Rainbow strummed her guitar idly, looking over by the docks. The wind lightly tousled her hair, it's fresh naturey crispness doing wonders as she breathed it in.
Then she remembered the docks again. This was- what, attempt number seven at building that thing? At this point it seemed the only thing Canterlot High School would be leaving behind is a camp curse- the forever unfinished docks, always doomed to be destroyed just as they're completed. Never harboring boats, but forever harboring a GRUDGE AGAINST ALL THE CAMPERS!
WoooOOOoooOOOoo~!
Plucking a few more notes, she focused her gaze on their resident magic expert. Sunset laid out a few planks of wood, measured twice, and cut once. The buzzsaw plowed through the boards like it was nothing, with a satisfying metallic "schwing!" signalling their finish. It was a perfect fit for the next few rows of the dock.
Rainbow frowned. Would ponies even have power tools? They had magic instead of electricity and stuff, right? And how was Sunset so good at them- she used to have hooves, right? And if she had hooves, how the heck would she even grab onto the handle, let alone press the power button at the same time. It's not like she had many opportunities to learn to use them in the first three years being here- she'd probably have just gotten someone else to do physical work for her. And AJ didn't ask for their help on the farm with repairs too much- she was just a smidge too stubborn for that. But back on topic- hands. Sunset was still pretty new to them.
For that matter, she was also pretty great at guitar. Not like she was anywhere near Rainbow's level of awesome- who could ever be THAT great at guitar? There was a reason Rainbow was the lead guitarist for the Rainbooms- and it wasn't just because she got the band together in the first place. Still, Sunset had skillz. And the "z" at the end was well earned.
Just how many things was Sunset Shimmer good at?
Rainbow looked around, and spotted the apple she was planning on eating during her break. An idea slowly formed in her head, and she grinned before picking it up- not too heavy, but weighty enough to work. Solid, and nearly perfectly round. She tossed it a couple times, and looked over at Sunset again.
Target acquired. Firing main salvo.
"Yo, Sunset! Think fast!" Rainbow shouted, before giving the apple the old fastball special. Sunset whirled around, with only seconds to react. Her instincts took over, as she widened her stancd and swung her palms like a samurai's blade, letting out a high pitched battle cry.
"HIIIIIIYAH!"
Rainbow stared in awe, as she saw the smoking halves of the apple bounce down the docks, before slowly rolling to a stop. It was cut neatly in half, the insides roasted from the friction of Sunset's masterful karate chop.
"Rainbow Dash! What the apple was that for?" Applejack shouted from the end of the dock, dropping her hammer and standing with her hands on her hips. Sunset stayed where she stood, just as confused. Rainbow smirked.
"You never told us you knew karate!" she shouted, pointing a finger at Sunset accusingly.
"Well, first of all it's Northern Shaolin Kung Fu," Sunset corrected, getting out of her stance, "And second- you never asked?"
Rainbow strode up to the rest of her friends, crossing her arms. She looked Sunset over- fit, but not as lean as Rainbow was. Shorter, now that she wasn't wearing those thick heeled boots all the time. Rainbow frowned.
"I don't buy it."
"What?" Sunset asked, her confusion etched clearly on her face.
"I don't buy it!" Rainbow said, and started counting off her fingers, "Okay, so you're apparently an expert on magic from your home world, you picked up friendship in just a few weeks after years of being- well, you know. No offense."
Sunset sucked in a deep breath, "None taken."
"Right- and not only that, but you secretly shred the guitar like a rockstar, AND you know karate?"
"Kung fu."
Rainbow waved her arms around, "Whatever! Just how many things are you good at?"
"I... I dunno?" Sunset shrugged, "I mean, I guess I've always been a quick study- back when I learned guitar from Flash, I picked up well enough what he was teaching. And with the martial arts, I could just kind of tell when my teacher thought my stance was wrong and how to correct it-"
Sunset suddenly stopped, and put a finger to her chin. She hummed, "Huh..."
"Something the matter?" Rarity piped up, walking over while Sunset slowly shook her head.
"Nothing, I just- I guess the magic from the geodes makes more sense in hindsight than I thought." Sunset said, before looking up and seeing her statement met with blank faces.
"Let me elaborate- I was always pretty good at reading people before- it's how I got away with stuff I wanted and figured out what buttons to press on people. Of course I don't do any of that stuff now, but still I probably shouldn't be surprised that I'm a straight up empath now."
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, "Does that make you a Jedi or something now?"
Sunset shook her head, "Nah, more like I can just see how everything works on like a base level. Like a coder and a program file."
With a smirk, Rainbow nudged Sunset in the side, "Alright, Mrs. Anderson."
Sunset rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Dash as she went back to the circular saw, "Shut up, Rainbow."
That's actually pretty clever. Hasbro better use that. Just think of all the fun she can have now that she figured it out!
What's with all the Legends of Everfree fics!? The movie won't be released for a coupla days yet.
Cannot resist:
7605988
7606072 ...So everyone went ahead and watched the leaked streams?
7606081
I mean I can't speak for everyone, but I'm still gonna support the official release too
I just kinda lack patience
7606072
Ah, I thought I heard someone playing my song...
I still say we should call Sunset's martial arts style 'Snorate' or 'Kung Snooze'...
EDIT: Shit; almost forgot:
s6.postimg.org/5pzpmopep/Pirate_Approved2.jpg
7605988 Legend of Everfree was recently aired in Brazil, so we were able to watch it before it was released.
7606092
Oh man those are some good ones XD
7606102 Barring the Portuguese speakers, everyone else wouldn't be able to understand what was going on.
7606090 Same here. Might as well be an early birthday gift or something. Would be nice if I didn't hafta celebrate on freakin' Sunday...
7606090
I feel perfectly justified in having watched the early release since I preordered the DVD a month ago and I've already paid my Netflix bill through the end of the year,
7606113 Yes, but the network the movie aired on had options for other languages, which included english. It was captured, and uploaded onto the internet.
This was a fun little fic for the night. .
Yeah, that's right Rainbow Dash, Sunset is just that awesome in every single way. Though that probably led to her arrogance and ego earlier in life (no offense) but she's over that by now, fortunately. Wonder how many other hidden talent's we'll see Sunset display eventually. Too bad its still only one movie a year (and not even any shorts this year ).
Sunset reminds me of a certain principal from a school that has a class dedicated to kill their teacher.
7606740 you mean that A-hole from Assassination Classroom?
7606968 Yup, him. I mean, the way Sunset described how she learned kung fu (and erverything else), reminds me so much of how the Principal learned martial arts, and other stuff, during the flashback of after his student's death.
Let not forget her motorcycle skillz.
Technically, it's known as 'muscle memory' - the ability to perfectly pick up new sets of movement skills just from observation. However, if I understand this story, you're suggesting that Sunset always had a degree of telepathy and/or empathy and this was an advantage that she unconsciously used to manipulate people.
That said... I wonder if she magically boosted that chop. If she's intercepted with a punch, the apple probably would have exploded!
That's kind of ironic, given Northern Shaolin Kung Fu was the basis for firebending on Avatar.
I literally just finished watching the movie on Netflix (no pirating involved other than watching the new episode!), and came right over here when saw this in the Popular box. Definitely amusing—you earned my upvote—but I feel like you could have done a little more. I'm not sure what, but... ah, screw it, nevermind.
Also: Sting like a Pink-IE? Sting like a Rari-TY? No?
7609162
Literally 100% the reason I picked it, I'm glad someone caught that!
7609688
And this is why you shouldn't come up with flash fiction titles at 3 in the morning, folks.
who taught her kung fu
Would it have hurt to give Sunset a better power than the only one that's completely useless in a crisis? Why didn't she get someone about fire? Or even teleporting? It's bothering me a lot more than it should that she's a low-rent Jean Grey.
7607199 Actually, muscle memory is when your muscles can get better at doing things thanks to repeated action, such as after practicing scales on a piano they will know better how to reach the keys without thinking.
Hold up....if she's been learning how to do stuff through some kind of subconscious passive telepathy, does that mean she could potentially learn the Ways of Pinkie?
7610217
Her sensei, obviously
7610710 who is her sensei!!!!!!!!!
7610753 The elderly chinese who runs the tea shop, of course. Who else?
"Float like a Fluttershy, Sting like a Pinkie...Pie"
7609721 Well, she doesn't remind me at all of an other character we know that knows Northern Shaolin Kung Fu (firebending) and was a tragic villain and then becomes a hero and gains more confidence
7610753 the person who taught her kung fu.
Flutter-she. Or that's what Siri calls her anyways.
7610753
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/kungfupanda/images/9/93/ShifuGreen.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20110408184551
"Float like a Fluttershy, sting like a tree."
This is the true definition of art.
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7609162
7615653
All the Avatar references!
7607199
The word you're thinking of is "Photoreflexive". I'm not sure if it's an actual term and condition since I haven't bothered to google it, but I do know that it's the genetic condition of a villain in Marvel-verse. Despite having no powers, he has the ability to perfectly mimic something he's seen done at least once. All fighting styles, music-playing, basically any action someone else can do that he's physically capable of. He's infamous for training all the mooks that villains use as henchmen. Goes by the name of 'The Taskmaster'.
Very dangerous and understated man, given he lives in a world full of beings who might as well be gods - and actual gods. But he can instantly absorb the skills of a grandmaster in basically anything, even if it took them their whole life to perfect said skills. Sadly, due to storytelling restrictions he doesn't seem like he uses what he's mimicked as a springboard to create his own unique style, seamlessly stitching together an array of combat skills that make perfect, full use of the human body with no drawbacks, openings, or wasted movement.
Is that something like what you were going for?
That... is a very believable explanation.
7667237 The fact that learning peoples moves replaces his own memory kinda sucks though, he can't learn to much at once.
That was fun. Also, I found the world from Dash's perspective quite amusing. Thank you for this.
7610236
Actually, Jean's more of a Telekinetic then a Telepath. So, Twilight's more of a Jean Grey rip off...
7667237
Considering this mercenary is making more money as a teacher then as a merc may have something to do with how little he's used as anything but a teacher.
Also, there's a huge difference between being able to mimic combat styles and understanding the moves enough to blend different styles together. The fact that he can fight as well as any of the non-powered heroes, and switch between heroes as quickly as he can makes him a devastating fighter. However, the fact that he's limited to fragile steel replicas of the various hero's weapons and lacks actual superhuman (or even near peak human) abilities limits how dangerous he is; to use characters from when I was actively collecting comics in the '90s, Cap can over power him and has a better shield, Wolverine's claws can cut through any of his weapons and are not imitated well, Black Knight's Ebony Blade would also not be slowed down by any of Taskmaster's weapons, Spidey's combat style requires superhuman agility and precognition making it absolutely uncopiable, and Thor (or other high strength characters) don't so much as have a high level of useful skill as simply being too damn strong for a mere human with poor quality gear to count as a threat...
stance
_____________
I actually have something similar, just not tailored to generally reading people. I have dubbed it "photo-fight" or kinetic sight memory. I see a physical action, best when large or repeated movements, and I can recall them idyllically and practice with that image in a constant reel in my head. Doesn't mean I can DO all I see, but it makes learning it MUCH simpler. However, I have noticed it does have a preference for combat related techniques, like a built in survival learning or similar. Thus the "photo-fight" joke name as a kid. Saw my dad use bow staff, met him outside one night after repeated watches and just did the movements and flowed into things by reorganizing the 'scenes' in my 'reel' to do more. Freaked him right out.
What is Mrs. Anderson a reference to?
9699557
The Matrix. The main character Neo's real name is Thomas Anderson.
Sunset having a super learning skill doesn't surprise me as much as it should.