The Draconic Twins: Combat is Magical

A few more years passed, Spine blushing as she visited Blueblood, mostly from confusion, and it was now their 12th birthday. Or did Velvet call it a hatchday…? Either way, Spike wanted to have a round with Spine since the only thing he knew how to do with his flame was act as a messenger right then. He could feel that there was more to it than that, and he wanted to try his hand at how Spine got her flames to work. Fighting.

"Darling." Blueblood approached with a bright smile, clip-clopping in an easy walk. "You are looking especially radiant today, if you don't mind my saying." His compliments had become a bit more affectionate over time, though neither of them could really explain why. "But also distracted. Is something on your mind?"

Spine sighed in exhaustion and turned to him, a look of agitation on her face. "Spike wants to fight to try and see if he could copy me. Clearly, I'm more than a little hesitant to do, since Twilight and mom would both be more than a little… Aggravated since we'd be sparring in the garden…"

"He's just a foal." They were all foals. "Let him have what he wants so he gets past his little fascination." Blueblood looked confident in his reasoning, nodding sagaciously. "But if the venue is difficult, why don't you make use of the yard?" He directed a hoof to a nearby wall. "Barely anypony visits it. Just don't make too much of a mess and I hardly see the issue."

"Hmm… might work, but we'd still need to worry about the scorch marks…" Spine said, rubbing her chin.

At the mention of scorch marks, visions of spanked bottoms danced in his mind. "On second thought! Perhaps the interior of the storage shed. It's made of cement and metal, and only the servants go in there." Far less likely for a new mark to be noticed. So clever! Or so he hoped.

She smiled and kissed his cheek again. "Might be best, yeah. Thank you again for inviting me over, Bluey." She then hugged the colt in appreciation. His cheeks were dark as he wrapped an arm around her, hoof at the small of her back.

"A complete pleasure." Even if he wasn't sure why, he rather enjoyed those hugs when they came. "I would offer my support, but watching brutish violence isn't my thing." He realized his error and took a step back. "Not to say you're a brute. You make it look… classy." He was lying a bit. "But Spike…?" Blaming Spike, a tradition for the ages.

She giggled and shook her head. "My one question though, I didn't get you in trouble back then, did I…?"

"Hm? Me? As if!" Implying to the outside watcher that he probably did get in trouble, but wasn't about to admit it. "You just have a fun time, and I'm certain your little brother will realize his place." He chortled aristocratically, a hoof over his mouth. "Really, he hasn't had nearly the practice you've had."

She snickered and punched him lightly on the shoulder, shaking her head as she looked out to the field of the park they first met at. "He means well at the very least… Cut him a little slack, please?"

"Well, he is your brother." He nodded as if that just made sense. "So he must come from reasonable stock. I'll just have to have faith in his big sister to teach him what end is up."

Spine chuckled lightly and pulled him into another hug as she stood up and stretched. “Well… I’ll be back soon, ok? Turns out we don’t live too far away!”

Much as he wanted to enjoy the hug, properties were a thing. "We do live in the same city, do we not? You are welcome to visit any time." He inclined his head faintly. "Even with your brother. Or without…" His preference not that well hidden.

She smiled warmly and set off, making sure to take the butler and maid tunnels to escape Blueblood's parents. It would be the same way she would return, brother in tow. "He's letting us have a private place, where neither of our parents will get on our case."

"Wow, that's really nice of him." Spike was almost bouncing in his steps, giddy with excitement. "Thanks, for letting me try this. This'll be so much fun!"

She smiled at him and rubbed his head teasingly. "Just be sure you don't get caught by his parent's, alright?"

Spike ducked and looked left and right sharply. "I don't have the right clothes for this, but I'll do my best." He ducked against the wall, though nobody was in the hallway to even potentially see him, scooting along after his sister.

She shook her head as she chuckled, keeping her eyes and ears peeled, making sure they wouldn't be caught. Once she got to the shed, she knocked on it, hoping that Blueblood was in there... The door cracked open, its handle glowing with magic.

Spike got through first. "Oh hey." He waved at the unicorn in there. "You're, uh, Blueblood, right?"

"Prince Blueblood." He trotted around both dragons, head held up high. "I will close the door behind me and make sure nopony bothers you." Or catches wind of what he allowed.

Spine kissed his cheek quickly as she passed. "Thanks Bluey. I'll try to keep the char marks to a minimum, and help cleanup afterwards, alright?"

"Too right." And he was gone, the door closed behind him with a loud click that implied a lock.

Spine then turned to Spike, her expression hard and cold. "Right. First things first then. Anger is how I use my fire" Her fists ignited in purple flames.

Spike swallowed heavily, but did not retreat. "Anger…" That was not an emotion he was terribly in contact with. "Right. Get the blood moving. Get… in it." He balled up his fists as if ready to fight, no fires present.

She sighed, then charged at him, growling low and threateningly as she went all out on him, intent to show how difficult it was to copy her... He backed a step, bravado cracking as he swatted at her angry fists. Fortunately, at least he was a dragon, resistant to her heat, but that didn't make her punches any lighter.

But he hadn't given up, throwing himself forward instead of back and knocking into her in a triumphant moment. A moment that was quickly shattered as she brought her knee up and into his gut. Spine was not holding back any more than what she already was, and it was showing. She barely kept herself from kicking out after the gut check, but the twitch of instinctive rage was there.

He staggered back, but raised his fists, not giving up. "Get… flowing." He wasn't angry at his sister. But it hurt, and he wanted to win! He was, perhaps, arriving at the desired point from another angle. "C'mon!"

She smirked as she saw the heatwaves rolling off his fists and decided to switch tactics, launching herself at him with a flame propelled leap as she smashed another fist into his gut. "Give up, Spike. You'll never be able to copy this," Spine taunted, hoping to get him to lash out properly and ignite his flames against her..

"I'm not a wimp!" Not that anyone there had called him a wimp. His pent up regrets at the rest of his family being so martially capable welling up. "I can protect my--" He caught an incoming kick, looking as surprised as Spine was in that instant, his grasping hand flickering with angry fits of fire before she jumped away from him. "--self."

She smiled and relaxed, taking a deep breath to relax and regain her composure. "See how hard it is to light the flames I use now, Spike? Heh… Imagine how hard it is to control them," she said as she patted him on the shoulder before getting back into position. "Right then. Ready?"

"Yeah!" Instead of tired, his was entirely buoyed by his moment of success. He had done it, which meant he could do it again, better even! "Bring it."

Some time later, the door creaked open, allowing Blueblood to poke his snout in. "You all done in there?"

Spine was on the floor panting, the mana burn from the fight having caused her to collapse not too long ago. She held up a thumb in a sign that they were good, then rolled over with a groan. "You alive, Spike…?"

"Y-yeah!" He matched her gesture, though he was flat on his back as he did so. "I feel great!" So good he wasn't moving, but he had a big dopey smile on his face. "Never better."

"I see…" Blueblood glanced between the two dragons. Why did they have to be so… barbaric? He slipped inside and the door clicked shut behind him. "I'll get started on getting rid of the worst of the mess. It isn't as bad as you'd made me fear."

Spine chuckled and held up one of her claws. "We used these for the most part…" She then got up and helped him clean, kicking Spike in the side lightly to coax him to get up and out of the way at the very least.

"Hey." He pushed up to his feet, scrambling a bit to get upright. "I know how to clean." And he got to helping, putting his well-practiced skills to work. Soon the place was looking less like a fight had taken place in it. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it." He went to give Spine a hug, one leg thrown over her briefly. "Did you two come to an understanding?" Alas, the two just shared a knowing look, leaving him without knowing. "I am going to take that as a yes…"

Spine laughed slightly and leaned forward to give him one final kiss. "Understanding? Yes. Of a sort. Though I will say this, don't let Spike figure out how you use your magic, or he might steal it from ya!"