Twilight said to her friends, "Well, we spent a few days considering her options. I made charts with the pros and cons of each one and modified for the severity of each factor of course. And I made sure to thoroughly research each one, because I didn't want her to make a decision based on a knee-jerk bias over objective-"
"TWILIGHT!" Rarity and Applejack both interrupted in unison as the unicorn started to ramble, snapping her out of it.
She sheepishly smiled and continued, "R-right. Well, eventually, she figured that she wouldn't want to put herself in a position where it looks like she's being shown any kind of favoritism. She didn't want to cause any political trouble for the princesses by making it look like she was being allowed too close to the throne after... what happened... But she thought that it would still help for everypony to see her swear her loyalty to the princesses, so she applied to join the Royal Guard. She thought that starting at the bottom ranks would prove she isn't the power-hungry monster some ponies are still afraid of."
Rarity frowned a little. "Oh my. That hardly seems the place for a proper lady. Are you both sure that it's what's best for her?"
Applejack added, "Yeah, I have a second-cousin in the Guard, and he always has horror stories 'bout the trainin' when he comes t' visit. Ah'm not doubtin' she can handle it, o' course, but those ponies take a lot of abuse."
Twilight hung her head a little, but put on a brave little smile as she glanced up at Nyx, who was levitating Pinkie Pie and spinning her around for her turn at Pin The Tail On The Pony. "Yeah, I was worried about that, too. She's a lot tougher, mentally, than when she was little, but she'll be all on her own..."
Applejack patted Twilight on the shoulder. "Aw, don't worry like that, Sugarcube. Yeah, mah cousin says it's tough, but he also always talks about how he made some of his best friends in the Guard. And considerin' her momma's the biggest expert on friendship in Equestria, ah'm sure she'll get along fine with the other ponies."
"And if she ever feels the craving for more refined company, she and Sweetie Belle will be within trotting distance of one another," Rarity assured her. "And I know that you two will be corresponding, so it isn't as though she'll be all alone." This made Twilight's smile widen with gratitude before she blinked over at the game. "WHAT is Pinkie Pie doing?"
Nyx had apparently decided to play a little joke on the pink earth pony, holding her upside-down with her magic and levitating books to act as a 'floor' while Pinkie walked toward the pony drawing on the wall, seemingly oblivious to the inversion of gravity while the little Crusaders laughed wildly and cheered her on. And yet, when she reached the wall, Pinkie somehow managed to pin the tail exactly on the X anyway, drawing gasps not just from the kids, but from Twilight and the other parents and guardians at the party.
As Nyx flipped Pinkie around to place her back on the real floor, the alicorn's jaw was hanging open. "HOW did you do that?" she asked, honestly astonished while Pinkie pulled off the blindfold.
"Oh, that's easy, you just have to HUUAAAAAAAGH!" Everyone present was startled by the earth pony's sudden gasp as she pointed toward the front windows. "Look out, there's a giant Ursa Major coming and it's gonna step on the library!!!" This suddenly threw everyone into a panic, though Twilight and Nyx were the first to throw themselves into action, both of them bursting out the front door, their horns glowing with magic! Neither was going to let anypony to come to harm on their watch, though perhaps they should have noticed more quickly that they hadn't heard or felt any of the telltale signs of such an enormous creature stomping through town. As a result, what they did see took them completely by surprise.
Mere moments after stepping out of the library, the sky exploded in a burst of fireworks that backlit Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as they held up a banner reading "GOOD LUCK, CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Fluttershy's end dipped lower as she reflexively cringed from the loud noises, but she kept it aloft anyway.
Spike, who was down between the two pegasi, grinned and waved before setting off a wave of fireworks with a puff of dragon fire. All the little ponies and their parents rushed outside to gawk as rockets and streamers flew up into the air, exploding in colorful blossoms of fire. "Oh my gosh, this is perfect," Scootaloo exclaimed, taking the opportunity to show off by whipping out her scooter. Upgraded and adjusted over the past few years, she used her wings to give her a quick boost of speed and launch herself up a small rise in the road like a ramp. Hooves clapped together wildly as she flipped around in the air, backlit by a bright, star-shaped explosion, getting a high-five from Rainbow Dash at the apex of the arc. The sound of her fanfillyish squeal on the way down could be heard even over the pops and bangs of the display.
Down on the ground, the two pairs of sisters sat next to each other, ooohing and ahhhing.
Nyx, likewise, made her way to Twilight and leaned down a little to nuzzle her mother. "You all had this set up for us?" she asked, amazement in her voice. "I love you so much, mom!"
Twilight was actually as surprised as anyone else, but decided not to say so as she nuzzled back. Her horn lit up with magic as she formed an image in her mind, then cast a spell to shoot it up into the sky. A fond memory from when Nyx was just a little filly, the two of them with Spike and Owlowicious sitting around a storybook. This image then spread out, bringing all of their friends and family into a tapestry that spread across the sky.
"I love you too, Nyx. So much. And... I'm still a little worried about the Guard, but I'm sure you'll do great."
Nyx smiled. "Awww, thanks mom, but you don't need to worry. Remember how scared I was of the first day of school? And that turned out to be amazing! I bet Boot Camp will be the same way."
------------
Boot Camp was awful!
She and Sweetie Belle had left in high spirits, saying tearful goodbyes to their friends and loved ones, and she even made a Pinkie Pie promise to write home every week. They then had to part ways from one another after arriving at Canterlot, but Nyx remained optimistic as she reached the recruit processing center.
And then she stood in line.
And in another line.
And filled out a stack of forms.
Then stood in a few more lines.
Then did some basic physical, magical and flight-speed tests. Being the first alicorn recruit on record, she was required to go through all three. And though she had gotten respectable scores on all of them, blowing the magic test away in particular, the sheer number of tests left her feeling drained by the time she slogged through them.
And of course, with each test came a seemingly exponential increase in the number of forms to be filled out. The earth ponies and pegasi behind her were getting jaw cramps trying to handle them all, and even she and the unicorn recruits who could levitate their pens came out of it feeling like their horns were going to fall off.
What made it worse were the stares. She thought she had gotten used to some ponies continuing to regard her with suspicion, as though she would try to take over the world again at any moment. Those she could handle, but what she didn't know how to deal with were the stares of confusion. Fellow recruits kept their distance, not sure what to make of the black alicorn's presence, but apparently afraid to ask. In Ponyville, even those who hated her were at least used to her presence. Here, she felt more freakish and out of place than she had in a long time.
Eventually, she was made to stand in a line alongside the recruits she had been grouped with, and they were approached by a middle-aged grey earth pony in Guard armor who, despite being shorter than Nyx, was built like a slab of granite and had a stubbly chin that could probably be used to beat somepony to death with.
"FALL IN, YOU LAZY HORSEFLIES," he bellowed. "MY NAME IS SGT. ROCK JAW, BUT YOU WILL REFER TO ME AS 'SIR, YES SIR!' OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, YOU WILL COME TO KNOW ME AS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE MADE MANIFEST! I MAY NOT HAVE A HORN ON MY HEAD, BUT IT IS MY SACRED DUTY TO MAGICALLY TRANSFORM YOU GLUE FACTORY REJECTS INTO SOMETHING RESEMBLING REAL PONIES! AND BY CELESTIA AND LUNA'S GRACE, I WILL NOT FAIL IN THIS TASK, EVEN IF IT MEANS GRINDING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU DOWN TO THE BONE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"
Nyx joined the others in stammering, "S-sir, yes sir!" Not to the sergeant's liking, however, as he made them repeat it over and over again until he was satisfied enough to loudly order them into the mess hall for their evening meal. Her vocal chords were too sore to complain as she was passed a tray of something that probably only barely qualified as food, which she weakly levitated over to an empty seat near several other ponies, who quickly moved away.
With a sigh, she started to eat, pretty certain she'd made the wrong decision.
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