Rose sprinted out of her house, looking back at it one last time before continuing through the streets, her wings fluttering a bit. She hopped and skipped while running, swishing her long tail from side to side, forcing many ponies to jump or duck out of its way. The gravel was a bit unsteady under her hooves like it always was, but today she didn’t care and she slipped past other citizens of Ponyville, many glaring at her direction in disgust as she passed.
Today though, she didn’t have time for any of them; She had gotten a very important letter a week ago, one that she knew would change her life. And just yesterday, her parents had taken a day off from their important jobs in the Royal Guard to say farewells. Her dad had found it hard to let go of his treasured child, nearly bursting into tears and refusing to accept that she had come of age and needed to go. Her mother had reassured him that she would be fine before giving her a gentle and loving wing hug. As if that weren’t kind enough, simply being there to send her off was an act of kindness from a bat pony like her, to break your sleep schedule by hours just to see your daughter one last time. She had fallen asleep mid-hug, and Rose had to screech into her ear when she started slumping her chin on her daughter’s head. But now… now she is leaving, for good.
It wasn’t just her, after all; The world had changed. A lot. New rules came and new towns rose, and with them came the arrival of new ponies. Ponies like her. Not one thing or other, instead a complete mix, something uncertain, maybe even strange. A hybrid.
Rose arrived at the train station, just as the conductor began announcing the train’s departure. She quickly mustered up the last of her energy and sprinted up the station’s stairs and into the train right before the doors closed. She sat on the first free seat, setting her bag down under it before looking out the window, beaming. But as the excitement calmed down, new and much more bothersome worries dug their nasty claws into her heart: What if she was the only hybrid there? What if they didn’t accept her?
She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts and curled her tail around herself for comfort, trying to find anything else to think about, eventually just going through her memories of the family she had just left to spend the time.
After what felt like hours, she noticed something rise in the horizon through the window and perked up straight, fascinated and excited. A huge pure white building rose into the train's view, peaking so high up it looked like a hoof trying to touch the sky.
The Guard Academy.
————————**————————
Eve stood at the entrance to the Academy among many others, waiting to be let in and set into her living quarters as masses of ponies poured in around her from the train parked in front of the building. Despite the long wait, she was not bored, but quietly patient. She was sure that the opportunity would be a piece of cake even without a pair of fluffy wings or a prickly horn; She had done well without them for an entire lifetime. But her curly mane was a different issue. She liked it long but ‘almost to the ground’ wasn’t suitable for fighting. It fluttered in her eyes with just a small gush of wind, even while motionless.
She rummaged through her bag for something to tame it until she found her beloved dark pink ribbon, one she had carried for years. She quickly tied her hair into a messy bun. As the groups of ponies began to peak in size, She couldn’t help but swallow nervously before shaking her head. According to her research, she would be fine. Only 10% of the huge and mindless mass would get through.
She just hoped, when she inevitably did get through, she would be divided into the guard post she wanted; And she didn’t care to fight in Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter or Generosity.
She was determined to be one of the best for Magic.
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The train arrived at its destination, and Rose, along with crowds of other accepted young ponies stepped out. She looked up at the looming building, sharply inhaling. Only three more steps and she could touch it, just three more. It still felt unreal to her
She stopped where they were told to and waited, curiously glancing at other ponies around her. She couldn’t help but frown a bit when she didn’t see anyone like her, but quickly tried to reassured herself that they were inside already, or out of sight.
After about an hour and a half, her name was called and she rushed over to the Instructor… Only to bump into another pony suddenly stepping between them.
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Arlene levitated the keys she had been assigned off the table, twirling them and reminding herself of her destination: quarters called “Illusion” and bedroom 5. She had only taken a step from the table when a new name was called, one she thought nothing of. She stopped to catch the keys as she nearly dropped them, only to feel somebody run into her, almost making her drop them again. She turned around, ready to tell them off, before stopping as she noticed the pony, one unlike anything like she had ever seen. She looked over her fuzzy, batty ears, her webbed wings, and her scaled swishing tail as it awkwardly apologized. After a moment she tore herself away, reminding herself that she had more important things to get to. She muttered an ‘it’s fine’ before turning around and taking her things, heading down the correct hallway to go see her room.
Once she arrived at the correct quarters, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, stopping to stare at the beautiful view. The quarters were bigger than she had thought. She was standing in the doorway of a big, cozy, well lit room full of bookshelves and couches and even a fireplace. Five doors led to even more rooms.
Walking in, she first ended up in a small kitchen with only one simple stove, a fridge and a small table for two. She left her things on the table and started to explore, looking through the bathroom and gawking at the tub. The door beside it led to a bedroom with two beds, two nightstands and one very big and ancient looking wooden closet. She returned to the kitchen, taking her bag and keys before going back to the bedroom. She unpacked her things and set them away; Clothes and uniform in the closet, other items in or on the nightstand.
She heard the door opening, quickly running to the kitchen to greet her roomie, only to scowl at who she saw; yet again, the same bat-eared web-winged scale-tailed equine creature from before.
“Hey, you’re the one who bumped into me! Are you certain you were given the right keys?”
The other mare glanced at the keys timidly and nodded, seeming too shy to speak. Arlene sighed.
“Alright, it’s fine. I’m sorry for lashing out, I guess. Just don’t touch my stuff and we can get along… civilly.”
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Eve had just finished unpacking her things in bedroom 2 of “illusion” quarters. She returned to the main room to read something, certain this place had some books in the many bookshelves. She grabbed one and curled up on a couch near the fireplace. She had been reading only for a few minutes when she heard a door open, noticing what seemed to be some kind of hybrid returning to the lobby. She seemed upset and alone, glancing around as she left. Eve returned to her book, before suddenly feeling bad, closing the book and calling her over.
“Hey! You can come here, I don’t mind company!”
The hybrid walked over to her and sat down on the floor beside her. Eve smiled, trying to be welcoming.
“I’m Evening Rose, but you can call me Eve. And you are?”
“Rose.” The youngling simply responded.
Eve smiled politely. “Would you like anything to read?”
Rose’s eyes lit up for a second. “If it’s not too much trouble..”
Eve reached into the bookshelf, pulling down the first one she saw and handing it over. Despite being a blind choice, Rose seemed pleased nonetheless, quickly snatching it up and returning to their silent reading together. After several moments of stillness, Rose turned back to Eve,
“Do you have a roommate already?”
“They should be here soon. I can’t imagine what’s holding them.”
————————**————————
Hours went by and it was almost night. Eve had stayed awake, getting more and more worried about her roommate, confused why they still hadn’t arrived. But she was desperate to at least meet the pony before going to bed and waited in the kitchen.
After what felt like hours (although honestly only 20 minutes), the door finally opened and a gloomy looking stallion walked in, his wings tucked tightly against his sides. He looked annoyed or bored, Eve wasn’t certain, but she decided to be friendly. After all, he WAS her roommate, she was stuck with him for the training- Might as well get along.
“Hi! I’m Eve! And you are?” She attempted to start a conversation, but the stallion just walked past her to the bedroom, leaving his bag on the floor at the bed. Eve stared after him, confused and followed him there. “Why are you upset? We are in THE Guards Academy! It’s a huuuuge honor, you know.”
“Mica. But if you don't mind, I don’t want to chit chat like some silly school fillies.” The stallion muttered, his voice low and monotone. He got on his bed, turning his back to her. Eve stood there for a minute, but eventually walked quietly to her own bed and started to read, like always eventually getting tired and putting it down. In bed, she couldn’t help but wonder why that stallion was so serious and cold to her attempts at getting along. Didn’t he want to come here? And if he didn’t…
Then why WAS he here?
Mica was the last one to wake and step out of the dorms, already groggy and annoyed. He didn’t want to be a guard at all, he wanted to just find love, maybe have a family of his own; Not put his life in danger for something he didn’t view as important. Yes, he liked Equestria, but for him, dying wasn’t needed to show you care. But what was done was done, he accepted while making his way down the hallways to the cafeteria. The moment he entered it, he could almost feel the lively buzz of it.
As he stepped into the food queue, he glanced around, already wondering where he could sit to enjoy the breakfast. Once he got his food, he carefully started to make his way between the tables, careful not to drop the tray, only to be stopped by a familiar voice calling out to him.
“Hey, roomie! You can sit with me!” Came from a table near him, making him groan in annoyance in his mind; It was that silly behaving mare again. He tried to deny it politely, smiling slightly at her “No thank you, maybe next time.” He walked quickly past the table to get as far away as possible, sitting down at one of the empty tables and setting the tray down.
He was just about to dig in when somebody else sat down beside him. Curious, he looked up, only to almost fall off the wooden bench from shock; He was face to face with a sharp-toothed, clawed, eagle eyed pony. He watched as she calmly started to eat her food, and he tried to scoot away to the farther end of the table, suddenly very nervous of the clearly predatory mare before him.
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Rose sat down at the table after seeing the stallion all alone, only for him to stagger away in shock. “Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just saw that you were alone and I thought that maybe you didn’t have friends and that was sad because it’s sad to have no friends and-“
“Slow down, please, it’s hard to understand when you talk at the speed of light.” The stallion tried to calm her. “Let's start from the beginning. What’s your name?” He calmly asked, although Rose could tell he was shocked at her friendliness.
“I’m Rose! I thought that you might be sad, so... I came to join you!” The stallion nodded, seeming to understand her reasoning and replied: “I’m Mica. I thank you for thinking about that, but right now, sitting here alone was kinda my own choice. Plus it’s not very polite to jump into ponies' personal spaces out of nowhere like that.”
“Oh. Alrighty. Sorry for scaring you, I didn’t mean to.” He looked at the mare in front of him, gawking in every detail of her looks before scooting back closer and asking, “So, how does your hybrid thing work exactly? You know, with those fangs and all?” He was clearly trying to word his questions as nicely as he could, seemingly not wanting to offend Rose.
“Well… I don’t have exact sleep schedules like other creatures or ponies do. And yes, I can eat gems. My favourite ones are sapphires. They’re pretty and taste very sweet. I would give you one to try, but as far as I know, pony teeth can’t break gems and pony stomachs don’t even digest them. You’ll have to just take my word.” She began to explain.
Despite Rose talking a lot, Mica couldn’t help but just listen and listen. He couldn't help but be a bit shocked. At home, these kinds of interactions didn’t happen much. Even if something similar did happen, he usually was desperate to run from it or go deaf.
He continued eating as the mare rambled on and on about what gems were crunchiest or which locations were best for sleeping or even which type of earth was the most fun to dig tunnels into. The mare seemed to forget that other ponies were around but Mica still noticed the looks of disgust she received, furrowing his brow. Ponies frequently acted like this towards hybrids- even he hadn't found himself immune to that irrational fear. At the same time he was fascinated, wondering how Rose endured that; But he knew not to ask. It may have been a sore subject.
————————**————————
After finishing her breakfast, Arlene walked out of the cafeteria to get ready for training, about to begin in an hour. She returned to her room and put on her uniform, a combo of simple reinforced navy blue pants and a reinforced white blouse, before fixing up her mane one last time and heading back to the lobby to relax with her free time.
Once the clock showed 8 am, she got off the couch and exited the lobby, trotting through academy’s halls to the classroom she was assigned to, slipping carefully through crowds of other trainees, all rushing to make it to their classes in time.
“Ugh, if the crowds here are so huge until the start of class, I’m gonna be late!” the mare grumbled under her breath, shoving through the thick crowds of ponies and doing her best to not trip. Eventually she reached the correct classroom and quickly slipped in before looking around for a free seat. The room filled up quite fast and the “Introduction to First Aid” class began. After a two hour lecture regarding different types of herbs and illnesses, the class was over and since Arlene had at least an hour before next class, she decided to take a quick trip to her dorm.
