Operation Shield

by GJT_Productions

The Planning Phase

"Lieutenant Steelwing, please take roll to account for Ponyville Guard members."

"Yes sir! Guard Upper Class Caramel?"

"Present, sir!"

"Guard Upper Class Noteworthy?"

"Present, sir!"

"Guard Upper Class Meadow Song?"

"Present, sir!"

"Guard Lower Class Lucky Clover?"

"Present, sir!"

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"All ponies present and accounted for, sir!" Lieutenant Steelwing replies to Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas with a salute.

"Good. As soon as Lieutenant Crispin arrives with Aide Cherry Fizzy we can begin. Hopefully Twilight Sparkle got the message to assemble the Element Bearers here as well, if not we'll see them with Mayor Mare at the town hall. Have the Guards at ease but stay in formation until further notice." Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas replies to the grey pegasus Lieutenant.

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Steelwing replies as he moves to inform the Guard of Fidelitas' orders.

Meanwhile, Fidelitas looks around uneasily at the curious onlookers gathered in Ponyville's main square. It didn't help that he and Lieutenant Steelwing were currently wearing their armor, which naturally drew attention outside of Canterlot. The guards that were under Lieutenant Steelwing's command were currently employed to keep the curious crowds back, an annoying distraction.

Fidelitas had done the best he could with his selections for the two guard squads to use for the operation. Lieutenant Steelwing had been given an officer's commission to fill the vacancy left by Shining Armor after his promotion to Lieutenant Captain - Steelwing, and most of Steelwing's command, had served under Shining Armor at one point or another in their Guard career. Lieutenant Crispin was the ranking officer from Ponyville, and one of the few earth pony stallions to break into the officer ranks. Crispin's command would be the four fellow Guard stallions from Ponyville Fidelitas had accounted for now.

The Lieutenant Captain took the opportunity while waiting to review his notes regarding the Ponyville guard members, all of which revealed very useful information to Fidelitas. Lieutenant Crispin was a member of the extensive Apple clan, albeit through the "branch line" of Goldie Delicious (his grandmother) instead of the "trunk line" of Granny Smith. Guard Upper Class Caramel was a neighbor of Rarity, the Generosity Element Bearer, a fact that also applied to Guard Lower Class Lucky Clover. Guard Upper Class Meadow Song was another Apple clan member, having married Apple Fritter. Finally, Guard Upper Class Noteworthy was Ponyville born and raised, apparently having joined the E.U.P. Guard thanks to befriending Meadow Song - both ponies had some form of musical talent and had considered forming a band once.

A small buzz in the crowd and the shouts of a way to be cleared bring the attention of Fidelitas back to his surroundings. He turns to see the source of the commotion is an earth pony stallion in Guard armor, his coat yellow-green and his tail crimson in coloration. Beside this stallion is Aide Cherry Fizzy, brown coated and with a neatly-combed black mane. The two stallions work together to clear a path through the crowd for themselves and the six Element Bearers following behind them.

"Ah, I see you picked up the Element Bearers with you on the way back, Lieutenant Crispin. Well done!" Fidelitas states in a pleased tone to the armored stallion as that stallion stops and gives a salute to Fidelitas.

"Thank you, sir. I informed Miss Sparkle of the reason for bringing her and her new friends here." Lieutenant Crispin replies.

"Very good, Lieutenant. Take charge of the other stallions as your squad for the duration of the operation and stand by for further orders." Fidelitas orders.

As Lieutenant Crispin moves to follow the orders, Lieutenant Steelwing issues more orders closing the gap behind the six fillies entering the security circle. Twilight Sparkle, leading the line of her new friends, gallops on ahead and towards Fidelitas.

"Ugh, there'd better be a good reason for all this." Rainbow Dash mutters as she and the other four fillies that had come with Twilight Sparkle spread out in the security circle.

Fidelitas sees the smile on Twilight Sparkle's face as the purple filly approaches. The Lieutenant Captain having been Shining Armor's CO for a number of years meant that he had more recognition by the previously-recluse Twilight than most of the others in the service did. He wasn't Shining Armor, or Princess Celestia for that matter, but he didn't think Twilight was going to complain about that.

"You glad to see me?" Fidelitas chuckles as he looks down at the excited Twilight Sparkle.

"You know this stallion, Twilight?" Applejack asks Twilight, turning the attention of Fidelitas to Twilight's friends.

"I do in fact, he's from Canterlot." Twilight looks back to explain. "He commands a whole shift of guards over there!"

"Well, he's very handsome! I'm sure there's some lucky mare in Canterlot glad to have a stallion like you as a special somepony!" Rarity pipes up with a bright smile.

"Actually, I don't really have..." Fidelitas replies to Rarity, him blushing under his helmet as he speaks - devoting himself to his Guard work meant he hadn't taken the time to cultivate any kind of romantic relationships.

"Ugh, can we move on?!" Rainbow Dash exclaims with an eyeroll, focusing all attention on her.

"Rainbow, Rarity's just trying to be nice!" Twilight snips in reply to Rainbow's rude interruption.

"Yeah, Rarity's just trying to be nice!" Pinkie Pie parrots back, earning her a glare from Rainbow in the process.

"But what is he doing here?! Doesn't he have responsibilities in Canterlot or somethin'?" Rainbow exclaims indignantly.

"Ah, I'm sure you're all wondering the answer to that question." Fidelitas gently answers. "That's why I called you all here. As soon as Mayor Mare has finished her other business, I'll explain in the meeting at the town hall."

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Within the space of a half-hour, the meeting in question was ready to begin. Gathered in the Ponyville town hall ("the same place where 'Nightmare Moon' first reappeared in Equestria", Twilight Sparkle noted to Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas) in a closed door meeting was Mayor Mare supported by Aide Cherry Fizzy. Also present at the meeting were the six Element Bearers, as the orders of Fidelitas required their presence for the operation, and Lieutenant Crispin's squad of Ponyville Guard members, as they would be more involved in the operation than Lieutenant Steelwing's squad. Steelwing's squad itself acted as security to keep curiosity seekers out.

With all important parties assembled, Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas began laying out "Operation Shield": "As you all may have guessed, the presence of an Ursa Minor, and by extension an Ursa Major, close to a major population center has greatly concerned Princess Celestia. As impressive a display as Miss Twilight Sparkle demonstrated in thwarting the Minor's threat, both myself and Princess Celestia are certain there should not have been need for it in the first place. I have been dispatched with two squads of Royal Guards under my command in 'Operation Shield' - an effort to block easy access to the cave where the Ursas reside."

Fidelitas pauses for a moment, and uses a small table in front of where he is standing to lay out a blueprint. The others in the room crowd around the table to get better look at the blueprint, causing an uncomfortable squeeze among some of them. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash opt for the slightly more practical method of hovering above and behind the others to avoid the squeezing.

"The design here is similar to the customs checkpoints used at the kingdom's borders, but on a smaller scale." Fidelitas continues, pointing a hoof at the blueprint. "The Lieutenants will conduct interviews to determine the best site for the barrier itself, as there is an intended secondary function of an early-alert system of anything coming out of the Everfree Forest."

"As Mayor of this town, I have petitioned the Guard several times for an early-warning system for threats such as an Ursa Minor, but up until this point the petitions have been ignored." Mayor Mare states. "I had hoped it would not take an actual attack, not to mention the return of 'Nightmare Moon', for such petitions to be heard, but it is useless to complain about it now."

Fidelitas nods a bit at Mayor Mare's statement - so many worthwhile and necessary projects invariably got lost in the maze of red tape or sacrificed to meet political needs over in Canterlot. As a member of the Royal Guard, the Lieutenant Captain knew well that sometimes the most dangerous enemy he faced was mounds of paperwork.

"Well said, Mayor." Fidelitas acknowledged. "Once the site is established, the two teams will alternate between construction and supply until the checkpoint is completed. Once the checkpoint is completed, Lieutenant Crispin will take station there as a permanent posting, supported by two members of the Guard from Ponyville on a rotating basis."

"That thing is not gonna stop an Ursa Minor, let alone a Major." Applejack speaks up in objection.

"Stopping things like that is not the point of this operation, deterrence and warning is." Fidelitas answers. "The report I got said that two colts wandered into the Ursas' cave by themselves, which was the immediate cause of the Ursa Minor attack. These kinds of things are what we are striving to prevent. You can't cure stupid, but at least you can take measures to prevent stupid from happening."

"This won't work for pegasi, they'll just be able to fly over it." Rainbow Dash adds in with another objection.

"And... won't it hurt the Ursas?" Fluttershy tentatively adds when attention focuses on Rainbow Dash hovering next to her.

"I don't think we're going to be putting anything right in front of the cave entrance." Fidelitas replies with a reassuring smile in Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's direction. "As for pegasi, what we do is mount cannon on top that are loaded with balls of cloud that are fired at anything that attempts to fly over. If Miss Sparkle does not want to work on the wall directly, I would request her help assembling and mounting the cannon that will be used on the checkpoint."

"I don't see why not, sir." Twilight Sparkle replies with a shy smile.

"Very good. We shall start preliminary work as soon as we determine a good site and construction work once the preliminaries are done." Fidelitas affirms. "Lieutenant Crispin, take Aide Cherry Fizzy with you and start interviews immediately. Mayor Mare, you are free to return to your usual duties. Everypony else is dismissed."

Fidelitas rolls up the blueprint parchment again, and he sees the rest of those in the room begin to work their way out. An eyebrow goes up when he notices Twilight Sparkle is not moving, instead sitting and somewhat awkwardly looking around at the huge room. The Lieutenant Captain has a guess what's troubling her, but decides to wait until everypony else is gone before acting...

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As soon as Twilight Sparkle and Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas are alone in the hall, Fidelitas sees Twilight change into what he called "the uncertain filly" - that insecure, unsure look that often appeared whenever she was uneasy or restless about something. Not for the first time did Fidelitas note that it was paradoxical that one of the most powerful unicorns ever foaled in the history of Equestria was also one of the least confident in themselves.

Fidelitas responds with a smile toward Twilight's sidelong, almost-guilty glance in his direction. He lays down and uses his unicorn magic to levitate off his helmet, a red-orange mane spilling out against the Lieutenant Captain's forest green coat. Technically, what he was doing was considered "unbecoming to an officer", but most of the time in the past when he had dealt with Twilight nopony else seemed to make too much of a point of it.

The next few moments pass in silence, each seeming to wait for the other to speak first. Twilight breaks it when it starts getting really awkward: "B.B.B.F.F... he hasn't sent me a letter in weeks. I'm worried."

"I thought it might've been about that when I saw that look on your face." Fidelitas quietly replies. "He's fine, but he's been very busy. He's been giving 120% for Princess Luna - I just don't think at the end of his shift he has the energy to write you a letter. You know how important what he's doing is not just for the princesses, but for the future of all Equestria."

Twilight Sparkle quietly looks away from Fidelitas with a pained expression, causing the stallion to once again stand up and walk over next to Twilight. When Twilight again looks at Fidelitas, the stallion continues on: "We all have our own sacrifices to make for the good of our fellow Equestrians. Princess Celestia wants no less of us. We have to trust she knows what she's doing having you here and your brother with Princess Luna in Canterlot."

"It doesn't make me feel any better about it." Twilight replies with brutal honesty, her eyes misting up as she speaks.

"I know it doesn't. Don't think I don't know because I don't have a younger sister of my own." Fidelitas answers somberly, and when Twilight turns to look at him in confusion his expression is very downcast indeed.

"So that you understand, I'm going to tell you something now that only myself and your brother know." the stallion continues with a sad look in his eyes. "I didn't believe in the thousand year old legend of 'Nightmare Moon', and most of the time I've served in Canterlot I wondered why the princess had me there. Then the return happened, just like the prophecy said, and Canterlot was swallowed in darkness that seemed to snuff out even hope. On alert in that darkness, I understood that not only was the legend true, but that behind it was something terrible and horrible and tragic, something that never should've happened. I think you understood this once Celestia told you who that blue alicorn not much bigger than yourself splayed out before you really was."

Twilight somberly nods in affirmation before speaking: "I can't... I can't imagine myself ever wanting to hurt... hurt Cadance like that. Or B.B.B.F.F. like that. They're two of the best ponies I've ever known!"

"And I'm sure Princess Luna said that about her older sister once upon a time, but we all know now what happened those thousand years ago." Fidelitas answers. "Friendship is magic, and so is the bond between siblings, even if those siblings didn't come from the same mother. But they can't solve everything. There's other things your brother is fighting for back in Canterlot, other virtues we all need to fight for wherever we are, if we want to prevent that kind of evil from happening again. I know it may not make you feel any better, but maybe it can help you understand."

"I do understand, but it still hurts inside." Twilight replies again, looking down and apparently fighting back letting tears slipping down her face.

"Do you want a hug? I know I'm a poor substitute for your big brother, but maybe it'll help..." Fidelitas trails off, his expression turning into a shy smile.

"I would... appreciate it..." Twilight answers, and that's all Fidelitas needs to shift into sitting on his haunches and spreading his forelegs apart so that Twilight can walk into the hug.

After a moment's hesitation, Twilight does indeed approach to receive the hug Fidelitas gives. In that hug, Fidelitas is reassured that even if he is never the "star of the show" in saving Equestria, just being able to support those who are is satisfying enough to make all the sacrifice worth it...