Applejack! What happened?" Big Mac made a beeline towards his injured sister, "Are ya legs alright?"
"Huh? Big Mac? What're ya doing in the Everfree?" Applejack looked around in confusion, "Now how'd ah get back to the farm?"
"Nice teleport, Twi!" Spike shouted as he hopped off her back, "That one didn't hurt at all! Maybe next time you can remember to warn us before you zap up back to Ponyville." he deadpanned, before taking note of his surroundings, "Hey, why aren't we at the library?"
"Buhuh?" Twilights' unfocused eyes still swiveling about in her eyesockets, before focusing on the baby dragon in front of her, "Spike? You say something?" she rubbed her forehead.
Spike blinked, "Uh yeah. I asked why we aren't at the library. Normally when you teleport us, we end up there."
"Teleport? What are you talking abou... -" she stood stock still as the memories of the last few minutes came back to her in full swing, "- I didn't cast that spell, Spike. From what I can tell, Goku did and -"
"- But how? He's not exactly a unicorn? And anyway -"
"- I know he isn't a unicorn! And his magic signature is practically nonexistant! But how... -"
"Hey Twi, you alright? You were out of it for a bit there." Goku laughed, "I was starting to worry."
"Uh, hey Goku..." her eyes didn't register his existence. She then subconsciously reached into her saddlebags with her magic, pulling out a scroll of parchment before jumping slightly and staring up at Goku, a wide and incredibly creepy grin covering her muzzle, "Goku! Just the pon- I mean saiyan - that I was looking for! I have a... " she paused for a second, " THING! Yes, a thing! At my library. In the basement! I need your help with this thing!"
"...'Thing'? Twilight, you aren't going crazy again? We don't want a repeat of the whole 'Pinkie Sense' thing again." Spike crossed his arms, giving Twilight a withering glare. She gave way quickly, her eyes falling to the ground almost as fast as her grin left her face.
Twilight sighed, "Yes, you're right Spike, I don't know what I'd... Spike? Spike!" she rushed over to the dragon, his tiny form doubled over on the ground. Goku had rushed to his side and appeared to be checking for a pulse, albeit in the wrong locations for a dragon. Twilight made a note that these were probably the locations he's check for his own pulse, but was interrupted when Spike let out a loud burp, accompanied by a green flame that quickly morphed into a rolled up scroll with the royal seal imprinted in sealing wax.
Celestia paced back and forth, a large frown plastered on her face. What had went wrong today? She woke up, raised the sun. Normal so far. Then she attended day court. Just a regular Saturday, nothing strange. She had lunch, then more day court. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until she felt a tear in the veil.
The veil isn't something any ordinary pony could comprehend, let alone sense. Celestia knew of only three ponies able to do so (including herself, of course). Breaking the veil, as far as Celestia knew, was impossible. Yet she also knew what she had felt.
Judging by they way the barged into day court, Luna and Cadence had also felt it. They had both completely derailed whatever petition the nobels had to improve their own standing, always a plus. If this meant she could ignore the upper class of Canterlot for a few hours, if only to pace in her room, having worried conversations with the other alicorns, then maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing for other things to break through the veil.
"Whatever caused it, the rip in the veil seems to have healed completely." Celestia looked over to Cadence, who was sheepishly tapping her hooves together, "Maybe it was nothing. There haven't been any reports of strange incidents or anything."
"We can't afford to take that chance. The disturbance appeared above the Everfree, maybe Twilight Sparkle saw something?" Luna suggested.
"She would send me a letter if anything catastrophic happened."
"Maybe not." Cadence spoke up, "She's been trying to prove herself even more recently, hasn't she? She might attempt to handle it herself, then send a report afterwards."
"Either way, it would be a good idea to alert your student, sister."
"I know..." Celestia sighed, " It's just she'll try to handle it herself if I tell her about this 'unprecedented magical event'. And we all know how she gets over something new or unexpected."
"The benefits outweigh the downsides, sister. You should send Twilight a letter, just try to avoid wording it in a way that alerts her curiosity. Something about keeping an eye out for strange happenings in the Everfree, perhaps?"
"A message from the Princess?!" Twilight unraveled the letter, "She never sends me a latter unless it's important! Do you realise what this means? Discord could be free again! Maybe Nightmare Moon possessed Princess Luna again!"
"How did Spike burp out that scroll?" Goku asked Rarity as Twilight continued to rant without actually reading the letter.
"Twilight is Princess Celestias' personal student. Spike uses dragonfire to relay messages."
"So does this Celestia have an adult dragon or another Spike?"
"NNNNNope!" shouted Pinkie Pie, bouncing past the shouting Twilight, "She just uses her magic."
"Why not just use telepathy instead of sending letters through burping dragons?" Goku laughed at the image, "I mean, it just seems a bit roundabout."
"Telepathy, darling? What makes you think the Princesses can use telepathy?"
"It's what me and King Kai used to talk when I wasn't training with him."
"You were trained by royalty?" asked Rarity, eyes gleaming as Twilights' ears twitched in their direction, "Oh I simply must design you some clothes fit for someone of such status! No offense, darling, but those rags you're wearing aren't exactly the pinnacle of fashion. And look at the state of them!"
"Royalty?! A visiting royal student?! Who is this 'King Kai'? I've never heard of a nation ruled by a 'Kai', is it far from here? I have so many questions!" Twilight positively beamed with excitement, assaulting Goku with a barrage of questions, not giving him time to answer.
"I don't think he's royalty, I just think that's his name. But he does watch over the entire north quadrant of the universe..." Goku scratched his chin, looking skyward, "I guess you could call him royalty. There are a whole load of Kais higher up than him."
Twilight, Rarity and Spike gaped at Goku, "Entire... north... quadrant..." asked Twilight, "Personal student... of the King of the entire north quadrant..."
"He's not really the king of it all, more like a watcher really."
"But you're his student, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And he watches over an entire quarter of the universe?"
"Yeah..."
"So... Do you have any books with you? You must know sooo much!" Twilights' eyes glowed as she stared at Goku, a hungry look in her eyes, "C-can you teach me?"
"Books? Why would I need books?" Goku asked as Twilight continued to fantasize about all the possible knowledge, "He never taught me anything about any books..."
"Twilight, dearie?" Rarity stepped in, "What, pray tell, is 'the universe'? Is it like Equestria?"
Twilight snapped out of her book-induced daydream, "Wha...? Oh Rarity. The universe is..." she rubbed her chin, "Goku? What is the universe?"
"Um, Twi? Not that Goku being the personal student of this 'King Kai' isn't cool and all, but you're forgetting about the letter tha- Hey!" Spike shouted as a purple aura tore the now opened scroll out of Spikes' claw.
As she read the letter, Twilights' expression slowly turned from apprehension to confusion to comprehension, "It says here that Princess Celestia feels that we should keep an eye out for any strange happenings in the Everfree! She must have meant for us to welcome Goku! Spike, take a letter!"
Goku crouched over to the now recovered Rainbow Dash as Twilight dictated to Spike, "Hey, you're Rainbow Dash, right?"
Dash blinked, her head turning towards Goku. She stared at him for a second before realising she was asked a question, "Heck yeah! That's me, Rainbow Dash! Fastest flier in Equestria! What's it to ya?"
"Fastest flier huh? So that must make you really strong!" Goku pounded his fists against an imaginary table.
"Heh, I could kick anyponys' flank! Even you, Mr. 'I-took-down-a-pack-of-timberolves-by-myself'!" she looked over at Twilight as she dictated furiously, Spike struggling to keep up, "Hey, what's gotten into Twilight?"
"I told her I trained under King Kai, then she kinda went off on her own, talking about books and a princess," Goku shook his head, "You'd think, ears as big as hers she'd be good at listening."
"Wait, trained under King Kai? So that makes you like his person.. -"
"No! It's not like that! Really!" Goku interrupted, "I just trained with him for a year or so! That doesn't make me his personal student!"
"So I guess you know loads about the fancy magic Twilight does, huh? Probably live in a library too." Dash winked at Goku, pleased with her teasing.
"Heh, nah. I never really got reading." Goku smiled, rubbing under his nose, "It just gets in the way of the important things!"
Rainbow Dash looked to her right, a plume of green flame engulfing the letter, "Well don't tell Twilight, big guy. She'd throw a fit if you ever told her that reading 'gets in the way'" she thought about something for a second, before adding, "On second thoughts, tell her! It'll be hilarious!"
Twilight barreled towards Goku, running straight past Rainbow Dash, "Please, come with me, Sir Goku! As a fellow personal student of royalty, I must be the best host possible! I have just planned our schedule for tonight -" she was cut off from her obsessing by a loud rumble.
"Can it wait? I'm starving!"
A plume of ash filtered through the windows of Celestias' bedroom, materialising into a sealed letter, "Well, that was fast."
"She's probably writing to tell you she got the message, sister." Luna stated as Celestia unfurled the letter, giving it a quick once-over, before here eyes widened and she read it again, only more thoroughly.
"Luna, Cadence, you need to read this." said Celestia, waving a hoof towards her fellow alicorns, "Something did come through."
"Then why can't we sense its' magical presence? It would need more magic than both us and the elements combined to pierce the veil!" Cadence waved a hoof incredulously while flying over to read the letter.
"... Personal student of a 'King Kai'? Sister, is this the ruler of a new nation, formed during my banishment?"
"I've never heard of a 'King Kai', and he isn't ruler of any nation I've ever heard of. It says here that this 'Son Goku' is capable of -" Celestia mumbled slightly to herself, moving the paper in closer, "- long-range group teleportation, accurate down to the inch, without the ball of light?"
"He must be an incredibly skilled unicorn to accomplish such a feat. Magic control like that is unheard of outside of alicorns, how far did he teleport, and how big was the group?" asked Cadence.
"It says here that it was a group of eleven, including himself, and from the middle of the Everfree to outside the barn at Sweet Apple Acres." Luna stared at the paper, disbelief evident on her face.
"Don't get worked up over it, sister. I'm sure my student has got the details mixed up. Nopony can perform feats of that nature."
"Maybe it's a secret spell from this 'King Kai'. Either way, I think we should all go and welcome Son Goku to our kingdom."
"Well it looks like all yer savin' Applebloom really worked up an appetite there, Goku!" Applejack gave him a beam as Big Mac helped her to her feet (hooves?), "Ah gotta introduce ya to the family!" she drew in a deep breath, "HEY GRANNY SMITH! GIT YER LAZY FLANK DOWN HERE! WE GOT SOMEPONY Y'ALL SHOULD MEET!"
"Applejack! Must you be so loud? You nearly woke dear Sweetie Belle." Rarity chided.
Applejack looked sheepishly at the ground, "Hehe, oops. My bad, Rares."
"What in tarnation has you all riled up down thar?" shouted a voice from the barn. This new voice had an accent much more potent than Applejacks, combined with a hoarseness obtained only in age, "Why are y'all wakin' up the elderly at this time ah night? Are those two younglings back from tah Everfree yet?" the voice mumbled to herself, the slow creaks from the stairs accenting it slightly.
"It's us, Granny! We both made it back all safe like! Thanks ta Goku, that is! He saved Applebloom from a pack a timbrwolves!"
"Goku eh?" the voice now identified as Granny Smith gave a chuckle, "Sounds like yer finally bringin' a stallion back to tah farm, eh Applejack?"
"Granny!" Applejack moaned, exasperated, "It ain't like that, he ain't even a pony, fer cryin' out loud!"
"Not a pony?" Granny asked, "Big Mac? She tellin' the truth?"
"Eeyup." the large red stallion nodded in Gokus' direction, looking on as the saiyan rubbed under his nose and chuckled awkwardly, "That's fer sure." the creaking finally stopped, as an aged green earth pony hobbled out of the door. She gasped as she saw Goku.
"Land sakes! Y'all weren't kiddin' when ya said 'not a pony'! The hay is he, some kinda monkey?"
"Nah, Granny, Goku's a saiyan! He's so nice an' all! He saved us from a pack a timberwolves!"
"A pack?! Applebloom, what have ah told y'all about lyin' ta yer granny?"
Applejack gave a small chuckle, "Actually, Granny, she ain't lyin'! Ah don't know how, but she's tellin' the truth!" she turned to Goku, "Hey Goku! Come meet mah family! This here's Granny Smith -" Applejack waved a hoof toward Granny Smith, wincing slightly as she put a little more weight on her hind legs, "- An' Big Macintosh -" the large red earth pony, still only coming up to under Gokus' chest. Both the new apples greeted Goku, Big Mac nodding slightly in his direction, and Granny Smith hobbling up and shaking Gokus' hand.
"Phew! He's a tall one Ah'll give 'im that!"
Goku returned the shake, lifting Granny Smith into the air as he put a little to much strength into it, "And I'm Son Goku, but my friends just call me Goku!" Goku beamed, before his stomach rumbled. He fell back into a sitting position, grasping his belly, "I'm starved, you wouldn't happen to have any food around here, would you?"
"Well he's plenty strong too! An with his priorities in order ta boot!" said a slightly shaken Granny Smith, after recovering from her unexpected lift, "Tell yer what, Ah'll whip up a batch of my world-famous apple pie! Git yer right as rain in no time! An -" she was interrupted by a burst of yellow light about fifty feet in the air.
From the light materialised three alicorns, one shining white with a mane that looked like the northern lights had replaced her hair. She wore golden horseshoes, a golden torque with a purple gemstone set inside it, and a tiara of, you guessed it, gold with another gemstone set in it. The second one, though not as big as the first, was still a giant compared to the regular ponies. She was coloured a midnight blue, with her mane flowing out like the night sky. Her regalia was identical to the white ones', except the jewels were replaced by a crescent moon of pure white. The smallest had a pink coat, though not as offendingly bright as Pinkie, and a striped mane of cream, pink and purple.
"Princesses!" shouted Twilight, as everyone apart from Goku lowered themselves to the ground. Twilight looked over to him and whispered, "Goku, get down. We don't want to offend the princesses!"
"Wow, you three seem much stronger than everyone else!" Goku ran up to the princesses as they landed, "Princesses, huh? So are the king and queen stronger than you?"
"And what are you, strange being?" Luna shouted, the royal canterlot voice booming, "We are looking for the one named 'Son Goku', for we have been told that he is a being of great magical prowess, as well as the personal student of one 'King Kai'." she looked over to the cowering Twilight, who had her hooves covering her ears, "Twilight Sparkle! Where is this 'Son Goku'? Can you bring him to me?"
"Son Goku? That's me! Say, how do you know my name? Same way you've heard of King Kai?" Goku addressed the princesses in the most casual tone possible.
"So you're Son Goku? I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, raiser of the sun" said the white alicorn.
"We are to be addressed as Princess Luna of Equestria, goddess of the moon." Luna bellowed.
"My name's Princess Miamore Cadenza, but just Cadence is fine. I'm the princess of love!" she raised her hoof. Goku stared at it for a second before grabbing it and giving it a vigorous shake.
"Hey! I'm Son Goku, but my friends call me Goku!" Goku beamed before rubbing his chin in thought, "Do I have to list accomplishments or something for my title?"
"That would be helpful, Son Goku." Celestia stated calmly.
"Just call me Goku." he thought for a second, "Well, I killed the Demon King Piccolo, defeated him in his younger form later. I became the first super saiyan in three thousand years, then used its' power to defeat the intergalactic warlord Freiza. I battled evil androids for the fate of the universe, then saved the Earth by using instant transmission to teleport a self-destructing Cell away from the planet. I saved the universe from Majin Buu, the eater of worlds, then I saved Earth from Baby. He was trying to revive his Truffle planet by converting all the earthlings into truffles. Then there was the shadow dragons, especially Omega Shenron. He wanted to destroy the universe." he counted off all the villains he'd defeated on his fingers, "Oh! I nearly forgot! I fought off the God of Destruction long enough for him to agree not to destroy Earth!" Goku beamed at finishing his list, glancing around as thirteen jaws slammed against the ground.
"B-buh..." Twilight blinked quickly, regaining her composure, "But how are you not dead?!"
"Oh I was. Twice, actually. But now I'm not!"
"But that's not physically possible! How can you die then die again? You have to be alive to die!" Twilight shouted, snorting out air from her nostrils.
"Oh yeah, I was brought back to life each time."
"Aaaargh! Applejack, is he lying?"
"As much as ah'd like to say he's tellin' a tall tale, I can't. He's tellin' the truth," Applejack shook her head, "Ah don't know how, but he ain't lyin'."
The three princesses blinked, finally registering what was said, before connecting telepathically, "Sister, we don't believe that Son Goku is telling the truth."
"Neither do I, I haven't even heard of this 'Earth'"
"Maybe it's from outside the veil?"
"Maybe, but do you sense any magical power coming from him, let alone enough to break the veil?"
"Maybe he's suppressing it?"
"We don't think it's possible to suppress enough power to break through the veil"
"How about we put him to the test? He seems to like to fight, how about we challenge him?"
"What sort of challenge do you have in mind?"
"How about we put him up against the strongest members of each of our guards? If he's telling the truth, he shouldn't have any problems defeating them."
"If he's telling the truth, we would be the only ponies able to hold our own, let alone beat him."
"Hah! Let him try! Unlike you, sister, We have not let our combat skills wither away! He would not stand a chance against us at full power!"
"Luna, may I remind you that we no longer allow deaths in the ring? You would have to hold back unless the situation warrents it."
"Fine. You are still as much of a stick in the mud as you were before my banishment." Celestia mentally giggles at this, "How about we make it into a tournament?"
"That's a good idea, it'll be a good way to test my new guard, as well as Goku. And, naturally, we'll enter as well."
"My guard is getting out of practice, and this will be a good way to shapen them up."
"Then it is agreed, there will be a tournament!"
The three alicorns exited their telepathy, grins on their faces, "Son Goku, how would you feel about entering a little tournament?"
This Chapter is a combination of Chapters 5 and 6.