Striving for Perfection

It's been three months of my training under the guidance of Luna and collecting information about the princesses. Trainings were held every day without days off. Unfortunately, as I expected during my first magical training, the following workouts have become much more difficult. Combat lessons have become as long and hard as possible. Starting from a simple tightening of sparring until I collapse from exhaustion, ending with the demands to strain all my muscles to try to uproot the tree. Military art lessons began to be combined with others, and besides, huge stacks of various literature do not give me much time to rest. Magic lessons also threw me a lot of literature and began to last as long as my body could.

Speaking of the princesses fighting skills, I was able to learn from unobtrusive conversations with Luna the following: Celestia took a weapon for the last time so long ago that she no longer remembers herself, but she is still considered a specialist in shaft weapons. Luna, on the contrary, is considered a warrior princess and regularly practices with bladed weapons, but she also understands bows and hand-to-hand combat. I was able to tear out a flyleaf from one book and knock out a bird with an arrow from a rune to write a letter with a pen. What did I use as ink? Blood. I have plenty of blood that Luna knocked out of me during sparring. As a result, the letter is hidden on the closet and waiting for the moment when I can safely deliver it to the garden.

It's almost night now, and after reading a lot of books about the art of war and magic, I can at least rest on my bed for a couple of minutes and think about my successes. My fighting skills have advanced significantly and now previously impossible techniques like deflecting an opponent's blow to the side and strong, almost indestructible grips have become something commonplace for me. In addition, at the last training session, I was able to hold out in battle all night. In the lessons of military art, Luna notes that in defense and counterattack tasks I show myself perfectly, but in tasks where it is necessary to take the initiative, I am not so good. I haven't really made any serious progress in magic. Yes, the magic has become stronger and the usual rune now breaks through a couple of layers of bricks. Yes, the creation of one rune now takes me a maximum of a second, but something completely new? No. Well, okay, you don't always get what you want right away, the main thing is to keep working.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I got out of bed mentally preparing for new bruises because today is a training sparring. When I opened the door, I saw the familiar horse face of Luna again. I could already make concessions to Luna and say hello before starting a conversation, but I'm not going to change something if there are no adequate reasons for that.

"Come on, let's go. Let's start faster and finish at the same time." I said, bypassing the Moon and moving along the road to the garden, which I had already managed to learn in these three months and knowing that if I did not fall from exhaustion, the training would last until dawn, so there is not much point in starting earlier.

Surprisingly, Luna, instead of giving her comment about my impoliteness, Luna said, "Actually, you don't have a workout today."

I turned around and asked with restrained surprise, "Then why did you come to me today? You could have just not come, because I still can't leave the room without permission."

"The fact is that your kind of final exam will take place today." Luna replied in a calm voice. Looking closely at her, I saw that she had hidden something in the wing.

"I didn't know that the military academy could be completed in three months, but okay. Give me the exam, I'll get it over with quickly and that's it." I said to Luna, making her grin.

"Did you really think that studying at a military academy looks like this? In fact, everything was accelerated as much as possible in order to meet the shortest possible time. Although after learning that you imagined studying at the academy exactly like this, I have to completely reject the first impression about you."

"Well, what has changed?" I asked, not particularly interested in her opinion. Even though Luna is the only creature I've spent time with for the last three months, I still don't think her opinion is important. Interesting? Yes. Important? Absolutely not.

"You see, after learning that you were trained as a politician and learning about your character, we thought that at home you were the spoiled son of a rich nobleman. But gradually and especially now you have proved that you are at least not spoiled. Believe us, we personally knew a lot of spoiled nobles who always expect everything to be quick and easy. Although we still wonder who your parents were?"

"Firstly, they are still alive, healthy, just far away, so they "were" inappropriate. Secondly, everything is classic: a woman takes care of the house and children, or, in my case, the child, the father works in the office and is desperately trying to break into high society."

"What's classic here? A classic family in Equestria since the adoption of harmony is two working parents raising children in parallel with work."

After hearing Luna's statement, I scratched my mustache, which had already grown during this time, and replied, "Cultural differences, Princess, cultural differences. So what kind of exam are we talking about?"

Luna unfolded her wing and handed me a rolled-up scroll. I looked questioningly at Luna in response to which she began to say, "Your exam is a test of combat skills and the ability to survive in an unknown territory. You must go to the temple of the Thestrals located in the jungle and find the moon sickle there."

"Wouldn't it be better to send the guards there, and in general, why do you need some kind of sickle?"

"Unfortunately, all three expeditions to the temple failed and did not return back. There is a long history with the sickle, but in short, all the churches were given this or that thing from the personal storehouse of the princesses as a sign of legitimacy, but this sickle was never returned. "

"So you want to say that a few dozen people died just to return a small fraction of your material wealth?"

Luna sighed irritably, assuming that now I would start arguing and muttered "You won't understand"

I sighed knowing that I couldn't beat Luna in a dispute without resorting to philosophy and replied, "I'll take that as an answer. Better tell me why I need the scroll."

"A scroll is a map on which a temple is marked and a compass is wrapped in a scroll. Will you take the train

"As I understand it, the train will arrive soon. "

"To be exact, in half an hour."

"Understood." I said before quickly returning to my room.

In the room behind the closet, I hid what I could do with my limited tools. Namely, a T-shirt woven from my blanket and with feathers under the surface to keep at least some warmth. Because of my very meager inventory, the T-shirt turned out to be far from perfect. Sleeves of different lengths, the mismatch of the length of the front and back, a lot of small holes created due to my inability to use a needle and the like. Despite the fact that its production, even in this form, took me almost three months and I was able to finish it only a week ago, the main thing is that now I have something to cover myself with. It remains only to find shoes, but I'm afraid for now I can only dream about it.

I put on an improvised T-shirt, turned around on the spot and left the room, closing the door behind me. Luna examined the change and said.

"Did you kill a lot of birds for this?"

"Yes."

Luna snorted and turned around on the spot and started walking down the corridor. I quickly figured it out and started following her. Only now I noticed that at night the castle has no protection. Inspecting the castle, I can barely restrain the desire. The desire to overtake Luna and get out of this castle as quickly as possible. Seriously, for the last three months I've only been out of the castle into the garden and that's it. Despite the fact that Canterlot is a bad city for my taste, it's still better to be on the street than locked up.

Having reached the double doors of the same that were at the entrance to the dining room, Luna flashed a horn, forcing the doors to swing open. After we left the castle, I breathed in the fresh air with satisfaction. Looking at the night city, I saw a lot of untidy decorations. Balls with various "scary" drawings and very simplified skulls. Is this not Halloween?

I turned to Luna and asked, pointing to my hand at the jewelry, "Why is this here?"

Luna looked where I was pointing and paused for a moment before replying, "If we all remember correctly, this is dedicated to the so-called nightmare night that was last night. We are going to attend this event next year."

"Who will take care of your duties while you go on holidays?"

"So far, we do not have a full-fledged government. First, we're going to show our subjects that we care about them."

"And for this you are going to attend various holidays and the like?"

"In general, yes."

"It's not the most effective method for my taste, but it works."

"Which method do you think is more effective?" Luna asked, looking at me with interest.

"You can give a good propagandist the opportunity to make a fiery speech or do a nice little thing for the people like lowering one insignificant tax by half a percent."

"If we can quite agree with your second statement, then we are interested in how you imagine a fiery speech?"

Instead of answering, I started looking around and after a few moments I saw a box. I immediately ran up to him and climbed on him to get a kind of platform for the performance. Luna caught up with me and looked at me with interest.

I cleared my throat and started "Ladies and gentlemen! As many people know, there are traitors in our holy homeland who brazenly deny the disinterested care and assistance to the people from the royal family! Such rot on the body of our society has no right to exist in any form! Today, an authoritative source who wished to remain anonymous personally saw that every day the royal family performs the load that an ordinary secretary, farmer and miner do in a month combined! And can you allow the ungrateful rot that denies the government's concern for us to continue to exist? No! Now every man, woman, child must all rally around our illustrious rulers to repel the rabble and clean our great state from betrayal, otherwise the state will fall apart at the seams and fall into lawlessness and anarchy. Is this the future you want for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on? Our common answer is that we will not allow such a thing for anything. Glory to the God-chosen royal family!"

When I finished, the lights came on in some houses and a few ponies even went outside. I jumped down from my podium and looked at Luna. She appeared a little impressed by my speech.

"Do you really have that opinion about princesses?"

I grinned at Luna's question and replied, "No, I was just trying to demonstrate how I present a fiery speech."

"I think you did pretty well."

"Quite, but it could have been better. If all the ponies came out of their houses to listen to the speech, it would be a real success."

"In our opinion, you are too self-critical."

"Everything that is not as perfection must be improved to this state in order to be worthy of me." I said, making Luna sigh in exasperation. In response, I grinned at Luna's reaction and continued, "Calm down, I have no desire to philosophize with you today."

Continuing to walk, we reached the train station. Luna, not paying attention to him, just turned to the side wanting to get around him. I caught up with Luna and asked a question.

"Why aren't we going to the train station?"

"It's closed. Besides, did you really think that you would be allowed to ride on an ordinary civilian train?"

"Yes." I answered briefly.

"We could not put everything on your integrity, so you will go on a specialized military train."

Before I could answer, I heard the sound of an approaching train. Looking in his direction, I could only see the exhaust and nothing more because of the darkness. When the train got closer, it began to slow down and make a characteristic sound. The train door opened and a unicorn in armor with light gray fur and a sapphire mane got out of it. He bowed to Luna and began to speak.

"I'm ready to take the monster into custody." The unicorn said what Luna wanted to answer, but I was faster.

"Explain to me, you idiot in armor, why ponies are called monsters by everyone who does not relate to them?"

He turned to me with rage and replied with venom in his voice, "Because people like you come to the city and attack civilians for no reason!"

"Who told you such nonsense? Your imaginary friends or maybe your beloved mom? Oh! I get it! Your schizophrenia told you that! I think it's time for you to go to a psychologist."

He had already started to blush with rage and answered, becoming even more furious in his voice. "This was told to me by my sister, whom you beat up and brazenly refused to apologize to her, claiming that there was nothing to blame."

I scratched my mustache. Damn it turns into a habit you need to get rid of them somehow. And I replied, "You're like an older brother who protects his sister, right? You do realize that I don't care about your family, right? You know what? Just entertain me and answer the question. What is the meaning of life?"

He was silent for a while, but after a few seconds he proudly puffed out his chest and replied, "Help and protection for those who can't take care of themselves."

I briefly laughed at his answer and continued to say, "If so, then let me ask a counter question. Who is a person who "can't take care of himself"? "

The unicorn was silent again for an even longer interval, but eventually replied, "Those who are offended by villains like you."

"If I'm a bully who offends the weak, but at the same time I beat up all the guards in Ponyville, then I'm very strong, right?"

"Yes, but you use your power for evil, unlike me. As you know, good always wins over evil, so I am stronger than you."

I winced at his boldness and replied anyway. "Then let's have a fight right now, at this station."

He was caught off guard by my words, but quickly got his bearings and replied. "Dueling is prohibited in Equestria."

"It's very rude not to listen to the interlocutor, but I'll explain it to you. It will just be sparring. The winner is the one who first put the opponent on the ground and holds for five seconds. Well, do you agree?"

Unicorn started trying to come up with some kind of counterargument, but nothing happened. Luna decided to intervene in the conversation and said, "I don't mind."

I grinned while the unicorn looked resentfully at Luna. She went on to say, "There is nothing wrong with sparring on such terms. Besides, for your statement, Shining Armor, in our time you would be challenged to a duel without delay."

Shining tried to object, but eventually sighed and muttered. "Okay."

"If both participants agree to participate, then take a few steps back."

Before listening to Luna's order, I threw her a scroll to free both hands. Shining and I took a few steps and when the distance between us was about thirty feet, Luna stopped us.

"Is everyone ready?" Luna asked, to which I nodded confidently, and Shining hesitated a little, but still nodded uncertainly.

"On the count of three, the sparring begins. One."

I got into a fighting stance and Shining activated his horn.

"Two."

I focused on my breathing to keep it stable.

"Three!"

I did not slow down and rushed to Shining, preparing to knock him to the ground, but he managed to create a shield in front of him to prevent me from breaking through. Following the lessons of Luna, instead of retreating, I began to attack the shield in order to break through it. I started hitting the shield with all possible punches. Blows with knees, hands and from a U-turn. All this eventually made a small hole in the shield into which I pushed the magical tentacles and grabbed Shining by the neck, not allowing him to breathe. As soon as Shining lost the ability to breathe, the shield fell apart and I was able to pull Shining to me with magical tentacles and put my foot on his back. I let go of his throat to put my hand on his horn instead, preventing him from doing magic. After I did all this, Luna started counting down.

"One. Two. Three"

Only after three seconds Shining began to spin trying to pull out, but in response to this I quickly hit him on the back at a point that Luna called painful. Shining let out a painful groan from the blow to the painful point and almost stopped moving. All this happened in less than a second and Luna is still counting down.

"Four. Five! The fight is over. Daniel Ctumer won!"

Nothingness.

I lifted my foot from Shining's back and took a couple of steps back. After several attempts, he was able to get up on all four hooves with difficulty and groans of pain. He looked drooping after and upset after this short fight. Remembering that I needed to go on a mission, I turned to Luna and started talking.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go now." I said, extending my hand to Luna for a farewell handshake.

Looked surprised by my action, but still responded to my gesture and give a hoof. After a mutual handshake, I turned towards the train from which Shining got out and finally turned to him still moaning in pain.

"Let's get on the train," I said without waiting for his answer and entered the train myself.

When I entered the train, I saw a lot of wooden shelves. Many of them were occupied by soldiers, each busy with his own business. One sharpens a spear, the second cleans armor, the third reads Playcolt magazine without shame at all. As soon as I entered the carriage, some guards paid attention to me, but most of them seemed to already know who would be here. I saw one low shelf by the window that was free. I decided that it was meant for me and came and sat on the shelf with one leg crossed over the other. After a couple of moments, Shining entered the train quietly complaining of back pain. I heard a few chuckles from the guards at the sight of Shining. Especially among them, an earth pony with a little gray hair on an orange mane and gray fur stood out. He laughed especially loudly at Shining with his bass voice. Shining started to get angry and shouted.

"Shut up Stone! I am above you in rank and I order you to behave yourself!"

At this, Stone laughed even louder and almost fell off his shelf, but still managed to hold on. Stone was able to gather his strength and answer, "You were beaten in a couple of seconds by a child! Everyone here knows that the so-called "Sacred Hunter" is nineteen years old. We saw through the windows how you were beaten in a couple of seconds. Yes, you really deserve your title one hundred percent. " Stone said the last part with a huge amount of sarcasm.

Shining took a deep breath and shouted "EVERYONE SHUT UP QUICKLY!"

Surprisingly, it was able to suppress laughter and turn it into just a quiet giggle. Shining snorted and wandered to his shelf, which was located on the other half of the car from me. I felt the train start moving and began to pick up speed. Looking at Shining again, I saw that he took off his helmet and made a very sad face.

His face annoys me. Damn, if he keeps making such a pained face, then I'll beat him out of anger. I need to sort this out somehow.

I got up from my shelf and headed for Shining. Among the giggles, some voices could be heard whispering. When he reached the Shining, he looked at me, preparing for the worst. I leaned into his ear, directly invading his personal space and whispered softly so that only he could hear.

"Get up. We need to talk outside."

"Why should I listen to you?" He answered just as quietly.

"If you want anyone to think you're above shit, then you better listen to me."

He nodded, which I took as agreement. I got up and started walking to the opposite side of the car where there was an exit to the outside. Opening the door and stepping out into a kind of carriage, I leaned on the railing to better contemplate. The landscape sweeps by at great speed, turning into a single mass of trees, grass and bushes. The only thing that remains stable and unchanged is the starry sky, which contains infinite potential. Other planets with life among which should be my native Earth, a lot of resources that can end the problem of lack of resources and more. . .

I was interrupted by Shining's voice, "What did you want to say?"

I turned around and answered him, "Before I start the lecture, I first need to ask a question. Are you the real one?"

"What?"

"Your demand for respect, your desire to protect your sister, your conviction that good overcomes evil. You do all this because it's your character or because someone told you to? "

"What kind of crazy questions are these?"

I got so close to Shining that we were literally an inch apart. "I'll tell you some interesting news that may amaze you. Nobody cares about you and your life until someone needs you. Even now I'm only helping you so that you don't annoy me with your sullen face. So I'm trying to figure out if you're acting naturally and not getting the recognition or if you're just trying to play a role but you're not doing well."

He sighed, trying to gather his strength. After a few seconds, he still replied, "I've always wanted to become a captain of the Royal Guard to protect the weak. I have always valued my family and especially my sister. That's my character."

"Are you sure?"

He was silent for a few more seconds, but gathered his strength and answered "Yes."

"The second question. Let it be answered only by your character. You want to change the attitude only to yourself or to everyone who has a similar fate. "

He was caught off guard by my question and plunged in thought. I concentrated on watching the landscape. At some point, he was able to answer, "I only want the best for my family."

I sighed in disappointment. He won't help me. "Whether to follow my advice or not is your choice. I'm not forcing you to follow, just listen. You need to show yourself in all its glory. Show, openly and vividly your worst part. Show everyone what even relatives, can turn away from you for. After that, you need to show fortitude. Let everyone who wants to condemn you face a wall of principles and reality. If you succeed, no one will want to communicate with you and instead will try to fulfill your requests to reduce contact with you. They will simply start using a kind of mask of respect, which in the future may become a permanent. If you fail, then you and your morality will simply be crushed without leaving anything. You will become just an empty being that no one needs. I said everything I wanted to say. "

I turned away from Shining to continue contemplating nature, but he asked the question, "That's why you're always so angry?"

I sighed so as not to beat Shining right now and replied, "You have no idea what my bad side is, but if you want to see it, then keep asking stupid questions."

He swallowed and started walking back into the car but stopped at the exit "Thank you."

"You should say thank you when they help you just like that. In this case, you don't have to say anything. "

"So you're really helping me just so I don't annoy you? Is that all?"

Instead of answering, I just nodded, not paying much attention to Shining. I heard the door open and close behind me. Continuing to contemplate the landscape, one thought was spinning in my head.

What is it about that temple?