//------------------------------// // The Helmet Splitter // Story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox // by Rakoon1 //------------------------------// The silence at the battlefield of the Third Unit was sepulchral, while the night advanced, full of the bodies of the ones who had fallen. Thunder Night advanced through the battlefield and arrived to the woods where he told: “I’m here.” Shining, Twilight and Blue appeared, with the rest of the unit behind. “What’s the intel of the enemy?” Shining asked. “There’s no sign of life” Thunder Night replied. “The battlefield is really quiet.” “I wonder what’s going on” Blue said. “I seriously doubt they just gave up the fight.” “They must have a plan in mind” Twilight said. “This cannot be just to give us a fake sense of security.” “Although I don’t like it either, we don’t any choice” Shining said. “We should use this as a chance to rest.” He then turned to the unit and said to them: “All right, everyone, let’s rest up. Take this time to gather your energy. However, stay on your guard. We’ll keep scavenging the area on each half-hour. We have to make sure that we’re ready to fight in case the enemy appears again. That’s all.” And they all scattered to go rest. “You should go rest as well” Shining said to Blue and Twilight. “This is going to be a long night.” They nodded with the head and then two guards appeared, carrying a great scroll and pain-brush. “Captain, we finally received the items from headquarters” one of them said. “Good” Shining said. “You can let them here, thanks.” They dropped them carefully on the ground and then they moved away. “Are you sure about this, Shining?” Twilight asked to his older brother. “This spell is too complex. It takes a lot to do it.” “We don’t have any other choice” Shining said, taking the items with his magic and then moving away. Elsewhere Armored Oath was resting, sitting against a tree. He couldn’t stop thinking about the order that Captain Shining Armor had given to him. Using the sealing spell that Heartbeat had taught him was something that he hadn’t certain to be able to perform. He heard hoofsteps and saw Shining approaching with the scroll and the brush. “Captain…” he said, getting up. “Hey, Armored Oath” Shining greeted him. “Sorry to bother you while you’re resting.” “It’s okay” he replied. “This just arrived for you” Shining said, giving him the items that the light unicorn took with his magic. “You need this for your sealing spell, don’t you?” Armored Oath nodded with the head with a somber look. Noticing this, Shining realized he would need all the help. He looked around and saw somepony that could provide him the help he needed. “Dark Knight!” Shining called. The pegasus, who was sleeping on a branch nearby, startled by Shining’s calling and fell on the ground. He then got up and said: “Shining, couldn’t you just have called me gently?” “Sorry, pal, but I have a job for you” Shining said. “That is, if you can still fight.” “You know me, of course I can” Dark Knight replied. “Good” Shining said. “I want you to be Armored Oath’s bodyguard. He won’t be able to defend himself well while he’s doing his sealing spell.” “Sure, you can leave it to me” he answered. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, Armored Oath” Shining said. “Yes, sir” the young unicorn replied. And Shining left. Dark Knight approached Armored Oath and told him: “Don’t worry, kid. You’re in good hooves with me.” “Thank you, sir, but…” Armored Oath said. “Come on, you can skip the formalities with me” Dark Knight said. “After all, I’m not your superior.” “Yes, but… Could you please let me alone for a while?” Armored Oath asked, with an overcast look. “Sure…” Dark Knight replied, noticing the look on his eyes. “Just call me if you need anything.” And he took flight, moving away. Shining was sitting against a tree, trying to get some shut-eye, when Dark Knight landed besides him. “What do you want, Dark Knight?” Shining asked. “Don’t you see I’m trying to rest?” “Sorry, Shining, but I just wanted to ask you something” he said. “What?” “It’s about Armored Oath’s sealing spell. Can you tell me more about it?” “Why the sudden interest?” Shining asked. “It’s just he didn’t seem very happy to use it” Dark Knight answered. “Well, it doesn’t surprise me” Shining said. “It’s not quite an easy spell. Where should I start? When he was a child, before he started to study to become a member of the Light Guard, he was a student under Heartbeat. Normally, she didn’t take any student, but after what happened with the Lord of Chaos releasing all the villains of Tartarus, it was obvious we needed more ways to deal with them…” Some years ago, in the Light Kingdom… At a room in the Light Castle, a younger Armored Oath was with Heartbeat, who made appear the same scroll and brush. “Armored Oath, for the last few years, I told you to surpass your emotions as much as possible” Heartbeat said. “Yes, but I don’t understand why” he said. “I always thought that you were apologist that emotions were the most powerful magic of all.” “And they are, but there’s a reason why I told you when you became my student a few years ago to contain yours” Heartbeat said, making then a gesture to the scroll and the brush. “Do you see that? Those objects are part of a new spell I’ve been perfecting and I want you to master.” “What kind of spell?” Armored Oath asked, looking curious to the scroll and brush. “As you know, after the Lord of Chaos took over Tartarus a few years ago, we had to face dangerous villains” Heartbeat said. “In order to capture them with the cell blaster, we had to weak the villains. In order to avoid that necessity, I conceived this sealing spell.” “But… can I master a spell that can work on powerful villains?” Armored Oath questioned. “I believe that you can” Heartbeat replied. “This spell is the reason why I told you to surpass your emotions. All those suppressed feelings of yours have created a massive reservoir of energy somewhere deep inside your heart. And, by releasing that emotional energy, you will imbue this sealing spell with great power. But be careful. Releasing your emotions, you can become susceptible to your negative feelings and that can be very dangerous.” In the present… Armored Oath was thinking about that moment, while leaning against the three. Heartbeat’s warning was what scared him the most. The sun started to sun, with its beams covering everything. The sentinels were watching carefully the battlefield in their respective hiding place. But it was when that, at a place where two guards where changing shifts, Thunder Blitz appeared suddenly before them and then he caused an explosion. That made all the unit get alert. “They’re here” Blue said, with Twilight by his side. Another explosion caught their attention, having been made by Clashing Storm with his Explosive Blade. When guards approached him, the swordspony moved away, only for some of the new-arrivals started to scream, while their started to dehydrate so much, while they fell looking like mummies. That was caused by Gina, who was observing everything on a branch. The rest of the group was searching for Clashing Storm, but, one by one, they were stabbed and taken up by something. When the last one found himself alone, he wondered where his comrades had gone. Blood drops fell over him and he looked up, seeing with great horror his friends sewed side by side while being put in suspension. He then was also stabbed by the Sewing Needle that was grabbed by Sharp Needle who then pulled the line to join his lattest victim to the others. Light Blast, using her Lightning Blades, was fighting guard, but since the lightning the blades originated only made them sharper, she was able to defeat and electrocute anyone who faced her. But, seeing Twilight approaching by flying, she run away as fast as she could. Twilight landed at that place, while Blue and more guards arrived. “She escaped” Twilight said. “Looks like that, even when they are corned, they manage to pass through” Blue said. “The enemy sent their weaker forces into battle” Shining said, approaching. “It seems their main tactic will be guerilla warfare. They want us to chase this targets to split us up and then take us one by one.” “They want us to become overconfident after defeating River Blood and Sombra” Twilight said. “But what do we do?” Blue asked. “Things are happening really fast.” “We need to regroup our forces” Shining said. “Twily, can you send a message to each team to join with at least two other teams and stick together?” “I’m on it” she replied, while casting the telepathic spell. Noticing Shining ready to move away, Blue asked: “What are you going to do?” “I’m worried about the squad behind us” he said. “If I were the enemy, I would use this confusion to go after our support squads. They have ways to restrain and cast sealing spells that work on the Reincarnation Curse.” “Very well, meanwhile, you can count on me to take care of things around here” Blue said. Shining nodded to him and when he was about to move away, Dark Knight and Armored Oath approached with the latter carrying the scroll and the brush with his magic. “We’re here” the pegasus said. “Perfect timing” Shining said. “Dark Knight, Armored Oath, come with me. We’re going to prepare a seal.” “Yes, sir” Armored Oath replied. “You can count on me, Shining” Dark Knight said. And the three advanced, while Shining said: “I won’t them dictate how this war goes.” “Hey, kid, I know this sealing spell takes some time, right?” Dark Knight said. “How do you know that?” Armored Oath asked. “I asked Shining about it” Dark Knight said. “I got to know that you need to concentrate emotional energy. Sorry, but I needed to know so I can protect you while you do the spell.” And they continued. A squad was already getting itself ready to any attack, with a guard from Stonult creating a mud wall that quickly solidified to become stable, while a unicorn guard prepared an immobilization spell. But then something started to hit the wall. A great crack appeared on the middle of wall and then it crushed, while Hammer Blow appeared with his sword, the Helmet Splitter. “I found you!” he said to the squad. The guard who erected the wall tried to do it again, but Hammer Blow cut him with the axe of the Helmet Splitter, killing him. “Defending yourselves against the Helmet Splitter is meaningless!” Hammer Blow exclaimed, starting to advance towards the guards. He used both the axe and the hammer to hit his enemies, sometimes using both to break through the defenses and weapons. When the guards prepared to make a formation, Hammer Blow said: “Trying to block me is meaningless to. It seems you fools still don’t understand!” And he hit with the hammer on the ground that was able to crack it and take it from them. “My next attack will end you” Hammer Blow said. “Not yet!” a voice exclaimed. And the Executioner’s Blade was threw and hit the ground near him, what force him to retreat a bit. Shining appeared beside the sword, what caused the guards to be happy for having their captain by their side. “I hope you don’t think this will be over so soon” Shining said to Hammer Blow. Dark Knight and Armored Oath didn’t take long to arrive as well. “You should begin, kid” the former said to the latter. “I agree” he said. And so he extended the scroll and, after opening the bottle with ink of the brush, he tried to focus, but Heartbeat’s words about the warning she made couldn’t stop repeating in his mind. But that wasn’t the only think that worried him. He had repressed his emotions for so long that he didn’t know if he would be able to release them. It was not only the doubt if he would be able to do the spell, but also the fear of facing them. Every time he tried to use the spell, he was so overpowered, that he started to feel pain, as his negative emotions started to consume him, what caused Heartbeat to intervene. Because of that, Armored Oath didn’t know if he would be able to do it know, when he couldn’t do it in the past. He looked to Shining, who was fighting with Hammer Blow using the Executioner’s Sword with his magic. Seeing the determination each blow his captain did and remember all the efforts that Princess Twilight, Prince Blue Sword and all the others were giving to the war, he knew he had to succeed for the sake of the Light Kingdom and all the other kingdoms. After a change of blows, Hammer Blow gave a jump back and said: “So there is somepony in this world that is a little bit of a challenge.” “Even if you are one of the Seven Swordsponies of the Mist, we won’t let you win this fight so easily” Shining said. A smile was drawn in Hammer Blow’s face and then he advanced for another attack again, while exclaiming: “I’ll silence you!” Using all his skills, Shining started to dodge every attack from Hammer Blow. When he span to use the axe, Shining used the Executioner’s Blade to defend. “If I can just pass my sword through you, then I’ll win!” Hammer Blow exclaimed, while rising the hammer to allow the axe to go through the Executioner’s Blade. “There’s no way to block the Helmet Spliter!” “Who said anything about blocking?” Shining asked. Using his magic, he made the axe move aside, much to Hammer Blow’s surprise, and Shining said: “You’re defense is weak!” And, with a swing, he cut through Hammer Blow’s torso, making dust and dirt get out, while the two halves fell on the ground, with the Helmet Splitter falling a few hooves of distance. “That’s one down” Shining said. The squad cheered his captain, but Shining didn’t share their enthusiasm. He could see the body beginning to regenerate due to the curse. He turned to the unicorn who was preparing the immobilization spell and then told him: “Immobilize him until the sealing curse is ready to go.” “Right, understood” he replied. “The rest of you will meet with the squad in front” Shining said to the others. “You’ll all follow me. He turned to Armored Oath, who had the eyes closed to focus his emotional energy. Then he turned to Dark Knight who nodded to him, who then nodded him back. “Now let’s go!” he said to the others. And they all moved away. While Armored Oath was focusing a tear of a dark substance started to get down. The unicorn charged his horn with magic and then casted the immobilization spell. “I see, now, even when he regenerates, he won’t be able to move” Dark Knight said. “But I won’t be able to hold if he fights too much, so you have to hurry and seal him” the unicorn said. Dark Knight turned to Armored Oath, hopping he could execute the spell. The young light unicorn tried his best to tame his dark emotions, but it was harder than it looked. The turmoil of repressed darkness was such that immobilized him and started to cause him pain, while his eyes turned black and the pupils turned red. Seeing that, Dark Knight asked: “Are you okay?” Of course that was a stupid question, as it was obvious he wasn’t okay at all. But he couldn’t think much, as he noticed an evil presence approaching. And Thunder Blitz appeared, ready to attack the unicorn who was immobilizing Hammer Blow. He advanced towards him and forced him to start a fight. With was then that Thunder Blitz prepared to use the explosive nature, what forced Dark Knight to retreat. He hit the ground and caused an explosion. The unicorn who was holding Hammer Blow said to Armored Oath and told him: “Hurry up with the seal! Dark Knight can’t handle this alone! I need you back him up!” “No worry” he said. “I will not fail. I can’t forgive these villains for using the dead like this. There’s no way I can lose this fight!” And he advanced again, ready to attack. They started another exchange of blows. While observing Dark Knight, Armored Oath could notice that he couldn’t feel any negative emotion coming up from him. But why didn’t his anger come with negative emotions? Thunder Blitz used his explosive nature on the ground again. A lot of debris were thrown, with Dark Knight defending what he could. But then a moan caught his attention. The unicorn who was casting the immobilization spell was hit on the head by one of the debris, what caused him to lose focus on the spell, releasing Hammer Blow, whose regeneration was being completed. “How dare you to hurt my comrade?” Dark Knight asked with anger on his voice. “You’re going to pay by that!” And he advanced to attack Thunder Blitz. Seeing him attacking the explosive nature user like that, Armored Oath remembered his words before they went to rejoin Captain Shining Armor, saying that he would do anything to protect him as they were now friends. That made him realize that the origin of his anger came from his feelings for his friends. Now he understood what he had to do. He needed to use his emotions, but it hadn’t to be negative ones. He then dipped the brush in the ink. Dark Knight was able to make Thunder Blitz fell, but Hammer Blitz got up, while the rest of his body regenerated. “Quick, Armored Oath” Dark Knight said. “Don’t worry, Dark Knight” Armored Oath said with a smile. “I now understand what I had to do… all thanks to you.” And he started to use the brush on the scroll. When he ended, a tiger was drawn on the scroll. Hammer Blow headed to the Helmet Splitter, extending his hoof to get it, while the regeneration was coming to an end. “Now, Armored Oath!” Dark Knight said. “Do it!” And he activated the sealing spell with his magic and the illustration extended from the scroll and, while still connected, advanced towards Hammer Blow, who, with a smile, grabbed the Helmet Splitter. But the tiger attacked him, capturing him with its teeth and claws. “Return!” Armored Oath exclaimed. And the tiger came back, dragging Hammer Blow, who tried to use the Helmet Splitter on the ground to stop that. He was able to hold on a rock, but the power of his sword started to work against him, as it started to crack until it broke and then he entered into the scroll, while dropping the Helmet Splitter. The other unicorn recovered from the hit he suffered and, seeing he was in disadvantage, Thunder Blitz started to retreat. Dark Knight wanted to go after him, but he knew it was better not doing it. Instead, he advanced towards Armored Oath who was looking to the scroll, where Hammer Blow was being pinned down by the tiger within the confines of the drawing, and then told him: “That was amazing, kid.” Armored Oath replied with a smile, now being able to feel truly his own emotions and use them in a way Heartbeat wanted him to use.