Breaking Barriers

by TheGamerBrony

First Steps

During the train ride back home to Canterlot, Gallus thought long and hard about becoming a royal guard. From what he’s heard, it seems like a very cool thing to do. However, it also feels like a big responsibility. Equestria, or quite possibly the whole world, would be in his claws. The last thing he would want to do is to let his mother or especially his country down.

“Mommy” Gallus called.

“Yes, Gallus?” Twilight replied.

“I’ve made up my mind” Gallus started.

“About what?” Twilight asked.

“About being a royal guard” Gallus replied.

“So, you want to be a royal guard?” Twilight asked.

Gallus mmm-hmm’ed and nodded.

“Okay, but you know what the job entails, right?” Twilight asked.

“Uhh, kinda?” Gallus replied.

“Being a royal guard is a huge responsibility. My guards are expected to serve me well. One slight misstep and something bad could happen. It also takes a lot of training to actually become a guard” Twilight explained.

“How long is training?” Gallus asked.

“Training is usually one to three months long, but depending on the applicant, it could be longer or shorter. There’s a training base not far from my castle that Tempest Shadow runs” Twilight responded.

“Tempest Shadow? But wasn’t she working against you?” Gallus asked.

“Yes, but she realized the error of her ways and reformed. Ever since she started believing in the magic of friendship, she began to recruit royal guards and train them. This was back when Celestia was still the ruler of Equestria” Twilight explained.

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A few days later, Twilight took Gallus to the Royal Guard Training Base to get Gallus set up.

“Twilight Sparkle, it’s been too long! How are you these days?” Tempest greeted Twilight.

“Very well, thank you! And yourself?” Twilight replied.

“I’ve been keeping myself busy. Now that you’ve taken over the throne, I’ve had several people come in wanting to become royal guards. Say, who’s that with you?” Tempest asked, pointing at Gallus.

“This is my adopted son, Gallus. Gallus, this is my friend, Tempest” Twilight replied as Gallus and Tempest shook hands, or claws, or whatever.

“Nice to meet you, Gallus! What brings you and your mom here?” Tempest greeted the griffon.

“I wanna become a royal guard and help my mommy!” Gallus cheered.

“Aw, that’s nice. I’m gonna have you and your mommy come over here” Tempest said as she led Gallus and Twilight to a desk.

“So, I assume that he took up your name?” Tempest asked Twilight.

“Kinda. His surname is hyphenated: Gallus Griffon-Sparkle” Twilight replied.

“Okay, can you spell your first name for me, Gallus?” Tempest asked.

Gallus slowly spelled his name.

“Thank you. Now that I have your name, I’m gonna ask you some more questions about you. If you don’t know them, your mom probably will. First question, how old are you?” Tempest asked.

“Eighteen” Gallus responded.

“Okay. For the next question, you were born in Griffonstone, right?” Tempest asked.

“Yes” Gallus replied.

“Do you have any medical issues?” Tempest asked, prompting Gallus to look at Twilight.

“No, he doesn’t” Twilight answered for him.

“Okay, have you ever been convicted of a felony?” Tempest asked. This was another question that Gallus was unable to answer, since it used big words.

“No, he’s never been convicted of any felonies” Twilight responded.

“Alright then, do you have any tattoos?” Tempest asked.

“Nope” Gallus responded.

“Okay, that’s all the personal questions out of the way, now it’s time to take a quick test. This is a test of your basic intelligence. It should take about thirty minutes and if you score high enough, we’ll move on with the application process. If you score lower than 240 points out of 300, we’re done. Follow me to the testing room” Tempest said as Gallus followed her into the testing room.

“What’s that thing?” Gallus asked as he pointed at the computer.

“That’s a computer. It’s what you’ll be doing your test on. You must move the cursor with your mouse to what you think the correct answer is. Then, you click it by pressing the left button very lightly and it takes you to the next question” Tempest explained.

“Mouse? Did you say mouse? Lemme catch the mouse!” Gallus replied.

As Gallus leaped towards the computer, Tempest stopped him.

“Gallus, no! It’s not a real mouse! It’s what you use to move the cursor” Tempest said.

“Oh, sorry! I get crazy when mice are in the room. It’s a cat thing” Gallus said as he gave Tempest a sheepish smile.

“I understand. You may begin now. You have thirty minutes to complete the test. Good luck!” Tempest said as she left the testing room to let Gallus take his test.

Thirty minutes later, Gallus finished the test and went over to where Twilight was sitting.

“Hi, Gallus! How did you do?” Twilight checked in.

“Think I did good. Hopefully” Gallus replied.

Tempest then walked up to her desk and took a seat.

“So, Gallus, I looked over your results” Tempest said, making Gallus feel nervous.

“Hey, calm down, it’s good. You passed” Tempest assured Gallus.

“I passed?” Gallus asked.

“Sure did! You needed to get a 240, you got a 262, and that is more than enough to keep going with the application process. Congratulations, Gallus!” Tempest cheered.

“Wahoo!” Gallus cheered.

“Wahoo indeed! Now, it’s time to check your height and your weight. Follow me, you two” Tempest said as she led Twilight and Gallus to check Gallus’s height and weight.

“Okay, Gallus. First, we’re gonna check how tall you are. Stand in front of the wall, please” Tempest said as she measured Gallus.

“Only three and a half inches tall” Tempest read.

“Is that good?” Gallus asked, feeling nervous again.

“Don’t worry, we have guards that are a bit shorter. If you were under three inches, you wouldn’t be a guard. Now, walk up to the scale so we can see how much you weigh” Tempest said as Gallus got on the scale.

“260 pounds” Tempest read.

“Sorry, Gallus” Twilight added, feeling ashamed.

“No, don’t be sorry. Weight doesn’t matter as much since we’ll get you in shape at the academy if you’re chosen. 260 pounds is a bit overweight for a griffon like Gallus, but we can fix that no problem. If Gallus can lose more weight before he has to go to the academy, that would be better. Well, that’s it for now. You should hear back from us within a couple of weeks. If any of you need anything before then, please don’t hesitate to contact me” Tempest explained.

“Thank you, Tempest. We look forward to hearing from you soon!” Twilight said as she and Gallus left the recruiting station.