Harmonic Gourmet

Chapters

Hors d'oeuvre
Course 1
Course 2
Course 3
Course 4

Hors d'oeuvre

Six multi-colored pony mares walked into the Castle of Harmony's central throne room, with the exceptions of the pink one aptly named Pinkie Pie who bounced along smoothly and the cyan pegasus with rainbow hair with an equally apt name of Rainbow Dash chose to fly. A short distance ahead existed six large thrones and a smaller one where a young dragon slept. Each throne bore a different mark matching the cutie-mark of one of the six. Pinkie and Dash promptly sat on the thrones bearing their mark as Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn of the group stood in the center. "Let's go through this one more time."

Dash sighed. "We've been over it like a million times Twilight. We found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and got this sweet castle; end of story."

Twilight gazed down momentarily in bewilderment. "Yes, but why?"

"I don't know sugercube. Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nuthin' more to it than that." added the orange coated blond mare wearing a stetson known as Applejack as she sat in her throne.

"I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it," said the white unicorn Rarity as she sat on her throne. "It's all simply divine," she added while tilting her head up in a mild swoon.

Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with long pink hair also sat upon her throne. "I agree with Twilight, and Rarity, and Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie." She looked towards each pony as she said their name then towards the snoring dragon. "Oh, and probably spike."

Twilight started to walk around. "As princess, I've been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria; so why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyvile. It doesn't make any sense." She hopped onto her throne with a little assistance from her wings. All six of the larger thrones started to glow. Before they could wonder what was happening, everything went black.

The six found themselves hovering in an empty space with countless stars littering the background in all directions. All of them, even Pinkie, groaned from a fierce migraine punctuating every beat of their hearts with a pulse of pain. Dash recovered first due to her experience with crashes. "What the hay did your castle do to us?"

Twilight groaned as her horn glowed due to a numbing spell. "I," she looked around apprehensively, "I have no idea."

"Silly Twilight. We're in space." Pinkie Pie gasped loudly with wide eyes. "We're aliens. Do you know what this calls for?" She reached beyond anypony's field of view to retrieve a party hat and a generic green alien mask. "Alien party!"

Twilight put a hoof to her face then sighed. "Pinkie, going into space doesn't make us aliens. We'd have to visit another world first."

"Awww." Pinkie whimpered due to being shot down so quickly.

"Now no pouting Pinkie," said a decidedly male voice. "Princess Twilight is right."

With the migraines instantly forgotten, six pairs of eyes widened at the deep unfamiliar voice coming both from nowhere and everywhere at once, though one pair widened in excitement rather than fear. "Oh, a new guy. Are you going to join our alien party?"

The voice chuckled as the sound started to centralize a short distance ahead of them. "You are truly incomprehensible Pinkie Pie, even to a being such as I." A muzzle poked out of empty spaced followed by an earth pony stallion with bright blond hair and an off-white coat. His cutie mark was revealed to be a globe with a pen in the process of writing upon its surface. He regarded them all with a gentle smile then focused upon Pinkie. "It just so happens that I did have a party of sorts in mind. How does Alien Gourmet sound as a theme?"

"Ooooooooh, that sounds like fun." She turned towards towards Twilight with a moderate smile. "Hey Twilight; what does incomprehensileble mean?"

Twilight sighed at her butchering of the word. She then immediately entered her lecturing mode. "It is pronounced incomprehensible."

"I do~ know how to spell Twilight," said Pinkie, interrupting Twilight. "I got out of elementary school three days ago."

All six others blinked in confusion with Twilight being first to regain her senses. "Okay. First off, spelling has nothing to do with pronouncing words correctly."

"Well I defiantly know that."

Twilight's eye twitched. "It's pronounced definitely. Did you really get out of elementary school three days ago?"

"Of course. How else can I throw Cheerilee's birthday party?" she replied as if it were obvious.

As the five stared at Pinkie dumbfounded, the stallion entered a fit of wild laughter. He quickly reduced it to a wide smile as they turned their eyes towards him. "What can I say; the element of laughter was a title well earned."

Rarity tried to step towards the rather handsome stallion only to fail due to having no surface to walk upon. This however was no inconvenience to her current intent. "Excuse me dear sir, but would you do us the pleasure of telling us your name." After all, the stallion's apparent understanding of gourmet dining certainly must indicate a certain level of sophistication.

The stallion gazed at Rarity with a kind and, much to Rarity's disappointment, a rather platonic expression. His expression then went deathly serious in the next second. "Yes. I should at least provide my name before I get down to business. As I am now, you may call me Wordsmith."

"And what kind of business you talking about Mr. Wordsmith?!" asked both Applejack and Rainbow, with the farmer bothering to use his name.

He smirked at them, the kind aura he was projecting from before replaced by something considerably more mischievous. "Like I said, I have the intention of inviting you six to a Alien Gourmet party." His gaze narrowed as his aura silenced any response. "You should know that refusal is not an option."

All their heartbeats quickened as their breaths were caught in their throats. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! The alien pony's going to eat us!" With that declaration, all five join Pinkie Pie in her screams. They all flailed and flapped around only to continue hovering in place; which served to further intensify their panic.

Wordsmith on the other hoof watched the display with an amused smirk. He realized in hindsight that he should have realized that Pinkie would bring things to this conclusion. After a few moments, he decided to spare their throats further abuse and stomped upon a surface only he could touch. All six mares were instantaneously silenced against their will. "Well, now that you can hear me, it is time we continue."

With another stomp of his hoof, he freed them and summoned a large jellyfish contained in a sphere of water in the center of their midst. What panic they felt was calmed as they looked upon the shimmering brilliance of the creature before them, with Rarity being brought to tears. Its bell looked to be made of the purest dark gold while still being completely transparent, allowing starlight to twinkle in a mesmerizing manner as well allowing full view of small tendrils sticking up from it's mouth; all of which looked to be comprised of the richest red rubies to ever exist. Beneath the bell hung three bright golden frills that sparkled brilliantly even without the added starlight. These frills were accompanied by numerous platinum colored tentacles that swayed lazily with the flow of water. "What is this creature? I've never seen anything like it."

"Well my dear Fluttershy; this very special jellyfish just so happens to be how I intend for the six of you to survive." With a swipe of his hoof, the jellyfish was sliced cleanly in two. Their eyes widened in shock and fear at the sudden display of brutality.

"Why" started Fluttershy with tears in her eyes before switching to the fiercest stare she's ever managed, "why did you do that?!" Her protest was ignored as a gentler swipe of his hoof pulled one of the halves out of the water. He then stomped again which was followed by the half to break into countless particles that coalesced into six golden spheres. "You killed it just for that!"

Wordsmith returned her rage induced stare with a calm gaze. "Perhaps you should look again before making accusations."

Her stare wavered to glance at the jellyfish's remains; except it was once again whole and moving about as if it had never been injured at all; which effectively shattered her technique. "You...healed it."

"No, that regeneration is one of the things here that I'm not responsible for." He looked towards Pinkie with a hint of confusion in his creased brow. "As is that party hat and alien mask. If I didn't know better, I would ask you how you did that."

He turned back towards his shimmering captive with a gentle smile. "For what you have allowed me to take from you, I offer my thanks." Wordsmith bowed his entire body so that his chin was clearly touching the surface he seemed to be standing on. In the next instance, the jellyfish as well as the six orbs formed from the other half's remains shined with thrice the brilliance as before. This coupled with the shear aura of gratitude coming from Wordsmith put the six mares into another state of silenced awe. "Now I shall return you to your home." The jellyfish and water vanished without any display, leaving behind the seven ponies and six golden spheres that still glowed with the added brilliance.

After a moment, the stallion slowly stood as a sense of indifference started to replace his gratitude; though it did not do so completely. "Now then my little ponies. I feel as it if this is starting to drag on so I'll be wrapping this up."

"Wait!" exclaimed Twilight. "We have no idea what you even want from us. Are you really going to send us back without any kind of direction? How am I supposed to spread the Magic of Friendship without some kind of goal?"

Wordsmith chuckled in a way that was clearly at her expense. He then paused, as if contemplating what he should do next. "You are sorely mistaken princess. I assume that you believe me to be some sort of manifestation of your castle, but I can assure you that I have no connections to the Elements, Tree, or Castle of Harmony whatsoever. Additionally, you are not going to Equestria."

This immediately triggered a cacophony of five panicked voices as well a slowly rising panic attack from a single pegasus. "How am I going to be a wonderbolt?!"

"Surely you jest! What of all my unfinished projects?! What of my sister, my parents!?"

"I've got a farm to worry about! Ah can't leave leave Big Mac and Applebloom to do all the work! They need me!"

Pinkie pie threw her head back as comically large stream's of tears cascaded from her eyes. "I'm ... never going to ... see the cakes again~!"

Twilight looked at her crying, panicking, and enraged friends then looked at the cause of their distress with an expression of raw anger. Her hair flared up into a raging flame and her coat turned an off-white matching the target of her ire. "NO! I will not let you take us from our homes, our friends, our families!" She pointed her horn at the stallion and unleashed the full might of her magic.

The large beam of energy tapered into a thinner beam that flew directly into Wordsmith's waiting mouth where it was promptly swallowed as if it were nothing. "I apologize both for this and for what comes next, however hollow that apology may be." The six mares showed no reaction other than being stunned from how he took Twilight's attack. They didn't even notice the six orbs flying over and phasing into their bodies.

After that, they began to fall. Within a second, Twilight lost sight of her friends as they blended with the blurs of starlight. She screamed soundlessly as a flood of pain unlike anything she'd ever felt permeated every cell in her body. The mental overload was so great that her brain made the independent decision that it was time to shut down; but before it did, she heard the stallion's voice one last time. "Taste of GOD and you will once again know home."

Twilight opened her eyes with a groan, feeling glad that the pain from before didn't remain. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the low light conditions of a swampy forest and began searching for her friends to no avail. Her ears swiveled rapidly, only to pick up little more sound than leaves in the wind. Her nose crinkled at the musky scent of decaying marsh.

The bushes dead ahead suddenly began rustling as something quickly approached. Before she could think to avoid the encounter, a bright orange and yellow blur shot past. The part of her hoping it was Applejack died as she turned to make out a massive saber-toothed feline with mostly orange coat aside from a yellow mane and underbelly. The beast snarled and glared at her with vicious red eyes; whatever plans it had gone with a chance for and easy meal.

Baron Tiger
Mammal Beast
Capture Level: 3

Author's Note

And there's the setup chapter. I've actually wrote a spin-off one-shot of this chapter that I have released alongside this. It's short with an excellent bit of Pinkie humor.

Course 1

Nature is cruel but simple with only one rule to live by: survive. This was a fact that the Baron Tiger understood intrinsically. No degree of predatory pride was worth fighting against a stronger opponent. It was for this reason that he fled his territory in the island's center and the reason he ran from the human with the ferocious red aura.

Another thing it knew was to never pass up an easy meal. This is why he ceased his retreat from the human and looked down at the colorful equine he nearly passed by. It wouldn't be substantial considering it's small enough to sit comfortably it his mouth, but the look in its eyes was unmistakable: fear. It was frozen and one bite away from being food. He approached then drove his fangs towards his prey with the intent to eat it in one bite. With a snap, he swiped his tongue around to only find air enclose behind his teeth.

He glanced up to find the equine standing a minuscule distance from his nose. Its eyes still held fear, but a new emotion began to well up; an emotion that was not fear. He stood and thrust his paw towards his prey. The strike kicked up a cloud of dust that cleared to reveal the equine simply leaning away from the blow. With his pride significantly bruised, he reared up and swiped with all his strength.

Like before, he found it just outside the range of his blow. He looked at its eyes and found a new emotion joining the other, with both beginning to overtake its fear. He cared little for what those emotions were; only for the fact that they were reducing his chances. He stepped back then lunged, intent on bearing all 2.5 tons of his weight against his puny prey. He looked for it and found it standing a short distance to the left. With one look at its eyes, he slowly took a step back. It was no longer afraid.

Hints of doubt welled up as a pregnant moment passed. What the creature no taller than the length of the Baron Tiger's sabber-toothed fangs did next terrified him. It took an aggressive stance, but this only worried him. Its horn began to glow and with an unfamiliar light, but this only scared him. The true terror was the blue aura spilling out; an aura not unlike that human. Like the one before, this aura provided the one unmistakable message. 'Fight ... or survive.' The choice was clear.

Not a minute passed for Twilight before she was confronted by a saber-toothed cat that easily dwarfed her. She watched in horror as it set to swallow her whole, only to be confused when it missed. It attacked next with its paw, the blow heading directly for her.This one wouldn't miss: except that it did. The beast reared back with claws primed to slice her to ribbons. When its third attack barely brushed her fur, she realized the truth. It wasn't missing; she was dodging. With all its speed, she was faster. Her face scrunched into a sneer as a dark realization reached her thoughts. 'It's weak.'

It threw its full weight forward which Twilight simply rolled away from; her body acting of her own accord for the first time. She glared at the predator with an unfamiliar ferocity welling up from within. 'How dare this weakling challenge me? It will pay for this transgression.' She lowered her horn and began charging her spell. She glanced up to reaffirm her target's position only to find it gone. A quick analysis revealed that it retreated.

Twilight went slack as she felt muscles she didn't know she had tensed relaxing. "What ... what was that?" This question was not for the Baron Tiger. She understood the concept of massive predators. The real mystery was herself. There was something else in her; something that had a will of its own. She had faced monsters before but they couldn't compare to this monster within, with the exception of Tirek. Either the monster possessed a wild ferocity or an oppressing intellect. Whatever was inside her possessed both.

With no clue what to do, she did what made sense to her prey instincts: get as far as she can from any predator. She took to the air above the trees where she saw countless massive birds dominating the orange tinted evening sky. She dove back down and flew away from where the cat ran; unknowingly heading for the center of the island she'd yet to realize she was on.

She flew by the forest of trees faster than she could register them. It was only a matter of seconds before she clipped her wing on one and was sent rolling across the ground. She sat there as her thoughts waged war on her psyche. She first worried for what happened to her; but that meant little to her compared to her next thoughts. None of her friends were nearby. What if they ran into something? Would they be able to handle something like that massive tiger? What about Equestria?

She fell to her knees, the pain in her wing both forgotten and gone. "My home, my friends, my family." She looked up at the darkening sky with tears forming at the edge of her vision. "What in the name of harmony do I do now?" She buried her face into her forelimbs and cried. 'What can I do?'

Twilight cried while paying no mind to the passage of time. Her tears intensified with every thought. She knew she may never see her surrogate brother again. How would he handle himself alone? She'd never see Celestia again. Her mentor had been as much a part of her life as her own parents. She'd never see them again either. There was Shining Armor and Cadence too. Ever since the wedding, she'd been looking forward to news about them having a foal. Now she'd never get a chance to share that experience with them. The pressure became too much for tears alone to alleviate. She threw her head back, wailing and moaning her heart out. She cared little for who or what would hear her. Her sorrow would tear her apart if she tried to hold it in.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, two approaching beings were indeed made privy to her lamentations. The smaller of the two stood closely behind his larger companion. He wore a safari outfit and possessed a monkey-like face complete with a large flat nose. "Mr. Toriko, what's that?" If his shaky voice didn't confirm how frightened he was, his constant trembling would.

The other stood at least two foot taller than his companion. He wore bright orange pants with a matching vest over a dark blue undershirt. He had wild blue hair and three scars under his left eye that were clearly made by the claws of some predator. Slung over his muscular form were two pudgy, limbless, and blue amphibians.

Snake Toad
Amphibian Beast
Capture Level 1

"I don't know Komatsu." Toriko truly had no clue what that voice was. He knew of beasts that could mimic human voices, but none of them were native to the Baron Archipelago. He had already guess that an apex predator was beginning to disrupt the natural ecosystem of the main island. Perhaps the cause and the source of this sound were one and the same; a case of mimicry this flawless would make a perfect lure for unwary prey after all. "Maybe its a new ingredient."

"But, it sounds like a girl."

Toriko's smile went unseen by his frightened companion. "I seriously doubt that there's a girl in the middle of these dangerous islands." His smile slowly began to shift into something far more menacing, something that could only be called demonic. His expression was being fed by a feeling of anticipation Toriko hadn't experienced for nearly a decade; the anticipation for worthy prey.

He approached the sound's source cautiously until it was just beyond the next set of bushes. He spent only a moment preparing both his body and mind to challenge whatever it was before barging ahead, unaware that he was about to be assaulted in a way he wasn't prepared for.

Once he set his sights on the sound's source, he froze as it set tear stained eyes upon him; the look on its face tore into his unprepared heart. It was without a doubt the smallest horse beast he'd ever laid eyes on. It had a bright purple coat and darker purple hair on its head and tail that had a single strip of blue that went down the hair's length. The miniature horse had both wings and a horn, with the horn looking too blunted to make for a proper defensive weapon.

What his eyes couldn't discern, his nose which was hundreds of times better than a bloodhound could. The horse's tears smelled of bitterness, a scent obviously being provided by its state of mind. It was clearly female as he picked up the scent of the corresponding hormones in the air. Of all the potential threats he imagined hiding behind those bushes, Toriko simply wasn't prepared for something that looked so physically and mentally vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Twilight scrutinized the blue haired human that had stumbled upon her. She immediately went into overdrive as she questioned the situation. The first thing she realized was that this was not like when she went through that mirror considering she was still a pony. Her second realization was that there was still a good chance that the being before her possessed the ability to communicate.

Another human stepped out a moment later and threw her thought process off. He first looked ready to bolt at the slightest sign of a threat until he looked at her. He then immediately put his hands to the side of his face and started to gush. "Awwwww, look at it Mr. Toriko. It's so adorable."

Twilight immediately stood up and glared at the smaller human. She didn't even take offence to the comment, but a unfamiliar part of her did. The larger man placed an arm between them and returned her glare. "Stay back Komatsu." His face contorted into a feral snarl coupled with a guttural yell. He extended his right fingers into a flat shape, hooked his left fingers, and held them out in a threatening posture.

This would have normally terrified her, but the other consciousness within wouldn't back down from the threat. In fact, it wanted to fight; but this was her body and her mind. With a little conscious effort, she relaxed her stance and stopped channeling the spell she hadn't realized she had ready. She already confirmed that the three of them spoke the same language, which meant that diplomacy should be the first option. Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes, performed the calming technique she learned from Cadence, then looked them in the eyes with the most neutral face she could manage. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

Over the course of a second, they stared at like they'd never seen a pony talk; which was something that Twilight realized in retrospect was likely the case. Once the second passed, their jaws dropped and their eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets. "Ehhhh, it can talk!"

Twilight waited for them to recover with a patience cultivated by her variety of friends. "Can it really talk?!" asked the one named Komatsu.

"Maybe it's mimicry," replied the larger Toriko.

She could tell that he wasn't sure about the explanation that tried to reduce her sentience to a simple animal behavior; and it was a belief Twilight decided to shatter completely. "I'll have you know that this is not 'mimicry' Mr. Toriko. I am fully capable of holding an intelligent conversation like any other sentient being. Furthermore, I do not appreciate being referred to as an 'it' Komatsu. Please address me by my name or through the use of proper pronouns such as you, she, or her." She chuckled internally as the pair struggled to form some kind of coherent response while also wondering if this was how Rarity felt when she manipulated those Diamond Dogs. "If there are any beasts here, it is not me," she added with a hint of sarcasm.

Time continued to pass as Toriko and Komatsu tried to process the concept of talking to a miniature horse. Their attempts ended upon hearing the all too familiar sound of an unsatisfied stomach coming from the purple enigma. Toriko smiled at the embarrassed horse thanks to facing something he was more familiar with. "Well, someone once said that there's no better way to get to know a person than over a good meal. There's a marsh just up the path from here. We can set up camp there."

Twilight chuckled nervously and rubbed her stomach. "Yeah, I could use something to eat." It was at that moment she saw Toriko pick up two carcasses she hadn't noticed he was carrying earlier. Twilight understood that some creatures needed to eat meat, but dealing with it firsthand was something she had no experience with.

She took a deep breath and swallowed her sense of revulsion. She was the Princess of Friendship and she would not allow a difference in diet bar her from performing that role to the best of her abilities; nor would she allow a case of relocation to do so either.

Along that train of thought, she realized that there was no doubt that her closest friends were somewhere in this land and that as princess, it was her duty to remain strong not for herself but for the sake of her friends.

Toriko watched her carefully as she rapidly yet subtly shifted through different emotional states. There was no doubt in his mind that Twilight possessed the same emotional complexity of any person he's ever met. What worried him the most was that single instant where she took an aggressive stance. For that moment, he could see the distorted image of an appetite demon. Having one of those meant she was stronger than she looked, much stronger.

They continued further towards the island's center in awkward silence with Toriko taking time to pick up pieces of wood along the way. Once they reached the marsh he spoke of, he arranged the sticks for a camp fire. "Please, allow me." Twilight said this with the hopes that showing off her magic would help break the tension between them.

While Toriko could light the fire with a snap of his fingers, he wouldn't pass up a chance to see how a horse would do it. She walked up to the sticks then her horn started glowing. The sticks burst into flames a second later, stunning Komatsu and shocking Toriko. "Whoa, you can set things on fire?!"

Twilight failed to register his question however due to mild shock. That spell was the lowest tier ignition spell and should have only been powerful enough to start a fire rather than becoming one. Was her magic being amplified somehow? The effect didn't seem as drastic as when she had the power of four alicorns, but she would need to test herself; and testing her magic was something she didn't want to do in front of strangers. She blinked back to her senses as a large hand was waved in front of her. "Twilight, you okay?"

She shook her head then smiled. "Sorry." She took note of his concerned expression and chuckled at his apparent friendliness. "I was just ... thinking."

Her stomach growled again at that moment, eliciting a smile from Toriko. He stood up and surveyed the area until his eyes settled upon a group of trees growing at the edge of the marsh. "Perfect." Twilight shrank back when he at her with his mouth drooling. "How'd you like to capture your first ingredient?" She nodded hesitantly, feeling unsure on how else to respond. She followed the trajectory of his finger as he pointed it where he was looking. "Can you get us some fruit from those Macaroon Mangroves?"

She nodded while hiding her confusion at the unusual moniker he gave the trees. She lifted off the ground with a gentle flap of her wings and flew to the trees while figuring that the seeds likely made for good macaroons. When she reached the trees, she realized how wrong she was. The fruit were macaroons. The trees' fruit were honest to Celestia fully formed macaroons. Pinkie Pie would have a field day with these.

Macaroon Mangroves
Capture Level 3

She landed on a branch and scrutinized them until her stomach convinced her to hazard a bite. Her whole body shuddered as the rich taste filled her mouth. The coconut shaving's aromatic sweetness blended flawlessly with the mild bitterness of the dark chocolate filling, forming a flavor on par with the macaroons from Sugar Cube Corner. She couldn't restrain her laughter if she wanted to; these macaroons actually had chocolate filling.

She looked at another tree and noticed a differing texture of the fruit then flew over to the tree with an explosion of glee she usually only felt at the prospect of a new studying opportunity; and she was going to take the opportunity to study every flavor these trees had to offer. Her next bite was filled by the taste of ground almonds mixed with creamy vanilla. After that, she lost track of all the different flavors as she started levitating them one after another into her mouth. She was more famished than she thought and it would take something big to pull her from the veritable bounty.

FWOOMPSHHHHH!

She dropped the macaroons she was levitating and looked towards the source of the sound. What she saw was a massive grey serpent that easily dwarfed the tiger from before. Twilight calculated that its body width had to be at least twice her own body length; but it still looked slender due to what was sticking out of the water being at least fifty feet in length.

Swamp Snake
Reptile Beast
Capture Level 5

The serpent collapsed onto the ground and laid there motionlessly. Even with the distance and darkness, Twilight could clearly see the massive chunk taken out of its side that was over half of the serpent's girth. Twilight trembled at the realization that a massive serpent that could likely level Ponyville on its own was killed by something else. She didn't have time to wonder what did it when the serpent was suddenly pulled back into the water. What then came out was without doubt the one responsible for the slain swamp snake. The massive alligator was as tall as a full grown elephant at the waist and at least four times as long. It had blood red scales and not four, but eight powerful looking legs.

300 year Garara Gator
Reptile Beast
Capture Level 8

She looked on in horror as the beast's roar actually blew Komatsu back. He fortunately recovered quickly. "Shouldn't we be running now?!" yelled Komatsu in a reasonably frightened tone. Twilight looked to Toriko who said something she couldn't make out. "You're honestly talking about flavor?!" came a snappy reply to the unheard comment.

Twilight couldn't begin to question Toriko's sanity before the beast lunged with a speed rivaling a striking snake. Toriko gracefully sidestepped the blow and delivered a punch that nearly brought the gator to its side. Its tail followed up and struck Toriko cleanly on the side, but the man caught the blow and then threw the multi-ton creature nearly twice its own body length. What thoughts Twilight had of trying to save her new friends were shattered completely. Toriko clearly could handle himself.

The gator was no pushover either as it recovered mid-air and landed on all eight legs without missing a beat. It shot forward at impossible speeds and snapped at the space Toriko occupied just an instant before. Twilight lost sight of them thanks to the cloud of dust kicked up by the attack. This lasted only a second when the force of Toriko's punch dispersed the cloud and spun the gator in the air. Twilight watched as it lashed out with a surprise tail attack that sent Toriko through two trees and near the tree she was spectating from. She looked at Toriko in disbelief as he sat up like he was waking up from a nap. "I'll lose too much blood to those leaches if this goes on long enough."

Toriko glanced to his left and saw Twilight watching him intently. "Hey!" She flinched at his voice. "Think you can keep your dinner down?" She hesitantly nodded back in affirmation. He then turn his attention back to his reptilian foe. "You're a real specimen: scales like steel, razor sharp claws, countless fangs, and a jaw with three tons of force. You've earned your title as the king of these islands!" Time slowed down for Twilight as a pinkish-red aura began to spill out from his body. "I offer you my respect."

She soon could make out the image of something that could only be called a demon rising from the aura. What she saw had the body of a muscular human with skin only a few shades off from being pure red, fingernails of pure black that were shaped more like claws, pointed ears, and a wild pink mane. It's face was the true terror due to an expression set in a ferocious snarl and a gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth. It held in its left hand a massive fork and in its right an equally large knife. "Allow me to show you the most sacred tools humanity has ever known." With that phrase and the image of that demon in her head, Twilight understood completely who the victor of the fight would be; who it could have only been.

When the aura vanished, Twilight watched in fascination as Toriko placed his palms together and closed his eyes. "I give my humble thanks to the vast bounties this world provides. ... It is time to eat." Toriko yelled wordlessly with he same expression as the demon from before, his pink-red aura returning, and his muscles pulsing. As if waiting for this queue, the gator leapt towards Toriko. The man hit his hooked left hand against his straight right hand twice, forming the distinctive clink of metal hitting metal both times. "FORK!" he yelled just before driving his left hand into the gator's neck. "AND KNIFE!" He hefted the massive beast into the air with his left hand then brought his right down on the Garara Gator. The blow beheaded the beast completely. He allowed the two halves to soar behind him, hit his hands together forming the same distinctive clinks as before, then brought his palms together again just as they landed. "Thank you for the meal."

Twilight new that she should have been terrified. She knew that she should be flying away with all the speed her wings could manage. She knew her prey instincts should have been in overdrive; but all she could feel was a combination of overwhelming fascination and admiration. "Twilight, you done gathering those macaroons. I bet they'll be great after this Garara Gator meat." The wide drooling smile that was a far-cry from the ferocity from before only intensified Twilight's curiosity. "Komatsu!" he yelled in the other direction. "Get ready! Tonight we feast!"

She watched with a smile as the pair headed back to the fire with Toriko dragging the gator's remains. Somehow she knew that those two were set to become the best of friends. She looked back at the Macaroon Mangroves and decided to get started on her own task of collecting the bountiful fruit. She carefully collected nearly all of them in hopes of saving enough for later before carrying the massive array of sweets over to the pair who she was sure would be friends with her as well. She wasn't surprised that in the time it took her to collect them, Toriko managed to divide up the gator's body into large clean slices of flesh. The real surprise was how little the carcass bothered her.

She closed in to find Toriko already eating a slice of meat. "It tastes incredible! I've never had meat that good! It's like an explosion and tsunami of flavor all at once!"

"Okay," started Komatsu holding out his own slice. "Eating one piece shouldn't hurt." He chewed on the slice with an infectious smile that Twilight mirrored. "The meat and fat practically melts in your mouth." His eyes widened from a bolt of inspiration. "I've got it." He picked up a nearby rock and placed it next to the fire.

"Hey," said Twilight seeing a good chance to interject. "I don't know anything about meat, but these macaroons are delicious." As soon as she said that, Toriko stood up and grabbed a large handful of macaroons. "Hey!" she protested while levitating them out of his reach, but the damage was done.

"Delicious! Each one's exterior is matched perfectly with its filling! This is what you call high class macaroons!"

"Mr. Toriko!" Toriko's attempt at some more was halted by Komatsu's voice. "I grilled a slice on the stone so the fat would be charred on the surface and would trap the juices inside. ... It's ready"

He sliced the piece he was grilling in half with each of them taking a piece and biting simultaneously. Toriko's eyes shot open. "The surface is crispy and grilled to perfection "

Komatsu's eyes followed suit. " not to mention the inside that's rich and tender.

They threw they heads back with the widest grins they could manage. "SO GOOD!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes due to feeling envious of their omnivorous diets, but their smiles were too infectious for her to produce a matching frown. "Hey, don't forget about me." They laughed as she tried and failed to pout at them, joining in on their laughter instead.

Komatsu looked up at Twilight and managed to look pleadingly while laughing. She rolled her eyes with a chuckled and levitated a few macaroons down for him. He ate them as gleefully as everything else. "Spectacular." He looked at Twilight with another spark of inspiration hitting him. "Can you do that fire thing again for this one."

Twilight immediately picked up on his plan and levitated the macaroon a safe distance before momentarily engulfing it in flame. Toriko grabbed the toasted treat and ate it before they could react. "Hey, that was mine."

Toriko ignored her protest. "Amazing! The toasting caramelized the sugars and really brings out the nut's flavor. Great job you two."

Toriko chuckled at her pouting face but Komatsu decided to placate her. "Don't worry Twilight. There's more where that came from." She chuckled at her own silliness and prepared to toast enough for all of them. "Hey Twilight. Can I have some almond ones without any filling."

She quickly found, toasted, and sent the requested items to Komatsu. She and Toriko watched in interest as he ground them up over the hot stone and placed a slice of meat on it. Toriko's salivation went out of control as he proceed to cook the other side the same way while Twilight once again felt herself envying their omnivorous diet. They shared the piece and once again started gushing. "Now the surface is even crispier than before..." started Komatsu.

"And the nut's fats are blending in with the meat fat, releasing a whole new level of flavor."

"IT'S PERFECT!"

The two fell onto their backs out of shear elation while Twilight simply elected to sit down. After a moaning stretch, Toriko sat up and looked over at Komatsu. "I don't get it. Why would an amazing chef like you come with me to these dangerous islands."

Komatsu sat up and looked between them. "It's because of my dream. I want to be a world class chef, and I don't think I can do that staying in the kitchen all my life. To really bring out the best in the ingredients, I need to understand them and see them firsthand. I understood that the first time I saw you hunt. Sure it's dangerous and terrifying, but I was able to get a feel for what the Garara Gator was really like in a way that I could never get from a book, you know?"

Twilight wiped a tear from her eye that came from how well Komatsu's words resonated with her. "I know how you feel Komatsu. I speak from experience when I say that there are things out there that you can never experience by reading some dusty old books." She chuckled at remembering how that was how it started for her.

"So Twilight, do you have a dream?" asked Komatsu.

For a short moment, images of home flashed through her mind; a home that she may never see again. Toriko took notice of her quickly falling mood and clapped loudly. "How about I go next?" He leaned back onto his hands and looked up at the stars with a thoughtful gaze. "My dream is to make my own Full Course Menu."

"The life's goal of a Gourmet Hunter."

"That's right Komatsu: Hors d'oeuvre, Soup, Salad, Fish, Meat, Main Course, Dessert, and Drink. These core dishes represent a Hunter's life's work; nothing matters more. I've only settled on one of them so far, but I'm going to find them all. This world is enormous with countless things that man has never tasted. I want meet all of those wondrous things, and then ... I'm gonna eat'em."

"Wait," said Twilight nervously. "Does that mean you're gonna eat me?"

Toriko stared at her before laughing. "What?! There's no way I'm going to eat someone I've shared a meal with."

Twilight smiled at his response until she noticed how he looked at her with unrestrained curiosity. "You're actually thinking about it, aren't you?!"

Toriko put his hands up defensively. "No I wasn't, honest." Her response was to glare at him incredulously. He soon dropped his defensive pose and looked up apologetically. "Okay, maybe a little."

Her glare only narrowed. "No macaroons for you."

"WHAT~!" He looked into Twilight's eyes pleadingly. "Please, please tell me you're joking." Toriko got his answer when the mass of macaroons were levitated further into the air.

Toriko jumped at the treats and grabbed a number of them. He took a large bite only for him to taste air. He looked around frantically upon landing and found the treats levitating a fair distance away. He looked at Twilight confused as she smirked back at him. "Teleportation Spell."

Rather than sharing Komatsu's surprise at another type of magic Twilight could use, Toriko thought frantically on how he would handle a combination of teleportation and levitation until settling on a last ditch effort. On Twilight's end, her eyes widened when he enacted his tactic. She truly couldn't believe that a man who had just recently battled a ferocious predator to the death was now using puppy dog eyes on her. It was nowhere near the level of the CMC, but it still had quite the impact coming from such a powerful and fierce individual. Unable to watch him degrade his self for long, she relented and toasted a few of the macaroons for him which he ate gleefully.

All through this encounter, Komatsu could only laugh at the super-powered pair's antics. He decided that after Toriko swallowed his macaroons was a good time to speak. "So Twilight, what about your dream?"

"Yeah," added Toriko. "It's not every day I get to talk to a blue and purple flying unicorn."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I think you need to get your eyes checked. I'm not blue."

The two looked at each other then back at Twilight. "Well yeah, you are purple..." started Komatsu.

"But you have blue in your hair and tail," finished Toriko while pointing at her hair.

She shook her head at them. "I'm sorry but I don't have any..." She paused in shock as she finally looked at the bangs hanging just over her eyes. She then looked back at her tail to find that the stripe on her tail had also been turned blue. "What happened to my hair?! My stripes are supposed to be magenta! How did this happen; why did this happen?!"

Toriko began to panic not directly because of Twilight's panicking, but rather because her panicking was causing her to drop the macaroons. While Toriko saved as many as he could, it was left to Komatsu to return her to her senses. "Twilight!"

With one look in his eyes, Twilight managed to regain herself. She inhaled deeply while placing a hoof on her chest and extended her hoof in tandem with her exhalation. "You know what. It doesn't matter if I changed color a little. I am still me and that's what matters."

Toriko swallowed the macaroons he caught and smiled at Twilight. "You still haven't told us your dream."

Twilight took notice of how the two were looking at her eagerly then turned her gaze towards the ground. She spent a few moments in thought before coming up with a proper answer. "You may have already realized this, but I'm not from around here. I'm sure that I'm not even from this planet. Somepony that I've never met before pulled me from my home and dropped me off here without giving me a choice." She looked up from the ground and glared ahead as defiantly as she could muster. "I know he didn't bring me here alone. He also took five of my dearest and closest friends. I know that they are somewhere in this world and I won't stop until I find them and figure out a way back home. I don't care if I have to fight my way through Tartarus and back; we are going home."

After her story, Twilight smiled at the two who now had a comical cascade of tears flowing from their eyes with a bubble of snot sticking from Komatsu's nostril. "That's so sad."

Twilight couldn't help but to let out a happy chuckle. "Yes, but I never would have met you two if it didn't happen."

Komatsu's crying increased two-fold, "Twilight!" then he jumped at her and engulfed her in his arms.

Twilight laughed at the affectionate display until scrunching her nose. "Ack, what's that smell."

Komatsu backed away and rubbed the back of his head in a clear sign of embarrasment. "Oh yeah. ... I think I soiled during that fight."

Twilight could only stare at him with her eyes slowly widening as she realized that she actually came in direct contact during that hug. "Ew." She turned and began running for the lake. "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!"

"No, the macaroons!" yelled Toriko as he tried to save the mass of sweets that Twilight dropped in her own panic. The ones he couldn't catch in his hands he caught with his mouth. Komatsu simply sat in place feeling bad at grossing out his new friend.

Unbeknownst to the group below, a small metallic sphere with insectoid wings looked down on the group. The machine sent its signal nearly halfway across the world to a castle in one of the darkest corners of the planet. In the castle's throne room, a human figure hidden in shadows sat upon the throne as another with a hunched over stance, wearing a black robe and holding a violet staff, approached him. Visible beneath the robe's hood was a pale wrinkled face that looked like the lips had once been stapled together. "I have a report master. The reason behind the ecological disturbance at the Baron Archipelago was being caused by an abnormally large Garara Gator, and not by the degree of ingredient we are searching for. We however managed to gather two pieces of info you would be interested in. The first is that the Garara Gator was slain by none other than Toriko. The other lends credence to two unconfirmed reports of colorful miniature horses appearing to possess the ability to communicate. They may very well be a species that no one has seen before until now."

"I see," the shadowed figure said narrowing his eyes. "The four heavenly kings are not a concern at the moment, but these new creatures are ... interesting. Capture one if the opportunity presents itself."

The decrepit individual bowed. "Of course master. I shall inform the chefs and hunters at once." As the man walked away, he hoped that there were enough of the creatures for him to be able to research them. It would be a shame if his masters ate them all before he had the chance.

Author's Note

Thanks to Shirousagi for helping me with editing. I have some announcements to make.

1 Comment Contest: From this chapter onward, I will pick out the most intelligent critique/review/question and put it at the end of this story's description; with the commentator's permission of course. It will remain there for at least 72 hours after the following chapter where I will pick a comment from that chapter. I intend for the cycle to continue indefinitely.

2 Beasts and Ingredients: I'd be grateful for any original creatures that can be used in this story. There is hardly any limit on what can exist in this story.

Course 2

The feast Twilight shared with Toriko and Komatsu proved to be something she would never forget. Even with all the eating, they had time between bites to ask questions and give answers. The two men seem to want to know more about her magic than anything else. She was careful to only demonstrate spells that were more whimsical in nature rather than anything that could prove dangerous with the inexplicable power boost her spells had somehow acquired. They became especially excited when she turned one of the macaroons into an orange. Toriko immediately ate it only to look slightly disappointed. He was probably expecting something with the taste of both the macaroon and the orange.

Twilight had far more questions to ask about the world that the two called home. The first thing she learned was that every civilization on their world was going through a period in time collectively known as the Gourmet Age; which is an age where men spend their entire lives seeking unknown textures, indescribable tastes, and unbelievable flavors. She also learned that the Macaroon Mangroves were no anomaly, but were actually the norm for the world.

Even with how unusual the world they called home was, Twilight learned that anything other than humans holding intelligent conversations was something that simply didn't happen. This meant that she wouldn't be able to move around freely in the middle of cities. This left her will one other option, even though she didn't want to impose upon her new friends. "Toriko, Komatsu, I need a favor."

They both swallowed another slice of gator meat and looked at their pony friend. "Sure."

She breathed deeply to prep for the request she needed to ask of them. "Since I'm not from this world, I don't have anywhere to go or any clues. I need somewhere to stay and get my bearings." With that, the pair went on to describe their homes to Twilight. Komatsu lived in one of the employee rooms of the Hotel Gourmet that he worked at. Toriko lived in a single home miles upon miles away from the nearest neighbor.

This left Twilight with choice on top of choosing between friends. If she chose Komatsu, it would place her in the middle of civilization where there would be libraries with books that she could research for clues. This unfortunately meant that she would have to trouble Komatsu for access to this information. She didn't want to hinder his ability to persist in his dream.

As for Toriko's home, the only real negative was not having the positives of Komatsu's home. On top of that, the secluded area would allow her somewhere to practice her enhanced magic without potentially startling or hurting someone else. It only took a little more thought before decided that mastering how to restrain her new magical prowess was the best thing she could do for her friends. It could be up to a week before rumors of talking ponies began to even show up. Twilight could only hope that her friends would be okay long enough for the rumors to begin.

The pain she felt was unlike anything she felt before. While she had experience in a whole lot of different external injuries, this new pain was way worse. It seemed to start at her core before spreading out to the rest of her body. As she started to try to classify the pain, it stopped. It wasn't because she passed out from it being too much.

She decided to get up from her nap when some jerk started poking and prodding at her hoof. She forced her annoyingly stubborn eyes open so she could get a look at the pony she was getting ready to chew out. What she saw instead of a pony were three freaky looking apes wearing clothes that looked more like fur covering the trunks of their bodies. "What the hay are you?"

The bigger one's cronies were startled for no good reason while their leader looked back at them angrily. "What are you getting freaked out about? I've seen all kinds of talking animals. Half the RPGs I've played had one."

Dash narrowed her eyes at the big ugly one when he looked back at her. She didn't really understand what he said, but she felt that it was really stupid. The bald ugly one pumped his fists and smiled. "You're right Boss Zongeh. Talking animals aren't a really big deal at all."

"Hey! I am not an animal! You numbskulls never seen a pony before?!"

"What's a pony?" asked the least ugly one. Dash felt ready to join the skies at the next stupid thing to come out of their mouths.

The big ugly one turned towards the least ugly one. "What do you think it is?! That's her character class." That did it.

Dash looked up and spotted a low hanging cloud in the sky. She crouched in preparation for the jump and raised her wings high. She managed to close half the distance with just a single flap. Startled by her faster than expected acceleration, she flapped back and crashed into the ground. She blinked towards the sky twice and did a mental check for injuries. When nothing seemed to hurt, she proceeded to do a visual check. The first appendages on her checklist were her most important. She froze immediately when she looked at them; her feathers aren't supposed to have red tips.

She'd never felt anything that horrible in her life. It only took a few seconds before the experience became more than her mind could handle and she fell into the absolute blackness of sleep; but she still heard Wordsmith's voice one last time.

Fluttershy wasn't sure for how long she was sleeping, but it didn't feel like a catnap. Her ears were first to start picking up information on her surroundings. The sounds of countless animistic growls, chirps, snaps, roars, and screeching surrounded her from all directions. She could make out the distinct sound of squeaky wheels rolling against a tiled surface below. She could even make out the footsteps of two shoe wearing bipedal individuals flanking her on both sides.

With all the information she could get with her hearing gathered, Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and instantly recognized the sight of iron prison bars. She quickly looked around with fearful eyes to find that she was surrounded by bars on all sides. She was only able to make out a few of the massive and ferocious looking creatures contained behind thick glass walls. She partially hated herself for being glad that transparent walls were containing them.

"Well" she turned towards the voice "looks like our little chickadee is awake." She cowered away from a bear sized creature and the strong odor his breath reeked of. He was hairless with the exception of his eyebrows and a small thin mustache. He wore simple clothing that did little to hide the massive musculature he had that make even Iron Will look small. "I was some kind of surprised when I saw you right outside. You're lucky I got to you first." He laughed loudly as if there was some kind of joke behind what he said.

Fluttershy shrank away from his gaze and instead turned her attention towards her long hair. She trailed her gaze down the pink cascade all the way to her black tips. ... She forgot her surroundings and stared at the blackened tip and four black strands that faded to pink a few inches up. She rubbed the discoloration with her hoof and applied considerable pressure. When that didn't remove it, she tried to see if she could remove the coloring with her mouth.

"Awwwww, it's so adorable!" Fluttershy turned towards the female voice's source and saw a red clothed figure approaching quickly from the side her hair didn't hide from the outside world.

"What, did you call me admirable?!"

The woman with short black hair stopped in place. "No I didn't!"

Fluttershy chuckled at the exchange but instantly regretted doing so when the man nearly pressed his face against the bars. "Did you just laugh at me?"

She shrank away from his intense gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." The following silence was deafening.

Excruciating. That was the only word that truly came close to properly describing how her body felt at the moment. She wouldn't wish this on her worst enemies. It was fortunate that it wasn't long till a blissful sleep took her.

That sleep didn't last long when the sensation of water up her nose woke her. Rarity shot up only to slip on a slick surface below and fall face first back into the water. She sat up with more caution and snorted in a rather undignified manner to expel the offending liquid. One the task was complete, she opened her discerning eyes and began to pick apart details of the immediate vicinity. There was knee deep water with many plants floating on the surface in all directions as well as many trees with smooth bark. "A swamp! He drags us from our home and then drops me in the middle of a swamp! I thought he was a gentlestalion, but oh was I wrong! Why if I get my hooves on him!" Rarity took a deep breath and willed her glare to soften to a placated gaze. "Now listen to yourself Rarity. Criticizing somepony behind their back is no way for a lady to behave, no matter how much he may deserve it." She said that last part with considerable venom. "My first task should be finding a way out of this dreadful place."

She took a step forward and let the back of her hoof touch the ground first; which was a manner of walking that allowed her to easily muffle the sound of each step rather than let them hit the floor as most ponies did. This proved to be a mistake in this particular situation as the slippery surface blow once again claimed her balance. She mentally cursed the stallion responsible for her current predicament while carefully returning to her hooves. Rarity regretfully decided to take on a more natural gait with her next steps. The choice proved effective when her nose wasn't filled with water again. With her direction chosen and the required movements memorized, Rarity began to forge ahead with the most grace she could manage.

While she made sure to maintain a calm exterior, Rarity remained on constant lookout for the movement of any large objects. There were a quite a few smaller creatures that moved through the trees, but most look nothing like anything she'd seen before. Rarity decided that Wordsmith clearly kept the alien portion of his Alien Gourmet promise, but there was a distinct lack of fine dinning.

When a splash occurred from whence she came, Rarity quickly turned around expecting the worst. What she saw instead was a set of colors that did not belong in a swamp: pink, bright green, blue, and white. While not exactly the same, she could not help but see the colors as familiar to a certain member of royalty. "Sweet Celestia!"

'Wow, that feels funny. Okay, not funny anymore.' The mare opened her mouth in a soundless scream as a sensation unlike anything she'd felt before coursed through every part of her body, mane included. 'Ooo, sleepy time.' She blacked out with that thought and the sound of that weird stallion's voice.

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and looked around with a straight faced expression. "That was not fun ... weeeeeeeeee!" She yelled out in glee as she began sliding down a steep and slippery slope. She looked down and laughed at her ridged tail. "Wow, my tail is all spiky," she said with a laugh. She then decided to observe the scenery. "Ooo, moutainy." The area around her had had mountains everywhere with no flat surfaces to be seen anywhere. She continued to smile and scream until a quadrupedal figure further around the mountain she was sliding down caught her eye. She put her feet to the 55 degree surface and came to a instant stop, partially thanks to her tail impaling the mountainside. She dashed along the uneven surface and towards the figure. Upon reaching it, she saw that it looked like some kind of llama/alpaca with big, delicious, and crunchy looking cookies forming armor-like plates on its body.

Cookie Alpaca
Mammal Beast
Capture Level 7

The Cookie Alpaca on the other hoof was enjoying a rather peaceful day. It had been a few days since something last tried to eat either her or her cookie plating. She found a nice patch of Mountain Sugar Moss growing in a spot that allowed her full view of her surroundings. Not even the dragon that ruled the area would be able to catch her unawares. She gave one last survey of the area before eating some of the green-tinted white moss. "Hi there." She looked up at a pink anomaly like a dear caught in headlights. "Can I have a cookie?"

She cared not for the meaning behind the anomaly's sounds nor did she understand them; she only cared about escaping so she could eat in peace. She leapt over the pink thing and raced along the mountainside with flawless precision. Once a mountain was directly opposite of her position, she leapt the great distance and landed on a pink spiky rock and clamped onto one of the larger spikes with all four hooves. "And I said that you should bake them first." She looked down and saw that she was standing on the head of the anomaly. It looked up at her while somehow not moving her. It then cupped its mouth with a single hoof. "I ate some dough when he wasn't looking," said the pink thing with a much softer sound.

She ran off again with even greater speed than before. Nothing chased her if it didn't want her cookie plating, and she didn't want to lose any. She spotted a cave with a river running through it like all the others. She new this cave well; it was too small to contain anything dangerous. She ran for it and entered. With the rounded walls being the only surfaces above the river. She ricochet between the walls and stopped on a precarious yet stable protrusion on one wall. There's no way that thing could ... "And that's when the oven blew up." She turned around to see a set of big blue irises looking at her. "Mrs. Cake laughed really hard after that ... though it did sound a lot like yelling."

She left the cave in a hurry and tried to put as much distance between her and it. She leapt towards another mountain than began running straight up the slope. "The moral of the story..." she looked back to find it riding on her back, "don't let a toothless alligator be the princesses' caterer." Her startled jump was sudden enough to lose half of her cookies. That didn't even matter if it meant getting away from that thing.

Pinkie Pie hovered over where the alpaca was before drifting down to the sloped mountainside. She whimpered due to realizing that she won't be making friends with the alpaca. Her spiky mane flattened down as she remembered she didn't know how to get to any of her bestest friends. She'd only just started forming tears when a large shadow caught her eye. A really big crow with something riding it landed a short distance away. Her hair spiked back up as she smiled. Maybe they wanted to meet her. If they wanted to meet her, then they're nice. If they're nice, then maybe the can be friends. If she had new friends, maybe they can help find her five friends.

If she could move, she would have bucked his head in. She instead ended up falling fast with a pain that felt like hot needles having a rodeo in every part of her body. She could feel her mind trying to give out, but she held on with a stubbornness that'll make a bull-headed mule whistle in admiration. This allowed her to easily make out Wordsmith's words in her head.

As a transparent green light surrounded her, Applejack was able to make out different colors forming around her friends as well: blue for Twilight, red for RD, black for Fluttershy, golden for Rarity, and of course pink for Pinkie Pie. She looked back down and began to make out the shape of a quickly approaching planet.

Now Applejack wouldn't consider herself an expert on genealogy, geology, or whatever those book-smart types called it; but she knew that the planet they were all plummeting towards wasn't their home planet. She lost sight of her friends when they split off and started falling to different parts. The pain plum disappeared when she busted through the first set of clouds. It was here that she realized that she was plummeting towards the ground from who knows how high with nothing but some green light to cushion the blow. She could only scream in terror as the ground rapidly closed in. She screamed even louder when most of the land she was falling towards was covered in what she figured had to be red hot lava. If the landing wasn't set to kill her no matter what, she'd hope to land on the thin rock path hanging over the lava pit or on the honeycomb structure hanging from the end of the path.

She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the end to come. The fall did end, but only with her face being lightly pressed against a hot rocky surface. She stood up in confusion and found that she landed on the path and didn't go splat when she did. With euphoric joy of not being a pancake on top of the flood of adrenalin in her system, Applejack did what any sane being would do. "YEEEEEHAAAAAWWWW! Ah'm not dead! I actually survived that!" She looked to the sky with the widest grin she could muster. "Take that ya' Grim Galloper! You won't be taking Applejack today, no siree!"

"SHUT UP YOU COCKY BASTARD BEFORE I KILL YOU MYSELF!"

Applejack froze in place with both her fear and adrenalin refueled. The voice she heard sounded like an extra ornery dragon using a Royal Canterlot Voice that came from everywhere at once. She tuned her ears in and searched the skies for the voice's source. After a few moments, she heard the sound of large powerful wings flapping through the air. A second passed when the next wingbeat disturbed one of the clouds she was watching.

Suddenly, a ball of cloud the size of a mountain was pulled from the sky by something diving through. With one powerful movement, the cloud was dispersed in an aeronautical display that would put the Wonderbolts to shame. What was then revealed shocked Applejack from skin to core: a massive white coated alicorn with a matching mane that covered all its neck more like a manticore's mane than like a pony's. It even had golden regalia studded by three sapphires that were each as big as her barn. She wagered that if it were standing over Ponyville, it would be be able to hold its head eye-level with Canterlot. Even its purple horn was at least tall as Twilight's new castle.

Janus Unicorn
Winged Mammal Beast
Capture Level 800*

Even in her state of awe, a thought that terrified her more than the near fall to her death entered her mind: the thought that it was this alicorn that just threatened to kill her. She did the only thing she could and bowed as closely to the ground she could. She couldn't move; not even to tremble in fear. She could hardly breath for fear of a breath being just a bit too loud. It didn't matter to her that the heated rocks would eventually burn her skin. All that mattered was doing whatever it took to not offend the approaching alicorn any more. Every fiber of her being screamed that if she did, she would not live to see the next second.

With all that in mind, Applejack could only bow with her face against the hot rock and hope that he was feeling merciful. With the sound of another flap and a tremor, she knew he landed. The minutes of silence that followed felt like hours. Her imagination was in overdrive over the countless ways he could fulfill his promise. He could use his magic for who knows what, crush her beneath his hooves, or accidentally flatten her simply because he couldn't be bothered to notice somepony so puny.

Time returned to normal when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They didn't sound nearly loud enough to be from the mountain sized alicorn, but Applejack wouldn't dare to look up and risk making him mad. When the footsteps stopped a short distance away, she tensed up whatever muscles weren't already tensed. "Well, what do we have here?" a new voice said jovially. "I know I'm the president of IGO and all, but I'm not sure what to say about a little horse bowing to me."

With the sound of the stallion's joyous laughter, Applejack felt enough at ease to look up. When she saw the voice's source, she could only say what it wasn't. It wasn't the size of a mountain, it wasn't a pony, and it wasn't something that looked ready to hurt her. She suddenly relaxed and found herself able to speak. "What in tarnation are you?"

Author's Note

Well now that I've provided this appetizer, I promise that each section here will have its own followup story. Feel free to use your imaginations until then. I wish to feast upon your comments.

Thanks again to Shirousagi for helping with ideas and such.

Slight edit on August 28, 2014

Course 3

Someone once said ... there are great fields where corn shaped like the face of an elderly man grows in the middle of a perfectly formed plot of grass and when a person steps upon the grass, the corn pops into popcorn as light as air and the phrase, "Get off my Lawn," can be heard with each pop: Pop's Popcorn.

This is the Gormet Age; an age where all of mankind spends their lives seeking yet undiscovered and untasted culinary delights.

Twilight Sparkle having been pulled from her home in Equestria and being dropped into the Barron Archipelago ends up meeting Toriko and Komatsu. After Toriko defeated the Garara Gator they were there to hunt, the three spent the night talking and eating. Near the end of the feast, Twilight decided to follow Toriko to his home so she could use the free space to practice controlling her enhanced magic. Three days have passed since then.

Twilight's eyes twitched underneath her eyelids as she woke without wanting to get up. She instead decided to start nibbling upon the blanket that was covering her, or at least what remained of it. It had a sweet taste, a silky texture, and melted in her mouth like cotton candy yet worked like a normal blanket when not being eaten. She shouldn't have been surprised when Toriko's home and everything in it was edible. One more morning and the blanket won't be big enough to cover her.

Twilight forced herself out of bed and stretched out her stiffness. With a glance to her right, a smiled made a way to her face at the sight of morning's newspaper resting on the coffee table; it's a table made completely out of coffee flavored hard candy. The newspaper proved to be one of Twilight's favorite parts of the morning as it allowed her to be completely aware the most recent events. It didn't hurt that it too was edible.

Unfortunately, or fortunately in the case of when she read the section about new ingredients being discovered, the newspaper had yet to provide any information or rumors on anything that could be her friends. Even with it being only three days, Twilight's patience was starting to wear thin.

She teleported outside of Toriko's Sweets House with the news paper and a chunk of the house; he did say she could have as much as she wanted. She began eating the large chunk of cookie and scanned the horizon for her target. It was only when she took to the skies that she was able to find him jumping down the side of a cliff. With her newly enhanced and mastered teleportation, she ended up at the edge in time to watch him walk into a cave.

Twilight decided to eat and read while she waited for him to come back out. It only took around half a minute before the fat body of a dragon-like creature made out of the cave.

Sharkenodon
Draconic Beast
Capture Level 4

Twilight would have certainly entered a panicked state if she ever saw something like that happen a week ago; but she knew that worrying about Toriko's well being was simply a waste of time. "Hey, Twilight! Can you help a guy out?!" She glanced away from an amusingly ironic story of the world's top corporation IGO managed to enact selective Garara Gator breeding programs. She looked down at Toriko and his catch then teleported them near her position. "Man, I can get used to that! I would have had to climb back out carrying this guy."

"Trust me when I say that you shouldn't use magic to solve all your problems. I've learned that the hard way, twice."

"Says the pony who's been using magic for everything since she got here."

"I already told you that I am practicing my magic so I know that I can control it when I need it."

Toriko smiled back widely. "Then it works out both ways. You get to practice and I get a little help; two birds with one stone if you ask me."

Twilight sighed at Toriko's response. She was quickly learning that there was much more to him than gluttony and cheerfulness. He also possessed decent intellect and logic that has managed to trump her own at least a third of the time. A grumbling from the fat-bodied dragon startled Twilight from her thoughts. "That thing is still alive?!"

"Yep," he said patting its belly. "I only did some knocking on it. He won't be moving until after he gets to market."

Twilight decided weighed her options. Either she could stay at Toriko's house for an undetermined amount of time or she could follow him to a heavily populated area and try to pass herself off as and exotic pet. The growing sense of curiosity and restlessness managed to be the deciding factor for her. Additionally, being seen in public may trigger hidden rumors.

While the trip to the Central Gourmet Wholesale Market was quick and uneventful, walking between all the stalls and through the crowds was not. True to what would be expected in the Gourmet Age, the place was full of all different kinds of foods and huge crowds trying to find the best they can afford. Also as expected, everyone's attention was drawn to Toriko and Twilight like moths to a flame; it isn't everyday that anyone gets to see a gourmet celebrity carrying a 1.5 ton dragon and accompanied by a small multi-colored alicorn.

"Is that Toriko?"

"He's carrying that Sharkenodon around like it's nothing."

"What's that purple horse thing? I've never seen anything like it."

"I don't know, but it takes a real man to walk around with something like that." The woman fanned herself with her hands while the man next to her pouted.

Twilight couldn't help but feel somewhat insulted at that last one. She already planned to play the part of a pet, but being regarded as one still felt degrading. This was made only worse when they started talking about how girly she was. "Horsy" Twilight's gaze was pulled towards a girl who was a head taller than Spike running towards her.

"Hina!" came the shrill yell from who was certainly the girl's mother just as she wrapped her arms around Twilight.

The girl looked up at Toriko with the most adorable and pleading smile she could muster. "Kwan I lwide the horsy mlister?"

Toriko returned the child's smile with his own. "Sure, she won't mind."

Twilight gave him a glare that said 'I will have vengeance for this.' Toriko only chuckled in response. Twilight gave him an exaggerated roll of her eyes before lowering enough to allow the girl easy access.

Once she felt her new mount get her balance, Twilight stood and started walking around. "Weeeee!"

Twilight looked back at her smiling face and couldn't help feel the need to smile as well. She then saw the sight of a worried mother preparing to give Toriko a piece of her mind. At that moment, she developed a grin that would make Discord proud; her revenge would be coming sooner than expected, but she needed to check something first. "Hey," she said in a whisper only the girl could hear. "Are you scared of heights?" The mind behind Hina's wide eyes worked to process the talking horse while her head shook no automatically. "Then hang on," she added even though she planned to use magic to keep her on board.

Twilight put on a show of lowering her stance and spreading her wings. Only when she heard the loud gasp of the girl's mother did she take flight. Her following scream would have cut into Twilight's heart if it wasn't for the gleeful laughter from her daughter. "We're swoo high." She looked at Twilight with a set of eyes that would be hard to say no to. "Can you willy talk."

"I can, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Hina. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Her eyes only grew wider. "You're a pwincess."

"Yes, but that's a really big secret," she replied with a hoof to her lips, "so keep it hush hush." Hina mimed zipping her lips while Twilight made the decision to return to the ground. It wasn't long before she could make out the image of Toriko being yelled at by the mother. She also spotted the form of her other human friend. She touched down near Toriko and allowed the panicked mother to retrieve her child. Twilight felt some guilt towards her, but Hina had the experience of a lifetime and Toriko learned not to volunteer her for anything. Two for three isn't bad; the ratio still holds strong.

She turned her attention back to Toriko who had already started talking with Komatsu. Tom was also there, who she rememberd from him ferrying them away from the islands. "You certainly know how to draw attention to yourself Toriko. On top of your purple friend, you've got a Sharkenodon that looks like it's over a ton."

"Yeah it is. That's 40 grand per kilogram. I just refreshed his knocking."

"Make it 30. I've got poor customers... and are you sure she's not for sale?" he said with him pointing at Twilight.

"Not. A. Chance."

"Hey Tom, can you sell Skarkenodon some to the Hotel Gourmet."

"Sure thing Komatsu."

"Hold on!" Twilight's gaze was drawn to some sort of official in a suit and wearing sunglasses. "If you ignore the prices set by IGO, the prices of all foods could change for the worst."

Tom smirked in response. "You can take that up with the provider."

Twilight chuckled when the suited man took one look at Toriko and his stern expression dropped. He apparently let the subject drop as well and walked towards Toriko. "I've heard the rumors that you've defeated the Garara Gator; as would be expected of one of The Four Kings. You even managed to find a previously unknown beast. I wish the other three would contribute to The Gourmet Age as you have."

"Nah, they're a little more interested in their own goals right now."

"I suppose so. Putting that aside, I've got a job you might be interested in."

Toriko simply waved him off. "Don't you always. Why don't you use one of your own Gourmet Hunters?"

"The fruits of the rainbow are ripe."

Twilight's ears perked up at the mere mention of the word rainbow. Toriko also froze in place. It was Komatsu who broke the silence. "You couldn't mean the Rainbow Fruit; the legendary fruit that has seven different flavors depending upon temperature and humidity!" Twilight's ears fell upon realizing that the weren't talking about the brashest member of her friends. Twilight had been seriously expecting to hear of her first.

While she was lost in thought, the conversation progressed to Tom taking over. "They say that its juice is so concentrated, a single drop can turn a Olympic sized pool into a reservoir of thick luscious juice."

"I've heard that someone can goof off their whole lives off the price of one fruit, but I thought they were extinct."

"Yeah, Komatsu is right. How do you have one?"

"They are only extinct in nature."

Toriko smiled knowingly towards the IGO official. "I get it. You IGO guys managed to cook one up in one of your science projects."

"Yes, but there is a problem. None of our people can get close because the king of all gorillas have nested around the tree. We've dispatched heavy weapons tanks to try and retrieve the fruit; none returned. The beasts are estimated at around Capture Level 9."

This fact shocked Komatsu into silence. Tom however glanced towards Toriko with a smirk. "Level 9, can you handle it?"

Toriko only smirked back. "Like I'd let that stop me getting my hands on that fruit."

"Then I take it that you accept the request."

"Yeah yeah, let's get going right away." He looked to Tom and patted the Sharkenodon. "I'll leave this with you."

"Sure thing Toriko. I'll wire the cash over after I get this thing weighed."

With that conversation over, Twilight followed the group three towards an object she recognized as a car from seeing it in the newspaper, but this particular car looked unnecessarily long. The man opened a door and gestured for them to enter. They did so in the order of Toriko, Komatsu, then Twilight. To Twilight's disappointment, the man joined as well.

As soon as the car started moving, the man drew Toriko's attention. "I understand that who you bring with you is your own business, but are you sure about letting these two tag along? They look as if they'd only be a liability."

Komatsu chuckled a little while Twilight felt herself seething at the comment. Toriko only smiled back at the man. "Act now and its your lucky day; do nothing and luck will never find you. How they live their lives is their choice."

"Yes, I believe that this may be true for Komatsu, but I wonder if this little horse is simply following you without any understanding of the risks."

Twilight began glaring holes into the man; which was something that he failed to notice. Toriko on the other hand did notice. "Hey Johannes, can you keep a secret?" Twilight's eyes widened.

The now named Johannes seemed to take offense to this. "Toriko, you seem to have forgotten that keeping sensitive IGO secrets from getting out to the public is one of my many tasks. How classified would you consider this secret?"

Toriko scratched the side of his face as he pondered the question. "I don't really remember all those classification levels." He stopped scratching then smiled from the decision he made. "It'll be best if you only tell the old man about this."

Johannes adjusted his glasses and developed a small prideful smirk. "That would place this secret at the highest level of classification. I am honored that you would trust me with something of that caliber."

Toriko leaned back and adopted a relaxed smile. "Yeah, but it's not my place to tell it to you."

While Johannes' expression fell, Twilight carefully considered what Toriko was obviously implying. With all option's considered, it was ultimately her trust towards her friend that tipped the scales; if Toriko trusted this man with the truth, then so should she. "Ahem."

The sound of a throat clearing cut Johannes off from questioning Toriko further. "Who was that?"

Twilight raised a hoof and smiled. "That was me." His gaze snapped towards Twilight. His jaw slowly lowered and Twilight could see his eyes widening behind his glasses. It wasn't long before it started getting uncomfortable for her. "Will you please stop staring at me?"

He fell back as much as he could which resulted in the two men chuckling at his reaction and Twilight sighing in exasperation. He stopped staring at Twilight to look at the chuckling pair, though mostly towards Komatsu. "You already knew about this?!"

Komatsu chuckled nervously. "Yeah, we ran into her in the Baron Archipelago. She's a really nice, um, pony."

Johannes took a cleansing breath then turned towards Twilight with his cool-headed demeanor mostly restored. He then dropped to his knees and bowed towards her. "I apologize for any prior rudeness; I was not aware."

Twilight felt herself blushing from the display. "It's alright. I was trying to hide it."

He rose then returned to his seat. "I understand. ... If you don't mind me asking, what is your story?"

The next half hour was spent with Twilight telling Johannes what she told the other two that night with Toriko or Komatsu pitching in on any missed details. He kept his attention mostly on her with a perfectly neutral expression through the entire story. When she finished sharing every major point from after being taken from her home, Twilight needed to take a deep cleansing breath. "That's all."

Johannes took notice of numerous different points of interest from her story, but there was something that took precedence over his own curiosity. Johannes pulled out something she recognized as a cellphone then looked her in the eyes. "Ms. Sparkle, are you willing to allow me to ask the president to assist in locating your friends. I am sure he will not hesitate to accept should he hear your story."

After piecing things together, Twilight figured that the president and the old man Toriko mentioned were most likely the same man. She nodded to him with a sense of hope welling up. He returned her nod and began his call. "Don't get your hopes up yet. He rarely answ..." The sudden interruption was proof against what he planned to say. "I am sorry for calling so suddenly, but I have something important to ask of you sir." ... ... "Infirmary? Why are you there?" ... ... "And this individual is still alive?" ... "The injuries are only minor; that is even more surprising." ... "Yes. I am here with a special individual that has befriended Toriko and a chef under my employ. I ask that you not be too surprised by this, but this individual is a small purple horse that can understand and speak our language."

Johannes distanced his phone from his ears with a grimace on his face. The reason became clearly due the loud sound coming from the earpiece. "Is he laughing?" asked Twilight with some confusion. That confusion quickly changed to irritation. "Is the idea of something like me really that ridiculous?!" Her expression fell into one of defeat. "Don't answer that question."

Toriko narrowed his eyes. "Let me talk to the old man." Johannes handed him the phone just as the laughter died down. "Old man, what's the big idea?" ... "Yeah it's me. Why are you laughing about my friend." His angry expression was replaced by a raised eyebrow. "Then why?" ... "Really?!" he yelled excitedly. ... "It's Twilight Sparkle." Toriko soon pulled the phone from his ears and held it to Twilight. "He wants to talk to you."

Twilight wanted to ask about the grin on Toriko's face but she felt that it would be rude to keep the IGO president waiting. She levitated the phone into position; the action got a raised eyebrow from Johannes. "Hello." ... "Yes, this is Twilight Sparkle." ... "Okay, I'll hold on," she said with a confused expression.

"What's going on?" asked Komatsu expectantly.

"He asked me to hold on for a moment while he puts someone else on the pho..." Twilight's jaw dropped and Toriko's knowing grin grew. "Applejack?!" Tears began to form on the edges of her eyes. "I can't believe it! I thought it would take at least a week before I'd even have a chance of hearing about any of you! Where are you?!" She became worried. "Are you okay?!" She let out a sigh of relief. "What happened?" Twilight proceeded to nod regularly with a proceeding angered expression. "I can't believe anyone would do that! Just how unreasonable is this Zebra?!" Twilight was pulled away from the phone by the sound of Toriko's laughter. "Is there a reason you're laughing?"

Toriko wiped a tear from his eye then waved his hand in a placating manner. "Sorry Twilight, but asking 'is Zebra unreasonable' is like asking 'is the sky blue.'

She stared at him wide eyed until she suddenly and literally shook herself out of it. "I'm sorry Applejack. A new friend of mine just confirmed that this Zebra is as crazy as you make him sound." ... "I'm glad you're okay. I just wish I knew where the other's are." Twilight soon took on an excited smile. "Really?! She's safe?!" She let out a highly relieved sigh. "That's good. She's the one I was really worried about." Twilight chuckled. "That's true." She immediately sighed again. ... "I want to see you all as soon as I can, but I'm in the middle of something right now. Let's stay split up for now and try looking for everypony else." ... ... "Yeah, see you later." She levitated the phone back to Johannes with a smile that was both relieved and sad. "We're done."

He took the phone and looked at it for a second before putting it away. As if it were perfectly planned out, the limousine stopped at that moment. "We've arrived at our destination."

He left the car and held the door open for the other's to follow. Once they stepped outside, Komatsu and Twilight craned their necks up so they could attempt to make out the top of the massive wall in front of them. It had to be at least 150 stories high; if someone were to provide a low estimate of the height that is. Marked on the massive front door was the text 'IGO BIOTOPE GARDEN No 8: NO ADMITTANCE.'

"This wall is huge." Twilight whistled in agreement to Komatsu's comment. If she kept running into things like this, she'd have to start redefining the word big; its synonyms as well. "What kind of place is this?"

Johannes who had already stepped ahead looked back at him. "This is an artificial habitat that is ideally suited for performing accurate research on plant and animal behavior." This caused twilight too look on at the wall with even greater admiration; she is a pony who has a strong love for any form of non-invasive research.

They soon reached the guards at the doors who Johannes approached. "Can you open the gates for us?"

"Our apologies, we cannot."

Before anyone could question why, a powerful booming sound that shook the air echoed all around them. "Wha... what was that?!" asked a panicked Komatsu. Twilight was more confused as she never heard anything like it before. The calmest one of them was Toriko.

"We cannot allow you entrance because a Troll Kong has been spotted near the gates."

"Are you serious?! Does that mean that sound was it knocking on the door?!" While that was a possibility, Twilight didn't believe that the previous sound came from knocking on wood, stone, or metal. Their eyes widened when the sound occurred again, except this time it was behind them. They looked and found Toriko's smoking fist against his chest. "Toriko, you scared me!"

Toriko only chuckled back at him. "That sound was the Troll Kong drumming its chest. It's one of the ways they use to intimidate others. I think it wants us to back off."

Komatsu's knees started trembling. "Are you saying that sound was the Troll Kong beating its chest?"

Johannes nodded in confirmation and gazed warily towards the gate. "They say that a Troll Kong's drumming can be heard from tens of kilometer's away. It must be within five if they won't open the gates for us."

"That doesn't matter to me," said Toriko as he approached the wall. "Open up the door."

"We can't Toriko; the Troll Kong is too close."

Toriko simply stepped well off to the side of the gates with a smile. "So it won't matter if it's scared off when the door opens." Toriko stopped right at the wall and spread his legs into a stance. "Gorilla's also like to intimidate by throwing or breaking something. This should get the message across loud and clear. Twilight's eyes slowly widened as she realized what Toriko was planning while also not believing he would be capable. "THREE FOLD" he pulled back his arm and flexed all his muscles ""SPIKED PUNCH!" Toriko struck the wall with enough force to leave a massive crater. "One." The widened eyes and dropped jaws of all the others all grew when a new much larger crater formed over the first. "Two." The third inevitable blow finished the job; punching a building sized hole clean through the wall. "Three. Let's go."

Toriko had already walked through the path before Komatsu regained enough of his senses to follow. "Wait for me!" It took Komatsu's exclamation for Twilight to follow after them. Once she reached Toriko, the scolding she prepared vanished at the sight of five serpents with tri-pronged mouths clamped onto Toriko's arms, legs, and torso. "Zombie Taipans; their venom is deadly!"

Zombie Taipan
Reptile Beast
Capture Level 1

Twilight's concern overwhelmed any other thought as she ran for him. "Stay back!" yelled Toriko with his palm held out to her.

She stopped in place but her panic continued to raise. "We have to help get those off you!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Toriko relaxed his stance and sighed. "I was saving this to celebrate a successful hunt." He pulled out a thick stick and lit it with a snap of his fingers, then he put the unlit end into his mouth and sucked on it until the entire thing burned up. After a few moments, all of the snakes let go and slithered off. "There you go. You must have been pretty surprised being thrown like that."

Twilight walked up to Toriko after the taipans slithered off; concern was still evident on her face. "How did you..." She scrunched up her muzzle. "Ah, what's that smell?!"

"Acetic acid. It looks like you like it about as much as those Zombie Taipans"

"What about the venom?!"

"Don't worry; I've got the antibodies for it."

She stared in disbelief for a few seconds then sighed. "So what you're saying is that you're immune?" When he nodded, she looked back towards where they came then looked up at him with the most disapproving glare she could manage. "Well since you're okay, why did you punch a hole in the wall?! I could have easily teleported us through!"

Toriko chuckled and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Hehe, sorry."

She flew up to look him face to face and poked his chest with a hoof. "This is no laughing matter! Do you have any idea how much work fixing a hole like that can be?!"

He hung his head in defeat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have destroyed it."

Twilight nodded in acceptance of his apology. "Good. Make sure you pay attention to the consequences of your actions from now on." She drifted back to the ground and turned towards the wall. Her horn started glowing in a way both men recognized as her preparing a spell. Soon, all the rubble from Toriko's act of destruction floated towards the hole. All the pieces fell perfectly into place and fused together; the wall was fixed within half a minute, leaving an astonished expression on the human pair's faces. "It looks like that spell has been amplified as well."

"That was amazing!"

Twilight blushed and averted her gaze. "Thanks, it was a while before I could learn how to do that one right."

Toriko found himself smiling at her display of humility. "Can you teleport us across that moat. You need all the practice you can get right?" Twilight rolled her eyes then performed the spell.

Just over five kilometers away, a single large figure watched the three making their way towards. A flash of lightning lit up and revealed a green furred gorilla with a large mouth filled with countless sharp fangs.

Troll Kong
Mammal Beast
Capture Level 9

It tightly gripped the four large bolder's it held in each of its hands. The fact that throwing the snakes at them didn't work failed to bother him at all. He would not be letting them reach the troupe. The biggest one was a threat, but small one was a mystery. Both would have to be dealt with.

"Toriko, Twilight, I found some bacon leaves. I've never seen them growing in the wild."

They looked back at him and the thick pile of leaf shaped meat he carried. Twilight's gaze betrayed mild disbelief. "So there are plants in this world that grow meat for leaves? ... I give up on figuring out your ecosystem."

"Man this tastes great with these banana cucumbers," Toriko said with the bacon wrapped around the cucumber. " You want one Twilight?"

"Just the cucumber please." He tossed one over that she easily caught with her levitation. Once she took a bite, her teeth were treated to the crunchy texture of crisp cucumbers while her tongue enjoyed the sweetness of a ripe banana. "These are delicious. I'd never be able to have something like this back home." In the moment after she said those words, she hung her head. Both men took notice and looked at her sympathetically. She stomped her hoof and shook her head. "No, I can worry about that later."

Toriko's frown turned into a smile. "Well I'm willing to bet that some Rainbow Fruit will cheer you up."

He jumped down a small ledge with a sandpit below. The sand gave way under his weight then a large four-armed gorilla jumped out from nowhere and threw four large boulders down at him. "Toriko!"

With the first attack made, the beast could not afford to waste time. The trajectory of his jump was planned to carry him straight to his second target. The purple one was focused on the fate of the of the other; that was a costly mistake. He pulled back a arm and backhanded it with all his strength. He only barely registered its glowing figure sailing away. All that left was the weak one. "Knocking!" A piercing pain and muscles locking up alerted him that the first was still active. He lashed out but missed. With how his body was locking up, he only had one option left.

Meanwhile, Twilight sailed away still covered in the defensive aura she thankfully cast just before getting hit. She flared her wings to stop and flew as fast as she could back where she came. She needed to stop that thing before it could get Komatsu too. She prepped a teleportation spell to bring her right over the Troll Kong. She then prepped an unpracticed magic beam and took aim, but her target collapsed before she could fire. "Huh?"

"Gross!" She looked down to see Toriko in front of the gorilla's mouth covered in a slimy liquid. He sniffed his arm then immediately recoiled form the action. "It smells horrible!"

Twilight hovered down near Toriko then hopped back and covered her muzzle with a hoof. "I'm glad you're okay, but you smell like you've been dead for a week."

"Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically. "This guy decided to vomit on me when I brought him down. Now I'm covered in his stink." He suddenly smiled from his own idea. "Do you have a spell that can clean me off?"

Twilight chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry" she looked up at the sky "but I could bring a cloud down and make it rain on you."

"That sounds good."

Both of their eyes widened. "You can do that?!"

"Yes." Lighting struck somewhere in the air which Twilight reacted to by chuckling nervously. "Though I'm not too good at it. I might trigger a lightning strike instead."

Toriko raised his hands defensively. "Yeah, no lightning please." This got them all the chuckle. "Still, this weather could be a problem. The Rainbow Fruit tree is pretty tall; it'll be bad if lighting strikes it before we get to it."

Komatsu glanced nervously towards the paralyzed Troll Kong then looked back at the others. "Lets go. I don't want to be here when he gets back up." They nodded in affirmation then left. Komatsu followed but first hazarded on last look back; he wanted to know why Toriko would use the more difficult Knocking rather than simply kill it.

The next quarter-hour proved uneventful as they made their final approach. Twilight continued to grow more and more silent as they got closer to their goal; she became gradually less aware of the other two as all her senses gave way to her sense of smell. She missed them talk about how other animals are driven to eat the Rainbow Fruit; they even do so by forfeiting their own lives. Once the fruit entered their sight, even the rain that began to fall failed to be noticed by her.

Toriko was left unaware of Twilight's state of mind due to focusing on the 30+ Troll Kongs guarding the Rainbow Fruit; he grunted in frustration. "It doesn't matter how much strength I project; I smell like their weakest. They won't hesitate to attack me. Twilight..." His voice was caught by the sight of Twilight's power projection. The blue flame-like aura was giving him the first true look at her ability which was easily on par with his own. She began to walk straight for the Rainbow Fruit without any concern for the swarm of Troll Kongs.

They took notice of the new creature and froze. This one was completely different from the countless prey that were drawn by the fruit's scent. The individual was small, but the demon that followed was not. Sharp blue eyes, jagged sapphire protrusions that included a sharp horn, massive near-black wings, and two white fangs sticking up from the lower jaw: these were the only traits they could make out. Anything else was shrouded in darkness. Everyone of the troupe that stood in its path stepped aside for fear of its wrath. They had numbers, power, and intelligence, but their instincts warned them that they were outclassed.

Toriko followed Twilight's approached with Komatsu clinging tightly on his back. It was thanks to Twilight's powerful presence that they were completely ignored. This safety allowed them both the freedom to take in the full picture. It was then that they simultaneously took notice of a single gorilla overlooking them from a high ridge. Rather than being short and green, its fur was shaggy and white.

Troll Kong Silverback
Mammal Beast
Capture Level 10

The Silverback suddenly looked towards the sky; he felt a new greater threat coming. There was no time to warn the troupe; he only had enough to ensure his own safety by hiding below the ridge.

Meanwhile Twilight was feeling more powerful than ever. She wanted that fruit and no force on the planet would be able to stop her from reaching it. Anything that would dare stand between her and the treasure ahead would do so at their own peril. That fruit will be hers.

Little did she know, nature was set on doing what the Troll Kongs couldn't. A flash of light, blast of sound, and sudden pain brought Twilight's other senses back. Even with her vision blurred, one eye made out a sea of startled Troll Kongs while the other could only see the ground. She realized she was laying on her side, but her consciousness faded before she could wonder why.

Twilight's eyes fluttered open in response to a gentle jolt of movement. Even while groggy, she noticed that the side of her face was damp. The floor had a velvet red carpet and the walls were painted gold. Her vision slowly refocused until she was able to make out a number of humans in black suits like Johannes's and a massive table covered in many empty plates and some with food still on them. She looked around and noticed Johannes sitting next to her. "So you are awake?"

The moment she tried to speak, a small bit of drool leaked out. She promptly swallowed with some embarrassment. "What happened, where are we, how did I get here?"

"I was told that you lost yourself to your desire to eat the Rainbow Fruit and approached it. You were making progress until a lightning bolt struck you directly."

"That explains why my horn's throbbing," said Twilight while rubbing her horn. Johannes raised an eyebrow, which Twilight took as a sign to elaborate. She thought for a moment on how to best explain it with no knowledge of pony anatomy. "Ponies with wings are more resistant to electric shock. Due to the electrical resistance of air, being struck on the ground is hardly a nuisance to them. A unicorn getting struck on the horn never survives on the other hoof. I think having both traits allowed a direct shock to only knock me out." She nodded more to herself at her own explanation of her survival. "What happened after I was knocked out?"

"Of course. Toriko was fortunately able to retrieve both you and the Rainbow Fruit without issue. Also fortunate was that you suffered no permanent damage. You were brought here along with a small portion of the Rainbow Fruit. It has been a little over two hours since"

She nodded then made out Toriko sitting at the end of the table wearing a pure white tuxedo and having his blue hair combed back. She looked at the growing piles of plates then back at Johannes. "How much has he eaten?"

"I lost count after sixty servings; that was thirty minutes ago. I imagine that the Rainbow Fruit will be coming out soon."

Only a second passed before they were assaulted by a powerfully sweet aroma. Twilight was forced to swallow constantly just to keep the drool from leaking from her lips. An agonizing amount of time passed until Komatsu put one of two trays in front of Toriko. She immediately teleported to a seat near them; she couldn't care about all the others who would see.

They were all startled by the sudden action with the exception of those familiar with her abilities.. Toriko glanced at her with a knowing smirk and drool leaking out. "I knew you couldn't sleep through this."

Komatsu put the other tray in front of Twilight but said nothing. Even with the professionalism he was trying to show, he was also drooling. Aside from that, he looked at her with joy and relief that she was okay. Twilight appreciated the sentiment then looked at Toriko. With a shared nod, they removed the lids off their plates. What was revealed immediately reminded Twilight of whenever she and her friends used the Elements of Harmony. An actual rainbow formed between the two pieces of multi-colored jello. The nostalgia she felt was the only thing keeping her from diving in.

She noticed Toriko spread his arms out and look down at the desert. "I give my humble thanks to the vast bounties this world provides." Twilight used this moment to bow. "It is time to eat."

Twilight levitated her spoon and scooped out a piece of the desert. She took a few moments to admire its softness and density before eating her piece at the same time as Toriko. Within a second, they were treated to the taste of hundred concentrated mango's, a tartness that was well beyond any lemon, and two other flavors that were simply beyond description. As they prepared to swallow, their sinuses were met with the fragrance of roasted chestnuts. Once they swallowed, a flood of energy pulsed through their entire bodies. At the finally step, all the flavors combined and felt like every cell in their bodies could taste it. They started to cry tears of joy. "So good," said Toriko

"Amazing," said Twilight without any concern for who would hear her.

Toriko chuckled. "It's been three years since he predicted this. I've decided. This will be the desert in my full course." He stood up and looked at everyone in the room. "Everyone should have a taste. Food like this is meant to be shared." After hearing this, the room erupted in cheers.

While a part of Twilight didn't want to share, she agreed completely with Toriko's assessment. She counted 23 individuals in the room then used her magic to cut the Rainbow Fruit Jello into 21 equal pieces with the two others being the parts she and Toriko ate a piece from. What followed was yet another party she would have to tell her friends about. The staff were sworn to secrecy however.

Author's Note

That's Twilight's followup chapter. I think I'll be having Rainbow's and Fluttershy's stories on their arrival in the same chapter, but that isn't final. Please speculate, comment, and review to your heart's content.

Course 4

Author's Note

It's been a while. I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to write this chapter simply because I have a hard time writing Rainbow Dash's personality. It doesn't help that my current job takes up to 50 hours out of my week. I think it took two weeks before I even had an idea on how to write this. I even wrote this chapter so that it'll cause a slight change in her personality that'll be easier for me to work with. Now its done and I can work on Fluttershy's chapter, who should prove to be much easier for me.

On another note, I'd like to ask for another proofreader. Shirousagi is doing a good job, but he does miss some things that I catch during my own proofreading. I'm hoping that another set of eyes should be enough to get everything. Advantages mostly include early access to incomplete chapters and being able to put in your own input. PM me if interested.

Course 4

Rainbow Dash sat on the ground where she crashed and continually preened her feathers. A lot of others seemed to think that she was somewhat of a messy individual, but any flyer knows that they can't afford to have anything wrong with their feathers: the cleaner, the better. It was for this reason that she was trying to clean off the red paint that somehow got on the tips of all her feathers. It didn't matter that it looked awesome; she couldn't have them messing with her flight. After growling from how coloration would not go away, it didn't take long for her to find somepony to blame. "Wordsmith," she said with all the venom she could muster. What she found herself wanting to do to him were things that she would never repeat out loud.

"Hey, pony!"

"For the love of!" She sighed loudly: she did not want to deal with those three at all; though hopefully they wouldn't find her.

"There you are."

"Screw you!" she thought to the whole of reality. She turned her head back and looked at the three that had found her just a few moments ago. "Look, I'm sure you guys are nice ... whatever you are, but I've got better things to worry about than dealing with the three of you."

"HA!" said the big ugly leader. "What could be more important than making a deal with the Great and Powerful Zongeh." While Rainbow Dash's ear's perked up, her face fell. For a few moments after, her left eye twitched: being reminded of a certain showmare does that to her. "You okay pony?"

She jumped back when she caught a whiff of his hand waving right in front of her muzzle. "Sweet Celestia! When's the last time you washed those things?!"

He and the bald one exchanged confused looks while the other one looked at her with his confused expression. "You don't know what hands are?"

He was mostly ignored as she watched the other two shrug then narrowed her eyes. "Okay ... here's ground rule number one: DON'T touch me!"

"What's number two?" asked Combee.

Her eye twitched. "I didn't have one until you asked that brilliant question. Number two is no stupid questions."

Zomboo beat his chest and smiled widely. "Of course it was brilliant! What else would you expect from one as great as myself!"

"And number three is ..."

"Excuse me!" Three of them looked around in mild surprise at the new voice while Dash groaned at having to deal with potentially another one. Within moments, another individual showed up from behind the tall grass and spotted Bombay and his cronies. He was a head shorter than Zombie and word a lab coat that was completely out of place. His skin was very pale and his hair was blond. He also held a notepad and a pen in his hands. Upon spotting the three, he gave a friendly wave. "Hello there gentlemen. Would you happened to know where I might find that un..." His voice trailed off upon spotting the blue winged horse with a Rainbow mane. "Fascinating. I've never seen a horse this small before. Fossil records show they did exist before the great extinction, but never with wings."

He reached out and pulled out a wing for observation only for Dash to snap it back and glare at him. "Hey, what do you think you are doing?!"

He stared at her for a few seconds before bringing up his notepad. "While searching the central savanna for any ingredients of interest, I encountered a new species."

He wrote on his notepad as he talked, which only served as a new source of irritation for Dash. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"

"Subject has demonstrated the ability to speak coherently, yet this only shows the potential for sapience. Subject is around 85 centimeters at the withers and estimated to be close to 135 centimeters with head held up and level."

As he continued describing her, the underling with hair rose up to Zarcon's ear and cupped his mouth. "Zongeh, why are we listening to this."

He turned to his underling and shushed him. "Be quiet. Don't you know that you're supposed to pay attention to everything the quest giver has to say. What if I missed something important because of you? We'd have to go through all of this all over again, that's what."

"That's our Lord Zongeh!" exclaimed the bald one with mild exasperation.

The other one back away from Zartan and sighed. "But this isn't a video game."

During this, the strange man finished his observations and nodded more to his self than to anyone else present. Kyubey brought his hands to the sides of his head and shouted out. "Ahhh, I missed it. Now I have to listen to it all over again!"

The man glanced at Zongell and tilted his head. "If you wish, you can read what I wrote down."

At this point, Dash had enough. "Who the hay are you!?"

He looked down at her than back to his notepad. "Subject has asked for my identity." He lowed the pad and looked at her directly. "I am a Homo sapiens, also known as a Human Being."

She groaned at his response. "I said who you are, not what."

He repeated looking at her then at his notebook. "Correction: subject asked for my personal moniker, not my physical identity. Additional note: the asking for a name indicates that the subject has one as well." He lowered his pad again. "My name is Script Wright; what is your's?"

"Rainbow Dash," she said to him with an expression she forced to be neutral.

He nodded and returned to his notes. "The subject has provided the moniker Rainbow Dash. For the sake of brevity, it shall referred to as Dash from this point on. Additional note: the use of an individual name strongly suggests sentience. Treating Dash politely is recommended."

The eyelid that was twitching through the entire encounter suddenly stopped. "That's It!" She jumped into the air and flapped her wings with all her strength. She shot up and reached the cloud she was aiming for in the blink of an eye and obliterated it upon collision. She lost control and spun in the air for a few seconds before leveling into a glide. Now that she was in her flight mentality, she began taking in all the information she could.

She could make out the four figures down on the ground trying to find her from the distance. Only the egghead was looking directly at her. The land consisted of tall golden grasses that spread out in nearly all directions. The wind blew against it and created a shimmering quality that made for a stunning view. She eventually could make out some portions of the grass below moving against the wind. She quickly realized that there was something, a lot of somethings moving straight for the group below. They kept below the tall grass, but Dash couldn't help but have a bad feeling about them.

She tilted her body towards the group and began a slow dive towards them. She wanted to flap, to get to them faster, but she still had no idea how to control the sudden acceleration that would follow. By time she reached them, the things were only a few moments away. "You guys have to get out of here! There's something coming!"

"Interesting, perhaps it's another unknown species."

Dash's eyes twitched. "Are you crazy?! I don't know what they are, but they're big and they're coming straight at you!"

"Ah Ha Ha Ha!" laughed Zilleh. "What an amateur. You never run from a fight: how else will you get any experience points?"

Script looked over at him then back at him then back at his pad. "The subject with the highly forgettable name appears to believe that games translate into reality."

Dash tried to prepare some kind of response, but movement to her side caught her eye. She could only watch in surprise as some sort of limb shot out from the tall grass and swatted her away. She didn't even have time to wonder what hit her when another limb spiked her down from her trajectory. When she opened her eyes, she was immediately pinned down by a large hand that covered her body. Numerous tiny needles tried to pierce her skin as the pressure increased. She looked up with wide eyes at a massive pair canines coming down at her. "Zongeh Smash!"

She watched what looked like a cleaver embed itself into the face of whatever was holding her down with a solid thunk. The creature looked up and unleashed a screeching sound that was mixed with what sounded like a gale blowing through dense foliage. It tightened his fingers around Dash's body and threw her straight at Nene. As she was being tossed, time slowed and she finally got a look at the creatures attacking them, and they reminded her a lot of timberwolves: if timberwolves were baboons.

Their bodies were made from wooden vines instead of sticks and brownish green leaves completely covered anywhere there would be hair on a normal baboon. All the exposed vines had thorns all over them including the wooden spikes that made up their canines. Alongside the green glowing eyes were there ones who's eyes glowed red or dark purple; only one had purple eyes.

Hardly an instant passed in the time she made her observations. This left her plenty of time to think to spread her wings and flap so that she'd avoid before crashing into Zongess, who had had his arms up defensively in order to block the collision that would't be. A quick look around revealed that they were nearly surrounded by five of the baboons. "What are these things?!" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Bramble Baboons; Plant Beasts: Capture Level 7. This detritivorous species is known as the top scavenger of this area, but they will hunt if they need to. It appears that is what they are doing now. ... We should run."

For the Bramble Baboons, what started as investigating what looked like some creature crashing into the ground turned into a hunt for four human's and the crashed creature. One of them managed to grab the winged prey and deal some damage and would have dealt a finishing blow if it didn't get distracted by the strong smelling one. It was how the flying one recovered from being crushed and thrown that gave them all pause. From what all of them could see, it was unharmed from what would have killed any of their normal prey. This could only mean that it was strong.

The humans were weak. Three of them managed to slip through their ring, but the forth will fall. They only had to get the other one out of the way. The human started running while the winged one prepared to take to the air while keeping it's eyes on them. Their leader quickly reached out and made sure to barely miss grabbing it's prismatic tail. As planned, this scared it further into the air. With a screech, he gave his signal.

After narrowly avoiding being grabbed by the purple eyed baboon and leaving it screeching, Dash looked down at the situation from her safe elevation. The three stooges already looked like they reached a safe distance away, but Script was still in the thick of it. With a sigh, she conceded that she'd have to carry him away. She angled towards him but paused when the grass near him shifted. This moment of hesitation proved to be a massive mistake when a thorny fist from a previously unnoticed baboon shot out of the grass and slammed into the fleeing researcher.

Time once again slowed for Dash's mind as she tried to angle her descent straight for him. By time she got her sights set on him, another baboon backhanded him away. She could only watch dumbstruck as he tumbled away like a rag-doll. "RESTITUTION!"

He eventually stopped rolling, or more accurately; moving. "PUNISHMENT!"

The baboons slowly approached their prey with a sense of satisfaction despite the meager meal. "VENGEANCE!"

All of the Bramble Baboons froze when a wave of oppression washed over them. Despite being frozen, despite being terrified, the red and purple eyed ones managed to look up at the source. All they saw was eclipsed in a thin red fog that colored everything they saw with one exception: the blue and rainbow figure hovering over them with closed eyes and a passive expression.

The mist collected quickly and took on a quadrupedal shape with two different halves. The back half had dark golden fur with large paws and a long tail with a small tuft at the end. The front half was far more imposing with a long sharp beak shaped head and a deep red coat that looked like something between feathers and fur. It's sharply shaped eyes slowly opened along with it's mouth, which was filled with countless sharp teeth. "DEATH!"

Dash's eyes snapped open and she dove down at the nearest baboon. She flew right past it with wings outstretched then hovered just over the ground. When she gently landed, the baboon fell into two pieces. The others then ran away from her with a symphony of screeches. She simply climbed into the air and dove towards another with hooves outstretched. The thorns on it's head were crushed under her firm hooves an instant before it's head became pulp upon the ground.

She shot to the side and with her wings mowing down the tall grass as she passed. One had the misfortune to be in her path and was split in two just like the first one. The next unfortunate baboon manage to avoid being mowed down, which drew her direct attention. She flew past it until it was reduced to a pile of wooden chunks. She wasted no time finding another which she gripped in her hooves and took high into the air. The thorns littering covering its body failed to irritate her, especially after it's shoulder was torn apart from being unable to withstand the g-forces.

After dropping the severed arm, she looked down and finally zeroed on the purple-eyed leader. In the blink of an eye, she landed right in-front of it. The baboon watched fearfully as her rainbow hair covered her face. His arms and legs buckled when gale winds created by her descent forced him down. When he was finally able to look back up, the much smaller creature was unchanged. Enough time to escape had passed, but the baboon did not; not because he was too scared to move, but because he knew there was no point. If he was going to die, he'd do it facing his slayer.

Rainbow dash rose up and face her entire body towards her final foe while giving full view of the cold anger in her empty white eyes. "Feather..." she extended her wings back fully then flapped, which released a wave of sharpened wind, "Fillet!" The countless blades of wind tore the baboon's upper body to shreds.

With the last of the baboons taken care of, Dash relaxed and fell to the ground in a heap of exhaustion. Though she wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest or to freak out over what she just did, Dash turned towards where she last saw Script's body. She found him laying face up with a calm expression despite the blood dripping from his mouth. She didn't even try to blink back the tears she shed for this guy that she didn't know anything about. "Berries."

She barely managed to understand him and responded in kind. "Huh?"

He coughed then took a deep breath. "The purple berries have curative pro (cough) properties."

Rainbow's half-lidded eyes snapped open and she looked around frantically. She managed to control her flight around the area in search for a bush or something that would have berries growing on it until she realized that she had no idea what kind of berries he was talking about.

She was about to fly back to him, but her gaze was drawn towards the remains of one of the Bramble Baboons that she had somehow sliced in half. Even thought it leaked sap instead of blood, she couldn't help but blanch at the lifeless eyes of the slain beast. She would have ignored it completely if it weren't for her spotting an unusual green lump on it's lower half. She went to check it out against her better judgement and found that instead of the normal big behind that baboon's were known for, the baboon had a large green unripe raspberry on its posterior.

She normally would have wanted to question the strangeness of how there were large berries on their bottoms, but Dash's little mission came first. Now knowing what to look for, she subsequently check the bodies of each baboon: red, green, green, red. Only when she reached the final one she killed did she find the purple berries. She avoided thinking about how she was pulling out a creature's behind then immediately took the large berry nearly as large as herself towards where Script lay.

Upon reaching him, Dash found that the blood dripping from his mouth had formed a small puddle. "Hold on, I've got the berries!"

She tore one of the drupelets off the large blackberry as carefully as she could, but still tore the fruit's skin slightly. The juice tasted similar to blackberries with something else she couldn't help but crave. She suppressed the cravings and dropped it into Script's hand.

With some of Dash's aid, he brought the baseball sized drupelet to his mouth and took a bite. He managed to swallow after a little while, then he looked up at Dash with a smile. "Delicious..." (cough) "you should try one.

"What are you talking about?!" she yelled frantically. "You need all you can get!" He watched her put another piece in his hands, then pushed it into her mouth the moment she tried to let go.

She bit down in shock which gave her the full force of the taste. It indeed tasted like blackberries, but there was a syrupy thickness that didn't come just from excessive sugar: it was from a thick concentration of nutrients. Dash could practically feel a flood of vital vitamins and minerals; which amplified her desire for the fruit far more than mere sweetness could.

The berries were still sweet; up to ten times sweeter than normal blackberries. She couldn't even think about stopping before eating the next drupelet all for herself. She shook her head after swallowing, which was just enough to regain her self-control. She then grabbed the next one and offered it to Script, which he responded to by shaking his head. "One is enough."

She looked at him with a confused panicky expression. "What are you talking about?!"

He raised a palm to pause her query, except he was a fair bit off from where she really was. "I seem (cough) to have some cerebral hemorrhaging in my vision centers."

"Egghead talk ... that means the berries' are working, right?!" She knew she was fooling herself. Thanks to the Daring Do books, she was well read enough to know what 'cerebral' and 'hemorrhaging' meant, and both together made for a really, really bad combination. "Stop acting tough, you need another!"

"No, you eat it. (cough) It will not help me recover." He entered a violent coughing fit that spilled some bubbles of blood from his mouth. He forced a breath in and smiled. "My twin, Author (cough) if you see him, tell him that I passed after eating something tasty. Thank you ... Dash."

Dash could only blink in the time his body went lime and his eyes became dead as he was. She spent the next few moments replaying all the mistakes she made, but two stood out above all the others: she could have carried him away at the start and she could have not hesitated. Had she done that, he would have been fine. With unbridled rage towards herself, the climbed in to the air at breakneck speeds. Far sooner than normal, she reached the barriers that always sprang up to prevent her from achieving her signature move.

The barriers tore like paper; filling the sky with a stunning rainbow disk that would be her salute to a life lost as well as her promise to not let it happen again.