Chapter 32 - S.H.I.E.L.D
The next morning, after having one of Granny Smith’s trademarked Apple Family Breakfasts, I prepared to head out to Twilight’s again. I was to meet up with Strong Shield at eight o’clock sharp for further training in defensive magic. The previous night I’d liberated a few tin cans from the rubbish and set them up on the fence line. Big Mac had also kindly helped me set up a few hinged metal targets that would swing when hit. I now had a good firing range to practice on; the Crusaders had also asked to be allowed to use it. The previous day, they had gone and built themselves some slingshots and a few bows and arrows. Their latest project was, in their own words, ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Marksponies’.
At half past seven, I was about to head out when Applejack stopped me.
“Hey, Blade Star. Would ya mind takin’ AB to school today? Me and Big Macintosh want to get some work done on a few of the wagons.” I was glad she said she was getting around to that. A couple times over the last week I’d voiced concerns about a couple of the carts used to haul the apples around. They’d been in use since before Applejack was born, and they were starting to look just a little bit ropey. Nothing major, but enough to warrant some concern.
“Sure, ‘Jack. Ah’ve got time. You okay to pick her up, or shall ah do that too?” I replied.
“Just take ‘er down to the schoolhouse, ah’ll pick 'er up at quittin’ time.” I nodded and turned to the youngest member of the Apple family.
“Alright, AB you heard yer sister. Time’s a’wastin’,” I called. The little filly promptly stuffed all she deemed necessary into her saddlebags and trotted to my side.
“Okay, Blade Star. Ah’m ready,” she said. And with that, we both headed out for Ponyville.
I quickly engaged Apple Bloom in conversation regarding her and the other Crusaders’ idea of being marksponies. Given their ability to turn even the most innocuous of occupations into a blazing whirlwind of destruction, the idea of them using, even rudimentary projectile weapons, gave me pause.
“So where’d this whole idea come from any way, AB?” I asked as we walked. There was usually a curious if not humorous tale behind each of their escapades’ origins.
“Well,” the filly began. “We were havin’ a history lesson in school the other day, an’ Miss Cheerilee was talkin’ about some of the wars that happened before the first Hearth’s Warmin’. An’ then as she was talkin’, Mrs. Owen went and said it sounded a lot like…erm.” She paused for a moment to think. “Aginer, Agingeror, err, Agincorrrer?”
“Agincourt?” I offered.
“Yeah, that’s the one! Anyway, she told us how all those archers were able to attack from a long ways off and that it took a lot of skill to do.”
“So you three figured you’d have a go yourself?” I said, smiling. “Well, as long as you’re careful. Don’t use real arrows or nothin’, AB. Ah wouldn’t want to see y’all get yourself or anypony else hurt.” The filly gave me a deadpan look, which made me chuckle in response.
We were now coming up to the schoolhouse. It reminded me of my days in primary school, before I moved. Good times. I spotted my mom leaning against the doorframe on the front, keeping a watchful eye on the foals at play.
“Mornin’ Mom!” I called.
Apple Bloom promptly scampered off to meet up with her fellow Crusaders. I prayed to Celestia that she’d taken my advice to heart. They always meant well, and you could never be truly mad at them for long, but a great many of their projects had ended in large scale property damage.
“Hello, son,” my mother replied, walking up to me. “How are things up at Sweet Apple Acres then?”
“Nothin’ doin’ until the snow comes now,” I answered. “Ah’m just on my way to Twilight’s. Got another magic lesson today.” My mother smiled.
“As long as I live, I will probably never get used to your magic,” she said jokingly. “Still, must be better than hooves right?”
“Hey!” called an earth pony foal. Evidently having picked up on the minor slur. We both looked apologetic.
“Oh my, would you look at the time!” I said hurriedly, glancing at my non-existent watch. “I better get to the library or Twi’ll have my head. Ah’ll stop by tonight if I can, Mom. Okay?”
I promptly took off at a gallop, leaving my mom to deal with the slightly irritated foals of earth pony and pegasi decent.
When I arrived at the library, the chariot was once again parked up. Two pegasi guards were again attached to it. It may have been the same pair for all I knew; I never could work out how they could tell each other apart. I guessed therefore, that Strong Shield would be inside with Twilight, ready for the second and final lesson he had to teach me. I pushed the front door open and walked inside.
“Twilight! It’s me, Blade Star,” I called. The lavender alicorn appeared from behind a stack of books and promptly shushed my outburst.
“Quiet Blade Star. You’ll wake him.” I looked across and saw Strong Shield asleep on one of the sofas that sat against the library wall. I looked back at Twilight, my expression forming a silent question.
“He got here about two hours ago. Said he couldn’t sleep anyway, so he’d decided to come here a bit earlier. Then he simply lay down and fell asleep.” Again we both looked at the slumbering unicorn. He was evidently dog tired for he had not stirred one bit since I had arrived. Twilight motioned for me to follow her and took me to her kitchen. Spike was already in there with breakfast cooking, with that trademark frilly apron of his.
“Hey Blade Star,” he said in greeting. “Fancy some breakfast?”
“No thank you, Spike,” I replied. “Ah’ve had an Apple family Breakfast. Should keep me goin’ for a long while. Wouldn’t mind a cup of tea though.”
The one stereotype I possess of my people is my strong liking for, and appreciation of tea. I never went in for any of the herbal hippy dippy hogwash Twilight seemed to like. But I was partial to a good Ceylon blend every now and again, or perhaps an Earl Grey and very rarely some Berber Whiskey. Of course, none of those existed in Equestria. However, as with most things there was a ‘ponified’ version to be found somewhere usually. After some searching in the back cupboards, Spike found a box of Earl Hay. I had to choke down a laugh on that one.
Spike, unlike most ponies, also seemed to appreciate a good tea, having the sense to let it brew for a while before pouring it. It always amazed me how back on Earth, friends of mine would dip a tea bag in the water and then somehow expect flavour of any kind to materialise. Twilight had a very nice tea set of good china. Tea to my mind, is a luxury, and should be served in a manner fitting. As a finishing touch Spike added a slice of lemon wedge to the saucer.
“Thanks, Spike,” I said as the young dragon brought the tray over. Twilight had gone for one of her herbal teas. Lizzie had a thing for those too. “Ah’ll never understand how you can take those, Twi,” I said smiling.
“Blade Star! I’ll have you know that Zecora’s herbal teas are amongst the best in Equestria,” she replied with mock offense.
“True, but a good Earl Hay doesn’t require a trip through a potentially dangerous forest.” I coughed to disguise my next word. “Cockatrice.” This caused the alicorn to blush profusely.
“That was just bad judgement on my part,” she countered, getting a little flustered. I was about to goad her a little more, when the guard captain, who had stayed almost completely still, at last began to stir.
It started as quiet mutterings, as many tend to do when dreaming. I couldn’t pick out any words. He was definitely a bit agitated though, as he began to toss and turn on the sofa. We both paused our conversation to watch the unusual spectacle and to ensure we were not the cause of his disturbance. His mutterings continued unabated though and before long I could make out a few words.
“Squadron……reinforce……breech……princess…….creatures.” This kept up, steadily rising in volume before he finally began desperately crying out. “Fix bayonets! FIX BAYONETS!” And with that he awoke with a start. His breathing was heavy and laboured, his eyes wide in near terror. He looked about desperately, trying to work out where he was. Eventually, as he steadied himself, he turned to Twilight.
“Shieldy, are you alright?!” Twilight’s question was half shouted due to her concern for her long-time friend. She quickly galloped up to him. The captain sat himself up and got to his hooves.
“It’s nothing Miss Sparkle, just a bad dream. Nothing for you to worry about,” he replied, gently nudging Twilight away. His voice was calm and relaxed, almost as if nothing had happened. Before Twilight had a chance to reply, he turned to me. “Now Rookie, let’s get going, we’ve got a fair bit to do today.” And with that he trotted out of the library. That was the most blatant and also the first of many red flags.
Once again Strong Shield led me out of Ponyville to the same area of grassland where I had practiced stun spells the day before. Nothing had really changed since then. I could even see the marks in the grass from where I had fought with the ‘changeling’ yesterday. Strong Shield finally stopped and turned to address me.
“Alright Rookie. Yesterday we practiced using spells in an offensive capacity to take your opponent out of play. Today, we’ll focus on the opposite, absorbing an opponent’s attack and staying on your hooves. Clear?”
“Yes, Captain,” I replied instantly. Though internally I was surprised. Any trace of what had transpired in the library was gone. Or at least hidden under a mask.
“Good,” he paused briefly. “Now, since you know a bit about recent history, you should be able to tell me the best means of defending against a threat with magic.” He again paused, awaiting my answer.
“A magical shield, Captain,” I responded, thinking back to both the attempt to protect Canterlot and the far more successful spell used to keep King Sombra out of the Crystal Empire.
“Correct. Now you aren’t no Princess of Love, so don’t think you can cast one of those ‘love barriers’. The best you can hope for is a basic level absorption field. This will absorb any magical energy that comes into contact with it; be it a stun spell, telekinesis or a transformation.” For a moment, his eyes seemed to look through me and he fell silent. A ‘thousand yard’ stare.
“You okay, Captain?” I asked hesitatingly. He quickly rounded on me.
“Never you mind, Rookie!” he snapped. He only seemed to call me that when he was annoyed. “Now, the drawback of a ‘Shield spell’ is that it is a constant drain.”
Twilight had told me about this in one of her earlier lectures. A typical spell drains energy for as long as it is active. So as soon as a stun spell has been fired, no more energy is needed. With something like a shield spell however, it required a continuous influx of energy to maintain. If that energy was interrupted for any period, such as when Shining Armour was hypnotised, the spell will naturally degrade and fail. In addition, the constant influx meant a continuous drain, the spell didn’t need energy only when it took a hit, but all the time due to the background magic found throughout the world. Needless to say, had my Year 9 Physics teacher followed me here, he would have gone absolutely bonkers. Strong Shield continued.
“So, due to this, only use a shield when necessary. They’re easy enough to form, but difficult to maintain. Use them to absorb an attack, then drop and retaliate. Understand?”
“Yes, Captain.” Strong Shield was again falling into the teaching methods he would use for Guards. But to be fair, you couldn’t really teach this sort of magic without also going into its effective use.
“Right, let’s try you then. First an endurance test.” He turned to face the small targets that were still set up here. “Each of these will fire a low level burst. They don’t hurt on their own, but there’s strength in numbers. Put up a shield and maintain it for as long as you can.” I nodded in understanding. He then outlined the nuances of casting the spell; it was actually very simple as he said. As soon as I cast my horn alight I was encased in a small purple bubble. I guess the colour isn’t affected by a pony’s own aura colour.
“Ready, Captain!” I hollered, remembering the sound absorbing quality of the spell. He replied in kind.
“Okay, standby. Standby. Go!” With that, he teleported out of the firing line and I was ‘lit up’.
The ten targets each began firing their low level burst. From a distance they would have looked like a very impressive light show. From my perspective, in the firing line, I felt like I was in a Viper in front of a Cylon base ship. When that much, of what some would call ‘extremely motivating’ fire, was coming straight towards you, you didn’t really have time to appreciate any conceivable artistic beauty.
When the first bolts impacted my magically powered barrier, I didn’t feel much. Strong Shield had told me that for every hit, I would need to add a little more to the spell to keep it active. But for the first twenty seconds or so, I just kept the spell active. Around thirty seconds in though, I began to notice the strain. The shield was not as thick as it was before and was in places looking dangerously weak. So, I channelled more magic into it. The shield quickly reformed into a more stable form. However, I definitely felt a bit weaker from adding to it.
Over the next six and half minutes this continued. The shield would begin to weaken, and I would add more magic, feeling more tired each time. Finally, I was out of proverbial juice. I had no more magic to give. The shield began to crack and flicker. Finally, it simply shattered, the pieces vanishing as they fell. And with that, I took some hits.
Luckily, I was able to duck down to avoid the last few bolts as the targets stopped firing. As it turned out though, I had other things to worry about. I’d been too busy focusing on the minor matter of maintaining the shield and not getting hit to look towards Strong Shield. What I saw now though alarmed me greatly.
The unicorn guard was standing unsteadily, shaking as if terrified beyond measure. I could see his eyes; they were darting about as if he were a small colt surrounded by Timberwolves. He had that look again. This time, he didn’t scream, just muttered.
“It’s gone…..the city……what do I do?” He was then overcome by another shaking fit. I rushed to his side.
“Captain? Captain Strong Shield?! Can you hear me?” I tapped the side of his face repeatedly with a hoof trying to get him to focus. Luckily my action seemed to bring him around.
“What the Hay are you doing, Rookie?!” he asked crossly.
“Captain, you seemed to be havin’ a bit of a turn there. Are you sure you’re okay?” He sighed in resignation and placed a hoof on the bridge of his snout. Silence prevailed for a while.
“Sorry you had to see that,” he said at length. “I just get these spells from time to time, usually come out of it in a minute or so. Docs say it’s some kind of response to mental trauma. It’s why I’m an instructor and not a guard.” I nodded in understanding.
“Ah’m familiar with such conditions, Captain. ‘Combat fatigue’ occurs quite often amongst human soldiers,” I replied.
“Just, don’t tell anypony okay? Miss Sparkle couldn’t take it if she found out. She and that brother of hers always looked up to me back when I was just a guard.” I promised that I would keep silent.
On the one hand, I wanted him to get help. But I knew that such action would require him to leave the Royal Guard. The episodes seemed to be triggered by the image of a shield collapsing, for he’d shown no issue with the ‘changelings’ yesterday. As for his dreams, I might ask Luna to keep an eye on him when I went to Canterlot.
We continued practicing for the rest of the day, going through the many variations of shields. These ranged from anti-magic, health shields that blocked disease up to the theoretical concept of the love shield that only Princess Cadence could pull off. When we were finished, we headed back to the library. Twilight and myself thanked him for agreeing to come down here and he thanked us for the opportunity. As I took him out to the waiting chariot, he thanked me again.
“When you’re in Canterlot, Rookie, you should come by the officers club. I’ll vouch for you, I owe you.” Thanking him again, I watched as he climbed into the chariot and returned to Canterlot.
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You'd think that the main six would have PTSD instead of the gaurd, seeing how they've been through thicker shit.
4072559 the main 6 only knock da changeling out not fight them...
4072670 Then the gaurd must be weaksause if Flutters can one-up them.
Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division
(Got some help from my brother, the go-to guy on anything The Marvel/DC/DW/Big Bang/Smart)
4081310
At least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a good chunk of the cartoons.
In the comic verse it stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. It was changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.
4081682
4081310
Oh sweet Celestia! I've accidentally started a Marvel debate.
What do you to the new TV series they're doing?
4081682 Hey, argue with my brother, not with me.
4082373
LOL.
4082373
Errr I wasn't arguing, I was just pointing out another fact, I remembered that the Marvel Cinematic Universes version wasn't the same as the one in the comics so I quickly looked it up to find the other acronyms...
Sorry if it seemed like I was arguing
4082613
Aw, no big. My brother said that the universe were different before, but I assumed they kept the wording of SHIELD. It's kinda nice to learn stuff that my brother knows about Marvel and surprise him with them. Freaks him out.
hummmm and a lovely slice of life chapter.
Combat fatigue as it know now but of the time around of wold war one know as sheal chok it happens when a mind carnt handel thing.
4084295 My great grandfather suffered from problems after the last world war. He was held prisoner by the Germans in France. According to my mum, he was never the same afterwards. I take a great deal of inspiration from that. Also when I was volunteering at a retirement home, I met a veteran of the RAF who was captured by the Japanese. Those people were brutal.
4085777 yep that not the half of what they went through and i take my hat off to them is something that need a lot of support even if it is just a ear to listen to can help.
4090285 It's truly sad that in the First World War, many of the enlisted men who suffered breakdowns were shot by their own side as 'cowards', while the officers were sent home on leave.
4092039 yep
4092842 I think we can all agree that War sucks balls.
isnt SHIELD a reference to the buffy the vampire slayer spin-off "Angel"?
4116586 No.
This story had no reference to the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement Logistics Division.
4098190 Fire, reactor collapsing, guns imploding, go down with ship, crew must leave, so much heat and fire, why can't I feel my eye!?, evacuate the crew!
Sorry for that.
Oh Scorching Sun,
Your flames will be undone.
For you burn bright,
And are quite a sight.
That is why you must go poof.
Your sisters beauty is proof.
As long as my ship sails,
Your empire will make epic fails.
This is the rise of Luna's fun.
Oh, Scorching Sun.
As to "how did the Changelings knock down the shield?". F=MA & remember they were hitting hard enough to blast craters in pavement.
Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division
8019332
I was going to post that... But it seems you beat me to the punchvignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelcinematicuniverse/images/2/23/SHIELD_S4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/350?cb=20160924173140
'looked up to ME'
The Captain is in a bad way if he's getting P.T.S.D. flashbacks every time he sees a magical shield drop. A case like that being kept quiet is deadly dangerous. His perceptions are altered and he could violently lash out any time he has one. My Uncle served in Vietnam and I KNOW not to go anywhere near him when he has a flashback. P.T.S.D. is no light matter and anyone is an absolute IDIOT if they do not take it seriously. Veterans have been known to commit suicide very frequently from their P.T.S.D.
A hundred year war. Reminds me of the war between the thals and the kaleds.
Hey I didn’t know I was in here.
The only tea I like is that mango iced tea from Taco Bell.
She
Hurts
In
Ear
Lining
Drum?
Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.
IN THE EMPEROR'S NAME, FIX THE THRONE DAMNED BAYONETS!
9887560
WHERE'S THE EMPEROR-DAMNED BANEBLADES?!
9890435
"COVERING FIRE!"
"Oh god, get it off, oh god Oh God OH GOD AW GAWD--"
"Grenade out!"
9664516
I thought it was
Supreme
Headquarters
Intelligence &
Espionage
Law enforcement
Division
11038885
OK, that was the original comic book version. They changed it in 1991, about the time I mostly quit reading comics.