When Sky descended the stairs and stepped out onto the bridge connecting the Guardian's Tower to the rest of Canterlot Castle, he indeed saw that the sun was rising, and that he had been asleep all night. After re-entering the castle proper, he took a couple wrong turns, and asked a passing hoof pony where the guest suites were, and got put on the right track. Once he got into his suite and saw the time on the clock on the wall, and saw that he had barely fifteen minutes to get to the dining room to join Princess Celestia for pancakes.

He went into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror, grabbing a comb and took care of the bedhead he had from the night before. With that done, he figured he could take five minutes to compose himself, but he figured that time would probably be better reserved for potentially getting lost on the way to the dining room.

So with a deep breath, he gave himself one last look in the mirror, set the comb down, and made his way back to the door, keeping Princess Luna's royal seal safely tucked underneath his wing. When he opened the door, there stood Silver Platter, who looked as if he was about to knock.

"Ah, good morning, Mister Scribbles. I wasn't sure if you were still up in the tower or down here. I came to see if you were joining Her Highness for breakfast today," he greeted.

"I just returned from the tower, and just stopped in to make myself presentable," Sky told the butler.

"Quite presentable, sir. Shall we?"

Sky nodded, and stepped out into the hallway, and followed alongside Silver as he did the night before.

"It's looking more likely that I'll be here for a bit. Perhaps I could do with a map to start to find my way around here, become familiar with the layout. Princess Luna wants me to pick up something from the castle tailor before I go back up to the tower," Sky told him.

"I can certainly get you a castle directory while you're at breakfast with Princess Celestia, sir," Silver replied.

The pair of ponies retraced their route to the dining room that they had taken last night, and before he knew it, Silver opened the doors to the dining room, and stepped in, with the pegasus right behind him.

"Mr. Sky Scribbles again, Your Highness," Silver announced.

After a quick bow, Sky noticed that instead of escorting him to his seat, Silver merely turned and exited the dining room, closing the doors behind him, leaving the pegasus to cross the dining room himself to sit down where he had last night.

"Good morning, Mr. Scribbles. You're looking well rested. I trust you had a good night, and got some answers as to what Luna wants with you," Celestia greeted as he took a seat on the other end of the table.

"Somewhat, Your Highness," Sky answered. "Princess Luna and I have spent a grand total of five minutes together, and that is mostly my fault. I may have... Fallen unconscious, when she came out of the dream realm to greet me last night..."

Sky immediately came forward with his embarrassing first encounter with Luna in order to excuse the tint on his cheeks, instead of trying to explain to Celestia his morning of waking up in a crib and being cleaned up by her sister.

Celestia chuckled lightly as she magically levitated a plate of pancakes, glass of orange juice, and floated them over towards her guest.

"Well, I won't say that I've never had the privilege of having a guest faint upon seeing me, but it's usually because their corset was fastened much too tightly. But you said you got some answers?"

Sky nodded, and his mouth began to water as the floating plate was set down in between his fork and knife, and on it was a stack of six fluffy chocolate chip pancakes. Luckily, they were his favorite, as was one of the flavors of syrup waiting in the trio of glass dispensers. He grabbed the one with the thick red fluid, and tipped it over above his pancakes, drizzling strawberry syrup over his breakfast.

"She said she preferred being more awake and alert before getting into the details, but she said something about being her potential Guardian," Sky told her, before cutting up his first bite of pancakes.

Celestia nodded.

"I had a feeling that's what she had invited you here for, but I didn't want to misinform you. It has been quite some time since she last appointed a Guardian," she told the pegasus.

"What is a Guardian, Your Highness?" Sky asked right after swallowing his first bite. The pancakes were absolutely delicious.

"Well, to put it in the absolute simplest of terms, to not offset your expectations, a Night Guardian is, more or less, an assistant of sorts in the dream realm."

Sky's eyes widened, but he figured it was better to not have any more follow up questions, and save them for Luna, as his attention returned to the pancakes in front of him. It felt somewhat emptier in here compared to last night, with the absence of the kitchen staff refilling drinks and bringing in new courses.

"So I take it you're here for at least a while longer, while my sister completes whatever evaluations she needs to come to a decision?" Celestia asked. The pegasus nodded.

"I've been told to pick something up from the castle tailor before returning up to the Guardian's Tower, Your Highness. After that, I suppose I should try and get a little bit of sleep between now and tonight, so I have a bit of energy to spare after the sun goes down. Some caffeine would probably be best."

Celestia nodded in understanding.

"Well, as long as you're here, Sky, please feel free to join me here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, unless my sister has other plans. I always enjoy making breakfast myself, I find it's the best start to the day before the monotony sets in."

Sky merely nodded politely, as absolutely nothing about the past 24 hours had been monotonous, but castle life was probably far more dull to somepony who had been here as long as Celestia had.

"I might take you up on that, Your Highness, especially if that could get me into the kitchens here at the castle. I'm sure I've never cooked in such a high-end kitchen before, and that would be just one more memory to make."

"Well, I just might have to see how you cook on a bit, Mr. Scribbles. I'll see if I can clear a bit of my schedule before luncheon, which is around 12:30. If you'd like to meet me back here then, I'll let you take a look at our pantry and see what you can come up with on a whim," Celestia told him.

Now, Sky knew that's all he would be thinking about for the next three hours or so; if Princess Celestia wanted to see him cook in her private kitchen, he was going to have to bring his A-game.

"These pancakes are absolutely delicious, Your Highness," Sky complimented.

"Thank you very much. It's by far my favorite thing to make in the morning."

When he was about halfway done with his stack, the dining room doors opened, and Silver walked in again, and went straight to where Sky was seated, placing a rolled sheet of parchment at his place at the table, well away from the plate and glass.

"A layout of the castle, Mister Scribbles. I've taken the liberty of highlighting your guest suite, the Guardian's Tower, and the tailor's offices," the butler told him.

"Thank you very much, sir. Hopefully I'll be finding my way around here in no time," Sky replied. Silver gave a curt nod, and departed.

"If my sister wants you to be anywhere in a timely manner, please don't hesitate to have a staff member point you in the right direction, or escort you to where you need to go, Mister Scribbles," Celestia told him.

"Thank you, Your Highness. But I really don't know how long I'm going to be here at this point, and even as a guest, I'd rather not be a burden on your staff showing me where things are for days at a time when I have the spare time to get my bearings."

"Whatever you feel is best, Mister Scribbles. I know you'd prefer to find your own way, but rest assured that that is what our castle staff is here for," Celestia told him as she finished her pancakes. "Well, it's time for me to get started with my day. I look forward to seeing you back here for lunch, Mister Scribbles. Until then," Celestia gave a curt nod, and exited the dining room, leaving the pegasus to his last bites of pancakes. As he sipped at the last half of his orange juice, he unfurled the rolled piece of parchment, and saw where Silver had marked the tailor's office, and began mentally tracing a path of the best way to get there.

Author's Note