The End is Never-ending

Chapters

A Noble Sacrifice
Realization
A Dream Between Nightmares
Carrying On
Spectators

A Noble Sacrifice

“The End… That’s all that surrounds our lives… We try to avoid it for as long as we can, but eventually we’ll all die from it.”

Had I read this a while ago, I would believe it myself. Everypony would’ve.

However, now we know this isn’t true. We know we can rise up and against it all. The only problem is that only a chosen few can do it.

We are the Lightbringers. It’s our fate that we purge the End away from Equestria. The End can never been completely destroyed sadly, only maintained.

Let’s start from the beginning, so all of this will make sense. So that whoever reads this after I die can continue on fighting.

For eighteen years now, Equestria has been in an almost uninhabitable state. Consumed by a dark fog, where creatures you would only dream up in nightmares lurk. What we know as ‘The End’.

It invaded Equestria when I was only a young colt. Nopony saw it coming, there were no signs that the fog spreading quickly across the land was home to unholy creatures.

I lived in Vanhoover, one of the first places consumed into the End’s domain. It was a simple town, not too much to worry about other than a few heavy storms that were planned. Fog was normal in the mornings, which is another reason we didn’t expect a thing.

It was a normal morning, I was playing inside with my toys. I was having fun, I was happy with my life. That changed in a sudden instant.

There was a rather large explosion outside, followed by screams of nearby ponies. I remember dropping my toys immediately, and just staring at my window. Shaking, I stood up and looked out.

Most of what I could see was fog. It was so dark, something didn’t seem right about it. There wasn’t.

My door quickly swung open. It was my mother, who called me to follow her immediately.

“Don’t waste any time, we need to leave!” She said, sounding very panicked. I was speechless, whatever was happening scared me. I just nodded and followed her as fast as possible down the stairs.

My father was there, but something was wrong. He was in his guard suit. It was his day off, why did he everything on? What scared me the most though, was not only did he have his armour on, but he had his sword as well.

Only to be used at times of war, guards were given a sword after the changelings had attacked Canterlot for the second time. My father never needed his sword before, most guards just left their swords at the guard station because of that reason.

But my father wore both his armour and his weapon with him. Whatever was happening was very serious.

“Dad, what’s happening?” I managed to get out through my fear. My father normally was a cheery pony, but serious when the time called for him to be.

“I don’t know, little Spark.” Sword Spark is my name. My father always called me ‘little Spark’ though. “Whatever it is, we have to evacuate Vanhoover through the train. There is one stationed there now, if we’re fast enough we can get on.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I didn’t like the sight when my mother opened the front door either. All you could see was the dark fog. You could make out figures in the darkness though, just barely.

My Dad stepped outside. “Stay close behind me. I’ll protect you.” Screams and cries for help were heard coming through the fog. Whatever was in there, was definitely killing ponies.

My eyes were already watering. I was scared, but I listened and followed right behind my father. My mother stayed right behind me. I understand now that she was doing it so if anything attacked, I had the highest chance of survival.

We crept through Vanhoover, almost seeming like it was in the night. Once you go into the fog, your vision is clouded from all sides. Light is all you can make out. The easiest way to explain would be to imagine a moonless night and you were looking off into the distance towards Los Pegasus.

Somehow, my father was able to navigate us just with city lights. To this day, I still question how, maybe he just knew the way by heart. However, that’s not to say it was a simple walk. We had to be as quiet as possible and with a crying colt, it was difficult.

“It’ll be okay dear. Just breathe and follow your father. Everything will be alright.” My mother would whisper in my ear as we went along. It didn’t do too much considering every minute or so something would happen.

The smell of blood started to take over when we were about halfway there. If I didn’t know we were surrounded by the blood of all sorts of ponies, it’s smell made it known. However, I did know considering we had stepped in multiple blood splatters and puddles on the way to the train station.

There was a point where I couldn’t continue anymore. We stumbled upon the mauled body of somepony. I couldn’t see it very well, but I felt open flesh oozing with blood. I started crying immediately, I couldn’t continue to walk. My father tried to hush me, but I wouldn’t stop.

He grabbed me and threw me on his back. He informed my mother to follow close. We started to run the rest of the way. It was because I was crying, I was making noise so my father knew that we couldn’t get by as easy anymore from whatever was in the fog.

We made it to the point where the train station was about 100 hoofsteps away. That’s when everything got about ten times more intimidating and frightening.

Not only could you hear something large begin to chase, you could make out it’s outline clearly through the fog. If you took a timberwolf, doubled it’s size and added more muscle instead of wood, that’s about as close as I can remember.

My parents ran as fast as they could. The monster of course followed right behind. Ponies were already on the train. How I knew? The train doors opened as soon as we reached them.

We crowded in just as the train whistle told us that the train was going to leave. The thing outside didn’t want that however.

It slammed into the side of the train. Once, then twice before some pony decided to put a stop to it. That pony was of course my father. He set me down.

When I looked into his eyes, you could see what he was about to do. I was already crying.

“Be good for your mother.” He told me and he hugged me. “I love you son.” He kissed me on the forehead and then turned to my mother who was now crying.

“Thank you for a wonderful life. I love you.” My mother latched around him, and didn’t want to let go. My father made her though and sat her down beside me.

“Why?” My mother pleaded with him.

“It’s my job to put my life on the line for everypony.” He answered and turned to the pony nearest to the door being hit. “Open on three.” He told him as he drew his sword out with his magic.

His countdown, his face, his blade ready. I’ll never forget. Once three was reached the door flung open only for a second though. “Come and get it!” my father yelled as he jumped out and slashed at the creature of the fog. His blade made contact with whatever it was, because you heard the sound of the slash tear through something.

It was the last you heard though, because right after the doors were shut and the train rumbled as it began to take off.

“Dad!” I cried out as I felt the train leaving. My mother wrapped a hoof around me. She was still crying as much as I was. Just like I had lost my father, she lost her love.

My father died that day. Whether it was by the creature that followed us or not, nopony will ever know. But I know for a fact he died in Vanhoover that day. He died a hero.

The evacuation train continued to carry everypony who was lucky to make it towards Canterlot. That was where it was considered safe. ‘Was’.

Author's Note

Something I've just been writing, I really like it and was sassed at to post it here so there. Happy now? You know who are you are... =P

Realization

The train rode on to Canterlot. There were many ponies crying in loved ones hooves, just like I was with my mother. Covered in the blood of fallen friends and family.

Occasionally some ponies would come from the front of the train and spread out food to everypony. Some refused to eat at all, others only ate a little bit. Sadly, there was no way to clean the blood off everypony rapidly. They gave out wipes that smelled like lemons.

My mother wiped all the blood off of my hooves and body first. She was so strong. She held back tears and kept me close to reassure me that everything would be okay. Deep down though, she knew that nothing would ever be the same.

The train lasted about a day. All that time was spent with either crying to my mother or sleeping due to exhaustion. Of course, sleeping after an event like that only enables nightmares.

I was awoken by my mother when we got to Canterlot. Everypony was ordered to leave the train in an orderly fashion and to follow instructions of the royal guard. We had been told that Canterlot had been able to set up somewhere for everybody to stay for a short while.

We followed conduct and went with the group. I stayed glued to my mother the whole time. After what seemed like forever of walking through the streets, we made it to the designated area.

It looked like somepony trying to go camping in the middle of a city plot of land. It was definitely thrown together quickly and all they had completely set up were places to sleep. We were informed that more help was on it’s way, meaning doctors who volunteered to help and food donors.

The sleeping spaces were separated as units. Some had only one sleeping space, others had two or three. The families were ensured the bigger spaces. Everypony was taken to have a unit assigned to them.

My mother refused to have a big unit. I was small enough to fit right beside her into a single unit she argued. To avoid conflict, the guards just allowed her to have her way. We were assigned into unit #39.

Even though it was the middle of the day, most ponies just went to their units after being assigned. Some left the area because they had relatives or friends in Canterlot that they could stay with and get help instead. My mother and I weren’t that fortunate.

My mother laid down right next to me in our unit. “It’ll be okay sweetie. I know this is a big change, but we can get through it together.” She told me as I tried to get as close to her as possible.

I hadn’t spoken since my father’s sacrifice. I just didn’t feel the want or need to. I stayed silent, even to my mother. I stopped crying a while ago, I just would lay there and stare out at everypony.

My mother would say something from time to time, trying to distract me from how much was wrong. Eventually somepony came by bringing us food. At first I was reluctant to eat it. My mother wasn’t okay with that though, and fed it to me like I was a newborn.

She knew something was wrong with me, but there was nothing she could say or do to fix it. We stayed in our unit almost the whole day.

Later that night, my mother curled around me. I snuggled into her, just wanting protection from the outside world. I still hadn’t spoken a word, but I started to cry quietly again. Repeating the same process on the train, I cried until I fell asleep.

The nightmares haunted me. In my dreams, I was surrounded in the fog alone. Hearing all the screams I heard before when the attack had happened. I watched as I could make out figures tearing ponies apart. Everypony around me was dying.

I started running away, but tripped over a corpse. It felt so real, because when I hit the ground it hurt. I landed in blood and wet dirt. When I began to rise, I looked over my shoulder to see what I tripped on.

I saw my father torn to pieces, bleeding horrendously. His armour was broken and his sword shattered on the ground next to him. I was breathless and couldn’t believe it. I wanted to scream but seemingly couldn’t.

After an eternity of staring at my father’s dead body, I crawled over to him and shook him a little. “Dad… Dad, get up…” I pleaded. There was no response. I examined over him once more until I ended my gaze towards the remains of his sword.

I looked at them for a brief second before slowly reaching for the hilt of the blade. Holding it in my hooves, I heard my father’s voice faintly. “Be good for your mother. I love you son.” Those words rung in my mind. I clenched the sword as hard as I could, trying to resist crying some more.

All at once, the screams stopped and I couldn’t hear my father’s voice anymore. I looked up through my watery eyes. I was still surrounded by fog and my father’s body still lay there lifeless. It was dead silent, seemingly now like I ended up in a void of darkness.

Looking down at the sword hilt one last time, I positioned the jagged blade towards my neck. Tears were running, but my cries were silent now. I moved the blade closer, to the point where I could feel it against my neck.

Suddenly, a loud growl was produced by something behind me in the fog. I stopped all movement, I didn’t breathe, paralyzed in fear. As it got louder, I began to feel the ground move with each step the creature made towards me.

I turned slowly to look at it. All I could see was a giant figure in the fog. The same size as the figure that had killed my father. It stopped moving when I stared at it. It was a contest of who could hold still longer. I was the prey, watching my predator get closer with no escape. The creature was waiting for the opportune time to strike.

All of a sudden, I swung the remainder of the sword to face the monster instead. Directly out towards it. With that the creature roared and launched towards me incredibly fast. Within a second, I felt it’s mass hit me.

Right at that moment, I shot up from my sleep and screamed. My mother instantly awoke and saw me. She hugged herself around me as I stopped the scream. I cried in her hooves. Instead of her comforting soothing voice, I felt her tears hit my body as well. We sat there together and cried for hours.

The next day, doctors had arrived on the units. They went by each unit, following a group of ponies that served breakfast to anypony who had still yet to move. My mother and I were in our unit when we were pointed out. A couple doctors and ponies passing out food came over.

I was given a few different choices out of our share of food. Each unit had a basket of food to ration it off so nopony would legitimately starve. Out of everything, I took a single apple that had the Sweet Apple Acres logo on it. Apparently, Sweet Apple Acres had donated thousands of apples when they heard. Their apples were the best.

As I ate the apple I had taken, my mother was asked a lot of different questions. I was in my own world until I heard my mother say my name. “Is that alright, Spark?”

I stared at them, I had no idea what they meant. I simply nodded, agreeing with whatever they had said. “Alright.” One of the doctors took my hoof. “Follow me please.” I was reluctant at first, wanting to stay as close to my mother as possible, but got up.

I followed behind the doctor that eventually lead me into some medical tent. He sat me down across from him. There was silence between him and I. I looked down at the ground the whole time, avoiding any eye contact.

Suddenly there was another apple in front of me. “So you like Sweet Apple Acres apples, huh?” The doctor held out a second apple that he had gotten from his own ration. I just nodded slightly. “Take it then, you can have it.”

I slowly removed the apple from his hooves and took a bite. “Your mother is worried about you Spark. She said you weren’t eating.” I took another bite, only listening to him speak. I didn’t question why he knew my name, my mother had said it in front of him.

“Spark, wanna tell me what happened out there?” He asked, getting straight to the point. I glanced at him. Something about him made me want to speak to him. I remained silent.

“You used to be so lively…” He said, looking off in the distance. This is what got my attention. I looked at him directly. “Do you remember me, Spark?” Something bothered me. I knew him. I had to, but I couldn’t remember from where. After a moment, he gave me the biggest hint ever. “When you were sick with the pony pox.”

“Why what, Spark?”

“Why did my Dad have to die?”

A Dream Between Nightmares

Doctor Feathers stared at me, lost in thought. He was unsure how to answer. Especially since at that time I was young. It was the first time death had ever affected my life.

“Your father was a brave stallion.” He paused, trying to think of what to say. “If he didn’t sacrifice his life, many ponies could’ve been hurt.” He said. I was shaking, tears threatened to leave my eyes. I knew that if my father didn’t do it, everypony had a chance at dying.

“I know that…” I whispered as I began crying. I dropped the apple he had given me. “But why him? Why did my father have to be the one to save everypony?” I began to curl into a ball.

He allowed me to cry for a moment as he thought of what to say. “Spark, look at me.” I looked at him from behind my hooves. “It’s gonna be really difficult, but you’re just as strong as your father was. One day, you’ll stand tall like your father showed you to do.” He paused and came over to me. He hugged me. “I’m sorry we can’t do anything to bring him back.”

I accepted the hug, and cried for some time. Eventually, he wiped away my tears. “Let’s think about the future. What do you want to be when you grow up?” He asked trying to lighten the mood. I sat there and thought about it. I had never thought about it before. I just let life continue it’s route, taking me where it would. Now, I realized I had a decision.

I glanced down at the half eaten apple on the ground. It was there because of me. I slowly reached down and picked it up with shaky hooves. After an examination of it, I turned to Doctor Feathers. Even though I still had tears in my eyes, I spoke very clearly.

“I want to be part of Celestia’s Royal Guard.” I told him, taking a small bite of the apple. It had gotten some dirt on it from the ground, but that was literally the last thing on my mind.

Doctor Feathers was withdrawn for a moment. He didn’t expect such a response at all. After that though, was a small smile. “You really are like your father.” He commented before continued. “But why do you want to be a guard? Your life will be in constant risk above anypony else’s.” I realized what he was trying to say.

I looked directly at him when I spoke. “I’m going to be my father’s legacy.” There was a moment of silence between us. “My father told me to deal with problems in life head on.” He looked away.

“Spark, you realize what you’re saying, correct?” At that time, I thought I was so I nodded. “I see…” He paused, allowing what I said to sink in. He glanced over at me. It felt weird though.

I was the only other pony in the room with him. He was looking right at me, but at the same time it felt like he wasn’t looking at me at all. Like he saw somepony else in me.

He nodded. “If that’s your wish, I have no right to deny you.” He got up. “Let’s get back to your mother, she probably wants to be with you right now.” I know I surely wanted to be with her again.

I followed him back to my unit. I snuggled up with my mother. She had been crying, you could see it in her eyes. The doctor left moments later, leaving my mother and I alone again.

“Mom…” I started.

“Yes dear?” She replied. I knew anything she said wouldn’t make anything better.

“Why did Dad have to die to save everypony?” I spoke almost emotionless. Like I had been drained of everything I had. She looked down at me and wrapped me in a hug.

“Your father did it for the sake of everypony’s life. He knew he had to.” She said, struggling to get it out. I didn’t move, shutter, or even flinch.

“I want to be part of the Royal Guard.” I stated blankly. I didn’t know how my mother would react to that. She deserved to know though. She looked down at me in what seemed to be shock.

Then, all of a sudden, she started crying as she brought me closer. I hugged back, afraid that I said something wrong. “I understand.” She simply whispered. We stayed there hugging as she silently cried to herself for a longer while. Eventually, she did let go.

She looked out of our unit. Some of the guards had gathered children that survived in the nearby field and had them playing hoofball. All of them seemed to be really getting into it. Parents looked on, small smiles on a majority of their faces. Even in a very rough time, they tried their hardest to make the kids happy.

“Why don’t you go play too?” My mother suggested. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you play.” I looked out onto the field. I didn’t have any intention to get up at all. That is until I saw a very certain pony.

Well, at first, I spotted his mother spectating the game. My eyes rapidly searched the field. I spotted him on goalie of what was labeled as the blue side. Snowflake Bolt.

He was my closest of friends all my life. We first met through school. It wasn’t the best way to meet, but it’s what happened.

I was walking to my classroom from the front of the school. I was new and didn’t know anypony at all. It was scary making my way to the class. Once I made it into the main hallway with the classrooms in it, I was stopped by a couple other ponies.

They made rather rude comments and told me that I should ‘watch my back.’ It scared me a little more since they were the first ponies I came into contact with once I got through the door. I tried to rush past them, but they stopped me physically this time.

It was getting a bit bad and I was about to just start running, when all of a sudden another colt steps in between me and them.

“I’d leave him alone right now if I were you.” He spoke solidly. The bullies disregarded his comment and answered with a question.

“What’ll you do if we don’t? Tell on us?” They asked. This colt removed his saddlebags and stared at them. He stood up a little taller.

“If it’s a fight you want, I can answer that.” At that point I saw that he was willing to throw himself in the way just for me. He didn’t even know me. Without thinking, I stood up myself and stood right next to him. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t letting him just fight my battles. He glanced at me for a second, but then his gaze returned to the two opposing ponies.

Suddenly, as everything seemed like it was about to get bad, the bell rang. Signaling the time to get to class was now. The two ponies mouthed something as they turned and left. My protector shook his head a little, glaring hatred at the two.

I picked up his saddlebags and held them out for him. “Thank you.” I whispered. He turned at me with a smile and took his saddlebags.

“It was really nothing, they’re just bullies is all.” He put on his saddlebag. “My name’s Snowflake Bolt. Yours?” He asked. I had told him my name and followed him down the hall. Turns out, we were in the same class. I sat next to him, feeling protected by him.

Overtime, he became my best friend through it all. We had each other’s backs on anything that happened. Even though I wasn’t a good fighter, I would never back out if it seemed like it was about to break out. Luckily, it only did once.

I stood up from my unit. I wanted to run over there and tackle hug him. Had he not been in a game, I probably would have. “Go on, I’ll follow you.” My mother said standing up behind me with a small smile. I ran towards the field.

When I reached the field, I looped around to where Snowflake’s mother was. She apparently hadn’t noticed me, because she didn’t expect a sudden hug. She looked down and gasped.

“Spark, you’re here.” She said in awe. She smiled as my own mother followed up. The two met eyes, they both were glad to see each other. Through both Snowflake and I, our mother’s became quick friends. “So are you Rose.”

“I’m glad to see you again, Star.” My mother joined in the hug, all of separating after a couple seconds.

“One moment, I’m sure someone will wanna see you Spark.” Rose went over to the coach and he blew his whistle after a second. Snowflake was called off the field and a replacement goalie was brought in.

I could read his lips as he asked his mother why she needed him. All she did was point at me.

Both our faces lit up with smiles. He couldn’t believe I was alive, just like I couldn’t for him. He ran over to me at full speed ahead. I assume that he was really happy to see me, because he never stopped. He ran into me full steam ahead and knocked us both to the ground.

After a moment of recovering from the blow, we both started laughing. It felt so good to see him again. I rolled over, pushing him off me in the process. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” I said.

He looked at me with a wild smile. “The feeling is likewise. I was so afraid I lost everypony, but here you are!” He said getting up. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked as I began to rise.

He pointed to a tree in the far back part of the area. “It’s a nice place to relax for a moment.” I turned to my mother who nodded.

“Alright, let’s go.” I smiled and followed him without any hesitation. I was so glad I had him there with me. We got to the tree and sat in it’s shade. “I can’t believe it…”

“Can’t believe what?” He asked. I had no problem opening up to him.

“Everything. Our lives just changed forever.” I commented. I looked downward. Still, a small smile somehow managed to stay on my face.

“Yeah, I understand that.” He said. He obviously didn’t know what had happened. “At least we all got out alive, right? So we can all have those family picnics sometime again soon.” I turned to him.

My eyes felt dark as they gazed at him. I wanted to resist telling him, but either way he’d find out soon. “My father is dead. He sacrificed his life so everypony else could escape freely.”

He stared at me with widened eyes, mouth slightly open as he searched for words. He looked as if he was going to cry. “Spark…” He was still gathering the strength to say anything. “I’m… so sorry…”

“No…” I stopped him. “Don’t be… He did it for everypony. He knew what he was doing.” I’d known that the whole time. From the moment the door opened, he knew that he was going to die. Everypony on that section of the train knew.

“I know it. Still, it hurts to think that he’s really gone.” My father was like a step father for Snowflake. He hurt as much as I did. The thoughts running through each our minds were mixed up and so unorganized. I scooted closer to Snowflake and wrapped a hoof around him in a half hug for some comfort. He looked at me, and then away.

After about a minute, I spoke up to break the silence. “Hey Snowflake.” I said, trying to sound joyful.

“Yeah?” I could tell he didn’t expect my father’s death. It was hitting him hard.

“What’s your dream?” I asked. He looked at me, confusion on his face. “What do you want to achieve when you grow older? What do you want to be?” He looked off into the distance.

“I don’t know, Spark. Haven’t got the slightest of clues.” He answered. I took my hoof from around him and sat straight up. “What about you?”

A grin appeared on my face of the thought. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the forming tears. “I’m going to become part of the Celestia’s Royal Guard… I’m going to train as hard as possible to be the best guard they’ve ever had… I’m going to be my father’s legacy…” I felt tears falling from my face as I tried to maintain a smile.

Snowflake was silent until I opened my eyes and looked at him. He put his hoof on my shoulder. “That’s wonderful, Spark…” He cracked a small smile. “I’ll help you every way I can. I promise.”

I wanted to full on cling to him and start crying my eyes out. Instead I simply nodded. “Thank you, Snowflake.”

“Anything for you.” He said as we both turned to look out towards Canterlot. “We should probably head back soon. Lunch will be ready.” He said, trying to clear our minds off what had happened.

We stood up and slowly started heading back towards everypony else. He promised to help me every way he could. He wasn’t going to let me down either. Snowflake wasn’t one to let others down.

Author's Note

Too OG for a real Author's Note.

Carrying On

Life went on, whether we all wanted for it to or not. We had to keep going strong, it’s what my father would’ve wanted.

Snowflake and I were almost always together at that point. The only time we weren’t right by each other’s side is when it was time to sleep.

Every night, doctors came by every unit to check on ponies before leaving until the morning of the next day. Each night they would make sure I had no cuts or bruises. I assumed that was just to make sure I wasn’t hurt in general, however, later I figured out it was checking for self harm.

Never did I have any form of harm while we were stationed there, but they always had to make sure. Most of the time, I only willingly let Doctor Feathers check me over. For the others, I resisted standing up or showing them my hooves. Eventually, it was only Doctor Feathers who did check-ups on me.

After about a week, ponies started pouring out and the place began to feel lonely. I realize I only really did anything and everything with Snowflake, but when everypony leaves at a rapid pace like they were, you begin to feel that way.

Snowflake noticed it as well. He stopped participating in the games they had for the younger colts and fillies. Purely because they had so few members per team it became a bit of a bore to him.

A vast majority of the times we hung out now were spent by the tree when I told him my father died. Sometimes we were completely silent as we watched the sun fall below the land, lost in our own minds. Other times, we were louder than ever, using each other to get up to the top of the tree.

After most of the ponies had dispatched from the area, I began wondering when we would leave. My mother was always talking to lawyers and doctors about financial aid. I always ignored it, not wanting to hear anything about it.

My question was soon answered though. My mother was talking to Snowflake’s mom when they called us over, away from our tree. Snowflake and I raced over there as fast as we could. He won by about three hoof step lengths.

“Yes mom?” We asked simultaneously, both breathing harder than normal from the mad dash. The two looked at each other and wore sly smiles.

“Spark,” My mother began, “Are you ready to leave?” At first, I didn’t get what she was trying to say.

“Leave what?” There was a brief pause and a gasp of realization followed. “Oh!” At first I was really excited, but I looked over at Snowflake. “Oh…” I looked down towards the ground.

“What’s wrong, dear?” My mother asked as she raised my head to look at her with a tender hoof.

“What about Snowflake?” I asked. He had been through it all as well, my last friend in the world. All the others had met terrible fates from the End when it fell over Vanhoover. I didn’t want to abandon him in this place by himself.

My mother looked at him and smiled. “Oh yes.” She dropped her hoof from my chin, turning to directly face Snowflake as well. He had seen what I meant when I had asked. His eyes had shown that he knew why I asked.

“Snowflake.” His mother spoke to him. He slowly looked up and put on a small, truly saddened smile.

“Yeah Mom?” He asked quietly. He definitely felt the same as I did at that moment.

“How would you like to leave as well?” She asked happily. Both of us grew into an expression of shock.

“What do you mean?” He asked. I was still wondering what she meant by that, I had forgotten that you could just ask.

“We found an apartment complex on the other side of Canterlot. Two bedroom, one bathroom. A little small, but we figured you two wouldn’t mind sharing a room. Would you?” My mother explained. My mind was running mostly with joy. We were all going to leave this place and Snowflake and I were going to be roommates. I looked over at Snowflake with a wide grin, it sounded like a giant sleepover for me.

He was just as happy it seemed deep down. He kept his a bit more under control though. “I wouldn’t mind a bit. What about you?” He asked with a smile turning to me.

I hopped in the air. “We’re going to be roommates!” I said very excitedly. Other than Snowflake’s discovery, it was the first good news I had heard since we had gotten here. Our mothers just laughed.

After a calm moment, Snowflake’s mother spoke. “It’s almost bedtime. We’re leaving tomorrow.” We smiled greatly at the news. But then all of a sudden, Snowflake’s face wore confusion.

“But wait, shouldn’t you check it out first? Make sure it’s worth living in?” I didn’t think about that, but Snowflake had. We had been living in a tent they called a ‘unit’ to not make it sound as bad. What could be worth than that in an apartment complex? Our mothers just giggled at the question.

“We already have.” They answered. Now Snowflake and I were very confused. Unlike last time though, I could pose a question.

“When did you do this?” I asked. I seriously questioned when did they have the time.

“You two are always together. We got a pass to leave for a few hours and checked it out. We had the doctors watch you from afar.” My mother answered. I didn’t expect that, it actually made a lot of sense once I thought about it. Snowflake and I were constantly with each other.

“Anyway, it’s almost time for bed. We have a big day tomorrow, so get well rested.” Snowflake’s mother told us. That was probably the first time we had ever been excited to sleep.

Our two families parted ways for the night, my mother and I heading for unit 39 for the final time. When we arrived, my mother even she’d eager not to sleep. I don’t blame her, nopony chose to stay here.

When Doctor Feathers arrived, I basically rushed him through the nightly procedure. I showed him my hooves, flipped them over, opened up so he could see my chest, etc.

Extremely early the next morning, I was awoken by somepony who wasn’t my mother. “Hey, come on get up.” They poked me repeatedly.

I lifted my head slowly and tired-like. “Mom?” I asked aloud, seeing if it was truly her. That earned me a hoof over my mouth.

“Don’t wake her up, my mom will be livid I snuck out.” I heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes a bit more, rubbing them with one hoof while pushing the hoof my mouth with another. They didn’t resist, so it wasn’t hostile in any way.

Once I could see, I looked up at the pony standing right next to my unit. In the full moon’s light, I could see Snowflake with a small grin. He motioned a hoof over his mouth, looking like he was zipping it. He basically told me don’t talk too loud in his own way.

“Come on.” He whispered as low as he could. “I have something I need to show you.” He tugged me a little and I followed slowly, trying to not make any noise.

I followed him to the edge of the area where everypony was staying who still lived in the units. “What is it?” I whispered. He pushed against the fences that had been aligned so younger ponies didn’t run away. Nopony was supposed to leave without a pass anyway. There was a small clicking sound when his hoof retracted.

“Alright this is the right spot.” He stood up as tall as he could, parallel with the fencing. “Hop on my back and climb over, I’ll fly over afterward.” What he just said would get us in so much trouble if we were caught.

Spectators

I looked at him, reluctant to climb on his back. “What are we doing here?” I asked, worried about what would happen if we got busted.

“Just do it, I have something to show you. Now, climb over or I’ll drag you across.” He said. Whatever he wanted, he was sure that I wanted to see it. I climbed onto his back.

Standing on somepony is very unstable, At that moment, I gave credit to all the cheerleaders and circus acts that stacked ponies on ponies. I put my forehooves over the top of the fence and gripped it as well as I could. With a small hop off of his back, I launched myself up.

I only managed to one of my back hooves up onto the fence. From there I was just hanging on the best I could. I held on, trying my best effort to get at least a majority of my body over so if I did slip I could be on the opposite side of the fence.

I would say I got about to the halfway point, so if gravity took it’s course, I could fall on either end. That is, until Snowflake decided to help me the best way he knew how to. He pushed me onto the other side, making sure I’d get over.

The problem with his help though is that he didn’t hold back enough. He pushed me completely off the fence and I hit the ground hard on my said. I exhaled quickly when I hit the ground, not expecting the impact whatsoever. There was a groan in pain as Snowflake flew over.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to help. You alright?” He said, offering a hoof up. I took his hoof and slowly arouse off of my landing spot.

“I’m fine.” I said, breathing a bit harder than normally. “Mission accomplished.” He smiled and examined our surrounding like we were in some barren wasteland. “Come on, this way.” He said letting go of my hoof and trotting towards a nearby alleyway.

I stumbled up behind him. It was extremely dark, only light being on each end of the alley from a few lit windows. “Where are you taking me?” I asked very sincerely.

“You’ll see.” He whispered. For about another thirty minutes, I followed him through city streets and alleyways through Canterlot. Normally, I wouldn’t do this and I wanted to turn back. Snowflake was sure though, and I wasn’t just gonna leave him out here by himself, nor trust my memory to lead me back correctly. If anything came up, we were safer together anyway.

We did make it to the destination unharmed. It was a simple hill above a field, I questioned what was so important about it. “What’s this?” Snowflake looked east and smiled. I looked and realized that it had a faint glow. Celestia either was preparing to raise the sun, or was in the process of it.

My mind was panicking, we were almost for surely caught once we go back now. “Right on time.” Is all Snowflake said and turned back to the field. I had no idea what he meant and turned to the field myself.

All of a sudden, dozens of royal guards came marching out onto the field. “Every morning, they come here in the crack of dawn and do these things. They’re guards in training.” I looked on, concentrating hard.

It was hard to make them out since the sun was just raising, but you could see them all line up to whom I assumed to be their captain. You could hear a faint noise as they all began to do exercises. I had decided to stop counting each rep they did after fifty.

“They do a hundred each morning, all in sync with each other. If the captain catches a single pony out of unison, they restart till they can all complete a hundred together as one.” Snowflake explained.

Luckily for us, nopony slipped out of line. They continued to switch little exercises, doing a hundred flawlessly of each. Afterward, they all spread out among the field. “What are they doing now?” I asked, since apparently Snowflake had already witnessed this.

“Sword practice, different maneuvers, stances, all of it. Pegasus have to keep their wings in a take off position at all times.” He said, imitating the way pegasus prepare to lift off correctly from the ground. “Unicorns aren’t allowed to use their magic at all.” He explained.

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

“I’ve been watching them for a whole week now, seeing if there was a day that they didn’t come out and do this.” He turned to me with a smile. “They come out everyday and do these things.”

“That’s crazy. Do they get any time for breaks?” I asked him.

“I’m not sure, not during the time I’ve seen them. I usually fly back every morning when they split off by race.” He said.

“Wait, they split off by race? Isn’t that wrong and segregation?” I asked, now concerned with the royal guard doing exactly what they pledge to protect ponies from.

“It’s not like you think. Each race of pony has different features obviously. This naturally provides each race with unique opportunities of training. Unicorns usually work with precision magic. Pegasus work to be agile as they flow through situations. Earth ponies practice hard and quick combat movements.” He explained to me. I let it all sink in as I watched on. They moved so graciously with their swords. Fast, but not spaztic. Clean swipes and quick jabs. In a way, they looked as if they were dancing.

After they had been working with the swords for a bit, Snowflake stood. “Alright, we gotta go. You can’t fly over the city sadly.” I looked over to him, not wanting to leave anymore. He was right, I definitely wanted to see this.

“Why did you take me here?” I asked before I moved at all.

He was silent for a moment, before a small sigh leaked from his mouth. “I wanted to show you this to see how serious you were about being a royal guard. As well as to let you know that I promised to help you get there any way I could.” I thought about what he said. Slowly I turned my gaze away from my friend and out into the field once more.

I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining my father out on the field, practicing this every day till he earned the title of a ‘Royal Guard’. I thought about what I said about being my father’s legacy and turned back to Snowflake when I opened my eyes and stood. “I’m dead serious about this, Snowflake.” I smiled. “Let’s go, we’re gonna get into trouble if we’re late.”

Honestly, at that moment, I didn’t care about trouble anymore. We had both proved something that day to each other. Snowflake had my side in life, and I was going to be my father’s living legacy.

We turned and headed back towards the area. “Race ya.” Snowflake dared. I shook my head.

“I don’t even know the way back, I’d have to follow you.” I said with a smirk.

“You’re just afraid I’d win and need an excuse to get out of it.” He said answering my smirk with his own goofy smile. “No, but in all seriousness, let’s pick up our pace. Don’t wanna get busted.”

I nodded in response as he took off and I followed right behind. In the back of my mind, all I could think of was the guard training. That’d be the easy part of becoming the legacy. The hard part, would be earning the legacy name after performing something my father would’ve. That would be the hard part.