Chapter 16:
The Mane Furious 5 vs Tai Lung
The sun was just cresting the horizon when the Furious Five came upon a bridged chasm. Rainbow Dash halted, and the five mares glared across the empty space before them. The bottom of the chasm couldn't even be seen; it was shrouded in ominous mist.
"He'll have to come through here if he wants to get to Ponyville. This is the only path that leads between Tartarus and Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash realized.
"Tarnation, well, then, let's cut the bridge and be done with it. It's not like he can fly or anything, and we beat him here!" Applejack declared with a grin as she moved towards the bridge's chasm.
However, as she and the others went to cut the bridge, Fluttershy's eyes widened under her blindfold; her ears twitched, picking up the sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the bridge.
Fast and heavy; only one animal was capable of making those steps.
"Hurry, Applejack! He's here!" Fluttershy whispered.
Yet her warning came too late. As the others looked up in shock, fear, or disbelief, Tai Lung skidded into view. For a moment, the snow leopard glared down at the cyan Pegasus as her rose-red eyes narrowed.
Tai Lung then let out a brief roar, before charging across the bridge.
"AJ! Do it now!" Rainbow Dash yelled, smashing one of the stones holding the bridge up. Applejack followed her lead, kicking the other and breaking the bridge from its tether on the cliff.
"Hooray! We win!" Pinkie cheered in victory.
But Pinkie chose to celebrate the moment too soon. Just as the ropes began to fall, Tai Lung continued charging across uninhibited and began to make a leap to the ledge.
"What?! That's not possible!" Rarity exclaimed in shock, seeing Tai Lung manage to jump off the falling bridge.
"I... think I celebrated too soon," Pinkie squeaked in fear.
Tai Lung was almost across! But as the others tried to prepare themselves, Rainbow Dash went on the offensive, kicking the snow leopard back and planting herself on the bridge, wings flared and fists up.
"You girls try keeping this bridge up, I got this poser!" Rainbow yelled at the others.
But Tai Lung merely grinned and leaned himself against the ropes, casually as if he didn't have a care in the world, and they were talking at a stadium rather than over a chasm. Rainbow Dash had to shift her weight to keep her balance, her stance refusing to falter.
"You got me? Come on, be serious; where's the Celestia Warrior?" Tai Lung asked bemused.
"How do you know you're not looking at her?" Rainbow demanded.
Tai Lung merely laughed.
"You think I'm a fool? I know you're not the Celestial Warrior. None of you are!" He said as he turned his gaze to the rest of the Furious Five, nervously looking at each other.
"Love to argue the point. But we're a little busy trying to drop you!" Pinkie said.
"Pinkie, focus, for land's sake!" Applejack cried.
Tai Lung chuckled, while Rainbow Dash growled at him. Her stance tensed as he walked towards her, but his walk was still too casual. Rainbow Dash's heart fluttered in her chest. He should not have felt this comfortable around a kung-fu master like her. Could the legends be true? Could it be possible that he was... better than her?!
"I heard the rumors about the Celestial Warrior. I heard how she fell out of the sky on a ball of fire; That she's…a 'warrior' unlike anything the world has ever seen," Tai Lung explained over Rainbow Dash's thoughts.
Fluttershy froze, concerned and frightened by the snow leopard. She didn't want her new friend facing him.
"Twilight?" She whispered to the others, but her fearful voice only brightened the fire in Tai Lung's eyes.
"So That is her name? 'Twilight.' Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be LEGENDARY!" Tai Lung mused, he almost seemed to taste the name with his tone as he raised his fist into the air.
"You've still got our battle to worry about!" Rainbow Dash insisted, before charging at him with a scream. She was determined not to let Tai Lung anywhere near Ponyville or Twilight. Despite everything, the unicorn truly wasn't that bad.
But the snow leopard's casual nature was not bravado or unearned arrogance; not a single one of Rainbow's initial strikes hit him.
Rainbow had just tried to throw Tai Lung over the edge while the others tried to hold on to the ropes. But the snow leopard caught the rope and spun the bridge, launching himself into the air. Blinded by the sun, Rainbow Dash only managed to avoid Tai Lung's strike by flipping the bridge. Even then, the bridge served as a poor shield for Tai Lung's fist. Dropping from the bridge, Tai Lung continues to fight and combat with Rainbow Dash until he grabbed ahold of her leg and smashed her through the boards, trying to throw her off the bridge. But Rainbow Dash managed to grab Tai Lung's paw and gripped it tightly, causing him to yelp in pain, and kicked him in the face.
Rainbow climbed back up on the bridge, but Tai Lung was already gaining the upper hand as kept kicking and attacking Rainbow, hardly giving her any time to strike back.
Seeing their friend struggling to hold off the snow leopard, the other four mares know they can't let Rainbow handle Tai Lung all by herself.
"We got this, help her!" Rarity ordered as Fluttershy and Pinkie passed the ropes to her and Applejack.
Rainbow Dash tried to strike Tai Lung but the Snow Leopard was much faster and stronger as he then redirected her into the boards, smashing her through the wood with an upward kick. With another kick, Tai Lung sent Rainbow through the structure. Broken boards plummeted into the mist, followed by the snapped handrails. With a twist of the ropes, Tai Lung caught Rainbow Dash by the neck, leaving the cyan master choking and struggling for breath.
As Tai Lung readied to kill the cyan master, Pinkie appeared in front of him producing her party cannon,
"Surprise!" She cried happily, blasting him in the face with a glop of cake batter.
While the pink master sent the snow leopard reeling, his grip on the ropes faltered, and Rainbow Dash was left to plummet into the mist, screaming, as Fluttershy dived right after her.
With her friends apparently out of the action, Pinkie balanced precariously on the ropes, rolling her party cannon down the bridge as Tai Lung advanced on her. Shot after shot fired from her cannon, but Luna's surrogate son had caught onto her tricks, and his iron claws deflected the strikes.
"Uh, oh…" Pinkie muttered as he deflected her shots.
"Oh, no!" She said next as her mane started to deflate and Tai Lung got closer.
"Rarity!" Pinkie screamed as Tai Lung reached her and slammed his fist into her cannon, clogging it and rendering it useless.
"Go!" Applejack yelled as Rarity passed her the final rope and ran onto the bridge to help Pinkie.
"What was I thinking?" Applejack grunted, struggling to hold onto the ropes with the strength she has while having second thoughts. It was hard keeping a good grip on the ropes with everyone on the bridge.
Rarity shot across the ropes at full speed, drop-kicking the leopard seconds before he could throw Pinkie into the abyss. Tai Lung landed on the rope causing Applejack to struggle to keep her strength up. As the white and pink masters stood together, Tai Lung suddenly began running quickly while jumping from rope to rope at a high speed. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shot out of the mist, Rainbow Dash rejuvenated and back in the fight and saw Tai Lung approaching.
"AJ!" Rainbow yelled to Applejack, giving her the signal.
With a grunt and all her strength, Applejack managed to move the bridge in a wavy pattern. Pinkie and Rarity managed to jump out of the way quickly enough as Tai Lung was whipped by the rope and sent back further down the bridge.
"Now!" Rainbow Dash ordered as she, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie charged toward Tai Lung, screaming in determination, ready to defeat and stop Tai Lung once and for all.
As Tai Lung struggles to stay balanced on the rope, Pinkie jumped right at him and struck him head-on, sending the Kung Fu Master back a little. Then Rarity came up and struck Tai Lung in the face, stunning him. Fluttershy seizes a rope and kicks Tai Lung up into the air and swirls around him, tangling him up in the rope. And last but not least, Rainbow Dash jumped off of Fluttershy and served the final hit, throwing the tied up Tai Lung back, and cutting the rope.
Tai Lung screams as he plummets into the mist down below while Applejack pulls the rope the others were holding onto, bringing them back to the ledge as they watched Tai Lung fall to his doom in the abyss.
"Hooray! We win! For real this time!" Pinkie cheered, tossing confetti into the air.
"Looks like Master Luna didn't need poor Twilight after all," Applejack commented, setting her hat on her head and crossing her arms. She didn't mean no malice when she said it, the unicorn just wasn't experienced.
Yet, as the others celebrated, Rainbow's ear flicked, and she glanced back down at where Tai Lung has fallen.
Her eyes widened. One of the ropes was… moving? It was was like a shark circling in the water. Then all the sudden, the rope snapped upward. Something shot out of the mist. But when Rainbow looked up into the sky… she saw nothing.
The others sensed her panic. But before they could join her at the edge… something slammed into the ground behind them. All five mares whirled around, gasps of shock and disbelief escaping them as Tai Lung rose from the ground, and he wasn't alone…
Standing next to him was a pony mare with skin pitch black and waxy like a fly. Her wings were like a beetle, medium venomous green hair, and a curved horn on her head. She also appears to be wearing a black sleeveless shirt under an open vest with fur trim, and a pair of pants cut off just below the knee.
"I see you're surprised to see my new friend. Meet Urtica," Tai Lung introduced with a confident smile.
"A Changeling?!" Applejack stammered.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm surprised at how you managed to take on Tai Lung like that," Urtica said, smiling at their efforts to stop Tai Lung.
"Indeed, Mother… taught you well…," Tai Lung admitted as he tossed Urtica into the air.
While the ponies followed the changeling's movements, Tai Lung struck, faster than a cobra.
Rarity was the first to fall. Pinkie screamed as Rarity hit the ground, a pained grimace across her face, and her body frozen like ice.
The other members looked up at Tai Lung and Urtica as they backed up a little in fear.
"But she didn't teach you everything," Tai Lung whispered, getting ready to strike again.
"Shall we, Tai Lung?" Urtica asked, getting into position to strike as well.
Tai Lung nodded in reply as the snow leopard and changeling then…
STRIKE!
Author's Note: Here's the next chapter of the story and I told you there would be a little twist to the story.
Also, Urtica is owed by Lady Umbra on Fimfiction. So you could say I'm borrowing her for a bit.
Anyway, looks like even the Furious Mane 5 couldn't stop Tai Lung either and theyre five masters.
Wait until you see how the next chapter plays out.