Gallop to the West

by Sage Runner

The Woods (Part I)

"When can we stop and make camp?" Spike asked, looking up at Twilight. "I'm so tired!"

"Tired from doing what, exactly?" Twilight Sparkle asked, raising her brow as she pointed a hoof downward toward the floor of the enchanted wagon they had been riding on. "My Come-to-Life Spell is doing all the work!"

"Well sure," Spike replied, looking off to the side, "but, I mean, it's been a long day anyway. The sun will be going down soon."

"I suppose that's true," Twilight conceded. "But I don't know anything about these woods. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable setting up camp here."

"At least we're still technically in Equestria. A few more miles, and we won't even be able to say that!" It was the truth, the Browntail Woods comprised Equestria's western border, and beyond it was a vast, lawless land, comprised of sporadically placed settlements and untold dangers.

"I guess it would be a good idea to get a full night's rest before we plunge ourselves into the unknown," Twilight said. "Alright, we'll stop and look for a place to make camp."

"You're probably gonna say 'no'," Spike said, frowning at Twilight, "but we could always turn back."

Twilight stifled a laugh. "Honestly, Spike! You were totally gung-ho about our mission when we set out. You even insisted on coming."

"That's just 'cause I'd have worried about you otherwise!" Spike exclaimed. "All of our other friends couldn't make the trip, and I didn't want you out here alone. Do we really have to do this?"

"You know we do." Twilight nodded emphatically, a look of determination upon her face. "Princess Celestia entrusted me with this task, and I will see it through."

"All because Zecora just happened to find one of these things in the Everfree Forest." Spike gestured toward a small, cloth sack which was tied off at the top. "The legend could still be fake, y'know?"

"And if I find out that it is," Twilight replied, "then our mission will still have been a success. But the possibilities are simply too dangerous to ignore." Having nothing to counter her point with, Spike sighed and looked down at his feet. They continued to ride the wagon along the rugged path between the trees in silence.

Suddenly, with a thundering crack, the wagon and its passengers were knocked into the air. Twilight hit the ground next to a tree, flat on her stomach. As she reeled from the impact, Spike landed on top of her, winding her all over again. The wagon landed on its side nearby.

"What the heck was that?!" Spike shouted, leaping to his feet while on Twilight's back, knocking what little breath she had caught right out of her.

"Spike!" Twilight growled. "Get off my.... back?" Twilight's voice trailed off as she beheld another. Standing in the shadow of a tree was what appeared to be a small colt. Twilight was able to discern a rather long bo staff gripped at the middle by the colt's unnaturally thin tail. "Who are—" Twilight was again silenced as the figure darted toward the wagon, and with a single swing of its staff, sent it hurtling against the nearby trees, in pieces. The staff was then pointed directly at Twilight and Spike, whose mouths were hanging open.

"Now it's your turn, witch!" a youthful, high-pitched voice declared.

"Wait!" Twilight shouted, raising her hooves. "I'm not a witch!"

"Are too!" The boy took a step closer. "I saw you make that box with wheels move on its own! That's something a witch would do!"

"It was unicorn magic!" Twilight protested, waving her hooves frantically. The boy stopped short.

"Oh!" The staff was lowered. "That explains it. My grampa told me all about unicorns, I just never saw one before. Is that why there's a wiener on your forehead?"

"A what?!" Twilight shrieked, pressing a hoof against her horn defensively as Spike burst out laughing. "This is a horn, young man, and it's the way we unicorns perform magic."

"A magic horn?" the boy replied, tilting his head. "That's so cool!" He trotted out of the shadows to get a better look at his new acquaintances, in turn giving Twilight and Spike a better look at him.

The young colt's coat was a light-brown color, his black (or perhaps dark blue, Twilight couldn't tell in this light) mane stuck straight up in the air, its strands grouped together in uneven tufts. Strangely, his tail was unlike any Twilight had ever seen. It more resembled a monkey's tail than the tail of any equine she had known.

"And I'm guessing you're a dragon, 'cause you look like a big reptile," the boy said, smiling at Spike.

"You got me," Spike replied, shrugging. "Name's Spike."

"And I'm Twilight Sparkle! What's your name?"

"I'm Monkey Do!" the colt replied.

"Seriously? What kinda name is that?" Spike asked.

"Hey! My grampa gave me that name, don't make fun!" Monkey Do took a step forward and glared at Spike.

"Take it easy, I didn't mean anything by it!" Spike yelped, backing away.

"That's an interesting weapon you have there, Mister Do," Twilight said, pointing at his bright red weapon.

"Thanks! Grampa gave it to me! Staff, retract!" In response, to Twilight's and Spike's surprise, the staff shrank in length until it was no longer than the boy's legs. He swung his tail around and slipped it into the hostler strapped to his back.

"Is your staff magical?" Twilight said.

"Sure is!" Monkey Do replied.

"Well, that explains how it was able to do so much damage, I suppose." Twilight frowned at the wreckage of their wagon.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I broke that thing, whatever it was." Monkey Do lowered his head.

"Think nothing of it, it was a misunderstanding," Twilight said, shaking her head. "I could put it back together with magic, but after travelling all day, I'm not sure I have the energy."

"You can stay at my house tonight!" Monkey Do replied. "It's really close by!"

"Are you telling me you live here in the woods?" Twilight asked.

"Sure, it's the only place I've ever been!" Monkey Do replied, gesturing for Twilight and Spike to follow. "I'll take you guys back out here to fix your thing tomorrow morning!"

"So, you live out here with your parents, or something?" Spike asked as he and Twilight ran behind Monkey.

"I don't have parents," Monkey Do replied. "My grampa found me here when I was a foal, and since there was nopony else around, he took care of me!"

"And was his name 'Monkey See'?" Spike asked with a slight snicker.

"How'd you know?" Monkey Do asked, looking back at Spike.

"So you're telling me that you've never been beyond these woods?" Twilight asked.

"Nope! Grampa taught me loads about the rest of the world though. I know there are other earth ponies like me and him, unicorns with head-peckers like you," Twilight groaned in disapproval as he said this, "and pegasi that can fly through the air! He also told me about girls, and how I should be extra nice if I ever see one. Is that what you are, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Why, yes I am!" Twilight giggled.

"Weird kid," Spike whispered, earning a glare from Twilight.

"We're here!" Monkey said as they came to a stop just outside a modest log cabin. "Come on in, I'll show you my grampa!"

"I'm looking forward to meeting him," Twilight said with a smile as Monkey Do opened the door with his tail. Twilight and Spike peered into the candle-lit cabin, which appeared to have a living room with two doors at the far end leading elsewhere. A bear-skin rug stretched out across the floor a few feet away from a fireplace. As Twilight and Spike gazed up at the mantle, their jaws dropped again.

"I'm home, grampa! And I made some new friends!" Monkey Do said, addressing the small, pale orange orb that rested upon a cushion on the mantle. Four star-shaped marks adorned its surface.

"That's... your grampa?" Twilight was practically gasping.

"I don't believe it..." Spike sighed.

"Well he's not really my grampa," Monkey explained, "but this was his prized possession. He died a while back, and talking to it helps when I start to miss him."

"I'm very sorry about your loss," Twilight said, approaching the boy and placing a hoof on his shoulder. "And this, your grandfather's possession? Did he tell you what it was or where it came from?"

"Uh-uh." Monkey shook his head. "Just that it was really important that I keep it safe because it could do really bad things in the wrong hooves."

"Then he must have known," Twilight replied, reaching into her saddlebag for the small sack she had pulled from the wreckage.

"Known about what?" Monkey asked.

"This," Twilight replied, opening the sack and revealing an object identical to the one on the mantle, save for the fact that it had five stars instead of four.

"You mean you have a grampa too?!" Monkey's eyes grew wide.

"No! Well yes," Twilight replied, stifling a laugh, "but I didn't get this from my grandfather. A good friend of mine found it in an enchanted forest and gave it to our Princess."

"You mean Celeste?" Monkey asked.

"Celestia," Twilight corrected him. "But yes. It proved to her that the legend might be true. And now that I've seen yours, I'm certain of it!"

"Legend?" Monkey Do tilted his head, staring intently at the five-starred ball.

"You see," Twilight explained, beginning to pace back and forth in front of Monkey and Spike, "these objects are called Dragon Balls."

"Why are they called that?" Monkey asked.

"No one's sure," Twilight replied, shaking her head. "Rumor has it that long ago they were created by the offspring of a dragon and an alicorn, but that's unverified. Even their very existence was unverified until a few minutes ago!"

"So are there more out there?" Monkey asked.

"There are seven in all, each with a different number of stars. Legend holds that if somepony gathers them all together, they have the power to grant any wish." Twilight lifted her Dragon Ball to her eye level, staring at it intently.

Spike spoke up, "So Princess Celestia figured, 'Hey, the legend says they're out west, and there's a lot of bad stuff out west, so we should totally collect them before somepony else does and wishes for something evil or whatever', and none-other than yours truly was chosen to do the job!" He pointed to himself and grinned.

"Ahem," Twilight grunted, leering down at Spike. He lowered his arm and sat quietly. Twilight turned back to Monkey Do. "That isn't exactly how the conversation went, but that is the reason why we're searching for them."

"Wait," Monkey Do said, taking a step away from them toward the fireplace. "Are you telling me that you're here to take my grampa's prized possession?!"

"Well, no," Twilight replied with a frown. "Now that I know what it means to you, I couldn't possibly do that."

"But Twilight, how will we finish the mission if we don't collect all seven?" Spike asked.

"Well actually," Twilight replied, "the mission was to verify whether or not there actually was more than one Dragon Ball, and we've done that. You need all seven to make a wish, and if Monkey Do keeps his, and Princess Celestia keeps this one, nopony can ever use them for evil!"

"No one's ever gonna take mine, you can count on that!" Monkey replied, flexing his small foreleg. Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled, failing to notice the abnormal muscle detail in his leg as Spike did.

"So does that mean we're done?" Spike asked.

"Mission accomplished!" Twilight replied with a smile. "We'll head back to Canterlot after we fix the wagon in the morning!"

"As for tonight," Spike said, "do you have any, y'know, food, Monkey?" His stomach began to rumble.

"Sure thing," Monkey replied. "I've got loads of fish in the ice box, and some apples I just picked today!"

"Fish?" Twilight asked. "You mean you eat meat?"

"Sure. Meat feeds your muscles, that's what grampa always said!" Monkey Do thumped his chest. "'But you should never eat anything that talks', he told me, so I pretty much only eat fish."

"Well, I think we'll pass on the fish," Twilight replied, smiling meekly as Spike nodded.

"Suit yourself," Monkey said. "Apples it is!"

"I feel kinda bad for the kid," Spike said as Monkey Do trotted into the kitchen. "He lives here all by himself, and he lost the only family he had."

"I agree," Twilight replied with a frown. "He's a nice boy, but he seems really lonely. Tomorrow I'll offer to take him with us. We can find a place for him in Ponyville easily enough!"

***

Later that night, the three occupants were sleeping too soundly to hear the soft creak of the cabin door as it was slowly opened. Two figures entered the living room, cloaked but for their glowing horns. They carefully approached the mantle.

"The stories were true," whispered one to the other, "the monkey-boy of Browntail Woods does, indeed, possess a stone with four stars carved upon it."

"Or rather, he did possess it!" The other intruder snatched the four-starred ball up and tucked it away in a saddle bag. The intruders shared a soft laugh.

"Nature calls," Spike murmured, slipping out of bed and opening the door to the living room. He stopped short as he heard the whispers.

"Why are we doin' this, again?"

"Dunno, boss told us he wanted this thing no matter what. Guess it's real valuable."

"Then why don't we sell it?"

"And have him chase us down? No amount of money could protect us from that."

"True."

"Who are you?!" Spike shouted, leaping out from behind the door.

"Horseapples!" one of the figures shouted as they both dashed out the front door. Spike turned his head to the mantle and saw the Dragon Ball missing.

"Theives!" Spike shouted. Monkey Do and Twilight bolted into the living room. "Monkey, they took your ball!"

"They what?!" Monkey Do shouted, turning to see the small outline of two ponies vanish into the night. "Come back here with my grampa!" He dashed out after them.

"Monkey, wait!" Twilight called out. "It's too dangerous!"

"Right, you two stay in the cabin and be safe!" Monkey called over his shoulder as he bounded out of sight.

"This is bad, Spike! There are dangerous creatures in the forests at night, and Monkey forgot his magic staff! I'm going after him," Twilight said. "You stay here and keep watch over our Dragon Ball!" Before Spike could protest, Twilight had levitated the staff and its holster from the foot on Monkey's bed onto her back, and was off in hot pursuit of Monkey Do and the two thieves.

Comments

[Wacky]

"Who could be so brave to try and track down all seven Dragon Balls?...or so foalish?..."

[Shirohige]

Ah, Dragon Ball. Such a good anime.
Are you going to make Goku as strong as he was in the show? I'm assuming not, because then this won't be hard at all

[Sage Runner]

3701098

He's about as strong as Goku was at the beginning of Dragon Ball. Where he goes from there, you'll have to wait and see

[dragonridergoku]

Might I suggest the Equestrian Saiyans group for this story? I can add it if you want.
EDIT: Looks like somebody else beat me to it... Oh well.

Now for the story: good start, close enough to Dragonball to be easily recognized, yet true to the personalities of the characters instead of just making twilight a ponified Bulma. Always good in my opinion.

[PhycoKrusk]

“Monkey Do” is probably one of the best pony names I’ve ever heard/seen.

[Sage Runner]

3701189

Thanks, I definitely didn't want to make Twilight act out of character. While she and Bulma do have a few overlapping qualities (mainly their intelligence), I doubt they'd share the same dynamic with the Goku/Monkey character.

3701624

Glad you like it!

[Shirohige]

3701109
So, still ridiculously strong. Alright. I'll see where this goes, liked and fav

[Violet Runner]