Ryu howled with power as he drove his fist through the massive boulder, shattering it to thousands of pebbles with a single punch. He then whirled around on his heel and lashed out with the blade of his foot, slicing through the trunk of a tree and causing it to fall over. To finish he leapt into the air and came down with a mighty right punch that shook the ground upon striking it.
His eyes widened sharply as hundreds of blades began to hurl themselves out of the forest around him, causing Ryu to move faster than he ever had before as he either dodged the blades or knocked them out of the air with his bare hands. Twin logs that were tied to the trees then came crashing down towards him, one on each side as they tried to crush the warrior between the both of them. Ryu roared at their approach before he struck with both of his arms, blasting the approaching logs into splinters with a single strike.
Spears of wood erupted from the ground just inches away from Ryu's foot, forcing the warrior to flip backwards to avoid being impaled. With no idea where the spears were coming from, the wandering warrior had to concentrate with all of his might to avoid being impaled. The spears came in rapid succession and unyielding intensity, never giving Ryu a moment to pause.
"Enough of this! HADOUKEN!" Ryu roared as he aimed his fireball right to the ground, roaring as a flash of white light decimated all of the spears that were being held within the ground. The earth shook beneath him as the hadouken tore through the ground, sending bits and pieces of the spears along with the rest of the forest raining down. Ryu stood in place panting before he let out a snarl and drove his fist into the ground.
"Why are you upset? I thought you looked amazing," Tiara's voice said, causing Ryu to look up to see the filly walking towards him, a look of concern upon her face.
"It is not enough. My speed, my strength...my evil half is far superior in every way," Ryu whispered as he regained control of himself and stood back up, turning towards the forest to repair the damage that he had done. "You will want to stand back. The training and traps will only get more intense from here on out."
"Yeah, but it will take you at least two hours to do so," Tiara reminded him before reaching into the saddlebag she was wearing, pulling out a small bottle of water which she chucked at the back of Ryu's head. Ryu caught the bottle without looking, but he did give Tiara a glance out of the corner of his eyes. "You've been pushing yourself for a week now with no food, little water and hardly any rest. If you keep going at this pace, your own body will kill you before your evil half ever gets the chance to."
"I need to train. I need to push myself beyond what I was capable of," Ryu said with an intensity that made Tiara shudder slightly. He then let out a roar as a white aura covered his body and all emotions that had shone on his face vanished. Ryu focused his energy into his hands and then fired a massive hadouken into the skies, one that consumed everything around it until it exploded into a massive burst of energy. Ryu then began to pant as he fell to one knee, the white aura fading.
"My body cannot hold the power of nothingness for long. I can either use it to increase my physical strength or the power of my hado, but it cannot do both for long," Ryu informed Tiara as he forced himself back up. "I need to shape this body to one that can withstand the power of nothingness, just long enough so that I can destroy Evil Ryu. That is all I can do."
Tiara knew that she wasn't going to get any further words out of Ryu for he was too far focused on his training. What she did do was stand on her hind hooves while moving her forehooves closer together. She then concentrated with all of her might, before hurling her forehooves forward.
"Hadouken!"
A tiny ball of light shot out of the tips of her hooves, traveling only a few inches before it vanished in a small flash. But it did it's job and caused Ryu to spin around with a look of both disbelief and amazement on his face.
"How...?"
"I've been watching the way you stand, the way you move and how you hold yourself when you do that thing," Tiara said with an exhausted voice as she fell over, that single fireball taking up most of her strength. "I've gotten the stance and the technique down, but I still can't throw more than one without nearly passing out. Think you could give me a few pointers on how to make mine better?"
Ryu thought about his answer for a moment before he shook his head. "I am sorry, but I must concentrate all of my efforts onto defeating my evil half. After I have done that...if I am still alive...I will train you. Just wait a little longer, if you wouldn't mind."
Tiara's face fell as Ryu turned and began to set up his training once more, leaving the filly to sigh slightly before she turned and headed back to her carriage. The moon was beginning to rise over the horizon, another indicator of how long Ryu had been training by his lonesome. Tiara shook off the feelings of sadness with a shake of her head before picking herself back up and walking into the carriage.
"Were you able to get through to him?" her father asked as she walked in. Despite trying to look confident, Filthy was able to see through the disguise and his eyes narrowed for a moment. "I see. Do you want me to go and talk some sense into him? I've gotten pretty good at it."
"No dad, it's fine. I do want to train...heck, spend any time with him, but he's right. Evil Ryu...was far more terrifying than I ever thought possible," Tiara admitted before her whole body began to shake, her memory flashing back to that battle. "It's going to take everything Ryu has and then some if he wants to defeat that monster. And honestly, I don't know if he can. But I believe he will."
"When did you go and get so grown up? You still look like the little princess that I had to drag everywhere in a wagon because she refused to touch the same ground as the commoners," Filthy reminisced with a chuckle, one that brought a small smile to face of his daughter.
"When I realized the pony that I had become. When I wanted to be more," Tiara replied before she let out a tiny yawn. "I need to get to bed. It's been a long week and I can't wait to put it behind me. See you tomorrow, dad."
Tiara's dad waved to her as she walked towards her bed. Tiara spied that her mother was already fast asleep, allowing her to head straight to bed without any further interruption. She slipped under the covers and passed out within a matter of moments, drifting off into dreamland.
"Wait...this can't be right," Tiara muttered to herself as she found herself standing in a white space, one that was devoid of anything except for eternity. "My dreams do not consist of white rooms that have nothing in them. Those are for crazy ponies, like Twilight. Where the heck am I?"
"With me."
Tiara spun around with a yelp to discover that she wasn't as alone as she had believed herself to be. Another pony stood in the room, one that looked nearly identical to her except that she seemed to be a darker shade. Fear crept into Tiara's heart as she slowly approached the pony, who had her head hung so that Tiara couldn't see into her eyes.
"Who are you?" Tiara asked as she reached out with a hoof, but with a bellow of fury that seemed all too familiar, the other her swatted away her hoof. Tiara yelped as she clutched at her hoof, while a smile spread on her others face. She then slowly raised her head to reveal that her eyes were a crimson red, a red that she had only seen on the eyes of one other.
"No," Tiara whispered.
"Yes. You took your first steps the other day down the path of hado. Congratulations," the other her mocked with a laugh as she walked towards Tiara, who backed away with fear. "But if you had listened to Ryu's warning, then you would know what that means for you."
"You...you can't be...I got rid of you!" Tiara screamed at the other her, who replied by throwing her head back and laughing manically.
"You may have buried me, but that side of you will never truly go away. And thanks to that weirdo in the cloak, I have been awakened once more," the other Tiara whispered with a smile that creeped Tiara out. "And I'm tired of you ignoring me, acting like you're better than you used to be. Didn't you know Tiara that fillies at your age...shouldn't play pretend!"
The other Tiara let out roar before she lunged forward, causing Tiara to scream as she threw herself out of the way. The other her roared as she resumed her attack, tackling Tiara to the ground and pinning her down with her hooves. Tiara struggled, but what little muscle she had was no match for the dark power that the other her possessed.
"Now you'll get to see what it's like to be buried," the other her whispered. Tiara opened her mouth to cry for help, but a moment later all she could see was darkness that completely consumed her.
"Tiara!" Filthy said as he shook his daughter again, whose eyes finally snapped open. Tiara slowly sat up as she began to look around to room, as if she was seeing it for the first time. "Thank goodness that you're awake, you were crying in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare? Where is that princess of the night when you need her?"
"I am fine, father," Tiara said in a very controlled voice, as a smile spread across her face as she looked down at her hooves. "In fact, I feel better than I have in a very long time."
Filthy raised an eyebrow at her choice of word, before Tiara turned to look at him. For a brief moment their eyes locked, but that moment was all that Filthy needed to realize that something was really wrong. The moment she saw the realization dawn on his face Tiara lashed out with a strike, hitting her father in the chest and sending him tumbling backwards.
"What have you done to my daughter?!" Filthy roared as he shot back up to his hooves, eyes blazing with a fury that the other Tiara didn't know he could make. "What have you done with her?!"
"Oh daddy, don't you recognize me?" the other Tiara said with a laugh as she crouched down and began to stalk towards her father, who held his ground. "I'm still your daughter, just the part of her that she thought she could get rid of. But she couldn't get rid of me and now, thanks to the power of hado, I've finally found the strength to break free. Let me show you my newfound strength!"
Tiara let out a roar as she charged forward, but she had only taken a few steps before the door to the carriage was kicked clean off its hinges. Tiara yelped as she jumped back to avoid the chunk of wood, which shattered against the other end of the carriage. Both eyes turned towards the entrance just in time to see Ryu lunge into the room, eyes widening when he saw both the expression and the intent that was flashing within Tiara's eyes.
"It cannot be," he whispered, but a moment later he was proven right when dark energy radiated from Tiara before she lunged at him. Ryu deflected her strike before he brought a fist back to retaliate.
"RYU! Don't hurt her!" Filthy roared before Ryu could strike and Ryu realized that he was right. Ryu snatched the filly out of the air and pinned her to the ground with one hand, before he closed his eyes and channeled the power of nothingness.
"BEGONE!" Ryu bellowed as he filled a hand with power and drove it into the chest of Tiara, who roared with fury as the dark power within her retracted into her body. The white light died down a moment later, leaving a panting Ryu to look down at the little filly, who seemed normal once more. "Tiara, are you-?"
Filthy slammed Ryu to the side before he pulled his daughter into his arms, shaking her slightly while calling her name. Tiara's eyes slowly opened and the moment both Ryu and Filthy saw them they both knew this was the filly that they knew. She glanced at the both of them before she burst into tears and pulled herself close to her father, who held her close as he did everything he could to calm her.
"It was so scary, dad. It was like I was the old me, but far more dangerous," Tiara sobbed into her father's shoulder, while her whole body trembled with terror. "I could see what was happening, but I couldn't do anything to stop it!"
"It's okay. You're safe now," Filthy whispered to her before looking up at Ryu. "Thank you, Ryu. If you hadn't shown up when you did...at least that darkness is gone now, right?"
Ryu hung his head while looking to the side, causing Filthy's eyes to widen with terror. "I managed to seal the darkness away, similar to how my master sealed mine away, but I cannot get rid of it."
"Then...then what does this mean for my daughter?" Filthy asked in an absolutely terrified voice, one that made Ryu look away.
"She has chosen to follow the path of the hado. That means that she will have to struggle with this demon within her for the rest of her life," Ryu informed Filthy as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look of terror that he knew was upon the father's face. "If she does not seek out combat like I have and lives a peaceful life like my brother Ken, then it will not be as powerful as mine. But it will always be there, just looking for the moment to escape."
"Then train her, Ryu! Train her to fight the darkness the way that you have!" Filthy Rich exclaimed with some hope, but that hope began to fade as Ryu rose back up to his feet.
"I cannot. Rather, I could, but it would amount to little. I cannot even best my own demon. How can I help her battle hers?" Ryu asked with a shake of his head as he walked towards the exit. "The best thing for me to do is train myself so that I can destroy my evil half, then I will finally have to power to help Tiara rid herself of hers. It is the only way."
"So you're going to go and train while my daughter suffers? The same daughter that took such good care of you and always helped you?" Filthy asked in a near whisper. "Ryu...you're a selfish bastard, do you know that?"
Ryu turned to look back at Filthy, hoping he would explain what he meant, but the father was far too busy comforting his daughter. All Ryu could do was turn and head back to training, but his mind was still wracked by what Filthy had said to him.
'Selfish bastard.'