The Muay Tiger

by Onomonopia

Final Exam

"Is that everyone?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Rainbow finished up her letter and handed it to the mail pony, who stuck it in her bag with a wave before taking off. "That should be letters to all my friends. I wish I could apologize in pony, but since I'm so far away and down a wing..."

"You do not need to explain yourself to me," Sagat replied. Then Sagat pulled out a letter of his own and handed it to another mail pony, who looked at the address with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and taking off. "Now come, there is somewhere we must go."

"Oh? And where's that?"

"Away from here."

"And what was in that letter?"

"None of your concern."

Rainbow rolled her eyes at Sagat's usual tact before following the tiger out of the building. When the pair headed for the edge of Ponyville she wasn't surprised, but when Sagat took a turn and started heading for a place that was all too familiar to Rainbow did the mare start to wonder what was Sagat's plan. They headed through the Everfree forest, not bothered once by the animals inside. Dash assumed they were all scared of Sagat. She asked him a few times where they were going, but aside from a look he said nothing. The pair crossed a rickety bridge to a castle Dash knew all too well. A castle that has been a part of her history. Sagat only came to a stop once they were in the main hall of the castle, turning to face her.

"What are we doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because this is where it all began for you. This is where you took your first steps to being a true fighter," Sagat replied. Dash raised an eyebrow at him, wondering how he could know that. "Applejack told me. This is where you battled Nightmare Moon. This is where you unlocked your harmony. This...is where you first became strong."

"You're right...this is where it happened," Dash said. She then smiled and looked around at the castle, a smile crossing her face. "Man, that was so long ago. What happened to me...to us?"

"Life went on. You grew and regressed. Your friends moved on with their lives. You all made choices," Sagat explained. Dash smirked at him but Sagat's face didn't change. "But that is why I have brought you back here. To where you overcame your first and greatest challenge. When you first overcame yourself. The place where you took your first step."

"And what have you brought me here to do?" Rainbow asked. Sagat's response was, as she expected, to take up his fighting stance.

"I have brought you to the beginning of your journey to end it," Sagat replied. "This is your final test. Show me what you have learned under my tutelage. Your skill, your technique...and your very soul. Show me how much you have grown...if you have grown at all, kitten."

Rainbow Dash smirked before she cracked her neck, bouncing on her hooves a few times before she took up her own fighting stance and flashed a dangerous look towards Sagat. The two stared each other down as thunder flashed in the sky, the wind starting to pick up and the smell of rain hung in the air.

"BEGIN!"

Sagat snapped forward with a speed Rainbow didn't know he was capable of and threw a blazing fist right at her head. Rainbow snapped to the side and barely managed to get out of the way before hurling a kick of her own at Sagat's head. Sagat snapped his other arm around and caught the kick in his hand, grabbing hold of Rainbow's leg and preparing to throw her. She brought her other leg up and kicked Sagat's fingers, getting him to release his grip and allow Dash to roll back.

She rolled to her hooves and hurled a tiger shot towards Sagat, who crossed his arms and took the blast head on. The moment the attack ceased he dashed forward again, hurling kicks that sliced through the air at Dash. Knowing that she couldn't get away, Rainbow Dash decided to get closer. She ducked the first kick and used both arms to block the second, gritting her teeth as pain shot through her body and she was sent skidding backwards.

The third kick was Sagat's first mistake. Dash leapt over the kick, landed on Sagat's leg and kicked off towards the tiger, whose eye widened as he realized her plan just in time to take a kick to the face. Sagat staggered back and threw out a tiger shot to force distance, but Dash slid under it and threw out another kick that caught Sagat in the hip. His force of will prevented him from falling to a knee, but he still staggered slightly. Rainbow, smelling blood, when in too quickly and right into Sagat's reach.

Sagat threw a quick punch that tapped Dash on the nose. While the blow barely did any damage, it did give her a moment to pause. And that moment was all Sagat needed. A knee strike came thundering up and caught Dash square in the gut, knocking the wind and soul out of Dash as she was sent tumbling across the castle floor. She shakily rose to her hooves, only to see that Sagat was already on her, throwing out another knee.

Dash's speed saved her and she just barely managed to roll out of the way in time. But she didn't just roll, she stuck out a hoof and caught Sagat in the side of the knee. Sagat snarled as he stumbled, driving the knee he had been going to attack with through the wall of the castle. The stone was obliterated by the attack, sending the wall crumbling down. But when Sagat turned to face Rainbow, she was black, blue and blood along his knee.

Sagat unleashed his tiger shots in full force, throwing them both high and low to force Rainbow Dash to adapt on the fly to where he was going to throw them. She quickly noticed that his low shots took longer for him to recover from than his high ones, so she just had to wait for the right moment. He crouched low and brought his arms back, telling her this was her chance. So Rainbow took to the sky, flipping and preparing to strike. Then she noticed that Sagat had a smile on his face. And he brought back a fist.

"Nice try. TIGER UPPERCUT!" Sagat roared. His arm exploded upwards with the roar of a tiger...only to find that he completely missed.

What Dash had done, when she realized that Sagat was preparing his uppercut, was twist her body, stick out a leg, angle herself towards the ground and divekick downwards to cut her jump arc early. And Sagat, who had been going for more damage, had chosen a short reach uppercut, meaning that he just barely missed her. And now he was open and vulnerable for a counter attack.

"Tiger...RAMPAGE!" Rainbow roared. She threw out a knee of her own, catching Sagat right in his chest. She then threw her hooves together and fired off a tiger shot at point blank, hurling Sagat through one of the castle walls and into the throne room, where he coughed up some blood as he struggled to get back up to his feet. Rainbow dashed into the room and skidded to a halt across from him, giving him a chance to get back up.

"Not yet...I'm not done yet," Sagat spat. He crossed his arms and then threw them out, a red and orange explosion coming off of him. "Prepare!"

Rainbow threw her arms back and hurled a tiger shot towards Sagat and he did the same, but this time there was a fire coming off of him Rainbow had never seen before.

"TIGER CANNON!"

His cannon tore through Rainbow's tiger shot, ripping it apart and blazing towards her without stopping. She had just enough time to brace herself before the cannon caught her, exploding with enough force to hurl her through the doors of the castle and down the stairs to the main hall. She wheezed in pain as she got back up, never taking her eyes off of Sagat as he walked back out.

"CANNON!" he roared again. Another massive blast of fire came barreling towards her, but she had noticed the longer charge up when he fired. The moment he made the motion, Rainbow was already moving. Sagat slammed a foot down to brace himself from the attack, only to look up to see that Rainbow had jumped over the cannon. A thin smile crossed his face before he took a hoof to the face, staggering him and giving Dash the opening she needed.

"My turn..."

Dash hurled a punch into Sagat's stomach, a knee into his thig, a kick into his jaw and a backflip kick to knock him into the air. She then channeled all of her power into her arms before hurling them both forward with an explosion of rainbow energy. "TIGER ERUPTION!"

The explosion knocked out the pillars in the room, decimated the stairs, tore down any of the banners that were still standing and created a rainbow light that could be seen for miles. Rainbow then let out a sigh as she lowered her arms, able to feel the exhaustion that was burning through her. The smoke cleared and she saw Sagat laying on the ground, softly breathing.

"It's...over..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Indeed. You are truly spectacular," Sagat agreed. He fought to sit up, a smirk crossing his face as he looked over at Rainbow. "You have come such a long way. You are no longer the mewling kitten that I dragged into that jungle. Now you are a proud and roaring tiger. You have overcome your ego, your desire for vengeance and your own inability to believe that you could grow. I am proud."

"Thank you, Master Sagat," Rainbow said with a bow. Then a smile crossed her face. "So by beating your final trial, does that mean I finally get a crack at Zangief?"

"Beating my trial? I did not say this trial was over," Sagat replied. Rainbow raised an eyebrow as Sagat rose to his feet, where he then crossed his arms. "I said that I was proud of you for all you have overcome. But you have not overcome everything. There is still one last challenge for you."

"And what would that be?" Rainbow asked. Then her soul went cold as she noticed something. The aura that was surrounding Sagat. An aura that she hadn't seen in so longer...and one that shook her to her core.

Sagat then threw out his arms was a roar...and was consumed by the Satsui no Hado. His body erupted in a flash of purple and red light, before he lifted his head to glare at her, his one eye glowing red. He then slammed his foot down, lifted one arm over his head and placed the other at knee level, with a look of fury Rainbow had never seen on him.

"MESSATSU!"

Comments

[badninja]

Cue this song.

[NotreallyaBrony]

Evil Sagat or Shin Sagat?

[ThrowingPotato]

Shin Sagat