Pony Ball GT

A/N: This chapter features a lot of characters from the Dragonball Universe being introduced all at the same time. Due to the length of time you have been waiting for this chapter, I will not be going through their physical description like I usually do. However, their names double as a link to their Wiki page in case you don't know much about the character.

WEST CITY, CAPSULE CORPORATION

FUTURE TRUNKS TIMELINE

Applejack is standing in the center of an underground room of Capsule Corp. Her eyes are closed, and her breathing is deep and steady. Trunks sits on the floor, and is leaning up against a wall; watching her carefully.

Applejack tenses up, and grits her teeth; letting out a quiet grunt. A bead of sweat rolls down the left side of her face. "C'mon... Ah feel it... Just a little more..."  She takes in one more deep breath, slowly exhales... and she gently lifts off the ground. She slowly lifts higher and higher into the air, and comes to a stop about four feet up. When she realizes that she doesn't feel the floor beneath her hooves anymore, she opens her eyes and looks down. Her eyes go wide, and she cheers excitedly to herself. "Yeehaw! Ah did it! Ah'm really flyi- WAH!", she yelps out as she loses focus on staying airborne, and falls back to the floor with a loud thud; landing flat on her stomach.

"Pony feathers... Ah had it.", Applejack complains to herself.

"Flight will eventually become second nature.", Trunks chimes in. "It's hard at first, but you'll get the hang of it. That was good for your first try, though."

"Thanks. I'ma work hard at this all day. I'll have this down before I let maself rest.", she replies with confidence.

"Good.", Trunks says with a nod. "Understand, though, that right now you have a very limited ki pool to draw from. This will severely limit how long you can stay in the air, and how fast you can fly."

"Makes sense. Ah just gotta train as much as possible. So when it comes time, I won't be dead weight."

"You do know that you won't be strong enough to fight the androids, right? Not with the limited time frame I have to train you.", Trunks asks her.

"Yeah, ah know. But y'all 'er gonna have a hard enough fight as it is. Y'all don't need me holdin' ya down. If ah train from now till we leave, ah bet ah could look fer the dragon balls on ma own. The Apple family ain't never had a fifth wheel, and ah sure as hay ain't gon' be the first!", Applejack proudly exclaims.

"Sounds like your family is full of hard workers."

"Yep. Always has been.", Applejack cheerfully responds. "The Apple family has always been a hardy bunch. Mah family practically founded the town we call home. Since then, we've always been a staple a hard work in Ponyville. Anytime anypony needed a set a hooves they knew could handle the job, they came to us. We're honest, dependable, and... and..." Her speech trailed off, as the next word she intended to say dredged up a painful memory. She looks away from Trunks, and seemingly goes into a daze.

"Had you any kind of real strength, I would have been in trouble."

"And strong...", she finally finishes.

"Applejack, is something wrong?", he asks; noticing her odd behavior.

Her ears droop, and she looks at the floor as she sighs. "An Apple is always as strong as we need to be. Ah've always thought a maself as bein' strong. Ah mean, the only pony in town that was stronger than me was ma brother, Big Macintosh. But, then... one punch... one punch turned ma whole world upside down."

"The incident that happened after my father showed up?", Trunks questions.

Applejack weakly nods. "Yeah... Flyin' without wings, blowin' stuff up... Ah thought it was all just some kinda new magic. But, magic don't affect how strong ya are. Ah kicked Star Binder square in the jaw. Ah put everythin' ah had into it. His jaw shoulda came clean off. But... he... he acted like he didn't even feel it. With one light punch, he broke every bone in ma chest. He knocked me so far and high that it broke two a ma legs when ah hit the ground. When ah came too, everythin' was over. Vegeta was gone. Twilight disappeared. Tha ones who caused all that ruckus turned good. 'For ah had a chance to figure out what was goin' on, it was all over."

"Once ah could hit the orchards again, ah thought ma troubles were over; save for a few nightmares about nearly dyin'. Ah was back to bein' that strong mare ah knew ah was. Then ah got caught up in this mess. Ah wind up here, an' even ran into the androids. Jus' like Star Binder, ah kicked 'er dead in the face... Jus ta get reminded a how weak ah really am..." Applejack places one of her fore hooves against her chest. Her eyes close, and her face bears a look of sadness. "Ah don't belong here. I ain't no fighter. Ah hate fightin'. Should always be some way around things without drawn' somepony's blood. Life back home is peaceful. Ain't no need for anypony not in the Royal Guard ta learn how ta fight. 'T's how it's s'posed to be."

Applejack's mood does a sudden about-face as she pulls her fore hoof away from her chest, and slams it into the floor. "But that ain't tha way it is anymore!", she loudly exclaims. "Ah hate fightin', but ah ain't got a choice but to fight if ah wanna live to see home again! Ah'll fight! Ah'll get strong! Ah'll live to see home again! An' when ah get back, ah'll get even stronger! I'ma make sure that no pony ever has to wake up screamin' to tha same nightmares ah have for the past year! NO PONY! Ah ain't gone be the Apple's first fifth wheel, but ah sure as hay am gone be it's first fighter! Nah let's get back to it. Ah got a lot a ground to cover!"

_____________________________________________________________________

West City, Capsule Corporation

Current Timeline

Vegeta is leaning against the center console in his gravity training room. Discord is lounging in a folding chair he has stuck to the ceiling. They're watching Pinkie Pie march in a circle around the room in three times gravity. Discord  looks at his wrist, and miniature sun dial appears there. "Well, she's been going about twenty minutes without stopping.", says Discord; sounding bored. "Impressive as it is,  this is rather boring to watch."

"You could just leave.", Vegeta suggests in an aggravated tone. "And how does a sun dial work indoors?"

"Oh ho ho.", Discord chuckles. "The same way your hair stays standing in three hundred times gravity."

"And how is that?", Vegeta asks; knowing full well he's not going get a straight answer from the Lord of Chaos.

Discord smiles, and taps his fingers together. "Because reasons."

Vegeta closes his eyes and facepalms. "Ugh. Why do I put up with you..."

Discord's smile grows wider, and he responds in a slightly higher pitched voice. "Because more reasons."

"You make me regret bringing you here more and more with each passing day."

"Oomph!", Vegeta hears right in front of him. He diverts his attention from Discord, and looks to the source of the sound. Pinkie has slipped, and now lies on the floor on her stomach.

"Get up. You haven't earned a break yet.", Vegeta scolds her.

Pinkie doesn't verbally respond. She takes in several quick, shallow breaths, and attempts to force herself back up. Despite the boundless amount of energy she seems to possess, she feels as though she's already reached her limits, and is unable to stand up.

"If you don't get up now, it's going to get even worse.", Vegeta tells her.

"You know he's not bluffing.", Pinkamena chimes in. "You'd better get up now, or you may not get up ever again."

"I... I can't... It's too hard...", Pinkie mentally responds.

"You've dug your own grave by asking me to train you.", Vegeta callously tells her as he increases the gravity in the room to times four. "If you thought I was going to take it easy on you in the beginning, then you're a bigger fool than Lunalia when she tried to goad me into killing Celestia. Now get up, or die trying."

Pinkie's best efforts go to waste, as the increased gravity has left her pinned to the floor.

"Is this the best you can do? You're worthless!", Pinkamena taunts.

"No I'm not!", Pinkie mentally shouts back.

"You're stuck to the floor. That seems pretty worthless to me. As far as I can tell by this point, convincing you to do this was a waste of time. Guess you don't want to see your friends smile anymore.", Pinkamena continues to berate.

Visions of her friends in despair floated through Pinkie's mind. "Yes... I... do!", she struggles to say aloud, and manages to work her fore hooves to the floor.

"Ha! At this rate you'll either die, or fail at controlling yourself and kill again!", Pinkamena continues to taunt as she flashes the bloodied images of Star Binder through her host's mind.

"No... I... won't!",  Pinkie openly shouts back as she manages to work her rear hooves to the floor. She pushes against the floor with strength beyond what she has; trying to block out the vile images her darker side is forcing into the forefront her mind. "Kkkkkkkkk...",  she grunts through her grit teeth as sweat pours from her face, and strains every muscle in her body to fight the intense gravity. Very slowly, her center inches away from the floor. "I won't lose control! I'll see me friends smile! This will be worth it!"

Pinkie Pie's legs begin to stall out from fatigue. "And you had such a good start. You aren't cut out for this. Just quit.", Pinkamena taunts further.

"I won't lose! I won't lose! I won't lose!", Pinkie chants to herself while she mentally battles her other half, and continues to fight against the increased gravity. Her legs begin to extend again, though now much slower than before. "I... WON'T... LOSE!", she throws her head up, and screams as her legs reach full extension.

Vegeta watches her in disbelief. He is in a state of pure shock. Despite agreeing to train her, he firmly believed she would want to quit after realizing just how hard it was going to be. Yet, here she was, standing in four times earth's natural gravity. "Unbelievable! Just last night this much gravity pinned her to the floor! Was yelling at herself like that really that effective!? It was almost like she was talking to someone else. I wonder if... THAT incident has something to do with this...", Vegeta ponders. He reaches over to the gravity controls, presses a button, and the machine powers down.

Once the gravity of the room has returned to normal, Pinkie drops to her knees. Her breathing was quick and shallow, and her thoughts were almost incoherent.

"You're welcome.", Pinkamena tells her.

"For what? You were being mean to me!", Pinkie replies.

"Well, duh. It's called destructive criticism. It helped, didn't it? I think you owe me a 'thank you'."

Before Pinkie can even think over her other half's words, Vegeta unknowingly interrupts the conversation. "Pinkie... Is what Rarity and Fluttershy told me true? Did you really kill him?"

Pinkie Pie's breathing levels out, and she lets out a sigh as her eyes look to the floor. "Y-Yeah... I killed Star Binder..."

"I'd only spoken with you twice before that happened, but what you did completely contradicted the attitude you displayed around me. What happened to make you do that?", Vegeta asks her.

"I... I was just trying to be nice. He was trying to hurt everypony. I just thought he maybe never ever had any friends. I tried to be his friend... tried to show him he didn't have to hurt anypony. But he... he didn't want my friendship. He beat me up... He kept throwing me into a pile of glass. But what hurt more... hurt more than anything..." Pinkie stops talking for a moment, and uses a hoof to wipe away a few tears welling up in her eyes. "He told me I was a waste... Nothing I did was worth anything. After that... it was all a blur. I keep having nightmares about what I did... But the accident itself... I can only remember eency weency teency little things about it... Until I looked in my hooves, and was holding his heart..."

Pinkie Pie is no longer able to hold back her tears, and they begin to steadily stream down her face as she sobs. "I couldn't stop him... and he hurt Applejack... he killed Cadance... Twilight vanished... all because of me. If I had been stronger, I could have stopped. Cadance wouldn't have died, Applejack would have been okay,  Twilight would still be home, and I could have stopped Star without killing him..."

"Hmph. You are a fool.", Vegeta tells her with no qualms.

Pinkie attempts to dry her eyes, and looks up at Vegeta with confusion in her eyes. "Wha... What do you mean?"

"You think it's that simple? You think your enemies will just bow down when they realize they can't beat you? No. That's not how it works. When they realize they can't beat you, they get desperate. And, when they get desperate..."

Pinkie leans in closer to Vegeta; drawn in by what he's saying.

"When they get desperate, they're willing to resort to anything that could kill you. No matter how crazy it is."

"B-But if I'm strong enough, they can't beat me...", Pinkie says; trying to contradict the Saiyan prince.

"I said no matter how crazy... That includes something that could potentially kill them too.", Vegeta explains. "When Kakarrot ascended to Super Saiyan, he completely outclassed Frieza. When Frieza realized he couldn't win, he resorted to trying to destroy the planet. Cell did the same thing when he fought Gohan. Majin Buu attempted the same thing when Kakarrot and I fused to stop him. The point is, if you think just being strong enough to stop them is enough, you are a fool."

Pinkie's ears droop, and she looks to the floor. "Are you going to stop training me then... Since I don't want to kill?"

Vegeta puts his hands on her head, and forces her to look him in the eyes. "Hehehe. No. I told you. Until I say otherwise, you belong to me. I will change your way of thinking. You wanted ME to train you, so I will. Before this is over, I will have you molded into a fighting machine."

Pinkie Pie loudly gulps. "What did I let you talk me into, Pinkamena?"

__________________________________________________________

KAMI'S LOOKOUT

"OW!", Rainbow Dash yelps out as she runs face first into the pillar of an archway... for what seems like the hundredth time today. "Do I seriously have to wear the blindfold? I can't even sense you right now, Mr. Popo, let alone these pillars that don't give off a presence at all! At least quit running between them!"

"You need to feel out my presence, and closely follow my movements.", Mr. Popo responds. "As long as you move the same way I do, you'll avoid the pillars."

"Geez. Easier said than done!", Dash complains. "I can't even sense you at all, yet! Just give me some of that weighted clothing you gave everyone else so I can get started on the real training. This just feels so pointless! I need to focus on getting stronger so I can floor these saiyans."

Rainbow Dash is joined by Goku, Krillin, and a group of their close friends that all rank as the strongest fighters in the world; Yamucha, Tien, Chaozu, and Yajirobe. Together, they all hope to reach new levels of strength so they may defend the Earth in one year from the coming saiyans.

"Are these saiyans really that strong?", asks Yamucha.

"Like you wouldn't believe.", answers Krillin. "The one that we fought a few days ago knocked me through Muten Roshi's home with just his tail. He almost killed Goku and Piccolo like it was nothing."

Goku nods in agreement. "Yeah. If Rainbow Dash hadn't jumped in, we would have been dead. She killed him easier than he beat us, and the two that are on their way are supposed to be much stronger than her. Even I'm a bit scared..."

"Wow. That's really unusual for you, Goku.", Tien speaks up. "You're usually the first one to run into the fight. For you to be even the slightest bit scared... These guys must be unreal."

Chaozu tugs on Tien's pants leg. "Tien, do you think we can do it?"

Tien looks down sternly at Chaozu as he clenches his quivering fist. "We don't really have a choice. It's going to take nothing less than everything we have to prepare for these guys."

Yajirobe has stood off to the side, and remained quiet the entire time as though he were thinking about something. "So let me get this straight... The talking horse with wings isn't dinner?"

"Hey, you creep! I can't see you, but I can still hear you!", Dash angrily shouts to Yajirobe.

"Settle down, everyone.", Kami says as he approaches the group. "Rainbow Dash, you need to be patient. Learning how to sense ki will become essential in battle. Being able to react to what you can't see may save your life."

"I know, but... but we don't know how strong these guys are gonna be! So I need to get as strong as I can! I have to make sure I can stop them. I have to make sure this world is safe when Twilight shows up!", Dash responds.

"Twilight? Wasn't that the name of your friend that disappeared? Why would she show up here?", Krillin asks her.

Rainbow Dash nods. "Well, she did the same thing Garlic Jr. did.", she starts to explain as she pulls off her blindfold. "She watched her sister-in-law die, and she lost control of her magic. When that happened, she opened the exact some kind of portal that Garlic did, and got knocked inside. When Lunalia explained where Twilight was, she said she was in a world just like this one where there were no ponies. But the weird thing is, she just kind of appears, and then she disappears again not much later."

"So that's what changed your mind about staying.", Goku says. "Hopefully you're right about your friend."

"Yeah... Thing is, even if she does show up here, how will I know? How in the world am I gonna find her?"

"You may leave that to me.", states Kami with a smile. "I can see much of what is happening in the lower realm. I will keep a close eye out for your friend."

"What!? That's awesome! With that, I won't really have to worry about it, and can focus on my training! Thanks a lot, Kami!", Rainbow Dash ecstatically shouts.

"It is of no problem, Rainbow Dash. Your plight, and the plight of your friend Twilight, is something I am deeply concerned about. Without your aide, this world may perish. This is the least I can do in return for the help you are offering."

Without your aide, this world may perish.

Kami's words echo through Rainbow Dash's mind. "Oh man... I really wish I had pushed myself as hard as Bladewing and Iron Horn did..."

________________________________________________________

THE DEAD ZONE

ONE YEAR AFTER GARLIC'S IMPRISONMENT

"Curse that Rainbow Dash!", Garlic Jr. fumes. "She will pay for defying me, and trapping me in the Dead Zone!" He clenches his fist, and grinds his teeth at the memory of being launched into the Dead Zone by the enraged pegasus. "The Makyo Star draws near, and with it, my full power! Just another day or two in this hell, and I may draw enough power from my home planet to escape this nightmare! Even in this dark abyss, I can already feel its power fueling me. Soon... very soon... I will escape, and I will gather my four strongest minions. With the power of the Makyo Star behind us, that wretched pony will be powerless against us!"

Suddenly, all of Garlic Jr.'s senses are set on edge, as he feels a powerful burst of energy emanate from within the Dead Zone. "What was that!?", he says as he looks in the direction that he felt the surge of energy. His eyes go wide in shock. He sees it, but he can hardly believe it... he was not alone. He can't make out what it is yet, as the creature is a great distance away. The small demon decides to investigate, throws his hood on, and slowly approaches the intruder.

He stops once he is close enough to make out the physical features of this new creature. He stares, once again in shock, at what he is seeing... a pony. Though this one looks different than the one that imprisoned him within the Dead Zone. Having a lavender colored coat, and a horn instead of wings. "This is impossible! How did that end up in MY Dead Zone!? I am the only one that can create the portal to this place! How did- ... Wait..."

"GIVE BACK MY FRIEND, TWILIIIIIIIGHT!"

"Is it possible that this is who that accursed Rainbow Dash was talking about!? But this isn't possible! I must ascertain the truth."

Garlic Jr. continues his approach to the unicorn that has somehow invaded his Dead Zone. As he gets close, he hears her scream. "EVERYPONY I KNOW IS DEAD, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM!?"

"Time for answers...", Garlic thinks to himself. "You are in a place that exists beyond time and space."

Twilight Sparkle turns around to see Garlic Jr. The two converse for several minutes. Garlic twists the truth for the sake of gaining information, and Twilight unwittingly falls for all of it. "Oh, tee hee." Twilight giggles. "I was so lost in my own sadness for a moment that I forgot my manners. My name is Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?"

"My name... is Garlic Junior..." He turns away from her, and a wicked smile spreads across his face. "This is perfect! I have no idea how this could have happened, but it has! It is not for me to question... only to exploit! I have duped this pony into believing I actually need her help to escape from here, and gotten her to believe that she probably won't end up back at her home once we escape! My revenge shall be so much sweeter than originally planned! Instead of killing Rainbow Dash, I shall use the dragon balls to send myself, my minions, and the Makyo Star to this... Equestria... and we will lay waste to it! She will return to find her entire world in ruins! And her friend here... hehehe... I shall keep her barely alive, and then kill her right in front of her!"

Garlic turns back around to face Twilight. "So, Twilight Sparkle...", he begins to speak as he pulls back his hood to reveal his face. "Tell me about your home... Equestria."