The story of Twilight's heroic defence spread like wildfire through Fort Everfree. Everywhere she went, ponies would look at her. Earthponies and pegasi would look at her in awe, unicorns in disgust. Since Canterlot was the nearest major city, she wasn't surprised most of them came from there. This time however, she did not shrink or cower, she held her head high triumphantly. She did not need to impress them. Her actions spoke louder than words, and she had friends to support her now. Sure, she knew all of them were more like co-workers, and not true friends she would hang out with in her free time, there was simply no time for that during training, but nothing would stop her from making real ones as soon as she graduated. And maybe some of her battle brothers and sisters would turn out to be genuine friends as well, only time could tell.

Something that did surprise Twilight, however, was the smug smile Sergeant Fire Trail always wore when Twilight walked past and one of the other group's commanding officers was present. This time something was off, as Cold Comet, the sergeant of unicorn group two, stopped her. She could already tell this was going to be trouble. The sneer on his face was all too familiar to Twilight.

"You're going to tell me how you did it. How could a useless pet like you perform a spell like that? And don't tell me you read about it, because this kind of spell was not even on the restricted list." He put his muzzle right against Twilight's. "Tell me or I will have you arrested for using dark magic."

Standing to attention and giving a salute, something she only did to aggravate the sergeant even more, she responded like the picture-perfect guard she was training to be. "Sir, the spell was a simple overcharged heat cantrip. I focused the explosive energy release into a standard concussive beam, resulting in a stream of super-heated magic. It was quite effective, if I say so myself, but very exhausting. I can't recommend the use for a normal unicorn, they would pass out in seconds."

He simply huffed at the explanation. "Don't play smart with me, recruit. I will report you and trust me, I have enough influence to get you thrown back to the dump you came from, understood?"

"Yes, Sir. I will include this in the letter to the Princess. She will be happy to hear about your diligence in improving the guard." Turning her own smug smile at the now slack-jawed sergeant, she continued, "That was your intention, right? For the record, I would be happy to help other unicorns with their spell-casting, if that was your intention." She was afraid his head would explode in rage, but he simply huffed and walked away.

"Buck, that was ruthless. Should make a poster and put it on the wall of every barrack; never mess with Twilight Sparkle." The sound of the voice sounded familiar, but in her agitated state, she could not place it. Turning around, Twilight greeted the newcomer.

She froze when recognition hit her. The large white unicorn in front of her was all too familiar. "Shiny!" She shouted. Seconds later, she recognized her mistake. "I'm sorry, Sir!" She stood to attention and saluted now that she saw his new sergeant pin on his uniform.

Giving her a firm nod, he moved past her. "Come with me, there is somepony who would like to see you." Taking a long gulp, she did as ordered. She wanted nothing more than to embrace her brother, but protocol forbade her from doing so. She was likely already in trouble.

The walk through the fort took longer than she expected and after they left the training compound, Shining spoke up again. "It's good to see you again, sis. Mom and Dad are worried, they are looking forward to see you again." With him talking to her personally, she could finally let her feelings out freely. With a mighty tackle, she pressed herself against her brother, pulling him in a tight hug. "You can let go now... I need to breathe." Giggling sheepishly at her brother's antics, she let go of him. "What do they feed you here? You're more earthpony than unicorn."

"Well, I am in the earthpony group." She stopped, her eyes going wide. "Wait, you didn't know?"

"The report only said they wanted to test you and that they offered you to join the unicorns once training started. They didn't do that?" Anger flared up in him. Twilight knew he was strictly by the book, something that clearly helped him in his career if he already made sergeant.

"They did, I declined," she said matter-of-factly. The loud laugh took her wholly unprepared. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No Twily." He took a few more breaths to get his giggling under control. "You know that unicorns only train with earthponies if they can't use magic." At her nod, he continued, "That must have been some surprise when you lit the forest on fire with more magic than any normal unicorn could hope to have." Another laugh escaped him. "What I would have given to see their faces when that happened. And that sergeant from earlier. That poor flank-hole had no idea what was happening. Looks like I'm the one to call you Ma'am at some point."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're the best guard I know and no pony can keep up with your shields. You're going to make captain in no time."

They continued their walk towards the administration building. Twilight had a good idea of who they were about to see at this point. "I hear you already made some friends," Shining suddenly said.

"I wouldn't call them friends. They are my battle brothers and sisters, and we watch out for each other. A few of them might become friends at some point, but for now, we are just guards in training."

"The reports I get tell a different story, you're already leading that group. Your commanding officer is constantly praising you in every report she writes. Calls you her little wonder foal." He slowed down somewhat to walk next to his sister and moved a hoof through her short mane. "She wrote ten pages about how you managed to get the group together in less than a week."

"I didn't do anything. That's all on them, especially Spear Point. He got all of them to support me."

"Oh, little Twily has a crush," he smugly said.

He got a hoof into his side as an answer. "Hush you, you're dating Cadence after all." She had to stop when she noticed he was no longer following her. "What?"

"I never told you about that, how did you know?"

"I noticed you looking at her all the time, especially her backside." Shining turned red at that remark. "I just never thought anything about it until now. It's quite obvious in hindsight." Moving onwards, she continued, "Let's get moving, the Princess is waiting." More sputtering before he hurried to catch up to her.

Approaching the large conference room, Shining knocked on the door. A loud "Enter" echoed, and he opened the door, letting his sister step inside. "See you later, Twily." With a nod, she entered. At the end of the large table sat Princess Celestia, her multicoloured wavy mane calm like a gentle river. A tell Twilight learned to recognize a long time ago, she was not in trouble after all. The two guards at the door paid her no mind as she approached the table. She stood to attention and saluted, something she had never done for the Princess. "Recruit Twilight Sparkle, reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

A small flicker in her mane was all the response she needed, this was hurting the Princess as much as herself. "At ease, Twilight." Taking another look at her faithful student, she held her motherly expression, something Twilight had missed for too long now. "I got your report about security for towns near the Everfree Forest."

"Ma'am, the danger is real. A large pack of timberwolves attacked my group during survival training. Multiple others have reported that they lost family to attacks. It is our duty to protect them."

Celestia flinched, never had she seen her student talk with such conviction. This was not her adorable little filly anymore. "What would you suggest we do? Your report only went into detail about what dangers lurk in these woods."

"A permanent guard for all border towns that have reported attacks from the forest. Creating a guard outpost should be permanent and not revocable by noble interference because the attacks decline thanks to the presence of the guard. The amount of attacks needed to be taken into consideration for that guard post should be as low as one attack a year, but I'm not sure this would be doable."

"Would you volunteer for such a role?" That was the important question. Celestia needed to know how far Twilight's resolve went. Was she sure of her request, or was it simply a little side project for her?

Without hesitation Twilight answered, "In a heartbeat, Ma'am."

"Then I will see to it that your first post will be in a town like that." Celestia scanned for any shift in posture, anything she could use to determine Twilight's emotion, but there was nothing, she was sure of herself, something she had never seen in her. It made her proud to see her student finally come out of her shell. A thought entered her mind. 'No, it couldn’t be. Has she already awoken her Element? It was her...' Again, a new plan formed in her mind. "If you finish at the top of your class, I will make sure you become the guard commander for the town of Ponyville. Your reports about that town are quite detailed. Is that agreeable?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I will not disappoint you."

"Very well, you're dismissed." Twilight was about to return to her group when Celestia let out a loud hum, "Not in that direction." Twilight turned around to see a mischievous smile on her mentor as she slowly patted the spot next to her. Not wasting any time, she galloped toward the princess, embracing her in a tight hug. "It's good to see you haven't changed all that much."

"I'm training to be a guard. It's important work and there are rules for a reason. As long as I can still do this when not on duty, I'm happy." She nuzzled into the soft wing of the Princess, soaking in the affection like a little puppy.

"To think you wanted to join the guard to learn new spells... How is that going, by the way? I heard you put on quite the spectacle."

A giggle escaped Twilight's lips, and she buried her head even deeper in Celestia's wing. "I already told Sergeant Cold Comet that it was a simple overcharged heat cantrip. I wasn't able to read any interesting magic books just yet." Twilight looked up in confusion when the slow petting motion of the wing stopped. The face of the princess was full of surprise. "Did I do something wrong, princess?"

"You used solar magic? How? That's impossible without..." it took her a few seconds to compose herself again. "Do you remember the feeling of the magic, how you used it?" Getting a nod from Twilight, she continued. "Never use it again! It is far too dangerous to be used by mortal ponies. It could permanently cripple your magic." She silently scanned Twilight for any damage done. She found some remnants of the magic, but to her surprise, the damage was already healing on its own, something that should be impossible. 'Is she already in possession of the Element of Magic? That's the only plausible answer.'

"I have another assignment for you, Twilight. You are still my personal student and as such, you need to continue your magical studies. Enough time has passed and you seem to do well. Your studies can no longer wait. I will send you books to read and expect a letter every week about your findings."

The thought of reading new books perked Twilight back up, the solar magic already forgotten. "I will, Princess." She eagerly replayed. They spent the next hour catching up, talking about all the things Twilight had done already, but after a time they had to part, duty waited for nopony, not even the Princess.

Author's Note

I have a lot of free time at the moment. The rest of the story will likely be ready to publish by the end of the week but I'm sticking to my schedule of one chapter per day. An exception will be the two-parters, I will upload all of the parts at once.