Teacher
"So, this is what you setting up when you sent me to find that spider being," Ryu grunted as he deflected a shot from Zecora with the back of his gloved hand, making sure to use the padding to keep the zebras shots from numbing his hand. "You wanted to see if I had the resolve to make it to this place."
"You are strong, that much is true, by I can sense a good deal of quit in you," Zecora informed Ryu as she somersaulted back to avoid a kick aimed at her head. She landed on her hind hooves before vaulting herself onto one of the chamber walls, which she then kicked off of and thrust a leg at Ryu's chest. Not wanting to lose feeling in his body, Ryu dove to the side and rolled up in time to see Zecora land as graceful as a feather on the floor.
"I do not know what you are speaking of. I never give in," Ryu snarled before closing the distance between the two, throwing out short but powerful punches when he got within range. Yet despite his size, strength and reach, Ryu was unable to land a single blow on Zecora, who lightly swatted away his blows as if she was brushing away insects. "I have given everything to the fight, to improving myself. And I have never given up!"
Ryu swung his fist down towards the top of her head, but once again Zecora simply spun to the side to avoid the blow. She kicked Ryu in the back of the knee with hardly any power, but Ryu seethed as he lost all feeling from his knee down. His leg gave out and he had to catch himself with his hand to keep from falling over. He gritted his teeth as he prepared himself for the next strike, but instead of pressing her attack Zecora simply swayed in place behind Ryu.
"Never given up? Never given in? Ryu, you have few vices, but I did not know that lying was one of you sins," Zecora said with a shake of her head. Ryu growled in reply before driving himself to his feet, balancing on the on leg he could still feel. "There is no shame in admitting defeat. In admitting that you have failed. That you have succumbed."
"Your words are meant to distract me. I know that I have never surrendered in my life," Ryu roared as he placed his arms by his side and began to charge his energy. "No matter how powerful my opponent, no matter how bleak the outcome of the fight looked, I never gave in!" he bellowed as his hadouken pulsed with a purple light.
"Then what would you call that fight with Rainbow Dash?"
The blow created from Zecora's words were far more powerful than Ryu could have ever believed and they struck him with such force that his arms fell to the side, the power of his hadouken dissipating. Ryu opened his mouth as he tried to think of an answer, but Zecora's words rang true. In the moment he spent trying to figure out an answer to her question, Zecora stepped forward and drove her hooves into his shoulders and body. Ryu let out a small cough before he collapsed to the ground, unable to feel most of his body.
"I would call it giving in. I would call it surrendering. Is that not what you did with that dark power? You gave into the sin," Zecora said in a voice as if she was scolding the warrior, who said nothing as he felt anger and rage coursing through his veins. "I had thought that such a power was curse, one of which that you sought to overcome. But if you willing gave into that power just to win...I wonder what your master would have done?"
At the mention of Gouken, Ryu's eyes blazed to life. He roared with pain and fury as he slammed his fist into the floor, forcing himself to move despite barely being able to feel anything. He was halfway back up to his feet before he realized that traces of red energy were starting to radiate from his body, while the ground beneath his fist had been pulverized by his power. He gritted his teeth in defeat as he realized that Zecora had been proven right twice, leaving Ryu to rest upon his knees while hanging his head.
"You are victorious," Ryu said in a whisper that was barely audible. "You have bested me in more ways than one today. I am not fit to be taught by you."
"I am not the one that would be instructing. It is my master who would be conducting. But I cannot allow you to see them as you are. In order to win you are willing to go too far," Zecora stated with what sounded like traces of venom in her voice. "On such an innocent you would use this power and now in her bed she cowers. You took more than her wing that day...and I am still deciding if I should make you pay."
"...if you so chose to, I would not resist," Ryu whispered in reply.
"Please, wait!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed before she rushed between the zebra and the unmoving Ryu, who kept his head bowed. "It's not entirely Ryu's fault! That dark power is trying to consume him, is trying constantly to destroy his soul! He can fight it off most of the time, but when he was fighting Dash he...he did not succumb willing. He did it because Dash insulted the only person that truly loved him. I'm not saying what he did was okay, but...please, he's not evil. He's in pain."
Zecora narrowed her eyes for a moment, Tiara's words causing her to think very carefully about her next action. She could see both concern and fear in the filly's eyes, while a quick glance at Ryu showed that he was simply awaiting her decision. Zecora then scowled as she found herself coming to a conclusion she did not like.
"I have taken what this filly has said to heart and perhaps I will not rip you apart," Zecora decided, causing a smile to slowly spread across Tiara's face while Ryu remained unmoved. "But I must now ask that you depart. When I first met you I believed you a warrior struggling with a curse within. Now I see that it is a power of which you'd willingly give in. Such evil desires have no right to be at this place. Begone from my sight and be thankful for my grace."
"Hold, my student."
All eyes widened at the sudden voice that spoke in the room, with even Ryu's eyes snapping open in shock. The voice was ancient, powerful and held within it a regality that none of them would dare to oppose. Zecora turned around as the walls of the room began to vanish into thin air, revealing that the room that they had been standing upon was now thousands of feet in the air. Tiara, Filthy and Ryu looked around with wide eyes as they found the new location to be atop a massive mountain, with the summit resting high above the clouds.
Then the clouds burst apart as a colossal beast emerged from beneath them, a beast that was akin to a serpent of the purest azure coiling around the mountain top. It came to a stop with its face resting over the group, staring down at them with twin lavender eyes that held wisdom and knowledge within them that exceeded any other being in the world. A stream of cerulean hair floated in the breeze with the spikes and scales on its entire body were as blue as the sea. It was colossal in size, with it's head larger than the room that they were standing in. Ryu wondered if it's entire body was coiled around the mountain at that moment.
"By the heavens above...I've seen a few dragons in my life, but none like this," Filthy Rich whispered with nothing but awe in his voice. Neither Ryu nor Diamond Tiara could find the strength to say anything in the face of such a being, while Zecora turned around to face the dragon with a humble look upon her face.
"Master Ra-Lor. I am pleased to see that continue to soar," Zecora greeted with a deep bow.
"And I am glad to see that you have not lost an ounce of your skill. Your strikes are as precise as ever," the dragon replied in a voice that boomed over the group while she slightly bowed her head to her student. She then turned her eyes upon the ponies and Ryu, who felt the crushing weight of her presence upon them. "So you are the warrior called Ryu. The one that holds within him a power of the darkest intent."
"I...I am," Ryu barely managed to speak before he bowed his head to the dragon. "And you...are the one that I have sought. The one that can help me overcome that same darkness."
"Hmm," Ra-Lor grunted in reply before turning her gaze upon the filly and her father, both of whom were holding each other tight for comfort. "It has been many ages since I have seen ponies seek me out. Most consider me to be a legend. Yet it is clear that neither of you are fighters. Why are you here?"
"Because...because Ryu is my friend and I promised that I would journey with him until he overcame his demons," Filthy spoke in a very timid voice. "I owe him that and so much more."
"Ah yes, ponies always did value friendship above all else. It is an admirable quality," Ra-Lor replied before turning her gaze upon Ryu once more, who had yet to lift his head. "But now I ask you the same question. Why have you sought me out, holder of the Dark Hado?"
"Because I wish to be rid of this dark power within me," Ryu explained in a near whisper, but his voice grew stronger with every word. "Because I do not wish to succumb to the darkness within me! Because I want to be the warrior that Gouken always saw within me, not the demon that he feared I would become!"
"I do not believe you." Ryu staggered back as if the dragon had shot him in the chest. "You say that you wish to be rid of the darkness, yet when you need it most you do not push it away. You call upon its power in battle, as you were preparing to do when you fought my student. It is your safety, your comfort. Knowing that a power that no one can best lies within you allows you to face any challenge without fear. Because you know if all else fails, the dark power will not."
"That...that is not..." Ryu tried to argue, but his voice failed him as he thought over her words.' Is she right? Am I secretly glad that this dark power rests within me? That I hold within the power to overcome any foe by relying on its darkness?'
"If you seek to be the best fighter in the world Ryu, as you claim you do, then give into its power and there will be none that can best you," Ra-Lor continued. "Because with it's power you will be able to destroy all that are-"
"NO!" Ryu roared as he found his strength, causing all to gasp as he cut off the dragon. He then glared up at her with flame filled eyes, before slowly bowing down until he was on all fours and his head was touching the ground. "I do not seek to destroy my foes or my own soul. I seek the power to win...not the power to destroy. I seek to become the best I can be through my own skill, not through a dark power that is not my own."
"But that power is yours. It is the savagery and desire to destroy that rests within your heart," the dragon master informed Ryu. "If you allowed it to consume you, you would reach your true potential. A warrior that can strike down all who stand before him."
"...I do not wish to hurt others in the way I do when I am under the Dark Hado's influence. I want to believe...I have to believe that I am more than the desire for power. That I am more than the darkness wishes me to be," Ryu whispered, with only Ra-Lor able to hear his words. "So I ask of you-no, BEG of you, teach me how to overcome this darkness. Help to reach a level beyond the Satsui no Hado that is found through the teachings of my master."
"...I can teach you, Ryu. But I tell you now that even with all of your skill and all of your potential, you will never reach your true potential unless you allow the Dark Hado to take over," she replied with a shake of her massive head. "Even if you were to achieve an incredible power, the darkness within you will still be stronger. Because that is what you are destined to be. A warrior of darkness and-"
"No. I cannot believe that is me," Ryu replied as he lifted his head once more, locking eyes with Ra-Lor so that she could see into his very soul. "I will find a way to surpass the darkness within me. I will become a warrior who transcends the Satsui no Hado without giving in. I will reach another destiny."
Ra-Lor narrowed her eyes at the warrior that bowed before her, lost in her own thoughts. She could see the desire to be more in his eyes, eyes that shone with a strength she had never seen within another fighter before. But she could also see the darkness behind those eyes, the evil power that was just waiting for its chance to escape. And she saw the two halves of Ryu constantly clashing within in a constant battle to decide the mans fate. A battle that she could not see an outcome to. The desire to win...versus the instinct to destroy.
"I will train you, Ryu," she stated at last, causing Ryu to look visibly surprised by her words. "If there is a chance that I can steer you from this path of darkness that you seem to be on then I will do all in my power to do so. But there is a storm in you Ryu, a storm that has the potential to destroy all in its path. A storm that threatens to consume all. What you do with this storm...only time will tell."
"Then when do we begin?" Ryu asked.
"We begin now."
And everything went white.
Stats
Page generated in 0.023 seconds
Total duration
998 users online
53,046 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I know Zecora has every right to be pissed off, but seriously she should have been doing a lot more too keep Rainbow Dash's ego in check. Right now I am not feeling that sorry for Rainbow Dash, she brought about what happened to her all by herself. So I am calling a lot of bull on Zecora in this chapter if she was truly Rainbow Dash's friend she would have been working on her ego for the past three years.
And yet he still won't be able to beat Oro
This chapter is glorious. Keep it up
7542718
Agreed.
Rainbow Dash crossed a lot of lines with what she did and yet Ryu is catching all of the flak for it when she egged him on with things she shouldn't have said to practically anyone.
Huh...Never thought Zecora would be the type to hold a grudge
At least she was gracious enough to hear Diamond Tiara out.
7542732 Ha! I forgot about that guy
Unfortunately, all I can say is...
yeah... I gotta call bull on Ra-Lor, yes the dark hadou is raw emotion, in Ryu case, his desire to prove himself, the key word is Raw, wanting to suceed is natural and necessary for any sentient species, but unrestricted emotion is always negative.
As for ponies, im convinced that they are unable to understand the possibility of using "negative" estimulation for a "positive" outcome.
Unless Rainbow Dash is called out on her egging Ryu on and insulting him the way she did, I'm going to be very disappointed with this chapter.
7542718
I am going to have to agree. I am going to be very disappointed if rainbow does not understand the consequences of her ego. I absolutely have no sympathy for her at the moment.
Wow lot of people hating on Rainbow. In my opinion she deserved an ass kicking but not what happened to her. I mean come on people no matter what someone says to you it doesn't usually justify getting a limb torn off.
7542933
No one is hating on RD.
We're upset that people, other than Diamond Tiara, seem to be treating Ryu like he's 100% the villain when the only reason he went like that was because Rainbow Dash egged him on by saying things she shouldn't have to anyone, regardless of whether or not said people have an incredibly dark power within them.
It would take a princess to explain to the rainbow that at the level of the fight, death or crippling is a very real possibility. Emotions run high. She pushed and paid. Now it's rebuild or sink. Rainbow thought she was untouchable. A pony after all.
Rainbow also thought she was a street fighter, not a combatant in killer instinct or mortal kombat. Oops.
7542933
Also it has been implied that Zecora is stronger the Ryu. Look back at their first meeting, Ryu knows Zecora threw their match. Diamond Tiara pointed out earlier that Rainbow Dash has become single minded about being the one to beat Zangief.
What I believe is that Zecora was being reckless and instead of stepping up and either fighting Zangief or training Rainbow Dash. If she had done either this could have gone differently but now she is blindly acting out at her supposed friend getting a deliberating injury. My issue is that Zecora is projecting her anger at her failure onto Ryu instead of herself. The blame can be spread pretty evenly around here; Rainbow Dash from her stupid taunts, Ryu for giving into the Dark Hadou, and Zecora for not stepping up and either fighting Zangief or training Rainbow Dash.
people do know that taunting and angering an opponent in a fight is a legit way to fight because it tends to make them angry and make more mistakes. Rainbow just did it to the wrong guy she knows nothing about Ryu if she knew what his master meant to him she probably would not have pushed so hard
7543063
Zecora has fought Gief in the past. She lost.
ok under no circumstances can rainbow dash be called an innocent. her attitude in combat was disgraceful to pretty much any martial arts code except maybe the very dark hadou school ryu used. she was self righteous, ignorant and dishonorable to herself and her opponent, what happened to her was a tragedy but no competent master of the martial arts would call her innocent in this sense.
7542732 this can't legitimately be anywhere near when ryu fought oro as he was an entirely different person at the time.
7543125 in martial arts, any martial arts that is too insult the opponent is one thing but to directly insult there teacher isn't something that can be overlooked it disgraces both fighters to do so.
7543224 rainbow dash isn't a martial artist she is just a fighter and athlete so she would not know that
7543342 these types of tournaments wouldn't allow her in if she didn,t hell zangief knows these things and he trained to wrestle fighting bears.
I'm surprised Rainbow didn't die because of her ego.
Getting trained by a dragon? Now that's cool.
7543218 I know, from what it seems to be leading up to, this is pre-denjin Ryu. Either this is before V or before III as Ryu can't even parry.
7543530
She was pretty insulting and cocky in this story. She didn't deserve to have a wing torn off, but you can't join a world class fighting tournament like that without being aware of the possibility of permanent injury.
7543616 That's true. What's the use of all that speed if she can't take a hit... or three? Likewise, what's the use of power if one cannot dodge or counter your opponent's blows?
7543342 She's not a martial artist, she's a fighter? Define the difference, and even if you can, I have one trump card that will ensure I win this internet debate.
7542857 I agree. Rainbow better get some consequences for what she did. She is the best PONY, not the best fighter period. There will always be someone better than you. It's a fact of life.
7543928 in my opinion a martial artist follows a philosophy, while Rainbow just learned to fight to soothe her own ego and enhance her flying ability
7543182
Then either Rainbow Dash has defeated Zecora or they have never faught. Either way nopony ever reigned in Rainbow Dash's more extreme personality quirks. Yes I know the ponies have issues with the Changeling's but Rainbow Dash was far to hostile in her actions displayed so far in this story. What I am addressing is the fact that Zecora has been seemingly sitting on her haunches while Rainbow Dash took massive levels in jerk. Not she may not know all the facts yet, but she is assigning full blame on Ryu when she should have looked at Rainbow Dash's actions as well.
7544005 Understandable, but you didn't take into account my trump card, the one thing that makes any and all logic in this debate obsolete!....Do you want to know what it is? (Please ask what it is)
7544051 why not I'm bored and more importantly I may learn something
7544001 Indeed. I'm sorry that Rainbow Dash lost her wing, but I can't say I blame Ryu fully for trying to Shun Goku Satsu her. You just don't insult someone's father (or father figure). You just don't.
Also, I think part of what is fueling Zecora's reaction and focus on Ryu at the moment is that the Satsui no Hado scared the everloving crap out of her.
7544068 Well, you see, this is the internet. Order has no place here, only chaos.
orig03.deviantart.net/5e79/f/2013/251/3/c/welcome_to_the_internet_by_chibishadow8-d6lkfaf.png
7544077 yes but even in chaos there is order
7544151 Yeah, yeah, to light a candle is to cast a shadow, and all that, blah blah. Order is obliterated the moment it comes into existence here.
7544041
Zecora is not Rainbow's mother or mentor. She has her own life and problems, not to mention that Zecora is still learning herself. She can't babysit all of the ponies. As for Dash, with her constant losing to Gief, plus no Twilight to rein her in, she's come to believe she is the only one who can beat Gief. If she doesn't do it, the she'll never believe herself to be the best. Then Ryu shows up.
7544184
I see where you are coming from with Zecora in this story. My thought line is that if I saw a friend descending into what is looking to be self destructive line I would try and talk to them. It seems like she has had no serious competition to being number two, so Rainbow Dash fell into the trap of it all rests on me. Guess I will get too see how Rainbow Dash hopefully can grow from this experience as the story progresses.
I haven't read all your stories but is the Silver mare still making appearances ?
7546080
That would be a spoiler.
Does anyone realized that the same thing happened to Sagat?
7544219
I would like that too, but considering how Ryu already kicked her a$$ and is now getting a power boosting training while RD is a cripple, I don't see a way of this happening.
The only option I see is if the evil guy who follows Ryu around decides to turn RD into the Dark side to egg Ryu, but that would be kicking a dead horse on the ground by making RD even more unlikable .
Pay for what? The arrogant rainbow dash finally getting her teeth kicked in because she was too cocky and pushed someone too far?