Shining Armor breathed calmly through his nose as he stared down the Custodian.
The golem watched him blankly, tapping its spear on the ground lightly as it observed its prey.
‘Alright, Shining, let’s play it smart...’ Shining Armor thought. ‘Watch out for his lance. Watch out for the soldiers. Fight to protect them...’ He lit his horn up brighter than before, reinforcing his shields. ‘Fight to live.’
The silence drew on interminably.
-o-
“Well well well...” Seath mused as he gazed down into the circle of crystal in the ground that he had illuminated and was showing the faceoff. “It appears that your bet has gone into... sudden de-!”
THWAP!
“OUCH!” The dragon yelped, whipping a hand to his throbbing skull.
“Apologies, father,” Priscilla sighed as she appeared from thin air. “But someone had to, otherwise I fear your friends would have intervened.”
Seath muttered darkly under his breath but nodded in agreement all the same.
“Still...” Chrysalis grinned eagerly. “Despite the horrible pun, he’s right. One way or another, this is all going to end very soon.”
“With five minutes on the clock? No doubt about it,” Scholar nodded, “This is going to be interesting.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that I got back in time!”
Scholar blinked in surprise as he looked up before grinning eagerly. “Gilda! How was the hunt?”
Gilda chuckled heartily, flapping her wings heavily as she landed in the plaza. “It went perfectly! Both Arcus and Sagitta are rottin’ on the spires!”
Rainbow Dash flinched at the open and eager bloodlust, but discretely rapped on her cage’s wall nonetheless. “Gilda!” She hissed under her breath. “Listen to me, please!”
The griffon twitched as she registered the noise, but merely drew her wings up, creating a curtain of metal and feathers. “Buzz off, dweeb.” She mumbled half-heartedly.
Rainbow Dash made to speak up, but before she could...
“The Incredible and Terrific Trixie returns victorious!”
“As does Iron Will.”
Attention shifted from the griffon to the unicorn and minotaur as they stomped up the stairways. It was especially focused on the blood trail that Iron Will was leaving behind.
Trixie reeled in horror as she caught sight of her colleague. “Holy mother of Mars, man! What did you do, lose a fight with a chimaera?!”
Iron Will let out a heavy snort, wincing slightly as he pressed a hand to the patched up hole in his shoulder. “Pilum was stronger than Iron Will anticipated, but he still managed to get out of the conflict better than the General. Besides, Iron Will can handle it.” He huffed out a laugh as he looked between Gilda and Trixie. “Still, it looks like the both of you escaped pristine.”
Gilda grumbled under her breath as she rolled her shoulders. “Speak for yourself, bull boy. I definitely pulled a few muscles maneuvering out of those twin bastard’s way.”
Trixie huffed haughtily as she flicked her mane up. “Well, Trixie is hale and hearty! As is only natural of a Fog Weaver, after all.”
Iron Will let out another chuckle before moaning and screwing his eyes shut as another bolt of pain ran through his shoulder.
Scholar narrowed his eyes before raising his right hand towards the minotaur. A flurry of runes danced in his palm...
THU-THUMP!
Until he hissed in pain, hastily, stuffing his hand under his armpit. Scholar cursed furiously in his head as he drew his hand out and looked at the affected appendage. Although there appeared to be no visible damage, the lights in his glasses shrunk to pinpricks.
Hastily glancing around to ensure that no one had seen him, he readjusted his sleeves to cover his hand and raised his left hand instead.
Iron Will blinked in surprise as a flurry of runes enveloped him before sighing in relief as the pain from his injuries started to fade away. “Thank you, Scholar.”
“Not a problem, faithful underling!” The Rune Keeper plastered a grin on his face, but glanced despondently down at his right hand the second he was sure he wasn’t being watched.
“Leave my brother alone!” Twilight demanded, flaring her horn furiously as she fought against the cage wall.
“Hmm...” Lacewing hummed as he suddenly flashed into view next to Twilight’s cage. “I dunno... what do you say, brother?”
Rotfang hummed in the exact same tone as he appeared next to his brother. “How about we don’t and say we did?”
“Let’s not even say it at all!”
“HAHAHA!”
“Talk is cheap,” Chrysalis cut in eagerly. “Now is the time for action. Seath? End this.”
The duke grinned eagerly. “With pleasure.” He waved his hand, letting out a flurry of runes.
Within the image, the Gem Custodian suddenly launched itself into the air...
And the battle began.
-o-
Shining Armor controlled his breathing as he watched the Custodian rise up into the air.
Once it reached the apex of its leap, it swept its free foreleg above it. Suddenly, the forearm spiked out with multiple protrusions of crystal. Then, it brought its hoof down, sending a hail of crystalline spikes down at the Captain.
Shining Armor redirected all of his shields above him, spreading them out to cover the rest of the injured soldiers from the barrage.
The crystal projectiles bounced off of the shields relentlessly, dozens at a time.
Finally, the assault ended...
And Shining Armor’s view of the sky was blotted out by a shape above his shields.
Acting on his trained reflexes, he hastily sprang to the side.
Not a moment too soon, because seconds after the Custodian smashed through the shield as though it were a pane of glass, dropping through the space where Shining Armor had occupied moments before and shattering the street.
Faster than anything that heavy should be, the Custodian moved towards Shining Armor, attempting to jab him repeatedly with its lance.
It was a credit to Shining Armor’s skill that he managed to deflect every blow, erecting layer after layer of angled shields in order to direct the lance away from him. Occasionally, the lance would catch the shield at too great an angle and shatter it, nicking and grazing Shining Armor and drawing blood from several gashes.
Suddenly, the flurry of stabs cut off, the Custodian drawing itself upright as it swept its lance above its head and stabbed it straight down.
Shining Armor hastily back-pedaled, barely the weapon as it crashed down into the ground. Gathering his magic, he retaliated by blasting the Custodian in the face with another sphere of shields, launching it off its hooves and sending it tumbling down the street.
The Captain didn’t give the construct time to react as he slammed a shield down on the Custodian, crushing it down into the ground. He then layered shield after shield on the Custodian, crushing it further and further into the ground. But though the road cracked around the Custodian, it itself did not.
The crystal golem struggled futilely against the magic, attempting to squirm its way out from under the press, but to no avail. Suddenly, the Custodian stiffened, its forelimbs lighting up as magic started to course through them and into the ground.
Shining Armor grunted with exertion, forcing more and more magic into the shields as he attempted to flatten the golem.
Suddenly, a circle of light igniting beneath him broke his concentration. He gazed at it for a second before hastily flashing his horn and teleporting away.
A moment later, the circle erupted upwards, piercing the sky with a pillar of crystal.
Shining Armor reappeared further down the street, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. ‘That thing... its tougher than it looks...’ He thought frantically. ‘I don’t have the firepower to crack it... I... I need something stronger...’ He looked up at the pillar that was blocking off the street. ‘Something strong enough to at least shatter that pillar...’
Abruptly, a light started to accumulate near the middle of the pillar, shining brighter and brighter through the translucent matter.
Shining Armor blinked stupidly for a second before drawing in a hiss of breath and throwing himself forwards.
BOOM!
With an ear-shattering crash, a bolt of magic tore straight through the pillar, detonating the area where Shining Armor had been standing moments before and leaving behind a gaping crater in the street.
“Yeah, that’ll do it!” The pony grunted, scrambling to his feet and tearing across the road towards the pillar as fast as his legs could carry him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Projectile after projectile lanced through the pillar, all of them targeted at Shining Armor. It was only through extensive training, stamina, and a fair amount of luck that the soldier kept in front of the barrage as it rent the street inside out.
Once Shining Armor reached the base of the pillar, he glanced around hastily as he tried to find a way to circumvent the pillar that was blocking the whole of the street. “Alright, so should I take a back alley or...?”
BOOM! BOOM!
He was answered by a pair of explosions and the sound of shattering crystal rending the air in front of Shining Armor on the other side of the pillar. The Captain blinked in confusion. “What the...”
More shattering rent through the air, and a shadow started to fall over Shining Armor.
The soldier’s ears flattened against his skull as his pupils slowly started to dilate. He tilted his head up in horror. “Oh you have got to be kidding me...”
Slowly but most assuredly, the pillar was starting to tilt forwards towards the unicorn, its massive girth blocking out most of the sky.
Acting on impulse, Shining Armor threw up as many shields as he could, as fast and strong as he could manage.
CRASH!
The pillar hit the ground like a falling comet, shattering into a million pieces. The street itself was ripped apart, cracked into multiple large pieces. The fragments lay strewn across the street, obscuring most of the surroundings from sight.
At the remains of the pillar’s base, Shining Armor panted tiredly, his horn flickering weakly as his shields faded away. “I... am never... doing that again...” He groaned miserably.
The sound of magic and lightning crackling above him drew his attention upwards. A single look made him swallow heavily in fear.
The Custodian stood on the lip of the pillar’s base, its lance prepared to launch a bolt of destruction at him.
“Then again, never say never!” Shining Armor tried to produce another shield, but it was no use, his horn sparked and flickered uselessly, too worn out from its previous exertion of energy. All he could do was stare in horror as the golem prepared to fire.
SLAM!
Suddenly, a bolt of metal flew from out of nowhere, slamming into the Custodian’s head. The construct immediately snapped its head around, staring intently at the unseen source of the projectile.
Standing on the opposite side of the base, shakily reloading a crossbow as he balanced on his rear hooves, was a relatively young colt, an Earth Pony. “Come and get some you overgrown rock!” He shouted, his voice wavering frantically. Even as he shouted, his shaking hoof dropped the bolt he was holding. He stared after the bit of metal in horror as it clattered away “Oh buck me...” He whispered in horror.
The Gem Custodian stared menacingly at the soldier for a moment before slowly turning its whole body around, slowly stomping towards him, a looming construct of physical death bearing down on him.
The soldier tried to back away but tripped over his own two hooves. He scrambled frantically for a second, trying to regain his balance, but was instead pinned to the ground by a crystal hoof slamming down on his barrel.
The Custodian narrowed its blank eyes at the soldier, slowly bringing the dragon-faced tip of its spear up to the soldier’s terrified face, magic and lightning slowly gathering in its maw.
But before it could blast...
“Get the hell off of him!”
The Custodian jerked back in shock when Shining Armor suddenly threw himself on its back, wrapping his hooves around its neck and muzzle, exerting as much force as he could to twist its head away.
The Custodian stumbled in shock, squirming its body back and forth in an effort to fling Shining Armor off of it.
The Captain grit his teeth furiously as he hung on for dear life, only remaining safe by the strength of his limbs. ‘I promised Faithful Shield that I wouldn’t pick fights that I couldn’t win...’ He thought fitfully.
One of the Guardian’s hooves came off the spear and reached over its shoulder, swatting fitfully at the interloper on its back.
‘So I’d better not lose!’
Shining Armor’s horn lit up furiously, conjuring a barrier in front of the Custodian’s stomach and expanding it violently.
The resulting controlled explosion blew the two of them off their feet, knocking the spear out of the Custodian’s grasp and sending it skittering away.
Shining Armor coughed tiredly as he tried to catch his breath, “Though I suppose that I could bear to aim for opponents a bit closer to my level...” He wheezed painfully. The soldier struggled to regain his standing...
SLAM!
“GAH!”
Shining Armor cried out in pain as a weight suddenly landed on his chest, crushing him into the ground. A pair of hooves pressed themselves into his throat, cutting off his air supply. Shining Armor struggled violently, pounding his hooves against the limbs holding him down in futility.
The Custodian loomed over him in silence, watching with a cold, unfeeling mask as it slowly choked the life out of him. There was no anger. No rage, no glee, no sadness. No emotion at all. Just cold, calculated efficiency as it performed its task to the letter.
Slowly... Shining Armor smiled. despite his lack of oxygen, he let a small, weak laugh waft out of his throat and into the air.
The Gem Custodian narrowed its eyes, slowly tilting its head to the side.
“Confused?” Shining Armor rasped weakly. “Allow me to enlighten you...”
Tink!
The Gem Custodian looked down at it’s barrel in shock, staring blankly at the spear tapping against it’s midsection.
The spear’s shaft was enveloped in Shining Armor’s pink aura, and it’s maw was fully charged.
“I... win...”
BOOM!
The blast tore straight through the Custodian, ripping it clean in half and sending the lower half flying.
Shining Armor heaved the golem’s upper half off of him, desperately gulping down air as he scrambled to his hooves. “Well, that worked...” He coughed thankfully.
Scratch... scratch... scratch...
The Unicorn’s eye twitched violently as he turned to stare at the legless torso dragging its way towards him . “Really?!” He demanded incredulously, hefting the spear up and pointing it at the Custodian’s head. “Do I honestly need to go this far to finish you?”
The Custodian stared up blankly at him, its legs shaking violently as they supported its weight. And then... something changed. A light went out behind its eyes, in the depths of its crystalline mass. Suddenly, cracks began to creep up along its body from the point of severance, followed by it simply... falling to pieces.
Shining Armor stared at the pile of remains for a moment before sighing wearily and letting the spear’s tip rest on the ground. “That’s what I thought...” His gaze was slowly drawn to the spear he was holding with his magic, examining it closely and hefting its weight in his grip.
Suddenly...
“Captain!”
Shining Armor turned his head to stare at the soldier that had scrambled to his feet and was trotting towards him.
“C-captain, are you alright?” The soldier panted wearily.
Shining Armor stared at him for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yeah... yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for your help. That was a very brave thing you did...”
The soldier grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. “I- thank you, sir! I was just doing my duty is-!”
“Don’t do it again,” Shining Armor cut him off firmly, jabbing him in the chest with his hoof. “The next time you see an opponent who you definitely cannot beat, you run. Got it?”
The soldier nodded hesitantly. “I-y-yes sir... it’s just...”
“Just?”
The soldier looked away miserably. “I... with the way things are... I didn’t think that it would really matter. I mean... with the way things are... I... I didn’t...”
Shining Armor’s eyes softened. “You think you’re going to die, don’t you?”
The soldier looked back up at him with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but... with... the way things are... sir, what are the actual chances we get out of here alive?”
Shining Armor looked the soldier over solemnly, before looking towards where the rest of the soldiers had been, slowly walking towards the edge of the crystal plateau. He watched as the ponies picked themselves off the ground, supporting the wounded and treating injuries. “How many are still alive?”
The soldier slowly stepped up alongside, gazing down morosely at the remains of his comrades. “About half of us. The... The Custodian killed the rest of us. And considering how many other enemies are out there...”
SLAM!
The soldier jerked in shock as Shining Armor suddenly slammed the spear’s butt into the ground, drawing all attention to him.
“Alright, listen up!” He bellowed in a commanding tone of voice. “I want to make one thing absolutely and utterly clear, right here, right now! WE! ARE NOT! GOING TO DIE! Do you understand me!? I don’t care how many enemies are out there, how strong they are, how well-equipped, I just. Don’t. Care! And do you know why?”
Shining Armor pounded the butt of his lance into the ground again. “Because we are soldiers of Equestria! It is our duty to protect and serve for our nation, to guard it from all danger! As such, we cannot, will not die until our loved ones, our friends and families no longer have to live in fear of the next day! That is our duty, and that is why we will not die here today! AM! I! CLEAR!?”
The soldiers broke out into cheers, pumping their hooves into the air ecstatically.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Suddenly, as the cheering died down, a slow clapping sound rang out, echoing up and down the street.
“Well done, Shining Armor, well done...”
Shining Armor sucked in a hiss of breath in horror. “Oh no...”
Suddenly, all the crystal composing the street, every facet, lit up and displayed Scholar. The human glared down and up at the ponies from every angle possible.
“I really must congratulate you on your success, not to mention your speech. Top notch, first class, especially considering it was off the top of your head. Buuuut...” He shook his head sadly, sighing as he idly shrugged his shoulders. “I’m afraid that’s one promise you just won’t be able to deliver.”
Scholar’s smile shone out of his hood, giving him a sincerely deranged expression.
“Time’s up, Shining Armor. Ding dong, time for you to watch as everyone around you dies.”
He is a little op
Buuuuut I don't care it makes for a good read
Here's a moustache for you
I don't know why but I just can't seem to like Shining.
For some reason in every fight he's in I keep cheering for his opponent to kill him. Is it just me who feels like this?
PS. An OP scholar is an awesome scholar
Mother fucker its 2:30 AM why you got to up date now!?
4898506 I poster this at 4 on my end. Suck it up, ya wuss.
4898509
Its OP Scholar or no Scholar.
It feels as if this story is becoming....meh.It´s no longer about Good vs Evil,or punishing great injustice,but about two groups of various shades of gray fighting for their truth.
And let´s not forget that each chapter includes 20% more d**k waving.
I just don´t know where all of this went wrong.
Scholar really isn't any more OP then how Celestia or Luna are generally painted in other stories. In a lot of stories with a more violent side Celestia and Luna are capable of wiping out whole armies by themselves and if they wanted to scorch nations off the earth by bringing the sun in closer and holding it there for a while or unleashing any number of things upon them. He just feels more OP because MLP in general doesn't deal with a ton of fighting battle magic in the show past magic lasers so in general the fandom is able to create anything they want.
That and he is fighting against the ponies and winning so far, which I like considering the back story of how they were all betrayed and a part of me wants to see justice (or revenge depending on how you want to look at it) brought upon Celestia and Luna even tho I actually like them in show. Sadly it looks like a lot of ponies will die in order for that to happen simply because they don't know anything other then following orders or thinking much about anyone beyond their own kind. Even horrible tyrants tend to have an army and loyal citizens backing them up and unfortunately they don't seem to be stepping aside.
kill Shining
OMG, but i still wonder what will happen with the generals glowing armors, they glowed for a reason right?
Nooo! Why can't shining just die!?!?
First thing on the check list IF I was ever was to end up in Equstria, for the good of all kill Shining Armor
Seriously, the guy's a F*&^TARD! He may have gotten in the guard on his own but he got his position by being Twilight's brother and dating Caddie didn't hurt either. To those that will bring up his ability to produce shields, if you've gotten your enemies to hunker down behind shields to wait you out, you've won.
I hate cliffhangers, with a passion.
Why does everyone want Shining Armor to die?
4898976
He is a fucktard, but his shields are useful both for protecting valuable assets and, as a member of the Royal Guard, protecting the VIPs he's been assigned to.
Also, being able to pop up bubbles and walls allows him to control battlefield terrain.
FUCK UP SHINING ARMOR
For the love of god man shining armor just die you useless pest
I agree with what a few others have said, Scholar isn't terribly OP, and if he is it's just part of his character. I've liked Scholar's character in the story so far, and I hope you don't make him weaker just because some people complain he's OP; the story's already said Oligarchs are god-like beings, it'd be stupid to change Scholar. If you want to show Scholar isn't so OP, then place him in a battle with one or several of the Princesses. Don't just give Scholar some sort of magic-affecting injury, or whatever that was.
4899203 AKA support character
I don't want to read any more about shining armor! So far there have been like 3 chapters based on him and the actual story hasn't advanced at all! I want to know what happens and so far all I've gotten are awesome fight scenes with Shining Armour, and I'm tired of it!
4899260 Naa don't kill Shining Armor, instead 'Corrupt' him. Turn him to Tainted Armor and get him to guard Cadence, as Tainted being loved will hurt/long term kill him and hating him makes him magically stronger.
Cadence's Worst Nightmare, her love is evil and poisonous to her true love!
Wow. I really can't believe you managed to do it.
I don't give a shit about any character other than Shining Armor. None on Scholar's side, none of the princesses, none of the Elements of Harmony, and not even Scholar himself. Just Shining Armor. He isn't trying to justify the horrible acts the princesses committed, or block out the "lies" that Scholar is "spreading." He's just doing all of this to save as many people as possible, and to protect everyone.
4899346
Hey, support characters are excellent force multipliers.
4899498 I know, right?
This has been an amazing chapter, as usual. Although, the amount of snark coming from Scholar and his friends was at an all-time low this round. Just thought you should know.
Strangely enough I like the idea of a corrupted shining armor
media.animevice.com/uploads/0/3695/485035-fate_zero___05___large_14.jpg
4898534 Honestly, I like the shades of grey. It makes the dynamics of the conflict much more interesting when both sides have a legitimate position so the audience and characters all have to figure out who they like better and what they are willing to do. Rainbow is set up to give us an interesting example of that as soon as the fight is over which I am looking forwards to, especially because this fight is just turning into a long, drawn out dick waving contest as you pointed out with no real emotional investment. It really should have ended several chapters ago and not introduced any new characters beyond Seath and maybe Priscilla because this whole thing is just getting tedious and pointless.
4898976 Behold the glory of nepotism. Also, Shining Armor does have a useful skill set as Mad Maudlin pointed out, it is just more useful for a grunt than an officer.
Still can't think of scholar as wholly evil.
Scholar should just make it so that Shining is like Trixie, Gilda, and Iron Will. Force him to be off of Harmony so that if Cadence tries to reestablish Harmony, she would have to kill her husband in the process.
OP Scholar is good Scholar.
4901150 So much yes
4901150 now THERES a moral issue I could get behind
4901150 as well as the Mane 6. But there's one problem: what about the massive power boost they'll get?
4898754
Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing him go either, but I get the feeling we won't get to see that for a fair while yet. He sorta seems to be a bit of a plot device at the moment. Patience.
4902941 Yeah something that they would have to keep in mind, but Scholar could still take him.
4899416 get him to kill caddy now there is an idea getting killed by a loves one you truster too!!
Nice
4901150 You're a genius!
Something is up to Scholar eh? Now i am curious.
I made an account so i could say this is the tightest shit, keep em coming man
I need my fix dude!!!!!
Oh jesus christ how did I miss this story up until now. This is bloody priceless and all of my win are yours.
4902990 myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/tdomf/18610/sephirothasks.thumbnail.jpg
5160580 Never played, sorry.
I can see Scholar just walking through the battlefield flinging spells left and right, killing ponies, to Michael Jackson's Bad.
"You know I'm Bad!" ZAP
"I'm bad!"ZAP
"And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell you once again, who's bad?"KABOOM
Duuuuuuude, when do we get the next chapter?
Whose dick you gotta suck to get a new chapter around here?
one of the first fics i found here and i've been reading it since chapter three. happy to know my origin still stands not completed.
Just realised, this is one of only two stories tagged with Iron Will, Trixie, and Gilda. Lol. Such special.
APPROVED BY TWILIGHT'S LIBRARY?!?
...
...
...
I shall read dis
And i shalt be impresseth.
I just re-re-read this story, and no updates yet. There has the machinelike productivity of the early days gone?