The Five Cardinal Directions

The Lantern Festival happened on the 15th of the first month of the lunar year. Steeped in tradition, it was said to have started as a way to honor the first pony to reach enlightenment. Scholars and historians across Chineigh debated over which Path the pony followed, and there was very much credible evidence for both sides of the argument. High Path scholars seemed to think it was a pony named Receptive Xue, who achieved peace and oneness with the universe through a life of solitude and contemplation. The Low Path, on the other hoof, thought that it was Four Thunders, a strategist of immense talent who fought, conquered, and in some cases bargained his way to enlightenment, eventually coming to the cryptic realization that everything but himself was an illusion. Although the aforementioned theories are the most widely accepted, others within the August Empire say that this person was a mare, or a foal, or in some cases not a pony at all but one of the Empire's other varied races. From a neutral standpoint, it seemed like there would never be an end to the debate, as the event happened so long ago as to be on the fringes of recorded history.

Whoever this person was, the story says that a minister in a neighboring province heard about their achievement, and in an effort to honor them, lit lanterns of various sizes in and around his estate. As word spread, other provinces began to do the same thing, all the way until it reached the Emperor's ears. Delighted by the news, he decided to mark the day as a festival, and ordered his royal workers to decorate the city with lanterns of many shapes, sizes, and colors. The ponies in the capitol city were quick to adopt the festival. Over the years, people of both Paths have added their own spins and permutations to the festival. For example, many lanterns began bearing riddles which observers could take to local temples--if they provided a correct answer, the monks would provide them with a tasty baked treat!

Those baked treats were the reason Studious Wushi found himself in a High Path temple--leave it to the High Path to expect a reward for not being stupid. He was here to find a pony named Ping, who was, unsurprisingly a monk. The sorcerer assumed that he would be helping with the riddles--why else would the Emperor send a pony of his staggering intellect? He figured that if anypony knew where this Ping was, it would be the abbot.

The temple was very much a thing of the High Path. Despite being within the walls of the Empire's capital city, Shanliang, it was like a bastion of introspection and peace. Birds wandered freely here, treated like honored guests. Carefully tended gardens were watched over and cared for by patient, gentle hooves. One of these gardens was under siege by rabbits, but the young stallion tending it (about Wushi's age) simply ushered them away gently, not concerned overly by their encroachments. He smiled at the sorcerer warmly--Wushi politely nodded, but kept his distance. He didn't have time to socialize.

The architecture was built around the natural elements, often from the same materials. Wushi made his way up several sets of gently sloping stairs, pausing briefly to sniff at some incense being burned near a little impromptu lesson a senior monk was giving to several foals. He nickered softly, savoring the scent before continuing on. The next level was home to a courtyard, where a group of young fillies and colts was learning a form from a headmaster. The courtyard was wide and flat, made up of evenly spaced stone tiles that served as both a smooth surface to sit on and as even ground for sparring. In one corner, a beautiful Yulan magnolia sprouted up, providing intermittent shade to the tiles under its domain. Occasionally, a strong wind would blow, and take some of the fragmented white flower petals with it. Wushi paused beneath this tree, resting for a few moments and watching the lesson go on.

"Remember, children, you never need to put your full energy into any one attack. Watch how my body flows. Swing softly, strike hard." The headmaster demonstrated some basic forms for his students, then moved into the more advanced methods. This must have been the famed Mantis style, named after the insect the monks imitated to create it. "Note my front hooves--we don't have the digits of the Diamond Dogs or the Griffons, but our hooves are still valuable tools that should not be discounted." He practiced some maneuvers on a dummy. Though he slowed them down and focused on the point of impact for his students' sake, Wushi knew that those hooves could move lightning quick if they had to, just like the insect the style was named for. "Have you all been doing your chores, my little ponies?"

"Yes, shifu..." came a chorus of bored students. Wushi couldn't help but smirk at this--he remembered this stage in his life. Back when he was still in school, Wo Long had been appointed to him as an instructor, a very auspicious sign for the young colt. The master sorcerer insisted that his student learn Eight Trigram Hoof, a style often associated with mystics and magicians. Throughout the early stages of his training, Wushi complained and was always yearning to learn the flashier techniques. After all, if he, a master of the forces of the universe, HAD to be bothered with learning a martial art, he may as well skip to the 'good stuff,' right?

"Dong!" An earth pony colt sat up straight.

"Yes, shifu!"

"Come here." The colt stood up nervously and trotted over to his teacher. Wushi leaned in. What was this about? The instructor began pacing around the timid colt, inspecting him with a curious expression. Suddenly, he shouted, "HANG UP YOUR CLOAK!" The startled colt quickly ducked his head and brought it up just in time to deflect an attack from his teacher, as if he were picking up a discarded cloak and hanging it up. "STIR THE CAULDRON!" The colt reared up on his hindlegs, using his forelegs to intercept an incoming strike from the headmaster. "Sign your name." The colt blinked, then struck his instructor's leg with a hoof. More than many other styles, the Mantis style focused on grappling and rapid hoof strikes. The instructor had just taught a valuable lesson and a core tenet of the style with his actions.

The instructor smiled, breaking free of the colt's hold with ease and patting him on the head. Dong looked as if he'd just jumped to the moon and back without even realizing he could do it. "Very good, Dong. I hope all of you learned something from that demonstration--at the very least, the value of your chores. I'd like all of you to practice your forms while I speak to our guest." That brief bout of spontaneous sparring seemed to energize the foals, who gladly begin practicing now that the benefits of perseverance had been put on display.

"Hello, and how may I help you?" asked the instructor, a forest green pegasus. "I am Tiny Forest."

"Forest," said Wushi in a polite greeting. The unicorn stood up so that he could bow respectfully to the monk. He tried to stifle a snicker at the pegasus' name--he didn't seem particularly tiny! "I am Studious Wushi. His Majesty the Yellow Emperor has sent me here in search of a pony named Ping. I'm to help this pony prepare for the Lantern Festival."

Tiny Forest grinned. "I know where Ping is," he said through his smile, "But I was wondering if I could have your assistance with something first."

Wushi sighed. "I really don't have the time," he feebly responded.

"Curious. You seemed to have ample time to watch my students."

"I was resting. Your temple is st... ahem. Steeply constructed."

"The Emperor gave us advance notice of your coming. He said that you're his new court sorcerer and that you were taught Eight Trigram Hoof."

Wushi groaned. "Of course he did," he replied with barely concealed annoyance. "What do you want?"

Little Forest smirked. "You are direct! I would like for you to spar with me, for the benefit of my students. They don't get to see many styles outside of Mantis and Tiger. They were very excited to see a Crane master from one of our sister temples, and I'd like to provide them with a rare opportunity."

"And I suppose you'll graciously tell me where I can find Ping if I do this?"

Tiny Forest nodded, his shaved head bobbing up and down. "Of course."

"Fine. If it's sparring or walking all the way up to the main hall, I'll gladly spar." Stupid temple and its winding stairs. Stupid obtuse monks. Stupid adorable, attentive foals giving him the occasional pretty-please glance in between practicing forms.

Tiny Forest grinned from ear to ear. "Excellent!" He cantered over to his students, taking a position before them. "Everypony, I have a special treat for you all! This is Studious Wushi, and he'll be sparring with me today!"

"Ni hao, Mr. Wushi!" A chorus of young voices brimming with enthusiasm rose up to greet the sorcerer. He couldn't help looking away a bit bashfully when greeted with such an overwhelmingly positive audience.

"Ni hao, children," he responded quietly.

"Wushi is a very talented sorcerer, but he's also been trained in the Eight Trigram Hoof by none other than Wo Long!" Very many 'oooohs' arose from the youngsters. "It's almost time for lunch, so to save time we'll be sparring three sets, with the winner being the pony who can knock the other down two times out of three. Watch Wushi carefully, children."

The two stallions took their places in the center of the courtyard. Each one offered the other a customary bow, and with that, they each took their preferred stances.

Wushi began by using a technique known as circle-trotting, in which he made a series of fluid, continuous steps around his opponent in order to control the battlefield. Tiny Forest seemed to practice a hard variation of Mantis, which meant that Wushi might be able to get away with being aggressive. He'd still need to be cautious, since most variations of Mantis were famed for their variety of redirective techniques. To the sorcerer's surprise, Tiny Forest was actually the first to attack, coming at him with a flying back kick. Wushi darted underneath it, letting the other pony slide off of him. A quick turn revealed a hoof heading straight for him. Like a dancing dragon, the unicorn fluidly moved beneath the pegasus' attack, counterattacking with a hard shove to the other pony's barrel.

This was a hit with the foals. "Notice how fluidly he moves, how he bends around my attacks. What kind of style to we call this, my little ponies?" Wushi and Tiny Forest traded a few attacks, each one testing the other's resolve to commit to an exchange.

"Soft!" answered a few confident foals.

"Very good," said the teacher as he locked one of Wushi's forelegs into place. A strike hard enough to leave a hoof-shaped bruise came from the pegasus, landing with a thud on the unicorn's withers. "And our Mantis style is a--"

Before the pegasus could continue his lecture, Wushi twisted, rump checking the monk and throwing him off balance. With another one of his graceful dips, the unicorn quickly lifted and rolled the startled pegasus off of his back, depositing him with a thump onto the ground. He received a round of polite applause, including some from Tiny Forest. "Hard style," Wushi remarked, finishing the pegasus' sentence. The next set began in much the same way. The exchanges flowed like conversation, each pony getting to know the other through the way he fought. Wushi was strategic and methodical, never once stopping his circle-trotting, and using the motion as a means to deliver attacks. His teacher had taught him well, but this time, Tiny Forest got the better of Wushi. When the sorcerer attempted to counter a sweep kick with a sidelong jumping foreleg strike, the pegasus once again locked the leg, this time forcing his opponent to the ground.

It went over well with the foals, but not with Wushi. He was through playing around with this guy. At the start of the next set, he attacked with a feint. Tiny Forest held his hooves up in a position to redirect and strike, but the opportunity never came. Instead, two stone hands burst from the ground and flipped the pegasus over, called forth by Wushi's horn. Cries of foul and giggles alike erupted from the audience, but Tiny Forest quieted the foals.

"No fair! Magic isn't kung fu!" A little filly in the front gave Wushi a very severe pout.

"Kung fu is hard work over time to refine a skill. I would say it is kung fu." Wushi smiled at her, flipping his cue over his withers.

"B-but it's not martial arts," she whined. Several of the students seemed to agree with her, none of them unicorns.

"What about it is unworthy of being called a martial art?" to Wushi's surprise, Tiny Forest was actually defending him! "It takes discipline and concentration. It comes from within. Wushi's horn is as much a part of his body as his legs, his tail, or his ears. He's not going to abstain from magic just because I'm a pegasus."

The little filly seemed at least partially satisfied. A unicorn colt raised his hoof. "So how come us unicorns are bothering to learn boring old stuff like Mantis style when we could be doing the stone thingy he just did?" Wushi eventually broke the 'stone thingies' to allow Tiny Forest to move.

"That's a very good question, Bao!" The pegasus rolled his neck. Without warning, Wushi found himself to several chi strikes within the space of a second. He collapsed on the courtyard like his legs were made of jelly, his horn sparking uselessly. "That's why!"

One prana from Wushi and several apologies from Tiny Forest later, the unicorn was on his way BACK down the stairs in search of Ping. Apparently, he'd already seen the fellow. Ping was peaceful even by High Path standards. He didn't like sparring or practicing martial arts, and preferred to get his exercise by doing chores rather than fighting or practicing forms. Wushi eventually found the pony doing some weeding in one of the gardens down at the ground level. "Hello," the monk said as he worked.

"Hi," said Wushi with short breath. "I really hope you're Ping."

The monk, a pristine white pegasus with a shaved mane and a black tail, paused in his work. He sat down and peered at Wushi curiously. His scalp bore the familiar marks of ordainment--nine burn marks caused by incense, performed to show his dedication to the ascetic lifestyle. The unicorn didn't realize he was staring at them until the monk spoke up. "I'm Ping. Were you looking for me?"

"Y-Yes." Relief washed over Wushi. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he had to go up those blasted stairs again! "I'm here to help with preparations for the Lantern Festival."

"Oh, good!" Ping smiled and stood up. "What's your name?"

"I'm Studious Wushi."

"Nice to meet you, Wushi. I'm so glad you came along! I didn't think I'd be able to get all of this year's baking done by myself." He beamed at the sorcerer and bowed.

Wushi returned the gesture of greeting. "Baking..." He tried to sound enthused about it.

Ping was more receptive than his humble demeanor would imply. "Is something wrong, Wushi?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I had simply imagined that I would be helping to write some of the riddles the High Path half of the celebration is so famous for." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Riddles? Oh, Abbot Cheung has written those for as long as I can remember. Besides, making the sweet dumplings is a lot of fun! They're like tasty little snowballs." He smiled sweetly at the sorcerer, melting his resolve to complain just a bit.

"Well... if you say so."

"Great! The kitchen's just up the stairs--"

"Bah!"