"Is that supposed to impress me?" Gleam replied to Blossom as she answered him, "You think you're the only ones who have graduated at the top even this year alone? There are a lot of guards out there who can say the same, and I know of plenty who have lost their lives in very embarrassing ways due to their own incompetence. Such a thing didn't impress me when those two jokers over there tried it and won't work with you either."
"Aww... It didn't?" Thunder said, though the slight jab from Mana to do so quietly worked as the unicorn hoped to just get past this ranting as soon as possible so as to focus on why they were actually here. Thankfully Gleam seemed to have missed Thunder's voice as he just continued on with the other pair of guards.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm actually fairly certain there are many other tin suits who do those exact same duties as you've mentioned, so I fail to see why you're special. The two standing outside the doors to this room are defending the Princess' life right now but you don't see them standing in here for a briefing. There are other guards escorting VIPs here in the castle right now, but none of them are being pulled away to come see us here. And, honestly, being sent far away from Canterlot can be viewed as a punishment just as easily as something to be proud of. All in getting here is that the two of you decided to give yourselves a cute little nickname to try and stand out, and its starting to seem like you might have been chosen just because your groups little name might have been at the top of some list organized by alphabetical order and was briefly glanced at by some assistant on her lunch break." A brief glance over his shoulder shot an accusatory look in the direction of the mare scribbling away, the pause then causing her attention to focus directly onto the old stallion after which she only raised an eyebrow and silently assured both that she hadn't done such a thing and that she wouldn't be taking any unnecessary crap over it.
Gleam turned back to the guards, the misunderstood gesture from Thunder apparently managing to serve its purpose anyway as the male of the duo spoke up, though as his voice carried his meaning both Mana and Thunder cringed internally. 'Please don't get him started...' They both thought at the same time, both Thunder and Mana not wanting to spend the next twelve to thirty some hours listening to the old pony rattle on and on...
Gleam just smirked at Bastion's words, whatever damage they may have been hoping to inflict seeming to roll off of him with little affect. "... You've never heard of the Cortoza, have you?" He asked before looking over towards Celestia and legitimately asking, "What do they teach this cannon fodder of yours these days?" He shook his head and sighed before moving on to a request, "Is it at all possible for me to make some last second changes here? What about bringing in that... oh what was his name... Um... Principe! What about that Principe fellow from last month? I could trust that one with this... Maybe..."
"These two were chosen for a reason," Celestia answered both to clarify that the presence of the two ponies he'd been yelling at hadn't been determined by the lucky draw of names from a hat and to deny his request, "I am confident that they can handle this task just fine. Have some faith in the new guard, Gleam, and take a breath before you pass out." The Princess advised, her using her magic to spread out a map on the table as she had decided the old stallion had criticized enough for now and that it would do them all some good to move on, the mage grumbling a bit but not protesting. "Now then, the job we have for you two shouldn't be very complex or difficult on its own, but the location will bring some danger on its own. What well need you to do is head into the Everfree forest and travel to the old castle there." The map displayed was of the forest, Celestia assuming that everypony present already had the route memorized but wanting the map for another purpose. "We need you to retrieve an artifact from the old vaults in its lower levels then bring it back here with the utmost subtlety."
"The item in question should look something like this," Gleam chimed in, his own magic being used to pluck one of the scrolls off of the table and unroll it for the pair of guards to see. It was some kind of jewel, most likely precious and cut into a diamond shape, set into a star that was carved out of a material that wasn't obvious just from the drawing, colored in as green for the gem and a dark purple for the star, the apparently large medallion, if the note scribbled under it regarding its size was to be believed, had several several arcane symbols etched into its points, however each one was also accompanied by a question mark that made it obvious that such things Amy not actually be present on the real thing. "Though, I've never had the chance to actually see it myself to know of any finer details beyond that."
"Nopony has for over a thousand years," Celestia informed as the scroll was offered by Gleam to the guards for them to study, the old stallion needing to bite down on his tongue to avoid telling them not to rip it or something similar, "even my memory is fuzzy on it, as back then it didn't spend much time outside of the vaults. What I do remember is that, in low light conditions, the star should glow a dull purple. If its as dark down there as I'm suspecting that might help it to stand out some. On top of that the lower levels of the castle can easily double as a maze, and while I can provide you with a general floor plan, much of the old magic and plenty of the old traps down there are still, last we checked, active and can cause any map I gave you to become confusing as some hallways may shift or change depending on how you proceed through them."
"Also, the vault is locked," Gleam spoke up again, "though I personally am confused as to why that still is. Figured those old enchantments would have died by now, and that the whole thing would have crumbled after a millennium of zero maintenance."
"We built it to last, Gleam. And, yes, the vault is still locked. You two will need to use a specially enchanted shard to open it." Another glow of magic and a small box on the table was opened, a black and sharp looking stone that appeared to be similar to the blade of a knife being carefully removed then laid out onto the map that covered most of the table. "You'll find the old royal symbol carved into the vault's door," the Princess went on to explain, "just beneath it will be a small slit big enough for the shard to fit into. Just slip it inside and the magic will do the rest. It's single use though, and the enchantments aren't indefinite, so you'll only have a small amount of time to collect the artifact before the vault door shuts behind you. At most you will have two minutes, but given how old the magic in the door is, I can't have full faith in it holding out that long. This is, at best, an estimate made after I crunched the numbers, so you may have a few seconds more or less. I advise one of you stay back to watch the door while the other collects the star. If the worst does happen and you both get trapped inside the vault, don't panic. That's part of the reason I wanted Mana and Thunder here to be present." She nods towards the other pair of guards, Thunder smiling while Mana just gave a nod of his own to Blossom and Bastion.
"And before you ask, no, you can't have more than one shard to take with you," Gleam again, this time speaking as if he knew such a question was on its way already, "not only is there no slot to use on the inside of the door for you to stick it in, but the materials used in creating them are extremely finite, and the magic very difficult to weave. They're for unlocking what was the most secure vault of its time after all. Pending collapse not withstanding." Honestly believing that such an event was doomed to happen soon, Gleam glanced over at the Princess, eyes sending what wa apparently a silent plea that went ignored by the royal pony. "Time also presses us to want to get this done sooner rather than later."
"Mana, Thunder," Celestia addressed with a gesture for them to come closer to the table, "there is something you can help them with when it comes to the Everfree, yes?"
Thunder hummed as he approached the table, whatever she was talking about slipping his kind for the immediate moment while Mana only gave another nod and recognized immediately what she meant. "We've set up a number of emergency supply caches in the Everfree," he told the second pair of guards, Thunder then giving an 'ooooh' as he remembered the week he and his partner spent burying stuff.
"Right, in case the creepy crawlies get you or you eat the wrong kinds of berries."
"Dry rations, clean water, small medical kits, maps and compasses in case you get lost and lose yours."
"Basically whatever you would need should things suddenly get unpleasant."
"Just to be safe," Celestia chimed in, "I doubt any of these will be needed as this shouldn't take you very long, but you should at least commit a few of these stashed to memory. Mana, if you would please show them?"
"Yes, Princess." The unicorn agreed, him taking up a pen on the table and proceeding to circle locations on the map where the other guards could find what they needed should they need it.
"Oh! Don't forget this one!" Thunder reminded his partner, the pegasus tapping the Mao with a hoof and earning a rolling of Mana's eyes because of it.
"Thunder, I can't possibly imagine a time when somepony would need juice, cookies and a few comic books while out in the field."
"Everypony could use juice, cookies and comic books out in the field."
"Do you have any questions so far?" Celestia asked Blossom and Bastion as the other two guards went about marking the map for them.