They have been training for three days already, only Lightning Dash able to fully master the Divine Armor spell while the others had mixed success. Lightning Dash then dedicated long times to helping others to understand their own cutie mark. What puzzled Lightning Dash was that Blaze seemed to know very well how to trigger the spell, but something was blocking him.

The night has gone and come once again, and Celestia reunited them in the center of the labyrinth, where they joined regularly to train now. The Sun Princess, though, wasn’t so happy with their progress.

“What are you doing?” Celestia, in her Amazon armor, demanded from her subjects. “You’re trying to gain your cutie marks again? Those circumstances were gone: the magic that shows you your cutie mark is an epiphany, they can’t be recreated!”

Lightning Dash was the only one to know what Celestia was talking about. At first, he also thought that it was about gaining his cutie mark again, however that thought was behind him now. The other five trainees, though, only downed their head.

“I won’t wait anymore. Time for you to master your Harmony Armor spell. Shining Armor, you’re not allowed to use this spell unless you’re working under my order as a Knight of Harmony, am I clear?”

“Yes, sir!” answered the now Captain of the Royal Guard.

“Good. You all can focus your mana now, at least?” at their nod Celestia continued. “That will do. Besides from Lightning Dash’s armor that already mastered the Divine Armor spell, those of you that manage to successfully summon your Harmony Armor will be covered by a dead armor, one without any protective ability other than the basic of a Royal Guard. In other words, not useful even for training, so mastering the Divine Armor spell is still your mission,” everypony nodded again.

“Very good. First of all, you must focus your mana as a blanket over your whole body like demanded from the Divine Armor spell. Then it gets tricky: you now must GIVE it form by condensing your mana. Normally is recommend the form of the Divine Armor; however you haven’t achieved that yet, so you can focus on any design of armor or imagine one that you want. It doesn’t really matters.”

“Pr—Cel—Sir!” Lightning Dash called her.

Celestia looked at him, “My rank is General, Lightning Dash.”

The pegasus nodded and continued, “General Celestia, May I know why you recommend the form of the Divine Armor?”

“Because the Divine Armor’s shape is unchangeable: it reflects your wishes to the fullest, even what you consider attractive. Your armor will take that shape and combine it with your cutie mark. This armor I am wearing is my original unicorn armor. You can notice how my wings are mostly unprotected for it belonged to a wingless pony. However, as I ascended to alicorn, y armor also evolved to a completely different level of both power and shape. I’m not showing it before you’re ready to fight it, or unless it’s extremely necessary.

“Now, back at your training of the night: remember to keep your focus while condensing your mana or the spell will literally blow in your face. Not a nice thing when you’re all in a cramped space.”

Everypony nodded. Golden Breeze turned to Lightning Dash, “You seem to have more control over it, so you go--”

“Golden Breeze, you’re first,” Celestia cut her, making the pegasus mare jump in surprise.

“But… I…” under Celestia’s intense gaze, she quickly took hold of herself and bowed respectfully, then walked to the middle of the area.

Ice Sapphire, Scarlet Boulder, Blaze and Shining Armor meant to step back when Lightning Dash’s voice made him being heard, “Don’t you dare step backward. She needs to know she can do it and that we trust her. By stepping back now, you’re telling you’re afraid of her failing. We’ve endured Celestia’s training for four days now, if you failed to learn the most basic of her lessons…”

“What make you an expert, Lightning Dash?” Blaze asked somewhat angered.

“I’m not,” the pegasus answered easily, his eyes never leaving Golden breeze. “But think about it. How many times had she said to us do anything alone? One time for Scarlet and not a single time after that. Why would she do something like that? I asked me that often enough until I saw how much easier it was getting for us to help each other. We fell into routine of knowing where others were to be while we trained, we could feel each other without having to actually look for the magic guide. She’s not training individual knights. She’s training a group. So if you haven’t learned that as yet, get your damned flanks and park it in the ground for nothing else than your leader command!”

Even Blaze couldn’t refute the logic in Lightning Dash. They all stopped in their tracks and only looked at Golden Breeze. She looked back at them, her eyes wide open. She could see the approval of Scarlet Boulder and Ice Sapphire, the unreadable face of Blaze that, besides his pissed face, was the only one he knew how to do, and then he saw Shining Armor and his smile. She blinked and called in her concentration, feeling her mana flowing into her body came as second nature to her nowadays, maybe only behind Ice Sapphire and Shining Armor, the only two unicorns in the group.

The group could see the mana flowing around Golden Breeze at first in a perfect sphere, a basic defensive spell they all mastered quickly. Then the sphere slowly compacted around her body, touching and taking her form even as the wind blew her mane. Then she focused on the image she wanted for armor and focused more of her magic. It started from her hooves: the wind began to spin around them and the four ponyshoes were created. The whirlwind then raised over her legs, creating full and complete covering plates over every inch of her body, transforming her into a metal pony or something, with barely an opening for her eyes. On her chest, though, she tried to form the design of her cutie mark, but instead of that, only a barely recognizable shape was. Anypony that didn’t know Golden Breeze would never recognize that cutie mark.

Opening her eyes, Golden Breeze slowly took a look on her forelegs. Noticing the armor plates here, she let out a relieved sigh and grinned, showing off her armor to the others.

“Don’t get too happy about it yet, Golden Breeze,” Celestia said still serious, what kinda cut the happiness of Golden Breeze.

Lightning Dash though, stepped at her side and placed a hoof on her shoulder, “You’ve done good, Breeze. You should keep up your good work. Anyway, you should give space for the next one.”

Golden Breeze smiled and slowly returned to her place. Lightning Dash also returned and unknown to him and unnoticed by the others, she gave him a smile before quickly getting serious again.

Without waiting to be called, Ice Sapphire stepped forward. Upon Celestia nod, She closed her eyes and with practiced easy that always came to unicorns, she slowly guided her mana to envelop her body and slowly gave it form. Soon enough, a translucent armor slowly took form over her body, not quite hiding her coat under it. Slowly it gained a bit more of consistence and they could figure the form of a dress forming over her body. Again, there was a blurry shape on her chest with what could more or less be called a hexagon, or a circle, not so sure.

Shining Armor was next. His armor has formed just as did Ice Sapphire, first taking an ethereal shape and slowly taking form and consistence. About the shape, nopony had any doubt it would be so likely the Royal Guard’s armor, the captain’s armor none the less, just with a blurry form in his chest that apparently was a triangle.

Scarlet Boulder volunteered next, almost jumping to trade places with Shining Armor. She closed her eyes and her mana focused first at her hooves, enlacing them and already taking the definitive shape they would have, at least for now. From outside, it seemed as if the mana was flowing from earth itself and only then condensing on armor around Scarlet Boulder. When she finished, her chest held an overall pony-shaped hollow, a very fat and short-legged one at that.

Blaze was next. He stood up and closed his eyes as all others had done previously. He began to focus his mana slowly and it was going smooth enough. However, a strain of fear come from his past made him lose his focus for a second. He tried to get the control of his magic back but Celestia’s scream was enough for him to understand what would happen next:

“WATCH OUT!”

On the following second, all ponies were using their protective spells and Celestia, trusting on her armor, made sure that nopony else would hear or see the explosion that would result.

In Blaze’s mind though, he reminded how his hometown burned to ashes. His fear grew, for he would be seeing this again. In that second split time, he remembered again of that fateful day. His memories hurt his skin, burned him from the inside, consumed his very soul. But why? It was not his fault was it?

“Shadow Blaze!” the voice of his dying brother ordering him to run came full force on his mind. “It was an accident! Not your fault! Go! You shall leave now! Or we’ll never meet our Mother!”

Suddenly he remembered: some dumb-ass had light a paper lantern thing because he thought it was beautiful… and he was that dumb-ass. He had started the fire that consumed his village, he was the pony to blame, and he was the only one which deserved to die that day. It was only fair he died now. The words of his brother came back to him and his eyes shot open with determination.

“I CAN’T DIE HERE!” with his outburst that surprised everypony else, even Celestia, Blaze reached out at his chaotically mana amalgam and suddenly it all burst out in flames, Celestia’s spell being the only thing to keep other ponies from seeing the fire pillar.

As sudden as it started, though, it ended. There was no explosion and there was no lasting damage but for some burnt vines. In the center of the pillar, though, was still Blaze, his red-rust coat covered in bright red shining plates with golden and copper details lining the flame-like shapes. All his four hooves wore now ponyshoes shining even in the weak light of the moon, his legs holding mostly plain plates with gold lining and copper flame-like drawings, the torso covered in a sturdy looking armor mostly around his chest, allowing his burning moon cutie mark to be seen by everypony, as was the same symbol into his chest, his cutie mark clearly visible, different from the others, with the flames lined by copper and the moon shining a bright gold. Over his head was some kind of circlet made of pure gold with what seemed to be a coppery flame shape just under the hair line.

Not even Blaze believed on the sensation. It was a cold metal that appeared out of nowhere over his coat and at same time, it was warm and strangely, he could feel it as if the armor was his own skin.

“It seems you found out the true reason behind your cutie mark,” Celestia said with a smile in her face. “This is a true Harmony Armor, Blaze. For learning that, you and Lightning Dash shares the same rank as Class Two Trainee of the Knights of Harmony.”

Blaze looked at the Princess, deeply into her eyes, as reality sank in. The true reason? he thought.

“Care to share what passed in your mind during that experience?” Celestia asked.

He closed his eyes and when they opened again were only half way as his head hung low. “I… As I felt the mana gathering, I remembered your warning at how this could be disastrous if I lost focus. At the time I didn’t know why it triggered a fear in my heart and I lost control of the magic. I tried to get it back under control, but it was your scream that pushed me over the edge. I knew that I had done something wrong and it would be over soon. Flashes from the fire in my hometown came back into my mind.

“Then I heard the voice of my brother. I still remember that scene, a rather large wood log had fallen over his hindlegs. I was going to try and help him, but he snapped out at me, screaming for me to go way, to run and live. With his death, and our parents already losing their faith, it was only me left to look for somepony else important for us.”

“‘I can’t die here’, right?” Lightning Dash commented.

Blaze only nodded. “However, that memory also made me remember of something else. I told you that the fire started was started by some dumb-ass that had to light some kind of paper lantern of sort. Well, that was me…”

“And it was when you accepted the truth that you could also control your magic once again,” Celestia said. “Very well, my little pony. Your honesty guided you to your true strength, and you shall let it guide you even further. Always be truthful to yourself. That’s somepony you’ll never be able to fool and trying will only causes you harm.”

Celestia then looked at all others, “Take this lesson to the heart. You shall accept you as you are and never hide your true self. And Blaze, just to inform you: the explosion would send you flying and it could hurt to hit the ground or the walls, but your mana will never damage you. Even I was under more harm from the explosion than you ever were.”

“Why haven’t you told us then?” Scarlet Boulder asked. Everyone shot Scarlet Boulder a glance, “What?”

“Really?” Ice Sapphire asked. “You knowing that you can produce a self-harmless explosion whenever you want could keep this knowledge only to yourself? I can already picture you explosion-flying, or whatever else you’re gonna call it, all across Canterlot, if not the whole Equestria and beyond…”

“I would not!” Scarlet Boulder said. “It could harm other ponies! And besides, I promised not using magic in front of others! Do I look like somepony that would break her promises?”

“It’s not that, Scarlet. It’s just--”

“Don’t come with excuses! You didn’t trust me either! I saw your face!” Golden Breeze tried but was cut by the bright red pony.

After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Lightning Dash broke it, “Well… if you don’t mind, there’s still somepony to try that Harmony Armor spell…”

All eyes then focused back on Lightning Dash. However, different from the others, he hadn’t taken that much time. His constantly training on summoning the Divine Armor made the cyan armor almost pop into existence. And with the armor as a guideline, Lightning Dash focused his magic, giving it a real shape. As more and more mana flowed into the already existent armor, small electric sparks were originated and often enough, a stronger one would cause ponies to blink. The overall shape of the armor, with the lightning-shaped edges and preference for smaller and more movement-free plates, continued the same, however it wasn’t cyan anymore. The edges where now clean white and the body mainly a bright golden color, the cyan now coming to form minor details such as a special marking exactly between Lightning Dash’s wing: a feather crossed by a lighting. His cutie mark still had an important spot over Lightning Dash’s chest, the magenta color now retrained to the back large vertical rainbow which was now crossed by a white smaller and horizontal lightning.

Celestia nodded her approval, “Very good you too, Lightning Dash. Now, as you all mastered the Harmony Armor spell, there’s something I still have to tell you. This shape is not permanent: as long as you train and fight, your armor will change, getting more powerful as you also grow. And different from the appearances, the armor covers your whole body. Remember that you had to cover your body as a blanket in order to activate it. Generally speaking, you can determine the defensive power of these armors by how much it covers that pony’s body.”

With a shining golden light and what they assumed was the sound of fire, like a mix between Lightning Dash and Blaze’s armors summoning, Celestia called her most powerful armor, one mostly colored in white and with a range of fire-related colors for details, gracious with the flame-like edges and carvings. The hooves were covered in armor ending in flame pattern at the knees, starting from a deep red color and fading to a bright orange, the leg plates shining in a dark gold to contrast with the pure white metal used as armor over her body. Her torso, though, wasn’t formed by plates, but was instead a single piece with two glowing circles at each shoulder and a stylized sun just in front of her chest. The sides of her armor were covered in flame-like drawings with similar coloration with the heating element that represented the Princess. Her wings had been covered by light plates with a semi-sphere positioned at the extremity of the wing and with long sun rays covering mostly of the feathers while still allowing mobility. Her helmet protected graciously her head, allowing only her horn and mane outside with the crown seemingly fused into it.

Everypony noticed that but for Celestia’s face, mane and tail, her whole body was covered by the armor in question, when only about a third of Lightning Dash or Blaze’s were covered were by theirs. “There’s just no comparison between our armors at this moment,” Celestia commented as a matter-of-fact. “Not only by the difference between our magic powers, but by the pure defensive power of them alone. Whenever an armor spreads through your bodies, it’s meant to protect you all. But to give that protection, the armor can’t protect every inch of your body. Think like placing plates on strategic parts so the defensive magic can protect your whole body. However, as their defensive power grows, they expand. The reason is that they can trust the plates by themselves to protect you, leaving lesser areas to be protected by magic and, so being, they can focus more power on smaller areas.”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!” Scarlet boulder called. “Are you telling me that magic actually is intelligent enough to divide itself so it can offer maximum protection efficiency?”

“Of course not, Scarlet,” said Shining Armor. “It’s a known fact that magic works on both fronts of pony’s mind: the conscious allow us to do with it what we want and the unconscious grant those little details we have for granted, like what Pri—I mean, General Celestia explained.”

“That’s also true, Shining Armor, but not the whole truth either. As science, and specially arcane science, advanced, what is now known as ‘mystical explanations’ were ignored and exchanged by more scientific and ‘logically explainable’ knowledge. The truth, though, is that magic isn’t only mysticism nor is it only science. I lived through both eras and saw the truth of magic.

“There are the conscious and unconscious elements you told about. However, the idea of Scarlet Boulder isn’t completely wrong either. Magic does not have its own sapience, but it does use yours in unconscious ways so it can interact with the world without causing too much harm to it and almost no harm at you. It can be easily noticed on barrier spells. Plenty of barriers can and are used without actually cutting into the ground. However, stronger magicians can stretch their control so much that their barriers do cross the ground level.”

For a visual demonstration, Celestia raised her horn and cast a basic round shield around herself. When she took off, though, the shield was revealed to be a perfect sphere and not even a grain of soil was lifted with it. Celestia then uncast the shield and landed again, “You can actually train to do that consciously. But the amount of effort you have to give just to it isn’t imaginable. However, when you let your mind clear and focus your power only on protecting yourself and holding the shape of the shield, the magic itself will guide that excess of power to where it can help in your goal, working on your unconscious mind and finally figuring how to protect all of you without intertwining in the world around you.”

“That’s why the Harmony Armor takes a form you want and the Divine Armor creates a form from your wishes,” Lightning Dash concluded. His body, different from the Divine Armor, was still protected with the Harmony Armor since it was now solid more than magic.

“Exactly. The two armors are the most precise example and you will understand all this as you reach that knowledge,” Celestia said with a smile. “Anyway, we can’t advance in your training before you all mastered the Harmony AND the Divine Armors spells. That will be your tasks for the foreseeable future. Lightning Dash and Blaze, you which already managed to use those two will train to master them. The Harmony Armor can be kept regardless of time, but you can’t have the luxury of time to wait the armor cover you. It must be almost instant in battle,” everypony nodded as Celestia finished. “You are dismissed. Golden Breeze and Scarlet Boulder, you shall take care to not let anypony see you training. Ice Sapphire and Shining Armor, while I really prefer to keep this a secret, you two, by being unicorns, has a little more leeway.”

“Yes, Prin—General!” all four ponies addressed said and bowed respectfully.

After all that night’s excitement, Celestia turned to leave and all others followed just after.

Author's Note

Phew! Chapter 06 and a few of the following ones as well are being used to explain more about the character's past. After that, finally things will turn more to action and we'll finally be seeing some good (or so I hope) fights taking the scene. Hope you like it! And to give you a hint about next chapter's history, Golden Breeze!

“So to earn our armors, we shall be true to ourselves? Easy done, since I already told the whole truth of my past and I have no problems accepting that. But… well… why haven’t I given my armor yet? Was something I said or did? And who are those stallions spying on me? The next chapter of Knights of Harmony is: Leaves of Autumn”