Once Vegeta's pod had passed through the atmosphere, and he was on his way to the Frieza Planet he had been ordered to travel to, Rainbow and Applejack turned to the group of fighters that stood around them. They were unsure of who this King Kai was, though considering the fact that Goku had trained under him for some time, and learned the Kaio-Ken and Spirit Bomb techniques, that only made them eager to meet him. Their first task, however, was to transport the Saiyan pod to Bulma's place, Capsule Corp she called it, where she would be able to hook up the pod to her equipment and figure out how to replicate everything that was inside it. Goku, being exhausted from his fight with Vegeta, decided to retire to his home with Gohan, so shortly after Vegeta departed he called on some sort of golden colored cloud, the Flying Nimbus he called it, and his family was gone in a matter of minutes.
Piccolo, having nowhere else to go at the moment, was offered a room for the night by Bulma as well, though after a few seconds the Namekian accepted the invitation... but once he had agreed Bulma sprung a condition on him; he had to help them cart the pod to the lab. Before he could get pissed off, and accidentally blow the pod to pieces, Applejack reminded them that she could fly it there, as she had the knowledge that would allow her to fly it to their destination without blowing something up. Piccolo and Krillin helped Rainbow into the back of the flying vehicle that Bulma had been riding, to which they discovered that Roshi was sitting in the back seat at the moment, before they took off and headed in the direction of Bulma's lab.
Applejack took a moment to make sure the pod had enough fuel to reach its destination, which it did considering it had been refueling on Earth's atmosphere since it had landed, before climbing into the pod, closing the lid with a couple of clicks, and then gently sent it in the direction that Bulma and the others were heading in.
It took them some time to reach the location of Bulma's lab, which happened to be located in a rather large city that was known as West City, though the building in question was essentially half a circle that had been turned upside down. Bulma landed in what was apparently the yard between several of the buildings, to which she hopped out of the vehicle and opened the door to one of the buildings, which was likely her lab. Once the door was open she turned her gaze to the sky for a moment and spotted the pod that Applejack was in, though before she did anything Piccolo flew out of the vehicle and moved towards the pod. When he was next to the pod he gently tapped it, to get Applejack's attention, before beckoning down to the ground, where both he and the pod moved towards the ground until they were both in the area that Bulma had landed in.
A few seconds passed before Applejack opened the pod and climbed out of it, though there was a smile on her face, which told Rainbow that it was in perfect working order.
"I'll begin running some tests on the pod once I've introduced you to my father," Bulma said, tapping the side of the pod for a moment, before she beckoned for the girls and Piccolo to follow her inside the main building, "Applejack, I know you and Rainbow want to get started with whatever training Goku was talking about, but I would like to have the list of symbols ready before you leave."
"I will have the full list completed before then," Applejack replied, though while she spoke she was carrying Rainbow, as she was still somewhat exhausted from the usage of her lance.
"You know, I'm kind of glad that you guys got rid of that Nappa character," Bulma commented, leading them though a room that was labeled as the Atrium, where a variety of animals ran around and enjoyed their lives, before beckoning them up a set of stairs, "I mean seriously; the jerk sold out his entire race, his home planet, and who knows how many other worlds just to make some money."
"He also wanted immortality," Piccolo threw in, remembering what the bald Saiyan had said, which had only angered his companion, "Vegeta, on the other hand, clearly had a completely different wish he wanted to make... and I'm willing to bet that it was the revival of both his home planet and his race."
"Is that even possible?" Rainbow asked, speaking for the first time since Vegeta had departed from Earth, "Can the Dragon Balls bring back an entire race and the planet that they used to live on?"
"I'm going to be honest with you, I have no idea," Piccolo answered, shaking his head for a moment as they walked up the stairs, "The people of Earth have only used the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality or to bring back specific people who died in a conflict. Take Yamcha for an example, in one years time we can gather the Dragon Balls and wish him back to life, as this was the first time he died, but if this had been his second time then he'd be stuck in the Next World. According to Kami there's a limit on how many times someone can be brought back by using the Dragon Balls, though if you want more details on what the seven spheres can do then I would ask him."
Rainbow and Applejack assumed that the wish granting spheres could do anything, as they had been told that when they first discovered their existence, but now they both guessed that there were some restrictions on what could be wished for, otherwise the world would be in chaos as people fought over the balls. Piccolo's words suggested that no one had tried to wish a planet into existence, though both of the girls knew that the only way they could truly discover if it was possible or not would be to gather the balls and ask the Eternal Dragon themselves.
"Do I hear people talking?" a voice asked, though at the same time the group entered what appeared to be a living room area, complete with a table, chairs, and some sort of device that sat on a wooden dresser of some kind.
The girls turned towards the sound of the voice and found a short, stocky man who happened to be sitting in one of the chairs while reading what appeared to be a stack of papers. The man's hair was very similar in style to the style that Bulma's hair was in, but his hair was bluish-gray colored instead of Bulma's turquoise colored hair. The man also had a large gray mustache and wore a large pair of rectangular glasses, no doubt to help him see things considering how old he looked, though in addition to those items he was wearing a white lab coat, with a blue undershirt, and black pants. The man also had something in his mouth that was giving off some smoke, though he pulled it out for a moment and tapped it on the side of a container, to which a piece fell off of it before he returned it to his mouth.
There was also a small black cat resting on the man's right shoulder, though it barely looked at the group as they entered the room, as if it wasn't interested with them at all.
"Guys, this is my father, Dr. Brief," Bulma said, waving a hand to the man for a moment, who set his papers down and turned towards he group, "Dad, these are some of Son Goku's friends; Piccolo, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. They helped save the world from the Saiyans I told you about a year ago."
"Ah yes, now I remember," Dr. Brief replied, to which he pulled himself out of his chair and approached the group, where he held his hand out for them to shake, "Any friend of my daughter's, or Son Goku for that matter, is a friend of mine."
Piccolo seemed uncertain of whether or not he should shake the man's hand at all, though both Rainbow and Applejack nearly jumped at the chance to do so, eventually leading the Namekian to follow their example. Once that was done Dr. Brief looked over them and noticed that some of them had a few injuries, the ones that had appeared after they ate their Senzu Beans, so he called for a nurse bot to come to them and patch some of them up.
"So now that introductions are out of the way, I have a question for you," Dr. Brief said, to which he pulled over a monitor and revealed the Saiyan pod that was in his backyard, "Whose space ship is that?"
"Technically it used to belong to a Saiyan called Nappa," Applejack answered, as she was ready to give him the short version of what had happened today, "but now it belongs to me and my sister. Vegeta, the Saiyan that arrived with Nappa, basically gave the pod to us and said that we could do whatever we wanted with it, so Bulma asked us to bring it here so she could study it... as long as I give her the list of Saiyan symbols so she knows what she's doing."
"Tell me everything you know about the Saiyans and their culture," Dr, Brief said, though a smile appeared on his face as he started to make his way down towards where the pod was situated, "Today will be a great day for science!"
Rainbow and Applejack, along with Piccolo and Bulma, basically got to work on the pod the moment Dr. Brief showed an interest in learning about the new technology that was available for him to play with. As Bulma and her dad got to work, which started with hauling the pod into the workshop area, the girls were quizzed on everything they knew about the Saiyans and their culture. Both of the girls admitted that there were a few things they didn't know, such as the myths that the Saiyans told to the next generation or who they worshiped, though they guessed that the simple answer to the second part was that the race worshiped King Vegeta, their greatest warrior at the time.
As the two scientists worked on the pod, and Piccolo moved to a more quiet area to meditate, Applejack started writing down all of the Saiyan symbols and their meanings, so when it came time to crack the pod open both Bulma and her father didn't accidentally blow the pod to pieces. While she did that Rainbow laid on her back and stared up at the sky, though that was eventually followed by her gently flying up towards the clouds, grabbing one of them with her hands, and returned to the ground with it, where she laid on it as if it was a comfy bed of some kind. When asked about that Applejack said that she honestly had no idea how her sister managed to do that, grabbing a cloud and essentially binding it to the ground until she was done with it, but that was followed by them returning to their work once more.
They were barely an hour into their work before Dr. Brief started going over all of the translations that Applejack had provided them, which at the moment was half of the total number of symbols that the Saiyans actually used... though she made sure that the ones for operating the pod were at the top of the list. That involved him asking Applejack to actually quiz both him and his daughter on the symbols that she had already laid out, though she decided to humor him and see if he had actually memorized any of them in the short amount of time they had been working.
"Okay, what's this symbol?" Applejack would ask, to which she would trace a symbol on something that was called a whiteboard, where she could write something on it and then completely erase it when she was done.
"That would be the symbol for open," either Bulma or her father would answer, though there was an occasion where Bulma would get one wrong and her father would correct her, as he hadn't gotten any wrong himself.
"Correct," Applejack would reply, as either one of them would guess right, before erasing the symbol and drawing another one in its place, "and what is this symbol?"
The three of them ended up spending a good hour going over the list that Applejack had created, though while Dr. Brief clearly didn't need the list for his work Bulma, on the other hand, still needed some practice. While they worked Applejack and Rainbow were introduced to Bulma's mother, a lady by the name of Panchy, who seemed interested in their house guests and even talked with Rainbow while she was relaxing, though eventually she went back inside the main building and left them alone. Once Panchy left them to their work Bulma looked up at the clock on the wall and discovered that it was already almost seven pm, to which she declared that they were going to stop working and get something to eat before they exhausted themselves.
Not thirty minutes after Bulma had them stop working, and retire to the main building for the rest of the night, did Rainbow and Applejack discover that there was what could have passed as a small feast sitting on the table, though when they asked Bulma about it they discovered that she hadn't eaten anything all day and was kind of hungry. Piccolo sat at the table as well, though he had taken off the white part of his clothing that he had been wearing the entire time the girls had known him, though he seemed annoyed by the fact that his meditation had been interrupted.
It was during the time that they were eating that Dr. Brief asked them some questions about how they knew Goku and how they came to reside on Earth, as he was fairly certain that their particular species wasn't native to the planet.
"Honestly, we have no idea what planet we're from," Applejack replied, while at the same time Rainbow was tearing into the food she had piled onto her plate, which wasn't surprising considering how much energy she had used in order to call upon the lance twice in one day, "I mean one day me and Rainbow just showed up on our father's planet, without any knowledge of where we came from, and we were taken in without any questions asked. We were raised by him, our mother, and our father's attendant for three years... and then our father had to go to sleep and we were put in an enchanted sleep."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," Dr. Brief commented, though his tone indicated that he believed the same thing that Krillin and the other Z Warriors had thought when Applejack had told them about their father, "You mentioned that the two of you had been placed in an 'enchanted sleep' for twenty-three years? What kind of person would do such a thing to the two of you?"
Applejack wanted to say that it was their mother, but decided not to say that, because when she mentioned that their father was sleeping everyone thought she meant that he was dead. If she said that their mother put them in an enchanted sleep, for twenty-three years, she worried that they might think that she and Rainbow hated their mother, which was why they didn't speak about her very much. She had no doubts that Chronoa was keeping an eye on them and was likely shaking her head at Dr. Brief for thinking that their father was dead, but she decided not to say anything at all.
She cast a glance at her sister, to see if she was even paying attention to the conversation, but Rainbow was eating her fill for the night and likely hadn't heard a single word that had been said.
"Again, I have no idea who did that to us." Applejack eventually answered, but the fact that she had lied left a terrible taste in her mouth, "Though we were allowed to awaken when Earth needed aid in stopping Nappa from rampaging across the world, not to mention meeting the grown up version of our childhood friend."
"That reminds me, you said that he was going to a planet named Namek?" Dr. Brief inquired, to which Applejack nodded a few times to indicate that he was correct, "I was just curious as to whether the pod had a star chart or something with the coordinates for every planet that your friend, and his dimwitted companion, have found during their travels. If so I could always construct another pod and we could sent the two of you off immediately."
"Well, Goku told us that King Kai wanted to train us for a bit," Rainbow finally said, pulling herself away from her plate for a moment, "I don't know who that is, but he sounds very important and he gave Goku some sweet moves... ones that I would enjoy adding to my list of available skills. Though I don't think he'd bother with teaching me the Spirit Bomb, not when I've already got my lance on my side."
"I think that his training is going to be along the lines of finding out what your individual style is," Piccolo commented, shocking the people at the table, because he had been silent for most of the meal, "though if you want my two cents I can tell you want I think. I believe that you, Rainbow, are going to be the type of fighter that fights at close range while relying on your speed to avoid taking damage and occasionally outdistancing your enemy. Applejack, you strike me as the type of person who would benefit more from precision techniques, maybe something like using your ki to enhance your blows or something like that."
"Have... have you been thinking about that since we beat Nappa?" Rainbow asked, as she was surprised that he had a guess on their fighting styles, though she also guessed that Piccolo might be right.
"Actually, I started analyzing the two of you the moment you started fighting," Piccolo replied, taking a sip of the tea that had been prepared, "of course it turned out that you were on our side and not the Saiyans, so my precaution wasn't necessary at all."
"Okay, that's actually not important at the moment," Bulma said, bringing their attention back to what they had been talking about, "We need to focus on getting the pod up and running, as well as understanding it so we could potentially make a second one... though I think that can wait until the morning. The three of you have to be exhausted from all the fighting you did today, despite the Senzu Beans that you might have eaten during your fight with Nappa."
Rainbow wanted to argue that she and Applejack were fine to continue the research, where she would relax and Applejack would help them with the pod, but before she could say anything both she and her sister let out a yawn that indicated that they were indeed tired. The moment the meal was over, and Bulma's parents insisted that the dishes would be cleaned up later, Bulma escorted the girls to one of their spare rooms, one that happened to have two beds. The girls thanked Bulma for allowing them to stay the night, who merely smiled and wished them a good night, before heading back to the living area to make sure her father wasn't sneaking out to work on the pod anymore.
The girls shared a laugh at the thought of Bulma's father sneaking out to figure out how the pod worked, because they already knew, from the brief moment he had been working on it, that the technology fascinated him and held his attention. Once they were done laughing they climbed into the beds that were in the room, finding it odd that there happened to be two beds in the room, before they fell sleep the moment their heads hit the pillows.
When morning arrived the girls discovered two things; one, Dr. Brief was drinking some sort of warm liquid drink that he called coffee, something that was supposed to help wake adults up in the morning. He offered two small cups to them, a small portion so they could see if they liked it, but in the end both of the girls almost ended up spitting it out, where he explained that coffee was an acquired taste and that he expected them to almost gag when they tasted the drink. Bulma didn't seem to mind the cup that her father had given her, though that was quickly followed by the girls noticing that Mr. Popo was in the building at the moment.
"Is something wrong Mr. Popo?" Applejack asked, though she was wondering if Kami needed help with something and didn't want to bother Goku after recently bringing him back to life.
"No," Mr. Popo replied, though while he spoke both of the girls noticed that there was a flying carpet hanging outside the building behind him, "Kami wanted me to give your friend here access to his old ship, so she and whoever needs to go to Namek have the ability to do so... as there isn't enough time to make a pod for everyone."
"That reminds me," Bulma commented, indicating that she had already seen the ship in question while the girls were sleeping, though she was keeping calm from her excitement at the prospect of working on another object from another alien culture, "How did we get to Yunzabit Heights so fast? I forgot to ask because of the ship you let me see."
"It was my carpet," Mr. Popo said, beckoning to the carpet for a moment, before turning his attention back to the group, "it allows me to teleport anywhere instantly, though it is fueled by the evil of the souls that are fed to it."
"I... I don't want to know the exact specifics of what you just said," Bulma said, though she seemed sick at the thought of a soul being used for fuel, "but I will happily work on the new ship... just as soon as I finish working on the Saiyan pod and the symbols that we haven't been given yet."
"You two have thirty minutes to prepare yourselves," Mr. Popo stated, turning towards Rainbow and Applejack for a moment, "King Kai wants to begin your training immediately... but he's willing to wait until you've finished helping your friend out."
Rainbow and Applejack shared a look between themselves before they helped themselves to whatever the morning meal was, as they got a small portion of it so Applejack could focus on writing down the remaining symbols and their translations before they left the building. Rainbow, on the other hand, stood around and helped Dr. Brief move things around the buildings, getting in her morning exercise before they started their new training under the man who trained Goku. They were both excited to learn whatever they could learn from King Kai, especially because of the Kaio-Ken that they had seen in use, though they had to wonder what other tricks the person they were going to meet had up his sleeves.
When thirty minutes had passed, and the entire list of symbols had been completed, the girls walked outside with Mr. Popo, Dr. Brief, Bulma, and Piccolo, as three of them were there to merely wish them luck in their training. The carpet was waiting for them, though the girls were told that that it could hold one other person besides Mr. Popo, but considering how small they were he could bend it to three people until they were older. They also knew that they could return to Earth whenever they needed to take a break, as Mr. Popo explained that he could take them to King Kai's place and bring them back in an instant, where they would be able to explore the world they had protected before it was time to head to Namek.
The girls climbed onto the carpet and prepared themselves, because they were excited to meet King Kai and learn what he had to teach them... and potentially learn the skills that Goku had picked up during his own training.