The sun was nearly blinding as you step outside again, but you ignore it as you are just glad to be out of the oppressive forge again. That place may have been home for Silver Hammer, but you personally found the heat, the closed in space, and just the whole atmosphere to be claustrophobic. You preferred the open air above you, a nice bright sun in the sky, and most importantly, no smoke or steam to make your eyes water as you tried to blink them away.
“So, who wants to see if they can keep up with the Dash in her new Vic Viper?” asked Rainbow as she came to a halt on the castle lawn. The other guards smirked at her expressionless metal face as they flared their wings, only for Radiance to hold out his hoof, causing them all to return to a rest position.
“Instead of that, let's just see what those new armors can do first. Why don't you try to fly to....that mountain over there, and back?” suggested the tall, white alicorn, pointing with his hoof towards a mountain just this side of Ponyville. The other guards, looking at his choice, nodded, while the other two royals just stood there passively. You could sense Quicksilver's and Pyro's surface though. Those two apparently wanted to fly as well, against your guards, and for some reason, that made you proud.
“So, just a quick hop and flight? Sounds good to me,” admitted Spitfire, and she motioned for the other two to come around her. Both hopped to immediately, Dash on her left, Soarin on her right. The three pegasi then crouched down, and you watched in awe as their suits began to flare a little. The lines of energy in their armor began to glow a little brighter, while their wingtips began to shine like small stars in the daylight.
As they gathered the energy for the flight, one could actually start to feel the magic in the air. Small lines of light began to be drawn towards the tips of those wings, creating an interesting visual effect. What's more, it caused the others gathered to look around nervously, some of the unicorns in DawnChaser's group projecting a small shield in front of them to protect them and their friends from the anticipated blast of air that would come from the moment of launch.
And then they were gone. One second the Flux Guard stood tall and proud in their armor, shimmering with power, and then the next second they just seemed to vanish, which made everyone, even the royals gasp a little, as their eyes began to scan the horizon for them. It was Quicksilver who spotted them first, the three little dots of light making circles around the mountain in the distance, not once, but a dozen times over, before they shot off again, sailing like shooting stars into the distance.
“Odd, I would have expected a sonic boom to be heard when one moved that fast,” commented DewPrism as she stared out after the three, who vanished soon afterward.
“They're doing what, twenty times the speed of sound?” estimated Radiance, and Quicksilver at his side nodded.
“Twenty two and a half, actually. Almost as fast as my own limit,” admitted the Alicorn of Motion, making your pride swell even more, before they turned to face you.
“I have to use a momentum canceler spell to keep myself from making blasts of air that would shatter every window in the city when I move at that speed, I assume there's something similar built into their armor,” said Quicksilver, a statement of fact, rather than a question.
“It's called a G-diffuser system. It compensates for the stress you put on the Frame, and allows it to move at speeds it's design really shouldn't allow, aerodynamically speaking. It has the added benefit of preventing pesky explosions of air force when you move around at hyper-sonic speeds,” you explained, and then point to the opposite horizon from which the trio vanished, their shooting stars again visible now.
They came up to Canterlot peak, swirling around the mountainside and causing the clouds to follow in their wake before they shot straight up into the sky, looking like they would try to touch the sun itself, before, in perfect unison, they came down. Each landed with a dull thud, Spitfire in the middle again, though the other two flipped positions relative to you, as they landed facing your small group, instead of facing towards the mountain in the distance.
“Around the world in Eighty Seconds Flat,” declared Dash, and you could just hear the smug in her voice, as she flexed her wings to show them off to the crowd.
“Not quite. You merely got to the horizon and flew around to the opposite side of our viewpoint,” declared DewPrism as she walked forward, smirking at Dash, who's wings drooped a little, before she stood tall and proud again, as the alicorn made a show of going over the suit with her hoof, poking and prodding at the individual plates, and then tugging a little at the wingtips. Oddly, she seemed to bring her hoof to her mouth after the latter, and lick it, like she was tasting the power of the armor, before turning to her sibling again.
“Still, an impressive display nonetheless. Your suits are fast, as well as agile, given the maneuvers you were pulling off,” added Quicksilver as she rounded on them.
“Some of the credit does have to go with the pilots. Their skills are what allowed them to use these tools to their fullest potential,” you told them, and that seemed to swell the three pegasi's pride right up, as they stood tall and proud.
“Ah, yeah, we are the best,” said Dash proudly, as the three Alicorns gathered together again, and DawnChaser was finally allowed to approach the suits. The purple unicorn made a rather large show of running a small light from his horn over the suits, obviously a scanning spell of some sort, while shouting numbers and equations to his apprentices, each taking a note or two in their own wa. That was probably them dividing the study workload, each doing as their skills were want.
“The finest armors I have ever had come from my forge. Truly things of beauty,” said Silver Hammer, and you nod, waiting for both the Professor and the Alicorns to finish whatever it is their doing. Finally, after almost ten minutes, the two groups seeme to be done, and the three Alicorns walk to stand beside you, facing towards your Guard, who stand ready for any command you might give.
“The armors are obviously quite fast, more so than any of our own Guards, and that’s not even including the power of the pilots themselves. Still, they need more than speed to be proper Guards for one such as you,” said Radiance, and with a flick of a hoof, his three guards stood in front of him.
“My Radiant Guard would test your Flux, and see which is the superior breed,” he told you, and you look at him out of the corner of your eye. His white coat shone against the sun in the sky, making it seem like he was sparkling, while his mane and armor both had a subtle, golden aura to them, making him appear like some kind of god, ordering holy knights into battle.
“Sounds interesting, but I say we up the challenge factor,” you tell him, and then lightly step off the ground so you are hovering, before floating towards your Guard. A snap of your fingers, and you create a small dome around you that hides not only your forms, but also all the noise from your mouth.
“I don’t want to push you too hard, considering your armors are brand new, but I know you’ve seen how the Guards fight before. Given that, I think you’d have the advantage in a battle against them. So, would you three be up for a brawl with all their Guards?” you ask them, and they look to be considering this for a moment, before turning towards each other. You could, if you wanted, easily hear what they said over their comm systems, but you decide to wait it out, and let them come to whatever conclusion their own hearts desire.
“Given how well we performed against the Marque previously, we feel it would only be fair to give them such an advantage of numbers” said Spitfire proudly after they finally came to their decision.
“Yeah, we’ll try not to take them down too hard,” added Dash with a chuckle, and probably a smirk under her helmet. You gave the same back, but then tried to put on your serious face as you let the privacy barrier drop away, finding that DawnChaser had some little scanner thing pressed up against it, one he quickly tried to hide away, as he rejoined the group watching.
“My Guard believes themselves up to the challenge, Prince Radiance. However, further difficulty is desired. If your sisters would be so kind, they would like to add to the fray DewPrism’s Chameleon Guard and Quicksilver’s Silver Sentinel. Though only if they feel up to it,” you tell them, and the two female Alicorns turn towards each other, then nod, motioning with their hooves. Almost without seeming to move, the requested Guards appear, the Silver moving so fast that she was hard to see, and the Chameleons seeming to fade in and out of sight when they did so, only two visible as they stood before their Ladies.
“Is this to be a battle royale? Winner take all sort of affair?” asked DewPrism, and you look to consider it for a moment, before shaking your head.
“No, I believe my Guards are confident in their abilities, and given their powers, it might be best to see how they do individually before they try to work in tandem. Silver for Soarin, Chameleon for Spitfire, and Radiant for Rainbow, how’s that sound?” you offer, and the Guards quickly jockey for positions, facing off against each other, with rather unponylike smiles on the faces of the Radiant Guards, who seem to be spoiling for a fight. You can feel similar emotions in the Chameleon Guards, but oddly, the Silver Sentinel is an emotional blank, as he stands in front of Soarin, towering over the pegasus.
“Ah, excellent. Should we retire to my lab outside of town for some room to maneuver then?” offered DawnChaser, but the Guards shake their heads, and then point up with their hooves.
“Plenty of room in the sky, Professor. Just keep your eyes on the birdies,” quipped one of the Radiant, before he and the three others took off into the sky, wings of light forming on their backs to propel them upwards.
The Chameleons, whatever sort of pony they were under their armors, seemed to need a bit more of a boost, and rather than flying straight upwards, ran for a set of trees, shifting in and out of visibility as they moved. Reaching the garden, and they leapt between trunks until they were higher than the branches. Somehow they proceeded to walk on the air, not fly but just walk, until they were standing beside the Radiant.
Silver, the giant stallion’s smooth back rippling, stood there for a moment, before large metallic wings seemed to flow out of the armor. Unlike normal pegasus wings, these had no feathers at all, and and looked like they would be useless for flight. The pony proved their worth, however, as he flapped them only once, and joined the others in the air, where they were now getting a lot of attention, as you could see and feel eyes on them, while your own Guards joined them, flying before their foes, all of them looking ready for a throw down.
“Alright, rules are simple. When you touch the ground, you lose, regardless of if you can take back off. Any tactic is allowed, but we would, of course, request that you keep injuries to a minimum,” said DewPrism, as she cast a spell to make her voice sound like it was coming out of the air next to your ear. DawnChaser went up to where she was an whispered something into her ear.
“The good Professor requests you maintain a line of sight with Canterlot itself, specifically this garden, and I find myself wishing much the same,” she said, and one of her guardponys looked towards Spitfire, and then back to his leader.
“Does that mean you want us to remain visible as well?” asked the stallion in the ever shifting armor of the Chameleon guard.
“No, we want this to be a true test of your abilities, so we aren’t going to restrict tactics or weapons, though again, try not to hurt each other too bad. Without Cadence’s healing magic, it could take time to fix you up,” she admonished, and her guards got back into position. Or maybe they didn’t, even with your extra senses, it was kind of hard to tell.
“Does everypony agree to these rules?” asked DewPrism, and got a series of nods from the guards floating above.
“Good, then you may begin,” she said simply, and everything above the Royal Gardens exploded into a cacophony of colors and sound, as six powers clashed in the air, dancing and weaving amongst explosions.