23. Dueling nobility
Matthias entered the castle, looking back at the setting sun.
"I should look for Twilight and the rest." he though, feeling a bit tired.
After his talk with Shining Armor he spent some time walking around Canterlot, which still was to him a lot like Silvermoon, as well as Dalaran. The architecture, the magic... It wasn't a surprise to him, however, everypony that passed him, meaning mostly unicorns, stared at his scars, both terrified and disgusted. He noticed that earlier, but didn't mentioned it to anypony, simply not caring. The royal guards, on the other hoof, looked at him with a mix of respect and wariness, which earned them his respect in return.
As he came into a crossroad of corridors, he wondered just were the rest could possibly be, when suddenly he heard a raised voice nearby. He crept closer in their direction.
"... and how dare you to not proparly apologise to me for spilling that drink on me!" he heard somepony say and soon saw a white unicorn stallion, screaming at some brown mare, also unicorn.
"Excuse me, what seems to be the problem?" Matthias asked, interjecting.
Both ponies looked at him. The stallion was wearing some kind of formal attire, which probably meant that he was part of nobility, while the mare was wearing some kind of bonnet that made her look like maidservant.
"Ah, finally somepony who shows proper respect." said the stallion. "Could you please instruct this servant about..."
"For the last time, Prince Blueblood," intejected the mare. "I am not going to apologise for you walking into me. Now if you would be so kind to move away, I have to..."
"How dare you to speak..."
"Wait, you're Prince Blueblood?" asked Matthias.
"Why, yes. I'm surprised you haven't recognised me."
"Well, that explains everything to me." said Matt and he meant it. He heard enough about him from Rarity and the others to know that this was his fault. "Apologise to this lady."
"E-excuse me?!" asked Blueblood in shock, as the mare looked at Matt, confused. "H-How dare you speak to me that way? Who are you?"
"Matthias Lehner." replied Matt politely.
"I've never heard of you."
"Well, I've heard of you. You're a self-centered snob, who doesn't understand what chivalry means. I'm sure that whatever you're accusing this lady is your fault. Apologise to her."
"Wha... The nerve! Don't you understand that you are talking to a Prince?!"
"Don't make me laugh." snorted Matthias, who had enough. "You're not a Prince. I've given you chance to walk away with your honor intact, but since you refused..."
Quicker than eye could follow, he slapped gently the snobbish 'prince' in the face with his hoof.
"... I challange you to a duel, and when I win, you have to publicly apologise to every mare that you have offended in your life."
The shock on Blueblood's face turned into an outrage.
"How dare you! Very well, you shall have your duel, and when my representative defeats you, you will leave Canterlot immediately!"
"Name the time and place." replied Matthias, not surprised that the 'prince' didn't want to fight him himself.
"In an hour, at the Canterlot's Grand Arena!"
"Great. You will have a good stage for your apology."
Blueblood snorted and walked away.
"Why did you do that?" asked the mare that Matthias almost forgot about. "This wasn't something worth fighing for."
"That's maybe true." replied Matt. "But I heard about this pony earlier, and I practically waited for an excuse to teach him a lesson. Pity I can't fight him, though."
"Well, for what it's worth, thank you." she said, bowing. "I'm Pixie, one of Princess Celestia's maidservants."
"Pleasure meeting you, Lady Pixie."
"I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go. Princess Celestia will be tired after whole day of guarding Canterlot."
"I won't keep you, then. But try to come to the Grand Arena to hear that snob apologise." Matt said, trotting off.
"Now, just which way is this 'Grand Arena'?"
Pixie looked as the stallion was leaving. There was something... familiar about him, but the unicorn couldn't remember what exactly.
Twilight could belive that her friends could be so blind.
"The princess is about to get married." Rarity said, trying to calm her, but instead she added more fuel to her anger. "I'm sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves."
"And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor let alone marry him!" Twilight said, stomping on the table.
Everypony looked at her, worried.
"Think maybe ya're being just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?" Applejack asked.
"Uh-huh." agreed the rest of her friends.
"I am not being possessive, and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You're all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn't even be a wedding!" she said, hitting the table so hard that she spilled all the drinks, and turned around.
She nearly bumped into some stallion.
"Uh, sorry." he apologised and went to the table were two other stallions were sitting. "Hey, you guys are off-duty too?"
Twilight walked away, thinking what she should do next, when she overheard what they were talking about.
"There's a fight in the Grand Arena in about twenty minutes!" said the pony that nearly collided with her. "That douchebag Mighty Shot is fighting."
"Really?" asked one of the other stallions, who, as she realised, were royal guards. "Who is the unfortuned pony that he's going against?"
"I don't know, some kind of weirdo that came into Canterlot today and challenged the Prince 'Snobblood' into a duel. Anyway, lets go and watch."
As the three stallions were leaving, Twilight glanced back at her friends, their argument forgotten for a moment. She saw the same thought in their eyes.
They all knew who this 'weirdo' was.
"Fillies and gentlecolts!" said magically enforced voice that could be heard across the whole Arena. "Mighty Shot, a long time friend of Prince Blueblood, is representing him in the duel that he was challenged to by Matthias Lehner! The fight starts in five minutes!"
Twilight and her friends looked at the stadium, and there he was. Standing completely still, waiting for his opponent.
"What the hay is he doing?" she asked, flustered.
"Did the announcer said that he challenged Blueblood?" asked Rarity.
"You mean that snob that you wanted to marry?" replied Rainbow with a smirk.
"I thought we agreed to never. Speak of it. Again." Rarity hissed.
"Ah don't get it. Why did he challenge him? And why isn't that prince fightin' himself?"
"When a noble is challenged into an honorary duel, he can choose a representative to fight in his place." replied Twilight as they made their way through the crowd. "But why did Matt challenge him?"
"That's some crowd." Matthias fought as he scanned the spectactors. "There he is!"
Blueblood finally came and sat on the honorary place at the other side of the arena. They both looked at each other with disgust.
There was still some time left before the fight, but Matt was already standing at the stage, waiting for this 'Mighty Shot'. He had stretched himself a minute earlier in the locker room, after declining from the Arena's staff the armor they wanted to give him.
"As if that thing could be of any help..."
"Matt!" a shout interrupted his thoughts.
Matthias glance to his right. His friends were standing by the barrier at the edge of the fighting stage.
"Hi everypony." he said casually as he walked to them. "How do the preparations for the wedding go?"
"What the hay are you doing?!" asked Twilight.
"Killing time." he replied with a smirk.
The expression on her face was priceless, even though he wouldn't be thinking so if it wasn't for the barrier that prevented anypony from the other side from intervening.
"Look, I would love to stay and chat, but the fight starts soon. I asked the Arena's staff to save you some seats in case you came." he said as he trotted away.
"This is going to be fun." he thought, and he recalled how few years ago he was watching another fighting in the arena.
Who would have guessed that the orc, that was a slave and was even named so, would rise up to be the Warchief of the Horde and a shaman that is destined to stop Deathwing, while the prince, that was going to be a paladin and King of Lordaeron, would have done all that he did, and would find himself here?
"Things change." he repeated Anub'arak's words.
"Calm down, sugarcube." said Applejack. "Ah mean, it's Matt. I'm sure he knows what he's doin'. And hey, he deserves some excitement, right?"
"Yes, it's just..." Twilight trailed of as they sat on the seats that Matthias had reserved for them, trying to collect her thoughts.
"First, it's this whole wedding thing, and now this." she sighed. "I guess I expected Matt to help me find some solution, but he goes around fighting."
"Just what, dear?" asked Rarity.
"I just... wonder if he's going to be okey." she answered, not wanting to go back into the fight with her friends over the wedding. "I heard about this Mighty Shot from my brother. He's a royal guard, like Shining Armor, but he is kind of... unpleasant. And strong. He never lost a fight."
"Well, that's about to change!" said Rainbow.
Matthias came closer to the middle of the fighting stage and glanced at his opponent. He was surprisingly well muscled for an unicorn; in fact, the only other well-built unicorn that came into Matt's mind was Shining Armor. He wore full body armor; at least, by Equestria's standards, and underneath it Matthias could see a dark coat, same color as his mane and tail.
"The combatants are ready?" asked the announcer.
"Yes." they both replied.
" Before we begin the fight, let me remind you the rules: no magic, no killing. We fight until the first blood is drown. The medics are staying within the barrier, but won't interfere until the fight is over. The fight begins... now!" shouted the announcer and the crowd cheered.
"This is your unlucky day." said Mighty Shot as he started to circle around him.
"Mind if I ask you something?" asked Matt, following him with only his eyes.
"Shoot."
"Why are you friends with somepony like Blueblood?"
"Because we think alike. We both know that we are better than commoners that the Princess holds in such great regard for some reason."
"Good." replied Matt, grinning, although the unicorn couldn't see his face.
"What do you mean?" asked his opponent, and Matthias heard his armor creak as he prepared to jump.
"Isn't it obvious?" he replied with a question, and swiftly dodged Mighty Shot's attack. "I'm glad that was your answer, because that means I still get to beat up a snob."
Mighty Shot snorted and attacked again.
Matthias was impressed by the number of kicks and punches the unicorn had thrown at him. Despite his heavy build, he was very fast, and had a good fighting technigue.
But he was not as fast as he was, and his fighting technique could't match with that of a Knight of the Silver Hand.
Every punch, every kick, every headbutt hit an empty air as Matt moved out of the way. Since most of those strikes were aimed at his head, he could simply stood still for most of the time, and just move his head.
After few minutes his opponent, who started growing tired, backed away and charged at him. Matt jumped over him and kicked Mighty Shot at the back of his head, causing his helmet to fall off and giving the stallion's face a ride through the ground.
After a few moments of silence, the crowd started cheering, Mighty Shot picked himself from the ground, spitting dirt.
"Do you need a break?" asked Matthias, smirking.
The unicorn shoot him a glare that could probably melt steel. His horn glowed.
"Oh..." said Matthias.
Twilight watched, speechless, as the magical bolt hit her friend...
... and everything exploded.
"Matt!!!"
Mighty Shot looked at the huge smoke that covered the area where that dirty commoner stood. He didn't even try to suppress the cruel smile on his face. Who cares that he broke the rules? The rules are below those of noble blood, such as he. He was...
...clip... clop...
"Wait, what?" he though, sure that he must be hearing things.
...clip... clop...
"Tha... That's impossible!" Mighty Shot though, backing away, as the joy on his face changed into a terror.
From the smoke, Matthias Lehner emerged, not a scratch on him.
"My turn." he said with a smirk, and charged.
Mighty simply stared, unable to keep up with earth pony's speed, as his hoof hit him with unbelivable strength, shattering his armor and sending him flying.
"Did the hoof... glow?" he manged to think before he collided with the wall.
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lol matt's hoof power has the same power of a paladins Great Hammer lololololol
Arthas used some sort of "blessing of command"? Didnt he? What's next? Chrysalis will be stunned with "Hammer of Justice" and killed with "Crusader Strike", enhanced the effect of tripled "Investigation"?
OWNED!
Whoa. Hes so surprised, he thought "Imossible"
Prince Bluedick just got OWNED
Aaaand thats a knock out
Arthas bubbled. So obvious.
The story has potential but you really need to pass your chapters to an editor before publishing, if you don't know where to find help you may want to check out groups like Proofreaders and People willing to proof-read and Looking for Editors.
The little mistakes keep popping through all the story, but there are a few you repeat several times, there is a difference between wonder and wander. It's either OK or okay, I know okey is often used in some Spanish speaking countries, mainly in South America, but that isn't how you write it in English. When a sentence contains 'did' it's enough to identity past tense, meaning the verbs are written on the present tense, not past...
Nobody expects every author to write perfect chapters, that's why a lot of them have a proofreader/editor pointing and fixing out those little mistakes before posting the chapters, and that can make a very big difference on quality.
Awe-sum, my dear writer, this was like a steak to my hunger!
Few spelling errors, but the kicking of ass (pun intended) more than compensated for it.
"Pleasure meating you, Lady Pixie."
Meating you
That sounds sexual...
Judgement time!
Well shit, now the Ashen Verdict can't forge Shadowmourne
IT HAMMER TIME
Eh... Er....
2680452 i was drinking water YOU ASS .... now its all over my keyboard
i felt like there was a tex moment here. and it was awesome
he spend some time
It wasn't surprise to him
that everypony that passed him
who shows a proper respect
Now if you would be so kind to move away, I have too
at the stadion
Standing completaly still
But why did Matt challenged him
would rose up to be
He wore a full body armor
by Equestria's standarts
The combatans are read
let as remind you the rules
Despite his heavy built
where aimed at his headhe could simply stood still for most of the time
After few minutes his oppponent
After few moments of silence
Mighty Shot picket himself
He didn't even tried to suppress the cruel smile
Did the hoof... glowed
1. Spent.
2. It wasn't a surprise to him.
3. Everypony that passed him. (no need the first that)
4. Who shows proper respect.
5. To.
6. Stadium.
7. Completely.
8. Challenge.
9. Rise.
10. He wore full body armor.
11. Standards.
12. Are the combatants ready?
13. Let me remind you about the rules.
14. Build.
15. Were aimed at his head he could simply stand still for most of the time.
16. After a few minutes, his opponent.
17. After a few moments of silence.
18. Picked.
19. Try.
20. Glow.
Phew... break time. I think I might need to change the formatting slightly because of the fact that there are quite a few mistakes that are here. Makes it less confusing hopefully.
FEEL THE POWER OF THE LIGHT!
Me: Oh no he died!
Comes out fine
Me: Nevermind he bubbled!
I'm sorry. But after reading about the challenging of the duel. This was waaaaaaay too tempting not to pass up. :P
Dvine shield you moron
Palidons.... OP as fuck.
3335979 Prefectionnn
Love this story! But man... you need an editor. The grammar errors are killing me!
Wait is this his sister.
9344018
lore wise (if this follows wow cannon as of legion/bfa) no. if this is offshoot cannon. maybe.
By shinji! (no not that shinji, the one from the elder scrolls).