Branches snaked around the wheels and walls of the carriage, forcing Ryu and the carriage pullers to tear off the vines every few minutes. The ponies that were pulling the carriage were glancing around at the forest nervously, as the trees seemed to glare at them and the vines were like fingers just waiting to strike. But despite their fears, the calm face of Ryu was far more terrifying than anything the forest could throw at them.
"Are you sure that we're heading the right way, Ryu?" one of the stallions asked Ryu, who was leading the ponies pulling the carriage. He held up a hand to silence them before closing his eyes and tuning his senses. After a moment he snapped his eyes open and turned to the left, the ponies following him.
Ryu kept his guard up during their trip, but even with danger lurking around ever corner he found that he couldn't help but be amazed by the forest around him. Birds in a multitude of colors sang in tones that he had never heard before, while plants that glowed with a vibrant blue floated on the breeze around them. He had been in many forests before, but this was the first one that had an underlining air of magic to it.
"These are the Mystic Woods alright," one of the stallions said to Ryu, who nodded in agreement. "These woods are way more dangerous that the other ones in Equestria. Completely uncontrolled by ponies. There's a magic here that not even the princesses can crack. We shouldn't be here."
"Then you are free to take the others and leave. I am not afraid to continue on alone," Ryu informed them. The stallions glanced at each other for a moment before the door to the carriage opened and Filthy Rich stepped out with Diamond Tiara at his side.
"Sorry Ryu, but they won't be able to take you up on that offer," Filthy said with a laugh as he waved a few bags of bits in his hooves. "That is, unless they want to give up a twenty five percent pay increase if they get us there."
With the power of greed overriding their other senses, the stallions pushed onwards alongside Ryu through the forest. Ryu caught motion out of the corner of his eyes and snapped out with his hand, snatching what looked to be a dagger out of the air. The stallions let out a gasp as Ryu narrowed his eyes and glared into the trees, unable to find who threw the weapon.
"Here. Souvenir," Ryu muttered as he tossed the dagger to Filthy, who examined it with wide eyes. "All of you be on alert. It is clear that there is something or someone here that does not want us here."
The stallions nodded before letting Ryu take the lead, the warrior keeping his arms up as he moved forward. He was ready for any sign of attack, though to his concern he did not feel any hostile intentions coming from the forest around him. It felt more as if the forest was testing him, seeing how he would proceed.
'I will pass this test. I will find a way to be rid of the dark power,' Ryu promised. But even as he made that promise, the group came across a large cliff that blocked their path. Ryu glanced to his left and right to see that the cliff face went on far into the distance.
'I assume that this is the first trial,' Ryu figured as he placed his hand against the wall. The moment he placed his hand upon the wall spears shot out of it. With his reflexes Ryu managed to dodge the attacks and catch the spears that would have hit the ponies, but he wasn't fast enough to block all of them. Tiara and Filthy screamed as some of the spears impaled the carriage, a few feet away from where they were standing.
"Holy hell that was close," Tiara whispered to herself, before glancing up at the stunned face of her father. "What?"
"Where did you learn such language?!"
"I hang around fighters, dad. That is not the worse word I've learned."
"If the two of you are done discussing parenting, Ryu found a way through!" one of the stallions called up to them, turning the ponies attention away from each other and to the cliff face to see that Ryu had found a small opening. The passageway was small, barely large enough for Ryu to fit in with all of his muscles mass. The stallions and the Rich's both took one look at the carriage and knew that it was never fitting through the entrance.
"Stay with the carriage," Filthy instructed the stallions and his daughter at the same time, before he hopped off the carriage and followed Ryu through the opening. Filthy had made it about halfway through before he glance behind him to see his daughter following behind him. "What are you doing here?! I thought I told you-"
"Sorry dad, by I have to take care of my fighter, no matter where he goes," Tiara replied with an innocent smile that reminded Filthy of when he was young.
"Neither of you should be following me," Ryu told the two once they had joined him on the other side of the rockface, finding themselves standing before a colossal temple made of stone and covered in flora that seemed ancient in time. "This place is filled with danger. You should both be at the carriage."
"Honestly Ryu, you do not seem to understand the concept of repaying a debt," Filthy replied before turning back to Tiara. "And you do not seem to understand the concept of staying with your mother at the carriage! It is incredibly dangerous out here!"
"I think I'm safer here with Ryu than I am back at the carriage with mom," Tiara replied before she brushed past her father and walked alongside Ryu.
"Why do you not listen to me?" Filthy Rich asked under his breath, not knowing that Ryu heard him.
The group then began to walk towards the colossal, stone temple that towered over them, with Ryu keeping his guard up in case of traps while the other two stayed close behind him. Ryu narrowed his eyes as they group walked by a pair of statues of strange creatures that wielded spears, taking careful note of how no vines had grown on them.
"Those things look ancient," Tiara whispered as they walked up to another set of statues that were identical to the others. Yet as the group tried to walk by them, the statues eyes were suddenly filled with green energy and they swung their spears towards the group.
"MOVE!" Ryu roared as he pushed the two ponies out of the way before he caught the spears right before the tips could impale him. Ryu strained before he pushed the spears from the statues back, narrowing his eyes as they stepped down from their pedestals and slowly began advancing on him. He heard noise from behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see that the other set of statues were advancing from behind.
"So that's how it is, huh?" Ryu asked as he slowly backed to the side, making sure that all four statues were in sight before he planted his feet and refused to retreat any further. 'They only seem to be after me, meaning that I won't have to worry about protecting Tiara and Filthy. But the question now is if this another test...or security designed to kill me.'
The statue closest to Ryu thrust at him with his spear, forcing Ryu to weave to the side before wrapping his left arm around the spear. He then drove his elbow down onto the top of the spear before the tip, shattering the stone weapon and removing its point. He then hurled the tip of the spear into the winged head of the statue, piercing it's stone and causing its head to fall from its shoulders.
'One down,' Ryu thought before he hurled himself to the side to avoid a kick thrown by another statue. Ryu regained his footing before thrusting his foot into the statue, gritting his teeth as his foot struck stone and pain lanced up his leg. But the blown was enough and the statue staggered backwards before falling to one knee.
He couldn't take a moment to rest, though, as the third statue was upon him. It twirled its spear and swung the tip towards Ryu's head, forcing the warrior to duck underneath of the attack. The final statue attacked while Ryu was distracted with the third, driving its fist into his back with enough force to send Ryu skipping across the stone courtyard.
"Dammit that hurt," Ryu snarled as he pushed himself back up and spun around to face the twin statues, with the third getting back up. "Enough. I'm putting an end to this," Ryu stated before he placed his hands together and closed his eyes. For a moment he began to tap into the dark power, but then he remembered what had happened and shook his head.
"HADOUKEN!" Ryu roared as the blue and white ball of energy exploded from his hand and slammed into the statues. The first statue took the brunt of the attack and fell over with a hole in its chest, but the other two were hardly phased by the attack. The fireball seemed to have sparked the fighting spirit within the statues, for the two lunged upon Ryu in a matter of steps.
"What the-?" Ryu asked before he was forced to defend himself as the statues reached him. He parried a spear strike before blocking a fist that was aimed at his head. With a snarl he retaliated with a blow to the stomach of one of the statues, but when his fist made a sickening crack he figured he made a mistake. The statue that he had struck showed Ryu how to throw a punch and the blow caught him right on the chin.
"RYU!" Tiara cried out as Ryu landed flat on his back, groaning slightly as he picked himself up and wiped blood from his nose. The statues were upon him once again in a moment, but when he glared up at them there was a fire in his eyes.
"Enough."
With numerous rapid blows Ryu staggered one of the statues, leaving the other one open to a side kick delivered at full power. Ryu bellowed as he drove his foot through the statues waist, practically slicing the guardian in half. Stone shattered as the top half of the statue separated from its lower half, before both halves shattered as they collapsed to the ground.
Ryu then spun on his toes and delivered another powerful kick to the side of the staggered statues head, knocking it's head completely free of its shoulders. The statue let out a groan before it fell over and shattered, leaving the panting warrior to glance around to see if there were any other foes for him to deal with.
"Wow...that looked tough," Filthy muttered as he and Tiara tepidly walked up to Ryu, who was trying to stop his nose from bleeding. "So, think that those things will be the only challenge awaiting us in this place?"
"They were the first trial. If I had to guess, there will be many more," Ryu stated with certainty as he finally got his blood letting under control. He then turned his gaze to the top of the temple, narrowing his eyes when he saw a door open that had not been open before. "I would advise that the both of you return to the carriage."
"Perhaps he's right. This place does seem rather dangerous for such a young filly," Filthy muttered, but before he could say anything else Tiara raced over to Ryu and stood next to him.
"Why do you not listen to him?" Ryu asked Tiara as the group started to walk towards the entrance to the temple.
"Because if I want to be my own pony and not just another Rich, I have to make my own decisions," she replied matter-of-factly. Ryu said nothing, but he did give Filthy a sympathetic glance as they approached the entrance. Ryu placed a hand before Tiara to stop her, making sure he was the first to enter the chamber.
His eyes widened as he stepped inside, drawn to the pictures on the wall that covered every ounce of the room. Pictures depicting warriors of stone waging war against ponies made of crystal, while a black stallion battled with a dragon akin to a serpent, with lightning crackling behind them. The images moved on to show the dragon resting over numerous other beings, all of who seemed to be training under its instruction.
"This is a strange place," Filthy muttered as he and Tiara walked in behind Ryu, glancing around at the images while Ryu moved on to examining the floor. "I can feel a magic in here that makes my mane stand on end."
"That is not all there is," Ryu replied as he began to run his fingers upon the ground, tracing his fingers along the images that were upon the floor. Then he looked at the dust that covered the ground, dust that should have only been disturbed by Ryu and the others. But as he narrowed his eyes, he saw that there were very faint tracks in the dust. "There is someone else here. And they haven't been here long."
As soon as he said this, something struck him in the back of the head. Ryu grunted as he rolled up to his feet, arms up as he glanced around to see who had struck him. A blur of motion attacked from the side and Ryu swatted it away with his arm, only to find that his arm went numb after deflecting the blow.
"I've felt that blow before," Ryu realized before a laughter filled the room, a laughter that made Ryu's eyes narrow while a look of surprise crossed Tiara's face.
"I see that you have slightly improve. I am impressed and ready to fight you."
"I know that voice," Ryu muttered before he glanced around to see a zebra wielding a staff standing at the end of the room, which had grown incredibly longer with her appearance. "Zecora. I thought that I might find you here."
"You wished for a rematch, so here I am. I am another trial for you, young man," Zecora said with a laugh before she cracked her neck and took up a fighting stance. "Let us hope that you have prepared for my techniques. For this time I will not be so easy to defeat."