//------------------------------// // Intermission: Parting of the ways // Story: Dragon Bro Z // by MrWriterWriter //------------------------------// "So? What happened next!?" Rainbow demanded, flying around in a rush after what she'd just saw. Spike shrugged. "Not a whole lot, really. Once he settled down, Goku just pretty much fell asleep. I was ready to do the same, and Bulma and Yamcha were dancing around nearby about something. Guess they were glad Goku stopped breaking the place." "Ok, so what did happen?" "Well, once Goku woke up, Bulma decided, since the balls couldn't be found for another year, she was going to head back home. And Yamcha was tagging along; something about seeing if they could make it work between them. Never did ask what the 'it' was supposed to be, though. She also said she didn't need the dragon ball radar anymore so she let us have it for when we could find Grandpa's again. " He missed the dual facepalm/hoof Chronoa and and Rarity performed. "Puar and Oolong decided to go with them, so that left me and Goku. And since they were heading out, we decided to go ahead and take Roshi up on his training offer." "Still say that old codger needs a checkup from the neckup." King Kai muttered. Chronoa lightly punched his arm. "Come on, Northy..." "Wish you'd stop calling me that...!" "Nope. Anyway, Roshi's still a good instructor, even he is a little..." "A lot pervy?" "Ehhh..." Chronoa have a half-hearted 'kinda' shrug. Spike turned to Celestia. "Mom, what's 'pervy' mean? ("Seriously, his porn collection is bigger than yours." "That is NOT 'porn', North Kai!") I keep hearing it, but no ever tell me what it is." Celestia chuckled nervously."Um... ("Then what else do you call all those photos?" "Those are just pictures for record purposes!") I...I'll try and tell you later." She patted his back with a wing. ("Ok, you're right...YOU'RE the bigger perv, Chronoa." "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!") "All right...where was I? You two ok?" He asked, seeing the Kai of Time looking ready to tackle King Kai. "Huh? Oh, j-just discussing something." Chronoa blushed while Kai sidestepped away from her. "Ok...oh right. After the others left, me and Goku made our way back home to pack a few things. And we had to stop at Grandpa's grave to apologize for the whole 'stepping on him', too." "You really remember what happened?" Spike asked as they headed to the small burial spot. "Yeah. It was like some weird dream at first, but then I heard you yelling. Everything was still kind of fuzzy when I woke up, and you were really small. But I remember all it when I woke up for real the next day." Goku looked at the grave when they finally reached it. "Hi, Grandpa. We finally made it back. Turns out your four star ball helps grant wishes!" "Except we lost it..." Spike added. "But we'll be able to find it again in a year." He held up the radar. "That girl, Bulma even let us keep the radar we used to find them." Goku's head hung slightly. "I found out why you always said to stay inside on a full moon. And, even though I don't really remember that night...I'm sorry for stepping on you like that..." "And I shouldn't have talked him into looking at the sky, even if we didn't see the moon just then." "We're really sorry, Grandpa..." The boys said together, the unpleasant even still fresh in their minds. They quietly said a prayer for him. "Spike..." Twilight whispered, hugging tightly, along with Velvet, Fluttershy , Luna, and Chronoa. He smiled slightly. "It's ok. We were able to set things straight at Fortuneteller Baba's." "Who's that?" "Roshi's older sister. You'll see her before long." He replied. "Anyway, after that, we made our way out to his island-" "Um..guys?" Applejack spoke up, "Ah might have to take a raincheck on that bit. Startin' to wake up." As the others looked over, they saw she, as well as Apple Bloom, were slowly fading from the dream." "Dagnabbed wakin' up early habit!" Bloom muttered. A sheepish chuckle drew them to Celestia, who was also disappearing. "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out as well. Time to raise the sun again." "Perhaps that would be a good idea." Luna yawned. "I could use some shuteye myself." "Ooh yeah! And it's Brioche Day, too!" Pinkie added, stuffing a calendar back into Rarity's mane. "Joy, I now get to go all day thinking I have OTHER items in there...!" Rarity muttered, shaking her head and tail." The others quickly agreed, between needing to get work started and starting to wake as well. Luna needed to make her rounds the next night, so the next part was scheduled for in a day or two. He wasn't sure why, but soon as he came out of his room, Spike picked up on something nearby that, while it was a bit higher than average for ponies, felt like it shouldn't be there. 'Whatever it is, it doesn't feel all that friendly, either.' "What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked, seeing the concern expression as she neared. "I have a feeling we have an uninvited guest, Twilight." He replied, pointing down the hall. "The maproom's that way!" She said, wondering just who'd be there and why. "Come on!" The two hurried towards said room, but when they got there, she spied the last pony she expected to see. "Morning, Twilight Sparkle!" "Starlight Glimmer!?" Twilight gasped. "How'd you get in here!?" Starlight just smiled evilly and lifted up a scroll, casting something onto it. The document glowed before shooting a bolt of magic into the air above the Map, and a bizarre ticking sound echoed in the chamber as a gateway formed "Oh HELL NO!" Chronoa snapped, pointing a glowing hand at the portal. The hand made a fist, and the portal collapsed in on itself. "What...how!?" Starlight sputtered as the portal was forcefully shut with a loud gong sound. "Starswirl the Bearded created that spell!" "And just when and where did you think you were going, missy!?" She demanded. "I could feel that spell being used from the other side of the palace!" "To get revenge! I was going to make Twilight know what it felt like to be abandoned by friendship like I was by preventing their friendship from happening!" "...ooookay, aside from that being one of the pettiest reasons I've ever heard for time travel-" "PETTY!?" Starlight snapped. "Who are YOU to decide if I should be allowed to use that spell!?" "Because the flow of time is MY turf, toots, and I'm not all that fond of people screwing around with it! Now, is there an actual point to this whole scheme of yours? Besides you being a douchewaffle?" "Well, I don't really know what moment she was trying to intervene in, exactly..." Twilight started. "The Sonic Rainboom!" Starlight smacked her hooves on the table. "It's when you all got your Cutie Marks-" This time, it was Spike's turn to cut her off. "The Rainboom? But that's when I hatched! Without it, Twilight wouldn't have had the surge of magic that hatched my egg!" " ...what?" The room suddenly went cold, and Chronoa's voice went deathly calm. "You were going to erase Spi-kun from time?" Starlight gulped, mentally asking herself just how bad of a plan this possibly was. "I...uhh...heh..." "Aside from my personal feelings on the matter, do you have any idea how much influence he's had on the timelines I am responsible for? The possible damage done to the temporal flow? The paperwork it would have made?" Her temper flared, the God Ki surge drilling a manticore-sized crater right into the crystal floor under her. "And no Spi-kun making cookies and giving me shoulder rubs to make it easier?!" Twilight raised an eye. "Do what?" "What? Ever since the mess with Trunks, she told me just how much of a headache that had been for her in managing time, and she let it happen because it kept us all alive even though her job should have been to undo it." Spike shrugged. "Figured a little TLC was the least I could do to say thanks. It's not like anyone else was showing her any real appreciation for the effort." "Uh...is it too late for diplomacy?" Starlight asked weakly, realizing fully that yes, this was a VERY bad plan! Chronoa's expression calmed back down. "Oh, don't worry...I'm not going to kill you...or even hurt you." She said in her normal cheery tone. "Oh, well then-" She squeaked when the Kai snatched her up by the scruff of her neck, like a misbehaving kitten. "You want to see what time would look like if they weren't friends? Well, take a look!" They both vanished in a flicker of light. Twilight and Spike barely had time to give the spot a closer look before they reappeared, with Chronoa looking smug and Starlight....well, she was somewhere between traumatized, horrified, and catatonic. "Chronoa...what did you do?" Spike asked, looking at the twitching mare." " Nothing much. Just made her experience what her life would be like in the timelines with the highest chance of occuring when Rainbow didn't perform that first Sonic Rainboom. I think my favorite was when Queen Chrysalis got a hold of her and-" Starlight was a blur, shooting across the room to cling to Twilight's legs for dear life, bawling her eyes out. "I THROW MYSELF ON THE MERCY OF THE THRO~O~OONE!!!" She wailed.