Vegeta smiled. The sight of Kakarot faded from view. He had a good fight, one of the greatest he ever had. He wouldn't admit it though. It was entirely unbecoming of a Sayian, especially the prince. His mind darkened. "Prince" Prince of a dead race exterminated by a purple alien whose pass-time was genocide and tyrannical dictatorship. His title was no-longer valid, but he wouldn't give it up. His pride forbade him. His, stupid, asinine, childish- He shook his mind from these thoughts. He was a warrior! More than just a saiyan! He was a super-sayian. Even in death, he had to keep himself superior. Kakarot had gotten stronger, but because Vegeta had died, he should've been weaker. He was still as strong as he was on the date of his death.
His mind puzzled, pondering his last battle. It was a good fight even if he had to fuse with that oaf, Kakarot, but his mind kept asking questions. Why was his body as strong as it was when the check-in station stopped? He came to the conclusion that the universe pitied him and gave him a break.
I don't need help, or pity... his thought echoed.
He then began wondering about his opponent. It was strong, whatever it was. It did possess powers that, in Vegeta's opinion, were a little weak. Weak in the sense that they weren't a real warrior's power. Matter changing, omni-presence, invulnerabiliuty; all tools that a coward would use. His mind went blank for a second. It was as if something had failed to present itself to Vegeta. The gears in his mind cranked and grinded. No. No, it wasn't that. It was more along the lines of something he was missing. He was missing something very importa-
Why aren't I suffering?
The realization had hit him, hard. Before he could think anything else, he felt a familiar power. It was his enemy. He recognised it from the battle they had. Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding light, and Vegeta felt his body return. He was floating in black space being pulled towards a large ball of energy. He couldn't move and he slammed into it. His body felt excrutiating pain as it was dragged towards the center of the energy sphere. Summoning the will of a stubborn sayian, he tried resisting. He felt the energy fading, which meant he had a chance of beating it! He called upon all the ki his body could give and charged it into his own ball. With all the force he could muster, he expelled it from his body, creating his own ball and shouting, "I'll blow you to bits!"
The energy, being only a fading echo of Janemba, drew in all of it's foes energy like sponge to water. It only had one goal left behind from it's previous life: Make this thing suffer. It was because of this thing that it died. It could've destroyed everything! The rage it felt was vengence, and it knew a way it would be sated. Although the energy was far from being as powerful as it was in it's original form, it still could break down the walls of reality. It used itself up and opened a hole into the void (or as some would call it "The space between spaces") and threw the sayian in. It died out happy, fullfilling it's goal and dissapated without any further struggle.
Vegeta didn't disappear into nothingness however. He was an object of reality, and was naturally drawn to the nearest reality that would accept it.
Twilight Sparkle looked through the telescope. Even though she was staying in Ponyville, the stars were clear as ever. Spike had already gone to bed as well as much of Ponyville. She didn't care. Star gazing was her hobby and she would be darned if she were to late it go. Her eye caught something. Twilight lifted her head from the telescope moving to a nearby desk. She levitated a quill over to an ink well dipping it and started writing on some parchment after checking a clock in the library.
Friday, 11th of may,11:02
Recent odd phenomenon in between Orion's Belt and Gemini. Will continue to observe, noting any changes.
Twilight set down the quill and trotted back to the telescope. Through it she stared at two nearly invisible dots. Turning the base, she zoomed in at them for a better look, when a sudden flash of white light caused her to stumble back. Her head craned skyward as she saw streaks of white light crossing over the night sky. She smiled. They were asteroids. Little bits of space debris burning up in the atmosphere high above. They were also called shooting stars, and when she was a little filly she would always make a wish on them. Back in those days, she really thought they would come true. sighing in nostalgia, she cantered silently to her kitchen. She would wait for them to pass, and then would continue her research.
Vegeta drifted in and out of consciousness. When he drifted in the first time, he could feel an excruciating pain coming from every inch of his body. His mind fought back trying to ignore it, but in the end Vegeta blacked out.
The second time, he felt the pain but he also felt a little trouble breathing before fading out.
The third time, he felt a strange mix of falling and the smell of something burning. He shut his eyes, accepting the haze of unconsciousness.
The space junk passed out of view and Twilight Sparkle observed the small anamoly in the sky. It was now very near impossible to see, but that only made her focus even more.She was so focused that she failed to notice the one asteroid that didn't burn up, and in fact was going to collide with the Everfree forest. Nor did she hear the resulting boom that came afterward.
~~~
Vegeta woke up, or in this case, managed to stay conscious. His entire body was in an indescribable amount of pain. At first thought he was back in hell, but the idea was shot down as soon as a calm breeze wafted through. That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing that Vegeta noticed was how weak he felt. He laid there for a few seconds trying to charge his inner ki, but he couldn't. It was one of two things:
#1. He was so wrought with pain that he couldn't summon the energy physically.
#2. He was so drained that the fatigue was preventing him from gaining any strength. He couldn't decide on either one, unfortunately, because of the lack of personal interest. Vegeta, having decided that he was sick of lying down, attempted to get up. He dragged his arm across a rough surface and tried to force himself up. He was nearly stunned at how much concentration it took to do this and did the only thing he could do: get angry.
"Oh just look at the mighty sayian warrior," said a voice in his head in a mocking tone. It was all too familiar to Vegeta. This was the voice of his opressor, and murderer. "Can't even hold up his own weight! Face it, Vegeta," This was the voice of Frieza. "You're just another monkey."
He growled and finally picked up his right arm, forcing it to bend and push the rest of his body upward to a sitting position. As his back bent, he gasped realizing how injured he really was. It cracked and popped in retaliation. He endured through sheer will power. He decided the next course of action would be to take a look of his surroundings. He immediately regretted this as a flood of bright light and color wailed and throbbed against his brain. He shut his eyes and balled his other hand in a fist.
Come on! Just get one glance of wherever the hell you are! Gritting his teeth, Vegeta opened his eyes ignoring the water pouring out of them. His eyes adjusted quickly and painfully. He saw a treeline at the top of a slow incline. The incline upwards was stone and was a fairly light grey. At the top was what he assumed to be grass. Through some easy deduction, Vegeta calculated that he was in the bottom of a crater. It only took a couple seconds more to realize that he was in the center of the crater, therefore making him the object that made it.
Kakarot must've gathered the Dragon Balls and wished me back. Vegeta smiled inwardly. He was back on Earth. He could continue living. He could continue training with his son, and live with his wife-
The chain of good thoughts was interrupted by a startling fact. Where the hell was he?
Using the same arm that got him this far, decided to force himself to stand. The plan backfired as soon as he tried moving his legs. Instantly, the sayian felt a crippling pain shooting up and down his legs. He did not expect the pain to be this much of a nuisance to him. It didn't matter though. One way or another, he would stand. Biting his bottom lip, Vegeta forced himself again, hearing the groaning of his muscles. He bit down and felt blood come from his mouth. At last, he stood on his feet as the pain soon went numb.
Vegeta took a wavering step against the crater's incline and half-shambled his way up. His hands were both balled into fists and eyes were in focused scowl. Even though he couldn't feel the pain now, he felt all his tendons and muscle tissue wanting to sieze up. This was most clearly seen by the way that his back was hunched over. He had hoped that he could will his body to stand straight, but was angered that this was all he could muster.
Vegeta conquered the first obstacle, and was now glowering at the dark treeline. He considered the option of flying over this. After trying multiple times to get airborne, he muttered some guttural curses and began to make his way into the forest.
He began to doubt whether he was summoned by the dragon balls. This started when he was well-into the thicket. If I wasn't wished back to life, then how am I alive? I definatly feel alive, but the last time I was brought back it felt different than... this. I wasn't as weak then, and I was automatically sent to my dead corpse. I don't remember dying in the woods, so why am I here?! Vegeta soon fell into a spiral of confusion. The only thing that brought him out of it was the sounds of chirping birds overhead. He looked up and saw them flying through the openings between the dense canopy. Vegeta then caught in the corner of his eye the light of day bleeding through the space between the trees. He shambled over to the treeline and sighed in relief. He saw a small rural looking house. He forgot himself for a brief moment and made his way over to it.
When he found himself at the house, he remembered that he had no plan. He could barely speak in the condition he was in, let alone use a phone. If they had a phone. He was around the back section of it, and at first he saw dozens of animals, but they all scattered as he shuffled to them. They were mostly squirrels and other natural forest wildlife. Under his breath, he muttered, "Vermin." His hope was dampened a bit, but not extinguished. Vegeta craned his neck looking for any signs of intelligent life.
"AAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHH!!!!" An earsplitting shriek pierced the air from behind the wounded sayian. Vegeta whipped around bringing a sense of vetigo with him. That wasn't the only thing he felt. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw before him. It was a blurr of yellow ducking behind the house and the shape of it had baffled him. "A m-m-monster!" the voice shrieked again. His mind was still puzzling out what he just saw. It had wings whatever it was. That much was clear to him. However, the confusing shape was just too much for him. Vegeta soon felt the unconscious take hold of him as the world, once again, faded from view.
Fluttershy woke up to a fairly normal day. Having fed breakfast to all the little critters in her home, she started to feed her chickens, and all the other animals outside her home. The yellow mare had just finished feeding the otters under the bridge, when some of the birds who lived in the Everfree forest flew over chirping frantically. She wanted to calm them down, but they were already out of her sight. She sighed and drifted into her home. Fluttershy always wanted to help animals in need of it, and everytime an animal refused her help or went away before she could made her feel horrible. On some days, it got to her. She would resent herself for not being fast enough.
She had made herself an ameteur breakfast. She nibbled at the toasted DLT wondering what she had to do today. She had finished feeding her animal friends, but other than that she had no other plans. She had to go out to the market at some point in the day-
She suddenly saw all the creatures she had fed today, make an effort to get into her home. They squeezed through the windows, her doorway, and every other nook and cranny.They were all squeaking, barking, chirping at her in fear about something. Fluttershy's attention was forced to a white rabbit pulling on her mane.
"What's wrong?" she said turning her head to the rabbit. It jumped up and down flailing with its tiny paws. Fluttershy nodded, understanding everything the rabbit had "said" to her. Her brow creased in confusion. "There's something outside?" At that very statement all the animals began "shouting" loudly. Her expression changed to worry as as she caught bits and pieces of the outcry. She heard one of them "saying" that it came from the Everfree, others claiming that it had the marks of Tartarus, but all came to the same conclusion that it was the most terrifying thing they had ever seen. Fluttershy, fearing for her friends stood up as she said in a tone that was almost in-audible over the roar of the beasts.
"Um, please don't panic. I-I'll go see what's bothering you." Before the mare floated out of the room, the white rabbit had leaped onto her back. "Angel, you don't have to go, if you don't want to..." the rabbit crossed its arms and glared at Fluttershy insulted. She sighed fearing for her pet's safety rather than her own.
Fluttershy had involuntarily screamed when she saw... whatever it was and decided it was best to hide. In this, she had nearly forgotten her passenger. The bunny was clinging onto the mares pink tail. She quickly apologized, and shivered in complete fear hugging the short-fused hare to her chest.The rabbit let out an exasperated gasp. Fluttershy quickly loosened the grip on her hare and whispered, "Sorry..."Fluttershy flinched at the next sound she heard.
WHUMPF!
She sat there for a few moments. Curiosity washed away her fear for the moment, and Fluttershy peeked around the side of her cottage.
It was lying on the ground dust settling around it. She stared contemplating on what it was. The thing was large, and appeared to wear clothing of some sort. It had a slightly singed, blue sort of one piece suit that had no sleeves. Out of it, she saw a long, brown tail that lay still. It was the kind of tail she would expect to find on a monkey. She noticed that it looked like it had opposable digits, similar to dragon claws. They weren't as sharp or lean as dragon claws although, she could've been wrong because it had a pair of white gloves on. The thing also appeared to have a pair of white boots to match them, but then saw it had a certain length to its foot. She took note on the muscular shoulders it had and the pale hairless skin. Her eyes then drifted to what she assumed was the head of the monster. This particular area was the only portion of the body that seemed to have hair on it whatsoever, and it was... spikey, reminding her of a porcupine, and somehow defied gravity retaining its shape and position.
Her mind suddenly went to the worst possible scenario.
It's all mismatched... It kinda reminds me of- She squeaked as her eyes bulged and pupils shrank. Discord! Her fear took grip again and she didn't see that angel had began hopping toward the body. there was a look of determination in his small black eyes which was replaced by regret as he came closer and closer to the great beast. He stopped mere inches away from it's head. Swallowing the lump of fear in the back of his throat, the bunny took in a deep breath gathering all the courage it could muster and kicked it.
Fluttershy saw as the kick was in mid-swing. She was about to call out "Angel bunny! Get away from there!" but was interrupted by a sudden white blur that dashed past her and into her mane. The bunny shivered peeking out from behind its cover. Fluttershy stared sidelong at her pet, feeling worry, anger, and something she didn't expect to be feeling... Guilt.
It finally dawned on her. It was staring at her blankly in the face. If it were any more obvious, it would have a huge blinking sign with a siren flashing it. This was no monster. This was a creature, just like any other she cared for and, as the pegasus looked at it, was hurt. Her mind berated her, calling it horrible names and words thatshe heard rainbow Dash or Applejack use. she quickly shook her head. This was no time for punishment. Right now, an animal was injured, unconscious, and lyng practically on her doorstep. There was no way in Tartarus that she would let this one down!
"Where am I?" a voice echoed into blackness. "Who am I? Where am I? Who am I?" the voice repeated. "I'm... I'm a..." After a long, grueling process, the voice remembered something that seemed important. "I'm... My name... Vegeta." Vegeta took brief pause before concentrating more. "My name is Vegeta, and I am... a saiyan. A saiyan warrior. Yes! I am a warrior!" The memories began flooding back. He remembered his planet, the sayians, Frieza, Kakarot, the dragon balls... but then in the darkness, he heard a voice that interrupted his train of thought. It was soft and delicate. It was also muffled, as if he were listening to it through a wall. Curiousity had peaked the lucid sayian. He strained and soon the world of the waking came back.
He was lying down, but that didn't stop the extreme sense of vertigo. His stomach retaliated by doing flips. He also felt... comfort. Wherever he was, it was warm too, and felt something on his chest. The voice he heard too, much more clearly this time. It sounded like it was humming an unfamiliar tune. Forcing back his lunch back down, he squinted his eyes open.
The color blurred for a moment as his vision slid into view. Vegeta saw amorphous grey blobs become more distinct shapes. He was lying in a bed with sheets and quilts. his vision trailed to the wooden endposts of the bed. He tried looking at the far wall, but was still in grey blob form. His eyes traced to the sound of the humming, and he saw... a yellow... thing. His recent memories came back, and hit him like a truck. The saiyan elite's mind were brimming with questions, all pushing to escape his lips. It had pink -It just had to be that one color- hair. Yellow and pink. That was enough to make the saiyan groan, which apparently got the yellow thing's attention.
Fluttershy dipped the folded cloth into the basin of water in her room-turned-nursing ward. The water was cool to the touch. She was determined to help this creature, whatever it may be... She was so focused that she hardly noticed the tune she was humming. She looked at it lying in her bed. It's chest was rising and setting in a repetative rhythym. "That's a good sign," she thought. "I have to remember to thank Harry again." The pegasus reflected on how the creature was carried into her home. She had convinced Harry that it was safe, and even promised an extra fish the next time it was feeding time. She wrung the water out of the cloth and folded it into a small rectangle.
That was when a loud groan sounded through the room. Her head turned to the bed and the creature was looking at her through squinted eyes. They were a dark, near black color.
"Please, um," Fluttershy took a few steps toward the creature. "Don't get up. You were hurt badly," she said taking another few steps. It's eyes just followed her. . .
"What in the name of creation is this thing?! Why can it talk?! Why can I understand it? Why does it have such bulbous eyes? Why does it have a butterfly tattoo? Why does it have wings?! What does it mean? Is it a female?" Vegeta reflected a moment on this last question. "It's probably a female from the lack of any grit in the voice inflection, but still: What does it mean by 'hurt badly'? How the hell can it manage to walk on three legs?! How does it hold that rag without dropping it!? Does it have a phone?! How does it dial one, if it really does have a phone?"
"You're safe though," Flutteshy added quickly. "You're in my cottage and, um..." she placed the cool wet cloth on its forehead. The face it bore was stone-cold, barring any sense of emotion. She began doubting if this thing could even understand a word she was saying. "... I brought you in here to nurse you back to health," She concluded turning to leave. "Please, get some rest- if you want to, I mean..."
"Safe? Cottage?!" Vegeta's eyes glanced quickly to the door of the room. It had a doorknob. "H-how does she..." His eyes shut. He knew one way to solve this. He felt signifcantly better after he decided to take a nap (an easier pill to swallow than saying, "Fell unconscious"). He opened his eyes once more.
"Wh... what..." Vegeta's throat was dry. After swallowing some saliva, he asked, "What are you?"
Fluttershy stopped at the foot of the bed. She looked back at the creature with astonishment. It could talk. This creature, monkey or monster, could speak. Their eyes locked and a long minute passed before she responded.
"I'm a pegasus," she stated, her mind going crazy to figure out what this was exactly.
"Pega-what?" Vegeta retorted, his mind just as confused.
"Oh dear. This is worse than I thought." "Um... you know," she started eyes gazing away for a second. She leaned on the endpost. "A pony with... wings," she simplified giving a small flap of her wings. Her mind suddenly brought something to her attention. She then said before Vegeta could form another question, "Oh, You're probably wondering what my name is." Vegeta waited for an answer.
"My name isFluttershy..." She looked away from the saiyan, no longer able to return his hard gaze.
"What?" Vegeta's eyebrows creased.
"My name isFluttershy," she mumbled again.
"What?!" Vegeta said in his normal tone. He sat up in the bed trying to figure out what she was saying.
"MynameisFluttershy!" she squeaked out in a single sentence.
Vegeta opened his mouth to say something else when reality struck him in the back of the head. His eyes opened in shock as he had a revelation. In his mind, a single statement formed.
Vegeta, the prince of all saiyans, the elite warrior, was taken into the home of a yellow and pink, pastel colored, midget horse with wings, disgustingly huge eyes, and butterflies on it's ass, who can't so much as look him in the eye to tell her name -Fluttershy, no less!-, and was the one to feel pity for him as he was, quote/un-quote, "hurt badly."
Vegeta's mind went blank. Slowly, he broke away from the daze and his eyebrows relaxed to their normal scowl position. "Maybe I am in hell..." he thought. Wherever he was, he didn't want to be here. He was going to fly out of here, forget everything he saw and never look back. The saiyan got out of the bed, and walked to the window.
"W-wait!" Fluttershy protested. It was a bit too late. The prince opened the window and jumped out.
Vegeta landed with a thud. The animals that were around scattered. He didn't care. His mind toiled away trying to figure out another way of getting out of here. It shocked him for a second realizing that he couldn't fly, but he wasn't entirely fazed. He was more concentrated on leaving than his lack of power at the moment. At last, he turned to look at a dense forest-line. It was familiar. He had come from those woods to this cottage in hopes of finding a way home, but now it served as a one-way ticket to get-the-hell-out-of-dodge.
Fluttershy sighed in relief seeing that the monkey-creature wasn't hurt. Taking flight, she followed the sayian. "You can't leave! You aren't fully recovered," she called after him. Vegeta kept walking. "Please, you need more rest!"
The saiyan stopped, and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, the weak thing was right. He wasn't back to full. He could feel his strength returning and he was at least able to walk normally. And that was from only a "short nap." If he were to rest properly, he could regain his strenthg to fly and get out of here. That was another thing Vegeta realized. He had no clue where he was. Where was he to go?
Would he admit this to anyone? Nope. His pride had already taken a suckerpunch today, and that was enough. In his head, he made another plan. Rest only until ability to fly returns, then leave. He would not stoop so low as to accept this thing's help so easily though.
"...Fine," he grumbled. Fluttershy simled, making a 'squee' noise. Vegeta flinched. The noise was wretched.
"Okay, now lets just get you back-" Fluttershy stopped as she watched Vegeta walk away. Vegeta saw a rock that looked like a comfortable place to lean against and brood. "Um..." Fluttershy just watched as the saiyan slumped down.
Vegeta shut his eyes leaning his back against the rock. He felt something squirm underneath him. Standing up he looked down and saw nothing. His shadow was against the rock surface and the ground beneath him. Then, he saw it. Vegeta reached behind him and grabbed his tail. He didn't remember growing it back, but it didn't bother him much. Following the tail back around to the base of his back, he took a strong grip and yanked.
Fluttershy panicked. The creature who she had spent a full night treating just mutilated itself in front of her. She stared in horror as the dismembered tail writhed in the saiyans hands.
"N-n-now, don't panic! I-I c-can get you to the hospital and they'll-" Fluttershy's meltdown was interrupted as the saiyan tossed it over his shoulder. She watched as it landed in the dusty ground behind him.
Vegeta was very amused. He slumped back against the rock again with a slight grin. He was stifiling back a chuckle. Back on earth, he sometimes would find himself with a tail in public. People would only gawk for a moment as he grabbed it and tore it off. He would then toss it over his shoulder and watched as the puny earthlings cowered in fear as it writhed on the ground. It soon became a personal pass time. He had a front row seat to this... pony's reaction to it.
Fluttershy drifted over to the tail with her forlegs covering her mouth. She was bewildered, nauseated, and a bit morbidly curious. The brown tail just lay still on the ground. She landed softly and in foolish courage, her hoof drifted toward the tail and touched it.
The tail squirmed at her touch causing the timid pegasus to jump a little and fall over. Vegeta couldn't hold it back any longer. He threw his head back and laughed. That had to be one of the best reactions he had gotten from anyone. Fluttershy just laid there frozen in shock.
Suddenly Vegeta felt something patting his leg. He looked down and immediately had mixed emotions about what he was seeing. He saw what appeared to be a small white rabbit furiously beating on his leg. On one hand, he felt respect for this creature. This thing had enough dumb courage to take him on. If it were a sayian, then he'd be a little proud of it. However, it was cute and had a death wish. Vegeta swatted away the rabbit sending it rolling towards the cottage.
Angel recovered from his sudden trip. He was a little more than peeved that this monster had scared Fluttershy. His first attack didn't seem to have any effect. He wasn't unprepared though. He had a plan B. Angel then found himself thankful that he accompanied the pegasus to a seminar for dealing with creeps. "If your warning doesn't send them running, then use your mace to cripple him." The words the presenter used echoed in his head. Angel grinned with newfound resolve and disappeared into a bush.
Vegeta was a little annoyed that the rabbit attacked him, but it was soon forgotten as Vegeta settled himself into a comfortable position. Fluttershy was recovering from her little spaz-attack and pulled herself together. The silent air was cut as a sudden war cry was heard. Vegeta's eyes snapped open. He looked to the right of him and saw the white rabbit from before holding a mace over it's head preparing for a downward strike.
"ANGEL BUNNY!" an angry voice shouted over the war-cry. The attention of both were turned to a glaring pegasus. "That is NOT how we treat our guests." The rabbit fell from his flight as the mace fell from his grasp. Angel flailed his arms around in desperate explanation. Fluttershy floated to him. His ears fell as she towered above him. She shook her head in disappointment. "You know better than that." Angel crossed his arms and looked away. "Now you are going to apologize, and then we are going to have a serious talk," Fluttershy said in a firm voice. Angel's ears perked up and he sighed. He held out an apologetic paw.
"Oh no, mister," she started. "Not to me." Angel reflected until he realized what she meant. His eyes turned to a brief moment of anger. He hopped to Vegeta. He held out his paw to him. Vegeta huffed and turned away from him in apathy. He could've cared less about it.
Angel glared, but before he could do anything, Fluttershy nudged with her hoof. Reluctantly, he moved away silently swearing revenge. Vegeta listened to the sound of hooves against the ground fade away as his mind drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Fluttershy was just finishing up with her in-house chores when she heard a knock on her front door. She hovered over to the door and in a timid voice asked, "Wh-who is it?"
"It's me, Fluttershy," a familiar voice answered. She opened the door to see a sky-blue, rainbow maned pegasus standing on her doorstep.
"Hi Rainbow Dash," she greeted. "What are doing here?"
"I'm here with the raincloud you wanted," Dash explained. She shot upward and returned with a somewhat grey cloud.
Fluttershy's mouth made an 'o' shape as she remembered what today was. She had asked that Rainbow bring a rain cloud today to clean the animals. "Oh, that's right! I'd forgotten completely. Let me just ga-"
"That's alright, Shy," she unknowingly interrupted. "I'll just get ready while you gather them up around back." With that, she took ahold of the cloud and flew off.
Rainbow Dash was high in the sky when she saw it. Her eyes widened as she and the cloud descended. Fluttershy came bolting but stopped once she saw Rainbow's transfixed gaze. "oh no... She's going to panic and run away... Or maybe even worse," The yellow equine thought. She bit down on her hooves. She waited for the explosion. Rainbow came into contact with the ground and Fluttershy saw several emotions fighting to take control of Dash's face. Dash stood there, rooted in place. "Great! Now I broke her..." Fluttershy scolded herself for not being fast enough. It always came back to that. She wasn't fast enough to save that small sea-turtle, or that little sparrow. Memories of animals that she cared for long-since gone flashed-
Something snapped her out of her self-loathment. Rainbow Dash made a noise. Her cheeks were puffed out, and had a smile plastered across them. Dash placed a hoof over her mouth. Her eyes were squinting, and she was sputtering. If Fluttershy didn't know any better, she would've thought that Rainbow-
-was laughing. Fluttershy stood confused. Maybe she had broken her friend more badly than she thought. The blue pegasus was on her back, all four hooves kicking and flailing about with tears of utter joy streaming from her face. Vegeta was awoken by the raucous laughter, but instead of complaining to the upper management about his predicament, he sat still and listened.
When Rainbow Dash had composed herself well enough to form complete sentences, she asked, "J-ju... Just what the hay is that?" She gestured a hoof she had control over towards the saiyan at the rock.
"Oh, um... I don't-" Fluttershy's face fell on deaf ears as Rainbow continued.
"It looks like a shaved, pink, monkey wearing one of Rarity's hats!" Dash commented getting back to her hooves.
"Strike one..." Vegeta thought to himself.
Fluttershy was taken back from her friend's comment. Her face contorted into a firm expression as she said, "Rainbow Da-"
"And what is it wearing? Is the circus in town?" Rainbow Dash interrupted once more.
"...strike two..."
Fluttershy stood up this time trying to put on an angry face, but it came out as a worried expression. Rainbow Dash did not have any right to make fun of any of her animals. At the same time, she began picking up subtle hints from her newest animal. She could see small, individual hairs beginning to stand on end, a claw was gripping around its arm...
In all her years of animal experience, she knew an almost universal body language. It was subtle things that her animals did. All the little quirks and nervous twitches held some form of meaning to her. It helped a lot in her line of work. The creature leaning against the rock was not happy...
"Rainbow Dash, I think you should stop," Fluttershy said with a twinge of fear. The last statement had gotten through to her.
"What? Why? It's not like he's dangerous," Rainbow said. She knew a way to prove her point. She took a few steps toward the beast stopping halfway between it an Fluttershy. She stooped down and picked up a rock.
"No, no, no, no, no, no," Fluttershy stammered.
"Just watch," Rainbow dash said ignoring her friend. Taking close aim, she threw the rock at Vegeta.
Vegeta heard a small whistling noise. He let his saiyan instincts and training take control. His hand reached up and grabbed the rock out of the air. His eyes opened into a scowl and he turned his head. When his eyes met the rainbow maned pegasus, he crushed the rock into dust. "Strike three... and your gone."
"Oh no! Looks like I made it angry!" Rainbow Dash howled with laughter.
Fluttershy stood horrified. Her pupils shrank. She knew that look the creature was giving her friend. She had only seen it one other time, but the image was firmly implanted in her mind. It was that same gaze that Nightmare Moon had all those years ago. This gaze, however, was also very different. These eyes, like the ones of the Nightmare Moon, dared her to look away, but no matter what she did or how much she wanted to, Fluttershy could not tear her eyes away. It was a sort of mind trick that she would expect Twilight to have a book on. Unlike the the mare in the moon, she didn't feel herself wanting to run away. Of course she did want to run away and hide, but the yellow pegasus questioned whether it would do any good. It was as if those eyes knew where to find her. She knew two things at this point; #1. This creature was very, very dangerous; #2. Rainbow Dash was in a serious amount of trouble. She wanted to call out to her friend, telling her to run or hide or just get out of there. She, however, found herself too frightened to move, let alone speak.
Vegeta on the other hand, found himself faced with a dilemma. This pony creature had pissed the saiyan off in a number of ways. One of them was insulting him. He would not tolerate an insult from anyone or anything. Another thing was that this thing was far too weak. He was hoping that he would at least get a good fight out of this if anything. One of the biggest ways, however, was that he could not tell if it was a male or female. He could tell that the yellow one was a female because of her voice, but this one had conflicting signals. Its hair was messy and voice gritty which made him think it was a male. The eyelashes and color scheme, however, spoke differently. Long eyelashes were a dead giveaway that it was in fact female (something that his wife could attest to). Now, the saiyan did have a favorite color. This favorite color was in fact blue. In his youth, the planet Vegeta always had such rich, deep blue oceans and his current home, Earth, had them as well. This, however did nothing to cover the fact that the hair color of this "Pony" happened to be something that he hated. Rainbows. He had no idea what the purpose of these stupid things were and could find no purpose to which he would find useful. This thing was mostly blue, but also had rainbow colored hair. In the end though, his hatred won out and he could care less whether it was a she or he. The other part of his dilemma was his power. Sure, he had his strength back. Vegeta was grateful that he could grind this insulant brat into pulp, but he still felt slightly weak. He wasn't sure why, which only made him angrier. His ki wouldn't charge for some reason. It was as if he were still a young saiyan learning to fight for the first time. What ki he still had was barely enough for a simple ki blast. The question of whether or not he could fly came into his mind, but he shrugged it off. Now was the time to teach this thing a lesson.
Vegeta shot off from his spot like a jet towards Rainbow Dash. His fist raised, he swung. To his displeasure, he swung at the air. He started detecting the ki of the rainbow colored one. He found it quickly. It was above him. Turning, he glared at it.
Fluttershy blinked. She could've sworn that the creature was at the rock a moment ago, and that Rainbow was laughing. She saw her friend in the air above and could have easily explained what happened there. She found it hard to explain about the creature. "Did it really just move that quickly?" Dumbfounded, she just stared.
"Not bad," Rainbow dash stated. "You're pretty fast, but not as fast as me." Rainbow scoffed, her ego swelling.
Vegeta growled. He had been insulted again. Calling on the small bit of power he still had, he tried to forcibly charge his ki. For a moment nothing happened. Then, he felt his fatigue. He was still tired, but that would not stop him. Even after his power nap, he was still too weak. That made his anger skyrocket. The air around him began swirl. He grit his teeth, glaring at the rainbow pegasus. His ki slowly began to rise. Fluttershy couldn't form a single thought. She was frightened and awestruck to what she saw. The creature-no, the area around it was changing. She saw a thin, light-blue veil appear around him as the ground started to shake.
Rainbow Dash, still in her own little world, said, "If you're lucky, you might be able to catch me."
That sent him right over the edge. He shot up leaving a streak of light behind him. Rainbow looked down and saw the creature directly at her. Her instincts kicked in and with a powerful thrust of her wings moved out of the way. She smirked. "Too slow!" She shot off into the blue sky.
Vegeta shouted, "Come back here! You little runt!" He soon followed after.
Fluttershy sat there on the ground for a brief moment before galloping off down the road.
Vegeta, fueled by his ire, was quickly gaining speed on the blue pegasus. The rainbow trail it left was mildly irritating to the saiyan. It now had found a purpose to him. It fanned the flames of his rage. His mind was filled with the pleasure of sending this thing on a one way trip to the moon. He then regretted tearing his tail off for a moment. Focusing on his pursuit, he quickly closed the gap between the two.
Rainbow Dash glanced behind her and saw the monkey gaining on her. She smiled. She hadn't felt this much of a challenge since the Iron Mare competition. Her mind wanted to make sure this thing was a match for her. Applejack was her equal when it came to ground sports, but because she had no wings, Rainbow had the upper hoof. Rainbow felt excited at the fact that something could give her a run for her money. Ever since the Lightning Dust incident, she felt that nopony could quite keep up with her. She easily quickened her pace jetting off towards a group of clouds. This thing may be fast, but just how agile was it? She weaved in and out of the clouds not losing any speed whatsoever.
Vegeta nearly had it in his grasp, but the damned thing moved away inches before he could grab it. It was going faster. Frustration taking over, the saiyan increased his speed. It struck him odd the way the pegasus flew into the clouds. He then assumed that it was just trying to lose him. "I won't give that easily," Vegeta thought.
Rainbow Dash watched from the corner of her eye as the monkey, instead of just following her lead, just effortlessly passed through the clouds as if they weren't there. Her mind remembered one of the true facts of this world. 'If it flies, then it can feel clouds.' Her mine clicked. She meant to test the agility of the purser, not the toughness. Those clouds were genuine Sun-Blocking clouds, meant to be used for windy days. They were built like concrete and sometimes used as foundation for cloud homes. She was glad to see that it was tough though. She knew more than one way to test it's agility. Sticking her toungue out in concentration, she nosedived at a ninety degree angle.
Vegeta followed after the pegasus. The gravity of the world below aided him, and just as his goal was in reach, it was gone. Sensing the ki quickly getting farther away, he righted his body, slamming against the ground below him. The grassland quickly contorted into a large crater. Vegeta, forcing himself back upward, neared his target once more.
Rainbow looked below her and saw the creature hurdling towards her. She saw beneath it a large dustcloud, but she paid no attention as she flew out of the way flying up higher and higher. She would admit it. This thing was pretty good for a... whatever. She still had one last trick up her sleeve.
"Not bad," she conceded after reaching the set altitude. "But you're going to need to be a lot faster than that." She dipped down flapping her wings frantically. She soon felt the mach cone materialize. Vegeta's hand reached out for the tail.
KA-BOOM!
Vegeta could have cared less that a rainbow had miraculously appeared. He ignored the shockwave that came after breaking the sound barrier. Seeing the Rainbow trail lead straight to his prize, he was reminded of some Earth story that he heard. If you follow a rainbow to the end, a midget will come out and if you kill him, he'll grant you immortality. Of course, this was only a fable, albeit misconstrued. The prize at the end of this rainbow however, would sate his anger. It was almost as good as immortality. "You're not getting away that easily!" Vegeta shouted.
Rainbow Dash did not hear him. She had a smug smile and nearly giggled like a filly when she thought of the look on it's face. Triumphantly, she looked back and the smugness fell away. The thing was right on her trail and was gaining. Reality seemed to snap back to Rainbow. The look it was giving her sent shivers up her spine.
"I'm going to tear you apart!!!" Vegeta shouted when the pegasus turned her head. Rainbow's heart skipped a beat. The excitement she felt disappeared. This thing was angry, fast, tough, and could talk. Fear filled her as the words sank in...
"It wants to kill me."
Rainbow narrowly dodged a swipe that the saiyan made. She didn't know how strong it was, but judging from the look on it's face she knew how much it was going to use. Her wings buzzed like a hummingbird, trying to get as far away from this monster as she could. Her mind scrambled for a plan. She dove down, now moving a little faster than sonic rainboom speeds towards the farmlands with her pursuer in tow.
Applejack bucked another tree. Apples fell from it's branches into the buckets below it. She had been working since the sun rose, but she wasn't tired. She was used to this life and loved every minute of it. She turned to a new tree.
"Howdy," she said to it with a thick southern accent. "Ah was wonderin' if y'all would mind if I were to take some of yer apples?"
The tree made no response.
"Thank-you kindly," she said turning around to give the tree a forceful kick. Granny Smith said that you should always ask the trees before taking their apples. The buck landed with a solid thud as apples fell from the tree. She suddenly heard a large boom. She looked to the skies to see the faint outline of a rainboom. She smiled. That pony was nothing but thick-headed, not that Applejack didn't mind it. Rainbow Dash was just athletic as she was. She didn't have any right or could think of anything to say about her.
After a while, she moved to a new tree when something out of he corner of her eye caught her attention. She could see the trail of a rainbow moving. She paused. It almost looked like- Her eyes went wide. It was coming closer. Applejack was about to leap for cover when she heard a voice.
"... ... heeeeeEEEEEeeeeelp!" The blur shouted in the doppler effect. Applejack placed a hoof on her hat as a strong gust blew by. She looked to the rainbow as it turned left and right randomly. Applejack squinted. She barely made out a thin blue trail following the rainbow.
"Hang on Rainbow!" she called. The orange cowpony ran to the barn and grabbed a rope coiled around a hook. She quickly tied it into a lasso. She made small loops with i, testing it before running out. She looked around and saw the trail fly by again. Putting one end in her teeth, she spun the lasso in the air. After a few moments, she threw it into the air at the right tim as the lasso tightened. The rope was long, and Applejack prepared to take the varmint down.
Vegeta didn't feel the rope tie around his feet and kept flying.
Applejack felt the rope tug, but then... nothing. She opened her eyes that shut in preparation. The rope was gone. It was yanked straight from her mouth. She felt the burn against her teeth set in. Whatever was chasing rainbow had some buck to it.
Now that it slapped the bull, it was going to get the horns.
Applejack waited for another pass, and shouted quickly, "Lead 'im over to me!" Rainbow caught the information and sped off toward another part of the farm. Applejack closed her eyes, concentrating. The world around her faded from her mind, then sound, and then thought. She was in her element. Right behind her was the Grand Apple Tree, the biggest tree on the farm. She waited forthe right moment and...
WHACK! Applejack gave her most powerful mule kick she could muster. Even though it was a hard and solid hit, her legs still buckled. It felt like she just kicked a concrete wall. The world came back as she turned to see something flying off down a dirt path. She fell to the ground. Her legs felt like jelly. Rainbow drifted downward, her mouth agape. Applejack grinned and in between breaths said, "Years... of Applebuckin'."
Shaking the numbness out of her legs, she trotted to investigate the newly formed crater and the creature within. Vegeta lie facedown in dirt. His mind was searching to find the right memeory to explain what happened. His chest hurt a bit, but sooned died away. Then, it came to him. One second, he had felt the tail through his gloves. The next, he saw the rear end of a- Vegeta was sent right over the edge.
Applejack couldn't find the words to explain it. Before she could ask, Vegeta gave a gutteral growl. His gloved fingers dug into the dirt. He stood to his feet, his unending growl growing with his anger. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked in amazed horror as the eyes of the creature changed from cool black to an icy green-blue hue and the blue veil that surrounded him previously become replaced by a yellow aura. His hair was the most capturing part of this, however. His once jet-black hair had now become a shimmering golden color dancing like wildfire.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Vegeta barked in rage. Applejack turned on her heels and sprinted. Rainbow Dash flew off into the sky above. The anger-driven saiyan leapt after her. Applejack darted leftward through some trees feeling the wind brush past her. Vegeta slid across the ground stirring up large rock formations. He dashed into the thicket eyes wildly searching for the pony.
Applejack's chest heaved. She had never been more terrified in her life. She hushed her breathing as a familiar growl was heard close by.
Vegeta's rage encompassed him. He forgot that he could sense out life energy, and he hadn't noticed that he had turned super saiyan. All his focus was pointed at the only natural saiyan instinct left: kill. Getting irratated with this place had made him want to burn it to the ground. Applejack placed a hoof over her heart that threatened to leap out of her chest at any moment. She knew it was right behind her. Any moment now it would roar and charge at her. Taking one chance, she bolted from her hiding place. Vegeta saw an orange shape and the sound of running. Perfect. His prey would be good and give him chase. His body tensed and--
Something bounced of the back of his head. He paused a moment, as something else bounced again off his head. He whipped around and saw a rainbow maned pegasus with an apple in it's hoof.
"Leave my friend alone, you jerk!" she commanded throwing the last apple at the creature. Vegeta swatted it from the air as his anger flickered. Her brave exterior was due to the fact that Applejack could've been killed. The fear inside had been replaced by the need to protect. As the embodiment of Loyalty, she hated the thought of running away from her friends. What made her more enraged though was something trying to hurt her friends. She would never leave her friends in trouble. Never.
Vegeta's glare became more intense after it flew away. The raging saiyan ran and jumped into flight speeding after her once more. He would no longer tolerate being tomented by that creature.
Applejack stopped running as she saw overhead a rainbow trail being eaten away by a gold one. Her fear subsided, and was replaced by anger and frustration. "That thick-headed cloud-fer-brain is gonna get herself killed!" She reared back and galloped after them into the quiet town of Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash's courage faded as she zoomed through the streets of Ponyville. Her determined expression at the farm had given way to her inner terror. For a good while, the rainbow pegasus had been doing everthing she knew of to get rid of this unwanted tailgater. She tried double-backing, loop-de-loops, and even barrel-rolls! Nothing had seemed to have given her any more space between herself and the monster. She could feel the creature swatting at her tail trying to get a grip. She swooped left down an alleyway. Vegeta felt the tail slip from his grasp for the umpteenth time that day. He would NOT let this creature -female or not!- live any longer. His rage seethed as he arced upward into the sky, following the rainbow streak below. He smiled inwardly. He arced downward picking up speed. Rainbow was oblivious to the intense divebomber. Vegeta was so close, he could reach out and stradle her wings.
SPLAT!
Vegeta rolled in the air skidding cross the ground on his feet. His vision was obstructed by something that smelled of cherry. "No one hurts Dashie!" a shrill voice cried out. His ki flared, and the object flew off. He was expecting to see blood, or the guts of some pest that he charged into. Instead, landing on the ground beside him was something that closely resembled bloody entrails. He would've been happy, if it weren't for the object lying with it. It was round, shiny and slightly dented. The smell of cherry still hung in the air as his anger was redirected at cognitive processing. "Sweet smelling insides... metal thingy... " he thought briefly. This engaging and surprisingly intellectual problem solving was cut short by a loud, agitating, and very familiar laugh.
"Hehehe~! You look funny!" Vegeta turned.
Fun fact about the saiyan known as Vegeta: The phrase "seeing red" does not apply to him. In truth, saiyans in general don't really associate the two. Being driven by the love of battle, they would naturally love the color or as close to love as an average saiyan can get, which is cold indifference. Vegeta also shares this notion. So, what hue did the saiyan see when something drove him so far off the edge, you may ask? Pink. Why? It was for many reasons. One of were due to an incident regarding the duration and aftermath of Majin Buu. While fighting Kid Buu, Vegeta was both enraged and extremely happy. Happy because he was fighting past his physical limit. Saiyans love the thought of getting stronger and beating ever-stronger opponents. What enraged him was that he was losing. What made it worse was the fact that the opponent he was being beaten by was pink. Not just pink, though. That blob was the pinkest pink that Vegeta ever had the pain of seeing. It was also because of this color that the lower class saiyan warrior, Kakarot a.k.a. Goku, had made the promise to an old alien that in exchange for his life, the elder would get to kiss or possibly touch Vegeta's wife. That color sommewhat indirectly caused the promise to be made in the first place. It was Kakarot's fault for doing the deed, but it was also the fault of that pink slime.
When Vegeta turned, his raged easily doubled what it once was. He could kill the rainbow later. Right now, he was concentrated on the pinkest of pinks he ever saw. It was made worse by the obnoxious laugh. It was worse than Buu's. Something within Vegeta wrenched itself free of supressed memories and emotions. He couldn't describe the feeling. It was as if his anger did that Kai-o-karma move that Kakarot did. With this newfound burst of rage, he shot forth with a tightly balled fist.
-=-=-=-
Pinkie Pie, local baker and unofficial welcome commitee of Ponyville, was bouncing along as in her usual spirits. She was somewhat hindered by her inner sixth sense this morning. She woke up with jiggly hooves. It was unusual and also a new warning. She had never had jiggly hooves before, which meant she had better be on her guard. So far, though, nothing had happened. She was nearly finished with her work for the day. She only had one last delivery to make today. A Cherry Pie with whipped topping.
Suddenly, her hooves felt jiggly again. Looking all around, she saw a small dot with rainbows streaming out. She was about to call out to her friend, before she saw the face her friend had. Above that, a golden beam of light was heading straight for her. Processing at supercomputer level speeds, she knew exactly what to do. The party pony pulled out a pink megaphone from nothing and shouted, "EVERYPONY! CLEAR THE WAY!! JIGGLY HOOVES!!!" The street immediately cleared as everypony shut their windows and deadbolted the doors. Funny how the crazy pony had more power over the townsfolk than the Mayor did, but the universe worked in mysterious and crazy ways sometimes. Then, took the pie in hoof and silently apologized to Rain Drops. She would bake a pie later. Reacting on pure comedic timing that she practiced everyday, she felt the dessert slide free from her grasp. It landed perfectly on target with the golden light. She issued a verbal threat to the-
"Ohmygosh!" This thing... was the funniest thing she had ever seen! It reminded her of an "Eighth World Wonder" or an "Unexplainable Phenomenon." She found it funny, mostly because she couldn't explain it. She couldn't contain herself not to laugh.
Her back left ankle began to itch, an immediate signal that something was going to hit her. She quickly and deftly dodged. In all honesty, she had been in a few fights before. Some ponies just couldn't hold thier cider and being sugar crazed definately didn't slow her down. She had some experience in combat, but nothing to practice. Vegeta stood stunned for a second before throwing a left hook. Again, Pinkie ducked. Vegeta did an undercut sweep with his leg. Pinkie bounced in the air. The angry saiyan clenched his teeth and began a barrage of near-invisible strikes. The pink pony giggled, easily keeping up with him. Vegeta ended it with one furious blow heading straight for what he assumed to be it's throat. Pinkie hopped back giddily. Vegeta was fuming and concentrated. It wasn't easy being overwhelmed by sheer anger, but he managed to form a small and erratic orb of charged ki. Pinkie "ooh"ed in curious fascination. "Let's see it get out of the way of this!" he thought. He pulled back his arm, savoring the stupidity of his opponent.He hated seeing a foe that couldn't match his wit, but when it came to pink he would gladly make the exception.
His concentration was lost when he felt himself pushed. He was about to right himself, when he saw the familiar backside of an orange-
Applejack bucked the creature with all her might, or what was left of it. She had just made it into town when Dash told her that Pinkie had him distracted, but wouldn't for long. Running off after her friend she came upon the scene of two oddities; one with a light brighter than the sun it its claw, the other staring right at it. Dash flew up and had knocked the thing as hard as she could into her hoping that Applejack could take care of the rest. The farm ponies' back hooves went numb once more as she turned to watch the golden creature spin in mid fall and land on the other side of the street. Her flank flopped to the ground in defeat. She thought it impossible to ever break her, but this creature, whatever it was, had done it. She sat up watching as Dash hovered in front of them. She would've gotten back up to help, but she couldn't. Applejack was strong, but she also knew her limits. She couldn't move, even if she wanted to. The only thing she could do, was hope that Dash could finish it off and that a miracle would transpire.
Rainbow Dash shook the dullness out of her hooves. Her courage and focus for the preservation of her friends now resonating wildly in her soul. She shot a glare at the creature on the other side.
Vegeta stood up from his crouched position as the dust cleared. His aura danced wildly tossing up small debris away from him. Wind whipped around him as the earth cracked slightly beneath his feet. The cool emerald-azure eyes met with crimson from afar.
The two silently exchanged glances. Behind Rainbow Dash, Pinkie helped Aj to a standing position, concern mounting to both her and Dashie. Vegeta's eyes never diverged from the burning crimson. Dash stared down the saiyan's steely gaze. The air between them seemed to throw sparks, neither side giving an inch to the other.
Then, in the same moment, the two shot at each other. Dash flapped in well-reheresed repetition, with one hoof outstretched, while the other was coiled. Vegeta made a glunge forward both fists tightened and to his left and right. Both clenched their teeth and growled. This was it. The final battle. Nothing could stop-
"STOP!!!" yelled a purple unicorn jumping into the middle. Rainbow snapped out of her drive and pulled up first. Vegeta never skipped a beat and proceded after her. He made it a few feet into the air, when he found himself stop. He tried forcing himself upward, but quickly foiund himself unable to. His body moved without his consent into a standing position, if he were on the ground. He struggled entirely in vain. He was completely immobilized. His fatigue washing over him, and anger driven Super Saiyan power spent.
Fluttershy knew who to go to in this situation, and admittedly should've gone to it in the first place. With any luck, the pony she was running to would have the exact answer to her predicament. Twilight would help her...
...that is, if she wasn't too busy.
She rushed through town moving past her normal speeds, ignoring all the odd looks as she made her way to the library. She landed on her back hooves, forlegs raised in full-on panic mode. Then, with all the gentleness of a newborn kitten knocked thrice upon the threshold awaiting for somepony to answer it. She stood in well-practiced patience. A few moments passed and the drake known as Spike answered it. "Hey, Fluttershy," he greeted with a wave of his claw.
"Hello, Spike. Can I see Twilight?" she answered shyly.
"Sure. Come on in." Spike ushered in the once panicked mare to Twilight hunched over a table. "Twilight, Fluttershy's here!" Spike called leaving the two alone.
Twilight turned from her studies. "Hey Fluttershy," she said levitating some books into their appropriate shelves. "What do you need?"
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked timidly, looking at the papers strewn about.
"No, you're fine. What's up?" Twilight asked.
"Well..." she began. "There's this creature I found outside my house, and... it's nothing like any animal I've ever seen before." Twilight raised a brow at this, mildly intrigued. "It walks on two legs, has hair sticking straight up and of it's head," she said getting braver. " and also has a tail like a monkey's, but it isn't and-and it tore it off-but that's not the most surprising thing! It can talk- no wait, it can fly, Twilight and it wears clothes and... and..." Fluttershy ranted. She soon shrunk under the confused gaze of the lavender mare.
"Why don't you start from the beginning," Twilight suggested, clearing away all other papers on the table.
"Um... o-okay..." Fluttershy sat back and began to unwind her tale of how she came across the creature. Twilight listened, and as the story went on, she stopped Fluttershy only once to retrieve a quill, inkwell, and parchment. The two sat there for a few mintues before Fluttershy ended it.
"Has... no regard... for... tail," Twilight said as she wrote down the last bit of information Fluttershy had given her. She turned to the yellow pegasus across from her. "I think we have enough info for some research." Twilight's horn lit up with a soft glow as books floated and opened around her. Her eyes skimmed the pages for anything that might possibly be the creature. Flutterhsy waited as her friend worked.
All too soon, though, the books began to reshelve themselves again. As Twilight skimmed the last book, she sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she apologized. The pegasus across from her fell a bit.
"Oh... It's okay... I mean, you did your best right?"
"Yeah, but even with all the information you gave me," she said shaking her head. "Is there anyhting you left out?"
"Well..." Fluttershy pondered. "Let's see... I fed my animals, then Rainbow Dash came over-"
Fluttershy mentally kicked herself as she gasped in absolute shock. "Oh no!"
"what? What's wrong?" Twilight asked watching her friend float upward.
"Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!" she repeated. "I-I left to go get help and- and I was sidetracked with-with research and-"
"Spit it out, Fluttershy!" Twilight said grabbing the mare by the head and bringing her gaze to hers.
"I left to get help because Rainbow Dash is being chased by the creature!" Fluttershy exclaimed.
"WHAT?!" Twilight shouted letting go of Fluttershy's face. She began to pace around. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?!"
"I-I'm sorry! I was in a hurry, and the tail and Angel..." she trailed off on the verge of sobbing. Twilight stopped and went to comfort her friend.
"It's okay Fluttershy! I forgive you," Twilight soothed. "Now's not the time for crying. Right now, we need to find those two!"
Fluttershy calmed down, silently agreeing. Suddenly, as if some strange plot device was being abused by a lazy author in this incredibly convenient and climactic scenario, a rainbow flashed past Twilight's window. The two mares took it in before bolting toward the door. Twilight emerged first out the door looking in all directions, followed quickly by Fluttershy doing the same.
"Do you see them?" Twilight asked.
"Over there!" Fluttershy pointed towards a town intersection where a flash of gold light flew past in a small arc. Twilight saw and sprinted.
"C'mon!" she called, hoping that Dash hasn't done anything to hurt the creature and vice versa. The two made it to the end. Twilight glanced both ways down the street and did the only thing she could think of.
"STOP!!!" she shouted.
Twilight scrutinized the creature held in her magical grasp. It was as Fluttershy described it, but nothing like the lavender unicorn had imagined it to look like. It struggled in her grasp, but she had him perfectly under control. Her friends gathered together watching the creature closely.
"It's alright everypony," she assured. "I've got it." She turned to her three friends. "Now, can somepony tell me what's going on?"
The ponies exchanged unsure glances.
"Well?"
"Well," Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, her eyes glaring at the creature. "This thing was chasing after me from Fluttershy's cottage." Twilight gestured her to go on. "And, well, I tried to escape, but it was too fast," Rainbow admitted begrudgingly. "I did a sonic rainboom and even then, I couldn't shake it!" Twilight's eyes widened in shock.
"And Ah saw it," Applejack chimed in. "Ah saw it hunting after Rainbow, and assumed the worst," she said. Applejack explained what happened at Sweet Apple Acres. She was actually quitehorrified and increasingly curious of this creature. Then, once AJ's story ended, Pinkie Pie went into a long-winded explanation of her encounter with the saiyan that was half-relevent and half Pinkie Pie relevent. Twilight was rubbing her head by the end. Vegeta didn't try to attempt reasoning it out mostly because he didn't care.
"...and that's why snakes don't have wings," Pinkie finished. Rainbow and Applejack stared at their pink friend with a mixture of confusion and concern.
Turning back to Twilight, Applejack said, "Ah think Ah speak for most of us when Ah say that this thing is a danger to us all."
"Um... girls?" Fluttershy squeaked.
"I don't think it's dangerous," Pinkie stated.
"Girls?"
"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash started. "He tried to hit you! How can you say he is anything but dangerous?!"
"Girls."
"Maybe it's just having a bad day."
"Girls!" Fluttershy shouted. All eyes turned to her, making her shrink back. "Oh, um... I just wanted to say something that we missed."
"Missed?" Twilight echoed.
"Yes," Fluttershy said hiding behind her mane. "I think that, um... all this happened..." Fluttershy swallowed. "because... because you," She said pointing a hoof at Rainbow. "Kinda, sort'a, maybe, hurt it."
"WHAT?!" Rainbow dash subconsciously hovered a few feet off the ground. "I didn't hurt-"
"You said it looked like a shaved monkey from the circus," Fluttershy interrupted looking at Rainbow with saddness. "and then threw a rock at it." All eyes traced to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. "I... Well..."
"RAINBOW DASH!!" Applejack scolded.
"Dashie! That's not how you make friends," Pinkie said.
"Ya'll mean ta tell me that you were bein' chased 'cause you taunted it like that?!" Applejack hollered, her stetson shifted backward a bit.
"HEY!" Rainbow shouted over her friend. "I think we all have forgotten that this monster tried to KILL all of us?!!" Soon the orange and cyan ponies were in an extreme shouting match with each other. If Vegeta could roll his eyes, he would've.
"EVERYPONY QUIET!" Twilight declared. The two friends stopped immediately. Even Vegeta's attention was caught by the purple unicorn's outburst. "Both sides are at fault. It doesn't matter who did what first or the actions they took after that." Twilight looked to each of her friends before ending with a sideways glance to Vegeta. "What matters now is that we accept the responsability of our actions we have caused and move on," Twilight finished. Her friend's moods changed for the better. They reflected on Twilight's words of wisdom, knowing it to be true. They all agreed silently with their friend.
Pinkie was the first to speak up first. "I'm sorry for hitting you with a pie!"
"I'm sorry too," Applejack apologized readjusting her stetson.
Rainbow sat back, crossing her forelegs. Her eyes were shut and her expression was stubborn. Applejack nudged her friend. "What?"
"C'mon now. Say you're sorry," Applejack said with a bemused stare.
"Oh fine." Dash sighed and mumbled through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry."
The ponies waited expectantly for the creature's response to this. What they did not know was that he was trying to escape.
It took Vegeta some time to figure out that struggling was not working. He relaxed himself as his mind wracked itself. The saiyan, after stewing in his own thoughts he came across a familiar feeling. He felt a faint and strange tingling sensation over every inch of his body. The feeling itself was faintly remenisccent of something he had felt before. It was so familiar...
Then he remembered. Magic. It was magic. He felt it once before in a less than happy memory. It was back during the Buu incident. He felt Babidi's evil magic assault his mind. It had started with a tingling sensation. His mind searched for answer. The last time he tried resisting magic... it didn't end well. He did remember resisting it and it was a little bit lesser than his last encounter with the stuff. He would've tried if it weren't for these midget horses distracting and disrupting his concentration. His attention shifted to each one that talked. Over the course of events they all began staring at him. He saw the look in their eyes. "You've got to be joking..." the saiyan thought. Vegeta had been insulted, in many ways that day, and they had driven him over the edge. This time though, he would draw the line. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he would apologize. Then, anger bubbled to the surface once more as he realized the fact they the purple one was not only lecturing the others, but him as well. Yet another strike to his pride and honor. His mind clicked. All was silent. Taking this chance, he began resisting the magic encompassing him.
Twilight had given the creature the ability to move his eyes and mouth back. She, along with the rest of her friends awaited the creatures apology. She still had her magical grasp She was absolutely confident that she could handle it. She even had a failproof spell ontop of her stasis hold. There was definately no possible explanation for the creature to escape.
Vegeta didn't need one. All he needed was to escape, and he did. Twilight Sparkle first felt a little disturbance in the flow of magic, but then after a while it grew. It was a constant disturbance that grew in size. She still wasn't worried. She still had her failproof-
The sound of glass shattering resonated in the air.
Twilight fell hard against the ground as Vegeta slowly ascended.It felt as though somepony had bucked her in the chest. Fluttershy and Pinkie rushed to aid their fallen friend. Applejack stood stalwartly in front of Twilight as Rainbow Dash regained her warrior-like stare. Vegeta stared down his less-than-worthy adversaries. The thin blue veil had reappeared. He raised an open palm as a blue sphere of ki appeared. Twilight looked up at the strange light brightened. Vegeta had all the right to end their existence. They insulted his pride countless times. He had enough strength to do it. He had all the power to do so.
...but he couldn't
He could not bring himself to end it. As much as he wanted to just let loose the balled up tension inside him, he could not. Vegeta lingered in this position as his mind went to work. After some seconds passed, he made some startling revelations. For one, he was tired. He was really, really tired. The saiyan couldn't recall a time he felt this drained, physically and mentally. He also remembered his original plan. He could fly. He had no further desire to stay here. At the same time, he looked into the eyes of each pony as he mulled over his decision. His gaze ended on the yellow one.
The ball of energy grew in size, and then disappeared in a clenched fist. The ponies below watched as the creature shut it's intense eyes and crossed it's arms.
"Hmph," he grunted. "Not even worth my time." Vegeta then soared off into the endless blue sky.
"WHAT?!" Rainbow exclaimed in insulted rage. She nearly shot off after it. She was halted by Applejack who held the pegasus to the ground by her tail. Pinkie Pie made sure that Twilight was alright.Twilight tried to convince the pink mare that she was okay while at the same time mentally preparing a letter to Celestia. Fluttershy stared at the empty space that Vegeta once occupied. She took a few steps toward it, as if the creature was still there. "Maybe," she thought. "Maybe... maybe Pinkie was right. Maybe it-" She paused, reflecting on the creature as a breeze passed.
Vegeta could not believe it. This could not be happening. This shouldn't be happening. It can't be true. He was still in hell, still paying for his deeds. This was just a punishment that he was taking. All that's happening never did! All of it was just very lifelike. It was like he was asleep. Yes, that's it! It was all a dream and would soon feel as such: forgotten, and never remembered. Any moment now, he would pop back to Earth and forget that any of this happened at all. None of this was real! All he had to do was wait.
Seconds passed into minutes, and the minutes accumulated together stretching into an hour. His impatience and paranoia flickered. He threw caution to the wind and fell back on the last tactic.
Vegeta punched his gut and coughed in pain. No, this definitely was not a dream. The saiyan circled the planet once more from the upper atmosphere, hoping to find an inkling of where home was. He flew at a quick pace, scanning the continents below. The land masses were all foreign to him, just like the last two swipes of the planet. He slowed down after feeling fatigue grip him again. The shocking truth took ahold of him and didn't let go. He was trapped on a planet with no real way of getting home, wherever home was. Vegeta snapped and screamed in frustration. He felt an urge to blow the planet beneath him to smithereens, but decided against it out self preservation. His fists shook with complete anger, looking around for a target. He only threw one ki-blast down at the planet, not aiming at anything really.
---Unrelated---
Somewhere in the minotaur kingdom, a small, skinny salesmen was setting up his cart to sell is life's-work. This truly was his passion. Sure, not many really appreciated him or even knew his real name, but so long as he was alive and he could sell his love and toil, he would be happy.
Too bad fate was cruel and had a very sadistic taste in irony. It just so happened that, as he just finished setting up shop, that a small, yet highly volatile projectile had him pegged. Soon, it hit the cart with a huge, fiery explosion, throwing up every kind of dust and debris imaginable. When it finally cleared, he saw the very distinct lack of cart and produce that he had worked so hard in growing. He simply just could not bear the sight of it. He fell to his knees, clutched his head in anguish, and cried out the only phrase that would voice his agony.
"MY CABBAGES!!!"
---
When he finally calmed down and came to terms with the news, he had drifted to the lower altitudes of the upper atmospheres. Vegeta came up with the plan to survive as long as he cared to, which was until a ship crash landed somewhere or until he just died again. He was pretty sure that hell would still be waiting for him and would be pretty much the same thing. That was another thing he found out. He had a body, and was alive. Strange as this may be, the important thing that he was alive and well. Not really bad, and not really good. It was good because if the idiots on earth tried to bring him back to life, the dragon would say that he could not because Vegeta was still alive. It was also very bad, because the saiyan had no idea how long that would take, if they even remembered him. Vegeta descended further and soon a familiar forest was beneath him. He flew to the east already berating himself for even coming up with this plan. He felt fatigue again and slowed his pace a bit, grumbling under his breath.
The fact that he felt weak and hopeless made his self-hatred grow.
Fluttershy walked slowly down the dirt road. She couldn't stop thinking about today's events. First she found a new creature that, if Twilight was correct, had never been seen or heard of before. As she was caring for it, she had learned little of it which made her feel sad. During her early days of Ponyville, she would study all the woodland inhabitants of the surrounding area taking great pride and joy from it. Over time, the yellow mare had grown used to the same critters living in her home. When she learned that she could possibly have found a ne one, it brightened her mood. Then she learned that the creature had attacked most of her friends. This caused mixed feelings in her. While Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight agreed that the creature was dangerous, she couldn't help but think differently.
She had tried defending it once when Twilight was about to send the letter warning Celestia, only earning strange looks from three of her dearest friends. She had shied away, holding her tongue. Then, the look of the creature right before it flew away had reappeared in her mind. The rest of its posture all screamed that he was going to kill them all, end their lives, the final coil before a rattlesnake strikes...
...but didn't.
It was those eyes. Those simple, cold, little black eyes connected with hers for only a brief moment. In that gaze, she saw something that no other animal had given her. It was a look that she saw sometimes in her friends and some other ponies in town. She couldn't describe it, but it sent her chest aflutter when she thought about it. Clearing her thoughts, she ran over what happened after the letter was sent.
~~~~~~~~
The letter disappeared in a blast of green fire. Twilight turned to the mares in the room.
"Well, now what?" Rainbow asked with annoyance.
"Now, we prepare," Twilight answered levitating a parchment and quill in front of her.
"Applejack, Pinkie Pie you warn everyone in Ponyville," Twilight stated as a matter of factly. Applejack gave a quick nod and took off, followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie.
"Okay, that takes care of the town..." Twilight mumbled scribbling on the parchment. "Hey Rainbow," she began. "Think you can tell the farmers on the outskirts to be on the look out?"
"Hay yeah!" She said before flying out the upstairs window.
"Alright, that only leaves one thing." She turned to the yellow mare. "Fluttershy, do you know anything else, anything at all about it?"
Fluttershy remained silent and looked away disappointedly.
"That's alright," she placed a supportive hoof around her. "Is everything alright?"
Fluttershy twiddled her hoof against the ground. "...yeah."
Twilight sighed. Fluttershy was one of the only ponies that lied worse than Applejack. "Come on, you can tell me. We're friends after all," she pressed.
Fluttershy looked up at Twilight and finally relented. "I guess I'm just worried..."
Twilight was about to tell Fluttershy that everything was well in hoof, and that the monster would be brought to justice. Then, Fluttershy spoke up again.
"I don't want to see the poor thing get hurt."
Twilight stared. An uneasy silence enveloped them. Twilight carefully worded the next statement. "Fluttershy... I know you love animals, but... well... It's not an animal we're dealing with." Fluttershy studied her a moment. "We're dealing with a monster. Remember Sombra?"
She shuddered recalling the oozing mass of dark magic. Slowly, she nodded.
"Well, it's sort of like that." Twilight looked hopeful for a moment, but then saw the look in Fluttershy's eyes. She sighed. "I know it seems a little unfair to say, but it's true." Fluttershy nodded again and turned to leave muttering a small goodbye.Twilight bade her farewell.
~~~~~~~~
Fluttershy cantered at a brisker pace. She sighed, earning the attention from most of her animal friends. They followed her all the way to the doorstep, when she finally noticed them. They all stared at her, and her mind it clicked.
"Oh, no need to worry about me. I'm okay," she lied. With that she began her afternoon chores. She began the process of cleaning her house. It wasn't as long as she anticipated because of the help from her animal friends.
Vegeta spotted the house coming into view more slowly than what he desired. He had felt surprisingly weaker for an unnaturally long time. Normally, after a quick rest he'd be able to break sound barrier and charge his ki to full. Something was definitely amiss but could wait. The normally sharp minded saiyan could hardly focus on that particular bridge. He felt his pride fall into his stomach and writhe about and fester inside it. He still couldn't believe what he was going to do.
He landed near the area around the back entrance to the abode. He spotted the rock he rested against before and slowly walked to it. Coming back to this place was the second most humiliating thing he had ever done. He heard a small noise from his left and glanced at it. He froze as his eyes met a pair of green ones.
Fluttershy felt two emotions wash over her. She was absolutely terrified and unreasonably happy. "Why would I feel happy?" Fluttershy thought. "This thing could kill me if he wanted to, but..." She thought back again to the situation from before. She looked into Vegeta's eyes and saw that look again. For the second time that day, the word escaped her. The creature grunted and sat behind the rock. Fluttershy shook her head of the thoughts. "Maybe Twilight was right." She contemplated going to Twilight when she stopped. She should be halfway to Twilight's to tell her the creature is here.
Why wasn't she?
What was different? She was still the same Fluttershy and the creature hadn't changed either. Then, it became clear. Nothing had changed at all. "I have to tell Twilight right away..." She took one last look at the rock. "Right after I feed my chickens."
She flew to her shed and grabbed the feed bag from the loft. A she flew to her chicken coop, a sudden thought struck her. "Has he eaten anything?" She thought for a moment, reflecting back on today. She nearly panicked at the answer. He hadn't! How could she be so forgetful? Finishing her chore, she quickly cantered into her pantry, glancing about for-
...for what? She had no indication of what he ate. Did it enjoy a tasty carrot, or a crunchy walnut? These questions and more kept her busy. She flew from one part of the pantry to the next, trying desperately to find something that he might want to eat. She forced herself into a calm state, and began thinking rationally. "Well, it does sort of remind me of a gorilla..." she reasoned. She had decided that fruit was a definite yes when she remembered reading a book on them. She threw an assortment of fruit into a basket when her mind thought back again to the book. "Now, the book also said that gorrilas need protein, but where did they get it from?" She tried recalling, but eventually gave up. She sighed in worrying defeat. "Harry kinda... looks like a gorilla, so maybe..." Fluttershy didn't like thinking about this. She had been taking care of animals for many years now, but the thought of a carnivore made her feel light-headed. She never thought any less of them. To each their own, as the saying went. She flew to her kitchen's ice box and pulled out the fish reserved for her meat eating friends. She also swiped a roll of sweet bread, remembering something about grains being an essential part of the diet. Putting all the food into the basket, she looked it over and felt somewhat better.
Taking the basket, she flew to meet her house guest...
Vegeta was lightly dozing against the rock. His mind was only half-awake, but even so his senses were ever aware. He could here the soft sounds of the forest nearby and an occasional breeze. Vegeta's mind was soon wracked with a few questions regarding his situation. How did he get here? Vegeta attempted to remember what he was doing before he came here...
Vegeta heard a small shuffling sound in his close vicinity and his eyes shot open and found what had disturbed him. It was the... Pegasus from before. She had stopped only 2 feet away from him. His face was expressionless, but he was actually quite shocked. She really snuck up on him. His stare was drawn to the basket filled to the brim with food. He stared at it trying to figure out what was happening.
"... if you, um... get hungry... I have some..." Fluttershy was unable to meet the gaze of Vegeta as she set the basket on the ground. It was strange. She usually could feel a connection to other animals, but with this one... This one was different. It was as if she were staring into a fog, trying to read something written in it. She still felt the connection, but her small bit of confidence dwindled. Vegeta huffed and turned back to his nap, leaving the mare to sigh heavily. She walked off slowly to finish the rest of her evening work.
Vegeta liked to consider himself patient. He had let a lot of things pass that have angered him greatly in the past, especially the immediate past. The saiyan could only stoop so low before his pride would straddle his throat. Vegeta couldn't just eat the food given to him. It was just too degrading. As he stewed on this thought, he grew inwardly angrier at himself. Here he was literally imposing on this pathetic and helpless creature to give him a place to stay. He hadn't asked, nor did he even mention anything to her. He grinded his teeth and cursed himself. It was a shameful and low act.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy had began the work of feeding the other animals in her care until the realization hit her again in the feeding of her avian friends.
She was still not at Twilight's.
She then resolved to go as soon as the creature had eaten. She glanced over at the rock. The basket hadn't moved and neither did the food inside it. She sighed and soon went to work once more. Periodically checking to see if the basket was empty, or moved. Each time though, her heart sank lower and lower.
Vegeta still sat brooding, until a breeze wafted a certain smell past him. He opened his eyes and shot a glance in the direction of the basket. It was still there. He could smell the bread. It was home made, and he could also smell raw fish, and all sorts of fruits. He shook his head at the thought, tearing his attention away from the temptation. He had to remember his pride. His stomach groaned in annoyance. His willpower fought back as an internal battle of pride and willpower struck against temptation and shame.
The day approached dusk as Fluttershy found her chores done. She wiped her brow in relief. It was a tiring job, but she didn't mind it. She soon began walking back to her cottage, before a thought crossed her mind. She should really check to see if he ever touched the basket. "Why bother," an internal voice argued. "He didn't touch the last time you checked, so it probably hasn't changed." The voice made a good point, but she couldn't help but at least humor the thought. She turned her head and stared in disbelief. Thinking that it could've been a trick of the setting sun, she approached the basket silently.
It was no trick. All the food was gone. There weren't any peels, cores, or pits. Even the bones weren't there from the fish. She quietly gasped. "He really WAS hungry!" She then smiled, feeling somewhat proud that she had done good on feeding her newest friend--
"...do I really consider him a friend?" she paused, taking the basket in her mouth.
"... Vegeta..." said a low, scratchy voice. Fluttershy looked all around before finding the owner. It belonged to the creature.
"Wh-what?" she stammered, her mind running blank.
"You told me your name, s-so it's only fair that you know mine!" Vegeta quickly stated defensively. His pride had suffered greatly this day, but if there was anything that the saiyan valued more than his arrogant pride, it would be his unalienable honor.
Silence descended over the two.
Fluttershy's grin was not seen. All of her doubts and fears were suddenly gone. With a slight spring in her step, she made her way back to the cottage.
Twilight's library was a veritable base of operations as charts, graphs, and maps were strewn about. The unicorn was currently studying a map of the Ponyville area marking areas and mumbling. Her assistant was currently sorting and grabbing books about defensive spells. Neither of them took notice of the time. They were too engrossed in their respective tasks to care. Both of them were shocked out of they're tasks when there came a knock at the door. Twilight, being the closest opened the door to reveal Fluttershy.
"F-fluttershy? What're you--" Twilight made an audible gasp. "Did you find it?"
"Y-yes." Fluttershy winced. She stepped inside the tree library. "If it's okay with you, I'd rather talk about with the rest of the girls."
Twilight smiled. "Great idea. We can talk strategy! I actually learned a cou..." Twilight began to prattle on about some spells, but Fluttershy drowned it out. She was put off by all the trouble Twilight was going through.
"... I'll just go and invite--" Twilight was interrupted by a knock at the door. Confused, she walked over to the door once more as Fluttershy took a seat. Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were on the other side of the door. This was also the point in time where Twilight became aware of the late hour.
"This better be important...": Rainbow grumbled lazily flying through the door.
"Oh, don't be that way Dashie!" Pinkie said in her normally, bubbly tone. She bounced past the very perplexed purple unicorn.
"If Fluttershy came to get us herself, then it's got ta be important," Applejack reasoned stifling a yawn. "Right Twi'?"
"Y-yeah," Twilight stuttered snapping out of it. She cantered to the table her friends were gathered around. The five exchanged tired glances between each other. They were soon joined by Spike as well.
"So... I assume you all know why we're here," Twilight stated.
"No."
"Not really."
"Nope!"
Twilight sighed. "Isn't it obvious?" Spike asked. "This is probably about 'The Monster of the Everfree Forest!'" The drake made his point by making ghost noises and wiggling his claws. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Yes, well, um..." Fluttershy fumbled with her words. She debated on sugar coating the topic. After all, it worked well with her animals. If the medicine was too bitter or they wouldn't take it, she would often hide it in their food, or follow it up with a spoonful of-
No! Not this time. Her friends need to know the truth.
"I need to say something," she stated. Fluttershy's normal apprehensive look was lessened. She took a calming breath to ease the pounding in her chest. "I have found the creature..."
All her friends looked at her expectantly.
"...And I-I think that I can tame it."
"WHAT?!" Rainbow, Twilight and Applejack said at the same time.
"Oh, that's great!!" Pinkie cheered. "That means we CAN have a party! We can have cake, balloons, and- Oh! we can call it a 'Welcome to Ponyville Mr. Monster!' party! I hope monsters can eat cake..." Pinkie's rant was left uninterrupted.
"Are you crazy?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You saw what that monster could do!"
"His name is Vegeta!" Fluttershy said firmly. No one deserved to be called a monster or to be treated like one. She learned it the day she received those "assertive lessons."
"You named it?!" Dash shouted incredulously.
"Darlin'," Applejack began. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that he isn't a sick little critter to care for." AJ rubbed her still aching legs from her first encounter. "He's dangerous."
"And besides," Twilight interjected. "I don't think Princess Celestia would let you."
Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something before an idea popped into her head. She took a moment to think. What if... the princess did let her? Why would she though? Soon her mind formulated a plan unbeknownst to her.
She stole a glance at there friends who were currently focused on a plan of their own. Even Pinkie's attention was brought to it. Her eyes scanned the tables, until they rested on a certain dragon.
"Psst..." Fluttershy did as subtly as possible. To her relief, it worked. Spike looked over at her. She quickly waved him over away from the table to the other side of the room.
"What's up, Fluttershy?" he asked waddling over to her.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked, pensively rubbing hooves together. She began doubting this idea.
"Uh... sure. What do you need?"
"Alright," Twilight beamed. "So when the guards on the east side have it distracted, I'll cast the third imprisonment charm as quickly as possible to minimize the destruction of the town-"
"I still say that we should just go right for him and kick his sorry-flank!" Rainbow interrupted emphasizing her point with a slam to the table.
"Rainbow..." Twilight groaned. "The point of planning ahead is to alleviate as much unneeded attention and destruction as possible."
"Exactly!" Rainbow pointed out her plan on a map. "If we just go to him directly and take him out, then that will cut the time it takes in half."
"But at the same time, ya practically destroy half the town along with it!" Applejack countered.
"Alright, alright! let's just go over-" The attention of the discussion was diverted to the heat of magical green flames crackling about.
An awkward silence washed of the room.
"Spike...?" Twilight questioned walking over the dragon. "What did you send?"
"A letter to the princess..." Spike said with an uneasy expression watching her big sister/mom intently.
I know that..." Twilight's magic surrounded him blocking out any hopes for an escape. "What I meant was who was the one who wrote it sent it?" Twilight felt herself beginning to slip. Her overprotection of the rules were being pushed to the maximum. Celestia told her as filly to never abuse the power of sending personal messages to her. Twilight could already se it. It started out with one, but then one would be two and soon two would be five and then the entire palace would be filled to the brim with potential junk mail, so much that the princess would have to probably send it--
"Oh, I did Twilight..." Fluttershy sheepishly whispered. The purple unicorn looked at her sharply, half of her questioning the grounds for it and the other half was, well-- the less said about it, the better. "I uh, wanted to see if what you said was true or not."
"What 'what'?" Twilight snapped, trying to retain her composure.
"What?" Fluttershy was genuinely confused.
"What do you mean? What did I say?" Twilight took a few shaky steps toward the buttery mare, a nervous twitch in her eye.
"Well... you said that Celestia would probably not let me, so I thought about it and-- you did say probably, so I sort just asked her..." Fluttershy lowered her head low to the ground, not daring to break eyesight of her semi-delusional friend. "I'm sorry!! I didn't know... that...you..." Fluttershy stopped and just watch the unicorn.
Twilight drowned out the world. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks and a neutral line across her muzzle. Silence fell and tensions rose for the inevitable boom to come. Her friends could almost see the cogs and gears grinding away in her brain and the smoke churning out of her ears. Then, it happened.
Twilight fell over laughing hysterically. Soon, Pinkie Pie joined her earning confused looks from the others. Twilight eventually calmed down enough to stand and speak again.
"I'm sorry..." she quickly . "Fluttershy, I know she won't becau-"
There was a large belch and whoosh of fire followed by a small scroll bearing the royal seal. Twilight walked over to it and picked it up with her magic. "How about I just read it," she said rather than having explain it. Twilight cleared her throat while subconsciously opening the rolled parchment, and began to speak.
Dear Fluttershy,
Thank-you for your concern in this ordeal. It brings me great joy to hear that you wish to care for this, by your own words, misunderstood creature. I would have preferred to thank and accept your offer face to face, but I must calm the guards I have scrambled.
I cannot express the relief I feel. You truly are a braver pony than I had anticipated originally. If it were any other pony, I would have a hard time believing them. I'll admit I was skeptical at first, but then I remembered that you were the one I had trusted to reform Discord. If you were able to bring him to our side, then perhaps your kind heart can cool the heat of this "Vegeta's" unruly nature.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
"WHAT?!" Rainbow shouted leaping into the air. "She can't be serious, right?!"
Pinkie took a sharp breath inward, and began a new rant as Twilight flipped the parchment over and back rereading it as if she were trying to decipher a code.
"Well... she does have a point," AJ said apprehensively. "Anypony who can reform Discord has to have somthin' to show for it. Right?"
"Whatever," the sky blue Pegasus mumbled coldly before flying through an upstairs window.
Twilight set the letter down and opened her mouth to speak several times making unique expressions to match them before sighing in defeat. "Yeah, no," she said wearily. "The princess is right, and we just overreacted a little." Twilight rubbed a half-lidded eye.
Sharply contrasting the purple unicorn's mood was the yellow Pegasus in the same room. Fluttershy's smile could've rivaled Pinkie's. She exploded into the air cheering, "YES! YES! SHE SAID YES!! WOOHOO!!!" She swooped over to Twilight embracing her.
"Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you! Don't worry! I won't let anypony down!" With that, she flew out the door with at incredible speed. The remaining friends laughed at the antics of their friend.
"Well, it's pretty late. I won't keep you guys here any longer," she yawned, clearing off the table. "You can head to bed Spike. I've got this."
"Thanks' Twilight. Night girls," he said turning to the staircase.
"Night Spike! Night Twi'!" Pinkie said before bouncing through the open door.
"Yeah, it's late. and I do have chores to do in the mornin'," AJ mumbled. She paused at the door before calling out, "Hey Twi'?"
"Yes?" Twilight answered not turning away from the table.
"I was wondering how you feel about all of this." The cowpony shifted her gaze to the floor of the library. "I know what the princess thinks and all, but what do you think?" AJ specified quickly.
Twilight looked at AJ with the look of exhaustion clear on her face. "I don't know, AJ," she sighed shaking her head. "I just don't know."
"Oh, well... okay then..." Applejack shifted around nervously before closing the door to the unicorn's home. "Goodnight Twilight."
"Thank you again, Rarity," Fluttershy began. "It's nice having you back."
"Well, I'm glad to be back," the white unicorn responded. The two mares walked side by side down the road to Fluttershy's cottage. "Canterlot is a gorgeous city to visit, but I'd rather not live there," she stated.
"Oh?" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"
Rarity hummed. It was more for dramatics than anything because she knew why she'd not live in Canterlot. The very reason why she went there in the first place might've been for business, but it was for the most inane reason. Apparently, some rich noble wanted her to repair one of her original dresses. Normally, this would have been an easy fix. However, it was the fact that it was one of her earliest creations. Rarity wasn't one for looking back. Truthfully, she never wanted to look back. To look back, in the fashion business, would only result in one of two extreme outcomes. One outcome would be that it would ruin her. She'd be shamed and probably never make a sale ever again. The other outcome would be that the select few who remembered when she made the design found the throwback to be nostalgically pleasant. This would only be considered good if the few ponies recalling the dress found it pleasant and only if they were considered high on Canterlot's pop-culture ladder. The first had a higher chance of occurring making the latter more of a gamble.
So when she heard that the repairs were needed on one of her earlier dresses, she found herself at a crossroads. Rarity decided not to roll the dice and repaired the dress... and more. She almost did a complete redesign in the end and she felt that it was a personal success. That confidence was shot down as her client expressed their complete opinion. After a very heated discussion, Rarity had "fixed" the dress once more, using her original designs that in her mind were completely faulty and utterly gaudy.
This was why she never wanted to live in Canterlot. The ponies there were complacent, frugal, and almost devoid of any true personality.
"I... guess it's mostly because all my friends are here in Ponyville," she half-lied. "If I did move to Canterlot, I wouldn't be able to have these personal outings with you Fluttershy."
"So... It's my fault that you can't live in the city of your dreams?" Flutteshy asked.
"Oh, heavens no!" Rarity waved off the idea. Fluttershy didn't look convinced. "Darling," she sighed. "I enjoy tour trips to the spa. If I had to choose between becoming a fashion-designer-superstar and spending time with you, I'd choose our friendship every single time." The yellow pegasus smiled shyly.
"Well, thanks again Rarity." The two approached the cottage in question.
"Anytime, darling!" Rarity turned and was about to make her way back to the boutique when a nagging thought stopped her. She bit her lip as she turned again walking back to the cottage.
"Um... Fluttershy dear, is... he here?" she asked swallowing back fear. Twilight had taken the liberty of filling in, and up until now had tried to forget about it.
"Oh... um, yes..." Fluttershy whispered. Her eyes wondered to her left. Rarity noticed and followed her gaze. She saw a shape of a rock. Rising above it were near-black jagged spikes. The shapes were ominous to the pure white unicorn and sent shivers down her spine. Guided by curiosity, she stepped toward the rock.
Rarity had mixed signals from each one of her friends. Each one was "unique" in their own way. Twilight was the first to catch her. She had described the creature in detail as being able to walk on two legs like a diamond dog, yet almost completely hairless. It also could speak and apparently called itself "Vegeta." According to Twilight, this creature, much like anything that came out of the Everfree, had unique magical abilities. One ability that Twilight had mentioned was flight without wings. She had also mentioned something about it changing color, being faster than Rainbow Dash, and being strong enough to physically break free of a magical grip. After the visit, she had left the library feeling a little more than just frightened. The next friend she would visit could surely bring out of these spirits. She stopped into Sugarcube Corner, and was tackled by Pinkie Pie almost immediately. This was considered normal to the white unicorn, but today seemed strange. After all, she did learn about a mysterious monster that came out of the Everfree. It was then she noticed that Pinkie began to ramble. Rarity noticed that she had mentioned Vegeta's name several times as though they were friends, sometimes even referring to him as "Veggie." As much as the white unicorn mare wanted to find out, Pinkie Pie's rant was not something easily interrupted nor followed. She instead decided it would be best inquire Applejack about it. On the way to the orchard, she ran into Rainbow Dash, nearly quite literally. She had to duck out of the way of Dash trying to pull off some sort of stunt. They began to talk, but as soon as she mentioned the creature, Rainbow Dash had took off into the sky without another word. She began to worry if the creature really was dangerous if Rainbow Dash who was normally so fearless would disappear at the mention of a word. Rarity ventured on to Sweet Apple Acres. She eventually found Applejack filling a rather large hole. She felt grateful that Applejack was the Element embodying honesty. The farm pony would sometimes be a bit of a bigger gossip than herself. When she made her interest in the creature, Applejack's demeanor completely changed. It looked as though she was unsure. Uncertain or not, the farm mare gave the entire story.
Now that Rarity found herself approaching Vegeta, she was confused on whether it was fear that guided her here or just plain idiocy. The air was taught with tension as Rarity shut her eyes when the spikes became more prominent. When she had figured that she had gone past the rock, Rarity decided it was best to see for herself what hershy friend had gotten herself into.
Vegeta concentrated intensely. He could feel his enemy moving in the shadows. Already, he was battered and bruised, but not yet broken. Suddenly, from the pitch black void surrounding him, he saw himself. He was clad in full saiyan armor, tail wrapped around his waist, and surprisingly shorter. This form leapt out already charged with an attack. The look upon the armored Vegeta was filled with self-righteousness. No. He wouldn't be broken by such a weak tactic, let alone a pathetic fool. Flying off to the side, he charged an attack of his own. When the smaller one fired, the attack missed, opening an opportunity for Vegeta.
He threw his attack at full force sending the former flying into bits. Vegeta let out a small breath, but then had the rest knocked from him as another Vegeta dealt a devastating sucker punch. This Vegeta was taller, but also appeared bulkier and was already past super saiyan. Upon his face was a smug grin. Vegeta despised it. Quickly righting himself, he launched himself at this new adversary. the two exchanged blows at a dizzying speed. The true Vegeta blocked right and launched a hard counter across the other's jaw. He grabbed the copy by the leg and threw it before firing a large beam of light. The light obliterated the false Vegeta.
Then, Vegeta felt a new presence. Turning around, he saw his new opponent. Hovering in the darkness was another super saiyan Vegeta. This one was the exact height as the original and wore no armor aside from a blue body suit, white gloves and a pair of boots. This other was also grinning, but it was not a grin of smugness or self-inflated ego. This was a smile of evil. Upon this one's forehead was an 'M' shaped mark. A mark that the true Vegeta hated and despised, even more so than the smug grin and foolish attempt at immortality. This is what Vegeta had hated about himself. It was his own weakness.
The Majin launched itself at Vegeta to which the other followed soothe. They clashed in the middle before disappearing completely. The two were fighting at speeds that could not seen by the naked eye. Vegeta broke off and fired a barrage of ki blasts at the Majin. Out of the resulting explosions came the Majin with a fully charged attack. "Big Bang Attack!" it shouted in a hollow, echoing voice. The attack flew at Vegeta. Too late to dodge, he deflected it with a cost. He had drained himself even further, and, at this rate, would be beaten by this mimic. The Majin launched itself once more, followed by the two felled foes. With no other option, the True Vegeta began to block every attack. However, his mind was sharper than ever. He quickly came up with a final gambit. He began to charge an attack that would end this. In a single fluid motion, Vegeta threw off all three and released all the energy he had stored resulting in a big, explosive finish. The wave destroyed all remaining doppelgangers leaving the original victorious and out of breath.
Vegeta opened his eyes to see a white unicorn staring at him.
When Rarity opened her eyes, she did not expect to see... well, whatever it was. Rarity automatically noticed that the spikes were hair of some sort. Almost immediately she wondered how it was able to defy gravity. The more she gazed, the more her fear was replaced by intrigue. This thing didn't seem to be dangerous. Although, Rarity thanked Celestia that it didn't appear awake. It did seem that it was entirely hairless, but then again most of the body was clothed.
She paused. "What exactly is he wearing?" She dared not get any closer, but instead stretched her neck to see it. The clothing, or what was left of it was a blue fabric. He also wore white gloves similar to those that she had made for a gryphon once, and white boots. She only could guess on what it was like because the blue suit covering the body was mostly charred and ripped. The boots and gloves had obviously seen better days, but she couldn't tell how bad the damage was.
Then, another thought arose. "What in the world could've happened?" Instantly, her mind was filled with horrific scenes of this thing rampaging through some poor neighboring town. "No, that can't be right. How would it ruin the clothes if it just wrecked havoc?" She shook her head of this thought. Then, she imagined another image of this thing fighting a dragon, being scorched in fire but coming out unharmed and finally slaying it without mercy. She too turned away this idea. "Wouldn't the clothing burn completely off?" she mused. Her imagination then began to flow freely. She imagined him being a solitary soul, hated for his appearance, being chased out of town by angry pitchfork and torch wielding mobs. She imagined this creature being tortured before finally fighting back and escaping to live another day.
It was a sad idea, but it was an idea that made sense. Before she could further explore it, she found herself staring into a pair of black eyes. Her earlier fear rose up again, before it was replaced by the image of pitchforks, torches, and pain.
After an awkward pause, Rarity blurted, "Greetings." She glanced to the side and saw Fluttershy with a small smile. "It's a... pleasure to meet you Mr. Vegeta." She gave a short bow. "I am Rarity."
Silence.
Rarity glanced to Fluttershy nervously. "Yes, well..." Fluttershy gave a shrug and looked away out of shame. "I couldn't help but notice your current... ensemble.'
Vegeta blinked.
"No offense, but it seems to be tattered," Rarity said finding a voice of confidence. "Luckily for you, I think I might be able to lend some assistance."
To this, Fluttershy grinned. "Finally, somepony who won't see Vegeta as a monster," she thought.
"No," the saiyan growled.
Both ponies were taken aback by this response, but Rarity was the first to recover. "Please, I insist. The least I could do is a patch-job and nothing more."
"My suit is fine," Vegeta stated defiantly.
"Now listen here," Rarity huffed in an indignant tone. "Your suit is obviously not fine if I had to make a comment about it. Now normally-"
"No, you listen!" Vegeta shot back interrupting Rarity. He stood up and continued. "I never asked for your opinion on my suit and I never will because there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I am certainly not going to allow some woman to fix something that isn't broken and nothing will ever change my mind!" Vegeta ranted. He glared harshly at the white unicorn who promptly returned one of her own.
Fluttershy sunk low to the ground and muttered, "O-oh... my..."
Vegeta stood in the middle of a well-decorated boutique stark naked aside from a towel wrapped around his waist. His mind was reeling from the strange turn of events and the current predicament he was now faced with. He wasn't sure how, or by what means he was persuaded to be here and he frankly didn't care. To be standing here like this was embarrassing to say the least.
"There now," said a very sarcastic feminine voice. "Was that so hard?"
Oh, how Vegeta wished he could answer. How he wished he could give his personal, unabridged opinion to this white she-devil Rarity. Angry couldn't begin to describe his current mood. If the fires of hell would be considered the hottest thing in existence, Vegeta would've made it seem like the north pole.
Instead, he grumbled, "No."
"Excellent!" Rarity cheered as she began to look over the suit that used to cover the saiyans body. A pair of glasses levitated themselves onto her head. Fluttershy stood next to her watching Vegeta with a worried expression.
Rarity was about to begin, when her nose twitched. She resisted the urge to make a face. She turned to the toweled saiyan. "Perhaps you should go and wash yourself," she said politely.
"Does my smell bother you?" Vegeta asked sarcastically.
"Yes," Rarity answered turning back to her work.
"Well in that case..." Vegeta pretended to mull the thought over. "No."
"Please... Vegeta... Um... Maybe you should..." Fluttershy advised.
"Fluttershy, dear. Do you think the suit will look better if it were pink?" Rarity asked as though she had never even heard Vegeta. She gazed at various colors of ribbons which floated in her magical grasp.
"You wouldn't dare.." Vegeta threatened taking a stance.
"Try me," Rarity responded coldly. To prove her point, a ribbon of pink stopped right above her head clearly visible to the angry saiyan warrior.
For a moment Vegeta didn't move and the room was silent. Fluttershy's could only watch as she saw an inner conflict take ahold of her new friend. The sight made her heart sink and the feeling nearly made her ask Rarity to stop it. She turned to the alabaster unicorn when she suddenly her what sounded like steam being released from an engine. She looked back to Vegeta to see his position had shifted to an upright one. His eyes were cast downward, making it look as though his eyes were closed. He walked towards a grand staircase silently.
"Three doors down on the left," Rarity directed triumphantly. Casting away the pink ribbon, she began to look over the suit.
Inwardly, she marveled at the cloth before her. In all her years in the fashion business, she had never felt a garment so sturdy and strong, yet completely comfortable. The thread count alone was mind-boggling enough with certain silks before, but this was something else. Neighgyptian cotton had nothing on this. She turned her attention to the white boots and gloves. The material that it was made of was completely foreign to her. It seemed so pliable at first glance, but it was the exact opposite. It was as if rubber and steel had gotten married and had this for a child.
The other thing she noticed was the condition of them all. The gloves and boots were definitely worn out, but appeared to be none the worse for wear. The suit on the other hoof, was scorched in black marks and was ripped in several locations. Rarity tried not to imagine what could've happened that could have possibly torn this garment to smithereens and decided to get on with it. It wasn't the first time she had been presented with odd materials, and this would not slow her down. Before she could begin, she heard a small, but prominent voice ask, "Rarity... how did you do that?"
"Sometimes, you must play the bad guy to get the best results," she nonchalantly stated quickly levitating a sewing needle and thread over.
"But it seemed so... cruel."
"No one ever wants to play the bad guy, Fluttershy," she said with a sigh. 'But sometimes we have to in order to-" The sentence was cut off by a shrill scream. Rarity winced, already too familiar with the annoying cry. Soon it was followed by the sound of running hoof steps.
"RARITY!!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she bounded down the stairs.
"Yes Sweetie?" Rarity answered already knowing what she had found.
"Th-there's a monster in the bathroom!" she cried utterly confused by her sister's calm demeanor.
"Sweetie Belle, he is not a monster," she said thinking the opposite. "He is our guest for the time being."
Sweetie had an unsure look as she glanced at the stairway. Rarity noticed this and sighed. "If he really bothers you that much, then you go outside and play with your friends."
"R-really?!" she asked excitedly. "But, mom said that I was grounded after the.. um... snow globe incident." Sweetie looked away guiltily.
"Then I guess we will have to forget to tell mother then, won't we?" Rarity winked at her sister who was finally catching on.
"Thanks Rarity!" She gave a quick hug and was out the door.
Rarity continued to patch the suit. Some time later, and a few stubborn scorch marks, Vegeta returned to find his suit looking as if it were brand new. The boots and gloves were shined and the blue suit had showed no signs of repair. As he put it on, it felt new too. As much as he hated to admit it, the unicorn had done very well in patching his clothing up.
"I take it that it's to your liking?" Rarity asked confidently.
Vegeta, instead of answering, tightened the glove around his hand and walked silently to the exit. Taking a few steps outside, he flew away.
"Rarity, I'm so sorry! He means well! I know he does!" Fluttershy apologized frantically.
"Darling, it's quite alright!" Rarity said trying to calm her friend down. "Believe it or not, he's actually more well-behaved than some of my clients."
"Really?" the yellow mare asked earnestly.
"Although he is quite rude and seems to possess no manners whatsoever," Rarity began. "I can honestly say yes. He really is."
Fluttershy smiled brightly and gave her friend a hug in appreciation. "Thank-you," she said before parting from the embrace.
"It was no trouble at all," Rarity replied. "But that being said, please be careful."
"Don't worry Rarity," Flutttershy reassured. "Despite what the others might think, I know what I'm doing."
She paced around the library levitating a constant stream of books into a shelf before picking them up once again on her next pass. Sadly, re-shelving was all she could do to keep herself sane. Spike, her number one assistant, had long since gone to bed, shutting the door behind him and leaving Twilight stranded in a mild loop of paranoia. The unicorn never really had troubles sleeping, but after the visit from Rarity today, the mare couldn't help thinking that something was off. It wasn't the initial visit from her friend that made her worry, but the conversation after that had gotten her thinking.
The creature hadn't attacked or harassed anyone that she knew of. In fact, there wasn't any word about the creature at all. Twilight had thought that there would've been at least one sighting of the creature from the ponies around town, but it was the exact opposite. Nopony had seen anything strange, or Ponyville's definition of strange at least. On the one hoof, this was a good sign. The creature wasn't rampaging or threatening Equestria in any way. That, however, did not mean that it could. It was probable that the creature was toying with them, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike while there backs were turned. Horsefeathers, it could probably kill them all regardless of their position! These endless "what-if's" frightened the purple librarian princess.
What Twilight needed was a break.
After shelving 9,999 Magical Theories, she sighed in exhaustion. She really did need a break, and tonight, she would get one, even if it was a fleeting one. She turned around and trotted up to the balcony.
When the telescope came into view, Twilight already felt much better. It was as if a great weight had been lifted off her back. Even if it were not the case, she had read in a book that hobbies were meant to be something that the hobbyist found relaxing and enjoyable to do during infrequent idle free time. In Twilight's case, it was stargazing. To some, it was boring. To her, it was relaxing and nostalgic. Next to the telescope was a mess of notes and pencils. She quickly scanned her notes from the last time. She never really did get back to that weird phenomenon. Twilight had waited for the shower to pass, but ended up going to bed before taking a second look.
Whatever it was, it was probably never going to happen again. Phenomenon like that happened very rarely, and were often brief moments. Twilight once more sighed at the missed opportunity, but quickly dismissed the dismal feeling. She was here to relax, not regret.
She found a spot to settle in for the night and peered into the telescope.
What she saw certainly did clear her head, but not in the way she had hoped...
Vegeta was bored.
He had grown tired of sleeping all day. The rock he rested on was beginning to feel more and more like... well, a rock in his back. Pins and needles shot through his legs and feet that tortured him to no end. So, to sate his boredom, he decided to go for a walk.
In summary, Vegeta was bored enough to want to explore a place inhabited by bug-eyed, multicolored, midget horses.
He began trekking away from Fluttershy's cottage. The dirt road he traveled ion was completely sparse of anything or anyone, much to the surprise of the saiyan. He was not complaining, however. The less he had to do with these ponies, the better. If any of them were like the annoying pink one, then he was happy to never encounter another. On another note, if any were like the rainbow one, then he might enjoy himself.
After a while, he found the beginning of a wooden fence stretching alongside the road. It seemed to stretch as far as the road. Inside the whitewashed fence were rows and rows of apple trees. They seemed vaguely familiar to him. He then heard a dull sound in the distance. As he progressed, the noise grew in intensity until he reached a gate of sorts.
WHACK!
Vegeta looked inside and saw an orange mare in an old hat kick a tree. Apples soon fell into the buckets placed beneath.
WHACK!
Looking to again, he saw what would have to be one of the bigger ponies he's seen since he got here. His warrior's instinct could tell something was amiss by looking at the stallion. His simple looks and country façade didn't match up with something. It matched the atmosphere of the brightly colored farm, and the rest of this world. Despite this, Vegeta could not help but feel as though something was off.
WHACK!
He sensed it. It was small, but very prominent. The red one was holding back his strength. It surprised him a bit. Compared to his own power though, Vegeta was vastly superior. Seeing this level of control left Vegeta a little impressed.
Or maybe it was the mundane boredom wearing down his sanity.
The orange one approached the larger red one as Vegeta entered the orchard
"Well, Big Mac, once we get the west fields, that should cover--" Applejack was interrupted by her brother's gaze shifting somewhere else. She followed it, and her expression changed to a soft scowl. "Oh," she mumbled vehemently. Vegeta returned the look with his own scowl.
An awkward silence reigned over them.
"What do you want?" the spat resentfully. "Shouldn't ya'll be at Fluttershy's?"
"What's it to you?" Vegeta shot back. "I can come and go as I please."
"Then leave," she ordered with a stamp of her hoof. "We got apples to harvest, an' we can't afford to waste time."
Vegeta raised a skeptical brow. "You mean to tell me that's how you harvest apples?" he asked a little too sarcastically. He was all in favor of power and control, but this didn't add up with saiyan.
"Yup!" she shouted. "My family's been harvestin' apples like this for generations! I can get a field done by the end of the day- two if it's a good one." Applejack grinned a bit as she said, "I even own the equestrian record for the most apples bucked in a single season." She turned away with a huff and began to trot off towards the west fields with an air of confidence.
"Oh really?" Applejack froze. She had thought she had told him off and won. The fact that Vegeta had come up with any response made the mare want to grind her teeth together.
"If you hold the record, then he must hold the world title," Vegeta chuckled while gesturing to Big Mac. He didn't want to interact with ponies, but sadly he was that bored. Besides, if she wanted to try and out wit him, Vegeta wasn't about to give in so easily. Meanwhile, Big Mac wore a confused expression as he was somehow dragged into the conversation.
"Leave my brother out o' this!" The orange mare turned to face the Saiyan once more. "If you think you know so much, let see you try to beat it!"
Vegeta smirked. "Alright."
The saiyan saw vast hills, with hundreds upon hundreds of apples. Vegeta glanced back at the mare who smiled triumphantly. She thought that he'd back down, and she'd respond with something along the lines of "I thought so." After that, the mare would offer lessons to him. She wouldn't do it to gloat in front of him, but more as to show him what apple-bucking is all about. Of course, he w asn't exactly a pony, but that could be figured out later.
"Hmph!" the saiyan grunted as he took a few steps towards the fields. Applejack donned a confused and opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated as Vegeta took up a stance. She was curious to what he was going to do and watched carefully.
A moment passed and a calm breeze wafted through. Vegeta hadn't moved. She had enough. If he wasn't going to do anything, then shewasn't going to stand around. She turned and thought of something witty to say to him. Just as Applejack was about to speak up, the wind grew harsh and quickly turned into a violent gale. The mare held her hat down with a hoof, squinting through the wind. She wasn't expecting a storm from the pegasi today. "Is it a twister?!" Applejack asked aloud, looking around frantically.
"Nope!" Big Mac called over the wind. He pointed a hoof towards the saiyan. Applejack was shocked to see what was happening. The wind was whipping around him fiercely and the ground beneath him began top crack underneath him. He could feel energy beginning to surge inside him. It was like an explosion ready to be released. Normally, in his world, he would keep going on beyond this and keep it at a constant, but this was all he needed. With a swift movement, he smacked both of his hands together. What came from it was a powerful shockwave that blew the trees back. It caused the ponies behind the blast to skid back a few inches and guard their eyes. However, the appletrees were unchanged.
"Ha!" Applejack scoffed loudly. Before she could continue, she could hear something in the distance. At first it was small and low, but then it began to grow. It sounded like a wagon rolling down the road, then a crack of thunder. She stood slack jawed at what was transpiring.
She shook herself and nudge Big Mac who was just as shocked as she was. "Get the carts! Hurry!" she shouted before running off. Meanwhile, Vegeta wandered off the property with a smirk on his face and his ego thoroughly.
Vegeta entered the colorful town of Ponyville after growing tired of the vast expanses of farmland. The town, however, wasn't a very big improvement, but it was an improvement nonetheless. Without knowing exactly where he was going, the saiyan wandered into the market. Here, many ponies went to and frow from stall to stall exchanging currency for produce and other goods. He surrendered himself to the sounds around him and strode down the middle... or at least, he appeared to be.
It did not take much for him to tell the difference in mood as soon as he stepped into the market. It started out small, but eventually grew to change the atmosphere completely. One pony saw him coming and immediately looked away from the intimidating creature. That reaction spread to the next pony and the next and any who saw his figure striding down the center. Soon though, it evolved into a quiet murmur. Even disgruntled customers negotiating a seller from a high price down to something more reasonable did not go unaffected. They went from yelling matches to intense, whispering debates. Vegeta noted how the ponies who were once in his path now diverted from it. The change he found most incredible was when he had entered the final stretch of the market. He first noticed how the whispers now dropped to a silence, and that any activity that he had passed had now halted to a stop. He could feel something too. It was a mixture. The first was one a predator felt before the final pounce; the feeling a soldier felt before charging headfist into battle armed with his tool and bloodchilling warcry; The feeling of being completely on the edge and looking down to see the ground so far away before taking that next step. He knew exactly how this feeling was manifested. The adrenaline within the ponies building up, sending their hearts into a frentic beating in preparation for the inevitable fight of flight moment. Vegeta could smell it. He could smell the cumulative adrenaline of all the ponies he was now leaving behind in his wake. He could feel that instinct pounding and naggiung at him as if to say, "Do it. Destroy them all. Feel their blood coated entrails squish against your might, splattering all their life's hopes and dreams into a uniform red."
This feeling, accompanied by yet another combined feeling that anyone could guess at, made his primal desire all but consume him.
"... What are you staring at?" he growled in a low monotone voice. With this statement, after reaching the end, the ponies released were from all their fear. All was washed away except that jittery, near death experience, nervous demeanor while Vegeta carried on with his constituitional.
After a while, he came a place near the town square. It was a place that truly made him want to vomit, but he could not. In fact, his stomach growled on sight. He didn't expect to be this hungry. However, upon remembering the "demonstration" at Sweet Apple Acres, he should've expected this much. Vegeta still did not like this place though.
He could put up with a lot of things in this world, a lot indeed, but he could not put up with that color. Almost everything except the walls, roof, and supports were various shades of pink. It did not help his hunger that the place looked like an advertisement in a holiday cooking magazine. Even the air was working against his empty stomach as the smells around him were filled with scent of baking bread and sugary condiments. It may have been out of morbid curiosity, or perhaps destiny, but hed found himself opening the door and entering into the establishment known as Sugar Cube Corner.
"Hiya Vegeta!" a high pitched voice greeted cheeriliy from behind the counter.
"Oh joy," he thought to himself sarcastically. "She's here too..." Looking around, he saw that no one else appeared to be in the bakery, but there were booths, indicating that there were those who wanted to sit and eat. With no where else to go without risking his pride, he walked up to the counter.
"Pinkie?" another voice called from the kitchens. "What did you say?" asked a blue mare with a soft serve beehive hairstyle walking up to the counter. "Did you ne-" She stood with a look of shock and horror upon spotting the saiyan.
"Oh no, Mrs. Cake,"Pinkie replied in a bubbly tone to her unfinished question. "I was saying hi to my friend, Vegeta here." She gestured to the saiyan, who watched on with a bemused gaze. "You know, the new friend I made the other day?"
"Wh-what's h-he doing here?" the frightened pony asked without taking her gaze off him.
"Oh, um..." Pinkie began, suddenly blocking her sight of him. She glanced at the clock on the wall, and smiled. "I think he's here for lunch. Do you think I could join him and take my lunch break early?"
"Uh..." Mrs. Cake said while shaking herself of the motionless fear. She too looked at the clock, noticing that it was nowhere near lunch. Her eyes glanced back to Pinkie who still awaited an answer. After weighing the options in her head, she conceded with a nod, before walking back into the kitchens.
"Yay!" the pink exuberent mare cheered while rounding onto Vegeta. "You go pick out some seats, and I'll grab the sweets! Hey, I rhymed! Ahahaha!" She laughed while making Vegeta cringe. The saiyan decidded to go and pick out one anyway. A free meal is a free meal.
He decided to pick a booth furthest from the door and slumped down. A little while after, Pinkie appeared, bouncing with a tray stacked with all sorts of confectionaries. Vegeta took note of the control she had with such a stack, and felt a little bit of him die inside as he found a little more respect for the pink mare. She took a seat across from him after setting the tray on the table between them. Although, Vegeta found difficulty seperating the sweets from the sickly sweet mare.
"You don't have to worry about price!" she stated happily. "It's all on the house, so dig in!"
Vegeta surveyed the platter with a critical eye as Pinkie began eating. As far as he could tell, none of the food laying before him had any nutritional content whatsoever. Hesitantly, he reached for a chocolate cupcake frosted with yellow frosting, but it was quickly snatched up by a pink hoof. He looked up with ashocked and apalled gaze that met the pink mare's.
"Oops!" She apologized with the food in her mouth. She swallow quickly and pushed another cupcake, strawberry flavored and pink frosted, over to Vegeta. "Sorry, you can have mine!"
Vegeta looked down at the pink thing. His stomach growled, but he could not tell whether it was from disgust or hunger. He picked it up, studied it, and decided that there would be one good thing coming out of this. He could destroy this pink thing without any reprecussions.
Twilight checked the data, and tghen rechecked the data. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she poured over the stacks upon stacks of paper she accumulated on her balcony. It had to be a miscalculation, some sort of error somewhere. There was no error.
She sprang off her desk that she moved from her bedroom and over towards the Telescope just as the door to her room creaked open. She calmed herself first, before looking into the eyepiece. What she saw were two spherical bodies spinning round and round one another. "They were smaller last time... she thought anxiously to herself. She was so engrossed with her work that she didn't notice the pitter patter of reptilian footsteps behind her. "If my trajectories are correct then-"
"Hey Twilight," Spike greeted abruptly from behind causing the purple mare to leap into the air. "Sorry..."
"Spike!" she exclaimed in a slightly relieved tone. "Thank Celestia! Okay, First I need to grab me another cup of coffee- No wait! First I need you to make sure the calculator and computer are running downstairs and bring them up- Or better yet, Go downstairs and-"
"Twilight," Spike interupted in a calming tone. "I know you're engrossed with... whatever it is you're doing, but... You need to sleep."
"Sleep?" Twilight echoed. "No, I need to make sure that-"
"Twilight," Spike interupted. "Princess Luna sent a scroll demanding you to go to sleep and dream."
"B-but!"
"Nuh-uh," Spike said with a shake of his head. He grabbed Twilight by the hoof and gently lead her off the balcony. Under his breath he muttered, just as Twilight began to make excuses, "Ponies..."
As the door shut to the balcony, a calm breeze scattered the papers on Twilight's desk, sending them onto the floor. Atop them all was a pair of coordinates circled and words scratched onto it hastily.
At noon, in front of Town Hall.
Applejack wandered into Ponyville with slightly sluggish pace. It was only a few minutes before that she and her brother managed to collect all those apples. As much as she wanted to berate the saiyan, she could not help but be very impressed and thankful. What Vegeta did was take an entire day of applebucking for AJ and turn it into a few seconds. Despite getting the easy work, she was worn out. Apples that fell from the tree to the ground could only be good for so long before critters of all sorts could get at them. She and Big Mac had to go double time to get those apples loaded and stored.
She could complain to Vegeta about all the work she was left with, but she felt too exhausted to even think about it. She wandered through the market place and decided to grab a pickmeup at sugar cube corner. They had to have a coffee cake or two around there somewhere...
The orange mare was caught off guard however, by Mrs. Cake curled into the fetal position just outside the establishment. She knew something was wrong and quickly ran over to her side She looked on in shock at the mare before her. the soft serve mane she always had was now looking like a hornets nest as hair poked out from it. Her pupils were shrunk down to the size of pinpricks, and she murmured to herself in panicked breaths.
"Mrs. Cake?" Applejack began softly. "I-is there something wrong?"
"Gone!" She answered in a sharp, shrill outburst. "It's all gone!"
"What's gone?"
"I-I always told myself..." The blue mare began a shutter breath. "I always thought that there was no way, there can't be- but now there's two!!! Two holes that suck everything up! There's no hope! NO hope! I'm ruined!!!"
Applejack saw that there was nothing she could derive from the mare other than the fact that something really frightened her. One thing was for certain: something was up at the bakery. With a breath to steel her nerves, Applejack entered the bakery.
Inside, there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary. No overturned tables or anything coating the walls. She took a few cautious steps inside before feeling a real sense of dread over come her.
"WOW!!" a familiar, cheerful voice shrieked from the dining area. Applejack jumped at the noise but knew it was Pinkie Pie. Knowing no other leads to go on, the cowpony walked down the aisle of the dining area. At first, she thought she saw aliensaucers stacked on one another, until she realized they were just dishes. They were, oddly, stacked up to the roof. From the booth where they were all at, Pinkie Pie's head poked out.
"AJ!!! Come here!!" Pinkie invited with a wave. "You need to see this!"
AJ did so and felt a little calmer. "Pinkie what in the hay is going on?" She asked. She opened her mouth to say more, but clammed up when spotting Vegeta who was taking a long swig of some purple drink.
"Okay, AJ!" Pinkie said, completely disregarding AJ's question. "Tell me what you see." She gestured to Vegeta who set his cup on the table. There was a rather bored expression on his face.
"Uhm..." AJ said with hesitation. "Vegeta."
"Yes," she said exstatically. "What else?"
"... Plates? Look, Pinkie, just what-"
"Exactly!!!" She beamed. "These are plates that used to have cupcakes, cakes, brownies, danishes, stroodles, eclairs, mousses, ice cream, sherbet, smoothies, fritters, fudges, bagels, cookies, donuts, and all sorts of other sweets! And guess what happened to them?!!!" Pinkie didn't wait for a response, and simply pointed a hoof at Vegeta.
Appljack stared in confusion., and sighed, "Pinkie..."
"I know right? I couldn't believe it either, and sat here and watched him! I know I can eat at least three MMM's and still have room for more, but he can eat the entirety of SugarCube Corner and still want seconds after that!!!!"
Applejack let it all sink in for a minute. "... seriously?" she gaped with a raised eyebrow. She looked at all the plates and silverware stacked high, and looked at Vegeta with a coy grin. "Shoot! If I'd known y'all were that hungry, I'd given ya the leftovers from the last Apple Family Reunion." She laughed along with Pinkie as Vegeta sat patiently.
"But in all respects," Applejack bean. "I think this guy just ran the cakes out of buisness."
"Don't worry AJ," Pinkie reassured. "I can cover for him! It was my lunch after all!"
"Pinkie, I don't think-"
"I have at least 3, 296, 542 bits saved from my party planning fund!" Pinkie chimed. "I wanted to use the money to by 369 gallons of jello mix so that I could fill the Canterlot water gardens, but I can get that money back easily."
Applejack opened her mouth to say something but shook her head, scratching it up to Pinkie being Pinkie.
During the conversation that followed, Vegeta, became distracted. He looked over the booth to look around the bakery for a moment. "Strange," he thought to himself. "I could've sworn..." Suddenly, the clock in the bakery chimed twelve times.
"... Well, I still think that we should calm Mrs. Cake-"
Twilight sat up in bed. Her eyes were wide with terror and shock. She leapt from her bed and towards the door. The sound and room were still present in her mind. She knew exactly what happened. The objects, whatever they were, had struck the town square. She needed to get down there. Ponies might be hurt, or worse. Sadly, no matter how hard she pulled on the door, it didn't budge.
Spike was standing in front of the door to Twilight's room when he thought he heard what might've been two rainbooms going off at once. He knew it was impossible, but it was enough to make him think of it. The hardened wooden door was blasted to splinters by a very harsh blast of magic. Before he could recover from any of this, he was quickly scooped up by the caster's magic and dropped unceremoniously unto her back.
"Twilight?!" He cried as the library faded into the distance. "What's going on?!"
The unicorn could not hear him. Her mind was refreshed by the sudden sounds, and had opened up a new well of energy. Her mind was racing faster than she was. Her concern was all over the place. No doubt the two explosions were in fact the anomalies in her data, but because of that data, or lack thereof, she did not know the nature of the foreign debris. It could've been anything, even aliens! Hopefully no one was-
Twilight's fear doubled. Somepony could've been hurt, or perhaps eaten by one of the aliens if they were even aliens at all! Her gallop speed seemed to double, causing the drake on her back to hold on for dear life. She could hear him shouting, but she pushed it to the side. The mare's eyes followed around each street corner until she finally made it to the site of the crash.
Upon arriving in the square, Twilight's attention was immediately bright to the two large craters that occupied where the fountain had previously. Taking a quick cursory glance around the area, Twilight found that no pony appeared to be injured thankfully. Twilight wasn't the only one who found the event to be eye catching. Ponies who had heard the explosion began to crowd into the area and some became brave enough to peer into the craters.
Twilight made her way to the very edge of the larger of the craters and became confused as to what she saw. It was almost perfectly round, and off base white. There seemed to be a window of sorts on it, but there was nothing more to it. Then, it suddenly began to rock back and forth. Immediately, surrounding ponies who were watching the strange objects now back-tracked very quickly. Twilight, however, stood watching the sphere with intense fascination.
Then, the rounded object opened, or rather was forced opened by whatever was inside. A biped stepped out, wearing a startlingly familiar pair of boots and gloves. The armor it wore was scratched and broken beyond what may or may not have been it's original form. It's skin was a ghastly blue and had some variant of hair that was greasy and unkempt.
When it began to ascend upward, Twilight fell backwards sliding ungracefully into the group of ponies watching on with horror stricken gazes. Another joined with it in the air, though it was far more reptilian in nature having a rough and green complexion. This one was dressed similarly, but had one more accessory than the other: an eyepiece of sorts.
"Ahhhh...." the blue one sighed with a stretch in the air. "A whole new world..."
"Cut the crap, Bothan," the reptilian alien reprimanded as it surveyed the landscapes.
"You're no fun," Bothan stated with a cross look. "What's the scouter say?"
"Hmph!" the other grunted while a three fingered appendage touched the eyepiece. The device beeped and shot out static before blinking. "Nothing to worry about. The average is five, maybe seven at the most." Both aliens grinned maliciously, but it was the one called Bothan who acted first.
His hand lit up with an ethereal blue light before a beam shot from has hand. It struck a nearby building, sending it into flames. This caused the group to flee into panic. Twilight, however, did not flee and marveled at the creature's powers. Something in her mind clicked, but did not spur her into fleeing.
"Hey!" a gritty, no nonsense voice called from above the aliens. The two destructors paused before looking to the source. Floating in the air, slightly silhouetted against the sun was a figure was hair was more vibrant than the sun itself.
Rather than just monologue them, the prismatic Pegasus dive-bombed into them. Rainbow was eager to show these space freaks not to mess with Ponyville. Her eyes were set, and her determination was unwavering. She was going to give them the beating of a lifetime.
"Heh..." the green one chuckled with a smirk just as the scouter beeped. He didn't even flinch. As soon as the equine was within range, he gave nothing short of a loose, limp, back hand. While the action didn't seemed effortless, the reaction was powerful. The equine was knocked asunder, sent down to crash into a shop.
"What level was she?" the other asked curiously.
"Barely twenty-five."
"You're kidding?" Bothan scoffed.
"Nope," the other answered while charging a ball of ki in his claw. "Pitiful, right? Let's just hope the entire system ain't like this..."
Twilight watched the unmoving form of her friend. Her mind screamed at her to get up and run. It was no use. She was unconscious. Without much thinking, just as the ball of energy was fired, Twilight teleported between her and the enemy and mustered the most powerful shield she could.
The blast encompassed most of the building, but was heavily concentrated upon the magical force-field. Several times Twilight thought it would break, resulting in more of her magic being spent on the shield. Sadly, she was not as adept at protection charms as her brother was. By the time the explosion ended, it was a miracle on how the home behind her still stood. The violet unicorn buckled and fell to the ground. Her head was swimming, but she forced herself to remain n conscious. She was more than exhausted and aching. Her entire body was drained of magic. Every last drop of magical energy was spent in keeping that explosion at bay. When she looked up, she saw the aliens speaking to each other casually.
"Well, that was no feat of a six or seven," Bothan commented. "You aren't loosing your touch, are you?"
"Rrggghhh..." the reptilian growled. Suddenly, a spine like plume flared up from his head. "Of all the... she was just strong enough to only just prevent my attack, but..." He smirked evilly. "It seems that was all she had..." The scouter beeped three times, showing a definite zero.
"Have a lovely afterlife," he growled as a similar ball of ki was launched from the reptilian's claw.
It was over. Twilight had failed. Her life flashed before her eyes. There were only books up until the very end. She regretted not having friends sooner, or being more outgoing. There would be a place in Tartarus for her for not preventing this disaster. She was the sole pony responsible for not stopping the apocalypse. Maybe Celestia could send them to the sun after her death...
Suddenly, a bright ball of small, erratically charged energy slammed into the reptiles. For a brief moment, they struggled to see who would emerge victorious. However, the newcomer seemed to be the stronger ad caused the two to fly off in a completely different direction. The two aliens stood with a little amazement as the two volleys of energy flied high into the sky before exploding harmlessly. The attention of all who were conscious were directed towards a lone, and very familiar, figure. He stood maliciously and stoically.
"Why don't you fight a real warrior?" a deep and challenging voice called to the aliens. The two aliens seemed less than impressed.
"The scouter says his power level is..." the green alien began. "Heh-heh... absolute zero!"
"Well, let's humor him..." Bothan chuckled. "I wanna see a real warrior!" The conversation did not fall on deaf ears. Vegeta could hear every mocking word from them. He smiled triumphantly. They trusted something that outdated, eh? Well... their weakness.
With split-second speed, Vegeta charged and landed a powerful blow to the blue one's chest. This strike was so vicious, he was knocked into the unnamed reptilian, caused both to fly backwards. Vegeta was not finished their, however. With a ki powered boost, he managed to fly past them with his entire body enflamed with a blue aura. He then positioned himself accordingly in their path of flight and curled his legs. He then leaned backward to alter their flight path. For a small moment, he met the gazes of one of them and he smiled wider still.
With a powerful kick, the saiyan sent the two flying up. Vegeta could swear he could've heard the armor they wore breaking and cracking from his powerful hit. However, the spiky haired being was still not yet finished. He moved again with incredulous speed to maneuver himself in the path of them once more. He charged what ki he could and began to move into an age old motion. He was confident in his poise and more confident in his execution. From the ground, Twilight could see an erratic, purplish aura flashing brilliantly.
Then, with a single second left to spare and just as the aliens appeared before him, the saiyan released his attack.
"Galick Gun!" Vegeta shouted as he snapped into a new pose. "Fire!" With that, an extremely powerful beam of pure power exploded from his palm and hit it's mark, going beyond the aliens and into the heavens above. The pair, however, was not following the attacks flow and were simply vaporized. After the attack faded, there was nothing left. With a discontented huff, Vegeta crossed his arms. He still wasn't through.
From below, Twilight had stood and was now wading through the debris. She, again, was not the only one. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and many other ponies slowly crawled from their hiding places and looked up to the saiyan in shock and awe.
"Woohoo!" a pink mare cheered. "You beat the aliens!" Almost immediately applause followed the outburst. Almost everypony was cheering and calling out to their savior. Fluttershy was one of the only ones to call him out by name. Vegeta, looked down upon the crowd, and scowled. Although he had been victorious, he did not feel as though he was. That was no fight by any stretch. It was a beating if anything. While Vegeta could come up with a few names of people that should be beaten, he himself never really pictured himself doing it. He preferred something more thrilling like an actual battle.
With a dissatisfied sigh, the saiyan flew off into the distance. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had been cheering her wings off. While she wasn't one for explicit violence, and the fact that she only was here for the ending bits, she loved that Vegeta was no longer considered an outsider. Her new friend would no longer be scrutinized. Little did she know that there was at least one mare who still found the saiyan suspect...
Vegeta awoke with a start. The sun had finally dipped over the horizon and he was leaned up against his rock as per usual. It had been a very long time since today's shenanigans and his stress-relieving beating. It at least made him a little less bored. However, the saiyan found something amiss. It wasn't the fact that the fight did not last, but it had something to do with his opponents. They crash-landed...
That was it! They had crash-landed! Vegeta face-palmed himself for not thinking of this sooner. If this wasn't his home, he could simply fly off his rock. He could fly a space-ship easily. He quickly rocketed from his spot and off towards the town.
Upon arrival to the site, Vegeta approached one of the craters and looked within. A puzzled expression crossed his eyes that dashed all hopes and dreams away. He found the ships, but the state they were in troubled him. They were similar models that he used to drive all around the universe, but the one he currently looked upon had it's door quite literally pried open. Curious, he approached the craft further to inspect it.
It was in a state of absolute disrepair. The interior looked like it was gutted and raided. However, judging by the state of what cushion there was in the seat, he could've guessed that it was gutted long ago. Upon inspection of the manual drive, he found that the propulsion system had also rotted away. That only begged one single question: how did they get into space?
As Vegeta stared long and hard, he reached a disheartening conclusion. It wouldn't matter if he knew the why or how. He was still stuck in a world of annoying horses, and was probably forgotten by his family. With a step back, he took one final look at the ship before flying away to sleep against his rock.
... He did not notice the pair of eyes watching him all the while. These eyes were there when the aliens emerged, and they were the same eyes that realized a similarity between them and Vegeta. The owner of the eyes did not know it, but they would also be the eyes that would watch the saiyan die.
Just a quick thing that everyone should know: This fic is now under new management! The previous owner, Paton Pendeng, has given this fic to me to continue.
"I'm not as active as I used to be in the brony community and this site. So I'm giving you this fic. You're pretty new, and I was looking for someone new. (These Fanfics) should get you some good following, and if you keep up your writing, you'll become a master of the literary arts. Good luck!" -Pat
I'll be putting this on hiatus for a sec as she kinda PM'd me out of the blue, and I'm not fully prepared for this responsibility. When the Hiatus is over, I'll remove this chapter and the fic will continue!
Also, I'm putting this same message for all the other fics I got from her. Have a Goodknight!
The previous owner,