There was only one distinct sound that could be made out in the black void that enveloped me. I could hear the nearby beeps and hums of a system of computers. The floor beneath my feet felt of a cold steel surface, sending a small shiver up my spine from the bare contact against my feet. Slowly I opened my eyes to take in the area around me.
It was a small cylindrical room compromised of advanced machinery and lights that began blaring with life. I looked over my body to find that my feet weren't the only bare part, as my entire body was devoid of any form of fabric. While being stark naked in the middle of some kind of capsule was certainly strange, it felt somewhat familiar to me. No, stop those thoughts right there, you sickos. I was stirred from my observation by a feminine computer voice announcing something from above.
"Mobile Trace System, Activated."
I looked up as the sound of rotating motors caught my attention. A large rotating metal ring began lowering from the ceiling, bringing with it a black latex fabric of some kind. A small hole at the top was formed by a small square frame directly above my head. I remained motionless as the frame passed over my head and acted as a collar for the rest of the fabric. As the ring lowered to coat the rest of my body, I felt a strong tug from the force of the latex still connected to the ring. I grunted as I began resisting the force with my strength. As it passed over my arms, I pulled with such strength as to tear the arms free from the ring, leaving a uniform coating of the latex all across the limbs. The process repeated as the ring lowered past my feet, as I roared from the exertion of freeing myself.
The skintight suit now covering my features, save for my head, was entirely black aside from some few parts. The shoulders had two large shoulder pads that started out in a steel color, but changed to gold as it began protruding a fairly large antennae from the base. These antennae were also found on my wrists, ankles, and back. My chest had a large red circle to contrast from the otherwise drab coat of black. The collar was also notably a blue color and made of what I could only assume was a hardened plastic.
The center ring of the capsule parted and many holograms and monitors blared to life. Soon the AI spoke over the speakers again. "Mobile Trace System checking brain-waves. Blood-pressure. Pulse. Respiration. Temperature. Metabolism. All green." As the run through was finished, the monitors began displaying a large plain around me, albeit from a height of around four stories.
With my new found freedom from the latex ring, I began stretching my limbs and wrists. I looked on with shock as large robotic limbs were shown responding to my movements on the monitors. I looked at a nearby display showing the statuses of several components of a giant robot. A single label for the diagram caught my eye, leaving me breathless as my mind tried to process how incredible this was. The label was the name of this robot I found myself in, and it was one that I knew well. 'GF13-017NJII'.
"Burning Gundam..." I whispered with a trembling voice of amazement.
The Gundam I was currently in the cockpit of was likely the most powerful one in history. I would like to go into a detailed description of what it looked like, but the badassery of Burning Gundam is something that needs to be seen in order to be fully understood.
There. Now let that just soak in for a moment or two...
*Crunch!*
Well, apparently I wasn't getting the luxury that you all just got, considering another giant metal fist connected with the chest of the Gundam. I felt pain course through my own chest as the Mobile Trace suit performed one of its secondary functions. You see, it doesn't just allow you to control the Gundam through direct movement, it also made you feel pain in response to any damage the Gundam received. Now I know what you're thinking 'Isn't that just a giant burden on the pilot?'. Well, it wasn't exactly pleasent, but it did help in two ways. First, it allowed you to know exactly what parts were taking hits, allowing you to respond in a more natural way to attacks. Second, it motivated you to not suck.
Getting back on track, I stumbled backwards from the impact with Burning Gundam mimicking the movements. I found that the layer of latex on the floor was now acting as an omni-directional treadmill to prevent me from running into the walls, so that was good to know. I looked up at the forward monitors to face my attacker with a growl of anger. My growling ceased immediately as my eyes widened for a second time. Another Gundam was standing before me in a professional martial artist stance, most of its body covered in a dark steel frame.
"Master Gundam!" I blurted in surprise.
Again, I can't risk ruining the epicness of a Gundam through a possibly poor description, so I'll just direct you all to another picture.
Well, now that amazing machine of destruction was charging forward for another attack. Needless to say, I was thrown into a panic. I raised up my arms and blocked the incoming kick. My arms surged with a dull pain in response to the impact, but all that did was annoy me. As Master Gundam planted both feet to the ground, I drew back my right arm and swung forward with a powerful punch.
*Slam!*
Master Gundam reeled back from the impact to its head-section. As it recovered I rubbed my arms to shrug off the pain.
"That hurt, dammit." I muttered.
Master Gundam got back up to its feet and leaped high into the air. I raised an arm in anticipation for a direct attack, but soon found that to be a huge mistake. Master Gundam twirled in the air, revealing a giant sash made out of a pink beam of energy. Master Gundam whipped the sash around the arm of my Burning Gundam, pulling me helplessly towards it as it launched down with a kick. While my arm was freed from the Master Cloth, I was knocked onto my back from the force of the blow.
I began digging at the dirt to get to my feet, Master Gundam's advance only served to motivate me to get up faster. As I got back into a solid stance, I drew the twin Beam Swords from their recharging hilts and spun around with both arms stretched like a spinning top of death.
"Burning Slash!" I cried as I focused my spinning form towards Master Gundam. It seems he certainly wasn't expecting such a quick recovery from that kick of his, allowing me to score a hit that cut deep into his arms. Instinctively, Master Gundam jumped backwards to distance himself from the attack and I stopped my rotation in response.
I wobbled in position from the constant spinning of my last attack. "Jeez! You'd think doing a Giga Drill Break would get me used to something like that." I blinked away the remaining spots in my vision. "Then again, Domon had years of training, while I'm doing all of this from skill alone."
Master Gundam began flying forwards with his boosters propelling him at high speed, but in an instant, something strange happened. Time seemed to stay at a complete standstill, with nothing but myself being capable of moving in any way.
I scratched my head. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
"This certainly is strange, to say the least." A very regal and feminine voice declared.
A blue surge of energy popped before the head of Burning Gundam as a well known alicorn appeared in midair. She was certainly a hard one to mistake with her dark blue coat, black regalia, and waving summer night mane.
"Hey, Luna." I nonchalantly greeted. "What brings you to... uh... wherever we are." I frowned as I realized I had no idea where in Equestria I even was. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"
Luna gave a soft chuckle at my puzzled state. "Well, you are in your bed in Ponyville, while I am simply observing you from Canterlot."
I tilted my head in confusion, with Burning Gundam comically mimicking the action. "Huh?" Was all I could respond with. Well, they say brevity is the soul of wit.
"Perhaps I should have been more precise. Right now we are in your dream. A manifestation of your subconscious."
That one certainly surprised me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can see people's dreams? That's pretty awesome... but at the same time, a little creepy."
Luna frowned a bit at my comment. "Forgive me if I am intruding, but it is simply one of my duties as Princess of the Night. It is my job to see to the mental well being of our subjects by seeing what dreams their mind creates. If something is amiss, I intervene and assist them. I must say, it is truly an invigorating moment to finally set hoof in a human dream."
"You've never seen my dreams before? Not even the nightmares that Despair and Teruza gave me?"
"I must confess, my power has its limits. The nightmares you suffered were caused by dark magic, something that I could not see past." Luna began waving a hoof in the air as she explained the principles behind it. "Most ponies assume that dreams are a direct result of a mental cause to effect, but from a non personal, non subjective standpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, dreamy-weamy... stuff." She gave a slight shrug and continued. "Basically it was like a dark fog that not only blocked view, but also physical entry. Dreams are not just the product of an active mind, but also a touch of magic. That is why some ponies have dreams of events in their future."
Honestly that was about as good of a description as any. It did offer some insight into the works of dreams. "I guess that makes sense. So what's up? Why pick this dream?"
Luna beamed with joy to see that I was curious as to her motives. "Most of your sleeps have been dreamless during your many months in Equestria, while many of your other dreams were either hazy or corrupted by the magic of Despair and Teruza. But this one is different. This dream is so vivid and exciting!"
Luna was beginning to act like a happy schoolgirl or something. I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute that was considering her usual decorum. "So you're finding this pretty entertaining, huh?"
Luna blushed a bit at that. "Oh, don't say it like that. I do find this rather intriguing..." She gave a quick inspection of Burning Gundam. "Tell me, do you have technology such as this on your world?"
I waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, this is just from an anime I've been re-watching, G Gundam. We do have some robotic technology on Earth, but the closest we have to this are those military exoskeletons I saw in the news." An idea popped in my head, causing a small grin to creep across my face. "Hey Luna, do you want to see something really cool?"
"If you mean to show me something entertaining, then be my guest." She affirmed with a nod.
"Alright! Unfreeze Master Gundam on my signal."
Luna tilted her head in confusion. "Of course... What shall the signal be?"
I cracked my knuckles in anticipation. "Oh, you'll know it when you see it."
With that, I focused myself to enter a serene state of mind. No emotion, no distraction, just a single objective. The wings on the back of Burning Gundam parted and created an orange ring of energy parallel to the back. At the same time, the chest plate lifted up to reveal a hidden power source that glowed with the King of Hearts symbol. The gauntlet on the Gundam's right arm slid forward to cover the hand.
"Here I go!" I cried as I began focusing my energy into this attack.
I lifted my hand in front of my face. "This hand of mine is burning red! Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!" I reared back the hand in preparation for my strike. As energy built up in the hand, it began glowing a fiery orange. I nodded to Luna, informing her now was the time to release Master Gundam.
As the magical forces holding Master Gundam faded, it began surging forward once more. I estimated his speed, and timed my strike appropriately.
"Erupting... Burning... Finger!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
I thrust my open hand into Master Gundam's chest by the finger tips. With the hand impaled securely into the black Gundam, I lifted him into the air with the single arm.
"And now... Heat End!"
The ring on Burning Gundam's back burst out of existence, triggering a massive output of energy in my right hand. The force of the energy was so great, it forced Master Gundam to glow a fiery orange moments before exploding in a rain of parts. The smoke blanketing around me began to fade, allowing me a good view of my audience of one. Luna simply hovered there with her mouth agape, completely paralyzed by what she just saw.
Slowly she managed to find her voice once more. "That... was... AWESOME!" She blurted the last word at 'Royal Canterlot Voice' level. Her face flushed red once she realized how loudly and unladylike she had said that. "I-I mean..."
I gave a hearty laugh at her awkwardness. "Oh c'mon, Luna! You just saw a giant robot battle! That response is perfectly normal."
Luna was certainly confused. "It is? You are not upset by how uncouth my response was?"
"Of course not. Heck, I thought that was a nice change of pace for you. No offense, but you really need to give yourself more breaks like this." An idea popped into my head. "Say, how would you like to take a break tomorrow night? Come hang out at my place. I could show you all sorts of fun stuff."
Luna rubbed her chin for a moment. "I have never considered the idea... You're sure nopony would be upset with me leaving my post?"
I gave her a deadpan look, though I doubt she could see it from outside. "Luna, you're one of the princesses of Equestria. I doubt anypony is going to argue with it. Besides, it's not like you have a predetermined post. And Celestia visits Ponyville all the time during the day."
"I suppose it would be alright." Luna nodded her head in self assurance. "Yes. I shall be there to engage in 'fun'!"
"Alright then, it's a date."
Luna blushed once again. "A d-d-date?"
I suddenly realized the mistake in choosing such a phrase, causing me to blush a little myself. "Er... Not a date date... It's an expression. You see-"
"O-oh! An expression! Of course. You must think I am such a fool for thinking it to be an advance on your part. I most sincerely-"
I rolled my eyes. "Luna, it's fine." Okay, I couldn't help being a little mischievous here. "Although, you are kinda cute when you blush."
Luna did a double take at that one. "W-what?!"
I laughed out loud once more. "Oh, I'm just teasing you. I'll see you then Luna."
Luna huffed a little at my teasing. "Oh! How ungentlecoltly of you!"
Slowly the dream began to fade, and I was dragged back into the world of consciousness and reality.