Chapter 4
Twilight was woken up the by a few rays of sunlight from the morning sun peeking through the window. Still groggy from just waking up and blinded by the light, she pulled the blanket over her head and tried to block the invading rays from doing their job.
Unfortunately the damage was already done and she could feel a headache beginning to take hold.
“Spike!” she called out blindly, hoping for a response.
After hearing no answer from her scaled assistant she begrudgingly decided to throw her blanket off and leave the comforting warmth of her bed. Now taking in the room around her she realized this was not her library, it was in fact her room at the castle.
'Oh yeah, that's right...'
The events of yesterday began to fill her thoughts. She remembered how Luna came to her, how she had come to the castle and of how she was able to finally talk with her mentor again. She also remembered the letters and what the Princess had said to her that night. It all seemed pretty unbelievable but here she was, in her old room at the castle.
Twilight had stayed up pretty late talking with the princess before retiring to her bedroom for the night. It felt so familiar that she mistook it for her bed at the library. It even had the same purple star patterned sheets.
She was having trouble processing some of the things she had heard last night. Luna had mentioned that Celestia was lonely but the princess was acting so different from the way she used to. She was always so calm and collected before, she’d never known the princess to show any other emotion besides the gentle smile that she wore everywhere she went. To think that being away from her brought this kind of emotion from the princess both terrified and humbled her.
She still couldn't believe that she could mean so much to the princess. Even more so she couldn't believe that the princess thought that she would make a better ruler than her. It shocked her that the princess thought that way. She always seemed to know what to do as if she was holding all the cards and played them just when they were needed. She could never be a better princess then Celestia.
But then again even if she is the princess she is still just one pony. Like when Applejack tried to buck all the trees in Sweet Apple Acres on her own, there is only so much one pony can do. Perhaps like Applejack the princess also needed help, just in a different way? But how was she supposed to make the princess feel better?
After brushing down her messy mane and tail, she found that she had a little bit of time before the castle would be serving breakfast and made her way to her small personal library to look for a book on cheering up ponies. Granted, this was a princess she was dealing with and not any normal pony but what other options did she have?
After about twenty minutes of pouring through each and every book on her shelves she couldn't find one book about other ponies. Almost every book was about magic, historical facts or chemistry, but then again she hadn't been a very sociable pony before going to Ponyville and meeting her friends.
Now with no luck in finding a book on her shelves and no time to check the Royal Library for books she was going to have to face the princess without the reassuring presence of knowledge to back her up.
Well at least she would be able to spend time with the princess like she wanted, and unlike that time at the gala, it would be just the two of them.
And then she remembered what she said to the princess the night before.
'I don't want better. I want you.'
Face met hoof as she thought of the embarrassing line. What was she thinking, telling the princess something like that? And then fumbling over words trying to explain herself, it was like she was a nervous foal again. It wasn't like she didn't mean it. She meant every word. But surely she could have said it in a way that didn't sound quite so... revealing.
Just being with the princess again was enough for her, as long as she was able to be by the princess' side once again she didn't need anything else, right?
'Right.'
And she only wished to make Princess Celestia feel better, right?
'Right.'
Besides, it wasn't as if she was in love with the princess or anything...right?
‘…’
Right?
‘…’
Right?!
‘…’
Oh, who was she kidding. Twilight couldn't lie to herself no more than she could lie to the princess.
She could deny it all she wanted but being with the princess again was beginning to bring out feelings that she thought she buried a long time ago. The words that the alicorn spoke brought out new hope for these old feelings. A hope rekindled that she might be able to mean something more to the princess than just a student.
And now she was going to be around the princess for the whole weekend.
“What am I going to do...”
It was already approaching noon as Celestia found herself in her study. She was painstakingly making her way through the mess of papers that filled the desk in front of her. Twilight waited patiently the entire time, never once complaining or growing restless while her mentor worked. Celestia felt bad for dragging her student into this boredom and after a bit of convincing got her to pick out a book from the shelves and read while she worked.
She watched as the lavender unicorn took a seat on one of the couches that lined the room, she could see a small smile form on her student's muzzle as she relaxed into the comfortable seat and immersed herself in the book. Aside from the occasional turn of the page or flicker of her ear Twilight remained peacefully quiet. She found the sight so adorable that she had to repress a strong urge to cuddle up beside her student and join her.
Every once in awhile she would catch her student looking at her over the top of her book only to look away when she motioned to met her student's gaze. Celestia silently wondered if Twilight now thought less of her from what she had revealed the night before. She was glad that Twilight still thought so much of her despite her confession but she knew that things would change now that her student had seen her in a new light. It was strange but, much like with her sister, she no longer felt the need to put on her mask while around the unicorn.
Celestia had originally wanted to spend as much time with Twilight as she could but as soon as she had finished breakfast with the mare she was hoofed a mountain of paperwork from the previous day-court. The thought of incinerating these bothersome sheets on the surface of the sun had crossed her mind, but it was one of the many duties she had to fulfill as a princess; she couldn’t just ignore it and pretend it never existed.
Though that was what Luna did most of the time.
It was already past noon and Celestia wasn’t even halfway through the intimidating pile of paperwork. Celestia had always been known to be patient and focused but right now she just couldn't keep her mind on the task. Setting down the current papers held aloft by her magic she decided a small break would help to refocus her thoughts.
Giving a quick glance to the other end of the room she found that her student remained unaware of her movement, eyes still glued to the pages of the book. Carefully she stood up and, feeling a bit mischievous from her restlessness, she slowly approached her student - careful not to make any noise as she crossed the room. She stayed close to the wall to keep out of her student’s peripheral vision. Not like she would have to though, Twilight’s face was literally buried within the pages of the book she was reading. Once she was close enough she lowered her head down until her muzzle was less than a hoof's length away from her student's ear.
“Twilight” she whispered, causing the ear to twitch.
The reaction that she got was well worth the effort. After stiffening for half a second the purple mare proceeded to let out a loud yelp and tumbled off the couch and onto the floor leaving her hoofs dangling in the air. The book that she had been reading was now lying on the floor beside her. Celestia began to giggle as Twilight pouted and her cheeks reddened.
Smiling down at her now disheveled student she couldn't help but feel that she enjoyed being with her student even more now that she had told Twilight how she felt. She'd had enough of hiding herself from one of the few ponies that treated her not as one would a princess but more like a dear friend.
“Why don't we go stretch our hooves for a while.” she said, using her magic to help the mare to her hoofs.
Apparently the guard must had heard the noise from outside the doors because as soon as Twilight had gotten to her hoofs two guards burst through the doors, spears at the ready for the cause of the disturbance.
“Is everything alright your highness? We heard a cry from the halls.”
Celestia let loose a sigh. “No, everything is fine. My student and I were just about to take a break and go for a walk.”
“Very well. We are ready to escort you at your convenience.”
She had to physically refrain from sighing again, she felt like she had been doing that a lot lately and it wasn't something she wanted to make a habit of. “That's quite alright. I'm sure that my faithful student is escort enough for a simple walk through the castle.” She replied giving a reassuring smile to Twilight who looked up at her, clearly appreciating the lessened company. Even Celestia had to admit that the royal guards could sometimes be more of a burden then a boon when among other ponies. They had a bad habit of scaring off any that got within a yard of her.
“Besides if you two followed us then who would be left to watch over the room with all the important documents in it?”
Before her guards could protest any further or realize that they could just split up and do both jobs she quickly pushed herself and her student past the door and into the hall.
“Thanks Princess. Sometimes it gets awkward to talk to you because of all the guards that follow you around.” Twilight said after they turned the corner of the hall. “That isn't to say that they’re annoying, they can just be a little intimidating to some ponies. Though I'm okay with them being around because I've kinda grown used to them over the years while I stayed at the castle. Not that I mean they don't command attention... and I'm rambling now.”
“It’s quite alright Twilight. I know they can be a little imposing at times. And please, you don't have to use my title, just 'Celestia' is fine.”
“B-but princess-”
“Celestia” She corrected.
“- I can't! It would be disrespectful to you!”
“Twilight, we have known each other for quite a long time now. I have personally taught you and I have become closer to you than any other. Everypony in Equestria treats me like a princess, even Luna can only ever see me as a sister. It has been decades since a pony has treated me as they would a friend. And it would make me happy if you would call me as you would a friend.”
Twilight, seeing the pleading look on her mentor's face, gave in. “If that would make you happy...”
“It would very much Twilight. Now give it a try.”
Twilight went very Fluttershyish and in the smallest voice she could bring out muttered, “Cel....a”
“I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. You'll have to speak up.” Celestia said with a little bit of a singsong tone in her voice.
“C-Celestia...” Twilight spoke a bit louder finally managing to get the word out like it was physically stuck in her throat. Though only loud enough to reach the princess' ears and no further.
“See it’s not so hard, I want you to feel comfortable calling me by name.” Throughout the years she had met many of her subjects and all of them referred to her as ‘Princess Celestia’ or ‘your highness’ and it was because of these titles that she seemed unreachable to her subjects. “Besides Twilight, if anypony has the right to call me by my name it is you.” Celestia finished, smiling softly at her student.
Twilight returned the gesture but after that fell silent as they continued their walk down the corridors. Aside from the occasional glance at her the unicorn's eyes stayed glued to the floor for the majority of their stroll. Celestia could tell that there was something weighing on her student's mind and had a feeling of what it might be.
“I'm sorry.” Celestia said eventually her gaze also falling to the floor. “It must be boring here at the castle away from your friends.”
“Oh! No no no no.” Came a hasty reply from her student. “I'm glad to be here. With you. It’s just...” She trailed off.
“Please, tell me what is on your mind Twilight.”
“Well... I was wondering... What do you like to do for fun?”
“Fun?”
“Well, you see...” Twilight began to fumble her hooves together. “Whenever my friends are feeling down I found that the best way to cheer them up is to do something with them that they like to do. So I thought that if we could do something fun together, it might help you relax.” After several seconds passed and Celestia hadn't replied Twilight added. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean intrude on something personal.”
It wasn't that Celestia didn't want to answer, she would be more than happy to tell Twilight what she liked to do, but there wasn't really that much that she did for fun nowadays. Actually now that she thought about it, the life of royalty today really was a bore. She was beginning to wonder how she managed to stay sane all these years while living like this.
A slightly familiar sound brought her out of her thoughts. It was something like the sound that lightning makes as it strikes the ground but with a hollow clack. As she rounded the corner and the courtyard came into view she found that it was in fact the sound of some royal guards practicing in the open area. There was a pair unicorn guards sparing in the field as well as a few onlookers.
Her pace slowed to a stop as she stared at the two dueling unicorns as they lunged back and forth. Their horns were glowing, sparks flying from where their horns impacted each other. Horn foiling had become a regular practice among the royal guards for training and friendly competition so it wasn't uncommon to find them in the fields around the castle grounds practicing.
It reminded her of when she use to practice horn foiling, back then it was a sport of honor and dignity among royalty and the upper-class ponies. It was one of the few ways that she managed to 'cut loose' from the everyday routine as a princess. She really enjoyed those times.
Wait...
She had enjoyed herself more back then.
And then it dawned on her. Luna still partook in the old sport every now and again after she had returned so why not her? Surely she had earned herself a break from the her duties. She even had a talented unicorn that she could spar with right beside her.
Quickly she made her way down the steps and into the courtyard with Twilight in tow, picking up her pace to keep up with the long strides of the princess. The smile on Celestia's face was absolutely massive at the thought of how the surrounding guards and nobles would react. She just hoped that they wouldn't panic too much.
Upon seeing the princess approaching them the pair of royal guards immediately halted their attacks and stood at attention, both giving a call of “Your highness” as the glow of their horns fading away; their sparring match forgotten in the presence of their duties.
“Guards, clear the courtyard. I would like to engage in outdoor activities with my student.”
“Of course your highness.” One of them replied. “Would you like us to bring out the croquet equipment? We will have it set up for you at once.”
“Oh no, that won't be necessary. We have everything we need with us, we're going to be horn foiling today.” Her reply gained several shocked looks from the surrounding guards and one very worried look from Twilight Sparkle.
“Your highness, isn't there something safer that you and your student can partake in?”
“Thank you for your concern but I do not believe that any harm will come from a friendly game between me and my student.” Taking the hint that the princess' mind was not about to be changed the guards that were present gave an affirmative nod and backed away, giving the two a wide space in the middle of the courtyard.
“I don't know Pri- Celestia.” Twilight said turning towards the her.
“Come Twilight, it will be fun.”
“But I don't even know the first thing about horn foiling.” Twilight had little knowledge of horn foiling other than it was a sport that the royal guard partook in. During the time she spent at the castle she usually stayed indoors, the library to be exact, so she never saw them in action but her brother had mentioned it several times when he talked about his job in the royal guard.
“It’s rather simple really, you just use your magic to cover the outside of your horn in a variation of a shield spell and bring it to a dull flexible point towards the tip. Then you try and jab the end into the opponent while parrying and avoiding their blows. ” Celestia could see the look of horror on Twilight's face at the idea of fighting her so she added, “This was one of the most enjoyable games amongst royalty a few hundred years ago and this is not the first time I have partaken in it. You needn’t worry about me.”
“B-b-but Princess Celestia...”
“If it helps, think of this as a lesson. And I said just 'Celestia' is fine.”
“But you could get injured!”
Celestia couldn't help but laugh at her student as she took a wide stance at the opposite side of the courtyard while Twilight stayed frozen in place. “If I were you Twilight, I would be more worried about yourself at the moment.” Celestia's eyes were alight with anticipation as she lowered her horn into a horizontal point.
“I'll have you know that before I retired from the sport I was actually pretty good at it.” Her ivory horn began to glow with a radiant white light as she took several slow strides forward towards the purple mare.
“So my faithful student, I think there are still a few more things I could teach you.”
Celestia spent a few minutes explaining the basics of horn-foiling to Twilight and the spell necessary to cover her horn. It was actually a rather basic sport, the goal was pretty simple and the only tools you needed was your horn, though that meant that non-unicorns couldn't effectively play.
But that didn't stop Twilight from shaking slightly. She'd had no idea how to horn-foil and now she had to face princess Celestia herself. She managed to bring up a barrier of magic around her horn like Celestia had said but her hooves remained rooted in place.
She couldn't help but feel that she had been thrown into some alternate dimension where everything is backwards and the universe makes no sense anymore. Ever since this morning and even somewhat the night before the princess had been acting differently than she remembered, though as far as she could tell it was just when they were together.
Not that she hated the change in her mentor's behavior. There had always been a small amount of distance between them, something that prevented her from becoming any closer to the princess. But gap was nowhere to be found now. And now she seemed more, well.... playful.
Then Twilight realized, perhaps this was how Celestia normally acted. Maybe with her sister gone Celestia had forgotten how to take off her mask of royalty and truly enjoy herself. That would mean that the princess had spent nearly a thousand years in what was most likely boredom. And now that Luna had returned she was beginning to realize her true self and her old personality was starting to show through. But still, it felt like there was something more to it than that.
As Twilight was busy having her revelation; Celestia, seeing that her student remained frozen in place, decided to take the initiative and lightly tapped her horn against the smaller mare's which caused a brief flash of clashing magic from the shields that surrounded their horns touching together.
To Twilight the feeling was strange, almost tingly as it caused her body to jolt bringing her to her senses. She had bumped into another unicorn once before causing their horns to brush against one another and at the time it had embarrassed her, but this, this was much different. The feeling of her magic clashing with another's was like hot electricity going through her, it was a little frightening but for the most part it was exciting. Celestia backed away a few paces giving some room between them.
“You're not going to be able to beat me by standing in place.” The princess said, a grin on her face as she fell back into a defensive posture. “Come Twilight.”
Finding the strength to move again Twilight took a couple uneasy steps towards the princess unsure of how to go about, well..... fighting her. She had fought off others before with her magic, sure, but not so up-close and physical, and never against another pony. Or a princess for that matter. She tried to recall any books she might have read on the subject but none came to mind. Not that there was a ‘How to Defeat an All-Powerful Alicorn at Horn Foiling; A Beginner’s Guide.’ book in existence.
When Twilight was finally in striking range of Celestia she gave a light swing of her horn in what she hoped was a proper attack. But as there was no real effort behind it, Celestia quickly parried the weak swing which caused the purple unicorn to lose her hoofing and stumble.
“Don't hold back Twilight. It won't be as fun if you don't try your best.”
Twilight began to bring herself back to her hooves. “But Princess-”
“No. No more buts. Out here I am not your princess, I am your opponent.” After a few seconds she added a little more quietly. “Please Twilight, I’m tired of my title getting in the way.”
Well that was it then. She was still treating Celestia like a princess.
Twilight was uncertain of how to proceed. On the one hoof she was obligated to do as the princess asked, but on the other she could never try to physically attack the princess. But in the end all that she truly wished for was to make princess Celestia happy. And if horn-foiling with her student made Celestia happy then she would do her best.
“I'll tell you what. If you manage to land a single hit on me I will grant you any one request.”
At this Twilight's ears perked up. "Request?"
"You may ask me for any one thing and I will make it so."
Any one request, from the princess? As in she could ask for anything? Twilight's reeled from the possibilities that could be brought out by such a reward. Not that she would ever use it to do anything bad, but still, she could ask for anything. If she wanted she could even ask for....
No. She would never ask for something so stupid.
Not that she would even be able to successfully land a hit on the princess. How was she even suppose to fight against an umpteen century year old alicorn in a sport that she had never even played? Everything that she might have been able to use to her advantage Celestia had more of or was better in.
She still had her ability to plan and learn and that had to count for something. Her mind began working furiously as she observed her opponent; Celestia had a longer horn and was also taller than her, that would mean that she would lose in a ranged engagement. But the smaller horn would be at an advantage in a closer fight. If she could get close to Celestia then she could maneuver around her while staying out of reach of her horn.
It wasn't much but is was all she could at the moment.
Gritting her teeth she rushed forward this time and caught Celestia's horn in a tight lock with hers sending off purple and gold sparks. A look of surprise crossed the princess' face at her student's sudden eagerness but quickly melted into a playful grin. Though at first she had met the alicorn's attacks equal in strength, as she blocked each blow she found herself losing ground as the princess had much more powerful neck muscles then her. They crossed horns a couple more times and each time it took all she had to deflect the blows to the side and not taking them head on.
She was beginning to get tired from the constant clashing when Celestia drew back for a more powerful swing. Taking her chance, she rushed in ducking under the wide swing. Celestia drew back a step and tried to counter only to find that the the lavender mare was nowhere to be seen, having slipped around her instead of immediately attacking after getting through.
Twilight wasn't the most athletic pony but she was slim and had a smaller frame than most. She knew that, of the two of them, she would be just a little more dexterous than the princess; at least she hoped that was the case.
Using her smaller size as an advantage she dove in and to the side bringing her horn up into a diagonal swipe at the alicorn's side.
She felt a grin begin to form on her face as her horn struck.......open air?
As her head lifted with the attack a gust of wind caught her off guard and caused her to flinch and a heavenly laugh chimed in the student's ears.
“Not a bad idea, using your small size to your advantage.”
But how?! Her aim was right at her center mass. She was so sure that the alicorn wouldn't have had the time to dodge. A glance towards the white princess told her all that she needed to know. As twilight peered open her eyes at the princess she saw two white appendages rustle slightly, folding back into their nested positions.
Of course, her wings!
“Good try Twilight. Had I been without wings I would not have been able to dodge your attack. You learn fast Twilight, for somepony that has never engaged in horn-foiling before you are really quite good. I must say I was not expecting you to be that quick, It makes me wish I would have asked you to partake in this sooner.”
Celestia had put more distance between them, setting Twilight back to square one. Now she was half exhausted from the last exchange, not only that but it seemed that the princess hadn't even broken a sweat. Her odds of winning weren't looking very well.
But she wasn't out of options just yet. Getting close to her allowed her to she something that she wouldn't normally have noticed. And she was sure that if she could get close again she wouldn't miss a second time. She didn't want to have to use her magic to get by because she felt it would be cheating, but she didn’t want to disappoint Celestia, and she didn't have any better alternatives.
Summoning up as much magic as she could that wasn't being used by her shield she gathered it up around her and in a flash of light, disappeared.
To be perfectly honest Celestia wasn't all that surprised when Twilight vanished from sight. She had been expecting Twilight to use her magic at some point during their match, after all she was the Element of Magic. It actually surprised her that it took her this long to rely on it, the purple mare even though facing a experienced opponent had proved to be really resourceful and cunning.
But she was also quite resourceful herself.
It her years as a princess she had experienced and learned many things. One of which was the ability to sense magic. Once she felt a unicorn's magic so many times she began to familiarize herself with it and could predict its outcome. And lucky for her she had spent much time together with her faithful student practicing magic.
Almost immediately after Twilight appeared directly behind her she spun around catching Twilight's horn before she had a chance to attack. She could see the shock play across her student's face as she reared back from the blow.
“I'm sorry my student, but I'm afraid that magic won't be of much use here.”
The mare hopped back and after a few seconds vanished again, this time reappearing to her left side in a charge. Instead of blocking she just stepped out of the way of the attack letting her student stumble past empty space.
“I see your teleporting spell has gotten better than it used to be.” Teleportation was a very advanced spell to use but when Twilight was younger she managed to execute the spell with a bit of difficulty. And it would seem that she had improved her usage of the spell in the last three years. But the spell was taxing and it wore down the user's magic.
After several more teleportation spells, each of which was no more successful than the last, Twilight was beginning to pant from exhaustion. And her legs began to wobble.
Concern for her student began to fill her. Perhaps she had gone too far egging Twilight into this. “Twilight, perhaps we should take a break? Constant usage of that spell will leave you magically drained.”
“No.... I'm fine..... I can continue.....” She replied in between breaths.
Twilight really was something special. At first she thought that she was going to have to spend the whole time teaching her student how to correctly use her horn while fighting but it would seem that it wasn't necessary. It turns out that Twilight was a natural at the sport, she had even combined her teleporting spell into her fighting style. She offhandedly remembered Shining Armor excelling at the sport, perhaps it runs in the family?
Unknown to Twilight, this was the most fun she'd had in years. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had such fun since becoming a princess of Equestria. It made her feel alive again, like the last thousand years were just a grey blur of stiff guards, unemotional speeches, and unwanted titles that have remained as the center of her life until now.
And she had Twilight to thank for it, with her around the world seemed to be a little more brighter. She firmly believed that taking her on as her personal student was the best decision that she had ever made as a princess. She was nothing but proud of her student, everything that she had accomplished; facing dragons, braving the Everfree forest, defending Ponyville from monsters, and adventuring with her friends all the while learning and growing along the way.
When her student had gone up against Discord he had corrupted the bearers of the elements Twilight had been the one to pull through and bring them back together. While she remained in her castle letting the six bearers go against the old chaotic spirit she could only loath at how pathetic she was. The only thing that she had managed to do to help was remind her student of what she already knew.
Even during the wedding, it may have been by Cadence and Shining Armor's magic that the changelings had been defeated but it was Twilight that had really saved the day. If she had not seen through the changeling queen's ruse they would not have been in time to stop them. And she.... had failed them all that day. It was days like those that made her wonder why Twilight put so much faith in her. And even when she fell to the queen's power it was Twilight that came rushing to her side.
But among everything that Twilight had done for her the one thing that stood out above all others happened to be the first. Something that she had failed to do, the thing that had haunted her for a thousand years. She had freed her sister from the nightmare that plagued her and returned Princess Luna back to Equestria.
Twilight brought her sister back to her.
She had spent so many nights crying as she watched the moon take its course through the skies, so many days glancing to the empty throne next to hers and feeling the guilt of the what her actions cost her. When Luna and her were reunited she had shed tears in the public’s eye openly but when she finally had Luna alone she cried for hours holding her little sister that she thought was lost forever.
This pony had done so much for her, that Twilight need only ask for the throne and she would do so in a heartbeat knowing that it was in capable hooves. But she knew that Twilight would never ask for such a thing, besides the life of a princess is not something she would ever wish on another. She had no idea what her student might request of her if she did in fact succeed but she hoped it was something a little more grand than a new book.
Maybe a library's worth of books.
She had to hold in a giggle that was forming inside her from the thought.
As Twilight began to straighten herself out Celestia brought her focus from her thoughts and back to the match. Well if her student wanted to win she was going to have to work for it.
Twilight steadied herself and began to rethink her strategy. It was painfully obvious that Celestia knew where she was going to appear as soon as she released her magic. So to keep doing so would just be a further waste of magic, not that she had much left to spend.
'Is she somehow tracking my spell?'
She still had enough magic left to pull off a teleportation spell once or twice more but it would be of little use if Celestia was there after she cast it. If only she could find a way to make sure that the princess wouldn't be there when she teleported.
Or what if she wanted Celestia to be there...
And, like a lightning bolt, an idea struck her.
This was it. Her last plan. If she didn't succeed now she wouldn't have enough stamina to continue. Taking a few more moments to gather herself she circled the princess until she came across what she was looking for.
Gathering up what little magic she could scrape together she brought it up to cast her teleportation spell twice more. If it worked she would only have a precious few seconds before Celestia caught on so she had to act fast. And if it didn't work...well... let’s just assume it will.
She cast two teleportation spells simultaneously, one to the left and one to the right. As soon as she appeared she charged at the princess who was to her relief was facing the other way. It was a fifty-fifty chance, whether the plan would succeed or fail, luck just happened to be on her side today.
The princess' magenta eyes went wide as a rock fell to the ground and instantly began to turn around.
For the next few seconds time seemed to slow down as Twilight lunged towards the princess.
As the white alicorn turned to parry the attack she knew was undoubtedly coming she found that her student was low to the ground as she rushed towards her. She still had time enough to block her but as she brought her neck down to block her student she found herself restricted.
'And there is my opening!'
The royal regalia that the princess wore around her neck had done as Twilight had predicted, preventing the alicorn from bringing her horn into a low diagonal sweeping arc. She had noticed this when she got close to the princess the first time and now used this opening to press forward into the swing.
Celestia, finding herself unable to get low enough to parry the attack instinctively brought her wings out, lifting herself with a flap to evade the sweep of the horn. Twilight though was prepared this time and with a slight adjustment to the angle of her attack brought it into a vertical slash.
And this time she felt it connect.
As Celestia reared back the tip of Twilight's horn caught her right leg sending a burst of sparks off indicating her success. Though her victory was short-lived as Celestia came back down with incredible speed into a thrust aimed at her now exposed neck. She had spent everything she had on that last plan and couldn't summon up the effort to move or the magic to escape. As the point grew near she closed her eyes and waited.
But instead of a forceful blow striking her she felt a light poke on her neck causing her body to jerk in response. After a few seconds curiosity got the better of her as to what had happened and slowly she opened her eyes. Her vision was immediately greeted by the princess' white coat and smiling face.
“It looks like you win.”
*Author's note* : Once again big thanks go out to my editor lnumaniac. Sorry the chapter took so long to get up. I believe that everyone has a virtue and a vice in them. And if I had a vice, it would be sloth.
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:D first
interesting....
nice update.
i really don't have much to say i just hope the next chapter comes out soon.
cheers
she could only loath at how pathetic she was.
This sounds awkward. How about "she could only loath her own weakness" (I'd use patheticness, but it sounds weird. "ineffectiveness" or "uselessness" are other possibilities. "pathos" is my favorite, however I wouldn't expect it to be generally understood.)
This is like only the second story I've ever read with horn fencing, and the only where it's a sport. I like it, it helps to illustrate that your Equestria has real dangers without using pointless drama. I also enjoy it when an author can spend time on relationship development, as you have done in this chapter, without overemphasizing everything via ACTION ACTION ACTION (the latter being rather like using bold or all-caps all the time. )
Hmm... I wonder what Twi will ask for? Hopefully she does spend time thing about it
Interesting duel there.
Nice work on describing that combat, can't have been easy. Loving the story, it has a nice steady pacing, or... trotting
I'm such a sucker for the Twilight-Celestia shipping...
Damn. Finished reading it. And It was glorious. Need more
Edit: Also, Eighth
yay new chap up
amazing work here
i wonder what twi could ask for, sure she could go the obvious route and ask for books or if she really felt like it, a kiss. But she could also ask for the princess to take a day off entirely for her, or to let her handler her job for a day.
Possibilities are endless
Good show
Wow this was great to wake up too, thanks you've probably made my day with this.
mylittleponycollecting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/clapping.gif
I'm looking forward to more, and I really want to know what Twilight is going to ask for
Awesome chapter!
Well Neon, you went and botched up my user.
But who cares, new chapter's out! :D
Right then, till the next chapter! /)(^3^)(\
Sweet stuff. I'm liking your Celestia.
Love this story, can't wait for the next chapter, so hurry up.. One thing though:
It her years as a princess she had experienced and learned many things.
Shouldn't it be In & not It?
Very cool. I love how well you are portraying the two.
991962 Well, typically in the rules of fencing, you engage to a certain number of points. In Foiling, you have to counter an attack before you can reply with an attack of your own. Since Twilight scored the first touch, she 'won' the round, and they would normally go again. However, they said that if she could get one touch, she won, so... It was just Celestia showing, in a sense, how proud she was of her student. :3
(Hope I explained that well. Hard to be short and concise...)
991962 twilight
Hmm i wonder what Twilight is gonna ask for.
Something romantical is probably out of question.
Something simple like books(or a Library) would be a downer.
Maybe some information about the past('where you ever in love?' comes to mind ^^).
Or the old 'I just wish for you to be happy'?
Gah why do i always start on uncompleted stories adfghkl. In other words freaking good story looking forward to the next chapter :D
Can't wait for the next chapter, keep up the good work
Cute, exciting and with stakes all at the same time?
I like it.
Still, naturally there were spelling mistakes, the occasional misuse of a word. But nothing serious. you're improving in that respect.
Looking forward to the next chapter~
So.... next update?
Gahhhhh reading this I just want more.......curse your story's siren's song..........it just so good and I want to see what is next so bad -grumbles but sits in place and waits- I shall be waiting for the next chapter with baited breath.
Good fight by the way I could see how Twi could actually get in at LEAST a nicking blow, which is pretty damn good for a young unicorn to be able to do on an Alicorn such as Celestia. Oh and Celestia you naughty girl using those wings of yours.......no fair dear no fair at all -laughs but applauds the added difficulty she gave- At least Twi will get something for her troubles.....wonder what she will pick~
Nice job Twilight. Good use of strategy, or is it tactics, and getting in close to give yourself the advantage, which I shouted as soon as the two of them dueling got bought up. Now, go for the gold! Ask her to kiss you! Or ask for her favour, if you want to be old timey and courtly about it all...
Awesome! Really brought out the inner character in this one! Keep it up
"I want a kiss from the one that I love most!"
"Oh my, Twilight... I don't know if that's within my power to give. Who is your love?"
"Princess Celestia."
"I see, I'll ha- wait, wha-mmph!" Surprise kiss!
Stuck in my head.
Tactition Twilight is best Twilight.
Aside from a couple of past-present tense slips, very very good.
994174
You... Read my mind on that. Same scene played through my head.
Great chapter! Kinda disappointed it wasn't longer, but then again, I feel that way about every awesome story I read.
This chapter is my favorite out of the four. Especially with less grammar errors! My inner grammar nazi(oddly confused with my inner understanding-of-what-I-am-reading nazi) was appeased. Though, I do have to say... There was a lot of repeating words that you didn't need or could of used different words for...
Like, Though, or... Like... Or Twilight, three times in the same line of dialogue. That is just some simple polishing that I'd love to see! However, I still loved the chapter and will keep this on my favorites to see how you play it out!
Also, Horn foiling as a sport was very, very, very unique and I approve. You may pick from a bag of candy, a muffin, a cupcake or... I can just take your soul, being the ginger I am.
Edit: Mostly the repeated word was Though. It was there so many times. x.x
Sorry, I just thad to speak my mind on that. It bugged me too much. But, I still enjoyed the story!
992125
Asking for a kiss from your immortal-god-empress-who-controls-the-sun is not a smart idea.
I would like to know what you mean by 'explicit forms of affection' before i start reading, i'm not to fond of... sex in mlp fiction.
997691
After a bit of consideration I've decided that if I do write any material of that nature I will most likely make some sort of optional chapter or new story just for it. So it is safe to read the story.
Awesome story is awesome. Well done. I'm particularly impressed with the depth you've put into the characters of Twilight and Celestia. A lot of writers, particularly of fan fiction, make their characters far too shallow, but you've avoided that trap flawlessly.
Honestly the only critique that I can make of the story is that you occasionally switch between present and past tense. It doesn't happen very often, but it can be somewhat jarring when it does. Oh well, minor grammar nazi bullshit aside, fantastic story bro and keep up the good work.
An interesting and intense duel. Knowing Twilight, all she really wants is to be able to make sure Celestia was happy and never alone again.
I don't think she will actually say that though.
I'm definitely curious as to what Twilight's going to wish for. Whatever it is, it will probably be adorable.
And I noticed several grammatical errors of similar nature whilst reading this. Note that "then" denotes a state of being at a time. It should not be used comparatively. For those cases, use "than".
For example:
Twilight is smarter THAN soup.
I really, absolutely, must have more. MOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
992802
if you want to only read completed stories there is an option for that in search.
1035329 I don't always search for the stories i find :/
... this is why I waited so long to read this update... THEY'RE SO SCATTERED!!!!!!!!
i want moar!!!!
Continue this story it is gold!
Optimally Twilight shows some guts and asks for the kiss.
Second place?
Twilight "Tell me. Who was your first Love?"
I'm really enjoying this--keep it coming!
I wanted to see a double teleportation ive been searching for a double teleportation AND I FOUND A DOUBLE TELEPORTATION
Im so happy right now
This need to be a book.
I really loved the concept of horn-foiling that was in this story. I cannot really picture many unicorns using actual weapons of the sort that humans would use, so it fits with my headcannon that they fight with magic and their horns for the majority of the time.
That's pretty much the reason I referenced this part of the story in one of my own.
Can't get enough of reading this!