Nightmare Moon Cometh, The Celebration is Nigh! Twilight And Bage are off to Ponyville!
Nine years have passed since the near destruction of Canterlot at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis. The city was mourning, with many ponies losing friends and family during the invasion. Reconstruction efforts were underway, bringing a fragile peace. Within the castle, Bage faced scrutiny for sparing a changeling's life and allowing Queen Chrysalis to escape. Shining Armor confronted Bage, criticizing his decisions. A tense exchange ensued, with Bage challenging Shining's authority and asserting that he had faced the threat alone. Thorax, the spared changeling, was left in Bage's care. Despite initial tension, Bage and Thorax formed an unexpected bond. Celestia offered Thorax a chance to stay in Canterlot under Bage's supervision, pardoning him for his involvement in the invasion. As the years passed, Canterlot underwent repairs, and the changeling threat was nearly forgotten. Celestia, however, couldn't shake her worries about the upcoming 1000th Summer Sun Celebration and the return of Nightmare Moon. The fate of Luna rested on Twilight's shoulders, and the uncertainty of the future loomed over Canterlot. On the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia decides to send Bage and Twilight to Ponyville, hoping that Bage can make new friends and Twilight can embrace friendship.
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"Wait, you're sending me where?" Bage asked, confusion evident on his face.
"I'm sending you to Ponyville along with Twilight. You're aware of the threat of Nightmare Moon, and now so is she. However, she can't face her alone, and she needs friends. I'm entrusting her safety and well-being to you, and you must help her finally make a friend. At least one, however difficult that may be for her. Not to mention, you could also do with making a few new friends as well, somepony outside of Free Breeze and Sunset. But if she cannot make friends before Nightmare Moon returns, you may have to fight my sister to keep her at bay while Twilight finds the elements. Just... promise me you won't kill her if it indeed comes to that." Celestia stared with pleading eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when he gave a stiff nod.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. But if things do escalate, I can't make any promises about Luna. If she gets hurt, it's her own fault, got it?" Bage countered, Celestia nodding. "OK, so when is she leaving? I can fly along behind her if she takes a chariot." Celestia motioned over to a chariot pulled by two pegasi guards.
"She will leave in an hour once she gets ready." Bage rolled his eyes, glancing back at Thorax, still in his Free Breeze form. He was absent-mindedly scraping the ground with a hoof, trying not to draw attention to himself. Bage shook his head, a mirthful smile on his face.
"You alright there, buzz-brain?" Thorax looked up, nodding.
"Yeah, it's just, I don't know what I'm supposed to do while you're gone." Bage reached down and ruffled his mane, chuckling.
"Aw, don't look so down. I'm just going along to help with the celebration, and then I'll be back by tomorrow. You won't even notice I'm gone." Bage gave him a quick punch to the shoulder, being careful not to hit him too hard. Thorax rubbed the spot anyway. "Besides, you'll have Sunset to talk to. I'm still surprised you managed to get on her good side so fast. That took me years to do." Bage ducked as an apple went flying at his head. "HA! YOU MISSED ME!" He yelled before taking a watermelon to the face. "SPFFFT! How did you get so much fruit?" He wiped watermelon mush out of his eyes and looked over, seeing Sunset hoofing a bag of bits to a mare that he presumed was the fruit stand owner, smirking at him. "Yeah yeah, whatever. When I get back I'm gonna hit you back twice as hard." Sunset's smug grin just deepened, and Bage scoffed, smirking. "You'll be okay Breeze, don't worry about it. So long as you mind yourself, and don't get on any of the noble's bad sides." Thorax gave a little nod but didn't respond. After what felt like forever, Twilight finally showed up with Spike riding along on her back. Despite having met Spike previously, Bage had never really talked to him. 'Hmm, guess this is a good opportunity to get to know him a little better.' Bage mused, walking over and leaning on the chariot.
"Come on Twilight, the princess is just trying to get you to socialize. Staying cooped up in your tower isn't good for you, and this is a really good chance for you to make some friends. Aside from me and Bage, of course," Spike told her, but it seemed that Twilight found the premise less than ideal. Bage cleared his throat, making the both of them jump. "OH, uh, hey Bage! What are you doing here?" Spike asked. Twilight just groaned, half-heartedly waving a hoof at him.
"Apparently, Celestia has the same idea for me, since she's making me tag along with you two. Something along the lines of "Help Twilight socialize, and both of you need to make new friends" and whatnot." Bage rolled his eyes, an action that Twilight mirrored.
"So she wants you to make some friends as well? At least you'll have an easier time than me," Twilight muttered, mostly to herself but Bage managed to catch it.
"Right, the six-foot-tall, bulging muscled saiyan will have a better time making friends with ponies than Princess Celestia's student, good one, Twilight." Twilight groaned and stepped into the chariot.
"Are you coming or not?" She gestured to the chariot with a raised eyebrow. Bage shook his head.
"Nah, I'll just fly along next to it. Besides, I'd be too heavy for those guys to pull along anyway." As he said this, the pegasi breathed a sigh of relief, wiping nervous sweat from their brows. "I'll be just outside the chariot if you need me, though."
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The trip to Ponyville was uneventful, with Twilight staring down at the ground passing underneath, and Spike reading out the letter from Celestia detailing what they would have to do upon arrival. Bage amused himself by firing tiny ki blasts toward the ground, enough to cause tiny detonations, but not powerful to devastate the landscape. He was pulled from this though, when Twilight called out to him. "Hey, Bage! You wouldn't happen to know about Nightmare Moon, would you?" Bage looked over at her, knowing that if he said yes then she would no doubt freak out, so he decided to go with the safe route of 'maybe, why?'.
"I might've read something about it. Why, did she spook you in your dreams or something?" He chuckled, while Twilight just glared at him.
"No, I was just hoping that somepony would be willing to help me with this." Bage smirked at that.
"Well, that's your first mistake since I'm not a pony. Why are you so obsessed with that old legend, anyway? It's not like she's gonna pop out of the moon and turn you into a Twi-puddle with her 'nightmare magic' so what's the big deal?" Twilight groaned in frustration, her already sour mood spoiling even further.
"Because she's going to return during the celebration and thrust Equestria into eternal night Bage! How is that not something to worry about?!" Twilight said in exasperation. Before Bage could respond, Spike called out to both of them.
"Hey, we're here! Let's go and greet to locals!" He jumped out of the chariot as it landed, running into the town proper.
"Well, let's follow the drake and meet some ponies. I'm sure this will go, I want to say 'great' but... you know." Bage touched down and waltzed into Ponyville, Twilight begrudgingly following along behind.
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Ponyville was a much different place than Canterlot, giving off a quaint rustic charm, and friendly atmosphere that Bage found to be quite inviting. He decided that if he was going to make a good impression, it would be best to make the first move. He walked up to a shockingly pink pony and cleared his throat. "Hey, what's going on? I'm-" He didn't get the chance to finish as the pony immediately jumped a foot off the ground with a loud gasp, before zipping off. "-Bage. Well, that went, awful." Twilight shared his look of confusion.
"Oh Twilight, we should meet some ponies, this will go well!" Twilight snarked, glaring up at him.
"Look, to be fair all I did was say 'what's going on'. I didn't even give her my name. Do you think it's because I'm like a giant to them? I swear, that one didn't even come up to my thigh." Bage rubbed the back of his neck, grinning bashfully.
"Let's just start with the first thing on the list, which is 'Food: handled by Applejack Apple.' We need to head to Sweet Apple Acres." Bage recognized the surname 'Apple' since Celestia had a large number of apples from the Apple family shipped to Canterlot.
"I think I know about the Apple family, they're the biggest supplier of apples to the entirety of Equestria. I think they founded this place, too," Bage remarked as they made their way to the farm. As they walked onto the property, they heard an exclamation of 'YEEHAW!', and an Earth pony wearing a brown cowpoke hat raced by, spinning around and delivering a swift kick to an apple tree. The force of the kick was enough to dislodge every apple from it, sending them plummeting into carefully placed baskets around the base of the tree. "Impressive. Wonder if I could do that."
"Howdy there, uh, big feller! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, mah name's Applejack, what can I do ya for?" Bage cleared his throat and held a hand out.
"My name's Bage, we're here to check on the food catering for the celebration tomorrow. This is Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's personal student, and the one overseeing the preparation." Applejack grabbed Bage's hand and tried to give it a good forceful shake, but he responded with a touch of his strength and nearly lifted her off the ground. "Oh, uh, sorry." Applejack whistled, shaking her hoof.
"Ya'll have got a heck of a grip there. First time I've met somepo- er uh, somecreature that could give me a run fer my bits. Shoot, you'd prolly give Big McIntosh a hard time. If'n it's food yer here ta see, we gots a whole selection, ya wanna try some?" Twilight tried to politely decline, but Bage put a hand on her head and pushed her back.
"You bet! I haven't had anything all day, and I'm starved!" Applejack smiled at that, before pulling a triangle out from under her hat and giving it a ring.
"SOUPS' ON EVERY PONY!" The ground trembled as a veritable mob of ponies raced in from all over the farm. "This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp... [deep breath] Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests." A frail-looking old mare sitting on the porch snorted awake, looking around bewilderedly.
"Wha? Soups' on already? Alrighty then, imma comin'." Bage was honestly surprised that a pony could look that old but decided to keep his mouth shut. What followed was a culinary smorgasbord of different apple-based baked goods, ranging from typical apple pie, to even apple dumplings, which Bage hadn't thought was possible. After nearly an hour of non-stop apple-based food, the Apple family finally let them go.
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Bage rubbed his stomach contentedly, having gotten into an eating challenge with Big McIntosh. Twilight groaned as she waddled along, her stomach distended from the amount of food she had eaten.
"UUGh, I never want to eat an apple ever again. I feel like I'm going to explode." Bage just laughed, putting his arms behind his head.
"Yeah, you may've gone overboard, but at least the food was good, right Spike?" Spike burped but didn't respond. "Anyway, what's next on the list?" Spike pulled out the list and looked over it.
"Next up is Weather: handled by Rainbow Dash. She should be around here somewhere." Bage looked up at the sky, seeing numerous clouds dotting it.
"Well she isn't doing her job, is she? Hell, I could clear these clouds in five seconds." Bage sensed something rapidly approaching from behind him, and sidestepped, just in time for a rainbow blur to speed by and smash right into Twilight, sending her into a mud puddle.
"Hehe, sorry about that. Let me help you." The mare sped off, before coming back with a large raincloud, jumping in it like a trampoline and causing Twilight to get soaked to the bone. "Oops, guess I overdid it. Here, let me take care of that." She started flying around Twilight rapidly forming a massive cyclone of rainbow as the water was vacuumed away. "There you go, my patented Rain-Blow Dry! No no. Don't thank me. You're quite welcome." She looked at Twilight's tangled mane and immediately fell over laughing, Spike joining in as well. Bage gave a small snort but resisted the urge to laugh. Twilight gave a huff of annoyance, looking down at the pegasus.
"I'm guessing you're, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow Dash jumped up, striking a pose.
"The one and only! Why, you heard of me?" Bage rolled his eyes. 'This one reminds me of The King's brat, Prince Vegeta, except without the threats of violence' Bage glanced down at Rainbow Dash, who had finally noticed him standing there, her eyes wide with awe, and a little trepidation. "Woah, you're huge! What the hay are you?" Bage smirked.
"Name's Bage, I'm a Saiyan. Don't suppose you know about that foiled invasion of Canterlot about nine or so years ago, do you? Yeah, I stopped that, by myself might I add." Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up, while Twilight muttered under her breath something that sounded like 'Oh please'.
"Wait, you mean the Changeling invasion?! You stopped that whole army by yourself?! With no help?! You're that Bage?!" Bage rubbed his chest-plate with his knuckles, a smug look on his face.
"Oh yeah, I sent those bugs packing like the overgrown flies they were. And the queen was all like 'Oh no, please mister Saiyan, spare me' and I, as the gracious and caring warrior I am, said 'Only if I never see you again, bug brain' and she went running. So, you know, no biggie." Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement.
"DUDE, that's awesome! You're almost as cool as the Wonderbolts! No, I take that back, you're just as cool as the Wonderbolts! I've been wanting to meet you ever since I heard about that, could you teach me a couple of moves?! Like shooting lasers, or blasts, or-" Bage put his hands up to try and stop her fan-gasming.
"Woah, slow down there. That stuff took me years to learn, I don't think I could teach you before we have to head back to Canterlot. Besides, I couldn't train somebody who can't even keep the sky clear for the day." Rainbow Dash went pale.
"O-oh, right, the clouds. I can clear those in like, ten seconds, flat. Watch me!" She sped off, zipping around the sky and busting clouds with a speed that Bage found to be pretty impressive. She touched back down, kicking up a cloud of dust. "See, ten seconds flat. Pretty impressive right? I mean, you're probably way faster than that, but I'm sure it was still impressive, right?!" Bage kept his face neutral, crossing his arms.
"Well, actually, it wasn't ten seconds." Rainbow Dash looked crushed, her jaw dropping open. "It was actually closer to nine seconds, give or take a few milliseconds." He followed that up with a smile, as Rainbow Dash's eyes practically went pitch black with how large her pupils dilated. She gave another squeal, before passing out. "Well, that's weather taken care of. What's next?" Spike pulled out the list and dragged his finger down to the next item.
"Decorations: handled by Rarity. She should be in the town hall."
"Well then let's go, maybe we can get your mane fixed on the way? It looks like a massive glob of grape cotton candy." Twilight just glared but followed along next to him.
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Upon entering the town hall, Bage noticed the numerous decorations adorning the walls, with a snow-white unicorn standing at the other end of the hall, sorting ribbons.
"Beautiful," Spike murmured. Bage nodded in agreement, looking about the hall.
"Yeah, the decorations are pretty nice, I guess."
"Not the decorations, her!" He pointed towards the unicorn, and Bage just rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I see. Isn't she a bit too old for you, pint size?" Spike ignored him, meticulously combing his spines and buffing his scales.
"How do I look, Bage? Presentable?" Bage just chuckled.
"Yeah, Spike, you look great. I'm sure she'll fall head over hooves for you."
Twilight shook her head, approaching the mare. "Good afternoon, I-" The mare interrupted her with a hoof.
"Just a moment, please! I'm 'in the zone', as it were. Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent. Now, um, how can I help yo-WahOH! Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!" The mare cried as she noticed Twilight's mane.
"Oh, my mane? Well, um, I had a run-in with Rainbow Dash." Rarity's expression immediately changed to one of understanding.
"Ah, say no more, darling. I'm more than familiar with... her..." She trailed off as she noticed Bage, and she shrunk back into herself.
"Uh, hi?" Rarity screamed, and rushed behind a curtain, peeking out to stare at him. "Well, that's rude. Do you scream at everyone who looks differently than you?" She stepped back out, looking sheepish.
"AHmm, yes, my apologies, you just... uh... caught me off guard. I don't suppose you're with this mare here?-" Bage nodded. "-Ah, I see. Well then, I suppose it wouldn't do to be so rude. I suppose introductions are in order?"
"I'm Bage, this is Twilight Sparkle, the Princess's personal student. We came here from Canterlot to check on the preparations for the celebration tomorrow. You're in charge of decorations, right?" Rarity nodded, gesturing to her work.
"Why, yes of course. As you can see, things are taken care of on that front, but you simply must let me take care of your manes, it's the least I can do." Rarity dragged Twilight out the door. Bage simply grinned and followed, with Spike hovering along with hearts in his eyes.
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Twilight's day so far had gone from bad to worse, and now she was sitting in front of a set of mirrors, as Rarity had been adamant about providing her something to wear. At least, until she had become preoccupied with Bage's untameable hair. A metallic SNAP rang out as another pair of hair-trimming scissors was sacrificed in the pursuit of tackling the black mountain that was Bage's mop. "Oh for the love of Celestia, darling, when was the last time you had your hair taken care of? It's practically a rat's nest!" Rarity managed to extricate the poor comb that had been nearly consumed, whilst Bage simply sat there frowning. "Not to mention I've broken four pairs of my best trimmers on these, devilish locks."
"I've never done anything with it. It's just, like that. A saiyans hair remains unchanged from the day he's born, with the exception of beards, and moustaches." He somehow managed to say that with an accent, which Twilight found strange, but not as strange as the guitar riff that played out of nowhere. Although she could have sworn she saw a flash of pink out the window.
"You know, now I can't stop thinking about Bage with a mustache," Spike muttered, rubbing his upper lip as he said this.
"I refuse to give up, darling, not until I TAME. THIS. MANE!" Bage got up just as Rarity dived in with a pair of hedge clippers, causing her to fall over.
"Yeah, sorry but we really have to go, important Canterlot business and all, so have a good day!" Bage grabbed Twilight and Spike and sped out the door as fast as he could. Rarity felt her eye twitch, and she resisted the urge to scream.
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"Ok, what's next on the list? And please tell me it's something that doesn't involve that mare!" Spike didn't answer, still daydreaming about Rarity. Bage knocked him on the head. "Focus, you love sick puppy, next thing on the list!"
"OH, uh, sorry, let's see. It's... Music: handled by Fluttershy." Bage facepalmed.
"Oh boy, I can tell by her name that this is gonna be difficult." As they rounded the next patch of trees, they heard what sounded like birds all chirping in harmony. Or at least, mostly. "One of those birds is off rhythm, by at least two beats. Clearly, he hasn't been practicing." Twilight just looked at him with bemusement, before they saw a pale yellow pegasus conducting the birds.
"Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, umm. Excuse me, sir? I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off. Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three-"
"Hello!" The pegasus jumped in fright and the sudden noise scared off all the birds. Bage looked down at Twilight incredulously, and she just gave a sheepish grin. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to scare your birds away, I just wanted to check up on how the music was going, and it sounded beautiful" The pegasus looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "Um... I'm Twilight Sparkle... what's your name?" The mare hid behind her mane.
"Um... I'm Fluttershy."
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Twilight leaned in closer, causing Fluttershy to scoot backward.
"Um... My name is Fluttershy."
"One more time?" Twilight leaned in even closer, and Fluttershy nearly fell backward.
"She said her name was Fluttershy, Twilight. And you're clearly scaring her." Twilight noticed that Fluttershy was covering her eyes with her hooves, doing her best to shrink down as small as possible.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, um, it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!" Twilight looked back at Spike. "Well, I guess that's taken care of." Fluttershy noticed Spike and shot up.
"A BABY DRAGON!" The birds flew off again, as Fluttershy flew over to Spike. "I've never met a baby dragon before! Oh, he's so cute!" Spike grinned.
"Well, now who's popular?" Spike asked smugly, looking at Bage. Fluttershy gasped in amazement.
"Oh my, he talks?! I didn't know dragons could talk, this is incredible. I don't know what to say!" Twilight cleared her throat.
"Well, we should be going, we have a lot to do." Fluttershy flew in front of her.
"Wait, at least tell me his name?" Twilight was about to speak up, but Spike beat her to it.
"I'm Spike!"
"Oh, hi Spike. This is so exciting! What do dragons like to talk about?" Spike rubbed his chin.
"Well, what do you wanna know?" Fluttershy let a 'squee'.
"Oh, absolutely everything!" Bage and Twilight shared a groan.
"This is gonna take awhile," Bage muttered, crossing his arms.