I...I am writing this down now, before it is too late.
My name is Roddel, and I am a captain of the Sleipnir Royal guard. A lot of things have happened in the past few months, and I fear that I will not have much time left. If that is the case, I want to leave behind something, so that anypony who picks it up will understand...and be warned. Perhaps it would make more sense to start from the beginning...
I was born in a small village to the south of the Sleipnir capital, Valhalla. My parents were in charge of a small sweets shop, known as the Candy Corner. The shop was pretty popular in our village, with many villagers visiting the shop throughout the day. My parents both wanted me to take over the family business one day and continue creating our signature sweetcakes.
However, I had another goal in mind. Ever since I was a little filly, I wanted to join the Sleipnir Royal Guard. I wanted to serve under our High King, protecting him, the Royal Family, and the other Sleipnir in Valhalla. The guard is very well-known for breeding an elite class of fighters and protectors. They get to travel all over the land, see new places, and even stay in the castles. It was that kind of life I wanted: one where something new would always be waiting for me.
Before I go any further, you may be wondering what a Sleipnir is. If that's the case, then my predictions were right, and our race really did disappear from this world. We, known as the Sleipnir, are a race of eight-legged horse beings. We have been around for thousands of years at the time I write this. I am also assuming that a pony would be the one to read this; ponies started to appear only very recently, and if what I fear will happen does happen, then the ponies will become the dominant civilization in this land.
Now, I don't know if all ponies have magical powers, but the Sleipnir possess a similar magic. Unlike you ponies, who can be divided up into unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi (At least, that's what I've heard some of the higher-ups call you), we Sleipnir are all the same. We all possess magical powers, although it may vary from Sleipnir to Sleipnir. We have these markings on our flanks, representing a letter from our alphabet. I really do hope our language carries over into whatever world is going to be left behind, since I'm writing in it right now. Anyway, these letters represent different magical spells we can use. Some Sleipnir are powerful enough to know multiple spells, changing the appearance of the flank mark in the process. Unfortunately, I only have one power: increasing my own strength. Spells can range from things like combat and battle, to things like housework and simple color-changing. Sleipnir are born without any powers, and have to find out what they are one their own. It is usually an exciting thing to find out exactly what your one special spell is. And I can only imagine what it would be like for somepony to discover he or she has a second or even a third spell.
For most of my young life, I grew up during a pretty big famine. The Sleipnir have many enemies, you see, so most of our resources go to our soldiers. The regular Sleipnir living day-to-day lives were hurt pretty badly by this famine, so many sent their children off to join the guard in order to bring home some money. However, the Sleipnir guard is somewhat hard to actually get into, so many of these children get sent back, while some others desert because of the amount of work it takes to maintain a good position. Our village was not extremely affected by the famine, although there were some food shortages from time to time. Since my family runs a sweets shop, you could imagine the rough patches we went through along the way. If I were able to become a guard, I would be able to help my family a little more in these aspects.
Anyway, my life in the village was simply that: finding out what my special power was. It happened at school, after a Royal Guard came in to talk to us about the Sleipnir Kingdom. There are five current kings, all serving under a sixth, High King. While the High King lives in Valhalla, located in the center of our land, the other five kings have castles spread out all throughout the land. my village falls under the jurisdiction of the High King himself, so he is the only one I've really respected and looked up to.
The guard went on to watch us during recess, to see how we interacted in front of our peers. I did what I always did and played ball with Rana. She lived in the house right next to me and would always come over to get sweetcakes for her parents. Rana found out pretty early on what her special spell was: levitation. She found out after accidentally throwing a ball too hard and almost hitting a window. She used her power to stop it and float it back towards her. Ever since then, she's kept at it and made her spell even stronger, even being able to lift Sleipnir twice her size.
While we played, one of the other fillies came up to us. "Look at the babies playing ball!"
It was Tomok, the oldest in our class and a school bully. His spell was speed, and always used it to take advantage of other fillies. What's worse is that he always liked making fun of spell-less Sleipnir, such as myself.
"Roddel, maybe we should go." Rana started saying, but Tomok pushed her aside.
"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you," Tomok said with a smirk. "Roddel might have been about to discover his spell!"
"What do you want, Tomok?" I asked him, holding my ground. It was no secret that I wanted to join the Royal Guard. Tomok wanted to as well, and always rubbed it in my face that he would be chosen over me.
Tomok got right to the point. "Well, the day has finally come. We can show the guard over there which one of us is better qualified to become a guard." I looked him straight in the eyes, seeing my own reflection in his pupils.
"You want to fight?" I asked him. By this time, the other fillies gathered around us. Tomok and I would always fight like this in the past, with me losing every time. As a result, I've been labeled the class weakling. It didn't help that I would only play with Rana during recess. In order to avoid being bullied by Tomok, the other fillies would take his side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Sleipnir guard staring at us.
"Are you worried it won't be a fair fight?" Tomok replied, looking at my blank flank. "I'm starting to think that you'll never get a spell anyway, so it doesn't matter to me. The guard over there will see my skills and let me join the Royal Guard."
Looking back on it now, Tomok was just a showoff and a spoiled brat, and his bullying was completely pointless. I just hated him so much, though, that I would always fall for his schemes.
"You're on." I said.
Tomok didn't even give me time to get ready as he disappeared from my sight. I knew he used his speed and would hit me from behind, so I rolled to my left. As I predicted, Tomok fell forward right onto the ground. The others began cheering for Tomok, helping him get back up. Only Rana's voice cheered me on.
"Why, you..." Tomok said as he got back up. He disappeared again, but this time I didn't have time to respond. I felt a hoof buck me in the side, and I fell to the ground. It wasn't the first time Tomok has beaten me up, so I was used to the pain.
"I knew you just got lucky last time," Tomok said as he pounded into me again. My head hit the ground, shaking all of my senses. He soon stopped, turning his head to face the crowd. I could see some of the other Sleipnir staring and trying to hide their laughter. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I was picked on by everypony; it just happened to be me instead of somepony else.
At this point, I had grown completely tired of my life. Every day was the same, from enduring Tomok's hatred of me, and everypony else's hatred only so Tomok wouldn't target them, to doing nothing but make sweetcakes at home and play with Rana. I wanted something more. I wanted nothing more than to become a Sleipnir Guard, to train and become stronger.
Stronger.
That was when I received my spell. A great, purple light appeared on my sides, giving me the spell. I instantly felt the power flow through me, as I threw Tomok right off of me. He landed somewhere with a thud, giving me a chance to get back up.
"I..I can't believe it." Tomok didn't know what to say, but he soon disappeared again. This time, I didn't move at all. I felt a hoof on my side again, but I stood my ground. It felt like a blade of grass brushing up against me. In response, I jumped back to see Tomok's hoof slide forward, barely missing his target. Turning around, I bucked my opponent. I could sense that Tomok was hurt by the hit as he cried out and fell to the ground. That was the hardest I had ever hit anything, and it felt awesome. The crowd fell silent as Tomok lay on the ground. Slowly, the crowd began to move in my favor as Tomok picked himself up. The look on his face was one of embarrassment.
"Do you think you've won?" He spat at the ground and charged right at me. This time, he didn't use his speed spell, instead relying on brute force to try to save his reputation. It was too easy. At this point, I was feeling the adrenaline rushing through my body. I knew I had wanted to be a guard for a long time, but I've never been in a true fight before today. This feeling was the greatest, though; I never wanted it to go away. I actually let out a small laugh as I stepped to the side and brought my front hooves up to knock Tomok away. I could see him struggle to get up again, but in the end he collapsed, unable to continue on.
At this point, the crowd was actually laughing at Tomok. "Why were we ever intimidated by him?" I could hear from them as I stood tall in my victory. By this time, the teacher finally got to us and broke up the gathering. Both Tomok and I were scolded again (This wasn't the first time this has happened, although it was the first time I actually fought back, and wasn't the one who was beat up in the end). Tomok said nothing to me the entire time, and went right home after class was over.
I was on my way back to my own home with Rana when we were stopped by that guard. He was standing on the side of the road, right in front of my parents' shop. When we approached, he looked right at me and smiled.
"Are you here to arrest Roddel? That fight wasn't his fault!" Rana cried out, but the guard placed a hoof on her shoulders.
"Don't worry, it's not like that," He replied. "In fact, I wanted to say I was impressed by your skills. By your spell." He looked me right in the eyes as he said it. I did always wish for a combat-related spell. Something like that would definitely get me into the Royal Guard for sure. And now that I finally received my spell, I was ready to pursue that dream at all costs. Anything to give me that great feeling I had when I fought Tomok. "When you get a little older," He continued. "You should definitely consider going out for Royal Guard training." Those words were exactly what I wanted to hear.
"T-thank you!" I stammered as he walked away. Rana stood right next to me, giggling before going on ahead.
"Your dream might just come true." She said to me. I nodded, even more confident in my own future. If I had only known then what I would be getting into, I would have convinced myself to end up taking over the family business instead...