The door closed with a satisfying click. It wasn’t satisfying in sound, no. It was satisfying because the next time Barricade entered her house, she was going to officially be part of the Royal guard, she was sure of it.

Barricade slipped the key into her saddlebags and headed toward the castle with a slight spring in her trot. It was still mostly dark out, and extremely early in the morning: not a soul was walking the cobbled streets save for her.

She knew there was good reason to be up though: after the end of the second day, Beryl offered to show Barricade around the city a little and she was raving about a little coffee stand that she’d visit every morning the whole time.

Barricade had been visiting that coffee stand for the last few days now, and had to agree with Beryl: it was exactly the kind of thing she needed to get going in the morning. The barista was a young stallion with a quick wit, charming smile, and the brightest red coat that Barricade had ever seen.

She smiled a bit as she turned into an alleyway, and spotting a brightly colored pony partially hidden by the counter of a small stand named “Red Tox’s Caffeine Cart”. Barricade slunk low to the ground and crept toward the stand, a smirk growing on her face until she was close enough to see the hairs on his back.

“Morning, Thunder-hooves.”

Barricade froze a moment, scowling as the stallion lifted his head, wearing the smirk he stole from her.

“You probably weren’t very good at hide n’ go seek as a filly, were you?” He gave a small chuckle as he tossed a bag of coffee beans onto the counter behind him.

She cocked an eyebrow and shook her head. “If I had to guess, you weren’t very good at it either, ya big cherry.”

“No,” He smiled. “No, I was most certainly not.” The stallion grabbed a rag from below and quickly wiped the counter down. He casually leaned forward and turned his “Closed” sign around. “So, welcome to Red Tox, what’s your poison?” he said with a wink.

“Oh, aren’t we clever today?” Barricade chuckled. Tired as she was, the stallion’s energy was infectious, it was easy to see why Beryl liked him so much. “You’re far more happy than anyone up this early has right to be, Red.”

“I’m a walking caffeine addiction, why are you surprised?”

Both ponies laughed for a good thirty seconds, each one engaged in a contest to catch their breath before the other.

“F… Fair enough!” Barricade wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head. “Well, contrary to what you told me yesterday, that almond-roasted coffee yesterday was good, but not my new favorite. What else do you have?”

“Geez, you’re a hard sell. Alright, well I do have one drink in mind. It’s off season, buuuuuuut… Well, you’ll see.”

“As long as it’s not actually poison, I’ll trust you,” Barricade snickered. Red turned to his equipment and set to work as a question crossed Barricade’s mind. “Say, Red? Why advertise your shop that way? What with the whole: ‘Pick your poison’ thing?”

A delicious smell wafted out from behind the counter as Red replied. “Well, not a lot of ponies know this, but caffeine is a drug of sorts: that’s how you can get addicted to it.” A soft bubbling sound filled the stand as the coffee started to percolate. “And like any drug, it can be lethal in high enough doses. Some goggleheads up at the university placed the lethal dose at about ten grams of caffeine, but you’d have to drink more coffee than your stomach could hold to get there.”

A tall cup slid across the counter, stopping on the edge. “And since all my drinks have caffeine in them, technically I’m not wrong when I say: ‘Pick your poison!’" Red grabbed a straw, and tossed it through the air toward the slot in the lid. It sailed straight and true, and bounced off the lip of the cup.

Both ponies stared at the cup for a moment. “Well, that was far more impressive in my head,” Red smiled bashfully as he levitated a straw into the drink. “One extra large Pumpkin Spice Latté, for one extra large customer.”

Barricade blinked. “Are you calling me fat?” Red began to visibly lose color as the silence dragged on. Eventually the silence was broken by soft laughter. “I’m only teasing, how much do I owe you?”

Red quite literally heaved a sigh of relief. He looked up to Barricade with a pensive look on his face. “Mmm… ‘Bout ‘tree bitty.”

She dug into her saddlebags and pulled out four bits, giving three to Red and dropping the extra into his “Mad Chemist’s Bonus Beaker”. She took a small sip and closed her eyes as the unbelievably delicious taste abducted her taste buds. A single tear rolled down her face as she stared absently at the back wall.

“Um, Barricade, are you alright? Is something wrong?” Red furrowed his brow and stood up, waving a hoof through her field of vision.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. It’s… It’s perfect. I could drink this forever.”

“You could,” Red smiled. “But I’m fairly certain I literally just explained in great detail why that would be a bad idea.”

Barricade couldn’t help but chuckle. “I suppose you did,” she said, taking another small sip. “Hey, have you seen Beryl yet? She’s usually here by now.”

“Can’t say that I have. Could be that she’s just decided to not stop by, she does that on occasion.” Red levitated the mis-fired straw from the ground and tossed it in the trash. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, she’s probably just got somewhere to be.”

Barricade chugged the rest of the drink down and sighed with a dopey grin plastered on her face. “Yeah, we both do. But that’s not for another hour or so.” She absently tossed the cup in the trash as she continued, “Maybe she just decided to get a little extra sleep, I’ll find out one way or the other. I should probably get going though, today’s the last day of the assessment: next time you see me, I’ll be a guard.”

“Well, confidence is a big part of any interview!” Red chuckled. “Best of luck out there! Tell Beryl I wish her luck as well, would ya?”

“Sure thing. See you tomorrow I suppose.” Barricade watched as a stallion walked up to the counter, looking up at the menu. Red gave a slight nod, then eagerly launched into conversation with the new customer as Barricade headed off toward the castle once more.

Barricade was starting to get a feel for the layout of the castle. Having walked the halls every day during the last week probably had something to do with that, she figured. But while the building still commanded respect and demanded authority, it didn’t feel quite so scary anymore. She turned a corner down the side hall and saw a scattered few ponies gathered before a podium. They quietly murmured amongst themselves, their voices betraying the anxious atmosphere.

She scanned the crowd, and quickly saw what she sought: an unmistakable shade of yellow hidden amongst the colors. Barricade made her way next to Beryl’s side, and sat down.

“Hey.”

Beryl barely moved.

“Hey.”

“Red wishes you the best of luck,” Barricade said with a small frown. “I’m surprised you weren’t there this morning.”

“I’ve got a case of jitters already, coffee wouldn’t do me any good.” Beryl replied, keeping her eyes straight ahead. “I’m nervous, Barricade. I mean, I’m sure we’re fine, but we just don’t know yet.”

The words tore at Barricade’s confidence. “Yeah, well, so am I; everyone is, by the sound of things. But that’s no reason to quit now. You showed me that on the first day!”

Beryl looked up, smiling. “I suppose so. But that was easy: I had something to do. This waiting though, I just about can't stand it. If I’m not making, or doing something." She gave a small twitch. “It just drives me nuts, it’s too much like home.”

“Too much like home?” Barricade inquired.

“Yeah, my family is… Well, let’s just say we’re very well off. So a lot of things that most ponies do for themselves, like cook, and clean? That’s all paid for and taken care of.”

“Sounds nice, never having to want for anything.” Barricade said quietly.

Beryl shook her head and sighed. “Inaction breeds laziness and arrogance. I couldn’t bear to grow up with that, I wanted to do something worthwhile instead of toying around making jewelry and other pretty, useless things. There’s enough ponies around to do that.”

Barricade nodded silently. “So what is it you want to do?” she said with a gentle nudge.

“Well, my hope was to get in, complete basic training, and join the quartermasters.”

Time seemed to hang on that last word as Barricade mulled it over. “You want to work a forge?”

Beryl nodded.

“A lady of status, willingly giving up prestige, to work a forge.”

Beryl scowled. “And this is why I was nervous, everyone’s going to think I can’t do squat because I’m some soft-hooved mare from an upscale family.”

Barricade cringed. “No! No, I didn’t mean it like that, honest. I was just, surprised. That’s all.” She gave the most honest, disarming smile she could. “If I’ve learned anything about you this last week, it’s that you work hard, and that counts for an awful lot.”

A small smile played at Beryl’s mouth. “Thanks. Though really, time will be the deciding factor, won’t it?”

Barricade furrowed her brow. “No, me da always told me the future is what you make of the present. If you want it, you’ll find a way,” she said wistfully.

The burly, white pegasus from the start of the week took the podium, clearing his throat with the force of an avalanche.

The silencing effect was a thing of awe.

Barricade stood and faced the stallion as Beryl did the same. Every pony on the field was brimming with nervous energy: Barricade could just feel it in the air around her. The one thing that struck her as odd, was that the usual officers weren’t waiting in the wings. The field was empty save for the stallion and the other recruits.

"Good morning. I'd like to welcome you all to Canterlot Castle and today's initiation ceremony. I'd like to take a few moments to talk to you and your fellow ponies standing before here today.

“One-hundred and eight stood on this field just over one week ago; blurry eyed, scared, disoriented, yet eager to start recruit training. To the ones that remain: as you leave this field today, understand that the pride and honor of the guard rest personally and squarely on your shoulders.”

The stallion let his eyes sweep slowly over the group.

"Serve proudly and with distinction: you are our future.”

"Fillies and gentlecolts, it gives me great honor to declare you our nation's newest, and finest, Royal Guardsponies. "

A small smile played at the stallions mouth as he stood to the side of the podium, and struck a salute. “Guard Detail! At ease! And congratulations.”

The group exploded with a roar of cheers. Barricade could feel her whole body tingling with excitement as she joined the ruckus with a cheer of her own. She looked down, and saw Beryl standing stock still, a single tear rolling down her face.

And then it hit her.

Her legs went numb as she stood there amongst the cheering and the joyful tears. Despite the demands made of them over the last week, they were still here. Barricade slowly sat down, blinking at the now-empty stage. Her service in the guard was far from over, but she’d at least made it in.

She looked down to her hooves, as fat, heavy tears fell upon them. Her body bounced slightly with each muffled sob, as a smile fought desperately to get past her shocked expression. Part of her knew why she was crying, the other wondered if it was acceptable to be crying; she was a guard now, and guards don’t cry.

That’s what she told herself at least, Barricade tried to fight it, but knew that it wasn’t to be. Every second was a fight for breath as she battled the emotions welling up inside her. She looked down to Beryl, and Beryl looked up. Smiles formed beneath the tears on Barricade’s face, mimicking the one Beryl wore. Barricade owed a lot to her, they suffered through everything the officers could throw at them, together.

Still gushing emotion, Barricade leaned down and gave her friend a warm hug, and smiled as she felt hooves slung around her neck in return.

“We’re gunnae be okay…”

Some twenty minutes later. Barricade had fully weathered her emotional storm, and from the sounds, or lack thereof, it seemed that Beryl had as well.

She slowly nudged Beryl with a hoof, and smiled warmly. “Come on, let’s go. We should find out what happens next.”

Beryl simply nodded, and rose to her hooves.

Barricade stood and looked around the field. It seemed like the officers had been replaced with guards she didn't recognize, and the recruits were splitting up amongst them. She looked down to Beryl and nodded her head toward the other guards. “Hey, it looks like somethings going on over by the exit. Let’s go.”

As she drew closer, she could see that the guards were watching the recruits as they came by, and calling them over by name.

“Golden Beryl!”

Beryl jerked upward with wide eyes, scanning the scene. “Here!”

From the back of the guards, came a familiar pegasus stallion wrapped in too-familiar bandages. He locked eyes with Beryl and motioned behind him before looking at Barricade.

“Barricade.”

A chill ran down Barricade’s spine as she willed the word’s to her lips. “Present, sir!”

Vee nodded behind him and returned his eyes to the gateway where the recruits were filtering in.

Barricade rushed over to the small group where Beryl was sitting, and took a seat next to her. “What’s going on, do you know?”

“Kinda, Flicker over there,” Beryl pointed to a unicorn mare with the easily recognizable face of panic, “was telling me that they’re assigning groups for the guard training. We just finished the assessment.”

Just then, Vee came limping toward the group. “Follow me.” He said, walking right through the circle of new recruits.

Everypony got up and marched behind him, about fifty feet from the entrance.

“Sit down.” He said, eyeballing everyone carefully.

Barricade quickly planted herself on the ground, trying desperately to convince herself that this had nothing to do with what happened between her and Vee at the start of the assessment.

“I am Sergeant First Class Vee Formation. But you will call me Sergeant, or Sir. As of right now, your unit has been assigned the designation: Tempest. I run a very tight unit here, and if your reports are anything to go by, it’ll be a pleasure working with you,” he said with a smile.

“I wanted to cover what happens next with you all before you disappear to go celebrate. You’re dismissed for the next two days, after which, you are to return here at the same time you’ve been assigned for assessments: seven in the morning. We will be taking measurements for uniforms, and running martial aptitude drills. That is all you need to know for the time being. Once again: congratulations, you’ve earned it. Tempest unit. Dismissed.”

Barricade slowly rose from her seat, and gave herself a little shake, watching Vee disappear behind a corner. She looked down and quietly nudged Beryl with a hoof. “So, what now?”

Beryl shrugged gently and stood up. “It’s really early in the day, so I don’t know. But I do know one thing: we need to celebrate.”

An uncontrollable rustle went through Barricade’s wings. “I agree! Though, I don’t really know how to party in Canterlot.”

“Well, I have an idea.” Beryl’s face seemed to light up almost instantly. “I’ve been seeing these posters all around upper market district, advertising this up-and-coming DJ known as ‘DJ 33 1/3’. From what I hear, he’s supposed to be really good! And he’s playing tonight!”

“Well, alright.” Barricade rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “I guess I could go for some music, that’d be a pretty awesome way to celebrate.”

“Awesome!” Beryl clapped her hooves together and started trotting back toward the town. “I’m going to take care of some things and go get ready, it’ll be tonight at eight, okay? Meet me outside Club Nightwatch!”

“Yeah! Okay!” The tingling excitement was beginning to build once more as Beryl faded from view. Barricade waited a few moments, ensuring there was nopony else around before squealling and prancing in place for a few moments. “Eee! Best day ever! Just gotta remember, eight tonight: Club Nightwatch.”

Barricade froze, all giddiness leaving her system as it took a step back. A sense of dread washed over her as a single thought bounced back to the front of her mind:

“Wait. Club?” she sighed. “Oy, Beryl, ya minted numpty…”