-Equus Realm, Ponyville, Velvet (Reindeer)-
“My cousin Cashmere would simply love this place.” I Velvet, a gorgeous reindeer with a glorious amount of floof, was currently away from my annoying Arizona and snuggly Paprika on business. “May you currently be open for a prolonged business discussion and an application for possibly becoming better acquaintances?”
It was mostly me getting out and about as it were, I needed more friends that weren’t cuddle crazy and or udder-ly ridiculous. I needed to spend time with someone on my level of sophisticated, get back in the game as it were, something Arizona and Paprika don’t quite match even if I would never trade them for the world.
I was also trying not to think of whatever might be happening to poor dear Pom.
I could be inclined to trade Arizona for two bits, she keeps me in shape so I suppose she was somewhat worthwhile to keep around. Anyway, I’ve heard of this quaint little place and I just had to meet the owner.
“I have time in my schedule, I’m not currently busy at the moment and I’ve not much to work on other than defense spells Princess Cadence taught me personally or a few personal projects that aren’t immediately urgent.” Rarity was a lovely mare with three jewels marking her flank and overly elaborate mane, I’m guessing she had a thing for gems. Her accent was a little off, but I could tell she was angling for noble aspirations at the very least. “So what is the name of your cousin’s establishment, don’t I know you from somewhere miss…”
“Misses actually, my name is Velvet and we’ve met before, but we haven’t really interacted all that much. My cousin is the proprietor of Cap N’ Cash, It’s named after my cousin and her familiar Cap who is like my little cutie here.” I reached up to the fluff at the back of my neck and soon pulled my right hoof forward with my ice sprite on it. “Say hello Tinsel.”
Tinsel squeaked and waved his left arm happily at Rarity.
“Oh my, he is a really adorable little cutie isn’t he? May I?” After a nod to Rarity, she gently patted my ice sprite on the head making him put his tiny limbs to his cheeks and blush. Rarity then addressed me personally with a thoughtful smile. “I knew I’ve heard of Cashmere from somewhere before… she’s the reigning champion of all the northern haberdasheries. Do you think she can get me an into the yak market? You see, I have a student at the friendship school I teach at here in Ponyville that I’m thinking of taking on as an apprentice and want to help her with her eventual dual citizenship if she continues down a particular avenue of romance. Anyway, I’m wanting to open a boutique in Yakyakistan while helping my friend out by eventually giving her a job here, do you think Cashmere would be able to help if I’m willing to open up a particularly lucrative dialogue of fair business Velvet?”
“Oh most certainly. My cousin is a bit shy, but she’s quite lovely and no nonsense once you get to know her. Her ice sprite is also absurdly powerful despite being coddled and doted on so much, no ruffians would dare bother Cashmere with her little protector Cap around. She can absolutely do it, but it may take a while to set up as yaks can quite be notoriously stubborn.” I looked at the dresses around the room with wandering eyes. “If you ever visit Rein personally or the surrounding regions, just stay out of the local politics and quite far away from nobles. Otherwise it’s becoming a nice holiday hotspot for Hearth’s Warming.”
“Tea?” Rarity asked in a friendly tone.
“Fruit juice for me please.” I actually wanted to buy something from this shop and maybe a nice ice blue number had caught my eye in particular, I wonder if I could drop Arizona’s jaw with that one. “My cousin family in Airship Mauled can’t handle caffeine or theobromine, solidarity and all that. Just because I can’t have tea doesn't mean I gave up on chocolate in its various forms though, still the Abyssinian and Diamond Dog safe holy fudge mother makes is quite delightful.”
We were best friends by the time I left Carousel Boutique.
-Kung Fu Realm, Jade Palace, Po-
Pom was still a bit freaked out about the attack on her and being called the Dragon Warrior. I would have corrected the guy speaking through the Jombies, but he disappeared too quickly.
Mantis and Monkey agreed that ‘Jombie’ is the correct term for what they were. We were all currently waiting on Ocellus. She had said she saw something related to ‘Kai’, throughout her reading of various scrolls trying to find some information on the ‘Yen of Yunshu’.
“Okay guys, I’ve got it!” With Ocellus approaching us holding a scroll up with her magic, Tigress and Tai Lung quickly finished up their spar by knocking each other back. “Thanks for the help Smolder.”
“Anytime Ozzy.” Smolder said with a smile, she had recently visited the local orphanage that Tigress frequents. “So what’s up with Pom? She’s been a bit off since I got back.”
“We got attacked by Jombies, but we be pinning them down and then they disappeared after targeting Pom as the Dragon warrior.” One would think Shanty was well aware that we didn’t actually defeat them since they got away and all. “Pom not be taking it very well and she nearly be dying once, but I saved her!”
Tai Lung pretty much stated that they would be back and that we might have to actually fight Oogway. I wasn’t going to like that at all, how do you beat someone with a thousand years of kung fu and the very grandmaster that invented it?
“He means statues with the energy flow of warriors that have long since been dead and resurrected to hunt down the Dragon Warrior.” Tai Lung stated coldly with his arms crossed. “If someone would get on with the information…”
“Oh, right, ahem, heh. Through the study of Oogway’s rather expansive notes, many of which are about eating cabbages and his numerous ode’s to the enjoyment of noodle soup, I’ve found out who Kai is and why his name was familiar to me.” Ocellus pulled a scroll from a bag and looked it over. She could learn to write and speak any written language in a short amount of time, it was totally amazing. “Kai was once Oogway’s friend and companion to the point they were like brothers, he was also a general of an army that was helping to protect the world from great evils over five hundred years ago. After being injured in a very protracted battle, Oogway was carried by Kai to a village of pandas that Oogway knew of for healing. He wrote down that the Pandas are said to be the masters of chi and they healed him.”
“Yeah, maybe you can visit our village some time so I can teach you Po.” Stated Li Shan cheerfully, I’m still surprised that my father is alive. Shifu glared at him for touching the magical artifacts around the area, much like I did the first time I came to the Jade Palace. “You need to be among the pandas to really learn though.”
“I take it that this Kai didn’t stay friendly for long.” Tai Lung muttered, I was beginning to hear some similarities between him and Kai. Except Tai Lung wasn’t about stealing and or murdering pandas, he was all about gaining recognition for his efforts.
I would say Kai was closer to Shen on the scale of irredeemable and that peacock was pretty dangerous opponent despite not being a kung fu master.
“Quite right, Kai wanted to learn about chi and wanted to steal all the chi from the pandas for their power, the fully healed Oogway was forced to take him down and protect the pandas before he got too far.” Ocellus continued to read the scroll. “Oogway was the one that banished him to the spirit realm, so we have what amounts to someone who’s all powerful and can’t be stopped after Pom.”
“This… might actually be a good thing.” Pom said slowly. “I’m just scared that I might have to acknowledge the truth that a small part of me is resisting with all my heart.”
“What truth would that be being?” Shanty asked as she prodded the now lucid Pom.
Pom sighed.
“That I’m a black sheep.” Huh? Pom’s wool looked pretty white to me. She rubbed at her left leg with her right hoof while looking to the floor. “Even then I’m a pretty weak for a black sheep. I’ve heard of better and stronger than a ewe lambkin of my meager abilities and… I have a plan. It's going to take some effort and a little subterfuge to accomplish it.”
“A weakness in lacking courage maybe, but your spirit is far stronger than you’re willing to believe it is and your only holding yourself back. I’ve seen what you can possibly be and you could equal Po’s raw potential with hard effort.” Tai Lung grumbled, was he trying to talk her up? He never does that too often for anyone. “What’s your plan?”
“Well, since Po is the Dragon Warrior and since we can’t kill someone who’s already deceased and they are currently trying to either kill me or steal my chi. We should assume the only way to beat him is figuring out how to unlock Po’s potential to use chi and since Li Shan is offering...” Pom, where are you going with this? “All of you and Po should go learn how to use chi from the pandas and I’ll stay here as bait to keep Kai busy, he’s likely going to destroy the Jade palace so we should move some things to a safer location.”
“I’m all for moving the things in the Jade palace to a safer location, but I don’t want to leave you here to face him alone!” Ocellus stated with worry.
“No way, nuh uh, we’re not leaving you here to take on that Jombie making monster by yourself.” I said after it filtered through my confused mind what Pom was going to do and adding my own voice to the pile of big ‘NO’.
“Po, I think she’s right, you should come to our village and learn how to use your chi.” Li Shan my birth father stated while slightly looking hopeful about something.
I looked to Shanty, she hadn’t said a thing. She just stared at Pom and Pom was looking right back at her.
“Can you be at least be teaching me with the time we have left?” What, Shanty why are you just accepting this?!
“I can give you the basics for how I do my bark blasts. You, Smolder and Ocellus are going with Po. It’s going to be dangerous here really soon and I need to prepare myself for it, also someone should head out and tell the citizens to lay low.” What?! Why weren’t Ocellus or Smolder saying anything, wasn't Shanty as upset as I currently was? I saw Pom whispering something to Shanty before patting her on the head. “Smolder, Ocellus, pack your things and get ready to leave, come along Shanty.”
Pom, why?! Shanty followed after Pom quietly as they headed down the stairs towards the arena.
“Why isn’t anyone stopping this?” I asked quietly. Smolder and Ocellus looked to each other with frowns, Ocellus whispered something to Smolder and the little dragon nodded before setting off.
“Maybe it’s because we all know that even if Pom were to run, Kai would hunt her down as he currently thinks she’s the Dragon Warrior and he has the ability to raise dead warriors with their skills mostly intact. Even I will admit that I can’t win this one with brute force and that’s even without this Kai having control of Oogway as a… ugh… Jombie.” Tai Lung stated bluntly without a care for my feelings on this matter, he also sounded disgusted with saying the word ‘Jombie’. “She wants to face him on her own terms and give you more time to learn Po, she also wants to stall him like the Furious Five stalled me at the Thread of Hope.”
“She can’t do that by herself!” I said in a slight panic.
“That’s because she isn’t going to Po… go get ready to head to the panda village.” Tigress, what, but… “She will have us helping her.”
“I’m going to be going with you Po, I’ll be waiting for our departure.” Claimed Tai Lung from out of nowhere and started down the stairs. “One of you better make it out this, at least we’ll get an early warning and an idea as to how Kai fights personally.”
“Mr. Li Shan… can I please have the location of where the village is on this map, at least an idea.” Ocellus approached my father seemed to have accepted that this was happening.
“Po, sometimes sacrifices need to be made, do have you any better ideas?” After Shifu said that he sauntered up and off towards the Jade Palace.
-The next day-
Po and the others were already well on their way and I was sitting on the roof, watching the horizon. I looked down the stairs and saw what I could only assume to be Kai approaching. He was a large bull with green glowing eyes and really weird demonic looking horns, he was dragging two blades attached to a chain along with him as he slowly made his way up the steps.
I idly kicked my legs back and forth as I looked to the Furious Five and Shifu getting ready for him, I even looked to the nearby Oogway statue below and sighed a bit of relief. Kai wasn’t going to use his Jombies, he was going to take us on all by himself.
This might actually work out, I would apologize for worrying Po later. Shanty, Ocellus and Smolder were safe and all I had to do was survive.
Kai made his approach and he started talking to Shifu and the Furious Five as he swung his jade blades around, he looked up to me and I narrowed my eyes at him. He chuckled darkly and then began his assault.
I watched and scrutinized his every movement, how fast he threw those blades and even watched as he took Mantis and Crane’s chi to almost immediately turn them into Jombies to be used against Monkey and Viper.
Throughout all this I sat here watching them fight, Tigress is the only one that seemed to do some damage with a kick that gave off a golden spark of energy. That must have been her chi and it seemed to have caused Kai some pain, the only thing throughout the fight so far that actually did.
Tigress is knocked away after making a disparaging remark and both Monkey and Viper are taken down before also being absorbed and turned into amulets.
Shifu starts putting up whatever remaining struggle he can, it was almost my turn to put up a fight and I was dreading it.
“Tigress go, Pom, I hope you are ready!” I nodded to Shifu as he dodges the swirling of the blades and the quick straightforward launches.
I swiftly rolled to the side as Kai’s right blade ripped through the roof right where I had been standing and Shifu took advantage to cause some minimal damage. I tucked away a scroll in my bag carefully and stretched out a bit.
I saw Tigress making her escape and nodded grimly when she looked back, I turned back to watch Kai rip the Oogway statue down and destroy a part of the Jade Palace’s lower floor.
I winced, but at least we had moved all the stuff out of there with the help of the local citizenry. It wasn’t long before Shifu was taken and turned into an amulet too.
Calmly taking a few steps back, the jade blade embedded itself through the roof where I had been standing. With a single heave pulled Kai himself to the roof with one solid yank and landed before me.
“Hello General Kai.” Forcing the wavering tone out of my voice and stiffening my legs so they didn’t knock together constantly, I had a job to do.
“So you’re the last one standing.” He said while narrowing his eyes down on me, he was a bulky muscular guy with a wild mane and he was even scarier up close in person.
“So I am, but let it be known that there are those who will stop you after I fall here.” The bark of mad laughter I received wasn’t heartwarming at all.
“I am completely unstoppable, what can you do against me when I’ve just about torn down Oogway’s legacy?!” He asked while taking up both his blades in his hands.
“You think that the Jade Palace was Oogway’s legacy? You know, it is fairly funny you are so sorely mistaken about that. His legacy is kung fu and the ability for the people to defend themselves.” I tried to make myself bolder than I actually was, my throat was really feeling the strain now. “So long as one person is willing to fight for the people, that legacy will never die.”
“This is only going to end in one way, so tell me…” He stalked forward slowly swinging around his blades before catching them both to hold towards my neck while looking me in the eyes. “What could you possibly do to me that they couldn’t? Oogway said you would stop me, but you don’t look like much.”
“This.” I stated while cowering before inhaling through my nose and letting out the most explosively powerful bark I have ever done in my life.
A huge blue sphere of raw magic and sound ripped in my mouth at twice the size of my own head and once the bubble of energy hit Kai's nose it exploded into a cone of raw unstoppable power. I had hit Tai Lung with the regular version of this attack, this was me charging up for this over the last few minutes from the start of the fight.
The portion of the roof Kai had been standing on was absolutely destroyed and Kai’s body was launched towards the base of the mountain.
I stood there gasping watching Kai’s form tumble painfully along the stairs and he struck the ground and bounced several times away from the base of the mountain.
I definitely would not be able to do something like this in a normal fight without someone covering for me and moving disrupts my concentration. Also my normal range was about three to six feet, charged up was about eight to twelve feet at best and he took the full blast cone.
At this distance I could barely make out him digging his badly damaged blades into the street to stand back up.
“…ort… idh…” My voice was well beyond hoarse after doing that. I clutched at the sudden stabbing pain in my throat, I probably shouldn’t talk or do anymore bark blasts.
Three things had happened to me, I had thrown out my ability to speak, I had almost burst my own ear drums and I had lightly injured myself when I slid backwards from the recoil.
All this likely did to Kai was slow him down and make him angry.
As I pulled my hooves away from my throat I heard a small jingling noise. With how bad off my ringing ears were, I wondered why my bell could be heard so clearly. At least the rest of me was fine and Kai was furiously charging his way back up here as quickly as he could after having lost the chain to his jade blades.
I turned around and tried to walk for the backside of the palace’s roof and stumbled a bit, that really had taken a lot out of me. At least I’m not as bad off as I was after Tai Lung, I even still had a bit of magic left in me to do a few small things and I was going need it in a minute.
Once I got my breath I started making my way for the roof that was closer to the backside of the mountain. Something ripped through the roof behind me and a knife flew by my face.
I squeaked and dodged the next two knives thrown by Jombie Shen, I was quite horrified to see him again.
A Jombie Gorilla was coming at me while raising his arms during this, I hopped backwards and closer to the edge as he brought them down and smashed a hole in the roof.
I heard a chirp and sharply inhaled as I leaned to the right and let a roof tile fly past my head as I brought my left leg up.
Everything seemed a little bit slower as I kept my inhale going, I flexed and Mantis bounced off my left leg straight into the face of the Jombie Croc knocking him over.
A quill scratched by the left side of my face and I wince as I reached up and my hoof came away with a little bit of blood.
I continued to slowly back towards the edge under an onslaught of attacks various range and close up attacks, one including Jombie Chicken trying to bowl my legs out from under me as both Shen and Porcupine were crossing their shots to prevent me from evading the rolling Chicken.
Wasn’t sure how managed to cartwheel through the various projectiles with only a scratch on my right rear leg making me wince upon landing. I tried to back up, but felt my rear hoof hit air.
I looked behind me at the wide chasm below as I firmly place my hoof back on the roof and looked at the eight different jombies cornering me.
That’s when Kai showed up and he was smiling, well this was it for what was obviously Oogway’s misdirection plan.
“Did you seriously think you could take on so many warriors by yourself?” Kai stalked forward.
“No and in fact I hardly initiate or even like fighting, given how things have gone so far… I think they’ve worked out pretty well.” I said as I forced some wool over the cuts in my cheek and leg with my right hoof. “I’m actually quite scared right now. It is only as a Guard of Huoshan that I’m keeping my nerves and I still have a job to do in protecting my loved ones. I will not let you take me and let me just be clear here when I say this, Baa-Ram-Ewe!”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Kai wasn’t worried about me escaping.
“It’s simply a promise.” I said I as crouched down while glaring at him and the jombies.
When I sprang up, Kai had expected me to be going towards him or to try and slip by his jombies. Had I done so I would have been skewered in the eye by a thrown knife from Shen, took an arrow through the heart via Porcupine and Gorilla could have grabbed me to crush my body to paste.
Instead, with all my might, I leapt backwards and off the roof over the gaping chasm below me where I started falling backwards.
I tried to stay calm as I quickly began approaching terminal velocity. There was a faint smile on my face as Kai stormed to the edge of the roof and watched me fall into the abyss with rage.
The clouds and darkness that surrounded the valley swallowed me whole.