Vegeta Takes on the FEI .

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, or its characters. They are property of Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation Ltd. I also do not own any of the actual 3- day eventers. I also do not own, and am not author of the books mentioned here. These people also exist in real life. No money is being made from this story, so suing is pointless.
"Denotes Speech"

Denotes Flashback

'Denotes thoughts'

Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed since the little incident where Bulma had falsely accused the Ouji of cheating on her. A fortnight since they had discovered Vegeta's actual reason for disappearing without a trace. Goku leaned on the fence pondering the situation blankly. He never would have guessed Vegeta would go for this type of sport… probably an attempt to show that he was better than 'Kakarotto' at something.

Goku's thoughts snapped back to reality as Vegeta's head bobbed past. The Ouji was riding a beautiful Anglo- Arab (A/N: Thoroughbred x Arab for those who don't know) its mane a shade of vanilla cream while its coat was a rich reddish- gold. Vegeta held his position perfectly still as he sat to the trot, bending the horse around his inner leg. The result was a perfect shoulder in; the horse had its nose obediently tucked in resulting in an outline even Carl Hester would be envious of. 'Steady steady steady' He kept repeating in his head. He could feel Firedance trying to take control of the pace. Reaching the corner, Vegeta slid his outside leg back a little further. Firedance broke out into a collected canter, easily repeating the previous exercise at the faster pace.

They came to a halt in the middle of the school, practising a salute to the judges. Dressage was not Vegeta's main concern, but it made sure that he knew everything about keeping his power in check for bigger things. Like showjumping. Goku threw his arms above his head, cheering and clapping. He was making enough noise for an audience alone. The Ouji twitched slightly, riding over to the larger saiya-jin before smacking him across the head.

"Cut that out you big baka. You REALLY want them to call the men in white jackets?" He hissed

"Hey… take it easy. I was only congratulating you on a good performance."

"You didn't have to make such a racket about it either!" Vegeta grumbled, allowing Firedance to promptly slobber and chew on the large saiya-jin's orange and blue gi, mistaking it for a huge animated carrot

"Oi Ahhh! Cut it out! Get off!" Goku flailed his arms slightly then fell over as the horse let his gi go, giving him a weird look at the same time. Vegeta exited the ménage, stopping to talk to one of the yard workers. The prince smirked cheesily at the large saiya-jin from his high perch. For once he was able to look down on the third class warrior.

"How about a race Kakarotto?"

"Alright!" The large saiya-jin instantly hopped to his feet.

"However, there are a few handicaps. You're not allowed to fly and it's almost like an obstacle course." Vegeta smirked walking Firedance out onto a grassy field "There's a cross country course down here. I feel like taking Firedance through it, and racing you will be quite the thrill."

"Wow Vegeta, this sounds like fun!" The larger saiya-jin almost gushed. The prince nearly barfed at the overall display of giddiness. He produced a short crop out of thin air while shortening up his reins. While letting Firedance wander to the start of the cross country course he shortened his stirrups four holes with a big smirk.

"I won't go easy on you Kakarotto. We know this course pretty well." Firedance looked at Goku, grinning in the same way Vegeta was. He scratched his head as synapses fired in his brain. 'Horses aren't meant to grin like that… right?' he thought before shrugging that train of thought off.

"Ready when you are!"

"three, two, one… GO!"

Both saiya-jins lept into top gear from standstill. Firedance had somewhat disliked the jab he got in the ribs from Vegeta, putting in a flying buck at the start. The ouji slowly adjusted his weight for high speed riding, keeping his figure streamlined with the horse. The first obstacle was a set of fences that required the horse to jump just right and/ or for the rider to duck. Firedance snorted at the fences, clearing them with ease. It was a good thing that Vegeta was so short. He easily fitted under the low beams with little ducking.

Goku was a little ahead of Vegeta to the first set of fences… that was until he forgot to look up. The larger saiya-jin let out a whoop of excitement as he easily lept over the first fence, only to crash face first into the second high beam with a sickening crack. It didn't hurt… much. Goku wobbled to the floor holding his nose in pain, then glanced up, noticing the beams.

"Ok next time duck the beams…" He muttered to himself before speeding off after Vegeta and Firedance who had gained a considerable lead on him.

Ten minutes and 16 more obstacles later, they were on the final stretch for home. It was a flat out gallop from there on. Goku had started to gain on Vegeta and Firedance and it looked like it was going to be a race to the finish line. The ouji gently gave Firedance a flick on the hindquarters while squeezing his legs gently on his sides. Firedance put on another boost of speed.

Goku gawped at how fit the horse was when he started to pull away. He had a nice view of Vegeta's rear end as well. "I guess I have to go faster." He pushed all his energy to his legs panting as his body sped up. Both Goku and Vegeta passed the finish point at the same time.

"Aaarg…No… fair…" Goku panted, collapsing onto the ground.

"Fair is fair" Vegeta smirked "I'd say Firedance is quite fast overall." He was hardly phased by the strong ride he'd put the chestnut through. "Get up Kakarotto, it's time to go back." The Ouji glanced down at the third class, who was still panting. A vein started to bulge on his head. "Fine… I'll drag you back" He muttered, picking the other Saiya-jin up by the back of his Gi while heading back to the stables.

"Will competitor #07 please make their way to arena A. I repeat…"

Vegeta tugged down the navy all purpose showing jacket he wore. He was next in the 4 ft showjumping. Earlier that day had had a massive row over the issue of wearing a riding helmet. After 'Persuading' the judges that he didn't need one, he promptly won the riding horse class as well as placed first in the medium class dressage test. Firedance let out a sigh before grinning in his horsy way. Ever since Vegeta had started to ride him, people had been questioning the horse's sanity. Especially when it randomly started neighing in a fashion that sounded suspiciously like evil laughter… only to grin innocently at a passer by. And horses DON'T grin.

After entering the ring and signalling the judges, they warmed up with a few circles of collected canter. There were only eleven fences in the course easy enough. They easily cleared the starting gate, followed by an over. They popped over fences three four and five without any problems. Then came the triple combination. It was pretty tight for the strides that Firedance made but Vegeta was pretty sure he could collect it up and still have plenty momentum to clear the three fences. The first two went well, but Firedance got a little close to the third. The saiya-jin held his breath as they rode away, not hearing the fall of a pole. He nipped Firedance into a higher gear, flying high over the fences.

Naturally the Saiya-jin no Ouji was ranked first place. He flew home later that day with the rosettes pinned to his normal navy training outfit with a large satisfied smirk on his face.

Two nights ago when Vegeta had returned home with the rosettes, Bulma had finally accepted the fact that the force that once threatened the earth was now taking part in a sport where his physical strength didn't matter. She'd agreed to helping the Ouji set up his own stables and training facilities.

Behind the main part of the CC, now stood a 30 x 60 semi- indoor arena. Next to that was a set of two stables plus a tack room on a small yard, which now contained a variety of coloured fence parts. Another area was also cornered off by strong wooden fencing to act as a small field for the animals living there. Vegeta had insisted that the horses have access to some kind of grass instead of being cooped up in a stable all day every day.

Speaking of the Saiya-jin no Ouji, a happy orange clad follower trailed the shorter figure through the large pet store. Goku randomly poked at objects, quizzing the smaller saiya-jin to a point where he was mentally exhausted and threatening to rip out a certain third class baka's pharynx if he didn't shut up.

"Hey…how much stuff do you need anyway Vegeta…" Goku whined, who was now carrying a pile of assorted items, ranging from rugs to the latest show gear. He peered over the mass of items, doing his best not to drop any.

"Good day to you sirs and… how… may I help… you…" The cashier trailed off, watching the shorter pair of his customers literally drag up a 2 horse Ifor Williams trailer to the till. Vegeta grinned in an almost infuriating way at the poor man that was slowly working his way through the large stack of items.

"We'll be taking the trailer as well." He grinned, tossing the items that had already been accounted for into the open horsebox. It took a good fifteen minutes for all the items to be checked and packed into the box. The cashier sweatdropped when the shorter of the customers handed over a credit card; not phased at all by the humongous bill.

"Well Kakarotto, our work here is done." The prince chuckled with glee. To the cashier's utter amazement, the short saiya-jin prince picked the trailer up once he was clear of the store then blasted into the air with it over his head. "Bwaahahaahahaaaa!"

The cashier sweatdropped at the sight "I wonder how much that's going to cost me in therapy."

End of Chapter 3

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