Sweet and Elite: An Evening of Fancy (RP, NOT a Jump-In)

[bauccgia0]

Earl's ears perked up at the mention of a sword fight. Normally, he tried to avoid violence in general, but for some reason, fighting as a sport always interested him. He turned to Teacup, trying not to appear too excited.

Hear that? Lord Fancy Pants and Chirp are going to have a sword fight. I wonder if they'll perform for everyone.

[Chirp]

The blue stallion nodded at the old one's demands. "Very well, you have my word that I will not cast any spells. But take not the word of a mugger, I swear on her that I will not pull any cheap tricks." He said, and nodded at the old stallion before him. "As for testing my skills, not quite. I merely wish to see how much I've improved myself, you've certainly undergone a better training than the regular guard. That is what I wish to see. Last time I was a fool when it came to swords, now I can hold my ground, but is it enough for a knighted stallion like yourself? We shall see."

Chirp took a small bow before continuing. "Since you've been challenged, I'll have you choose the weapon."

[The Wandering Magus]

The challenged bowed formally.  "Very good then.  Longsword and buckler.  Shall we have barding, as is tradition for warhorses?  And we may duel here, if you wish.  You have my word that I alone will be involved, and I will follow the rules myself, of course."

*****

Teacup looked on with slight interest.  "Master's would-be assassin.  Strong and agile, has had training over the last few years.  A swordspony's gait.  Seems to use his mouth as much as his magic for holding the sword.  Longsword specialty with a dash of daggers and illusions.  Scars indicate multiple fights in the near past," she murmured.

[Chirp]

A confident smirk formed on Chirp's face when Lord Pants made his decision. "Veeeery good. I really do prefer the heavier kinds. Swingy and stabby isn't exactly my thing, besides, a good longsword will shatter any other kind to bits." He said, more to himself than Fancy, and let out a chuckle, remembering "Lightning Strike", that showoff. Of course, swift strikes are intimidating, but there's several ways to go about a fight. One strike from Chirp's heavy blade, and the rapier snapped in two like a twig.
"Ah, yes, let's have some extra protection, why not? It will do more good than harm, I believe." Chirp nodded, then looked around at the other guests, and the room they were currently in. "Why, yes, let's duel here. I think many ponies will be interested in seeing a duel."

[Teal Turken]

// I want to reenter but I don't remember who I was RPing with before and what everyone's doing now... \\

[Ryo_D_Disk]

(( I believe we all got moved to the manor when Strokes and Fancy entered so I think its safe to re-enter at any point without worry of ties that and Asterain disappeared so you were by yourself anyway))
"I Had my predictions that might happen though this early in the evening it should be quite interesting, however depending on how the rest of this household take this it could be an unfair fight in some respects"

Ryo just rambles to himself standing by the doorway seemingly talking to himself not overly worried about everything else
"As for Strokes well it seems he will be occupied for a while so no real sense interrupting yet wouldn't you agree,  besides we have other matters to worry about right now"

[The Wandering Magus]

Lord Fancy gave a quick nod, and Teacup and other servants immediately cleared out the center of the ballroom and brought forth two sets of traditional Royal Guard barding: leather, chainmail, steel plates on the top, gilded with gold.  Harnessed to the side were scabbards with genuine folded-steel longswords, and strong metal bucklers displaying the seal of Equestria.

The knighted stallion's horn glowed as he removed the tuxedo and folded it neatly before putting on the barding piece by peace.  Leather first, protect the coat from getting caught or pinched by the metal.  Then the chainmail, covering the entire body, head to hoof.  Croupiere guarding behind, flanchard to the side, peytral to the front on the chest.  Criniere around the neck, guard against attacks there.  Champron down over the face.  Caprison over the rest.  Long metal leg guards to protect the forelimbs and hind legs.  A metal sheath over his horn on the champron to guard his horn from being broken or stabbed.

In all, the barding would weight around 100 lbs, about a tenth of Lord Fancy's 1000 lbs, par for the course as far as stallions go.  His monocle he entrusted to Bloodblade, who bowed politely to both duelists and stepped off to the side for observation.

[bauccgia0]

Earl turned to Teacup, with a look of mild surprise.

Well, now! You already know him? Hm... Say, do you know anything about, perhaps, Asterian? The stallion intrigues me, and I'd like to know him better.

[Chirp]

Chirp gave a thankful nod to the servants when they arrived with the sets of traditional Royal Guard barding. He stared at it with longing eyes for a moment, it was a beautifully maintained set, as if crafted just the day before. With armour like this, it's no wonder a Guard is borderline invincible, it's just crazy to challenge anypony in this, who knows how to handle it. And still...

His hoof reached for the rope hanging around his flank, where his cutie-mark would've been if he had one, then handed it to a servant, in exchange for the armour. Chirp wasn't wearing any clothes, and thus didn't have any to throw off, but he now had some to put on. Chirp's broken, blue horn began to glow, and the leather protective clothing came floating towards him, neatly placing itself around the stallion's body.
The heavier parts of the armour, Chirp decided to put on by hoof. The jingle of chains filled the room as the two stallions put on their respective chainmails, covering the both from head to hoof in metal. Then he reached for the champron with sheath for a unicorn's horn, feeling that needs protecting the most, even though it will do little against a full blow from the heavy swords.

After Chirp put on the armour, weighing an impressive 100lbs, he grabbed the sword in mouth, threw it up in the air, and caught in with his magic before putting it back in its scabbard.
"You wouldn't mind a little warm-up, would you? I've never worn anything this heavy, besides, I believe you might want one, too. It's bad for the muscles not to warm them up." Chirp said, then began to shake all four of his legs. He spun his head around as far as he could with the criniere around his neck. Next, he hopped up and down a few times, then dropped to the floor to do a few push-ups. Finally, he grabbed the sword in mouth again, swung it around a few times, then grabbed ahold of it with his magic, making it hover in front of him as he stared at Lord Fancy Pants the Fifth, Master of the Pants Estate, Keeper of the Triple Crown, Knighted Guard of the Royal Sisters.
"Ready when you are, old friend."

[The Wandering Magus]

Maid Teacup returned to Lord Earl Grey's side, curtsying.  "Most maids know of Master Chirp, milord, after his attempt at assassinating Master several years ago.  His appearance and gait were enough to deduce some aspects of his recent adventures and training.  Master Starfall's past is less familiar to this maid, milord, but it is said that he is an author and a philosopher not unlike Master Strokes, the guest of honor."

Lord Fancy stretched his massive limbs, from his forelegs and hind legs to his torso, neck, back and joints, jogging in place and swinging his body from side to side to warm up and get ready for the duel.  When he was finished, he drew his longsword and swung it a few times to get back into the mindset of a knight, then flourished and bowed to Chirp before bringing the blade to guard position.

"En garde!"

[bauccgia0]

Yes, but I think that may be where the similarities stop. After all- wait. The duel's starting! Care to watch with me?

Grey stood, looking at Teacup, with a slight, but obviously giddy grin on his face, waiting for her response.

[Chirp]

The old stallion before him had already taken on a defensive position, as is common for guards. They usually give the opposite party the first move, responding to their first move, rather than trying to take them head on. Once the attacker has made their move, they'll respond accordingly, then first try to disarm, second try to overpower their opponent. If none of these two work, they'll attempt to stretch the fight, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Fortunately for Chirp, no other ponies would be meddling in this duel, Fancy was on his own now, not that that was any less difficult.
Awaiting a first move is the smarter thing to do, really, though that way none of the two would probably be doing much, so Chirp decided to go for it. "While we're not fencing, I'll still say. Allez!" Chirp responded to Fancy's warning, and let the sword, hovering before and slightly above him, attack.

The blade turned slightly before tilting right and moving towards Fancy in a wide arc, aimed at his left leg. As the sword swung, the room was filled with a whistling sound coming from the blade cutting the air. Fancy's trained ears would probably recognize the whistle coming from a swing far from sloppy, easily taking off a limb if he would not defend.
While Chirp did not intend to harm Lord Fancy Pants that much, it was necessary to perform this possibly fatal attack to create an opening in the well-trained knight's defense. Any regular strike would probably result in a loss of his weapon, as the guards are trained to do, but this attack would shatter his sword, would he try to block -or disarm for that matter- the sword with his own. Two options were presented for Fancy, block with the buckler, or dodge. The latter being preferable for Chirp.

The blue stallion making the first move, had his eyes rested upon Fancy's sword. He predicted Fancy to use his buckler to block his own attack, and counter at the same time, so Chirp had to ready his left leg to block any incoming attacks, though what the knight would do remained to be seen. There's several ways to go about fight, after all.

[The Wandering Magus]

Lord Fancy had plenty of room to maneuver with how wide the arc was, and used the buckler to deflect the heavy steel sword into the ground while his own sword stabbed upwards from behind, aiming at the vulnerable space that separated the champron from the criniere.  At the same time, he swung his body a full 180 and attempted a powerful kick to the pony's caprison with his weighted horseshoes.  Chirp would have to defend against both attacks at once, with his sword on the floor and a single buckler.

[Chirp]

A smirk formed on Chirp's face, as the old stallion showed himself to still be up par with any regular guard, despite his old age, and lack of daily training. Though the once fearsome knight was noticeably weaker than the last time they fought, he still presented quite the defense and offense, truly a worthy opponent to say the least.

But there was little time for the blue stallion to admire the offense the defensive old knight had conjured, for he'd be hit by either a sword, a buck to the chest, or both, would he not do anything about it immediately. Drops of sweat began to appear on Chirp's forehead, Fancy sure put him in a delicate situation, one that could end the fight right this instance. The sword laying on the ground didn't certainly didn't do him much good as it was.
Of course, Chirp could not allow the duel to end so quickly, and most certainly not with him being the loser. His nostrils widened as he took a deep breath while performing his response to Fancy's attack.

Time seemed to partially slow down for Chirp as he pushed himself up with his front legs. He swung his shoulders to the side, and shortly after his body followed to turn around as he got up on his hind legs, a body's length away from Fancy's devastating kick. The sword was deflected by the buckler on his left front leg, creating sparks as the two metals scraped over each other. A screech also filled the room because of the sword deflect.
Then, while the sword was pointing away from Chirp, and his mouth was so very close to it, he instinctively grabbed the grip of the sword between his teeth, pulling it with him despite the levitation spell cast on it, for his own sword was pretty useless at the moment. He gracefully turned around on his hind legs, with a sword in his mouth.

Despite feeling quite safe from any buckings, Chirp decided it'd be best to take some more distance. He bent through his hind legs, then pushed himself upwards again. As his body went airborne, his hooves moved closely to his body, curling up into a ball to send himself spinning further.
After a most graceful flip, he landed on all fours, re-equipped, and temporarily safe from harm. He stared intently at his opponent again, and breathed a silent sigh of relief since he managed to escape that attack.

"Hehehe, that'sh what I like to shee." He said, sword in mouth.

[The Wandering Magus]

Lord Fancy didn't miss a beat pivoting on all four of his legs like an acrobat and switching his telekinesis effortlessly from his original sword to Chirp's sword, landing almost silently in a steady guard position, as originally.  He wasn't even breathing hard.

"Glad to be of service, Master Chirp," he smiled, buckler and sword floating in front of him.

The various servants had cleared a wide, generous area for the duelists, and were looking on with interest.  Maid Teacup was back with Lord Earl Grey again, with a soft smile on her face.

"Impressive, Master Chirp managed to switch swords with Master.  Butler Bloodblade is probably wanting to enter quite badly."

[Ryo_D_Disk]

Ryo or rather Zelos approached Bloodblade not making any noticeable jesters or signs just approaching as he spoke to him
"Well Well Well BloodBlade I can sense that urge to fight with you but it would probably be worth your while holding back for this round don't you think, besides I believe those two can handle themselves and I can't sense that fantastic a bloodlust from them well at least not yet, Id say we should just enjoy the show while it lasts"Zelos slowly cracks a smile
"though if you want I can hold you back from the fight if you really want"

[Chirp]

Chirp turned his head upwards, flinging the sword out of his mouth and making it spin around in mid-air. When the point of the blade was facing Fancy, he grabbed hold of the sword his his magic, then sent it flying towards his opponent's blade. Chirp's sword attempted to trap Fancy's, using the cross-guard to prevent it from leaving, putting it in a blade-lock.
Meanwhile, he himself charged forward, headed straight for Fancy, with nothing but the buckler and his own hooves.

[bauccgia0]

Lord Fancy didn't miss a beat pivoting on all four of his legs like an acrobat and switching his telekinesis effortlessly from his original sword to Chirp's sword, landing almost silently in a steady guard position, as originally.  He wasn't even breathing hard.

"Glad to be of service, Master Chirp," he smiled, buckler and sword floating in front of him.

The various servants had cleared a wide, generous area for the duelists, and were looking on with interest.  Maid Teacup was back with Lord Earl Grey again, with a soft smile on her face.

"Impressive, Master Chirp managed to switch swords with Master.  Butler Bloodblade is probably wanting to enter quite badly."

Lord Pants has a butler named... Bloodblade? That's a little disconcerting.

[The Wandering Magus]

The butler stood impassively, his emotionless eyes surveying Zelos.

"Master's wish is for Master's servant to stay here and guard against assassins.  Master's wish is this servant's command."

*****

Teacup smiled.  "Perhaps less so than Gatekeeper Hacklimb, or Footman Daggertail."

*****

The knight sent his buckler hurtling edge-first towards Chirp's muzzle with enough force to snap his neck, while he did a leaping dragon strike, an Ibexianese move that was adapted into Equestrian military close-quarters combat techniques.  He prepared himself for the buckler as well as the sword, also locking Chirp's blade and sweeping his other three hooves in midair to knock away bucklers and hooves.

[Ryo_D_Disk]

"Masters wish for Masters servant when did you become so boring still, your being a fair amount more restrained than others so much hmm how do I put this Desire in this room wanting to join in from one side or the other, though it is quite fun to sense it all,  however I'm sure you've more than noticed this already ..."Zelos looks left and right more jokingly than seriously and says somewhat quietly

"Id watch out for others jumping in I see a few of your guards holding there blade case"