The Line Between Fire and Light

by Stolenalicorn

14 Hook

Things weren't as normal when James visited Rainbow Dash the next week.

“You've got your Senzu, right?” She asked as she flew alongside James.

James nodded. “Yeah, I've got it.” He said dismissively.

Rainbow Dash hurried and cut him off in mid air as she got ready to scold him. “Excuse me! Everypony was really worried about you. If something's wrong you have to tell us.”

James looked to her, she was genuinely concerned about him. It felt strange. He nodded quickly and began to fly forward again.

Rainbow Dash wasn't done though. “And why do you even have those magical implants?”

James smiled, here was a subject he could talk about. “Well, I do a lot of magical research, but sometimes it requires a test subject and I'm as good as any other. So I've got two implants in my chest; one that I can activate so I can breathe no matter the situation and another that improves how quickly I heal. One in each shoulder …” James continued talking as they transported to New Guardia where Lucca Tali and Tenyo waited for them.

Starlight walked through the halls of Twilight's castle, once again the clock by the strange room was set to the wrong time and she was getting tired of setting it back. As she placed the fixed clock back she realized that she hadn't actually done more than glance in the room. Most rooms in the castle were obvious what they were at a glance, but this one was different. The sudden change in design and material was quite stark. Exploring was certainly an option too as Twilight didn't restrict her to some parts of the castle, while she was here she was home. With a shrug, she decided it was worth exploring. Maybe there was some logical reason for it to be so different.

She opened the door to the room so drastically different from the rest of the castle and walked through. Immediately she tried to catch herself as she felt as though she was falling. As she stumbled into the room she was convinced that there must be a subtle step that she just didn't see and she'd be ready for it when she came back. Her magic surrounded the door as she closed it behind her. Much to her surprise the door was different from this side, she thought that if anything the door would be the same.

The light didn't make sense either. It was early morning but from the window it looked to be later in the day, even the window itself looked different from all of the others in the castle. She walked to the door, not knowing what to expect on the other side.

She opened the door and stared in disbelief as she found another hallway with doors on each side. Each one had it's own placard, probably some labeling that she didn't know the significance of yet. Not wanting to get lost so she checked the placard for the door she just came from and saw an etching of the tree of harmony with all of the jewels in place.

“This place seemed a lot smaller on the outside.” She said to herself as she walked down the hallway, not believing there was an entire other section of the castle she hadn't even seen yet. She didn't try any of the doors in this hallway not wanting to get lost until she was more comfortable with this part of the castle. At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors, with a shrug Starlight opened them up and looked out on another hallway. Deciding that the best way to make sure she didn't get lost was to leave each door she went through slightly open.

She was trying to mentally map out the castle in a way that made any king of sense, and completely failing as she made her way to a whole new foyer.

“Okay, I was pretty sure Twilight's castle only had the one entrance.” Starlight said to herself as she looked to the large double doors that clearly led outside. There were two red trees growing in pots beside each window and a thin carpet that led from the doors to a set of stairs up. There was a large crystal chandelier throwing out a cascade of light throughout the room. Starlight couldn't help but feel as though she were in a completely different castle.

She walked to the door and opened it up just to get her bearings on where around the castle she was. The wall and portcullis in front of her were another surprise. She knew that there was no wall around Twilight's castle, and that she had entered this part from the upstairs. But here she was about to take a step onto a stone path in the ground towards a wall she knew shouldn't be there. Even the air here smelled different than it should.

Rainbow Dash was the first to notice her as they flew towards New Guardia Castle, she banked to the left and shortened her approach as she came down, James close behind her though he was clearly going to overshoot.

“You look a little lost.” James said, dropping out of the air as he got close.

Starlight looked up to see James falling while Rainbow Dash came to a stop in air.

“What brings you out here?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smile.

“I was just looking around the castle and found myself here.” She said, glad to see someone she knew.

James smiled as he looked at Starlight. “You might want to look behind you. You're not in Ponyville anymore.” Starlight turned around and looked at the castle she just came from. It looked nothing like Twilight's castle, or any castle she had seen.

“Where are we?” She breathlessly asked.

“We're in New Guardia, James's place. You probably don't know this but he's a King.” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs as she spoke.

“You're a king?!” Starlight asked, as astonished by that as everything else.

James held his hoof to his face as he shook his head. “It's not that straight forward, though not inaccurate. I really try to down play it, it causes more headaches for me than anything else”

Something occurred to Starlight as she thought about what it meant to be here. “So the door I just came through was a portal between your two castles?” She asked as a smile spread across her face.

James nodded. “Yes, but it's more than that. It's a portal between worlds.”

Starlight began to laugh. Twilight had a portal between worlds in her castle. This was amazing!

Rainbow Dash looked to her, concerned. “Um, are you okay?”

Starlight managed to stop laughing as she began to answer. “Yes. I'm alright. This is amazing! A portal between worlds? And one stable enough that everypony's comfortable just walking between them.”

Rainbow Dash landed and walked to the door. “Well, not everypony. The door is just for us and friends, we come here a few times each month. And James shows up whenever.”

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash is here for movie night.” James said as he walked in after her.

Starlight began to understand, if this was a different world it wouldn't be too strange to find that it was a different time of day. And why the design of the castle was so different than any Equestrian castle. Different events shaped what was called for here so they built according to their needs. It was actually becoming more fascinating the more she thought about it. Then it occurred to her that maybe she shouldn't stay, she hadn't been invited and they were about to see a movie.

“I guess I'll head back then.” She said as her voice dropped a bit.

“You don't have to leave. We're about to watch Indiana Jones. He's a lot like Daring Doo, just not quite as awesome.” Rainbow Dash said as they entered the foyer.

“I still prefer Indy.” James said calmly as he walked up the stairs.

“See you in a minute.” Rainbow Dash called as he disappeared through a door.

Starlight didn't understand why they weren't going to the movie if that was the plan. “Oh, so where's he going?”

“He's going to go change. … Oh right, you don't know.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she explained the situation to Starlight. Enjoying that she knew something that someone else didn't. “James isn't a pony. He just takes that form to not cause a scene while he's in Equestria.”

Starlight was really intrigued now. “So what is he?”

“He's a sayian. I don't know what that really means though.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head as she explained. “I think it's kind of like an alicorn for his people since he said he wasn't always a sayian. There's also Humans like Lucca, Quarians like Tali, and a lot more I don't know. I could tell you if we met them though.”

“Who's Tali?” Starlight asked as she tried to think if she ever met her.

James reentered the foyer as Rainbow Dash tried to explain things and smiled as he looked to them. “I guess there's going to be a lot of explaining to do.”

Starlight had never seen a creature like him before, she could draw similarities she knew of other creatures but James was something else.

Later that morning she and Rainbow Dash came back through the door that served as a link between worlds.

Twilight watched them walking and talking about something, she was glad to see that they were getting along so well.

Rainbow Dash returned later that day, it was the middle of the night in New Guardia as she carefully made her way through the castle, flying so as not to risk waking anyone up. She found James in the garden outside looking over his plants as Tenyo sat on a nearby bench reading a book.

“Good idea with the Indy movie.” James said as she landed near by.

Tenyo set her book down as she stood up from the bench. “Come on you two, you've both got a ways to go still.” She said as she approached them

“About our arrangement.” James calmly said. “It would probably be easier to be overt. Just use the door saying that you're coming to visit or watch a movie or something. That way there's no suspicion if we get another pony surprising us.”

“Sure. Besides, it's always fun to watch an Indy movie.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. She did like the movies, but for her they didn't compare to Daring Doo. Even the Indiana Jones books she had got felt like just passable imitations to her.

“Well there's only the one left before you've seen them all.”

“Focus.” Tenyo said. “James, it's time you really started losing weight. I know you can do it I've seen you do it before.”

“The problem is keeping it off.” James mumbled.

“Heh, you should try keeping up with the Wonder Bolts. Spitfire could get you in shape in no time.” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“No, if that worked for long he would have been in shape already.” Tenyo said. They had tried the military routine with GP years ago and it worked at first but eventually he started gaining back the weight, even with a restricted diet.

“Well if it works for now I can put him through drills until we come up with something better.” Rainbow Dash offered, she was certain that it would work. She helped get all the Pegesi in Ponyville the wing power to move their water up to Cloudsdale, getting one guy to lose weight when he actually wanted to should be easy.

“Alright. I'm inviting Washu up to stay with us for a while so she can monitor your progress and come up with something that should help.” Tenyo trusted that getting James fit would be an easy job for the smartest of the ultimate goddesses.

“I'll get a guest room ready for her.” James commented.

“And maybe you could even get some help from Bulk Biceps, he didn't get those muscles by talking to delegates and doing paperwork all day.” Rainbow Dash joked, this was actually sounding like it could be interesting.

“No rest for the wicked.” James said with a smile.

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

The exercise routine did help briefly, but all too soon James's progress stagnated.

Tenyo sat with Washu Lucca and Tali as they tried to think of something.

“Well we could work on his diet.” Tali offered. She knew that on the flotilla the fact that their diet had to be nearly vegetarian contributed to their lean physique.

Washu shook her head as she looked at the readout. She'd been keeping track of him physically for years because he was the only sayian who she could have regular access to to study. “No, actually his diet isn't too bad right now. I mean I see that he was starving himself again for a while but his diet is now a lot more vegetable centric. And being a sayian his caloric needs are higher than a normal human's. What he really needs is strenuous exercise.”

“We've got outside help keeping him exercising regularly, he's back to wearing his weighted clothes even.” Lucca said as she took another drink from her tea.

“Maybe you're looking at this all wrong.” Lady Seto said as she entered the room.

Washu cocked her eyebrow at her as she approached. “Care to explain how we're wrong?” She asked, genuinely curious.

Lady Seto smiled as she took a drink from her tea. “Well, you're training him like an athlete right now. You've tried training him like a soldier. And you've tried training him like a human. He's none of those things. At least not anymore.” Lady Seto said as she sat beside Lucca.

“He's a politician, how do you physically train to be that?” Tali asked.

“No, she's right.” It began to make sense to Washu. They hadn't been playing to James's strengths and he was failing because of it. “He's not a human, or an athlete or a soldier. He's a sayian, and he's a brawler. Give me a moment and I'll explain.” She said as she walked away.

“I guess it's professor Washu again.” Lucca said as she took drink of tea.

Washu had several desks set up along with a large screen in front of her with James's key features pictured and broken down into statistics. “Good evening students.” She said as each person took their seat. “So our problem today is how do we help a sayian lose weight and get in shape. Mrs. Tali, can you tell us what sayians are best known for?”

Tali was surprised at being called, she had expected Washu to explain it all to them. “They're known for their immense strength.” She cautiously answered.

Washu stood at the board a minute as she considered the answer. “That is partially true. Sayians are well known for their strength. Mrs. Lucca, would you care to tell us what else they're known for?”

Lucca had been in this position before, she knew that Washu took this classroom seriously and would get cross (and violent) if she didn't go along with it. “They're also known for being a warrior race.” She answered.

Washu smiled, she always liked being a teacher to attentive students. “Excellent. Part of the problem is that James was not these things, but he became them. Now he has the physical needs of a sayian but not the rearing to back it up. He's a politician, not a fighter. But everything in him is telling him he's a fighter. So he shrugs off injuries, pain is just something he can expect. He spends his time off conserving energy, he doesn't want to be too tired for the next fight that isn't coming. His appetite greatly outweighs his needs, his body is telling him that he needs to eat more because he needs the energy to fight. But he isn't fighting!”

Tenyo raised her hand, as much sense as this was making there was a hole in that argument.

“Yes, Mrs. Tenyo?”

Tenyo stood and bowed, she remembered her etiquette from school and knew Washu would appreciate it. “Professor Washu, that would still mean that training him like a soldier should work. But it hasn't so far.”

Washu smiled, this group was so much better than the girls at home. “Yes, normally it would, but sayians aren't soldiers. Soldiers thrive in regimented groups and on routines that they build. Sayians thrive in the chaos of close quarters combat and irregular battles. That's why Goku and Vegeta still fight with their fists, even when their Ki attacks would be able to do the job for them. They prefer to fight up close, using Ki when they really want to win.”

“Goku and Vegeta start with only a little strength at the ready because they enjoy fighting so much that they allow themselves to get beaten just to see how much of a fight they need to put up to win but still enjoy themselves.” Washu explained as she pointed to several images that showed up on her screen. “And this isn't even approaching the subject of the Zenkai boost that James utilizes regularly as he often puts himself in harms way.”

“So we need to find another fighter to keep him on his toes.” She concluded as she put her pointer away.

“I'm sure Wrex would be interested in fighting him, or even Grunt.” Tali suggested, however even this suggestion came with a serious drawback. “But he's much stronger than they are I don't know how much it would help.”

Lucca chuckled as she thought about seeing James going through the Krogan's initiation. “We could throw him at a Threshermaw. I'm sure that would give him a work out.”

Tali shook her head. “No, we don't want to risk a Treshermaw growing on the station. Once they're somewhere it's nearly impossible to get rid of them.”

“Why not another sayian?” Lady Seto suggested. They did have access to the remaining sayians, surely one of them would be interested in helping James train.

“Goku would get bored and Vegeta wouldn't even consider it.” Lucca said, shooting down the idea completely.

The group sat and contemplated as Washu's machines did their work around them. Minutes stretched on as they considered who else they knew that would be strong enough to give James a workout but would also be willing to train him.

It was a long shot but Lucca had an idea that might just do it. “Piccolo.” She eventually said.

Tali looked up, she had been trying to think of any thing short of a squad that could put enough pressure on James to train him. “Why Piccolo?” She asked, not really seeing Lucca's point.

Lucca smiled at her stroke of brilliance. “It just makes sense. Piccolo isn't as strong as Goku or Vegeta, but he's easily just as tough. He wont soften his training for James, if anything he'll make it more intense. And he trained Gohan, the strongest fighter in his universe, until Gohan got lax in his training that is.”

Tenyo realized that it was a good idea, however there was one small problem. “Those will be intense training sessions. Where can he go that won't get absolutely destroyed?”

Lucca smiled, once again she had the answer. “James's magical testing grounds. It's a small planetoid that he had made specifically to test his most dangerous spells and experiments. It should be able to handle a few punches from those guys.”

“I hope we've got enough Senzu to handle it.” Tenyo commented as she began looking at their inventory readouts.

The Castle felt different that evening as Rainbow Dash walked through. It was as if something big were happening and the weight of it had become a physical thing. She could hear voices coming from the foyer, one was clearly James but she didn't recognize the other. They were still too far away for her to really hear what they were talking about.

As she got closer to the foyer she began to understand what they were saying. “I'm surprised you've let yourself get this fat.” The deeper voice said, clearly irritated.

“Is it really a surprise? I'm a diplomat, not much call to fight when you have to make trade deals.” James said, he was speaking clearly and evenly. This was not a casual conversation.

“So why do you suddenly want to train?” The deep voice insisted.

Rainbow Dash turned the corner and saw James talking with a tall bald green man with antenna dressed in purple. Both of them wore serious expressions, but the green man looked particularly mean.

“Because I need to get back into fighting shape. What if something happens and I'm no longer strong enough to fight it back?” James argued.

The green man shook his head. “That's something you should have thought about already.”

James closed his eyes as he spoke. “I did. I've been dieting and exercising but nothing works. I need to fight!”

“Then why not ask Goku or Vegeta, they're sayians they can fight you until you get strong enough.” The green man snapped back.

“Goku'll just run off the moment something more interesting comes around. And if I wanted to get punched in the face over and over I'd ask Vegeta. I'm asking you because you're a tactician, you're strong and smart. If I start getting stronger you'll adjust how you fight to take me down in new ways. You're better than they are, even if they're stronger. Fighting shape isn't just strength.”

The green man just stood looking at James, as if expecting more. “You're a diplomat now, not a warrior. But if you're willing to fight as hard as you argue … Fine, I'll train you.”

Author's Note:

Something is definitely happening, and Rainbow Dash is in the middle of it. And if the Devil Princess of Jurai is involved there’s not many things it could be.