//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Mobile Suit Gundam: Alicorn // by Alines Reinhard //------------------------------// Then, there is the burning question of where Warmth Sunshine’s parents are, as well as what direction he should choose to get out of the festival. As much as he remembers, he and the light cerise pony have been together for nearly an hour, yet they still don’t see her parents anywhere. The day was also full of surprises, and it has not ended yet: he doesn’t know why she suddenly places her trust on him so fast. “Well… because you might be the only way I can find my mom and dad!” she answered casually when he asked the question. “Also, we also have sooo much fun today, ain’t we?” After some more talk while they are on the way, Sunshine learns that he has joined the “Hold the bar” game and he has failed to beat the record. “You… You have to go through such a game just for a scarf?” she sighed “Fine… But anyway, I know how to beat it!” The two then decide to let Flash experience the game for another time. If he got the scarf, it would be an achievement that would make creatures think twice before messing with him, at least that was what he thought. “Oh hello there, Brad!” the announcer greeted him once he saw Flash standing at the tent “Wanna try to beat the record again?” “Yes, but where is every creature?” Flash asked in concern, as he saw the tent almost completely empty. There are only the griffons, him, and if he's not wrong, Warmth Sunshine. He can not help to notice that some creatures looked into the tent with either or hatred. This also confused the griffons. The announcer griffon answered in boredom as he sighed: “Well… seems like every creature thinks our challenge is so hard, they all left. Nice to see ya here, though?” A few seconds later, Flash has already strapped himself on the carousel, ready to challenge his vestibule all over again. However, he got some advice from Warmth Sunshine: concentrate on holding the bar, but don’t open your eyes. Half of his concentration will focus on whatever he wants to think: memories, dreams, even his own fantasies. “With that, you will see that 7 minutes will not be a long time!” she said. While still maintaining the 7 minutes mark, the announcer griffon told his colleagues to slow down a little bit so he could feel dizzy a bit less. But still much to his surprise, the carousel was still slow enough that it could be comparable to the electrical one that was nearly run out of energy. This means that his only concern is to focus his mind on distracting himself away from being dizzy. In his fantasy, he saw him lying down on the grass peacefully, hearing birds chirping and slow wind washes through his face. He then shifted his mind to a dinner in his old house back in the Crystal Empire, where he and his mother are enjoying some eggs, fresh vegetables, bread, some Zap Apple Jams and especially, tomato pasta. Some creatures looked at him and made some laugh, questioning them why he was tearing out while still holding the bar in a relatively fast carousel. However, when choosing to think back to the past like that, regret is unavoidable to him. “Uh… Oh! It’s already been 7 minutes, you did it bro!” the announcer said “You have beat the record, do you want to stop?” The announcer’s voice pulled him out of the fantasy, forcing him to face off the high circling speed. Additionally, he only noticed that he is in an appropriate position to hold himself to the carousel and prevent him from falling down. This makes him nearly lose control and make the blue haired pilot raise his hand, signaling the griffon to stop the game. The whole tent, though just only a few, clapped their claws and hooves as he stepped down in stagger, which took him a few sec to stand up right again but still had to hold his head. “And the winner is… Brandon Cultrich!” he said cheerfully “Here is your reward, buddy! We’re very proud of ya!” “Y’all just saw me for a second time!” Flash said in tiredness. "Thank you for the game!" "Yeah... But you should get out of this tent ASAP, bud!" the announcer griffon said while pushing him out of the tent. "Have fun for the rest of the festival, Brandon!" … “Sweet Celestia! You made it, you made it!” The little filly jumped up and down in happiness when he got out of the tent. Flash is still feeling dizzy after more than 7 minutes on a spinning carousel, looking around to buy some drink to comfort himself as his left hand is still holding all of the rewards. “Oh my… I really feel bad for you…” Warmth Sunshine said in a sad voice “Are you okay?” “Not much… Anyway, are your parents still here? They’re probably crying where you are now?” “Yeah… But the gate is right there!” she pointed out to the same gate that Flash entered the festival “Don’t you want to get out of this… mess?” “Well… not until we find your mom and dad!” The couple then arrived at a food stall, ordering some bread and lemonade. But when Flash turned to her and asked what she wanted to eat, she replied. “Nah… I think you should enjoy it alone…” she said casually. “And by the way, it is fun to stay with you like this… It’s been a long time since the last time I ever came to a festival…” “What… what do you mean?” Flash confused “Did your parents rarely hang out with you… like this?” “No… No… It’s actually quite the opposite… I hang out with my friends a lot!” But he still turned and ordered the food and drinks anyway, with the hope that it would be easy to like the food. He is always honest with himself that he is bad at taking care of fillies. “Hey, I have the… wait where are you?” She disappeared from his view, right after he received the food and drinks. He feels like she just disappeared into the crowd to never be seen again. When his intention to find the filly started to take shape, some sparkle appeared right in front of his face, which left him speechless. “What the…” “Hey Brad!” suddenly, Yamina and Blue Thunder shouted from behind him, making him drop all the things on his hand. “Guys?” “We should go back to the ship now! It is almost 6 pm!” Blue Thunder said. “Didn’t it’s time for dinner?” Flash looked to the sky and was shocked to find out that it was already set. Without any words, he quickly picks up all the rewards and follows them back to the base, fearing that he will get punished if he is not there on time. “Sorry, Warmth Sunshine…” he mumbled. … “Where on Equus are you the whole evening? And what do these ‘rewards’ mean?” Haystack said grumpily as he came to his cabin “I thought you were at the MS hangar with our mechanics!” After the dinner and nearly 5 hours working with the mechanics to fix the Strike Zeta, Haystack punishes every creature under his command that has gone to “Spirit of Eris Eyes”. festival without his allowance, Flash came to bed with the Lieutenant’s assistance. His soldiers were all very tired after a long time fixing and checking the suits. “Well… Sorry Sir…” Flash scratched his head “Seashell Blue told me to leave him with the suit; I can go and enjoy the festival!” “Argh… did you know that Seashell Blue is also a playful hippogriff? He has like… five times disobeying orders to hang outside with the ‘girls’. I have to force him to work for ya this evening with a threat that he will clean every single bathroom in this ship if he doesn't follow my order. That’s how easy the task is. And you…” Haystack was frozen for a moment before making a sigh. He then said to Flash with a calmer voice. “You know I have to hold my hatred towards you since you are a state level criminal, right? The directors know who you are, yet they think you are too valuable to dump you away and allow you to use that fake ‘Brandon Cultrich’ identity! Why? To protect you from being eaten alive. Yet you still abandoned your duty and did… that!” Flash stood in the middle of the room, also frozen for a couple of seconds, as he didn't know what to react. The couple stared at each other for a few more seconds before Haystack broke the silence. “Okay… that’s enough. Make sure you sleep well tonight!” the Lieutenant said, then he looked at the rewards bag “About those trashy rewards, you can keep it! Keep in mind that your duty with us hasn’t finished yet, so make sure to keep your disciple, is that clear?” “Yes Sir!” “Good!” However, when he nearly closed the door, Haystack suddenly turned back to Flash and asked. “Hey kid, about that filly ‘Warmth Sunshine’...” During the dinner, Flash told his fellow MS pilot about what he had experienced in the festival, as well as the light cerise unicorn filly. Haystack happened to sit right next to them, allowing him to hear the entirety of the story: how he got the rewards, how he met Warmth Sunshine and how she disappeared all of the sudden. One detail that caught Haystack the most attention is the sparkle that appeared when he was nearly going to find her. “Some of your friends told me they saw you talking to the air when you were standing at that food stall…” “Pardon me… Sir…” “You are talking to the air like you are having a filly right next to you. How do your comrades know? They saw you doing that right before their eyes! And also, I have to keep one of the rewards from you for further investigation." "What is that? And why?" "There is a Griffonstone cult that worshiped a dangerous ancient witch. There are rumors that they might have disguised themselves as normal 'ambassadors' to lure you getting their artifacts in order to bring her back. I don't know what it means, that's why I want to keep your red scarf until everything is clear. If this is true, you might get into some trouble... And you are already under investigation. Flash was genuinely shocked. But unable to say something else, he just replied: "Yes... Sir..." "Okay. And you should also prepare yourself for the transfering to the parrot's ship!" he said as slowly walked out of the cabin "We'll go after lunch and after some final checking of our suits! Anyway, have a good night... And don't break the law again!" The door slammed and when the hoof step started to get further, Flash sat down in confusion. “Wait… I really saw her…” he thought, holding his hand on to his head “But… she also looked strangely familiar. And who is that witch? Can she be Grisela? Is this really mean they are evil witches?” There are tons of questions popping up in his head. Flash decided to analyze them himself as he connected the events that he had gone through. He indeed have heard some little chattering between the creatures when he get around the festival. The rumor basically sounds like this: they said there is a Griffostonian's cult that is specially working to revive a witch that is draining the griffons' trust in each other. With that power, she can drain the whole Griffonstone's color and make creatures stay away from it. The cult that they are telling each other wants to revive her because she protects Griffonstone "from being swallowed by the ponies". He heard it from a couple of griffons themself while waiting to get into the competition at that Hayburger restaurant. He even heard the witch's name sounds like Grisela's , but it could just be him. This also explained why the creatures looked at the tent with fear and hatred, and why the griffons pushed him off so quickly. "Maybe... maybe it's just a rumor... Or it is? Either way, I'm already being investigated!" He let out a slight sigh, wondering why his life is so bumpy. "Maybe... It's just all my fault..." After a few minutes thinking, his focus on the analysis started to fade away when the tiredness came. He looked at the clock on his cabin wall, it was already past 1 pm. The blue haired soldier decided to just wear the same outfit he had for the whole day and let himself down on the bed.