//-------------------------------------------------------// Dragonball MLP: Saiyan Survivor -by Floral_Spring- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The Survivor //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The Survivor A young adult Saiyan landed back on Planet Vegeta, he had no idea why he had been called back to his home world. He had been thrown out of the Saiyan Army after he had proven himself to be too kind hearted and gentle to try to take over another planet, but he hadn't come back until now. For reasons unknown, Frieza had recalled all the Saiyans in the universe back to Planet Vegeta, but he didn't care. He got to see his people once more. The man climbed out of his Attack Ball and looked around at the rocky outcroppings over his world as he stood on the landing pad. A few other Saiyans gathered around him to check his craft and his scouter. One of the technicians gave him a thumbs up and he smiled giving a thumbs up back. He walked through the town and walked over to the meat factory, where one particular Saiyan was cutting meat. "You're Gine, right?" he asked. The Saiyan in pink armor turned around and smiled at him, "Yes, I am. You must be hungry after your long trip here," she stated as she gave him a slice of freshly cut meat. He took the meat and scarfed it down, he was ravenous after not having eaten for weeks. He gave her a thumbs up and thanked her for the food as he walked away from the building. Suddenly the sky turned orange, his heart sank into the pit of his stomach and he looked up to see a giant fireball in the sky. Something inside of him told him to run, to get away from the planet at all costs. He ran as fast as his legs would take him. With a mighty jump, he landed on the landing platform and climbed into an Attack Ball. He punched in the commands to close the door and initiate the takeoff sequence. A faint blue light emerged in the sky to challenge the orange fireball, but it wasn't enough. The fireball continued towards Planet Vegeta. The young adult panicked, he was loyal to Frieza, the Saiyans were loyal to him. Why was he doing this. The fireball slammed into the planet while his Attack Ball was still within the atmosphere, the entire surface of the world was scorched and cracked. Lava spewed out of the ground and finally the planet exploded. He was treated to a brief horrifying sight as everything he had known before he was sent off was destroyed in an instant. Time started to slow down for him as the flames and debris reached his craft, the energy from the planet being destroyed reached him. Attack Balls were durable, able to withstand a lot of punishment from the outside, but they were never meant for surviving the destruction of an entire planet. He could feel himself being burned before nothingness enveloped him. A cold breeze moved across the Saiyan's face. If this was Hell, then he had no idea why the breeze felt so nice. He opened his black eyes and scanned the area around him. He was in a dense forest, he felt lighter than he did back on his world and the place smelled different. Everything was different. He got on his feet and looked down at himself. There weren't any burns, there wasn't any damage to his armor, yet he felt stronger somehow. He had heard that Saiyans grew stronger every time they recovered from the brink of death, but he had never experienced it before. This was the only clue that what had happened before wasn't just some dream. He wasn't back on the planet he had called home. He wasn't with the people that he had chosen to be with. He was some place different, but he had to find out where. He pressed a button on his scouter and it turned on. It alerted him to a source of power as he looked through the blue glass. He had no idea what was going to be waiting for him on the other side, but he couldn't get a reading of how powerful whatever it was. He moved through the forest and the underbrush, before hearing an aggressive howling. Some kind of wolf creature he figured. It didn't catch his attention until he heard a heavily accented voice speak. "You may have caught me off guard, but you won't win until I've fought." The low-class Saiyan turned to see the source of the voice. It was a bipedal zebra of some sort with a mohawk wearing a tribal uniform. He noticed that she wore basic shoes and carried a staff in her hands. She swung the staff at one of her attackers, a werewolf like creature made of trees. The staff connected solidly, but didn't exactly do much damage. The creature attacked her instead by clawing at her, only to hit air instead. Though this woman was a formidable warrior as he noticed, it was still five on one. He held his hand to his side and a ball of yellow energy formed within it. The Saiyan rushed out of the woods and this turned everyone's attention on him as he threw the ball of energy at the Timberwolf, causing it to explode on contact, destroying the Timberwolf and sending its splinters into the others. "That seemed like a good move, but your mood will surely change soon," the figure near him said. He was about to turn to ask what she meant when he noticed that the Timberwolf pieces had all turned into tiny Timberwolves instead. This annoyed the Saiyan who instead of choosing to fight what would be a losing battle, chose to grab the Zebra that was near him and fly away. Neither of them said a single word to each other, but he could tell that she smelled rather nice. Almost like the forest that they were surrounded by. "Down there is my hut, perhaps you should stay a spell and get out of your rut," the Zebra suddenly said. The Saiyan nodded and landed at the hut, he was surprised that she didn't ask him about how he flew, but she led him into her hut which smelled strongly of medicine. "You're a healer?" he asked. "Some call me a healer, others call me a shaman. I do not particularly fall for names myself. I am Zecora, by the way. Perhaps you can tell me who you are," she introduced herself. The Saiyan for the first time took his scouter off, his mind wandered back to his Zenkai. He closed his eyes and his hand curled into a fist as tears started to stream down his face, "They're dead... they're all dead..." he stated. In his mind, he was the only survivor of his race. He was the only Saiyan left. He felt a strong hand touch his shoulder armor and sighed. "Kolard, my name is Kolard. I'm the last survivor of an Alien Race known as the Saiyans, I had been cast out from my homeworld because I was too soft hearted and refused to try to take over a planet for the Frieza Force," he said. He turned his head and looked at his hand, opening the fist up. "I had been recalled along with every other Saiyan in existence. I was able to get off the planet just in time to see it blow up. Everyone I knew down there died instantly, but I don't know if I'm really a survivor or if I am dead," he stated sadly. Zecora walked over to her cauldron and mixed something up. She spread it over the Saiyan's exposed hand and it glowed a gentle blue. "Amongst the living you still are. The question is, will you tell me what universe you are from," she stated. This shocked Kolard to the core, he had somehow avoided death, but he was stranded in an unfamiliar place in an entirely different universe. He sat down, his eyes wide as he couldn't think. The last he knew, he was just a low class warrior with a power level of two hundred and fifty. Now it had all changed. All in an instant. It was too much for him to handle. He climbed into a bed and just fell silent, Zecora placed the covers over him gently and he just stared up at the ceiling. It was going to take some time for him to recover from this shock, if he ever did. He placed his scouter on the table and sighed. "What is this world's name?" he asked. "Equestria," was the only reply he got. Kolard closed his eyes and sighed, the last moments of Planet Vegeta playing in front of his face. Deep down, he prayed that this planet didn't have a moon, and if it did, that it wouldn't be full for a good long time. He had no idea what he was going to do now, but his scouter didn't tell him the power levels of anyone on the planet. He had no idea how strong the people were or if they would be able to stop him if he ever became a Great Ape. But he silently prayed to any god that was listening that they would be able to. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Great Ape //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Great Ape Night had fallen and the area around the forest was dark enough for Kolard to feel that it was safe to go out. He left the hut that Zecora was staying in and started to wander the forest for something to eat. As a Saiyan, he had an excessive appetite, but he was also an omnivore, something that his host had noticed immediately. She tried to get him some food, but the Timberwolves near the hut made it difficult. The low-class warrior walked through the forest, being guided by his sense of smell and what little light that was provided by stars and the moon. He figured that it couldn't be a full moon as the forest was rather dark around him, something he was thankful for. This scent reminded him of the planet he had been sent to, the animals there smelled similar to this. He had helped the locals hunt in order to gather food. This made him pause for a moment as he started to contemplate if this was worth it. Would he find food on the other side of this or would he only find misery as something else reminded him of everything that he had lost. His stomach growled to remind him that he was still hungry and this caused his resolve to figure out what was on the other side of this to return. He started moving in the direction it was leading him again. He followed the scent into a clearing that was unusually bright and he decided to look at the moon, hoping it wasn't full. This was a costly mistake. The full moon shone brightly in the sky. Instinct took hold and he couldn't look away from it as his tail quivered. His normally black eyes turned crimson. His canines soon turned into fangs as fur sprouted across his body. His ears became pointed as he started to increase in size. He unleashed a horrific howling growl as the transformation continued. He was far enough away from anyone to do any damage by the transformation, however, he wasn't far enough away to not be noticed. The now fifty foot tall ape pounded his chest and screamed into the forest a challenge to the timberwolves that had attacked him earlier. Nothing was in Kolard's mind other than to not harm Zecora as she was nice to him and to kill the Timberwolves. He lacked any control beyond that. He stormed through the forest, breaking trees as he did so until he heard a howl. Four timberwolves rushed to attack him, but he opened his mouth, unleashing a powerful blast that easily tore through the trees and hit the timberwolves. When the blast subsided, there was nothing there but a scorch mark. He let out a deafening roar as he started to hop back and forth on his feet with his arms raised to celebrate his victory. He had won against the creatures that tried to hurt him earlier. Something got the Great Ape's attention though. Something moving rapidly towards him. Moments earlier, Princess Luna had noticed a disturbance from the Everfree Forest. As the protector of Equestria's dreams and the protector of the night, she knew what her duty was. She quickly ran to the armory and grabbed her personal armor and retrieved her sword. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she was going to need it. A Bat Pony guard looked at her confused as she walked out, "Your Highness, are you sure that you wish to go on your own?" the Bat Pony called out. "I have to, Blazing Shield. This creature is powerful and I don't wish anyone to get hurt, I'm sorry," Luna replied. The two gave each other an understanding nod, even if the guard was uneasy about this. The Alicorn refused to tell the guardsmare, but she was just as uneasy. She had no idea what she was going to find in the Everfree Forest, but she was going to put a stop to it. She stopped by Celestia's room on her way to a balcony and smiled softly at the sun symbol emblazoned on the door. A silent promise to protect the land and come back alive entered Luna's mind. She then continued to the balcony and jumped off, flying at full speed towards the forest. She started to hear the howling and growling of a creature, it sounded simian in nature which bothered her. Equestria didn't have simians that loud, this was something from another realm entirely. Her eyes narrowed as the midnight blue figure blended into the night sky. She grit her teeth when she saw the creature in question, it was a giant gorilla wearing some strange armor that she had never seen. "Is this some sort of attack on Equestria from another world!?" she wondered aloud. Little did she know, the Great Ape had been watching her movements and was studying her carefully. The moment she reached for her sword however, the beast's mouth opened up, unleashing a powerful energy beam that launched towards her. Luna's hand glowed with magic and she slapped the beam harmlessly into space while looking very annoyed at this. This confused the beast who stopped firing the beam at the Alicorn before it and instead chose to swipe at her. Luna was not expecting the speed behind the creature and was effortlessly slapped aside, being sent into the distance. Though slightly hurt from this, she wasn't injured, it would take more than that to harm an Alicorn. But she was annoyed for sure. She rushed back and punched the giant beast in the nose, causing it to howl in pain and hold its face. Enraged, it fired another mouth blast at her. This time, she didn't deflect it, she fired a magical beam at the blast and the two beams were locked in the middle. She could feel that this beast, whatever it was, was fighting at its full power. But she was still holding back. She poured more power into the beam and it engulfed the beast, throwing it back and onto its butt. A pained howl emitted from the creature when it landed on its own tail however, which alerted Luna that this might be a weak point. She rushed towards the ground as the beast started to get back up and unsheathed her sword. She quickly swung it, but missed her target. The tail had raised just out of her reach the moment before she had swung. The Great Ape tried to punch her into the ground, but she avoided the fist by flying away from it. The Alicorn was annoyed at this, the beast knew her plan and she didn't know how she was going to get around behind it to remove the tail. She then got an idea, her horn glowed as she cast a binding spell to hold the Great Ape in place. It worked, but the beast started fighting against it ferociously. She was starting to use more magic than she could've guessed, but the size of the creature should've clued her in. She didn't have much time to hesitate. She rushed between the creature's legs and flew up to slice cleanly through the creature's tail. The creature let out a loud scream as it suddenly started to shrink much to Luna's surprise. The fur that covered the creature started to vanish as the creature returned to a shape that she didn't recognize. The being standing under her was panting heavily, it was obvious that he was in pain. "Did... you cut my tail off?" the creature asked, surprising the Princess. "Your tail was a weakpoint, but I had no idea it was the source of your transformation," she replied. The being turned around and looked at her with a smile, "You're strong, come on, let's keep sparring," he stated confidently. This insulted Luna, this creature that she had never met before of a race she had no knowledge of had just returned to its normal form after she cut its tail off. Yet at the same time, he wanted to fight her as if she was just a common soldier. She sheathed her sword and landed on the ground. The being rushed at her and she punched him in the face, laying him flat on the ground. It was obvious that he was weakened severely by the transformation process. The being before her just looked up at her, he wasn't getting back up. Much to her surprise though, he started to laugh. "You're very strong, I would love to get to spar with you at some point. But do you have something to eat?" he asked. Luna didn't answer, she merely cast a sleep spell on the creature. She wanted answers, like where he came from and how did he get here. She wanted to know who and what he was. The Alicorn lifted him off the ground and flew back to Canterlot, where she handed him to a few guards to place into a cell in the dungeon. She walked back down to the armory and placed her armor back on the stand and place her sword back on the shelf. She wouldn't be needing either of those. The sleeping spell had a duration of a few hours, but by that time, it would be daylight. Her sister would raise the sun and be watching over the day. She felt it best to write a note to her sister in case she fell asleep before she could interrogate their prisoner. If this was a prelude to some sort of attack on Equestria, she wanted to know about it. She wanted to know everything, including how big the attacking force would be. She pulled out a pen and started writing. She explained to her sister that there was an unknown creature in the dungeon that enjoyed fighting and was surprisingly strong. He used an unknown energy source that would be able to fight struggle against their magic. She also explained about the giant simian that she had fought so that her sister knew everything that had transpired. She left the note on her sister's throne and walked back out to her balcony. She sat down in the chair and focused on entering the dream world. Upon entering, she noticed that there was a lack of the creature's dreams. This was expected as the sleeping spell prevented any dreaming. This was done because the last time she had allowed dreams with it, the person had dreams that made the Alicorn Princess completely embarrassed and sickened. She left the dream realm and smirked, resolving herself to stay awake long enough for her to join her sister down in the dungeon with the prisoner later. However, even for a Princess, staying up all night was tiring work. It would be time for her to lower the moon after a few hours and after the fight she had, she knew that she needed the rest. She closed her eyes and started to take a quick nap, knowing that if something happened, the guards would wake her up and alert her to it. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2: Celestia //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2: Celestia Kolard finally awoke and found himself in a cell of some sort. This was the first time he had been arrested by someone. He reached around back to feel where his tail was, but there wasn't anything there, he was a tailless Saiyan now. It didn't matter how many times he looked at the moon and received the Blutz Waves, he wouldn't become the Great Ape again. The Saiyan blinked as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. His head still hurt from last night, a side effect of being turned back into this normal form from the berserk beast that he was before. A guard patrolled in front of the cell and looked at him, the two of them locked eyes and Kolard noticed that the guard was just as equine as the Princess, but he lacked wings, instead having only a horn. Another guard walked up to the first guard, this one had wings, but lacked a horn. The first guard looked at this new guard, "Go inform Princess Celestia that the prisoner is now awake," he said to his subordinate. The Pegasus guard nodded and left the dungeon. Kolard stood up and walked towards the bars of the cell, putting the Unicorn on edge. The guardstallion raised a spear towards the Saiyan as he backed off a step. "Relax, I was just going to ask if I couldn't trouble you for some water," Kolard said gently, not very intimidated by the spear that was pointing at his chest. "You want water?" the guard asked for confirmation. "Yes, I'm a bit thirsty. Still very hungry as well, so can I get some food as well?" the Saiyan asked. The guard huffed, unable to believe this prisoner's attitude about being locked up in a cell. He didn't move however, someone needed to watch the Saiyan. Another guard, this one lacking any of the features on the other two guards walked up to the cell with a cup of water. Both of them expected the prisoner to grab the poor Earth Pony through the bars and cause harm, but instead he wrapped a hand gently around the cup, allowing the Earth Pony to let go. Kolard was happy that he was getting some water and was hopeful about the food that he was going to get. "You fought Princess Luna, why aren't you trying to hurt us now?" the Unicorn asked. This got the Saiyan's attention. "When a Saiyan absorbs seventeen million zenos of Blutz Waves through our eyes, it causes a reaction in our tail that causes us to transform into the Great Ape form. Once we do, we lose all sense of self and control and attack anything within sight. It has been theorized by Saiyan scientists that we retain some aspects of our subconscious in this form, however," he stated. The Unicorn didn't believe this story and scoffed as Kolard took a drink from his cup of water. He sat back down as a tray of food was placed in the cell, it was some sort of sandwich with straw or hay, he couldn't tell which one it was. Clearly the beings of this world were herbivores, but he wasn't one. He was an omnivore and he craved some sort of meat. "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but do you perhaps have some kind of meat that I could eat," he inquired as he looked down at the tray. This shocked the guards, they had never encountered a creature that ate meat that didn't try to attack ponies on sight. The two were afraid of him and raised their weapons, but a voice spoke up, "You may relax my guards, I'll take it from here." The two guards turned to an unseen figure and nodded, both of them going back to a different post in the dungeon. A much taller woman showed up, it was an Alicorn, just like the one he had fought before, but he noticed she was wearing golden slippers as compared to the other's silver boots. If Kolard had to guess, the woman was at least nine feet tall, taller than any of the guards and towering over him by a full three feet. Her hair was four different colors and seemed to sparkle and move on its own, which confused him as there wasn't any wind in the dungeon. The woman's purple eyes locked with his black ones. The two of them looked into each other's eyes. "The way my sister described you, you were a fighter. However, I can tell there's something deeper within you. Would you like to talk?" the Alicorn offered. Kolard was a bit intimidated by this woman, she was much taller than he was and he couldn't describe what he was feeling, but it felt like he was being pushed downwards in her very presence. He couldn't focus his energy in the slightest. Something about this woman didn't make sense to him, instead of getting excited at the prospect of a strong opponent like most Saiyans, he found himself being disarmed. "Who... are you? What are you!?" the panicked Saiyan asked. The Alicorn opened up the cell and walked inside, it was dirtier than she was used to, but she didn't mind. She closed the door and sat on a bench so that she wouldn't tower over the prisoner anymore. It was her way of trying to foster a calmer atmosphere and a sense of trust between the two. This did nothing to put the Saiyan to ease who now found himself incapable of moving from the spot he stood in. "We'll start with an easy one, my name is Celestia, I'm one of the two Princesses of Equestria. Last night you fought with my sister, Luna. What is your name?" the Alicorn asked. "Kolard, I can write down how to spell it for you," the low-class warrior replied. Celestia nodded, she was pleased with getting answers from a prisoner that was very cooperative. Most prisoners she dealt with remained hostile towards her and her guards til the end of their stay. Yet this creature was well behaved. "Can you tell me what you are, I'm an Alicorn. We have the traits of the three pony tribes of Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies," Celestia asked as she placed a hand on her chest. The destruction of his home world entered his mind once more. He turned away from the Princess and he cursed himself for his cowardice, was this his punishing for fleeing from Planet Vegeta. For not facing his death like a true Saiyan warrior would. Or was this just some unfortunate circumstance. Tears started to well up in his eyes as he thought of all of the other Saiyans. He had no love for the royal family, but some of the low-class warriors like himself were good in his eyes. He felt a massive hand on his shoulder and found himself quickly spun around and drawn into a hug. It was Celestia, almost as if she had sensed how he had felt. He didn't push away from the hug, instead he buried his face into her gown and stained it with his tears from a mix of sadness and anger. He felt a hand ruffle his hair. "You seem to have gone through a lot, you can tell me when you're ready," a gentle voice said to him. He dried his tears and stepped back from the massive Alicorn. The two of them locked eyes again before the Saiyan turned away and walked to the bars of his cell. Despite the fact that the door was unlocked, he didn't bother to try to escape. He instead turned around and leaned on the bars with his arms folded. "I'm a low-class Saiyan Warrior from Planet Vegeta," he stated. Princess Celestia wanted to know more about this mysterious creature before her, she sat back down and spread out her wings to make herself a bit more comfortable. "Where is your world?" she asked. There wasn't an answer from the Saiyan, his eyes merely closed and he looked away from her. "I see, so you don't know," she said sorrowfully, she had hoped that she'd be able to return him to where he came from, but without that she would have to try to scry for it. "It's gone, it was destroyed by the one I once called Lord Frieza." Kolard's words shocked Celestia greatly, she didn't believe that anyone could have the capacity to destroy a planet. She knew that some of the villains she had faced in the past had the capability to ravage the entire world, but not completely obliterate it. Her horn glowed as she cast a spell to generate a blue orb. She floated it over to the arms of the Saiyan. "Grab onto it. If you're telling the truth, the orb will glow green. If you're lying to me, it will glow red instead," she stated. The low-class warrior grabbed the orb with his right hand, "I was on Planet Vegeta when Frieza threw whatever attack he did to destroy the entire planet. I ran away hoping that I would be able to get away from the planet in time. Our Attack Balls can withstand punishment even from our own Elites, but they were never designed for the destruction of a planet. Before I woke up here, I could feel myself burning as the flames from the destruction reached me. The only clue to the fact that I'm still alive is that we Saiyans get stronger after every time we recover from near death and I felt stronger. According to Zecora, I'm not even from this plane of existence. As far as I know, there are no other Saiyans left in existence. We were all called back to the planet and I have no reason to believe that anyone refused to return," he reported. The orb didn't do anything for a second and then started to glow green. It was apparent to Celestia that Kolard was telling the truth. "This Frieza person, does he know you're alive. Would he be able to find his way here?" she asked, worried as the orb returned to blue. "His scouter, if it detected my low power level would've seen it drop to zero. He has no reason to believe that I'm alive. He wouldn't know where I've gone and from what I know, he's not capable of inter-universal travel, let alone inter-dimensional travel. There should be no possible way for him to arrive here. Plus with him thinking all of the Saiyans are dead, he wouldn't have any reason to search for any survivors or in this case the survivor," Kolard pointed out. The orb again glowed green, putting Celestia's mind at ease. This creature wasn't the prelude to an invasion, he was just a survivor of a calamity. A being without a place to call home. "Do you intend to harm my little Ponies?" she asked, intently. The Saiyan relaxed slightly, his stance shifted and he stopped leaning against the bars, instead standing straight up. "No, and I'm thankful your sister cut off my tail. I can no longer become a Great Ape. This means that I am in no danger of going berserk and bringing harm to anyone by accident. I was sent off from my world to conquer another planet, but I had refused. I instead chose to befriend and protect the locals. They looked up to me and fed me in return. I was hoping that I could befriend the locals here as well," he replied. The orb glowed green again. Celestia nodded and smiled, dismissing the orb. "You're free to walk out of this cell. I however want to test your strength, so I will ask you to spar with some of my royal guard if that's alright," she said as her smile turned into a smirk. Kolard got excited about a sparring match, he would get to test his new strength and the strength of these royal guards. If they were protecting someone as powerful as Celestia, they must be strong indeed he thought. However his stomach growled and the Princess laughed. "I heard that you desire meat, we ponies are herbivores, but I'm sure I can find accommodations for you. Don't worry, we'll feed you before your sparring match, I wouldn't want you to be distracted by an empty stomach," she said. The Saiyan became even more joyful. Good food and a chance to test his strength. This day was getting better and better. "I look forward to it, but I warn you. We Saiyans eat a lot," he stated pridefully as he pointed towards himself with his thumb. Celestia was insulted by this, "I am a Princess of Equestria! I think I can feed you!" she exclaimed in a huff with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Kolard started to laugh and Celestia joined in. The two of them walked out of the cell and then towards the entrance of the dungeon. The Saiyan started to wonder if this new place would be somewhere he could call home, but his mind wondered about Zecora. Did she see him turn into the Great Ape and if so, was she afraid of him? This was something he didn't have the answer to, when he had the time after his sparring match, he would ask Celestia or Luna if they could look into this, but his stomach growled again and all he could think about after that was food. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3: Feasting and Sparring //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3: Feasting and Sparring Kolard was led into the dining hall of the Canterlot Castle, he had never been in the dining hall of King Vegeta's Palace, so he didn't know what to expect. The dining hall was large, it looked like it could hold everyone in the castle at once, but being set on the table is what looked like a feast. Much to his surprise, the ponies had provided some sort of meat in the form of cooked fish. There were all kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits, and pastries on the table. The Saiyan's stomach growled and he rushed towards one of the chairs, sitting down at it. Instead of using the utensils that had been provided, Kolard started grabbing handfuls of food and shoving them into his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing. "Perhaps you should use the fork and spoon that are near your plate," Celestia suggested, shocked at the lack of table manners. The Saiyan didn't listen, all he cared about was filling back up. Not to mention the utensils would only slow him down. He grabbed a still steaming pot of rice and dug his hands into it, grabbing the rice by the handful and shoveling it into his mouth. He only took a few moments to chew and then he swallowed. In only a couple of minutes, the entire pot of rice had been consumed. Kolard then moved onto the fish. Since the ponies didn't know how to prepare them, they were whole fish, but the low-class warrior didn't care in the slightest. He grabbed each fish by the tail and bit as much as he could chew. Once he swallowed that bite, he would repeat the process until the fish was no more. Much to the shock of everypony there, he was eating the entire fish, bones and all. Kolard grabbed the plate with the pastries on them. There were small pies and cupcakes. He shoveled them effortlessly into his mouth and consumed everything on the plate, like everything else within a matter of minutes. Princess Celestia herself was starting to grow concerned at the speed and ferocity that this creature was eating food. In less than forty-five minutes, the entire feast that she had prepared because her guest had told her that his people eat a lot had been consumed by a singular person. The Saiyan looked towards one of the maid ponies, "Excuse me, ma'am. But, I am still hungry. Do you have anything else to eat?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice. This stunned everyone who had heard it, not only had this creature consumed an entire feast in less than an hour, he was still hungry. Celestia herself couldn't hide her shock. She nearly collapsed and her face was twisted in a look of disbelief. No pony or creature she had ever met was able to eat as much as this creature did and he wanted more. She sighed and walked towards the kitchen to tell the cooks to prepare more food. After about ten more minutes, more food was brought out to the table and Kolard effortlessly scarfed it down much to the shock and horror of everyone watching. The cooks were scrambling at this point in a desperate attempt to get food on the table as fast as the Saiyan could scarf it down. It was a losing battle at first, but after another half hour, the low-class warrior finally started to slow down. He was filling up and this made every cook breathe a sigh of relief. Celestia however was stunned at this. This creature had consumed two full feasts on his own. She had never seen or heard of anything like it. Nothing in Equestria or any of the lands that she knew had this capability, not even the voracious Cragadiles in the Everfree Forest. She wished she had listened to the warning that Kolard had given her only a few hours earlier. The Saiyan patted his stomach as he finally stopped eating and jumped up from the chair to flex his arms and pat them. "Finally back up to one hundred percent!" he exclaimed in a joyful manner. The cooks finally could have a break, but the maids now had a massive mess of piled plates, pots, and bowls that they had to clean up. None of the ponies had ever seen anyone consume food with such voracity and lack of table manners. Most of them had felt that the way the low-class warrior had eaten was barbaric and his lack of etiquette was appalling to most of them. Celestia placed her hand on her head, she could feel a headache coming on as she let out a sigh. "Surely you'd like to take some sort of a nap after eating all of that food," she stated with a glimmer of hope in her voice. Kolard was quick to shake his head and point to himself with his thumb with a confident smile, "You promised me some strong guys to train against!" he exclaimed gleefully at the prospect of training. All the Princess of the Sun could do was sigh. She was confused by this creature, he seemed so depressed earlier, yet the idea of fighting was exciting him. She motioned for him to follow her and she quietly led him through the castle towards the training yard that the guards used near their barracks. "I've already informed the guards, so I'll watch you spar from the sidelines," she stated in an exasperated tone. She wasn't sure how many more surprises she could take. Kolard did some stretches and entered a stance he had been taught on the planet he was sent to. He turned his left side to his opponent and extended his left foot a short bit. He kept his right hand close to his chest, but extended his left hand out slightly. The opponent was a white Earth Pony with a blue mane. He was bulkier than most of the other ponies he had seen up to this point. The low-class warrior's Saiyan blood started heating up with excitement. This pony must be strong, he figured. The Earth Pony cracked his knuckles and entered his own stance, but this one was different from his own. It almost seemed as if the pony wanted to wrestle him instead of fight. Neither warrior made a move for a moment as they stared each other down, both of them trying to figure out some sort of weakness in the other's stance. Kolard's patience wore out first and he rushed in to punch the Earth Pony in the jaw. Much to his shock, the Royal Guardsman avoided the blow and grabbed his arm, using the momentum of the punch to throw the Saiyan at the same time as he delivered a powerful punch to the midsection that was only softened by the armor that he wore. The low-class warrior stumbled as he was thrown off balance, but his opponent didn't give him time to recover. He was thrown on the defensive again, his only option at this point would be to use energy blasts, but he didn't want to risk harming anypony. He directed his hand towards the ground and fired off a blast of energy to kick up dust, blinding both combatants. Judging from the fact that some ponies had wings, the Saiyan surmised that his opponent wouldn't be able to take to the air. He focused his energy and took to the sky, circling around his opponent and hitting him from behind. The Royal Guardspony stumbled forward at the force of the blow, surprised at the force of it. He turned around to face his opponent who was floating out of reach, "Now that's not fair, this is a sparring match, get back down on the ground!" he protested. Kolard chuckled nervously, he had gotten a bit competitive and didn't want to admit to it. He calmly landed on the ground and resumed his former stance. "I assume you can't fire energy from your hands," he observed. The Earth Pony shook his head, "I cannot. But seeing is that is some way that you can fight, I will allow this," he stated. The Saiyan was worried, he didn't know how much power he could put into such a thing without hurting his sparring partner too much. He extended a hand and fired off a weak ball of energy. It hit the Earth Pony and harmlessly dissipated against him. This surprised the low-class warrior who then started to charge up a more powerful attack. This unfortunately left him open and his opponent had rushed in to attack, breaking Kolard's concentration. The young adult Saiyan was able to avoid the punch that was thrown his way. The low-class warrior smirked and placed his hand against his opponent's chest, unleashing a weak energy blast that surprised his opponent, allowing the Saiyan to kick the Earth Pony back away from him to open up a bit of space between the two. Kolard formed two balls of energy in his hands and started to fire them off rapidly at the Earth Pony. This wasn't a very efficient use of his energy, but being too inexperienced in actual fighting, he didn't know that. The display kicked up a lot of dust and looked extremely impressive. When the dust settled, the Earth Pony before the Saiyan was scuffed up, but wasn't much worse for wear. Kolard began to wonder how he could be so weak in spite of his Zenkai. The Royal Guard brushed himself off and chuckled, "I volunteered because physically, we Earth Ponies are the most durable and strongest of all the different Pony Tribes, barring Alicorns of course. I apologize for putting you under this, but if that's the best you can do, then I would yield if I were you," he stated. The low-class warrior had one trick left up his sleeve. He gathered his energy into a ball in his hand. The ball started glowing yellow at first and then shifted to a reddish color. The Earth Pony smirked and rushed in trying to break the Saiyan's concentration. But instead, Kolard threw the orb at the pony, even though it wasn't fully charged. The pony tried to dodge, but had been too close. The orb of energy detonated, throwing both combatants away from each other and across the training grounds. Neither of them got back up immediately and after half a minute, Celestia started to grow worried that this had killed either or both of them. She rushed over to her guard who came to and started to pick himself back up. "I'll be fine, I was just in shock about what had happened. That was a powerful attack, stronger than his other ones. I wasn't prepared for something like that," he stated. It was obvious that the guardspony was hurt by this attack, but the injuries were very minor. Kolard sat back up and coughed, he hadn't ever used his Guardian Strike that close before. He was more roughed up than his opponent, but he stood up effortlessly and started to laugh. All of the ponies, including Celestia looked at the cheerful Saiyan with a look of bewilderment on their faces. "Man, I've not had an opponent like you in a long time. I would love to learn how to fight from your Royal Guard if I'm going to be the protector of this world. If he's that strong, then the prospect of meeting even stronger creatures out there excites me to no end!" he exclaimed with glee. Celestia realized that she didn't really understand this creature, he had consumed more food than she had ever seen any singular creature eat and he wasn't just not fazed by the fact that he was battered and bruised from the fight, but was excited at the prospect of fighting stronger ponies or even creatures. Deep down she started to worry about what would happen if the Saiyan figured out just how powerful Discord was. A plan formed in her head and she hoped that it would be the right move. "You should get some rest, Kolard. I'm going to write to my faithful student and I'll introduce you to the other protectors of Equestria. They are known as the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and I'm sure they'd like to meet you," she stated. The low-class warrior's grin turned into a full blown smile as he grew even more excited at meeting these protectors of Equestria. This would mean that they were strong too and he could test himself against them. He could only imagine what they looked like, but as he was escorted to a guest room, his Saiyan blood started to heat up with excitement. He would have to wait, but he wouldn't be able to sleep. He wanted to spar with these strong ponies right now in spite of his injuries and him being drained from the fight earlier. As he laid in the bed he was provided, he looked up at the ceiling and he began to imagine himself fighting these ponies in a friendly match. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4: The Nobility of Canterlot //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4: The Nobility of Canterlot The Saiyan that was staying in Canterlot Castle started wandering the halls after having eaten two more large meals the day before and a large breakfast on this day, which further shocked Celestia and completely shocked Luna. He was trying to get his bearings around the place so that he would know how to walk around it. It was his first time in such a castle and though he showed respect for the Princesses of Equestria, he didn't trust them. Though they fed him and allowed him to stay in the castle, they were still royalty and in his experience royalty didn't care about the subjects they ruled over. All his king ever cared about was the upper-class warriors and the elites. Saiyans like him were considered expendable and sent on suicide missions to get rid of them. Kolard stopped in his tracks as he started to remember a rumor he had heard about five years prior that King Vegeta had sent an unusually powerful Saiyan to a remote planet known as Vampa which was rumored to be a hellish and inhospitable place. There's no possible way that the young Saiyan sent there had survived, he figured, adding to the hatred of royalty he already had. In spite of this, something felt different about these two. More so Celestia than Luna. Unlike his vicious king, she felt almost as if she had a motherly air about her. As if she really did care. The low-class warrior found himself wandering into the throne room where a surprised Celestia looked at him as did several nobleponies. "Celestia, how dare you have some scruffy and dirty creature like this in your castle!" protested one of the nobles. This was all it took to anger Kolard. The Saiyan stormed into the room and over to the exact noble that had chosen to open his mouth. "Scruffy and dirty? Excuse me for being born a low-class warrior and not one of the snobby Saiyan Elites that got to stay home and suck up to our King who according to rumor didn't give a damn about any other Saiyan but his own son! You nobles are all the same, no matter where you come from!" he growled as he stared down the pony in front of him. Something slammed into the side of the face of the Saiyan who turned around to face his attacker. It was a stallion who looked a fair bit out of shape holding a fencing foil. The light gray stallion looked at him with blue eyes with determination, "You should watch your tongue when you address nobility, peasant!" he snapped as he thrust the foil towards the Saiyan who merely grabbed the weapon in annoyance. "What is your name, or are you too self-important to tell me?" Kolard asked firmly. "Aunt Celestia! Tell this peasant to let go of my foil!" the stallion whined. Before Celestia could say anything, the Saiyan yanked the foil out of the stallion's hand and bent it until it snapped. He tossed it back to the unicorn with an annoyed look on his face. "You're worse than Saiyan nobility. At least they're strong enough to back up their rhetoric and arrogance. And you're worse than even a low-class warrior like myself. At least I fight my own battles like a true Saiyan Warrior. Not some petulant, contemptuous child that hides behind his aunts and lets them fight their battles for them!" he stated, walking towards the stallion as he spoke. The light amber haired stallion backed up against a wall and Kolard slammed his fist into the wall, cracking it slightly as he did so. However, before he could open his mouth, a golden aura encompassed him and dragged him away from the frightened noble. "Kolard, no matter how smug and snobbish my nephew can be, please refrain from assaulting him in the middle of court. You're a guest here and I want you to at least try to act like it," Celestia said sternly. The Saiyan sighed and blew upwards, flicking his bang of hair as he crossed his arms. He chose to walk out of the throne room instead of responding to the Princess. Much to his surprise and slight annoyance a well dressed light gray Stallion with light azure hair walked behind him. He had a thin mustache, something Kolard had never seen amongst the ponies and on top of this he had a monocle on the right eye. "I say, you did put on a good showing in the throne room earlier. I have to admit that your armor is quite peculiar though. Where did you get it from?" the Unicorn asked him. The low-class warrior looked towards the noble in incredulity. This noblepony wasn't treating him as if he was some commoner that had been dragged off the street but had sounded genuinely curious. "From the same person that murdered every last one of my people," he said with genuine and absolute contempt. The tone shocked the stallion a bit, "I see, but then why are you mad at me?" he asked, stroking his mustache. The truth was that Kolard wasn't. Deep down inside, he knew he was too weak, if that one Saiyan that was able to release a blast so strong he could see it in his Attack Ball wasn't able to stop Frieza's attack, he wouldn't have stood a chance. His teeth grit as his eyes shut tightly, he hated himself for being too weak to save his people. He hated his own cowardice for not trying to save someone else. In his mind, he should have died with the rest of the Saiyan race instead of surviving. "I can see that you're still rather mad at me, I'll take my lea—" the stallion started to speak, slightly disappointed. "Stay, I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at myself. This is basic Frieza Force Battle Armor for us Saiyans. It's designed to be elastic enough to grow and stretch with the user, but it tears in certain places as we become Great Apes. It can also grow with us, I've had this armor since I was sent off in an Attack Ball to an unknown planet to kill off everyone there. Naturally I refused, I didn't lose my memories about why I was sent there or anything. I just flat out refused. So you don't have to worry about me attacking anyone like I did Celestia's nephew in there," Kolard stated, with a weary sigh. "Ah, I never got your name. My name is Fancy Pants and the unicorn arriving near you is a famous supermodel here, her name is Fleur de Lis," the noblepony introduced himself and his friend. The Saiyan extended his hand to the noblestallion, "Good to see a nobleman without a stick jammed so far up their butt that every time they speak you can see woodchips coming out. Name's Kolard, low-class Saiyan Warrior. Or as the elites would call me, low-class trash," he introduced himself. The candor of the Saiyan shocked Fancy Pants who was taken aback by this. He hadn't been prepared to hear the opinion of the upper class from someone who had just arrived in Equestria according to Celestia. The low-class warrior left the hallway leaving the two unicorns to talk among themselves, he didn't find this interesting anymore. He wanted to do a bit of flying and get the lay of the land. He hoped that he would be able to get back before Celestia had found out that he left. The low-class warrior took off flying from a balcony and started to circle around the city of Canterlot. He was surprised at how large it was. He could see many ponies down below him going about their business, but unfortunately for him. One by one, they started looking up. It was hard to miss someone who was projecting a white aura around himself and leaving a trail as he was flying around at high speed. He noticed they started chatting among themselves and a few ponies started to head towards the castle. He came to a sudden halt when something teleported in front of him. It was Celestia, she was flying, and she didn't exactly look very amused by this. The Alicorn folded her arms and expected an answer for why he was flying around Canterlot as he was. "I was hoping to get back before you got finished with your duty, but I was a little bit bored. I wanted to get some flying in so I could get the lay of the land so that I could properly navigate the streets instead of using energy and flying everywhere," he explained. Her visage softened, he wasn't being deceptive and she could sense that in his actions and words. "You should head to Ponyville, I won't be able to escort you there myself, but my faithful student is waiting there in her castle with her friends. I wrote to her myself about you and how I would bring you there. I'll send a message telling her that you're coming on your own. If you follow the train tracks south, you can't miss it. It's a town, but a very important one, so be polite," she stated. Kolard nodded and gave a thumbs up with a smile, he flew down towards the train tracks and started to follow them south as Celestia had told him. The trees and terrain blurred past him as he flew. The wind on the Saiyan's face felt good as it always did and he allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment. The sound of a train honking at him forced him to open his eyes and he was just barely able to move out of the way of the train, noticing all of the ponies inside. Despite the fact that he could fly, curiosity took him and he noted that he should try to ride the train someday. However, he wasn't paying attention and slammed into a sign, his momentum carried him through and he found himself flipping over the sign and on his back. He let out a pained groan as he rubbed his head and stood back up to brush himself off. He remembered that he had forgotten to ask about Zecora and he didn't know where the forest he woke up in was, so he couldn't get his scouter. He continued flying in the direction that he was heading. He was going to find Ponyville one way or another. The train tracks seemed to go on forever, even for someone who flew as fast as he could. Impatience soon turned to frustration and the low-class warrior cursed himself for allowing himself to be deceived. There was nothing out here he thought, just a bunch of train tracks leading to nowhere. It was a wild goose chase! He kept flying towards the direction he had been flying in however with little choice until he saw a train. However, a town appeared on the horizon soon, it was a surprisingly large town and he flew towards the center of the town where a fountain lie. Kolard landed near the fountain causing most of the ponies near him to start chatting among themselves, but he didn't pay any attention. He started to look for something near the town that resembled a castle, but all he could see from the sky was some strange crystalline tree. He looked towards a tan pony with gray hair. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for the castle of Princess Celestia's faithful student," he inquired. "Oh you mean Twilight Sparkle! She lives in the massive tree just outside of town!" the mare replied. Without so much as a thanks the Saiyan flew back off again, this time heading towards what ended up being the castle. He landed in front of the doors and knocked on the door. A small purple and green dragon answered the door, "Yes?" he asked. The low-class warrior looked down in disbelief, "I'm looking for the faithful student of Princess Celestia, is she here?" The dragon looked inside of the castle and called out, "Twilight! You have a guest looking for you!" The dragon then looked back at the Saiyan, "She'll be out in a moment," he said as he closed the door. Kolard folded his arms and waited a little while. Flying was a little tiring, especially when he did it for so long. He didn't exactly have much patience. A mulberry colored Alicorn with dark blue, purple and brilliant raspberry hair walked out. Her violet eyes immediately went wide as a massive grin appeared on her face. She started to squeal which surprised and slightly annoyed her guest, "Oh my gosh! Princess Celestia told me about this but I didn't expect a real alien to be here in Equestria! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Come in! Come in!" she excitedly said as she hurried the Saiyan in. All the low-class warrior could do was walk into the castle and realize that this was going to be a long, long day. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5: The Main 6 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5: The Main 6 Kolard was led into a circular room where he saw five ponies sitting in rather large chairs around a round table. The first he noticed was a cerulean Pegasus with rainbow colored hair, it wasn't something he expected even from a world of multi-colored ponies. She wore a tracksuit as if she was always ready for exercise. Twilight Sparkle chuckled, "That's Rainbow Dash, she prides herself as Equestria's fastest flier," she informed him. Rainbow Dash flew over to Kolard with astounding speed, she was fast enough to put him on edge and he started to charge up an energy blast. Which didn't go unnoticed by the other ponies who were immediately put off by this. The Princess of Friendship's horn glowed and the energy ball in the Saiyan's hand vanished. "No attacking my friends, Kolard," she stated sternly. "Yeah, as Twilight's already told you, I'm pretty awesome! No one in Equestria is faster than I am at flying! Wanna watch me do a Sonic Rainboom?" the Pegasus introduced herself. The low-class warrior chuckled at the title of fastest in Equestria, he had heard about the Ginyu Force and remembered the stories about Burter, the fastest in the universe. "What's so funny!?" the cerulean Pegasus demanded. "It's nothing, I just remembered someone else who prided himself on being the fastest. Though if he wasn't part of the Frieza Force, I'm sure you and he would've gotten along very well if he ever found his way to this dimension," the Saiyan said with a smirk. Rainbow Dash started to get a bit annoyed at the idea that there was someone out there that was faster than her, but a white Unicorn with violet hair wearing regal attire walked over towards the two of them. "Darling, I think you should go easy on him. He is a guest after all, even if he is wearing the most dreadful outfit I've ever seen," she stated. "Well, if you think that you can design me a better Battle Armor, then you can be my guest. I wouldn't mind getting rid of this old Frieza Force armor for something much more durable and less created by the person with the blood of my people staining his hands," Kolard bluntly offered. "I don't normally do armor, darling, but I shall take the challenge. I am Rarity, don't forget to stop by the Carousel Boutique," the Unicorn stated with a smile before rushing out of the castle, much to the surprise of the Saiyan, but no one else. Before anyone could do anything else, a pink Earth Pony rushed over towards the low-class warrior and started speaking rapidly, "You must be new to Ponyville, because I've never met you before and I know everyone here! We need to have a party immediately! Aren't you excited! I'm so excited that I've never been this excited before! An alien on our world that has never seen a Ponyville party that has never been seen the kind of parties that I can throw! It's sure to turn that frown upside down into a smile! I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way!" Kolard backed up a step and scowled as this creature got up in his face, he wanted to push her away, but he didn't know how soft or hard he would have to push to get her away from him, but at the same time not hurt her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her out of the way to see a frightened pale yellow Pegasus with pink hair trying to hide from him, "Who's that?" he asked. "Fluttershy," came the timid response from the Pegasus. Kolard walked closer, "You'll have to speak up, I can't hear what you're saying, just that you're saying something," he stated with an arched brow. The timid Pegasus yelped and tried to run from the Saiyan who moved into her path faster than she could move, much to the surprise of everyone, including him. This startled poor Fluttershy even further who tried to get away with a yelp. However, the low-class warrior spoke in a gentle voice as he could smell the scent of several animals on her. "You like animals, don't you?" he asked. This caught the yellow Pegasus' attention, a small smile formed on her face as she thought about all of the different animals in her care, "I do, I'm Fluttershy," she said with a bit more confidence. The Saiyan smiled, "I like animals too, they kept me company during my early years when I was sent off to an unknown planet. I didn't get raised by a new family til I was around eight or nine years old," he stated truthfully. Fluttershy started to relax in the low-class warrior's presence, something that surprised everyone else. "Well, if you're nice to animals, then surely you can't be all bad," she stated with a bigger smile. "Wow, ah ain't ever seen anyone bond with Fluttershy that quickly, usually either myself or Twi has ta tell her that everythin' is gonna be okay. Name's Applejack by the way, ah help run Sweet Apple Acres, we got everythin ya ever need for yer apple needs," a voice said to his left. He turned to see an orange Earth Pony with blond hair. She wore blue jeans and a flannel shirt with a wide brimmed hat. But something about this mare excited the blood of the Saiyan, though he couldn't sense it, he could just tell this one was physically stronger than all of the others. He wanted nothing more than to test himself against her. "You're strong aren't you?" he asked. Applejack smirked with confidence, "Well ya don't get to be able to do applebuckin without gettin strong," she replied. Kolard's former smile turned to a full grin, "I want to fight you!" he exclaimed. Twilight Sparkle was shocked at this, she didn't want her friend and her guest to fight each other. She didn't know what to do though and started to hyperventilate a bit. This caught the attention of everyone who hadn't left the castle and Rainbow Dash flew over to her, "Calm down Twilight, this is probably just some strange ritual of his people," she said. "How can I calm down!? Princess Celestia told me a lot about this creature! He can fly and use energy that we don't understand and he's strong and as we just saw fast and Princess Luna told Princess Celestia who told me that he's capable of becoming a giant monster!" Twilight exclaimed while holding her chest through her gown. The Saiyan sighed as he placed his hand where the base of his tail used to be, "I can't do that anymore," he stated firmly. "What do you mean you can't do it anymore! Princess Luna didn't say that you couldn't do it anymore and neither did Celestia!" the Princess continued freaking out. Kolard was starting to get annoyed at this freaking out, "Princess Luna cut off my tail! I can't become a Great Ape anymore. And as far as I know, unlike children who can regrow their tails, adult Saiyans can't. I'll never be able to become a Great Ape again," he stated for the second time that week. Twilight Sparkle started breathing more easily, but the idea that this new guest and her friend were going to fight continued to freak her out. "Relax, sugarcube. This..." Applejack started hoping that Kolard would tell her his species. He was quick to pick up on the hint, "Saiyan," he said flatly. "Saiyan is probably of a proud warrior race. He's probably just seekin ta test himself against the strongest Pony here, and in terms of magic, that'd be ya. But, ah get the feelin he's lookin ta test himself against the strongest of us physically," the farmpony finished. The low-class warrior couldn't deny that, he smiled proudly and folded his arms with a nod. He was itching for a sparring partner, someone he could really test his new strength against. He wanted to see the strength of these ponies for himself. "Alright, I promise no energy blasts, I won't fly and it'll be done outside. Will that help you feel better, your highness?" Kolard offered. "Now that does seem mighty fair, even though I'm a farm girl and he's a warrior," Applejack stated. Twilight Sparkle sighed, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to stop this from happening. She led the two out of the castle and into a field. Rainbow Dash had followed suit in order to loudly cheer Applejack on. "Ah warn ya, I ain't gonna take it easy on ya," the farmpony stated. "Neither am I," The Saiyan replied with a confident smirk. The Princess of Friendship stood far on the side and moved her hand down to signal that the sparring match had begun. Kolard rushed towards AJ, and thought it'd be a simple matter if he just hit her in the Solar Plexus. Much to his shock when he threw the punch, she was able to block it with her arm and deliver a solid blow to his jaw with enough force to cause his head to turn with the punch. The Saiyan felt the pain from the blow, but his blood started rushing through him, adrenaline took hold. He attempted to grapple the farmpony, but she was quick to move out of the way. This left Kolard dumbfounded. "Sometimes ah gots to get out of the way of a tree I bucked too hard, ya know," Applejack pointed out. The low-class warrior knew that she could hit him hard, but didn't know if he could hit her hard. He leapt back a considerable distance causing Rainbow Dash to huff, "You said no flying! That's not fair!" she complained. "He didn't fly, Rainbow, he just jumped away. He kept his word," Twilight reminded her. Kolard tried to think of what techniques he could use since he pointed out that he wouldn't be using any energy blasts during the match. He didn't know of any melee techniques, only ranged ones. He started hopping up and down as he tried to get himself back into the sense of things. This confused the everyone that was watching, but suddenly, he stopped hopping and crouched low. He ran as fast as he could towards Applejack, with the intent to tackle her to the ground. The Element of Honesty on the other hand had a different course of action in mind. She pulled out her lasso and started to twirl it. Moving out of the way of the rushing Saiyan and throwing her lasso on him, grabbing one of his legs. She yanked back hoping that she would trip him up, but he stood his ground and an awkward game of tug-of-war ensued. Applejack was trying to trip Kolard and the low-class warrior was trying to remain standing on his own two feet. With a mighty yank, the farmpony was able to force the Saiyan onto the ground, what seemed like would be face first, but he caught himself and threw himself up into the air with a push. This didn't give him the advantage he was seeking. Now without any sort of leverage, it was easy for Applejack to bring him back down to the ground, this time more painfully as he slammed into the ground at full force. The slight daze this put him into was just enough for the Element of Honesty to hog-tie him and Twilight Sparkle declared her the victor. After coming out of the daze, Kolard started to struggle against the ropes, eventually tearing free of them. "I don't understand... you're a farm pony," he started as he stood up. "Well, ah do a do lot of chores around the farm," the farmpony stated with pride. "How could you beat me a Saiyan warrior. We are the strongest of all warriors! Surely there's something you did to cheat to allow yourself to win!" the low-class warrior yelled in anger. The Princess of Friendship stepped in at this moment, "Kolard, she won fair and square," she stated. This did little to calm down the Saiyan. But that's when Applejack got an idea, "Ya want ta become stronger and faster ya said? Perhaps ya could come work at the farm and develop your strength, it'll help ya in the long run as well as ya will earn some money on the side," Applejack offered. This did calm Kolard down, he took a deep breath and sighed, "That sounds good, I'll think about it and then get back to you," he said as he rubbed his jaw from the punch he received earlier. Suddenly he remembered what he meant to ask Luna or Celestia and hoped that Twilight Sparkle would know the answer, "There's someone in the forest I first appeared in called Zecora, do you think you can take me to go see her. I want to know if she's alright and to retrieve something that I left there," he requested. Twilight, now beaming at the chance to see what the Saiyan had left at Zecora's place quickly agreed and entered the castle to start packing. Applejack returned to the farm and Rainbow Dash flew off, confident that Kolard, though fast, wasn't as fast as she was. This left the low-class warrior in the middle of a field and he sat down and started to look at the sky, noting that it was different from the sky he once knew as Pegasi were moving the clouds. He made a mental note to one day ask Twilight why this was, but for now, his mind focused on one thing. The person who he first met when he arrived here. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6: Zecora //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6: Zecora Kolard and Twilight had arrived at the Everfree Forest, the Alicorn looked a bit nervous as she didn't really enjoy coming here and Kolard was on edge. He could smell the familiar scent of the forest. Twilight had asked him a lot about his people and his world and he tried his best to answer her questions, but there were things that he didn't know of. As a low-class Saiyan, he didn't get the luxury of learning about all the history of their people, he mostly knew about rumors, myths, and legends. The legend he was most familiar with was the legend of the Super Saiyan, an invincible warrior of such great power that he was said to be unstoppable. But it was said to only appear once every thousand years, and the Super Saiyan could only contain their power within their Great Ape form. He hadn't yet divulged this information to Twilight, as he didn't feel it was necessary for her to know. A twig snapped to their side as they entered the forest, putting both of them on high alert. "Take to the air, Twilight. Those strange log wolves can't fly," Kolard pointed out. "What about you!?" she asked, concerned. The Saiyan answered her by taking to the skies, he could smell a pack of Timberwolves, but he didn't know how close they were. He'd rather take it safe and not get into a fight with them after he saw their abilities for himself. Twilight was astounded by the fact that this alien was flying without the use of magic or wings. She made a mental note about how she would ask him how he was doing that after they had gotten out of this situation. The low-class warrior cupped his hands in front of him and a red sphere of energy started to form within them, he was ready to blast whatever came out of the clearing. When a harmless rabbit hopped into their line of sight, he let the energy dissipate on its own. It wasn't a danger to either of them, but he could smell danger still. "Twilight, what direction is the wind blowing?" he asked. The Alicorn's horn lit up as she cast a spell to figure this out, "It's blowing towards the west," she stated. The Saiyan relaxed, they were downwind from the Timberwolves. "Good, it means that what I smell from the east won't be able to track us. Unfortunately, it means we are completely blind to what's to the west of us. We'll have to be careful about what's coming from that direction. If we keep to the air, we should be fine though," he pointed out. "I thought you Saiyans lived for battle?" the Princess of Friendship asked. "I'm not one for dying by being overwhelmed by superior numbers, the last time I blasted one of those wolves, I went from dealing with only a handful to dealing with hundreds, now you're more familiar with this forest than I am. Can you show me the way to Zecora's?" he responded with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Twilight Sparkle nodded and started flying ahead with Kolard close behind her. She knew enough to know that you didn't continue pressing a matter when someone sounded annoyed, so she kept quiet, much to the delight of the Saiyan. He had tired of answering her rapid fire questions on the way to the forest, but he began to realize something important about these ponies. They weren't experienced warriors, aside from the Royal Guard, however, something was odd about them. Something he couldn't place his finger on. The two of them came up on a hut in the middle of the forest and the low-class warrior flew ahead and barged through the door. His heart was racing out of concern for the one who he had met a couple of days earlier. He started looking all around the hut when a voice from behind spoke up. "It is a bit rude to barge into someone's house,however coming with Twilight shows you are quite shrewd. It is good to see you again, Kolard. Would brings you to my neck of the wood?" The Saiyan recognized that voice, he turned around and in a fit of relief gave Zecora a hug, surprising the herbalist and the Princess of Friendship. "A pleasant surprise for sure, but something tells me you do not seek a cure," the Zebra noticed. Kolard let go of her and walked to the window. He stared out in the direction of the clearing he had first gone to in order to get some food. "I was so worried about you. I had wandered out of your hut the night you found me and smelled something that I could hunt, but I didn't know it was a full moon out that night. When I looked up to see this planet's moon, I lost control of myself and transformed into the Great Ape. A giant berserk monster that has no sense of self and no control. All I could do was destroy everything in range," he stated sadly. Twilight didn't entirely understand despite the Saiyan's explanation earlier, but Zecora immediately understood. "So that monster was you, I had hoped it was not true," she stated in a ponderous tone. The low-class warrior took this as a sign of rejection. He turned around and looked dejected, his first potential friend on this planet had more or less thrown him out he began to think. "I'll just take my Scouter and I won't bother you again," he said with a weary tone, his shoulders sagging. Twilight was shocked at this, she had never seen Zecora reject or throw out anyone. But Zecora raised her hand and then pointed at the Saiyan's waist, "I notice you do not have a tail, perhaps you could tell me the tale?" she said, wanting to know what had happened. Kolard nodded, but didn't look at her. He picked his scouter up off a shelf and affixed it to his head, the blue lens sitting comfortably over his eye. "I told Celestia about this and I believe she told Twilight about this, but you don't know. We Saiyans require our tails in order to have the transformation into the Great Ape. Our tail is a vulnerable and sensitive part of our body. Elites go through training in order to both control the Great Ape and make it so that having their tail grabbed doesn't hurt them. But for us low-class Saiyans or trash as they called us all the time? We didn't get that luxury. If it makes you and the others feel any better, as far as it is known... no adult Saiyan has ever regrown their tail after losing it," he explained while looking away. Zecora's mind was put at ease, she didn't worry very much about the giant monster that she had seen two nights ago. She didn't tell Kolard, but she was there, wisely deciding to stay out of the monster's way. She had been woken up that night by the loud sounds and noticed her guest had been missing, she feared that the creature had eaten him or worse. "No one was hurt, so there's no need to be disconcert," she stated to him. The Saiyan smiled, his spirits were lifted by this a bit. He activated his Scouter to try to pick up any battle powers on the world he was on, but it was pointless. The Scouter read nothing. He sighed and Twilight Sparkle walked over to him, placing her hand on the scouter and giving him puppy dog eyes. "You want to see the Scouter? Be my guest, it doesn't seem to work here," the low-class warrior stated, annoyed at this fact. He took the Scouter off his head and affixed it to hers. "Press the red button on the side if you want to activate it," he stated. The Alicorn pressed the button on the side, being surprised when it immediately started working and scanned the Saiyan in front of her. "It's getting some sort of reading!" she exclaimed, excitedly. Kolard and Zecora could see that it was indeed working for her, but neither of them could explain why. The Scouter displayed numbers that were unreadable to either of the ponies, but this confirmed the Saiyan's suspicions, he had indeed gained a Zenkai. "What does it say, Kolard?" asked the curious Princess. "It says that battle power is now three hundred and two. It means that I recovered from being on the brink of death. We Saiyans if brought to the brink of death and we survive, grow stronger. We also tend to grow a little stronger with each fight. Usually not by as much as if we're brought to the brink of death," the low-class warrior explained. Twilight took the device off her head and then looked at it. Slowly, she began to realize that if she could figure out how it worked, she would be able to figure out how to make it detect magical power in Equestria on top of being able to detect the battle power of the ponies, even though that concept was foreign to her. It would be a challenge for sure, but the Princess enjoyed a good challenge once in a while. "I think I can modify this for you, possibly upgrade it so that you'll be able to read our magical power as well," she stated. Kolard had no idea what magic was, but he shrugged and went with the flow. "I'd be grateful," he stated. "If the Saiyan has no home to return to, then will he be alone?" Zecora asked out of curiosity. The Princess of Friendship thought about this for a moment, "Well, I could let you stay at my place, Kolard. But you'll have to promise that you won't try destroying anything," she stated to the surprise of the warrior. Kolard thought about this for a moment, he was happy to be able to have a place to stay on his own and he remembered how Rarity was going to create a new armor for him. He didn't need an excessively elastic armor anymore as he didn't have his tail anymore. Not to mention, Pinkie Pie wanted to throw a welcome party for him and the Saiyan couldn't turn down the notion of free food and drink. No Saiyan worth their pride would that down. "I promise I won't attempt to destroy or break anything. After all, it would be rude of a guest to damage the property and belongings of their host," he stated. "Well, I guess that settles that. I hope you'll be alright, Zecora," Twilight said as she smiled at her friend. The Zebra returned the smile, "I will be fine Twilight, you need not worry about me, however I feel your friend might soon need to dine," she replied. The Saiyan chuckled, he could admit that he was starting to get hungry. The Alicorn nodded and started to lead him out of the hut, but as she took to the air, he remained on the ground and turned back with a smile on his face. "Do you mind if I come visit you from time to time, I'm sure someone as wise and learned as you has much to teach me," he asked. Zecora knew that the warrior was only telling her half the truth, "If you ever wish to visit, tell me and I will ensure that a dish will be here for you," she said with a sagely smile. Kolard nodded and smiled back, he waved to her and then took to the sky to follow Twilight Sparkle. The two were going to head back to Ponyville. The low-class warrior's spirit had been put at ease and now he didn't have his mind so wracked with worry and guilt. He would be able to rest easily that night. However the Saiyan was about to find out just how little time Pinkie Pie needed to set up a surprise party first hand. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7: The Party //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7: The Party The Saiyan and Alicorn returned to Ponyville, the two of them had only been gone for a couple of hours, but there wasn't a single soul there. This confused the warrior, but the Princess knew exactly just what was going on. She smiled a bit at the speed in which her friend was able to gather everyone in Ponyville into a single place, something that she hadn't seen since she first arrived in the town. "Let's go back to the castle, I'm sure we'll find someone there," she said to get the attention of her traveling companion. Kolard nodded and followed her to the castle. His intuition told him that there was something on the other side of the door, but he didn't know what. He took a deep breath and wound up a punch. "Wait! No! Don't punch the door!" Twilight yelled as she gripped his fist in a magical field. "There's something on the other side of that door and I cannot be sure that it's a threat to either of us or not," the Saiyan said to justify his attempt to punch the door. The purple Alicorn shook her head and folded her arms in front of her in annoyance, "If there was any threat within the castle. Starlight would've been able to take care of it, or at least alerted me about it," she firmly stated. Kolard nodded and pushed open the door, the lights suddenly turned on and every pony in ponyville sprang out of nowhere and yelled out, "Surprise!" This sent the warrior reeling back on the defensive, he wasn't sure if this was a party or an ambush, but he couldn't fire any energy blasts while Twilight continued to hold his hand in a magical grip. For some reason, it wasn't allowing him to focus his energy through his hand. Pinkie Pie appeared out of seemingly nowhere, "I wanted to throw you a surprise party as a 'Welcome to Equestria' party! Do you like it?" she asked him in her usual excited voice. Upon hearing that it was a party, he relaxed and chuckled, "You sure surprised me," he told her as his heart started to return to its normal pace. "There's party games and balloons and confetti and streamers and food. I noticed that you don't have teeth like us so I figured like some of the other creatures in Equestria, you eat meat, so I got you some meat so you wouldn't have to feel left out! There's several cakes, many cupcakes, and all sorts of pastries!" the pink Earth Pony excitedly explained. Kolard could see that many ponies were chatting with each other and some of them were playing party games. There was a group of ponies competing to see who could drink the most cider. The Saiyan walked up to the table and smiled, placing his hand on the table and grabbing a mug of cider. He smiled and guzzled down the cider in one swift motion, slamming the mug back on the table with enough force to make a loud thud, but not enough to damage it. A pony with a plum coat and pink hair looked at him with orange eyes and a smile. It was as if this particular mare had found someone who could compete with her in a drinking contest. "I bet you that I can drink more than you can, I'll even be nice and let you catch up," she taunted. The warrior took the challenge with a smirk, he grabbed a barrel of cider and hoisted it above him, much to the shock of everyone else. He pointed his finger at it and let loose a beam of energy to fire straight into the bottom, drilling a hole in it. Kolard then moved the hole over his mouth and started to drink straight from the barrel itself, horrifying the ponies at the table. The pony that challenged him to a drinking contest was astounded by this action. Nopony or creature had ever drank cider directly from the barrel and all they could do is watch the Saiyan guzzle every drop of the cider down in a mixture of horror and amazement. Within minutes, the entire barrel had been drained dry and Kolard placed it on the ground and leaned on it as he let out a loud belch. Every pony except for Berry Punch was horrified at this, but the plum mare started to laugh as she slammed her hands on the table. "I haven't seen anyone who could beat me in a game of drink, but you just drank an entire barrel of cider as if it was nothing! You are one amazing drinking partner! Everyone give it up for Kolard!" she exclaimed. The Saiyan would've joined in the the celebration of his ability to guzzle down gallons of liquid if it wasn't for a sudden and overwhelming need to pee. He stood up extremely quickly and started to dance in place as he tried to figure out where the restroom was. Everyone started laughing at him as he continued to try to figure things out. "Third door on the left," Twilight informed him. Kolard took flight and rushed to the bathroom, he tried to push the door open, but noticed there was a door knob. When he tried to twist the doorknob, it was apparent that the door was locked. Someone was in the bathroom and he would be unable to use it. He started to dance in place as he tried to find some other bathroom, rushing through the castle and opening all the doors he could open. He found several more locked doors that he assumed were occupied restrooms on his journey and sighed as he started to dance in mid-air, trying not to pee on himself. With no other option, the warrior rushed out of the castle to Ponyville to find one of the eateries there so that he could use the restroom, desperately trying to hold it as he flew. Because of his lack of familiarity with the written language of the Ponies and the symbols that they used for their eating establishments, he had no choice but to fly to every place to find out which one didn't have a locked door. After about ten minutes of searching, he finally found one and rushed in, quickly finding the bathroom and finally relieving himself. After three minutes in the restroom, Kolard washed his hands and flew back towards the castle. Much to his surprise and delight, a pie eating contest was getting ready to start with Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the table. "Got room for one more?" he asked with a smirk. "Ain't no one in Equestria who can eat more pie than ah can! But yer welcome to come on up here and try to beat Rainbow Dash if ya'd like!" Applejack boasted. "Hey! I'm going to win this pie eating contest! Just you wait!" the cyan Pegasus replied in annoyance. This made the Saiyan laugh to himself as he made his way to the table, "Settle down, ladies. After all, it's going to be me who is going to win this pie eating contest," he taunted with confidence. The farmpony looked at the warrior as he sat down, "Well then, let's see if ya can put yer bits where yer mouth is," she stated firmly. The ref at the contest counted down and then started the three minute timer. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Kolard all started to eat the pies that they were given. Applejack was consuming a pie roughly every fifteen seconds, Rainbow Dash was able to eat a pie in roughly seventeen seconds. But both of them were outdone by Kolard who was eating a pie roughly every ten seconds. The onlookers watched in a mixture of amazement, disgust, and horror. The time ended and the number of tins next to Kolard made it very apparent that there wasn't any contest. Applejack had been able to eat twelve pies. Rainbow Dash had eaten ten. But the Saiyan warrior had consumed a full eighteen pies and was still hungry for more. "Well ah'll be. Ya went and done put yer bits where yer mouth is, unlike a certain Pegasus," the farmpony stated. "Hey! I'm still the fastest in Equestria, you know!" said Pegasus retorted. The Saiyan wasn't paying attention, he had grabbed a nineteenth pie and was stuffing his face. Much to the surprise of no one though, he swiftly moved onto the meat that none of the ponies were eating. With his usual lack of manners and tact, he started to scarf down the meat by shoveling it into his mouth with his hands and barely chewing at all. This action horrified all of the ponies, but disgusted Rarity of all. "I know you're not a pony and all, Darling. But at least you could show some table manners!" she protested. Her words fell on deaf ears as Pinkie got into the spirit of things by starting to shovel sweets into her mouth like Kolard was doing with the meat she had provided him. Eventually the Saiyan stopped eating like he did and looked at everyone. Their shocked stares made him a bit nervous, "Hehe, sorry about that. I'm not used to having to eat with some etiquette," he stated truthfully and nervously. Pinkie however didn't care, she just continued shoveling sweets into her face. However, all the low-class warrior felt like doing after that massive meal was go for a walk. He wasn't really in the mood for party games or great big gatherings anymore. He left the castle as the party continued. Much to his surprise, he saw someone else hanging outside. "Not much for large gatherings, are you?" he asked calmly. This startled the yellow Pegasus who turned to face him, "Oh, I never have been comfortable at parties. Unless Discord is there of course. We usually have tea parties, but nothing like this," she stated in her usual quiet voice. Kolard gave her a gentle smile and folded his arms as he leaned against the outer wall of the castle, "The last time I was part of a big gathering like this, I got chased out after eating all of the food that the guests had brought. To this day, I still have no idea why they had invited a Saiyan and just left out so much good smelling and tasty food if I wasn't supposed to eat it," he started to laugh and unfolded his arms to motion as he spoke, "The groom's father was so mad at me that he ended up saying several words that I never thought I'd hear come out of his mouth. I dare not repeat them, but they were the most foul words in his language. He probably still hates me to this day, but man, that was the most fun I ever had at a party," he recalled to her. Fluttershy wasn't happy about the fact that anyone was hated, even this being before her. "That wasn't very nice of him and it wasn't very nice of you to eat all of that food," she pointed out. The Saiyan sighed as he looked up to the sky, he would love to be able to go back to the planet he had lived on. Sure, it had its ups and downs and he didn't always get along with the people there, but it was his home. It was where he belonged and where he wanted to return to. However, his mind flashed back to his Scouter, it had a two-way radio and a transmitter, but the range was limited to the galaxy that he was previously in, so he wasn't particularly concerned about it. He made a note to himself to ask Twilight to remove those components as she modified it, but also knew that Frieza's men would be able to find him with their Scouters and he would've put his adoptive peoples in danger. He moved away from the wall, "Hey, Fluttershy?" he said to get the attention of the Pegasus. The pink haired Pegasus looked at him, "Yes?" "I'm going to go fly around to clear my head, alright? It's been a busy last few days and I need to work through things. If Pinkie asks, tell her that I enjoyed her party, but I need some alone time to sort things out," he told her half-truthfully. "Okay!" the gentle Pegasus said with a nod and a smile. Kolard's aura flared up and the Saiyan took off flying away from the castle in no direction in particular. He didn't want to admit to it, but he felt lonely now. While he was a Saiyan biologically, and he had the pride of a Saiyan warrior, he felt that he belonged with the people of his adoptive home planet. He pulled out a device and looked at the hologram that it produced of two humanoids with short brown hair and mono-colored eyes with a younger version of him between them. A tear ran down the warrior's face as he silently cried and landed on a tree branch to sit alone. The warrior didn't feel like he belonged to this world, but he wouldn't be safe where he came from and he would've put his old friends in danger. At least here, he'd be safe from the Frieza Force. He placed the projector back into a pocket within his armor and then looked up to the bright blue sky, contemplating what would come next and he asked himself if he would ever get used to living here in a world full of colorful ponies. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 8: Changeling Encounter //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 8: Changeling Encounter Hours had passed since the Saiyan Warrior had left the party, yet he was no closer to the answer that he had sought. He looked down at the ground and saw an animal grazing at the base of the tree that he was sitting in, it was minding its own business, much like he was. The quiet of the field he was in afforded him some peace of mind, but something was wrong, he could feel it. Kolard jumped off the branch, taking flight and narrowly avoiding the talons of a Roc that had chosen to return to its tree to roost. The two of them stared silently at each other for a while. Neither of them making a move, both of them studying and sizing up the other. The majestic bird of prey decided the Saiyan wasn't a threat and he wasn't food and relaxed its stance greatly. Seeing this, Kolard realized that the Roc wasn't a threat to him, though he could tell that it was very strong, possibly stronger than he was. But this didn't excite him at all, mostly because it wasn't going to be able to fight him as he enjoyed fighting. His Saiyan blood itched for some kind of fight, but when he turned around, he saw himself. There weren't any mirrors here and he couldn't sense the creature's power. A wicked smile crossed its features and the Roc let out a mighty screech as if it knew what this creature was. The low-class warrior's mind started to race at the idea of there being another Saiyan warrior that had still lived, even if they looked exactly like him. But something was wrong. This creature didn't smell like another Saiyan, it smelled different. Someone or something had assumed the form of him and it felt like a knife had been plunged into Kolard's heart. For the first time since he woke up in Equestria, someone was rubbing his greatest failure, his greatest loss in his face. The two Saiyans rushed each other and slammed their fists into the face of the other. Much to his surprise, Kolard found that this copy of him was just as strong as the fist hurt him. He kicked at the other Saiyan and was able to knock his doppelganger away from him. "You look like me and you're as strong as me, but let's try something new," he called out. The other Saiyan's hand glowed green and suddenly the low-class warrior felt himself rushing towards the ground. He tried to fly away, but was slammed back first into the soil. The pain ripped through his body and he let out a scream as anger started to take hold. His doppelganger rushed him and threw a punch that he was barely able to roll out of the way of. With a mighty push, Kolard was able to flip back onto his feet and he took back to the air, launching blasts of energy at his opponent so that he could increase the gap between them. A green magical field enveloped him and this pissed the low-class warrior off as the Saiyan could feel himself being dragged back to the ground again. His aura flared up again, except this time, it was in the shape of the Great Ape. His eyes changed from their usual black to a deep red as he screamed in fury. His doppelganger's eyes widened what it was doing had stopped working. Kolard wasn't rushing towards the ground anymore. Instead, the low-class warrior was rushing towards the creature that had took his form. The Saiyan closed the gap he had created in half the time, throwing a punch that sent the other being flying away from him. "You dare take my form!? You dare make a mockery of my Saiyan heritage!" he screamed as he flew towards the doppelganger and slammed it with another punch, sending it flying again, "At least do me the favor of showing what you really are so you can die as yourself!" he screamed as he completely lost himself to the rage. The doppelganger stood up and tried to throw a punch at the Saiyan who allowed it to hit him in the face. The blow had no effect on the enraged warrior. Instead, at point blank range, the warrior unleashed one of the techniques he had developed over his life. Kolard cupped his hands in from of his face, palms facing towards his opponent. Red energy surged through his hands and fired in a beam at the doppelganger, "Comet Cannon!" he screamed out. The false Saiyan was sent flying with the attack, but the attack wasn't powerful enough to kill it. Only harm it to the point where it couldn't keep its current form. Green flames appeared as the other Saiyan returned to a black insectoid appearance with holes throughout its limbs and wings. The creature was knocked unconscious by the looks of things, but Kolard didn't want to take any chances. He raised his fist and was ready to punch the creature in the head as hard as he could. His fist was stopped by another magical field, this one was a pinkish purple color. Despite his rage increasing his power, he couldn't break free of it. "Kolard, stop!" yelled Twilight Sparkle. The Saiyan, now unable to finish off his opponent felt his rage start to subside. He started to cry, the anger within him was still incredibly powerful, but now there was sadness as well. "We do not kill any creature here, that's not the pony way. I know that isn't your way. I saw the way you reacted when you saw that Zecora was okay, you have a kind heart. If you go through with this, you'll be no better than that changeling," she told him. Kolard's fist opened up and his hand fell to his side with a deep sigh and his eyes returned to normal, she was right. He had never taken a life before, and here he was about to take a life all because some creature had taken his form and was fighting dirty. Twilight Sparkle released her magical grip, "Come on, let's go before the changeling wakes up. If we're still here, it might alert the hive and then we'll be in trouble," she stated. The Saiyan nodded and the two of them flew away. It was at this point, he noticed that the Alicorn was wearing his Scouter. "I thought you were working on that," he pointed out to her as he pointed towards the blue lens. The Princess smiled sheepishly, "I was, then it alerted me to a high power level. I got it to show me in Ponish though. According to this thing, the power was around seven hundred and fifty, so I chose to investigate. I'm glad I got there in time before you did something that you would regret." An awkward silence that followed that, the Saiyan didn't want to speak and Twilight didn't know what to say. A tense air formed between the two of them as the silence grew too much for either of them to bear. Kolard started to fly ahead of the Alicorn, it didn't seem like he wanted to talk. But the Princess wasn't deterred, she flew faster to easily catch up to him, "Kolard, is something bothering you?" she asked. The Saiyan stopped flying and just hovered in midair, "What if they can change into any form that they seen in your mind? What if they could become my friends or my parents? That creature was able to copy my strength, speed and ability to fly perfectly. It would've been indistinguishable from me, except for the fact that its scent was off," he asked. Twilight Sparkle understood where he was coming from, a changeling invasion was a great fear of Equestria. She herself had a lot of experience with fighting them and had hoped that she would never have to do so again. "Changelings try to shape themselves into our loved ones so that they can feed off of their love. They are capable of imitating the form and mannerisms of that pony right down to their strength and speed as you stated. But they cannot copy our magic, nor can they copy our power. Queen Chrysalis fed off of my brother by imitating my sister-in-law four years ago. If I didn't find the real Cadance, then perhaps all of Equestria would be controlled by them," she said somberly. Kolard looked at her, confused, "Why did you give them the chance to return?" he asked. "We couldn't find them and then lock them up. For some reason their hive has an anti-magic barrier. No scrying can find it and nopony that has tried to find it has returned or left any clues. I understand that you're hurt by this, I understand that you want to make them pay, but you need to know that there is a way we do things here and I don't want to risk you or anypony else. When Chrysalis makes a move, we'll be ready," The Alicorn reassured him. The low-class warrior nodded, he didn't have any better ideas. Though he wanted to face Chrysalis himself to put a stop to her underhanded tricks and possibly get a good fight out of it, he didn't know where she was or if he would be rendered powerless. He knew for certain that he wouldn't be able to fight through an army of himself on top of that. He felt defeated by this notion and returned to flying, but his course changed towards the Everfree Forest, he was going to pay Zecora a visit. She seemed wise and would probably know what to do and how to teach him a thing or two. Twilight was confused by this change of course, "Kolard, my castle is this way," she pointed. "I'm not going there," he stated flatly without changing direction or stopping. The Alicorn flew up beside him, she was concerned and confused, she wanted to know why the Saiyan wasn't going to return home with her. "Kolard, what's bothering you deep down," she asked. He looked at her through the corner of his eyes, "I need to learn how to detect your kind of energy since my scouter doesn't work on this strange energy source. Maybe if I were to learn from someone wise and sagely how to detect this as you can, I would be able to avoid an ambush from a changeling like that," he stated honestly. The Princess tried to think of a book that would teach the Saiyan how to do this, but she didn't get enough time to think as he flew into the forest. She wasn't a bad flyer by any means, but unlike a Pegasus, she wasn't doing this for most of her life. Kolard on the other hand found it easy to navigate through the forest at high speed. He looked behind him to see if the Alicorn Princess was still on his tail, but was relieved when he saw that she wasn't. He arrived at the clearing that Zecora's hut occupied without incident and he landed in front of the building. A swift knock to the door got the Shamaness to open the door for him. She looked confused, "Kolard, I had not expected to see you again, tell me what is the issue bothering you," she requested. The Saiyan sighed and closed his eyes, "A changeling assumed my form and ambushed me. If it wasn't for my intuition as a warrior, I wouldn't have known that something was wrong. This underhanded trick greatly peturbs me as a warrior. I was wondering if you could teach me how to sense the energy that everyone here seems to have that my scouter cannot detect," he said to her, trying to hide his concern and anger. The Zebra smiled, "Of course I can teach you to sense magic, but it will be no walk on the beach," she warned him. This was something Kolard didn't understand and needed to have explained to him. Fortunately for Zecora, the confusion was written all over the warrior's face, so this time she chose a more easy to understand rhyme, "The path before you will be hard, but I'm sure you would held this expectation in regard." The Saiyan nodded and Zecora invited him in. She informed them that they would start their training at first light in the morning, until then she would feed him dinner and the two would sleep in separate rooms to rest for the upcoming training. Kolard was relieved when he finally placed his head on the pillow for the night, the bed was surprisingly comfortable and he closed his eyes to get some sleep. But for him, restful sleep would not arrive easy that night. The changelings and their abilities weighed too heavily on his mind... //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 9: Luna //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 9: Luna Kolard found himself rushing through a forest that smelled like the ones he had passed by on his trip to Ponyville from Canterlot. His heart was racing and his legs were tired. It had felt like he had been running for hours. He couldn't see what he had been running from, but he remembered the voice, the bone chilling voice that he hadn't heard in a few days. The last time he had heard that voice, he returned to his home planet and woke up here. How could he have found him, he wondered. The Saiyan didn't have much time to ponder that as the figure that he was running from appeared in front of him, laughing like a nobleman as he did. "Oh you filthy monkey, did you really think that you could hide from me on a planet full of colorful ponies? I'm going to enjoy watching you die slowly and painfully," Frieza stated coldly. The low-class warrior found himself gripped with fear, he had witnessed the power of this monster. However, more Friezas moved out of the forest to join the first one. With each one, the dread that Kolard felt grew exponentially. A swift blow with a tail sent the Saiyan flying into a tree where he saw the dead body of Twilight Sparkle. He backed away in shock and horror, only to run into the corpse of Fluttershy hanging upside down from a pair of branches. He fell to his hands and knees and started to vomit, shaking violently as he did. The body of Rarity fell next to him, she too had been killed by this army of Frieza. The looked up to see Zecora stand in front of him, only to be instantly vaporized by an attack from the tyrant. This caused Kolard to snap, his usually spiky hair stood straight up and started to take on a reddish tint. His eyes completely whited out and a golden aura appeared around him. He lost control of himself and lost his senses. Instinct took over and he rushed Frieza only to be swatted aside as if he was nothing. However the Pseudo Super Saiyan wouldn't stop, he picked himself back up and roared to the heavens, charging a blast that was more powerful than he had ever used before. The red orb of energy suddenly started to glow golden as it grew bigger than the low-class warrior himself. "Die Frieza!" he roared out and fired the attack. Frieza unleashed a laugh and then formed a supernova. The blast that the Saiyan had unleashed was absorbed. This snapped him out of the Pseudo Super Saiyan state, dropping him down to base as he could only stare in horror. His end was coming and this was the same attack that destroyed his home planet. Soon Equestria would be destroyed and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Like the mysterious warrior who had tried to stop it before him, he was too weak. Everyone he had gotten to meet and wanted to help protect would die along with him. Kolard had nothing left, he had used what power he had left in the attack that was meant to kill Frieza. All the warrior could do was close his eyes as the orb was thrown at him and wait for the brief extreme pain and then oblivion to follow. The pain never came, oblivion never came. The ground beneath his boots had changed to that of a floor. "Open your eyes, Kolard. Death will not come for you while I control the dreamworld," said the voice of Princess Luna. The Saiyan opened his eyes and dropped to the ground breathing heavily, "Are Twilight and the others okay?" he asked, obviously panicked and worried. The Princess of the Night nodded, "They are perfectly safe, you are dreaming, Kolard. None of what happened before is real, but that horned pink creature. What was he?" Fear ripped through the warrior, sweat started to drip from his face. Memories of his past flashed through his mind and he started shaking violently. Even days later and in an entirely different realm of existence, the tyrant that controlled his people still instilled fear within the Saiyan warrior. Just the casual way Frieza executed his men for doing something so simple, such as calling him short. Kolard had only seen him once and that was when he was there to deliver scouters to the planet the Saiyan had been sent to as a child. Even being in the presence of the tyrant for only a few moments was enough to instill a lifelong fear into the warrior. That fear began to switch to anger as he started to think about his adoptive people suffering and his eyes turned red again as he rushed the Alicorn Princess before him. The Saiyan warrior quickly found himself blasted back and then held in a telekinetic grip that he couldn't escape from. He attempted to thrash about, screaming as he did so, the thoughts of his friends, his adoptive family, all of those innocents dying at Frieza's hand awoke something within him. His red eyes became golden as he just started roaring like an ape. Luna found it four times as difficult to hold him as it was before, but being an Alicorn, he was no match for her. "Listen, I know that you're angry and hurt. But please, calm down, Kolard. You have to calm down or this could hurt you in the waking world! Zecora could get hurt!" Luna pleaded. This got the attention of the Saiyan who looked at her, "Z-Zecora?" he said in a gruffer voice than normal. Tears started to stream down his face at the idea of Zecora being hurt. Lightning bolts started to strike around the Saiyan as his hair started standing straight up, his yellow eyes returned to their black color and then started to transition between black and teal. His black hair flickered from black to a golden-yellow. "I won't forgive him for hurting Zecora!" It was obvious to the Princess of the Night that all Kolard had heard was the words hurt and Zecora. She could feel the Saiyan was able to tap into power within the dream that he didn't have in the waking world. She began to wonder if his subconscious was responding to some sort of legend that he had heard during his childhood. Luna quickly cast a spell to stop what was going on and the Saiyan immediately dropped back to base form. Kolard immediately started to feel calmer and more focused. His mind wasn't rushing and he wasn't as panicked. His black eyes focused on the dark blue Alicorn before him, he recognized her as the being he tried to fight when he was dropped out of his Great Ape form. Seeing the Princess in a regal gown with a silver crown instead of the armor that she had worn that night was a bit jarring for the warrior. Her telekinetic hold on him was released and he was allowed to stand on the ground. "Frieza... we Saiyans used to call him Lord Frieza when the Cold Force was renamed as the Frieza Force. I've only seen King Cold a few times in my life, he is a very imposing figure, taller than any Saiyan and even more powerful than his son, Frieza. But while Frieza was cruel and spiteful towards us Saiyans, King Cold treated us with a bit of respect despite his enslavement of us six years ago. The year would've been seven hundred and thirty-one on the Galactic Calendar. If you're wondering, I was twelve at the time. I was born to parents I never met who sent me away in the year seven hundred and nineteen," the warrior told her, his voice almost quiet as if to hide his sadness. Luna's eyes widened at this, she hadn't known that this person never got to know their parents. "So where are your parents now? Did they make it off the planet before it was destroyed?" she asked, hoping for a positive answer. Kolard shook his head wordlessly, he didn't know who his parents were. Like most Saiyans, he was born just to be an asset to the Saiyan Army and when it was found that he would've been a liability, he was discarded and abandoned. The only Saiyans that would give him the time of day were a lot like him, except they had been able to stay on Planet Vegeta. "Every other Saiyan as far as I know died on the planet in the explosion except for one Saiyan. He was sent away to a planetoid known as Vampa. From what little I know, the place is absolutely hellish, there is no way he could've survived. As far as I know and possibly will ever know, I'm the last remaining Saiyan in existence," he stated, having lost count of how many times he has said or even thought that. Luna wasn't usually a pony for openly showing affection, but hearing the tale of an abandoned child who had lost everything after turning eighteen was too much for her. The dark blue Alicorn walked over and picked up the Saiyan in a hug. It was a strange feeling for the warrior, even his adoptive parents never hugged him. He didn't understand how to react to this gesture. "Normally when somepony hugs another, it's polite to return the gesture," the Princess of the Night told him. Kolard wrapped his arms around Luna and he buried his head into her fur, starting to cry. Luna gently rubbed the back of his head, "I can't give you a family, young warrior. That is something that you will have to find for yourself. But I can promise that whenever you have a nightmare, I will step in to stop it. Seeing how badly they had affected you is indeed sobering. I have to ask though, do you truly care that much about Zecora? Enough to the thought of her being in danger started to power you up greatly?" she said to him in a gentle tone. He removed his head from her chest and looked up into her cyan eyes. "Zecora was the first pony that I've ever met, she took me in despite not knowing me and I was worried that I might have crushed or vaporized her as a Great Ape. She's... the closest thing I have to a friend and I don't want to see her get hurt," the Saiyan confessed. The Princess of the Night smiled and let go of him, "Zecora is a very wise Zebra, she will be able to help you and teach you about everything you need to learn. However, I sense there is something on your mind," she observed. The warrior turned away from her, he looked up at the sky and saw the moon, the same full moon that had turned him into a great ape. "There is a legend amongst my people. A legend known as the Super Saiyan. As the only Saiyan left, perhaps, I survived because I am the Legendary Super Saiyan. But the Super Saiyan was said to be unbeatable, impossible for anyone to even come close to defeating. His power was greater than any other's. So how could I be the Super Saiyan if I'm so weak," he lamented. The Lunar Alicorn frowned, "You're not weak, Kolard. Even if you aren't the strongest fighter in the world. Even if you aren't as strong as my sister or I, that doesn't mean that you aren't strong in your own way. You survived when no one else did, it weighs heavily on you mind and haunts your nightmares. Yet, you keep going. You keep pushing onward and I can tell that you have a desire to protect the ponies you meet as a way of atoning for what you consider your greatest failure. Someone weak would've given into despair and given up entirely. Never forget that," she scolded. A smile crossed the Saiyan's face, she wasn't wrong. "Thanks, your highness," he told her before walking away. The Princess of the Night was confused as to what the warrior was doing, "Where are you going?" she asked. He turned around with a smile, "This is my dream right? Then I can control it. It might not be real, but I'm going to have an all you can eat buffet," Kolard replied. The Lunar Princess had learned about the ravenous appetite of the Saiyan from her sister and from seeing him eat dinner. All she could do was shake her head with a smile and shrug. Her job to save him from his nightmare was done, but she had the feeling she forgot to tell him something. She decided it wasn't that important and left his dream to allow the Saiyan to eat his imaginary buffet on his own. Author's Note Since it was a dream, I decided to allow Kolard to be able to tap into Pseudo Super Saiyan, Wrathful State, and start the transformation into Super Saiyan. He does not have any of these transformations in the waking world as it was his subconscious trying to figure out what the Super Saiyan of Legend was like. As for if he's the Legendary Super Saiyan? Not even close. That title still belongs to Broly, who he assumes had died on Vampa. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 10: Training //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 10: Training Morning had arrived and Zecora was already awake, her Saiyan guest was still asleep in his bed as he had been all night. She was startled awake when he started to yell and thrash about during a nightmare, but the Zebra knew of Princess Luna and her ability to dream walk, as well as sense when somepony was having a nightmare. The shaman brewed herself some tea, which the scent of was enough to stir her guest from his sleep. "The smell of tea has caused you to wake, but I see you have yet to join us," she observed. Kolard was trying to shake off some of the sleepiness, he had just awoken from what was initially a nightmare that turned into a heavenly dream for Saiyans. He was in front of a feast that had never ended. His stomach started to growl and Zecora revealed a bunch of food that she had gathered, knowing that it would've come to this. Her guest started chowing down on the various fruits, vegetables, and meats that she had gathered. "When you are done, perhaps it would be time for our training to have begun," the shaman pointed out. It took a while for the Saiyan to stop eating, but once he did, he turned attentively towards his host, "I am ready, my teacher," he told her. The Zebra chuckled and sat down in lotus position, Kolard noticed this and imitated her, "Close your eyes and focus with your mind's eye, do not ignore what it shall disclose. Life exists all around us, with it, the forest is rife. Focus your mind on what lies outside, do not allow what is inside to leave you blind," she instructed. The low-class warrior relaxed his breathing as he closed his eyes as instructed. He focused on his mind, and then focused outwards. He couldn't sense anything. It was as if nothing was there. He could smell the different creatures and plants of the forest, but he couldn't detect them. He started pushing his aura outwards, something that did not go unnoticed by the shaman, "Relax Kolard, if you struggle too hard, you will not find magic's tracks," she told him. He reduced his aura back down and started to relax. He felt himself starting to float a bit, but not like flying, almost as if he was freed from his own body. It was as if the vessel that he inhabited was nothing more than a weight that had been holding him down, an anchor point for him to inhabit. Everything about this felt foreign to to the Sayian, he felt like he was in a new world, even newer than the one he had found himself in after woke up the first time since the destruction of his world. The low-class warrior started to see things differently. Everything stopped being completely dark as things sprung to life in his mind. He could see faint trails leading to and from his surroundings. He couldn't follow these trails, but he knew that they were there. He started to focus on the one that was directly in front of him, the one that he knew belonged to the one who had welcomed him into her home. The aura flared to life, very brightly. This knocked Kolard out of the meditative state that he was in, bringing him back to the world that was in front of his very eyes. "Most ponies do not try to sense me when they use this technique, this naturally caused you to be a bit tense," she told him without breaking her concentration. Thanks to his Saiyan biology, now that he had the basics of this technique down, it didn't take too much effort for him to get a grip on it. Instead of closing his eyes and focusing, he started to relax his mind, allowing the magic to flow into him. He was able to faintly sense everything in the near vicinity. All the different animals and plants. It was too much for him to be able to filter through. But he felt that with enough practice, that it'll be very little issue for him to be able to get a handle on the ability. "I have some ingredients I need to get, and Ponyville is the only place where I can get the reed. Would you like to walk with me, perhaps we could talk a bit," Zecora offered to her guest. "I would really like that," the low-class warrior replied truthfully. This Zebra was the one person that he trusted above all else here. She offered him her hand and he took it, lifting her onto her feet with a smile between the two of them. Neither of them really wanted to go out on their own, not while the Timberwolves were still out there. The pair of them left the hut and walked along the path towards the edge of the forest. "You have much untapped strength within you, but you have such reservations upon using it, why is that?" Zecora asked. Kolard closed his eyes for a second and laughed, "It's not common for Saiyans to be born with gentle hearts, but I was also born with a low power level. I was more or less sent off to die, but I instead survived and got stronger. My world was mostly a peaceful world, off the radar of the Cold Force for the most part. The world itself wasn't high value. Not a whole lot of resources other than food, some powerful beasts that had to be contended with. You know, that sort of thing. When I was sent to that world, I was discovered by a family of farmers and I learned how to farm. It was through that, that I learned the preciousness of life. Just how important it was to protect each and every seed, each and every sprout and every animal. While I've hunted several beasts because of a need for meat, I've never taken the life of a sentient creature. All because of how I was born and how I was raised. To be honest, I kind of like it here. All of the ponies have accepted me as if I was one of their own. And you, Zecora, you are someone that though I've not known you for very long, I can feel a kinship between us. We both want to help others in our own ways," he told her. The two of them arrived in Ponyville, where Kolard could see the various ponies going about their usual affairs. But something didn't sit right with him, he couldn't put his finger on it, but his instincts told him that something was a bit off. Nothing seemed different and Zecora didn't seem on edge. He wondered if this was something that only he could sense, and if it was magical in nature to begin with. Then it hit him, a slightly rancid smell. A familiar one though, the Saiyan's stomach churned inside him as the smell grew stronger. There was food that had gone bad. He walked towards the source in question, it was just a small food stall, "Your wares are overripe," he stated to the pony in question, a dark red Pegasus mare with green hair. She looked at him and then down at her wares, "Wait, how do you know that they've spoiled?" she stated, confused as she looked back up at him. Kolard pointed towards one of the vegetables in particular, "These things aren't exactly that much different from the vegetables that I helped grow and learned how to on the farm. Most of the people where I come from were farmers, it was how we survived day to day. It wasn't an easy life, but it was honest. And my sharper sense of smell from the people I grew up with allowed me to tell when their produce was going bad before they could. It helped my family's farm before I chose to become the protector of the farm," he told her. The Pegasus nodded, "I know it's a bit odd, but I wanted to try my hand at being a farmer. The Earth Ponies make it look so easy, but I guess it really is harder than I thought," she stated, somewhat dejected. The low-class warrior folded his arms with a chuckle, "It was hard for me to get used to. These things take time and if you want to grow more food for your people, that's very admirable. It takes patience and courage to step out of one's comfort zone and to learn something new," he stated, reassuringly. The two of them shared a laugh with each other and then smiled. "Food preservation techniques also help, I would recommend asking ponies a thing or two about those. I'd teach you a few myself, but Equestria is more advanced than where I came from, at least from what I've seen. I hope you'll find the answers that you're looking for," he stated. The two of them waved at each other and Kolard wandered back off to try to find Zecora. One would think that a Zebra would be easy to spot in a sea of ponies, but it seemed nigh impossible. Knowing that he could fly, he took to the air and started to look around from above, but that didn't help either. It seemed like nothing was going to be able to help him find the one he came with. The Saiyan remembered what she had taught him and focused his mind, searching for her magic. He found it in a shop, it was faint, but strong enough for him to pick it up. The low-class warrior flew to the shop and landed at the door. He walked in and smiled as he saw the shaman standing there, ordering some ingredients. "You are more than welcome to visit, Kolard, but if this potion I am brewing backfires, you'll be very sore indeed," she warned. Though this stung a little, the Saiyan knew what the Zebra was talking about regarding that. There was a medicine man where he came from that stayed away from their villages in case something went wrong. It caused a lot of suspicion, but when the warrior had gone to confront this medicine man, he learned that the old man just stayed away from the villages so that if something went wrong, no one would get hurt. "I understand. But Zecora, if anything happens, don't be afraid to come find me, I like you and see you as a friend. I'll do anything I can in my power to help you," he told her. The Zebra nodded and the two of them shook hands with a smile. There was an understanding between the two and they left the shop together, but went their separate ways. Zecora went back to her forest and Kolard went towards the outskirts of town. He wanted to be able to focus on training his new magic sense so that he'd be able to use it more, but with so many ponies in a single place, he was afraid that it would burn his senses out or at best, just blind him. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he was afraid of the changelings, he wanted to be ready for them. If they could turn into copies of him, then that might be a problem for the ponies that he had chosen to protect. He quietly slipped into meditation and followed his mentor's instructions. Author's Note Despite having focused more on Mega Man because of the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, this fic has been bouncing around in my head. I've not forgotten it and kept all of my old notes. Though I've made a few alterations to those notes