En garde
Steel clashed.
The harsh sound echoed in the small training yard. The alabaster Unicorn gave her sword a slight flourish and brought it around to point at her opponent. A grin blossomed on her face as she took a step forward.
“I’m ready to accept your surrender, darling,” Rarity trilled.
Twilight lifted her sword into a guarding position, her magic flowing along the handle. Her stern frown didn't waver an inch.
“I wouldn’t be so cocky, my Lady,” she said, stalking forward slowly. “You have managed to keep up so far, but I’m still holding back.”
“Oh, Twilight,” Rarity tsked. “I thought I told you not to go easy on me.”
“It is for your own good.” Twilight flicked her blade back and forth. “While you have improved, you still have much to learn.”
“Such as?”
Twilight’s blade flashed forward, barely blocked by the Princess’. The two blades locked against one another, then with a sharp twist, the bodyguard’s sword came out victorious, ripping Rarity’s weapon clean from her grip and flinging it to the side. Before the fact had fully coalesced in her mind, the point of Twilight’s sword was against her throat.
“First, you can’t treat a longsword like a rapier: it has a different length, it’s heavier, and it requires a different grip. Its use in combat is completely different. You’ve been using rapier techniques and grips. Capo Farrier is a good style, but it translates poorly.”
The sword withdrew and hung by Twilight’s side. Rarity reclaimed her weapon and pouted.
“You could have told me earlier, you know.”
Twilight flipped her short mane out of her face. “To do that would not have taught you properly, and you asked me to train you so you could stand at my side if the situation demands it.”
“I didn't ask to be treated like a child,” Rarity huffed.
“In swordplay, you are, and I’ve yet to meet a child who properly respects fire without having been burned first.” Twilight sheathed her sword. “We’ll take a ten-minute break, then pick it up from the top.”
Rarity nodded and walked over to where a servant had left a platter of fruit and chilled juice. Helping herself to a few grapes and a deep sip of juice, she savored the taste for a moment before looking at Twilight.
“Isn’t there anything positive that this practice is showing?” she asked.
Twilight turned a page in her book, a goblet floating next to her.
“Your positioning has improved,” she said simply, taking a sip. “And your stamina has increased significantly since our first session.”
“That’s all?”
“All that pertains to this situation, yes.” Her amethyst eyes bored into Rarity. “Are you still having nightmares, Rarity?”
The princess turned away, hiding her face. Unbidden, an image of the stallion rose up before her again.
“What makes you ask?”
“Your eyes have a slight bagginess to them and several times I have heard you mumbling and thrashing in your sleep. It seems to be a fair assumption.”
Rarity shook off the image and turned to face her trainer. “I see his face still, yes.”
“In time, you’ll either move on or grow used to it.” Twilight sat her goblet to the side and rose. “We all do.”
“Have you…”
“Killed anypony, my Lady?”
Rarity blushed, looking away as shame at the question burned in her cheeks.
“Several times. Each in the service of your father. For most of them, I never saw their faces. Helms or distance being a sufficient buffer. But there are three that haunted me for a time. I can still see them even so many years later.”
She went and put a hoof on Rarity’s cheek, oblivious to the sudden racing of the alabaster mare’s heart.
“But dreams cannot hurt us, and there are ways to steer your mind to other visions.”
“How?”
Twilight stepped back out to the training field and drew her blade.
“Take up a blade of your choosing. If you score a touch, I’ll tell you.”
Rarity rose and pulled a flat-bladed rapier from the racks on the perimeter of the yard. It was a little heavier than what she had trained with but similar enough that it felt like an extension of her magic. She turned to Twilight and gave a fencer’s salute.
Twilight moved her blade into a guard stance and nodded.
And then brought her book up before her, turning another page.
“Twilight!” Rarity protested, stamping her hoof grumpily.
“Yes?”
“Put the book down!”
“I see no reason to. I’m behind on my reading. Besides, at your current skill level, I believe I may be able to do both.” While her face remained neutral, the impression of a smile might have arisen.
Rarity gritted her teeth. She could hear the smirk in the voice of her bodyguard.
“Besides, my Lady,” the soldier grinned, a twinkle in her eye. “Is this not how our relationship started?”
The image of a fresh-faced recruit with a book stashed in a bush, who snuck pages during training rose to the forefront of her memory. A soldier who was a little more lively, a bit more innocent, but still unmistakably Twilight.
“It may also be how it ends, Twilight.”
“Is that a challenge, Rarity?”
Without a word, Rarity dashed forward with a lunge that was easily parried by Twilight’s blade, then another, a cut aimed at her left foreleg, was deflected soon after. She withdrew, blade at eye level, and picked out her target. Rarity feinted a high thrust and then shifted for a cut along Twilight’s left flank. It, too, was parried with nary a glance from her tutor.
She’s taunting me, Rarity thought, feeling her grip tighten involuntarily. She surged forward, bringing her blade around for a riposte of the parry she knew was coming…
And stumbled when her blade met empty air. There was a sudden sting on her rump as the flat of Twilight’s blade smacked against her cutie mark, earning a yelp.
“Too hasty,” the bodyguard chastised, turning another page. “Did you honestly believe raw strength would carry you through? I thought better of you than that, Rarity.”
She laid down the book upon the table..
Her blade rose. “In a fight, chaos reigns and you don’t have time for all the fancy back and forth, or the niceties of saluting your opponent. It’s brutal and savage and it is very, very real.”
“If you don’t intend to deliver injury with a stroke, if you hesitate, you will find yourself bleeding.” She pointed to the scar on her face. “I told you how I got this one, yes?”
Rarity nodded. “An overeager recruit.”
“Yes,” she said, then raised her blade and laid it across the scar. “I hesitated because I knew the colt from childhood. I almost didn’t raise my blade in time. Hesitation kills. And you’re holding back because it’s me.”
Rarity looked away. “That’s a cold way of viewing things.”
“It’s the survivor’s way of looking at things, my Lady. It doesn’t matter who it is, but if you really want to learn how to fight,” Twilight said as she lowered her blade and slid it away. “Then you need to be prepared to kill. Swordmareship is a method for taking a life nothing more. It can be used in the defense of others, but no matter what pretty words you dress it with, it is a method of dealing death.”
Twilight leaned down and took the Princess’ chin in her hoof, tilting her face up.
“I know you care for others. You have a generous soul.”She smiled softly. “But despite your feelings, sometimes you have to be cold.”
As their gaze continued, Rarity saw a flicker of something else behind the sadness.
“I know your feelings towards me, my Lady,” Twilight said.
Rarity, caught by surprise, started to sputter. How had Twilight discovered the tiny flame within her heart?
“Don’t be surprised,” Twilight said with a smile. “I may be a soldier, but I’m not oblivious.”
Rarity stood, blade clattering to the ground. “How long have you known?”
“Since the carriage ambush.”
Rarity gawked. “That long? And you’re only speaking of it now?”
Twilight shrugged and returned to her book with a flicker of magic. “It wasn’t prudent until now. You need to be able to sublimate your emotions in a time of stress. I can’t —“
Rarity’s sword flashed out and soared at Twilight, making the bodyguard twist at the impact.
“Are you alright!?” Rarity suddenly cried, not having intended to do any real harm with her little sneak attack.
Twilight stood stiffly. Her voice one of regret. “This wound can’t be so easily mended.”
Oh gods, no,
Twilight turned, and revealed the tip of the sword buried deep in the cover of her book.
“I just got this one, too.”
A cushion soared over from the sidelines and pummeled Twilight’s face. Rarity debated fetching another.
“Don’t scare me like that!” Rarity shouted, giving another bap with the cushion.
“Don’t launch sneak attacks, then,” Twilight replied. “I’m supposed to be teaching you combat, not assassination.”
“Oh, just, you…” Rarity sighed. “Sit down and talk. I’m probably not going to get a hit in today anyways.”
Twilight nodded solemnly, carrying over the tactical assault cushion from where it had landed and sat near her Princess.
“Was I really that transparent?”
Twilight poked at the pages of her book, trying her best to determine the extent of the damage.
“You were good at hiding it, my Lady. But after your reaction at the ambush and the assassination attempt later, I began to put the pieces together pretty easily. You do tend to let your eyes linger, and you make comments that could easily be passed off as jokes. But in retrospect, and given your admission just now, it’s a little obvious that you hold me in high regard, possibly more than friendship.”
“It’s true that I value you,” Rarity agreed. “But as to anything more, well…”
Twilight waited while her liege gathered her thoughts.
“It would be horribly inappropriate,” Rarity murmured. “Quite a scandal if it got out. But I must be true to myself. I do feel a certain fondness for you, and my heart aches terribly at the thought of you being hurt.”
Her hoof reached out and covered the bodyguard’s own.
“And if you don’t mind my being a little emotional about you, I would do anything for you. I can be most thoughtful for those I love.” The word almost stuck in her throat.
Twilight mused for a moment, brow creasing. But she also never moved her hoof.
“Well, there is one thing,” she said, dismissing the illusion spells over the weapons, leaving wooden replicas in their place.
“Name it.”
Twilight lifted the book in her aura.
“Would you mind replacing the book that you so thoughtfully stabbed?”
A groan echoed throughout the training yard, underscored by a light chuckle.
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Oh my goodness two bombfics in a row about Rarity with a sword. I think I may have died from RariTwi overdose and gone to heaven.
Twilight holding a book and sword is a wonderful aesthetic, and it's always lovely to see more BG!AU-type stuff. Rarity and Twilight's dynamics are wonderful as always, and it's good to see Rarity admit her feelings in this timelines. Definitely looking forward to more!
I will give this a read, later, when I have time. As a student of fencing, I'm always interested in seeing how people depict it in their stories.
Gotta love the Kakashi method of reading while fighting.
I enjoyed this, though I admit I got a bit distracted trying to figure out where this fit. Rarity being surprised Twilight knew she was interested in her confused me a bit.
And yes, more sword fights are always good.
Adorable. And nice to see more stories of this universe
I really like the AU that this is based on. Such fun.
Okay, so having read it, I give this a solid two thumbs up! Mentioning that Twilight is teaching her longsword at the beginning made it clear you’ve at least done some research on historical fencing, as did the “Capo Ferro” reference . . . although, that could also have been a Princess Bride reference, but I’ll choose to go with the first idea.
You didn’t go into a lot of detail as to what was actually going on which is generally for the best, especially if your knowledge is mostly scholarly, or only about some basics. Rarity’s tendency to throw out a lot of cuts with the rapier is . . . questionable. The rapier CAN cut, just not very effectively. If anything, the cuts should have been the feints, or thrown to draw Twilight into a bind from which she could perform a controlled thrust.
That said, Twilight’s admonishment to always make every strike one intended to injure or kill is spot on. If you offer no threat with your weapon, then your opponent can easily just walk through your defense and kill you in a moment.
I am also glad to see that the “Swords” were in fact wooden trainers with an illusion glamour on them, as otherwise that would have been my biggest gripe with this, although generally, historically, blunt steel was often preferred over wood, as it could be made more flexible, and lighter, both of which offer more safety when sparring.
Either way, and excellent story, an one that makes me want to read more tales from this universe! I shall be looking into it, soon!
Anyone else getting some serious Kakashi Sensei vibes offa this?
Loved it. But if the sword was wooden how did it pierce the book....?
9875288
Glamour spell.
9875393
Got it.
9875106
I used to do reenactment combat quite a bit with a group in Britain and we'd start training with wood before graduating to blunt steel after several months, and I tended to find folks fought safer with steel than with wood. Amongst other things, a wooden sword is a fancy stick. A blunt steel sword is still a sword.
9875815
And, as I said, steel swords, like federschwert, can be made specifically for training to be overly flexible and balanced so that there's not much force behind the blade. Yes, they could still hurt you if you're not wearing any sort of protection, but not as badly as a wooden sword, which, as you said, is just a big stick, basically.
In the study of HEMA, most fechtbucher tend to show people training with federschwert style blunt training swords, rather than wood.
I think a spear – as shown in the cover, or is that a candle?
– would be better for Rarity.
Thrusting a long pointy thing at your enemy is so much easier than learning all the intricacies of the sword. In most cases, spears beat swords.
I'm not an expert, though.
9877041
That’s a basket-hilt rapier.
Spears are pretty nice but not the focus of this work.
9877052
Ah, that explains the, well, the basket hilt.
Twilight. Not.... uhm... Shining Armor? *Teaching her to use a weapon.
9877758
You're commenting on part of a RariTwi event and wondering why it's RariTwi. Does anybody have that video of Emperor Yoshiro from Command and Conquer?
9877772
Twilight never touched a sword. That's my issue. Not who ships who. This unicorn just isn't a 'physical' fighter.
Rarity, however, i actually could buy that she was willing to try something like fencing. She got the stance for it!https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ltWeTjRda-A/maxresdefault.jpg
I might be not clear enough, but good thing you went over the cliff with the little you got.
... perhaps add a song number to it?
9877788
You being wrong is integral to the AU explicitly in use here. You're basically complaining that the AU fic is an AU fic.
Wow. This is freakishly like my own experiences.
Nicely written, with some good edge of truth in it - both for the physical and emotional components. Upvote from me, no doubt.
Loved the story a lot!
Rarity and her love of glamour are precious... And some of it rubbed on her bodyguard, it seems. Reading a book while fencing...
For some reason, when I sat down to read it I thought that the name 'Tactics' was a reference to 'Ruroini Kenshin'.
The song.
That's putting it mildly (I study various sources on Longsword and know a little bit of Capo Ferro's rapier style). The comment about the weight of swords isn't quite accurate: longswords and rapiers come in various lengths and can be very close in terms of total weight. The balance, however, would be drastically different.
Also, I wonder how magical grips on the weapon can be different for a unicorn... Lyra! You taught everypony your weird 'hand' spell, didn't ya?
Please, don't do this in real life, people!
9877041
I won't call myself an 'expert' either, but I had some practice with these weapons. While the spear's advantage over any sword is obvious, it is also highly specific. Context is everything. The spear has a greater reach, but at certain range it becomes impossible to use, while a sword can still be effective. It is also much more unweildy (it's larger, after all) and easy to grab. That's why people often carried a polearm as a primary weapon and a sword as a secondary one.
Fiore de'i Liberi, italian master of arms, had this to say on the subject: "I am the sword, deadly against all weapons. Neither spear, nor poleaxe, nor dagger can prevail against me..." And he was not wrong! His manuscript is called 'Flos Duellatorum' (completed around 1409) and regarded as one of the most precious sources describing medieval martial arts.
9874874
Hello there, fellow fencer!
9875815
Hello. Aw, why did you stop?
You do it for her, that is to say, you do it for him.
9878258
Yeah. I mean, being long is good, but if the opponent manages to get up and close, well...
Having a secondary sword is kind of like having a pistol to your rifle.
Also, here I gift you with this flamboyant description of the spear by Antiquarian in his story 14th Century Friar in Celestia's Court:
Roundly ignoring him, Fritters held aloft his spear. “This, dear fillies and gentlecolt, is the Spear. Mother of Service Weapons, Bane of Duel-Wielding Edgelords, and Thwarter of the Rule of Cool. The First Lady of Fury. She is honest in her lethality, generous in her reach, kind to massed formations of friendlies, and loyal to those who master her arts; she never fails to bring me laughter when she bests the ornate blades of those foolish enough to challenge her, and her capacity for being a superior weapon in virtually any situation is nothing short of magical. She is, in truth, the Weapon of Harmony, the lost Seventh Element, the Alicorn Princess of Flank-Kicking.”
Applejack was so distracted by his display that she almost didn’t hear Song remark to Marble, “That last bit was new.” Marble nodded approvingly.
“This weapon,” continued Fritters, “Has been the mainstay battle weapon of virtually every professional army in the world since primitive ponies first discovered that pokey sticks make the bad things go away. It has maintained that title for the very simple reason that it works. Its flaws are few and its strengths are legion. Better still, one need not be a natural athlete or a highly trained professional to wield it effectively. A pony with a basic understanding of its utilities may hold his or her own against a far more skilled opponent armed with an inferior weapon.”
He swept the point of the spear in an arc, taking in all six trainees. “Each of you will choose a weapon today. Some of you may choose more than one. Whatever you choose, however, I will be instructing you in the Way of the Spear so that, should darkness fall upon you and the only light be the desperate hope thrust into your hooves by a long and sharpened pole, you will be able stand fast in the knowledge that you hold the greatest weapon ever crafted by sapient beings.” With that, he shouldered his beloved weapon. “Any questions?”
“Yeah,” snarked Rainbow Dash, “how long did it take you to come up with that speech?”
9877758
Right up there is the AU description, where Twilight is the bodyguard to a princess Rarity.
If Shining Armor is in this piece, he’d likely be the King’s guard.
9878258
Greetings! A student of Fiore, I see. I've been wanting to properly start studying his style, but I find myself often falling back on the German techniques I already know.
9878258
Left the country. And my local SCA refuses to practice with steel and there's not a HEMA group I was able to find this side of Toronto. I have a few friends who I spar with now and again and if I ever get a regular schedule again I'm going to start my own group. A better group! With Huskarls! And Mead!
9879663
I see. Sounds good. Best luck to you with that!
Are they doing combat training with live weapons? I dont know much about martial arts, but i'm fairly certain you use blunted or padded weapons to spar, and only break out the real deal when you believe lives may be lost.
9878481
That's a good analogy to make, but doesn't translate completely. This is a very nitpicky comment, so be warned.
Generally speaking, pistols are defensive weapons while rifles are offensive weapons. There are plenty of exceptions, like myself, who keeps a loaded AR-15 by my bedside, but this holds true as a general rule. People carry handguns when they aren't expecting a fight. This may sound strange but it generally holds up. Look at the two groups who most often carry handguns; professionals and citizens. Professionals include armed guards, military officers, and police. Two of them carry because there is an increased chance of them encountering a deadly force situation when compared to the average citizen, and one carries only because it is a requirement of his staton. On the average day, they won't need to so much as touch the gun. Armed citizens carry because there is a non-zero chance of getting into a deadly force encounter. Having a gun buys options.
Rifles, on the other hand, are generally offensive weapons. As my evidence, I point to every standardized military in existence. To scale back a bit, let's look at the US military. On duty, they carry an M4 rifle, with about a 14.5 inch barrel. These have been made by several companies over the years, such as Colt, Remington, and more recently FN Herstal, but they are expecting that they could be attacked or need to attack, so they carry rifles. In fact, most don't even carry pistols, because ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain. Outside of the military setting, we can look at the Tulsa, Oklahoma officer who stopped an active shooter with the rifle in his patrol car.
While I am not military, police, or guard, I do know the rationale behind this. Most of my firsthand experience comes from gaming, so take it for what it's worth. When I play games seriously, I almost never use my pistol. When I played Call of Duty or Rainbow Six, my pistol usually stayed in its holster, neglected. In games such as Insurgency or Tarkov, I often don't even carry a pistol at all, as the added weight and noise proves to be more detrimental to my survival.
So what's my point? I dunno. Guess I just wanted to talk about guns for a bit.
9890516
Okay...
Oh, and you play Insurgency?
9890797
Every now and then, yeah.
That was lovely! Just what I like!
9 of 10
9890478
In this story it's wooden wasters with some sort of charm casted on it.
But, to be fair: this cool, movie-like thing is actually plausible (I'm into HEMA and train reguralry with many different melee weapons). While steel swords for sparring should have a safe tip and a good flex in the blade, they can still puncture through fabric of out jackets when the thrust has enough strength behind it and the material is either of poor quality or is worn out. I also know a guy who got his hand punctured by a training sword (he ran himself into it).
P.S. Sharp swords may be used in training by advanced students, because there is no other way to learn how real weapons behave when blades bind against each other. They are for drills, not sparring, of course.
Oh, you little shit. XD
More!
You can has review!
10540243
Squeeee!