The Cool Brazilian Wind

by Lazy_

Oddities

The sun setting seemingly on the end of the earth itself. The wind blowing in your hair and the bodies of your enemies piled up at your feet. Perfection.

Except ponies had hooves and not feet, and there weren't any dead bodies. Shame, really. For a certain sword wielding mercenary was sharpening his skills and practicing his techniques in his new body. He was learning very quickly and even after only a single day awake he was well on his way to retaining his former skills. Of course this was massively helped along by the fact that it was possible for a pony to remain lucid in dreams, allowing the stallion to hone his pristine fighting prowess there.

*BANG*

With the pull of a lever an explosion racketed throughout the sky blasting sparks from a newly created opening were a sword was catapulted from it's scabbard and into the open air. A hoof was waiting in line, and with a perfectly timed grab control was taken over the blade. As the blade's gentle curve set the wielder's foreleg on a path upwards, electricity arcing around the metallic red shine of it's high frequency steel.

The sword was thrown free of the scabbard and fell completely under the control of the wielder. The huge amount of momentum generated by the sword's motion was enough to carry the pony upwards as he moved with the force of the blade's movement. As he ascended into the air he clipped the scabbard to the side of his body to give him two hooves free, helping him with the next part of his move. Keeping his body streamlined, he flapped his wings to propel himself forward before letting gravity take over and allowing his body to fall.

He took the opportunity to grasp the handle with both hooves and add strength and integrity to his strike. Raising the sword as high as he could, he waited until he fell to the right height before he pulled down with all his might. His target, a metal re-enforced concrete wall stood no chance against the highly advanced weapon of war. And as the strike made contact the blade sliced into it's strong material with ease, leaving a white hot glow on the split blocks. The attack was perfectly timed, as he landed in a well oriented stance just as the blade hit the ground, the contact carving a groove into the soil and dirt.

The stallion placed his left hoof on the ground for stability and threw his weapon leg back, flinging any remaining dirt from the metal. He then slid the side of the blade along the opening of the scabbard until the point hovered above the entrance. Rotating the sword up in line with the scabbard he pushed it back down, the high frequency weapon emitting an electric hum as it sheathed and locked into place with a loud *click*. He looked upon his handy-work with a smug smile, bringing his former weapon leg up to his chin to rest his head a little. Unknown to him, a certain princess stood silently behind him, her lips turned up into an equally wide but less cocky grin.

"I know I told you to get used to working with your body, but still..." She took his relaxed reaction, turning his head slowly to face her, as her cue to walk up to the blocks of material which had been cut clean into two by the swords-pony's attack. She stood and gazed upon the gently glowing slice which was still cooling from the blades awesome heat feature. The wielder walked up and stood beside her, joining her admiration of his work. "... I didn't know you'd get a hang of it this quickly." She looked over to the strange stallion who just chuckled and rested his left hoof on his blade's hilt.

"Now-now princess Luna, I am quite good you know." He winked as a tree suddenly appeared out of nowhere. In his dreams he figured out he could become lucid and pretty much do whatever he wanted. That was as long as he was calm and could concentrate. And he was usually a very laid back sort of stallion, and without any opponents he could quite easily manipulate his dreams.

He whirled around and leaped toward the inanimate creature using his wings to propel himself with great speed. As fast as lightning, he clenched his hoof around the lever and detonated an explosion within the scabbard. He grabbed the handle and used the momentum to spin around in a red whirlwind of death, slowly ascending upwards as he went. The tree was lined with slices to the extent that it was more orange with with the heat of the blade's cut rather than the deep brown of it's bark.

Once he had cut all the way up to the top he lined the blade up with the scabbard and slammed it back home. He then let himself fall to the ground with a heavy *thud* caused by the weight of his armour. Behind him the tree had begun to catch fire under the heat of the burning slices in it's trunk. The stallion back-flipped onto his front hooves and spun on them, using his hind hooves to kick a segment of the tree away before landing back on all fours, facing the tree once more. This way he got to see his work again as the tree collapsed onto the floor in a rising blaze of flames. The growing fire illuminated the semi-darkness of the shadow thrown by the setting sun on the horizon. The sparks that were released floated up gingerly before burning out merely a meter above the remains of the tree. He sat down at the bonfire and rubbed his hooves together, anticipating the cooling air of the coming night-time.

"And I also see that you've discovered how to create objects in your dreams." The large blue mare with the ethereal mane of stars and a blue coat walked over to sit beside him. Her horn and wings made her appear as a truly magnificent being. The stallion gave her a slightly smug glance before returning to gazing into the flames.

"I do tend to learn very quickly." He self complimented. "In my line of work I had to."

"Don't let it go to your head, Sam. I've seen foals manipulate their dreams on a scale equal to what you appear to have learned." She struck his cocky attitude down with no remorse. "Oh, and what was your line of work? I could make a guess but hearing it straight from the horse's mouth id more reliable."

"Mercenary..." Sam blurted out without taking his eyes from the bonfire. "... soldier of fortune, killer, murderer... I've been called many things."

"Why would anypony call you a murderer? You didn't murder innocent ponies did you?" Luna asked in a tone that sounded like a mixture of caution, dis-belief and serious questioning. Sam laughed a little at the suggestion.

"No. I may have been a little... mindless, before my death. But I'd never murder any innocents in cold blood." He replied in a strangely serious voice which didn't seem to sound right coming from him. He never usually took anything other than fights seriously, conversation and everyday interactions were always something to add a little fun to.

"Your death? Is that how you came here?" Luna asked, sounding like she was piecing parts of a puzzle together. Sam just nodded in acknowledgement. "Hmm. Lost souls tend to wander through Equestria from time to time, ponies who have been reincarnated from a previous life. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few over my years, and they all seem to come here for a reason..." Sam looked up to the princess, her thousand yard stare piercing deep into the light of the blaze in front of them. "... some were looking for things they never had. Some were looking for things they lost. And some were trying to give something back."

Sam said nothing as the princess stopped for a second mid-monologue. She was talking from experience, that much he could tell. The way her voice was filled with certainty, yet it quivered on remembrance of people long gone. There was something odd about her he couldn't quite place, like an unparalleled wisdom gained from... somewhere. But where? Sam intended to find out before she left.

"Princess Luna, I want-"

"Just Luna will do. We're in your dreams now, it's not like other ponies can intrude and get the wrong i-de-a..." Luna stuttered to a halt for a second, her eyes widened and a small blush adorned the top of her muzzle. "No! That came out wrong!" She blurted out urgently, righting the wrong before Sam could capitalise on it. The armoured pony laughed at her embarrassment, making her muzzle scrunch up in shame before she hid it behind a hoof. Luna sighed behind her make-shift mask and put her hooves down, calming herself. "What I meant to say was that you can leave out the title when we're in informal situations. I'm trying to maintain popularity with my subjects as I've given out a rather bad message."

"Okay..." Sam said as he finished his laughing session. "... So I've been wanting to ask you a few questions, if that's okay with you.£ When Luna nodded he continued. "First of all, I'm guessing magic is a unicorn thing and that ponies use it generally for non violent means, yes?"

"That is correct. Combat magic is illegal except in use on the battlefield by qualified ponies. Usually among the Royal Guard or the Mages Collage."

"Okay. It just makes me a little nervous when I see unicorns levitating stuff around, I guess knowing the use of magic for violence is illegal will help. Next! I've noticed you speaking with a lot of wisdom, and I know some find it rude to be asked this question but here goes. How old are you?" Luna opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. It just hung open for a second before she closed it to put an expression of confusion on her face.

"Old enough. Honestly, I've lost count. But it's somewhere around the one-thousand-seven hundred mark." Sam recoiled slightly. "-What!? That's unreal! Surely that's a lie...-"

"Bullshit." Sam almost shouted out before he realised he just swore at a member of the royal family. He put a hoof to his mouth and turned his head to see Luna giving him a stern stare. She saw his regret on the action and lightened up a little, even letting out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry, Pri- Luna, I was just surprised."

"It's okay." She dismissed his concern with the wave of a hoof.

"But really? That old?"

"Yes." Luna said like it was common knowledge, and he was stupid for not knowing it.

"I don't believe it."

"You should."

"Why?"

"Because it's true. My sister's six years older than me, I know that."

"You can't live that long!" Sam shouted out. "You would die of old age well before two hundred. Not even Humans with the best implants would live over two hundred!"

"Human's? Is that what your previous species called themselves?" Luna asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, why?" Sam snapped, keen to know what else the dark mare had in store.

"No reason, just interested that's all." She looked back into the fire and a moment of silence fell upon them. During their conversation the sun had set and where it once cast a pink glow across the sky, now the sky was a soft blue where the sun had been before. And it slowly shifted in a very gentle gradient toward a deep black behind them in the distance. A few bright stars were just starting to overcome the brightness of the sun even though it had set, and it was now possible to see the moon fading into the background.

"Still, that's one hell of a long time to be alive." Sam said, half bewilderment half compliment.

"Maybe too long..." Luna trailed off, her voice becoming soft and almost vulnerable. Sam wasn't very good at seeing much else other than fear in someone's eyes, but he could swear he could get a chill in his spine from the loneliness in her's. She seemed to stare off into the fire once more before letting out a small sigh and looking down. "There are a lot more things I'd like to talk about with you, but I'm afraid that is going to have to be all for now, Samuel. Enjoy your dream, good night."

It was an abrupt end to her visit, but Sam wasn't about to question royalty. He glanced between her and the flames a few times, noticing the way Luna stuck close to it as she got up to walk away. He would have thought a princess of the night specifically wouldn't have cared much for the fire in her element. And warmth was just an illusion in a dream, being cold wouldn't make it any less comfortable than being warm. Maybe it was just a comfort thing anyway.

"Good night, Luna." Sam dismissed her, his hazel eyes following her as she took flight and disappeared into the shadows before exiting the dream in a brilliant but short flash of light. In any other circumstance he would have gone back to training but after that ending to the conversation, he felt a little overwhelmed. He would leave the practice for another time.

The moon lying seemingly on the end of the earth itself. The fire crackling in your eyes and the troubles of the past still lingering ever on. Strange... such a strange world.

Comments

[NerfedFalcon]

Your writing seems a little off; it might be a good idea to ask around for an editor. Other than that, I'm really enjoying this. Your depiction of Sam is bang-on, in particular.

[Lazy_]

5850242
Thanks for the advice and comment.
EDIT: However I will say that there is a massive writing skill gap from the beginning until 'Oddities'. And if you look at the release dates, you'll figure out why. My writing has improved significantly since then. You can actually see the sudden improvement in places.