There he stood. Among the tens of Solar Royal Guards recruits. It was the middle of the night yet he felt as if he had just been dumped with ice cold water with the amount of adrenaline currently coursing through his veins. He could feel every atom of the grass beneath his hooves. The wind rustled his dark blue fur slightly. His black mane was spiky and covered his right eye. His breathing was silent and calm yet rapid. His golden armor reflected the light from the full moon. His horn illuminated slightly to help him see.

This was him. Now. About to finally join the Royal Guard.

An instructor stood on a stage in front of the horde of trainees. His coat was pure white, while his mane and tail was silver with a brown tint and the end. He wore the same armor as he did, but unlike the rest, the instructor wore a badge depicting two spears crossed in X formation. His face held a huge grin. The unicorn standing in front of them was Rusted Spear.

"I know you've all been waiting for this moment. Graduation is always stressful, I can tell you right now." Rusted stated loudly, so that the whole group could hear him. "But none of you have anything to worry about. We're always more gentle on the newbies. Sometimes." Rusted chuckled for a moment before resuming his speech.

"I would first like to congratulate you all on passing your training. Not many ponies have made it this far, most of them quit because apparently 'training isn't supposed be torture'." His statement was met with stomping hooves, loud laughter and groans. Once the noise died down, Rusted began again, but with a much more serious voice and expression.

"Although all of you are guaranteed a spot on the Solar Royal Guard, Princess Celestia has a request for you lot, and asked me to give it to you." A small popping noise was heard as Rusted summoned a scroll as well as some reading glasses. The instructor ignored the laughs coming from the trainees and put them on. Rusted then opened the scroll and read:

Dear recruits,

Firstly, congratulations on your graduation. I am very proud that you have all been able to make it this far and I hope that you all continue to grow strong in order to protect your fellow ponies.

However, a few moons ago, a problem has arose. A problem that endangers the entirety of Equestria. And I have a request for one of you to help.

As you all know, recently, the Elements of Harmony are artifacts that have protected Equestria for many millennia. Although they were previously under my control, the Elements have recently gotten new bearers: Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. These ponies are the only ones who can control the Elements.

Unfortunately, the bearers have suddenly disappeared from their homes in Ponyville. Although one may say they went traveling, not a single pony have seen them leave the town. Not only that, but the unicorns report that their horns felt strange the day following the bearers' disappearance. I later went to Ponyville to investigate for myself. I checked the magical properties in the air, and what I sensed... well, I'll tell you if any of you accept the request.

Speaking of the request, I can only tell you the details if you are to accept it. However, I can tell you what can happen during this mission.

If you are to accept this request, I doubt you will be able to become a Royal Guard ever again. In fact, death is entirely possible. Not only that, the request can only be taken up by one pony. Accepting this mission requires you to be willing to put your life at stake as well as being able to work alone.

If you do accept the request, Rusted Spear will guide you to me where I will give you more details.

Once again, congratulations to every recruit that will be joining the Solar Guard.

Princess Celestia

Rusted Spear teleported his reading glasses and the scroll away. The unicorn instructor noticed that most of the trainees were either thinking profusely or were completely cross-eyed.

"It is important to note that the request is completely optional, so don't feel forced to join if you don't want to." Rusted stated. Oddly enough, he smiled a bit after the previous statement. "Now, anypony that accepts this request, please step forward. If there is more than one, we'll put you up against each other to see who's more qualified."

Rusted's words completely silenced the group of trainees and froze them to their current spot. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rusted Spear couldn't help but chuckle at how some of the ponies looked. Some of them were in intense thought, some were freaking out and some held a neutral face. Besides that, though, there was no ponies that stood up. Rusted sighed. It seemed like nopony was going to accept.

"Ah well, guess I was too upfront about the consequences.'' The instructor thought. He was about to open his mouth to speak until he looked to his right.

A young unicorn with a dark blue coat had stood forward. He wore the golden armor that all Solar Guard ponies were expected. Although, he did fine that his dark coat would fit more with the Lunar Guard. Rusted chuckled internally at that. When looking at his face, the unicorn instructor saw that he too was struggling internally at the decision. Rusted gave the unicorn a few seconds to finalize his decision. When the unicorn's face calmed and he stayed at the front, Rusted Spear smiled.

"So you accept, newbie?" Rusted looked at the blue unicorn as he spoke. The said unicorn let out a startled scream at the sudden voice directed at him. Blushing in embarrassment, he turned to Rusted and slowly nodded.

"Good." Rusted said simply. He then turned to the rest of the trainees. "Is there anypony else?"

No other recruit came forward, but their faces were all of relief. While slightly disappointed, Rusted also couldn't really argue with their logic.

"Now that I think about it, if this happened to me when I was a trainee, I'm pretty sure I would be a crying mess, haha!!"Rusted reflected, his smile widening a bit.

"Newbie! Come on stage!!" The blue unicorn knew the instructor was talking to him and sighed. He trotted the short distance to the wooden stage, ignoring the hundreds of eyes watching him. While walking up the stairs to Rusted, the said instructor walked down to meet him.

"First of all, thanks. You're pretty brave for accepting." Rusted whispered. The blue unicorn smiled a bit that.

"Anyways, I gotta go show the recruits to their barracks. Stay on stage till I come back, kay?" Rusted's voice was much more casual. The blue unicorn nodded, before slowly walking up the stage.

"Alright, trainees!! Follow me to the barracks!! Hurry your flanks up!!" Most of the recruits were unprepared for this demand, as they scrambled to their hooves and rushed to the unicorn instructor.

As the blue unicorn saw the recruits being led away, he sat down, thinking about what he has just done, and what he has left behind.

Author's Note

My eyes actually hurt from reading this. It's been like a year since I've written at all and I wrote for *spits* fanfiction.net. Ah well, hope you enjoy. Comments of any kind are appreciated.

kthxbai