"Alright, I'll be taking my leave here," Misty Horn said as the group passed by a slightly ornate door.

"What? Not staying for the rest of the tour?" Rainbow Dash teased.

"No. My battalion and I were already given a tour of the castle and Canterlot. I was going with you because you happened to be walking towards the officer's quarters," Misty Horn responded as she started to go towards the door.

"Aren't you here on guard duty? Shouldn't you be guarding?" Pinkie Pie asked as Misty Horn loosed an angered sigh.

"I am a Lieutenant Colonel, a commissioned officer. I lead, train, plan, and maintain morale. If I have to get personally involved, then that means things have gone horribly wrong, and troops will get smoked until all that's left are puddles of sweat and tears. I will be handling the planning of Julius's and Zecora's protection, the general deployment of troops, and the rotations, and that's all I should be doing. Ideally, my Majors won't have to get involved physically, but I'm not discounting it. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to discuss with Warrant Officer Shadow Light," Misty Horn explained as she looked at the rest of the group. After a few seconds, Twilight saluted, followed by the others. "Very good," Misty Horn said as she left through the door.

"Geez, serious much," Rainbow Dash sighed as the group continued through the castle.

"Well, with what little I've interacted with military officers, she was kind of relaxed," Twilight responded as she led the group through the castle. "I suppose she isn't as friendly as Shining Armor, but I'm his younger sister, and you girls are my friends. Of course, he'd be more casual with us. He'd be a lot more stern with others, though, or when on official duty. Speaking of, where is he?" Twilight asked as she looked around. As Twilight looked around, she spotted no royal guards, only soldiermares from the Seventh Iron Lightning Battalion. Shrugging, Twilight walked up to one of the mares. "Excuse me. Where are the royal guards? And where is Colonel Shining Armor, Captain of Celestia's Royal Household Guard?" Twilight asked as her friends looked oddly at her.

"Colonel Shining Armor has, temporally, been granted leave. Until Princess Celestia is assured of Canterlot's safety, things are to remain that way. As for the rest of the Royal Household Guard, they've been sent to Base Layaway," one of the mares said before being lightly bumped by the other mare. "Sorry, I meant Forward Operation Base Firelight," the mare corrected.

"I see. Thank you," Twilight thanked as she led the group towards the inner gardens through the castle.

"I thought your brother was a Captain," Rainbow Dash said as Twilight led her through the hallways.

"Technically, Shining Armor is a Colonel since he's not in the navy. Moreover, since he personally leads Celestia's guard, he outranks higher ranks in matters involving her protection," Twilight explained as she turned a corner, leading to a pair of large open doors.

"Oh, OK," Rainbow Dash said as the group walked out into the inner garden. A plethora of exotic flowers and lush bushes lined the pathways, and beautiful, well-maintained trees provided shade over some of the lushest grass any of the group had experienced. "So, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why are we here? Shouldn't we be with Celestia or Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked as she lightly landed on the grass.

"Well, I don't know where this 'Ravenloft' is. As for Celestia, well, I'm going to her now. But I'm warning you; she'll likely be holding court right now. You and Pinkie Pie will probably find it incredibly dull," Twilight said as she looked at the group. "Still, you're welcome to come along if you want," Twilight offers.

"I will go with you. Celestia's court is something I'd like to review," Zecora said as she went to follow Twilight.

"Alright. Anypony else?" Twilight asked as the other ponies shook their heads. "Alright. I'll make sure to ask Celestia where this 'Ravenloft' is," Twilight told the other three ponies as she and Zecora went back into the castle.

"Well, this sucks," Rainbow Dash sighed as she relaxed on the grass.

"I wouldn't say that. The garden is quite lovely, and it attracts a lot of birds," Fluttershy said as a few birds landed on her back and started to chirp softly.

"True," Pinkie Pie sighed. "But I just wish we had some games or something. I like a nice garden as much as the next pony, but it feels like such a waste. A perfectly fine field, yet no games to be found," Pinkie Pie said in a mock pout as she sat down.

"Well, I say that instead of waiting around doing nothing, we go and find Ravenloft," Rainbow Dash firmly declared. "Or, at the very least, explore. It's better than just sitting around here doing nothing."

"There's nothing wrong with relaxing every now and then. Also, we don't even know where to start looking," Fluttershy said as two armored mares entered the garden.

"Well, I know where we can start," Rainbow Dash confidently said as she flew up to the two mares. "Do either of you know where Ravenloft is?" Rainbow Dash asked as the two mares looked slightly unnerved.

"Yes," one of the mares slowly answered as she slowly regained her nerves. "We're coming from there. On orders to inform Misty Horn that Princess Luna and Julius have safely arrived," the other mare said as she eyed Rainbow Dash. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm bored. Also, We're all in the same herd," Rainbow Dash explained as she pointed to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. "So, if you know where it is, could you take us there?" Rainbow Dash requested.

"Well, your cutie marks check out," one of the mares said. "Besides, if you're not lying, well," the other mare said as the two armored mares nervously looked at each other. "Look, we'll take you there; just be aware, the guards there are different," the first mare warned as they turned around.

"Why? We've met guardmares before. What makes these guards any different?" Rainbow Dash asked as she and the other two ponies followed.

"We don't quite know," one of the mares said. "All we know is the name of their leader, and just being around them feels extremely unnerving," the mare continued. "Yeah, and that's coming from us. We've been trained for a lot. For their presence to affect us in such a way, I don't like it," the other mare continued.

"Well, that answered nothing," Rainbow Dash huffed. "What's the name of their leader then?" Rainbow Dash asked in a huff.

"Aloysia Ida Steffi Jager Hofstute," one of the mares responded. "Neither of us has heard the name before. We only know two things about her. The first thing, she was personally selected by Princess Luna. The second thing, Princess Celestia looked uneasy at the mention of the name. Honestly, I dread to think what being could make Princess Celestia break her mask, even if only for a moment," the mare continued as the two armored mares led the group through the winding halls of the castle. "We've been taking bets as to the history of Aloysia. The most boring guess is that she's an especially vicious mercenary that caught Princess Luna's eye; most of us think that or something along those lines. On the other hoof, Windy Waves has the most eccentric guess. She thinks Aloysia is a vampire pony who was alive when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were young," the armored mares chuckled at the thought. "Could you imagine? Vampire pony, every pony knows vampire ponies don't exist," the two said through laughter.

"Hah, you have a mare in your battalion that believes in that old mare's tale?" Rainbow Dash laughed as she thought of a military mare shaking over some mare's tale.

"Well, Corporal Windy Waves does believe some strange things. But she's been right more often than she should be, all things considered," one of the mares shrugged. "Like that time in the forest," the other mare said. "Do you mean the time when we were on patrol and couldn't find anything to drink, so Corporal Windy Waves brought mushrooms that bled nectar as long as they were fed plants?" The other asked. "No, the one where we got lost, and she found the way out by tickling that tree, and sparks of light came out from it, leading us back," the other mare clarified. "Of yeah. Raselaylila, or something like that she called it," the mare said as she lightly facehoofed. "We kind of lost track, but you get the point. Corporal Windy Waves is a bit weird, but with how much she's been right and what she's been right about, we don't discount anything she says. We might slightly doubt it, but we never fully discount it," the other mare said as the two mares saluted two other armored mares as they exited through some doors. Following the mares, the group left out the doors, leading to a wild, unkempt path with thick blue rose bushes, lavender, moonflowers, valerian, and aloe vera lining the way.

"This is a lot more unkempt than I thought it would be. Considering this is the royal castle and all," Fluttershy commented as an eerie silence befell the area.

"Yeah. From what we were told, Princess Celestia had this whole area closed off for over a thousand years. Only recently has it been reopened, and even now, few come here," one of the mares said as they approached a stone building with a grand keep rising from the middle. "Here we are, Ravenloft," the mare said as the two armored mares stopped. "We'll wait here. If you get turned away, we'll lead you back. We'll head back ourselves and deliver our report if you go in," the mare told the group.

"Alright," Rainbow Dash said as she walked ahead of the mares. "Come, you two. Julius and Luna are inside. Besides, if this place has been closed off for so long, it'll be like we're treasure hunters!" Rainbow Dash happily said as she gleefully flew towards the building.

"Ohhh, that sounds fun!" Pinkie Pie happily said as she happily bounced after Rainbow Dash.

"Thank you for leading us here. Sorry if we get you into any trouble," Fluttershy said with a bow, and she timidly followed the other two mares.

"The briefing was right, Rainbow Dash is eager for adventure, and Fluttershy is very nice," one of the mares said as the other nodded. After making their way up to the building, the three mares tried to open the door, only to find that it was firmly locked.

"What the hay? Let us in!" Rainbow Dash commanded as she pounded on the door.

"Vee have our orders," a female voice in a thick accent responded from beyond the door. "No kreature is permittet to enter. Zis inkludes members of Zee Great Mozer's herd. So, unless vee get new orders from Zee Great Mozer or Aloysia, you schall be denied entry," the voice calmly and carefully said before some murmuring could be heard.

"Geez. Think that accent is thick enough?" Rainbow Dash asked with a laugh.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked, ignoring Rainbow Dash's question.

"Well, they're talking about something behind there. Maybe they're," Rainbow Dash started to say as she caught her breath, "getting zeir new orders," Rainbow Dash mockingly laughed.

"Hah, good impression," Pinkie Pie laughed as the mares heard a loud sigh from beyond the door.

"Your impression is as uncous as your kontemptible farce of a kulture. A millennium more has passet, yet you louts have changet only a little," the voice spat in response. "Vee have indeet gotten orders from Aloysia to let you in. Remember, Zee Great Mozer is sleepink, so been sie quiet, and been sie respektful," the mare commanded as the door slowly and quietly opened.

"Well, that's lucky, come on," Rainbow Dash said as she led Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy into Ravenloft.

Author's Note

First time writing with a German accent, I think I did fairly well .