A certain purple dragon find himself in the realm of fighting, crazyness, and a set of wish-granting balls.
Six months had passed since Spike had vanished during Twilight's ascension. Six months of frantic searching, worry, and finally grief for the Mane 6 and princesses
That is, until a strange object lands during Twilight and Tirek's battle, carrying the lost drake back home...with a few changes and one heck of a story.
Barely a pinprick against the inky backdrop of space, the tiny, one-man spaceship plowed its way through the void. After what seemed like an eternity, its target was soon coming into view.
"Entering Planetary Border, T-Minus Three Minutes." The on-board computer of the small spherical craft beeped as a small cloud of gas was briefly vented into the face of its lone occupant, "Applying Recovery Vapor." Within seconds, a pair of green eyes shone inside the dark cockpit. The figure blinked a few times before looking out the front window of the rapidly approaching planet.
"There it is...after all this time..." He sighed.
"So much for the saying, 'you can never go back', huh?" A nasally voice spoke up in his mind, grabbing his attention.
"King Kai??" He responded, his tone lightly tinged with surprise.
"What, you were expecting the pizza guy?" The voice chuckled briefly, "A lil nervous, I take it?"
"Kind of. I mean, I've been gone for a long time..."
"Relax, from what you've said about your buddies down there, I doubt they'd have forgotten you that easily."
"Yeah...guess I'm more worried about whether they'll still be around. Like I said, it's been a while."
" Well, you won't know until you get down there. Speaking of getting down, they did warn you about the so-called landings with those capsules...didn't they?"
"What do you mean? It's just gonna touch down, right?"
He heard the otherworldly being mutter something less than flattering about a blue-haired scientist. "You might wanna brace yourself. Sayian spacecraft tend to make quite the impression when they land...liter-whoa!" Kai blurted out before finishing his sentence.
"What's wrong?" He asked, alarmed at Kai's sudden stop.
"It's a good thing you're arriving now, 'cause there's a fairly high power level down there. Mean sonovagun, too, from the feel of it. Better get your game face on."
"Right." He took a took a breath and braced himself as his ship entered the atmosphere. "Figures I'd have a fight on my hands the same day I make it home."
-----------On Equestria-----------
The hulking centaur known as Lord Tirek chuckled darkly as he looked at Twilight Sparkle, the newest addition to the Equestrian Princesses. Above him floated six transparent orbs, each one holding her friends hostage: Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the draconequis, Discord; all of them looking pale and weakened after having their magic stolen by him.
"So, Princess," he mocked, "What will it be; the magic...or your friends?"
Twilight bit back the urge to call him something foul and looked at the others; with the exception of the morose-looking Discord, all of them were yelling for her not to give in to the demand. Before she could respond, though, a faint whistling sound from above caught their attention
"What in Tartarus is that noise?!" Tirek blurted out, looking up.
Twilight followed his gaze to a strange object hurtling down from the sky, "What IS that? Doesn't look like a shooting star, it's not burning up. Moving far too quickly for a normal meteor, and... it's heading this way!" She yelled out loud.
Without another thought, Tirek leaped back as far as he could - bringing his prisoners along, since he still needed his bargaining chip - and Twilight teleported to what she hoped was a safe distance. Within seconds of them clearing the area, the object thundered into the ground, throwing up a massive cloud of dirt and debris on impact. The group stared at the sight in various stages of surprise, shock, and confusion.
Even Discord's attention had been aroused, "Well...that happened."
"Yeah, but what the hay WAS it!?" Applejack responded.
Once the dirt and rocks cleared, and the resulting cloud cleared enough, Twilight tentatively made her way to the impact sight. " Celestia's fetlocks!" A massive crater, almost thirty feet across and fifteen deep, lay before her.
However it wasn't so much the crater itself that surprised her; it was the large silvery sphere resting at the center, indicating that it had been the object they were watching. Her eyes widened at the sight. 'Whatever it is, it's definitely not natural or pony-made!' One side had a large red-colored circle, resembling a disc or cap. And the curving lines she could see reminded her, oddly enough, of a tennis ball. 'Where did it come from?!'
As if picking up on her questions, a sudden hiss emanated from it and the red capped side swung down, revealing itself as a hatch. The inside was too dark for her to see.
Whatever it was, it had been occupied. As soon as the hatch was down, a figure slowly climbed out.
"Man, King Kai wasn't kidding when he said these things make an entrance," The stranger muttered, its voice alarmingly familiar to Twilight and the others. Once in view, she saw the newcomer was dressed in an odd orange and blue outfit with a strange symbol on it. Judging from the build, they appeared to be male, with purple...
Her breath hitched when she saw he had purple scales, a long reptilian tail that ended in a spade-like tip, and long, green spines trailing along the top of his head. It was then that he looked up and spotted her, his expression brightening.
"Twilight!" the others yelled when she reappeared after the Elements zapped her away.
"Twilight?" Applejack asked after she unfurled her new wings. "Ah've never seen anything like this before!"
"You're an alicorn now! I didn't even think that could happen!" Rarity spoke up before suddenly looking about. "Wait, where's Spike!?"
"I don't see him anywhere!" Rainbow Dash said, circling around them. "Tell me you didn't forget to bring him back with you, Twi!"
"Spike? What are you talking about? He came out here with you, didn't he??" Twilight responded, her voice laced with worry. "Spike? Spike!" she cried out, looking around frantically.
"No, Sugahcube. When the Elements zapped ya, he was close by and got caught in the flash." Applejack replied. "W-when we saw he was gone too, we figured he got pulled along to wherever ya'll got sent to."
"No." another voice answered, causing them all to turn towards a very concerned-looking Celestia. "He wasn't with either of us." she turned her attention to Twilight. "I had hoped to be the bearer of good news, but I'm afraid it will have to wait. All of you see if he might have turned up somewhere in town, I'll return to the Ethereal in case he did follow Twilight and we simply didn't spot him."
She barely finished speaking when Twilight took off running, screaming the young dragon's name. The others weren't that far behind.
-----------Back To The Present-----------
The following weeks went by in a haze of worry, searching, and sleepless nights as they looked for him. Especially when an upset Celestia returned empty-hoofed from her search. The group scoured Ponyville before turning their sights to other locales, praying that he was all right when they finally found him.
Sadly, Zecora saw no sign of him in the Everfree, and Shining Armor and Cadence had no luck in the Crystal Empire. Luna joined in as soon as she got word and even Fancy Pants offered help via his connections when he found out, but to no avail.
As time went on, however, the group was forced to consider the worst. Twilight felt dead inside when that happened; the next few days-and nights-were spent in tears. The news that she was now a princess did little to help her mood and the coronation was a more somber event than originally planned.
Tirek's destruction of Golden Oaks only served to enrage her more since everything she had to remember him by; photos, books they had gotten during their time there, the various notes and letters he jotted down for her, were inside, including a small memorial she and her friends had set up for him.
Now, though...
"Spike...?" Her voice quavering as she looked at him. Up in the spheres, she could hear the others reacting in a similar fashion.
"Twilight!" He laughed. Before she could respond, he leaped into the air, clearing the distance between them faster than she could blink.
"Wha..? How'd you learn to jump like..." she trailed off when she saw him up close. It was obvious he was taller than before when he emerged from the orb, but she couldn't sell just how much; now she barely reached his waist. His build had changed massively too, the once small and slightly chubby form had been replaced with corded muscle that visibly flexed under the scales. His muzzle was several inches longer as well, and sharp claws tipped his hands and feet.
"Man, it's great to see ya again, Twi!" He laughed as he scooped her off the ground, getting a surprised squeak in return, "Wow, you're a lot smaller since I last saw you." His eyes widened when he saw her additions, "You have wings! When did you get wings!?"
"ENOUGH!" Tirek roared, getting their attention. "Your decision, Twilight, NOW!"
Spike frowned when he saw the others trapped. 'He must be the power level King Kai warned me about. Hm, figured it'd be higher from the way he reacted. That or he can hide it.' "Who're you?"
"I am Lord Tirek, the new ruler of Equestria and, once she surrenders the alicorn magic the other Princesses gave her, the world!" Tirek glared at them as if daring either to refute his claim.
"Huh? What's he mean by 'surrender the magic'?" Spike asked Twilight
"He's managed to steal the magic from nearly every pony in Equestria and the Crystal Empire! Celestia, Luna, and Cadence gave me theirs to try and keep it away from him, but he figured it out and wants it in exchange for the others!" She responded as he set her back down.
"Oh, one of those kinds. There any way to recover the magic he stole?"
"I think we have a way to get it back and stop him, the Chest of Harmony. But, we're missing the last key. And, I don't have a choice while he has everyone..."
He glanced at her before focusing back to Tirek. "Not for long he won't!" He growled out, suddenly blurring out of sight.
"What!? Wh-Where did he go!?" Tirek yelled, looking around furiously.
Without warning, there was a loud noise from above him, like a large pane of glass being smashed. Looking up, his eyes widened in shock and fury; somehow the dragon had gotten up to one of his entrapment spheres and drove his claws into it, shattering it and releasing the orange earth pony mare! The moment she was free, he grabbed her and vanished from sight again. He reappeared by another orb, shattering this one with a kick and grabbing the yellow pegasus. Before Tirek could properly react, he had torn through all six and made off with his hostages.
Twilight almost jumped when he came back into view beside her, with the others in his arms and a surprisingly bemused Discord hanging off his shoulders. "Wha...that was..." she sputtered slightly. 'I couldn't even see him move! And the orbs, he smashed them like a rock through a window!'
"Everybody all right?" Spike asked, setting them down.
"My stars...!" Rarity wobbled slightly when she was back on the ground, "What did...how did you...?"
Pinkie stepped towards him hesitantly, the normally cheerful pony's voice cracking significantly. "Spikey...? I-is that really you??"
Unfortunately, Tirek, chose this moment to remind them of his presence, "How...HOW DARE YOU!!" He bellowed. magic crackling between his horns, "You will pay for your insolence, whelp!"
"'Fraid the reunion'll have to wait, guys." Spike said, focusing his attention on the centaur. "Twi, you said this chest is supposed to let you get everyone's magic back, right?"
"Y-yeah, at least, it's supposed to but we're missing the last key."
"Right. You and the others go ahead and see if you can't find it."
"A lovely idea for sure, but what are you planning to do?" Discord inquired.
"I'm going to show him why this whole thing was a bad idea to begin with." With that, he began to walk toward Tirek.
"WHAT!? Spike, NO!" Twilight screamed, "Even with the Princesses' magic I've only managed to stalemate him! You won't stand a chance!" Her horn immediately lit up as she moved to pull him back. She had already lost him once, she was NOT going to let that happen again!
But before she could cast, Spike was engulfed in what could only be described as blue flame, his clothes fluttering against him like he was in a strong wind. The flare was followed by a wave of force strong enough to blow back the manes of all six mares. "Twilight, relax. Go find that key."
"What the hootinanny...!?" Applejack clamped a hoof on her hat to keep it from blowing away.
"Holy crap! That's a Battle Aura!" Rainbow yelled, "The physical manifestation of one's inner power!" She saw the incredulous expressions Rarity and Fluttershy gave her in response, "What? I read mangas sometimes."
They watched as, still encased in the fire-like glow, Spike began to slowly rise up into the air. He was completely off the ground when he looked back at them over his shoulder, "I'll be fine." With that, he took off straight towards Tirek, leaving a glowing contrail.
"No wings! That's cheating!" Rainbow yelled.
Tirek laughed when Spike made his way towards him. "And that was your second, and final, mistake, runt."
"Oh?" Spike asked, stopping less than a gallop's length away. "And what's that?"
"Your first was daring to defy me. Your second...WAS COMING CLOSE! NOW GIVE ME YOUR MAGIC!" .e open his mouth and inhaled.
Spike simply hovered in place and cocked an eyebrow at him.
Tirek looked at him. "What?" He tried again, "I said give me your magic!"
"I'm waiting."
A third time.
"You know, that's a good way to accidentally swallow a bug. Or in your case, a couple dozen."
"This is impossible!" he had managed to siphon nothing from the dragon; not even a hint of magical power. "You should be in a heap on the ground by now!" Tirek glared at him a moment before sneering. "I see, so you have a way to prevent me from taking yours, eh? No matter; you're STILL no match for my power!"
"And that's mistake number three you've made now."
"Hm? What are you blathering about?"
"Thinking I was even using magic to start with. That was your third mistake. Of course, it's nothing compared to your first two."
Tirek scoffed. "Oh? And what would those be?"
Spike's voice became a lot colder, "Number one was attacking Equestria in the first place." His expression twisted into a scowl, "And your second, and biggest..."
Tirek's eyes widened when his field of view suddenly became filled with the image of a now furious dragon. "WHAT THE!"
THOOM!
His head was rocked back by the impact of Spike's right fist burying itself in his jaw.
Seven pairs of eyes widened when they saw Tirek get slugged. Spike's blow packed enough force to nearly lift the centaur off his front hooves. He would've fallen over if it wasn't for him staggering back several yards.
"Did...did anyone else see that!?" Rarity managed to speak up, though it came as more of a squeak.
Applejack winced as she watched Tirek try to regain balance. "Ah think Ah felt it!" the look on his face was enough to show some damage had been done.
"You kidding? The guy's got a glass jaw; that wasn't even one of Spike's hardest punches!" All seven jumped when they heard the voice in their heads.
'WHOA! Whda-watzah!?" Rainbow almost flipped herself over in shock as she tried to find the owner.
"Did..did the rest of you hear that!?" Fluttershy yelped.
Twilight looked around in alarm, "I think we all did, Fluttershy. But, what WAS that, anyway!"
"Well, at least you all heard me. Look, I'll explain everything shortly, but for now you might wanna get going."
"Who are-?" Twilight started to ask, only to have the rest drop off when they all saw Spike follow through with a left jab/uppercut combo that sent Tirek stumbling back even further.
"The name's King Kai. I said I'll explain, but the sooner you open that box or chest or whatever and get that magic back, the sooner I can! Besides, judging from how miffed Spike is, that spot's about to become a war zone."
"I..." She sighed, "All right. Let's go."
As Tirek tried to recover from the attack, Spike glanced over to see them running from the area, 'Good, their getting away. Now to keep this bastard focused on me for a while.' He chuckled mirthlessly, watching the centaur wipe away a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth' "Don't tell me the 'mighty' Lord Tirek can't handle a couple of punches."
"You've signed your death warrant, whelp!" he growled murderously, charging up a magic blast from his horns. "DIE!" the orange and black beam lanced towards Spike, who seemed to pay the attack little mind...
Until he suddenly appeared to the side, letting it pass to gouge out a bit of the nearby mountain. He looked at the twenty-foot wide hole with a mix of confusion and slight disgust. 'Is..Is he kidding?? Piccolo's Makankōsappō packed a bigger punch than that back when he still hated me!'
"I don't know how you managed to avoid that, but now your expression tells me you've realized just who you're up against." Tirek sneered, though his voice was still laced with fury.
"That was pathetic!"
"What!?" Tirek hissed.
"I mean, seriously! Barely felt anything from that when it went by me!" He snorted somewhat derisively. "I guess all that magic you stole went towards making your fat ass look intimidating, huh?"
"RAH!" the centaur roared, unleashing another attack. Once again, the dragon hung motionless in the air. This time, though, he tensed, preparing to redirect the beam when the purple upstart dodged.
Howerver, he wasn't prepared to see him fly right into it. Tirek's eyes widened as he watched the dragon disappear inside. Moment's passed before he let out a triumphant laugh. "Was THAT your grand plan to stop me, whelp!? Kil yourself? HA! HA-HA-HAHAHAHA!!"
"No really. More like demonstrate something."
His laughter died immediately when he heard the response, the resulting loss of concentration caused the beam to end, revealing Spike floating scant meters away.
And without a scratch on him. Even his garments looked untouched.
"Like I said..." he continued before blurring away.
Tirek never got a chance to react before something thundered into his solar plexus, causing him to bow over and cough up a mouthful of blood. He'd been struck before, but those were spells or attempts with spears and hooves. Nothing like this; the pain was unreal! The only reaction he was capable of making was a slight gagging/hacking sound before managing to force himself to look down.
Just in time to see Spike remove his feet from his gut.
If he had just two legs the impact would have folded him up like a chair, though it was still capable of sending him down to three knees clutching his stomach, coughing up more blood and trying to fight the urge to vomit.
"How much of that magic are you even really using and how much went towards just looking tough?"
"You...miserable...!" Tirek gasped out once he was able to breath properly. Noticing how close his opponent was, he threw himself forwards, lunging both hands out to grab him. "I...I'll crush...you!"
His hands were just withing reach when Spike raised his own up to the sides of his face, fingers fanned out.
"SOLAR FLARE!"
"Solar whaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" with that, Tirek's world erupted in searing white
---------------------------------
Meanwhile, the the group had reached and entered the Everfree. They were making their way to the tree when they heard the scream.
Twilight stopped abruptly and looked around, "What was that?"
"Ooh...sounds like me when Ah tried usin' a flashlight the first time." Applejack scrunched her eyes up in sympathy, "Had the wrong end pointed at mah face." A glare was sent at Rainbow and Discord when they snickered. "Hey! Ah was a filly back then! And those industrial style ones HURT when they're that close!" She grumbled, "Was seein' dang spots till dinnertime."
--------------------------------
Spike watched Tirek thrash around, screaming in a mix of pain and fury.
"MY EYES!" the centaur raged, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY EYES!?"
"The Solar Flare. A defensive technique designed to temporarily blind the target." Spike responded, not really bothering to make sure he was heard correctly, "Then again, I don't think it's ever been used at point-blank range."
"YOU FILTHY....AHH! I'LL KILL YOU!" He blinked rapidly as his eyesight slowly started to return, his beard now stained red with already drying blood.
"Big talk considering I'm the one doing the ass-kicking so far." Spike watched him begin to crawl back to his hooves, "All that 'power' you claim to have's been real help for you, hasn't it?" He quickly threw up a forearm to block the punch Tirek threw at him, a loud thud signifying the impact.
Another followed, an uppercut this time. It was kicked away, his talons leaving a gash across two of the knuckles. He responded with a straight right, his fist finding its mark between Tirek's squinting eyes, and once again sending him stumbling.
"Like my brother said once, 'You're just a big target for me.'"
"ENOUGH!" Tirek howled once he could see again, flickers of orange and black-colored magic crackling around his eyes and between his horns. "I AM LORD TIREK, I CONTROL ALL OF EQUESTRIA; THE LAND, THE INHABITANTS, AND THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES NOW BOW TO MY WHIM!" as he said this, the clouds up above began to draw in. The closer they got, the more they began to spin together until a massive storm cloud had formed, giving everything an eerie, almost nighttime look. "AND I WILL NOT BE MOCKED BY A MISERABLE UPSTART LIKE YOU!"
CRACKLE-BOOM!
Spike looked up when the crack of thunder echoed and simply frowned at the beginning of rain hitting him. A second bolt of lightening struck the ground not far from them.
"No," Spike cut him off, landing back on the ground. "Are you done with your little bitch fit? You've gone on about how strong you are, but so far all you've really done is scream and make it rain. Like you said, all of it is magic you stole from the ponies. Key word: stole. None of it's yours, not really anyway. Just what you took away from others." a scowl covered his face. "You're nothing but a megalomaniacal parasite." he paused to crack his knuckles and take a stance, "How 'bout I show you what real power; power EARNED looks like?"
"Your head will adorn my new throne!" Tirek growled out, preparing to unleash all he had on the dragon. It was then that he heard it; faint at first, like something in the far distance gradually getting closer-and louder...
It was coming from the dragon. A loud rumble emanated under him from the rocks and chunks of the ground itself that were suddenly ripped up by an unexpected force.
Before they were sent flying by the following shockwave.
---------------------------------
"Anypony else have the urge to suddenly scream 'ROCK THE DRAGON!' ?"
Tirek exhaled a snarl as he recovered from the wave of force that the dragon had suddenly thrown out, narrowly missing one of the larger rocks it had flung in the process. Though the larger debris had stopped, a large cloud of dust and smoke draped over everything, obscuring his sight until the rain started to clear it.
When it did, his eyes widen at the sight. The dragon was still in the same spot, but he had...changed. His scales had become several shades darker in color and the spines along his head were now a serrated, jagged-looking fin. And though it wasn't by much, he was noticeably more muscular as well.
However, that wasn't what truly caught the self-proclaimed ruler of Equestria's attention...
It was the thrum of power emanating from him. Tirek's eyes widened and his jaw went slack briefly when he could see the air literally pulsating around his opponent. Deep down, a part of him was screaming that he should get away; to run before something else unpleasant happened to him.
"Heh, haven't used this in a while. Almost forgot how much of a rush transforming can be." Spike spoke up as he calmly rolled his shoulders, his voice talking on a slightly gruffer tone as well. "I guess I should blame Goku's influence for this, but...Tirek, you've already seen what I'm capable of so far, so I'm gonna go ahead and give you two choices. Choice one: you can give up now, return all the magic you stole, and go back to where you came from under your own power. Choice two," He cracked his neck to the sides, "I make you give up."
The part screamed louder, yelling at him to take the first choice. Unfortunately, it was quickly, and thoroughly, ignored. He lunged forward with a roar, bringing his fist down with the intent to drive the dragon into the ground with everything he had.
Spike responded by putting his hand up. The two appendages met with a loud 'THUD', Tirek's fist stopping dead on impact, "You know you could've made this easy on yourself, right?" He knocked the fist away and rocketed into Tirek's chest with a shoulder tackle, hitting him with enough force to fully take the centaur off his front hooves, following with a spinkick to his jaw that sent him teetering back onto his hind legs before blurring away.
Tirek let out a painful cough as he tried to regain his balance, his eyes darting about madly. "*Hack, hwah.!*Where....where did that bastard go!? I swear I'll...!"
"BAN-BUCKING-ZAI!!" The battlecry echoed from above, drawing his attention upward; just in time to see the dragon, wreathed in blue flame, rocket down onto him.
In a split-second, Tirek's vision was filled by dirt and rocks as his head was plowed into the ground, accompanied by a searing pain on the side of his head.
Spike landed a short distance away and watched since it seemed he was out cold. Several seconds passed before Tirek's arms finally moved, shaking as they did to slowly lift him up a bit. Needless to say, the centaur was a bit of a mess: one eye was beginning to bruise up and blood trickled from a gash at his hairline, adding more red to the formerly white mane. Once he managed to get one arm into position to prop himself up, he reached to his head with the other to feel where it still throbbed.
Only to make an indecipherable noise when his hand clutched the busted stump where one of his horns used to be. Panic briefly crossed his face when he saw it...several feet away. " M-my foci..." Without both his horns his real power-his spell-casting ability-was gone.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, Tirek now felt fear. Doing his best to try and get back to his feet, he looked to see the dragon, just standing there. A crack of lightening lit up the area, showing him watching, staring...completely still and silent. Still clutching the stub, he screamed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
Spike imply shrugged, "Me? I'm Son Spike, Twilight Sparkle's assistant, her unofficial brother, and Princess Celestia's adopted son. I'm the adopted brother of Son Goku, grandson to Son Gohan, the man who taught me how to fight, and uncle to Goku's son, named after Grandpa. I'm a student of the Turtle Hermit, Muten Roshi, and managed to make it to the finals of three World Martial Arts Tournaments. I've faced off against armies, power-hungry alien fighters, a living machine obsessed with destruction, and a psychotic manchild of an entity that was almost indestructible. Granted, I didn't face them alone, or come out unscathed. Hell, I even died once or twice, and been brought back. I've fought against, and alongside, beings who could tear you and this planet apart before you even started to look for a place to hide. And I'm still standing." He looked Tirek dead in the eyes, flexing his arms "But, for now, I'm just the dragon that's going to kick your ass. Tsuinryuunakkru!"
The centaur could only looked on in shock as Spike's forearms were engulfed in a bright white glow. The moment they were covered, Spike looked at him...
And charged.
---------------------------------
"So, any idea what the last one is?" Applejack asked once they reached the Chest of Harmony. The five currently found keys still resting in it.
"Well, we know so far they're items received from tests based on each of our elements." Twilight hesitated, "I don't know what mine is supposed to be, though. At first I thought that mine was guarding the magic the princesses gave me, but it doesn't look like that was it."
As the six mulled over the problem, Discord quietly fingered the medallion Tirek had given him, " Twilight?" He spoke up, "When Tirek demanded you choose, what were you about to say? Before our scaly associate arrived I mean."
"I was about to give the alicorn magic up so he'd let all of you go. Yes, even you Discord." She responded, seeing the look of surprise he was starting to take on, "To be honest, I don't really know if he would make good on his word, but I couldn't just leave my friends like that."
The draconequis looked at her, "Well, surprisingly, that actually makes this a little easier to say. I messed up; listening to him was one of the biggest mistakes I've made. I mean, even after what I pulled prior to all this you were still willing to let me in. Especially you, Fluttershy." He glanced over to her, "And what do I do in return? And like you said, you were going to surrender that power to to get everyone out there, even me. I know I'm no position to ask or expect forgiveness. And to be honest, I doubt you should even bother anyway. To put it bluntly...I'm sorry, for letting myself join Tirek, for breaking the trust you'd put in me, and...for everything, actually." He reached up and removed the medallion, "Tirek said his brother had given this to him as a symbol of how close they were. I'd say you're a lot more deserving of it than I am, Twilight." He finished, handing it to her.
The moment she touched it, she felt a sensation course through her and a wide smile crossed her face, "I think I figured it out." She said as the medallion began to spin and glow, "The test wasn't magic." Within seconds the medal had transformed into a golden six-pointed star matching her cutie mark, with one point the handle to the last key as it floated to the chest to join the rest, "You guys ready?"
"Oh yeah!"
"Darn tootin'!"
"Woo-hoo!"
"Oh my!"
"Indeed!"
"On three." Twilight gripped the one bearing her mark with the others following suit, "One...two...three, NOW!"
The sound of locks opening echoed in the Tree of Harmony Chamber, followed by a flash of color as the lid of the chest opened. The color struck the tree, resulting in a blast of light that enveloped all six mares, imbuing them with power.
---------------------------------
"HYA!" Spike yelled, slamming another fist into Tirek's face and sending him back to his knees, "Feel like giving up now? 'Cause I haven't even broken a sweat--" He stopped when something touched his senses, whatever it was, it felt familiar "Huh? What's that? Kinda feels like..."
The answer came in the form of a glowing orb emerging from a rent in the ground not far from where they were. Inside it were the others, but now they were transformed. Each one of changed; their hooves were clad in markings matching their cutie marks, manes and tails were much larger and literally rainbows of color. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow's wings were larger as well, wrapped in colors matching their manes.
And that was the physical change. Spike could feel the energy emanating from them. He didn't know what it was exactly, but it was obvious this was more bad news for Tirek.
"Hey guys!" Spike called out once he saw them, "Where'd you get that new power? I could feel it before you showed up!"
"Wha...huh...h-how...your magic....I took....I took it..." Tirek managed to spit out, albeit weakly as he forced himself back to his feet.
"Holy crap!!" Dash yelped along with the others when they saw him; the centaur's face was now a swollen and bloody mess. It looked like only one eye was currently usable, his beard and hair were more dark red than white now, the tip of the remaining horn was cracked, his torso and even parts of his lower body were covered in bruises and cuts, and judging from how his left arm hung, it was broken.
"Oh..heh, yeah." Spike scratched the back of his head, "I kinda got mad at him. He's all yours now." He began floating away to give them room.
"Do..don't you wa..*cough* walk away.....y-you....you wretch..." Tirek responded, trying to growl, and failing, "I'll kill... kill you...!"
"Over our dead bodies, Tirek!" Twilight snapped once they recovered from the shock of the sight, "You're finished!" With that, bolts of rainbow light shot from the group and struck the pummeled centaur before merging into a single beam. Tirek screamed as the magic was ripped away from him, reverting him back to his original decrepit form.
"Whoa!" Was all Spike could say as he watched the Mane 6 scatter across Equestria, returning the recovered magic. Within minutes the drained ponies were returned to normal. "That was awesome!" He yelled when they returned.
Unknown to him, while he was admiring what they had done, the excitement and adrenaline of finally defeating Tirek quickly drained away and was replaced by the realization that someone they cared about and had thought was dead for the last six months was back.
Spike was back. Needless to say, the resulting emotions hit fairly hard
"Any chance I can learn that? I mean, it seems kinda specialized, but it looked fu-HUUUU!" And said dragon was promptly knocked off his feet and dogpile...er, ponypile-hugged by six crying mares. "Girls...it's ok." He managed to wheeze out after figuring out why they were acting like that, "I'm back."
"Wow..I've seen some stuff in my time, but...that's definitely a new one on me." Spike commented as he and the others stared at the sight; the group had been so caught up in their reunion they never noticed being teleported to the Tree of Harmony until the sound of rumbling caught their attention.
They had managed to just catch the chest flying up through a hole in the chamber roof via rainbow, followed shortly by another, even louder rumble that seemed to come from somewhere in Ponyville. Before any of them could really react to it, they found themselves promptly teleported once again.
This time, though, they found themselves in front of what could only be described as a large crystalline tree. Except this tree had a castle wrapped up in its branches, and...growing from it too, apparently. The entrance was visible at the tree's base and a massive multi-pronged crystal star was visible atop the castle's main tower.
Since the storm Tirek summoned had cleared immediately after his defeat, the whole structure glinted and sparkled slightly in the returned sunlight.
"But..where did it come from?" Twilight asked, "And who's is it??"
"That would be your castle, Princes Twi...light...?" A voice spoke up behind them, only to trail off. They all turned to see Celestia, Luna, and Cadance standing there, with a grinning Discord popping up in the middle. All three were looking like they had seen a ghost, "Spike...?" Celestia said in a half-whisper, her eyes eyes visibly welling up.
"Hi, Mom..." Spike started to say before the princess tackled him in an almost bonecrushing hug that belied her slender build, sending them to the ground.
"'Mom'?" Rarity looked at him when she heard that.
"Yeah, she adopted him not long after he hatched. I was way too young to look after a baby then." Twilight replied.
"You never said anything about that!" Rainbow commented.
"You never asked. Would've been kind of rude to just shove it out there unless you wanted to know." Spike responded.
"You're alive!" Celestia choked out through sobs of joy and relief, quickly followed by the other two, "When we couldn't find you after Twilight's ascension, we thought..." She trailed off, burying her face in his shoulder.
"It's ok, Mom. Like I told Twi and the others, I'm back."
It was at this point that Discord spoke up. "Um, not to throw off this heartwarming moment, but does anyone else notice he looks a different from when he first showed back up?"
"Now that he mentions it, yer scales do seem a lot darker, Spike." Applejack said, "And didn't ya have spikes on yer head?"
"My scales?" Spike's eyes widened slightly and he laughed, "Whoops. forgot to drop out of Endless Dragon mode." Ten sets of eyes widened as he suddenly reverted back to his original coloring and the jagged fin shifted back to spines.
"'Endless Dragon'?? What...how...Spike, what happened to you these last six months??" Twilight yelped out, unable to contain her bubbling curiosity. "Before you vanished you were barely up to my shoulder. Now you're tall enough to look Celestia and Luna in the eyes and you're all..." She prodded his bicep with a hoof, "Muscly!"
"Yeah, and you know how to use it too, if Tirek was any proof!" Pinkie chipped in, hanging onto his back.
"Only six months? Been over thirty years for me."
"THIRTY YEARS!?" The group of mares screamed.
"It's a long story."
" And something tells me you're gonna end up telling it here shortly." King Kai's voice piped up, startling the three alicorns.
"What the!? Who said that!?" Cadence looked around in shock.
"M-Mr. King Kai, is that you?" Fluttershy asked.
" Just call me King Kai. The 'Mr' stuff makes me sound old. Sorry 'bout the silent treatment, but I didn't wanna interrupt your reunion. That and I was having too much fun watching Spike whoop up on that Tirek clown." They all heard him snort out a laugh, " So, Spike, you gonna introduce us? If I'm gonna help you with this story, I may as well get to know your pals."
"Ah, 'at hed dah shpot..." Spike mumbled through a mouthful of rubies. Once everyone had calmed down and Celestia had managed to let Twilight know of her new status as Princess of Friendship, Pinkie, true to form, promptly ran off to get things set for what she called a 'Victory/Spike's-come-home/Twilight-has-her-own-castle-now' party.
That was around two hours ago. In the meantime, Fluttershy had gone to check on her animals and Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash made sure the CMC were all right.
Needless to say, the three fillies were ecstatic to hear their friend was alive and kicking...and victims to a substantial jaw-dropping when they saw his new appearance. The trio had actually spent a good five minutes running around him throwing out questions about where he'd been, what was he wearing, how'd he get so tall-since now they only reached his knees-and similar ones.
They were all now currently at Sugar Cube Corner chowing down on donuts, sandwiches, hay fries, chips, nachos, pretzels, candy-coated chocolates, a big bowl of gems for Spike courtesy of Rarity, and a barrel of root beer Luna had recently gotten from Appaloosa that she was saving for a special occasion.
Cadence, on the other hand, had to go make sure Shining was all right, as well as return to the Crystal Empire with him to check on their subjects. Though, she did promise they'd both come back afterwards.
"Well now, Spike." Celestia spoke up around a powdered donut, "Since our emotions have settled down," She sat down beside her adopted son. "I believe the story this King Kai fellow mentioned is in order."
"Ah'll say." Applejack added, "Ah mean, how in tarnation did you get strong enough to do...well, to do THAT to a fella like Tirek?"
Rainbow Dash was the next to respond, "Yeah! And how'd you learn to fly without wings!?"
"WHAT!?" Scootaloo yelped, almost choking on her drink.
"I'm kind of curious about all that, too." Twilight said, sitting down on his other side, "But mostly, again, where have you been? Where did you go?"
"Like I said, it's a long story." He relaxed against the table while the others all gathered around to listen, "I guess the best spot to start off is waking up to the voice of the guy I'd soon be calling Grandpa." He allowed his eyes to unfocus. "His name was Gohan, and...well..." He sighed, "He's kind of a hard fella to describe. I wish I could show you, but I didn't bring any pictures with me..." He looked sadly at the table, his spikes drooping slightly in the process. "For that matter, there really aren't any pictures of him. Nowhere except in my memories, at least.."
"Then perhaps that is where we should hear the story, later tonight," Luna suggested. "That is, if everyone can hold their curiosity that long."
"What do you mean?" The confusion in Spike's voice was matched by almost everyone else there.
Luna smiled warmly. "I am the Princess of Dreams as well as the Night, remember? If a story can only be told from your memories, Spike, what better way to tell them than with a dream of those times? With your permission, I can bring everyone into your dreams to hear and see the events firsthoof."
"Into his dreams?" King Kai spoke up.
"My sister is capable of entering the dreams of others." Celestia offered. She was still a little unnerved by the uninvited telepathic communication, but she rallied gamely, "It's mainly to deal with nightmares, though she does like exploring the more interesting dreams ponies can have."
"Hey, now that's not a bad idea!" King Kai spoke up, noticeably intrigued. "If that ability works the way I think it does, I should be able to meet you all there face to face, too!"
Spike chuckled and looked to the others, "I don't mind if it's cool with all of you."
"Ooh! We can break the castle in with a sleepover!" Pinkie squealed.
"Well, that will give me time to make sure Angel and the others are all settled in." Fluttershy said.
Rainbow perked up, "I'm game! Would be kinda awesome to watch it ourselves."
"What Rainbow said." Applejack agreed.
"Ah...Ah guess. Still wanna know how ya go so dang big!" Apple Bloom pointed at him.
"Me too!" Sweetie Bell threw her two bits in.
"He can WHAT!?" Scootaloo managed to get out from her coughing fit.
"As eager as I am to see what our Spikey went through, I'm enough of a lady to be patient." Rarity commented.
"Well...a few more hours won't hurt." Twilight conceded. "We can check out the castle until then."
"Looks like it's unanimous." He crunched down another handful of gems before turning back to Twilight, "So, Twi, are you gonna stay at the library and just use the castle for Princess-y stuff or are we moving in there?"
His question was met with a rather uneasy expression, "Uh..Spike..." She started, "Golden Oaks....it's..."
"What?'
---------------------------------
"I'M GONNA BREAK HIS OTHER ARM!!" Sugar Cube Corner shuddered from his scream, sending several ponies outside running for cover.
"Spike, wait!"
"Oh goodness!"
"Wait, is that horn of his still out there? I'm gonna break his other arm, then shove it up right up his....!"
"Whoa! Settle down, sugarcube! Why didn't ah bring my rope!?"
It took a little while...along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to slow him down, a half dozen spells meant to hamper movement, and Celestia using the infamous 'Mom' voice...but Spike was eventually dissuaded from his plan to inflict yet more mayhem on Tirek (who was currently in the Tartarus less-than-intensive care unit)
"I know, Spike..." Twilight curled up beside him, "Lost count of the memories we had there." She sighed, "Unfortunately, we can't do anything about it except go on."
Taking note of the morose air that was starting to settle, Pinkie was about to try and lighten things up when Spike spoke up.
"And this planet doesn't have Dragonballs. At least, I don't think it does."
Rarity scrunched up her nose in shock, "Spike! I know this is an unpleasant discovery, but it's no excuse to be so crude!"
"Wha..? No, the Dragonballs are a set of seven orbs that can grant someone a wish when they're all brought together. And trust me, they can be pretty powerful."
"Dare I ask how powerful?" Celestia asked. Given her experience with the Elements of Harmony, she was quite familiar with the risk certain artifacts could pose if misused.
"As in able to bring a person back from the dead or make someone immortal." He responded, earning several looks of shock "Which, unfortunately, made them targets for some less than pleasant characters, too."
The others looked ready to start throwing out questions when Luna coughed to get their attention, "Um, perhaps we should save the questions until we see things for ourselves." Seriously! She added silently, I mean, what's the fun of a dreamtale if the teller spills everything beforehoof!?
"Yeah, Luna's got a point. Be easier to show you what they can do as well as everything else that happened." Spike added, fighting the urge to chuckle a little at the reluctant agreement from the others.
-----------Later that Evening-----------
"Anyone else noticed this place seems WAAY bigger on the inside?" Pinkie asked as she fiddled with a pair of binoculars after Celestia led them through the entry hall to what she liked to call 'The Hall of Friendship': a sizable throne room with six crystal thrones, each one bearing their Cutie Marks and surrounding a star-shaped dais.
And a seventh that, to Spike, looked a little odd, "Um, Mom?" He asked, "The thrones for the girls I think I get, but what's with that one?" He pointed to the large throne beside Twilight's, a large, jagged green 'S' was emblazoned on it.
Celestia simply 'hmm'ed, "Not a fan of jagged lettering myself, but all in all, rather tasteful." She then gave him a look that told them all she knew a lot more than she was letting on, "You didn't think it was going to just be them here, did you?"
Knowing it'd most likely be an uphill battle trying to get her to tell them exactly what that meant, he just shook his head, "So...I take it everyone's ready for this?"
She responded by procuring and using her magic to inflate an air mattress, "Luna and I made it a point to let the nobles know Day Court would be held late tomorrow. Thankfully they didn't put up too much fuss."
"I just canceled mine tonight." Luna grinned cheekily.
"Better believe it!" Rainbow laughed, pulling out a cloud that she had, somehow, managed to stuff into her own saddlebag, along with a blanket and her pajamas.
"I'm ready-eddy!" Pinkie chirped, already in her PJs and sleeping bag.
The others followed suit.
"Wait, we all have ours, Spikey, but where are you going to sleep?" Rarity asked, putting her sleep mask on.
"I'll be ok, Rarity." He replied, laying down on the floor, "Learned I can nod off pretty much anywhere" Finding out you can sleep clinging to a multi-mile high tower kinda helps, heh. He finished to himself.
Once they were all settled in, Luna's horn lit up, covering them all briefly in a dark blue light, "The spell I just cast will alert me to when all you enter REM sleep. As soon as that happens, I'll enter Spike's dream and pull you all in. With that said...enjoy your forty winks."
A couple of hours passed as the group worked to let sleep take them, making small talk and guessing about what they might during their excursion. Well, most of them were. Spike had zonked out within minutes, now sprawled out and and snoring away.
One by one they began to doze off, Luna quietly watching as the sound of relaxed breathing became the only sound there.
"Story time." She giggled, vanishing in a burst of blue.
----------Inside Spike's Dream------------
"Um..." Sweetie Bell started as she looked around. Instead of what they expected, all they could see was a massive stone floor that stretched endlessly under a white void, "This is..."
"Boring." Scootaloo said, her voice echoing slightly.
"And kinda creepy." Apple Bloom finished, "There's nothing here."
"This is the default appearance of a dreamscape, " Luna explained, her hoof slippers clicking faintly on the tiles, "It's usually this way when the sleeper hasn't quite entered a dream state, simply isn't dreaming that night," Her gaze shifted to something behind the group, "Or in this case...." She smirked and pointed.
They turned almost as one to see Spike, chomping away at an emerald the size of an Ursa Minor.
That's Spike for you. Twilight thought, fighting the urge to laugh at the sight, "Spike, we're here."
"Mmph?" He looked up mid-chew, "Oh."
Pinkie and Rainbow fought, and lost the fight, leaning against each other to stay on their hooves in laughter.
"I got kinda hungry waiting for everyone." He grinned, scratching the back of his head.
"That's putting it mildly." King Kai's voice piped up, causing every pony to jump when a short, stocky figure faded into view beside him. It was blue-skinned with pointed ears, dressed in what seemed to be a long, black shirt, small sunglasses and a cap with long feelers on it, "Oughta see this guy when he REALLY gets going."
"King Kai, I presume?" Celestia spoke up once she'd gotten over the sudden entry.
"That's me." He replied, taking a look at the group, "So, Spike, you gonna introduce us or what?"
"Gotta admit," King Kai chuckled after being introduced to the group, "I didn't even know a planet like this existed. Too bad I don't know how to get here, either. I'd probably slap me down a vacation house here in a heartbeat!"
"Perhaps once this is all said and done we might be able to help with directions." Celestia answered, intrigued by the thought of interplanetary visitors, "Although I am curious as to how you managed to arrive here."
"Oh, when Princess Luna mentioned she could enter dreams, I did a little experimenting and figured what she does is a variation of astral projection. Of course, she jumps in with both feet, or all four hooves in her case, and can transfer herself physically. So, I found a quiet spot to sit down and locked onto Spike's energy signature. A little meditation later, and here I am, heh."
While most of the group looked like they weren't quite sure what he meant, Twilight was obviously giddy at the prospect of learning what could possibly be a new form of magic. Thankfully, Celestia was quick to keep things from being derailed too much. "Now, I believe the floor is Spike's, so to speak."
"Yeah, um...well, I guess first off is this." He concentrated and a figure wearing an orange coat over a black karate gi appeared.
Twilight saw the bushy white mustache and quickly recognized it as an elderly male human. "I take it that's him?" she asked, seeing the wistful look on Spike's face.
"Yeah. Girls, Mom, Luna..."
"Oh, I'm not late for the show, am I?" Discord asked, his head popping up out of Luna's mane.
"And you too, Discord." Spike added.
"Yes, Discord, Spike has just started. Now get out of my mane!" Luna responded, shaking him out, "You better not have been eating popcorn in there again. I find kernels and you are dead."
"Relax, LuLu." He replied, "My paw and claw are clean."
Spike simply shook his head. "Anyway, like I was saying, this is Gohan, Goku's and my adopted grandfather." As he said this, a small square hut with a pagoda-style roof appeared. "And that was where we lived."
"Well, I'll admit it does have a certain...rustic charm." Rarity commented, giving the building an appraising look, "Seems a tad small, though."
Spike chuckled, "A little, but aside from sleeping and eating, we spent most of our time outside. Anyhow, the whole thing started with me hearing him as I came to..."
"Came to...You were unconscious??" Celestia asked, the familiar 'mother's worry' filling her voice.
"Pretty much. I don't know if it was backlash from the magic or whacking my head on something along the way, but I was out cold when he found me."
Before any of them could responded, the scene quickly shifted...
"Ah, it looks like our guest is finally waking up." The elderly voice spoke up as he cracked his eyes open.
"Huuhhnn...?" He mumbled groggily before wincing from a sharp pain in his head, "Ow!"
"Whoa, easy there!" the voice spoke up again, "You had a nasty wound on your head when I found you. Thankfully it looked fresh then, otherwise I don't know if you would have made it." When things came into focus, he found himself laying on what looked like a mat with a blanket pulled over him.
"Wh...where am I?" he managed to get out, the fog gradually lifting. Turing to where the voice came from, he found himself face to face with an old man, "Who're you?"
"Oh, I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" The old man chuckled, "My name is Son Gohan, and this is where me and my grandson, Goku live."
"Now hold on a second." Applejack broke in, "Spike, you said his name was 'Gohan', not 'Son."
"It seems to be a cultural aspect similar to Neighponese, where they put the family name first as well." Twilight offered.
Spike quickly jerked a thumb towards her, "Yeah. What Twi said."
"My..my head?" he reached up to feel a bandaged wrapped around his head, hissing a little at how tender it felt.
"Indeed." The old man said, "I found you out near the bamboo grove not far from here. Unfortunately, it looks like you may have had a run-in with bandits and they took everything you had. You didn't have a stitch of clothing on. Luckily I never got rid of that spare nightshirt."
He looked at Gohan before lifting the sheet to check. His current attire looked at least two sizes too big for him, "Oh. Uh, and thanks for finding me."
Gohan chuckled, "I certainly couldn't just leave you out there, little dragon."
"What...? D..dragon??" His voice was steeped in confusion
"Well, of course." Gohan responded, reaching over to pick up a nearby mirror, "You definitely match the description for one. Although, I will admit I've never seen one as young as you."
His eyes widened as he looked at his reflection: a reptilian face, covered in scales and a row of small, blunt spikes running along the top of his head, "I'm a dragon?"
"As much as I'm an old man." Gohan replied, "Which reminds me; you know my name, but I'm afraid I don't know yours. For that matter, what brings you out to these parts?"
"Oh, it's S-Spike. My name's Spike. I'm here...here..." he tried to give an answer only to come up blank every time, "I...don't know why I'm here."
"Well, where are you from?"
Spike looked at him in hopelessness, "I don't know that either..."
"Oh, yeah." Spike chuckled nervously as every head swiveled towards him, "Did I forget to mention that I woke up with a bit of amnesia?" he scratched the back of his neck, "About ten years before I really started to remember anything"
"Something tells me a little forewarning would've helped, Spike." King Kai deadpanned.
"Ten years with amnesia!?" Celestia hollered. "But the longest time on record is fifteen months! The poor stallion thought he was an oddly shaped yak named Snerly until he recovered."
"I don't really know how to explain it, Mom." Spike replied. "All I know is I was almost in my twenties before the memories started coming back, and even then they were mostly just a name or reference popping in my head on occasion that I didn't really get the meaning of for a long time." After the group managed to settle down from the surprise info, he continued. "Anyway, with no memory of where I was from or why I was there to begin with, Grandpa decided it wouldn't do to just let me walk away once I recovered from the bump on my head. Especially since neither of us knew how old I was."
"So, that's when he took you in?" Sweetie asked.
"Pretty much." He chuckled briefly. "Though I did meet Goku before he did it." With that, the image of a small boy with extremely spiky black hair appeared, wearing a sleeveless blue shirt and pants.
"Aw!" Fluttershy squealed, "He's adorable!"
"Wait a minute..." Twilight spoke up, giving the image a suspicious look. "I don't recall human beings having tails."
"That's 'cause Goku's not human." He held up a hand to forestall reactions. "One thing at a time. That'll be relevant later." He cleared his throat, "Where was I? Oh yeah; when I met him, he was fishing when Grandpa found me so neither of us were really expecting it."
"How'd he take it?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, to be honest I'd be wanting some answers if I came home to find somebody'd been brought into MY house while I was gone."
"Surprisingly well, actually. Though, in his case, it was more along the lines of 'not knowing we were having company' and 'hoping the fish he caught was big enough for all three of us'."
"Well, he seems like a trusting sort." Celestia commented, giving the scene a contemplative look.
"Yeah. I think it might've been because Grandpa was really the only other person we were around for quite a while." He scratched his chin. "Unfortunately, that kinda worked against us a couple times, but I'll get to that later too. Anyhow, I found out I wasn't alone in the 'not remembering' department while lunch was cooking."
"So, Grandpa said you don't remember anything?" Goku asked as they watched Gohan season the fish.
"Aside from my name, no." he replied. "Where I'm from, how I got here...it's all a blank. Didn't even know I was a dragon until he told me."
Goku chuckled. "Yeah, I don't remember anything before meeting Grandpa either."
"Say what?"
"When he was little, Goku took a tumble and hit his head as well," Gohan piped up, tossing a few herbs onto the fish. "Granted, that was a few years back, but still."
"Heh, guess I should be glad I'm not alone in that.'' Spike looked at them. "Though, I don't know when, or even if I'll remember."
"Well, no sense letting you go off in such a state," the old man commented. "Especially no knowing where to go, much less the unsavory types out there that won't hesitate to take advantage of that info."
"And with that, I was pretty much part of the Son family." He scratched his nose. "Heh, in hindsight, it 's a lil surprising to know I got a brother aside from Shining."
Unfortunately, he was cut off from saying anything else due to a noise that sounded like it couldn't decide if it was a yelp or squeak.
And it had come from Twilight. "Shining!? Ohmygosh, we forgot to let him know you're back! Knowing Cadance, she might've gotten too busy making sure he and the crystal ponies were all ok to let him know!" Her eyes widened. "And Mom and Dad! They don't know either!"
"Get a grip, Twilight!" Rainbow spoke up, clamping a hoof over her friend's mouth. "Just ask Princess Luna if she can get them. Shouldn't take her that long to zip over and get them if they're all asleep."
"In regards to Twilight Velvet and Night Light, that would be true," Luna replied. "Alas, the Crystal Empire is well outside my maximum safe travel range in the dreamscape. Without a suitable booster, at least."
"How 'bout a guy who managed to hop over here from another planet?" King Kai piped up.
"You'd do that?" Twilight asked, looking at him hopefully.
"Don't see why not." He shrugged and looked at Luna. "Doesn't seem right leaving the rest of Spike's family outta the loop. Just put a ha--uh, I mean a hoof on my shoulder and tell me which way we're going."
Since they were closest, Night Light and Twilight Velvet were the first to be brought over from their dreams. Needless to say, while they were relieved to see that Twilight and her friends were all right after Tirek had been dealt with, both were a bit surprised and confused about the whole thing.
Night Light scratched his head. "Well, Princess Luna and that odd blue being..."
"King Kai, Dad." Twilight interjected, "His name's King Kai."
"Oh, right. Anyway, they told us that this was something your mother and I would really want to see and hear, though you forgot to tell us earlier for some reason."
"I can explain the forgetting part. It kind of goes along with what we wanted you to see." She smiled and pointed over the side.
"Hey, Aunt Velvet, Uncle Night." Spike said when they followed the hoof.
It took a moment for them both to find their voices. "Spike!?" The pair managed to get out, Velvet's eyes welling up before charging over to him, Night Light right behind her.
Luckily, this time he was ready and caught the flying leap she made towards him, her forelegs wrapping around his neck in the process.
"Spike...how...where...I mean, when Twilight told us you'd vanished..." Night Light trailed off, unsure of how to voice what he was thinking while Velvet was trying to do the same same with her face buried in Spike's shoulder. "And how'd you get so big?? You're built like a brick shi...I mean a brick wall!"
Twilight chuckled weakly. "That's another part of the reason you're here..." she was cut off when Luna and King Kai returned with Cadance and Shining Armor.
Except all four of them were sporting bright red faces.
"Was...was that really...?" King Kai asked, awe toning his voice.
"Yeah..." Shining replied, pawing the ground somewhat bashfully.
"And sh-she...?"
"Sometimes I think she's double-jointed." He glanced over to his wife, who looked rather proud of herself through her blush.
"You lucky motherfu--ohheyeveryoneshere!" King Kai blurted out upon noticing they were being watched.
Thankfully for them, none of the others were willing to ask what happened (though Celestia did say something to Luna that made her squawk out indignantly).
Though she had been there when Celestia saw Spike again, Cadance had to check on the Crystal Empire once she had gotten her magic back. After things settled down a bit, she finally got a good look at him.
"Whoa...Spike? DUDE!" Shining blurted out, "When Princess Luna and that guy with her said you were alive, she didn't mention you were BIG too!"
"Heh, yeah. Again, it's kind of a long story"
"Woof!"
Silence promptly reigned. One by one, everyone there turned to a now heavily blushing Cadance, who was staring at Spike with a rather odd smile on her face.
One that slowly widened as she turned to look at her husband.
"Ca-Cadance..? Why're you....ohhh...oh dear..." Shining muttered when her horn began to glow.
"Well, I'd say that was definitely worth the price of admission." Discord chuckled from the theater chair he was curled up in. "I do hope a sequel is in the works."
"Not. Funny. Discord!" Luna yelped, a hoof covering her eyes and a fresh blush on.
"Oh, my goodness...!" Fluttershy's voice was barely audible from behind her mane.
"Ah..Ah'll second that." AJ replied, a poleaxed look on her face.
"Q-quite..!" Rarity added, following Luna's example.
Rainbow Dash just stared.
"Sh-Shining..??" Twilight managed to squeak out, "Are..are you all right?"
"Feel a...a little funny. But aside from that, yeah..." came the bemused reply from the now humanoid stallion. "The hands are kinda cool, though." he added, holding up one of the new appendages where his forehooves used to be.
"Mmmm, I'll say." Cadance purred from her new seat in his lap, the other arm wrapped around her.
"Can we look now?" the CMC asked in unison from behind Celestia's wing.
"Wow.." Spike mused, a grin on his face. "You're almost as tall I am now, Shining!"
Meanwhile, King Kai was off to the side, and Pinkie could hear him muttering to himself about 'henati' and a female version of something called a 'Roshi'.
---------------------------------
Once things had finally settled down (and Shining was conjured up some pants) Twilight took the opportunity to them all up to speed. "So, Spike ended up in another world with no memory aside from his name and was taken in by an elderly man named Gohan. And that's pretty much where he's at the story so far."
"Wow..and that's just the start?" Night Light asked.
"Basically." Spike replied. "In all honesty, not that much really happened for the next couple of years. I can show the highlights, though."
"That would probably be best." Celestia replied, bouncing on her hooves slightly. "I'm getting antsy to hear when your encounter with these Dragonballs begins."
Spike chuckled at his mom's antics. "Well, I guess I'd better get started." With those words, the group was surrounded with images of the trio: eating, talking, and other activities. "Oh yeah, there's one of the time Goku showed me how to catch fish with my tail."
"You sure about this, Goku?" Spike asked as he dipped the spade of his tail into the stream, copying the other boy.
"It's easy, Spike!" Goku smiled. "I've done it a bunch of times. Sometimes you gotta wait a bit but there's always a bite sooner or later if you wiggle your tail some."
"Well, yeah; your tail actually looks like a big ol' worm. I don't know what they'll think of..."
CHOMP!
"Mi-hi-hi-EEEYEEOOWW!!!" He hollered when a sizable fish clamped some rather sharp teeth onto him. The shock was enough to make him pull up hard, bringing his catch along "OWOWOWOWOW! Get it off! Get it off!" he ranted, running around with the fish latched on. As he did, every now and then, a small gout of emerald flame accompanied his yells. "It's CHEWING!"
Goku, however, just watched. "Huh, I never breath fire like that, though." He cocked his head to the side. "How're you making it green?"
"Oh yeah, that was also when I found out I could still do that, too. Thankfully it just took me learning I had to want the fire to come out for it to work. " he said, pointedly ignoring Rainbow and Scootaloo's laughter.
"That's one aspect of Goku I don't think he EVER grew out of." King Kai commented.
"Tell me about it. Luckily he did eventually snap out of it and get that fish off my tail."
Meanwhile, Rarity, Celestia, and Fluttershy were giggling and cooing at a scene of the two of them horsing around in the bathtub.
"Say, Spike, what's that one over there?" Shining asked, pointing over to an image of Gohan and Goku facing each other in odd poses."
A fond look crossed the dragon's face when he saw it. "Ah, that's from when I first saw them sparring. Grandpa's the one who taught me and Goku the basics as well as the Jan Ken style"
"Jan Ken; where have I heard that before?" Twilight mulled over the term briefly before her ears pricked up. "Janken...that's Neighponese for 'rock,paper,scissors'!"
"Oh yeah, I remember that style! Old Gohan cooked that one up when he was younger if I remember right." King Kai chuckled and held up a fist. "First, the 'rock'. If that got blocked, 'scissors' with the other hand." He raised two fingers in a V. "Mainly to the eyes. Then, 'paper'." his hand opened with all fingers spread out. "Right in the mush. Truthfully, some martial artists would call it dirty fighting, but even I know that there are times when pragmatism is the only way to survive the fight."
"I think we can all attest to that at one point or another." Night Light commented.
Velvet looked at him. "Honey, if you're referring to the incident with that little spider..."
"Little nothing! That monster was the size of my hoof!" he shot back. "And don't think I forgot about you laughing your tail off the whole time."
"Still, I didn't know you could jump like that when we weren't playing 'Miss Lacy Sadd...'"
"OOOOO-KAY!" Twilight cut her mother off, face bright red.
"Lacy wha?" Apple Bloom asked.
"We'll tell ya when yer older!" AJ blurted out.
"MUCH older...!" Luna quickly threw in
Spike looked at them curiously before shrugging and continuing, "Anyway, I watched them for a bit." He smirked at Rainbow's sympathy wince at the kick Goku took to the side. "Yeah, I was surprised too when I saw them wailing on each other like that. But, even at those ages they could both take a punch."
"I wouldn't mind some punch." Pinkie squeaked when they saw Goku retaliate with a knee to the jaw. "The drinkable kind, I mean!"
"To be honest, I thought they were pissed at each other over something until Grandpa explained things. Luckily it turns out dragons are pretty quick healers; just under a week and I was able to get the bandage off my head...which prompted him to invite me to train with them. Let's just say it was an experience."
"Remember, Spike, always keep your wrist firm when using a fist or palm strike." Gohan said, giving his arm a quick adjustment.
Spike quickly threw another, doing his best to follow the old man's advice. "Like this?"
"Much better. Just keep practicing and it'll become second nature."
---------------------------------
"Come on Spike, only ten more miles to go!" Gohan called out cheerfully as he jogged in place, Goku right beside him. "Once you get used to the distance we can start on your speed!"
Spike wheezed from his spot several yards behind them. "'Only ten' he says..."
---------------------------------
"Nice one, Spike!" Goku smiled from above the prone dragon. "You almost hit me that time!"
Spike simply looked at him, too sore to form an appropriate response
"Yeah, Goku had a bit of a headstart on me in that so it was a few months before my body started getting used to a workout that intense."
"That was just a workout!?" Celestia blurted out, watching the run again.
"More like a warm-up. Once I got accustomed to it, he started me on what Goku was doing. An extra ten miles, mostly to hunt up firewood and food when we didn't want fish, full-contact sparring." He laughed and rubbed his side. "Lost count of how many times he knocked me out before I finally managed to tag him. And a bit of weightlifting, which was mostly just doing everything while lugging some heavy rocks with us."
"Sounds like something Generals Ironhoof and Eclipse would love to implement for royal guard training." Shining spoke up.
"Luckily for the guards, they both retired recently." Celestia turned back to her son, "How long did you do all this??"
"Long? Um..hm..well, the warm-up part took me about nine, ten months. And did the rest for a little over three years...so, around four."
"Four years!?" Every mare in the dream yelped, staring at him.
"Sheesh! I like pushing myself to the limit, but that seems a bit much even for me!" Rainbow looked at one of the rocks Spike was carrying in the memory.
"Maybe it could be considered a little overkill, but it did bring us together in a way. After all, you never really know someone until you've given each other a black eye." he grinned.
Apple Bloom looked at him, "Who actually says that?"
"Get me a wavier signed by eight family members and we'll talk." Discord replied.
---------------------------------
A few minutes later (after everyone had finally processed that info), the group was glancing at the memories Spike had made available when they all heard a light squeal of 'oohh'. A brief look around was all it took to reveal the source: Fluttershy was looking over at another memory, forehooves over her mouth and a expression of glee.
"Fluttershy, what'd you find?" Rarity asked as she and the others gathered up behind her.
Gohan chuckled when Spike and Goku came in; though Spike was walking a bit slower, "Still getting accustomed to this, eh?"
"More or less." he replied, flexing one of his arms to show the muscle that was gradually showing. "Though I'm getting there."
Gohan smiled, "Well, the two of you go get cleaned up and ready for bed. We're going to the nearby village for supplies so you need to be up early."
"Ok, Grandpa." Both boys said in unison. They promptly looked at each other like they didn't expect that before laughing.
The old man's eyes widened slightly, a little surprised himself before letting out a slight noise of appreciation.
"Ooh...!" Velvet let out her own happy squeak at the sight, "I think that qualifies as an official family."
"Uh, Pinkie, what you doing?" Rarity asked, seeing the partyholic mare scribbling wildly on a piece of paper.
"You saw that, Rarity!" she replied. "Spike got found by a nice old man and his grandson, got taught marshal arts, and now we saw him call Mr.Gohan 'Grandpa!' How else am I gonna remember what all on put on the party banner? Oh, I hope I have enough banner it all."
"That's 'martial', Pinkie." Rainbow threw in. "As in fighting. Like what he did to Tirek?"
"Tirek??" Pinkie looked back at the paper and started writing again.
King Kai watched the antics "Uh, shouldn't we tell her we're still in a dream and that paper's not really there?"
"Knowing Pinkie Pie, she'll have it on her personal stationary when she wakes up." Scootaloo held up a hoof, "Just trust us, your brain cells will thank you."
As all this went on, Twilight noticed Spike's attention was elsewhere. He was currently glancing over to another memory, except unlike the others, he didn't seem too thrilled to see it.
The memory itself was much different than the others as well; while all the rest around them were brightly colored, this one looked dull and grey, like a bottle of paint remover had been taken to it.
"Spike? What's wrong?" she asked, stepping over to him.
He sighed, "That's a memory I kinda hoped wouldn't show up."
"Is that why it looks so...so..." she searched for an appropriate word.
"Dreary? Depressing?" he offered. "Fitting considering what it is."
It was brief, but Twilight spotted something in the corner of his eye, "Spike?"
Twilight blinked, "His death?" Part of her wondered what happened to the elderly man, especially after the way Spike had first recalled him. But, she felt he'd expand on the subject when, and if, he felt like it.
"Yeah." there was a dead tone in his voice when he said it, the memory visibly affecting him, "A mistake I made. A big one."
"Spike, it couldn't have been that bad..." She started, but Spike cut her off.
"It was, Twi!" They all saw his hands tighten a bit, "He warned us about not looking out during the full moon, and I should've remembered!"
"What's wrong with looking out at a clear night sky?" Luna asked, looking a tad affronted at the notion.
"Because of what came out when the moon was full..." As he spoke, the memory began to play.
A handful of incoherent mumbles escaped Spike while he returned from the bathroom, scratching his back with the spade of his tail, ready to fall back into bed. When he passed by one of the windows, a strange urge hit him. For some reason, he felt like he just had to take a look out, even if just for a moment. Blinking the sleepiness away, he pulled back the curtains.
The sight that greeted him sent any thoughts of sleep swiftly to the wayside for the moment; with the exception of a couple of clouds it was a clear, ink-black sky dotted with what seemed to be hundreds of glittering stars.
"Whoa.." He whispered, staring up at it. And unknowingly waking Goku up in the process.
"One of my favorite types of night." Luna commented, the glances she was giving everything indicated she was taking mental notes for something similar, "Pity there's no moon out."
"Actually, it was, but...I didn't see it just then..."
"Spike? We're supposed to be in bed." Goku commented sleepily when he noticed the dragon looking out the window.
"Goku, you gotta see this!" He said, motioning for him to come over, "This is some view!"
"But we're not supposed to look out at night, especially on a full moon! You know what Grandpa said!"
"But there's no moon in sight. C'mon, just one look wouldn't hurt."
"Well...ok. But just one." Goku got off his futon and hopped over beside him. As soon as he looked out, his eyes widened as much as Spike's, "Oh, wow!"
Both boys were quickly mesmerized by the sight, "Look over there! I think I see one of those 'constellation' things Grandpa told us about!"
"Yeah, it was fun then...but it was also when things went bad, very bad..." Spike sighed, "Neither of us knew that cloud was the only thing keeping us from seeing the moon."
"What's so wrong about the moon!?" Luna pouted, looking a little offended.
"It wasn't the moon itself, Aunt Luna." Spike replied, "It was the effect seeing it had. Remember when I said Goku wasn't human?"
The two were so enthralled by the sight that neither of them noticed one of the clouds had shifted to the side...
Revealing a large white sphere.
"Hm?" Goku looked over, catching it in his peripheral vision. When he did, though, he immediately froze.
"Hey, I that's a shooting star!" Spike called out, nudging him, "Goku, check it out!" He looked over when the other boy didn't respond, "Goku? Goku, you ok?"
A low growl rumbled from him as his face twisted into an expression of unrestrained fury. His arms and chest began to slowly expand and his eyes took on a reddish hue.
"Go..ku..?" Spike backed up uneasily.
"What's all the ruckus?" Gohan called out, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Grandpa! Something weird's happening to Goku!"
"Hm?" The old man looked at him and he paled in fear, "Oh no! Spike, quick, run!"
"Run? Wha-"
"Hurry!" Gohan pointed out the door, "Run! Don't stop until you're in the woods, find a hiding spot, and stay there till morning! And no matter what happens, or what you hear, don't look back! GO!"
"That was the first time I'd seen Grandpa that scared, but I did what he said and ran." Spike slumped in a chair Luna conjured for him. They could all see he was trying to blink back tears, "I think I made it halfway to the wood when I heard him scream, then this loud roar. I didn't know what it was then, just that it sounded...big."
"H-how big?" Fluttershy's voice wasn't much more than a whisper as she backed away from the memory.
"Was too scared to even think about looking behind, I just ran until I hit the treeline and managed to find hollow I was able to squeeze into. Then I just curled up and waited for the sun to come up..."
"Hold on...why would looking at the moon do that?" Shining asked, looking confused.
"He's right, sugarcube," Applejack piped in, "Ah mean, that sounds more like a timberwere deal, and those are a fairytale."
"Well, the reason why'll come up later, but I can tell you now if you want." Spike looked at everyone
"I'll wait." Rainbow replied, "I don't like spoilers."
"Me too!" Pinkie added.
"I agree." Celestia sat down beside him,"Skipping ahead tends to lead to more questions and confusion."
The others soon agreed.
"In that case, I guess I better finish...you know..." He looked over as the memory started back up.
"Hmmm...?" Spike groaned, squinting a little when the early morning rays hit him. He blinked a few times before he fully remembered. "Grandpa! Goku!" It took him a second to get out of his hiding spot, but he was soon hurrying back to the house. "Grandpa! Goku! Where are...you...guys..." He trailed off when he saw the damage done to the area; trees and rocks smashed or uprooted, places where it looked like something had slammed into the ground, ripping up large areas of earth.
Spike felt a chill down his spine as he looked around.
"Hnnn..?" A groggy voice spoke up not too far away, "Why am I outside?"
"Goku!" Spike yelled, recognizing it and running over to a figure who was slowly sitting up.
"Huh..? Spike?" Goku rubbed his eyes, "What..." By then he saw the damage, "Gah! What happened!? This whole place's been wrecked!"
"I tried to explain what happened, but I had no real clue; just ended up telling him I ran off and hid when Grandpa told me too. After that, we started looking for him..."
"Grandpa!" Spike called out, climbing over a tree, "Grandpa, where are you? Goku, any sign of him?"
"No, I don't see him anywhere." Goku replied, "You think he had to run from whatever did all this?"
"I don't know. Grandpa's tough, but..." Spike trailed off when he noticed something laying on the ground, "What's that?"
Goku squinted, then his expression brightened, "Haha! It's Grandpa!" Laughing in relief, the two boys immediately started running towards him. "Why's he laying down?"
"He must've gotten tired fighting whatever did all this." Spike replied, "It had to be pretty strong. I hope he's not too mad at us for being up!"
The closer they got, the more they noticed that Gohan wasn't moving. "Wow...he's out cold!"
"Come on, let's wake him up!" Goku kneeled down and nudged him, "Grandpa, you did it! You fought off the monster!"
Spike got down beside him, "Yeah, what was it!? I heard it roar while I was running!" He gave the old man a shake.
Gohan didn't move.
"He must've REALLY been exhausted." Goku shook him a little harder, "Grandpa, rise and shine!"
"Come on, Grandpa." Spike join in on the shaking, "Wake up."
The old man was still.
Thinking he was playing a trick, the boys resorted to tickling him, but to no avail.
"Grandpa, wake up! This joke's not that funny."
"Wake up, Grandpa! Spike, why isn't he getting up!?"
"I don't know!" Spike shoved him, "Grandpa!"
"Say something!"
"Move!"
"...."
"...."
"Grandpa....wake up...please...!"
"Nothing we did worked...and then we managed to roll him over." Spike audibly fought back a sob, a few tears already running down his face, "His eyes were still open..."
*wumf! wumf! wumf!*
He quickly found himself in the middle of a triple pony hug, courtesy of both Twilights and Celestia...
*wumf!*
And...a pair of small, purple-pink arms.
"Oh, Spike! I'm so sorry you had to see that again!" A young-sounding voice cried from it's spot on his shoulder.
"Um, I'm not the only one seeing this...am I!?" King Kai asked.
Spike slowly turned to see the arms' owner, "H-how'd YOU get here??"
"Better yet, WHY is she here!?" King Kai yelped.
"You know her?" Cadance asked.
King Kai gulped and nodded, "Y-yeah...Um, everyone, this is is Lady Chronoa, The Supreme Kai of time."
With a mix of surprise, caution, and a hint of annoyance, the group stared at the newcomer who'd just draped herself over Spike's shoulders. It was obviously female, with purple-pink skin, short pinkish-red hair, long pointed ears.
She was dressed in a tight, sleeveless shirt, odd sleeve-like gloves that went just past her elbows, baggy pants that were skin-tight from the knee down, high-heeled boots, and a long jacket that was so big on her, only her elbows were able to keep it up on her arms; and even then it still looked ready to fall off if it wasn't for the sash tied around her waist.
Twilight looked at King Kai. "Supreme what??"
"The Supreme Kai of Time." King Kai replied. "It's Chronoa's job to make sure the multiverse's timelines stay running smoothly."
"What Northy said!" she chirped, nuzzling the bemused dragon, much to Twilight and Celestia's chagrin.
"Come on, Chronoa!" King Kai half-whined. "You know I hate that nickname!"
"So, y'all know each other?" Applejack asked, edging away from Rarity slightly when she noticed the fashionista's eye twitch.
"More or less. All Kais are familiar with each other since it's basically our job to try and make sure the cosmos stays in once piece." he replied. "Technically, my full title is Northern King Kai. I watch over the North section of the universe."
"W-wow..." Rainbow Dash piped up. "Those are some serious credentials..."
Chronoa just shrugged. "It's a living."
"Wait, I recognize you now!" Spike looked at her." You're that girl I ran into on occasion!"
"That's me! Well, that and the gal who transferred you to Earth in the first place."
"YOU WHAT!?" all four alicorns and Velvet bellowed, bowling Kai, Scootaloo, Night Light, Pinkie and Fluttershy over.
"I had to! Whatever it was that sent Miss Purple there to that pocket dimension caught him with the blast wave. He was out cold and floating through a chronological void when I found him. Unfortunately, he was there long enough for his own temporal mark to destabilize and threw him out of alignment with all of yours, to the point where putting him back risked a reaction that could've possibly erased your planet, and every living being on it, from existence."
"Ehh..." Discord grimaced. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say..." he suddenly sprouted multiple heads resembling everyone else, speaking in unison. "Not my thing, thank you very much."
"So, I placed him in the nearest compatible timeframe until he caught back up with you."
"Ya lost me at 'chronological void'..." Apple Bloom said, rubbing her head.
"Basically, I couldn't safely put him back until he re-synced with you."
"Oh."
"That's all well and good, but...WHY are you here?" King Kai asked.
She gave him an amused look. "After all the effort I put into making sure he adapted and could make it back home safe and sound, you really think I wouldn't pop in on him? This just made it easy-Ooh!" her eyes quickly brightened in recognition. "This is where you're from, isn't it, Spike?!"
"Technically, we're all asleep, except for you and King Kai. This is his dreamscape" Luna responded, doing her best to take her sudden appearance in stride. "But yes, you are currently in the land of Equestria, the town of Ponyville, to be exact.
She proceeded to pull out something resembling a pocketwatch and looked as a flurry of bizarre symbols flew across the face. "Wow, it's not even my jurisdiction." Chronoa let out a whoop. "VACATION TIME!"
"Hoo-boy..." King Kai sighed
"Wait...King Kai, you...you said she's in charge of handling Time?" Celestia asked, her voice faltering a little.
"Yep. That's been her job for the last seventy-five million years."
Her eyes shrank to pinpoints. "Seventy-five m-m-million!?" she teetered slightly upon hearing that. " She's been looking after Time for that long??"
"Give or take a millennium."
Celestia let out something that could easily be mistaken for a weak giggle. "Riight...and she just declared that she's going to spend a vacation...here..."
"Princess Celestia, are you all right?" Shining asked, seeing her wobble.
"Fine, Shining...just fine...just found out we're going to be hosts to basically the God of Time."
"It's not that bad." King Kai used his best reassuring voice. "She can be a handful, but at least the worst you'll get is an argument." he quickly added in a lower voice, "Or her cooking. Word of advice; never invite her to bring something to a potluck."
By this time, though, Celestia just looked ready to pass out.
"I'm a lotta stuff, but a God is definitely not one of them." Chronoa responded, her tone suddenly serious. "You really don't want any of those guys showing up around here. Believe me when I say messing with them is a VERY bad idea." she added, shifting back to cheerful just as fast before plonking herself in Spike's lap.
Rarity's eye twitched again, a bit more violently this time. "Yes...a bad idea indeed..."
"Ah, yes." Luna focused on something briefly."Well, as engaging as this tale has been so far, I'm afraid it's time for all of us to wake up. It takes a bit of concentration to keep so many in a single dreamscape."
"Aw, but I was starting to like having hands." Shining semi-whined, scratching Cadance behind her ear'
Luna fought the urge to giggle at the look of goofy bliss on her niece's face. "Don't worry, we'll be able to continue tomorrow night."
"I can work with that." Spike threw in. "I'm kind curious about what I've missed since then."
"Agreed..." Celestia said, regaining a bit of her composure. "And I believe we all have a bit of catching up to do."
After saying their good-byes to King Kai - though he reminded them he could still communicate mentally with the group - Luna returned everyone back to their own dreamscapes and gave Spike the ok to wake up.
"Ah gotta admit, Spike, that's one heck of a start to this whole..." Applejack started once she and the others began coming to. "Um..." she trailed off when they saw a familiar figure, wide awake and sitting on Spike's chest, "Ah thought she was just in that dream world like us."
"As did I..." Rarity muttered, looking more than a little annoyed at the sight.
"When you've been a Supreme Kai for as long as I have, you pick up a few tricks on getting around!" Chronoa grinned before hopping to her feet and looking around. "Nice digs! Never been a castle that was grown before!" She quickly focused on the thrones, "Ooh, have you seen what these do yet?"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, "They're just thrones. Granted, they look nice, but..."
"'Just thrones'?? Are you kidding me!?" Chronoa blurted out, flailing her arms in disbelief. "just look at them!" She proceeded to float around the thrones. "One. For. Each. Of. You. And. Spike!" She punctuated it by sitting in each throne with every word. "Grown out of a building made of freaking living crystal! You really think magic like that does stuff like this just to look pretty!? Sit in 'em and find out, already!"
Fluttershy was already in the one with her mark before she even finished letting out a quiet 'meep!'
"Ok, ok! Sheesh! Ain't gotta blow a fuse!" Rainbow muttered as she settled into hers.
Pinkie just gave Chronoa a questioning look...for about a second and a half before chirping out "Okay!" and hopping onto her throne
Applejack, on the other hand, was a bit more skeptical. "Don't ya think yer readin' just a lil bit too much into this?" She asked. "Ah mean, sittin' in chairs to make stuff happen usually just happens in those oddball mystery novels Carrot Top's taken a shine to lately."
"Well, she is in charge of handling time, so she probably knows what she's talking about." Spike responded, getting into the one with the 'S'.
"He got a point, AJ." Twilight said, stepping tentatively over to the one marked for her. "And they look comfortable anyway."
"And quite pleasant, ascetically speaking." Rarity added from her own seat.
"Ok...Ah'll give ya that much, Twi." The cowmare climbed up into her chair. "Still think it's kinda..." She stopped when the emblems on all seven thrones began to glow and fired a beam onto the star centered on the dias. Large crystalline trails suddenly erupted from between the thrones and converged on the dias, emitting a blinding glow as something emerged from it.
When the light faded, the group found themselves sitting around a large table, and on the table was a perfect three-dimensional map of Equestria.
"Ok, now that was impressive!" Luna piped up, trotting up to look the map over.
"Awsome!" Scootaloo piped up.
"SUGOI!" Chronoa squealed, almost teleporting to the map with an expression akin to a kid getting toy they've always wanted. "You guys are so LUCKY! It took me weeks to set up a working holographic map of my hometown of Toki-Toki City, even longer to update the thing after the town was expanded to Conton City...and this place just ups and grows one!" she floated above the map. "I'm so jealous!"
"Looks like it shows everywhere in Equestria." Spike added, looking around at the miniature locations. "Canterlot, Appleoosa...hey, there's the spot I used to go gem-hunting at!"
"Ooh, there's my parent's rock farm!" Pinkie leaned in to look at the spot and waved. "Hi, Mom and Dad!"
It was then that Twilight felt an odd pulse in her Cutie Mark. Looking back, she saw it was glowing. The others quickly noticed the same with theirs. They watched as copies of their marks appeared above the map, centered right over Ponyville before moving to a spot up north.
"This thing doubles as a questgiver too!?" Chronoa stared at the floating marks. "Again, jealous!"
"Questgiver?" Rainbow blinked. "You saying the map is telling us we got a job to do over there?"
"Like I said, magic like this doesn't do this stuff to just look pretty. Whatever's over there, it's something it wants the six of you to take care of."
"You mean seven, right?" Spike said. "I'm coming along." Before a gold glow appeared around his arm, dragging him over to Celestia.
"More like spending time with your mother and aunt, who hasn't seen their son/nephew for the last six months." She said. "You and I have some serious catching up to do."
"You really shouldn't go, Spike," Chronoa spoke up, indicating the symbols on the thrones and the ones over the map. "This map has a symbol for all seven of you, but it only called Twilight and the others."
"If you think for one minute I'm going to let Twilight and the others walk blind into what could be a dangerous situation when I could be there to help them just because of some...some magic table-" Before he could say more, he felt Twilight's magic on his lips.
"Spike, it's okay," she offered warmly, smiling up at him. "We'll be fine, trust me."
"But-"
"You're not the only one our time apart has...hardened," she added sadly. Her eyes brightened up as her smile returned. "We'll be okay. Trust me."
He wanted to say more, but he recognized the look in her eyes. She was determined. "Okay...just be careful."
"Don't worry, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity told him warmly, nuzzling his side to reassure him. "Compared to some of the things we've been through, I'm sure we'll be fine! Besides, you've gotten a little big to come along just to carry my vanity set in case things get a little dirty, don't you think?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him coquettishly, startling a chuckle from all around.
"Then it's settled!" Chronoa declared quickly, clapping her hands to end the debate. "You guys handle whatever the map is sending you to handle, and Spike hangs out with his mom. Me?" She floated over to the window, glanced at all the businesses the likes of which she'd never seen before, and pulled a pouch of gold from her robes. "It's tourist time, and I'm going shopping!"
Once the small group of mares had left, and Chronoa cackled in a mad dash to Ponyville's shopping area, Spike, Celestia and Luna began their time.
"So, what'd I miss?" He asked as the three walked out of the palace.
The princess let out a sigh. "Well, I guess it's best to start from after you vanished; we should at least get that out of the way. "
"Indeed, I think the whole group was a wreck for several weeks after our searches turned up nothing." Luna added. "Tia and I..."
"We...we had a private funeral out in a secluded corner of Sweet Apple." Celestia admitted.
"F-funeral?" Spike gulped at the word.
"After exhausting what we had, everyone was forced to admit that the worst possibly happened. Needless to say, it was a good while before any of us, Twilight especially, began to bounce back from it..."
What she recalled wasn't what he had expected: thinking the dragon he called his little brother had died, Shining succumbed to a bout of depression that he'd tried to fight by throwing himself into his work, ignoring nearly anything else...at least until his wife had managed to rein him in to snap him out of it.
Cadance herself was crushed as well, though she managed to force herself not to show it in public so as not to cause concern to her citizens. Because of this, the Crystal Empire didn't even know he had vanished.
Fluttershy had become withdrawn, not really being seen around town anymore unless she absolutely had to and barely talked to anyone, even her animals.
Pinkie managed to stay working at Sugar Cube, but her usual cheerful exuberance was gone; she was listless and melancholy. It showed in her work as well. The customers and Cakes couldn't help but note her icing was disturbingly plain, sometimes dreary-looking. When she did use color, it seemed to be a mix of a very familiar purple and green.
Rainbow became a lot more brash and more than a little aggressive in an attempt to hold onto her usual toughfilly facade. Pushing herself harder than normal in training, stunts, and her work. Unfortunately, this also got her lashing out a little at those she thought weren't 'pulling their weight', sending more than a few ponies crying and almost got her into a few fights It came to a head during a heated argument with Lyra Heartstrings where she finally broke down and wept.
Rarity did her best to present a brave face to the world. Her fashion, however, lacked the spark it used to have, and several of her pieces had a visibly sorrowful feel to them, plus it was easy to tell that any smile she had was painfully forces . Like Pinkie, when she did add color, it was the same purple and green.
Applejack threw herself into her work as well, but the pride she took in her bucking was nonexistent. The others also noticed that when she talked, her expression and voice were on the verge of cracking.
The Crusaders took the news their friend was gone pretty bad as well. To the point of giving up working on their marks for a while. They barely even acknowledged Diamond Tiara's usual 'blank-flank' insults at school. The pampered filly didn't take that very well though, and tried ramping up her mocking to make them react...until she crossed a line. It's unknown what exactly she said to them; from a second-hoof account, they'd all learned that a shout from Sweetie of 'Don't you talk about him like that, you little bitch!' echoed over the schoolyard almost as much as the sound of her right hook hitting the bully's cheek...and then no one could be sure what was happening, as her two friends were just a step behind her.
Cheerilee had to enlist the help of Big Macintosh, Snowflake and a couple others to finally pull the enraged fillies off of her. Only the other children noticed how disinterested the adults seemed to be in stopping them, or speculate a connection between that and how long - and just how many of them - it took. That also turned out to be the final time Diamond called them names.
Twilight, however, was hit the worst. The newest princess shut herself up in Golden Oaks. When they visited her, usually to get her to eat, the others noticed she was never farther than ten feet away from the memorial. It finally took a direct and very firm order from Celestia to get her to finally come out.
Spike stared. He figured they probably missed him, but he honestly didn't expect them to take his disappearance THAT badly.
"Now, no need to dwell on the past." Celestia chirped, patting him on the back with her wing in an attempt to brighten things up. "Besides, you're alive and home, and that's all that really matters right now! Here, why don't we go look at the craft you landed in. Twilight said it made quite the impact...literally!" She quickly added to try and keep from making a lame pun. "I made a point to station a few guards around it to make sure somepony's curiosity doesn't get the better of them."
"Yeah, I should probably take care of that. Now that I think about it, there's a couple things I need to get out of it."
"You came in THAT THING!?"
Spike cringed a little at Celestia's shriek when they reached the guarded crater, his craft resting quietly in the center. "It wasn't that bad. Granted, I thought Bulma and her dad installed landing thrusters or something on it." He added mentally.
"Not that bad!? From the size of the hole, it looks like it didn't even slow down before it hit! Part of me wants to say it's a miracle you got out in one piece, much less survive the impact!"
"Mom, calm down." He responded as he hovered down to the craft, with her right behind him. "These things are designed to get the rider to their target intact, so they're a LOT tougher than they look." He gestured around. "This is pretty much standard landing for them."
"That might be the case, but still...How did you even handle the impact?" Luna asked, trotting around the ship in a mix of bewilderment and curiosity.
Spike shrugged. "Good shock absorbers? To be honest, I'm not really sure how these fully work. Just that they get you from A to B."
As they approached the craft, both princesses paused when the door suddenly lowered. "Ok...didn't expect that." Celestia commented
"Yeah. I think it opens automatically when someone gets close. Now, it should be..." He trailed off as he rustled around inside. "Here we go!"
He quickly emerged carrying a large, slightly narrow-looking metal case that reminded Celestia of an old art kit she had once as a filly. Once he moved away she stepped closer to get a look inside, and almost yelped at the sight of a seat being the only thing inside "Spike, the inside's even worse! How long were you in this thing anyway!?"
Spike scratched his head. "Well...about a month, I think."
"A-a month?" Her face was nearly expressionless before shifting to outraged disbelief. "A month!?"
"Mom..." He started, trying to head her off...but was too late.
"You just sat in there, going through space, for a month!? There barely looks like enough room to move!"
"Mom..." He sighed as she kept going.
"Seriously! There's nothing in here but a chair! Did you at least make a few stops to stretch??"
"Mom!" He semi-yelled to get her attention. "I was asleep the whole way!"
Celestia blinked a couple of times. "A-asleep...?"
"Yes. They aren't built for comfort, just to get you were you're going in one piece. Until I was almost here, I was out like a light the moment I left Earth's atmosphere."
"Oh...hehe..." She blushed sheepishly. "Well...still, I think I'll stick with carriages." She then turned her attention to the case Spike held. "What's that?"
He just grinned and flicked the clasp, allowing it to fall open, revealing a large selection of colored capsules, each one with a number designation and what appeared to be a button on the end. "Wanna see something cool?" He then scanned through them until he pulled out the one from slot number one hundred. Giving the button a press, he promptly tossed it to the side.
"Okay, why..."
POM!
"YIPE!" She and Luna jumped when the capsule exploded in a large cloud of smoke.
Once it cleared, in its place rested what looked like a large metal storage box, complete with a one hundred written on the side.
"W-what in Faust's flank...!?" Celestia blurted out, "Where'd that come from!?"
"They're called Dynocaps. A scientist on Earth developed them to easily carry all sorts of stuff, like vehicles, food, furniture, plants...everything except for living creatures."
"And...and the natives carry these sets of them with them?" Luna asked, looking wide-eyed at the case.
"Most have smaller ones, or just a couple of capsules for specific items they like to keep with them; this one's sorta the deluxe assortment. Here." He let Luna hold the case it in her magic while he turn his attention back to the pod. "Now to get this out."
"Here. Let me handle that, Spike." Celestia's horn began to glow...
"Um, You Highness?" A nearby pegasus guard spoke up, getting her attention.
"Hm? Oh, Sargent Slipstream. Something wrong?"
"Not really, but...with all due respect, using magic on this thing may not be the best thing to do. This is alien technology, and well...none of us really know how how it'll react to magic."
Celestia 'hmm'ed for a moment. "You have a point there. in that case, we'll do it the old fashioned way. Head back to Canterlot and assemble a team of the strongest earth pony troops you can find. Given how embedded it looks, plus the fact we don't know its weight, we'll need a dozen at least. Plus a pegasi squadron for the airlift once its free..."
"Or just this." Spike called out, pulling the craft out of the ground with a grunt and the sound of crumbling rock before resting it on his shoulder.
"That works..." The Sargent said, looking at the dragon's biceps before trying to subtly flex his own front leg in comparison.
"Spike...how...??" Celestia's jaw hung slightly as she watched her adopted son hoist the sphere up like it was a bag of flour.
"It's just a few hundred pounds." Came the reply, without a lick of exertion or effort. "Me and Goku were getting up into a couple of tons by the time we were adults."
"T-t-t-tons??" She squeaked, still trying to process what she'd just seen.
"Yeah. Heck, my clothes weigh a little over two hundred pounds." With that he headed to the storage unit and pressed a switch on the side, causing the top and front to raise up and reveal a cargo net inside that he set the ship on.
PUM!
"YEEK!"
Before he could close it, though, the sound of another capsule activating, along with Luna's shriek, caused both Spike and Celestia to whirl around. Where she was now stood a house-sized, dome-like building...
With her sprawled out on the roof and looking around wildly.
"Luna!" Celestia called out. "What'd you do!?"
"I was curious!" Came the slightly defensive reply
"You could've at least thrown it like Spike did!"
"No one said there were BUILDINGS in those things!"
Spike, on the other hand, was too busy laughing at the sight. "You just found my gravatron training room, Aunt Luna!"
" A Grave-whatsit...?" Luna asked once she got over the surprise and was back on the ground.
"Technically it's called an Artificial Gravity Training Chamber." Spike said, getting up from his laughing fit. "But 'Gravitron' sounds cooler." He made his way to where a computer screen and keyboard was, tapping on a couple. Both Luna and Celestia quickly stepped back when an opening appeared with a loud 'hiss'. "Come on. Just be careful where you stand."
The inside proved to be as plain as the outside; except for a control panel situated in a small alcove it was completely bare inside. "There doesn't seem to be much to it." Celestia commented, lightly tapping a hoof on the metal floor.
"Yeah, the older versions were a bit more cluttered. Bulma figured out how to streamline it a bit more before I left. You'll meet her before long" He added, seeing what they were about to ask. "You wanna give it a shot?" He asked, hitting the power.
"I'm game." Luna fluttered her wings a bit to limber up. "Be interesting to see what I can take."
"If anything, this should be a good workout." Celestia added, bouncing in place.
"Ok. Let's start easy; five times Earth's gravity." He adjusted a dial on the panel and the lights turned a faint red as the princesses suddenly felt a little heavier."
"Woo, that was an interesting sensation." Celestia commented, quickly shaking it off as Luna trotted around some.
"All right." Spike moved the dial again. "Ten Gs, same as King Kai's planet."
This time, they both grunted a little. Celestia tried to flap her wings to get a bit of lift, but no luck. "Oof! I need to do more wing-ups!"
"I've been grounded as a filly, but this is silly!" Luna huffed.
"You still feel up for more?" Spike asked, seeing they were a little winded from flapping.
"We're good...!" They said in unison. The dial hit fifteen and they were forced to use their telekinesis just to let them take steps. At twenty, they lost the ability to focus enough to cast, straining just to stay standing. Twenty-five had them buckling, the muscles in their legs flexing intensely against the weight they were feeling. Once it reached thirty, however, the two alicorns had lost the battle and were forced to the ground, yelping a little from the somewhat rough impact.
"Mom, Luna! You all right!?" Spike quickly shut the machine off, letting Celestia slowly, albeit shakily, get up.
"I'm ok, Spike." She replied, "Wow...how long did we last?"
"You were still standing at 25Gs. That's not too shabby! Took me and Goku a few days just to walk normally at ten."
"Marvelous." Luna spoke up, her voice somewhat muffled from the floor.
All six mares shuddered a little after Starlight Glimmer's song. While it sounded like they were all happy, there was still something...unnatural about it all.
"I'm not the only one creeped out by these ponies, am I?" Pinkie grimaced a little as she looked around. "Those smiles are NOT right!"
"Maybe we're reading too much into this...?" Fluttershy offered, but even she was looking at the equal sign cutie marks uneasily. "I mean it...it's not as, well, comfortable as Ponyville, but every town is different."
"Different, yeah, but look at this place, Fluttershy!" Rainbow responded. "You heard that song. Give up my cutie mark!? Buck that noise!"
"Ok, let's just cool it." Twilight said. "The map had us come here for a reason. Maybe we'll find out if we look around. Keep your eyes peeled for anything that might look off."
Applejack glanced at one of the townsfolk staring at her mark in shock. "This whole darn place is off if ya ask me"
"I'll second that." Rarity cringing at the sight of what looked like burlap capes in the window of the clothing store. "Gah..! No wonder nopony wears anything."
After a brief walk through the town (which wasn't hard given the whole place could be seen from the only road there) they decided to grab something to eat.
The mare inside the cafe introduced herself as Sugar Belle. "What can I get you? We have muffins."
They waited for her to say what else she had, but after a moment of silence they realized that was it. "Um, ok..I guess we'll take six muffins, then."
"Make it twelve!" Pinkie piped up, getting looks from them. "What? Mystery solving gives me an appetite!"
"What doesn't?" Rainbow added.
"Sleeping and parasprites, mainly."
"I still don't understand why somepony would willingly give up their cutie mark!" Twilight muttered. "Once you get it, it becomes an intrinsic part....it's like giving up an ear. o-or your tail!"
"They don't seem to mind..." Fluttershy looked over at Double Diamond, the stallion Starlight had escorting them around.
"That's all well and good for them, darling, but I'll keeping my parts where they are, thank you very much." Rarity responded as Sugar Belle came back with a platter of muffins.
"Can we please hurry and find out what the problem is here and fix it!?" Pinkie half-pleaded. "This place is starting to make the skin on my flanks crawl!!"
"Don't ya think yer overreacting a lil, Pinkie?" asked Applejack. "It's bizaare, but.."
"Tell that to my booty!" Pinkie pointed her rear end at the farmmare.
"I..I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your disagreement...and notice you still have your cutie marks." She commented. "Is...is your friendship ending?"
"What? Oh, heavens no!" Rarity chuckled lightly "It'd take something FAR more devastating for us to take that route."
"But you were showing different opinions...and your cutie marks are so different from each other... yet you're acting like friends."
"Of course we're friends." Twilight added "A simple disagreement or two won't change that."
Sugar Belle looked confused at this, telling them that different opinions and talents only made ponies bitter and miserable. She apologized for the somewhat low quality of the muffins when Pinkie gagged on hers, but expressed relief that she wasn't better than other ponies in town. Except they could all tell she didn't fully believe it.
"Ok, that's it. We know there's something off about this place, right?" Twilight choked down the bite she'd taken. "Ugh...anyway, it looks like there's only one way we're gonna get to the bottom of this. Starlight Glimmer herself!"
"Dear Faust, Spike!" Luna stretched once she was standing back up. "How were you able to handle that!? I felt like an Ursa Minor was sitting on me!"
"Yeah, it's pretty intense at first, but once your body gets accustomed, you barely notice."
"Barely...?" Just hot much CAN you handle, Spike??"
"Lately I've been putting it to four hundred for a warm-up, but I have to turn the safety off to let it go past five"
"F-Four hun..." POMF! Luna's wings snapped out so fast the end feathers cracked like a whip.
"Luna! He's your nephew!" Celestia hissed, giving her sibling the 'overprotective mother' look.
Luna simply grinned goofily. "Not by blood..."
Hearing them whispering, Spike looked over. "You ok, Luna?" He asked, spotting her stiff wings. "Looks like you got a cramp or something from the strain. I can try and work some of it out if you want."
"NO! N-no, hehe. I'm good" Luna squawked, her face reddening heavily. "Just need to stretch a bit."
"Wait, if you work out in that kind of environment, what's to keep someone from coming in while it's on?" Celestia asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Luckily Bulma thought about that." He answered as they exited the building. "The door automatically locks while the gravitron's active, and the outside screen acts as an audio/video comm system in case someone needs to talk. There's an emergency cutoff out there, but it only works when my vitals register outside an acceptable range."
"Well, that's good to know." Celestia quickly stepped back when he hit a large button on the chamber's side, changeing it back to its capsule form with another loud 'POM!'
"Don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." Luna shook her head.
"Lot better than the first versions." He said, doing the same to the storage box. "Had to put them in boiling water and wait."
Before either princess could comment, a loud commotion came up from the crater rim. "What in the world?" Luna asked, looking up to where one of the guards looked like he was trying to calm someone down.
"We better go see." Celestia trotted after her.
"Look, I'm sorry, but we have orders to keep civilians out of the crater, and you three qualify as 'civilians'!" The guard said, slightly exasperated with the three (in his opinion) pushy fillies in front of him.
"Come on, the princesses know us!" Scootaloo blustered, her wings buzzing wildly.
"Can we jus' take a lil peek? Please?" Apple Bloom gave him her best puppy dog eyes.
The guard just smirked. "Not a bad try, but I have two daughters who try and hit me with the same thing almost daily. Thankfully, I've gotten immune."
"Girls, what are you doing here?" Spike asked, spying the CMC once he arrived at the rim.
"SPIKE!" They yelled in unison, scurrying under the guard without warning.
"When we heard you were gonna spend time with Princess Celestia, so we followed you." Sweetie Belle piped up. "Mainly 'cause there's a lot we wanna ask!"
"Like how'd ya get so dang big? Last Ah saw ya, you were our size!"
"And how the heck did you learn to fly without wings!?" Scootaloo nearly screamed, latching onto his leg. "How!? Howhowhowhow!?"
"Dagnabit, Scootaloo! Ya said ya'd be calm 'bout this!" Bloom grumbled, grabbing hold of the irate filly's tail to pull her off.
"Compared to earlier, this IS calm!"
"Still trying to wrap my head around that." Luna threw in.
"It's not really that hard. I mean, I didn't really learn it I was a little older, but that was 'cause I didn't know there was a technique for it." He replied, picking his leg up to look Scootaloo in the face. "Scoot, you want me to teach you to fly my way?"
Her eyes widened until they almost glittered. "You...you can??"
Celestia looked a him. "Can you really do that?"
"Sure. Heck, all three can learn it if they want." He stumbled when Scoot almost blurred from his shin to his neck in a surprisingly tight hug. "Heh, I think that's a yes from her. Sweetie, Bloom, how about you two?"
"Applejack? Is..is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked when her friend froze suddenly while they were heading to see Starlight.
"Anyone else suddenly get an uneasy feelin' in their gut?" She asked, looking a tad pale.
"Now that you mention it...." Rarity gulped. "I believe we should solve this and get back promptly."
"Yeah. Personally, I got this feeling I'm about to miss something really cool!" Rainbow added, looking back in the direction of Ponyville.
The look on Starlight's face was confident, almost smug, when the group arrived at her house. "Ah, ready to learn what true friendship is?"
Twilight fought the urge to snap back at that and schooled her face into a neutral expression. "Actually, Starlight, we've been looking around, and...well, curiosity's gotten the better of us. Why do you all the same cutie mark? I though that occurred only among identical twins."
"Well, not to boast, but, it's thanks partially to my hoof. When I began my crusade for equality, I realized that different marks representing different talents would only cause jealousy and resentment. So I took it upon myself to rectify that!"
"And the equal sign cutie marks you all have now?"
"Since it represents things having the same value in math, I felt that it was the best way to symbolize how all ponies should be! No striving to prove you're better than somepony at something and vice versa."
"Interesting, but how in the world did you manage that?? As far as we're aware, that...that's impossible." She did her best to make it sound like she was showing a measure of interest.
It must have worked, because Starlight chuckled lightly. "Well, that little miracle came about when I discovered the Staff of Sameness! One of Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted artifacts, you see. With it, I was able to free all these ponies from the strife and misery their marks were causing them!"
"Intriguing, but why destroy the marks?"
"Destroy? Oh, heavens no. All the marks are kept in the vault as a reminder of their dangers. Come, I'll show you. When you see it, I'm sure you'll agree it's the right thing to do."
With that, Starlight led them off to a nearby cave. Along the way, Twilight continued pressing for information. "So, Starlight, what exactly happens when a pony's cutie mark is removed?"
"Once the mark is gone, that so-called 'special' talent goes with it, leaving a pony who is no more or less talented than any other! Unicorn do things by hoof, and pegasi walk, same as anyone!" It was impossible not to hear the pride and sense of vindication in her tone; something that left a bad taste in all six of their mouths for some reason. As they walked, the others noticed Twilight would quickly hit various places on the wall with a spell of some kind whenever Starlight wasn't looking. None of them recognized it, but kept quiet, knowing she must've had something in store.
Soon, they reached an open area of the cavern. In it was a veritable wall of cutie marks, all contained in glass boxes. In front it rested a two-pronged staff. "Behold, the vault and Staff!"
"Well, I must admit, darling. that is quite the impressive display." Rarity commented.
Rainbow whistled. "That's a lot of cutie marks."
"Quite. And once you add yours to it, you'll see why equality is best for all of Equestria! When ponies learn a princess has joined us, everyone will make a pilgrimage to our town!"
"Just...hang on a moment, Startlight." Twilight held up a hoof. "Now, I take it the aftereffects of losing their talent is mild."
"Aftereffects?"
"Of course. I mean, it's bound to be jarring at the very least." She continued. "Since technically you are removing part of a pony's body. And while the short term effects may seem negligible, there are also the long term psychological and potential health ramifications. Exactly how long HAVE these ponies been without their marks? And was the process done with a licensed medical team on site?"
"Uh...well...It's the Staff! One of Meadowbrook's artifacts! Of course it's safe...!" Starlight blustered, breaking into a nervous sweat.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm sorry, but this violates multiple statutes in regards to equine experimentation. Now, I have nothing personal against what you're trying to do here, and I respect your intentions, but until the magic involved is thoroughly tested and confirmed safe for use on ponies with no negative long term side effects; mental, physical, or otherwise...as a citizen and princess of Equestria, I'll have to confiscate that artifact for examination and ask that you halt your efforts for the time being."
"Confis....no! You...you can't do that!" Starlight nearly shrieked, backing away from them.
"Well, you said unicorns here don't use magic, and since you gave up your own special talent...I kinda think she can." Rainbow didn't even bother to hide her snarky tone. The idea of giving up her beloved mark still rankling her.
"Unless that ain't the whole story..." Applejack said, her eyes narrowing.
Starlight lunged for the staff, pointing it at them. "You'll join us ANY-AHHH!" She screamed when Twilight proved faster, hitting the staff with a burst of lavender light, shattering it like a hammer on fine china. She stumbled back onto her rear, surrounded by the splintered remains of the staff. "The...the Staff of Sameness...you destroyed it!"
"I used a standard Repulsar, designed to push actual magical items out of someone's grip. The only way the staff would shatter like that is if it was never magical to begin with." Twilight kicked a larger fragment aside. "And, just for the record, Meadowbrook only made EIGHT items. Which means the magic used in removing the marks...is all yours."
"NO!" Starlight's horn lit up as she attempted to teleport away...
Only to land in a heap back where she was. She tried again, and got the exact same result.
"Teleportation detour charms. I decided to play it safe and set up several on the way here be sure we couldn't be ambushed from outside. Of course it also prevents teleporting out. Now..." Twilight's voice and expression hardened as she advanced on the sweating unicorn. "Talk."
"I may be stuck, but I can STILL take your cutie marks!" Starlight snarled.
*KLONG!*
"FLuttershy!" Rainbow yelped, dodging Starlight as she tumbled past.
"What?"
"What 'what'? You just clocked her with a frying pan!"
Fluttershy glanced at the slightly dented kitchen implement she still had a hold on. "Well, she was going to try and take our cutie marks-"
"No, I mean, where'd you even get it!?"
"Oh. From Pinkie."
"What?" The pony in question spoke up from the looks she got. "You think I'm not gonna bring something to cook with after tasting those nasty muffins?" She looked over at Glimmer, who was trying to clear the cobwebs. "But first...!"
"Uhhh...you little feathered..." She snarled, rubbing the growing knot on the back of her skull. Any further insults died when she realized the barrel of a cannon was somehow now staring her in the face, along with a miffed Pinkie Pie.
"THIS IS FOR THOSE CREEPY-PLOT SMILES!"
*BLA-DAM!*
"Son of a...!" Starlight managed to get out before a cloud of high-speed confetti sent her flank over teakettle. Before she could recover from that, her head snapped to the side as something slapped the taste out of her mouth. "OW!"
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the designer handbag Rarity was now brandishing.
"You saw the atrocities they tried to call 'capes'!" The fashionista replied, giving Starlight another whap for good measure.
"Forget the shpel!" Starlight growled through swelling cheeks. "I'll tear em off wit my teef!"
*KONK!*
"WAH! STOP HITTING ME IN THE FASHE!" Starlight screamed, holding her eye after something ricocheted off her noggin.
"AJ...is that..." Twilight asked, looking the red, wrinkled, and VERY hard-looking object Applejack picked up.
"Yep, meet Ol' Ruby, the first apple Ah ever bucked off a tree; had her since Ah was a filly. Plus, she can give a pony a concussion at twenty paces!"
Staggering some, and more than a little wobbly, Starlight bared her teeth, still trying to fight. Then she spotted Rainbow up above...and busy eating popcorn. "Are...*pthooie!* are you gonna hit me too?" She asked, spitting out a loose tooth.
"Not really." Rainbow said between mouthfuls. "The others've all been thematic with how they smacked you, and there just isn't enough room in here for me to punch you with a Sonic Rainboom-"
"Wait, WHAT??"
"-so I got Pinkie to whip up some popcorn so I can watch."
"It's Twilight's turn now, so I made some for everyone!" Pinkie chirped as she and the other four gathered around a big bowl. Meanwhile, Twilight was slowly walking towards her opponent, an almost unholy glow coiling around the alicorn's horn.
Starlight 's ears drooped, and her eyes shrank to pinpoints as the glow seemed to climb along the floor and walls of the cavern and the stones around her groan, some cracking. "Heh..." She chuckled weakly. "Is it too late for diplomacy?"
Twilight just frowned. "After proving you've lied to this entire town?"
"I HAD to! I know that staff was fake, but they wouldn't have listened to me if I said I knew a spell that could it! I HELPED them! I saved those ponies from any more misery! No cutie marks means they won't have to go through what I did!"
"What you went through...?" Twilight looked in disbelief. "What could have possibly happened that warranted all this?!"
As if on cue, Starlight launched into a story about how her childhood friend, a colt named Sunburst, had gotten his cutie mark before her and the two drifted apart, except she blamed the mark for him 'leaving her' and how it kept her from making any other friends because she didn't want to have them leave her when they got their marks. So now she's made it her duty to remove all cutie marks so what she suffered didn't happen to others.
"Wait, waitwaitwait...hold on." Fluttershy looked at her, her expression showing she didn't buy any of that. "So, because you and your friend drifted apart because he got his cutie mark before you, you're determined to make everyone as miserable as you, just so you don't have to admit you didn't even want to TRY and find other friends?" She suddenly exploded. "THAT'S THE STUPIDEST, MOST ASS-BACKWARDS EXCUSE I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!"
"WHAT!?" Starlight snapped, glaring at her as she horn lit up. "What do YOU know about...!"
"Ok, opening fire." Twilight muttered.
Outside, nearly every pony was startled, and more than a little scared when a bright light shone out from the cave the cutie mark vault was held in, coupled with a faint oscillating howl that lasted for several seconds before it, and the light, faded.
Inside, once the smoke and dust cleared, Twilight coughed, shaking a bit of rock from her mane, the others sat where they were, their manes blown back by the force of her spell. "Ah think ya overdid it a mite, Twi." Applejack managed to get out, looking to the far side of the cavern.
Embedded in a crater in the wall, a twitching, scorched, and 'knocked-the-buck-out' Starlight Glimmer could be seen.
"Girls! The vault!" Rarity pointed to the sealed marks while she tried to restore her curls.
They looked over in time to see the boxes cracking; the shockwave from Twilight's spell having damaged them. Within seconds, they shattered, releasing a swarm of cutie marks that immediately began flying back to their owners. All except for one.
"Say, anyone else notice that?" Rainbow asked. "Not one cutie mark flew over to Starlight."
"I know. And once we get out of here, the town'll know too." Twilight said, using her magic to pull the unconscious mare out.
Outside, though, the town was in a panic about getting their marks back. Some were furious or terrified, while a small number looked wistful at feeling their old talents coming back to them. All of them began bombarding the girls with questions when they saw them exiting the cave with Starlight floating behind them.
"What happened to the vault!?" Party Favor cried out, looking more surprised than anything.
"What happened to Starlight??" Sugar Belle asked.
"What'd you outsiders do to her!?" Another demanded.
"Startlight Glimmer lied to all of you." Twilight said simply, levitating her over to let them see.
"She's still got her equality mark...!?" Double Diamond stepped closer amidst the shocked noises of the others. "How...?"
"Simple. Pinkie?" They watched as the party pony used her tail to wipe the equal sign off, exposing Starlight's real cutie mark. "She never gave hers up. This whole thing started because her childhood friend got his cutie mark before her. But, instead of going to talk to him about why they didn't hang out together, or even try and make other friends, she blamed it all on cutie marks while wallowing in her own self-pity."
"So she talked us into giving ours up?" Double's friend, a mare by the name of Night Glider asked. "Just so others would hate cutie marks with her?"
"Pretty much." Twilight replied, setting the mare on the ground in front of them. "The sad thing is, she never even thought about what could've happened if she'd gotten hers first. But..." She just shook her head.
Unfortunately, by then, Starlight was coming to. "Wha...oh...anyone get the name of that yak...YOU!" She hissed, leveling a death glare at Twilight.
"Actually, Glimmy, I think you have bigger problems." She pointed towards the angry-looking crowd.
"You lied to us!" Night Glider yelled. "I can't believe we thought you were helping us!"
Starlight tried to justify what she did, claiming she freed them, that she created harmony for them, getting more and more belligerent until...
"HORSEAPPLES!" Sugar Belle yelled, looking ready to sock her. "You know, I thought your spiel was a good idea at first, but I've come to HATE not having my cutie mark! You have ANY idea how much it sucks not being able to do what you really enjoy!? I love baking, but those...those things - I can't even call them muffins without feeling like I've committed a mortal sin - it's impossible not to see how any of us could barely stomach them! ("PREACH IT, SISTAH!" Pinkie screamed.) I LOVE baking! Pies, cakes, cookies...and I love the look on ponies faces when they bite into something that's tasty, and actually edible!" She looked Starlight dead in the eye. "And to be honest, Glimmer, you were always kind of smug about being able to remove cutie marks and I'm glad to have mine back."
"Same here!" Party Favor added, sticking a top hat made from balloons on Double's head. "Feels good being able to do this again!"
Several other ponies voiced their agreement, expressing how much they missed their old skills, until Starlight let out a shriek of fury, her horn lighting up. "You'll PAY for this, Sparkle! You and your gang!" She screamed, teleporting away.
"Should we go after her?" Rainbow asked.
"Nah, she's bound to pop back up soon with some kind of 'payback' scheme." Twilight paused when she felt her mark pulsate, along with the others. "Well...I guess that means we've done what we were sent to do." She added, watching the townsfolk. "Pinkie, where you going?"
"Sugar Belle can cook again, and I'm hungry!" Pinkie bounced back to the cafe.
"You really think Spike can teach those fillies to fly?" Luna asked as they watched the CMC scramble around on his shoulders.
Celestia shrugged lightly. "After what we've seen so far....pretty fair odds."
Spike scratched his head as the CMC sat in front of him, eyeing him intently. "Well, To put it bluntly, the flying I use is more or less using ki for propulsion. Now, ki is, for lack of a better term, one's latent energy; once you learn how to pull it out, there's a lot you can do with it." He held up a finger, and a glowing energy ball appeared on the tip.
"Ooh, pretty!" Sweetie squeaked.
"Wicked!" Scootaloo's wings buzzed in excitement.
He chuckled and let it dissipate. "First off, you're gonna have to sense it before you can draw on it. Now, it's not going to happen all at once, and it may take you a while to do it, but if you focus, keep calm, and be patient, then it will happened. Ok?"
"Right!" They said in unison.
"First step; just relax, look deep within yourself. Search for what should feel like a glow, or spark. Once you find it, try and picture yourself drawing on it, pulling it out through your hands-er, front hooves, in this case. Remember, the results won't be instant. Just give it time and work on it when you can. Once all three of you get it, then we can start on the next step." He was about to get up when...
"Wow, Bloom!"
"Whoa nelly...!"
"You're kidding me! Already!? How'd you even do that!?"
Floating between Apple Bloom's front hooves was a small, flickering point of light. "Ah...Ah dunno. Was doin' what Spike said, an' Ah felt somethin' kinda like earth pony magic, but...different. Gave it a tug, an'..." Apple Bloom looked at the glow.
"Well, earth ponies do tend to be stronger, and one of the biggest applications of Ki is boosting strength." Spike chuckled, not even hiding his own surprise at how fast she got it. "But, like I said, once all three of you get it, then I should you the next step. Bloom, for now, just practice drawing on it. Maybe describing how it feels'll help them pick up on it too."
'You sure teaching those hyperactive little fluffballs to fly is a good idea?' King Kai's voice spoke up in Spike's head, once he'd left the fillies to practice at their own pace. 'Kids their age can get into a little mayhem just on the ground. Imagine when they get airborne.'
'Relax, King Kai. It's not like they'll be learning the Kamehama or Kienzan. Scootaloo really wants to fly. Besides, it just didn't seem fair to not teach it to all of them.'
'Well, you got a point, but I hope you're ready to explain that to their sisters.' With that, the ancient trainer left him alone.
"Where are you putting all that!?" Luna yelped at the restaurant they stopped at as, over the course of three hours, Spike downed his fiftieth donut, along with two trays of pesto lasagna, ten bowls of oatmeal with fruit, enough spaghetti to feed almost two dozen ponies, an eight inch high stack of pancakes, and four pounds of cheddar, gorgonzola, and swiss.
"Actually this is kind of a light meal compared to what I normally chowed on." Spike replied around an eclair. "Only down side is ponies aren't meat eaters."
"Oh, you ate meat on Earth?" Celestia asked, her expression showing that, while she knew that other races were carnivorous to varying degrees, she still felt it was an odd thing to enjoy eating.
"Yeah." He tapped one of his fangs. "These aren't just for gems, heh."
Before either princess could respond, the door slammed open as three fillies came charging in. "SPIKE! WE DID IT!" They squealed in unison, skidding to a halt in front of him.
"Already??" He asked, looking in surprise they promptly displayed three glowing points of light in their hooves, and on the tip of Sweetie's horn.
"It kind of tickles!" Sweetie giggled.
'Ok...mental note. If I ever see Videl again, never tell her about this.' Spike said to himself.
"Ah...Ah-CHOO!"
"You ok, Videl?" Hercule asked his daughter when she sneezed loudly while they were having dinner.
"I'm fine, Dad." She said, rubbing her nose. "Think you put too much pepper in the roast." 'Why do I have the strangest feeling that I should be annoyed at someone right now?'
"I'm guessing you three want to get to the next lesson..." He paused when three pairs of eyes started glittering, and three tails started wagging. "I'll take that as a yes." He turned to Celestia and Luna. "You wanna come watch?"
"Tempting, but I'm afraid we have to get back to Canterlot before the nobles realize we're gone and decide to be stupid." Celestia said, wiping some tomato sauce off her mouth.
"Which is whenever they start talking." Luna smirked a little.
"Now that's not nice, Luna." Celestia chided her sister lightly. "It's true, but still not nice." She Kissed Spike on the cheek. "We'll see you in the dream tonight, honey. I'm interested to see what happens next."
"Ok. See you later, Mom." He said as they paid the bill and teleported out. Once they were gone, he turned to the three fillies. They were so excited they were nearly pronking in place. "All right, all right. Let's go find a quiet spot to do this. However..." He added as they went outside, "...before I even start, I want all three of you to understand one important thing. Learning to fly is all well and good, but until you're fully accustomed, I expect you to have at least one adult around who can watch you in case something goes wrong, ok?"
"Ok." They said in unison.
"Also, and this is a big deal; flying's one thing, but Ki manipulation can be really dangerous, or possibly fatal if you aren't careful with how you mold it. If any of you wanna try something besides flight, I want you want to run it by me and your sisters or Rainbow Dash first to make sure you can handle it safely, understand?"
"Right/ok/gotcha!"
By then they'd reached an area not far from Sweet Apple Acres that. No one was around, so they wouldn't bother anybody. "All right, next lesson. Now that you've figured out how to feel out your ki, the next thing is to draw it out and expel it. Kind of like when you set off a firework. First step; let your muscles relax and loosen up. Don't tense up or you're mess up your focus." He fought the urge to snicker when they wobbled around for a moment to do just that.
Once they got that out of the way, he continued. "Now, relax and draw on that power, feel it in your core and push it out. This is is a bit more involved than just feeling it out do it might take a little.."
"Whoa...!" Bloom cut him off, looking at Scootaloo who'd began floating several inches off the ground.
"I...I'm flying?" The young pegasus looked to see she was in the air on her own power 'I am..'. Her expression of surprise quickly morphed into an ecstatic one as she began gliding around. "I'm flying....I'm flying!" She squealed in joy, doing a loop-de-loop in the process. "I'M FLYYYINGG!!"
"Then again, it might not take long at alOOF!"
He stumbled when she slammed into him, wrapping her front legs around his neck like a life preserver. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" She cried.
"Ok, ok." Spike laughed, getting his balance back. "Here, just try floating around until they get..."
"Ooh! Spike I think I ...I got it!" Sweetie squeaked, lifting up a few feet in the air.
"What am Ah doin' wrong!?" Apple Bloom complained a few minutes later, hopping in place while the other two hovered around nearby.
"Bloom, relax. Remember, tensing up like you are won't help." Spike crouched beside her. "Feel the energy in your core and push it out.
"'Kay..." She took a deep breath and followed his instructions. Closing her eyes, she focused, and soon the grass around her began rippling outward, like from an unexpected wind. Moments later, she began to rise into the air.
"There you go!" Spike chuckled.
"Ah did it...Ah'm flyin'!" She laughed, gliding over to Scoot and Sweetie.
"WOO-HOO! Wait'll Rainbow Dash sees this!" Scootaloo whooped, flipping around.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ARIAL SQUADRON!" They hollered together, buzzing around the area like a trio of wired hummingbirds.
"All right you three. Take it easy, you can run out of energy pretty quick at first." Of course, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were too caught up in the excitement and were now well into a game of flying tag. Sweetie however, was slowing. Although, when he saw her looking a little green, he surmised that it wasn't because of him. "You ok, Sweetie?"
"I feel kinda dizzy..." She groaned, holding her stomach, belching slightly. "Ew...think I went too fast."
"Ouch...here, just sit there, or maybe lay down and let things settle." He sighed and looked up where the other two were zipping off. "I have a couple of speed-junkies to catch." He quickly went after them.
"Gotcha!" Bloom yelled, giving Scootaloo a fly-by booping. "Yer it!"
"Not for long!" She smirked, giving chase...until Spike blurred into view in front of them.
"JUMPING SASSAFRAS!/YOW!" They shriek, flailing to a stop before they hit him.
"How'd you do that!?" Apple Bloom squeaked, clutching her chest.
"Just something that helps with catching fillies that get ahead of themselves. Let's head down. No sense tiring yourselves out right off---"
It was then that they heard Sweetie Bell's scream.
"What the hay was THAT!?" Apple Bloom yelped, peeking out from Spike's arms after he grabbed her and Scootaloo to pull them out of the way of...whatever that spinning thing was.
'That was a...oh crapbaskets! And it came from where I left Sweetie Belle!' Before the two fillies could ask anything else, Spike took off back to where their third member was. When he got near, they spotted her on the ground, huddled up and crying.
"She's hurt!" Scootaloo yelled, pointing towards a patch of red on the ground by her. "She's bleeding!"
Landing nearby, he let them and ran towards her. "Split Form!"
"What the!?" They yelped, watching as Spike suddenly became two.
"Quick! grab the medkid! I think it's number fifty-two!" One of the Spikes yelled.
"I'm on it!" The other yelled, blurring out of sight.
"Sweetie! What happened?" The first Spike said, kneeling down beside her as Bloom and Scootaloo caught up.
"I-I was just making that glow appear w-while you were getting the others..." She got out between sobs, slowly telling them what happened.
Watching Spike take off after the others, Sweetie took a few slow, deep breaths, feeling a bit of relief as the urge to hurl receded some. Her stomach managed to settle soon afterward.
She had no idea how long it'd take for him to catch them, so she decided to entertain herself and called the ki glow back. Watching it sparkle on the end of her horn, she started wondering if she could could something with it, like make it move, or glow brighter. Just for fun, at least.
With that in mind, she focused on the glow. Since she had to picture the glow to get it out, maybe imagining it doing what she wanted would work too. She started by imagining it inflating a little, like a balloon. It took a bit more concentrating then with magic, but she was rewarded with the sight of it slowly growing until it was the size of a baseball. She couldn't help squeeing a bit at her success.
She also noticed that the spark- now more of an orb - was spinning. It was slow, but the rotation was visible. And for Sweetie, it was irresistible. It was then that she found herself wondering if she could make it spin a little faster, remembering a little top her daddy had gotten her when she was little. It took a bit more concentration, but yet, using ki felt a little easier than magic. In almost no time the orb started speeding up, gradually spinning faster and faster.
As it did though, she saw it flatten out, like the pizza dough they'd twirl around at the pizzerias in Canterlot. The faster it spun, the flatter the orb became, until it looked more like a record, and the edge of it was almost sparkling. That drew her in. She wasn't sure why, but the urge to touch it, to see how it felt - if it was was tangible - was irresistible. Slowly, she reached up to it.
Only to learn that the edge was now razor-sharp as it cut into her hoof. It wasn't deep, but it nearly went across her entire underhoof. With a mix of shock and pain, she flung the disc away, sending it flying.
"Sweet sassafras!/Heavens!" Applejack and Rarity yelled at the sight that greeted the group when they got home. The six had just gotten off the train when a oscillating whir caught their attention...and a glowing disc struck the ticket booth, slicing the top quarter clean off.
"What was THAT!?" Twilight called out over the commotion from the other ponies around. "I don't recognize any spell capable of that! Is the ticket stallion all right!?"
"He's fine!" Pinkie called back, peering into. "A little shook up though..." She sniffed and quickly backed up. "Among...other things. Eww."
"Come on, something might be attacking the town!" Rainbow hollered, taking off in the direction it came from, the others hot on her heels.
Spike sighed as the other him returned, tossing a capsule into the air before they re-fused back into one. "This is why I said check with me and your sisters/Rainbow Dash before trying something." He caught the medical kit that appeared and took out some antiseptic and bandages.
"What was that thing, anyway??" Scootaloo asked, too worried about her friend to ask where the first aid box came from.
"Sweetie, without knowing it, created a Kienzan. It's a ki technique used primarily for combat. Its sole purpose is to cut something...or someone, in two." Hearing the three fillies whimper a bit at the idea of that made him wince a little, but he felt it better they knew how dangerous it was. "I've seen the damage it can do."
"I...I'm sorry..." Sweetie was visibly fighting the urge to pull her hoof away from the sting of the antiseptic.
"It's ok, Sweetie. I should've been a bit clearer on what I mean." He bandaged her hoof up, making sure it was on snug. "Thankfully the cut was shallow, but you'll wanna stay off that hoof for the rest of the day." He'd finished and just recapsuled the kit when the others came running up. "Hey, guys. You figure out what it was the map sent you to do?"
"Yeah...we did..." Twilight said, looking around. "Where's the attack..??"
"What attacker?"
"Something sliced off the top of the ticket booth at the train station!" Pinkie jumped in. "It just 'sshing!' and like a foot and a half just popped off! Scared the poop out of the ticket guy too!"
"An'....WHY is mah lil sister floatin' like that!?" Applejack semi-demanded, staring at the hovering filly.
"And Scoot too!" Rainbow stared, almost bug-eyed at her. "She's not even flapping her wings!"
"Check it out, Rainbow!" Scootaloo squealed, unable to contain herself as she zipped around the older pegasus, leaving a faint contrail of her own. "I can fly now!"
"Me too!" Apple Bloom did a loop-de-loop. "Think of the apple buckin' Ah can do like this!
"Oh...um...heh." He scratched the back of his head. "Well. You see..."
"I knew I felt an unfamiliar ki signature around here!" Chronoa called out, popping into view, her arms loaded down with bags and wearing a flower-covered sunhat. "Taught the lil squirts to fly, huh?" She asked.
"Me too!" Sweetie squeaked, doing a slow lap around a now startled Rarity.
"Sweetie! Your hoof!" She cried out, seeing the bandage on her sister.
"Yeah. She got a little overexcited with her ki and had a mishap." Spike replied. "Thankfully it's nothing serious, but it'll be tender for a little whi-" He suddenly found himself with a face-full of hyper alicorn.
"How'dyoumanagethatwewereonlygoneacoupleofdaysandyoutaughttwononpegasiflightImeanthescientificramificationsaloneare--MM!" Twilight flailed a little when Spike abruptly, but gently, pinched her lips together.
"Twi, calm down. I just showed them how to draw on their ki. After that, flight's easy." He pointed towards where the three fillies were putting on a little show for the others. "Besides, you know how badly Scoot wanted to be able to fly with Rainbow.
"Admirable on several levels, darling, but...why teach Sweetie and Apple Bloom?" Rarity asked as her sister floated by upside down.
Spike shrugged. "Didn't seem fair to leave them out."
"Spike." He looked over as Rainbow walked his way, her face a near expressionless mask.
"Yeah?" He managed to ask before she darted up, wrapping her front legs around his neck in a surprisingly emotional hug.
"Thanks..." She said quietly, her voice muffled from being buried in his shoulder.
The rest of the day proved to be somewhat uneventful. Well, if you count Pinkie deciding there had to be a 'completed-our-first-map-quest-and-Spike-taught-the-CMC-to-fly' party as 'uneventful'.
Afterwards, Rainbow and Scootaloo spent the next few hours racing each other around Ponyville. Almost everyone could hear the two laughing and squealing as they zipped around overhead.
Apple Bloom found out that, while she still couldn't buck as hard as her older siblings, flying gave her the momentum to hit the trees with enough force to knock at least some apples down. Plus, since she could hit then go at another, the sheer number she could hit in a short while almost made up for it. Applejack had to admit that, while she was still having a time getting accustomed to her sister being able to buzz around like that, it looked kind of fun.
Rarity however, once she managed to get over Sweetie's flying, found herself getting more than a little inspired for a potential fashion line revolving around the idea. And while she decided that while high speed wasn't for her, Sweetie still loved just floating about.
Plus the look on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's faces when they saw was a major bonus.
Twilight, on the other hand was almost vibrating at the prospect of studying a whole type of energy besides magic, especially if it was something that any sapient being could potentially learn. It took Chronoa offering to explain things a little to get her to stop pelting Spike with rapidfire questions.
Fluttershy was just glad to be back home, though she did enjoy watching the purple contrail Scootaloo could leave behind while zipping around.
That night, once again everyone was brought back into Spike's dream, eager to hear the rest of the story.
"Oh, Spike. I showed my aunts I can fly now, and they said they owe you cake." Scootaloo said, hopping into a chair that'd appeared for her.
"Make it lemon and we'll call it even." He smirked, getting a chair himself. "Well, there isn't a whole lot to say about the next few years. After Grandpa's death, it was just me and Goku; getting food, training, and just living pretty much." They all turned to watch a memory start up. "At least until a certain blue-haired girl decided to show up."
"Wow, you're a big one." Spike commented, looking up at the massive, and hungry-looking, grizzly looming over, its beady eyes focused on what it assumed was its next snack. "Kinda hairy, but I can work with that."
With a roar, it lunged, looking to swipe him off his feet with its long claws. What it got, however was nothing but air as Spike leaped back, chuckling a bit in the process. "Missed me!" He called out, suddenly rocketing back at the beast the moment he landed, catching it with a fist square between the eyes.
The force was enough to send it stumbling back some until it fell into a lifeless heap.
"Direct hit!" Luna yelled.
"Spike! What were you thinking?!" Twilight yelled once she regained her composure after seeing the bear. "That thing looks like it was almost five times your size!"
"What? It's not like I haven't hunted bear before, Twi." He replied, shrugging a little.
Fluttershy looked up from watching the memory. "But doesn't that affect the local ecosystem? Judging from how practiced the takedown looked, you've hunted them fairly often."
"A few times, but Grandpa taught us to change up what we went after fairly often since too much in a row wasn't really good for us or the wildlife. Plus bear for three straight days gets old." He laughed a bit at how they reacted to him hoisting it up on his shoulders like it was nothing. "Had to learn to haul lots of heavy stuff around as well. Anyway, by then I'd figured Goku had probably grabbed something for lunch since I'd found dinner."
"Wait, that's ONE meal??" Fluttershy's wings buzzed in surprise, "But, that has to be at least a seven hundred pound bear! Even manticores don't eat that much in one setting!"
"Believe me, leftovers don't exist around the two of us, but like I said, we changed it up a lot to keep from thinning things out too badly. When I got back home, though, Goku caught a lot more than lunch."
Spike looked on shock as he watched Goku throw a big metal something onto its side. Whatever it was, it must've either been real mean or really dumb to make his brother that mad. "Goku, look out!" He yelled, seeing what must've been the thing living in the metal whatever come out and point something at him. He dropped the bear and fired off a blast of fire at it.
Whatever it was, the fire was enough to send it back in with a shriek. Neither boy wasted any time hopping up onto it.
"We got you trapped, monster!" Goku said, pointing the Power Pole down into the opening.
"Yeah, whatever you are, you might as well surrender!" Spike added, taking a fighting stance.
"I give! I give!" It yelled. "No one said there were dragons around here!"
"Spike...tell me you didn't shoot fire at a girl." Twilight looked at him.
"Neither of us knew until she got out!" He replied in his defense. "Granted, once we made her get out, and she proved she was a human, she introduced herself as Bulma Briefs" An image of her showed up in front of them.
"Oh really now!" Rarity looked at the image in unashamed disapproval. "I'll admit that I've let my pride get the best of me on occasion, but brandishing your name like that for any Trot, Dick, or Harry to see? Certainly doesn't say much for her modesty. And huuaa...hooaa..." She tried to say the color without looking ill.
"Hot Pink?" King Kai offered.
"Ehuuaa....y-yes, thank you."
"Yeah, she kinda liked to complain about a lot of stuff. As for why she was out there, she was looking for the Dragon Balls. Even had a detector that told her where they were hidden. Apparently Grandpa had come across the four-star one, which is what brought her out there. Anyway, she wanted Grandpa's so she could make a wish. Me and Goku were a little leery about letting her have it at first, but agreed and joined up to find the others."
"You weren't the only ones." Chronoa added. "Remember those two goofballs who worked for the little blue guy, Pilaf?"
"Oh yeah, the lady and the dog?" He asked, watching images of the two appear. "Yeah, I remember seeing them a couple of times."
"So that's a human?" Shining scratched his chin. "Talk about weird looking..."
"Anyway, you had your first run-in with them when the three of you stopped for the night, and you mistook their plane for a big fat bird." The SKOT giggled a little. "If it hadn't been for the pack of wolves, they probably would have made a go for the Dragon Balls you guys had."
"Really?" A contemplative look crossed Spike's face. "Huh, now I feel a little bad for the ones me and Goku ate."
"Dude, there anything you didn't eat?" Rainbow asked, making a face at what she thought wolf might taste like.
"While we were asleep, though, we ended up getting a visitor." Spike continued. "After what Bulma called breakfast...still don't understand how someone could stand eating so little...Goku and I went out for some morning exercise."
"What? Calisthenics? Some aerobics?" Rarity asked curiously.
"Crushing boulders." He replied, causing said memory to appear.
"HAA!" The two boys yelled, the large rocks they'd hoisted up shattering from the sheer force they were applying with their bare arms. Well, Goku's shattered a little bit sooner than Spikes, but both were soon standing in rubble.
"I think we...hrrnngg...need some bigger rocks!" Spike grunted as he moved to pick up a weird greenish looking one.
"Dahh! Hey, whoah! Yipe!"
"Spike!" Goku pointed at it franticly. "I think your rock's talking!"
"Guys, meet Turtle." Spike smiled a bit when Rainbow squeed a little. He remembered that she'd developed a fondness for them ever since she'd gotten Tank.
"Turtle the talking turtle?" Pinkie raised a brow. "Can't tell if that's clever, rude, or just a little redundant."
"Wait a cotton-pickin' minute. That there's a sea turtle!" Applejack pointed at the flippers. "How in sam hill did he get THAT far inland??"
Spike shrugged. "He wasn't sure either. Guy got turned around somewhere. So, Goku felt we should at least try and help him out. Bulma, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about taking a side route from going after the Dragon Balls."
"Got a feelin' Ah ain't gonna be likin' this Bulma gal too much." Apple Bloom muttered.
"You and me both!" Sweetie replied.
"I went with Goku. Seriously, he didn't really have any way to defend himself aside from his shell. Just didn't feel right leaving him out there. So, we got Bulma to tell us which way the sea was and headed off. Actually helped out too since me and Goku took turns carrying him along the way. Ran into a big bear bandit that wanted us to hand Turtle over for dinner, but he went down pretty quick. Before long, we finally made it.
"Whoa....so this is the sea." Goku said in awe as he sat Turtle in the water. "It's so blue!"
"It's huge!" Spike added, watching the surf.
Bulma sighed a little. "Isn't it beautiful, guys?"
Turtle, however, after multiple thanks, asked them to wait there, saying he had something to give them. Before Bulma could ask for clarification, he was already out of sight.
"So, what did he have for you guys?" Luna asked.
"More like a 'who'. It was his master, the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi"
Night Light slowly tilted his head to the side. "I think I saw an old Buck-Fu movie with a pony that looked like him one time."
"Is that a turtle shell on his back?" Velvet asked, squinting a little.
"Guess that's why he went by the name. Never really asked him, though. So, he was pretty grateful to have his buddy back, and in return, he gave me and Goku the Flying Nimbus."
"Wow, it looks like a big pile of yellow cotton!" Spike chuckled, poking at the fluffy cloud. "What do you do with it?"
"Do? Ya ride it!" Roshi replied. "But, I should warn you, only the pure of heart can ride it! Kinda picky like that. Watch!" The old man took a leap...and went right through it, landing hard on his rear. "Ow..."
"I knew it, you did something you shouldn't have, didn't you Master Roshi?" Turtle scolded him.
"Ah, who asked you!?"
"Hey, let me try!" Goku said, bouncing from one foot to another.
"Knock yourself out." Roshi replied as he climbed back to his feet.
"Here goes!" Goku jumped onto it, and it was solid for him. "Hahaha! I can ride it!" He laughed, jumping in glee."
"Well, guess you got yourself a cloud." Roshi looked more than a little surprised at the sight.
"My turn!" Spike jumped on, both boys helping each other balance on it due to the slight lack of standing room. "All right!"
The old man's sunglasses almost fell off. "A dragon and a kid with a tail that can ride the Nimbus...You don't see that every day."
"Aw...I wanna ride on a cloud." Pinkie pouted a little.
Shining agreed with her. "Yeah, that looks like fun!"
"Oh man, I know a few pegasi who'd have a fit if they saw something like that!" Rainbow whispered, watching as it showed the two flying around on it, whooping and laughing their heads off.
"Speaking of having fits...Auntie, you know some of the Canterlot nobles are going to either demand Spike teach them, or have him banned from flying when they find out." Cadance looked over at Celestia.
In standard princess fashion, Celestia responded with a raspberry. "And to them, I say 'tough cookies'. They wanna fly, they can ask my son nicely."
"Um, I have a question." Twilight raised a wing. "If only someone with a pure heart could ride it, then why couldn't Roshi...?"
"'Cause Roshi's a world-class perv." King Kai replied. "Bulma found he had a Dragon Ball as well and he wanted to see her panties in exchange for it."
Applejack looked confused. "Uh, what's a 'perv'?"
Kai glanced at Chronoa nervously. "Um, he has a dirty...mind?"
"Oh, like my wife?" Shining grinned and got swatted on the shoulder for it.
Chronoa had to fight back a snicker. 'Probably shouldn't tell them that she didn't know she was flashing the goods at him. "Anyway, once that was done, and they had ball number four, they were back on their way to hunting down the rest. Of course that led them to a little town where they met...uh..." Chronoa scratched her chin. "What was his name again? Darjeeling? Pekoe?"
"You mean Oolong?" Spike asked. "Oh, yeah. When we got there, the whole town looked like it was deserted. Kinda creepy at first, though Goku had a feeling there were still people around. So, we went and checked out one of the houses. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have punched a hole in the door to get inside." He rubbed a spot on his head. "Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten hit with that guy's axe."
"You were hit with WHAT!?" All four alicorns yelled in unison.
"What kind of lunatic attacks an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD with a bucking axe!?" Cadance yelled, conjuring up a table and flipping it.
Luckily, Spike caught the table before it bounced off anyone. "We were eleven, thank you. And besides, the axe lost that little fight. Granted, I got a welt on my noggin, but it busted on impact. The guy thought I was Oolong. Or as he put it, 'Oolong the Terrible'. They told us he was a shapeshifting fiend who'd come to their village in some monstrous form and terrorize them, taking away their daughters to be his brides, with the guy's daughter, Pocha...Pooccha...Pocky...?"
"Pochawompa, Spike" Chronoa said, amidst several giggles.
"Right. She was picked to be next."
"Well, I guess I can't really blame the villager for it then." Luna calmed down some. "A cretin like this Oolong is in dire need of a good beatdown."
"Unfortunately, this is also when Goku decides he has to start checking to see if someone's male or female..." King Kai groaned to himself. Luckily, only Chronoa heard him.
"Yeah, he was kind of a bully then. We also found out that an old lady had the six-star ball, and she agreed to let us have it if we beat Oolong. So, we...or, I guess Bulma, cooked up a trap for him."
Spike looked unsure as he saw the 'disguise' Goku had on; they'd dressed him up to trick Oolong into thinking HE was Pochawompa. "I dunno about this, Bulma, he looks kinda silly."
"I feel like it too." Goku replied, trying not to trip on the skirt.
"It's either you or him, Spike." Bulma shrugged. "And he'd probably notice if his 'bride' was purple and green. You sure you know how to use that thing?"
Spike gave the Power Pole a twirl. "Yep! Grandpa taught me how to use it too, but Goku's still a little better."
"Ok, just remember, wait until you get him to spill where the girls are, then you can go to town on him!"
"And just then, he made his appearance, flowers, tux, and everything. Goku went outside and I got up on one of the houses. It was going ok for a minute, except Goku had to take a leak really bad.
"What's wrong? Not shy are..." Oolong's voice trailed off when he saw his 'bride' wasn't. "W-WHAT THE HELL!?"
"Gotcha!" Spike called out, leaping out of his hiding spot.
"Wha!?"
*CRUNCH!*
The Power Pole bent over as he hit the supposed 'demon' in the face with everything he had. Oolong teetered for a moment, one of his teeth clattering to the ground before the rest of him followed with a crash.
Silence washed over the town again until Bulma and few villagers trickled out to see what'd happened.
"They did it...! They...they've defeated Oolong the Terrible!"
Bulma chuckled weakly. "Uh...not quite what I expected, but that'll work."
"Something else we didn't expect was what happened after he was knocked out. Everyone had started cheering when Oolong got covered in this big smoke cloud. When it cleared, we saw what he really was."
The ponies all looked with variable levels of surprise.
"Wait a sec!" Rainbow yelled. "All those big monsters they said he turned into...and he's really just a pig!? A dinky little oinker!? Seriously!?"
"'Fraid so. Actually, Bulma and the villagers reacted kinda the same way."
The villagers could hardly believe their eyes, Oolong the Terrible, the beast that had tormented them for so long....was really a pig even shorter than the two boys who defeated him!
"This is what we've been afraid of!?" The old lady called out in indignation, "I can scarcely believe it!"
"You and me both!." Bulma glared. "Anyone got any rope?"
A couple of minutes later, and the pig was securely trussed up. A bucket of cold water was enough to wake him up.
"*Cough! Hack!* Bleh! What hit...me..." Oolong paled when he realized his situation. "Uh-oh...uh...Ha! You fell for my trap! Now release me and hand over my bride before I show my real-OW!" A whack on the snout, courtesy of Pochawompa's father,was enough to make him stop.
"Nice try, porky! But you changed while you were unconscious!" One of the villagers snapped. "So that means this IS your real form! Now, you better start talking; where are our daughters!" The rest of the townsfolk shouted their agreement.
"Y-yeah? Why...why should I tell you losers anyway? You fell for it every time I came!"
"Anyone else getting hungry?" Spike asked. Fighting worked up an appetite sometimes. "I'm kinda in the mood for porkchops." He puffed out a bit of flame as he said that, looking right at Oolong.
"Huh, those sound pretty good right now." Goku piped up.
Pinkie looked a little queasy at the implications. "You weren't gonna...cook him, were you?"
Spike shook his head. "Wasn't planning to. Though I really did have a craving for chops then. And it got him telling where the girls were; his mansion."
"He...he actually had a mansion?" Fluttershy asked. The mild disbelief on her face was matched by almost every pony there, even more so by Rarity.
"Well, he admitted he built it with con job money, but yeah. He had a mansion. Of course, he also admitted that he had wanted a wife that'd take care of it and him. Something about resorting to terrorizing the town because girls kept turning him down. Instead, all the ones he'd taken so far kept asking him to go out and run errands for them." Spike laughed a bit. "He even begged their parents to go ahead and take the others back. In the end, they got their daughters, and we got another Dragon Ball."
"Well, serves him right for thinking he could just kidnap himself a wife." Velvet threw her two cents in. "What happened to him after that?"
"The villagers spent the next couple of hours telling him off for his stunt, then Bulma decided his shapeshifting would come in handy, so he came along. Although, he did object when he learned our next stop was a place called Fire Mountain. He said it was the home of a real monster named the Ox King."
Scootaloo snorted. "Yeah...after what he pulled, you'll have to excuse me from believing that. Though 'Ox King' does sound pretty cool."
"True. Oolong, on the other hand, tried to make himself scarce turning into a fish while we were going by boat, but Bulma managed to snag him back. This time she slipped him a pill that caused him to have the runs when someone yelled 'piggy', which he learned the hard way when he tried to run off again once we made it to land."
"Ok, first off, ew...again." Pinkie's nose crinkled. "Second, how does that even work? Even I know you can't...you know...without running empty."
"No clue. I was too busy laughing at the noises to ask."
"I know the feeling." Shining and his dad smirked a bit. "It's hard to hold it in when I'm doing inspections and one of the solders hits a tune on the butt trumpet."
Cadance, Twilight, and Velvet just sighed. "Stallions."
"Unfortunately...Bulma managed to lose her dynacaps, so we ended up having to walk. That led us into the middle of a desert. The heat didn't really bother me or Goku, but Bulma and Oolong were having trouble keeping up. And after yelling about wanting AC and a bath, she managed to find herself some shade and fell asleep."
Rarity shook her head. "Wow, sounds like that girl could use a little toughening up."
"Um, Rainbow, did Ah hear that right? Rarity said someone needs to toughen up??" Applejack whispered in mild awe.
Rainbow looked back. "Kinda says something about this Bulma, don't it?"
"I can still hear you two." The fashionista spoke up, making them look a little sheepish. "I can handle roughing it, thank you very much. It just doesn't appeal to me." She turned back to Spike. "Please tell me you weren't stuck out there long, Spikey."
"Don't really know exactly how long, but the three of us were starting to get hungry. Goku and I were about to go look for something to eat when we heard this weird noise. Turned out to be a hoverbike coming our way."
"It's...um..." Spike waved his hands round, trying to best describe it. "Here, easier if I show you." He looked over as another image showed up. "Those are the two that were riding it as well. Yamcha, and his...I think he's a cat, Puar."
"Aw, he's adorable!" Fluttershy squeed.
"They were also bandits."
"Just hand over your money and any dynacaps you have and you can--"
"You gonna eat that?" Spike asked, staring at the cat thing beside this Yamcha guy.
"Do what?" He asked, thrown off by the question.
"That cat thing by your foot. You gonna eat it?"
"I'm not a cat!" It squeaked, apparently insulted.
"His name's Puar and I'm not eating him!" Yamcha blurted out.
"Can I eat it then?"
"Wha? N-No you can't! L-look, just gimmie your cash and dynacaps!"
All the mares, Shining, Night Light, King Kai, and Chronoa looked at him. "What? He looked tasty!"
King Kai sighed. "Why are all my friends so damn weird...?"
Oolong quickly pointed at Puar. "Puar? Hey, I remember you! We went to shapeshifting school together!"
"Yeah, and I remember you, Oolong; the loudmouth bully who always picked on me just because I was smaller! But at least I didn't get kicked out!"
"What'd he do to get kicked out?" Goku asked.
"N-nothing! The teacher was an old killjoy who couldn't take a joke!" Oolong yelled, trying to hide behind him.
"Yeah, right! You stole her panties! And look, you're STILL hiding behind others!"
"Wow, he hasn't changed much since it seems." Spike commented.
"Ok, look, kids, just hand it over before I have to get rough."
"Neither of us really wanna fight you, but you're not gonna give us much of a choice, huh?" Spike asked. "Well, I knocked out Oolong when we had to catch him, so I guess it's your turn, Goku."
"YOU'RE the one that whacked me!?" Oolong yelped. "I'm missing a freaking tooth 'cause of you!"
"Well, you were kidnapping girls from the village. And to be honest, you can't really take much of a hit."
"Wow, this Oolong sounds like a real piece of work...and you still kept him around?" Twilight asked.
"He just kinda grew on us, I guess."
"Yeah, like athlete's hoof it looks like." Night Light said.
"Well, Goku did face off against him, even got in a hit with the Power Pole. Unfortunately, since we hadn't eaten for a while, Goku was a little distracted and Yamcha managed to tag him pretty hard. I took over, but wasn't in much better shape, though I did get him with a tail in the eye, heh. Though...the weird thing is, while he was coming in to try and use the same move on me that he got Goku with, Bulma finally woke up, and he suddenly froze when he saw her."
"She caught him off guard?" Luna asked.
"No, he saw her, and froze mid-run, like a statue. After a moment he fell over, then him and Puar took off. It was odd, but I was too hungry to really care then."
At this, Chronoa poked Kai in the side. "He still doesn't know about stuff like that!?"
"Hey, I teach fighting techniques, not the birds and bees! If it drives you nuts so much, why don't you try and teach him?" Kai paused when he saw the grin form on Chronoa's face. "Uh-oh..."
"Mom said it was around here..." Spike said to himself once he'd landed in the section of orchard Celestia had mentioned. They had decided to take a break from the dream meetings for a couple of days to let Luna get caught up on her dream rounds and Night Court. And before they separated for the night, Celestia told him where it was located at for when he decided to see for himself.
After a couple minutes of walking, he finally found it; resting at the foot of one of the older trees was a small, well-maintained grave. The headstone was surrounded with stuff the others had left, some balloons, a small pile of carefully arranged gems, the last copy 'Power Ponies' he'd gotten (in one of Twilight's special weatherproof binders), Rainbow's old training goggles, and a small plushie that looked a bit like Peewee. "So...this is mine..." He crouched down to read the inscription on it:
SPIKE Friend, Son/Nephew, Little Brother... We miss you, wherever you are
Embedded in the stone was a photo of him and the girls from their last Hearth Warming Eve.
"Eeyup." A voice piped up, making Spike look over to see Big Mac walk up. "At least one of the girls would come out to check on it almost every day."
"Hey, Mac. Been a while."
"Can say that again. Bloom and AJ were dang near bouncing 'round like puppies when they got home after Tirek. To be honest, Ah didn't think anyone on the farm was gonna be smilin' fer a long time."
"Yeah...Mom told me they took it hard."
"Ain't kidding 'bout that. AJ... she did her best to put a brave face on, but...well, Ah could hear her cryin' in her room on more than one night. Heck, Ah did a couple times."
"You??" That definitely caught him off-guard.
"Well, yeah. Ah mean, Ah tend to do it in private like AJ, but when ya think ya lost one of your closest male friends and 'Ogres an' Obulettes' playin' buddy, well..."
"Ah. Wait, ONO? Dang, I haven't played that in a while. Though I'm kinda rusty...Haven't played in thirty years, and I don't think anything close even exists on Earth."
"Serious!? They don't..." Mac stared blankly for a second. "Wow, Thursday nights must suck there."
"Twilight, we need to talk." Spike looked at the alicorn setting across from him, the rest of the Mane Six sitting nearby as well.
"Y-yeah..?" She asked, still looking exhausted from helping Applejack on the farm the other day, as well as helping Pinkie spend half the night prepping stuff for the group breakfast they just had. One that she had fallen asleep on.
"Twi, for the last couple of days you've barely set foot in the palace, and when we broke up from the last group dream, I woke up to you right beside me." He leaned in a bit. "And you've been helping everyone with stuff to the point of wearing your self out to extremes. Even I can tell something's wrong. "
"Yeah, yer Tartarus-bent on avoidin' somethin', sugarcube." Applejack pointed out. "Not to mention the few times you've actually been in the castle, it's only when Spike's around."
She sighed. "It's that obvious, huh?" They all nodded. "Well, the truth is....I've been avoiding the castle. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing, but it just doesn't feel like home. And after Spike vanished and we thought he was...even though I barely left Golden Oaks, it felt cold, empty, and it scared me; that's really the first time I've ever lived somewhere alone. Here...that feeling seems to come back tenfold."
"Twi..." Spike sat beside her, where she promptly latched onto him.
"Well, while I can say, with the utmost confidence, that Spikey is back and not going anywhere, I believe your other issue is simple to resolve." Rarity looked around. "A bit of decorating and I'm sure you'll feel right as rain here!"
"I like the idea, but I don't even know where to begin!" Twilight waved a hoof around helplessly. "Still don't know how many rooms this place even has!"
"Let us handle it." Fluttershy spoke up. "Meanwhile, Spike can take you to the Ponyville Spa so you can unwind." She gingerly help up a mirror for her. "And you really could use it. Nothing personal, but you're looking kind of...frazzled."
"Ew. Heh, well, I really could use the help. And I'm sure you girls'll do a great job."
"Actually, why don't I lend them a hand as well?" Spike asked, getting to his feet. "And you say I can't be in two places at once, then I say Split Form!" Once again he separated into two.
"I'll take Twilight to the spa." The Spike closest to her said.
The second one stepped over to the currently dumbstruck others. "And I'll help with the decorating."
Twilight looked on in shock, confusion, and more than a little curiosity. "Wha?? Sp-Spike, how!? That should be theoretically impossible! At least not without an external source like the mirror pool!" She paused for a moment. "Then again, you beat the tar out of Tirek, which ALSO should've been theoretically impossible."
"Ok, now THAT was a cool trick!" Rainbow flew around them. "Which ones which?"
"Whoa nelly...." Applejack whistled.
Pinkie's face quickly lit up. "Ooh! Can you do more? You could have your own buckball team!"
"There's the Multiform technique, but I never learned it." The Spikes responded in unison.
Rarity's eye twitched vigorously before she fainted, with a rather perverse smile on her face.
Fluttershy blushed a little. "Oh my..."
Once 'Spa' Spike left with Twilight, the others started work. No sooner than they started, 'Decoration' Spike heard them break out into a eager tune as they scattered to hunt up stuff. He couldn't help but smile a bit at that. 'Damn, it's been a long time since I heard that.
A short while later and he was checking through his dynacaps to see if there was anything that might work. The 'camper' - which was actually a three bedroom house - had some comfortable furniture she might be interested in, along with several books from Earth. A few others yielded some vehicles; a couple of motorbikes and a hover-car. While he doubted they'd work, decor-wise, she'd probably jump at the chance to take them apart for research purposes. A storage cap surprised him a little when it had even more books. Most were physics, history, and more than few of classical literature. "Yep, she's definitely gonna like these."
He also made a mental note to ask her to help him find a more permanent spot to set the gravitron up as well.
"Ow...who taught you how to massage, a hydra!?" An indignant voice hollered from one of the massage rooms.
'Spa' Spike winced a little as he and Twilight waited for their turn. "Wow, they sound pent up." He commented before hearing a light whimper of pain from beside him. "Twi??"
"I'm ok, Spike. Just a little sore from all those holes, the racing-" She stopped when a pair of hands started kneading her shoulder.
"You looked like you could use this." He said, lightly pressing a knuckle in between her shoulderblades.
"Spike, whaaoohh Celestia, that feels goood..." She moaned slightly as she felt a knot start to loosen up. "How did you...?"
"Just something I learned over the years, among other things."
"Ooh, I don't know where you picked it up, but it's definitely worth it." She started going limp as he work out the dull ache that'd built up. "Heh, maybe you should get a massage too. You've gotta be a little tense as well from what's happened lately."
"Hm...that does sound tempting."
"Well....hehe, we do have a two for special going on today." Aloe spoke up, her cheeks reddening as she stared at his biceps.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, 'Decorate' Spike was heading back to the map room to meet the others. "Guys, I found a few things she might be interested in. Not too sure where she'll wanna put theeekami HAMI!?" He yelped when he saw the room's condition. Hay bales, party decorations, animals running around, gem-studded curtains, and Wonderbolt posters filled the room. "What the heck..??"
She stared at him for a before suddenly looking relieved. "FINALLY someone says it!"
Rarity let out a breath she'd been holding. "Quite."
"Feels more like a storage shed in here, don't it?" Applejack admitted, kicking a loose pile of hay.
"I guess I did go overboard with the animals, huh?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hey, no one's said anything about my hidden party cannons!" Pinkie spoke up.
"Hidden party...?" Before he could finish, a loud bang followed by a wave of confetti blew out behind Spike. Unfortunately, it also sent all the animals into a panic, running into and over everything. At least until he flared his ki, causing every sentient being in there to stop dead. "Guys, this is all stuff that makes you feel at home, not Twilight."
Applejack sighed. "Yeah, we definitely let our personal tastes take over."
"Well, right now it seems that what makes her feel at home is...well, you, Spike?" Fluttershy pointed out. "Remember? She's only really willing to come in if you're here as well."
"So, does that mean we just need to put up a bunch of Spike's photos?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't quite think that's gonna do the trick, Dash." He said. "Besides...the majority of my old pictures were at Golden Oak. It's all just memories now."
"That's it!" Rarity squeed. "Golden Oak!"
"What about it?" Pinkie asked.
"just hear me out." She quickly began explaining her plan.
"Huh, that...might just work." Dash said.
"Quickly now, Dash, you, me, and Pinkie will get the materials! Fluttersh, Applejack, and Spike, head to the library! If we work fast, we'll be done well before Twilight gets back!"
"I still can't believe it's gone." Twilight looked at the remains of what was her long time home.
"Yeah..." Spike wasn't really sure what else to say.
"Heh, you know, in the last six months, the others tried a bunch of ways to try help." A small smile appeared on her face. "Pinkie thought a marathon sleepover would help all of us."
"Typical Pinkie." Spike smirked.
"It worked a little. At least until the following week when Mrs. Cake threatened her with a diet if she didn't come back to work."
"Ouch."
"Well, I think she was starting to get a little burnt out after day five. Can only play twenty questions so many times. And there was Luna's attempt, giving me a 'Dream Spike'."
He looked at her. "A dream version of me?"
"She thought it'd help me get closure." She looked down. "Unfortunately it didn't..." She yelped in surprised when he picked her up.
"Twilight, you remember what Rarity said earlier today?" He gave her a quick boop on the nose. "I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere."
After her nose unscrunched, she tried, and failed, to keep from giggling before wrapping her front hooves around him. "Thanks, Spike, I needed that. You know, now that I think about it, it's not Golden Oak, but we can still make new memories at the castle. Hop on! The others should be nearly done by now!"
"Uh, heh...easier said than done, Twi."
She looked at him in brief confusion before it sunk in, and she blushed brightly, wiggling her hoofs slightly. "Oh! Heh, right, I forgot about that for a moment."
"Look at at this way." He set her on his shoulder. "You can be the one riding now."
Once he took off back to the palace, Applejack, Fluttershy, and the other Spike blurred into view.
"Whoooo...think think I left my tonsils back at the palace..." Fluttershy staggered a little.
Applejack looked worried. "This ain't good, they'll be back way before we get done here!"
"Then we'll just have to move fast!" Spike muttered, planting his feet. "Just hope no one minds the hole until we can fill it back."
"What hole-y crap!" Fluttershy yelped when he raised his hands and the entire stump tore itself from the ground, along with a fair chunk of dirt, followed by a beam of light that sliced off the broken, charred section.
"There." He quickly hoisted the mass up. "We can clean it off once we get back. Let's go!"
Unknown to them, while he was uprooting the remnants, a certain individual was watching not too far off. Looking out over an outdoor display, Chronoa sighed while she watched the draconic fighter use telekinesis to pull up the tree's remains. Given how long she'd been at her job, she had initially surprised even herself about this. Sure over the ages she'd had a schoolyard crush or two, but actually falling for someone?
Chronoa took a deep breath as she sat down, relaxing in her usual meditation position. Trunks and the other Time Patrollers could handle things for a little while while she took a quick jaunt down the time stream to make sure nothing unpleasant was trying to pop up. Closing her eyes, she relaxed and entered the flow.
Within seconds, she was watching moments from the past and potential futures flow by. Nothing seemed out of place, and she was checking out the beginning of the first World Martial Arts Tournament when a slight ping touched on the corner of her senses. It wasn't big, but it did manage to get her attention.
For a moment she was more than a little confused. She'd never felt something like that in the time stream before, and wondered where/when it was from when she felt it again. Now that she was aware, it was a bit more recognizable.
It was Spike, the dragon kid she'd fished out of the temporal void not that long ago. And he was still out of phase with his home time. She knew she should be checking for problems, but curiosity won out; what was he doing that tapped her senses like that?
Reaching the source of the 'signal', she prepped herself and entered. What greeted her, though, surprised her a bit. It was the World Martial Arts Tournament, but it was a somewhat recent one....and he was jumping around on the platform, with the announcer declaring him the winner.
"Yeah! Hahaha! I did it, I won! Ya-ha!" He yelled happily, making Chronoa giggle a bit at his antics. He jumped around a few more times before the crowd vanished and the platform suddenly transformed into a giant donburi bowl. She watched as he cheered and tossed away a handful of zenny before diving in.
'He must really love that stuff.' She mused, listening to the loud munching and gobbling. However, she started to peek in to see what kind it was when the scene suddenly faded out. She looked around wildly, thinking he was waking up when he reappeared. Except there was no food, no tournament...instead the scene was now an orphanage, and from the look of it, the place could use a bit of renovating. And he was handing the head worker a sizable chunk of the prize money, who looked like she was ready to faint, then shifting to him horsing around with the kids there.
She was certainly NOT expecting that! She had to hand it to him, though, even if it was just changing his mind in a dream, it was a nice thing to do.
A cat-like grin appeared on her face as she remembered the urge to peek at his older self once she left his dream. Normally the rules for temporal management frowned on that, but she couldn't resist and picked a moment from just out of his teens. She'd vowed to never tell anyone what she saw, but a nearby pony gave her a puzzled look at the little beating hearts that appeared in her eyes.
Luckily for her, she managed to snap out it before he started to ask questions. And Spike and the others were gone. "Huh? Where'd they all go?"
"Guys, Twilight and Other Spike are back!" Pinkie yelped, peeking out the door. "Are we done, are we done??"
"Almost..." 'Decoration' Spike replied, making sure the last knot was good and tight. "There!"
"Just in time too!" Rainbow said as they came in.
"I don't get it, it still looks the same..." Twilight trailed off at what greeted her in the map room. Hanging above the map was a large root system. Hanging from were numerous strands of gems, glinting brightly in the light.
"Woah...!" 'Spa' Spike looked up at the sight.
"The ornaments are reminders of the fun we had." Fluttershy said, moving one to show an image of them at Donut Joe's. "Like the time we all went for donuts after the Grand Galloping Gala."
"And this one shows the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party we threw you when you first came!" Pinkie chirped, holding the in question.
"We figured that remembering all your wonderful older memories would help inspire you with making new ones." Rarity added.
"Is...that what I think it is?" 'Spa' Spike asked.
"Yep, Golden Oak's roots. Something to help us both remember that the old tree isn't full gone." 'Decorate' Spike replied before they fused back together.
Applejack joined in. "And to help you always remember where you came from."
Twilight looked at it for a moment, then they heard a small sniffle from her as she turned back them, eyes welling up. "It's exactly what the castle needed...!" Before a group hug was initiated.
"Actually...now that I'm getting the memories, the me that was helping here thought you'd might want a few things from the dynacaps to study...and a lot of Earth literature." Spike chuckled.
"Actually, I think we all did couldn't resist." Rarity admitted, blushing. "The dining room was begging for a personal touch."
Applejack looked sheepish. "That, an' probably some rustic farm decor in the kitchen, Twilight."
"Aaand a few 'Daring Do' posters that might be in the library, ehh-hehe." Rainbow scratched the back of her neck.
"And some stuffed animals in your bedroom." Fluttershy whispered, just before another confetti cannon went off right behind them.
"An' that would be one of Pinkie confetti cannons..." Applejack muttered.
"Whaaat?" Pinkie asked when they all looked at her. "Not my fault I was good at hiding them!"
"So, looks like this is the start of a new life for us, Twi." Spike said, admiring the chandelier.
"Looks like it. But, I think we'll handle it just fine." She replied.
Zecora let out a slow exhale as she balanced on her meditation pole. The last few days had been rather surprising; the demon Tirek's attack, Twilight acquiring a palace of her own...and as near as she'd picked up, a newcomer who had been strong enough to beat the centaur to within an inch of his life before the former element bearers were able to retrieve the magic he'd taken.
In a way, that cheered her up somewhat, especially after what had happened half a year ago. While she'd personally came to terms with it, she couldn't blame Twilight or the others for still feeling the hurt from that loss...
"Hey, Zecora!"
"Wha...whoa! Oop!" She flailed all four limbs to try and regain her balance after the unexpected greeting caught her off-guard. After a moment, she managed to steady herself and looked to where the voice came from. What she saw was enough to make her rub her eyes, doubling checking to make sure she wasn't seeing things. While the orange and blue outfit was odd, the purple and green scales were unmistakable. "Spike?? Is...is that you? We all thought..."
"Yeah, kind of a long story. I...well, I ended up on another planet."
"...what?"
It took a little while, but he managed to explain things as he set up a fire. "Made it back a couple of days ago and kept Tirek busy while the girls got what they needed to de-magic him."
"To clarify my understanding, you were displaced when Twilight took wing, and this Chronoa rescued thee, placed elsewhere till you could return to we." She said.
"Pretty much. I know it sounds hard to believe..."
"How normal this feels is what is strange, the rest is the norm...save your funeral arranged." She pointed to the now roasting chupacabras. "I do not believe these beasts your appetite can appease...and why do they smell like old cheese?" Her nose scrunched up when she took a whiff.
"I'm sure the taste'll make for it." He said, taking a bite... ... ... ...
"YAUGH! THAT'S NASTY!"
"Well, you can't be blamed for seeking to try it...though even manticores leave them out of their diet." She commented, wincing a little at the sound of him retching into a bush.
Once he'd finished saying his prayers to the porcelain gods, Spike quickly reduced the bodies to ashes, not willing to let the local wildlife get the same unpleasant surprise. After saying bye to Zecora, he made his way back to town, making sure to get something to wash the taste out of his mouth.
"Something wrong, Luna?" Celestia asked as she got ready to go to bed that night for the next dream.
"I'm not sure, Tia." Luna replied. "I just have this odd feeling that I forgot to do something. It's probably nothing, though, but still annoying me a little."
"Well, maybe it'll come to you while we're in the dream." Celestia hopped into bed. "I've lost count of how many times i've let something slip only to have it pop back up a little while later."
"Probably. Anyway, I'll see you in dreamland, sis."
Once Celestia was asleep, Luna did her thing. With a light touch of her magic, she met her sibling in one of her usual dreams...and already standing by a cart loaded with donuts. "I know it's a dream, but I don't care." Celestia said the moment Luna looked at her.
"Don't ever change, Tia." With that, they jumped to Spikes dream. On entry, however, they were greeted to an unexpected sight; Chronoa and King Kai were already there, munching on popcorn, but Spike was again in his transformed state. He was also ruthlessly pummeling a being that resembled a tall and extremely bald Abyssinian, dressed in something akin to ancient Neighgyptian attire.
"Wha...!?" Celestia started, wincing a little when the being took a knee right into the face. The impact jarring both princesses a little.
"Hey girls." Chronoa said, spotting them. "Check it, we got a pre-story fight!"
"What...who is that??"
"Something that pretended to be of Spike's tougher foes from his past on Earth." King Kai responded between mouthfuls. "Chronoa and I got here in time to see this pony-shaped thing pop up and make itself look like him before attacking."
"It put up a fight until he went Endless level two." Chronoa added. "Now he's trying to beat it back into it's original form."
"Gotta give it credit, though!" Spike shouted as he slammed the faux-Beerus into the dreamscape's floor, head first. "This...whatever it is can take a beating!"
"Pony-shaped...?" Luna's ears flattened. "Um, by any chance did it have the same coloration as my mane?"
"Yep!" Both kai's nodded.
"Oh dear...that's the Tantabus." Luna gulped. "Well, that explains the funny feeling earlier. How'd it get loose?"
"Luna, what are you talking about? How do you know what that is?" Celestia said, using her 'older sister' tone.
King Kai noticed the quick show of guilt crossing Luna's face and cleared his throat. "Hmm...maybe this is something Luna should talk with a more impartial side before hashing things out her big sis. Whaddaya say?"
The pony siblings gave each other a silent look before Luna stepped over to talk to him in a more private forum.
(A three minute explanation later...)
King Kai calmly adjusted his robe. "Okay...let me make sure I heard right: a millennium ago, you let yourself become consumed by negative emotions, which caused you to turn into this monster calling itself Nightmare Moon, nearly destroyed the world, and ended up sealed away in the Moon by your sister.
Luna nodded. "That is correct"
"And this whole thing - more or less - happened 'cause the two of you weren't communicating all that well, and she didn't understand the pain, rejection, and loneliness you were going through."
"A an accurate, if painful, summation of what happened..." She winced a tad. "But, yes."
"Right." King Kai was resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "So your solution to keep that from happening again, and deal with your guilt over it, is to create a monster in your own psyche designed to make you relive it over and over every time YOU go to sleep... and all without talking to your sister about your feelings whatsoever.
"This is my burden, and I must deal with it myself as my penance for my crimes."
He sighed. "Okay, how should I put this without being offensive...?
"We are both royalty. Please, speak thy mind." She replied, inadvertently slipping back into Old Equestrian.
"Alright." He inhaled deeply. "That is, without a doubt...THE DUMBEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" He bellowed, blowing her mane back. "And I trained Goku!"
"What? I-" She stopped when he put up a hand.
"You said speak my mind. So sister, I'm speaking it! Look, if a lack of communication is what caused all that to begin with, than what in HFIL makes you think that's gonna help now!? That's like trying to heal a bruise by punching it! Seriously, that's one of the biggest things a family is for!" He took a second to calm down. "You already know my full title/name is Northern King Kai, so you can assume there's an East, West, and South Kai. We aren't related, but we're family in a way, right down to bickering with them like siblings. If we have a issue, we aren't afraid to bring it out and work things through."
"But I have to prevent myself from succumbing to that evil again!" Luna protested.
"The fact you don't want to is a good start, but going at it like this isn't. Listen, I know I'm being harsh, and I do understand feeling like you have to punish yourself for a past mistake, or wanting to be certain it isn't repeated...but think of it like an old wound. Looking at the scar to remember what you did and why you don't want to do it again is fine. However, tearing it open every time you do look is only going to get it infected, know what I'm saying?"
"So...you're saying that repeatedly reliving the event, rather than helping to prevent a recurrence, is making it impossible for me to recover move on?"
"EXACTLY! Supreme Kai, it's nice passing wisdom on to someone who actually understands what you're saying. Spike's a good kid, and you'd never ask for a more loyal friend...but by Me he could be dense! Between you and me, I think he spent a little too much time out in the wilderness with Goku."
"Hey...I wasn't THAT bad!" Spike protested, folding the tanta-beer-bus around his fist for the seventeenth time.
"Spike, you and Goku both thought Bubbles was me when you first arrived!" King Kai answered back.
"Bubbles?" Celestia asked.
"My monkey." The princesses faces turned red. "My pet monkey!" He quickly added over Chronoa's gigglefit, muttering about 'hentais' again.
"Well, after some of the people we ran into over the years, can ya blame us??"
King Kai shook his head and turned back to Luna, seeing the uneasy way she was looking at Celestia. "Let me guess, you're worried about how she might react when you tell her?"
"A little." She admitted. "This is a fairly big secret I've been keeping for a while."
"Thankfully I have a little experience as a mediator. Just say when."
"Let's go ahead. Soon we get this done..." She followed him back to the others. "Celestia? I have a confession to make." It took a few minutes, but she finally managed to get everything off her chest, still expecting the older Alicorn to react negatively. A chuckle, however, caught her and King Kai both off guard.
"I can't really blame you for not telling me, Luna." Celestia looked a tad sheepish. 'To be honest, I lost count of how many times I told myself I should've tried harder to talk things out...even considered making something similar."
"You did...? B-but what kept you from...?"
"Had no clue how to even start making one." Celestia grinned a little. "Dream-based magic was always your specialty, Luna." That was enough to get a light chuckle around out of them both."
"So, things ok between the two of you?" King Kai asked, motioning to the fight.
"Guys? What do you want me to do with this thing!?" Spike yelled over the squeaks and growls the Tantabus kept letting out with each punch.
"Your call, Luna." Celestia said.
"Hm. Well..." It was subtle, but Luna was standing taller. "I don't need it anymore, but seems a shame to just get rid of it." A grin crossed her face. "I think I know just what to do. TANTABUS!" She yelled, making both it and Spike stop dead. A jet of sapphire-colored light shot from her horn striking the dream monster dead center. "GET OVER HERE!"
The Tantabus squawked as it was yanked back to Luna, who promptly conjured a small box which sucked it in, the box vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
"I feel MUCH better now!" Luna chirped once that happened. "Since that's out of the way, we should probably get the others. Spike still has the rest of his story to tell."
"Oh yeah." He said, watching Luna and King Kai pop out to get them. "You guys get to meet the Ox King next!"
The Adventure Begins: Ox King Ahoy and Fire When ready!
"Ok, I'm really curious about this 'Ox King' guy Celestia said you mentioned, Spike." Twilight said once the group was gathered. "I mean, the Oxen here have an Empress, but never heard of an actual King.
"Well, you'll see him in a minute, Twi. Though, first off you gotta see what used to be his home." Spike replied as the memory came into view. "Fair warning, it freaked all four of us out when we first saw it. Say hello to Fire Mountain."
"HOLY HORSEAPPLES!" Shining, Night Light, and Rainbow hollered in unison when the sight of the massive, flame-engulfed mountain appeared.
"Yeah, that was kind of our reaction too."
Fluttershy stared up in a mix of awe and fear before speaking up. "Put those marshmallows away, Discord!"
The draconequis pouted, tossing a plastic bag over his shoulder.
"According to Oolong, the Ox King used to live in the castle up there." Spike pointed to the top. "He said the Ox King hired a magician to make a magical fire to protect it, but the fire got out of control and left him stuck outside. It was also where the next-to-last Dragon Ball was supposed to be."
"Then how'd ya'll even get it, much less get up there?" Applejack asked. "That place looks hotter than one of my cousin's habanero popovers."
"Got that right. Heat's never really bothered me, but the others were feeling before we even saw the mountain. As for getting up there, we tried what seemed to be the obvious path at first. But, the fire kept rising to block us on the Nimbus. So, I tried something else"
"You sure about this, Spike?" Goku asked as they flew over the inferno on the Nimbus. Their initial attempt to reach the castle failed when the fire kept shooting up to block them.
"I'll be ok." Spike replied, taking his clothes off. "Remember how many times Grandpa found me napping in the fire? This heat isn't that much worse."
"Ok. I'll keep a look out for when you find it."
"Here goes nothing! Cannonball!" Spike yelled, jumping off the Nimbus into the flames."
"A cannonball?" Twilight looked at him. "Really, Spike?"
"It's the only dive I know."
"Uh, you guys did see him just jump into a raging inferno, right?" Chronoa ask, looking around with confusion at how
"And...?" Shining prodded.
King Kai nearly facefaulted. "He just hopped straight down onto a mountain. Covered in FIRE! Doesn't that concern you a little??"
Fluttershy raised a hoof after a moment. "Actually Rarity and I've seen him swim around in lava. It's like a hottub to him."
"And in terms of harm, dragons are highly magic resistant." Twilight added. "It's why I always felt safe testing new spells on him."
"Which I wouldn't mind if you asked first." Spike looked at her. "Especially when I was eating. Be eating a sandwich and suddenly I'm a feather boa."
"Not to mention dragon scales are sturdier than most types of armor, and their internals are built along similar lines. Celestia joined in. "To be honest, I'm more worried about whether or not the crater he left on impact upset the balance of the spell and caused the flames to go awry.
"Ok, she's got a point there. Spike, what were you thinking?!" Twilight scolded him.
"Hey, I landed on my feet!" He replied. "Besides, I hit a building first."
"That doesn't really inspire a lot of confidence."
"Anyway, I couldn't find a way in; wound up just wandering around and walking into stuff. Ended up coming back out at the bottom. By the time I got out, there was this really big guy and a girl with them, who I found out was the Ox King and his daughter, Chi Chi." A pair of images appeared as he said the names.
"Ooh...he be BEEG!" Pinkie yelled, falling backwards as she looked up at the hulking figure.
"Whoa nelly...an' Ah thought the yaks were big fellers!" Apple Bloom whistled.
"Um, question...what in BLAZES is she wearing??" Rarity pointed at the girl. "That looks like something from the shows Daddy used to watch when HE was a foal!"
"Beats me. I'm more of a one-piece bikini kind of girl." Chronoa shrugged. "Anyway, I'll take over the story for this bit since Spike didn't see. While he was looking around the fire...still wrapping my head around THAT...Bulma and Oolong found the Ox King. Or, to be more accurate, he found them. You could guess he wasn't exactly thrilled about having people snooping around. Spike could't hear her scream over the fire, but Goku did."
"Hey, who are you!?" Goku yelled as he flew down, drawing his Power Pole.
"Hm?" The huge stranger looked back. "Wha? Hey! I know that cloud!" He cried out, pointing at the Nimbus.
"You do?" Goku looked down it.
"Yes, and there's no way you'd be riding it if you'd stolen it; so who gave it to you!?"
"Oh, I got it from a guy who called himself the Turtle Hermit."
"That's my old teacher, Master Roshi!" The large man seemed to cheer up some. "You know where he is?"
"The big guy quickly introduced himself and the two of them actually bonded a little over the Power Pole. He told them that he and old man Gohan were Roshi's students." Chronoa continued. "After that, Ox King asked if they could find Roshi and get something called the Bansho Fan, that was supposed to be able to get rid of the fire. So, they made a deal; he'd give them the Dragon Ball in his castle when Goku got the fan. He also asked him to keep an eye out for his daughter, who'd gone out looking for the fan before they arrived."
"Wait, isn't that the girl Yamcha knocked out in a panic?" King Kai asked. "Man, he's lucky her pop never found out. Even at his age now, Ox King could probably still fold him up like a chair, literally."
"Well, to make an already somewhat long story short, Goku found Chi Chi, who quickly fell for him during their trip to Roshi's. However, when they did get to the old guy's island, Chi Chi was a little skeptical that he was the real deal and smacked him wit the blade on her helmet to be sure. You lot should've see the looks on both their faces when it got lodged in his forehead!" She cackled for a moment. "Of course, getting there had good news and bad. The good news was he knew about the fan...the bad news was he didn't have it anymore."
"Then how'd they handle the fire?" Night Light asked.
"I'm getting there. Since he couldn't find it, he went to Fire mountain with them. Him and Ox King were having their reunion when Spike finally got out of the flames."
"Papa! Look! Something's coming out of the fire!" Chi Chi yelled.
"That's impossible, nothing could survive those flames!" Ox King replied, only to freeze when they saw something come walking out.
"Gah!" Goku yelped. "I forgot Spike was in there!"
Bulma looked at him. "What do you mean Spike was in there??"
"Who's Spike?" Chi Chi asked.
"He's my adopted brother; Grandpa found him in the woods a few years ago. Fire doesn't bother him, so he went down to see if he could find a way in."
"Well...I-I guess that makes sense, since he's a dragon." Bulma looked understandably freaked out as Spike came into view.
Ox King's axe fell to the ground with a thunk. "G-Gohan adopted a D-d-dragon??" His jaw slackened some at that reveal.
"Yeah, fire breath and everything..."
"Why is he naked!?" Chi Chi squeaked, covering her eyes.
"I didn't want my clothes to burn." Spike replied, finally close enough to hear them. "No luck finding the door. There's too much fire to see anything up there."
"Well...can't say you didn't tryyyyEOW!!" Bulma patted his back, only to screech in pain. "YOU'RE BURNING HOT!" She hopped around, holding her burnt hand.
"Yeah, it got pretty warm in there." He was actually emitting a heat shimmer by now, and the others could see where he scorched footprints into the dirt. "Gonna have to let my scales cool down before I get dressed.
"Wow, I've heard of boys being called 'hot stuff', but that's getting WAY too literal!" Scootaloo said, feeling the urge to step back some.
"I'll say!" Sweetie squeaked, glancing at the scorched footprints.
"No clue what that means, but after Ox King paid his respects to his teacher, Master Roshi stepped up to deal with the fire himself." Spike said, the memory shifting a bit. "And believe me when I say it was...intense."
Spike watched as Muten Roshi began focusing power into himself...and he could feel it; each and every cell of the old man's being overflowed with unleashed power. It was a sensation he'd never felt before.
As his body suddenly bulked up with expanded muscle, Spike could sense the tightly controlled energy struggling futilely to escape the ancient man's iron hard control. Gone was the oddly-behaving old man. in his place was a fighter that he was sure that him and Goku together wouldn't be a match against.
When the power reached its peak, Roshi shifted his stance, bringing his hands before him and cupping them towards each other.
"KA..."
Spike felt the growing surge as the energy throughout the old man's body focused into the space between his palms, compressing down to a single point.
"ME..."
As Roshi brought his hands to his side, the gathering energy became so intense it started to become visible, forming a sphere in his hands. The sight sent a thrill through every cell of Spike's body as he felt the shaping in the marrow of his bones...and deep in his throat, silently mouthing each syllable along with the old man.
"HA...ME..."
As the energy stabilized and took shape, Spike's eyes glowed as the shaping of the power anchored itself in his mind.
"...HAAAA!"
Roshi thrust his hands forward, and the energy lashed out, erupting in a focused beam that sent out shockwaves a it plunged into the mystic flames and, in a blinding explosion of light and energy, eradicated them...
...along with the mountain they surrounded.
"Whoops. Guess I overdid it a little." Roshi chuckled in embarrassment after seeing the results. "But, gotta admit, not too shabby at my age, hehe!"
"Our home!" Chi Chi cried out.
"The Dragon Ball!" Bulma screamed, looking ready to throttle the Turtle Hermit.
'Whoa....!" Celestia's eyes nearly bugged out at the damage that beam did. "That was insane! I mean...I can do that too, but it takes the strongest spell I have!"
"What was that, anyway?" Cadance asked.
"That was the Kamehameha Wave, a move he created a long time ago. Wait till you see what he does with it later down the line." Spike replied. "Though, I did feel bad for Ox King and Chi Chi. Their house did just get vaporized, even if they said they could rebuild. After that, Bulma and Oolong went looking for the Dragon Ball in the rubble. Me and Goku on the other hand..."
"That was incredible!" Goku laughed. "Can you teach us how to do that?"
"Yeah!" Spike was nearly bouncing.
"Sure, but it'll take you fellas fifty years." Roshi replied. "It requires an almost complete mastery of your body's energy."
"Fifty years?" Both of them pouted a little at that.
While Bulma continued looking, Ox King went to talk to Roshi, leaving the two boys to their own devices for the time being.
"Goku, when he did that, did you feel all that energy building?" Spike asked.
Goku noded. "Yeah! I think my hair stood on end even more than it usually does. He's way stronger than he looks."
"You think we can really learn how do it, too?"
"Well, he said it'd take fifty years. Maybe we better get to practicing?"
"Ok." Spike stood beside him, and taking stances similar to the Hermit's, they started to focus.
"Ka..."
It started as a spark, barely noticeable, but Spike felt it. And it was growing. He had a feeling Goku felt his own as well.
"Me..."
The spark had changed to something akin to a fire building in him, slowly concentrating itself.
"Ha..."
As it reached what felt like its peak, itching to be let loose, he found that the point wasn't focusing in his hands like Roshi, or even Goku, if the glance over had any indication. Instead, he felt it in his throat again, building in the same way he'd pull on his fire. Feeling it there, he responded in kind.
"Me...HAA...!"
The conversation nearby halted as the two boys unleashed simultaneous Kamehamehas, albeit nowhere near as intense as the one Roshi fired. However, while Goku's had the same blue-while tone, Spike's was tinted green...and coming out of his mouth. Both beams struck the car they'd been aiming at, hitting with enough force to crumple in the side and flip it.
"Whoa, Spike! How'd you manage to fire yours like that!?" Goku looked at him in amazement.
"Dunno. I just felt it in my throat, like I do when I'm gonna breath fire." He sounded a little disappointed. "Wasn't anywhere as big as the Turtle Hermit's, though."
Goku looked contemplative. "Yeah, I saw that too. But, it's a good start!"
"Got a point there."
"Well, didn't expect that." Ox King commented.
Roshi, on the other hand, just kind of stared, jaw slowly descending in shock, until... "You gotta be kidding me!" He yelped, his sunglasses now hanging from one ear. "It took me fifty years to get that move right, and you two just pull it off...like THAT!? Not to mention the purple one doing it outta his mouth!"
Ox King shrugged. "Shouldn't be surprised, really. They are Gohan's grandsons, after all."
Roshi stared at him. "....what?"
"Yeah. Still kinda surprised he adopted a dragon."
"What!?"
"Should we tell them about the 'deal' Roshi made?" Chronoa whispered to King Kai. "About expecting some time with Bulma in exchange for going there."
Kai just shook his head. "Nah. Besides, you wanna remember what Oolong did to get back at her for making him go in her place?"
Chronoa turned a little green at that. "Good point."
The Adventure Begins: Rabbits, Robots, and Wishes, Oh My!
"It took Bulma and Oolong a little while, but they finally managed to find the dragon ball in the rubble." Spike said once the memory ended. "That and Master Roshi invited Goku and me and come train with him."
"So, that just left one more?" Night Light asked.
"Yep, though that didn't quite go how we expected. Guess I better start with our run-in with Monster Carrot."
"Pfft!" Celestia snorted loudly, trying not to laugh. "Who'd go by a name like that?"
Spike pointed to the figure that appeared. "Him."
"Ugh, and I thought West Kai's taste in fashion sucked." Chronoa recoiled.
Rarity shrieked. "THE CLASHING! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"
"Poor color choices aside, is...is that a giant bunny?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah. He was the leader of a group calling themselves the Rabbit Mob, a bunch of jerks who pretty much spent their time bullying the whole town we stopped at. Me and Goku didn't have any trouble taking out the two we saw, though one did call in the leader. Still don't know why everyone was so terrified, soon as the guy made the call they all bolted indoors."
Bulma looked around, obviously less than imprrssed. "So, is something supposed to happen? They called their 'boss', but I don't see or hear anything.
"You'll see soon enough!" One of the thugs snapped as the sound of a car got closer. "Here he comes now!"
"Wow, looks more like the circus dropped by." Oolong quipped when a bunny-themed car rolled up."
"It's so ADORABLE!" Fluttershy squealed, giving the car a starry-eyed look. "I want one!"
"Me too!" Pinkie added.
"They're kidding right? That furball's their feared boss!?" Bulma asked when the driver stepped out. ("That ugly-plot outfit literally hurts my eyes..." Rarity muttered.)
Oolong snorted. "Looks more like a reject from an Easter parade."
"Watch it, Bacon Bit!" One thug yelled.
"Or what? You'll wiggled your noses at me? Ha!"
The rabbit looked at his lackies. " You dingalings expect me to believe that you got beat by a couple of ki...eh, why is the scaly one staring at me like I'm a buffet platter?"
The others looked to see Spike standing with a wide grin on his face, visibly drooling.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Goku piped up. "Spike REALLY likes roasted rabbit."
"Rosted...rab...bit?" The rabbit and thugs paled.
"Yep! Especially when he roasts it himself." He added as Spike reared back, wisps of green fire flicking from his mouth.
"Tell me you didn't actually eat him." Discord muttered, looking revolted. "The fuzzball looks like you'd get a better meal chewing on nylon."
"Not really. He managed to get back into his car before I got him."
"Spike, is there really a point to this guy?" Pinkie turned off the lampshade she was wearing. "He seems more just a big bully than anything, and you didn't say if he had the dragon ball."
"Now that you mention it...not really. I mean, we really only stopped there 'cause we were out of fuel. Found out he could turn you into a carrot if he touched you, but that's about it. Goku managed to get the power pole in and bop him a couple of times. The townsfolk must've seen it, 'cause they came out with shovels, brooms, and all kinds of stuff to keep him away. Think a few even found out gloves worked too." Spike shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, we got back on the road and Oolong got mad when he found out what Bulma wanted to wish for."
"Well, given' how she acted when you first met, Ah'm bettin' bits to buckles it wasn't somethin' you could all benefit from." Applejack watched as the scene changed up.
"Didn't really make sense to me either...wishing for a boy friend seemed silly. I mean, just asking a boy to be friends would be a lot simpler."
"I...I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that." Discord said lightly.
"Me either..." Rarity sighed, her mind drifting regretfully back to the way Spike used to act around her before he disappeared. Key word, used to.
"Well, while they yelled at each other over that, our car blew up."
"Yeah, something made it explode, we got tossed one way, what was left of the car went another. Then this big tin can showed up and made off with Bulma's suitcase, with all five dragonballs that were in it."
"Wait a sec." Rainbow could seen trying to add up something in her head. "You said you only had one more to get."
"Yeah, me and Goku were taking turns holding onto the four-star, so it didn't take all of them. we tried chasing it down, but when we found it, it wasn't moving at all. Fell over soon as we touched it. Didn't know someone had been driving it then."
"So you were in the middle of nowhere with no ride?"
"For a little while. Luckily Yamcha came by and was able to give us a lift."
"Indeed, 'lucky'." Luna snorted a little. "Fifty bits says he was hoping they led him to the balls." She whispered to Cadance.
"Sucker's bet, Auntie." She replied.
"The trail led us to this big castle. We aren't really sure what was in there, but we wanted the dragon balls back."
Yamcha squinted, looking down the poorly lit hallway. "Keep an eye out. Who knows what kind of traps might be here.
"Can barely see my hand in front of my snout!" Oolong grumbled, nearly walking into Puar.
Once they hit a turn, Goku took a look around. "This way seems clear." They barely made it a third of the way down when pillars suddenly started shooting out from random spots in the floor, walls and ceiling. Bulma screamed as one pillar threatened to smash her into the ceiling, but Yamcha managed to break it. With that, he, Goku, and Spike went on the offensive, smashing through the ones out as well as the few still emerging.
*CRUNCH!*
"Spike! That can't be good for your teeth!" Bulma yelped, seeing him bite through one.
"I'm guuf...*THEWIE* Yuk!" He shook his head, spitting out the pieces stuck in his cheeks. "They taste nasty, though."
"Wow, Dashie! I didn't know you and AJ could turn that red!" Pinkie commented.
Rainbow could only stare as she watched the formerly harmless dragon break solid stone with his bare hands and feet. "Whoa..."
Applejack wasn't faring much differently. "Ah'll...second that." She let out a shuddering exhale.
Thankfully for the both of them, neither saw the twitchy glare Chronoa and Rarity gave them, though Shining did scooch away from them.
Not seeing any of it, Spike carried on. "We got through that quick enough, but ended up stuck in this room that we couldn't break out of. It was then we met that Pilaf guy. He was weird. The only downside is he sprayed us with sleeping gas and managed to steal the last dragon ball. What happened after that...let's just say I'm not a fan of pinball now."
"Say no more. I feel the same way about air hockey." Pinkie shuddered. "Uuhhgg...pucks!"
Twilight started to say something in response, but quickly changed her mind. "So, did Pilaf get his wish?"
"Well, he got a wish." Spike chuckled. "Goku was able to blast a hole in the wall with a Kamehameha, but it was too small for all of us to really climb out of. We were about to see him outside, starting to summon the dragon, and that gave Bulma an idea."
"Are you sure about this?" Yamcha asked, sounding highly dubious about the whole thing.
"It's got to!" She replied. "Spike's a dragon; so there's a chance the Eternal Dragon'll respond to him better." She gestured to the setup: Oolong and Puar had changed into platforms for Goku, Power Pole in hand, to stand on. Spike was in front of the hole. "All Goku has to do is launch him through then, Spike should be able to keep Pilaf from making that wish."
"Well, I guess it makes sense when you put it like that."
"Ready, guys?"
"Here goes!" Goku drew back to swing, and Spike jumped up, curling into a ball as tight as he could.
*WHAM!*
Spike shot through the hole like a bullet, flying straight towards Pilaf.
"Nice shot!" Shining and Night Light said in unison.
"Good aim, too." Discord held up a card with a '9.7' on it.
Spike laughed. "That was kinda fun. Think Goku wanted a turn afterwards."
"Ah wouldn't mind a try!" Apple Bloom piped up.
Scootaloo's wings buzzed excitedly at the speed he hit. "Me too!"
"Hehe, no." Applejack shot her sister a gimlet eye.
"What happened next?" Fluttershy looked oddly eager to see what happened.
"I landed nearby in time to see Shenon appear." Spike and the ponies watched as a beam shot into the sky from the balls.
It twisted and coiled, taking the shape of what Twilight recognized as a massive Oreinantal dragon. "It..it must be over a mile long!" She squeaked.
"Yeah, he is pretty big. Not too bad a guy. Pilaf wasn't happy about it, though."
Pilaf jumped when Spike hit the ground beside him " YA-HA! How did you get out!? N-no matter, you can't stop me now! Eternal Dragon, grant my-!"
"I'll be with you in a moment. I must greet my kinsman first."
"W-what!? You can't be..."
"Oh, hi." Spike looked up at the bigger dragon. "Wow, and I thought Ox King was big."
"Hello, young one. It is good you are here; I bear a message for you.("This is ridiculous! I won fair and square!")Despite the life you have, you have questions about times before."
"You mean before Grandpa and Goku found me?("Mai! Shu! Quit standing there, twiddling your thumbs! Do something!") Well, I've been kinda curious."
"Then you must know that your true power comes from beyond what you know,("Quit talking to him and listen! I demand you grant me my wish!")and only by understanding that power will your answers be found."
"My true power? What do you mean?"("Didn't you hear what I said!? I summoned you...!")
"You will learn in time."("Am I talking to myself!?" "Yes, Sire." "Shut up, Shu!") "Further guidance, however can come from only Kami. Seek him out once you get the chance.'
"Who's..."
"Quit yakking and gimmie my wish already!" Spike gave Pilaf an annoyed look when he wouldn't stop hollering.
"I wish you'd stop talking, Pilaf! I can hardly hear-"
"Your wish is granted."
"...him."
The wannabe ruler grabbed his throat as it and his mouth glowed for a moment. Once it faded, he proceeded to shout something...only for nothing to come out. Pilaf tried yelling some more, but he was completely silent.
"Looks like the dragon's got his tongue. Literally!" Mai remarked, causing Shu to snort back a giggle.
"Remember, young one; understand and the answers will come." Shenron erupted in another flash of light. "I bid you...farewell..."
"Well, they always say be careful what you wish for...or what someone else is wishing for in this case." Discord said, before he, Pinkie, Celestia, Shining, and Rainbow all fell over laughing at the look on Pilaf's face.
Once the laughter, and snortfest, died down, Spike looked back at the scene. "Yeah, judging by the way Pilaf was stomping and flailing around, he wasn't really happy about losing his wish and voice."
Velvet fought back a snort of her own. "Compared to how he sounded, it's an improvement."
"Well, after that, I saw the dragonballs starting to flying off in different directions. Turns out they scatter around the world again after the wish is made. Anyway, when I saw them doing that, I tried to chase after what I thought was the four star ball."
"Hey, wait! Come back!" Spike took off in his attempt to catch up with the one he thought was Grandpa's, barely acknowledging a furious Pilaf, who was trying to mime his orders now. Unfortunately, the ball flew a lot faster than he could run and disappeared into the distance. "Grandpa's dragon ball..."
He stared at where he'd last saw it for a moment and sighed, turning back to give Goku the bad news when he saw him and the others had managed to finish getting through the wall. He also recognized the tired look Goku had whenever he was hungry, and it reminded him that he hadn't had anything in a while either. The way his stomach decided to start growling then didn't help, either.
"Spike! What are you doing!? We gotta get out of here!" Bulma yelled, only to shriek when the other lady started shooting at them. Yamcha grabbed the out-of-it Goku and took off across the balcony, leaving him to hurry and catch up.
"Wow, not a good spot to get hungry at." Celestia said, watching as they were forced back into the castle.
"Yeah. Kinda hard to run around when all you wanna do at the moment is sit down to dinner. All the dogs they let out to chase us didn't help." Spike rubbed his stomach. "I managed to knock out a few, and the others got some as well, but we ended up having to surrender when the lady and dog guy got the drop on Bulma."
Bulma ran her hand over the metal wall of the room they'd been thrown into. So far, nothing they'd thrown at it worked; punching, biting, even a kamehameha and fire didn't put a scratch in it. Goku's attempt to jump through the glass room only got him a bump on the noggin. Spike tried to dig through the floor, but could only score it at best.
"Well, I, for one, am not giving up." Yamcha declared. "We're getting out, then I'm hunting down those dragon balls again to get my wish."
"That's just it, we can't make another wish. Not for a year, anyway." Bulma replied.
"W-what do you mean??"
"It's part of the legend; after the wish is made, the balls scatter back all over the planet and become inert for a full year. Until then, they're little more than round stones."
"You mean we won't be able to find Grandpa's 'till then?" Spike gulped, worried about what might happen to it in the meantime.
"I have to be nervous about women for ANOTHER year!?" Yamcha whimpered, Puar doing his best to console him.
"And another year before I can wish for a boyfriend..." She slumped against the wall.
"Hello? Hello, this thing on? Ow!" The voice of the dog guy spoke up over an intercom nearby. "Right, um, Emperor Pilaf wishes to let you know that waiting a year is the least of your...workies?...warbles? Your penmanship is horrible! YEOW! Ok, ok! Oh, 'worries'. Because he personally designed that room. He calls it his Easy-Bake...Orifice?...wait, 'Office'"
"Shu..."
"What? It's not my fault Pilaf's writing is bad! OW! H-he built it to see just how hot a room could get from absorbing sunlight. So, enjoy the rest of the night, because when the sun rises tomorrow, you all fry like chickens. Ew...so much for wanting fried chicken tomorrow-OWIE!"
Rainbow forced her jaw back up after that. "Ok, that Pilaf guy officially qualifies as a grade A cowpatty!"
"Really, Rainbow! There no need to use such language!" Rarity scolded. "It's true, but still no need."
"On the bright side, we didn't stay in there for very long" Spike added. "How we got out...heh, that's a different kettle of fish. While Bulma and Oolong argued, Puar tried to relax with a bit of moonwatching."
"That sounds nice." Fluttershy's wings flapped a little in appreciation.
"Yeah, except it reminded me and Goku about the monster that shows up when the moon's full, the one that killed Grandpa. Bulma didn't believe us until we told her about that part. We still didn't know what it looked like cause Goku had passed out, and I went to hide like he told me to. We didn't know why they acted so odd at that, but they probably figured out what had happened..then Bulma yelled at him to not look at the moon...while pointing right at it."
"And that made him look at it." Twilight mumbled something that showed she wondered about the girl's common sense.
"Pretty much. Nothing happened at first, so they all figured they'd panicked over nothing...then he started changing."
Everyone else quickly stepped back when they saw Goku's transformation into a massive, and vicious-looking ape-like beast.
"Woo...almost forgot how big those guys can get." Chronoa looked up at the fully-changed boy.
"'Those'? You mean there's more people how can do this!?" Shining squawked, pointing weakly at the sight.
"There used to, as in a whole race, but they aren't really around anymore. And the ones still around lost the ability." She snickered at the way he still looked at Goku.
"Anyway, he managed to break through the roof, and started smashing up the palace." Spike turned as the scene started back up.
"We better get outta here while we're still in one piece!" Oolong yelled once they managed to climb out of the hole Goku had made. The pig looked up to see the monsterfied boy flatten one of the palace towers with one punch. "Like NOW!"
Spike, on the other hand, spotted something poking up out of the rubble not too far off. "The power pole!" He yelled, seeing the red staff.
"Spike! What are you doing!?" Bulma screamed, seeing him run opposite of where they were heading.
"I can't leave our pole behind!" He called back, prying it out after a couple hard tugs. "Wait a sec..." He looked back at where Goku was smashing things. "Hang on a second!"
"ARE YOU INSANE!?" They all shrieked when he ran towards the epicenter of destruction.
"Power Pole, Extend!" He shouted, planting one end in the ground and riding it up until he was eye-level with his brother. "Goku!" He called out, getting the giant ape's attention. It roared at him, looking ready to take a swing at this new target. "Come on, Goku, knock off all the smashing!" Spike yelled. "You remember how much trouble we got into the last time we broke a building!"
Goku halted for a moment, still growling and snarling, but a bit more subdued.
"What do you mean 'the last time you broke a building'?" Velvet and Celestia asked in unison, giving him a double Mom-Voice.
Spike hesitated before answering. "We kinda found an old house in the woods a few miles from our place. Goku and I thought no one was around, and it was empty, that it'd be a good place to spar...and kinda leveled it." He laughed sheepishly. "Turns out a relative of the old owner knew about the place and was planning to sell it. He wasn't too happy to see it in pieces...Grandpa got onto us about it and we weren't allowed to practice without him around for a week."
"Spike..." Twilight facehoofed slightly.
"What? We apologized, and there wasn't a sign or anything saying it."
"Still..." She said.
"Um, anyway..."
"So just put that wall down." Spike called out, seeing Goku look like he was calming down. "Well, we know why Grandpa said never look at the full moon now." He pointed at him. "We kind of owe him an apology, you know?"
The giant ape snorted reluctantly.
"Well, come on, let's find a way to get you to change--OW!" Spike yelped as he and Goku were suddenly pelted with gunfire from an airplane that was circling over them now. "Owowowowow! Cut it out-ow-that stings! Those things hurt!"
Goku roared, shielding his face from the stinging gunfire while the plane kept buzzing out of reach. Meanwhile, the others had ran for cover.
"Spike, get out of there!" Bulma shouted. "They're trying to kill...MISSILE! THEY HAVE A MISSILE; MOVE!"
"A miss-what?" He looked at the plane and saw something come out from underneath it, right before it came flying right at him and Goku. He didn't know what it was exactly, but Bulma's screaming meant it wasn't anything good.
The missile shot straight towards Goku, who turned out to be a lot quicker on the draw than expected. Soon as it was close enough, Goku snatched it out of the air and raised it up above his hair just as it exploded, covering him and Spike in a heavy cloud of smoke.
For a moment, the whole area was quiet, except for the rumble of the plane engine, and what sounded like faint cheers from the cockpit. Then a coughing fit was heard as the cloud faded, leaving both of them unharmed.
And covered in soot from the blast. "We're fine!" Spike waved from the pole, chuckling some. "Wow, that was loud." He looked at Goku...and both sputtered into laughter at how silly they looked now.
Which was bad news for the plane, because when Goku waved an arm in his laughing, he clipped it, knocking a wing off and sending it spiraling off the the dirt. The result: a heap of busted metal and its three occupants sprawled out, and for lack of a better term, knocked shitless.
'A fun end to that, all thing's considered, aside from the paper work that gave me because of how much was changed from the last time.' Chronoa thought to herself, watching the others stare intently at the scene.
"So? What happened next!?" Rainbow demanded, flying around in a rush after what she'd just saw.
Spike shrugged. "Not a whole lot, really. Once he settled down, Goku just pretty much fell asleep. I was ready to do the same, and Bulma and Yamcha were dancing around nearby about something. Guess they were glad Goku stopped breaking the place."
"Ok, so what did happen?"
"Well, once Goku woke up, Bulma decided, since the balls couldn't be found for another year, she was going to head back home. And Yamcha was tagging along; something about seeing if they could make it work between them. Never did ask what the 'it' was supposed to be, though. She also said she didn't need the dragon ball radar anymore so she let us have it for when we could find Grandpa's again. " He missed the dual facepalm/hoof Chronoa and and Rarity performed. "Puar and Oolong decided to go with them, so that left me and Goku. And since they were heading out, we decided to go ahead and take Roshi up on his training offer."
"Still say that old codger needs a checkup from the neckup." King Kai muttered.
Chronoa lightly punched his arm. "Come on, Northy..."
"Wish you'd stop calling me that...!"
"Nope. Anyway, Roshi's still a good instructor, even he is a little..."
"A lot pervy?"
"Ehhh..." Chronoa have a half-hearted 'kinda' shrug.
Spike turned to Celestia. "Mom, what's 'pervy' mean? ("Seriously, his porn collection is bigger than yours." "That is NOT 'porn', North Kai!") I keep hearing it, but no ever tell me what it is."
Celestia chuckled nervously."Um... ("Then what else do you call all those photos?" "Those are just pictures for record purposes!") I...I'll try and tell you later." She patted his back with a wing. ("Ok, you're right...YOU'RE the bigger perv, Chronoa." "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!")
"All right...where was I? You two ok?" He asked, seeing the Kai of Time looking ready to tackle King Kai.
"Huh? Oh, j-just discussing something." Chronoa blushed while Kai sidestepped away from her.
"Ok...oh right. After the others left, me and Goku made our way back home to pack a few things. And we had to stop at Grandpa's grave to apologize for the whole 'stepping on him', too."
"You really remember what happened?" Spike asked as they headed to the small burial spot.
"Yeah. It was like some weird dream at first, but then I heard you yelling. Everything was still kind of fuzzy when I woke up, and you were really small. But I remember all it when I woke up for real the next day." Goku looked at the grave when they finally reached it. "Hi, Grandpa. We finally made it back. Turns out your four star ball helps grant wishes!"
"Except we lost it..." Spike added. "But we'll be able to find it again in a year." He held up the radar. "That girl, Bulma even let us keep the radar we used to find them."
Goku's head hung slightly. "I found out why you always said to stay inside on a full moon. And, even though I don't really remember that night...I'm sorry for stepping on you like that..."
"And I shouldn't have talked him into looking at the sky, even if we didn't see the moon just then."
"We're really sorry, Grandpa..." The boys said together, the unpleasant even still fresh in their minds. They quietly said a prayer for him.
"Spike..." Twilight whispered, hugging tightly, along with Velvet, Fluttershy , Luna, and Chronoa.
He smiled slightly. "It's ok. We were able to set things straight at Fortuneteller Baba's."
"Who's that?"
"Roshi's older sister. You'll see her before long." He replied. "Anyway, after that, we made our way out to his island-"
"Um..guys?" Applejack spoke up, "Ah might have to take a raincheck on that bit. Startin' to wake up." As the others looked over, they saw she, as well as Apple Bloom, were slowly fading from the dream."
"Dagnabbed wakin' up early habit!" Bloom muttered.
A sheepish chuckle drew them to Celestia, who was also disappearing. "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out as well. Time to raise the sun again."
"Perhaps that would be a good idea." Luna yawned. "I could use some shuteye myself."
"Ooh yeah! And it's Brioche Day, too!" Pinkie added, stuffing a calendar back into Rarity's mane.
"Joy, I now get to go all day thinking I have OTHER items in there...!" Rarity muttered, shaking her head and tail."
The others quickly agreed, between needing to get work started and starting to wake as well. Luna needed to make her rounds the next night, so the next part was scheduled for in a day or two.
He wasn't sure why, but soon as he came out of his room, Spike picked up on something nearby that, while it was a bit higher than average for ponies, felt like it shouldn't be there. 'Whatever it is, it doesn't feel all that friendly, either.'
"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked, seeing the concern expression as she neared.
"I have a feeling we have an uninvited guest, Twilight." He replied, pointing down the hall.
"The maproom's that way!" She said, wondering just who'd be there and why. "Come on!" The two hurried towards said room, but when they got there, she spied the last pony she expected to see.
"Morning, Twilight Sparkle!"
"Starlight Glimmer!?" Twilight gasped. "How'd you get in here!?"
Starlight just smiled evilly and lifted up a scroll, casting something onto it. The document glowed before shooting a bolt of magic into the air above the Map, and a bizarre ticking sound echoed in the chamber as a gateway formed
"Oh HELL NO!" Chronoa snapped, pointing a glowing hand at the portal. The hand made a fist, and the portal collapsed in on itself.
"What...how!?" Starlight sputtered as the portal was forcefully shut with a loud gong sound. "Starswirl the Bearded created that spell!"
"And just when and where did you think you were going, missy!?" She demanded. "I could feel that spell being used from the other side of the palace!"
"To get revenge! I was going to make Twilight know what it felt like to be abandoned by friendship like I was by preventing their friendship from happening!"
"...ooookay, aside from that being one of the pettiest reasons I've ever heard for time travel-"
"PETTY!?" Starlight snapped. "Who are YOU to decide if I should be allowed to use that spell!?"
"Because the flow of time is MY turf, toots, and I'm not all that fond of people screwing around with it! Now, is there an actual point to this whole scheme of yours? Besides you being a douchewaffle?"
"Well, I don't really know what moment she was trying to intervene in, exactly..." Twilight started.
"The Sonic Rainboom!" Starlight smacked her hooves on the table. "It's when you all got your Cutie Marks-"
This time, it was Spike's turn to cut her off. "The Rainboom? But that's when I hatched! Without it, Twilight wouldn't have had the surge of magic that hatched my egg!"
" ...what?" The room suddenly went cold, and Chronoa's voice went deathly calm. "You were going to erase Spi-kun from time?"
Starlight gulped, mentally asking herself just how bad of a plan this possibly was. "I...uhh...heh..."
"Aside from my personal feelings on the matter, do you have any idea how much influence he's had on the timelines I am responsible for? The possible damage done to the temporal flow? The paperwork it would have made?" Her temper flared, the God Ki surge drilling a manticore-sized crater right into the crystal floor under her. "And no Spi-kun making cookies and giving me shoulder rubs to make it easier?!"
Twilight raised an eye. "Do what?"
"What? Ever since the mess with Trunks, she told me just how much of a headache that had been for her in managing time, and she let it happen because it kept us all alive even though her job should have been to undo it." Spike shrugged. "Figured a little TLC was the least I could do to say thanks. It's not like anyone else was showing her any real appreciation for the effort."
"Uh...is it too late for diplomacy?" Starlight asked weakly, realizing fully that yes, this was a VERY bad plan!
Chronoa's expression calmed back down. "Oh, don't worry...I'm not going to kill you...or even hurt you." She said in her normal cheery tone.
"Oh, well then-" She squeaked when the Kai snatched her up by the scruff of her neck, like a misbehaving kitten.
"You want to see what time would look like if they weren't friends? Well, take a look!"
They both vanished in a flicker of light. Twilight and Spike barely had time to give the spot a closer look before they reappeared, with Chronoa looking smug and Starlight....well, she was somewhere between traumatized, horrified, and catatonic.
"Chronoa...what did you do?" Spike asked, looking at the twitching mare."
" Nothing much. Just made her experience what her life would be like in the timelines with the highest chance of occuring when Rainbow didn't perform that first Sonic Rainboom. I think my favorite was when Queen Chrysalis got a hold of her and-"
Starlight was a blur, shooting across the room to cling to Twilight's legs for dear life, bawling her eyes out. "I THROW MYSELF ON THE MERCY OF THE THRO~O~OONE!!!" She wailed.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm guessing none of the futures ended up how she wanted."
Chronoa started ticking things off. "Not unless she wanted Equestria taken over by Nightmare Moon, a still rotten Discord, Queen Chrysalis, at war with a Sombra controlled Crystal Empire, or just rendered into a barren wasteland." She gave a still sobbing Starlight a mild glare. "Because without the Elements of Harmony, any of those were possible."
Twilight sighed. "Ok, Starlight. I need to ask you something, and I'd like you to be honest with me; why didn't you just go talk to Sunburst when you started worrying about your friendship with him?"
Meanwhile, Spike was nearby, just glad a mess was averted. He wasn't fully paying attention to Twilight giving her a talking to, though a few words did slip through.
"Starlight, trying to punish others for your past actions..."
'Past actions'. It was probably not the right place, but he couldn't help grinning a little as those two words, for some reason, had him recall some of these that had happened over the last few days in between the dream meetings.
Like Trouble Shoes, the supposed criminal in Appleoosa who kept wrecking the rodeo. Until the crusaders found out he was just a stallion with supremely bad luck who wanted to be part of it.
Or the recent Gala, where Fluttershy brought her new friend, Treehugger. Spike had initially expected Discord to have a tantrum over not being invited. Thankfully, Fluttershy took the initiative to ask where the aspect of chaos' own ticket was, even asking him and Twi to check with Celestia.
He'd nearly fallen over laughing when they finally discovered Discord had gotten the munchies and mistook his for a tortilla chip.
Pinkie and Rainbow had recently had a map mission to Griffonstone, but he wasn't too sure what went on, aside from Rainbow had made up with Gilda. That and apparently they told her about what he could do, since she'd asked if he could try and help find a precious relic of the griffons that'd fallen into a gorge.
He'd made a note to go that afternoon.
Then there was Cranky Doodle and Matilda's wedding, which, due to a misprint, had everyone believing it was an earlier date than planned. Thankfully, the town managed to pull together, and aside from a pesky bugbear they had to shoo off, the wedding went off without a hitch. He also learned weddings made Shining cry.
And the delegation...Celestia...that was a pain! Twilight had ran herself ragged making sure everything was set up properly until she was too tired to even form a coherent sentence. So, he'd put her to bed and did his best to redirect any questions or complains.
Instead he got swamped with idiots who wanted to bitch at her over crap like someone stealing a seat, running out of capers, the freaking placecards not being in a font they liked! Granted, a snarl and quick flare of ki made them back off, but he still wondered if Twilight or Cadance would've held it against him if he'd gone ahead and made good on his threat to punt a few into Horseshoe Bay. At least he still had some of Bulma's anti-allergy tablets to let him deal with all the Dragonsneeze planted around there.
Once all that was done, he stopped to drop in to see their friends in Canterlot. He'd heard that Twilight had reconnected with them while he'd been gone, but found she'd forgotten to tell them he was back. 'Didn't think a unicorn could move THAT fast.' He thought, idly rubbing the spot on his chest where Moondancer had impacted from her mach-two glomp.
Another annoying group had been Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan and his entourage. The whole town freaking bent of backwards to try and recreate some of their traditions to make them feel welcome. Did they show any appreciation? No...all they did was scream 'not perfect' and threaten war for it...until Twilight had enough.
"Very well. We accept your declaration of war." Twilight calmly replied, much to the prince's surprise. "However, I feel it only fair to warn you: we have ponies that can make dragons cry with a glare, the embodiment of chaos itself is one of our closest, allbeit somewhat annoying, allies. We've fended off an invasion led by the Changeling Queen herself, we can control the weather like we're setting a table, project city-wide force fields, our leaders are able to move the sun and moon by sheer dint of their will."
She then pointed to Spike and Chronoa. "My unofficial little brother has recently beaten seven shades of poop out of the demon Tirek." She then pointed to a black object off in the distance that had moss already growing on it. "He snapped off one of his horns. And he's friends with a Goddess of Time." In an instant, she was in the yak's face. "Care to reassess your odds, Spanky?"
"What do you need me for? Spikey's got enough power to obliterate a planet by himself."
It was then they all heard multiple thuds. Rutherford and his group had fainted.
'Think they peed themselves if the smell was anything to go by. Phew.' Spike's nose wrinkled at the memory.
By then, Twilight was winding down from the scolding she was giving the mare. "And if you have been spying on us all this time, you realize that I'd be fighting a lot more intently than in the cave, and you would've had a dragon who can break planets in the fight as well...right?"
"'Planet-Breaker' is right..." Starlight admitted, before bashfully scraping a hoof on the floor while she looked his way. "Um, you doing anything later?" That was followed by a squeak as she was given a collective death glare by every other female in the room.
Spike scratched his head. "Um, I promised Rainbow I'd head to Griffonstone..."
"You sure this guy'll be able to find it, Dash?" Gilda asked, scanning down into the gorge through her binoculars as she and Rainbow watched flashes of light shine from its depths. Every so often they'd hear roars and rumbling as well.
"Long as nothing's ate it since then." Rainbow cringed when an almost otherworldy howl echoed up from the darkness...right before another explosion quickly silenced it. "Also, I'm kinda glad that nothing down there seems to like light."
"Big time..."
Spike grimaced at the still burning remains of his last opponent, a bug-like thing the size of an ursa minor. "Yuk...way too many legs on that thing...mouths too." Floating by, he dispatched another eel-like creature that darted out of the shadows.
He'd been down there for an hour, and had yet to find the relic. He was about ready to head to a different section of the gorge when he spied a glint out of the corner of his eye. "Hm? Wazzat?" Flying over to get a better look, he spotted something yellow and slightly tarnished, as well as wing-shaped...sticking out of the mouth of something that had teeth pointing in directions teeth had no business facing.
Luckily it was already dead. "Must've choked on it." He thought, taking hold on the piece that was still jutting out and giving a hard yank. It came out with a soggy 'pop', slime and rotting chunks sticking to it. "Ew!" He gave it a quick blast of flame to knock off what viscera he could, as well as dry it off a little. "Guess I'm done here. Hope this is the right one."
Judging from the screech of joy Gilda let out when he came back up with it, it definitely was the Idol of Boreas. "YOU FOUND IT!" She squealed, surprising Rainbow. "I could KISS you!"
Back in Ponyville, Chronoa looked up from the magazine she was reading. "Why do I suddenly have a craving for fried chicken, extra crispy?"
"I'd settle for a decent meal, to be honest." He replied. "All that fighting gave me an appetite."
"Now I feel both pleased...and distressed, and I'm not sure why."
"Well, that's what you get for putting fluffernutter in a bean burrito." Starlight Glimmer replied nearby as she mopped the floor, having been sentenced to several hundred hours community service as well as Twilight deciding to teach her what actual friendship was.
"That's rich coming from you, Miss 'broccoli, tofu, and pimento sandwich'." Chronoa muttered in response.
"You know you can let go now, Dash." Spike said, flying back home. "We just entered Equestrian airspace." The pegasus hadn't let go of his neck in a hug since they'd left Griffonstone. When the Griffonstone leaders had found out their treasure was back, and all Spike wanted was some food, they went whole hog in providing a banquet for the three. They even let them take the leftovers home.
As soon as they were airborne, she'd once again got him in a Pinkie-grade hug. "Don't wanna." She replied, her voice slightly muffled while she was buried in the crook of his neck. As she did, she noticed an odd glow start emanating from his scales. "Uh, Spike? What are you...?"
"Was hoping you'd tell me." He replied, rubbing his forearm. "It tingles, and not in a fun way! Man, I hope I didn't catch anything in that gorge!"
"When did you say this happened?" Luna asked. She and Celestia had thankfully stopped over for lunch and to work out a schedule for the dream meetings so Luna could handle her court more often. So they were already there by the time Spike and Rainbow got back.
"We'd just crossed the border when it happened." Spike shimmied a bit. "Feels like I got a spider running around under my clothes and I can't find it!"
"Dragon culture isn't our forte, but 'Tia and I have seen this before. Whenever a dragon's scales glow, it means the Dragonlord is summoning them. You'll have to go to the Dragon Lands to see what they want."
"Summoning me?? But I've never even BEEN there!" He twitched a little at the unpleasant sensation.
Celestia shook her head. "I'm afraid it doesn't matter, Spike. The only way to relieve the discomfort is to answer the summons."
Spike looked at them. "They could've just sent a letter, or put up a notice somewhere, but no! 'You're gonna glow and feel unpleasant until you answer this!' Whoever this so-called Dragonlord is, they better have a decent reason for this."
"Popcorn, chips, marshmallows, and saltwater taffy! Woo!"
"And I got the camcorder!" Chronoa said happily.
Twilight looked at her. "Didn't even know we had one." She shrugged. "Ok, let's go find a good spot for this!"
While they looked for the best vantage point from the plateau Chronoa had teleported them to, one of the older dragons looked up. "Wish Torch'd hurry up and get this started." He muttered to himself, resisting the urge to yawn. "Huh? Who are those...?" He squinted slightly. "Are..are those ponies setting up chairs? Didn't think this was a spectator..." His eyes widened when he spied a familiar shade of yellow. "Oh sootmuffins...her!" He gulped, remembering the - to him, at least - unwarranted dressing down he got from that pegasus. He paled when he realized who was with them, as well.
And he quickly turned to look at anything else when Fluttershy and Chronoa spotted him looking their way. "Should that big red one be here?" Chronoa asked, seeing him sweating. "He looks like he's gonna hurl."
Applejack glanced over and shrugged, "Looks familiar, though." She started scanning the skyline. "Shouldn't Spike be here by now?"
"Oh, there he is!" Fluttershy pointed a wing up to a small streak that just emerged from a cloud bank before rapidly descending towards the gathered dragons.
The largest dragon, a massive bluish-grey fellow who apparently must've been the current leader; if the thronelike plateau he was sitting on was any indication, saw the descending streak as well. "What in charring is that!?" Every other dragon followed his gaze, murmuring in confusion when the light vanished and another dragon plummeted down into their midst.
"Now you're just showing off, Spike." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo muttered in unison.
"All right. I'm here." He muttered, slowing his descent to a soft landing. "What's the deal with the itchy glowing!?" It was then that he finally noticed the other dragons. "Oh, hey. You guys get the glowing too?"
"D-dad, did you see that??" A smaller, blue dragoness flying near the large one managed to get out.
"I saw, Ember..."
"But...but he doesn't have wings!" Ember responded, pointing at him "At least, I don't see any!"
"Nor do I. Even then, that was far faster than our kind can normally achieve." He looked intently at the new dragon. "And wearing...whatever it is he's wearing."
"Well, well, look who's here." An unfortunately familiar voice drawled, followed by Garble and his two friends pushing their way through the crowd. "You get your namby-pamby pony friends to help you with that trick, loser?"
Spike, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. "You again. Garble, I have better things to do listen to you blather on."
"Or what? You gonna run and cry to 'em?" Garble laughed mockingly and moved to shove him. "How much bawling you have to do to get those losers to make you big-" He, and every dragon there, froze when a corona of energy flared up around Spike.
"Ooh! That orange one must've pissed him off!" Chronoa called out, quickly hitting the zoom on the camera as a crater slowly formed under Spike.
"I recognize him!" Twilight looked at the small screen. "That's Garble!"
"Isn't he the boorish thug that decided to bully Spikey during the dragon migration?" Rarity growled when she saw him. "It is! Ooh, if it wasn't ladylike, I'd be screaming for him to slap the taste out of that lout's mouth!"
"Dad! You feel that!?" Ember yelled, staring at the visible pressure waves emanating from Spike. It was enough that it had actually pushed several of the other dragons back some, including Garble.
"Think I just TASTED it!" He blurted out.
"What kind of dragon even has this kind of power!?" Before she could get an answer, it ended as soon as it started.
Garble stood there in near terrified silence. "I'm gonna go back over and leave you alone." He smiled weakly.
"Do that." Spike replied, not even acknowledging the fact at more than a few dragons had promptly taken submissive stances as soon as things settled down.
...he also failed to notice that several dragonesses had taken stances that weren't quite submissive.
*TWITCH!*
"Anyone else hear that?" Rainbow looked around.
"You mean that twang of a girl getting a murderous eye twitch that indicates she's thinking 'get away from him, you sleazy hoodrats!' in regards to her crush?" Pinkie asked midway through a hoofful of chips.
"Something like that."
"Nope."
"ALL RIGHT!" The large dragon yelled out, getting everyone's attention. "Look, you all know I'm Dragonlord Torch, the current ruler of the Dragon Lands. I've led you all for many years, but now it's time for me to pass on the mantle as per dragon law." He looked at the crowd. "SHOW REMORSE!"
"Seriously?" Spike raised an eyebrow as the surrounding dragons recovered enough to make various sad and regretful noises.
"Is he for real?" Sweetie asked.
"Heh, dragons can seem a little...odd, in how they do things compared to us." Twilight replied, watching Torch hold up a scepter, though it looked more like a toothpick compared to him. "Maybe it's just his way of letting them know this is meant to be a somber announcement."
"Which is why, as per dragon law, the new Dragonlord will be chosen by the Gauntlet of Fire." With a surprisingly strong flick, he threw the scepter to a nearby volcano. "The dragon that reaches and gets hold of the bloodstone scepter will be crowned Dragonlord! Whoa!" Torch nearly jumped when Spike suddenly blurred into view just in front of his snout.
"Ok, we got that out of the way, this mean I can go home now?" He asked.
Torch had to fight the urge to tilt his head in confusion. "...what? Go home!?"
"But the Gauntlet!" Ember added.
"Not interested. Besides, I live in Equestria."
"You WHAT!?" Torch hollered.
"I may be a dragon, but I'm Equestrian, born and raised."
"...what?" Torch stared, before he and Ember finally realized something.
He had no wings whatsoever.
"What happened?" Rainbow tried to focus the binoculars they'd brought along. "The big guy's gone slackjawed."
Chronoa looked at the camera screen, then Torch, then the camera again. "I think they both just bluescreened."
"You two ok?" Spike waved a hand in front of Ember's face. "Hello? Yoo-hoo."
"NO! No! Nope! Not possible!" She yelled, making him zip back a little. "I call...I don't know what to call it, but THAT..." She pointed at Spike, giving him a look that screamed 'Explain. NOW', "...is exactly what it is! How!?"
"What?"
"THAT!" She ranted, gesturing around him wildly. "No wings! No! Flipping! Wings! And you're just...just FLOATING there!"
"Wow..." Spike tilted his head. "And I thought Scootaloo was adorable when she acted like that.
"This is complete HAX! I call bull-I who what??" She cut herself off when it clicked, her snout turning bright red.
Torch couldn't help smirking at his daughter's reaction. "Well...they are the same size." He mumbled-for himself, at least.
"F-FATHER!" Ember squawked, the red moving to her whole face.
"Oh HEEELLLL NAW!" Chronoa growled, along with Rarity...and for some odd reason, Fluttershy and Applejack.
Spike just floated there. "Am...am I missing something?" He flicked his tail lightly. "If there's a punchline somewhere, I think I missed it.
"Never have I felt so jealous and relieved at the same time..." Garble fell onto his ass once his knees stopped shaking.
After enjoying his daughters embarrassed fuss, Torch decided it was best to get things back on track. "Anyway, you should probably be aware that all dragons are bound by magic to obey a direct command from the Dragonlord, without question."
Spike raised an eye, wondering where he was going with this.
"And in that bunch of nitwits down there, are quite a few who's first orders would be to go ruin things for your pony fri-HOLY HELL!" The massive dragon nearly jumped back when Spike once again erupted into a shrieking ball of energy.
"Um...AJ? Your nose..." Fluttershy offered her a tissue.
"Could I have one, too?" Rarity's voice cracked slightly.
Chronoa, meanwhile, was huddled at the ledge, giggling in a way that would've made Roshi proud.
"Start the dumb race." Spike barely gave them time to respond before shooting back down the starting line.
"Right..." Torch held up what looked like a fancy toothpick, but the greedy noises other dragons made told Spike it was way more. "The dragon that reaches and attains the bloodstone scepter wins the title of Dragonlord!" With a flick, Torch sent it flying off into a nearby volcano. "BE-"
"...gin?" Ember quickly looked around. "Where-?" She never got the chance to finish due to the explosive shockwave that suddenly hit the starting line, sending several shellshocked dragons cartwheeling.
That, and the side of the mountain exploding at nearly the same time. Though, it blew inwards.
PAMPF!
"Son of a...watch it, Dash!" Twilight yelled, having to teleport away from the pegasus' wings snapping open.
Rainbow never reply. Instead, she stood watching, wings stretched out almost painfully. Until...
LAAADDYYYY BOONNNEERRR!
"I thought they weren't supposed to take a shortcut!" Ember stared at the impact site. The hole was big enough for her dad to put his head in!
"I didn't expect them to make one!" Torch responded, nearly slapping away in front of him when Spike reappeared, scepter in hand.
He rested it on his shoulder. "So...I'm Dragonlord now?"
"Yes..."
"And whatever I say goes for all dragons?"
"All those young enough to need ruling, yes."
"Good. I've got stuff to take care of back home in Equestria." He tossed the scepter to Ember. "She's in charge. Keep these idiots from getting anyone killed."
Ember yelped and nearly fumbled the scepter in surprise. "W-what?!"
"You're the only one of the competitors who looks like they actually have a brain." He gave her a pat on the head. "See you around!" He promptly flew to where the others were waiting, leaving Ember holding the scepter...and a magnificent shade of red on her cheeks.
"Hmm...I'll have to talk to Celestia..." Torch grinned, scratching his chin in thought.
"Oh, HFIL no!" Chronoa leaned over the cliff edge, flailing her fist at him. "Don't even try, you dime-store Porunga knockoff!"
"Whosh Por-whoever she shaid?" AJ asked, through the mouthful of jacket she had hold of to keep the Kai standing.
"Well, THAT was bucking anticlimactic." Rainbow muttered on the way home.
Twilight looked at her. "Well, given what we've already seen Spike's capable of, what'd you expect?"
"A really harrowing quest through a series of hazards to prove draconic toughness, ingenuity, and ferocity with a half-cup of crazy hijinks?" Pinkie offerd
Rainbow pointed a hoof at her. "Yeah, what she just said."
"Eh." Spike shrugged. "I saw the obstacles that were in the mountain. That stuff was nothing compared to training with Master Roshi."
"Yeah, if there's one thing that old perv is good for, it's coming up with creative ways to bring out someone's best." Chronoa added.
"Oh? Like what?" Applejack asked, riding with Rarity on Spike's back.
"Well..."
"See it yet?" Goku asked, the ocean spreading out under the two of them as they rode along on the nimbus.
"Nope." Spike's head went back and forth "Just lots of water!" He looked back at Goku. "Are we going the right way?"
"I think so, its just an island...wait! I think I see it!" He pointed to a small dot of land out in the distance.
"Wa', 'e 'idn't e'n 'ive oo 'ire'ons!?" Celestia half-shouted, her cheeks puffed out from donuts.
"Say it, don't spray it, Tia!" Luna gagged, using a wing to shield herself. "We may be in a dream but chew first!"
"I should say I'm surprised....but I'm not." King Kai sighed. "Roshi's good at martial arts, but a twit at lots of other things."
