"Come on you fucks, run!" I marched along side the column of ponies. "You'll run until dawn unless you get those fucking laps down!" I ran to the head, the pony I'd forced to run first was now leading the formation. "Strip that armor off if you need to! Light infantry is the backbone of any army, armor is for those who know they're not fast enough to dodge!"

I marched with them, watching a few helmets and a pair of hoof guards drop against the track. I slowly dropped out and let them march. "I see someone break formation I'm shaving their head!" I walked back and kicked the scattered equipment off the track. It was all show, some of it dented and caved in under a simple boot.

I rubbed my arms as I stepped back off the track. The six dark ponies were formed up into two rows, marching side by side down the track. The moon was already starting to fall back down to earth. "Run!" I screamed at them as they passed. "Stragglers are left behind, don't stop moving!"

I looked over one of the helmet I had snagged. Its ridge was dull, its shape malformed for the user. Cotton stuffing was haphazardly stuffed into the dome and you could see where the ear hole chafed and the owner had stuck strips of folded paper on with glue. "What a piece of shit." I tossed it into the snow, the tinny thing rattled softly as it landed. I unslung my rifle and lined my bayonet up with the helm.

It didn't take more than a quick jab to pierce the thin metal. All show, no substance. I turned back to watch as the ponies ran along the track. "Two more laps! Sprint to the finish! Anyone drops out I'll half your rations!"

The ponies took off, running like mad as they rounded the corner. Watching them move, under my word, my command, it set something warm in my skin. All the violence and strength I'd been raised for, all without the bloodshed I was forced into. "What's going on here!?" A booming voice shook the snow. I turned towards it, finding a few guards in gold armor stepping out of one of the buildings that lined the courtyard. "Who let this--"

"Perfect timing. Old shift is about over." I pushed the helmet off my bayonet and slung it back over my shoulder. "Guess who gets to run laps--"

"Who let the thestrals into the training yard!?" A guard with a bright blue ridge jutting from his helmet. "Guards!"

"Oh here we go." I pulled my rifle around. "You start shit this time, someone's actually going to die." I rested my hand against the joint between my rifle and its stock. "If you're gonna try shit, you're gonna die this time!"

The white and grey guards took a collective step back. Only the one with the blue plume stayed standing. "What are you waiting for!? We're not letting this thing--" I looked around the guards. None of them seemed too awake, or eager to fight. Most of them had their armor on, but straps were missing or undone, fittings were off, most didn't have helmets.

I stuck my rifle in the dirt and walked up to the guard with the plume. I turned to find the last of the bats running past the final stretch of the track. "I'm sorry, did you have a problem?" I looked back to the guard with the plume. He stared up at me, bright yellow eyes bitter as hell. "I guess we do have a problem."

"No bats on the track, and you're not even supposed to be outside you monster--" I grabbed the plume and hit him in the side of the face with my knee. I yanked hard on the plume, the stallion let out an extremely loud cry, the helmet only jostled on his head.

I shoved the stallion back with my foot. "Are you kidding me?" I laughed softly as the guard pressed his hooves against his head. "That's not even just an ornament, that's your fucking hair." I rubbed my mouth. "And the award for, oh shit I'm going to get murdered, goes to whoever thought that was a good idea."

The guards that had accompanied him were a bit out of it. "What? Were you not expecting a fight?" I looked them over. One was dumb enough to put on his helmet. "Hey skippy, you wanna see a magic trick?" I reached back for my rifle. The heavy metal mess quickly shed the knife, giving me a neat little barbers tool.

The guards backed up towards a wall. "Come on, hit me, pin me! You did it before, do it now!" I held my arms out, the bayonet sitting heavily in my right hand. "Scared?! I know right?!"

The guard with the helmet was a deep grey, his silvery mane popping through his helmet. "Look, you're not supposed to be outside, and there's no night ponies allowed on Royal Guard equipment--" I lunged after him, my toes ripping up a bit of grass as I grabbed his mane. "Ow--ow--ow!" He pulled back, only causing my grip to strain his head.

I hurried after him, keeping my fingers wrapped up in his mane. "This is why you cut your fucking hair!" I pulled him under my side and slammed him sideways into the dirt.

The guard with the blue mane started screaming. "Someone call the princess already!"

I slowly worked my way around until I had the horseguard in a headlock. I pulled his mane out with my left hand and started to slice through his mane with my free arm. His head was yanked to the side as I pulled him, but it was a good a time as any to teach a lesson.  And if I was leaving soon as I hoped, it would be something I didn't have a lot of time to teach. "See--much--better!" I sliced through the majority of his mane and tossed long clumps of silver hair away. "Such--a fucking--waste!" I let him go and scrambled back. The stallion grabbed at his head with his hooves as the other guards hurried away.

"What the buck did you do!?" He threw his helmet off and ran a hoof over his head. "What did you do!?"

I took a deep breath and stood up. "Damn, got all excited." I hopped in place and flexed my fingers. "What did I do? Grooming. Better question is, why do you think it's a good idea to have something someone can grab hanging out of your person!"

The stallion stepped back sloppily, his hoof still stuck to his head. "Lieutenant?" He turned to the blue maned stallion who had never gotten up from the grass.

I took another breath, my heart still pounding. "Oh right, can't forget the leader." I walked over the guard and straddled him. "Be glad I can't shave you, otherwise we'd be out here a lot longer." I took bunches of his blue mane in my hand and pulled it back. The stallion let out a sharp grunt as I dragged my knife over the ridge of his helmet.

The loud crunch of snow came from behind me as I sheered off his mane. "Somepony help!" He shouted, digging his hooves in to try and escape the sloppy cut.

I shook my head and finished up with my hasty trim. "I am helping, you racist fuck." I stood up and stepped back. "Tell me not to use a track, tell me to stay inside! You don't tell me shit until you learn my fucking name you rat!"

"Able!" A voice loud enough to send a ripple of energy against my back came from behind. I swung around to find Celestia standing over me, a few centimeters taller when standing over me. "It's enough!"

I turned to face her. "Is it? You didn't even know I was out here, did you?"

Celestia's face twisted up as she looked towards the two sheered ponies. "Leaving unsupervised wasn't enough? You had to--"

I held my knife by the blade and held it for her to take. "You left me with a farmer pretending to be a solider. Don't blame me when I try to fix it."

Celestia shook her head. "You know, I thought after we spoke you'd be a little less belligerent."

I took my knife away and hung it in my belt. "This isn't me being belligerent." I turned to the downed guards. "I came out here for a little exercise, and someone got a little too uppity."

The blue maned pony stood up shakily. "Princess, he was letting the thestrals use the field."

Celestia had a mere moment where her frown showed through. "You what?" She turned to me with a horridly rough glare.

I stared right back at her. "You left me alone. You left someone to guard me that barely even knew how to hold a spear. What did you think was going to happen!?" I flung my fingertips from my head out into the air.

Celestia took a deep breath and looked to the two shaved guards. "A moment, please." The guards stepped back giving me some space with Celestia. She leaned down to whisper to me. "Able, you need to listen to me. Stop."

I stepped back and shook my head. "Get me home."

Celestia looked towards the castle. "Even if we can, it won't be soon--"

"Then you'd better give me something to do." I fixed my coat and stood tall. "I don't handle the quiet very well."

Celestia looked at me dead on. She slowly leaned forward until her horn was touching my head. "We will talk in the morning. Until then, you need to sleep."

I looked up at her horn. "You're gonna knock me out, aren't--" Next Chapter: Burns Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes