Chapter 42

Battering Ram walked down the dark road, his cart full of moneybags hardly slowing him down as he walked. The cool breeze rolled across his body as he looked up at the lowering moon, his eyelids dropping slightly as he rubbed his jaw

“That kid sure packs a punch,” Battering Ram chuckled as the dull pain faded away with the wind. The earth pony stopped outside his temporary home and removed the cart from himself, picking up the bags by his teeth and creeping into the cold building

Battering Ram placed the bags down in the kitchen before standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding his breath as he listened to the silence. As he heard a slow breath from the sleeping Flux he walked into the bathroom and filled the sink with warm water

The huge pony held a cloth under the water before picking it up and wiping the dirt from his face, his eyes glancing over the small bruises across his body. He groaned as he used the cloth to clean the rest of his body, his hoof pausing over the deep scar on his back

Why? Why now?

You know I joined the guards because I thought that I could help everypony

But if you help Puppetmaster then all of Equestria will be at risk

If I do this then nopony will have to fear criminals or worry about crime

Don’t turn your back on the guards, don’t turn your back on me… I thought we were brothers!

We were Strong Shield… if you want to hurt him then you will have to go through me

Battering Ram… if that is what it takes then I have no choice

“I just keep making mistakes,” Battering Ram sighed as he pulled the plug out of the sink, allowing the water to take the dirt away. He used a towel to dry himself before stepping back over to the bags of coins

He took a small heap of bits and transferred them to a cheap saddlebag, making sure that he didn’t wake Flux as he picked up the saddlebag and left the house again. He looked around at the quiet street before slowly making his way towards the shops

Battering Ram stopped in an alleyway that joined onto the main street that led to the castle gates, his breathing stopped again as he stepped backwards into the shadows. Strong Shield and Dave walked towards the castle, Dave mumbling about the mud that stained his body

As the pair left Battering Ram’s view, he slowly stepped out and walked over to a bakery, a mare was yawning as she began making the dough she would turn into bread later. Battering Ram tapped the glass gently and caused the lime mare to jump in shock

“Sorry for disturbing you but have you got any bread?” Battering Ram sighed as he realized how stupid he sounded. “I know it is very early but the ducks are usually active around sunrise and I want to be ready”

The tired mare opened the window and exchanged two loaves of bread for a generous amount of bits. Battering Ram thanked the mare before placing the bread into his saddlebags and walking back down the street, his body shivered as another cool breeze rolled over him

The giant wandered down some streets until the buildings eventually disappeared and was replaced with trees and park benches. One bench was positioned close to the edge of a slow moving stream, a few ducks huddled under the wood whilst the rest were swimming around the water, bobbing their heads under occasionally

“Hey guys,” Battering Ram chuckled as the ducks noticed him coming and began to quack happily, a few chicks running over to flap around his large hooves. The earth pony sat down and removed his saddlebags, pulling out a loaf of bread

The ducks began to move into the view of the pony, quacking louder in hopes of getting more bread. Battering Ram tore a corner off the loaf and dropped it amongst the ducks, the pony smiled as one managed to steal it before any of the other ducks had a chance to grab it

A few ducklings were clustered together and Battering Ram threw a larger chunk for them to share. The ducks eventually settled down and waited for the huge pony to drop some bread for them to eat. One of the ducks stood away from the rest of the hungry birds

Battering Ram threw a small piece of bread to the duck but the bird ignored it and continued to stare away from the crumbs that dropped to the ground. Battering Ram crushed the rest of the loaf and scattered the bread across the ground, allowing the ducks to help themselves as he carefully stepped over to the vacant duck

“What’s up with you eh?” Battering Ram lay down so his head was beside the duck. “You normally like some bread before sunrise”

The duck shivered as Battering Ram gently tapped him with his hoof. The large earth pony frowned as he saw some dried blood on the grass. He lifted the feathers out of the way and saw a large cut across the duck’s leg, a piece of wire poking out of the wound

The duck waddled away as Battering Ram stood up and glared around, growling as he spotted some broken fencing higher upstream. The earth pony crushed the other loaf of bread and threw the crumbs into the water, allowing the ducks to exercise for their food and the ducklings to finish up the crumbs that were still amongst the grass

Battering Ram put on his saddlebag, marched over to the broken fencing, grabbed the wire between his teeth, and pulled it out of the rotting wood. He rolled up the wire and placed it in his saddlebag before marching towards the castle

The large pony managed to get to the castle with little effort as his long strides allowed him to quickly cover ground until he was at the castle gates. He stopped outside the gates and coughed to get one of the night guards’ attention

“If you want to speak to the princess, the daily hearings start at eleven in the morning,” The night guard returned to facing forwards with a neutral stare

Battering Ram glared, “There is a night hearing for emergencies, or has that been removed?”

“No, but whatever you want to ask can wait until morning,” the guard snorted in annoyance as he looked at the taller pony

“I pulled wire fencing out of the stream in Canterlot, if a pony were to get tangled then they could drown,” Battering Ram looked at the gate with a focused glare. “I reckon that counts as an emergency”

The night guards groaned before opening the gates and allowing one of the guards on the other side to lead the earth pony into the castle and let him wait outside the throne room doors. The night guard then walked in a completely different direction, leaving Battering Ram alone with his thoughts

Why did you join the guards?

I think that everypony should try to help those with less

But you could take what you want, why bother being nice?

Well… while I was growing up, I saw somepony being intimidated into giving his hard-earned money to a thug. The thug took the coins and ran off, the victim spent the next two days without food because he could not afford to feed his entire family

What happened to the victim?

He collapsed and spent a day in hospital. He would have been fine if I had just helped him against the thug. I could have spared his family the fear of almost losing a loved one

You shouldn’t think about ‘what ifs’

I don’t. I always think, ‘what next’

Battering Ram was torn from his memories as Princess Luna stopped in front of him. “Your majesty!” Battering Ram sunk into a bow as the princess nodded

“I didn’t know that we had night hearings,” Luna smiled, “But it is more surprising to hear that there is an emergency”

“Yes your majesty,” Battering Ram opened his saddlebag and pulled out the rusty wire, “Canterlot Park has been seeing growing amounts of litter and this was in the stream only a few minutes ago”

Luna had to hide her surprise at the size of the pony, her eyes had to look up at the navy chin of the earth pony. “W-well I suppose this could be a problem if left unattended”

The night guard that accompanied the princess frowned, “Your majesty is this really a problem? The wire would probably sink and become buried at the bottom of the stream”

“Some young colts and fillies swim in the stream during hot summer days, if this wire was to become caught around one of their soft hooves then they could become snared and then drown,” Battering Ram growled at the guard

The guard stood forwards, his armour obviously not gaining the fear that normal ponies usually showed. “That is ridiculous, I doubt a living thing could get caught in this wire”

“A duck cut its leg because of this wire,” Battering Ram snarled. “Complain when a child dies and have that become a burden on your conscious!”

“SILENCE!” Luna called, the guard bolted to attention whilst Battering Ram slowly returned to his standing position, his head slightly dipped in apology. “Battering Ram, you came into my castle and have now started an argument with one of my guards, and foolishly he reacted”

The guard flinched as Luna glared at him, she looked back towards Battering Ram, expecting him to be nervous or bowing in apology. But the pony surprised her again as he was staring straight at her, meeting her glare

“Do you know that you could be perceived as threatening the Princess of the night?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “That glare looks aggressive”

“Disappointment actually,” Battering Ram sighed, “I was hoping to have this problem sorted by some other means and have measures put in place to make sure Canterlot Park doesn’t become such a mess again… but it looks like I will have to sort it with my own hooves”

Luna stepped forwards, her eyes staring into Battering Ram’s unmoving pupils. “Why would you take time to do that?”

“Because there are a family of ducks that I would hate to see disappear,” Battering Ram blinked and his face became more sympathetic. “I wouldn’t allow anypony to suffer, so why should I allow wildlife to suffer?”

“Guard, please send word to the castle groundskeeper that he should take the next few days off to attend to Canterlot park until a permanent solution can be found,” Luna glanced at the guard and he saluted, hurrying away and leaving the alicorn and the earth pony alone

Battering Ram smiled, “Thank you Princess Luna, I will make my own way out of the castle,” he bowed before picking up the wire and placing it back in his saddlebag

“For a pony of such size… you certainly seem like a gentle one,” Luna smiled, her posture relaxing slightly

Battering Ram chuckled, “I only wish to protect, not to mention the ducks are good company,” he laughed as Luna began giggling behind one of her hooves

“Seeing as you did such a service for our local park and the… ducks,” Luna smiled, “I will be lowering the moon in a few minutes… would you like to join me for my morning meal?”

“W-well I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Battering Ram blushed, “Would you really like a simple earth pony to stay in the castle?”

Luna smiled before starting to walk away, “My nephew has recently become an item with an earth pony… I don’t see a problem conversing with one for a few minutes, do you?”

Battering Ram finally broke a bead of sweat, “W-well I-I um…” his mouth opened slightly as the Princess of the night was surrounded by a silver glow, her eyes closed as the moon fell below the horizon and the sun slowly rose to take it’s place

Luna smiled as the sunrise poured in through the windows and cast a warm orange across the white corridor and over the sleek princess. “Join me for a short breakfast at least?”

Battering Ram coughed as he caught himself staring, his throat unusually dry as a smile shot to his face. “If you insist your majesty,” he replied as he followed the princess