Unit 0047

   Knock! Knock! Knock! Unit woke with red eyes and a sour taste in his mouth. He blinked and saw Carmilla walk to the front door and opened it.

   "Delivery for Carmilla Ophelia?" said a mailmare.

   She had a cross-eyed expression and wore a mail carrier hat that was colored blue.

   "Yes. I believe it is a letter from a good friend of mine." Carmilla stated.

   Derpy Hooves nodded and rummaged through her mailbag. She pulled out a pink envelope and Carmilla grabbed it in a hurry. Baffled, Derpy shrugged it off and flew away to her next delivery. Carmilla skimmed through her letter and later burnt it with a candle. Noticed that Unit was awake, she greeted him with a "Good Morning."

   Sweetcloud had woken up to the smell of syrup and hot pancakes. What time was it? She looked up at her bedroom wall. 8:25. She stretched on her bed with a long yawn. It was certainly comfy compared to the couch in her apartment. It was probably ransacked by the Royal Guards by now. She turned her body to the side and sighed. Why did she save Unit? It made no sense but everything happened so fast; she had to choose quick. He was nice...Okay, he was pessimistic at times. Unit had needed a friend didn't he? Her stomach growled.

   "Private Candy."

   Blade woke up (from leaning on his spear) and instantly saluted to the speaker. He's done it in the past few times when he was first assigned in the Royal Guard. Night shifts always had made him so bored and tired that he would fall asleep leaning against his spear. Crap...

"Yes, mam!"

   He instead found one of his comrades smiling smugly at him.

   "Did Ms. Officer get you jumpy?" asked his best friend.

   Blade rolled his eyes and sighed in relief.

   "No, Gemmed. I was just startled is all."

   Gemmed was a Unicorn and his bestest friend. They first met at their posts which was guarding the local marketplace in Canterlot. Blade accidentally stepped on a tomato that had fallen from a food stand and the juice splashed out onto her golden armor. He spent HOURS wiping off that red stain because there was also an inspection that day. Despite Blade's apologies and sore hoof, Gemmed simply said they were even and walked off to their next station. Slowly, over the past weeks, Gemmed grew to trust Blade and pretty soon became the bestest friends. He can never look at a tomato the same way again.

   "That's Private Diamond to you soldier," she teased.

   One by one everypony had woken up, eaten, and packed up their tents all before 6:00 am except Blade, who still stood at his watch post. Once everypony had woken up, Swarmer took out a clipboard and held a quill in his mouth.

   "Formation: Stat!" yelled Daring.

   All 7 Royal Guards lined up facing Swarmer. He went from one guard to another and waited for them to state their statistics.

   "Violet Silk! Rank: Private! Race: Unicorn! Gender: Mare!"

   Dreadfist checked off box 1 and looked at the 2nd guard.

   "Vengeful Blitz! Rank: Corporal! Race: Pegasus! Gender: Stallion!"

   He checked off box 2 and looked at the 3rd guard.

   "Bass Bloom! Rank: Sergeant! Race: Earth Pony! Gender: Mare!"

   He checked off box 3 and looked at the 4th guard.

   "Flaming Gauntlet! Rank: Corporal! Race: Pegasus! Gender: Stallion!"

   He checked off box 4 and looked at the 5th guard.

   "Glacial Spike! Rank: Private! Race: Pegasus! Gender: Mare!"

   He checked off box 5 and looked at the 6th guard.

   "Swarmer, how come their coats are colored grey or white?" Daring interrupted.

   "Everypony's armor is specifically designed for their race. Pegasus' flying is improved, Unicorn's magic is improved, and Earth Pony's strength is improved. The Hooves, the Mind, and the Muscle. As for their color, we just sprinkled a little magic on the armor and it randomly gives you the traditional Royal Guard color of either grey or white. Along with a white-grey or blue mane and tail," explained Dreadfist.

   He looked at the 6th guard and continued on the list.

   "Gemmed Diamond! Rank: Private! Race: Unicorn! Gender: Mare!"

   He checked off box 6 and looked at the last guard expectantly.

   "Blade Candy. Rank: Private. Race: Earth Pony. Gender: Stallion."

   Blade was still tired from his night-shift and standing up, leaning on a spear doesn't make an exact comfortable sleep. Swarmer had finally checked off the last box and turned to face Daring, who was the temporary officer of the Royal Guards by Celestia's permission.

   "Follow the train tracks. Don't get lost and if you do, don't bother coming back to us. I want us to catch this thief so he can serve his remaining years in prison! We arrive there at 10 hundred hours. Now go!"

   All the ponies marched to Hollow Shades. Swarmer looked back at Blade and noticed he was beginning to quickly pack his tent.

   "You rest in your tent, soldier. I'll leave behind one of your comrades. Private Silk, I need you to stay behind with Private Candy!", he said as Violet jogged back at the camp, "You have exactly 5 hours to sleep before we send someone to get you. Don't get into trouble and fight only if provoked."

   Unit was bored. Bored, bored, bored...Sweetcloud was showing him around the small, dark town and, honestly, he kind of liked it. It was a great place to set up a hideout if you're ever in a pickle. But still, he was bored since there was no one to steal from other than bat ponies. And you don't want to steal from a bat pony. He shivered on the inside and continued to trot along with Sweetcloud. They stopped at a small bridge that crossed between something that used to be a river. It was now all empty and barren just like the whole environment of this town. The trees creak, the sky leaks of dew, the ground seemed grey with no grass or flowers growing among them, there was not a hint of sunlight but instead yellow glows of torches set around the town...it was beautiful.

   "...and this here is 'The Ghoul's Tavern' where you quench all your thirst and troubles away. And this building here is called the 'Blood Bank' where you deposit or withdraw all your bits along with a few blood-"

   "Sweetcloud, what do you do?"

   She raised her eyebrow at Unit's strange question.

   "What do you mean? I do a lot of stuff like meeting new ponies, going on adventures, exploring the world-"

   "No, I mean what are you skillful at?"

   Her ears suddenly drooped down at the question.

   "Oh, umm I'm actually not good at anything..." said the now shy Bat Pony, "All I did was ruin things, lost other ponys' important stuff, and was just being stupid and annoying."

   She sighed as she sat staring at the ground; her hoof, unknowingly, making small dust circles on the wooden floor. Instead of feeling sorry, Unit was rather curious and rubbed his chin. This was completely unexpected coming from Sweetcloud.

   "So you've left Hollow Shades so you can have all these adventures, make friends, explore, and you started it in Manehatan?"

   She sniffed and slowly nodded her head.

   "Why in all places did you to Manehattan for an adventure? I mean, Canterlot has a lot more opportunities there and the economy is rather quite-"

   Unit stopped mid-sentence and noticed drips of tears coming out of her shadowed face. He didn't like how Sweetcloud was crying silently and didn't know how to react to this. He looked around the bridge and saw no other ponies walking around. He had an unsettling, unfamiliar feeling that made his stomach churn and his heart swell. He was feeling sympathetic. Silence followed for a minute as Unit let her cry peacefully until he had an idea. Carefully, he lifted a withered, closed lotus that sat on the dry bank of the river with his magic and brought it in front of Sweetcloud's face. She ignored it and continued to silently mourn through her life's past failures. What was she going to do now after Unit goes off back into Manehattan? What was the point of making friends anymore, now? It's a cruel, harsh world out there and Equestria is just one of them.

   "Every flower has its moment of blossom, Sweetcloud," the lotus opened up petal by petal, "You just need a little water is all."

   A green aura surrounded the flower as Unit's horn glowed. It was slowly regaining back it's normal shade of purple instead of it's pale, dead color and was gently placed on top of a small patch of grass near the bank.

   "Anyways, i'm sure you get the-"

   He was interrupted by Sweetcloud's hug. His back was tackled to the floor with her on top of him. She hugged, squeezed, tightened her grip until Unit couldn't breathe anymore.

   "Is it true that you're my friend, Unit?" she said quietly.

   Unit considered of what happened during this adventure so far. He thought about the cons and pros. He thought about what the risks were. He thought about everything.

   "I'd consider you, Sweetcloud, as a great friend. And once they stop searching for us in Manehattan, we can go on adventures all over Equestria. It'd be nice to have someone to share all the bits I have," quietly replied the thief.

   It was now 10:00 am.