The Wandering Warrior

by Onomonopia


Words to Remember

"Excellent job Ryu, really," Filthy said with a laugh while tossing the bags filled with bits into the air. Tiara and her mother smirked at the other gamblers as they walked off with scowls on their faces, before Tiara turned her attention to the meditating Ryu.

"Ryu, it's time to go," she reminded him while nudging his arm. "We need to leave now if we want to make it to the battle royal."

"Soon. First, there is business that I need to finish," Ryu stated. Before Tiara or her family could ask what kind of business, Zecora walked up the hill towards them. Ryu rose to greet her and she smiled in reply, yet a glance at the two warriors faces told the filly that there was something going.

"Hello, Zecora! So nice to see you again after all of this time," Filthy greeted the zebra with a large smile, while his wife gave Zecora a look of slight contempt.

"Yes, how nice to see you," she echoed in the most bland way possible, turning the zebra's gaze towards the mare. "Especially after our last little encounter, where you threatened to place a hex on me that would curse me until the end of time. Glad to see that you didn't follow through with your little...hoax."

"Your face is bent and your soul is cruel. There is nothing worse that I could do to you." Both Tiara and Filthy winced at the insult, while Spoiled's face blazed as she tried to think of a retort. Zecora was done with the mare and instead turned towards the Wandering Warrior, who glared down at her. "Glad to see that you stayed. There is something that I wish to say."

"As do I. Why did you throw the fight?" he asked her point blank, turning all three sets of ponies heads towards the zebra.

"It was clear that I could not win. With your strength and speed-"

"Don't give me that," Ryu cut her off. "I've fought enough battles to know when a foe has the ability to defeat me. You got punched in the face. I lost an arm. If the fight had continued on, I would have had to use every skill I've mastered to have bested you."

"Would those skills be what your master instilled? In exchange for your soul to be killed," Zecora whispered so quietly only Ryu could hear. His eyes widened slightly at her words before she motioned for him to follow him away from the others. Only when they were alone on the edge of the arena, away from everypony else, did Zecora turn to look back at Ryu. "So why did you so badly want to prevail, to the point where your will might fail?"

"Because the fight is everything to me," Ryu bluntly replied with faint traces of rage beneath his stoic demeanor. "And it would not have killed my soul. I'm skilled enough to-"

"To what? Tap into that power without risking yourself? That way of thinking is dangerous for your health!" Zecora snapped back before Ryu could finish, surprising the human at the sudden ferocity of the zebra. Zecora let out a sigh as she regained her composure, before turning a more compassionate gaze upon Ryu. "I sense a darkness in your heart, one that was with you from the start. While you believe you can master it's power, I feel it only draws you towards your final hour."

"Must everything be a rhyme for you?" Ryu muttered before crossing his arms and shaking his head. "I do not wish to master this darkness. I only call upon a small amount of its power to aid me in battle. That way I can keep in under control."

"Under you control is what you say, but even a slight use may make you pay," Zecora muttered under her breath before shaking her head again. "But even with my wisdom this is nothing more than a guess. The only way to know for sure is to pass a test."

"Are you saying that you know of a way to help me control the dark hado without succumbing to it?" Ryu asked in a near whisper, not certain whether he could believe the zebra or not. 'She is skilled and is far wiser than me, but how can she do what my master and his brother failed to do?'

"This test will look into your future, into what you may be. That is if you can defeat the guardian being," Zecora informed Ryu before shaking her head and giving him a smile. "Forget I said anything. It matters not. It was a privilege to fight you and also to be taught."

Zecora then turned to walk away, but she felt a hand place itself upon her shoulder with such strength that she felt herself unable to move. She slowly glanced over her shoulder to see Ryu gazing down at her with an expression like stone upon his face.

"If this test of yours can truly help me master or defeat this power within, then I will take it," Ryu said with nothing less than the utmost confidence in his voice. Zecora gazed at Ryu for the longest of times before she sighed and slashed her hoof across the ground, swiftly creating a map for the warrior.

"This will take you to where the trials lay. Leave now and you will reach it in a few days," she instructed. "But be warned of what lays within. You shall face yourself...and not just your sin."

Ryu nodded before placing his fist into his palm, bowing to Zecora slightly. "Thank you for showing me this. And thank you for the battle. Perhaps the next time we meet, we will be able to fight without the need to hold back."

"You not holding back is my fear. But it is nice to meet another who I can call my peer," Zecora replied with a bow of her own. Ryu then rose and, with one last glance at the map, turned back towards where the carriage and the others awaited him. Zecora watched him the entire time, a smile on her face but concern in her heart.

'You are powerful, that much is clear. With one punch my defeat was near,' she admitted as she watched Ryu be greeted by the Riches. 'But there is a darkness that has made you lost. And if let loose, it will consume all with no regard for the cost. You are kind and strong, Ryu. But if consumed...would I be able to destroy you?'

→↓↘ + P

"So what did the two of you talk about?" Tiara tried to pry out of Ryu for the third time since they had left the arena. Ryu's response was to throw a kick well above his head, before driving the heel of his foot down towards the floor. He stopped it right before it impacted with the wood, before switching sides and doing the same with the other foot. "Faust, sometimes it's like talking to a brick wall. Which makes sense, since you've got a stone faced look and you're built like a brick house."

Not even Tiara's jokes drew the attention of Ryu, so with a sigh she flopped over onto her back and gazed up at the roof of the carriage while pulling the couch pillows over her. With nothing better to do, she started to practice the Hadouken motions again. When even that lost its luster, she rolled off of the couch and collapsed to the floor in boredom.

"Princess, please get off the floor and stop sighing like that," Filthy said to Tiara when one of her sighs made him look up from his paper.

"Sorry dad, I'm just so bored," she grumbled while lifting an eye towards Ryu, who was still practicing his axe kick. "I've already organized the place and calculated Ryu's fighter points six times. And don't get me started on how many times I've read the books we've got here."

"I remember back in my day when foals were seen and not heard," Spoiled muttered under her breath, but just loud enough for Tiara and her husband to hear. Tiara responded by sticking out her tongue at her mother, which earned the foal a death glare.

"Alright, enough you two," Filthy said as he stood between the two of them, giving both mare and filly a stern look. Spoiled sneered while going back to her read, while Tiara glanced under the couch to see if something fun had rolled beneath it. Filthy stared down at his daughter for a moment before he walked to the door of the carriage. "We're going to take a break real quick. Stop here, please."

"Why are we stopping?" Spoiled asked in an annoyed tone, but Filthy ignored her as he walked over to Tiara.

"Hey Princess, there's an outpost not too far from here. Need some bits so you can go buy something to entertain yourself?" he asked Tiara, who rolled over and gazed up at him with a dull expression on her face.

"I don't feel like moving," she muttered before rolling back over. Filthy let out a small sigh before picking his daughter up and placing her practically limp body on his back.

"Be right back!" he called out, but neither Ryu nor Spoiled acknowledged. Filthy walked out with the still lifeless Diamond Tiara on his back, netting him strange looks from the drivers as he walked by. A small field filled with flowers rested not too far from where the carriage had come to a stop. When he reached the fields he sat down, causing Tiara to slide off of his back and lay limp on the ground.

"Just look at all of those flowers, Tiara. The common folk must work incredibly hard to keep them looking like this," Filthy said with a sigh of peace as he took in their scents. Yet when he glanced down to see that his words had barely budged the filly, his face darkened. "What's the matter, Princess? You haven't been your usual, spirited self today? Is something the matter?"

"I miss Ponvyille. I miss my friends. Why'd we have to go across Equestria for this fighting tournament anyway?" Tiara grumbled.

"Because finances have been a little tough this year and nothing in all of Equestria is more lucrative than the fighting tournaments at the moment," Filthy explained to his daughter with a sigh, having had this talk with her before. "And I want to make sure that when you're my age, you don't have to lift a hoof for anything."

"Dad, you know I don't mind working, right?" Diamond Tiara asked. "If it comes down to it, when I'm older I can get a job and-"

"No. Stop right there. I won't hear another word," Filthy silenced her while holding up a hoof.

"But dad-"

"My answer is still no. As long as I draw breath you will never need to work a day in your life," he repeated with far more conviction. Yet when he saw his words got Tiara to sigh his gaze softened and he pulled her in closer. "Look dear, how about I get you something nice. Maybe another book or a pet you can keep yourself entertained with?"

"Sure dad, throw money at the problem. That'll solve it," Diamond muttered under her breath as she got up and escaped her father's grasp. "Thanks for the offer dad, but I'll pass. I'm going to see if Ryu's doing anything else. If he's still doing those kicks I'm going to dress him up until either he stops or we run out of clothes."

Filthy watched as Tiara walked away from her with a somber expression on his face, before turning his gaze back to the field of flowers. 'It must have taken a long time to get them so nice. So much effort and work. That's not the kind of life that my daughter should have. That's not the life of a Princess.'

→↓↘ + P

"So should I start with the tutu or go right into the embarrassing stuff?" Tiara asked herself as she watched Ryu do another axe kick. After returning to the carriage, she found the warrior exactly where she had left him, kicking his legs into the air like he just didn't care. With a shrug she walked over to where her family kept their clothing, throwing open the trunk and digging through the numerous dresses and suits.

"Tiara, what in the world are you doing?" Spoiled asked her daughter when she glanced over to see the filly holding three dresses, two ties and numerous other articles of clothing.

"Playing dress up," Tiara bluntly replied as she dragged the clothes towards Ryu.

"You do know most of those don't even fit you."

"Who said they were for me?"

Spoiled realized what Tiara was about to do and lunged out of her chair to snatch the clothing away from Tiara, who barely had time to realize what had happened before she found her hooves empty. "Don't you dare, Tiara. These clothes are the best money can buy and I will not have you ruin them buy placing them on...whatever he is."

"Wow, say that right in front of the guy that's been saving your wallet," Tiara growled back before rolling her eyes and walking away towards her bed. "Fine. Whatever. I'm going to go to bed. Don't wake me."

"I swear that filly. She used to be just like me at her age. What in the world happened?" Spoiled asked with a snarl before glancing over at Ryu, who had stopped practicing to watch what had gone down. "What? You got something you want to add to this?"

"A teacher is listened to because the student respects the teacher. A parent is listened to because child loves the parent," Ryu replied, but all his words did was cause Spoiled to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Did you fail English class in where you are from?"

"She does not listen to you because she does not see you as someone who can either teach her or take care of her," Ryu simplified before he walked towards the door. "She neither loves nor respects you. And I can see why."

After verbally smacking her across the face, Ryu walked out of the carriage to where Filthy was sitting by himself. As Ryu approached, Filthy did not notice him right away and for a brief moment Ryu caught hints of sorrow in the stallions eyes.

"Ryu, my boy! How are you?" Filthy asked the moment he noticed Ryu and spun around to face him with a smile.

"I am fine. I sought you out because I have a favor to ask," Ryu began, getting Filthy to raise an eyebrow in interest. "There is somewhere I need to go."