How to Bore a Commissioner

by Shieldheart204

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning Shield Heart woke up feeling extremely groggy. His brain seemed to have refused to wake up, and the world around him seemed to blur. Every bit of his body demanded meat, he couldn't even think straight unless there was meat involved.

With staggering steps he managed to strap his brace on and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. He chewed on ten strips of cold, raw bacon as soon as he got his hands on them. He dashed to the pantry and grabbed an egg. With a swift press he punctured the object and drank.

But it wasn't enough, his hunger still remained. So he finished off the dozen.

"This can't be right, it's too soon!" He murmured to himself. Then he had a weird notion to grab his rifle and hunt. He didn't care what or why, but his brain demanded that he hunt.

Without wasting another moment, he took a quick shower and armed himself. He grabbed his pistols, one falchion, his hunting rifle, the Feline SMG, his bracers and Riot. He decided to use his holsters above his coat, no one was going to see him anyways. And he wouldn't risk a wardrobe malfunction. Too embarrassing.

He wished they had sent him a shotgun, but he was going to have to make do with what he had.

He was glad Twilight had found his crimson coat, which apparently was underneath her couch, for it now meant he could go incognito.

As he went out the door he saw a piece of paper with his name and a short note.

Shield, gone for the rest of the day.
I'll be with Rarity.
Take care.

He could tell it was Cadence's handwriting, so he thought of how to tell her she wouldn't be seeing him.

He scribbled down a note and stuck it on her door with the first kitchen knife he could find. He prepared a small lunch, in case he got hungry, and left for the forest.

Everyone in this town said this Everfree Forest was home to several dangers, but he dismissed their claims. After all, this was a town that was way behind on national news.

It took him three hours to realize they weren't joking. As he stared into the distance from a tree branch amidst the murky forest he saw a manticore licking its paw. The tail stinger was limp and the wings tucked tightly.

Glowing with glee he quietly took aim at the beast. The scope was aligning itself, pointing towards the neck, when he heard muffled footsteps in the distance to his left. He wasn't the only one, as his prey was also alerted to the sound. The beast took a whiff and started sneaking away, walking gently and not making a sound.

Shield followed it as quietly as possible, jumping from branch to branch as quietly as possible, so to avoid being detected.

The footsteps seemed to belong to a bipedal creature, probably sixty kilos in weight. He guessed it must be a person, so he decided to quicken his pace.

He finally came across a straight road, and as he looked through his scope he saw a young woman with sapphire hair with a pink and purple streaks in the center. Her simple outfit consisted of a light blue blouse and a mulberry skirt. She looked around her, as if she had heard someone.

Her hands were holding a burlap bag, but he couldn't see the contents.

"Now what is the librarian doing here all alone?" He wondered to himself.

But then he remembered his previous objective. "Oh shit!"

He gained some height and started moving toward Twilight. If he could time everything right he might be able to score a clean brain shot.

But it seemed that the beast had changed its location, and wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Before anyone could react the beast pounced on the librarian, its claws ready to tear her apart.

.oOo.

Twilight was on her way back from Zecora's, the herbalist had given her some new leaves for her tea and she was eager to taste them.

Most people would have said that it was suicidal to walk the Everfree path alone, but she was more than ready for anything that came toward her.

She had an odd sensation that she was being watched as she walked along the dirt, both from the trees and from the bushes to her right. She dismissed the claims, it was just the nerves.

After some rustling a manticore burst through the bushes, claws drawn and tail ready.

She quickly reacted by withdrawing her wand and sending a bolt of magic toward the beast. This sent it flying backwards, to where it came from. But as the creature fell back she heard a loud bang from the trees, and glimpsed a crimson bullet as it buried itself in one of the paws.

The monster was roaring and ready to strike once more.

But Twilight wasn't, she was too busy looking at the trees trying to see who opened fire.

The manticore charged once more but was stopped by another shot, this time it went to its tail.

With a roar it began its charge once more, gaping its jaw wide. Twilight had prepared her wand and released another bolt.

It grazed the tan fur, doing no sort of damage. The beast pinned her to the ground, lightly scarring her left shoulder.

The beast prepared to take a bite, but turned around when a thunderous roar assaulted its right flank. With a second of respite, Twilight quickly turned around and looked at her savior.

Shield Heart was standing there, guns hissing, not doing anything else. "Hey there." He said smugly.

He holstered his pistols and withdrew a sword from his left side.

"Come and get me pussycat!" He yelled as he took his stance.

But the monster wasn't interested on him at the moment, it already had a meal ready and served. Twilight turned to see the monster, but closed her eyes as it spat out saliva into her eyes.

Another rampage of bullets struck it, but this time they actually penetrated the fur, making each hole ooze out blood

"That's right motherfucker, you know you want a piece of me! I got real meat, not like that bookworm you caught!" He insulted it as he prepared his sword once more. "C'mon!" He cried as he banged his chest with his fist.

And without needing any more motivation the manticore stung Twilight in her left breast and proceeded to do battle with this nuisance.

The blond immediately took the lead, blinking forward and burying his sword on the right shoulder. He jumped backwards as a claw tried to cut him, and left his sword embedded as it dripped blood.

Unluckily for the beast, the steel was too close for removal, and the sword had cut through at least some tendons. So it was crippled, but it wasn't going to give up.

It limped back into position and charged again, using its wings to propel itself. This time it prepared its stinger. It managed to knock Shield off balance, and using that advantage it moved for the sting with haste.

It was quick, but Shield was even faster. By the time the tail was rushing down, the commissioner already had recovered and had withdrawn Riot, and sidestepped out of the way. The sharp tail missed its target and buried itself against a rock.

Taking advantage of this Shield quickly prepared the sword and decapitated the poisonous head. The manticore cried in pain as blood and venom squirted out of the stump.

"Booyah!" He roared with glee.

Wasting no time, the soldier quickly mounted the beast and drove his sword into its neck. But it wasn't enough, he left it there and took out his pistols.

"Ye-haw bitch! I'm gonna have the coolest urinal when I get a hold of your skull!"

He stuck them to its brain and unleashed a fury of crimson as the bullets burned through the head.

"That's right pussycat, you got owned!" He laughed.

And so Shield had his first kill in Ponyville. He retrieved his weapons and cut a fang as a souvenir. He was going to start off a new necklace in here.

A low moan forced him to look back and notice Twilight was lying on the ground.

"Crap." He murmured as he rushed to her side. He quickly pressed his hand on her jugular. It still had a pulse, barely.

He took out a shot of Med-X and injected the short needle in her neck, hoping the solution would slow down the poison.

"Twilight, if you can hear me try to calm down. I'll patch you up pronto." He said to her as he drew a rune on her forehead with his finger. It wasn't going to defeat the poison, but at this point he wanted time.

He grabbed her, placed her on his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. He could see his house on the horizon, so he stepped it up.

He barged into the backyard and blasted the door open, he didn't have time to look for his keys. As he went to the living room he saw both Cadence and Rarity, their filled with sudden fear.

"Stop staring and help me!" He cried as he set the librarian on the brand new couch.

"What happened?" Asked the seamstress as she approached her friend.

"Manticore sting."

"Then what are we doing here? We should take her to the hospital!" Cried Cadence.

"No, there's no time, my countermeasure won't last long." He said as he looked around. "Where's the box labeled: Apothecary?"

"I put it on the study." Replied Rarity.

"Thanks!" He said as he rushed off to said room. He started searching through the various boxes, looking at the labels and praying it was the next one.

He found it after a few seconds later. He grabbed it and rushed back.

He started pulling out several books and containers, occasionally reading a label.

The librarian moaned once more, her eyes barely opening up.

"That's it!" Protested Cadence. "I'm taking her to the hospital now!"

But Shield refuted as he lifted a book from the box. "No need! Hold this for me please?" He asked Rarity as he handed her the textbook: Medical Remedies for Magical Injuries, Apothecary Edition.

"Please search for manticore in the index and tell me the ingredients listed on cure." He commanded as he started taking out flasks, containers and other things and laid them on the brand new mahogany coffee table. Thankfully it was still wrapped with plastic.

Cadence pulled out her cellphone and called for an ambulance.

"They'll be too late, you shouldn't have bothered. Mis Rarity, the ingredients please!"

"Let's see." Murmured Rarity. "You need: three tablespoons of kingsfoil, two cups of olive oil, two tablespoons of plantain leaf, and a quarter cup of beeswax pastilles."

As she spoke each ingredient the soldier was busily placing it on the table. As soon as he had everything on the table he started the mixing process, then he used his hands to heat it. And after three agonizingly slow minutes the salve was ready.

With a rush he placed his hand on her throat. Convinced that she was still alive he checked her forehead. It was starting to boil. "Good, she's entering into a coma."

"How can that be good?"

"With the fever she's got it's better if her strength focuses on the poison."

He quickly pulled down both her shirt and bra to reveal the sting area. It was somewhat swollen, but mostly just red.

"Could one of you go for my box and look for a jar labeled: Dis-Agi?" He asked as he rubbed the healing salve on the librarian's wound.

Cadence was the one to hand it over to him. "What's this for?"

"Aloe Vera ointment. This thing is about a hundred degrees Celsius, so it will leave a mark." He said as he placed the jar next to her. He proceeded to carefully rub the salve. The medicine burned his fingers, but he didn't have the time to be more careful.

He placed half the product on her wound and proceeded to rub his hands with the Aloe Vera. The remaining salve was placed on the box.

After some minutes of silence Shield stood up and started walking away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be going. There's a box of sensory ward totems that need placing." He said coldly.

"You're not staying?" Asked the married woman with a puzzled look.

"No. I just said that I need to go place sensory ward totems. I never expected that forest to house manticores, heavens forbid what other rahi lurk in that hellish place."

"I'm sorry, what is rahi?" Intervened Rarity.

"Legion slang for small monsters." He said as me left the house without letting anyone tell him otherwise.

The sun was starting to set, probably meaning it was four o'clock or later.

He placed the small wooden totems around the path and on the borders. Each totem was at least a hundred meters apart, and so it took him a good part of the rest of the day to finish the task. But they were ready and fully operational. If anything got into range he would receive a notification on his phone. He was always impressed with the stuff his R&D department came up with when it came to magitech gadgets.

Returning home gave him the surprise that his backyard sliding door was fixed. Not only that, but the rooms had received a fresh coat of white paint, making it look far better than before. Also his new furniture was free of wrapping and looked great.

"It appears you've been busy." Said Twilight from the balcony above.

"I hope you're feeling well." He said as went for the basement. "What are you doing here?"

"Cadence went out with Rarity. I think they wanted to get you a new bed."

"Good, that haystack is not what I could call: cutting edge tech. Did you go with a doctor?"

"Yeah, I woke up in the ambulance. To the paramedics' surprise the poison was dead by the time they started doing any analysis. Where did you learn to make manticore antidotes?"

"I learned that in the Legion. We learned from experience that it's never good to rely heavily on the team medic. All it takes to leave you medic-less is an arrow to the heart."

"Is he alright?" She asked with concern.

"What?" He answered confused. And after a moment he understood. "Oh! Of course he's fine. The man got married, hence the reference. After him we had a hard time finding a suitable replacement. But we eventually did find someone, a bit crazy and unethical though." He sighed.

"Anyway, I need to get to my basement and get some shut-eye." He quietly said as he took his leave.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked with eyes wide open

And looking deep into her eyes, those amethyst jewels, he really couldn't say no. There was something in his mind that forced him to say yes, an old memory that insisted that he trust her.

"Don't see why not." He sighed.

Author's Note:

Now that you've read through this week's chapter, I ask that you consider writing your thoughts. Thanks in advance!