Sunset Shimmer dragged herself out of bed. Someone was knocking on her door. She sleepily bumbled over to the door and opened it, finding Applejack on the other side.
“Whoa, you uh, you sure yer awake?” Applejack asked, taking in Sunset’s puffy, groggy eyes; mess of hair; and rumpled pajamas.
“Depends, is Rarity making us matching striped ghillie suits so we can infiltrate the headquarters of the Mime Consortium?”
“I… that… huh?” Applejack was utterly flabbergasted.
“I’m probably awake, then.”
“You have the weirdest dreams, Sugarcube.”
“In my defense, I dreamed that the rest of us thought it was a bad idea.” Sunset replied sleepily, rubbing an eye. “Anyway, what do you dream about?”
“Uh, never mind,” Applejack said, blushing slightly. “We’re goin’ to Baltimare tomorrow, remember? We’re all supposed to be packing today.”
“I packed yesterday,” Sunset said, glancing at the suitcase next to her bed. “I, uh, got kind of excited. I mean, we haven’t even been to Baltimare for a battle, much less a vacation.”
“Heh, I mighta figured. Rarity’s still tryin’ to decide which swimsuits to bring.”
“Wait, ‘swimsuits,’ plural?”
“Different one fer every day we’re there. At least, that’s her plan, but she’s got like, thirty.”
“That girl’s a walking stereotype.”
“Well, she did make most of ‘em herself.” Applejack shrugged. “Maybe alla 'em. Anyway, I’m gonna go make sure Pinkie packs somethin’ other'n confetti and streamers this time.”
“I’m going to ask Celestia to appoint you as the team’s official voice of reason.”
“I just know how to head off arguments before they start.”
“Exactly. I’ll leave Pinkie to you and see if I can help Rarity make up her mind.”
Twilight Sparkle walked down the Baltimare boardwalk, Spike’s leash in one hand and a small, purple flip phone in the other. A laptop case hung from her shoulder.
“Yes, I know,” Twilight said into her phone. “I’m afraid I’m a step ahead of you, though. I checked it out last month… No, nothing at all, it was a complete dead end… Well, not every rabbit hole has something interesting at the bottom, after all… Really? Sure, email them to me, I’ll take a look… Yes sir, I’ll report back as soon as I have something.” Twilight closed and pocketed the phone as she stopped at an outdoor ice cream shop. She wasn’t a fan of beaches, but Twilight knew good ice cream when she ate it, and Banana Fluff’s Frozen Delights served the best sundaes she’d ever tasted.
Twilight took a seat with an unnervingly large sundae featuring at least six different fruits, put her laptop on the table, and removed a pink flip phone from another pocket. Spike curled up at her feet, looking forward to spending the afternoon snoozing. Twilight booted up the laptop and dialed a phone number simultaneously.
“Hello, boss. It’s your deep thinker. I just got a call from our mutual friend… Yes, the one without the indoor voice. He knows about the ruins I was exploring last month.” Twilight began tapping keys as she talked. “He didn’t seem to know I knew about them, he was surprised when I told him I’d been there already… No, I didn’t tell him about my new toy, I said it was a dead end… Some of his people found something he thinks will help us with the elephant in the room -well, the elephant he brought into the room- but they need me for the details… Naturally, you’ll be the first to know.” Twilight glanced up as a group of girls in their late teens arrived at the shop, along with two women who appeared to be in their mid 30s, one of whom had the longest legs Twilight had ever seen. She quickly inferred from their conversation that these women were a Zoid team. Twilight adjusted her glasses before returning her attention to her own conversation.
“Yes, I know. I’m still trying to get it running, that’s my main priority right now… Don’t you worry, I’ll figure it out. This is exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for when I took this job, I’m not going to drop the ball now… When? I’m not exactly sure. There’s a few issues I need to work out, but once I have those dealt with it’ll be ready to go… Goodness no, I have no intention of telling him about it. He doesn’t have the slightest idea. It's mine, and he of all people is not taking it from me… Yes. The usual place? See you there. Until then.” Twilight disconnected the call and returned the phone to her pocket. Within minutes, she had become entirely engrossed in the files on her laptop, pausing only to eat spoonfuls of ice cream and adjust her glasses.
Rarity, Pinkie, Sunset Shimmer, and Luna found themselves in a fascinating place, a large, dimly-lit pizza restaurant furnished with rough-cut wooden tables and benches. The entire building, in fact, seemed to have been hewn from wood by hand, giving it a rustic appearance. The rest of the team hadn’t been interested in pizza, much to Sunset’s confusion, and had gone in search of dinner at other establishments. While the Empyrean members present awaited their pizza in the crowded restaurant, they found themselves sharing a long table with, of all people, Vinyl Scratch and her logistics expert, Octavia Melody. Vinyl sat backwards on the bench, elbows on the table as she gazed into the crowd, bobbing her head to the music in her headphones. Sunset stared at the back of her head as if determined to learn her secrets by telepathy or sheer willpower. Octavia and Rarity, however, were in a more conversational mood.
“Octavia, dear, I’m not sure how to put this,” Rarity said cautiously. “But is everything… all right? On your team, I mean.”
“I suppose you’re referring to Roseluck’s recent decision to leave the Metal Thrashing Madwomen?” Octavia asked rhetorically. “Or Mystery Mint before her? The other members who have come and gone?”
Rarity gave a nervous laugh. “Well, ah, something like that…”
Octavia sighed through her nose. “Don’t pretend you don’t think I’ve heard the rumors.”
“I -I wasn’t trying to imply anything-” Rarity began, blushing deeply.
Octavia cut her off. “Everything is perfectly fine. It’s just that, well, as you may have guessed, Vinyl can be… eccentric. She will lead the team in her own… unique way, and that’s that. We attract an ever-rotating stable of pilots who drastically overestimate their ability to tolerate Vinyl’s peculiarities, and when she becomes too much for them, they leave. All the other rumors floating around are sensationalism and nonsense.”
“Oh, I see,” Rarity said, relieved. “Although you don’t find these peculiarities overwhelming, I take it?”
“Vinyl is my oldest and dearest friend,” Octavia said before pausing to sip at her glass of water. “If she began to act normally, I think I would be deeply confused. Quite probably even disappointed. On a more pragmatic level, it could be disastrous for our win-loss ratio, given how her behavior so often leads to victory. No, I will be normal enough for the both of us.”
“Spoken like a true enabler,” Sunset commented offhand, not taking her eyes off Vinyl’s head.
Octavia took another sip of water. “My personal life does not need commentary from you of all people. I was only one grade above you at Canterlot High School, as you may recall.”
Sunset finally tore her attention away from Vinyl, locking eyes with Octavia. The two of them stared each other down in silence for a long moment before Sunset looked away. “Okay, I had that coming,” she admitted.
"I'll have you know that Sunset-" Rarity started.
"Don't." Sunset interrupted. "Let's not even get into it."
“If you’re interested, Mystery Mint formed a new team called Thunderstruck. They’re in D-Rank, and doing well enough.” Octavia returned to the previous topic as if nothing had happened. “Thunderstruck also plan to start touring as a band on top of their Zoid combat. Roseluck is attempting a solo career while searching for teammates.”
“There’s a match starting,” Luna pointed out, directing the girls’ attention to the large TV screen on the wall in front of Sunset Shimmer. “Anyone know who the teams are?”
Vinyl slid her headphones off as Octavia turned in her seat to watch the Zoid battle.
“One is this new team called the Shadowbolts,” Sunset answered. “They're really good, I think they did Zoid combat in some offshoot group or something before registering with the Commission. We'd have a rough time of it if they come after us. I forget who their scheduled opponents are, some bunch with decent funding, but not much in the way of tactics. Not a threat unless they learn to dodge.”
"Very analytical of you," Octavia said, looking over her shoulder at Sunset.
"I like to think so," Sunset replied. "Of course, if I can't analyze the opponent..." She trailed off as Octavia smirked. Sunset returned the smirk as she sensed something vaguely resembling friendship forming. Rivalry, perhaps?
“Does it matter?” Rarity asked cynically. “Those Chaos Union ruffians will probably just barge in and ruin everything anyway.”
“Thanks for your contribution, Princess of Optimism,” Sunset said under her breath.
“I heard that!” Rarity hissed.
“None of that, you two!” Pinkie declared, wrapping an arm around each girl's shoulders. “We’ve got a Zoid fight to watch!”
The Ankylosaurus-type Gun Blaster was a brutal Zoid, with a vast collection of single- and multi-barreled cannons, lasers, and plasma guns comprising a total of 22 direct-fire weapon barrels, arranged in a forward-facing array bristling from above the Zoid’s low-slung head. This collection of ranged doom made the Gun Blaster nearly unstoppable if approached from the front. However, the Gun Blaster’s limited visibility meant that it was entirely radar-dependant for rearward awareness, and its weapons were most effective at mid-range, with no capacity for indirect fire. While its array of barrier spikes could create the only omni-directional force field on anything smaller than an Ultrasaurus, the Gun Blaster was totally immobile while the shield was up. Even without its shield, the Gun Blaster was too slow and ungainly to engage in close combat as anything but a desperate last stand, so it required agile and reliable close support.
Lemon Zest accepted the weaknesses of her Gun Blaster with nary a second thought. In part because she loved the devastating tempo of the Gun Blaster’s Rolling Cannons attack -a semi-rhythmic firing of every weapon on the Zoid- and in part because of her absolute trust in Sunny Flare’s ability to keep enemies away with her modified Shield Liger. Although Flare’s protection was hardly needed in the match at hand.
“Are those Spinosappers charging us head-on?” Sunny Flare asked.
“I am this close to feeling bad for them!” Lemon Zest replied. “They’re almost in range. Hey, Sugarcoat, how’re things on your end?”
Sugarcoat’s face popped up on Lemon’s right-side screen. “Their Iron Kong is heading my way. Deal with your chumps and get here.”
“Weak! Can’t you handle an Iron Kong?” Lemon complained jokingly. Ahead of her across the open field, the Spinosappers raised and activated their laser chainsaws.
“Lemon!” Sunny Flare warned.
“I know, Sunny! They’re almost in range! Three! Two! One!”
A thunderous peal echoed across the battlefield. The Iron Kong’s pilot swung the ape-like Zoid’s head to stare as the Spinosappers were ripped apart under the Gun Blaster’s withering hail of fire. Sugarcoat gnashed her teeth at her opponent’s utter disinterest in situational awareness. As a slug from her Elephander’s railgun tore through the Iron Kong’s right shoulder joint, Sugarcoat’s expression shifted to a cruel leer. A bolt from her pulse laser followed while the Kong’s pilot was just beginning to react, its blast ripping the arm clean off with an explosion that rattled the Kong’s armor. Sugarcoat then knocked the Iron Kong off-balance with her beam cannon, but the pilot managed to recover, positioning the Kong’s left arm to form a rough tripod with its legs and prevent its collapse. Sugarcoat hammered the remaining arm with the smaller cannons on her Zoid’s trunk, but the Iron Kong’s thick armor was only moderately dented by these shots. The Iron Kong’s shoulder-mounted missile launcher had been lost along with its arm, but the weapon pack on its back was fully functional. The two missiles rising behind the Kong’s head fired first, arcing through the air as the shield generators in the Elepander’s ears lit up. The shield formed just in time to stop the missiles, flickering as it almost overloaded. Sugarcoat was back to clenching her teeth as her Elephander shook under the explosions. The position of the Iron Kong’s left arm meant that she didn’t have a clear shot at the joint, so it could not be so easily removed. She angled her turret down as her railgun finished recharging, hoping to fire on the Kong’s armored wrist, but its pilot opened the back launchers and a flight of self-guided rocket bombs flew into the air.
Knowing the shield wouldn’t be able to stop more than one or two bombs in its weakened state, Sugarcoat dropped the barrier and began firing the linked machine guns under the Elephander’s cockpit at the approaching explosives. Six of the bombs exploded in midair, the other four crashing into the ground around the Elephander. Sugarcoat set her jaw as her Zoid rattled, knowing that only a direct hit would cause serious damage. She made a mental note to inspect her armor anyway - she liked her Zoid to be as hard to deal with as she was.
Sugarcoat switched her weapon controls back to her turret as three railgun slugs slammed into the Iron Kong’s side in rapid succession, nearly toppling it.
“Ha! Eat it, ya scrap-monkey!” Lemon Zest called out.
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “You don’t have anything to back that up with, do you?”
“Not yet! I’ll be close enough for the full package by the time my railgun recharges, though.”
“No time for that!” Sunny Flare cut in. Her Shield Liger had been customized with a Blade Liger AB’s ion boosters in place of its pop-out missile pods, which were currently rocketing her towards the Iron Kong. Flare wasn’t much for either the missile pods or the laser blades that gave the Blade Liger its name, but she’d never turn down extra speed. The modified Shield Liger rammed into the Iron Kong, its signature force field smashing the Kong to the ground as it overloaded. The shattering barrier knocked the Shield Liger backwards, but it landed nimbly on its paws as the Judge declared the Iron Kong disabled.
Discord and Twilight Sparkle were lounging in one of Baltimare’s Chargrill Sr. locations. The chain had started on Neo-Equestria’s west coast and spread throughout the continent on the back of their delicious, wondrous cheeseburgers. Twilight was more of a ham sandwich person, but Discord loved cheeseburgers with a child-like delight. When you got a phone call from Discord telling you to meet him at ‘the usual place,’ you needed only to check Smelp for the Chargrill Sr. with the highest customer rating in town, and go there. Twilight Sparkle was one of few people to figure this out, and was therefore one of the few Chaos Union members who was always on time. Tirek, for what it was worth, hadn’t gotten past realizing that Discord liked fast food places a bit. Tirek often spent hours wandering around while Discord ate cheeseburger after exquisite cheeseburger. The fries weren’t bad, either.
“So that’s them, are they?” Discord asked. He and Twilight had been watching the Zoid battle on Twilight’s laptop.
“Uh-huh. The big guy’s people actually got good data. Now that I’ve decrypted the files, I know all about the Shadowbolts.”
“Well then, we definitely need to get them into our little club, don’t we?”
Twilight adjusted her glasses. “If he gets ahold of them, it’ll be a disaster. Besides, I wouldn’t want my own brother getting the wrong idea about my job.”
“Thanks to that loud load, the wrong idea is exactly what the whole Commission has,” Discord grumbled. “But this is a good chance to get their minds right.” Discord paused to take a large bite from his cheeseburger. Twilight took the opportunity to take a spoonful of chocolate cake. The small cakes at Chargrill Sr. were reasonably tasty, and just sweet enough. Many who knew her would not believe it, but Twilight did believe that things could be too sweet.
“Sir, I’d like to be the one to recruit them,” Twilight said. She rarely made requests, other than for supplies or funds for her work, so she was nervous about this one.
“Oh no,” Discord replied with a slightly eerie grin. “I’ll do the recruiting, but you’ll be my representative once they’re in. The look on your brother’s face will be hilarious!”
Twilight was not phased by Discord’s eerie grin, which she knew he liked to use at random when a more normal smile would make more sense. Intensely observant, Twilight knew many things about many people. She sometimes wondered if any of those people knew that she knew these things, and whether they noticed similar things about her.
“I’ll do my best to appreciate the humor.”
“That’s my girl!” Discord said with a cackle. “Of course, I'll expect you to bring your little project with you so you can keep working on it.”
"I was planning on doing that anyway."
"Clever girl! Now, you had better start packing, I've got a phone call to make!"