Enter The Dragon (Spike's Story)

by Stratocaster

Novice

Chapter 2: Novice

After stumbling upon the miracle flyer ealier that day, Spike had set out to find the address of Master Yin's school. He had found a previously unoticed building close to Sugarcube Corner and found a door leading down a narrow hallway inside. Now he found himself alone staring at a large sliding door labeled "OFFICE", not knowing what to expect on the other side. Readying himself, Spike slid open the door.

It certainly wasn't what he expected an office to be. The room was well lit with a soothing aroma filling the air, and the sound of tranquil eastern music resonated from an unseen record player. The walls were adorned with old photographs and traditional artifacts and caligraphy from Feoul. And then, there he was. Sitting on the far side of the peaceful room, between two vessels of burning essence, was a blue stallion pony, with his front hooves upon his crossed rear legs. Noticing the white mane, cutie mark and aged face, Spike instantly recognized this stoic pony as Master Yin. The pony sat with his eyes gently shut as he seemed to be breathing slowly and deeply, inhaling the homeopathic essence. Spike walked up, without stirring up any reaction.

"Um, excuse me, are you Master Yin?" he asked, trying not to disturb.

Without opening his eyes, Yin finally spoke. "Who is speaking?" His voice was firm yet soothing.

"Uh, my name is Spike, sir. I found your flyer and I wanted to join your class."

Yin opened one eyelid halfway and sized Spike up. "You want to learn Tail Kwon Do?" he asked.

Spike brimmed sensing enthusiasm from the elderly pony. "Oh definitely, sir!"

"Hmm, I have never trained a dragon before." Yin surveyed his visitor more then closed his eye again. "And I shall continue not to."

"Wh- what?" Spike frowned. "Why not?!"

"I apologize," replied Yin calmly, still keeping his eyes shut. "But I can not train any being that is not a pony. I would not allow it."

"You can't be serious." Spike glared. "Who says I can't learn Tail Kwon Do? I have a tail, don't I?!"

"The techniques perfected in Tail Kwon Do are only meant for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. The anatomy of any other species would not suit the art."

"But you don't understand, I'm sick of being a wimp. I want to learn how to become a tough fighter like you. Please, teach me how to be a warrior!"

"I apologize again. Now if you'll excuse me, I am busy meditating." Yin became silent again, leaving an air of akwardness in the room.

"Meditating?" Spike narrowed his eyes and walked up close to him.

He waved a purple hand in front of the master's face with no reaction. Then, feeling the right opportunity, Spike began to stretch his face and make faces at Yin without a single response. That is, until Yin thrusted a hoof, at split second speed, into his chest launching him backward. Spike slammed into the far wall, causing an antique pony helmet to knock loose and clonk him on the head. After he lay there spiraling with headache, Spike then shook himself and immediately saw Yin standing right over him. The surly stallion now had both eyes open revealing steely gray irises, and they looked upon Spike with assertiveness.

"Learning to fight is only half of what it takes to become a warrior." Yin said a bit harshly. "You must also have mental content. I did not get where I am today just by being 'tough'. I learned to control my mind and emotions through concentration and meditation. It is only through balancing mind and body can one be able to become a true martial artist."

Spike lowered his head ashamed. Although he had no idea what Yin was talking about, he started to feel that all hope was lost at becoming a tough fighter. Then, Yin breathed a soft sigh.

"But you certainly are persistent in wanting to learn." He continued. "I suppose you must have some mental strength if it means that much to you. I always look for that when meeting new students."

Spike looked up with newfound hope. "Then, you'll train me?"

"Why not?" Yin shrugged. "Teaching a non-pony is not technically illegal. It will be interesting teaching a dragon techniques perfected by ponies. Young Spike, I shall teach you the ways of Tail Kwon Do."

"Oh yes!" Spike cheered as he began hopping and dancing in place. "I'm gonna be a real fighter!"

"But I must warn you," said Yin as he stopped his little dance. "Mastering a martial art is not easy. You will be put through years of vigorous training, and you must make sure every move you make is perfect down to the last detail. But most importantly, you must keep total control of your mind."

"I'll do whatever it takes, sir." Spike saluted.

"In that case, wait here." Yin then proceeded to the back of the room and opened a closet. He walked back to Spike with a folded up white martial artist's tunic and matching pants. "This is your uniform. You must wear it every class."

With glee, Spike took the clothes. "Wow, my very own uniform!"

"One more thing." Then, Yin held out a long neatly folded white band made of cotton. "You must also wear your white belt."

"White belt?" Spike eyed the white band. "Why does it have to be white?"

"A martial artist's experience is shown by the color of their belt. The color white represents you as a beginner. Once you have completed all the training for this belt, you will then graduate to a yellow belt, then orange, then green, then purple, etc."

"How long will it take for me to earn my yellow belt?"

"That all depends on how well you learn."

Spike gulped, not bothering ask how long it would take him to earn a black belt. "Don't worry Master Yin, I'm going to pass your training with flying colors!"

"We shall see." Yin turned around back toward his meditation seat. "Stop by tomorrow at three. You will be joined with the rest of my class. Now please get out of my office before you knock more things off my wall."

...

It was a proud day for Spike. He waltzed into Master Yin's gym, brandishing his new uniform and belt, with a look of eagerness across his face. Then as he walked in, he was met with the sight of twenty something ponies standing in a square formation and facing away from the entrance. As he waddled over looking for a spot to stand in, Spike noticed the uniforms the ponies were wearing similar to his. The only difference was that their belts ranged in color, from green, to blue, to yellow, to red, to even red with a white stripe; but not one white belt. Spike found a spot upfront, and looked more at the ponies around him. There were both stallions and mares, some were earth ponies, others were unicorns or pegasi. But they all had the same blank surly expression Yin had the day before, as they gazed ahead without a word. Then, right on time, the master himself stepped in from the back and faced the group.

"Good day, class." Yin greeted.

Spike had the urge to say "Good day, Master Yin!" but immediately stopped himself when everypony else remained silent.

"After seeing your performance from last session," continued Yin. "I can see that you all have made great improvement. But for today, we have two new students joining our class."

"Wait. Two?" Spike pondered to himself.

"I would like you to welcome our new white belts. Spike...the dragon."

With a cocky smile, Spike waved to the higher ranked ponies who only looked back at him blankly. Awkwardly, he put his hand down and let Yin continue.

"And...Fluttershy."

"What?!"

Spike quickly snapped his head around at the group of ponies. Sure enough, standing in the middle of the formation was a yellow pegasus mare with a long pink mane, sporting a white uniform and matching belt. Fluttershy smiled and waved to him.

"Hi Spike!" she said calmly. "I didn't know you were in this class too."

Spike turned back ahead and blinked with surprise.

"Now, to break in our new students," said Yin. "This will just be an average day of practicing. So make sure to pair up and spar, while they are introduced."

"Alright! Now I get to see some action!" Spike whispered to himself.

"But first, let us meditate."

Immediately, Yin sat down cross-legged in his spot, and the other ponies followed suit including Fluttershy. Spike darted around in confusion as they began to close their eyes and sit in silence. Breathing a dissapointed sulk, he sat down and reluctantly joined the crowd.

After about a minute of silent nothingness, Yin ordered everypony back up.

"Now, all of you go and begin practicing your forms." He announced.

With that, the ponies dispersed throughout the small gym and began to spar with each other. Curious, Spike walked up to Fluttershy as he was left alone with her.

"Fluttershy, what are you doing here?" he asked. "No offense, but you're the last pony I'd expect to find at a martial arts class."

"Oh, um, well, I wanted to take up Tail Kwon Do so I can control my anger." Fluttershy answered.

"What anger? Since when do you- wait a minute. Is this because of that whole Iron Will thing?"

"Oh no, definitely not. But last week, I stubbed my hoof on my bed, took Princess Celestia's name in vane, and took my anger out by ripping the tag off the mattress. Oh, sometimes I can be such a brute. But thankfully Master Yin will help me tame my agressiveness."

"But...I...eh...you...uh...oh never mind."

"Well, uh, I'll see you after class, Spike. Good luck." She trotted off to watch some of the other ponies duel.

Spike scratched his head as he watched the gentle caretaker getting involved in hoof-to-hoof combat. But then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and standing there was Master Yin looking serious as ever.

"Punch me." He simply said.

"Uh, excuse me?" queried Spike.

"Try to land a punch on me."

Spike stood silent at his master's odd request. But he chose not to refuse his word and clenched his right claws into a fist. As quick as he could, he hurled his fist aiming at Yin's cheek. But before he could comprehend it, his punch was blocked by Yin's left forehoof which seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Try again." Yin ordered calmly.

Without hesitation, Spike swung his left fist, this time aiming at his master's torso. But the blow was immediately halted by Yin's other hoof making a lower block. Now standing on his hind legs, Yin readied his rear left hoof and prepared to make a swift kick. Spike flinched, expecting the stunning blow; but after a few seconds, it never came. He opened his eyes to see Yin balancing on one hind leg with the other hanging in the air, just inches away from his nose. Yin got back down on all fours and spoke.

"That will be the first part of your training: blocking your opponent's attacks."

"Blocking?" Spike replied skeptically. "Now wait a minute, how can I be able to fight when all I'm doing is shielding myself?"

"Tail Kwon Do is all about self-defense. If you cannot protect yourself, you will be unable to attack."

"Please! Being able to attack is the whole reason I'm here. C'mon, show some real awesome moves, like that kick you were about to knock my block off with."

Yin simply rolled his eyes and, in a split second, rammed his hoof into Spike's chest, launching the little dragon backward again. Spike lay on his back, moaning from the pain of the sudden blow. Yin towered over him, looking down with shaming eyes.

"You were not ready for that because you refused to defend yourself." He then lowered his head getting up close to Spike's face. "You have much to learn, young dragon. Much...much...to learn."

Spike gulped as a sudden feeling of puke began to rise within him.

Comments

[Jlargent]

1961482 Dont you mean "Spike Lee"?

[Stratocaster]

1978935 Aha, yes! I totally thought about that!

[Jlargent]

1981095 Please have Spike enumlate Bruce to a degree.

[Stratocaster]

1981104 Don't worry, I will.

[Jlargent]

1981117

[Neutrinos are Magic]

"Oh no, definitely not. But last week, I stubbed my hoof on my bed, took Princess Celestia's name in vane, and took my anger out by ripping the tag off the mattress. Oh, sometimes I can be such a brute.

fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/333/1/d/profile_picture_by_tysonreactionplz-d4hozdj.jpg