So, let me explain lads and lasses.

The story how I was making it was going to lead itself in the pits of hell, and probably make more people hate me then the author to My Immortal. Moving on, I just plain didn't like how I set things up. I wanted Vlad himself to be a cold character, but knows who to more/less cold hearted to.

The re-write is to make him less of a street-rat with a bad attitude, to a trained and practiced member of the Royal Guards... who literally hates everyone. Yeah, progress.

Same anthro rules, same thanks my friend GENISYS who was one of the reasons I started this story. I hope I didn't scare any of you guys away with the re-write. P.S. I renamed the story if you didn't realize.

On with the fireworks!

Chapter 1 (re-make): Luck of a Colt

"Vlad. Vladimir, wake up boy!" The colt's eyes snapped open as he stared into the violet eyes of his father. The man was panting like a mad man, his dark green fur covered in ash and burn marks with his mid-length blue hair burnt up to his cheek in places. "You must get out now!"

The boy's still sleeping mind couldn't piece out was going on. He then smelt smoke and saw orange lights dancing all around them.

"Vlad!" He's focused went back to his father as he yanked him up by the arm. "Get out of the village with your mother and the rest of the women and children." Before process the command the sound of roaring men came from outside. His father muttered a curse and dragged Vladimir along behind him.

The small house they lived in was in a complete blaze. The heat woke the boy up, allowing him to take in what was actually happening to the town.

The village was being raided.

Vlad's father kicked the front door open and galloped out with his son in toe. Everything was on fire, lighting the midnight sky up like the Christmas festivals they'd keep every winter. The villagers that were left in town were either dismembered, laying on the ground screaming and crying as their life faded from them, grown men wielding sharp melee weapons, or already dead.

The duo ran into an alley, one the boy remembered he used frequently make rounds into the forest to practice his hunting skills, and carried on as fast as they could to the exit.

As the sight of the trees came into view, a large stallion in a suit of old, grey chainmail and brown pants wielding an axe appeared from behind a hay barrel.

Acting quickly, Vlad's father tackled his son out of the way as the brute swung his weapon in an arc. The green stallion drew a knife from the side of his boot and took a defensive stance. "Vladimir, leave now!" The man demanded as he dodged another attack from the marauder.

"But father-" The boy began to protest.

"Go!" The older male almost lost as his head as the axe neared his neck more and more with each swing.

Vladimir looked at his father battling one last time before running passed them towards the forest.

On top of the hill overlooking the small village was a large group of women and children huddling up to escape into the forest until the Royal Guards caught wind of the situation and came to recuse them. They had all been wanting for some word of Vladimir's death or his arrival. Either way, the crowd was leaving soon.

In the front, on her knees with her hands wired together, was the boy's mother. The old dirty cloak his wore hid the features of her body, leaving only the white fur of her neck-up visible with her cherry red mane. Her blue eyes were red and swollen with tears as she prayed for her son's and husband's lives.

Then she saw him. The oddly colored black fur of a colt with a white mane, wearing a simple black shirt and white pants. His red eyes showed the boy's panic as he bolted towards them.

A weight was lifted from the woman's heart as she opened her arms to embrace the boy as he ran into her arms. His squeezed him tight with the hug and mouthed a 'Thank you' to God.

She finally pulled back to examine her child. "Where's your father?" She asked as he got to her feet. The group began to hastily march into the woods and they quickly followed.

"He's still fighting back there!" The young boy pointed back to the village on fire. His mother looked by at the burning village as smoke formed a massive above the area.

She looked down at him with a forced smile. "Don't worry, Vlad. Your father is a strong man." She spoke in a quiet voice, as if mot to alert the other members of their group. "He was once part of Equestria's Royal Guards. It'll take more than a handful of bandits to take him down." For some reason, she didn't know if she was trying to assure her son or herself.

A scream was heard in front of them. They snapped their necks in the direction to see grey furred marauder had found the group and hold the wrist of a light pink mare as everyone else stood by and watched the struggle.

Vladimir's mother sprinted forward and grabbed a large stick as she traveled towards the man. As she neared range, she quickly winded and smashed the tree limb into the man's head. He let out a cry of pain as he released the woman and clenched the side of his face in.

His open eye glared at the woman with a fury she's seen countless times before. She attempted to make a run for it to lead the man away from them but the man grabbed her by the mane and yanked her to the ground. With his free hand, he formed a fist and railed back to punch the woman in the face.

Instinctively, Vladimir charged forth and tackled into the stallion with all his might. Though it didn't do much, it caused the older man to stagger backwards and lose his grip on the woman's mane. He glared down at the boy and picked him up by the back of his mid-length mane. The tried to free himself from the man's grasp but failed when his tiny hands couldn't move the much large one holding him.

The man took a closer look at Vlad's face, his breathe reeking of alcohol and some form of dead animal meat. A smile soon formed on his lips as he recognized the boy. "You're Aaron's second brat." He stated with a low chuckle. He turned to the woman on the ground as she regained her bearings. "This must be his whore of a wife- Elise." His chuckle soon became a full on laugh.

"Put him down!" Elise cried as she made a desperate attempt at freeing her child. The backhanded her to the ground and continued his laughing fit.

"Heh heh heh, you two were the second on my list to kill." He pulled a knife from his pocket and held it as Vladimir's throat. "Oh well, I guess I can make an arrangement." The cold steel pushed harder against the boy's neck, making him be more cautious with his breathing.

"Drop the child!" He turned to see four winged white stallions land in a semi-circle around him. The sound of hooves landing behind the grey stallion made him spin around to see another four Royal Guards blocking vision of the other woman and children. He sneered at them.

He expected them to arrive. Just not this soon.

"We said, put the boy down!" A different guard yelled. They all rose their spares and inched closer to the man.

He was motionless for a moment, but complied and dropped the boy hard on his side. When the guards were about to move to arrest him, he yanked Elise back to her feet and held her close with his knife under her chin. He put his hoof on Vladimir's head, pressed down to hear the colt groan as he tried to wriggle out, and grinned.

"I knew I might die here," The man chuckled out he held Elise tighter. "But I'm not dying here alone..."

Accepting his doomed fate, he dragged the knife across Elise's throat and crashed his hoof down on the boy's head.

The last thing Vladimir saw was his mother's white coat stained red, and the man holding them filled with the bronze spares of the Royal Guards.

XXX -7 years later-

"Vladiiiiii~" The teenager's eyes slowly opened to stare at the familiar face of the Lunar princess. She smiled brightly at him as his sat back and saddled his stomach. "Get up, and go to training."

The black stallion groaned and placed his pillow on his face. "Go away you brat." His voice came muffled from the pillow. "I don't have training on Sundays, jackass."

"How dare you talk to your princess like that?" Luna glared at him and moved her face closer to him. "Do you recall I can have you executed in a heartbeat?" She asked, earning another groan from the stallion.

"Then who would you torment when I died?" She didn't reply. "Exactly." He sat up, causing the mid-night blue mare to fall back on the bed. He fall forward more and positioned himself between her legs, moving his face closer to hers with a scowl ever present. "I may be a member of the Royal Guards, regardless of which class I'm in, but remember something: I. Don't. Care. About who you are." He growled with each word.

Luna pouted and puffed up her cheeks. "You're no fun..." She turned her head and looked at the grey stone wall of Vlad's plain room. "You know your morning-wood is poking my zone, right?"

"Not until you just mentioned it."

"At least buy me a drink before putting a bun in my oven."

"We're 15. We can't order alcohol."

"Cider then?" Vladimir sighed before getting up and dusting himself off while muttering something along the lines of "Pain in the ass".

"Get out of my room." He commanded and pointed to the brown door. "Now."

"Oh, fine." The princess huffed and folded her arms. She made her to door and walked out. "Just make sure to come to the dining hall." She said before closing the door behind her.

Vladimir sighed and sat back on his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "God, why me?" He put his hands on his lap and stared up at the ceiling. "Why does Luna have to annoy me of all people?"

A breeze blew through the window and passed over the room, chilling him. He looked down at his body and one final question popped up. "Why am I in my boxers?"

XXX

Well, that's the new chapter 1 to the story I renamed Colt. I know the 1st chapter is far different then the original, but that's the point. The original was a flash forward to Vlad's "death" by the Griffin army. It wasn't written too well and was generally my mistake from the get-go. I'll post the actual 2nd chapter sometime next week and promise to post at least once a week.

Till then, check out my other stories and stay healthy. Read&Review.

Live, Love, Learn. Light's out.