Author's Note
Takes place in the Upheaval world.
A small thing written in anticipation of Father's Day.
Sire
"Brave Sanctus Dominus, Lord of Sunlight, pray grant this one the honor of a duel in Ida."
The words were correct enough in the Herd's dueling traditions. The filly trembled as she spoke them, her barding rattling. She held a magical construct of a gold spear in front of her, given that she was too young to use the real one meant for her. The point faced down. Coupled with her white-feathered wings remaining folded, her stance wordlessly stated that she considered her opponent inferior. Given her trembling, and the fact that she faced a stallion whose knees she barely reached, she likely didn't mean to make such a statement.
She did not present an imposing sight with her slightly maladjusted barding and the poor way her pink mane came out of her criniere, but she had timed her challenge well. He had just finished dealing with the Council of Elders, so he had the time. A trip to Ida would help him unwind after another dull meeting. Of course, it was not exactly proper for the King to duel in Ida so long as he remained attuned to the Throne, but he could make an exemption, right? Especially for such an earnest and charming request. Even if the challenge was poorly executed, and would have been extremely insulting coming from anyone else. He raised his silvery sword, still in its scabbard, sideways; an indication that he saw an equal.
"I accept, Celestia, Princess of Sunlight," he said with a smile. "Name the rules of engagement, the place, and the time."
Her face lit up with a smile bright enough for a hundred dawns. Whatever sense of propriety she tried to maintain disappeared as she flew up and hovered in her excitement. Gratia would not approve, but this was worth it already. "Full Might!" she chirped. "Out in the plains, and right now!"
Full Might. An observer would call that insanity before she finished saying it. Full Might meant that he could bring down the might of the Throne if he wished. No one had challenged him at Full Might for a long time, even before his ascenscion. "Full Might it is!" he said with a cheeriness to match hers.
The wide open plains of Ida were but a thought away for both of them. Empyrea's grand halls and vaulted ceilings gave way to a rugged plain and a vast blue sky. They stood a good distance from each other, far enough to make good use of fireballs, but still within acceptable earshot.
"Promise you won't hold back!" Celestia shouted. She twirled her golden spear construct, and stamped the ground with a foreleg.
"I promise that I will hold back," Dominus replied. He presented his still-scabbarded sword for emphasis. That he wore no barding at all made things even clearer. "Unless you make me fight earnestly."
That apparently counted as the signal to begin. Celestia crossed the distance before the last syllable even rolled off Dominus' tongue, spear aimed at his unprotected chest. Two fireballs arced towards him, one descending from above and another taking a curving path to strike him from behind.
She had misjudged their distance, an easy enough mistake to make when simple light manipulation made him appear slightly farther than he actually was. He shifted his shoulders a bit and took a step forward. The spear whistled past him while Celestia's snout crashed into his chest. His lack of barding proved prudent already. "So it's a cuddle you want, is it?" Dominus said with a chuckle. He put a foreleg around her, holding her close until she squirmed in his beard. A low boom and a wave of heat came from above where two fireballs collided. He had teleported the one coming from behind into the path of the descending one.
An obviously unwanted giggle came from Celestia as she struggled to free herself from his notoriously ticklish beard. Notorious to her at least. "Father!" she protested in a muffled voice. She regained enough of her bearings to teleport away. "Take this seriously!" she yelled from a distance she took as safe.
"That is up to you, little ray," Dominus replied. "A fight is won by dictating the pace, not asking the enemy to dictate it to your liking."
The little pout and the flustered beat of her wings made him chuckle all the more. A bolt of lightning flashed towards him, only to explode into a blinding shower of sparks before his face. A brief whistle and a draft from his side revealed Celestia's attack all too clearly. Her spear strike flew true this time, much to his approval. It was an embarrassing truth that many of his duels were won by such a simple displacement trick. There was no way mighty Dominus would use something so mundane. It had to be grand...majestic...worthy of such a capable opponent as themselves.
"You've noticed," Dominus said. Again stepping into the attack, evading the thrust with a brief shrug and just the right angle.
Celestia didn't relent. Her telekinesis quickly recovered from the deep thrust, and whipped the spear about to catch his eyes. He moved his head slightly forward, allowing the haft to hit the side of his skull. The impact nearly discorporated her spear, and he hardly felt a thing. With a yelp, she flew back to regain her weapon's stability. "You love pranking me with displacement," she groused. "Even with big brother's cake!"
Oh, that was a sight. Gobs of thick cream and chunks of fruit dripping down her snout and cheeks, eyes surprised at first, then outraged when she recognized his magic. Her pink mane matted and sticky. She had gone for a large and deep bite, only to realize that the cake was actually a hair's breadth from her face already. "That cake you stole," he said.
"He was going to get rid of it!"
That petulant cry was echoed by a great blast of fire to his face. No sneak attack this time. He exhaled, parting the flames with his breath, revealing that she had not moved from the spot. "Tired already?" he asked.
"Ag'nim'nus!" she yelled.
The heat behind him made the fireblast seem like a warm breeze. She had befriended her first enforcer, it seemed. Ag'nim'nus materialized as close to his back as possible, and charged swiftly. Celestia understood that opportunities were fleeting.
Typical of enforcers linked to very young alicorns, Ag'nim'nus was no bigger than a colt, only appearing larger because of the chaotic flames that comprised his body. His eyes were orbs of wildly flickering white flames, the mark of a capricious and difficult to control enforcer. He collided with the ground where Dominus was a moment ago, exploding into a raging inferno. Realizing that he had missed, Ag'nim'nus swirled into a whirling torrent of flame, neighing angrily, and trying to assault Dominus from all sides.
"Ow!" Celestia cried out from a distance. "Watch it, Ag'nim'nus!"
That she had reached the enforcers attending to her at such a young age proved Celestia's natural talent. That the first to answer her, the one to be captain to the others, was so impetuous that he burned even her, proved that her path to mastering this skill was going to be arduous. She would likely summon him the least often in the future once tamer enforcers became available, and this would only serve to make him more temperamental. Ag'nim'nus did not seem to heed his summoner's castigation, becoming even more erratic and furious. He lashed with arcing streaks of flame, staying in whirlflame form most of the time.
"Av'norhus, calm the angry little colt down," Dominus said.
Av'norhus whinnied his gratitude, and materialized, all but too glad to be chosen out of so many to engage in combat. He and his fellows had not fought for a long time.
The whirling flame struck a massive sheet of golden radiance with all the effect of a hoofful of sand being hurled against a gale. In their equine forms, Av'norhus towered over Ag'nim'nus, easily coralling the smaller enforcer away from the duel. Celestia had not made another attack. She gingerly put some weight on her singed hoof, and whimpered. "Stupid Ag'nim'nus..." she muttered.
"Enforcers reflect aspects of their summoner's personality," Dominus said. "Yours is headstrong and doesn't do as he's told. I wonder why?" She flushed an angry red under her barding, and took a step forward, only to yelp when she accidentally stepped with her burned hoof. "It appears Princess Celestia has been defeated. By herself."
At his chuckling, Celestia jumped into a hover. "I can still fight!" she said.
"Yes, you can, little ray, but can you still win?"
Celestia's spear construct crumbled into motes of light with a mild dispelling from him. She tried to reform a new one in a panic, only to be hoisted up through her tail. From afar, Ag'nim'nus let out an angry, fading neigh as Av'norhus banished him. Her horn flashed for another spell, but she could barely form anything for an attack.
"This is as much as you can draw from me," Dominus said. "You must learn to acknowledge a failed attempt, Celestia, or you will always be burning yourself."
Her cheeks still red, her forelegs crossed, and her eyes already watery, Celestia pressed her quivering lips together for a few moments of sullen silence. "Fine!" she finally relented. "On one condition!"
"Bargaining with the victor, are we?" Dominus said. He set her down gently, making sure she didn't trod on her injured hoof. Vae Victis. One day. she would have to learn this. It didn't have to be now. "What are your terms then?"
"Let me join the Young Fighters Tournament!"
Dominus tilted his head, and stared at the filly. Here was the reason for the duel invitation. She hoped to impress him enough. Celestia's jaw jutted out defiantly; a promise that she would sneak into the roster if she had to. "You are too young, even for the Young Fighters Tournament," he said.
"But you saw my fighting!" Celestia whined. "I beat Ferrus Malleus in a duel too, and he's joining!"
"But it's not his joining that has you interested now, isn't it?" Dominus said. "Solis Coruscaria."
Celestia let out a snort. "She's so smug," she muttered. "Calling herself the Sun of the Sixteenth Cycle. I can shine brighter than her."
"She is a prodigiously talented fighter," he said. "The oldest participant in this tournament, and the favorite to win."
"I can beat her," Celestia said, her pout returning. She did not like his praise for her supposed rival. "Let me join, and I'll show you!"
"You may join," Dominus said. Her sullen pouting brightened again. It was so tempting to leave it at that. To end on a high note and bask in her joyous good graces especially when she shifted so easily out of it. He held up a hoof. "You've discovered Ida's leniency for uneven fights. Promise me that you will yield to a stronger opponent."
"But, Father!"
His eyes hardened. "If you are slain, I shall instruct your brother to never let you even near his pastries until the next Young Fighter's Tournament."
Her eyes widened at this. That put the fear in her far better than fighting the King. Her lips twisted in indecision, her nose wrinkling as she likely imagined herself humbly admitting a loss. "Fine," she said glumly. The mention of pastries stirred more than just fear, however. A deep growl rumbled from her midsection.
"Ah," Dominus said. "Time for dinner." Celestia replied by fluttering next to him to perch on his back.
"My hoof hurts," she said, settling into his long, golden mane of sunfire. "And I'm weak from hunger."
"Your burn will heal once we leave. Besides, is this how a young fighter should conduct herself?"
"I don't care!"
With a chuckle, he willed his way home.