Chapter ONE: Crash Landing! A New Home? Or a Disguised Prison? Celestia Meets a Saiyan Warrior!
Planet Equis, Age 737; Celestial year 1788
Mount Canterhorn overlook
In a glistening white city perched on a mountainside, a lone figure gazes at the moon, a look of guilt and sadness upon her face as she sees the craters on its surface forming the shape of a unicorn mare. "Nearly 1000 years, and I still can't rest easy at night knowing you're still gone because of my ignorance, and hubris," The figure spoke, standing, and turning to head back into her bed chambers, removing the crown from atop her head. "I wish I could go back, and do things differently, maybe you would still be by my side," she muttered, solemnly, gazing into the jewel affixed into her crown. A mare stared back at her in the reflection, reminding her of what she had lost.
"I can only hope that, in time, my student will be ready to-" She was cut off, as a sudden rumbling caused the room, no, the entire city of Canterlot to shake. A deafening roar caused windows across the castle to shake in their frames, some shattering due to the strain. Immediately, she raced back out to her balcony in search of the source of this sudden thunderous noise. "What in Faust's name?!" she cried, barely able to hear herself speak over the cacophonous sound. She looked to the sky in time to see a massive fireball racing towards Canterlot, as it zoomed by her balcony, missing it by mere inches. She could feel the intense heat, it having been enough to melt the marble of her railing.
She watched it fly towards the base of Mount Canterhorn, crashing with a loud THOOOM. 'A meteor, so soon after speaking of my sister? Could this be a sign that she's listening?' Celestia thought to herself. She decided to fly down and investigate, in case it caused any damage to the area. Upon reaching the crater, she noticed that the meteor had pinged off the side of the mountain, and landed a short distance away, the crater glowing a faint orange from the heat of atmospheric entry. 'Strange, this object looks metallic, this is no ordinary piece of space debris, I should be cautious.' She thought to herself.
Her role as Alicorn of the Sun meant that the heat was no issue, and feeling like a pleasant bath, as she approached the object. Suddenly, the object emitted a hiss as a cloud of steam burst forth, the front raising. 'This is no meteor, this is some sort of strange craft!' She inched closer but was forced to dodge out of the way as an orb of light shot from the craft, and whizzed by her head, impacting the side of the mountain and detonating. Immediately raising a shield to protect herself, another orb impacted her shield, detonating and causing cracks to form. 'Such power, enough to damage my shield! There's someone in this craft!' she jumped into the air, spreading her wings and firing a beam at the craft, but it was smacked away by a figure jumping out of the smoke!
"I've got to admit, you might be the strangest creature I've seen so far, and strong too. You might be a decent challenge!" The creature announced as the dust settled. A sudden beeping came from the figure as its left eye lit up, flashing with an odd yellow light.
POWER LEVEL:2370
"2,370? Pretty high for an animal, but maybe you can provide some entertainment until I can figure out what planet I'm on," The figure called out, "FURY LANCER!" A beam of energy shooting from its outstretched palm. Celestia could barely react in time, the beam nearly piercing her left wing. She proceeded to fire a beam back, but the figure dodged it with no issue.
"I am no animal, creature. I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria, and I do not appreciate being attacked and insulted, stand down at once!" She proclaimed. She didn't want to harm the creature, but she would defend herself and Canterlot. The figure just stared up at her, its expression unreadable, before it laughed, doubling over. Despite this blatant disrespect, she could tell by the sound of its voice that it was young, perhaps only 13, and male if she had to guess.
"Oh man, that's funny. 'Stand down at once!' she says. Honestly, I'm surprised you can even speak, let alone dodge that blast, but I tell you what, if you can land a single hit on me, I'll 'stand down' How's that sound?" The figure proclaimed. Celestia pondered this ultimatum, deciding that if she could minimize the damage to the area, she could find a diplomatic solution to this situation, and salvage first contact.
"Very well, but I should warn you, I am far more powerful than you might realize. I did not become ruler by being weak, and I-" She suddenly felt a searing pain in her chest as a blast hit her square in the chest, and she screamed in agony. She hit the ground and used her magic to rip off her now mangled chest plate. Had she not been an alicorn, the blast may have killed her.
"You should work on talking less, and focus on the fight you're in. I held back on that blast, otherwise, you'd be a corpse right now. Maybe if you were paying attention, you could have avoided that," The figure stated, standing over her. She stared up at him, barely able to contain the tears pooling in her eyes from the pain. She hadn't been injured like that in some time, and her chestplate enchantments hadn't even stood a chance against the blast. Almost as if it hadn't been magic, but some sort of pure energy. She struggled to stand, as that blast had done more damage than she first thought.
"Y-Your power is incredible, but I am not beaten. I will not let you harm my subjects," She spoke through clenched teeth. If she fell to this creature, her subjects would be powerless to stop him, and even if she could best him, her wounds would leave her hospitalized, and unable to do even minor tasks. She would have to rely on her centuries of experience, hoping she could outsmart him.
"You can barely stand, let alone continue to fight. Just accept that you're beaten, and I might just-" He was cut off as a blast of light erupted from her horn, blinding him. "AGH, my eyes! How did you-" A blast suddenly hit him in the shoulder from behind, knocking him to the ground, before a pair of manacles appeared on his wrists and ankles, restraining him.
"You might be more powerful than I am, but I have more experience with combat. I have ruled for centuries and faced countless foes. You are certainly the most unique opponent I've faced, but per your challenge, you will stand down," she declared, her tone carrying an air of authority, and spoke of years of wisdom. This was no animal, but a ruler. He stared up at her, weighing his options, and attempted to break the bindings around his wrists, but they held strong. "Those are enchanted to be unbreakable. Only I can remove them. Now, do you yield?" She asked, and he felt compelled to nod. His pride was wounded, after falling for such a cheap trick, and he knew that he could easily just kill her, but figured if he did he'd have an entire country hunting him down.
His options were limited, either surrender and leave his fate to this, Celestia, or he could resist, and most likely just be imprisoned and/or killed. Neither option was preferable, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. Suddenly, his stomach chose that moment to voice its hunger, much to his chagrin. Celestia raised an eyebrow and then got an idea. "Creature, if you yield, you have my word that I shall not have you imprisoned, and I can provide you sustenance in my castle, is this agreeable?" She queried and awaited his response. He looked to the side as if mulling it over, before reluctantly nodding. After all, a free meal wasn't something to be refused, especially considering he hadn't eaten since before returning to Planet Vegeta, his father had rushed him off the planet before his mother could make dinner. If this princess was willing to feed him, maybe he could spare her, for now.
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Canterlot dining room, 2 hours before sunrise
He had to admit, the castle was quite impressive. Then again, he had never seen King Vegetas' palace back home, so he had nothing to compare it to. The stained glass windows he saw on the way to the dining room weren't all that interesting to him, aside from one that depicted a creature terrorizing several of what he could only imagine were natives of the planet. Celestia had removed his restraints after they had entered the castle and told the guards that he was a guest and not a threat. He couldn't help but think that this was a security risk.
After all, he had nearly killed her with just a single blast, and his scouter read out that the highest power level amongst the guards was a mere 300. How could a ruler employ such weaklings to defend her, if she overpowered them nearly 10 fold? He scowled, wondering how they had survived this long with such an incompetent ruler. A monarch shouldn't be so naive when it comes to an outside force. He was pulled from his thoughts by a series of food carts being brought in from a side door, and several servants lining up next to the table dividing up the platters along the length of it.
He noticed there wasn't much variety in the food, most of it being vegetable-based, although there were a couple of meat-based dishes that looked good. "Please, indulge yourself. I do not know how long it has been since you last ate," The princess said as she waved her wing to gesture to the many platters. He immediately dove into the meat dishes, eating with reckless abandon. Celestia's eyes widened, having never seen such a display of ravenous consumption, not even from griffon warriors.
"I see you are quite famished, and prefer a meat-based diet. I'm glad I had some prepared," She remarked in awe, as plate after plate of food disappeared before her eyes. He nodded, pausing for only a moment to catch his breath, before resuming his feast. Celestia signaled to the cooks to prepare some more meat dishes, before grabbing herself an apple from one of the plates of fruit. "By the way, I've neglected to ask your name, or even what you are. I can't exactly keep calling you creature, Mr...?" She probed, figuring she could learn more about him, to better understand how he came to be on her planet. He stopped his gluttonous eating, swallowing a massive chunk of meat, and gazing at her with narrowed eyes.
"Name's Bage, I'm a saiyan," He stated, before taking another bite off of a hunk of meat. Celestia racked her brain, trying to remember if she had heard of anything called a 'saiyan' before, but came up blank. This was truly an extraterrestrial being, and one that was quite powerful, their altercation proving that. She felt as if he hadn't been trying during that fight, as her beam had barely left a mark on his strange armor. Upon closer inspection, she had never seen armor quite like it, the material looked like some sort of ceramic, or perhaps even a type of foreign metal.
If her armorers could replicate the material, her guards could withstand attacks that would shatter stone, with no injuries. "While we're on the topic, what exactly are you, Your Majesty?" Bage asked suddenly, without even looking up from his food. The tone caught her off guard, she was so used to ponies being afraid to speak their mind to her, that the gruff nonchalance was surprising. She took a moment to compose herself, before replying, stating, "I am a pony, an alicorn, to be specific. I am one of the four pony races that live in Equestria. On that note, where do you hail from?" She replied, curiously. This was good, he was trading her information about himself, in exchange for information from her.
If she could discern where he was from, she could- "Pfft, like I would just come out and say that right off the bat. Besides, what good would it do you, when you don't have a way of getting there?" He spat a piece of gristle as he said this, prompting her to sigh. Or maybe he wouldn't. She wasn't surprised, if the roles were reversed she would hardly give up the location of her homeland that easily. So he didn't trust her, just as she did not trust him. No matter, with enough time, she could learn more about him, and these 'saiyans'. Clearly, they were a warrior race, as even one as young as Bage seems proficient in combat.
"I suppose it wouldn't do me any good, being as you came from off-planet. On another note, how old are you? I presume you must be quite young, but I'm not exactly certain," she inquired, his stature signified youth, yet looks could always be deceiving. He didn't answer at first, continuing to take bite after bite of food, with no signs of slowing. Her eyes panned across the table, realizing that in the few minutes they had been speaking, he had piled up nearly 2 dozen dishes, and was already starting on a third stack. His appetite was incredible, he had to have eaten nearly his entire body weight in food, yet showed no signs of getting full.
"I'm about 10, maybe 11, haven't checked in a while. How old are you, 70?" Bage muttered through a mouthful of meat, an act that would've disgusted her, had she not seen a minotaur victory banquet, some 400 years ago. She had been cleaning potatoes out of her mane for weeks afterward.
"You flatter me, but I am well over 3,000 years old," she said this with an air of nonchalance, expecting him to be in awe, or even disbelief.
However, her expectations were shattered when he simply shrugged and said "Cool," before continuing to eat. Her jaw dropped, she had figured he would at least try and ask her if she was serious, or even joking, but he had just accepted it at face value. If Luna had been in her place she most likely would have blasted him where he sat. She sat down on her haunches, as she pondered this saiyan, wondering what his life could have been like if he took such a proclamation with nary a second hesitation. Her pondering was ended when he suddenly gave a mighty belch and reclined in his seat. "Ah, man that was just what I needed, your cooks have some talent," Bage sighed, rubbing his stomach.
He had cleaned off every platter of meat on the table, a feat even most griffins would have had trouble achieving. She blinked, before realizing he would need somewhere to stay. It was almost time for her to raise the sun, after all. She frowned when she realized she had been up all night. She'd have to cancel day court. 'A tragedy for all' she mused with a small smirk. "Hey, by the way, where can I get some sleep? Getting knocked out isn't the same as getting a decent rest, after all," Bage disclaimed, catching Celestias' attention.
"Knocked out? When were you knocked out, and by whom?" she asked with some concern. Alien or not, she still had an urge to help others, kindness having been one of her elements. This was met with a yawn, as he simply turned and walked off, stretching his arms behind his back.
He looked back at her and announced, "After I left my planet, I got jostled by some turbulence, and got knocked senseless. No big deal." Celestia had no idea how to approach that. He seemed to have no issues, such as signs of a concussion, nor did he seem to be in pain. Additionally, he didn't seem too bothered, so perhaps this was normal for him
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Canterlot, South wing, Guest rooms
Celestia had managed to catch up with Bage fairly quickly, thanks to her longer legs, however, he was still rather fast for someone of his size, being nearly eye-level with her snout. He had to be nearly 17 and a half hooves tall, almost as tall as her, at 18.75 hooves tall. She supposed that this was normal for his race, but with no other members of his race to compare, she couldn't know for sure. He seemed to be curiously looking about, admiring the many tapestries of the castle halls. "You seem interested in the castle's artwork, would you like me to tell you about them?" Celestia asked, but Bage shook his head.
"Nah, not really, I'm just trying to avoid more pointless conversation. You're kind of boring, like a grandma trying to relate to her grandkids," Bage stated, lacking any and all tact. Celestia was shocked, insulted even. How did he make it this far in life if he went around insulting his elders like that?
"GRANDMA?! YOU HAVE SOME NERVE, TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT! ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT-" She felt something clamp her muzzle shut, looking down her muzzle to see a hand.
"Calm down, I was joking, jeez. You're gonna wake up the whole castle, screaming like that - " Bage rebuked, taking his hand off her muzzle " - besides, you're the one who said you're over 3,000 years old. You should consider acting your age." With that he put his arms behind his head, and walked into one of the open rooms, throwing the maid that had been cleaning it out onto her flank, along with her cleaning supplies. The door slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place.
The maid looked at Celestia, and asked, "Your majesty, is that a visiting dignitary?" shakily picking up her cleaning supplies.
Celestia felt her eye twitch, and turned toward the poor maid. "Yes, and a rude one at that. Now, if you would be so kind, could you please draw me a quick bath in my washroom? I believe a quick soak will help me calm down." Celestia rubbed her muzzle with a hoof.
The maid curtsied, "Of course your majesty, right away." The maid then rushed off to the royal washroom. Celestia watched her go, and sighed. This was turning into a very sour day.
Celestia Current Power Level; Night: 2370
Bage Current Power Level: 2500