//------------------------------// // Chapter XLIII: Armor // Story: Memoir of Misery // by Silvak //------------------------------// "Here we go, this armor is designed to sh—" "Is that actual gold on those edges?" "Well, yes your highness, but it's f—" "Rejected. I'm not one for flair, and that would just be a pointless expense," Sapphire stated as she and Luna were in the throne room. They were now looking at a diagram on a stand as a unicorn stallion was sweating before them. "But Princess Sapphire, this armor is designed to show your glory! Anything less would be undeserving of you!" the unicorn stated as he pulled at the collar of his suit that foretold the wealth and position he had. Looking at the stallion with a skeptical look, Sapphire noted that unless the unicorn had any military background, his design of the armor was mostly just for show and not function. "Appearances can only go so far. If there is ever a matter where danger is present, I highly doubt that armor would be of any use," Sapphire countered, causing the unicorn to look downcast before taking his leave. Leaning over towards Sapphire, Luna whispered, "You could have two sets of armors, one for ceremonial duties and one for actual combat purposes. I know that the Royal Guard's and Night Guard's armor looked to be all show, but they do have their own armor suited for battle." "Yeah... but that still leaves them vulnerable if somepony decides to attack before they could get ready for battle," Sapphire countered, causing Luna to roll her eyes as a pegasi came up to show her design, only for Sapphire to reject it as well. "If anypony would dare to attack, we would be aware of the incoming presence long before they could even start their attack, giving our guards the time they would need to get properly equipped," Luna responded. "Still, better safe than sorry, and it would save on bits that would have been used to make the second set of armor," Sapphire replied as she rejected an armor that looked to protect all the wrong places for some unknown reason. "Sapphire, you're a princess with access to the Royal Treasury. You have a budget for equipping your guards and a budget for the construction of your castle while we're at it. It would be a simple thing to cover. It isn't like the crown would be in debt from taking on one more princess, even if we're covering your food expenses," Luna stated as Sapphire just stared at what looked to be the most flamboyant uniform that didn't even have any protection. Unless one counts protection from the elements. "Look, I just don't think it's practical to have two suits of armor that serve completely different purposes. I mean, my guard would have to spend more time to maintain two suits of armor, where if they just had one more, they would have less work and perhaps even more free time to do their thing. Not to mention the storage that would be needed for arm—oh, what do we have here?" Sapphire said to Luna before spotting the design that was shown by an earth pony mare with a grey coat and a short orange mane who was looking at them with deep green eyes. The mare only had some saddlebags on as she was placing a diagram that had the image of two ponies wearing armor, one that had more on than the other. "Umm... my armor design... your highness! I mean, this armor is designed in components so that your guard would only need to wear what would be needed at the time. As you can see here, for basic duty, your guard would be wearing a breastplate, a helmet, and hoof guards. While this would leave them highly unprotected, they could wear a uniform underneath their armor, or perhaps over it, that could serve as formal wear like day to day guard duty," the mare stated as she pointed at the less armored design. "Hmm... that sounds interesting, but what about the other armor... and would you mind telling me your name?" Sapphire asked as Luna leaned her head forward to inspect the designs. "Oh! Sorry for not introducing myself sooner, your highness!" the mare cried out as she bowed so fast that Sapphire flinched when she heard the mare smacking her head against the floor. "My name is Bronze Ignot, and I'm a blacksmith from Tall Tale. I heard about your need to equip your guard in some new armor, so I thought to give it a try by designing this armor. I hope I'm not being too presumptuous by thinking that, your highness." "Oh no, you're fine. I was just wanted to know your name, nothing more. Though, you don't have to keep your head against the floor like that," Sapphire replied, watching as Bronze lifted her head with a look of relief. "You may continue explaining your armor," Sapphire stated as she wondered if she's going to have even more ponies that would treat her in such a fanatical fashion like Foggy and now Bronze were doing. Raising her head, Bronze stated, "As you desire your highness," before standing up as she turned her attention back to her diagrams. Pointing a hoof at the more armored version, Bronze stated, "Your highness, this is when a guard equips the rest of their armor instead of just going for the base level of protection. Here, the armor extends to grant protection for the rest of their limbs, the neck region, as well as their hindquarters. However, in order to permit mobility, there are gaps in the plate armor to allow more ease of movement for the wearer, but this is covered by chainmail that the guard would be wearing along with their armor. Of course, the guards could also wear the chainmail in times of increased security but not want to appear hostile which the full armor would indicate. Furthermore, to emphasize that they are your guard, I have incorporated the etchings or shapes of waves onto their armor in the places that would interfere the least, such as the edges of the leg pauldrons and the breastplate. And of course, we can add on a water droplet onto the breastplate and the helmet if you want, your highness," before Bronze bowed again, though she kept her head from bashing against the ground this time. Looking at the diagrams for a moment, Sapphire turned her head towards Luna as she asked, "What do you think, Luna?" Turning her attention from the designs towards Sapphire, Luna answered, "Well, her designs do favor protection over appearances, yet is practical in terms of how much your guard would need to wear at any time. This would align with your desire in terms of armor design, despite the fact that you can easily afford multiple armors. I also believe that this is still a decision that you need to make for yourself." "Hmm... well since I haven't seen the other designs yet, I'll keep your design under consideration until I have seen the rest," Sapphire started to answer, before leaning her head back as she saw Bronze's muzzle taking on a wide smile that was becoming a more reoccurring thing to her. Feeling a bit creeped out still, Sapphire continued, "But bear in mind that I might take some time after seeing the other designs before I can finalize my decision, so you may not get an answer until later on today." "Actually, I would say that you're more likely to get an answer at some point tomorrow, for Sapphire has some combat training to attend to this afternoon," Luna quipped in, causing Sapphire to look at her in confusion. "Wait, what combat training are you talking about?" Sapphire asked as she rubbed the side of her head as she remembered her schedule to find that there wasn't any point where she was assigned combat training. "Remember the discussion we had with Veritas in the dream realm last night? I decided to take her advice in regards to fighting you, so this afternoon you and I will be having a duel to test your current abilities," Luna calmly answered before folding her ears back in expectation of what was going to happen next. "We're going to fight each other‽" "I still don't think this is a good idea!" "Nonsense, I find this to actually be a great idea!" Luna stated as Sapphire was standing across from her in an open field. After managing to convince Sapphire to come to the field in exchange for a day off from her work and studies, Luna had chosen to go south of Vanhoover for their duel, with their guard following to see the power of the two princesses. Though Sapphire was thinking that they were just here for the show of Luna thrashing her as she was having second thoughts about her decision. "That's because you're older and hence much more experience than me in combat. Along with the fact that I don't remember my own fights if I even had any in the first place!" Sapphire shouted, her legs shaking in fear with such a force that one could actually hear her bones rattling. Unlike Luna, who was wearing her regalia still, Sapphire had taken off her own and gave it to Foggy for safe keeping. "Couldn't you just give me some training lessons instead?" "Relax young Sapphire, I'm sure that you will do fine based on how you reacted when I threw some fruit at your head. Now steel thyself, for our duel begins now!" Luna exclaimed before taking to the air. Staring wide-eyed at Luna, Sapphire responded, "Wait, aren't we supposed to have a countdo—gah!" until Luna fired a beam of magic at her, forcing her to dive to the side for protection. "In battle, your enemy will never declare their intentions to battle you!" Luna shouted with her horn alight as she shifted her horn upwards, magically pulling the ground that Sapphire was on up into the air. Luna then jerked her head to her left, sending the clump of dirt to the side. Yelping at Luna's levitation, Sapphire placed her hooves against the dirt she was on before pushing off as she took to the air. Hearing a crunching sound, Sapphire turned her attention towards the source to see the shattered remains of her original spot. "Luna, I think you're going ove—" Sapphire started to say before dodging another magical beam from Luna. "Nonsense! For this is a duel to bring out your latent skills! And what better way to do that than to use actual combat spells!" Luna declared before waving her horn in front of her as she sent a wave of frost at Sapphire. "But do not forget to fight back! You can't win a fight if you're always on the defensive!" Seeing the wave of frost, Sapphire gulped before pulling into a dive as she dodged the spell, landing on the ground roughly. Looking back up at Luna, who was charging a spell, Sapphire thought to herself, Think think think! What can you do to fight Luna! You can use telekinesis and water manipulation... and freezing water... darn it! Is water all I can use—wait! Quickly glancing to her right, Sapphire took note of the nearby ocean, lighting her horn up as she reached out to it as she started to run for cover from a series of magical missiles that Luna launched from her horn. "Attack, Sapphire! Attack! Show me what you're capab—oh Faust!" Luna started to say until she saw a mass of water coming her way. Due to not expecting an attack to come from some other source that wasn't Sapphire herself, Luna was caught in the surge of water as it sent her crashing into the ground. "That worked?" Sapphire muttered to herself as she held the water in her magic, before shaking her head clear of her shock. She then focused on her magic, freezing the water around Luna, pinning her to the ground before pulling the water off her, leaving her stuck to the ground. Walking up to Luna, Sapphire asked, "Okay, is that good enough of an attack, Luna? Cause I really don't want to continue this duel of yours," as she looked down at Luna. "Hmm.. I do admit that I was rather surprised that you were able to send that attack from a direction that wasn't from your general vicinity, but there is an important lesson that you must know," Luna stated as she looked at Sapphire. Blinking in confusion, Sapphire asked, "And what is that, Luna?" "To never let your guard down and be so close to your enemy until you're fully certain that you have disabled them!" Luna cried out as she broke a foreleg from the ice to punch Sapphire in the face, who was promptly greeted with her vision being filled with darkness as she felt her head colliding with something hard.