//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Black Becomes The Master! Let The Training Begin! // Story: Equestria's Divine God // by ShirtMechanic //------------------------------// A yawn escaped Scootaloo’s mouth, stretching under the sheets of her bed. She slowly opened her eyes to the familiar sight of a gray ceiling. This put a frown on her muzzle as she sat up, looking around silently at the orphanage she stayed in. Her bed was lined up with 5 others in the small room, each bed having a small dresser for the orphans. The orange pegasus sighed sadly as she rolled over to the side of her bed, hanging her legs off it. She sat there for a few moments before sliding off the bed, her hoofs making contact with the ground. Scootaloo went to her dresser, which also served as a bedside table, and grabbed some clothes that barely fit her. She grabbed a slightly oversized white t-shirt with a picture of a cloud and rainbow on it, baggy dark grey sweatpants, and black worn-out sneakers. Once the filly grabbed the clothes, she made her way to the bathroom close to the bedroom. She closed the door behind her, locking it before getting undressed. She then changed into the clothes she’d chosen for today. ‘Wait… today…’ Scootaloo thought as she threw on her t-shirt. The thought of today sent a memory of what Goku Black had said yesterday. ‘Tomorrow, I’ll train the four of you, including Shallot. Come meet me just outside of Applejack’s farm!’ Scootaloo then grew a big grin as she grabbed her dirty clothes and ran out of the bathroom. She quickly threw her dirty clothes in her dresser, too excited she forgot to grab her scooter as she raced out of the orphanage. “Today’s the day!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she ran down the dirt path, the ponies up and about that morning seemingly surprised at the sudden energy the filly was giving off. “Today’s the day I fly!” Oh, Woah, ohh Oh, Woah, ohh Oh, Woah, ohh, ohh One morning I set my eyes up to the sky, And like a bird, my hopes were flying by And I awoke with tears that had filled my eyes I need to spread my wings out & glide I lie awake at night with these dreams Of feeling powerless and they’re haunting me I’m always reaching out for this destiny To make it happen, that’s all on me Cruel fate sets in motion, and no pony else knows why Waiting for the moment to come, when will it show up Owning what’s before my eyes With every doubt, I gotta breakthrough Or the moment might just pass They all told me I can’t They were laughing Well, look who’s laughing now! Now I can feel the wind blowing through my wings I’ll be the best, and no pony can stop me Loudly, I will roar it at the top of my lungs! You’ve got those sad eyes from remembering every moment You cannot hide it, some pony’s gonna notice I’ll be the best, no pony’s gonna hurt you again Gonna rise my fist with a victory Our story will last a lifetime. Black, Wazu, and Shallot stood near the gate of Applejack's farm with a stack of milk crates next to them, neither of them speaking with Shallot staring at Black and Wazu standing there with a smile, awaiting an order from Black. The dark Saiyan noticed this, "Something on your mind Shallot?" Black asked, breaking the silence. "Yeah, kinda… just wondering what happened to your arm?" Shallot asked, pointing towards Black's robotic appendage. The dark Saiyan laughed at this while rubbing the back of his head with a hand. “You haven’t explained this to me either, Master Black. I found it rather peculiar…” Wazu asked, placing a finger on his chin. "Well, that's kind of a long story, but I’ll give ya the short description" Black explained, Shallot leaned forward slightly while Wazu listened. “I was invited to a Displaced Tournament a little over a week ago by a guy named Ryker. It was me and 7 other universes that were called. I knew one of the universes, he visited mine about a month before the event. Either way, the Tournament proceeded, Thanos, the guy I knew won it. But Ryker had other plans, he wanted to kill us all and take our energy to save his daughter. We had to ascend a tower to get to him, with a level each with bosses to try to stop us. Mine was the seventh level, where I had to face Frieza, Cooler, Perfect Cell, Majin Buu, Janemba, and God of Destruction Toppo. It’s kinda why I lost my arm.” Black explained as he rubbed his robotic arm. “I must say, that is rather surprising to hear. Though I would’ve loved to watch the tournament itself. I do wonder why you never invited me.” Wazu asked with mocked sadness. “I had just gotten the letter, I didn’t know I had time to take someone with me,” Black answered with a slightly annoyed tone. Wazu just laughed it off. Shallot after hearing this, was shocked, to say the least. He had no idea how different Black was from the original version of him. ‘Maybe he isn’t the Goku Black I know,’ Shallot thought. The sound of hoofsteps was heard. Black and turned to the gate to see Applebloom run-up to the two Saiyans. "Morning Applebloom." "Morning Mister Black, Mister Shallot! Didn't expect ya two to be here yet." The cream earth pony said as she stood next to Shallot. The filly looked up to see the angel with a smile, who had waved back to her. “Um, Mister Black, who’s he?” “That’s Wazu, my angel assistant,” Black answered. “I’ll explain what we’re gonna do when the others arrive.” The group then waited for a few minutes, before two fillies were seen running up the hill. Scootalo, Spike and Sweetie Belle had excited expressions on their faces, the anticipation for today exciting them. “Glad you three could make it, are you ready for training?” Black asked, crossing his arms with a smile. “You bet! I can’t wait to get stronger!” Scootaloo said, excitement filling her voice. "And I know you can!" The voice of Nappa said as the ground shook, Nappa then jumped from the earth, dirt flying everywhere. He lands next to Shallot with a grin, he then dusts off himself. "Sup, don't ask why I was down there, because I'll tell you! I was gathering different types of soil to use with some vials of the Saiba-Juice." Nappa says with the jars of dirt and vials in his hands. “Right…” Black said wearily. “Other than Nappa just popping in out of nowhere, we’re gonna start our Early-Morning training by delivering milk to Ponyville… by skipping!” Black said with a chirpy tone. This left the ponies and drake confused, all of them raising an eyebrow. “How does that help us shoot blasts and fly?” Scootalo asked. “Yeah, how will we do that by delivering stuff?” Applebloom butted in. “Gotta agree with them, how does that help me?” Shallot asked, pointing a thumb towards him. “Sure it may seem like nothing to you Shallot, you're already stronger than everyone with the exception of me and Wazu combined. But just because of the simplicity of this training doesn’t mean it’ll be a cakewalk for you.” Black explained. “And as for the rest of you, this helps you by increasing your stamina and your muscles in your legs. What use would you be in a battle if you can’t even last 10 seconds in a fight?” Black asked the ponies, Saiyan and Drake. “Either way, if it means I can get stronger, then I’m game!” Scootaloo said with determination, slamming her fist into her palm. Shallot looked at the young pegasus with a questioning look. “That’s… that’s my line…” Shallot muttered. “Oh, speaking of you Shallot. You doing this is a cakewalk for you.” Black explained, Shallot just gave everyone a big grin. “Which is why I'll be giving weights.” “Wait, wha-” Shallot asked, confused. Black points his hand towards the Saiyan, suddenly 4 black round weights going onto his legs and arms. Immediately Shallot haunches forwards to the sudden change of weight. “Damn… how much does this… weigh?” “All together, it weighs about 4 tons. 1 ton per limb.” Black explained to the young Saiyan with a grin. Shallot's expression changed quickly to one of shock, the ponies and drake having the same expression. “Now come on, grab a milk crate and follow me.” Black grab the black power pole on his back and used it like a staff. Pointing to the stacks of milk crates, he pulled out a list of all the destination’s they needed to go. With a smile, he put the list away and grabbed his staff and started to skip. The group watched on with an expression of shock, before shaking their heads and grabbing a crate of milk and skipped along with Black. They soon left the premises of Applejack’s farm and onto the dirt road to Ponyville. “One two three skip, one two three skip, one two three skip.” Black repeated, timing his counting between his skips. His students followed his lead, with Shallot shaking the ground not on purpose. This led to Scootaloo almost falling over, but she regained her footing and went back to the rhythm. This went on for some time before they shortly arrived in Ponyville. Black stopped for a moment, sticking his staff into the ground and proceeded to lean on it. His students stopped behind him, working up a sweat from the warm-up skip. “Right… lets see…” Black muttered as he pulled out his list of destinations. Looking around him, he got confused. “Hmm, this might take awhile.” “Master Black, are you having trouble?” Scootaloo asked, looking up to her mentor. “As a matter of fact I am, I don’t exactly know where this first place is.” Black explained, showing her the list of places they needed to deliver milk. Her eyes scanned over the piece of paper, a moment later she smiled. She was about to speak, but was then interrupted by the Saiyan brute. “Hold on, I think I know where to find it, SHALLOT!” Nappa cried out, calling Shallot’s name. Shallot walked next to him. “Yeah?” Shallot asked, Nappa pointed to Black. “Sniff him, Black must have been around those addresses, so he should have the scent still on him.” Nappa said, with a mischievous grin on his face. Black slowly turned to Nappa with a disapproving glare. “Yeah, how about no.” “I can lead us to those places!” Scootaloo said, gaining the Saiyan’s attention. “I know Ponyville like the back of my hand.” The pegasus said proudly. “That sounds like a better plan.” Black said, glancing to Nappa with a disappointed look before looking back to Scootaloo. “Lead the way.” The dark Saiyan said as he picked up his staff, sticking the list onto the pegasus’s milk crate and let Scootaloo take the lead. “Follow me!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she began hopping, with Black following behind her with the rest of the group doing the same. “Hm, so how many peo- I mean, ponies, how many ponies are there here in Ponyville? I’m trying to get some information as I watch you guys train.” Nappa asked. “That's… a weird question. Though I wouldn't know.” Black explained before looking back to the brute. “Plus couldn’t you just sense them?” “I don’t know if I’m fully correct on this but I believe there are about 40 to 50 ponies that live in Ponyville.” Scootaloo answered, turning around the corner and arrive at the first house. “Heres the first one.” To that, the pegasus grabbed a jug of milk and placed it at the doorstep. “How many are left to go?” “Well, it wouldn’t be real training if we did a portion of the town.” Black explained with a smile. This took his students a moment to process the information. “Wait… we’re delivering milk to the… Entire town!?” Spike exclaimed, leaving Black to nod. “Haha! This will be fun!” Nappa said, “I wonder if we could do it before the milk gets warm. Because cold milk is nice.” Nappa said with a smile. “Oooh your right, nopony wants cold milk right?” Black asked, looking at his students with a smirk. This made the drake, ponies, and young Saiyan begin to sweat. “Good, now lets get going! Lead the way, Scootaloo!” Black exclaimed, pointing his staff back to the road!” “Why do you have a staff?” Nappa asked with a laugh. “No, here’s the better question. Where did I get the staff from?” Black asked with a smile. 1 Hour Later… The ponies, drake, and young Saiyan covered in sweat as the pulled themselves back to the farm. Black, Nappa and Wazu walked ahead of them with the dark Saiyan having a big smirk. “Right, with Early-Morning training out of the way, let’s start Mid-Morning Training with some good old farming!” Black said with a chirpy tone. The ponies and drake panted, sweat rolling down their heads, Shallot also panted, the weighted restraints having helped him work up a sweat. The Saiyan then began to walk into Apple’s farm, the group dragging themselves behind him. “So what we’ll do first is plow a new field for you sis, Applebloom.” “Can’t we take a break?” Spike panted, his legs twitching as he fell onto his ass. “That’s a good idea! I’ll go grab the plow!” Applebloom said with excitement. But before she ran off, Wazu used his staff to block the fillies path. “Why’d yah stop me?” “We won’t be needing the plow… or any farming equipment at all really,” Black said with a laugh, confusing the earth pony. “We’ll be using our bare hands!”  “Let’s go!” Nappa said, jumping into the air and cheering, “LET’S FUCKING GOOOO!” Nappa said in pure excitement. “OUR BARE HANDS!?” the ponies and dragon shouted, this left the ponies and dragon shocked. “But… I’ll ruin my nails…” Sweetie Belle said, a look of dread appearing on her face. “What she said, how would ripping our own claws be beneficial?” Spike asked. “As I said earlier, it will be toughing you up. Plus this helps your sis, Applebloom.” Black asked as he led them to an open field where Applejack stood. The orange earth pony’s ears flicked at the sound of footsteps. Turning around, Applejack had spotted the group approaching with a smile. "You need to learn the basics and toughen up before you can fight," Nappa said, walking next to Black. He then leans and whispers in Black's ears, "And besides, I kinda don't want them to be unprepared when facing the Saibamen. Don't worry, I found some pretty weak soil, so they'll live. Hopefully." “That doesn’t really fill me up with the best hope, but let’s get them prepared with some training. Then we can proceed with that plan…” Black whispered back to the Saiyan brute. The dark Saiyan then turned his attention back to the orange earth pony in front of them. “Good morning Applejack, how are you?” “Ah’m doing mighty fine, Black, thanks for asking.” Applejack answered, the cowpony looking back to her younger sister with worry. “Ah’m still worried for my little sis ya know,” she says, rubbing her arm. “It’ll be alright Applejack, plus if things did go wrong, I’ve got my attendant Wazu here to heal any injuries brought to any of them,” Black said as he motioned a hand to his angel assistant. “But with that out of the way, ya got any fields needing plowing?” Black asked. “Ya be darn right Black, need 3 fields plowed by the end of tomorrow.” Applejack motioned behind her to the vast landscape of torn-up dirt. The cowpony smirked as she peeked behind Black to see his students. “But ah suspect that it’ll be done pretty soon?” “You’d be right, they’re gonna prepare your fields for you in about 2 hours!” Black chirped. This put a shocked expression on everyone’s face, except for Wazu, Nappa, and Black of course. “2… h-hours…” Spike mumbled, the sear expectations being set on the table shocked him. The drake knew this training would be intense, but not to this extent "Alright guys, get ready to get to work, this is basic endurance training. Hell, even Vegeta could do it when he was four years old. Y'all have no excuse, get rollin'." Nappa said, crossing his arms. They groaned in annoyance as they walked off to the dirt fields, preparing themself for pain. “Right! Shallot gets his own field, Applebloom and Spike work together on one field, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell will do the same thing.” Black explained as they nodded, walking off to their assigned fields. “Like I said a minute ago, you’ve got 2 hours to plow this field, failing to do so will result in no breakfast. So you’ll have to wait until lunch!” This brought terrified expressions to his students. “No breakfast?!” Black’s student’s shouted. “Yeah! So ya better hop to it!” Nappa said with a grin. “Timing starts…” Black said, waiting for a few moments as his students got ready to begin.  “NOW!” Immediately, Shallot dug his hand into the dirt before shoveling it behind him and moving forward. Repeating the process over and over again he created a line for where the seeds would be placed. The ponies and drake watched closely to how the younger Saiyan did it, and Black noticed.  “Hey, Shallot isn’t going to do all the fields himself, get to it!” Black ordered, the ponies and drake tensed up as they started to work on their fields, repeating the same process as Shallot. Black and Nappa watched on with a grin while Applejack was bewildered by the process. “So this is how ya trained Black?” Applejack asked, watching with wonder as ponies and drake were working up a sweat. While Shallot was having an easier time than them. “Y’know now that I think about it, when Frieza called us monkeys and we were providing fruit and veggies, was that a bit racist? And where did he get the monkeys from? How did he know about monkeys?!” Nappa asked, confused. “Everything Frieza did was racist Nappa…” Black deadpanned, shaking his head. “Either way, Master Starswirl taught me, Celestia, and Luna this training method hardened your skin and made you focus more precisely.” Black explained as he noticed Shallot having no trouble. “One sec.” Black lifted a finger, pointing it at Shallot. A moment later magic surrounds his hand and the weights on Shallot. The younger Saiyan learned forward as he started to shake, with Black chuckling as putting his finger down.  “What was that for?!” Shallot exclaimed. “Can’t have this be a cake walk for you,” Black said to the younger Saiyan. “Yeah, wait, there’s cake here?” Nappa asked, looking around, “Is the floor made out of cake?!” Nappa looked at the ground. Black rolled his eyes and looked back to his students, watching on silently as the time started to roll on. 1 Hour and 58 Minutes later… Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle panted as their movements slowed down significantly, their hands bleeding slightly. Spike and Applebloom had slowed down as well, but their skin was tougher than the others. And Shallot had completed his field 30 minutes ago. Nappa was eating a hot dog, watching the carnage unfold, “Mm, this is a really good hot dog, you guys kill animals? I just thought it was vegetarian.” “We don’t just grow apples here, partner.” Applejack said. “That, and that’s a hay-dog.” Sweetie Belle pointed out, Nappa immediately spits it out. “How the fuck?!” Nappa spat out, “Seriously, it looked like a hot dog.” Nappa wiped his mouth with his wristguards. “Trust me Nappa, I’ve had weirder.” Black mumbled as he looked to Angel assistant. “Wazu, how much time is left?” To that, Wazu tapped the ground with his staff and a large hourglass appeared with most of the sand at the bottom. “Well Master Black.” Wazu said with a chuckle, annoying the Saiyan. “There appears to be 1 minute and 35 seconds left.” Wazu answered. “Thanks Wazu… and stop calling me Master.” Black grumbled. Looking back to his students he crossed his arms. “Ya hear that? You got 1 minute and 30 seconds left!” Black shouted to his students. At this, the ponies and drake sped up and dug the ground quickly. This brought a smile to the dark Saiyan as they were almost finished. Acansonally looking back between them and the hourglass. 1 minute remained. Luckly, Applebloom and Spike finished, the two cheered and high-fived each other. But soon regretted it as they clutched their hands. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked up to see the two had finished. At this they speed up, wincing through the pain as they continue to dig at the dirt. “Come on you two, you can do it!” Shallot cheered from the sidelines, having his weights taken off for the moment. Applebloom and Spike joined by his side and did the same. “C’MON! SWEETIE BELLE! THERE IS A REASON WHY I CHOSE YOU AS MY STAR STUDENT! YOU HAVE THE DRIVE! YOU HAVE THE POWER!” Nappa said, clenching his fist. “SO YOU BETTER PUT IN THE WORK AND THE HOURS!” To this, Scootaloo and Sweetie smiled at the motivational support they were receiving. “30 Seconds remain!” Black yelled. The two finished one of the lines and moved onto the last one. They noticed this and put their all into this last bit of the field. The cheering continued, Black smiled as he knew he didn’t have to have any starving children on his hands. With 15 seconds remaining, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle finished their field. All three fields all ready to go for planting.  “Yes! We did it!” Scootaloo cheered as she ran to Sweetie and gave her a big hug. “Atta girls! You did it!” Nappa erupted in applause, smiling, knowing what other things he had in store for them. “...For now…” He said darkly. “Now now, none of that Nappa.” Black scolded, as Scootaloo and Sweetie walked up to the group. Sweetie looked at her fingernails as they had lost their color and had dirt on them. “My poor nails…” Sweetie muttered, examining them.  “It’ll be alright Sweetie, trust me.” Black said as he walked to the two as they had blood on their hands. He gestured to them and the two brought their hands to him. Holding the two mares' hands, a green glow covered them and moments later, their hands had been healed. Sweetie examined her hands and saw that her nails were back to their original state.  “Wha… they’re back to normal?” Sweetie said, in joy she gave Black a hug. This surprised the Saiyan for a moment before he smiled and returned the hug. “See, what I’d tell ya?” Black said with a grin as they broke the hug. “Now, I bet ya’ll are pretty hungry, right?” Black asked and his students said yes. “They can’t eat meat, right?” Nappa asked, turning Black. “Spike can, though I don’t know if he’s comfortable with it.” Black said, shrugging his shoulders. The Saiyan turned to Applejack, “You think you could prepare us breakfast?” Black asked the farm pony. “Nah, but Granny Smith sure can.” Applejack said, tipping her cowboy hat. “Think you could lend me and her a hand?” “I can’t cook apples, but I’ll try.” Nappa said with a thumbs up and a grin on his face. “Nappa, they have other foods than just apples.” Black shook his head as Applejack led them towards her house. “THEN WHY IS IT CALLED APPLE ACRES!” Nappa cried out, “THE ANIMALS SHOULD BE APPLES! THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE FOOD WITH AN APPLE! Let me give you a list!” He then brings a list out of thin air, “APPLE PIE, APPLE FRITTER, APPLE CAKE-” Black then struck Nappa on the head, resulting in the Saiyan brute's head in the dirt in a comedic fashion. This made the ponies and drake laugh with Shallot just shaking his head.