Some time had passed since Arctic had begun training the Crusaders. The three had been doing well. They had slowly begun to get the hang of it and were able to fly. Needless to say, they were ecstatic. But not nearly as much as Scootaloo. She was so happy to finally be able to fly, she cried. She cried and thanked Arctic for helping her learn ki and gain the ability to fly. Even Rainbow Dash was excited. Finally having a new fly buddy, and seeing the little filly she often viewed as a little sister, finally flying alongside her. It was a sweet moment.

After that had passed, Arctic was out with Fluttershy. she had asked him to come with her and Angel to gather some fish and other things for her animal friends in the Everfree. With the Grand Galloping Gala right around the corner, she wanted to have food ready and out while they were all gone.

“I really appreciate you coming to help me Arctic.” Fluttershy said.

“No problem, Shy. So what are we looking for?” Arctic asked.

“Oh, well. We’re picking berries, gathering fish, and a few other things. Especially carrots.” Fluttershy said, looking over to Angel.

“Yeah. Gotta make sure ol’ Mr. Angel has his carrots.” Arctic chuckled as he pet Angel’s head.

Angel wanted to bat Arctic’s hand away, but decided that the head pats felt too good to stop. Angel had been wary of Arctic for a while. But eventually got used to him, even starting to like him. Which was new to Fluttershy, as Angel didn’t really like anyone. He barely liked the others.

Arctic grinned as he pet Angel when a thought hit him.

“Hey Fluttershy?”

“Yeah?” Fluttershy asked as she looked to Arctic.

“So, are you gonna go find that Thestral?” Arctic asked.

“Thestral?” Fluttershy repeated.

Fluttershy thought for a bit, then it clicked. The Thestral that turned Fluttershy into one back when the Thestrals attacked at Froggy Bottom Bog. It took a bit for Fluttershy to remember her name but she did. Cattleya Orchid was her name.

“Oh yeah. I remember. What about her?” Fluttershy asked.

“Didn’t you say that she was going to teach you about being a Thestral?” Arctic asked.

“Oh, well, yeah. But I don’t know. Being a Thestral, it seems interesting. I don’t know anything about being one though. I guess I should find her and learn more with her. I don’t know where she is.” Fluttershy said.

“Wasn’t she part of Queen Luna’s guard? Maybe after the Gala, you could ask to meet the Thestral and she can take you to learn more about your new self.” Suggested Arctic. “Plus, you’ll need to learn to control that transformation.”

“I guess you’re right.” Fluttershy said.

Both of them remembered Fluttershy’s transformation. Back at the cave, fighting Barite. How her hair shifted from its usual pink to white, how her body grew slightly, her eyes changing color. It was strange to Fluttershy. Well, scary is more like it. She had never done anything like that. Let rage take over and make her beat down on somepony. It was terrifying for her. She really will need to learn to control this newfound transformation.

Fluttershy looked over to Arctic.

“Do you think I could really learn to control this new form?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I learned to control my super saiyan form. I’m sure you can learn to control your form.” Arctic said. “Just need to get experience with that Thestral lady.”

Fluttershy looked away. She began to think about something. She had been wondering about it, but never really asked. She finally decided to ask.

“Hey, Arctic?”

“Yeah, Shy?” Arctic looked over to her.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, but, how did you first go Super Saiyan?” Fluttershy asked.

Arctic smiled and was about to recount the story of how he first went Super Saiyan, when a noise caught their attention.

They both glanced around, trying to find the source of the noise.

Just then, a group of Timberwolves ran by. It wasn’t common to see Timberwolves run away from something, so the fact that they were running had the two on high alert.

As they looked around, Angel jumped and quickly patted Arctic on the cheek.

“What is it, Angel?”

Ange pointed his paw in a direction. Arctic followed Angel’s paw and noticed a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

“What the buck is that?” Arctic asked.

The glowing eyes raised up. Then, before Arctic knew it, he was flying backwards, nose now bleeding. He quickly stopped himself and caught Angel, who had been flung off his shoulder.

Arctic looked up to where his attacker stood, but it wasn’t there. Then, a wave of ki washed over him. He moved away as a hoofed leg swung at him, trying to kick him. What really shocked him, was that he felt Ki.

While he could sense Ki, he could also sense magic. Magic and Ki felt different. Ki felt more erratic, yet calming at the same time. Yet Magic felt more soothing. You could look at it as Ki being a slightly erratic wave in a storm. And Magic is like a calm, gentle flow of water.

So, feeling Ki in a place dominated by magic threw him off.

Arctic swung around and threw a kick as well. Both legs collided in a burst of expelled Ki and a tremendous shockwave. Now, Arctic was able to get a much clearer view of what was attacking. And it was unlike anything Arctic had ever seen before.

What stood before Arctic was a bipedal creature. It stood about a few inches taller than him. It was covered in brown fur. It had legs that resembled the back legs of a pony, with a face that closely resembled something similar to Arctic.. It wore blue pants and a large white cloak. A pair of curved horns were atop its head, grey hair, and a pendant tied around one of them.

Arctic jumped back, surprised to see this creature. He had never seen such a thing before, nor had he heard of whatever this is.

Just then, it held out its hands and fired an energy blast. Arctic swung his fist and knocked it away as Fluttershy rushed in. She had transformed again. She swung multiple punches at the creature.

“How dare you attack my friend, you meanie!” Fluttershy bellowed.

Arctic jumped in and started attacking alongside Fluttershy.

The two fought hard together. The creature was barely holding his own, but slowly began to lose ground. They kept up the fight, till something caught their attention. A large Ursa Major lumbered over, having been awoken by the three’s fight.

Arctic and Fluttershy looked at the creature as it looked back. They split up and ran off to avoid the Ursa Major. By the time they reached the edge of Ponyville, they stopped to catch her breath.

Fluttershy collapsed, falling out of her form, yet again completely drained.

“What was that thing?” Arctic asked in confusion and slight curiosity. “Have you ever seen something like that, Shy?”

“N… No.” Fluttershy panted. “May..Maybe Twilight knows what it is?”

“Guess I’ll have to ask her later.” Arctic said.

Angel hopped out from Arctic’s shirt, dazed and a bit angry.

“What’s wrong Angel?” Fluttershy asked as she looked over to the upset bunny.

Angel tapped his belly which growled.

“Oh right. We still need to go gather food.” Arctic said.

The pony and Saiyan groaned as they forced themselves to get up and trudge back off into the Everfree Forest.

Author's Note

Design of the new character