//------------------------------// // 9 - Sweet Move // Story: Takes The Cake // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Sweet Move There was a rumble in the audience, a tense anticipation that filled the air with frightful expectations. Eyes in the stands were all trained on the lone figure standing at the centre of the stone-tile stage. Though she was dressed in fairly elaborate jewellery, her stance bespoke calm and regal grace. There was no doubt in anypony’s mind that the figure standing proudly was Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, among many other titles. Princess Celestia outwardly exuded poise and forbearance, but to those who could be standing three feet away, they would notice a slight tremor in her left fore hoof. It was a nervous tic that she never could quite master in combat situations. Some would say it would be a small matter, but it had Celestia’s full concentration. Celestia was trying very hard not to let her mind dwell on the upcoming fight. ————— “What are the rules?” Celestia asked, trying to get a hold on a situation that seemed to be spiralling out of her grasp. Luna laughed. Her voice carrying a pleasant lilting tone that Celestia was finding hard to appreciate, given the asperity at her expense. “Rules?” Luna snorted. “There are no rules, sister.” “But what if somepony gets hurt?” Luna blinked. “You worry too much. Nothing too serious happens. I’m of the opinion that the Arena is too light sometimes.” ————— Celestia shook her head. Concentrate, she told herself. She took measured breaths. Ever since Chrysalis had caught her off-guard Celestia had been dedicating some time in the night to have Luna teach her the ins and out of magical and physical combat. In terms of technique, Celestia was confident that she could best Luna in a magical tournament, but there were some things that Luna excelled at. Combat was definitely one of them. When the bugling of the horns resounded across the field, Celestia glanced up at the prominent box that held only a few seats. She was glad to see Twilight and Luna there, but strangely, she couldn’t spot Prince Blueblood. She wondered where her recalcitrant nephew would be hiding. The glint of burnished steel caught her eye. Now that she got a closer look at the two she realised that the way that they moved bespoke a deep bond between them. On her left, a white-coated filly took a position just at the 10 o’clock position. On the right, the grey-coated stallion grimly took his position at 2 o’clock. From the way they both faced her, it looked like they intended to work together to bring her down. Celestia could feel her stomach tie itself into knots. She never liked fighting, and she knew that self-defence was necessary, but raising a hoof against her little ponies seemed like a contravention to the oath she swore when she took her throne. An oath to guide and protect her little ponies throughout the ages. A court-appointed scribe made his way to the centre of the stage. He adjusted his glasses and made eye contact with each of the participants. The crowd, just moments before in a rabbling rumble, quieted down to barely a whisper. Celestia could almost feel the press of excitement and anticipation. “Are you ready?” the scribe asked, scribbling something down on his ever-present notepad. “Ready,” the stallion grated. “Ready,” the filly called out. Celestia took yet another deep breath to erase her pent-up nerves. “Ready,” she responded in a clear voice. The scribe nodded and stepped back to the edge of the platform. It was a raised court, a square with white lined edges. There were no rules, but participants were expected to keep within the court. “When I give the signal, you may engage,” the scribe continued calmly. Celestia refocused on the pair. She mentally selected her first move, visualising the series of requirements for casting. She flicked through her mental library of spells and selected one, calculating the finer details silently. “Three,” the scribe called out. Celestia watched the stallion tense. He was probably going for some sort of physical blow. She angled herself slightly to receive him. Hoof to hoof was quicker than casting. “Two.” The filly’s horn glowed an ominous blue. Celestia noted that it matched her streaked aquamarine mane. She looked like she was going to prepare an offensive spell. If that was the case she would have a little time to deal with her. “One.” By now, Celestia had her actions planned down to the sixth move. “BEGIN!” The stallion on the right was rooted on the spot, but the filly propelled herself, darting forward so quickly that Celestia almost failed to avoid the first thrust of her twisting buck. Too late, Celestia realised she had been fooled. The stallion had cast an illusion spell to hide their true identities, swapping their identities of unicorn and earth pony. With a blinding flash, Celestia bought herself a few moments with a sorcerous rendition of a spotlight. Unprepared, the duo blinked and found that the court was empty. Celestia hovered above them, her wings beating powerfully as she gained altitude. The stallion called out as he realised their error, but not before Celestia had shot off two powerful bolts of purely magical charge. The filly dodged both shots and came up on the other side. Then she flew. Surprised, Celestia sheared to the left as the filly rocketed towards her. She could see the determination rooted deep within her eyes. These weren’t the eyes of a pony that wanted to win a friendly sporting match. This was a filly that thirsted for a victory. To win in battle. A hoof darted towards her head, Celestia narrowly dodged it and countered the movement reflexively, pounding her opponent with two strikes at the weak spots Luna had pointed out. The middle of the chest and the lower abdomen. She watched as the filly’s eyes bulged out, her breath leaving in a wheeze. That’s when Celestia made a mistake. Seeing the obvious harm she was inflicting, Celestia hesitated for a brief moment. The unicorn saw his chance, and loosed a powerful bolt. Celestia felt a searing pain in left wing. The beam sheared at the tips. Not enough to cause injury, but enough to stop her from flying. Celestia fell, feeling the sickening lurch as she fought against gravity in free fall. With a jerk, she corrected her tumble, wincing as feathers and her injured wing tried to catch air. She landed in a sprawl near the edge of the Arena. Just in time she saw the pegasus dive down with hooves outstretched. With widening eyes, Celestia rolled to avoid the treacherous blow. *CRACK* Stone underneath the pegasus splintered and Celestia shielded her eyes. Something within her screamed that she had to move, move, move! Against the growing pain in her wing and the dazed shock from landing, Celestia scrabbled to the side just as another bolt from the unicorn came tearing by. Staggering, she glanced back, worried about the crowd’s safety. For the first time, Celestia noticed that the first few rows were empty. Now she knew why. The bolt crashed into the empty seats, dissipating harmlessly into the stone. Anypony there would have been hurt by the blast. Celestia eyed her opponents warily, studying them properly. The two worked well together. They never missed a beat in their carefully coordinated attack. With a grunt, Celestia realised that she had to dispel her reservations about fighting and start engaging these two seriously. Seeing her falter on her hooves, the unicorn fired more bolts, and Celestia hastily threw up a shield to block them. Her defences were all but shredded by his powerful conjurations. Celestia had to admire the handle on power that the unicorn possessed. He could pose a great difficulty. Likewise, the pegasus had spiralled around and flittered just above the unicorn, ready the counter any surprise moves Celestia had. She needed to think of something outside the box… Wait. There was something Twilight had told her… Teleport?! No, no, no! That spell is much too advanced for me! With a savage grin, Celestia blinked out of existence. She reappeared next to the startled stallion. Quickly, before he could react, she touched horns with him, sending a spark down between them on contact. Hearing a whistling sound, Celestia quickly leaped back just in time as the pegasus landed between them, wings flared protectively. She had her eyes trained on Celestia, but she spoke, addressing her partner. “You alright?!” The stallion, a little dazed, shook his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I think.” The pegasus glanced back only briefly. “Okay, you better hit the Princess with what you’ve got. She doesn’t seem to be as aggressive, but she’s still a mean fighter.” His horn glowed once more. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “This’ll be a kicker.” Celestia almost didn’t hear the exchange. Her teeth had gritted together, while she concentrated on her spell. Around herself she erected a powerful shield. The spell for the shield was called the Welcome Ward. Named so because of its nature in incorporating the spellcaster’s energy and using it to strengthen itself. Usually, it wouldn’t be very effective unless you get a sample of your opponent’s magical resonance, but Celestia had taken a generous sample. It shimmered, just seeable in the visible spectrum. The pegasus darted forward, explosively leaping forward. Celestia recognised the distraction, sidestepping neatly to avoid her attack and twisting away from the magical bolt. But instead of crashing into the stands behind her, the bolt curved around and followed her. Celestia’s surprise at the unexpected maneuver prompted a triumphant grin from the unicorn. It was soon wiped away, however, when the bolt was merely absorbed into the spell matrix. Seeing the bolt fail, the pegasus tried a last-ditch manoeuvre to catch her out, but Celestia closed her eyes, bringing them both together with a complex binding spell. Her horn flared with the intricate conjuration of Sunrise. The spell was an original one created by the diarch herself, incorporating the power of the sun into its very essence. Above, an almost Daedalian circle inscribed itself in the atmosphere, layer upon layer stacking on top of each other. Each circle glimmered with power, focusing the intensity of the sun’s rays into a single point on Celestia. Her horn was white hot with the violence of what seemed like the star itself ignited in the air around them. Flames burned at the edges, sweeping forth in the geometric circle prescribed by the spell. The crowd, only moments before ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ at each blow, had fallen silent. The pair couldn’t bear to look at her, so bright was her casting. They shivered, acknowledging her absolute power. It was an irrefutable fact. It was like seeing the sun, feeling its heat, and knowing its power. “Yield!” they both cried in the silence. “Yield!” Celestia sighed in relief, extinguishing the spell. Though the light of the full noon was upon them, the sudden cessation of illuminance from her brilliant horn made the day feel like night. Celestia undid her binding spells, slowly setting down the two ponies and stepping away from them as they collected themselves wearily. Around her was the shocked stillness of an awed assembly that saw what they truly had not expected to see. It started with a stomp, then a mild clatter, and then grew as the crowd’s cheering roar was added into the applause. The scribe, who had been struck speechless by the magnitude of what he had just witnessed, forgot to signal the bugler to herald the end of the match. He hurriedly waved as Celestia looked around her in surprise. “Princess Celestia is once again victorious!” the scribe announced. At the sound of the bugle the cheering died down as they listened to the traditional ending to the match. The stallion and the filly brought themselves to a bow in front of her. As one they spoke. “We retract our challenge, Princess.” The pair turned tail and began to exit the platform, drooping with thinly-concealed disappointment as they did so. Celestia called out to them before they could leave. “Wait!” she cried. They paused, turning around curiously. “What was your request?” Celestia stated. The stallion gave her a humourless smile. “As it has been on the last three occasions when we have clashed.” He seemed to lose heart, and fell glumly silent. “We wanted to become your personal guard,” the filly finished for him. “I don’t have one?” Celestia blurted in surprise. At least on her world she had quite an extensive retinue of personal guards. The filly looked confused. “You told us you never needed one. You told us that the first ponies that could beat you in a fight, no matter the number, could be your personal guard.” “Of course, nopony was able to beat you, Princess,” the stallion said. He didn’t sound sarcastic, just defeated. “This was the first time you’ve used magic so extensively in combat. You’ve always excelled in hoof to hoof, but this time you used purely magic.” He shook his head in wonder. “Nopony would even come close to your abilities.” Celestia straightened at that. Powerful though she may be, she was still mortal to damage. The dull throb of her wing seemed to attest to that. “Be that as it may, I will be in need of a personal guard. You have shown exceptional teamwork and courage,” she announced, surprising them. “I recognise your mettle. State your names, my little ponies.” The filly stepped forward. “Flitter, Princess!” The stallion stepped forward. “Shade, Princess.” “Flitter and Shade, you are now the first Captain of the Celestial Guard.” She wondered if Shining Armor would mind. She shook her head. Time for that later. Flitter and Shade glanced at each other. “We’re both the Captain?” they asked, then blushed at their synchrony. Celestia couldn’t help but give a light chuckle. “Yes, you’ve both shown that you can work exceptionally well together. I expect great things from you two. Report to the Castle tomorrow.” Flitter and Shade bowed low once more. “Thank you, my Princess!” they exclaimed. Picking up on the announcement, the crowd took it as a signal to begin anew, the Arena filled with the crying support of the local populace. Luna glided down from the box, greeting her sister with a wide grin. “Well done,” she cried. “Such unorthodox methods, but certainly effective! You hath demonstrated a great capacity for clemency that was almost unheard of. I suspected that they would hath suffered your ire after injuring your wing, but they’ve barely escaped without a scratch.” Luna shook her head. “And that spell! It was as if you were the sun itself! What hath you been up to, sister? Such advanced workings beyond anything I’ve seen!” “Ah, you mean Sunrise?” Celestia answered through a tired smile. “I’m glad I didn’t have to use it.” Luna cocked her head. “Why ever not?” she queried, her curiosity piqued. Celestia coughed and looked away. “Ever heard of the Badlands?”