Chapter 32: Getting Schooled

Shining Armor and Flash Sentry walked out of the office. All the guards were doing the professional equivalent of standing around, bunched up by nationality.

Goku and the Neighponese ambassadors were talking in Neighponese again. Even the failed translation spell couldn't hide the fact he seemed very excited.

"What seems to have put you in a good mood, Son Goku?" Shining Armor asked.

"They have real food here," he said, relieved. "I was worried I would have to try to eat grass."

"Prince Shining Armor," Mutaito said. "We would like to supply our blessed guest with his meals as it will make him the most comfortable as he recovers from the windigo's magic."

"That would be acceptable. Would you be willing to have a palace chef witness the preparation so we can take the burden from you in future visits?"

Mutaito looked at Goku.

"Yeah, sure. Once this mess is over, I'll bring kasan with me. She's the best cook."

"It will be a pleasure entertaining your wife," Kame said.

"Yeah, I'll bring Roshi too. It's going to be weird to see him without his sunglasses. If I can barely see anything, he definitely won't with his shades on."

Shining Armor looked thoughtful. "Rock Salt."

A crystal guard came up. He did not salute.

"Sergeant, please contact the palace material mages. See if they can create a pair of glasses for our guest to help him see better."

"That would be awesome! Thanks!" Goku smiled.

"And Vermarine Quartz."

The combat mage stepped forward.

"I will be heading to the Imperial Academy. Please contact the dean and the professors involved with the ki program. If active classes are being held, I would simply like to attend instead of interrupting them for private meetings."

The mage saluted. "Yes, sire."

All the crystal guards saluted as well.

"Everyone else, get a room prepared for him." Shining Armor looked at the Equestrians, "And be respectful."

Shining Armor was rubbing the sides of his head trying to figure out how to explain all this in a letter when an instascroll popped in front of him.

"Your Majesty,

We regret to inform you the earliest class we have on life energy in the Foreign Magicks Department is Practical Application 408 at 8 a.m. However, Guest Lecturer Avyaan who teaches the 100 courses is holding a tutoring session this evening at 8 p.m. If you wish to attend, please respond soon so he may prepare.

Sincerely,

President Shimmering Cirrus"

Shining Armor erased the scroll he was writing on and switched the destination seal with the one provided with the letter.

"President Shimmering Cirrus,

I will gladly attend the tutoring session with one personal guard as preparation for the 8 a.m. class. I would like to witness both general theory and its real life uses.

Prince Shining Armor"

The sun set early in the north, but the shimmering shield kept the night bright.

"I wonder what Son Goku sees when he looks up at the light ribbons?" Flash Sentry said looking up. "Can he even see how beautiful this is?"

"I always took all of this for granted growing up," Vermarine Quartz said. "But after everything that happened, seeing it again made me understand why the tourists flock here for the ceremony."

"We are definitely spoiled," Shining Armor agreed. "What is our guest doing?"

A guard spoke into his crystal before holding it to his ear. "Currently using two sticks to shove white boiled grain into his mouth. The Neighponese diplomats are also eating the same thing with the same method, but more gracefully. They are also discussing eating fish for tomorrow."

"Chopsticks and rice, if I remember my time guarding diplomatic dinners right," Shining said. He spotted two ponies, a crystal pegasus in an academic robe and zebra in a cape, in front of the large arch marking the entrance to the college.

The two bowed.

"Prince Shining Armor," the pegasus stood. "I am President Shimmering Cirrus." He looked at the still bowing zebra. "And this is Dean Mudiwa of the Foreign Magicks department."

The zebra stood. "It is an honor, Sire."

Shining Armor nodded. "It is a pleasure to visit the college again."

"If you would follow us, your Majesty," Shimmering Cirrus said, gesturing inside.

"On behalf of myself and my colleagues," the dean said in a thick accent. "We thank you for expelling the Magic Council. They especially attacked my department as useless and a waste of resources."

"They are all arrogant jerks," Shining Armor said. "After the accident at my sister's entrance exam, they ordered my sister to be restrained so they could magically sterilize her. If Princess Celestia had not teleported in and saved my sister, she was moments from never being able to cast a spell again."

"They would do that to the Princess of Magic?"

"They would do that to a commoner foal who was too powerful to be left alone," Shining Armor said bitterly. "I heard the same shit from nobles in the command chain. Apparently according to them the one and only reason I became an officer was I'm descended from an old lover of hers named Sundial, and she was grooming me to fuck."

The president came to a stop so fast he skidded. "You're descended from Lord Sundial?"

"History said she sent him here to lead her army while the sisters fought Discord, but his failure had him completely disgraced and demoted to captain of her personal guard and later retired and disappeared."

"I was part of the failed assassination attempt against King Sombra, and I will never forget the words he said to the lord right after a trap meant for the princesses sucked his magic almost dry."

Shimmering Cirrus turned around, face full of shock and rage. "It is not my right to say. But you should really have a long talk with the princess about the real reason he was her first apprentice and most trusted pony after Princess Luna. Not whatever absolute FILTH has spread about the two of them in the centuries since."

He turned around and clopped loudly as he walked.

"President, since thou, I mean you art so upset, perhaps I should continue? We are neareth my building."

He stopped and sighed, "Yes… that is probably for the best. If you would excuse me, gentle ponies." He walked off into the bright night.

"You wouldn't know, would you?" Shining Armor asked.

"No, I do not. I was not part of the final charge into the throne room. I only prepared the potions needed to breach the walls with the Rén alchemists. The Rén are terrifying in their brilliance and have no fear of the darkness. Their and our realm's apprentices are the only reason we lasted so long."

"I have not heard of a Rén before," Shining Armor said.

It was Mudiwa's turn to stop. "Then what did the Buddhist who came on the train today call himself?"

"You mean the bipedal in orange who caused the scene today?"

The zebra nodded.

"Saiyan."

"Saiyan…" Mudiwa said slowly. "Perhaps he is from one of the barbarian tribes that lived beyond the kingdom's walls."

"That I cannot comment on," Shining Armor said. "Are… are there actually beings here from beyond the mirror?"

"No. But there is an Equus-born son of one. He is very old. Rén is also a word for their races' work. Even if a pony made it, it would still be called a zebra potion when sold, wouldn't it? But, let's hurry to the library."

"I would like to meet him, if possible," Shining Armor said as the group began to trot.

"Thou can meet him tomorrow. All anyone in the department is talking about is that there is now a way to cross over here that does not transform the traveler. He will jump at the chance."

The group entered the library section of the building from a clearly rarely used back door.

"The tutoring is happening in one of the side rooms. The teacher said as these students are already in danger of flunking the course, visual call stones are in place so you can see and hear what is happening from a neighboring room. The course book and a copy of the study material is waiting for you on the tables. The communication stone is set to one way; he is willing to answer any questions you still have afterwards."

She led them to the room and opened the door. "Hurry, before the students notice. They are stressed as it is."

"I will need guards outside the door," Shining Armor said.

"Absolutely not."

Vermarine Quartz sighed and took his helmet off. "Ok, boys. We're going undercover. Get in the room and strip."

The guards walked inside.

"Will that be satisfactory?" Shining Armor asked.

"Acceptable…" she grumbled. "If grown stallions are capable of passing as their children's age group."

"Some of those stallions are younger than the two of us," Flash Sentry said, taking off his helmet. "They'll be fine. Come on Shining."

"Thank you for guiding us," Shining Armor nodded and followed him into the room.

Flash Sentry immediately opened one of the books to a bookmark at the table while Shining Armor looked at the posters on the wall.

"Qigong, the three qis and the daiten," Flash Sentry said reading the chapter title. "Must be today's lesson."

"These posters are all about something called 'Chakra'," Shining Armor said. "Looks like it has something to do with spots on the spine of each race."

"Ah yes," Vermarine Quartz came over to stand next to Shining Armor. "Tibet and Qina practice two completely different live energy manipulation systems. Chakra was the preexisting energy system in the country the founder of Buddhism came from. But when Buddhism came to Qina, they already had an energy system called Qigong, so they took what they liked from Buddhism and kept their Qigong and created their own version of the religion."

"Which is taught here?"

"Both, but Qigong is closest to casting magic so it's the one taught first in any real detail. Chakra is more a purification thingy to get into heaven if I remember the history lessons right, but it can help with ki control as several important focus centers overlap. So, I guess purifying those spots in your body makes ki work better?" he shrugged, "But that's really advanced and not level 100 stuff."

Flash Sentry flipped to the beginning of the book and the table of contents. "Yeah, the first section is called 'The Arrival of the Buddha', then the second section this chapter is in is called 'Buddha and the Tao, Struggle and Fusion in the Rice Fields'. Oh, a chapter called 'The Legend of Son Wukong Goku'." He flipped to that chapter, "Must be the god he said he's named after." He found the first page and began reading. "'Journey to the West is the legend of how an original copy of the Buddha's teachings was delivered to Qina. Starring Son Wukong or Goku depending on the language translated from, this being titled The Monkey King is uncannily similar to Discord's reign of terror…'" Flash Sentry grimaced as he shut the book in between his hooves. "For our guest's sake, I think it's best we forget that."

"Son Wukong was also released from his prison of stone so the other gods could harness his powers during a crisis," Vermarine Quartz said. "They tricked him into putting on some kind of head circlet that caused him to writhe in agony at his controller's command… It's a difficult read at points, especially after Sombra, but it's framed as a story about his discovery of friendship while protecting the sacred books. Discord was released for the same reason too recently and now stands next to the princesses. Maybe in a few generations, Discord will be a popular name to call foals if his life continues to parallel Wukong's."

"I wouldn't go THAT far…" Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "Why don't you join the others outside the door, the lesson is scheduled to start in a few minutes and the students are all focused on the door."

"If that is your wish, your majesty," he left the room.

"Oh, the teacher is an Elephas," Flash Sentry said. "I don't know why I'm surprised at this point… Equestria was just a backwater at the time, even with the alicorns."

"Even modern Canterlot can't match the mix of races here. Minus embassy staff, it's all ponies."

"Mostly snooty unicorns really."

Shining raised his eyebrow at Flash.

"What?" he snorted. "You guys weren't originally nobles but the silver spoon you were born with is worth more than every bit my entire family has ever made since the founding. I'm just a G.I. scholarship student."

"It's not like I have family on Millionaire Row or something," he paused. "Unlike Applejack."

Flash jerked his head. "You're joshing me."

"Nope, they are actually rich as fuck," he chuckled. "Looks like they are starting."

Flash took a stack of paper out of his bag along with an ink bottle and quill.

"Really?" he said looking at the naked table in front of Shining Armor. "You could help take notes."

Shining smirked, then poofed a stack in front of himself.

"Mine's still taller," Flash said before taking the quill in his mouth.

The two watched the lesson, Flash Sentry scribbling furiously while Shining Armor just stared at the projection screen.

"You're not taking any notes again," Flash Sentry scolded.

"I don't even know where to start…" he answered, tilting his head. "I get why there's so many students here failing…"

"I've noticed they are all unicorns as well," Flash said. "Are our filament systems that different? I can relate about half of this to how pegasus magic works."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess this must be why your sister can't fly a straight line if her life depended on it." He chuckled and looked back at the screen.

They saw the teacher point in one direction with both hands, trace his arm down into his stomach, then switch arms and trace the same path out the other arm to the fingertips.

"You can use ki to generate and control lightning, fascinating," Flash Sentry scribbled down.

Shining Armor straightened his head and wrote that down. "That definitely has military implications…"

Flash Sentry glowered at him, "You didn't even realize he was talking about lightning, did you?"

"He hasn't said the word lightning once!" he defended himself.

Flash sighed, and went back to taking notes. "Did you even notice he was talking about fire earlier?"

"Yes. Ignite and burn were obvious," he grumbled.

"You don't know what static is?"

"Isn't that just one of the basic charms used on fabric and rugs listed on the tags?"

"Don't choke on the silver ladle in your mouth…" Flash sighed.

The lecture ended, and as the students and teacher packed up, Flash went to organize his papers.

"That was great. I wonder if I could learn to cast unicorn spells from my wings with the same methods."

"That's not how unicorn magic works."

"And you had no idea what he was talking about half the time, so you can't just write that off."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Vermarine Quartz poked his head in. "How did it go?"

"Great," Flash Sentry said smiling, "Can you snag the teacher for a few quick questions?"

"Yes," he nodded. Then he looked at Shining Armor who simply had a deer in the headlights look. "I only got third marks in his class, no shame your majesty." He left, closing the door.

They saw Vermarine Quartz walk into the room as the last students got up to leave.

"Hello Professor, remember me?"

"Vermarine Quartz, of course I do. You're the last unicorn I had that reached 103."

"But that was decades ago."

Professor Avyaan plopped back down on his chair. "I know… It's frustrating how well earth and pegasi do while unicorns flunk out even at the basics. And these are just history and basic theory classes, not even practical. It should just be memorization…"

"Speaking of which, my two friends are interested in asking you a couple questions before you leave."

He looked at the clock. "Alright, it's only 10:30."

Prof. Avyaan walked into the room and immediately bowed, "Your Majesty." He lifted his head and his face immediately fell seeing Shining Armor's face.

"Greeting, Prof. Avyaan," Shining armor plastered on a fake smile, "My guard has a few questions for you. Could you clarify a few things for him before we leave?"

He nodded. "I would be happy to," he said, assuming this was hiding the ruler's complete confusion.

"Yes, I have a couple questions," Flash Sentry asked. "You said magic and ki share the same filaments? But ki use can always grow with training, does that mean ki actually expands the filaments?"

"Yes," he smiled, "That is actually taught in 102. I'm glad to see that it was caught so early just from the basic description."

"Is that why they magic lock foals? Magic hardens the filaments by toddlerhood, stopping the random surges that happen in newborns."

"Also correct."

"Then why aren't far eastern unicorns the most powerful on the planet?"

Prof. Avyaan paused, realizing this question came from the pegasus. "That is the issue. The merlin nerve is actually a direct part of the brain. So, magic is integral to brain development. Locking is ultimately harmless for earth and pegasi, but in unicorns it leads to mental issues from personality disorders to full intellectual disability. If locking is done at all it is very slight and focuses on expansion before full hardening, increasing the unicorn's raw magic potential. As most pony kingdoms are ruled by unicorns or hold a very strong unicorn bias, this has led to all the hardship and misunderstanding with many pony kingdoms. Which ultimately led to a war of erasure after the empire's sealment."

"And non-pony races?"

The Elephas smiled, "While everything in Equus has some amount of magic, for the majority of races it might as well be nonexistent when compared to ponies. While species with a large mana pool like griffons will also need to lock, for races like horses, zebras, elephas, minotaurs, pandas, emus and the like have no barrier other than the natural hardening that comes with decades of life."

"I have one more question, and it's personal. If you don't wish to answer, you don't have to."

He paused. "Alright…"

"There is a young pegasus, at cutie mark age but has not received it yet. She cannot fly due to a birth defect in the filaments in her back and wings. Could ki… help her fly?"

Prof. Avyaan frowned. "Theoretically, as earth ponies focus through their hooves, but it will ultimately depend on the hardening of her filaments. She may be too old without a permanent lock. This will ultimately require a healer trained in ki to examine the foal."

Flash Sentry's wings drooped, "I see… Thank you professor. That's all that came to mind currently based on your lecture. We hope you have a pleasant night."

Prof. Avyaan bowed, "It was an honor to have his majesty listen in on my lecture."

He turned and left the room.

Vermarine Quartz poked his head in.

"I take it, it did not go well?" he asked, seeing both their faces.

"Vermarine Quartz," Prince Shining Armor said. "The professor said you're the only unicorn to pass in the past few decades?"

"I barely got third ranks though," he said, already knowing the question.

"That's better than I ever could. Please help," Shining Armor asked, desperation in his eyes.

He sighed. "Alright."

"I got plenty of notes," Flash said.

"Let's reconvene once we're back at the palace," Shining Armor said.

Dean Mudiwa came and escorted the group out of the campus along the back footpaths students had worn through the grass and bushes. Finally, they returned to the lighted paths as the gate came in sight.

"We've gotten in touch with the Rén's son," she said as they approached. "He said he will be at the practical tomorrow morning in the company of his care nurse and children."

"How old is he?"

"139," she answered. "We hope his excitement does not take him tonight."

Shining Armor stopped walking. "If he is that sick, then I can come to him."

"No, it is already arranged. Yonten always wakes early. He will be awake before the rest of you, and the disappointment will be much worse on him. The class starts at 8 a.m. sharp, so please show up by 7:30 so I can take you to the practice fields."

Shining Armor nodded respectfully, "Thank you for your assistance in this matter."

"You are welcome. Just don't arrive late." She walked out the gate and made her way down the street.

Shining Armor and the guards watched her leave.

"Let's hurry back to the palace," Shining Armor said. "We're only going to get five hours of sleep as it is."

Flash looked thoughtful, then looked at the crystal guards, "What are the chances of getting a magic propelled wagon for tomorrow morning? Save us almost forty minutes of walking."

"You mean like the prison wagon?"

"Are there no other versions?"

"It's all military usage."

Flash looked at Shining Armor. "Maybe a magic carriage for the royals would be a good idea. Based on one of the troop transports."

"Procure one of the transports for tomorrow morning," Shining Armor ordered. "Have it ready by seven."

"As you wish, sire."

The next morning…

Shining Armor was chugging coffee in his office as he got the morning briefing.

"There is a lot of excitement over Son Goku," the Equestrian advisor said. "There was a long line of reporters in front of the eastern embassies, and crowds swarming the Little Teabit area of the empire yesterday. The temple there was especially overwhelmed. No criminal incidents there. Just traffic issues and overcrowding. There were 27 hoovefights across the city. All between Equestrians and native Crystal Ponies. Buddhism is still well received by the citizens while the rest of the pony world has moved on. There were three acts of vandalism. Equestrians attacking stores that sold products labeled with the word Rén or the Eastern symbol for it once that became known. One mare that went on a rampage was misinformed and attacked seeing the word 'reed' on products."

"Were there any incidents between soldiers again?"

"No, sire. Your position on this matter was made clear yesterday."

"And how is our guest?"

"Awake and eating," the crystal pony butler said, "However he has eaten much more than the kitchens were prepared for. He said it was fine and that 'He'll make it up at lunch with pony Roshi and Mutaito'."

A crystal guard poked his head through the door. "Sire, the Neighponese ambassadors are back. They said they are here to pick up Son Goku for the morning."

"I wasn't told about this," Shining Armor said surprised.

"Do you want to have a meeting with them?"

Shining Armor sighed. "No," he waved his hoof. "Let them go do whatever they have planned."

"Yes, sire." The guard closed the door.

Shining Armor looked blurry eyed at the clock. "6:48. Ok. Everything else non-alien contact related relatively the same?"

"There are new protests from the Equestrian railroad barons about crystal trains damaging their tracks."

Shining Armor chuckled in distress, "It's their tracks that damage and limit y—our trains."

"Nice save, your majesty," the crystal pony said, shuffling papers in his magic to find anything else abnormal.

The Equestrian advisor looked to Prince Shining Armor to reprimand the disrespectful servant, but Shining Armor just chugged more coffee before using his magic to refill his cup.

"I see nothing else that cannot wait until later."

Shining Armor looked to the Equestrian aide. "And you?"

He gritted his teeth, "Nothing that comes to mind."

"Ok," Shining Armor slid back his chair. "I need to get to the demonstration. If everything else is the same as before, then continue as normal. If anything happens or needs clarifying, let me know."

The two bowed, "Yes sire."

The troop transport rolled through the morning streets.

"This is really fast," Shining Armor said looking out the window. "It's almost like a train."

"This was brand new tech when Sombra came," the driver shouted while moving a center lever next to him."

"You're grinding the gears again," the pony in the left front seat said.

"It's fine," the driver grumbled.

"Then the cost of replacing the transmission comes from your pay."

"Son Goku?!"

Goku turned around, wearing what looked like a set of blue-tinted goggles. "Yo!" he raised his hand. "Your Prince-ship!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Lord Mutaito invited me to the demonstration since these goggles work so well before we hit Teabit Town," Goku smiled. "Kame-kun will be fighting today."

"Fighting?"

"Yes, apparently Shen and Tao are the teachers today," he answered, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

"You seem nervous," Flash said wearily.

Goku chuckled awkwardly, "Lord Mutaito said not to say anything, as although we are twin realms, we are in many ways opposites."

"Then your versions are not of good character?" he asked

"That's the understatement of the century."

"So how are you this morning?" Shining Armor asked.

Goku sighed, "Didn't sleep well. King Kai still won't let me transform to just break this curse already. But he said last he checked, Vegeta was in the main castle eating breakfast with someone called Princess Luna, so he'll be fine until I get there. And Bulla is with someone called Discord, who I'm told is a good person despite the name."

"That's good to hear. My wife should be arriving in the capital this morning as well." Shining Armor's jaw dropped slightly. "Crap. The letter."

Then he yawned. "Pardon me."

The yawn spread through the group.

"You guys ok?" Goku asked.

"We had a late-night learning how ki worked," Shining Armor said. "So, we could understand this morning's lesson."

"Ah," Goku smiled, "Sounds like my oldest son. He'll just lose himself in his books and forget everything else."

Goku looked over at Mudiwa, "Oh, are you Dean Mudiwa, Miss Zebra-lady? You are a woman, right? With the jewelry?"

She smiled, "Yes. I am."

Goku politely bowed, "Lord Mutaito introduced me to your husband and his father right before you showed up." He stood up and raised his fists to his shoulder. "Your family is awesome." His eyes sparkled. "You're going to love Bulma and the Doc. I'm just as excited to introduce them as they are to meet them."

"Bulma is Prince Vegeta's wife, correct?" Shining Armor said.

"Yep. And Dr. Brief is her father. They both make the most advanced stuff on Earth. Panchy is her mom. She makes the best tea and tons of snacks. Oh, then there's their cat Scratch. He constantly rides on the Doc's shoulders or sleeps on Vegeta."

"A royal family of alchemists. Sounds interesting," Mudiwa smiled. "I look forward to meeting them too." She turned back to the group, "If you would follow me to the bleachers."

Goku bowed as they continued past.

He stood straight. "Shen Long really outdid himself," he put his hand on his forehead, "I hope he changed history or something so this is real, because these guys are way too proud of being Earthlings to be heart broken."

Shining Armor and his retinue were guided to the spot roped off for them, center front row of the middle bleachers. To their left were various races in eastern style clothes, with many in temple robes. Behind and filling out the rest of the section to his right were students with their backpacks and notebooks. And just as was said last night, not a single unicorn student in sight. But in the section to the left past the walking path, crowds of ponies were pushing against each other.

Shining Armor recognized members of the press with bulky magic recorders. Newsreels, they called it, if he remembered right. He then looked at another section of bleachers to the right and saw a similar sight.

"Greetings, your Majesty."

"Lord Mutaito, welcome." Shining Armor waved for him to enter his circle of guards.

"Quite busy for such an early lesson," he smiled sitting down. "Reminds me of the temple yesterday. Our visitor from the other side hath brought great interest to our way of life."

"Campus security has done a good job keeping the press away from Goku. I would think they would be swarming him."

Mutaito chuckled. "Oh he hath already spoketh to the press. In fact, he stuck his eye right up to the lens asking what those things were."

Shining Armor's ears fell. "What did he say?"

"Oh, he spent half the time talking about something called a cell phone. It's a communication stone and image recorder and projector in one thing about the size of his hand. The ponies dragging those large boxes around were very interested."

"And the rest?"

"He said he was here on a rescue mission as his friend and daughter were teleported to this planet accidently by a magic stone. But King Kai and the doctors won't let him leave until the 'ghost horse's' cold magic wears off. But you knew where Prince Vegeta was and sent letters about his current problem. Do not fret. He did not say he was a god, just that he was in telepathic contact with him. When asked how that was possible over such a long distance, he just shrugged. He shrugged a lot and easily asked about thrice as many questions as he answered."

Shining Armor let a breath out he did not realize he was holding.

"But the real reason I came over," Mutaito pulled a bag from his robe, "Are these."

Shining Armor took the bag in his magic and pulled out a pair of goggles.

"Enchanted welder's goggles. It will protect your eyes from ki light while still allowing you to see. Those not used to it cannot handle the brightness."

Shining Armor remembered the balls of light from the day before. "Thank you for thinking of us."

He smiled. "They art standard issue for this class. I haft been told the sudden interest hath left many frantic assistants digging through dusty crates all night." He looked over at the crowds, "The security made many sign papers in order to enter because of it."

"Have the hospitals been notified?" Flash asked, realizing why.

"Thou would haft to ask the principal that." Mutaito bowed and left.

"Someone get the principal," Flash barked, not waiting for Shining Armor to respond.

One of the crystal guards left.

Suddenly a loud gong rang out.

The students immediately stopped talking and began putting on their goggles.

The gong sounded two more times, bringing the remaining conversations to a stop.

Two earth ponies trotted out. Shining Armor noticed Goku's twitch.

One was a slightly larger than average light blue earth pony with a green robe with a yellow long-sleeved undershirt and black bird as a hat. The other was a massive golden brown pony in a pink robe with a purple long-sleeved undershirt. The one with the pink robe had his long black mane braided with a red ribbon.

The two stopped in front of two microphones set up on the field.

"Greeting students and honored guests," the blue pony began. "I am Master Shen, leader of the Crane school of ki arts and head professor of practical applications." He looked to his left, "And this is my younger brother Tao, professor of martial ki arts. Today's lesson is a sparring match between Tao of the Crane School and Kame of the Turtle School. Do not worry for your safety, as duels between the Crane and Kame schools take place this time every semester and have a well established tradition to use the hoofball sidelines as the safety limit. You can also see we have monks from the temple standing along the safety line to cast ki shields in an emergency. I will mention as our honored guests are Prince Shining Armor, Son Goku from beyond the mirror, and Lord Mutaito, ancient ambassador of Neighpon and founder of the original school of martial arts both the Crane School and Turtle School descend from."

The two ponies then sat back and bowed with their hooves touching facing Lord Mutaito. All the eastern ponies did the same. Son Goku also stood from his seat next to the lord and bowed with his hands together.

Shining Armor glanced behind him and saw the students scramble to take the same pose.

Shining Armor then stood, catching everyone's attention. He sat back and put his hooves together but did not bow his head.

Lord Mutaito smiled at the royal section and returned the gesture, bowing his head to the prince.

The two professors stood again.

"Alright, everyone. Return to your seats and prepare for the lesson." Master Shen waited for the ruffling to end before he continued.

"I will briefly go over the concept of life energy and the three foci of concentration for our guests while Master Tao goes over the motions."

Tao then stood on his hind legs and seemed perfectly comfortable in that awkward position.

"The first we will go over is the Lower Daiten."

Tao rested his hooves above his abdomen.

"This is the root of a person's life energy. Separated into the Yin and Yang, the life energy you were born with that dictates the length of your life, and the energy one absorbs from the world throughout one's life. Breathing, eating, drinking, and also the emotions of those around you. Both need to be balanced and in fluid motion for qi to form. This is the most important foci for the martial use of qi, called Neijin."

Toa moved his hooves over his heart.

"The Middle Daiten is the heart. This is where qi becomes shen, your mind and spirit. But in this instance, it is wakefulness, awareness, emotions, and personality.

Tao pointed at his head.

"The Upper Daiten houses shen, and through spiritual practices can be transformed again to gain enlightenment and a connection to the gods and primordial essences of the world."

Tao lowered his upper legs and actually held them behind his back.

Goku tilted his head with a shocked and confused look on his face. He muttered something in Neighponese, but was too soft for Shining Armor's translation spell to function. He watched Lord Mutaito speak with Goku and he pointed at Toa then put the hand on his shoulder as he rotated it.

"This is not a linear path, but moves like water. Solid," Tao took over speaking, pointing at his stomach, "Liquid," he pointed at his heart, "and Gas," he pointed at his head. He lowered his hoof. "But that has little to do with what we are showing you today. This is all about free movement of life energy and utilizing the lower foci as the source of your power. Now qi flows through specific channels in the body called meridians. With training, one can control the movement of qi within the body." He paused for effect, "And ultimately…"

Tao held his hooves in front of him. Then a ball of light appeared.

"… outside of the body. Now, I know what our visitors are thinking. This is just magic. No, it is not," he extinguished the ball and returned his hooves to his back. "But the qi meridians and mana filaments are actually the same body structure. While magic hardens the meridians, qi causes them to expand. That is why races with high mana content, like ponies, griffons, deerkin, kirins, and abadas, must use mana locks to allow qi to build up to the point it can be used as their meridians hardened as youth. If done young among the non-casting magical races, magic locks allow the meridians to expand greatly in capacity, allowing for simultaneous use of magic and qi. While this will delay magical competency and cutie mark acquisition in earth ponies and pegasi by a few years compared to not practicing nations, there are no long-lasting effects and our adults are indistinguishable in terms of magical ability than yours. Now, you notice I said non-casting races. The Upper Daiten, the one in your head, is specifically in the middle of your forehead. That's where the magic nodes are in the brain of these races. Long term magic locking of a caster foal, especially on the horns or antlers, causes mental and personality issues and sometimes permanent impairment. That is why magic locking a caster is ineffective as the magic cannot be cut off in any meaningful way to slow down the hardening of the meridians."

"Now with the explanation over with," Master Shen took over, "we have a demonstration to prove qi is not magic. Would a unicorn volunteer from the audience," he opened a box and pulled out some locks, "To prove the authenticity of these locks. While we do have a fellow professor waiting, having a volunteer will eliminate conspiracy theories of being a hoax."

Everyone looked at each other in the stands.

"No volunteers?" Master Shen asked after a couple minutes.

There was another long pause.

Shen sighed, "Alright then. Would Professor—"

"Wait!" Shining Armor stood raising his hoof, "I volunteer!"

Everyone went silent.

"Shining, that will leave you too vulnerable. You're a prince now for Celestia's sake," Flash scolded in a whisper.

Shining Armor looked at him. "They trained us to push our magic past locks during elite training. I might not be 100%, but I won't be helpless. It's not like there are changelings here."

The guards surrounded him as he walked onto the field. Vermarine Quartz turned around and cast a shield facing the audience.

Master Shen and Tao bowed to Shining Armor.

"We are honored that you volunteered, your majesty," Tao said.

"I've been locked before during my military training," he smiled. "I would be the most comfortable wearing them compared to a random civilian."

"Your compassion is unending," Master Shen said, rising. He leaned into the microphone, "Bring out the pallet."

Four crystal ponies came out from behind the bleachers pulling a cart with a pallet of white marble blocks. They stopped in front of the guards, removed their yokes, and unloaded the pallet. It made a deep thud when it hit the ground.

Shen motioned to the pallet. "Your majesty, if you would lift the stones."

Shining Armor nodded, then easily lifted the pallet high in the air. "While fine for me, I think a normal unicorn would struggle depending on their talent," he said, placing it back down.

"Then let's put the locks on."

Shining Armor stood calmly as the shackles were put on each leg. He took a deep breath and blew it out. "And there's the tingle… hope these are good quality. If the metals don't mix right, they itch really bad."

"Were you given a bad set in your training?"

"The military deliberately gives you itchy locks during training," he said dryly.

Shining Armor took deep deliberate breaths as the locks began to take effect one by one.

"And now the chest piece," Shen pulled it from the box.

"Those are meant for pegasi," Flash said.

"We do not horn lock," Shen stressed. "These will block his magic all the same."

The first set of straps went over his head, then the belly straps were threaded under his legs and connected behind his shoulders.

Shining Armor winced and his knees buckled. "Fucking shit, where did you get these? And I thought the ones we wore in elite training were bad." He regained his posture and shook his head clear. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ok, let's cast the spell again…"

Shining Armor visibly strained, but a small spark came from his horn to the shock of everyone. He lifted the pallet of cut stone, albeit much slower. He set it down after only a few feet with a loud thud. The stones shifted from the impact.

"Yeah… these work…" he panted, "Now get them off of me."

Tao took off his clothes and the magic locks were moved directly from Shining Armor to him.

Shining Armor sighed relieved. "They never pegasus locked unicorns in training." He put his hoof on his chest, "That really messed with my filaments in ways I wasn't trained for. Thank you for the enlightening experience."

"If his majesty would return to his seat," Master Shen bowed, "We can continue."

He and his guards were barely in their seats when gasps and shouts came from the crowd. He looked up and saw Tao, who confusingly had a wooden log with wings as his cutie mark, rise into the air. He then zipped about and did acrobatics worthy of elite pegasus troops. Then he made multiple light balls and began spinning them around as he moved his hooves.

Goku interrupted the demonstration by clapping and cheering.

Tao dropped down. "Seems our guest has not been informed of proper manners on Equus," he scolded into the microphone.

Goku blushed, then shot up from his seat and bowed with his head almost touching his knees. "Sorry!"

Many of the eastern ponies next to him laughed and Lord Mutaito put his hoof on his arm.

Goku sat back down.

Master Shen took back the microphone. "Now with that demonstration over, would Kame come over and prepare for the duel."

Kame stood up and took off his robes. His cutie mark was the back of a turtle shell surrounded by six hooked balls of fire.

The two placed their hooves together, then stood on their rear legs.

Shining Armor noticed the strange way the muscles moved around their rear legs. The wrong ones were bulky while what normally would be well developed were thinned.

"How often do you have to stand on your back legs for that to happen?" he thought. "Can they even gallop at any real speed?"

Kame made the first move, leaping in, and was met by a parry. He tilted his head dodging the uppercut. The fight continued at blistering speed in a dizzying mix of bipedal and four-legged stances.

"I can barely follow that," Shining Armor said.

"Really?" Flash said. "I can see it fine."

"That makes sense, I guess. We really are built differently," Shining Armor said.

Kame was the first to fire a ki blast.

Tao jumped in the air and floated as the ball went under him and dug a trench in the ground burning the surrounding grass.

Kame joined him in the air and the fight continued. Lightning and fire balls joined the fight. Tao even levitated one of the heavy stone blocks to block a ki blast, then began launching the sharp shards at him.

"How did we win that war and still not see ki as a threat?" Flash said, jaw on the floor.

"They let us win…" Shining Armor thought. "To save the reputation of their gods. A silly fantasy is easier to recover from than being labeled dark magic." Then his mind ran the combat scenarios if they hadn't. "Tens of thousands of innocent ponies being labeled dark wizards. Corrupting and locking children…"

"Because we would have killed every last stallion, mare and child…" he muttered.

Kame grabbed a bolt of lightning, spun, and threw it back at Tao.

Who wasn't there.

Kame dropped, the ki blast singing the top of his mane. Quickly he formed a ki ball with his back hooves and bucked it behind him.

Tao wasn't able to dodge completely and took a direct hit in his front left leg.

Tao gripped his shoulder, disbelief all over his face.

"(Ha! I hit you! Even if I lose again, you can't take that back!)" the translation spell picked up.

"(You're going to regret that!)"

Tao screamed and what looked like near transparent flames flickered across his fur. He lunged at him. All Kame could do was cross his legs as he was thrown into the ground. It left a crater.

He was barely able to roll and leap out of the way as Tao plunged full speed into the crater with his extended back leg, deepening the hole to the edge of the safety line. Kame flamed up as well.

To Shining Armor the battle now was only loud cracks and flashes of light.

"I can't follow them anymore," Flash said. "There faster than even pegasis sight."

Goku suddenly stood up. But Lord Mutaito grabbed his arm. Goku nodded then sat back down.

Suddenly there was a huge burst of light and wind that kicked up the dirt from the torn-up ground.

Lord Mutaito was in the sky covered in the same flames, glaring down Tao.

Behind him, Kame looked horrible. Burns, bleeding cuts, and would definitely need facial reconstruction magic.

"That tis enough Tao!" Mutaito shouted in Ponish. "This was meant to be a peaceful demonstration. Not a beatdown! Swallow thy pride and accept thy touch with humility and learn from it! Thou art a disgrace to the school I founded one thousand years ago! Kowtow! Get on the ground and kowtow now! BEG FOR MY FORGIVENESS AND ACCEPT THY PUNISHMENT WITH GRACE!"

Tao dropped to the ground and prostrated himself. Lord Mutaito dropped next, shortly followed by Kame.

Goku got there first before the nursing staff. "(Kame-kun! Are you ok?)"

"(Yeah,)" he slurred, smiling through missing teeth and a broken jaw, "(This is nothing.)"

The staff arrived and the unicorns immediately started their healing spells. Goku watched as his jaw realigned and his teeth regrew almost instantly. Soon he looked like nothing happened.

Kame then turned to the crowd, stood on his hind legs, and held his hooves in the air. "I'm ok!" he shouted in Ponish, trying to be louder than Mutaito. "All better! Nothing bad happened!"

"THY PUNISHMENT WILL BE TO FIGHT SON GOKU!"

"Wait?! What?!" Goku turned around and saw Mutaito pointing at him with Master Shen now kowtowing as well next to his brother.

"HAFT THY PRIDE SHATTER AGAINST THE UNBREAKABLE WALL THAT IS A TRUE RÉN! AND YOUR INJURIES WILL HEAL WITHOUT MAGIC! WEAR THIS LESSON ON THY FLESH FOR THE REST OF THY LIFE! AND SHEN, YOU WILL TAKE LEAVE OF YOUR POST UNTIL I AM SATISFIED YOU ARE ABLE TO REPRESENT AND TEACH ABOUT OUR RACES WITHOUT ERROR!"

"Yes, Lord Mutaito! I will take sabbatical immediately and return to the temple," Shen shouted.

Tao was silent.

Shen elbowed him. "Apologize to the lord master."

Tao sat up and looked the master in the eyes. "I will fight the Rén," he said firmly.

"Tao!" Shen shouted.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Goku said, holding his hands up in front of him. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Mutaito dropped to all four hooves and walked over. "Thou art the one who humbled the mirror's copy of Tao. You will do so again."

"My Tao is an assassin I left for dead. Not a respected college professor!"

The crowd gasped and muttered.

"Pride is pride!"

"I'm not hurting him! Gohan will never forgive me!"

"You will fight me, Rén!"

The two looked and saw Tao standing on his hind legs, pushing away his brother's attempts to pull him back down.

"In your world, that fool is your master!" he pointed at his shoulder. "Take responsibility for this insult and fight me!"

Goku's arms flopped to his side and his knees bent slightly. "Oh, come on, what is this? A bad beer commercial?"

Tao lunged at him.

Lord Mutaito effortlessly moved to the side while Goku tilted his head and felt the long hair on his hoof tickle his ear. He jumped back and jumped in the air.

Tao soon followed.

Goku kept dodging by a hair's breadth, constantly in retreat. "Come on, man, I mean horse. Do you really want to do this?"

"I AM THE UNDEFEATED LEGEND TAOPAIPAI! YOU WILL WEAR MY SCAR AS RETRIBUTION RÉN!"

"Technically I'm a… know what? Never mind."

As Goku continued to back away, Mutaito came up to the royal section and was let straight in.

"Greeting again, your highness." He sat down next to him.

Shen began to move.

"WHEN DID I SAY THOU COULD MOVE!"

Shen shouted in alarm and prostrated himself again, now facing Mutaito's current spot.

"Now, that tis better," he relaxed. "So tell me, great soldiers of the west, what do you see? Anyone can speak. Doesth not need to wait on the prince."

"Goku is barely staying out of Tao's reach," Flash said. "But with everything we know about him, that can't be right. It would be terrifying if he was an equal to a being of his importance."

"Good. Now what else do you see?"

"Goku is completely calm. He's trying to de-escalate," Shining Armor said.

"And what does that mean?"

"Son Goku is in complete control of the situation," Vermarine Quartz said. "He's not using any serious life energy. Minimum movements. Calm. Collected. Casual. Effortless."

"Good," Mutaito smiled. "Glad to see western rulers with awareness. Now. What do you predict will happen?"

"Son Goku will need to use more life power," a crystal pegasis guard said. "Right now, dodging with such little room to spare could be giving self-confidence to his opponent considering his ego."

Tao began shooting small ki balls.

Goku fluidly flew between them.

"Decent scattershot," he said. "Piccolo's is better."

Tao raised both his front legs, then threw them down crossing his hooves.

The balls stopped and shot at Goku.

Goku repeated the performance. Many shots impacted each other and exploded.

"He's leading the blasts away from the stands," Shining Armor said.

"Guided scatter shot. Also Piccolo. Got anything new?"

Tao blew steam out his nose. He held his front legs sideways then slammed his hooves together.

The balls began rotating around each other following the same path and merged into one wide beam.

Goku again sidestepped it and watched the large beam enter the sky and hit the great shield.

It passed right through without even a flicker.

The crowd began to shout in panic as the empire's one defender failed spectacularly.

"The crystal heart just… failed…" Shining Armor said, mouth agape.

"Did thou not know of that weakness?" Mutaito looked at them. "The late empress was keenly aware of it." He looked back up, "Tis why she gave us autonomy and eternal land rights."

"You were her army?" Flash asked.

"We were her protectors… but treachery from within cannot be so easily dealt with a ki blast." He sighed, "I wonder if Earth is still as beautiful as the descriptions after one thousand years."

Shining Armor spun his head to him. "You're not leaving. We need you and your ponies," he also looked back up. "Especially since this power is completely normal for the rest of the galaxy. The shields…." His voice trailed off. "… I'm useless…" he said softly.

Goku looked confused at the screaming crowds, frantically looking for a stay crater or something to justify it.

Tao shot a bolt of lightning at him while he was distracted.

Goku went stiff as a board, and fell silently to the ground.

"(SO!)" Tao grinned maniacally, "(Rén are weak to lightning. Good to know)."

Goku shook his head, then leapt out of the way into the air as a lightning bolt hit the ground where he was.

"Oh, my arm hairs are standing up."

Duck.

"Fucking hell, dude!"

Dodge.

"I have heart issues! Come on, AHH!"

Leap in between the legs.

"You trying to kill me?!"

Goku dodged another bolt and heard screams.

Goku looked behind him and saw Tao had knocked a chunk out of a nearby building.

"Fuck."

Goku darted for the ground. He dodged two more strikes as he swooped down and grabbed the microphone pole. The microphone itself was pulled loose by the cord as Goku flew back up in the sky.

Goku let go of the pole and levitated it next to him.

"And what good will that do for you?" Tao shot another bolt.

It diverted and hit the pole.

Goku smiled. "IT'S METAL FOOL!"

Tao sneered and doubled down on the lightning.

Goku spun the pole around and soon was able to control the direction the bolt exited.

"Quick witted and resourceful," Mutaito beamed. "What a wonderful student his Kame-Senin has raised."

"That smile," Shining Armor said frustrated. "He's playing with him now instead of ending it."

"Yeah, he's definitely messing with him now," Flash gritted his teeth, "And after that building was damaged. Maybe we should evacuate the civilians."

"Doesth thou not see the monks standing along the safety line? All art safe."

Tao shouted in frustration and shot a ki blast at the pole.

Goku tucked it behind him and deflected the blast with his arm.

Tao looked surprised, then made several balls and shot a large beam of fire. The balls of light circled the inferno as it hurtled towards him.

Goku just smiled and stood still as it impacted him.

"Goku!" Shining and many of his guards shouted at once as the rest of the audience screamed.

Once the smoke settled, Goku was fine. His clothes were worn and burning in a couple places, but he was unharmed.

And still grinning.

"You know, that lightning took me off guard. I've never seen it before, but honestly if my wife wasn't so paranoid after my heart attack, I wouldn't have bothered. I'd rather not get murdered by her if she found out I didn't dodge."

Goku stopped levitating the pole and let it fall to the ground.

Toa shot a bolt again.

This time Goku waved his arm and the bolt changed direction into the sky.

"How did you redirect it without it hitting you?!" he shouted.

"I don't blame you guys for not being able to do that, considering how hampered your ki use is."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Tao gestured to his locks. "I DON'T HAVE A GRAIN OF MAGIC IN ANY OF MY CHANNELS!"

Goku formed his fists and tapped them together. "Your hooves. They are just hard dead tissue, right? Must be like trying to use a cell phone while wearing boxing gloves."

Goku held his hands in front of him. "You wanted to see the best Earth's Kame School of martial arts has to offer? Well, here it is. I suggest you dodge."

So much light came from his hands Shining Armor's goggles darkened to a black dot.

Everyone else without goggles were covering their heads and gasping in surprise and pain.

Goku began moving his arms to his side.

"KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAA!"

A wide black streak came from his hands with a loud roar of wind that stung on his fur as the wave of pressure pushed Shining Armor's mane straight back.

Tao did not dodge, but put all his power into a shield.

"Idiot!" someone shouted as Shining Armor's goggles went pure black at the impact.

Then came more screams.

Shining pulled his goggles off.

Goku was still where he was, with his arms in the air.

Tao was nowhere to be found at first.

"(You cost me my hair!)"

"(I saved your life!)"

Tao and Shen were rolling and punching each other on the ground. Tao had lost most of his mane, but Shen was much worse off.

Half his robe was gone, his haunches and back legs burned and bleeding, and the hair on his tail was almost completely gone leaving the physical stump.

The monks rushed from the safety line to break up the fight while the nurses that treated Kame earlier grabbed their bags.

Tao got on top and pinned him, and being so much larger, was able to begin stomping on his burnt legs.

The monks grabbed and began pulling him off, but Tao sent them sprawling with his ki.

Then Goku flew down, physically picked him up, leaving him cursing and his legs flailing in the air. Goku casually carried Tao like a sack of flour over his shoulder then tossed him hard on the ground.

"Stay out of my way," he glared down into the crater.

Goku turned his back and began walking away.

Tao shook himself off and lunged at his back. Goku did not turn around, he simply raised his hand, uppercutting his jaw. He flew higher than the stands before landing with a thud.

He did not get up.

Shen was screaming when Goku ran up. He saw his bleeding feet.

"Oh, Kais. I didn't do that, right?" Goku was physically shocked.

"No," Shen said. "You didn't break my legs." He took a sharp breath and lifted his head, "Why did you? You tried to kill him."

"No. I said at the beginning I was not going to hurt him. I was always going to pull the beam up when I saw it wouldn't bounce off the big shiny shield," Goku said, glancing up briefly. "But the energy would be enough to singe his fur a little. I wasn't expecting you to jump up." Goku scratched his nose, "I thought you guys were stronger."

Shen lowered his head back on the ground. "I'm not surprised. I… can't believe you concentrated so much ki into such a small beam. That dumb ass didn't even notice…"

Goku held up his palm. "Like I said, it's your hooves. There's a barrier between your flesh and the air."

"Wouldn't clothing cause the same issue?" a monk asked.

Goku looked at him, "While I don't normally wear gloves, I've never noticed a problem. But there's a major issue with how I've seen you guys handle ki. It's messy, very thin. Like putting a spray nozzle on a garden hose."

The ponies lifted their dominant front leg and looked at their hooves.

A minotaur stepped forward. "Son Goku. Would you teach us? As ponies are the ones who revealed the teachings through the mirror, we all use ki the same way."

Goku rubbed his chin, "I can try. I'm nowhere near 100%. The kill curse the ice ghosts used attacks your ki and sucks it dry. I have more ki than it can eat, but I really felt it while trying to do the Kamehameha. It felt like trying to force water through a sponge."

"How long will it take to wear off?" he asked, worried.

"Should be gone by tomorrow, but that's when I'm headed to grab Vegeta and Bulla. I mean, I can always come back. But I don't know how soon I can do that." Goku gave his goofy grin. "I mean I really want to. Discovering brand new styles is always fun. I'd honestly rather learn than teach."

"DON'T THOU DARE HEAL HIM!"

"AS LONG AS HE HAS NO BROKEN BONES, DON'T WAKE TAO UP YET!"

Mutaito landed while Shining Armor ran up, Flash Sentry floating next to him keeping pace. Flash landed next to Shining Armor when he stopped.

"Son Goku. I am sorry, but I must ask you to guard Tao for the time being. As thoroughly demonstrated, our hoofcuffs are useless against his power."

"Again, all matters of ki and the East art handled by the daimyo. The treaty should be easy to find in the palace papers," Mutaito said harshly. He looked back at Goku and softened his expression. "Son Goku, I must ask a similar request. But to take him to the daimyo and not the palace." He looked back at the prince, "As you just said, the palace is highly inadequate for the task."

Goku looked at Tao. "You're arresting him for something?"

Flash angrily pointed at the smoking building.

Goku opened his mouth and gave a silent "ohhhhhhhhhhh." Then he scratched his head. "Why didn't it have a lightning rod?"

"A what?" both Flash and Shining said.

"A metal guard that protects from lightning strikes. Like how I used the pole to protect myself."

"Is every building on Earth inside a metal cage?"

"No, it's just a metal stick and wires."

"Pony-made lightning will go wherever the pony desires," Flash Sentry said.

"I believe you mean magic lighting," Goku said. "That was real lighting. And real lighting will hit the highest point unless metal is present." He gestured casually at the damaged stone building. "And that's the tallest thing in that direction."

"All lighting is—" Flash stopped himself.

"Magic?" Mutaito raised his eyebrow.

"Wait…" Goku said, scratching his head. "Did you actually think he was aiming at the pole?"

"Lightning," Shining Armor cut into the conversation, "Can be deflected by metal at very short range, but that was the first time I saw it used effectively."

"Because magic makes the lighting go exactly where the person wants, right?" Goku grinned. "But he had no magic with all those chains he was wearing."

"Your majesty," a guard rushed over. "The dean and president are talking to the press."

At the press core, the equestrians were frantic while the crystal ponies were calmer, but still shocked.

"President Shimmering Cirrus. Foreign Correspondent Tin Foil from the Manehattan Herald. What do you say to the complete and utter failure of the crystal heart?"

"Ki and magic do not mix," he said calmly. He pointed up with his hoof. "While previous demonstrations never reached the level of a true fight like we just witnessed, the fact a blast went through the shield was completely expected."

"Are you saying we are all helpless against this alien threat?!"

"You're a moron," a younger crystal pony shouted. She turned to Shimmering Cirrus. "President, Obsidian Razor, university press. What will you do about the long running betting pool over when the Dolomite Conservatory's façade would finally fail after all the repeated lightning strikes over the six decades it's been taught?"

"Well, while the circumstances are unusual, in the end this was a lesson and so it would be wrong to—"

"Don't say another word! That's an order," Shining Armor ran up.

Guards began separating the staff from the press.

"Prince Shining Armor, what tis this about?"

"You're both being taken for questioning. This entire situation is completely unacceptable."

"Is this about the damaged conservatory?" Obsidian Razor asked, "This happens nearly every year. It's norm—"

"Silence," Shining Armor ordered, his horn lit.

Magic wrapped around the student and the pony found herself unable to make any noise.

"Sire, release my student!" President Shimmering Cirrus demanded.

"I don't care that this was normal over a thousand years ago. While it may be only a little over a year for your minds, that does not matter. That is ancient history. This is today, AND ALL OF THIS," he shouted. "is unacceptable!"

Goku dropped down in the middle of them.

"Ok, that's enough shouting."

"Son Goku, this does not involve you."

"No, this does involve me. If anything, this is my fault."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because I'm the one who told Kame the story of how I once shot a ki blast from my feet to win a fight. He told me he had never thought of using his back hooves before. Without that, Tao would have never gotten his ego bruised. And if I wasn't his opponent, he would have never put that much energy into that blast that damaged that building. Rén are supposed to be all powerful masters of ki. Lord Mutaito even called me an unbreakable wall. Of course he put everything he had into that fight. And the only injuries that happened to the crowd were also because of me."

He looked over at the ponies having their eyes treated by the nurses, "I'm too bright for you guys. Even in my suppressed state."

"Are you volunteering to be arrested in Tao's place? Why?"

"Because he did not do anything wrong. Now," Goku clasped his hands together so forcefully the sound made everyone's ears ring. "Let's meet this daimyo."

He was grinning ear to ear.