officer's office. The place was fairly quiet, his hoofsteps echoing through the halls. In side rooms, what he assumed were rec rooms, he could hear other ponies talking. Their voices were not clear, but he also wasn't focused on them. His only objective was the door at the end of the hall.
He knocked a hoof against the door three times, before speaking out, "Sir, it's Phalanx, the new recruit. I just finished setting up my room, and am here to talk." There was no response from the other side of the door. Phalanx knocked again, three more raps on the door, once again met with silence. Curious, he reached the hoof over and pushed the door open by the handle.
Inside was an empty office. There was a very nice desk, probably an antique, in the center. The Equestrian and Canterlot flags stood on poles in the back of the room, and the walls were covered in various maps display cases of medals. There was a large bookshelf lined with history books, books on military theory, books on logistics and organization. Why those were necessary in a time where the biggest threats were the occasional supernatural threat rather than war, Phalanx didn't know.
He looked around the room again, wondering where the commander was. He waited a few moments, glancing at the shelves and the medals to kill time. When it felt like his commander wouldn't be back any time soon, he turned and made his way for the door. As he opened it, he heard a magical fire sound behind him. He turned back to see a letter appearing in thin air above the desk before dropping down onto it.
Curious, Phalanx got a closer look at the letter, wrapped in a ribbon and given a small golden seal. He recognized that seal in an instant: This was a communication to be sent directly to the princess of the current time of day. He looked at a clock on the wall and, seeing it was already early evening, started rushing with the letter towards Luna's chambers. Down the military wing's hall, over to the much nicer, darker halls owned by the princess of the night. Dark purple columns and indigo window blinds surrounded him as he ran up to the large door.
Phalanx stopped in his tracks at the room Princess Luna worked in when she wasn't having audiences in the throne room. The room was dimly lit, and was lined with shelves of books of history and magic. It was much nicer than the commander's room, at least in decoration. The furniture seemed well made, and the decorations on the walls were portraits instead of military maps.
In the center of the room sat Princess Luna at a desk, looking through scrolls. The look on her face showed that she found the task tedious, but that look changed when she looked up, a little surprised when she saw the pegasus enter her office. The surprise turned into almost rage when she didn't recognize the stallion. Luna hopped up from her desk and jumped across, her horn beginning to glow, grabbing the bell to cry for her guards.
"Who are you?" She cried out, "What are you doing in the castle?" Phalanx shrunk back a little, holding up the note with a hoof. He was shaking at this point, not expecting the princess to be so enraged.
"M-my name is Phalanx, Your Majesty," he bowed down in front of her, his hoof still holding up the letter, "I'm one of the new recruits for Princess Celestia, here to deliver a letter..." He kept his eyes to the ground as the princess stepped towards him, her magic leaving the bell to pick up the letter.
"I apologize for my behavior, Phalanx," Luna says as she walks back towards her desk, "I recognize your name. It was on that list of new recruits Celestia sent me... I wouldn't have been so jumpy, but you seem to have forgotten your armor." Phalanx looked at his sides, feeling like an idiot since he didn't even dress up for the princess.
"My apologies, Your Majesty." Phalanx bowed before her. Luna shook her head before turning at her desk.
"Do not worry. Letters for us are quite important. I would rather you come here without your armor than to dally with this." She stopped at her desk and removed the seal and ribbon on the letter. She rolled it open and held it up, scrolling over the words with her eyes, softly mouthing out the words as she read. She suddenly stopped and dropped the letter, a little in shock.
Phalanx took a few steps forward towards the desk, keeping himself on edge in case of a threat, "Your Majesty, are you alright?" Luna took a few deep breaths, trying to process what was in the letter. Then she looked the pegasus in the eye and spoke up.
"Phalanx, what I am about say is between you, the rest of the princesses, and myself. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"A few months ago, sent out a group of sailors to explore the oceans. They were adventurers who came to Celestia and I, asking if we would fund their exploration of the large oceans to the west of Equestria. I did not expect them to find anything, but our understanding of the ocean would grow."
"Alright, I don't see why that is a big secret," Phalanx muttered, "That's nothing too-"
"That is not the secret," Luna interrupted him, "The secret is that they found a much larger land mass than any island. It was as big as Equestria, if not bigger." Phalanx went slack jawed at the idea.
"I feel the same," Luna said with a small nod, "It's almost like an entirely new world."
Chapter 1: The Months That Followed
Big Scoop was far from a patient mare, especially when it came to her business meetings. Life for an up and coming reporter wasn't the easiest in Manehatten , and wasn't made any easier by late informants. She had come all the way to Canterlot for this meeting, and he didn't have the courtesy to arrive on time? From her seat on the outside patio of the corner cafe she could see all the way down the sidewalk, and if she looked over her shoulder she could just as far the other way.
With a sigh she reached into the saddlebag she had placed on the edge of the chair and pulled out a compact mirror in one hoof and a small tube of lipstick in the other. She looked in the mirror as she touched up her makeup. The lipstick was a light shade, matching her blonde mane and complementing the light blue fur she had. As she admired her image she could hear the sound of galloping from behind her, suddenly coming to a stop at her table.
"You're late Shield Breaker." She didn't even look up at the pony at first, finishing up her make up before clicking the compact shut and sliding both it and her lipstick back in her bag. She finally looked up at Shield Breaker, a standard white pegasus that made up much of the royal guard. The stallion had removed his golden helmet and placed it on the ground by the table.
"I'm sorry Ms. Scoop, but things have been busy at the castle. We've been working double duty, and-"
"I'm not here for excuses, I'm here for information," Scoop cut the guard off with one hand, "If you're not going to be here on time, I'd rather not be wasting my bits on you." Despite sounding like she wouldn't use his information, she flipped open her notepad to a clean page and picked up the pencil at its side.
"So what do you have for me?" She asked, pencil on the page. Shield Breaker nodded and scooted closer to the table.
"Like I said, all the guards have been working double shift. We've been working with Luna's night guards even. This is bigger than the royal wedding." The guard was speaking in slight whisper as he leaned forward. Scoop looked up from her notes, and then looked up at the sky.
"I'd believe you, but last I checked there isn't a magical shield over all of Canterlot." She looked back down at her notes, so far with nothing important written down.
"Trust me on this. The guards are on double duty, the princesses are having private meetings, and-" Shield Breaker was cut off again by the reporter.
"Celestia and Luna have private meetings all the time," Scoop said, "You've given me nothing concrete, nothing unique." Part of her wondered if the guard said he had important information just so he could get a free meal.
"It's not just Celestia and Luna," Shield continued, "Princess Cadance came in on her train last week with her husband, and Princess Twilight flew in on a flying chariot yesterday." And now Scoop was interested. All four princesses meant something big was happening.
"Was it just Twilight?" Scoop asked, "Or were any of the other Elements of Harmony with her?" The guard shook his head.
"Just Twilight. Not even that dragon that's always with her." Now the reporter was confused. If things were getting dangerous, wouldn't all six of the Elements be here? But what would be so secretive that even Twilight's assistant couldn't be here?
"Do you know what's going on? I mean, there have to be some personal guards in the room." She asked.
"That's the thing," Shield Breaker said, "Only two guards are allowed in the room. You've got Shining Armor, and then you have Phalanx which makes no sense-"
"Phalanx? Who the hay is Phalanx?" She had never heard of that guard. Was he special ops or a spy or something?
"Oh, don't get me started on Phalanx..." The guard looked more annoyed than before, "He's a new recruit, some pegasus... He finished training a few weeks ago, and was immediately promoted to Luna's personal guard. He didn't stick out during training, he's far from the best of us..."
Scoop thought back to the last few times she had seen Princess Luna out in public. There was a guard there that seemed out of place. He used the darker armor, but didn't have the bat-like features of other Lunar guards. Was that Phalanx?
"I'm sorry I don't have any specifics, but I felt that this was enough to warrant a visit." Shield Breaker said.
Scoop shook her head, "You've done more than enough. Do you think you could keep an eye on Phalanx, try and get me some more info on why he got this position?"
"I'll do my best," The guard said, "I'd rather not get on the bad side of the princesses. I ask the wrong questions and they'll wonder why, and I'd rather not get kicked out because of that." Scoop merely nodded, already going through her list of contacts to see if she could get more information.
"Well, you've earned your lunch either way." With that she gave a small wave to a waiter and finally got their lunch underway.
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Krazo shut the door to his apartment behind him, a little harder than he should have. The door rattled behind him with the slam, and a curious earth pony peaked their head out from the kitchen.
"You okay bro? Long day at work?" Thumbs Up looked at his Zebra roommate, still wearing the scrubs from the hospital. The Zebra sighed and nodded and flopped down on the couch.
"A tour bus tipped over on Broadway while going to one of the evening shows..." Krazo explained as he started looking for the remote to the television, "A couple of bad injuries, but we managed to deal with it. It just took..." He looked at the clock, which was reading almost noon, "Sixteen hours, including paperwork..."
"That's what you get for working at Manehattan General Hospital bro..." Thumbs Up said, "I'm telling you, internet movie reviews are so much easier." The Earth Pony was clearly teasing, giving a small wink. He leaned back into the kitchen and came out with a large plate in his mouth, two daisy and alfalfa sandwiches on it. He placed the plate on the coffee table and and handed the tired looking Zebra the remote.
"Its nice work, especially since my medicines are being put to good use..." The Zebra muttered and took the remote, flipping through the daytime programming. It was never anything good this time of day. It was old shows, soap operas, or dumb talk shows. It was nothing he would like this time of day, but he wanted brain-dead programming to just let him relax and zone out while he ate food before his midday sleep. By the time he decided to watch an episode of As Equestria Turns, the episode was suddenly interrupted by BREAKING NEWS. Krazo grumbled as his pointless TV watching time was cut off with something he should actually pay attention to. He tossed the remote from his hoof to another chair and focused on the TV.
"Mares and Gentlecolts, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to give you a surprise speech by Princess Celestia," The news anchor said, "We bring you now live to the Canterlot throne room where the Princess is making her announcement." The screen changed to the throne room, which was currently empty. A door on the side of the room opened up, and from it walked Princess Twilight Sparkle. She walked to the throne and stood besides it, her head held up regally, her face serious. She was followed by Princess Cadenza and Luna. Lastly, Princess Celestia stepped out on her own. She stood in front of her throne, slightly ahead of her fellow royals. With a light cough, she cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Ponies of Equestria, as you know we Princesses have been in conference with each other over the last few weeks. We have heard your questions and concerns as to what possible threat could have us in such secret deliberation. We wish to explain our motives now. We have not discovered a new threat, but something much bigger. Explorers we have sent on the sea have discovered a new land, one far across the seas. Their initial explorations showed that the land was uninhabited, but exploration was not thorough. As such, we have decided that we will start a small settlement on this land. This settlement will be lead by Princess Luna, and we will be accepting volunteers to help make this settlement successful. All adult citizens of Equestria are invited to enlist in this project. We need our society to come together to make this settlement successful and celebrated. Recruiters will be showing up in our major cities. We thank you for your time and apologize for the secrecy."
With that brief speech, the princesses walked off of the throne and back into the side room, various reporters shouting up questions that didn't get a response. Soon the programming switched back to the usual show. Krazo sighed and leaned forward, finally grabbing the sandwich in front of him. He could feel Thumbs Up's eyes burrowing into him.
"You know, they'll probably need a doctor over in the settlement~" The Earth Pony said, smirking wide. Krazo ignored him and continued to eat the sandwich calmly. Thumbs Up kept leaning closer to him, lifting a hood to prod him gently. Krazo slowly looked over.
"I'm a Zebra apothecary. That's different than a licensed Equestrian doctor," He said simply
"But apothecaries are more useful in the wilderness~" Thumbs Up prodded more. Krazo was still silent.
"It'll be like an action movie~ One lone Zebra against the wilderness! Doctor Krazo saving the forefront of civilization! But then you'll be suspected of a crime you didn't comitt, and then you'll be on top of a waterfall or something and one of the guards like Fugitive Tracker will corner you and it'll be like 'I didn't kill my very special somepony' and he'll be like, 'I don't care' and you'll dive off and-"
"I'll make you a deal," Krazo said, his eyes narrowed in tired annoyance, "Stop it with the movie references in an attempt to make me go and let me eat and take a nap, and maybe I'll sign up." Thumbs up made a zipping motion over his mouth and Krazo went back to eating.
xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx
Gabriele kept her eye on the clock on the wall. The Griffon felt like she had been sitting there for days. It had actually been about two hours, but she just wanted to get this interview over with. She never expected this many ponies to be enlisting. Her number was coming up soon... But how soon?
She glanced around at the various other enlistees. There were plenty of ponies, of all kinds. She could spy a handful of donkeys, a few other griffons, and a minotaur in the crowd. All calmly waiting... Waiting for hours... So many hours... So many boring hours DEAR SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY IS TAKING SO LONG!?
"Number 73?" The pony who poked her head out of the interview room said. The yellow Pegasus with an orange mane looked around the room before Gabriele shot up from her seat.
"Here! 73 here! Here!" She flew over the seats, people grumbling and ducking at the sudden noise and flight. The Pegasus rolled her eyes and opened the door the entire way. The Griffon composed herself and walked inside past the mare in the Wonderbolt dress uniform.
So, Blaze of the Wonderbolts is doing my interview? Gabriele thought as she walked in front of the desk, I wonder if they're getting involved officially, or just doing interviews... Meanwhile, Blaze walked back behind the desk and looked down at the list of questions she had been asking all day.
"Welcome to the New Equestria Enlistment Interview. I, Blaze, will be conducting this interview. The answers you give to these questions will be looked over by other recruiters and the Princesses themselves. One hundred ponies will be chosen, and the decision will be final. Do you consent to these conditions?" Blaze clearly was getting tired of having to perform all these interviews today, but her military professionalism kept her going.
"Yeah, I consent!" Gabriele said, louder than she should have. She cleared her throat and said again in a much more reasonable voice, "I consent." Blaze nodded and made a small mark with a quill.
"You are a legal citizen of Equestria, correct?" Blaze asked.
"Yes, I legally gained citizenship a year ago." Gabrielle said.
"You are an adult?"
"Yes."
Most of the question were like that at first. Willingness, physical ableness, legal restrictions and allowances. It was all bureaucratic exceptions to try and narrow the pool down on technicalities, and Blaze knew it. She was frustrated by this, just wanted to pick the best and brightest in general.
"Now, what sort of job do you have currently, and how do you expect it to help in a wilderness setting such as a settlement?" Blaze asked.
"Well, I currently work as a bouncer at a club here in Filly, but I was actually going to bring up my experience in the Griffon military? During my required service I served as a trained scout for two years. I think having a scout would be useful for an exploratory mission." She tried to sound official, but she was giddy at the idea of being an explorer of the far off land. Blaze sounded a little impressed. There was a moment of silence and Blaze took a few more notes.
"Alright, in that case I think all that's left is for you to send us your medical info... You'll receive a letter in the next few weeks telling you if you were recruited. That'll be all. You may go." She said. Gabriele blinked... That was it? Just a lot of questions about health and citizenship? One job question? She felt like her interview was cut short. She didn't get in...
Gabrielle turned and left, feeling dejected.
