Day in and day out, training continued in its well-tuned and regimented way. Get up, physical training, shower, food, class, food, class, and so forth. The Royal Guard expected ponies to learn more in fourteen weeks than I had in years of preparatory school! Those that couldn’t washed out. I wasn’t a wash out, though.
Training was starting to be interesting. I’d learned how to read maps, ‘develop a presence’, execute tactics, and lots of other military buzzwords like that. Plus, there were the psychology courses that went into how ponies react under pressure. That was enlightening.
I’d been doing all of that while also cutting out half an hour a week to attend the local Baltimare meeting for guards that had been involved in fatal incidents. To put it lightly, I was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. Despite all of that, however, I’d never felt more sure that I was walking the right path.
For once in her life, Sunny Day knew exactly where she was going! I was going to graduate, accept my commission, and start a career as a Royal Guard lieutenant. That was exciting! Extremely exciting, actually, since I was in the last two weeks of my training.
This was the polishing phase. The first twelve weeks were the hard part. Now it was just an issue of making sure all of the cadets looked the part. More than half the class had already washed out, but at this point you had to really screw up to be sent home. Either that or quit, but I am not a quitter! I’m not a quitter. Sunny Day moves forwards.
I was comfortably in the middle of the pack. My struggle had been with the combat part. Not the tactics or anything, but the bit where I had to get in and fight a pony. Thankfully, Sergeant Lindsay wasn’t the kind of pony to give up, either. She’d pushed me every session to be more aggressive.
It was heartbreaking at first but, eventually, I understood that I wouldn’t kill every pony I fought. In fact, I’d rather enjoyed learning the non-lethal ways to subdue. So much so I intended to try a few of them out on Soarin when I had the chance.
Gah! I had to stop thinking like that. Giving up adult happy fun times for this long was starting to make me a little crazy. It was hard to get through study period. That is also when I became aware of Blackberry poking me in the cheek with her hoof.
“Hello? Anypony there?”
“What?” I asked.
“We have to be out of here in five minutes and your stuff is still all over the place. You don’t want to draw undue attention this late in the game, Sunny. Get it together!”
“Right! Thanks,” I replied before starting to pick up my notebook, pens, pencils, and textbooks. Well, there was another study session wasted. Hopefully that wouldn’t impact me too much on my final.
Once I had everything together, Blackberry and I headed towards our dorm room. It was going to be lights out soon.
“Have you decided what you want to specialize your career in?” Blackberry asked.
I shook my head. “Honestly? No. There are just so many fields.”
She pressed her lips together and peered at me. “Sunny, if you don’t pick before you leave, they’re just going to assign you some random post. You don’t want to end up in supply if you hoped to command a patrol unit.”
“I know, I know, but I honestly don’t have a clue. I joined the Guard just to make a difference. I mean, you want a constable unit and that sounds great. Policing regular ponies and helping them would make a difference.
“Then there are the protection units! I mean, keeping an important pony safe sounds pretty good too. Imagine being a palace guard—”
“Sunny…”
“I know! I know. That isn’t going to happen. I’m not going to get a Palace Guard platoon, but what about the governor’s guard? How about the mayor’s guard? Or port security? There are so many options! Maybe letting somepony pick for me is what is right for me. Then I’ll figure it out later and try to shift my career that way.”
“Well, alright, but you know it is going to take longer doing it that way,” Blackberry pointed out.
With a wave of my hoof, I grinned. “I know, but come on, things work out. I’m not trying to be Miss Become-A-General-In-Three weeks like you.”
Blackberry lightly pushed me. “Hey! I’m not doing that… it will take at least four weeks. Look, you don’t know the pressure here! Mom is a colonel, Dad is a colonel, my oldest brother is a major, and the other two are already captains. I’ve got a lot to live up to.”
“Yeah… I guess, but do you want to?”
“What do you mean?”
I bumped her with my side. “Do you want to be a royal guard or are you being a royal guard because they are?”
She shifted. “A little of both, I guess. I think I want to go into the family business. It is just stressful having to try to compete with them. I mean, look at me, I’m in Baltimare. This isn’t exactly the most exclusive academy.”
“Hey! I’m here.”
“Exactly,” she teased.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “I understand what you’re saying even if I don’t like it.” When we reached our dorm room, I paused. “Just… be sure you want to do it, is all.”
Blackberry replied, “I will, don’t worry.”
Once we were in our bunks it struck me as odd with how different we were. Blackberry felt like she had to do this even if she hadn’t wanted to. That seemed like so much pressure to me. I’d never had that sort of situation. Nopony ever really expected me to do anything.
In fact, other than being sent to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, I’d made all of my own choices. That was a luxury, I guess. Perhaps one of the perks of having everypony not expect much out of you. Still, after talking to Blackberry, I was happy about it. The entire time we’d been here she was slightly on edge. Always pushing harder, striving to be number one, and all that.
I hoped she ended up as number one. For me, I just wanted to graduate. It was funny, I’d been with this mare from Canterlot University once and she told me ‘Cs get degrees.’ Well, average sounded just fine to me.
☼
Sergeant Lindsay stared up at me, her mouth open in apparent shock. She was on her back on the mat and my hooves were on her shoulders.
“I do believe, Sergeant, that you’ve been subdued,” I said.
“Very well done, Cadet. Now get off me.”
Or I could stay on you and we could kiss a little. “Yes, ma’am,” I replied before backing off and helping her up. “Blackberry and I have been practicing at night.” She wouldn’t kiss me either.
“I can tell. You took me by surprise there.”
“You always say not to underestimate your opponent, ma’am. Kitty has claws!” I said, holding up a hoof.
Sergeant Lindsay just shook her head and waved me off. “Get back in line. Next pony!”
Once I was back in my spot, I had to suppress a smile. I was doing it, I was getting over my fear, and I was doing it! I could go hoof to hoof with a pony like Sergeant Lindsay and get one over on her. I might not have looked bulky, but I was fit and I paid attention. It really wasn’t that hard if you kept your head.
Keeping my head was exactly why I was here, too. I’d joined the Guard to learn discipline and be able to control my fears. Now I was almost done. From here, I’d control my own destiny.
“Alright, that is enough for now. Hit the showers and use this extra time to study for your final. Don’t assume that because you made it this far we won’t fail you on it! Plenty of ponies end up having to stay back because of it,” Lindsay called before clapping her hooves. “Get to it!”
We fell out and headed to the showers. I ducked into the stall beside Blackberry and settled under the hot water.
“Are you ready for your final, Sunny?” she asked over the wall.
“Nope!”
“Don’t joke!”
“I’m not. It is like the final for everything. Is anypony truly ready? I think I’ve got a good handle on what I need to do. Plus, the extra study time will help. I’m not going to fail, though! I came too far to fail.”
Blackberry snorted. “You know it doesn’t just work that way. You can’t will things into happening how you want them to.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Blackberry. I think a positive attitude helps everything. Things just seem to work out as long as you work hard. I’ve been working hard! Really hard! You saw me toss Lindsay today. Imagine that, me tossing her.”
“Well… you believe anyway you want, just be sure you use the study time wisely. I would hate to be number one and you to be held back. I want us to graduate together.”
That was actually pretty sweet. The two of us had bonded quite a bit. “Well, what if you’re not number one?”
“Don’t even joke about that, I have to be!”
“Why? The assignment you want doesn’t require it.”
“Because I have to be,” she said, suddenly turning the water off and walking away.
What was that about? As quickly as I could I turned the shower off and wrapped myself in a towel. “Blackberry! Wait up, what’s wrong?”
She didn’t reply. She just kept walking towards our room with a trail of water following behind her. I did my best to wipe that up with my towel as I moved. She’d get in trouble for that. “Blackberry, wait!”
The mare came to a stop and turned on me. “You don’t get it, okay! You’re a pony that just wandered in here. That’s great, it is, but my family expects me to be the best. I don’t get to just… hope things work and have them do. It doesn’t work like that for me. If I’m not number one… I just...” Tears pooled in her the corners of her eyes and she stomped her hoof in frustration.
“Just what?”
“I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to be like the rest of my family and be some super guard. I just wanted to help ponies. But I have to and since I have to, if I’m not the best, I’ll never hear the end of it.
“This is Baltimare Academy, Sunny! My family already gives me grief because it was the only one I could get into. The lowest academy in Equestria! If I can’t be number one here, what does that say?
“I just wish I could be like you but I can’t and it drives me nuts sometimes that I have to see you bouncing around and smiling like this is some big joke. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
The words hit me almost like a physical blow might have. I reared back and blinked. “What? No! Do you think I don’t take this serious? I just deal with it different by staying positive. I… look, Blackberry, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make this harder for you.”
She sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I’m blaming you for my family and I shouldn’t. I just… I want to be you, okay? You just want to finish and go help. I’m already trying to figure out how to make captain.”
I didn’t know what to say. Nopony had ever wanted to be me before. I set a hoof on her foreleg. “I hope it works out and you get what you want.”
“Me too… look, I’m really sorry. We need to study. Let’s just go study, okay? The stress is just getting to me. In a week or so, we’ll graduate and things will be normal.”
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go study. You can remind me about everything we’ve learned over the past few weeks.”
Blackberry squeaked, “Sunny!”
“What? I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Like what?”
“Stallions. Lots and lots of stallions.” Mares, too, but I didn’t want this to get weird.
Blackberry rolled her eyes, grabbed my hoof, and dragged me off to study.
☼
This was it. It all came down to one more thing. I’d finished my finals, the instructor staff had done their evaluations, and they’d built a report on me. It was sitting in the large envelop in front of me. Every cadet at our academy got one.
There was a lot of information in there but, in truth, only one thing mattered: the cover sheet. If it was blue you passed. You found out your ranking in the class, where you did the best, where you did the worst, and the recommendation for where you should focus.
On the other hoof, if the sheet was yellow you’d failed and were being held back for retraining. There was also a rumor going around that there was a red sheet too which meant you did so bad on your final they didn’t even want you back. I’m not sure that was true though.
This envelope held my future, so I poked it with a hoof. I’d never been able to hold a whole future so easily. My horn lit and I used my magic to carefully pull the tab to open it. How should I do it? Eh!
Unceremoniously, I turned the envelope upside down and shook it. Multiple sheets of paper spilled out onto my desk, including the only one I cared about. The beautiful light blue one that said I’d passed. “Yay!” I cheered in delight.
I scooped the sheet up and looked at it. “Yes!” I cheered even louder.
Blackberry looked up from her bunk. “What? What does it say? Are you number one?”
“Nope! I’m last! Can you believe it? Last!”
“Seriously?” Blackberry asked.
“Yup! That’s awesome. Isn’t that some kind of goal or something?”
“No!”
“Oh… well, I’m last! I finished. What did you get?”
Blackberry frowned. “I haven’t looked.”
“So look! If I got last, you passed for sure.”
She grumped, “I know I passed. You know what this is about.”
“Yeah… look, give it here.”
“No.”
“Then open it!”
“Not yet!”
“Gah! You’re the most frustrating mare ever,” I replied before picking up the sheets of paper and reading them over.
Sunny Day has a very positive attitude and is attentive to her duties but lacks proper military polish. Blah blah blah…
Barely adequate hoof-to-hoof skills… Yada yada.
Extremely good with other ponies, well spoken, neat, and pays close attention to appearance. Well, duh!
Unlikely to be fit for high risk duties with extreme confrontation but will have ample opportunities in numerous other career fields. Our recommendation is civil-military relations, pony relations, staff, and other related commands. Huh… I guess that would be fine.
“Meh, enough of this!” I started stuffing the papers back into the envelope. “I’m going to go celebrate. Are you coming or not?”
Blackberry shook her head.
“Alright, suit yourself. See you later!”
We had been given liberty until 14:00 the next day. I was going out and I was going to find a nice place to sleep. Preferably with a pony next to me. Balitmare, here I come!
☼
Dolly winked at me from out in the audience. It was lucky I was last in my class. I was way in the back where I could hide my shame. Not that shame of being last, the shame of my friends teasing me to the ends of the kingdom. Dolly had not come alone.
No, she’d brought Emerald Eyes, Lollypop, Pink Pearls, and Diddle. Not only had she brought them, but they’d made posterboard signs and were holding them up while the commandant gave his little speech about honor and responsibility.
Emerald Eyes had written, ‘Sunny Day #1’, then crossed through the 1 and changed it to 27.
Lollypop’s sign had some kind of effigy of me drawn in glitter and sported the slogan, ‘Sunny Day, Protectin’ my virtue.’
Pearlsie had taken a different tactic. She’d gone all out, drawn a picture of me in bed with six other mares under a rainbow of letters that spelled out ‘serve and protect.’
Diddle’s sign made the least sense. It just said ‘Celestia 3.1416’ on it.
Dolly just looked very, very pleased with herself as I tried to hide.
“And so, to lead us in our oath of office and oath of command, it is my great pleasure to present to you the number one cadet in our class: Blackberry,” the commandant said.
Blackberry stepped forward from the line, perfectly changed face, and marched up to stand behind the commandant. “Thank you, sir.” She turned to face us. “If you’ll all repeat after me please.
“I do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the Royal Guard with fairness, integrity, regard for pony rights, diligence, and impartiality, upholding the laws of Equestria and with equal respect to all beings.
“I further affirm that I take this oath willingly and, while a member of the Royal Guard, I will continue to use my skills to the best of my ability to protect others, defend our kingdom, and uphold the law.”
Those were very serious words. I’d never sworn an oath before, but I was serious about this one. I repeated it along with the rest of my fellow graduates.
The commandant nodded and smiled. “Very good. And now the oath of command, if you please.”
Blackberry looked to us. “Please repeat after me.
“I, having been appointed an officer in the Royal Guard, do solemnly swear to lead in a manner consistent with the laws, regulations, and traditions of that organization. I do so willing and further promise to command my ponies with their safety, wellbeing, and lives in the forefront of my mind.”
That was an easier oath in some ways. There was a lot attached to it, but I would make the best effort I could to protect the ponies that served under me.
“And with that, I am proud to welcome you all into the ranks of the Royal Guard! Fall out and be pinned.”
The crowd cheered, caps were tossed, and just like that it was over. The whole thing was done and I was one little technicality away from being an officer. Then we’d get some leave before being sent off to our first assignment. I’d never picked one, so it would be assigned based on my packet.
I waded through the group and made it over to where Dolly and the gang were.
“Congratulations, filly!” Dolly cheered before throwing her forelegs around me and messing up my uniform.
“Thank you!” I replied happily, hugging her back. “Hey, do you want to pin me? It’s like a super big honor or something.”
Dolly waved a hoof. “Oh hush, of course it is. I’d love to.”
I offered the little wooden box to her, which she snatched out of my magic with her own. Carefully, she popped it open, pulled out the silver bar, and placed it on my uniform. “Now Melody says you’re to stay away from any enlisted ponies until you see her. She says she’s first. Whatever that means.”
My first salute is what she meant. “It’s a kinky, Royal Guard-only adult happy fun time thing.”
“Liar,” Dolly said before grinning. “I got you a gift!”
“A gift? Really? What is it?”
The older mare was practically twitching with excitement. “You get two weeks off before your assignment, right?”
“Right…” Where was she going with this?
Dolly hugged her hooves to her chest. “We’re going to Las Pegasus! You and me! To celebrate!”
I blinked and felt my jaw go slack. Las Pegasus was like the entertainment capital of the entire kingdom. It was also super expensive. “Buh?” was all I could manage.
“I’m so proud of you! I wanted to do something really special, so we are! Get your stuff, we’re swinging through Canterlot and then on our way to lights, shows, and fun!”
“Oh! Okay! I’ll be right back,” I said before turning and heading towards my room. On the way, I spotted Blackberry standing with her family. They were all in ceremonial armor and looked overly stern.
I gave them a wide berth but Blackberry caught sight of me. Our eyes met and she gave the slightest of smiles before nodding at me. I nodded back. I hoped her reward was as fun as mine… I doubted it, though.
Today was my day to be happy, however, so I packed up fast and headed back to the girls. It was time to go home!