BPT: The Coup of Avarice

by Wolven5

Chapter 10. Beginning of the End: A Knightly Oath

The Harmonic Twelve, including Spike and Firestorm, looked on in bone-chilling terror. Celestia and Luna both laid bloodied and battered on the ground, and Cheap floated menacingly in the air as he looked down upon them all.

"Your precious princesses are broken and with their downfall comes the end of alicorn rule," Cheap declared, his arrogance oozing with every reverberating word he spoke in his horned helm.
"I know earlier that I stated my intent to kill you all, but for this fleeting moment, I feel oddly generous... so I will give you this one chance - Bow to me, or die."

"Midnight... what do we do?!" Twilight whispered, her hooves shaking, looking to her husband for even the smallest reassurance.

Midnight glared hatefully up at Cheap, but even he could not hide his own fear. He was having a hard time just keeping it together and even harder to try and think on what to do in this most dire of situations.
What do we do... what do we do?! Celestia and Luna both got their plots hooved to them, and Cheap's armor doesn't even have a scratch on it!

"Midnight..."

Midnight looked and saw Celestia, her left eye swollen shut while the other had a cut on its side as the fallen sun princess groaned in pain.

"Princess!" Twilight checked on her old mentor, "Don't move, don't try to talk!"

"Midnight...!" Celestia's voice was weak yet urgent, and Midnight knew she had something she needed to say to him.

He stepped over and lowered his ear to her so she could speak softer, "He circles... before he attacks, uhh..."

She finally fainted and Midnight knew that was the only help they were going to get.
"Twilight, Firestorm, take Spike, the girls, and get the Princesses medical attention as quickly as possible."

"What?! Midnight what're you-" Twilight tried to object, only for Midnight to gently shush her before pressing his snoot to hers, allowing them to look directly into each other's eyes.

For but a blessed moment, there was only the two of them. All else was ignored. But in those eyes, her amethyst purples and his turqouise blues, there was faith.

"I'm waaaaaaaaiiiiiittttiiiiinnnnnnngggg....!" Cheap droned, beginning to get sick to hsi stomach at the sight of this saccharine nonsense.

They parted, Twilight whispering, "Be careful."

"Always," he whispered back before looking to his friends and the stallions understood.

Macintosh, Thunderlane, Blueblood, Cheese Sandwich, and Soarin all hurried to stand side by side with Midnight, as they gazed up defiantly at the madpony while Twilight led her the girls, as well as Spike and Firestorm, in getting the Royal Sisters to safety.

"...Did I say you could leave?!" Cheap snarled as he concentrated a pulsing surge of red, gold, and green electricity to his visor and glared menacingly towards the fleeing ponies and dragon carrying the critically conditioned princesses.

"STOP!!"

Cheap paused, the energy in his visor calming yet softly continued to surge, and looked back at the six stallions, snorting derisively at their pathetic display of bravado when he could see their fear as clear as day.
"'Stop'? I wield the most powerful weapon known to ponykind and you tell me to stop?! I have broken the spirit of this nation, toppled your precious princesses, and now stand on the verge of ushering in a new era.

"With all the power and riches at my command, how can you possibly hope to stop me?"

Midnight could sense his friends' worries, their doubts, their anxieties, and though his instincts were screaming at him to run away, it was only his sense of duty, his determination to protect those he cared about, that kept his hooves rooted to the ground. Yet fear and doubt writhed in the pit of his stomach like a bunch of squirming snakes, and he felt his heart pumping so hard he feared it would burst out of his chest!

...when all of a sudden, there was silence, a stillness in his mind, as some familiar words echoed into his thoughts.

Stand strong, stand together, and above all... stand for Equestria.

Losing his patience, Cheap snarled in a harsh yet soft tone, "Give my regards to the Pale One...!"

He unleashed a concentrated energy surge straight from the visor, which struck the ground right in front of the stallions-

*KRABWOOMSH*

Cobblestones flew, smoke and dirt and debris filled the air, and the six stallions were sent flying like rag-dolls. They could feel pain coursing through their bodies from the sheer force of the attack, which had knocked the wind out of them even as they hurtled through the air.

There was but a single thought in their minds, and somehow they knew the rest were thinking the same thing, We are royally screwed.

But then came a thought that all of them could hear, from somepony they'd met in their dreams.

Not just yet...

The Six Stallions found themselves in a familiar place, surrounded by a familiar fog.

"Guys?" "Oh, goddess, here again?!" "Well, better here than dead, I would say." "Yeah, that'd be a real party-pooper." "Now hold on, y'all, Ah reckon this is a good thing." "He's right, look!"

They looked into the dark sky above, where again they saw a hurricane-like formation of clouds, as electricity crackled around the eye, before it all surged to its middle, and down came a mighty BOLT that exploded upon the ground around which they stood, and yet again they found themselves in the presence of the Champion of Faust.

"Stallions, I sense turmoil within each of you," Stormbreaker spoke, every word like the rumbling of dreary thundercloud overhead, "Where is that stalwart dedication I saw when last we spoke? Where before I saw the unhesitating courage to strike down evil, now I see frightened colts who want to hide in their beds.

"I thought you were supposed to become the Knights of Harmony..."

Every word Stormbreaker spoke was like a cold stab from a needle to each stallion, whose heads hung in shame yet they just couldn't shake off the fear Cheap had struck into their very cores.

"...He's too powerful!" "Yeah, I mean- He beat the Royal Sisters!" "We don' stand a chance..." "There's nothing we can do." "We're not strong enough!"

Hearing his friends voice their doubts, their fears, their despair, something in Midnight began to build. The turmoil, as Stormbreaker had pointed out, was a conflict warring within him. There was a desire to fight, to protect his friends, his family, his country, and yet he'd barely glimpsed the power of the Aegis Armor, which had obviously been enough to defeat two tried and tested alicorn princesses.

Could they really do this? When the best among them had failed? His common sense and survival instinct screamed no, but somewhere in his heart and in his gut, Midnight knew. He had to believe otherwise. He, of all ponies! He was the Element of Faith, he was the light that never went out no matter how dark and dire the world became in these times of crisis.

If he... if they didn't make a stand here and now, then Cheap would win. And all of Equestria would be subject to his despotic whims.

"We should give up." "There's no hope..." "He's unstoppable!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!!!"

Everypony except Stormbreaker flinched as their eyes turned towards the sapphire alicorn, who now stood tall and ready for a fight.

"...Do you even hear yourselves?!" Midnight snapped at the, disgust lacing his words as he continued in a harsher tone, "Each stallion here has proven his mettle, each has shown what he's made of and pulled through in the moment he was needed. Except, right now...

"I don't see those stallions."

He swept his gaze over them, each one starting to look ashamed, look away in doubt, looking angry himself.

"No, what I see here right now are crying colts whining over scraped knees after being pushed by a COMMON PLAYGROUND BULLY!" Midnight ranted on, "Well guess what?! I used to be just like that, a colt who whined went things got tough, cried when he fell down, and just wanted mommy to come over and give him a hug. But I didn't have time to be that crying little colt...

"I had to grow up. I had to learn and to train, to prepare for a future where so much depended upon me. I sacrificed a great deal of my childhood to be the silent and unseen protector of this nation and no one ever thanked me for it. But you know what spurred me through all that training? Through all the blood, sweat, and tears? My father, Ignitus Enflame."

The stallions listened, for none of them could remember Midnight ever talking about his father.

"My father was a great pony, the Captain of the Royal Guard in his time, perhaps the greatest Fire Wizard Equestria has ever known. The day I gained my wings, he no longer saw me, his son, as his little colt, but rather a young stallion who had come into his own, and he swore then and there to make me the greatest protector Equestria had ever seen! But you know what? There were times when he made me hate him...! Resent him for hoisting so much, expecting so much, from a ten year old foal. A part of me truly does hate him, to this day.

"But even to this day, I still can't help but miss him, admire him for the example he displayed. He was a protector. A warrior! ...A hero. But he didn't start out that way. None of them do. Heroes like my father, like Shining Armor, like Hurricane, Flash Magnus, Rockhoof, Star Swirl the Bearded, even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! They all started just like us! Ordinary ponies who found themselves in extraordinary situations!"

Midnight's voice grew less harsh, and more... uplifting as he walked before his friends, giving them the look of a leader.
"We remember them as giants, because they stood tall! Because they stood side by side as friends and as comrades. Your lineage doesn't matter, where you came from doesn't matter, who believed in you and who didn't! We are more than heroes to Equestria. More than guardians chosen by Harmony or even Stormbreaker. Even more than friends!

"We are brothers!! Brothers in arms, brothers in heart! And now, we are the last line of defense for Equestria! This is our time, this is our chance... to show a self-entitled bastard what we're made of and who we are! So now I ask you, not as a prince, not as a leader, but simply as a pony who wants to protect all he holds dear...

"Will you stand with me?"

Even Stormbreaker couldn't help but get a chill from that rousing speech, and as silence fell, the other stallions shared looks. At first, they were doubtful, scared. But then they found assurance, in the ponies they stood with, the looks in their eyes shedding the fear and doubt to make room for resolve and bravery. One by one, they stepped forward.

"Ah will." Big Mac declared, "Just as Ah always have, lil' brother."

"I will," Thunderlane stepped up, "We've always had each other's backs, and we're not gonna stop now!"

"And I," Blueblood vowed, "It is an honor and a privilege to count myself among a group of such amazing ponies."

"Me too!" Cheese smiled just a little cocky, "No way I'm missing this party!"

"We've got this, guys!" Soarin pounded his hooves together, "So let's do it!"

Midnight smiled, in pride and in gratitude as he stepped forward, the guys parting for him as they all turned to face Stormbreaker, as the young alicorn said to the great warrior, "I don't know if we're worthy to be called knights, but frankly? I don't care. All that matters right now, is that our nation, our people, our friends and our family need us. So either help us out or stay out of our way."

...

...

...

Stormbreaker's shoulders shook, and for a split second the guys feared Midnight might have pissed off the alicorn warrior, only for him to throw his head back in booming hearty laughter before he finally calmed himself down and chuckled out the giggles he still had and took a deep breath.
"That insolent boldness of yours reminds me of my son, Hurricane! Be that as it may, I am proud of you all though I must warn you of the opponent you're about to face. I don't speak of the Son of Avarice specifically, but rather the Aegis Armor."

"You know about it?" asked Midnight.

"It is a powerful magical artifact and weapon, one of thirteen known as the Alicorn Treasures," Stormbreaker explained, "throughout the course of this world's history, there have been thirteen objects of great power. Some helped civilizations rise to greatness, others, like the Aegis Armor, led to death and destruction. The Son of Avarice really isn't much of a warrior, to tell you the truth."

"But then how'd he beat the Royal Sisters?" asked Soarin, "He seems plenty strong, considering he beat two powerful alicorn princesses."

"The Royal Sisters did not fight the Son of Avarice with the full of their power," answered Stormbreaker, "The Sun Princess is with foal and could not fully bring herself to fight the enemy directly or risk over-expending herself for fear to her unborn child. The Moon Princess was likewise distracted by her concern to protect her sister and the foal. The Son of Avarice took advantage of that and was able to overwhelm them.

"The Aegis Armor bestows its wearer with supreme strength, speed, stamina, skill, and strategy, and it enhances the wearer's abilities beyond their natural limits and grants them a suitable weapon to wield in battle. What it cannot give its wearer however is experience. In addition, it protects the wearer from all but the most powerful attacks, whether they be physical or magical. Had the Royal Sisters been able to give it their all, they would have overwhelmed him instead of the other way around."

"So what do we do?" asked Thunderlane. "Even if Cheap isn't an experienced fighter, it still sounds like we're hosed."

"The Aegis Armor makes the wearer into basically the perfect warrior," Stormbreaker stated, "but it does not make them invincible. Tell me, my young champions, what weakness does every armor have in common?"

"Chinks in the armor?" Soarin asked. "Like...exposed parts in the plating?"

"Indeed, though the Aegis Armor grants near-perfect protection, like any suit of armor," Stormbreaker answered, "it cannot protect every single inch of the wearer's body. There is but one chink in the Aegis Armor that you must exploit in order to bring down the Son of Avarice. Just below beneath the red stone in the chestplate is a tiny hole.

"If you can exploit that singular opening, you will have a chance."

The six of them shared another look and nodded at their objective before Stormbreaker went on.

"However, that alone cannot be your only means of victory," he looked to Midnight, Big Macintosh, and Thunderlane, "In the past, the three of you stood together in the face of adversity, as you did against Discord and Sombra when before he had been a tyrant king. You three wielded a power together you could not alone.

"With the six you, that power will be even stronger but you must not use it until the opportune moment. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" The Six Stallions all saluted, and Stormbreaker smiled with fervor.

"Excellent, though I send you to do battle, it won't be unprepared..."

Stormbreaker's horn lit up with crackling electrical mana that launched a bolt skyward before it arched over and descended, splitting into six bolts that each struck the stallions in the heart... and they gasped as they felt every fiber of their beings surge with power.

A power that came from standing together, side by side, helping each other up whenever one was knocked down. A power that came from the determination to protect those dear to their hearts, to protect those who could not protect themselves.

The power to defend Harmony!

Dust and ash filled the air, and behind his visored helm, Cheap pulled a cocky smirk and turned to walk away, stating, "That takes care of that. Now... where are the rest of those fools?"

But then... Cheap felt it! Six explosions of power and he turned back towards the debris-filled air, seeing six pillars of light behind it. One sapphire blue with flickering turquoise, one ruby red with leafy green, one electrical yellow and surging with stormcloud black, one pale indigo and white gold, one a bright and warm orange and a silly green, the last blue like the clear sky and laced with prismatic electricity! These pillars reached skyward, exuding strength unyielding, before suddenly they went out like candlelight, seemingly retreating downwards to their sources... and that's when he saw them!

As the dust finally began to settle, there stood six figures, imperceptible through the dusty air, but that didn't stop him from hearing them as the dust began to settle, revealing them to be clad in their Harmonic Armor! Each suit of armor was gleaming silver with gold accents, along with different colors matching the stallion that wore it, but their helms featured metal wings that flared up, protecting their wearer's ears, and a colored plume flaring up on top.

"For Harmony, we stand united..." Soarin drew his sword, blue like the sky yet shimmered like a rainbow.

"For Harmony, we inspire!" Cheese Sandwich drew his sword, orange like melted cheese yet bright like a party.

"For Harmony, we will be true." Blueblood drew his sword, white like a diamond, regal as gold.

"For Harmony, we believe in each other!" Thunderlane drew his sword, dark gray like a thundercloud yet glimmered like a flash of lightning.

"For Harmony, we never give up." Big Macintosh drew his sword, red as a shiny apple while gleaming like a crystal clear pond.

"For Harmony, we vanquish evil!" Midnight Blaze drew his sword, black as night yet glowing like the silvery blue of a full moon.

They raised their swords high above their heads and declared, "So we swear, as the Knights of Harmony!!!"

"Rrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!! So now you all have some fancy armor of your own!" Cheap snarled, "Big deal! I wear the most powerful weapon ever to cleave its way through history! I'll crush you all even easier than I did Celestia and Luna!!"

"No... You will not," Midnight replied, the look he gave Cheap as cold as stone. "Because you are fighting for a lost cause."

"Ha! A lost cause," mocked Cheap as he held up his left hoof and the stone set in the chest plate burned with life, as it sent a concentration of energy to that hoof, and conjured a fearsome halberd.
"I fight for no 'cause'. I fight for myself! I fight to elevate the House of Avarice to its rightful place, above everypony and eveything!"

"And that's exactly why we are going to defeat you, Buck Cheap," Midnight responded, "because you fight only for yourself. Whereas we fight for each other, for our friends and family, for Equestria! For Harmony. Before, you asked us how we were going to stop you - The answer is simple."

He looked to his brothers, and they looked back at him, smiling confidently, with faith in him to lead them, with courage.

"Together."

Author's Note:

And so, the Knights of Harmony are born!

Their oath was inspired by the Old Code, a knightly vow from one of my most favorite fantasy movies ever, "Dragonheart" starring Dennis Quaid

A knight is sworn to valor
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked.

Comments

[Southern Wing]

Good chapter. I can’t wait to read the fight scene between cheap and the knights.