Case 41: Partying, Training and Shipping, Oh My
Gai groaned, clutching at his ribs. “Damn, still sore,” he muttered, “those needles really don’t feel good.” He glanced around, taking in his surroundings.
“Huh, for an infirmary, this isn’t half bad. I was expecting things to be a bit more cramped.”
“To be honest, this is more like a full fledged hospital,” Cruger said from beside the bed.
“Never did like hospitals, way too quiet. And I really hated needles as a kid,” Gai said, pulling himself up with a grunt, “what about the Go-Onger keys? They were still lying around when I… you know.”
“You mean these?” Cruger said, holding them up.
“Those would be them, yes. At least now the Engines will be safe from whatever Basco did to catch them, traversing the parallel dimensions within my verse would probably be difficult without these.” Gai said, pocketing the figures, “And the Engine Souls and Casts?”
“Hope you don’t mind, but I packed them to go,” Cruger said as he pointed to a large silver case that was lying on the bedside table.
“Thanks.” Gai said, snapping his fingers, causing a portal to appear under the case, “It’s amazing what you can learn when you can dilate time using Time Fire’s key...” he muttered, watching the case disappear into the Galleon’s cargo hold.
“To be honest, you’re still a noob with that compared to this one gal I know.”
“Who would that be?” Gai asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Her,” Cruger said as he pointed to a flower-pot, just before a fuzzy pink head erupted from it.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! So you’re the new Displaced Pirate huh?”
Gai winced, “no fair, nothing trumps Pinkie Pie, not even extra-dimensional space pirates!”
“Well Cruger said that I couldn’t throw you a party till you woke up, and you’re awake now so, party time!” With that, Pinkie grabbed Gai and ran with him out the door.
“Ah! Pinkie! Not so faaaaaaaaast!!!” Gai cried, absolutely helpless against the fuzzy pink ball of hypercompressed randomness.
After about a minute, Pinkie stopped so suddenly that Gai was pleasantly surprised he didn’t have whiplash, “We’re heeeeere!”
Gai opened his eyes to see that a truly amazing party was in full swing. At least a dozen buffet tables were loaded with food from every country Gai could think of, from Japanese Ramen to German Bratwurst. Several party games were in full swing, including 3 separate games of Pin the Tail on the Pony. And the music was incredible, the DJ playing catchy music loud enough so that you could hear it from anywhere, but low enough so that you didn’t have to shout to make conversation. There were also a couple of flags with the Gokaiger logo on them strung up for decoration.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I started the party already for your friends, your Dashie seemed really happy about it for some reason.”
Gai smiled, “I’m not surprised, she hasn’t been able to see any of her friends in ten years. But that’s not really my story to tell.” Gai then turned towards the party, grinning madly, “AVAST AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!!!” he cried, charging towards the buffet table.
Cruger chuckled as he walked in, “I think he likes it.”
“Yup,” Pinkie grinned before lunging into the festivities herself. However, before he could join her, Cruger noticed Twilight walking towards him with some difficulty. When she cleared the crowd, the source was apparent, Flurry Heart was clinging onto one of her legs with a death grip.
“Auntie Twilight! I missed you so much!” Flurry Heart cried, tears welling up in her big turquoise eyes.
“Cruger,” Twilight asked, eye twitching, “why is she calling me ‘Auntie’?”
“Simple, she’s Cadence’s kid,” Cruger said as he helped himself to some punch.
“Wha... bu… she’s not even pregnant?”
“Yet, based on Gai’s Dash and the alicorn currently fused to your leg, his verse is several years ahead of this one. That said, if my calculations are correct, Cadence not being pregnant shouldn’t be a factor for much longer.”
Twilight just sputtered for a few seconds before huffing, “I swear, if I find out I’m gonna be an aunt by letter the day before it happens, Shiny’s going to attend her birth from the next bed over!”
“Don’t worry about it, I think he learned his lesson last time,” Gai said through several mouthfuls of food, “besides, the announcement of a new royal baby isn’t something to be nonchalant about, especially with the ‘baby shower’ Flurry Heart had.” Gai swallowed, “oh yeah, got a few things for you Cruger.”
Gai snapped his fingers, a portal dropping a small silver case, a rolled-up tube of papers, and a large barrel out of it. Gai winced, “that probably could’ve come out smoother...”
“I can show you a trick for that later if you want,” Cruger said before opening the case, revealing two rows of six grey, cylindrical objects. “So, what are these?”
“Gokai cylinders,” Gai explained, picking one up and showing Cruger the keyhole on one end, “these form the core of the Gokaiger arsenal, allowing us to access the equipment and powers of the sentai member whose key we insert into it. I had some spares lying around, but I’m sure you can find use for these.”
“Was planning on making some new divisions with other seasons, this just makes things easier. Got Go Go V, Magi and Buster?”
“Only the full Busters team, all the other pre-35th sentai are still under Zangyack control but that’s what this is for.” Gai said, holding up the tube of papers, “blueprints for a ranger key foundry, I already included up-to-date data on all the super sentai up until I got Displaced, you just need to build it.”
Cruger pulled out one and looked it over, “Seems simple enough, I can modify one of my extruders. Anyway,” Cruger replaced the paper before tapping on the barrel, “is this what I think it is?”
Gai grinned, cracking the keg open with his fist, “Minotaurian ale, it’ll put hair on your chest, sort of an apology for shooting up your base.”
Cruger conjured himself a glass and dunked it in, “Let’s see about that.” Cruger took a sip, then coughed, “Woah, sure this stuff isn’t Screech?”
Gai laughed, knocking back a shot of the ale, “Nope, but you gotta love the Minotaurs’ high constitution modifier though!”
Cruger just grinned before warping in a keg of his own, “Why don’t you try some of this, Dragon Honey Whisky, aged 100 years, and smooth as silicon.”
Gai knocked back a shot of the brew, grimacing and swallowing thickly, “Damn, that’s some strong stuff! Too bad I’m not allowed in the Dragon Lands anymore, that’s some good booze!”
Cruger slid the keg towards him, “Consider it reimbursement for helping me test some new moves.”
“Anytime. Besides, it was fun to trade blows with someone who could take me on and wasn’t trying to kill me… well, not entirely anyways.”
“Remind me to give you a copy of Gilgamesh’s token before you go, he’s my rival for a reason. That reminds me, I have something for you before we get completely hammered.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
Cruger reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of thick looking paper, “Just a little something to keep you out of trouble.”
Gai unfolded the paper, revealing an official-looking certificate with several signatures scrawled at the bottom, “A Letter of Marque? Guess that means I’m legal now… wait, that came out wrong! Damn this booze!” Gai groaned, knocking back another shot of the Dragon Whiskey.
Cruger chuckled, “I got my Celestia, Luna and Twilight and your Flurry Heart to sign it, so it should be good. So, how did you get kicked out of the Dragon Lands?”
Gai’s face fell, “you remember how Navi told you about the three Elder Dragons I killed in my last blood rage? One of them was former Dragon Lord Torch.
“Ouch, that’d do it. Why don’t we drink until we forget about that?”
Gai snorted, “sure you can keep up with a Displaced college student?”
“Challenge, accepted,” Cruger said before summoning about a dozen kegs of various different brews.
Older Dash grinned as she watched Gai and Cruger race to the bottom of a barrel of unidentified alcohol, sipping from a glass of punch at the fringes of the party, watching her old friends simply hang out like they used to back in her own Ponyville.
“So,” the Younger Dash said as she walked up, “glad to see that I’m still awesome in a few years.”
“Not to mention wiser, wish I had that slice of humble pie Gai gave you ten years ago.”
“Please, your coltfriend might be good, but he’s got nothing on the guy who taught me this,” Young Dash said before lighting up one of her hands in a blue aura.
“Huh, glow in the dark hands, neat.” Older Dash deadpanned, taking another sip from her glass before conjuring a small storm system in the palm of her hand, “I’ve got parlor tricks too, kid. And he’s not my coltfriend, but that’s besides the point.”
“Who said anything about a trick?” Young Dash asked before launching a small bolt of energy at the cloud, dissipating it. “Your coltfriend’s lucky I’m still practicing.”
A small blush appeared on Older Dash’s face, “One, he’s not my coltfriend, he’s my Captain. Two, that hot-headedness of yours is gonna get you and everyone you care about absolutely wrecked when it comes down to it. And three… you’re not even listening, are you?”
“To be honest, Gilgamesh’s the one who beat that particular lesson into my head, so no, not really.”
Older Dash sighed, before smirking at her younger self, “So, is he your coltfriend? If my fetishes are the same as yours then I’m pretty sure I can imagine what he’s like.”
Young Dash laughed, “Are you kidding? 1: he’s a Displaced who was only here for a week. 2: he’s already going steady with his Luna. 3: I don’t find popping out of my ear and stealing my donut sexy.” Young Dash shuddered at the memory, “Besides, he’s a giant musclehead, you know we like ‘em sleek and fast, kinda like Gai.”
The blush on Older Dash’s face intensified, “He’s way too young for me, eight years is a lot of headway on somepony.”
“Our Luna’s gone clubbing with guys 1000 years younger, 8 years is nothing.”
“I don’t think the Princess’ ‘moonlighting’ is a good-”
“Hey Dashie!” Gai slurred from his drinking contest with Cruger, the pair were already staggering, several empty barrels between them, “Y-you’se besht pone, ya know that, righ?” He squinted, “Why are there four of you?”
Young Dash grinned as Older Dash’s face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Tree, “Looks like he likes his mares a little older, doesn’t he?”
“C-CAPTAIN!” Older Dash stammered, covering her burning cheeks, only to have her younger self burst out in uproarious laughter.
“Ugh, this is worse than the time Fluttershy kicked my flank during sword practice...” Older Dash groaned, her tail swishing from side to side in embarrassment.
“Wait, what?” Younger Dash said, “I know Fluttershy’s awesome and all, but she beat us in a straight fight?”
“Don’t be so surprised, you think just anypony can stare down a dragon and toss a bear around while giving it a massage? No, Fluttershy’s her own brand of badass, she used to tear through Gormin like a tornado. They called her ‘The Hurricane’.”
Older Dash took another sip of her punch, “and before you ask, no. My Fluttershy was just as quiet and kind as yours is, the fact that Gormin are lifeless robots that hurt her friends helped her along with fighting alongside the rest of us ten years ago. Even came up with her own sword move that she taught me.”
“Huh,” Young Dash said, “well she did do pretty good when Gilgy hypnotized her so it’s not completely unbelievable, but all 5 of us?”
“Easily, if she could be bought to harm anything with a pulse.”
“Anyway,” Young Dash said, “I bet you picked up that move in 2 seconds, and made it 20% better.”
“Actually, it took me a while. The move requires absolute focus on a single target, about as much as a unicorn’s teleportation spell. I’ll show it to you after the party.”
“Heh, kinda like my Ki, no problem. And I guess that explains why she’s the one who made it, Flutter’s Stare is scary.”
Older Dash shuddered, “You have no idea, kid. She can be scarier than the meanest demons in Tartarus if she wanted to be.”
“Okay, moving on before I get nightmares, what’s the biggest thing you’ve taken down?”
Older Dash thought about it for a moment before answering, “The Sugormin have a function that lets them change their size once authorization is given by a Zangyack action commander, so probably that. I wasn’t a member of the sentai until now, so fighting them without a small army backing me up was pretty much my only option.”
“Pfft, me and my squad took down a monster almost as tall as our base on our own. We did do it in our Megazord, but I still win.”
“Not all of us had fancy strength-enhancing suits and giant robots at our beck and call, we had to fight those things in the flesh, kid. Most of the earth ponies just got stomped on before they could get close.”
“Was AJ...?”
“No, she got executed as an example after the war ended. We lost by the way.”
Young Dash smashed her fist into a table hard enough to crack it, “And the others?”
“You’re looking at the last Element Bearer. They saved ‘Loyalty’ for last.” Older Dash scoffed, “Flutters and I tried to escape once, we got separated and I haven’t seen her since. But judging by what I heard that night, she was gunned down without a second thought.”
Older Dash pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to forget that night, “But that’s my beef, not yours. You should be glad you can still see your friends.”
“Yeah, I am. That said,” Young Dash turned towards her older counterpart with a murderous look in her eye, “you find them, give ‘em one for me.”
“I intend to pay them back with interest. That’s why I joined up with Gai.”
“Good, I need a drink, preferably a strong one.”
“Then I suggest we engage in some piracy of that booze that Cap and your boss are currently guzzling.” Older Dash said with a sly grin.
“Speaking of which, looks like my boss is winning.”
“Nah, Cap’s just getting his second wind.”
“We’ll see about that,” Young Dash said as they walked up. Cruger was slumped slightly in his chair humming a tune while Gai stood upright but swaying.
“Wash wroooong Dooggie? F-f-finished already?” Gai slurred, “I can go a-a-all day...” He slumped onto a table.
“Looks like I -hic- win,” Cruger said as he started sliding off his chair.
“You ain’t won s-s-shit, ya’ old dog!” Gai shouted, his voice muffled by the table.
“I am the mighty -hic- Commander Cruger, slayer of Deamons, founder of the Silver -hic- Fang Style, rival of Gilgamesh, I best Luna herself in Star-hic-craft, I don’t go down easy.”
Gai giggled, “Y-y-you -hic- dammit… You ain’t dealt wish Gaaaai Ikari, Shilver Shcourge, destroyer of Zangyack b-b-bitshes ansh slayer of all thinsh daaaank as fuuuu-”
“I think you’ve had enough you two, save some for the rest of us!” Older Dash said, barely containing her laughter.
Gai turned his head at a seemingly impossible angle, fixing the two Dashes with a relaxed stare, “Oi Cruger, look who it ish, isht besht pone!” Older Dash’s blush returned with a vengeance.
“Come to -hic- join us?” Cruger asked, “we saved you some Crystal Wine.”
“Thanks...” Older Dash mumbled, accepting a mug of the stuff, raising it to match Young Dash’s own, “To fallen friends and comrades.”
“To future victories and learning from past losses,” Young Dash replied before they both shot down their drinks.
“Hear hear!” Gai mumbled, waving his mug around in a lazy figure-eight pattern.
“We need music,” Cruger mumbled, “not a party without music.”
“Capitol idea, my canine friend.” Gai said, reaching up and grabbing a mic that was flung across the room by Pinkie with uncanny speed and accuracy, “should I go firsht? Or you?”
“You da -hic- guest, is only polite.”
“Oooookaaaay thennnn~” Gai slurred before stumbling his way to the stage, “Thish one’s dedicated to besht pone and mate a pirate could ashk fer. Rainbow Daaaash!” He said into the mic, pointing at the aforementioned pegasi, the older of which was blushing profusely while her wings stood entirely erect.
Gai raised a finger into the air, “hit it!” he cried, as music began to play.
Yeah I own this beat
You can call me the king or the ruler
Felon on bass, getting hoarse at the mic
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We had a great day out
Calling my name like Ferris Bueller
It's time to wrap this up
We're getting 20 percent cooler
7 colors in your hair
Get your boots on dear 'cause we're going out there
Don't care bout the dress code
Put it on, let's go
Girls go wild 'cause we're going "al fresco"
Ha!
No need to perform
Hands on our bodies gonna keep our skills warm
We need social reform 'cause we're just so criminal
Linguist subliminal, damages minimal
Top percentile, largest fraction
Massive attraction, girl-on-girl action
Stop that, I'm gonna need a redaction
Drop that, you already got your reaction
Me? I'm gonna keep on smiling
You? You're gonna need restyling
I got the quote back
From the jeweler
You're getting 20 percent cooler
Yeah I own this beat
You can call me the king or the ruler
Felon on bass, getting hoarse at the mic
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We had a great day out
Calling my name like Ferris Bueller
It's time to wrap this up
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We're getting 20 percent cooler! x4
Shhhhhhhh
Reduce that treble
There's an 8 or 9 who think they're on my level
Like a rebel in a bunker getting shelled with a mortar
Bump up and down cause I think you ought'a
Place your hand on my thigh
Don't be coy, I can hear you sigh
Grinding your hips, I'll be flashing my pink
And in ten seconds flat you'll be back with a drink
Wooo!
Bring out the Bacardi
Twilight, Sparkle, up in the party
Tap that, like a phone in the cold war
Room on the third floor, knocking at my front door
Me? I'm kind of a rarity
You? Work that dexterity
Lean back now, here's what I meant
Getting cooler by 20 percent
Yeah I own this beat
You can call me the king or the ruler
Felon on bass, getting hoarse at the mic
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We had a great day out
Calling my name like Ferris Bueller
It's time to wrap this up
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We're getting 20 percent cooler! x4
Yeah I own this beat
You can call me the king or the ruler
Felon on bass, getting hoarse at the mic
We're getting 20 percent cooler
We had a great day out
Calling my name like Ferris Bueller
It's time to wrap this up
We're getting 20 percent cooler
“Scratch that, this is the worst thing ever!” Older Dash cried, burying her face in her hands, trying desperately to force her stiffened wings into a folded position again as Young Dash laughed.
Cruger frowned, “You call that a drinking song? This is a drinking song, an Irish Drinking Song!”
Gather 'round ye lads and lasses, set ye for a while,
and harken to me mournful tale about the Emerald Isle.
Let's all raise our glasses high to friends and family gone,
and lift our voices in another Irish drinkin' song.
Consumption took me mother and me father got the pox,
me brother drank the whiskey 'till he wound up in a box.
Me other brother in the troubles met with his demise,
me sister has forever closed her smilin' Irish eyes.
Now everybody's died, so until our tears are dried,
we'll drink and drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more.
We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again.
Ken was killed in Kilkenny and Claire she died in Clare,
Tip from Tipperary died out in the Derry air.
Shannon jumped into the river Shannon back in June,
Ernie fell into the urn and Tom is in the tomb.
"Cleanliness is godliness," me Uncle Pat would sing,
he broke his neck a-slippin' on a bar of Irish Spring.
O'Grady he was eighty, 'tho his bride was just a pup,
he died upon the honeymoon when she got his Irish up (OI!).
Now everybody's died, so until our tears are dried,
we'll drink and drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more.
We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again.
Joe Murphy fought with Reilly near the cliffs of Dooneen,
he took out his shillelagh and he stabbed him in the spleen.
Crazy Uncle Mike thought he was a leprechaun,
but in fact he's just a leper and his arms and legs are gone.
When Timmy Johnson broke his neck it was a cryin' shame,
he wasn't really Irish, but he went to Notre Dame.
MacNamara crossed the street and by a bus was hit,
but he was just a Scotsman so nobody gave a shit (OCH!).
Now everybody's died, so until our tears are dried,
we'll drink and drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more.
We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again.
Ole!
Drunken Uncle Brendan tried to drive home from the bar,
the road rose up to meet when he fell out of his car.
Irony was what befell me Great Grand Uncle Sam,
He choked upon the very last potato in the land.
Connor lived in Ulster town, he used to smuggle arms,
until the British killed him and cut off his lucky charms.
And dear old Father Flanagan who left the Lord's employ,
drunk on sacramental wine beneath the altar boy (HEY!).
Now everybody's died, so until our tears are dried,
we'll drink and drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more.
We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again.
Someday soon I'll leave this world of pain and toil and sin,
the Lord will take me by the hand to join all of me kin.
Me only wish is when the Savior comes for me and you,
He kills the cast of Riverdance and Michael Flatley too.
Now everybody's died, so until our tears are Dried,
we'll drink and drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more.
We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again,
then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up and then go drinkin' once again.
“I didn’t know it needed to be a drinking song...” Gai said sullenly.
“Well we are drinking… what are we drinking again?” Cruger asked before looking at the label of the bottle he was about to pour. Cruger grinned, “We’re drinkin’ Bink’s Sake.”
Gai stared at Cruger, their eyes locking in mutual understanding, “shall we?” He asked.
“Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,” Cruger sang.
“Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,” Gai tuned in, as piano music began to play in the background.
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Sea wind blows to where,
Who knows?
The waves will be our guide!
O'er across the ocean's tide,
The sunset is goin' wild,
See the sky! The birds singing in circles passing by!
Bid farewell to weaver's town!
Say so long to port renowned!
Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off!
Cross the gold and silver waves
Changin' into water sprays!
Sailing out on our journey,
To the ends of the sea!
Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Pirates we, we'll divide and conquer all the seas!
With the waves to rest our heads,
The ship beneath us as our bed!
Hoisted high up on the mast our jolly roger flies!
Somewhere in the endless sky,
A storm has started comin' by!
Waves are dancing, having fun,
Time to sound the drums!
If we let blow winds of fear, then the end of us is near!
Even so, tomor-row the sun will rise again!
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Could be today, could be tomorrow,
Twilight dreaming.
No longer now can we see, shadow hands still waving free
Why worry, there's sure to be a moonlit night again!
Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Sing a song, a lively song,
For all the oceans wide!
After all is said and done,
We all end up skeletons!
Endless, aimless, the story on the uproarious seas!
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho.
Suddenly, a great rumbling roar, snapped the two Displaced out of their drunken reverie, a pulse that only they could feel racing through them. “Cruger, we have a visitor.” Gai said, recovering instantly from his drunken state.
“That we do,” Cruger said recovering from his, “let’s see who had the stones to interrupt a Pinkie Party.”
Gai nodded, pulling out the Gokai spear and rushing outside, Cruger following closely behind.
“BARI BARI BARI!!!” A zombified mechanical voice cried out as a giant formula one racecar tore across Ponyville, scattering houses and trees alike.
“It’s probably a good thing that basically the entire town was invited,” Cruger said as the cannons on the base took aim.
“Hold up, that’s Machalcon. Speedor and Bear-V’s kid, I’m pretty sure he got caught up in Basco’s dragnet too. He’s probably been sent to see if I had turned this place into a smoking crater by now, which means...” Gai jumped up onto a roof, pulling a small knife-like object from the folds of his silver long coat, “...that he’ll have to report his findings to the big douche himself.” Gai finished, throwing the portable GPS tracker onto Machalcon as he raced past.
“Good plan, here’s mine, corral him.” As the words left his mouth the guns opened fire, coming close enough to steer him away from any more potential collateral damage, but never hitting him.
“You got my dimension’s coordinates locked in, right?” Gai asked, hopping down from the roof, “Can you open up a big enough portal to send him back?”
“That was the plan, ready the gate.” The large transport gate rose out of the ground and powered up as the cannons drove Machalcon into it. “And that is why I’m the boss, I have the good ideas.”
“Dude, totally not cool.” Gai muttered, snapping his fingers as a leather bound tome dropped into his hands, “Since I won’t be here to help out with training the new divisions, you might wanna have your candidates read up on their sentai history from this encyclopedia, a foal would become an expert with this. I have copies, so you can keep it.”
“I’ll make some copies, thanks,” Cruger said as he took it, “so, you want to take the portal now, or wait until the party’s over?”
“Eh, I think my Dash had some knowledge to drop on yours, so I’ll wait until after. Besides, you’d have to be insane to think of leaving a Pinkie Party without the head mare’s approval first. Let’s try to get our buzz back, shall we? I believe I was winning.”
“As I recall, you were swaying and slurring while I merely had the hiccups, from an empirical point of view that means I was winning.”
“Says the guy who slumped over way before me.”
“That was because good whisky always leaves me relaxed, you’re the one who did a faceplant on the table.”
“Oh, you are so going under the table before me, never underestimate a college student’s drinking prowess! Especially if said college student is also an extra-dimensional space pirate!”
“I went to college myself, and I was part scottish before I was Displaced, you do not scare me.”
Gai and Cruger’s eyes locked. “Bring it.” They both said in unison, charging back towards whatever alcohol was left at the party.
“Uuuuuuuuugh” Gai groaned, lying down over a barrel, “I -urp- think I won, my head is still above that table.” Gai said, pointing a shaky finger towards the table Young Dash had smashed earlier.
Cruger attempted to reply, but quickly shoved his head back into the portal it was stuck in a moment before.
“Victoryyyyyyy~” Gai said listlessly, before snapping his own portal open and shoving his head inside, retching violently.
“Nope,” Cruger said as he pulled his head out, “I woke up first, I win.”
“I never went to sleep.”
“Would you two stop it!” Flurry Heart said, smacking the two Displaced over the head with her paper fan, causing them both to wince and rub the impact site.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine how you can function without me,” Sorrow Song said as she walked in with a pot of coffee and a pair of mugs.
“Simple, not very well,” Cruger said as he accepted the life-giving elixir.
“What did I tell you? A pair of reckless idiots,” Navi lamented from Sorrow Song’s shoulder.
“Stuff it Bird, your voice is too loud” Gai moaned as he accepted his own mug of elixir.
“Excuse me!?” Navi exclaimed, drawing a wince from Gai, steam puffing from the crest on her head, “How dare you! You two are the ones who decided to get absolutely plastered by drinking enough alcohol to poison an entire army! I don’t know why I bother with you, you *****ing *********** son of a *************!!!!”
Navi’s tirade continued, the tireless parrot screaming expletives of such a graphic nature that even Sorrow Song looked shocked.
“Again,” Older Dash said, turning the hand crank next to her, causing a cacophony of noise to erupt from the various cans and metallic objects surrounding the younger pegasus.
Young Dash cringed from the noise, her ears flattening against her head, as she began to channel her internal magic into the cutlass she had borrowed from Older Dash, the blade glowing white and crackling with electricity as she began to slowly move it in a circular pattern before drawing the flat of the blade against her arm, as slight sound of metal on metal echoed as she finished her windup. She began to focus more on her target: an apple resting on a post ten feet away.
Then suddenly, the magical field around the blade was broken with the sound of shattering glass, the backlash whipping Young Dash’s head back.
“Argh! What the hell!? It should be working!” Young Dash said, groaning in frustration, ramming the cutlass blade into the ground. They had been at this for hours, the skill sounded simple in theory, but the unexpected difficulty had left the young pegasus reeling.
“This is nothing like channeling Ki,” Older Dash observed, walking up to Young Dash and taking the cutlass from the ground, checking for damage to the edge with a practiced eye, “You’re trying to force it, pegasi were never meant to be able to direct their internal magic this way. Our wings are the conduit for our magic, the same way as a horn is for a unicorn. What we’re trying to do here is swap our wings for a sword.”
She lightly pushed her younger self aside, taking a fighting stance, “A pony’s internal magic is a manifestation of their soul, Ki is something you consciously generate through breathing. Your magic can’t be wielded the same way as you would fire a blaster or channel ki, you are just it’s guide, not somepony pulling a trigger.” The cutlass blade began to glow and crackle, the white light shining like the sun as she finished her wind up faster than her younger self, before slashing twice, the white light tracing an ‘X’ and racing towards the apple, passing through it before vanishing.
“Nothing happened...” Young Dash muttered, examining the apple.
“Wait for it...” Older Dash said, sliding the cutlass home in it’s scabbard.
As if on cue, the apple’s skin peeled off in a single strip, the fruit itself splitting apart into equally sized slices, leaving the core standing upright.
“You actually use this technique all the time while cloudbusting, without even knowing it.” Dash said as she sauntered over to the apple, picking up a slice and munching on it, “There’s no race to win, no clock to beat. If you try to force your magic out, it’ll be like trying to knock yourself out with a single punch: you’ll just end up holding back on some level.”
Older Dash tossed the sheathed cutlass back to her younger self, “Not to mention the stress of battle will also be a factor, once you can do it with two swords and with the background noise, then you’ll have mastered this skill.”
“I use it while cloudbusting huh?” Dash said to herself as she brought herself into a new stance, with her wing extended and her cutlass beside it. As she focused on the feeling she had when cloudbusting, small sparks jumped from her wing to the blade. Once enough energy had traveled to the blade to cause it to glow, Dash shot forward to the post, stopping just before she hit it and swung her sword. A gust of wind blew through the room as a blade of cerulean energy shot forward and through the post before colliding with the wall.
“Not bad,” Older Dash said as the post slid apart neatly in half, “we just need to work on control,” She continued as a large chunk of the wall suddenly tore open, spraying the two pegasi with rubble. “This move responds more to feeling than anything else. It is a manifestation of our soul, after all.”
“Probably has something to do with me using the one sword,” Young Dash said, “I felt way off balance, bet I’ll do better with two.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, starting with one sword is how you build up a new magical pathway from your magic to your hands. You have to train it like any other muscle.”
“I don’t know if you could tell, but I was using my wings. And do you think it’s possible to fly with just one wing? We’re good, but not that good.”
“Trust me when I say you’ll end up building more control this way than if you try to rush it. That was my main problem when learning this move. Again.”
Young Dash sighed, “Fine, but I’m alternating each time, no sense overbuilding one wing.”
Older Dash flicked her younger self on the forehead, “no wings, only your arm this time.”
“Slave driver,” Young Dash muttered as she settled into a similar stance from her last attempt, only with the other hand and her blade a bit farther from her wing.
“If you grow too reliant on just your wings, you won’t be able to do jack when they’re taken from you.” Older Dash said, extending her wing and revealing her trimmed primaries, “again.”
Young Dash stifled a gasp as she concentrated on the feeling she had before. After a minute, familiar sparks jumped from her hand to the blade as it gained a vaguely wing-shaped aura.
“Good, now channel and focus it towards the point of the blade.” Older Dash said in a soothing tone, stepping out of the way.
Young Dash focused as the aura became more defined, before slashing with it. The aura separated from the blade, transforming into a pair of soaring wings before fizzling out halfway to the post.
“Not a bad attempt, a bit more practice and you’ll be able to do it with one sword.”
“Hey, this is me we’re talking about,” Young Dash said before frowning at her sword, “say, does it have to be a sword?”
“It’s the easiest conduit for this technique, if that’s what you’re asking. Flutters tried it with blunt weapons, but she never could get it right.”
“It just doesn’t feel right to me, give me a sec,” Dash said before handing Older Dash the blade and grabbing a blaster from a locker. “I’ve trained with this little beauty for months, something tells me that your Flutters made a mistake with her technique.”
“She never did like guns, always said they were too mercilessly destructive, only used a weapon where she could choose to spare her target rather than outright kill it every time. Me? I’m just a bad shot.”
“Not what I meant,” Young Dash said as she started charging the blaster, which happened much faster than with the blade, “maybe what weapon it works best with depends on the one using it.” Dash pulled the trigger, causing an arrow of energy to blow through several barriers that popped out of the ground. “Now that felt right.”
Older Dash shrugged, “it’s crude, and way too brute-forced for my taste, but I guess the simplest solution is always the best when we we’re involved. But it still needs some control, obliterating a target is the job of a missile, saving a life is the job of a blaster.”
“Preaching to the choir, or did you forget that I’m a cop,” Young Dash said as she tossed Older Dash a blaster, “and as long as you’re teaching me this cool new move, I might as well return the favor. Let me show you how to shoot.”
Gai whistled, admiring the view of his shining ship, “now that, is some quality repair and clean up.”
“We’ve been getting a lot of practice lately,” Cruger said as he took a sip of his coffee, “personal recommendation, get your Franky next.”
“I’ll meditate on that, but no promises. I don’t just let anyone join.”
“Good policy, but you should still try to find someone who you can trust who can keep your boat afloat. Fanon likes to paint Applebloom as an engineer, might be a good place to start.”
“I’ve got no idea where she is, or if she’s even still kicking. The Element Bearers aren’t exactly around anymore.” Gai turned to Cruger, “did your mechanics install the warp drive?”
“The emitter is in the prow, no promises if it’ll work in Mega mode. That said, I was planning on sending you back via Delta Gate, your drive needs to calibrate in your home dimension, which is a lot easier if that’s where it’s initial start-up happens.”
Gai nodded, “I’ve got one more request then, actually two.”
Cruger sighed, “Fine, but be advised that I reserve the right to call in my favors at any time.”
“Fine by me, the first is if you could place a sample of your DNA on this.” Gai held up the Deka Master key.
“No problem.” Cruger summoned a sterile swab from the infirmary, swabbed the inside of his cheek, and dabbed it on the key, “although I am wondering why.”
“Bottom line is, I don’t see why Basco gets to be the only one who gets stronger with every Displaced he meets.” Gai said as the key began to glow, absorbing Cruger’s essence into it, “I’ve got my own key foundry on board that I can use to make blank keys, I’m sure you know what I’m getting at.”
“I have a bunch of new forms that I got by meeting with a Displaced shopkeeper, just seems like good sense to me. Just watch yourself when you use it, could damage reality if you’re not careful with my unique abilities.”
“That’s why I’m restricting it to SWAT mode only, Delta Punisher was pretty awesome.”
“That it was, although to be honest it’s one of my weaker finishers, make sure to try out Wheatley's Revenge when you get a free moment.”
“Oooh, sounds fun!” Gai said before tucking the newly infused key into his silver long coat, “now for the less fun request.”
“If it’s about the APB, it’s already out.”
“I want you to tell me the moment you pick up on him. Basco is my mess, I’ll clean it up.”
“I’ll call you, but I will pursue him at the same time. I’m a cop, he’s a murdering psychopath that would make the Joker want to trade tips, it’s nature. Besides, you might need backup.”
Gai grinned, “fine, but I don’t think I can afford to let you just take him in, he’ll be dangerous in or out of bars - or containment cards, but you get the idea.”
“I do, I’ve had to make that call once before,” Cruger said as his face turned dark. Before Gai could ask, Cruger’s face brightened, “Looks like our Dashes bonded quite nicely.”
“Yeah, I wanted to remind her of her reason for fighting before we left, hence staying after Machalcon showed up.”
“Good call,” Cruger said as the Dashes walked out, exhausted but grinning ear to ear.
“Hey boss,” Young Dash said, “granny here taught me a new move that Edge might want to put into Basic. On a completely unrelated note, training hall 3 needs some repairs.”
“Who the hell you calling ‘granny’ you brat!” Older Dash said, landing a chop on top of Young Dash’s head, “you’re just jealous because you’re still flat as a washboard!”
“Hey, flat means aerodynamic, I bet you couldn’t hit 150 kph. Anyway Gai, I’ve got something for you.”
“What is it?” Gai asked, as Older Dash went on a rant about easily being able to reach that speed if her wings were working.
“Copy of the security cams from last night’s party,” Young Dash said as she held up a thumb drive, “figured you’d want it since you were too plastered to remember it otherwise.”
Gai placed a hand on his chest, a look of mock horror on his face, “why, Rainbow Dash, are you insinuating that I wasn’t kicking Cruger’s canine tail during that drinking contest?”
“You wish,” Cruger said, taking another sip of his coffee.
“Actually, from what I can tell you two passed out at the same time, so it’s a draw,” Young Dash said as she tossed him the drive.
“Traitor,” Cruger mumbled.
“Hey, perjury is a crime. Anyway, you’ve got a pretty nice set of pipes on ya, you might want to share your little solo with your whole crew, be a crime otherwise.”
“Huh, not a bad idea...” Gai muttered, tapping the thumb drive on his chin.
“No, bad idea, bad BAD idea!” Older Dash said as she stormed over to her captain, taking the thumb drive and smashing it into the ground. Surprisingly, it didn’t break, even after she stomped on it several times.
“Gotta love Dimensium casing,” Young Dash said as she picked it up and handed it to Gai, “reasonably cheap to make, but you could probably drop Canterlot on it before it breaks.”
“Awww, so I didn’t need to clone it using the arbitrary laws of Dimension magic?” Gai said, pouting slightly as he held up several copies of the same thumb drive between his fingers.
“Hey, now you have several indestructible thumb drives,” Young Dash said as Older Dash started sputtering and turning red like she had eaten a tub of habaneros.
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Cruger said to Navi, who was currently perched on his shoulder.
“Hmph! I have nothing to say to the both of you!” She huffed, the crest on her head still puffing steam.
“Aww, come on Navi! I’ll oil your joints when we get back,” Gai said.
Navi glanced in his direction, “promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Thunder boomed as the Pinkie Promise was sealed.
“Deal!” Navi chirped, flying over to Gai’s shoulder.
“Anyway,” Cruger said as the Gate started rising out of the ground, “if you’ll just move your ship to the launch zone, we’ll send you home.”
“Right, it was nice to meet you, Cruger.” Gai said, extending a hand to the blue alien.
“Likewise, you’re not quite at the level that I’d call you a rival, but a friend no doubt,” he replied as he shook the hand of the silver garbed pirate.
“Well, I guess that makes you my first hurdle then!” Gai said as he snapped his fingers creating a portal, leading a still protesting Dash through it.
As soon as the portal snapped shut, the Gokai Galleon began to lift off and move into position on the runway. Once it was in position, powerful magnets held it in place as a large yellow robot rose up beside it on an elevator.
“Is that…?” Gai muttered before his eyes widened, “oh god damn that blue space dog!” Gai’s next few words were drowned out by the screams of the Galleon’s crew as the robot smacked the stern of the ship, sending it rocketing through the gate.
Cruger chuckled as the gate powered down before turning to Dash, “Think I should have warned him?”
Dash tapped her chin, “Hmm, nah.”
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7386830 Ah, okay. Thanks man!
Damn... My guys were lucky just to lose Applejack, Rainbow and Celestia.... Dashie being the last element alive in Gai's universe...
7386899 hmm. Okay then
7386902 yeah
Welp, now I have to write a "Will they? Won't they?" relationship for Gai and Dash, thanks...
7387056 Don't give me that, if you had any objections you should have raised them while we were writing
7387075
I've just never written romance before. Guess I need to watch some high school life anime again...
7387075
Also, you kinda forgot to mention Beacon...
What happened in the end there?
7387106 I did? Oh well, Cruger doesn't mention Beacon to everyone, and besides Gai has enough on his plate. Should have mentioned Truth though.
7387166 This
7387166
Remember how the Time force Zords were sent back in time? That happened.
7387168
Meh, he'll probably find out sooner or later. Beacon's basically open season for Basco...
7387175
7387176 Thanks. I forgot about that
7388594 right now? Both. But when I wrote that? Gai
I never thought I'd ever see a drunk Cruger
7388643
Eh, he can be harsh sometimes, but he means well. He just knows how to play the role of a villain thanks to moi...
7389280 I can tell
Wait you do know that the origanial a squad was usind crono morphers and delta the spd morphers? Were launched from the same base
are we getting a time force from you to?
7391227
Nah, what gave you that idea?
SHIT!!! THEY'RE ON TO US CYBERLORD!!! ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!!!
Man that was quite a ride and now I know why a certain someone constantly was talking about pirates in the comments. Though I wish that Sky Gear could have actually interacted with these Gokaigers, but that wasn't in her cards sadly.
Well she was probably around but never interacted with, *sigh* but that's what you get if your not in A-squad.
7391227
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/61946194.jpg
7391545 Sorry, feel free to do a Personnel File with him if you want, perhaps something with Pip?
7391921 Take a closer look near the end of Case 41, you'll see something that'll be hinted at for a while.
7391545
... It was me! I did it!
7392044
The part about Cruger's "call", right?
7394976 yep
7395038
I look forward to that revelation...
The veil recedes...and a new Void Walker approaches...
7396879
Wings are a sign of freedom, and what's more free than a pirate?
7396898
Thought and imagination?
Ressha Sentai ToQger with Gai going ToQ Ichigo Rainbow, I think he'd be even more of a magnet.
7397265
He does have the post 35 sentai, just hasn't used them yet...
"So... this is my place to die?"
7397308
Well TOQgers are just silly, Kyoryugers and Nininger I wouldn't get since they both are quite unique and have quite the weapons to use and good strengths.
7397323
Kyoryugers are actually my second favorite sentai. But TEN members!? TEN!?
7397337
Well 5 normal members, 1 always there Sixth Ranger and the four other Sixth rangers who appear time to time to help.
But yeah I get what you mean, but still there is only one Ranger to choose... Red, because he is the main main character.
7397346
Kyoryu Red Carnival is amazing...
My favorite ranger had 3 zords during his time: Triceratops. Unicorn. Wolf.
7397914 You're kinda old-school huh?
7398518 Considering that MMPR started when I was 11, yeah.
The last version I watched through was Overdrive. I tried to watch Jungle Fury... sunglasses as morphers? nope. (plus, the network it was on kept moving the timeslot around)
7398819
In the sentai versions, the change devices were the gloves that their suits had. Violet's changer was a miniature fight bell, and White's was the same as the power rangers version.
7399566 Its called a gong.
7400712
A gong is a flat piece of metal, Geki Violet's changer is a miniature boxing fight bell.
7405260 Sorry Doc. Steam won't stop until he makes one that lasts longer than 2 weeks.
*reads crossover, not too bad, not too bad at a-*
*rereads line*
*rereads line*
*desperately hopes that it was meant as an incredibly poorly worded attempt to say a handgun saves the life of the gun owner in the context that a missile has a large explosion that would be too dangerous in the close quarters of a handgun, and not that these Dashes are so wildly and dangerously ignorant as to believe that shooting to wound is a real thing in life and death situations that bringing out a handgun already proves it is*
I've seen enough of the sentai to know where that went
7400838 The official name of Geki Violet's changer was the GongChanger (check the PR/SS Wikia), named after the ringside bell gongs used in boxing (though Geki Violet was more a user of Muay Thai).
Gongs aren't just simply the stereotypical frisbee-like suspended types like at temples or on a display stand in a house.