Dash took in a deep breath of fresh air as she and Sagat exited the jungle. Her eyes were drawn towards the sky where she could see the pegasi at work shifting the clouds, managing the weather and making sure everything worked as it was supposed to. Normally she would never pay these pegasi a second glance, but after being in the jungle for what felt like forever, the sight of her fellow pony was enough to-
"DODGE!"
Five toes cracked themselves across the back of her head and a moment later Rainbow was laying face down in the mud with pain blazing in the back of her skull. Through the dull throbbing that now blazed in the back of her head, she could hear Sagat laughing to himself.
"Did you think that you could lower your guard just because we are out of the forest? Fool! You must never lower your guard and always be ready for attack. For if you are not ready for your foes, then they shall defeat you before you are ever aware they are there," Sagat informed her with a snarl.
"What the hell do you mean defeat my enemies?! You and I are the only ones out here!" Rainbow screamed at the madman after she picked herself out of the mud. "And what the hell is wrong with you?! Who throws a kick at full power from behind like that?!"
"Make no mistake, mewling kitten. I may be your teacher, but I am also your greatest enemy," Sagat informed her. "I am in charge of you. I am the one who will decide when and where you fight. And if I do not believe you are ready to fight, then you will not."
"What? I thought the plan was for you to help me overcome my demons and then I'd take on Zangief to reclaim my title?" Rainbow asked.
"Take on Zangief? The way you are now? You are a fool, kitten. Do you believe a warrior the caliber of Zangief, who beat you at your best when you had both wings, would lose to you just because you can mimic my tiger shot?" Sagat asked. Rainbow Dash nodded slightly and Sagat sighed. "Rainbow, allow me to inform you of my shame. I have lost only three fights in my life. One was to Ryu, arguably. Another was to Bison. There is no argument who won there. And the final loss was to Zangief, who pulled out a miracle to defeat me."
"And what's the point of telling me your win-loss record?"
"The point, kitten, is that if you wish to have any hope of defeating Zangief, you must first prove that you can overcome me," Sagat informed her. He took some small delight in the way her eyes widened at his words. "That is right, kitten. The only way I will allow you to face Zangief is if you can first defeat me. We can try now, if you are in a hurry."
"No thanks. I'm good," Rainbow muttered. She then looked to the left and then the right, before turning back to Sagat. "So, what's the plan? I mean, my plan was to head straight to Zangief and kick his ass, but since you've put a stop to that I've got nothing."
"You are aware of the tournaments that this land holds, correct? That is our plan. We shall enter you into this tournaments to rebuild your skills against opponents that I believe you should be able to handle," Sagat replied. "And if you prove satisfactory to me by the time the Tournament of Champions comes around, then you will face me. Should you prove triumphant, then, and only then, can you face your second greatest demon."
"Guess he would be my second greatest demon, since I did conquer Evil Ryu," Rainbow shrugged, but then she caught Sagat's smirk and narrowed her eyes. "What? Evil Ryu was my greatest demon and I conquered him back in that jungle!"
"If that is what you believe. But he was never your greatest demon."
"Then who is?"
"Think on that as we head to our first destination. It is a long road and we have much land to traverse," Sagat replied, blowing off Rainbow. She snarled and started to walk after him, but stop when Sagat held out a hand. "And what do you think you are doing?"
"Um, walking? Since I can't fly."
"Correction. I shall be walking. You shall be moving forward step by step in a defensive stance," Sagat corrected. Rainbow's jaw hit the ground in response. "With each step you will block high, low, left or right in that order. If you mess up, lose concentration or start to slack, then I will test how strong your guard actually is."
"Are you kidding me?! If I have to do that one step at a time, then it will take us forever to get to the next town!" Rainbow screamed, starting to tear out her mane.
"Then it will take us forever to get there. Stance. Now," Sagat said. Rainbow let out a few curses that Sagat pretended not to hear before she took up her defensive stance, taking a step and blocking in the pattern Sagat had told her.
"So how'd you lose the eye?" Rainbow asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Your eye. It's gone. I want to know how," Rainbow repeated, but slower. Sagat hurled a kick at her head for her tone, but she was ready and ducked under the blow. "Don't get all angry with me, if I'm going to be stuck with you as my master, I want to learn more about you. Or you can just keep throwing kicks at my head."
"Hrmn...you wish to know? Very well. I lost my eye to a man named Go Hibiki. I went to his dojo to see if he would bow to M. Bison's will. He would not. He and I fought. He kicked the eye out of my head."
"Ouch. Sounds painful. But considering he wasn't on that list you gave me earlier, I take it you beat him?"
"Something along those lines," Sagat replied, thought his voice was quiet. Rainbow waited a moment for him to elaborate, but when he did she pressed on.
"So you got all of those scars from different fights, huh. So who's that M. Bison guy you keep mentioning. He was on the list of people that beat you and-"
"OPEN!" Sagat roared as he kicked Dash in the back of her leg, sweeping her off her hooves.
"Faust dammit that hurt!" Rainbow snarled as she rolled back up to her hooves and glared at Sagat. "Oh you do not know how tempted I am to fight you here and now."
"Then what is stopping you. I am ready whenever you are," Sagat growled in reply. Dash narrowed her eyes and seemed to be considering it for a moment, before she snarled and took up her stance once more. "But to answer your question, M. Bison was a tyrant and a madman who sought world domination and would do anything in order to achieve it. Mind control, murder, an army of clones and wiping out all life on the planet were just some of the plans he tried while he was alive. It would not surprise me if he had many more that we never saw."
"So he's dead huh? How did that happen?"
"Well, the first time he was killed Akuma was the one that murdered him. Once he came back to life, don't ask, I don't know how, Ryu was the one to finally defeat him once and for all," Sagat explained. "Though it would not surprise me if he came back to life in the near future. Evil never seems to stay dead."
"And you worked for this lunatic? What is wrong with you?"
"Bison paid well and provided me the chance to test my might against an endless stream of the best fighters. At the time, I was happy," Sagat said, but his voice was anything but happy. He then looked back at Rainbow Dash, who quickly adjusted her stance. "We have all done things that we regret, Rainbow Dash. Some, like you and I, wear the scars of our mistakes on the outside. I know many who are scarred within. But scars can either strengthen you or bring you down, depending on the kind of being you are. We shall see what kind of pony you are."
"Guess we will...so, you never did tell me just where we're going. I have no idea where in Equestria we are, so I'm leaving the directions...up to the blind guy...this is going to work out well."
"We are heading to a quarry on the outskirts of Stalliongrad. There is a fighting tournament there that will be a good place to test your skill. It is a five day journey from here if we were running."
"Five days! You mean we have five days to get there while I'm doing this stupid stances?!" Rainbow roared. "How are we supposed to get there if I have to move slowly like this?
"Hmm, good point. Alright, kitten, time to move double time. Faster hoof work, precision and technique. But don't you dare sacrifice form. I am always watching your form."
"Considering you're missing one eye and all but blind in the other I seriously doubt-"
"OPEN!" Crack!
"DAMMIT ALL!"