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Loop 30 Part 1

Court was in session when it happened.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Starlight Glimmer's daughter, Princess Astral Plane, walked through the giant doors and into the throne room, with no parents in sight.

Her uncle Shining was thrown, to say the least. And maybe a little worried. "Assie? Where are your parents?"

Okay, maybe a lot worried.

Instead of answering, Astral trotted up the steps to stand in front of Cadence, Shining Armour, Flurry Heart and Pupa's thrones. When she was only a couple of feet away, she stopped and cast her sound enhancing spell.

"I, Astral Stellar Plane, do hereby challenge Emperor Shining Armour to a Bladecasting duel- magic and other combat areas allowed."

Shining almost fell off his throne. Wait, what? This was some kind of joke, right? Astral didn't even know how to Bladecast! Twilight would kill him if he hurt her daughter, and that's not to mention Starlight or- he shuddered- Spike.

Snickers rebounded across the room, as ponies tried to imagine the small little filly going up against the fully grown stallion.

Sensing his hesitation, and hearing the laughs, Astral narrowed her eyes and swished her tail in annoyance. "If you do not comply, while we are both in good health and mind, it is an automatic victory in my favor" she paused to let that sink in, before giving a full toothed smile "which means that, by law, I could become the new Captain of the Guard."

At this, everypony broke down in laughter, but Pupa, the accidental child of Shining and Chrysalis and the adopted child of Cadence, raised a hood for silence. "Technically" they said, once it had quieted down "she is completely right. If my father refuses to accept the challenge, then it would be a win in her favor. And, since she has a cutie mark, well . . ." they trailed off, but everyone got the implication.

A child running an army.

Shining Armour stood and stretched, smiling down at his niece. "I accept your challenge" he said amicably, and Astral smiled at him, before turning to the crowd.

"The duel shall take place in two hours, in the Crystal Empire's official dueling arena. Come and watch if you want." Ponies began whispering among themselves. They clearly expected to watch dear sweet kind Shining put up a valiant show, before gracefully stomping his niece into the dirt.

Astral gave another shark like grin.

Idiots.

With only ten minutes to go until the duel, and in the safety of one of the castles many, many spare rooms, Astral breathed a sigh of relief as she undid the illusion spell she had done to make herself appear shorter.

I really need to cut my mane, she thought as she ruffled her hair thoughtfully, biting her lip. The thought was strangely unappealing.

She wasn't wearing armor, as she was not trained in it. If she managed to beat Shining Armor, then she would begin training in some light armor for her duel with the Princesses- maybe leather? She would have to have a talk with Aunt Rarity.

She knew her parents had come upon hearing the news, and had brought their friends, probably in an attempt to stop the duel. Too late now.

Since this was going to be allowing other magic and fighting styles, she would be able to use her other spells, parkour and karate, which was nice.

The bell chimed, signalling for both the contestants to get their sorry asses into the arena now, thank you very much.

Astral teleported to her side of the arena, ignoring the shocked looks she was given by the ponies around her.

Shining, meanwhile, was very worried.

He had accepted this duel since his niece had forced his hoof- but- Gods forbid- if she was hurt.

Twilight had stormed in not ten minutes ago, threatening him and demanding they call the duel off, Starlight resembling an angry Manticore behind her. It took six guards to pry them away.

They were with their friends now, on the stand with the best view in the arena, glaring daggers at Shining, who patiently waited for the doors on the other side of the field to open.

When they did, with a soft creak, the crowd broke out into cheers at the filly standing there. Instead of curling up and dying on the spot, Astral took it all in stride, keeping her gaze focused on Shining Armor.

The main fighting area was a sandy circle approximately twenty meters in diameter. If an opponent left the ring, they would be disqualified. The two stepped into the rings at opposite sides, and recalled their blades.

Twelve, light blue pentagon shaped gems shimmered in the air around Shining Armor. Shining had a heavily defensive kind of fighting style, and his magic had responded to that by making his Shards and the sword itself tough and durable, if a bit on the slower side of things- but then again, that was the upside of having so many Shards, you could be as fast as you want, you can't fend them all off.

Then he looked over at Astral.

She also had twelve Shards.

Twelve light purple polygons hovered around Astral Plane as she waited for the starting bell.

Where did- how did-I-WHAT?!

This clearly changed things. Shining's eyes narrowed.

Firstly, he was looking at an experienced and well trained Bladecaster- when had Astral even learned Bladecasting? When did she even get a cutie mark? Secondly, she appeared to be his equal in the summoning of Shard. And, thirdly, now that he was actually looking at her, he could see she was settling into a traditional battle crouch.

Time to get serious. He only had seconds to process.

Astral's twelve (twelve! How did she get those?) purple Shards were smaller and thinner than Shining's, good for high speeds and fast turns; which meant her style was based off speed and agility, and not very defensive. Probably one of those hit hard hit first types.

He was bigger than her though, and stronger, at least physically. He thought Astral's magic was actually quite weak, but clearly he was wrong.

Astral was loving every moment of this, the adrenaline that mane her fur stand on end, the anticipation that made her muscles tremble, the surprise she was being shown for her twelve Shards.

She recalled, vaguely, how before the loops, Aunt Fluttershy would talk about how the attention could be nice once you got used to it. Now she finally knew what she meant.

She was crouched like a cat, ready and willing to pounce at any moment.

The crowd fell silent.

The bell sounded.

And Astral charged.

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