Chapter 21:
Tai Lung Vs Twilight Sparkle-Round 2
When the dust cleared, Tai Lung stood triumphant over Twilight's battered body. Faintly, her fingers twitched towards the scroll, which had rolled to the end of the crater Tai Lung had punched Twilight into. But she no longer had the strength to rise. And all she could do was watch helplessly as Tai Lung, panting but persistent, crossed over and seized the scroll.
"You were… by far… the best opponent I've had in years. I can see why Celestia would choose you. But now… the power of the Celestial Scroll… is….MINE!" Tai Lung praised, uncorking the holder before holding the scroll up to his eyes. Finally, he would have what was rightfully his, what had been denied him for so long.
On his last word, he yanked the scroll open… and his face fell.
"It's… nothing?!" Tai Lung demanded, looking at the back and closing and re-opening it. But he had no more luck finding anything than Twilight or Luna had. Where was the power he had been told it held all his life?
With a small groan, Twilight pushed herself up to her knees, "It's okay. I didn't get it the first time either," She assured the snow leopard with a cough.
Tai Lung blinked in confusion at her, "What?" He demanded, tossing the scroll to the ground.
"There is no secret page. It's just you," Twilight said, standing up and gazing at her reflection in the golden parchment.
For a brief moment, Tai Lung stared down at the scroll. Twilight winced as she saw utter despair creep into his face. She could practically see his brain churning with negative thoughts.
'All this time, All the pain. My mother… All the suffering I've had…It was all for some inspirational message for children?!' Tai Lung was thinking as he shook his head.
And as the despair faded, Twilight saw burning rage – hotter than any anger Tai Lung had displayed up until that point – take over. And she knew, that though there was good in him… it had very little chance of getting out from the icy walls that had shrouded his heart in darkness.
Roaring – practically screaming – with heartbroken rage, Tai Lung lunged to strike Twilight with a nerve attack.
But the purple unicorn saw it coming. Flaring her magic, a shield spell blocked his attack.
Almost crying in fury, Tai Lung struck at her shield, again and again, his anger only rising like a flower in bloom. Finally, with an animalistic shriek, he slammed both his fists into the shield spell… and Twilight faltered as it broke.
However, as she sunk to one knee, she redirected her magic into a beam spell, blasting Tai Lung out of the crater and into the side of a shop.
But the snow leopard was not taken down that easily. Lunging back into the crater, he only found himself blocked by another shield spell. Trying to maneuver around it only resulted in Twilight catching him with a gravity spell, leaving him wailing as he floated helplessly through the air. Twilight grabbed his tail, but he tried to kick at her, forcing her to slam him to the ground. It was clear Tai Lung was no longer using his head.
His rage blinding him, Tai Lung went to bite Twilight's face… only for her to block with his tail. A small kitten mew escaped Tai Lung before he yowled in pain. It may have been a simple move, but it had the desired results.
Before he could recover, Twilight sent him back out of the crater and back into one of the abandoned homes. But magic alone was not going to stop him. Twilight knew that she needed to combine what was good about her… with what Luna had taught her.
And so, as Tai Lung once again rose, battered and broken but far from beaten, Twilight channeled a strength spell into her leg. As Tai Lung charged her in blind fury, Twilight charged the power in her spell. And right as Tai Lung lunged to tackle her, Twilight planted her foot right into the snow leopard's chin… and he vanished into the clouds, sent skyward by the power of Twilight's kick.
For a moment, Tai Lung didn't come back down. As Twilight stared up at the clouds, confusion and fear started to take hold.
'Oh, dear, Did I send him up too high?' She thought.
But her worries were soon answered when she picked up the sound of screaming. And saw Tai Lung come plummeting back down.
Realizing where he was going to land, Twilight yelped and leaped out of the way, flinching as the snow leopard made contact with the earth. Peering back into the crater, Twilight had to resist laughing as she discovered the snow leopard had left a perfect outline of his body. One, he immediately clambered out of, only to stumble and struggle to get back to his feet.
"Y-You… can't…You can't defeat me!" Tai Lung panted, his voice cracking in despair and disbelief. He tried to stand, only to lose his balance. Yet, undeterred, he crept up and out of the crater and towards Twilight.
"You…You're just a small… weak… unicorn!" Tai Lung stammered as he weakly threw one more punch at the mare, only for Twilight to easily able to snatch his claw out of the air.
"I'm not a small weak unicorn, Tai Lung...I'm The small, weak unicorn!" Twilight said smoothly with a grin.
And as she grinned, Twilight raised her pinkie finger. She remembered her own shock and fear at the sight of the technique. It was rather amusing to see it painted onto the injured snow leopard's face. From the fierce warrior to scared kitten you could say.
"The Wuxi Finger Hold?!" Tai Lung whispered.
"Luna showed you this hold too, eh?" Twilight asked.
"You're bluffing! You're bluffing! Mother showed, but she never taught that!" Tai Lung insisted. He knew the results of the technique and the reason it was rarely taught being the victims never survived, so the technique wasn't the most favored one. And it was an extremely last resort of the masters who did know how to do it.
"You're right on that. But I'm a librarian; I figured it out….." Twilight said, eliciting a nervous grin from her foe.
Tai Lung gaped in utter disbelief and horror, missing Twilight's hand covering itself in a golden aura. Her grin faded.
"But this isn't for you…" Twilight added, slamming her open palm into the leopard's chest.
As Twilight knocked the snow leopard back, he hit the ground with a grunt, staring up in shock at what had replaced him: a shadowy figure dressed in a cloak made of darkness. And its finger was still trapped by Twilight's finger hold, even as it reached for Tai Lung with the other hand.
"That… that's the one who told me to take the scroll!" Tai Lung stammered in disbelief.
"And it's time he left you alone. Ska-Doosh!" Twilight replied, grinning up at the shadow figure, and flexed her pinkie.
The shadow figure gave one final scream. Then his very being vanished in a flash of rainbow light.
Far away, the Furious Five and the villagers saw the flash of rainbow light. A wind blasted out from the sight of the flash, nearly knocking Fluttershy's blindfold off.