A Journey into Imagination
Twilight's Trip into Dreamland
"Anything I can do for you, Twilight?" Asked Spike, his ever present check list and pencil in hand. Twilight shuffled under the covers of her bed, her head firmly planted in her pillow
"You see that copy of Tasogare Blazer on my bookshelf?"
"That import book you ordered last week?" Twilight nodded. Spike climbed the ladder Twilight ordered for him, and brought the literature to her. "You must be pooped if you don't wanna use your magic to get it to you"
"Like you wouldn't believe. Royal meetings, sending letters to my subjects, meeting up with my friends in between all that, I honestly don't know how the other princesses do it"
"The other princesses have friends?"
"Within their position in society, yes." She flipped through the book to find her purple bookmark, placed after royal duties called her away from her afternoon reading and tea break. "After all, interpersonal relationships are crucial to maintaining harmony among their subjects. Without them, things can turn ugly in a hurry."
"Like what happened between the two princesses?"
"Precisely. Likewise, everypony needs time to themselves, so they can recharge and refocus themselves for the day ahead. Without it, they're far more likely-"
"To go loco in the coco?" Twilight flashed a tired smile at him, then let out a yawn.
"Thanks for everything, Spike. I don't know what I'd do without you." Spike walked towards his bed as he said, "Probably overthink yourself into insanity again, knowing you" Twilight chugged the rest of the cider, and eagerly read her mint condition copy of Tasogare Blazer, feeling her body slide off deeper into slumber
***
Among the cherry blossom filled forest walked a unicorn dressed in a black Yukata, chrysanthemums and lilies blooming in every direction. He sneered at the pink and white flower petals drifting about as he came to a grassy clearing. He looked up to the cloudy blue skies, and watched unicorn solders clad in red, purple and blue sleeveless Haori battling with twin short swords, solemn expressions on their faces. One look at their colorful clothes, and he was taken back to when they fought near his village.
He remembered the white lights that flashed in the night skies. He remembered the acrid smell of the flames that consumed his home. He remembered the screams of his family as they were slaughtered in the crossfire. He never forgot the people who did them, and swore then and there to avenge them. He then unsheathed his katana, his blade turning darker the more he drew it.
As the soldiers closed in on him, he swung with freakish might, decimating both them and the landscape. The fauna and flora drainex of its color the longer they battled, quickly painting the landscape in shades of black. Even though he was outnumbered, even though they seemed stronger and even though his chances at winning were slim, he lacked any desire to care, and only wanted to destroy all that they their masters created. The soldiers knew his power made him capable of doing so, coming set him as if he had to be done away with now. They assaulted him from all sides, swinging their blades with both utmost precision and utter desperation while they prayed they could strike the finishing blow. For him, dodging their blades was like walking through the falling autumn leaves, but soon, they came at him all at once. He held off all the blades pushing down on him, and let out an explosive field of dark energy, sending them flying into the air.
He annihilated his assailants in a storm of violence, dissecting them like knives cutting through paper. The solders attacked like lighting bolts from the sky, but he quickly leapt at, and impaled the one in front of him. He then jumped off his corpse to slash through one, after another, after another, after another, grabbing his last opponent from behind and planting him into the ground with a spiral driver. With their ranks rapidly thinning, he began turning his rage on the landscape, destroying the trees, the lakes, and the mountains with his blade and the energy it tossed around. From her mountain top perch, Twilight, dressed in a snow white Kimono, threw back her star-swirl indigo hair, her deep violet eyes watching both the pain in his and the anger in his movements as he destroyed all that she had made. She couldn’t stand to see him in such pain, and flew down to where he was. As he was about to stab his blade into the earth and divide it in two, the goddess made a thunderous landing in front of him, knocking him on his flank.
He looked up at her, to see her hair sway from both the winds and her own overflowing aura, her hoof extended to him. While his eyes were widened from shock and surprise, they quickly narrowed, once he was realized who it was. When he realized this was who they fought for, he slapped her hoof away. Twilight took a step back, then felt his blade cut across her cheek, quickly forming a blade of leaves and flowers. Making her way forward, she blocked his blows, and began matching his power, his speed and his fury, as each sword clashes grew more and more furious. They rose into the air and continued to duel but he took a brief window of opportunity and parried her swipe right, thrusting his right hoof at her face, and firing a volley of shadow balls point blank. They exploded upon impact, but seemed to impact nothing but the air in front of him.
Quickly she appeared behind him and clubbed him into the ground below. He instinctively rolled back to his hooves and into battle, but a shower of icicles soon greeted his waiting blade. He ran from those spears with all the speed his legs could summon. Looking to his right, he saw the now angry Twilight coming at him with her blade at the ready. The attacks kept coming and coming, their swiftness and strength pushing him further and further back. When one of her attacks sailed over his head, he planted his hoof right into her gut, sending an explosion of dark energy into her body. She was launched backwards, the blast burning through her defenses and her Kimono. As she recoiled, she quickly placed a hoof on her stomach, only to see it had been bleeding black. She then cast her clothing aside and wrapped her aching body in the leaves of the forest as she flew towards him; now knowing only one would leave that place.
He planted his blade into the grass, and turned it into black, thorn covered vines. She had managed to avoid several of their attacks, but soon realized it to be a ploy when they wrapped around her legs, gluing her to the spot. He then ran with his blade, and fired several large bursts at her while the vines withdrew, and cut into her legs. She gritted her teeth and blocked every blast, letting him come close enough to parry his attack and launch him upwards with a vicious uppercut.
As he flew helplessly upwards, she followed and, with a charged shot of her own, blasted him back to the ground. He rolled backwards and regained his compose, quickly running towards her while bobbing and weaving everything she threw out. He managed to knock away her final blast, and come close enough to run her through. He could almost feel the warmness of her blood on the cold blade he held high. High enough for her to land the decisive thrust through his chest, and put an end to his destruction.
The life left his eyes, and his blade fell into the ground, its darkness fading away as blood fell away from him. Her own blade then broke apart, and gathered around him, her eye closed as she bowed her head in prayer. Flowers and grass grew around his lifeless body, almost as if it was her way of wishing the same peace and settlement for her fallen opponent…
***
Luna stood at the foot of Twilight's bed as she awakened for her morning duties. Twilight wiped the crust from her eyes as her vision came into focus. "Princess Luna? What're you doing here?"
"Merely bidding you well before we head off to rest. Also to request permission to borrow Tasogare Blazer. From what we've seen in your dreams, it seems to quite a thrilling read" Twilight nodded, Luna taking the book with her magic and eagerly reading through the first pages as she made her way to her quarters. Looking to Spike, who was also rising from his slumber, she said, "Take a note, Spike: order another copy of the Tasogare Blazer series, and try to give Cadence one some time soon"
Author's Note
The fight scene was actually inspired by this song, and, to me, is am excellent background song to play while you're reading it. Someday, I actually seek to make an animation of the fight sequence. Perhaps when I learn some animation skills, or find someone willing to give it a go
