Chapter 11: The Gun Club.
Eleven souls stood in Shield Heart's basement, and only one was the center of attention.
"Very well, I'm Gun Nut, and I will be your instructor on this Beginner's guide to firearms. Now first thing is first, does anyone possess a firearm?" Asked the gunmetal haired man. He removed a pair of aviator sunglasses from his back pocket and put them on.
Applejack was the Only one to raise her hand.
"I'm impressed! So what do you have? A shotgun, assault rifle, pistol, air soft gun, potato launcher..."
"All ah have is Ol' Betsy. An' we ain't used her fer a long time!"
"Have you ever fired it before?"
"Sorry, no ah haven't. Granpa' was the last one."
"All right, so is it safe to assume that no one here has fired a gun before?"
Shining Armor was raising his hand before Shield exclaimed. "Put your hand down Shining! You are Captain of The Royal Guard! If you didn't know how to fire a gun you shouldn't even be alive!" That got the azure knight to back down, but it also made his face show annoyance
"Very well then, first lesson. never point the gun at someone unless you plan on shooting them. Even with years of research guns can still misfire at the slightest provocation." From a plastic table set with various tools he grabbed one of the various training pistols
"This is a training pistol modeled after the P 911. It will not kill, stun or maim anyone because it doesn't have the power of a real gun, therefore it is perfect for training. The purpose is to help you hold a gun and get a hold of the recoil. Will anyone volunteer to try it?"
The Weather girl stepped forward. "I'll give it a shot." She said.
Gun gave her the pistol and guided her to the first lane. She grabbed the gun with one hand and pointed sideways, making sure to look as cool as possible. She was impressed that the gun was lighter than she expected. She aimed down the sights toward the dummy's chest and took a deep breath. The moment she pulled the trigger a navy blue bullet shot out and hit the dummy right in the shoulder.
But Rainbow Dash hadn't considered the recoil, which jerked the gun backwards only to be stopped by her face. In shock she dropped the weapon and nursed her bruise.
"Lesson number two, never try to imitate what you see in movies. That is generally bullcrap and very dangerous." The officer said as he went to one of the cases and walked over with an ice pack.
He handed the injured the cold bag and said. "That was recoil, the reaction force of a gun. Every time you pull the trigger a mechanism hammers the crystal which bounces back and jerks the gun. Although for your first shot you were pretty accurate."
Rainbow took a look at the dummy. "I was aiming for his chest!" She burst out.
"I know, but still is a very impressive shot. Had your target been holding a gun, he would have dropped it. That would have given you a chance at another shot."
"Twilight, ya sure 'bout this? Ah don't think it's worth gettin' bruised for." Asked Applejack with worry
"Your friend wouldn't have been bruised if she had waited for my instructions." Snapped Gun Nut.
"What are you talking about? You're the one who set me up in the firing range!" Protested the polychromatic woman.
"I never said you should start shooting." He retorted with a grin. "Maybe I started wrong. I'm used to training recruits, not civilians."
"Maybe Shining and I should properly demonstrate." Said Shield as he unholstered Maria and Silver. He handed the smaller pistol to his friend.
The blond occupied the center lane, while the knight took care of the right lane. Shield was about to pull the trigger but saw his friend.
"Did your wedding give you amnesia?" He asked with mockery.
Shining looked at him. "I'm sorry?"
"Ladies, third lesson of the day. Whenever you are using anything that is not a practice model make sure you have the gun on the correct setting." He yanked the gun from Shining's hand.
"As you can clearly see here." He pointed to the switch above the trigger. "The dial is in the red zone. That means that this thing can maim. Unless you have a pack of dire wolves after you, a group of mobsters or something that wants to use your innards as a source of nourishment, you shouldn't keep it in red.
"Yellow is for stunning, in case the local hobo gets a little too close to you. And green is for practice. Barely consumes mana from the core and can't damage even a nearby fly." Said shield as he moved the dial. "Now, Shining, could you kindly demonstrate how a Captain of the Royal Guard holds a pistol?"
With an irritated look Shining did as instructed. He aimed with his right eye and both hands were on the grip.
"That Miss Rainbow is how an amateur should hold a gun." He said to the weather girl before looking at his friend. "Please fire ten shots. Disable the dummy."
With a grunt, Shining obeyed. He fired eight rounds at the four limbs of his frozen opponent. After which he shot the chest twice.
"Nice! Good to know you still have the basics of the Academy. Let me see Dum-Dum." Shield grabbed the fake gun and looked at the dial.
"Rainbow Dash, just as I told Shining I'll tell you. In the future always check the dials, you just fired the equivalent of a .45 Magnum Revolver." He said as he showed her the dial. "Unless you have the strength of a Minotaur never shoot this type with one hand."
"It's not my fault I shot a hand cannon!"
"I know it's this idiot's fault. But I'm just saying for future reference." Said Shield Heart as he gestured toward the rest. "Now, if you could please come..." "Achoo!" Interrupted a cloaked bench.
Shield froze in fear. Of all the odds and how well it was going he never expected a sneeze to doom him.
Alarmed, Fluttershy pulled over the grey blanket. Gasps of surprise filled the room.
"Sweetie, what on earth are you doing here?" Asked Rarity.
She just gave a sheepish smile. "I wanted to surprise you?"
Shield immediately interrupted. "I'm the one responsible. I took her to the ice cream parlor to try and cheer her up. Then as we came back I wanted to check up on Gun. Then you knocked on the door and I panicked. I thought you would go berserk if you found out I had your sister here so I planned to smuggle her out when you started practicing."
Rarity didn't know how to respond. She wasn't mad, just surprised. She took a few seconds to make an appropriate response. "There is no problem, I was just thrown off. I wished you would have told me."
"Okay, that's... Unexpected. I'm sorry but I'm used to parents freaking out when they see me with their child if its not in Vanhoover. Probably due to my five o'clock shadow, I really don't know."
"Maybe we ought to forget about this issue and move on. Could you please give me one of your pistols?" Declared Rarity with a nervous chuckle. "And don't you think it's a little too early for ice cream?"
"Yeah, maybe. But I think we should follow your advice. So in the lineup we have Miss Rarity, Cadence, Miss Applejack, Miss Twilight and Miss Pink-Haired?" He finished with a nervous tone,
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She answered.
He clapped his hands and covered his face. "Thank you. I'll make sure to remember it."
They raised their arms and pointed forward. Twilight and Rarity hesitated for a moment, checking the dial.
"Well done, you did remember the third lesson. Turn the dial to the 9mm setting. That's the beginner's road."
All shooters did as instructed.
"Good, now. Get Ready! Take aim!" He shouted. The women aimed down their sights, waiting for the command. "Fire!" And a blue volley was fired in dissonance.
"Not bad. Let's see." Shield studied each of the blast marks left in the dummies.
"Cadence, is this your first time shooting?" He asked the princess. Her dummy was hit in the elbow, which in al life could have disarmed an opponent.
"In a long time." She answered meekly.
"In that case, you did a solid job. Now let's see miss Applejack." He studied the mannequin carefully. The bolt would have immobilized anyone who tried to run away, having scorched the knee.
"Where were you aiming?" He asked confused.
"Ah was tryin' at hit the heart." Answered the farmer.
"Hmmm. You still need practice. But it's still a decent shot." He turned to face the lily-eyed librarian.
He searched for a hit, but there wasn't any on the dummy. "I think you missed." He said flatly.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really? I never would have guessed."
"Yeesh! What an attitude. Anyways, why don't you try it again." He said kindly. "C'mon, practice makes perfect!"
She obliged, taking aim once more. She didn't like the weight, it wasn't the same as holding a wand.
"That's your problem, see? Your hands are not fully gripping the pistol, try doing this." He grabbed her left hand and placed it right over her other hand. "Now tense your arms, when that recoil comes you need the strength to avoid stop it from hitting you."
He let go of her hands, and started moving her face. "Now, you need to align your eyes with the three green dots." He set her eyes to level. "Now, in order to stop the swaying you need to take a deep breath."
She followed his instructions, holding her need to breathe for a while. She noticed her hand was steadier, and more confident.
"Now fire." He said.
Twilight's pistol emitted a raspberry bolt which hit the dummy right in the heart and pushed it back a couple of centimeters. A hit against an unarmored opponent in real life would have caused a trauma that would have sent anyone unconscious.
"Ha ha! See? Bob's your Uncle!" Said the Commissioner with a chuckle.
The room was filled with gasps of surprise.
Gun Nut approached the soldier. "I am leaving in two hours." He whispered.
Enraged, Shield responded equally as loud. "And why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"I forgot."
Rolling his eyes, Shield started thinking. But first he had to finish examining. Rarity seemed to be a promising markswoman. Her pistol had managed to hit right between collarbones. A shot few people managed.
"Very impressive! I thought you had never shot a gun before." He said.
"I haven't but I tried implementing some of my couture techniques, like taking a breathe before shooting. I always do it when I need to use a needle." Said the dressmaker with gusto.
"I never thought of it that way, but very good!" He said as he focused on the last one.
As he stared down the range his brain crashed. His eyes didn't seem to be focusing well, for he saw five shots, perfectly aligned. A shot to the torso, another to the head, another on each arm and a final one to the crotch.
"Miss Pinkie, may I see your gun?" He asked.
"It's not my gun, but sure!" She exclaimed.
He started investigating the piece of equipment but to his bewilderment the settings were on 9mm. It made no sense because he was sure she only took one shot.
"Something wrong Shy?" Asked Shining.
"It's just that I could have sworn that she shot only once, yet there are five perfect marks on the dummy." He said as he sat down. "Actually on second thought, forget it. Today's session is over. Come back tomorrow if you want to keep practicing, but for today I will need to close down the basement."
"Oh, come on!" Exclaimed a very irritated Sweetie Belle. "You promised you were gonna teach me how to shoot!"
And at that very moment fourteen eyes full of rage and confusion turned to face him.
All Shield could manage was a sheepish giggle. "Sweetie Belle, that wasn't very smart. I think I should have told you that this wouldn't be a very good idea."
The room was vacated by everyone except for his neighbors.
"I don't suppose you would like to explain that."
"Erm, I just wanted to make her smile. Honest! She was so down on how you had let her down on your sister day I just wanted to make it up for her."
"Well then, I don't think it's correct to punish you. But in the future please keep my sister away from anything that could be considered unrelated to a regular life."
"Very well, I guess I'll have to concede. And I do have a favor to ask of you."
"And what could that be?"
"I need the help of someone of your eye for design to help me turn this house into a place I can be proud to call home." He said casually.
Rarity stopped for a second. "So long as you give me a budget ill see what I can do." She replied.
"Thank you, now I need to to abandon the basement. My friend and I are going to discuss top secret information and we wouldn't want to endanger you."
The seamstress left with a happy huff, grabbing her sister by the hand.
Shield closed the door to the basement, locked it and placed as many anti-lock picking and eavesdropping hexes he could remember.
With a clasp he turned to his friend. "Let me guess, now's the time for weapon porn?"
"My friend, you know that for me it's always time for weapon porn." He set up another plastic table and set it next to the previous one. "Just sit back, relax and have nice day."