It had been a gruesome few weeks now; I decided my training could end. The strength, stamina, endurance, and all of my old skills returned through rigorous exercise and hard work I put into my daily regime in the camp. I thought wrong about my former rival, her real name being Crass Charger, as over the time we boxed together, we became slow friends at the least. She’d have my back in a war, if one came, according to her words. The rank lineup came this morning and I had to be part of that. Some of us depart to the military after our training with a set rank depending on our tact during training, and some of us joined the royal guard via reservation by a princess or guard captain from one of Equestria’s towns. I knew what division my place resided, but I could still keep the rank because of military formalities.
An officer rattled the names off, gave them their respective ranks, shared a hoofshake then sent the ponies on their way.
“Crass Charger, Sergeant first class. Congratulations,” reported the large hat-wearing mare, giving a horizontally striped and stylised patch to the tough green pony.
“Well done!” I called to my high-ranking friend. She nodded at me with a grin as she passed. I came up next.
“Electric Blue, Veteran General; the highest rank achievable in the military. Your admirably high skills in training have prevailed for you, as well as your wartime background and recommendation from the Princess herself. Congratulations.” Everypony gasped in awe at the statement just made towards me. I took the four attached metallic silver stars in a trembling hoof and held it tight. The highest rank...
“This can’t be real. I can’t take the badge; I don’t deserve it,” I replied in a natural modesty.
The instructor pony sympathised. “You’d better believe it because you’ve earned it. The insignia symbolises your talent in the army and you have a lot of responsibility to undertake when it will ever come to a skirmish in Equestria.” She stuck out a hoof in approval, so I took it in politeness.
I sent myself towards the entrance afterwards. I could finally be free to take a leisurely day off. And by the next day, I would actually have a form of employment for the first time in my life. I had the ability to spend some quality time with the Princesses for a while, and feel like a protector of the ponies. And my rank...I had become the overseer of the whole army and the royal guards just like that. My leadership experience would eventually be put to the test, but I always deemed myself to be a leader-type. And this time I would be putting the ponies under my command to good use. My destiny came to helping Equestria prosper and defend itself in its time of need, instead of taking a path of destruction like I had done in the past.
I arrived home and quickly tested out the comfort of my own bed once again, just to compare the awful box-spring I slept on for those couple of weeks. I checked my mail lying soundly in the box which turned out to be a single postcard. I took it out and brought it inside to read, as I noticed it came from Destiny herself.
“Dear Blue,
Me and Braeburn have spent a good month or so together in Appleoosa now. We feel happy by each others’ sides, and so I wish to inform you of a number of things.
One. I am going to stay in Appleoosa with my future husband now, so I will not be visiting anywhere else much as there’s no need.
Two. We cannot be friends anymore, as all things must come to an end. Our relationship deteriorated over time anyway, as I began to see too many differences between you and me. I left my half of the paopu fruit in your home because I don’t need it anymore. It is hidden safely away so don’t try finding it and returning it.
Three. I have finally been accepted into the Wonderbolts academy, just to let you know.
Yours sincerely and goodbye,
Destiny Bond.”
My emotions were mixed. The happiness I had felt for a time left me heavily. I felt joyous at her acceptance into the academy she once longed to get into, but that joy didn’t sit right. It struck me as a bittersweet end to the writing sent to me. I read the second point over and over until the liquid that leaked from my eyes smeared the ink on the piece of card. I thought I had reached out to her? Why did she think this way now? I wanted to blame Braeburn for her decision, but he would never do that to anypony.
I just wanted to be with somepony at that moment. I wanted to go to the parallel world and forget about everything while enjoying the company of my other self and her family. But that proved to be impossible. The dimensional travelling device I didn’t know how to use, only my deceased brother did. Who could I find solace with on this day?
The six ponies I knew well had to be busy as they were all out of town when I read the notes on their doors. The Princesses maybe? No, they lived too far from what I wanted to walk. Who could give me shelter on the frequently pale day of my life? I thought hard.
Then I remembered that one magenta pony of which a visit seemed overdue. Cheerilee was an old friend. I recalled where her house stood and took off in that direction, changing from scraping my hooves across the cobble path to rapid trotting. I didn’t want to pour my heart out to her as we didn’t share much of a friendship, but I could improve on that.
I knocked on the door slowly and waited. The teacher-pony opened the wooden obstacle between us, and greeted me with a smile despite my grimacing.
“Hello Electric Blue, long time no see! How are you doing today?” she politely asked.
“Not very well I’m afraid, Cheerilee. I know you don’t know me all that much, but could you let me inside a while? I need somepony to talk to and you’re the only filly I feel like seeing.” I drew out an invisible circle in the ground with my head faced down.
“Uh, sure thing Blue, come in. I’ll help you as much as I can...” the pink-maned pony stepped away from the doorframe to let me through.
Her home looked beautiful, with vinyl records framed and adorning the walls, a direct view of her garden from an almost complete-glass wall, jazzy furniture straight from the golden years of her youth, paisley wallpaper all over the place...it felt like one big throwback. I immediately threw myself on the black and white striped sofa with a somewhat dramatic approach.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t exactly updated my home to what the standard should be, I’ve been awfully focused on other things since the start...” Cheerilee ashamedly informed me as she sat on an adjacent beanbag.
“That’s alright, I like the decor,” I replied in honesty. “I see you stuck to your plan,” Also pointing to the large wall-window.
She smiled and nodded at me. “Ah yes, with what little time I have to spare, I managed to grow a decent garden.”
I didn’t come prepared with a speech, so small talk held me afloat until a conversational breakthrough could happen.
“So how have you been since we last, last met?” I asked casually.
“Oh, well as you may know, I pursued the path of being a teacher, because I wanted to help my students find out their talents. I found that out when I realised how many ponies told me that I was good at making them laugh and be happy. And also your cryptic words drove me in that direction too.” She giggled when we both started to reminisce the times back then together.
“Maybe if we meet for the third time, I’ll explain where I’m going and who I really am,” the quote from my own words struck me as I said them aloud.
“Yes, I remember what you said now. The thoughts about you drove me crazy for a while!” the pale rose-maned pony admitted.
“I suppose I should let you know the answer then.” I gave her the story I had told everypony, revision after revision. How I existed as a human in another world, how I fought in a war and turned bad, how I tangled with the Gods on numerous occasions, mostly ending messily. I retrospected my life in Equestria, my adventures with Destiny when we were young fillies, my manipulation from the machine I lay in, up to today.
“But why would you tell me all this, Blue?” she asked quietly, still shocked by the hardships and the happenings of my life.
“Because right now...and since when we met...you’re my oasis, Cheerilee. You’re the only friend I can rely on. I...Cheerilee, I...” I wanted to say it badly. Back when I thought Pinkie Pie could be the only one for me, it turned out to be a bad decision looking back. Her aggressiveness would have been all too much for me to take. But the mare sitting next to me...her aura could contrast from my miserableness, and give me somepony or something to wake up and look forward to each day.
“What is it that you want to say?” Her head tilted to the side.
I swallowed slowly. This had to be the first time in ages for me to want to take it at a gradual pace. “Gosh darn it...Cheerilee, uh...would you want to...go out on a date sometime?” I shut my eyes tight after releasing that statement.
She shook her head thoughtfully. “Blue...this is a lot to take in right now. You told me all that, and now you want to go out with me? You don’t even know if I swing that way! And I just won’t be able to commit, I don’t have the time on my hooves. I’m sorry...”
My eyes felt damp for the second time this day. I got up from the sofa and walked to the wall of glass, looking out to the sky. “And I’m sorry for asking...” I replied with an audibly shaky voice.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” the teacher-mare cried and ran to me.
I spun around, a tear leaving its prolonged sting on my cheek. “So how did you mean it?”
“Uh...hmm. Blue, it’s just a lot of responsibility to withhold as the leader of a class...” her words trailed off. After staring at my lips trembling and choking sounds, she put her forearms around me tightly in realisation of my emotional condition. “Okay, okay. Blue, I accept, I am like you, and I want to go on a date with you. We’ll decide where it goes after that, but you have to respect my busy schedule. I’ll see you on the weekend. Alright?”
“Al-alright. Thank...you...Cheerilee. You...didn’t have to go through with it though...I could have moved on...” I replied with a voice recovering from crying.
“No, you have to at least get to know me after pouring your heart out like that. You meant a lot to me from the start, because you protected me from harm. You showed me the light as well; made me fulfil my destiny. This is the least I can do for you.” A magenta forehoof raised itself to my face and wiped the tears gently away.
“Thank you again...Cheerilee. I won’t let you down, I promise. And I won’t get in your way if this goes further.” I gave my future date a weak smile.
I didn’t want to take up much more of her time so I left the house when the welcome became overstayed. Feeling a little better, I returned to my own home. I still needed an actual rest from the rigorous training I had underwent for those few weeks.
As I laid in bed, I pondered about my surrogate parents. Or foster parents, to be more sentimental. Neither Destiny or I had seen them in quite a while. There came an urge to get them to move in with me, but how could I have contacted Zap Flower and Thunder Hum? No clue remained directing to the location of their residence, so I couldn’t mail to an address.
Why did they leave us anyway? I tried recalling the time our parents still looked after us, but I couldn’t find the point where the two guardians drifted away. I wanted to blame that blind spot on the higher powers above me. The mischievous Rose comes to mind. It had to be one of her first steps to ruining my life, subtly but surely.
I pieced that puzzle together quickly. Knowing my ‘story’ could be manipulated when I used to be dependent on an Author writing for me, Rose must have given me a good life to start out with, then slowly made it crumble and burn through the corner of my eye. But there could be only so much pain I would be able to undo. My brother, for example. I had no power to bring him back. And Caerula must have passed on at the same time, right? Poor Twisha, my relatively old friend. She must’ve took it harder than me, knowing he would be the only love she would ever have.
Either way, I set to work writing a letter addressed to my ‘parents’ asking them to come and stay with me. I could only put ‘to Mr. Thunder Hum and Mrs. Zap Flower’ on the envelope and hope for the best when I sent it off. Maybe they could quell my thoughts when it came to abandoning us.
I then took my rest duly. There had been nothing more deserved than getting some sleep to repair my mind and body. A dream rose up from the darkness of my closed eyes to accompany me for a while as soon as I fell into a deep slumber.
“Anne? Blue? Can you hear me?” a male voice called with an echo.
“I...hear you,” I replied, with the back of my head now fading into view.
“Good. I’m here with some good news and some bad news. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.” The voice formed into a human man. His name being Sean, the guy I met with briefly before coming back to this world.
I nodded at him and waited for his words to carry on.
Sean scratched the back of his head in preparation. “Here is the good news first. The Gods have spoken to me and they said they’re going to back off of us all for now. Sounds great right? No more interventions from the evils above us. But then here comes the bad news. They know exactly where you are and they will all be coming for you in due time.”
“Why do they want to come and get me?” I worriedly asked.
He shook his head at me slowly. “I spoke with Zeus throughout the day, and he refused to tell me his intentions. Of course he was against me from the start, because he knew I could help you. So whatever the Gods will throw at you in the future, you must be ready for it.”
I took a deep breath and sighed. “Great, another problem I’ve gotta deal with.”
“You will want to figure out what to do fast, because I know they are going to arrive in your world very, very soon. Heed my advice as much as I can.”
“This dream, or transmission or whatever it is will probably end soon, so I want to ask something. Who really are you?”
“I suppose I owe you the answer, seeing as I’m your overseer now. My name is Sean, but my real identity is known as Janus. Janus, the God of doors, gates and choices. I’m here to give you advice, be it good or bad. And I can open the doors for you; but it’s up to you if you go through.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Just like Nemesis and Tyche, I took my leave from the Gods to become human. I can still contact the higher-ups though, as we all could. I have no quarrel with you, unlike the other Gods, and I want to be your friend. I’m just disappointed that you had to end their lives though, as we were friends to some degree.”
“But Rose killed Glais!”
“That’s true, but it was ultimately your fault because of that. She became jealous of Nemesis being your Author, so Tyche stepped in and took over. Anyway, they were actually doing their jobs when it came to you, however in the cruelest ways that they could think of. Nemesis is the God of revenge and consequences, so to answer for your war crimes he was sent to eventually eliminate you. He seemed to be stopped by his untimely death through Tyche. Now Tyche is the Goddess of destiny and fortune. Your destiny, still set at answering for what you did in the past, so took it more easy than Nemesis and gave you an increasingly harsher life. And now I’m here, but I’m not going to make you answer. But the rest of the Gods are, so you have to watch out. You own a lot of souls and lives, which the powers above want back.”
I took all of this in quickly. The Gods felt to me as more powerful and fearsome than I thought before. They had something planned, but I had no counterplan. Another burning anticipation could be added to my mind now.
“I’ll try to get some more information out of my supervisors in the meantime, but now I should leave you to let you get that rest you need. Good luck with your new employment!” Sean abruptly said to me with good intentions. The dream faded and led me into the next morning.
To my surprise I had awoken early. At that moment I got ready and headed over to Canterlot castle which I could see in the distance. I wondered excitedly about what had to be in store for me starting out my very first day of work in Equestria, albeit later than most other ponies who owned jobs.