//------------------------------// // Build 02 // Story: Gundam Build Fighters: EGs // by PoisonClaw //------------------------------// Unicorn Gundam, Launching! “Easy… easy…” Rainbow’s hands trembled as she carefully used a pair of tweezers to attach a minuscule piece onto her Gunpla. “Almost…” For the last hour or so, the group had been gathered around a table, each one of them hard at work building their first Gunpla. Everyone except Twilight, who was gradually circling the table as she watched everyone’s progress and answering any questions as they popped up. After spending a few minutes explaining to everyone the various symbols on the instructions, how to carefully remove the pieces from their plastic runners with plastic cutters and also how to remove any excess plastic “nubs”, things had been going rather smoothly so far. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack had already finished their respective Gunpla’s minutes ago, which only left Sunset and Rainbow to put the finishing touches on theirs. “Need any help?” Twilight asked as she walked over to Rainbow Dash, a look of sheer concentration on the athlete’s face. “Naw, I got this. Just a little bit…” Aligning the piece into place, Rainbow carefully pushed it with her thumb, earning a satisfying click as the piece snapped into place. “Done!” Rainbow shouted, throwing up her hands in triumph. Twilight smiled, glancing up at Sunset as she too worked to snap the final piece into place. Minutes after Twilight had finished explaining the basics, Sunset had slipped into a trance as she worked on building the Unicorn Gundam, a feeling Twilight had experienced many times before upon getting into a particular “zone” during a build. Knowing this, Twilight left Sunset alone, afraid to interrupt her for fear of getting in the way and ruining Sunset’s immersion. With steady hands, Sunset snapped the last piece into place, letting out a breath of relief as she snapped back to reality and admired the single-horned Gunpla she had built with her own hands. While hers was nowhere near as detailed or professional as the one she had seen in the display case, it still seemed to exude a powerful aura nonetheless. “Looks like everyone’s done!” Twilight announced, drawing the group’s attention. “Unless anyone would like to add any last touches, who’s up for some Gunpla Battle?” A round of cheers came from the group as they all gathered up their respective Gunpla and gathered around the projector. After speaking with the store owner for a moment, Twilight returned with an armful of GB Bases for everyone and laid them out. “Ok, I got enough rental Bases for everyone, so just insert it into one of the docks when the machine says so.” Crouching down, she began to punch commands into the control panel. “I’ll set the machine to Free-for-all and Damage Level C, so you shouldn’t worry about damaging your Gunpla.” “D-damaging?” Fluttershy stuttered, clutching her Gunpla protective to her chest. “But we just built them! Why would we want to damage them?” “We don’t, which is why I’m setting the Damage Level low,” Twilight explained as she finished prepping the settings. “This machine can be adjusted to alter the amount of physical damage a Gunpla incurs through battle. Level A, which is typically used for tournaments and such, inflicts a ratio of 1:1 damage to a Gunpla, so anything that happens in battle will be reflected on your Gunpla. Level C is the opposite, where your Gunpla will remain in one piece and unharmed no matter how much damage you receive. Level B is in the middle of the two, where your Gunpla will receive cosmetic and minor damage, but will still remain largely intact.” “So… what yer sayin’ is that we can trash each other in battle without worryin’ none about breaking these here models to pieces?” Applejack asked, grinning as she earned a confirmative nod from Twilight. “Works for me!” “Me too!” Rainbow grinned as well as she scooped up one of the GB Bases and rushed over to one end of the machine. “So hurry up and fire this puppy up already, Twi, cause I’m raring for a fight!” [Gunpla Battle, Combat Mode Startup. Model Damage Level Set To C. Please Set Your GP Base.] As instructed, the six set their respective base into one of the docks on the machine, their name appearing on the screen as it registered them. The centre of the projectors shined with a blue light as the particles were released, coalescing into the image of an enclosed section of space containing a debris field of asteroids of all sizes. [Field 01, Space. Please Set Your Gunpla.] “Oh, one more thing!” Twilight interrupted before anyone could comply with the machine’s instructions. “When the battle starts, you have to make sure you do the launching sequence properly. Just say your name, the name of your Gunpla and end with ‘Launching!’ or something to that effect, just like I did. It helps set the mood and some might say it’s proper etiquette. Try it!” I was wondering about that, Sunset thought with a chuckle as she placed her Gunpla onto the base, the bar of blue light scanning it before the head tilted up and its green eyes flashed to life, the launching pad forming around it moments later. Here goes… [Battle Start!] “Sunset Shimmer, Unicorn Gundam! Launching!” Hurtling along the launch pad at breakneck speeds, the Unicorn Gundam’s thrusters propelled it forward as the Gunpla was thrown into the void of space. Though the launch was a bit shaky at first, the Gunpla quickly corrected it’s flight path as it zipped through space, leaving a blue trail in its wake as it soared along the stars. Inside the cockpit, Sunset was beyond ecstatic. “I’m… I’m flying! Flying through space!” In Equestria, the mere thought of space travel was little more than a flight of fantasy, an absurd nation conceived after a night of too much cider. After coming to this world, however, Sunset had been awestruck to learn that humans had already started sending manned missions into space, even to the moon! Even now, despite being a simulation, Sunset’s inner filly was having the time of her life. Laughing all the way, Sunset maneuvered her Gunpla to do flips, barrel rolls, corkscrews and whatever else aerial maneuver she could think of as she flew through space. Her joy was short lived, however, as a blaring warning from her left side drew her attention to the screen, a warning note indicating an object of high speed hurtling towards her on a direct collision course. Jerking the controls, Sunset barely pushed herself out of the way as an orange blur cruised right by her. “What in Equestria was—” “Yeehaw!” Rainbow’s voice hollered over the speakers in Sunset’s cockpit as the orange blur pulled a U-turn and sped towards her once more. This time Sunset could identify the object as an orange painted ship of some kind, a sharpened nose at the front as it came to an abrupt stop and flipped as it transformed into a more humanoid form. The pointed nose split down the centre to become a pair of wedge-shaped shields on either shoulder, the orange armor extending to the shoulders, torso and to the waist of the machine. The Gunpla’s legs each sported large sharpened fins jutting from the knees and running down the leg, another smaller fin on the front ankle armor. Four yellow spikes jutted from the Gunpla’s helmet, two from the forehead and another two from the cheeks, and in its right hand it held a double-barreled beam rifle. “Rainbow, that you?” Sunset asked. A blip on her screen expanded into a small video feed, showing Rainbow’s grinning mug in all its glory. “Hey, Sunset. Sorry about the fly-by there, I just can’t get over how amazing this feels! This thing can really move and I’d swear I was actually flying through space! How cool is that?” “Pretty cool,” Sunset said with a cheeky grin, adding, “Next time though, how about you don’t almost crash into me?” “Well, this is supposed to be a battle, isn’t it? So…” The video feed cut out as Rainbow’s machine raised its weapon, the barrels glowing a hot red as it fired a stream of plasma at Sunset, who was quick to raise her shield to block the attack. “Nice try, but you won’t win that easy!” Doing as Twilight had and pressing a button on her right controller, Sunset quickly scrolled through her options and selected her own blaster, raising the rifle and firing a blast at Rainbow in return. Dodging out the way, a stream of green particles flew out of the back of the Gunpla as it zigged and zagged around Sunset, firing shot after shot that Sunset did her best to either block or dodge. She wasn’t kidding when she said her Gunpla was fast! It was taking all of Sunset’s concentration to not lose sight of Rainbow as she flew circles around her, barely staying still long enough for Sunset to get a shot of her own off. “I’ve got to figure out a way to slow her down somehow.” At that moment, Rainbow morphed her Gunpla back into its ship mode and charge Sunset, fully intent on running straight through her. At the last second, Sunset dodged out of the way before grabbing onto the speeding Gunpla and hauling herself up on top of it. “Hey! No free rides!” Accelerating, Rainbow began to spin and do flips to try and dislodge the stowaway, but to no avail. Unable to transform with Sunset’s machine weighing her down, Rainbow made a beeline for the debris field. “Try and survive this!” Sunset’s nails dug into her controllers as she tried to hold on for dear life, doing her best to avoid the oncoming debris only to have a sizable asteroid strike her Gunpla in the helmet and causing her to lose her grip on Rainbow and slam into another asteroid. Free of her passenger, Rainbow quickly morphed back into her humanoid form and aimed her weapon at Sunset, the barrel glowing red as it charged up a shot. “Game over, Sunse—” “Outta the way!” Before Rainbow could fire her shot, something came hurtling through the debris field and clipped against Rainbow, sending her spinning end over end before she crashed into a chunk of debris. “Uhhh… think I’m gonna be sick…” Shaking her head to clear away any dizziness from being spun like a top, Rainbow pulled herself free as she glanced around for whatever had struck her. Seconds later, she spotted something extracting itself free from the large asteroid, revealing itself as another Gunpla. The first thing Rainbow noted was that the Gunpla looked a bit like a mishmash of parts. The left arm was covered in blue armor with an armoured glove attached to the back of the hand, the same blue armor extending to the torso, while the right arm was a solid white and holding a rifle. Neither leg matched as well, with the right leg missing pieces of armor around the knee while the other looked like it had scrapped armor from a whole other machine. Even the head was asymmetrical, with a chest that was half flat and the other curved. The only pieces that actually looked like they matched were the large thrusters attached to the hips. “I’m mighty surprised at ya, Rares,” Came Applejack’s voice from the asymmetrical Gunpla. “Never would have expected y’all to be one to go for a surprise attack.” “Terribly sorry, dear, but the opportunity was too good to pass up even for me.” Coming out from behind an asteroid was another Gunpla, a standard looking Astray model with a V-shaped crest and coloured a mix of white for the head, shoulders, fingers and hips and leg armor and blue for the rest, carrying a blue shield on its left arm and holding a large bazooka in its right. “No hard feelings, I hope?” “Naw, yer cool. Just means I’ll have to get you back is all.” Using the debris as a springboard, Applejack hurtled herself towards Rarity, aiming her rifle at her and firing a volley of slugs at her, which bounced harmlessly off Rarity’s shield. Raising her bazooka, Rarity retaliated with a high-density burst of plasma, to which Applejack raised the gauntlet of her left arm took the blast with her arm, the armor weathering under the assault. Using her remaining momentum, Applejack flew up and punched Rarity’s Gunpla in the chest, sending the machine reeling from the force of the blow and bouncing hard against a passing by asteroid, losing her shield in the process as she floated helplessly in the void, her back thruster spitting sparks from the collision. Rarity grappled desperately with the controls, the hologram of her cockpit changing from blue to yellow as she tried to get her thrusters working before Applejack could attack again. “Come on, move please…” “I’ve got you, Rarity,” Came Fluttershy’s voice from nearby as a small Gunpla zipped up and began to push Rarity’s Gunpla. The newcomer looked like if you had taken a Gunpla and chibified it, possessing stunted proportions like a big head but tiny arms and legs. As Twilight had promised, it even had large expressive green anime eyes, which even blinked as it helped support Rarity’s damaged machine. A v-crest resembling a samurai helmet was visible on the SD Gunpla’s forehead, pale pink energy wings extended from its back and attached to its hip was a sheathed katana. “Thank you, Fluttershy.” Rarity said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now ain’t that just the cutest thing,” Applejack remarked as she watched the tiny SD support Rarity’s much larger Gunpla, lowering her weapon. “Be pretty hard for any of us to shoot at it without feelin’ bad the whole—” Applejack was interrupted a knock to the head, disrupting her Gunpla’s visuals for a moment. “Oi!” Whipping around, she found herself face to face with Rainbow Dash’s Gunpla, even the machine seeming to glare at her angrily as a video feed of Rainbow popped into her screen. “That was for slamming into me! I had a clean shot and you messed it up!” “Hey, not my fault I got tossed around like a dang bowlin’ ball!” Before the pair could come to blows for the hundredth time, a beam of plasma pierced the space between them, forcing them to back off. Glancing to the source, they saw Sunset lowering her rifle as her video feed appeared on their screens, a disappointed look on her face. “That’s enough. You two want to duke it out, then don’t do it by being a pair of sore players.” Both Applejack and Rainbow hung their heads for a moment before Applejack said, “Sorry about gettin’ in your way, Dash.” Raising her head, she smirked as she said, “How ‘bout I make it up to ya by helpin’ ya take on Sunset here? Sound good?” Sunset’s eyes widened. “What?!” “Sounds good to me!” “Wait a minute! Let’s talk about th—” The video feed cut out before Sunset could dissuade either of them as both Applejack and Rainbow raised their guns at Sunset. “Uh oh.” Before either one of them could fire a shot, however, Fluttershy asked, “Um… has anyone seen Pinkie Pie?” “Surprise!” As if on cue, a massive stream of plasma came hurtling out of the void, vaporizing any debris caught in its path and heading straight for the group, who quickly scattered to try and avoid the beam of death as it struck a massive asteroid and burned a clean hole straight through it, the insides reduces to a burning ring a molten slag. “What in the Sam Hill was that!?” “It was me!” From seemingly out of nowhere, a new Gunpla floated into view. This one was a large Gunpla coloured a light blue with orange accents around the shoulders, chest and the v fin on its head. True to her specifications, Twilight had found her a Gunpla that was positively loaded with guns, possessing a pair of hyper bazookas attached to its back and slung over the shoulders, a massive beam bazooka in its right hand, a shield with a twin-barreled turret on the front of it and finally a massive cannon embedded into the chest. “Me and my little buddy Calamity here!” Pinkie Pie said, giggling. “Geeze, Pinkie. Give us a little warning next time you’re gonna do that!” “Sorry, but you all looked like you were having so much fun I couldn’t resist joining the party. So… who are we up against?” “Uh… weren’t we supposed to be fighting each other?” Fluttershy said, causing everyone to glance at one another in silence. For several moments no one so much as twitched. And then… utter chaos. All at once, everyone started firing at one another, save for Fluttershy who ducked and weaved around the gunfire while still supporting Rarity’s Astray. Sunset blocked a barrage from Pinkie in time to get sidelined by Rainbow Dash as she blitzed past her before quickly activating her beam saber and lopping off one of the transforming Gunpla arms in retaliation. Discarding her rifle, Applejack pulled a massive buster sword off her back, the sword extending even further until it was taller than the Gunpla holding it and leapt into the fray, shouting a battle cry as she swung her sword. Twilight watched all of this from the sidelines, smiling as she watched all her friends having so much from her silly little hobby. This is what Gunpla Battle is truly about, being able to enjoy it with others. *** The hours passed in a flash, and soon it felt like no time at all had passed before everyone had to start heading home. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hitched a ride back with Applejack while Fluttershy offered to drive Rarity home, which left Twilight and Sunset waiting in the parking lot for Twilight’s brother to arrive. “You didn’t have to stay and wait with me you know,” Twilight said as she peered down the road in search of Shining Armor’s car. “And leave you here alone? Not a chance,” Sunset replied, looping an arm around the bespectacled girl and pulling her close. “Consider it my little way of thanking you for all the fun you introduced us to, if you must.” “I’m glad you all enjoyed it so much. To… to tell you the truth…” Twilight suddenly became oddly quiet, rubbing her arm nervously and leaning into Sunset as she muttered, “I was… scared about today.” “Scared? Why?” Twilight was silent for a moment before whispering, “Because I was afraid that you would all laugh at me and my ‘silly little hobby’.” “Whoa, back up right there.” Sunset’s eyes were filled with concern as she placed a finger to Twilight’s chin and raised her head to look her in the eyes. “We’re your friends, Twilight. We would never laugh at you like that. I mean, if you did even half of the stuff Pinkie somehow gets away then we might laugh, but not in the way you’re thinking of. If building and fighting miniature models of giant robots makes you happy, then who are we to judge you for it?” Slowly, a smile worked its way across Twilight’s face, leaning forward and hugging Sunset. “Thank you… I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends than all of you.” “Anytime, Twilight. Anytime.” As Twilight pulled away from Sunset, she pumped her fists as a fire suddenly burned brightly in her eyes. “That’s it, I’ve made up my mind! I’m going to start a Gunpla Battle Club at school!” Next time: Gunpla Club, Open!