//------------------------------// // Chapter 48: Where Once, No More // Story: Saiyan of Equestria // by Boyzilla //------------------------------// Peaceful Intermission Chapter 48: Where Once, No More Three days have passed since the new Cutie Mark Crusader, Babs Seed, returned to Manehatten. Ever since the two twins had returned to Ponyville, they had taken a break from training to catch up on life events, such as spending time with friends, school, and generally being children. After school today, Ken and Kira returned home with their beloved mother, Lyra. Our little heroine, Kira Altarmore-Heartstrings, wanted to begin training again. She wished to master her Super Saiyan form, so that she can fight alongside her twin without having to get all emotional just to access the transformation. Even then, she took too long to transform, so she had to learn how to do it willingly! Unfortunately... "What you mean you don't want too train!" Kira exclaimed in shock, raising her hands in the air to exemplify how shocked she was. "I don't want too... I can't Kira," Her brother, Ken, answered. "But we got too train Ken, else we start getting weaker," Kira said to him, hoping to get through. Ken shook his head quickly, "No! I don't want to! I might hurt you!" He yelled. "But nii-san! I'm a lot stronger now! You can't hurt me silly!" She boasted, patting her chest to show her durability. Ken still declined all the same, "No! I might transform again..." Ken trailed off. "Huh? What are you talking about?" The little eight year old girl questioned curiously. Ken stepped back, his tail wiggling slowly at his side, "That red form... I might go into it again... I don't want to risk it..." Kira pouted adorably, "You don't want to transform into that Red Super Saiyan form? Ken you won't go into that form if you don't know how!" "I don't know how! That's the problem!" Ken screamed at Kira, causing her to flinch under the loudness. "What if I transform into it while going Super Saiyan! What if I transform while charging up to fight? What if I transform by using my Ki at all!" Ken continued, his eyes watery. "Ken..." Kira trailed off, lost for words. "I can't Kira, where once we trained together... No more... No more..." Ken turned around and ran across the room and up the stairs, Kira heard the door slam shut as Ken entered their room to be alone. Our little girl sat on the couch in both sadness in shock, her eyes looking down to her open hands as she drifted in thought. 'What happened? That doesn't make any sense... Ken usually likes to train and learn how to control his new strength...' Kira trailed off in her thoughts, using her Gi's sleeve to wipe her tears. 'I don't understand.' 'Now what? A bad guy might appear and Ken could be too weak! He'll be hurt a lot, we'll be hurt if we don't train!' Kira thought, 'I got to train, to train twice as hard for both me and Ken! That way we're always protected!' The hybrid girl stood up, and walked to the backyard door. After opening it and entering the training yard, she began to stretch her muscles to prepare herself, her face holding a fiery determination to protect her family. 'What's first... Well, I should try and learn how to control my Super Saiyan form of course!' Kira thought to herself as she stood up straight, her fist in front of her sides. "Hiiiyah!" Kira yelled as a blue aura of Ki burst into existence around her form, her Ki energy rising higher and higher, the ground below her feet cracking despite the enchantments placed by Lyra to reinforce it. Kira's eyes widened in shock, she felt so powerful, so much strength! Her energy level must be in the millions now! Daddy would be so proud of her! And mom too! But she needed to focus, transforming isn't easy, Ken had lots of trouble when he first got Super Saiyan. "Okay... Power up, check!" She said to herself. She raised her hands to her face, clenching them tight as she felt her Ki flow through her body. "Super Saiyan, wonder what I look like... I bet my hair gets all messed up for sure!" Kira said with a pout, "Here I go..." She breathed deeply, her heart pumping faster and her muscles tensing themselves. "Grrraaaaaaaaaaah!" Kira started yelling. The ground exploded, a crater forming beneath her feet as her Ki aura shot outward with a sudden jolt of immense power. Kira clenched her teeth together as she struggled to contain the overwhelming energy surging within her body, and to control the wild emotions threatening to overtake her thoughts. Kira felt anger, rage, a desire to fight. She kept on battling the emotions as she kept on pulling the power within her small childish body. Her hair rose up slightly, a Hybrid's hair doesn't drastically change like that of a full-blooded saiyan, but it still had its differences. The color of her hair began to shift, black to gold, gold to black. Kira's eye hue kept rotating between a onyx black and a tealish green. "Keep... Going..." Kira muttered thought her clenched teeth as her aura began to gain a golden tint to it. Suddenly, Kira gasped for air, the transformation breaking and she lost balance, falling on her rump as she breathed heavily. "Oh, Frost Tarts!" Kira exclaimed, regaining her breath. The power was there! She felt it! And it felt so strong, too strong! How did Ken ever manage to control it! The emotions running through her, the Ki energy rising higher and higher, not to mention the desire to fight egging her on to strike out at somepony. Kira lay on her back as she relaxed, "Ken did it, I can do it too. How did I do it when fighting against that bad white coat and nii-san?" As Kira laid there, her mind wondered back into memories of her time within EIOSES. She knew her first transformation was because she wanted to protect everyone, and to prove she wasn't useless. From there on, her emotions continued to flood her throughout the entire time. 'I did transform again when fighting against Ken... Daddy... Daddy helped me to transform,' She thought, remembering how her father encourage her, gave her the strength she needed, to transform and defeat her twin brother. She shivered, she didn't like remembering her fight again Ken. After resting for another minute, Kira stood back up and patted the dirt off her clothes, "Well, I guess I need more practice... How do I start through? Do I keep transforming until I learn how to maintain it?" She said to herself, "That must be it, Ken's not going to tell me how right now, so I got to figure it out myself!" "Wraaaaaahh!" Kira screamed again, reaching for the power within. It's been one hour since Kira started her training, and the little girl made little progress. Still, little is better than none. She had learned how to revert back to her original state without falling on her rump and breathing heavily. So the little girl learned something than not. She didn't view it the same way. "Ugh!" Kira groaned, bending over as she tied to catch her breath, "This is so hard.. Like using all my Ki at once... It... Takes so much!" Her stomach rumbled, she reached for it instinctively, "Hungry... " Kira walked meekly to the house, and entered it. She didn't smell any cooking, which she sighed in disappointed. "Aw.... Mom isn't cooking tonight," She said, before heading to the kitchen. "Auntie Bon-Bon!" Kira exclaimed as she saw the sight of Bon-Bon within the kitchen. Running up to her, the child asked, "Why isn't mommy cooking tonight?" Bon-Bon looked to her, there was a small smile, "We just don't have enough to cook right now, so make yourself some sandwiches or eat some cereal, okay?" "Oh... Okay," Kira said, walking toward the fridge and taking out the milk. She placed the milk on the counter before going over to the pantry and picking up the Cheer-Up-ios. After also placing it down, and Bon-Bon giving her a bowl and spoon. The nearly-nine year old girl ate quietly. Bon-Bon smiled before leaving the kitchen, and finding Lyra sitting down. The earth pony's smile disappeared as she said, "Lyra, you know why I'm here." Lyra looked to her, "Now we're low on food? This is bad." Bon-Bon sat next to her, "We're lucky the Princesses paid for their hospital bill, but we're still low on finances. I'm doing the best I can, but business has been slow at the shop. I'm barely paying the house bills as it is." Lyra sighed, placing her hooves at her temples, "The stupid EIOSES incident got be fired from my last job, I'm trying to find a new one, but nopony is hiring." "What a bunch of-" "Bon-Bon! Language!" Lyra exclaimed in shock. "Sorry Lyra, but this is outrageous! Getting fired just because you have to save the twins!" Bon-Bon yelled in anger. "I know, I know." Lyra said, "If I don't get a job, or at least some sort of income soon, we'll be in trouble. The child welfare checks barely cover the amount of groceries the twins go through." Bon-Bon giggled, "They do eat a lot." "Not their fault they're still growing! They need that food!" Lyra exclaimed. The two adult ponies, legal guardians of the Twins, sat there thinking long and hard about a solution to their financial predicament. Suddenly Bon-Bon had an idea, "The Four Border Tournament," She said. "Huh?" "The Four Border Tournament Lyra! It happens every five years, this is that year! The winner gets fifty-thousand bits!" Bon-bon exclaimed. "Fifty-thousand, that'll keep us out of the rock for a year. Plenty of time for me to get a job, and save us enough money. Wait, what is the Four Border Tournament?" Lyra questioned. "Every five years, a friendly competitive tournament is held right at the four borders of Equestria, Griffon Empire, Draconic Kingdom, and now Crystal Empire. Used to be called the Three Border Tournament, of course, you can guess why it changed." "Crystal Empire? Well, I did hear how Twilight and her friends did save the place before EIOSES happened..." Lyra trialed off. "What do they do?" "Primary, it's a Fighting Tournament, which is where the main victory cash is earned. Secondary its a Sport Competition area as well, with much more minor rewards," Bon-Bon explained. "Wonder why I never heard of this till now," Lyra said. "Because you live under a rock?" Bon-Bon joked. "Ha ha, very funny." Lyra retorted, "Wait, fighting tournament? Then that means you-" "Want the twins to participate, yes." A small silence echoed through the house. "Bon-Bon! You want to put them in the middle of a fighting tournament for all to see!? Think about what the other nations would do if they saw the two twins' abilities!" Lyra exclaimed. "Nothing," Bon-Bon answered. "What?" Bon-Bon giggled, "Lyra, the other nations wouldn't dare touch the twins. That's pretty stereotypical for you to think they're all bad guys in disguise. The other nations are very good allies of Equestria." Lyra sighed in relief, "Alright, so when does this Tournament start?" Bon-Bon got up, and went to the calendar on the wall. She flipped up the page, and circled a date. "A few days after Summer Break starts for the kids." "That's in four weeks," Lyra stated. "Yes, we have to keep it together until then."