Artemis Sparkshower

---

Lieutenant Violetta was absolutely right the other day.

There was no indoor facility in Canterlot anything like this.

After passing a beautifully-painted white moon-and-stars symbol, the uncomfortably tight corridor Artemis had been just inside opened up into an enormous, circular hall with a colossal peaked dome ceiling towering above. Hurricanes, even she had enough room to fly around in there! Heavy armor and all!

The centrepiece of the room was a huge round sand pit on a raised platform, easily a hundred hooves in diameter. That must be the actual combat arena. There was a small lip at the edge to hold the sand in, surrounding about a ten-hoof wide rim, before the floor dropped into a trench or moat that was a good twenty hooves wide and maybe four or five hooves deep. After that, a thirty-hoof-wide outer ring encompassed the trench, rising slightly higher up than the arena floor.

Then it was just the oblong domed roof, painted in a darkish blue but covered in white specks and with a broad, grey band. It was the night sky -- appropriate, for the Night Guard.

But despite the darkish roof, it was very bright in the cavernous space. There were magical lamps in the ceiling, around the outer walls, and even some mounted on small braziers at the inner edge of the outer ring.

Artemis, her quaternion, and their VIP were all standing at what appeared to be the only entrance to this arena, at the outer edge, with a staircase descending down into the trench just ahead. After just a brief pause to introduce the room, Ebonshield immediately headed towards the steps, and the rest of the group followed.

Down in the pit ahead, two black-clad batponies were slowly making their way through the air above the sand pit, dragging wicker rugs back and forth behind them, grooming the surface of the arena. Beyond them, up on the outer ring, were a dozen of their fellows, dressed in colorful vests and conical caps, lounging amidst a collection of large, equally colorful cushions. A cloth canopy in a very bold shade of red framed a small, raised platform at the back of their section and a covered wooden stand -- like a tall gazebo -- closer to the inner rim. It wasn’t an exclusive area; the upper ring boasted an assortment of cushions, chairs, benches, and the like, with rugs scattered and layered to make a more comfortable surface over the stony floor. The canopy covered gazebo, however, was unique.

As Ebonshield led them into the trench, Artemis could see that it wasn’t empty down there, either. Curved wooden benches lined much of the outer trench wall.

Seating for spectators? Or maybe just for the next soldiers in line for the pit, if this really was normally a Night Guard training facility. There were weapons-racks, too, boasting all kinds of spears and other polearms, as well as some things she didn’t recognize.

Over on the right, a covered storage area had been cut out from underneath a portion of the outer ring, supported by pillars, and the pegasus could see a number of wicker and burlap figures, some of them criss-crossed with stitches.

Training dummies!

Once Artemis stepped into the trench proper, she could see two more staircases leading back up to the outer ring, evenly spaced around the pit. There was a small alcove next to each of one them -- hers, included -- with a small faucet, showerhead, and drain.

For rinsing the sand off after training, she supposed.

One of the sand-grooming batponies noticed the group’s arrival, and hissed sharply at their comrade to get their attention. Both of them immediately fluttered their way over to the storage room, landing and unhitching the wicker-carpet 'rakes' from themselves.

Ebonshield led Artemis and the others in their direction, but before they could reach the storage room, the two batponies hustled towards them and then threw themselves down on their forelegs before Sergeant Ebonshield, kowtowing to her as they faced the ground.

Their batpony sergeant came to a halt and looked over the prostrate figures. "All is prepared?"

The groomer on the right -- a purplish-brown mare with a black mane, who looked like she was just a teenager -- immediately replied, her face still buried against the stone floor. "Sí, Siete. All is prepared."

The Sergeant nodded, though she doubted if the two servant-ponies could even see. "Good. Bring out one of the targets for the stabbing and one for the hitting."

This time, both of them popped up and then bowed down again, answering in unison.

"As you ordain, Siete!"
"As you ordain, Siete!"

With a nod from the sergeant, the two attendants scurried off towards the storage-room, hustling their way to colt-handle a pair of dummies out and then up into the sandpit.

Ebonshield shook her head to throw back her hood, her back-combed mane almost instantly popping out and up, before turning to face the rest of them. "We are private here now, and you may speak freely among yourselves or with me. You may rest yourselves on the bench for a moment while I speak with the director before we begin."

‘The director?’

She must have meant one of the ponies in the group at the back, up on the outer ring.

A master of ceremonies, maybe?

Or some kind of Night Guard drill-sergeant?

As Ebonshield walked upstairs and their VIP undid his wool cloak, Glamerspear stepped over and leaned in towards Artemis, whispering. "What do you make of this crazy trip so far, Sparks?"

Artemis glanced up at the painted star-scape ceiling and shook her head. "I don't know, Lily. It's a lot to take in at once."

Lily’s helmet rattled as she nodded while adjusting the strap. "No kidding. I've got a bunch of questions, and I'm sure I'm not the only one."

Swallowing, the pegasus sat down and grabbed the other three pieces of spear off of her back and started to screw them together. "I suppose they'll have to wait until after we get back to Canterlot."

Glamerspear squinted at her. "Back to Canterlot? We're still in Canterlot. We left the Royal Engineer's office at eight and it can't even be nine o'clock yet."

Artemis nodded. "I know. It's just that it doesn't feel like Canterlot any more."

Glamerspear finished adjusting her gear and put her hooves back down on the floor, and took a glance around the room. "Yeah, you can say that again."

With the top two pieces put together and the locking screw engaged, the armored pegasus started to attach the final heavy base of her long bronze pole-arm.

A few hooves away, the Royal Engineer had folded his cloak up and set it down on one of the benches, sitting down next to it to re-lace his sandals.

Corporal Bound had one of her javelins out already -- hers just snapped together, instead of being fastened -- and was carefully watching as the two sandpit-attendants hoisted a wicker pony up onto the training field. By the time they got it and the canvas-wrapped one up as well, Ebonshield had returned from her visit with the 'director' and their VIP had strapped on his shield.

‘Well, this is it.’

The sergeant smiled as she looked over the four of them. "Everypony is ready to begin? Excellent; let us ascend to the stage." From underneath her cloak, which for some strange reason she still hadn’t removed, Eb beat her wings and leapt up to the sandpit in a single, swift bound.

‘Is that the only way up there...?’

It was only a five-hoof wall, but that was still quite a task for a unicorn or earth pony.

Artemis extended her wings and looked hesitantly over at Honour and Glamerspear. Anonymous had already stepped up to the edge, and he placed his shield and weapon up on the rim before shoving himself up on his arms and throwing his legs up and to the side with a loud grunt. Moments later, he was up there too, patting sand off of his hands and picking up his equipment.

Frowning, Corporal Bound headed towards the edge as well, folding her javelin back up and placing it on her back. Crouching a few hooves away, she hunched her shoulders down and then, with a shout, surged up, kicking herself into the air like a goat on a mountaintop, landing awkwardly with three hooves on the dais -- the fourth one kicked at air, and she almost slipped back off before righting herself.

With a quick shake of her head, Glamerspear stepped over as well. "What, no stairs? Okay, fine, make me work for it."

'Working for it,' for the unicorn, consisted of her conjuring four of her shimmering teal spears in front of her -- two of them at knee height, and the other two at head-height. Using those floating, incorporeal weapons as stairs, she quickly clambered up to the arena as well.

So much for a five-hoof climb being difficult to manage! Artemis was the only other one who could fly, and she was still down in the pit! With a quick jog around the edge to gain some speed, she spread her wings and flapped to get up to height, then banked over to land in a line with the rest of her group on the brown, rocky outer rim.

Sergeant Ebonshield was standing in the sandpit, facing the Royal Engineer, with Honour and Glamerspear sitting on his left and Artemis settling in on his right. The batpony, with the two sandpit attendants standing behind her, each one beside a test dummy, nodded and looked around the room.

"Great Lord, I welcome you to the arena of the Grand Hall of Stars." Returning her gaze to their VIP, she continued. “To learn how to defend yourself against a pony combatant, it would help, I think, if you first saw the manner actual of their fighting. Therefore I propose that we begin with having the members of your quaternion demonstrate their skills here before you."

Anonymous nodded. "Seems reasonable. Although I did catch some of their moves during the fight at Newstirrup Bridge."

Ebonshield grinned. "True. But with three fights at once, the opportunities for viewing must have been most limited. And these duels were, shall we say, out of the ordinary, yes?"

Artemis’ certainly was -- she spent almost all of it just trying to fly away. And Honour's was, too -- she asked to fight without equipment and armor. Only Glamerspear's duel could be called ordinary, although how it ended was anything but.

The Royal Engineer nodded, smiling. "Fair enough. Who's first?"

Ebonshield looked over at the pegasus. "Let us begin with the soldier the most junior -- Specialist Sparkshower, if you would please to take to the air, and perform the famous lancing charge against the target of wicker?"

Artemis nodded sharply, clanging her bascinet helmet shut. "Yes, Sergeant!"

"One moment before you begin, Specialist." Ebonshield turned around and looked over at the occupied section of the outer rim, where the dozen colorfully-dressed batponies had now appeared. And they were carrying musical instruments!

"Among the Children, it is traditional for such trainings to be accompanied by the music, to invigorate the spirit. Director! Some music, if you please?"

One of the batpony musicians, sitting around a large circular wooden drum, craned his neck up and squinted down at her.

"¿Qué?"

Ebonshield sighed, then shouted back at him. "¡La música, maestro, por favor!"

"Ah, sí."

Apparently, the music-director didn’t have a very good grasp of Equestrian.

Turning to his comrades in the ensemble, he gave a quick nod. "Uno, dos, tres."

After what appeared to have been a count-in, he led them into a processional piece centering around a slow drum-beat. When a few bars went by and it still kept to its leisurely tempo, Sergeant Ebonshield sighed and shook her head.

"No, no, no..."

The music jerked haltingly to a stop, until the music-director ended his drumming.

“We need music with the energy and the vigor!"

Once again, the lead drummer arched his eyebrows in confusion. "¿Qué?"

Frustrated at having to speak in the batpony language with the monosyllabic conductor, or perhaps taking out the frustrations of the journey so far on him, Ebonshield sat down and Artemis saw her gesture energetically with her forehooves at the orchestra.

"¡Una composición 'vivace,' por favor!"

"¿Qué?"

Ebonshield shook her head, and gestured even more expansively. "¡Animada, viva, rápida!"

"Ah. Sí."

With a friendly smile as if he understood her perfectly, the music-director gestured a hoof at his comrades, mentioned a few words Artemis couldn’t make out, and counted them in once more.

This time, the beat was much quicker and energetic, opening with two guitars and a fast snare drum beat, and quickly joined by some horns as well as a number of other assorted percussion instruments.

---

Recommended background music: Bill Elm & Woody Jackson - 'Triggernometry', from 'Red Dead Redemption' [2010]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg-yC0xcI9s

---

The sergeant was right -- it was invigorating.

With a smile, Ebonshield bowed to the musical ensemble and nodded at the two batpony attendants, who quickly hustled the wicker target into the center of the arena, then retired back down to the trench floor.

After a brief check of her equipment, Artemis took two steps and then leaped into the air, flapping her wings to gain height as she circled counter-clockwise above the arena. There was enough room in the cave for her to circle around easily enough, but it wasn’t quite big enough to allow her to reach her maximum dive speed in there -- not with the sharp turn she’d need to make to begin the attack run. That was all right, though; it should still be fast enough to be impressive.

When she reached an altitude of about fifty hooves, and the conical ceiling started to cramp her maneuvering, she glanced left and waited until her final turn would show her right side -- her weapon-side -- to the spectators. Then she went into a dive, hooking her spear against her rear hooves, gripping it tightly with her right hoof, and tucking her wings in a bit to gain speed while still having control.

The sand pit hurtled towards Artemis, and when she gauged that the dive was half done, she extended her wings once again to convert that downward speed into forward momentum. She pulled off the classical dive-bomb armored charge without a hitch -- a maneuver she’d practiced hundreds of times before -- and in the blink of an eye, she hurtled past the crowd and her spear slammed into the wicker dummy.

The bronze weapon pierced straight through, and the harpooned target slammed against the pegasus’ peytral, thudding into her with far more considerable force than she expected. As the momentum of her armored body picked the heavy object up off the ground, she flapped her wings and tipped her spear down, taking to the sky again even as she dropped the target down into the trench.

One simple banked turn later, and Artemis landed right back where she started.

Anonymous, having put down his equipment, was giving her a polite golf-clap, and she lifted her bascinet cover up again, panting a bit from the exertion, to smile at her VIP.

While the two sandpit attendants fetched the target from where Artemis had deposited it in the trench, Ebonshield nodded at her. "Excellent form, Specialist. Did you observe this carefully, Great Lord?"

The Royal Engineer stopped clapping, placing his hands on the crimped hips of his blackened bronze armor. "I think I had a good look, yes."

"And you observed the force with which the Specialist impacted upon the target, yes?"

The pegasus’ VIP grinned in her direction. "Heh, I certainly did. I'm not looking forward to being on the receiving end of that."

Eb’s lip curled up in a slight grin. "Indeed no, Great Lord. Although made of wicker, these targets are weighted to simulate an average pony's weight. With the velocity that the Specialist Sparkshower gathered during her charge, you can see she was able to not just pierce straight through it, but also to lift it up into the sky."

‘So these are weighted targets, after all?’

That explained why the attendants seemed to struggle to move them around, and why it seemed to really slow Artemis’ charge when her chest slammed into it.

The Royal Engineer nodded. "I saw. I'm guessing that to withstand an attack like that, I'm going to need to use my shield and not just trust in my armor."

Ebonshield’s grin widened. "Precisely. We shall conduct exercises in defending against such attacks later. But I note also that the Specialist Sparkshower is distinct from the ordinary pegasus soldier in the weight and the size of her weapon, and the heaviness of her armor, and the fact that she has been trained not to break away but to fly straight through her target, the better to allow her great inertia to inflict the damage also."

Everything Eb said was absolutely true. Any pegasus short of a lightly-armed Air Superiority flyer carried a spear and knew how to charge with it just as the specialist did -- but they were trained to veer off at the last second, leaving the weapon stuck in the enemy and grabbing another one from their back, or switching to hooves if they ran out. With all the plating Artemis had on, it was easier to just bowl right through -- and on a pony-sized enemy, the collision with her bronze-plated body was almost as damaging as the tip of her pole-arm.

The Sergeant turned towards Glamerspear. "And now, Specialist Glamerspear, will you demonstrate for us the properties remarkable of your attack?"

Lily confidently stepped up into the sand pit. "Sure, Sergeant."

As she trotted off to the left edge of the circle, the two attendants maneuvered the wicker target back into the center. It wasn’t long before Artemis’ unicorn comrade was in position and the batponies had retreated back down to the safety of the trench. Artemis saw Glamerspear's horn light up, and the unicorn planted herself securely in the ground. A second later, a pair of shimmering green spears materialized above her head.

“All right! One pony in the open! DPICM - two rounds! Shot!"

With a sharp double-crack, the two shimmering weapons -- Dual-Purpose Improved Conjured Munition rounds -- screamed forwards with blinding speed, slamming into the upper torso of the wicker target and sending it tumbling sideways over itself.

"Splash!"

After three careening spins, the wicker pony hurtled right out of the ring, teetered at the edge, and then fell into the trench.

The Royal Engineer began to clap politely, and Artemis followed along, as did Sergeant Ebonshield. Despite her success, Glamerspear looked a bit embarrassed, and called over to the group of spectators with a shrug.

"Honestly, it's a lot more impressive against a moving target. Shooting at static dummies is filly's play."

Ebonshield nodded and beckoned her back over. "Of course, Specialist. We understand that your training focuses on the enemies which fly rapidly. But the Royal Engineer is not such a target, of course."

Anonymous cleared his throat and spoke up. "I have a question, actually."

The Sergeant turned back to him. "Certainly, Great Lord?"

The Royal Engineer glanced over at Artemis. "Who wins in a contest between Glamerspear's telekinetic spears and Sparkshower's heavy armor?" Turning to address himself to Lily as well, he continued. "Does your magical spear penetrate her bronze, or would it be deflected?"

That was a good question. But, Artemis thought, Glamerspear was such an accomplished anti-air unicorn that she would surely be able to shoot her down if it came to that.

The unicorn shrugged. "Honestly? I don't think I can do much more than scratch her armor."

‘Tornadoes!’

Artemis blurted her disbelief. "What! Lily, how can you say that! I've never even heard of anypony doing anything like what you did to Lieutenant Kilfeather!"

Glamerspear just grinned. "Yeah, and look what it cost me." Turning back to the Royal Engineer, she continued. “But volume of fire isn't what counts against an armored foe. I'm a conjurer, sir. The spears I shoot emulate real ones, and just as bronze plate is pretty much immune to piercing weapons, so Sparkshower's heavy armor is immune to my spears, as well."

Gesturing with a hoof, she summoned up one of her DPICM rounds. "Conjuring isn't the only way to shoot; there are other unicorns who can bring down armored warriors more easily. Illusionists use weightless force-field bullets that aren't based on reality and can pierce through armor, but each of their rounds is tiny and comparatively much less powerful -- they need to put a lot more ammo into a target to actually injure and wound."

Sitting down, Glamerspear plucked the glittering weapon out of the air with her forehooves and waved it around as if it was actually real. "Elementalists don't really send up anything like traditional projectiles at all -- unless you think a moving ball of fire or electricity is a 'traditional projectile.' That kind of stuff doesn't care much about armor, unless maybe if the target's wearing an insulating suit, but they fly a lot slower than anything else and cost a lot more mana than even an illusionist's bullets or a conjurer's spears, so there's drawbacks whichever school you go with."

Planting the shaft in the ground, Glamerspear curled a foreleg around it like she was standing on guard, and the spear appeared to become slightly more solid and less transparent. “Conjuring was what I excelled in at the 'Schola,' so that's what I do. It takes a lot of study of real-world physical weapons to make a good conjuration."

The Royal Engineer narrowed his eyes and held out his hand. "I see... May I take a closer look at one of your spears?"

Glamerspear nodded. "Sure. Be careful, though -- the edge is sharp."

Seizing the weapon in two hands, Anonymous carefully inspected the tip, rotating the shaft to get a good look at the 'business end' of the spear. Even from over there, Artemis could tell that it was almost impossibly well-honed.

Almost.

"Specialist, let me understand this correctly -- if you studied a different weapon, you could produce that one instead on demand?"

Lily nodded. "Sure, sir. I have a couple of different designs I can conjure up already -- a few smaller dart-like weapons for when speed is more important than mass. And of course I have lightweight blunt rounds for training, too."

As she spoke, an assortment of different spear-like objects started to semi-materialize above her head, including one with what looked like a bag of sand tied at the front, then winked out as she kept her focus on the single weapon in the Royal Engineer's hands.

"What determines the muzzle velocity -- how fast each spear leaves your grasp, I mean?"

Glamerspear shrugged. "Practice and power, really. We're not trained to hold anything back."

The Royal Engineer dipped the spear-tip in the sand and traced a line, then licked his lips. "This is indeed a sharp spear, Specialist. But sharpness isn't what will get you through thick armor. What you need is density to penetrate, and soft material to support the tip so the round doesn't deflect."

Their unicorn seemed taken aback by his declaration at first, then looked genuinely interested as he continued on. "Equestria doesn't have capability to work steel or tungsten yet, and we're ages away from doing anything with uranium, so I'm not sure how to get you an example to study, but I can certainly describe it and sketch it out, and then maybe you could try imagining it yourself."

With a friendly smile, he handed back her shimmering green spear. "Just some food for thought. After all, if I'm going to be keeping bodyguards around me, I might as well make sure they're the best they can be, right?"

Still a bit in disbelief at her VIP's apparent knowledge about weaponry, Glamerspear took the spear and started to tuck it under her foreleg, then realized that she didn’t need it any more at all. As it vanished in a puff of green glitter, Anonymous looked over in Artemis’ direction.

"Anyways, that's all I was curious about. And if I can make case-hardened steel, Specialist, you'll be first on the order list for a new set of plates."

Better armor than what they had now?

Was such a thing even possible?

Artemis already felt pretty invulnerable, but then again, if Glamerspear started tossing around spears made of 'tungsten' -- whatever that was -- maybe she’d need an upgrade!

Glamerspear took her place back in the line, and Ebonshield waved a forehoof to the batpony attendants, ordering them to bring both targets out. "Bueno. Now, the Corporal Bound will demonstrate the attacks of the regular infantry of Equestria: the spear thrown, the spear thrusted, and the attacks with the hooves. Corporal, please to use the target of wicker for the javelin and spear, and the other for the sabots."

With a deep breath, Honour Bound stepped up into the sandpit and snapped together one of her javelin-spears. Rearing up on her hind legs, Corporal Bound raised up a javelin, took two quick steps forward, then chucked her weapon up at an angle towards the target with a cry of exertion.

"Hurh!"

After sailing a moment through the air, it landed neatly in the flank of the wicker pony, knocking it over sideways. Honour stepped up as the batpony attendant pulled the weapon out, scurried over to the place the weapon just in front of the target, and then raised the wicker creature once more.

Picking up the same javelin and checking that it was still intact, Honour sat down and couched the base against one of her forelegs while using the other to direct the motion, and stabbed several times up into the wicker pony's face and chest.

"Hup! Hup! Hup!"

Each time, the target reared back from the blow, but then was pushed down again from behind by the batpony attendant. Stepping back, their quaternion's leader reared up on her hind legs again, holding the javelin above her head, and thrusted down from above right into the target's head, drilling the spear down right through the neck and out the chest.

"Hurgh!"

Her chest heaving from the exertion, she received a polite applause for the performance.

Ebonshield continued to clap her forehooves together even as Honour gathered up her weapon and folded it back up onto her back. "Bueno, and now the kicking if you please? Bring the target close so that the Great Lord may see -- this is the demonstration most critical."

While the attendants dragged the burlap target right in front of them all, Ebonshield looked over her shoulder at the Royal Engineer. "Most ponies fight with the hooves. Even in the infantería, holding the spear can be awkward so the hooves are the weapons more common."

Corporal Bound, looking a bit glum as she trotted over, nodded. "Sir, a spear thrust is a lot more damaging when it's a whole platoon of us doing it in a line or square. Same thing with the javelin throw -- it's supposed to be a mass attack."

‘That's strange, she almost sounds embarrassed.’

What's to be embarrassed about?

Did she do something wrong?

Nothing that Artemis could see. Even though Honour failed to knock the target out of the ring as Artemis and Glamerspear had, they were still mighty blows! The pegasus definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that overhead thrust -- not without her armor on, certainly!

The Royal Engineer nodded. "I understand, Corporal."

The two batpony attendants stood just beside the target, holding it with their forehooves to keep it in place, and the quaternion leader stepped up to face the static foe. After getting the measure of the target -- and catching her breath a bit -- Honour quickly spun around in a small leap and brought her hind legs to bear, kicking outwards with a harsh whinny and a spray of sand.

"Brrhnn!"

The burlap target took the twin bronze sabots right in the flank, and bucked upwards, only to be brought down again by the sandpit batponies. After demonstrating her rear kick, Honour turned around again, facing the target and raising herself up on her hind legs, then delivered a quick one-two punch with her forehoof sabots.

"Hup! Hup!"

Each hit jostled the target, though it once again stayed upright. Honour collapsed back down onto all fours, then turned around to face the group.

"... Well... that's it, I guess."

‘Gosh, she doesn't seem enthusiastic about this at all.’

Artemis thought Honour was completely on board with the Sergeant's idea for training the Royal Engineer; was she having second thoughts about this as well? Maybe she needed some cheering up, afterwards…

Regardless, everypony gave the corporal a brief applause as she rejoined the line.

Ebonshield stepped out into the sandpit and addressed the group once more. "Excellent. Now, Great Lord, that you have seen to your satisfaction the attacks standard of ponies, we may begin your training regimen. Please to step up with your shield and weapon."

Before the Royal Engineer could even bend down to grab his equipment, Glamerspear took a step forward and burst out with a frown on her face. "Hey! What's the big idea claiming the show's over, Sarge?"

‘What did she mean by that?’

Their batpony sergeant raised a quizzical eyebrow and looked over at the unicorn, who pointed an accusing hoof. "We ain't seen you fight, yet!"

‘Oh!’

‘That's right!’

And that was something Artemis had really been looking forward to, as well! Surely Sergeant Ebonshield wasn't planning on skipping over herself, was she?

Next Chapter: Chapter 70 Estimated time remaining: 23 Hours, 58 Minutes