C4- Putting Training to the Test

Rainbow Dash watches as the creature that is floating high above the ground launches pink energy waves at its two opponents. She can't clearly tell if they successfully dodged or not, due to the distance between herself and the fight. "Okay, I have no idea what's going on. I have no idea where I am, and except for these guys, it looks like there's no pony around for miles.", she ponders as she watches the creature that was high up descend back to the ground.

"Whoa, this fight looks like it would be intense to watch, but I can't really see too well from this far away. I wanna watch, but I don't wanna get dragged into it either. Hmmmm...", she thinks for a moment as she breaks her eyes away from the fight, and looks into the sky. "Hey! I have an idea!" Dash takes off into the sky as fast as she can, without using ki. She grabs a cloud, and pushes it over the combatants; just low enough so she can clearly see and hear what's going on, but high enough so her cloud will go unnoticed. "That's better. Now I can tell what's happening."

As she looks down on the fight, she picks out the physical features of all three fighters. All three of them were bi-pedal creatures. The one that fired the energy waves earlier easily stood six feet tall. He had long, black, spiky hair. He wore some kind of strange armor, and had on gloves and boots that matched that. The armor was a flat brown and black color, and it matched the contour of his body; with the exception of the shoulders and the parts of the leggings. The legs themselves had no armor, except for what hung down from the main piece. He also wore some kind of green lens over his left eye.

One of the others looked similar to him in appearance, except he was slightly shorter, wore an orange gi, and had shorter hair that spiked out in random directions. Now that Dash had a much better vantage point, she could clearly see that the last one was a Namekian. Green skin, two antennae on its head, and it wore brown shoes and a set of sleeveless clothes that was a very dark shade of purple; almost black. He was also missing an arm. "Wow! That blast must have gotten him! I wonder why these guys are fighting? Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? Is there even a good guy, or bad guy?", she thinks to herself as she watches.

The armored creature lets out a boisterous laugh, and begins to speak with great sarcasm. "HAHAHAHA! Excuse me, could you help me find my arm? You can't miss it. It's green!"

The one wearing the orange gi quickly rushes from where he is to check on his ally. "Piccolo, can you keep going?", he asks him.

"Yeah, Goku. Even with one arm I can keep fighting.", Piccolo says as he covers the open wound with his only remaining hand. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any new techniques you've been saving, would you?"

"Hehe. Nah, I've got nothing new.", Goku replies.

"Ha. While you've been slacking off, I've been working in earnest to develop a new attack.", states Piccolo.

"Can you use it with only one arm?", asks Goku.

"Yeah, I can manage it like this. But it takes quite a bit of time to charge up the ki necessary to use it. While I do this, you'll need to attack him by yourself to keep him distracted.", Piccolo explains.

"You got it.", Goku agrees. At this point, their foe begins slowly inching his way towards them.

"I had been saving this technique to kill you with.", says Piccolo.

"And now you might end up saving me with it?", retorts Goku.

"Hmph. If I manage to kill him with this, you'll be next."

"All right. I can't wait to see it. Now, let's see if I can keep him bottled up!" Goku slaps his hands together, and then yells out as he charges his foe head on! "HYAAAAAH!"

Goku & Piccolo vs Raditz

Rainbow Dash watches in disbelief as Goku charges alone. "Is that guy crazy!? They both got knocked around with ease when they fought together! What's he gonna do by himself!?" Goku clashes with his opponent; his attacks easily being blocked and dodged. Piccolo hunches over and tenses up. He takes the pointer and middle fingers of his only remaining hand, and begins concentrating his ki into them. A blue energy aura surrounds him, and electricity crackles around his hand. "Whoa... what's he doing? Is he charging up some big attack? The other guy might be running a distraction! That's actually really smart! This fight is totally worth watching!", Dash thinks to herself as she leans on the edge of the cloud; really starting to get into the fight.

Goku's punches and kicks are being blocked and dodged with little effort. His opponent finally decides to retaliate, and lets loose a quick volley of punches; none of which are blocked or evaded. Goku's foe hits him in the stomach with a strong kick, and knocks him back a good distance. Goku quickly regains his senses before he can hit the ground, and hand springs himself high into the air! "Tch. You sure are persistent.", says the armored man.

Goku eyes his foe from high in the air, cups his hands together, and brings them down by his side. "Ka... me...", he begins to say.

The green lens on his opponents eye begins to beep, and display symbols. "What!? My scouter... his power level is going up!" He looks over at Piccolo, whom is still charging his attack. "What!? His power is rising too! One thousand and twenty... and still going up!"

"Ha... me...", Goku continues as a blue ball of energy takes form in his hands.

"WHOA! This is getting really intense! This isn't some practice fight like the ones I've been in. These guys are really going for broke!", Dash thinks to herself as her wings flare up... and her own power begins to slowly escalate as she loses herself in the fight.

"... HA!", Goku shouts as he unleashes his signature Kamehameha wave! His foe dodges around the initial blast, but Goku shifts his hands and the beam follows his opponent! He attempts to dodge and outrun the beam, but Goku continues to shift its direction to make it follow him.

He finally turns around and shouts, "You've got some nerve!" He sticks his hand out, and the kamehameha explodes against it! The ground around him explodes as Goku's signature attack is completely canceled out.

Goku floats high in the air; a look of complete disbelief on his face. "He... he caught it..."

"Grrr.... HERE! You're big brother Raditz has a present for you!", shouts Raditz as he fires his own energy wave at Goku! The attack reaches Goku much quicker than he anticipates, and he takes it full force! The attack rips apart his gi, and knocks him from the sky. The moment he lands on the ground, Raditz is on top of him. Raditz rears back with his fist, and prepares to deliver a killing blow! "Now, die!" He lunges his fist forward, but stops short as his scouter begins beeping again. The arrows on his scouter direct his gaze back to Piccolo. "Power level... one thousand three hundred and thirty!? He's concentrating all of his power into his finger tips! D-Darn! These guys can manipulate their power level at will!"

Piccolo smirks at Raditz. "Take this on!" He throws his hand forward and shouts, "MAKANKOSAPPO!" A spiraling beam of energy shoots at Raditz at lightning speed! Piccolo's new attack pierces through Raditz's armor with ease, and destroys the top of a mountain that's off in the distance. Piccolo looks through the veil of smoke created from his attack for any sign of life; hoping that he hit his mark. To much dismay, and despite the speed behind his attack, Raditz was able to sidestep his attack, and received only minimal damage. "He... He dodged it...", Piccolo says with a look of worry.

"Wow, what a let down. I really thought that was gonna do it.", Dash thinks to herself as she continues watching.

Raditz's right shoulder guard is destroyed, and the shoulder is bleeding from being grazed by the attack. "To think that you'd actually injure me... You're going to pay for that!", states Raditz as he raises his left hand into the air, and begins collecting ki into it. A ball of energy takes form, and he begins to throw it. "See you in Hell!" Before he can launch his attack, the energy in his hand disipates, and he stumbles to the ground.

"Hehehe. You let your guard down.", Goku states as he tightly grips Raditz's tail.

"What the... a tail!? Is that guy a saiyan!? And if he is, why did he suddenly fall over from his tail being grabbed? Is that some kind of weakness that they have?", Dash asks herself.

Raditz looks up at Goku; appearing to be straining just to turn his head. "When did you manage to...", he grunts out.

"Piccolo! Start charging that attack of yours!", Goku shouts at Piccolo.

"Goku! You've really outdone yourself! Now hold on tight to him! I can only do this one more time!", Piccolo shouts back, and begins charging the energy needed for his makankosappo again.

"Looks like they've got him! Hmmm... This is still really intense, but I was kind of hoping to find out why they were fighting.", Dash thinks to herself

Raditz strains himself to continue speaking. "K-Kakarrot, y-you would kill your only brother?"

Goku looks down at Raditz in anger. "Shut up! I told you, anyone as cruel as you ain't my brother! Don't you talk about yourself like that, not after you were about to kill me!"

"I-I'll stop! I've had a change of heart! I'll leave this planet without any more trouble!", Raditz pleads.

"Don't fall for it, Goku!", shouts Piccolo. "He doesn't mean what he says! There's no way he's going to do that!"

"P-Please, believe me, my brother!", Raditz continues to beg. "Sure, I've done a lot of terrible things up to now, i-including to you! But, I will keep my promise to you!"

"Y-You mean it?", Goku asks.

"I-I mean it!", responds Raditz, whom is still straining to speak.

"N-No! Don't let go of his tail! That's his ploy!", shouts Piccolo in fear.

"Please, Kakarrot! Believe me!", Raditz continues to plead with his younger brother.

"Goku, no!", shouts Piccolo as he watches his ally let go of their only chance of victory.

Goku releases his grip on Raditz's tail. The elder brother lets out a low chuckle, and slowly gets up from the ground. "HRAAH!", he grunts out as he delivers a devastating elbow to Goku's face! The attack sends Goku flying, and Raditz is on top of him the moment he lands. Raditz drives the heel of his boot into Goku's stomach, and he cries out in pain. "In all my years I've never met anyone as dumb as you!"

"Th-That was dirty!", Goku stutters out.

"Tch. Unlike you, I'm a first-class warrior! I won't hesitate to kill anyone, even my own brother!", states Raditz as he drives the heel of his boot into Goku's stomach again, and he lets out a cry of pain.

"THAT WAS CHEAP!", Dash shouts in her mind. "His opponent was willing to let him go, and he double-crossed him! That was low down, and dirty! He's willing to kill his own brother after being shown mercy! He's definitely the bad guy! Guys like him just... just... THEY JUST PISS ME OFF!", Dash runs through her mind as her anger builds to the boiling point.

Raditz's scouter begins beeping, and displays more arrows. "What's this?" He turns his head to look at Piccolo, but the arrows on his scouter weren't directed at him. "Huh? They're pointing up?" He shifts his gaze towards the sky, and his scouter hones in on an unusually low cloud. He presses a button on the side of his scouter to get a reading on what it was picking up. "Power level... six hundred and ten... and it's steadily rising! You thought you could hide someone for a surprise attack!? Pathetic!", he shouts as he blasts an energy wave at the cloud.

"He's firing that at me!", Dash runs through her mind. She rolls off the cloud just in time to avoid taking the attack head on. Though she narrowly avoids taking any damage, the attack was close enough to shred off the entire underside of her Wonderbolts' uniform. Dash floats down to the ground, and scowls at Raditz. "Jerk! I wasn't even involved! I was just watching! Why did you attack me!?", she angrily shouts at him.

"If you weren't planning to attack me, then why were you raising your power!?", Raditz shouts back.

"I didn't realize it! I was getting into the fight, and then I got really mad watching you double cross your own brother! That was a dirty play!", Dash shouts back.

"Ha! Whatever it takes to survive! I'm still standing, and he's barely alive! Whoever survives is all that counts in the end! And since you're so mad about double-crossing my brother, why don't you step up and do something about it?", Raditz arrogantly suggests.

"Because this isn't my fight. I didn't want to be here, but I'm here anyway. I don't know you, and I don't know either of these guys. I have no idea why you were even fighting to begin with.  Just leave me out of this!"

Raditz rears back with his leg, and kicks Goku towards Piccolo. He then crosses his arms, cocks his head to the side, and arrogantly smiles. "Heh. And what if I don't?"

"My uniform is completely ruined because of this guy, and now he's threatening me without even knowing me. I'm not involved with this, and he's intentionally trying to drag me into it. I have no idea just how strong this guy really is, but it looks like I don't have a choice. Time to put all of that training to the test...", Dash thinks to herself. She narrows her eyes at Raditz and says, "Then you'll make this my fight..."

Raditz throws his head back, and laughs aloud. "Your power level is holding steady at six hundred and fifty. Do you honestly expect to do any better than they did?"

"You've been shouting stuff about numbers and power levels this whole time! What are you talking about!?"

"Th-That thing on his face... it shows an opponents strength and location!", Goku shouts at Rainbow Dash.

"Strength and location... that's it! That's what he meant when he was shouting about their  power level going up! Their energy was spiking up as they were attacking him, so he knew it was coming! That's why he knew that Namekian was about to attack him! But that means that thing only shows how much power you're pumping out at the moment. So...", Dash says in her mind as she thinks about the situation. "Fine. You want me in this fight so badly? You got me.", she shouts to Raditz. She sits down, and starts to tear off what's left of her Wonderbolts uniform.

Goku has managed to work himself up to one knee. "P-Piccolo... C-Can you manage that attack one more time while he's distracted with that thing?"

"Tch. It would be a waste of time. He'll just dodge it again without something holding him in place.", states Piccolo. "But... I may not even have to use it..." Goku gives Piccolo a confused look, and then returns his gaze to the fight that is about to take place before them.

As Dash slowly tears away her uniform, the events that led to this moment play through her mind. "Darnit... I should be focused on finding out exactly where I am, and how to get back. Did Rarity and Fluttershy end up in this world? Is this where Twilight is? And why in the world does this guy want to fight me? Then again... isn't that what a saiyan is all about? Saiyans are natural born fighters. I guess... I guess I'll have to think about all this after the fact. For now..." Dash finishes tearing off her uniform. She pulls off her goggles, and then tosses everything aside. She stands back up, closes her eyes, and lets out a deep breath. She flares out her wings, opens her eyes, and yells, "IF YOU WANT ME, SAIYAN, THEN COME AND GET ME!"

Rainbow Dash vs Raditz

Raditz charges at Dash as he shouts, "YOUR EFFORTS ARE USELESS!" He quickly closes the gap between them, and attempts a punch directly to her face. Dash jumps over Raditz, and lands behind him. As he turns around, she launches at him, and throws a volley of fast punches at her target! He manages to weave around her attacks, but he's having a harder time doing so than he thought he would. He blocks a few of her hits, and manages to land a punch of his own. The attack knocks her back, but she drags her hooves across the ground to stop herself. "Impossible! How could she be that fast with a power of six- What!? Her power has risen to eight hundred and seventy! She's not even charging an attack! How is this possible!?"

Dash flares her wings out, and launches herself at Raditz to resume her assault! She meets him with another flurry of blows, and he now has to put real effort into his movements to avoid her attacks. He raises  an arm to block one of her strikes, and attempts to return with one of his own. She raises a wing to block his attack, and then uses a foreleg to throw his arm out of the way. She then drives at his face with a rising knee. He narrowly avoids the attack by tilting his head back, but he's unable to avoid her next strike. She quickly spreads her wings to stop herself, and rotates hard to deliver a powerful kick to the right side of his head! The attack sends him flying, and he hits the ground with a loud crash!

He quickly stumbles back to his feet, and his eyes widen at the reading on his scouter.  "Eleven hundred!? This can't be!" She drives in at her foe with a punch, but he manages to catch her hoof. She throws a punch with her other foreleg, but he catches that one as well. Now locked in a struggle for power control, they stare each other down. Her power continues to increase, and Raditz now realizes her power is currently equal to his own. "Twelve hundred!? Nothing on this pathetic planet should be as strong as me!"

"Ha! Thanks for telling me how strong you are! Now get a load of how strong I really am! HAAAAAAA!", Dash starts to shout as she begins focusing on bringing her power to its peak. Raditz watches in horror as her power not only surpasses his own, but goes above and beyond what he's capable of handling!

1300... 1400... 1500... 1600... 1700...

"Piccolo, do you feel that!? That thing is putting out some intense ki!", Goku says in amazement.

1800... 1900... 2000... 2100... 2200...

"I thought I felt a strong power coming from it, but I didn't even imagine it was this strong!", Piccolo replies, also in shock at what he's feeling. "Darn. One more obstacle in my way of world conquest..."

2300... 2400...

"Two thousand four hundred!? You're twice as strong as me!?", Raditz shouts, still stunned by what his scouter is reading.

"Twice? No! I can still push just a little farther!", Dash shouts back.

2500... 2600!

As Rainbow Dash reaches her full power, she pulls out of her power lock with Raditz, and drives both of her forehooves into his stomach; easily breaking through his armor! Raditz has no defense against her strike, and he's sent skidding across the ground. Once he finally stops, he struggles to get back to his feet; the attack from his much stronger opponent having taken a serious toll on him. He grits his teeth in anger at his foe; his rage building to its boiling point. He holds his left hand up in the air, and begins charging up a powerful energy ball. "I AM A FIRST-CLASS SAIYAN WARRIOR! I WON'T DIE BY YOUR HANDS!"

"Hey, doofus! I don't have hands!", Dash retorts.

"HRA! PISS OFF!", Raditz shouts as he hurls the attack at Rainbow Dash! She makes no effort to dodge, and she seems to take his attack head on! The attack violently explodes on contact with its target, and kicks up a large cloud of smoke and debris. Raditz clutches his stomach from her earlier attack. "Darn... her power caught me by surprise. She really got me, but I've got more than enough power to wipe out these other two. Ha, that's what she gets for taking a first-class saiyan so ligh-", his words are cut off by the sound of his scouter. He presses a button on it, and his eyes widen in fear. "No... it can't be!" His scouter was still reading power from his opponent, and it hadn't dropped in the least.

The smoke clears to reveal Rainbow Dash is completely unharmed. Her wings are covering her front where she took the attack. Her wings uncover her front, but remain fully extended from her sides. She stares down her foe, and stands up on her hind legs. She extends her wings and forelegs towards Raditz. Now, it was her turn.

A bead of sweat runs down the side of Raditz's face, and he takes a step back. "What... What are you!?"

As Rainbow Dash charges ki into her forelegs and wings, her memories return to a certain moment during her training.

"What if I ever get into a fight with somepony that won't back down? How will I know if I need to... ya know?", Rainbow Dash asks Titan Hoof.

"Kill your enemy? This is a question you already have the answer to. Look at the last fight you had. You killed Thundering Sky yourself. The next time you have a serious fight, and you wonder whether or not killing your opponent is the right thing to do, just remember the thoughts you had at that moment. Cling to those, and you will have your answer.", he responds.

"He intentionally drug me into a one on one fight that I had no part in. He was willing to kill his own brother to stay alive. He tried to kill me without even knowing who I was. This guy is going down!", Dash shouts to herself in her mind, as blue energy begins to swirl in a tight ball between her forelegs and wings. "What am I? I am a pegasus pony from Equestria! My name is Rainbow Dash, and I am your worst nightmare!"

"P-Please. Spare me, and I'll leave in peace!", Raditz pleads.

"You had your chance to leave! Now take on everything you've tried doing to us!" Electricity crackles around the energy ball that is now almost a foot in diameter. "See if you can dodge this! SONIC WAVE SPHERE!" Rainbow Dash fires the tightly packed ball of energy at her opponent, and it reaches him faster than he can react! It impacts his stomach, and grinds against him until it breaks through his armor! After breaking through his armor, the power of the attack pierces straight through him with relative ease, and Raditz now has a gaping hole in his stomach!

He falls down to the ground, coughing up blood. Dash drops back down to all fours, and lets out a deep breath. All three that he had tried to kill approach him. Goku looks over to Dash. "That was incredible..."

"Hmph. If you think that was awesome, you should see the guys that trained me. My power is still a drop in the bucket compared to theirs.", Dash replies.

"Quiet, both of you.", Piccolo says to Dash and Goku. He looks down at Raditz and asks, "How long do we have?"

"Hehehe", Raditz barely manages to laugh as he coughs up more blood. "S-So you haven't forgotten. G-good. Once... th-they finish with the planet they're on... one year. They'll be here... in one year." He struggles to raise up his left arm, and he weakly points at Rainbow Dash. "A-And... they're both... much stronger than her." Raditz begins coughing uncontrollably; spitting up even more blood. He breathes in one final deep breath, and air escapes his lungs for the last time.

The weight of the situation they are in begins to take its toll on Goku and Piccolo. Goku clenches a fist. "Grr... We  were nothing but jokes to him. And in one year, two more saiyans will show up that make this guy look like a joke..."

Rainbow Dash takes a step back. "Stronger than me?", she questions aloud; completely unaware of the events that she has just altered. By stepping into the fight with Raditz, she has unknowingly changed the course of the future of this world. "What have I gotten myself into..."

_______________________________________________________

CANTERLOT CASTLE, EQUESTRIA

TWO HOURS AFTER THE INCIDENT

Celestia looks on at the remains of the tower they were in when the meteor struck the castle. The meteor caused heavy damage to the castle, and caused the tower they were in to collapse not long after they had evacuated it. She lets out a sorrowful sigh. Though there is a disaster being tended to within the confines of her own castle, she's more concerned about her mother and the friends of her student.

A black stallion pegasus approaches her from behind. "Your highness. Lieutenant Night Haze, reporting."

Without turning around to face him she says, "Status report on the situation?"

"Yes, your highness. We have finished searching the area around the point of impact, and cleared away the wreckage. We have seventeen injured, and...", he pauses for a moment; bracing himself for what he has to say next, "four confirmed dead."

"I... see... Have the families been notified?", she asks; a noted sadness in her tone.

"Yes, your highness. We have also recovered the meteor itself. This... this is something you need to see."

This time she turns around to face him; her face now bearing a look of confusion. "Oh?" He bows to her, and then he leads Celestia through the castle to where the meteor is being held. As they walk, they pass by the point of impact. The crater from the meteor is large. The roof and surrounding walls lay crumbled on the ground. Construction crews are surveying the damage, and deciding on the best method to fix the damage. Though she is saddened by the loss of four of her subjects, she stands tall, and tries not to show the worry that is quickly building in her heart.

Night Haze shows her to small room, and he takes his place standing at the door. Inside are several unicorns that are carefully examining the "meteor" that struck the castle. It was roughly three feet in diameter, and was made of a strange metal that she could not identify. It was a perfect sphere shape, with the exception of several rods that extended from it on each side. There were also several, small, blinking lights on it. The object that lay on the table in front of her was clearly not a rock from space. This was built by something.

"What is this, what could have built it, and why is it here!?"