A Position Just Opened Up
Britannia went over the young white-haired man's application one more time as he sat quietly in front of her desk. She sighed heavily.
"So, your name is Ryo Bakura?"
He nodded. "My friends call me Bakura."
"Right..." Britannia said. "And you're from Great Britain?"
"Yes I am," Bakura replied. How typical. She was interviewing the British applicant because she was British. Figures.
"And you live in Domino City..." she continued.
"Yes. That's in Japan."
"And you save the world with your friends by playing... a children's card game?"
Bakura smiled himself. "It's called Duel Monsters."
Britannia placed the form down on her desk with both hooves in frustration. "And you want to join the Royal Guard?!"
"I do indeed. Very much so."
She shook her head. "Why do you want to join the Royal Guard?!"
Britannia looked over to the royal guard beside her. He said nothing, stared straightforward. As part of a pilot program to encourage more unity between Earth and Equestria, humans had been invited to join various organizations to learn more about life in their world.
"Back in Domino City, my friends have, well, moved on. I don't really have anywhere else to fit in... not that I did fit in even when they were around," Bakura said.
Britannia looked in the man's eyes. "Why don't you seem to fit in?"
"I don't get to do much and they never invite me along for anything. Sometimes I get the feeling the only reason they keep me around is because..."
"Because...?" Britannia encouraged him to continue.
"Because I'm British."
Britannia's eyes went wide. "Your friends only associate with you because... you're British?"
The white-haired young man nodded. "Odd reason, isn't it?"
Britannia frowned. "Not. At. All." The mare recalled the all-too suspicious reason for her being in her current position. Suddenly, she sympathized with the biped sitting across from her as she remembered she was in a similar situation.
"Bakura," Britannia got up. "It just so happens, we have an open position. Congratulations, welcome to the Canterlot Royal Guard," she saluted.
The young white-haired man stood and returned the salute. "Thank you, ma'am."
Britannia led the teen out the door of her office. "We'll head to the guard station and get you set up with your uniform."
"That sounds splendid."
From Britannia's office, they traveled to the guard post by the entrance to the building. Britannia escorted the young man to a locker room and retrieved a spare uniform.
"I... suppose you'll just have to wear this over your clothes," Britannia said, holding up the armor with a levitation spell. Bakura put on the helmet, it fit relatively well on his head despite being made for a pony.
"That jewelry you're wearing, what is it?" Britannia inquired about the necklace the young man wore. A large gold ring hung from it.
"It's my Millennium Ring, one of the seven Millennium Items from Egypt," Bakura explained.
"It's quite lovely," Britannia said awkwardly. "Would you mind removing it?"
"Oh, well... okay." Bakura grabbed the sides of the ring and held it up to take it off. Suddenly, the ring glowed and the young man dropped it.
"I'm sorry," Bakrua said, his tone somehow changed. "But that's not going to happen."
Britannia took a step back. "What do you-"
The door to the locker room burst open. Another human appeared, a short young man with bizarre looking yellow and black hair.
"Bakura! What are you doing?" the new human shouted.
"Bakura's not available," Bakura said, his voice deeper. "It's Florence," he smiled.
The other human walked over and grabbed the ring, yanking it off Bakura's neck. "You know you shouldn't be weaing this. There's an evil spirit inside it."
"There's an evil spirit inside that ring?!" Britannia screeched.
"We have to destroy this thing," the other human said.
"No Yugi, don't!" Bakura said, his voice normal again. "Without it... I'm just the British kid again."
"Bakura," Yugi turned to him. "Being British is enough."
"What?" Both Bakura and Britannia asked in shock.
"You don't have to make a big difference. You make a little difference every day just by being who you are. You're not just the British kid. You're OUR British kid. Half of friendship is just being there and you do that. You're our British kid, Bakura. We wouldn't change that for the world. Now let's go home."
Bakura turned to Britannia. "I'm terribly sorry about all of this. But thank you for your consideration."
The captain almost had tears in her eyes. "It's quite all right," she said. Seeing such friendship was touching. Britannia waved at the two as they departed, exchanging one last glance. Maybe what that other strange-haired human said was true. Maybe being British was enough for Britannia. Maybe...
Britannia turned to see the royal guard from her office standing behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," Britannia told the other officer.
"It's quite all right," the guard said in a familiar, deep voice. Britannia noticed he was wearing the same gold necklace around his neck.
The guard stepped forward. "I heard you happened to have a position open."