Some career paths are more demanding than others. Few know that better than Starshine, a batpony who always dreamed of managing and preserving books too dangerous for layponies to even look at. For her, joining the Night Guard to prove herself before the Princesses didn't seem like a bad idea. At least, it did not seem like a bad idea until Princess Luna picked her as the only guard to help her explore a place of wild magic and eldritch mysteries sealed for centuries.

On the other hoof, Princess Luna is having the time of her life. Fighting the undead and stopping cosmic abominations are not skills she gets to practice very often.

Second place in the second edition of The "New Blood" Contest, featuring the bonus prompt "Two PoVs that run concurrently."