The next test, from what I understood, was a test of range. There was a hook on the ceiling with a white line running from it to the door, and from what I figured then a unicorn was to use magic to pull it down, pegasi flew up to grab it, and earth ponies would have to climb using slots in the wall. I chose the earth pony route, climbing the wall halfway, and due to my height above the ponies I reached out and grabbed the hook easily before hopping down. I wasn't sure what to think about what happened next. The entire wall opened rather than the door, and revealed a large pit in the ground. There was a metal bar across the ceiling halfway, and then a rope piled up on the floor near the wall on my side. I thought back to the fact that most ponies had a medieval education and shrugged. I grabbed the robe and tied it to the hook, and then used it as a grappling hook to cross the divide.

Many of the tests were like this, clearly aimed for ponies. Even though I couldn't hold transformations other than my slasher blade for very long, I managed to get past the tests with the 3 forms I'd already started using. I reached what seemed to be the one of the final tests before I actually was unsure of what to do.

In the center of the room lay a massive stone circle, made of interlocked stone pieces and small glowing gems. There was no door, just this stone puzzle circle on the ground. The thing was covered in dust, as if t hadn't been messed with in a while. I started moving pieces around, eventually watching the last piece fall into place. The final appearance of the circle was an 'X', that sank into the ground when it was solved. The walls followed after, flattening out with the ground. I looked around and found myself standing in one of the underground chambers for spellcasting, similar to the one Luna used to help make me human. There was a long bench and table with a few of the Night Guard furiously writing notes, some looking at me with shocked expressions. A few thestral mages stood around, horns glowing. Luna was standing in the center, looking at me excitedly. The stallion that had said he was a test of strength stood of in a corner, looking at me with frustration. It looked like I made him pretty ticked when I got past him without actually using strength. I looked over and saw a tall thestral mare, almost as tall as Luna. She lacked a helmet, so I could see that she had a shortened black mane, and a pair of deep blue eyes and a blue-gray coat. She Looked at me as if she were appraising me, and then locked eyes with me and spoke in a confident tone.

"Well then Mr. Jack, training for new recruits starts one week from now."

She turned away from me.

"Welcome to the Night Guard."

---

Luna told me why the ponies in the final chamber were so shocked by my arrival. As it turned out that of the tests I had gone through, a lot of them were designed to be unsolvable, that way the various ways possible recruits would try to solve them could be recorded until they ended up using the amulet to show they couldn't pass, and then there would be different possible doors to access. The whole test was built somewhat like a maze, to give different sequences of tests before eventually converging onto the seal. The seal was a test of prior puzzle solving skill, only solved by a small number of unicorns that sought entry. I burst out laughing when she told me that even she didn't understand all of the things in the test, but the thestrals that put them together did seem to know what they were doing as the recruits that passed went on to do very well for their tours of duty.

"Now that you've completed the test, let's return to testing your magic. I'm rather curious over the ways you used it earlier."

I nodded and kept pace beside her.

"Yeah, it just sorta came naturally to me. Takes a lot out of me though. By the end  the test I started feeling like I was gonna drop off..."

She nodded as if she expected this.

"That is natural for one using so much magic. It is no surprise that you have such ease however, for a pony with a special talent in magic then their alignment allows for them to use certain spells easily. From what I saw in your mind of the creature you became, they are naturally adaptive and transformative creatures. It would make sense that you would have a natural skill for those same transformations, albeit with a higher magical cost. With training, you should be able to greatly increase your magical ability to the point where such transformations can be made to last a great deal longer, with lower magical cost."

I grinned at this.

"That would be pretty useful to learn. That's a part of the training for your guard, right? Combat applications of magic?"

She nodded.

"Indeed. I have made sure that for the training of my guard they are given an education that most Equestrians other than the nobles lack. We give them education in math, history, magic, physical combat, as well as some small amounts of other subjects. As your people place more priority upon education than ours, you already have the level of education required other than those skills related to combat and magic. Although I believe you would benefit from having some education on the side in regards to Equestrian history. Though I still wonder, of all the jobs you would take here, why become one of the guardsponies?"

I looked at her with an earnest expression and sank to my knee in front of her.

"I'm not just becoming a random guard Luna, I'm becoming one of your guards. Luna, you saved my life and gave me a friend in my darkest hour. I'm gonna do everything I can to repay that debt, and if I can do that by being one of the people to fight beside you and for you then that's what I'll do."

She gave me a small smile and blushed.

"If you must Jack. Thank you."

I stood back up and smiled at her.

"So, wanna go bug Captain Star? That jerk's been begging for some trouble ever since I got here."

Luna thought for a moment before flashing me a grin. She raised on her back legs.

"The captain shan't know what struck him!"