Spike gave his practice blade a few testing swings. It was balanced reasonably, in his estimation. On some levels, it was surprisingly good to find in a barracks that specialized in spear and hoof-to-hoof combat. "Where were they even hiding this?"
Blueblood was doing much the same, glowing horn swooshing his wooden sword about testingly. "I put them here years ago. I use them once in a while for practice, but little more until today." A little smile split his lips. "Until today," he repeated, turning to Spike fully.
"First to three definitives?" ventured Spike as he raised the sword into a ready position. "I should warn, dragon, glancing blows are laughable." He smiled a little cockily. "Unlike soft ponies."
"How cruel." He directed his blade towards Spike. "Very well, first to three telling blows. We will part after each and begin anew. You." He pointed a hoof at a guard. "Watch us and call them out."
"Oh, yes, sir!" He saluted sharply and moved to stand between them and to the side to see the action. That was enough to start drawing other curious onlookers.
"In the spirit of things, I move we avoid any 'ungentlepony'-like behavior." Spike dipped his head lightly. "No striking below the belt, that sort of thing."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," agreed Blueblood. "Good to have these things defined though."
Not that Spike had that protection when sparring with Laud, but knowing Blueblood would fight that way freed him to focus on a smaller portion of his defenses. He smirked softly, feeling he had already won a small battle.
They stood still a moment, facing one another, swords at the ready. Somewhere in the castle, a door closed. It was accepted as a signal to begin, and they approached.
Gregor stepped into the waiting room to see his guard was right where he had been left. "(I trust the food is to your liking?)"
"(Father, Sir...)" He quickly scrambled to his feet, dusting himself of crumbs rapidly. "(Good to see you returned to us. I hope the journey was fruitful?)"
"(I can say that much with ease.)" He made a soft placating motion. "(Be at ease, you have done me no wrong. There was little else for you to do while I was away.)" He looked over the table, taking measure of what had been eaten and how much. "(Are we feeding you enough?)"
"(Father...)" He had started to blush, knocked off his usual steady balance. "(Their food is quite well prepared. I had meant each to be my last sampling.)"
"(And you are led down a road of sin without even noticing,)" laughed Gregor, slapping his guard on the back. "(Enough gluttony for one day. Where is Spike, the dragon?)"
"(He wandered away, Father.)" He indicated the same door Gregor had come in through. "(I don't know where he is right now.)"
"(We'll have to find him then. We'll look rude if we wander away ourselves without our guide. Come.)" He led the way back out the way he had come, leading the guard back into the hallways of the castle.
Spike deflected the sword jabbing towards his face, turning it aside with a strong swat. Blueblood's magic grip, he had swiftly determined, was not as firm and powerful as Laud's. He could block a swing outright when he had both hands on the handle of his sword, but he didn't need to.
Parrying wasted less time and energy, allowing him to throw the incoming sword off kilter. The part that distracted him was that doing so didn't move the rest of Blueblood. It was held in magic, not in any hand at the end of any arm, so it didn't expose Blueblood in the same way he had grown accustomed to.
"Very good," complimented Blueblood, shifting to the left to try another angle. "But at this rate..."
Spike couldn't argue the logic. He was playing defense, and that couldn't win the match. Blueblood's sword came in a sharp stab and Spike suddenly lashed out a hand, swatting it aside even as he advanced in a sudden swift scramble.
"Hit!" suddenly bellowed out the guard that had been watching them. There was little doubt that Spike's sword trailing up along Blueblood's belly counted as a telling blow. Other guards clopped their hooves on the ground in appreciation of the display as the two separated.
"Oh ho, that eager to make my innards into outtards, are we? A deft maneuver..." He bounced his sword back and forth as if passing it from hand to hand, but it was always held in his magic. "The next point is mine."
They came at one another with cautious steps. Blueblood was the first to test Spike's defenses, swinging and poking probingly. Spike smirked softly, the same mistake being made. He knocked the sword out of the way and went in for a strike.
"Hit!"
"What?" Spike blinked dumbly, confused until the sword prodded him all the more firmly in his back where it had found him.
"Fool me once, as they say," counseled Blueblood as he danced back away. "This is quite the showing. Come on then, we shouldn't let the tempo die down."
Cheating unicorns... But there was little he could do about that. His small size was an advantage at times, and Blueblood hadn't called foul on that. They both had their advantages, and it was up to the other to learn how to get around them. Such was the game of wits that was a proper sparring match. "Alright, let's do this."
Gregor arrived just as the third round began. He had sense enough to not make sudden noise at what was clearly a duel, in good spirits or foul. He appraised the two warriors quickly, seeing neither of them were hurt, and wielding what appeared to be wooden practicing blades. A friendly spar? He joined the crowd of pony guards to bear witness to it, his own standing just to the side and behind him.
The two warriors danced around one another, both on guard for the other's sudden moves. Spike kept the floating sword where he could see it even as Blueblood kept Spike in front of himself. The two swords met and clacked with wood on wood, each blow turned aside before they could reach the other side. "I admit," spoke Blueblood as he made a parried strike. "You are giving far better sport than I had dared to dream. My compliments to your mentor."
"I'll... pass that on." He ducked under a high swing and stuck with his blade, but there was no hand there to catch, but also no hand or arm there to stop his sword from continuing. Blueblood's strength was also a weakness, as there was nothing stopping Spike's thrust from completing, prodding him firmly in the chest.
"Hit!"
Blueblood snorted softly, backing away. "I can't blame much anycreature other than myself for that one... I see now why they said a shield was a good tool if one means to perform this in earnestness." He rubbed the sore spot created from the point of Spike's sword jabbing him. "An excellent reminder..."
Spike swallowed nervously, imagining Blueblood with a magically held sword and shield. That would have changed the topology of the fight quite a bit. "You're good," he ventured. "I mean I thought I'd be one of the only ponies around that would know one side of the sword from the other."
"You are not a pony," noted Blueblood with a little smile. "You are a squire, and one I am proud to cross blades with. Come then, I have a point to prevent you from gaining."
They came at one another with a new spirit. Blueblood had learned from his errors, forced to pay mind to his defenses, only one point away from a loss. He deflected and parried Spike's blows as he edged around and struck at the small combatant who was holding his own well. "This is what I get for not practicing..." Not that there were many ponies for him to spar with.
Sweat was running down his brow, but a smile was on his face. "Almost!" he swore, a fine swing turned aside and the small dragon twisting out of the way just at the last moment. "No, no, I won't allow it," he called back, dancing away from what would have ended the match. "Come now!"
Spike was sparing less discourse, instead measuring his opponent, looking for weak points, gaps in stance and swing. He would return to Laud with a tale of his triumph. The thought of it brought a soft smirk to his face as he grabbed his own sword in both hands, one at either end of it, the 'edge' and the handle. He blocked the swing coming for him but not passively.
He struck the sword with his own, putting all his power behind it. Blueblood was clearly not expecting it, and the sword went flying away. His eyes followed it, possibly trying to get a magic grip back on it. When he looked back, there was a sword at his throat.
Blueblood burst into soft laughter. "Oh, you've defeated me. Good show, good show. Ohhh, would that we could continue. I was just warming up! I forgot how stimulating it can be to truly cross blades with a fellow warrior."
Gregor softly clapped as the guards stomped their hooves, the witnesses showing their approval as Spike set his sword aside where it had come from. "Hey, good match yeah." His eyes darted though, noticing the sound of clapping amid the stomping and clopping. "Father Gregor! Uh, dang, uh... I hope I didn't make you wait."
Gregor held up a hand as he shook his head. "You provided a fine performance, you and your sparring partner."
Blueblood looked between Gregor and Spike. "Here is a human that looks as if he has some title. I am Prince Blueblood, a pleasure to meet you."
"This is Father Gregor," hastily introduced Spike, gesturing at him. "And that's his guard." He indicated the quiet human lurking further back.
"A pleasure," assured Gregor. "Are you the child of Princess Celestia, or of similar status?"
Blueblood's cheeks warmed faintly. "I am her cousin," he demurred. "Equestria only has princesses as ruling caste, I'm afraid. I was denied that position since birth." He smirked softly, tail giving a twitch. "Just as well. I'm quite comfortable as I am."
Gregor nodded to him and looked to Spike. "A brilliant finish, Young Squire. You've been taking your studies carefully, I see."
"Oh, yeah, for sure." He patted the more real blade at his hips. "I mean... I'll be a knight when I'm done, and I don't want that to be just a... word."
"A good attitude. Fine to meet you, Prince Bluebood." He nodded towards Blue. "I'm afraid I must away with my guide. I need to consider on what I have seen and learned today."
"Do not allow me to keep you." He hefted up his sword from the ground in his magic and sent it flying to land next to where Spike set his down. "Spike, you simply must come by again. I just won't accept no for an answer. I'll not stop from chasing you down to your little town if I must. We simply must cross blades again."
Spike smiled at that, chuckling softly. "Sure thing. Now that you've sparred with me, maybe it'd be a little less awkward to try Laud, but watch out, he makes me look like the squire I am." He flashed a thumbs up and turned to lead Gregor away. "You want to get on a train for home, or are we staying in the city for a day?"
"I should like to rest for now," demurred Gregor. "So staying the day would be best, if it's not too much trouble. I will see that you are compensated for the--"
"--Don't even worry about it," cut in Spike. "You're our guest. One room coming right up!"