"Son? Do you mind if the two of us can exchange a few words in private?"

You lift your head from the book you are reading and look at your daddy. He was standing at the entrance to your room, his face was unreadable.

You nod and hop off the bed. You place a bookmark, close the book and place it on the desk. Once everything was in place you motion your daddy inside.

He shakes his head. "Not here. Come. Let us walk for a bit. Your mom nagged me about my weight anyway."

You chuckle and slowly meet your father at the entrance to your room. You share a brief hug before he sets off to an unknown destination.

"Son, I have been thinking- well, your mom and I have been thinking together to be more precise. We believe that being you, you are susceptible to the public's view. I did not wish to tell you this, I hoped that the guard would be enough, but after that day so long ago when you got lost in the city your mother and I discussed this and we both think it would be best if you are able to defend yourself."

"What do you mean, I don't understand," you say truthfully. You are only a child. You do not understand why it is such important to defend yourself.

Daddy sighs as he uses his magic to lift you off your feet and place you on his back. It has always been fun when your parents did this

"Listen son, there are some bad ponies out there, ponies that do not agree with our rule and are willing to go to absurd lengths to convince others with their points of view. Those ponies often cannot be reasoned with and they will do atrocious acts against us."

"But can't we just imprison them?" you reason.

"I wish it was that simple, son. But there is no way of knowing who the enemy is until they do something. The best thing we can do is prepare ourselves, and that's what we are doing right now."

Daddy takes a sharp turn and exits the castle proper and towards the outside, but unlike your initial thought, he does not walk towards the gardens. You remain silence as daddy travels further into an unexplored part of the castle.

You really do not understand what the commotion is all about, can't your daddy just ask ponies for their opinions and if they are wrong throw them to jail? It seems adults make everything unnecessarily complicated. And you unfortunately are caught in the middle.

Still, the memories of that dreadful day are still lingering in the back of your mind. The feelings of utter helplessness and fear are constantly beating in your heart everytime you leave the castle, even despite the fact that mommy kept an eye on you each time. So maybe learning how to defend yourself is a good thing.

A large intake of air snaps you out of your thoughts and you are suddenly aware of the large number of guards around you. You look past your father's neck and see two guards standing still in front of a gate that leads to a camp of some sorts. The two guards are obviously surprise, but they manage to bow down in respect.

"Y-your highness!" stutters the one to the right. It never stops to amuse you how the guards recoil in your parents' presence. It also annoys you just a tad bit. Your parents are the nicest ponies you have ever met. You know, you live with them. So seeing others tremble either in awe or even fear irks you a little.

They have no reason to fear them.

"At ease, soldier. I merely wish to use the sparring arena for a bit, please carry on," your dad says. He seems excited, almost anxious to begin. Not a minute after you enter the strange camp, your father finds that 'sparring arena' and walks directly to the middle.

He gently lowers his back, a sign that means you need to get off, and moves in front of you. "Now son, I'm not going to teach you anything too advanced or dangerous so soon, so we'll start with something simple. Hoof to hoof combat."

You raise your hand.

"Umm, yes?"

"How are you going to teach me if I don't have any hooves?" you flex your fingers in emphasis. Daddy chuckles.

"Before I became king, my dad taught me how to fight. It is the duty of the males to know how to defend their families. My dad taught me how to fight against every creature known to day. Say son, do you know what a minotaur is?"

You shake your head.

"Minotaurs are bipedal creatures with horns on top of their head and fur all over their bodies. The minotaur clans are strong and noble. Their fight styles are some of the oldest fighting techniques in the known world. I learnt how to fight with, and against minotaurs, so I can teach you fairly well."

You raise your hand again.

"Yes, son?"

"What is 'bipedal'?"

Daddy smacks himself in the face. You can't keep yourself from laughing.

"Never mind that. Just do as I tell you, understand?"

You nod.

"Okay, let's start with a fighting stance. It is crucial that you get that part right. Now I'm going to teach you the 'boxing stance'. Among minotaurs, this is a very basic but very affective stance that will enable you to go forward, backward, left or right and circular. Now I want you put your left leg forward and your right leg a little bit backwards while the right foot faces away from your body, understand?"

You nod and assume position. Daddy comes closer and adjusts your stance where it is needed. When he is satisfied he returns to his place in front of you. You can see guards are moving around the arena, looking at you. You suddenly feel very self-conscious.

"Good, now clench your right fist and place it in a way that your right hand is protecting your chin while your right elbow protects your rib cage."

Again, you follow daddy's orders.

"Chin down."

You comply.

"Now do the same with your left hand, but only this time make sure your hand is slightly tilted and a forty five degrees and is slightly further away from your body."

You don't know what forty five degrees are, but you do as you are told. Daddy comes closer and readjusts your left hand, tilting it and pulling slightly so it’s a bit further away from your body."

"Good, good. Now remember, your right heel should be off the ground so you can act faster."

"Like a spring?" you ask.

"Sort of…"

You smile. This is actually fun, you don't usually spend a lot of time with daddy.

"Now I'm going to teach you how to step and slide. This is really simple, all you have to do, as the name suggests, is to step and slide. What that means is if you want to go forward, you place your left foot forward and slide your right foot immediately after. You can apply the same thing when moving backwards or to the sides. You just need to remember that your legs must stay symmetrical. For instance, you cannot move your rear leg backwards say… ten inches, and your front leg sixteen inches, you will lose your structure if you do.

"This is important because when fighting, you can step and slide forward, deliver a blow, and then immediately step and slide backwards. You can also apply this in reverse, going backwards to avoid a hit and moving back into the fight. You can also fake going forward but actually going backwards, throwing your enemy off guard. Remember, your rear leg is like a spring."

You nod your head in confirmation and make a few steps and slides to each direction. It's actually pretty easy, and you can see why it's so effective when fighting. You actually surprise your dad when you start preforming circular steps and slides.

"Very impressive, son. I didn't know you had it in you."

You enjoy the compliment, but you much prefer to keep training. There's something so natural about it, like you were born to fight.

Like it's in your blood.