"So, I put it on my left ear?"
Bright Mac plays with Raditz's scouter as he rests in a hospital bed wrapped in bandages. He huffs eating away at a bowl of fruit and meats.
"You press the button on the base to scan the area."
Bright Mac does so and gasps in awe as he looks around. He then turns to him and points at the screen of the scouter.
"What are these numbers I'm seeing around you? Four... Forty...? Uh... These are some weird symbols, Radish!"
He rolls his eyes at him.
"Those are battle power readings, or power levels for short, and I have the highest on the planet."
Bright Mac beams at him in awe.
"So you're super strong...! But my Ma has the best farm in the galaxy! You can't deny that since you're still eating from our basket!"
The Saiyan stops with an apple in hand blinking in silence before narrowing his eyes at him.
"Shut it."
He glances away as he stuffs himself with Bright Mac giggling. The two look to the door as Granny Smith and a Unicorn girl enter. Granny Smith takes the scouter from her son and hands it back to Raditz.
"You eat a lot you know that?"
"Well I am a growing boy. Who is this?"
He looks to the Unicorn. A younger girl with such fair features that it had the Saiyan off guard. Granny Smith fearlessly pinches at his ear and pulls on it.
"Don't you be disrespectful to Ms. Cadance, boy! She's the head honcho here over this town since Lord Cooler gave it to us! Y'know what that means, right?"
Before he could answer, let alone retaliate, Bright Mac pinched his cheek and began pulling on it just for fun.
"You gotta answer to her if we're gonna get along!"
Granny Smith nodded and releases the irate Saiyan to pull her son back.
"That's right! Ms. Cadance ma'am, he's in your care now."
The two leave Cadance and Raditz alone. Reluctantly, the appointed leader hovers over him eyeing his wounds.
"You really took a beating... I'm going to heal you, okay?"
Even her voice is sweet and soothing to hear, as if her speaking alone is enough to heal his aching body. Regardless, he looks away from her scowling.
"Do what you want... Although since you're the leader, I do have questions."
She eases up in relief and brings a chair to his bedside. Her horn glows an iridescent cyan, projecting the colorful aura onto him, healing him.
"As do I. Let's take turns then? You can go first."
Raditz looks at his bruised and battered knuckles to see them mend faster than any healing pod or regeneration chamber has. This power astonishes him so that he nearly zones out of the conversation.
"Uh-! If you're the one in charge, how come this settlement is so shoddily defended? Even before my battle, I saw this town had suffered from an earlier one, maybe even more."
Cadance sighs pointing to out the window at a nearby forest.
"Planet Hoof may be a safe haven for us as far as the universe are concerned, but it still has it's own dangers, such as harsh and violent wild life that evolved after being abandoned the first time. There are spots of the planet that have become volatile for most of us. What with the constant space invasions combined, It's gotten so bad that we've taken to living beneath surface save for farming in hidden spots, all kept invisible thanks to magic. The buildings you see above are mostly a ploy..."
Raditz eyes her as she speaks and he can already see her hiding things, a look he is all too familiar with, the face of defeat.
"It sounds like you don't like how things are around here. Living like rats digging holes in the ground isn't exactly how I pictured the rivals of the Saiyan Race."
His remark sparks a new expression, annoyance yet remorse.
"Though I loathe to say it...! You are not wrong. We've taken a heavy blow since the meteor that destroyed many of us. The few thousands on Planet Hoof came from different colonies after being exiled by Frieza. Many blame each other, some themselves, and I am doing what I can to unite us... If only the Queen or anyone from the Royal Family were with us now."
Raditz thought about not telling this poor pony just to see her in this state of depression. Though he certainly has started to change, he hasn't changed much, and thus putting those he sees as weak beneath him still comes as second nature.
However, he tells her a shocking truth. Mostly to see if she would believe him.
"One of them is alive. Princess Luna is under the wing of Lord Cooler."
Immediately, Cadance's face lights up with hope. She leans in abruptly raising her voice, practically lunging at him
"You know a Princess of Equestria!? You even know her by name?!"
"Back off!"
He pushes her back but she persists. He can't risk harming her by accident so he holds her off the ground and into the air away from himself.
"What is wrong with you!?"
"Please! Tell her to come! We need her to guide us! She's our only hope-!"
"Didn't you hear me?! She's being kept by Cooler!"
Cadance blinks at that. Her hopeful eyes widen with confusion.
"He is keeping her...? Why? I-Is there something he needs from her? And how come you know her...?"
He puts her down and stands out of the bed, removing the bandages and putting his armor back on, eager to just fly out of this here. He doesn't even look her way, instead looking to the scouter remembering that they are always on, that Cooler is always listening.
"She is different from you all. Her power rivals my own but she is far more cunning, brutal, and I owe her a great debt..."
He picks the scouter the scouter up before glaring at Cadance.
"All you need to know is that I plan on bringing her here to you all one day. Until then... I need to get stronger..."
"Then how strong are you now?"
He is tempted to leave but... He is curious. He has heard stories of his father surviving lethal battles and rising odds, a man born of pitiful strength would return stronger than ever, in fact he last recalls Bardock being of a higher power than even a few of the elite class.
Is it possible his father discovered yet another secret to Saiyan Power? It was him that created the power moon technique, the means of which a Saiyan can create their own full moon to transform, but to get stronger from recovering from severe injuries?
He has to know and thus he holds the scouter out for Cadance.
"Use this to see. You do know how to work one, don't you?"
With a pout, she takes the scouter and scans him. Her pouting then turns to marvel.
"Of course I do! Your attitude is something else...! But, your battle power is exceptional! O-One hundred fifty thousand is no laughing matter! Our planet is sure to be safe with you around!"
He does a double take himself with utter surprise at the jump in power. He was on par with the famed Ginyu Force, already? No, the scouter must have suffered damage during the battle. Either that or it could be the power of the Fruit of Might. He snatches the scouter back from her.
"It must be malfunctioning... But I can feel new strength after you used your magic to heal me..."
"Don't Saiyans train their bodies like the Earth Equestrians?"
Raditz raises a brow at that. Training? He never really had the time to do such a thing nor the drive.
"The closest thing to training I've ever done was the constant missions I would partake of. The same can be said of all Saiyans."
"But judging from your own reaction, you never had this kind of strength before, and if you've been doing missions all your life... Wouldn't you be even stronger than you are now?"
He scoffs at this yet his tail quivers in a mix of shame and anger. He already knows the answer for that. It's hurdle he has finally overcome, or at least he has started to.
"Shut your muzzle! What poultry training could help me on this backwater planet anyways?"
Cadance smiles at last bringing her hands together.
"We may be noncombatants, but we're not ignorant to battle! I can prepare you a training regiment starting tomorrow morning!"
He rolls his eyes before leaving the room. He does return to hastily grab the food basket with his head down. Cadance watches the odd Saiyan and sighs in relief.
"I can see why she would choose him... He's actually quite different from the rest of his kind. Oh Princess Luna... I pray you're well wherever you are."
Luna shouts with all her might as she pushes a powerful beam from her hands against Cooler's mere lazer vision. His small yet powerful optic beams easily driving the Princess back. He widens his eyes slightly as his attack goes in for the finish.
His attack pierces right through Luna's larger beam and goes right through her shoulder. She falls back in a shriek and holds her new wounds. He merely watches her, pleasantly surprised by her fortitude and resilience as she immediately jumps back to her feet.
"That's enough, my student. Do you know why my attack went through your own?"
She hisses through her teeth as she stands straight.
"It's because you are far stronger than me."
He holds up a finger.
"Oh but strength is merely a part of it. It's also about precision, control, and most importantly of all... Intent. When we train like this, do not hold back whatsoever, you attack to kill at all times. Do you understand?"
She nods, growing rigid and tense as he comes close by her side, he gestures to her bloody hand over the wound.
"I know you can heal that. Don't. Follow my movements and focus on how I harness my energy."
She does as she's told, the two hold their hands out forming a ball of ki, but as Cooler maintains a small shape his reluctant student's ball grows considerably. Cooler shakes his head.
"I see we will have to work on the basics."
She nearly spits with the sheer annoyance festering within her.
"I already know the basics-!"
"Then why is it that you can't control your power as well as I? Notice the difference, you've increased the size of your energy along with its potency, yet mine is contained. Condensed. You must learn to manipulate your energy in a variety of ways."
Her eyes widened. She hadn't noticed that at all. She had assumed that he was using a fraction of his power, that must have been it, yet now he reveals it to be something else?
No... A mixed truth. He is using but a minor fraction, and yet within that small scope he can fine tune and control so much power to be even smaller, to be at a near surgical precision.
"I... I know how to do that! Watch!"
She certainly did not know. However, she could try, and with great effort as sweat began to trickle down her brow... The large ball of energy before her hand reduces to a small orb at her fingertip.
Cooler remains unimpressed as he shakes his head.
"But can you do it in an instant as I can? Can you change the type of power you use from explosive, to piercing, to construct, to enhancement, all in one go?"
He shows her his own power, turning the small energy sphere into an elongated blade, he flourishes it into a whip that soon splits apart into small orbs at the ends of his fingertips that fly ahead. They fly through many walls leaving only small holes behind until an intense explosion rumbles the entire area. The walls shatter like glass showing Luna a series of destroyed walls and rooms.
She did know how to mimic his Death Beam, the attack he and Frieza often use to dispatch lowly targets in an instant, but to form ki constructs? To manipulate her own energy on such a fast pace with this ungodly level complexity?
Could she even manage such a thing? Slug surely couldn't she knew this all too well.
"This is beyond the Super Namekian..."
Cooler looks at her coldly.
"Don't compare me to a wrinkly moss covered fossil."
She leans back in slight terror as Cooler idly taps his head.
"Using lesser beings as a yardstick for me will end badly for you. Slug had his chance and my father defeated him long ago. I have long since surpassed my father and Slug has only surpassed his expiration date. That will be rectified soon... Can the same be said about you?"
Luna steels herself and hardens her gaze towards him. She will not be made a victim to this tyrant again. He may break her, squeeze her, gorge her or even tear her, but he will not get the satisfaction of making her fear him ever again.
She brings a hand up and summons forth a ball of energy. She focuses with audible struggle to change the shape. She turns it into a cube, then a pyramid, then a sharp rhombus. Cooler leans forward with a pleased expression.
"Starting off small... Yet you truly do have the gift. Frieza can hardly turn his energy into another shape at your age. He stuck with beams alone for a long time until he discovered his sick fascination with fireworks."
Luna sees an opportunity, and without warning, sends the ki dagger right for Cooler's throat! Rather than pierce his flesh, it flies through empty air, and she feels a freezing touch gently grasp her neck.
"He hadn't moved. She had him in the perfect position, his guard lowered, everything was right... So how could she have missed!? Is that what you are thinking, my protégée?"
She stood still a statue, though she shivers as his hand ran up through her hair, combing through the wave of midnight blue strands.
"Oh I can assure you even I am not that fast. However, I have achieved a power of instant placement, you could say. Your next attempt should be less obvious."
He slams her head down to the cold metal ground, her horn scrapping across it with sparks flying, pain-filled yelps and whines escape clenched teeth as his grip on her increases tremendously. He then brings up a screen showing Planet Hoof.
"Let us see today how your pet monkey did, hm?"
To both their surprise, despite the beating Raditz received no invaders had come yet. Luna lets out a breath of relief.
"I knew he could do it..."
She whispers under her breath. Cooler hears her, but releases her, chuckling as he points to the screen.
"Not so fast... There is a Frieza Ship headed right for Planet Hoof. Until it arrives on the planet, meditate and practice your energy control, my student."
She got up, bows, and leaves without a word. As she approaches the door, Salza enters, the two staring each other down until Cooler speaks up.
"Goodbye, Luna. Salza, let her through. Now."
Salza breaks out of the deadlock at once and steps aside
"Y-Yessir Monsieur Cooler!"
Luna stiffens even though the demanding tone isn't directed at her. She hurries on leaving the two alone, but stops just outside the door, using a spell to eavesdrop on them. Salza salutes his lord and makes his report.
"It is as you said, Lord Cooler. Slug has taken interest in Planet Hoof and is making his way there. He is sending scout ships ahead for intelligence. As for Frieza, he has glanced our way, and is sending his own envoy to deal with what he believes to be a dead rock fit to be transformed into a new station."
Cooler grins at the news.
"If that monkey can continue to perform at my expectations, exploiting the power of the Saiyan blood within him, then he'll kill Slug and his forces without anyone needing to get involved. That swamp trash is too stubborn to not conquer a planet he has set his eyes on... As for Frieza, who knows what he'll do when he finds out I've hired an ex-employee of his! Let alone that a Saiyan of all things is starting to close the gap of power! Hahahaha!~"
Salza tilts his head asking aloud.
"But... H-How...?"
Cooler raises a hand, frightening the confidant, but a wine glass soon floats over to his grasp. A bottle follows suit, filling the glass and calming Salza down, who waits for his lord to answer after a sip.
"Frieza at his current power is five hundred thirty thousand. Of course, you and I know the secret, but the rest of the universe does not... Imagine then, his face, should Raditz continue to perform as well as has... Being pushed back by a monkey of a similar power level. His face would be priceless, and I will have the surveillance equipment ready to broadcast it all when he comes into place. Ah, but as for how, did you know his power level is in the one hundred thousands? Far stronger than any Saiyan I can remember recently."
Salza leans back utterly aghast.
"O-One... One hundred thousand?! How!?"
"Saiyan Biology. They get stronger as they fight, however should one come close to death, yet recover from the experience? They receive an incredulously boost of power that makes it so whatever nearly killed them before could never do so again. This is why that, despite their barbaric way of life for countless millennia, they remained near top of the food chain. I plan on sending that boy to his death and each time he overcomes it? The greater boost in power he'll receive... I truly, truly, must thank Luna for bringing him to my door... And Frieza for doing such a piss poor job at genocide."
Luna finally walks away from the door with a newfound hatred for Cooler. All this suffering, this pain, the subjugation of her people and the torture to herself and Raditz?
It all was just to prank his younger brother? Cooler truly is insane, but useful, for in all the turmoil Raditz is not the only one to get stronger. Learning from him has been far more helpful for her than if she had returned to Slug. She merely has to hold out and pray Raditz can overcome the coming ordeals...
"Please Raditz, grow strong however you can..."
Cadance waits for Raditz in the outskirts of an apple orchard. When the Saiyan lands, she approaches him nodding to a farm not even a few yards away.
"Thank you for coming. You'll be helping the Apple Family with their work."
He scoffs as he stares ahead at the settlement. Not caring for the Unicorn's odd movement as she circles around him out of view.
"Farm work!? Are you serious?! Just what kind of fool do you take me for-!? A-Ag-Agh...! Uhn...!?"
He doubles over in utter exhaustion. His body, heavy. Mind, blurred with sluggish and drunken thoughts of paralysis. He knows this putrid numb feeling all too well.
"Y-You dare grab me by my tail...!?"
She walks into view as she looks out to the morning sun rising.
"I had to think long and hard about a proper training schedule for someone so powerful... Then I remembered what a friend of mine told me to do if I ever met a Saiyan! Put some pressure on their tail! You really do become helpless then, huh?"
He fumes unable to barely push himself off the ground. It then occurs to him that Cadance stands in front of him, her hands on her hips. She smiles and holds up a strange looking crown.
"However, he never said to grab it with my hand! These are called Oozaru Rings, named after your Great Ape form, and are used to keep Saiyan prisoners of war docile!"
He glares mustering the strength to speak.
"So after yesterday I've gone from your protector to prisoner...?!"
She shakes her head before clapping twice.
"Release!"
Raditz gasps as he shoots to his feet having felt his power return to him... Only to fall to his hands and knees once more after she claps once.
"Hold!"
"Agh! What... Is this...?!"
"A modified Oozaru Ring. We can control it, and by extension you, and this allows us to train you! Think of it as overcoming the weakness in your tail! Whenever an invader comes, we can release you to do your job, then back to training!"
He finally pushes himself to resting on his knees as he pants heavily. He looks to Cadance with a deathly glare.
"And how... How exactly does this help me!? This is servitude! You... You will pay for this humiliati-"
She fearlessly puts a hand over his mouth with a shush.
"Now, now, set your pride aside and help us help you. You can move already, right?"
"Hhhrrrgghh...!"
She steps away from him to gesture back to the farm.
"The Apple Family used to be one of the largest families and greatest food providers for most of Equestria. When our planets fell, most of the family went with it, leaving only the oldest of the family, Granny Smith and the youngest, Bright Mac."
"I'm aware who they are-! Wait... They're the only ones left?"
Cadance nods rubbing her arm.
"I knew quite a few of them personally when the war was still going on. They were of the strongest soldiers of the Elite Royal Army despite none of them being a Unicorn. When I asked about their power, they all answered the same, that working on their family farm gave them the headstart to surpass their peers! At least, in physicality."
She yelps when he shoves her back, but watches in slight disbelief as Raditz falls back to his hands again. She frowns with a feeling of guilt.
"M-Maybe this isn't a good idea-"
"Don't you dare take it off!"
"Huh?"
Raditz forces himself bit by bit to stand on his own, panting heavily as he takes a step forward.
"I hate to admit it but you're right... I know of a Saiyan who overcame the weakness in his tail... If I can at least achieve that much then it'll be better than wasting away for the next invasion... Not to mention my father would praise Earth Ponies for that very same strength."
He looks down at a trembling hand the closes into a tight fist.
"If I can even come close to that strength, to overcome my own weakness, I'll be one step closer to my goal...!"
Despite his intense demeanor, she beams at the Saiyan, eager to see him improve not as a fighter but as a person.
"Then your first exercise is to get to the farm and check in for morning duty!"
Cadance walks away mirthfully while Raditz can only watch her leave.
"W-Wait how does this stupid ring wo-w-work again...!? Agh...! Ca-Can anyone just... Bind me to their will...?"
He has so many similar questions, and little strength to ask, strength he saves for the grueling challenge ahead of him. It feels like eternity to approach the door, as he fell over time and time again, eventually conceding to the ground and crawling.
"Well I'll be! What's gotten into you, monkey boy? Let me guess, you ate those pears and got a stomach ache, right? I told you to just eat my apples instead!"
He looks up to Granny Smith growling under his haggard breath.
"I'm training...! I don't care for your teasing right now!"
"Well you'll not get any respect from me until you give me some first, pineapple head."
Raditz falls to his face unable to focus after taking such a devastating blow.
"P-Pinapple Head!? I don't need this right now...! Just tell me what you need done around here!"
"As you are now? I can only think of one thing you'd have any luck at..."
Hours would pass as Raditz is sentence to the most mentally exhausting task on the farm.
Babysitting.
Bright Mac runs circles around Raditz as he drags his feet from place to place. He sings happily while talking about he and Granny Smith without end. Raditz would be intrigued were it not the same conversation several times over. He would also teach him about the farm work and the hardship of managing the orchard.
He could see the old woman working all alone, picking ripe apples, fixing and replacing parts of a few sheds and fences, tending the animals, even working on knitting new clothes for herself and her son. Eventually, a thought came across his mind as he was doing push-ups with the boy sitting on his back.
"How come you aren't helping her? All you've done today is pull at my hair and rattle my ear off!"
Bright Mac evades the question resting on his back, using his hair as a small bed.
"Your mane looks all spikey but it's actually very soft!~ I could use a nap!"
"DON'T FALL ASLEEP IN MY HAIR! And don't try to escape my question!"
"... Granny doesn't like me working on the farm right now. She wanted to let me work with family... But she's all I have left. It's enough for me! She... She just misses everyone that's gone now."
Raditz lets the silence sit after that answer. He has started to get used to moving despite feeling numb. In fact feeling has started to return with basic movements, but his body is incredibly sore, which is a good sign for him. This pain is weakness leaving the body.
But what about the pain these two carry? Grief, lonesomeness, it's feelings he is familiar with but simply can't understand it in the same way they do. Don't they have something to remember their family by?
Didn't he? He never actually thought about grieving his parents, or more accurately he never had the time.
Raditz stops doing his exercise pausing then. He is the last of his family that he knows. Perhaps his brother is still alive, but how could he know? He misses his mother's loving smile, that same smile he sees on Granny Smith's face when Bright Mac runs over to her.
This farm is all this woman has.
Raditz gets up and walks over to the two with a much calmer tone.
"You've been at it all morning. Let me do some work."
Granny Smith scoffs at his offer before gesturing around.
"And let you break my things?"
He points to an empty soil field.
"I'll plow those fields with my hands. That way I don't break your equipment. We had farmers on Vegeta and I've been watching you work."
She narrows her eyes but smiles nonetheless.
"Tell you what... If you can plow the entire field in an hour? I'll feed you lunch free of charge!~"
Raditz tenses as he raises a brow.
"A-And if I fail...?"
"I'll send you off without a single nibble. You better get started! Time starts, now!"
Raditz snarls loudly as he leaps into the field in one bound with renewed stamina from fear of starvation. Granny Smith and Bright Mac watch Raditz speed by line by line in the field faster than anyone they've ever seen.
When Raditz is done, he's sweating head to toe under the bright yellow sun, and looks to where he last remember seeing the two.
"I'm...! I'm done...! Hey! How long did that take?!"
He tiredly stomps over to Granny Smith, who lays reclined with on a summer chair with an umbrella over her and a glass of sparkling apple cider. She lazily rolls her eyes to him smiling.
"No need to shout, Pineapple Head. I can hear you just fine. You finished in forty seven minutes too! Pretty impressive when you're handicapped like that."
Raditz grins back feeling gratified until she holds up a bag to him.
"Here are the seeds you can plant next for me."
"What!?"
She sits up and sips her drink batting her eyelashes at him.
"What's wrong? You look way better than when you started! You could barely move earlier and now you're marching about all high and mighty again."
"Urk-!"
He leans back. He did come here for his unconventional training, but this is slave labor! Granny Smith laughs and shakes the bag in front of him.
"You came here to work, right? You'll get your food, don't you worry, but the Sun is still up and there's still work to be done! Chop, chop!"
Raditz snatches the bag and goes planting the seeds. Bright Mac runs up to Granny Smith's side with his own glass.
"Is he finally done? It's been three hours!"
"Shush. I haven't had a day off in years and I'm gonna take advantage of it."
They both jump at his abrupt shouting as he falls to his knees. His adrenaline rush has passed and the weakness from his tail comes in full swing. Granny Smith chuckles as she covers Bright Mac's ears to save her from the Saiyan's verbal onslaught of profanity to the air.
"Although we should take care not to break him either..."
The whole day passes with Raditz begrudgingly doing work at a grueling snail's pace. When sundown arrives he miraculously has everything done, leading an impressed Granny Smith nodding at him in approval, although he lays on his back panting heavily.
"You did a pretty poor job today... But you at least did it! That's actually more than I expected! Thanks, Radish."
"So... Tired... So... Hungry..."
"Yeah, yeah we'll feed you in a second-"
She's interrupted by Raditz as he sits up in an instant. He looks down at his tail in surprise.
"The ring's effect stopped working...? I should check my scouter."
A few presses and the screen alerts him to a much higher power entering the atmosphere. Without another word, Granny Smith is blown off of her feet from the wind alone. She lays on the ground completely astonished by this.
"I forgot... Just how powerful that kid actually is...!"
Raditz flies through the sky and notes someone approaching him.
"Hey, hey! I've been looking for you!"
Windy Whistles beats her wings furiously to catch up with him. He scornfully shouts back.
"I don't have time to play babysitter right now! Some fool has arrived on this planet with a death wish!"
"That's why I've been looking for you! Some weird alien guy is attacking my home!"
"What!?"
He speeds up but she only persists flying ahead, leading him skyward to the clouds above.
"No time to explain! This way, hurry!"
He examines his scouter and sure enough, another high power level is above. Gritting his teeth, he blasts off to the city in the clouds, leaving Windy Whistles behind much to her own shock.
"Was he always this fast...?!"
Cui is an elite officer of the Frieza Force. A proud alien and ruthless soldier who kills anyone he can. However, one race of beings always gave him trouble.
Equestrians.
He loathes them. Any time he's been deployed with one he would have to hold back per Frieza's orders. He would have to play along with the lie that he, among all others of the Frieza Force, were paragons of virtue and heroes. On some paradise planets he didn't mind living this lie, but on worthless heaps such as this one full of weaklings, it annoyed him to no end.
But now he's free to do as he pleases. He stands before the town in the sky holding up one Pegasus by his throat. Some bulky looking loser with rainbow hair. The other much thinner denizens all stay back as he makes his announcement.
"Ponies of this planet, I am Cui. Lord Frieza thanks you for making this world into something worth having again. There's a big profit to be made with such resources. Surrender yourselves back into the Frieza Empire and things may go your way!~ Or else... I'll kill you all! Like this fool right h- Ngah!?"
Cui stumbles back as his vision flashes white and releases his would-be victim. He lands on his butt holding his face as the pain finally registers. That's when he hears a familiar voice speak with complete confidence.
"Get the Hell off this planet at once. No more warnings, frog lips. Try anything now and I'll roast you over a fire."
Cui looks up to see Raditz of all beings in the galaxy. If he hated anything more than Equestrians, it would have to be Saiyans, especially ones that were thought to be dead.
"You!? You're that meek little runt that struts around all proud with Vegeta! Weren't you sent on a mission on your own? Why didn't you report back!"
"I'm under new employment. Lord Cooler has claimed this planet since Frieza abandoned it. You have no power here, frog lips."
"Quit calling me that! You know my name, you lowly monkey! Your battle power is below a Saibamen! I'm more than triple your superior!"
Cui stands growling before throwing a punch. Raditz watches the punch come at him in internally amazement. Cui, an equal to Prince Vegeta in power, is to him slower than an actual snail...! With no trouble, Raditz catches the fist with a crushing grip, popping and snapping sounds as Cui whinges in great pain.
"W-Wh-Wah-What...?! H-How did you.. !?"
The indigo alien wheezes out all the hot air left in him as Raditz punches his gut, then raises the same fist to uppercut Cui right after, before pulling him by his caught fist in for a headbutt that makes a solid crack upon impact. Cui falls back flabbergasted at this turn of events, his armor already broken from the sheer power of the blows, himself convulsing from the internal damage done.
It's a living nightmare. He has to wake up from this awful dream soon!
Raditz wears a sinister smile on his face. The last invader was just some brute stranger, nothing more than a stepping stone, a big wall to bash through to make himself stronger. Cui however is apart of the great suffering he had to endure for most of his childhood. He would join with the others in bullying him, tormenting him, devaluing him.
This is a level of catharsis he could only dream of. He stomps down on Cui's chest repeatedly as he laughs.
"What was that about being my superior? Look and listen as you wail like a dog under my heel! You piece of crap! Begone from here!"
Raditz kicks him off the cloudy ground and away like a sports ball near the edge. Cui, barely able to breathe, uses his scouter. His eyes widen as he sees the number on the screen.
One hundred and seventy-six thousand...! His own power level is at a mere seventeen thousand! This is simply unreal! He presses the communicator on his scouter desperate for reinforcement.
"! I-I have trouble here! A-A traitor! He's gone rogue and is working for Cooler!"
Cui yelps as Raditz appears by his side. The Saiyan snatches his target by the throat and starts to strangle him. Cui gags as his face begins to turn deep purple and swells slightly. His eyes bulge from their sockets as Raditz's grip grows ever tighter.
"S-Stop it already! You did it! You won!"
Raditz perks up and feels something pulling on him. He turns to Windy Whistles who pulls on his arm.
"What was that...? You want me to let him go!?"
"Yeah! Can't you see you already won? You don't have to torture him like this!"
"Why shouldn't I? This bastard nearly did the same to one of your own! He's killed countless and he'll kill again if I let him go now. He is scum. Besides, even if he does leave this planet... Frieza does not tolerate failure, right Cui?"
The alien would pale were he not already being deprived of oxygen. He has seen it himself countless times, in fact he has even shifted the blame of previous failures onto his peers before, all die when they prove to be fallible in the eyes of Frieza.
What's worse is his scouter is still open, and no doubt about it, Frieza will be hearing about this failure. He utters out best he can in a pathetic plea.
"L-Let... me... join... you...!"
Raditz raises a brow before loosening his grasp, enough to let Cui breathe.
"What was that, frog lips?"
"Gah! Let-Let me join you, Raditz! Er, Lord Raditz! Frieza was always a ty-tyrant and... I really think it was wrong of him to abandon these f-fine people!"
Cui smiles at the two with a glimmer of hope in him, but soon began to gag through a choked windpipe once more as Raditz looks back to Windy Whistles, a stoic deadpan on his face.
"See what I mean? Scum."
"Then just kick him off the planet! Send him packing so Frieza can deal with him! We're tired of the warfare, okay?"
"Tch! You irritable ponies..."
Raditz glares daggers into Windy Whistles, who backs away from him fearfully, but she relaxes as she sees Cui drop to the ground still alive. He scurries and crawls back from the two laughing in disbelief... Before his eyes narrow onto her and he fires an energy wave with all his might!
The bright flash comes out as fast as lightning. She can't even move in time to dodge or defend, not that she could even defend from such an attack, but she can't do much of anything but brace for the end. She opens her eyes to see Raditz hugging her as he took the entirety of the attack for her.
"You... You saved me...!"
"Shut up and stay back."
Cui, who hasn't even made it to his feet yet, stammers and stumbles over his words as he sees Raditz with only minor burns glare at him.
"H-Hehehe...! Uh... S-Sorry...?"
"No you're not. Neither am I."
Raditz moves in a blur, kicking Cui under the chin, dragging him from the ground and sending him skyward in a single movement before firing a potent blast in his direction.
"Sunday!"
Cui is disintegrated into ash. Raditz grins feeling immense joy in that victory. He looks back to see the Pegasi taking care of each other, before going off on his own, ignoring their calls to him.
Raditz arrives at the Apple Farm and knocks against the door hard.
"Open up! I'm tired and I need food!"
Granny Smith swings the door open shouting back.
"Don't bash your monkey paws on my door like that, you'll break it! No one died tonight, did they?"
He scoffs smugly smirking.
"I killed the fool before they gave him a chance!"
He expected praise from her. Despite all the sass and aggression, this woman has been mostly positive to him, and yet he's surprised to see her frown. Not a harsh scowl or a fierce grimace, but a sad, disappointed frown.
"Did you get into it bad like last time...? You look fine to me. Did he give you no choice like that last fella?"
"What does it matter? He was easy pickings and you're safe now. Isn't that for the best?"
"... Raditz. There's more to life than just being a predator."
That struck a chord with him. For a moment, he saw in Granny Smith what he saw in his own mother, Gine would say the same thing to him before he left for his first few missions. Before everything went wrong... He shakes his head now swirling with mixed emotions.
"What is it with you people and wanting to spare these cruel ruthless bastards lives?"
Granny Smith folds her arms and shake her head. Even with as much progress he's shown today, she can still see the bloodlusting fury behind his fierce eyes.
"It isn't about just sparing them. It's about giving them a second chance. Everyone makes mistakes Raditz, especially you today around the farm, but look at how well you did cause I spared you my time and patience. It ain't just about being nice, boy. It's about building a better place to live. Hard to do that when we got what could be a great warrior just hurling around corpses."
"I didn't leave a corpse behind though-"
She shoves a finger in his face raising her voice which shuts him down.
"Not the point. In the end, it is up to you, just remember this. There's a difference between a warrior and a murderer. Which one will you be?"
Raditz didn't have an answer. He just looms at her perplexed, then impatiently snarls.
"Can I have my food now?"
Granny Smith sighs putting on a smile as she lets him in.
"Sure thing, Radish! Dinner's already on the table!"
"IF YOU'RE GONNA SAY MY NAME SAY IT RIGHT!"
The midnight hour arrives and while the others sleep well, Raditz lays in a spare bed, staring into the stars out of the window. He plays those words back into his head repeatedly.
"There's a difference between a warrior and a murderer."
Is there really? All his life the two titles were synonymous up until now. These Equestrians were more than just a couple of hippies with benefits, there was something more here to them, to this planet.
How long will he be stuck here? How much stronger can he get? ... Why does the victory he has over Cui feel stained now?
"Radish? You awake?"
"Go to bed, brat."
He didn't even have to look to know it's Bright Mac. He tiptoes to his bedside and places another basket of food on a shelf.
"You ate a lot at dinner so I figured you were still hungry...!"
"... Go to bed, brat."
"Can I use your hair?"
He sat up in an instant but spoke in a hushed strict whisper.
"You've got some nerve testing me like this at this hour-!"
He stops short of seeing the child's fearful expression. Bright Mac isn't scared of him, that he already knew, but something bothers the younger boy.
"Please? Monsters come out at night... They don't scare Granny but they scare me."
"Then I'll go kill the monsters."
"Raaadiiiiisssshhhh...!"
Bright Mac pleads much to the Saiyan's annoyance. With great reluctance he turns his head away from him, giving him access to Raditz's unbelievably long hair. Bright Mac happily lays on it and mumbles.
"Thanks... You're a real hero, Radish."
"... Go to sleep, brat..."