"Late... again."
Hiroki sat out in front of his Red Apple Restaurant as the first rays of the morning sun crept up over the horizon. He wasn't surprised, but it was still irritating. He held a brand new wooden sword between his hooves, having just applied a light finish while his own ancient, and battered looking bokken was propped up against the nearby sakura tree. The cherry blossom branches were drooping ever so slightly as if to show the kodama that resided within had yet to wake. All the same this rest was well deserved after the ritual that had taken place the previous evening. He'd needed wood for a new training sword and upon praying to the venerable sakura tree it was granted to him. Rainbow Dash was learning his way of the sword and she needed a proper bokken. Only one made of Neippon would do after the last mishap.
Isamaru sat beside his master, his wolf-like head tilting back and his jaws parting as a wide yawn escaped his muzzle. The dog then proceeded to curl up at the base of the sakura tree and laid his head over his front paws. Hiroki frowned as he peered at Isamaru, then rolled his eyes.
"Lazy bum." Despite this slander the sesame dog seemed quite content in his new place of rest. Hiroki touched a hoof to his chin. "Perhaps sun's rise is too early. Hmph. Nonsense. That was the arrangement..."
Hiroki disappeared into the restaurant, reappearing moments later laden with saddlebags. He paused long enough to strap the pair of bokken to his back before cantering off down the street. It gave him oppurtunity to reflect upon the time he'd spent in Ponyville. A rather peaceful place all things considered. A month had passed since he'd first arrived and if things had gone as he'd expected, he would have packed up and continued wandering by now.
Admittedly he found himself surprised. Ponyville had turned out to be a place he really could call 'home' after leaving Neippon, a feat he never thought would come to pass. At first other ponies were timid and wary of him. Of course this was to be expected. He was an outsider. A mysterious stranger. It was a common feeling shared by many, to fear the unknown. Especially among the ponies of his homeland.
As anticipated, the restaurant had to remain closed the day following Twilight, her friends, and the Royal Sisters had attended. The damage his companion had inadvertently caused when chasing Angel Bunny took all day to repair, but repaired it was. News of the Red Apple Restaurant's closure for the day was met with the disappointment with a great many ponies who still hoped to try his culinary curiosities for the first time, which made the following two days all the more busy. Hiroki worked morning til' night and had very little time to himself. Even so he was pleased when others took the time to visit him while he had to work.
Fluttershy came by while he was making repairs to the restaurant, apologizing profusely over and over again for the trouble Angel caused and offered to help while he was fixing the shoji screen panels with new paper. He assured her it was nopony's fault, if only to keep her from quivering nervously at the notion he might be upset with her. His assurances eventually seemed to waylay her concern and after he granted her a smile, she left feeling better.
Pinkie Pie skipped by at least once a day, taking sweets and party favors here and there while often singing about cupcakes or reciting her made up song about mochi. Even Rarity waved at him from her upstairs window when she saw him returning across the bridge from his morning kata exercises. Rainbow Dash stopped in on the pretense of wanting lunch, though he suspected it was also to make sure he was still willing to teach her his way of the sword.
Each time the door opened and the bell chimed, he would call out 'Irasshaimase!' to greet those who entered and looked up in hopes that the latest guest would be a certain mare sporting a most peculiar hat. He hadn't seen Applejack since that evening, not even in the mornings or when he ventured to the market. Hiroki had to remind himself it had only been three days and she was just as busy with her own Sweet Apple Acres as he was with his Red Apple Restaurant. Besides it was certainly unbecoming of a warrior to let his focus wane over such silly thoughts.
That first Saturday morning Rainbow Dash was not out front of the restaurant by sunrise as they had agreed. He sat waiting beneath the dancing blossoms of the sakura tree and waited for nearly two hours until she came zipping over looking very tired. She wasn't much of a morning pony, was she? Rainbow apologized and Hiroki waved his hoof dismissively, so long as it wasn't a habit. Twilight turned up that morning as well in hopes that she would be allowed to watch and make a few mental notes from the sidelines. To her delight Hiroki had no issue provided she did not interrupt.
Rainbow Dash was disappointed when she realized this first lesson would not involve swords. The entirety of his training that morning rest solely with rigorous activity ranging from push-ups to wind-sprints, balance exercises, and even filling and moving buckets of water. As was her experience with instructors Twilight assumed he would just observe, yet to her surprise Hiroki performed every exercise alongside Rainbow Dash. Several times the pegasus tried using her wings to move faster than the samurai and aide her in her exercises. Every time Hiroki snapped his wooden sword forward and a dull 'thunk' echo around them, followed immediately by a painful yelp after he bonked her on the head or wherever he needed to get the message across.
At first it looked like Hiroki was just trying to tire Rainbow Dash out. He gave no explanation of what any of this rigorous physical training had to do with sword technique, yet Twilight suspected it was right at the heart of it the longer they went. It was just as demanding as the training Dash had to endure for the Wonderbolts. The lesson was eventually at an end after Hiroki looked reasonably satisfied that Rainbow Dash would neither give up nor pass out. He looked cool as a cucumber while she had worked up a sweat and was near hyper-ventilating. Strength, stamina, and agility. It was all needed to master the art of the sword.
The week practically flew by as the popularity of the Red Apple Restaurant soared. If it had gotten any busier he'd have to consider taking reservations, and while it was a sound business practice something about it didn't sit well with him. Twilight was present again for the following lesson and waited with Hiroki just after sunrise. He was pleasantly surprised when Applejack turned up as well, though figured he appeared quite foolish when he couldn't think of anything to say as she smiled warmly at him.
His supposed student was late the second Saturday by just over an hour. Rainbow Dash apologized, something about having to practice aerial tricks for the Wonderbolts Reserve, whatever that meant. His own father would have reprimanded him harshly for such a transgression, but as she wasn't in too deep yet he'd let it slide. They started with rigorous physical exercises again and afterwards Hiroki approached Rainbow with the question as to whether or not she was sure she really wished to continue. He instructed her to hold her answer as he presented a wooden bokken he'd carved from one of the nearby Ponyville trees. Rainbow gratefully accepted the bokken, but was unable to stop herself from questioning why she wouldn't be training with a real sword. The samurai's rebuttal to this question was swift.
Hiroki demonstrated by drawing the katana from his back, taking his unique fighting stance by rising up onto his hind legs. The steel blade gave an almost heavenly gleam in the morning sun and the samurai referenced the incident where he mistakenly cut her ball in two. He elaborated further by kicking a stone from the ground high into the air, allowing it to soar back down to the earth. In the blink of an eye he swung the sword with perfect control and rend the stone in two. Twilight and Applejack watched from the sidelines, looking just as impressed as Rainbow Dash had been yet this admiration was not to last.
"Awesome!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Yame! No." Hiroki stamped his foot and thrust the blade into the dirt dangerously close to the pegasus, who straightened and suddenly gave a nervous rustle of her wings. "This is not a toy to be played with. Not something to be treated with carelessness."
To further emphasize his point Hiroki pressed his foreleg to the business end of his katana as it stood from the ground. He applied a slight measure of pressure. When he pulled back he turned his leg to show Rainbow Dash, giving her a look at the cut now present through his gray coat and the line of crimson glistening at the center. There was a drop of the same crimson along the edge of the blade, slowly rolling down it's length until it met soil. Applejack looked as though she wanted to interject, but she held her tongue when she met Twilight's equally nervous, yet resolute gaze.
No interruptions, that was the deal.
"A sword is a weapon. One that can cut through flesh and bone. You must never wield one without having respect or understanding for what it can do. You must also remember that while a sword is a weapon, it is only a tool. It has no power when compared to the mind that wields it. Do you still wish to learn?"
Rainbow Dash eyed the drop of crimson that had trickled to the dirt, then the cut Hiroki had inflicted upon himself as a lesson for her. Maybe she'd been naive before when she thought his handling of the sword had been cool and entertaining. The realization of just what the sword was truly capable of was sinking in and a shiver ran up her spine. The shiver went all the way through her wings when she remembered how the blade had stopped just shy of the Guard Captain's neck. Even so, she wasn't one to back down from a challenge so easily.
"I do." Rainbow nodded.
"Very well." Hiroki gave the pegasus an appraising look, then nodded in return. "You are now my student, and I am your sensei."
Applejack was smiling at first, but it soon turned to a frown upon as her gaze drifted over the fresh cut the samurai bore along with all the faded scares that shone through his steel gray coat. Questions were swirling around in her head. Were all of his scars marks of the sword? How many battles had he fought? How many times had his sword drawn blood? How many times had his blood been drawn? Would Rainbow Dash wind up scarred and hurt like Hiroki if she kept training with him? He was like an iceberg. The peak shows yet much lies hidden beneath the surface.
The blade remained thrust stoically into the ground as Hiroki began to teach Rainbow Dash, and by extension Twilight and Applejack about the katana. Most ponies who used tools usually did so with magic or by holding the item between their teeth. Samurai made use of such things by rising up from the ground and holding their swords between their hooves. With how awkward it can be for ponies to balance on their hind legs, it begs to wonder why Samurai chose this technique. All things considered it certainly looked more refined. Elegant, even. Rainbow Dash would have to learn to stand on her hind legs like he did and she was not permitted to rise off the ground. He allowed her to use her wings in order to maintain her balance, but he advised against doing so later as they would make inviting targets upon entering combat. Suddenly the exercises were making a lot more sense. When he felt she was able to keep herself upright without falling or flailing over he began to teach her the basics.
This had begun to lighten the mood and the two in their audience were noticeably less tense now that they were practicing with bokken and the real sword remained dormant.
"There are five basic kamae, or stances. The most basic and easiest to practice in is chūdan. Chūdan-no-kamae is 'mid-level'." Hiroki demostrated by standing with his left-hind hoof slightly behind his right and held his bokken out front at chest height, which covered his mid-section adequately. "Sometimes called the stance of water, it is the best place to start. Evenly balanced with attack and defense."
"Okay, I think I got it." Rainbow Dash awkwardly assumed the same posture, earning a snicker from Applejack and Twilight off to the side. She shot them a sour look, to which Applejack just grinned cheekily.
"The second is Jodan. Jodan-no-kamae is 'upper level'." He demonstrated again by shifting his stance a bit wider, shifting his left hoof forward. His bokken rose up over his head. It was a fair bit more intimidating in appearance, reminding her of how a snake rears back before biting. "Aggressive, it is known as the stance of fire. It leaves you open, but makes use of your sword's reach and your speed."
Rainbow nodded in understanding and slid into the same stance with a bit more confidence, brandishing her bokken over her head. Hiroki eyed the pegasus approvingly and circled around her as she kept her posture.
"Third is gedan. Gedan-no-kamae is 'low-level.'" Adopting the stance, Hiroki dropped his sword to waist level while his right hoof came forward, letting the tip point further down towards her leg. "The defensive stance of earth is meant for deflecting blows and creating windows to counter-strike."
She followed suit and mimicked him again.
"Number four is hasso. Hasso-no-gamae means 'all directions'. It is to be used in situations offensively, to respond to attacks from any direction." The samurai shifted yet again. His left hoof sliding to the forefront and his bokken rose to be held vertically, parallel to his own body.
Twilight watched as Rainbow adopted the fourth kamae, but Applejack had her eyes locked on Hiroki and the battered, ancient bokken he was holding. Standing tall and full of pride, in that moment he looked as if he could take on the entire world single-hoofedly. He was like a great oak tree. Hiroki explained hasso was also called the stance of wood and she could see why. Both Twilight and Applejack also noted how appropriate it was upon remembering that he'd said his name meant 'Strong Tree'.
"The fifth kamae is waki. Waki-gamae, or side-guard hides the length of your sword, making it excellent for deterring your opponent. If they cannot see how long your sword is, they will hesitate to attack for fear you could strike before they reach you." As he explained Hiroki's stance barely shifted, but his bokken lowered so that he held it near his hip so the pommel faced forward and the blade's length disappeared behind him. "So is the stance of metal."
Rainbow Dash complied and shifted into waki alongside Hiroki, glancing at him to make sure she was holding on to her bokken properly.
He explained the directions of basic striking in each stance, but after learning the five kamae the rest of their training session was spent practicing shifting posture and making sure each stance was held properly. He would occasionally whack at her legs with his wooden sword, testing her balance and grip on her own wooden sword. It didn't exactly look painless, but it made sure she wasn't slouching. At the end of the lesson Hiroki instructed Rainbow Dash that it was her responsibility to look after her bokken and that she would need to remember to bring it otherwise they wouldn't have much to do during their training. When they were done Hiroki went to collect his katana, wrenching it from the soil and slid it back into the scabbard.
Twilight observed that their training was not formally over until Hiroki and Rainbow Dash had bowed to one another.
The third week was just as busy as the previous and Hiroki was feeling the strain of such unexpected success. In all the places he'd stopped Ponyville had given him more business than all of the others combined. This was in no small part to word having gotten spread that three of the four Equestrian princesses had been patrons, one even doing so regularly, and while it was a great honor he now wondered if he'd have been better off with a noodle cart instead of a full restaurant. He'd never even considered himself -that- good a cook. Every day from late morning to mid-evening he worked tirelessly, serving sushi rolls, rice, and tea to new ponies. Surely the buzz would die down once enough ponies had sampled his cuisine. Something that had helped Hiroki keep going was after that weekend he began to see Applejack every two or three days when she'd smile and bring a cart of apples to the restaurant for him. It wasn't much, but it was enough.
The third weekend's training showed signs of improvement as Rainbow Dash was still late, but not quite so badly. She'd managed to wake in a timely manner, but upon her arrival realized she'd forgotten her bokken and zipped back to retrieve it. Twilight appeared shortly thereafter, still determined to witness and mentally document Hiroki's training with Rainbow Dash. The two exchanged pleasantries, the Princess coloring as Hiroki gave a deep, respectful bow of his head. When Rainbow had reappeared, teacher and student bowed to one another and they could begin.
They started with the same physical exercises and while Rainbow Dash could more than keep up with Hiroki, she still appeared a bit pouty that they weren't jumping right back into sword-work. This was going to be their routine from here on. Exercises came first. Stances came second. Kata would come third. Sparring, if they reached that level, would come last. The samurai and his would-be student ran, did push-ups, moved buckets of water, and practiced their stances over and over again. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to catch on, probably due to the fact Hiroki's eyes were generally hidden by the brim of his hat, but Twilight could see it in the way he turned his head that he was impressed with how well Dash was absorbing his teachings. She had obviously taken time to practice on her own, as he could find little fault with her balance or the grip of her wooden training sword.
Applejack also turned up and stood with Twilight for a bit, watching the two continue their training. They knew Rainbow Dash liked to go fast, and wasn't always the best at pacing herself. Moderation was key. Discipline. Patience. How Hiroki was able to keep his patience when Rainbow Dash nagged him to teach her more every moment was a feat in and of itself. They went through an exercise about facing the eight different ways and eventually he began to teach Dash how to strike properly.
Things went smoothly enough until they were nearly finished, that she performed a practice down-swing too close to Hiroki, and his reflexes kicked in. His own bokken blocked the strike, shoved her back and before he could think otherwise he'd swung down and inadvertently snapped her wooden sword in half. He sighed quietly out of his nostrils, looking quite sheepish at the dumbfounded expression on Rainbow Dash's face. That would be the end of their lesson for the day.
Later that week he was visited by one of the Canterlot Royal Guards during a particularly crowded lunch rush. He recognized the guard-mare from the detail who had escorted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna during their previous visit. She looked stern and stoically announced that by order of Captain Gladius, the Princesses wished for Hiroki to appear before them the following week. He blinked. Something about that didn't make sense, but he was given a formal letter written by Celestia and bowed his head politely, doing his best to pretend there weren't ponies staring at him. The guard-mare also very quietly thanked him for the package of rice balls he'd given them. It clicked that 'by order of Captain Gladius' perhaps meant that he'd sent his subordinate in his stead so he wouldn't have to deal with Hiroki himself. Again he found himself unsure of he should be amused, or offended.
Despite everything, Ponyville had turned out to be a good place to stop. Normally by now he'd have packed up and moved on again, but this place was different. Even the ancient sakura felt more lively than it had been in ages. Hiroki's mind would dwell on these thoughts as he idly sauntered through the empty streets of Ponyville, the sun still making it's way up into the morning sky. He made his way through the town until he came across Twilight Sparkle going the opposite direction.
"Hiroki, good morning!" she said, smiling brightly.
"Ohayōgozaimasu, ohimesama." replied the samurai, bowing his head deeply. "Good morning."
"I was just on my way to meet you and Rainbow Dash. It's still all right if I observe?" Twilight peered over at the saddlebags the samurai was now sporting.
"Ah, of course. Miss Rainbow Dashu did not turn up. I am on my way to wake her. I fear I have accidentally rattled her nerves because of what happened last week, so I also have a new bokken for her to train with. One that will not break so easily."
The two fell into step together and Hiroki explained that the sakura tree granted him wood for a new sword, as the one he had carved previously proved too brittle. This put Twilight into a new form of excitement upon it being suggested the tree was magical in nature, but did her best to avoid directly asking if she could study it or take any samples. This launched into a whole new avenue of conversation where she asked if Neippon had anything like their own Tree of Harmony. Hiroki said he was not sure, but legends were told that their Empress first appeared to them as a whirling gust of cherry blossom petals.
They arrived beneath the shadow of Rainbow Dash's cloudominium and Hiroki paused to look up at the unique architecture. Twilight could reach the pegasus' porch with no trouble, but Hiroki could not fly or teleport. Thankfully he had an alternative solution and reached back to pull something out of one of his saddle bags that looked like a large, rounded seashell that looked to be fitted with a wooden mouthpiece.
"Would you like me to go up and see if she's home?" asked Twilight, looking at Hiroki with curiosity.
"No. This should get her attention." replied Hiroki.
The samurai then took a deep breath, placed the shell to his lips, and blew furiously through it. A loud, deep, resonating tone was issued forth to reach all the way up to the cloudominium. The sound rang heavily around them, even after he'd stopped. A crash could be heard from above, as well as frantic scrambling until Rainbow Dash stuck her head out one of the windows. Upon realizing she'd overslept, she yelped and slammed the window shut to make haste to get herself ready.
"What in Celestia's name was -that-?" inquired Twilight, wobbling a little at the ringing in her ears.
"A jinkai. War shell. It is used to signal the march of armies. In this case, to wake lazy students." said Hiroki, reaching to tuck the shell back into his saddlebag.
"Ima, watashitachi ga koko ni motte iru mono o mi..." said a third voice, coming from somewhere behind them.
Upon hearing the sound of his native tongue, spoken by somepony other than himself, he whipped around and rose to his hind legs with his hooves reaching for his sword. Twilight also snapped around to spy a dark figure leaning against a cottage, the figure veiled by the shadow the building cast.
"Bit early to be going to war, is it not Hiroki-dono?"