Author's Note

Trigger warning, description of blood and abuse.

4: One step at a time

Shield came to a stop, his hooves kicking up dirt as he skid to a stop in his sprint. Due to the fact that there was very little risk near the Crystal Palace Shield knew that he could get some exercise in whilst Cadance played with Flurry Heart at the nearby park, as well as the fact that Cadance had ordered him to go enjoy himself too. Other crystal ponies stay clear of them as they expected they wanted to be alone.

There was a talk about the town, one that Shield had been hearing on the grapevine so to say. A rumor that Cadance has been becoming more and more restless as she has been tasked with taking care of her daughter more or less alone whilst her husband was out making sure the transition for exterior settlements in the Crystal Empire was safe and completed without issue.

He did notice her temper and patience was wearing thin, remembering the instance a week ago when the guard came in while they were drinking and Cadance's forceful and cold dismissal of the messenger. Staring off at the pair giggling and playing about the park one would have a hard time seeing such a loving mare being suggested to be cold or ruthless.

As he stared at them and noticed the bits of sweat rolling down his brow he had made the realization that he would have to get his mane trimmed, it was unprofessional of a stallion in the guard to be on duty with a messy mane clouding his vision. As he watched their surroundings he noticed Cadance looking around before finally turning his direction and perking up with a smile. She raised a hoof to her mouth and began to loudly say something he couldn't make out, then the gesture that said 'Come over here!'told him what it was about.

As Shield trotted up to them he smiled and glanced around to make sure that nopony was close enough to hear him,

"Yes Cadance?" he asked with a curious voice, despite it being a week of her request at refraining from using titles for her in private it still was a adjustment process he was taking slowly. As he approached Cadance turned and smiled at him.

"Look!", Cadance beamed with a gesture towards Flurry Heart, "Flurry Heart dear, pick up the grass!" she asked the filly. The young pony turned towards a bit of torn grass clippings and Shield watched her horn begin to glow a light yellow.

Shield watched intently as the young filly struggled while the grass began to shake a bit and then fall back to the ground and her horn dimmed back to its original state. Cadance smiled even brighter and turned to Shield again.

"See that! This is so exciting! She is nearly getting it. Just a little bit more and she will get a grasp on her magic" Cadance's spoke with so much joy it was overwhelming.

The warmth in his chest returned, the very same that he felt when he first met Cadance years ago. The sun seemed brighter, the wind felt crisper, all his senses heightened to imprint a memory of her smile into his memories.

Shield stared down at her and glanced about towards the other ponies that were going about their business. Many of them were a trio, husband and wife and child. They all seemed so happy and turning back to Cadance he look into her eyes.

"Cadance," Shield started, "I-" his thoughts were culled as a blur of color shot down from the sky directly towards Cadance. Shield jumped into action, his muscles still warm after training before it took him less than a second to jump in the way of whatever was coming. He couldn't catch it, but he could stop it.

In an instant the object slammed into Shield, puncturing through his leg causing a spurt of blood to erupt out onto Cadance. He fell back into her a second later, both toppling over as the object pushed them back. Shield finally was able to ascertain what the object was, a metal spear launched towards Her Majesty. He rolled and regained his footing quickly, ignoring the pain in his leg as the spear remained lodged firmly in him.

'Damn it! I knew to be more cautious, they were waiting for me to be distracted!' Shield's thoughts raced as his heightened senses scanned for another attack. The feeling of his blood trickling down his hoof onto the grass caught him for a moment. Looking down he realized the amount of blood he was losing was more than he expected, looking back he spotted the spear head was hollow. Whoever had attack fully intended to kill Cadance. Turning back towards her Shield saw the horrified expression on her face.

"Shield! Your leg!" Cadance shouted as she regained her posture and looked over towards Flurry Heart. As Shield followed her gaze he saw Flurry Heart staring over at him with tears in her eyes.

"Cadance! Grab Flurry Heart and run back to the palace, I will follow close behind" Shield barked out the orders as the pain slowly crept into his mind, his adrenaline was still pumping though and he was going to make use of it. Turning back he noticed Cadance was still staring at the spear in his leg un-moving.

"Now!" Shield snapped at her, that action finally pushed the alicorn into motion. With haste Cadance picked up her daughter with magic and started into a gallop towards the palace. They weren't too far from it, but that was even more worrisome for Shield.

'How did they get close enough to the palace without being spotted, and how did they attack and get away during the day!' Shield thoughts screaming as he started pushing his limbs to their limit. Every hoof fall into the ground felt like he would tumble and fall but his training kept him up. Turning about he noticed all of the ponies were stunned and frightened at the sight.

"Everyone! Scatter! Get back to your homes!" Shield shouted out as he ran. Turning forward he saw the gap between Cadance and himself widen as he couldn't catch up to her speed with a busted leg. Keeping an eye up towards the sky there was no sign of another attack or even who had done it. Still they weren't out of it yet, Cadance was getting closer to the palace but still needed protection.

Shield screamed as he stomped the injured hoof down and ignored the pain shooting through him, kicking into the ground and pushing himself. One step at a time, his joints screaming to stop. Shield kept pushing forward, faster and faster. His thought sent him back into the past. The pain was familiar to him. A knife to the leg, a hot pan pressed against the bottom of his hoof, a kick from a stallion bigger than him. The visage of his father made Shield enraged as he stomped forward even faster.

"Shield!?" Cadance called from his side. Looking up Shield realized he was in a full gallop as the metal spear sat in his leg, he had caught up to her. Shield looked around once more. The whistle of wind caught his ear directly above him, without looking his body reacted. He pushed to the side and shoved the Princess causing her to lose balance and shift to the side.

"Hey! Shield-" as Cadance snapped at him another metal spear slammed into the ground between them, right where Cadance would have been. Sliding to a stop Shield looked upwards again to find the source. A faint shadowed figure high above in the clouds looked down at them, too high for Shield to get a read on any features. Suddenly they leaned back and disappeared behind the cloud cover. Then it happened.

Another spear flung out of the cloud, causing it to burst with motion. The flight sent it directly towards the fallen Princess. Shield looked over stricken with fear, he couldn't make it. His leg began to give out, he had done too much.

"Cadance!" Shield screamed out in vain as the spear hurdled downward.

CLANG

Suddenly a pegasus shot into his view right above the Princess, his ready metal shield ringing as the spear slammed into it. The guards from the palace finally had made it. Looking over Shield focused on Cadance's face as she did the same to his. He smiled. Then his vision faded from him as he collapsed.