For a long moment, all Dash could do was stare at the pink clad warrior, who had started to notice the long silence and was looking around awkwardly. Dash then shook her head and started smacking one of her ears with her hoof, a smirk crossing her face.
"I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you seriously just say-"
"Yes Dash, winning isn't everything," Dan repeated.
"Um, actually it is. It's why ponies do what they do," Dash replied. "Why would you bother devoting your time and life to something if you don't plan to be the best at it? Because if you aren't trying to be the best, then you're just wasting the time of those who do plan to be the best."
"Well, there is some truth to what you're saying. It's not wrong to want to be the best," Dan agreed. Then he gazed at Rainbow and raised an eyebrow. "But let me ask you this. When was the last time that you actually had fun fighting?"
"Fun?"
"Of course. Why do people or ponies get into something like fighting? Or soccer? Or tango? Because they enjoy it and have a passion for what they do. But when I was fighting you, there wasn't any joy or enjoyment. It was all...win."
"Because I fight to win. That's all that matters."
"Is it? Because if you believe that, then you're lying to me," Dan replied. Dash started to respond, but Dan held up a hand. "You're not just fighting and improving solely to be the best. I see that other light in your eyes. A light that is far more destructive and dangerous than your ego. You want revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Against Ryu for taking your wing. Against Sagat for ripping your from your home. And against Zangief for always being better than you." Dash snarled at that one. "And what have you got to show for it? Gief just beat you into the pavement. Ryu is so far above the both of us with his new harmonious form. And Sagat...well, he's still standing. Take it from someone who spent too much of their life looking for revenge, it's not worth it. Especially when it costs you everything."
"What could you possibly know of my hatred? My revenge?!" Dash snarled back. "You've haven't had to suffer like I have! You haven't-"
"See that seven feet of fury over there?" Dan interrupted. "That's the guy who murdered my father in cold blood."
All of Rainbow Dash's anger and scorn vanished on the spot at those words. She slowly looked over to Sagat, who nodded slightly to confirm Dan's story. She then looked back to Dan, who had a pained smile on his face. "So let me tell you, I understand all too well what wanting revenge is like. I sought out Gouken to teach me the strongest martial art. But my desire for revenge caused me to get kicked out. I developed my own martial art, but vengeance kept me from perfecting it. I had no friends, no allies, just me and my desire for vengeance...and it wasn't until I let that vengeance go that I finally started to enjoy living again. Enjoy fighting again."
"Let it go? How could you possibly do that?!" Dash asked. "Sagat killed your father! How could you just...let that slide?!"
"For the longest time I didn't. I devoted my entire life to killing him," Dan revealed. "And then one day, we fought. It was the toughest, most brutal battle that I have ever been apart of. We both gave everything we had and then more. I wasn't sure who was going to win..."
Dash looked over at Sagat, who tilted his hand back and forth a bit.
"But finally, I had defeated him. The man who killed my father. The man who caused me to devote my entire life to vengeance. I had him beaten and laying powerless before me..." Dan said.
"And you didn't kill him?" Dash asked in disbelief. "Why?"
"What would it accomplish?" Those words stunned Rainbow far harder than any of Dan's punches had managed to. Dan slowly looked over at Sagat, who slightly lowered his head in response. "Killing him wouldn't bring my father back. But what it would do would instill that same life destroying revenge in his student, taking away his love for fighting and turning it into a tool for vengeance. Then he would kill me and Sakura would go kill him to avenge me. A cycle without an end. So I decided to end it."
Dash had no words.
"And things have been great ever since. I have a best friend who's an animal at parties, a cool student who has a LOT of potential, I'm well liked in my area and even help people out when they need me," Dan said with a smile. "I even got to share a hot tub with two beauties after making my in ring debut. Life's good."
Dash was looking at Dan like she had never seen him before. Here was a fighter than could barely be called a fighter, with a weak fireball, weak punches and seemed to only have one win to his name. And yet he radiated an aura of peace and happiness the likes of which Dash hadn't seen in such a long time. And his smile...when was the last time she had truly smiled like that? When she was with...her friends...
"I guess...I hadn't...thought about it like that..." Dash replied. Dan walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I hear that a lot. From other fighters, people...and even Ryu," Dan winked. "Take it from me. When all you care about is winning, you stop looking for how to improve and instead start looking for how to win. No matter what you have to do to achieve it. Even if it means surrendering to the Satsui no Hado."
"Wait, you know of the-?"
Dash leapt back with a yell when Dan threw his arms to the side, creating a purple and red aura around him that she had only felt on one other. "Incredible power and ruthless skill, but all it is is a shortcut," Dan said. "I didn't achieve this power by my own hard work and skill. I achieve it by giving in and admitting defeat. And for a warrior as great as me, I don't need any shortcuts." Dan then thrust his hands down once more and the aura vanished completely.
"Did any of that help?" Dan asked.
"Y'know...I think it did," Rainbow Dash said.
"Great. Always glad to help," Dan said. He then walked over to Sagat. "Alright, it's been fun, but I've got to get back to my dojo. Lot of students who are relying on me and I can't stay away for too long."
"Thank you for coming out here to help me with this. And I look forward to seeing you again...master," Sagat said with a bow. Dan gave a thumbs up with a smile just as the vortex appeared overhead again. Gief reached down and grabbed Dan, pulling him back into his world. Both Rainbow Dash and Sagat watched as the two vanished, before Dash looked up at Sagat.
"So what he said was true?"
"Yes. I am the one who killed his father and set him on that path for vengeance. He also did have me dead to rights. Had he wished to kill me, I wouldn't have fought back," Sagat admitted.
"But he didn't."
"No. He didn't. He avenged his father without descending into vengeance. And ever since then, he has taught others about the perils of revenge," Sagat replied with a smirk. "Even me. I was like him...and you. Ever since my defeat at Ryu's hands, I sought the power to defeat him. To reclaim what he had taken from me and inflict the same kind of humiliation upon him that he had inflicted upon me. And yet, after meeting Dan, I realized I was just like him. A fool seeking revenge. Dan was the one to make me realize what path I was on. I owe him everything."
"So that's why you called him master?"
"Yes. Dhalsim may have taught me how to walk the path of inner peace, but Dan was the one who showed me I needed to seek him out. He's a good guy...for a terrible fighter."
"You're telling me. Did you see some of those moves? I've seen foals throw better kicks and punches."
"It is astounding that for all the years he's devoted to martial arts he's still not much better," Sagat sighed.
"He's a terrible fighter, but one heck of a teacher," Dash said. She then lowered her head and thought about all that Dan had said...and came to a realization. "Hey Sagat, if there aren't any tournaments or jungles filled with my demons that we need to go to, mind if we go somewhere else first?"
"And where would that be?"
"Ponyville. I want to go home."