//------------------------------// // 2 : Kung-fu 101 // Story: Fighters Don't Have Friends // by BackroundVoice //------------------------------// The train whistled as it approached the station. Still, no one else showed to join us on our trip to Ponyville, and that was completely acceptable in my book. And Fluttershy's apparently. She also seemed just fine staying up until the train arrived too. I must've been a better story teller than I thought. When we finally boarded the train, we found an empty car at the very back. I sat on one side of the train, and Fluttershy on the other. It was great to have so much space to lay on, I felt like taking a nap. However, Fluttershy continued to make conversation. "So, you didn't go back to Canterlot? Not even to visit family?" Fluttershy asked. She was being too curious about my story for my liking. I thought I was just answering her question of how I got involved in fighting. But her interest also made me ask the same things. Why didn't I go back? Regardless that I felt utter shame for losing my status as the Princess's faithful student. "I couldn't, reasonably..." I trailed off, reminding her of the Doctor's orders to stay in Ponyvile and heal. "Also, I didn't have any money. That was probably the biggest problem that kept me from going home." "But it sounded like your family took care of you anyway," Fluttershy pointed out. So she actually was paying attention, good for her. "To an extent," I told her, "Shortly after that phone call with Princess Celestia, I got my wallet stolen. And simultaneously my 'pals' didn't have a bit to help me call home and cancel my bank card. After I eventually explained the situation to my family; they told me I was on my own a little while." I talked in a very passive way, which made Fluttershy turn her eyes away. I don't think she could feel any more sorry for me than she already did. It was funny to see someone genuinely give a crap. Fluttershy is by far the strangest pony I've ever met. "So, what did you do?" she asked. What did I do? I scratched my head, thinking. I don't think I met Sunset yet, and this was way before the tournament, so what happened next was... "Oh," "Oh?" Fluttershy tilted her head. "Trixie Lulamoon," I answered, sitting upright to stay awake for a little longer. The image of a blue mare in a magician's costume made me cringe. "So," I began, "before I learned how to fight, I was against it completely. But Vinyl Scratch somehow convinced me to consider it." "Did you?" Fluttershy leaned in from across the car. "I did, after she lent me a few kung-fu books, of course." I remember memorizing those books by heart was how I coped with my current situation. Vinyl told me that knowing how to defend myself would help if I was going to stick around for a while. And I was driven to do so even more after Dash had pushed my buttons one too many times about it. Calling me an egg-head and what not. And because of how mad I was with everything, I wanted to prove to them all that fighting was a poor use of time. I still held onto my peaceable beliefs but considered this as a lesson to be taught. I was so wrong. The next week or so, I read the books over a few dozen times just to make sure I was getting all of the information correct in my mind. The philosophy of defending yourself, the reality of conflict; if nothing else I learned something new. It had illustrations of stances, attacks, blocks, and counters. But despite being able to read those books and spit the information back out word for word, I had missed what they were trying to tell me. That there was way more to learn elsewhere. "Finished!" I said as I slammed one of the books shut, stacking it on top of the pile next to me. I got off the bench I was sitting on and started to stretch my limbs like I knew what I was doing. "Look AJ, the egg-head wants to spar, how cute!" Dash patronized me. But that insult didn't bother me anymore. I felt confident that day. I was ready to fight even though I had no real idea of what I was getting myself into. "Laugh while you can, Rainbow. I'm going to put your face in the dirt today, you overgrown hummingbird." I really hated Dash back then. And I knew she didn't like being called by her first name. Dash cracked her hooves with a blank expression. She didn't mind fighting me now. But Abigail stepped in between us. "Out of my way AJ, I'm going to wipe that smug grin off her face!" Dash said, her tone dropping to an all-time low, sick of my taunts. "Dash, calm down, we should let Vinyl decide who Twi should spar with," AJ or Abigail stated. "And Twi, stop picking fights," I shrugged, ignoring Abigail's warning. We were all at the Ponyville park, training while I read my books. Vinyl was at 'Sugar Cube Corner', the daytime cover store for knuckle brick corner. Asking around about any upcoming contenders for the team to fight. But she showed up soon enough, catching the sight of me, punching at the air. "Someone's fired up!" Vinyl chimed as she approached from behind me. She was levitating a rolled up piece of paper with her magic. A skill I had lost some nights ago to a headbutt. When I saw her doing that, I quickly stopped acting tough. The truth was that I wanted my magic back more than anything. But I had no money to get me home, let alone enough to have a doctor fix it. Just imagining how long it would be until it healed made me feel useless. I hated that feeling. Vinyl lowered the piece of paper to her hoof. She could tell that it bothered me. "So, you read'em all?" Vinyl asked, referring to the kung-fu books. "Yes!" I answered, trying to focus on anything else but my lack of magic. "And I'm ready to fight!" Vinyl could tell I was in over my head. She smiled and she tossed the paper over to Dash, approaching me in a readied battle stance. "Alright, let's go champ!" Vinyl declared. She stood up on her hind legs, hooves raised ahead of her, one hoof in front of the other. I got nervous, quickly turning back to one of the books for reference. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I was imagining that they were all being impatient as I looked up a stance to start in. But only Dash was tapping her hoof on the ground in a restless manner. Finally, I chose a stance. It was pretty much a copy of Vinyl's. In fact, it was exactly like Vinyl's. I got into position and waited for Vinyl to attack. I had read that martial arts were primarily created for self-defense. So I waited for just the right moment to strike. Vinyl had figured out my plan from the get-go and waited too. Our fight quickly turned into a waiting game to see who would throw the first punch. This made me a little lax with my stance and that's when Vinyl took advantage of the fight. I flinched and before I knew it, I had been jabbed in the stomach rather sharply and with one strong tug of my arm over her shoulder, I was on my back. Trying desperately not to cry, I turned on my side and held my stomach along with my still healing arm. The doctor, Sombra, had done me a favor out of pity and healed the bone fracture in my arm free of charge. But still, a faint pain lingered from the center of the wound, forcing me to bite my lip, feeling indisposed. "Way to go, Twilight!" Dash blurted, who was now using Apple Jack to balance as she laughed at me. "Okay champ, again!" Vinyl ordered. Getting back into her stance over me. "Can I take a break?" I asked as I stood. Vinyl only punched at me in response. I took the first punch to the face, managing to block the next few before she changed targets and attacked at my legs with kicks. I figured out how to dodge those, only to get punched square in the face again. My head jolted back in surprise and blood trickled from my nose. I instantly stopped focusing on the fight which gave Vinyl the time to grab my arm and flip me onto my back for the second time. "Again, champ!" "W- Wait!" I said, "I'm not ready!" "Were you ready for your exam at your school?" Vinyl asked. The sudden change of subject caught me off guard. "Were you ready when Dash dragged you out of your room?" I had no idea what she was getting at. But this little talk was going to teach me something very important. "Were you ready, when Nightmare Moon smashed your horn in?" "I wasn't prepared," I excused myself. "Well, guess what? Life doesn't give you a chance to prepare. You either come into life willing to fight for what you want, or you sit on the sidelines and wait for your opponents to kick dirt in your face!" Vinyl raised her voice louder and louder, and for some reason, I thought back to when I was five years old, at the Academy entrance exam. The test was supposed to be simple, lift a cup or something. But I was instead told to hatch a Dragon egg. The odds of cracking just its shell was stacked against me. An unbeatable test. But I figured if I tried hard enough I could do it. And I did. But back then I wasn't prepared to hatch a Dragon egg either, kinda like at that moment, when I wasn't ready to stand up against Vinyl and fight. I was beginning to understand at the very least that fighting wasn't a predictable lottery of how many punches it would take to win. It was your experience that made you better than anyone else, which I had none of. "Now, are you going to let me do that to you?" Vinyl said as she kicked up some soil up into my eyes and punched at me. "Or are you going to fight?" I was in the middle of asking if I could ready my stance, but instead of listening to me, she kicked me square in the chest, pushing me onto my back. I fell and rolled onto my hooves. She wasn't going to listen to me anymore, that much I was certain. "Stand up, champ!" She shouted. And from there, we sparred for hours. The others trained too. But I couldn't pay that much attention to anything else but my training with Vinyl that afternoon. And by the time that the sun began to set, I wasn't asking to stop anymore. I had almost forgotten about the bruises on my back and the two black eyes Vinyl had given me. I could still see through my swollen eyelids barely as I readied my stance for the hundredth time. And just when I was about to go for another attack, Vinyl lowered her hooves. "All right, that's enough for today," she said. And I fell face first onto the ground. Exhausted. All we did was punch, kick, and block. Basics that really didn't need much explaining. But regardless, that training session was the most strength exerting practice I had ever undertaken. Pinkie Pie tossed me an ice pack, to which I covered both my eyes with. The cold plastic in between me and the ice was wonderful. And after a good hour of rest, I felt someone kick me lightly. I stood up, the ice had already healed my eyes pretty well and I saw Vinyl holding a piece of paper in front of me. "What's this?" I asked. Squinting at what seemed like a poster, depicting a mare magician surrounded by fireworks. "Her name is Trixie Lulamoon, and she's someone we want to take down," Vinyl said. "But she doesn't look like a fighter," I said. "That's cause she ain't," Abigail stated. "She's a liar and a cheat!" The others nodded to that. Abby, in particular, was vexed about this Trixie. A show mare that, to me, was nothing like them. Book cover judging was a specialty of mine. "I think you're being a little too judgemental on this, she's just a magician. So, of course, she uses illusions for her show. What, do you girls have a personal grudge with clowns too?" "Nowhere near as much," Pinkie commented. "She doesn't just put on a show," Vinyl said, "she rigs fights and pays her opponents to let her win." That's when I started to see how this was a bad thing. It had been a little over a week since I arrived in Ponyville, so I've gone to knuckle brick corner a number of times already. Watching the others fight while I read my books. And I learned very quickly that the rules Soarin had set in place for fighting were concrete. Obligating any real fighter to enforce them. Which made knuckle brick corner a very popular fighting arena in Equestria. And that's what begged the question. "Then why is she even allowed to fight here?" Everypony smiled at me when I asked that. "To put it simply, champ," Vinyl began, "no one has been able to prove that she cheats. And what's worse is that according to the roster, she's undefeated." "And she stole the title from me without a fight," Abigail added. Now I was interested. Abby hardly ever talked about her past, let alone any winning streaks she had. Never a bragger, that one. But from what she has ever said to me, she'd been honest about it, through and through. And to hear that she used to be the Champion made me even more curious. "So you can imagine how peeved we all are about the little wizard," Vinyl continued, "and that's exactly why we're glad you're here, champ!" It was a surprise, but I knew exactly what they were asking me to do. They wanted me to fight. And not some drunk to win a little bit of easy money. A supposed champion of knuckle brick corner that wasn't going to leave until she was defeated, fair and square. "Scary," Fluttershy said. "Tell me about it," "What happened next?" "We spent some time at the bar until Trixie showed," I said, remembering that I was very anxious that night. "There wasn't a specific time on the poster telling us when she was coming to town, the only thing we knew was that she was. But Soarin did tip us off, thankfully."