//------------------------------// // True Griff // Story: Pony Showdown // by Prince Luna //------------------------------// At the noon of a bright, sunny day at the Xiaolin temple, the Xiaolin warriors were all in a mix of relaxing and training. Whilst Kimiko and Rarity exchanged beauty secrets, Rainbow Dash obnoxiously took to the skies and performed tricks of all manners. Under the cool shade of a fat tree, Twilight carefully studied yet another of the thousands scrolls from the scroll room, learning more about the Xiaolin world as she read, Dojo was sunbathing atop this tree, holding a mirror to his face and hiding his closed eyes behind a cute little pair of shades. Fluttershy talked to the birds with the Tongue of Saiping, finding out what was different from the birds in Equestria to them. The other boys all stood round for competition to see who was the best in different categories. Pinkie and Applejack simply watched them. "It's a race for the ages," Spike commentated playfully, "today, Omi and Clay will go head to head, foot to foot, to see who is truly the faster warrior!" The two Xiaolin monks stood ready, flexing and stretching at the starting like of an oblong race track painted around the courtyard. "This race shall be a piece of pie," Omi flaunted. "Piece of cake," Raimundo sighed. "Both sound good to me!" Pinkie happily shouted, licking her lips. Spike held a stopwatch in his hand and placed his finger firmly on the button, "gong," the monks crouched, "yi," they grinned, "TENPAI!" Omi dashed off at a lightning pace and, as was his trademark, Clay stood still. Omi looked back, still running and giggled to himself, "they say that the slow and steady wins the race, but I will prove them wrong!" Clay turned to face the goal post and waited for Omi to approach; Raimundo snickered to himself expectantly. Soon, Omi was directly horizontal to Clay on the track, "WUDAI CRATER, EARTH!" the Texan called, slamming a foot to the ground and launching Omi far across the temple grounds, even through the scaffolding of the under-construction refurbishment of the previously destroyed Shen Gong Wu vault room. Twilight looked up after hearing the loud screams of the flying Omi and looked towards the Shen Gong Wu vault. "Oh, guys, watch! I learned something cool I can do to protect the vault whilst it's under construction," she announced. She trotted towards the vault and opened it, descending to fetch a Shen Gong Wu as the other monks watched. Omi, having just recovered from his fall, joined them in their spectation. Twilight then emerged with the Sphere of Yun levitated by magic, with a smile she stood still and called, "SPHERE OF YUN, MAGIC!" and suddenly the Sphere flashed purple and unleashed a giant purple shield of magic, similar to that used by Shining Armor to repel Changelings. The monks applauded her as she returned, but the shield quickly vanished behind her. She turned around, "clearly a mishap. SPHERE OF YUN, MAGIC!" The shield appeared once more, but not too soon afterward it dissappeared again. Everyone questioned what was going on until a familiar laugh was heard. Rainbow Dash looked from above to see a pony stood on one of the temple rooftops. She swooped down and tackled the pony to the ground. "What are you doing here, Trixie?" she interrogated to the unicorn. "Trixie is simply here to say hello and introduce her new friend!" she replied, "emerge, partner in evil!" From the same rooftop, another creature stood proud. With the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, she was all too familiar to the ponies. "Friend of yours?" Kimiko asked sarcastically. "Pah! As if! Why would I be friends with these dweebs?" the griffin mocked. "THIS is Gilda," Rainbow Dash sighed, "a griffin with some attitude and respect problems." "And I've joined Hannibal Roy Bean's army! We were assigned to steal your Shen Gong Wu today, so sit back and let us do our job!" Gilda demanded. "How did you get rid of the shield?" Twilight grunted. Trixie levitated a golden, yet small harp object, "with this, of course!" Dojo, from the top of the tree, suddenly perked up and his tail wagged furiously, Spike also became agitated. "Is that a Shen Gong Wu?" Fluttershy gasped. "Spike! Dojo! How could you not tell us?" Omi asked angrily. "We didn't detect it," Spike said innocently, "I don't even know what that is!" "It's the Humble Heartstrings, my dear Xiaolin losers," Trixie playfully teased, "with the ability to undo absolutely anything with a simple strum." "Where'd y'all get that?" Clay asked. "That's for us to know and for you to find out! Trixie, to the vault," Gilda said, to which Trixie nodded. The two galloped towards the vault with the Xiaolin warriors chasing after them. Omi quickly grabbed something lying on the ground and pointed it towards Trixie, "FRIGID FIELD!" and from the cold crystal on top came a harsh blast of ice, which froze the ground beneath the unicorn, causing her to slip and fall over, dropping the Humble Heartstrings too. Kimiko seized her chance and grabbed on to it, but she could not pull it way quick enough as Trixie had already used her magic to hold it too. The other monks had seemed to stop, with Gilda getting away. She told them to go after her, "I'll take care of Trixie." The humans and ponies nodded, then went off towards the griffin, then Trixie challenged Kimiko to a Xiaolin Showdown. "I accept your challenge, Trixie. What's the game?" Kimiko asked. "See the pond over there? The Harp shall hide at the depths of it and the first to find it is the winner." "I wager my Gills of Hamachi," Kimiko offered, "what do you have?" "Trixie will wager the Moby Morpher." "Is that all you got?" Kimiko teased, "are you ready?" the unicorn nodded. "LET'S GO! XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!" The two turned around to look at the small koi pond. Nothing seemed to happen, but flashes of light and Kimiko assuming her armor indicated that the Showdown had made some changes, "GONG YI TENPAI!" the competitors shouted. "GILLS OF HAMACHI!" Kimiko called, wearing the small brace on her neck and quickly developing gills, fins, scales and other features of a fish. She jumped into the air and somersaulted down into the water, which would normally be about knee-deep, but she went right down as if it was the middle of the ocean-like depths. She continued to swim down as the depths of the water became darker and wider. Suddenly, a shark zoomed past her, gloating; it was Trixie and she was much faster than the girl. Kimiko faced backwards and held out her hands. "WUDAI MARS, FIRE!" she shouted violently as her hands unleashed fire, which was quickly turned into steam by the underwater atmosphere and propelled her downwards at a rivaling pace to shark-Trixie. Meanwhile, Gilda had reached the Shen Gong Wu vault and stood ready to fight at the entrance. The Xiaolin dragons ran quickly at her and she smirked, then held up a front claw and slammed it downwards, breaking right through the floor of the vault. "How in tarnation did she do that?" Applejack asked worriedly. Placing her claw through the hole she had made, Gilda broke the rest of the floor and leapt down into the vault. The monks quickly followed down through and saw that many compartments for Shen Gong Wu were missing. Gilda had worked fast and she was nowhere to be seen, but a roar that was not hers was heard from deeper into the vault, then the corner lit up. Omi quickly held out the Frigid Field as a wave of fire crawled up to the gathered Xiaolins. "FRIGID FIELD! WATER!" he called quickly, blasting a wet torrent at the fire. At this time, Kimiko and shark-Trixie were already bashing into each other's sides to try and slow each other down, but they just kept going. Trixie paused for a moment, then slowed down; Kimiko laughed at her, but was instantly slammed into by a giant koi and was grabbed by its jaw, which carried her far away from the Humble Heartstrings at the bottom of the pond. Trixie in turn laughed at her and when Kimiko couldn't see, developed a propeller at her tail and finished the showdown with ease, grabbing the Harp with magic. She was then gently sent back to the surface, but Kimiko was sat on the hard ground dripping wet with a koi flapping on her head. Gilda was standing at a rooftop with a sack full of stolen Shen Gong Wu, about ten in the bag and another in her claw. "Let's get outta here, Trixie!" she said quickly, "SILVER MANTA RAY!" The small object in her hand grew and the two villains quickly jumped in and blasted off before a tired and wet Kimiko's eyes. The other ten warriors walked up to her, also looking very wet but also with a high temperature. "Gilda used the Star Hanabi to try and fry us, but Omi fought back; it didn't seem to be enough. Looks like you're all wet too," Raimundo said slowly. "I lost the showdown. Trixie has the Harp still and now the Gills of Hamachi," Kimiko explained with an audible sigh. "Not a big loss, but I really just wanna show Gilda that I am not a pony to be trifled with," Rainbow Dash angrily shook her hoof and her voice got louder, "what reason does she have to be against us? What is she trying to fulfill?" Twilight stood beside Rainbow Dash and shook her head, "looks like she just plain hates you I'm afraid to say. She just wants to be against you." "But Trixie wants revenge on you, what would Gilda want with me?" "I'm not sure, the details do seem a little slippy," Rarity pondered. "I think she just doesn't like you anymore," Pinkie said. "She stole some right decent Wu, but we don't know where they're hiding," Clay explained, "looks like we gotta just wait it out until we see 'em again to get the Wu back." And with that, the dragons went to have lunch. *** Around the same time the next day, the team assembled in the scroll room after Dojo told them a new Shen Gong Wu had just revealed itself. Spike held the scroll for all to see and Omi read its script. "Ah, I've heard of this one before! It's called the Chenzang Shield," he explained, "it starts off by being able to strap around your shoulder, but when you activate it, it becomes the same size as you and if you keep using it, it can get bigger and bigger." "Sounds useful," Fluttershy commented. "So we should go and get it right away," Spike said as he magically grew up and spread his wings, letting the ponies climb on board. Dojo did the same for the monks and they quickly took off. *** With Spike in an Ariel lead, the Xiaolin warriors arrived at a very mountainous area, which led to causing trouble for the flying dragons as a furious blizzard relentlessly pelted against their scales, forcing them to be weighed down and having to land at the very bottom of the mountain. "I'm sorry fellas, but you're gonna have to climb halfway up the mountain to find the Shield," Dojo apologised. Accepting their current task, the warriors prepared suitable clothing for the weather and geared up to climb, some using Shen Gong Wu for their difficulty. Raimundo laughed obnoxiously and jumped up, levitating in the air. "See you at the middle!" he cockily boasted, "JET BOOTSU!" Calling upon the mystical boots' power, he boosted upwards and ran vertically up the oddly straight mountain. Rainbow Dash opened her wings, then brought out a small Shen Gong Wu which in turn opened up to a wingspan shape, "WINGS OF TINABI!" she called and burst upward with a beautiful rainbow streak. Gracefully, Rarity levitated her signature Emerald of Guang and waved it in the air, creating a white slit of light and called upon its power, "EMERALD OF GUANG!" The calling of the power caused the white light to solidify and turn into a marvelous ruby, which moved quickly and slammed into the side of the mountain, lodging itself through the rock. Rarity hopped on and waved her hair, "I'll get the Chenzang Shield before you know it, darlings!" and the ruby roughly took upwards, grazing the mountain and causing a small rock slide as it did so. At the same time, Fluttershy held the Tongue of Saiping close to her mouth using her hooves, "Tongue of Saiping!" she calmly shouted, calling upon a large vulture to swoop down and grab her raised hoof. She giggled as the vulture effortlessly carried her upwards and she waved 'see you later' to her friends on the ground. Then, Clay held a dragon-like Shen Gong Wu up high in both hands, then wore it on his back, "LONGI KITE!" and took off with a loud 'YEEHAW!" and the small dragon on his back quickly rocketed the cowboy to the skies. Omi simply jumped on different rocks sticking from the mountain and leapt from one to another and quickly made progress up; Twilight then followed using the power of the Mantis Flip Coin. Pinkie Pie looked to Kimiko and Applejack, then smiled, "I'll see you up there!" as she dashed off out of sight. "That mare," Applejack laughed, "I don't have a way to get up, Kimiko. What about you?" Spike, still in his larger form, walked up to them, "I can probably climb up," his developed voice boomed. The earth pony looked to Kimiko and nodded, then the two hung on to Spike's back as he dug his claws into the mountain and began to climb, with Dojo holding on to his tail. *** The mountain housed a small cave at the direct center, which was covered by large icicles the size of a huge statue. Stood at the entrance to this cave was Gilda and Trixie. The griffin held a star in her hand and pointed it towards these icicles and called upon its power. "STAR HINABI!" she shouted as the Star belched out a searing flame and destroyed the icicles, leaving a path for the two villains to enter. In a small glacier-like prison sat a small Shield with a wrist strap, the very Chenzang Shield they were searching for. Once again, Gilda unleashed another blaze, melting the strong ice surrounding the Shield. Trixie then lifted it with her magic and the two waltzed outside. The blizzard was still raging and Gilda brought out the Silver Manta Ray, then began to call its name, but was interrupted as she was tackled by something quickly. As she grinded along the ground, she quickly opened her eyes to see Raimundo leant on her. "Not so fast, Gilda!" he said, "hand over the Shen Gong Wu!" "Pah! Fat chance, loser!" she insulted. She then leapt up and pushed him off her. Quickly behind him, every other Xiaolin warrior followed and stepped onto the cliff, posing for battle. Rarity stepped forward and levitated the large ruby she traveled on, "EMERALD OF GUANG!" she called, and launched the ruby towards the top of the cave, which caused a small avalanche and threw Trixie off her concentration, causing her to drop the Chenzang Shield she was levitating. Everyone quickly ran towards it, but then Gilda brought out another Shen Gong Wu on her left talon, the Fist of Tebigong, and slammed it to the ground whilst announcing its name. Distracted, everyone but Rainbow Dash who was flying tripped over from the tremor and fell as the ground beneath them cracked and fell. All being too distracted to do anything, they continued to fall down the large mountain. Rainbow Dash yelled out over the edge, but it was too late. She quickly growled at Gilda and flew towards the Shield, holding it at the same time of the griffin. It shone a bright gold. "You know what this means, don't you, blue wad?" Gilda smirked. "Of course I do. Gilda, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" "I'll wager my Ruby of Ramses for your Wings of Tinabi, and the game is the first to reach the top and take the Shield wins!" Gilda said. "LET'S GO! XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!" Rainbow Dash wore her belt around her torso and looked off the cliff edge again. Spike and Dojo had caught the Xiaolin warriors and flew to a ledge to watch. "GONG YI TENPAI!" they yelled at each other. Gilda quickly began to fly upwards at an impressive speed, with Rainbow Dash closely tailing. She then opened the wings of her Shen Gong Wu, "WINGS OF TINABI!" Then she accelerated and left a rainbow stream behind her. She saluted to the left-behind griffin and continued upwards, but then Gilda held out her Shen Gong Wu, "RUBY OF RAMSES!" A large chunk of the mountain suddenly pulled out with a red aura and slammed into Rainbow Dash unexpectedly, causing her to begin to fall with a loose grip on her Shen Gong Wu. As she fell past Gilda, the griffin blew a raspberry and carried on upwards. She was confident that she was about to win, seeing at the Chenzang Shield's golden glow was now visible. She then noticed a small mumble from down below. As she was falling, Rainbow Dash managed to get a grip and carry on her path upwards. She held the Wings of Tinabi to her heart and became covered in a sphere of rainbows. She smiled widely with excitement and held out the Wings. "WINGS OF TINABI!" they opened, "SONIC RAINBOOM! LOYALTY!" With the passion to defeat Gilda in her heart, Rainbow Dash had acquired the power to fulfill her wish and race on upwards with a solid rainbow, after a circular rainbow expanded with a loud bang and she shot upwards at an almost invisible pace. She whizzed past Gilda, who stopped in mid-air in shock. Rainbow Dash zoomed past and grabbed the Shield and ended the showdown. She then heard, "I WILL GET YOU, RAINBOW DASH!" as Gilda and Trixie quickly departed on the Silver Manta Ray. Back at the bottom of the mountain, Rainbow Dash met up with the others and congratulated her as she bragged of her beautiful victory. They then left, but didn't notice another ship which had just arrived to the cave where the Shield was. A boy and a woman stood outside and looked in the former resting place of the Wu. "Aw man! How am I late? How did I miss it?" the boy winged. "Jack. Please remind me WHY I teamed up with you again," Wuya sighed, pressing her hand against her face.