The Muay Tiger

by Onomonopia

Favor

Sagat stared up at the starry sky, his eternal frown on his face. He had failed. Or, at the very least, he was close to failing. Not himself, but Rainbow Dash. She was arrogant. Incredibly so. When he had first been called to Equestria, he thought he was being brought there to repair a broken bird. Not a cocky one.

He turned and looked down the hill towards the small clearing where Rainbow Dash slept. Even in her sleep he could see her limbs twitching, throwing punches, kicks and blocking. And all the while the same smile plastered her face. A smile of strength. A smile of arrogance. A smile he knew all too well. This would not be a problem he would be able to solve on his own. She barely listened to him now. And she was growing stronger at an alarming rate. It wouldn't be long until she reached the peak of the tiger style...and then hungered for more.

There was no denying her skill. She was one of the greatest fighters he had ever met. It was her soul that concerned him. Sagat had never been one skilled in mending emotional wounds. The one time he had tried to make up for what he had done, he had accidentally created the fighting failure that was Dan Hibiki. And Dash would only become a stronger and more arrogant version of him. Sagat could not allow that. But he would need help. He would need...

"GYAH!"

Sagat turned to his right just in time to see a mass of Russian fall past him, faceplanting into the ground at his feet. Sagat looked up in time to see a green portal close, with the snickering face of some bug creature vanishing with it. Within a moment Zangief hopped back up to his feet, his eternal smile on his face as he looked into Sagat's eye. Sagat smirked at that thought. Zangief was one of the few men in the world that could see eye to eye with him.

"Sagat, my sour old friend, it has been too long!" Zangief laughed as he went to pull Sagat into a hug. Sagat stepped back out of range, having been caught in a few of Zangief's hugs before. He knew what the Red Cyclone was capable of. "i barely got a chance to see you the first time you came to Equestria! And now it has been what, three months since we last met?"

"Forgive me for my cold demeanor, but I have been busy with your...problem," Sagat replied, motioning to Rainbow Dash.

"I see! Well you are clearly making good progress, as I have only heard positive things about her!" Zangief replied. "She took first at the underground tournament, then first again at the Gardens, before managing to take down the griffon prince! No small feat! Only I have managed to defeat them all, but I had both arms and legs chained behind my back! Not to take away anything from your student. She has grown fast in such a short time."

"Too fast, if you ask me," Sagat muttered, causing Zangief's smile to fall.

"Come, tell me your troubles. You would not summon me out to the middle of nowhere at this time of night for no reason," Zangief said.

"Her arrogance is astounding, more so than her physical capabilities," Sagat said. "She believes herself to be invincible and no longer takes my training seriously. Which is fair, as there is not much more I can teach her about martial arts, but her cockiness will be her undoing. But what I fear the most is her hunger for more power. There is only one thing she will find going down that path."

"The Satsui no Hado," Zangief whispered.

"It is my fault. I thought that she was a bested warrior in need of strength and purpose. It was only after my strongest techniques and conquered her demon that I realized I should have worked more on her soul than her body. Truly I am a terrible teacher," Sagat smirked.

"Do not be so hard on yourself, I have played a part in her arrogance as well," Zangief admitted with a smile. "Perhaps I should have consoled her more or maybe gone easier on her. Crushing her so many times could not have been good for her spirit."

"Since when do you ever go easy on a foe? You're just as much of a battle fiend as Ryu or myself. Actually, that is one of the reasons I asked you here," Sagat said. Zangief raised an eyebrow at the reply, but his smile grew wider in anticipation. "I cannot be the one to topple her throne. If I do, she will simply resent me and refuse to listen to anything else I try to teach her. But since she already resents you..."

"Sagat my friend, you wound me. Do you truly believe that I would use all of my power upon a former Ambassador that has confidence issues?" Zangief asked. Sagat gave him a look and Zangief smiled. "I jest comrade, I understand what you are trying to say. You need someone that isn't you to take her down a peg, show her that being physically the best is not always enough to guarantee victory. That there is always someone better. Very well. Today, I shall best her."

"Zangief my friend, you misunderstand me. I do not want you to best her," Sagat replied with a wicked smile.

"I want you to crush her."

XXXXXXXX

"Wake up!"

Rainbow snapped to her senses just in time to raise her forehooves to block a kick from Sagat. The moment his sneak attack was ruined she flipped onto her hooves and took up a fighting stance, blinking her eyes quickly to clear the sleep from them before she focused on Sagat. The seven foot tall, monster of a man was glaring down at her, what else was knew, but there was something different about him. Something she couldn't place.

"You are awake. Good. Today you will be facing an opponent," Sagat said. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, surprised this was what he was greeting her with. She had gotten used to fighting all sorts of foes that Sagat deemed would be good opponents for her, but there was something off in his tone.

"Fine with me, it will be a good way to wake up," Rainbow smirked, throwing a few punches before creating a tiger shot that blew away the campfire. "So who's the lucky stiff? You got another zebra for me to fight or are you actually going to let me fight you today? With how strong I am now, I think I'm good enough to take you on."

"Perhaps you are. But the foe you will be facing is not me. I told you that I would help you to conquer your demons. Well you have conquered one of them. Now for the other."

Rainbow didn't have a moment to respond. The moment Sagat was done speaking a mass of muscle fell from the sky and crashed into the ground in front of her, forcing her to cover her eyes for a moment. Yet when she could see, her eyes widened at the foe who stood before her.

"AHAHAHA! Hell there, little sparrow! It has been a while, has it not?" Zangief asked with his usual laugh. Rainbow couldn't believe this was happening. Six months ago she had thought she would never fight again. Now she was standing before the one foe she could never fell. But she felt no fear for the Russian who stood before her. In fact, she had gotten tired of waiting to face him. A wicked smile crossed her face as she glanced down at her hoof, which burned with a rainbow fire, telling her that she could win.

"Yeah, it's been a while. And I hope you've enjoyed keeping my throne warm for me, because today, I'm taking it back," Rainbow snarled, taking up a fighting stance. "And don't think for a moment I'm the same fool you fought months ago. I'm stronger, I'm tougher and I've done nothing but win since I've come back. Today is the day that you finally fall, big man. And when the rest of world feels the earth shake when you fall, they will know that my dream, my dream of crushing you, has finally come true."

"I am glad to see that you still dream. It is good to have aspirations in life. But all dreams must be tempered with reality, or else they lead only to ruin. So today, little sparrow...I shall be your reality check." Zangief then threw his arms out to the side, creating a blast of wind so powerful that Rainbow Dash was nearly blown away by the force. But that wasn't what scared her. What scared her was Zangief's face. For, for the first time since she had met him, she saw a different expression on his face. Zangief wasn't smiling. He was dead serious.

"Time to wake up."

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Ooh boy. Rainbow is in for a world-class "reality check"...

[alfonso_rd_33]

Here comes Zangief again... Plowing thru the land crushing every wing...

[Venerable Ro]

Ah, it is time for Russian serious business.

Luckily, Sagat hasn't taught Rainbow any of the methods of limit removal, or she'd probably end up killing herself here.

She may still manage it anyway, thru frenzied hatred-of-superior. She won't take this lesson well.

[Norwegian boy]

I really hope that Zangief kick her ass to the moon.

[Hop Brand]

Great, another story that assumes that RD's entire character is being a carbon-copy of Sonic the Hedgehog and nothing else... just great... and of course someone has to beat the to **** outta her to "teach her a lesson." The only reason I'm following this story at this point is for the interaction between Rainbow and Sagat.

[AMuffinlover]

As much as I love RD as the protagonist, I'm glad this is happening so early rather than becoming her downfall towards the end.

[LosticshyPam]

Good!