"Come on! Come on! Come to play with us!" Vojin heard as he was pulled by his hand by a white unicorn with wings and pink mane. She looked about his age and seemed pretty thrilled with the idea of finding a pony her age.

"Princess, please! He is recruit! He is not here to play games!" The commander said holding Vojin's other arm.

"Aw, come on! Please!"

'How did I get into this?'

(Earlier that day)

The guards that came to take Vojin to the military were very kind to him after the entire scene with his master. They went straight for the castle, as they did it, more soldiers accompanied by colts and teenagers of different heights and genders joined their march. One came from each house they passed by, some houses had adults waving at the leaving parties, others had adults crying.

'Their families...why must they leave their homes?'

"Excuse me, Mr. Soldier," Vojin said with a hint hesitation in his voice.

"So, you talk to others that aren't your big brother."

"Yes, why are you taking ponies away from their families?" The guard seemed to be taken back by the question.

"W-well, there are bad things happening all over our kingdom. And in order to protect those who can't defend themselves, we need as many soldiers as there are bad things."

"To protect everypony then?" The soldier nodded. "And once the bad things are gone, can they return to their families?"

"That's right, kid."

After saying that, the soldier placed his weapon in front of Vojin, that reacted by halting his march. In front of Vojin, there was a huge gate that started to creak as it opened. Behind the grand gate, there was an even bigger courtyard, filled with different soldiers and knights.

They were divided into groups, some of them had long strange sticks with metal ends. Others had swords, others were shooting some wooden sticks. There were some carrying some metal thingies in their arms. Suddenly, the guards stopped and Vojin stopped as well.

The soldiers in the courtyard left, then a different looking soldier came by. He had a very shiny armor and the way he walked was like Vojin's master. He was full of himself, Vojin knew it wouldn't be long before he would start to insult him or the others.

"Alright! I am here to make all of you scrubs into soldiers!" The soldier started as he looked down on the new recruits. "Listen up and listen well. Here in our ranks, there are four grand classes regarding the front line soldiers. Spear soldiers, bow soldiers, sword soldiers, and shield soldiers. If you have a talent for magic, however, there is a possibility you may become a wizard. That will rely entirely on your affinities. You'll be graded by some of the best magicians in the realm. Then you'll eventually be placed in one of the three battalions that compose our army."

From behind the soldier, Vojin saw three other figures come out of the castle. One of them wearing an armor golden as the sun, the second wearing a full set of silver armor, and the third...that one had something different about it. She wasn't wearing a full set like the others.

First of all, it was the only female in the group. Secondly, she looked like she was wearing a combination of metal and leather for armor, it looked less valuable. There was something else, compared to the other two, she looked more worn out. Like she could collapse at any given moment due to exhaustion, Vojin recognized that expression since he had seen himself on a mirror once. Her eyes had something different as well, something Vojin also found familiar but couldn't quite describe.

"Now, the main attack force of our army resides in the Sun Knights. They are the front assaulters and the main force defending any given location, also working as law enforcers out on the streets. They also receive orders directly from our queen," The soldier explained as he made way for the golden soldier to step forward.

"Just as the chief said, our group focuses on frontline work. We stand at the borders of areas with the risk of invasions or conflicts. We are also the ones in charge of protecting the queen and her daughters directly."

"The second division is the Moon Knights. They specialize in covert operations, intelligence gathering and they also have most of the wizards that aren't working on research and development of spells under the Great Wizard sages. They have a bit more freedom when it comes to their posting and operations."

"Contrary this hammerhead of a comrade of mine over there. Our group specializes in jobs that require more finesse. We are also working with dismantling organized groups and some other things."

"But you always end up asking for our help in the end," The golden one said with a smirk, earning a scowl from the silver stallion.

"Keep it down ladies," The third soldier said in an annoyed voice. The other two turned to her like they were ready to hit her, however, the moment they stepped closer, the mare looked at them. "Do any of you girls have anything to say?"

A simple glare and both of the soldiers stopped on their tracks. They started to mumble before turning back to their original position.

'That seems useful. Wonder what she did.'

"And lastly, we got the Dusk Knights. They are basically the rese-"

"Reserves my flank," The mare interrupted the soldier pushing him aside. "Listen up you brats, we are the ones that basically pull out all the jobs here. We change locations based on how short of staff the other knights are. We do everything from helping with logistics all the way up to fighting in conflict areas. We also enforce the law and we have way more freedom than the other two since they tend to ignore us. Meaning that the one actually relocating our troops is me."

"Thank you! Mrs. Jorah Kalish!"

"You're welcome, little guy. Not talking about your height," The mare once again replied, the other two tried to muffle their laughter while the remaining soldier tried to raise his hand against her. "Should I inform the Queen on how I know that? I guess it wouldn't bode well to your image now, would it?"

"T-that will not be necessary. You are all dismissed."

'I don't like this stallion,' Vojin thought as he watched the mare and the other two knights walk away.

"Very well recruits! We shall be sending you all into the evaluation chamber one by one. Just sit by and wait for your name to be called."

Vojin saw the guards that had led him and the others there leave and then simply stood there. Vojin watched the others try to talk amongst themselves, they were all speaking about what class they wanted to be, which group they hoped to be in. After that, they started to talk about what they expected from working there.

Vojin didn't understand what was the purpose of that, he was there to be useful to the soldiers. It didn't matter which class he was in. The small talk they kept pulling started to annoy Vojin, so he decided to back away from the crowd and sat on the grass. Time moved on as each one of the fillies and foals were called out one by one.

Vojin kept to himself until something hit the top of his head. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to grab his attention. Turning around, he saw a toy he had seen other ponies playing with. Vojin got on his hooves and walked over to it. After he had just picked it up there was a sound of wings flapping, looking up he saw a white unicorn that also had a horn and a pink mane flying down.

"Toss it here, please!" That voice sounded like a filly, she was about the same height as Vojin. Her clothes looked very valuable.

Vojin looked at the ball and threw it at her, the mare caught it in the air. She giggled and waved before she started to fly away. However, when she was heading back a smaller and blue filly bumped into her and fell down. Vojin ran over and caught the filly, which was giggling the entire time.

"Yay! Let's do it again, Tia!" She exclaimed as she waved around a little sword that looked like it was made of wood.

The other one flew down as Vojin placed her on the ground. "Mother told you not to fly so high yet, Lulu!" The bigger one said picking the smaller one up. "Thank you. Who are you?"

"Vojin Kilp."

"Right, um...My name is Celestia and this is my little sister Luna."

"Hello there!" The blue one said waving happily her sword.

"So, what are you doing here?" The white one asked while looking Vojin from top to bottom.

"I was brought here to be a soldier."

"Really? But you're about my age. At least you look about my age..." She commented tilting her head, her ears suddenly perked up and she opened up a smile. "Why don't you come to play with us?" Her voice just like her little sister's was chirpy and energetic. Both she and her sister's smiles were so warm and kind that made Vojin feel like when he was with Trishka.

"What?" Vojin asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Come to play with us! You're on your own back here, then we can-"

"There you are!" The soldier that was calling the ponies up said from behind Vojin. "I was...oh. Good morning Princesses."

"Morning."

"Has this one given you two trouble? I sincerely apologize. We shall make sure that-"

"He gave me back my ball and prevented that Luna crashed into the ground. He hasn't caused any trouble," The happy tone disappeared from Celestia's voice, she sounded more polite and her smile turned into a serious gaze. She had changed her entire posture in the blink of an eye.

"Tia in her serious face now," The one called Luna said giggling.

"I-I see," The soldier said lowering his head. "However, he has to undergo the evaluation process. If you'll excuse us," He said picking up Vojin's arm and pulling him away.

Suddenly, Vojin felt something pulling his other arm. Looking over his shoulder, Vojin saw Celestia holding his wrist. She was strong, her grip was about as strong as the soldier's grip. Vojin saw both of them stare at each other for a few moments, then the situation escalated to a tug of war with Vojin as the rope.

(Back to the present)

"What is happening here?" A new voice said as the sound of flapping wings broke the conversation. "Tia, Luna. What are you two doing here?"

"We were playing and the ball went over the wall," Celestia explained. "Then this nice colt gave it back to me. Luna tried to fly to this side while I tried to get it back. Then she fell and he caught her too. Seeing as he was alone I wanted to get him to play with us."

"Princess, please. He has to come to undergo the evaluation!"

The new mare that came by had a cream-colored coat, red mane, and a mark on her arm of a scroll and a quill looked at Vojin. She gazed at him for a long time, then her horn lit up and her eyes started to move sideways almost as if she was reading something. A deep scowl appeared in her face, Vojin had seen that expression before. It tended to happen before his masters would call him disgusting."

"You have been in a bad place, haven't you?" She asked looking straight at Vojin.

"What do you mean?" Vojin asked tilting his head.

"Soldier, proceed to examine the other recruits. Let this one play with my daughters until he is the last one remaining. He deserves to at the very least learn how it feels to be a child," That last bit she said in a very low tone, Vojin barely managed to understand it.

"Your majesty?"

"Just do as I say."

The soldier nodded and let go of Vojin's wrist. Then he made a strange gesture to the mare and walked away, Vojin looked back to Celestia and saw that her smile was back.

"Come! Let's play!" She said pulling him again.

Vojin stayed put, he looked at the big mare. She looked at him and moved her head towards Celestia, Vojin was familiar with that gesture as well, it meant that he was supposed to leave or follow somepony else. However, he was told to do what he wanted.

'I can choose...I can choose...' Vojin looked back into Celestia and Luna's faces. 'Is that how a child is supposed to be? They look so...bright. I want to know what that is like.'

(Meanwhile)

"Your Highness," The young prodigy that received no recognition due to him not being from a noble lineage greeted her. "Did you summon me?"

"Yes, Starswirl. I'm well aware that you should be grading the recruits. But the other apprentices should handle it just fine. I want you to check on a particular pony," Faust said as she overlooked a group of three children playing around with a ball from a balcony, her daughters and a young and strange colt.

"Which one your highness? Did you bring the subject here?" Starswirl asked leaning on the edge of the balcony and looking down.

The wizard was an acquaintance that she met by chance and he had picked her interest, she had seen Starswirl story, she knew that he was loyal to her and the kingdom. Faust's talent was something that terrified all the ponies who had something to hide. By activating her talent, she could literally see the life of a living being like a book and read it. Not only that, if she wanted, she could write anything she desired into the book and that would change the being.

After seeing the young prodigy's story, the Queen made a recommendation to the council of the sages to keep an eye on him. And she also took the habit of checking up on him from time to time as to evaluate his progress as a wizard.

"I want you to take a look at that colt playing with my daughters," Faust said pointing at the newcomer.

"That skinny one? Very well," Starswirl said lighting up his horn and casting his spell. "Ok. That child is a level zero. His traits are bellow regular except for his defense that is slightly higher than the rest of his stats. His aura is...dark, very dark. He has a really big potential for curses, support magic, and defensive magic. Is that really a child?"

"Yes, he is," Faust replied making her horn light up. Suddenly a book appeared in front of her. "Take a look at this," She said handing the book to him.

"That little trick of yours is never going to get old," Starswirl said as he picked up the tome.

While the wizard started to read, Faust watched the trio run around. Luna was sitting on the colt's shoulders as she pointed her little toy sword towards Celestia, who was running away from the trio.

'That is a child...but his heart is hardened as the heart of an adult.'

"My queen, he is a..."

"A slave, yes."

"No child should go through this," He said turning the pages as his eyes darted through the pages. "That explains the dark aura. But how come that child hasn't turned into a killer or a criminal?"

"That is because he is a child. He doesn't know anything but that life. He only started to understand that something in his life was wrong yesterday. And that's when the emotions came forth. He would have been overtaken by them if something else hadn't happened."

"The maid?"

"Yes, she was the first one to show him kindness. And the first one to give the very first thing he could call his own. He didn't even own his life. That kindness caught his attention, and the concept of protecting has also redirected those negative emotions to use them in a different manner."

"And he did that without knowing...which is fortunate. If he had a better understanding of the world...maybe he would have ended up differently."

"Correct," Faust commented while looking at the colt laying on the ground smiling. "However, it is still problematic for him to have that much anger and hatred that he doesn't even understand. And if word of him being a slave got out..."

"His life would be even more difficult. There is enough problem with him being an earth pony, but add the slave part and he will have to work to pay his freedom after being transformed into properties of the state," The wizard said with taking off his tacky hat and scratching the back of his head. "Which actually means he will be used until he falls dead."

"My thoughts, exactly. Do you think he could make it here as a knight?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty. But it would be best to keep an eye on him."

"Agreed," Faust commented still staring at the child that slept peacefully on the grass.

After a few moments, one of the guards came by and woke him up. Faust watched the child getting up and waving at her daughters as he walked away.

'Let's see the wizard's reaction to his status...'

Vojin followed the soldier into a dark chamber, there was only one light there. It was illuminating the very center of the room, once he stepped into it, the soldier left the room. There was a short period of silence before Vojin saw multiple lights come up.

Multiple unicorns were standing around Vojin, the lights he saw were the horns enveloped by magic. Their eyes glowed like a crazy, hypnotic, and scary show. Vojin stood still as their light show continued to confuse him, then a strange pain came forth.

Vojin's eyes felt like they were burning up from the inside, the world around him looked like it was melting. He fell to his knees as the horrific display continued as he started to hear voices whispering to each other. With the little he could see, Vojin saw the strangers' faces. They had smiles on their muzzles, they seemed to enjoy the suffering Vojin was going through.

'Why are they so happy with the sight of the pain of others?'

Then, just as suddenly as the pain came, it was gone. Vojin's sight slowly returned to normal as he got back on his hooves, a series of strange symbols started to appear before him. Numbers, letters, circles and strange shapes were all over his field of vision.

"Level zero. This one will have a hard time adapting. We need to assign a soldier and a wizard to look over this one."

"Why bother with magic? He is just a mud pony."

"It's protocol. We need to assign a wizard."

"According to protocol, we can leave him open to somepony to volunteer."

"Just send him to a soldier that isn't important, he isn't anything special after all. And what use would his affinities be in the field? The only type of useful magic on the field is offensive magic. Supporters and defenders are shot down first and that their spells take a long time to cast."

"Not to mention that curses aren't exactly well seen."

'Just send me to where I need to be. This is annoying.'

"Or we can leave him to her."

"Oh, that is right! She doesn't have anypony under her now. And since she is a unicorn...we won't have to waste our efforts by finding a wizard to try to teach anything to this useless colt."

"That should be fine...as long as we still mark that his magic teacher spot is waiting for a volunteer."

"That should do it then."

"Vojin Kilp, Jorah Kalish, the captain of the Dusk Knights will be your soldier instructor. Your magic instructor will be assigned once somepony volunteers to fill the spot. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Vojin said looking up, the letters and numbers disappeared but a small symbol stayed behind. It looked like his silhouette. Vojin then saw a familiar figure above him the mare that told him to play with Celestia and Luna, she was staring at him with a strange look. By her side, a stallion wearing a colorful and very strange outfit had the same look.

"Serve your country well and you may be rewarded," The mare said, startling all of the unicorns that quickly fell to their knees.

"I will do everything I can," Vojin said mimicking the other ponies and getting on his knees. "If somepony can show me the way, I'll follow them to the Dusk Knights."

"Very well, little one," The stallion by her side said, the unicorns seemed to recognize his voice since their expressions shited into scowls and Vojin could see them gritting their teeth at the very sight of him. "Follow me, for I volunteer to be your guide, both to reach your teacher in arts of combat, and in the path of magic."

Vojin heard a lot of mumbling and whispering, words he didn't understand the meaning, but that he knew that his previous masters used whenever they were angry at somepony, or him. Vojin stood up and walked forth, the unicorn teleported from the vantage point to the ground level and made a gesture for Vojin to follow him.

"I am Starswirl the Bearded. A pleasure to meet you," The unicorn said extending his hand.

Vojin looked at him, the look he had wasn't like the one Vojin's previous masters had. It was kind, not on the same level as Trishka, but he didn't seem like a bad pony like the others he had seen so far. With that in mind, Vojin reached for his hand and shook it. Then the wizard touched the side of his strange looking hat and walked away, Vojin took one last look into the room with the unicorns and then followed the grey coated unicorn.

'I guess this is how it all begins.'

Author's Note

Here is another one!

Please let me know what you thought about it. And thank you for reading!