//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 Divided Loyalty Part 1 // Story: Black as Sin // by BearstarSeraph //------------------------------// Chapter 17 Divided Loyalty Part 1 An hour passed, and Discord was still talking to himself, at least to everyone else. Discord waved at the door guards who had stuck their heads in again. They looked at each other then returned to attention. “I swear I keep hearing a filly’s voice,” one said. “Discord is just messing with us,” said the other one. “There is no one else in there.” ~~***~~ Discord sighed leaning back into his pillow. “You’re talking a little too loud there,” he said. “Don’t wear yourself out.” There was a tinkle sound. “Yes, I agree, dark element love magic is completely disturbing… but honestly that makes me want to meet his mare even more. It’s almost like a geas, with his complete surrender to suffering just for a master.” There was a tinkle sound. Discord enlarged his ear. “Wait. Wait, did you of all beings just say, ‘If reformation could cause that much suffering, maybe it would be more merciful to stay evil?’ Did I just hear that right, my little dictator?” Discord’s ear jerked down. Then split in two. Discord howled as his ear shrunk. The two guards rushed in to see Discord gripping his bleeding ear. They thought they saw a small ball of light wink from existence next to his head. ~~***~~ “Thank you, doctor,” Celestia said. The doctor nodded and left. “Celestia, there’s no reason for you to be here. I was just messing with my magic and I hurt myself. You can—” Discord closed his eyes and pressed his lips together when Celestia wrapped the side of his face with magic. “Would you like to tell me why there are traces of harmony magic on your ear and your cheek? If you know anything about this mysterious harmony mage, I demand you tell me.” Discord sighed. “I can’t. Just know that as antagonistic as we are to each other, she’s not an enemy here.” “Discord…” Celestia said threateningly. “Celestia, if you and Luna would think hard enough, you would have recognized who your ‘mystery mage’ the second Vegeta said she had red hair and magical quills.” “I know no such unicorn.” Discord lowered his eyebrows. “What’s the earliest thing you remember?” “What?” she asked surprised. “What is the earliest thing you remember?” “Are you claiming this unicorn is thousands of years old?” “She’s the same age as I am. One of the first things I remember is her screaming and punching me in the face. All I did was float over and say hi.” “Discord, you’re younger than me. Your parents even came to beg me to release you.” Discord sighed. “Consider this one of my harmless riddles then. You have met her. You should remember her.” Then he scratched his chin, “Unless she used memory erasure on you. I’ll have to ask her the next time she finds the energy to manifest. But I’d much rather she rests instead of being a gnat in my ear.” Celestia frowned, “Do you show so little emotion at the mention of your parents? They lived and died while you were in stone.” Discord closed his eyes. “I know I hurt them. I fully understand that.” He looked at her, “But what do you want me to do? Cry and beg to the time ground dust from their forgotten gravestones? It’s been ONE THOUSAND YEARS, Celestia,” he hissed. “Not every species lives for hundreds of years like your little ponies. Most species barely reach 150 with modern medical magic, if there is a magician available. If not, 100 is just as big a pipe dream as it was when my little draconequus heart was born, as you so lovingly point out.” “Sister! I’m here to—” Luna freezes seeing Celestia and Discord glaring at each other. “Tia? Discord? Is everything alright?” “Yes,” Celestia said, clearly forced. “Prince Vegeta’s wellbeing is the most immediate concern.” Luna slowly walked in and stood next to Vegeta’s bed. She wrapped his head in magic. “Luna? What’s wrong? You look confused,” Celestia asked. “Vegeta’s mind is coalescing rapidly and extremely well… but in two nodes.” She released his head and looked at the two. “They are both oriented to the same location but are otherwise juxtaposed. But they are close, so close, like a splitting card deck while reshuffling.” “We need to go in, now,” Discord said forcefully. “If he solidifies like this, he’ll develop a split personality.” “I was about to say the same thing, Discord,” Luna glared at him. Celestia sighed. “Alright, we are going to need impartial witnesses to this. Cadence and Twilight will need to enter the mindscape with us.” “Impartial witnesses?” Luna asked. “Luna, we still have an unaccounted for Spiraler after over an hour. He’s talked to someone by now. And in his mind, Nightmare Moon chose to save a dark mage over him.” Luna’s ears fell. “We both suffer from tunnel vision in the heat of the moment,” Celestia said, putting her hoof on her shoulder. “But right now, we need ponies who have unquestioned purity in regards to dark magic.” “Princess Cadence does have a deep hatred for Prince Vegeta,” Luna said. “She may act irrationally in the mindscape. We are liable to witness broken shards of memories. Ghosts in the fog.” Luna hung her head, “If his nightmares are any indication, I don’t want her to become a spiral as well. It has been over a thousand years since war touched this land.” She pointed at Discord, “Even Discord did not kill anyone in his decades long rampage.” “I take offense to that,” Discord said. “It was only 19 years, 10 months and 8 days.” Both Celestia and Luna narrow their eyes at Discord. Discord swallowed. “Anyway… I’m coming too.” “Discord, we’ve said this before—” “And how do you think Harmony magic will react to dark magic? Huh? I’m the only Deus Ex Machina you got if things go completely sideways.” Celestia side-eyed her sister, “LuLu… did the harmony mage make an appearance in your dreamwalk with Pinkie?” “A… a feather did,” she admitted. “We were about to fail to pull her mind from death and the small burst of laughter magic made the difference.” Celestia sighed frustrated. “Discord knows who this mage is, but won’t tell me who it is.” “Like I keep saying, you already know who she is if you think hard enough.” “He claims this mage is thousands of years old and that we have crossed paths before.” He looked back at him, “And you did say it was possible this mage wiped our memories of the encounter.” Luna looked like she was thinking. “But what about our dreams?” She looked up, “Remember how I once had nightmares of being turned to stone and being trapped in a glass bottle on a shelf?” Celestia turned to Luna. “I don’t remember this.” “But I told both you and the Pillars about this. It began happening after we got our cutie marks.” Celestia shook her head, more confused than ever. “While it was always a blur so I could never see the species, the giant was a white smear with a red top!” “The red mane,” she turned around, “Discord?!” Discord clapped his hands, “Congratulations, Luna! I’d zap you a cookie if I could.” “Discord, you said this mage was benign, but it sounds like we were imprisoned?!” “You weren’t imprisoned,” Discord said, “But I can see how the residue of that event could turn into such a dream. You’ve both been messed with, sounds like more than once.” “That does not make me feel better about this mage, Discord!” “Sister!” Luna put her wing on her back, “Let’s just get Vegeta put back together and awake. There has been no harm done by this mage, in fact, they have been an ally.” Celestia took a deep breath and sighed, “Yes… Yes, that is the most important thing right now.” She looked at Luna, “Let’s fetch Cadence and Twilight.” ~~***~~ “Thank you, Princess Celestia for trusting me with this!” Twilight said excitedly. “Twilight, take this seriously,” Cadence scolded, “We are entering a mad stallion’s mind who has slaughtered foals without remorse.” Twilight’s ears fell, “When did this happen?!” “When he was a foal, himself,” Discord said. “He was placed before a hostile population and expected to fight his way out. Griffons did something similar in the past, pitting griffons who wanted to become officers against captured soldiers or specially trained slaves. Some noble families used this ceremony instead of the traditional coming of age. Forcing teenagers to kill 100 enemies with their bare claws and beaks instead of one.” Celestia turned to him, “You surprise me, Discord. How do you know of that? Your species never interacted with the griffons during your lifetime.” Discord shrugged. “Luck be a hen, tonight.” She sighed, “More riddles. Fine. There are far more important things.” “Excuse me,” a doctor came into the room. “Yes?” Celestia asked. “Lady Pinkie is demanding to be included in this dreamwalk.” “I don’t believe that would be appropriate,” Cadence said. “Actually,” Luna interjected, “I believe Pinkie could give valuable insight. Can she be safely moved close by? Perhaps the doorway?” “Yes,” the doctor nodded. “She is stable and not hooked up to anything at the moment.” “Princess Luna, I believe she has been through enough trauma for a lifetime,” Cadence protested. “Cadence,” Celestia said. “She and Vegeta have bonded because they have similar powers. They have been in near constant communication in what can best be described as awake dream walking. And it was his version of the Pinkie Sense that told us she was injured. If anypony knows Vegeta’s mind on Equus, it is her.” Cadence’s jaw dropped. “There is no way Pinkie has dark magic!” “It is not dark magic,” Luna said, “but the power native to Vegeta’s actual species. What he calls ‘key’. He said most species have it to varying degrees. Since it is unknown to Equestria, I believe Pinkie is an anomaly savant, like young Twilight is with magic.” Celestia nodded, “And our experience in the dungeon shows what happens when such powers are weaponized. As terrifying as it is that our beloved Pinkie has the same potential, we must be neutral that this key is neither good nor evil.” Cadence looked at Twilight. “I-I’m sorry, Cadence,” Twilight stuttered. “But if Princess Celestia and Luna think it is best, then Pinkie should be here.” “Fine…” she said frustrated, “Since I am clearly over ruled here.” Celestia nodded and turned to the doctor, “Please bring Pinkie here.” “Yes, your majesty,” the doctor bowed and left. ~~***~~ Pinkie was rolled into the doorway. “Hey,” she said weakly. Cadence hurried to the bed. “Pinkie, are you sure you want to do this?” “Yes,” she said firmly. “Cadence,” Luna scolded. “Stop. Thou art here to observe. Nothing else. Thy attitude could endanger Vegeta.” “Yeah, stop being a grouchy pants,” Pinkie said. “Cadence, please,” Celestia said gently. Cadence took a deep breath. “Ok…” “Alright then,” Luna lit her horn and a few dozen cards with arrows drawn on them appeared. “We are going to explain this visually so everypony knows what we will be dealing with.” She laid the cards on Vegeta’s blanket. “Pinkie, can thou see?” “Yes.” “Then,” she began moving the cards. “Vegeta’s mind has coalesced in two distinct piles.” She shuffled two unequal stacks, then spread them into messy piles. “One is larger than the other. But all fragments,” she held up a card showing its arrow, “Are aligned towards a third location.” She put the card down. “Although there is nothing physically at that point. The reason we are intervening is that these piles will solidify,” she straightened the piles, “before they would naturally combine because of their forward movement.” She pushed the two neat piles of cards to the third point. “Vegeta is risking developing a split personality if this happens. So, we need to help this along,” she pushed the two piles into one deck. “Any questions?” Luna asked, looking around the room. “How do you plan on ‘pushing them together’?” Cadence asked. “Dreamwalking is more like an art than a science,” Luna said. “If you press too much, dreamwalking drifts into dark magic. That’s why in complicated cases, it's best to have someone who knows the person well so we have a good idea how the mind will respond to the pressure.” “That’s me!” Pinkie said excitedly. Luna nodded, “I also have some familiarity with him, but we can fill in each other’s gaps in knowledge.” She looked around. “Any other questions?” No one spoke up. “Alright, everyone lay down.” The princesses got on the floor while Pinkie and Discord leaned back into their pillows. “Ready?” “Yeppers! “Yes, Princess Luna.” “Let’s go, sister.” “Dive! Dive! Arooga!” “*Sigh* Let’s get this over with…” Luna lit her horn. ~~***~~ The group came to in darkness, with the ground covered in black fog up to the smaller ponies’ knees. Luna gasped. “It’s ok, Princess Luna.” Pinkie said. “This isn’t the same thing.” “The same what?” Cadence demanded. “Death,” Luna said. “This looks like death.” She looked at Pinkie, “Are you sure?” “Yep! Look,” she pointed. “You can see the floor. If his brain was shutting down this would be very thin and wispy. Fluff this together. I’d bet we'll get a memory.” Luna lit her horn and gently fluffed up the smoke. Then there was a spark and a flash of light. ~~***~~ The air was heavy, and some unknown force threw everyone onto the floor. Luna lit her horn and the weight disappeared. “What the Equus was that?” Cadence shouted. “That pressure was part of the memory,” Luna said. The group found themselves in a small dome room. There floating balls bouncing a ball of light between them at lighting speed as a blur danced between them. Suddenly the light caught the blur and a near naked biped crashed into the ground. Cadence grimaced in disgust, “What is—” “Vegeta!” Luna and Pinkie shouted. The light bounced towards him again and Vegeta moved faster than they could see. His hands appeared above him with a light of their own launched at the reflected ball. They hit. Then there was an explosion. It was black at first, then they felt like they were under a pile of stones. Sight came back to them when Vegeta opened his eyes. “Fuck…” he muttered. Then they heard a woman screaming his name and the sound of the rubble shifting above. Vegeta shifted and forced his arm through the rubble. The scene shifted to outside as Vegeta pulled himself out. While there were others present, the only one in focus was another biped with a curly blue mane. “You ok?” it asked, clearly female now with its voice. “Of course I am,” he said, finishing pulling himself out. The woman’s face went from relieved to furious. “How dare you, you jerk! You almost wrecked my house! What are you trying to prove?” Vegeta chuckled as he stood straight, only to fall backwards. “What? Oh no! You’re hurt!” The woman scrambled over the wreckage to him and pulled his head into her lap and leaned over him. “No… I don’t need help,” Vegeta struggled to speak. “I’ve got training to do…” “You have got to stop training for a while,” she shouted at him. “I mean look at you! You’re a complete wreck.” “But I feel fine… I’m a Saiyan… I can take a little pain. It means nothing to me… And I have to get stronger than Kakarot…” “Ok sure, we all know you’re a tough guy, but you need to rest now.” “I take orders from no one!” he shouted as he tried to get up, only to fall on his face unconscious. “Oh no!” he heard her shout before he blacked out. A sudden blinding light forced them from the memory. In front of them the cloud had coalesced into a translucent specter matching his appearance from the memory, its form shimmering in and out of existence. It looked around, confused. “Where… am I?” “Vegeta,” Celestia began. Luna held her hoof out, “This isn’t him, just the personification of that memory.” Vegeta looked right at her suddenly, startling her. But as he continued to look around, it was clear he could not see them. “Huh?” he turned his back to them. He kept looking around in that general direction. Then he clenched his fists and his face turned red with veins sticking out of his forehead. “I heard you the first time! Don’t order me around, you stupid bitch!” he turned into a cloud and raced off. “What were those things?” Cadence asked disgusted. “That’s what Vegeta really looks like,” Discord said. “Remember, a spell turned him into an alicorn.” “Cadence, Sunset Shimmer and I were turned into humans by the magic mirror,” Twilight added. “Vegeta may not be handsome, but he’s not ugly enough for that reaction.” Cadence sighed, “Alright. Alright. Now what?” “We follow and repeat with each unresponsive cloud we find.” “We could be here for hours!” “He is mostly put together, Princess Cadence,” Luna glared. “What we are finding are stragglers. The real work begins when we find the two main personification specters.” The group walked on, their route constantly surrounded by specters and clouds going in the same general direction. “This is like something out of Nightmare Night,” Twilight said. “Yeah, this would make a great haunted house. Too bad this isn’t funny,” Pinkie said. “Luna,” Discord said, pointing towards another cloud lying low on the ground. It was much larger than the others. “Seems a very large memory,” Luna said. “Perhaps one long event or several small ones on a single topic?” “I don’t want to be a part of this,” Cadence said, shaking her head. “Then you must come, Twilight,” Celestia ordered. “Yes,” she nodded. The four went over and Luna lit her horn. ~~***~~ The four found themselves in a room. Vegeta was there in a blue and white military uniform arguing with a woman with fluffy blond hair holding red clothes. “And why the hell do you expect me to wear this?!” Vegeta fumed with his arms stiff to his sides. “Oh, don’t be a grinch, sweetie,” the woman said, holding up the suit. “Who in their right mind would wear such a thing?! That is worse than the pink shirt your daughter made me wear!” “It’s a Santa Claus costume.” “Then he is clearly color blind.” “Oh come on, tis the season.” “For what?! The cold and flu?” “Christmas celebrates the birth of the Son of God. Come on, you’ve lived here three years now.” “The androids have been taking most of my attention.” “Oh… right. But hey, it would make Trunks happy.” “I’m not dressing up as your god!” Vegeta stormed off. The memory reformed several times as multiple events were playing out across several hours. The memory shifted to a bedroom and Vegeta reading a tablet. “Oh my Celestia!" Twilight was jumping up and down. “An entire library held inside something the size of a foal’s school chalkboard?! We need this spell! I NEED THIS SPELL!” Twilight, calm down,” Celestia scolded. “Now is not the time.” Twilight stopped jumping, but kept fidgeting in excitement. Vegeta heard the door open and a loud groan. “Pause recording. You ok, babe?” The mare with the blue mane, now in a different style, came around the corner. “Did you just call me babe?” “You’re the one who wants me to start using useless prattle.” Vegeta snarked. “Instead of words with actual meaning.” “Oh Oh,” Discord rubbed his hands, “I think we’ve found his mate.” “For the last time, calling someone a turkey on Earth is an insult,” she said exasperated. “You can’t call Trunks ‘turkie’!” “Tourrkie! Damn it. Tourrkie! Growl when you say it, Woman!” “My point still stands.” “Well then my parents must have been calling me a little shit instead of a ‘little smiles’ their entire lives! Because it’s MY infantile name and the boy’s earned it!” Vegeta shouted. His eyes widened as his face reddened. The woman froze momentarily, before sighing and rubbing her head. “Ok… let’s just move on to the task of teaching you about Santa Claus.” Vegeta picked up the tablet, “What do you think I’ve been doing the past few hours?” She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. “Ok, hotshot. Tell me all you know about Santa?” “Banditry, slave trafficking, and being the world’s most wanted criminal.” He raised an eyebrow, “Is he an ex-boyfriend?” “What?!” she leapt on the bed and crawled for the tablet. “What grimdark, slasher fic site did you find on the web? Give me that!” Vegeta let her rip the tablet from his hands. She ran her hand across the screen. “Wait… This is on Candle?! A real book?!” She suddenly looked confused as she held the tablet out. “Fairies?” Vegeta took it from her hand. “‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’, by your ‘Oz’ person. The battle scene showed promise in the movie.” He leaned back into his previously comfortable position, “How about I continue to use your hacked program to teach me how to read your tribe’s script, while you look into your own legends about this immortal toymaker.” Vegeta put his headphones back on, “You don’t seem to know him very well… Oh,” he slipped one ear off. “If you ever want to see me dress as your holy man, I’d start with the infamous and feared Cossack warrior backstory.” “Now that’s a grin after my own heart,” Discord sighed, fluttering his eyelashes. Then he elbowed Celestia, “Almost reminds me of your impish smile.” The memory concluded with Vegeta in costume being chased by a large group of children. The light kicked them out and this specter materialized dressed in this St. North’s warrior attire twirling one of the two swords absentmindedly. “Coming!” he shouted. He walked off whistling a tune (Good King Wenceslas) before returning to smoke and flying off. “Oh my Celestia!” Twilight galloped over to Cadence. “Cadence that was AMAZING! There were books! Millions of books! All on this tiny little thing—" Cadence put her hoof in Twilight’s face, shushing her. “I’m glad you were distracted by this library so you did not have to witness whatever that was. But I don’t need to hear it.” “Cadence, there was nothing wrong with that memory,” Celestia said. “In fact, that celebration we just witnessed was very much like Hearthwarming. It was quite pleasant.” “And the swords?” she raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Dressed in the costume of an aged warrior and famed toymaker declared the patron saint of children celebrated on that day. He and the others sound very much like the Pillars, except actually remembered in daily life,” Luna ended on a sad note. “And on another fantastic note,” Discord said excitedly, “We’ve confirmed his mare! He married that blue maned one we saw.” “Joy…” Suddenly they heard a deep whinny. They turned and saw Vegeta’s alicorn form galloping away from an army of specters flying after it. “I don’t want to die!” “Get back here!” “You’re only delaying the inevitable.” “You’re just going to piss her even more off by running away.” “No! I can’t do this! She’s going to kill me!” “After him!” Luna ordered and the group joined the chase. “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Bulma isn’t going to forgive this fuck up this time. I just screwed up my last chance…” “Is he… crying?” Cadence said shocked. “Bulma, I’m so sorry… I’m a horrible husband and father… Please don’t kill me… Please!” “Bull-mah, well we know his wife’s name now,” Discord quipped. “Are you sure?” Twilight said. “He’s running in blind terror!” “A murderer would marry a murderer, Twilight.” “Bulma is a hero,” Pinkie said forcefully. “And a powerful leader!” “Are you flying?!” Twilight shouted, briefly skidding to stop before racing to catch up. Cadence dropped back to help her catch up, “We’re dreaming Twilight,” she softly scolded. Farther ahead... “Did Vegeta teach you that?” Discord joked. “Actually yeah! I figured it out from what he told me. It’s actually really easy! I just never thought of it before because I’m an earth pony… I wish I could race Rainbow Dash.” “You will recover, Pinkie,” Celestia said firmly. “And I will look forward to you racing the Wonderbolts when all of this is over.” Ahead, the various specters were releasing lassos and whips of light from their hands, but the alicorn kept slipping through, sometimes returning to smoke to do so. “Enough!” Luna sent out a lasso of her own. It successfully tightened around his neck. Alicorn Vegeta began to buck and turn to smoke to escape, but the lasso held tight. Then the smoke ball raced off again. Luna was pulled off her hooves. Celestia wrapped her magic around her sister, but was also dragged off. Discord grabbed Celestia’s tail. This briefly stopped the cloud, before it began to spin. The rope wrapped around it and pulled everyone off their feet. They were sucking into the cloud in a flash of light. “Where did they go?!” Twilight screamed, finally catching up. “Give it a few seconds,” Cadence said. “They were just pulled in. Your book visit sounded like it was over a few hours but it was only a moment for me.” ~~***~~ The three found themselves tangled in a pile on the floor. “Augh…” Celestia said, “Where are we?” “Looks like another Hearth's Warming,” Discord said as he popped himself out of the tangle then helped Celestia off of Luna. “Vegeta, how could you!” The three followed the screaming to the next room. “You’ve lived on this planet seventeen years and you still wait till the last minute!” she continued to rant. “Bulla has been waiting for her Rarity toy all summer, and now all the stores are out! What are we going to tell her in the morning? That Santa forgot?!” Vegeta just stood there, motionless. “Oh!” Bulma threw her hands in the air. She pointed at him, “You have until dawn to fix this. And you better hope you think of something!” She stormed off. “And don’t come to bed tonight!” Bulma shouted as the automatic door closed, leaving Vegeta alone with the Christmas tree. “How long is he going to stand there?” Discord said flying over. “Oh, gosh… I’ve never seen a more pathetic face.” Luna and Celestia came over. “Oh, poor dear,” Celestia said. “I just want to wrap a wing around him.” The three stayed and watched Vegeta stare off into space. Then the song changed for the fourth time, “We wish you a Merry Christmas…” Vegeta’s head shot up and he ran from the room. The three did not need to move as the scenery followed Vegeta racing through the house. “Seems we finally get to witness these dragon balls,” Discord smiled. After frantic packing, Vegeta paused in front of a door. They watched him gather himself, then entered. Vegeta flipped on the light. Everyone’s jaws dropped. Discord’s jaw even rolled across the floor. “What the Buck?!” Celestia and Luna shouted at once. “I know the reports said Bulla had toys of us,” Celestia said, finally able to speak, “But this is obsessive… No, obsession! Complete obsession! Unhealthy obsession!” “He’s even dressing her with our likenesses. Wouldn’t others find it strange?” Luna mumbled. The two jumped out the window, and the three followed. Luna and Celestia reflexively spreading their wings as they went through the air. A few days passed, then they came to a hot location. He left Bulla half undressed on a bench and walked into a large building. “This seems to be a large general store,” Celestia looked around when they entered. “There are clothes and a grocer’s.” Vegeta grabbed a cart and raced through the store with people jumping out of his way and cursing him. “I see he has no regard for others,” Celestia said, frowning. Vegeta suddenly skidded to a stop and raced down a new aisle. They rounded the corner. The three froze again. At the back of the store, was a huge banner displaying the images of twilight and her friends with a large heart and writing in their language. The three slowly made their way over. Easily a quarter of the store was nothing but toys, clothing, and party items of them. There were children and adults throughout, many already wearing clothing with their pictures. Luna and Rainbow Dash seemed the most popular among the few stallions present, while the foals, mostly fillies, were wearing brightly colored versions of Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Princess Cadence. Fluttershy and Rarity’s cutie marks were the most common decorations on the mountains of jewelry and hair ribbons present. Vegeta was just taking entire clothes racks and dumping them into the cart before sticking his arm out and sweeping in entire shelves indiscriminately. “We know he is quite wealthy by the grand palace and gardens, but this is rude,” Luna twisted her nose. Then they saw a little girl start to scream and cry as Vegeta grabbed the item she and her father were looking at off the shelf. There was a brief confrontation with the father shouting and poking him in the chest, which ended almost instantly when Vegeta showed him a golden card. Vegeta then put the item in the father’s cart, then the father began piling items into his cart the same way Vegeta had before. Vegeta then walked into the next aisle. “Hey! I’m a billionaire and buying out the store, grab what you want. I’m paying!” After showing the skeptical adults the golden card, chaos erupted as everyone started stuffing their carts or just piling stuff high in their arms if they did not have one. The large train made its way to the front of the store, and Vegeta spoke with and showed the card to the cashier. The clearly panicking teenager called for a manager and the conversation repeated with Vegeta showing multiple other cards to his growing frustration, then a large wad of green paper and waved it in his face. After the manager took a few of them and ran a marker over them, the manager’s mood completely changed. He reached for a microphone. “All cashiers to the front! Open all tills!” Vegeta raised his arms and everyone cheered. “Is Vegeta paying for everyone?” Celestia said. “That tiny bit of gold can’t be that valuable.” After everyone went through, Vegeta slipped the gold card into a slot in a black box and pushed some buttons. Then the card came back out and he put it away. “He’s leaving with the gold? How did he pay?” Celestia gasped. “Well, he did something considering he just got the receipt,” Discord said. “And now the manager is shaking his hand.” Vegeta walked out the door into the parking lot with his cart piled high with plastic bags. He put his foot on the back and pushed the cart into a fast roll and glided across the parking lot to the store fronts on the opposite side of the lot. “Hey, Bulla,” he said, rolling up to her. “Ready to go to the beach? I got your suit and floaties.” “Beach! Beach! Beach!” Bulla cheered, jumping up and down. Discord wrapped his arms around the clearly frazzled sisters and pulled them in. “Well despite the horror of the subject matter, that was definitely one of the greatest acts of generosity we’ve ever witnessed. Let’s see what other chaotic acts of friendship he commits.” A few hours later… “That was one of the most horrible acts of violence I’ve ever witnessed! That poor child,” Celestia shouted. “No bully deserves that!” “But with the level of corruption on display, a rough hand of some sort seemed necessary, sister. And despite the horrid display, no one is injured. Just broken property and wet pants.” “Are we not going to talk about how he LIT HIMSELF ON FIRE?! He was glowing, GLOWING from the inside!” Discord was waving his arms. “He said THAT is what he really looks like. That was amazing! Incredible! If I had my powers, I’d zap a shirt and hat on with his face and declare myself a fanboy!” “Discord…” Celestia sighed frustrated. “So,” she looked at Luna, “How much longer is this memory? It’s been easily a week…” “They have collected most of them, so I assume a few more days at most. But remember this is basically instantaneous to Twilight and the others on the outside. And then instantaneous to the others in the waking world, thus is the time dilation in dream walking.” A few days later, they were clearly in a poor and rural part of the planet. The princesses were clearly disturbed and they tiptoed through crowds following Vegeta and Bulla on his motorcycle. Even Discord was weirded out. “I can’t believe all of these beings aren’t sentient,” he said subconsciously moving out of the way of a donkey pulled cart. “It’s like looking at zombies.” Eventually Vegeta came to a stop, looked at the locator, then began talking to locals, eventually finding tourists who spoke his language. They led them to their tour group and they joined the trip into the mountains— riding donkeys. Bulla was ecstatic, petting and even kissing their heads. The donkeys were keeping their distance from Vegeta, one even escaping its bridle and darting as fast as it could away. “They’re scared of him,” Celestia said. “He hasn’t done anything though?” “Remembering we are looking at… animals…” Luna said awkwardly. “Animals often have an instinctual reaction to ponie—beings. Vegeta is proud, rude, and aggressive. They are picking that up and they don’t like it.” One animal was finally coaxed over and Vegeta got on, only for the animal to go insane and eventually buck him off. “Ow…” Vegeta groaned on the ground. He sat up. “Fine! Fuck all of you, I’ll fucking walk!” “It’s over 6 kilometers,” one of the guides said. “I can run more than that in 5 minutes,” Vegeta said standing up. “At, 2,400 meters?” “I’ve gone high enough to flip off aircraft,” Vegeta growled annoyed, “I’m fine.” “Oh, hey!” another tourist raised his arm, “Another mountain climber. Awesome! You do Everest yet?” “No, but,” he put both hands on his lower back and he grimaced, “Not really in the mood to talk right now.” “Oh, ok sure dude. You take care. We can talk later,” he put both thumbs up from his fists. Vegeta made the trip and got the final ball. Then they flew into the night. They came to an island, and Vegeta set Bulla up to sleep. “Baaaaa.” “Oh, hey a bunch of goats. How’d you get here? There are no humans around for at least an hour flying.” “Baaaaa.” “You’re not as smart as the donkeys, are you?” Vegeta chuckled. Then he stretched his arms in front of him and cracked his neck. “Shall we get this over with while Bulla’s sleeping, Lunch, Brunch, and Dinner?” The three goats ran into the trees. Vegeta smiled and ran after them. “No! No!” Celestia turned her back, got on her knees and covered her eyes. “I’m not watching this! I’m not watching this! Luna DO something!” “I… I can’t.” “You two hide if you must,” Discord said. “I can tell you when it’s over.” “Discord… you don’t have to make this sacrifice…” Celestia’s voice quivered. “I do eat meat, Celestia,” Discord said. “I can handle this better than the two of you. Go somewhere, I’ll be fine.” Celestia and Luna went airborne and stayed in the sky for what felt like hours. Discord eventually flew up. “Hey, Vegeta is about to use the balls.” They came down and landed just as Vegeta spoke. “Eternal Dragon, I summon you to grant my wish.” A great flash of light came from the balls before a blinding column rocketed into the air. The wind roared and twisted with thunder and the sky turned black. Bulla yipped and fell backwards. Celestia and Luna fell on their haunches as well, hugging each other in terror. “Sister! This magic is smothering! It hurts to breathe.” “It hurts because Vegeta is hurting!” Discord was laughing maniacally. He raised his arms in the air ecstatically. “My brother! My brother in CHAOS! No wonder you were able to do all of this! Unbounded by flesh and blood as we’re supposed to be!” He continued to laugh like a mad man, his voice completely lost in the wind. The Eternal Dragon fully materialized from the light. “What is your wish?” Vegeta glanced at Bulla. “Bulla. Bulla, stand up,” he scolded. Bulla trembled to her feet. “And don’t hide behind me either,” he scolded, sidestepping her. “Forgive her Eternal Dragon! This is her first witness,” Vegeta shouted up before returning to her. “You will stand before him alone,” he said before walking back towards the camp. The scene naturally shifted backwards as he walked away. The three saw Bulla standing alone trembling before him, attempting to stand stiff and straight. “Poor dear,” Celestia said, still clinging to Luna, “She looks like she is going to faint.” “I cannot grant any wish. Only what is within my power,” the Dragon said. A few moments later, he spoke again. “Yes, that is within my power… Yes, I can do that as well…” Vegeta uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, worry all over his face. “Your wishes have been granted.” Bulla vanished. And Vegeta bolted over. “Where did she go?! What did she wish for?!” he shouted up at the dragon. “She wished to be teleported to the edge of the Everfree Forest I materialized for her.” “And you sent her alone!” he shouted. “I granted what I was asked!” he roared, “I am not the one who left her alone.” Vegeta's eyes darted around as he thought. “Wait…” he looked back up, “If you’re still here that means you still have one wish to grant?” “Yes.” “I wish for the same thing she did!” Vegeta shouted. “Your wish has been granted.” The flash of light kicked the three out of the memory. Alicorn Vegeta was hogtied with every rope imaginable. There was no escape for it this time. The other specters began dragging the whimpering alicorn away. “Princess Celestia! Luna!” Twilight ran up to them. Then she slid to a halt. Celestia and Luna were trembling, slipping on their hooves as they stood. “What the hay happened!?” Twilight screamed seeing their rulers completely in shock and disheveled. “Twilight!” Discord greeted her like a giddy foal. “We just met the wish granting dragon!” He put his hands on his cheeks, “His magic was so overwhelming it was painful. And that was just what Vegeta was feeling. If we had been there in real life we could have been smothered and died just from his aura alone! And then the spells he cast!” He raised his arms in the air, “Vegeta was right! We had no idea the power this dragon wielded. In one spell he used more magic than in all of Equus and the other celestials COMBINED! And he cast THREE of them!” He began hopping and clapping his hands, “Oh! I wish I could talk with him without dying! He seems fun.” “Yes…” Celestia said. “A true horror even eldritchs would fear…” Celestia then sat back down and put her hooves to her temples, “Oh! That world looked so kind and peaceful only to have such creatures stalking the land! Vegeta’s true form is the last of our worries.” “Oh my gosh! That was amazing as well! He was glowing. Glowing! And surrounded by a flame that didn’t burn anything it touched.” “Oh!” Pinkie bounced over, “You saw him go super Saiyan? Yeah, that’s amazing huh? He said he glows because of all the ki in his body so he has to suppress it to look like a normal human. He’s so used to it; he doesn’t even think about it anymore.” “Super Saiyan? Oh, that does sound like fun.” “Will you two stop acting like this crisis is some kind of game?!” Cadence shouted. “Look at the princesses! They are frazzled! This has never happened before!” “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Twilight began to spin. “You’re right! We’re in terrible danger if the princesses are panicking.” “Everyone. Calm. Down. Now,” Luna shouted in full Canterlot voice. Everyone looked at her. She cleared her throat. “As truly unsettling as his world is, he is a prince and his wife is from a powerful noble family with more influence than the king of her country where he dwells. We have their promised friendship and willingness for a military alliance that must go through his wife once contact is reestablished. All we witnessed were friends. And better our friends than Equestria’s enemies.” Celestia shakily got to her hooves. “Yes. Princess Luna is right. These horrors are our new friends. We must trust Vegeta and his kindness.” “Cadence, silence!” Luna scolded. “I did not say anything.” “Hey! They are getting away,” Discord waved his arms pointing. Luna took the lead, then looked back and waited trotting in place. “Make haste, hurry!” ~~***~~ While they walked, Pinkie and Discord were geeking out over everything each had seen. “You seem strangely unaffected for someone who claims to have seen the same thing?” Cadence glared. “Vegeta walked me through it,” she answered. “So, he edited it to be more favorable to him.” “Princess Cadence,” Luna stopped and stomped her front hooves. “Stop it.” The alicorn Vegeta’s ears started to flick as he began to look around. Luna immediately stopped and raised her wings to stop everyone. “I thought he couldn’t see us,” Celestia whispered. “He shouldn’t, but this version hast met us,” Luna whispered back. After glancing around, alicorn Vegeta looked to the groups right. “Guys,” he said worried. “Left. Left.” “We know,” the specters all said in unison. Everyone looked to their right. A wall of black clouds was following them, in the center of which was an undulating outline of overlapping specters that had not fully fused. It was Vegeta, in armor with shoulder pads and tassets hanging from the breastplate. There was some kind of monocle over his eye. “Are you done fighting?” one of the ghosts asked. “We need you.” “Yeah… Yeah, I’m good,” alicorn Vegeta hung his head. The group turned to clouds, fused, then raced off. The armored specter also turned to smoke and raced off in the same direction, parallel but never crossing. “How can you claim this pony is anything but a monster after seeing THAT?!” Cadence pointed. “Discord—” Celestia started, worried. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” he interrupted. “Just because Vegeta has broken into two parts does not mean it’s along the lines of pure good and evil.” “Yeah!” Pinkie shouted. “Even if he has, our good Vegeta is going to win! Just like with Babidi’s mind control spell.” “No,” Luna said vehemently, shocking the others. “I’m not going to let Vegeta die, even by his own hands.” Luna stood in front of the group. “Vegeta now has something he did not have access to previously, our friendships and our mind magics directly supporting his battle. She held her hoof up at chest height like a fist,” We shalt not fail or forsake our mission to protect the minds of our ponies again!”