Twilight and her brother stood in front of an imposing-looking building, the Administration Centre of the Equestrian Military. The typical Canterlot architecture was present but the size alone made everything around it look like foal toys. Even the large mansions in the upper district of the city would only reach half of its height. Situated on the outskirts of the city it was, however, mostly out of sight of the regular tourists that visited the capital. Large marble pillars adorned the outside, giving it a royal-looking feeling. Leading up to the entrance was a large fountain plaza that was surrounded by the flag of Equestria and its Allies.

Twilight had put on quite a lot of weight in the two months of training leading up to the evaluation. The gains were noticeable after the first week of torture was over, her body acclimatising itself to the harsh training she put herself through. After two weeks her body started to noticeably slim down to a more normal form, not the pudgy bookworm look she had before and after the first month, her muscles started to become more visible. She was not on the same level as her brother but it was a start. Shining Armor had told her that this was only the beginning and she would be put through a lot more intense training during basics.

Twilight never took much care of her own body before but now, she felt better than she ever had. She could gallop through the castle without panting after a minute and other ponies started to look at her more appreciatively. Some of the other students in Celestias School had teased and bullied her before but now, they kept their distance and some of them even congratulated her on finally stepping out of her sheltered home. With another look at her brother and a nod from him, they started to move inside.

The entrance hall was as grand as the outside of the building, the reception desks were set up in the centre, blocking access to the rest of the building. Guards lined the doors, ensuring no unwanted visitor was able to pass into the restricted areas of the building. Twilight had no time to take in the sight properly as Shining began to move ahead. She tried to mimic his posture as best as she could and followed him towards the desk.

"Corporal Shining Armor, how can I help you?" The cream-coloured earthpony asked, her gaze fully on the large white unicorn in front of her. She displayed a mild disinterest in dealing with him, something that annoyed Twilight to no end. 'Why do a job when you're not fully committed to it,' she thought to herself.

"I'm escorting my sister to the evaluation," he announced reaching into his saddle bag and retrieving the letter from Celestia. "I'm here to make sure she is given a fair chance and not dismissed out of hoof because she is the personal student of the Princess."

Taking the letter she quickly scanned it before turning towards Twilight herself. The expressions of boredom never left her face as she looked her up and down. After a quick glance back at a registry she returned with a note that she presented to Shining Armor. "Escort her to room 22, I'm sure you can do that." A quick nod from him and they went on their way.

Once they passed the guarded door and no pony was in sight Twilight voiced the question she was holding for the entire time. "Why was she this hostile? Isn't this how it's supposed to work?"

Shining sighed heavily, his body deflating a little. "Twilight, there a two types of recruits. The first ones are the common ponies like myself. These with no heritage or rich parents to speak of. We are treated with respect and no pony gives us any trouble," he stopped, tilted his head slightly in thought, "usually. Then there are the ponies from noble families or influential areas like yourself. Everypony will look at you differently, thinking you are only here because Princess Celestia ordered it to be so. You have a lot of work ahead of you if you want to be treated with respect and have to make double the effort to be accepted." A small grin crossed his muzzle as he leaned in closer. "But I know you love a good challenge."

Reaching the door Shining turned one last time to his sister. "This is where I have to leave you. I know you're going to do fine." He did a horrible job at hiding his fear but Twilight was not going to back down now. She had made a choice and would see it through. With a last hug, she exhaled loudly before knocking and stepping inside after hearing an "enter" sound from the other side.

The small office was nothing special. A large desk sat in the middle and on the far side was a small filing cabinet. To the right was a small bookshelf but from this distance Twilight couldn't make out any titles. Returning her gaze to the desk she noticed the bright red pegasus sitting behind it, his uniform marking him clearly as an officer. Quickly getting her emotions in check and remembering what her brother had told her she stood somewhat to attention before announcing herself. "Twilight Sparkle, Sir. I'm here for evaluation for guard training."

The officer was looking at her intently but no real emotions showed on his face. "I was told the Princess's pet would join the guard." Twilight winced slightly. This was not the first time somepony used this as an insult and it always hit her hard. "At least your brother managed to get you in somewhat decent shape." She wanted to object, after all, she did all of this on her own only having her brother supervise during her first few training sessions to make sure she didn't injure herself, but thought better of it in the end. "Let me make something very clear, you might be talented with magic but it will not help you out there. A griffon will not care how much magic you can blast in his direction before sinking his claws into you. A dragon won't even notice you and cast you aside like an annoying insect. And a mugger will not hesitate to strike you down if you stand in his way." His expression became steely, full of pride for his job, something Twilight could respect even if his tone was insulting. "We stand between those and the innocent, ready to give our own life. Are you ready to do the same, you can still run back to the Princess, it's hard to think any less of you as it is after all."

That insult only made Twilight more sure. "Yes, Sir. I'm ready to defend Equestria from any threats, be they from the inside or outside." This was a part of the oath a guard would take after graduating. She was sure this would be the best way to prove she was serious about joining.

"We have no room for more unicorns, all spots are already filled for the moment, I will put you in with the earthponies. If a spot opens up you will be transferred. Any problems with that?"

Another attempt to get her to quit. 'Shiny was right, they are going to make this tartarus for me.' The thirst for knowledge was too great to give up now. She only needed to graduate to be able to learn all those spells. How she did that was not important. "No, Sir, I will do my best to be worthy of the training."

"Good," he picked up a small note, hastily scribbled something on it and hoofed it over to Twilight. "Take this to room M12, it's just down the hall. They will do your medical evaluation. Dismissed!"

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir," she answered giving another sloppy salute. His answer was a simple eye-role. 'At least she tried to follow proper protocol, not like others pompous rich foals,' he thought to himself, a small smile grazing his lips that went unnoticed by Twilight.

The trip to the medical evaluation was not as straightforward as she was told and she had to ask a guard for directions. This was some sort of test to see if new recruits were able to ask for help and interested in learning Twilight reasoned, something she had to accept as a somewhat good idea. No pony wanted a guard that wasn't able to improve. Entering the small room everything looked like a normal doctor's office, even the pale orange unicorn mare standing in the middle would not look out of place in a hospital. The only thing marking her as a doctor for the guard was a small medical badge around her left front leg. Twilight even got a good view of her cutie mark, a red cross in front of a steel kite shield.

"Good you're here, I was waiting for you. Did you get lost on your way or something?" Again Twilight was shocked by the aggressive attitude towards her, was that something every new recruit had to go through?

"Yes, Ma'am. I had to ask a guard to direct me here. It was not as simple to find as I was made to believe."

"So you're bad at listening properly then, maybe I should check your hearing first." Twilight held her mouth shut this time, saying anything more would only make it worse. "Go on, stand on the scale over there," the doctor instructed. Bedside manners were apparently not something they taught in guard medical school. "Two hundred fifty-two Pounds, a little on the chubby side." At this point, Twilight simply ignored the jabs. A lot of her weight was muscles, of course she was heavier than a typical unicorn. The rest of the examination went the same, the doctor would tell her to do something, take notes and throw insults at her for not being in shape. The more invasive tests brought a small blush to Twilight's face, but it was all part of making sure she was in good health. Even Shining warned her about it making the situation even more embarrassing. In the end, she was given a clean bill of health and allowed to join training.

Her brother was waiting for her outside the building. He didn't ask how it went, knowing full well his sister would pass the evaluation. He had trained with her after all and knew she was in good enough shape to start the training. Only two weeks until basics started, a large going away party already planned for her before she would ship out.

Author's Note

The supprot from all of you is insane. As a little thank you I sat down and got the next chapter ready. It's astounding what a little motivation does.
Keep the feedback coming I appreciate it all.