The door opened to reveal a suit of armor, aged thousands of years from parades through small towns and big cities. It had been in the throne rooms of countless royals, and had stood guard many a night by the front gate of his home. It had seen its first battle at the stand of tree sap, a small town on the edge of the Everfree. It would stay on it's owner for nearly a month before being taken off in another town called Spearsound, a village that would become Ponyville in a few thousand years.
The color had dulled after thousands of years from a bright gold to a dull brown. Scratches and dents adorned the chestplate like badges of honor. There were places along the sides where the armor had been broken altogether, from the scythe of Kaorn during the final battle of the Great Alicorn War. The straps that held the chestplate to the side guards were worn beyond repair. He had replaced the straps countless times, and this time would be no different.
Fury gently lifted the armor with a wing as memories flooded his mind. He caressed the armor as he lifted it off its stand and fitted it onto his barrel. He closed his eyes as he placed the helmet over his head and mane. The slot over his left eye was sliced from a griffin claw during the griffin wars. He heard a small creak behind him as the door of his study opened to reveal a young unicorn, just at the cusp of adulthood.
He let out a small gasp as he seen the soldier in complete uniform, though he still only seen him as his father. Fury turned around slowly to look towards his son, who began to back away a couple steps before rushing him for a hug. Fury caught the colt in a tight hug with a clang of armor.
The young colt then heard the singing that was Rarity’s voice and took off running up the stairs as another pony walked in, this one tall and elegant, her tri-colored hair flowing to an unseen breeze.
The pony began to wrinkle up her nose as she spotted the armored pony. She began to giggle before letting out a large sigh before speaking.
“You still have that rusted old armor?” Celestia asked with slight amusement.
“Why wouldn't I, I've had this armor through every major battle Equestria has ever seen..” Fury said with confusion.
“Then place it in a museum and get another set,” she said with a small bit of irritation growing in her voice. “You don't fit in with the other soldiers anymore..”
“Good,” Fury said, beginning to enrage his younger sister. “I never did quite fit with them… considering I was an alicorn, and a General..”
“Yes brother, and we're all very grateful, but maybe it's time to let your armor rest and carry New,” she said with more irritation.
“Why, are you ashamed of it?” He asked as serious as could be.
“Well I, uh, n-nuh.. yes, a little,” she answered quietly and honestly.
“Well then, let me share with you the story of the many dents and cracks of my armor,” Fury said as he sat down and motioned for Celestia to do the same.
“Where shall I begin… how about my helmet..” he said as he took it off and pointed to a large cut through the left eye slot. “I attained this from General Calgary in the griffin wars, during the battle for Cloudsdale… before he called for his retreat, he made sure to blind me, and he did for a while.. I couldn't see out my left eye for nearly a month,” he said before pointing to a large set of claw marks across his chestplate.
“These, I got during the battle of Canterlot, and the end of the griffin wars, Calgary fought hard to the last breath, and gave me a few wounds of my own before passing..” Fury said before moving on to a particularly large dent in his sideplate. As he touched the dent, a small giggle came over him. “This, this was from the great Sir Hoofington at the civil battle of Spearsound..”
“The civil battle of Spearsound huh?” Celestia said in a cheerful manner, trying to hold back a giggle herself.
“Well maybe it was more of a dispute, but we were called out nonetheless, and upon arrival, I'm kicked in the gut for no reason by a mountain of a stallion. When I got back up, the dispute had already been settled by the other knights, and I limped up to the town hall where I received an apology from both the mayor and Hoofington.” Fury said as he then turned his attention to a large hole in the middle of his armor. It had been split open where a blade had pierced through. He looked silently at the gash as the bitter memory returned.
“... This one… this one’s from the final battle of the Great Alicorn War, in Spearsound… given to me by none other than Kaorn himself…” Fury said slowly as the pain of that day began to revive within him.
“As we began the final charge, I led the way through Spearsound, taking down a few soldiers and officers, but stopped on the hill when I saw him… waiting on the edge of the slope… surrounded by a veil of shadows. The air.. the air was so electrified that little bolts of lightning began to shoot off our weapons. As I charged him, the air seemed to thicken into a dense fog, blinding the rest of the world from our battle. As our weapons connected with a great metallic clang, lightning shot from them and struck the ground around us. As I sliced left, he would swerve right, as I began to swing wildly, he outmaneuvered me and struck hard… as I felt my armor crack and splinter and felt the warmth of life trickling out of me, my life flashed before my eyes. As my life ran by me, I felt something strange… regret, I lived a life full of story, and I chose to focus on hatred. Just as I began to slip away, a face greeted me… bright blue eyes and a mane that matched the rainbow…”
The two stood in complete silence for a moment as Fury came back to reality.
“And so you see sister.. my armor tells a story as old as time, a story that is still being played out before us… and until that day comes, I'll keep on..” but before Fury could finish, Celestia rushed him and squeezed the Pegasus with a airtight bear hug. As Celestia pulled away, the two ponies began to walk upstairs from Fury's study to make their way to the town hall, for the parade of the summer solstice.