//------------------------------//
// Steps 
// Story: The Wandering Warrior 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

The first rays of the sun broke through the cloud cover, bringing with it the warming light to dispel the cold of the mountain top. But for the warrior that had been meditating since the previous night, the rays of the sun brought no comfort for him. For when the sun appeared it told him that it was time to start the real training. With a grunt he pushed himself to his feet, shaking the weights that had been shackled to him free.

"An entire night without sleep nor food. And yet you seem in a better mood," Zecora spoke as she appeared behind Ryu, who was stretching out his limbs and warming his muscles. "But I do not expect that to last. For it is time to begin class."

"I'm in such a good mood because it is finally time to rid myself of the darkness within me," Ryu replied with a small smile. "I will finally triumph over the Dark Hado and become a warrior who finds his own path to victory. Today I vanquish the dark hado."

"If your evil side is summoned by insults or disgrace, then your training will move at a snails pace," Zecora replied with a smirk.

"Rainbow Dash insulted my master. My father."

"She bad mouthed your mentor and said some mean things. In return you tried to kill her and ripped off her wing," Zecora stated coldly. "If you give in every time something mean is said, go back home and let me get back to bed."

"Sigh...I see your point. I cannot let the words of others get to me," Ryu agreed, before a smile crossed his face. "But I am excited to finally find a training that will help me suppress or maybe destroy the dark hado. Today will be a good day."

"Do not be so sure."

As soon as these words were spoken, a blow struck Ryu in the back of the head and sent him tumbling across the training arena that Ryu had been meditating in. He hit the ground and immediately rolled up to his feet, spinning around in time to deflect another jab from the zebra.

Despite having fought Zecora twice, Ryu found to his amazement that her moves were now even harder to keep up with, as if he was truly seeing her power for the first time. He did not ask why she chose to attack him but instead retaliated by driving his knee at her. When she leapt back as he predicted, he spun slightly and angled his leg so that the edge of his foot slashed at Zecora.

Right before his foot struck the zebra, she clasped her hooves together before driving them into Ryu's foot. A massive burst of power ripped through Ryu and tore him from his feet. Ryu was hurled clear across the training yard and landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out his lungs while he pushed himself to rise back up.

'She's truly fighting me now,' Ryu deduced before the zebra was upon him once more, forcing him to move as fast as he could to avoid being struck by her blows. Knowing that he couldn't keep up with her speed for long, he closed his eyes and sensed her next strike. His eyes then snapped open as his arm moved itself into place, parrying her blow and leaving her open to a counter attack.

Ryu drove his knuckles into her jaw, snapping her head to the side and staggering Zecora. Not letting his chance go to waste, Ryu followed up with a knee to her stomach that knocked her into the air. He then tucked his fist in before leaping skyward, exploding upwards while driving his fist into her jaw.

"SHORYUKEN!" Ryu bellowed as he sent the both of them skyward...only for his eyes to widen in disbelief when Zecora faded out of existence, leaving Ryu striking at empty air. Ryu had enough time to wonder what had happened before he felt four sets of hooves drive themselves into his back, sending him straight back down into the floor that he had just left. Pain arced though his body as he was driven head first into the stone floor, which shattered under his impact.

"What...was that?" he asked Zecora while pulling himself out of the concrete.

"I am more than just a master of the martial arts. Illusions and magic are another part," Zecora explained as she walked before Ryu, glaring down at him with narrowed eyes as he slowly pushed himself up. "Now rise once more. This is the beginning of your war."

When Ryu opened his mouth to ask what she meant, Zecora quickly slipped something into his mouth. Ryu gagged as he tasted what seemed to be some sort of herb, before his world began to swim around him. He held a hand to his head as he fought to remain standing, struggling as his vision began to swim. And then as suddenly as the confusion had begun, it suddenly ended. Yet as Ryu regained his vision he believed that he had been transported to hell.

"It cannot be," he whispered to himself as he gazed forward, unable to believe what he was looking at. Two other people stood before him, two people that he knew well. One of them was wearing a schoolgirl uniform and wore a headband made from a part of Ryu's gi. The other wore a red gi that mirrored Ryu's. But what truly terrified Ryu was that the both of them were giving off the power of the Satsui no Hado.

"What has happened to the both of...no, this is nothing more than an illusion. A test," Ryu figured out as he shook his head and took up a fighting stance. "And I will pass it."

The two bellowed at Ryu before lunging towards him in flashes of black and red. Ryu's eyes narrowed as they barreled down upon him, forcing him to block their combined opening strikes. He deflected the kick from the girl before elbowing her in the back of the head when she sailed past him. The other fighter caught Ryu in the face with a hurricane kick that sent him skidding backwards, though Ryu retained enough of his senses to remain standing.

"I will not fall!" he promised them before catching a punch from his red gi clone before slamming his foot into the stomach of the shadow. The red gi warrior roared as he was sent hurtling backwards, leaving Ryu to turn to face the girl. She roared with a fury that he had never heard from her before she charged a ball of black energy in her hands. Ryu had only a moment to prepare himself before she hurled the ball of energy right for the warrior.

'No time to dodge,' Ryu realized as he closed his eyes, sensing the dark blast approaching him. His eyes then snapped open as his arm raised up, parrying the first wave of the energy ball. He then swung his arm up four more times, each time deflecting a different wave of power that tried to wash over him. 

A blow to the back of his head broke his concentration and Ryu roared with pain as the final blow from the dark fireball caught him in the chest, forcing him to his knees with its power. He forced himself to fight through the pain as he started to push himself back up, until someone grabbed the back of his head and yanked it back. 

"You cannot defeat us, Ryu," the demented voice of Ken said to Ryu, who snarled in reply before chopping at Ken's hand to free himself. 

"Give in to your power. Become the master I have always wanted you to be," Sakura's voice whispered deviously from behind him, forcing Ryu to spin around to deflect a right hook from her. Ryu prepared to counterattack a blow from Ken caught him in the back of his head, dropping him to a knee. Sakura then drove the point of her knee into the bridge of Ryu's nose, snapping his head back as blood sprayed everywhere.

"SHORYUKEN!" Ken bellowed as he raced up to Ryu and drove his fist into the chest of the warrior, black fire burning across his fist before Ryu was sent hurtling skyward.

"Messatsu...HADOUKEN!" Sakura roared as she fired a second ball of black energy into the descending Ryu, who bellowed with pain and fury as the dark energy obliterated him. When the attack ended he crashed into the ground, every nerve screaming in agony as it took all of his will power to remain conscious. As he slowly lifted his head, he found that there was one other now standing with Ken and Sakura. He had red hair, burning eyes and a necklace of beads around his neck that made Ryu furious just to look at.

"Behold Ryu, this is what you shall achieve with that pitiful power of yours," the man spoke in a voice that sounded akin to a demons. "All you care about shall be consumed by the darkness, because you were too weak to embrace it. You forced the darkness upon others...and it consumed them instead."

"No...I will not let this happen," Ryu weakly said as he pushed himself back up, taking up his fighting stance once more. His body shook under the pain, but he forced himself to remain standing. "I will find a way to prevent his from happening! No matter what I must do!" A hand then placed itself upon Ryu's shoulder, a hand that was identical to his but filled with dark power.

"There is only one way to prevent this. Give in...to ME!"

With a start Ryu's eyes snapped open and he found himself still kneeling upon the stone floor where Zecora had struck him down. The only difference was that the sun was much higher in the sky and now Diamond Tiara was there, as well as Ra-Lor who towered overhead. Ryu then felt something in his mouth and quickly spat out the herb, weakly shaking his head before he rose to his feet.

"What did you do to me?" he asked Zecora, who differed to her master with a slight bow.

"This herb is a special plant grown atop this mountain. With its power it has the ability to draw out a persons worst fears while also revealing who they truly are. And I saw what you saw, Ryu," the dragon master informed Ryu with a tone that seemed to be filled with hints of confusion as well as concern. "Is that man, the one who turned your friends to the Dark Hado, what you strive to defeat?"

"How is this training?!" Ryu bellowed up at the dragon teacher as he forced himself to stand, despite still feeling the faint traces of a pain that had never been. "If I wished to battle with that nightmare, then I would simply close my eyes and dream! What are you trying to do?!"

"I cannot teach you any new techniques, Ryu. No magic skill that will help you to overcome this," Ra-Lor informed Ryu, whose eyes flashed with a red tint at her words. "You are already a master both in terms of technique and skill. What you need is help overcoming yourself, overcoming the mental barriers that prevent you from moving forward. How do you feel after eating that herb?"

"Emotionally drained. Physically exhausted," Ryu replied, though he did everything in his power to not show his weakness.

"Good. Now I wish for you to battle with Zecora once more," the dragon instructed, causing Ryu to raise an eyebrow as Zecora walked forward to meet him. "But during this battle Ryu, I want you to focus not on your rage and desire to win...but instead simply letting the battle go as it decides to go. Focus on the now, not on what you wish to happen. Do not fight the tide, but move with it."

Ryu didn't reply as he rose back up to his feet, but he did take in a breath to steady his nerves before turning to face his foe. She was on him in a flash and despite his body being nowhere near as weak as it had in his mind, he still found himself struggling to keep up with her movements.

'Am I going to lose to her a third time? No, I will not allow myself to...' Ryu began, but then he remembered the dragons words. He drove a fist into Zecora's chest to push her off of him, before he quieted his mind and focused himself. 'Whatever happens, let it happen. Do not fight against the tide of destiny, but move with it.'

Zecora attacked Ryu again, moving faster than any of the ponies or Ryu had ever seen her move. Yet despite being overwhelmed by her speed and skill, Ryu found himself remarkably calm in the face of such power. Each of her blows, despite being precise and strong, Ryu found he was able to deflect. For ten seconds he deflected and retreated from Zecora's power, but then he spied a small opening in her guard. He struck in a flash of movement, catching Zecora right in the chest with an open handed strike.

The blow sent Zecora skidding backwards, where she was forced to dig her hooves into the ground to halt her progress. She then glared up at Ryu, before crying out in a pained voice as she collapsed to one knee. Ryu blinked in surprise before he glanced down at himself, seeing the faintest traces of a white energy washing over him.

"This...feels like what my Master was trying to teach me so long ago," Ryu whispered to himself before he gazed up at the dragon, who seemed to be smiling in her eyes. "What kind of power is this?"

"This is the power that you can obtain when you finally focus all your efforts on your opponent," Ra-Lor replied, causing Ryu to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "You always said that you seek to win Ryu, but you never gave one hundred percent of yourself in your battles. You were not just fighting your foe, but also with yourself and against your destiny. In every battle you were fighting with three foes, not just one."

"This is the first step though, to focusing your power. By accepting the flow of destiny and quieting your mind, you remove the two other opponents that are not there, allowing you to focus all of your skill on a single foe," she continued to explain, before motioning down to her student. "Did not Zecora seem to be easier to handle after you allowed yourself to focus on the foe before you?"

"Yes, but I still do not understand? How did this make it so much easier?"

"Because you are always fighting with yourself Ryu, always wondering if what you are doing is honoring your master or leading you down a dark path. So you battle with yourself and your decisions," Ra-Lor clarified for the warrior. "And that in turn leads you to fight against your destiny, a battle that is far more taxing than any would believe."

"But I thought that you said my destiny was to be consumed by the darkness."

"I did. But that was the you that was walking along that path," she added. "Surrendering yourself to the Dark Hado would grant you the power you seek...but there is more to combat than just power. There is more to you than just the desire for power. What is it that you feel, Ryu?"

Ryu glanced down at his hands, which still radiated the white light however faint it was. 'I feel...not strong, not filled with power like with the Dark Hado...but I feel calm. I feel at peace. I feel...nothing. For the first time in a long time. This feels almost identical to the power that Gouken used before. What did he call it again? The power...of Nothingness?'