The Rise of The Hammer

As the train jolted to a stop in the Canterlot train station, Hammer jolted awake, nearly falling off of his seat. He had no idea the trip to canterlot would take nearly eight hours, so after demolishing Ditzy Doo's muffit gift, he dozed off, crumbs on his belly, only to be now, rudely awakened. He gathered his meager possesions, and stepped off of the train into the twilight. He noticed a select few carriages sitting off to the side of the station, emblazoned with the Royal Emblems andflying its banners. A very large pegasi was standing next to a sign. It read "Young Stallion Contestants". He trotted over nervously, when he was halted by the bulky white pegasi. in a gravelly, deep voice, he demanded to see the letter of proof of his invitation.

Hammer produced said letter from his saddlebags, and sure enough, it checked out. He was honestly sketchy up until that moment. Bowing slightly, he departed the pegasus' company and took a seat in one of the carriages.  He was soon joined by several other ponies of varying physique. Some were Pegasi, others were Earth ponies, and he even saw a couple Unicorns. He would really have to bust his rump to stand out in such a mass of ponies. He gathered, if each carriage held the same amount of ponies, he was only one of 30 total contenstants. This was gonna be such a challenge he didn't even want to think about it. Instead he dozed off again.

Three ornately outfitted carriages approached the Royal Canterlot gates. as they clattered along the cobbled road, Canterlot's populace ignored them, or simply watched them pass for a moment. The ponies inside however, couldn't look at enough. Hammer was especially enthralled by the architecture He couldn't sleep on the bumpy roads, so he looked around. Massive buildings of stone, very few ever seen in ponyville, were all over. The wood buidings were dark, rich colors, probably imported from the surrounding forests, and even some black wood was present, from the Everfree. Hammer imagined the money he could make just by plying his trade here. He knew he wasn't going to be here long enough to find out if he could succeed. He had other more pressing issues. Doubts still lingered in the back of his mind, even with the distracting road and awe-inspiring buildings.

Hammer was still worried about how he would stack up against so few contestants. Having so few entries probably meant only those few were sent out. Which translated into a 1 in 30 chance at everlasting glory in the service of Her Royal Majesty. Each bump started sounding like words in his head. Failure. Unworthy. Weak. Hammer was shaking, and he couldn't stop. He buried his face in his saddlebags, and breathed heavily. He had to calm down. If he appeared flushed and weak in front of the rest of these ponies, he would be one of the first to go, if not the first. And there went his shot at a decent life.

Hammer wasn't entirely unhappy with life in Ponyville, but the change of scenery would be quite welcome, and he could send money back home to help repair the Library, Farms, and other places that meant so much to the local populace. Even though Ponyville appeared nice and well kept, a true architect, or construction pony of any sort, could see the glaring faults. Buildings crumbling at the foundations, the library tree limbs cracking here and there, and the Apple Family barn was liable to fall in on itself at any moment, and kill whoever was in it. He would certainly be devastated if he lost Apple Bloom or Big Mac. And most certainly he would hurt himself or somepony if Applejack was taken. He loved her dearly, though he had told nopony else this fact. He planned to propose in the following harvest season, for he had been saving every spare bit he could.

Earning this position in the Royal Guard  would definitely earn Mac's approval, which is what he wanted most of all. Granny already loved him to pieces, as did Applebloom, but things had always been borderline tense between the two stallions. Big Mac was the big brother and the closest thing to a father AJ had had since her parents passed. If you got Big Mac's approval, there was no greater sign of respect. Even well-off ponies had come seeking Big Mac's advice on various topics. His no-nonsense outlook on things made him very sensible, even though he was only a few years older than Hammer. Being left alone to his thoughts, Hammer soon forgot the rumbling carriage, and the sights, and slipped into a contented reverie which he finally came out of when a loud horn sounded, signaling the Rampart Guards to open the massive wood-iron gates of Canterlot Castle.