After bringing the group of trainees to the barracks and turning them in for the night, Rusted came back to the stage to bring the blue unicorn to the Princess. After walking up the wooden stairs, the instructor saw the unicorn sitting down, ears drooped.

"Hey newbie, you alright?" Rusted asked. He really hoped that this recruit was changing his mind. The blue unicorn closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine..." The unicorn said shakily. Rusted shook his head.

"As I said earlier, this request is entirely optional. Not necessary. If you're scared, then I'll bring you to the barracks." Rusted informed. The blue unicorn then stood back up and opened his eyes.

"No, don't worry, I was just thinking about what just happened." The unicorn assured. He looked to the side. "I wanted to join the Royal Guard to protect and serve." He turned his head to look at Rusted. "If I accept this request, I can still do that, just indirectly, right?" The blue unicorn turned to the instructor and smiled.

"Yeah, you still can." Rusted said. "Oh, nearly forgot. You never told me your name. I can't just call you newbie for the rest of your life. So, what is it?"

The blue unicorn looked a bit uncomfortable when he asked that question. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"My name is... Arcane. Arcane Art." He finally spoke. Rusted held a comforting grin.

"Alright, Arcane, follow me. Time for you to meet the Princess." Rusted stated before trotting behind the wooden stage, to the entrance of Canterlot Castle. He stopped when he noticed Arcane wasn't moving from his spot.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're getting cold hooves now." Rusted Spear said to the recruit. Arcane's cheeks heated up slightly, but it was incredibly noticeable as it contrasted with his dark blue coat and golden armor.

"I'm not, sir. It's just... I'm a bit scared to meet her..." Arcane admitted. However, the unicorn instructor picked up on another detail.

"So, Arcane, you decide to call me 'sir' now? It's a little too late for that." Rusted joked in a somewhat angry voice. He was expecting a laugh, or even silence. He didn't expect the reaction that came from the blue unicorn.

"Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, sir! It's just... I just didn't mean it, sir! It was an accident, sir, I won't do It again!! I-" Arcane was freaking out, until Rusted shoved his hoof in his mouth to silence him.

"It's okay, kid. It was just a joke. I'm not mad at you for not calling me by my title. I actually prefer when you're more casual." Rusted removed his hoof from Arcane's mouth.

"I'm sorry. I sorta freak out when I speak with ponies of higher authority." Arcane apologized. Rusted waved his hoof in dismissal.

"Nah, don't worry about it. But there isn't anything to be scared of, we're all ponies like you." Rusted dismissed. "Now, let's not keep the Princess waiting. Follow me."

Rusted continued walking to the castle. With his newfound confidence, Arcane followed.

"We're here." Rusted told the unicorn recruit, standing in front of two giant double doors. The walk to the Princess had been rather uneventful, and other than looking in awe at the stained glass windows, Arcane hadn't done much or even talked much. The unicorn instructor wasn't sure if this was because of shyness or just a lack of a conversation topic. Either way, after twenty minutes, they had arrived.

"Are you ready to meet her, kid?" Rusted asked. The blue unicorn sighed.

"I mean, I guess. Still scared, though." Arcane said, his voice unsure on what tone to take.

"Ah, don't worry. It'll be fine." The unicorn instructor assured, before pushing the double doors with his hooves. Despite the force he applied, the doors took at least five seconds to fully open, creaking loudly. Once open, Arcane couldn't help but gasp at what he saw.

On a throne sat the Princess of the Sun, Celestia. Her fur was white and pure, like snow that had fallen mere seconds ago. Her mane and tail flowed in a non-existent wind, as if nature defied itself just for her. She stood taller than any of the other ponies in the room. And she had this aura to her. Powerful yet loving. Fierce yet motherly.

However, when Arcane looked to the side and saw Rusted bowing, he realized that he had been awkwardly staring at the Solar Princess for a while now, with the latter giving an amused smile. With his cheeks heating up in embarrassment, he quickly bowed to her. He lowered his head so fast that he hit his head on the hard marble floor. He yelped and recoiled upwards from the impact, rubbing his hoof on his forehead in an attempt to soothe the pain. When he felt blood, he winced. Arcane lit up his horn.

'I'm not good with healing magic... whatever, I'll try anyways.' Arcane thought in annoyance. A blue aura covered his forehead. It stayed for a moment before completely dissipating.

"Damn it!" Arcane muttered under his breath in frustration. Suddenly, a golden glow enveloped his forehead. It remained there for twenty seconds before disappearing. Arcane, with a surprised expression, put his hoof on his head, but felt no blood. He also felt the pain of the impact gone.

"Was that what you needed, little pony?" A calm and regal voice said. Arcane ignored the voice for a moment while he was investigating his forehead. All of a sudden, the blue unicorn froze like a statue. He slowly turned his head to look at the Princess, who was still grinning in amusement.

"Well, is it?" Princess Celestia asked once again.

Arcane silently hyperventilated as she spoke. He bowed down to her much slower than before, not only out respect but to hide his blush.

"Yes, princess. I'm sorry for forcing you to use your magic on my injury. I was simply... in awe of your presence and your magic that I... sort of zoned out. Please forgive me, princess." Arcane said.

"Rise, little ponies." Arcane and Rusted rose from their position, but the blue unicorn kept his small blush and looked away from Celestia. "Please, my subject. You don't need to be afraid nor embarrassed." Despite what the Princess said, Arcane still looked away. Princess Celestia sighed.

"Ah, don't worry, Princess. This is better then how he acted half an hour ago. He freaked out just because he didn't call me 'sir' a couple of times!" Rusted laughed. When Arcane's blush deepened, Celestia giggled. Eventually, the laughter stopped and the blue unicorn's blush was gone.

"Yes, it does seem our little recruit..." Celestia began to say, until the unicorn instructor interrupted her.

"His name is Arcane Art, Princess." Rusted informed.

"Ah, our little recruit Arcane Art is a bit on the shy side, but he was the only one to accept the request." Celestia continued, smiling down at the recruit. "In fact, do you mind telling me why exactly you accepting this request? With all of the consequences, surely staying a Royal Guard would be a much better option?"

Arcane stared at the marble floor with an uncomfortable expression after Celestia spoke, which made the Princess frown a bit. However, after twenty seconds, Arcane looked straight up at the Solar Princess with confidence.

"I wasn't going to at first, Princess. I just wanted to become a Royal Guard to protect other ponies. But then, when I saw that no other ponies were accepting the request, my instincts just told me I had to accept. Even though I was debating with myself over what to do, I stepped forward anyways. And after I stepped forward, I realized that by accepting this mission, by retrieving the Elements of Harmony, I was protecting other ponies. Just in a different way." Arcane replied proudly to the Princess of the Sun. Suddenly, the blue unicorn could hear the sound of clapping hooves. When he looked around, he saw both Rusted Spear and Princess Celestia applauding him.

"Wow, never thought you had in you to speak up like that." Rusted congratulated the recruit, who rubbed a hoof behind his head.

"Well, I told you, I'm only shy with ponies of higher authority." Arcane told the unicorn instructor.

"Yet, you do seem fine speaking with the Princess of Equestria." Celestia countered the blue unicorn. When he quickly turned to bow, she reminded:

"Please, Arcane. There is no need to be scared of me. I am just a pony, like you." At this, Arcane stopped himself from bowing and calmed himself with a deep breath.

"Good. Now, Arcane Art, you have displayed many different qualities in your previous speech, your willingness, your selflessness and most importantly, your courage. You truly are qualified for this mission." Celestia stated. Arcane blushed at the praise.

"Why thank you, princess." Arcane thanked. "But, may I please... ask a... question?"

Celestia smiled. "Sure, go on ahead."

"Why exactly did you want a trainee to do this request? I mean, I'm flattered and all, but wouldn't somepony like Rusted Spear or Captain Shining Armor be a better idea?" The blue unicorn asked. At this, the Solar Princess narrowed her eyes.

"… I suppose I should stop beating around the bush." Celestia muttered.

"Huh, what do you mean by that, Princess?" Arcane asked.

"Your question will be answered soon, Arcane, but right now, I must give you the details of the mission." Celestia said in a much sterner tone of voice. Although the blue unicorn was slightly disturbed by the Princess' change of tone, he nodded his head.

The Solar Princess turned her head to the right to see the stained glass window displaying the defeat of Nightmare Moon.

"Rusted, did you tell our recruit exactly what I wrote on the letter?" Celestia asked the nearby unicorn recruit.

"Yes, Princess, down to the last word." He responded calmly.

"At least I don't have to repeat everything..." Celestia closed her eyes before opening them back seconds later. "As you know, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony have gone missing."

"Yes, Princess. Apparently, they didn't simply leave, as nopony reported seeing them leave." Arcane told the Princess what he remembered from the letter. "… You also said something about a strange magical signature in Ponyville, but you didn't actually say what it was."

"… When I went to Ponyville, I checked the magical properties in the air. And what I found was that..." Celestia trailed off.

"… What exactly did you find out, Princess?" Arcane asked. The Solar Princess then turned to the blue unicorn and directly looked at him.

"The Element Bearers have been banished to another dimension." Celestia said, slightly louder than usual. At this, the blue unicorn couldn't keep in his shock and surprise.

"WHAT!?!" Arcane shouted, before realizing who he was talking to and blushed slightly. "Sorry."

"It is quite alright." Celestia assured. "Anyways, they have been indeed banished to another dimension. A dimension called Earth. Not only that, but the main species of that dimension aren't ponies, rather the main species are a group of omnivorous creatures called 'humans'." Celestia informed.

Arcane was listening quite intently until he heard the word 'omnivorous'.

'Wait, what does that word mean again? Let's see, herbivores only eat plants, carnivores eat... meat, and omnivores eat... I'm not going to think about that anymore.' Arcane thought.

"Yes, but isn't Twilight Sparkle supposed to be an amazing spellcaster? Shouldn't she be able to just teleport herself and her friends back to Equestria?" Arcane inquired. Celestia sighed.

'If only it was that simple...' Celestia thought.

"Not exactly, Arcane Art. You see, the pony who banished the Elements has also placed them under a spell. A forbidden spell, actually." Celestia explained. "When that pony used that particular spell, the Element Bearers' memories were at that pony's will. My guess is that the Elements now think Earth is their home dimension not Equestria. I'm pretty sure we would have all been oblivious that that pony used a forbidden spell had they masked the magical properties that lie in the air after casting that sort of spell."

"I see... but... where do I fit in with this? I'm no good with dimension magic so I can't summon a portal where they are." Arcane asked.

"No, Arcane. That won't be your job. I can already summon a portal to Earth." Celestia explained. "No, your job will be to break them out of the memory spell and to bring them back to Equestria."

This is where Arcane's jaw internally dropped. He knew that this mission would be important, but for some reason, actually hearing the objective made it a lot more panic-inducing. On one hoof, this was too much for him. On the other hoof, he could still protect. So it was okay.

"Yes, Princess. But again, why me and not any of the captains?" Arcane asked.

Celestia looked to her left and saw the stained glass window displaying the defeat of Discord.

"You see, I fear that now that the Elements of Harmony have gone missing, a villain can use this opportunity to attack Equestria. So, I need all of my best captains on the front lines in case it is necessary. Not only that, but myself and Princess Luna have duties of our own, such as raising the sun and moon and preserving the peace. Which is why..."

"… Which is why you choose a trainee, who doesn't have a high position." The unicorn finished.

"Yes. Do you have any other questions?" Celestia inquired.

"Just one, Princess. What exactly do I do when I've gathered all of the Elements? I don't I'm able to teleport across dimensions?" Arcane asked. Princess Celestia smiled before her horn lit up. A small green gem came into existence. She levitated it over to Arcane's right ear and stuck it on. When the unicorn recruit looked at her in confusion, she simply turned around so that Arcane could see her left ear, where a small red gem lied.

"The gem I just gave you allows for communication between us, even across dimensions." Celestia cleared up. "Which means I can give you instructions as you go on your journey. It should be a lot easier than remembering all of the steps. Arcane inspected the gem with his hoof. It definitely wasn't cheap. The blue unicorn grinned.

"Yeah, it should help a lot." The unicorn recruit agreed. "That's all of my questions for now, Princess. I... I think I'm ready for this mission."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Don't you have any belongings to collect at your home?"

Arcane shook his head. "I don't have much at home. Besides, I think I'd rather go sooner than later."

Celestia closed her eyes in thought then opened them. "If that is what you want, I shall comply." Her horn lit up before completely enveloping herself, Arcane and Rusted Spear in a flash of light. When they opened their eyes, they were in what seemed like a storage room.

"Here." Rusted Spear said to the blue unicorn, handing him two beige saddlebags. "I put a week's worth of food in there and a few rubies and sapphires. That should last you a good while." Arcane Art accepted it and put it over his back.

"Thanks, Rusted." The unicorn recruit thanked him. He turned towards Celestia who had her horn lit up. "I'm ready."

The white alicorn nodded her head before her horn lit immensely. The glow was so bright it looked more like a fire. Suddenly, Arcane felt his mane and fur being blasted by a violent wind. He would have ignored it, until he no longer felt his hooves touching the ground. The blue unicorn was floating away. Arcane looked upwards and saw a white portal, literal infinity inside of it.

"Good luck." He didn't know who said those words, but he knew those were the last words he hear until he passed out.

Author's Note

The problem with writing long chapters in one go is that quality degrades over time. Oh well. It works. Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome.

kthxbai