Age of Inferno: Part 1

Shining Armor

"Take cover!" Everyone dived behind the nearest object as a wave of fire blasted the forest around them. Shining Armor could feel the heat through the boulder he was behind. "What are these things!?" One of his soldiers asked him from across the clearing. Shining Armor could only shake his head, he had never seen anything like what they were facing before. They had about the same size and shape as anypony, but the similarity stopped there. They all wore blackish-gray armor with gold lining, which was semi-normal, but the biggest difference was what they were made of, Fire. Their entire bodies  pulsed and writhed with flames coming out from their armor. Their eyes were white fire, with red and orange flames streaming off. Even their manes and tails crackled with searing flames. But, even though they were made of fire they didn't burn the ground or foliage around them.

It had all happened so suddenly, Shining Armor was patrolling the Western Border of Equestria with five of his best soldiers, something he did routinely with little interest, as there was never anything exciting on border patrol.Well, that certainly changed, Shining Armor thought to himself.

They were walking past a small clearing in the forest, when a group of ten or so of the fiery stallions came out from across the clearing. Both groups just stood and stared for a while, not knowing what to make of the other. Then, one of the creatures turned around and blasted a small column of fire into the sky from its horn. The entire group turned back to Shining Armor and his patrol, and then they charged, roaring in challenge. Shining Armor could tell from the fire in their eyes that diplomacy was out of the question.

They didn't seem to have any physical weapons besides their horns, so Shining Armor briefly thought they had the advantage with spears, bad assumption.When they got close enough, Shining Armor and his patrol pointed their spears, which didn't faze their enemy at all. Some jumped, some ducked, some simply sidestepped and smashed the shafts of their spears with their bare hooves. But, no matter how, the fiery ponies destroyed their first line of defense with ease.This is going to be harder than I thought, Shining Armor thought, clenching his teeth and backing up.

He sent one of his pegasi back to Canterlot for reinforcements, he just hoped that they would get there in time. Meanwhile, the battle raged on. It was horns and magic against horns and fire. Nothing his patrol did seemed to hurt any of the creatures, at least noticeably. One unleashed a wave of fire from its horn, torching part of the clearing and the trees around it. Shining Armor and most of his patrol reacted barely in time, covering behind the nearest rock. But, one of his soldiers suffered from serious burns, not being able to get out of the way fast enough. Now, when one of the creatures raised its horn, they knew to take cover fast.

As the wave of fire subsided, Shining Armor and his three remaining soldiers jumped out from their cover, and back into the fray. When are those reinforcements getting here!? Shining Armor thought, dodging a blast of fire. What can even stop these things? Shining Armor had had just about enough of these creatures.He concentrated for a second, then his horn blasted magic, creating a small protective shield around him and his patrol. The creatures stopped, circling the shield.

"There, that'll hold 'em." he said, turning back to his injured soldier, laying on the ground.

"How are you holding up?"

The white unicorn looked up, struggling to partially stand.

"I'm...I'm fine." he said, slumping back to the ground. The unicorn had serious red burns almost covering his face and the front of his body.

"No, your not 'fine', Daring Snow, we need to get you medical help as soon as possible." Shining Armor said, kneeling down to talk. A roar from one of the creatures got his attention back, they were all barely in front of the shield, watching their every move. One reared up, cast a spell, then brought its hooves down on the shield. The shield shattered instantly, throwing Shining Armor back among a rain of magical wisps and shards.

He was lying, dazed on the ground, and vaguely saw his remaining soldiers trying again to hold the fiery stallions back. Impossible, he thought, it took an army of changelings several days to break that kind of shield! When the creature had shattered the shield, it affected Shining Armor too, as the caster of the spell. He couldn't think, he couldn't move, he hurt too much. His entire body ached and he felt drained of energy. All he could do was helplessly watch as he slowly fell into unconsciousness.

With fiery explosions, he watched each of his soldiers fall, one by one. He tried to get back up, but none of his limbs responded. The fire ponies advanced, flames streaming from their eyes and horns. Shining Armor realized that these creatures would finish him off, then probably move on to Equestria. This is it..., it's all over, he grimly thought, watching his enemies come closer with every second. I never even got the chance to say goodbye to Cadence or Twilight..., Shining Armor thought to himself, tears springing into his eyes.One of them now stood next to him, glaring through those pure-white fiery eyes, void of all emotion. Shining Armor tried to closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow.

There it was, a wave of heat and fire, exploding around him...so... why wasn't he dead? The explosion seemed to come from somewhere in front of him, not necessarily aimed at him. It still hurt, but...he wasn't... dead. Driven by curiosity, Shining Armor found the strength to partially open his eyes, and as he saw the scene before him, they opened all the way and wouldn't close.

From a ledge above them among the trees, a white blur had jumped down, landing on the fiery pony in front of Shining Armor, it exploded instantly, the flames dispersed and the empty armor clattered to the ground. Shining Armor blinked the tears out of his eyes to see his surroundings clearly, and didn't believe what he saw.

A white unicorn stood in front of Shining Armor, facing the rest of the creatures. He was completely white, with a short gray mane and tail.The white unicorn wore stunningly silver armor, helmet, chest-plate, shoulders, and four hoof-guards. Shining Armor didn't recognize where this unicorn could have come from, he had never seen armor like this before in all the kingdoms he had traveled to around Equestria.

The group of fire ponies looked at their new opponent warily, as if they had seen him before. Bravely, one of them charged at the unicorn. Then the unicorn did several things he had never seen in combat, which only made his curiosity and wonder about this unicorn grow. One, he stood up on his back two legs. Sure, he had seen ponies stand up on their back legs, but not very well, and certainly never in a fight. But this unicorn stood up just as naturally as walking on all four, like it was something he did every day, and he probably did. Two, he flicked his front two hooves, parts of his front hoof-guards detached and spiraled down, then straightened into two hard, silver blades. Then, in the blink of an eye, slashed the charging fire stallion, which died in another small fiery explosion, its armor crashing to the ground as the one before it.

The remaining group now looked cautious, with maybe even a hint of fear. Then, the unicorn took the offensive, running at them on his two back legs. Surprisingly, the rest of the creatures rose to their back to legs to meet his challenge. The unicorn was lightning fast, dodging fire and slashing with his two silver blades. One, two, three down, the unicorn didn't stop.

One of the fiery ponies caught him off guard, hitting him hard with a fire-covered hoof on his right rib cage. There was a small, sickening crunch, several of his ribs must have broken. The unicorn winced in pain, staggering back and momentarily slipping in his assault. The other creatures took advantage of the pause, pelting him with their hooves and flames. The unicorn staggered back, serious burn marks covering his right side and back, splitting his face between pure white, burning red and singed black. One of the creatures suddenly jumped, spinning around and hitting the unicorn across the face with one of its back legs.

The unicorn flew back several feet, landing on his back. The sword on his burnt leg was flung off, clattering to the ground. The ring of fire ponies paused, waiting to see the unicorns next move, but the unicorn was almost laying down, his burns making his limbs shake uncontrollably. His remaining sword spiraled back onto his leg, and then he used his left hoof  to lift himself up a little. The unicorn was breathing heavily and coughing, Shining Armor could even faintly hear his skin still sizzling...how was he still alive?!

Satisfied that the unicorn couldn't do anything more, the fiery horses began to advance. The unicorn looked at his advancing opponents, shaking and trying to stand up. Tears started streaming back into Shining Armor's eyes as he realized that this white unicorn would join their fate.

As two or three of the group neared the unicorn, he looked up. Then one of them did a vicious uppercut, throwing the unicorn even farther back, almost in front of Shining Armor. The unicorn didn't react, too weak to fight back. The creatures looked at each other, reveling in their new victory. But, that would soon change...

Suddenly, a low, pulsing, vibrating sound started over the ground, emulating from...the unicorn. The unicorn started being lifted off of the ground, as a white hue started and then grew around him, outlining his shape. What was happening?!, Shining Armor thought, starting to panic, but also growing more curious. At first the unicorn was limp, but as he was two feet off the ground he straightened, his limbs pointing downward as he looked up. His eyes were as white as his pelt, glowing and shedding magical light. The sound got more powerful and fast as the white aura around the unicorn grew. Waves of magic started flooding off the unicorn, starting simple, but then intensifying in power and light, the waves didn't affect Shining Armor, but the fiery ponies around him disintegrated in the light. His burns completely covered up and healed, and then Shining Armor realized the waves of magic were affecting him.

His pain quickly subsided, strength returning to his muscles and his headache disappearing. Shining Armor quickly stood up on all fours, noticing that his troops around him did the same, even Daring Snow. How can this unicorn do this?! The remaining creatures tried to run, but the waves of magic spread outward, dispersing them instantly. The sound was deafening, the white aura and waves of magic were encircling the unicorn, Shining Armor, and his patrol, healing them of their injuries and destroying the fire ponies around them until they were all gone. The white aura completely enveloped the area around them, Shining Armor closed his eyes to avoid being blinded.

The sound abruptly stopped, as well as the magic surrounding them. All traces of the fiery ponies were gone. The unicorn dropped limp to the ground,

"Are you okay?" Shining Armor asked. The unicorn struggled to his hooves, his entire body shaking with fatigue.

"I...I'm fine," the unicorn said, right before he flopped unconscious to the ground again.