2nd Light: Are you Sunset, or Aster? / A Choice to Make!
Sunset Shimmer found herself sitting in Commander Celestia Solstice’s office. It was spacious, a blue carpet flooring with the SMILE insignia printed at the center of the floor, a mahogany wood desk with a gold colored name plate sitting in front, one bookshelf set off to Sunset’s left filled with old books and some newer ones, mostly novels, manuals, law books, and older looking books. To her left was a small trophy case showing SMILE Concordia Base’s various accommodations, sports and academic victories, and some of her and Vice Commander Luna’s old glory days pictures. Behind Celestia was a window that showed the outside of the base, they were a significant ways up as Celestia could see a good amount of the base and Academy.
However, Commander Celestia wasn’t the only person in the room, the Grand Inquisitor – ahem – Vice Commander Luna, was busy giving the teen a scrutinizing look while her older sister was conveying a more stern, motherly gaze.
“What exactly were you thinking, transforming in the middle of the city like that?! And initiating combat?!” Vice Commander Luna asked.
Sunset sat with her arms and legs crossed as she gave a cocky smirk. “I thought your guys could use a hand, because clearly, they were getting their asses handed to them.”
“Please watch your language, Sunset,” said Celestia.
“Sorry, but seriously, what’s the big deal? Yeah, I transformed, and in the process, I destroyed the monster and saved the lives of every SMILE agent and the civilians, you’re welcome!”
Celestia glanced towards her little sister. “She does have a point, Luna, this Space Beast was a bit tougher than what we usually face. Had Sunset not stepped in, I fear that instead of injuries, we’d have dead bodies.”
Luna did concede the point, it was true. SMILE Concordia Base prided itself with keeping civilian and combat personnel casualties to a minimum, there was no such thing as “acceptable loses”, it was why Canterlot City had extensive work done to have the latest Phase Space Shelters scattered across the city, and why their air and land attack vehicles had strong armor and protective shielding. “I do commend you for your swift action in eliminating the Space Beast before it could do more harm, for that you do have my thanks.”
“On that note, Sunset, I thought you said you weren’t going to transform? That you didn’t want to become that giant woman version of yourself?” Celestia noted.
Sunset’s smug demeanor cracked a little. “Um…well…it was a special case, I was in danger and my ride to get back to the base was smashed by some random debris. I wasn’t close to a shelter either so…you know, option B.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow but nodded at her response. “Alright, you’re dismissed then.” Sunset stood up and began walking towards the door, but not before Celestia said, “Should you need to change again, you know you don’t need permission, I just ask that you use your best judgement when you do.”
The fiery redhead stopped for a second, glanced over her shoulder, and nodded before finally she finally exited. Celestia leaned back in her chair as she smiled a little, this did not go unnoticed by her little sister.
“What’s with that grin, Sister?” Luna asked.
“She was lying,” said Celestia.
“Pardon?”
“She didn’t transform just because she felt like it, she did it to protect someone.”
Luna blinked in surprise. “What – how do you know?”
Celestia brought up a holo-screen and said, “Because I checked the records of all vehicles that were rented and taken off campus, one of which was registered to Sunset, but onboard systems show that one other occupant entered the vehicle with her before leaving the campus.”
“But…why would she not say that?” Luna asked in confusion. “Is saving someone’s life truly such an embarrassing thing?”
“I think it’s having to do more with the fact that what she said and what she wants to do is conflicting with her innate sense of protection. She must’ve found something worth protecting enough to become Aster.” Celestia stood up from her desk and peered through the window as she contemplated her next move. “I think it’s time we created that special team we were discussing.”
“You really want to create a counter measure team centered around that girl? Tia, we still don’t know who or what she really is! For all we know, she could be a far bigger threat than the Space Beasts themselves!” Luna argued.
“That may very well be the case.”
“Then–!”
“But, that is precisely why I believe that a circle of friends, of comrades, can make all the difference in the world.”
Luna sighed as she joined her big sister, gazing at the rising moon together. “But a group of first years…?”
“A group of exceptionally talented first years.”
\\\***///
[Dormitory Alpha, 8:30 pm]
Sunset stood before her dorm room door, she swiped her hand over the pad, activating the holographic display to show the current occupant of the room. Twilight’s name showed up, and Sunset sighed in response. When Sunset became Aster, she managed to clear the rubble that confined them, allowing Twilight to slip away unharmed. Now though, she wasn’t sure how Twilight would react to her after seeing such a strange thing.
“She might’ve locked me out after what happened…guess I should knock…”
The redhead gently rapped her knuckles against the door, doubtful that Twilight would answer. And would she? She just saw me transform into a 51-meter-tall woman who can shoot energy beams from her hands!
The door quickly flung open and, without warning, Twilight grabbed ahold of Sunset and dragged her inside the room, shutting the door quickly behind them. Before Sunset could properly react, Twilight quickly embraced Sunset, making the redhead blush from the contact.
“I’m so glad you’re alright!” Twilight exclaimed.
Sunset was caught off guard. “You…You are?”
Twilight separated herself from Sunset to look at her with an incredulous gaze. “Of course, I am! The last thing I saw was you flying off into the distance, I didn’t know if you were hurt or if you died or…or what?!” The nerdy girl looked at Sunset, who had a dumbfounded expression. “Sunset, you are alright, right?”
“Huh, oh, yeah – Yeah! I am, it’s just I’m surprised is all. You’re not afraid or at all weirded out by me?” Sunset asked.
Twilight rubbed the back of her head nervously. “In all honesty I was afraid when you first changed, but then when I saw what you became, and what you did, my fear just left! I was filled with curiosity more than anything! Which reminds me!” Twilight grabbed Sunset’s wrist and dragged her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch. She ran into her room and returned a few seconds later with a laptop, sitting down next to Sunset and looking at her with wide expecting eyes. “Please tell me how you did that?! How do you manipulate – or break – the Law of Conservation of Mass?! Comparing your size now to what you were then, and what about your skin, you did take several blasts of fire to your body, and blows from a mace, so it doesn’t appear that there was any lasting physical damage–!”
“Whoa now, hold up!” Sunset interrupted, placing her hands in the air in a stopping motion. “One question at a time, please.”
Twilight blushed as she began playing with one of her bangs. “S-S-Sorry, I was just really excited, especially when it comes to scientific phenomenon I sometimes ramble off questions and…sorry.”
Sunset chuckled at how apologetic Twilight was. “It’s fine…but to be honest…I don’t quite know how or why either.”
“You don’t know?”
“I know that I can transform, and,” Sunset raised her right arm up, a flash of light went off and the device reappeared on her arm, “that this thing, the StaRaizer, helps me to do it. Along with these.”
A belt appeared around Sunset’s waist, and on her right hip was a container. Sunset opened the container and took out both coins, both depicting the images of Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman.
“May I?” Twilight asked.
Sunset shrugged and placed the coins in Twilight’s hand.
Twilight examined the first coin that had Ultraman Ginga, the coin itself seemed to be made of some type of gold metal, on the bottom of the coin was a small crystal, while the top had the art piece of Ginga. Twilight examined the Ultraman coin and found a similar crystal beneath it as well. She motioned for Sunset to bring her arm over, and Sunset did. Once in hand, Twilight could see, within the slot for the coin, there was a hole right where the crystal would be able to fit in.
“I see, these coins must possess some kind of energy. The crystals act as a way to release that energy into the device and into the central sun crystal on your device, which is what triggers your transformation. And you say you have no memory of what these are?” Twilight asked.
Sunset took back the coins and placed them back into the container. The belt and the StaRaizer both vanished as she slouched into the couch. “Not a clue…I know how to fight, I know what those things are, I know what the thing I turn into is called, but as far as why I can do this, or who I was before? Nothing…my whole childhood save for the last three years is gone…”
Twilight’s heart grew heavy upon hearing Sunset’s plight, she couldn’t imagine not knowing anything about her past, never knowing the warmth and comfort of her mother and father, the fun she had with her older brother or her babysitter/sister-in-law. And then to top it all off to have strange powers which you didn’t know the origins of, altogether was pretty overwhelming. Twilight reached out with her hand and placed it on Sunset’s shoulder as she said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, you didn’t steal my memories. But it wasn’t all bad, the Commanders took me in, well, Commander Celestia did, Vice Commander Luna’s still waiting for me to ‘show my true colors’,” said Sunset as she threw up air quotes. “So…are you cool with having and amnesiac, giant woman, monster busting roommate as a friend?”
Twilight smiled as she said, “I don’t know, are you okay with having a roommate that’s a total nerd, likes science, mathematics, chemical, and mechanical engineering to the point that it’s almost bordering weirdness, likes anime and comics, and has an unhealthy fear of quesadillas and ladybugs?”
Sunset shook her head, “Wait, you’re afraid of quesadillas and ladybugs?”
Twilight puffed out her cheeks in indignation. “The ladybugs are my big brother’s fault! He told me that the black spots are extra eyes that watch my every move!”
“But you know they’re not, right?”
“A phobia is by it’s definition is an irrational fear, so, do I logically know that that’s factually incorrect and that the black spots are just spots? Yes. However, will I still scream in terror and possibly run away at the sight of one? Yes.”
Sunset smirked. “Uh-huh, and the quesadillas?”
Twilight’s left eye twitched as she shuttered. “Soooooo…cheesy…”
The redhead giggled a little at Twilight’s reaction, feeling a lot less worried about her situation. “Okay, then if we’re agreed to put up with each other’s neurotic tendencies, then I don’t have a problem.” Sunset extended her right hand towards Twilight.
Twilight smiled and shook Sunset’s hand. “It’s agreed, Roomie.” The nerdy girl let out a squeal of delight. “I’ve always wanted to say that!”
This is going to be an interesting time here.
\\\***///
[SMILE Academy, 10:30 am]
The first thing that Sunset Shimmer learned with having Twilight Sparkle as a roommate, was that the studious girl did not like to be late for class, and therefore made it a point to get up early. The first thing that Twilight learned when it came to entering Sunset’s room, was that it was prudent to knock before entering, as apparently Sunset’s idea of pajamas consisted of nothing at all, which made her blush and yell “SORRY!” before closing the door fast.
Although loathing the fact that the sun had barely crested over the horizon, Sunset didn’t mind the walk to the school, the cafeteria was serving breakfast and Sunset was starving. The two enjoyed a little breakfast together, and while they sat, both girls had a light conversation regarding Sunset’s abilities.
“So, how long can you, you know, stay like that?” Twilight asked.
“On average, three minutes, tops. Four if I really, really push myself. But my cooldown time is about three hours,” Sunset explained.
“Fascinating, so its one hour for every minute of transformation time. While that doesn’t sound bad, it’s not necessarily good either…what if a battle takes more than three minutes, and how would you know when your time is almost up?”
Sunset swallowed a bite of scrambled eggs before she said, “Remember that sun symbol on my chest? It glows blue most of the time, when I’m close to changing back, it will flash red.”
“Fascinating, truly fascinating!”
“Hey, hey, don’t get any ideas about dissecting me or anything,” Sunset warned.
Twilight shook her head. “No, no, you’d probably change and squash me under your giant foot……on second thought, given your physical ability, you could do that right now.”
“Oh, admiring my physique, are you?” Sunset asked as she wiggled her brow. “Want a more detailed look?”
“N-N-NO! I wasn’t insinuating that – I mean –!” Twilight stopped her stammering when she noticed Sunset laughing it up. “I’m starting to learn that you like to tease, a lot.”
“No, me a tease? Perish the thought,” said Sunset in dramatic tone.
Twilight rolled her eyes playfully, feeling happy with her dynamic with her new friend. Soon breakfast was done and the first day of classes were underway. World history was first, which proved to be Sunset’s weaker subject, Twilight attributed this to her memory loss, who knew how much of her memories were lost that pertained to her middle school teachings. That was Twilight’s assessment at the time.
It was also here that they learned about the spire at the center of the Academy. The Phantom Zone Emitter. A device that, when activated, created an alternate dimensional copy of everything within a given area. It was in this space that the SMILE forces could do battle with the Space Beasts without fear wrecking buildings and could fire their weapons with indiscriminately.
“Teach, how do the Phase Space Shelter’s work?” one student asked.
The teacher, who had mulberry colored hair, green eyes, and some freckles, turned around and said, “Excellent question. The Phase Space Shelters release a sort of ‘opposite charge’ to the Phantom Zone Emitter. Once inside the shelter, it puts all inside it out of phase with the Phantom Zone, so no one is affected by any destruction that may occur. Once the battle is completed, all SMILE forces are to return to a designated ‘standby position’, along with recovery of any debris from fallen crafts. Because, when the Phantom Zone is brought down, the city returns to normal. Which also means any and all vehicles that were displaced in a battle are returned to their original positions.”
“People caught outside when the Phantom Zone dimensional shift occurs are ordered to immediately head to the nearest shelter and alert the shelter that they are outside, the shelter will temporarily phase back into the Phantom Zone. Once the civilians have been brought in, the shelter will phase out of the Phantom Zone. The creation of the Phantom Zone has been our biggest and most invaluable asset in keeping the people safe from harm, as well as nearly eliminating all collateral structural damage and the need for constant repairs to city streets and buildings.”
When math class was had, Sunset proved to be quite the mathematician, she’d even go so far to say as her equal? After their math class, chemistry seemed to be another of her strong suites, having been partnered up immediately and displaying their scholarly skill during their lesson. Biology proved to be a bit of stumper for the both of them, in this category, one girl shined. They remembered her well, she was quite beautiful. Long, silky, light-pink hair, teal colored eyes, and a cute smile. She was simply known as Fluttershy, and she aced many of the questions given to them by the professor.
Now came the time of day that Twilight had been dreading since they got their class schedules, Gym Class. A normal gym class was one thing, but this was SMILE Academy, and it did require its students to be able to perform various physical activities. The teacher, who went by the name of Iron Will, was one of the few teachers of the school who was not from Earth. He was, strangely enough, a minotaur, a being from the planet Minos.
“Alright, boys and girls, Iron Will needs to see where you all stand! So that Iron Will can determine what exactly Iron Will’s working with!”
Twilight leaned close to Sunset and asked, “Why is he referring to himself in the third person?”
“Beats me…given that he’s an alien, it’s probably just how they all talk. Either that or he’s just full of himself,” Sunset suggested.
From there the students went through various tests, all from pull ups, pushups, standing long jump, and a thirty-meter dash. Among the students, a few stood above the rest, Flash Sentry was one, along with Rainbow Dash, and Applejack Apple, the fourth was – unsurprisingly to Twilight – Sunset Shimmer. Twilight had, well…
“I have never failed at any test, ever…” Twilight grumbled.
“It wasn’t really a test-test, just something to see where you’re at,” said Sunset.
“And where I’m at is the bottom of the barrel…you were among the top four! I feel and look like death warmed over, but you look perfectly fine!”
Sunset couldn’t help but find Twilight’s pout cute, to which she ruffled the scholarly girl’s hair as she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get stronger.”
“Alright class, Iron Will’s a firm believer in working hard and playing hard! So, we’re going to play a good old traditional game of…dodge ball!” Iron Will announced.
A series of groans and cheers rang out from the group. Flash was picked as team captain, and Rainbow Dash for another. After about two minutes both teams were set up, with Sunset and Twilight on one team, and Rainbow and Applejack on the other. Applejack Apple, she was a stout girl, with some noticeable muscle, and a freckled face. Her blonde hair was tied up into bun for the class, but there was no doubt she had long flowing hair when undone.
Rainbow Dash was a tan skinned girl with short and spikey rainbow-colored hair, and with a wicked grin as she and her team readied to do battle. Coach Iron Will blew his whistle and balls flew across the blacktop. One after the other, the satisfying rings of the dreaded red rubber balls bouncing against the ground, and smacking into the sides, guts, backs, arms, and some accidental groin shots. Throughout the game, Twilight was standing stock still, her reflexes weren’t good for this particular setting, when in front of a keyboard or in a lab, she could react within a nanosecond, but in this case, after going through that grueling test, her body wasn’t up for dodging. Sunset grabbed one of the balls from the ground and ran towards Twilight, spotting a member of the other team aim right for her before gut checking him with her throw. Sunset picked up another ball and handed it to Twilight.
“Uh, I-I–!”
“Just use it to block the balls, you don’t have to throw it,” Sunset instructed as she ran back into the fray.
After a good minute and a half, the field was barren save for four. Sunset and Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack, the two most athletic of girls of the group proved to be quite the duo, but Sunset wasn’t a slacker either, having been able to hold onto two of the red spheres to use for blocking, however, the majority of the ammo was on the opposite team’s side, and Twilight had the only other ball. Thankfully, the two had been focused on taking out Sunset, believing that Twilight would bow out the moment that Sunset was taken out.
“Hey, AJ, I hate to admit it, but bacon hair over there is pretty good,” Rainbow whispered.
“Definitely, she’s like a rattle snake, take yer eyes off her and she’ll bite ya without you knowin’,” said Applejack.
Rainbow Dash eyed Twilight, whom they had been steering clear of, but now Rainbow was thinking differently. “I say we go for the girl with the glasses.”
Applejack grunted in disapproval. “Seriously, Dash? The girl looks terrified, she hasn’t made a move since the game started. Ah’d rather not hit someone who looks that afraid.”
“No, listen, you go left, and I’ll pretend like I’m about to do the same, but then I’ll break right and aim for Twilight make like I’m going to throw at her. That’ll make Sunset double back towards her and leave her wide open for you to bean her!”
Applejack looked to Twilight and then to Sunset. “Ah don’t know if Ah like that idea, Ah’m pretty sure she can tell when yer fakin’ a throw.”
“Trust me, I’ve been practicing my fake out, I can throw the ball just right so that it rolls of my fingers and back to me, by the time she realizes it, it’ll be too late! Trust me!” Applejack still didn’t like it, but her competitive side was winning out in this little game. The cowgirl nodded, and the game was on.
Sunset could tell the two had worked out some kind of strategy but wasn’t sure what kind they could pull of with just the two of them. The cheers of their defeated teammates did give her a bit of an ego boost, and she technically could end this quickly, but she didn’t need to give Twilight another reason to want to experiment on her. Suddenly, Applejack broke to Sunset’s right and Sunset pivoted in that direction to give chase but noticed that Rainbow Dash had gone the opposite direction.
The rainbow haired girl wound up for her pitch, while Twilight raised her ball up to defend. Sunset quickly turned right for her, but not before spinning around throwing one of her balls straight at Applejack and striking her in the shoulder. Rainbow got distracted by the move and threw the ball straight for Twilight.
“OH, CRAP, DUCK!” Rainbow shouted.
Twilight was stunned as she watched the ball whiz towards her, but a light breeze blew in, and thankfully, with that breeze, the trajectory of the ball was changed, whizzing by Twilight’s left ear as her hair fluttered about by the cross breeze generated by the wake of the ball. Twilight’s eyes were wide with shock, the left corner of her mouth went up into a crooked smile, and her left eye twitched as she chuckled a little. Then the strength left her legs as she collapsed onto her rear.
“Twilight!” Sunset called out as she threw the ball away.
Coach Iron Will blew his whistle. “Foul! No head shots! We aren’t playing Mino rules here – the law requires protective headgear for that!”
“I…I didn’t mean to I…”
Sunset kneeled next to Twilight and examined her. “Hey, are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah, I just, I was just a little overwhelmed, it all happened really fast…” Twilight explained.
Sunset stood up as she glared at Rainbow Dash. “What is your problem?! You didn’t need to throw it that hard or aim for her face!”
Applejack, after recovering from Sunset’s earlier attack, walked up until she was standing between them. “Simmer down now,” Applejack walked over to where Twilight and Sunset were, kneeling down before Twilight to check on her, “You okay there, Sug?”
Twilight nodded.
“Looks like the ball just wheezed past ya, no nicks or cuts Ah can see. Just spooked ya a bit, huh?” Applejack asked.
“A little…yes.”
Applejack turned around to look at Rainbow as she said, “She’s fine, Dash. Now c’mon over here and apologize already.”
Rainbow Dash looked away as she rubbed her left arm, she turned and looked like she was about to say something but paused for a moment before turning around and saying, “We forfeit…”
The rainbow haired girl briskly walked away.
“Rainbow! Stubborn…” Applejack stood up and said, “Sorry ‘bout that, she’s not so good at apologizin’.”
Iron Will sighed and blew his whistle, “Alright, everyone hit the showers, lunch is next, so get some grub!”
Applejack offered a hand to Twilight, who carefully accepted and was hoisted upwards in one go, making Twilight go wide eyed at how strong this girl was. “Name’s Applejack Apple, pleasure to meet ya, although, wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Uh, thank you, my name’s Twilight Sparkle.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” said Sunset in a quick manner.
\\\***///
[S. M. I. L. E. Academy, 12:30 pm]
Sunset and Twilight sat together in the lunch room, the fiery haired girl was still a little miffed about what had happened during gym class and had been on the look out for a spikey head of rainbow hair ever since.
“Are you angry, Sunset?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, not at you though,” Sunset answered.
“Is it because of what happened at gym?”
“Yes.”
Twilight turned away from her salad and looked to Sunset. “But I’m fine, I don’t have a scratch. And in all honesty, I think it was a mistake on her part.”
“Damn right it was, throwing a ball at a friend of mine’s face is a mistake.”
“Ahem, while I do a appreciate your gallantry, I really don’t think she meant to throw it at me. They were more focused on you than me, if anything it was a possible tactic to distract you long enough for Miss Apple to hit you with her ball, but you reacted faster than was expecting and threw off – what was her name? – Rainbow Dash! – Rainbow Dash to the point where she wasn’t able to control how she was supposed to throw it.”
Sunset blinked at that explanation. “Yeah, like that’s what actually happened.”
Twilight meekly shrugged. “It’s just a theory.”
“Howdy!” Sunset and Twilight looked up and saw Applejack appear before them. Like most of the students she had her own way of wearing the uniform. Her way consisted of tying the blazer around her waist and leaving the top two buttons of her shirt unbuttoned. Considering her impressive bust, Sunset could see why. That, and apparently they allowed her to wear her Stetson hat. “Mind if Ah sit with you gals?”
“It’s a free world,” Sunset replied.
“Yes, it is.” Applejack sat down, showing off her impressive spread of food.
“Soooo, why are you sitting with us?” Sunset asked.
“Mostly, because Ah wanted to get ta know you two, we’re all part of the freshman class after all. And you look like good people,” Applejack explained.
Twilight smiled as she said, “Oh, well, thank you.”
“And because Rainbow’s being a mite stubborn about apologizin’.”
Sunset snorted. “Sheesh, does she think she’s above apologizing?”
Applejack shoveled a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. “It ain’t that, it’s just Rainbow’s got this complex when she hurts or comes close to hurtin’ someone. She kinda shuts down and chastises herself internally, kind of like a little kid. No doubt she’ll come to ya on her own and properly apologize.”
“It sounds like you know her well,” said Twilight.
“Shoot, Ah better, wouldn’t be much of a girlfriend if Ah didn’t know how my gal’s head worked,” said Applejack in a nonchalant manner.
That grabbed both of their attention.
“Did you just say ‘girlfriends’?” Sunset asked.
“You meant that with a space in the middle, as in ‘girl’ and ‘friends’?”
Applejack polished off her meatloaf and answered, “Nope, exactly what Ah said, girlfriend, no space.” The cowgirl took stock of their expressions. “Is there a problem?”
Twilight shook her head vigorously. “Nononononononono! I have absolutely no problem with that! It’s just that I’ve never met someone who, ‘swung that way’, before.”
Applejack gave a hearty laugh. “Shoot, Twi, Ah don’t bite. And don’t worry about me makin’ a pass at ya. Yer cute and all, but Ah like my Dashie.”
“Um. Thanks?”
“Huh, that kind of relationship always fascinated me,” Sunset commented.
“Well, if there’s somethin’ ya want to know, Ah’d be happy to tell.”
Before Sunset could answer her question, the alarm sounded and grabbed everyone’s attention.
{WARNING: Space Beast detected entering Earth’s atmosphere, all personnel, report to battle stations immediately. Repeat–}
“Seriously, another monster attack?!”
“Is it another Incursion?!”
“It might be that giant from yesterday!”
“The one that blew up the other monster? It came back for revenge?!”
Sunset felt a little anger hearing all this, but let it slide for now.
“Better get movin’ then,” said Applejack.
Twilight raised an eyebrow as she asked, “Where are you going?”
Applejack threw her trash away and stacked her tray before saying, “Dash and Ah are selected Special Agents, and we’re part of the first response team, Ah pilot a Goliath and she pilots a Gungir.” Applejack began to chuckle. “Funny thing, yesterday, Dash got chewed out for tryin’ to chase down that giant, guess she thought she could out race her. Anyway, wish us luck!”
With that, Applejack ran off down the hall, leaving Twilight and Sunset.
\\\***///
[S. M. I. L. E. Base Hangar, 1:05 pm]
“Dash, ya really should just go up and say yer sorry,” said Applejack.
Rainbow Dash looked off to the side as the elevator kept descending, her expression was sad and a bit angry.
“Ah know ya didn’t mean to do what ya did, it was an accident, but the longer ya put this off, the more they’re gonna think yer a jerk or somethin’.”
“I’m not a jerk!” Rainbow mumbled.
“Ah know that, and Ah know you blame yerself fer not payin’ attention.”
“I could’ve really hurt her, AJ…as fast as it was going, I could’ve knocked her out or something! And you saw that girl – the one with the fire hair – she looked about ready to kill me, and wouldn’t have blamed her for it either,” said Rainbow.
Applejack placed her gloved hand on Rainbow’s shoulder as she said, “How about, after this op, we both go and apologize together, deal?”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “But, you didn’t do anything.”
“Ah know, but since we’re together that means Ah gotta share some responsibility.”
The sporty girl blushed as she crossed her arms.
The elevator dinged and soon opened up into a vast underground hangar. Several Gungir fighters and Goliath tanks were lined up and ready to roll out, both the land and air teams were assembled at the far end of the hangar, Rainbow and Applejack ran and got into their respective units and waited for their Captains to start. For the ground forces, they were donned in yellow armor, for the air forces, they were donned in a navy-blue armor. The captain of the ground forces was a man with bright red hair and piercing blue eyes, his name was Flash Magnus. The captain of the aerial forces was a woman with spikey blonde hair, with orange highlights, giving hair a fire appearance, she was only known by her call sign, “Spitfire”.
“Listen up, about three minutes ago, long range scanners picked up an unknown object entering Earth’s atmosphere and is projected to land in Canterlot City. Civilians have been evaced to the Phase Space Shelters below, so we won’t have to worry about civilian casualties,” said Spitfire.
“Any idea what’s attacking this time!” yelled one of the pilots.
“It’s another unknown, unfortunately we’re going in blind just like last time. With that being the case we’re urging extreme caution when we engage, don’t take any unnecessary risks, if your shields are low, fall back. Our first priority will be recon to assess, and if deemed possible, engage,” said Magnus.
“What’s command saying to do if that giant woman appears again?!” another pilot asked.
At this the rest of the units paid close attention.
“The Commanders haven’t given us any instruction yet on how to proceed with that one. I wouldn’t go and call it our ally just because it blew up another monster, for all we know that was a territorial dispute. So, for now we will we adopt a wait-and-see approach when it comes to that one, if at any time it shows hostility towards us, you are to either get away or engage if left with no other options, understood?!”
“YES SIR!”
“ALL PILOTS MOVE OUT!” the captains ordered.
The pilots quickly entered their vehicles, Applejack and Rainbow Dash fist bumped before entering their respective fighters. Once seated and powered up, a large doorway opened before the Goliath drivers, while the Gungir squadrons were ascending from a lift. The Goliaths revved their engines and took off down the long tunnel. On the surface, part of the landscape around the Academy opened up and from that opening the platform rose, once out in the open the Gungirs performed vertical takeoffs and zoomed towards the city.
A few miles away, the ground opened up and from it poured a dozen Goliath tanks that rolled down the city streets and got into formation. Up above the Gungir’s went to hover, awaiting the inventible arrival. The sky was already purple, indicating that the Phantom Zone had been activated. Just like before, a violet fireball descended from the sky, piercing through the clouds and slowing itself down the closer it got to the ground. Once it was a few meters from the ground, the sphere broke apart and revealed the latest giant monster to attack their world. This new creature was insect-like in appearance, with a grayish-black carapace that covered its torso and head, with two large teardrop shaped glowing protrusions, and a linear yellow glowing oval in the middle of its head.
This latest monster didn’t wait long as it the yellow strip in the middle of the beast’s head began to glow and release a stream of blazing electrical energy that mowed through several buildings at once, creating a series of explosions until it finished where the beam struck against a sky scrapper. The Gungir squadrons flew, opening fire on the Space Beast in teams of three, however, the monster didn’t bother to raise its arms, as a hexagonal, yellow energy barrier formed around its body. The photon bolts merely deflected off of the protective shielding, striking the nearby buildings around it.
The Gungirs broke off as the Goliaths began unloading their plasma cannons at the monster’s shield. While these attacks detonated on impact, it still did little to nothing in breaking the monster’s shield. The insectoid creature made a strange warbling noise and in the next second, it vanished. All SMILE forces were on high alert as the searched for the monster, but they didn’t have to look long as it reappeared in the sky and swatted three Gungirs out of the sky, the monster followed this up by bringing its hands together and firing a wave of energy pulses that hit several more Gungirs, but while the wave did damage them, the worst was yet to come. The shielding had been disrupted, and now left the them open for direct attack.
{This is Spitfire, that thing just took out our shields, we’re sitting ducks up here!}
{Flash Magnus to Goliath units, aim towards the sky, try to get that thing’s attention away from the Gungirs!}
The Goliath tanks began opening fire straight into the sky, thankfully, most of their blasts hit around the monster, making it turn its attention back on them. From its aerial vantage, the monster discharged three electric fireballs straight down on the Goliath tanks, the explosions rang out through the city, shattering glass and melting what wasn’t protected by the shields. The tanks began to fall back, but they did manage to give the Gungir’s time to retreat.
{Seriously! This is the second tough as hell monster we’ve had to fight, and it’s only be a day!} Rainbow exclaimed.
{Keep it together Dash, we gotta keep this thing from ramapagin’! If it keeps this up, the Shelters won’t be able to take it!} Applejack stated.
As Rainbow’s Gungir was about to get away, the monster teleported again, and snatched it out of the sky.
Applejack’s Goliath stopped as her view screen zoomed in on the monster holding her girlfriend’s fighter. {REQUESTIN’ SUPPORT! THE MONSTER HAS ONE OUR FIGHTERS!}
The monster looked at the fighter with some small amount of intrigue, but Rainbow Dash was trying to keep herself as composed as possible, wondering if it may help if she fired her photon repeater cannons while she was this close to its face, but then the monster could easily crush her.
Guess I won’t get the chance to apologize…
\\\***///
[S. M. I. L. E. Academy, moments earlier…]
The students had all been moved to the emergency locations, just in case the monster decided to move towards the base. Sunset, however, was watching from one of the verandas in the student lounging areas. It offered a clear view of the distance, where she could see multiple explosions going off one after the other, a few moments ago Sunset had watched the Gungirs take off towards the city, and now the monster had appeared.
Sunset opened her HoloFrame and brought up any news site that was covering the battle. Thankfully there were a few which offered a look at the monster, and the moment she laid eyes on it, a name popped into her head.
“Zetton…” she whispered. “Why do I know what you’re called?”
“Sunset?” The redhead turned her head and saw Twilight walking towards her.
“Shouldn’t you be in the Shelter?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Twilight pointed out.
“Touché.”
Twilight stood next to her, both were staring into the distance in silence at the numerous explosions going off. The egghead turned to her new friend and asked, “You’re not going to go fight?”
“I don’t know…I seriously don’t know what I’m supposed to do!” Sunset exclaimed. “My body feels this urge to just run towards that fight, but…”
“But what?” Twilight asked.
Sunset hugged herself as she said, “I’m scared…it’s not the first time I’ve transformed…but each time I do, I’m afraid I’ll lose part of myself. Or, what if…what if I become a bigger threat than the monsters that are attacking?! I have no memories about my past, for all I know, I could be here to destroy the world?!”
Twilight moved closer to Sunset and placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “I don’t believe that, if that were true, you wouldn’t have saved me. You wouldn’t have stayed by my side the whole time we were trying to get to the Shelter. So, I know, you’re not evil.”
Sunset glanced at Twilight with skepticism. “How can you say that? We’ve barely known each other a day!”
“Because…well…isn’t trusting in your friends something that friends do? Even if they don’t believe in themselves?”
The fiery haired girl stared at her friend with a stunned expression. “You really trust me that much?”
“I want to, and I’m willing to trust you. And that’s why I know, the girl who rescued me yesterday, and the girl who ran to my defense earlier today during a dodgeball game, that’s the Sunset Shimmer I know, I trust in the you that I believe in!”
Sunset’s face split into a wide grin as she laughed out loud, causing Twilight to blush. “Did…hahaha…Did you just-just quote that old ass mecha anime?!”
Twilight fidgeted with her bangs as she looked around at nothing in particular. “It seemed appropriate in the moment…”
Sunset went into another round of laughter, which eventually made Twilight’s face evolve from embarrassed to pouty. After finally catching her breath, Sunset ruffled Twilight’s hair as she said, “Damn, after a line that corny, I’m kinda pumped now.” Sunset motioned for Twilight to move back. “Thanks, Twi.”
Twilight nodded as she smiled and took a few more steps back.
Sunset raised up her left arm and the StaRaizer appeared, and in the next second, she was engulfed in light and transported to the starry world.
“Grant me the strength of a hero!”
|| ULTRAMAN! ||
“Grant me the power of a galaxy!”
|| ULTRAMAN GINGA! ||
“Release the light within me!!” Upon saying this Sunset pressed down on the sphere in the center of the bracer, causing it to glow bright blue as she thrust her arm into the air.
|| SHINE ON! ULTRAWOMAN ASTER! ||
The two Ultramen transformed into light and swirled around Sunset until her body absorbed their light, creating a galaxy of swirling stars. From that galaxy, Ultrawoman Aster rose up and then just as quickly flew off in the direction of Canterlot City. Aster broke the sound barrier, creating a powerful sonic boom as she crossed a few miles in a minute. As she got closer, Aster spotted Zetton, but also saw that the Space Beast had a Gungir in his hand. Aster hyper focused her vision on that aircraft and saw that it was that girl, Rainbow Dash, inside.
Acting quickly, Aster flipped around until she was coming in legs, first. She then got into a flying kick position as she channeled her energy into her right foot, and yelled, “ASTEROID KICK!”
Zetton was then blindsided by a powerful energy kick that sent the monster flying in the opposite direction, and made it release its grip on the Gungir. Aster landed on the ground with a thunderous boom, quickly snatching the aircraft from the air. Aster brought the fighter close to her face to look inside, she could see Rainbow Dash was moving around and didn’t look harmed from what she could tell. The giant of light noticed a Goliath that was approaching and hurried towards it, bending down to place the Gungir onto the street next to it.
Zetton recovered from the attack, releasing an angry warbling sound as it charged up its power and fired off another electric fireball. Aster turned around, with her being so close to the two other SMILE classmates, Aster coated her left arm in sparkling light, she then drew a circle with her left arm and called out, “Aurora Shield!”
Just as Zettons got close, a shield made of an aurora light formed in front of Aster. The electric fireball exploded harmlessly off the surface of the shield, creating a cloud of smoke. Aster charged through the smoke, keeping her shield up as she approached Zetton, the giant monster continued to lob more electric fireballs at her, but as she got closer, Zetton raised a crystal-like barrier around its body.
Aster cocked back her fist and shouted, “STARRY SMASHER!” Her powered fist collided with the barrier, but to no avail. The barrier went down and Zetton punched Aster in the stomach, followed by an uppercut, making her stumble backwards. Aster recovered and threw a roundhouse kick, catching Zetton in the side of its head and made it slam into a building. The giantess dashed towards Zetton and slammed its body through the building right on top of him. But Zetton merely teleported away, making Aster look around for the monster.
Zetton reappeared behind her and fired an energy pulse wave from its hands, hitting Aster in the back making sparks fly from her back. Aster was getting irritated with this monster. Aster placed both hands on either side of her crest, causing it glow. She then pulled forward and light followed, Aster gripped the light with her right hand, transmuting it into full fledge material weapon. The weapon had a double arch, the top arch had a silver edge with a tip that curved upwards, at the center were coin slots on both sides, and for the lower half, it had a full curve, with a blue hilt connected to the bottom of the blade.
“Stellugger!” Aster called out as she ran towards Zetton.
The Space Beast brought up its shield again, but as Aster grew closer, the Stellugger’s blades shined white over the blade edge. With one slash, Aster cut through the barrier, causing sparks to fly as a stream of white light was left in the wake of the slash. Aster slashed again, forming an X pattern and forcing Zetton to fall back, the giantess once again attacked the monster but Zetton teleported away.
Zetton reappeared on Aster left and fired another round of electric fireballs at her, Aster took the full brunt of the attack, and readied to counter, but Zetton teleported again and appeared on her right, firing more lightning fireballs at her. Zetton continued this assault, teleporting around Aster again and again and firing at her from multiple directions. Aster was forced down on one knee, but then her sun symbol began to flash red.
On the ground, Applejack had driven up to Rainbow’s fighter as she disembarked and hurried to her girlfriend’s fighter. The rainbow haired girl was busy trying to get her Gungir back up and running, completely focused on her task.
“Dash, are ya’ll alright?!” Applejack asked.
“A little bruised, but I’ll live. We have to help Aster though!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Dashie, we have to fall back, she can handle that monster!”
“She saved my life, AJ! And now she’s in trouble, I’m not going to abandon her after she did that for me!” Rainbow insisted.
Applejack looked towards the battle, noticing that Aster was on the defensive now, and her sun symbol was flashing red. “Okay, that’s not lookin’ too good…But, Rainbow, what’re we gonna do against that thing?! It already kicked our asses!”
Rainbow finally resorted to kicking her console, and the ship turned back on. “I never said we had to beat it ourselves.”
Applejack smirked as she understood her plan. “Don’t miss, Sug!”
Meanwhile, Aster was trying to think of a way to attack Zetton, but the monster was not sticking around long enough to for her to land a blow. [Dammit, I have to pin him down, and I’m running out of time…crap!
Just then, the sound of a Gungir fighter echoed in the air. Aster briefly looked up as she watched Rainbow’s fighter zoom around the battlefield. When Zetton appeared, she opened another barrel from the nose of the Gungir and fired. A red speck whizzed through the air and struck the side of the beast, but it didn’t seem to cause any damage. The bottom of the Gungir opened up and Rainbow unleashed salvo after salvo of missiles. Zetton noticed them coming, but then teleported away.
The missiles continued to zoom into the distance, making Aster wonder why she even bothered to release her whole payload like that knowing it wasn’t going to hit? Zetton reappeared behind Aster, ready to fire another shot to end it. But at that moment, the missiles did a one-hundred and eighty degree turn and zoomed straight for Zetton. The Space Beast looked up at the last second and watched as all the missiles collided with its face, releasing a cloud of sparkling dust that seemed to throw the beast off balance.
{HA! How do like that?! SMILE’s special chaff, it disrupts missile guidance systems, and when it gets ignited – AJ, wanna show ‘em?}
{With pleasure! FIRE IN THE HOLE!}
Applejack’s Goliath tank fired a plasma bolt straight up into the sky. The plasma arched itself until it was aimed directly at Zetton’s head. The moment it came into contact with the particles it ignited a multi series of explosions around the monster’s head, confusing and damaging the monster as it tried to get ahold of itself.
Yow two are crazy, but I like the way you think!
Within the inner space of Aster, Sunset placed the Stelluger in her left hand as she took out each of the coins and placed them into the slots on her weapon. On the outside, Aster took up the blade in her right hand, the Stellugger’s blades ignited with orange flames, with the blade itself glowing bright yellow. Aster dashed across the battlefield towards the distracted Zetton, twirling her blade around as she cried out, “Solar Slash!”
A blade of fire and light slashed through the monster, causing multiple explosions all over its body, sparks flying in all directions. Zetton stumbled forward as Aster skidded to a halt a few meters behind it, but it seemed Zetton wasn’t completely done just yet. “Stubborn monster aren’t ‘cha?! Guess it’s time for the finale!”
Zetton charged up what remaining energy he had into the yellow emitter strip on its head, while Aster charged up as well. The Space Beast fired a stream of fiery electric energy straight towards Aster, but the Ultra Warrior did not falter as she counterattacked.
“ASTRONIUM RAY!!!”
Aster brought her arms into their cross position and fired her beam attack straight for Zettons. The two beams clashed in the middle, generating a shockwave upon impact. Zetton tried to push the attack forward, and looked as if it was gaining ground, but Aster released a loud battle cry just as her Astronium Ray pierced through Zettons attack and struck the Space Beast, completely annihilating Zetton in the wake of a huge explosion.
The Ultra Warrior cut off her attack and took a deep breath. Rainbow’s Gungir flew close to Aster, allowing her to see Rainbow Dash in the cockpit, giving her a thumbs up. In the inner space, the corner of Sunset’s mouth curled into a smile as she raised her right hand and gave a thumbs up to Rainbow, her Ultrawoman form mimicking the motion. She then looked to the Goliath on the ground and gave it thumbs up as well before jumping into the air and zooming off into the distance.
\\\***///
[S. M. I. L. E. Academy, the next day…]
Sunset seemed antsy this morning, at least that’s what Twilight could tell. The two of them were called into the Commander’s office, but Twilight wasn’t sure for what exactly. Part of her wondered if it was because of Sunset’s transformation, had she broken some kind of rule between them about doing that at school.
“Sunset I just want you to know, I’ll take full responsibility! I was the one who forced you to go out and fight that monster yesterday and–!”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down. First off: you didn’t make me do anything. You just helped me to make up my mind. Second: whatever punishment – if any – she gives me, I’ll take it. Besides, I’m not apologizing for monster busting and saving some lives.” Sunset interrupted.
The two girls continued down the hall but stopped when they noticed Rainbow and Applejack standing outside the office. Applejack spotted the two of them and smiled as she waved them down, “Sunset, Twilight, what brings y’all over here?”
“We were called by Commander Celestia, what brings you here?” Twilight asked.
“Same, not sure why, but we’re probably guessin’ that it was because of that stunt we pulled yesterday workin’ with Ultrawoman Aster. But, to tell ya the truth, Ah don’t regret it one bit.” Applejack placed her hands on her hips as she proudly said, “Anyone or anything that went through all that to save Dashie here can’t be all that bad.”
Sunset and Rainbow blushed.
Applejack looked to her girlfriend and sighed as she got behind her and gave her a shove forward, earning her an indignant glare from Rainbow. The stout girl just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow, silently telling her to get on with it. With a frustrated sigh, Rainbow walked up to Twilight, rubbing her left arm nervously as tried to get the words out.
“L-Look, I’m sorry…about yesterday. I didn’t mean to throw the ball at you! I just lost my concentration and aimed it for the wrong person, my fake out was turned into a real throw…I know I missed, but I know it could’ve really hurt you if it hit, and I could see how scared you were after that and I…I felt really bad so…sorry!” Rainbow bowed her head before Twilight.
Applejack walked up next to her and did the same.
Twilight stammered for a few seconds and said, “P-Please don’t, it’s alright! I kind of figured that’s what happened, you both ignored hitting me the entire game even though I was an easy target, so I had a feeling that you didn’t do that intentionally to hurt me.”
“Well, looks like you were right, Twi. Hey, look up.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack raised their head and watched as Sunset held out her hand. “Name’s Sunset Shimmer, figured we start over.”
Rainbow grinned and shook Sunset’s hand as she said, “Rainbow Danger Dash, but you can call me Rainbow or just Dash, whichever.”
“Not going to introduce your girlfriend?” Sunset asked.
Rainbow blushed as she looked at Applejack. “You told them?!”
“Yeeep.” Applejack answered.
“It’s cool, right, Twi?”
Twilight nodded in agreement.
“Well I would certainly hope so.” A new voice had joined their conversation, all four girls turned their heads in the direction of the new voice. Walking down the opposite hall was the girl that Sunset had saw who made some elegant alterations to the uniform, followed behind her was Fluttershy from their biology class, and right alongside her was a girl who was smiling and humming a tune to herself. “After finally getting those two to confess to each other, I shant have anyone break apart this relationship!”
“Simmer down, Rarity, we ain’t breakin’ up,” Applejack chuckled as she hooked an arm over Rainbows shoulders. “Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, this here’s some friends of ours.”
The girl with sapphire eyes and curled, silky violet hair walked up and said, “Rarity Belle, a pleasure to meet you.”
Fluttershy peeked out from around Pinkie Pie, her uniform consisted of a longer skirt that went a little past the knees as opposed to the slightly shorter skirts. Her blazer was left open, her bow sitting cutely around the collar of her shirt and decorating her light-pink hair was a butterfly burette. “H-Hello, my – um – name is…”
“Fluttershy,” Twilight answered.
“Eep! H-How did you know?”
Twilight scratched her head. “Sunset and I are in the same biology class as you.”
Fluttershy blushed as she realized her faux pas. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
The other girl, with bright pink, bouncy, curly hair, and had pins of ice cream and other cute mascot characters decorating the lapels of her blazer, walked up to both Twilight and Sunset and shook their hands simultaneously at a rapid pace. Which ended up with their hair getting disheveled and Twilight’s glasses going crooked.
“Hi, I’m Pinkamina Diane Pie, but everyone calls me Pinkie Pie!” she explained.
“So, what’re you guys doing here?” Rainbow asked.
“Same as you I suppose, we got a summons from Commander Celestia and now we’re here,” said Rarity.
Now Twilight and Sunset were confused, they were sure it may have had something to do with Sunset changing into Aster, but with all seven of them here, they didn’t know what the reason was. After a minute the doors to the Commander’s office opened, Vice Commander Luna was on the other side and ushered them inside. Once inside, the girls stood at attention and saluted the Commanders.
“At ease girls, and you can relax a little, I assure you all that the reason for you coming her isn’t for disciplinary reasons,” Celestia assured.
While they did release a sigh of relief, it still didn’t dispel their unease for why they were called in.
“As you all know, the last forty-eight hours have seen two monster attacks back to back. Such a thing hasn’t occurred in many years, even before my sister and I were children. Now, we may be facing an increase in frequency of attacks in the future, and we need to do something about it.”
Rarity raised her hand and Celestia nodded to her. “Pardon me, Commander Celestia, but can I assume correctly that our presence here is correlated to that ‘something’?”
“Indeed, it is.” Vice Commander Luna answered. “As of right now, you seven are to be given Special Agent status, which means you will be called upon to assist or even head – depending on the circumstances – investigations into alien activity, and combat against the Space Beasts.”
“Each of you has shown promise in one field or another. Miss Belle with her innovation in combat gear, making the materials lighter, flexible, and even more durable under fire.”
Rarity blushed a little.
“Miss Shy, you have been touted by some of the biology professors as quite knowledgeable when it comes to Space Beast and xeno-animal mannerisms and behaviors, as well as a proficiency in the medical side for both.”
Fluttershy smiled, but still hid behind her bangs.
“Rainbow Dash and Applejack Apple, two of the youngest, and proficient pilots in our Gungir and Goliath units. Your captains speak highly of not only your skills, but your brashness and sometimes flagrant disregard for protocol.”
Both girls rubbed the back of their heads with embarrassment and pride.
“Pinkie Pie, your ability to connect with all those around you, even with other alien races and bring them to a table, such diplomatic skill is greatly needed in our changing times.”
The pink haired girl beamed and saluted.
“Twilight Sparkle, you tested higher in the fields of physics, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and astronomy than any other candidate thus far. The only one comes close is, well, Sunset Shimmer.”
At this, Sunset stood at attention.
“You do have quite the attitude at times, you can be harsh, and a bit lazy at times.”
Sunset’s expression became deadpan as the other girls snickered a little.
“But…despite this, you are loyal, fierce, and unwavering when it comes to what you believe. And, might I add, proficient in hand-to-hand and weapons combat.”
The fiery haired girl blushed at the praise but managed to keep her composure. Vice Commander Luna walked up to each of the girls, taking off their school crest and replacing them with a new one. This one featured a pair of silver crossed swords, it was slight change and one that wouldn’t be noticed unless someone was deliberately looking right at it. “These new crests acknowledge you as Special Agents and can be called on for different field operations or projects that SMILE is conducting. They are water proof and can resist intense cold and heat, so you needn’t worry about putting them in wash and having them destroyed. We will have a few more made up to replace the crests in your wardrobes, for now I suggest interchanging them.”
“Sweet!” Rainbow commented.
“Commander Celestia, exactly what kind of operations will we be assigned to?” Twilight asked.
“Mostly, it will be ones that are centered around Ultrawoman Aster.” The girls all gave Celestia their undivided attention. “As of today, she is designated an ally of SMILE. But I get the feeling that she may need some help considering the strength of the enemy yesterday.”
Sunset grumbled and whispered under her breath, “Damn teleporting bug!”
“So, we are currently working on improvements to the Gungir and Goliath that Miss Apple and Dash pilot, and if you wish Miss Sparkle, you can look over the designs and schematics to see what improvements can be made,” said Commander Celestia.
Twilight’s eyes grew wide and practically sparkled as she heard this. “R-Really! I can give design input and recommend changes?!”
“Whatever you believe can make their vehicles give Aster an edge.”
Applejack and Rainbow slung their arms over Twilight’s shoulders as they smiled at the nerdy girl.
“I got a few ideas of what you can change on mine,” said Rainbow.
“Ah think we should get together after class and go into more detail about what meh Goliath could use,” said Applejack.
“Oh! New vehicles could mean new clothing, a complete overhaul of the pilot suits! Oooooh, this will be exciting!” Rarity squealed in delight.
“Whether you tell your fellow classmates or not is up to you. Of course, this means you will be exempt from certain activities and given extensions for certain assignments, you are all dismissed, except for Miss Shimmer.”
Twilight hesitated a moment, but Sunset nodded for her to go and join the rest of the girls. Once alone, Sunset sighed and said, “So, I’m guessing you think I need help?”
“Not help, comrades.” Celestia corrected. “Sunset, I see it in your eyes. You’ve made the decision to fight and I won’t stop you, however, I would like it if you not only help in battling the Space Beasts, but also receive help in that endeavor. And I believe these girls will help you.”
Sunset had to admit, they were a strange bunch, an animal lover, a fashionista, a farm girl, a sports girl, a party girl, and a cute nerdy girl. “I could do worse, but, aren’t you going to tell them that I’m Ultrawoman Aster?”
Celestia stood from her desk and walked around it to stand before Sunset, she then placed her hand on her shoulder gently and said, “I believe that is your decision, it is not mine to make for you. If you trust them, it’d be better to tell them.”
Sunset smiled a little. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good, also.” On cue, Luna opened her HoloFrame and brought up a holographic display of the veranda where Sunset had transformed. The camera footage showed Twilight there, and then a flash of light around Sunset before she zoomed off into the distance. “Please be more aware of your surroundings, Sunset, you’re lucky we caught that and erased the footage.”
Sunset blushed and face palmed herself, she couldn’t believe she had gotten caught like that.
“I’ll give you a list of some the camera blind spots around campus so that if needed you can transform in these locations, but please keep them to yourself. Well then, let me make this official then.” Celestia held out her hand smiled. “I look forward to working with you, Sunset – rather – Aster.”
Sunset shook Celestia’s hand gave cocky grin of affirmation. The whole time, however, Luna seemed skeptical of this alliance.
\\\***///
[Unknown Sector of Space…]
A man, or what looked like a man, sat upon a throne carved of what appeared to be obsidian rock. His body was wrapped in silver armor, with engravings of a long-forgotten alien language. His blood red cape flowed down his seat, with tattered, battle worn edges. His face was shrouded in shadows, with only a single red curved horn protruding from his forehead. Before him floated a violet colored crystal, which displayed a kind of recording of Ultrawoman Aster defeating Barabba and, more recently, Zetton.
The man gripped the armrests of his throne hard, causing cracks to form in the crystal it was made of.
It would appear she has returned.
“I see that, it will not be a problem,” said the shadow man.
I was assured that the first time, and now she is back. The Utlras are spread thinly and will not be able to render too much aid to this planet. However, we must act cautiously, one Ultra Warrior is already a problem.
“Have a little faith in my power, we will strike again.”
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Rainbow Dash was tan skinned girl with short and spikey rainbow-colored hair
[ i]Dammit, I have to pin him down, and I’m running out of time…crap!
but it seemed Zetton wasn’t completely done just yet. “Stubborn monster aren’t ‘cha?! Guess it’s time for the finale!”
1. Rainbow Dash was a tan skinned girl.
2. Broken tag.
3. Not coloured.
GO GO POWE- Oh wait, wrong series. Still, might as well put the song here for nostalgia's sake.
Oho, the big bad surfaces.
Allies have started to gather, and friendships start to be forged. Just accept it Sunset. You're going to have friends, and you're eventually going to enjoy it.
..... you just gonna do Zetton like that huh?
That Phase Space thing sure is a convenient way to have them wreck the city every episode and it's fine the next week.
They hire aliens? Are aliens allowed as students? Some of them live here too, after all.
Rainbow and AJ, huh? As humans I usually assume it's Rarity and Aj, but I'm fine with it.
Should everyone already know Aster's name?
And who is this mystery villain? The only Ultra villain I know of is Belial, so it's...probably not him?
9792816
Is Zetton a big deal?
9792993
It was the only monster the original Ultraman fought that he had lost against. Zetton is the first thing in the history of the Ultra Franchise to kill an Ultra. Yes, it is a very big deal.
9792993
Like Hopelight said, Zetton is extremely dangerous and Powerful. Like nearing Superboss level for a villain. Probably the Frieza or Kid Buu of the Ultraman series compared to the original hero without any power up gimmicks to turn the tide for once meaning evil won if temporarily that a hard to find special was made to resolve it.
9792993
like the other said zetton was a big deal in the og ultra man for defeating him plus after the original ultraman when zetton appeared again it shown that the other ultras feared zetton somthing that no other being last time i check had that effect on them
Cue the rainbooms
You are aware of what school this is?
...I'd ask you if you've gone mad, Celestia...but I think we know the answer.
Yes, operator, could you connect me to a Simon the Digger, please? Someone just stole his brother's line.
Huh...interesting that you aren't using Man and Tiga, but I get why you aren't using that setup
In any case...they have come together, for better or worse, so now let's see how lonng it takes Sunset here to decide whether to keep her walls up, or lower them foolishly.