//------------------------------// // Mission Briefing // Story: Heroes for Friendship // by King-Mac-13 //------------------------------// Grimoire sat in a chair he set up next to his tent in the human world. He had returned to the human world after Starlight Glimmer returned and talked up the benefits of friendship studies with the human counterparts. Although, that was just an excuse to visit the human dimension for fun. Now, he was just sitting back with a can of soda and enjoying his day. “Should really learn how to make stuff back home…” The bell for Canterlot High sounded, signaling the end of the school day. He looked over toward the entrance way to watch as the students flooded out. It was always interesting to watch them leave. You get a real idea of their personality by how they exit the building. What really caught his eye, however, was a rainbow streak that seemed to come out of the doors and disappear as quickly as it had. “‘Sup?” The voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Grimoire jumped in his chair and spun around to see a blue face with pair of lavender eyes and rainbow hair. He clutched his chest as he spoke, “Rainbow Dash… don’t do that again… You nearly gave me a heart attack!” “Jumpy… Just wanted to say hi and ask why you’re here.” “Leisure trip. Wanted to get away from Equestria for a while and thought, ‘why not visit the human world for a bit?’” He returned to a normal sitting position, “I’m just here to relax.” “I get that…” Rainbow moved to stand in front of Grimoire, “Hey, quick question.” “Go ahead.” “Do you still have that game from before?” “Nightmare? I just make the games with magic. It’s easier that way.” “Think you could set that up again?” Grimoire paused mid-sip. He placed his can down and looked Rainbow in the eyes, “Really?” “Yeah!” “Easily… but I have to ask what the occasion is.” Rainbow cleared her throat and glanced to the side, “No occasion.” “Really… You might have enjoyed the last one, but I get the feeling there’s more than just fun on the mind for this request.” “Okay, look. I thought it might help… transition some of our old enemies to, you know, not be enemies anymore.” “Alright.” “Really?!” “I’ll help, but I think a different game is in order. The last game worked best when all the players were already acquainted, that way the competitive side of the game doesn’t sting any emotions. I think a cooperative game is best for what you’re asking for.” “So, you’ll help?” “Sure, why not?” “Awesome! When will it be ready?” “I’ve already got the base idea, so it should be done by tomorrow. Stop by then with all the appropriate individuals.” “Alright! See you then!” Rainbow disappeared in a rainbow of speed, leaving Grimoire alone again. Grimoire finished his drink and stood up, “Alright then, let’s get to work.” \/ Grimoire sat outside his tent and enjoyed his soda as the Saturday sun rose in the sky. He was waiting for Rainbow to bring her friends for the game and had a moment to himself to think. “I wonder if I should make some of that stuff real… It would be fascinating to try.” As he waited, he started to get bored, leading to his singing to fill the space. Even here I feel an outcast… I still have much to learn / See the world through the Dragon’s eyes… and watch it burn. His thoughts were cut off when most of the group walked up toward his tent. The Humane Seven, minus Rainbow Dash, were making their way up the path as he stood. Sunset was the first to speak up, “So, what’s the game today?” Grimoire wagged his finger in front of her, “Not until Dash the rest of our players arrive. Until then, kick back and enjoy the morning.” “You hate mornings.” “Aw… you remembered. How sweet.” Grimoire feigned appreciation before returning to his usual demeanor. “True. I’m not the biggest fan of mornings, but I’m just too excited. So, I’ll live.” He leaned to the side and glanced over Sunset’s shoulder, speaking with a devilish smile, “So, these are your surprise guests?” The group turned to see Rainbow Dash walking up toward the tent with Sonata at her side and the rest of the Dazzlings lagging a few feet behind. Most of the Rainbooms were overcome with a multitude of emotions. All of them were confused, but each were flooded by other emotions. Apple Jack looked to the Dazzlings with a level of resentment, thinking that Dash better have a good reason for bringing them here. Fluttershy was concerned and scared of the former sirens, moving behind her friends for safety. Rarity, while not happy to see the Dazzlings, had to admit that they had retained their fashion sense. This gave her new ideas for a line, but it came from the Dazzlings. So… difficult to process those emotions. Pinkie Pie… was Pinkie Pie. Happy for new friends and willing to give the second chance, but she knew the Dazzlings were going to test her resolve on this ideology. Sunset was uncertain about the situation. She wanted to give the Dazzlings the chance, to say otherwise would make her a hypocrite. But she knew it would be a difficult process. Twilight was the most grounded on an emotional scale for one reason: she never met the Dazzlings. She heard stories from the group, but they were rather disjointed in their focuses. She tried to shrink into the background and avoid the tension before her. The first person to speak up was Apple Jack, “Dash… why are the Dazzlings behind you?” Dash smiled somewhat nervously, but was interrupted before she could reply when Grimoire clapped to get their attention, “That’s something you can discuss inside. You’re not the only ones here to play a game.” Before they could react to what he said, he moved behind the Dazzlings and pushed them into the rest of the group, herding them all inside the tent. Inside wasn’t his mobile lab or experiments, but rather a large room akin to a command center in a futuristic spy or war movie. Holographic projectors and multiple computer screens for each position. Sitting/standing in the back were a few familiar faces: Big Mac, Lyra Heartstrings, Vinyl Scratch, Flash Sentry, Timber Sprouse, and (more surprising than all the others) Vice Principle Luna. When Twilight saw Timber, she was going to walk over (escaping the tension from the group), but was stopped by Grimoire raising his hand in front of her. “I’ll have to ask that you keep any public displays of affection until after I explain the rules.” Twilight blushed, but didn’t raise an argument or denial. After she nodded, Grimoire lowered his arm and allowed her to stand next to Timber for the presentation. Meanwhile, the tension between the Rainbooms and Dazzlings was starting to boil with Rainbow and Sonata in the middle. Before it could burst, Grimoire cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Right then. Now that everyone is here, let’s get started.” He tapped one of the holograms by the entrance and a projection appeared in the center of the room. “Today’s game is an adaptation of a popular video game I learned about the other day.” With a swipe of his hand, a symbol appeared in the central hologram: it looked a bit like a stylized combination of the letters O and W with the top section of the symbol being orange. Luna raised an eyebrow, “We’re playing Overwatch?” “In a way.” Grimoire reached into the hologram and pulled out an image of a clip board. “I’ve mixed a few things around for this.” He ‘pushed’ a button on his hologram and the symbol became a set of screens, each showing the same images. As he spoke, the screens showed corresponding images without showing any specific details. “First, you’ve all been placed into teams of four. Your teams were deliberately chosen, so don’t bother trying to beg for me to change them. I don’t care if your best friend is on the other team or if you don’t like your teammates, they’re final. That said, the character or hero you’ll be given for use will be randomly selected before your missions. Now, for said mission. You’ll be sent into the area of operation, which will change with each group. While there, you’re tasked with surviving, at minimum, five waves of a robotic enemy army. After that, you can either escape the combat area or attempt to hunt down the robot leader. Either will result in a success overall. That said, this is also a competition against your fellow teams. Fastest time and most effective team wins.” “And what do we get if we win?” Aria remained nonchalant in her speech. “Pardon?” “Last time we played one of your games, you said the winner got whatever they wanted. That still valid?” “Hmm… not necessarily, given that the competition is between teams… I guess bragging rights would be too little as well… Alright! How about this, the winning team will receive fully detailed, but non-functioning, replicas of their heroes’ uniforms and weapon kits. I stress the ‘non-functioning’ part of that. That work?” “Seriously? Your prize is a costume?” “You will literally be the only people with a uniform to made exactly like the original. That’d be worth money, if that’s what you’re after. Not the point!” He took a deep breath before returning to his speech. “Point is, you’ll need to work together if you want to win. Now, for the teams.” He pressed a button and the screens showed four columns of the teams in question. [Team 1: Twilight Sparkle, Timber Sprouse, Sunset Shimmer, Lyra Heartstrings] [Team 2: Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Luna, Aria Blaze] [Team 3: Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Sonata Dusk, Big Macintosh] [Team 4: Fluttershy, Flash Sentry, Adagio Dazzle, Vinyl Scratch] “I’ll give you some time to acquaint yourselves with one another. The first team deploys in fifteen minutes. Good luck out there.”