//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: The Calm before the Storms // by Shieldheart204 //------------------------------// "Hold your breath and pull the trigger." Shield Heart exclaimed at Twilight as she fired a mulberry bolt at the target dummy. the bullet hissed through the air and singed the left ear. The mannequin raised its left arm and fired a pearly white at the librarian, hitting her square in her padded breastplate and forcing her to land on her backside. "Dammit, I told you not to go for the head!" he cursed as the rifle bounced off the floor. "But a head shot is the best way! I need to avoid taking damage." she replied, getting back on her feet and bringing her Vulkan rifle to bear. Shield insisted that she used a standard Vanhoover rifle, saying that starting with a pistol was gonna be too slow for their pace. But she was starting to think that the pistol might have been the best option. This rifle was heavy, and aiming was proving to be harder than she remembered. "Try for the eyes once your aim is on what I consider average. For now, aim for the body. It's safer and you'll have a better chance of hitting your target. And if you're lucky you might disarm them." he replied as he extended his right hand. She accepted it and pulled herself back up. The basement door hissed open and allowed Fire Storm to enter the scene. "Hello there soldiers, how fares your training?" "Bad, your friend keeps shooting me every time I miss." "Well, he'll stop if you give up." "I need to be on that plane to rescue Spike, so if that means I'll suffer a bit I really don't care." "Then you're already halfway through. Now you just need the skills to back your will." Shield picked up the discarded rifle and smiled. "Dropping your gun after getting shot won't get you on the ride back." he added as he flipped the safety and threw the weapon at her. Twilight almost fumbled the rifle, but managed aim it and released a burst of five mulberry bolts at the hostile dummy. Three managed to scorch the torso, while another one grazed its left cheek. The mannequin released another blast, but it missed as the librarian managed to duck the projectile. "There might just be hope for you yet rookie." "How about you stop using that heavy weapon and try this one instead?" asked Fire as he handed her a Hermes-pattern assault rifle. She grabbed the rifle, and weighed it. Although she had used it before, it felt like holding a feather after spending two hours holding the Vulkan rifle. They heard a sudden scream and skin getting slapped particularly hard. "I guess that's my cue." muttered Fire, sprinting for the door. "Y'know," Shield said "if you're gonna ruin my routine you might as well go full circle!" The sound of a second slap made both the Commissioner and Twilight wince. .oOo. Rarity had come to train under the watchful eye of Moondancer, but she was not home. Apparently she and Thunder went to hunt cockatrices for a barbecue they were planning. So as she paced to the kitchen she was startled by a sudden pinch on her posterior. She immediately spun on her heels, and found herself face-to-face with a grinning Thunder. Her palm struck his cheek faster than the blink of an eye. His smile resisted the palm strike, despite the slight bleeding her manicured nails had caused. "Totally worth it." he said out loud, earning him a slap to his left cheek. The scars were nearly symmetrical, a fact Thunder seemed pleased once he patted his scars. "You pig!" shrieked Rarity as she kneed his crotch. Thunder immediately dropped to his knees, his hands protecting his manhood. "I was willing to put up with your cheesy pick-up lines, but this is beyond the pale!" Moondancer approached, guffawing as she approached her downed friend. After a few seconds of forced laughter she slapped the back of his left shoulder blade with tremendous force. "See what happens to your brother when you're not around to watch over him?" she said to Fire, who was ascending the basement stairs. "I didn't see anything. I just heard a loud slap. Actually I think I heard two." he glanced at his brother, then stared at the seamstress's hands. He noticed the drops of blood, contrasting her navy blue nail polish. "Let me guess, you pinched her." his burly brother nodded eagerly. "And it was totally worth the two slaps." another nod. Fire simply sighed in exasperation. "You're the living proof that Ysmir exists." Thunder regained his footing and chuckled. "Please, with these plates," replied Thunder as he flexed his pectorals, the flexing causing his shirt to burst into shreds, "I am invulnerable to any sort of permanent damage." "Look, I don't have time ti deal with you right now, go to your room and get another shirt." Fire said, pointing to the stairs. Thunder hesitated, instead raising his chest against his younger brother. "NOW." He still held his ground. Fire sighed, lowering his head and rubbing his nose bridge. "Fine." he lifted his hand, with his fingers ready to snap. "One," nothing, "two," Thunder began taking steps back, "Two and a half," and Fire snapped his fingers. Sparks erupted in front of Thunder, and a small blue flame materialized itself. "Fuck," Thunder swore under his breath. The flame opened a pair of white eyes, and after what sounded like a giggle, released a blue fire bolt that dissipated without leaving a scorch mark. "Fine! I'll go to my room, just call that cutesy shit off!" The burning entity kept harassing him until the blue-haired pyromancer snapped his fingers again and it returned to his palm. Fire chuckled turning to face his visitor: "Leave it to Essy to keep my brother in check." "Is your brother really this immature, or is it just a ploy?" "Sadly enough, he's yet to actually end puberty." he replied. .oOo. As soon as Shield stopped at the entrance of Ponyville's train station once more, killing Pabu's engines. He removed his helmet, a piece of armor that he would not have worn had it not been for his sister's unstoppable nagging. As he ascended the wooden steps of the station he sighed in relief. To his luck, no one had asked to acoompany him to pick up his last friend. Though he preferred if this luck had followed him the previous day. He knew that any female that managed to get near Thunder had a ninety percent chance of getting hit on, while the lucky ones were protected by the unlucky ones. But dismissing his complaints, he turned to look at the timetable and then to his pocket watch. If the universe was giving him apples, that was a miracle he was in no position to refute. The train screeched its way to the platform, inviting several people to exit the platform. But to his surprise his friend was nowhere to be seen. He strained his eyes, but nothing new was revelealed. "Mr. Heart!" said a young female voice from behind. He turned to notice that it was Derpy, holding a letter with his name stenciled to the front in large red letters. "This just came in." He opened it, and began reading through the contents. Aniki: I hope you don't mind that I told the train crew that you're gonna be picking up my luggage. I was bored and took Gurren for a spin. Don't worry, I'll be at home by the time you get here. Commissioner Cherry Blossom "Great." he murmured to himself, approaching the last coach. "Mr. Shield Heart?" asked the conductor with a raised eyebrow. "That is correct. Were you expecting me?" "Yes sir. Miss Cherry said that you'd be getting here expecting her." "Of course she did." "Here, this is all she left for you. She took her big case with her when she told me she'd ride that motorcycle to Ponyville." the conductor said as he pulled out two suitcases from inside. "Just sign here that you got them" Shield grabbed the clipboard and signed. "That'll be all then, good day." Shield grabbed the bags and walked back to Pabu with his head making an effort to drop. His ride back was uneventful, except for a phone call from Hawk asking if she could hang out with Sweetie Bell. His answer was yes. .oOo. Twilight eyed the books in Shield's study, trying to see what sort of literature he read. There was a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, most of which she'd never really heard of. What caught her attention were a couple of binders labeled: Mission Debriefings. They seven voulmes, each marking the years of the assignments. Probably. She reached for the first volume, year 994 PNM, but her hand stumbled upon an invisible wall. She tried grabbing a copy of Aquilax, but it was also protected by a barrier. She pulled her wand and began murmuring a dispelling hex when she heard an engine rev. Alarmed, she quickly left the room. "Is he back already?" she asked aloud, hoping that Crystal would answer, since both brothers went out to train Rainbow and Moondancer was coaching Rarity. "I doubt it. The engine didn't sound like Pabu at all." she replied. Then the doorbell rang three times. Crystal tapped her tablet and brought up the security feed, later tapping a button to open the door. Outside the house stood a short person, covered in a sepia hood held together by a cherry blossom flower cast in silver. She was clad in tan jumpsuit a size too big, with machine pistols strapped to her sides and a large iron scythe sticking out of her back. Her black low-heeled, steel-toed boots . The hood was lowered to reveal a woman with long salmon hair, narrow eyes a small nose and mouth and a headset with two prongs: one hovered over her right eyebrow while the second hovered below her lip. "Cherry! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the train station?" Crystal asked. "I left the train to ride Gurren, but don't worry, I let him bring my luggage." Twilight looked through a window to see a large crimson motorcycle, with wheels easily twenty five centimeters of with, and fifty in diameter. The front is a curved metal plate covering the front wheel and merging into the main chassis, which is a bit wider. The seat stretches from the front to the back. The back was a symmetrical copy, with only a large metal crate tied to the back. "Then why didn't you tell him?" "Oh, I sent him an urgent letter. And since my calculations are spot on, he got it when he arrived at the train station." "Did you ride around pretending to be Skull Rider again?" With a click of her heels Cherry's boots began to unfasten themselves. Soon, she left the boots and began walking on white socks. "Only when I passed near the school." she replied with a grin as her clothing became mottled with black. Soon, she was clad in dark colors and a bone white scythe. She pulled out a skull bandanna over her nose. "I've come for your soul!" she roared, aiming her pink eyes at the librarian. Her head was now in front of Twilight, invading most conceptions of personal space. "Who are you?" Twilight failed to speak, still paralyzed by the half skull talking to her. The eyes were particularly disturbing, since the more she looked, the more that one of the eyes seemed a to have a light circle in the iris. "Back off Cherry." Crystal replied, as she pulled her back. "She's a friend." "Name?" Cherry pulled her bandana away. "Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student." Crystal replied as she placed a hand on the librarian's shoulder. "What is she doing here?" she then unclipped her hood. "She's under Fire's wing." "Oh, so she's a neophyte?" asked Cherry as she headed to the kitchen. "Sort of. She's not permanent." "Too bad, she looks like good support. Are you helping us on the dragon mission?" She looked at Twilight, opening the cookie jar. "Uh, yes. Wild guess?" Twilight answered "No. It is the only mission in the near future. There is no reason why you would go to another one." Cherry was now biting a chocolate chip cookie. "Were you reading and driving again?" Fire's fiancee asked, yanking the jar from her. "And who gave you permission to eat cookies? Last time I checked you still had diabetes!" "These's aren't sugar free?" "Of course not! There's no Super Healthy here!" "No wonder they tasted like heaven!" she replied before gnawing on the cookie. "From now on you won't eat anything without my say so." "Fine." "So as you can see Twilight, my fiance's team is composed primarily of freaks."Crystal said as she put the cookie jar over the refrigerator. "Good luck getting your brother back."