“I don’t like it,” Sugarcoat said. Shining Armor had gathered the Shadowbolts into their Hover Cargo’s command room. “We haven’t even made it to C-Rank, and they’re already recruiting us?”
“You’re right, but what choice do we have?” Indigo Zap asked.
“I’ve got a bad feeling the Chaos Union has figured out what we’re up to.” Shining Armor said, frowning. “They’re definitely planning something.”
“It’s like they say,” Sour Sweet said, cracking her knuckles, “keep your friends close, and your enemies where you can stab them in the back!”
“Whoa, okay, let’s avoid stabbing any backs,” Cadance said disarmingly. “At least, literally. Figuratively speaking, I suppose that is what we’re planning to do.”
“Not much we can do about it now, Shining Armor did already agree,” Sunny Flare pointed out, arms crossed.
“I couldn’t pass this up,” Shining Armor said with a shrug. “It’s the first stage of our mission and we might not have gotten another chance.”
“Their representative should be here soon, although we weren’t told who she was.” Cadance added.
“Looks like we won’t have long to wait.” Shining pointed out the main window. “Light blue Gustav with a closed trailer, just like we were told.”
“Well, all right!” Indigo Zap said. “Let’s go meet the sucker!”
So massive was the Hover Cargo’s main loading bay that the Gustav was able to haul its oversized cargo trailer straight up the rear ramp and completely into the Hover Cargo, with room enough to deploy the Shadowbolts’ Gun Blaster and Shield Liger out the back if need be. The Shadowbolts lined up in front of the Gustav, Shining Armor in the middle and Cadance to his right, to greet their Chaos Union liaison.
Shining Armor tensed slightly as the Gustav’s canopy unlatched and began to rise, and he could sense that Cadance was on edge as well. If it was a trap, there might be a whole gang of Chaos Union thugs inside, or some kind of assassin, or -Shining’s train of thought suddenly went flying off the rails as the canopy rose high enough to reveal the pilot, who adjusted her glasses before primly hopping out of the Zoid, followed by a small dog.
“Twily?!” Shining and Cadance asked in flabbergasted unison. Spike ran to Shining and began pawing at his leg, eager to be picked up by his second-favorite human.
“The one and only,” Twilight confirmed. “As far as I know, anyway.”
“Not that we’re not glad to see you,” Shining began, obligingly cradling Spike in his arms.
“It’s just that we weren’t… expecting you,” Cadance finished gently.
“Well, actually, I really think you were,” Twilight replied.
“Twilight,” Shining Armor narrowed his eyes as realization dawned, “did you join the Chaos Union?”
“Straight out of Everton, yes.”
“Didn’t you say you’re doing Zoid salvage work?” Cadance asked.
“I did, because I am,” Twilight explained. “And not one person thought to ask where I was getting my funding from.” She added with a small huff.
“Twily, we-” Shining began.
“I already know,” Twilight interrupted. “The Zoid Battle Commission is tired of the Chaos Union messing with their battles, they want us to knock it off, and you’re here to make us collapse from the inside. Oh, and Abacus Cinch really needs to have your network security overhauled. She should probably get a new e-mail encryption system, too.”
“We haven’t even started yet and the whole plan’s ruined,” Sugarcoat complained, rolling her eyes.
Twilight blinked at Sugarcoat, as if just noticing her. “Do I know you? It feels like I’ve met -don’t answer that. Sugarcoat. We went to Crystal Prep before I transferred to Everton.”
“You do look familiar,” Sunny Flare said.
“Sunny Flare. We had Advanced Trigonometry together. I see you’re still looking out for Lemon Zest, that’s very sweet of you.”
“I, buh, thanks?” Flare wasn’t used to her relationship with Lemon Zest being described as ‘sweet.’
Lemon Zest, eyes closed and headphones firmly in place, did not contribute.
“Old acquaintances aside, I think you have the wrong idea about the Chaos Union.”
“You summed it up very well, actually,” Sugarcoat said. “The Chaos Union is interfering with the Zoid Battle Commission, and we’re here to make you stop.”
“Part of the Chaos Union is interfering with the Commission,” Twilight corrected. “And the rest of us would like to see them gone just as much as you would. Unfortunately, that splinter group has too much leverage within the Union for Discord -that’s my boss- to just throw them out. Besides, they’d just form their own gang and keep on going.”
“And you want us to break that faction apart while leaving the rest of the Chaos Union alone.” Shining added.
“Knock over their hangars and confiscate their Zoids, possibly in that order, yes,” Twilight said. “Of course we’ll be answering to Discord, and since he marches to the beat of his own drum it might be less than straightforward.”
“Not that we have any choice,” Sugarcoat interjected in her rapid-fire way. “You’ll just leave if we refuse.”
“That’s my plan of last resort. Really though, is there that much of a difference, from the Commission's point of view, between no Chaos Union and the Chaos Union leaving the Commission alone?”
Shining Armor sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to have to run this by Cinch, Twily.”
“I thought so. I’ll wait.”
“So, not to change the subject,” Sunny Flare said.
“That’s just exactly what you’re doing is all,” Sour Sweet interrupted, but was ignored.
“What do you have in that trailer?” Sunny Flare continued.
“My secret project. Although if we go ahead with this plan, you’ll all find out what it is soon enough. I mean, I’m going to be working on it every chance I get, so I won’t exactly be able to hide it.”
“Is it some kind of Zoid?!” Indigo Zap asked, intrigued.
“Oh-ho, just you wait and see!” Twilight replied gleefully.
“All right, this is our second try at getting into C-Rank!” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her hands together. “We’re going into a match with our old friends in Salem Team!”
“Ha! Seriously?” Rainbow asked rhetorically. “This’ll be a piece of cake!”
“Not necessarily,” Sunset warned, projecting an image onto the Hover Cargo’s windscreen. “These days they’re running around in customized Zaber Fangs with hundred-twenty-millimeter artillery cannons.”
“Yowzer! Wowzer! Howitzer… Bowser… Um, trouser…?” Pinkie trailed off as Sunset stared blankly at her.
“Anyway. These cannons can fire at high angles over a few miles, but without forward observation, that would be a waste of ammunition,” Sunset continued. “However, these cannons can also be used as direct-fire weapons over a pretty significant distance, and they’re brutally destructive however they hit you. They kept the laser machine guns in the shoulders and the chest-mounted shock cannons, but as you can see, they had to drop the rest of their ranged weapons to make room for the cannons, and their maximum speed is significantly reduced. They still have the sensors and the fangs, of course.”
“So how are we gonna waste these losers?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“Well, here’s the map of the battlefield. It’s-”
“That’s where we were supposed to fight Photo Finish’s team!” Rarity interrupted. “Those troublemakers from the Chaos Union ruined everything! We didn’t even get a chance to try your beautiful strategy, Sunset!”
“We know, Rarity,” Applejack interrupted. “We were there. I distinctly recall you havin’ problems with everyone’s accents ‘ceptin’ yer own, in fact.”
“Really? I don’t seem to remember… that… part…” Rarity trailed off as she and Applejack noticed Sunset now directing her blank stare at them.
Sunset put her hands on her hips. “Here’s the deal: The more I get interrupted with anything that isn’t a legitimate question, the more I stare creepily at people. Are we clear?”
“Yes’m. Sorry.” Applejack mumbled.
“Crystal, darling. Please continue,” Rarity said, blushing.
“Good. Now. Zaber Fangs can’t climb buildings,” Sunset said as each team’s starting area appeared. “But they’re sure to use a strategy similar to Eidechsekanone’s: Turn the main streets into kill zones. We can’t use indirect bombardment either, since they’ll be able to retaliate in kind. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie will go in. This is a basic divide-and-conquer. You’ll move up these side streets here, with Applejack as the vanguard. Your new shield will be able to absorb two hits from those cannons, but the second one will overload it. We’re also relying on your multisensor to find your targets. The others will follow AJ. Once you three find a Salem member, light him up. Move on as soon as he’s down in case the others guess your position and try suppression fire. Rinse, repeat, you’ll have it in the bag. Now, Fluttershy’s got your Zoids ready to go, so get out there and win this!”
“Sunset, they’re on the move!” Applejack said, eyeing her sensor display. “They musta realized we ain’t goin’ up the main streets.”
“Yeah, and they’re sticking together, too,” Sunset pointed out. “This might turn into a hit-and-run operation, and none of your Zoids are really built for that.” Sunset leaned back in her chair. “Wait, I have an idea. Is your ECM running?”
“You know it!”
“Good. See if you can get behind them. They’ve got you and Pinkie beat on handling, but you’ve got the information adva -oh no!”
The source of Sunset’s consternation became clear as an unpleasantly familiar black pod slammed into the Judge’s platform.
“Did you miss me, Phlegmpyrean Team?! It’s your old friend the Anarchy Judge! I’m so glad you accepted our invitation for a rematch!”
Sunset slammed both fists onto her console. “Why the fruit does all this funny stuff happen to us?!” She demanded rhetorically. Celestia briefly considered questioning her choice of words, but decided against it.
Celestia chose to question the Anarchy Judge’s choice of words instead. “What do you mean, ‘invitation?’ We accepted a challenge from Salem Team-”
“Exactly!” The Anarchy Judge interrupted. “You didn’t think these chumps managed to scrounge up the cash for these beautiful toys on their own, did you?! It’s a classic story: Give the underdogs a taste of power and see what happens! It’s always a thrill! Speaking of thrills, we’re now playing under Battle Mode Zero-Nine-Nine-Nine! Rules are boring and honor’s for chumps! May the best team win!”
“Dash, get out there!” Sunset ordered. “If that Whale King shows up again I want you to give it a really bad time!”
“On it!” Rainbow Dash bolted for the door.
“The rest of you, fall back! If the Whale King doesn’t show we can blow this popsicle stand and be done with it!”
As Rainbow Dash rocketed out of the Hover Cargo’s catapult, Sunset noticed something worrying.
“Salem Team just stopped moving. Girls, what-” Sunset’s question was both interrupted and answered by the sound of three artillery cannons firing in quick succession. All three shells slammed into the ground around the Hover Cargo, their explosions causing the huge Zoid to shudder badly.
“That’s it, we’re done here!” Celestia announced. She threw the Hover Cargo into full reverse, bringing up a holographic display from the machine’s rear cameras.
“You heard the boss, ladies!” Sunset added. “Full retreat!”
“Aw, this is just like my last date!” The Anarchy Judge lamented. “The flight of Pteras Bombers coming your way might just change your minds, girls!”
“He’s joking, right?” Dash asked as the Bombers popped up on the Hover Cargo’s sensor readouts.
“They’re coming in from the west. Dash, deal with them!” Sunset ordered.
“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Dash peeled away to intercept the enemy fliers.
“This is ridiculous,” Sunset grumbled.
“So, the Chaos Union is basically terrible,” Rainbow Dash complained.
“I don’t get it,” Sunset said. “Did they expect us to stay and fight? Why?”
“With the match no longer being official, there was no prize money on the line,” Luna pointed out. “And Rainbow was obviously going to defeat those Pteras Bombers, the Chaos Union can’t have honestly thought they would be a factor.”
“Doesn’t the Chaos Union have a lot of gambling going on?” Pinkie asked. “Maybe they were betting on whether we’d retreat or fight it out?”
“You might be right at that, darling,” Rarity said, inspecting her fingernails. “Hopefully in our third try for C-Rank we’ll actually have an honest battle. Such a bother.”
“About that,” Celestia said, adjusting the Hover Cargo’s course slightly. “I have already received challenges from three different teams. We’ll have to discuss which one to accept tomorrow. For the time being, let’s all try to get a good night’s sleep.”