Silver Shield

by David Silver

19 - Gaea Shield

Not forgotten by Silver, Gaea marched through the streets of Decanter. It wasn't that he hadn't even seen the slums before, but he thought everyone else knew about it. To be told Celestia wanted it ended, yesterday, was a bit of a surprise.

But where to even begin? He had been tasked with surveying the area, seeing what could be used to start the process. That seemed a task as large as the mountain the city was perched on. "Where to start," he grumbled to himself, wings giving a lone flap with building agitation.

There was one place he knew. It was a place a dark-colored pegasus like him didn't stand out quite so much. He found himself before the Belfry. Lunar ponies strode past him. Some knew him, most eyed him with a faint wariness. None of them prevented him from walking inside. The proprieties were full of smiles, but his business was not with them. There was one source of answers there.

Most didn't like it if they were serious. If they weren't serious... They learned from their mistake. "Is the goat in?" Shield asked cautiously. "I'm hoping to have a chat."

“Gaea Shield, as I live and breathe.” a soft brown older earth pony mare smiled at the approaching stallion. “Come in, come in. There’s no cover charge for the lunar guard. Find yourself a seat, my children will see to you directly, dear.”

"Thanks, Miss Apple," accepted Shield with a dip of his head. "Not sure what I am these days. Luna has me working for Prince Silver." He lifted a hoof to wave it around. "And he sent me right down here."

“Hmmm, nothing good ever comes of Royals meddling in Decanter, but I imagine it was inevitable with the recent troubles.” Caramel Apple shook her head sadly. “Michelle! Go fetch Candy and tell her Gaea Shield is here to see William. Well find yourself a seat, Michelle will get you a drink. My son will see you in his own time of course. I’m sorry to make you wait, dear, but William keeps his own time…”

Shield seemed far from bothered by that. "I'm not trying to hurry him." He didn't dare to. "Thanks again." He ambled off to settle at a clear table and pulled the menu over before quickly deciding what it was he wanted to wet his whistle in the wait.

“Never thought I’d see you down here calling on Billy.” A burgundy lunar mare sidled up to the table. “Mom says you’re here on business, are you being reimbursed, or do I get to run a tab to the crown? Michelle! Bring me two ciders, one tart, one sweet, and a bitter ale in an ice bucket for Billy. So what brings the high and mighty Silver Flank’s attention to this side of the mountain?”

Shield brightened at the sight of the lunar. "Nice to see you too. You know I wouldn't be knocking if I didn't think it was important." He pushed his menu away, trusting in the taste of the mare that had joined him. "Seems eyes have just opened and noticed things are wrong in this part of the city, and they want to fix it."

“Well isn’t that just the most special thing ever?” Candy Apple smirked. “Will we finally be getting those stars that bring in the good clientelle?” The mischievous mare suddenly raised her voice, “‘Cause all we get down here are bugs, bat ponies, and rabble!”

"New bugs," noted Shield. "How's that going on? I hear they're getting along alright?" He sat up suddenly. "Actually, let's stay focused. What's causing trouble this week?"

“Meet the new bugs. Same as the old bugs.” Candy shrugged. “You want to know what’s causing trouble? There ain’t nopony this side of the mountain know’s who’s in charge anymore. Fast Change is out, at least what they’re saying. Nopony knows this Stand In. She say’s she’s the new Changeling Princess. The hive is basically starting over… Fast Change was unofficially our royal down here. She’s up and ditched. Power hates a vacuum. Hell, politics is the problem down here, Shield. Same as it always was.”

He let out a slow sigh, but then the drinks arrived. Just in time! He plucked one up with a hoof and gave a deep pull. "Same as always." He looked to Candy with a raised brow. "It doesn't have to be though. We used to be less well off, then Celestia came, and she wants to clean up around here. That's good, right?"

“Maybe it depends on what the ponies on the hill want to clean up, Shield.” Candy rolled her eyes, looking up as their orange waitress arrived, carrying a trio of bottles in her agile tendrils. “Thank you Michelle! Have you met Gaea Shield? He doesn’t get down this way as much since he got promoted up to the hill. Gaea, say hello to Michelle, former human refugee. She doesn’t talk much. Not sure if she can honestly, but she’s got the sweetest smile, and she’s the best waitress we’ve got.”

The mare was mostly a pony… mostly. Her lower jaw bisected and split open to make room for the three tongue-like appendages she used to carry out her duties. Even so she might have passed for an especially broad jawed earth pony, were it not for the thick, salamander like tail swaying from her flanks.

Unaware of the specifics of his employer's history, Shield nodded at the once-human. "I hear as many of them end up not being human as keep their original race." He put a hoof behind his head. "Welcome to Equestria, either way. You're not in a bad place, here."

The misshapen mare drew her tendrils into her mouth and nodded with a shy smile, before retreating back behind the bar. Candy gave a small snort of amusement. “Somepony is sweet on you Shield. But let’s be real here, you didn’t come down here to talk to Billy about local politics, I know. Half the drunks in this place talk your ear off and not charge half your soul for it.”

Shield's ears flipped back. "I don't know where to start. Fighting a bad pony or monster, that I know. Upholding the law, gladly, any day of the week. Suddenly Silver just claps me on the back and talks like I'm a big shot that knows what to do, telling me to go looking for answers." His lips quirked in a smile. "Funny thing is I think he really does have faith in me."

“Look, Gaea, all I’m saying is, are you sure you’re gonna pay that kind of price? You better make sure you’ve got the question right, s’all I’m saying” Candy sighed and shrugged. “You DO know the rules? Right?”

"Mind your manners and do what he says," suggested Shield with a fresh smile. "More than half do, from what I hear. Look, this is my job, my duty. It's important. I don't want to drop that ball."

"And it’s my job to make sure, firstly, that nopony is wasting any other pony’s time.” Candy paused as she moved toward a previously unnoticed door. “And secondly, that you do understand, that you understand whoever sent you down here, and however many bits we charge them for that, and it’s going to be a lot, in the end, there’s still going to be price to pay. Just for you. Go down the stairs, take the ice bucket, and knock three times on the last door on the left.”

Shield got a little smirk as he pressed through the concealed door. "You're just saying that because you know there's a royal tab waiting to be exploited." He closed the door behind himself and took a slow calming breath. "The mythical future-seer," he said to himself as he began to walk down the hallway towards his fate. "What will you tell me?" He raised his hoof to that door, the last on the left.

The goat looked up in annoyance at the sound of the third knock. His face was young, but worn, his coat was the color of dirty cream. His pale, salmon-colored eyes failed to focus at the offending passageway. “It’s unlocked.”

A deft twist of a wing had the door open quickly and Shield stepped in. "Good day, sir. Sorry to bother you, but I'm not sure where else to start." He was truthful at least as he stepped up towards the desk.

“The place to start would be, ‘what do you want?’” The goat gestured towards the bucket. “But failing that, you could start with my ale. I’m fairly certain Prince Watch doesn’t know I exist. And I don’t see the sisters sending another pony to pay my price on their behalf. And yet here you are.”

Shield's ears pricked at the man. "Look, this… I don't want to mess up. I'm being trusted to do something that could make a lot of lives happier, or mess it up big time. I want to do it right." He sat down lightly. "Where is your drink?"

The goat smoothly tipped back his bottle in his nimble cloven hoof. Giving no sign when or how he had removed it from the ice bucket. “My drink is before me. The same place it always was. Just as your path lies before you. And you have yet to answer my question if you want to even take the first step. What do you want? You. Personally.”

Shield blinked at the changed placement of things, but didn't speak of it, just wondering quietly. "I want to help this city. It's my city. Our city. If we can help it, and the ponies in it, we should. What do I have to do?"

“Is it… your city I mean? Still, you have asked a question.” A card was flipped face down from a purple satin bag. It’s back was a simple faded dark aqua, bearing an axe and a rainbow with a worn red-orange border. “Your answer is behind that thin paper door. Turn the card and open the door, or don’t.”

He frowned a little before he could ease the expression away. "Thank you." He reached for the card. "Whatever it is." He flipped it right over in place, his eyes locked on what the hint might be. Before him was an older pony with a vicious expression. She stood in a copse of thin tall trees. The whole thing was framed with bronze. It seemed potent with imagery, but it was not a language Shield knew. "What does it mean?"

“The Ace of Order. The Law Giver has escaped, her path leads to defeat, but also healing.” The goat studied the card with dull, nearly sightless eyes. “Reconciliation must prevail, if harmony is to refill the void left by chaos departure. This card is associated with changelings, oddly enough. A truly ordered tribe, they thrive in structure. How much, I wonder, of the revival of the old tribal caste values do you think is a function of changeling culture? They have learned how to live like ponies, but the ponies of Decanter have also learned to live like changelings, for both good and bad. Order and chaos bear no morality on their own, after all.”

Shield's tongue touched his lips as he sat back. "Ponies and changelings both live here. We are neighbors.. This is a start." A smile spread over his face. "I think I know how to go from here. Thank you again." He rose to his hooves. "I'll do my best."

“You never asked what it’s going to cost, Gaea Shield.” The goat noted absently. “There is a price. There is always a price. For your part, you will be tasked to send a broken changeling filly into the shadows. When you take her to that train station, everypony will believe she is going to a good place. And everypony will believe you were given a simple escort duty. But you are going to know better. And you’re going to walk that little filly to the train yard. You are going to put her on that train. And then do you know what you have to do Mister Shield? You’re going to look that little filly in the eyes, and you’re going to lie to her face and you're going to tell her she’s going to a good place, and that she’s going to be alright. And nopony will ever think bad of you, because nopony will ever know it was a lie… except for you.”

That did not parse correctly in Shield's head. "If it's a bad place, I'm not sending a filly there. The Princesses would never do that knowingly, and if they didn't know, I would tell them." He huffed softly. "I will do my job, and that means protecting Equestria, even from bad decisions." He turned for the door. "I'll be watching though…"

Author's Note:

A collab chapter as we come back to poor Gaea Shield. Did you think we forgot about you in the story that's named after you?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Gaea is going to have to walk Fast or such, on the Death train, as sacrifice to Chrysalis?

[Bloody_Tofu]

Ohhh I know the story the tounged mate is from I just can't remember....

[harts fire]

a vary interesting way to word a chapter.
this will require some thinking.

[Boulder]

Bring me to ciders, one tart, one sweet, and a bitter ale in an ice bucket or Billy.

for (Trying to think up something about an ale and ice in a boiling billy...but ehh! Sorry, but it gave me a chuckle)
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Billycan-campfire.jpg

Candy rolled her eyes, looking up ? their orange waitress arrived, carrying a trio of bottles in her agile tendrils.

? = as

And secondly, that you do understand, that you understand, whoever sent you down here,

The comma after 2nd understand needs to go.

His face was young, but worn, his goat was the color of dirty cream.

coat

A deft twist of a wing had the door open quickly and shield stepped in.

Shield

And you have yet to answer my question if you what to even take the first step.

want

But you are going to know better. And you’re going to walk that little filly to to the train yard.

Not sure if delete one of the 'to's or swap for something else you had in mind?
Poor 13.

[Boulder]

8077272 Michelle was an attraction - Madame Alias' Fantastic Pandemonium of Wonders.

[David Silver]

8077953 Typos rounded up and sent away.

[tsaukpaetra]

So Chryssy will come after all!
Hmmm that filly though, maybe not the important part (it's just payment after all), but to the circumstances that lead up to it... Oh dear!
Keep going! ;)

[Warrior Kitten]

What's the story behind the Tatzl?

I think I found it. My God that's a complicated looking story.

[Cursed Quill]

Not forgotten by Silver,

The author didn't forget him at all! No sirree.

the would-be human

the once-human

about locals politics,

local
(or locals')

[lainverse]

Michelle! Bring me to ciders, one tart, one sweet, and a bitter ale in an ice bucket for Billy.

Two ciders.
This one were hiding long enough.

[David Silver]

11092448
A typo was hiding nearby, double kill!

[stag the story teller]

The goat smoothly tipped back his bottle it his nimble cloven hoof. Giving no sign when or how he had removed it from the ice bucket. “My drink is before me. The same place it always was. Just as your path lies before you. And you have yet to answer my question if you want to even take the first step. What do you want? You. Personally.”

11092491
You also put an it in place of an in, in the quote above

[David Silver]

11764504
Fix.