Shield sat cross-hooved on a red and gold cushion inside his quarters at the base barracks, his horn lit in a yellow aura as he used magic to turn the page of a spell book he was reading. Despite it being night time, he had kept candles lit around his quarters, giving off just enough light for him to be able to read. As his eyes scanned over the next page of the book, he levitated up a small white tea cup with the Crystal Heart printed onto it, before blowing on it and taking a small sip of piping hot tea. He politely set the cup back down on the small plate, his eyes still focused on the book as he moved his eyes from one page to the other.

Feeling positive that he had the day off, but still disappointed of the news he had learned the month before, he felt as reading was something he could do to pass the time until he was set to return home. Had he not been ordered by Shining Armor himself to stay in the empire, Shield would have traveled back to Canterlot, where his marefriend Mint Spark was waiting.

Turning the page once more and levitating the tea cup back to his muzzle, something caught his eye. The next page, page one hundred and fifty four, was titled Advanced Magic. The cup stopped just to the side of his muzzle, still held in a yellow aura. He sipped the tea after a moment, continuing to hold the cup to the side of his muzzle afterwards. With a hoof, he turned to the next page, and started to read over the first spell that came in the next category.

As his eyes moved across the descriptions of the spells and how to do them, he became more focused on them and stared in curiosity. Unlike the other spells before, these were different. He set the tea cup down on the plate and turned through five more pages, stopping just before one with a hoof-drawn picture above another much longer spell. Levitating the cup back, he started to read.

Shield read...and read. The two pages the one spell sat on seemed to be endless as his mind delved deeper into a trance of thought. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide when he realized just what the spell was. He let out a soft gasp, jumping a little and jerking the tea cup into his chin. He lost grip of the cup, and the tea spilled onto his chest and the bottom of the left page. He winced and yelped at the temperature of the tea.

"Gah," Shield scrunched his muzzle and stared heatedly down at the mess. He stood up off of the cushion, levitating the now empty cup that had not broken thanks to the carpet floor and bringing it to the small kitchen beside the front door, then walking back with a rag and dabbing it at his chest, managing to clean up what had spilled onto his chest, then down to the floor and the book.

Shield closed the book using his magic, sighing softly as he continued to clean his coat of the hot beverage. As he did, there was a quick knock on the door. Jumping once more, he turned to the door and unlocked it with a hoof, then opened it with a magical aura. Peeking his head inside from the hallway stood a white pegasus, staring in concern.

"I heard you yelp, boss. Everything okay?"

"Oh, o-of course, Swifty. I just spilled some tea on myself, that's all," Shield smiled sheepishly. "Everything's okay."

The pegasus nodded. "Just checking."

"Thanks," Shield smiled still. "Hey, what are you still doing up?"

"Late shift," Swift exhaled, his lips flapping with his exhale.

"Again?" Shield's smile faded into a frown.

"Unfortunately..." Swift remained at the door. "I get off soon though."

Shield nodded once. "I do hope the captain can find more ponies to join us, you look terrible."

"I'm fine, really," Swift smiled faintly, but was obviously sleep deprived. "I just um...I don't sleep as much as I used to."

"That isn't healthy for you, you know that?"

"I know, I know. But, its not like I have much of a choice. I'd rather not get on the bad side of the captain, especially with everything that's going on up north."

"Up north?" Shield raised an eyebrow.

"Oh," Swift's cheeks heated and turned red. "Well...its a bit classified. You'll have to discuss it with the captain himself."

"Uh...huh..." Shield kept an eyebrow raised as he nodded.

"Anyways, I should be on my way," Swift pulled back and looked in either direction of the hallway to make sure no one was watching.

"Oh, of course," Shield lowered his eyebrow and smiled faintly. "Carry on."

Swift nodded once. "See you tomorrow, boss."

"Likewise," Shield nodded in response, watching as Swift shut the door behind him.

Shield turned to a small clock sitting on the top shelf of a wooden bookshelf against the wall across the room from his small red couch and a glass table just before it. Sighing softly after reading the time and letting out a faint chuckle, he agreed with Swift. "Time for bed."

He walked through a doorway between the kitchen area and the living room, then up to a queen sized bed and crawling in. After pulling the sheets up to his chest with magic, he let out a quiet yawn and stared up towards the ceiling, before slowly closing his eyes.

***

The following morning came a lot quicker than Shield had anticipated, and soon the blasting sound of rise and shine trumpets filled the air, jolting him awake and in an upright position. He panted softly, and his heart briefly raced as he woke from his slumber. Letting out a quiet groan, he allowed gravity to pull his head back down onto the pillow with a thump. Shield yawned, then raised his hooves above him and stretched.

"Morning sucks..." he groaned, levitating the sheets off of him and sitting up off the side of the bed and scratching his back with a hoof. He stared in front of him into the darkened bathroom, his eyes just barely open and ears just barely perked up. Shield stretched one more time, then stood up and walked slowly into the living room, and then into the kitchen where he started to brew himself a cup of hot coffee.

Shortly after his coffee disappeared from its cup, Shield trotted back into his bedroom, and then into the small bathroom that completed his apartment. He levitated a clean towel onto the rack sitting beside the shower, then reached a hoof through the curtain and turned the knob. As he did, freezing water rushed out from the top faucet and poured into the tub, but didn't fill. He reluctantly held a hoof into the way of the water to feel for the right temperature as it slowly warmed.

Moments after starting the shower, Shield stepped into the tub and soaked his mane under the water, which somewhat drooped over his face. He levitated a bottle of shampoo to his mane and turned it upside down, squirting just enough to wash his mane before setting it back down to the side. Shield moved his hooves to his mane, scrubbing the shampoo in while also washing it out under the water, until it was completely out. Afterwards, he grabbed a brush and body wash and started to wash his hooves and torso.

Unlike before, his shower took a few minutes longer than it normally did in past times. Many thoughts were spilling through his mind as he washed himself down, one being the last page in the spell book that he had read the night before. Even when he shut off the water and stepped out to dry himself off, the thought would not leave his mind.

Trotting out of the bathroom, Shield immediately went for his recently polished armor in the closet and pulled the pieces out magically, then slipped them on one by one. He inhaled softly, looking over himself in a mirror and making a small adjustment to the main armor piece.

Minutes later, Shield was out the door and trotting down the hallway towards the stairs, where he walked down and outside onto the base grounds, which to his surprise wasn't nearly as busy as normal. As he walked towards his office inside the main building, he was stopped by a purple pegasus who's coat sparkled like diamonds, one of the region's many Crystal guards. To Shield, the guard looked worried.

"First lieutenant Shield Spotter?" The guard raised a hoof to his forehead and saluted.

"At ease, what is it?" Shield replied with a concerned expression, matching that of the guard's.

"Your presence is required at the Spire. Captain Armor is calling for an urgent meeting between him, the princesses and the high ranks, that includes you. You'd best be on your way if you don't want to be late."

Shield nodded. "Of course. Thank you, and carry on," he saluted the guard, then trotted off towards the gate, whilst the guard took back off into the skies.

Following a long walk into the city, Shield trotted into one of the four entrances of the Crystal Spire and up the steep, winding stairs before finally coming into a large central room with the crystal snowflake engraved into the floor, which sparkled even more than his armor did. Before he could go anywhere else, Shield was approached by a taller white unicorn. He quickly snapped his hooves together and saluted with one.

"Captain Armor," he said as he saluted.

"Don't worry about that right now, Shield. Please, come with me," Shining Armor said, the look on his face telling a thousand words, a thousand words that Shield couldn't completely make out. Before Shield could speak up, the white unicorn made his way towards a long hallway. Without much hesitation, the navy blue unicorn soon followed.

"What is wrong, sir? You seem off today," Shield asked.

"I can't tell you now, not until we're in front of the others. The princesses and I know, but you and the rest of the Royal Guard doesn't," Shining Armor replied.

Shield didn't say anything else, what the captain had said was confusing him even more than why an emergency meeting was required. The two trotted through the long hallway, and soon up to two tall doors with guards on either sides. Shining nodded to the guards, and the two pulled it open for them.

Inside the room and gathered around a wide, round polished wooden table sat Princess Celestia herself, Princess Luna, Shining Armor's wife Princess Cadence, and even the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle was there, all with distressed and worried looks on their faces. Filling the other seats except for two sat the Lunar guard's captain, as well as a few other high ranking officials Shield did not recognize until he was seated along with Shining Armor.

"Good afternoon, all of you," the sun princess started. "As all of you know, we are here for great import. Although, half of the ponies in this room, including me, know what is going on."

"Your highness, please excuse my ignorance, but if you would please get along with the reason of why we're all here?" Spoke up a pegasus guard dressed in golden armor, his emblem was of two pegasus wings.

"Don't be rude," Shining Armor said, glaring towards the pegasus, who eased himself back into his seat.

"Thank you, Captain Armor," Princess Celestia turned to him and nodded, then cleared her throat. "As I was saying, we are here to inform everypony about the recent conflicts going on north of Equestrian borders, in the Griffon territories. Unlike the past war we've had, this is something new. It turns out a former Griffon military leader has taken control of the many villages and cities in the northern Griffon kingdoms."

A collective, yet quiet gasp filled the room as the guards looked between each other.

"Please, everypony. If you would let me finish," Princess Celestia spoke up, her tone quickly silencing the entire room and startling the pegasus who had spoken up earlier, as well as Shield himself. "This old leader, Colonel Goldenspear of the New Griffon Army, was the highest decorated soldier of his class. Just a year ago, however, he was exiled from the military after ordering for his men to slaughter innocent civilians and soldiers of our country, which as you all know, is what triggered the most recent conflict we've had that broke out into a war that lasted less than a week, and still cost us many lives, both civilian and soldier," she stopped, turning to Princess Luna.

"After he was exiled, he swore revenge on both sides just before being dragged off to prison in the northern kingdoms, where he's been ever since. However, not long later, he was broken out by fellow comrades that followed him to the ends of the earth. It ended in a terrible firefight that took the lives of eleven soldiers, and colonel Goldenspear on the lamb. Up until a few days ago, we had not known where he was. Now, it seems he has full control over the northern kingdom's capitol, Talonto, and every town and village south of it. This also means, he has control of half of the country."

"With all of this, I am afraid this leaves us to help with the situation. Not only are innocent civilians in danger, but it will prove us worthy of a locked alliance with their leaders," Celestia sighed and shut her eyes. "Not only that, but a squad we sent up to try and evacuate those in the way to safety has gone dark when it comes to communication. We fear they may have been captured, or worse."

"And...what is it you wish to do, your highness?" The Cloudsdale guard captain asked.

Princess Celestia opened her eyes and glanced to the silver pegasus. "I am afraid this means we will have to ship more of our soldiers north to take care of the situation. From what we know, his army is of less than ten other griffons, that being said, they're highly trained soldiers also exiled," she then turned to Shield. "First lieutenant?"

Shield sat up straight. "Yes, your highness?"

"I ask of you to begin preparing a group of fourteen. If needed, you may come to Canterlot to select some ponies to accompany your squad on your journey."

Author's Note

Well, after an eight month hiatus, chapter three is finally here!

I hope you all enjoyed, because more is coming soon.