Knights of Harmony

Ice met shadow and snow dust was all that remained above the river. Ice Sapphire and Night Poet kept their deadly battle with all their strength, the hooves of the Amazon of Harmony freezing the water so she would have proper footing while the Nightmare Shadow only used the water properly as if it was solid. Punches and kicks were aimed at each other as well as their best attack magic.

With a higher and longer jump, Night Poet enveloped herself in a cloud of dark magic and vanished from sight, only to reappear at Ice Sapphire’s back. The unicorn teleported as well in a bright flash and reappeared just above her opponent, her magic fully charged and aimed.

However, the shield erected by the Nightmare Shadow was strong enough to freeze and keep holding back the attack of the falling Ice Sapphire. Kicking against the shield, she back-flipped and landed easily on the, now frozen, water again.

Night Poet then threw herself against Ice Sapphire again, her maniacal smile never fading as she attacked again and again. “You feel it don’t you?” she asked between chuckles and attacks. “The pressure of fighting somepony way stronger than yourself!”

Ice Sapphire then blocked the next attack with an ice shield and countered with a strong punch crossing effortlessly through her solid frost barrier and slamming easily on her opponent’s face. The earth pony mare splashed a large amount of water as she dived into the river. Soon enough, though, a hoof came from under the water’s surface and held on it like it was solid ground, pulling Night Poet back up to stand still over the liquid surface, still smiling and still chuckling.

“Shiny, shiny, Sapphire mare,” Night Poet began singing with her half-mad voice.
“Time has come for you to share!
Give me life and give me joy!
Give me your love to destroy!
Shiny, shiny, Sapphire mare!
You will die right now and there!”

And the mad pony jumped against her again. However, those little rhymes hit Ice Sapphire in a way she couldn’t figure. She remembered from her fillyhood, her mother singing a similar song with a much more beautiful message. That year had been the hardest on her hometown and, if not by the help of Canterlot, it was expected half of the village to die out of hunger, not to mention the cold outside their homes.

She had seen, even with those strong stallions from the royal guard helping, many a child dying in the arms of their parents or playing in their last moments together in the park with their families. Sometimes, only the children would survive to see their parents dying by the sheer cold from that particularly harsh winter.

Ice Sapphire had seen the joy being ripped apart from the hearts of innocent fillies and colts, she had seen the strongest of the adults to weaken and perish, she had seen the faith disappear and give place to despair… But throughout all that, she had been shielded by the love her mother had given her. A love she would never feel again…

Night Poet was barely two inches from touching Ice Sapphire’s face when she suddenly could move her own hoof anymore.

“You… You wanted me with all my fury out, didn’t you?” Ice Sapphire asked, her eyes still closed as her memories kept crossing her mind one after the other.

“Your telekinesis won’t hold me much you know...” Night Poet chuckled and focused her power to free her hoof... only to find it useless. “What?”

Throwing her opponent backwards as if she weighted nothing, Ice Sapphire kept ‘looking’ at Night Poet with her eyes closed. Suddenly, her whole body began to freeze. Night Poet looked at her and then at her own hoof, which now she noticed was covered in a thin ice layer.

Ice Sapphire suddenly opened her eyes and the frozen armor seemed to explode from her, covering her body in an icy mist and slowly revealing an armor of soft curves all around her body in a dark blue color, shining almost as if a sapphire armor itself. The edges were covered in soft white shades with four delicate-looking ponyshoes, the legs and shoulders protected by somewhat larger plates, a single chest plate with a shining white snow-crystal shape in the front, and a tiara that had a small tendril wrapped around her horn. A surprise even to Celestia herself when she saw it, for almost no armor envelops the horns in any way.

“You too have an armor, eh?” Night Poet asked with a chuckle.

“Don’t go thinking it’s anything like your piece of metal you call armor,” Ice Sapphire paraphrased something one of the Nightmare Shadows had told them on their first meeting.

“So you found out how to summon armor. Big deal...”

Punching against the air, Ice Sapphire lanced an ice spike almost touching Night Poet’s face. The mare now had her eyes widened.

“I am Ice Sapphire, Amazon of Harmony representing the Virtue of Laughter. And I found you guilty of disrupting peace on Equestria and threatening the life of innocent ponies.”

“I couldn’t feel your mana on that spell…” Night Poet said, still frozen in terror.

“Of course you haven’t. See my tiara? It took me long enough to figure it out. I have a subtle talent that is very rare among unicorns. I can use the ambient mana to cast my spells.”

With that, Night Poet’s eyes would get even wider if that was possible. But the implications of that statement caused her to react fast enough to jump and avoid being trapped in an ice stone that appeared out of nowhere. From her vantage point, she could see the magic focusing on Ice Sapphire’s horn and she touching it to the water. Suddenly a thick layer of ice spread under the unicorn, growing more and more in a circle around her and then, when it reached both edges of the river, walls were erected thick as the floor and upon raising above Night Poet’s actual height, it closed with an equally thick ice roof. The Nightmare Shadow landed and looked at Ice Sapphire and around inside her ice room.

“This is what I call the Crystal Palace. Unless you’re exponentially stronger than me, you won’t be able to leave these walls by any means, including teleportation, unless I’m defeated,” she said with deadly finality. “However, the same is not true for me. Enjoy your ice prison for as long as you last.”

Not caring much about Night Poet, Ice Sapphire just turned around and walked towards the wall. Desperate, the mad mare darted against Sapphire. “YOU WON’T LEAVE ME THERE!”

A thick ice wall erupted right in front of Night Poet and barred her attack. Those barriers continued to slow her down enough that Ice Sapphire reached the wall and, as if it was not there, the Amazon just walked right through it. The Nightmare Shadow screamed in outright fury as she pounded against the wall.

Outside, Ice sapphire looked back at the Crystal Palace and just nodded as it began to shrink on itself. Some would say it was impossible, but what was truly happening was that the magic was consuming itself and then the internal space would get smaller and smaller with each passing moment. What would happen once it got smaller than Night Poet’s size? She didn’t know for she has never let it happen. But for the first time ever, she wasn’t worried by the consequences.

Instead to wait and see what would happen, she began trotting towards the castle again. Her battle held her long enough, though, that soon Golden Breeze and Scarlet Boulder joined her.

“Hey Sapphy!” Scarlet started. “How does your battle ends?”

“I fought with Night Poet. She’s now trapped over the river we were fighting over,” Ice Sapphire answered simply. “Got any news?”

“Celestia herself is acting,” Golden Breeze answered. “She said she would prepare the scenery for the ponies to take over after we’ve dealt with Nightmare Moon’s armor.”

“We’re on a time table then… Let’s hurry!”

“I wonder who’s the next to be left behind to fight?” Scarlet Boulder asked.

****

Another tree accidentally got in the way of Shining Armor and Dusk Shield and another tree accidentally were turned into magic dust. Both ponies were protected by a strong personal round shield while jumping around, shooting strong magical blasts at each other. Whenever they met halfway, whatever was between them was destroyed.

Shining Armor gave a somersault and launched a quick barrage of blasts at Dusk Shield, which then jumped backwards and threw a small magic wall in front of her. Much as she suspected, that was an armor piercing spell, but that wall took that in consideration so her personal shield was unharmed when the blasts hit against it. Trotting right against her, Shining Armor readied another strong blast of magic, only to have it easily countered by Dusk Shield. Whomever this child was, she was damn good!

When the distance was enough, Shining Armor collapsed his own shield, going with his bare hooves against Dusk Shield. Much to his surprise, her shield also collapsed and she blocked his hooves with hers, also bare. Then she span around and kicked him in the face with one hind hoof. Shining Armor placed a hoof in the ground, impulses himself backwards in a back-roll and shot another blast at her. Dusk Shield summoned another barrier, but even so, that sudden blast kinda got her off-guard. Partially blinded, she haven’t noticed the bright teleportation spell he has cast to appear behind her and kick her on her side. The smaller mare rolled, placed a hoof on the ground and impulse herself back upright.

Both of them were once again face-to-face against each other. And both were ready to make it last as long as they could.

“Why allying to Nightmare Moon?” Shining Armor asked, turning the once physical-magical battle also into a mental one.

“I don’t have to “ally” to my Mother. She’ll come back and then we’ll rule over the world as it should be,” Dusk Shield answered. “I don’t believe you have to be asked why you follow your precious sun princess”, the sarcasm on her voice palpable.

“We will not allow that,” Shining Armor said, his eyes never leaving Dusk Shield’s. “After I’m done with you, I’ll join Dash and Blaze, and we’ll stop Nightmare Moon once and for all.”

“You’re having trouble to fight against me! You’ll be no threat to our mother!”

“Then why are you bothering with us?” Shining Armor smiled provokingly.

Dusk Shield got angered by that remark, racing once more towards Shining Armor. He, though, didn’t stay still, also running towards her. Both unicorns flashed their horns and the whole scenery went bright, with only the sound of clashes of hooves and the magical blasts guiding whoever passed by.

When the light died down, Shining Armor was with his back to the bridge leading towards the old castle and Dusk Shield with her back to the forest itself. It was then that Shining Armor said clear:

“The game is over, Dusk! Surrender already!”

“We’re evenly matched, Shining Armor! Why do you think it’s over?”

“Evenly matched? I don’t think so.”

Shining Armor focused his magic once more and Dusk Shield prepared to defend another attack.

However, the captain of the Royal Guard wasn’t going to attack Dusk Shield. Instead, he focused his magic on himself, covering his body on raw pinkish magic aura, slowly intensifying until a light blue armor, close in shape to a common Royal Guard’s armor, appeared protecting his body. But no Royal Guard’s armor ever had the light blue color with lines in gold and purple, also having a dark blue shield with a pink six-pointed star in its center right at the chest. No, it was Shining Armor’s Harmony Armor. Not much a surprise to anypony, really.

Dusk Shield, though, smiled and shook her head. “That’s all?” she asked.

Shining Armor also got surprised and soon enough Dusk Shield charged her horn and covered herself in a dark cloud. Slowly it began to shape right into her body’s form and, slowly, began to solidify, revealing a deep dark gray armor with small plates linked tightly by chain-like connections and a larger plate on each of her forelegs. Right in the middle of her chest, though, Shining Armor could easily notice the same light silver round shield with a dark five-point star-shaped cloud in its center. Noticing the soft curves of the armor around her whole body while still seeming hardened to battle, Shining Armor quickly deduced it was a Harmony Armor, not barely a summoned one.

“Harmony Armor?”

“This is a Nightmare Armor, dimwit,” Dusk Shield answered. “Mother said she would bring back some strong ancient spells and I was the first to have the blessing to do it. However, we did fail in noticing Celestia would also teach the Nightmare Armor spell.”

Dusk Shield was ready to start the battle once more when a voice said behind her: “No, it’s a Harmony Armor, created by the long forgotten Knights of Harmony.”

The child looked behind her and saw Ice Sapphire walking towards her followed by Scarlet Boulder and Golden Breeze. Her eyes widened.

“You… shouldn’t be there!” Dusk Shield almost yelled. “Were are my brothers and sisters?”

“Detained,” Golden Breeze answered. “As you’ll be. And please, think things through. Even with a Harmony Armor, you’re strongly outnumbered.”

Dusk Shield only sat in her place, her eyes wide not believing what she had heard. Her Mother had given them powers beyond imagination of anypony else… And these ponies defeated them?

Shining Armor noticed her shock and walked behind her, already charging his horn. As he got into range, his magic chained her legs and covered her horn, restraining her completely. As soon as her horn was sealed to not use magic, her armor turned once more in a dark cloud and disappeared in midair.

“We don’t have time to take her back to anywhere we could detain her. She comes with us,” Shining Armor said and the other three just nodded. The full group then, turned and rushed towards the castle where Lightning Dash and Shadow Blaze should be facing Nightmare Moon.

It was time for the truth.