Jack could feel the sun rising. Though his eyes were closed, he could feel the darkness begin to ebb away. Warmth flowed through his body, while the rays of the sun chased away the grip darkness held on the land. The samurai took in a deep breath and opened his eyes, fully awake now. It was now morning. And this morning would bring an end to things as he knew it.
He had spent the past night meditating atop a small hill not far from Sweet Apple Acres. One last night as a samurai. One last night as a warrior. One last night with the sword that he had with him for so long. Jack felt himself smile bitterly as he looked down at his blade, still housed within its scabbard. Through thick and thin this blade had been his life, his way forward, the only part of his home he had brought with him from the past. But that would all end today. He knew it would. He just wanted to spend as long as he could with his friend one last time.
"This is it, my old friend," Jack said in a whisper, smiling down at the sword. "You have always been there for me, no matter the danger. No matter how long it took. You have been both my sword and my shield, keeping me safe through thick and thin. And for that, I will always be grateful to you. But after today...you will no longer be mine. I know this. You know this. But it is for the best. She will need you more than I will."
Jack rose to his hooves and stared at the horizon where the sun was still rising. He had asked Celestia to raise it a little slower today, a selfish request but one he needed. just a few minutes more. That was all he asked for. Celestia had granted his wish. The sun was a few minutes slower to rise than normal. He would thank her the next time he saw her. But now it was time.
Jack heard hoofsteps approach and he turned to face his visitor. One he had been expecting. Standing before him was Sakura, his daughter, eighteen years of age. She wore her own stylized kimono with one of her forehooves out of its sleeve. Her black and messy mane was pulled back into a ponytail. And at her side hung her blade, a shocking pink sword that had trapped many a dark foe. A blade designed to mirror Jack's. It had served her well. But after today, it would serve her no longer.
Yet to Jack's surprise, he found that his wife was walking behind his daughter. Applejack smiled at Jack, before shaking her head to stop him from saying anything. She then walked off to the side of the hill and sat down, a spectator. Jack sighed in relief. For a moment, he was afraid she had come to stop him. But she understood him now as she had understood him all those years ago. She might have looked a little older, but she was still as beautiful as ever. Jack then turned his gaze from his wife to his daughter, who looked at him with an emotionless face.
"It is sunrise, father," she said without emotion. "Sunrise on my eighteenth birthday. I admit that...I am a little hesitant. I am not sure-"
"Do not be hesitant. For if you are, you shall fall," Jack replied curtly. He felt AJ give him a look, but other than that his wife did nothing. Sakura nodded her head in understanding before she drew her blade, taking up a fighting stance that was a mirror of the one Jack used.
"Very well, father. On your guard."
Jack took up the same stance as her and drew his blade, his friend, the last piece of his home. He brought the blade up in front of his eyes, reflecting his own emotionless face back at him. Yet even though the light of the sun wasn't that strong yet, Jack was certain that his sword was glowing a little brighter today. He couldn't help but smile.
"Come, my old friend. Let us fight together one last time," Jack whispered, before looking towards his daughter. "Begin."
Sparks erupted from Jack and Sakura's blades as they clashed, the ringing of metal tearing apart the tranquility of the morning. Jack attacked with a fury and frenzy that he had not used since his battles with Aku, striking so fast and fierce that the grass around him was set ablaze by his ferocity. Yet his daughter didn't give an inch. She blocked, parried and straight up deflected each of his strongest and most powerful blows. Everything he had been taught, all of his skill, and it meant nothing to her.
For a brief moment Sakura looked upon her father with somber eyes. Then it was her turn.
She slashed at Jack, who was fast enough to deflect the blow with his sword. Yet the strength of her swing was so great Jack was sent skidding backwards, gritting his teeth as his hindhooves dug into the dirt. She was on him in a moment, slashing at him like a tempest, her blade everywhere at once. Jack had studied with the masters, been taught by the best, and yet even he could barely keep up with her. It was instinct and experience that kept her from overwhelming him.
Jack read a thrust and moved himself out of the way, deflecting the strike with the pommel of his sword before lunging in. He brought his blade down towards her head, yet in a moment she raised her scabbard to intercept the blow. His blade could easily cut through her scabbard, yet the momentary pause in the strike was all Sakura needed to slip to the side. She moved to the side and swept Jack's hooves out from under him. He landed hard on his back before rolling to the side, hopping back up and brandishing his blade. She made no effort to attack while he was down. She wanted a clean win. The two went back to circling each other once more.
He made the first move. And his move was to kick up a cloud of dust and dirt with his hooves and blind Sakura. Sakura staggered backwards and coughed, her eyes squeezed shut to keep anymore dirt from getting in. Dishonorable, perhaps. But if she fell to this trick, then she was far from ready. He lunged at her with blade out, yet even in the dust she parried his strike. She could not see, but she was far from helpless.
Jack's blade was a blur, moving fast enough that even bullets could not keep up with it. But his daughter endured, meeting each strike with her own blade. Jack felt frustration begin to rise, but he quelled it quickly. If he lost focus for even a second, he would lose. He saw a spot where her guard was lowered and he aimed his blade, figuring this would be his best chance to end this fight. He was wrong.
Sakura lashed out with a forehoof and caught Jack square in the chest. Her inpony strength ripped Jack from the ground and sent him tumbling backwards, crashing onto his back where he fought to regain his breath. This time his daughter did not make the mistake of waiting for him to get back up. She lunged at him, slashing her blade down at where he was landing. Jack rolled at the last possible moment, just barely missing being slashed. But she had made the right choice. Going for a stab might embedded her blade into the ground. Slashing at him would allow her to immediately follow up. And that was exactly what she did.
She was a frenzy, her blade coming at him from every direction at once. Jack kept up as best he could, but he was aware that he couldn't block everything. He could hear his kimono being sliced and just barely managed to keep her blade from slicing him apart. That was until their blades collided with such force that they were both ripped from each others hooves. Sakura's pink blade shattered into pieces and the hilt went flying while Jack's was lodged into a tree behind him. The two then eyed each other before taking up a different stance.
jack made the first move. He threw a flurry of strikes before following up with a high kick, planning to go to a low sweep when she either blocked or dodged the high. Sakura did neither. She grabbed hold of his leg and whipped him over her head, slamming him chest first into the ground. Jack wheezed as the air left his lungs before Sakura lifted him once more and hurled him into the very same tree that his blade was embedded in. He gasped in pain as he slid down the trunk, struggling to clear the stars from his eyes. Sakura did nothing. She simply stood there and waited for him to get up.
Jack could not win. He knew this. He had known this for a while. Sakura possessed all of his skill, his mother's incredible strength and had the rainbow power flowing through her veins. She was a pony unlike any other. And he was proud of her for it. But it was also his pride as a warrior that demanded he face her, his pride as a warrior that forced him back to his hooves and his pride in himself that pulled his sword from the tree and face his daughter one last time. She raised a hoof and slid out a back leg, ready for whatever he was going to throw at her. He would never be able to accept this if he didn't give everything. So he would give it all here.
"HHHHHIIIIIYYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHH!" Jack yelled as he leapt into the sky, bringing his blade down with all of his might one last time. His signature move. His final attack. A strike so strong that even the greatest metal would be cleaved by the blow. He brought the sword down on Sakura...and she lashed out with a blow so strong and fast that it struck him before his blow struck her. A hoof strike to the chest. Simple, powerful...and all she needed.
Jack didn't feel his air leave his lungs. He didn't feel the pain that was burning through his body. He wasn't aware that he landed back first or that he couldn't raise his arms. Or even that his daughter caught his sword out of the air and pointed it at his throat. No, the samurai didn't feel anything. Nothing except for acceptance.
"Do you yield?" Sakura asked.
"Yamate. I yield," Jack replied. "You have done it, my daughter. You have bested me."
Sakura knelt down next to her father, laying his blade beside her before she helped him to sit up. Applejack raced over to them, kneeling next to Jack and pulling him into a hug.
"Oh, ah can't tell ya how much ah hated to see the two of you fight," AJ mumbled into Jack's shoulder. "Why couldn't ya have just given her the stupid thing without the need fer all this fighting?"
"Give me? Give me what?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura, there is a reason I called you here, on your birthday," Jack revealed. "I wished to test you. Test your skill. Your technique...and whether or not you were ready."
"Ready, father? Ready for what?" Sakura asked. Jack smiled at her as he picked up his sword and stared at it for a moment. This sword had been his father's. He had fought with it to imprison Aku. Then it had been passed to Jack, who had used it to slay Aku. It was his best friend. And now it was time to do as his father would have done. Jack gripped the hilt while placing his other hoof under the blade, before offering it to Sakura.
"Ready to wield my blade. The blade your grandfather wielded. The bane of evil," Jack whispered.
"No...no father, I cannot accept this," Sakura said, shaking her head. "That is your blade. You have carried it with you for so long, across worlds, doing the impossible! I cannot take that from you!"
"You are not taking it from me. I am giving it to you," Jack replied, smiling softly at his daughter. "You are strong of mind, full of strength and endless in your compassion. And you are a greater warrior than I shall ever be. You have proven that you are ready to wield my blade. My father's blade. Our family's blade. You are ready...to be a samurai."
"Father..." Sakura sobbed, before she looked to her mother for help.
"Take it, Sakura," Applejack gently pushed. "And take it with pride."
Sakura fought back a sob as she reached out, grabbing the sword by the hilt and taking it from her father. Jack smiled at her the entire time and after a moment a smile crossed her face as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I will wield your sword with pride. I will use it to slay evil and protect the innocent, just as you and grandfather did. I will make the both of your proud," Sakura promised Jack and Applejack.
"You already have," Applejack nodded. Sakura then received Jack's scabbard and after fitting it into her sash, she sheathed the sword. Jack didn't show it on his face, but it hurt to give away his sword, hurt to the point that he felt tears well in his eyes for a moment. Then Applejack leaned into him and rested her head against his shoulder, taking away his pain. Jack smiled at her, before turning his gaze upon his daughter. Sakura bowed her head to him in respect. And he returned the bow in kind, looking up on his blade one last time.
Goodbye, my old friend. Keep her safe, as you did me.