//------------------------------// // Volume II: Lesson Zero // Story: Lynx; The Saiyan Warrior of Equestria // by AlienXtreme //------------------------------// A couple of days have passed since the imprisonment of Discord and everything has seemed to return to normal. Lynx decided to take a walk on the town of Ponyville, right after finishing his daily morning workout. He hasn't been in town ever since he flew to fight Lira. Something that has caught him by surprise is the fact that the citizens aren't scared of him anymore, quite the opposite in fact. It's a nice change of pace for sure and maybe he shouldn't be surprised, after all he did save Equestria by himself once and then helped to save it again. His thoughts are interrupted by a loud growl near him. Everypony around is puzzled as to what is the source of this sound is. However the prince knows pretty well what that is. He starts rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry..." A nervous chuckle escapes his mouth, as he rubs his belly with his other hand. 'I guess I shouldn't be surprised, all of that training has made me hungry.' Without a second to waste, he rushes at the Sugarcube Corner at top. He is about to slam the door, but one certain pink pony opens it before he can even touch it. When the prince enters the candy store, he is greeted by Ms. Cake and Pinkie Pie. Immediately his eyes are focused at the seemingly infinite stack of cupcakes, his stomach purring grows even louder than before. Saliva starts dropping from his mouth, as his voice resembles that of a beast. "Food!" The shorter earth pony is stunned by what she just saw. While she has heard from Pinkie Pie, that Lynx can be quite...expressive when it comes to his desires, it's still pretty shocking seeing it with her own eyes. The Saiyan Prince notices this and calms his voice down. With one deep breath, he speaks once again. "May I get some food?" "Oh, well how much do you want?" Ms. Cake picks a box, ready to hear the order. "10 boxes, 32 cupcakes each." The ponies' jaws are dropped. Not even Pinkie Pie can eat so many cupcakes at once. "A-Alright." While Ms. Cake is preparing the order, the royal decides to sit right next to the pink pony. "So Linki, will you come to the picnic later this day or not?" The embodiment of bravery starts to think about his answer: on one hand he wants to train after he helps Applejack destroy her old barn, but on the other hand it will be nice to have some fun time with his friends. A sigh escapes his mouth. "I'll join you, but I will be a bit late. I've got to do some extra workout first." He answers the question. "Oh and don't worry, just one box for me will be enough." Hearing that made both of the earth ponies sigh in relief. Moments later the blue pony calls out his name. "Lynx! They're ready!" In an instant, Lynx teleports at Ms. Cake's location and is about to grab the boxes however..."Uh-Uh-Uh..."...the earth pony stops him. "...that will be 45..." "Oh right..." He pulls some money out of his armor vest. "Here you go." Three small diamonds shaped into a flat square gemstone, with the number 15 etched on them. "...bits." It seems like the more the alien is here, the more confused Ms. Cake will become. First he enters the store like a wild beast, then he orders an abundance of cupcakes and now he is giving some weird coins as payment. "W-What are these?" "Galacten, what else?" Pinkie Pie is absolutely amazed, her Saiyan friend can bring a lot of information about space in a lot of ways. She has to tell Twilight about this. In the same speed that Lynx had entered the building, the pink pony rushes at the Golden Oak Library. 'What's on with her this time?' His thoughts are interrupted, when he hears Ms. Cake clearing her throat. "Excuse me, but these things won't do it." Such a sentence makes the young Saiyan raise an eyebrow. However he soon gets the idea. "Uh...Give me a minute." He puts two fingers on his forehead and is about to teleport but the short earth pony stops him. "Wait!" "What now?" "Well it's just...I don't think that Equestria knows about those kind of coins, so I doubt that you can do an exchange." As much as he doesn't want to admit it, she is probably right. So he removes his fingers from his forehead and crosses his arms. "Alright, then you are going to give me the cupcakes." "What?! No! No way!" Seeing the pony's angry face, he decides to go further on with this and have some fun. "Ok, but I won't be the one to tell Pinkie Pie that you didn't give food to her friend, even though he paid you fair and square." At this point Ms. Cake is just completely speechless, Lynx is downright playing her. And this is a battle that she can not win. A sigh escapes her mouth. "Fine..." A grin is formed on the Saiyan's mouth. However as soon as he grabs the boxes, the short earth pony speaks. "...but..." 'Oh for Celestia's sake...' "What?!" A yellow spark flows through his body. "We'll make a promise..." "A...promise?" "Yup, a Pinkie promise." "Yeah, whatever. Just get to the point!" "You are going to work as my delivery pony." He is about to speak but the blue mare beats him to it. "If you refuse I don't mind, but I won't be the one to tell Pinkie Pie that you broke a Pinkie promise." Lynx is absolutely stunned by this. He has heard tales of what happens when someone breaks a Pinkie promise. The anger from the pony with the same name alongside her bizarre abilities can scare even bravest of creatures, even him. 'I guess I've underestimated her.' The baker starts to hear the sound of hooves clapping or maybe she should say hands clapping. "Well played Ms. Cake. Well played." The two share a grin. "Now then, I expect you to be here tomorrow at sunrise." She receives a nod. Seconds later, Lynx puts two fingers on his forehead and vanishes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm grateful for your pekoe and company, Fluttershy." "It's nothing. I'm always happy to enjoy a friend's company." It's been a whole month since Lynx found himself in Equestria, however he still can't get used to the shy mare's calm nature. It's like she is the exact opposite of Pinkie Pie, who he still can't figure out. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Even though he has pretty much accepted friendship in his life, that doesn't mean it's easy for a warrior like him to talk about his feelings, even at his friends. He is still a Saiyan after all. A race of savages that would genocide planets or (for better or for worse) kill one of their own without any hesitation. So with one heavy sigh escaping out of his mouth and a lot of hesitation, he speaks. "You see..." 'I can't believe that I'm actually doing this.' Another sigh escapes his mouth. "..., ever since my planet got destroyed by that...bitch." He adds the last one under his breath. "I have been through quite a long journey before I came here." A sad frown is drawn on Fluttershy's face. "Yeah, that whole mercenary stuff." She receives a nod. Yet another sigh escapes the young Saiyan's mouth. "Well, on this journey-besides my master of course-I..." He starts to feel a sick burn in his stomach. 'That's new.' He takes a deep breath... "...I..."...but nothing changed. In fact now it's even worse. "...met..." He covers his mouth, preventing the liquid from coming out. The yellow pegasus notices that her Saiyan friend is about to throw up, she points him at her bathroom. Without a second thought Lynx runs towards the room. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After he finishes, Lynx comes to the realization that maybe it's not the time to talk about it yet. The moment that he looks in the mirror, his eyes open wide. "Wow! I know, I hate the guy but jeez!" Says the prince as he cleans his mouth. Without anything else to do in the room, he teleports at Fluttershy. The shy mare has been playing with her animal friends, when suddenly she hears somepony materializing right behind her. "Feeling better?" "Yeah, thanks for reading the room. And no I don't want to talk about that ever again." While the Saiyan prince stretches his body, he notices a small bunny approaching. It takes him only a few seconds to recognize that this bunny is Angel. The one animal that Lynx actually wants hurt. The reason? Simple. He is nothing more than a spoiled little brat, despite his name, and has been taking advantage of his friend's kindness. Even he wouldn't do that, although it's mostly due to his pride. The small animal has put an aggressive face and looks like he wants to fight him. Something that manages to make the young warrior chuckle. 'How cute...' Fluttershy immediately grows nervous and gets between the two of them. "Angel! What do you think you're doing? Lynx isn't someone you should challenge into a fight." The prince of all Saiyans can't help but wonder how can she keep up with that attitude for a pet! A small one in that matter. If only, he was the one to responsible for taking care of it or if Fluttershy decided to put her hoof down at least once. Then an idea pops to mind and he gently pushes the yellow pegasus to the side. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm not going to hurt him, at least not physically." In just an instant, Angel starts to feel powerful pressure in the air. The grass seems to be drawn into one direction. It's like a black hole has just appeared. His tiny body is barely able to not get overpowered by this force of nature. At one point, the little bunny decides to look up and sees, what he thinks is, the very embodiment of power. If he had once thought that wild animal is scary, then the royal is downright terrifying. Especially with that white flame surrounding him. After a while, Lynx has decided he's had his fun, so he powers down. "Congratulations! You've survived the 7% of my base form!" To his amusement the pet instantly runs at his mama. His focus changes to Fluttershy, who looks more determined than ever. "Now listen up, mister! Just because you're a prince that doesn't mean you can pick up on small creatures, especially on someone as small and sensitive as Angel! Apologize this instant!" The shy mare uses her patented Stare, which can make even the mightiest of creatures cower in fear. She doesn't like using it, especially on a friend, but this time is a special case. The element of bravery looks in her eyes, but he isn't affected by the stare at all. A satisfying grin is drawn on his face. 'Heh...She actually looks kind of fierce. Too bad she is so weak.' "There it is! That right there!" The pony is caught off guard by this, and returns to her normal stare. "Never! Ever! Forget that feeling!" "Huh..." Seeing her confused look, he decides to fill her in his plan. "Your mighty stare, it reminds me a lot of the Super Saiyan transformation." She cracks a brow. "I've heard from Rarity, that you have this power to scare even the strongest foe just by looking at them." Lynx clenches his fists. "But it is only brought to the surface, when you are extremely angry." In less than a second, he transforms. "Sounds familiar?" It's at this point, that Fluttershy finally starts to get it. "But why did you even try to bring it out?" This time it's Lynx the one who raises an eyebrow. A sigh escapes his mouth. His gaze focuses to Angel for a moment. "I've seen how this spoiled little brat has been taking advantage of you. You need to put your hoof down from time to time, little pony." He goes back to base. "And if you can do that against the prince of all Saiyans, then you can definitely do it against a small bunny." He puts a hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations! You've passed!" "W-Wait you were testing me?" "Mhm." Taking one last look at the back side of her house, he decides to change the subject entirely. "Anyways, you said you wanted my help with one of the animals, right?" The prince receives a nod. "You see Harry over there?" One look at the bear and he can already tell what the problem is. Turning back at the mare, he says while gritting his teeth. "I'm a warrior, not a masseur." But then... "Pleeeeease..."...not even a heartless being can say to such a face. With a lot of hesitation, he starts to walk towards the bear. "Whatever, let's just get this over this. I've got a workout to do." He murmurs, as he lowers his power level as to neither kill nor hurt the bear too much. Taking the battle stance of the elite, he gets the attention of the animal. "Alright, big guy! Let's see what you're made of!" The bear roars and rushes at him but the royal merely flew behind him, and before the beast can react, the young Saiyan kicks him in the back. He then grabs its leg and pulls it hard. Just then he senses a certain lavender mare approaching them, however he quickly changes his focus back to Harry. Lynx jumps up and down onto the bear's back, and to finish it off he snaps its neck. "Lynx, stop!" The elite rolls his eyes, as the mare runs towards them. "Now listen, I know how it feels to be mad at somepony, but maybe we can talk about it?" Meanwhile the bear decides to lay on the ground, looking more relaxed than ever. "Mad at Fluttershy? What are you talking abou-Oh dear Darno, what the fuck happened to you?!" In the almost two months that Lynx knows the six mares, he's never seen Twilight like this. But given her studious personality, the thought of her stressing about something manages to come to his mind. The messy mane and the occasional eye-twitching definitely supports this thought. Fluttershy flies between the two and decides to ask the same question, however in a more polite way. "What do you mean? I am perfectly fine." The smile she gives though says the exact opposite. "Now..." Her gaze makes Lynx feel a bit weird."...why don't you tell me the reason behind your rampage against Harry?" He cracks a brow. "My rampage?" Now his eyes are the ones that are twitching. "That was a massage!" "Wait what?" Fluttershy decides to join in the conversation. "Yeah, I asked Lynx to help with Harry. That is all." Twilight's eyes start twitch in an even more rapid shape. The prince notices this and the idea of him talking to her crosses his mind, but ultimately he decides against it. He's already delayed his workout long enough. "Well, anything I can do to help you, as a good friend!" Before the conversation can delay him even further, he turns to the shy mare. "Sorry girls, but I have to go. Thanks again for your tea." Then his gaze is fixed on the purple unicorn. "And I doubt that you can help me with my training." In just an instant, he teleports. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "997..." "998..." "999..." "1000!" 150 times normal gravity has proven to be just the right amount handicap for the Super Saiyan's sit-ups. "Alright, now that the warm-up is done..." Just about a week ago, even 100 times normal gravity would be difficult since he was out of shape. But thanks to overworking himself for the past 2 days, he is now back to full efficiency. Unfortunately, he did receive a mouthful from his friends for that. Wanting to be a bit more flexible, he removes his vest. Now the full-body black uniform is fully visible and puts the removed part at the floor. Pressing one of the red arrow-like buttons, the gravity goes even higher, now going up to 198 times. 'First time for everything. I guess." Then he presses the blue button and out of the small vent-like door appear some dome-shaped drones. A grin is drawn on his face as Lynx takes his battle stance. "It's time for the real training to begin!" With a look full of determination, he fires a chi blast at one of the drone, however it simply bounces to another one. And then to another one. And then to another one, again. This process is repeated multiple times and each time the blast grows bigger and stronger, until it finds its final destination, Lynx. The Saiyan ,most of the time, dodges the incoming attack, but occasionally he counterattacks with a blast of his own. This routine is continued for about two hours or so. Eventually, he grows tired of it, so he decides to move on to some martial arts moves. First the royal starts with a simple kata, just to warm up more so than anything. Then to an axe kick that manages to relieve his tight knee. After that, he flies up and his the air with two spinning roundhouse kicks, something that actually requires a bit of effort thanks to the amount of gravity that the room now has being new to Lynx. "Drone #4, attack!" And on command, a drone rushes at him with a large amount of speed. The prince dodges the attack and is about to counterattack with an elbow, however he misses. His eyes open wide. 'That's weird.' Indeed it is, he's never messed up this move before. Perhaps it's just the gravity. He decides to not give it too much thought, it's obviously just an one-off thing. So he closes the gravity machine and puts back his armor. Exiting his home, Lynx takes deep breath as he enjoys the fresh air of this land. That's one of the things, that he's grown to appreciate. "I need to work on my flexibility." Says the prince, as he powers down to base. Taking a look the high trees, an idea pops in his mind. Just as he is about to jump, a reminder of Twilight's sudden appearance earlier this day comes to his mind. With one big sigh, he makes a mental note. 'Maybe it can wait till tomorrow.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After taking a nice hot shower, Lynx decides it would be best to do some meditating before going to the picnic. But clearing his mind seems to be difficult, especially with all the stuff about Twilight and Bee. The royal isn't surprised by the latter at all. Ever since Discord mentioned him, it's like he's permanently stuck in his head. Quite the unpleasant feeling. However the former is a lot more complicated as to why she is now stuck in his head. The most logical reason he can think is the fact that she seemed off earlier today. But that just raises even more questions. Why did she seem off? What would make her think he needed her help about something? And why was she acting so weird, that could rival Pinkie Pie? A heavy sigh escapes her mouth. 'Maybe I should go and check on her. I'm already late to the picnic, anyways.' Getting to his Instant Transmission Pose, he locks to his friends' collective energy signals and teleports. When the Saiyan materializes right next to them, Twilight practically jumped on him. "Lynx! I'm so glad you're here! Maybe you can fix this disaster!" To say that the prince is confused is an understatement. The studious mare's mane is even more messy than before, then the tail isn't looking so good either, sweat dripping like she just did his workout and her face has the word desperate written all over it. Then there is all the chaos that he hears from the citizens of Ponyville, it sounds like the ponies are fighting over something. One glare at his friend is his only reaction. "Explain, purple one..." And so, she tells him her entire day. From checking her schedule, to searching for a friendship problem to solve and to now making a friendship problem. During her explanation, the rest of his friends explain what happened to the now finished picnic. 'Great! I ditched them.' At the end of it all, he fights the urge to not mock her or yell at her. 'No! That would make me a hypocrite.' After rolling his eyes, the warrior walks towards the crowd and picks the doll up out of pure curiosity. "I don't see what the big deal...is..." When his grey eyes lock in the toy something comes over him. A part of him really wants this doll, so when Big Mac takes it from him his first instinct is to run and grab it. However another part of him won't let him. It's like his Saiyan instincts try to fight over the spell. He falls down to his knees. Every time he crawls one foot forward, he crawls two backwards. Lynx starts to feel a terrible headache. The effect of the spell and his pride are clashing with each other. 'I...' His white aura bursts out. '...won't surrender!' The young Saiyan begins to power up even more. 'Come on, Super Saiyan!' But positive emotions from the magic overshadow his anger. The lavender mare falls down the ground. "How can this get any worse?!" Once the sun sets, a bright light shines throughout the sky. "Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Celestia shows up and uses her magic to get rid of the spell, returning everypony back to normal. The prince collapses to the floor, while the ponies stop fighting and clear out, and tries to catch his breath. It's like he just finished a fight with Lavra. 'Note to self: Never let anyone do that to you ever again.' Just when he is about to get up, the headache returns. 'Stupid magic!' After the spell is finished, the princess lands in front of her student. "Meet me at the library." She demands. "Goodbye, girls. If you care to visit, I'll be at magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot." The unicorn then walks away sadly. "Magic kindergarten?" Fluttershy says, confused. Rainbow adds, just as confused. "Canterlot?" "We're never going to see Twilight ever again!" The party pony states sadly. "What are we going to do?!" Rarity is about to add into that, but the young Saiyan does it first. "Well for starters, how about you lower your god damn voice?" The five ponies approach him and notice the state that he is in. He doesn't look different, but they can tell that whatever just that spell did to him was very painful from the inside. The farm pony can't help but raise an eyebrow at this. "Why did you even try to fight it in the first place?" The young Saiyan simply shrugs in response. "Meh...Saiyan pride I guess." With a lot of effort, he gets back on his feet and puts two fingers on his forehead. "Alright, we gotta go." Without needing to be told twice, they grab on his legs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike has been hiding behind a bookcase listening in on the conversation, and he doesn't like what he is hearing. Princess Celestia scolded her for what she did with the doll, after that Twilight tries to explain why she did it. "But...but... I'm supposed to send you a letter about friendship every week. I missed the deadline. I'm a bad student! I'm... tardy!" "You are a wonderful student, Twilight. I don't have to get a letter every week to know that." Twilight looks up at her right as she hears the sound of materialization. The five ponies and the Saiyan appear out of thin air, with Lynx falling down to the ground, exhausted once more. 'Stupid spells!' "Wait!" The loyal pegasus shouts. "We won't let you punish her!" "I'm listening." Celestia stated. "Please, your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset." Fluttershy says, as she gently caressing his exhausted friend's hair. "But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about." Rainbow adds. Applejack is the next to defend her friend. "So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her." "As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!" Rarity states. "Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her." The shy pony pleads. The alicorn turns her attention to the warrior, who has been silent this entire time. "What about you? Do you have anything to add to this?" The studious mare's nervousness returns once more. She isn't sure what words will come out of his mouth. The Saiyan sighs. "As a Saiyan, I fully support the idea of someone getting punished for their actions..." His gazed is fixed at the princess, as he raises his upper body. Sweat starts dripping from the unicorn's face."...but only when they are fully responsible for them." A sigh of relief escapes her mouth. "I saw how weird she looked today. I shrugged it off, because I wanted do some extra training." He grits his teeth. "I could have at least ask her 'What's going on'." "Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today." She receives nods from her subjects. "Very well. I'll forget Twilight's 'punishment' on one condition." She jumps over them and heads towards the door. Meanwhile the ponies all cheer. "From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship, when, and only when, you happen to discover them." Everypony cheers. "Even me?" Lynx wonders. "Especially you. You're the newest to this whole thing, so I'd like to know what you've learned." He sighs in defeat, writing reports seems like such a drug. Before the princess of the sun could fly away Twilight ran over to her. "Princess Celestia, wait! How did you know I was in trouble?" "Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you. I commend him for taking your feelings seriously. Now, if you will all excuse me, I must return to Canterlot. I'm expecting some mail." With that she heads back home. The ponies, Spike, and Lynx are all gathered in the library. "Y'all heard the Princess. Spike, take a letter." The dragon pulls out the parchment and quill as Applejack clears her throat. "Dear Princess Celestia, we're writin' to you because today we all learned a little somethin' about friendship." "We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously." Flutteshy continues. "Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about." The rainbow maned pony adds "And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem..." " ...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem." Pinkie says. "And of course, when your friend isn't looking too well, you shouldn't ignore it just because you wanted to do something else." "Signed, your loyal subjects..." The honest pony is about to finish but then someone else completes it. "...the Seven Hearts." Everypony look at Lynx with a confused expression in their face. The prince's face turns red. "What? Only Pinkie Pie can come up with names?" They chuckle. Meanwhile, Spike glances around before continuing writing. "P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-" He receives glares from everyone. "Eheh... uh... yeah... I'll just, um..." He crosses out the letter and the Seven Hearts all laugh.