Sun light shone down on a class of foals that sat in meditative positions, each of them supposed to have their eyes closed and to simply be one with the world around them. But due to the fact that two fighters were battling it out before them made it a little hard to concentrate on nothing. So most of them had their eyes cracked open to watch the battle between their teacher and his advanced student.
Diamond Tiara flipped back from a kick that would have likely knocked her out before she struck out with one of her hooves, catching Ryu in the knee with a fairly strong strike. Ryu gritted his teeth slightly at the impact before he turned his hips and threw out a side kick that Tiara failed to completely avoid. The blow glanced off her shoulder and sent her tumbling through the dirt, where she shook her head and rose up to her hooves once more.
"Fine, play it that way," she said as she tucked her arms into her side and channeled her power, creating a sphere of white energy within her grasp. The foals that were watching gasped as the ball charged the air around them, while their reactions caused Tiara to smirk before she attacked. "Hadouken!"
She thrust her arms forward and hurled the ball of power towards Ryu, who for a brief moment was impressed with how concentrated the blast seemed to be before he sliced down with his hand and cut the hadouken in two. The foals gasped with shock at how easily the attack had been dispersed, but Ryu paid them no mind as Tiara took to the air.
"Tatsumaki!" she yelled as she swung her leg around and struck at Ryu's head, only to snarl a moment later when she realized that he had caught her leg with his arm. He wrapped his arm around her leg before striking her in the chest with his palm, sending her flying backwards into the ground. Tiara coughed in pain as she pushed herself back up, beginning to yell as she prepared her next attack. Yet when she spun around she found a fist come to a stop right in front of her face, putting an end to her comeback.
"And break," Ryu said to both Tiara and the foals that were watching, changing his closed fist to an open hand which he offered to Diamond. She grabbed it and was pulled up to her hooves before both she and Ryu looked out over the class. "Alright, so how many of you managed to keep your eyes closed and focus on meditating during all of that?"
None of the foals raised their hooves and instead they all glanced around with nervous expressions. Only one of the foals in the back didn't raise their hoof and when Tiara glanced back at them she found that he was still meditating, with his eyes closed and breathing perfect.
"Hey, we actually got one," Tiara said to Ryu, who raised his eyebrows at the sight. "Maybe your teachings are actually starting to stick with them?"
Ryu said nothing in reply, but simply stood and stroked his beard for a moment as he thought. He then walked over to the foal that was still meditating, glancing down at them before he placed his foot on their side and kicked them over.
"I wasn't asleep! I'm awake!" the foal cried out as he suddenly woke up, causing the class to laugh as he glanced around in confusion. Tiara groaned in the front while Ryu let a small smile cross his face before he turned and walked back to the front of the class.
"I know that meditation may seem boring when all you want to do is throw fireballs and do fancy attacks, but the key to mastering fighting is to first master yourself," Ryu informed the class for what he was certain was the tenth time, yet he saw that barely any of them were listening to his words. He frowned slightly at this, but then let go of his frustrations with a sigh. "Alright, I'm going to check in on the other group. The rest of you will listen to Diamond Tiara and follow her instruction until I get back. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" they cried out in unison.
Ryu nodded at their response before he turned and began to walk to where his other class was training. While he walked he glanced around him, amazed that the area that he had destroyed during his fight with Evil Ryu was already showing signs of life again.
'Hard to believe that that was three months ago,' Ryu reminisced as he came to a stop, lifting his hand and glancing down at it. He closed his eyes and concentrated with all of his might, but when nothing happened he felt a smile cross his face. 'And still nothing. Not once in these three months have I felt any presence of the Satsui no Hado. Not since I accepted that part of me.'
Ryu then found the adults class standing next to a riverbed, exactly where he had left them. All of them were still slowly going through the motions of a form that he had taught to them, though he had instructed them to do it with their eyes closed so that they had to focus on their movements and balance. Yet he could see that most of them were a little further ahead of where they were supposed to be, meaning that they still needed much practice.
Ryu said nothing to announce his presence and instead simply walked in-between the ponies, watching their forms carefully. Without a sound he would nudge or adjust one of the ponies forms before moving on, leaving them to look around. But none of them opened their eyes. All of the ponies in this group had been training under him for at three months straight and they were used to how he taught.
After a few minutes of helping the ponies adjust and watching their forms, Ryu sat down by himself a bit away from his students. He could still watch them from his spot, but he also didn't feel that they needed his guidance at that moment.
'But I am still getting used to this being a teacher routine,' Ryu realized as he collected his thoughts into his head, before letting them all go with a sigh. 'Master Gouken made it look so much easier than it is. I wonder how he always seemed to have an answer for everything?'
"What are you doing over here by yourself when you have a class to teach?" Diamond Tiara asked as she walked up beside Ryu, who glanced over his shoulder at the approaching filly. Tiara was his oldest student, having been training under him for longer than three months. Yet he felt like it had been longer than that with how fast she was advancing through his techniques and teachings.
"I could be asking you the same thing," Ryu said to her as she sat down next to her teacher and matched his position perfectly, getting a small smile out of Ryu. "Don't you have a class of foals to be teaching right now?"
"See, I was teaching them and then a rainbow butterfly flew by and that was it for their focus," Tiara said with a sigh as she nodded her head towards the foals, who Ryu could see were all chasing around the insect that shone with dozens of colors. "How about you, Master Ryu? None of the ponies are harassing you, are they?"
"No, they have been very kind and understanding. I am amazed they could so forgive me so quickly, especially after what I have done," Ryu replied with some awe before giving Tiara a look. "And I thought I told you to stop calling me master. I am not worthy of that title yet."
"Everypony heard about your battle with your evil self, the one that changed the landscape of Equestria forever. They all know why you did what you did. We are a very forgiving people, if we feel like it. Also, you teach a group of ponies how to fight and meditate and you have a student under you who you teach everything to. You're a master now, whether you want to admit it or not," Tiara informed him with a smirk on her face before realization dawned on her. "Oh yeah, my dad said that the training supplies that you asked for will be coming in soon. He's had some issues with the delivery pony being a jerk."
"That's good to know. Tell him thank you for the supplies...and also for funding all of this," Ryu added as he glanced at the two groups, one of which was supposed to be training, but Ryu could tell that they were starting to watch the foals play. He shook his head at them before looking down at Tiara, who had her eyes closed and was breathing in a calm way. "Are you alright? The darkness hasn't been harassing you again, has it?"
"Every once in a while I hear its voice whispering to me, trying to get me to give into it," she informed Ryu with a sigh, before a smile broke out across her face. "I tell it to go to hell. I spent enough of my life being a jerk to ever want to do it again, even it means I get sweet powers."
"Tiara..."
"I'm kidding. Geez, one of these days I really need to teach you how to take a joke."
"Perhaps," Ryu agreed before something else caught his eye. "Where is the gi that I gave to you? You know that you are not supposed to be teaching without it on." The way Tiara whipped her head away from Ryu made his eyes narrow. "Tiara?"
"Okay, look, I went to wash it and there was a red sock in there that I didn't see, so now it's...pink," Tiara grumbled under her breath. For a moment Ryu gazed down at her with a dumbfounded expression before he threw his head back and began to laugh, a laugh so joyful that both the adult class and the younger class stopped what they were doing to look at Ryu. "It's not that funny."
"It's far funnier to me. As punishment, you'll have to wear that pink gi to class from now on...Dan," Ryu finished with a snicker before he held a hand to his mouth to keep him from cracking up once more.
"Who the heck is Dan?"
"That's what I will be calling you until you get a new gi," Ryu replied with delight in every word. Then he glanced to the side out of the corner of his eye and his body tensed for a moment before he rose to his feet. "I believe that they've had enough fun. Work on getting the younger class back under control. I'll be right back."
"Where ya going?"
"Somewhere."
Ryu walked away from the class and from his student as he headed off towards wherever he felt he needed to go. As he walked though he channeled the power of nothingness through his body, figuring that he would be needing it momentarily. But once he felt it's power coursing through his veins he glanced down at his hand with a grim smile.
'And nothing from you as well. Ever since I called upon the power of the storms I have been unable to do it again. Was it a one time power that I could only use to defeat my evil half?' Ryu pondered once more, before he glanced back to where Tiara was teaching her students. 'Or perhaps I can only achieve this power when I go beyond the battle. When I fight for another. Is that where my strength lies? In fighting for others?'
"If you're trying to sneak up on me, you will have to do better than that," Ryu said aloud as he came to a stop in the middle of the field, feeling another presence behind him. He turned and looked over his shoulder, only to be startled by what he saw. Standing behind him was a woman, a woman with jet black hair and eyes that held within them more power than any other set that Ryu had seen.
But what truly drew the warriors eyes were the sword and shield upon her back, the silver bracelets that covered her wrists and the silver lasso that was coiled at her side. Ryu could also sense an unfathomable amount of power within her, putting him far more on edge than he believed possible. Another glance at her eyes informed him that she was sizing him up as well, before a smile crossed her face.
"You are the one they call Ryu, correct?" she asked and Ryu nodded a moment later. "I am Diana. I have been looking for you...well, not you in particular, but for this world actually."
"This world? Why?" Ryu asked.
"Because I am hunting someone...a monster that cares nothing for the lives of others. A monster that sees life and chance as his playthings, as tools that he can use to further expand upon his knowledge. A monster that I have sworn to stop no matter the personal cost," Diana seethed with a fury that made the ground quake beneath her. Ryu was slightly surprised by the power, but what surprised him more was that he knew exactly who she was talking about.
"I know who you speak of," Ryu informed Diana, whose eyes widened in surprise. "He is the one who brought me here and the one who nearly destroyed all those here that I hold dear. Metal limbs, brown cloak and a way of talking that makes you want to punch him in the face."
"Maestro. I call him the Maestro," Diana informed Ryu as she sized him up once again. "And you say that you know of him? Was he here?"
"The last I saw of him was three months ago," Ryu replied and Diana swore in response, before she placed a hand under her chin as she began to think. "But he has been elsewhere, hasn't he? If you are hunting him that means that he had destroyed the lives of others elsewhere."
"You have no idea. So many have been lost due to his interference. So many innocent never got to live out their lives because he wanted to see what would happen," Diana seethed with rage, before calming herself a moment later. "And I have been hunting him for a long time now, but he always seems one step ahead of me. Perhaps I cannot do this on my own anymore..."
She then gave Ryu a look, a look that was asking him if he wanted to help. Ryu glanced back at where Tiara was teaching the other ponies, not wanting to leave them. But then he thought about how close the hermit, Maestro, had come to destroying his and Tiara's life. How he cared nothing for even children. And according to the woman in front of him, he had done this to so many others.
"Very well. I will help you track him down," Ryu said, his words causing a smile to spread across Diana's face. "But on one condition."
Diana tilted her head in confusion, but the confusion melted away when Ryu slid a foot out and brought his arms up in a fighting stance. A smile spread across Diana's face as she reached back and detached her sword and shield. She laid them on the ground next to her before she too took up a fighting stance. The wind blew quietly next to the both of them before they both lunged forward towards the other, with both Ryu's fist and Diana's fist clashing against one another with such force that the ground shattered beneath them.
"We fight!"