Chapter 2: Tank
“Alright. I'm ready. Give me yer best shot teach.” I said. My instructor then lunges towards me, heading for a strike directly at my head. I sidestep, and he reacts almost immediately, changing the direction of his attack. I quickly grab his wrist, jump over him, and chicken wing him. Once I am behind him, I lift him up, and quickly bring him down, smashing him on the ground. I let go of his arm, and he falls limp. I walk to the edge of the mat, turn towards him, sit down and wait for him to regain conciousness.
10 minutes later, he wakes up, rubbing his head. “Ow. Damn Tank, you didn't have to hit me that hard.” He said, now rubbing his arm.
“Sorry. Can't control my own strength. Anything broken?” I ask him.
“Heh. Not this time. Well, you pass. Congrats.” he walks over to the desk on the other side of the room, and picks up a pen. He writes on a piece of paper, and brings it over to me. “Here. This is your certificate, proving you have passed the Hand to Hand combat training. You should think about becoming a fighter. Your pretty good.”
“I already tried that. There was no real challenge. Being with the Royal Guard should be more entertaining. More danger.” I said to him, standing up.
“Man, your crazy. Usually people join up to get a good job, not because of the danger.” He said, shaking his head. “Oh well. To each their own I guess.” He then walks over to a corner of the mat, and says, “Send in the next one on your way out, will ya?”
“Sure thing.” I said, and head out the door. I look at the next recruit, and see that he is an average sized pony. “Hey, little guy.” I say to him. He looks up at me, and his eyes go wide. “Your next.” He looked like he was about to piss himself, when I turned and walked down the hall. I come out into the main building, just as a brown earth pony with black and red hair was leaving the marksmanship area. I saw he had a certificate as well. I paid no mind, and walked out of the building.
As I reached my house, I saw my little brother looking out the window. When he saw me, he got really excited and ran towards the door. Just as I reached the step, the door flew open, and a small red colt shot out the door, and right into me.
“Tank! Your back! So? How did it go?” He asked me, bouncing up and down.
“Hey Squirt. I passed. I'm now a part of the Royal Guard.” I said, walking into the house, Squirt in tow.
“Yipee!” He yelled. “My big bro is working for the princess!”
“Yep. Now, tell me. What are you still doing awake? It's late, and past your bed time.”
“Oh.” He said, and immediately stopped bouncing. “I was just waiting for you to get home! I'm going now. Goodnight!” He ran into his bedroom and shut the door. I walked into my room, and shut the door behind me. I put my certificate on the table, and looked at the picture next to it.
In the picture is me, Squirt, and my parents. Squirt was only a few months old, and was in my mothers arms. I was still a little colt myself. In the picture I was small. Really small. I use to be the shortest kid in my class. Now, I'm the tallest pony I've ever seen, next to the Princess of course. I'm a blue earth pony, with a large buckler as my cutie mark. I earned it protecting my little brother from his bullies. My parents died a few years ago, when they were traveling to Manehattan. They took a wrong turn, and a manticore happened to be waiting for them. Ever since, I have had to raise Squirt on my own. I walk over to my bed, lay down, and stare at the ceiling until I drift off to sleep.