My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter 2: For my Princess

The knight stood proud and tall with his unsheathed sword by his side. He raised his shield and readied into a defensive stance. The magnificent white blade gleamed towards the Captain of the Royal Guard as the guards readied their weapons. The knight was calm and steady, despite being outnumbered by the countless guards. He took a single step forward, as if challenging the captain himself.

“Stand down,” Shining Armor ordered. “This is my fight.” The nearby Crystal Royal Guard soldiers gave each other uncertain looks, but nonetheless followed their commander’s orders. They lowered their spears and bows. Shining Armor held a mighty spear in his hooves, pointing towards the lone knight.

The knight scoffed. “How can a four-legged rat like you can wield the spear? It’s impossible to fight me!” Shining Armor replied with an icy cold glare and silence. He gritted his teeth and felt anger in his veins. For some reason, he wanted to kill this knight. Did he insult their new marriage?

The entrance of the castle was now a battlefield. Shining Armor stood underneath an arch, his helmet hiding his brewing rage. The knight readied and was patient, his breath slow and calm. Behind him, the castle doors slowly began to close. Then with a loud slam, the door locked and shut itself. Silence reigned among the ranks of the guards. A mixture of anger and annoyance even mustered among the soldiers, giving scowls and glares towards the tall knight. He had insulted them and they too wanted to fight.

With a battle cry, Shining Armor exploded forward with his sharp spear. He grunted loudly as he made contact by thrusted the pointed end towards his opponent. Instead of evading, the knight hid behind his shield and crouched. The end of the spear collided with the tough shield, sending a loud clattering noise throughout the castle. The impact budged the knight, but in the moment he felt the spear slide across the shield, he side-stepped for the pony’s momentum to shift.

Shining Armor lost his balance due to his strength and fell forward. The knight quickly brought a strong swing down on top of him. Shining Armor rolled to the side just in time as the sharp blade dug into the rock hard floor. With a large clank of metal and stone, the knight lifted his head to see the pony skidding away. Shining Armor made a good amount of space between him and his opponent, trying to create space to recover and attack. However, he soon realized that he was unarmed without anything within reach. The white knight approached the nearby spear and chuckled. He stood proudly in front of the weapon.

"What else can you do now, you beast?" the knight sneered, taunting heavily. His eyes studying Shining Armor's every move, "What you do next may end your life."

Shining Armor glared back as the knight continued.

"Or," the knight said, standing up straight with his sword down and opposite hand out, "Surrender, and I shall get permission to see Lady Cadence!!"

"Never!" Shining Armor bellowed, his horn lighting up in a magenta color.

The spear behind the knight's feet swooped the unaware bipedal creature off his feet. The knight landed with a grunt flat on his back. With a sword lightly grasped in his hand, the sheer weight and force of impact left the knight dazed. His vision blurred, he could see a light twinkle before he realized that this could be the last thing he could see. The knight brought his arm up as the end of the spear penetrated his gauntlet.

"Witchcraft!!" the knight managed to say as unbearable weight tore up his arm’s armor.

The creak of metal and a roar from the captain of the Royal Guard filled the battlefield as the magically tipped spear tore through the tough armor. The knight grunted and attempted to pull the unicorn off of him. Slowly, his gauntlet was deteriorating into only bits and pieces of metal. Shining Armor gave a roar before his horn grew even brighter.

“Argh!” The knight exclaimed before being overwhelmed in bright light. Without a gauntlet, he slid across the ground in supersonic speed and crashed head first into the wall. His helmet made direct contact into the crystal wall, caving in his helmet and leaving the magnificent silver and white armor scratched up and damaged.

The entire castle shook for a second before Shining Armor collapsed to the ground. The sheer shockwave knocked the breath of the white unicorn. By his own attack, he was launched to the wall behind him. His body armor made a cracking noise and he was knocked next to the knight. The knight was groaning in pain as Shining Armor was gasping for air. The foundations of the castle rattled as the guards covered their heads.

A soft rumble followed thereafter, the guards lifted their heads up to see the aftermath of the battle. Shining Armor laid next to the iron knight, unconscious with his cracked metal armor.

"Ugh," the knight's voice groggily said. He lifted his arm without the gauntlet and placed it on his head. "Now, that is a fight!! I expected nothing less from the Captain of the Royal Guard!"

He patted Shining Armor on one of his hindlegs. "Well pony, you've earned very little respect that I never had for you!" he said. Then he sat up. The knight groaned again and felt the dent in his helmet. The knight looked up to see the guards leaning over the railing, staring down at him.

"Now, what are you looking at?!" the knight asked.

"Uh, well, um," a guard weakly spoke up, "W-We were just watching."

"Well then, who won?" the knight asked.

"I mean, it can be a tie and all, and-"

"Who won?"

"Er, I'm guessing that-"

"Aah!! Too loud!" Shining Armor yelled, cradling his head with his hooves. Pain throbbed intensely through his head, it was as if slammed his skull really hard into a wall. His crushed helmet clattered between debris and the wall. The knight who sat by his side gave a small pat on the head.

"You're finally awake, pony," the knight said.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Shining Armor groaned, putting his hooves on his head, "By the gods, that hurts!!" He gave another sound of pain and rested his chin on the ground.

"What materials are used on that helmet?" the knight asked, pointing towards Shining Armor's armor.

Shining Armor winced with closed eyes. "Gold, a little bit of bronze, and other things," Shining Armor mumbled.

The knight began to chuckle.

“Ahh, you ponies are foolish creatures indeed! Imbeciles! To use gold as armor!" the knight said, leaning against the rubble around him.

"Why does my head hurt?!" Shining Armor said again, his head throbbing in pain.

"I advise you to see a doctor," the knight suggested. “You need to get it checked out.” The knight then shifted his attention to the guards watching above. After a few seconds of prolonged eye contact, the knight exclaimed.

"Go get a doctor, you bumbling buffoons!" the knight yelled towards the guards.

"Y-Yes, right away!!" a guard said. The said guard motioned a few other guards and they immediately set off into the castle.

"Now, we shall play the waiting game," the knight said as Shining Armor face planted onto the ground.

"Urgh, it hurts!"

"Suck it up, you wanker."

Some time later...

"Well, Captain Shining Armor, sir, you've got a skull fracture," a crystal pony doctor in a white coat said, gleaming over his paper and then towards the captain’s bandaged head. He had a stethoscope around his neck and obscure gems in jars around the room. The crystals gave a faint glow, as if mimicking a steady heartbeat. The white bandages wrapped his entire head like a mummy. Shining Armor then asked a question.

"Is it bad?"

"A crack in your skull, sir?" the doctor said, "Yes."

"How long then?" Shining Armor's muffled voice said from under the bandages.

"A few weeks at the least, but five months at most," the doctor said. He paused and looked around. Then he approached Shining Armor’s ears. "And if I may ask, what is that thing?” He whispered.

"What? I made sure I applied the cream for my butt this morning! It shouldn’t show!"

"Not that sir, but this weird monkey knight sitting here," the doctor whispered, indirecting pointing towards the white knight sitting in a very tiny chair. The knight could only fit a single buttock on the chair, but he patiently waited and rocked back and forth.

"Oh, him?!!" Shining Shining exclaimed, leaping up from the bed he sat at. A burst of pain rushed to his head, making him fall out of bed. Right onto his back.

"Ooh, my back!!" Shining Armor yelled in pain.

The knight sat with his back to the chair and had his legs out. With one buttcheek dangling from the chair, he started to laugh. He chuckled low and pointed towards the bandaged pony struggling on the ground. At that moment, the doctor called a few nurses to assist him.

"Shining Armor, was it?" the knight asked, getting up from his seat.

His bruised armor creaked, letting his loud footsteps approach the surprised medical ponies. What stood before them towered over each and every one of them. The alien’s white armor gleamed in the light, but was dull due to the scratches.

The doctor and nurse was very intimidated by the knight, and did not know what to do. They backed away from the strange creature.

"Help! My back hurts!!" Shining Armor pleaded.

The nurses and doctor gave each other looks. They wanted to help the patient, but the knight’s menacing glare prevented them. Who knew what he could do? The knight calmly approached the captain and cracked his knuckles. The bones cracking in his hands made the medical ponies wince.

"I'll assist you," the knight calmly said.

The doctor and nurses backed away immediately and watched his hands grab onto Shining Armor.

"Are you ready, pony?"

"N-No! No! No! I'm not re-"

A very large crack was heard.

"EAAARRGH!!"

The nurses and doctor held their breath and held in their screams. With the movement of his wrist, the knight cracked Shining Armor’s back into place. He began to take deep rapid breaths, feeling the pain to be no more. The knight then gently placed him down on the bed and brushed his hands.

"Feel better?" he asked.

Shining Armor groaned and muttered with a nod of thanks.

“That’s good.”

The doctor and the pair of nurses were back into a corner, still unsure what to do. Before they could say anything, the knight asked a question.

"Where is Lady Cadence?"

His tone was authoritative and firm. His strong commanding voice and his rigid posture gave a position of power. His eyes stared into one of the nurses, his eyes that desired an answer.

"Y-You mean the princess?" a nurse quietly replied.

"Yes, her." the knight said, taking a step towards them. The ponies backed away deeper into the corner. "Where can I find her?"

"She's... sleeping..." the second nurse mumbled.

“I see,” the knight said, tilting his head towards the window. Darkness had claimed for the time being. He respectfully bowed. “My apologies for disturbing you. And I understand that Lady Cadence needs her rest.” He lifted his head. “There are injured guards by the gate that need medical attention. And I shall return in the morning. Good night.”

The knight turned around towards the door and walked away. The doctor and nurses were speechless. Their mouths agape in shock, the doctor struggled to fix his glasses.

"Cadence, sweetie?" Shining Armor muttered, "I know the name Flurry Heart sounds stupid, but it just might work!"