Me and Twilight just stood still looking at each other. A minute turned into two and then three. It probably would have gone on longer if Rainbow Dash had not blurted out, “Coooome oooooon! This is soooooo boooring. I really thought this was going to be fun to watch. Instead we get two eggheads staring at each other.”

Her comment sent my lieutenants and Twilight’s other friends into light snickering. I just shook my head in response and soon realized the problem. Just judging by the confused expression on Twilight’s face, she was not certain what to do. I was not sure what I expected to be honest. She and her friends, for as far as I knew, were not battle trained. Yes, they may have defeated several villains of the kingdom, but they did so with wits and teamwork, not single combat. In other words, I was going to have to make the first move.

So I just cracked my necked before whispering to myself, “Well, moonlight is burning.” I then used my vampiric strength to charge at Twilight in a blur and swung my scythe. While I did not want to make too easy, I still did not want to end the match in the first few minutes. In turn I quickly went through my mind to find a decent opener. After a bit of thought I decided with a simple horizontal strike. They were generally slow and easy to block. In addition, I held back much of my strength to slow it further.

Her initial reaction was amusing. As my scythe swung through the air, her eyes glossed over in a look of panic. It was only moments before it hit that she dodged out of its path. After the strike was completed I looked at her with a bemused expression on my face. She was just standing there a meter away from me shaking as she held up her katana with her magic.

I raised an eyebrow and said, “Perhaps a counter attack is in order, Twilight.”

She fumbled her words a little and replied, “Oh…yeah…right.

She then swung her katana at me in sloppy vertical fashion. It took little effort to dodge as I easily stepped aside. However, the smug look on my face faded as I noticed something strange happen. She just narrowed her eyes and swung again, but horizontally. It was still a little sloppy, but faster and slightly more precise. The third and fourth swing quickly became more accurate and swift. It was not until the fifth and sixth swing until I fully noticed what was happening. She was analyzing my movements while rapidly mastering her katana. I gulped a little at this realization and stated in my mind, ‘Oh blast and damnation. She is just like Tactics.’

Her onslaught continued until my dodging abilities were not enough and I was forced to use my scythe to block. The longer her assault continued, the more she learned. The worse of it was the unnerving fact that her narrowed calculating eyes rarely blinked. Her focused gaze just kept its course as she got better and better.

At first I was worried about how she was coming along in her skills. However, the thrill of a challenge overtook me. I greatly welcomed this feeling over the panic and mental strain I had endured for weeks. It was just a pure and simple one on one fight. I grinned and decided that I had grown tired of this being a one-sided fight and began to make several attacks of my own.

Her eyes remained resolute as she dodged and blocked my initial swings with little grace. However, just like her attacks, they soon went from sloppy attempts to calculated timing. At that point I just laughed out loud and pull out all the stops.

The arena became a blur of attacks, counter-attacks, dodges and blocks. After several minutes of this wonderful experience I raised some of my power into my scythe. The blade burst into light blue flames as I swung my weapon diagonally down at her. She quickly calculated the attack and positioned herself to block it. With a bit of effort she met the attack with power of her own.

Sparks flew as our weapons were locked together with my magic versus her’s. We stood there for several minutes as the tide of forces swayed back and forth in a chaotic dance. However, my magic started to wane when our eyes met. Her beautiful purple slitted eyes looked so determined and perseverant. I looked further and saw sweat drip down her right cheek while she took deep and heavy breaths. It did not take long until I began to become entranced in her gaze.

However, my foolish act caused my magic and concentration to crumble. I barely managed to break our gaze as her magic overpowered my own. At realizing my folly my reflexes kicked in at the nick of time. My leg muscles sprung into action and I jumped backward as her power struck where I was standing. I looked up to see a small smoking crater were I was.

I shook my head and glanced over at Twilight. She just looked back with a confused expression on her face. I took a deep breath and stated in my mind ‘Good, she did not see what happened.’ However to my dismay several of the others on the side lines managed to recognize what took place. This in turn caused more snickering, and the lovely comment, “Ya might want to wipe the drool off yer face, Blood Moon,” from Shadow Dancer.

I looked back at Twilight and she just raised an eyebrow while still looking confused. Thank the moon she was still in the dark. I would rather not have this match turn to dirty fighting methods. With Twilight’s ludicrous learning curve it would have gotten unpleasant quickly. In addition I was overjoyed I decided to keep my armor on as my arousal state would have been embarrassingly obvious. I ultimately had to grit my teeth and fight against my body until my focus returned.

I thought for a few moments and it was abundantly clear I was not going to beat her with melee skills alone. In turn I decided to use my magic against her. I raised my power, and my eyes and scythe lit up with light blue flames. Twilight in turn raised her own magic in response and her eyes narrowed again.

I gave a small grin before I lowered the armor my left foreleg for a moment and bit down with one fang. I had only let out a small amount of blood before I closed to wound with my magic and re-armored myself. I then shaped the blood into the three copies of the first spell I memorized from my tome. They looked just like basic absorption runes. However, I had modified and refined the spell down the years so that it would absorb any type of force that was thrown at it. It was simple, but a tried and true method that I often used.

I focused and let the runes rotate around me counter clockwise at chest level. A smile spread across my face as I remembered all the times I used this. After a bit of thought I decided that I was going to make Twilight make the first move. Right as I accepted my decision I stood on my hind legs while holding my scythe in fore hooves. I then beckoned Twilight to attack.

Much to her credit, she did not take the bait that easily. She raised her power as she cautiously walked closer. She then intently looked over the runes that floated around me. The hard expression of concentration showed that she did not know what they were.

While this was a pleasing reaction, it would not remain so for long. I frowned when I remembered that she had this annoying habit of learning too fast for my comfort. In addition she no doubt read about them in my tome. The longer I let her do this the greater the possibility she would remember what they are and counter them. I gritted my teeth in response to my thought processes while I yet again determined that I had to strike first.

I jumped forward and swung my scythe in the horizontal arc. She quickly dodged and counter attacked. However this time, I did not block or dodge the strike. I merely smiled as I moved one of the three runes to take the impact.

The attack struck dead on and the rune absorbed the force with little effect other than it making a small ring like a bell and while it slightly vibrated. I stuck my tongue out at Twilight in response. My rude gesture got its intended effect. Twilight’s eyes narrowed further as she unleashed a flurry of attacks.

In return I did not dodge or block with my scythe like before. Each time an attack was committed from her, it was blocked by one of my runes. She seemly got irritated at this and increased the frequency of her attacks. I grinned as the bell sound of the runes rang out over and over again. She did not know it yet, but she was playing right into my hoof.

After a few minutes the grin on my face turned into an ear to ear smile. Twilight picked up on it immediately, but was unable to react quickly enough. I slammed one of my runes with my left forehoof. Right as her katana met the rune, the rune shattered.

In its last moments the rune let loose a booming thunder crack. It then released its stored kinetic energy all at once and amplified my hoof strike. The massive amount of stored force easily overpowered Twilight’s attack. Her eyes snapped wide open as her katana flew backwards at her. She quickly raised her armor right as the sword made contact. The impact of the weapon transferred all of its energy into her armor and she was thrown tumbling backwards.

I did not give her the chance to recover as I charged at her. She tried to get away by flying upward, but she did not have enough time. I swung my left forehoof into one of my runes again and made contact with her attempt at blocking. Another thunder crack boomed and the stored kinetic energy launched her flying into the ceiling of the arena.

I gasped at what I had done. I was not intending to fire her like a cannonball. However, I soon realized that I had bigger problems to deal with. After Twilight recovered she howled with rage as I saw her leering at me. She then tilted her head back for a second before pointing her horn directly at me.

A beam of pure arcane energy sprang forth from her horn with a flash of purple light. I did not have the time to dodge, so I foolishly moved my remaining absorption rune in defense. However, the rune, so full of energy already, quickly overloaded and exploded. I was forcefully thrown backward several meters before I skidded to a stop.

The shock caused my vision to keep shifting and my ears would not stop ringing. I shook my head a few times in a futile effort to get my bearings. It did not take long before I heard growl above me along with yet another flash of purple light. My senses were too scrambled to even attempt to counter attack. So I ended up resorting to grabbing my scythe and diving to the right.

Twilight’s barrage of attacks just did not cease. Also to make matters worse she was not giving me any time to properly recover. Each time I got some hoofing on the ground, I had to blindly jump out of the way. This continued until I used a move of desperation. I knew I could not block the powerful beams Twilight was summoning, but I could deflect them.

I shook my head a few times before I stood my ground. The beam came at me like so many others only this time I was ready. I got up on my hind legs and held my scythe in my forehooves. Right as the beam was meters from me I placed my left forehoof on the flat side of my weapon’s blade and angled it just slightly. The beam slammed into the other side of the scythe’s blade and ricocheted back at its sender.

The anger in Twilight’s eyes gave way to naked surprise as she darted sideways. The reflected beam ended up missing her by centimeters as it flew passed her. A loud crackle followed by a screech of metal echoed all around us. After a few seconds bits of debris and scrap fell from a newly made hole in the ceiling of the arena.

Upon noticing this I just stared in disbelief. That amount of energy would have burned a hole straight though me armor or otherwise. ‘By the moon what was she thinking?! I could have been killed!’ I inquired in my mind. My mind soon hardened in irritation as I came to realization that she was easily more powerful than me by leagues. A battle of pure magic was not going to work as it was only a matter of time where mine would fail. The match needed to end soon before somepony got irreversibly harmed.

I gritted my teeth and mumbled to myself “Fine. If she wishes to play hardball, then so shall I,” I then grabbed my scythe in my front hooves and spun on my hind legs. My grip quickly released on my weapon and it whirled though the air.

Twilight shook her head few times and flapped her wings to dodge. The scythe spun past her by a meter as was its intention. It was only meant to be distraction and nothing more. If I could keep her occupied enough I could work my efforts on the second trick up my armored sleeve. So I concentrated a small amount of my will and made my scythe spin in an arc before it aimed right back at her.

She dodged and blocked the attacks with little effort, but it kept her off balance. Now with her occupied with my scythe attacking her I had some time to focus. I lowered the armor on my left foreleg and bit down with one fang. Again I only let a small amount of blood drip out before I closed the wound.

I soon formed the blood into the second spell I memorized. With a small grin I slammed my forehooves on both the flat front and back of the rune. I then moved my left forehoof to the left and my right forehoof to the right and it created two identical, but mirrored runes. My eyes burned bright with light blue flames as I linked the two together.

All was set except I needed to get Twilight close enough to use these wonders. A smile spread across my face as I focused some of my power and added more force into my scythe’s attacks. My weapon responded in kind and slammed into Twilight’s defenses. Each additional attack made her drop a meter or two closer to the ground.

I kept this up for a only a few seconds until she got into range. A maniacal laugh slipped from my lips as I charged right at her with the runes floating around me. Just as I got within a few meters I jumped with all my might and dove right at her. She tried to block me, but my scythe spun at her one last time and left her wide open. I swung my left forehoof and attached one of the runes to the front of her chestplate.

When I landed I looked back at Twilight and she just laughed and yelled, “HA! You missed!”

In response I burst into laughter as my scythe returned to me. An evil grin spread across my face and I yelled back, “Oh did I now hahahaha?!” I then slammed my scythe’s blade into the ground to act as an anchor. My laughter continued as I held out the remaining rune in my left forehoof.

Twilight’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she realized what was attached to her chestplate. I however, did not give her the chance the react. I quickly wrapped my right foreleg around the pole of my scythe as I raised my power. The rune in my left forehoof flared to life. The effect of the twin attraction runes was immediate as a burst of energy began to pull the two runes together.

Twilight tried to fly out of range, but I bellowed “You are mine now!” and pulled with all my might. She quickly lost control and spiraled directly at me. However, in my arrogance I foolishly pulled my scythe out of the ground to attack her. The realization of my folly came too late as Twilight ended her seemly feinted nose dive and flew skywards.

I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes in the awareness that I was outplayed yet again. I then mumbled to myself “This is not going to end well,” right as I was yanked off my hooves. My statement however was a gross underestimation as I was soon pulled all around the inside of the arena.

I wish I could say that I had a plan of attack, but I did not. The reasoning for this was quite simple. To put this in perspective I was hanging on for dear life to my attraction rune. A rune whose twin was attached to a highly magical armored alicorn princess with enhanced vampiric strength. In other words, I may as well have lassoed an adolescent dragon. It did not take long before I gained the sinking feeling that I would have probably been better off with the dragon.

My delightful drag through the air lasted for a solid fifteen minutes. I also noticed throughout the entire event Twilight keep looking over her shoulder with a wicked gleam in her eyes. She seemed to have enjoyed the experience given that she laughed several times. It probably was either due to my yelps of sheer terror or perhaps it was from that one flagpole I crashed into along the way.

When Twilight finally got tired she gracefully landed on the one side of the arena. I on the other hoof, got flung to the opposite side before I skidded to a halt on my stomach. In blind panic I took the rune I had in my left forehoof and stomped it to pieces with haste. Also the thought of embracing the dirt ground in gratitude for its existence started to become overwhelming.

While still shaking violently I glanced over at Twilight. She just lower her helm and yelled over to me, “Are you going to yield?”

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves before I replied, “I am not...defeated yet!”

“You’re barely standing! Please don’t make me do this!” she yelled back.

“I…am not…defeated yet!” I replied with a tone of determination as I gritted my teeth.

“Alright, I warned you!” she yelled back and started to charge her horn.

In response I quickly lowered the armor on my left foreleg and bit down. I let a medium amount of blood drip out before I closed the wound again. I was going to need to make this last spell count. My body and mind were exhausted and I was getting lightheaded from the blood loss.

I started to configure the blood in front of me right before Twilight fired her magic. I was not able to complete the spell so I had to throw the unfinished product in Twilight's general direction and dodge. She just stepped aside with a laugh as I she charged more of her energy.

Much to my displeasure she decided to now fire a constant beam of arcane energy at me. My body was too week to dodge so I was forced to deflect it. While this situation seemed bleak I knew I still had a chance. Because Twilight was focusing all her efforts on her arcane beam she could not concentrate on other things. All I had to do was keep her like this until I was able to finish my last spell.

I focused all the magic I could and reached out to my unfinished spell. Within a few seconds I was able to complete it, but my scythe was quickly heating up from strain. I would need for Twilight to get a little closer so I could counter attack before my defenses broke. In an attempt to fool her I feinted, well more like half-feinted, weakness and fell to my knees. It managed to get the intended effect as Twilight started to walk closer.

Right when she got where I wanted her I laughed and jumped to the side. I then used my magic and slid the spell circle right under her. Without giving her the chance to react I threw out what little energy I had left into powering it.

The circle’s inner ring spun clockwise and formed a ward around Twilight. She giggled in response and said, “A ward? Is that you have left? Wait right there while I blow this to pieces hehehe,” as she started charging her horn again.

I smiled and said, “Ah ah ah,” in a mocking tone as I let Twilight charge her horn. Right before she was able to fire I turned on the middle ring. It rotated counter-clockwise and within seconds the magic forming on Twilight’s horn fizzled and dissipated.

She tilted her head in confusion and tapped her horn with her right forehoof. “Great, a null magic field. Even still, this circle doesn't have unlimited range,” she said in annoyance and started flapping her wings.

“Oh no. You are not getting away that easily,” I mocked and lifted my left forehoof into the air in preparation for my coup de grâce of this match. I then slammed it into the ground activating the outermost and final ring. The ring spun clockwise and a wave of force blanketed the inside of the circle increasing the gravity by several factors.

Twilight slammed back to ground and her legs wobbled a few times before she fell to her stomach. After I saw her get pinned, I sat down to catch my breath. Nopony has ever broken out of this spell. I have used it so many times that I had lost count. In addition it did not require too much energy or focus to maintain so I could relax. All I needed to do now, was wait for Twilight to yield.

This chapter took a bit of effort to write. There were so many things that I could have changed and/or added. However, I am happy with how it turned out. I hope you enjoy(ed) reading it.