Have At Thee
Amethyst Star felt the goosebumps running up her arms like a wave as she and her mother approached the field. Nervosity made her legs shiver and cold sweat ran down her brows. This was no place for the young mare, and she was almost of the opinion that the one she squired for belonged here even less.
Yet Derpy had a confident smile on her face, much like the coming fight was already won. Amethyst didn't share that enthusiasm, instead she would've really loved to just whack her mother over the head with that spear she held and then drag her back home. She'd forgive her, surely, because to the ponies, the grand tourneys held by their griffon friends were a mere amusement. While their competition might have taken it seriously, nopony would blame a daughter for sparing her mother a complete beatdown. Yes, there was absolutely no reason for anypony to despise her if she did do it.
She didn't do anything though and her legs carried her forward with the same grace as a young filly that only took her first steps.
Her mother turned her gaze at Amethyst, her pale blonde mane was done in a braid that hung over her shoulder, and her eyes looked anywhere, except where Derpy wanted them to look.
“What's wrong?” she asked behind a smile so bright with confidence it would've blinded lesser ponies.
“Your opponent is Leif “The Thunder Of The North”, that's what's wrong,” Amethyst said, wondering why her mother even asked.
“So?”
“So? So?” Amethyst stopped in her tracks. “The guy is one of the seven royal knights, fought in at least seven wars, during the siege of Winterholm he defended the southern wall all by himself and he defeated a frost giant with a fork. A. Fork!”
“So?”
“The cereals he eats at breakfast are probably harder to chew for him than you!” Amethyst shook her head and then grabbed her mother's shoulders. “We can still go, you know.”
Derpy only smiled, because her smile was considered one of the three remarkable things about her. “Look at me, Star.”
Amethyst stared her in the eyes, and the left was moving queerly again. Her mother nodded to her, probably so that Amethyst would take a good look. She didn't really need to, but did it nonetheless.
There had been many impressive warriors in the history of griffons, and Derpy clearly wasn't one of them. Nevertheless she did look kind of cool in her getup. A suit of thick leather covered her body, with a shirt of maille covering her upper torso and gilded horseshoes protecting her hooves. A gilded gorget with the emblazoned sun hung around her neck, more as a sign of her equestrian heritage than actual protection. Amethyst carried the helmet, a kettle hat of thick steel with a wide brim, along with her weapon, a ranseur. The weapon had a spear-tip with a crescent-shaped guard, covered in cloth to minimize the damage on the opponent, and that despite the weapon being blunt anyway. There was also cloth wrapped beneath the guard, so that the weapon would no break as easily.
A dissatisfied frown appeared on Amethyst Star's face. “You've got cool armor, so what?”
Derpy somehow managed to blast off even more positive energy after this comment.
Why did I call it cool? Amethyst cursed herself. There would've easily been a hundred other ways to say this, a thousand other ways to make her mother see the folly of this.
Derpy started walking again, her fight would start soon and she didn't want anypony to wait for her.
“Life is about challenges, Star. When I applied for the tournament I knew I would fight many strong opponents. Sure, I could've let Applejack or Rainbow Dash have the honors, since they represent our village in most sportive events, but sometimes somepony else has got to step up and show the world that Ponyville has got more than two able–“
She tripped over the stake of a tent, and fell jaw first on the ground. The rope somehow got loose and a second later the tent collapsed, leaving whoever was in there jumping up with an angry scream. Sadly, the jump ended with what appeared to be a unicorn tripping over another rope, stumbling backwards and right into another tent. All Amethyst could do was stare as the tents fell like dominoes.
“Are we really going to be alright?” She wondered aloud.
Derpy stood up, mouth agape in sheer horror. “My bad!” She yelled across the field.
Sure enough, if she'd manage to do something like that to Leif the battle would be hers, but Amethyst doubted her mother would be lucky enough for something like that to happen.
“After the fight I'll need to help them fix this,” Derpy said, and Amethyst felt the need rise to get her to do nothing instead.
And now a part of me is hoping that Leif's gonna bludgeon her unconscious. What a daughter I am.
“For now, we just need to go,” Derpy stated and turned arouned. Her daughter sighed, but followed her lead.
And she hated every single step she took.
The grand tournament happened once every five years and was considered the griffon equivalent of the Equestria Games. The great difference was that the griffon lords didn't think of the tournament as a game, and watching the clash of arms as it happened here with anything but stoic acceptance was frowned upon, unless one belonged to the common rabble, who seemed to make the spectacle far more livelier. Half the reason why Rainbow Dash wasn't participating was because she was probably drunk on cider already, so she would've been a poor representation of Ponyville.
Unless the mayor had insisted that the pony should be an “accurate” representation, Amethyst mused, then it would've been perfect.
Most competitions were about martial prowess. Be it with the bow, the lance, the throwing spear, wrestling or the like. Griffons had a deep-rooted affinity to war, as Amethyst understood, and they kept their violent traditions alive with this sort of spectacle.
Usually, she would've thought that it was at least a nice thing to watch. Proper fighters in a meelee were quite akin to dancers, Twilight Sparkle had told her, before recommending a book series about it. Usually, she would've been excited.
Usually, her mother wouldn't be the one stepping into the ring and get beaten up by some legendary god of martial skill.
Yet Derpy seemed unaffected by the myth that surrounded her opponent, and the approaching cheers appeared only to strengthen her resolve. For Amethyst that was literally the worst thing that could've happened, because now she couldn't possibly talk her mother out of this. She had had quite enough sleepless nights as this day approached, and even though Dinky had been supportive of her mother's endeavour, Amethyst could not.
Then they took their final steps and halted before the ring. A wooden fence guarded the jousting area, which would now be used for the duels. Amethyst saw the fighters standing on the end they approached too, analysing them as they came closer.
Prince Blueblood talked with his squire, a young mare that appeared to blush whenever he looked in her direction or just adressed her. This wasn't surprising, given his muscular build and gorgeous blonde mane, but the prince could be heard talking mostly about himself. Amethyst wondered whether she just came in at the wrong time, or he did in fact only talk about himself. She'd heard stuff from Rarity.
His armor was gilded, but dented from the actual jousting event, which he had supposedly won rather handily. and he leaned on the trident he called 'Thousand Dragon Slayer', which had a shaft of the rarest whitewood in the world, and its tip was a steel enchanted so it still gleamed like fresh out of the smithy's flames. It was also a blunt tourney weapon only made for this one occasion.
Compared to how lavishly he looked, the griffon with the pink tipped feathers and pink color around her eyes seemed to wear armor of a more simple material. She wore half-plate armor without any intricate designs, and a padded doublet below, with her wings kept close to her body. This one had held a partisan in her claws and checked whether the cloth was applied properly. By her side was a griffon roughly her own age, with puffy feathers and a ponytail. Probably her squire, considering how she tried to look attentive and in need of orders.
The third one was another griffon, who stood there as stoic as could be. He had green feathers and fiery eyes and wore breast- and backplate together with pauldrons. A maille coif and gambeson finished the ensemble, along with an unusual halberd. While they usually had hooks on one side, this one was of a rather large size, and there was no cloth around it.
That one would be trouble.
She saw more contestants on the other end of the area, while a unicorn and an earth pony fought in the ring, their weapons clashing in an elegant dance.
“That's gotta be Leif,” Derpy said, looking at the green griffon.
“Yeah, he looks trouble. Let's go–“
“And greet him!”
Before Amethyst could object, her mother was already hovering over to him. Cautiously she followed, hoping that he wasn't the type to batter contestants outside the ring if they approached him. You could never know with these griffons.
“Heyho!” Derpy said with a cheer, but the griffon didn't move, his eyes fixated on the match.
There was a moment of silence, filled with the kind of awkwardness Amethyst knew well from school and from when teachers would ask her about her homework. Truth be told, that was still preferable to whatever they were experiencing right now.
“Derpy Hooves?” The griffon finally asked, his voice a smooth baritone.
“Yep,” Derpy answered, as chipper as ever.
That was when Amethyst noted his squire. Unusually, it was a young pegasus colt, probably from the steppes in the south of the griffon lands. He had a dirty brown coat and his mane was a yellowish green, while his black eyes followed the fight with deep interest. He held a two-handed saber the size of his master, which had a hilt that looked worth a fortune, with an ivory guard and pommel, along with a hilt which looked like dragontooth. Even with the sheath, Amethyst could tell how thin the blade was, and how there was a small cloud around it. Being a unicorn, she had a certain affinity for magic, and she could tell how it was some sort of enchantment that froze the air around the weapon.
“A few more strikes, then the earth pony will fall,” the griffon said in a bored tone. “I'm Leif, and I guess I'll be your opponent.”
He turned around to look at Derpy, spreading his wings in a show of intimidation and kept his face a mask like stone. Not that that helped much as he looked into Derpy's eyes. Two golden suns, one standing at high noon, the other thinking it was already evening.
When Derpy said, “You've got pretty wings,” whatever mood he intended to produce vanished.
Leif wanted to say something, state his intent or just insult her in order to get fired up for the match. Whatever words he hoped to find, they vanished in front of her white teeth, kept clean with the power of toothbrushes and gleaming with the might of happiness.
“Uhm,” he said, clearly flustered.
Amethyst had no words, one sentence and he already couldn't keep up with her mother. That's one win, I guess.
Her eyes went to the match, where the pegasus whacked her opponent over the head one more time. The judge lifted a red flag, signalling the end of the match, and the crowd cheered. Considering how quickly the squire of the loser was on the field along with a medic, it quickly dawned to Amethyst that it was a victory by knock-out.
Derpy only smiled as she saw the spectacle. “Oh, that was over quick. You're good at guessing this sort of thing, aren't you?”
The griffon sighed. “Guess? I've thought on a thousand battlefields, my eye knows an enemy's strength the moment I see them. The same goes for you. I will grind you into dust and will drink the blood from your skull.”
“Wow, that's an awesome boast. I prepared some too, but I forgot them on the way. Eh, I'm looking forward to our fight. Speaking of which,” Derpy stretched out her arm, “I need my lance, Star.”
Leif blinked, had his mouth open. The battle of words he seemed to have lost. Which, sadly, didn't change the fact that he was a terrifying opponent.
The daughter had half a thought to just run away with the weaponry, but they'd probably find a replacement. She gave her mother both the ranseur and the helment. “Be careful out there, okay?”
“Yeah, and don't worry about me. You'll go to the cheering masses, make some noise for me and then watch me win.”
“For the next fight,” the judge, a brown griffon with a face even less articulate than that of Leif, yelled, “The representant and personal champion of her majesty, Queen Grizelda of the Kingdom of the Far Mountains And All Griffon Kind, Leif Sturmlos, Thunder Of The North, Slayer of Ice, Defender Of Whiteholm, Shield And Sword Of The West and Master-At-Arms Of The Royal Family, will fight against the representant of Ponyville, Derpy Hooves, The Mailmare!”
The cheer that erupted from the griffon's side at the mention of Leif's name was like an explosion, a wave of sound that sent a cold shiver down Amethyst's spine. If she'd been the one to fight, this would've made her run away. Compared to that, only a few ponies cheered at Derpy's name, probably townsfolk from Ponyville who'd found the time to make it beyond the food stands on the market plaza.
For whatever reason, as Leif strutted onto the field with easy confidence, his halberd resting on his shoulder, held by a strong grip, Derpy did the same, a confident smile on her face and the large brim of her helmet protecting her from the sunlight. Amethyst wondered why a mailmare thought to go up against some griffonic legend of warfare.
“Just be alright,” she said, leaning against the fence.
The squire of the griffon looked at her, but said nothing, instead turned back to look at his lord, the hint of a smile upon his face.
The other fighters also turned their attention to ring, although the prince immediately turned his attention back to his gorget, in which he could admire his own reflection, while the griffon girls both exchanged a few words and a handshake beforehand. They were probably betting on something. On what, Amethyst had no idea. The best she could think off was that they had different opinions on how longer her mother would hold out. Honestly, this made her actually root for Derpy, against all odds.
The two positioned themselves in the middle of the arena, with the judge standing at the far side, behind the fence. “Warriors,” he yelled, “by the rules of this tourney, held in the graces of both her majesty, Queen Grizelda of the Kingdom of the Far Mountains And All Griffon Kind, and her majesties, the Princess Celestia, Herald Of The Sun and Ruler of All Equestria, and the Princess Luna, Herald Of The Moon And Ruler Of All Equestria, you have accepted to adhere to the rules of this championship. This fight will be decided by the mettle with which you hold your weapon and nothing more. You shall only strike at the areas armored, and you shall not assert to lowly fighting tactics such as the usage of the sand below you, or the spreading of your wings. The using of fists and hooves is permitted even when it comes to attacking unarmored points, but it will not yield any points. As such, this fight will be held by the commonly accepted point system and ...”
Oh Celestia, get on with it already, Amethyst thought, not really loving the tension in the air. It was pretty much like she was breathing heavy, misshapen rocks and hadn't even some sort of oil or water to wash them down with. Still he went on his tirade.
The point system wasn't even that complicated. You got a point by managing to hit your opponent in an accepted area, until you had five points, or were two in the lead. Then you won the fight. Winning by way of points was signalled by the judge lifting his blue flag. The other way was by way of knock-out, which earned more clout, but was rather hard to achieve with only ten hits possible, unless you managed to hit the enemies head several times, really hard. Either way, when you managed to get a knock-out, the judge would lift the red flag.
And then there was the white flag, which was lifted when a fighter surrendered. Which, by this rule set, hardly ever happened.
The judge finished his explanation in a more longwinded way, going into the history and why it was so important to keep to the rules. Griffons loved to talk about history, at least when it came to anything official. Amethyst'd heard that if you wanted to build a house in a griffon city you needed to dig up the entire history of that specific spot unless you wanted somebody to come knocking at your door telling you that some five hundred years ago an ancestor had lived here and it was kinda insulting to the family name that now you were there.
It was also incredibly boring.
“So, I ask again: Do you understand and accept the boundaries set upon thee and fight fairly with the vigour worthy of knighthood?”
“I am,” both fighters finally intoned.
“Then it is decided. By the graces,” he went on with the titles again, “I declare this duel started. You may begin.”
Finally, Amethyst thought and the crowd, seated to the side of the arena, cheered one last time before it grew quiet. Both fighters took on fighting positions. Leif stood on his hindlegs, his polearm lifted above his head, and Derpy stood on three legs, her weapon in one arm, pointed at her opponent.
Amethyst expected the moment to last longer than it did, for both fighters suddenly lurched forward, the head of the halberd coming down on Derpy's head who had foolishly jumped forward. But Derpy reacted just as quick, ramming the head of her spear into the sand and using it as a help to jump to the left, the enemy's weapon landing on the sand. Shaft went against shaft, and Derpy used the chance to bring her weapon up, scratching against the breastplate of her enemy with a speed Amethyst hadn't expected of her mother.
Derpy immediately chose to jump backwards and took a defensive stance, quick as only a pegasus could be. Whatever pride had been plastered on Leif's face was shattered as he stared at the pony, one hand touching the point she had hit with her spear. The same went for pretty much everyone, who stared in disbelief as their legend had taken a hit from, well, a mailmare.
“One point for Lady Hooves!” The Judge suddenly shouted.
And suddenly every pony in the audience was roaring with cheers, drowning out the griffons. What had been a rather sad display before now became a wave of energy that filled even Amethyst's chest with confidence. And that despite knowing that one hit didn't mean much. He had probably underestimated her, not thinking that some no name pony would be an actual match for him.
She smiled, despite knowing that there would be no second hit.
The griffon pointed the tip of his weapon at Derpy, who took her ranseur with both front hooves, her smile still kindly.
Through gritted teeth the griffon screeched as he lurched forward again, piercing at Derpy. However, she evaded again, turning to the side and around herself. She swung her spear like a staff with all her might behind her. With a CLANG he blocked the strike, however, only for her to throw her shoulder against his torso. Unlike what Derpy had expected, he didn't lose balance, and with a loud crash, the head of his halberd came down on her head, smashing her onto the ground.
The cheering stopped, but Derpy started moving the moment her jaw hit the ground, kicking her legs in a circle so that they crashed against his own. With a grunt, the griffon lost balance and Derpy was upon him. Her spear came down on him, but even in the fall, he managed to move his arms appropriately, throwing his shaft against hers and diverting the blow. It wasn't enough, however, as the tip of her spear still scratched against his plate.
He didn't take that well and kicked her with his knee, just below the chainmail, pushing her away from him. Derpy landed rather unsightly, rolling twice, before getting up again and pointing her tip at him again. Her hair was in disarray and dust was plastered on her coat. Despite that, however, she was grinning now. It was a more vicious grin, and Amethyst could only stare open-mouthed as the judge yelled out again.
“One point for each!”
As the crowd started cheering loudly again, both names echoing across the field, Amethyst had to ask herself: Why?
Her mother was clumsy. Dedicated, yes, but also incredibly useless when it came to anything that required her to do anything. It wasn't just her sense of direction that was a joke around a town. Yet there she was, having landed not one, but two blows on a legendary fighter with a quickness that was as hard to follow with the eye as Rainbow Dash on a speed trip.
Sure, she'd told her that her bad sense of direction had actually gotten her to do some adventuring before Amethyst'd been born, but surely she didn't pick up the most awesome spear fighting techniques during that time. No, her mom couldn't be that cool without telling her about it. Never.
And now, she was standing there, dust covering her and both her eyes at least close to watching her opponent.
“Come on, sir,” she said.
The griffon, who still seemed shock about the expertise his opponent possessed, shook his head and then lifted his polearm above his head one more time. “You're annoying. I'll crush you with this.”
And then he jumped towards her again, quicker than before. She saw him swinging his weapon, and Derpy hers. She saw the weapons hitting each other, and a moment later Derpy had pierced through his defense. The shaft of his weapon got caught up between the guard and the blade, and she managed to push the weapon away from him, entering his guard. She swirled around and smashed her elbow into the arm with which he held the weapon, hoping to loosen his grip. That didn't came to be, as he kicked her in back of the leg, forcing her to the ground.
His weapon smashed against the side of her chainmail, eliciting a cry of pain from the pony as she was thrown into the air and crashed back onto the sand, whirling up a cloud of dust.
The griffon, panting heavily, started to grin.
“One point to Sir Sturmlos,” the judge announced.
With that it was even, but Derpy still stirred, tried to get up. Leif seemed intent on not letting her and jumped forward, gripping his polearm with both arms and throwing its weight against Derpy with all his might. The head came down on the mare, who, once more, jumped to the side and then forward again, ranseur first.
He evaded the tip by half-stepping to the side, but the crescent-shaped guard still hit his armor. He clicked his teeth and punched the shaft of her weapon away from his body, before taking the halberd with both hands again.
Their weapons clashed again and again as they each tried to get another point in. He managed to block every other important strike, while she managed to dodge them. The announcer would wait with his announcement until the parted again.
Amethyst stared at the both of them. Usually, in this sort of contest, the actual fighting only made up a small portion of the spectacle. The fighters usually took five to nine small bouts, each lasting less than five seconds, before a winner was decided. The bouts were usually just three or four strikes and then the opponents would part again. It was more about finding a weakness in the enemy's defense than fighting over an extended period of time, as far as she understood.
She spotted them moving, sometimes slower, sometimes quicker, but she also noted that Leif was pushing her mother back. She tried to back away from him several times, hoping to get a chance to reassess the situation. He didn't intend to let her, however, as he knew that if she got another chance to breathe, she'd probably also get another strike in.
He managed to hit her on the helmet once more, and a few seconds thereafter on the breastplate. Only then did he jump back.
“One for Lady Hooves, Two for Sir Sturmlos!”
He only needed one more strike, Amethyst knew, but with her mother having gained distance, she could find a way to get another one in. She spotted the mare, keeping the tip of her spear pointed at his face, just like the books on the subject of fighting had taught her, but she was also breathing heavily. Clearly, she was exhausted. Amethyst took another look at him, just to find him recovering more quickly from his state of exhaustion. He was used to fighting, more so than anypony, and he'd taken the first two points because his pride had blinded him.
Leif Sturmlos had recovered from the shock of the first few strikes and now was his chance to get back at her. He looked at her with fiery red eyes, searching for a weak point in her defense. There probably were some, but he was still waiting for something.
Then her mother made a move, only to stumble over her own hooves and nearly fall. Her face contorted in pain, she barely managed to catch herself by holding on to her spear. Leif jumped forward as the chance presented itself. The moment was over as quick as could be.
His halberd came from above, so Derpy let herself swirl to the side the axehead sending a gust of wind past her that made her hair dance, for the strap of her helmet tore at that moment and the kettle hat fell off her. Nevertheless, out of the pirouette, the ranseur launched in a devastating piercing attack.
Clang it went and then they were even in points. It would take only one more.
Amethyst's smile widened in confidence and the field was drowned in cheers. “Go, Mom!” the child yelled.
But Derpy hesitated and suddenly the griffon moved again, the halberd's hook was around her leg and suddenly the gray mare was falling and all the cheers went quiet for Amethyst. No, she thought, and then the halberd came down for the final time.
She didn't know when she started to run, or when she took her mother in her arms. She didn't hear the judge, didn't care to look what Leif or his squire did. All that mattered was how Derpy was, and she looked worse than Amethyst thought she wood. Her face had bruises from when she'd fallen to the ground, and she held her hoof close to her chest, where the halberd had hit her with full force.
“Mom,” she heard herself say, feeling the sun's light touching the back of her neck.
One eye her mother kept open for her, one eye she managed to fixate at her. “It hurts a bit, I think I broke a few bones.”
“The medic's coming already, don't worry.”
“I'm not worrying. I lost, kinda weird, but also kinda fun. Heh,” Derpy tried to laugh but only a cough escaped her. “Dammit, I wanna go at it again.”
A shadow suddenly appeared, covering the both of them, and Amethyst turned towards him, tears running down her eyes. Leif looked at Derpy and gave her a nod.
“Well fought,” he said, “I hope you will attend the next tourney as well.”
Derpy looked at him. “Sure, sir gorgeous-wings. I'll be there.”
For a moment Amethyst Star thought that her mother had sounded awfully flirty just then. But that didn't matter, not really. She'd fought in her first tourney and lost, and in five years time, she'd go at it again. As the medics came, Amethyst decided to not be the squire anymore. This sort of event just wasn't for her.
~The End~
