After a day of riding an exceptionally emotional rollercoaster, Twilight Sparkle collapsed onto her soft, comfortable bed with Spike following right behind her, hoping to catch some shut-eye before the big day tomorrow. She dragged her blanket over her exhausted body on the bed, as she heard Spike collapse into his own bed.

“Good night, Twilight!” Spike called out, turning his head towards her. “You should get some rest; you really shouldn’t worry about tomorrow! We’re all supporting you here!”

“Err yeah…of course!” Twilight replied. “Nothing to worry about…nothing at all! Good night, Spike.”

“Yeah, right…sweet dreams,” Spike responded, as he wondered whether Twilight was actually able to cope with the challenges ahead, especially with that unconvincing reply she gave.

Well, Spike’s precognitive hunch could not be more right. While Spike eased himself into sleep serenely, Twilight was unable to clear her head of her recollective thoughts of the events that just transpired that day. She twisted and turned; she shifted and readjusted; she tried to release the tension that she had within her, in every muscle in her body.

But alas, her mind was evidently preoccupied with wondering and pondering how she was to confront the reality that stood in front of her. She felt incredibly uneasy at the fact that there was a situation ahead of her that she could not actively prepare for with a list of things to do or something. Despite all the affirmation she got from her mentor, her mother and even her closest friend, she still questioned herself and her own abilities. All those kind words of encouragement seemed to breed a level of insecurity within Twilight, for it meant that all those ponies actually placed faith and hope into her. She couldn’t possibly fail them, but what if she did? What if she cracked under the stress and the pressure in the military? What if she didn’t meet the standards of her own mentor? Would her mentor then consider her as one who was no longer worthy to be her student?

No, she couldn’t fail. She could not fail them. But most importantly, she could not fail herself.

Exhaling deeply, she shifted her blanket over to the other side of her bed as she tried to adopt yet another position in an attempt to sleep. She knew that she desperately needed to rest, else she might not be able to face the challenges that must come in the following day, but somehow she couldn’t. She simply stared at the ceiling above her head, as her mind was still in a whizz of activity, conjecturing what could potentially happen on the day tomorrow.

Unable to sleep, Twilight turned to look at the alarm clock placed on her bedside table, wishing that she still had some time available to at least relax in the comfort of her familiar bed. She forced her forehooves to bring herself closer to the edge as her eyes struggled to make out the exact time from the clock. The time was…

“Three hours to sunrise!” Twilight thought to herself, aghast. Time seemed to pass so excruciatingly slowly when she was trying her hardest to catch some sleep, but it appeared that almost four hours flew by without her even knowing.

Sulking slightly, she threw the blanket back over herself with the aid of her magic and pressed her eyelids down to shut out her vision. She then willed her mind to wonder into the void of her vision, where the blackness of her vision seemed to envelope her cloud of thoughts. Slowly but surely, the hive of activity in her mind eventually gave in as it began to release its grip on those invasive thoughts of concern and anxiety.

With the final hurdle impeding her slumber cleared, her mind finally brought the tired Twilight to the sleep she so desired.

“PLATOON TWO! ATTENT-SHUN!” a loud, authoritative voice echoed within the confines of her mind, causing Twilight to jerk up.

“What?” Twilight instinctively spoke out, wondering if she was already in the military. Fidgeting, she glanced around to find that she was in an ordered formation with a group of ponies standing impeccably neat and still at some sort of parade square.

“RECRUIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” A pony equipped with a green, pixelated military uniform dashed towards Twilight in an instant, nearly throwing her off-balance as he caught her unawares. “WHY ARE YOU NOT FOLLOWING MY ORDERS?”

In a mental daze, Twilight sloppily brought her two forehooves together and straightened her legs in the process in accordance to the commander's orders. She then brought her weary eyes to glance at the epaulette attached on the uniform of the commanding pony in front of her, observing three black, downward-pointing chevrons with EQUESTRIA embroidered below them.

“IS THIS THE KIND OF STANDARD THAT YOU WANT TO PORTRAY?” The third sergeant shouted at Twilight, obviously dissatisfied with her lacklustre, lackadaisical attitude she appeared to convey to him. “Alright, alright, never mind, it’s okay…WHOLE LOT FACE THE GROUND!”

Instantaneously, the whole platoon of recruits fell to the ground with the sergeant’s command, readying themselves to be subjected to some unknown quantity of push-ups, except for Twilight, whose reaction to the sergeant’s command was definitely slower compared to the rest of the recruits that stood around her.

“Too slow, TOO SLOW!” the sergeant roared, sourly disappointed in the poor attentiveness and performance of his recruits. “Crunches position – CHANGE!”

This time, Twilight did not need to be told twice. Together with her fellow recruits, she immediately shifted her body’s position to a preparatory position for the exercise stated. The sound of the hooves shuffling about on the dry, earthen ground quickly dissipated into an edgy silence as the entire platoon anticipated for the punishment to commence.

“Platoon IC, carry on!” the sergeant commanded with his booming voice.

“UP!”

“One!”

“UP!”

“Two!”

“…Up! Come on, Twilight, wake up!”

“Three…huh?” Twilight spoke out aloud, as she pulled her eyelids open to be greeted by the blinding intensity of the sun’s rays peering through the window. “Oh phew, that was all a dream…”

“No, Twilight! This is not a dream! You overslept! It’s only a half hour more to the time you are supposed to gather at the train station!” Spike announced in a flurry, slightly relieved that he was finally able to knock Twilight out of slumberland. “You’ve got to go in the next twenty minutes!”

“WHAT!” Twilight tossed herself off her bed to verify the time with her own eyes with her clock. “OH NO! I’m going to be late!”

“Twilight, don’t panic; you still have some time,” Spike attempted to calm Twilight down. “See, I have already prepared your enlistment scroll here and your identity ca-”

“Spike, there’s no time for talking! Pass me the scroll and my card pronto!” Before Spike could react to Twilight’s hurried requests to hand over those key objects of interest, Twilight frantically seized them off Spike’s claws with her magic, causing them to levitate in the air freely in a magical veil. “I have to be punctual! See you next time, Spike!”

“Goodbye, Twilight! Safe journey!” Spike exclaimed as he held Twilight tightly in his arms tenderly, wishing Twilight all the very best for her endeavours during her rite of passage.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight uttered, her lips reflexively curling into a vibrant smile while returning the hug. “I appreciate it, but I really have to go now.”

With that, Twilight essentially slid out of Spike’s embrace after throwing those crucial items into her magenta saddlebag that hung tranquilly on a hook next to her bookshelves, before closing its pocket swiftly and hurling it over her back. Without turning back, she galloped out of her bedroom in a hurry, nearly ripping the door open with her almost manic usage of her magic.

Rushing down the staircase hastily, she was greeted by the sight of her mother, who was currently finishing up her breakfast before heading to work at the Logistics Command in the Canterlot Military Headquarters. “Morning, honey! I’ve already prepared breakfast for you!”

“Mum, there’s no time for breakfast! I’ve got to go!” Twilight Sparkle asserted as she jumped down the last flight of stairs to shave off a few seconds of time from her journey.

“Honey, you still got time! The downtown train station is not too far away!” Twilight Velvet trotted towards the staircase landing swiftly, hoping to calm her over-enthusiastic daughter and catch up with her, at least for a time. “It only took me seven minutes to reach the train station when I was enlisted years ago. Come on, you can at least have a light breakfast before you head off.”

“Mum…it’s alright. I’m not hungry,” Twilight Sparkle spoke, shifting her position somewhat awkwardly while trying to compose herself. “But, erm...mum…”

“Yes, honey?” Twilight Velvet asked, a quizzical look emerging on her face.

“Before I go, I need to say…to say that I…I love you,” Twilight Sparkle cuddled up to her mother, embracing and appreciating the motherly warmth emanating from her.

“I love you too,” Twilight Velvet replied cordially, returning the embrace with heartfelt love and affection. “I'm sure you can do this. All the best, honey.”

Twilight Sparkle released her mother from their collective embrace, gazing into her mother’s eyes, admiring her wonderful appearance as if that was the last time she could see her again. “Thanks, mum…I’ll see you again when I am allowed to come back home.”

“Goodbye…honey.”

Almost with hesitance, Twilight Sparkle turned and trotted out of the living room, out of the porch, then out of the house. Her mother shadowed her until she reached the front gate and then, she stopped. She stopped, and she wept, as the lavender figure she would proudly call her daughter faded into view with the hustle and bustle of the capital city.

But her mother wasn’t alone. Unbeknownst to her, Spike stood on the overlooking balcony upstairs, his right eye trained on watching through the eyepiece of the telescope Twilight would always use to point up at the sky to recognise constellations, stars and nebulae. However, this time, the telescope wasn’t pointing up, but down onto the pavement below, to observe his companion trotting along the avenue, leaving him for a time. Yet, no matter how powerful the telescope’s resolution might be, Spike’s view of Twilight eventually became a blur, thanks to tears that obscured the vision of his eyes.

Twilight’s journey had truly begun.

Author's Note

A sneak peek into the Equestrian military, but I assure you that it is going to be harsher than that!