Crystal Vanguard

by Benkei Urahara

Learn The Kaioken! Flurry Hearts Fierce Battle!

Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire above him, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguards logo appears.

Last time on Crystal Vanguard, Gohan began Flurry’s training in earnest, much to the princess’s dismay.

Flurry huffed and puffed loudly as she carried the very heavy bag of mail from house to house. Being an alicorn-blood, she was naturally stronger than most her age, but this bag was every bit as heavy as her and Gohan together. Then, you just have to tack that onto the other little addition her teacher had made. “Gohan, explain… to me again… why I’m wearing seventy-five kilos of weighted gear?”

“I told you, it’s strength training. It’ll also give your stamina a good boost.” The saiyan turned to his student. “Come, on pick up the pace. If we’re late finishing this up, we’ll be working to finish it through lunch.” Flurry whined a bit at this, picking up the pace a bit. “I know you hate it now, but trust me. In a few weeks you’ll see the results.” Gohan said, pulling another letter from the bag and slipping it through the mail slot.

“A few weeks?!”

Though slightly disheartened and very much terrified of what was to come, Flurry pressed on. Once their mail route was finished, they moved from their warm up to the next stage of their training for the day. A quick trip to Sweet Apple Acres and a bit more of Gohan’s story to go with it, and Flurry was introduced to the next part of her training.

“We’re gonna till that entire field?!” She asked incredulously. Gohan nodded and the student sighed a bit. “Okay, well, where’re the plows then?”

“What do you mean where are the plows?” He said, hanging the red undershirt of his outfit on a tree limb. The weighted part of his training gear was the over-shirt, so this was just to make breathing a bit easier as he worked. He got into a runner-like position, his fingers buried in the dirt. “We are the plows.” And just like that, he sped off, shoveling the dirt out with his bare hands.

And so began the conditioning stage of the princess’s training. It was bitter work, but the two tilled more than half the field in that day. After having Apple Bloom doctor her hands, Flurry moved to the final part of her training for the day. Sparring.

She looked at where he was looking and smiled, jumping back and taking an improvised stance. He laughed and popped his neck, taking his own stance. “Well, I did want to spar to end out the day. Come at me!” No sooner did he say this did his friend run at him, throwing a poorly aimed punch at his head.

He sidestepped and lifted his knee, letting her momentum carry her into the hit.
He spun quickly, kicking her back as he did. The princess cried out as she was kicked away, just barely stopping herself before kicking off the ground and rushing back in. Gohan simply sidestepped again. “You’re getting angry. It’s stupid to fight angry. Calm down.”

Flurry growled a bit before jumping into the air and kicking at the boys head, said boy dropping down under the kick, standing on his hands and slamming his heels into his students back. The alicorn-blood spun into the air before she stopped herself, hovering in the air with her wings. She panted hard and started looking for Gohan, only to realize too late that he was behind her. “DODGE!” She turned in time to get kicked down to the earth below once more.

Gohan landed a few feet away from her, watching as she slowly rose. “You’re losing me too quickly.”

Flurry panted hard, glaring at her teacher. “You’re… moving too… fast.”

“Your eyes will lie to you. Focus on my energy, not me.” He said, taking his stance again. This is gonna be a really long training session.

Several hours of training later, Gohan took the now sleeping princess back to the castle, leaving her in the competent care of Spike and Twilight. He returned to the Apple Family Farm for dinner afterwards, initiating a food fight with the Apples.

For the first time in his life, Gohan felt like he was part of a normal family. No wars had to be fought, no monsters from space trying to take revenge, no homicidal cyborgs or bio-androids trying to get vengeance for a long dead army. Just… that feeling of being home.

I wonder how you’re doing, Mom. I know Dad’s probably looking for me. I’ll make sure to apologize to you both when I get home. Until then…

Gohan picked up his fork and, without anyone noticing, used it to catapult a piece of his apple pie at AJ.

The blonde gave a rather adorable squeak that made Gohan, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom laugh. In retaliation, AJ slammed Gohan’s and Apple Blooms faces into their food, resulting in Granny Smith pouring her cider on her eldest granddaughters head. And the food fight commenced.

Gohan had so much fun that night, he slept better than he had since he’d gotten there. So, this is what a normal family feels like, huh? I think I like it.

Will Gohan’s happy times last? Probably not. I mean, have you seen the show? Or read the manga? It’s really good, you should give it a look if you-

Cast: START THE CHAPTER!

Ben: *Holding his ears.* Goddamn, fine!

---

The Crystal Empire with the six Elements of Harmony floating around it appears and the chapters title fades in.

[/hr]

Learn the Kaioken! Flurry Hearts Fierce Battle!

Gohan jumped, ducked, and dodged his student/charge’s attacks. He had to admit, her progress was stunning. She was more than intelligent enough to understand the use of ki energy and how it differed from magic, but was so controlled that she could drop her energy to almost nothing at all. Krillin was the only person he knew that could lower his power further than hers with his… stealth mode.

Right now, they were finishing their training for the day, sparring as they normally did. It had been almost a month and a half since they had come to Ponyville and Flurry was taking to the martial arts like a saiyan did to war, even if she was hesitant to actually use what she knew. So much so that Gohan was currently fighting three Flurry’s at once. She was copying Tienshinhan’s Multi-Form after seeing him use it once.

One of the dopplegangers used the zanzoken, almost tricking him with an afterimage and closing the distance between her and her teacher in a matter of milliseconds.

Though the saiyan was still faster, blocking her punch with a cross-guard while stopping a low kick with his leg, though he still took a hard blow to the cheek. He spun into the force of the punch, lashing out with a roundhouse kick. He struck her hard, sending the princess spinning into a familiar stance.
"KAAA, MEEE, HAAA, MEEE,"The only technique she had been have trouble fully mastering had been the Kamehameha Wave, but now she was using it with ease. 'Looks like her self-training is starting to pay off.'

Gohan had finally been able to tell everyone the whole story of his life, up to when he and his father left the Time Chamber. Many tears had been shed when Princess Luna used her magic to project his memory of Krillin’s death onto the wall like a movie, even Gohan cried a bit at seeing his friend die again. The women and Flurry all hugged their young friend, his walls finally breaking as Flurry clung to him. He did something he hadn’t let himself do since he was ‘little’ little. He cried into his friends arms, all the anger, the frustration and pain of the years past flooding out of him. That night, rather embarrassingly, Flurry slept in his bed with at the Apples farm. They slept better than they had since Gohan came to Equestria.

It was rather adorable for AJ and Apple Bloom to walk in and see the sleeping prince and princess snuggled together, minding her horn, of course.

"HAAAAA!!!

Gohan cried out as his aura erupted around his body. The ground beneath them shook as he pumped himself up to full power, batting away the beam with a simple backhand, though it did leave his hand stinging. She was strong when he’d met her, probably about on his dad’s level when he came out of the healing pod on Namek, but had no idea how to use it.
Now she was nearly on his level in base form with the knowledge of how to use it. Not as strong as Frieza or her aunts (sans Twilight), but all around impressive. She didn’t have the experience to back it up, but she made up for it with her sheer intellect and tactical ability. Even Vegeta would be proud of how much this girl used her head and how fast she learned to use it in a crisis.

Gohan smiled at his student, his white aura still surging around him before he slipped his arms out of his tunic, tossing the weighted gear to the ground. The two took their stances and with twin cries, they began their battle anew, moving much faster than before.

Before, Flurry was able to somewhat keep up with Gohan’s movements, but now he was much too fast for her, leaving her hopelessly on the defensive. As she blocked another strike, one of Gohan’s first lessons rang in her mind. Your eyes will lie to you. Focus on my energy, not me.

Flurry stopped and relaxed herself, listening, waiting, feeling. She deflected a punch aimed at her chest downward, retaliating with a hard elbow across the saiyan's face. She intentionally took a blow to the cheek to make her opening from his other hand, but it hit way harder than she was expecting. The force of the blow sent her spinning while hers did the same to Gohan. They both used the momentum to try and kick each other, their legs colliding mid-strike.

The two jumped back from each other, panting hard. Gohan was panting, actually panting. It was getting hard to keep up with her without the Kaioken or transforming. He had the biggest smile he’d worn since he’d gotten to Equestria. He had no idea that alicorn-bloods had this kind of talent for war.

‘To say I’m proud would be a bit of an understatement. But, she’s in total control of it all. These Equestrian’s are something else. Or maybe it’s just Flurry. Either way, this is gettin’ fun! Whoa, sounded like Dad there for a second.’ Gohan thought. The saiyan promptly powered down, still smiling. “That’s enough today, Flurry.”
The princess honestly looked disappointed. She looked like she wanted to go a bit longer. “But why? We haven’t even been sparring half as long as we normally do.”

“Because, to be honest, you’re almost as strong as me in my normal form. I didn’t think you’d get anywhere near this strong this quickly. I’m sure you haven’t noticed, but I’m going all out here. I’d have to use the Kaioken or transform to outright beat you now.”

Flurry’s eyes widened. Gohan hit the nail on the head. She had no idea he was going all out. She’d forgotten the undershirt of his gi was the weighted part. She wasn’t wearing the weighted part of hers right now as Rarity was still fixing it from their last training session.

Flurry blushed as she felt Gohan’s hand on her head. She looked up to see him smiling at her. “I think you’re ready for the next part of your training. I’m going to teach you the Kaioken.”

…

A dense red aura covered Gohan’s body as his muscles began to bulge, an enormous heat rolling off his body. “KAIOKEN!” The aura stabilized and Gohan stood, his energy double what it was before. He cupped his hands at his hip, energy gathering in them. He gave a quick cry of exertion, expelling a huge beam of energy, much larger than normal.

Flurry stood off to side, watching in awe. First Gohan’s power increased by double, and now he was firing a beam with enough power to destroy the whole planet hundreds of times over! Her awe was cut short, however, as the red aura of the Kaioken left her friend and he hit his knees as one of his arms hung limp at his side, his other supporting him as he faced the ground.

The princess rushed to him, pulling him up and letting him rest against her. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking into his dark eyes as he panted heavily.

He gave her a tired smile, chuckling weakly. “I’m fine, Flurry. But, this does illustrate my earlier point. The Kaioken is incredibly dangerous, even destructive to it’s user. To be honest, that was the first time I’ve ever used it outside of training with my dad. It draws out latent power at the cost of tearing your body apart. You can counteract the effects through hard training, but even for someone as strong as me, sheer power isn’t what you need. In fact, sheer power normally makes it worse.

The Kaioken multiplies what you already have by increments. The highest I’ve seen my father take it was x20 and even then it left him incredibly tired. To be fair, the only time I’ve seen him push it that far was against Frieza.”

Flurry reached into her pocket as she listened to him, searching for one of the senzu he had her carry for herself. He only had seven left, but he was still worried enough about her to make her carry them with her. She gently pressed one to his lips, blushing lightly about the fact that she was touching his lips, but smiling softly as he ate the bean.

Gohan stood back up, popping his shoulder to be sure it was okay. Then he turned to his student. “This is why I made you promise you wouldn’t use this technique unless it was absolutely necessary. No matter how strong you are, you’ll tear yourself apart or even kill yourself with this if you aren’t careful. Understand?”

She nodded, but then started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Can we start practicing now?” Gohan laughed and nodded.

“But, I have one request. You’re just about at my level, so I want a real fight with you instead of a simple spar from now on. We’ll still spar to round out training and to help you sharpen up your forms, but once a week we’ll have a real fight to give you a bit of experience. All the training in the world is useless if you don’t know how or when it needs to be used.”

“You just want someone to fight with on your level that won’t try and kill you.”

Gohan just laughed gently at this, stepping back from her. “Alright, so the first step is meditation.”

“Huh? But, we meditate for an hour every day in the morning. Why do we need to meditate again?” She asked.

Gohan merely donned his more teacher-like expression. “Simple. You’ve got an amazing talent, Flurry, and you’re brilliant when it comes to thinking on your toes, but your biggest flaw is you have almost no control over your emotions. That is what will hold you back from using this technique.

You have some of the finest ki control I’ve ever seen, so controlling the surge of energy shouldn’t be hard, but that control is so easily broken that even base Kaioken could end up being lethal. The Kaioken requires a calm mind and incredible focus, both bodily and mentally. I’m not even going to start you on drills until I know you have control of your emotions. Now, get to meditating. The faster you start, the quicker we can finish up.”

Flurry pouted a bit before doing as her teacher instructed, sitting in lotus position and closing her eyes. She centered herself as he’d taught her, her energy resembling this as it rose and fell in waves. 'I have a bad feeling this is gonna be a while.' She thought to herself.

…

Flurry growled as she sat in meditation in her room. Her and Gohan had been training to teach her the Kaioken for two weeks now and she’d only started drills the day before, and even then, they were doing light drills. He was being cautious with her and that downright pissed her off. She understood she was a princess and all, but this was ridiculous! He didn’t take it easy on her when they first started, so why change that trend? The Kaioken is dangerous! She could hear him say. I understand that, but tiptoeing around it won’t help!

She huffed and started thrashing on the bed in a mini-tantrum, burying her face in one of her many pillows. Gohan had given her homework. Meditate. That’s it. It was like he was pushing her to get angry…
Flurry’s eyes widened as she realized what the saiyan was doing. He was actively trying to make her angry so she’d have a reason to bring her temper under control. She sat up and sighed, returning to her meditation.

After a few more minutes, she couldn’t sit like that anymore, huffing loudly as she hopped off her bed, walking out of her chambers to the kitchen, snagging a loaf of bread, some daisies, lettuce and a few pieces of ham. Like her dad, Flurry ate meat, but not very often, just when she was really hungry.

She made herself a large stacked sandwich… then a second and a third. She had developed quite the appetite training with Gohan.

I wonder when Gohan’s birthday is… the princess thought as she bit into her sandwich. She found herself often thinking about her teacher. She knew a bit about his past and had a good understanding of who he was, but there were little things she still didn’t know. She didn’t really have to think about what his favorite food was as he’d eat just about anything.

Maybe I should ask Aunt Pinkie for help. She could get him to tell her when his birthday is. She continued to eat her sandwich, pouring herself some juice as Twilight walked downstairs, yawning lightly. “Mmm, morning, Flurry.”

“Aunt Twilie, it’s almost 4 in the afternoon.” Twilight froze in her tracks. “You were up late reading again, weren’t you?”

Twilight only chuckled nervously, pouring herself the last of the orange juice, commenting they needed more. Flurry giggled at her aunt, offering her a non-meat sandwich she’d made for her. Twi smiled and took the sandwich, biting into it. “So, have you trained with Gohan today?”

“I normally am.” Flurry simply glared at her aunt, earning a quick laugh.

“Oh, come on. I’m sure Gohan has said something that made the effort worth it.”
At that, a memory played in Flurry’s head.

“Breathe slower, Flurry. You’re trying to relax, not tear a stick out of your arm.”

“I’m trying!” The princess snapped, standing and rounding on her teacher.
Gohan just stood, stone-faced as ever before Flurry cried out, rushing him with the saiyan deflecting the royals attacks before kicking her back to the dirt.

Flurry jumped back to her feet, ready to attack again but stopped short, seeing that old kind smile on his whenever he told her about his better memories. "That look you had just now reminded me of myself when I was training with Piccolo."
Flurry was silent for a few seconds after that statement. "You really look up to him, don't you?"

Gohan nodded. "Like I told your dad, he's like a second father to me. He's rough around the edges, but he's a good person. I think he'd like you, but that's not always a good thing with him. Even through all my training, in his own way, he encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming a scholar. So, what's your dream, Flurry?"

The princess was thrown off by this. She could remember her parents even asking about that. "… Promise you won't laugh?"
"Of course. Why would I laugh at your dream?"

He cheeks flushed light red. "… I wanna be a dancer. I mean, remember all the times I made you dance with me back at the castle?" Gohan nodded, blushing lightly. "Well, I've always loved to dance, and I've always been really good at it. Maybe that’s what my cutie mark will be, huh?”

…. “What’s a cutie mark?”

Flurry faceplanted comically at this statement.

The youngest princess snickered. She’d spent the next hour explaining what a cutie mark was and coming to terms with the fact that apparently saiyans (and humans) didn’t have cutie marks.

“Hey, where is Gohan anyway?”

“Pumpkin Cake came over saying she wanted to play, so Gohan went out.”
Flurry could feel her eye twitching. She didn’t have a problem with Pumpkin, but she did have a problem with how the unicorn-blood attached herself to her bodyguard. Why? …

The princess blushed lightly as she thought about it, shaking her head and hopping up from the table. “I’m going out.” She said, running out the door before Twilight could say anything.

Flurry floated above the castle, sensing out Gohan’s energy. She didn’t mind him going and having fun. It wasn’t like she was his mother, but some notice would have been nice. He is her bodyguard after all. Leaves her in a tight spot when Twilight won't let her leave the castle without him.

She found him, but something felt… off. Then she recognized something. It was weak, very weak, but... She took off in his direction at top speed.

But first, a pit stop.

...

“Hey, Gohan!” Pumpkin Cake said, grabbing the young saiyans hand again and dragging him over to another, this time one selling replica tiaras. Pumpkin asked if she could try one on and the vendor handed her one, the small town unicorn-blood slipping it over her horn and into her hair. She twirled around, stopping and curtsying to Gohan, who bowed in return. “I look like a princess with this on, huh?”

“Yeah, it looks good on you.” The puppy look she gave him after was enough to make the saiyan sigh, putting some bits on the stall. They walked off with Pumpkin on the fighters arm.

“GOHAN!” The two turned to see a panting Flurry Heart. She looked like she’d been through a war-zone.

Pumpkin scowled at Flurry as Gohan ran over to her. “Flurry, what happened?!”
“Gohan, that isn’t Pumpkin Cake!”

“What?”

“Of course I’m Pumpkin Cake. Who else would I be? A bugbear?” Pumpkin said, grabbing Gohan’s hand and trying to pull him back. “Gohan, she’s just jealous you have another friend, let’s go.”

“Honestly, Flurry, that’s what this is sounding like to me. But, we do need to get those wounds taken-“

“SHUT UP AND LISTEN!” Flurry shrieked, catching Gohan off guard. It was really rare, even when she was angry, for Flurry to raise her voice like that. “I know that Pumpkin isn’t the real one because this one is!” A flash of pink and a very scared, very hurt looking Pumpkin Cake appeared beside them, causing the small crowd that had gathered to gasp and back away as Gohan’s now angered gaze flipped to the Pumpkin holding his hand.

“Who are you?” The saiyan asked, standing protectively between Flurry and the Cake twin, dropping into his Demon King stance.

The fake backed away, growling lightly before smiling. “Well, it was fun while it lasted. Thanks for the tiara, Gohan~.” The imposter said sweetly before she was engulfed by green flames. Once the flames died down, in the place of the fake was a female changeling. She was short, even by the standards of her people, which made the bust she carried look even odder. She had long green hair and bright blue eyes with a vertical pupil like a cats.

Flurry’s eye began twitching. ‘Her damn boobs are almost the size of my head! WHY!?’

The changeling chuckled as Gohan growled. “You’re going to pay for hurting my friend, changeling.”

The changeling warrior pout a bit at this. “My name is Chitin, Gohan. I would have thought you’d have asked before threatening me. I mean, we did just have a lot of fun on our date.” She sighed and yawned lightly, causing Flurry to fume all the more. “Besides, it’s not much of a threat if you can’t back it up.”

Gohan had heard enough, rushing the changeling with a heavy over hand punch. Everything went silent until the saiyan spat up a mouthful of spittle, doubling over and holding his stomach. His fist had made contact but did no damage.

Chitin chuckled before kicking the saiyan back into Flurry, the princess catching her bodyguard and being bowled over by his weight.

“Try again for a bit?” She taunted, the boy growling before roaring, his golden aura erupting around him before fading out.
“W-what the-?” Gohan fell to his knees, panting heavily. “Why can’t I go Super Saiyan?”

Flurry stood by his side, trying to help the warrior to his feet as Chitin laughed at them, more changelings appearing around them. "Still haven’t figured it out? I took your energy, kid. You’re about as threatening as a newborn kitten now.”

“But, energy absorption isn’t the power of a changeling!” Flurry argued.

“Not normally, but I’m a bit special, being a princess and all.” Flurry’s eyes widened. “Oh, did I not introduce myself properly? Forgive me. Princess Chitin, sister of General Diserex and daughter of Queen Chysalis.”

“Flurry, get out of here, now!” Gohan ordered, staggering to his feet, much to Chitin’s amusement. “I’ll handle this. Get back to Twilight.”

“Are you out of your mind?! You can barely stand, let alone fight! Let me fight!”

“Oh, yes, throw your charge to the wolves, Gohan. I could use the warm up.” Flurry glowered at the changeling, magic sparking in her horn as she dropped into her stance.

“Flurry, this isn’t your fight! You aren’t ready for this!” Gohan said, staggering and falling over again.

“Maybe it wasn’t my fight. But it is now!” Flurry said, rushing the changeling princess, the air and ground shaking as their forearms met.

“Ooh, look at that, you’re not bad for a spoiled, pampered pony princess.”

“We’ll see how much of a brat you are when I show you what a Princess of Equestria can do!”

Chitin scoffed and the two broke away, rushing back in and trading high speed attacks before flying into the air as the changelings below started being tossed around by Twilight, Spike, a very angry looking Shining Armor and a very tall, white caped individual.

“MAKANKOZAPPO!”

…

Twilight sighed a bit as she watched her niece blast off, a quick burst of magic in the castle catching her attention. She turned and walked back inside to see Shining Armor standing in her kitchen, sipping coffee and reading the paper.
She smiled and walked over, pulling the paper away from her brothers face. “What’s up, big brother?”

“Hey, Twily. I finished all my paperwork for the day, so I figured I’d come by and check up on the kids.”

“Check up on Flurry, you mean?”

“What? I worry about Gohan just as much as…” Twilights ‘Really?’ face cut him off. “Am I really that transparent?”

“You’re a father, Armor. All fathers are like that.”

“You got me. I came by to see how my baby girl is doing.” He conceded.

Twilight sighed a bit, sitting down. “Well, first you should know a manticore attacked the day we got here.” Armor’s eyes widened. “Gohan took care of it, though Fluttershy wouldn’t talk to him for a while.”

“What did he do to it? Break it’s leg?”

“ Vaporized it.” Armors jaw dropped at her statement.

“I doubt it left him much choice. Gohan doesn't attack and certainly doesn’t kill without reason. He isn’t me or Vegeta after all.” Another voice said, sounding behind Twilight.

The princess whirled around quickly, magic sparking in her horn. But the sparks of magic faded quickly as she froze in place at having seen the being behind her, all the color draining from her face fast.
What stood behind her was the most imposing being she’d ever seen with his green skin, pointed ears and the even more imposing height of at least seven feet. He bore what seemed to be a constant scowl and his power was terrifyingly strong. If she had to guess, he or it was far stronger than Gohan in his base form.

“U-um, h-hello.” The being simply smirked.
“Mr. Piccolo, please don’t scare my sister like that.” Armor said, a sweat drop on his head.

“She should be more aware of her surroundings. I’ve been standing here since we got here.”

“What?!”

Piccolo scowled again. “See what I mean?”
“Wait. Did you just say Piccolo?” “Twilight asked, with Shining Armor nodding. “As in Gohan’s teacher, Piccolo? The former Demon King?”

Piccolo smirked again. “The one and only. Who else would I-“ SLAP! “Be? Well, I guess Gohan told you how I trained him too.”

“Twilight!” Shining exclaimed, only to be ignored.

“What kind of monster throws a four year old into the wilderness with only a sword!?” she demanded.

“A competent one.” he said, idly checking his nails for dirt.

Twilight pulled her hand back to slap the demon king again only to feel Armor’s hand wrap around her wrist. “Twilight, that’s enough, you got your point across.”

Piccolo gave a genuine smile as Twilight continued to glare at him. “You’ve got fire. I like that, you’d make a fine warrior.”

The princess just scoffed and turned to her brother. “Why and how is he here?”

“It’s rude to exclude, Princess.” Piccolo said.

“Piccolo, do not make me turn around. I will rip your world a-fucking-sunder.” She spat back.

Reminds me a bit of Chi-chi. Kami said, earning a chuckle from Piccolo.

Yeah, just without all the screaming. Nail commented.

Give it a bit, she’ll get there.

“So, why are you here?” Twilight asked.
“It should be obvious. I’m here to take Gohan home. His mother went into labor not too long ago and she doesn’t want to be alone.”

“What about Goku? I know he’s not the most reliable guy, but I’d think he’d be around for his own wife while she’s giving birth.”

Piccolo just stared at the princess, shock written on his face. “He… He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

… “Has he told you anything about what’s going on back home?”

“Well, he did tell us a bit. Some kind of tournament happened and his dad saved your world.” Shining said, a bit confused as well.

Piccolo clenched his fist tight. That’s… “Has Gohan been experiencing memory loss?”

Twilight lifted a brow. “Yes. Why? Is… Is something the matter?” She didn’t like the tone he was using. It wasn’t rude, but it sounded as though it hurt, whatever it was.

“He told you about the tournament, but he can’t remember the result. Son Goku didn’t defeat Cell, it was-“ A loud concussive wave rocked the windows of the castle.

“What was that?!” Armor barked, the front doors of the castle exploding open.
Several large changelings ran into the castle interior, brandishing their weapons as they searched for the inhabitants, one being pounced on by Spike, who immediately tore out the side of it’s throat. He turned to the others, only to find them already dead on their feet, watching them fall to the ground in a heap of limbs and flesh.

The dragon-blood looked to the opposite side, shocked to see a tall young man with a sword half sheathed on his back, the crossguard clicking as he fully sheathed the weapon. “Piccolo! The entrance hall is clear!”

“Nice work, Trunks.” Piccolo said as he walked into the room with the royals behind him. The young warrior turned to face them, smiling at Spike and offering him a handkerchief and a hand. The dragon took the handkerchief, but stood on his own.

“Uh, Twi, mind telling e who are guests are and why there are changelings attacking the castle?” Spike asked.

“Later, Spike. We gotta get to tOWN!!!???” Twilight started, being lifted up by the strange young man before screaming as they lifted off, Piccolo, carrying Armor on his back with Spike hot behind them. “What in Tartarus are you doing?!”

“This seemed faster than just explaining the situation. Gohan’s energy isn’t even a tenth of what it should be right now and it feels like there’s a fight going on between of your people and these changelings.” Trunks said, looking down and stopping dead. “Piccolo, look!”

Under them was the town, the denizens running to their homes as quickly as possible, but the changelings didn’t seem to be paying attention to them. Their focus was on Gohan as he fought off three attackers at once, his movements heavy and sluggish. Finally, with a quick burst of energy, he shoved his attackers away with a kiai, though it wasn’t strong enough to kill.

The half breed warrior was panting hard as his attackers were rising back to their feet, the boy preparing for round two when a spiral beam tore through one of their chests and a ball of yellow energy vaporized the other two. “Gohan!”

The warrior looked up to see his friends land beside him. “Mister Piccolo! Trunks!” Gohan’s smile vanished as he was assaulted by another changeling, the small bug like humanoid being wrapped in Piccolo’s stretching arms before the super namek roared, slinging the enemy warrior far off to the side.

“I WILL WEAR YOUR ENTRAILS AS SWEATBANDS!!!” The green giant ran in, effortlessly tearing his way through the throng of changelings, the rest of his team behind him.
“Piccolo, why don’t we try that move we worked on to fight the Androids!?” Gohan asked as he kicked a changeling over to Armor who promptly cracked it’s skull with a magically created shield.

The namek smiled before shedding his weighted gear. “Don’t miss the timing, kid!” Piccolo did a back flip, kicking a particularly large changeling into the air, rushing into the air and putting his fingers to his head.

Gohan was beyond tired, but he wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing. He hopped into the air, mimicking his teacher as they aimed at the airborne and stunned warrior.

“MAKANKOZAPPO!” they bellowed, firing twin spiral beams from their fingers, the two beams crossing with the changeling in the middle of the x they formed.

“Gohan!” Armor ran up to the boy as he landed, noting silently how tired he looked. “Where’s Flurry?”

As if answering him, Flurry came screaming out of the sky, slamming into the ground and sliding a few feet before Chitin dropped knee first into the princess’s gut. The changeling princess stepped back as Flurry rolled over, vomiting up whatever was in her stomach. “Oh ho, your teacher was right, kid,” Chitin grabbed a fistful of Flurry’s hair, pulling her up. “you are far from ready for this.”
Gohan roared as he jumped into the air, aiming to kick Chitin in the head, but was quickly swept aside by her arm. Piccolo and Trunks roared in unison as their powers climbed, Trunks taking on the familiar green eyes and blond hair of a Super Saiyan with Twilight gaping openly at him.

Chitin only scoffed and charged her own energy, her aura exploding outward and dwarfing the other two.

"Dammit, how is she that powerful!?” Trunks said, covering his eyes.

“She changed into one of my friends and tricked me into spending the day with her! She absorbed almost all of my power!” Gohan cried, pulling Flurry back up to her feet, only to be pushed away. “Flurry, no!”

The princess screamed as her own power joined the mix, wrenching herself from Chitin’s grip, her aura being much smaller than anybody elses. “I don’t care how much stronger you are than me! I am a Princess of Equestria! I WON’T LET YOU HURT ANYONE!”

Piccolo smiled at her outburst. “Your student has heart, Gohan.”

Chitin didn’t look impressed. If anything, she looked even angrier than before. How the younger girls opal eyes burned with such conviction and resolve…

She rushed forward, slamming her fist into Flurry’s gut, lifting the poor girl off the ground. “You go on and on about how you’ll stop me and how you won’t let me do anything. You honestly believe you can stop me!?” She screamed, slamming the alicorn-blood into the ground.

Flurry grabbed her wrist, lashing out with her own fist and punching her rival hard in the face, sending Chitin flying. “Just because you have Gohan’s powers doesn’t mean you know how to use them!” The alicorn-blood sighed lightly as she tried to calm herself. Anger uncontrolled was something she couldn’t use. Wait. Control. That’s it!

Chitin stood back up with a growl, her boobs wobbling and causing some of the males in the group to turn out of embarrassment. Flurry simply stared her down before a red aura erupted around her.

Gohan’s eyes widened as he watched the red aura around his friend grow slowly denser.

“KAIOKEN!”

“Kaio-what?!” Chitin went silent as Flurry rushed her, bending the changeling girl over her arm as her fist sank into her belly, spittle flying from her mouth.
The invading princess slowly stepped back, holding her stomach as her forces stopped cold. Many of the changelings there had been at the invasion of the Crystal Empire, so to see a girl who couldn’t even fight off their grunts before going toe to toe with who is supposed to be the next Queen of the Hive was a bit of a shock.

Chitin growled before she screamed her energy rising again. “You little brat! I’M GOING TO DESTROY-“ Flurry didn’t give her the chance to finish, kicking her in the stomach again before backflip kicking the other princess into the air, giving chase. The alicorn-blood slammed into the base of Chitin’s back, flipping her around, before flying down into her, flipping her so she was facing the sky just in time to see Flurry charging up her teacher’s signature attack.

“MASENKO!” She fired the beam down, the energy slamming into Chitin’s chest and sending her screaming into the ground below. The young princess landed in front of her group of friends, many of them horrified, but two showing a large amount of pride and another showing surprise.

“She’s supposed to be your student, right Gohan?” Trunks asked.

Gohan nodded as Flurry watched the crater Chitin was in. “I honestly didn’t think she’d be able to pull that one off. I’ve had her meditating and practicing anger management techniques for weeks, but I didn’t think she’d be ready for the Kaioken so soon.”

“Looks like she wasn’t.” Piccolo said, his usual scowl returning.

Gohan looked at his teacher oddly before looking to his student, fear running through him as he noticed her right arm was hanging limp at her side. The Kaioken definitely took it’s toll on the princess. “Please, stay down.” She said softly, panting heavily. Chitin made no move to get up, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the only indication that she was still alive.
Flurry started to fall back, feeling herself fall into someone’s arms. She looked to see a worried Gohan holding her, her father right beside him. She smiled softly. “I did it.” She said, cringing as she shifted a bit in her friends arms.

“You pushed yourself too far, Flurry. Look at your arm.”

Armor’s horn glowed as he transferred the magic to his hands, running them over Flurry’s arm. He didn’t claim to be well versed in healing magic, but he knew enough. “Gohan, what have you been teaching her?”

The saiyan looked a bit guilty at that question before the elder prince was unceremoniously bonked on the head by the Power Pole. “Papa, don’t blame Gohan. I asked him the train me. He’s been nothing but amazingly sweet to me the whole time, always making sure I don’t push myself too hard during training, checking in to make sure I got a good amount of sleep.” She looked up at Gohan before nuzzling into his chest. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

“Flurry…” Gohan’s cheeks immediately began to burn up, but he didn’t stop her, smiling softly as she closed her eyes.
Armor was at a loss. Not a what his daughter had said, but at what she was doing and what Gohan was doing. It was as if looking at a picture of him and Cadence when they first started out in their relationship.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, Piccolo, or you, Trunks, but why are you guys here?”

Trunks spoke up first after scooting away from the incredibly observant Twilight. “You’ve been gone for almost four months, Gohan. We went to Namek and summoned Porunga to ask him where you were and he sent us here. My mother said you were helping test some experimental teleportation tech and the experiment went awry. It landed her in the hospital for a month and you and your pilot vanished.”

Gohan’s eyes widened. It all came back to him. Bulma all but begging him for his help, meeting Angelina, the pilot, alarms blaring, him grabbing the young woman as they saw the ground. “That pilot… did she have a family?”

“Well yeah, they’re pretty worried about her too and-“ Trunks stopped after that as he noticed Gohan’s word choice. Did she. “She’s… She’s gone, isn’t she?”

“Killed on impact.”

Trunks looked crestfallen at that bit of info. That wasn’t going to be something that would be easy to tell her family. The truly unfortunate side of that was that he’d had to give very similar messages before when the androids were still attacking his world.

Piccolo stepped up next. “Gohan. I want you to tell me the last thing you remember clearly about your father.”

The saiyan looked at his teacher oddly. “But why-“

“Just answer me.” The namek said sternly.

Gohan hummed a bit as he thought back. “Honestly, walking out of the Time Chamber. Everything after that is fuzzy.”

“… Who was it that defeated Cell, Gohan?”

“Well, it was my dad, obviously. Right?” Gohan was starting to get scared. He didn’t like where this was going.

“Gohan.” Trunks said, catching the boys attention. "Goku didn’t defeat Cell. You did.”

“What?”

Piccolo jumped back in. “But not until after Cell took Goku’s life.” The namek knelt before his terrified pupil. “Gohan. Your father has been dead for almost ten months.”

Everyone, even Twilight who had been writing in her notebook stopped cold. The only sound around them was Gohan beginning to hyperventilate.

“Gohan.” Flurry called, but no response was given. The boy’s mind was in shock. Dad’s… dead. No. That’s… That’s not possible.

Gohan’s head snapped up as Chitin’s energy erupted from the crater. He turned to see her launching herself out of the crater, a ball of energy in her fist. Everything seemed to slow down as Gohan turned himself, stood, and opened his arms to protect Flurry Heart and Shining Armor from the world ending blast.

The young saiyan screamed as the blast wave enveloped him, the ki infused magic attack ripping both him and his gi apart. The young saiyans scream filled the air as he took the world ending blast head on. After a few seconds of silence, the dust settled to show a grievously wounded Gohan still standing. For a moment, Piccolo saw his own death at Nappa’s hands.

“Gohan!” The namek caught his friend as he fell, lifting him into his arms. “Gohan, wake up. Please, kid, open your eyes.”

“No, not again.” Trunks said, his eyes glazing over momentarily.

Flurry crawled out of her fathers hands while he was frozen from the shock. Piccolo set the boy down, watching the princess. “Gohan. Gohan.” She kept repeating his name, shaking him as she sobbed loudly. “No… No…. NOOOOO!!!” She roared, throwing her head back as a massive gust of wind tore across the ground, pieces of the ground under the party’s feet being shattered or torn up.
A bright red aura erupted around her as her power started climbing.

“N-no way… she’s taking the Kaioken even further.”

“Triple… Quadruple… No, it’s-“ Trunks was cut off by Flurry’s scream.

"I don't care how much damage I do to myself. I don't care how badly it'll hurt after! You... YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!!!! TIMES TEN!!!” Her aura expaned over the area, turning the air thick with her power and an almost ruddy red color. “KAIOKEN TIMES TEN!!!” She screeched before launching herself at Chitin, catching the other princess hard in the face with an over hand right.

The force was enough to send Chitin flying back, but she quickly recovered, rushing back in, only to her attack pushed aside with ease. “What the-?!”

Flurry slammed her fist into Chitin’s gut with enough force to create a gust of wind behind her. “It won’t work! Draw as much energy from my emotions or anyone elses! It won’t be enough to stop what I am now!”

Chitin retaliated with a high kick, which was, again, blocked, giving Flurry a chance to unleash a ‘flurry’ of strikes on the unguarded changeling before upper cutting her into the air. Flurry gave chase after her. “You keep saying that being a Princess of Equestria means nothing. That we’re all just pampered,” She rushed past Chitin, striking her midair, “spoiled,” another strike, “lazy!” She struck the changeling again, kicking her higher into the air.

Flurry’s eyes widened for a moment as pain shot through her. ‘The Kaioken isn’t going to last very much longer. I gotta finish this now!’ She thought, teleporting to the ground. “You don’t know the first thing about us!” She screamed, cupping her hands at her waist as a pink-blue ball of energy began to form in between them. “We may not be as hardened or as cold as you changelings, but one thing we do have IS OUR RESOLVE TO PROTECT WHAT MATTERS! KAAAA, MEEEE, HAAAA, MEEEE,”

Chitin finally righted herself, unable to fully understand that Flurry, this brat that thought she was better than she was, was absolutely dominating her! ‘This is impossible! I absorbed Gohan’s power! How is she still stronger than me!?’ She looked down to see Flurry charging her final attack, Chitin’s eyes widening. ‘This is it. I’m going to die here…’ She looked down at Gohan’s unconscious body and smiled softly. ‘Well, at least I can say I had fun with a cute guy.'
“HAAAAAAAA!!!!!” Flurry unleashed the Kamehameha wave, the buildings and ground around her shattering under the force of her attack. The wind kicked up by it shoved most of her allies back, Trunks and Piccolo the only two able to take it, and even Piccolo was having trouble standing up to it. The blue and pink beam tore it’s way at Chitin, the princess’s eyes widening.

“That’s quite enough.” A new voice said, getting between Chitin and the blast, easily repelling it.

Flurry and company gasped as they looked up at the new enemy to join the fray. Armor’s eyes widened in fear as the man came into view. “No… Not him…”

“Who is that?” Trunks asked, taking his stance.

“The general of Queen Chrysalis’s army, her first born son.” The man smiled as Armor introduced him. “General Diserex!”

General Diserex, the man who very nearly defeated Gohan on the boys first day in Equestria, has joined the fray to save his sister!

Diserex looked down at Gohan and scowled. “To be beaten with such an easy trap. How pathetic. A warrior is ready for anything, boy.”

“You have no right to say anything about-“ Flurry started only to be cut off as Diserex began to exert his power, easily overwhelming the group. “N-no way… He’s even stronger than when Gohan fought him.” Flurry’s body shuddered before she coughed up a small mouthful of blood, the Kaioken finally being broken.

“I see no reason in wasting my time talking. I came here on a mission, so it’s time to complete it.”

What is this mission that Diserex was sent to complete!? How will our tired/underpowered hero’s fare against his might!? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON CRYSTAL VANGUARD!!!
…
The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boys neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.

Gohan: Hey guys! It's me, Gohan!

Flurry Heart: And Flurry! And son of a bitch!

Twilight: Princess Flurry Heart, watch your language!

Flurry: I’m sorry, Aunt Twilie, but how else do want me to react to this!? And how in the name of the Goddess did Diserex’s power grow so much?! It hasn’t been long since he fought Gohan, has it?

Ben: -checks the day he uploaded the story- September 21st, 2017.

Cast: …

Diserex: Can I kill him?

NEXT TIME ON CRYSTAL VANGUARD! DISEREX APPEARS! RETURN TO THE HIPPOGRIFFS! Hopefully that chapter comes out sooner…

Comments

[ultrapoknee]

Great chapter, but you need to space out the paragraphs and dialogue lines. It's a little hard to read.

[Benkei Urahara]

9021112
Yeah, believe it or not, i had them spaced out properly on the word document, but that didn't translate over

[HB_DS2013]

Is this fic anthro?

[Miles Skywalker]

9021434
Yes

[Benkei Urahara]

9021433
Yep :p

[Benkei Urahara]

9021434
No. I've explained this repeatedly, but this is a human fic. The Equestrians have the more prominent physical traits from the show present (horns and wings).

[HB_DS2013]

9021494 Oh.

[Benkei Urahara]

9021434
No. Its a human fic, but the Equestrians have their more prominent features (horns, wings) present.

[Benkei Urahara]

9021433
Honestly this is the fifth draft. The original had Flurry getting an obligatory rage filled transformation. Which would you guys prefer?

[Anime Fan Girl and Gohan]

Great story. Been a while since you posted a story. Glad it back, this story is awasome!

[zeldawolffang]

https://youtu.be/_pkBDZ2DCvc

[Benkei Urahara]

9356146
But why though?

[Benkei Urahara]

9037301
Glad you think so. I'm working on the next chapter, but it's coming slowly. I may end up putting it up as a two parter.