"What do you mean I'm ready?" I asked.

"You've had three months of training now. You're ready." Twilight looked insufferably satisfied. "Ready to begin with intermediate spells." And with that she had my full attention.

"What's considered intermediate? Do I get to turn lead into gold? Wait, that was basic stuff." Racking my brain for ideas, I could visualize a million and one things, but most were already covered by the basic spells Twilight had taught me.

"There are four tiers of magic spell: basic, intermediate, advanced, and alicorn. Neither of us is equipped to ever cast the last ones, but we should be able to push ourselves to advanced." When Twilight Sparkle engaged teacher mode, there was no way to shut her off. Not that I wanted to stop her, she was pretty awesome as teachers went. "You can now cast all the basic spells without issue, that puts you in the top five percent of all unicorns. Very few ponies bother to learn them all, and even less go on to learn intermediate magic."

"Yay?" I asked.

My little interruption got a smile from Twilight. "So we start with intermediate magic." Twilight Sparkle disappeared with a POMF sound.

I stared in surprise, and was just about to get into a full-blown panic when I felt a poke on my hip. Spinning around, I saw Twilight standing behind me with a smug look on her face.

"That is one of the harder intermediate spells. Do you want to learn it first?" I'd learned how to notice Twilight's challenges. She would still teach me if I said no, but we would both enjoy it a lot more if I tried—even if I failed.

I nodded, but something she'd said earlier made me ask, "Wait, push ourselves? You haven't cast any of those yet? What do they even do?"

"Well—I might have cast one. Accidentally, of course. It's why I got accepted as Princess Celestia's personal student. I hatched an egg." By the look on Twilight's face—pride and love—I could tell I already knew whose egg it was. She walked around to stand in front of me. "So, intermediate spell number one—teleportation."

To be fair, I was in it up to my neck. It took two hours of study and practice to even get the magical form right—that had taken no more than about five minutes for any of the basic spells.

Of the basic types of magic (light, dark, change, motion, emotive, chaos, and harmony), teleportation was the first spell that had used two types so tightly mixed that once assembled, there was no way to tell them apart. Motion and change were the two main elements of teleportation, and while some ponies learned the simpler teleport object, Twilight was focused on teleport self.

With the form of the spell at least reliably repeatable, Twilight finally seemed ready to move on. "Targeting is next. I've seen your math scores, which means the precise way of doing this is out."

"Precise way?" I asked.

"If you can calculate the exact relation of the world to yourself, you can teleport even out of sight of your current location. You might be able to do that if you pick up math a little better, but right now we'll stick to direct-to-target teleport. So, here is how to direct your spell," Twilight said.

Opening a textbook, Twilight floated it over to me. "First you have to estimate your distance, and the angle from true-north—"

"Hold on," I said. "You said there wasn't maths doing it this way."

Twilight Sparkle had a smug look on her face. "No. I said you didn't have the math to do it the other way. There's still math."

My groan earned a giggle from Twilight, but I let her continue and had to admit that she was right—this maths was within my grasp. Soon enough I was looking around and making myself always aware of where north was, and how far things were away.

But just doing that wasn't good enough for teleportation, apparently. Twilight drilled me, first giving me coordinates and telling me to solve for a targeting solution, and eventually taking me for a walk around the block. She didn't stop until I could do the math and get it solved quickly in my head.

The tragedy was she stopped before even letting me cast the spell. "That will be enough," Twilight said.

"Wait! We aren't going to test it out?" I was so sick of numbers, but here I was begging to put my new talent to work—a practical use of mathematics. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

"The calculations need to be used to modify the spell-form. All the basic spells you have mastered either automatically targeted, or you used your horn to aim them. You can use your horn to aim a teleport, but that needs explicit line of sight—and you are capable of doing the math." Folding the book closed, Twilight floated it into her saddlebags.

Letting out the saddest sigh I could possibly manage, I tried using sad pony eyes on Twilight.

"I said no," Twilight said.

"Well, at least tell me you're coming to the school Hearth's Warming plays next Friday?" I asked.

It was Twilight's turn to look sad, although I detected something more—relief? "I can't. My family always have their Hearth's Warming eve together. What are you going to be doing for it?"

"Something silly I put together. We had some really awesome comedy groups back on Earth, and I was going to use one of their funnier sequences. I've got it all written out, and have a few friends helping me with the parts." I closed my own notebook and put it in my saddlebag. "What about lessons next—"

"No break from lessons. I want to see you perform a teleport as much as you want to do one, so if you want to come to my house next week, I can teach you there."

"You're the best, Twilight," I said.

"Good bye, Lyra."

"Bye, Twilight!"

With Twilight gone, I sat on the grass behind the dormitory alone and calm. "I need to learn more maths. I can't believe I'm even thinking of this, but I want to be—" I stopped, unsure. I lay there and looked up into the wintry afternoon sky and tried to complete the sentence. What did I want to be? A pony? Check. A unicorn? Another check. Musician? It wasn't like I couldn't play guitar, so check?

"Can I daydream too?" I knew Sweetie Drops' voice well enough by now that I didn't have to move. She definitely saw my nod, because a moment later I heard her laying down on her back beside me. "Sorry if I'm intruding."

"You're not intruding. I just can't figure out the answer to an important question," I said.

"What question?"

The soft sounds of another living being helped me ease back from the edge of crazy I'd been driving my thoughts to. "What I want to do with my life."

"Oh."

"Yeah. School is awesome and all, but I just—I want more than to follow along while somepony else leads, you know?" I sighed again. "It just feels like I'm letting the world lead."

"I do know." Sweetie Drops' tone made me turn my head to look at her. "It's not like I don't have fun working here, but it's not what I want to do with my whole life. I want—I want excitement! I want to see the world and help make it a better place!"

Sweetie's enthusiasm was contagious. "Well, what kind of job lets you do that?"

"M-Monster hunter." Sweetie Drops turned to look at me, and we were both beaming with excitement.

"You want to hunt monsters?" I asked.

Sweetie nodded. "Yup!"

"Then you need training. You need to know how to handle yourself and how to handle them. What can you do about learning?"

Sweetie Drops looked into my eyes with a little dawning realization. "I don't—I don't know. I do need training for that, don't I?"

"Come on," I said. "Let's go find out."

Rolling sideways, I shoved my hooves under me and jumped to my hooves. When Sweetie didn't immediately follow, I used my magic to lift her up and rotate her mid air so that she was right side up.

"N-Now?!" Putting her legs out, Sweetie didn't complain about my horn-handling of her—it was probably because she looked in a state of shock. "But we can't—I mean we have to—"

"I left the home I knew, all my friends, and traveled to another world just to learn magic. I bet you don't even need to go across the city to find what we want to know," I said.

"How can you do this?" Sweetie asked. "This!"

"What?"

"Just do something without thinking and planning and working out all the finer details?" Though Sweetie Drops was still complaining, she was following me.

I shrugged and turned the corner onto the main thoroughfare of the city, but instead of heading into the city I turned toward the ramp leading to Canterlot Castle. "I bet somepony here will know."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Sweetie Drops said.

Recognizing one of the guards on duty, I waved as we walked up to the entrance. "Hi Zest!"

"Hello, Miss Heartstrings. Here to visit Princess Cadance?" Zest Spiral didn't so much as twitch—he was the picture of I-can-stand-like-this-all-dayness, which was probably either required to be in the Royal Guard, or there was training for it.

"Actually I'm here with a friend today. Sweetie Drops, this is Zest Spiral. Zest, this is Sweetie. She wants to become a monster hunter." A year ago I couldn't have said this with a straight face. I wouldn't have even been able to think it with a straight face. Now, however, the words rolled off my tongue as I pointed to Sweetie with one hoof.

Zest Spiral raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't move. "Sounds like quite the plan. Do you have any experience or training?"

"Th-That's what I think Lyra dragged me here for. I don't really have either, but I'd really like to get training!" As she spoke, Sweetie went from panic to excitement. I could see in her eyes that something flicked from I can't possibly do this to I'm actually doing this, and there was a bunch of exclamation marks appearing behind the latter.

"The Monster Hunter Corps is a special branch of the E.U.P. Guard, which means you'd need to contact their recruitment office. Fortunately, I know exactly where that is." Zest proceeded to give us directions as promised.

I was wrong, as it turned out. The E.U.P. Guard headquarters was on the far side of Canterlot from the dormitory. It hung off the side of the mountain, as all of Canterlot did, but it accounted for nearly half of the airship docks, and had one of the few land routes out of Canterlot city.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Sweetie Drops said again. "I mean, this can't be real, can it? Can I just go up and ask?"

"Asking is usually the best way of finding out. Besides, it's a weekend. It's the perfect time to find out all this stuff." We were marching up the ramp leading to a load of blue-topped buildings that sat on their own raised platform overlooking Canterlot city.

"Welcome to E.U.P. Headquarters. Can I help you ladies with something?" a mare in armor asked.

She stood a bit taller than Sweetie and I, and she looked like the armor was made for her. She had a light blue coat and a silvery mane that reminded me of Trixie, although this mare was a pegasus.

"My friend dragged me along because I told her I wanted to be a monster hunter and help make Equestria safe." Sweetie Drops gave me an apologetic look. "Is this the—uh—right place to sign up?"

"It is! You'll have to do general sign-up, along with all the other newbies, but once that's done you get to select if you want to enter a specialty division. You're not exactly qualified for Wonderbolts—they also handle their own newbie training—but I can promise the Monster Hunting Corps is always looking for more brave ponies. If you'll follow me, I can take you to get signed up," the mare said. "Oh, and my name's Bluebelle."

"Hi Bluebelle. My name's Lyra," I said. "I thought the Royal Guard was all there was to Equestria's military. This is pretty awesome."

"And I'm Sweetie Drops."

We followed Bluebelle all the way to one of the buildings and then within. Inside, it looked just like any other office, but with ponies of course. Bluebelle walked up to one of the desks and slipped some papers off, along with a pencil. "Here's your information booklet and an application form."

I had to fight the urge to use my magic to hold the papers for Sweetie. Some unicorns would always do that, and after speaking to a few earth ponies I vowed I wouldn't go that way. "So how does this work? Back—um—home we have several different military corps. Army is for ground, air force is for flying, and navy is for ships."

"We prefer a combined force. E.U.P. stands for Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. Unlike the Royal Guard, our requirements don't include how good you look in uniform, or your sex, though like them we accept anypony. The E.U.P. Guard is broken up into two paths, and both have some pretty good benefits.

"The Career path is for full-time Guardsponies, and will include payment that is free from all taxation. Full-time Guardsponies can also choose to follow a leadership course. The Reserves are a part-time force, some would call them militia. They are paid a small stipend—again, free from taxation—but they must report regularly for assessment and training, and may be called on for emergencies.

"Once a member of the Career E.U.P. Guard, a pony can choose from several paths—one of which is the Monster Hunters Corps. They specialize in the hunting, disabling, and capture of monsters great and small, and are an important part of the forces protecting Equestria."

"How much training is involved for Career path?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"Basic training takes eight weeks, and is very intense. It will prepare new recruits for either path, and will help filter out some that lack the drive to join the E.U.P. Guard family. Once you are done with that, as Career path, you will be introduced to the various corps within the E.U.P., and you can make your choice," Bluebelle said.

By the look on Sweetie Drops' face, this was her calling. She was reading through the booklet, her eyes scanning every word while her ears were perked for more information from Bluebelle. To be honest, it did sound good, and the Reserve seemed like a good way to earn some extra bits on top of the basic allowance.

"Are there any specific requirements for different types of ponies?" I asked.

Bluebelle raised an eyebrow at me. "Thinking of joining up too?"

The question snapped Sweetie out of her ocular devouring of the booklet. "What, you?"

"No. I just. I guess it just seems like something that could be interesting. Even if I don't make it through the basic training," I said.

"Well, we have the basic category for all ponies. If you meet the basic level of fitness, and aren't as dumb as a post, you'll get in on that. If you know the right end of your horn to point at things, or can flap your wings worth a road apple, you get certified for special duty. There's a special rank for earth ponies too, don't feel left out on that. Strength and stamina are the talents an earth pony needs to demonstrate, though we don't assign special duties for those." Bluebelle grabbed an extra set of papers and booklet from what I assumed was her desk. "Here. Think it over. We could always use another magic-slinger. Have you had any training with spells?"

"Lyra," Sweetie Drops said, "is attending Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. Does that count?"

"You'd think so, but even school graduates from there have sometimes shown a—how do I put it—less than stellar ability with useful magic. Some are all flash and no bang, if you catch my drift," Bluebelle said. "The basic stance is that if you can cast at least a dozen of the useful basic spells, you can qualify to learn combat magic."

I almost coughed. "I'll look at it, then."

Would it be the thing for me? Probably not. Eight weeks, particularly if I could do them over school holidays, would be a small price to find out if it is right for me. What's the worst that could happen—I learn some cool new spells?

So I took the booklet and form because why not. We said our goodbyes to Bluebelle and made our way back toward the dormitory.

The moment we left the district of the E.U.P. Guard, Sweetie Drops rounded on me. "You didn't say you were interested in joining."

"I didn't know I was interested in joining. Besides, you got your papers and information." I shrugged and kept walking, forcing Sweetie to catch back up and walk at my side.

"You're not just doing this to show off to me, are you?"

I almost froze at that. Sweetie Drops had grown as a friend over the last few months, but I'd been putting in too much time at school to even think about chasing a mare—and especially not Trixie. Just one kiss was all it took, and now I blushed every time I saw her. I didn't want to get awkward with Sweetie.

"I'm not just doing it to show off. If I wanted to show off, I'd spend all day playing guitar just so you could see how awesome I am at it. Spells? I could cast magic all day long to try to get your attention, Sweetie Drops. Joining the military? That's a stupid idea for me." I gave a sage nod on the end of my explanation.

"Good. Because you don't need to impress me, Lyra. I already like you," Sweetie Drops said.

Great, now I have awkward feelings again. Does she mean like, or "like"? Probably the worst thing since my transformation has been the realization I can't complain about girls being girls anymore without being a hypocrite.

We walked back in relative silence. Sweetie Drops left me to my own thoughts, which were on neither the E.U.P. Guard nor the play we were putting on for Hearth's Warming. I said my goodbyes to her, and promised to come down and help with dinner later, and made my way up to the rooms I shared with Mum and Tufts—Tjinimin.

Hoo-boy. Another can of worms I kept putting off. I had a literal god for a stepfather, and I'd promised to keep his secret from my Mum, but only on the provision he tells her. What else could go wrong?

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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