//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 // Story: Mobile Suit Gundam: Alicorn - Volume 2 // by Alines Reinhard //------------------------------// “That’s too close, Rainbow Dash!” Flash yelled, “Are you insane?” “What? Do you think Black Wine will spare our lives? Remember how you suddenly lost contact with them altogether? That’s him!” Rainbow Dash said. She made the Psycho MkII raise its beam rifle once again and fired at the Alicorn. “But… I just heard Griselda’s voice…” “That’s thanks to the curse they inflict on you. But I don’t think they get to hear your voice again, my stallion…” “Er herr.” Applejack cleared her throat. “That’s ridiculous! That curse also allows the victim to talk back to the ‘parasite’!” Starlight argued. “What do you mean by that?” Flash asked. The Alicorn's eyes flashes charged right into Flash’s position. Thankfully, he is fast enough to pull out the forearm-mounted beam saber to create a beam tonfa, using its blade to block a similar beam tonfa from the Alicorn. “I hate to say this, really hate to say this, but that’s what a witch who cast the curse on her victim called. You are supposed to know this!” “Yes, but they call it in a different way in a book… I forgot its name…” “Forget it, concentrate on the battle!” Twilight Sparkle said with a commanding voice. “Enemy coming, 6 o’clock!” screamed Pinkie Pie “That’s Black Wine’s friend!” … “Damn you Brandon!” Nikita screamed and charged right at Flash “This is for Joseph!” His beam rifle constantly firing in utter anger and hatred for the pilot that has killed his comrade. When he saw the rogue mobile suit, his initial reaction was to ignore it since there is Black Wine in Alicorn have to tackle it. But upon hearing who is in the cockpit, he immediately thinks of killing Brandon. His plan: take it down with his newly equipped, forearm-mounted Piloting System Jammer (PSJ), forcing Brandon out of the cockpit and beating the hell out of him. After thinking about it, he let his fury loose. He has always been infuriated by the blue-headed, slimmed guy that was known as the enemy’s ace pilot. He was, allegedly, responsible for the death of Lt. Joseph Barn. But that’s enough. He just wanted to punch him with his own fist the moment he pulled him out of that cursed cockpit. He wants to see his nose bleeding like a spring, begging for life and he will bring him right to Black Wine. “Stop there, cunt! Stop there so I can shock you with this lightning they gave me!” he screamed in the cockpit. His finger professionally pressed the buttons on the control stick to choosing the PSJ, as well as locking the main camera onto the dark blue mobile suit. “I will not kill you, but hopefully this is enough to make you feel utter pain!” he said. A large, thick electrical wire then with a black metal arrow attached launched towards the Psycho MkII. Initially, Brandon’s, or the AI’s, or both’s piloting skills did catch it and destroy the metal arrow. “But don’t worry” as in Nikita's own words, there is a second one. His eyes turned red in anger and the will of a hunter: to kill his prey.  Turns out there is not one, but there are 4 of them: 2 for each forearm, all fully functional. Nikita decided to overwhelm the rogue mobile suit by firing two at once. While one was successfully blocked, the other went dangerously close… …before eventually, he landed a hit. “Now suffer my fury, you war criminal!” Nikita growled. He set up the electrical output to the highest point, indicating enough of them can send the entire piloting hardware to be overheated and eventually burn them from the inside. The thing does as it was supposed to do: the current is so strong the mobile suit itself flattering in agony. “Argh! Arghhh!” Flash growled. There is literal electrical lightning in the cockpit, each of them stings into his flesh with electric currents. Not enough to kill him, but it was, at the time, the worse physical torture he have ever gone through. The lightning crackled like stick fireworks, enough to show how powerful and harmful the PSJ system can be. “Flash, Flash, fight back!” Fluttershy cried. “You are hurting!” “Sweet Celestia, do something!” Applejack yelled “He is burned like roasted apples! Telling him to fight back did not gonna help!” “Are there any kind of fire extinguishers here?” Rarity asked in full panic “Find them around, Pinkie!” “I’m trying, I’m trying!” the pink pony squeaked in tears. Luckily, she found it. The waters and fire extinguishing bubbles help ease the pain in his body, partially making him feel better although the burn is still severe. It fell down to the ground, making a loud metallic thud. The entire cockpit then goes dark, leaving only some red emergency light for Flash. The pain is too much it sends Flash unconscious, making the mobile suit a total sitting duck. In his cockpit, Nikita breathed constantly but looked proudly at his ‘achievement’ with a giant grin on his face. “Finally, for our next business!” he said with a sinister voice. The suit slowly walked to its victim. It took him only 6 minutes to finally “take down” his prey, and there is still one unused PSJ launcher left in case the pilot is still unconscious and used all his surviving will to fight back. It is also the reason why he walked so slowly: despite his thirst for vengeance, professionalism still has stood in his psyche, as the pilots always said, safety first. And that did save his life, just in an unpredictable way: just when Nikita decided to lower his mobile suit to a suitable height so he could jump out of the cockpit safely, a mobile suit just like his rammed into his flank, caused him to fall down the mud. “This one is MINE!” Water Vapor yelled. Back on Psycho MkII, the Council of Friendship and Starlight are working as hard as they can to bring back their mobile suit’s control system. Or rather, making it their new flesh and bones. It’s not like that was the first time they attempt to do it. In their second battle with Black Wine, Twilight somehow managed to hijack the suit and temporarily control it by her own will. “It's probably because the MS power is on, I’m still looking into it…” “Hey Twilight, look at that!” Pinkie Pie pointed all around the cockpit “Do you notice something?” “Huh?” “Those lights!” the pink fluffy mane pony said “Those lights must be powered by something!” “That’s right! Good job Pinkie!” Applejack said gleefully “Twilight, Starlight, there is still some power!” “Yes! This suit’s APU must be somewhere!” Rainbow Dash said while ‘hovering’ all around the suit to find the said APU. “What is that mean?” Starlight asked. “Auxiliary Power Unit! Basically, a backed-up power source to help the suit to do basic things in cases like this. I think it can help restart the Gundam’s main reactor!” she said excitingly. “Hey, Flash?” He still lying unconsciously on his pilot chair. Fluttershy and Twilight have already trotted next to Flash and tried their best to wake him up and ease his pain. With that, Rainbow Dash has no way but to find the APU. Fortunately, her wife Applejack and Starlight Glimmer decided to trot along. They found it in no time, and it was connected to the main reactor. “Wh… What should we do?” Rainbow Dash asked when found out the main reactor’s cover cracked, leaving toxic radiation leaked. “That’s radiation! Okay, we have to repair it. RD, you check the APU…” “I think it looks fine!” she answered straightly. “Are you sure?” “Can confirm. The thing looks intact.” Applejack added. Rainbow Dash scrambled to the rest of the friends. “Follow me, guys. I found it!” “Good job, RD! I’ll you my magic to gather all of our power and restart the suit!” Twilight then turned to Flash and briefly said “Hold there. Don’t die!” before getting to the job with her friends. They quickly do what the alicorn told them, holding their hooves and claws and concentrating. The effort luckily restarted the APU and healed everything that was broken from the PSJ system. “I hate how reliant we are on this thing!” Rarity moaned “I can not see a thing outside! I want my eyes back!” Just after that, her complaint was partially satisfied. Everything was in urgent, so the process went smoothly despite it being Twilight’s first try. Right after the camera was functional again, the newcomer’s Jesta charged right into them. “CLANG!” the sound of metal crashing each other echoed in Flash’s ears. He quickly grabbed his control stick, ignoring all the pain, and regain control of his mobile suit. “Let me handle these two, Flash!” Twilight said. “I’ll join in too!” Rainbow Dash followed. Recovered from the sudden assault just a moment earlier, the Psycho MkII flashes its eyes and begins its retaliation. Everything just happened in a moment, so fast that Water Vapor’s skill isn’t enough to let him react in time. The suit took its right leg up and kick as hard as it could into the torso, making the dark gray Jesta to even fly back a bit and fall down a mud pond. To make sure it didn’t stand up again, Applejack pinned it down with the same foot. Needless the say the pinning force, as well as the sticky thick mud, have made it struggle to stand off again for a few minutes. And then, there is one of Black Wine Jesta with its electrical wire that has burned Flash and his cockpit before. They knew that pilot would use it again, so the dark blue MS quickly maneuver and dodged its last arrow. To them, it might be that’s it, but Nikita hasn’t pulled the last trick off his sleeves. It came later in the form of a retractable arrow. “Oh no you don’t!” he said while continuing his pursuit with the same move as before. “This guy’s wired arrow worked just like tentacles!” exclaimed Starlight “Do you see how he just keeps deploying then retract it!” “What a stubborn bastard!” Rainbow Dash clenches her teeth “Flash, your rifle!” He tries his best to concentrate on the fight, putting up his beam rifle up and doing the shots. It mostly didn’t work, except for one of them being able to take its adversary's shield away and threw it into the forest. “Good job, Flash!” Rainbow Dash said. But they have no time to celebrate. “What the… why do the enemy MSs fighting each other? What about Water Vapor?” Yamina asked in a panic. Water Vapor himself just got the new Jesta that was captured from the Equestrian Army from a raid into their base at Northernmost Town. Yamina didn’t get to see when he saw one, so it is hard to imagine how he actually happy to see one intact, let alone being handed over to him. She still remembers how happy he is when he talked in panic to her and Haystack about that occasion, to the point that the Lieutenant himself has to calm him down. “I know… you have to take it mate…” the brown earth pony said “…that suit will absolutely fit your fighting style… I mean, you like guns and looming over your opponent, right?” Just after her mind somehow reminded her of that words, a beam shot suddenly ripped one of the Psycho Gundam MkII’s shields away, just as powerful as the beam shot the Psycho Gundam MkII itself made earlier. Flash turned his back and asked “What the…” before knowing what have caused it. It was the Jesta Applejack just pinned down, but for some reason, it still have enough strength left to get back up and open fire on the Psycho MkII. “Applejack!” the group whined. “Wh… What? I thought he was dead! My kick is that powerful!” “Mobile suits are more rigid than you guys think it is…” Flash said “…good kick though, AJ. Now, I think I should… arg…” He didn’t get to finish the sentence before another set of pain kicked in. “You sit there, Flash! Me and the Elements of Harmony will make them suffer in a finishing blow!” With that, the eyes lit up and so as the psycho frame, the dark blue mobile suit slowly gained its power from seemingly nowhere. From his cockpit, Black Wine smiled in amusement: finally, the infamous explosions that it has done with him will be recreated. “Everyone, retreat, retreat!” Haystack screamed through the comlink “That thing is going to explode!” he turned to Water Vapor and ordered, “WV, get out now!” Sensing something was really gone wrong, Flash struggled to take control of the mobile suit as much as possible, but it was all in vain. It’s already too late. He saw it. He saw that bunny head icon that Water Vapor love to paint on his mobile suit. It was a thing he didn’t really mind until that moment. “I’m coming for you, scumbag!” he screamed through the com link. Flash quickly adjust his frequency to match Water Vapor’s and said to him. “WV, it’s me, Brandon! Turn back to your ship!” It’s already too late. A sudden burst of magic makes his whole MS turn into a lantern brighter than the sun, to the point Flash’s vision was lost for a few minutes due to him not covering his eyes in time. He didn’t get to know what really happened outside of the cockpit, as much as Water Vapor’s backstory beyond what his comrade and Haystack himself has told him. “Stop… it…” he cried for one last time. On the outside, everyone who didn’t get their eyes covered in time also got their eye blinded, which is a fatal situation to them since that magic blast is exceptionally destructive. “The Elements of Harmony!” Discord mumbled. “There’s no way those poor souls can escape them!” And unfortunately, everything happened just as he said. Thanks to the ships' maneuvers, they only suffer minor damages due to debris from the blast. For the crew, they watch in horror as the colorful, transparent hemisphere turned everything in its 600 meters radius into what Discord calls as “hard, solid rock statues”. Both Nikita’s and Water Vapor’s MS turn into rock midair, with Nikita just starting his rocket engine to engage the dark blue mobile suit. They froze into stone instantly once the colorful hemisphere touches them, cutting off any of their attempted attacks. When all the dust and lights settled, they are only a pile of rubble. “What the heck… Are you doing?” Flash screamed. “Hey, be thankful we help save your life, meanie!” Rarity said, “Those things are trying to kill you!” “I’m sorry... for your loss…” Fluttershy muttering. “Huh?” “I know you are fond of him, right? Water Vapor…” Fluttershy said. “You… you guys kill him! He’s on our side… Argh!” “I’m… I’m sorry, Flash…” Twilight said. Followed by that her friends turned to her. “I know it’s crucial for our survivor, but accidentally killing your friends is hurtful. I… I think we should refrain from using this too much…” “But TWILIGHT…” “Rainbow Dash, the Magic of Friendship between us is the last resort. It’s powerful and harmless, yes! But I have noticed that our magic is getting harder and harder to control, maybe that evil Chancellor knows that this will make us more and more reliant on him. Like… it is forcing our magic out as if it is some kind of worm… Do you guys feel like that?” “Yup. It is uncomfortable to have our unique magic being meshed together into some kind of thing that is worse than any bunch of rotten apples.” Applejack said while looking around the cockpit “Like… do y’all see all of this magical light floating around?” “That’s REALLY our magic! But… but look how both familiar and different it is at the same time!” “Yeah, it’s like our magic being smashed into each other like bad smoothies!” Pinkie Pie added. The group then suddenly silent for a while. It is hard for them to grasp that they have just taken away lives. At least two pilots from both sides have been turned into stone. Their body falls down and turned into nothing but rubbles, just like the mobile suit they are piloting. That’s what Flash imagined, and he has been caught by his friends. With that, the entire battle becomes a fever dream for anyone that is involved. “That rainbow hemisphere is absolutely unreal!” one of the crew members of the Las Pegasus said a few years when he recall the battle “You can feel the whole world stood still when that dark blue Gundam exploded, bringing all of its magical might outside. Maybe that’s not all, but it seems like it is!” For the Elements of Harmony themselves, they are extremely guilty of what they have done. It was a magical source of defense, sure! But while it was their own, why they can’t control it like they want?  “I think we have to stop using the Magic of Friendship, at least for now!” Twilight suddenly said as if she issuing a decree “We don’t want creatures to freak out!”