A Pony's Guide to Gunpla

by Mystic Sunrise

Ch. 1

Principal Celestia sighed as Princess Twilight finished explaining why she had dropped by Canterlot High out of the blue as she had. “At least it is not magic-related this time.”

Twilight nodded, pinching her nose in annoyance. “After Sunset told me what happened with the Memory Stone, I hope we never have to deal with it again. Whatever happened to Wallflower anyway?”

Vice Principal Luna shook her head. “Miss Blush was expelled. No one came to her defense. Not even your friends. I must admit that I was surprised they did not at least attempt to.”

Celestia nodded. “From what I understand, once they discovered why she had done what she had, Rainbow Dash had to be held back from doing something drastic. Sunset was no better from what I understand."

Twilight winced. No wonder Sunset refused to talk about the aftermath, even now. Not that the princess could blame her friend.

Celestia’s smile grew. “Now. Are you sure Equestria will be fine for however long you are here, Princess Twilight?”

Twilight blushed. “Please don’t call me that. Not here.”

Luna’s brows rose. “It is your title, is it not? Especially seeing as you now rule over an entire country? Congratulations again for being given such a responsibility. It could not have happened to a nicer person. Or pony as it may be."

Twilight blush grew. The sisters always had this effect on her it seemed, no matter the world it might be. “Thank you. But my title means nothing here. I have no actual power. So please. Don't treat me any differently. I get enough of that as it is."

Celestia smirked. “I highly doubt any of us could do anything to stop you if you ever decided to do something, though. You have this aura that I cannot ignore. Nor can anyone else. You can deny it. But the effects speak for themselves."

Luna nodded, smiling. “It is what helped unite the school behind you during the Fall Formal. While your counterpart has made inroads into it, the school is still behind you.”

Twilight’s blush felt like it contained the heat of a thousand suns as she slid down her seat in embarrassment. Darn it, this was making her lightheaded.

Celestia and Luna giggled at the sight. “Back to the matter at hand, however. What will we do with Miss Rose and her mother?” Luna asked.

Twilight shook her head with a sigh as she sat back up. “I don’t know. I never planned to have Pearl find out about this world like this. Or possibly at all. Too much can go wrong if news of this gets out. How it didn't after the Friendship Games, I still don't know."

Celestia could see the wisdom in that, as she looked out her window. From here, she could see the two women in question on the front steps of the school. They seemed lost at all Sunset and Sci Twi were telling them. Which was understandable. “But they know of it now. They seem to be taking it rather well. All things considered.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, as she looked as well. Pearl’s head seemed to be spinning, as was Cirrus’. Not that the princess could blame either of them. “I’ll talk to Cirrus when we get home. We’ll think of something to keep Pearl from doing something rash.”

“Would she?” Luna asked, frowning at the thought. She had enough to deal with as it was. She did not need anything else.

Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Oh yes. In a heartbeat, if she thought it was cool enough. It wouldn’t be the first time either. One of these days she is going to drive me up a wall with worry! Or just give me a heart attack!"

Luna and her sister shared a knowing look. Underneath her exasperation and annoyance, they could see and feel that Princess Twilight cared deeply about her student. No matter what she might do.

Sighing, Twilight shook her head. “Right now, I trust Sunset and other me to handle things. If they can handle magic-related disasters, I think they can handle something small like this. What's the worse that can happen?"

---

“... And that is when you and the princess came through the portal,” Sci Twi finished, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

Pearl and Cirrus were too stunned to say anything for a few moments. Cirrus had a glazed look to her eyes, while Pearl seemed to be digesting it all.

“So I have a twin duplicate here?” Pearl finally asked, zeroing in on one thing in particular. If nothing else, she had to start with something.

Twilight nodded. “Oh yes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were her. You’re identical in every way possible. Even down to the same age and having a private teacher instead of going to school.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. Go figure. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Twilight tapped her chin. This was a rare chance for her to learn more about Equestria, and she wasn’t about to waste it. “Do you happen to know someone named Kohaku Forestsong?”

Pearl tapped her chin, racking her brain for someone with that name. “Nope. Either in Ponyville or Baltimare. Why?”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, here the two of you are basically inseparable best friends. I was just curious if the same applies in Equestria.”

Cirrus shook her head. “That might be the case here. But not where we come from. And I must say that I don’t know any family with that last name. In my line of work, you hear a lot of names.”

Twilight nodded. It wasn’t a big difference for her anyway. It wasn’t like she was going to share any of this with those two anyway. Though Kohaku had this really annoying habit of seeming to know more than he ever let on. It drove her insane when he used it on her. His whole family was like that.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “You’re taking this rather well, mam.”

Cirrus shrugged. “This feels too real to be fake. I’d heard of alternate worlds before. But I never imagined it would be like this.”

Sunset chuckled. “Trust me. I know the feeling. You get used to it after a while.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “If you say so. Doubt I could ever get used to any of this.”

Sunset and Twilight giggled, even as a blue blur came rushing to a halt before the group. “Are we late?” Fluttershy asked, once her body stopped shaking.

Rainbow scoffed. “Come on, Fluttershy? Have I ever been late before?”

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to argue that, but decided against it.

Pearl’s eyes began twitching. “Okay. This is getting ridiculous. I know you told me about this. But really? Speedster Rainbow Dash? Does this world not know anything original?”

Sunset shrugged helplessly, while Rainbow gave the youngster a look. “Whose the small fry with a big mouth?”

Cirrus gave her a stern look. “That is my daughter, Pearl Rose. I’m Cirrus Storm. And since you didn’t come from the portal, you must be the native Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy? I see some things are consistent across worlds.”

Rainbow grumbled while Fluttershy looked excited. “You’re from Equestria?”

“That’s us,” Pearl huffed, before noticing the bag Fluttershy was carrying. “So what’s in the bag? Anything important or cool?”

Fluttershy nodded, looking proud of herself about something. “Oh, nothing too important. Just my latest Gunpla purchase.”

Pearl and her mother shared a look. “Your latest what?” Cirrus asked.

Fluttershy was shocked. “You don’t know what Gunpla is?”

“Should we?” Pearl asked, but Cirrus could see that she seemed to be interested in some way about whatever this thing might be.

Twilight leaned in and whispered to Sunset. “Does Equestria have… ?”

Sunset shook her head. “No. Not like this anyway. We have models. But nothing like this. At least, we didn’t use to when I was Princess Celestia’s student.”

Twilight filed this away for later. Interesting. It wasn’t a big difference in the grand scheme of things. But it was still something.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, seemed to have been shocked beyond belief. Rainbow could only sigh as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Now you’ve done it. Once ‘Shy comes back to herself, you’ll be sorry you said that.”

Pearl wasn’t convinced as she rolled her eyes. “What did I say? I just don’t get whatever she was talking about. It can’t be that bad, can it?”

Twilight sighed, as Fluttershy gained a slightly crazy look in her eyes. “It’s not, Pearl. But Fluttershy is very passionate about her Gunpla. Not that I blame her. I like it as well. Maybe not as much as she does. But I do."

Sunset nodded. “I’ve been on the receiving end of what you’re about to get. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the lecture I got. Even though I’m still not into it myself. Too weird for me."

Fluttershy gave her a knowing smirk. “You just don’t know a good thing when you see it, Sunset.” Smiling, she reached into her bag and pulled something out. “Take a look for yourself, Pearl.”

Pearl took it, not quite sure what she had gotten herself into. What she saw, though, wasn’t what she had been expecting.

It was a model kit of some kind. That much she could understand. But very little else about the box made much sense to her. It showed a mecha of some kind, and the words ‘Real Grade XM-X1 Crossbone Gundam X1, and under that was the blurb S.N.R.I. Prototype Mobile Suit.

Pearl blinked, even as Cirrus leaned over to look as well. “I don’t get it,” Pearl finally admitted. “This looks like something out of Neighpon back home. Except it’s not a pony.”

“Neighpon?” Rainbow asked, looking at Sunset, who only shrugged.

“It’s our world’s equivalent of Japan. Not perfectly of course, since their Emperor still rules uncontested. But it shares a lot in common otherwise,” she said with a smile.

Cirrus nodded. “I remember seeing something similar to this back before you were born, Pearl. Not perfectly obviously. But your father brought something like this home one day. He seemed to like it. We had to give it away because we needed the bits after I had you.”

Pearl rolled her eyes. Go figure. “We’ve never needed bits before though. Why then?”

Cirrus chuckled as she ruffled her daughter’s hair. “This was long before we rose as high as we did, honey. I was still working as a teller, and your father was still a Longshoreman.”

Pearl giggled. She had trouble believing that. Her dad was too damn good to be that low, and anyone who said otherwise was getting punched. “So what makes this so damn special? I’m still not seeing it.”

Fluttershy nodded. “This franchise has been going on for over fifty years now. This is not the only Gundam out there. Not by a long shot. I think it would be easier if I showed you the completed kit though.”

Pearl still wasn’t buying it. “Can’t we do it in Equestria? This whole thing is too weird for me.”

Princess Twilight shook her head as she joined the group. “It wouldn’t be the same, Pearl. Hooves are not the best for putting these together. Trust me. Even with magic, hands are better if you want to try this.”

The youngster gave her mentor a flat look. “Who says I’m interested in this at all?”

Twilight smirked. “You can try to hide it, my Faithful Student. But I can see that look in your eyes. You’re curious about all of this. I know the feeling, for I too was like that once.”

Pearl huffed as she crossed her arms. “Fine. Guess I am a little bit curious about this. But that doesn’t mean anything else. So don’t get any funny ideas, princess.”

Twilight giggled, as the group headed into the school. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Pearl.”

---

No matter what she would say later, Pearl couldn’t help but watch with awe as Fluttershy put the Crossbone together. It was almost hypnotic as first the Core Fighter, then the inner frame, the armor, and finally the weapons came together.

“That’s a lot of stickers,” she said, as the teen added an emblem of some kind to the chest armor. “Did you have to use all of them?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh no. I only really needed to use the front and back camera, and the sight on the Beam Gun. But I’ve always used all of the included stickers.”

Cirrus looked down at the sheet that sat off to the side. “There are still several left though. Why?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Well. One set is used only if you want to have individual eye stickers, and the other is used only if I had used the eye patch option. But I like it this way better.”

Cirrus and Pearl shared a look. That made sense. It didn’t look very easy to switch out the eyes that were in it with the eye patch. Why a mech was pirate-themed was beyond them. "And the spray you gave it?" Pearl asked, looking over at a small rattle can. Mr. Super Clear Flat Spray was emblazoned on the side. Next to it was one called Tamiya Flat Clear.

Fluttershy smiled. "It gives the model a better look and helps the stickers look better once applied. It's also why I took it apart once I had it all built and sprayed it outside."

Off to the side, Princess Twilight watched the scene with a knowing look in her eyes. Even though she had seen this before, there was still something about watching a new model kit come together. And only with animals had she seen Fluttershy any happier.

Cirrus could see a gleam in her daughter’s eyes. One that only grew with each passing moment. She had an idea of what it might mean, but held her counsel for the moment. But she couldn't help but smile at something.

Pearl, though, still had one question. “Why even have eyes like that though? Why not just have one normal pair, and one eye patch one?”

Fluttershy could only shrug in resignation. “Well. Every Real Grade kit has that eye option. Not the eye patch of course. But the extra option has always been a thing.”

Pearl and Twilight shared a look. That made no sense to them, but what did they know about a lot of this? Maybe it made more sense after more time had passed?

Twilight’s smile grew as she saw the gleam in her student’s eyes. “So Pearl. Is this still too weird for you?”

Pearl shook her head. “Hardly. Yeah, I still don’t get most of this. But it is cool.”

Twilight nodded, her smile continuing to grow. “And?”

Pearl took all of about five seconds to make up her mind. “And where do I get one?”

Author's Note:

So yes, I did do that to Wallflower. She deserved it. And with even the Rainbooms (and especially Sunset) refusing to back her up, she wasn't going to last at Canterlot High. How anyone thinks she and Sunset could ever be a couple is beyond me. Sunlight, at least, has a more solid foundation.

Figured that the Crossbone Gundam X1 would be one that Fluttershy has. Even if she isn't into pirates, the mobile suit is just too cool. Using all of the stickers just feels right to me.