Son of a Shield

~{ Chapter IV }~

One Thousand Ten Years Prior

Iron walked down the halls of the Crystal Castle, whistling to himself a happy tune he picked up a few hours ago in the Market. He had every right to be happy, he just came back from a very stimulating experience with the mare every stallion would drool over. Velvet Rose, the prize daughter of a fellow family.

“Shield! Wait up Brony!” Called a voice from down the halls. Iron turned to face the very familiar voice of his old friend.

“What do you need Scarlet?”

“Well, I walked in on my little sister after a big, strong stallion was finished with her. Know anypony who fits that description?” Asked Scarlet as she placed her right hoof against Iron’s chest plate.

“Uh, no. I really don’t.”

“Too bad, I was really hoping to find him, and take him to the bar and congratulate him on helping my sister break out of her shell. Anyway, let’s get to work, the Royal Games are only a few hours away.” Replied Scarlet as she let out a slight chuckle at the thought of Iron in the games, she turned and went back down the way of the hall she had come from.

“H-hey I never said it wasn’t me!” Yelled Iron as he bolted to follow the mare in shining armor,

“You slick son of a-” Scarlet was cut off by a loud boom filling to halls.

“What in the Void was that?!!?!” Yelled a voice from down the halls. Most likely one of the many guards Sombra had acquired.

“No clue, we need to find out, Captain!” Yelled a second voice. Scarlet conjured up her helmet and rushed off towards her fellow guards. Ignoring his better instinct, Iron followed, conjuring his own helmet as he did so.

“Report!” Barked Scarlet as she walk out on to the main Court Yard. The several guards who were present snapped a salute at their Commanding Officer.

“The King, he’s lost his mind, he’s using dark magic. We need to get the ponies out of the city! He’s already killed the entire Royal Court, we need to get the rest of the Guards here now, we need to stop him.”

“Stop who?!” Asked Iron as he slid to a stop in front of the group of Guards.

“Sombra, no time to explain, we need to get moving sir!” Replied a Guard before he took off running. The rest of them followed. Leaving Scarlet and Iron to talk.

“You heard him, get moving Lieutenant!” Yelled Scarlet as she followed the small horde of Guards. Once again not following his better instinct, he followed them as well.

Five Years Later

“You still alive?” Asked the voice of Scarlet. Iron groaned loudly as she tapped the side of his helmet.

“No, I died long ago, I’m just a spirit here to torment you.” Replied Iron as he rose to his hooves.

“Well that explains it! That's the reason why you're such a pain in the flank!” Replied a voice from behind Scarlet.

“Yeah? Well buck you too.” Replied Iron as he sat back down on his flank. This response only arose a mix of groans and laughter from behind Scarlet.

“Pipe down! Sorry Lieutenant, you’ll need to forgive the men, they haven’t had a good laugh in weeks.” Said a tall, grey haired stallion clad in dark blue armor.

“Really? I thought the Empire was all laughs and butterflies!” Replied a voice from behind the tall imposing stallion.

“Knock it off.” Replied yet another voice from the stallion.

“Seriously, what’s with standing behind everypony?”

“Just stop, I have a nasty headache.”

“That’s called a hangover.”

“Shut up!!” Yelled Iron before he passed out from still unknown causes.

“I think you broke him.”

_________________________________________________________________________

“Augh, I am STILL alive?”

“Yes! You are, now shut up and read this letter, my first officer died to get this to you.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Dear Captain Iron Shield

How have you been? Good? Good, also, the reason I’m writing this letter is to let you know that your son is very healthy, he’s going to survive for a long time, at least I hope. Anywho, the king as lost it completely, I’m bleeding out as I write this. He killed what little “supporters” he had left in a fit of pure rage. Also, by the time you’re reading this, the Crystal Spirit Booms are going to be set off in a few minutes. Locking the Kingdom away. Good bye.

~ Scarlet Rose”

Iron slowly closed the latter with his magic, somehow, Scarlet managed to write in perfect Braille.

“Sir...” Was all Iron heard as soon as the remaining windows of the kingdom were blown out by the massive blast from the booms. Just over the city, six rainbow mushroom clouds erupted. Teleporting them far into the deepest part of the Void.

One Thousand Five Years Later

BERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

“AHHHHHH!!!” The death wail from Iron was enough to send even the toughest soldiers on edge. Iron dropped to his knees and breathed heavily. He looked around, nothing. Nothing but cold.

“Hello Iron.” Iron jumped to his hooves and pulled lose his sword. He turned around quickly, hoping to hear a sound, to give him and idea who was talking to him.

“Calm yourself my dear Iron. I am an Arbiter. I am hear to tell you about your future. The first thing, you’ll leave what’s left of the Empire. Second, you’ll find family. Third, you’ll never forget about the Empire, even while it’s gone. And lastly, you die. The last one you more than likely know about. Also, I give you two gifts. The first, this pendent. Keep it safe, it’ll come in handy in the future. And this, the gift of sight, you only need to find the cause of your blindness. Good-bye Captain.” And with that the faceless voice left. The cold was quickly replaced with the warm felling of a train car.

“Hello everypony! This is Ticket Maid speaking, and we are about to depart from the Ice Empire to Equestria. Please enjoy the ride, it’ll be a long hall.” Iron leaned back in his seat and sighed.

“Okay, let’s recap. I was Spirit Boomed, I woke up in the Void, a voice talked to me, and now I’m a train to this place called Euestria.”

“Oh and One last thing. Forget about the Empire, trust me, you’ll be better off without it, oh and don’t forget you bag when you leave the train. Bye!”