“Chancellor! I heard your new pilots are going good, right?” Princess Twilight Sparkle, the ruler of Equestria, asked Black Wine through the monitor.
Another pleasant evening came to his office, raining down it’s late daylight on the floor.
Black Wine is having a conversation with the kingdom’s ruler herself, chatting about some political stuff. Since Black Wine makes his way into the Chancellor office, intense conversations such as this are more frequent. As much as he have known, the Princess, as well as the Council of Friendship as a whole, don’t like the concept of having a fleet of extraterrestrial weapons being used in their military, even if Lady Rainbow Dash herself has already nodded to have a fleet of gravity-define warships and about 100 MS.
“So, tell me Chancellor, is your “Alicorn Gundam” research done yet?” she asked with a sarcastic voice.
“Sadly… we haven’t even catch it yet. But we’re pushing ourselves hard to research eyewitness accounts and pieces of… that thing that have fallen out. It is an MS, princess.”
“Good! How about that new… Strike Zeta Gundam? I don’t remember when we purchased it!”
“We have research on it. Turns out it originally belongs to a faction in that Earthsphere world that is called Karaba! Those humans have told me so. We are still figuring out why it is here and why it was used by the S.M.I.L.E!”
“And why do you decide to attack S.M.I.L.E?”
The Chancellor was stunned at her question, as if she had touched his deepest part in his soul.
“Well… I guess it was just a… misconception!” he replied “There are some incidents that… the creatures… using a mobile suit against us! I think S.M.I.L.E are up to something, also! I’ll investigate it further!”
“Okay! I’ll take note!” she said to him, adjusting position on the throne “Oh, and make sure to remind our human guests that Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes them good luck!”
“Yes, your Majesty!”
He bowed and the large screen hanging on the wall in front of his table turned itself off.
But, after just a few minutes trotting around the room, the Chancellor decided to turn it up again and called his personal squad.
“It’s an honor for us here, Chancellor!” Lieutenant Joseph Barn said “What’s going on, Sir?”
“The first thing is I want to congratulate you for the phenomenal performance over those filthy creatures…”, the Chancellor said calmly “Yes I know you are beaten by that thing quite fast, but that is a high performance suit, don’t you think?”
“Ya… Ya…Yes, Chancellor…” Joseph answered “But… are you sure you want us to attack someone from your army. Yes I mean they are creatures and they also want to take you down, but trying to destroy them may cause backlash.”
“Don’t worry, I will outlaw them soon.”
“Out law them?”
“S.M.I.L.E has taken the Strike Zeta to them without permission. Perhaps Lady Rainbow Dash allows them to, but remember that I am the one who really commands them, at least by the law. Because of attacking you guys, I will accuse them of trying to revolt against the kingdom and the Princess herself. You got that?”
Joseph blinking his eyes, indicate that he still don't understand much:
"But... I thought S.M.I.L.E is yours?"
"Princess Twilight have stripped that from me and give it under Rainbow Dash command. This mean that I can make them my enemy and accuse them , as well as Rainbow Dash, of doing what ever I want! So I will say that they are trying to revolt against the kingdom and Princess Twilight. You got that?"
"Yes... Yes... Sir!"
“And by the way, do I say with you that you will have another member in your team next time?”
“No Chancellor. But I’ve heard the ship is preparing for another suit to be transferred to us. I hope it will help catch the Alicorn…”
“Exactly!” Black Wine said “It will have the state of art Psycho Jammer with it, don’t worry!”
“Psycho Jammer?”
“A kind of weapon, I suppose!” said the Chancellor with uncertainty “But I guess you will know what it is when you see it. AE recommend me to buy it with your Jestas. Oh, and have you know your new pilot’s name?”
“Until this moment, no Sir!”
“I think you would like to welcome… me, to the team!”
“Sorry, Sir…” John said in disbelief, “… you said you wanted to…”
“Joining your team! Don’t you know that I have quite a huge experience in piloting these things?”
He’s not lying. Although he has been personally trained by some Federation’s personnel, he has cut the training short just by the fact that he is half clone: he was injected with some genes from one of the ace pilots at the Earthsphere and he also has a suit that will drastically enhance his ability.
“Yes. You will command me. Don’t be shy, my man!”
“Yes… Yes Sir.”
“Also, catching the Alicorn by myself will help improve our reputation. That thing is wreaking havoc in Equestria! I hope with me, those magical spell that the thing cast on our power lines will end with this…”
The machine rarely appeared over urban areas and heavily populated places, but every time it did, the electricity was cut off “all at once”. It was also reported to cause some damage with its occasional crashing on houses and buildings, which is the reason why Black Wine mentioned the “pieces” with Princess Twilight.
“When will arrive here, Chancellor?” the Lieutenant asked nervously.
“Next week!”
…
“Do you know any pony. Any unicorn pony to be exact…” Flash asked his team mate at the cantina “… named Luster?”
“How does he, or she, look?” Blue Thunder replied.
“Well… bright orange mane, pale pink fur…”
Flash has started his own attempt to find out what those creatures are.
Ever since the first encounter with the Alicorn, he always saw them, or heard their voices. When they told him about “That Alicorn Gundam '' in his last nightmare, they confirmed his doubt that they are indeed being imprisoned in that Alicorn Gundam. This makes him believe his attempt could help capture the Alicorn.
“Nope… And why do you ask me anyway?” he said with a slightly grumpy voice “You can ask the identity department… or a random police station when we… Oh! I’m afraid you are not even allowed to leave this ship!”
“Why?”
“Or at least going somewhere without someone supervised! You are a human that was saved in an MS that came from nowhere! So you have to… just do what the Lieutenant said!”
Flash makes a slight sigh.
“And why do you ask? Who are Luster, Grisela and BB anyway?”, Yamina asked.
“Well… I saw them in a nightmare last night…” he answered “They are starting to visit my sleep more frequently.”
“Ah… I guess you are having some stress, don’t ya?”, Blue Thunder asked “Sorry, Brad, but we don’t have a therapist here.”
The whole table cracked up laughing at his joke.
After nearly a week on board, Flash started to feel that they don’t like him much. He doesn't know why. Some might say the name “Brandon Cultrich '', which they prefer to call as “Brad”, sounds like a douche bag’s name (such as Haystack). Some say that his reckless act and how he disobeyed Haystack cost them the most precious opportunity when he literally grabbed the Alicorn from behind. “And that things slow for him!”, a creature who somehow knows the details of the chase once said.
It’s been a week since his first mission with S.M.I.L.E in Equestria.
“How often do you see that kind of nightmare?”, Yamina suddenly asked.
“I… I don’t know… But I have seen “them” twice this week!”
“Oh… That’s… bad, I suppose.”
“Any details that you remember from them?”
Unfortunately, and also fortunately for him, he can remember those nightmares quite closely.
“A unicorn pony with pink coat, named Luster… as I have said… A yellow pony that called BB, a kirin that called… Spring Garden…”
“Enough! How many of them?”
“Five!”
“Why are you so interested in that, Yamina?”
“Well… dreams are interesting to study!” she answers casually “Maybe Flash has gone through some kind of lucid dream, or he misses some creature so much…”
“No no! I have never seen them!”, Flash cut speech off “I just saw them…”
“Or maybe you are just making that up! Don’t be ridiculous! Lady Rainbow Dash will help you right in your first nightmare, not waiting for more than a week like you!” Blue Thunder commented “You should feel okay right now!”
“No… No… I…”
“Well… Honestly I think Blue Thunder have a point!” Yamina replied “But in case this is real, you should see a therapist instead, or when we landed at Farasi…”
“Farasi?” Flash asked in confusion.
“A kingdom, about an ocean away from Equestria. Lady Rainbow Dash said we should go there to resupply. It’s not safe to land at Everfree base anymore, we are now hunted by the Chancellor!”
“How… How do you know?” Blue Thunder asked.
“I just heard the Lieutenant discussing with Bonbon and Lyra this morning.”
“Okay… And how about Brad?”
“Well… about you…” she turned to Flash. “There is an orange hut somewhere in Zebrat, the capital city of Farasi in case you don’t know. Ask the locals where Zecora is and they will point you there.”
“But wait! I thought Brad can’t leave the ship!”
“As long as he is with Haystack, he’ll be fine…” Yamina answered “Bonbon and Lyra have allowed them to get out of the ship but should never go out the 5 km radius of the base, and never leave his side of course! If my memory’s right then Zecora’s hut is in this circle… Hopefully…”
“Ze… co… ra…” Flash thought “I think I’ve heard that name before…”
Flash nearly blurted out asking something, but he remembered that he had to hide his identity, so he just sat there quietly for a while.
“In case Haystack wants you to do what he wants and decline all your requests… Just sneak away!”
“Wait… What?” Blue Thunder gasped “Haystack is a very strict guy, you know?”
“Haystack himself was a law breaker, you forget that?” Yamina said “He just really knows how to get away with it and how to hide himself from the protocol.”
“An orange hut, Zecora…” Flash mumbled.