His father was forced down to his knees and his neck smashed onto the stone block. The crowd watched in disgust as the criminal and scammer was brought to justice. The guards on either side of him kicked him and made him submit forcefuly. The earth pony on the ground had broken bones and bruises all over his body, and almost everypony in the crowd was happy to see him go. The pony dressed in black with a battle axe carried in his magical grasp walked forward and brought it in the air. The executioner paused and looked at the beloved Princess, she nodded. The black clad pony looked back at the pony and brought the axe down on his neck. There was a sickening 'thump' as the ponies head fell to the ground detached from it's body. The Princess then turned to the four ponies cowering on the stage near the dead pony.
"The eldest son of this pony step forth and know that you will from now on be the head of the house hold in which you reside." The Princess waited impatiently for the red earth pony to step forward and proclaim his title.
"I am Diligentia, I am Desparatus's eldest son." Diligentia was grief striken that his father was beheaded and he was forced to watch, why would his father murder an entire family for ten bits? They needed money but not that badly.
"You are from here on out the head of your family, you will pay off the hundred bits that your father owes the crown and you will do so in ten years. If you fail to do so then you, and your family, will meet the same fate that this pony has." The Princess watched the red earth pony in front of her for any signs of weakness, there was none, he didn't flinch, he didn't shed a tear that his father was dead and he had to take care of three other ponies at the age of ten.
"Your Majesty I will work till the end of my life to rid my families name of the filth that my father has brought to it." In truth, Diligentia hated his father, he stole, killed, scammed and threatened to get bits. But in the end he made his son run a family at the age of ten and forced him to pay off a life times wages for a farmer.
"Now leave the castle and don't return until you have the bits."
With that the family walked off the stage and headed for their farm three miles away from the castle. Diligentia's brother who was four cried the whole way, but half way through Diligentia picked him up and put him on his back so that his little legs would recover from the long walk. Diligentia's sister, sovereignity who was eight, just stuck close to their mom, trying to comfort her. Diligentia and Sovereignty were very close, they both hated their father and were going to work hard to rid their family of his name. It was around midnight when they arrived back at their corn farm so it was too late to tend to the crops. They walked into the house and Diligentia dropped off his little brother into his, Sovereignty's and his mother's room. He used to sleep there but now that he was the head of the house he had his father's room. Diligentia walked across the one floored house and went to the otherside to find his father's room and his bed. Compared to the rest of the house the room was clean and well kept, with much more expensive and comfortable furniture. Nopony was allowed into this room besides his father so he was able to keep all the good stuff to himself. Diligentia growled at his father's memory and just went to the bed to fall asleep.
The next morning he woke up to the sound of the family's rooster call. He got up and went out the house into the corn field. He began by grabbing the water pale and drawing water from the well, he had to give water to the cows that they kept. As Diligentia walked into the barn he heard the usual greeting from them. Moo.
"Well hello Diligentia, we were expecting your father." The three cows looked at Diligentia with a confused look on their face.
"Hello ladies, good news, my father is dead." He walked over to the water tray and dumped the contents of the pale into the basin.
"Well that is...news. You are the head of the family now?" One of the cows questioned Diligentia as she leaned down and drank.
"Yes I am, excuse me miss but are you comfortable like that? You should be laying down and resting." Diligentia looked at one of the cows who was expecting a calf any day now, she was confined in her pen and wasn't able to lay down. So he walked over and undid tge latch of the gate letting her come out and lay down on the fresh hay that he provided.
"Thank you, I can already tell you are a much better care taker then your father." The cow layed down on her side and rested her head on the hay with a content sigh.
Diligentia walked out of the barn and saw the rest of his family working the fields and tending to the crops. He walked over to his mother who was nursing the chickens.
"Mother, you do know what you must do now, do you not?" He looked at his mother with concern and just a little pity. She had loved his father no matter what.
"Yes I do son, but these things take time if you want them to be healthy and lasting." She knew that she would have to look for a suitable stallion for her daughter to wed. It was something his father put off and proclaimed not needed.
Throughout the day, Diligentia was trying to come up with a way to get a hundred bits in just ten years, it didn't seem possible. As he was walking to the nearest town he saw a poster on the notice board half way down the road with big bold lettering and the picture of Steel Toes, the greatest wrestler in the country. Below the picture it said: "the great and mighty Steel Toes has died leaving his son, Iron Shod, to continue his streak of never being defeated. Iron Shod claims that the first pony to beat him will win 10 bits and everytime somepony looses to him the price will go up by 1 bit!" Diligentia was astonished that his hero and role model had died, but he also saw an aportunity. If he could train and become strong then he might be able to beat this pony and win his 100 bits. Diligentia knew that no pony was going to beat Iron Shod for a long time, so the price would rise and he would take his chance at beating him in eight years or so. This was the best chance he had at earning enough bits. One thing about Diligentia was that he was biggest earth pony of his age, he was almost the size of an adult but he was ten. This had made him a huge asset for his father with all the hard work on the farm.
Diligentia returned with the supplies he needed from the town at around three in the afternoon. As soon as he came into sight of the farm he saw his little brother running towards him.
"Brother! The cow is berthing!" His little brother hadn't been educated yet so his speech was still improper.
Diligentia handed the sack of sapplies to his brother and sprinted for the barn. As he pushed open the door he heard the srained moo's from the cow on her side, this was her fisrt time giving berth so it was going to be tough.
"Mother I will need your help!" Diligentia turned around and yelled towards the house, after a couple seconds she came running and into the barn.
His mother walked to the the cow's head and started saying soothing words to the cow to calm her down, also telling her what to do as she felt contractions. Diligentia however, went over to the cow's rear and layed down with his head facing her backside. This wasn't his first time helping out with a cow giving berth but he still didn't like doing it. He got some soap and water in a pail and brought it over to the cow, he thoroughly washed his hands and made sure they were well wet and slippery. He then nodded to his mother and she hugged the cow's head gently but firmly. Diligentia took a deep breath and stuck his hoof into her womb and felt around, trying to find the calf's back legs. The cow let out a long and stained moo as he forced his hoof inside of her. Diligentia found the calf's back leg and then the other, good they were facing the right way, now he had to just stick his other hoof inside, grab both legs, and pull. More or less. Once Diligentia had both hooves inside he pulled the back legs and managed to get them out of the womb. He then adjusted his grib and pulled more, gettling the butt of the calf out of the womb. Diligentia then wrapped his front hooves around the calf and pulled harder, but not hard enough to hurt the calf. Suddenly the resistence stopped and he fell backwards onto the hay with a wet and slimy calf on his stomach. He gently placed it in the hay and uncovered the calf's nostrils and mouth so it could breathe it's first breath. The calf took a shuddering breath and started to protest, Diligentia ignored it for now and lifted its hind leg.
"It's a bull." Dilligentia was disappointed, his family needed more milk and cheese to sell, but a bull wasn't going to provide that.
"I am sorry Diligentia, I know you wished for a female cow." The new mother was slightly sorry for the family of ponies but she was overjoyed that she had a son to call her own.
"Diligentia picked up the young bull and brought it over to cow, as he placed it down next to her, she started licking it and cleaning away all the slime so it could warm up. Diligentia walked over to the pail and washed his stomach and hands to get rid of the slime on him. After cleaning he walked out of the barn and shut the doors. He walked with his mother back to the house for some much needed dinner.
As the family sat around the dinner table which had very little food on it. Diligentia thought about what to do with the bull. They could sell it for about three bits, which would definitely help the family out. But Diligentia came up with a much better idea, he was going to use the bull to help him defeat Iron Shod.
"Mother I have come up with a way to get a hundred bits for the family." The whole family stopped earing and stared at Diligentia intently. Diligentia explained what Iron Shod had challenged and how he was going to beat him.
"That's a very big if Diligentia."
"I know but it's the best chance we have. It would even give us some more bits to spend on ourselves." Diligentia's family all looked at him and they all silently agreed to help him train and grow strong so he could beat the Mighty Pegasus.
After a week of waiting, training and skill testing, the bull was old enough for Diligentia to use. He walked into the barn at the rooster's call and saw the bull sleeping next to his mother. Diligentia walked up next to him and poked him awake. The bull looked at him with bleary eyes and confusion.
"Come with me." Diligentia didn't know if the bull could talk yet but he knew it could understand him. The bull blinked and walked after the ponies retreating form. Outside the barn, Diligentia picked up the bull and draped him over his shoulders. The bull didn't protest, he just fell back asleep. Diligentia then walked with the bull on his shoulders to the town. As he passed through the town he got stares from the town's folk, here was Diligentia son of a criminal walking with a young bull on his shoulders. Everypony knew that Diligentia was strong and had perseverance running through his blood but they didn't know how this was going to help his fate. For the upcoming weeks Diligentia carried the fast growing bull through the town and back to his farm every morning. As the bull grew, so did Diligentia, he grew taller, stronger and had more stamina than an athlete. As a year passed he was as big as an adult and was still growing up, mentally and physically. The bull on the other hand was almost full sized and almost five hundred pounds. The town's folk were used to Diligentia carrying his bull through the streets now but it didn't stop the fillies from crowding around him and asking for his hand in marriage. He was desired by all the parents in the village, they wanted him for there filly despite what his father was. Diligentia refused every single offer and kept on carrying his bull through the streets. Once Diligentia got tired of being pestered by offers of marriage he asked his sister to walk along with him, this would make the fillies go away and hopefuly find a suitable courter for sovereignity. His sister had grown into a beautiful little filly and once the colts saw that they would come running. His father had forbid her to go into town because of this and this had stopped her from making any friends. However, as soon as she and her brother stepped into the town all eyes were drawn to her. She panicked a little and hugged close to her brother and the bull. Diligentia looked back at his sister and smiled.
"Dont worry sister, me and Giga will protect you, isn't that right?" Diligentia looked at the bull on his shoulders and smiled. The bull and Diligentia had grown close over the year, the bull had gained speech but used it rarely.
"Yes sire, we will do that." The bull had a defect in his brain which caused his life span to shorten by quite a bit, so Diligentia and Giga had come up with a plan that they both accepted and liked.
Sovereignity was a still a little nervois but she felt better. Diligentia's plan worked, the fillies stayed away and the colts came running. True to his word Diligentia scared away the colts that were too touchy or forceful. One was even bold wnough to touch her flank, his mistake. Diligentia looked at the colt with calm in his eyes, he bent down until Giga could stand up on his own and let the bull walk over to the petrified colt. The colt looked at the bull and ran as fast as he could, Giga just stretched and took off after him. The colt turned to see Giga storming after him and screamed in fear. Giga hooked one of his horns around the colts back legs and lifted up. The colt did an endo and landed on his back with his belly in the air and his head facing the bull. Giga just walked over him and layed down on him. The town's folk looked at the colt who had performed something non of them considered doing with Diligentia around. Even the colt's parents looked at him with shame and silently agreed with his punishment. After laying on the colt for about fifteen seconds Giga got up and walked back to Diligentia who was laying on the ground. The colt had huge bulging eyes and had trouble breathing because he had three cracked ribs and a broken leg. Giga stepped over Diligentia and layed down. Diligentia stood up on sturdy and non shacking legs and proceeded to walk around town with his sister. The rest of the colts kept a more respectable distance now. After a further year of carrying the bull Diligentia was taller then the average adult male pony. About the average size for an earth pony male though. The winnings for Iron Shods challenge was up to fifty three bits now, this atracted ponies from all over the world. However, Diligentia's fame traveled outwards from the town and many colts and fillies came to the town to marry either Diligentia or Sovereignity. The bribes and donations they got from various parents sustained his family and evn gave them enough money to buy another cow. Diligentia never took a break from carrying Giga even when he sprained his ankle, Diligentia had been given offers for his bull but he ignored those offers with scorn. Eventually though, he was going to have to marry his sister off to some colt. So at the dinner table he decided to bring the subject up.
"So sovereignity, have you found a colt that intrests you?" There was a moderate amount of food on the table now, but not a lot.
"There are a couple, but they don't have much money or wealth."
"That doesn't matter, I don't want to force you into marrying somepony that you don't like."
"Thanks...well this one I really like lives on an apple farm, they are getting by just fine but they are quiet and hard working."
"Well then why don't we go meet him?"
"Well um...I didn't know how you would react so I didn't tell you when I went over to his place."
"Oh I see, well then bring him here so he can meet us."
"If you think that is a good idea, then I will."
Diligentia continued to carry Giga around the town, and the families who came to the town in hopes of getting Diligentia's attention made the town grow in size and population. The town was big enough now to be given an offical title. The town was called Creete, due to the creek and forest on it's borders. Diligentia was refusing every offer of marriage because he didn't want whomever married him to die if he didn't win the wrestiling match. The day came when the colt that was to marry Sovereignity came to Diligentia's farm. Diligentia's first impression of him was that he was kind and caring, proven when he took a great intrest in Diligentia's brother. The colt's name was Johnny Apple, and his family grew apples but weren't known very well throughout the kingdom. A month later Diligentia recieved ten bits as payment for his sisters hand in marriage, he accepted. His sister lived happily with Johnny's family and visited Diligentia weekly, a year after his sister left the farm he recieved a letter stating that she was expecting a foal, a year after that he recieved a similar letter that again she was pregnant. Diligentia continued on with his training and carrying the bull on his shoulders. Giga was now half a ton and a fully grown adult, the only way that it was going to grow bigger was if it got fat, so Diligentia spent some more bits on the bull's food and got it fatter and fatter. Giga was fine with it. However, the day to day schedule changed massively when Diligentia's mother died and left Him and his brother to run an entire farm by themselves. They managed easily for two years but the work grew too much. To solve the problem he accepted an apprentice to live with them and learn their trade. Diligentia wanted the apprenticed colt to make friends with his brother because he only spoke when he was near Diligentia, Diligentia was worried for his sake. However, his brother was adored by everyone in Creete, he was helpful, kind and polite, so Diligentia assumed that he was just a silent type. Two further years passed and the challenge money was up to two hundred and eighty bits. More then enough to to pay off his father's debt. Now that Diligentia was eighteen and unmarried he was no longer a desired mate, Diligentia accepted that he was probably never going to get married properly, he figured it was a sacrifice that he had to make. Diligentia had grown into the biggest Earth pony that anypony could remember, he was now famous through out the kingdom just because he carried a bull on his shoulder for eight years, no pony understood why he did it or how it was going to help him with his debt issue. The day had arrived when Diligentia was going to face Iron Shod, and wrestle him for his money. The towns folk of Creete looked down the road expecting to see Diligentia with his massive bull on his shoulders walking to the town, but he wasn't there. Instead Diligentia headed the other direction to Iron Shod's village to face his foe and win his money. Giga was near his death as Diligentia picked him up and started to walk the ten miles or so to Iron Shod's village. In fact half way through the joirney Giga felt himself slipping away.
"Diligentia my old friend, I am going to die on your shoulders during this journey. Do not spare me any of your compassion, do what we have agreed on and I will be happy." As Giga said the those last words he took two short breaths and died on Diligentia's shoulders.
The bull grew even heavier as it became dead weight and slumped on his shoulders. Diligentia shed one tear and kept on walking towards his destination.
Iron Shod sat in his Mansion at the end of the road in his village. He was mayor now, he had every right to be, he was rich, he was handsome, he was strong, and he was smart. His adviser walked up to him as a message came through to his house.
"Sir I believe we have another challenger, and he seems serious."
"Aren't they all? I thought I beat every wresteler in this Kingdom but it seems I haven't. Fine get the Princess to over see the match as usual."
Each time there was a challenger the princess came to watch it, as well as hundreds of other ponies. They were always big events. Lots of people made lots of money by just betting on how fast the opponent will loose. The princess appeared with a flash next to Iron Shod in the village areana, Iron Shod was already ready for this challenger, peace of cake. The doors to the areana swung open and the crowd leaned in to get a better view of the opponent. They weren't expecting to see a fully grown, fat bull drapped over a ponies back as he walked in. Iron Shod stared at this massive earth pony as it walked up to him and stood facing him. This pony was bigger then him! By at least half a foot! The earth pony bent down and shrugged the bull onto the ground. He then stood at its side and raises his hoof. The whole crowd gasped as the earth pony punched into the bull's chest and tore it's heart out in a single fluid movement. Iron Shod stared at the earth pony with shock and fear all over his face. The earth pony looked up from the head sized heart in his hand and stared at Iron Shod.
"Let's wrestle."