//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: How to Bore a Commissioner // by Shieldheart204 //------------------------------// Chapter 12 The following morning Twilight arrived to Cadence's current residence at eight o'clock with a plan. She knocked on the door two times, waiting for a response form inside. She started looking around before Cadence opened the door. "Hey Twi! What are you doing here so early?" "I was just hoping to catch Shield before he started his day so I could show him the schedule I had prepared for him." said the librarian as she presented a rolled-up scroll of parchment. "Did I miss him?" "Yes you did, he left an hour ago wearing his training clothes. He prepared himself a smoothie and bolted out the door. I know this will sound strange but I think he was very stressed when he left, because he didn't even bother to say goodbye. He was just muttering to himself. Do you know why?" "I have a hunch which I'm sure is right that he's nervous about the tests. Cloudsdale's Commissioner was here yesterday and asked him if he had any moves to show, to which he simply froze. I asked him if he was ready and he tried to justify his irresponsibility. That's why I'm here, I came up with simple magic techniques which might help him pass. Also I devised a plan to have him help Applejack and Fluttershy. If my plan works he could be fit by the time the tests begin." said Twilight confidently as she showed her roll. "And do you have a backup plan? You know that Shield has a habit of rendering most strategies useless by simply going insane." Asked the Princess with a yawn. "No, I don't. I didn't believe I would need one. But there's a good chance that my plan will work because it's very detailed and even he can see the logic behind it. All I have to do is get him to follow me and the rest will do itself. And by the end of the week we will have a saner Commissioner than yesterday." Cadence looked surprised. "I forgot that you're no longer that simple girl I used to care for back in Canterlot." she said as memories of the past coursed through her mind. "You grew up so fast." "I know. Sometimes I wish I could return to a time when my biggest problem was finishing my bowl of potato salad. Now it's all pressure and studies." said the librarian with a sigh. "Do you want to wait for him inside? I'm preparing a pot of coffee and I don't want to drink it alone." "Sure thing!" They went inside the house, each grabbing a ceramic cup filled with the caffeinated drink that allowed them to recover their energy. They started discussing small events, such as Shining Armor's talks of a new show in Canterlot. "So you're saying that Shining was asked to provide extra security for some gladiator event proposed by Count Pearl? I thought Celestia had banned them eons ago!" said Twilight in disbelief. The thought of having a bunch of people killing each other seemed to be too barbaric for the city. "Yeah, but he somehow managed to convince her that it was a good idea. And Shiny told me to keep it a secret, so please don't tell anyone." "You know you can count on me, I won't say a word to anyone." said Twilight before the door swung open to reveal a sweaty blonde wearing a grey tank top imprinted with a black double-headed eagle, matching grey pants and polished black combat boots. His entire body gleamed with stinky sweat, except for his shirt, which seemed to remain unaffected by the perspiration. "Good morning ladies, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Shield Heart said as he grabbed a nearby towel to clean the sweat off his face. "Cuz I just went out for a jog around town and it was great!" "Good morning to you too. Are you ready to help me with some problems across town?" "You think you could give me ten minutes to shower? I doubt that people would want to smell me." he said as he began climbing the stairs and tapping a bead on his right ear. "Of course, I'll just wait here with Cadence I guess." said Twilight before realizing that her former babysitter had left. "Or I can wait alone. That works too." Seven minutes later Shield descended the stairs wearing a grey shirt, his dragon scale vest, jeans, red sneakers and a thin Commissioner's Greatcoat. "So what do you have in mind Miss Twilight?" he asked as he tightened the leather bracers. "Applejack told me she needed some help in the farm, they needed help getting the apples down from the trees before cider season begins. I told her I would ask if you could help us, I'm sure you're good at punching trees" "That's all I have to do? Punch trees? Well, I guess it's good therapy. But I'll do it under one condition." "And that is?" "You will have to submit yourself to basic firearms and self-defense training with your friend Rarity. If you plan on being an Auxiliary the least you could do is learn to defend yourself." he said as he cocked Ash and Snow. His holsters were very well concealed behind the coat, latching themselves to the sides of his vest armor. Twilight thought for a second. The idea of learning how to use a gun and her body to inflict harm did not exactly appeal to her, but she knew it was something that could come in handy in the future. "Why did you mention Rarity? Why can't I take these lessons on my own?" "Because she told me she wanted to continue with the classes I gave you a while ago. And the last thing I want is rumors flying about that I'm spending too much time with your fashionista friend. Rumors tend to damage your image." he said dismissively as he holstered his guns. "So your plans to counteract possible rumors of you having a relationship with a woman is to have two women constantly around you?" she asked in disbelief. "Of course, everyone knows that you're a killjoy so that way nothing will happen. Also I want to nominate you for Librarian so later you can be my Second-in-Command. And I can't do that If you can't defend yourself in our tests." he replied as he opened a bottle of soda with Snow. "What?!" asked a dumbfounded Twilight as she tried hard not to spit the last of her drink. "Did you just say: Participate in my tests? As in: I will have to take the same trials as you?" Shield froze for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect you would actually think it was true! Of course you don't have to take the test. Avoid it like the plague if you can, but you can still do it if you would like. It gets you into the payroll." he said as he took a gulp of his soda. "Shield, don't you think it's a little too early for soda?" asked Cadence as she put down the laundry basket on the floor. "Don't you think it's too late to rethink your life?" he asked condescendingly as he took another gulp of soda and exhaled in delight. "What does that have anything to with this?" "It's a vague attempt to divert your attention from the matter that I'm drinking soda at eight in the morning." he said as he finished his drink and walked out the door. "Come along Twilight, we have a day full of things to do and I will not waste another minute of it!" As he strode out the door Twilight followed close by trying to keep up the pace. "Could you please slow down?" she asked. "There are no brakes in the pain train woman, learn to keep up." he responded with bravado as he continued walking without any sense of direction. "But you don't even know where you're going." she snapped as she grabbed his shoulder and attempted to stop him. Shield turned around, a frown transforming into a smile as he said. "Then please lead the way!" The walk to the Apple Farm took over fifteen minutes, as there was little blocking them from reaching their objective. The farm was busy as always, Applejack was busily bashing trees with her feet while Big Macintosh effortlessly pulled the loaded carts. "Who's that ogre pulling the cart?" he asked as he pointed toward the man wearing a red plaid shirt. "That's Big Macintosh, Applejack's big brother. They've both been working in this farm for years, and still keep it running even after several mishaps. You'll never find a more dependable duo in all of Equestira." "I'd say you're wrong, but I get your point." "C'mon, let me introduce you to Big Mac and see what you can help them with." They approached the farm brothers as these were unloading a cart of apples unto the barn. "Hey there Twilight, what can Ah help ya with?" asked the blonde as she clapped her hands free of dirt. "Hey Applejack, I was just bringing Shield to see if you needed any help around." The farmer hesitated for a moment as she scanned the Commissioner. "Ah'm sorry Twi, but we got all the help we need..." she began as a thin man, clad in a white dress shirt, leather pants and vest decorated with a silver star, and wearing a brown stetson hat, emerged from the barn. His belt carried a shiny silver revolver with an ivory grip and a bowie knife on the left hip. "Why hey there Shield, nice ta see ya here!" said the man as he cleaned his hands. "Didn' think I'd see ya here of all places!" "Breaburn! What are you doing here? How's Appleloosa?" said the blond soldier as he tried to shake the surprise from his face. "Great, much better now that the Bull Tribe have been helpin' us. Ah asked the Rangers to give me a week vacation ta spend some time with ma favorite cousins." responded the cowboy. "So what're ya holding up? I heard about the suspension." "Could be better if there was more trouble." sighed Shield. "Wait, you two know each other?" asked Applejack with surprise. "Of course ah do! Remember about that psycho that attacked the dust coyotes a couple of years ago?" he asked as his cousin nodded her head. "This is him!" "He's the one that rode a horse into a dust cloud while hollerin' nonsense?" "That nonsense were actually ancient incantations used by Bull Shamans to appease the ancient spirits. Without those hollers Appleloosa would be nothing more than a ghost town!" shot Shield defensively. "There's no need to get upset man, she's just makin' sense of things." intervened Braeburn as he tried to calm down his friend. Shield complied, returning to a relaxed stance. "So anyways, how about me an' Shield take care of the South Field huh cousin?" "Ah guess ya can. Jus' don't destroy any of the trees, those things are about as old as Granny Smith herself." said the farmer as she faced Twilight. "Yer gonna go with them, right? To keep an eye on him." "Sorry Applejack, but I really have to get some more parchment. Don't worry, he won't disobey your orders, and I'm sure Braeburn can stop him if he gets out of hand." said the librarian as she started to walk away. "Ya better be right." murmured Applejack as she showed them to their materials. .oOo. Removing apples from a tree, or bucking as it was known in this town, was easier than he thought. Not only was it a great form of exercise but it was also therapeutic. All he had to do was set up the baskets on the ground, and he could begin a barrage of punches until all apples fell to the floor. They went without conversation for three hours, mostly because they had "So," started Braeburn as he picked up a casket and set it on the cart. "what do ya do around here for fun? Ah doubt you can make as much chaos here than you did in Vanhoover." "It's certainly more peaceful, but you can be surprised to know that there's some dangerous shit just waiting to eat you alive." said the blond soldier after he punched a tree. "Ah know, ma cousin told me 'bout an ursa minor that came walkin' in here an' Granny Smith told me 'bout the timberwolves that live in the woods." "Really? I've never hunted timberwolves before." "Maybe we can go huntin' for some later. I could use the distraction from all of this work." "How about we go tomorrow? I have to take care of my new students." "Students? Ah thought yer sister was the only student you ever wanted." "That's right, but the Princess has other plans. She's seen to it that I train her student and her fashion friend." "Really?" asked the ranger incredulous. "And have you considered establishing a relation beyond master-student?" "Twilight has told me she is interested in being an Auxiliary." "And you believe her?" "I have to, she's the best hope I have to get unsuspended. I'm sure she's just tagging along because she's ordered to." "Ye sure 'bout that? You're a mighty interestin' guy." "But when her brother tries to convince her to not take me in when I didn't have a home it makes me suspicious. That and the fact that she is somewhat repulsed by my style." "Not surprised considering you kicked a banshee into that cactus trap you set up." "Hey! That trap would have worked if that monster hadn't seen it. And after all those hours I spent making it the least it could do was pretend to be surprised." "Okay, but ya have t'admit that that no one besides you would dare kick 'im while you had a gun on yer back." "I had to be pragmatic about the situation. I was not going to waste bullets when a kick was more than enough. Also I had to see that display of fireworks, took me a good long while to get those fucking runes." "Alright, so ya had to do it. End of discussion. Now tell me, do you have any sort of intention of establishing a stable relationship with anyone?" As Shield thought about it an image of a blond woman with amethyst eyes flashed before him. Her face was familiar, slender and elegant. He soon recovered from the flash. "I don't think anyone in their right mind would consider dating me." he scoffed. "Who knows, maybe you can find someone who would like t'meet an interestin' man such as yerself." "Me? Interesting?" "Of course! Who else has more war stories than you?" "No one gives a shit about battles." grumbled Shield as he grabbed another basket and set it on the top floor of the wagon. The transport had a curious design, having two separate floors to place the baskets and avoid destroying the produce. "Ah bet kids would love ta hear 'bout them. And maybe someone who loves history." exclaimed Braeburn as he adjusted his belt. "Yeah, but kids aren't allowed to come near me. Too much ass-kicking happens near me." "Not always, you did manage to entertain those kids while their teacher fended off a dust coyote." "True, but I still don't think any woman would seriously think that I would make a good companion." said Shield as he cracked his knuckles. "Now how about we finish these last trees and we can go to lunch?" "All right then, let's finish this." said the ranger with a smile. .oOo. Twilight Sparkle was near the train station on her way to Quills and Sofas when something in the platform caught her eye. A small girl, about ten years old, was walking around in a carefree manner. Her blond hair was tied with an elaborate braid decorated with a purple bow on the end. Her white blouse, khaki pants and brown vest were pristine clean and could not attract attention if it weren't for the white and pink bow next to a yew bo staff strapped to her back. Each weapon looked unique enough to deserve some advanced description. The bow's upper and lower limb looked more like the white wings of a bird, with the details on the feathers painted in pink. When the little girl turned around the librarian was able to see the weird mechanism that comprised it. The arrow rest was replaced by a thin tube, and the string had a handle where one would place an arrow. The tube and handle connected themselves perfectly, and Twilight suspected they were a firing mechanism she hadn't seen before. The staff had been painted white and had pink runes painted across. And that was just about it, aside from weapons that looked like they could fit a little girl there was nothing extraordinary about her. The girl hopped from the edge of the platform and approached Twilight. "Hello ma'am." she said with a bow. "Do you happen to know where I can find an arcade?" Twilight was shocked, partly because of the bow and the other part because the girl reminded her of someone. "I'm not sure, but you could always ask around, the town is small so if they do have an arcade they will know." The girl looked a tad disappointed. "Very well, thanks for telling me!" she said as she perked right up and began skipping through the dirt road. Twilight started thinking about just what had happened, but stopped when she saw a couple looking around nervously. The man had a very athletic build, and wore winter-camouflage fatigues. His dark blue hair was cut very short, his eyebrows were trimmed and the light eyebags showed some exhaustion. The woman had a swirling mix of beige tones on her hair, which contrasted with her dark green sundress. Her wings were actually camouflaged by the dress, only visible when she spread them to cover herself from the sun. He continued looking around as if he had lost something, and then directed his gaze toward the librarian. " "I'm sorry to bother you miss, but have you seen a little girl about yei-high..." said the man as he placed his hand on his hip to gesture the size of the girl. "with purple eyes, blond hair, a white staff and a wing bow?" "As a matter of fact I have." said Twilight. "She went around looking for an arcade. But don't worry, she can't get lost, the town is pretty small." The man's face immediately tensed. "Dammit, I knew we shouldn't have left her alone. Thanks a lot miss, you've been very helpful." he then began pacing around, and gave one loud shout: "Hawk Eye please get back here!"