Sunset breathed deeply, slowly going through the motions of what Wuya had taught her. It had been a week since her face-off with Garble, and the adrenaline had soon rushed out of her and allowed the reality to set back in. She had fought a DRAGON! And she’d WON!

Next to her, Smolder let out a grunt of frustration, and Sunset cracked an eye to glance at the orange-scaled dragoness curiously. She was tugging at her Gi again, as Sunset thought. From the word ‘Go’ Smolder had made it clear she didn’t like the idea of wearing a Gi - said that a Dragon’s scales were the only clothes she needed. Sunset just didn’t understand what her problem was - somehow, Wuya had produced a stunning pair of training Gis, coloured a deep purple with black pants, for both of them, and they fit perfectly on Sunset’s form - loose enough to allow free movement but not too loose that she’d be falling out of them at all times.

Wuya had also taken the time to show Sunset how to properly wrap her chest for training. That… was embarrassing, at the time, but after the first sesion where she’d somehow managed to knee herself in the breast? She was very thankful for the knowledge.

They were winding down now, going through the motions of a calming mantra Wuya had taught them to bring their bodies back to a state of rest without cramping up. Wuya had left them to it, claiming she had to check on something, so as Sunset let out her last calming breath she turned to Smolder and asked the question that had been on her mind.

“What is your problem?”

Smolder froze, turning to Sunset and giving her the stink-eye. “What’s that supposed to mean?” the dragon spat.

“I mean with your gi,” Sunset explained, kneeling down to help the dragon fix her clothes. Smolder huffed and looked away. “You’ve been struggling with it since we started today - if it doesn’t fit right, why not ask for a new one?”

Smolder sighed, grumbling for a moment before answering. “I don’t like these… clothes… makes me feel stuck,” she explained. “It’s different for you, you ponies wear clothes all the time. I’m used to just letting my scales hide what I don’t want people to see. It’s… weird.”

Sunset considered for a moment before nodding. “I get that,” she said quietly. “It took me a while to get used to the changes when I first became Celestia’s student. I’m still getting used to this change - though I suppose I’m just… rolling with it, now, since I brought it on myself. Is there anything that I can help with?”

Grumbling again, Smolder glanced over her shoulder at where her wings were folded against her back under the Gi, her tail hanging over the waistband of the pants. “I just wish I could move my wings, or my tail. This hurts…”

Sunset frowned, her horn beginning to glow. “Turn around a sec?” she asked, and Smolder turned around to show her back in confusion. Sunset inspected the Gi for a moment, seeing where Smolder’s wings and tail pushed against the fabric before her horn flashed, creating openings for all three. “How’s that?” she asked, gently helping Smolder push her limbs through the gaps provided.

Smolder blinked, flexing her wings and swishing her tail experimentally before sighing in relief. “Much better,” she said with a smile, turning to Sunset. “Uh… thanks.”

“No problem.”

Before the situation could grow too awkward, Wuya came bursting back into the room, frantic as she looked around. “A Shen Gong Wu has awoken!” she cried, rushing around. “Quickly, we must move!”

“Woah!” Sunset cried as Wuya phased straight through her, turning to find the spirit holding the Sun Chi Lantern over Smolder, the Dragoness looking just as confused as her. “Why all the rush!?”

“If I felt the Wu awakening, then so did Celestia!” Wuya snapped as she funneled her Chi into Smolder, the Dragoness slowly growing in size and flexing as her Gi seemed to grow with her. “She’ll be sending her own agents to recover the Wu before us - we must get there first!”

Blinking slightly, Sunset could only nod, moving to climb onto Smolder’s back as the dragoness grew to stand thrice as large as Sunset herself. They blasted out of the fortress at high speeds, Smolder rising into the air as Wuya settled herself into Sunset once more, the mask again resting above her horn.

“So where are we going, anyway?” Smolder asked.

Sunset flinched as she felt her body react without her consent. “We must head into the area known as the White Tail Woods,” her mouth spoke, but instead of her own voice, it was Wuya’s that came out. “The Fist of Tebigong has awoken, and must be recovered!”

“That’s freaky…” Smolder muttered, shuddering as she turned to fly the group towards the wooded area in question.

“How do you think I feel?” Sunset snapped, glaring up at the mask atop her head. “Don’t do that again!”

As the group touched down in the White Tail Woods, Wuya emerged from within Sunset’s body, reclaiming her Chi from Smolder and causing the Dragoness to shrink down as the spirit’s strength returned.

“So where’s the Wu?” Smolder asked, rolling her shoulder slightly as she looked around.

Wuya looked around herself, seeming to turn randomly before freezing. “This way,” she rasped, pointing towards a seemingly random area and floating off to lead the way.

Shrugging, Sunset and Smolder followed, ducking and weaving through the wooded area before them as Wuya simply phased through whatever obstacles were in her way, seemingly forgetting her student’s inability to do the same. The pair’s eyes widened, however, as they stepped into a large clearing, taking in the sight before them.

In the center of the clearing was a solitary tree. There was nothing special about it, not really, just that it was so far removed from every other tree in the area. And on that tree, hanging from a lone branch, was a bronze-coloured glove in the shape of a closed fist.

Beneath that same tree, a group of six mares were attempting to recover the fist. Each of them stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the group, as not one matched any of the others. Sunset made sure to take in as many details of each mare as she could.

The first she saw was an orange Earth mare, her long blonde mane and tail both tied back into ponytail styles with red hair ties. She was dressed the most ‘practically’ of the group, almost looking like a stereotype for a farmhand in her blue jeans and flannel shirt. The cowboy boots and large Stetson hat rounded her outfit up in a strange, country-western kind of style.

The second was a unicorn mare with pristine white fur. Sunset had to raise a brow in question at her outfit, the mare looking more like a model than a monk in her dark skirt and light blue satin blouse, her purple mane styled into delicate and meticulous curls.

Sunset had to strain to look at the third, mostly because she didn’t seem capable of sitting still for very long at all. A messy tangle of a bright pink mane matched with the softer pink of her fur almost hurt Sunset’s eyes as much as the chaotic rainbow of colours on her clothes - literally, as the slightly pudgy Earth mare wore a tie-dye shirt under short-legged dungarees with even more rainbows on her long socks, leading down to a pair of mis-matched sneakers in soft blue and yellow.

The two hovering above the group, attempting to hold back some of the larger branches of the tree, were Pegasi. The first seemed very timid, almost afraid to act, with long soft-pink hair covering half of her face and butter-yellow fur covering the rest of her body. A forest green sweater practically drowned her upper body for how large it was, and her legs were wrapped in grey sweats.

The second Pegasus seemed much more boisterous, for how much smaller she was than the other. Short, lithe, but built quite powerfully, she dressed in only what Sunset would hazard to call ‘workout clothes’ purely because she refused to believe the girl was out in her underwear. Dark gray Lycra shorts and sports bra, both detailed with a rainbow stripe down their sides that matched the shock of short, rainbow-coloured hair atop her blue head.

As she turned her attention to the final mare of the group, however, Sunset felt her blood run cold. The lilac-furred Unicorn in the red-and-white Gi seemed to be directing the others, her attention focused solely on the Wu above her head, but Sunset could never forget that deep purple mane with the magenta stripe. This was Celestia’s replacement for her - this was Celestia’s Prodigy. Twilight Sparkle.

Sunset jumped when she felt a claw poking her side, glancing down at Smolder. The dragoness held a claw to her lips and started sneaking around the clearing, keeping just behind the brush as she circled around, and Sunset shook her head to clear it as she moved to follow.

“Can’t you just grab it in your magic or something, Twilight?!” the blue Pegasus asked loudly, grunting from the effort of pulling one of the larger branches back.

“I told you already, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight responded firmly, shaking her head. “The Shen Gong Wu can’t be held by a magical touch. Only the physical can claim them.”

“Well then what’re we waitin’ fer?” the orange Earth mare questioned as she stepped forward, her voice a thick southern drawl. “Let’s buck this beaut’ an’ get’er on home ta the Princess!”

“Now do be careful, Applejack darling,” the white Unicorn cautioned. “You don’t know how it will react if you simply knock it out of the tree. It might go off!”

“Don’t be silly, Rare-Bare!” the pink one giggled, still bouncing around erratically. “If it was that dangerous Twi-Twi would’ve told us already! Right, Twilight? Right, right, RIGHT!?”

“Gah!” Twilight cried, stumbling back as the pink mare leapt right up and shouted in her face excitedly. Sunset clapped a hand to her mouth to suppress her snickering. “Er, I mean… yes, Pinkie Pie, I would have told you if it was that dangerous…” She paused, groaning loudly. “Which I did. Three times. The Fist of Tebigong has the power to cause tremors large enough to level a small town in the wrong hands, that’s why we’re being careful with it.”

Pinkie blinked. “Oh yeah, I remember now!” she giggled. “The Big Boom-Boom Punchy Puncher!”

Sunset had to bite her tongue not to laugh. Especially as Twilight and Wuya groaned at the exact same time. She gasped, however, when the yellow pegasus gasped in fear and released the branches she’d been holding to cover her face in fear, the tree limbs snapping back into place suddenly and sending tremors throughout the plant’s body.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow cried, releasing her own branch to check on Fluttershy and sending even more tremors through the plant.

Sunset, Smolder, Wuya, and the entire group around the tree held their breath as the branch holding the Fist of Tebigong rattled violently, the Wu sliding inch by inch towards the end before coming to a rest at the very edge.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief as everything seemed to settle down. “Well that was-”

“Again!” Pinkie cried out suddenly, rushing up to bang on the tree trunk rapidly with her fists.

“Pinkie NO!”

The Fist of Tebigong slid off the end of the branch painfully slowly, and time seemed to slow down as it fell towards the ground. On instinct, Twilight’s horn ignited with a violet glow, a similar light surrounding the Wu before it slipped off entirely. Applejack dove to the ground to catch the Fist, but only succeeded in knocking it back into the air. Rainbow dashed to try and intercept, but blew the Wu back on itself from the force of her wingbeats.

“Eep!” Fluttershy yelped, fumbling with the Fist as it bounced between her hands before clutching it close to her chest, eyes wide as she looked around at the others in her group, trembling.

“Good catch, Darling!” Rarity praised, smiling calmly at the trembling Pegasus as Fluttershy drifted down to the ground next to her.

“Good job ‘Shy!” Pinkie cried, making Fluttershy jump from the volume. Rarity quickly took the Fist from her before it could go flying again.

Twilight looked between the group, eyes wide as she began hyperventilating before seeming to take herself through a breathing mantra. On her last exhale, she stepped forward, nodding calmly. “Nice work Fluttershy,” she praised, patting the Pegasus on her shoulder gently. “And Pinkie, please, be more careful!”

Pinkie giggled as she snapped into a salute, sticking her tongue out with a goofy grin. “Can-do, Captain Sparkle!”

Sunset sighed before flinching back as Wuya began grumbling under her breath, looking up at the Spirit in worry. “Um, Wuya?” she asked unsurely.

“Fall back for now,” Wuya said simply. “We’ll have to recover the Fist another time. Let’s just hope they’re not complete idiots with it…”

Sunset panted heavily as she sprinted across the rocky terrain around her, pushing herself to her limits. Smolder flew above her, moving as fast as she could to intercept the two Pegasi before they could catch up to her.

“On your left!” Wuya warned, and Sunset dove to the right as a stone flew past her. The unicorn winced as she realised that the force of that blow could well have dislocated her shoulder.

“Get back here, Sunset!” Twilight cried out, racing after her with a frown on her face. “I always knew you’d be trouble, but betraying Celestia like this? That’s low!”

Sunset ignored her, biting back the retort that rose in her throat to focus on running. The two Earth Ponies had disappeared, and one of them - she couldn’t remember which - had the Fist of Tebigong with them. She had to be careful.

Sunset let out a yelp as something tugged on her ankle, sending her crashing to the ground. At the last second, she tucked her arms up around her head, rolling instead of sliding to minimize any injuries she took.

“Go Twilight!” Rarity called, moving with practiced ease as she threw a number of stones at Sunset. “I’ll hold her off!”

Sunset growled, her horn flaring as she projected a dome shield over herself, surprised as the force of the delicate Unicorn’s attack cracked the forcefield like glass. She grit her teeth when Twilight rushed past her, rolling onto her front to push forward again.

“Sunset!” Wuya hissed, dropping something into Sunset’s hands. Looking down, the Unicorn blinked before slipping the object over her left hand and pointing at Twilight.

“Golden Finger!” she cried, grinning when Twilight froze in place, panicking. She then ducked as another stone flew over her head, growling under her breath. Seizing Twilight in her magic, she threw the lilac Unicorn at her friend and turned to run again.

“There it is!” Wuya pointed out, and Sunset’s eyes locked on the Wu they’d all been racing for - the Silk Spitter, wrapped up in overgrown vines and hanging from the side of a cliff. “Hurry Sunset, go!”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Sunset snapped, pushing herself. As she approached the cliff wall, her horn ignited once more and she leapt, bringing her feet up to land against the sheer face of the cliff before her and sticking fast. Glancing back, she could only smirk at Twilight and Rarity’s shocked faces before rushing up the wall, fighting back the urge to throw up as her brain struggled with the world being on its side.

As she reached the top of the cliff, Sunset grabbed hold of the vines to steady herself, reaching for the Silk Spitter in victory. As she did, however, a flash of pink entered her vision from above, and at the same moment her fingers touched the Shen Gong Wu, so too did a set of pink fingers from above. Looking up, Sunset blinked at Pinkie Pie, who hung upside down over the edge of the cliff like nothing was out of the ordinary, Applejack above her and holding her ankles tight.

“Hiya!” Pinkie greeted casually, giggling at Sunset’s shocked expression. “Uh, I guess we gotta do one of those Hoedown thingies now, right?”

Sunset groaned. “Showdown,” she corrected, nodding. “Yeah. And since you issued the challenge, I guess you choose the game.”

Pinkie beamed, practically vibrating with excitement. “Ooh, I love games!” she cried. “Um, um, um….. what about Spider’s Web! The last person to fall off the web wins!”

Sunset nodded unsurely. “Okay then, my Golden Finger against your Fist of Tebigong, all for the Silk Spitter. Agreed?”

Pinkie nodded happily. “Sounds like fun!” she cried. “Can I start it, please please pleasie-please?!”

Rolling her eyes, Sunset sighed. “Sure, go for it.”

“Yay!” Grinning wide, Pinkie wriggled out of Applejack’s grip above her, grabbing Sunset by the shoulder as she flipped and pulling them both off the cliff as Sunset began screaming. “Xiaolin Showdown!”

Sunset stumbled as the world settled once again, looking around at the arena she had found herself in. She noted idly that the two spectator platforms, for lack of better names, were once again floating above the arena, the magic of the showdown having somehow differentiated between their groups to place Wuya and Smolder on one platform, and Twilight and her friends on the other.

The arena itself was rather dark, surrounded on all sides by large, grey-stone walls with sharp and ragged surfaces and multiple outcroppings. Thick, white strands of what Sunset could only assume were spider’s webbing stretched across a sheer drop into a dark pit, criss-crossing across one another countless times as they covered the pit below.

Sunset stood upon a small stone shelf against the wall, barely enough room to move before it connected to the webbing. Across the pit, Sunset could just make out Pinkie, practically vibrating in excitement.

“Let’s go let’s go let’s go!” Pinkie shouted across the arena, her grin practically splitting her face.

Sunset nodded to herself, adjusting the Golden Finger on her hand before stepping onto the webbing. As one, the two combatants raised their hands, each showing off their respective Wu.

“Gong Yi Tem Pai!”

Without wasting too much time, Sunset leapt forward, racing across the webbing in an attempt to close the distance between her and Pinkie Pie. Silently she thanked her mother’s insistence on taking gymnastics lessons as a girl, providing her with the balance she needed for the challenge before her.

She then cursed her luck that the mare across from her seemed to simply defy physics as she skipped across the webbing without a care in the world, springing from one strand to another as she laughed and giggle-snorted to herself.

“Golden Finger!” Sunset cried, pointing her Wu at Pinkie and freezing the mare in place just as she sprung from yet another web strand. Pinkie blinked, looking around as much as she could in confusion.

“This feels funny!” Pinkie giggled, and Sunset panted as she approached the mare, trying to catch her breath.

“I know,” the Unicorn muttered. “I had it used on me before I could grab it. Now, sorry about this, but I’ll be taking the Wu now.”

Pinke blinked at her. “You will?” she asked, clearly confused. “But you haven’t won?”

Sunset blinked at her owlishly. “Uh… I’m gonna let go of you and you’re gonna fall?” she offered unsurely. “I mean… it's kind of obvious, isn’t it?”

The pink mare let out an exaggerated “OOOOOOH!” in realisation before smiling. “Well okay then! Let me go!”

Blinking unsurely, Sunset released the Golden Finger’s hold on Pinkie Pie and watched as she dropped… only to yelp as the mare grabbed the web above her with her tail and swung back up, landing on the strand behind her with a grin.

“That was fun!” Pinkie proclaimed. “But I think we need to end this party now. Bye-bye, Sunny!” Crouching down, Pinkie sprung high into the air, causing Sunset to panic as the mare flipped end over end in the air before plummeting straight down, arm extended with the Fist of Tebigong readied.

“Fist of Tebigong!”

Sunset cried out in fear as Pinkie shot downwards, striking the webbing with her Wu and sending tremors throughout the arena. Sunset was flung from the webbing violently, screaming as she flipped end over end before plummeting into the pit below.

Sunset let out a cry of discomfort as she landed on her rump, dazed and confused with a distinct lack of weight on her hand. Managing to get her bearings back, she saw Pinkie hopping from one hoof to the other, happily clutching not just the Fist of Tebigong on one hand, but also the Golden Finger on the other, with the Silk Spitter somehow hanging from a hook in the fringe of her mane.

As the others in Pinkie’s group rushed around her to congratulate the mare on her win, Sunset frowned, pushing herself to her feet. She balled her fist, ready to get MUCH more physical if she had to, but paused when Wuya appeared in front of her eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the spirit asked her, an edge in her voice that made Sunset falter.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset steeled herself. “Getting the Wu back,” she replied seriously, moving to step around Wuya only for the spirit to halt her again. “What!?”

“Take your defeat with a bit of dignity, Sunset!” Wuya spat, and Sunset actually had to step back at the venom in the spirit’s words. “Treat your enemies with respect! We may be on opposing sides, but our goals are the same - if these girls manage to best you, act with honour and simply improve yourself for next time!”

Gulping shakily, Sunset nodded, bowing low. “S-Sorry, Sensei!” she cried, eyes shut. “I-I just thought-”

“I know,” Wuya sighed. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. Stand up.”

Sunset did so, noting quietly as Smolder stepped up next to her before sighing. Twilight and her friends were staring at them in shock, clearly unsure of how to handle the situation.

Sunset glanced at Wuya, who motioned towards their opponents expectantly. “Go on then.”

Sighing, Sunset stepped forward, making eye contact with Pinkie Pie before bowing to her. “Congratulations on your victory,” she said sincerely before standing straight again. “It was a well-fought battle, and you came out on top. I hope to face you again in the future.”

Pinkie Pie stared at her for a moment before letting out a sound that Sunset could only really describe as a ‘Squee’, lunging forward and scooping Sunset up in a crush that she could swear crushed her spine in more than one place.

“That was super-de-duper fun, Sunny!” Pinkie beamed, setting Sunset on her feet again. “Don’t be a stranger now, let’s do this again!”

With that, Pinkie turned around and began skipping away, her friends slowly turning to follow her. Twilight remained the longest, looking from Sunset to Wuya in confusion before slowly turning and leaving.

Sighing, Sunset turned back to her teacher. “Can we go home now?” she asked pleadingly. “My everything hurts.”

Author's Note

Making it easier to track, here's the current possessors of the awakened Wu:

Wuya, Sunset, & Smolder:
Manchurian Muska, Sun-Chi Lantern

Celestia & the Mane Six:
Fist of Tebigong, Golden Finger, Silk Spitter