Princess Celestia has a nightmare of her faithful student dying in a horrible attack that destroys most of Ponyville.
What is worse, though - is her response within the nightmare.

This story is an indirect prequel to my other story: An Old Guardspony'sLast Duty.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/13398/An-Old-Guardspony%E2%80%99s-Last-Duty

I wrote it as a separate story because mixing too much [Dark] into [Normal] stories is frowned upon – and I wanted to describe a nightmare that is vividly bad enough to make Celestia want to do something about it.

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Many Thanks to my Moony Maiden - you know who you are! Your editing prowess has made this work at LEAST 20% cooler.

(As always - MLP:FiM belongs to Hasbro. They own the world - I only play in it.)
Picture used under Creative Commons License (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgensel/7003567267/in/photostream/)

A young Equestrian Guard recruit is ordered to attend - of all things - the retirement party of a complete stranger.

However, things at the party turn out to be not quite what he expected. As the night progresses, he learns some valuable lessons about himself and just what the duties of being a Guardspony in Her Eternal Princesses' Royal Guards entails.

(A slightly humorous yet slightly bittersweet look at the life and traditions of the Royal Guard)