Blooming Talent 2: The Apple Falls Far

Midas sat upon his throne in royal courtroom looking thoughtful. The appearance of Goten had been both unexpected, and unfortunate; for one it meant two possibilities. Either Princess Luna launched this operation under deep cover and there were more than just the Super Saiyan lying in wait here in the imperial city, or the parents of Carrot Apple had disobeyed their ruler, which was an even more dangerous possibility being as though they would be unrestricted in their use of force should the female arrive.

He was confident he could hold his own, but knew if Apple Bloom came to rescue her son too soon, Midas wouldn't have much to fall back on. For this plan to work, Carrot needed to have no memory of his family or heritage. He needed to be raised as if he were a true Saddle Arabian. Genetics obviously would signal otherwise, but he had an idea for when that self-realization came.

It was then another thought occurred to him; Carrot's name itself might serve too much of a reminder of his past, being that it was an Equestrian name. He would definetily have to fix that.

Midas' advisor and the nurse horse trotted in at that moment, and kneeled immediately before the emperor. Midas gestured with his hoof for them to rise and tell him their news.

"My lord, I have reports from--" the advisor paused a moment, looking around. "Oh, uh, forgive me, my lord, but where is Equisbane?"

"I sent him eastward on an important assignment. You needn't worry about it, advisor." Midas said. "Now speak."

The grey horse fumbled a bit before resuming his previous statement. "Uh, yes, my lord. Our scouts reported no sign of additional forces anywhere in the imperial city; disquised or otherwise."

"And they are certain of this?"

"Of course, my lord." The old advisor replied. "The Adaptarmors detected no non-Saddle Arabians aside from young Carrot and the Saiyan inside our walls or directly outside."

That meant it was not Princess Luna after all, which was very bad. Now he knew that the Apple Family was not working under the Princess of Equestria's jurisdiction. They were acting of their own accord.

"And you, nurse," he spoke, pointing a hoof at the other occupant of the large golden room. "What news have you?"

"Well, my lord...its the Equestrian boy."

"What of him?"

"Well, in the heat of the moment when I locked the children in the safe room, he started to freak out. He was crying uncontrollably and I couldn't get him to stop--"

"The point, nurse." Midas hurried.

The horse became flustered and cut to the chase; her face contorted in many emotions. "He punched through the wall, my lord. He just...bumped his little fist into it and it...and it crumbled! Just fell apart like flimsy pebbles!"

Now Midas was interested; the spawn of Apple Bloom was already showing strength of that magnitude? He was not even three Yeats of age yet...

Perhaps the plan would nerd to be rushed a bit if this development continued like this. He liked to think the child was just scared, but if it had been himself rather than a wall when Carrot was distressed...it would not be pretty.

He then suddenly had an idea. It was a trivial one, but one that would be useful nonetheless. Rising off his throne, he puffed out his gold plated chest proudly and exclaimed loudly his thought.

"Subjects; from now on we no longer calk this child Carrot Apple. " he announced. "That part of him must die along with his Equestrian heritage. He is to be reborn a Saddle Arabian and made to love his country and defend it with all his power. So from this day forth, Carrot Apple is dead! Now..remains only Ratha: juggernaut of the empire!"

***

Goten awoke coughing and sputtering blood. He couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or closed as he tried to look around. Only pitch blackness remained in front of him and all around. He stood, feeling his way to his feet. The walls felt like metal, and were very close together, making Goten feel claustrophobic a little.

"Can't see...a damn thing..." He coughed. "Maybe if I go Super Saiyan..."

The half-saiyan did so, and the tiny room was filled with light eminatting from his glowing form. He looked down at his arm in curiosity and found that it was still solid gold, though the weight was a bit lighter now. He placed a hand on the silver metal easll in front of him and tried to sense anything on the other side; somer life form or another that might be able to help. His eyes widened when he sensed no such beings. Either the walls were extremely and ridiculously thick, or he was buried alive in a tubular metal coffin. He started to panic a little, his mind instantly asking questions; why was he here? How had he got here? Had he been knocked out by Midas? That phoenix guy? How long till he would run out of air and suffocate?

His last question made him look around, and as he looked up, he didn't see a ceiling. All there was was a long dark metal shaft going straight up into darkness. His skin tickled with airflow from that direction, meaning it must be a way out. He flew up to escape, but his body was suddenly shocked back down to the floor hard.

"What was that?" He grunted, trying again.

He only got the same result, and after an electrical shock from seemingly nowhere, he was back in the bottom of the metal rectangle. He stood up, figuring if he couldn't fly out, he'd bust his way out. He wound up for a punch and let out a battle cry as he drilled the metal wall with his fist hard. All he managed to do was get electrocuted and flung into the opposite wall and electrocuted again.

Once he regained his control, he looked up and saw not even a scratch on the wall. To make matters worse, the wall looked like it had grown another layer over the area he had punched, reinforcing it more. Was that even possible?

He remembered the horse soldiers' armors did something similar; they must have been made of the same material or something, whatever that material was.

Goten realized there no longer was a sword in his shoulder, and although it was still in awful pain, he could move it again to its fullest extent.

"Perfect..then I'll try that.."

He took up the familiar stance and focused his ki into the palms of his hands. The gold on his other arm made it an awkward pose, but it was close enough to work.

"Kame....hame....ha!!!"

The beam of energy instantly shot forth and not a millisecond layer bounced back into Goten, causing him to both be electrocuted and hit by his own attack. The beam exploded, and Goten had to fight to stay conscious.

"No..." He muttered, his voice rising with each breathe. "No, no, no, no this can't be how it ends! I can't just waste away in here! Not when I have a family to protect!"

Pouring in every ounce of sheer power he had, the Super Saiyan started to frantically beast on the metal walls confining him. He was thrown back and shocked each time, but kept getting up and hitting the cursed barrier. No damage at all seemed to be sustained, but the half-saiyan didn't stop; he yelled out in agony as he tried to blast the wall apart. His ki blasts bounced all over before exploding upon himself and finally knocking him down after twenty-eight of them hit his face alone.

His Super Saiyan glow faded, but he shakily started to get up again.

"No...I can't die here...I have to...save my...my son..!"

Wobbly on his feet, Goten steadied himself. He couldn't see now, but he didn't need to to know he was trapped. He gave one final yell, kicking the wall with all his remaining might. He continued to push the mighty blow to the wall as it shot dancing blue bolts all throughout his body, making him look like a human light show.

After a full minute, he finally succumbed and fell to his back, crumpled in the confined space of his new tomb. Tears began to form in his eyes as he imagined his wife and son...he imagined Trunks..and Lyra...Scootaloo....even Cadence and Shining Armor..it was starting to dawn on him that he may never see any of them ever again...

"I'm sorry everyone..." He sobbed. "It looks like...I wasn't good enough...to get the job done..."

He couldn't tell, but Goten's eyes drooped shut, sand an even blacker darkness took hold of him.

***

Apple Bloom clutched at her chest suddenly as she and Wrath continued to move across the desert. The young pup looked at her confused as she fell to her knees in obvious pain.

"What...what is wrong with you?" Wrath asked, not really worried more so unnerved.

"I...I don't know.." She breathed. "I feel like...like something really...really bad has happened..."

"I'd say that feeling is much too late, lady. My entire village already died." He scoffed, crossing his white furry arms.

Apple Bloom ignored the comment, and held her pained chest above where her heart was. This wasn't so much a physical pain as it was a feeling...and it was not a good one..