Her Majesty's Royal Guard

To the Captain of the Royal Guard,

Shining Armor, upon review of the events that transpired before and up to the Royal Wedding, I am not pleased with your performance. Allowing an entire changeling invasion to take place is nothing short of preposterous behavior for the Captain of Equestria's military forces. Yes, I am aware that you had been fooled by Queen Chrysalis' disguise as my niece - we all were, with the exception of my protege Twilight Sparkle. This by no means excuses you from the events that occurred afterwards.

Are you aware of the amount of bits I pour into Equestria's defense budget? The suits of armor alone make up a quarter of the taxes taken in by the government on a regular basis and are starting to strain the royal treasury. This, when combined with cost of weapons, training facilities, and payroll, add up to an astronomical amount of bits! And to have not only no forewarning from the guards posted on the border of the incoming invasion, but to have every single guard in Canterlot seemingly overpowered by a force of Changeling drones? What of the seemingly flawless switch between my niece and that changeling imposter, without any of the guard happening to notice? This is unacceptable! You have failed me, Shining Armor. I had believed you to be a more capable unicorn, but it appears my faith has been misplaced.

However, I am not so displeased with you as to be unfair. Your track record in the past has been flawless, and I must also accede the fact that you had been... excessively burdened with your duties prior to the wedding. I am aware that our military is perhaps not up to par - a thousand years of peace and prosperity can breed complacency in a stallion like nothing else in the world. Thus, you will be given a second chance to prove yourself.

As your ruler and deity, I hereby charge you with rebuilding our military forces from scratch, starting with our own Royal Guard. This will be your only redemption - should you fail, you will be cast out of my service with the utmost swiftness and made to never return to Canterlot again.

Pacem. Prosperitatem. Harmonium.

Signed,

Princess Celestia, Reggente di Sole Eterno

Shining Armor gave a heavy sigh, carefully re-rolling the scroll before placing it within his drawers. He remembered all too well the events that occurred on his wedding day - it had been his greatest failure to see his ruler have to go into battle personally to defend her kingdom. Even more so to see his trained guards be promptly overrun by the changeling invasion.

He was not stupid nor deaf; he was all too aware of the whispers on the streets of Canterlot that followed him like a curse, causing him to inwardly burn with the shame of his shortcomings. But now he had a chance to redeem himself, to do something that had not been done for the past thousand years.

"I won't let this happen again - I swear it upon my life," he muttered. Dipping his quill in ink, he began to draft out a proclamation to be sent out by royal courier the following morning. Cadence would later awake to find him asleep at his desk, lightly snoring away with a grimace on his face while mumbling something about recruitment posters.

Ponies all over Equestria awoke to find a bold poster plastered on the walls of every building and posted on every bulletin board.

Attached to each of these was a personal letter from Captain Shining Armor himself, although some expressed doubt at how capable their "shining" captain actually was. The contents of the letter was just standard recruitment drivel aimed at attracting new blood to the Guard, with one large difference: the letter called out to ponies who had served in the past or had any kind of military experience and asked them to join the Guard once more in the interest of creating a better training program. There was good pay, good food, and good housing for those who would rejoin her majesty's guard; veterans here and there perked their ears in interest at the prospect of being in Celestia's service.

Soon, a small trickle of ponies began to make their way towards the capital. Ponies of both young and old and varying experience arrived slowly, their numbers increasing by day as Canterlot's recruitment offices became flooded with willing ponies ready to claim their glory as part of the Royal Guard. It would continue for a good three to four months before the flow stopped as everypony that was willing and able became part of the enlisted.

The call for recruits went far and wide, eventually reaching a seedy bar that serviced the guards of Equestria's border with the Badlands. There, those of the border guard merely scoffed at such a fanciful announcement before returning to their utter boredom; for what reason would they choose to serve a princess that thought they were used best to guard a wasteland for the majority of their service? There was one pony who took interest in the poster, however; a soldier of fortune who allowed himself a wicked grin before quickly hiding the poster away.

"Well, it appears there's better work for me elsewhere than in this dust heap." Giving himself a low chuckle, he retreated to his room at a nearby inn to gather his weapons and gear before making the long journey to Canterlot by hoof; after-all, he just wasn't paid enough as a border guard to afford the long-haul train ticket from here to the bosom of Equestria.

None of the ponies even noticed him leave, save for one earth pony whose face was clothed by a red bandanna. A scar jutted prominently across his left eye as he scowled. "Now, where does he think he's gettin' off ta'?" Slamming down a couple bits for his glass of ale, the earth pony left as quietly as the pegasus had, leaving no trace of his being there except for an empty mug.