//------------------------------// // Back in the Fight // Story: The Muay Tiger // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Here we are," Sagat said with a smile. Before him stood a massive coliseum that was covered in chains, spikes and an air of filth and villain that no upstanding pony of society would have dared to tolerate. It was like a second home to him. Sagat could see that there was already a crowd of ponies gathered in the shady looking stadium, yet the lack of fights going on in said coliseum informed him that they had made it just in time. The tournament had not yet started. "Yes, this will be the first place to test your skills, kitten," Sagat said as he glanced over his shoulder. Behind him stood Rainbow Dash, who was punching her legs in an effort to regain feeling in them. "Are you ready to face your first true test in this land?" "READY?! I can't feel either of my legs! Not to mention that I've barely had any time to rest! All I've been doing is stance training these past five days! How am I supposed to be ready to fight?!" Rainbow screamed at Sagat. "Hopefully with less whining. Come, we must get you entered," Sagat said. He walked down a wooden ramp towards a pony behind a counter, with Rainbow following him while grumbling under her breath. The pony who was manning the counter started up at Sagat with awe as the seven foot monster approached. "I wish to enter my student into this tournament. I trust we are not too late?" As he said this he pressed his hand against the counter, cracking the wood with his weight alone. "N-not at all, sir! All we need is the name of your student and we can...hey wait a second, you're Rainbow Dash!" the pony exclaimed. "The former best fighter in Equestria! Wow, nopony has seen you in a long time! I thought you gave up fighting after the whole incident with Ryu." "So did I. But here I am. So am I in or not?" she asked. "Of course. Your reputation and the fact that the crowd will lose their mind seeing you more than gets you a spot," the pony said, making some changes to a bracket on the wall. "All right, you're all set. You'll be the first fight tonight, so go into the locker room and get ready." Rainbow nodded to the pony and followed Sagat to the locker room, where she opened the door to find a whole assortment of creatures in a filthy room. All of them snapped their heads towards Rainbow, some eyes widening when they saw who stood before them. Then they spied her missing wing and smiles shown on their faces. Then they spied Sagat and quickly found other places to look at. "I don't know about this, Sagat. This place doesn't seem...professional," Rainbow muttered. "You have fallen all the way to the bottom. Did you think that you could simply return and get prize fights with the greatest in the land? No kitten, you will have to claw your way from the bottom. Underground rings and street fights will be where you start. Eventually, though, you will find yourself back on top." "You're not afraid I will fail?" "You will not fail. Your pride will not allow you. Whether or not you win is up to you," Sagat replied. "Fighters in the first block to the arena. You both know who you are," a voice called over the intercom. "Go. Show them not the sniveling kitten, but the roaring tiger," Sagat smiled. Rainbow nodded to him and headed for the exit, ignoring all the looks she was getting from the other combatants. She bit back a frown when she saw a dragon that was nearly three times her size join her at the exit. The dragon had one eye, numerous scars on its body and a mouth filled with sharp teeth, all of which it showed to Dash as it smiled down at her. "So yer the legendary Rainbow Dash that Ryu decimated. I look forward to finishing you off." "Those are some nice teeth you've got there. Be a shame if they got knocked out of your mouth," Rainbow spat back. "And for our first fight tonight, do we have a doozy for you. Up first, you know him, you love him, ladies and gentleponies, give a round of a applause for the dragon of destruction, Scald!" The crowd let out a roar and the dragon pushed past Rainbow, raising his arms over his head and drinking in the applause. Rainbow sighed and started to bounce in place, trying to warm herself up and calm her nerves. "He is a dragon. Like Ryu. You are a tiger. Like me. And a tiger can best a dragon. I have done so. And so will you," Sagat said to her. "And our second fighter, returning to the ring after nearly six months of being gone. The rainbow wonder, the loyal warrior, the one winged angel...give it up for Rainbow Dash!" The crowd roar could have been confused for an explosion with how loud they got at the announcement of Rainbow Dash. Dash swallowed the last of her fear before she walked out with her head held high. The crowd whistled and cheered, getting her to wave at them in return. As she entered the center of the ring she noticed that the floor had blood stains on it and that there were pits on all sides of the arena. That didn't bode well. "Alright everypony, here are the rules. First to be knocked out or give up loses. No killing. Anything else goes!" the announcer roared. "Combatants ready?" "Ready to lose?" Scald asked her. "I've had enough losing to last me a lifetime," Rainbow spat. "I'm here to win." "GO!" Scald let out a bellow and lunged towards Rainbow, his four clawed limbs pounding the ground as he charged at her. Rainbow went to throw herself out of the way as muscle memory took over, but only one of her wings flapped and she was yanked off her hooves. She slammed onto the ground in such an embarrassing way that Scald stopped his charge just to laugh at her. Rainbow gritted her teeth as she got back up, brushing off the dirt and taking up a fighting stance. She wouldn't be able to get out of the way. All of her muscle memory, the way she used to fight, she wouldn't be able to rely on any of it. She couldn't fight like a pegasus. She would have to fight like a tiger. She would have to trust Sagat's teaching. "What's the matter? Aren't you coming?" Rainbow asked. Scald smirked at her before lunging towards Rainbow, closing the distance between the both of them in an instance. While Rainbow Dash might not have had her old speed, she still had her reflexes. She raised a hoof to intercept the dragons slash, blocking at the wrist so the claws wouldn't hit her. Yet the moment her hoof made contact with the wrist, electricity ripped through her body. She let out a screech before she was hurled backward, collapsing to the ground as the electricity caused her body to twitch. "Ooo, it seems that Rainbow didn't know about Scalds electric body. That's what happens when you stay out of the scene for too long," the announcer said. Dash spat the taste of copper out of her mouth as she got back up, her body slightly twitching as she turned to face Scald. "And here I thought you were supposed to be one of the best," Scald taunted, electricity crackling between his fingers. "But now I see that yer nothing more than a pony who thought she was all that. Well you spent too long on yer throne made of sand. It's time you wallow in the mud like the rest of us. And let me tell you how happy I am that I get to be the one to drag you down." She couldn't touch him, she realized. Electricity wasn't just crackling through his claws, but every part of his body. There was no place for her to attack. And even though her being a pegasi would give her some immunity to electricity, ever since she had lost her wing her pegasi magic had grown weaker and weaker. She couldn't do anything like this! All of that training and it wouldn't even- "Mewling. Kitten." Dash glanced over her shoulder towards the locker room. There was nopony standing there. Yet she was certain that she had hear Sagat. Then she thought of him with his crossed arms, the look of disgust upon his face that he wore every time she complained about how unfair the world had been to her. And it pissed her off. "Well if you're not going to do anything, then I'll finish this!" Scald roared as he lunged towards Rainbow, his body flashing like a thunderstorm. He lashed out with a punch aimed right at Dash's chest, yet once more she whipped her arm up in time to defend herself. His fist struck her limb, yet she remained rooted in place. "Block all ya want, pony, but you can't stop my electricity! How's that for..." Scald stopped talking when Rainbow slowly raised her head so that he could look into her eyes. Her eyes weren't filled with fear, despair or even pain. There was only fury. The fury and rage of a tiger. And in the back, even though he wasn't watching the fight, Sagat smiled. Rainbow let out a roar before she swung with her free hoof. She slammed her hoof into the jaw of the dragon and snapped his head to the side, the rainbow colored fire that was burning from her hoof drowning out the electricity that his body generated. Scald staggered and raised his arms to defend himself against the next attack, but when the next attack came it wasn't a punch or a kick. It was a massive, rainbow fireball that burned the very air as it rocketed towards it target. "Tiger shot," Rainbow snarled. The shot exploded with the roar of a tiger as it impacted, hurling Scald into the air before he crashed to the ground flat on his back. Pain the likes of which he never felt before racked his body and his electrical defense, which normally was never penetrated, had failed him. He tried to shake the stars out of his eyes before he felt a hoof on his chest, a hoof that belonged to Rainbow Dash. "Yield," she demanded. "I won't-" Rainbow then pointed both of her forehooves at the dragon, rainbow fire blazing along both of them. "I give. I give up. You win." "And it's over already! The winner...is Rainbow Dash!" The crowd exploded into a roar once more, with ponies losing their minds over not only Rainbow's return, but her victory. "I can't believe it folks, I've never seen anypony other than Zangief defeat Scald that fast! It seems that even after six months, she's still one of the best in the land." Yet while all this praise was going on, Rainbow didn't hear any of it. She was looking down at her hooves, hooves that still burned with rainbow fire. This power she had used to defeat a dragon in a single hit. Something she couldn't have even done when she had both her wings. This power would allow her to defeat Ryu. This power would allow her to defeat Zangief. This power...would make her number one again. And for the first time in a long time, she smiled with her old confidence.