Chapters "What are they?" asked Scootaloo, "I've never seen anything like them."
"They might be rare gems! We should ask my sister," Sweetie Belle prodded one of the balls with her hoof.
"Those ain't no gems like I've ever seen. Look at 'em glow, maybe they're some sorta magic thing?" added Applebloom, "Either way, we should take them to Twilight, she knows everything!"
The three fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were huddled in a clearing in the Everfree, all 6 eyes set on the strange objects. There were seven glowing balls in a small crater, each with a different number of stars seemingly floating inside, ranging from one to seven. The sap-covered faces of the foals glowed with wonder, quickly replaced by disgust as a particularly unpleasant stench wafted under their muzzles.
"Euch! Who let one off?" the three asked in unison, scrunching their noses at the smell while shooting accusing glances at their fellow crusaders. A deep growl drew the fillies attention towards a nearby bush.
"Ah don't think that was one of us," Applebloom trembled a little, "that sounded a might like a timberwolf."
As if on cue, a pair of green eyes opened through the leaves, quickly followed by many others. A bright yellow glow illuminated their wooden features. The crusaders slowly backed up into the crater, eyes darting around as another growl was heard behind them. More of the wolves features became visible as the glow increased gradually.
The wolves turned away, the light soon becoming too bright to look at before dimming again. Instead of three fillies, they saw three fillies and a tall monkey-like creature with black hair spiked at seemingly impossible angles. The creatures' head span around, its eyes showing confusion that was mirrored in the wolves'.
Growling resuming, the wolves recovered and reformed their circle as the crusaders continued to back up, completely oblivious to the creature standing behind them, their eyes locked with the wolves'.
"Timberwolf! Help!" shouted Scootaloo, hopping three feet in the air as her flank touched the creature, whose curious glances were now directed towards the fillies at his feet. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle turned around in cautious fear, their gaze slowly travelling up towards the creatures eyes.
The crusaders fell to the floor of the crater, curling up together and shivering. Their eyes quickly darted between both the creature and the timberwolves. They shuddered as the creature reached out one of his forelegs towards them.
"Well, it was fun girls. we had a good run." Scootaloo said, patting the manes of her fellow crusaders.
"I don't wanna die without my cutie mark!" cried Sweetie Belle as tears flowed from her eyes.
"Maybe we'll get our cutie marks in being monster food?" Applebloom joked, a shaking grin being betrayed by her fearful eyes.
"Hey, are you three okay?" asked a new voice, clearly male, "No-one's getting eaten today, not while I'm around!"
This new voice calmed the three considerably. They covered their eyes.
"Please, help us whoever you are!" Applebloom screamed, "Did ya hear that? Somepony's come to save us!"
The wolves' growling was interrupted as another timberwolf advanced from the underbrush. This new wolf was at least twice the size of the others. It glanced around the circle before pouncing.
Sounds of splintering wood filled the crusaders' ears as they looked up. Their already large eyes widened to an impossible degree as they all saw what they could have sworn was the creature landing a punch on the alpha wolf, leaving nothing but a pile of splintered wood and sawdust more than twenty feet away.
Seeing their leader defeated with such ease, the wolves pounced all at once in a rage. Watching in amazement, the crusaders saw the creature defeat each wolf in quick succession - a barrage of strikes defeated every wolf in one hit, never allowing one near the crusaders.
"Your pack has lost, leave now - " the creature turned towards a cowering wolf, fixing it with a stare " - unless you want to try your luck too?" Considering its' options for a second, the final wolf backed up slowly into the darkness of the forest, whimpering the whole time. The creature then turned its' eyes to the crusaders with a grin bordering on Pinkie Pie levels, "You can stop crying now, the danger's gone."
Sweetie Belle was the first to recover, "A-are you going to eat us?" she asked between fits of shaking, "D-did you only save us to eat us?"
The creature squatted down, chuckling lightly, "Didn't I already say that no-one's getting eaten while I'm around?"
"What are you?" blurted Applebloom, "What kinda monster can kill an entire pack a timberwolves like that?"
"Who cares? THAT WAS AWESOME!" blurted Scootaloo, her wings flapping like a hummingbird, "It was like POW and WHAM and KAPOW ," she emphasized each blow by striking her front hooves against the air, "and then all the timberwolves are running scared! It must be nearly as cool as Rainbow Dash, because nopony's as cool as Rainbow Dash!"
"Rainbow Dash? Never heard of 'em," mused the creature, "and to answer -"
"You've never heard of Rainbow Dash?" exclaimed Scootaloo in shock, jumping into the creatures' lightly tanned face, "You been living under a rock? Rainbow Dash is only the fastest flier in Equestria, not to mention the only pegasus in history to pull of the legendary sonic rainboom! I'm gonna be just like her some day!"
"Ah think it gets the idea, Scoots. Y'all can calm down now, you're confusing it"
"Spoilsport," said a dejected Scootaloo.
"What are you wearing?" asked Sweetie Belle, eyes focused on the creatures' strange blue vest and yellow trouser combination, "I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh this? This is just my training gi. I wear it pretty much all the time." The creatures' eyes popped open for a second before slamming its' fist against an open palm, "I forgot we never had a proper introduction! I'm Son Goku, but my friends just call me Goku, and I'm a saiyan. What about you three?"
"My name's Scootaloo, second most awesome pony in Ponyville, after the one and only Rainbow Dash of course."
"I'm Sweetie Belle. I live with my sister Rarity. She's the number one dressmaker in Ponyville! Nice to meet you Goku!" her voice cracked a little when saying Gokus' name.
"And ah'm Applebloom. I live on Sweet Apple Acres and help mah family on the farm. Ah ain't never heard of a 'say-an' before, though," she added, a skeptical look covering her face, "are ya sure that's what ya are? Ya look more like a shaved monkey with that tail an' all."
Goku gave a cheerful laugh at that last comment, "So I take it that this place doesn't have any humans either?" he said, a smile covering his flat face when he saw the confused looks from each filly, "Like me, but without the tail," he added quickly, "Where is this place, anyway?"
"Yer in the Everfree Forest, it's pretty much the scariest place in all Equestria."
"Scary, huh? Well why are you three here?"
"We're gonna be CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FOREST EXPLORERS! YAY! " the crusaders shouted, the suddenness shocking Goku.
"Cutie mark... crusaders?" quizzed the saiyan, "What's that?"
"We go crusadin' fer our cutie marks, of course." stated Applebloom as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Say, what's you're cutie mark? I'd bet it's timberwolf beating or filly saving or something awesome!" interjected Scootaloo, a giant grin etched on her face, "Can I see it?"
"I'm afraid you lost me, I don't even know what a 'cutie mark' is." Goku asked, nervously laughing and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
"It's only the most important thing ever! It tells everypony what their special talent is." - Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground - "We're the only three in class without ours."
"Which is why it's so important we get 'em as soon as possible!" added Applebloom.
Goku rubbed his chin, humming a little, "I don't think I have a mark that tells me what I'm good at."
"WHAT?! " all three fillies bellowed simultaneously, "How can y'all not have a cutie mark? Y'all're, like, old "
"How old are you anyway?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Goku rubbed under his nose sheepishly, "63, last time I checked."
"Wow, that's half as old as Granny Smith and y'all still don't have yer cutie mark?"
"What if we never get ours, girls?" said a dejected Scootaloo.
"Woah, woah, woah. I don't think saiyans get cutie marks."
"Imagine that girls, a lifetime without cutie marks." the crusaders shuddered with the mental image, "That's horrible."
Goku looked up at the setting sun, "Well we'd better get you back to your families -" he jumped up, "- they must be worried sick."
Author's Note
Any feedback is appreciated, feel free to comment.
"Now where did that filly an' her friends run off to this time?"
"For the hundredth time, Applejack, Sweetie Belle said she was going crusading," Rarity slammed her hoof into the ground, "and she said she was going to do it at the clubhouse!"
"An' y'all just let 'er go, just like that?" resuming her pacing, Applejack sighed, "Without botherin' to walk 'em over to ta' clubhouse yerself?"
"Um, can you please stop fighting?" Fluttershy cowered slightly, lowering her voice further, "If that's ok with you, of course."
"Why the heavens not? Both our sisters know better than to be out this late and, furthermore -"
"Girls, Angel says he saw them-"
"They aren't in Ponyville," shouted an out of breath Rainbow Dash from above, "You don't think they could've went exploring in the -"
"GIRLS!" fluttershy shouts, earning everyones' full attention and immediately hiding behind her mane, "Ok, um, Angel says he saw them head into the Everfree forest earlier today."
"WHAT?!" the chorus of the other five mares blurted out with various degrees of astonishment, "Now why would they go walkin' around that creepy forest this time of night?"
Rainbow struck a pose with her chest out, wings flared and a cocky grin carved on her face, "You can ask them why after we head in there, save their sorry flanks from whatever monster they've awoken this time and get them out safely. It's a good thing you've got the one and only Rainbow Dash to defeat the horrors of the Everfree!"
Stopping her incessant bouncing, Pinkie Pie stopped to frown intently at her knee, "Uh oh, my knee's getting awful pinchy..."
"And w-what does that mean?", Spike asked, his arms clamped firmly around Twilights' foreleg.
"If I recall, a 'pinchy knee' means something scary is -" Twilights' explanation was cut short by Pinkie shaking violently, "- Oh my, that wasn't a doozy, was it, Pinkie?"
"Yeperoonie, and that was a big one! Bigger than the one at Froggy Bottom Bog big!" Pinkie stopped bouncing, twirled around like a compas needle and ended by pointing muzzle first at the Everfree, "And it's at a clearing in the Everfree Forest!"
The six mares and one dragon shared a glance, nodded and headed in the direction of the Everfree.
Goku walked leisurely alongside Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle cradled in his arms and Applebloom perched on his neck, her hind legs draped over each shoulder. Her head was swiveling wildly with wide eyes, "Wow, yer sure are tall, Goku." She giggled, waving one hoof up in the air to brush the canopy, "Ah can even touch the leaves of the tall trees from here!"
"Hey, stop hogging his head! It's my turn up there!" Scootaloo shouted, "I wanna know what it's like up there!"
"Can't you just fly up to see?" asked Goku, the seemingly permanent grin temporarily replaced with curiosity, "I mean, you have wings and all, you should be able to use them."
"No, I -" Scootaloo hid her face in the shadows of the forest, sniffliing lightly, "I've never been able to fly. Not now, not ever." Her hooves were scraping against the overgrown path as she walked.
"Hey cheer up, Scoots," Applebloom smiled gently down at her friend before hopping off Gokus' back, "Ah think it's your turn now."
"Finally! My hooves were getting sore with all the walking and - HEY!" Scootaloo cried out as Goku grabbed her back with one hand, lifted her onto his back and picked up Applebloom - drawing a similar response - as he held her waist to his stomach.
"What in tarnation is the big idea?" quizzed Applebloom, irritation evident in her voice.
"I thought I'd pick up the pace a little," Goku looked skyward, "the moon is rising, and besides, you three need to get home before someone starts worrying about you."
The two fillies that were still awake shot each other an excited glance before looking at Goku with toothy grins on their muzzles. Goku responded with a short laugh, a nod and a burst of speed that left Scootaloo hanging on for dear life.
"Um, can I go home now, my animal friends must be worried sick." Fluttershy asked, looking more at the ground than her friends.
"No way, Flutters!" yelled Rainbow Dash, her muzzle inches away from Fluttershys' folded ear, "What if we run into a cockatrice? You're gonna have to stare it down, like last time!"
"But that was just a fluke, I never really control when I use the stare, it just happens," Fluttershy stated with utmost certainty.
Twilight gave her friend a calming look, "Yes, but it does come in handy, remember that dragon? We'd all been toast if you hadn't stepped in and saved the day! We might need your expertise with animals to save the crusaders."
"Oh, um alright. I'll help save the Cutie Mark Crusaders, if that's alright with you..." Fluttershy trailed off, mumbling to herself in a barely audible voice.
"I must thank you for this, Fluttershy. To come into the Everfree for the sake of my sister and her friends? Why, if something were to happen to them, I don't know what I would do without -" Raritys' tirade stopped when Applejack shoved an orange hoof into her mouth.
"Neither the time nor the place fer a freakout, Rares. We just gotta focus on findin' the Crusaders fer now."
"Girls! Girls!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "I think I hear them up ahead! Hurry up Fluttershy, they might be in danger this very second!"
The group doubled in speed, with Rainbow and Applejack rushing ahead. The trees shot past the two athletes as they neared the origin of the Crusaders' cries, before a tall creature seemed to stop instantly in front of them. Rainbow tried to swerve, instead going careening into a nearby tree while Applejack skidded to a halt ten feet behind the creature.
Turning, Applejack saw the creature doing the same, before spying her sister held tightly to it's midsection, waving furiously, "Hey Applejack!"
Applejack snarled, lowering her head and pawing at the ground, "Ifn' y'all know what good fer you, you'll put mah sister down unharmed, ya hear!"
"Applejack, wait!" shouted Applebloom, "He ain't -"
"Darn straight it ain't gettin' away with this!" Applejack roared before charging at the creature.
Author's Note
Again, I am open to feedback. Please leave a comment and tell me how I can improve.
"Applejack, wait!" shouted Applebloom, waving her hooves frantically in the air, looking wide-eyed at the stubborn mare headed full-throttle towards Goku, "Don't hurt him, Goku's real nice!"
"Ah'll teach y'all ta hurt mah family, ya giant shaved ape!" roared Applejack, her eyes set on the creature in front of her. Applebloom shouted again as her sister spun around, planted her front hooves before pulling in her hind legs as far as possible and thrusting them back with enough force to uproot an old oak.
A thud embellished with terrible cracks echoed around the forest.
"Hey, are you alright?" Applejack collapsed as Goku crouched for a better view of his aggressor, "You don't look so good, could you use a little help?"
"W-what in the hay are you m-made of?" whimpered Applejack, struggling up to four hooves only to collapse in a pile at Gokus' feet, "F-felt like ah was b-buckin' a steel wall."
"Sis!" Applebloom shouted, squirming her way out of Gokus' grip and running over to Applejack, tears streaming from her eyes, "Yer so stubborn! Ah told ya not ta try an' hurt Goku."
"W-what are you doin' with a m-monster like that, anyway?" Applejack looked back at Goku, "An why am I the one unable t-to get up? Y'all shoulda went flyin'."
"Goku ain't no monster, Sis! He's a say-an," Applebloom slowly mouthed the syllables to 'saiyan', "an' he saved us from a pack a timberwolves!"
"You should've seen him go! He was like BAM and POW and BOOM ," Scootaloo struck at an imaginary enemy along with the Goku in her memories, "and then he was all," she deepened her voice in imitation, "'You lose. Leave now.', and they all ran away! It was like something out of Daring Do, but with even more action!" she let out a small squeal of excitement before glancing around, blushing slightly.
Goku laughed nervously, "It really isn't that big a deal, I was just doing what anyone would do." He gave a bashful smile, "I was just helping those who needed it. Really, no big deal!"
Applejack looked at Goku incredulously before widening her eyes and looking around the group, an irritated look covering her face, "Now where did that Rainbow Dash fly off to now? Probably took one look at this here 'say-an'," her pronunciation wasn't any better than her sisters', "an' ran away ta nap." she chuckled lightly at her joke.
"Hey! You take that back! I'll deal with this so-called 'say-an' myself, just lemme -" Rainbow grunted with each effort to remove herself from her bindings, binding her tighter the more she struggled, "- get out of these stupid -" another series of grunts followed by an exasperated sigh, "- vines. Um, Applejack? Little help?"
"Here, I got it." said Goku, before pointing his finger at one of the offending vines.
"Um, what're you doing? How is that gonna hELP! , " Goku shot a bright yellow ki blast straight through one vine after another, riddling the tree behind Rainbow with small circular holes that passed right through its' aged trunk. Rainbow landed on her back and easily shook off the now detached vines, and thanked Goku. She made to fly towards Scootaloo, before her face joined the others in shocked amazement, "Wait, did you just shoot lasers ?" she motioned towards Gokus' hands, "Out of those ?"
"Lasers? No, those were just low-power ki blasts, nothing impressive," Goku replied, before turning his head towards the sputtering purple unicorn standing there. Her right eye twitched, pupil practically non-existant, her pink-striped purple mane noticeably disheveled. Goku could have sworn he saw steam rising from her ears.
Earlier
"Urgh! Those two always running ahead!" an exasperated Twilight grumbled.
"You heard Rainbow Dash, Twilight! Let's go save the crusaders from the super scary thing!"
The four remaining elements (and Spike) sprinted down the overgrown path. Twilight led the group, Pinkie Pie bouncing along, a shivering Fluttershy draped over her back, not slowing her pace. Rarity barely kept up with the others, dodging from side to side, away from anything deemed remotely dirty by her keen eyes.
"Yes, but it's a bad idea to just charge in without a plan. We should observe, take notes and calculate strategies. Celestia knows what those fillies have gotten themselves into this time!"
"Darling, now is neither the time nor the place to spend time planning. My sister could be in danger for goodness sake!" Rarity ran straight through a particularly muddy spot, "Eugh! No, be strong, Rarity, for Sweetie Belle!"
They ran in relative silence (that is, Pinkie Pie talked, the rest tuned her out) before Twilight skidded to a halt.
"Here, I got it." said a strange creature, pointing it's... claw? at an entangled Rainbow Dash, before blasting the vines with what Twilight could only call high-powered magical beams. But it had no horn and practically no magical signal, "Wh.. Buh... How.. I-I... What?" Twilight bumbled, speechless at the display of powerful magic.
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity cried, eyes locking onto the unmoving form of her sister, grasped in the creatures' forelimbs, "Get away from her, you brute!" she lowered her head in challenge, her horn glowing blue as she levitated around twenty gems out of her saddlebags, pointing them at Goku, "Or you'll regret it!"
Author's Note
...And congrats to Kaosu for making me look like an idea thief! I know the chapters are getting shorter and shorter, so I'll try to get a nice beefy one published soon, and I'm still trying to get better, so leave a comment with any criticisms or, well, comments and I'll keep trying to improve my story.
"Applejack! What happened?" Big Mac made a beeline towards his injured sister, "Are ya legs alright?"
"Huh? Big Mac? What're ya doing in the Everfree?" Applejack looked around in confusion, "Now how'd ah get back to the farm?"
"Nice teleport, Twi!" Spike shouted as he hopped off her back, "That one didn't hurt at all! Maybe next time you can remember to warn us before you zap up back to Ponyville." he deadpanned, before taking note of his surroundings, "Hey, why aren't we at the library?"
"Buhuh?" Twilights' unfocused eyes still swiveling about in her eyesockets, before focusing on the baby dragon in front of her, "Spike? You say something?" she rubbed her forehead.
Spike blinked, "Uh yeah. I asked why we aren't at the library. Normally when you teleport us, we end up there."
"Teleport? What are you talking abou... -" she stood stock still as the memories of the last few minutes came back to her in full swing, "- I didn't cast that spell, Spike. From what I can tell, Goku did and -"
"- But how? He's not exactly a unicorn? And anyway -"
"- I know he isn't a unicorn! And his magic signature is practically nonexistant! But how... -"
"Hey Twi, you alright? You were out of it for a bit there." Goku laughed, "I was starting to worry."
"Uh, hey Goku..." her eyes didn't register his existence. She then subconsciously reached into her saddlebags with her magic, pulling out a scroll of parchment before jumping slightly and staring up at Goku, a wide and incredibly creepy grin covering her muzzle, "Goku! Just the pon- I mean saiyan - that I was looking for! I have a... " she paused for a second, " THING! Yes, a thing! At my library. In the basement! I need your help with this thing!"
"...'Thing'? Twilight, you aren't going crazy again? We don't want a repeat of the whole 'Pinkie Sense' thing again." Spike crossed his arms, giving Twilight a withering glare. She gave way quickly, her eyes falling to the ground almost as fast as her grin left her face.
Twilight sighed, "Yes, you're right Spike, I don't know what I'd... Spike? Spike!" she rushed over to the dragon, his tiny form doubled over on the ground. Goku had rushed to his side and appeared to be checking for a pulse, albeit in the wrong locations for a dragon. Twilight made a note that these were probably the locations he's check for his own pulse, but was interrupted when Spike let out a loud burp, accompanied by a green flame that quickly morphed into a rolled up scroll with the royal seal imprinted in sealing wax.
Celestia paced back and forth, a large frown plastered on her face. What had went wrong today? She woke up, raised the sun. Normal so far. Then she attended day court. Just a regular Saturday, nothing strange. She had lunch, then more day court. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until she felt a tear in the veil.
The veil isn't something any ordinary pony could comprehend, let alone sense. Celestia knew of only three ponies able to do so (including herself, of course). Breaking the veil, as far as Celestia knew, was impossible. Yet she also knew what she had felt.
Judging by they way the barged into day court, Luna and Cadence had also felt it. They had both completely derailed whatever petition the nobels had to improve their own standing, always a plus. If this meant she could ignore the upper class of Canterlot for a few hours, if only to pace in her room, having worried conversations with the other alicorns, then maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing for other things to break through the veil.
"Whatever caused it, the rip in the veil seems to have healed completely." Celestia looked over to Cadence, who was sheepishly tapping her hooves together, "Maybe it was nothing. There haven't been any reports of strange incidents or anything."
"We can't afford to take that chance. The disturbance appeared above the Everfree, maybe Twilight Sparkle saw something?" Luna suggested.
"She would send me a letter if anything catastrophic happened."
"Maybe not." Cadence spoke up, "She's been trying to prove herself even more recently, hasn't she? She might attempt to handle it herself, then send a report afterwards."
"Either way, it would be a good idea to alert your student, sister."
"I know..." Celestia sighed, " It's just she'll try to handle it herself if I tell her about this 'unprecedented magical event'. And we all know how she gets over something new or unexpected."
"The benefits outweigh the downsides, sister. You should send Twilight a letter, just try to avoid wording it in a way that alerts her curiosity. Something about keeping an eye out for strange happenings in the Everfree, perhaps?"
"A message from the Princess?!" Twilight unraveled the letter, "She never sends me a latter unless it's important! Do you realise what this means? Discord could be free again! Maybe Nightmare Moon possessed Princess Luna again!"
"How did Spike burp out that scroll?" Goku asked Rarity as Twilight continued to rant without actually reading the letter.
"Twilight is Princess Celestias' personal student. Spike uses dragonfire to relay messages."
"So does this Celestia have an adult dragon or another Spike?"
"NNNNNope!" shouted Pinkie Pie, bouncing past the shouting Twilight, "She just uses her magic."
"Why not just use telepathy instead of sending letters through burping dragons?" Goku laughed at the image, "I mean, it just seems a bit roundabout."
"Telepathy, darling? What makes you think the Princesses can use telepathy?"
"It's what me and King Kai used to talk when I wasn't training with him."
"You were trained by royalty?" asked Rarity, eyes gleaming as Twilights' ears twitched in their direction, "Oh I simply must design you some clothes fit for someone of such status! No offense, darling, but those rags you're wearing aren't exactly the pinnacle of fashion. And look at the state of them!"
"Royalty?! A visiting royal student?! Who is this 'King Kai'? I've never heard of a nation ruled by a 'Kai', is it far from here? I have so many questions!" Twilight positively beamed with excitement, assaulting Goku with a barrage of questions, not giving him time to answer.
"I don't think he's royalty, I just think that's his name. But he does watch over the entire north quadrant of the universe..." Goku scratched his chin, looking skyward, "I guess you could call him royalty. There are a whole load of Kais higher up than him."
Twilight, Rarity and Spike gaped at Goku, "Entire... north... quadrant..." asked Twilight, "Personal student... of the King of the entire north quadrant..."
"He's not really the king of it all, more like a watcher really."
"But you're his student, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And he watches over an entire quarter of the universe?"
"Yeah..."
"So... Do you have any books with you? You must know sooo much!" Twilights' eyes glowed as she stared at Goku, a hungry look in her eyes, "C-can you teach me?"
"Books? Why would I need books?" Goku asked as Twilight continued to fantasize about all the possible knowledge, "He never taught me anything about any books..."
"Twilight, dearie?" Rarity stepped in, "What, pray tell, is 'the universe'? Is it like Equestria?"
Twilight snapped out of her book-induced daydream, "Wha...? Oh Rarity. The universe is..." she rubbed her chin, "Goku? What is the universe?"
"Um, Twi? Not that Goku being the personal student of this 'King Kai' isn't cool and all, but you're forgetting about the letter tha- Hey!" Spike shouted as a purple aura tore the now opened scroll out of Spikes' claw.
As she read the letter, Twilights' expression slowly turned from apprehension to confusion to comprehension, "It says here that Princess Celestia feels that we should keep an eye out for any strange happenings in the Everfree! She must have meant for us to welcome Goku! Spike, take a letter!"
Goku crouched over to the now recovered Rainbow Dash as Twilight dictated to Spike, "Hey, you're Rainbow Dash, right?"
Dash blinked, her head turning towards Goku. She stared at him for a second before realising she was asked a question, "Heck yeah! That's me, Rainbow Dash! Fastest flier in Equestria! What's it to ya?"
"Fastest flier huh? So that must make you really strong!" Goku pounded his fists against an imaginary table.
"Heh, I could kick anyponys' flank! Even you, Mr. 'I-took-down-a-pack-of-timberolves-by-myself'!" she looked over at Twilight as she dictated furiously, Spike struggling to keep up, "Hey, what's gotten into Twilight?"
"I told her I trained under King Kai, then she kinda went off on her own, talking about books and a princess," Goku shook his head, "You'd think, ears as big as hers she'd be good at listening."
"Wait, trained under King Kai? So that makes you like his person.. -"
"No! It's not like that! Really!" Goku interrupted, "I just trained with him for a year or so! That doesn't make me his personal student!"
"So I guess you know loads about the fancy magic Twilight does, huh? Probably live in a library too." Dash winked at Goku, pleased with her teasing.
"Heh, nah. I never really got reading." Goku smiled, rubbing under his nose, "It just gets in the way of the important things!"
Rainbow Dash looked to her right, a plume of green flame engulfing the letter, "Well don't tell Twilight, big guy. She'd throw a fit if you ever told her that reading 'gets in the way'" she thought about something for a second, before adding, "On second thoughts, tell her! It'll be hilarious!"
Twilight barreled towards Goku, running straight past Rainbow Dash, "Please, come with me, Sir Goku! As a fellow personal student of royalty, I must be the best host possible! I have just planned our schedule for tonight -" she was cut off from her obsessing by a loud rumble.
"Can it wait? I'm starving!"
Author's Note
I feel this chapter is a real decrease in quality, I might re-write it later. Offer any complaints etc. in the comments.
A plume of ash filtered through the windows of Celestias' bedroom, materialising into a sealed letter, "Well, that was fast."
"She's probably writing to tell you she got the message, sister." Luna stated as Celestia unfurled the letter, giving it a quick once-over, before here eyes widened and she read it again, only more thoroughly.
"Luna, Cadence, you need to read this." said Celestia, waving a hoof towards her fellow alicorns, "Something did come through."
"Then why can't we sense its' magical presence? It would need more magic than both us and the elements combined to pierce the veil!" Cadence waved a hoof incredulously while flying over to read the letter.
"... Personal student of a 'King Kai'? Sister, is this the ruler of a new nation, formed during my banishment?"
"I've never heard of a 'King Kai', and he isn't ruler of any nation I've ever heard of. It says here that this 'Son Goku' is capable of -" Celestia mumbled slightly to herself, moving the paper in closer, "- long-range group teleportation, accurate down to the inch, without the ball of light?"
"He must be an incredibly skilled unicorn to accomplish such a feat. Magic control like that is unheard of outside of alicorns, how far did he teleport, and how big was the group?" asked Cadence.
"It says here that it was a group of eleven, including himself, and from the middle of the Everfree to outside the barn at Sweet Apple Acres." Luna stared at the paper, disbelief evident on her face.
"Don't get worked up over it, sister. I'm sure my student has got the details mixed up. Nopony can perform feats of that nature."
"Maybe it's a secret spell from this 'King Kai'. Either way, I think we should all go and welcome Son Goku to our kingdom."
"Well it looks like all yer savin' Applebloom really worked up an appetite there, Goku!" Applejack gave him a beam as Big Mac helped her to her feet (hooves?), "Ah gotta introduce ya to the family!" she drew in a deep breath, "HEY GRANNY SMITH! GIT YER LAZY FLANK DOWN HERE! WE GOT SOMEPONY Y'ALL SHOULD MEET!"
"Applejack! Must you be so loud? You nearly woke dear Sweetie Belle." Rarity chided.
Applejack looked sheepishly at the ground, "Hehe, oops. My bad, Rares."
"What in tarnation has you all riled up down thar?" shouted a voice from the barn. This new voice had an accent much more potent than Applejacks, combined with a hoarseness obtained only in age, "Why are y'all wakin' up the elderly at this time ah night? Are those two younglings back from tah Everfree yet?" the voice mumbled to herself, the slow creaks from the stairs accenting it slightly.
"It's us, Granny! We both made it back all safe like! Thanks ta Goku, that is! He saved Applebloom from a pack a timbrwolves!"
"Goku eh?" the voice now identified as Granny Smith gave a chuckle, "Sounds like yer finally bringin' a stallion back to tah farm, eh Applejack?"
"Granny!" Applejack moaned, exasperated, "It ain't like that, he ain't even a pony, fer cryin' out loud!"
"Not a pony?" Granny asked, "Big Mac? She tellin' the truth?"
"Eeyup." the large red stallion nodded in Gokus' direction, looking on as the saiyan rubbed under his nose and chuckled awkwardly, "That's fer sure." the creaking finally stopped, as an aged green earth pony hobbled out of the door. She gasped as she saw Goku.
"Land sakes! Y'all weren't kiddin' when ya said 'not a pony'! The hay is he, some kinda monkey?"
"Nah, Granny, Goku's a saiyan! He's so nice an' all! He saved us from a pack a timberwolves!"
"A pack?! Applebloom, what have ah told y'all about lyin' ta yer granny?"
Applejack gave a small chuckle, "Actually, Granny, she ain't lyin'! Ah don't know how, but she's tellin' the truth!" she turned to Goku, "Hey Goku! Come meet mah family! This here's Granny Smith -" Applejack waved a hoof toward Granny Smith, wincing slightly as she put a little more weight on her hind legs, "- An' Big Macintosh -" the large red earth pony, still only coming up to under Gokus' chest. Both the new apples greeted Goku, Big Mac nodding slightly in his direction, and Granny Smith hobbling up and shaking Gokus' hand.
"Phew! He's a tall one Ah'll give 'im that!"
Goku returned the shake, lifting Granny Smith into the air as he put a little to much strength into it, "And I'm Son Goku, but my friends just call me Goku!" Goku beamed, before his stomach rumbled. He fell back into a sitting position, grasping his belly, "I'm starved, you wouldn't happen to have any food around here, would you?"
"Well he's plenty strong too! An with his priorities in order ta boot!" said a slightly shaken Granny Smith, after recovering from her unexpected lift, "Tell yer what, Ah'll whip up a batch of my world-famous apple pie! Git yer right as rain in no time! An -" she was interrupted by a burst of yellow light about fifty feet in the air.
From the light materialised three alicorns, one shining white with a mane that looked like the northern lights had replaced her hair. She wore golden horseshoes, a golden torque with a purple gemstone set inside it, and a tiara of, you guessed it, gold with another gemstone set in it. The second one, though not as big as the first, was still a giant compared to the regular ponies. She was coloured a midnight blue, with her mane flowing out like the night sky. Her regalia was identical to the white ones', except the jewels were replaced by a crescent moon of pure white. The smallest had a pink coat, though not as offendingly bright as Pinkie, and a striped mane of cream, pink and purple.
"Princesses!" shouted Twilight, as everyone apart from Goku lowered themselves to the ground. Twilight looked over to him and whispered, "Goku, get down. We don't want to offend the princesses!"
"Wow, you three seem much stronger than everyone else!" Goku ran up to the princesses as they landed, "Princesses, huh? So are the king and queen stronger than you?"
"And what are you, strange being?" Luna shouted, the royal canterlot voice booming, "We are looking for the one named 'Son Goku', for we have been told that he is a being of great magical prowess, as well as the personal student of one 'King Kai'." she looked over to the cowering Twilight, who had her hooves covering her ears, "Twilight Sparkle! Where is this 'Son Goku'? Can you bring him to me?"
"Son Goku? That's me! Say, how do you know my name? Same way you've heard of King Kai?" Goku addressed the princesses in the most casual tone possible.
"So you're Son Goku? I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, raiser of the sun" said the white alicorn.
"We are to be addressed as Princess Luna of Equestria, goddess of the moon." Luna bellowed.
"My name's Princess Miamore Cadenza, but just Cadence is fine. I'm the princess of love!" she raised her hoof. Goku stared at it for a second before grabbing it and giving it a vigorous shake.
"Hey! I'm Son Goku, but my friends call me Goku!" Goku beamed before rubbing his chin in thought, "Do I have to list accomplishments or something for my title?"
"That would be helpful, Son Goku." Celestia stated calmly.
"Just call me Goku." he thought for a second, "Well, I killed the Demon King Piccolo, defeated him in his younger form later. I became the first super saiyan in three thousand years, then used its' power to defeat the intergalactic warlord Freiza. I battled evil androids for the fate of the universe, then saved the Earth by using instant transmission to teleport a self-destructing Cell away from the planet. I saved the universe from Majin Buu, the eater of worlds, then I saved Earth from Baby. He was trying to revive his Truffle planet by converting all the earthlings into truffles. Then there was the shadow dragons, especially Omega Shenron. He wanted to destroy the universe." he counted off all the villains he'd defeated on his fingers, "Oh! I nearly forgot! I fought off the God of Destruction long enough for him to agree not to destroy Earth!" Goku beamed at finishing his list, glancing around as thirteen jaws slammed against the ground.
"B-buh..." Twilight blinked quickly, regaining her composure, "But how are you not dead?!"
"Oh I was. Twice, actually. But now I'm not!"
"But that's not physically possible! How can you die then die again? You have to be alive to die!" Twilight shouted, snorting out air from her nostrils.
"Oh yeah, I was brought back to life each time."
"Aaaargh! Applejack, is he lying?"
"As much as ah'd like to say he's tellin' a tall tale, I can't. He's tellin' the truth," Applejack shook her head, "Ah don't know how, but he ain't lyin'."
The three princesses blinked, finally registering what was said, before connecting telepathically, "Sister, we don't believe that Son Goku is telling the truth."
"Neither do I, I haven't even heard of this 'Earth'"
"Maybe it's from outside the veil?"
"Maybe, but do you sense any magical power coming from him, let alone enough to break the veil?"
"Maybe he's suppressing it?"
"We don't think it's possible to suppress enough power to break through the veil"
"How about we put him to the test? He seems to like to fight, how about we challenge him?"
"What sort of challenge do you have in mind?"
"How about we put him up against the strongest members of each of our guards? If he's telling the truth, he shouldn't have any problems defeating them."
"If he's telling the truth, we would be the only ponies able to hold our own, let alone beat him."
"Hah! Let him try! Unlike you, sister, We have not let our combat skills wither away! He would not stand a chance against us at full power!"
"Luna, may I remind you that we no longer allow deaths in the ring? You would have to hold back unless the situation warrents it."
"Fine. You are still as much of a stick in the mud as you were before my banishment." Celestia mentally giggles at this, "How about we make it into a tournament?"
"That's a good idea, it'll be a good way to test my new guard, as well as Goku. And, naturally, we'll enter as well."
"My guard is getting out of practice, and this will be a good way to shapen them up."
"Then it is agreed, there will be a tournament!"
The three alicorns exited their telepathy, grins on their faces, "Son Goku, how would you feel about entering a little tournament?"
The room was silent. Well, silent if not for Goku shoveling food down his throat at a speed that even Pinkie had trouble keeping up with. A stack of dishes next to him piled as high as Princess Cadences' head as she approached, "Don't you think you're going a little overboard, Goku? You'll end up with a stomach ache at this rate."
Goku paused his eating, "Nah, I'll be fine. It's not like -" Another pie gone, "- I've never eaten this much before!" a basket full of apples gone in an instant, "Thanks for this, Granny Smith! It's really good!" he continued eating with a colossal grin on his face.
"Aw shucks!" Granny Smith bashfully waved a hoof at Goku, "Been quite some time since somepony's enjoyed mah cookin' this much, Ah'll tell ya!"
"He could at least take smaller bites! Such manners! And in the presence of not one princess, but three!"
"Now now, Rarity. Why don't we let him enjoy himself, he'll need his strength if he's going to fight in the upcoming tournament."
"Yes, he will need as much of it as he can get when he faces our night guard!"
"Hey, can anypony enter this tournament?" asked Rainbow Dash, before noticing the odd looks she was getting, "What? It'll be a great chance to impress the Wonderbolts! And besides, I'm a black belt in karate! I won't go down easy!" she pounded the air for emphasis.
"So will this tournament be like the Tenchaichi Budokai?" asked Goku, lying back with his hands over his stomach.
"Tenchaichi Budokai? We have never heard of such a competition."
"Oh, you know. The Tenchaichi Budokai. Strongest under the Heavens martial arts tournament? The Cell Games took after it." Everyone present was giving Goku questioning glances. He sighed, "The Tenchaichi Budokai was held every five years..."
"... And that's when I defeated Piccolo Jr. Everyone just calls him Piccolo now, though." Goku looked around the gathered ponies (and dragon), "What happened? You all look like you've seen a ghost."
"You had a giant hole blown through your shoulder?! But there isn't a hole there now! How is that even- I mean - RAARGH" Twilight stormed off in a huff, Spike reluctantly following.
"Oh yeah! That reminds me!" Goku walked over to Applejack, placing a hand on each hind leg, "I never got around to fixing your legs. Now, hold still..."
"What do ya think you're -" Gokus' hands glowed a soft yellow, the aura absorbing into Applejack. Her body radiated a golden aura for a second, before it diffused.
"And... done! Give that a try, your legs should feel better now." Applejack complied, taking a few tentative steps before galloping around the barn at breakneck speed. Her remaining friends huddled around her, before piling on in a group hug. Goku stood up, hands on hips and a mock grin on his face, "Hey! Don't I get a hug for fixing her legs?"
"'Course ya do, Goku. But not fer the legs, fer Applebloom and the crusaders. Celestia knows what woulda happened if you hadn't shown up when ya did." Applejack jumped slightly as she remembered who was in her presence, "Er, no offense, Princess."
"None taken. Now, Goku, do you object to taking part in our little tournament? I understand if you don't want to face either us or our guard in the ring, but -"
"Sure, I'll take part! When is it?" Goku interrupted, earning a glare from Luna.
Luna turned to her sister, whispering, "Would the guards' sparring grounds be a suitable location, sister?"
Celestia whispered back, "Yes, they will do nicely. Though they have been a little neglected as of late, but that's nothing a little work won't fix."
"Make sure to reinforce the arena, we don't want to trouble the builders too much when we implant Gokus' face into the ground." Luna gave a cocky grin, making crude hoof gestures to demonstrate exactly how deep underground she would stick his head.
"Be gentle, sister. We don't want a repeat of the 'minotaur tree' incident, do we?"
Luna blushed, lowering her eyes, "How were we supposed to know you were joking?"
"What are you two whispering about?" Goku said, suddenly a foot away from the princesses ears. His sudden change in location caused the princesses to jump a couple feet in the air. Goku laughed innocently, "Oops, didn't mean to sneak up on you there!"
"Yes, well..." Celestia gathered her thoughts, "... The tournament will take place at the guards' sparring grounds in Canterlot." she took note of Gokus' confused looks, "That big city up on the mountain. Would a week be sufficient time to prepare o-"
"- Or will you need decades to get up to our level!" Luna interrupted, shoving her face up to Gokus' smiling visage, in an attempt to be intimidating. Her short stature compared to Goku made this impossible, "All you have proven so far is that you can heal. We have a report of your ability to shoot high power magical blasts, but that was most likely overstated. Your power doesn't even match that of a foal! An-" her tirade was cut short as Goku gathered a small, light blue energy ball in one hand, "... Point taken. But that still doesn't match up to Twilights' power, let alone ours!"
Goku laughed happily, walking slowly up to the moon princess, "A week will do just fine. Heck, I'm ready right now!"
"I'll be the judge of that!" shouted Luna, before a white wing unfurled in front of her.
"Control your power, sister. You don't want to destroy Applejacks' farm, do you?" the country mare gave a gasp at Celestias' words.
"... No, sister. We will save it for the ring." Lunas' ears were turned back.
Pinkie, who was unusually silent through the whole of dinner, decided now would be a good time to get that hug she missed earlier. She crouched down, crawling slowly up behind Goku, drawing closer. Closer...
"Gotcha! Woah!" Pinkie jumped straight through Gokus' after image, with her forelegs stretched out as wide as possible. He shot behind her and patted her on her head as she pouted, covered in dirt. He laughed innocently.
"Gonna have to try harder than that!" Goku ruffled her mane a little more, as Pinkie picked herself up and gave him a challenging smirk.
"Oh I will, Mister! You can count on it!"
"Hey Rainbow? Did y'all see Pinkie fly straight through Goku just now?" Applejack whispered to Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, you mean I didn't imagine it? Great! I thought I was going crazy for a second there!" Rainbow whispered back, "Do you know how he did that? If I could make more of me in my tricks..." she trailed off, rubbing her chin with her hoof.
"Hey! You should go to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow at five! I think you'll find it suprisingly fun!" Pinkie jumped up to Gokus face, hovering there just long enough to rattle off her request, before dropping back down with her trademark grin on her face.
Goku strolled through the streets, hands behind his neck. Applejack and Applebloom trotted quickly to keep up with the saiyan, "... And so Gohan's flying head first towards the tree, me and ChiChi running as fast as possible after him, when suddenly, he holds out his hands and shoots an energy blast straight through the tree. He shot through the hole he made, before I caught him on the other side." he gave a bright laugh, "Oh man, you should've seen ChiChis' face!"
"Hold on, lemme get this straight. You went to the forest to get apples from yer favourite apple tree. Ya then forgot about yer son, who then went rollin' down a hill, fell out of the cart an' promptly blew up half the tree?"
"More like a little hole in the trunk, about a meter across. Nothing special, especially compared to what he did later."
"Ya know, Goku, when I asked you if mah familys' apples were the best y'all've ever had, ah wasn't expectin' yer ta answer."
"Ah lighten' up, sis! Those apples were from a giant forest! Maybe they're like the zap apples? Ya know, come from a forest, taste real good..."
Goku glanced around at the empty streets, "Hey Applejack? Is everyone normally gathered in one place this time of day?"
Applejack gave him a questioning look, "What do ya mean?"
"Pretty much everyone in town is in this one building a couple minutes that way." Goku pointed in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
"An' just how do you know this?" Applejack narrowed her eyes.
"Oh I can just sense everyones' energy. There's thirty five ki levels in a single building, and only two outside it, but still in Ponyville." Goku gave a shrug, "I figure it's some kinda holiday or something." he held up a finger as he realised something, "Come to think of it, we're headed over there too, aren't we?"
Applejack shook her head to regain her senses, "Erm... Yeah! Pinkie invited y'all ta Sugarcube Corner yesterday, remember?"
"Sugarcube Corner? -"
"It's a sweet shop!" Applebloom interrupted, "One of the best in all Equestria! An' can we hurry up? I got a crusader meetin' planned at ta' -" Applejack shoved a hoof into her sisters' mouth.
"Applebloom has a point, Goku. We ain't gonna make it at this rate! Can't those legs a yours move any faster?"
Goku rubbed a finger under his nose, chuckling slightly, "Maybe a little. You up for a race?" at Applejacks' determined nod, Goku returned her smirk with his own, "So do you carry Applebloom or do I?"
"Ah wanna sit on Gokus' neck again! Can I, sis? Can I?" Applebloom pouted at her sister, watering her eyes up with a pleading look on her face. Applejack fought valiantly, but soon buckled, giving a defeated nod and a sigh. Goku picked up the crusader, placing her onto his shoulders, "Wow! Bein' tall must be awesome! Ah can nearly see mah house from here!" Applebloom held a hoof to her forehead, blocking the light of the afternoon sun from her eyes.
"Hold on tight, you hear." Goku grabbed her front hooves, linking them together on his forehead. He took a racing stance, "Ready when you are!"
"All right! Now I'll go easy on ya, make sure ya can still see me!" Applejack gave a challenging smirk, before lowering her head to a racing pose of her own, "On yer marks... Get set... Go!"
The two racers shot off. Applejack pumped her legs in perfect rhythm , propelling her forward. The path beneath her became a blur, as she shot past dozens of houses. The streets were clear, perfect for a race. She glanced behind her to make sure Goku was keeping up, before letting out a gasp of shock. Goku was keeping pace right beside her, not even breaking a sweat. He shot her a grin and a thumbs up, before blasting forwards with a speed to rival Applejacks' limit.
"So y'all wanted a real race? Well ya got one!" Applejack puffed, her words drowned out by the crazed giggling coming from the filly on Gokus' neck. The farmer pushed more power into her strides, hind legs pumping like pistons as she approached her top speed. Her mane stuck itself to her coat, both saturated with sweat. She spared a quick glance over to check on Goku and her sister, again shocked to see him keeping up, a leisurely grin on his face. He hopped over stray rocks with each stride, leaving deep footprints in the soft earth. Applejacks' eyes widened as she noticed a distinct lack of sweat polling around his person, "How *pant* are *pant* ya *pant* doin' *pant* that?" her breathing was ragged as she tried to speak while running full belt.
"Doing what?" Goku asked, placing a finger on his chin. Applejack noted that he could still pinpoint where the rocks were, even with his head facing her and his eyes closed. Applebloom clung onto his head, giggling wildly the whole time.
"That!" Applejack shouted, not caring about her breath, pointing a hoof at Goku. Her eyes widened as she realised her mistake, before jamming shut to avoid a particularly painful grazing. She held them closed, waiting for the ground to catch her face.
"Looks like we made it!" Goku said, his voice the same care-free one as before. Applejacks' eyes opened to see he was holding her , one arm around her waist, with Applebloom staring wide-eyed at where she had been a second before, "I gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to be that fast! Nice job!"
"Y-you too, Goku." Applejack stuttered out, looking up at the saiyan with amazement plastered on her face.
"How did y'all do that, Goku?" Applebloom asked, tapping on Gokus' head with a hoof, "We were there, now we're here. What did ya do?"
"Oh that? It's no big deal, really. I just saw Applejack here was gonna fall, so I caught her." he tapped Applejacks' head in an attempt to get her attention, "You really shouldn't trip up like that, could've gotten a nasty scrape."
Applejacks' face snapped from the blank expression it held before to an angry blush, "Ya call that 'a little bit'? Ya kept up with me at mah top speed! An' ya didn't even break a sweat!" her fading blush returned in full as she sniffed, taking note of how much she had actually sweat, "Put me down!" she fell the the ground with a thud as Goku looked down at her with concern.
"Hey Applejack, are you gonna be ok?" he crouched, Applebloom hopped off his head.
"Sis! Calm down, yer actin' like Twilight was last night!"
"Calm down? Calm down! Ah'm perfectly calm right now! Yer ta one-" she stopped, blinking quickly as Applebloom slapped her across the face, before letting out a slow breath, "...Yer right, ah need ta keep mah head... Yer really something else, Goku, ya know that? Not many ponies can keep up with me!"
"I'm not that good! Really!" Goku laughed awkwardly, "Anyway, we made it! This is Sugarcube Corner, right?"
"Yeah, this is it, you first, Goku." the two sisters watched as the saiyan made his way inside.
The door to Sugarcube Corner creaked open, cutting a bright rectangle in the darkness of the room. Gokus' sharp eyes pierced the darkness, in search of the life signals he knew were in the room, "Hello?" he asked, before chuckling lightly, "I know you're all there, you can stop hiding now."
A disappointed cry came from the darkness, "Aww, how did you know? Applejack, you didn't ruin the suprise, did you? Come on out everypony, he knows." the lights flicked on as the ponies filtered out of their hiding places. Most had hidden behind the counter, some inside the kitchen and others under the tablecloths. Some pegasi had taken to 'hiding' by flying as close to the ceiling as possible, staying close to the door in a hope to avoid being seen. One particular rainbow-maned pegasus held in her hooves what appeared to be a bucket of water. She suppressed a mischievous cackle as she stayed above the doorframe, waiting for Gokus' entrance as Applejack trotted in.
"Ah didn't tell him anything, Pinkie." she consoled Pinkie, whose mane had slowly started losing its' frizz, "He has this freaky sense thing where he can tell where y'all are."
"Like the pinkie sense?" Pinkie gasped, before speaking in a hushed whisper, "Don't tell Twilight! You remember what she did when I told her about my pinkie sense! She completely lost it!" she drew small circles with one hoof next to her head, flicking her bottom lip with the other as she rolled here eyes, somehow making cuckoo noises.
"Uh, hey everyone!" Goku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, taking notice of the strange looks being shot in his direction. He cringed slightly as he listened to the ponies fearful chatter.
"What is that?"
"You think that's the 'new pony' Pinkie was talking about?"
"She said 'new pony', not 'new talking monkey thing'."
"What do you think it wants with us?"
"Maybe it eats ponies?"
A blue earth pony mare walked up to Pinkie, tapping her hoof on her shoulder, "Um, Pinkie Pie? Is that the 'new pony' you told everyone about?"
Pinkie sprung up, "Yepperoonie, Mrs. Cake! That's Goku! He looks scary, but he's real nice! Did you know he saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from timberwolves yesterday? I didn't see it, but I heard aaaaall about it from Scootaloo and he sounded so cool!" she filled her lungs with air, then shouted, "Hey Scootaloo! Mrs. Cake wants to hear about Goku!" she lowered her voice to a slightly more manageable level, "Anyway, I gotta go! Did you hear about Gokus' 'welcome to Ponyville' party? It's gonna be a blast, I just know it!" she hopped towards the doorway, just as Goku entered, ducking slightly to avoid hitting Appleblooms' head against the doorframe. The filly leaned forwards, holding a hoof up to her eyes.
"Hey Goku, do ya see mah -GAH!" Applebloom cried out as ice-cold water cascaded off her head, followed by a bucket landing on her back.
"Hah! How do you like that, Mr 'I'm-so-awesome-I-beat-a-whole-pack-of-timberolves-by-myself'? Not so tough now are..." she trailed off her victorious tirade when she looked down, expecting to see the soaked face of Goku surrounded by the laughing faces of her adoring fans. Instead stood a perfectly dry saiyan, his head covered by a now soaking wet and shivering Applebloom, "Heheh, oops..." she grinned bashfully before grounding herself and hiding amongst the crowd. Pinkie bounced up to Goku, grabbed his hand, put a hoof around his chest and shouted to all the ponies in attendance,
"Hey everypony! This is Goku and he's new here! But not just Ponyville here, but Equestria here! So this is Gokus' not-a-suprise-anymore suprise welcome to Equestria and Ponyville PARTY!" she shot into the air to the cheering of the ponies present, as confetti rained down from the ceiling. Applebloom hopped down and ran off in the direction of her fellow crusaders.
"Ah Goku, there you are!" Twilight weaved through the crowd, waving towards the saiyan as he headed towards the buffet table, "You're early, I thought Applejack said you'd leave at half four, but it normally takes her thirty minutes to walk here from the farm. You haven't been deviating from the schedule, have you?" she gave him a withering look, which he promptly ignored.
"Nope, we just had a little race to see who could get here first." he took a bite out of a cupcake, smiling at it's taste.
"Do you like it?" asked Pinkie, appearing from inside a potted plant, giving Goku a large, expecting grin. She got her answer when he swiftly finished off another dozen and mumbled thanks. Pinkies' grin increased past 'unnatural' and straight into 'creepy' as she rushed off to the kitchen.
"What's this about a race?" asked Scootaloo as she walked over to Goku, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom at her sides, "I hear you won against Applejack!" she grinned, "And you carried Applebloom too!"
"Yeah, and?" Goku mumbled through the cupcake in his mouth, "Why? You wanna ride too?" Scootaloo gave a giant grin, her little wings buzzing as she hovered a few inches off the ground.
"Yes! That would be so cool, going as fast as that must feel like flying?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, you can't fly. Hey, tell you what. How about I take you flying back home after the party?" Goku ruffled her mane as a confused look came over her face.
"Um, whadda you mean you'll 'take me flying'?" she raised an eyebrow, "You mean you'll get Rainbow Dash to fly me?" her eyes lit up at the idea, buzzing like a hummingbird.
Goku laughed his innocent laugh, "Haha, nah. I can fly you back." to prove his point, he lifted himself off the ground by a couple feet. The music stopped as everyone there stopped to stare at him. He landed in front of the crusaders' gaping mouths with a soft thump, "There, see! Nothing to it!"
Twilights' mane frizzed up suddenly, her eyes twitching madly as she prodded Goku with a quivering hoof, chuckling sporaticaly, "He, ummm Goku? *twitch* D-do you mind doing that *twitch* again? That was a nice jump and all, it just looked *twitch* like you... ummm... floated *twitch* in mid-air for a second there! Just for a second! I-I mean, there's no way you can fly *twitch* without wings. It's simply impossible." her body had started vibrating erraticly.
"Ooh Twilight!" Pinkie beamed, returning from the kitchen, somehow managing to balance five full trays of cupcakes on top of her head, "I didn't know you had a Pinkie sense! Or is it a Twilight sense..." she rubbed her chin with her hoof for a second, before resuming her bouncing, still somehow not dropping the cupcakes, "Oh well, it looks like you've got a real doozy coming up! Or maybe it means something else..."
"Bu-huh? Pinkie, trays... Wha? Flying, no wings?" she shook her head, increasing in force as she continued to mumble louder and louder, "No. Nononononono. Not possible. Nope. YOU ARE NOT POSSIBLE!" she finished by jabbing a hoof towards Goku, who promptly ducked to the floor just as a pink blur came shooting past where his torso used to be. Pinkie went careening into Twilight and the crusaders, hugging them viciously.
"Pinkie... Can't... Breath..." squeaked Sweetie Belle, struggling to escape the powerful hug. Her fellow crusaders made similar attempts, as Twilight simply took it, babbling quietly to herself about things such as 'logic' and 'possibility'. Small spirals of smoke twisted up from her mane and tail as Pinkie did her best impression of a vice grip. Pinkies' eyes opened slowly, hoping to see a particularly hugged saiyan. The joy in them fell slightly as she saw not Goku, but a muttering Twilight and three oxygen-starved fillies.
"Hehe, oops..." Pinkie smiled bashfully, diverting her eyes to the floor as she released her grip. The crusaders fell to the ground, gasping for breath and Twilight rocked in place before falling on her side, still grumbling incoherently to herself. Rainbow Dash sauntered over, waving a hoof in front of Twilights' face.
"Uh, Twilight, you ok in there?"
"Ah think ya broke her... Again." Applebloom tapped the side of Twilights' head, who completely ignored any and all outside stimuli, her eyes becoming more and more glazed over by the second.
"Ah she'll be fine!" Spike said casually, sauntering over to the group with a tub of ice cream in his claws, "You've just gotta be careful not to do anything strange with her around, otherwise she goes nuts." he shook his head disapprovingly, "I mean, this one time she thought she'd get sent back to magic kindergarten if she didn't send the Princess a friendship report by the end of the day. She ended up hypnotising the whole town." he clutched his sides in his mirth, "You should've seen the look on her face when the Princess stopped by to fix everything, she seriously thought she'd be sent back to school!"
"Hey girls?" Dash interrupted, looking around the room worriedly, "Any of you seen Fluttershy?"
Author's Note
As usual, any comments/criticisms are encouraged.
Deep in the Everfree, a faint glimmer inside a cave caught the eye of an adventurous chicken. This chicken, Elizabeak, had wandered into the forest after a particularly dramatic and well-thought-out escape in which she found another hole in the enclosures' fence and snuck out while Fluttershy was busy cooking for Angel.
Elizabeak had an adventurous streak going lately. A brush with a cockatrice, a minor food shortage and a run-in with a fox that was, unknown to her at the time, dead. Understandably, she felt brash and cocky. She puffed out her chest, gave a confident-sounding cluck and made her way into the cave, heading straight for the glimmer.
"Fluttershy? That's the little yellow one from yesterday, right?" Twilight nodded at this. Goku tapped his lips thoughtfully, humming to himself for a second, before raising a finger to the air, "Oh! Found her! She's over there!" He pointed towards where he'd felt her energy, "About a mile away."
"But that's inside the Everfree forest!" shouted Rainbow, "Why in the hay would she be in there?"
"She's chasing a much smaller power level." Stated Goku, "Feels like a small bird. It's staying on the ground, so maybe it's injured?" he hummed to himself again, tapping his forehead in thought, "...But it doesn't feel injured. Flightless, maybe?"
"Ooh! Ooh! I bet it's a penguin!" Pinkie bounced around the group, "She must've gone penguin sledding!"
"Pinkie!" Twilight groaned, "Fluttershy doesn't have any penguins, remember."
"Silly Twilight!" Pinkie bopped Twilight on the nose, making a 'boop' sound, "She clearly has a stash of penguin eggs kept in a cavern in the Everfree. It's so obvious!" Pinkie had somehow pulled a deerstalker and bubble pipe out from somewhere, and had started puffing knowingly on it.
Twilight growled in exasperation, "Where did you even get that?!" she jabbed her hoof towards Pinkie, "You weren't carrying a hat or pipe!"
"She had them in a box in the kitchen." Goku said absent mindedly, gazing out towards the forest. Pinkie gasped at Goku.
"How did you know?! Nopony knows how I do that!" her eyes widened to the size of basketballs as she stood on her hind legs, lent on Goku and whispered in his ear, just loud enough so that everyone listening could hear, "Are you psychic?"
"Erm.. No." Goku looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, kinda. Does mind reading count as psychic? I can do that. But I just saw you run over to the kitchen and back, and I could sense the box. Simple, really."
"Is this the same kind of sensin' as ya did on the way here?" Applejack asked, her face contorted as she clearly tried to ignore the mind-reading comment, "The way y'all talked about sensin', Ah was under the impression ya could only find ponies."
Goku blinked at that, "Um, no." he laughed kindly, "One kind of sensing is looking for life energy, and the other is feeling the vibrations in the air and ground. I have two - well, three now - other types I can do."
"W-wait, what? Sensing energy?" Twilight blurted as she caught up with the conversation, "B-but I thought only unicorns can do that!" she thought for a second before swiftly adding, "And alicorns, of course. But still! Only highly trained unicorns! The only way to sense energy is to have an intricate connection to the magic inside of yourself!" she stomped her hoof against the floor, wincing slightly as it collided harder than she expected before her vigorous denial resumed, "And you -" she jabbed a hoof against Gokus' stomach, "- Do not have a high enough magical level to be anywhere near that point! Hay, a newborn has a higher level than you!" she glared at him, growling, "And 'feeling vibrations in the air' is completely impossible. You ." she jabbed his stomach, "Cannot ." again, but harder, "Do ." getting dangerously close to hitting, "That ." she propelled her hoof into his stomach at high speed. Goku didn't even flinch.
"Ugh! Pick up the pace, will ya?" Rainbow shouted in exasperation. She gestured with her forehooves in an attempt to speed up the convoy. Applejack trotted at the front, occasionally casting worried glances in the direction of the Everfree. Rarity kept pace with the group, albeit with many complaints about the state of the dirt paths. The crusaders made excited conversation with their sisters and idol as Pinkie bounced a slalom around everyone in the group. Twilight waddled along clumsily while attempting to keep one eye on the road and the other on Goku, who was idly jogging next to Dash.
"I don't believe him, Spike." Twilight whispered to her dragon companion, "What kind of Royal Student refuses the chance to learn!"
"You did kinda teleport the entire library on top of his head..." grumbled Spike, earning him a glare from Twilight, ruined slightly by her frazzled mane and how one eye was still focused on Goku.
"I did not!" Twilight whispered, offence evident in her voice, "It was only most of the library."
"And some of the tree, too." Twilights' ear twitched in response to that last jab, but she otherwise payed it no heed, opting instead to mumble, more to herself than Spike.
"Get a grip, Twilight!" she whispered loud enough for Spike to hear clearly, "You are going to find exactly what he's hiding and then..." she trailed off as she stared into the distance, before jumping suddenly, launching Spike three feet in the air, "Of course! I've got it! Spike, take a letter."
"Elizabeak! Can you hear me?" Fluttershy spoke in what was, to her, a particularly loud yell that wouldn't have budged a leaf sitting inches away from her mouth. Her usually silky yellow coat was matted and stained brown in places, mostly near her hooves and stomach, and a few stray twigs stick out of her mane and tail at odd angles. She stood at the mouth of a large cave, glancing quickly around before returning her gaze to the small imprints in the dirt of the Everfree.
Her chicken friend had clearly passed by here. A few small, white feathers stuck in the underbrush behind Fluttershy, and the rythmic pattern of small prints with three toes sticking forewards and one back led to the cave. Said cave was carved into a cliff-face, with a ceiling high enough to fit Twilights' library. This was nothing out of the ordinary for the Everfree.
The clearing, too, was pretty average. Clumps of mud and twigs scattered the patchwork grass, becoming more dense the closer to the tree line they got. The trees cleared slightly, yet still cast shadows across the small space, with the setting sun only lengthening the dark outlines. Again, this was all normal, or about as normal as the Everfree could get, and didn't worry Fluttershy any more than it usually would.
What did worry her was the multitude of charred stumps surrounded by blackened earth around the cave entrance, the deep pulsing sounds emanating from deep within the cave, and how there was only one set of prints. And they led into the cave.
Author's Note
Damn was that a long wait! This went through three re-writes and I'm still not particularly happy about it! My exams are over now, so you can expect more frequent updates as well, although daily may be a bit of a stretch, and I may just get writers block again. Anyway, leave feedback and suggestions in the comments as usual!
Canterlot Castle, the cultural hub of all of Equestria, pulsed with life. The normally stoic guards practically vibrated with the buzz of excitement surrounding the recent announcement. A tournament! Finally, a chance to settle this age-old rivalry between the two houses of the guard. Not just that, but that strange alien from beyond the veil was to take part as well! This was to be a time to be remembered.
Rumour mills churned frantically, barely keeping up with themselves. On street corners, in taverns, at parties, you'd hear so many new ideas. Impressive, really, especially considering how little was actually known about that newcomer. Most knew he walked on two legs, with a tail. Some knew he was a saiyain. Many claimed to know various falsities, with varying degrees of believability. They'd claim such strange things, 'He's a half-breed between a minotaur and an ape', 'His forelegs are actually the ones used for walking. He's just challenging himself', 'He's really a she', to name a few.
Naturally, the princesses made attempts to stem the tide of falsities spewing from every social circle that had any degree of relevancy. Celestia was the one really spearheading the front against those rumours. After all, she had always been the politician, and you just can't risk offending someone with direct contact to such an important foreign leader.
Besides, Luna was preoccupied. Before Goku's arrival, you'd often find her in her chambers or wandering the halls of the castle, complaining near-constantly. Initially, many of the staff had asked about these complaints she'd have. They soon learned not to even bring up many of the changes if they had anything remotely important for the next hour or two. Say what you will about her social skills, but she certainly knew how to complain. One day it's her disappointment in the nobility - how they'd fallen from the elite warriors of the realm who were deemed loyal and important enough to warrant their own castes, to the crude bastardisation of their ancestors well-placed pride. Another time, she just cursed the castles' architect over and over, mumbling something about their 'needlessly complicated' layout. Now, however, she was almost exclusively training at the barracks.
And by 'training', I mean breaking every training dummy in storage with this comically oversized, nearly deceptively so, warhammer.
You'd think that it being nearly three times as long as Luna's body would make such an unbalanced weapon unwieldy. You'd think so, but you'd be gravely mistaken. The massive, obsidian head blurred with speed, smashing into the straw ponies with near explosive effects. Instead of being merely crushed, the bundles of straw flew out in all directions, some flying through the perpetually open windows in the nearest spire.
And if that wasn't formidable enough, it seemed as if the hammer was enchanted in some measure. Not the standard enchantments for guards, such as fortification to improve strength, or feather to decrease weight. Not even one of those four standard elemental effects.
Instead of striking with wind, earth, thunder or fire, the hammer seemed to strike with darkness itself. Shadows spread out from the impact points in the ground, seeping towards all nearby targets. The darkness bubbled around the pickets holding the dummies in place, before slowly dragging the straw targets down into what seemed to be an endless void, filled with the torment of nothingness.
This was Luna's weapon of legend.
This was Dark Anguish.
Before Goku's arrival, the Night guards had been the new blood in the castle. They had initially commanded no respect. Untested in combat, untested in perception and undeniably arrogant, they held all the hallmarks of someone who was all bark and no bite. Hence their fervour at training for this tournament of legends. Being shunned and mocked wears you down, and the only way to escape such a fate is to prove yourself worthy of respect. This, the Night guard knew to be true. So, they embraced their passion for combat and poured everything they had into their drills, their target practice, their sparring matches.
That isn't to say that the Day guard had let themselves dull over the years. In their heyday, they'd had many a champion fighter, proven in the Griffons' gladiator pits, the harshest areas of that border seeped with dark magicks, or the great labyrinths of Minos. So many warriors of legend had served in the Day guard, as had their sons, and their sons. Their unbroken lineage of exceptional brawlers, battlemages and stormguard still reared it's head in todays' guard. And they had their honour to protect.
"What makes a great warrior?", they'd ask, "Yes, a warrior needs his training, his discipline, his temperament. But is that all there is? Is that all it takes for a warrior to become great?"
"No.", they'd answer, "Those qualities may be the building blocks of a warrior, but all buildings need foundations. What could be a stronger foundation than a lineage bathed in enemies' blood and forged in the fires of war?"
Yes, they were arrogant.
Yes, they were cocky.
Yes they were full of themselves.
No, they weren't overconfident. For each boast made by these lineages of Earthshaker, Thunderwing and Magus, those claiming such things rose to the challenge and proved themselves to be worthy of those names. While the Night had drive and determination, the Day had honour and prestige. Like their matriarch, they exude an aura of deserved confidence and barely hidden strength.
One one side, the unproven underdog, the other the arrogant veteran. And, in the middle, the unknown newcomer. Truly, this is to be a tournament that will be remembered.
Author's Note
So I figured I'd do two chapters on Moonhorse and Sunbutt, to give me more material and thinking time, while tiding you lot over with updates. Hopefully, this one shows Luna as at least vaguely capable. And, yes, weapons are legal in this tournament. As usual, point out errors and the like.
A soft step into the darkness of the cave rang through the silence.
"Elizabeak..." Fluttershy called softly as she took another step, the darkness engulfing her as she moved on, "A-are you in here?"
A deep rumble seemed to shake the ground. Fluttershy shot up with a squeak, moving faster than she had in weeks. A light breeze carrying a whiff of sulphur filled the cave's mouth. Fluttershy's wings trembled in mid flight, involuntarily edging towards her sides as she fought to stay in flight. She knew that smell well, knew it from her last encounter with her greatest fear. The only thing that kept her from toppling over in shock was the knowledge that would get her killed.
Turning carefully in the air, Fluttershy softly touched down, facing the cave's mouth. Just taking it one step at a time, there was no need for her to think about was just behind her. Another rumble, another breeze. The trembling was hard to quell, only her fear of being caught kept her from giving in to the fear brought by that breeze. That breath.
A flash of white caught her eye, wafting out of the cave on the dredges of the last breath. Fluttershy's breath caught in her throat. A white feather, a chicken feather.
Turning around, she felt a new fear rise inside her, overpowering all else. The fear of losing a friend.
"Hey, does anypony else hear that?" Asked Dash as she looked questioningly up at the sky, her ears pricked.
"Now that you mention it..." Applejack raised a forehoof up to her brow, squinting towards a fast-growing pink spot in the sky, "Doesn't that look sorta like-"
"AAAAAND GOTCHA!" A pink blur shot from the sky, heading straight towards Goku, passing through and skidding a good twenty feet along the mud face first, hooves wrapped around her body as she missed the most bone-crushing hug she'd ever attempted.
"What?"
"Hey, are you alright down there? That looked like it hurt." A hand gripped her head lightly, lifting her out of the mud with a sodden look on her face.
"What?"
"I suppose," she started as Goku placed her back on her freshly untangled hooves, "But you know what would make me more alright? If I hadn't had my mouth open! Bleuch!" She quickly opened her mouth, spat a pile of mud on the forest floor and scraped the rest off of her tongue with her hooves, "Whatever it looks like, mud does not taste like chocolate icing!"
"What?"
"Yes, I think we all know that, Darling," Rarity gingerly trotted towards Pinkie with a hint of green in her cheeks, "Now, let me help with that." A flash of blue magic burst from her horn, hitting Pinkie in the barrel, dispersing into a light blue shockwave that ran across Pinkie's fur. Where it passed, the mud simply fell off as if suddenly repulsed by Pinkie's body.
"What?!"
"Oooh, tickly!" Pinkie let out a giggle as the magic finished, before pointing a hoof at Goku with a challenging look on her face, "And, if breaking out the party cannon didn't work, I'll just come up with a new way to get you next time! I will get you, if it's the last thing I do!"
"WHAT?!" Twilight shouted, mane in disarray and eyes twitching rapidly as she brushed past Spike, ignoring his frantic attempts to calm her down, "WHAT WAS THAT?! SHE JUST WENT THROUGH YOU!" She paused, taking a deep breath along with a hoof gesture as if pushing the stress away. Safely calmed down, she looked over towards where Pinkie landed, saw that there was, in fact, two Gokus and promptly lost all semblance of calm she had scraped up, "That you that's STILL STANDING THERE!"
"Oh that? It's just an after image, nothing to get worked up about. Look, it's not me," Goku walked up to his doppelgänger, stuck an arm through it's chest and waved it around to get rid of it, accidentally causing the trees behind the clone to bend from the gust, "See, nothing that strange. If you want to see strange, just take a look at the multi-form technique. That one was a doozy to get down, and I'm still not as good at is as Tien."
"After... Image..." Twilight's eyes had glazed over, her hair resembling a pile of hay at it's least organised, as she muttered to herself, "Multi... Form..." Some slight twitching in her hears as Spike snapped his claws in front of her face, a sliver of drool coming out of her open mouth, "Must... Tell... Princesses... About... New... Discovery..."
Spike let out a sigh as he shook his head, looking up at Goku, "There's no point trying to talk to her when she's like this. She's in what I call the 'book trance'. Happens when she spends too much time reading something she doesn't quite get. She's just processing."
Goku laughed, pointing to his face with a grin, "But I'm not a book. I'm Goku."
Everyone who could smacked their foreheads.
"So where do you make her out to be now, big guy?" asked Rainbow, hovering about Goku's eye level as the group made it's way through the underbrush. Greenery wasn't as thick as it was before, scorched patches littered the path and surrounding forest at odd intervals. Spike led along a muttering Twilight at the back, staying as close as he could to the rest of the group, who clustered around Goku as if for protection.
"Only a few hundred meters in front of us," Goku tapped his chin in equal parts shock and thought, "Say, do any of you know if she'd have a reason to confront a big lizard-feeling thing?"
"Uhh, 'big lizard-feeling thing'?" Rainbow tapped a hoof to her chin in thought, "You mean like a dragon? No way would Fluttershy go near one unless she needed to, and even then she'd be all flighty about it."
"Well, she's feeling pretty scared, and there's a much larger power level from the lizard. Feels like they're talking, and the lizard is angry."
Author's Note
IT'S ALIIIIIIIIVE
"Rares, wait," Applejack stated, the authoritarian calm in her voice causing Raritys' ears to twitch in acknowledgement, "Apparently this here 'say-an' -" Goku interjected with the correct pronunciation, "- saiyan, right. Well, this here saiyan saved mah sister an' her crusader friends from a pack a timberwolves."
"A pack?! By itself? And you believed it? We both know that's impossible -"
"- Ah know, they jus' put themselves back together whenever ya hit 'em," Applejack shook her head a little, "But ah also know lies whenever ah hear 'em. An' my sister ain't lyin' about this."
Rarity stood there for a moment, shards of moonlight bursting through the heavy canopy and reflecting off her mane. Either it had somehow survived the dash through the forest, coming out in perfect condition, or she had found the time to style it again after stopping. Goku couldn't tell which.
Something pink twitched behind the alabaster unicorns' equally well-kept tail. Originally brushing it off as some fabric, Goku diverted his attention before returning it as he sensed a separate power to Raritys'. A small one, mind you, but definitely a real one. He leaned to one side, peering behind Rarity. The pink thing ducked further behind her cover, avoiding Gokus' gaze, before Gokus' eyes shot left. He flipped back in a display of great speed, barely avoiding the bright pink blur that almost collided with him.
"Woah!" Goku shouted, performing a perfect landing, Scootaloo clinging to his head and shaking slightly, and Sweetie Belle somehow still asleep, "What was that ?"
The pink blur was now sprawled on the ground, revealing itself to be an aggressively pink (Goku could vaguely remember Vegeta once wore a shirt of similar colouring) earth pony mare, the mud that now covered her fur and mane doing nothing to dull the colour, "Hey, no fair! Nopony avoids a Pinkie Pie hug!" Pinkie pouted momentarily, before hopping over to Goku, "You must be, like super-duper ultra fast to dodge it!" she leaned in to Goku - the gesture losing a lot of its' intended effect due to her being waist height at best - and whispered, "Maybe even faster than Dashie. Don't tell her I said that, though." she gave an exaggerated wink, "Anyway, I'm Pinkie Pie, resident party pony of Ponyville! These are my friends: Applejack -" she gestured a hoof towards the stetson-wearing orange earth pony, "- she grows the bestest apples in Ponyville, Rarity -" a pointed hoof directed Gokus' eyes towards the white unicorn with the purple mane, "- she makes brilliantly fantastic dresses that are super pretty, Rainbow Dash -" the cyan blue pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail, "- she's, like, super-amazing at flying! Did you know that she's the only pegasus in history to pull off a sonic rainboom? I know, crazy, right! Anyway, fluttershy -" Pinkie pulled the pastel-yellow pegasus with the pink mane from behind Rarity, "- She's such good friends with animals! I've never seen her not be friends with an animal. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like if she wasn't friends with an animal? This one time, I met a pony who didn't want to be friends with me. Me! And I'm friends with everypony! It was terrible! And, last but definitely not least, Twilight Sparkle! -" the purple unicorn with a darker purple mane with a pink stripe, "- She's the most super-powerful unicorn ever! Of course she is! She's the element of magic! There was this one showpony who said she was more powerfuller, but Twilight sure showed her! Anyway, now you know a little about us, you can tell us all about you!" she giggled, a hoof covering her mouth slightly, "Oh wait. I forgot to ask your name." she concluded the introduction, panting slightly from speaking for a good ten seconds straight without stopping.
"Well, I'm Son Goku, but my friends just call me Goku and, erm, I'm a saiyan and..." he struggled to find the words, "Hey! How about you ask me a question, I answer it, then I can ask you a question!" Goku beamed at his idea.
"Don't tell me ya caught all a that?" Applejack asked, her disbelief evident, "Nopony's ever kept up with Pinkie Pies' introductions."
"Sure I did!" he pointed to each of the six mares present, "Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash. See!" he gave a grin, before noticing the purple lizard on Twilights' back, "Hey, what are you?"
"Um, m-me?" asked Spike, pointing a shaking claw at himself, "I-I'm a dragon. M-my name is S-Spike." he extended a claw. At full height, Goku estimated this dragon would probably come up to his knees at best.
"A dragon? Like Shenron or Porunga or just a regular dragon?"
"Who're they? And what do you mean 'just' a regular dragon?"
"Regular it is! Although you are a little small by dragon standards. Maybe that's different here, too?"
"Small?!" Spike gave a snort of indignation, "I'm still a baby! Just you wait 'till I grow up, I'll be bigger than a house!" he puffed his chest out in pride, "Then we'll see who's 'a little small'!"
"Geez, touchy subject!" Goku whispered to Applejack, eliciting a giggle from her, "Now, who's first?" Everyones' hooves shot up in the air, even the downed Applejack, who Goku pointed towards, "Applejack."
"It's gettin' a might late, shouldn't we be headed back? This forest ain't safe at day, let alone night!" A chill seemed to pass through the whole group apart from Goku, who looked on, confused.
"Tell you what, point me in the right direction and describe someone in detail, and I'll get us there in the blink of an eye!" Applejack looked on, confused, before telling Goku about her brother, Big Macintosh. Goku smiled, nodded and placed an extended index and middle finger on his forehead, "OK, everyone, make a chain. Be sure to touch someone who is touching me, or me directly." they all obeyed the saiyans' orders with varying amounts of confusion and distrust.
Big Macintosh paced back and forth in front of the Apple family barn. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he stared intently at the distant Everfree and Ponyville, interchangeably. He knew the time it'd take his sisters to reach Zecoras', and that had long since passed. For what was probably the hundredth time today, he walked towards the forest, only to pause for a second before getting back to his post. He was not going to miss his sisters' safe return.
"Group teleportation... Over two miles distance... Accurate down to the inch... NO HORN!" Twilight blinked, her pupils widening as smoke billowed out of her ears in full plumes. Big mac jumped a foot in the air before turning around. A grin formed on his muzzle when he saw Applebloom unharmed, but quickly left at the sight of Applejack laying in the dirt. He rushed to her side.
"Earth to Twi... Hello, can you hear me?" Goku waved a hand in front of her face, "Great, I think I broke her."
"You have reached the answering machine of Twilight Sparkle. I'm afraid she can't take your call right now, but please leave a message after the freak out, and she'll get right on it. Have a nice day." Twilight stated in a perfectly level voice before screaming, followed by a few (read: hundreds) of choice words in quick succession. The others still occupied themselves with twisting their heads around and blinking madly. Only Pinkie Pie seemed unaffected.
Author's Note
Blegh, writing Pinkie Pie makes my head hurt. She either talks in one liners or rambles on for hundreds of words for some reason. Expect more Twilight style freakouts in the near future, they are fun to write :D
