Hello,  I hope you all enjoyed chapter 3,  this is chapter 4 and it's getting dangerously close to the point I was before my original story got deleted,  almost time to actually write new things!

So,  that's all,  chapter 4,  go!

        I woke up in a haze,  still barely conscious,  which wasn't much of an improvement,  but being that one of my fleeting thoughts was 'did anyone catch the number of the mountain that fell on me?' I decided to be very thankful for this change.  I could hear busy sounding ponies rushing around the place,  chatting furiously to one another about....well,  I don't know,  I was still only semi conscious.  Metal clanging on trays,  must have been equipment of some sort,  and the beeping of machinery....A lab?  Either way,  somepony was touching me,  I felt a hoof rest on my forehead,  brushing my mane.  That at least soothed me slightly,  not much though considering the thought I was dying and they were going to cut my superior pony parts up and use them to make a new me was still running through my head.  Dying or not,  I swear to Celestia I'm not becoming Crimsonstein.  The pony rubbing my head seemed to sympathize with this,  gifting me a few kind words.

        "Crimsonlight....I need to you wake up now.  Please?  You're going to be fine....just please....don't make me a liar...Wake up...."  The voice pleaded with me,  okay,  time to break it down.  Somepony who's voice I couldn't deliberate in my current state was asking me to wake up,  so was I dying?  But I was awake,  barely.  I better fully wake myself up before....I better fully wake myself up!

        I stirred in my sleep,  moving my head back and forth and trying to open my eyes with greatly diminished strength as the voice offered kind words and moral support.  I finally struggled my eyes open,  closing them immediately as the surrounding area's brightness peirced their sanctity much more than I would like.  As I became fully conscious I felt a weird stinging sensation on my side,  accompanied by an odd soothing sensation that seemed to pass up and down by body,  I also noted a throbbing headache in my....head.....I slowly reopened my eyes,  acclimating myself to my surroundings.  Whitewashed walls,  a machine next to with a line,  spiking every now and then,  beeping....wait.....Great...I'm in hospital.  I turned my head to find the pony rubbing my forehead gently,  expecting to see a nurse,  but I was instead greeted by a dark blue pony blob,  as my vision was still blurry,  what I found peculiar about this blob was that it had wings AND a horn.....

        "Crimson!"  The figure screamed excitedly,  revealing itself to be none other than the Princess of the moon,  Luna.  She hugged around my neck tightly,  not really causing me any discomfort as that wasn't were my injury was,  I can't say the same for the high pitched wail of excitement that assaulted my currently tender sense of hearing,  though.

        "Nice to see you too.  Nice to see anything,  actually."  I responded,  hugging back and putting a hoof to my head,  as my headache shifted into a migraine.

        "Oh...I'm sorry...Don't worry,  there's a powerful healing aura placed on you,  that headache....and the rest...should heal up pretty soon."  She shied away slightly saying that,  seeming to want to hide something.  I hazarded a look down at my right side,  where the majority of my pain was coming from,  and sure enough,  saw what was provoking this pain and discomfort,  and remembered how it happened in the first place.  My body,  from just by the cutie mark all the way up to behind my front legs was bandaged.  Bucking manticore.

        "....Oh...."  I sighed sadly,  remembering what happened.  "....So...What are you doing in Ponyville?  That worried huh?"  I asked with a smirk,  much to Luna's delight as she laughed,  which,  given the situation,  caught me off guard.  "What?"  She responded simply by pointing off to a window,  I looked,  only to see the towering spires of Canterlot.  ".....I'm....I'm lost.  Help me out a little,  will ya?"

        "Haha,  okay,  do you want the long story or the short story?"  She smiled,  trying to wipe the grin off her face.

        "Whichever one explains to me why I'm in Canterlot and what you're doing here."  I grumpily replied,  trying to peak under my bandage with a prying hoof,  only to get it slapped away by Luna's.

        "Leave it alone.  And okay,  long it is.  You took quite a deep wound from that manticore,  it hit some...uhm....Important stuff.  You would have bled out long before you got here if the elements didn't transport you hear in a hot air balloon,  Twilight and Rarity used the little healing magic Equestrian law allows them to know to sustain you on the trip.  When you got here they delivered you to hospital and sent my sister and I a letter detailing the events,  my sister was busy so I rushed over here and performed surgery myself with advanced healing magic.  What you feel now are whatever was harmed slowly stitching itself back together."  She explained in detail,  in a business like tone.  I found no questions to ask her,  she explained the....complicated,  at the very least,  situation,  very carefully and well.  I only had one thing to say.

        "Thank you,  Luna......For saving my life...."  I reached out to hug her,  wincing as I sat up,  something I hope she deeply appreciated,  not as much given current situation and the pain I was experiencing,  but given I don't think I've ever hugged another pony before.  Not willingly at least.  She gently pushed me back down and wrapped her arms around me softly.

        "Come on,  I'd rather you save your thankful hugs for later when you recuperate.  Hopefully that should be soon,  I'm pretty good at this magic stuff."  She lightened the mood,  walking over to the other side of my bed,  performing an x-ray spell on my bandage to see the wound itself.  Why didn't I think of that?  ...Oh,  yeah,  almost dying.  "Seems to be stitching itself back up quite nicely.  Pretty good work,  If I do say so myself."

        I followed suit,  using an x-ray spell on my bandage.  It took more effort than usual and didn't help my migraine,  but I pulled it off without many problems nonetheless.  What I saw was slightly disconcerting,  a long,  nasty looking gash,  bloodied and flayed skin all along it.  It looked pretty deep,  no surprise it hit some important stuff.  Fortunately though it looked to be healing in places,  skin,  as Luna said,  knitting itself back in place thanks to her powerful magic,  my insides were no doubt completely fine by now,  but understandably I didn't want to look in there.  I repeat.  Bucking manticore.

        Then,  my brain kicked in gear and reminded me of something.  Something rather important.  "Luna.  What was up with those manticore?"  I asked,  with the 'danger' that Luna mentioned previously looming in the back of my mind.

        "...I...I don't know,  what WAS up with them?"  She answered my question with a question,  great,  more post near death thinking,  my favourite kind.  I racked my brain for a couple seconds to come up with what actually was up with them.  Eventually though,  my brain made good and delivered.  Thanks brain,  friends for life.

        "They had like...weird grey eyes,  with completely red pupils.  And weird signs on their foreheads.  I can't remember exactly what the signs were like,  but they were red too."  I responded hazily,  trying to get a grip on my own thoughts,  a lot harder than it sounds.

        "Signs....What signs?"  The fear in Luna's voice became obviously present at this point,  this worried me,  but I had dealt with the problem,  right?  Those two manticore had some magical Princess slaying abilities and I stopped them before they could utilize them,  right?  ......I found myself trying to convince myself they were indeed the threat more than congratulating myself on ending the threat.

        "...They.....I'm....I'm sorry,  Luna....I don't think I can...."  My migraine got the best of me as I clutched my head and lay down.  Still racking my brain for answers,  becoming frustrated when there were apparently none to find,  which only intensified my migraine,  which stressed me out,  causing me to want the answers more and more before the migraine got much worse.  Stupid vicious circles.

        "Crimson....I know it's hard,  but please,  calm down,  you're only making the migraine worse.  Now can you give it one more effort?  This is very important to Equestria,  what were the markings like?"  Luna encouraged me to get over my mental block.  I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to soothe my migraine somewhat,  and it worked somewhat,  I became less focused on the migraine and more focused on retrieving the answers for Luna.  I delved into my mind one more time,  and thankfully,  came up successful.

        "It was like....a glowing red...circle...With one line inside of it...a diagonal one,  from the top right to the bottom left....And one more line going through it,  beginning and finishing outside of the circle,  through just right of the centre.....Yeah...that's it,  I think at least....Luna....?"  I waved a hoof in front of Luna,  who had frozen up somewhat,  with a look of shock and horror mixed on her face.  My hoof being waved in her face snapped her out of her trance.  "Luna?  What's going on,  it's fine right...I killed them...."

        ".....It's....I don't think it's fine.....I need to talk to my sister before I tell you anything....I'm sorry...."  Luna bowed her head,  intimidated by two dead manticore than I've ever seen an alicorn intimidated about,  well,  anything.  Like Celestia it what ending there.  Bed ridden and hospitalized or not,  I wanted answers and I was going to get them.

        "Luna....tell me....what is going on?"  I asked,  the same fear that tinged her voice now present in mine.  I sat up slightly,  waiting intently to listen to what Luna had to say,  knowing now that those two manticore were just the beginning,  scouts,  reconnaissance,  a warning.

        "I....I really need to ask my sister..."  She continued to shy away from my and avoid eye contact,  this did nothing but confirm my fears that this was just the beginning....or even by the way she was shying away,  suggesting she knew a lot about this...the return?...Of something big.

        Nevertheless,  she forced me to play a card I didn't want to play in my desperate plea for information.  The guilt trip.  "Luna,  I just almost died....Now please,  I want to help anypony I can as much as possible.  Tell me,  what was up with those things?"  I was sitting up fully now,  the pain from the cut already dying down thanks to the very powerful healing aura,  but I didn't feel too good about pulling the dreaded guilt trip card on Luna.

        ".....Okay....I understand......Just don't tell my sister okay?...."  I nodded and leaned closer.  "You see....the thing is...."  Just then,  with arguably the worst timing known to Equestria,  none other than Pinkie Pie burst through the door of my room,  followed by the rest of the elements and Spike,  and worst of all,  Luna's sister.  Princess Celestia.

        "Crimsonlight!  You're okay!  I was so worried after that manticore hit you!  But you're okay now!  You ARE okay,  right?"  Pinkie Pie was the first to speak up,  leaping forward and latching herself around my neck,  nearly choking the life out of me.  Awkwardly strong grip for such a small and....pink pony.

        "For now,  yeah."  I replied,  pushing her off of me,  coughing as I regained my ability to breathe.  "Where were you guys?"

        "We were forced to remain in the waiting room,  well,  until the Princess showed up and got us in here."  Twilight motioned to Princess Celestia,  who now had her back turned to us,  as did Luna,  whispering to her in hushed tones,  which worried me as it brought doubts that I may not get the information I was prying from Luna before she arrived.

        "So,  how're ya?"  Rainbow stepped forward,  mimicking my actions earlier as she slowly moved her hoof towards my bandage,  I played the part of Luna and slapped it away.

        "I've been better,  but Luna patched me up pretty well.  Thank you,  all of you,  by the way.  If it wasn't for all of you coordinating to get me here,  I'd be.....you know."  I bowed my head,  not wanting to think about my own demise.  I'm weird like that,  go figure.

        "Weren't nothin' sugarcube.  You're our friend,  what did ya expect us tah do?"  Applejack said assuringly,  resting a hoof on my shoulder.  Awww,  warm fuzzy feelings and all that nonsense.

        ".....Either way,  I owe all of you a whole lot more than one."  I nodded back,  getting the odd feeling I would get a chance to repay them.

        "Oh please darling,  if it wasn't for you we would all be in the same position as you right now!  You could have easily hid in the house,  but you chose to confront those manticore.  Consider us even."  Rarity attempted to comfort me in her casually over dramatic voice,  to her credit,  she did a good job,  But despite her efforts,  the only pony that had a real shot at comforting me now was Luna,  and Celestia had stolen her.

        "Like it or not,  you all are now owed one."  I smiled back,  only half paying attention,  my eyes darting back and forth between the elements,  accompanied by Spike,  and the Princesses.  Finally,  I was put out of my misery by Princess Celestia,  who was turning around from her brief meeting with Luna.

        "Crimsonlight,  after some discussion,  my sister and I regret to inform you we can not disclose the information upon exactly what attacked you as of now.  We hope you understand."  Princess Luna shied away from me,  averting her gaze to the ground and away from me,  whilst Princess Celestia took on a businesslike tone and kept it short,  obviously not too pleased with the situation.  Whether it was what attacked me that was displeasing her,  or not being able to tell me,  I didn't know,  but what I did know was that I was angry about being denied information as to why I had almost just died.  Angry enough to challenge an alicorn.

        "You can't 'disclose the information'?"  I angrily spoke up,  as I climbed slowly out my bed.  Princess Celestia seemed taken aback by my sudden lack of obedience,  whilst Luna simply rushed forward to attempt to keep me in bed.  I got up despite Luna and the pain in my side's combined efforts to keep me down,  and slowly hobbled my way towards the offending Princess.  "I don't know if this was the 'threat' Luna told me about,  but I almost died,  because by YOUR law only doctors are allowed any decent healing magic,  so by the time I finally got here your sister had to come here and save me personally!  The least YOU could do is tell me what almost took my life."  I hissed at the Princess of the sun,  now mere inches from her face.  Her face mirroring the shock of that on everypony else in the room.

        Princess Celestia overcame her own shock,  reforming herself to speak once more.  "Crimsonlight,  I understand your anger,  but you do not know what is at stake.  If me or my sister tell you,  or anypony else,  before complete confirmation,  we risk sending the whole of Equestria into a state of urgency and panic for nothing."  Princess Celestia tried to keep her usual regal tone,  but as she went on tones of anger were becoming more and more evident,  to me at least.  Luna tugged on my tail as a signal to stop,  despite all better judgement,  I chose to continue my argument with a deity.

        "Oh,  my apologies,  I suppose my life is forfeit as long as Equestria doesn't get afraid of what goes bump in the night.  Princess,  if those manticore are linked to this....this....this thing that has you so worried,  and judging by the look on your face when Luna told you about them,  they are,  then why not tell me,  so I can prepare to help in whatever way I can.  So Equestria can prepare to help."  I spoke through gritted teeth as my and the Princesses eyes never shifted their angry stare from each other.  I couldn't shake the feeling that arguing with the ruler of the land in which I lived was not the smartest thing I've done,  however.

        The Princess and I bored holes through each other with angry stares,  creating not so much of an awkward silence,  but a terrifying one.  I felt that the Princess was not spending her time searching for the correct words as she spent it wondering how stupid I was,  eventually though,  she opened her mouth,  now with much more than a hint of anger in her voice.  "......You have NO idea what you're talking about.  You almost died,  that is terrible,  but you survived,  and by a small miracle you are walking again,  and you use that ability to walk to stand and challenge me when you know nothing of what is happening?  Think of Equestria instead of yourself.  That's why you make a good Spear,  that's why you have all these years,  don't let me down,  especially not now."  Princess Celestia stepped forward,  not afraid of showing the elements a side of her I doubt they'd ever seen.

        "You're right,  I completely agree,  I have no idea,  you however,  do.  Yet you still choose to keep us in the dark when faced with evidence of what you obviously fear so much is here.  But that's fine,  because you're our noble ruler,  aren't you,  Princess?"  I was not just openly challenging the Princesses opinion,  I was mocking it.  I lowered to one knee as I said Princess to underline that I meant it as an insulting gesture,  causing a collective gasp from everypony,  even the one I was arguing with,  in the room.

        Princess Celestia's face turned from an angry one,  to one of shock,  and then to one I didn't expect to see,  disappointment.  She lowered her tone and began to speak.  "Crimsonlight......I expect more of you,  you rarely step hoof out of line,  and when you do,  it takes no more than a word from me to calm the situation,  as it should do.  You not only have no place in deciding anything about this information,  you have no right to address me in such a fashion.  Crimsonlight,  your status as a Blade of Luna is hereby revoked."  For the first time in the argument I felt like she wasn't debating me on an important matter,  but talking down to me.  Nothing more than a mother scolding her young colt after he had misbehaved.  My three other legs buckled and dropped into a kneeling stance too as I sat there on the ground,  my eyes welling up,  I felt unwilling to continue the argument.

        "Sister,  I beg of you,  reconsider!  His actions may be brash but he can not control them,  he just had a near death experience,  let it pass!"  Luna leapt to my side and rested a wing on my back as I stared at the ground,  silently thankful of her pleading my case,  but not really wanting this to continue as I knew she would not sway her older sibling.

        "Luna,  how would you react if a servant spoke to you in such a manner?"  Princess Celestia turned her gaze to her sister who remained at my side.  I remained on the ground,  attempting to hold back something that was very rare for me,  tears,  in hope of keeping some of my dignity after being turned into a kneeling wreck by mere words.

        "I....I would......This...This is entirely different!"  Luna found herself somewhat robbed of words as she attempted to defend me,  her sister now unwavering in her stance.  Looking cold and merciless,  at least from my position,  an admittedly skewed one.  I let a single tear escape my eye as I bowed my head further to hide my shame,  the shame of being robbed of the only thing I knew how to do,  defend ponies.  The fact that a huge danger may be on the horizon did nothing to comfort me.

        "No,  Luna,  it is not.  One of my subjects has shown blatant lack of respect for me,  but more importantly Equestria,  stop trying to defend him,  you know I'm right."  Princess Celestia cast an accusing look at Luna,  and motioned a hoof at me,  not even bothering to look my way.  This did nothing but make me angrier,  and I didn't even have the fight left to utilize it.  "Besides,  if the worst of the worst happens and it really happens,  I will still utilize him,  as I will have to."  Utilize me?  I was nothing more than a tool to her?  This gave me the fight I needed,  I slowly rose to my hooves and faced the Princess of the sun,  vision cloudy with tears and pure rage etched across my face.

        "You will utilize me,  Princess?  What,  am I no more than a tool now?"  I stepped forward,  back up to the Princess and out from under Luna's protective wing.  "I don't take kindly to being thrown aside like a foal,  then the pony that threw me aside saying they will merely 'pick me out the mud I was cast into and use me again'.  What if I don't WANT to help?"  Princess Celestia seemed unwavering now,  uncaring,  almost sure of herself,  but more annoyingly,  my mindless obedience.

        "You will do as instructed.  If the worst case scenario comes to be,  I trust that even in your current state you have the sense to help,  not for me,  not for your own honour,  for everypony in Equestria.  Do not make me a liar,  Crimsonlight."  Princess Celestia batted me down once more,  in a scarily gentle voice,  I receded at her words and curled up next to Luna once more.  I felt like a filly,  curling up next to Luna to protect me from the big,  bad Princess of the sun.  But that's what I was right now,  I was nothing like Crimsonlight,  the Blade of Luna.  I was a lost filly,  with no idea what to do with his life.

        What she said did get me thinking though.  About why I was so important.  About why they even needed me,  as their powers far exceeded my own.  But mostly,  about whether I was going to help.  I wanted to help ponies,  but helping Princess Celestia after she had taken away my only merit seemed like the actions of a desperate foal,  but was that what I was?  Would this give me a shot at being rehired to the Blade or the Spear?  Doubtful after that display,  but I had nowhere to go,  I couldn't rely on Luna,  who seemed to still be on my side,  because after getting fired I had no ties to either of the Princesses and gaining an audience with them in their busy lives would be tricky.  The only thing I had to rely were 6 ponies who called me friend,  yet I was unsure if I could return that feeling.  All of this ran through my head and more as I sat there,  shunned and broken,  to summarise the entire thing,  I was homeless,  unemployed,  and depressed at the loss of the only thing I had.  And I could only think of two words to spare myself more embarrassment.  Sadly,  these two words brought me great anguish to say.

        "....Yes,  Princess."

        "Very well."  Princess Celestia turned to leave,  seeming very displeased with the entire situation.  At least that was mutual between us.  "Luna,  are you coming?  We both have a lot of work to attend."  She motioned a hoof to Luna,  who seemed to snap out of the slight trance she was in and turn her eyes to her sister.

        "Uhh,  yes!  Of course.  Just give me a moment please,  will you?"  Luna asked her sister,  motioning her head to me.

        "Okay Luna,  but be quick.  We do have a lot of work to do."  Princess Celestia's horn then began to glow,  that was followed by a flash of bright white light as she teleported out of the room,  off to do whatever was so important.

        "So.....Are you okay?  That was fairly harsh."  Luna asked,  walking towards me and doing her best to take on a casual tone.  I raised my head,  attempting to hide my sad feelings,  I wasn't that sad any more to be honest,  I was just overwhelmed by an empty feeling.

        "All things considered,  lets consider it a personal triumph I didn't take a swing at your sister.  Good thing too,  doubt it would have gone well."  I looked around the room,  noticing the elements and Spike.  I gave a brief thought to how awkward the situation must be for them,  not a day ago they were living their idealistic lives,  now they were watching their friend,  who had recently returned from the brink of death be berated by a Princess who had no doubt shown only her kind side to them.

        "Can't say I didn't think of it myself."  Luna smirked,  reassuring me.  Hey,  maybe later to pick my spirits we could all go mug Princess Celestia in an alleyway.  "You're going to be fine,  right?  Not planning on doing anything rash,  or stupid?  Like hitting an alicorn?"  She joked,  attempting to lift my spirits.  She was doing an okay job,  all things taken into account.

        "I hadn't quite chalked up the blueprints yet,  so she'll be fine for now."  I jested back,  attempting to lift my own spirits with the joke more so then follow the conversation.

        "Okay,  good."  She cantered over to the door,  stopping just because it and turning around.  "Would you...like to meet me at the courtyard in one hour?"  She asked,  rather shyly for a several thousand year old alicorn.

        "Wh...What for?"  I replied,  rather caught off guard by the spur of the moment invitation.  It's not every day you get fired by one alicorn then asked to hang out by the next moments later.

        "Well,  I'm sure you could do worse than kill time with an alicorn,  couldn't you?  Besides,  it'll be a nice change of pace,  the only time you've had to stop and rest this last day or so was when you were unconscious."  She insisted,  and she was right.  Given I normally didn't get much sleep,  but most ponies didn't use their relaxation time in a bleeding unconscious state being stitched up by an alicorn,  so I decided to take her up on it.

        "I guess you're right.  I'll be there in one ho-.....Wait a minute,  did you just ask me out on a date and expect me not to notice?"  I smiled,  perking up a bit and pointing an accusational hoof at her at the sudden realization of what just happened.

        "Crimsonlight,  please,  this is merely one friend helping out another."  She giggled,  smiling coyly

        "Of course,  how could I be so foalish."  I giggled along with the joke,  feeling slightly reinvigorated at the thought of spending some time with a pony that was actually decent conversation.

        "Good,  I'll see you then.  Goodbye Crimson,  stay out of trouble."  She smirked,  walking towards the door.  Nice to see she was opting for the more direct,  and much less flashy approach.

        "I'll try.  Goodbye."  I said,  slightly sad by her leaving as I sullenly walked over to my hospital bed,  lying down slowly and turning my head to everypony else in the room,  noticing they were still standing there,  in silence and awe at everything that had just happened,  as it was no doubt not what they were expecting.  Hay,  even Pinkie Pie was standing in silence.  "Never seen a pony pick a fight with a Princess before?"

        It took them a while to register that I had said something,  but Twilight Sparkle was the first to shake off the pre-awkward jitters and speak.  "Oh...Um...No....Sorry about all that....How's....How's your wound feeling?"  She awkwardly smiled,  trying desperately to change the subject.

        "Let's see,  shall we?"  I lit up my horn with an X-ray spell,  noting the decrease in difficulty as I had recovered,  Luna really did put a powerful healing aura on me,  the skin had stitched itself together noticeably since my last peek,  this might even be done by mine and Luna's 'date'.  "Seems okay,  take a look at your own peril."

        "I'm....Okay..."  Twilight retracted,  not wanting to look at the slashed and bloodied skin.  Rainbow Dash however had very different plans.

        "Oooh!  I wanna look!"  She dashed close to the bandage,  hovering around it trying to find an angle to get a look inside.  She eventually gave up and went right for it,  only to be blocked by a magical bubble I placed on it.  She impatiently tapped a hoof on the bubble.  "Awww,  why can't I look?"  She whined,  floating down to the ground and trotting back to place.

        "Because you're not a unicorn,  and can't use X-ray spells."  I sarcastically replied,  tapping my horn with my hoof as I let down the protective bubble around my wound now that the immediate danger,  Rainbow Dash,  had left,  and the crimson glow around it dissipated.

        She seemed to concentrate on the bandage for a few brief seconds,  trying to evoke some hidden unicorn powers inside herself.  After a few strained grunts and more than a few raised eyebrows,  she unsurprisingly failed and gave up.  "Well can't any of you unicorns put a spell on it that makes the bandage see through?"  She pointed to me,  Twilight and Rarity in order,  obviously not content at giving in at her own failures,  being the persistent little nuisance she was.

        "Yes,  either one of us could do that,  you're right.  Very good."  Came my response in a deadpan tone,  my emotionless stare not wavering from her.  I wasn't angry with her,  or anypony really,  not even that darned Princess of the sun.  I was just indifferent.  The events that had just passed,  that wasn't too shabby.

        "Well,  why don't you do that?!"  Rainbow Dash was far from indifferent and uncaring,  flailing her hoofs around trying to reason with me and get even the slightest peek at the wound.  It would have annoyed me a couple days ago that she was treating my near fatal wound like a rare bird,  desperately trying to get a view,  but this was actually what I expected from her.

        "Because then everypony else in the room will be exposed to it,  and I doubt they want that."  I looked over the rest of the group,  I knew Rainbow wouldn't care about seeing it,  maybe Pinkie wouldn't,  who knew,  but I very much doubt that Twilight,  Spike,  Rarity or Applejack wanted to see it.  And I was downright afraid of showing it to Fluttershy,  the delicate thing she was.

        Rainbow crossed her hooves and sat on her flank at this,  a sight I was used to after not even a full day with her.  Spike took the chance to hop up and sit on the bottom of my bed nonchalantly.  "So,  you gonna be okay?"  He asked,  laying back on the bed,  enjoying the comfort of it as he stretched his scaly limbs a little too much,  given the situation.

        I gave a little thought to the matter,  and eventually came up with something that seemed to offend the group.  "Hmmm....I don't really know.  Probably not."

        Fluttershy interjected,  not wanting anypony in the world to ever be sad ever forever times ten.  "What?  What do you mean?  You're fine,  right?"  She said almost pleadingly,  her expression dropping immediately.

        "What do ya mean?  You're alive,  right?  You can only go up from here!"  Spike concluded,  pointing a hoof....erm....claw...upwards.

        "True.  But even if I go up,  I'll still....uhm.....lower....than before.......I think..."  I knew there was a point in there somewhere,  I just couldn't find the right words.  They collectively stared blankly for a second,  before Pinkie Pie responded with something rather philosophical,  for a maniac of her standards.

        "But we can help you rise higher than ever before!"  She happily said,  extending a hoof skywards.  She was obviously speaking gibberish,  I would most likely never be a Blade again,  and that was my thing,  but there may have been a point in there somewhere.  The point that now that I had more time on my hands,  a life with friends could be better than one beating up various beasts across Equestria with two ponies that annoyed me.  I doubt she knew that there was a point in there,  but bonus points for effort.

        I sighed and look down at my wound,  silently cursing the manticore that began this horrid chain of events.  "I hope so."  

        "We know so!  We're your friends now,  sugarcube,  an' we'll do all we can tah help ya!"  Applejack nodded,  resting a reassuring hoof on my shoulder,  causing her own little chain of events,  all of her friends nodding with her,  par Spike,  who opted for a stand to attention followed by a salute.  Silly as it may sound,  this actually reassured me.  They were after all the elements of harmony,  they helped ponies,  if I was their friend then I could help too.  Not in my usual,  violent way,  but help is help nonetheless.

        "....Thanks...The sentiment is appreciated."  I said earnestly,  before surveying the room a little,  not liking what I saw.  "So,  nothing to do here,  huh?  Let's go."  I rolled out of the bed,  careful to not put pressure on my bandaged wound and began walking towards the door.  Much to the objection of a very worried sounding Fluttershy.

        "I think that you should stay in bed....If you could....Please..."  She landed between me and the doorway,  blocking my path to it,  and doing her best to be assertive,  which was kind of humorous.

        "Fluttershy I'm fine,  it's healing nicely and will only continue to do so.  All being cooked up in here is doing is making me angry."  I lazily breathed as I walked around a slightly shunned looking Fluttershy as her advice was ignored.  I turned to look back at the rest of the elements,  still at my now unoccupied beside.  "You coming?"

        "You bet!"  Rainbow Dash said,  eagerly landing beside me,  obviously as ready to leave as I was.  Everypony else followed suit,  even Fluttershy,  given it was with a very concerned look on her face.  Which I appreciated despite outward appearances,  I just didn't want anypony telling me where I could and couldn't go right now.  So it was pretty fortunate for me that it was Fluttershy,  so it wasn't so much telling as kindly suggesting.

        "You know they're not going to let you out.  Right?"  Twilight added with scepticism of my plans.  I had taken that into account,  I didn't have an over complicated answer,  I just wanted to see them try and stop me.

        "That's real good for them.  Hey,  all these imaginary ponies you see that nopony else does that can stop me from leaving,  tell them I said hi."  I cracked wise as we left the room,  completely sure of my ability to leave.  I wasn't planning on hurting any ponies to leave,  I was just planning on.....Well,  I don't know.  Like I said,  hurting things was my default,  this would take a level of trickery,  or distraction.  Fortunately for me,  I had a Pinkie Pie.  A Pinkie Pie who was currently breaking the whole 'walking out without a care in the world' vibe by hugging the door and peeking around the corner pretending to be a spy.

        "We got a nurse coming down the hallway.  What do we do,  Cap'n?!"  I said,  pointing to the nurse at the other end of the hallway,  she had a lime green coat with a red and white mane.  She was fortunately oblivious to our presence.  Pinkie Pie donned an admiral hat out of nowhere,  which I took pretty well.

        I leaned in close,  playing along.  "We walk around her,  calmly,  but most importantly,  quietly."  I whispered to her,  winking and patting her on the head.

        She apparently liked this plan,  a lot.  Just enough to immediately scream in happiness at her love of the plan and ruin it.  "That....is.....GENIUS!!!"  She leapt into the air,  startling everypony nearby,  and the nurse I was planning on avoiding.  "Wait,  were we not supposed to tell her?  Sorry!"  She smiled,  swiping her hat off her head and stuffing it away.....Somewhere.

        The nurse walked over,  giving me a thorough look up and down before acting like she remembered something important and trying to ushering me back into my room.  "Back in!  You're not to leave your bed for another 40 minutes.  Princesses orders!"  She said in a panicky fashion,  trying,  and failing to move me back to whence I came.

        "Princesses orders?.........Which one?"  I asked inquisitively.  This made a large difference,  if they were Celestia's orders I presumed she was keeping me locked up out of spite,  or better yet,  for the sake of the rest of Canterlot.  Either way,  I had no problem ignoring them right now.  However,  if they were Luna's orders,  then I would presume them to be keeping me hospitalized for my own well being.  So I could at least acknowledge her point of view as a just one before ignoring it and leaving.

        "Princess Luna,  I'll have you know."  She adopted an important stance due to her carrying out of royal orders.  "She instructed me that a white unicorn with a red mane and tail would attempt to leave,  and by no means should I allow him to do so."  Yeah,  I can totally acknowledge her point of view as a just one.  Now I'm going to ignore it and leave.  But not before I mess with a nurse for fun.

        "Red mane?.....No no no,  this is not a mane,  these are one of a kind head snakes.  Now in red!"  I smiled,  causing her look to distort to one of anger as everypony around me chuckled at my gentle ribbing.

        "She told me you would be difficult.  Please,  get back in your room."  She ordered me,  pointing a stern hoof towards my room.  This didn't go down too well with me,  I decided to up the ante.

        ".....You get back to YOUR room."  I mimicked her actions,  finding myself in an oddly playful mood.  I suppose it was something to do with trying to cheer myself up,  but I mostly just liked messing with ponies,  and she seemed game.

        "I am a nurse and I will no-  Stop doing that!"  She cut herself short at her anger of my mimicking her movements an lip syncing her words.

        "Why do you have to be so volatile?  Just calm down and get back to work."  I pointed to a pony at the far end of the hallway,  who actually looked like she needed help,  unlike me.  Unfortunately the nurse disagreed and decided she had had enough of this.

        "I have had enough of this!  Get back in your room this instant!  Princesses orders,  need I remind you?!"  She shouted,  this struck a chord with me as I hearkened back to a minute or so ago when I thought I didn't want to be told what to do.  I decided to cut the game of 'harass the nurse' short and make my leave.

        "No,  I'm fine.  I'll be going now,  if you don't mind."  I tipped an imaginary hat,  curious as to whether Pinkie Pie was doing the same with a real one behind me.  I ran around her,  quickly adjusting to the pain my bandage gave me as I took off into full gallop,  once more impressed with internally impressed with Luna's abilities.

        "Guards!!!"  The nurse screamed after us all as the elements followed suit and ran past her.  I knew I couldn't activate my lightning aura to speed myself up as the lightning that would coat me would tear the bandage apart,  exposing my wound.  Besides,  I'd probably end up leaving them behind,  par for maybe Rainbow Dash,  or Pinkie Pie,  I didn't know,  or want to know of the full extent of her dimension shattering capabilities.

        My mind jostled with itself as I rounded another corner,  hospital guards hot in pursuit.  Well,  slightly warm in pursuit.  I thought of sending Rainbow Dash ahead,  but becoming separated to any degree was not an option.  Twilight Sparkle was the first to point out my lack of planning.

        "Uhm...Not to insult your plan.  But where are we going?"  She said beside me amidst pants,  living up to my expectations as a less than peak physically conditioned bookworm.

        "We keep running until we find the exit."  I answered unsurely,  finding a set of stairs and darting down them,  hoping to get to ground level.  I spied salvation,  a map of the hospital,  and stopped in front of it figuring we had some spare time since we were faster than the hospital guards.  "Okay....Lets see....We're on the floor with the exit,  good start....Forward....Forward.....Looks like it's a straight shot from here then we take the next to last left and we're home free."  I hurriedly said as I heard the clatter of uncoordinated hooves rushing down the staircase after us.  I took off galloping again,  elements still in tow,  down the hallway as the hospital guards were once again in sight,  but it didn't matter now,  we were almost home free.

        We took the next to last left as the map indicated and the door came into view,  a short sprint away.  Unfortunately for us a pair of royal guards landed in the doorway,  apparently hearing the commotion and blocking us.

        "Stop,  criminal scum!"  He shouted at me,  offending me slightly.  I tried to think of a way around them,  as much as I would like to,  I couldn't zap them,  and with the hospital guards sandwiching us from the other side,  I needed to think fast.

        "Crimson?  What do we do?!"  Spike said frantically from Twilight's back,  obviously not able to keep up with us on his own.  Fortunately for him,  I had just conjured a plan.

        I lit up my horn,  to the collective shock of the elements.  "What are you going to do?  Oh please don't hurt them!"  Fluttershy said,  almost at normal speaking volume now.  Worrying for even the lowly guards of Canterlot.  They however,  looked more worried for themselves,  flying out of the way at the thought of getting hit with whatever I was packing.

        "I wouldn't think of it,  Fluttershy....."  Okay,  so maybe that's a lie.  "Rule number 1,  royal guards are cowards."  I grinned as we ran out the hospital into the crowded streets of Canterlot,  the masses of ponies within them providing ample cover from whomever wished to pursue us.

        I ushered Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy down to the ground to avoid detection,  which even the sky bound Rainbow Dash could understand,  as we galloped to the centre of Canterlot.  We stopped by the fountain in Canterlot square,  a natural gathering place for ponies,  market stalls and stores everywhere you looked.  We caught our breath for a brief moment as we did our best to fit in with everypony else.

        "Do you think we won?!"  Pinkie leapt up and down,  breaking the stealthy aspect of things,  probably thinking we were just engaged in a particularly energetic game of tag.

        I came to the conclusion the best way to quiet her down was to simply go with it.  "Uhm....Yes!  You can stop now,  we won!....Good job?"  I pushed her to the ground,  placing a hoof on her mouth to stop her yelping ecstatically.  She quieted down,  a joyous look still etched on her face at our 'victory'.  But it was a joyous quiet one,  so I was happy.

        Just as everything settled down and Pinkie Pie was calm,  I noticed a lot of stares coming my way,  shocked,  slightly fearful looking stares,  accompanied by a few gasps.  I also heard a low rumbling,  thankfully Pinkie's ability to mess with time and space wasn't finally ripping Equestria apart from the inside out,  it was my stomach,  I was just hungry.  I looked around past the stares,  which I chalked up to Pinkie's perpetually odd behaviour,  and found the nearest food stall and cantered over to it.

        I browsed the selection of food the stall offered,  and picked up the biggest apple I could see.  "How much for this?"

        "That'll....That'll be one...b-bit."  He stammered,  doing his best to avoid direct eye contact,  or any form of contact at all.  A quick glance around confirmed that every other pony in the immediate vicinity had formed a circle around me,  leaving around 3 meters between me and any of them.  The elements were inside the 'quarantine zone',  standing behind me,  but they had the same looks on their faces.

        "What is up with you?"  I said,  before realizing I had no bits on me.  "Heh....Sorry,  I don't have any bits with me,  my bad."  I turned back to the stall pony,  smiling awkwardly and putting the apple back down.

        "No no!  That's quite fine!  Just take it!"  He threw the apple back at me,  I responded quickly with my magic catching it and levitating it beside me.

        "Are you sure?"  I levitated the apple back towards him,  causing him to recoil back with a terrified look on his face.

        "No no!  It's quite fine!"  He said,  almost cowering behind his stall.

        ".....Okay....Thanks...."  I cocked an eyebrow in confusion,  turning around to an overwhelming sea of faces looking like they'd seen a ghost.  "Okay,  that's it.  WHAT?!"  I shouted at the herd,  now officially angry,  causing them to recoil in fear.  And rightly so,  but not quite the response I was looking for.

        Rarity was the first to speak up.  "You might want to tighten your bandage,  do you need some help with that?"  She strained out,  looking disgusted and pointing a hoof at my bandage.  I took a bite out of my apple and turned to look.  Apparently somewhere in my gallop away from the hospital,  the bandage became loose displaying my bloody wound to everypony nearby.

        "Seriously?  That's it?"  I looked around to all of the faces surrounding me.  Voicing my displeasure at their cowardice.  "Can't take one little flesh wound?  You should of seen it before,  you wimps."  I scorned them as I tightened my bandage magically,  wincing slightly at the pain and thinking how many minutes that had set back the progress of the healing aura.  Despite now being covered more,  the bandage was still bloody and some of the wound was still showing,  so I,  well,  not as much me,  but the subtle hints I was getting from the still disapproving faces,  decided that I should get it cleaned and changed.

        "Does anypony know where I can get this thing changed?"  I looked to the crowd,  hoping they could overcome their fears and answer me.

        "The hospital!"  Somepony shouted from the crowd,  no doubt just trying his best to remove me from his eyesight.

        "Can't go there."  I replied,  as I heard him sigh.  Thanks no-name,  much appreciated.  "You there,  cowardly stall pony.  You know where the....pharmacy is?"  I pointed to him,  speaking through a mouthful of apple as he jumped back behind his stall at my mere point.  I admit,  I was abusing my new found power to terrify ponies for no real reason.

        "Y-Yeah.....Go through that alleyway.  It will be right in front of you as you come out the other side."  He pointed to an dingy,  dark looking alleyway that stood out in the normally polished white view of Canterlot.  I gave a quick look to my bandage,  the would was healing nicely but tightening the bandage on it seemed to increase the bleeding.  I'd have to hurry if I didn't want to make a little trail of red through the nice white streets.

        "Thanks!  Come on,  lets go before rumours that I'm a zombie start.  We don't want that again."  I remarked to the elements,  which caused eyebrows aplenty to raise.  "I'll erm...I'll tell you that story another time...."  I said,  running a hoof through my hair awkwardly.

        We set off towards the alleyway.  The only conversation I took part in was apologising to ponies who I had accidentally bumped into with the bandage.  Not sure what for,  sure,  maybe there was a little blood on them,  but they did bump into my near fatal wound.  Didn't hear me complaining about that,  did you?  No.  Silly upper class ponies and their silly upper class hygiene.

        We reached the alleyway after a short walk,  I ditched my now eaten apple in a trash can as Rarity squealed in horror after seeing the state of the alleyway.  "You expect me to walk through THAT?!  I simply won't!"  She waved a hoof over the alleyway,  expressing her repulsion for something so dark and nausea inducing.....Okay,  enough of that.  It was kind of dark and had a couple puddles,  she was just being a drama queen.

        "Stop being such a drama queen Rarity!"  Rainbow Dash floated next to her,  saying exactly what was on her,  and my mind,  putting at arm around her neck.  "Look at it this way!  If you step in any puddles you won't have to take a bath!"  She giggled,  pushing Rarity towards the alleyway.  Rarity halted immediately and turned around with an annoyed look on her face.

        "Just because you like rolling around in the mud doesn't mean I should!  I'm a lady Rainbow Dash,  and I will behave as such!"  She put a hoof to Rainbow's face,  symbolising she was now being ignored.  Snap.

        "I'll lay in the puddles so you can walk over me Rarity!"  Spike jumped up and offered his own body as a plank.  Something I thought very selfless,  despite it's stupidity.

        "Uhm....The sentiment is appreciated,  but that's quite fine Spike.  I simply won't go through."  She blushed embarrassedly at his offer,  looking for another way around.

        I took a peek around at my bandage,  deciding play time was over,  lest I pave the floor in my blood.  "Okay,  lets go."  I took the direct,  point blank approach.  Followed by the elements,  Rarity being left behind with Spike.  After a few dramatic gasps for effect,  she flicked her hair back and followed along daintily.  Spike scouting ahead for any despicable speck of dirt that she may step on.

        After a few seconds,  Rainbow Dash took a devious look upon her face whilst looking at Rarity.  She saw that I had noticed her look and walked closer to me to whisper in my ear.  "Watch this."  She whispered to me,  with mischievous mirth,  as she dipped her hoof into a dirty puddle next to her and flew into the air above Rarity.  I watched intent as an evil drip of brown water formed at the bottom of her hoof,  Rainbow Dash suppressed fits of giggling as it took shape,  and eventually fell off her hoof.  "GERONIMOOOO!"  She shouted,  attracting everypony's attention.  They suddenly realized what was happening,  none more than Rarity,  who's eyes widened tenfold as she saw the drop head her way.  And eventually land on her mane.

        "WAHAHAAAAAHA!"  The white fashionista cried,  outraged an a drop of slightly muddy water fell onto her mane.  Causing no blemish or marking whatsoever.  Everypony laughed,  even the smitten Spike,  at her reaction.  "Rainbow Dash,  what is the meaning of this?!"  She barked up at Rainbow Dash,  who was lounging around in the air,  residually giggling at her despair.

        "What's wrong Rarity?  Afraid to get your hooves dirty?"  She pointed at Rarity and laughed,  doing backstrokes downwards in the air towards her victim,  she landed before her and blew a raspberry in a Rarity who looked like she was planning some payback.

        "Lets see how you like it,  Rainbow Dash!"  She smiled,  as she sidestepped to a puddle and sacrificed her own hoof to kicked water into Rainbow Dash's face.  Rainbow didn't even flinch,  but simply took a smug look before flying into the air above Rarity and dripping all the water Rarity had just kicked onto her back down around her.  Rarity frantically dodged back and forth,  laughing along,  suddenly taking it in good humour.

        Everypony was eventually forced to dodge Rainbow's onslaught.  Constantly flying into puddles then flying above us,  obviously not caring about getting dirty herself.  I decided to stay away from it,  lest I wet my bandage,  or my wound.  The last thing I wanted was dirty water in my wound,  I decided to gallop ahead to the end of the alleyway,  as did basically everypony else.  Thankfully Rarity was too busy dodging droplets of water to follow us,  and bring the flying terror with her.  When we got to the end of the alleyway,  I got quite the unfortunate surprise.

        "Hey,  you two,  stop horsing around!  The pharmacy's closed,  we need to find another place."  I called back angrily,  not valuing the prospect of walking around crowded streets with a bloody bandage showing again.  That's more attention I didn't need.

        Apparently,  Pinkie disagreed with the idea that it was abandoned,  seeing something as I began to walk away.  "Hey look,  a ghost!"  She ran up to the window of the store,  and pressed her face against the glass trying to get a better look.

        We all exchanged some puzzled looks before going next to Pinkie Pie,  who was now further back from the glass with a look of fear.  "Where's this 'ghost' then?"  I asked,  waving a hoof at the shop window.  Seeing nothing but darkness inside.  No ghosts,  nothing,  just the prospect of me having to do more walking.  "Okay then,  lets go."

        "No,  look,  he comes out every now and then....Here he is!!"  She tapped on the window furiously,  towards an outline of a pony covered in tattered rags in the darkness swaying back and forth.  I was a sceptic on these things,  but even I have to admit,  this looked kind of creepy.

        "That's not a ghost...That's probably just the owner."  I unconvincingly said,  I wanted to assure myself more than anything.  I'd seen a lot in my time,  so I couldn't complete rule out that unicorn magic couldn't be used to raise the spirits of dead ponies when used in the right way.  The fact that healing auras tend to place euphoric effects on ponies probably helped me reach that conclusion.

        "Yeah,  then why hasn't he turned on the lights?"  She retaliated,  as the figure continued it's near hypnotic swaying.

        I wasn't really listening,  and therefore had no interest in answering.  So Twilight took this one for me.  "Maybe he can't find them!"  She nervously said,  trying to force reason into the head of a crazy pony.

        "Doesn't know where the light switch is in his OWN shop?  Yeah,  right!"  She out-logic'd Twilight,  which was very surprising,  but I was still entranced by the figure.  My curiosity reaching fever pitch,  I decided to get to the bottom of this.

        I magicked open the door.  "What're ya doin'?"  A shocked Applejack leapt away from the door,  not wanting to take lead.

        "Putting an end to this nonsense."  I said,  stepping inside and deciding it was time to find out the identity of this ghostly pony.  As I stepped in,  the ghost pony reacted in a way that caught me off guard.  Stumbling over the rags on his head and falling on his face.  Everypony jumped back,  and I'm sad to admit,  everypony included me.  After composing myself I lit my horn and gave light to the room,  seeing an elderly,  auburn unicorn pony with a grey mane,  but more interestingly,  no cutie mark,  struggling to get up.  I used a illumination spell to set a glowing red orb in the middle of the room,  keeping it well lit as I helped him up.  "Are you okay?  Fluttershy can you hit the lights?"  I grabbed his hoof as he shakily stood and Fluttershy hit the light switch,  allowing me to de-cast my spell.

        "Ah,  thank'ya,  I'm fine whipper-snapper."  He adjusted himself,  magically putting things back on the shelf he knocked off in his tumble.

        "What were ya doin' in the dark with those old rags on yer head?"  Applejack asked,  going for the elephant in the room.

        "Oh,  I don't get many customers,  so normally I just leave the lights off.  I heard a commotion nearby so I came down here,  I guess I just forgot wear the light switch was."  He replied,  leaving out one thing.

        "And the rags?"  I asked,  handing the dusty rags back to him.

        "I was cold and they were the first things at hand."  He took the rags from me and laid them across his back.

        "See?  I told you he was the shop owner."  I looked to Pinkie Pie,  nudging her,  feeling very self satisfied.

        "Enough about me,  are you okay?!"  He immediately hobbled around me to get a closer look at my wound,  the bandage now sagging and allowing a small amount of blood to escape the now small wound onto his wooden floor.  "This needs re-bandaging,  wait here!"  He darted off to the back of the shop urgently,  coming back with no rags on his back,  but with a bag full of medical supplies.  "This should do it."  He said,  setting them down near me and inspecting the wound.  "So,  what's your name?"

        "Crimsonlight.  And yours?"  I asked,  grimacing a tad as he dabbed something onto my wound.

        "Sorry,  should have warned you.  I'm Cattleprod,  by the way,  please to meet ya."  He shook my hoof as he pulled out a fresh towel and poured some water on it,  to clean the wound.

        "The feeling's mutual.  So,  when did you get into medicine?"  I attempted something I knew very little about,  the dreaded small talk.

        "Back when I was a young colt tryin' to find my way in the world!  Can't say my family agreed with me,  but they were supportive!"  He smiled,  remembering back to his childhood.  Though this did give me a few questions,  Cattleprod wasn't a very medical name,  and it sounds like his family weren't very medical ponies.  Did this having something to do with his lack of cutie mark?

        "So,  what's with your cutie mark?  Or your lack of,  should I say.  If you don't mind me asking."  I tried to remain polite,  I know young ponies rush to get their cutie marks,  so who knows.  Maybe this old timer is bitter about never having achieved his.

        "Well,  my family were farmponies,  and I guess my true calling was with them,  on the farm.  But sometimes you gotta say no to your cutie mark if it means happiness."  He rather deeply explained,  as he finished bandaging up my wound.  "There,  that's healing up now.  Shouldn't be long before it's fully gone,  but the bandage will keep the last few droplets of blood contained.  I gotta say that's a mighty powerful spell,  who put that on for you,  a Princess?"  He chuckled,  packing away his medical supplies.

        "Well the funny thing about th-....Wait,  what time is it?"  I suddenly remembered a prior engagement,  one I may be late for.

        "Ehhh,  it's 8:42,  why?"  He glanced at his grandfather clock,  which looked to be his junior.

        I strained my brain to try and think when my meeting with Luna was.  As I was running out the hospital I glanced at a clock,  it said 7:50.  That was roughly five minutes after Luna's departure.  That gave me...

        "THREE MINUTES?!"  I went to leap out the door,  quickly remembering something.  "How much do I owe you?"  I said,  turning to Cattleprod,  forgetting my lack of bits.

        "Oh it's fine,  I don't get much business nowadays,  I'm just happy to chat with a pony.  And that you could keep these old hooves practiced."  He humped his medical bag onto his back,  looking content with letting me leave for free.  That's the second free thing I've got today!  And the first one that was out of the kindness of somepony's heart and not just fear!

        "Thank you!  I'd love to chat more,  I really would,  but I have....GAH!  TWO MINUTES!  I'll catch up with you ponies later,  have a good nap Cattleprod!"  I waved,  leaping through the door and off towards the palace courtyard.

        "How did you know?  Well,  I guess it's obvious,  haha!"  Cattleprod joked,  waving goodbye to me.  Oddly enough,  I was genuinely happy I could do a good deed for an old pony who no doubt spent most of his time alone.  And that good deed involved no dragon electrocution!  This friendship stuff is contagious!  But no time for that,  I have a date!  I mean a meeting....ah whatever.

        I galloped back through the alleyway into the square,  I knew I could make it easily usually,  in well under a minute,  but without access to my lightning aura I was uncertain.  Either way,  I made fast progress approaching the fountain and darting around it,  all the ponies present stopping and looking at the bandaged pony frantically barging through the huddled masses.  Some of their expressions even melting into ones of fear as they recognised me as the 'angry zombie pony' from before.  Groupies,  eh?  Gotta love 'em.

        I dashed through each street,  ducking into alleyways when nescessary to quicken my time,  even leaping over stalls to keep up the pace.  My bandage not loosening one bit despite the pressure being placed upon it,  next time I get the chance,  I'll have to repay him with another quick chat.  My mind drifted for a second,  thinking about whether I would even live in Canterlot any more,  and it almost cost me dearly as I tripped and barely stopped myself from smashing head first into a fabrics stall.  I quickly righted myself and continued my frantic dash,  weaving in and out of ponies as I arrived at the courtyard...The....Luna free courtyard?....

        "Hello?....Luuuuunaaaa..."  I called out,  mind boggled at to where she was.  Was my timing off?  Was Cattleprod's clock's timing off?  I got my answer as an acorn,  usually used to feed the squirrels that sometimes inhabited the courtyard,  was utilised in the unusual manner of being thrown at my head.

        "Why hello there,  Crimson."  I heard Luna chortle,  I turned to see her lounging on a bench behind me in the shade,  another acorn floating beside her magically,  presumably if I began to misbehave.

        "Hey....How are you?"  I walked forward,  catching the other thrown acorn and suspending it before me,  then throwing it back to her as we began a small game of catch.

        "With all due respect,  who cares about me?  You're the one who almost died,  how are you holding up?  I see you have had your bandage changed."  She thoughtfully asked,  moving position so I could sit beside her,  tossing the acorn up in the air as it arced back down towards me.

        "Eh,  it's fine.  The pain wasn't really bothering me,  but the visible,  bloody wound seemed to strike a sour note with some of the townsponies."  Luna giggled at this,  finally,  somepony who doesn't have such a weak stomach,  I continued.  "Some pharmacist changed it,  for the price of a chat......Either way,  it seems to be healing up nicely....Thank you,  again."  I took the acorn we were playing catch with and bonked it on her head playfully,  my way of saying 'thanks for saving my life'.

        "It was my pleasure."  She said brightly,  returning the acorn bonk before continuing our game of magical unicorn acorn catch.  Kind of a wordy title,  I know.  It's a work in progress.  "So....How have you been holding up on.....other....fronts..."  She seemed to think she was treading on a verbal minefield,  that if she chose one wrong word she would set me off.  And she was wrong,  I wasn't exactly happy with it,  but I knew venting my frustrations on her wouldn't solve a thing.

        "Better than you'd expect.  The elements,  and Spike,  of course,  did a relatively okay job of distracting me with their tomfoolery.  I mean,  I haven't been in the best of moods,  but all things considered.......I'm....fine...."  I said,  with a lot more enthusiasm than my dull tone was giving off.  I think Luna got that though.

        "Good...I'm glad to hear it...You know,  despite the fact that you're a little filly,  you're a pretty mentally strong pony.  I've known a lot of ponies throughout Equestrian history,  and they would have crumbled a lot more readily than you from going through what you've been through today..."  She put a comforting hoof on my shoulder,  I couldn't help but at least feel the urge to crumble a little due to her heartfelt display.  Honestly,  the reason I was dealing with this was because I'd become used to bottling emotions,  anger,  sadness,  jealousy,  okay not the last one,  but I always had the release of battle.  Now I didn't,  so hopefully I didn't become a huge wimp.  Like Luna.

        "Thanks...It means a lot....."  I acorn bonked her for goof measure,  causing her to giggle,  but luckily take no retaliatory action.  I took the brief moment to look around,  registering once more that the courtyard was completely empty.  A very rare occasion,  there was always at least somepony here....I decided to play detective.  "Say....Where is everypony...This place is usually a hive for pompous foals."  I asked,  craning my head to see every angle of the courtyard,  seeing nothing.  Par a few birds and movement in the trees.  Did she hide them in the trees?....Probably not...

        "I had them cleared out."

        This caught me off guard,  my lapse in concentration cost me a lot more than you would think.  I neglected to catch the acorn,  losing the first ever official game of magical unicorn acorn catch.  I was devastated,  so were the fans.  But I decided to shrug it off and continue the conversation.  "Cleared out?  Why?  Seems a tad harsh to clear them out just for an afternoon chat."

        First,  she addressed the more important matter.  "Yeah!  You lose!"  She said,  bobbing her tongue out as I crossed my forehooves and looked away in shame.  Eventually she managed to stop gloating and answer me.  "Haha,  but I digress.  If I'm here as well as other ponies,  they're no doubt going to pester me,  and I wanted to actually talk to you.  So I had them cleared out by MY royal guard."  She beamed proudly,  I had only seen Luna's royal guard once before,  but I got the notion she was proud to have her own class of guard.

        "Bet they're cowards too,  aren't they?"  I tittered,  getting up and laying down in the shade of a nearby tree,  taking cover from Celestia's beating sun.  "Come on,  if you're gonna have everypony else escorted for our chat we may as well get our money's worth."

        "Yeah,  but I get to boss them around."  She mused,  laying beside me.  I expected as much,  all looking scary would do for them was scare the colts and fillies,  and maybe Pinkie.

        "You're a Princess,  don't you get to do that anyway?"  I pointed out the obvious,  then again she made next to no public appearances,  so maybe she was having some time off?  Still,  I don't doubt she had a bushel of butlers waiting on her hoof and hoof.

        "Well,  yeah.  But you can't expect a bushel of butlers to clear out the courtyard."  Sometimes,  I wondered if she really was reading my mind or not......How much wood could a woodpony cut if a woodpony could cut wood........Okay,  no reaction to that,  I think I'm safe.

        "Why couldn't YOU do it?  You're a Princess.  Surely you could cast a hypnotise spell on them and get them to walk on out."  I mussed my hair,  magically plucking an apple from the tree above me to satiate my ever present hunger.

        "Because putting a hypnotising spell on my subjects is bad press.  Just enjoy the quiet or I'll have you banished."  She joked,  plucking the apple from my hand,  forcing me to get another one.

        "Yeah,  right.  Just because you're an alicorn don't think you can handle this."  I laughed,  motioning to myself.  Fully hoping she didn't want to take my joking threats seriously.  I don't want to go to the sun.

        "Oh please,  I'd level you and the town you were born in and you know it."  She giggled,  pointing out the painfully obvious.

        "Jokes on you,  I was born here.  You'd be destroying your home town."  I chuckled standing up and stretching my hooves,  casting a quick x-ray spell on my bandage,  revealing that the cut was now tiny and no longer bleeding.  I magically took the bandage off and tossed it in a nearby trash can showing off my new....well,  skin.  "Better than the day I got it,  good stuff,  Luna."

        But before further laughs could be had,  our conversation was cut short by a wall eyed messenger pony speeding around the corner towards Luna.  "Letter for you,  Princess!"

        Luna's faced turned into one of shocked fear,  grasping the letter tightly and reading it over.  She looked up with a look of urgency on her face.  "We need to go to the throne room,  now."  She didn't spare another word as she began to gallop off,  I quickly followed her along,  the mailpony following me.  "You're wound good to go?"  She asked,  to which I only replied with a nod as she picked up her speed as I allowed lightning to blanket my body as we rocketed off,  leaving the mailpony behind.

        We rushed through hallway after hallway,  taking the best route to the throne room possible,  both of us having the palace memorized like a levitation spell.  It felt good to let the lightning cover me and the wind rush through my mane again as I dashed alongside a Princess.  Unfortunately it didn't take too long to reach the throne room.  We entered,  bursting through the doors,  seeing the elements,  Spike,  and Celestia.  I decided to put my urge to go on a rampage aside for the sake of Equestria.

        "How did you all get here so quickly?"  I asked,  baffled and slightly disconcerted at how they had gotten here faster than me due to the fact I left them considerably further away from the throne room than the courtyard.

        "A little while after you left we got a message from the Princess,  via....erm....me....asking where we were.  After we replied she teleported to us,  then took us back here.  What took you so long?"  Spike shed some light on the situation,  making my ego feel better.

        "Yes,  pleasantries aside though,  you're finally going to get to learn just what hurt you,  Crimson."  Celestia began,  walking forward towards us.  I did a quick check of everypony's faces,  most looked worried,  par Luna's,  it showed nothing but fear.  I would have loved to try and red Celestia's expression,  but she was obviously hiding hers for whatever reason,  this didn't go far to making me feel better,  unsurprisingly.

        "I'd hardly say hurt is an appropriate term,  but do continue."  I countered,  feeling a large weight be lifted off my shoulders,  with the weird feeling they were just going to be replaced.

        "Well....It's a rather long story...but...he-"

        And just as I was about to get answers,  I got many more answers than I had expected or hoped for.  A jet black alicorn crashed through the stain window behind her,  sending sharp shards of glass flying through the air,  Luna and I put up shields to stop anypony from being harmed,  but somehow I knew the glass was the least of our problems.  Even Celestia retreated backwards,  spinning around and standing in line with me,  Luna,  the elements and Spike.

        The nameless alicorn who had all but sucked the actual life out of the room merely by making an entrance landed in front of the throne,  smiling and spreading his wings triumphantly,  revealing himself fully.  He had the same eyes as the manticore I had fought before,  eyes that looked dull and lifeless,  yet invoked so much fear in even two alicorns just by looking their way.  He stood slightly taller than Celestia,  but opposed to her white,  he was jet black,  with feathers underneath his wings the same colour as his mane and tail,  a purple dark enough to pass off as black at a glance.  Eventually,  after a few seconds,  he tired of invoking terror by merely standing there,  he decided to speak.

        "Princesses.....Nice to see you again....How have you been?"