Author's note.

Just in case you didn't read this note in the long description,  this is a remastered "The crimson dawn".  Not by choice,  my friend jumped onto my account,  acted like a grade A D-bag,  and deleted my story.  Apologies to any effected by the aforementioned D-baggery.

One good thing to come of this is a chance to redo the first 2 chapters,  which I had been wanting to do anyway.

So,  onto the story,  again.

        Before I tell you my story,  it's only fair I tell you a little about myself,  otherwise you would no doubt be confused,  wondering who I was and what I did.

        My name is Crimsonlight.  I'm a white,  red haired pony with mastery over crimson hued lightning,  kind of obvious given my name,  I know.  I'm slightly taller than the average mare,  and slightly shorter than the average colt.  And I'm part of the Spear of Celestia.

        It's a group of elite guards,  kept under wraps from the public of Equestria.  I've been proud to call myself a member of it for 160 of my 175 years.  We're a step above the step above the commonplace,  overpayed,  golden armour clad royal guard you see meandering about the palace vacant to any previous orders,  and as such,  we take on problems deemed much too dangerous for them.  Dangers such as the beasts of the Everfree forest wandering into civilisation,  beasts like manticore,  cockatrice and wild grypon,  but that's all pretty easy.  Manticore and Gryphon are beaten by simply out classing them,  and defeating a cockatrice for me is simply a matter of putting a lightning bolt between their eyes before you become a statue.

        It gets interesting when you get the order to take on the likes of a dragon,  a hydra,  sea serpent or an ursa minor or major.  I've fought my fair share of these beasts,  and won,  but suffice to say I've had my fair share of close calls.  The closest when an ursa major took his rampage out of his cave and into the open world.  I was used to working alone,  but against an ursa major it took a 10 pony strong squad.  After hours of fighting and more than a few ponies submitted to the infirmary,  it fell.  Almost squashing me underneath it,  but it fell.

        And being a unicorn pony,  sometimes I had to...improvise.  For example,  I once leapt onto a dragon before he took off.  Needless to say,  a few barrel rolls couldn't fling me off and it wasn't long before there was crimson lightning being pumped into the back of the head and a dragon wide,  mile long skid mark near Hoofington.

        All of the ponies in the Spear were hoof picked by Princess Celestia herself at an early age for their raw natural ability.  For example,  Steelhoof is one of my two squad mates,  he's a dull grey earth pony with a jet black mane,  his cutie mark is a hammer,  he is also a mountain.  His family are a mining family,  making them very naturally powerful,  all of that natural power apparently came to a head in him.  He's one of the most physically powerful,  durable,  and definitely the largest earth ponies I have ever seen.

        Arteus,  is nearly the polar opposite.  She is a small,  powder blue pegasus with a mane that matches her coat.  And a cutie mark that bears a striking resemblance to the wonderbolts insignia,  minus the lightning bolt.  As opposed to the lumbering oaf that Steelhoof is,  Arteus is small,  fast and incredibly agile.  I'm fairly certain at least 1 of her parents is in the wonderbolts,  whilst the other was a golden clad coward,  more commonly known as a royal pegasus guard.  Again,  her parents natural ability came to fruition in her making her one of,  if not the fastest pony I have ever witnessed.

        I was fortunate enough not to be forced into risking Celestia simply not noticing my talent,  having lived in the palace for the first 15 years of my life under the pretence of a guest,  Celestia herself pushed me to join the Spear.  Even at an early age I figured that if an alicorn with a current life span well exceeding 1000 alicorn could see potential in me then there must be some.  So I pushed myself as she advised,  and at age 15 I was a fully fledged member.  Now I take my orders directly from her,  unlike the other members,  in which a middle man is employed.  Whether that's due to the fact we had a somewhat mother son relationship in my younger years,  or because she knows I'm the best and is simply making full use of the fact,  I do not know,  but I do,  and I'm not complaining.

        Now that you know more about me,  what I do,  why,  who for,  and all that hay.  At risk of sounding horribly cliché.

        This,  is my story.

        I tossed and turned in my bed in the barracks,  pulling a pillow over my head to shield my eyes from the sun as it sat,  perched atop the mountains shining through the window opposite my bed.  I was always one of the late risers,  but that's okay,  I was always late to bed and trained the hardest,  I had the right to get up later than the rest.  Well,  at least I thought that way.  My squad mate didn't share my feelings.

        "Wake up you lazy filly!"  The gruff,  taunting voice of my squad mate came loud and clear over the vocal traffic of rushing ponies around me.  My response to this was simply to roll over onto my other side,  attempting to ignore him.  It was too early to be getting up,  there was nothing to do after all,  things had been quiet lately.  Thanks to us.

        "I said wake up!"  He ordered,  taking one of the rare opportunity's he had to jab me and utilizing it.  It didn't hurt that much,  but it woke me up,  well,  not so much the jab,  but the drop that followed as I left the bed and met the floor with a resounding thud.

        I groggily stood up,  slowly acclimating myself to my surroundings,  I was entirely too tired to be angry,  but I had no doubt I would get there.  I stared at him spying a stupid grin on his face as he looked far too proud of himself for punching a sleeping pony.  "Why...WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?"  I leapt onto my bed in anger bringing my face to his causing him to scramble backwards and trip over himself in surprise.  I never was the most subtle about my feelings.  Hey,  I told you I'd get there.

        "Hey,  calm down!  We have that meeting in the throne room today,  remember?  Something about Luna returning."  He stated trying to defuse the situation as he rose back to his feet dusting himself off.

        "...Fair enough.  Thank you for waking me,  but use those....methods again and I'll visit you in your sleep. How long until it starts?"  I conceded,  not wanting to miss an address from the Princess herself.  I composed myself making my bed and noticing the fact that the only other ponies in the room with us were servant ponies tidying the many beds of the room.  That always annoyed me,  at least I had the respect to realize that I was living in a palace and make my own bed as I woke up.  Bunch of ingrates.

        "Not sure.  Arteus said she'd come and tell me"  He said nervously at the prospect of me visiting him in his sleep,  it was a tempting thought.  Albeit one I was distracted from because I had just realized the fact that I was woken to attend something that the pony that woke me doesn't know the beginning time of,  and was relying on one of the most absent minded ponies I knew to tell us.  This left me with one option.

        "....I'm going back to sleep.  Wake me when she gets here in an hour or so."  I angrily said climbing back into bed.  Wondering why the hay Princess Celestia had to put me in a squad.  I'm not one to brag,  I'm stating fact,  I'm the best the Spear has to offer.  And after working alone for 110 bucking years I don't see a hint of logic in putting me with 2 other ponies who I couldn't stand.  I had only had 1 team mate prior to them,  and that ended horrifically,  friendship,  teams,  love,  all distractions to me.  The only reason these foals were still piggybacking off of me is because the Princess had partnered me with them personally.  I could only hope she had some grand plan that might actually give these 2 some initiative to become better soldiers instead of letting me do it all,  which I actually had no problem with,  I enjoy my line of work,  I don't enjoy being used by 2 buckers and not having any option in the matter.

        "No you're not!"  He retorted picking up the glass of water next to him and unconvincingly threatening to throw it at me.

        "You remember what happened last time you started throwing water around?  Do you want a repeat?"  I smirked reminding him of one of my favourite memories from my being in the Spear.  He decided throwing water on a pony with the ability to control lightning was a good idea,  turns out he was wrong.  The shock of being woken up from cold water to the face causing me to....well,  short circuit.  I started electrocuting myself,  now this didn't bother me,  it was my own magic,  it barely hurt,  it hurt him though.  It sent him into a muscle spasm causing him to punch my bedside table,  which annoyed me,  which caused more electrocution.  Point being,  don't throw water at me.

        He rubbed the back of his neck,  remembering the joyous day and ignoring my idle threat,  I wouldn't kick the flank of my own squad mate,  that's just bad discipline.  But I do love flaunting the fact I can,  it keeps the squad in line,  what can I say,  I'm a born leader.  "Yeah....just stay awake okay?  I heard it could be important."  He bargained with me,  slumping onto his haunches and scanning the room himself as I was doing.  I found it fairly odd there were no members of the Spear here,  there were at least a few slackers missing their duty.  Even a group of highly trained elite guards have their lazy foals,  it's inevitable.

        "Heard from who?"  I asked,  I believe I already knew.  But this could be worth a laugh.

        "Blueblood."  He shied away from my amused gaze,  I found it hard to believe that such a foal could exist.  Blueblood was well known as a spreader of false rumours and an all around foal,  but because of his royalty status he was untouchable.  Yet here Steelhoof was,  buying his bit again.  "He sounded serious this time!"

        "Did he sound serious when he told you that Princess Celestia was going to exile you to the Everfree for lack of hard work."  I mocked,  bringing back more good memories.  Maybe next I should bring up the time Blueblood tried to mess with my mind and I told him to get bucked because I'm not a moron.

        "Blueblood said-"  Suddenly,  his defensive speech was cut short by the distant screaming of a very fast pony.

        "Guys!  We need to go,  we have like....150...149...148 seconds until the Princess addresses us all!"  Came the hyperactive pegasus,  Arteus.  The fact she had to lower her voice with every word,  beginning as a distant shout and gradually becoming a normal speaking voice beside me is testament to her speed.  The fact we had 148 seconds to get to the throne room,  was the same to her lack of common sense.

        "What?  Why did you wait this long?!"  I asked annoyed,  waiting to here the amazing reason I almost already knew.

        "I GOT LOST!"  Not only had she gone from her courteous lowering of her voice as she approached to not scream in my face,  to screaming in my face.  But she had once again,  got lost in a palace she had been living in for almost 50 years.  Again.  Delightful.

        "....I'm not sure how you keep getting lost.  But we're moving out!  NOW!  GO!"  I returned the sentiment by screaming in her face and then dashing out the door of the bedroom,  leaping over my bed and piecing together why the room was devoid of any other members of the Spear.  Arteus quickly followed,  Steelhoof did...well eventually.  I had no doubt me and Arteus would get there,  Arteus was plain fast and I had the utilization of a trick lightning unicorns had.  I could let an aura of lightning wash over me,  greatly increasing speed,  reaction time,  all the cool stuff.  Steelhoof however?  I wasn't sure,  but despite this,  not even wanting to be in a squad,  and not liking the guy,  I had to stick with him as Arteus sped off to no doubt get lost.  If I showed up with either of my squad mates not in tow,  that would look bad on me,  and whilst I was almost certain Arteus was now lost to the palace,  I could at least assure Steelhoof's arrival by taking him the best route possible.

        I leapt in front of Steelhoof,  causing him to scramble backwards.  "What are you doing?  We're going to be late!"

        "This way foal.  It's faster."  I said irritably leading him down the correct hallway as he sluggishly followed.  Yet something was still biting at my curiosity.  "What did Blueblood say would happen at this thing anyway?"

        "Oh,  now you're curious?  I thought he was full of manure."  He panted through the physical exertion.  Whilst I jogged along merrily.  He really needed to run more often.

        "He is.  I just want to hear today's batch of manure.  Call it comedic relief,  just tell me."  I curiously said,  whilst I dislike Blueblood,  I at least admire his ambition's in life.  Mess with an idiot's head,  abuse his vast wealth.

        "He said because Luna's back,  there's going to be some changes.  Anyone Luna doesn't think is fit for the Spear will be banished!"  He gulped,  seeming to believe every word that came out of his own mouth.  However implausible this sounded now,  I knew it was about to get worse.

        "Banished where?"  I asked preparing myself for the worst possible thing.  Knowing Steelhoof's level of gullibility he would believe Blueblood even if he told him she was going to banish us to the sun.  Heh.

        And with grade A theatrics,  he responded.  "THE SUN!"  Oh Celestia.

        "You honestly believe that?"  I would have facehoofed if I wasn't running.  But I had to settle for a sigh of disbelief.

        "Well.  If Celestia can banish ponies to the moon why can't Luna banish them to the sun?"  He reasoned with me.  Blueblood,  I hate you,  but good job.  You have outdone yourself.

        "You realize that's not only an immediate death sentence right?  Why would Luna kill a pony for slacking?"  We turned a corner bringing us to the hallway that held the entrance to the throne room.  "You know what?  I don't want to know...is that...?"

        Sure enough,  Arteus turned the corner on the other side of the hallway,  stopping for a short second to look around,  spotting us and the entrance.  No doubt after getting lost for a short time and ending up here after wandering aimlessly and maybe asking directions as she flew by servants and not even stopping to hear them.  "Guys!  I found you!"  She exclaimed joyously at the fact that she had managed to get lost yet still find her way.

        "Delightful!"  I sarcastically said as we met in front of the throne room door composing ourselves.  Even Arteus knew to calm down,  as she fluttered to the ground beside Steelhoof and I.  We turned to the door in unison,  Steelhoof and Arteus taking place beside me,  even they had discipline in front of the Princess....well,  Princesses.

        I opened the door to the throne room tentatively,  worrying I would interrupt a speech,  luckily,  that was not the case.  "Oh,  Crimsonlight,  there you are.  Come in."  Princess Celestia smiled at seeing me enter,  everyone else seemed to already be here,  so there was some sense of embarrassment that I had kept everypony waiting.

        "Sorry for being late,  Princess. There were some....unexpected problems."  I cut a glare at Arteus who looked like she had no understanding of why she was to blame.  I scanned the room,  everything was as normal.  Apart from a new addition,  the Princess of the moon,  avoiding direct eye contact with nopony in particular sitting meekly in her throne,  standing much smaller than her sister.  Smaller than me,  even,  I had heard rumour that something about the nightmare taking control of her had stinted her growth process.  I'm not sure whether I believe it,  but if she continued to not grow,  it would be the only semi logical explanation out there.

        "Oh Crimsonlight,  it's fine.  I wouldn't start without anypony.  Now,  is everypony here?"  She asked gently,  it was funny the type of power she had over us,  making us feel completely safe with her soothing tones and gentle nature.  Yet it was weird to be in the same room as somepony who could do that yet still annihilate you in an instant.

        I cantered over to the front of the crowd,  Arteus and Steelhoof in tow,  placing my hoof firmly on Arteus' back on her occasional attempt to take off and hang in place.  If I've told her once I've told her a million times,  I probably had told her a million times actually.  No flying in the throne room.

        Princess Celestia looked at her sister with confidence filled eyes.  Whilst Princess Luna looked back with eyes filled with fear and reluctance.  From what I could gather Princess Celestia was trying to reintroduce Princess Luna back into the world by urging her to speak,  Princess Luna wanted to reintroduce herself with bed.  With very obvious reluctance,  Princess Luna eventually spoke.

        "...T...Tomorrow...The Spear will be split into 2 separate groups.  The Spear of Celestia and the Blades of Luna...You will report here at the same time tomorrow,  and you will form up in front of the Princess of your choice to represent your choice.  This change is to represent that we are now a diarchy.  Any groups or squads are,  split up or not,  are permitted to ask for reformation given all members agree.  If a squad requisitioning for reformation is split up a trade must be enacted between the squad member or members being shifted and an unrelated pony.  Other than that,  groups are formed as normal,  through request or order by me or my sister.  A...Are we clear?"  We were.  Apart from some minor stutters and generally sounding nervous,  we were.

       As the Princesses scanned the room for any pony with a question about the change,  whispering ponies could be heard

trying to figure out the situation,  I couldn't shake the feeling there was an ulterior motive.  Why the hay would an age old organisation be changed now.  For all I knew,  Princess Luna was around during the time it was first formed,  so why were the Blades not also formed then?  I found it all pretty suspicious,  I could detect no lie in the Princesses speech,  though, but then she was thousands of years old.  I would be hard pressed to detect one at all.

        "Then you are all dismissed,  thank you."  All ponies began to file out of the throne room,  except me.  "Crimsonlight?  Can I have a word?"  She whispered,  most likely so no other pony would hear.  Unfortunately they did.

        Steelhoof and Arteus absently followed me on my way back to Princess Luna.  "Just Crimsonlight,  please."  Luna said,  causing them to turn around.  Best Princess ever.

        "Yes Princess?"  I walked up to Luna and knelt down to see what she wanted of me personally.

        "You do not need to kneel Crimson.  Or call me Princess."  She smiled warmly,  seeming much more comfortable having a one on one conversation than talking to a room full of ponies.  An understandable reaction given her recent circumstances of being isolated for 1000 years.

        "Okay...Pri....Luna.."  I stuttered.  It felt exceedingly awkward to not address a member of royalty merely by name with no mention of status.  But she was still my Princess so I had to listen.  Even if her order was not acknowledging she was my Princess.

        "Better.  I just brought you over to say that I look forward to your choice tomorrow in particular."  She said,  unknowingly giving my ego a three course meal.  "Nothing more.  You can return to your friends now.  Goodbye Crimson."

        "Goodbye Luna.  Princess Celestia."  I knelt to them both as I left.  Luna waved a dismissing hoof towards my act of formality.  I turned and began to walk towards the door,  where my "friends"  as Luna aptly put were waiting.

        "What did the Princess want?"  Arteus buzzed directly into my face impatiently,  nosily questioning where I had been for the last minute.  Apparently unable to wait for me to actually enter the throne room as she flew up to me about halfway between the thrones the Princesses sat on and the exit.

        "Luna didn't want anything important."  I responded,  pushing her so she wasn't directly in my face.  I must make a note to teach her to respect my personal space.  She was getting inches away from my face too often nowadays.

        "Luna?  Not Princess Luna?  Just Luna?"  Steelhoof questioned with a growing smirk on his face.  The only time I ever saw these types of smirks was when he figured he had one up on me.  Lets see what gem he had this time.

        "Yes.  What?"  I asked.  Wondering what stupid assumption he could jump to just because I left out a title for once.  He never added titles.  Not even to Princess Celestia's face.  I found it quite disrespectful,  Princess Celestia didn't seem to care.

        "Well.  I didn't know you were such a teachers pet."  Steelhoof and Arteus burst out into loud laughter as I realized something.  Why was I walking with them?  They were going back to their beds to slack and I was planning on getting some food.

        "I'd rather be the teachers pet than the thing she finds charred and smoking in his bed."  I countered,  causing my horn to crackle with energy simply to make a fraction of the sound of a lightning strike,  causing them,  much to my amusement to jump in fright away from the lightning they thought was headed to their face.  With that,  I turned around and left them on their route to mediocrity.

        It was a rather uneventful day after that point.  Eat,  train,  ponies refusing to spar against me,  eat,  sleep.  Not much else really.  It wasn't until the following day that stuff really started to become interesting.

        I turned to the door as I heard an all too familiar couple of voices laughing,  Steelhoof and Arteus entered the room,  mischievous grins adorning both of their faces.  Thinking they would get another opportunity to physically abuse me in my sleep.  I would have payed good bits to see their faces drop from joyous and anxious to downtrodden at a missed chance.  Fortunately,  I got it for free!.

        "What?  Why are you awake so early?"  Arteus whined,  completely missing the vague concept to be subtle.  Darting up to my face and doing aforementioned whining directly in my ear.  "Why are yo-"  I cut her off mid sentence,  tired of having my ear defiled by her complaining.

        "I'm awake now so I could see your faces as you arrived and realized that you couldn't abuse me.  Also,  if you violate my personal space again I'll make sure you're served at the next feast."  I threatened her angrily.  I know it may seem a little harsh.  But she was a repeat offender of the "my personal space is MY space and it is PERSONAL" rule.

        "Sheesh.  Fine.  Come on.  The...choosing thing starts soon.  We don't want to be late again."  She pouted,  trotting off.  Noticeably not immediately taking to the skies.  I must have annoyed her with that last remark.  Good,  at least now we could all actually stay accounted for.

        "So.  I heard something about today's ceremony."  Steelhoof began.  No doubt about to drop another load of 24 carat belt fed stupidity onto me.  Straight from the mouth of a Prince.

        "Oooh,  was it from Blueblood?  What is it?"  Arteus asked eagerly.  I don't know what was worse,  the fact Blueblood could so easily mislead him,  or that he could do the exact same to Arteus.

        "Yeah.  He said anyone that this is a test of faith.  Anyone that picks Celestia gets banished to the sun by Luna.  And anyone that picks Luna gets banished to the moon by Celestia!"  He trotted proudly saying this,  like he was in some well informed inner circle of some kind.  In reality,  he was just stupid.

        "Really?  Oh my gosh,  I better choose Celestia then!"  Arteus gasped,  coming to....I don't know her thought process,  of the 2 I'd rather be banished on the one that didn't result in instant flaming death.  But I fear if I took a trip into that pony's mind I may never be the same.

        "You believe this?  Then there would be nopony left in the Spear OR the Blades?"  I did the unthinkable and attempted to inject logic into a situation involving Steelhoof and Arteus.  It was dangerous,, but somepony had to try.

        "Well,  that's because none of them had faith."  He replied turning his nose up and me with complete babble.  "You expect a Prince to lie?"  He asked me,  Arteus nodded in approval.  I was left speechless for a second,  honestly,  neither of these 2 were truly stupid.  It's just some times they didn't think out what they were doing.  Apparently they were not thinking really hard today.

        ".....Yes!  I do!  He's well known to be a liar.  I've proven him to be so in the past!  Personally!  With you BOTH there!  That's not a test of faith.  That's an elite guard slaughterhouse for no real reason!"  I burst out in frustration,  both of them left relatively speechless by my reasonable argument.  I assumed it's because they were either allergic to it or it was just a completely foreign thing to them.

        "....Well.  I still think there's something fishy going on."  He said looking deep in thought.  See,  he's not completely stupid when he tries.  He has to try pretty darn hard though.

        "...At least we can agree on that."   We trotted to the throne room in silence for the rest of the way.  I gave quiet thought to the situation,  but didn't know what to make of it.  I would simply have to take it at face value and assume that it was simply because the Princesses wished to be viewed as a diarchy as opposed to a monarchy now,  despite the fact I had gotten it into my head that this wasn't the case.   We eventually got to the throne room after a short walk,  royal pegasus guards standing outside it,  apparently the Princesses wanted some extra security today,  I was okay with this,  I loved a good opportunity to taunt them.  "Hey Steelhoof,  what has 2 thumbs and is scared of bunnies?  Ask these 2."  I laughed walking in as Arteus stared at me annoyed,  due to the fact that her dad used to be one of these fillies.

        What I saw wasn't as expected upon entry to the throne room.  I expected seeing grown ponies making decisions.  What I saw was the best combat ponies in all of Equestria,  proving that they had not evolved past their first kindergarten dance.  Huddled together at the entrance side of the throne room as the Princesses of the sun and the moon sat on the other end,  no doubt slightly ashamed,  I was and I wasn't in charge of all these foals.

        "Well.  At least we're all a mature bunch of ponies capable of making decisions for ourselves."  I made fun of them all as I entered the room,  earning some annoyed glances,  which I gladly returned.  I never was Mr. Popular,  it seemed like a silly concept to me.  Why would I spend my time worrying about how everypony else felt about me when I could just train and be better than them?  That would override my insecurities right?  Right.  It did.

        "Oh.  Crimsonlight!  Hello there.  Please,  feel free to make a decision.  Maybe you could kick start proceedings?"  Princess Celestia gazed over the room laughing at the immaturity of the ponies present.  Luna,  again,  seeming to shy away from a large group of ponies.  Receding back into her throne.

        I could say I thought long and hard,  but I didn't.  I stood there,  looked at Luna,  and decided to give her a helping hoof since she was so shy,  especially for,  you know,  a Princess.  Besides,  she had yesterday granted me with the honour of calling her only by name,  that was....going to be awkward to get used to,  but a sign of good will nonetheless.  Having "founder member of the Blades of Luna"  being added to my accolades couldn't hurt either,  right?

        I cantered over to Luna,  who smiled at my choice,  as did her sister.  It was like Luna had won a prize.  It felt good to be a Princesses prize.  "Thank you."  She knelt down and whispered,  nodding her head.

        "No problem."  I nodded back kneeling down,  seeing if she would dismiss it again,  testing the waters,  so to speak.

        "Crimsonlight,  what did I say about formalities?"  She smiled.  She really wasn't very Princess-like.  No formalities,  no titles.  I wouldn't be surprised to walk into her room finding her chugging a keg of ale upside down.

        "Sorry.  Kind of habitual."  I replied standing up.  I turned at the noise of mobile hooves,  observing everypony else in the room follow my lead and choose a side.  Steelhoof obviously lining up behind me with a smile,  and Arteus on his back,  I turned around and grinned at the thought of being without a squad again.  Ah the good old days.

        "What are you smiling about?"  Came the voice of a mare,  I turned to Arteus out of habit.  Who simply tilted her head and looked back at me confusedly.  I turned around,  realizing I was being addressed,  once more,  personally by Luna.  Realizing I had just confused 2 ponies with completely different voices and mannerisms made me feel stupid.  But I shrugged it off.

        "Well.  All members of a group need to agree if they want to reform,  correct?"  Luna nodded in response to my question.  "Well,  I'm not going to agree."  I said happily,  finally.  No more annoying wake up calls.  Well,  I wouldn't put it past Steelhoof to pull a few more,  but he's not my squad mate any more,  it's all at his own risk now.

        "You don't like your squad mates?"  Luna asked,  I turned around,  looking at my team mates,  who were currently debating the strategic advantages of tying their tails together.  Luna looked on too,  I turned around,  spying a confused stare on her face as she looked what I had to personally deal with.  "Oh...."

        "I don't think I need squad mates.  I've been going along with them because Princess Celestia partnered me with them.  But this is a very,  very good chance to ditch them."  I chose my words carefully,  I didn't want to outright say.  "Look,  I know your sister's the Princess of the sun and all?  But horrible call on this one.  Next ponies you partner me with,  they're getting lightning to the face to save us all some time,  got it champ?".....Well,  I did,  but I couldn't.

        "Crimsonlight.  I know they may not be....ideal...but you must give them a chance.  What's a pony without his friends and allies?  Got it champ?"  She said,  mirthfully smiling.  She had decent reasoning behind her words.  It would have been better reasoning,  only I didn't consider them friends or allies.  I was more of their babysit-  Holy bit did she just read my mind?  Happy thoughts,  Luna your mane looks really nice,  loving the tiara.

        "I'm doing fine.  I've had a friend before,  didn't pan out too well.  I did better on my own."  I slumped on my haunches remembering back and vacantly staring for a second or two.  Before remembering that I was still talking to a Princess.  I stood up and almost adopted the kneeling position before remembering her orders not to be so formal.

        "Come on now.  A pony needs his friends,  just because you had one bad experience doesn't mean you can rule it out forever."  She continued to attempt to get through to me.  Hmmm,  how did she know about that?  Did she read my mind on that too?  Could she even do that?  I would presume that my natural unicorn magic makes it impossible for anyone to read my mind,  but she was a very old alicorn.  Oh Celestia no I just called a mind reader old....You look great for your age.

        "Princess Celestia tell you?"  I said trying to keep a straight face as I was battling my mind to keep my thoughts pure,  no feeding Steelhoof to a dragon here Princess, not one bit.  Ah who am I kidding,  nobody can read a unicorn's mind,  natural magic and blah blah makes it downright impossible.  Yet no matter how much I told that,  I couldn't help but feel slightly violated and nervous.

        "Yes.  I understand,  it was bad for you.  You're very use to not letting anypony down,  you're very dutiful.  But that was not your assignment nor your fault.  You should not count friendship as a liability purely on one bad experience that was no fault of your own."  She did have a point,  but that didn't mean I was going to go and have a best friends forever party.  The only 2 ponies I really talked to were still huge foals who piggybacked off of me.

        "....I guess.  But it still seems a little risky."  I turned around looking at Steelhoof and Arteus,  half heartedly hoping to have a super friendship epiphany and embrace them in a hug and be friends for the rest of time and blah blah blah.  All that happened was I pushed Arteus back down to the ground and told her to stay there.

        "I'm sure you'll change your mind in time."  The Princess smiled as if she knew something I didn't.  This did nothing more than rouse my suspicion.  Which added to the suspicion I already had about this whole thing.  Fantastic.  "Now hush,  my sister is about to speak.  You know,  the one you have to kneel to?"  She jested.  Sitting back in her throne as Princess Celestia began talking.

        "Thank you all for coming and making your choice sensibly.  You are now free to return to your daily routines.  Goodbye."  The Princess of the sun smiled,  turning to Luna,  discussing...Princessy stuff.

        I walked out of the throne room,  taking a left and heading for the cafeteria as hunger stuck.  Well,  I was going too.  I heard a loud,  drone voice shout over the crowd of conversation.  "Where are you going?"  Steelhoof bellowed,  bounding after me,  Arteus clinging to his neck as he burst through the crowd with his notably amazing situational awareness.  Nearly steam rolling some unfortunate ponies.

        "....Cafeteria?"  I replied confused,  half ignoring them and continuing to walk.

        "Why?  Don't you want to hang out with your squad mates?"  He said tauntingly,  I don't know if he got the memo or not,  but he wasn't my squad mate.

        "We're not in a squad any more,  no more free rides.  You should probably go train."  I angrily told him,  not particularly liking the idea of their smugness on the subject of using me.  Neither of them noticed this,  and took off from Steelhoof's back,  once again,  at the most foolish of times,  violating my personal space.

        "Yeah?  Well both me and Steelhoof are going to vote for us to stay together.  That's 2 of the 3 voting,  they'll have to keep us together.  You're stuck with us!"  Then,  I got angry.  I unleashed all the anger I stored up during our partnership,  now that it was over,  I had no reason not to release it.  We weren't going on missions together any more,  no teamwork to jeopardize,  why the hay not.

        "Get...out...of my bucking face!  Neither of you are getting any more free rides from me!  Do either of you even listen when a Princess speaks?"  I screamed stomping towards them as they retreated slowly backwards,  caught entirely off guard.  So were the ponies surrounding as they stared,  but I wasn't done.  "Every one of us has to agree or the squad can NOT be reformed,  I am most certainly NOT agreeing to carrying you foals in my backpack any longer!  Is this getting through your thick skulls a little better or do I need to make a hole through your bucking head and then tell you?!?!"  I seethed through gritted teeth,  causing them to back away,  along with every pony in a 20 foot radius due to the fact I was now crackling with lightning.  Finally I get my personal space.  Through all the rage,  I didn't even notice a messenger pony land beside me and begin to deliver a message to me.  I turned,  looking at him as he nearly ran in fear.  And squeaked out my orders.

        "Um....You need to...go to Princess Luna's quarters...in 15 minutes...."  He quietly said before buzzing off back to where he came from.

        Oh bit.  Was that because of my outburst?  I had been the founding member of the Blades of Luna for what,  2 minutes?  And I was already being called in for a caution.  Delightful.  And worst of all?  I wasn't going to get to eat.  I decided that 15 minutes was enough time to walk back to my quarters and grab a muffin that may or may not be very,  very stale out of my bedside drawer.  I turned around to,  lo and behold,  no Steelhoof or Arteus.  Hey,  at least I scared them off.  And I still had my personal space,  it was like my birthday.

        I began to canter back to my quarters,  to pick up a muffin I had in my bedside table,  hoping it hadn't gone stale.  I thought what Luna's punishment for me may be,  she seemed pretty adamant that I was going to "get" friendship,  and raging all over the only 2 ponies I really knew seemed to put a rather large obstacle on the friendship road,  so that probably wasn't going to go down too well.

        It wasn't long before I reached my quarters,  solemnly trotting over to my bed,  happy Steelhoof and Arteus were nowhere in sight,  the last thing I needed to do now was make the hole any bigger.  I magicked the drawer open,  levitating a muffin in front of me,  taking a bite out of it.  Like a rock.  Maybe I could take this,  if push comes to shove I could beat Luna with it.  I magicked it back into my drawer, and closed it,  deciding upon not beating a Princess over the head with a muffin from the stone ages.

        I began my walk to Luna's quarters,  before suddenly realizing something I hadn't before through worry of which Luna would send me to,  Everfree or the moon.  The messenger pony didn't go back to the throne room!  Therefore his orders must have been given to find me beforehand,  so what did Luna want?  The fact I was suspicious about this whole Blades of Luna thing,  not entirely believing they would uproot an age old group of elite guards merely to say they were joint rulers now.  If they wanted to do that Luna could surely just go find ponies worthy of her Blades.  That I was now being called for a personal audience with Luna made me even more suspicious.  Just what was really going on here?  Oh well,  time would tell.  Not pondering it on the way.

        But ponder I did....Maybe she wanted me to fight a dragon....or date her....heh.....yeah right...She's a Princess and I'm an emotionally distant at the best of times pony who,  as far as I knew,  was the only pony to reject friendship.  I'm pretty sure it was probably just a dragon.  Cool,  dragons....Then again,  what if she did want to date me...She was being awfully friendly towards me,  and letting me just call her Luna?  I don't know...I hadn't had a date in.....well....ever.  My life was dedicated to my work.  What does one do on a date?  Where would I take her?  Okay,  that thought is getting out now,  no more of that.  It's a silly notion entirely,  and I couldn't allow it to grow.  If she really was a mind reader that would be rather embarrassing...

        ....Wait....if that messenger got orders beforehand....and he told me to go to Luna...how did he know I would choose the Blades?....I just presumed I was going to Luna because I chose Blades,  and if I had chosen to stick with the Spear I would be on my way to Celestia right now.....hmmm....

        HOLY BIT LUNA WANTED TO DATE ME.  What is the protocol when asked out by a Princess?  I can't get her nice gifts,  I don't get payed for this!  My payment is getting to live in the castle!  But those dumb royal guards get payed,  stupid overpayed cowardly winged vermin,  if they're payed for being afraid of their own shadow,  I should be for bringing dragons down!  Hayseeds to this job,  I'm becoming a royal guard,  as far as I know the only prerequisites are looking scary and being a wimp.

        What am I saying,  I'd never wear that gold.  It looks stupid.....Celestia should have gone with something black,  with rubies.  I wonder if I could bargain a position as captain of the guard,  then I could train them to not be afraid of ketchup and mustard,  they could at least make me sandwiches all day.....Wait,  what?  NO!  I'm not lowering myself to those foals!  To go from my job to.....that...would almost definitely make me the coward king of the royal guards.  Cool armour or not,  I'd have to run away from it because it looked more intimidating than a throw cushion.

        I'm just being stupid,  she's a Princess.  She's going to get to know me for a longer period of time than 5 minutes before she makes a decision like that,  especially given the fact she just returned from the moon.  I was just being silly.  And she can't read minds either....it wouldn't hurt to whitewash my own mind in fear of her reading it and it being...less than respectable.  Time to pull a Steelhoof......food....food....food...Luna eats worms food....BIT...This was harder than Steelhoof made it look...

        As I neared Luna's private quarters,  worries in tow,  worries even I knew to be silly,  I knocked on her door....Nothing.  How long had it been?  I wasn't early,  I thought looking at one of the clocks on the palace walls,  lovely.  I slumped on my haunches next to the door,  closing my eyes,  I was still pretty darn tired.  When my impromptu nap was cut short by a certain tardy Princesses' arrival.

        "Ah,  Crimsonlight!  Hello!"  Luna smiled levitating a tidy bundle of paperwork next to her.

        "You're late."  I joked,  pointing at my blank hoof.  I don't know why,  but I liked Luna,  her whole scrapping formalities thing,  and she was just...less formal than her sister.  I was happy that she seemed to return the favour.

        "You try being a Princess."  She said,  magicking a key from between the paper and sliding it into the door,  unlocking the door and walking in,  dumping the paper on her bed.  Not tidy any more.  "Come in,  please."

        "Thank you."  I said walking through the door,  once again holding back the ever present urge to kneel.  Darn knees.  "I'd make a very good Princess."

        "I think you would too for what it's worth.  But sadly we're not here for that."  She smiled coyly,  reorganizing the paper on her bed.  So we're not here for my eventual promotion to Princess.  What else could there possibly be?

        "I wouldn't expect to become a Princess yet,  I don't even have a tiara.  So what am I here for?  I assume you have some cool title to bestow upon me for being the founding member of the Blades?"  I questioned,  it was the only thing I could think of right now apart from an assignment.  But with all the paperwork she obviously had,  why would she go through the trouble of personally giving me an assignment?

        "Heh, Unfortunately not.  You're being given a new assignment."  She replied,  okay then,  so my logical assumption was wrong.  Hey cool!  Dragon fight!

        "Okay then,  what is it?"  I said with a hint of excitement in my voice.  I always did like my line of work,  hopefully it would be something challenging.  Dragon,  Ursa minor,  the cool stuff.

        "Nothing like what you're thinking,  I'm afraid."  She said,  noticing the excitement in my voice and letting me down easily.  So...I didn't fight any more?  Was this all a ruse?  Maybe there was an element of a test of faith about it.  Perhaps the Blades were more defensive,  not leaving Canterlot,  perhaps we were the new kitchen staff.  That should be....fun...if your idea of fun is working in a kitchen and being bugged by Steelhoof and Arteus.  Actually,  on second thought,  I was probably going to go to jail for drastically violent actions if this were true.

        "....Oh?  What is it?"  I asked,  very much so hoping she was messing with me and there was a dragon attacking a town or something.  That sounded a lot less sadistic in my head.

        "You're going to Ponyville."  She stated plainly.....What?  Was it under attack?

        "Ponyville?  Isn't that where the elements live?  Why?"  I could only come to the conclusion that I was being fired or was being sent to defend it.  But she said there wouldn't be any fighting...maybe...I had to...defend it from...pacifists?...Through rigorous verbal debate?....I got nothing.

        "You're right.  And that's why you're going there.  You need to defend the elements of harmony.  I'm sorry to uproot you at a moments notice,  but this is of the utmost urgency.  Are you okay?"  She tried to reassure me,  I didn't need reassuring right now,  I needed answers.  And given the amount of questions I had,  she better put that paperwork aside.

        "Defend them from what?  I thought you said no fighting."

        "We're not entirely sure the...danger...is real or not.  We need you to keep the elements under your watch.  Don't worry,  it won't be for too long.  It won't take us a very large period of time to figure out whether or not the threat is real."  She looked at me as I stood there with a look of confusion on my face reminiscent of an earth pony filly trying to understand the Princesses personal spell book.

        Then,  my mind put 2 and 2 together.  "Is this what you meant when you said 'I'm sure you'll change your mind in time.  In regards to friendship?"  I was trying to get a footing,  so to speak.  This was kind of a lot to drop on somepony.  I hadn't lived anywhere but Canterlot for my entire life,  I kind of needed a dragon right about now.

        Luna grinned in response,  jabbing me in the front leg.  "You're a sharp pony.  Surely you didn't expect I meant that you'd find friendship with those 2 foals you used to work with,  did you?"  She laughed,  this did a lot for her in my eyes.  Calling Steelhoof and Arteus foals?  Princess Celestia would never do that.  Luna for life.

       "You'll get no argument from me on that one."  I smiled.  Following beside the Princess as she magically tidied her mountain of paperwork and began to walk outside,  back into the palace halls.

        "I have business to attend to.  And so do you.  You need to leave immediately.  Two royal guards have been ordered to take you to Ponyville.  They're waiting in the carriage yard.  Your chariot awaits,  Princess."  She magicked the key back to her and locked the door,  smirking.  Great,  I had a carriage ride with 2 royal guards.  I'm not annoyed by that at all.

        "Heh,  thanks Luna.  Goodbye."  I nodded to her,  somewhat now used to the no kneeling rule and began to walk away.

        "Crimsonlight?  I am your Princess,  you really think I was serious when I said no formalities?"  She angrily said stomping a hoof with authority.  I don't get easily scared,  but I'm pretty sure I almost squeaked.  I turned around and briskly walked up to her,  kneeling.

        "Sorry,  Princess,  goodbye."  I stood up and quickly turned to leave.

        "HAHA!  You're so easy.  Oh,  that was fun.  Goodbye Crimsonlight."  .......Did she just get me?...Great way to start a day,  sent to Ponyville and got by a Princess.  At least there was nopony around to witness it.

        "....Goodbye Luna.."  I breathed out,  sighing in relief that she wasn't serious as she walked around laughing to herself.  I turned and began to make my way to the carriage yard,  still not too sold on the idea of a long carriage ride with a couple of ponies who were afraid of the wind.

        I turned around and began to lazily walk to the carriage yard,  rubbing at my eyes,  looks like I had a particularly long day ahead of me.  I may have lived in Canterlot but I had been to some other places for periods of time,  Fillydelphia,  Hoofington,  Ponyville not among them.  From what I understood it was a town of closely knit ponies,  everyone knew everyone,  everyone was friendly,  not my thing.  I'd prefer Manehattan,  at least there I could watch who I was guarding without being forced to become personally involved.

        The carriage yard wasn't very far,  so I got there relatively quickly.  Stepping outside the cool air hit my face,  I liked that about Canterlot,  high above ground level the temperature up here was noticeably lower,  and the scenery was pretty nice too.  I could even make out Ponyville in the distance looking over the edge of the carriage yard.  I walked over to my carriage,  and began to climb in,  when a familiar voice shouted after me.

        "Hey,  wait up,  come here!"  Arteus shouted after me,  Steelhoof in tow.  Well,  about a mile behind,  eh,  details.  She soared past me not being able to come to a stop in time,  flying past a royal guards heads and almost hitting him,  causing him to jump back in fear.  Which was a pretty basic response on his behalf.  If only she had been 2 inches to the left.

        "Overshoot that much?"  I sarcastically replied as she brought herself to a halt as Steelhoof ran beside me panting.  She fluttered down onto his back,  looking at the carriage confusedly.

        "Where are you going?"  She rubbed her head,  as the royal guards shuffled impatiently in place.

        "Ponyville."  She began to raise a hoof in question.  "Don't know."  She put her hoof down looking at me as if telling me to stop using my mind reading unicorn magic,  silly Arteus.  "So,  what do you want?"  I asked gruffly,  still harbouring some residual rage.

        Steelhoof spoke up.  "We saw you and we wanted to....apologize"  He strained that word as if it was painful upon exit of his throat.  Despite my obvious pleasure at this,  I was still caught off guard by the two ponies I berated not long ago standing before me apologizing.  Or at least attempting to.

        "....Oh,  why's that?"  I questioned,  deciding to push my luck.  I knew I was being a buck,  but I didn't want an apology,  I wanted an apology and a complimentary essay.

        "...We...we realized we had been foals,  letting you do all the work.  Given you were no gem either,  but still.  We're sorry."  Steelhoof blurted out quickly,  avoiding any eye contact,  as did Arteus,  who just stared into space nodding her head in approval...Hmmmm...good enough.

        "....I guess I'm sorry too then."  I didn't know why,  I just felt obliged,  didn't want to ruin the moment.  "I could have been a little more tolerant."  And then a golden clad foal decided to interrupt me.

        "Can we cut the love festival and just hurry up?"  He said causing his equally wimpy friend to giggle.

        "Do you know why we don't wear armour?  Because dragons would bake us inside it.  You know what is hot other than fire?  Lightning.  Food for thought."  I happily retorted,  powering up my horn so to speak.  They shifted nervously,  apparently not taking too well to death threats.

        "Well...thanks for the apology you two....I have to go,  order by the Princess and all that...Goodbye."  I said,  with a new level of respect for the two ponies I had woken up this morning despising.

        They both simultaneously said goodbye,  then Steelhoof trotted off with Arteus still on his back.  I boarded the SS Coward,  it took off immediately.  Stupid impatient guards.  Oh well...the sooner the better.

        Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  It probably would though.