Apples and Cherry Blossoms

by Archangel2401


Hiroki Dreams of Sushi

Twilight peered at Hiroki quizzically as he left her standing outside in the fading sun, looking to Spike he merely shrugged his arms with bewilderment. The perfect blossom... What had he meant by that? She turned her violet eyes to the cherry tree that stood proudly, it's branches still swaying gently with the now much cooler early evening breeze. A vibrant pink petal flittered down, landing on the tip of her nose and she crossed her eyes so she could study it. It was only when Spike cleared his throat and gave a tug on Twilight's tail did she shake the petal free, nodding when he mentioned they ought to be getting home. She smiled at her number one assistant and motioned for him to climb up onto her back. Spike was more than happy to get to ride instead of walk, even if it meant he had to hold on to Twilight's new book.

Hiroki watched silently from one of the windows as the lavender Alicorn took off into the dimming sky, the beat of her wings giving the braches of his cherry tree another rustle. Isamaru sat beside him, nudging at his master's flank repeatedly and giving an exaggerated, pitiful whine. The samurai looked back at the sesame dog and gave him a flat stare as he continued the drama by staggering and toppling over onto his back, still whining. Rolling his eyes, he turned away and gestured for Isamaru to follow him.

"Kodomo no yō ni kōdō shinaide kudasai." Hiroki paused for a lingering moment as the dog rolled over in an instant, trailing at his hooves. If he was going to be staying here he should probably get into the habit of speaking common. "Come along, supper time."

Having fed the complaining canine as well as himself, he spent the rest of the evening cleaning dishes, wiping down tables, and sweeping the floor so that his Red Apple Restaurant would be that much easier to open the following day. It was slow, methodical, and repetitive work, but without perfection in every facet he'd be shortchanging his customers. By the time he was done every table was polished, every plate sparkling, and everything put away neatly, ready to be used the next day. He gave a single nod of satisfaction before hitting the lights, rounding the corner behind the bar at the rear of the room and climbed a small set of stairs.

At the top was a shoji panel door and he slid it open, allowing Isamaru to scamper in around him. He chuckled faintly as the sesame dog curled up into a ball atop an ample pillow positioned beside a simple futon mattress with a folded, faded blue quilt bearing white floral patterns.

The shoji door was left open, after all no one liked to be woken by an animal begging to be let out in the middle of the night. Hiroki hung his hat on a hook and propped his sword up into the corner on the other side of his mattress. Grabbing hold of the corner of his folded quilt by his teeth, he unfolded it with one quick tug, clambering onto his futon, laying down and letting the quilt drape over himself. His viridian eyes stared up towards the ceiling through cerulean bangs, but it didn't take him long to check his eyelids for slits, finally drifting off into dreamscape. Tomorrow would be another day of serving sushi, another journey in perfecting his art, and another day to find the perfect blossom.

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The starry night sky had few clouds obscuring the heavens and a nearly full moon shined down over Equestria. The Princess of the Night beat her wings gracefully as she soared on the evening winds above the dreaming denizens of Ponyville. Luna smiled fondly as many were happy and content as they slumbered and dreamt of fulfilling glorious achievements, having wild adventures, and out-of-character experiences. It was no shock to see that three little fillies were once again dreaming of having their cutie marks, a certain pink baker was swimming in pool of liquid chocolate, and a rough-and-tumble Pegasus found herself hacking away through faraway jungles in search of long lost, forgotten artifacts.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, that is until she circled over the town square, looking down at a small building she'd never seen before. The impression was given that the pony within was having a nightmare. As Luna peered in through the small window to see the steel gray Earth pony, his head lolling lightly from side to side. It was easy to assume he was having a nightmare, judging by the way he tossed and turned, even if it was subtle. A glimmer of magic radiated around her horn and she delved into his dream to witness his troubles for herself.

Hiroki was galloping as fast as his legs could carry him, darting and weaving between tall growths of bamboo while a shadowy figure, dressed head to hoof in black, gave chase to him. His sword was drawn, the hilt gripped tightly between his jaws with it's shining silver blade gleaming in the moonlight. This shadowy assassin dashed along and soon they were both running in tandem through the rows of bamboo stalks.

When the pair reached the edge of the bamboo forest the ninja swung his own ninjato with clear intention to strike Hiroki's head from his shoulders. It was a simple matter to bring his katana up to block the strike, the blade hissing until it bit its counterpart with a shrill clang. The samurai leapt to one side and rose up on his hind legs, suddenly bearing the sword between his front hooves. It was a most peculiar stance for a pony to take, but it seemed to suit him just fine. He charged, running on his hind legs while the other figure mimicked his posture and reared up, rushing forward to meet Hiroki head on. The two swords clashed together, sparks flew as steel struck steel and each appeared evenly matched... Hiroki reflected a strike and spun back, holding the blade up over his head in a jōdan stance.

Luna wasn't certain what this meant, but it wasn't her dream after all.

The samurai could see his weapon held high and ready was not intimidating his opponent, so he took a step forward and lowered his blade so that it was held slightly back, level with his shoulder and pointing forward. He could see his reflection in the blade's edge... when he focused on it, the reflection changed to see a cherry tree off to his left with his new acquaintances sitting at a counter beneath it. Spike, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all sat, eating food that had been served to them and they all had sour expressions marring their faces. They shook their heads, pushing their unfinished plates away and spoke of disappointment. His shoulders sagged with anxiety and his viridian eyes widened, his defense faltering as he witnessed his work being rejected. It was then that the ninja facing him down came forward. Hiroki's reaction time was too slow, he was turning back in time to see that his opponent was a shadowy mirror of nopony other than himself, blade again swinging to lop his head off once again...

It was going to end, death was imminent. His carelessness was going to be his downfall... He wasn't skilled enough. They'd hated his food!

No.

He would not be defeated. He simply needed another angle.

Hiroki craned his neck so that the blade hissed by his head, using this momentum to spin to the side, performing a half circle and came up behind the shadow of himself. This opening was taken advantage of fully as he brought his gleaming blade straight up along the length of the villain's spine. The shadowy figure flailed as it was sliced up it's back and erupted into a whirl of smoke, the ground around them suddenly being littered in sushi rolls. Without wasting a second he flicked the blade clean and drew it across the edge of the scabbard before it was put to rest within.

He turned to see these new sushi rolls, smelling one and taking in it's fragrance, eyeing what ingredients formed the delicacy. The samurai brought his head up to look over at the counter beneath his cherry tree, this new food concoction going over much better than the last. The young dragon was stuffing his cheeks with as many rolls as he could manage, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down with excitement while Rarity was sipping tea and nodding with refined approval. Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle were each bowing to him and Applejack was beaming at him with admiration.

The steel gray samurai turned his head to peer up at the tree as cherry blossom petals rained down around them all, giving the whole scene a very 'spaghetti western' feel to it. After all, it was just a dream. Hiroki's eyes narrowed as he suddenly snapped back and looked towards the moon shining bright, giving it a curious stare as if there was something very peculiar about it...

Luna withdrew herself from this pony's dreamscape with no interference and felt impressed, yet also faintly disappointed he appeared to have no need for her guidance. Had he noticed her watching over him without her to reveal herself? She had never seen another pony quite like this Hiroki, no doubt she'd have a most intriguing discussion with her dear sister when it was time for the sun to come up. The samurai seemed in little danger of being disturbed by his dreams, however strange they appeared to be, so the Princess of the Night smiled softly and gave a heavy flap of her wings to ascend back up into the darkened night sky.

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