Redemption

by Mystic_Knightwolf


Chapter 11: The Duel

Redemption

Chapter 11: The Duel

"BEGIN!"

Trixie was the one to start the night off as the blue mare fired off a volley of magenta bolts before disappearing. Blueblood reacted accordingly by rolling to the side, avoiding Trixie's attack before he noticed her disappear. With his opponent out of sight, Blueblood raised his ears, listening for her reappearance.

He heard the blue mare reappear from his right, and going by the first thing that came to mind, he fired a scattershot in that direction. Trixie, however, predicted a reactionary attack, and so she formed a slanted barrier, letting the wall of shots harmlessly reflect and bounce astray. But what she didn't notice was one of the shots that bounced away was actually a seeker as it curved back in her direction, and before Trixie had the time to react, it struck her on the flank, right on the cutie mark, making her yelp at the stinging sensation, her hind leg jolting up in reaction.

"One-zero, in favor of Blueblood." the combatants heard Luna announce. At that, Trixie looked back to Blueblood with a pout and a glare, taking stance again. She had never faced an opponent that mixed attacks, and if Blueblood was half the mage she thought he was at this point, he was going to get creative.

Now it was Blueblood's turn to start off as he shut his eyes as he began charging his horn, but to Trixie's confusion, that was all the prince was doing, not attacking or even focusing on her for that matter. Not wasting the opportunity, Trixie fired two headshots.

Blueblood dodged them both with a tilt of his head as if he had sensed them coming. Put off, but not surprised, Trixie fired a volley of seeker bolts, confident that he'd have to act to evade them. Still charging his horn, Blueblood hopped off of his hind legs, fully onto his forelegs before sprung up from them, narrowly missing the volley of seekers. But as he was in the air, his horn that he'd been charging fired at Trixie, or rather, in her direction. The blue mare instinctively ducked under the shot, the directness and speed of the projectile telling her it wasn't a seeker. But after it passed her, she didn't notice the bolt ricochet off the wall right back at her, striking her yet again on the flank, right near the tail. Trixie yelped again at how close it came to her femininity, and that took her attention away from Blueblood, who, no longer being chased by her seeker bolts, fired off a single shot at her right as she jerked forward from the second hit, catching the third right in the chest. Trixie reeled back from it, and when she finally got over the stinging sensation on both ends of her, the cerulean princess shook her head free and focused again. Blueblood himself was standing across form her, just as focused as she.

"Three-zero, in favor of Blueblood." Trixie felt her heart jump at that. Already, Blueblood had a far lead, and they were barely sixty seconds into the match. But despite the near crushing lead, Blueblood was focused, not a whim of arrogance, satisfaction, or complacence visible on his features. But Trixie still took notice of Blueblood's horn, which was still aglow since he went on the offensive. Whatever he has in store, it must be extraordinary...

"It seems Trixie has under-estimated you." Trixie assessed as she began circling the arena, scrutinizing her opponent for any kind of opening.

"Then instead of winning, you should focus on how you may improve for next time." Blueblood advised, falling into rhythm as they began to revolve around one another.

"Even in battle, you give your opponents advice?" the blue mare asked curiously.

The pale prince chuckled at that "Just the good ones." he replied with a grin.

"Then Trixie will heed it." Trixie stated before vanishing. The unicorn princess reappeared at the other side of the arena and began firing non-stop. Each shot fired was a bolt essentially large enough to engulf an alicorn, let alone Blueblood, who began advancing. With powerful leaps and bounds, he dodged each large, unhurried shot, closing in on Trixie with every flying leap. But as the pale prince came within range with particularly high leap, Trixie changed her method of attack to a spread shot. Not seeing this coming, Blueblood took a full blast of several hits to the chest and face, but just as the shots seemed to have made impact, the pale prince vanished in a plume of blue smoke. In the split second Trixie took to assess what had just happened, she realized it wasn't teleportation, else Blueblood would have vanished in a bright flash, but disappearing into just dust means...

Trixie whipped around as quick as she could, and with a swing of her head, her magenta magic shot forth from her horn like a lance. As soon as she looked up from her attack, she saw Blueblood, his head off to the side, apparently falling victim to Trixie's attack, further evident by the bruise on his cheek.

"Three-one, favoring Blueblood." despite who the score still favored, Trixie felt pride begin to build in her chest.

Looking back at his opponent, Blueblood smiled "Very nice. You adapt quickly to new attacks." he complimented, dissipating his shield.

Trixie huffed at that "Expect nothing less than the best that Trixie has to offer."

"But is it enough?" came Blueblood's challenging response as he tightened his stance.

"We shall see." came Trixie's reply as they went at it again.

Within Canterlot's Grand arena, at Canterlot Mountain's very peak, epic battle took place. Spells went off like fireworks, illuminating the darkened sky, drawing the ire of many ponies down in the mountain's city, but only those who were battling in the arena and its audience knew what was taking place.

Trixie was aggressive, favoring offense in her tactics, even in the role of defense. In addition to trying to do Blueblood harm, her attacks were used to cancel out that of Blueblood's, despite the comparatively few he made against her. The blue mare, despite how taxing her extreme offense was, did not falter or even show any signs of it. Where Blueblood was, she fired, and where she predicted he would evade, she fired. But despite the maelstrom of magic fired in seemingly all directions, her opponent refused to be hit.

In stark contrast to Trixie's offensive stance, Blueblood was all defense. He dodged the seekers, deflected the beams, and evaded the broad swipes, all the while, his horn aglow, charging with spells only known to him. His mind raced at a steady pace, his focus divided between evading Trixie and charging his horn. The prince wouldn't say it was easy, but he wouldn't say it was difficult either.

This game of Cat and Mouse wore on for several minutes before Trixie ceased her attacks to face her opponent again. The cerulean princess was lightly panting as the exertion of her offense finally caught up with her. It seemed Blueblood knew exactly when to simply dodge and deflect and when to teleport when evading without magic wouldn't do. But speaking of magic, Trixie also noticed that Blueblood's horn was still aglow, no doubt charging something that will more than likely be something extraordinary. But either way, this far into the battle, Trixie already knew he was drastically holding back, else the match would have been long over. She found that thought rightfully aggravating...

"Trixie thought you weren't going to hold back. Is she not good enough to see your true power?" there wasn't any spite in Trixie's question, but the showmare was always tempted to fight an enemy, no matter how great.

"How else am I to prove that I am worthy enough to replace Twilight as your rival?" Blueblood reasoned.

"A good point, Trixie admits. But you seem to be keen on teaching me rather than fighting me." Trixie pointed out.

"What if I myself favor only worthy opponents?" came the pale prince's rebuttal.

"Then Trixie accepts your offer." she concluded before she prepared to attack again.

"Prince Blueblood is victorious!" Trixie heard Luna announce in the Royal Canterlot Voice some six seconds later. She couldn't recall much of what happened between then and her preparing for her next move other than her senses being overcome in all directions by blinding coils of white and blue light. One moment, she was ready to attack, and the next, she saw some bright lights and a warm tingling sensation all over. Once the blue mare could process what was going on around her again, she shook her head free of confusion and digested what she had heard about the match.

She had lost... again.

But this time, to her new rival.

As far as she was concerned, it was a start.

XXXXX

"Trixie... did not expect you to be so adept in magic, Blueblood. She did not think that time away from Equestria could teach one so much about the art." Trixie began as she and everypony else were making their way down from the arena.

"So many different places teaches you to use magic in so many different ways. Patience is key." the pale prince explained as he was walking next to her.

"It seems even Blueblood has taken notice of your weakness, Trixie." Luna pointed out over her shoulder as she, Celestia, and Twilight walked ahead of them. There was a hint of a grin on the night princess' face.

The cerulean princess slumped with a deadpan expression. "A fatal flaw of Trixie's..."

Blueblood felt he could relate to the blue mare. He remembered times when he challenged Shining to a duel in the Castle's courtyard. Of course, the latter of whom often accepted out of pity, and during the actual battles, he made it embarrassingly clear he was toying with the young Blueblood. Now, looking back on it, the pale prince thought he'd likely last longer if he wasn't so impatient. "I know the feeling."

Trixie raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Do tell."

"Shining Armor and I were... never on good terms while we were growing up. The rivalry was mostly one-sided, and everypony tended to side with him instead of me. I often tried to challenge him to duels, and whenever he gave out from pity, the duels were usually as one-sided as the grudge." down in front, he saw Twilight wince at that.

"Then it seems we have much in common." Trixie assessed, looking over to him.

"That we do."

XXXXX

"Well, that's enough fun for one night." Celestia said with a long, silent yawn. "I must be getting to bed. Blueblood has a big day tomorrow. Goodnight, my little ponies." with that, the alabaster mare her leave down one of the hallways of the intersection they made it to.

"I must agree. Night court and all. Goodnight, all." Luna said before she left down another stretch of hallway.

"Trixie will take an early leave. Battle does leave her worn and tired. Goodnight, Blueblood and Twilight." the blue mare said before following Luna.

Now left alone with Blueblood, Twilight looked to the pale prince. "I guess you're going to bed too?"

"I have time to converse if you do." Blueblood offered, offering a walk down the stretch of hallway that was still empty.

As the two began walking, Twilight sparked up conversation. "So Blueblood..." Twilight began, nervously looking about. "... are you excited for the party?"

"You can say that, yes. It's always good to see friendly faces." Blueblood reasoned. "But what about after the party? Do you yourself have any plans?" he asked, looking over to her.

Twilight couldn't meet his gaze, lest it wanders to the rest of him. "W-well, there's your uh, book." the purple mare reminded. "I still can't think of a good title."

"Redemption? That is certainly my drive." Blueblood suggested after a brief moment of thought.

"Oh uh, good name." the alicorn complimented nervously.

"Thank you. I look forward to getting started after the party."

And with that, they began talking the night away. The two just walked up and down the hallways, no real destination in mind. Their chat drifted to just about everything. Books, music, art, even food. Some would look and call them the best of friends. Others who ignored the prince and princess being siblings-in-law would've gladly called them coltfriend and marefriend. The Lunar Guard had much food for thought on the matter as patrols walked past them as they laughed, walked, and talked through the long stretches of hallway.

It was easy for even Twilight and Blueblood to lose track of time. "As much fun I had being here with you just walking and talking, I think it's best best if we go and get some rest. No doubt you'd be attending the party, correct?" Blueblood reasoned as they made it back to his sect of the castle.

When Twilight became aware of just how long they've been up and about, it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh Celestia, we have been up for a while, haven't we?" Twilight asked, nervously rubbing her arm. "Yeah, I think we should get to sleep. Goodnight uh, Blueblood." Twilight said before she started on her way. But a few steps in the opposite direction, she stopped in her tracks, nervously looking back to Blueblood, who raised a brow in concern. "A-and yeah; I'll be at the party."

Blueblood nodded with a smile. "I look forward to seeing you there. Goodnight, Sis." and with that, Blueblood headed off down the hallway, quite aware of Twilight's vibrant blush at what he had called her.