A combination of the chirping of the birds outside along with the rays of the sun that beamed down upon the small filly awoke her, a smile crossing her face as she cracked an eye open to see that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Diamond Tiara slowly pushed herself off of her bed before stretching her back, wincing slightly when she heard it pop once or twice.
"Ah, looks like today is going to be a great day," she muttered to herself. "And today is the day that I'm going to learn how to throw one of those hadoukens. Now then, were is my-?" Tiara glanced towards the corner where Ryu had been sleeping the night before, but to her surprise the corner was vacant of warriors. For a brief moment panic crossed her mind, but then she spied Ryu's bag and she placed a hoof to her heart.
"Well, he couldn't have gone far," Tiara said as she tiphoofed past her sleeping parents to the door to the carriage, gently pushing to door open and slipping outside. "Hey guys. Any of you see the human that was supposed to be in here?" she asked the team of ponies that pulled the carriage.
"Yeah, we saw him nearly two hours ago," the lead replied, causing Tiara to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "He left right when the sun was starting to rise. He seemed to be heading towards the waterfalls over that a way." The pony pointed to where the water came crashing down from the lakes and rivers above to the cliffs below, shaking slightly as he did so. "I don't know what he wants over there, but that's definitely where he was heading."
Tiara followed off after where the stallion had pointed, keeping a careful eye on her hooves to make sure that she didn't misstep. 'This place is kinda narrow and I don't want to fall off here,' she realized as she peeked over the edge next to her, gulping down her fear when she saw how far of a drop she had. She felt a chill run up her leg as she stepped down into a puddle of water, instinctively leaping back as the cold seeped into her hoof.
'What the heck does Ryu want over here anyway? Maybe he's finally decided to take a bath, Faust knows he needs one.' Tiara followed along to small path, reaching an area that took her breath away. It was a large half circle, with a lake in the center that was filled by five separate waterfalls that poured into its basin. Seven rainbows shined in the sky around the base of the waterfalls, but the beauty of the landscape was lost on the mare when she found her missing human...underneath one of the waterfalls.
"Ryu?" she asked with more disbelief than anything. Ryu was beneath the largest waterfall, eyes closed and head bowed slightly. His legs were bent to where he was somewhat crouching, while both arms were tucked in close to his chest. Tiara winced as the water thundered down onto his body, able to feel the bite of the cold from where she stood. But if Ryu felt the pounding of the water or the sting of the cold, he showed no outward sign.
"Hey Ryu, what are you doing? That looks really stupid...and cold," Tiara pointed out to the warrior as she rubbed her arms, but Ryu did not budge an inch. "Ryu, can you hear me? I thought you were supposed to be training me this morning, not freezing yourself to death."
Ryu remained silent, leaving Tiara to sigh as she glanced around. She sat down on the only dry spot she could find and watched the fish in the lake dart around. When she got bored of that she leaned back and watched the clouds in the sky move. Eventually she grew bored of that as well and started to practice trying to throw fireballs again.
"Why do you seek the power of hado?" Ryu asked, startling Tiara slightly as she had given up on him talking to her. She turned her head over at Ryu, who seemed as unmoved as before.
"Hado? Is that what you call your fighting style?" she asked him, but Ryu did not answer. "Because from what little I've seen of it, it's awesome! Could you imagine how all of my friends would freak if I came home and was suddenly throwing fireballs! They'd flip!"
Ryu gave no answer once more, but for a brief moment Tiara was certain she saw his face darken. Then the neutral look returned to Ryu and he continued his silence. Tiara let out a groan before marching up to Ryu and kicking him in the shins. Yet to her amazement her blow didn't budge the warrior an inch and his face remained as unmoved as before.
"Faust you're boring," Diamond muttered, before she glanced up at the top of the waterfall and spied something tumbling over it. "Ryu! There's a tree trunk falling over the falls!" she yelled at him as the log tumbled down towards Ryu. "You need to get out of the way before-"
Without opening his eyes Ryu's shot his fist straight up, slamming into the tree trunk and turning it to splinters with a single blow. Tiara's jaw got wet from it dropping straight into the lake, but once again Ryu's face didn't change despite the display of strength. He did, however, finally open his eyes.
"That's enough for now. Time to head back," he decided as he moved himself out from beneath the falls, which roared with fury as the object that had been blocking it moved from its path. Tiara's eyes widened for a moment when she saw the full ferocity that the falls had been raging with and then she moved her eyes to Ryu, who seemed unfazed by that power.
'What is he? Are all humans like him?' she asked herself before shaking her head and racing after Ryu, catching up with him as he reached the carriage. "Um, you got pretty soaked after your bath. You need a towel or-"
"Thank you, but I will dry off as I train," Ryu politely interrupted.
"Training? Wasn't that your training right there?"
"No. That was to wake up."
Leaving Tiara slack jawed once again, Ryu found a flat spot of grass near the carriage and crouched down slightly, moving his arms back beside his ribs once more as his eyes focused ahead at the nothing with an intensity that Tiara had never seen on the face of another before.
'Wonder what technique he's going to do next?' she asked herself as she sat down, slightly bouncing in place as the anticipation took hold of her. The muscles in Ryu's arms contracted as he focused his strength and the very air around him seemed to tense as he prepared himself. His face then changed to an expression of power before...he threw a single punch forward.
"That's it?" Tiara asked as Ryu brought back his arm, repeating the same motions once more before throwing another punch with his other arm. "That's what all of that build up was for?! I wanted to see something cool, like a larger hadouken! Or maybe you'd shoot a dragon out of your fist!"
"This is just as important as being able to do any of those feats you have mentioned," Ryu replied stoically as he tensed up once more before throwing out another punch. "If I focus solely on my special abilities, then when the time comes for me to fight with my fists I will fail. I will hone a single attack until it reaches perfection. And then I will go beyond perfection."
"Wow that's dumb...I mean that's really impressive and all, but I wanted to talk to you about training me," Tiara interjected as she walked over and sat down in front of Ryu, smiling up at him with the same smile she used to get her dad to buy her something. "When do you think you can start training me to do hadoukens?"
"When I no longer need to hone my punch," Ryu replied as he threw another blow.
"But you just said you will keep throwing punches until you go beyond perfection! At this rate it will take you an eternity to train me!" Tiara exclaimed, getting a thin smile to cross Ryu's face.
"That will give you plenty of time to reflect on why you wish to fight. You are welcome to meditate here." Instead of taking Ryu up on his offer, Tiara instead let out a groan and collapsed to her back, closing her eyes and drowning out all other sounds until all she could hear was the chirping of the birds and the sound of Ryu's punches.
→↓↘ + P
"It's a little small, but trust me when I say this is a place for you to get some practice in before the big tournament later this week," Filthy said to Ryu with a beaming smile, one that Ryu was certain the pony had used before conning someone. But he found it hard to distrust the pony's words as he glanced around at all of the different combatants around him, some of whom were species that he didn't recognize.
"Ah yes, the waterfall arena. Has it been nearly a year since the last time we were here?" Spoiled asked her husband as she glanced around the area. A single, circular platform was held aloft with six stone bridges over a lake of raging water, where several waterfalls poured down into the lake. "I also have noticed that Mr. Ryu here still hasn't signed the contract that we offered him. Are you sure you wish to enter him into this battle without him being signed?"
"Oh come now dear, Ryu doesn't have to sign if he doesn't want to. He just has to wear our merchandise!" Filthy exclaimed with a smile as he held out a shirt and cap, both of which had his smiling face on them. Ryu raised an eyebrow through his headband before he walked past the pony while patting him on the shoulder.
"So what do you think of these guys?" Tiara asked Ryu from the seats above the arena. Ryu narrowed his eyes slightly as he glanced around at the combatants, shaking his head a moment later.
"Most of them seem to be amateurs. Some of them seemed seasoned." Ryu then focused his full attention on a zebra that stood across the arena from him, his body tensing slightly the moment he laid eyes on her. Her body did the same as she set her eyes upon him. "But a few of them seem that they can provide the challenge that I am looking for."
"Well good luck with finding that challenge, because you're the first one up!" Filthy exclaimed as he pushed Ryu towards the arena, but failing to budge the warrior. "You're first opponent is a changeling. Their pretty strong, but should be no challenge for you. But be careful, their nation does produce some good fighters. Go get them!" Ryu nodded before slamming his fist together as he walked across one of the stone bridges onto the arena, where he was met by a pony in a referee shirt and a bug like creature that he remembered seeing in the city, which he assumed to be the changeling.
"Alright you two, I want a good, clean fight," the referee said to the both of them. The changeling snickered at the refs words. "No shape shifting, no weapons and no attacking the eyes or privates. Other than that, anything goes. We clear?"
"Oh, crystal," the changeling buzzed as it crouched down. Ryu responded by slamming his front foot down and shaking the entire arena. Both the ref and the bug looked at him with surprise while he lifted both of his arms up to his chest, taking up his stance. His eyes answered for him.
"Ready? FIGHT!"
The moment the ref called out for the match to begin, the changeling went low and tried to knock Ryu's feet out from under him. Ryu couched down and blocked the sweep with his arms, before swinging with his own leg to counter sweep the changeling. The bug was knocked straight to its back, but a moment later it flipped back up to a vertical base.
"Okay tough guy, how about this!" the changeling roared before firing a blast of green magic from the tip of its horn. Ryu narrowed his eyes as he saw the blast coming towards him, but instead of moving out of the way he chose to close his eyes for a brief moment. The moment the spell was about to touch him his eyes snapped back open and he swung his arm to intercept he blow...only to growl in pain as the spell seared his forearm.
"Ryu, what are you doing?! Just use your hadouken and finish this already!" Tiara yelled at Ryu from the ring of spectators watching from above. Ryu ignored her words as he brought up his arms and took up his stance one more, slowly inching towards the changeling while watching for any sudden moves. "Come on, you can't lose in the first fight!"
"Nothing to say about that? Are you mute or just too afraid to speak?" the changeling taunted.
"My words will not be what defeats you. It will be my fists," Ryu replied, before throwing out a right punch that moved faster than most could see. The changelings reflexes kicked in just in time for it to lift its forearms to block the blow. It growled with pain as it was sent skidding back, where it winced as it lowered its stinging arms.
"Yeah, right. How will your fists be able to hit me when I'm too far away?" the changeling asked as his wings began to buzz and a moment later he took to the air. Ryu's face narrowed slightly as he looked up at the bug, who was buzzing around Ryu with a snicker on his face. "Hey, remember that magic that you failed to block? Where here comes some more!"
The changelings horn had just barely begun to glow when Ryu kicked off and propelled himself into the air, leaping right up to where the changeling had been flying. Surprise and fear crossed the bugs face as Ryu reached it, before Ryu slammed a single fist right into the face of the changeling. The changeling came crashing down to the ground as Ryu landed perfectly on his feet.
"You...you..." the changeling tried to grunt out as it pushed itself to its hooves, but when it turned around it found Ryu standing over it. It let out a roar of fury as it threw a punch towards the warrior, only to be struck down a moment later by a basic punch from Ryu.
"You may float like a butterfly, but your blows were far from stinging like a bees," Ryu said to the unconscious changeling.
"Knock out! And the winner is, the Wandering Warrior!" the referee said as he hoisted Ryu's arm up as high as the pony could reach. The crowd began to cheer, but Ryu ignored their praise as he glanced at Tiara, who wore a look of bafflement on her face.
"See? All I needed was a single punch."
i see you wrote a couple of times the use of arms from either the changelings or tiara, is this a mistake or you just missed the anthro tag?, other than that nice chapter keep it up
Suddenly I can see Ryu teaching Diamond Tiara by the whole wax on, wax off routine.
Seems magic is a bit more powerful than Ki if it singed Ryu's arm. He might need to watch out or that.
So... DT's gonna be like Sakura.
Makes me wonder what characters gonna be like what?
Oh boy. Zecora's in this one, huh? If she's anything like i remember her to be from her time with ryan ... Yeah, Ryu's defenietly has his work cut out for him.
7460701 Why? I don't see the problem. A lot of writers use arms and legs for ponies. Beats having to write front legs and hinde legs every time at least and the concept is clear anyway.
7460793 because that is a lazy excuse first, second is the first time ono does things this way, so far ono has always being quite careful of not doing that in any of his previous fics
That last line reminds me of One Piece. Or One Punch Man. Whichever works
7460790 We need a Dan Hibiki as well.
7460897 But yeah, let's think...
I think that Discord would be a good equivalent to Dhalsim...
Sweetie Belle might be a good Dan...
I can honestly imagine Rarity as Dudley...
Your choice of Wonderbolt for Guile (For me, it's Spitfire.)...
Applejack as Chun-Li, of course... maybe Makoto?
Chrysalis might be a good Bison...
Anything else coming to mind?
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Awesome chapter, really looking forward to his fight with the Zebra.
In a separate note:
7456072, 7456883
There's a LOT of backstory to this (And I'm glossing over most of it here): Akuma was the brother of the man who trained Ryu, and was more concerned with being the strongest man in the world than anything else. He trained in the forbidden style of Satsui No Hado [Surge of Murderous Intent], (some say selling his soul in the process) and then fought and murdered his brother (after Ryu and his rival, Ken, had finished training) in a very brutal fashion.
Since then, he's roamed the world looking for fights with the best warriors in the world, occasionally appearing to test if someone is worthy of battling him, and to attempt to persuade Ryu to use the Satsui No Hado so that he can finally battle someone who is equal to himself in skill.
He's ridiculously strong, to the point where he has shattered an entire island in a single punch, but he also has an unwavering code of conduct, and he's shown multiple times that he won't fight those he doesn't deem worthy, or are unable to give him an honorable fight. He detests those that take shortcuts to power, or try to rule over others by means other than their own strength (such as M. Bison.)
[As a side note, a very large number of fan theories center on whether or not Akuma is Ryu's father or grandfather, due to the circumstances surrounding Ryu, and Akuma's attitude and relation with him]
Oni on the other hand is the result when Akuma's mind is warped completely by Satsui No Hado, to the point where most of his moral code is entirely discarded; He'll fight anyone anywhere for any reason, and his aura is so intensely violent and evil that he causes death and destruction by his mere presence alone.
Oni is also vastly stronger than Akuma; he's able to split the moon, and he's been shown to be able to stand in the center of an exploding volcano without being harmed.
Of course, there's alot I'm not talking about or covering, but by and large, that's the basic gist of it.
Th Wndrng Wrrr
By nmnp
7460932 Rainbow Dash is best Makoto. Soarin' for Guile, I guess. Sombra for Bison (Or Akuma).
7461173 Not Akuma.
Akuma's a Blood Knight to the (mostly) core; he's out for a fight to thrill and challenge him, and knows that he may die when he finally meets a truly worthy foe.
Bison's an evil overlord that will use any means to gain power, so he can rule over humans. He's done everything he can to cheat death, from cloning to literally body surfing as a spirit.
One of those sounds like Sombra, and it's not Akuma.
I was hoping that he would.use a focus attack or tatskumaki. I guess he's saving his specials for later.
7461651 but at least bison is doing the wrong thing for the right reasons
Never underestimate the Hado nor it's kick-ass wielders.
So is Ryu teaching Diamond Tiara or not?
7462419 Have you seen karate kid?
He'll probably teach her like that :/
7462419 Who said he didnt started already? *cue twilight zone theme.
7460710
Miyagi-Do all the way!
7462750
a equestria that loves fighting changeling champions i smell zangief
maybe you'd shoot a dragon out of your fist!"
no I'm pretty sure you thanking of goku and dragon fist attack.
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woot!
Saitama would be watching this with a tear in his eye.