Chapter Twenty Nine: Cult Following
"Oh this has been the best day ever!" Bulma noted, taking her husband's arm.
Vegito smiled in response. At first he was torn, he didn't know who he wanted to be with. Chi Chi and Bulma each had great characteristics and qualities, and they both loved him. He had to isolate himself for a little while to figure it out, and even then it wasn't easy coming to a decision. Eventually he decided who he would be with, it was Bulma. He loved her and she loved him.
"You know, this whole 'fusion thing' seemed bad at first, and I wasn't sure if I could cope with the loss of Vegeta... but I'm actually happy. You do so many more things than Vegeta ever did."
"Yeah, I'm happy too. You know I was also worried how life would be after beating Buu. It seems that everything worked out though." He told his wife, pulling her in close.
"I love you Vegito!"
"I love you too Bulma!"
Vegito woke up in his bed... it was just a dream. The Saiyan frowned, as this wasn't the first time he had dreams about his family back on Earth. While he had adjusted to his new life in Equestria he still missed his friends and family. Yet there was no way he could bring them back, with Dende dead the Dragon Balls were... "Wait... that's it!" He started laughing excitedly as he jumped out of bed.
Rainbow was still in a dazed state, and didn't really notice him leave the bed.
The fused Saiyan began putting his clothes on in a hurry. "I can't believe it, I'm such an idiot!"
As he dressed himself Rainbow Dash finally stirred from her sleep. With her eyes barely open she turned towards the Saiyan. "Vegito, w-what are you doing?"
Once his clothes were on he turned towards her. "I'm going on a little trip."
"Where could you possibly need to go at this hour?" She asked, yawning afterwords.
"Planet Namek. I'm going hunting for Dragon Balls." He smirked as he placed two fingers to his forehead. He stood there for a few moments, trying to remember where New Namek was. After a few moments of concentration he vanished.
The cyan mare merely stared at the spot where he had previously stood. She then went back to sleep, not really caring about where he was going.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders have decided what their next attempt at getting their cutie marks would be... they would be journalists! So the three fillies joined the schools newspaper staff, hoping that this would be the one. Little did they know that Diamond Tiara was the new editor-in-chief, and she wanted some juicy stories! Despite that they decided that putting up with her was worth the possible cutie marks.
So they went out in search of some good stories. Unfortunately getting those stories wasn't easy, and it didn't come without embarrassment... but the fillies stuck through it. Once they had their stories they went back to Diamond Tiara.
"I hope you've got something, because everything so far is unusable." She looked at the papers that were thrown on her desk. ""Baby Birds Born"? "Rarity's Hot New Hat"? "Ponyville: The Early Years"!? Oh!" She instantly tossed them aside. "I don't know what you call this, but it sure isn't news!"
"We just... thought..." Sweetie Belle began.
Diamond Tiara wasn't going to have any excuses. "Get something else on my desk by the end of the day, and it better be juicy!" She told them before kicking them out of staff room.
The Crusaders sat up still in a daze. "Now what? Do you know what I had to do to get that story?" Scootaloo complained.
"Oh, you don't even wanna know what I had to sit through." Apple Bloom told her friends.
It was then that they heard Snips and Snails, and it sounded like they were struggling with something. Curious, Sweetie Belle walked over to investigate. To her surprise the two unicorns were stuck together by gum, with the pink substance being stuck to each of their butts.
The two struggled to break free but that only made it worse. "Get it off! Get it off!" Snails yelled frantically.
Sweetie Belle couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and that gave her an idea. She spotted Featherweight nearby. "Hey, Featherweight, c'mere!" She waited for him to come, and once he did she pointed at the struggling pair. "Take a few pictures of this, then meet me during lunch." The unicorn then ran back over to her friends. "Girls, I have our story."
The next day everypony at school got their hooves on the paper, and they loved the story. Everypony laughed after reading about what happened to Snips and Snails. And the two unicorns were actually happy to be so popular, even if the story was embarrassing.
Diamond Tiara had to personally meet with the trio. "Your column is a sensation! I don't want you doing news anymore. I want more columns like this. Columns about ponies and their private lives, the things they do when they think they're alone. You three are my new gossip columnists! And I love the way you signed it! "Gabby Gums"... that was a stroke of genius!"
"We couldn't fit all of our names, so we decided to create one for all three of us." The unicorn explained.
"Well, I want more Gabby Gums! Nice work, girls."
"But we sure seem to have a gift for gossip." The orange pegasus observed.
"If we can write a few more of these Gabby Gums columns, we'll earn our cutie marks for sure!" Sweetie Belle stated, making them all cheer. Soon enough they would have their cutie marks!
Vegito touched down upon a small plateau, overlooking the blue fields of Planet Namek. He stood there for a few moments, letting this all sink in. It had been so long since he had been here. He could recall coming here right before the Cell Games, hoping to bring a Namek back to Earth to be the new guardian.
He then pushed away the nostalgic memories, he had a job to do. Extending his sense he felt a lot of power levels, and they were all gathered in one place. 'Hm, this is weird.' An aura enveloped his body as he headed straight for the source. After a few moments of flight he arrived at a giant temple. "I wonder why they are all in there, but I guess there's only one way to find out." Out of the corner of his eye he could see two giant spaceships, and they certainly didn't belong to the Nameks. His ears then perked up, he could hear people walking towards the entrance. The Saiyan could sense there were three of them.
"How long do you think it'll take for those Bameks to crack?" One person asked, his voice kind nasally.
"Beats me." This voice was deeper than the first. "But it shouldn't take too much longer."
"Yeah, and once we unlock the secrets of the dragon balls we'll be able to resurrect Lord Luud!" That final person had the highest pitched voice of the three.
They then all laughed. "It sure beats the alternative, eh brothers?" The deep voiced person chuckled.
Just then the three of them exited the temple, only to see a complete stranger in blue standing there. The three people all had pale blue skin. They were all wearing matching red spandex outfits, which covered everything except their faces... except the little one's legs were showing. They wore black boots with the leg portion being golden. On their wrists were golden bracelets. The trio also had gold and white chest armor on. The big one however had a slightly different chest plate, which almost looked like it was made out of a boombox.
Vegito stared at the three curiously. 'What the hell is going on here?'
"Are you guys seeing this too?" The big one asked.
"Yeah... but what is he?"
The small one looked towards the others. "Maybe he's a Namekian?"
"I'm not a Namekian, and neither are you three." The Saiyan said. "Now how about you tell what you're doing here."
The three of them exchanged looks before laughing. The big one then took a few steps forward. "You must be joking, there's no way we'd tell you anything!"
"You should just go back to wherever you came from." The nasally voiced one snickered.
In response the fused warrior rolled his eyes. "Woah, that was really intimidating." His comment angered the three. "Tell you what, why don't you just tell me what you're doing to the Namekians and I'll let you live."
"Never!" The big one shouted. "And since you refuse to listen to our demands, we have no choice. I am Bon Para!" He yelled while getting into a pose.
"Don Para!" The nasally voiced one also got into a pose.
"Son Para." The little one followed his brother's example.
"We're here to get busy!" Bon Para said.
"Prepare to face the rhythmic Para Para brothers!" They shouted in unison.
Vegito stared at them blankly, it seemed he had yet another ridiculous group to deal with... it was the Ginyu Force all over again. The fused Saiyan grinned as he dropped into his stance. This fight wouldn't last long.
The three then leapt away from the Saiyan, all the while removing their chest armor. Just then Don and Son's chest armor began to light up. Bon's chest plate began to play music. His brothers' chest plates began to light up. The three brothers then started dancing. "Oh yeah shake it, shake it. Don't forget to smile!" They sang and danced at the same time.
Vegito didn't know which was worse, their bizarre dancing or their pink bras. He continued to watch them for a few moments, hoping that they were going somewhere with this... but no. All they were doing was dancing and saying their name over and over again. Perhaps if one listened and watched long enough they would follow along, but the Saiyan wasn't interested in playing games.
In the blink of an eye he vanished, and in the same second he moved behind Bon Para. With a single chop he brought the dancing alien down to the ground.
Don and Son stopped dancing and looked over horrified. "Bon Para!" They screamed, running over to their brother. Before they could even reach their brother they were taken out by the fused warrior.
The potara fused Saiyan then blasted each of their armors to bits. With that done he turned his attention towards the temple. "It's time to get some answers." He began walking into the temple, heading right towards the grouped together power levels. He began running through the halls of the Namekian temple. After a few moments he reached the collective power levels, which led him to a giant open room.
Inside the room he could see hundreds of people, all of them wearing dark robes and dark colored helmets. In the back he could see a man who was no doubt the leader. He was wearing the same dark cloak, except instead of a helmet he wore a crown. Behind him was a giant statue depicting a fat monster with wings and three sets of arms... not what he would expect from a Namek temple.
"My faithful followers, the hour of Luud's resurrection is at hand." The leader spoke.
'He sounds a lot like Super Buu, how weird.' Vegito could tell these guys were all weak, so stealth wasn't necessary. Instead he leapt into the air and flew towards the front, shocking everyone. "Sorry to interrupt this little gathering, but I have to speak with the Nameks."
"Wh-who are you, how did you get in here?!" The leader asked.
"Simple, I walked in through the front door. Maybe next time you'll get better security guards than those three dancing idiots." He grinned. "So I assume you're in charge?"
"Yes, I am Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy. I am the leader of the cult of Lord Luud."
Vegito raised an eyebrow, having never heard of Luud before. He then shook his head, there were more important things to do. "Okay, so what are you doing here on Namek? More importantly, what have you done with the Nameks?!" His tone became more aggressive as he spoke.
Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy grit his teeth. "We came to this planet in order to use the dragon balls to resurrect Lord Luud."
"I see... so you kidnapped the Namekians? That's no way to get your wish granted."
"So what if we did, that's none of your business. And you'd better watch your tone, you wouldn't want to make Lord Luud angry."
The fused Saiyan raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, and how is he going to attack me when he's dead?" He glanced up towards the statue, just in time to see the energy building up in its eyes. Reacting quickly he moved out of the way in time, just as a beam was heading his way. As he finished moving he noticed a few cult members get hit by the beam, and they were instantly turned into dolls. "What the hell?" He muttered.
"You're pretty fast huh, well let's see how you dodge this!" Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy swung his whip, and it was instantly grabbed by his foe.
"Hey since I grabbed your whip that technically counts as dodging right?" He received only a frustrated growl. Vegito then pulled his opponent forward using the whip. Once close enough he punched the cult leader all the way into the back wall. He grinned upon the easy victory, but his grin faded upon hearing the laugh of his fallen foe.
Except the laugh wasn't coming from the cult leader, instead it was coming from the whip. "I'll admit you have some skill, but don't think it's over just because you defeated Cardinal. For he is only a part of me. Now then, let me show you my true form!" The whip wiggled around for a bit before changing into a more humanoid form. He had a long alien like head, with a sort of beak for his mouth. his skin was yellow with some orange and black around certain parts of his body. The most noticeable part about him were his whip hands. "You can call me Mutchy." His voice had changed as well.
"Alright Mutchy, let's see what you got."
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had found themselves in a bit of trouble. After the success of their first story Gabby Gums(the alias the fillies came up with) was tasked with creating even more juicy stories. Unfortunately they had nothing, and there were no interesting things to document at the school. And because of that they were about to give up. Luckily for them Sweetie Belle found out from her sister that her friends would love Gabby Gums, which gave the filly an idea.
They were now expanding from just the school to the entire town, and that results spoke for themselves. As they wrote more stories the more popular the Foal Free Press became. And as the paper became more popular, the more stories were produced. Soon enough everypony in Ponyville was reading the Foal Free Press.
Among the ponies who read the paper were the Element Bearers, and they were all currently at the spa... except for Rainbow Dash. "Oh, this is the life, isn't it, girls? The best hooficure I've ever had!"
Applejack was getting a message. "You said it, ooh..." She agreed with her friend's statement one hundred percent.
Spike had joined his friends at the spa, seeing no harm in doing so. "I don't know if I've ever been so relaxed."
"You guys!" The cyan pegasus came running in, with a newspaper in her mouth. Her appearance startled the dragon, making the cucumbers resting on his eyes fly off his face. "The new Gabby Gums just came out! "The Great and Powerful Trixie's Secrets Revealed!"
"We already read that one, Rainbow Dash." Rarity told her. "Come on, relax, have a hooficure, it feels amazing."
The very idea made her disgusted. "Did you forget who you're talking to? The day I get a hooficure is the day I turn in my daredevil license. It's also the day Vegito stops being awesome! Besides, I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet."
"Well, do it quietly, will ya?" The purple drake said while taking his cucumbers back, even the one she swallowed. "Some of us are trying to unwind!" He then laid back down.
Twilight was also reading the paper, but she wasn't as excited as her friends. "I like Gabby Gums too, but don't you think she can be a little mean?"
"She's not mean, Twilight, she's a hoot!" The orange earth pony told her.
""Celestia Just Like Us"? Gabby Gums doesn't value anypony's privacy." The purple mare noted.
Rarity didn't see a problem either. "Oh, lighten up, Twilight, there's nothing but harmless gossip!"
"Yeah, Twilight, I mean listen to this one. "Mayor Not Naturally Gray!" The Mayor in a mane dyeing scandal? Who wouldn't wanna read that?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
Despite what her friends were saying Twilight still didn't really like it. "I just can't help feeling sorry for the ponies featured in her columns. It's gotta be a little embarrassing."
"Are you kidding? Do you know how awesome it is to get your name in the paper?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Rainbow, why don't you join me in one of these delicious hooficures?"
With a little coaxing from the purple mare she decided to join Rarity. "It's that good, huh? Well, maybe just one little hoof." She sat down next to her friend as a spa worker walked up to her with a file in her mouth. The cyan pegasus hesitantly held out one of her hooves, but the instant the file touched it she jumped into the air. "Forget it, I don't like ponies touching my hooves." She then descended back onto the ground. "Man... I'd love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me."
"She did one on me." As soon as Spike said that his friends instantly swarmed him, making him yelp in surprise.
The Crusaders were right now pitching their story about Spike to Diamond Tiara. ""Exclusive! Local Dragon Tells All! Spike opens up about Canterlot, naps, and his favorite jams!"" Apple Bloom said.
"It's our best column yet!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"More like your worst column yet!" She yelled while jumping onto her desk. "Gabby Gums didn't become the biggest thing in Ponyville with namby-pamby stories like this!" The filly then threw the paper into their faces before leaving the room.
Once she was gone the red maned filly sighed. "Yeah, she's right. This column is a little softer than our usual gossip."
"Were you guys feeling guilty about all the gossip too? Like... maybe we could be hurting other ponies' feelings?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, I didn't wanna say anything because everypony loves Gabby Gums so much, but... I was sorta hoping we could start writing more stories like this one."
"Me too." The pegasus added.
The unicorn picked up the story and dropped it into the trash. "If we're gonna get our cutie marks, we've got to give the ponies what they want."
None of them were happy about that.
Mutchy swung his whips but his foe moved out of the way. Upon touching the ground his whip made pieces of the floor float upwards. He then smirked. "These weapons I posses do more than you think. With them I have the ability to control thousands of objects, more than enough to overwhelm any opponent before me!"
"Impressive, but you'll need a lot more than that if you're going to stop me." Vegito grinned. Just then his foe struck the ground with his whip, making all of the floating tiles fly straight towards him. As the tiles came for him the Saiyan got to work, one by one he smashed them out of the air. Thanks to both his fast reflexes and speed he easily dispatched of the deadly floor tiles. With that out of the way he charged straight at Mutchy.
The alien swung his whips but once again he was too slow, and his lack of speed rewarded him with a punch to his face. The whip wielding alien was sent crashing into a wall. He fell on the floor and found himself covered in rubble. He stood up and grit his teeth. He was going to have to try harder. As his foe closed the gap between them he stuck the ground with his whip, but this time hands shot out and grabbed his opponent.
Vegito found himself being held down on the ground. "What the?" He couldn't believe that he let himself be grabbed like that.
"Perfect, a stationary target!" Mutchy laughed as he whipped the Saiyan's back over and over again. His laughter became even greater upon learning he was finally doing some damage, as evidence by his foe's screams.
The fused Saiyan was quickly getting fed up with this. Getting hit by the whips were more annoying than anything else. With a simple shout he unleashed a burst of energy, destroying the hands holding them down. He jumped to his feet and grinned upon seeing the shocked look on his opponent's face. "Nice move, how about I show you one of my own." In response the alien swung his whips, but Vegito simply leapt into the air. He then held out his palms, forming a huge sphere of ki. Seconds later he unleashed the attack upon the alien.
Mutchy panicked, and couldn't move out of the way in time. As soon as the attack struck him he yelled out in pain. Soon enough his entire body was vaporized, leaving nothing behind. Luud's right hand man was dead.
"No, not Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy!" A cultist yelled.
"We're all doomed!"
"I never liked this cult anyway!"
Everyone else in the room began to run to the exit, there was no way any of them were going to stay in the room now. While they knew that running away wasn't going to help their status with Luud they also knew a losing battle when they saw one. After about a minute every member had left the temple.
"Well, so much for the cult." Vegito joked. "Now to find the Namekians." He sensed a group of powers deeper in the temple. He put two fingers to his forehead and headed to that location.
"We will never tell you the secrets of the Dragon Balls!" Elder Moori yelled to the alien.
The actual leader of the cult wasn't Mutchy, no, it was an alien by the name of Dolltaki. He had medium length yellow hair and tan skin. His face resembled that of a monkey. He was wearing a pink full body suit, with a grey spot located in the midsection. He wore a gold belt, gold gloves, and wore a white cape and purple scarf. "Oh I think you will, unless you want me to turn you all into dolls."
Even with that threat Moori wasn't going to give in so easily. "Do what you want, just know without us you won't know how to use the Dragon Balls."
"Yes I'm aware... which is why I'll turn you into dolls one Namekian at a time. Let's see how long you can watch your people fade away one by one." He laughed.
"You... monster!" The Namek yelled.
Right before Dolltaki could use his rod it was snatched out of his hands. The cult leader had to do a double take. "What?!"
"So you're the one who kidnapped these Nameks."
Dolltaki turned and saw a strange being in blue. "W-where did you come from?"
"A far away planet. I came here to use the Dragon Balls, but it looks like you beat me to it." The Saiyan grinned before crushing the rod. "So I'll give you one chance to leave and forget about resurrecting Luud."
"And if I refuse?" He questioned nervously.
"Then I'll simply kill you. Oh and you can forget about getting some back up, I killed Mutchy and the cultists ran away." He could tell that the man was getting more and more nervous. "So... what's it going to be?"
Dolltaki thought for a moment. On the one hand he had worked really hard to move the entire operation to Namek... on the other hand he wanted to live. Besides, his master would understand. With a sigh he nodded. "You win, I'll leave this planet." Dolltaki then ran as fast as he could away from the monster.
The Namekians all had shocked looks. One moment they were about to be turned into dolls, and then the next a mysterious hero comes out of nowhere and saves them. The strange part about it was the hero looked familiar. Elder Moori was the first to speak up. "We thank you for saving us, but who are you?"
"I'll explain everything as soon as you're all free."
After freeing the Namekians and destroying the Luud statue Vegito explained his story to the Namekians. He told them about Majin Buu wiping out everyone on earth, to Goku and Vegeta fusing in order to beat him. He also explained that Dende had died which meant the Dragon Balls were inert. "...so that's why I came here, I need the Dragon Balls to revive everyone on Earth."
"That was quite the story, and I'm deeply sorry for your loss. We'd be more than happy to let you use our Dragon Balls. It's the least we could do after you saved us from that evil cult." Moori told him.
Vegito smiled brightly, the day had finally come. Everyone back on Earth would come back, including his friends and family. At long last he would see them again. He couldn't believe it, it was a dream come true. "Thank you." Was all he needed to say.
"Now hold on a moment!" Old Kai was speaking to the Saiyan. "Vegito we need to see you right away!"
Vegito sighed. Couldn't it wait until after reviving Dende and everyone else? "Hang on a second." He merely placed two fingers to his forehead and moved himself to the Kai planet. A second later he appeared. "Alright what do you want?"
Old Kai let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but you can't use the Dragon Balls."
"WHAT?!" The Saiyan screamed.
"I'm familiar with their power, but using them in this case just isn't proper. They aren't meant to be used anywhere except their home planet. Using those balls elsewhere could upset the natural evolutionary process of the universe!"
The fused Saiyan clenched his fists. "You can't be serious?!" His rage was starting to build up.
"I'm quite serious." The Kai stated plainly. "I thought I saw something troubling happening on Namek, so I used my crystal ball to investigate. It would seem that you were already way ahead of me, so I thank you for saving the Nameks... regardless, you can't use the dragon balls. And don't think you can buy me off with a kiss like last time!"
"This is ridiculous! I've saved the universe numerous times, I've done your missions and kept the galaxy safe. Don't you think I deserve a reward?"
Old Kai shook his head. "Look, death is a natural part of life, everyone has to die sometime. Besides, the Dragon Balls were never meant to be used like that."
"But... what about my friends and family?!" He was trying to remain calm and not go berserk, but it was proving to be difficult.
"I know you miss them, but you have to accept the fact that they are gone. And what about your new life in Equestria? Do you really want to give all that up?"
Vegito didn't know how to answer. Sure he liked things in Equestria, and he cared about the new friends he made... but it wasn't the same. Yet at the same time he knew the ponies would be devastated if he left. Sure, there was always the option of teleporting back and forth between earth and Equestria... unfortunately though it didn't seem like the Kai was going to budge.
"Try to understand, this is for the good of the universe."
The fused Saiyan merely unleashed his pent up rage via a powerful shout. His aura flared as the Kai planet began to shake. Sparks shot out of his body as he continued to vent his anger. The wind was so strong it blew the two Kais away. After a few moments the storm he was creating died down. Vegito let out a sigh.
Both Kais slowly stood up and walked over to the Saiyan. "Vegito..." Kabito Kai began, feeling slightly hesitant.
The fused warrior hung his head down, and chose to stare at the ground. As much as he hated to admit it the elder Kai made a point. The Nameks didn't think about any other planets when they made the Dragon Balls, and they probably only intended for the Balls to be used by Nameks. "You win..." He muttered, catching the attention of the two gods. "I won't use the Dragon Balls."
Despite the good news Old Kai had a frown on his face. "I know it hurts, but you'll come to understand soon enough."
Vegito glanced up at the duo with a pained look. He didn't respond, instead he used his Instantaneous Movement to go back to Equestria.
Things went from good to horrible in an instant for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They continued writing more and more stories, and Ponyville was quickly becoming fed up with all the gossip. Even their close friends who had loved the column had begun to hate them. It didn't really help that the fillies wrote embarrassing stories about them.
Now they were sitting in their clubhouse, wondering what to do. They tried to back out of it, but Diamond Tiara wouldn't let them. She even promised to publish embarrassing stories on the three of them if they didn't write more Gabby Gums. The trio were determined to right the wrongs they committed... but they were unsure how to do it.
"There you three are." A voice spoke.
They turned around and saw Vegito standing in their clubhouse. "Vegito, what ar' ya doin' here?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I heard from Rainbow Dash that everypony in town hates you three, so I came here to get some answers."
Scootaloo sighed. "It's kind of a long story. You see, we..." She stopped upon being picked up by the Saiyan.
He picked up the other two fillies as well. "I intend to hear the story, but first we need to make a little stop." In a flash the four of them disappeared.
Twilight and Spike were busy doing some organizing, hoping that a chore would help clear their minds of anger. Neither one of them wanted to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so the unicorn put up a force field to keep anypony from entering the library. Their work was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Saiyan. "Oh, hey Vegito." Twilight greeted. She then noticed the three fillies she was trying to avoid. "Just what are those three doing here?!"
"Calm down Twilight." He told the mare. "We're going to have a little chat, but first I need to get the others. Oh and if either of you hurt these three while I'm gone I'll return the favor." The Saiyan then put two fingers to his forehead and vanished.
The tension in the room was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were huddled together nervously, all the while being grilled by the pony and her dragon. The fillies wanted to say something, but decided against it... figuring it would be better to wait until the Saiyan came back.
Just then the fused warrior came back, all the while carrying the rest of his friends. He set them down near Twilight and then stood between the two groups. "Now that we're all here we can discuss what happened these last couple of days." He could tell that his friends didn't really want to be here, let alone in the company of the children. Never the less he continued. "Alright, you three, I want you to explain the situation to me."
For the next several minutes the Crusaders began to tell him how it all started. From joining the newspaper staff, to their first successful story. From making stories about the entire town, to today. They didn't leave out any details.
"I see... and because of your rumor spreading the entire town hates you."
"Yer darn right we do!" Applejack shouted.
Vegito then turned his attention towards his friends. "Let me ask you all something, did any of you try and find out who Gabby Gums was?"
Everypony paused for a moment. "Well, um... no." Twilight answered.
"Okay, so someone was writing embarrassing stories about everyone in town and you all did nothing?" He questioned.
"Hey don't try to pin the blame on us, they were the ones who wrote those stories!" The cyan mare yelled, pointing at the fillies for emphasis.
"You're right, those three did do something wrong... but so did all of you." He didn't receive the friendliest reactions. "As I recall you all seemed to enjoy Gabby Gums."
"Yeah that's true!" Sweetie Belle yelled. Shortly after she chuckled nervously and went back to being silent.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. "What if we did, what's that got ta do with anythin'?"
"So it was okay for Gabby Gums to write stories on everyone else, but it suddenly becomes a problem when it's about you?" He didn't get an answer from the mare, so he continued. "You're all upset at the lies being spread about you. I'll bet those ponies in the paper were just as upset, and yet you all laughed at their pain."
"When you put it that way you make us look bad." Pinkie noted sadly.
The other ponies were now deep in thought, his words were starting to reach them. He certainly did have a point. They did enjoy everpony elses embarrassment.
Except for the purple maned unicorn, who merely scoffed at his accusations. "Oh please, this is getting ridiculous. Sure, we may have had a laugh or two while reading Gabby Gums, but those three had no right to invade anypony's privacy."
"Alright so if it was so wrong how come you just let it happen?" The Saiyan asked.
"Well, it's not really my fault if somepony spreads rumors about somepony else." She answered nervously.
"And it only becomes your fault if those stories are about you?"
This time Rarity had no response. What he said was true. She had found great enjoyment in the juicy stories being told, and she didn't care about those pony's feelings. Once she saw pages of her diary in the paper she was beyond upset, and wanted nothing more than to kill Gabby Gums... obviously not kill her, but it was just an expression.
"Why do you care so much about this anyway?" Spike asked, feeling genuinely curious. They hadn't seen Vegito in a while, and the moment he comes back he starts an investigation. While it was normal for him to do the right thing he just didn't know why he was so invested in this.
A silence washed over the room as the potara fused warrior stared at all of them. It took him a few moments to response. "Because... I couldn't revive my family." He spoke, trying to hold his emotions in. "I suddenly remembered about the Dragon Balls on Namek, and I went there to bring back everyone on Earth. Right as I was about to start collecting the balls Old Kai stopped me."
Everypony could tell he was fighting back tears, and they thought they actually saw one roll down his cheek.
"He told me that death is just a natural part of the universe, and that I just have to accept the fact that everyone I loved is gone!"
"My gosh." Fluttershy stated. Suddenly her tail extension thing seemed like nothing.
Vegito took in a few breathes before continuing. "The reason I care so much is that you're all so close to each other, and I come back and everyone is mad at those three. I'd hate to think what would have happened if they suddenly died. The last thing you would want is for your last moments together were ones of anger."
By now they all had tears forming in their eyes. None of them even thought of a scenario like that. And now that the thought was there it stuck with them, and it made them feel awful. Of course, they were still very upset with the three of them, but maybe now would be a good time to forgive them.
The silence was broken by the three fillies rushing over to their sisters and friends. "We're so sorry!" They yelled, all the while hugging them. "We never meant to hurt anypony."
The embrace was returned without hesitation. "It's alright, we forgive ya." Applejack said.
"You do?" Scootaloo sniffled.
"Of course silly. Friendship may not always be easy, but true friends will always be able to work out their problems!" The pink mare shouted gleefully.
"Now that that's settled you three still have the rest of the town to apologize to."
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. "How are we gonna do that?"
"How about using your column to write an apology letter to everypony?" Twilight suggested.
It was a good idea but there was one problem. "We can't. If we don't write more Gabby Gums Diamond Tiara is going to publish embarrassing pictures of us." The orange pegasus said.
"If that's what it takes to get everyone to forgive you than you'll have to do it." Vegito told them.
The Crusaders sighed. Although they didn't want that to happen that appeared to be the only way to get everypony in town to forgive them. "Ah guess it won't be that bad." And besides, after all the embarrassment they caused the town it only made sense for them to share some of it.
"Come on girls, we have a letter to write!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as they ran out the door... only to bump into the force field.
"Oh right." Twilight dropped the force field, allowing them to leave.
As soon as they were gone Vegito turned towards the exit, he was ready to head on home. Before he could leave he felt something tap his leg. He turned around and saw his friends, and they all had teary eyes. The one who tapped him was Pinkie, and she was now hugging his leg. "Look, I'll be fine alright." He pried her from his leg.
"Are you sure, you sounded pretty sad." The shy mare noted.
Vegito let out a sigh. "Yeah... I'll be fine. I think I just need to do some training and meditate."
"Well alright, if you need anything you know where to find us." Twilight stated.
Everypony else nodded in agreement. "Yeah and if you need any cheering up I'll throw you the biggest and bestest cheering up party in the whole world!"
With a simple nod he placed two fingers to his forehead and vanished.
"To the citizens of Ponyville, for some time now, you've been reading this column to get the latest dirt and the hottest buzz. But this will be my final piece. We want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment we've caused. Y'see, I'm actually three little fillies, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. As the popularity of our column grew, we got swept up in the hype. We knew that what we were doing didn't feel quite right, but we ignored the guilt because everypony seemed to want to read what we were writing. From now on, we promise to respect everypony else's privacy, and we won't engage in hurtful gossip any more. All we can do is ask for your forgiveness, Ponyville.
Signing off for the very last time, XOXO, Gabby Gums."
That's a rap and I hope you all enjoyed it. I know there wasn't much on the Gabby Gums part of the episode but I think I got the important parts. This turned out to be quite the long chapter, but I had fun writing it. Unfortunately I won't be doing the next episode, but the good news is that the next chapter will start the season 2 finale. Things will get crazy, trust me. That's all for now, be sure to R and R and have a wonderful day...
Yeah okay, let's discuss the 'elephant in the room'. Looking back, I really should have addressed the Namek situation at the start of this fanfic, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. I'll probably receive some heat for my decision on not reviving everyone on earth. Believe me, it wasn't an easy decision. My main reason is that I already have a good amount of the rest of the story planned, and if everyone on Earth comes back that will split focus from Equestria. Plus Old Kai wasn't keen on using the Dragon Balls in the show, and I feel like that is something he would put his foot down on. Feel free to PM me if you still have any questions or concerns, but don't send me any hateful messages. It's my story and what I say goes.
FutureShock
