Season: Z

Episode: R

Karate (Part 1)

(By: Flame Runner)

The school bell rang as class was dismissed at Ponyville’s elementary school. A noisy group of fillies and colts were walking through the hallways. At the front of the group were two fillies in particular. Their names were Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon had a grey coat with two-toned, light grey hair. Her mane fell down her neck in a braid and she wore a pair of blue glasses. The other filly, Diamond Tiara, also had dual toned hair, however, her hair was purple and white and her coat was pink. She wore no glasses nor did she have her hair braided, it simply fell down in elegant swirls. Diamond Tiara was turned back toward her and Silver Spoon’s followers and talking about recent events.

“And so my dad signed both me and Silver Spoon up for the best karate class this side of Canterlot,” bragged the pink filly. “After all, when you’re rich you need to know how to defend yourself.”

“That’s right,” agreed Silver Spoon. “We’ve been going on the weekends and next weekend they’re holding a junior karate tournament. Me and Diamond Tiara are sure to win.”

The group came up to three fillies who were gathered around and talking excitedly.

“So I’ve got our whole week planned out with new things to try. Maybe this week we’ll finally get our cutie marks!” stated one of the fillies.

She was an energetic orange pegasus named Scootaloo. Scootaloo’s pink hair fell down in spiky curls from both her mane and tail. Standing with the small pegasus were her two best friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom had a pale yellow coat and red hair which fell down in rounded lumps. She had a tendency to wear a large bow in her hair and she was most certainly wearing it today. Sweetie Belle was a white unicorn. She had pink and purple hair which fashionably curled around like fluffs of cotton candy.

“Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders!” piped in the southern accented voice of Apple Bloom.

“Let me see what you’ve planned,” asked Sweetie Belle excitedly.

As the large group passed by the three friends, Diamond Tiara leaned suspiciously close to Scootaloo and shot out her back hoof quickly. Scootaloo bounced over to hand Sweetie Belle her list when she tripped over Tiara’s pink hoof and landed face first into the floor. The group laughed at the unfortunate filly until they were out of earshot of the three friends.

“Ooo! That Diamond Tiara!” raged Scootaloo after picking herself up from the ground. “She and Silver Spoon never stop picking on us. I just wish that there was some way to get even!”

“Well, maybe there is,” stated Apple Bloom.

“What’s that?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“If we enter that tournament, we could humiliate them both in front of hundreds of ponies when we beat ‘em,” stated the one with the large bow.

“Let’s do it!” agreed Scootaloo happily.

(Insert Theme Music Here)

* * * * * * * * *

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders had left the school and were now in their personal clubhouse. The clubhouse was actually a tree house on a secluded portion of Sweet Apple Acres. The three were busy planning Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara’s demise.

“And that’s when I come in with a leg sweep and take her down!” Scootaloo was describing her sweet victory over Diamond Tiara.

“Yeah! That’ll show her!” cheered Apple Bloom.

“I-I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle muttered unconfidently.

“What do you mean?” asked Scootaloo.

“Well,” began Sweetie Belle, “it sounds like a great plan and all, but do you even know how to do a leg sweep? I certainly don’t.”

“Hmm…” Scootaloo placed a hoof to her chin. “You might be right about that. We don’t know any karate.”

“Oh! Rainbow Dash showed me a few moves one time!” piped in Apple Bloom happily.

“Yeah! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo sounded very enthusiastic. “She could teach us!”

“Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusader Ninjas!” Sweetie shouted happily.

“And this time of day, I know exactly where Rainbow will be,” stated Scootaloo with a grin on her face.

* * * * * * * * *

“RAINBOW DASH!!!” a cacophony of yells penetrated a low hanging cloud.

“Gah!” screamed a cyan colored pegasus.

She flung herself into the air with a startled jump and then fell face first onto the ground. Her rainbow streaked mane and tail swished around in startled bursts. She managed to pick herself up from the dirt and found herself surrounded by the three beaming faces of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Uh, H-hey guys. What’s shakin’?” asked Rainbow Dash.

She placed a hoof behind her head and blushed ever so slightly at her own antics.

“We want to learn karate!” Scootaloo’s voice spoke first.

“So we can enter a junior karate competition!” Sweetie Belle said next.

“And win!” piped in Apple Bloom.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Dash replied back.

She shook her hooves out in front of herself.

“I know I showed Apple Bloom a few moves, but I’ve never really taught karate before.”

“Aw, come on Rainbow Dash!” encouraged Scootaloo. “If there’s anypony in all of Equestria that could teach us karate, it’d be you!”

“Yeah please?”

“Please?”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle asked with big bright eyes and in their cutest voices. Rainbow Dash looked at the three pleading fillies and broke into a smug grin.

“Alright, I’ll teach you karate for this tournament of yours.” Dash said.

“YAY!!!” all three Crusaders cheered happily and bounced around energetically.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo declared.

“No problem,” Dash replied. “Now follow me! We’ll get started right away.”

The three couldn’t contain the excitement evident on their happy faces as they bounced after Rainbow Dash.

* * * * * * * * *

“Fluttershy’s house?” asked Sweetie Belle. “How are we going to learn karate here?”

The small group was standing in front of a quaint little cottage near the Everfree Forest. Many birds and other little critters were flying or skittering along the ground near the cottage.

“Hold up just one sec,” Rainbow Dash stated.

She flew away with one quick burst of her powerful wings. She left eyesight but came back only a few seconds later laden with tarps, paint buckets, and brushes a plenty.

“I saw this in a movie once,” Dash explained to the three giving her questioning looks. “You paint the house and then you can block pretty much any attack thrown at you. Plus, I kinda promised Fluttershy I’d paint it for her.”

“You sure this’ll work?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Come on! If Rainbow Dash says it’ll work then it’ll work!” declared Scootaloo. “Let’s get to it!”

They each grabbed a paintbrush and hoisted them together so that each brush was touching.

“Cutie Mark Crusader black belts! Yay!” they all yelled then dipped their brushes into the paint.

Rainbow Dash watched the three get to work and then flew up to find another cloud. She landed on the white puff of fluff and lay back with her hooves tucked comfortably behind her head. She closed her eyes.

“Oh yeah, now this is the life.”

* * * * * * * * *

“RAINBOW DASH!!!” shouted the fillies a good while later.

Dash shrieked and leaped out of the cloud just as she had done earlier. She also landed face first again.

“What?” Rainbow Dash mumbled with her mouth full of dirt.

“We’re done!” stated Sweetie Belle happily.

“Yeah, what do you think?” asked Scootaloo.

Each of the fillies was coated in splotches of paint here and there. Dash picked herself up from the ground and looked at the cottage. The house looked fine…until she moved around to inspect the other sides. Each side was painted a different color except for one side which was painted a mixture of all three.

“We couldn’t decide on what color to use, so we each chose a side and painted it!” said Scootaloo happily.

“Except for the back wall. We each painted one third of it,” Sweetie Belle piped up.

Apple Bloom planted a hoof into her forehead and cringed at the work.

“Well um…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Uh…Well, I guess you painted it. So I suppose that’s that then.”

Dash turned around happily. “Alright, now it’s time to head off to the dojo and see if it worked.”

“Yay!” the Crusaders yelled happily and ran off ahead of Rainbow Dash.

* * * * * * * * *

The four ponies were all now inside of Ponyville’s martial arts dojo. No other ponies seemed to be there that day. Hanging from the ceiling were a few punching bags. Some other equipment was spread out on shelves or lying against the walls. Each filly had on a white karate outfit and Rainbow Dash stood to the side with her outfit on, the cyan pegaus was wearing a black belt.

“Now let’s see if this worked,” opened Dash. “You should be able to block my attacks after painting Fluttershy’s house. Get ready.”

The fillies took up defensive stances and readied themselves for an onslaught. Rainbow Dash reared back one of her front hooves and then slung it forward. The punch smacked Apple Bloom clean in the gut. A quick leg kick then shot itself at Sweetie Belle. This blow too landed cleanly on the filly. Then a second punch was fired from Dash. This one was aimed at Scootaloo and slammed into the orange pegasus’ noggin. All three fillies were flung against the back wall and then landed with a thud upon the floor; first Apple Bloom, then Sweetie Belle, and finally Scootaloo.

“Oof!” they exclaimed as they smacked the wall.

They all became piled up in a large bunch of hooves and hair, with Apple Bloom on the bottom of the pack.

“Hmm…well that didn’t work,” stated Rainbow Dash thoughtfully.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned.

“Hey, when is this tournament of yours anyway?” asked the cyan pegasus.

“Next weekend,” huffed a winded Scootaloo, still piled with her friends.

“Next weekend?!” shrieked Dash.

The three fillies picked themselves off of the floor and off of each other to wobbly stand before their teacher.

“I’ve never been one for doing things the boring way, but that’s speed worthy of a Sonic Rainboom! I suppose it’s a good thing I can do those,” Rainbow Dash spoke to her students with a grin on her face. “Alright, here’s the plan. Experience is the best and fastest teacher. So we’re going to skip the boring punching and kicking training and just jump right into sparing. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, you’re going first.”

The two students nodded and then walked into the sparing ring in the dojo.

“Now here’s how we’re going to spar. We’ll play tournament rules so that you three get to know what you’re doing,” explained Rainbow Dash as she walked over to the sparing area. “It’s pretty easy actually. No excessive attacks on a downed opponent, no illegal techniques such as breaking an opponent’s leg, and nothing below the chest counts for points. Scoring is as follows: Head or face counts for three points, chest and side counts for two points, and any other legal position counts for one point. You are allowed to leg sweep an opponent and matches last for two minutes. Alright, I think that’s it. Have at it.”

Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie met the gaze with one of her own. The staring match was not to last forever though, Apple Bloom yelled and then charged at Sweetie. The pint sized earth pony tackled the little unicorn. They both went down and then hooves started flying. Grunts and screams came from inside the tussle of flailing punches.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Break it up! Break it up!” yelled Rainbow Dash as the pegasus came in to separate the two.

Dash grabbed them each and yanked them off of each other and then shoved them to opposite sides of the mat.

“That was fun!” commented Apple Bloom with a big smile on her face.

“Yeah! Let’s go again!” agreed Sweetie Belle.

“Did you two not hear a word that I said?” Rainbow Dash asked a little harshly. “If you want to enter that tournament, not win but just ENTER that tournament, you have to play by the rules or you’ll get kicked out. That’s why I never entered any tournaments, too many rules. Still, I saw so many illegal maneuvers out there that you’d both be expelled from ever entering one ever again. Got me?”

Dash gave the two a proper looking over, moving her head to face both fillies with dead serious eyes.

“Now I’m all for having fun and even pulling a dangerous stunt or two, but if you want to do karate then you have to do karate the right way. However, those were some pretty sweet brawling moves you two pulled.”

Rainbow smiled at the two fillies in front of her.

“I didn’t know there was a difference,” responded Sweetie Belle with wide eyes.

“Yeah, isn’t karate jus’ a fancy word for fightin’?” asked Apple Bloom.

Rainbow Dash looked over the two thoughtfully then turned around to face Scootaloo.

“Hey Scoots! Mind helping me with a quick demonstration?” Rainbow Dash asked the orange filly.

“Sure!”

Scootaloo came down to the sparing mats with Rainbow Dash.

“Uh, you two might want to back up a bit,” Dash cautioned Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with a wave of her hoof.

The two brawlers stepped back a couple of feet to allow Dash the floor.

“Now,” Rainbow started in her ‘coach’ voice as she paced back and forth a little, “anypony can rear back onto their hind legs and throw out a punch or two.”

Dash actually stood on her hind legs and shot out a quick one-two punch at the air.

“But karate is much more complicated than that. You have to search for your opponent’s weak spots and then strike quick, hard, and fast. It takes a lot of concentration and discipline, but when you do it you’ll have the upper hoof in almost any kind of hoof to hoof combat.”

Dash turned her attention from the two fillies in front of her and toward Scootaloo.

“Scoots, take up a defensive position,” commanded the cyan pegasus.

Scootaloo stood up on her hind legs and put out her front hooves like she was defending against a boxer.

“Now defend,” stated Rainbow Dash.

“Bring it on,” goaded Scootaloo.

Dash looked her competition over with one glance and then leaped to action. She reared up onto her back legs and faced Scootaloo with a much more controlled defensive posture. Suddenly, Dash struck out at Scootaloo with a lightning fast leg sweep and the orange filly yelped as she felt herself falling to the ground. In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash was standing over Scootaloo with a hoof to the filly’s throat. Scootaloo looked at Dash with a look of both wonder and fear in her eyes.

“Whoa,” whispered Apple Bloom just loud enough for the others to hear.

Rainbow Dash let up on her hold and then reached out a hoof to help pull Scootaloo to her feet. The orange pegasus grabbed hold of the offered hoof and jumped back up.

“I didn’t get you too hard, did I?” asked Rainbow Dash with compassion.

“That…was…AWESOME!” screamed Scootaloo happily.

Dash laughed.

“Now I hope you see what the difference is between karate and just plain fighting,” Rainbow voiced, back in full ‘coach’ mode. “Fighting is just throwing punches and kicks but karate is fighting with a strategy…and with a few fancy moves for good measure.”

The three fillies bobbed their heads up and down in understanding. They seemed very eager to try out what they had just seen.

“Ok Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, let’s try again. But this time, you have to follow the rules. Remember, try to find your opponent’s weak spots and strike there,” Rainbow said.

Dash moved off of the floor and motioned for Scootaloo to do the same. Once again, the two friends faced off. They both bowed their heads to the other and the match started up. This time, they began to circle each other, looking for an opening in the other’s defenses. Apple Bloom struck first once again. She let loose a strong jab aimed at Sweetie’s chest. Sweetie Belle blocked the punch with her own hooves. The white unicorn then spun her body around and retaliated with a powerful kick. Apple Bloom tried to move her hooves back to block and even tried leaping out of the way, but the kick came to fast and too unexpectedly. It landed cleanly in Apple Bloom’s face and knocked the small earth filly to the floor.

“Nice hit Sweetie Belle!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “That’s worth three points!”

Sweetie Belle hopped over to Apple Bloom and looked at her grounded friend.

“I didn’t hit you too hard, did I?” asked Sweetie compassionately.

“Nah,” Apple Bloom assured her friend. “But now it’s my turn!”

From the ground, Apple Bloom swept her own leg around which knocked Sweetie Belle to the floor. The two began to giggle uncontrollably.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today,” stated Rainbow Dash.

“Awww,” whined the three in unison.

“I didn’t even get to spar!” complained Scootaloo.

“I promise that we’ll have plenty of time to spar and practice tomorrow, but it’s starting to get late and I don’t want your families getting worried about you three,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Oh! Speaking of family, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, I’d like to meet with your sisters tomorrow at Sugar Cube Corner. Would you mind letting them know?”

The fillies in question nodded their heads with an “Mm hmm” being mumbled.

“Great! I’ll see you girls after you’re done with school tomorrow then. Scoots, you know where to find me.”

“Bye Rainbow Dash!” said Apple Bloom with a wave.

“See you tomorrow!” Sweetie Belle followed Apple Bloom’s example and left.

“And tomorrow I’m gonna spar!” Scootaloo reminded Dash as she vacated the building.

“And I’ve got a date with my bed,” sighed Rainbow Dash happily as she too left the dojo and flew into the clouds.

* * * * * * * * *

“Rarity! Rarity!” a small voice called from outside of the Carousel Boutique.

The Boutique was a custom dress shop owned and operated by Ponyville’s own, Rarity. Rarity was a beautiful white unicorn mare. Her elegant purple hair was always fashionably curled and, at this moment, she was wearing her seamstress’ glasses. She also happened to be Sweetie Belle’s big sister.

The front door to the Carousel Boutique opened up and Rarity stepped outside.

“Sweetie Belle?” asked Rarity. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

The older unicorn looked up at the sky. The sun was already beginning to set and the moon was nearly out.

“Rainbow Dash asked me to tell you to meet her at Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow,” replied Sweetie Belle. “Oh! Can I come in? I want to see what you’ve been working on!” added the young unicorn, noticing Rarity’s glasses.

“Oh, I suppose so. Just be-”

Rarity stepped aside as Sweetie Belle rushed into the shop before her older sister could finish.

“-careful.”

“Whoa! Look at all of these jewels!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she gawked in wonder at the new gem studded dress before her.

“Yes, Sapphire Shores wanted a new wardrobe for her latest tour,” explained Rarity. “Now, why did Rainbow Dash want me at Sugar Cube Corner again?”

Sweetie Belle was running around each of the sparkly dresses with enthusiasm, examining each work of wearable art. She popped out from underneath one of them to answer Rarity’s question.

“I don’t know, but me, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are taking karate from Rainbow Dash and she told me to let you know to meet you there tomorrow.”

The playful filly went back to frolicking around the dazzling dresses.

“Karate?” asked Rarity.

Sweetie Belle popped from underneath a different dress to address her sister once again.

“Yup!” she said happily with a smile as wide as a mile on her face.

Then the clock struck the next hour and a lovely chime played.

“Oops! I’d better get home. Bye Rarity!” sang Sweetie Belle as she bounded out the door.

“Well, I shall certainly have something to talk about with Rainbow Dash tomorrow then,” Rarity spoke to herself after Sweetie Belle had left.

The older unicorn began to close down her shop and double check her dresses to make sure Sweetie hadn’t damaged them in any way before turning in for the night herself.

* * * * * * * * *

“Applejack! Big Mac! Granny! I’m home!” called Apple Bloom as she pounded open her home’s door.

The door flung open and in stepped little Apple Bloom.

“Wha-? Whozzat?” Granny Smith, an elderly green colored mare asked. She had been sound asleep in her rocking chair when Apple Bloom banged the door open.

Applejack, Apple Bloom’s older sister, came out to greet her little sister from one of the side rooms. Applejack was an orange earth pony mare with straight blond hair. She tied both her mane and tail with a bright red beret and always seemed to be wearing a brown cowboy hat.

“Howdy Applebloom! You and the other Crusaders been out lookin’ for your special talents again?” Applejack greeted her sis.

The orange mare came over and gave her sister a loving squeeze.

“Not exactly…” said Apple Bloom.

The little filly then began to sniff the air.

“Hey, what smells so good?” asked the little sister.

“I’ve been bakin’ up a storm of apple pies this afternoon. How ‘bout I give you a slice and you tell me what ‘not exactly’ means?” the older sister bargained.

“Deal!” Apple Bloom agreed heartily.

They both took a walk into the kitchen. The counters and tables were full of delicious and freshly baked apple pies. From the main room, Granny Smith’s snoring could be heard. Applejack cut out a slice of pie for both her and her sister and placed them on a couple of pie sized plates. The elder farm pony set the slices down on an open space by Apple Bloom.

“So?” asked Applejack.

Apple Bloom had been eyeing the pies voraciously until Applejack clanked the slice down in front of her. She shook her head and then looked at her big sis.

“Right! So, me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders are takin’ karate lessons from Rainbow Dash. Oh! Speakin’ of which, Rainbow Dash asked me to tell you to meet her in Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow,” said Apple Bloom just before she threw herself at her scrumptious looking pie.

“Karate?” Applejack stated with a confused expression. “Didn’t cha’ already try that one?”

“This is different!” mumbled Apple Bloom between bites of pie. “We’re doin’ this to beat Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at a karate tournament this weekend.”

“This weekend? As in this weekend, this weekend? Doesn’t beatin’ them seem a tad bit…unlikely?” questioned Applejack.

“We’re sure to win with Rainbow Dash teachin’ us. She is a black belt after all.”

“I suppose so,” mused Applejack as she finally took a bite of her own pie. “Well, guess I know what I’ll be talkin’ to her about.” She mumbled with pie in her mouth. “Hmm…needs more cinnamon.”

* * * * * * * * *

A bell rang out, announcing the official end of the school day. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were strutting their way down the hallways with their posse following close behind. Standing in their way, yet again, were the three blank flanked fillies who dared to call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The Crusaders were all jabbering excitedly and gathering up their school books and placing them into their saddlebags.

“I can’t wait for the karate lesson today!” stated Sweetie Belle happily.

“I know! I finally get to spar!” added Scootaloo.

Silver Spoon was passing by the three when she swayed slightly to the side and bumped into Apple Bloom, who happened to be loaded with a heavy stack of books and papers. The stack came crashing to the floor and Apple Bloom fell over.

“Hey!” yelled Scootaloo at the snobby filly.

“What? I can’t help it if your friend can’t keep her books together,” replied Silver Spoon with a smirk.

“You bumped me on purpose!” claimed Apple Bloom.

“Did not,” said Silver Spoon.

“Did too!” Sweetie Belle entered on her friend’s behalf.

“Hmph,” snorted Silver Spoon.

The rude filly turned from the three and she, Diamond Tiara, and their posse kept walking.

“They are so going down!” Scootaloo vowed to her friends.

“Yeah, and in front of hundreds of other ponies too. That’ll teach ‘em a lesson,” agreed Apple Bloom as she and the others picked up the fallen papers and books.

“Sweet revenge,” giggled Sweetie Belle.

The Crusaders left the school with full packs and headed off to grab Rainbow Dash. They were more than ready to punch something and punch it hard.

Next Chapter: Karate (Part 2) Estimated time remaining: 29 Minutes