Chapter 8
"Hello precious! Miss me Pabu?" He said as he kissed the handle. "So where's that brace I ordered?"
"It's right in... This box!" Said the man as he grabbed a box labeled with a Red Cross. He set the box on he floor and unfastened the locks. Inside the foam interior was a metal brace split by the front.
Shield removed it carefully and pulled up his left leg. He took some minutes adjusting the various straps and the diameter.
With a deep breath Shield enclosed his leg in the metal and tightened the straps. Between the freezing aluminum and the spikes Shield felt an unbearable amount of pain for the first seconds. Later, as he got used to it, he set his foot down. He was grateful for the Med-X in the spikes, which helped we the pain.
He started taking baby steps, making sure that his cane was ready to help him back up. To his delight, the brace worked as expected. He felt like he had his leg back.
He began loading as many cases as he could onto the backs of his vehicles.
"So, how will we do it?" Asked Gun.
"We'll do tag race. Once we get on to my home, we'll drop off the stuff on Pabu and you'll leave the bike in front. I'll take you back and you can bring another one."
"What will you do about furniture?"
With a smirk he spat. "Fuck that, we got guns!" He then revved the engine and rushed through the open doors and toward his house.
Gun followed him a bit later, after he managed to recover himself and get the ramp down. As he rode off the train he saw his friend waiting for him. "C'mon dude, I gotta show you my place!" And he continued off.
Gun regretted not taking Pabu. It being Shield's personal off-road vehicle, it was faster than any average motorcycle and very easy to fall behind.
"Shield, Wait! There is no dragon behind you!" Shouted Gun. His efforts worked, since Shield did slow down.
After some minutes they finally arrived to Shield's home. "This is it."
"This dump?"
"Yeah, just got it today, but imagine some new paint, a new door, the porch restored..."
"This place does have potential." Said Gun stroking his chin
"Okay, let's unload the stuff and get back." Said the soldier as he started loosening the straps holding down the cases.
.oOo.
Commander Iron Hide scanned the train platform, making sure there wasn't a soul left. Not even the ticket sellers. He decided things were safe when he saw a red ATV drive off to the distance for a fourth time.
"All clear, bring her majesty." He ordered two guards in white leather armor. From inside the car came a woman hooded in a white and gold dress, her height reaching two point thirty Meters. Her pink hair fell gracefully to her breast.
"Hurry your majesty. There is no telling if he'll come back."
"I appreciate your concern Commander, but I prefer if Dawn took care of my safety. It is her job and I want you to enjoy the town." From behind the winged woman came a shorter woman, clad in leather armor and a steel shoulder pad. Her clothes were white and trimmed with gold. On her back a bow was holstered, but without a quiver.
"Ma'am, I suggest we move on. He still has to unpack the furniture, so we should move if you wish to avoid Shield Heart." She spoke with a calm, almost monotones voice. Her hands on her scimitar holstered to her left.
"Very well, let us go visit my student. I trust you did send Shining Armor a letter requesting his presence."
"Of course I did, I hope this plan of yours works. Otherwise I will have to answer to Brave, or worst, to Shield."
"If my plan worked once, I am confident it will work once more."
"I need to remind you of the dangers that you are placing on this town."
"And for the tenth time I tell you, this town is under no danger. I understand your concerns after the Manehattan Maiming, but I am confident of this town's peaceful and serene environment will help calm him down." Said the escorted.
"Princess Celestia, I know it is not my place, but I agree with he commander. Shield Heart has become too volatile to function. He should have been interned into a mental institute years ago."
Celestia turned to face her bodyguard. "I am surprised to hear you say those things."
"And I look after our safety. He is in no state to be handling guns."
"I still believe he is our best asset." Responded the princess.
"He is too unstable and you know it."
They continued debating their purpose, but the ruler still held her thoughts. Knocking three times on the library doors revealed that her student was still busy.
"Princess! What a surprise!" She exclaimed as she hid her body behind the door. She was still wearing pajamas.
"Sorry to come uninvited, I thought your brother told you of our meeting." Answered the princess with a smile.
Twilight Sparkle looked away and muttered something. "He must have forgotten, if you could give me a minute to change my clothes..."
"Sorry ma'am but no can do. We need to get the princess inside at all costs, we can't take risks."
Twilight gave Dawn a confused look. "And you are?"
"Radiant Dawn Heart, the princess's personal escort, but you can omit the Heart." She answered stoically.
"Please let us in so we can explain." Said Celestia.
Twilight opened the door and ushered them in. "Sorry about the mess, Shield slept on the couch and didn't clean up."
Dawn immediately withdrew her bow and pulled the string, conjuring a magic arrow. She began scanning every corner.
Twilight looked at her in bewilderment, while the commander went for a revolver.
Without notice, the archer released ten arrows in different directions. Each spot where an arrow landed caused a small boom.
"The place is now free of recording runes." She declared.
"What are you talking about?" Asked a confused Twilight.
"I know Shield, he placed several runes to record any sort of conversation that might happen."
"How did you know where to look?"
"Shield is too predictable, he wold make sure they were as invisible as possible. And I'm an expert in sensing runes."
"If safety is no longer our concern then maybe we should begin with why we are here." Said the commander as he holstered his gun.
Twilight had disappeared the moment they stopped looking at her.
She returned moments later wearing her usual skirt and shirt. "Sorry, I just had to change. Why did you come here?"
"Twilight, you know you are my must trusted student and now I fear I may be asking too much from you." Said Celestia in a dark tone.
"Why would you say that? I'm ready for any task you ask of me." She answered confidently.
"Miss Twilight, we aren't doubting your magic skills." Intervened Iron Hide.
"I need to ask, are you confident? You do not even know what the task entitles." Asked the Princess.
"I am, there is no task me and my friends cannot handle." Answered Twilight.
There was a knock on the door and Dawn was the first to react. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Shining Armor." Said someone outside.
Dawn carefully opened the door, only to quicken her pace when she recognized the azure knight and his wife.
"Sorry we are late, we fell asleep."
"There is no need for concern, it was incorrect for us to bother you during your honeymoon."
"Hey Dawn, how's it going?"
"Very well, but maybe we can catch up later. We have important things to talk about."
"I gathered you here because I need Shield Heart to pass his tests." Said Celestia.
"I don't think I follow princess, what tests does Shield have to take?"
"You know that every year the Commission extends psyche and physical evaluations, if they fail either one then they are suspended from active duty. And that is something we cannot allow, especially now." Said Iron Hide.
"Why not? A break could be exactly what Shield needs, especially after what happened." Said Cadence.
"Canterlot is in big trouble. The Precious Family grows in strength each day, but we can't get any evidence on them. If we can't stop them, we will have our first civil war in history. And I swore an oath to die before that happened." The commander knocked on the table four times.
"Which is why I am sad to be forced to cut your honeymoon short Shining, I will need you to return to the castle on Monday. The guard is at their mercy without you." Added Celestia somberly.
Shining looked at his wife and sighed. "Don't worry, we have had a good vacation. I'll be there first thing in the morning."
"But why is Shield so important? There are several commissioners that can do the job." Snapped Cadence. "The last thing Shield needs is to be tempted with more fighting."
"I agree." Said Dawn.
"Shield is needed specifically for his unique abilities. We know that there are commissioners better than him, but our best agents are too busy in their cities." Answered Iron Hide as he tousled his hair. "And if we pull one out we will lose more ground than before."
"What unique abilities? He seems like an average person." Asked Twilight.
"You haven't seen him in action have you?" Asked Dawn.
"Seeing as how i just met him yesterday, I can't say I have."
"He knows how to handle anything with a trigger and he has a way of countering any strategy that our enemies might come up with. If there is anyone cable of fighting a civil war single-handedly, it's him."
"All right. I get that he is a very important, if variable, person. But I don't get the part where I'm supposed to be involved."
"I want you, along with Cadence and your friends, to help him pass the psyche test." Said the princess with a stern face.
"How am I supposed to do that, with magic?" Said Twilight rhetorically.
"I would advise against it, the Mage's Guild already tried it and some of the adepts are still unconscious." Added Dawn.
Twilight stepped back in surprise. "How is that possible?"
"The surviving mages reported that he has several countermeasure spells etched in his mind. Note that he was subdued with drugs and asleep." Said Dawn with reluctance.
"I thought that it would have been better if you tried to show him around town, distracting him from his problems.We need him to return to the real world, because he tends to fantasize too much."
"Okay so he is insane and you're asking me to be the brakes, right?"
"That is correct."
"So why can't you just exempt him from the tests if he's so important?" Asked Shining. The visitors gave him a weird look.
"I find it easier to avoid giving him a test you know he will fail easier to risking my wife, my sister and five of their friends. Or if he has to take the test, why don't you postpone them?" He scoffed.
"The commission has strict rules concerning these tests, no one can skip them and everyone must take them at the specified date. There are no delays and no exceptions. This according to the Equestrian Commission Defense Act. If he took this test as he is now he will undoubtedly fail. And if he decides to act while suspended he will be confided to have gone rogue and will be marked for execution." Said the commander.
"And that is exactly what you want to avoid. Last time we tried to arrest Shield he managed to take down twenty guards before escaping." Said Shining as he had a revelation.
"Exactly, I know that he will intervene at some point. And I would rather have an ally rather than a time bomb."
"I just want to see him like his old self, the merry child who would do anything to help people. I really loathe seeing the monster he has become." Said Celestia.
"But why is he such a good commissioner, shouldn't someone with more experience be considered better?" Asked Twilight.
"Most commissioners don't blow up Manehattan Central Station in a daring plan to stop a ton of illegal guns from escaping." Spat Dawn.
"As we said, Shield Heart has a way of showing creativity when confronted with situations. And he has a weird sense of self-preservation." Iron Hide sighed.
"What if we used the Elements of Harmony to change him? It would definitely be easier and faster." Asked Shining.
"We're not sure the elements would work on him. The magic usually only works if the target is a supernatural threat, and Shield is neither supernatural nor a threat as of the moment."
"Okay, so he is important, I think I get it. Can I invite my friends here? I think they should hear this and give their opinions." Said Twilight. She pulled out her cellphone and flipped it.
"By all means."
.oOo.
Shield and Gun were unloading the last cases from the motorcycles and started carrying them inside. But they received a very welcome surprise.
A dark sapphire-haired woman was cleaning the entire house. A child with pink and purple hair was helping her, dusting the fireplace and passing supplies.
"Hello ladies." Said Shield as he put a crate on the floor. "Watcha doing?"
"Oh, just cleaning up here, I know you were in such a rush and I couldn't just leave knowing this mess existed." Answered Rarity.
"I'm not going to complain about this, but you really shouldn't."
"Oh don't worry dear, it's no trouble whatsoever."
"It's not just that, I still have to take everything out. I brought my own furniture and this one is horrible." He said. "Oh, where are my manners, this is my friend Gun Nut. He's the Commission's requisition officer." And his friend bowed.
"It's pleasure to meet you." Said the gunsmith as he extended a greeting hand.
"A pleasure too, I'm Rarity and this is my sister, Sweetie Bell." Said Rarity as she grabbed his hand. "Where are you from? I can't say I recognize your accent."
"I'm from Canterlot, my mother was from Great Bridle and father was from Stalliongrad. I got his accent."
"What's requisition?" Interrupted Sweetie as she scratched her head.
"Anything the military uses: weapons, munitions, armor, clothing, vehicles, food, tools. That sort of stuff." Answered Shield.
"And what's in those boxes?"
"These aren't boxes, they're specially hardened steel-aluminum alloy used for the storage of dangerous..." Started Gun.
"They're boxes of guns." Interrupted Shield.
"Why did you interrupt me?" Said the officer with disappointment. "I've been preparing that speech for weeks!"
"You were giving unnecessary details! Poor girl was being bored out of her mind!" He answered. "We'll be moving these cases to the basement."
"I suggest you don't go to basement. We will be using very dangerous and unreliable weapons and I wouldn't like to see someone get hurt."
"Hmm... I don't suppose any one of you would be willing to give me and a couple of my friends some basic firearms safety rules, would you?"
Shield and Gun gave each other the puzzled look.
"Why would you be interested in something so boring?" Asked Shield, his tone implied he didn't want her idea to proceed.
"Well, after the incident during the wedding I find it fit to learn about alternative defenses. Don't you agree mister Gun?" Said the seamstress with a half-flirty tone. Shield couldn't argue against her logic.
"I would love to, but unfortunately it's illegal for civilians to use firearms. So unless you can convince Celestia to give you permission for a crash course, I can't help you." Answered Gun.
.oOo.
She opened her mouth, but didn't speak when a buzz was heard through the room. She went for her pocket and extracted her cellphone.
Rarity looked at the screen. it was a text message from Twilight sent to all five of her friends.
Secret emergency meeting. Was all it said.
She took a quick look and stood up quickly. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. I'm late for a meeting." She rushed to the door before looking at her sister. "Would you kindly take everything back home? I promise I won't take long."
The girl scowled. "You promised we were gonna have a Sister Day!"
"We will, I'll just be gone for a few minutes and then we can have the entire day to ourselves."
"Only under one condition!"
"And what could that be?"
"Tell Twilight to send a letter to the princess so we BOTH can have training in guns." Declared the little girl. "I'm sick of you always bailing out on me!"
Rarity stared at her sister, hoping she would say she was joking. But her sister stood there, her face looking serious.
Gun Nut was chocking on a breath mint he had put in his mouth just seconds before that peculiar sentence. The blond man rushed and slapped his friend to help ease the chocking.
"Are you insane? You're too young to handle a dummy gun, so there's no way we are gonna let you handle the real deal!" Said the Commissioner.
"I'll talk to Twilight about it." Said Rarity as she dashed off.
.oOo.
Shield just stood there, dumbfounded. He really didn't know how to act, that girl looked so sad.
"Do you want some help?" He asked her. His friend proceeded with his previous task.
The girl looked angry above all, but there was a hint of sadness. "Nah, I'm fine. This usually happens."
"Anything I can do to erase that frown?" He said in a light voice.
She stared at him, expanding her pupils as much as possible. "Can you teach me how to use a gun?"
Shield was tempted to say yes, those cute mesmerizing eyes were causing diabetes, but he knew better than to train a little girl in firearms. "Now why would a little girl want to use a gun? They're not lady-like! You should think of more appropriate things, like dolls, tea parties, anything that's not violence!"
"Because maybe I'll get my cutie mark in shooting!"
Gun Nut was pushing a very large case, but he stopped and added. "Or you could have a talent in gun smithing."
"What's gun..." She started.
"It's making and maintaining guns. It's actually pretty fun." Said Gun before continuing. "If you could help me this case would be great." Shield rushed to help his friend.
"How about you think of something more legal, huh? I'll be right back." Said the commissioner as they went to the basement.
"Something more legal? You're lucky she doesn't know who you are." Said Gun. "By the way, this basement has fucking potential!"
"Yeah, I know. All we need to do is set up the cases and maybe you can turn this place into a bunker."
"Yes, that is the best idea. I suppose you want me to take charge of the modifications."
"If that pleases you."
"Of course it does my friend! You take that little girl out for ice cream, I need time to think about modifications."
"Can you set up a weapons demo? I fear we will have to give basic drill to some women."
His friend scoffed. "You really believe that woman will get permission?"
"She's friends with Twilight Sparkle."
Gun focused on him. "The?"
"The. And if I know the princess, she'll look for ways to give me a hard time. And that idea sounded like the perfect opportunity."
"All right, don't worry about me. Go make a child happy." Said Gun Nut before going back for more cases.
Shield just smiled and left with Sweetie Bell, next stop, sugar!