The Calm before the Storms

by Shieldheart204

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After her hasty retreat, Hawk Eye was busy searching for Koro. She really felt stupid for forgetting about her friend, and her mind tried to find a way to ease his anger. "Fire, where's Koro-chan?" she asked distressingly.

"He's still in his cage in your brother's room. Don't worry, I'm sure he' fine." replied Fire calmly as he set a stack of twenty-something pancakes on the table.

"What? No!" protested Crystal. "I just cleaned this house, and I won't dare risk having Koro chasing Ed and wrecking the room. If you want to set him free you're going to have to set him outside." The woman continued inspecting the various boxes, out of which most were labeled with Hawk Eye's name.

With a polite bow the girl immediately jumped up the stairs, reaching for his brother's room. Gently opening the door she failed to see the cage. Aside from his bed, a TV, the Gamesphere, a wardrobe and a steel weapon's case, there wasn't any cage in sight. Then she heard a slight whimper. As her ears perked up, she scanned the place once more. That's when she noticed the cardboard boxes behind the steel case. Sneaking her way thought, it only took once to realize your brother loves setting cryo-traps to become paranoid, she climbed over the box, and the soft sound was produced once more.

She began grabbing boxes, tossing the empty ones aside and setting carefully the others. After a couple of seconds she saw her prize. A beige cage with a sticker that read Stasis-Chamber. The cage only had a sealed hatch on one of the sides, as the cold container required to be isolated from all outside contaminants. Mustering her childish strength, Hawk Eye picked up the cage and headed downstairs and didn't stop until she was at the backyard. A quick scan later she rotated the valve to de-pressurize the cage. Slowly, and praying to Ysmir that she wouldn't be attacked, she opened the door. As soon as the opening was big enough, a cream-colored fur bullet blitzed out and tackled the girl. The creature then proceeded to lick Hawk anywhere it could, mostly on her face.

"How are you Koro?" she asked as her arms embraced the little dog. Koro responded with a few licks and a struggle to free himself from the clutches. Hawk obliged, letting the shiba inu roam around chasing his tail. After a couple of seconds, the dog barfed on the grass. "I'm sorry, I should've remembered to set you free earlier." she apologized. But the dog did not seem to care that it had been forgotten in a stasis cage. "C'mon then, we got a new house!"

---

"Twily, are you sure about this?" asked Princess Cadence for a fourth time in a row. She was still paralyzed in one of the many folding chairs, her arms crossed around her chest.

"Yes Cadence, I'm sure of it. I refuse to just sit here and expect a maniac like Shield to do something about it. What if he kills the dragon and everyone that isn't a soldier? Or if he just so happens to shoot a bullet in such a way that it kills Spike? No, if I want to make sure Spike gets here alive I'll have to get him." declared Twilight Sparkle as she folded her arms. "Don't worry about me, I'll find a way to learn my way around the battlefield."

Cadence looked away from the amethyst eyes. "That's what I'm worried about. Twilight, I've seen people head into battle. And every single person has been deformed by the field. I don't want that happening to you."

"Everyone? Are you including my brother?"

"Yes, especially Shining." said the princess somberly. " I still remember when he returned from the Battle of Foal Mountain, the way he talked, it was" she shuddered "I try not to remember it."

"But how bad was it? Princess Celestia told me that the generals made some bad calls and they took casualties, but it can't have been..." Twilight stopped, Cadence seemed to be taking this a little too hard. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

"I don't want to talk about that. I just want to warn you, once you step into the field you will never be the same. I know that you mean good, and you're right. I really wouldn't trust Shield with a mission this delicate. But I really don't want you to become like him." and with those word Cadence left.

Twilight was grateful that Shield had left the room, if he had heard the conversation he probably would have cracked some joke about the Royal Guard being weak. But she was still uncomfortable with her former babysitter's reaction. It wasn't a real battlefield, it was just a pickup mission. If they were lucky they'd probably not even have to fire a single bullet. She took a moment to look at the racks, and shuddered. "maybe I'll get lucky and I won't get one of these."

Once she was back on the kitchen she was immediately greeted by Fire and a large stack of pancakes. "Hey there! You hungry?"

"No thanks, I had an early breakfast." she replied as she shook her head. The soldier merely shrugged as he grabbed one of the larger discs.

"Hey pup!" he said in a raised voice, calling for the attention of the little girl walking into the house. "Catch!" the blond girl immediately jumped, catching the pancake with her mouth as if she were a dog. "Nice!"

"So where's Shield?" asked the librarian as she eyed a particularly tasty apple in the shiny fruit bowl Rarity bought.

"He's taking a shower, but he's probably done by now... and speak of the Devil." he said as he looked at the stairs. Shield was wearing another of his double-headed eagle t-shirts, although this one was white with the logo in black.

"And he shall appear" said the blond soldier said, he then took a good whiff of the air "don't you just love the smell of stacks of pancakes in the morning?" following close by was Edgar, Shield's black raven. "Do we even have maple syrup for these beauties?" he then turned to look at a cream ball of fur next to his sister. "Oh, look! You actually brought Koro along. I guess that explains the stasis pod I found in my room. And why haven't you taken a shower pup?"

The girl was busy finishing the disc that was thrown to her, but she then responded: "I was busy making sure that Koro-chan was fully recovered. You know how he gets when he's in that pod."

"Fine, eat your breakfast and then hit the showers. We're leaving at eleven hundred, and we won't wait." and with that he grabbed a plate and served himself five pancakes, and with a surprised look he grabbed the bottle of syrup and drowned his breakfast in it. "Why don't you sit? Sure beats eating your apple on your feet." Twilight followed as suggested, and Hawk Eye followed soon. She devoured four pancakes before gulping down a glass of milk and sprinting to her room. "Isn't it curious how the mind of a child works?"

Celestia's student just sat on her chair, unable to think of anything. She didn't consider herself an expert psychologist, but she was sure that anyone could see that his head had more than a couple of loose screws. The thought of seeing him in action was terrifying. What were the odds of Spike not getting back alive? The man was a total mess! Not two minutes ago he was all somber, but now he just sighed at the sight of his sister. "So you said that training begins at five in the afternoon?"

"Yep, that's right. You and miss Rarity are in for a civilian's workout, so I suggest you decide whether or not you're joining our mission."

"But I thought you said you'd train us."

"I will, but if you really plan on going on with us I'm gonna have to give you the Crash Course just so you can have a chance of making it alive."

"So what's the difference? Wouldn't it make sense to train us both with the same program so that either of us could survive in case of an emergency? Not only that, but it would be easier if you taught us both the same thing rather than teaching two different courses at the same time."

Shield stammered for a minute, his brain apparently trying to come up with a convincing argument for her. "Please don't question my decisions." he replied as he got up and left for the study. "C'mon Koromaru, let's continue reading those reports. Hopefully Ed will remember to wake up in time and he'll be able to begin his patrols by midday."

"What's up with him?" asked Twilight, befuddled by his expression and sudden departure.

"Eh, Shield's probably just trying to look all cool. He's got to be pissing his pants by now." said Crystal as she began eating her breakfast.

"Why would he be afraid?"

"Because Shield isn't exactly a good teacher. And the idea of having to teach two of Celestia's friends doesn't exactly sit well with him, seeing as though he can't just throw you into a forest and tell you to find your way back home." replied Fire as he began cleaning up the table.

"Isn't that method a little too extreme? What if a recruit got lost?"

"Then Shield would come pick him up and send him home with a pat on the back while saying Thanks for participating in a smug tone. But he does it out of the kindness of his heart, last thing he wants is to learn that someone got killed due to the soldier being unfit. It saves him the trouble of having to worry about his leading skills."

Twilight's brain immediately went berserk. "I've had enough of this!" she exclaimed as her fists assaulted the table.

"Of what?" asked both Fire and Crystal, their faces not bothering to hide their confusion.

"I though Shield was supposed to be this monster that made so much damage that sensible people hated! But now I'm supposed to believe that he's nice to children and also has no idea how to lead people into battle or teach them despite him being a top-ranking officer in the army? Do I look stupid or something?"

Fire merely chuckled for a while. "You won't get Shield because he's mad. As in almost deserving to be interned in an asylum."

"Then why is he in control of the Legion?" asked Twilight.

"Because: he isn't. We all know better than to trust a maniac, so we put people that are actually competent in strategies in charge. Shield is just the guy we send in so that the soldiers can keep their morale up. That and we use him for all sorts of spec ops."

"But he's a Brigadier! And according to military structure he is one of the most, if not the most, high-ranking soldier! If he's not in charge of things then why does he even have that rank to begin with!"

"Because everyone loves a psycho that charges head-first into an enemy horde while screaming at the top of his lungs. That and also because he always finds a way to become the center of attention during a fight. And any veteran knows that the less bullets flying in his direction the better. So with that in mind he's been getting promotions so that he stays in the army and feels like he has a family. Childish? Yeah, but it has worked so far. And we don't fix what ain't broke." Fire procured a sheet of paper from his pocket, and after unfolding it various times he handed it to the librarian.

Twilight grabbed the paper and read it. It was a timetable recording the arrival of three people: Moondancer, who was arriving that day at noon, the next day Thunder Storm was coming in the Canterlot morning, followed by Cherry Blossom from Dodge Junction later that day. "Why did you hand me this?"

"That is the list of the rest of our wolf pack. I give you the schedule in case, and I'm sure it will be, that you want to greet them personally and give them a warm welcome." he replied as he crossed his arms and released a smile. "I suggest you do meet them, I'm pretty sure that they'll be some of the most interesting people you meet."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay, but I've been having some trouble writing some of this stuff. Why don't you drop a comment to share your thoughts?

Comments

[Silentpegasus]

This is good.
Can't wait to see Shield putting Twi and Rares through the ringer.

[dark_zero]

essssssssttttttttttttoooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyy de vuelta gran fic se ira a favoritos XD lo siento estube un rato ausente (jugando ac 4 dishonored, fatal frame, bioshock saga 1 2 e infinte ,atelier totori, rorona, meruru jajajaja y vuelvo a la bici ok saludos y como te haido a ti)

[Shieldheart204]

4290674
No hay problema, es bueno tenerte de vuelta. Espero tus comentarios