Chapter 9: Prince Shining vs. Samurai Daniel(Edited)

(Daniel POV: Dream Realm)

I was laying on a picnic blanket on a warm sunny day in the Grass fields not too far from Ponyville. All of my friends were there, Twilight, Spike, Pipsqueak, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and surprisingly Luna and Celestia. We were all chatting, eating, laughing and having a great time. I've never felt so happy like this. It really warmed my heart to be surrounded by those who cared about me.

I then felt a hand rest on my shoulder and and I looked into Twilight's beautiful lavender eyes, "We will always be here for you Daniel, and we will always keep you happy."

I smiled warmly by her words, knowing nothing can go wrong. But then, I felt myself getting tired. I felt woozy, drowsy, and fainted. With my body shutting down, I fell to the ground, but strangely I was now falling in darkness. At the same time, I was feeling something. Something….strong.

Finally, my body gently landed in the darkness. I slowly got up and stood on my feet. All of this was starting giving me a bit of deja vu. It felt like...I've seen this before. As I took my first step forward, hundreds of black ravens burst out of the floor and were replaced with a glass surface. Okay, now I know where I've seen this. I looked at the glass surface, the glass surface was blue and saw myself, resting on one side of it. I was holding a sword, but not my own sword, it was a sword with a golden handle, the blade was white, and the edges had multiple colors, from the bottom of it being light blue, moving it up to light green to light pink.

On the bottom of the glass surface, were two gems, each a different color and shape. One was gold, in the shape of a Celtic Symbol,

while the second one had a red color. The Shape was hard to describe, but I think this is a Adinkra symbol.

I saw Twilight's Cutie Mark, along with her friend’s Cutie marks as well in small circles just next to me. What is all this? Why is this even happening?

"True magic, comes from the heart."

I snapped my head up by the sound of a female voice. It wasn't my mother, neither Celestia, it was too calm, too caring, too motherly, too soft to sound like either of them.

"In the heart is darkness and light. Two sides, two personalities. One cannot live without the other."

I was confused by all this. What the hell does it even mean?

"Seven elements and emotions sealed within the heart. Each making up the light and darkness within that heart."

My eyes went wide by that part. What did the voice mean by that? Suddenly, two orbs, one being gold, and one being red floated in front of me.

"Courage…"

The gold orb lit up, and my body started glowing gold.

"Strength…"

The red orb glowed and my body was covered in a red aura, mixed with the gold aura.

"Find the rest. The meaning will come clearer then."

"What are you talking about!? Who are you!?" I shouted in the darkness.

The voice didn't answer.

"What are you talking about!? Who are you!?" I shouted in the darkness.

The voice didn't answer.

Suddenly, my feet started sinking in a pool of darkness. I tried to struggle free, but nothing was working. Suddenly, my body wasn't working and I stopped struggling and the darkness started to take me, but not when I heard the voice again.

"You are the key to Equestria's future. The fate of the planet depends on you."

As I continued sinking, those words ranged in my head, until I was engulfed in darkness once more.

Yeah, that there was a Kingdom Heart reference thing. Expect some of that later on in the story.

(End of Dream Realm)

I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the beams of light of the sun hit my face. My brain was processing about my dream. Why did it even happen? I slowly got up and then looked at my hands.

"Courage...Strength…" Those two words continued running in my head. I didn't know why all of it happened, but something was telling me it was a reason. I clutched my hands and looked up. I will get the answers I need, but it'll have to wait later on. I got out of my bed, and got into my clothing. I saw that Pipsqueak was already up and gone. I assumed he's in the dining room, having breakfast with the others. I placed my sword on my back and opened the door. I walked down the halls and finally made it the dining room doors. I opened them and saw everypony but Rainbow at the table eating already.

"Morning, everypony." I greeted.

They all looked up at me and smiled, "Morning Daniel." Celestia greeted, "Sleep well?"

I nodded and sat next to Pipsqueak, "Where's Rainbow?" I asked.

"Probably still sleepin. That girl can sleep longer than ah brown bear in Hibernation." Applejack said.

I snickered a little by what she said. I heard the doors open and I looked. Rainbow walked in, with her mane messy, droopy eyes and yawning every 30 seconds.

"Looks like somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." I joked, making all of us laugh.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny." Rainbow sarcastically said, but she let out a small chuckle.

She sat down next to Twilight and Fluttershy and started eating.

As we continued eating, my mind was still drifting from my dream. It was still bizarre for something like that happening. What was up with the sword I was holding? Not the one I have now, the one from my dream. I still couldn't understand what it all meant.

"Daniel?" I looked up and saw Luna was a little worried about me, "Are you feeling okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah, just some crazy dream last night." I answered.

"What was it about?" She asked.

"Well, it started out with all of us in a grassy field, enjoying ourselves and having a good time, like there's no problems at all." I started.

"Aww, that's so sweet." I heard Rarity said.

I realized they were all looking at me, wanting to know what happened next. I blushed a little and scratched my cheek, "Anyway, I was then in a void of darkness, with nopony with me. When I stepped forward, I was then standing on a glass surface. On the glass surface was me holding a sword." I explained.

"Interesting. What happened then?" Twilight asked.

"I then heard a voice, one that even rivaled Celestia's motherly voice." I said, "The last thing I remembered were two words that are still running in my head." I explained.

"What two words?" Pipsqueak asked.

"Courage….and Strength." I said, "I'm not sure what it all meant, but I have a haunch the dream I had, gave me some kind of message." I finished.

"Very interesting." Celestia said curious.

Then, I heard the doors open. At first I thought it was Snowballs again, but when I turned around, it wasn't him.

There stood two ponies, a stallion unicorn, and a mare pony with wings and a horn. I still need to get info what kind of species these ponies are.

The stallion had a light and dark blue mane and tail, wore a red guard uniform, cyan eyes and had a blue shield on his arm as a cutie mark.

The mare was light pink, had a mixture of pink, yellow and dark purple in her mane and tail. she wore a light pink dress, with a yellow trimming on the bottom, violet eyes, and had a crystal heart cutie mark on her arm.

"Shining!" Twilight said getting up and running to them.

"Twily!" The stallion said embracing her.

Does Twilight know these two? I looked at Celestia and asked, "Who are they Celestia?"

"There names are Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Celestia said to me.

I looked back at the three, and saw Twilight doing something with the mare.

"Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake. Clap your hands and do a little shake." They chanted and then giggled afterwards hugging each other.

I simply chuckled by that, "That was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"What are you two doing here?" Twilight asked letting go of the mare.

"We heard there's a human here in Canterlot, and we wanted to meet him." The stallion, named Shining I think said.

I got up from my chair and walked over t o them and said, "Well, now is your chance."

The two newcomers looked at me and smiled, "So, you're the human right?" Shining asked me.

"Indeed. I'm Daniel Blaze, but please, call me Daniel." I greeted holding my hand out.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Shining Armor, Twilight's older brother." He greeted while shaking my hand.

I looked at Twilight with surprise, "You never told me you had a brother."

Twilight smiled sheepishly, "Ehehehe, oops."

"Twily has the tendency of forgetting that part, but it doesn't bother me." Shining explained.

I nodded, and the pink mare greeted to me, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Daniel. My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but please, call me Cadence, and I'm Shining’s wife." She greeted.

I then kneeled and bowed my head, "An honor, your highness."

She giggled, "Now, now, there's no need to bow to me." She said.

I smiled and rose up, "Sorry, I'm still wrapping my head around being around royalty. It's still pretty new to me." I explained scratching the back of my head.

"It's understandable." Cadence responded.

"So," Shining said to me, "Is it true about what I've heard from other ponies? You taking down a legendary Vironous?" He asked curiously.

I smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"I have to say, I'm very impressed. Nopony alone can take down such a behemoth such as a Vironous." Shining said impressed.

I smiled, "Well, I learned from the best. If it weren't from my Grandfather's training, I would have never became the person I am today."

"Well, I can probably tell he taught you well." Shining said. He looked behind me and saw my Katana, "I've never seen a sword like that before."

I looked back at my sword, which was still sheathed, I smiled and placed my hand on it, "This sword is called a Katana. These swords are specially made for Samurai, which are a series of warriors that are skilled with them and are honorary opponents." I explained.

"How good are you with it exactly?" Shining asked smirking.

Cadence giggled, "Oh Shining, you and your obsession with sword playing and combat."

I chuckled but answered, "I manage. I've been trained with the sword for 3 years."

"Interesting. How about you and I have a little match?" Shining offered.

Me, and the other ponies looked at him in surprise. All my life, I've never been asked or offered for a challenge. If I recall, Cadence did said he likes swordplay and combat. This might be a good chance for me to test my skills to the ponies. Not only that, it's been a while since I had someone to spar with me.

I smirked and said, "Challenge accepted."

The girls looked at me with shock.

"Daniel, are you sure you want to do this?" Twilight asked.

I looked at her and smiled and gave her a thumbs up, "I am. Not only that, this is my chance to show you all what I can really do when it comes to swordplay and combat."

"AW YEAH! Finally get to see some more action!" Rainbow said enthusiastic while pumping her fists in the air, making me chuckle.

"Excellent. please follow me." Shining said.

Shining and I were in a large room, which was big enough for us to move around while we had our little sparring match.

Twilight and the others were standing on a balcony, witnessing the action.

"The match between Daniel Blaze and Prince Shining Armor will now begin. The rules are simple, each of you are allowed to use your personal weapons and skills in combat. There will be no magic used, no cheating and whoever yields will lose. Are there any objections!?" Celestia announced.

"None here!" I shouted while smirking.

"Same with me!" Shining also called out.

"Very well, let the match begin!" Celestia shouted.

(3rd person POV)

"Go Daniel!" Rainbow shouted at her human friend.

"Show Shining what you can do, Daniel!" Pipsqueak cheered.

"Time to see what Daniel is capable of…." Celestia thought.

Daniel gave Shining a small bow, as a sign to show honor to his opponent, and unsheathed his trusty katana and went into his battle stance.

When Daniel unsheathed his sword, Shining couldn't help but look at his sword with curiosity, "Weird, his sword is made out of some kind of black rock, and some kind of crystal material. The crystal and black rock looks awfully familiar to me. Are they what I think they are?" He thought.

"Hey Shining, you okay!?" Daniel shouted to him.

Shining shook his head and smiled, "Sorry, spaced out a little bit!" Shining called out unsheathing his steel sword.

"Alright. May the best pony or man win!" Daniel shouted while smirking.

"Same here!" Shining replied smirking as well.

Shining charged at Daniel with his sword in a tight grip.

Daniel waited for him to get close, keeping calm and keeping his eye on his opponent.

When Shining got close enough, he swung his sword in a horizontal slash, but to his and the rest of the gang's great shock, Daniel crouched and did a backflip, spinning at least two times, and gracefully landing on his feet, giving Shining a confident smirk.

"Woah…" Spike and Pipsqueak said in unison, awestruck by Daniel’s abilities.

"*Whistles* Dang, never thought his mind could be so quickly." Applejack commented.

"Not to mention very agile and graceful." Rarity added completely admiring his agility.

"That was so cool!" Rainbow beamed loving what she was seeing.

"Hmmm, he's better than I thought. Better not underestimate him." Shining thought smiling.

Shining charged again for another attack and Daniel stood in place, not flinching or even moving. Shining raised his sword again and did a downward slash, but Daniel reacted and raised his sword and blocked the attack.

Soon, Shining went all out and slashed his sword in different directions while Daniel continued blocking every attack.

KLANG KLING DING KLANK

The sounds of the blades hitting each other filled the room while Twilight, her friends and the princesses watch in total amazement by Daniels skills.

"My word. He's amazing!" Luna said in awe.

"He's perfectly calm and not showing any fear at all." Cadence commented.

"GO DANNY!" Pinkie cheered bouncing up and down.

"What could Daniel's plan be in this battle?" Twilight thought.

The two continued clashing their swords together, both weren’t showing any signs of stopping.

Shining rose his sword again for a downward slash, but this was the opening Daniel was waiting for.

He thrust his fingers forward and hit the nerve point of Shining’s left arm, causing it to be paralyzed.

"What the..!" Shining's arm limped and dropped the sword while his arm fell as well. "I...I can't move my arm!" He looked at Daniel and asked, "What did you do?"

"I hit the nerve of your arm. You can no longer use it in the next few minutes." Daniel explained. He then sheathed his sword and went into his battle stance. "It's time for me to finish this."

Daniel charged at Shining and started throwing fast jabs at him.

Shining started dodging most of the attacks and used his good arm to block most of the attacks. "His fighting style is unlike anything I've ever seen and fought before. He's an interesting individual." Shining thought.

"For a pony, he's putting up a good fight. I'm surprised he's lasting this long against me!" Daniel thought.

Shining dodged another attack from Daniel and threw a punch at him, making contact with his face.

Daniel stumbled back a little, holding his face in pain. He rubbed off the pain and looked back at Shining and smiled.

"Not bad Shining. You're very skilled in combat. You have my highest respect on the battlefield." Danield called out while returning to his battle stance.

Shining smiled. "You're not bad yourself. You're the first individual that has lasted this long against me in a sparring match."

"Hehe, funny. I was about to say the same thing." Daniel replied.

The two charged at each other again and started throwing punches and a few kicks, while they blocked each others attacks.

Daniel threw an uppercut, but Shining threw his head back, dodging the attack.

Shining threw a right hook, but Daniel caught the punch and smirked.

Daniel jabbed his arm, causing it to go limp and lose all control of it.

Shining stepped back, now lost all control in both of his arms. "Dammit. I don't have anymore control of my arms. Without them, I can't fight at my best. I'll just have to dodge until my I get feeling back into my arms." Shining thought.

"Without his arms, he's now vulnerable. This is my chance to finish him." Daniel thought.

Daniel charged again and started throwing different punches and kicks, while Shining continued dodging the attacks.

Celestia and the others continued watching the battle with amazement as Daniel and Shining continued the duel.

"Why isn't Shining fighting back?" Luna asked.

"He doesn't have control of his arms anymore." Twilight answered.

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.

"It seems Daniel knew where to specifically hit the nerves in the body, causing the muscles to lose their nerve systems and causing his arms not to work anymore." Twilight explained.

"The same thing he did to me when he and I first fought." Rainbow said.

Back at the battle, Shining continued dodging every one of Daniel's punches and kicks.

"You're good, but I'll get you sooner or later." Daniel said continuing his attacks.

"He's right. I can't keep this up for long. If my arms don't respond soon, I'll lose." Shining thought.

On que, Shining felt his left arm again, something he had been waiting for. Moving quickly, he threw a left hook, and the attack made contact with Daniel.

Daniel was caught by surprise by the fact that his arm was moving again and under such a short time. He stumbled back and rubbed his face.

Taking his chance, Shining turned around and head for his sword.

Knowing a fair fight, Daniel didn't run after him, but instead unsheathed his sword and got into his battle stance.

"What's Daniel doing? Why isn't he running after Shining?" Rainbow asked.

"Don’t you remember that Daniel told us Samurai were honorable opponents? I believe he believes in a fair fight, so he's allowing Shining to have a fighting chance." Twilight explained.

"Isn't he such a gentlecolt?" Rarity asked while eyeing Daniel lovingly.

Spike however, was jealous of Daniel from the way Rarity was looking at him, "What is it that she sees in him that I don't have? Either way, he better not get any funny ideas with MY Rarity!" Spike thought angrily.

Shining finally grabbed his sword and looked back at Daniel, who was still in his spot.

"I'm surprised you didn't take this opportunity to attack while I was vulnerable." Shining called out.

"I believe in a fair fight Shining. I fight with honor and give my opponents a chance to fight back with great strength and honor." Daniel explained.

Shining smiled. "He's completely different than any other pony...I mean human I've ever met." Shining thought. "Alright then, let us finish this battle...with Honor!"

Daniel smirked and rose his katana up.

The two charged again and from before, the two clashed their swords together at great speed.

KLING KLANG KLUNG KLANK

The two kept up the pressure, not showing any signs of weakness, and also showing honor and skills through every attack.

Daniel once more saw an opening and did a low kick, causing Shining to fall to the floor with a 'Thud', causing him to drop his sword.

Shining saw Daniel swing his sword and pointed the edge to his face. Shining knew now he was no match for Daniel’s abilities and skills in battle and through sword play.

With a smile and a defeated sigh, "I yield."

Daniel smiled and sheathed his sword and offered his hand to Shining.

He gladly took his hand and Daniel lifted him up off the floor. "That was a great match, Daniel! You're a very skilled opponent. Now I can tell how you defeated the Vironous." He said smiling.

Daniel smiled and held his hand out. "You were a great opponent too, Shining. I'll be looking forward to having another match with you soon."

Shining smiled and shook his hand. "My thoughts exactly."

(Daniel POV)

Shining and I left the room and were greeted by the others who had witnessed the battle.

Pipsqueak ran up to me and tackled me with a hug. "That was so awesome, Daniel!"

I smiled and returned the embrace. "Glad you enjoyed the match little rascal."

"That was awesome, Daniel! Well, not really as awesome as me, but still!" Rainbow said, getting a small chuckle from me.

"That was a marvelous match, Daniel! You certainly know how to handle yourself out there. And the way you showed a good battle to Shining…." Rarity said fluttering her eyelashes.

I blushed a little and chuckled while scratching the back of my head. "Ehehe, well. I always do my best."

"THAT WAS SUPER DUPERLY AMAZING! YOU WERE ALL LIKE SWISH SWISH GRR AND SHINING WAS ALL POW, YA! BEST MATCH EVER!" Pinkie cheered while bouncing.

All of us laughed at that. Not only had I shown everypony what I was capable of, I made two new friends. Nothing could ruin my day.

"I see the monstrosity is still walking down our halls, instead of being in the dungeons."

Sigh, all but that.

I turned around and saw none other, than him.

"Hello, Snowballs." I greeted while frowning a little.

At that, the girls and even Luna snickered at his nickname. Shining and Cadence went a little wide eyed at hearing the new name I gave him.

Blueblood growled in anger. "MY NAME IS PRINCE BLUEBLOOD, YOU BEAST!" He roared.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever Snowballs." I said, turning my back while grinning.

Twilight and the girls laughed harder, holding their stomachs. Shining and Cadence let out a small chuckle and giggle.

"THAT DOES IT, YOU BEAST!"

Not seeing it coming at all, a blue beam of magic shot out of Bluebloods horn and hit me directly in the chest, sending me off of my feet and landing on the ground with a loud 'Thud'.

"DANIEL!"

I groaned in pain and I slowly got up from the ground. Fuck, this guy is getting on my nerves.

"Daniel, are you okay?" Twilight asked in worry while helping me up.

I gave her a weak smile. "Hehe, never felt better."

"That oughta teach you, you filthy creature." Blueblood said walking away.

"GET BACK HERE!" Rainbow shouted, about to give chase to him, but I quickly grabbed her arm before she had the chance.

"Let him go Rainbow. He's not worth it." I said calmly.

"You just gonna let him go? LIKE THAT!?" She asked shocked.

"Someday, I'll teach him a lesson, but that day isn't today." I said. "Besides, as long as none of you are hurt, I'm happy."

The other walked up to him, with concerned faces.

"Are you alright, Daniel?" Celestia asked me. "I assure you, I will talk to my nephew later on about this."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Though I'm surprised the attack didn't hurt me that much. Not only that, I don't feel any wounds at all." I looked down where the attack hit and I didn't see any scratch marks anywhere on my shirt. It was so odd.

"You're right! Blueblood's attack should have left a mark or something. I'm not seeing one at all!" Twilight said looking me over.

This is very strange. First the Elements of Harmony reacted strange to me, then my dream, and now I’m not showing any damage from magic? This is so strange. Nothing like this has ever happen to me before.

"I don't know anything about all this, but I guess we'll get answers later on." I said brushing any dust left on my shirt. "Anyway, we better get packed up. The train leaving for Ponyville will be leaving in an hour."

With that said, they all nodded and we all left to our proper rooms.

Pipsqueak and I walked to our room, until Pipsqueak asked me, "Are you sure you're okay after what Blueblood did to you?"

I smiled and patted his head. "Don't worry about me Pipsqueak. A little magic like Blueblood's will take a lot more than that to take me down."

"O-okay. I'm just worried about you." He said in a worried voice.

We made it to the doors of our room and I smiled at him again. "You don't have to worry about me, little rascal. I promise I'll be here with you and the others, okay?" I asked kneeling to his height.

"Alright." He answered smiling a little.

"That's my boy." I smiled while ruffling his mane, making him giggle.

"Daniel."

I turned and saw Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining. Knowing they're here to talk to me, I looked back at Pipsqueak. "Pip, go on ahead and get packed up. I have to talk to the princesses and Shining."

Pipsqueak nodded and walked into the room.

I closed the door behind me and looked back at the four. "What's up?"

"We need to speak to you in the throne room." Celestia said in a soft, but serious tone.

I nodded and followed them.

When we got to the throne room, she then closed the door behind us and activated some kind of spell that gave the room a soft, but quick glow, and then vanished. With that done, we all came into a circle and Shining started speaking.

"There's something that has been bothering me. There was something about your sword that caught my interest. Can I have a look at it?" He asked.

I didn't know why, but it was best not to decline. I unsheathed my sword and handed it to him.

He began to expect the sword and then he took out a clear crystal and black rock from his pocket. The crystal and rock oddly look like the material from my sword. When he looked back at the crystal and rock, his eyes widened a little.

"Daniel, where did you get this sword?" He asked in a calm but serious tone.

"Uh, my grandfather gave it to me a long time ago when I was nineteen. Is there something I'm missing?" I asked, more than a little confused.

He held out the crystal and rock in his hand and spoke. "Your sword is made out of this crystal and black rock."

"What do you mean?" I asked a little surprised.

He held up the clear crystal and explained. "This special crystal can only be found at the Crystal Empire mines. They only grow every ten moons. They're very strong, capable of deflecting and blocking even a strong attack, they're also capable of responding to powerful magic, and defecting magical spells."

He then held out the black Rock. "This is a special black crystallized rock, which can be found in the Canterlot mines. They're very strong, and are very hard to pierce through and break. If forged into a weapon with these two crystals, you get one of the strongest weapons to be known in Equestrian history. The black crystal rock not only allows the sword to pierce but slice more efficiently and smoothly through tough defenses." Shining finished.

"That's impossible. If my sword is made out of that crystal and black rock like you said, how do I have it? My grandfather or anyone in my family never came here." I explained, shocked and confused.

Celestia and Luna looked at one another and then nodded.

"Daniel, remember when we said that we knew about the human race?" She asked.

"Yeah?" I answered nodding.

Celestia went silent for a few seconds until she spoke. "When Lulu and I were fillies, and when the King and Queen were still around...A human actually lived here in Equestria."

Author's Note

Update!

Thanks Halo40KInquisitor for your edits and help. Great to have an excellent partner like you for this job.