Dragon Road Season 1

Kai broke from his meditation and glanced back. His eyes met Rarity's. He'd felt her eyes on him ever since she took a seat and started sipping at the coffee he had made for them, but he was confused as to why she was staring.

“What's up, Rarity?” Rarity blinked.

“Ah. I was just curious about something…” Kai gestured for her to continue. “Fluttershy told me that… after I had been killed by Cargo, you flew into a rage.” He nodded, long past that moment. “She told me your mane spiked up and turned blonde. I've… actually been curious about that ever since she told me.”

Kai scratched at his head.

“I… don't actually know what that was. Some sort of transformation, I'm sure, but I've known another race to transform when they were angry, and it definitely wasn't that. Maybe it's some sort of… super saiyan.” He mused, crossing his arms to give it further thought.

“Are you able to do it again?”

“Yeah. It took a little while to learn to use it freely, but I'm far from mastery.”

“How can you tell?”

“It still takes too much energy to keep up the form. I've gotta train harder.” Rarity stared for a bit longer.

“Can I see—” A knocking at the door interrupted her question. Rarity sighed and walked to the door. “I'll get it.” When she opened it, she was pleasantly surprised to see… “Rainbow Dash?”

But the pegasus had an odd glare on her face. Clearly she meant business.

“Where's Kai? I heard he lives with you.” Hearing his name, Kai approached, and in perfect sync, Rarity moved to be replaced by Kai. “You. I challenge you to a fight!”

Chapter 14

The Monster, Exposed

In an area just outside of Ponyville, Kai stood across from Rainbow Dash, with Rarity standing afar to spectate. Kai stretched out, while Rainbow Dash continued to glare.

“Kai, do you really have to do this?” Wondered Rarity. After all, she knew as well as anyone who was stronger between the two. This seemed unnecessary.

“I've been challenged. As a warrior, I would be insulting myself and Rainbow Dash if I declined.” From that, Rarity knew Kai was lying. After all, he had started declining ponies when he was younger, until they forced the fights. Something was different here, but he wouldn't tell.

“Let's do this, already.” Rainbow Dash declared impatiently. Kai nodded and took a stance. Seeing he was ready, Rainbow Dash flew at him, already rearing back a punch. “Hyah!”

With a circular movement, Kai moved his hand to intercept her hoof, spin her through the air, and finally redirect her momentum into the ground, forcing her to fall onto her back. For a few seconds, she stayed there, staring. It was as if she hadn't quite registered what had happened yet. Kai took this time to lecture her.

“When you attack in anger, your only thought is to hit your enemy. At that point, you're pretty predictable.” Rainbow Dash sprang up and leapt at him.

“How's THIS for anger!?” Again, Kai only averted her momentum, forcing her to the ground. Again and again, she tried to strike Kai, only to fall short each time. Be it a dodge, a guard, or yet another redirection into the ground, she became increasingly frustrated. “Rrg! Hold still!”

Her wishes were obliged. Kai stopped moving, instead deciding to guard the next blow with his hand. Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide, and she tried to pull herself free. Nothing. Kai simply stared at her, and his scowl was unnerving to her.

“…I'm faster and stronger than you. Think you can win?”

“I KNOW I can win!” Kai smiled, even as he caught the other punch.

“Good. Then, when you wake up, I'll help you make that a reality.”

“Wha—ack…!” She couldn't do much else after suffering a chop to the back of her neck. She started falling to the ground, but just before her consciousness faded, she found her second wind. Not even Kai had been expecting it, so he ended up taking the next high-speed punch right to the jaw. “Heh… Gotcha…” With that, the pegasus fell, unconscious.

Before Kai could even kneel to pick her up, she was enshrouded by a blue aura. He glanced at an approaching Rarity, who sighed while shrugging.

“She didn't last a single minute against you. You knew she wouldn't. Now spill it, why did you accept her challenge?” She would have her question answered one way or another.

Luckily for her, Kai was in a sharing mood.

“I wanted to get a gist of her fighting ability. You girls are the real heroes, remember? The Elements of Harmony made it so.” Kai crossed his arms. “But, say you fight someone like myself or Cargo. We may get cocky, but we won't just stand in the way of a pretty slow attack like you girls used. If that fails, you'll have to beat the crap outta your enemy, and I won't always be around. I just figured maybe I could get one of you trained to do just that, and who better than Rainbow Dash—someone with the will and the want to battle.”

Rarity stared for a while. It made… almost too much sense. And yet, that was implying that not only would they face troublesome opponents again, but that they would be the main line of defense, and with the Elements of Harmony. He was also assuming there would exist more enemies of Kai or Cargo's caliber, and that Kai himself could be occupied while they needed dealing with.

“…You're absolutely insane.” Was all she could get out. Kai chuckled and shrugged. “But it's a great idea. The only issue is she might not want to be trained by you.”

“That's the thing about us warriors, sis. If there's a way to get stronger, we find it. She'll accept, sometime soon.” Though Kai seemed sure, Rarity knew Rainbow Dash's stubborness a bit better, so she simply turned to start walking back home.

“If you say so.”

“Kai!”

“Woah!” He hadn't taken more than ten steps out of his front door before catching a huge pink bullet. That bullet called his name. He looked at the mare in his hands and gave his memory a ping. “Pinkie Pie? Uh, nice to meet you properly—”

“Kai! I need a totally unbiased opinion!”

“Uh… I've never had one a raspberry, but they don't look particularly good or bad? Like that?” Pinkie Pie blinked, before shaking her head.

“Never had raspberries!? Here, have one!” Pinkie proceeded to blow a raspberry in Kai's face. He dropped her. “Anyway! Rainbow Dash—you know Rainbow Dash, right?”

“Yea—”

“Rainbow Dash has a griffon-friend but she's super mean! She popped my balloons and told me to buzz off! She's the meanest but Twilight told me it's my fault!” Kai cocked his head.

“How's it on you if she's being the jerk?”

“That's what I'm wondering!”

“Huh. Maybe we can catch her in the act of being a jerk and expose her.” Naturally, Kai's first response was to offer help. He gave that idea a second thought and considered his stance in Ponyville. “Wait, actually—”

“That sounds like a great idea! Let's go!” Without listening further, Pinkie pulled Kai into town, to a specific location.

It was pretty bizare… Kai had known few ponies to not freak out around him. From what he gathered of her personality, Fluttershy hadn't freaked out their first encounter because she was in a really bad place mentally. The other girls had seen him and were saved by him, so knew he wasn't bad. Today, he met two more ponies who didn't mind him existing. Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They welcomed him kindly, even serving him a milkshake on the house, as the commemoration of his first time entering their establishment, Sugarcube Corner.

That only occupied Kai's mind for a bit. His focus returned to Pinkie, who had somehow guessed correctly that Rainbow Dash's griffon-friend would be left alone at the nearby market area. Their job was scouting, it seemed.

And… wow, what a scouting job. Rather, what an easy scouting job. The griffon, Gilda, as soon as she was left alone, scared the applesauce out of Granny Smith, then stole an apple. But, unlike Kai's plan, she had done these acts so quickly and smoothly, they didn't have the time to bounce on her. On top of that, Pinkie seemed to be second guessing herself due to Twilight's poor advice, so she tried giving Gilda the benefit of the doubt.

That lasted up until they noticed Fluttershy walking backwards. Kai almost called out in confusion, but it became clear that she was hearding ducks through town, likely to a suitable home. The problem? She was on the same path as Gilda. And so, inevitably…

“Hey.” Fluttershy glanced back, giving an apologetic smile.

“Please exuse me.” She barely even finished before Gilda was in her face.

“I'm walkin' here.” Fluttershy backed up, suddenly terrified. The griffon kept walking towards her, not helping her nerves.

“I-I'm sorry. I was j-just trying to—”

“‘I'm sorry, I'm sorry.’” Gilda mocked. “Why don't you watch where you're going, doofus?”

If there was nothing else he hated…

Kai abhorred bullies. And he wasn't going to watch this anymore. If the spectating citizens wouldn't defend their own, Kai certainly would.

And so, it was a shock for everyone when Gilda suddenly found herself covered in a chocolate milkshake. Things seemed to freeze as she registered what had happened. Then, she glared. Her glare flicked from pony to pony, until landing on Kai, who approached with an empty glass in his hand.

“Did YOU throw that, dweeb?”

Kai ignored her in favor of kneeling in front of Fluttershy.

“…Go.” Fluttershy nodded, and flew away immediately. The saiyan stood back up.

“I asked you a question, dweeb!” When Kai finally did turn to face her, Gilda almost flinched at the anger in his eyes. Kai shifted his glare to the townsponies, who backed up fearfully.

“When one of your own is threatened, you just stand by and watch. But when you see something unknown, you hate it with everything you have…” Kai allowed an aura of blue ki to surround him. “You know what? Enough. I don't care about trying to justify myself. Not anymore.” Rather than a deepening glare, Kai grinned in a way that made Gilda flinch. “You want a monster? You'll get one.”

And the next instant, Kai was holding Gilda's face into the ground, the resulting crack making it clear just how hard he slammed her.

That was it. The was no large fight between the two—Gilda was knocked right out. Kai turned a bit, and smirked at the fearful ponies watching.

“Run.” With that issued from their source of fear, everypony scattered and got out of there as soon as they could. Kai, meanwhile, walked back to the table with Pinkie, his grin falling as he sat back down. “…Sorry you had to see that.”

“It's okay.” Kai lifted a brow. He hadn't expected to hear that. “You did that because you saw how mean she was being, and she was even about to make Fluttershy cry!” Pinkie smiled at him. “I know I wouldn't have done that… but what you did… I know it was just the way you show how much you care!”

The saiyan chuckled, stretching out in his seat.

“You know, you're alright, Pinkie.”

“And you're all left!” Kai blinked, then smiled, simply enjoying the silent atmosphere with Pinkie.

The next day found a unique situation. Kai was sitting with Sweetie Belle, the filly in his lap as he held a book open in front of her.

“Do we have to…?”

“Only because somepony failed her science test.” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Now, what happens to the molecules of a solid?”

“Um… they're… solid too?”

“…Well, technically…” Kai shook his head. “No! They are tightly woven together, rigid, almost.”

“What does rigid mean?”

“Are you failing ponish, too?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, look.” Sweetie Belle looked up at Kai, but her eyes went wide. Kai looked up, as well, and quirked a brow. The ceiling from their side of the couch to around the next door was about to fall. A solid three meters of ceiling. Kai discharged a blast of ki destroying only what was about to fall, then looked back at Sweetie. “…”

“…”

…And in perfect sync.

“Rarity! The ceiling broke!”

Kai's plan was for Rarity to telekineses the replacement boards up to place, but no, she thought it would be best if he fixed it with his flying abilities, and if she tutored Sweetie Belle instead. Truth be told, yes, Rarity was the better tutor. After all, she was the only one of them who went through all of her years of schooling. Sweetie was failing hers, and Kai didn't get to go to school.

“Huh.” Kai hammered the plank of wood over the hole. “I didn't even know I knew how to use a hammer.” Also true, Kai was not versed in even quick fixes, let alone building things.

That was neither here nor there when he sensed a quickly approaching attack. He bent all the way back, cinematically dodging a blue blur as it passed over him, but then immediately having to posture back up to check a punch with his own, another one, and then form a cross-guard against a frontwards buck.

Rose eyes burned into onyx.

“You hurt my friend!” In recent years, Kai wasn't stupid. He saw this coming.

“She was a menace to the town. I did us all a favor.”

“Liar! What's that supposed to mean, anyways!?”

“She's a thief, a jerk and a bully. She was about to make Fluttershy cry. That griffon's lucky to be…” Kai broke their clash abruptly by spreading his arms harshly. “…alive!”

Rainbow Dash glared seriously, unable to tell if she was being lied to. But… after staring for another few seconds, she decided.

“…Gilda… always did seem like she'd do those things. But… you get it, right?”

“Yeah. You never want to imagine your friends as being bad… no matter who tells you. It's like a sense of—”

“Loyalty.”

“Exactly.”

Rainbow Dash looked away for another few seconds. Then, her face suddenly took on a red hue.

“…What did you mean the other day… ‘make that a reality’?” Kai smirked.

“Let me finish up here. Then I'll show you what I mean.”

“…Rocks?”

“Just wait.” Kai gathered several rocks inside of a satchel, until it was filled to the brim. “You ever do weight training?”

“Weight training?”

“Yeah. Basically, you just train as normal, but with extra weight on you.”

“I've used hoof weights before, but it's not my style.”

“Well, make this your style.” Kai threw the satchel of rocks to Rainbow Dash, who couldn't catch it's unexpected weight.

“This is way too heavy! I can't train wearing this.”

“Really? This is like a feather compared to the weight I was started off at. In any case, until you're hefting that thing without even noticing it, you aren't ready to learn anything else.” Kai turned and walked away with a two-fingered salute. “See ya.”

“Wait.” He stopped, but didn't turn. “…By, anything else… you mean those cool lasers and stuff, right?” At his chuckle, Rainbow Dash's glare hardened. “Give me a week. I'll get used to it in a week.”

“Better get to it, then.” Without another word, Kai truly left, leaving Rainbow Dash to sling on the satchel and start training.