Requiem For A Soldier

by Shieldheart204

I Don't Need Any Help!

I Don't Need Any Help!

Shield Heart was standing in front of the cave where he managed to see at least ten cave trolls. The two-story monsters had three glowing yellow eyes, shiny grey skin and some tufts of grey hair. They began growling, pacing around and one of them was armed with a nailed club.

The man took a step back, hoping to be able to sneak his way out. But this was useless because these trolls began roaring and pounding their chest. Their next meal had come their way.

"Oh, Fuck this Shit!" Shouted Shield with a grenade in his hand. He tossed it inside and started running.

The cave roared with fire, but when Shield looked behind he was surprised. The Trolls had managed to ram through the cave-in and had noticed where their next meal was getting away.

Shield began shooting, hoping he could manage to take down at least one but today really wasn't his day. The bolts ricocheted as soon as they encountered the reflective skin. So using Crimson and Silver were out of the question. He kept running until he started seeing what he hoped was the light. Like most cave-dwellers, trolls were photophobic and therefore turned to stone as soon as sunlight touched their skin.

Even while sprinting, he knew he would be stew if he couldn't manage to slow them. Trolls may not like cross-country, but they loved cross-mountain crossing and had incredible stamina.

He used Blasto to cause another cave-in, which was a great idea in theory but it only caused more problems to Shield than to their intended target.

Some trolls were crushed beneath the falling rocks, but six of them just brushed them off, while the one with the spiky weapon batted them away. Shield was surprised, he expected the thing to crack, but the log was very sturdy.

Shield thanked Luna as soon as he saw part of the entrance, the sunlight was still touching the interior, so he was going to manage it. He used Riot to slide across the gravel and make a ninety-degree turn to safety. The most dangerous of the pack sprinted, swinging his weapon like a golf club.

He was caught in the middle of the wooden plank, next to two rusted spikes. One of the nails managed to scratch his left arm, shredding through his once-white shirt. The club sent him flying into a tree, where he held onto a thick branch.

His battered arm began giving away, and he dropped three meters down. He made a bad landing, twisted his left ankle and heard a crack on his knee. His glasses flew off into the forest, out of his sight. "Great." He grunted. "That couldn't possibly have gone worse."

Groaning in pain his body flushed the last of the adrenaline out of his system, and immediately every single wound he had acquired transmitted pain to his brain. Not coping with the sensation he rushed to his backpack, where while searching for his painkilling Med-X as he dropped most of his food.

Grabbing the small syringe, he uncapped it and stabbed his stomach. The pain subsided almost immediately. Recovering, he saw the entrance of the cave: all trolls were now solid rock.

"Haha! Take that bitches! You can't beat the dude with a magic cannon!" He shouted victoriously. Using Blasto he fired a barrage of mana grenades causing a massive explosion and a huge trail of smoke. He managed to see the stone sculptures exploding into a million pieces. "Yeah! Who's your daddy huh? Who's your daddy? That's right, It's me bitches!"

He began giving screams of delight. After a long battle he managed to complete his primary objective. All that was left now was to pass by Ponyville and get on the next train to Canterlot. Basically he standard procedure.

His vision began to fade, so much blood loss couldn't go without its price. And his mana was pretty much spent. Off in the distance he managed to see a winged creature with rainbow hair. It said something, but he could not comprehend his hearing was pretty much gone. He imagined that it would be a Valkyrie, coming to guide him to heaven after glorious combat. He never found out because he fell onto the soft grass completely unconscious.

.oOo.

Far away, about seventeen kilometers off and some minutes before, six friends were having a picnic on a green hill. They were talking, laughing, and mainly fooling around.

"So, anyone willing to remember my awesome moves? Like when I kicked that changeling right in the gut? Or when I punched that one that turned into me? Or when I used a full Nelson? It couldn't get any better than that! Pure awesomeness right there!" Said a perky tomboy with rainbow hair as she imitated the moves she described. She spread her feathery blue wings, shading her from the bright sun.

"Yes Rainbow, we remember perfectly, we were right next to you. You don't need to remind us every five minutes." Said a sapphire-haired librarian sitting next to her. "Are you alright Shining?"

Behind her was a man, about in his twenties and with tousled dark blue hair, climbing next to a beautiful angel with pink wings. "Don't worry about us Twily, we're doing just fine." They were a right at the bottom of he hill next to a large ATV motorcycle. It was larger than most motorcycles, letting two passengers ride at the back.

"I still can't believe the party was a complete blast! After everything I feared that it would go to waste." Said Pinkie Pie, her cheerful tone matched the state of her hair. "That was really fun! The party I mean, although preparing it was just as fun too! Between rehearsing, getting the decorations and the music was.

"I know! Imagine all the hard work I had to put on those dresses! It would have been dreadful that all of our efforts had gone to waste!" Said an azure-eyed fashionista. Her unique white sundress reflecting every solar ray.

"So you girls do this every week?" Asked Shining. His breathing becoming more staggered as he climbed, but to his luck it was just a couple of steps.

"Of course! That way we don't feel tired after walking all the way." Teased Twilight Sparkle.

"I could climb this any day, it's just that today I didn't warm up!" He defended.

"Oh really?" She said.

"Twilight, stop teasing your brother. I think he deserves a vacation after all he's been through." Intervened Rarity, her indigo hair hidden under a large hat. "You weren't so different when you first started coming."

"Yeah, listen to your friends Twily. It's never good to bother a man who can arrest you." Said Shining as he sat down on the plaid tablecloth. Cadence sat next to him, using her magic to open the basket and take out a wrapped sandwich.

"So not much happens around here, right?" Asked the Princess.

"Not usually, no. We might get a doohickey here an' there, but usually it's quieter than a chicken coop at night." Said a blond lady with a large hat.

"See Shining! I told you! This is the best place to raise a child! We should move here right after our honeymoon. It's away from all the city problems, away from stress and all the locals are friendly!" Cadence was filled with excitement with this idea.

"But I thought we had agreed that Canterlot was the best option! Our families are there and I work there also! If you want to move here I'm going to have to visit you every once in a while." Protested Shining. "It's that or quit my job, and with the trouble brewing with the Houses that won't be happening soon."

The following debate was a mixed bag of opinions. Most women wanted the newlyweds to change residence. The idea of having a newborn baby to care of was somethign every woman wanted and they wanted to take part of it.

Only Rarity sided with Shining and Fluttershy was so paralyzed with fear to consider taking a side. After a couple of minutes of heated discussion they heard rumbling. Everyone looked at the general direction and saw a cloud of smoke.

"What in tarnations? Ah thought that the doohickey was gonna be our debate!" Interrupted Applejack.

"Oh no, I hope no one was there, what if someone got hurt?" Spouted Fluttershy.

"C'mon, let's go investigate!" And Rainbow Dash disappeared, leaving her signature rainbow trail behind. The shy flier looked confused, but regained herself and followed behind her at a slower pace.

Rainbow arrived to the tower of smoke in a minute and a half. She began scanning the ground, and saw a person, clad in crimson on the floor. He seemed to be doing horrible, as he crawled with the last of his strength.

"Hey mister, you alright?" She hollered. But the man merely looked at her for a moment and fell down. She plummeted down, landing right next to him. This man was badly injured, he had a pool of blood surrounding him. Scattered around him were several packets she believed were food, and she also noted a claymore and a musket.

"Rainbow, wait!" Said the veterinarian with yellow wings. It took her two more minutes than her friend and as soon as she saw the body she froze in fright. She sprinted toward the man, examining his multiple cuts and bruises. She turned him around and screamed in terror. The man's face was caked in blood, dirt, scratches and bruises. "Oh my goodness." She said to herself.

Her medical instincts kickd in as she began scanning the cuts.

"Rainbow, please search the backpack and see if you can find a first aid kit. it should be a box with a red cross." She ordered.

"I know what a first-aid kit looks like." Retorted Rainbow as she rushed to the bag and began rummaging. Se pulled out a red box and showed it to Fluttershy.

"Is it this one?" Asked Rainbow.

"Yes, that's got to be it. Now I need you to get me help. This man needs professionals, so try to get a doctor here or maybe an ambulance if they can."

And so Rainbow Dash took off immediately, flying directly to the picnic area with the rest of her friends. They would want to know what was happening. "Guys, we need your help! There's this man spilling blood all over the place!" She babbled.

"Whoa there nelly, whatcha talkin' ' bout Rainbow?" Asked Applejack.

"Back at the tower of smoke is this guy, he's badly injured and I need to get him to a doctor pronto!"

Shining stood up immediately and started plotting silently. He was used to dealing with a crisis, and his could be counted as one.

"Listen Rainbow, here's what we're going to do. You go to the hospital and ask for an ambulance, then get it here. We'll get the man and bring him here, that will be easier than trying to get the ambulance into the woods." She immediately obeyed the man's order. "Cadence and I will go get the body, I'll use my ATV. The rest of you, clean up and meet up at the library. The more people that are here the harder it will be to do things quickly." He snapped his fingers.

Everyone scattered. Cadence immediately took off, while her husband rushed to the four-wheeled motorcycle standing at the bottom of the hill. Twilight and company began cleaning up, folding the tablecloth, collecting plates and so forth.

As Cadence arrived at the scene, she began inspecting the body. "Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

"No, Rainbow found him like this. I've been trying to bandage him, but I can't turn him around." Said Fluttershy.

"Don't worry." Cadence put her hand on the corpse's neck. "There's still pulse, so he isn't dead yet. Get me some alcohol, a patch and some skin tape. Thanks. Now at the count of three we will flip the body gently. Ready. One. Two. Three!" And with four hands they completed their task. Cadence washed the rib-wound with alcohol, afterwards she placed the patch and pressed it with the tape.

Shining arrived shortly, and helped load the body to the flatbed in the motorcycle. "Hey, isn't he Shield?" He asked.

Cadence was looking at the leather backpack, but turned immediately to scan the face. "You're right! Oh Celestia, we need to hurry!"

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but who is he?" Asked Fluttershy meekly.

"He's an old friend of ours, he is also a commissioner. Please pass me his stuff. He'll go berserk if he finds out he lost them." Cadence grabbed all the gear and took off, Fluttershy climbed onto the backseat of the motor vehicle while Shining Armor revved his ATV and took off.

Back at the hill there was a white all-terrain ambulance waiting for them, with only the lights turned on. They unloaded Shield as soon as the ATV stopped, and waited for Shining to climb aboard before turning on the sirens and wailing off.

Shield was rushed into ER the second the ambulance stopped. The paramedic had radioed ahead that they had a patient with several fractures, so they needed a team ready to transport the injured.

After filling in the basic paperwork Shining Armor headed toward his sister's home thinking on what just happened. His honeymoon had begun here, in Ponyville, and while taking time off arresting drunks and spoiled nobles he had been interrupted by someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

Back at the Library everyone was waiting for him. Aside from Cadence, he was the only one who knew what was going on.

In the living room he began explaining. "The guy we just met might be an old friend of mine, his name is Shield Heart. We went to the Academy together, but we stopped seeing him after he went on an expedition all by himself eleven years ago. From that day forward we haven't had time to catch up. He came back four years later and was invited into the Commission. And that's as much as I know of him." A smile formed in his face.

"About a year ago he invited me on a mission in Baltimare. Remember that one honey?" He remembered as he turned to look at his wife.

She sighed. "Of course! That is officially the worst date so far. Even worse than that one time you took me to the lower dungeons."

Shining face palmed himself. "What was I thinking with that one? But Baltimare was partly your fault. Shield tried to stop you, remember?"

"I'm sorry, but after your run-in with Cat Burgular I had to make sure he wasn't taking you on some early stag party! And he totally went out of control."

"He needed me to help organize the army! He made it very clear that he needed my help!"

"I still had doubts. And what right does he have to do what he did? I was sitting in a cafe when suddenly the streets burst open and I saw him riding a chimera. Next thing I know the chimera starts chasing me around."

"He made it clear that you shouldn't have left my side because half of the town was a danger zone. So you had no right to scream in surprise."

"So you're saying that the guy that I saw bleeding out is pretty much a troublemaker?" Asked Rainbow.

"No, not usually at least. He's a commissioner. You obviously know what Commissioners are, right?"

"Erm. Yeah, sure I do! Who doesn't know about those guys?" She said nervously.

"They're the agents in charge of keeping the peace, like policemen. Each city has at least one, which can also serve as a substitute commander for the army or go on special assignments that threaten the peace of the nearby area. But what on earth was he doing in that mountain?" Intervened Twilight. "I'm sure Ponyville is out of Canterlot jurisdiction."

Shining's face dropped as he slumped into a chair. "I don't know, he is the only one. But he isn't the Commissioner from Canterlot, he's actually from Vanhoover."

"So he must have been here on a special mission!" Excailmed Twilight.

"So when will he wake up? I believe we should show him some hospitality, if he has suffered a lot he clearly must be tired!" Said Rarity.

"The doctors have just started making tests, tomorrow Cadence and I will go. But you don't have to worry about him, he has had worse. Trust me."

.oOo.

"I must ask you, how much sugarcoating do you want?" Asked the doctor.

"None preferably. We want the truth." Said Cadence.

"Very well. I have no idea what these results mean."

"What?" Said the spouses unanimously.

"Shield Heart has: a broken knee and ankle, a fractured disk, a brain contusion, a paralyzed lung, tetanus, two fractured ribs and both of his arms are broken. His veins are clogged and swollen. And we are getting some strange brain activity.

"Yet his pulse remains constant and his heart is beating regularly. I can see both a bag of broken bones and the model of health. I just don't know what to make of it. He's in some sort of a coma, but he is still conscious, barely." Said the doctor with a perplexed look.

"Do you know when he will wake up?"

"I can't say. His condition indicates that he should be dead, but he has been responding well to treatment so really it's anyone's guess. Could be tomorrow, right now or in a month or never."

Cadence entered the room where her friend was put to sleep. He shed a single tear. This man had been her older brother in everything but blood. He had saved her from pesky nobles chasing after her heels, saved her from several natural dangers and more than once gotten injured in her stead. But he also gave her his opinion on what he thought was right without caring wether it would hurt or not. That was until he had dissappeared and mutated into something else.

On various occasions he had been there to console her when things went bad. He even introduced her to Shining while they trained at the academy.

He had been so happy before, making jokes of his life, of others around him. He had always helped people, and rarely accepted any help or gifts people shoved at him. He had been the model in which she classified men. Shining was the only one to surpass him.

Now he was in a coma, with no hope of ever waking up. Three more tears swelled up, but Shinning immediately wiped them off. "Don't worry honey, everything's going to be fine. You'll see, in a week he'll be back to his insane self causing chaos and jumping with joy when he finds out we are married. We know he has had worse, remember Canterlot?"

"Of course I do, but what if he never wakes up? He's had a lot of damage and his body can't take in a lot." She started sobbing.

"Hey! I brought you a special package..." And as Pinkie Pie was entering she immediately saw the corpse lying next to the princess and gasped. "Holly moley guacamoley! What's going on?" She launched a large heart-shaped cake with the words get well soon inscribed in red frosting. Shining responded quickly by withdrawing his spruce wand and catching the cake before it crashed. He set it on the nightstand carefully to avoid disasters.

"Hello Pinkie Pie, this is our friend that was wounded. His name is Shield Heart." He said.

"Wow, he looks horrible!"

"Don't worry, he's had worse. This one time they had to pump hydra poison out of his blood, he was whiter than snow." Said Shining casually. Pinkie Pie merely gasped and bolted out of the room.

An awkward silence ensued for three minutes.

"I think we should do something about his clothes." Said Cadence finally. "They're completely ruined. I think we should get them fixed. I think it would be weird if Shield wore these rags after he woke up. By the way, I thought he used glasses."

"He did, they must have fallen off and broken his leg. We should forget about them, I'm sure he has several pairs. I have an idea, why don't you go with Rarity and ask her if she could do anything about those clothes hmm? Try distracting yourself for a bit." Shining kissed his wife and helped her up her seat.

"I don't know, what if he has a fit or something bad happens? I won't be here to calm him down!" She said as she tried to sit down again, but Shining stopped her. "When will you stop babying him? He'll be fine! I'll stay here and watch over him so you don't have to worry. If anything happens I'll call you.

Reluctantly, she left. She remembered the fits Shield usually had after being hospitalized, and with no knowledge of when he will wake up she feared it would be a time bomb. But she decided to relax a bit. She knew that Shield had some sort of self control and that she needn't worry. Her hands were holding a burlap sack with what once were clothes in them.

She managed to get to Carousel Boutique without much inconvenience, mostly due to this being a busy day. After the Royal Wedding a lot of farms and businesses needed time to recover from having sold most of their stock. Also, Harvest Season was coming close so there was also that rush.

Cadence had never before been inside Carousel Boutique, but she felt at home. The place had this weird feel that it was designed to be perfect. The dresses were set chromatically, giving this sense of order. Suits were ordered in a greyscale fashion, with most of them being black. She noticed a lack of casual clothes.

She found Rarity on her sewing machine, carefully putting together the frills on a violet dress. The owner must have sensed her, since she stopped and turned around.

"Why hello princess Cadence, what can I help you with?" She asked in her melodious voice.

"Sorry to interrupt Rarity, it looked like it was important."

"Oh don't fret dear, that dress is for the next Grand Galloping Gala. I thought Twilight's dress could use a little work, most of the others are simple, but Twilight is a complicated customer. But she is also the most important. She's the one that shows everything off. By the way, how is your friend? I hope we can see him soon."

This hit Cadence a little harder than she though it would. "The doctors don't know what is wrong with him."

Rarity showed the most natural look, utter surprise. "Well, what ails your friend?"

"A lot of broken bones, tetanus and other things. The doctors are surprised he's still alive. Anyway, I have a huge favor to ask of you." Interrupted Cadence hoping to drop the subject.

Rarity understood and took a look at the sack. "Am I right to believe that this favor you ask is related to your friend?"

"Yes, I want to know if there is anything you could do to fix these." Various pieces of clothing were dropped on her table.

Rarity began inspecting the crimson duster, feeling the fabric and searching the ruptures. If she was surprised by the various bloodstains, cuts and other deformities, she didn't show it. She continued inspection by touching the white dress shirt. "Your friend has an expensive taste. This is imported wool, and also of the finest quality."

"Yeah, Shield likes luxuries in his life. He has this silver pocket watch a supposed doctor gave him. Also he used these titanium glasses the Great Bridle president gave him after some adventures he never told me of."

"Well, I would have hoped that he took better care of such fine clothes this fabric is not easy to find, nor is it cheap. I can fix the damages, if that is your wish, but I will need time in order to make it good. How much time will you give me?"

"What about the shirt? Can't you do anything about it?"

"I'm afraid not, it's soaked in blood both human and changeling. Not to mention..."

"Wait, did you just say changeling blood? How do you know that?"

"Ugh, I wish I didn't, but some of their blood spilled onto my dress when we had our little rumble before your wedding. I could never take it off and had to burn the dress, it was a shame. Same thing with this shirt. I could give you a replacement, but I have to burn this. Ugh, I can't stand the sight of green blood! I'll be happy to give you a replacement if you want. Free of charge!" Said Rarity with her joyful voice.

"That won't be..." And Cadence was cut off by her singing voice "Shining Armor, I'll be there very sooooon!" Cadence went for her purse and withdrew a small silver cellphone. With a flip she answered: "Yeah, I'm here honey." Her face was shocked. "I'll be there in a minute!" She turned to face Rarity. "I need to go! My friend has started acting weird and I need to see him. Can you do me this favor? Please?"

"Don't you worry princess, your friend will never know that someone fixed his clothes! Just relax and I'm sure everything will turn out alright." Rarity turned around and continued working on her dress.

Cadence ran out of the shop and took off as quickly as she could. She arrived within minutes to the hospital, where they quickly guided her to Shield's bed. As soon as she passed through the door Shining rushed to hug her. "Thank Celestia you're here!" He said.

"What's the problem? What is happening to Shield?" She asked.

"We don't know ma'am, but this is actually good for him!" Said the doctor. A second later Shield gave a exhaling moan, his mouth excreting a yellow foam and his nose exhaling a blue vapor. "What is that?" She asked.

"We don't know yet, but I believe that it is some sort of regeneration system. We conducted another series of tests and found that his disk and arms have completely healed. We also found no trace of tetanus, although his blood is still clogging." The doctor said with enthusiasm.

"You have never seen anything before?" Asked Cadence with shock.

"Well, not really, no. That's why we are excited! This man was supposed to be dead, but he has recovered at an astonishing speed!" The doctor was gleefully touching the foam, sensing its composition and tasting it.

Twilight entered the room, holding a paper bag from the local sandwich shop. "Hey brother! I brought you your favorite, a large BLT!" She saw what was happening and backed out. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, of course not Twily! Why would it be?" Shining said. Shield moaned once more, which scared Twilight. Intrigued, she approached the body and studied the vapor. She took a whiff and grabbed the foam. "Yep, it's mana alright! This man is having a mana leak!" She declared.

The doctor was stunned, giving Twilight the how did you know that surprised look.

"How do you know that Twilight? You're not a doctor." Asked Cadence.

"It's part of the advanced magical medical course, certain people can be trained into placing themselves in a healing coma whenever things get critical. It isn't a popular tactic, using mana in your bloodstream can have its side-effects. But I started reading some Commissioner handbooks and they told of this technique, apparently some of them undergo the dangerous procedures in order to return to active duty faster."

"Oh Celestia! Why didn't I know of this before?" Fumbled the doctor, he placed his hand on his forehead, thinking of what just happened.

"Because as I said, it is not very popular. Mainly because it is dangerous, if one step isn't done correctly then your bloodstream will swell up until it explodes."

"Well, what should we do. There must be some way we can help him recover!" Said the doctor desperately.

"There's really nothing left to do. We could harvest the excess mana into a gem, but it won't help speed it up. For now all we can do it wait for his body to recover." Said Twilight with her air of authority.

Author's Note:

If you have reached this part, might I convince you to tell me what you think of it?

Revised June 5 2013

Comments

[Chuckward]

Self-insert...oh okay, fine. Your grammar is good and I like the idea.

After a couple of minutes.

Pleasantly surprising, not phenomenal, but certainly not bad.

[Shieldheart204]

2164487

Thanks for the comment, I really appreciate it.

[Iroh Legoman]

see at least ten cave trolls.

They have a cave troll

trolls were photophobic and therefore turned to stone as soon as sunlight touched their skin.

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