Chapter Ten: An Unlikely Friend
Gohan was laying in his hospital bed, he was going to be getting out of the hospital today. It probably would have taken longer for a pony but luckily for him he was a Saiyan and they heal up quicker than others. He also guessed that he would also receive some sort of zenkai boost from the fight. The young Saiyan knew that would help since he hadn't done any serious training since the Cell games. He didn't think he lost a lot of power by not training as hard but the boost would still help. Speaking of help his friends dropped by as often as they could, feeling they had to considering he had saved their lives. And also because of his tragic story. They still couldn't believe that somepony could have such a rough childhood.
Twilight and Spike stopped by with various books. The purple alicorn thought it would help keep his mind off of being stuck in the hospital, and unlike Rainbow Dash the Saiyan didn't mind. He was enjoying reading the books she brought, especially the Daring Do books since they reminded him of his own adventures. He had also requested some actual studying material, for his mother's sake of course. In total she had given him a big stack of books to read, and to her surprise he read all of them in a short amount of time.
Pinkie Pie brought several board games for them to play, some were pretty challenging while others were just plain fun. Although for some he didn't quite fit the age parameters but he still had fun. The pink pony also preformed a comedy routine for the young hero, the result had him laughing for hours. She was a much better joke teller than Krillin was. Pinkie had also told him about the party she was planning once he got better, and it sounded like the wildest party ever.
Applejack tried her best to visit as often as she could, but with the amount of chores she had it was hard to find time. Whenever she did visit she would bring various types of apple foods, it was mostly sweets but it was still good. She also brought Big Mac and Apple Bloom one time since neither of them really got to know Gohan. The two Apple family members took a liking to the half-Saiyan, although Apple Bloom already liked him because he saved her life. The orange earth pony couldn't say thank you enough for saving Equestria, she didn't think there was anything she could do to repay him... but he told her it was no big deal. He also thanked her a lot for the food, since it was much better than the hospital food.
Rainbow Dash didn't really have much to bring over for her injured, but the two did however strike up conversations about Daring Do. The young Saiyan had to admit that Daring Do was quite the pony. Rainbow could talk for hours about Daring Do and she even told him about her adventure with the heroic pegasus. This in turn led him to talking more about his own adventures. There were stories that he left out during his 'big reveal', he told her about the time he met Lime and saved her village from a greedy man. Other miscellaneous stories were told by the both of them, and it really helped pass the time.
Fluttershy visited the most out of any of her friends, she couldn't stand the thought of Gohan being in the hospital all by himself. Sure he could handle himself, and being injured didn't seem to bother him, but the shy pony still wanted to check up on him. She would bring him food and also tell him how the animals were doing. Upon one of her visits the half-Saiyan went into a little more detail about what the earth was like, and not it was no surprise that it was similar to Equestria. Fluttershy couldn't wait for her friend to be healed and out of the hospital, her cottage was lonely without him there.
Rarity didn't visit as often as the others did, she had been working hard on a new outfit for Gohan. The clothes he was wearing were in tatters, and there was no way she would let him wear rags. So she took it upon herself to make him a new one, getting his measurements was kind of difficult but she got them. Once his new outfit was done she headed over to the hospital. Once there she went over to his room, she opened the door and went inside. "I hope I'm not interrupting." She said as she set the box containing his clothes down.
"Hey Rarity, how's it going?" The half-Saiyan asked, doing his best to sit up.
"Well it wasn't easy but here is your new outfit." Rarity used her magic and opened the box, she then showed him his replacement gi, which was exactly the same as the other one. This was the first outfit the mare had made that wasn't for a pony, and she couldn't have been prouder of herself.
The young Saiyan stared at it in awe, it was exactly what he wanted. "Wow Rarity it looks awesome, thank you!" To make things better he would be able to put it on soon.
"It was the least I could do, after all you did save us from those ruffians." She smiled as she laid the clothes down on a nearby desk. "Listen Gohan I just want to apologize again for what I said, sometimes my artistic eye can lead me to say things that are hurtful."
"It's okay Rarity, I know you didn't mean it." The young Saiyan wasn't really one to hold a grudge, especially towards his friends.
Another smile came across the mare's face. "Thanks Gohan you really are a good friend. Most ponies I know wouldn't have gone out of their way to protect us. And even though you're a warrior you're also very polite."
"Thanks Rarity," He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "you're all good friends too." He received a smile in response.
Just then the doctor walked into the room. "Alright Mr. Gohan you should be free to go."
The young Saiyan smiled as he jumped out of bed and threw off his hospital gown.
The purple haired unicorn looked at the young Saiyan's body, noting just how muscular he was for an eleven year old. A small blush came onto her face, if only because she thought back to when she was a filly. She often dreamed of marrying a handsome and muscular stallion when she was younger. Of course those were just silly dreams... although to this day she was still hoping for a 'prince charming' to sweep her off her hooves. 'Too bad Gohan isn't a pony.'
He reached into the box and pulled out the new outfit and began putting it on. After a few moments he was fully dressed and was now putting on his boots. With his new clothes on the Saiyan smirked. It felt good being in his normal clothes again. The best part was that his new outfit was made out of pretty much the same material as his old one. "It fits perfectly." He smiled.
"Well I should be getting back to my boutique, be sure to visit me." Rarity told him before leaving.
Gohan turned towards the window and opened it. He grinned as he jumped out of it.
"Now just remember to take it easy for a little... while..." The doctor looked up and noticed not only was his patient gone but the window was wide open. Putting two and two together the stallion quickly figured out where his patient had gone. A sigh escaped his mouth, why were the patients always leaving in a hurry?
Now out of the room he began flying around, enjoying the sensation of not being bound to the bed anymore. A chuckle escaped his mouth as he soared through the air. The breeze felt wonderful against his face, and the view was magnificent. He continued his flight for a few moments before finally descending upon the grassy landscape. The half-Saiyan then thought about what he should do first, there were quite a few things to do now. He knew a party was in his future but wanted to hold off on that a little while. He figured he should go back home and spend some time with Fluttershy, especially since she really missed him while he was injured.
He was about to fly to her cottage when he heard something loud in the distance. 'What was that?' The half-Saiyan wondered, all the while sensing someone not too far from his location. A white aura enveloped his body as he flew over towards the source. He eventually reached a clearing and noticed a female unicorn practicing magic.
"Come on boulder, work with me!" The unicorn shouted as she was trying to lift a giant boulder with her magic. She managed to lift it over her head but couldn't hold it, and the boulder was now falling down straight towards her. Instinctively the mare closed her eyes, awaiting her fate. Right before she was crushed the boulder was destroyed by some kind of explosion. She looked up and saw some strange creature standing in front of her. "Did you destroy the boulder?" The unicorn asked in disbelief.
He nodded as a smile came onto his face. "Yeah it was about to crush you. Hi I'm Gohan, who are you?"
The unicorn let out a quick sigh before lifting her head up. "I'm the Great and Powerf... just call me Trixie." She figured there was no point in using her old title. Plus she assumed that he was aware of what happened in her past. Although she had never seen or heard of anything like Gohan in Equestria before. "So, um... what are you?" Trixie asked.
"I'm a half-Saiyan and half human from a planet that is also called earth, I was brought here by a portal spell."
She stared at him blankly for a few moments. Trixie had no idea what a Saiyan was, or a human for that matter. And she was also unaware of life on other planets. Plus, who would have brought him here?
"So what are you doing practicing magic out here all alone?" He asked.
"Well..." A sigh escaped her mouth. How she hated explaining her story. "I have basically turned myself into an outcast, so this is the only place I can be alone."
It took the young Saiyan a few moments to put the pieces together, he suddenly knew exactly who this was. "Wait, are you the same Trixie who enslaved Ponyville?"
There was a pause before the mare nodded. "I guess my bad reputation is bigger than I thought." She sighed, all the while preparing for the insults that were sure to come her way.
"Why did you do that anyway?" For the most part Trixie didn't seem very evil, and he couldn't really sense any evil in her. The Saiyan didn't take her for the type to just suddenly snap and turn evil.
"I wanted revenge on Twilight Sparkle for humiliating me, but I guess even with the Alicorn Amulet I was no match for her." To her credit she was more powerful than the purple pony at the time. In fact the only reason she lost was because of Twilight tricking her into thinking an ordinary necklace contained great power. In reality it was just the unicorn and her friends using illusions... which was very ironic the more she thought about it.
"So now everyone hates you?" Gohan asked, feeling bad for the mare. Sure, she made some mistakes in the past, but that didn't mean she couldn't change. Maybe it was just him, but he believed everyone deserved a second chance.
"I guess I deserve it. I do feel really guilty about it. though." Trixie never really felt guilty about anything, she almost always kept up the 'I'm better than everypony' facade. Even after her first humiliation she still kept on being her usual self. The only real reason she dropped the act was because after a while nopony bought it, especially after hearing about her taking over Ponyville.
"Maybe you just need to show people your good side." The young Saiyan suggested. "I'm sure if you apologize, they will forgive you."
"I did... but they still think I'm an evil show off. I just wish they would believe me when I say I'm not evil anymore." Nopony was willing to give her a chance, they all just saw the bad side of her. Deep down there was a good side to her, but she couldn't show it because nopony wanted her around.
There was a pause before the Saiyan spoke up. "How about I help you, it isn't fair that you have to be shunned for something you regret."
The azure unicorn's face lit up a little bit. Maybe this was her chance to be welcomed and loved again. "You would do that for me?"
"Of course," He smiled. Even without searching her feelings he could tell she was serious about trying to change. "now lets get going."
They decided to begin with Ponyville, since that was the same place that she conquered. The walk was short but also full of dread for Trixie, she knew that the ponies would show her nothing but hate. Even though her new friend assured her that it would be okay she was still nervous. The mare hadn't met Gohan before and knew nothing about him, but if he was willing to try and help her all she could do was accept. At this point she had nothing left to lose.
The duo arrived at Ponyville and they couldn't even take a few steps before the unicorn was recognized. And it wasn't a good kind of recognition. She could see several ponies glaring at her. Other ponies either freaked out at the sight of her, or simply avoided looking at her all together. The further into the town she went the more nervous she became. "I don't think this is going to work." She whispered to her companion.
All of this unwanted attention didn't go unnoticed by the Saiyan. Yet even if the entire town against her at the moment Gohan was confident that they would change their minds. "Don't worry about it. you just need to talk to them. Go and show them the new Trixie." He encouraged.
She merely sighed before walking up to an earth pony. "Hello there." She greeted nervously, not liking the awkward silence that followed her greeting.
"Ah! Trixie has come back to enslave us all! Somepony get Twilight Sparkle!" He ran as fast as he could, not really caring where he was going. The earth pony continued screaming, even after putting some good distance between him and the mare. While he didn't exactly know the reason for the unicorn's return he didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't want to stick around to find out.
"See what I mean?" The mare deadpanned.
"Gosh this is going to be harder than I thought." The Saiyan noted as he scratched the back of his head.
"Maybe we should just give up, nopony will ever forgive me for what I've done."
Just then Twilight Sparkle and Spike came out of the library, having heard all of the screaming going on. By the looks of her she was pretty annoyed. "What is with all the screaming, I'm trying to study." She looked over and saw the young Saiyan.
He smiled as he walked over to the alicorn. "Hey Twilight."
"Hi Gohan good to see you out of the hospi..." Twilight stopped when she noticed Trixie walking up behind him.
The duo looked at the scene in confusion. After a few moments the purple mare narrowed her eyes at the unicorn. "Spike I want you to go inside and write to Princess Celestia, we need to make sure the Alicorn Amulet is safe."
Spike nodded as he ran back inside.
"It's been a while Twilight." The silver maned pony noted, all the while staring down her former adversary.
"What are you doing here Trixie?" The alicorn asked harshly. Although she had been taught to show kindness she just couldn't help herself. Twilight hoped that after their first encounter that the showmare would change, but she was proven wrong as Trixie came back and enslaved Ponyville and her friends.
Trixie glanced at the pony haughtily. "I'm tired of being an outcast, I want to apologize and make things right." She received an un-amused look. "What, I'm telling you the truth!"
It was hard for Twilight to believe, considering all of the things the mare had done in the past. Her big ego and selfishness were bad enough, but then she went crazy and enslaved Ponyville. If she hadn't stopped the evil unicorn there was no telling what she could of done. Again, she didn't really like to hold a grudge she just couldn't help it in this case.
"It's true, she's telling the truth." The half-Saiyan stated, hoping to help the unicorn's case.
The purple mare looked between the two and then sighed. "Gohan can I talk to you over here?" She led her friend far away from the azure pony. Once far enough away they could talk without anypony eavesdropping "Listen I know you mean well but you should be careful, Trixie could be tricking you. After her humiliation the first time she came here I let her leave, I thought if I gave her a second chance she would learn her lesson... but clearly she didn't."
The half-Saiyan nodded, he could relate to that story. "Believe me Twilight I know what it's like to have people refuse another chance at life, even after you show them mercy they still refuse it!" There were plenty of times when either he, his father, or his friends offered a villain a second chance, to leave and never harm anyone again. Unfortunately that never happened, and those who refused that chance were killed. After a few seconds of thought he took several deep breathes. "Don't worry I'm sure she just want's to make amends, if we give her a chance I'm sure everypony will see how nice she can be." He said as he glanced over to Trixie with a smile on his face.
Twilight was still a little unsure but she was willing to give it a shot for his sake. "Alright Gohan, so how do we convince everypony that Trixie is reformed?"
He didn't really have a plan besides just telling everypony, and that obviously wasn't much of an option. The unicorn's previous encounter with another pony ended with lots of screaming. There had to be some way though. Some kind of grand gesture to show the citizens of Ponyville that Trixie had changed for the better. "Maybe we could put on a performance. Trixie could save Ponyville from some danger, that would show everypomy that she isn't bad anymore." He suggested.
It sounded a little crazy, but Twilight couldn't really think of anything else. "That's actually a pretty good idea, but how are we going to put Ponyville in danger and make it look real?" They both thought about it for a moment, trying to think of the perfect plan. After a few minutes of thinking the alicorn got an idea, it was pretty crazy but it just might work. "Okay Gohan here's the plan..." She whispered the plan into her friend's ear.
Trixie watched as the alicorn and the Saiyan went their separate ways. She wasn't sure how their little chat went, but luckily her new friend was coming back, and she wanted some details. "So what did Twilight want?" She asked, hoping that her former rival came up with a plan to help. It always seemed like Twilight came up with great plans in these situations.
Gohan frowned. "She tried to come up with a plan to help you but couldn't." It wasn't a total lie, but for the plan to work he needed to be keep her out of the loop.
"Now what do I do, how can I show everypony that I'm nice?" The azure unicorn sighed as she hung her head, thinking she might as well give up. She started walking away when somepony landed in front of her. Trixie stared at the pony confused. Their entire body was covered in some sort of outfit, they were also wearing a hat and a cape. "Can I help you?"
"It is I the Mysterious Mare-do-well!" The pony shouted in a deep voice.
The townsponies come out of hiding, they hadn't seen the caped hero in a long time. Everypony started to relax at the sight of Mare-do-well, the hero must have come back to save Ponyville from Trixie. Yeah, that must have been it. They all smiled brightly at their hero.
"But I have not come here as a hero, instead I came to take over Ponyville!"
Everypony screamed and started running around in panic, why had their hero forsaken them?
The caped pony started laughing, making the unicorn in front of them back up. A few moments later the masked pony saw a mysterious creature walk forward. Said creature then dropped into a fighting stance.
"I won't let you take over Ponyville!" He shouted.
The caped pegasus merely laughed. "Just try and stop me!"
The young Saiyan charged at Mare-do-well with his fist raised, he threw a punch at the pony but he missed. The next thing he knew he was punched in the gut, sending him to the ground. He tried to get up but the villain kicked him away. The young warrior went skidding across the ground. He got to his feet and jumped into the air. A second later he flew down to attack Mare-do-well. Right as he was about to reach the pony they turned around and bucked him, and he went flying through the air. He eventually crash landed next to the azure mare.
"Gohan!" Trixie shouted as she ran over to him.
He managed to sit up but that last hit left him pretty injured. "She's too strong, you have to beat Mare-do-well Trixie."
"But I can't fight, I can barely keep a boulder above my head." She protested.
"You can do it, I know you can."
The unicorn hesitantly nodded and walked towards her foe.
"If it isn't the Great and Powerful Trixie. How is it being an outcast?"
That struck a nerve with Trixie. It was one thing that she was an outcast, but being taunted because of it made her angry. She ran forward and tackled Mare-do-well to the ground. A smirk came onto her face, it seemed she had successfully taken her foe down. "Not so tough now are you?"
Mare-do-well merely headbutted the unicorn sending her backwards. The villainous pegasus flew at Trixie and socked her in the cheek, forcing her to the ground. A chuckled escaped their mouth as they got on top of the unicorn and unleashed several punches. The masked pony laughed even harder as they continued to pummel the helpless mare with blows.
Eventually the unicorn harnessed her magic power and managed to ensnare her attacker within a magic net. She then flung the masked mare off of her. Once free Trixie got back on all fours, albeit with some effort. She could tell her face was full of bruises, and she even tasted blood in her mouth. Despite that she stood confident. This wouldn't have been the first fight she got into.
The pegasus once again took to the skies, ready for yet another assault. With great speed they charged at their foe. As soon as they were in range the pony threw a kick, and struck the unicorn in nose. Mare-do-well landed on the ground and quickly swept the hooves of the mare, making her fall to the ground. That was followed up with a kick to her gut, sending the mare rolling forward. "So much for 'great and powerful'." The masked pony mocked.
Trixie looked at her opponent with murderous rage. One could only be pushed so far. "That does it!" She yelled as she got on all fours. Seconds later her horn began to glow, and the aura became bigger as time went on. "Trixie is going to make you suffer!"
"And how are you planning on doing that, you're just a pathetic magician."
"Oh I'll show you a pathetic magician!" She yelled, only to realize she just insulted herself basically. The mare shook off her self insult and gathered all of her magical energy. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a humongous boulder, and then an idea popped into her head. A smirk came onto her face as she successfully managed to lift the heavy rock. The silver maned pony held it over her head for a few moments before breaking it apart into smaller rock chunks.
Mare-do-well was actually impressed. They didn't think Trixie was capable of such magical feats. Their shock would only increase upon gazing at the plethora of smaller rocks Trixie had created for herself. Not a moment later the masked pony was attacked by a barrage of rocks, and they were coming so fast the pony wasn't able to dodge. The masked pony couldn't even fly to safety. They were helpless to defend themselves and thus took the full force of the mare's attack.
An evil laugh escaped Trixie's mouth as she marveled at her handy work. Once the last of the rocks were thrown the mare took a second to catch her breath. She could see that her attack left her foe dazed, and she knew this was her chance to finish it. With great speed she galloped over to her opponent, and as soon as she was close enough she turned around and bucked the masked pony.
The impact sent Mare-do-well flying through the air, and they landed harshly on the ground. The masked pegasus then flew up into the air, realizing the fight was over. "Curse you Trixie you have beaten me... for now, but I will have my revenge!" With that the pegasus flew off into the distance.
"Yeah that's right, nopony messes with Trixie and gets away with it!" The triumphant mare shouted to the heavens.
Just then everypony walked over to the victorious pony. Instead of being an angry mob they were all happy. The once evil showoff was now a hero. Trixie had saved them from a renegade hero, that was more than enough to prove that she had changed. "Hooray for Trixie, she saved us from evil!" A mare shouted.
Everypony began cheering for their new hero.
Gohan then walked over to his new friend. "Good job Trixie, I knew you could do it."
In response the mare smiled sheepishly. "If you hadn't encouraged me I wouldn't have attempted to fight Mare-do-well." She then gave her new friend a hug. "Thank you Gohan, I guess it took only one pony to believe me."
He smiled at her. "Just don't let this go to your head okay?"
Trixie nodded. "I already made that mistake once, and besides I'm trying to show ponies I'm a nice and kind unicorn."
Twilight walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm proud of you Trixie, you really proved yourself today. I'm sorry I doubted you."
"It's alright Twilight, I can understand why you were hesitant." The azure unicorn smiled. "Well if anypony needs me I'll be on the ground." She then fell onto the ground, her adrenaline from the battle just now wearing off.
After a quick rest in the library Trixie was ready to take her leave. Luckily for her she had learned quite a few healing spells, just in case something bad had happened to her while traveling alone. So after healing herself she went to the train station, and she was accompanied by her two new friends. There were more towns and ponies to apologize too, it was going to be quite a long journey. Yet she was excited, soon enough she would be forgiven by everypony in Equestria. "Well this is goodbye for now, I hope someday we can be friends Twilight." Trixie said as she boarded the train to Canterlot.
"I'd like that." Twilight stated as the the train left the station.
"Goodbye Trixie." Gohan yelled.
"Bye Gohan, thanks for everything!" She yelled back as the train left the station.
Their other friends then walked up to them, having a few questions. "Ah'm guessin' that Mare-do-well attackin' Ponyville wasn't real?" Applejack asked with a grin.
Both Twilight and Gohan smirked as the Mysterious Mare-do-well landed next to them, upon removing the mask it was revealed to be Rainbow Dash. "How was that, did it work?"
Twilight went over to see Rainbow Dash after they came up with the plan, she explained that Trixie saving Ponyville from a threat was a great idea. So Rainbow agreed to put on that Mare-do-well costume and pretend to take over Ponyville. It was not only a way to help the unicorn, but also test out her fighting skills on a real opponent.
"Everypony thanked Trixie for saving them, the plan was a success." The purple mare told her.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "So Gohan failing to stop you was part of the plan?"
The three of them nodded. "I let myself lose so that I could encourage Trixie to fight, and then it was Rainbow Dash's turn to lose the fight."
"That was a good thing y'all did for her." The honest pony noted..
Twilight scratched the back of her head nervously. "At first I didn't want to help her out, but Gohan had faith in her so I agreed."
The Saiyan received smiles from his friends. "My father would have given her a second chance, and I knew I couldn't let him down. Besides, it was fun staging that fight." Gohan added as they all shared a laugh.
Well there you have it, Trixie seems to be on the path to friendship. I changed how they helped Trixie show her nice side, I feel like Twilight bringing a bear wasn't that good of an idea. Plus we saw another character make a comeback, and who doesn't like to see old characters come back from the dead so to speak. Besides that I just added more dialogue and put in scenes where the Mane 6 visited Gohan in the hospital. I hope you enjoyed it and be sure to R and R!
FutureShock