It had to of been only ten minutes since I communicated with my mentor in this library last and since then this library has been completely rearranged; shelves were translated to other parts and a line of tables had been placed in the center of th library extending roughly eight meters. Novels, as expected, were stacked in piles alongside scrolls and a map that engulfed the entire middle table. I had seen maps of Serentia with little bit of the surrounding areas before; however, this map extended past lands that I have heard little to nothing about and there was an entire third of the map apparently ripped off and missing.

A door arose from the ground the allow passage for Lord Armonia as he proceeded into library once more. "We are going to be leaving for Termeoca in an hour. How are you handling the proposal?"

"I am okay; it was just really unexpected that is all and I am worried about my family."

"Sometimes important choices can approach us when we are not expecting them and it is up to us and us alone to decide if we are going to take them or not. Some will assist us and some will harm us; however, without ever taking a few risks we will never make the goals we set for ourselves." Armonia fixated his eyes on a point in the library's expanse. "That does not mean be impulsive, but you still have much to learn about Serentia, magic, people, but most importantly, yourself. You see the world is full of things that are not what they seem. Any door is a portal to this library, and this library itself is not what it seems."

"What do you mean this library?"

"You will understand when you are ready Bladz." Armonia paused for a moment and then relinquished his serious atmosphere reverting to a joyous tone. "Well while we have an hour want a quick tour of the Citadel?"

"Sure I, as you know, have only been to the capital only a few times."

"I really should have invited you to visit a few times instead of me visiting you all the time."

"It is no big problem," I supplied with a grin.

"Let us begin at the palace banquet hall; I feel like that is a place you are familiar with that way you can formulate a basic map of your new home." Lord Armonia spawned the door and we continued on way to inside the palace. "There are lots of interesting places in our Citadel; however, remember that this is not Canterdash, the people who live here can be a little uptight and some just need a good kick in the head. Some of the most well known reside around these walls and if you ever need something, I can assure you that it will be of the utmost best quality. To be honest your family would well be residing here if it was not for Sapphire Convention being one of the oldest and most prosperous shops in all of Serentia."

"Why do you say that?"

"When your family laid the foundations of your present day business, Canterdash was just a small town outside of here by roughly a dozen miles to the south. The city built around your shop over the years to become what it is today. Other families seeking to find business by supplying those who browsed at your family's store build around your slowly, hence the reason why the market in Canterdash is only a small walk away. As the number of stores and restaurants began to rise so did the populations and for the last seventy-one years now Canterdash has become Serentia's third largest region."

"Never knew all that. So what is around here?" Armonia waved me on and with no further questioning I trailed him out of the palace. The initial stop of my tour laid just west of the palace at a large garden where vibrant roses, begonias, and a plethora of different-colored berries engulfed the grounds. Benches laid scattered throughout the region and a series of walkways connected various sidings of the park with a large pathway running parallel to a stream. At least a couple dozen families were scattered throughout the park and to my left stood a couple enjoying a late afternoon picnic, while a young filly to their left was playing with birds, providing them seeds to munch on.

"This is our central park and one of the four that is scattered throughout the Citadel. It is thirty-one acres in size and as you can see if open to the public on a daily basis. The national celebration of the leaves and the Spring Sega celebrations are held in this park ever year and is maintained by the Serentian park service, whom are responsible for all parks throughout the empire, primarily the Citadel's four though." Strolling though the park I was able to take in the park's natural beauty and the zeal of the families. "You hungry? To the south outside of the park is a food court that offers some quite appetizing creations."

"Sounds delightful." I responded while gazing at my reflection in one of the streams. The food court was not as much as a food court as it was an emporium; there had to be at least forty restaurants on this block alone and the smell alone that radiated on this street was more then enough to drive anyone into a food craving.

"It is a little over-whelming for a first timer here, all the restraints here smell wonderful; however, there is one place here that I enjoy over all others, even though I have to admit that there is not much of a lead; there are places here for any mood, occasion, or style; two solid blocks offering the best entrees from all over Serentia and the surrounding areas." Armonia declared cheerfully as I continued to follow him to a small diner that seemed to be over shadowed by the large and fancy building surround it.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to... Good afternoon Lord Armonia!" declared the hostess.

"Good afternoon madam, do you have room for two today?"

"Why of course Sir." The hostess fumbled with the menus and Armonia found some amusement in the young mare's attempts causing her to plush.

"No need to have a heart attack madam. There is a booth over there next to a dart board we will be glad to take it if that is fine."

"That booth will be fine, we have no reservations right now." She handed us our menus and we seated ourselves to the booth. I cracked open the menu are analyzed its contents to discover that none of the items on the menu seemed out of the ordinary and began to question what made the entrees here so special.

"Bladz I am going to be ordering my usual garden salad with a side of a cheese sandwich, a bowl of artisan vegetable soup, and a glass of herbal tea; any ideas on what interests you?"

"That actually sounds nice; however, is it fine if I get a creamy noodle soup?"

"If it pleases you then sure, it is your dinner after all" Armonia replied alongside one of his grins. He motioned for a waiter and placed our orders in a way that did not even approach demanding in the slightest.

"Can I ask why you prefer this place? What does it have that you enjoy so much?"

"It is not as much what they have as much it is what they do not have. The food here is top notch, but you would expect that of any diner in this area. This diner here, however, does not feature the rapid movement of the bigger restaurants surrounding it, has a quieter atmosphere, the family that owns and works here is friendly to all members of Serentia, and they connect to all the customers here on a personal level, not only trying to provide me with special attention." Armonia explained while the waiter arrived with our teas and placed them on corresponding coasters. "Have you ever played darts?"

"Well besides for speed dart, I cannot really say I have Sir."

"After the we get back from Termeoca remind me to show you how to play."

"Will do." Our meals did not take longer afterwards to arrive and the meals was of very high-quality. The salad was constructed of rich and ripe vegetable, the soup was just below the quality I would expect from Cristalla when she does a great job, and the tea was a perfect balance of taste and texture. Both Lord Armonia and I finished our meals about the same time and the waitress returned to collect our plates.

"Enjoy the meal?"

"Very much ma'am" I informed her.

"Yes, your family always does well." Armonia assisted in collecting the platters and and handed her twenty bits in the process.

"Thank you Sir; however, your meals were only tweleve bits and they were our pleasure, you do not have to pay us."

"Take it all madam. The meal was wonderful and you family deserves it. I will not take no for an answer." The waitress finished collecting the plates and then in joy skipped into the back. "We still have twenty minutes until we are scheduled to leave and I have one last place to show you."

We retreated back towards the palace and circumvented to a large white building with two royal guards standing outside the gate. "Good evening Sir; do you not have a trip you should be preparing for?" One of the guards inquired.

"It is fine gentlemen, we are just stopping by to just talk to the officers."

"We?" I stepped out from behind Armonia to face the guards.

"He is fine, we do not have much time so can you please let us though."

"Yes sir, sorry for the inconvenience," the other guard stated as he motioned to open the gate and strike the first guard for his negligence.

"What was that about?" I pondered to Armoina as we entered the complex.

"Not everyone knows who you are; only the top leaders know about you in Serentia. I did not want you to get harmed if anything ever happened. Even at the national armory I can never be too sure." he whispered back to me. The armory was packed with guards at every corner as we continued to pass a cafeteria, a gym, a training room, and an empty conference room. "The room we are looking for is through these doors" he proclaimed as he held the door open for me. Three men stood inside hustled around a white board arguing. "What are you guys screaming about!" Armonia demanded.

"We are discussing what division is going to be responsible for the training schedule this year for the new recruits." The largest of the three stated; he was a pegasus with both a dark black mane and a solid black coat giving him a pitch black appearance.

"I see Captain Carnivorous. Captain Lightning, where is Ryan?" Armonia declared.

"We do not know Sir, we have not seen him all day" the final guard announced.

"Thank you Captain Tigris." These are the three captains of the Royal Guard branches? Their armor held a chrome finish and each one held a special logo on their flanks indicating them captains of the Royal Guard as well as covering up their cutie marks to prevent quick identification. Captain Lightning was a medium-sized grey pegasus with large wings and a grey-black mane. The smallest of the three was Captain Tigris sanding only half the other two's height and presenting a bright white coat with an orange mane; unlike the other two, he was the only one with a dark tint in their armor and was a unicorn.

"Did someone call me?" An enormous earth stallion entered the room as I turned and stared in disbelief.

"Ryan it is a pleasure seeing you," Armonia muttered.

"You are Commander Inferneus of the Royal Guard!" I gasped. His sharp red and yellow mane flowed gracefully down his orange coat.

"And you are Bladz, student under Armonia; Pleasure to finally meet you."

"Your armor is so cool, it is the best armor I have ever seen."

"Actually Lord Armonia's armor is the best I have ever seen. You cannot dent it no matter how hard you try"

"Inferneus, as you are aware we will be leaving in six minutes to go to Tempeoca for three nights and I was wondering if you could supply two extra guards for the trip," Armonia interjected.

"Sure can; Lightning, Carnivorous, you two will be traveling with Lord Armonia and Bladz; Tigris you will be in charge of the recruit training this year."

"Sending two Captains?"

"Why not? We as officers never get to go on any missions anymore and since for the next two weeks we are in training mode all forces are doubled to make sure everything goes smoothly and placed directly under my command."

"We will not let you down Sir" Lightning replied.

"Okay let us go then" Armonia surrendered and all four of us headed towards the launch field. "Well on the bright side of this, now I do not have to ask for two more Guard pegasi, two captains should easily be able to handle the trip to Tempeoca."

"You can count on us my lord" Carnivorous assured.

"I sure hope so, we need to get on our way."

"Fair enough. Lightning you ready?"

"I am not the one you should be asking that the question is are you ready?" Lightning replied. Armonia and I climbed aboard the chariot as Armonia cleared his throat. "Fine we are going." The take off was something I would expect from skilled flyers of the Guard reaching airborne practically in a single step, which can probably be accounted because of Lightning's large wings.

"I have no idea how those two can chatter so much, guards are so quiet until you give them a position of command." Armonia whispered to me. "The flight is going to be a little bit longer than you a used to, even for fliers as haste as captains of the Royal Guard; you can get some rest while we wait."

"It is fine." I confirmed, placing a wind breaker over my head.

"Suit yourself then." Armonia settled down on the left side of the chariot and closed his eyes off from the world.

"Very funny," I responded placing myself in the same manner beside him.

"I try my best," he chuckled. Pulling a blanket from out of my backpack I placed it over him. "Well thank you for that." I could tell from his flinching that he was not accommodated to the action and was a little taken back by it.

"Armonia? Can I ask how you managed to become King of Serentia?"

"That is a simple question, I never have and never will."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Bladz, I am not a king; I am simply the ruler of Serentia"

"What is the difference between you the ruler of Serentia and the king of Termeoca in principle?"

"The Serentian empire if you have no discovered is a little bit different then the rest of the three empires that surround us. I am not a king; I have never undergone a coronation, nor do I believe I should ever. I rule as the first servant of Serentia and I ensure that the empire operates smoothly. Serentia is a self-sustaining empire; however, it really is wrong to call us an empire for I have not ever wrote decrees or declared war without the consent of Serentia's people. I have not aged in centuries because I have no reason to. My kismet is to watch over the empire and unlike the surrounding kings I do not have a linage to pass down the empire with each new generation."

"It is amazing how you are immortal, how did you ever achieve that? Also, if your destiny is to reign over Serentia for eternity what is your cutie mark?"

"Those are both excellent questions that will be answered in time. I sadly cannot answer either of those questions for your."

"If you cannot answer them then who can?"

"You" Armonia pulled up his head and starred into my eyes. "You are the only one who can fulfill their destiny and when you do you will have all the answers you seek and have ever sought. Get some sleep, even as young Stallion you still need your sleep." Armonia shifted the blanket I offered him and dozed off; however, I could not do the same. I had too many questions left unanswered and all I could do was wonder. Thus that night I laid there and thought. I thought about the moon and the stars, the wind and the rain, and the old and the new; however, the thing I thought about the most was myself.

My name is Bladz Angelo. I am seventeen years as of today. I was born second of my family under Ardore Angelo. I am the pupil under Lord Armonia, ruler of Serentia. I am highly skilled in the art of magic and have the ability to manipulate space using these powers. I have a love for reading and have an idyllic memory in doing so. I enjoy the game of speed dart because it makes my sister happy and my sister is my best friend. Ten years ago my life completely changed and ten years later here I stand confused, misunderstood, and without a cutie mark. I will not give up though and I will overcome. everyday I  am coming closer to my destiny and everyday I come closer to understanding myself, I shall overcome.

"Bladz?" Lightning was calling for my attention. "How does it feel?"

'How does what feel." I stood puzzled.

"You do not know do you?"

"Well neither do you Lightning, its just a hypothesis." Declared Carnivorous,

"Sorry for that Bladz. I got a little impulsive and just wanted to ask. Anyway how are you doing? You enjoying the flight?" I gazed down from the chariot and witnessed a majestic range of snow-tipped mountains.

"Yes; the scenery is wonderful"

"That I can agree with you on!" Lightning nodded while in flight. "We are passing over the outer lands of our empire; mostly populated by Earth ponies and scarce in those numbers."

"We sometimes use these skies for night training when we are stationed at the Northeast base. The wind is light, the temperatures are moderate all year round, and the view is fantastic." Carnivorous added.

"How come only at night?" I inquired. "Would the day time hours not be as effective or useful?"

"You cannot conduct military flight operations during the day even an area as loosely populated as this region. Can cause panic that is not needed; only places where flight operations are conducted during day light hours are the Citadel and the bases." Lightning explained.

"I would think that night operations would generate more attention."

"There are less people in smaller groups. Individuals and small groups are able to logically access a situation, while the masses when grouped together are irrationally fearful of anything and everything. Fear always likes to spread faster then common sense." I was tickled by Lightning's serious tone, while still maintaining his easy-going manners. Lightning I could tell was one of those leaders who maintained an optimal level of optimism and spread the feeling throughout his unit..

"Wait, both of you two are pegasi? Which one of you two are in charge of the Flight Corp then?" I hastily questioned in confusion after pondering the subject.

"That would be me" Lightning motioned. "Tigris is in charge of the Horn Corp, and we currently do not have a Ground Corp captain so Ryan has taken over that position until a new one can be found."

"Can you guys not just promote someone to the rank?"

"We can; however, captain is a hard position to fill and we do not like anyone is up for it at the moment. You do not only have to be psychically elite, but psychological capable for the job." Lightning's wing stuttered for a moment causing the chariot to lean briefly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about the day I got invited to join the commanding offices. Both Carnivorous and I were invited because Ryan  decided to split up the Guard into corps, a lot more organized with the work divided out. I remember that both of us were unsure and doubted ourselves; however, Ryan informed us not to be as he bestowed us with the insignia of Royal Guard Officers - a golden shield with the Serentian seal in the middle; a single star stands above the shield to signify that out of the many we shined and assumed a position of leadership to protect Serentia in day and night."

"What about you Carnivorous?"

"I am Captain of the Scout Corps."

"Scout Corps?"

"At least someone does not know! The Scout Corps is Serentia's elite special corp unit and it seems like everyone across the empire knows about us." Carnivorous complained.

"What do you guys do as the special corp unit?"

"Unlike the main three, we are small in numbers and are not constantly gaining new members. Members of the Scout corps are hand selected by myself and must be approved by Ryan and their corresponding captain. Thus implied, the corp consists of unicorns, pegasi, and earth forces. There is currently forty-seven members, me making forty-eight, and we are primarily responsible for reconnaissance and sabotage." Carnivorous and Lightning adjusted their wings to the new flight environment as we passed over the forest to a vast body of water. "The seas of Arron; they extend for dozens of miles separating Serentia and Tempeorca. I would advise getting some sleep for there is roughly only three hours left in the trip and there is a four hour time difference between the palace and Tempeorca's castle; what you lose now you will not be able to make up later for we will be arriving at their sunrise."

I did not argue and rested my eyes back in my original location. Yesterday was the most interesting birthday I have ever held; however, I have a feeling that yesterday was only a preview of what there is yet to come. I remember adjusting my neck so it did not kink if I moved awkwardly in my sleep, after that I was at a loss.