We did it! Today’s the day! We all survived The Academy and have been sworn in as the newest members of The Royal Guard!
I’ll be honest, I never thought that this day would come, that I would have dropped out like so many others who started in our class but couldn’t take the grueling demands. But here I am, back home with my graduation certificate and coveted helmet of one of Princess Celestia’s protectors! This is the best day of my life!
Mom and dad were so happy, they wouldn’t stop hugging me. It was funny when Sergeant Rough Hoof came over to congratulate me; he was smiling and joking with mom and dad the entire time. Funny how just the previous morning he was yelling at all of us one last time, making us run laps around the grounds and putting us through the obstacle course yet again.
Ugh, I won’t miss seeing that obstacle course any time soon. The earth and pegasi pony recruits all say that we unicorns have it easy, that their paths are all physically demanding while we can use magic to get through our path. They have no idea how taxing it can be when we deplete our magic reserves... Night Sparkler almost got himself killed when the boulder he had to levitate almost crushed him when his magic ran out. Lucky for him that Sarge yanked him out of the way just in time. It’s absolutely excruciatingly painful when a unicorn uses all their magic and has to start draining their own life force to maintain a spell, but it’s something we all had to do to prepare us for our future jobs.
Anyway, the graduation ceremony was absolutely spectacular! Captain Shining Armor himself came down from the Crystal Empire to swear us in and handed us our badges. Princess Celestia oversaw the ceremony and even posed for pictures with us! My little sister wanted to join us when my turn came up, and her highness was more than happy to let her jump in for an additional photo.
I think I have a few weeks of leave before I get called back to Canterlot to start my first assignment. Most of my fellow recruits- I mean, my fellow new guards will be deployed to the areas they are already familiar with. Night Sparkler is going to be assigned to my post, along with Swift Wing, Red Canyon, and Max Speed. It’s kind of surprising that Red and Max got assigned to Canterlot since they’re earth ponies, and Swift chose not to go back to Cloudsdale to start Wonderbolts training, saying he’d rather work his way up the rank than put on silly acrobatic shows, even though the pay is so much better. But I’m glad to be with all of them, especially Night Sparkler; who would have guessed that my best friend would be my battle buddy in The Academy?
This is definitely the best day ever. Nothing can go wrong in life now!