//------------------------------// // The Battle for the Heart of Equestria! Gine's Will to Protect! // Story: Surviving Saiyan in Equestria // by bcmorgan96 //------------------------------// Within the confines of a large ram-shaped rock, Cozy Glow looked at the elder ram before them with a questioning look as she said, “So sorry. But the name Grofar doesn’t ring any bells.” “GROGAR!” Grogar yelled, making Cozy Glow jump back. “It seems I have been gone longer than I thought if my name no longer strikes fear into the heart of one so small.” Cozy cowered under Grogar’s glare before he walked off and turned to the others. “Perhaps a small demonstration of my power?” Grogar then pulled an orb of magic from his neck chain and passed it to Tirek. The centaur eagerly took it in his hands, scarfing it down quickly before the effects allowed him to change into a younger-looking state making him smirk and flex his muscles, kissing them like a brawn-loving stallion before saying, “Grogar is ancient and extremely powerful. The land that would become Equestria was simply farms and pastures until Grogar declared himself emperor and took over anything he saw.” “I have also heard of the first emperor of Equestria. The… Father of Monsters.” Sombra said, looking to Grogar with an unimpressed look. “I gave life to the foulest and worst of creatures and allowed them to roam free,” Grogar said, making images of creatures attacking ponies appear in his crystal ball. “They took what they wanted, destroying what they did not. My reign as emperor was unchallenged as I clouded Equestria in darkness.” “Ha!” Grogar looked to a smirking Storm King who continued with, “Until Gusty the Great rose up and banished you by taking your silly little bell.” The Storm King was startled when Grogar got closer with a glare. “That fool thought taking my bell would defeat me. But all she did was weaken me. I have been biding my time, gathering power, waiting for the right opportunity to strike, and take back my place as emperor of Equestria. At the same time, I’ve been watching all of you try, yet fail to stop Twilight and her friends.” Grogar then turned away from the others as he asked, “Do you know why you all have failed to them?” “Because they cheat,” Storm King said. “Because they’re annoyingly lucky,” Tirek said, folding his arms. “I’m just a kid so…” Cozy said, innocently. “It is because they work together!” Grogar stated, turning to face them all. “Where is weak, another is strong. And when unified, they’re a formidable force. The only way to defeat them… is to use their strategy against them.” “What exactly are you suggesting?” Storm King asked. “I’m not suggesting anything!” Grogar said, releasing some magic to intimidate. “I demand you join me and together, we will defeat Twilight and her friends. And then… Equestria will be ours.” The villains were silent from his display of magic before Sombra said, “I don’t do “ours”. I only do MINE!” Sombra then appeared before Grogar with a smug expression. “I will take back the Crystal Empire on my own, and I’ll destroy anypony that gets in my way!” “Such confidence,” Grogar said smugly. “Go ahead. I’ll send you there myself. If you prevail, you may keep it for yourself. But WHEN you fail, you will swear allegiance to me!” “And if I don’t?” Sombra asked, smugly once again. “Then I will return to the darkness you were trapped in before I released you,” Grogar said. “Fine.” “And before I send you off, allow me to show you one more challenge,” Grogar said before his neck chain glowed again, causing his crystal ball to begin showing images of Gine and her fights. From her fights with the timberwolves to the battle she had with the clone princesses and Chrysalis. “Twilight and her friends have come across a new ally. She is a being of another world, and she is quite powerful. She has faced and overcome threats with her powers and was even able to defeat an Ursa Major on her own. She has great might and will pose a threat to all of us and our desire to rule Equestria. I only advise that should you cross paths with her, that you do not underestimate her.” Sombra looked to the images of Gine’s fights before turning away with a huff. “Hm. I’ll make short work of her and take back my empire. I will crush anyone who gets in my way! I-!” Sombra was cut off by Grogar using his magic to send him away before he turned to those who remained. “As for you all. I suggest you learn to work together. If we are to overcome the ponies and their new ally, we will need to combine all of our strengths.” Grogar walked off as Cozy smiled at Tirek and Storm King. “Well working together is a lot like making friends so lucky for you guys, I’m good with that.” The two groaned and walked off as Cozy looked blankly at them before following them. [Everfree Forest, 7:30 A.M.] Gine found herself throwing punches and kicks before looking to Bardock who smirked and gave her a thumbs up. “Not bad Gine. Not bad at all. You’ve really improved,” Bardock said, walking to her and placing his hand on her shoulder. “All thanks to your training, Bardock,” Gine said smiling. She then was about to kiss her mate but found him fading into darkness. “Bardock?” After he faded away completely, Gine found herself in darkness. “Bardock! Where are you?!” “Gine?” Gine turned to see her group standing behind her. “What are you all doing here? What’s going on?” “We thought you’d know,” Smolder said, a bit concerned herself. “Gine?” They all turned to see a being none of them had seen before. He looked reptilian with light blue skin and dark blue scales. He wore pink clothing with blue armor and blue wristbands and brown boots on his feet. Gine quickly stepped in front of her students with her guard up. “Who are you?” The creature only raised his hand as he said, “Calm yourself Gine. You know who I am. After all, I did teach the Spirit Charge and Trident Cannon.” The names of the two techniques caught Gine by surprise as she slowly lowered her hands in realization. “Toolo?” “Yes. It is I.” Gine looked at the Kanassan over before smiling a bit. “So… This is what you looked like when you had a physical body?” Toolo simply chuckled and nodded before Gine felt a tug on her arm and looked to see Yona, who asked, “Gine? Who is strange looking… Man?” Gine realized she hadn’t told them about Toolo yet. But given how he had no physical body and shared his mind with her, she had no idea how to explain it to them without them thinking she was crazy or losing her mind… until now. “Well… I guess I finally have a way to introduce you to him. Everyone? This is Toolo. He’s the one who taught me how to sense energy without my scouter, the Spirit Charge, and of course, the Trident Cannon. Guess you can call him my teacher.” This shocked the others beyond anything. They had wondered how Gine learned those new techniques, but her explanation made no sense to them. “Wait… he’s never been around so how could he have taught you any of that?” Ocellus asked. “Well… I guess you can say he doesn’t have a physical form. Back when Planet Vegeta was being destroyed, he was hosted in Bardock’s mind. But when Bardock went to try and stop Frieza, he transferred to my mind. He’s also the one who helped me become confident in training you all.” Gine said, smiling. “So… you and him sort of… share a mind?” Sandbar asked. “I guess you can call it that. But back to the point,” Gine said, turning back to Toolo. “Toolo? What’s going on? Why did I just see Bardock? He’s dead.” Toolo remained silent for a moment before sighing and said, “Because… We are in your mind… All of your minds.” “Say what?” Gallus asked. “It’s true. I detected another presence in Gine’s mind before you all appeared as well.” Toolo said. “So wait. You didn’t bring us here?” Spike asked before Toolo shook his head. “Then who did?” “I-I did.” They all looked to see who appeared to be Twilight. However, she seemed to be more sparkling and shining than normal. “Twilight?” Spike asked. “No… I am not Twilight. I am a messenger,” the Twilight look-alike said before looking at the Young Six. “As I’m sure you all know.” It was then that the six students realized what the look-alike meant with Ocellus saying, “The Tree of Harmony.” This shocked Gine, Spike, and Scootaloo. “Say what?” Spike asked. “Well, there was a small, tiny incident that happened to us a while back.” Silverstream started. “Not long before Cozy Glow tried to wipe out all magic in Equestria, we all stumbled on a tunnel in the library where the Tree of Harmony brought us in.” Ocellus said. “We all had to face our biggest fears and challenges.” Sandbar said. “But Yona and friends realize fears were only in minds,” Yona said. “We stuck together and found out that the Tree of Harmony was testing us, showing us we were capable of friendship,” Gallus said. “But why are we here? What’s going on?” Smolder asked the Twilight illusion. “I’m afraid I do not have the time to fully explain the situation. All that I can say is you must hurry to my spot under the former castle.” The Twilight illusion said, before placing her hand on the ground where different colored streams of light struck everyone besides Toolo. “Now awaken.” It was then that everyone’s eyes shot open before sitting up quickly. “You all saw that right?” Silverstream asked, a bit nervous before they all nodded. “Yes. We all did. Which means it wasn’t just a dream. And I bet it has to do with that.” Gine then pointed out where they saw multiple thorny roots began growing rapidly. “We better get to the Tree of Harmony. Now!” They all nodded before they headed out. As they kept running/flying, they noticed more and more roots began to grow. “I think I read about this,” Ocellus said, as she flew by multiple roots that continued sprouting rapidly. “I read in history class that the Everfree Forest does this when the Tree of Harmony’s magic is too weak. Oh… I’m getting a bad feeling about this guys.” “Me too.” Spike said, “I get the feeling Twilight and the others are in the middle of something bad.” Gine, taking the lead of them all, began thinking, ‘Toolo? Any ideas on what we’re heading for?’ ‘I know not. But I do advise caution. Whatever it is, I doubt it will be easy.’ Toolo responded. Gine took in Toolo’s words and she couldn’t help but feel the same way. However, that was forgotten as they approached the castle of the two sisters. “Everyone. I’m picking up on some energy under the castle. Six to be exact.” The others tried to sense it as well, only they were struggling. They weren’t used to it like Gine yet, but while that was the case, Spike was managing to identify one of the signatures. “Twilight… it’s Twilight and the girls!” “What?” Gine asked. “It’s true. I feel Twilight’s magic.” Spike said. Soon after, the group made their way to the Tree of Harmony shrine, where they were horrified to see the Mane 6 trapped behind a field of crystals. “Gine!” Twilight said from behind their crystal prison as the group approached. Gine then shot energy into her palm before using it to shatter the crystals where she helped Twilight to her feet. “Guys… look.” Ocellus said sorrowfully as she pointed to shattered crystal remains where the Tree of Harmony once stood, horrifying her fellow students. “The tree…” Sandbar said. “Tree… gone…” Yona said with tears. Seeing and hearing the sorrow from her students along with seeing the remains of the Tree of Harmony made Gine grit her teeth and clench her fists in anger. “Who… did this?” Gine asked with a hint of venom in her voice. “Sombra did it y’all.” Applejack said, confusing most of them, except Spike, who seemed shocked. “Sombra’s… back?” Spike asked. “But I thought he was sealed away by the Crystal Heart.” “So did we… but somehow he broke free. And he’s taken over the Crystal Empire and is now trying to take over Canterlot.” Rarity said. Before anything else could be said, black roots began sprouting from the ground and cave walls, spreading rapidly while Rainbow said, “We need to get out of here!” They all took off running/flying out of the cave before Twilight used her magic to teleport them all to Ponyville where they found more of the roots and sprouts were growing and covering multiple areas as well as large dark crystals shooting from the ground as well. “What’s going on?” Gine asked, shocked. “Sombra’s dark magic is corrupting Ponyville. And without the Tree of Harmony, the Everfree Forest is growing out of control.” Twilight said, looking to see more roots sprouting. “Could this get any worse?” Pinkie looked around before going wide-eyed at spotting something. “Well… our friends and families could all have green glowing eyes possibly from being mind-controlled by Sombra.” “That’s oddly specific darling.” Rarity said before Pinkie turned her head to show just that. Their fellow citizens of Ponyville were all walking away, their coat colors dulled out, and their eyes glowing green. Twilight spotted Starlight walking by before jumping out in front of her. “Starlight. It’s me. Twilight. Snap out of it!” Starlight was unresponsive as she simply walked around Twilight. “We must lay siege to Canterlot.” Twilight watched as Starlight continued walking off before looking to see Applejack trying and failing to snap Applebloom out of her state as well. “Twilight! Please try and snap Applebloom out of it!” Twilight nodded before running in front of Applebloom and pressed her magic charged horn against the filly’s forehead. For a moment, Applebloom’s eyes widened, but Twilight’s magic was deflected and knocked her away from the filly, who then continued in the same direction as the others. Twilight got back to her feet before looking to Applejack apologetically. “I’m sorry. But Sombra’s magic is too strong. I can’t reach them with mine either.” “Um. Headmare Twilight?” Smolder said before they all looked to see the Everfree Forest roots were still growing and covering parts of the town. “We’ll have to focus on stopping this Sombra later. If we don’t stop these roots from covering the town, there won’t be a town anymore.” Gine said before Rainbow Dash flew over to a stand and grabbed multiple gardening tools and threw them out for them to grab before looking to her students. “You all ready?” Her students each grabbed a tool before nodding with determination while Twilight took the lead with a rake. “For Equestria!” They all then charged at the forest roots. Meanwhile, outside the gates of Canterlot Castle, the mind-controlled citizens of Ponyville were marching forward with Sombra appearing in the lead before he slammed the gates open with his magic as well as the door to the castle itself before looking to his new followers. “Keep guard of the gates. It’ll only be a matter of time before company arrives.” The citizens all nodded before Sombra made his way through the castle before coming to the entrance of the throne room, slamming the doors open with his magic to see it was empty. “No Celestia or Luna? Better yet, where’s this new protector of theirs? Did I scare them all off? No matter. Equestria is MINE!” Sombra yelled, followed by a maniacal laugh. Back in Ponyville, the group was all trying to hold back the Everfree Forest. Silverstream and Gallus were using their claws and new speed to claw through them. Yona used her strength to yank roots apart while Sandbar used an ax to rapidly cut through them with Scootaloo following behind with hedge clippers. Smolder and Spike was using their flames to try and burn through most of them as Rainbow and Fluttershy used hedge clippers. Pinkie and Applejack used axes to cut down more roots while Rarity and Twilight used their magic along with Gine using her ki to blast through them. However, despite their efforts, the roots just kept growing back rapidly, gaining more ground from the group. “Damn it. We can’t keep this up forever.” Gine growled before blasting a root where three more grew back in its place. Not long after, two magic blasts struck multiple roots before they looked to see Celestia and Luna descending to them. “Celestia. Luna.” Twilight said, happy to see her fellow princesses before a flash of magic occurred and revealed Starswirl the Bearded. “No pony is meant to handle this alone,” Starswirl said. “Starswirl. The Tree of Harmony is-.” “I know Twilight,” Starswirl said with sorrow in his voice. “I felt it and alerted Luna and Celestia right away. It was as if a part of essence was gone in an instant.” “I know. And I’m sorry.” Twilight said, looking down with sorrow. She knew how important the Tree of Harmony was to the Pillars after they had seen what it had grown into. And she felt she had failed to protect it. Gine, feeling sympathy for the young princess, placed a hand on her shoulder. “You did your best Twilight. And it’s not your fault. The one to blame is this Sombra.” “You must be Gine,” Starswirl said, gaining the Saiyan’s attention. “Celestia and Luna told me about you in their letters.” Gine smiled at the older unicorn before bowing to him. “And judging by your attire, I’m to guess you’re Starswirl the Bearded. I’ve read about you from some of the histories I’ve studied during my time on your world. It’s an honor to meet you.” “The honor is mine. They’ve told me about all of the incredible things you’ve done to help our people. To not only know a being from another world has come to ours, but has also done everything she can to protect our home as if it were her own, it’s incredible.” Starswirl said with admiration. “Can we save the introductions for later?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing at Celestia and Luna, who continued blasting back the roots. “You all head to Canterlot and stop Sombra. The princesses and I will hold back the Everfree Forest.” “By yourself?” Twilight asked, concerned. “I have more than enough magic to hold back this forest in this body. The Pillars and I planted the Tree of Harmony, who do you think kept this forest under control before it came along?” Starswirl said with a wink. “Well then let’s get moving,” Gine said. “We’re with you Gine,” Spike said while the others nodded. “No. I don’t know who this Sombra is, but I do know he’s a dangerous foe. Too dangerous for you all. You’ll remain here and help them keep this forest under control.” “But Gine-.” Sandbar started. “You’ve learned to tap into ki, but you haven’t learned to fully use it. You’re not ready yet.” “But-.” “Don’t argue!” Gine said, in a serious tone before the group reluctantly nodded before running off to help with keeping roots under control. Gine then looked to Twilight and asked, “Do you think you have enough magic to get us to Canterlot Castle?” Twilight nodded before they gathered around her. “Hang on everyone,” Twilight said before they all disappeared in a flash of magic. Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle, Sombra sat on Celestia’s throne while leaning back. “Ah. Victory. As I told that old ram, I didn’t need their help. I can conquer not just the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria on my own. And now even the Elements of Harmony aren’t a threat to me anymore. Ahahahahahahahahahaha!” Sombra laughed insanely when… BOOM! Sombra’s laughing stopped before looking at the doors at the end of the room. “Hm?” BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Then out of nowhere, the doors were shattered to pieces while the entrance was covered in a cloud of dust while Sombra looked with a bored expression. Soon the dust cleared to show the Mane 6 with Gine standing ahead of them at the entrance with the Saiyan glaring hard at Sombra. The unicorn king continued holding his bored expression as he looked to the group and stood from the throne. “Well, well. What do we have here?” Gine looked him over and found herself unimpressed. “You must be Sombra. The one causing all of this trouble.” Gine then began cracking her knuckles. “And I’m here to put an end to it.” Sombra was silent for a moment before he began laughing again. “Oh, dear. You think you’re a match for me? You may be from another world, but I assure you that you will not come out as the victor of this battle.” Sombra’s words shocked the group as Gine asked, “How do you know I’m from another world?” “There’s no point in telling you,” Sombra said as he smirked with his horn charging. “For you’ll be dead soon enough!” Sombra then fired a powerful magic blast straight for the group, laughing as he did before Gine charged her ki, raised her fist, and, to Sombra’s shock, gave the blast a hard punch, causing it to vanish in a flash. “Impossible.” “You’re gonna have to do better than that,” Gine said as she started walking forward towards him with the rest of the girls looking a bit shocked. “That attack…” Fluttershy said, frightened. “And Gine… she just…” Applejack said, still trying to process what happened as well. “She took it like it was nothing,” Rainbow said. “I’m no magic-user, but I’d say that looked like a blast that even Celestia and Luna would’ve had a hard time blocking.” Twilight was more shocked than anypony. She knew Gine had trained quite a bit and still kept training herself even when she was training the students. But she had thought she and her friends had seen Gine use her full power, but apparently, they were wrong. Which brought a bigger question to Twilight’s mind. How much strength does Gine truly have? Sombra was silent before shaking off his shocked state. ‘Seems Grogar wasn’t exaggerating. She does have quite an impressive amount of power and will prove a challenge… but maybe I can use this to my advantage,’ Sombra thought before charging his horn once more. “Impressive. I must say I’ve never seen anyone dispense of one of my attacks so easily.”  “Don’t bother fighting me. I can handle anything you throw at me. So make it easy for yourself and surrender,” Gine said, charging her ki again. However, to her confusion, Sombra began to chuckle. “True. But while you can take my attacks, I doubt they can so easily!” Sombra said before firing a magic blast from his horn at the Mane 6 group with the attack focused on Fluttershy. The shy pegasus watched as the attack closed in on her, the mare watching in fear, and soon covered her in smoke, knocking the others away to the ground before they looked up in fear and horror. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled in concern, believing her friend had been struck by the attack. However, to their relief, when the smoke cleared, it showed Fluttershy on the ground but with Gine standing in front of her, showing that the Saiyan had blocked the shot from reaching her. “Are you alright Fluttershy?” Gine asked, without looking behind her. “Mhmm. I’m okay. Thank you, Gine. You saved me.” Fluttershy said, grateful to her friend. Gine, however, was not focusing on her gratitude as she glared at the smirking unicorn who shot at the pegasus. “Attack me and I can take it. But you attack my friends, you pay the price.” Gine said with her teeth gritted. “Oh. I’m so scared. Why don’t you come try and make me pay for my actions?” Sombra asked, with a sadistic chuckle. Gine shot her arms out before flying straight at Sombra, who stood where he was. As soon as he was within reach, Gine threw a fist at Sombra, intending to strike him through the wall, only for it to phase through a puff of black smoke. “What the-?” “You fell for it!” Gine turned to see Sombra standing behind her and before she could react, Sombra laughed as he made a black helmet appear in his hands which he then shoved over Gine’s head. “Such an easy trick. Now prepare yourself to do my biting.” Gine began trying to pull the helmet off but before it could be done, the slits on the helmet began to glow green as Gine clenched her head. “N… no. I won’t let you con… trol…” Gine started but soon went silent as her hands fell to her sides as Sombra chuckled and walked to her side, the Saiyan making no effort to stop him as the Mane 6 looked in horror. “Oh no…” Twilight said frightened. “Oh yes. Your friend belongs to me now.” Sombra said, grinning as he walked to Gine’s left side. “Such a powerful being now under my control. Ironic that the one you thought would be your best defense against me… will now be your destruction.” Sombra then looked to Gine and snapped his fingers. “Dispense with them.” Gine remained silent as she looked to the Mane 6. “Gine! Don’t listen to him!” Twilight yelled. “He ain’t your master!” Applejack yelled. “You have to fight it!” Rainbow yelled as well. “Don’t give in to that meanie!” Pinkie yelled, waving her hands around frantically. “Please darling! Don’t let him win!” Rarity yelled soon after. Fluttershy remained quiet out of fear as her friends’ pleas seemed to have no effect on Gine. The Saiyan was motionless before raising her palm and ki began forming into a sphere, preparing an attack that Gine then fired at the Mane 6. The girls watched as the attack came at them only to feel themselves being pushed out of the way and the attack struck the hall entrance instead. Twilight, relieved that the attack missed, looked up to see what pushed her only to find Spike had been responsible. She then looked to see her friends had been moved out of the attack's way as well by Scootaloo and the students. “Spike? What are you all doing here? Gine told you and the others to stay behind.” Twilight said, worried despite being thankful they got her and her friends out of harm’s way. Spike stood and helped her up as he said, “Sorry Twilight. But we couldn’t just leave you guys to fight Sombra alone. I just had a bad feeling all of a sudden and I asked Celestia to send us here. I trained with Gine so I could be more useful in stuff like this and that’s why we’re here. We’re not just gonna sit on the sidelines.” Despite being worried for more lives, Twilight couldn’t blame Spike for his reason. However, their conversation was cut off when Sombra began laughing. “You think your little extra group will make a difference? With my new pawn, none of you can stop me.” Gine’s glowing helmet eyes looked to them all as the students looked horrified. Their mentor and friend under Sombra’s control not only frightened them but also saddened them. They saw Gine as a good person who cared for others and wouldn’t bring pain to any innocent, but now she was under the control of Sombra who planned to make her do things she wouldn’t normally do. Smolder clenched her fists as she glared at Sombra. “You’re gonna pay for this you curve horned maniac!” “My, my. Such big talk from one so weak. Let’s see how big you’ll be talking once I have her destroy you all!” Sombra said, pointing forward, causing Gine to start walking towards the entire group. “What do we do guys?” Silverstream asked, nervous. Sure they had enhanced their physical strength, but still just barely started learning how to tap into ki. And to make it more frightening, Gine, though mind-controlled, still had much higher amounts of strength and experience than they did. Yona was trying to stay tough with her yak’s pride but couldn’t help but shake a little. Sandbar and Gallus stood stiff but were also trying to keep from sweating while Ocellus and Scootaloo seemed more nervous than most of them. Neither of them had seen many action events of this size so they didn’t know how to react to being forced to fight their new teacher.  Spike, however still nervous, held a determined look. “If we could just get to the helmet on her, we might be able to free her.” “And how do you suggest we do that?” Gallus asked. “We use what Gine taught us,” Spike said. “We may not have mastered using ki yet, but we still have our new strength and senses to fight with. It’s not much, but it’s the best we’ve got. We do it for Gine.” With those words, the others grew less scared and more determined as they took spots beside Spike while he looked to Twilight. “Twilight? Let us handle Gine. We’re the best chance with what she’s taught us.” Though nervous for the dragon she saw as her brother along with her students and Scootaloo, Twilight knew he was right. They had been training with Gine for three months, meaning they would know how she fought and what she could do better than her and her friends. So with reluctance, Twilight nodded before saying, “Alright Spike. We’ll leave it to you but be careful.” Spike nodded as he faced the approaching Gine with the other students while the Mane 6 began making their way to the door, only to be blocked by a wall of dark magic. Sombra sat at Celestia’s throne with his horn flashing. “Come now. Surely you don’t want to miss the show.” Gine kept approaching the group of her students as they tensed up. “Ready guys?” They all responded with a nod as Gine soon reached them where they all ran in different directions. Sombra watched in amusement as the group scattered around Gine. “This should be entertaining.” Smolder and Gallus were the first ones to move in and tried to strike Gine, who caught their fists before spinning them around and throwing Gallus into a charging Yona and Smolder into a charging Scootaloo. Silverstream, using her new speed, then charged into throw a kick that Gine moved her head to the side to dodge before using her tail to wrap around Silverstream’s ankle, throwing her aside before stepping sideways to dodge a punch from Sandbar before tripping him and kicking him into Ocellus. Gine then turned around and jumped back to dodge Spike’s tail before raising her palm and catching his second attempt and spun him around before throwing him into a support beam. Gine then charged at Spike and threw a punch that the dragon barely managed to dodge, resulting in the support beam being shattered but left himself opened to be hit by a shoulder shove from Gine, knocking him to the ground. Gine was about to throw another attack when Ocellus jumped on her from behind and tried to restrain her. This action failed, however, when Gine reached behind her, took Ocellus by the horn, and threw her aside. Gallus then ran in and tackled Gine into the wall, trying to hold her there, but Gine took his wings and threw him upward before kicking him into the ceiling. Gine then looked to her right and did a flip to dodge a fireball shot by Smolder’s mouth with the dragoness repeating the attempt and Gine continuing to flip to dodge them. Around Smolder’s third attempt, Gine charged in and used her hand to clamp Smolder’s snout shut before slamming her into the wall before striking her with a kick. She was about to follow with a punch when Yona jumped up and grabbed Gine from behind, causing the Saiyan to release Smolder while Silverstream flew in to try and help Yona restrain their teacher. Gine, however, managed to grab Yona by one of her horns, pulled her to the front, caught Silverstream by her mane, slammed their heads together before throwing them aside. She then descended and caught an attempted kick from Scootaloo before using her index and middle fingers to strike the filly to the ground. Spike got on his feet as he watched the others try to restrain Gine only to fail. “Come on. We just gotta reach that mask. Think Spike, think. What would Gine do in a situation like this?” Spike began thinking back to what Gine taught them during their training before a thought crossed his mind. “She would standby and wait for the right moment to attack,” Spike said before running to hide behind one of the support beams. He then watched as Gine was continued knocking away the others with little effort while he tried to find a way to reach her mask. He then watched as Yona managed to grab Gine from behind while Sandbar and Ocellus grabbed her arms followed by Smolder, Gallus, and Scootaloo managing to take a grip on her legs. “That’s it!” Spike said charging in with his fist raised and just as Gine managed to turn to face him, his fist collided with the mask, giving it a crack in the middle and knocked her to the ground. “Alright, Spike!” Rainbow yelled as the Mane 6 saw that Gine was knocked down and the mask was damaged, believing that the worst was over. “Looks like learning from Gine really did teach ‘em a few things,” Applejack said relieved while the rest of the girls nodded in relief. However, their relief was short-lived when Gine shot up with half of the mask still glowing before she took Spike by the neck, lifting him up. The other students tried to stop her, but Gine shot a ki blast at the ground in front of them, knocking them all back to the walls or ground. Gine then turned her sights on Spike, who struggled to get out of her grip. “Gine… come on… fight it. You have… more power than any of us… You can break free from him.” Sombra laughed at Spike’s attempt to reach Gine as he watched in amusement. “Don’t bother wasting your breath. As you can see, she’s mine. Now and forever. Gine, is it? Finish that dragon first. He was the one who was responsible for me being sealed away. I want him to be the first to die.” Spike then watched as Gine raised her free fist before saying, “Gine… Don’t let him control you… Don’t let him be like Frieza.” Spike then closed his eyes when Gine shot her fist forward towards him. However, after a few seconds, he never felt an impact. Cautiously, he opened one eye to see Gine’s fist inches from him with her arm starting to shake. The sight of this upset Sombra as he rose from the throne. “What are you doing?! I told you to finish him!” Sombra yelled as his horn began to glow more. However, Gine didn’t respond to his order and instead dropped Spike and clenched her head. “Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!!!” Gine, still shaking and struggling, soon turned her sights towards Sombra. “Get… out… of my… HEAD!!!” Gine yelled before firing a powerful ki blast that struck Sombra and slammed him through Celestia’s throne. The others then watched in shock and amazement as Gine reached for the helmet on her head and yanked it off before crushing it and throwing it aside. Sombra recovered from the attack before standing up and glaring at Gine. “You! You dare to defy me?! You will suffer for- argh!” Sombra was cut off when Gine appeared right in front of him and struck him hard in the gut, causing him to hunch over where Gine grabbed him by his cape and threw him through a pillar. Sombra sat up on one arm while using his other to fire magic blasts at Gine, with the Saiyan effortlessly bashing each blast aside with one of her hands. “You can’t do this to me! I am the ruler of the Crystal Empire! I am King Sombra! I-!” Sombra was once again cut off by Gine grabbing him by the horn and struck him in the gut with another hard punch causing him to cough up a bit of blood. “I don’t care!” Gine said before following with a headbutt that knocked Sombra to the ground. She then proceeded towards him when Sombra got to his feet and surrounded Gine with a field of dark magic, laughing maniacally. “This spell here will hold you. Its dark magic gets stronger the more you try to break free from it. Not even Celestia or Luna could defeat this! So you have no chance!” Gine gritted her teeth as her ki began to flare. “Let’s test that!” Gine’s ki then changed from a basic white color to an aqua blue with white highlights at the end. “Spirit Charge! LEVEL 5!” Gine then used her new power and strength to strike the field that she was trapped in and after a moment’s struggle, the field began to crack more and more before it shattered, having her appear right in front of Sombra who looked with shock and horror. “Impossible… what are you?!” “I am Gine. A Saiyan from Planet VEGETA!!!” Gine said before throwing her fist out to strike Sombra in the face, knocking him through three pillars and into the wall where he barely managed to get up and looked to see Gine glaring at him. “You… I will not be beaten! I HAVE COME TOO FAR TO LET YOU DEFEAT ME!!!” Sombra yelled with more magic charging into his horn while Gine merely lifted her palm with ki charging into a sphere. “NOW DIE!!!” Sombra yelled before firing a powerful magic blast that Gine countered with a ki beam from the sphere in her hand. The two attacks collided where shortly, Gine’s easily began to overpower Sombra’s, canceling it out and heading right for him as he watched it come for him. “NOOOOOO!!!” Sombra was then hit by the beam which then shattered the wall behind him as it kept going and going for many moments, being seen from outside of the castle heading even further than the Everfree Forest. Soon, the beam began to die down until it completely stopped, showing all that remained was the upper half of Sombra’s horn. The horn piece began to spark a bit until it was shattered by Gine’s foot stomping on it. “It’s over.” Gine then turned around only to be tackled by the Mane 6 in a group hug. “Gine! You did it! You really did it!” Pinkie said happily. “You saved us. You saved us all! Thank you so much!” Fluttershy said. “No problem,” Gine said smiling before looking at her group of students. “And I should be thanking you guys as well.” “Yeah. Sorry, we disobeyed you, Gine.” Ocellus said with her fellow students nodding, only for Gine to chuckle in response. “Well, I’m glad you did,” Gine said, surprising them. “If you hadn’t shown up, I could’ve ended up doing Sombra’s work for him. You helped me realize despite how strong I’ve become, there are still some things I can’t do alone. So thanks.” This made the students smile before Gallus said, “While it is good to have you back and Sombra was beaten, there’s still one problem.” Gallus then pointed out the hole that Gine’s blast left and everyone could see that roots from the Everfree Forest began reaching into Canterlot. “Sombra may be gone, but without the magic of the Tree of Harmony, we can’t stop the Everfree Forest.” Ocellus said, worried. “Gine?” Smolder asked, frightened and concerned as well. “Can’t you do something?” “I’m sorry Smolder,” Gine said looking down at the roots growing around the area. “But this is beyond my knowledge. I don’t think my powers will be able to stop this.” Gine then turned to Twilight and her friends. “But Twilight and her friends can.” “Say what?” Rainbow asked. “Gine. We can’t. Without the elements-.” Twilight started. “The elements are with you,” Gine said, putting her hands over Twilight’s. “I may not have been here on your world for long Twilight. But I have studied plenty of the history you and your friends have had. The Tree of Harmony isn’t gone. Its power, its magic is still with you and your friends. Just like how my fellow Saiyans, my old squad, even Bardock live on through me, the Tree of Harmony and its magic live on through you.” Twilight was amazed by Gine’s words when she felt Rainbow and Pinkie take her hands. Gine backed up as Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy also joined hands with them. Twilight looked to her friends, all smiling at her before smiling and shutting her eyes. “You’re right Gine. The tree may be gone, but the friendship it stood for still lives on through us. And will continue its job for as long as we live!” Twilight yelled before she and her friends began to glow in a rainbow color as magic began to surround them, causing them to float up into the air. Then their eyes began to glow before a giant wave of rainbow magic shot from the group, moving over everything in its path all the way to Ponyville. The wave healed any injured ponies, returned those who were still mind-controlled to normal, repaired any damage that had been done, and most importantly, caused the out-of-control roots to wilt and die, returning the Everfree forest to normal. After this had been done, Twilight and her friends returned to normal right before Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl appeared beside them. “Twilight! Well done!” Celestia said, hugging her younger, fellow princess. “You saved not only Canterlot. But all of Equestria.” “Thank you, princess. But it wasn’t just me who saved it,” Twilight said, smiling at her friends, students, and Gine. “I had help from my friends, our new students, and our new protector.” Luna then approached, smiling at them all. “Thank you. All of you. Especially you Gine. You’ve shown loyalty to a land still so new to you and we can’t thank you enough for helping us in our fight.” Gine smiled as she took a bow before the princess. “It was my pleasure. Though now that the fighting is over…” Gine started before her stomach started to growl. “Could we get something to eat now? All of that fighting has left me with an empty stomach.” Everyone began to laugh while Celestia began to walk towards the door. “Come along. I’ll have our chefs prepare a good meal for us all.” Everyone smiled as they all started following Celestia until Gine stopped and took a moment to look at the shattered remains of Sombra’s upper horn. Though the fight was over, Gine felt chills down her spine as she looked to the remains, a feeling bugging her. “Gine?” Gine snapped out of her thoughts before looking to see Ocellus standing by her. “Are you coming?” “Yeah… sorry. Let’s go.” Gine said, smiling as she followed Ocellus, but couldn’t help but think, ‘The fight with Sombra may be over. But how did he know I was from another world? I have a bad feeling whatever caused him to come here is far from over.’ Meanwhile, in the swamp area of Grogar’s hideout, Cozy Glow was staying airborne with her wings, holding hands in a circle with the Storm King and Tirek, the two aggravated while Cozy Glow smiled. “Now I’ll say something nice about centaurs.” Cozy then looked to Tirek. “Tirek? You say something nice about yetis.” Cozy then turned her sights on the Storm King. “And Storm King? You say something nice about ponies.” “Yeah. Not gonna happen.” The Storm King said, pulling his hands from the circle, causing Tirek to do the same while Cozy looked glum. “Come on you two. If we wanna win, we gotta learn to get along.” “As idiotic as her methods are.” The three looked to see Grogar walking into sight from the shadows. “The tiny one has made a good point. If we are to defeat Twilight, her friends, and her new ally, then we must truly work together.” Storm King then raised an eyebrow at the ram. “And what about King Sombra’s little conquering attempt?” “Did he succeed?” Tirek asked. His question however made Grogar smirk. “Ask him yourself,” the elder ram said before moving his arm forward and throwing a surviving Sombra to the ground. The three were beyond shocked to see the state he was in. Despite surviving Gine’s attack, Sombra was beaten and badly injured with scrapes, burns, and many cuts on his body, bleeding from many wounds, his armor badly damaged, and his horn broken. “As you can see,” Grogar said in a serious tone. “The new defender of Equestria is much stronger than any of us anticipated. She holds a power that rivals, if not is greater than Celestia and Luna combined. And she will only continue to get stronger. It seems she is of a race of warriors known as Saiyans. And with her strength combined with the ponies’ magic, the only way to overcome them and conquer Equestria is to work together and share our might.” Grogar said before smirking at the three. “Unless one of you three would like to follow Sombra lead and try to take them on alone.” The three then took another glance at the beaten Sombra before they all gulped with Tirek saying, “Not I!” “No thanks!” Storm King said, hastily. “I’m good!” Cozy said, following the other two’s lead. “Excellent,” Grogar said before turning to the beaten Sombra. He then reached for his necklace and pulled a sphere of magic before throwing it onto Sombra. The magic then covered his body, healed his wounds, repaired his armor, and rebuilt his horn. “And as for you Sombra? Shall you try again on your own? Or will you join us and combine our efforts to defeat our enemies?” Sombra sat upon his knees and remained quiet. He had thought he could do what Grogar had planned on his own. Takedown the princess and their friends, take over the Crystal Empire, and even all of Equestria. But after his recent failure against Gine, he could see he had no choice. He rose up to his feet, looked to Grogar with a serious look before lowering his head. “I will join you. I see you were right. This new ally of the princesses is not one any of us can overcome alone. So as I said, I will pledge my allegiance to you until we defeat our enemies.” “Good,” Grogar said, grinning evilly. “But only if you keep your word,” Sombra said in a threatening tone. “Of course. When we overcome our enemies, you will be given the Crystal Empire as your reward to rule and do with as you see fit. We all will rule Equestria together and nothing will be able to stop us,” Grogar said. Sombra held a serious expression before nodding to him before he walked to Cozy, Tirek, and Storm King, who also nodded in agreement to Grogar. “Excellent,” Grogar said before walking up to his pedestal and summoning his crystal ball out in front of them all. “Now then. I suggest you all learn how to properly work together. For if we are to succeed, we must rely on one another. Learn how to combine our might, our power. I have many plans that will need us to work as one to achieve. But if my plans work, we will be unstoppable. We will overthrow the princess, Twilight and her friends, and even their new defender. This Saiyan. This… Gine…” Then from the hideout, Grogar’s laughing could be heard as it grew louder and louder, caused by whatever plans he had to combat Equestria’s new Saiyan protector.