I - The Adventure Begins!
Once upon a time, in the land of Equestria, there were earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi alike. These ponies interact with each other every day, helping side by side when in times of danger. Doing the things they like. Doing their everyday routine.
Of course there are ponies in Equestria. It's just that I want to tell you a tale about one special unicorn, named Vanguard. He was born in Manehattan. His parents were rich but responsible in there expense. They raised Vanguard like no other parent has raised a pony before. He is their precious gift of all
During his foalhood though, he is being teased as a 'blank flank'. Despite all that teasing, he wasn't even affected by all that, but he never grow tired of hearing such insults. During the night, he did dreamed that he had a future waiting for him. Therefore, he had a bright idea to have a cutie mark, wherein it can determine his destiny. That day when he talked to her parents heart-to-heart, he said that he will be the beacon of hope for Equestria and will be its protector, according to his dreams. Even though his parents may have sounded it very silly, Vanguard sounds very serious. In order for his dreams to come true, they set out to Canterlot for Vanguard to study there, where his first adventure will begin. Maybe
~~~
The sound of the rattling train made me both nervous and excited. I can't wait to arrive in Canterlot with my family. Well, the train was slow but the wait is worth it.
"Now, there will be new things going around when we get there. I just want to inform you that don't go running around in Canterlot, you might get lost. We will be walking in there together, okay?" my mother said with a smile as we are entering in the train.
"Ma, I know. You don't have to tell me again."
"You now my little pony, your mom is just very concern because your education is the reason why we are going in there," dad replied, "Please don't make it too hard for us."
As I kept those words in my mind, I am wondering what Canterlot looks like up close and personal. Since then, all I know is that it hangs on the side of a mountain. Strange but cool.
I can't get my butterflies out of my stomach as we are about to arrive in our destination. I got that mixed feelings again.
"We are now arriving on Canterlot. Thank you for riding Equestrian Railways..."
"Whoa, Canterlot is so elegant! I've never seen anything like it before!"
"Now, now. We are going to the school together, so stay close." my father said. We worked our way to the busy crowd in the city center. I didn't know they were this busy and productive. From left to right, there were mostly unicorns that filled the streets. There were barely any other kinds of ponies there. Well, some of the guards were pegasi.
The buildings don't look like much in Canterlot, as if they are simply built with wood and stones. But those are not the same as the castle in here. It has a lot of towers, built in here, built in there. The castle itself has a lot of connections to different places. What I don't know is that the school we are heading to is part of the castle.
"There are like a bunch of royal guards patrolling all over the school tower," my mother commented, "It seems like this is a important part of Canterlot." This is too much to be a school. I feel so insecure here ,it gives me a lot of goosebumps.
"It seems that you've reached the right place." That voice... it sounds like...
"Hello there, Vanguard. It looks like you are ready for your entrance exam." Wuh, Exam? Already?!
"Oh, don't worry Vanguard, it is a very easy one. I think you may be able to do it." I felt unsure of what mom said
"Um, ahem. Where are my manners? I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Princess Ce—"
"Celestia!" I shouted.
"—Princess Celestia. I am so surprised you already know me."
"I read tons of stories about you and your sister ruling Equestria together. You saved Equestria from Discord the bad guy."
"Hmhmhmhm. Your son is so very bright, he will do well during class," Celestia turned to mom and added, "He has a future waiting ahead of him."
"That means I will skip the exam?" I said with a grin, a big grin.
"Giving you a positive feedback on your knowledge doesn't mean we do not have to test your knowledge through practical exam."
"Your father is right. You should prove not only what you know, but what you can do." I have to write those down in case I forgot.
We got in the room where there is nothing but the proctors up the room and a desk in the middle.
"Can I ask what am I going to do here? It looks like there is nothing to do."
Celestia guided my sight to the three proctors. "They are going to grade you if you do something worth it. For example; what magic can you do?"
Okay, got to find that power inside my head.
"Okay, Vanguard... show us what you can do." one of the proctors stated.
Okay, let’s brainstorm. Think, think, think! I can't think of something with this tension. Gaaah!
Then a sudden flash engulfed the room.
Something happened...
I opened my eyes and... What I am seeing is a thunderstorm cloud above, with an umbrella on top of me. Whuuut?
"Wow! Nice work, Vanguard." the princess remarked.
"Mr. Vanguard," said one of the proctors, "What other things can you create?"
"I don't know. Hmmm." I concentrated on a single object I can think of and put it in my spell. A shield!
I thought of the spell, putting concentration on my head, then flash!
"Wow, just wow." One of them commented.
"So what do you say?" I looked at the faces of each proctors as they face each other. It seems that I am going to pass!
"Mr. Vanguard," I am waiting for him to say 'you did it,' "I think..." Yes! "...you are ready for the last test."
"Last test???" I exclaimed. What a cliffhanger.
"Choosing your companion."
A companion!
There is a cart filled with exactly four animals pushed into the room. There is a bunny, a bird, an alligator and an egg. An egg? Well, there is a lot to choose from but...
"You know, you only need to choose one," Princess Celestia interrupted, "And you need to choose wisely because who knows, one of them might be your faithful pet."
I looked into every animals eyes and see if they were really mine. If I can, I must see through deep into their feelings.
Wait! The bird...
"Princess, I think I'd chose one... The bird?"
"Hm, so you've chosen the baby phoenix?"
"Th-the phoenix?!?" I can't believe that I chose a phoenix! I've never seen Phoenixes in my life before because they were just mythical creatures.
"This fledgling came from my pet Phoenix, Philomena, who just had little hatch-lings lately. The others were able to fly when they grew up. Those phoenixes were able to find their own family. But this one," Princess Celestia caressed the little phoenix, "It refuses to leave its own nest but is a very knowledgeable bird. It learns from its mother. To tell you the truth, it can talk."
"Hi there."
Whoa! It can talk!
"Now it is a rare occurence even I didn't undestand. But it is a bird I can't give to anypony," Princess Celestia added, "When I just realized that it wanted to have its own adventure, I decided to put them for adoption. I just knew, from the very heart of mine, that this bird will be owned by a righteous owner. Vanguard, I want this opportunity of yours not wasted. I want you to give everything this hatch-ling need and want." Celestia handed the baby phoenix to me, very gently.
"I will your highness! I will take care of it!" As I was about to reach the bird, it flew into me, within my hooves. Its so very cute! I can't believe I passed, with a prize!
~~~
"Don't go far off, Vanguard! Remember that you came from here, okay? And look after your 'bird'!"
"That'll do, dad and I will!"
"Hmmm, hey little fella... Maybe I should give you a name... Hmmm... Scorch? Blazin? Fire???"
*burp* "No, don' like it"
"Wait, what about Burp?"
"Hmmm, Owkay!"
"Then Burp it is."
*Breathing deep* the very wind of success came blowing us by the gardens. Even Burp liked it. The gardens itself is very prestige and elegant. You can see the cloud city up high and by the cliff, Ponyville below. Canterlot has everything a pony can enjoy!
I just heard a crash. What was that?
OH SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT A BIG DRAGON I SAW!
I think the dragon grew inside the tower, like WOW! After that I heard a screech coming from the cliff. I look by the cliff and saw a... a... a... sonic rainboom? I... I've never seen a sonic rainboom before. Burp's eyes begin to widen up in fascination. Looks like somepony achieved the impossible. And look! There is a trail of a rainbow growing over the horizon. I am going to tell this to mom and dad. But wait, I'm still not finished roaming around Canterlot. Maybe they saw it so I am going to tell them later. My heart beats so fast when I witness something very exciting.
A moment later, people from the streets came looking on it. I think they were fascinated of what they saw. A few seconds after though, they go back to their business. Although everypony I saw came looking, one particular filly didn't notice such thing...
Author's Note
I am done editing! Whew... Next chapter!
"Hey Burp, look." I looked at the filly on the middle of the road. Is she reading while walking? Even I couldn't do that.
"The purple pony with a baby dragon?"
"Yeah, yeah. Her. I couldn't leave her like that. She might get an accident."
"Tell hurrr!"
"Alright, I'll do it. Just stop tugging me." I waited for her to approach. I am getting nervous about this.
"Um, excuse me." The filly kept on walking like she didn't hear anything. She didn't even reacted.
"Hello, uh. You might get—" AHHH!!! *thud* OOOWWW!
"Oh my goodness, are you alright? Are you hurt? Can you get up?" She tried to pull me up, but I managed to do it myself.
"Awww, I'm okay. D-don't mind the scratch."
"I'm sorry, it must have been clumsy of me."
"Well, *Ow* I was trying to tell you to be careful, but—"
"Oh no, don't blame yourself!" She putted down the book and pulled out something in her bag. "Its a good thing I brought this." She pulled out a bandage.
"Oh, no thanks. I can do that back home."
"Then you'll probably walk to your house, which is bad and maybe far away. It is better to put it now." While she applies the bandage, I noticed her dragon.
"WOW, it is so cute! What's its name?"
"His name is Spike."
"I've never seen a dragon before."
"Well, I got him from the school. It was the test of my life but I was able to pass it. It was still an egg but I manage to—"
"Wait! I don't want to interrupt but, is that the dragon that grew big in the school tower?"
She was shock to hear what I've said. "You saw it? Well, it is... I... kind of messed up... a little..."
"Don't worry about it. Ponies make mistakes sometimes. And besides, don't let that accident let you down. You've just succeeded, remember?" She thought about it, looking away for a while.
"Your right. I shouldn't let it get in my way! Oh, uhhh, thanks anyway." She was about to pack up until she remembered something. "Oh yeah, We haven't properly introduced ourselves yet. I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Spike."
"I'm Vanguard. Its very nice to meet you."
"Vanguard. Hmmm. Are you going to be part of the Royal Guards? Because your name mean something like 'A front-line defense' "
"What? No, not really, no. Oh yeah, and this is Burp."
"Burp? *Pffft* Who's Burp?" Burp climbed up my head, showing himself.
"Hi there. *Burrpp*"
"Oh my gosh! Is that a phoenix I saw?"
"Well at first, I thought it was a bird."
"It's so beautiful! Where did you get him?"
"I got him as a reward from Princess Celestia"
"Wow, you're so lucky. I didn't know Princess Celestia had a baby phoenix." We walked our way through Canterlot as we chat.
"By the way, how did you make Spike grow big?"
"It's complicated..."
~~~
"... next week will be our first days in class. I am looking forward to see you there."
"Hehehe, yeah. You too, Twi. Can I call you Twi?"
"I don't really mind, yeah."
"Burrrrp... Sorry, Van."
"*sniff* did you smell something is burning?"
"Hah! Vanguard, your mane!"
"Wha?" m-my mane! "AAAAAAAHHHHHH! Water! Water! Water! Water!"
I AM TRYING TO LOOK FOR THE NEAREST FOUNTAIN BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND ONE! Twilight casted water on me, but it seems to cover her along. Then splash! We're wet, all wet. But we laughed instead of being disappointed.
"Hmhmhmh, hahahaha! -Snort- Oops, Hahahahaha!"
"Well I am going to fix this mane later. Hahahahaha."
Two paths diverged ahead of us. The other path head straight to the castle, while the other to my house.
"Well, this is where I am going, Vanguard."
"Oh okay, see you when I see you, Twi!" We both walked into own paths, heading straight home. "So she liked reading Daring Do. I'll try to find those kind of books. She said it is full of action and adventure. Maybe tomorrow, I'll head to the library, if Canterlot has one."
~~~
"Happiness. What do we mean by happiness? Happiness is something like light. When there is light, there is life, joy, peace and hope. They say don't spend your sorrows on daylight.
Speaking of sorrow, what if sorrow-ness consumed Equestria like the night. The darkness made everyone go to sleep, rest and hide away from the night.
I hate it. I hate being ignored. I hate watching mere mortals enjoying the daylight as they don't during the night. But worry no more, I will eventually escape within a thousands of years and bring eternal darkness to the land!
And maybe, you'll enjoy my night! Hahahahaha!
"Guh! Uh... what a strange dream..."
