Twilight Sparkle shifted from hoof to hoof, her brows furrowed as a gold-armored unicorn fitted her with a small silver amulet. “Are you sure about this, Sergeant? I’m not exactly the Royal Guard type. I love a good magic test more than anything, but arena combat?”
“No worries, ma’am,” replied the grey-coated stallion in clipped military deadpan. “These dampener amulets prevent any serious injuries and the arena itself is enchanted to disrupt any potentially dangerous spells. Guard unicorns will maintain a shield over the arena to prevent stray spells from affecting the city. Neither you nor your opponent will be in any danger.”
She looked out into the circular arena, its polished walls and smooth floor devoid of any cover, obstacles, or features of any kind. “Yes sir,” she offered nervously as the officer adjusted the amulet. “But why offensive spells? Why combat? And why me?”
”Our Guard Captain is considering adding regular offensive combat training to the schedule for all Royal Guard unicorns, Miss Sparkle. He and some others worry that defensive and restraining spells may not be enough to fend off a numerically superior and magically capable enemy force.” Finished fiddling with the amulet, he grinned and added, “Not that there's any danger of that happening here, of course. As for you, Princess Celestia herself requested your participation, ma’am. We’ll start you off against a Guard rookie. We are aware of your status as bearer of the Element of Magic, so depending on your progress, we’ll pair you against increasingly more experienced veterans.”
“Negative, Sergeant.” From behind them boomed a voice both silken and imperious. “With due respect to thy Guardsponies, thy roster is insufficient in skill and talent to challenge Twilight Sparkle.”
Both ponies wheeled about to face a midnight-blue alicorn. They cried in unison, “Princess Luna!” and both bent low before her.
The Moon Princess paused, her presence rigid and commanding. “Rise, ponies. Twilight Sparkle, I will serve as thy opponent. Thou art already a friend to me, and it will set my mind at ease if I know thou art able to defend thyself and the Elements should circumstances require. Therefore I shall test thee personally.” She turned to the armored pony who stood at rigid attention before her. “Sergeant, if preparations are complete, send Twilight Sparkle to the Arena immediately. Also, summon an additional squad to assist in maintaining the arena’s shields. Methinks thou shalt need them.” Without further comment she turned and cantered down a stairwell into the waiting arena.
Minutes later Twilight found herself suppressing nervous shakes as she stood across the featureless arena from one of two immortal Equestrian Diarchs. Luna’s star-filled mane flowed and waved serenely despite the still air, her expression firm yet blank and unreadable. A dozen and a half unicorns, some in polished golden Royal Guard armor, some in the blue and purple garb of Luna’s own Night Guard, lined a series of elevated balconies surrounding the sunken stadium. With a nod from the Sergeant their horns glowed brightly and a shimmering translucent dome appeared over the open-topped structure. “Combatants,” began the Sergeant, “you will begin on my count and not before. No structural damage spells are allowed. Physical contact between participants is also prohibited. Any hit which penetrates your personal defenses scores one point. Combat will pause for renewal of defenses after each point. The first to score three points against their opponent will be declared the winner. Combatants, on my mark – “ and he paused, looking briefly between the two ponies below – “Go!”
Twilight bore down and her horn lit with blinding magenta light. Three concentric rings appeared around her, wavering and circling as they pulsed and intertwined. Across the floor, seven hard blue lines appeared before her opponent, flat rectangular planes which rotated and twisted to face the smaller mare. Before the last of Luna’s deflectors materialized, Twilight’s horn flashed and sent two crackling blades of force spiraling across the arena floor. The towering dark figure chuckled as the buzzing blades smashed harmlessly against her outermost deflectors, which flickered briefly before vanishing. “Try again, Most Faithful Student.”
The young pony wrinkled her muzzle and lashed out with rapid-fire purplish blasts, the arena air thrumming as each bolt streaked across the distance. Bolt after bolt flew across the arena, each finding its mark perfectly before exploding against the Royal Sister’s defenses. Two more shifting energy planes vanished yet their owner smiled while remaining frustratingly still. “Celestia believes thy power unrivaled," Luna smirked. "Hath she been duped?”
Still no attacks came from the alicorn, who stood stock-still and grinned. Twilight squinted and launched a glowing hoof-sized orb across the gap, trailing wisps of energy in its path. It sailed wide, missing its target by a hoof’s width. “Is frustration clouding thy aim, Twilight?” As the elder mare shook her head, the glowing orb ricocheted off the far arena wall, rebounding quickly to smash into Luna’s unprotected flank. She winced as a shower of sparks fell from her singed cutie mark.
The Sergeant called out, “Point – Twilight Sparkle.”
Luna grinned as her shields dropped and reappeared, this time as a series of rings mirroring Twilight’s own. “Excellent work! Thou hast passed thy test of Perception. My deflectors were directional, not encircling, and thy point was well earned. Let us even the score, shall we?” Before Twilight could mount a follow-up attack, a pencil-thin beam of purest darkness lanced out from Luna’s horn, striking Twilight’s shields dead center. Concentrating to maintain her defenses, Twilight stumbled backwards, eyes wide and disbelieving as the beam sliced through first one shield, then another, then another, though none of the glowing rings faltered or disappeared, and found its stinging mark in the meat of her shoulder.
Again a voice from above echoed, “Point – Princess Luna.”
This time Luna’s visage was stony and grim. “Thou fare'st poorly in the test of Adaptability, Twilight. Thy shields were attuned to specific attacks – elemental, kinetic, and sensory – and so I merely responded with an assault which contained none of those and rendered thy defenses moot. Rely not on thy opponent to be predictable.” At this Luna broke into a thundering gallop, swinging wide around the perimeter of the arena as her horn sent a shower of icy blue spikes in Twilight’s direction.
Twilight, busy realigning her shields, realized as Luna's hooffalls echoed off the arena floor that she had yet to move from her starting position. She bolted into a run, circling opposite her pursuer as the rain of azure needles continued. The frigid needles shattered behind her and she could feel their numbing shrapnel tickle her rear hooves as she ran, her shields fading further with every tiny strike. Luna shouted to her from across the arena as she ran, “Twilight, thou art a sorceress supreme! Wherefore rely'st thou upon thy hooves?” The eager unicorn took the hint and vanished in a flash of pale lavender, reappearing across the arena just in time to be struck by a rippling wave of indigo flames, her final shield winking out beneath their burn.
“Match Point – Princess Luna,” came the call from above.
“Again, Twilight, thou forgettest thyself,” Luna scolded as Twilight gasped and shook her head. “Assume that I know thy tricks and devise something new – be unpredictable!”
Twilight smiled and vanished again, reappearing across the distance only to disappear again as Luna lashed out with bolts of star-filled darkness. Again and again Twilight teleported, never bothering to launch attacks of her own, and each time Luna responded with force only to meet thin air. Twilight disappeared again and Luna attacked the waver of air that signaled an imminent arrival, only to have her shields shattered as she was slammed to the arena floor by a massive blast of white light from directly above. Cringing, she looked up to see a panting, sweating mare hovering above her, the glow of a levitation spell suspending her midair.
“Match Point – Twilight Sparkle” floated through the arena as Twilight grinned and waved and drifted down to land on her hooves once more, and Luna replied with a nod and a heartfelt laugh of her own. “Well done! The test of Creativity was not lost on thee, my friend. Now 'tis time we ended this, Twilight Sparkle. I hope thou shalt fare as well in a test of Concentration.”
Luna reared back onto her hooves, unfurling her great wings as her horn was encased in flickering blue-black flames. She slammed back onto her hooves, the arena shaking as she unleashed a torrent of raw magical energy which shot toward the exhausted unicorn. Twilight dropped her shields and poured all her energy into meeting Luna’s. Her violet lightning arced across the gap and met Luna’s crackling magic like a whip, the two bolts locked together as each mare let flow vast and terrible energies.
Above them the arena’s shimmering dome flickered and quavered. Several of the Guard unicorns grimaced, another cried out in pain, and one stumbled back, blood trickling from his nose. Across the gallery, two more of their number fell unconscious, their golden armor clattering against the arena walls as the dome began to falter.
Luna wore a predator’s smile as she began to stalk toward her opponent, step by step, hoof by hoof, closing the distance slowly and deliberately as the arc-lightning between them twisted and sparked. Twilight gritted her teeth and dug in, legs quaking under Luna's unrelenting attack. The gap between them narrowed and they stood inches apart, their horns all but touching as blinding and searing force tore at the gap between them, the two mares trembling behind gritted teeth.
Without warning Luna lunged forward and planted a firm kiss on top of Twilight’s muzzle. The lavender pony stumbled back, the lightning which linked their horns breaking instantly in a shower of blue and purple sparks. She shook her head and looked up to see Luna turned away, a shallow smile and a deep blush framing the alicorn’s sweat-soaked face. Luna closed her eyes as her horn lit briefly and a single spark emerged. It floated gently toward Twilight, wafting as if it were a leaf in a spring breeze. The spark drifted toward her muzzle, seeking on its slow and spiraling path the very spot which still burned hot behind Twilight's own growing blush. As it floated down and Twilight’s eyes crossed a bit to watch it descend, she saw clearly that the spark had shape: it was a tiny electric-blue heart, and as it alit on her nose, she felt a tiny shock travel down her spine.
Long minutes seemed to pass before the Sergeant’s voice broke the silence. “Well, this is new. Er... Game Point and Victor – Princess Luna.” The two ponies below looked up, almost having forgotten they were not alone, before the Sergeant cleared his throat. “Er, forgive me, Princess. I, ah… I was mistaken. Correction: Penalty– Princess Luna." He swallowed hard under the combatants' gazes and coughed into a raised hoof before continuing, "Physical contact prohibited by rule. Penalty Point awarded to your opponent. Game Point and Victor – Twilight Sparkle.”
Luna giggled a soft, tiny laugh, like the twinkling of windchimes in a midnight breeze, and cantered out of the arena and up stairwell without looking back. Twilight sat on her haunches, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, staring up the empty stairwell. Her slack-jawed stare barely broke when she noticed a guard pony at her side as he began removing the dampener amulet. "W... What just happened, Sergeant?" she gulped.
"Well, Miss Sparkle, a Princess showed up for Arena combat for the first time ever, and you managed to send her home with a loss in her first match, even if it was on a technicality," he chuckled. "I know you don't exactly lack for accomplishments, but if I were you, I'd add that one to my résumé."
"No, I mean, why did she - " Twilight stammered, "what did she...?"
"Hmm? Oh, that." The Sergeant smiled and turned to leave the arena, then paused to whisper over his shoulder, "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Sparkle, I believe it's called 'flirting'."