Protect & Serve

        The halls of the crystal castle were quiet as usual. The large, multi-faceted hallways were desolate and devoid of any activity. All of the four inhabitants of the large palace were grouped in a singular room, it was the library of course. The denizens spent most of their time in that particular room, it was a major time sink for the studious ponies that lived there.

        Princess Twilight Sparkle flitted through the air on her recently acquired wings. She went from bookshelf to bookshelf, searching for some elusive tome that hid itself somewhere in the room. The alicorn paid no heed to the two individuals below her, she was too focused on the task at hoof.

        “Did you find it yet, Twilight?” A pale pink pony called from the ground floor of the packed library. She wasn’t concerned about the missing book, not as much as Twilight apparently was. Then again, Starlight didn’t even know what they were really looking for, just that Twilight had deemed it important. Starlight just wanted to get on with the day, not get hung up in the library looking for something that may not even be in there.

        “No… I can't find it anywhere!” The princess called back from her lofty position. “I could’ve sworn it was around here somewhere…” The last sentence was mumbled, almost inaudibly. The pony on the ground, Starlight, and the small dragon beside her both rolled their eyes.

        “I told her it wasn’t here.” The little reptile standing next to Starlight grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest. “It was in the the old library, we couldn’t find it after it, y’know, blew up.” Spike seemed irritated, not at the fact that Twilight wasn’t listening to him, but that their old domicile had been obliterated in the past.

        “What is it she’s looking for anyways?” Starlight questioned. “She wouldn’t tell me, like it was some big important secret or something.” She had nothing against ponies keeping secrets, Celestia knows she had her fair share of them, but being purposely obtuse was something that got on Starlight’s nerves.

        “It’s-well…” Spike put a claw to his chin, thinking about his next words. “It’s a book.” The little dragon said confidently. Starlight only rolled her eyes at the number one assistant.

        “Obviously.” The unicorn fired back. “What kind of book? Is it, like, a diary or an ancient spellbook?” Starlight’s mind started running wild with possibilities. Could Twilight be looking for the book that aided her ascension to alicorn status? Or was it that message book that linked to the human world? It could be anything!

        “Did we really lose it?” Twilight’s expression changed from one of curiosity to worry. “We couldn’t have lost it!” The alicorn flew around faster and faster, taking books from the shelves, examining them for a split-second, and then tossing them back onto the shelf. Panic was obviously setting in now, and Starlight didn’t know if there was anything she could do to help the situation.

“Lose what, Twilight Sparkle?” Every head in the room turned to the new voice. All three pairs of eyes turned to see a very surprising sight, three more princesses were standing in the doorway, along with Captain Shining Armor. Starlight subconsciously backed away from the monarchs, as if fearing some sort of divine retribution.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadance! What are you doing here?” Twilight descended from on high, landing gracefully on the ground next to Spike. “I didn’t get a letter that you were coming.” There was a moment of hesitation, one of barely contained fear. “Is something wrong?”

“No, Twilight…” Cadence raised a hoof to ease the panic in Twilight’s voice. “Nothing is wrong.” Starlight didn’t know why, but she trusted the pink alicorn. It was something about the sincerity in her voice, she thought. It was so reassuring and lovely.

Celestia was next to step forward. “We simply wish to discuss with you a matter of importance. There is nothing to worry about.” The elder princess said, wearing her warm, motherly smile. Though Twilight was set at ease, Celestia’s tones did not bring any amount of comfort to Starlight. It made a pit form in the bottom of the unicorn’s stomach, like each word was inching the conversation closer to something terrible.

Starlight had never met any of the royal family besides Twilight, so seeing them all of Equestria’s alicorns at once set off more alarms than Starlight thought possible. After the time travel fiasco, she had expected Twilight to rain righteous fury down upon her. To smite her, not forgive her and offer enlightenment in the form of mentorship. Now, Starlight felt that her reckoning was at hoof.

“Perhaps a library is not the best place to discuss these matters.” The princess of the night stepped forward, her demeanor cold and uneasy. Starlight had heard stories of the terrible things that Luna had done in her past, and even more about things that she might’ve done. None of the thoughts gave Starlight any amount of comfort. “Do you have a place where we might sit and discuss sensitive matters, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Of course.” Twilight nodded and shot a glance at her brother, who was standing resolute at the back of the crowd of monarchs. “The map room has enough seats, I think.” Twilight had seemingly calmed down and collected her composure. At least on the outside she had. Starlight had no doubts that on the inside the youngest alicorn was still panicking.

Twilight started walking, the other princesses matching her stride as the followed her. Shining Armor took up position directly behind his wife, leaving Starlight and Spike behind. Starlight wasn’t ready to face the proverbial music, she would rather wait here with Spike and never follow the crowd.

“It’ll be alright, Starlight.” A scaly claw patted the side of her barrel. She looked down at Spike, who gave her a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. “I’m sure it’s nothing, probably just some royal decree stuff or something.” Starlight wished she could believe that, but all of the princesses in one place did not smack of small business.

“Starlight Glimmer, you should come with us as well.” It was the first time that Starlight had heard Shining Armor speak. It was commanding and authoritative, demanding her compliance. Who was she to refuse the order from the captain of the royal guard and prince of the Crystal Empire? Reluctantly, the unicorn trotted after the group of royals.

“We’re preparing for the delivery pretty soon.” Starlight caught up to the group in time to catch the tail-end of a conversation. Cadance was talking about deliveries, but without context Starlight could only guess at what it meant. “We don’t have an exact date yet, but we’re hoping we’ll be back in the Empire before it arrives.”

“Are you going to be in Equestria for long?” Twilight questioned her sister-in-law. It was odd how Twilight didn’t know the goings-on with her own family and fellow royals. Starlight thought that Twilight would be clued in on all of this, not left in the dark.

“A few weeks, I think. I have to be in Canterlot for a few meetings and Shining Armor has some… things he must take care of as well.” Everypony caught the hesitation in Cadance’s words, and it brought Starlight and Twilight to look at each other. There was worry and apprehension in their shared gaze.

The rest of the trip was filled with idle chit-chat between royals. Little things like laws, court, and some funny anecdotes about life in palaces. So things that Starlight had no input on. All in all, it was an uneventful walk that only left two of the ponies with a bad feeling in the pits of their stomach.

Once in the map room, Twilight took her spot in the chair bearing her cutie mark. Starlight took up a position standing behind her mentor and watched the rest of the royals sit in the seats belonging to the other elements of harmony. Celestia sat in Rainbow Dash’s seat, Luna in Applejack’s, Cadance in Rarity’s, and Shining in Pinkie Pie’s. It felt like a very strange meeting to say the least.

“So...what’s this all about?” Twilight asked, tapping her hooves on the table in an uneven cadence. “It’s not everyday we have a meeting with every single princess for no reason.” A nervous laugh punctuated the statement, reinforcing Starlight’s belief that Twilight was barely holding her composure.

“We’re worried, Twily.” Shining Armor spoke first, his usually hard voice softening. His facade broke, and in a moment Starlight saw a very tired and worried older brother break through. His eyes relaxed their glare, letting the dark circles under his eyes dominate his facial features. “Since you’ve become a princess you’ve-” The stallion closed his eyes and took off his helmet, setting it forcefully on the map. “-we’ve almost lost you, Twilight. More than once.” The other ponies around the table gave sad nods, but kept their eyes focused on Twilight. “We can’t do it again, Twilight. Especially after her.”

Starlight felt a chill run up her spine as Shining looked straight at her. It brought back every terrible feeling she thought she had left behind. All of the guilt from her past transgressions, enslaving a whole town, almost destroying Equestria in more ways than one… almost hurting Twilight... It all flooded back to her, pulling her heart into the icy grip of despair.

Starlight had never meant to be a bad pony. She just wanted to feel like she had a place, like nopony would ever leave her again. It was an ache in her very core, that feeling of loneliness and hopelessness that filled her in those dark times. It drove her to do such unforgivable things, to seek a community through force instead of mutual respect and friendship like it was supposed to be. It was not something she was proud of, and not something she needed to be reminded of.

        “Shiny, she’s reformed now.” Twilight attempted to allay the fears of her older brother. “She wouldn’t hurt me again.Isn't that right, Starlight?” Twilight turned and gave a smile to Starlight, one that the unicorn just couldn’t return. She couldn’t help but feel that Twilight was missing the point rather spectacularly.

        “We think you are missing your brother’s meaning, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna spoke now, putting a silver-clad hoof onto the table. “We all understand that Starlight Glimmer is your student now and that she is… reformed.” That word, ‘reformed’ it cut deeper than Starlight would ever care to admit. It was almost like they viewed her as some sort of villain, not just a misguided soul. “We are more worried about the next threat. What will happen to you then if it is something that none of us could ever be prepared for? What if it catches you off guard?”

        That was exactly what Starlight had relied on with her last plan: the element of surprise. She had caught Twilight off guard and forced the princess to play by her own rules on her own turf. Twilight had overcome though, through sheer kindness and understanding she had beaten Starlight.

        “Then, I’ll overcome!” Twilight said, emboldened by the implied challenge. “With my friends, I can do anything!” That kind of tenacity is what drew Starlight to Twilight’s line of thinking. That ideology of ‘no challenge it too big for me!’ was intoxicating as well as contagious.

        “What if you’re alone like you were with Starlight Glimmer? What If it’s just you and Spike against a stronger opponent? What then, Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia spoke, her motherly tone dissipating with each word. This was now a mare who was letting a child know that she knew best. “We cannot allow you to be put in danger again, Twilight, not without precautions.” There was a pregnant pause where one could practically cut the tension with a knife. It clung to the air and brought the mood of the entire room down like a crashing blimp.

        “What kind of… precautions?” Twilight laid her ears back flat, looking at Celestia uneasily. It was obvious that the purple pony’s spirit and independence was going to fight back on this. A change to her life would not be taken lightly, nor would it be accepted without thought.

        “We propose a guard. A full station of them here in the castle.” Shining spoke again, this time slipping back into his official mannerisms. “It’s why I’m here, I’m going to be doing a recruitment drive here in Ponyville for your guard.”

        “So you’ve already decided...” Twilight stated flatly. “You’re not proposing anything, you’re telling me.” There was no small amount of venom in the princess’ voice. It was clear she took no joy in having her life co-opted by those around her.

        “We knew you wouldn’t be happy with it, Twilight.” Cadance spoke up again, trying to calm  the newest alicorn with a smile. “We just thought it would be best to just do it and let you know, like ripping off a band-aid.” Twilight said nothing. “I promise that you won’t even notice that they’re here after a while. It’ll be like nothing’s even changed.”

        “No.” The word was sharp and cut through any expectations. Even Starlight had expected Twilight to bend eventually, maybe after a verbal argument. But a flat out ‘no’ was completely unexpected. “I’m not allowing it, I don’t care how much you push. I can’t put other ponies in danger because of my life. I just… can’t...” There was that kindness again, that good heart that always shone through it all. Starlight had heard stories of Twilight’s selfishness when she first came to Ponyville, but she couldn’t believe it. That was not the Twilight she knew.

        “Twilight!” Shining Armor started, but he was cut off by Celestia raising a solitary hoof. The captain clenched his jaw and held his tongue. Not even he would defy Celestia.

        “Twilight…” Celestia said, a fair deal more calm than Shining Armor. “If you will not allow us that, then allow us at least a small level of comfort.” She gave Twilight a moment to rebuttal, but the younger Princess said nothing. “A personal guard. Somepony who will always be with you, somepony who will look out for you as a friend and protector.” The princess of the sun gave a moment for the words to settle in, then she went to drive the point home. “I will not back down from this, Twilight.”

        Starlight could see the turmoil raging within her mentor’s mind. Twilight wanted to be independent, she wanted to take care of herself. On the other hoof, could she defy Celestia? It was like looking at a child who was trying to decide whether or not to yell at their parent.  It was the immovable mountain of respect meeting the unstoppable force of a powerfully stubborn mare.

        “Fine.” The immovable mountain won in the end. Twilight bowed her head, defeated by her mentor’s will. “One personal guard...” She raised her head, narrowing her gaze slightly. “Just one, though.”

        “I’ll start looking for an acceptable candidate.” Shining Armor stood up and started to walk out of the room. He was on his own personal mission to protect his little sister, and nothing could stop him.

        “I’ll do it!” A voice called out that caught everypony off guard, heck it even caught Starlight off guard and she said it! Whatever had possessed her to say that, she would never know. It had just been something that her heart had forced her to say, it had demanded to be let out.

        “Starlight?” Twilight looked at her, mouth agape. The princess worked her mouth, trying to say words that wouldn’t come. “What?” That was the first word that her mind had latched onto and successfully pushed out, and it was the only question that anypony was thinking.

        “I-I…” Starlight had to gather her thoughts, she had to think of why she said that. “I’m always with you anyways, right? So it wouldn’t really change anything, and it’s not like I’m not capable. I’ve been able to beat you in a magic duel, haven't I?.” Starlight sincerely hoped that sounded better than it did in her head. She didn’t mean it in a malicious way, she was just trying to prove a point.

        “Twilight Sparkle, would you be against this idea?” Luna spoke, the edge to her voice dropped. “From what we’ve heard in your reports of Starlight Glimmer, she is indeed a formidable opponent to any that might face her. She would not be the worst choice. Perhaps with some training from Shining Armor, she could be honed into a fine guard.”

“She’s already your friend, Twilight.” Cadance chimed in. “Not much would change in your life, so that’s a plus.” Optimism was definitely helping Starlight come to terms with her decision. It was making her feel like much less of an impulsive mule.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Starlight?” Twilight looked up at Starlight from her seat. There was a look in the princess’ eyes. Starlight couldn’t tell if it was pride or sincere gratitude, but it made her heart flutter in her chest.

“Absolutely.” Starlight said, her mind made up. She was going to do this for Twilight. Starlight Glimmer was going to become a royal guard.