Chapter 52
December 20th, 11 A.B.
“I’d rather we just go down there and kick his ass ourselves,” Mallogory muttered as I put on my Gi in front of our bedroom mirror. “It’d be super easy to do!”
“Normally, I’d agree,” I replied, putting on my headband. “But we’re in Equestria now, a mostly peaceful Equestria. I’d like to avoid killing my opponents from here on out. Plus, I can handle Wolverine Kamae and anything they throw at my Dojo.”
“If they attack you again like they did last night, I’m stepping in,” she said, anger flashing onto her face.
I just chuckle and walk over to give her a kiss. “Don’t worry about me, you know I can handle myself.”
“Almost died last night,” she retorted.
“But I won, didn’t I?” I laughed, heading for the front door. “If it makes you feel any better, if they cross the line, we’ll report them. Deal?”
“If they cross the line, I’ll-” she started, but saw my smiling face. “... Deal.”
“Thank you, Mallo,” I turned and walked out the door.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“As some of you are aware, Wolverine Kamae attacked me in this Dojo last night,” I announced as I walked down the lines of students. “That is a prime example of what I’m wanting to avoid by opening this Dojo. Use last night as an example of what not to do; do not use your new found fighting skills to attack and bully others!”
The kids all nodded in agreement.
“No no, when you agree with a statement I make, yell ‘HAI!’ at the top of your lungs!”
“HAI!” they all screamed.
“Okay, not that loud, just give it a solid amount of effort next time,” I say, rubbing my ear. “Alright! Last night did actually raise the stakes, so you’re all in luck! We’re going to keep focusing on the basic’s, but I’m going to start throwing in actual techniques. Wolverine Kamae is going to be an ongoing problem for our Dojo, and I don’t know what kinds of shit they’ll be pulling as time goes on. So you all need to be ready for anything.”
A few kids yelled ‘HAI’ while the others did it after them. Very out of sync.
“We’re going to work on that,” I said, trying not to show my displeasure on my face. “Alright! Up on your hindlegs!”
ooo000<^>000ooo
“When do we start sparing?” Star Chaser asked as I observed a few students doing push ups.
“When I say so,” I remarked, giving him a stern look. “Now get back over there and resume your flexibility training.”
“From what I’ve heard, Wolverine Kamae has already started teaching their students how to fight. They’ve been sparing since day one,” he stated, trying to stare me down.
I turn on him and put my face right into his face, “Star Boy, if you do not like how I’m running this class, you are free to go play with the other Dojo. They’re taking short cuts, while I am building up your bases. Right now, they’ll be stronger than all of you, but as time goes on, you’ll all quickly surpass them by taking the longer and harder route.”
“I think if we threw in some actual fighting, we’d speed up the process,” he replies, not backing down.
A smirk falls onto my face, “okay, you want to spare? Fine.” I turned to the class, “LINE UP! Except you, Star Boy.”
Everyone quickly jumped up and ran to their spots, standing at attention.
“Okay everyone, our local Star wants to skip all the boring stuff and go straight to sparring. So, lets indulge him. Star Boy, pick an opponent.”
He frowned at me and looked everyone over, each one looking away as he looked at them.
“You!” he yelled, pointing a hoof right into my face.
“You stupid or something?” I say despite myself. “No, pick someone on your skill level.”
“None of these idiots are on my level. I’ve been studying at home, using books and training spells,” he said proudly, standing tall.
“Oh, you think those are substitutes for actual training?” I ask as I turn to face him, squaring up with the young Alicorn. “Did you know, being self taught causes you to develop bad habits?”
“I have no bad habits. I am perfection,” he said with the most cocky smile I’ve seen on a child.
“Fuck it, bow to me,” I say as he turns to me and we both bow.
“Begin!” I yell as he suddenly explodes towards me.
He threw a few sloppy punches at me, which I easily blocked. No need to dodge these types of attacks. As I threw his attacks away, he became frustrated and his horn flashed, causing him to go faster.
I raised an eyebrow as he attacked me with reckless abandonment, no skill or technique. Which is exactly what I expected.
Again, his horn flashed and he started throwing attacks faster than I could see. However, he was easy to telegraph so I continued to block and dodge his lame attacks.
As his horn flashed again, I suddenly snapped my paw forward and grabbed his horn, pulling him stragith to the ground. Using my hoof, I pressed it against his chest, pinning him under me.
“Yield!” I snapped at him.
“Never!” he yelled, trying to get away, but unable to as his horn sparked a few times, but did not work anymore.
“You yield,” I say simply, not letting him up. “If this was a real fight, I’d have snapped your horn and rendered you magicless.”
He stopped fighting, huffing up at me with fury in his eyes.
“You need to work on this anger inside of you, Star Chaser. It’s going to lead you down a dark path otherwise,” I say as I slowly release him. The moment my paw left his horn, he flashed away, appearing by the door to the Dojo.
“Screw you!” he yelled, tears in his eyes. “I don’t need this! Come on, Nova!”
But his sister Nova did not move, just stood there awkwardly.
He looked at her, his anger increasing, but instead of saying anymore, he sprinted out the door.
Everyone looked back to me as I stood up, dusting myself off.
“He’ll be back,” I remarked, “everyone needs to be humbled at least once in their life. Otherwise, you will grow into our good friend over at Wolverine Kamae.”
Spark’s hoof shot up.
“Speak, Spark.”
“How’d you turn off his magic?!” he asked, everyone looking to have the same question.
I let out a sigh and held up my mechanical paw, flexing it a bit, “anti-magic enchantments. You can get them put on anything, as long as you know a Unicorn who can cast such magic. Your mom is the one who did mine. However! Things like this are not to be used lightly! Grabbing the horn of a Unicorn should only be used in extreme cases, because if YOU screw up, you could hurt them beyond comprehension.”
This caused all of them to look a bit solemn.
“Good, now, let’s get back to class!”
ooo000<^>000ooo
I stepped into the bathroom attached to my office and looked at my good leg. It had a few bruises on it from blocking Star Chaser’s attacks. He may have been a child, but once he upped his speed, he started hitting pretty hard.
“Little shit,” I hissed as I pulled out a medkit and began to rub a pad up and down my leg, the little charm inside of it glowing softly as it reduced the swelling and pain in it.
“Sensei Scamp?” I heard Spark say as he entered my office.
“What’s up?” I asked as I stepped out, still rubbing my leg with the charm.
“I don’t think you should have gone so hard on Star Chaser,” he said, ears flat against his head. “He has a massive ego and has always thought of himself as the best. He may not come back.”
“He will,” I reassured him. “For now, we need to focus on those who want to learn. Those who do not will either sort themselves out, or be left behind.”
“But what about no child left behind?” he asked. “You’re supposed to make sure every kid makes it to the end. That’s how the school runs at least.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, “yeah, I don’t run on that philosophy. I’ll help steer you guys onto the right path, but it's going to be up to you to stick to it. You can’t force someone to be a better person, they have to want it for themselves.”
Pulling the pad away, I saw the bruises had disappeared. “Now, if Star Chaser returns, we’ll welcome him with open wings. If not, then oh well.”
“I don’t know, I feel like we should always try and help others succeed, no matter what,” he mumbled.
“Starting to sound like your mom,” I joked. “I got this, kid. Don’t worry about the others, I’ll do enough worrying for the both of us.”
He didn’t look convinced as I took a seat.
“All I’m saying, Sensei Scamp, is that some kids need a little more tolerance than others.”
I chuckled, pulling out my phone and checking my messages, “Spark, you always sound much older than your age. We’re going to make hell of a fighter out of you, that I promise.”
He smiled a bit as he bowed and backed out of the office.
“OH! Spark, question,” I yelled after him.
“Yes, Sensei?” he asked, stopping in the door.
“What does ‘shamboozled’ mean? Greg keeps asking if I’m down to getting shamboozled once my kid is born,'' I asked, reading a text from Greg. “He just laughs when I ask him what he means.”
Spark blinks at me, then chuckles, “he’s asking if you want to get really drunk and high at the same time.”
“Ah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Should have known. You may leave, Spark.”
As he stepped out, I put the phone down and stared at the poster on the wall that depicted the Dojo’s logo and me standing in front of it. The words ‘Keep pushing forward!” lining the bottom of it.
“Hmmm,” I looked to my desk to see a business card for Wolverine Kamae.
Is indulging them a good idea? Probably not, but I just can’t help myself.
ooo000<^>000ooo
Spark flew above the buildings as he made his way home. The sight of the Wolverine Kamae building to his left cased him to take slight detour, just wanting to give it another fly by to see if anything had changed.
As he approached it, he saw a few ponies stepping out of the front doors, mostly young colts and fillies leaving class.
But one caught his eye and caused him to come to a stop in the air.
Star Chaser was walking out, wearing the black uniform of Wolverine Kamae. The tall stallion was walking with him, seeming to be talking with him.
He couldn’t help himself, he flew down and landed in a tree, close enough to hear them.
“-ed for you to join us, young Star Chaser! It is an honor to host one of the future rulers of this fine land in our Dojo,” Vicar said, feeding into Star Chaser’s ego perfectly.
“The honor is all yours! The private lessons you offer are amazing! Nothing like Viper Claw,” Star Chaser said, clearly very overjoyed.
Vicar chuckled and patted his back, “anything for the Prince of Equestria! And thank you for all your insight on Viper Claw, that will be extremely helpful going forward. Now, tomorrow, I plan to introduce you to another of our instructors who specializes in aggressive techniques. Perfect for one such as yourself.”
“Thank you, Sensei Belletor!” Star Chaser exclaimed, giving him a bow and flashing away.
“Pretentious little brat,” Vicar muttered as he turned to walk for the building, but stopped. “Oh, little birdie in the tree, why don’t you grow a pair and come on down here?”
Spark’s eyes widened, but he did not move.
“Spark Greenfield,” Vicar suddenly called out, catching the young pony off guard. “Come on, I just want to talk.”
Reluctantly, he left his hiding spot and flew down to stand before Vicar.
“Ah, the son of Lance, it’s a pleasure to actually meet you,” the tall pony said, his sunglasses catching the glint of a street light.
“You know my dad?” Spark asked, raising an eyebrow.
Vicar just chuckles and waves a hoof to the front door of the Dojo. “Why don’t you come in? I want to show you around the place.”
“No,” Spark says firmly, standing his ground.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Vicar says with a charming smile. “I just want to show you that we have so much more to offer than Viper Claw. Better facilities, larger selection of teachers, and best yet, weapons training!”
“I prefer Viper Claw,” Spark states, causing Vicar’s smile to falter a bit. “It has something your dumb Dojo doesn’t.”
“What’s that?” Vicar asked with a bit of interest.
“Sensei Scamp,” Spark says, smirking up at the now frowning Vicar. “It doesn’t matter how much more money you put into your Dojo, it’ll never be better than Viper Claw.”
“Such wise words from such a young pony,” he says with a touch of disdain. “I’m going to give you this one warning, pony. Do not make an enemy of Wolverine Kamae. I’m offering you a great chance right now, to join the winning side. Don’t be foolish and throw it away because of a false sense of loyalty to Scamp.”
Spark just smiles up at him, giving him a bow, “thank you for the offer. But, I’m going to stick with Sensei Scamp and Viper Claw.”
“Wrong move,” Vicar said in a low voice before smiling widely at him. “Good luck going forward, little pony.”
“You too,” Spark said with a salute as he took to the air and flew for home, letting out a sigh of relief once he was away from the tall stallion.
Vicar watched the young colt fly away, smirking up after him. “This is going to be so much more satisfying than I thought it would be!”