The New World

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."