Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

140. The Nest

Twilight’s hoof tapped against the flat stone roof of Neighagra Falls Inn’s rooftop balcony, a chill wind blowing through the midmorning air as she stood opposite Applejack and prepared to face her in a sparring match.

Twilight was so confident just a moment ago— she was so steamed that Applejack had tried to teach Spike how to fight, something that Twilight considered dangerous and horrible, but now she felt her confidence draining out of her body like a leaky pipe.

“What’s the matter, Twi?” Applejack chuckled, reaching out her hand and flicking her fingers at Twilight. “Yer not gettin’ scared, are ya?”

“I’m not,” Twilight said coldly, and that was true wasn’t it? She wasn’t scared.

She was worried.

She was worried that she was wrong. She always worried about that, but this time it was nagging at her more than usual.

Because she knew that she was.

Applejack was right, and it wasn’t Twilight’s place to keep Spike from learning how to protect himself if that’s what he really wanted to do.

And yet, Twilight couldn’t bring herself to accept that; the thought of her son getting involved in battle sickened and horrified her, and she would keep him safe in the nest away from all the scary things of the world that maybe could hurt him with every ounce of fighting spirit she possessed.

“Okay, Applejack,” Twilight said, shooting Applejack a frigid glare, “I’m ready. Come at me.”

“Alright,” Applejack grinned, “don’t say I didn’t warn ya!”

Applejack charged Twilight down and threw a punch, but it was so obvious and clumsy in its execution that Twilight was able to dodge it easily just by weaving to the right a bit, and she clicked her tongue in disdain for Applejack’s sloppy technique.

Just in time for her to take Applejack’s other fist right in her jaw, disorienting her and causing her to stumble back a few steps.

By the time she got her bearings back, Applejack was already throwing another punch toward the side of her torso, and Twilight blocked it with her arm in an awkward way that left her open to Applejack’s second punch to her cheek that made the whole room around her spin.

Twilight jumped back and stomped her hoof on the ground. Applejack cracked her knuckles and grinned smugly at Twilight. Which was perhaps earned; Twilight had severely underestimated Applejack, after all.

Oh well, nothing to be done for it. Counterattack time.

It occurred to Twilight that she and Applejack hadn't set any rules for their match other than the obvious of no lethal force, so Twilight grinned deviously as she came up with a plan.

With a crack of magic, Twilight teleported behind Applejack and kicked her hard in the back of the leg; it would take a stronger hit than Twilight’s thin frame was capable of to knock Applejack down in one strike, but it was enough to knock her off-balance at least.

Applejack tried to strike her elbow into Twilight’s face, but Twilight simply teleported in front of Applejack again and socked her square in the nose, teleporting to Applejack’s side as Applejack tried to punch back, Twilight leaning against Applejack’s shoulder and giving a taunting yawn.

This time it was Applejack who jumped back, and Twilight was feeling good enough about herself to grace Applejack with a moment or two to collect her thoughts. It wouldn’t matter in the end; Applejack didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever defeating Twilight.

Applejack took a deep breath with her eyes shut, standing in a stout stance with her legs and arms spread evenly apart. Twilight was impressed; it was a good stance for meditating. She wasn’t sure how it’d help Applejack win, but she supposed it didn’t matter.

Twilight was getting tired of dragging this out, so it was time to end this.

Twilight lit up her horn and teleported behind Applejack, but before she could attack, Applejack spun around at lightning speed and grabbed Twilight’s arm, Twilight gasping as Applejack pulled her into a spine-crushing hold.

Twilight was able to teleport out of Applejack’s grip before she smashed Twilight into the ground, but as Twilight got ahold of herself, her horn sparked and crackled. She tried to channel magic through it and realized her stream of magic was on the fritz all of a sudden.

“Huh,” Twilight said, trying to keep a smile from betraying her feelings. She was impressed; it took some pretty advanced magic to shut off a pony’s flow of magic—much less a dragon’s— even temporarily. “Not bad, Applejack.”

“You gotta be prepared for all kinds of stuff,” Applejack shrugged casually, but her smile was pretty cute.

“I suppose so,” Twilight said, fingers tracing her horn and feeling little sparks of magic jitter through her fingers.

“You wanna call it here, or—”

“Yeah,” Twilight said. “I think I would. Don’t get me wrong, I could still defeat you—”

“Of course,” Applejack said with a grin.

“—but I don’t feel the need to,” Twilight said, ignoring Applejack’s blithe comment. “You were right. It’s not my place, even as Spike’s parent, to control his life or tell him what he can and cannot do. If he wants to learn how to fight, then—” Twilight inhaled sharply, swallowing the bitter truth that she had to confess to “—then it’s my job as his parent to support him, not to try and ‘protect’ him by smothering him.”

“You really mean that?!” Spike cheered excitedly, standing up on the chair from where he was watching Twilight and Applejack spar and pumping his fists.

“I do,” Twilight sighed. “You have my blessing, for what that’s worth, to learn from Applejack.”

“It’s worth a lot, Twilight!” Spike said, running up to Twilight who picked him up in her arms and gave him a big hug. “Thank you so much!”

“No need to thank me,” Twilight laughed, “you were the one who was right! If anything, I should be apologizing.”

“I don’t want an apology,” Spike huffed. “Please do not apologize to me.”

“Okay, I get it,” Twilight chuckled awkwardly and rolled her eyes, “sorry. Wait, shit, damn it!”

As Spike and Applejack laughed, and Twilight joined them in their laughter, she realized that maybe letting Spike fly out of the nest wouldn’t be such a hard thing.

After all, Twilight wasn’t the only one who cared about him.

Author's Note:

fun fact: writing fight scenes.. is very difficult

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

fun fact: writing fight scenes.. is very difficult

I'd say you did well. Showing off both AJ and Twilight's respective strengths. One is an oak tree, sturdy, powerful and unbending even in the face of a storm, while Twilight is the Wizard. She Teleport Spams.

[Cross Lament]

It's great to see Twi being a casual teleporter in a dust-up. It seems rare that authors remember she can do that.