Cognitive Dissonance

by HolyJunkie

Part 1

It was a nice day today, what with the cloudless blue skies and no impending unfriendly weather on the horizon. Then again, the days at Canterlot were always nice. All of the windows from every ivory tower in Canterlot glinted in the high noon sunlight. Said windows were perfectly shaped, curving with the walls of the spires, and polished by means only a real craftspony would know.

Almost every pony who lived at the Equestrian Capital made a habit never to look up at the towers. The reflections of the sun could blind somepony with relative ease. Besides, everypony knew that the best views were either at night, or early morning when the sun was low enough to reflect away to the roads.

A rather unremarkable young colt with a red coat and a navy blue mane and tail walked along one such road. Kurt Foalington was strolling with his parents and two siblings, on the way to a restaurant on their weekly Family's Day Out; a tradition held since Kurt's older sister Kaia was a filly. Kaia had discovered her cutie mark, a spade dug into a mound of earth. With the cutie mark, she discovered her calling and took up a career in gardening. The family of five clopped their way to a nice restaurant called Panmarea, and took their seats on a balcony table. They had the unimpended view of a fair portion of Equestria.

Cloudsdale lingered in the sky many miles off- the only presence of cloud in the otherwise spotless sky. Manehattan's own towering skyline was far to the East. Those were really the only two cities Kurt had ever heard of aside from his hometown of Canterlot. To the family of five, a view like this was ordinary. To a tourist, the view would have been to die for.

The family idly chatted as they enjoyed their meals. Kaia munched on a carrot-based salad, Kurt ate a tulip sandwich, and the younger brother, Cornelius, munched on some grass- simple stuff. Cornelius was a very conservative colt. Their parents ate some food too complex for Kurt to describe. It was a more complete lunch meal rather than the relatively smaller snackage the siblings ordered. Kurt took a bite from the tulip sandwich, embracing the bitterness and amazing texture. He liked tulips, as if it really needed to be said.

There was the sound of a Sonic Boom. Before anyone could figure out where it came from, a blast of purple lightning erupted from a nearby tower, followed by a massive crash. Everypony looked up, stunned to see a rather deformed infant dragon spacing-out as it tried to squeeze its massive neck through the busted windows. More purple electricity covered this particular broken ivory tower. Just what was happening over there?

"That's the Gifted Unicorns School, isn't it?" Kurt's father asked. He looked entranced by the indescribable display. The mother didn't reply. She didn't know how to respond to this. Heck, how could anypony respond to this?

The Princess Herself flew hurriedly into the tower. It should be expected, after all. Nothing like this has ever happened. Royal attention would obviously be necessary.

Kurt took another bite from the sandwich, nonplussed. Gifted Unicorns, eh? He wondered who was causing the commotion up there. Was it a pony he knew?

After a short time, the lightning stopped. After much silence, everypony resumed what they were previously doing. Kurt had already finished his sandwich by then.

Kurt stumbled out of a bin. He patted himself free of dust and walked home while massaging a bruise in his left fore leg. After two weeks of school, he found himself the target of four pegasus bullies. The bin was the end result of Kurt fighting back. The Pegasus ponies had their flight capability, something the Earth Pony lacked.

By the third week, Kurt knew that the abuse wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He felt as though he had nopony to turn to. His parents were too busy, Kaia was too busy, and Cornelius was too young to even speak. He began to devote his time to training his body in a self-taught variant of self defense.

During the encounter that put him in the bin, Kurt did a lot better. He managed to knock out one of them before they took him down. He just needed to keep improving.

Improve, he did. His physical prowess began to take form. At his age, he became surprisingly muscular. Nopony really knew how or why Kurt changed the way he did... Except the bullies. They knew too well at this point.

A few months later, the proverbial score was at least a hundred and fifty to nil. The bullies' flight and numbers always allowed them to come out on top.

One day, during recess, the princess was across the street, inside a shop with a young purple filly in tow. Accompanying the two were three royal guards. The bullies didn't seem to take their presence into consideration when they made their move against Kurt. The first of the four started flying low, planning to knock Kurt off his hooves.

The earth colt ducked to avoid a flying tackle. A second tackle was incoming, so Kurt thrust his hind legs forward, spinning on his forelegs. There was a swift and easy connection. It didn't take a genius to realise that two powerful hooves to the face would knock out any pony.

The bully was down and out within seconds of the encounter. That was a first. The last two flew in to lend support. Both got on their hind legs, ready to stomp down on Kurt.

The Earth Pony rushed in low and planted a headbutt into the stomach of one. The impact knocked the breath out of the pegasus. Kurt followed up by repeatedly punching the bully in the same place. The second one dropped to the ground, groaning in agony.

The first and third bullies backed away from Kurt and the two downed ponies.

The two glanced at each other, and split off into two directions. Kurt lowered his stance. He wasn't able to pay attention to both at once. The bullies seemed to smarten up and get tactical.

Not good. Kurt knew that his makeshift training was still not a match.

Kurt saw one round a corner of the school. The other was nowhere to be found. A few seconds later, Kurt realised that the last two had retreated, leaving the first two on the ground.

"What has happened here?" boomed a powerful voice. Kurt's ears drooped down as his eyes widened in fear. He slowly turned, then quickly bowed once he realised who it was that asked the question. The Pony equivalent of God stood before him, looking down at the young colt.

"He beat us up! He's a bully!" The still-conscious pegasus shouted.

The Princess glanced between Kurt and the other two ponies. Before she could say anything, one of the guards whispered in her ear. "Apparently, there were four of you. How could one terrorize four?"

Kurt looked at the downed, but conscious pegasus- who did not answer.

Princess Celestia slowly nodded, apparently fully understanding the situation. Without another word, she clopped off with the guards. A young purple unicorn filly walked at a faster pace at the Princess' side- possibly a personal assistant to Celestia.

Kurt rose from the bow, and walked away. He was nervous now. What would the teacher say? What would his parents say? Heck, he was surprised he kept this whole scenario a secret from his family at all. On second thought, would his parents even care?

Wait, no. Kurt figured he should look on the bright side. Princess Celestia herself was dedicating time to figure out a perfect solution to this problem. Little more could be asked, or even contemplated. Her apparent lack of reaction implied that she was going to do something about this elsewhere, after all.

The young colt hoped she wouldn't tell his mum and dad, at least.

The rest of the day went like normal business, aside from the last class, where a guard entered the classroom and asked for Kurt. The teacher nodded, then beckoned Kurt to go with the guard.

Oh jeez, this put Kurt in the spotlight for every other pony. He never got called for any reason.

"Tough it out," Kurt told himself, "Just get to the door." He ignored the whispers between fillies and colts alike. He just needed to get to the door.

"Thank you, ma'am," the guard professionally stated before following Kurt out of the door. Once outside, the guard pushed Kurt to another room. The cafeteria was empty at this time of day, and very open. It was the perfect place for a meeting.

Kurt just looked at the ground during the walk to the cafeteria, wondering what this was all about. Once inside, Kurt looked up. The Princess was there again, Alongside a more well-decorated guard. The cute purple filly was nowhere in sight.

"An interesting report from Sergeant Baton," the decorated one said, using his horn power to hold up a fresh-looking piece of parchment. "Fought off four pegasus bullies at once. At your age, that's an impossibility."

Kurt didn't reply. He didn't know what was going on.

"Baton did say your technique was sloppy, however..." the decorated unicorn added.

"It does raise the question, how did you learn to fight in the first place?" Celestia asked.

"I... I didn't..." Kurt stammered.

Celestia looked at the decorated one. Her gravity-defying mane didn't change direction at all. The decorated one continued. "The report also states that you seemed to smile during the whole ordeal."

Did he? Kurt wasn't sure. He was concentrating on just preventing personal injury.

"We also questioned the four who bullied you. They all admitted that you appeared to smile during the more... recent encounters."

Where was he going with this? Kurt tilted his head. Were they going to expel him? Some form of punishment?

The decorated Guard closed the parchment, now speaking to Kurt directly. "We have the feeling that you seem to take a certain joy in fighting- which is why Princess Celestia, Sergeant Baton, and his cohorts have asked me to consider you for a position in the Canterlot Guard."

Kurt's eyes widened, not because it was "all he ever dreamed" but because he was not expecting something like that at all.

"After you've completed your schooling, and have actually grown up- of course."

Kurt maintained the confused expression. "Huh?"

"In order to prepare you for this eventual position, we have asked your parents if we could dedicate your physical education school time in physical training so that once you become of age to wear our helmets, you will be fully prepared."

What? They told his parents? Kurt shuddered, then stuttered "M- My parents?"

"They both said that you were old enough to make your own decisions."

Kurt knew that was a lie. His parents either paid attention to Kaia's success as a gardener, or Cornelius' upbringing. Being the middle child, he rarely got much attention if any. It got him to thinking: Could he really make this decision for himself? He would need to ask his parents... or get Kaia to ask them instead.

"We know you're still a young colt. We'll give you time to think, talk about it with your family. That is all."

At that, the guard Sergeant Baton returned Kurt to class.

"What's being a guard like?" Kurt asked on the way.

Baton didn't answer, but his eyes did indicate deep thought. There was no answer by the time they arrived at the door.

"Maybe next time," Baton said before the door opened. Kurt entered the class and returned to his seat.

He seemed to space out for the rest of the class. This day held many key events to his future career. It all seemed... too easy, like a cheesy pony's tale. Like young pony fantasies to become great workhorses for the good of Equestrian society, famous heroes to be remembered for years to come, even.

Well, in Kurt's case, he wanted it to be the former, while most everyone else usually wanted the latter. Kurt didn't like being in the spotlight. Most ponies said his stage fright was a phase.

The young, strong colt was nearly done with school more than a few years later. He became a popular pony from his physical prowess alone. He didn't like the company of the classmates much, preferring to climb around in the pony playground, saying little- if anything at all. Thinking about it later, Kurt's colthood flashed by pretty quickly.

He barely even remembered the incident with the purple lightning, or the fight against the bullies- two moments in his life so far that made all the ordinary days of learning and training seem to blend together in a tall glass of blandness.

As he left the school- alone as usual- he noticed Sergeant Baton strutting by. "Well I'll be. Look how you've grown, Kurt!  How goes things?" Baton asked.

"Pretty good, I guess," Kurt replied. "Long time no see."

Kurt joined Baton on the stroll around the block. It was on the way back to Kurt's home, anyway.

"Indeed," Baton replied, "I was re-assigned to Cloudsdale for a change in scenery. Got re-assigned back again recently."

Kurt nodded. After some silence, his face lit up when Baton said "I still haven't forgotten the question you asked me."

"And?" Kurt asked.

"I really can't answer it with certainty. Sometimes nothing happens, sometimes something big happens. Even if little things happen, they could be big things to you, or anypony."

"Like if a fashion-centric serpent loses a lock of a mustache?"

Baton chuckled. "I do like your sense of humour, Kurt. Definitely a breath of fresh air for the barracks."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"Everypony else always seems bored, like they feel being a guard just isn't for them." Baton stopped and turned his head. Certain that he didn't see anything suspicious, the two continued the stroll. "Unlike you. You liked the fight, didn't you?"

"I'm really not sure."

"But it felt natural to you."

Kurt slowly nodded. Indeed, his early practice and the fight itself felt like second-nature, almost as if he was meant to do both. The same could be said for his more private training.

"I see you got your cutie mark too," Baton commented.

Oh yeah, Kurt thought. The mark itself was a simple kite shield. He got it soon after when he accepted the offer from the Commander.

"You do know why you were offered this in that fashion, right?"

Kurt shook his head. He still thought it was just some cheesy pony fantasy to be a unique dude.

"The vast majority of the Guards are Pegasus ponies or unicorns. We rarely get an Earth Pony in the service."

Oh for Pete's sakes- it was just a cheesy pony tale thing. Kurt would've cringed, but he didn't want to display such an action in front of somepony who's basically his superior officer.

Conversation spiraled into news about Canterlot, how Cloudsdale was, events that would be happening soon in either city or with their respective families. Kurt talked about how Cornelius was still trying to find his way while in school, and Kaia's being promoted to Assistant gardener for the Princess's palace herself. Baton tried not to mention much family, aside from his parents and siblings- all of whom became guards.

"How much longer until you graduate?" Baton asked.

"Next week," replied Kurt.

"How's the training?"

"Getting easier, though I prefer it tough."

"Well, when previously tough things get easy, you know you're ready to take on the world."

Kurt hummed in response. If it started off easy, sometimes it wasn't worth persuing.

They stopped by a donut restaurant. Baton nodded a goodbye before flying off. Either he already ate, or his schedule was full. It wasn't Kurt's position to ask... yet.

The young colt entered the donut shop. He forgot to pack half of his lunch this morning in a slip of the mind that came with studying for exams.

"Hello there," said a well-covered horse with an orange-yellow coat.

Kurt responded with a "Howdy," himself.

"First time here, eh?" the pony said.

As he took a seat, Kurt nodded.

"Name's Pony Joe. What can I get for you?" The pony asked.

"I'll try today's special- with tea, please," Kurt said, producing some coinage from his backpack.

Pony Joe nodded with a smile Kurt could swear was well-practiced. Joe turned around to prepare the donut and tea, leaving Kurt to look around.

There was one other pony in the shop, aside from Joe. It was a purple filly with a purple and green infant dragon sitting at a table. They appeared to be discussing the subject of two books laying spread out on said table. The conversation sounded too complicated for Kurt.

He then noticed the horn, and realised it was the same purple filly from the first fight Kurt won- the one that trod under Celestia's wing. Perhaps the unicorn was enrolled in the Gifted Unicorns school thing. In fact, Kurt recalled seeing her with the princess after the fight. He then noticed she looked about his age.

Kurt turned around to see that Pony Joe had already finished the tea and donut. The younger colt nodded and dug in.

The filly was kinda cute, though... Nah, she wouldn't go for an earth pony from an ordinary school. Especially not one who's special talent is basically fitness and violence.

Thinking about it, it had been years since that last fight. Not the fight against the bullies, but the one fight that got Kurt his cutie mark.

The bullies had their own go-to pegasus for problematic victims. It was a much shorter fight compared to the last one. Taking place three semesters later, the fight started at an empty park during a weekend. They had it all set up, where they tried to pick on some smaller ponies. Kurt stepped in, and the big bad arrived as the bullies expected.

What they didn't expect was that Kurt made it quick. Five minutes later, some guards arrived to clean up the mess.

There was no blood, just a horribly-groomed pony with two dislocated front legs, and four others still shocked at what had just happened. The two victims never stopped talking about the fight for the next two days.

The guards sided with Kurt, of course. There really was no way for them to side with the one who attacked first, could call for aid from a large posse, and was already known to bully others.

It was a nice example of self-defense and standing up for others. That probably would explain why the cutie mark was a shield rather than crossed swords like Kurt expected.

He finished the donut and tea, nodded his thanks, and left. Despite his confidence and training, he couldn't summon the courage to even say hi to the filly.

Exams and graduation came and went. Kurt did considerably well, within the top twenty percent at least. This was just the standard education everypony gets in their lives. Maybe in the future, Kurt would apply for something more advanced. For now, his calling was being a guardian.

The popular ponies later announced a get-together of the graduates. After much thinking, Kurt decided that he would go. It would be nice to leave off on a more social note before he figures he'll never see any of his classmates again.

After school, Kurt walked by the donut shop. It was on the long path home. The purple filly was there again. She probably goes there often, Kurt mused.

It was still a few hours before the party. When he returned home, Kurt lay down on the living room sofa to rest his eyes.

"Kurt?" Came a younger voice. It was Cornelius.

"Hm?" Kurt asked, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hooves.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, jus' resting my eyes," Kurt responded, stretching his back.

"You're going away as well pretty soon, aren't you?" Cornelius asked.

Kurt opened an eye, then turned his head to his younger brother. "What makes you say that, Cor?"

"Kaia's moved up to the palace, we haven't seen her since."

"Doesn't she write?" Kurt asked.

"Well, yeah," Cor replied, "Not often, though. Too busy working on the garden, she says."

"She still writes. That's not a bad thing, Cor."

"I know it's not, but..." Cor paused. "I'm the only one who reads them."

Something in Kurt's head clicked; he understood completely. Mom and Dad were always too busy nowadays. Kurt had been making both his and Cornelius' lunches every morning, and Kaia before him.

"Well, that basically means you'll be the stallion of the house... and you'll need to make your own lunches from next year on."

Cor teared up. "I don't want to be left alone here."

Kurt slowly nodded, "I know, buddy... Though fending for yourself like this will prepare you for more than the average pony will need to go through."

"Like what?" the younger colt asked.

Kurt didn't have an answer for that. He instead resorted to "Something... Well, I'm still not officially part of the real world yet. I'll write to you once I find some answers.

"Every day?" Cor asked, his face lighting up like the proverbial idea bulb.

"I don't think the barracks would allow that many letters, but you never know."

Cor hopped in place. It was more like a half-hearted hop, but a hop nonetheless.

"Tell you what, wake me in an hour, and I'll teach you how to make your lunches just the way I make 'em."

The hopping became more energetic. Cornelius then left the room, leaving Kurt to close his eyes for a power nap. It was part of his training to be able to feel fully rested while wasting minimal time.

Kurt clopped down the street. The get-together party was a few blocks away. The reason it was across Canterlot from the school was beyond Kurt. Maybe it was something symbolic, like how the school system was no longer their master, and the distance represented their freedom from the clutches of the education machine.

Or maybe that was just where the ponies lived.

The popular ponies were two females and their posse, consisting of both fillies and colts. They seemed to dig Kurt for his physical prowess alone. He didn't like them much, always being the loudest classmates in the entire classroom, always distracting him from studies and homework.

Oh, they did their schoolwork just as well as the next pony; they just never shut up, even once in a while.

Ah well, it was part of their personalities, and no one else seemed to complain.

The colt stepped up to the gate of the designated address. There were several others waiting around as well. The spire in the center of the wall and hedge-surrounded courtyard loomed rather cheerfully. Well, to folks outside of Canterlot, it would seem intimidating or ominous.

Ominous mainly because aside from the several others waiting, the gates were still closed. Was Kurt early? He didn't think so; the party was supposed to be at seven-thirty. He stood at-attention as the others continued whatever conversations they had been participating in.

The gate suddenly opened as more of Kurt's classmates arrived. On the other side were the two popular gals. They didn't seem to notice or care that they were late in starting their party. Both shouted cheerfully "Come on in! Make yourselves at home!"

Much like the other buildings of Canterlot, the spire was made from white stone, marble, and gold. Massive windows spiderwebbed with golden frames comprised an entire side of the building. The roof was also a solid gold colour; a massive smooth, pointed dome that stabbed into the sky.

Some galloped across the courtyard for the heck of it, others walked slowly to continue whatever conversation they were engaged in. Kurt was among the gallopers. He enjoyed a self-imposed hoof race.

On one side of the spire was an elevated deck, complete with several patios. Despite giving a public hangout aura, it was very much a private estate. Nopony displayed public envy. After all, this was Canterlot. There were dozens of places like this. The only difference was that this was the place for an unofficial graduation party.

Kurt pondered what that one purple filly was doing for her graduation. Maybe that school for gifted unicorns had options for continued education and training. In a way, it reminded Kurt of his continued training under the royal guard.

The party went on like most parties Kurt went to. He kept his trap shut, ponies shook their flanks to the music, groups formed up for talking, or lawn games, or pin the tail on the pony.

The party was not unlike other parties hosted by the same duo. Kurt just stood around awkwardly. Despite his well-kept appearance, he was really not sure why he should be here.

Needless to say, Kurt was not fond of parties.

It was then that he noticed the pegasus bullies were also there, though they tried to keep as much distance from Kurt as possible.

He climbed up onto the deck. Many of the tables were filled, but Kurt took a seat at an empty one. All he really did was keep watch over the area. Might as well get used to standing guard, alert for any signs of disturbance of the peace.

Why did he feel awkward about it anyway? This was basically what he was going to be doing for the rest of his life- as far as he knew, anyway.

Kurt almost wished a fight would break out, and he would join the fray.

Two hours passed, and no fight occurred. Three ponies had joined Kurt's table. They attempted conversation, but all Kurt could really talk about was his training, or the parties he had been to- which everyone else had been to as well.

Despite his physical prowess, he was the least interesting pony at the party.

No no, Kurt thought to himself, I can't be the most uninteresting. There's got to be somepony less interesting.

It was actually kind of fortunate that the three ponies enjoyed talking about themselves. Kurt just continued the conversation by asking relevant questions, or cracking jokes that were responded with quick giggles. He at least had that going for him.

The doors to the patio opened, and a bunch of other ponies carried out large plates laden with smaller plates and bowls- each containing sandwiches, salads, and assorted mixes of fruits and nuts. Everypony perked up at the sight of the grub. "Come and get it!" one of the popular ones shouted as the plates were spread out on three connected tables.

Kurt managed to squeeze through the slowly forming crowd and picked out his own stuff, a tulip sandwich and a bowl of mixed salted nuts.

He returned to his table, soon joined by the other three, plus two more.

"So what's being a guard like?" one suddenly asked after taking a bite from her own sandwich.

Kurt paused, raising his head from the bowl. He crunched the mixed nuts and swallowed before answering "Well, I'm not a guard yet."

"But you were training to be one, yes?"

Kurt nodded. He wasn't allowed to delve too deep in the training sessions.

"What's the training like?" the female pony asked. The other four were intently waiting on an answer.

Kurt thought for a bit, eventually resorting to, "Tough, but after a while, you get used to it. It becomes second nature, much like walking."

"Any others who train with you?" another female asked.

"Yeah, mainly the official guards. I'm really not allowed to talk too much about it. Security reasons."

The others nodded, seemingly disappointed. Well, it wasn't Kurt's fault. Sergeant Baton and the Commander both said he couldn't talk too much, so he can't.

"You fight in your training?"

Kurt couldn't answer. If he could, he would've said "No." Although the new thought spawned an odd feeling in his gut. He felt the most alive during those few and far-between fights. They also never seemed to let him fight.

Sure there was sparring, but that wasn't actually fighting. It was just honing fighting skill under a controlled environment with minimal- if any risk to injury. It wasn't enough, Kurt found. He wanted- no, he needed a fight.

This was Canterlot, a city mostly populated by unicorns and some pegasi. Earth ponies weren't as common as say, a small town, or one of the big cities in Equestria. The unicorns never really entered physical confrontations- if any at all. Pegasus ponies usually kept to their own winged comrades- aside from the rare bullies, anyway. Either they stay, or are sent to Cloudsdale.

Kurt's one of those unlucky few, in a way. In Canterlot, the crime rate is nil. Again, this is because the equivalent of a God resides there, along with the majority of her royal guard.

He needed a fight, but starting one would make him seem like a bad guy in the eyes of all of the ponies who learned to know him throughout the school years.

Maybe he needed to move out, or at least get stationed elsewhere, where the Princess couldn't dedicate attention towards.

Kurt was lightly punched in the shoulder. He didn't feel any pain, his shoulder was rock solid at this point. He turned to see his old bullies.

"Hey, we were wondering just how good you've gotten. I'm betting these ladies here wanted to know as well."

Kurt rose a brow.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

This was odd, coming from the group of dudes who grew to fear Kurt's ability.

"Okay then," Kurt replied. This might satisfy his craving for the fray.

The announcement was passed around, so nopony would display much shock. Kurt was kind of nervous. He hadn't willingly shown off in front of a crowd of this size before. Maybe it would be kind of fun. Kurt had stopped eating his food, since fighting on a full stomach was worse than fighting on an empty one.

The rules were simple, basically don't seriously injure the opponent or opponents. Again, Kurt was taking on the four pegasi like the first fight he ever had. He loosened his shoulders and stretched his joints. The preparation for the fight was quick. He didn't want to be flashy about it... yet.

The crowd formed a circle. In the makeshift ring was another unicorn, apparently working as the referee.

The ref used his magic powers to set up a countdown timer. Kurt lowered his stance slightly, ready to spring into action.

3... 2... 1-

Kurt suddenly felt an ethereal force pull on his hind legs. Surprised at this sudden turn of events, he dropped onto his stomach.

He managed to get a glimpse of the ref's horn glowing as he glared maniacally at him. The glimpse was cut short by the four pegasi beginning their own attacks.

A trap, of course. Kurt wasn't aware that some ponies could hold a grudge for years on end. Where he currently stood, he couldn't do anything, aside from move his front legs over his face to block the rapid kicking from four ponies.

Nopony seemed to want to stop this.

He couldn't even get a chance to shout "Why?" before another blow clocked him in the jaw.

His adrenaline spiked. Everything seemed to slow down around him. He swung a hoof at one of the incoming kicks. The hoof impacted on the shin, followed by a distorted snapping sound. The pegasus dropped to the side in pain.

Kurt used his other hoof to force the others away. The unicorn ref was doing this, holding him down so the pegasi could take advantage. With a swift motion, Kurt grabbed a rock between his hoof and winged it at the unicorn.

Despite being from a prone position, the throw was straight and true. The rock cracked against the unicorn's forehead, causing his eyes to roll up before collapsing unconsciously onto the ground.

The guard-to-be felt the magical presence leave his legs, so he quickly got back up.

Rejoice, Kurt thought to himself, for I am going to break each and every one of you.

Everypony backed up. Not fast enough though, as Kurt lunged at the next pegasus on the list and shoved a hoof into his jaw. The uppercut sent the pegasus flying a full meter before landing on some of the deck stairs- breaking said steps.

The other two barely got a chance to get away. Kurt was too fast, and too angry. A clean fight, they said. Kurt was taught that liars were not nice people. He was taught what the Royal Guards did to liars. One got a hoof to the face; the force could've reverted the pegasus' lower jaw into dust for all Kurt cared. The other got a broken leg.

He wanted to do more, his anger made him need to do more, but the thrill wore off. Kurt was shaking all over. The rush had faded; the dream was gone..

His awareness to his surroundings returned. Everypony appeared to have left the area.

Kurt turned to see the last pony enter the spire before slamming the door shut. They left Kurt standing amongst the five ponies-in-agony.

He felt his own jaw. It was also broken. His forelegs were bruised all over, and he could swear he tasted blood. It was a familiar taste, back when he lost fights.

Kurt could barely walk, he was shaking so much. As he made his way to the gate, he pondered why the other classmates didn't help him. Did they not like him? Did they think he could fight his way out of such a disadvantage? Did they fear the pegasus bullies as well? Were they ultimately afraid of this level of violence? Any of those questions answered, it still made the fighting colt wonder: were they feigning their previous "respect?" during the school years?

Whatever the reason, Kurt figured that at this point, he looked terrible. It was a long walk to the nearest hospital. Hopefully the shaking would subside.

The walk was relatively uneventful. Not many ponies got out at this time in the very late afternoon. The sun was inching ever closer to the horizon and the shadows stretched thrice as long as the objects that cast them. Kurt's shadow reached across the path easily.

He passed by an older couple, who went wide-eyed as Kurt passed by.

"Are you okay?" The male of the couple asked.

Kurt attempted to respond, but his broken jaw made it painful. He instead nodded his head, then shook it, telling them "Yes and no."

The couple continued paying attention to Kurt, almost expecting him to collapse. The pain was enormous at this point, but he trekked on. He didn't plan on going home so soon.

Really, the thought of his younger brother reacting to Kurt's sorry state gave him strength to get to the hospital- so he wouldn't look so horrendous, or make his little brother worry about him if he's told that Kurt was found unconscious on some walkway.

After a few more blocks, he made it to the hospital. He entered and limped to the receptionist.

She took Kurt's appearance like anypony would, with a flinch and an immediate appointment. Two coat-wearing unicorns entered and got Kurt onto a stretcher.

He never had to go to the hospital before. Injuries were never this serious. Even with the early fights, Kurt managed to prevent major injuries.

Before they brought Kurt to the ER, he pressed his hoof onto his jaw. The pain subsided, and he said "There are some other... injured ponies at the-" he paused, feeling a wave of pain, "The Saffron Spire."

"I'll be sure to get someone dispatched," the first doctor said disinterestedly as he magically applied some form of magical morphine.

Kurt dozed off. The sharp pain in his jaw finally got to him.

Waking up, the first thought on his mind was "I am in so much trouble now." Five injured, one or three possibly permanently damaged, the entire graduating class probably now feared or hated him.

He felt his jaw with the back of his hoof. The doctors mended the bone back to perfect shape using their magic. It was pretty efficient. His arms still ached, and bruises were still present. The doctors probably found traces of internal bleeding and fixed that up as well.

Kurt sighed and looked around from his hospital bed. He spotted a mirror, so he pushed himself up. His arms ached like the dickens, but he managed to get a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

There were no stitches, but he did see that the area around his left eye was darkened. It was a wonder why his left eye otherwise felt normal. Unsurprisingly, lightly touching the black eye resulted in pain. Kurt lay back down again, muttering about how long this will take to heal.

The door opened a few minutes later. In entered Cornelius and Kaia. "Hey," his older sister said, "I heard what happened."

"Mom and Dad?" Kurt asked.

"They heard as well, but they're in Manehattan and Baltimare."

"Aw cripes," Kurt didn't mean for this to happen.

"It wasn't your fault." Kaia pulled up a stool for Cor to stand on. "Bullies sometimes stay bullies, no matter how much they've aged."

Kurt nodded, "I was talking about Mom and Dad. I didn't want them to worry."

"Kurt... you should know." Kaia replied.

"Know what?" Cor asked.

Kurt knew better than to answer that question. Kaia instead answered with a lie. "Kurt's just stubborn, always trying to be tough enough to never warrant their worry."

In reality, Kurt had never spoke to either of his parents ever since Cornelius was born. He had even forgotten what either sounded like. The reason he didn't dare answer truthfully was because it would obviously spawn a guilt complex in their younger brother.

"Kurt, why did you fight?" Cor asked,

It pained Kurt to have his sister lie to his brother, let alone himself. Especially considering the psychological conditioning he had to go through to punish liars. It was taking every bit of will to prevent himself from acting out.

"Ask me again in three years, okay?" Kurt replied.

Cornelius tilted his head, unsure of what Kurt meant. Before the younger brother could ask some more, the older brother appeared to doze off again. Kaia beckoned Cor to leave with her.

Kurt was faking the sleep. He wanted to avoid the question. It definitely wasn't a good idea to tell a young mind that his older brother- the pony who had been taking care of him for the past few years like a second father, had a deep-down passion for violence.

Heck, nopony would be ready for that kind of news even if they weren't even related to Kurt. It made the older brother start to think. There was something more to why they gave Kurt special treatment, wasn't there?

For two weeks, he rested. The magic mending was no longer required, and his bruises were completely healed. He was basically back to tip-top shape like before the fight.

As he left the hospital, Kurt had conflicting emotions. On the plus side, he was happy to be officially rid of the bullies who did those injuries to him in the first place. On the downside, he no longer had anyone he could beat down to satiate his hunger for the fray.

Now he was to report to the barracks and officially claim his royal guard armour. Kurt galloped to the barracks, excited for what his future held for him now.