Author's Note

Okay, I'm gonna say something here first off...never in my wildest dreams did I even think that I was actually going to make an MLP One Piece crossover since I joined Fimfiction...ever. The only series that I was planning to create was the one that I was originally focusing on as of late, rewriting the first book after seeing how it was going the last couple of times. The more I began to go into it though...the more I began to realize just how vital this series was needed to explain all of the events that I will soon be writing about in this new Arc Series, especially with some of the characters that I had made on various different biographies. I had my doubts on this at first, on whether or not this would be good or not, or whether I should even do this, but...after I made up my mind, and posted the last blog post on it, I can now say for certain that the One Dragon Ball Series is officially open and ready to read!!! This will probably be the longest series that I will ever right for as long as I'm on Fimfiction, and I really really, really do hope that I will be able to make it worthwhile for everyone, even if it takes an ungodly amount of time to make. I have all of the books planned, the titles, the characters and everything, but I still have to write the chapters themselves, and I know 3, will be hectic. Still, I decided to make this, and I will not stop until I have gotten it all done and ready to read for everyone on this sight!!!

Now, before any of you go onto the chapters, please read the following ground rules that I have listed down below. It is paramount that you do to help me with some extra improvement in this brand new story.

1. Anyone who has the courtesy to leave a like in the story, please leave a reason as to why you did so in the comment section below. Favoriting it and adding it to libraries is one thing, but as I rewrote this story, I was becoming increasingly annoyed when people did leave likes, but didn't leave a reason as to why or what they liked about the story, or what they didn't like about it in the comments section. Also, the very first time I rewrote this, I got just a few, but very offending comments about the story itself, and that is somethin I have zero tolerance for. So if I find any insulting or trolling comments down here, you will be hearing from be, because as I said in my bio, I am not someone who takes crap from anyone, period.

2. Please point out any misspelling or over extended sentences and paragraphs, having to do with dialogue, or environments, in this new series of mine, so I can fix them. I want this to be as flawless as possible, and the last thing I want is for people to get a bit put off by the things I accidentally put in my chapters. So please, please, please, be sure to do so, and I will do all that I can to fix it.

3. Under no circumstances are you allowed to ask me how many chapters there will be in this new version, okay? I know many of you want stories to have an end, I do as well, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be giving out any hints about it...at least not anymore. If you guys don't have the patience to see this through to the end, I am under no obligation to make you stay to watch this series. You are more than welcome the yourselves out and leave if you want to leave this series and find another story that will fit to your standards. I am a patient man, and I am willing to wait as long as it takes for stories that have caught my interest to be completed, unless they get cancelled by their authors for unknown reasons. Especially if those reasons happen to do with outside lives, as with all of us. I'll give blog updates about how the chapters are going, and when I believe they will be posted, but I will not be answering any questions as to how many there will be, at all. It will get done when it gets done, that much I can say.

4. The final and most important rule...have fun reading! If there's one thing that I don't like, is boredom, especially when it comes to a story. And the last thing that I want is for you guys to be bored of my own stories, so I'm gonna do my best to keep that from happening. If not for you guys, then at least for myself.

Without further ado, enjoy the first chapter of the first Arc of my brand new series of One Dragon Ball🐉!!!

Chapter 1 - A Fiery Arrival

The night sky was filled with a multitude of stars that tinkled in its vastness of darkness. The little beads of light the ebony color produced shined down on the endless land blow, currently resting under its nocturnal light. The trees towering above the land of tree could be seen glowing under the gentle light of the moon, their leaves shining the brightest. Shadows loomed over the majority of the landscape, the little amount of light helping them stretch over the land, and across the mountains in the far distance. Form within this forest, all types of creatures, big and small, could be seen roaming about and trekking through the bush. Whether they were finding a place to sleep, on the prowl, or engaging in more private activities, the forest wasn’t entirely silent. To the normal viewer, it would be thought that this would be quite the big forest, and they’d be right on that part. However, if they looked deeper, they would see that this isn’t any ordinary forest; nor were the creatures not anything out of the ordinary either.

Somewhere deep within the of this forest, underneath the earth of the very trees that loomed over them, laid a deep underground city. It was one that was so big that could’ve easily passed off for a nation if it was above the ground instead. It had various buildings of all shapes and sizes, looking designed for being adaptable for the nighttime. Various lights of all colors could be seen shining from above the rooftops, giving a beautiful glow to the cavern ceiling underneath. Bats of various sizes, forms, and species flew about the city like, attracted to the texture of the town below them. Or, mainly the equines that roamed and flew about the town that looked like bat-like versions of them; these ponies being the thestrals of the village of Nocturne.

Mares, stallions, and foals alike were, frolicking, playing and going about their daily business in the darkness they loved so much. Casual chatting, childish laughing, and even the sound of wings flapping and clashing magic could be heard in the atmosphere. The powerful silence of the underground only serving to help amplify it and make all others who are within the underground city hear it. To some, this would seem like quite the usual and scary place to live in, with the thestral ponies only serving to heighten that fear. For the bat ponies themselves, it’s absolute paradise, where they can be who they are without fear or judgement from the equines above the surface. Where they can be safe, happy and free, even within the forest they cherished so much, having little interactions with the ponies that roam it.

Little did any of the thestrals realize, that was soon going to change.

Somewhere within the underground city, nestled right in the center of town, was a large building that could only be assumed was a bar. To somepony who was closer to its perimeter, it would seem more like a castle than a bar, and would’ve passed for one were it not for the sign at the entrance. It had the time of ‘The Bar of Glory’, with the image of a seductive posting thestral atop it, slitted feline eyes glowing alluringly. From within the bar, there were thestral ponies of all sizes ages, and colors, socializing in one way or another. Be it laughing, partying, music playing, or doing more lewd activities in and around different corners of the bar, not one part of the bar was quiet. The smell of the booze, cigars, food and sex were hanging strong in the air, showing just how lively it was.

Standing at the front tablet of the bar, cleaning and serving drinks, was another thestral mare, that stood out a bit more than the rest. She had a silvery grey pelt that gleamed in the light of the bar, as bright as her piercing golden slitted eyes. Her mane and tail were a deep indigo and violet, having inky black streaks running down them like waves. Both appendages fell down her neck and rump like a waterfall, framing her voluptuous alluring figure. A large set of bright purple clawed bat wings would be seen folded at her sides, and her flanks glowed with a bright orange crescent moon dotted with stars.

“Hey Evening Glory, what’s on your mind there?” A pegasus stallion asked, putting down the mug that he was sipping. “You’re looking like you’re spacing out a bit there?”

Evening Glory, who was staring pretty intently at her cup, perked her ears up and looked into the stallion’s chocolate brown eyes. Shaking her head, she set the cup down and softly sighed, running a hoof through her mane. “I’m sorry Wood Tavern…I guess I’m just spacing out a little bit tonight. I suppose with all of the noise going on in this bar I suppose that I’m zoning out.”

“Eh, well this bar is kind of lively like every single time you open it, which is pretty often.” Wood Tavern chuckled, putting a light grey hoof under his chin. “When you’ve worked in a place like this for as long as you have, that does happen sometimes. Maybe all of the noise is what’s making you have these little daydreams of yours.”

“Yes, maybe it is.” Evening murmured, setting the glass cups in the dishwasher down below. “I don’t mind though; my bar has always been one where others can act as lively as they want. So, I don’t mind the least bit that I’m having these space outs.”

“Well, opening a bar where everypony can be themselves is what you have been dreaming of since you were a…um, a little filly.” Tavern pointed out casually, shrugging slightly. “Just like how it’s always been my dream to get you make you mine someday.”

“Your damn right it was my little Tavern.” Evening smirked, booping the pegasus on his nose. “Oh, and that’s little fledgling to you.”

Tavern chuckled back, sitting up on his table to lean in closer to the mare. “Yeah, that’s right Evening Glory, you’re my little fledgling. My sweet, adorable, sexy and slutty little fledgling and nopony else’s.” His lips stopped just millimeters from her’s as he let them graze across Evening’s curved fangs. “One that I get to have all to myself every single night~.”

“Easy there, big boy, I know you know that look. You wanna take me into the other room and pound me until I’m hardly able to walk,” Evening giggled, gently pushing the stallion away. “You’ll have to wait though, I still have a few ponies that I need to serve before I close up shop for the night, and there is plenty.”

“Awww, come on~!” Tavern whined, pouting heavily as his face fell along with his ears. “You know much I love banging that tight little batty cave of yours into next week! Can’t you just put these orders to the side this one time and let me pound you right here? It’s not like anypony here is going to care, since some of them are literally doing here as we speak. Besides, this is a bar where you want ponies to have a good time in any way they can, isn’t it?”

Evening Glory snorted, a blush coming to her face as moved back to tend to a few more dishes on the counter of the bar. Admittedly, Tavern did have a point; her bar was a place where she wanted ponies to have a good time and not be judged. Even if it was in more intimate ways that should’ve been kept more private. Even at that moment, she could hear and smell the sound of thestral couples either making out or doing it in different corners of her bar, albeit stealthily. It made her feel pretty hypocritical that she wouldn’t want to mate with her best friend publicly when she more or less made her bar for that specific reason. Especially since they had actually did so more than a few times in front of spectators on special occasions.

“Okay, you are right there, Wood Tavern. This is a bar where I want everypony to be themselves and feel comfortable in any way they feel will do so.” Evening sighed as she dried her cloven hooves with a towel. “You and I did fuck each other’s brains out more than a few times in this very bar, and nopony here really gave a shit about it.”

“Exactly.” Tavern said cheerfully, giving a curt nod. “Not only that, but we didn’t have to face any judgement from anypony here or feel embarrassed. And not just because that’s one of the many rules that you set inside your bar.” He moved in again and wrapped a hoof around her neck, connecting their foreheads together as he looked into her eyes with want. “So, why don’t you just let those dishes crash to the ground and let me wash you on this table right here?”

“That does sound pretty tempting…and definitely on the washing thing.” Evening crooned, brushing the fluff on Tavern’s chest apart with a hoof. “Buuuuut, I think I wanna make an exception just for this night, and it’s not because of the few ponies I need to serve either~.”

Tavern’s look of momentary disappointment turned into one of confusion, sensing something about his friend’s statement. “What’s so special about this night?”

“Oh, you know you little wood chipping pup.” Evening said, pooping Tavern on his nose. “This is the one night where every single one of the stars are out. With nothing, not even the clouds to block them from the sky, while Faust’s moon basks the land in its beautiful white glow.”

“Oh, I see.” Tavern said with a laugh. “It’s that night where you thestrals like to call the Lunar Moon? Like you told me for the last hundreds of thousands of times?”

“It sure is; and it is the one night where I don’t want you to fill me with your warm sticky cider and stain the bar table with it.” Evening replied, giggling as she patted Tavern’s head, making him pout rather childishly. “So how about it? You think you can wait until I’m done here at the bar before we head up to the Forest of Freedom? I’ll let you work me into the ground with that big meaty wolfy cock of yours if you do~.”

“Don’t you always let me do that though?” Tavern asked, letting out a growl that was a rather impressive impersonation of a wolf. After sharing a brief yet intense kiss with her, he gave a shrug and said, “But I can go with that; you are one to keep your word no matter what the situation, thestral or not, so I’ll give.” A toothy grin came to his face as he brought a hoof to Evening’s chin, his hazel brown eyes boring into her’s as they gave a bit of a red glow. “Just be prepared to be claimed by your alpha, because I am going to make you howl~.”

“Not howl, Tavern.” Evening correctly slyly, wrapping a large clawed wing around Tavern’s back furry back. “You’re gonna make me skree~.”

The gentle flapping of pegasus wings drowned out the silent flapping of the wings of bat pony as Evening Glory and Wood Tavern flew through the air. The giant trees circling them basked them in their enormous shadows as they soared across the Forest of Freedom, being sure not to hit any branches. Their ears were greeted with the sounds of the animals down below, as they frolicked and roamed through the night, taking no heed to the equines soaring above them. With the exception of the adventurous creatures, not a sound was heard, allowing the duo to taking the quietness around them.

“Do you hear that Tavern?” Evening asked, inhaling the cool air into her nostrils. “This night is particularly quiet tonight, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it sure is Evening; I can hardly even hear anything apart from my own wing flaps.” Tavern replied, letting himself soar a bit before he flapped his wings to stable himself. “I know that many of the animals here are out this time of night, but even they’re a lot quieter than we are.”

“I’ve noticed that. I guess it’s because that this is the Lunar Moon night, and they all want to take this nice to enjoy the clam and quiet.” Evening speculated, looking down at beasts that were stalking the ground the walked atop. “That’s kind of why me and many of my kind like to be around animals more than I do ponies. They’re so much quieter and could give less of a shit about what the fuck you do, even if it’s in front of them. And no matter how lewd it is, they never ever judge you for it.”

“Heh, I’m on the same boat as you there Evening.” Tavern nodded, his dark brown mane flowing in front of his face and behind his neck. “To be completely honest, I really enjoy being out here too, and not just because of the scenery and the forest’s expansion. Or the endless amounts of prey that you, me, the bat ponies underground get to hunt either.” He licked his lips as his teeth lengthened and sharpened a bit, causing Evening to role her eyes. “It’s pretty much for the same reasons that you do, only with me, it’s also because of all the sexy ladies I get to bang~!”

“You mean sexy mares like me?” Evening cooed, flicking her tail into Tavern’s face and almost making him collide with a tree. “The one mare that you go to more than any other thestral in the Nocturnal Nation City?”

“Damn straight, mare’s that’re just like you!” Tavern laughed, holding his hooves to his chest as they continued to zip through the trees. “Of course, that’s not something that’d you mind me doing, is it? Considering you did join me with a few other mares in a few fucks both in the forest and inside the city.”

Evening went a bit red in the face at this revelation, looking away as Tavern laughed. She had on more than one occasions joined Tavern in a few rounds of group sex, be it because she wanted some excitement, or needed some stress relief after a long day of work. This wasn’t done often of course, due to how busy she was at her job, but on special occasions did she have a wild orgy with Tavern and some of the other mares.

“No, it’s not…as a matter of a fact I find it pretty hot watching you nail another mare.” Evening crooned, a half-lidded expression coming to her fanged face. “You know sweetheart…if you actually got together with me, then you’d get to bring mares home all the time~.”

“Would I?” Tavern asked, smirking at the mare. “I think I’m in love~.”

“No, I’m serious.” Evening persisted, slowly doing down just enough to fly right next to the light grey stallion. “I’m the type of mare that doesn’t really give a shit how many mare’s a stallion gets, and as long as he remembers who he plowed first, then I don’t really care. You are definitely the type of stallion who likes to please every mare he meets, just like how I’m the type of mare who’s okay with him having a harem.” She leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “If you were to get with me, Wood Tavern Bijuu, then you’d have the relationship of your life~.”

Tavern growled softly, feeling a tingling in his loins as he fought to keep down his carnal instincts for the time being. With a purr, he brushed his cheek against Evening’s and slapped her ass, making her squeak. “Okay, I take back what I said earlier…I know I’m in love now~.”

The feeling of soft light washing over them cut Evening off from whatever retort she was going to make, and she and Tavern looked up in front of them. They found themselves in an enormous clearing, with trees small enough to be considered normal, a field of flowers, and a glittering bond to match. Far above the more abnormal trees, was the full moon, gleaming down into the clearing in all its ghostly glory. It shined particularly bright on Evening and Tavern, as if it was welcoming them into this section of the forest.

“My…the moon is bright this time of night, isn’t it?” Evening asked, looking over at Tavern. “I’ve seen it glow bright plenty of times before, but not like this.”

Tavern nodded. “Totally…this has to be the brightest that it’s shined yet, and that’s really saying something.” His tail began to wag behind him, as if he was a dog getting excited over something or somepony. “It’s really giving me the urge to howl at it right now.”

“I’m not surprised.” Evening said in amusement. “I mean, you do have the ability to turn into a wolf after all. A wolf with ten big fluffy tails that I can snuggle up into!”

“That I do…and speaking of tails, you’ll get plenty of times to snuggle into them.” Tavern winked at Evening, before a predatory grin came to his face. “Right after I fuck you right into this soft cool grass~.”

Without warning, he lunged at the silvery grey thestral and pinned her to the ground, looming over her with his wings spreading to full span. Evening’s surprised cry at Tavern’s move turned into a giggle as she peered up at him. “My, somepony’s eager to get into my little cave, aren’t they? You seem a bit more anxious and pent up as usual.”

“A bit? Try spending all day building multiple ships and planes for ponies and foals who want to go sailing and flying around the forest.” Tavern snorted, adjusting the dark brown stetson on his head as it began to fell off. “You are going to have a pretty hard time trying not to touch yourself until you’re somewhere private where nopony will see you. Or hear you howl into your own home or in some sort of random cave.”

Evening blinked a couple of times. “Wow…that is a good reason to be acting so jumpy. Well, why don’t you and I take care of that jumpiness so I can snuggle into your tails afterward?”

“Yeah, let’s do just that~.” Tavern replied as he reared his head back as he prepared to get into a heated make out session with the bat mare underneath him. Before he could to even shoot his head down, he looked off to the left, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. Looking up into the sky, Tavern found his gaze locking onto stars, his eyes narrowed in thought.

“What’s the matter Tavy?” Evening asked curiously, wondering why the stallion stopped. She followed his gaze up into the sky’s black color, and she found herself smiling. “Oh, I see…you’re taking a moment to marvel at the stars huh? I can’t blame you, I can’t help but gaze at them too, no matter how many there are. Even on a night like this I find myself doing it, and it always brings such a wonderful feeling to me.”

“Uh-huh…me too.” Tavern said slowly, the perplexation in his voice making Evening’s ears perk up. “They are beautiful, no doubt, it’s just…there’s one star that’s kind of off putting.”

Evening frowned, gently pushing Tavern off of her to prop herself up. “Which star do you mean?”

“That star right there.” Tavern said, pointing a hoof up right where the center of the moon was. “Up where the moon is.”

Evening’s eyes went slightly wide as she noticed the bright green line shining from within the center of the moon. Curiosity fully peaked, she got to her hooves and looked straight at the light, watching as it gleamed in the center of the moon. The more she looked at it, the tighter the gut in her feeling got, and eventually, she sensed that something was wrong.

“Tavern…” She finally began, worry clouding her voice. “…I don’t think that’s a star.”

“What?” Tavern looked at the thestral mare. “How do you know that?”

“Two reasons.” Evening replied, her concern growing. “For one, stars don’t give off a green glow, unlike the other stars, that’re all white.” Her elegant face slowly began to contort into one of fear. “Secondly…they don’t look like they’re about to crash down onto earth at any second!”

Eyes widening, Tavern whipped his gaze back up to the strange light, and saw that his fuck buddy was indeed right. The object they were seeing in the sky was definitely not a light, but some flaming orb that was coming down to earth. As it got closer, they could see that the comet was surrounded in a cloak of scorching fire.

“Oh shit, you’re right!” Tavern yelled, his wings shooting out. “That is definitely not a star! It is a fucking meteorite, and it’s about to land right where we are!”

Evening sprang into action, grabbing Tavern’s hoof and heading towards the trees. “Let’s get out of here, quick! Before it-!”

Both flyers suddenly found themselves shot forward by an unbelievably powerful gust of wind that made them collide with the trees. Tavern and Evening felt their ears wing as a deafening explosion rocked across the clearing, drowning out the splashing of water. As they tumbled across the forest, a gigantic wave of smoke and dust swallowed them in its sea of grey and black. They shut their yes and nostrils to keep from going blind or coughing up a storm as they waited for the violent rumbling of the ground to settle. It took several whole minutes for the dust to settle, and even longer for the ground to stop shaking, but all eventually ceased. The due stayed for twice as long as the explosion went on, waiting until they were certain that it was quiet again. Only when they managed to gather enough confidence, they looked from behind the nearest trees they hid near and went bug-eyed just a second later.

“What. The. Fucking. Hell?!” Tavern shouted, his voice rising slightly louder with each word until he was practically shouting. “What the fuck is that?!”

“It…it looks like it’s a giant white comet.” Evening replied, staring jaw-dropped at the appendage that was laying in the pond-sized crater before them. “Wait, no…I take that back…it looks like it’s a…miniature spaceship.”

Taking a closer look at the object, Tavern could see that Evening was indeed right in her explanation. The comet that they suspected was more metallic in appearance, with a large dark green glass mirror in the center. There also looked to be some symbol on the side of the ship, but Tavern wasn’t quite able to make it out. Evening on the other hoof, did, and the shocked gasp she gave let Tavern know of it.

“What…should we do?” Tavern finally asked, not quite noticing the look on the thestral mare’s face. “Should we…get somepony?”

Evening didn’t reply with words but did so by spreading her wings and taking off towards the ship, catching Tavern off guard. After gathering himself, Tavern followed after her, and they dove down the crater and up to the ship. Evening looked to be ready to try to open the ship, but Tavern grabbed her and pulled her away.

“Tavern, what the hell are you doing?” Evening hissed. “Let go of me!”

“Hold on a second there Evening, don’t be hasty!” Tavern insisted. “Are you really going to try to open a spaceship of all things? We don’t know what could be in there!”

“Don’t know what could be in there? Are you fucking serious?” Evening asked incredulously, ripping her foreleg away from Tavern’s. “Tavern, I know for a fact that there is no alien or anything inside of this ship! If anything, it’s a pony that would either be sick or injured, or in need of help, and judging on the type of pony it is, we’d have to be fucking idiots not to!”

“How do you know that? You haven’t even looked inside yet!” Tavern said, gesturing to the still closed ship. “What hint does this ship have that give you the impression that whatever, or whoever is in this thing isn’t going to try to take control of our brains and use our bodies as their own?”

With a deepening frown, Evening trotted over to the side of the ship, pointing to the mark that she saw on the ship. Raising an eyebrow, Tavern went over to where she was and looked at the symbol she was pointing at. A huge gasp left him when he saw that it was a large orangish round ball with a single ruby red star in the center.

“Does that answer your question?” Evening huffed, flicking her tail skirt. “Or do you need even more proof than that?”

Tavern was too shocked to say anything, but the look in his eyes told Evening all that she needed to know. They knew exactly what that symbol meant, and what it entailed, as well as who it belonged to…or, the family it belonged to.

“No fucking way…” Tavern said in a whisper, taking a couple of steps back. “That symbol…that’s the symbol of the…t-the…”

“The Shenron Clan of Vegeta Valley.” Evening finished firmly, planting her hoof back down. “That’s right; and this thing that we’re seeing right now, is one of their airships.”

No more words left Tavern as he fell to his rump on the charred ground, paying no mind to the heat that was coming from the ground. He had indeed heard of the Shenron clan, along with Evening herself, both of them coming to know it as one of the most powerful clans to ever grace the presence of the Four Seas. They were known for possessing the powers and abilities that could be found by the most dangerous creatures known to equinekind; the dragons. With this power, their speed, strength, and magical prowess exceeded that of the three pony tribes. The thestral tribe, also known as the Nightstalkers, was the only race able to come even close to matching them, and even then, they’d have a bit of trouble trying to match them.

Now, on this beautiful night, one of their kind had decided to grace them with their presence, however banged and bloodied it may have been.

“Sweet Faust…” Tavern whispered; the news he was being given sending him in a daze. “Who would’ve thought that someone…from that family would come to the Forest of Freedom of all places.”

“Now do you understand how important it is for us to do what we can to help whoever is in this ship?” Evening asked as her beneficial friend looked up at her. “Who knows what happened to that poor pony while they were wherever they were?! It could be a stallion on the brink of death, o-or a mare in labor! Hell…there could even be a little foal in there!”

Tavern suddenly felt something sink into the bottom of his gut, the last statement being the cause of it. “How can you possibly know that even one of those last two statements are true?”

“Mare’s intuition.” Came Evening’s simple reply. “How else?”

‘Of course, it’s that!’ Tavern thought with a sweat drop. ‘It’s always that even when it’s not!’

“Anyway, enough dilly-dallying Tavern!” Evening said, trotting over to the ship and hunching down. “We need to get this pony out of here right now and take him to the underground city underneath the forest!” She grabbed onto a latch underneath the door and began to pull with all her might. “There has to be somepony there who can help us and them too!”

“You say that like you don’t know if they’ll help or not.” Tavern commented walking over to help Evening. “I thought you know your own species better than tha-”

Evening cried out as the latch she was so desperately pulling on suddenly burst open, sending the thestral mare crashing into the pegasus stallion. The sound of steam filled their ears as the hatch to the ship slowly rose, allowing the steam to rush out. Evening and Tavern waited until it was completely gone, before daring to take a look inside.

“Well, that didn’t take very long.” Tavern murmured, looking at Evening. “I guess your supernatural strength played a big part in it.”

“That…wasn’t really me Tavern.” Evening said dumbly, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. “I wasn’t really putting in much effort…it just opened up on its own.”

The silvery grey stallion glanced over at her. “Seriously? Why in the hell would an airship open up on its own?”

Both equine’s ears were then assaulted by the sound of soft crying coming from inside the now open airship. All other sounds were completely non-existent as Evening and Tavern let the sound resonate within their ears like a rhythm. Slowly, they turned to the open ship, and saw what looked to be something moving in some red cloth. They were broken out of their trance when they saw a hoof suddenly poke out.

The hoof of a newborn foal.

Evening was rushing towards the ship before her mind even knew what her body was doing, and both her hooves slammed into the sides of the ships entrance. It creaked and bent loudly in response to her using her unnatural strength to widen it, but she paid it no mind. Her cat-like eyes stared down at the red cloth holding the foal inside of it, the hoof still continuing to slowly move around. Evening began to tremble as instincts she didn’t realize she had suddenly flared to the surface, overwhelming her in ways she could not describe. Slowly, almost hesitantly, she reached down and pulled the cloth away, and a gasp left her immediately after.

The foal that was writhing in whimpering in the ship was the most precious thing that Evening had ever seen. She had seen a good number of foals in her years in the underground city, all of them cute in their own right. This little foal was on another level entirely, even though he was clearly a pegasus. He had palomino fur that was a rich creamy color that looked to be softer than any blanket, like one he was wrapped up in. The baby’s mane and tail were blacker than the sky enveloping the Forest of Freedom in its ebony darkness, with royal blue streaks running down the edges. The eye color could not be seen, for the foal’s eyes were closed, leaving Evening unaware of just how beautiful they’d be.

It was only when Tavern put a hoof on her shoulder and pushed her to the side that Evening got control of herself. “Hey, Evening…you okay? what do you-?” He trailed off when he saw the baby, and his jaw dropped. “Mother Wisewolf Holo Bijuu almighty…it really is a baby.”

“Who…who do you think he belongs to?” Evening asked, not noticing the shakiness that creeped up into her voice. “I…I-I don’t see anypony else in here.”

“Well duh, his scent is the only thing I can smell in here.” Tavern said somewhat dryly. “Now, are you just gonna stand there gawking at him? Or are you gonna pick him up and clean all that blood off of him?”

“B-blood? I don’t see any-” Evening gasped again, her words dissolving when she saw little red patches on various parts of the colt’s body. The thestral mare’s eyes widened again, realizing that in her shocked state she did not notice the blood surrounding the colt. Without even thinking, her hooves lunged forward preparing to take the colt in her arms…

…Only for her razor-sharp right hoof to cut right across the left side of the colt’s face.

“Evening!” Tavern yelled, horrified by what his friend just did. “What the hell?!”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, honest!” Evening cried, one hoof coming to her mouth as the baby screamed. Before Tavern could stop her, Evening took the colt in her arms, bringing him to her chest fluff. “I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry...there, there, it’s alright.”

“My Faust Evening how stupid can you fucking be!” Tavern snarled, looking like he was ready to slash Evening across her face. “It’s bad enough that he’s covered in blood, but then you have to go and give him anotherpotential injury?! He could have bruises on in him for all we know!”

“I said I was sorry, okay?!” Evening cried, stopping in her cleaning of the colt’s new wound with her tongue. “I-I wasn’t thinking, I was just so shocked by the blood that I wanted to get him out of there! I didn’t have control over myself, a-and…”

“Well look what that none-self-control did!” Tavern growled, his tail lashing out. “What’re you going to do next?! Pierce is neck with those curved fangs of…of…”

“…What?” Evening asked, noticing the pale look on Tavern’s face. “What is it?”

Body trembling, Tavern slowly pointed towards the colt, right where his chest and stomach could be seen rising and falling. Evening glanced down at the colt, and nearly dropped him to the ground when she saw a bloodied hole just below his chest. Due to how dry the blood was, it clearly was not bleeding that much anymore. The freshness of the wound, however, gave way to just how recent it was.

“W-what…what the fuck…?” Evening whispered. “W-why does he…?”

“Oh, fucking hell!” Tavern shouted in disgust, looking like he was going to throw up on the spot. “He has a fucking hole in his chest! What the hell happened to this colt?!”

Evening didn’t say anything, her tears doing it for her as she sobbed quietly, one of her hooves coming to touch the colt’s face. The colt’s own cries had died down due to the soothing comfort that Evening gave him, put the pain was still obvious on his face. “…We…we need to get him to the hospital, now! We need to take him to see Meadowbrook so she can get him looked at! Who knows how long he’s had this wound?!”

“You go on ahead, I’m gonna stay at this ship and see if there’s anything this little guy was given before he got here.” Tavern said, gesturing to the wood. “It might help him with all of those bruises and that chest wound he has. It’ll be fine, just go!”

Evening didn’t need to be told twice; her wings were flared and already sending her off after Tavern had barely finished his sentence. As he watched her go, he couldn’t help but see the air sparkling with the tears that were falling from her eyes. Tavern felt his heart clench, but he couldn’t blame Evening for feeling the way she was feeling now. He himself was moments ago from puking up what he had for dinner after seeing the colt’s injury. For such a thing to happen to a foal, and a mere newborn no less…

‘I am going to rip out the throat of whoever had done that to that poor little guy.’ Tavern thought darkly to himself as he looked inside the airship. ‘If I do find him or her that is…I may not, but if I do, is swear they will pay!’

Fighting down his rage, Tavern began to search through the interior of the colt’s airship. As he looked around, he found various things that did not look to be for a foal. The first thing he noticed was that there was a large combat suit, ranging from the color of green, white, and blue, with hind boots coming along with it. All of it was partially hidden underneath a gleaming green cloak, looking as if it was made from grass or leaves. A pair of bracelets was the next thing Tavern noticed, but he could see they were no ordinary bracelets, thanks to the draconic symbols he could see. Another cloak, this one being white, could be seen on the left side of the airship, having the symbol of an alicorn on the back of it. One item that stood out most to Tavern, was an envelope, having a coiled golden dragon in the center of it, holding the flap in place.

“A letter…well, at least we have something to go on in this whole fucking mess.” Tavern said, reaching inside and pulling the envelope out. “Hopefully this can tell us what the hell is going on so we can get to the bottom of this.”

Ripping the draconic sticker off, Tavern opened the flap and took the envelop out, letting its case fall to the ground beneath him. He then unfolded the letter before he began to read it, and felt his eyes slowly growing every second. Horror clouded his face as he began to tremble, like he had just come out of the that was all but washed of its water. By the time he finally finished reading it, Tavern shaking as if he had just woken up from a terrifying nightmare.

Eventually, he was able to snap himself out of and he all but dove into the ship, grabbing the essentials that were inside the baby’s airship. Using the large blanket, he dumped the items within it, enclosing the blanket around them, making it act like a sack. With that done, Tavern turned tail and flew as hard as he could into the forest in pursuit of Evening and the baby they fond. Desperate to try to catch up to the thestral mare, and tell her of the shocking news he found out.