Let the Silence Sing 2
Part 7: Honor Duel
Tables had been moved. Lines had been drawn on the pristine marble floor. Celestia herself had been herded to a front-row seat, fretting with her eyes as the combatants stepped forward. Nobles gathered around like it was a school-yard fight, a perfect circle of staring onlookers. King Ebonfeather sat to one side, arms folded angrily. Princess Luna stood between several guards (all of whom just DARED anyfeather to make a move on her so they could challenge a griffon to their own duel).
The rules were simple, the first one to die or leave the circle would lose. The challenge had been issued by Big Macintosh, so the weapons would be selected by Prince Ivoryclaw. As there were no wing swords on hand, he instead demanded a pair of golden spears from the solar guards standing by a column. They were begrudgingly hoof’d over and the Prince tossed one to Big Macintosh, who only clumsily caught it.
Celestia stared in horror. If something happened to Big Mac all for the sake of her honor she could never forgive herself! But the challenge had already been issued, her hooves had been tied from interfering. Ponies and griffons alike widened the circle in case one of the dueling pair should suddenly fly out of the ring.
Prince Ivoryclaw tossed his cloak with a flourish. He had a cat’s waistline, and Big Mac had no doubt every inch under his feathers was muscle. The lonely Prince’s life consisted of court ettiquite and fencing lessons, no doubt. Smoothing his tail-feathers a bit, he took up the golden spear and gave it a whistling couple of whirls. There was skill in his wrists, it was easy to see, for he could toss it back and forth, spin it about his back, and still catch it over his head while staying in perfect stance.
Big Mac cocked his head, turning down the offer to just give up or even take a suit of armor to aid him. He’d wrestled Applejack enough times and been to enough sporting events, he knew how to rough-house. He couldn’t say he’d ever dueled for a mare’s honor… but you learned somethin’ new every day, right?
The first hit went right across Big Mac’s muzzle and the spatter of blood was as red as his coat. Everypony gasped, for the blow had snapped the stallion’s head to one side. Had he not been paying attention?! What if he’d been hit with the sharp end of the spear?! He could’ve lost an eye right then! Very much focused now, Big mac held the spear under one arm and stood waiting. Ivoryclaw danced about, just as much to show off for the audience as to confuse Big Mac’s eyes.
The red stallion took a half-hearted swing and it was easily parried away. Then another, then another. There really wasn’t any way to get to the griffon prince with this silly stick weapon, the farmer knew. Two, three, four kisses across Big Mac’s muzzle made welts rise. He was toying with him.
Celestia watched the two of them dance back and forth. This was a political nightmare, either way it went. If Big Mac won the griffon’s would be resentful, the trade agreements might fall through! If Ivoryclaw won, he would demand courting rights by the very same traditions that forced him to duel Big Mac in the first place. The thought of losing her big red pony made her hooves steeple together in a rather timeless expression of feminine worry.
Droplets of blood spilled when Ivoryclaw got around to using the pointy end of the spear. The front of Big Mac’s barrel had a long cut, which bleed onto the white floor. His belting grunt of pain made everypony flinch. The red stallion took to charging into his enemy, spear raised, but the Prince was too nimble. He couldn’t get close enough to tackle him to the ground. Bucking was out of the question too, he would only expose his back to the warrior Prince. Ivoryclaw bade him once more to give up, but the stubborn apple would not.
Big Mac found himself at the center of the circle, watching Ivoryclaw whap him in the side, in the face, in the legs. The griffon’s agility was certainly impressive, but Big Mac was too well-built to be cut down easily. Spreading his wings, Ivoryclaw took to the air, swooping about. Big Mac held his spear up, but a quick swoop-and-grab robbed him of his weapon. Rearing angrily, the red stallion flailed his hooves like a war-horse, stamping like a crack of thunder. It was like being attacked by a huge bee, he just couldn’t get his hooves on the guy!
Ivoryclaw, sensing victory, made a dive-bomb for a finishing blow! Time slowed for both of them. His spear passed Big Mac’s shoulder… dug into his side, hit a rib! Big Mac’s front legs rushed desperately up, grasping the spear before it impaled him. Using the Prince’s momentum, he flailed all of his mighty weight backward to wrest the spear away from him. But no, he would not let go. Big Mac flipped onto his back, all four massive hooves in the air. The spear did an impressive one-eighty with him, flopping the Prince lightly on his back—just outside the circle.
Oof!
There was utter silence for a few moments, then the cheering started. The Prince lay on his back, more stunned by the loss than his landing, and the spear clattered away as he slowly let go of it. Big Mac rolled onto his side, bleeding rather badly, then upright. Celestia rushed forth out of the crowd to embrace him, almost stepping on the Prince in the process. His blood spattered her perfect white coat, and she rushed him away to the medical wing.
Ebonfeather went to collect his son, sighing angrily. There would be no shot at Celestia’s hoof at this point. They may as well leave. Gathering up everyfeather as he went, and dragging his shocked son along, the griffons made for the exits. The cheering crowd was at their backs.
=-=-=-=
Ten stitches and a hoof-full of bandaids later, Big Mac was looking much better. Celestia fussed and worried over him while a private nurse helped to patch him up. The royal coltfriend apologized for ruining the evening, but the alicorn would have none of it.
When the nurse was done and they were at last alone, Celestia took him into her arms. He rested his head on her breast, sighing comfortably. His nose, his ribs, his face all hurt. Bein' the royal Coltfriend was hard work! But, he would get over it. It wasn’t every day you got to duel for a mare’s honor, after all.
End of Part 7
Not quite how I thought it would go, but then again, I suppose I forgot that he'd get to choose the weapons. Silly me.
Yeah, I also kind of hoped, that Mac would wipe the floor with the prince...
Still, it went more realistically that way. Although, if the Prince didn't play with Mac, but went straight for the kill, it would have ended differently. I wouldn't be surprised, if Aegis was inspired by the last episode of GoT while writing this chapter.
So he won due to a fluke?Im ok with this.
Not the ass-whoopin I was hoping for. Oh well.
(Spoiler)
Hmmm, this kinda reminds me of the last episode of Game of Thrones, anyone else see it? Although this is a touch less morbid.
I do wonder how will the Apples react to this? Applejack is mightily posessive of her family. This couldn't be well received by anyone here. Not when their family had been so marked by tragedy. I don't think, she would oppose to the relationship, but McIntosh is probably up for a screaming Sister.
He probably is up to some training too, he won by a fluke. And others saw that, so he probably would receive at least basic training. Nothing intensive, just basics. Especially as he now haves the time to do so, thanks to his bodyguards. In the end, Strength means nothing if you don't know how to use it.
Well this got rather serious quickly.
Ouch for Big Mac, still the fillies live a stallion with some scars. Still I think Applejack or worse Granny Smith might like a few 'words' with that Griffin prince when they find out.
"In my day this is what we called an ass kickin', sonny."
That went just about as expected, Loved the chapter, loved the fight. I think MacIntosh might want to get some training in so he doesn't get so banged up in the future. As always I look forward to your future chapters and stories. ( loved the fact that Blue blood turned out to be a nice guy. For some odd reason I now see Big macintosh, Shining armor, Blue blood and Fancy pants sitting around a table playing poker and drinking Hard cider at some point in the future while the four princesses do ladylike things. LOL )
I came into this chapter expecting to see Big Mac get the Prince in a chokehold and make him submit, but the second those spears came out I was caught without any expectations.
Tireks' beard, I'm glad that he didn't get impaled.
I have a feeling that apple exports to the griffon kingdom are going to cost significantly more in the near future.
He may not be fast but he has lots of endurance and strength thus while he cannot dodge this spear but he can grab it as he is being stabbed and yank it out of their hands or throw them if they keep holding, stopping a charge or deathblow.
It's probably horrible that when the Prince started to flourish that spear around, my thoughts Immediately went to the Red Viper vs The Mountain that Rides fight. Big Mac's too kind a pony to be like The Mountain though :)
:D yay updates! I liked the fight. it's very interesting to read in this no-dialog style. As an aside and somewhat unrelated to this chapter, I also like what you've done with Blueblood.
The more I thought about this, the more I'm okay with this, actually. I was originally put off, wondering why Celestia would pretty much allow the opportunity for her coltfriend to be horrifically murdered (which almost happened). As the supreme ruler of Equestria and a powerful, independent mare, I figured she'd just demand that no, there will be no duels in her kingdom (I headcanoned she outlawed them ages ago), and she chose Big Mac as her partner, and throwing around outdated traditions won't change a bit.
However, winning this duel actually solves a lot of problems. The royal guards weren't approving of Big Mac because he seemed a simpleton who couldn't protect Celestia like they could, and winning a fight and being unfazed from injury would change that. The nobleponies who view him as an uncultured hick now see that he respect their culture to the point of being willing to risk his life following it, and his victory proves him as a stallion of honor. Ebonfeather would be angry if Celestia simply refused his offer, which would sour country relations, and beating him at his own game gives no justification for doing so. And finally, the common ponies would see this as a victory for themselves, an underdog farmer beating an established noble and winning the heart of a princess.
The only person I don't see happy is Celestia. The latest love of her life almost threw his own away following some bullheaded obsolete tradition, not realizing how much anguish Celestia would feel if she saw Mac die before her eyes and then being forced to marry the same person who threw the spear. She could have handled this diplomatic development by herself and didn't need Mac dying over this. Surely, that'd earn a slap and a night on the couch, and at breakfast make up and hug each other for hours on end.
4502470
-is seriously taking notes at this point, all based on Poptard's comments-
4502506
a.gifb.in/052014/1401733492_skateboard_hand_rail_jump_fail_recovery.gif
Hooray! I was wrong, but everything still worked out right!
4502368 I had the same thought, athletic little guy fights giant strong man.
Hope it ends less... messily.
4502470 And you haven't written any stories yet because.........??????
4503561
I've been meaning to... for 2 years now. But seriously, I'm hoping to start sometime soon, like writing drafts and notes and trying to get a good flow going. Maybe with someone or two to work with , I can actually publish something...
I do, however, have a mostly-completed FTL:Faster Than Light fic lying around, I just haven't got around to proofreading it, something I need with my works. I'm a "fresh from the oven" sort of guy, so a few kinks compel me to almost commit literary seppuku. Hmm, I guess I can at least publish it to my FF.net account, it be better than around 70% of the junk on there...
Hand! It said hand!
4503639 You need a proof reader I'm your man.
Is Big Mac going to get a badass scar out of this. Even if it's just a jagged line on his shoulder about 3mm wide and 3 inches long that would be badass.
4503706 Griffins have hands.
4503865 Would it be more appropriate to call them talons, maybe?
4503743
I didn't know finding a pre-reader was that easy!
Sieg!
4504384 We could compromise with claws.
4503865 As it was stated before, griffons have claws, but not hands. Paws, but not hands. Dragons: Claws, but not hands.
Commence read.
Interesting take on Blueblood through this story.
Glad that the couple had interesting interactions and Big Macintosh getting to duel and learn some new things.
Now wondering on any possible sighting of Twilight and the group when going to Canterlot.
Love this story.