Sorry for the long wait everypony. I tried to upload the chapter on Wednesday, but my computer crashed in the middle of the upload and corrupted the files for my next thirty chapters, so I have to retype them a few at a time. Also, in order to make this chapter for all of you guys (because I care more about you guys than I do myself), I have reached a new record of mine! I have so far gone nine days without sleep, so don't be surprised if there's a lot of grammar mistakes. And before any of you start telling me that going that long without sleep is "unhealthy," I already know that because I've already heard that from most of my friends. Anyway, here is chapter 13, and keep in mind that last chapter was a turning point where Dawnfrost starts to have a more important role in the castle. This is because I needed somewhere besides Ponyville for Dawn to live and since she is a princess, I thought, hey why don't we have her help out the princesses in Canterlot? Yeah, that's a great idea! Oh, sorry, because now I'm just rambling, so let's get back on topic. Because I feel bad for making you wait so long, chapter 14 isn't going to be "Winter Wrap-Up," because I want to fill you guys in on how Celestia got rid of all of the parasprites. So I hope you all will enjoy the extra chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next exciting chapter, and if you like it, make sure to read the next chapter!

…I woke with a start, looking around my room to get my bearings.

"What was that?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with a fore-hoof, "Why did Luna's control over the dream shatter?"

Knock, knock, knock!

The sudden knocking caused me to jump, "Who is it?" I shouted, trying to stifle a yawn.

"I am Captain Sterling of the Royal Guard, your majesty. I have been sent to give you a message," a stern voice came through the door.

"Give me just a minute to get ready," I sighed as I got up and trotted to the bathroom, "And then I'll be right out."

"Yes ma'am," the Captain replied sternly. As I stood in front of the mirror, I noticed my mane was a mess. There were more knots, twists, tangles, and loose strands than ponies in Equestria. While I was busy attacking my disastrous mane with a comb, another knock sounded on my bedroom door.

"Hey Sis, you almost ready yet?" said the impatient voice of Nightshade, "We're all waiting on you." I just sighed and gave up on taming my wild hair. Instead, I just used my magic to make my horn disappear and put on my beach hat (Sunbeam was kind enough to grab it after me and Nightshade fought in the caves of Canterlot. Also, if I had used magic to try to style my mane, it would've made it look a whole lot worse. And I should know, because I tried it once. That day still makes me shiver).

"I'm coming," I shouted as I opened my door to look at Nightshade, "What is it Shay?"

"Tia and Luna want us to meet them in the throne room. Something about an emergency," She said as quickly before grabbing me with her fore-hooves and dragging me to the castle.

"SHAY!" I shouted as we zipped out of the tower, "PUT ME DOW-OW-WOOOAH!" We dashed around corners and narrowly missed ponies as Nightshade flew as fast as she could. Finally, we burst into the throne room, were Nightshade dumped me on the ground and landed beside me.

"…Seems to be an infestation. And no matter what anypony does, we can't seem to stop them," a guard was explaining to the others. I looked around at everypony, there was Celestia sitting on her throne with Luna sitting on a second one right next to her. Somepony had brought in a long table with papers, maps, and diagrams scattered all over it.

On one side of the table, there were four Solar Guards on the right end and four Lunar Guards on the left end, while on the other side of the table, my friends sat with another Solar Guard. Mom sat on the far right with Dad sitting to her left, next to him was Snowglider. Sunbeam sat between her and Nightblade (I noticed she sat awfully close to the dark pegasus), the other guard sat next to him. Nightshade took the seat on the far left, forcing me to sit between her and the guard.

Once I was seated, I took a closer look at the guard and realized something odd about this one. They were a mare. She was a white pegasus with silver hooves and wing tips. Her eyes were sky blue like the streak running through her curly, silver mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a small shield, the face of which was sapphire blue with silver edges and a sky blue snowflake in the center.

"Hi, I'm Dawnfrost. I don't mean to sound rude, but… Aren't you a mare?" I asked in curiosity.

"Yes ma'am. Indeed I am," She replied respectfully (being a "Princess" is annoying. Especially since you're treated differently than everypony else).

"Then may I ask how you managed to become a Royal Guard?" I said carefully.

"Yes you may," She answered in a soft and gentle voice, "I was just a little filly when both my dad and uncle where part of the guard. There were sent to help fight off a dragon that was terrorizing Equestria. Eventually they managed to fight it off, but my father never came back. After seeing whatever had happened to my dad, my uncle trained me how to defend myself. Then one day I was being picked on by a bunch of bullies and the next thing I know, they were cowering in a bush. When I got home, my uncle noticed I had earned my cutie mark and enrolled me in the training program, and then I got accepted."

"Wow, that's amazing!" I exclaimed, "Although I didn't really catch your name."

"It's Sergeant Silverwing your highness," She bowed.

"Please, call me Dawn." I said, extending a wing before she shook it.

"Alright Dawn," Silverwing smiled.

"So what exactly is going on?" I asked, noticing the others had erupted into an argument.

"There have been several reports of an infestation of these small furry things that are eating all of the food and multiplying every time they eat something," Silverwing explained, ""And we're trying to figure out what to do about them."

"Oh, ok. What is everypony arguing about?" I asked, feeling puzzled.

"Somepony suggested that we all get butterfly nets and catch the creatures but we can't figure out where to put them after that," She said calmly.

"I see. Why don't we put them in the Everfree Forest?" I said loudly. Everypony stopped arguing and looked at me.

"Great idea!" Celestia declared, "Everypony get your nets while I go pay a student of mine a visit." With that, we all dispersed to get nets.

"Hey Sil?" I said, poking Silverwing's flank, "Would you like to join me and my friends? We could always use the extra help and we have plenty of spare rooms." (We have 493 empty rooms in our tower).

"I'd love too!" She said gratefully.

"Yay!" I cheered, "Okay, now who's ready to catch some critters?"

"We are!" Everypony cheered.

"Then let's go!" I cried, and we all took off for our first stop.

Manehattan…

That's all for this chapter! I'm really glad that it's finally posted because I really need some sleep.

So remember to let me know what you think, and I'll see all of you guys in the next chapter!