The Legacy of the Z-Fighters
Chapter 7: The Reveal
Previous ChapterNext ChapterGoku examined the three fillies that walked into his room. One was yellow with a red mane and tail, and had a bow in her mane. Another was white, like that Rarity mare, and had a similar mane and tail, except hers had pink and light purple swirls. The last one, a filly with an orange coat and a purple mane and tail, looked at him with an astonished look in her eyes. Goku followed her vision down to the Four-Star Dragon Ball.
The other two fillies, however, began talking to Goku, closing in on his face.
"He's so small!"
"I love his mane!"
"Where's his tail?"
"It's there, in his pants!"
"Whoa, that's one a' the coolest tails I've ever seen!"
"Twilight, where'd you find him?"
"Is he really gonna stay?"
"Can he come to school with us?"
"Does he have a Cutie Mark!?"
"What's with his necklace?"
The last one caught Goku's attention before he heard Twilight chuckling off to the side.
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"Girls, please, give Goku some space!" Twilight chuckled, watching as the two fillies practically climbed onto him.
As they backed away, Twilight saw that Scootaloo was still staring at his necklace.
"Scootaloo, wouldn't you like to say hi?" she asked, leaning towards the filly.
Scootaloo looked as though Twilight had just phased through the wall, practically jumping back from the mare. She looked back at Goku, and then immediately down to the orb on his necklace. Twilight raised an eyebrow before turning to the other two Crusaders.
"Girls, would you like to introduce yourselves?"
The two looked at each other and smiled widely before each of them wrapped an arm around Scootaloo and faced the colt.
"Ah'm Apple Bloom!"
"I'm Sweetie Belle!"
They waited for Scootaloo's turn for a few seconds before they lost their smiles and looked at the filly. She was still staring at the necklace, as if it were capturing her very soul.
"Scoots, that was your cue," Apple Bloom half-whispered to the pegasus.
Scootaloo blinked and looked to her sides to see that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were holding her in their usual greeting fashion, and stumbled to remember her name.
"Oh- uh-um... I-I'm, Scootaloo," she finally added.
"And together, we're-"
"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" They shouted in unison.
Goku smiled at the display.
"Cool! Can I join you guys?" Goku asked.
"Sure! We'd be honored to have you in our club!" Sweetie Belle answered.
"Maybe he can join our sleepover!" Apple Bloom added.
The first two Crusaders looked over to see Scootaloo still staring at Goku's necklace.
"Oh, for pony's sake!" Apple Bloom cried out.
She grabbed the pegasus by the shoulders and started to shake her about.
"Snap out of it Scootaloo!" she practically shouted.
"GAH!"
Scootaloo stumbled out of Apple Bloom's grip and wobbled in place for a bit as she regained her bearings. When she did, she glared at Apple Bloom.
"What was that for!?"
"You were just sittin' there, gawkin' at Goku!"
"Hehehe, 'gawkin' at Goku'," the colt said to himself.
"I wasn't gawking at him! Whatever that means! I was just... looking at the necklace! That's all!"
"You've been staring at it since Twilight introduced us to him," Sweetie Belle added. "Why are you so interested in his necklace?"
"None of your business, that's why!" Scootaloo replied.
"Girls!" Twilight barked.
The three looked up to see Twilight with crossed arms and a stern look on her face.
"Scootaloo, why were you staring at Goku's necklace?" she asked.
Scootaloo looked at the ground as she kicked her hoof across the floor.
"I... I thought it... looked familiar," she answered.
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"From where?"
"I saw a picture of something just like it in a book! Daring Do and the One-Starred Ball! I swear, it's got something to do with another book I used to read when I was younger, and-"
Twilight held up a hand to stop Scootaloo from going on for too long.
"Alright. In that case, you can talk about it with Goku. I'm sure he'd love to discuss it with you. Would you like that, Goku?" she asked her son.
Goku nodded.
"Yeah. That sounds like fun."
"Good. See, Scootaloo? All you had to do was just mention it to him," Twilight finished with a smile. "Now, you four play nice, alright? I'll be back up when the party gets started. You three can ask Goku about whatever you want, but make sure you're ready for the party by 6, okay?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Sweetie and Apple Bloom answered at the same time.
Scootaloo nodded. "A-alright."
"Bye mom!" Goku said happily.
Twilight smiled warmly as she nodded to her son.
"I'll see you in a bit," she said before leaving the room.
Goku smiled over to Scootaloo, who looked back and blinked in response. He reached back and unfastened the necklace before holding the Four-Starred Ball in his right hand.
"I guess you've heard of them too?" he asked.
Scootaloo nodded as she walked up to him. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom also got closer to the colt to see what the orb was.
"So, is that... one of the real..." Scootaloo couldn't even find the words to finish her thoughts.
Goku nodded.
"My Grandpa gave me this before he died. He said that me and the ball were the only two things left from my first village. He told me stories about how the village was founded around it, learning from a spirit from within the ball."
"Just like in the story!" Scootaloo added enthusiastically.
"Alright, what's goin' on here?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I'm with Apple Bloom, what's this thing?" Sweetie Belle added.
"Have you two never heard the story of the Dragon Balls!?" Scootaloo accused them.
Both fillies shook their heads in response.
"Oh my Luna! It's one of the coolest stories of all time! I'm sure Twilight's got a copy of it in her library! Come on, let's go," she stated.
Scootaloo grabbed both of her friends by the wrists as she dragged them out of Goku's room in search of the legendary tale. Goku, meanwhile, smiled softly as he looked down to the orb.
"I did it, Grandpa," he whispered, holding back tears. "I found a new home, a new family, and friends. Take care of Mom and Dad for me."
With a small gesture across his forehead, Goku ran to catch up with the fillies he had made friends with.
\\\//////
"... Eenope, did not see that comming," Big Mac commented.
"Ah know, right?" Applejack added. "Shucks, startin' ta make me feel like Ah need ta get out there an' find mahself a stallion, already."
"If ya do, bring 'em by so Ah can give 'em an 'Apple Family Welcome'," Big Mac said with a smile.
Applejack playfully slugged her brother in the arm as she chuckled.
"Sure thing, Big Mac."
They continued to set out plastic covers over various folding tables, preparing for the huge amount of ponies that would soon flood into the Castle.
"So... what's the colt like?" Big Mac asked.
"He's a real puzzle, Ah'll tell you what," Applejack stated. "Boy's got some weird mane style, like some kinda saw-blade that started growin' hair. Not ta mention he's got the strangest tail Ah ever did see, looks like some kinda monkey tail."
"Ya said Twi and Trixie found 'im in the Everfree, right? Maybe it's some weird magic from the plants or animals or somethin'," Big Mac speculated.
"Maybe. Short as a sprout, though. Maybe he's around six or seven, 'bout a head shorter than Bloom an' the Crusaders. Actually, fergot ta mention, but his fur's almost the same color as yours."
Big Mac stopped spreading out the tablecloth and looked to see his sister's face. She wasn't lying at all.
"Sounds like an Apple already," he said with a smile.
"Twi and Trixie convinced us ta introduce ourselves as Aunts, and boy howdy... haven't felt like that since Ah first saw Apple Bloom," Applejack recalled, tearing up a bit.
"Ah should bring that colt over ta Granny, see if she mistakes him for a young me," Big Mac joked.
"Doubt she would. Granny's old, but she ain't senile yet, Mac. She'd just as likely give 'em a whole family's worth a' pies. Speakin' a' pies, colt's got energy like Pinkie, hoppin' everywhere an' always wearin' a smile wider than the sky. He's practically fur an' bones, though. Makes ya wonder where he gets all that energy."
"Ya know, Ah should start thinkin' 'bout moving things along with Cheerilee," Big Mac added.
"Go for it, Big Mac," Applejack urged. "Introduce her ta Goku tonight. Heck, colt's gonna need an education, 'specially since he's gonna have Twi as a mom."
They both shared a laugh, thinking of the way Twilight might very well overreact once she started to get her son integrated into the education system.
\\\//////
Scootaloo slammed a book down rather harshly onto the table, denting the spine of the book as she practically tore through the pages.
"It's gotta be in here somewhere," Scootaloo said to herself.
As the Crusaders huddled over the book on Equestrian Legends, Goku looked around in awe. He had been in caves both larger and smaller than this room, but he'd never seen one decorated like this one. There were crystals emitting light on the walls, casting large shadows beyond the large walls that were scattered about. Each of these walls stood in different spots of the room, and were all hollowed out. Each wall held a bunch of different things that Goku didn't recognize, but he could still read the labels on their sides.
"Wow, what is this place?" he asked aloud.
"It's a library," Sweetie Belle answered. "You know, a place where ponies go to look for books and scrolls."
"What's a book?" Goku asked.
Sweetie Belle got up from the table Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were still seated and picked out a random book. She walked up to Goku with it and held it before him.
"See? It's a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers."
Goku blinked.
"So it's like a scroll-sandwich?" Goku asked.
Sweetie Belle turned her gaze and sighed.
"I've never heard it like that before, but I guess so."
"Oh, alright then!" Goku said with a smile back on his face.
"AHA!"
They both turned to see Apple Bloom practically fall out of her chair as she backed away from Scootaloo's outburst.
"Jeez, Scoots! Give me a head's-up next time!" Apple Bloom chided.
"Sorry, but I found it! 'The Tale of the Mystical Dragon Balls'!"
Sweetie Belle and Goku walked over to see the book, leaning in by Scootaloo's side as Apple Bloom gazed over the pegasus' shoulder. On the pages were eight clearly drawn figures. The largest one was a green dragon, rising out of seven round shapes. The other seven were relatively small, each with their own unique set of clothes and throwing around different attacks that looked like magic.
"Here!" Scootaloo cheered, pointing to the wall of text beside the picture. "You see? It's all right here!"
The other two fillies leaned in to read the text that was next to the drawing, and murmured to themselves as they scanned the page.
"Wow... that's... um," Apple Bloom stumbled, trying to comprehend the tale.
"What does this have to do with Goku?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"How can you not see it!?" Scootaloo cried in frustration.
She sighed and looked back towards the colt.
"Goku, can I see the Dragon Ball?" Scootaloo asked.
Goku nodded.
"Alright, but please be careful," he pleaded.
"I'll be careful, I promise," Scootaloo said as she reached for the orange orb.
Goku handed the Four-Starred ball to Scootaloo, and when it was in her grasp, she slowly brought it to her face. The pegasus turned the orb around, watching the stars twist and turn inside of it as she felt its perfect smoothness rub against her hands.
"Wow," she gasped.
"Equestria to Scootaloo," Apple Bloom called, "can ya get back to why the story's important?"
Scootaloo held the orb over the page, and pointed to the orbs beneath the green dragon.
"See? The legend says that when the seven balls are found and brought together, a magical dragon will come out and grant anypony a wish of any kind. And this is one of them!"
"Doesn't that sound a little 'out-there'?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"About as much as a Princess being stuck in the moon for a thousand years," Scootaloo deadpanned.
A knocking on the Library door drew their attention as Rarity entered the room.
"Ah, there you girls are. I see you've met the newest member of our family," she said happily.
"Hey, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle started. "Have you ever heard of Dragon Balls?" she asked.
Rarity's face exploded with a deep red blush, a shocked look on her face as she froze.
"You know, the seven warriors and the magical dragon that grants a wish when you find all seven?" Scootaloo clarified.
Rarity tried to form words, but was only able to move her mouth as her blush began to die down. After a few seconds of sputtering nonsense, Rarity walked over to the table to see what they were reading.
"Oh, thank heavens," she sighed as she read the page. "I thought that... oh, goodness, that gave me such a fright."
"What's wrong, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Oh, n-nothing! Nothing at all! We'll talk about it when your older," Rarity dismissed. "Why would you look something like this up, though?"
"I wanted to prove to them that this story is real after all! Look!" Scootaloo said while holding up Goku's Dragon Ball.
"Scootaloo! Did you take Goku's things without asking!?" the mare scolded, taking the ball out of the filly's hands.
"What? No! He let me hold it to show them the story's real! Don't you see the picture?" She said, pointing to the bottom of the dragon.
"I don't care what some old pony's tale says about a dragon and... orbs, and I certainly wouldn't just assume they're real because of some vague resemblance between a picture and something valuable to somepony else. Honestly, Scootaloo, I think you may be acquiring Rainbow Dash's knack for over-thinking those Daring-Do books."
"But they turned out to be real, too! Just like Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Changelings! They were all myths before you guys fought them! What's the difference between those and this?" Scootaloo persisted.
"The difference is that at those times, we weren't getting ready for one of the most important occasions in our time here in Ponyville," Rarity stated as she turned to Goku.
She bent down to her knees and clipped the ball's strings around Goku's neck, securing it.
"There. Oh, you just look so devilishly cute! Are you ready?"
Goku nodded with a large smile.
"Sure am!"
Rarity stood up and clapped her hands together before waving the children along.
"Let's get to it, then! Time to meet the town!" she said excitedly.
Scootaloo sighed in defeat as she got out of her seat and walked alongside the Crusaders. As she sulked, Goku came up to her side and poked her arm. She turned around to see Goku leaning towards her with a hand cupped to the side of his mouth.
"Don't worry about what Rarity said. I know the story was true, too. Maybe one day, we can go looking for the rest and wish for anything!" he whispered.
Scootaloo smiled at the colt's statement.
"Thanks, Goku. Maybe after this, the girls and I can show you around Ponyville."
Goku nodded as he put his hands behind his head and walked alongside his friends to the party.
\\\//////
Twilight and Trixie stood side-to-side, watching as the main room of the Castle filled up with other ponies from around town. The Cakes were off to the side, catering sweets to a number of ponies, Pound and Pumpkin in a mobile crib as they played with plastic miniatures of a bakery. Tables that were set up for the night were filling up with ponies who were starting to tire out from the dancing (hosted by Pinkie, of course) and local newsponies, taking notes on the occasion.
As the two watched the party start to go into full-swing, the doors were opened fully by two stallions in Royal Guard Solar Armor and two in Lunar Armor. Each one held a spear with a single hand while they teamed up to hold the massive doors open. When they were at attention, ponies began to gasp and bow as the rest of the Equestrian Royalty began to enter the Throne Room.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped in first, the former wearing a white strapless dress with gold trimmings while the latter wore a black dress with blue trimmings. They had large smiles on their faces as they waved to the population of Ponyville. Behind them, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor stepped inside, Cadance wearing a flowing blue dress while Shining wore his Officer's Uniform from his time in the Royal Guard. Behind the couple were Twilight Velvet and Night Light, who were holding back tears in their eyes as they looked onto their daughter. Last (and certainly least), came in Blueblood, who looked about as interested in today's event as he would being asked to recite the Equestrian Bank's tax-refund policy.
As the crowd parted to let the Royals walk up to the end of the Throne Room, Twilight and Trixie drifted away a small bit to greet them.
"Princesses, it's an honor to have you all here," Twilight said as she straightened her posture.
The Princesses both bowed to the couple in return.
"It's more than a great pleasure to be here ourselves," Celestia returned, holding back tears.
"It's so wonderful to know that... I suppose we should wait until everypony knows," Luna suggested, trying to not hint at the revelation.
The Princesses parted was and allowed Shining Armor and Cadance to say their greetings as well.
"So... Luna refused to tell us anything," Cadance remarked, shooting a glance back at the blue Princess, "so we can't properly congratulate you until we've heard the news. But, here's hoping it's something good," she remarked, crossing her fingers.
Twilight looked to see her BBBFF looking between her and Trixie, unable to form words.
"Something wrong, Shining?" Twilight asked.
"Nah, I just know that whatever you two are choosing to do right now, it'll make the family happy."
Twilight wiped her eyes as she gave her brother a hug.
"Thanks, Shiny."
The siblings held each other tightly as their parents closed in on them. Velvet in particular was shedding a few tears while Night Light tried to shake the family hug like when they were foals again. As the group separated, Blueblood disinterestedly approached Trixie, the two glaring daggers at each other.
"Wrench," Blueblood spat.
"Bitch," Trixie retorted.
"Whatever it is you two are doing here, try and keep me involved as little as possible."
"Oh, trust me, I hope you'll have as little to do with this as you do with the rest of the world," Trixie replied.
Blueblood turned his head away in the most up-tight fashion, before waving ponies aside so he could find a seat, going so far as to actually push a few mares out of his way.
"He so much as looks at him the wrong way," Trixie whispered to herself.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see Night Light. She remembered when she had first met Twilight's father, years before actually coming to Ponyville.
"Mr. Light," Trixie greeted, a smile and blush on her face, "how lovely to see you here."
"It's always nice to see you, Trixie," Night Light replied with a firm, strong hug.
Trixie embraced him as well, letting the emotions sink in as tears began to flow from her eyes. As they relaxed their hug, Night Light pulled back and smiled before reaching up and wiping her tears away.
"I heard from Princess Celestia," he whispered. "Velvet and I couldn't be happier."
Trixie smiled at the stallion as he removed his arms from her back.
"Of course, it'd be nice if one of you finally popped the question," he teased.
Twilight Velvet chose that moment to reel her husband in, grabbing him by the ear and pulled down forcefully. However, her face was one of happiness and love, betraying her current actions as Night Light was gasping in pain.
"Oh, don't mind him right now. We're just so excited to... you know," she trailed off, winking over to Shining and Cadance.
Twilight came up next to Trixie and wrapped an arm around her before they shared a nuzzle. As they did, Velvet let go of Night Light as they shared a look, Light rubbing his sore ear as they held each other. Cadance and Shining, however, were conversing the condition of the Crystal Empire with Celestia and Luna.
As Twilight and Trixie looked into each other's eyes, they heard a sharp whisper from behind them. They turned around to see Rarity giving a thumbs-up as the Crusaders walked out of the massive doorway.
It was time.
Twilight and Trixie shared one last look, and a quick kiss, as they moved to tell the Princesses and the family. Whispers were sent back and forth between them, and within a few seconds, they were already preparing for the reveal.
"May I have everypony's attention?" Twilight asked, amplifying her voice to Royal Canterlot levels.
Immediately, the crowded room went silent and looked over to see Princess Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon standing next to each other, the Royal families on either side while they stood by the massive doors.
"First, I would like to thank everypony for attending this rather hastily scheduled get-together. I'm sure some of you would rather be at home or doing something that would have been more productive than standing around and waiting for almost an hour, and I'm glad to have you all here."
Twilight waited a moment for the message to sink in before she continued.
"I know that there have been rumors going around town lately as to why Trixie and I were seen walking around with a small child. Well, we found the colt living alone in the Everfree Forest, and have decided... to adopt him as our son."
Gasps of shock were heard all throughout the room, whispers and rumors already spreading like wildfires as the closest of their friends and family began to cheer. Mere seconds later, the entire town was clapping and cheering in celebration of the announcement. Twilight locked eyes with Trixie, and as if they read each others minds, they nodded at the same time.
"Everypony," Trixie spoke, "we'd like to introduce you to our son, Goku."
The doors opened to reveal the dark-orange colt with his messy mane, monkey tail, and unbridled smile as he waved to the watching ponies.
The room began to flood with flashes of light and shouts as questions and pictures began recording the reveal of Equestria's newest prince.
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