"I'm SO bucked when the Captain finds out about this..."

"Indeed, Scarlet Dusk."

Scarlet ground to a halt, if one can grind to a halt while in the air, and dropped to the ground to salute her unexpected captain.

"C-Captain Silent Watch, Sir! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Her mouth snapped shut as the ominously quiet Captain of the Night Guard simply raised a hoof. He was not the Captain for nothing. One of his personal aides continued, speaking for his superior being one of his primary duties.

"Yes, yes, the Captain knows you didn't mean to be so negligent in your duties. Abandoning your post on top of everything else, and where is your helmet and weapons private? Not to mention the deplorable state of your armor."

Scarlet nearly choked.

"Wha- S-sir, I assure you I always have my equipment on hand, but I was just in a bad fight with a titan slime, sir! Surely it must have passed-"

"There was no slime, private," the annoying aide interrupted her, "And I question whether or not you believe yourself. Not a scratch on you, you are filthy, and the idea of a slime fleeing is simply ridiculous. Even if there was a slime, you are a trained guard, though that seems to have been a waste on you, you should have dispatched it easily."

Scarlet gawked at him, but gritted her teeth and fought to keep her voice steady, knowing exactly why -or rather who was responsible for this. All those bad reports against her, plus her current state working against her, all but confirmed the rumors about her.

"Sir, I assure you there was a titan sli-"

She blinked as she saw what looked to be a puddle suddenly move around the bend behind them.

"SLIME!"

She took two steps before she was promptly pinned to the wall with all the air in her lungs forcibly ejected. The other aide, who had hardly moved before, now had her in a shockingly strong grip against the wall, holding her hooves between her wings. The condescending one walked into her sight again, with a disappointed look on his face.

"Tsk, tsk. Trying to avoid punishment now? Shameful. Of course, not nearly as shameful as this little baggie that just so happened to fall out of your armor."

Scarlet could scarcely breathe, let alone defend herself.

"Nightsmoke? Certainly explains your 'slime' encounter. Just look at those red eyes of yours, how high are you?"

A single stomp from the Captain wiped the grin off his face, and he quickly snapped to attention and produced a scroll from his pack. Scarlet registered the official seal and sighed internally as he unrolled it and read, adding notes along the way.

By this Order Signed by Both Captains of the Guard, Captain Shining Armor and Captain Silent Watch, and the Authority of the Two Crowns, Private Scarlet Dusk is to be removed from the service of the Night Guard for negligence of duty, incompetence, lying to a superior officer, disrespecting a superior officer, working shifts while under the effects of hallucinogens, resisting arrest, and attempting to file a false monster report for personal gain.

These acts are in clear violation of multiple core laws of the Night Guard Code and are Grounds for Dishonorable Discharge.

Upon hearing this proclamation, Scarlet Dusk will have until daybreak to return any and all gear provided by the Lunar Crown in the service of the Guard. Failure to do so will result in a trial by Court Martial and a fine of 50,000 Bits.

~ Captain Shining Armor
~ Captain Silent Watch

"How does the accused plead? It won't change a thing, but it's for the record."

Scarlet bit back tears and swallowed hard at the injustice of it all, and all but growled her answer at him.

"Buck it. Guilty. What reason do I have to stay? Life is hell here. Good luck with that slime."

She was released immediately and the trio left the way they had come. The Captain paused to stare into a certain corner. He glanced back at her for a moment but shook his head and continued on.

==============================================================================================

Scarlet stumbled down the hallway, with all that was left of her guard apparel - which was basically just the chestpiece and the hoof guards.

This was it. Without the pay from guarding, and the guard barracks to sleep in as part of the job, she had nowhere else to go. Veteran Night Guards in their elder years had a hefty sum to fall back on if their retirement bonus got cut, but a discharge meant she didn't even get severance pay. She had a few hundred bits at most, and that would just barely get her back to Nightvale, the nearest Thestral village.

She walked somberly into her squad's bunkroom in the castle's lower levels, and walked over to her meager living space. She had one nice outfit, one that she quickly tossed aside. Dresses were not her thing. She groaned and glanced around the room in disgust. Her eyes settled on the plump little bag of bits half-hidden under a certain prick's bed.

Her moment of hesitation was very short as righteous revenge came to fruition.

She giggled and quickly tore Perfect Gem's pillow in half and took a piss on what was left. She started laughing and continued her rampage before she was discovered.

She pulled a duffel bag out from under her bed and filled it with anything that would fit. "Anything" Included her former squad's stuff. Into the sack!

Shampoo and junk, 3 knives, a set of brass horseshoes, 4 mangoes from the fruit basket gift on another bed, this bottle of cheap wine, 82 ironically unguarded bits, a sharpening stone, a flint, some expensive looking jewelry, and some space left over.

She tugged open a conspicuously heavy pillow and found a hefty bag of Nightsmoke. YOINK!

She made sure to leave traces of the purple leaves in every bed except her own, incriminating evidence and all. And for the finishing touch, she dumped out a bottle of red hoof polish and wrote "REDRUM" over Gem's bed.

The room in shambles and smelling of piss, she barricaded the door and left through the window, whistling a jaunty tune as she strutted over to the armory with a bulging duffel as the horizon started to glow.

She could scarcely contain her laughter as she passed her old squad heading back to the bunks. Thankfully, they somehow didn't notice her as she hurried over to the armory.

She trotted in with a few scant minutes before dawn proper, and the quartermaster, an old friend named Stained Steel, smirked as she walked in. He was her combat instructor/practicing blacksmith and had retired to the armory about a year back. Hell, he had practically raised her. Thestrals weren't big on family once you moved out, so he was practically her only parent.

"Cutting it a bit close, uh? Heard what happened, sorry to see you go, you always took good care of my babies."

Scarlet froze mid-smile as she remembered the fate of three of his "children." She chuckled nervously and inched back. Steel raised his eyebrows and knit them together.

"Ach, no! Don't tell me...!"

"Sorry S.S., lost a fight with a crazy slime. The spear... exploded, and my helmet and sword got eaten by the dumb thing. Can I make it up to you somehow?"

The grizzled stallion waved a scarred hoof, disregarding the offer.

"It's fine, my little redmane, but I need to file this report in about... one minute! They can check that you know, and I can't hide the absence! They called for all of your equipment- What are you going to do? If I pay your fine I'll go bankrupt!"

"U-uh," Scarlet glanced around as Steel panicked and saw a smithing hammer on the ground. "Oh! Quick! Get beside the forge ya old stallion!"

"I'M NOT OL-hey! Don't shove me! I'm old!"

He groaned and turned away as she struggled with the hammer.

"So that's it then? You gonna be a criminal, running from the law, livin' off the land, being a general no-good?"

Scarlet crept up and nuzzled him lovingly as she gave a snarky reply.

"You expect anything less? Neither of us can pay the fine. I could get stuck in public service for twenty years on what they get paid. Frankly, I can swear on Luna's tits that I would snap and kill somepony in a week!"

He barked a laugh, nuzzled her back, and glanced at the clock on the far wall.

"HAH! Sounds about right for a little scoundrel like yourself! You don't be robbin' innocents now, ya hear?"

Scarlet wiped a little tear away and hefted the hammer higher up.

"I hear... Dad."

Steel sniffed and grabbed his tools to look in character. He gave a shuddering sigh and turned his back to her.

"Damnit... you got me blubbering now too! Just give me a new bump on the head already!"

Scarlet let a few tears fall as she hefted the hammer and said bye to the stallion she thought was the best dad she could ask for. He choked through the old Thestral saying.

"I send my young to the world ahead, to forge their own path and find their own purpose. Should we cross our lives again, I will offer my advice, my support, and my love, but never again can I offer my hoof in help. For it is the path of the young to stand against the world alone and conquer its ways. May you find your own clan one day, whether in good or bad, and never betray those you love, for that is the lowest of things. Farewell, my kin, may the wind be in your favor and your heart guide you true to your moonlit horizon."

Scarlet sobbed and moved the hammer down upon this old stallion who loved her more than he ever said.

"Good luck Redmane, My little Scarlet Dusk."

CLUNK!

She checked him for a concussion and rushed out the door with a new sword on her flank.

A good stallion lay unconscious, but smiling peacefully as the sun rose.

A small shadow peeked from a hole in the bottom of a moving duffel bag, and made a promise for the stallion.

And a young Mare wiped her trailing tears and sped away, towards the growing sun, and promised to live.

Author's Note

Foregoing the Stats this time around. Felt improper to touch that moment even though I wrote it.

Guh... the FEELS