Chapter 3
Twilight Sparkle knocked twice on the Commissioner's door, her mind racing to think of the appropriate manner in which to ask him for information he was unwilling to give. The door opened to reveal a smiling, blue-haired man with a frying pan and a grease-stained apron.
"Twilight Sparkle! What a surprise!" said Fire Storm with enthusiasm as he tried to veer the pan away from her. "I imagined you were gonna come later, like at noon."
"Hello mister...." she began, but was stopped by the soldier as he pinched the air.
"Please, call me Fire. We're friends, and friends don't use titles or do they?" he said warmly as he returned to the kitchen. Twilight followed him in, noticing that his fiancee was busy with some boxes. "Anything that we can help you with in this sunny day?"
"I just want Shield to tell me some things, mostly personal stuff." she said innocently. "Is he here?"
"Yeah, he went to the basement about half an hour ago with Hawk Eye to spar for a while." he said as he flipped a pancake. "Why don't you tell me about these questions you have? If it's about his psychology you might want to start with us," he said as he poured batter onto the pan. "unless you want to know about the letters that he received."
"How did you guess it?" asked Twilight in surprise.
"Shining used to brag about your curiosity, and the prospect of receiving two top priority letters is anything if not intriguing. So, am I right?"
The librarian paused for a moment, this man's memory must be incredible if he can remember something that must have happened twelve years ago. That, or Shining was very proud of his sister. "Did you read both letters?"
"Seeing as though I have some interest in both letters, I did in fact read them. Though I'm not sure if you want to know about them..." responded Fire as he set the brown pancake on a platter.
"I spoke with Princess Luna, who informed me that Shield is in charge of a rescue operation in two weeks."
"And you want to tell him to back off? I don't think you can change his mind about it." said the soldier as he reached for the cookie jar and extracted a snickerdoodle, which he promptly popped into his mouth.
"I actually want him to include me in the team he's going to take." answered Twilight with an air of authority. Fire began choking on the bit of cookie on his throat for a while, before clearing his throat with some coffee.
"You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking!" he exclaimed through coughs. An empty box fell to the ground, as the teacher was unable to comprehend what had just been said.
"I'm serious. I want to be on that mission, and nothing will make me change my mind."
"You have no idea what you're talking about, do you?" he asked, his face not even bothering to hide the worry.
"Four dignitaries and my baby brother have been kidnapped by a dragon and Shield is the one who's going to lead the rescue mission. I think I have a good grasp of the situation." she responded calmly.
"Is that so? And how exactly do you plan on convincing Shield that it's a good idea to take an untrained civilian into a war zone? I hope you don't plan on just telling him you have a right because you have something at stake. Ysmir knows that excuse never worked on him." he replied as he poured more batter. "In fact, let me save you the trouble of asking him. Drop your idea, now."
Twilight's heart had never felt such ire as she did in those moments. This man was looking down on her as if she was a child! Her! One of the women responsible for the end of Nightmare Moon and Discord! It was ridiculous! She had faced tougher monsters than this soldier could possibly dream of, and yet he dared treat her like a little girl? She was going to have to prove her determination.
"I won't give up so easily! Spike is in danger and I refuse to sit here sucking my thumb while a group of maniacs try to save him!" she bellowed as she slammed her fists on the counter. Her now-bruised hands demanded that she relax, but she wasn't planning on it.
Fire stopped his cooking for a second and looked at her. "That's right, that little kid that got captured is under your care. Sorry, totally forgot that crucial detail. I mean, it totally makes sense." he said with a rather confusing tone. Twilight didn't know if it was sarcasm or if he was actually conceding.
"So wait, you can see the logic of my argument and changed your mind?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course I do! You are obviously planning on getting burned alive by that dragon!" he snorted. "That or you plan on blasting the mutated lizard with some sort of friendship cannon. After all, that's what you always do. And I imagine you'll want to call Princess Celestial so she can lend you the Elements while we're at it."
Twilight's temper was about to reach temperatures higher than hell itself, but she tried to keep it under control. "What makes you think that I'm going to use the Elements against the dragon?"
Fire looked at her with mocking surprise. "Oh, so what talents do you want to bring to the table?" he paused for a second, as if he expected the librarian to remain shell-shocked forever. And would have been spot-on if Twilight hadn´t taken three minutes to compile a list of her strengths
"I happen to have vast knowledge of a wide range of schools of magic, and my spellcasting is amongst the great according to Princess Celestia´s standards." she stated, her voice slightly wavering. She still didn´t feel comfortable showing off her abilities, but if that´s what it took to convince this man she was going to put up with it.
To her surprise he merely lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, I guess magic is cool. So, how many destruction spells can you cast under pressure within a five-second time frame?" Once more the Princess´s most prized student was shocked at the question. "Unless you were planning on stunlocking a two-ton dragon for at least fifteen minutes while you´re getting shot at from ten different directions because the dragon has draugs watching its back." the amethyst-eyed student didn´t respond.
"Honey, don´t be so harsh, she´s trying to do her best to join you! Granted, she may not be extremely qualified right now but I´m sure she could be useful if she took a crash-course." intervened Crystal as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "And anyway, even if she can´t be in the front lines I´m sure you can give her some sort of support role. Right?"
"I'm sure we can, but I'm sure our friend doesn't want to stand in from of a holo-map overseeing us." He replied as he turned the stove on again. "And in order to convince Shield of that he's going to want something more other than raw magical prowess."
"I'd prefer if I had a more active role in the operation." Said the librarian as she nervously twirled her thumbs.
"Then you should start reading about military strategy," he declared as he adds a ninth pancake to the stack. "Or you could try your luck now and head downstairs so you can get Cadence's help. But you'll then have to read about military strategy though, at least so you can understand half the jargon he says. And try brushing up on some buffs while you're at it."
"Buffs?" She asked quizzically. "You mean spells like Tower´s Defence, Pegasus´s Embrace and those kinds?"
"You can survive if you know Steelflesh, but if you know those buffs you mentioned then you can be classified as a low-level asset." he said.
And so Twilight decided to head down to the basement, and with each approaching step she could hear the tortured laughter of a man. She quickened her pace, not sure what to make of the noise. As she placed her biometrics on the door she heard the sound intensify. The second the door opened she realized what was causing such a ruckus. Shield was apparently glued to the white mat on the former shooting gallery. If they were outside on a winter day Twilight would have guessed that he wanted to make a snow angel, but here he was just stretched out as Cadence and the little Hawk Eye ran back and forth along his body, tickling his unarmored body with malicious intent.
"What´s going on here?" asked Twilight, but her voice was drowned by the laughter, both from the tortures and the tortured.
Cadence managed to see her amidst her running, and she immediately straightened her hair. "Oh hey Twily, what a surprise." Hawk refused to stop, taking full advantage of the body that lay in front of her.
"What are you doing? And why is Shield not getting up?" she asked with a puzzled look
"Because, hahaha, Hawk, hahaha, cheat..." Shield couldn't contain his painful laughter any longer.
"I DIDN'T CHEAT! I BEAT YOU FAIR AND SQUARE!" roared the little girl as she frantically wiggled her fingers in his armpits. "IT WAS YOUR FAULT FOR LOOKING AT CADY!" she then turned her face to meet the librarian. "brother lost a sparring duel against me, and because he lost he earned a ten-minute timeout."
"And why are you blaming Cadence? And also, why did you call her Cady?" asked Twilight, unconsciously letting a hint of jealousy slip through her tongue.
The little girl let out a broad grin. "Because she was by babysitter of course! She used to take care of me back when I lived in Canterlot and brother wasn't around to take care of me. And Shield was about to pound me to jelly, but he just had to look the other way. And once he stopped looking at me," she said, then she slammed her left fist against her right palm. "BAM! Took him out with the ol' Pegasus Uppercut, a move patented by me."
"How can your Pegasus Uppercut be ol'? when you're he only one who uses it?" asked Twilight, almost thinking as if the girl was acting too heroic for her size. Hawk appeared to have taken it as some sort of insult, as she rushed to grab her bow and in the split second it took her to grab it she fired a pink bolt at the librarian. Twilight barely managed to dodge the arrow, letting it grace the top of her head. "What was that for?!"
"DO NOT QUESTION THE QUEEN'S WORDS!" roared the little girl. "MY WORDS ARE..." her ranting was interrupted by a violent tug by Shield using his right hand. "Why did you interrupt me?"
"Where's Koro?" he asked with a strained voice. The girl's eyes immediately widened .
"Oh no! I forgot about Koro-chan!" she then dropped the bow and bolted through the door, screaming "Don't worry Koro-chan, I'll save you!"
"What just happened?" asked Twilight as her brain tried to compile the events into a cohesive story, but she just couldn't.
"My sister appears to have forgotten about her pet, and I needed her to get out of the room as quickly as possible." he replied as he began to undo the velcro straps of his armor. He removed his helmet and imitated tossing his short hair fabulously to the wind. It was curious, but Twilight thought she could see more strands of silver in his head. "I think we have some things to talk about." he grabbed two folding chairs and set them one after the other. " Please, have a seat." And he sat on one of the chairs with his chest pressed against the back of the chair.
Twilight obliged, feeling a little uncomfortable. "As a matter of fact we do." she said with a deep breath.
"Anything you'd like to say before I begin?" Shield asked with a cheeky smile.
"I would like you to tell me all about your mission. And I don't want to hear about how much you hate the Grand Galloping Gala, I want to know what you're going to do with the diplomats that got kidnapped by the dragon." she stated as she neatly put her hands on her lap. "And I want to offer my expertise for this mission."
Shield smacked his lips and looked around. Cadence was still there and was a little too startled. "Twily, what are you talking about? What diplomats and why?"
"Your sister here has somehow found out that a group of diplomats were sent on a mission to have a discussion with the Drake Clans and the Dragon Herd during the Dovah Summit." Shield stretched his muscles. "And with the diplomats was a little young drake named Spike. And it was thanks to this brave little boy that we learned about the whole capture. He risked his good standings with the wyvern that got them and gave us some useful advice."
Cadence appeared to be having trouble calculating the actual meaning of it all. "So that's why you want to be in his mission? And when's the mission."
"In two weeks time, they'll use this assignment as a substitute of a test. Which is a relief, I thought I would have to sit through one of those torturous interrogation sessions they dare call psychological tests." he said in a jeering tone.
Cadence turned to her sister-in-law. "Twily, you don't actually plan on going on that mission right? You wouldn't last a second against a dragon!"
Twilight's ire was reignited. "Why is it that people always assume that I'd be useless in a situation like this?!"
"Because you don't have years of combat experience, nor do you possess the instincts required to survive in a high-tension environment such as a battlefield." his smile faded. "I've seen soldiers with years of training cower at the sight of a battlefield. Those young soldiers said they could go on forever, but they crack the second they hear the trumpet of an oliphaunt."
Twilight took a step back. "You mean you've seen actual oliphaunts in the wild?!"
"Yeah, and they're a real pain in the backside when orcs and goblins somehow manage to tame them. And don't even get me started when ogres somehow manage to capture a herd of them."
"Wait, didn't you just say that ogres and goblins could tame them?" asked the librarian with confusion.
"Yeah, and when ogres do it it gets even worse." replied Shield as he still looked at her face. "Oh, you think I'mm repeating myself twice right?" she nodded. "Look, there's a big difference between an orc and an ogre. An orc is about our size, has a couple of brain cells and likes to raid and pillage villages. Ogres on the other hand, are the world's way to saying screw your miserable life. They're big, strong, dumb, and they get bigger, stronger and smarter the more they fight. And that's all they ever do. They want to reproduce? They kill each other. They want money? they decapitate someone. So yeah, imagine something about two heads taller than you driving a three-story mammoth."
Twilight gulped at the thought. "How many times have you faced that nightmare?"
"Meh, about five times. At least we brought tanks for thee of those fights. But enough about that, I doubt a dragon, much less a wyvern, could be able to control a beast of that size." he then stood up, his hands reaching for his white pistol. "So, are you sure you want to come?" The librarian nodded in response. "Once we land on the Area of Engagement I can't guarantee your safety, nor will I be able to voucher for your safe return."
It took Twilight a while to really think things through, but in the end she said: "Spike is my brother, and he is also my friend. If he's stuck in Tartarus, it's up to me to help him get back. If I can't do that then I couldn't call myself the Element of Magic. I don't care about the dangers, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that I'm on that transport so I can get him back here safe and sound."
Shield chuckled, walking in front of her and gently slapping her shoulder. "We'll see about that rookie." and then he left the room, letting both Cadence and Twilight to think about what just transpired.