A few years had passed since I learned my spell. Tomok stopped bullying the others after that fight. It turns out that the Royal Guard had talked to his parents about the bully he was, and they responded by punishing him. His relationships with the other foals didn't really get any better, but nopony followed him around as much as before. Oh well, I guess.
Unfortunately, I was never able to learn another spell. My strength spell was all I knew, and needed. I was soon able to use it to lift wooden supports for building and assist everypony in the village with random chores. Every day after school, I would also practice in my backyard. This became my routine: whenever I had free time, I would be in my yard training. The targets I had set up were some Draconequus figures with several hit points scattered all over.
Oh, I guess I should talk a little about the Draconequus, should I? Well, It's best to think of our relationship with them as a ying and yang. Where they are beings of chaos, we are beings of order. Our spells are used to create peace and balance, while the Draconequus use their powers to create a little chaos. It's not that they use the powers for evil purposes, but it does become an annoyance to the Sleipnir sometimes. They mainly live up north in the snowy mountains, which are nearly impossible for Sleipnir to live in. Our magic doesn't work well in cold climates, so we avoid the north as much as we can.
Anyway, I was practicing on the dummies in my yard when one of them started levitating. In a panic, I ducked as it flew right over my head, bristling against my mane. After hearing it fall to the ground, I heard a familiar voice laughing behind me.
"Rana..." I said, getting up to see my friend standing over the dummy.
"You've done nothing but train recently!" She said. I had been focusing so much on preparing to enter Sleipnir Knight training that I began playing with Rana less and less. While I saw Rana at school and walked home with her sometimes, I usually left her alone as I trained by myself. I felt a little bad for neglecting her, but we both knew this was my dream.
"I'm sorry-"
"I'm volunteering to join them, you know."
"Wait, you are?" She had never shown any interest in joining the Royal Guard before, so this came to me as a surprise. When I looked at her for a reply, she only blushed and looked down. Before I knew it, a purple light surrounded me, lifting me into the air. Rana used her spell to bring me right to her.
"My levitation might come in handy for them." She began in a low voice. "Besides, we said we'd be friends forever, right? If you leave me behind to go to Valhalla, how can we play together every day?"
"This is a pretty big decision," I said. "This isn't fun and games. Training for the guard is serious-"
"Who said I wasn't serious?" Rana stopped smiling and stared right into her eyes. I could tell she was not playing around anymore, and she really meant it.
I laughed. "If you want to, I wouldn't mind. Whatever you want to do in your life, I'll support you. I'm just saying that it won't be easy, you know."
A giant smile came across Rana's face. "I'm glad to hear that!" She exclaimed as she gave me a hug. "And don't worry, if you train me, then I'll be sure to get in!"
"Ok then, you better get ready!" I said back. I went to my shed and pulled out a set of throwing daggers, giving them to Rana. "...Try using these to hit the targets. We could start with that."
Rana immediately lifted one up to her face. Her reflection in the blade prompted me to see a different side of my friend. A smile came across her face as the blade lunged forward, hitting the target right between the eyes. It happened to suddenly that I had no time to react.
"Wow...that was amazing!" I exclaimed.
"That...felt pretty good!" Rana said. I could tell she had the same feeling I had when I fought Tomok. This feeling, while I didn't know how to describe it, was something I craved.
Rana threw another one. This one was not as good of a shot, instead hitting a non-vital part of the Draconequus arm. I expected as much, but Rana still had that fire in her eyes.
"If we train like this, you'll be ready in no time."
Soon enough, it came time for me to pack and head off to Valhalla. New recruits are placed into training camps two times a year. With recent tension between the Sleipnir and the Draconequus, they have added a third camp in order to accommodate even more soldiers.
The farewell party was sad, indeed. Rana and I were pretty well-known in the village, so most of the villagers came to see us off. I saw the faces of everypony who had come by the store for sweetcakes and who I would pass by on the streets every day. I even saw Tomok somewhere in the crowd.
My parents gave me a hug. "Don't get carried away, Roddel." My father said to me, handing me a small box. "Don't open this until you become an official guard." He winked at me.
"I love you guys. I'll keep in touch!" I said to my parents before turning. Rana had finished saying goodbye to her little sister and her parents.
"Ready to go?" She asked me. I nodded. Our village was located within the High King's jurisdiction, but Sleipnir soldiers rarely come from our village. Therefore, those who do are seen as heroes. Looking back, I figured that that was what Tomok wanted too. I had no interest in becoming a hero: I just wanted to serve the High King. If being a hero is what can help me achieve that, then I shall become a hero too.
The journey itself took about a week. Our village is located on the outskirts of the High King's province. Many roads stretch from one side of the land to another, with all of the large roads leading to the center: Valhalla. Rana and I were well-equipped with supplies for the journey. Sometimes, I would pester Rana and ask her to just levitate us over to the capital, but she didn't have enough stamina for that. It was fine, though, since the scenery was beautiful.
I had never left the village before, so you could imagine how amazed I was to finally see the outside world. Since Rana had been to Valhalla once for a family reunion, she was the one who led us there. Our village is surrounded by a dark forest, which I have explored to its fullest extent, but it does not compare to the rolling hills we passed by, or the giant, beautiful lake right next to them. The way the sun glistened off of that lake is something I will never forget, and something I wish to see at least one more time.
One night during the adventure, Rana and I decided to stop right underneath this giant tree. I spotted it from a distance earlier in the day and decided it would be where we would stop. When we got there, I noticed that it was an apple tree. I'm not a big fan of apples, but I figured it would be nice to not waste all of our travel supplies. I ended up climbing up to the top of the tree, dropping a few down for Rana to catch. I accidentally hit her in the head with one, making her get pretty angry.
"Roddel?" Rana asked me after we finished our meal.
"What's wrong?" I could tell she sounded worried about something. She looked at the ground for a second before continuing.
"Do...do you think we'll both make it into the Royal Guard?"
"Of course." I didn't need to think about that one. I wasn't going to let all of the training we went through go to waste. Granted, they did not accept everypony that walked in wanting to be a guard, but there was no way I would let that happen. It would be very disappointing to our village if we didn't make it after all.
"Do you think you won't make it?" I asked Rana. She tensed up when I asked her.
She blushed again. "That's not it!" She stammered, trying to get back on her hooves. "I just didn't want you to lose your guard, is all..." I knew she was lying. We have been friends for far too long for me to not understand her.
"Rana..."
She looked at me and smiled. "You always see when I'm lying...The thing is, I just want to make sure you're okay. If I don't get in, how will I know if something happens to you?"
"But you will get in." I reassured her. We made a good team and knew each other very well. If she wants to support me this much, I have to do my best to support her too. My loyalty will never falter.
I knew we were getting close when I saw something huge pass over the two of us. Looking up, I saw him: The High King, soaring across the sky. He was massive! The Sleipnir are around the size of regular ponies and stallions, but the kings use their spells to make themselves much, much larger. As a result, Valhalla is a gigantic castle, something you cannot miss. I saw the direction the king flew and immediately made out the giant towers of the castle in the distance, on the far side of the lake. A small cliff sat right next to the castle; well, in comparison to the castle at least, it looked small.
"We're almost there!" Rana called out as she galloped forward. You might be wondering how hard it would be to have eight hooves, but I feel that it makes things much easier. We use six of the eight to move most of the time, with our front-most hooves available to grab things. It seems silly, but that's just how we are.
I quickly felt insignificant as we approached the huge gates. I don't know if Valhalla will still be around by the time you read this, but I'm fairly confident that you will not have seen anything as large as this castle. The gates were a bright purple and gold, with the Sleipnir emblem protruding from the center. Six gems were fit in a pattern on the door, signifying the five kings and the High King.
We stood there, looking clueless for a while before a Sleipnir guard appeared in front of us. "What business do you have in the castle today?" He asked us. Rana jumped a little when he appeared, but I kept my ground.
"We're here to become guards." I said frankly.
He looked at us for a moment before letting out a short laugh. "Very well. Open the gate!" He called up to the guards in the adjacent tower. A loud click echoed around us before the door began swinging open. Inside the castle grounds was even more beautiful than I had expected. The streets were lined with gems of many different colors. Sleipnir stallions, mares, and fillies littered the streets, moving from house to house, from shop to shop. The castle itself sat in the center of the complex, still as giant as ever. I could make out the High King's throne room from the gate, as a landing platform on one side of the castle seems to lead right into it.
"All trainees are to report right to the throne room by sunset. You two are lucky to have made it in time." The guard told us before floating back up to his post. I took a look at Rana.
"You ready?"
Rana nodded as we galloped to go meet the High King.