The clashing of sword and claws filled the otherwise silent air as I engaged Ember in a duel. This was the ultimate duel between us. No distractions, no rough terrain...
"...No holding back!" Ember roared at me. "It's time to finish this!"
When Ember aimed her staff at me, I knew what was going to happen. She fired a laser, and I held my sword up to defend against the beam. Would my sword be strong enough to deflect it? I never found out. Instead, the laser somehow curved around the sword and struck my mask.
Surely it couldn't have been strong enough to--oh, that's just great. My mask broke yet again. Luckily, the only dragon here is--ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Not only did I attract a horde of dragons that were laughing at my face, but Ember herself was laughing too. She was my best friend--no, my closest colleague. Well, there's only two things left to do: grab my mask--seriously? It disintegrated? *sigh* On to the next thing: teleport away with my Dimen--where's my cape? I felt behind me, but I only felt my back. No cape. No mask. ...No dignity. Was I destined to have my mask broken and be laughed at by a horde of dragons who only laughed harder as I got more humiliated? I was burning up at the thought. I was born to overwhelm my opponents with my might and intimidate them with my dark, grim appearance. I've been flattened, thrown at invisible walls, and launched over the horizon, but this... was too much.
"...THAT'S ENOUGH!" I didn't have to tolerate this. I unleashed my sword on the dragons with enough ferocity to show them why they shouldn't laugh at the second greatest warrior in the galaxy. There was something different about the dragons, though: When I slashed them, they disappeared. Turned to smoke. I saw no reason, therefore, to hold back against my colleague, Ember. I stabbed her right in the gut, causing her to disappear not unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi from A New Hope.
"Self-conscious?" I turned and pointed my sword at the source of the voice, then I lowered it. Princess Luna had appeared. "Let me fix that." Luna's horn glowed, and my mask, fully repaired, rested on my face once again. My cape also returned.
I sighed. "I want to be taken seriously. My mask makes me who I am. It strikes fear in the heart of evil. Without it... I am as low as Kirby in terms of intimidation: Round. Adorable. Useless when it comes to scaring evil away. As a Star Warrior, it is my duty to protect Pop Star from evil, and my mask warns villains who they're up against."
Luna chuckled. "And yet, you aren't the one who saved Equestria from Hyness and Queen Chrysalis. Kirby doesn't care what people think of him, but he still rises up to take down evil. Might I suggest using him as a role model?"
I glared at Luna. "You're talking about a pink puffball that lives a lazy lifestyle. That makes him oblivious to certain apocalyptic results of villainy that are happening around him."
"Well, heroes need the occasional break. Being too alert can be draining. I know this firsthoof, because my duty as princess of the night is to protect ponies everywhere from nightmares such as this... although it seems you didn't need my help."
I paused. "I'll consider your suggestion during my waking hours. Speaking of which, if it is time, could you wake me up from this dream?"
"Of course I will, Sir Meta Knight."