It was the first time he hugged the whole team without being woken up. He smiled. Being hugged by a griffon like Grisela was a nice thing to have in the trying times.
But then, realization hits him.
There was no feeling of warmth or the pressure when they tight him in their hooves and arm. He couldn’t hear any signature perfume that Spring Garden had bragged “Will leave a mark in your memory”.
“Either you will wake up from their ‘love’ or you will never feel anything at all… Or maybe they are slowly coming back to life!” Flash thought “You must survive this to the end Flash! This is not just for them, for you, but for the whole Equestria. Heck, even for the whole Equus!”
On the way, he suddenly bumped into Haystack, who was holding a cup of coffee. He nearly spilled the coffee on Flash 's newly washed uniform, but Flash still decided to apologize.
“Nah, it’s fine bud! Hey, what are you doing?”
“Come to the bridge for a visit…”
“Okay… oh and can you give me this coffee to the Captain? I have to get to the mobile suit hangar for a while… Routine check, you know!”
Flash took the hot cup carefully and walked right to where he wanted to.
…
Every creature is doing their part obediently and carefully, making sure everything is gone according to plan.
On the captain seat, the draconequus commander relaxingly monitoring the activity while sipping the coffee. At one point, he even used his chaos magic (Discord was not called the Spirit of Chaos for nothing) to make him a randomly designed mug with some normal coffee in it. Flash can’t describe it in detail, but he could tell it looks like the mug was painted by a graffiti artist.
“Thanks Brandon, glad you came here!” the old draconequus said “I guess your commander was really busy today, eh?”
“Uh… yes Sir!” Flash answered in a formal manner.
“You don’t need to call me Sir! You can call me Discord, just like how my friends call me!”
“But… military protocol…”
“Man, I can't tell you how much I hate those papers, especially the ones that emphasize on obedience a little too much! I’m the Spirit of Chaos, you know… Have you heard of me? Oh wait, you are a human that wandered here by accident!”
“Yes… Yes… Discord!”
The duo then stepped down and Discord started to show him around the bridge.
“Oh… and you probably don’t know about our bridge crew yet… Here is Ensign Scelrite, our combat operator…” he said when he came right by a lemon colored changeling, sitting by the radar and carefully looking at every detail it showed. He turned back and smiled at the duo when Discord tapped his shoulder, shook Flash’s hand and simply got back to work.
“Well… he’s not particularly a talkative changeling… You know, he has to be careful to keep our ship safe and sound!” Discord explained with some stuttering.
Next is Chief Petty Officer Mind-of-Steel , a gray minotaur who was at the helm of the whole ship, as well as the main navigator. Discord finds out his strength and focusing ability, which is true to his name, would certainly help the ship to go through the sharpest turns or the most dramatic change in altitude. If the ship was deployed in ship to ship engagement, his skill will be even more highlighted. At the time, the gray minotaur was still holding the steering wheel despite the ship being in autopilot. Discord explained he was deployed to that position in that morning to make sure manned reaction will come in almost immediately in case of emergency, as well as looking over the maps to find the best way possible.
“We have dodged countless unnecessary troubles thanks to him! I remember only a few days ago, we nearly hit an airship carrying goods between Kludgetown and Farasi. Thanks to him, we can easily dodge it… but with just a few inches between our starboard side and its bow!”
Flash looked into his own radar monitor of where the gray minotaur sat. He could easily spot 2 small dots, which are the Parrot Strength and Eagle Scream, steaming just a few hundred meters along each side of the Canterlot. They are the ships that make the small “flotilla” that they are a part of at the moment.
“I call it the Eagle Trio. Most of the ships are bird related, so I think it is usable!” Discord explained the name he gave to the “flotilla”.
Next is Lieutenant Yellow Prickle, a yellow kelpie from the land of Farasi, which is famous for their water-shape shifting ability. However, her job was to be Discord’s first officer. The yellow kelpie greeted the duo when they approached her seat.
“Hello there Captain, and you too, Brad!” she said with a soft voice and a smile on her face “Have a nice time here, pilot!”
“Thank you, my dear!” the draconequus replied.
Later in the tour, he learned Discord chose her because of her skill as well as her personality.
“She looks like a kelpie version of Fluttershy, bud! You know that one adorable and friendly pegasi? She’s my best, actually. I can’t live without her… And…”
Discord suddenly stopped, looking down the floor as if he had somehow invoked painful memories. But Flash has acknowledged his love for his little pegasus friends, just like every other creature on the ship.
“Sorry, Brad… He could get sniffled sometimes when mentioned Lady Fluttershy…” Yellow Prickle said with her usual soft voice “Now if you excuse me, Captain… You should…”
“No! No… I’m fine!” the draconequus breaks from his nostalgia and continues “…now where are we? Ah yes!”
Then, he came to where Warrant Officer Marlin Whisper. The pink hippogriff was sitting relaxingly at her monitor as the ship casually steamed through the clouds. She was the ship’s weapons system manager, making her bearing the responsibility to look over the ship’s weapons arsenal. She was surprised to see Flash and Discord behind. The pink hippogriff immediately pulled out her headphones and greeted the duo.
“Hello there Discord, and you too, Ensign Brandon!”
“Listen to music as always, eh?” asked Discord with a genuine voice “You seem to really enjoy it. What song is that?”
“Oh, it’s called ‘I will always love you’, which is surprisingly a pop song!” she said with a cheerful voice as she looked with her head upside down to them “Pretty good, you guys should totally buy an MP3 player. It's just not right when you don’t have any music to calm yourself on the battlefield, you know!”
She does have a point. But Flash already has a rather unusual hobby. Creatures would find him reading novels, some magic related books and engineering guides. It was a habit he has developed ever since the time he’s still Princess Twilight’s personal guard. He still remembers how much of a bookworm she was when he was still her personal royal guard.
“Yeah… we will consider your advice well!”
He continued to introduce Flash to the rest of the bridge: a unicorn as the ship’s Chief Engineer, called Ensign Mirage. An Earth pony, called Ensign Rapid Specter, was assigned as the ship’s traffic control. Flash has to admit to himself that’s the first time he ever saw the face of the pony who gave him orders in the hangars.
“Good morning there, Ensign Flash!” the purple earth pony “Tell Blue Thunder to be more careful listening to my order, okay?”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Well, the dude just sometimes can’t hear me say. In that one chase with the Alicorn about just a few days before your arrival, he nearly shot himself out of the hangar without the launch lock being released. Luckily I told him to stop in time…”
“Ah…” Flash exclaimed slightly.
In total, there are 7 creatures, including the captain on the bridge. They have a big responsibility to look over the majority of the ship’s activity, making sure everything was in their control.
“By the way… I have some confusion… You know that you are the Spirit of Chaos, right?” Flash asked “You even mentioned the military protocol…”
“Being too formal is not in any military protocol, Brad!” Discord said with a corrected tone.
“Okay, but creatures know you for doing chaotic-thingy. Why do you choose to be a military officer like this, and how?”
“Fluttershy, that’s why!” he said “After the disappearance of my best pegasi friend, I have always wanted to save her. I have promised her to not stir things up beyond repair, so I can’t use my magic too much to fight against them: the Ponykind, you know them! One day, I was contacted by Lyra and Bonbon themselves, to which they suggested that I join the chase of the Alicorn Gundam. In case you wonder, yes, I have tried to capture them with my power. But I have a feeling that it was powered by… friendship… I never successfully contain that thing…”
“Wait… I thought the Magic of Friendship is perfect…”
“Yeah… but something prevents them from breaking out. But you right about the Magic of Friendship being ‘perfect’! They are powered by multiple creatures, often up to 5. Combined their power and they are unstoppable…”
The Magic of Friendship! It is the concept that almost all creatures in Equus heard at least once, but they rarely know detail about it. Flash was not an exception. Flash just heard it was some kind of extremely powerful magic, perhaps the most powerful. It is operated by creatures called “Elements Holders” and it must operate by a team, not an individual or even a pair.
He slowly came right next to Flash and whispered into his ear.
“I heard creatures said there are labs that research weaponized that magic. They captured the creatures that have shown the magic, which is really, really rarely used. They will imprison them in specially built mobile suits to use for their own benefit. They are legit mass destruction weapons, Brad. I don’t know why, but I feel like you might be one of the keys to get rid of that dark magic!”
“Wait… but I thought you could easily infiltrate their security with ease and free them. You are the Spirit of Chaos, remember?”
“No… I can’t… As I said before, I will stir things up beyond repair. War is already chaotic itself. Anyway, since Luster Dawn and her friends have trust in you, you must succeed. After that, we can get a detailed investigation on those labs, okay?”
Suddenly, the phone located right next to the captain’s seat rang with its weird beeping noise. The draconequus quickly teleported himself to it and picked the phone up. On the other end of the line, Rainbow Dash said that the captain should open up the map on the ceiling monitor.
After doing everything she told, Discord asked what happened.
“Do you see the Kingdom of Griffonstone on the map? Yeah, that’s where we're gonna come next!” she said with a somewhat happy voice. “We have some company!”
…
It was not a very pleasant thing to do for Mind-of-Steel, as he had to divert the ship to cross the Celestial Sea, exposing the whole flotilla to enemy fire. But after being convinced by Discord that either Black Wine’s Navy will not bat an eye on them if they hide in the clouds or his chaos magic will shield the whole flotilla, he agrees to turn the ship around and temporarily gives up their target at Kludgetown.
About 2 days later, due to the order to move carefully as usual, they arrived at the griffon’s kingdom.
When the ship arrived there, Flash was hit with the impression that it was a city surrounded by a large tree as their main castle. In his eye, it looks like a large gray, lifeless tree with houses built on the branches.
According to Haystack, even until pretty recently it was a messy kingdom with little welcomes from the griffon themselves. But after the visit of Lady Rainbow Dash and Lady Pinkie Pie to the place, the griffon have realized the value of friendship and kindness and make the place significantly better. The place was now more wealthy, but the griffon tends to hide it in their house. They rather spend them on business, arts and other non-physical stuff, which make Griffonstone a beautiful and mesmerizing place with not too much modern initial appearance.
It’s not too hard for Mind-of-Steel to find the base they were supposed to come to. He carefully turned the ship around, adjusting its position with small thrusters and wings, making sure the 265 meters long, 204.5 meters wide ship could fit perfectly on the tarmac. The ground crew quickly came to their position and started their job with the ship. Cranes were out to help mount fuel pipes, cranes deployed to help the crew embark, vehicles were driven for multiple purposes,… No matter what their job is, they seem to be very professional. Rainbow Dash can even compare them to the ground crew at the Hall of Friendship.
Right after getting out of the ship, Rainbow Dash was immediately greeted by the kingdom’s Minister of Defense, Sir Grimdall. The griffons quickly get Rainbow Dash in the car to get her to the castle, making sure she enjoys the maximum security from the kingdom’s royal guard. This process was even more intensive as the rumor of a pony on board the Canterlot itself was said to kidnap her.
“Oh c’mon! I can make that pony regret that decision real quick if they even want to touch me!” the blue mare said “Nothing can beat the great and powerful Rainbow Dash!”
“Yes… but we should always be careful! Even your powerful friends can be turned into statues, how can you not?” said Bonbon.
“Uh… but at least I got the warning first hoof!” she said with a cocky voice.
Flash and the team were once again allowed to get out of the ship to catch some fresh air. He immediately noticed the change in altitude when the whole kingdom was located in a mountainous area: the air seems to be less dense than most places he has gone through. Despite all of that, Flash can still see the griffon flying all around just like normal.
“May be there’s some magic but admit it: the griffons are the best flyers in Equus!” Grisela’s voice whistle with a cocky tone, making Flash chuckle a little.
However, the pilots are required to stay in the base. Since there will be new pilots and suits that arrived on the ship. Reinforcement is always good in a situation like what Flash is going through at the moment, but he feared Black Wine’s Army could take this as an opportunity to strike, just like when he and the Parrot’s Strength arrived at Kirin’s Groove.
The rest of the flotilla also arrived almost at the same time and was ordered to moor in the airship’s dock by the ATC. With that, Haystack decided to defy the order and asked Flash whether he wanted to go back to the Parrot’s Strength.
“Let me guess… Celaeno?” Flash asked jokingly. He is always aware of Haystack’s crush on the pirate captain.
“Huh? What? No! Just visit old friends. You don’t remember them at all?”
“That’s not what I mean! We have to wait for new suits and pilots to come, remember?” Flash said with a cautious voice.
“Nah, they won’t come here today… Now do you want to go or not?”
But I have to halt the visit for another time. Just as Haystack put his hoof on the ground, he spotted some vehicle carrying MS on it, arriving right before the Canterlot’s port hangar. There were three of them and they were covered in white cloth for security reasons. Flash and Haystack quickly ran towards them to see the loading procedure.
“We’re full today!” Director Lyra said as she also overlooked the loading “Jegan D Types! I heard that the Federation only uses them for special missions, which means we might have the upper hand compared to Black Wine’s MS…”
She later looks into the records that she’s holding with her magic to check.
“And they came with a full weapons pack: grenades, beam rifle, shields, and ammunition for the Vulcan guns! I would say we’re in big luck today!”
“Yeah… talk about ‘luck’…” Haystack mumbled sarcastically.
“Oh, and have I mentioned the bazookas and a sniper rifle?”
“A sniper rifle?” Flash mumbled. Lyra quickly noticed Flash lips so she said.
“Yep! They were even kind enough to send us a sniper unit!”
The white cloth was soon wrapped up to reveal the signature dark brown armor of the Type Ds Jegan, something that differed them to the normal light green Jegan. The weapons that Lyra listed soon followed the cloth unwrap procedure, revealing their full glory to the sunlight of the cloud-less sky of Griffonstone. Their smooth black paint shines happily under the light, to the point that Flash and Haystack sometimes have to cover their eyes in order to block the shines into their eyes.
It was 9 am in the morning, but the duo didn't get anything into their stomachs.
“Jeez, normally they care for us a lot… hopefully we can find a vending machine somewhere near here…”
The duo soon found a red one that sold some cold nutrition drink. Haystack pulled out his wallet and bought two cans, feeding themselves with the fresh, delicious liquid of ‘life’, the can’s slogan describing the product.
Just as the Lieutenant wiped his drop on the mouths, he spotted some creatures, carried by special vehicle, arrived at the ship. There are 3 of them: 1 reindeer and 2 changelings. The trio seems to have an arrogant aura as the leading reindeer was wearing expensive sunglasses.
“I think I saw that in a Canterlot store once…” Haystack whispered to Flash “…jeez, this guy must be a politician’s son. And look at that coat he’s wearing!”
The duo quickly ran at the ship as Flash quickly reminded his superior of their duty. Haystack knew that the first S.M.I.L.E’s personnel they'd met was supposed to be Lyra, but their cocky voice still sent him some frustration.
“Hello there, Miss! Thank you for your… invitation!” the brown coat reindeer said “…I know you guys are in a state of… desperation. So as a duty call, we came here for ya!”
His emphasis on “invitation” and “desperation” even make Haystack angrier. But Flash managed to keep him calm.
“Hmmm… the place looks kinda… dusty. But it’s okay, we can clean the whole thing together… But make sure you guys don’t scratch our suit. Premium Equestrian paint right there!”
“Okay… We’ll consider all of your demands!” Lyra said with a calmed temper.
“But you should also consider what we have gone through!” Haystack said with anger as he walked towards the trio. Flash tried to stop him from behind, but every touch was met with his hoof wiped away. “We have been fighting Black Wine for months. You might think you are important, but remember: compared to us, you are just a rookie!”
“Oh… Hello there, Sir! You must be Lieutenant Haystack!” the reindeer said with a friendly voice. He even attempted to shake Haystack's hoof, but the brown stallion backed down to avoid it.
“Listen you three, since y’all have become a part of this ship, you have to adjust to the culture. All of us have to clean the ship at least once a week, and EVERY creature joins it. Not even Lyra, Bonbon, and Lady Rainbow Dash are excluded!”
“Uh… fine, I guess?” the reindeer said “But we might avoid it if the situation required it!”
“Back down, you two!” Lyra trotted in front of the heated duo “This is Lieutenant Moran, an Everfree MS pilot that was assigned directly to us by the Harmony Alliance. And these two changelings named Esteban and Haruna. They are also sent here by the Harmony Alliance!”
“Pardon me, Miss Director! But I have to say that we have shot down several Equestrian MS before coming here!” Moran said as Lyra handed them the portfolio of the trio. Haystack was shocked to learn that they are all aces: 3 MS, 4 Mosquito UAV and a B-3 bomber by Moran, 8 tanks by Esteban and 5 MS by Haruna’s sniper Jegan D Type.
“Wait… so where are you before?” Haystack asked in confusion.
“We were deployed to several places on a battleship to fight Black Wine…” Haruna said with an equally cocky voice “…to my understanding, you guys are somewhat… have less skill than us, eh?”
“But in exchange to that, we have to fight Black Wine directly! Just ask Brandon!” he said “I guarantee y’all not gonna stand a chance against that psychopath!”
He asked his hoof pointed backward to Flash.
“Oh… You must be Ensign Brandon Cultrich, right?” Moran came to the blue-haired pilot and shook his hand “The guy who literally pilots Gundam and has a ‘mysterious connection’ with the infamous Alicorn Gundam?”
“If you think it’s true, then yes! I’m Brandon Cultrich!” Flash answered calmly.
“Well… we’re gonna fight together for a pretty long time…”
...
Later that day, Haystack was finally able to visit his ‘crush’ on the Parrot’s Strength. The crew greeted him and Flash as always.
“Welcome back, Lieutenant! How’s the new MS-thing going on?” Celaeno asked.
“I honestly can’t stand that arrogant reindeer. Imagine coming to a house and the first thing you said is ‘this place needs cleaning’! Like… who on Equestria can stand some creatures that seem to despise you?”
“To be honest, they are actually aces!” Flash added “That might be why they seem to be so arrogant…”
“That’s why! We're gonna crush those filth way harder. Hey Brad, can you kill Black Wine if he showed up in Kludgetown this time?”
“He’s an extremely skilled pilot. Perhaps I should have something else in my arsenal…”
“An even sharper tool in your shed?” said Mullet “Sorry kid, but that would be unlikely. Highly unlikely…”
“Wait, I thought we just had supplies?” Haystack asked in confusion.
“Anaheim Electronics while still willing to sell things to both sides, that’s not mean they don’t have an agenda…” Celaeno said “Maybe there is a human in the executives who is favored Black Wine rather than us. Reasons: still in speculation… All we can do now is either steal Black Wine’s stuff or simply rely on our politicians for negotiation…”
“Let just say AE did allowed to sell us weapons…” Haystack continue “…which one would you like to have?”
“Uh… maybe a smaller shield for my MS, I guess? I know that the current one provides more firepower and protection to me, but that thing is just too heavy and it blocks the suit’s versatility potential. By the way, did you guys know that the shield has its own reactor?”
“Wait… really?” confused Mullet.
“Yep, he’s right!” added Haystack “I don’t know what idiot’s idea to put a reactor into a shield. It was supposed to protect ya, not blowing ya with it!”
“Sweet Celestia…” exclaimed Mullet. Almost every creature on the ship knows how destructive a Minovsky reactor explosion is. “Lucky you, Brad! The worst thing you have so far is some bruises and scratches on that thing. If a shot somehow manages to go through it… I don’t know how to say… But hopefully you can dodged the blast fast enough…”
The group temporarily stayed silent, as they looked up at the night sky. The clouds are gone, allowing them to see the stars and the moon.
In Equus, the sun and the moon, or the day-night cycle, was controlled artificially by magic. Flash knew that the current pony who is responsible for that is Princess Twilight Sparkle. But after she and her friends were being frozen to stone, he doesn't know who’s doing that at the moment.
“Perhaps Black Wine suddenly knows how to control it… I don’t know…” Celaeno said speculatively “…I guess every creature is just as confused as you are…”
A few minutes after that, they spotted the convoy that carried Rainbow Dash back to the ship.
“There’s our Lady…” exclaimed Celaeno with a smug face “…looks like she has a lot of interesting things to tell”. She then turned to Flash and Haystack “You guys should go back to the ship. It’s pretty late right now. We're gonna get to Kludgetown tomorrow!”