It's Raining Sunlight

Chapter 2:

Batter Up kept a steady pace as he galloped towards the castle. His mind was thinking about other things than the depressing stuff he thought of for so long. The new life he could get, all the mistakes he could undo, having his own family to raise. He smiled brightly at all these thoughts, but because he didn't had his mind on the road before him, he crashed into a group of ponies. He knocked some of them to the ground, others were knocked back a bit. "HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU PUT THOSE FILTHY HOOVES OF YOURS!" a mare screamed at him.

"I'm very sorry ma'am, I should have looked where I galloped." he tried to say as polite as possible. But the mare didn't take any of it. In fact, she seemed more angry than first. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? YOU STREETPUNK, FILTH OF OUR BEAUTIFUL SOCIETY!". Batter Up stood there in all amazement, his eyes wide in suprise.

The mare kept screaming at him, telling him that he was a life wasted, a mistake of nature, and so on and so on. He started to feel an familiar feeling in his belly. That feeling he got whenever some pony talked smack behind his back. One of the few things he learned to respond to. And that respons wasn't pleasant for the one talking. He took a step forward and looked into the mare's eyes. "Shut it, whore..." he snapped, losing his focus and letting his anger consume him for a moment. "WHAT!?". The mare looked at him with suprise and anger. He took a step closer and touched her nose with his own. "I said: Shut. It. Whore." he snapped again, but this time more fierce.

The mare took a step back and looked at him with frightened eyes. "How... how could you say that to me...!?" she said, sounding a lot less powerful now. He walked right past her, not answering her question in the slightest. "HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO ME...!?" she screamed again, but this time with a tone of sadness. This time, he turned to face her, and his eyes told her the same thing: Shut it, whore.

The group of ponies looked at him, suprised and a little frightened at first, but then three stallions stepped forward. "You don't expect us to take that from a streetrat like you, right?" one of them spoke with a demanding voice. "No one treats Miss Crowning like that and goes unpunished." the biggest one said. "We have to teach you a lesson about manners..." the last one said. Batter Up looked at them for a moment, then he spoke: "Ain't my fault this bitch has no respect and manners of her own...".

The three stallions didn't take it lightly, as expected. They lunged themselves to him. Luckily he knew these sort of moves, outnumbered and surrounded. Oldest trick in the book. He ducked down and slided himself under the one with the least muscles. Quickly turning to his back, he kicked the stallion away towards the group, who crashlanded into one another. He quickly stood up and faced them again. The stallions weren't finished, he could tell. Probably professionals, not just some streetpunks who were so full of themselves. The strongest one, as far as muscles go, tried punching him with his hooves. Batter Up dodged the first one, the second he blocked with his left fronthoof. He pushed the hooves away and tried to preform a tackle, but then he felt a pain stinging in his left shoulder. One of the three stallions had a pocketknife and stabbed him with it. He kicked behind him, sending the stallion flying for a few feet. He got shoved by the stallion who he tried to tackle, but not before giving him a swift kick with his right backhoof. The stallion took the hit, but yelled in pain. Batter Up looked at him, seeing a trail of blood coming from his nose. Before the stallion could recover, he bashed his face another time, but this time with something far harder: his head. The second stallion collapsed on the ground. Only one remained.

The last one looked at his two comrads, one in awful pain and the other knocked unconscious. He took a few steps back. "No... NO, DON'T HURT ME!" he yelled, and he ran of. Batter Up looked at him with disgust. Pfff, weak sucker... he thought to himself. He faced the remainding group. "I'm sorry for bumping into you, but I ain't gonna be sorry for the fact that I beated your 'Protectors'. Just be glad I didn't beat them to a bloody pulp.".

He showed a little smile at them. "Take care." he said with a little bit of happiness. He took of, leaving the group of ponies in shock. One of them whispered to himself. "He could do what he just said, but he didn't... why didn't he...?".

Batter Up finally got to the castle. Before he got there, though, he removed the pocketknife from his shoulder. Better remove it... he thought. Many young colts and stallions were waiting for the test they had to do. Many laughed, some trembled over their own words, because they were so nervous. He looked at them all, smiling a little. But not because he knew he could best them all, that thought never came in his mind. He smiled, because he knew that he could make a fresh start, just like all the other colts/stallions, that were waiting for their own chance to start a new life.

A huge stallion came through the big castle doors and stopped on a platform. He quickly looked around, inspecting all the young colts and stallions. Batter Up felt an uneasy feeling when the stallion looked at him. He seemed to stare longer than usual. Then his speech began.

"Dear young recruits, we, the Royal Guards, are happy to welcome you to the 'Training Of The Royal Guards'. All of you want to volunteer to become part of princess Celestia and princess Luna's personal protector of the peace in our land. But before you can become one of us, you must prove yourself in the fields of strength, endurance, agility and intelligents. When you pass each of these test, you will be accepted to the Royal Guards as a new recruit. But before we start, there is something else to becoming a Royal Guard. Once you're in, you cannot get out, unless you retire or you are dismissed for a period of time. Is this understood!?". All the ponies were quiet. "IS THIS UNDERSTOOD!?" he yelled triumphantly. "YES, SIR!" all the ponies yelled out in an loud, but praising voice. Batter Up screamed with them, feeling a passion in his chest. Finally, his chance to shine with the rest of them. Pace Maker, you truly helped me... he thought to himself.

All colts and stallions made a line and followed the huge stallion, who was a general. Batter Up saw what sort of training they were talking about. Dummies who were used for sword practice and archery, dumbbells for strength training, courses for agility, sparring sessions for endurance and with a glimp, he saw a library as well. At a sudden point, they stopped. "I will ask an individual to come forward and preform the task I tell him to do. If he succeeds, he will pass. If he loses, he either tries to score at the other challenges, or he leaves immediately. You there, the one with the mix of red and pink, come forward.".

He pointed at a colt. The colt slowly walked forward, getting more and more nervous the more colts and stallions stared at him. He had to show his strength by pushing a builder from one line to another one, which was pretty far away. And he had to this in a certain time. They all could see he wasn't the strongest of the bunch, but he still showed some impressive strength. He passed the challenge, and many of the ponies congratulated him. After a few more colts and stallions trying their best, some passed, some left and some stayed for the other challenges. At last, it was the turn for Batter Up. He stepped forward and took his place behind the rock. But before he could push, the general stepped in and looked at the builder. "This is no rock for you, we need a better one to fight your...'style'." he said, almost trying to sound intimidating. A new rock appeared, almost twice the size of the first rock. Batter Up knew the first one would take some strength to push, but this one took loads of it. But he wasn't going to turn down this challenge, not when he could get a chance. "START!" one of the soldiers yelled. He started to push the rock, feeling it sliding over the ground. It was heavy, heavier than anything he ever felt. It took so much energy just to move it a small bit.

More...More...More... I have to keep it up...

He kept pushing and pushing, feeling more sweat dripping from his body with each time he pushed. The rock kept moving closer and closer, but his body got weaker and weaker. The general had a slight smile on his face, but it was unclear if it was of impression or pleasure to see Batter Up suffer some. Batter up kept pushing and pushing and finally made it to the line. He staggered a little, but kept his balance. The general walked towards him and nodded. "He has passed..." he calmly said. Batter Up felt much better after hearing that. The rest of the tests seem to go pretty smoothly. He wasn't the best, but he was good at all categories. But he wasn't accepted just yet. "All of you that remained, are material for Royal Guards, but there is one last thing before you can start." the general started. "Each one of you have a reason to join us.

But without knowing this reason, or even you for that matter, will make us suspicious around you. So we will talk to you all to hear more about yourself. We won't talk to you all today, because many of you want to rest.". That was true, Batter Up was exhausted after all these tests. "Some of the Guards will take you to the sleepingquarters, where you can rest for the time being. Until then, you are dismissed.".

'Dismissed...' Batter Up thought. He liked that word. He felt less like a streetpony and more like a Royal Guard now. The sensation felt good in his head, as the word kept repeating. Once in the sleepingquarters, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep in an instant. He got a step closer, to becoming a real Royal Guard.

To be continued.