Equestria Girls /0

by Bitt_Player

Chapter Five - Vinyl Scratch: Crazy Sunshine

Empyrean Team’s Dark Horn, Dibison, and Zaber Fang stood amid a small army of wrecked Zoids, the Storm Sworder circling above. Rainbow Dash ignored the Anarchy Judge’s pod as it rocketed into space.

“Okay,” Sunset Shimmer said flatly. “That was absurd.”

“It’s bad enough they're interfering with sanctioned battles, but now the Chaos Union is apparently just attacking teams at random!” Rarity complained.

“Let me go after the Whale King!” Rainbow demanded, watching the damaged transport Zoid fly to the west. “I swear I can take it in one more pass!”

“Absolutely not,” Sunset insisted. “Those flack cannons were not stock, and I don’t want you losing a wing the day before our next match.”

“Fine,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Another day, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said evenly. “Another day.”

---

“So the rumors were true. Empyrean Team is strong!” A large man stood on the Whale King's bridge, watching recordings of the just-finished battle. His massive, brick-red arms were crossed, and his skin-tight, black muscle shirt revealed a singularly hard, toned body. It was partially due to this impressive display of musculature that no one dared ask precisely who he was talking to. “I wonder if that propellerhead of mine has any ideas for dealing with them. Hopefully something that’ll make for good betting.” With that, he turned and stomped towards the bridge’s rear exit. This was no indication of anger, however, as the man tended to stomp everywhere he went.

---

The muscular man burst into an office on the Whale King’s topmost deck, where he found a man who was in many ways his opposite: Thin, calm, and wearing a fine, well-pressed suit. Admittedly, his jacket was dark green with yellow and orange sleeves. His slacks were two different shades of tan on the left and right, for that matter. The thin man’s tie was black and white, in stripes of wildly varying width. His skin was gray and his hair white. The thin man sat in a large office chair, his feet, in crocodile-skin shoes, resting on the desk in front of him. The desk, and indeed the entire room, contained a well-organized collection of books and discs of various types, each clearly having its own place, and blatantly at odds with its strangely-dressed inhabitant.

“Discord!” The strong man said loudly. Then again, he said nearly everything loudly.

“Tirek,” Discord replied with a smile.

“Where is my head researcher?!”

“Our head researcher is out. Doing research, as you might imagine.”

“What?! Why wasn’t I told sooner?!”

“You were busy with your own little project,” Discord answered dismissively. “You just seemed to be having so much fun shouting at everyone to get the auto-Zabats ready, I didn't want to bother you."

“So you just sat in here waiting for me to come looking for her?!”

“I was reading through some of her notes.”

“You should have asked me before sending her away, you worthless old goat!”

Discord produced a pair of yellow sunglasses from an inside pocket, put them on, then immediately slid them down his nose so he could look over them at Tirek.

“Don’t take that attitude with me.” Discord’s suddenly-harsh tone contrasted with his odd mannerisms. “I’ll allow that your modifications to our way of doing business have brought in some... increased revenue for our cause, but you seem to forget that I’m the one in charge here. My head researcher is doing research for me, and if you don’t like it, feel free to get off my Whale King." Discord slid his glasses back up his nose and returned to his calmer tone of voice. "Just because I like you, I’ll even lend you a parachute for the trip down.”

Tirek, apparently enraged beyond words, simply stared at Discord for a few moments before turning and stomping his way out of the room.

---

“Okay girls, it’s second verse, same as the first,” Sunset Shimmer said, standing in the center of the Hover Cargo’s command room. “Vinyl Scratch has gone and picked up another amateur pilot named Roseluck, who’s been using a Redler Interceptor. I have no idea why she dropped Mystery Mint, but she did.”

“Nothing I can’t handle!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“I’m counting on that. As for Vinyl, I have no idea what she’ll be running. Supposedly she picked up a new Zoid in Las Pegasus, but that’s just Internet rumors, and you know how reliable those are. The problem is, even if the rumors aren't true, she still has a pretty sizable stable of Zoids, so I really don't know what she'll be piloting.”

“Why hasn’t she registered it with the Battle Commission?” Rarity asked. “Assuming she really has a new Zoid, that is.”

“She could be taking advantage of the Commission’s reporting processes," Celestia pointed out "There will be an Ultrasaurus relatively close to the battlefield. She could have gone through the registration process yesterday and had time to make it to the battlefield today. The Commission takes two days to release registration information to the public, so it wouldn't be available until tomorrow.”

“That don’t seem quite on the level,” Applejack pointed out.

“There’s a few different teams that do it,” Sunset said. “It takes some luck, because you have to have an Ultrasaurus near enough to the battlefield, but it can keep your opponents from knowing about a new Zoid.”

“Until recently, teams had to register a new Zoid a full week before a battle, but the Commission has lifted that regulation,” Celestia added. “The idea is that teams can premiere a new Zoid in combat. Fans see it on the battlefield before they read about it. It’s supposed to make things exciting, but it’s also troublesome for the opposing team.”

“Pff, whatever it is, we’ll take it!” Rainbow said confidently.

“It’s especially bad with Vinyl Scratch, she’s been experimenting with all manner of Zoids," Sunset said. "She could be out there in anything from a Guysack to an Elephander. Applejack, your Dark Horn is equipped to handle the widest variety of targets, so you’re rolling out with Rainbow.”

“Roger that!” Applejack said. “Don’t you worry, Rainbow n’ me can handle whatever Vinyl’s stompin’ around in!”

“Whatever it is, she’ll probably be hiding it somewhere among these ruins,” Sunset highlighted a cluster of abandoned buildings near the battlefield’s center. “Applejack, try to stay near these stone outcroppings while you scan the area. Your sensors will probably be able to give us a good idea of what we’re up against. Once we know what Vinyl has, we can adapt and overcome.”

---

"Redler at ten o'clock high!" Rainbow Dash called out. “No sign of Vinyl’s Zoid!”

“Whatever she’s got, it’s packin’ a nasty ECM,” Applejack complained. “My sensors ain’t pickin’ up nothin' but static.”

“Oh, I wish I’d finished modifying that Multisensor for your Dark Horn’s sensor crown,” Fluttershy said quietly, watching from the Hover Cargo’s control room.

“Don’t worry about it, we haven’t exactly given ya much time to work on it,” Applejack replied.

Sunset Shimmer took a sip of orange soda. “Did Vinyl Scratch just happen to pick a Zoid with an ECM unit, or did she know I’d send out our best electronic warfare Zoid to try and find out what she’s piloting? Rainbow, take out the Redler Interceptor and do a flyover, maybe you can get a visual on Vinyl’s Zoid.”

“This one’s got some moves in her!” Rainbow said, firing off a few shots from her pulse lasers. “Is she using a Split S?! Nice!”
Suddenly, a pair of laser beams lanced through the sky, coming from the center of the abandoned city. The attack barely missed Rainbow's Storm Sworder as she veered away.

"That came from Vinyl's Zoid! She's got anti-air lasers!" Sunset exclaimed.

"I'm glad you're here to tell us these things!" Rainbow replied with intense sarcasm. "So how do I take out Roseluck with whatever's down there shooting at me?!"

"Keep your distance from the city and don't let either of them shoot you. See if you can lure Roseluck back out of Vinyl's range." Sunset said. "Applejack, Vinyl's near the city center. Move in, but avoid direct lines of fire to the center until-"

"Forget that!" Rainbow interrupted. "I've got a better idea!" With that, Rainbow dropped her Storm Sworder down below the city's skyline, tilted the Zoid fully vertical, and rocketed towards a broad street on the city's edge. At the same time, Rainbow connected the Sworder's external cameras to the Hover Cargo, causing front, rear, dorsal, ventral, and side views from the Zoid to pop up on the command center's main display.

"Dash, you maniac! What are you doing?!" Sunset demanded. "You can't maneuver in there!"

"Yes I can!" Rainbow shot back. To demonstrate her point, she swung the Sworder around, digging its talons into a building to prevent herself from crashing into it, and launched down another street. "I'll find Vinyl's Zoid, then we can get some real fighting done!"

"Get out of there before you kill yourself!" Sunset demanded.

“All right, all right! Geez!” Rainbow drove a talon into the closest building, sending her Storm Sworder spinning vertically upwards. The Zoid flapped its wings to stabilize itself as it rose above the skyline, turning towards the city center, an open area that had probably been a park in the previous era. “Whoa! Tell me you’re seeing this, Sunset! Sun-? Oh shoot!” Rainbow barely managed to dodge a volley of shots from Roseluck’s Redler Interceptor. Sunset Shimmer, meanwhile, had fallen out of her chair.

"That's a Gojulas Mark Two!" Sunset shouted into her headset as Celestia helped her off the floor. Laser beams lanced from the anti-air cannon on huge Zoid's right shoulder. "And she's customized it, too!"

“How did she add an ECM unit to a Gojulas?” Fluttershy asked. “They don’t have very much internal space, and the power requirements-”

“Better question! How do we take it down?!” Rainbow interrupted.

“Get freaking away from it for a start!” Sunset replied. “You deal with Roseluck! Applejack, move into the city. Its main cannons are brutal, but they’ve got a pretty severe minimum range. If you can stay under that minimum, and out of reach of her tail, you only have to worry about small-caliber lasers. She’s got what looks like 30-millimeters on her arms instead of the whole of its normal weapon loadout.”

“Easier said than done, but it’s all we got, ain’t it?”

“I’m updating your HUD with a top-down view of the zone you need to stay in. Your sensors will defeat the ECM when you get close enough, match her location with that image and you’ll be set.”

“Roseluck’s down!” Rainbow reported, carving one of the Redler’s wings off with a laser blade.

“That was fast, why didn’t you do that at the start?” Sunset asked, slightly exasperated.

“I told you, she had some moves on her. She’s down now anyway, so whatever! Now what do I do?”

“Don’t let Vinyl shoot you down. Applejack’s got this.”

“And now you know why I took so long to drop Roseluck,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Quit yer fussin’, I’m in her minimum range now,” Applejack said flatly, staring up at the towering Gojulas. “Land sakes, that’s a big ‘un. Yer seein’ this, right, Sunset?”

“I’ve got visuals through your cameras. Something’s off about the cannon mounts, they don’t look stock.”

“Is anything on that machine factory spec?” Applejack asked. She fired a volley from her linear cannon into the Gojulas’s left knee, and both single-shot missiles into its chest, then lunged to the side to dodge retaliatory laser beams. Suddenly, the Gojulas’s main cannons rose up and lowered their barrels over the Zoid’s shoulders.

“Applejack! Get out of there!” Sunset shouted.

“Ain’t gotta tell me, I’m-a gettin’!” The Dark Horn lunged sideways again, but one of the cannons turned to follow Applejack’s Zoid and fired, slamming a massive shell through the Dark Horn’s turret and into its back. The Zoid bounced off the group and landed in a heap at the Gojulas's feet.

“Applejack! Are you all right?!” Sunset asked, shocked.

“I’m fine, but this poor Zoid o’ mine sure ain’t,” Applejack grumbled.

“And I just recalibrated that turret, too,” Fluttershy said softly, absently stroking her hair.

“Gojulas cannons aren’t supposed to be able to aim that far down,” Sunset groaned. “They can’t track horizontally either. Those turrets aren’t just modified, they’re custom built! Okay, okay, we can still do this. Gotta calm down. Gotta think. Rainbow, keep your distance while I figure this out.”

“Figure what out?! I’ve got wing blades and I know how to use ‘em!” Rainbow shot back, her Storm Sworder rocketing back to the city.

Sunset Shimmer jumped to her feet. “Rainbow no! You need to-!” Sunset stopped herself as a barrage of laser beams cut through the air, tearing holes in the Storm Sworder’s right wing. “She modded the AA laser for full-auto fire.” Sunset said quietly, sinking back into her seat. “Of course she did.” Another burst of laser fire drove the Storm Sworder to the ground.

"I don't believe it!" Rainbow said ruefully.

“Tartarus on toast for tea on a Tuesday!” Sunset hissed through her teeth as the Judge announced Empyrean Team’s loss. Celestia stared at her quizzically.

“How can that laser maintain that kind of fire rate without overheating?” Fluttershy asked. "I've seen that kind before, it shouldn't be able to do that at all."

“She was only firin’ it in short bursts,” Applejack pointed out. “Betcha that’s why.”

“Man, how was I supposed to avoid that?!” Rainbow complained.

“If you’d stopped to let me think,” Sunset growled. “I might have been able to work something out!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Rainbow replied sheepishly.

Sunset sighed. “Well, nothing we can do about it now. Let’s... let's just go home.”

---

"I'd ask what you're going up on the roof in the middle of a rainstorm," Celestia asked Sunset Shimmer, "but I think I can guess."

"You can ask anyway if it'd make you feel better," Sunset replied, staring at the horizon from her refuge under one of the umbrellas on the rooftop tables.

"I'm more concerned with how you feel," Celestia replied gently, shifting her own umbrella on her shoulder. "It's been a week, Sunset. You've never let a loss bother you this much before."

"I've never felt so useless before," Sunset mumbled. "I mean, it seems like Vinyl Scratch was always one step ahead of me, no matter what I did. I'm supposed to be so great at strategy, but no matter how many times I go over that last battle, I can't see how we could've won. It feels like there's something totally obvious that I'm just not seeing."

"It seems to me that Vinyl Scratch is doing what you do; finding the openings in her opponents' strategies and taking advantage of them," Celestia pointed out. "Except in her case, Vinyl looks for openings in what you'll do to take advantages of her own openings. I wonder if the key to defeating her lies in taking that concept a step further."

"Another pearl of wisdom from Her Imperial Disciplinarian? This isn't Canterlot High, and you're not my principal any more."

"No, but I am at least ostensibly in charge of your Zoid team," Celestia replied with a small smile. She gently squeezed her strategist's shoulder. "Sunset, few people know better than me the importance of learning from the past, but there's a difference between learning from it and wallowing in it. I know which one I prefer, and I flatter myself to think it's the better option. On a more practical note, you need to snap yourself out of this because I just accepted a challenge from the Illusions, and we need a strategy."

"The Illusions?" Sunset asked blankly, still staring into the distance. "That's Trixie Lulamoon's team. They pilot Command Wolves that have modified smoke dischargers which... Tartarus!" Sunset shuddered very slightly and jumped to her feet, heedless of the rain. "I need to see if Fluttershy's got that Multisensor finished!"

Without further ado, Sunset dashed to the stairwell enclosure and charged down the steps, slowing down only after she slipped and had to wrap both arms around the railing to stop herself from descending face-first.

Back on the rooftop, Celestia allowed herself a small sigh before following her former student.

Author's Note:

Vinyl Scratch is always there to remind Sunset Shimmer that she's not perfect.
There is at least one way Empyrean Team could have won this match. Can you spot it?

Comments

[Cmmdfugal]

ok chapter 5 crazy sunshine

how they could have won

note i just found this and will make further comments this will be just the first one

ok first we must consider the minimum range of vinyls cannons you mentioned 30 km so i'll use those numbers for this.

the zoid dash is piloting has a maximum speed of 3.2 times the speed of sound essentially the fastest thing on the battlefield. if she was smart about this she could in theory use a boom and zoom tactic following applejacks defeat. accelerating to maximum speed or simply a high enough speed and then when close enough unload on her with everything she has without getting into melee with a T- Rex based zoid. before using her speed to zoom away and gain altitude. this is if successfull a way to wear her down and potentially force her to overheat her guns to try and hit her.

before AJ fell however and after rose was shot down she could have acted as a distraction either forcing vinyl to choose between targeting her or aj you can't pick both when you have that much power drain and overheating occuring given the limited power and space of of a goujula with ECM.

if I'm wrong then thats ok but given my limited (e.g almost none i remember watching new gen 0 almost 10 years ago barely.) this is my opinion on ways they could have won. but given the hint at the end i belive the second one was the better option after all they are only human and even we have limits on what we can focus on.