//------------------------------//
// The Machine 
// Story: Arctic Chill 
// by dragonridergoku 
//------------------------------//

Disclaimer: Dragonrider Goku does not own Dragonball/Z/GT or MLP: FIM, they are owned by the people who own them.  

Last Time: Goku and Vegeta fought while Vegeta was possessed.  After returning, Vegeta met Red, who has now revealed that there is a power that can stop Arctic.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!  YOU’RE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!”

This was said just as Red fired his blast straight towards the planet’s core.  When the blast hit the ground, it sent up a large dust cloud into the atmosphere and caused a small earthquake to shake the city.  When the dust cleared, what was seen caused the jaws of all onlookers to drop.  Where there should be a hole straight to the fiery core was instead a perfect tunnel that led to what looked like a metal wall.  

“What in the world is that?”

“How did that metal get there?”

“Why did that not break that barrier thing?”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Kakarot, How could you be thinking about food when this thing just stopped the planet from exploding?!”

“Wait, when did Goku wake up?”

“Just now, what happened?”

“Red just tried to kill us all!”

“Who’s Red?”

“You were unconscious when we met him Kakarot.  He seems to be a saiyan, though I have no idea where he came from or how he survived the destruction of our planet.  He just attempted to blast a hole through this planet and was stopped by that metal wall down there.”

“I knew what I was doing Vegeta.  That blast was meant to uncover the metal plate that bars our way inside.”

“Inside of what?”

“The machine of course.  If you want more information about it maybe you should ask the princesses about the time this planet was found by the alicorns.”

“What is he talking about princess?”

“There are some secrets to this world that have been kept by the alicorns since the beginning of time.  It would be best that not all of these secrets be revealed.”

“Come on Celestia, this secret has to be revealed now.  If you don’t tell them, I will.”

“Fine Red, I will tell the elements as well as the two saiyans, but no pony else.  This world was not created by the alicorns, but found by them.  When we came from our home in the plains of harmony, we found this world as a place engulfed in chaos.  Normally, we would have left it alone, but we saw a potential in this place that we had never seen anywhere else.  There was a spark of something powerful hidden deep within the chaos, something that beckoned to us and told us to come closer.  We brought harmony to this place in an attempt to find the source of this spark.  We found it in the machine.  This world had grown around a massive machine which harbored that power which drew us in.  When we released a small portion of it, it imbued us with the power and wisdom of the ancients.  This power is what gives alicorns their immortality.  We were a part of harmony before, and then we became something stronger.  This was the power that created the elements of harmony that you six now wield.  However, the power also created the source of chaos and disharmony.  A set of artifacts were created that control disharmony as easily as the elements control harmony.  These were sealed off in the heart of the machine where they could not cause any trouble.”

“So what does this history lesson have to do with Arctic and the rest of us?”

“These artifacts, these dark elements could easily give Arctic the power he needs to finally get back to your universe Vegeta.  If he can get ahold of them, he would become more powerful than anything that ever existed.  He could make the power of the super saiyan look like that of a dust mite in comparison.”

“Well than why did you just blast open the way to these dark elements?”

“Because it doesn’t matter whether Arctic can get to them or not, if he gathers the dragon balls like he is doing right now, he will be able to get the dark elements anyway.  He cannot touch them right now due to the pure evil in his soul.  He needs the dragon balls in order to wish for this safety measure to be taken out.”

“Then let’s hurry up and find the dragon balls before he does.”

“It’s not that simple Vegeta, he already has six of the seven dragon balls and I have number seven.”

“But he can’t use them unless he has all seven.  He needs to come to us if he wants to get his wish.  Why don’t we just wait for him to come to us and try to get it?”

“Because, Vegeta, Arctic has been trying to get it from me.  He tried today, just before you returned from your fight with Goku.  He is trying right now to find a weakness in our defenses that will give him the opportunity to steal the dragon ball.  We can’t trust anybody now Vegeta.  Arctic is a changeling, all he needs to do is transform into one of us and take the dragon ball.  We need to keep it somewhere he can never get it from.  We need to give it to the guardian.”

“Who is this Guardian guy?”

“The guardian lives within the machine.  He is the one who keeps it running while he watches over the dark elements of disharmony.  He is the only one who Arctic will never be able to act as.  The guardian is older than time itself, now enough talking; it’s time to get moving.”

With that, Red flew down towards the hole he blasted into the ground.  The others followed with those who could not fly being carried by those who could.  Once the group reached the metal barrier, Red placed a hand on it and sent a burst of energy through the platform.  With that, it started glowing bright red and began trembling.  It slowly split in half and revealed a tunnel that let out a bright blue light from its sides.  The group landed on the tunnel floor and started their trek down this new blue pathway beneath the surface of the world.  


End of Chapter 11