//------------------------------// // Confidence // Story: The Muay Tiger // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Rainbow brought up her forearm to deflect an elbow strike, her whole body shaking as she just barely managed to redirect the powerful blow. She shot back with a kick of her own, but Sagat stepped back, just out of range of her strike. A snarl started to escape Rainbow’s lips before she took a quick breath to stop herself. Do not waste a single ounce of anger. Channel it and use it, but do not waste it. Sagat, sensing that she was lost within her own mind, pressed his attack, advancing on the mare with a flurry of strikes and kicks. Rainbow backpedaled, dodging around each attack as best she could. Sagat was far from the fastest fighter she had ever battled, but each attack was precise and thrown in a way that made it nearly impossible for her to deflect them. She could only dodge and that gave him the advantage. If only she still had her wing. If only she could fly, this fight would be over in an instant. Those thoughts caused rage to boil within Rainbow’s veins, fueling her muscles with their wrath. But Rainbow did not use the rage to increase her strength. She knew that would be pointless against Sagat. So she let her rage build, locking it away for the time being until she truly needed it. Pain flashed across her mind and the next thing Rainbow knew she was face down in the dirt, tasting the new flavor of the ground. She spat out mud as she pushed herself up, trying to get her eyes to see straight. “You lost yourself too deep in thought,” the biting words of Sagat rang out. “Focusing your anger is important, but not as important as making sure you do not get kicked in the head. Unless you can manage both, you will never achieve the strength you seek.” “Noted. All you did was fuel my rage further,” Rainbow spat. She faced Sagat once more and brought up her forearms, Sagat doing the same. There was no point in her trying to drag this fight out any longer. She had enough rage stored up that even Sagat wouldn’t be able to stand against her. So she brought her arms back and summoned forth all of the rage she could muster. Her mind blazed like an inferno, her blood boiled and she felt the desire to destroy the entire world. Then she focused that might into her forearms, feeling the rage leave her mind and instead enter into her body. Once it was where she wanted it to be, she locked her eyes onto Sagat and thrust her arms forward. “Tiger shots!” Rainbow blasts of energy erupted from her forearms and rocketed towards Sagat, who smirked at the oncoming projectiles. His face then warped into one of rage before he began to slash through Dash’s projectiles with his hands, knocking them away before they could strike him and in some cases straight up punching them out of existence. Yet as he knocked the very last projectile out of the air, Sagat’s eye widened as he spotted the rainbow mare trailing right behind it. He started to bring up his hands at the sight of her attack but, just as Rainbow noted earlier, Sagat was a little too slow. She lashed out with a kick and caught the tiger master in the side of the head. She felt like she kicked a brick wall and Sagat’s head barely moved at all, but as Rainbow hit the ground and came up with a roll, there was only a smile on her face. She had finally scored a hit. Sagat reached up with his thumb and wiped the side of his mouth, looking down at his thumb for a moment before he threw his head back and began to laugh. His laugh was so deep and powerful that several flocks of birds took off in surprise, like they had just heard the roar of a tiger. “Yes, that is what I want to see. Not a kitten fighting like it is scared out of its mind, but the heavy and deliberate blows of a tiger. It is amazing how far you have come in this past week,” Sagat praised, a toothy smile on his face. “I know. I’ve never felt this strong before. I may not be as fast as I once was, but this power…this raw might…it’s intoxicating,” Rainbow Dash noted. She looked down at her own hoof and summoned forth a slight bit of rainbow fire, a smile crossing her face at the sight of her new power. “Maybe after a couple more weeks I can even be the fighter I used to be. Going to be completely honest, my technique is incredibly rusty.” “Feh, that is what you get for laying around feeling sorry for yourself. In fact, thank you for reminding me. Go practice your technique and stance,” Sagat ordered. Rainbow let out a grumble before she walked towards a corner of the clearing, taking up a stance and holding it. Sagat watched her for a minute, to make sure she didn’t try to cheat, before he rubbed his thumb against the side of his mouth once more, surprised to see he was still bleeding. ‘To think that she has come so far in such a short period of time. It seems that her skill never truly left her,’ Sagat thought as he watched Rainbow train. ‘To learn the tiger style so quickly without ever having seen it before is impressive, but to be able to integrate it into her own fighting style so quickly shows what a genius of combat she is. Ryu, how did you ever manage to hold your own against her without the Satsui no Hado?’ A breeze blew through the clearing, but not like one Sagat had felt in a while. He turned his eye towards the sky, noticing that the leaves above had parted to reveal the black thunderclouds that rumbled overhead. The animals had gone silent and there was a chill in the air, the kind of chill that was only followed by something dangerous. Rainbow sensed it too and started to walk towards Sagat. “Who said you could stop? Back to your stance work,” Sagat barked. Rainbow stuck out her tongue at him before she returned to her stance, but she was nervous now. It was clear on her face. And if he was about to arrive, Sagat didn’t blame her for being nervous. Sagat sensed the arrival of Evil Ryu before he saw him. A surge of murderous intent washed over the clearing and Sagat turned to face the arrival of their foe, narrowing his eye as the black and red clad warrior emerged from the trees, a wicked smile on his face while his eyes glowed with a crimson hatred. “Sagat. So this is where you and that failure have been hiding,” Evil Ryu snarled. “You should have known it would only be a matter of time before I found you and struck you down like the wounded animal that you are.” “Do not let your confidence become arrogance. A wounded animal is often the most dangerous,” Sagat warned Evil Ryu. “But I have nothing to fear. I know that you are not hear for me. I have already conquered you.” “You are right about that, wounded tiger. I am not here for you,” Ryu snarled, before he turned his gaze upon Rainbow Dash. “I am here for her. The one who escaped me. I took a wing the last time we fought. This time I will take much more.” “I’d like to see you try,” Rainbow spat back, yet fear still poisoned her voice. Sagat walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing she was trembling. “I haven’t completed my training yet. Do you think I’m ready for this?” “You have no choice but to be ready,” Sagat replied coldly. “Remember what you have learned and focus on what you have been taught. He may be powerful and bloodthirsty, but he is still a warrior of flesh and blood. He will fall just like all warriors eventually do.” Rainbow swallowed hard to calm her nerves, yet even with fear starting to bubble inside of her, she stood across from Evil Ryu and took up her fighting stance. E. Ryu cackled as he took up a stance of his own, smile malevolently at the rainbow mare. Sagat stood off to the side, knowing that he could not enter this fight no matter what happened. This was Rainbow’s demon to face. She would have to be the one to best him. And if she failed, then she failed. Evil Ryu let out a bellow and lunged towards Rainbow Dash, whose entire body tensed up at the sight of the oncoming demon. Her training kicked in at the last possible second and she rolled out of the way, just barely avoiding a kick that would have taken her head clean off. Evil Ryu didn’t let up the pressure and clawed at her once more, throwing attacks that were more like claw slashes than punches. Rainbow ducked and weaved as best she could, but the combination of Ryu’s offensive pressure and her own refusal to fight back slowly gave Ryu the upper hand. A low sweep caught Rainbow’s attention too late and she was knocked off of her hooves. She had barely begun to fall before Evil Ryu slammed a palm strike into her chest, sending her crashing across the jungle floor. She coughed in pain as she shakily tried to get up, only to watch with horror as Evil Ryu leapt into the air and descended upon her with his foot aimed at her head. She threw herself to the side in time to avoid being decapitated, yet the monster of Hado was on her in an instant. She crossed her arms as a flurry of punches and kicks was launched into her, before an uppercut to the chest broke through her guard. Evil Ryu let loose a bellow before he slammed his foot into her chest, rocketing her into the side of a tree and dropping her to the floor. “I…can’t. He’s too…” Rainbow stammered as she tried to get back up. Fear started to flood her eyes as Ryu stalked towards her, his hand reaching out for her remaining wing. “How long are you going to let him kick you around, kitten?” Sagat called out. Rainbow glanced at Sagat with Evil Ryu doing the same, bringing the fight to a halt for a moment. “I can’t beat him. He’s too strong,” Rainbow panted in pain. “No. He is no stronger than you or I. The difference is that you are allowing him to be this strong!” Sagat corrected her. “Where is the mare who nearly mastered my tiger style? Where is the mare who successfully got a hit in on me? Because if that mare was the one fighting this battle, then this fight would have ended long ago. He is only stronger than you so long as you allow him to be.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed at Sagat’s words, but when she turned to look back at Evil Ryu he noticed that the fear that had once been there was now replaced by doubt. Not doubt in Sagat’s words, but doubt in the foe who she was facing. Evil Ryu snarled at Sagat before turning his attention back to Dash. “Time to die!” he roared, lunging towards her with arms outstretched. But this time Rainbow did not move. She instead closed her arms, brought her arms down to her side and began to glow with a rainbow power. “You cannot best me! I am your demon! The beast that makes you tremble in fear! I am your death!” “Tiger.” An unholy fury roared from Rainbow’s mouth as she thrust her arms forward, unleashing a colossal blast of rainbow fire that made even Sagat raise an eye in amazement. Evil Ryu’s roar was lost amongst the explosion, which shaped itself to look like a roaring tiger. The explosion consumed Ryu in a roar of the king before it faded away, leaving Dash standing all by herself. She panted heavily while looking at the spot where Evil Ryu had been standing, before she collapsed to her back. “He was never here, was he?” she asked Sagat. “Evil Ryu. This was an illusion created by the forest. One that was only stronger than me so long as I allowed it to be. When I overcame my fear of him, I overcame him. That sound right?” “Correct and also wrong. This is a jungle, not a forest. But yes, that vision of Ryu was nothing more than the jungle bringing your worse fear to life. And so long as you feared him, he would have power over you. But once you overcame that fear, well, he was nothing in the end.” “Still, that was probably my most impressive tiger shot to date,” Rainbow bragged. Then a thought crossed her mind and she glanced up at Sagat. “Hey, how’d you even know about this place? You’re not from Equestria, or at least I’ve never seen you. How’d you know?” “Simple. I was told about this place by the same being how brought me here to help you. They called in a favor I owed them and so I came here to help you overcome your fears while returning you to the warrior you used to be.” “Really? Who would want to help me that badly that they’d bring you in from across reality?” “Your world’s greatest champion. Zangief.”