Blooming Talent 2: The Apple Falls Far

"Let me go!" The pup cried, trying to struggle out of Apple Bloom's hold. "I have to help Ahkma!"

Apple Bloom restrained his arms and held him tighter; not enough to hurt him, but enough to make sure he didn't fall from this height and die as they were still flying over the desert. The moon was her only light source right now, and since the Legacy Suppressor was already wearing off from her flying, her vision was getting a little blurry. Though, that could have been the tears she was trying to fight back.

It had been her fault; her words had caused Ahkma to sacrifice himself so she could get his last clans pup to safety, and even directions to somepony who could possibly cure her. And even more than that, her very idea and presence had cost the whole clan their lives...she still heard their screams in the back of her mind...

She noticed the young canine had finally stopped struggling, and hung from her arms, weeping. This only made her feel even worse.

"I...I'm so sorry--"

"Shut up!" The pup interrupted loudly.

In a sudden movement, the little dog swung his body around, swiping Apple Bloom's face with his claws. The crimson blood flowed freely from the wound, and she cried out in surprise more than pain. He smacked her over he head with his elbow, and she tumbled down to the sands. They both separated as they impacted, rolling and bouncing slightly.

Before Apple Bloom could get up, the young pup was on his paws, and ran up to start kicking her as she lay on the ground.

"Its you! Your fault! You caused this!" He kept screaming at the top of his lungs. "Theyre all dead cuz of you!"

Apple Bloom covered her head with her arms, but made no other move to defend herself. She wasn't going to fight a child, especially one she had caused this pain to. He wasn't really hurting her by kicking her, so she decided she could let him vent a bit. Maybe if she let him beat on her for a bit, he'd become more amiable to reason.

He was only a child after all.

After several more minutes of this behavior, the pup collapsed into a curled up heap of tears and sobs. He had finally tired himself out, and Apple Bloom decided she could safely stand now. As she did so, sat back down next to the crying canine, and gently stroked his fur in an effort to calm him further.

She wanted to say sorry; to say something to let him know she hadn't meant for this to happen. But she knew anything she would say would sound like an excuse, and only make him mad again.

As she saw his eyes begin to droop in oncoming sleep, her mind drifted to Carrot. She remembered her little baby boy laying in her arms, tired after crying for awhile. She would always sing him a lullaby when that happened, and it always helped.

As she envisioned the memory, she began to let the harmonic notes flow from her mouth.

"Young one don't cry now, forget all the day.

Let sleep come put you at ease.

She will know somewhere you can be free,

Somewhere that's safe in your dreams.

Hush now, sweet child; it will be OK.

Nothing can harm you from there.

But if sleep can't find you, do stay with me.

I will protect you, I swear.

I will...protect you..I swear...."

The lullaby had put the tired pup to rest under a dream's mercy, but now it was the southern anthro's turn to cry as tears streamed down her cheeks, remembering her son and how she had failed to do what she swore she would...protect him.

***

"...so..that's what we're planning..." Lyra finished, looking at Bon Bon's shocked expression. "So, will you do it?"

Bon Bon took a few seconds before answering. This was something that needed serious processing; her former lover was plotting an overthrow of the government with her new boyfriend, and was asking her for help.

"Do you know how long its been since I even spoke to any of the other ponies involved in that?" She finally said. "Years, Lyra. Years. We were shut-down for a reason and then swore never to speak to anypony from there ever again. Just mentioning my memory of them is illegal."

"Does that sit well with you that they suppress your old friendships like that?"

"It wasn't just friendships then...we were like family. We all had each other's rumps and looked out for one another on the more dangerous assignments." Bon Bon said.

"That should be an even stronger reason to join us." Lyra pushed. "The current government is keeping secrets at the expense of other ponies. Ponies like you and the others involved."

Bon Bon nodded her head. It was true that she hated how it had ended back in the day; she missed the other ponies she used to work with and know. But would they still be as tightly knit as before after so long? This was the first time Lyra had come to her on her own since the day they split up, and that had been much less time.

Still, she wasn't complaining that that gorgeous mint colored unicorn was gracing her eyes again; in the black and white world, she was the only source of color. But Trunks had made sure they could never have something again; he had Lyra's heart now, and Bon Bon had nothing...

Unless...

"I'll do this on one condition, Lyra." She finally spoke.

Lyra nodded, waiting for the condition to be placed.

"Say I help you, and this big battle ensues." She started. "Trunks is going to be leading us, so naturally he'll probably be the first into most of the fighting. My condition is simple...if Trunks dies in combat, you have to come back to me."

Lyra's jaw dropped at the mention of the possibility of Trunks' demise. The sheer nerve of Bon Bon to request such a thing in such a case only added to that shock.

"What kinbd of condition is that?!" She yelled. "Trunks isn't going to die!"

"Do you know that?"

"Do you know that he will?"

"I'm only saying...if.." Bon Bon stated.

"And if I refuse this condition?" Lyra asked, getting ready to hastily leave.

"Well, not only will you not get my support, but you and Trunks will both spend time in prison for treason."

Lyra gawked again. "Are you threatening to let slip our plans?"

"Loose lips sink ships, especially ones that aren't...what's the popular term...OTP?" The cream colored earth pony said in reply.

"You'd turn me in after all we've been through?! I thought I could trust you!"

"I thought I could trust you too. But when you walked out the door, you proved that wrong. This time, I want assurance that if he goes down, you won't leave me again...I need you, Lyra..."

The mint colored unicorn bit her lip in hard thought. She felt betrayed, manipulated and disgusted that she had no choice to agree or risk Trunks losing everything...

"Fine...but I'll have you know, Bon Bon..." She said. "I thought the mare I once loved had more honor than this..."

"I'll keep my promise of aid, as long as you keep yours. That's honorable enough after you left me like you did."

"Go to Tartarus, Bon Bon."

"Lyra, I've been living in it..."

***

The golden walls of the imperial city towered over Goten as he landed behind their borders under cover of night. The moon light casted many shadows he could use to sneak around. This was his only way of travel, as a disquise wouldn't work; no saiyans lived in Saddle  Arabia, and he was not of the proper dimensions for other humanoids. Stealth was his only option.

As he took cover behind a building corner, he tried to remember the route he had mapped ahead to the palasce while he was in the sky. He could've barged in and fought his way through, but that would have caused more problems than solved them.

He climbed atop one of the clay huts and jumped to the other as silently as he could, keeping an eye on the two horses guarding the streets below him.

He figured he would make his way into the palace, find Midas, and force him to tell him where Carrot was before he could use his golden armor to fight back. He'd then grab his son and fly straight out at top speed.

Goten dropped back to the dirt streets and shifted into an alleyway that connected to what passed for a Saddle Arabian fire escape. The rope and wood wasn't super sturdy, but it held his weight as he climbed.

He would fly, but again, it would draw attention, and he wanted to avoid that. Only after he caught Midas off guard would he attack.

After an hour, Goten finally made it to the outside of the large, golden palace. The bronze and copper accented it perfectly in the design, reminding Goten of a Chinese warlord's domain. Strange for a desert culture, but after all this wasn't Earth.

Finding a balcony, the half-saiyan jumped as high as he could without being spotted, and climbed over the edge and into the hall. The torches reflected off the golden walls and ledges eerily. He thought he heard someone approaching, and quickly jumped up to the rafters, holding himself there. A lone armored horse trotted underneath him and into the next area. Goten dropped, and decided to go the opposite way of the patrol horse.

After a few minutes of dodging guards and dashing through long halls and large rooms, the half-saiyan heard something behind one of the doors. A voice, male, was speaking to someone. The other end of the conversation never came, but the male was talking as if to a young family member. Then Goten heard the baby babbles replying to the male.

"Carrot." He breathed to himself. "Midas must be in there with my son!"

He placed both hands on the door and breathed in deeply. As he exhaled, the large door busted apart into pieces rather loudly. The horse Goten saw rushing to his hooves looking pained was definitely Midas; he could never forget that face. On the floor was a startled Carrot and another equally startled infant; a reddish pink horse who was clinging to Carrot like he was a teddy bear.

The children began to cry, and Goten entered into his Super Saiyan state. Before Midas was even fully in his hooves, the golden haired half-saiyan moved like lightning to his location, mashing him against the golden walls and putting cracks in it. Midas coughed blood on impact, and glared at Goten angrily.

"Not so tough without your armor, are you?" Goten taunted.

"You!" Midas choked. "How did you--"

The Super Saiyan clutched at the emperor's windpipe tighter, cutting off his speech and his air. He heard a multitude of voices and hooves approaching from outside the room, but he didn't care. He had the bastard who took his son right in his hands.

Midas pressed a hoof to Goten's upper arm in what the Super Saiyan assumed was some gesture to beg. He was surprised when his arm started to feel stiff and heavy, and as he looked, he noticed his whole upper arm was now solid gold. He let go of Midas in shock, grasping at his golden limb frantically, hoping only his clothes had been turned.

"Even without my armor," Midas chuckled and coughed. "I have..a few tricks."

Several guards entered the room, and drew their swords from their armor on their mechanical arms. Midas jumped atop the two infants in a protective stance as the silver armored horses began to slash at Goten.

The Super Saiyan jumped and ducked under the first several strikes, and blocked another with his now gold left bicep. He followed up by flooring the first guard with a massive punch that audibly shattered his skull. As the guard hit the floor with a heavy thump, Goten went to kick another one into oblivion. His kick was suddenly blocked as the armor tripled its plating in the area he made contact. The guard went flying but got right back up after instead of staying down. That was odd.

He threw a ki blast at the group before him, and two of the horses cried out in pain as their faces were scorched. The rest did nothing, and once they go it closer, Goten saw they suddenly had face shields. Those hadn't been there a split second ago.

He needed to end this quick, so he ramped up his speed and went to pinball off of each horse in quick succession to get to his son. He never got the chance. As soon as he hit the first horse, the rest suddenly became a lot faster and dodged his attack, throwing him off balance and tumbling to the floor with a confused umph.

He noticed that those horses now had thicker leggings on their armor and what looked like servos and small jets on them. What was going on?!

He charged up to explode a ki blast, but remembered his son was in the room and stopped. The guards took this opportunity and jabbed at the Super Saiyan. One of the blades pierced his right shoulder, causing him to cry out, but he reacted just in time to block the rest and counterattack.

He grabbed one of the horses by the throat and tossed him into the other guards who were too close together. They fell like bowling pins, and he tried to take up the stance of the Kamehameha. He struggled until realizing he couldn't take the correct stance; his gold arm was too stiff and his other shoulder had a blade stuck in it with the hilt out of his current reach.

"Tch! Damn!" He growled.

The horses circled around him as Midas huddled the infants into a corner, and stood in front of them. Goten waited for one of them to strike, but it didn't come. Instead, he heard another, very monotonous voice from the doorway.

"Emperor, I have returned. And I see we have company." Equisbane said.