A pony stands in a line, constantly fidgeting around to check what is on his belt stays there. Ponies, mare and stallion alike, joke and jostle and laugh with each other in merriment of what the feature might hold. The small stallion looks at them, trying to make himself as small as possible as to make sure nobody bumps into him and causes a scene.
Everypony goes silent, as the unassuming door to another room opens up. Everypony listens closely, knowing that if their name isn’t called, they will have to come back the next day. The pony from within peeks her head out, and speaks clearly,”Number Four-Six-One.”
The stallion nods at the mention of his number, and begins to slip his way through the crowd of ponies. They don’t even have to part for his small form to slide through. Eventually, though, they all step to the side, and slightly glare at him. He’s the lucky one who gets to enjoy tommorow outside of a government controlled facility.
The stallion stands in front of the mare at the door, eye slightly twitching from the eyes he feels boring into his back. He smiles slightly, “Uh, I’m Four-Six-One.”
The mare smiles, “Come on in.”
He gladly slips through, inside the office. He breathes a sigh of relief as he no longer feels the eyes in his back.
The mare walks into another room, one that is very clean and comfortable. The mare sits down in her high backed chair, and motions for the stallion to lounge on the comfy couch, “Please, sit. I am Doctor Hooves, though you may just call me Dinky for now.”
The stallion sits on the couch, and smiles at the purple colored unicorn, his green eyes catching her yellow ones. He leans back, his grey fur not blending into the red couch. He nods, “Hello, Doctor Dinky.”
The Doctor leans forward, “So, let’s get all the commonalities the Crown loves so much out of the way. What is your name?”
The stallion looks away, “Clear Sky.” His wings buzz a little bit.
Dinky tilts her head, “Clear Sky? Well, Sky, tell me why you want to enlist. Tell me about your family.”
Clear looks over, “My father is called Bloodied Sky, he was a... assassin. Hitman, if you are Inamortan. You know Gold Blood, right? How he was killed? Yeah, that... that was my dad. Uh, he’s dead now, after I sold him out to the Guard. Never had a mother, so, yeah.”
Dinky places a hoof on his, “Don’t worry, there are many ponies out there just like you. I take it you want to join the Guard to find a new family?”
He shakes his head, “No, family doesn’t appeal to me anymore. The ponies, and I hope they do forgive me for being honest, but they are too loud and rambunctious for me. I am here to enlist because my father taught me, even if in the wrong way, what a bad pony looks like. A bad pony looks like a killer, an enemy to Equestria, one willing to sell out their fellow for nothing more than money or power. I hope it isn’t a controversy to you that I view those type as the true enemy.” He shrugs, “Family falls short to the nation, currently. My family granted me a particular set of skills, and I plan to use those skills to help the nation they harmed.”
Dinky nods along, “So, you want to defend Equestria because you’re mad at what your dad did to it? Understandable, a better motive than most have. Most just want money, or do it because it’s their talent, or because they want to meet an Inamortan. Speaking of our new neighbors, how do you feel about them?”
Clear leans back, “I haven’t had much experience with them, in all honesty. From what I can put together, they seem like ponies, just raised in a different environment. They believe violence is the ultimate solution, and I can’t really disagree with them. I mean, if their King is to be believed, Robin, I think, they waged war for the ultimate goal of peace. Well, the Inamortans haven’t done anything but help or at least try to help us, so I think they’re all right in my book. Some of them seem a bit too aggressive for my tastes, so I’d probably keep my distance from them.”
Dinky nods, “I believe those would be the Speartons.”
Clear shakes his head, “Not all of them, King Atreyos seems like he’s quite passive. He’s just a father trying to protect his daughter, and his nation. I mean, he may have waged war against the changelings a bit too quick, but he had some reasoning. If some nation took one of the Princesses prisoner, than I would want to face them down as well.”
Dinky tilts her head, “But don’t you blame him for the Canterlot Disaster? I mean, the Red Hive and that odd alicorn leading them might have just been wanting revenge. Doesn’t that mean he’s also at fault for making our society so focused around military? I mean, don’t you remember the days before he came? When the world was bright and peaceful and the worst beast was a chimera who played mean pranks. The Guard never needed these screenings, they barely even needed good warriors, they just looked nice.”
Clear smiles, “Blame him? Sure, he might have been an unwilling catalyst in change, but he didn’t purposefully do that. He was just a domino in a line of them. Sure, he might’ve been the biggest, but he wasn’t the first, nor the last to fall. That whole revenge motivation is just a whole lot of old anti Inamortan propaganda, in my opinion. Revenge does not include the kidnapping of an entire city of innocents. I also think the change was a good one. Equestria lacked any force for if anything happened, and now we have a sizable force. Every one of our soldiers could eliminate five of our old, and there are even more today.”
Dinky looks at his belt, “Excuse me, but what is that on your belt?”
He looks down, “Oh, those are my father’s daggers. He taught me how to use them, and I plan to use these instruments of evil for the good of Equestria.”
Dinky smiles, and places down her clipboard, “Congratulations, Clear Sky, your evaluation is done. Cunning, critically thinking, not overly aggressive, able to work with Inamortans, dagger training. You will fit right in with Blueblood’s group. Welcome to the Blueblood branch of the Equestrian Guard, Initiate Sky. You are to report to the Royal Palace next Sunday. You are to wait with your fellow Initiates until told otherwise. Good luck, Clear.”
He smiles, “Thank you, Doctor Dinky.”