There she is!
Flash thought to himself, as the red hair pilot came to him and the Strike Zeta Gundam. She has asked Flash to wait at where his MS is staying. “MSZ-006-3”, the model number of the white MS, was the name she likes to say when referring to the Strike Zeta.
“Why did some creature have to refer to a suit not by name, but by model number?” asked Flash.
“I don’t know. I just found it cool!” said Era playfully “By the way, the name ‘Strike Zeta Gundam’ is just a code name, not an official one. Like… a nickname!”
“Fine, call it like you want…” Flash sighed as he looked away, eyes closed. “…but make sure to treat ‘her’ nicely, like I did!”
“Yeah, just like the last time you ignored ‘her’ damage on the left thermal nuclear ramjet engine and nearly sent you and ‘her’ to death…”
“Argh… fine…” said Flash with a slightly frustrated tone. He could hear a few giggles from Luster and her friends. He didn't see them, but he could feel their presence around. Ignoring it, he and Era started to explore the suit.
“You must understand some basic controlling technique, right?”
“Yes! You think I’m dumb or what?”
“Okay, let’s begin with the side skirt beam gun!”
…
“Good morning, honey!” said Lyra lovingly to her wife, Bonbon.
“Good morning there! How’s your night?”
“Not so… good… I’m pretty tired and anxious of the upcoming battle at Kludgetown…”
The peppermint unicorn yawned.
“Don’t you tell me you stay up the whole night just to do some planning on the assault!” said Bonbon playfully, while she also yawned.
About 5 minutes later, the married couple got out of the cabin, fully dressed and prepared. They adjust their usual black tie and black tuxedos, the very distinctive way to tell that they are S.M.I.L.E’s agents. The couple then casually trotted to the hangar, where they decided to oversee the maintenance of the MS.
The creatures never walk right past them without paying a proper salute or a “Madam!” chants. They are one of the commanders of Operation Rainbow Roadtrip, the military campaign that was aimed to take down Chancellor Black Wine and his party, and bring back harmony to Equus. The other one is Lady Rainbow Dash, one of the members of the Council of Friendship. She mostly coordinates diplomatic relationships between S.M.I.L.E and the rest of the Harmony Alliance to gain maximum advantages from their support. They are in “the best situation possible” to beat Black Wine.
But that also sends her to a situation: she can be targeted by the Party themselves.
That’s also why Bonbon and Lyra decided to get to the hangar that day: there are reports of a suspicious pony working as an MS mechanic in the hangar. Allegations that they are being sent to this very ship to capture Rainbow Dash herself have alerted the whole ship. At that moment, the creatures started to doubt any ponies on board that were wearing the mechanic’s uniform. But soon, the suspicion also plague to any ponies in general (excluded Bonbon and Lyra), because “if they are spies, they can master the art to change roles'', as a minotaur said when Lyra asked him why he’s so mean to mare at the engine room.
“The tensions of the war reached here real fast…” said Bonbon when they were ready to go to the split hallway that led to both hangars, “…I know we should be careful, but no exclusion to ‘just rumors’ possibility in my opinion. Black Wine might purposely bring this to our ship just to lower our morale!”
“Agree…” nodded Lyra “…oh, here’s the split hallway! Okay, see you this evening, honey!”
She kisses slightly on her wife's cheeks.
“See ya later!” returned Bonbon.
Not long after that, she arrived at the starboard side hangar, where Flash’s, Haystack’s and newly welcomed Era’s suit was.
“Flash was like come from nowhere to us, so he was excluded. Era was monitored enough, she even had cameras in her own cabin. Haystack… I doubt that. He’s kind, and it's sad to see him being viewed as a possible traitor…” Bonbon thought “…I wonder what they are doing right now…”
Looked up to the Strike Zeta, she immediately chuckled at the scene of “Brandon” and Era arguing about how to properly pilot the Strike Zeta with its gigantic shield.
“I should remind you that you should not rammed with your tip. That will heavily damage the barrel!” said the blue haired pilot.
“Really? I heard you did it once with one of the Federation MS!” Era replied.
“Yes, I have done it. Me and S.M.I.L.E have to pay the price by replacing. We found a spare barrel. It is almost impossible to find a component that is specific here in Equus if you are the Chancellor’s enemy…”
Flash pointed to the tip of the Strike Zeta Gundam. Flash once used it to ram right into the Alicorn Gundam. In the time of war, finding the right component for the mobile suit was extremely hard, especially when it’s a kind of technology that was told to come from another dimension. Luckily, the industrial strength of the Abyssinians still allowed them to build a barrel with metal quality just as good. However, it ended up being too long compared to the original barrel, resulting in the barrel pointed out a few inches from the original tip.
“Anyway… since my mistake has resulted in that improperly made barrel, I beg you not to ram, at least right at the tip. Okay?” asked Flash “You can kick or punch in case you run out of beam saber…”
“Wait, you can do that with your MS?”
“Of course… There is a system on board that allows you to coordinate punch and kick combat. It is called the ‘Wuxia’ system. Basically an AI that tells you where and when to strike with your hands and legs and switch off the weapon trigger system.You just need to use the control stick and the brakes to do it. Now I don’t know why someone installed that for such a specific situation, but I found it pretty helpful!”
“Did you learn martial arts or what?” asked Era with a suspicious eye.
“Yep, although I rarely use them in real combat…”
“That means you use it at least once. Maybe the mechanics back in the Federation understand you WILL kick and punch!”
“Uh… I guess that’s the reason…” said Flash with a realization. He remembered he did use his martial arts skills sometimes, ever since he joined S.M.I.L.E after that fall…”
“Hey! Can I interrupt you guys a little bit?” Bonbon called them from below, since the couple was standing near the Strike Zeta’s cockpit at that moment.
“Huh? What’s goin’ on?” asked Era in nervousness.
…
“You guys already know about the ‘enemy spy’ rumor, right?”
“Yes, Miss…” both answered at the same time.
“Okay… I just wanted to ask if you guys have seen suspicious ponies here on our ship?”
Then she looked around for a while, making the duo look in the same direction at her. The ponies in the hangar seem to work with more caution, and even fear. They are the mechanics ponies, the epicenter of the rumors. Flash notices one stallion, while still doing his job, seems to be cautious around his creature friend. He constantly looked down with his sweat falling on his forehead, indicating he’s not very comfortable.
“I don’t think I have seen any, madam. Maybe because I was too monitored, but the ponies here are pretty kind to me!” Era replied “…again, I have to say that I have no intention of betraying you guys. I have seen my ex-comrades brutality… and am ashamed about it…”
She looked on the floor with a darkened face. Flash speculates she is still left horrified by the death of her kirin friend at Kirin’s Groove attack. He genuinely feels bad for her.
“And you, Brandon?” Bonbon turned to him.
“Uh… me too. I could even say that with Haystack. He IS the last pony you could think of in this situation!”
“Yeah… I’m even aware that his family back at home was threatened by Black Wine and his racist followers. Poor him. Now have to face suspicions from his friends here. Any more suspicion that you guys wanted to discuss?”
“Uh… maybe not… madam!”
“Okay! Have a good day you two!”
But the yellow earth pony still decided to stay at the hangar for the rest of the day. She thought that keeping her eyes up was the right decision, along with some combat planning in her head.
“What happens if they have more ships and mobile suits there? Will Black Wine present himself once again?”
It was a huge concern for every creature at S.M.I.L.E that the Chancellor would come back. He had yet to prove his destructive fighting skills, due to his performance being blocked by Flash. But the fact that he is the very one who successfully captured the Alicorn Gundam still sends chills down her spine. Perhaps along with ‘Brandon’, Black Wine is the only one that can contain the wild MS.
When she is thinking about how to defeat the black Gundam, suddenly, her mind decides to snap her back to reality. It was the brown fur of Lieutenant Haystack, with his the cutie mark representing the thing that make up his name being covered in the usual gray cloth of his customized uniform. The stallion is holding a set of paper at the time, to which Bonbon speculated “probably technical information”. She then adjusted herself and approached him as casually as she could, trying to not show any suspicious action and expression.
“Hello there, Lieutenant!” she greeted me with a smile “What are you doing?”
“Hi there, Bonbon! Just checking my MS for a while. What’s wrong?”
“Uh… nothing! But I wanted to talk with you about something… “
She paused for a while to gather some courage. She is aware that some creatures view him as a possible spy and asked her to investigate him, which is an activity she didn’t want to. But for security reasons, she has to.
“Do you ever feel… un-welcoming on this ship… Like when a creature looked at you with some anger?”
“What do you mean? The creatures here are pretty friendly. You know… for harmony’s shake!”
“I see… but… You know that there is a rumor about an enemy spy right here on our ship?”
“Of course! Creatures are discussed almost everywhere! Honestly I’m a little nervous about it. I hope it stays as an allegation. I don’t like the harmony being disturbed like that…”
“Agree… But… but… I heard that…”
“But what?”
“Well… Nothing! I just came here to talk to you about that…”
“Or are you suspicious of me?”
That sentence came out suddenly, making Bonbon shivering a little bit. She was genuinely surprised at how Haystack spotted her intention so fast.
“Wait, what? I never think you are a spy! You know… you have some bad impression of that dark blue bastard in Canterlot, right?” she answered rapidly to hide her nervousness.
“So explained why some creatures on this ship avoid me… No… avoid almost all ponies?”
Bonbon gulped. But she decided to bring all of her courage out and said:
“Because of the rumor. I’m sorry but I do have some suspicions for you too!”
The brown stallion froze for a while, but his eyes still stayed the same. At the time, he looked more like what Bonbon said than as he expected, but he was still disappointed. Haystack sighed, he looked at Bonbon with a sad eye. She could tell that Haystack is trying to think of the best reply for the situation. He eventually spoken:
“Director, I know what you are doing is for the greater good, so I don’t have any hard feelings towards it. Well… may be some disappointment. But you have to remember that sometimes our victory depends on the harmonic relationship between all beings here. Every pony on this ship has been far from home for at least half a year, mine included. If not because of the Alicorn, Flash and the sudden war with Black Wine, I am probably sitting at home with my wife and son right now. But instead of asking for permission to go home, I still decided to offer up my heart and effort for Equestria… No… Probably for the entire Equus. What I think is we are on the brink of a mass racist wave of anti pony view, so I urge you to at least hold a meeting and ask other creatures to act normal towards the ponies. You, Lyra and Rainbow Dash are probably the only ponies the whole ship listened to without hesitation, so I believe you can do it.”
…
“Come on… come on…” Flash struggled to force his pencil to listen to his order. Next to him is Spring Garden patiently watching him drawing some line on the paper.
Flash's mind has somehow directed his dream, along with Luster’s friends, to a paint room. If he decides to snap himself out of the drawing, he will see BB and Grisela are playing with the paint, while Yolinda and Luster are brainstorming about a “spectacular landscape”.
“That’s pretty good, keep it up!” said Spring Garden.
“Well… thanks. This is the first time I have been drawn since ages. But… Luster…” he turned to where she and Yolinda is “…why can’t I change my drawing skill? I mean… this is my dream!”
“Well… because your mind said you are really not good at drawing! C’mon believe in yourself, Flash!”
“Well… maybe it’ll work!” Spring Garden followed.
The couple was planning to draw a portrait of Spring Garden at the time, as the gray kirin herself suggested. Flash was hesitant to do that, but eventually agreed.
The yellow pegasus closed his eyes, concentrated his mind just like how he had created the paint room. He could feel the sounds of the friends around him slowly vanish, but it’s only for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, the portrait suddenly presented itself on the canvas.
“Hey, not fair!” Grisela glides to him and says with a disappointed accent “Me and BB are struggling with some paint for hours, but Flash can do that with just mind control?”
“Eh… it’s HIS dream!” said Spring Garden with a cocky voice “If not because of him, you guys will be bored to death!”
“Urgh… At least do it a bit slower so we can catch up, please!”
“I don’t know how I can do that, Grisela…” Flash said nervously “…but I promise the painting will be purely on my own. No mind tricks!”
“Urgh… I can see what you are doing! With my eyes!” the black griffon said with her fingers pointing from her eyes to Flash, signaling she will watch him.
“Oh! Do you have anything interesting today, Flash?” asked Yolinda.
“Uh… Well… there is a rumor about a Black Wine spy on board…” Flash temporarily stopped his paint job and said “… a mechanic pony who works on one of the hangars on the ship. Do you know who they are?”
“Uhm… why do you ask us? We’re not psychics!” replied Luster Dawn with an annoyed voice.
“Well… how about that one time you created an illusion to me at the Harmony Festival? Or you guys can even hear creatures discussing things out of your cockpit…”
“We can just do that, Flash... Oh, maybe we can follow you around so we can help you find out who they are?” Yolinda suddenly suggested excitingly “Grisela, what do you think?”
“What, me?” the black griffon pointed to herself with her left eye brows raised.
“Well… you are basically the detective of our group!” Luster Dawn said “Heck… you are even the first one pointed out who Flash is!”
“Uh… Maybe it’s mostly you… But I’m glad to take the credit for myself, so thank you!” she said with one of her claws pointed proudly to her chest.
“But… you should help me too, Luster! You are the smartest unfortunately…”
“Why?” the light cerise unicorn pointed to herself the same way Grisela does previously.
“So you can be my sidekick!”
“Urgh…”
“Wait… so what in Equestria is this detective thing?” Flash asked “Can I have some context?”
“Grisela once helped Principal Starlight Glimmer and her friends to find out who stole the school Buck Ball Grand Games cup. She found out that a bunch of students from a class next to us tried to steal it for ‘research’ purposes…”
“Well… they left some claw and hoof print print on the floor and even tried to clean it! I even found one of the griffons trying to clean them with alcohol, but eventually I still find out who they are. 2 ponies and that one griffon. Well… they are not the smartest in terms of doing illegal stuff though, but finding who they are amongst the whole school still takes me a whole day.”
“Just one day? Even Rainbow Dash takes about 3 days to find me when she investigates the crown heist!”
“Wait, what?”
“Well… I take her crown and hide it in my personal room. She only finds out thanks to me trying to escape from the Castle of Friendship on a rainy night!”
“That's a quality thief right there, Flash! You’re dangerous!” Luster Dawn commented.
“And that’s something I’m totally not proud of, Luster… That pony tricked me to think that the crown can save my mom from cancer. The rest… you have known…”
“How is your mom right now, Flash?” Butter Burger stunted him by asking with concern. With his cheerful and happy manner, he is the last creature he could think of that can be sad. Flash could see his ears dropped.
“She… she passed away…” answered Flash in sadness. “Rainbow Dash just told me about it a few days ago…”
“Oh no!” the whole group gasped. Yolinda almost cried with that.
“I… I just desperate to save her… It obviously wrong, so I ended up worsen everything. I think I deserve to endure all of these suffering. I have not just a shame to my family, but the whole Royal Guards as well. Death is not even enough for me, so live long suffering is perhaps the most appropriate… “
“Argh… No! I banned you from saying bad thing like that, okay?” Grisela fielded Flash and yelled right at his face “Do you not understand how important you are, especially to us? I mean… don’t be a suicidal pony… Flash…”
She slowly got sobbed by her own statement. Flash was surprised by how fast she turned from being an annoyed griffon to an adorable yet poor friend. He hugged her.
“Yeah… she has said that for all of us. Flash, we will make this out together!” Yolinda added.
“I have promised to give you the gift of friendship. Don’t make my promise broken like that…” Luster Dawn said. “About your mom… perhaps she really wanted to see you living a happy life, right? Especially since you are a good pegasus!”
“Okay… I understand…” The yellow pegasus hugged Grisela tightly. The rest of the group soon followed with a tight group hug.
“Okay… okay… I won’t mention anything about… ending my life. Okay… but I…” Flash looked to Grisela, who quickly burst herself out and wiped her tears rapidly. The whole chuckled at that sight “…I genuinely surprised how soft Grisela is!”
“Uh… just… I just can’t control myself sometimes!” Grisela said as she cleaned her feathers.
“Yeah, she can get soft really quick, Flash…” Luster Dawn chuckled, but she soon silence and looked down “…but… but… about Rainbow Dash…”
“Uh… Rainbow Dash what?” Flash asked, pretending he was confused.
“Well… she asked you to stay away from us once we were free, right?”
Flash’s face turned to sadness when Luster reminded him of that requirement in RD’s cabin once again.
“Okay! Just… tell us about that, slowly…”
…
Telling them the entirety of the conversation between him, Haystack and Rainbow Dash have to be one of the most difficult things he has ever done. After thinking over and over again, he has confirmed himself that it was only good for him.
“But hey! You guys can shove off an litteral criminal who once stole a precious crown of a Princess…”
“I. Tell. You. To. STOP HATING YOURSELF!” yelled Grisela “…this is not just for you. Think about Equestria… our friendship can even…”
“No! You guys don’t need me to save Equestria!” Flash replied with a somewhat yelled voice, but he soon lowered his voice and said calmly “Hey, listen to me, guys! I know you guys really love to have some friends… like… me… to talk to you every night. Luster, I understand that ‘gift’ of friendship you wanted to give me. But there are some barriers between us that can not be torn down, you have to know that! By the way, you have done incredible stuff with barely any help. I heard that you guys saved Equestria at least once. And hey… don’t you guys remember that one time you guys defeated Gremlina. And hey, y’all even processed some Elements of Harmony?”
“You mean the magic stored crystals that can only be used by friendship?” asked Grisela with one of her eyebrows raised.
“Yep… you guys even shared the elements with the Council of Friendship! SG for Generosity, BB for Happiness, Luster Dawn for Magic, Yolinda for kindness, Grisela for honesty! And you…”
“So that’s why Rainbow Dash tell you are a gold digger…” the light cerise pony said in a sorrowful manner.
“Luster, guys, I didn’t mean to…”
“To be honest, I started to feel like we are becoming a tool right now… Flash…” she said. It was a bitter moment for Flash when he heard that, thinking he might have done something bad for the gang “… we really wanted to be friends with you, but don’t just use us like that!”
“But hey, my comrades on the Canterlot have acknowledged my own story with you guys! I think they would give me the best condition possible for me to save you guys out. Here’s the deal: with your mind control or illusion creation ability, which Luster has performed to me, you will help me find the way to you guys. The best possible way, of course! You will help me pilot the suit to fight Black Wine’s Army in case we stumble upon them on the way back to the ship I’m staying on right now. Your ability is incredible, no joke. So we should make it back to the Canterlot in no time!”
“Really?” asked Luster as she and the rest of the gang titled their heads, something that Flash found really adorable. “How do they know that?”
“I tell SG’s mom the whole thing, in front of Haystack and Celaeno, remember? He brought me to tell it to Rainbow Dash and that’s how!”
“Wait… did they know you are Flash Sentry?” asked Spring Garden in concern, “You know you have to use a fake name to not encounter problems, right?”
“Yes, but only Haystack and RD know, as far as I am aware. They promise to keep my real identity!”
“Cool! So that means they will bring us straight to the Everfree Forest?”
“Of course! And I swear with my own life that it will succeed. You can kill…”
“No self hate, please!” Grisela casually said.
“Okay… but I swear I’ll bring you guys out of this horrible war, no matter the cost!”
He raised one of his left front hooves up, with a serious look on his face.
“Aww… thanks Flash!” said Butter Burger “Oh! How about we threw a party after the battle to celebrate! Flash, can you think of a party table!”
“When the time's come, definitely!” he said with a chuckle.