Something soft and light rattled me from my haze of unconsciousness, furry too if the feeling of it brushing against my nose was any indication.
Slowly, still feeling unmoored from my own body, my eyes fluttered open and my muscles ached as I sat up from the bed I had apparently been laying on. The soft furry thing on my chest scrambled at the movement and I could feel a paw slap against my left cheek as it hopped off and scurried away.
The room came into focus. Sterile white walls with seafoam green cabinets lined with pill bottles and bandages, that distinct artificial smell of medicine strong in my nostrils. There were about a dozen beds like the one I was sitting on, though it seemed none of them were occupied. I sat on the bed closest to the room's entrance, currently blocked by a woman I hadn’t seen before.
She was dressed in a white doctor’s coat which enveloped a minty green shirt underneath. Her light pink hair laid long and flat down her back and down her face, partially obscuring one of her cyan eyes. In her arms, the woman was stroking the back of a small white bunny, which really did seem tiny in comparison to her tall and lanky frame.
“Oh. Hello.” The woman said in what must’ve been the softest voice I’d ever heard. I might’ve assumed I’d imagined her voice if she hadn’t kept talking. “I-Um. How are you feeling?”
Before I could answer, the bunny in her arms thrashed about in seeming annoyance and hopped out of her embrace, dashing inside a nearby duffel bag. “Oh. Sorry about Angel.” The woman turned even more bashful than before, which I didn’t think was possible. “Um, please don’t mention him to the Captain. I think she already knows but I don’t think she could let it slide if she actually saw him.”
The Captain
“I’m still on the Alicorn.” I said, voice flat.
“In the Alicorn’s infirmary, yes.” The woman slowly approached me. “I’m the ship’s physician. My name is F-Fluttershy.”
“Twilight…” I offered as an introduction before clutching my head. “What happened to me?”
“According to what I was told, you passed out from a stress induced panic attack.” Fluttershy answered, her voice affecting calm and assurance as she stood beside my bed. “Not helped by the several blows you sustained to the head prior, though I don’t know how they got there.”
I touched a lump that I only now noticed had formed on the back of my head and winced in pain. “I think I got these from piloting…”
“You hit your head on the seat? Oh dear, you should’ve been wearing a helmet.”
A mirthless laugh escaped my lips. “Well, I didn’t exactly have the time to go looking.” I stared at Fluttershy, suddenly anxious to know but nervous to ask. “How long was I out?”
“An hour. Just about.” Fluttershy said while she located a nearby swivel chair for herself to sit beside me. An hour lost was… not fine per se, but that was manageable. It had only been an hour since the revelation that the machine I had helped build for months had secrets I had no inkling of. That my ignorance and rashness had somehow- somehow locked me into this dreaded all encompassing something that lurked around me.
Biolocked. What did that even mean? And surely the Director could reverse it somehow.
Surely.
My attending physician snapped her fingers in front of my face to catch my attention, apparently it had begun to wander as my mind spiraled pondering the situation. “Good, you’re still responsive.” Fluttershy said. “I’d like to ask you some questions, Twilight. Just to make sure you aren’t suffering from a concussion.”
The questions she asked were simple. How did my head feel? (Bad. Dizzy. Though nothing debilitating, just a general Bad feeling in the brain.) What did I remember? (Everything. Unfortunately. None of it had been a dream.) If I had a history of panic attacks. (Many. Mostly in high school. I’d almost forgotten what they felt like until now.)
On that last one she seemed to sympathize. “High school was hard for me too. I spent too many afternoons hiding in toilet stalls and hyperventilating.”
My mind conjured the image of this woman’s calm and gentle face contorted into panic over a toilet bowl in a dirty high school restroom with no one to come looking for her. The thought made me viscerally uncomfortable. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “I do better now. Do you have any medication to help with your anxiety?”
“Never got diagnosed, so no meds.” Dad had really pushed for it. Thought it would help, and it’s not like I necessarily disagreed. The idea of actually going to a psychiatrist to get the diagnosis never sat right with me though. “I don’t think it’s anxiety. Probably more like ADHD.”
“Well, I’m not a psychiatrist so I’m not really qualified to say either way.” Fluttershy left her chair for the medicine cabinets, seemingly satisfied with her questioning. From the cabinets she extracted a pill bottle, and from the shelves below she grabbed what looked like a candy bar and a plastic cup that she filled with water.
“I don’t think you have a concussion, so I’ll just give you some pills to help with the headaches, okay?”
When she returned to her seat, she handed me the wrapped bar. “You haven’t eaten anything today, have you?”
“No.” I said, accepting the bar which I now saw was a general ration bar, the kind of bare minimum bricks of sustenance that hadn’t changed much since even the pre-Celestial era of space living. I’d had a few of these in the past, largely as an exercise in academic curiosity, and the textural experience of the meal was about as gritty as I remembered it being.
By the time I was done with the ration bar and was now busy with the pill, Fluttershy’s bunny had apparently become bored with its duffel bag abode and hopped towards the woman’s lap, eliciting an alarmingly adorable giggle from the physician. The room fell into a comfortable silence as she tended to her needy animal companion, showering the little thing with affection.
“Is he your emotional support animal?”
“Oh, no. Angel’s not certified as one.” Fluttershy said while petting the bunny, the small thing clicking its teeth in contentment. “That’s why I really shouldn’t let him come on board. I-it's selfish of me but I couldn’t just leave him behind. He… makes things easier.”
I smiled, small but genuine. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
Fluttershy returned my smile, though it was obvious she wasn’t used to smiling at people much. The expression sat a little awkward on her face, hesitant and reserved, but on her features it was also disarmingly pretty. It reminded me a little bit of Moondancer and I wondered for a moment what she’d been doing since we lost touch in high school.
The relative peace that I found in the infirmary was punctured when I saw the door slide open.
Stepping through was a woman dressed in an officer’s uniform, about as short as I was yet carrying herself with the kind of self assuredness I could never dream of. Her indigo hair was carefully styled to frame a face that belonged on a model, the overall effect made her reminiscent of my mom in her bachelorette days.
“Fluttershy, how is- oh! You’re awake.” The woman said, locking eyes with me. “Hello Darling,” her smile was practiced and her faux-Cantelor accent rehearsed, “sorry to be a bother after the morning you’ve had, but I’m afraid our dear Captain wants to see you on the bridge. Is she good to go, Doctor?”
“Can you stand?” Fluttershy asked me.
“I think so.” I said, gingerly lifting my legs off the bed and making an attempt. Despite an initial wobbliness, I did find that my footing was ultimately stable, not in any near threat of toppling over like I had an hour ago.
“Wonderful, Darling. Come now, follow me- It’s Rarity by the by- Officer Rarity at your service.” She spoke like a particularly genial perfume saleswoman, and she boasted a truly exemplary customer service smile. If I’d been less skeptical of the whole damned situation I might’ve let myself be made comfortable by it.
Without a word I followed Rarity out into the hallway, leaving Fluttershy who offered me a farewell wave before the door shut behind us.
We walked in relative silence through the largely identical halls of the Alicorn, light purple walls of steel illuminated by warm yellow lights stretching long into a labyrinth, made comprehensible only by the subtle signage. Rarity seemed to navigate the space with ease, and happily greeted the other uniformed soldiers we passed on our way to the bridge. It wasn’t all soldiers though.
We passed by Harmony Project members too. Ambling through the halls, unmoored. Some tried half heartedly to catch my attention while we walked but I paid them little attention. Every lab coat we passed by was just another reminder that the transports had not arrived. None of them were going home safe.
“Those are your friends, Darling?” Rarity asked as we walked past a gaggle of Harmony Project members, one of whom gave me a small wave. Some low level data analyst from the armament team I couldn’t remember ever speaking to.
“Colleagues.” I answered.
“Ah, a consummate professional I see.” I couldn’t tell if she was mocking me or not. “You know, the rumor mill goes around quick in a place like this. A little birdie told me you were to be replacing Lieutenant Sentry as the pilot for that new Mobile Suit.” She gave me a proper look up and down, stroking her chin in assessment. “Forgive me for saying this, dear, but you don’t strike me as the frontline fighter type.”
Apparently the Eynhorn hadn’t agreed to that assessment.
“I guess we’ll find out.” I answered because really, I was as much in the dark as she was.
We stepped through a pair of sliding doors into the bridge of the Alicorn, a large dense room that housed walls of monitors and control panels . At the center of the room was an elevated seat positioned behind the shipwheel at the bridge’s front, currently manned by a woman with long raggedy blonde hair.
On the elevated chair, Captain Bon-Bon sat. To one side of the Captain stood Lieutenant Rainbow Dash, who’s glare was immediately on me when I walked into the room. On the other side was Director Pace, who was currently speaking to the Captain in hushed tones. Whatever conversation was between them died down as I came into their view.
“Captain, I’ve retrieved Miss Sparkle for you.”
“I can see that, Officer. Return to your station.” The Captain said.
“Yes ma’am.” Rarity said with a half hearted salute before walking away, muttering something just loud enough for me to hear. “Positive reinforcement can do you wonders, Captain…”
“Miss Sparkle.” My attention snapped towards the tribunal that stood before me. Captain Bon-Bon regarded me appraisingly, hand cradling her head as she leaned into her seat. “It’s good to see you with us. I was worried you’d be out of commission longer. As you can imagine, the Eynhorn will be a valuable asset to our operations, and it’d be a shame if we couldn’t use it on your account.”
Swallowing back a pang of dread, I asked “Is it really true? It… has to be me?”
“Minty tried it.” Lieutenant Rainbow Dash said, her tone attempting professionalism but underneath I could feel the harshness. “Came out of the cockpit looking like someone stuck a car battery to her tongue. Couldn’t even get the damn thing to move. Pinkie Pie’s been working on the clock to break the lock, but no dice.”
“It’s a fruitless effort.” Director Pace piped in, no longer avoiding my eyes. “She doesn’t have the authority, and neither do I. The only one who has the authority to break that seal is Princess Celestia herself.”
“I don’t understand.” I said, stepping closer to the Director. “Sentry was the test pilot, right? The unit was assigned to him. Why didn’t the biolock activate then? Why was I able to pilot it?”
The Director grimaced. “Lieutenant Sentry lacked the quality necessary to activate the biolock. Put simply, the Eynhorn didn’t choose him, but it saw potential in you.”
“How does that make any sense?” Lieutenant Dash protested. “Sentry was an experienced pilot and a soldier at the prime of his life. Sparkle here’s an emaciated nerd whose never even stepped into a piloting sim! How does she have more potential!?”
“The potential that the Eynhorn searches for has little to do with one’s skills as a pilot, or the capabilities of their physical form. It’s… difficult to explain, but the qualities that the Gundam searches for reside more in the realm of the mind and the soul.”
“Sounds like some bullshit.” The Lieutenant seemed more and more irritated at the old man.
The realm of the mind and the soul… I agreed with the Lieutenant that it sounded ridiculous, but my thoughts dragged me back to this morning. How did I feel those explosions coming before I reasonably could? How did the Eynhorn move when my hands weren’t pushing on the controls? It would’ve been impossible for me to move the Eynhorn as proficient as I did, no matter the standardized and simplified control system, no matter the adrenaline pumping through my veins.
“Director… What is an Elemental?” I asked, and the Director’s gaze turned distant.
“It… is a theory that the Princess has long held. I’m not versed in all the details, I was given only what I needed to know to implement it in the Eynhorn’s design, but the Princess believes that there are those among the population who possess the ability to transcend the limits of humanity. These individuals she dubbed ‘Elementals’.”
“The Eynhorn is more than just a Mobile Suit. It was a machine the Princess had me design to find and incubate those who had the potential to become true Elementals. I believe she had several candidates in mind when she requested this feature of the Gundam, candidates who would be tested once it had reached Hollow Shades.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I can’t be sure if you, Miss Sparkle, were a candidate she had accounted for, but it seems you’ve passed the evaluation regardless.”
I didn’t know what to say, and apparently neither of the other two did either. Captain Bon-Bon seemed to receive the information rather impassively, like it was a surprise she had been otherwise prepared for. Lieutenant Dash looked at the Director like he was someone crazed, seemingly struggling to make sense of what he just said.
For once I could sympathize with her.
“So- Okay. Because of that, Sparkles is the only person who can pilot the Gundam now?” Lieutenant Dash asked.
“For now, yes.” Director Pace answered. “I believe she’ll have a smoother time adjusting to the pilot seat than most, the Eynhorn’s systems respond directly to her brain waves, theoretically its the most intuitive and responsive control mechanism possible, though as evidenced by Miss Sparkle’s earlier condition it’s quite the shock to the system.”
“Will that be a problem the next time?” Captain Bon-Bon asked.
“I don’t believe so.”
“Then it’s settled.” The Captain said as she leaned into her seat and crossed her legs. “We’re getting out of Dodge.”
“Right now!?” I nearly screamed, drawing some brief glances from the Alicorn’s bridge crew. “But the Harmony Project members! We have homes to come back to!”
The Captain rolled her eyes at me. “The Coalition ship is still likely in the area, and there’s no way civilian transports are crossing the Colony’s territory while they’re still in the area. Director Pace and I both agree that it’d be better to have the Project members leave onboard a heavily fortified battleship than a vulnerable travel cruiser.”
“It’ll mess with our delivery schedule, but we’ve already agreed that the Harmony Project members will be dropped off at the nearby Stratusburg Colony to await transport. There’s no more time for arguing.”
Stratusburg… yes, that wasn’t too far from here. It would take a day on a civilian transport, probably less time on a ship like the Alicorn. For a brief, idiotic moment, I allowed myself to entertain the possibility that I was finally getting out of this nightmare, until Lieutenant Dash stepped in front of me with a scowl on her face.
“Follow me, Sparkles.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me forward.
“What? Where?” I asked, new dread filling me.
“The changing rooms. We need to see if there’s a pilot suit that’ll fit your scrawny ass.”
“Hold on! I didn’t agree to this!” I tried pulling away from her grip, but the Lieutenant’s hold was unwavering, and her expression screamed ‘unamused’.
“Hey, don’t look at me, Sparkles! If it were up to me, Sentry would still be alive, and you’d be splattered under a roof somewhere I’d never even see you. But too bad for us, we’re down an actual pilot, and you’re the only person in this damn dust bowl that can actually move that Gundam! So you’re coming with me and that is an order!”
“You can’t do this!” I yelled. “I’m not a soldier! I never signed up to be on a battlefield!”
Lieutenant Dash shot me a withering look, one of unmitigated contempt and frustration. I stepped back from her instinctively, but her hold on my arm locked me in place. With a tug of my wrist she pulled me off my feet, and I scrambled for fear of face planting on the hard metal floor, but right as I tumbled she grabbed me by my collar and drew her face close.
“A lot of soldiers don’t. Guess what, Sparkles? You’ve been drafted.”
She shoved me to the floor, where I fell on my side. A brief scan of the room quickly informed me that everybody on the Bridge had watched what just happened, and I felt myself shrivel under their gazes. Lieutenant Dash towered over me, staring me down.
“Now follow me and don’t talk back. And that’s an order, got it?”
I looked to my side and saw Director Pace looking away from the scene we had made, trying to look discrete. Beside him, Captain Bon-Bon caught my gaze, raised an eyebrow then tilted her head towards the Lieutenant.
Wordlessly, I nodded, and Lieutenant Dash groaned before walking away.
“Get up, come on. We don’t have all day.”
I silently followed the Lieutenant out of the bridge.
Our walk through the halls was terse and mostly silent, me following behind her as the ship’s crew walked pass in anticipation for the ship’s launch, each giving a brief salute to the Lieutenant. When we reached the changing rooms, not dissimilar from the gym locker rooms of Canterlot High (if slightly less nice) did I feel a slight shaking of the floor. A rumbling that reminded me of that first shuttle trip leaving Earth.
“All personnel stand at the ready, Her Majesty’s Crown Jewel, the Alicorn is taking flight and departing from Dodge via Spaceport A.” Rarity’s voice crooned over the speakers.
For a brief moment, I marveled at how smooth the flight was after the initial rise. The ship, I knew, was suspended in the air not through lift, but by an immense lattice of Discord Particles trapped in an electromagnetic field, pushing the ship away from the surface and allowing it to hover. Such technology still remained out of the reach of most commercial vessels, and even on military ships it was an uncommon and expensive feature.
The moment ended when Lieutenant Rainbow Dash aggressively knocked on the door to my stall.
“What’s the hold up!? Can’t even put a pilot suit on!?”
“Just wait a second!” I yelled back, hastily zipping up the white suit that almost fit. It hung just a little loose, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Certainly not me. If I had a choice I’d be in Canterlot overdosing on sugar at Donut Joe’s.
I wondered, looking at the mirror, what my parents were doing. What Spike was up to. Were they thinking of me? Waiting for me?
My longings were quickly pushed aside as the door behind me slammed open and Lieutenant Dash stepped inside. “Mind in the present, Sparkles. We’re moving into hostile territory, I can’t have you being distracted.”
“I get it.” I mumbled, but that did not seem to satisfy the Lieutenant.
“It’s ‘yes ma’am’ while you’re onboard this ship. That’s your one warning.”
We locked eyes for a moment, her glare meeting my own as we traded another small jab of mutual frustration. Eventually, I breathed in, and offered a salute I was fairly sure wasn’t proper form.
“Yes ma’am.” I said.
Lieutenant Dash smirked. “I’ll school you on proper respect later. Come on, we’re wasting time.”
It was not long after that the two of us made our way to the hangar bay, bustling with activity as the Alicorn’s mechanic crew were busy doing last minute diagnostics and maintenance on the ship’s three Mobile Suits. Stepping out of the hall and into the large room, my eyes instinctively found the purple hues of the Eynhorn, all major signs of damage gone. At the Gundam’s feet, I saw Pinkie Pie chatting with a familiar figure I hadn’t expected to see again.
“Hard Hat?” I called out somewhat nervously to the man.
“Ay! If it ain’t the little thief!” Hard Hat turned to me with a smile, a far cry from the anger I was expecting. “Knew you didn’t die out there but it’s nice to see it.”
After a moment’s inspection, the man raised a brow. “Woah. New digs? What, did they let you keep the Gundam for yourself?” He said, clearly joking, then his smile slowly began to drop when he realized he was closer to the truth than expected. “Wait, seriously?”
“Ooohhh, did I not mention that?” Pinkie Pie asked, sweet and innocent.
Hard Hat blinked. “This place must be more short staffed than I thought.”
Before either me or Pinkie could explain the situation, a sudden weightlessness overtook me, my feet floating off the ground along with everything and everyone that was not magnetized or bolted to the ground. It was a weightlessness I had only experienced a handful of times.
Rarity’s voice once again sounded over the speakers.
“Attention all crew, we have departed from Dodge and are now in its airspace. We’re likely to encounter enemy forces as we depart, so all crew are to stand at battlestations. MS Pilots please stand at the ready for launch, you are to escort the Alicorn and defend it until confirmation that the threat has subsided. Over.”
“You heard the lady! Get this place ready for launch!” Lieutenant Dash yelled at the assembled crew, who doubled and hastened their efforts. She turned to Pinkie Pie. “Is my Pegasus all set?”
“Juiced up and hungry for action, bosserino!” Pinkie answered with an enthusiastic salute.
“Good. Get her up to speed,” The Lieutenant gestured towards me as she walked towards her variable MS, “I’m strapping in first.”
Hard Hat nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I think this is my cue to go hide somewhere. Good luck, kid.” He said as he gave me a pat on the back that was a little too hard. “Talk to you later Miss Pie!” He waved at the head mechanic, before retreating into the Alicorn’s cavernous halls.
“Later!” Pinkie returned his wave with ten times the enthusiasm. How she managed to stay so cheerful as we entered into the unknown alluded me, my eyes fixated on the imposing titan of Equestrian Alloy that had chained itself to me. I didn’t move at first, even though I knew I should.
I might’ve stared at it forever, if it weren’t for something new being shoved into my view. A white pilot’s helmet to match my suit, shoved into my hands by a Pinkie Pie who regarded me with a subdued confidence that felt strange for the woman. “You’ll need this. Wouldn’t wanna add any more booboos to the back of your head!”
Booboos? To my surprise, a small laugh escaped me, and that seemed to brighten Pinkie quite a bit too. “Thanks. Well, might as well get this over with.”
I pushed myself off the hangar bay’s floor and ascended up to the Eynhorn’s open cockpit, unmoored by any sort of gravity. I stepped inside into that spherical room and strapped myself onto its pilot chair. I went through the motions of booting on the Gundam’s systems, apprehensive at every step- expecting a jolt of pain with every switch flipped, but thankfully the Director seemed to be correct that my physical mind at least was safe the second time around. Gradually, as the camera screens around me flared to life, the hum of the Harmony Engine filled my ears once again. Briefly, I felt some of the tension leave my body.
“MS Catapult Deck all clear!”
“Rainbow Dash, Pegasus Custom - Launching!”
The blue blur of Lieutenant Dash’s MS sped past me out the open maw of the Hangar Bay doors and into the inky abyss of space. Shortly after, a window popped up on the Eynhorn’s panoramic view.
“You’re next, Darling.” Rarity said, twirling a lock of her hair in her finger. “I suppose the rumors were true then.”
“Like you have to ask.” I said as I maneuvered my mobile suit on the Eynhorn’s MS Catapult, the two clamps built into the floor locking themselves tight on the Gundam’s feet. “You were on the bridge, you saw the whole thing.”
As two mechanical arms moved around me, carrying with them the Gundam’s Beam Rifle and shield, Rarity grimaced. “Yes, terrible sight that was. Do forgive Lieutenant Dash for her rudeness, it seems the norm for the Forces’ Ace Pilots. I imagine such a title quickly goes to their heads.” She paused for a second, looking over her shoulder before returning her attention to me. “Ah, it seems the Captain would like to confirm your status?”
I looked down at the helmet sitting on my lap, my reflection staring back at me as the Harmony Engine’s melody continued to play.
Donning my helmet, I gripped the controls.
“Twilight Sparkle, Eynhorn Gundam - I’m ready to launch.”
The moment I said those words, the Eynhorn was sent forward at the speed of a race car towards the hangar bay’s open doors, the Catapult’s momentum launching me outside into space where I frantically activated the suits thrusters to break my forward momentum.
I turned Gundam’s head back, and saw the Alicorn flying beside me, the sun’s distant rays shining against the white battleship. Dodge was becoming slowly smaller behind us, its tranquil exterior betraying the destruction and death that it now held within.
Everything else was the stars and the dark. The void in all directions.
Soon, I could see something else speeding outside of the hangar doors, a bulky orange mobile suit armed with a long range beam rifle that was quickly approaching me.
Applejack’s Stalwart was soon enough flying to my left, both of us keeping pace with the Alicorn and sticking close to it. “Miss Sparkle, that you?” Applejack’s voice came over the intercom, and I admit it was a relief hearing it.
“Sorry to say.” I answered back, and heard the other woman laugh lightly at the remark.
“Take it the Lieutenant wasn’t too happy about that, then.”
“Not in the slightest. I think she hates me, I might be more scared of her than whatever enemies we run into.”
“Well don’t let that get you down too bad. Dash is just full of hot air, but when the cards are down I’m sure she’ll have your back.” I could hear the smile in her next words. “And if she don’t, then you best believe I do.”
“Alright ladies, enough chit chat!” Lieutenant Dash barked through the coms. “Applejack, you stay close to the ship, keep an eye out for any enemy units and provide supporting fire if anything comes close. Sparkles, form up with me at the front of the Alicorn. We’re the ship’s first line of defense, got that!?”
“Yes ma’am.” Applejack answered back, less enthusiastically than I was expecting.
“Yes, ma’am” I echoed, before breaking off from the Stalwart to fly towards the Pegasus far at the frontlines.
“Hate to admit it, Sparkles but you’re flying pretty smooth for your first time out here.” Lieutenant Dash said as I joined up beside her.
“I think it's mostly the Eynhorn that’s doing the heavy lifting.” Whether it be the “brainwave” technology the Director had mentioned or merely the Eynhorn’s conventional directional systems at work, the suit was flying exactly how I wanted it to. “I’d guess in a Siphon I’d be doing a lot more work correcting my trajectories.”
“Lucky you, then. Hopefully you won’t slow me down too much.”
At impressive speed, the Pegasus Custom shifted and turned from its mobile suit configuration to its fighter mode and blasted off, the Lieutenant calling out for me to “Stick close to the Pegasus!”, leaving me to push the Gundam’s thrusters to max to catch up. The Eynhorn was fast by the standards of most mobile suits, but it couldn’t compete against a variable MS like Dash’s.
“Hey look at you! You’re catching up! Keep your eyes peeled, Sparkles, you never know when something’s gonna-”
Lieutenant Dash’s audio signal abruptly dropped off into a stream of unintelligible noise. “Lieutenant?” I called out, but nothing came through the static. “Lieutena-”
Before I could finish, I saw a golden flash on my right that grew bigger and bigger before my mind finally caught up with what it was. With a jolt of the controls I dodged out of the way of the incoming beam, making space between myself and Dash’s Pegasus. Another volley of shots came pouring down on us, the Lieutenant weaving through the shots like the well seasoned professional she was while I managed to dodge a few and block the rest with my shield, each impact of Discord Particles against Equestrian Alloy sending shockwaves across the machine.
In the moment’s breath after the onslaught, I saw them.
One of the units was a Cyclops, similar or perhaps the same as the one that Dash had engaged with back at Dodge. The other was a different matter entirely. Larger and taller than the mobile suit beside it, taller than the Eynhorn too for that matter. It’s intimidating, broad figure painted black and fiery orange with deep red highlights accentuating the pink glow of the Mobile Suit’s monoeye. Armed with a high precision beam rifle and carrying a massive thick shield, the Eynhorn’s visual sensors confirmed my suspicions.
That was a Lunarian Commander’s Phemos.
In the corner of my vision, I saw Dash’s Pegasus shoot out a flare from its folded arm before it turned and flew above me, reaching out that same arm for me to grab onto. I caught it with my shield arm just as another wave of incoming fire approached, narrowly missing its mark as we sped back in the direction of the Alicorn.
“Discord Particles are at combat density.” Lieutenant Dash said, our communications restored by the suit's touch. “That means they have a battleship nearby, we’ll need the Alicorn’s firepower.”
Beams whizzed past us, the enemy units chasing our retreat and forcing Dash to engage in evasive maneuvers, slowed down by the added mass of the Eynhorn she was carrying.
“Damn it! Why’d it have to be her!?” She yelled in frustration. “Sparkles, don’t just sit there! Return fire!”
“Right! Right!” I raised my Beam Rifle and pressed down on the trigger button over and over again, firing blind shots that did little more than occupy the nimble Lunarian Mobile Suits pursuing us, whose shots were quickly hitting much closer to home.
Lieutenant Dash groaned. “Sparkles, listen to me. Let go of the Pegasus, we’ll be harder to hit separate. Don’t die on me yet!”
Leaving little room to argue, the Pegasus’s grip loosened and I found myself flying backwards through the void carried by momentum as Dash’s MS rose up and away from me. Immediately, the enemy Cyclops pursued the blue fighter craft, while the Phemos focused its fire and speed towards me.
When I couldn’t dodge, I blocked with my shield, dread creeping in as the blasts began to dent and blow holes into the structure of the metal. Seeing my panic, the Phemos holstered its beam rifle and drew the twin bladed beam sword from its back, crashing the ignited blade against the Eynhorn’s shield which sizzled and frayed over the intensity of its heat.
“That design… I knew it.” the voice of an unfamiliar woman blared through the speakers. Low and seething. “I guess Celestia finally got what she wanted, a real next generation Gundam.”
With a flick of the control stick I used what remained of my shield to push the Phemos away from me then aimed my rifle at the enemy and fired, my target dashing to the side and only mostly avoiding the blast, only suffering a graze to her shoulder armor. Quick as a whip she tossed her sword aside and drew her beam rifle, firing another shot that finally turned my shield into shiny metallic debris.
“You know. By all rights that thing should be mine. Celestia herself promised it to me. So I’d rather not have to destroy it. Hand it over and I might just forget this ever happened.”
“And just who are you!?” I yelled back, throwing my shield aside and firing another round of shots that my enemy avoided almost casually. “How does some random Lunarian commander know about the Gundam? This machine is the hope of the Princess herself, and there’s no way in Tartarus am I giving it up to you!”
Before I could react, the Phemos leapt forward and grabbed the stock of my beam rifle with its free hand, wrenching control of the weapon away from me, then pushed its own rifle against the Eynhorn’s head. “Celestia must not have told you then. Figures she’d want me best forgotten. Well let me be the first to tell you. The name is Sunset Shimmer, and that Gundam is-”
Her rant degraded into static and noise.
From up and behind me I saw the light of a massive purple beam flying towards us. With a violent kick to the Gundam’s chest, Shimmer’s Phemos put space between us for the beam to pass through and for her to open fire on the new attacker. With my newfound breathing room I aimed my rifle at the evasive enemy mobile suit and breathed. With an exhale, I fired a blast straight at the Phemos, confident the strength of the beam could pierce even its thick shield. In a stroke of sheer luck, the beam connected.
I gasped in relief at the explosion that followed, but that quickly soured when I saw the silhouette of the Phemos dashing away, and I quickly realized that the beam had only destroyed the shield. Sunset had abandoned it as a decoy.
Shortly after I saw an explosion in the distance, then the retreating form of a heavily damaged Cyclops. Behind us was the massive form of the Alicorn slowly encroaching, and Applejack’s stalwart flying towards me.
The Stalwart placed a hand on the Eynhorn’s shoulder armor. “You okay in there, sugarcube?”
“Y-Yeah. Lost a shield though.”
“Lucky you didn’t lose more! Captain Shimmer ain’t nobody to trifle with.”
“You’re familiar with her?” I asked.
“Kinda. Dash could tell you more, though. All I know is she’s one of Luna’s top dogs, the ‘Butcher of Selene’, they call her. “
Butcher of Selene. So an Ace Pilot of the Coalitions founding, and someone with a history and a grudge with Princess Celestia.
You know. By all rights that thing should be mine.
In what universe. somebody who had turned against the Princess like that deserved nothing but misery and death. The Eynhorn didn’t belong to her, it belonged to-
It belonged to Celestia herself.
And it had chosen me.
“We’re ordered back to the ship.” Lieutenant Dash’s voice joined the channel. I turned the Gundam’s head to the side and saw Dash’ Pegasus in mobile suit mode, one of its wings heavily damaged, the tips blown off. “Don’t relax yet, we’re not out of the woods. The bridge crew is saying Shimmer’s Sleipnir is coming close, we have to resupply quick.”
Without another word, Lieutenant Dash flew off to the awaiting hold of the Alicorn’s hangar bay, with Applejack shortly following. I stayed there for a little while longer, watching the enemy mobile suits grow smaller and smaller, until they were gone from the Eynhorn’s visual sensors.