//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Make Way, Make Way! It's Time for Learning! // Story: Equestria's Divine God // by ShirtMechanic //------------------------------// 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. Applejack smiled as Black, Nappa, and  Shallot, along with the Crusaders and Spike dug into Granny Smiths' cooking. The dark Saiyan, along with the Crusaders and Spike, were the only ones that were eating normally. However, Nappa and Shallot went the route of eradicating their food before going onto the other plate. Granny Smith and Applejack could only laugh nervously at the ferocity of hungry Saiyans. Black elbowed Shallot, “Calm down, enjoy the food, don’t stuff it down your throats….” Black muttered as he cut into a pancake. “We are house guests, after all.” A bead of sweat rolled down the young Saiyan's cheek as he nodded. “Sorry for my behavior.” Shallot apologized quickly. Granny Smith waved her hand, “It’s quite alright; it's good to see you're enjoying the food, young man.” Granny Smith reassured with a smile. Shallot nodded before digging back into the food, much calmer than before. “It is surprising that you can eat this much!” Scootalo exclaimed.  “I only thought Pinkie Pie could eat that much without getting a stomach ache,” Applebloom said in amazement. “I swear the pink anomaly could do anything,” Black muttered as he took a bite of his pancakes. "Can't beat Goku, though," Nappa said, his mouth full before he took a swig of apple juice. The table went quiet for a moment before Scootalo looked to Black, “Think you could tell us about one of your fights?” the pegasus asked with a glimmer in her eyes. “Yeah! I bet they were all amazing!” Applebloom exclaimed. Black thought about it momentarily, placing his hand on his chin. “Hmm…” “Oh, come on!” The crusaders begged, giving the Saiyan the begging eyes. Black looked and sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell you about one of my fights.” Black gave in while the Crusaders cheered. Only Applejack could shake her head while Granny Smith and Wazu chuckled. “I’ll tell you about my first sparring match with my master. Master Starswirl!” Black exclaimed, though gaining a few confused glances, except for Spike. “Starswirl trained you?!” Spike asked in astonishment. However, everyone looked confused except for Black, Nappa, and Wazu. Spike looked in disbelief, “Wait, do some of you not know who Starswirl is?” All they could do was shake their heads. “Starswirl was the best Mage of all time! He taught Princess Celestia and Princess Luna everything they know!” Spike exclaimed. “And you're telling me he taught you as well!” “You sure know a lot for a kid your age.” Black chuckled, taking a sip of apple juice. “But you are correct; he did train me. But not in the way of magic, but martial arts and ki control.”  "Which is dope, might I add," Nappa said, standing to his feet. "This guy, Starswirl, was the undisputed GOAT of everything. He was the Master Roshi of this universe; no one was like him." “Yeah, he was not just a great master but also a great friend. Helped me in many situations I’d thought I would lose myself in.” Black said, leaning back in his chair. “I cherish the moments I had with him.” “So what happened to him?” Scootalo asked innocently. Unknowing to the pegasus, Black’s demeanor changed momentarily before sighing. Nappa sighed and folded his hands behind his back. He stared off into the sky, "He's up there," he muttered as he stared at the clear blue skies. “That's a story for another time, one I’m not ready to share just yet,” Black said, sipping his drink. “But back to my first sparring match with him… I was so naive then, nowhere near as strong as I am today. Didn’t even have any transformations.” Black chuckled as the memories came back to him. 1,010 years earlier… Black yelled as he threw a right hook to Starswirl's jaw, but the old unicorn caught the attack quickly and redirected it, making Black tumble to the ground behind him. The Saiyan got up and got into a stance reminisce of Goku’s. “You throw too much into your attacks, letting yourself open for the enemy to take advantage of,” Starswirl instructed as he waited for the Saiyan's next attack. “Now again.” “Tch,” Black grunted as he tried a new approach, running around the unicorn, creating afterimages of himself. Starswirl sighed as he closed his eyes, sensing his student's ki. Moments later, Starswirl ducked a surprise kick from the Saiyan behind him. This took Black for a surprise, though he gritted his teeth as he used the momentum of the rush to swing around and use his opposite leg to kick his Master. However, Starsirl blocked the attack with his forearm. “Nice, using the momentum for another attack. Good, but not good enough.” Starswirl commented before grabbing the Saiyan by the leg, pulling him closer before striking the Saiyan in the chest, knocking the Saiyan back. “Ow ow ow! Do we have to go this far for some training? I'm starting to ache,” Black complained as he held his chest. “That also really hurt!” “You leave yourself wide open for attack; every opportunity you give the enemy, the higher the chance you’ll lose the fight,” Starswirl advised as he walked towards Black. “You have amazing potential, Black, You and along with the Alicorn sisters. You must strive to be prepared for whatever will come your way.” Black thought about that momentarily before nodding and getting back into a stance, Starswirl doing the same. “He taught me that, always be prepared for the next big threat.” Black smiled, looking back to the Crusaders and Spike with a smile. “Cause if you think you’re the strongest and slack on training, you can easily lose to the next enemy.” Black then took one more bite of his pancakes. “He sounds very wise.” Granny Smith says with a smile, the dark Saiyan nodding before getting up from the table. “Right! I think it’s time to continue our training! Meet me outside when you're finished with your food!” As Black walked towards the door, looking back to Granny Smith, “Oh, and thanks for the grub, by the way!” "Yeah, goodbye!" Nappa waved at them, "See ya outside!" “Come back anytime!” Granny Smith said, waving back to the Saiyan brute. As the two Saiyans left, the Crusaders and Spike looked at each other curiously. “Did you see the look on Master Black’s face when we asked what happened to his master?” Sweetie Belle whispered. “He looked so sad; something bad must’ve happened,” Applebloom whispered back, the other two ponies nodding in unison. Spike, on the other hand, had a claw on his chin. “Twilight loves to talk about Starswirl whenever she can; maybe she knows what happened,” Spike suggested. “Good idea, Spike; we’ll go ask her whenever we get free time!” Scootalo slammed her fist into her hand. “What are you four yapping about? Your teacher is waiting for you outside; finish up quickly!” Applejack ordered, and the four nodded quickly. After finishing their food before rushing outside, thanking Granny Smith for the food, Shallot soon followed. "Welcome back, slowpokes!" Nappa said, putting his hands on his hips. "Took ya long enough." He grinned widely and glanced at Black as if saying, ‘Go ahead.’ “After a good hearty breakfast after some light training, it’s time to learn!” Black said as he created a chalkboard behind him, chalk in hand. Immediately, everyone besides Black, Nappa, and Wazu winced. “Learning? How does math help us fight?” Scootalo complained. Black shook his head before turning around to start writing on the board. Nappa crossed his arms, "Knowing how much damage your attacks can do affects your battles' outcome. And firing a Ki blast at just the right angle can make a huge difference in battle." Nappa pointed out. “And not just that, Nappa, transformations are also a big play. All though this won’t mean anything to you four. I, Shallot, and Nappa can perform transformations that aren't just for looks. They multiply our abilities substantially. For example.” Black then finished writing SSJ to SSJ4 on the board with the multiplier symbol next to them.  “Each Super Saiyan transformation is stronger than the last.” Black pointed to SSJ first. “Super Saiyan is the first transformation in a Saiyan’s arsenal, except the Ozzaru form. Super Saiyan multiplies a Saiyan’s base strength by 50x their original.” Black explained as he wrote 50 next to SSJ. “Next is SSJ2; this transformation multiplies the previous one by 2X. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you account for transforming from the base state, that multiplier is 100x.” The Saiyan then wrote 100x next to SSJ2. “This is already starting to hurt my head,” Applebloom muttered, holding a hand to her forehead. “Agreed…” Scootalo groaned. "Well, buckle up; there is more to it!" Nappa laughed. “Sure is!” Black chirped up; the Saiyan pointed back to the board. “Now Super Saiyan 3, that transformation multiplies the previous by four times! But from base to that, it is a 400x multiplier! And with Super Saiyan 4, that's a two times multiplier to the previous. Making it an 800x multiplier from base!” Black explained after writing the two multipliers on the board. There were a couple of moments of silence before Shallot broke it. “Why isn’t Super Saiyan God up there?” the young Saiyan asked. Black looks to the board and back to Shallot. “To be honest, I’m not sure….” Black laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Super Saiyan God is a transformation that is leagues beyond the previous transformations, so large that it can’t be measured… I think.” Black says before looking off somewhere. “You know what to do in the comments….” Nappa rubbed his beard and whispered to Black, "...I really wanna test out the Saibamen. I found fragile soil," he turned Black away from the group. Black pinched his nose, “You realize that they just started training? Shallot is the only one out of them that can fight.” Black muttered. Nappa glanced at the four, then back to Shallot, "I know, but these Saibamen are weak. I measured their power levels; they have a power level of about 12 each. Hear me out on this." Nappa said. Black stood there for a moment, contemplating the option of having his Students fight so early. But the Saiyan shook his head and looked back to Nappa. “The answer is still no, Nappa; I don’t care how weak they are. I don’t care if the Saibamen’s power level is 2. I’m not having my students fight on day 1.” Black huffed, turning back to his students. “Though you can do any training you want for Sweetie Bell, she’s your student, after all.” “Alright!” Nappa cheered, pumping his fist up victoriously. “I can already see the potential within them, fighting or not, you can tell by their determination,” Black argued. The Saiyan turned his attention back to the four and with a deep breath, continued to teach. “Anyway, back to the topic at hand. A strong body is pointless if you don’t know how to use it. And that kids take brainpower!” Black said as he stood straight. “We’ll be doing teachings until the next part of training. And to my understanding, you four are learning basic maths in school, right?” “Master Black, I don’t go to school.” Spike jumped in, “I’m homeschooled; they don’t allow dragons into the school they go to… actually, I don’t know if dragons even go to school.” the baby dragon informed the Saiyan. This made Black pause for a moment, but he shook it off. “Huh, interesting… Either way, it’s alright. We’ll be teaching the same lessons that you three are being taught. I’ll talk with your teacher and see if we can agree and if she’ll teach you outside of your normal school sessions.” Black explained. “Why’s that?” Applebloom asked. “Well… I’m not the best with schoolwork… I was the lowest in my class….” Black said with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head. This made his students comically fall backward off their seats. 1 Hour later Black leaned back on a hammock he made for himself, sighing in relief. “This part of the day is where we’ll rest. There's no point in training yourself if you have no energy….” Black said to everyone, glancing at the hammocks he had made for his students and Nappa. Seeing they’re taking this chance to rest after an intense morning. Although, Scootaloo would shift from side to side. The Saiyan would notice, “Say Scootaloo, why are you here?” The Saiyan asked. “What?” Scootaloo was surprised, not expecting this sudden answer from her teacher. “It’s a simple question, really,” Black replied, looking at the young pony. “So, why are you here?” Scootaloo looked away momentarily, complementing the question before returning to the Saiyan. “I’m here to get stronger and shoot lasers!” The Pegasus answered. However, this didn’t satisfy the Saiyan. “I know what Shallot is here for, I know what Spike is here for, but I don’t know what you Crusaders are here for..” Black stated, “Though your answer doesn’t feel full-hearted.” Black went on to explain. At this, Scootaloo looked away from embarrassment. “I honestly don’t mind if it’s that answer, but I would like a truthful answer.” At first, the pegasus seemed apprehensive, looking back to her wings and friends. She rubbed her arm with her hand before looking at Black almost dejectedly. “Well, when I was little. The doctors determined I couldn’t fly due to my small wings.” She said with sadness. She then leaned over to show Black her back. The Pegasus was truthful; her wings were smaller than usual. “Ever since then, I was bullied at school. They made fun of me for having smaller wings and said I’d never be able to fly. I just… I want to prove them wrong.” She looked at Black, noticing a smile growing. “Now that’s an answer; you’ve got a chance to prove them wrong. Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do.” Black answered. He then put a hand forward and balled it up into a fist. “Now show me that you can do that.” The Saiyan smirked. The confidence radiating from Black infected Scootaloo, making her smile and fist bump Black. “I won’t let you down, Master Black!” Scootaloo exclaimed, making the Saiyan nod in response before pulling his fist back. “I’m sure you won’t… now get some rest. We’re almost done with today,” Black ordered, the pegasus nodding before leaning back on the hammock and closing her eyes with a smile. The Saiyan doing the same, smiling as this moment reminded him of old times. ‘Don’t worry, Master Starswirl; I’ll make sure your teachings don’t disappear… I promise.’ Black thought before closing his eyes.