Canterlot High OSS: Gerald's Secret Weapon

With a little more time, Gerald could have outfitted his car with a complete sensor suite and overhaul, but the vehicle had been the last priority for him as long as he could use it to get to any portal that might appear. As it was, he had put some relatively minor modifications into it to make it run more efficiently. At the same time, he had made sure it still looked like the common, average vehicle it had been when he bought it, used, for $2,000.

The 2007 G5 was the successor to the older Sunfire, which Gerald had thought was an apt name for a vehicle that one of Princess Celestia's students might use. It only seated five legally, and six would be pushing things, but its smaller size also made it so it could maneuver between smaller gaps. The engine was fair, with only a slight delay between putting the pedal down and getting the power out to really move, and it was loaded with all kinds of goodies on the inside, like a compact disc player, power windows and locks, and a cruise control system that Gerald doubted he would ever use since he did not do any highway driving. The car's previous owner had taken good care of it, so it was in good condition, without any need for repairs or maintenance. The only reason it had been available was because that person had traded up -- not an unexpected event, if he or she had had it for seven years.

Gerald's first modification was to turn the internal combustion engine and the gasoline feeding system that powered it into a kit, so that when he removed it it would be easy to put back in. He detached two of the smaller condenser units from his Gatekeeper armour and set them up to power the engine. The condensers were essentially power-packs, storage units for the particle energy the Alicorn Engine produced, and as those particles were based on the sort of magic that the two Princesses and Discord put out, it was extremely potent. Two full condensers could run for months with the minuscule power demand a little car like the G5 put on them, and Gerald could just reattach them to his armour to recharge them as needed. He would run his house off his Alicorn Engines if he could, but he lacked sufficient material to set up the special conducive wiring that required. But that did give him another idea as to how he could set up the defensive version of the Engine to be used, once he got back to Equestria where there were plenty of gemstones.

Since the disk-like condensers could provide plenty of power, Gerald had also reinforced the G5's skeleton and casing with Kevlar and his magic, geomancy that allowed him to see the relationship between inanimate objects and transform them to their ideal arrangement. This included the ability to repair and reinforce items. Finally, he removed all the limiters on the engine and cooling systems, and even beefed up the engine's output to its maximum. If the G5 had been 'fair' power-wise before, at least it would be 'above average' now.

On the inside, the car looked perfectly normal as well, apart from the clip and power adapter for Gerald's smartphone. As per the law, he went completely hands-free when it came to making or receiving calls and navigating the city's streets. The team was even going to use the hands-free headsets with which Gerald had equipped his half of the band, even though they would not have to use the magic-filtering function on it anymore. The headsets, small white and silver clips that hooked onto the ear, would still help the teams keep in touch and coordinate their efforts as the situation changed.

While Gerald followed the rules of the road to the letter, Pinkie bounced excitedly in the seat behind him. He had long since stopped trying to get her to calm down and sit still, knowing that in any form, Pinkie Pie was a bundle of kinetic energy, especially when the prospect of making new friends hovered nearer and nearer. Rayne had insisted on sitting shotgun, and while she knew Pinkie well enough not to be constantly yell at her to calm down, judging by her tapping fingers the other girl was already starting to get on her nerves.

"For sure they're not gonna be happy to see us," Rayne said. "They'll run."

"Aww,"

"Oh, definitely. So what's the first thing most people do when someone starts running from them?"

"We chase after them!" Pinkie said, even sitting forward and pointing straight ahead, past Gerald.

"Exactly,"

"What if they split up?" Rayne asked.

"They probably will, in which case we need to choose who we will chase, and then try to herd them so we can talk to them all at once. If not, we all tell our counterparts the exact same thing."

"The headsets should make that trick easier," Rayne said.

"Maybe they won't be able to run away if we can just hug-ambush them," Pinkie said.

"I think that's called 'glomping,'" Gerald said.

"It would definitely slow them down, but have you seen the spikes on Adagio's outfits? Ouch!"

"They have to be plastic, although that would still hurt, moving fast enough," Gerald said.

"So it'll be a careful hug," Pinkie said. "Nobody gets away from Pinkie Pie!"

"Hey, this neighbourhood's starting to look a little 'wrong side of the tracks.'" Rayne said.

"This is where the sat tracked the Dazzlings, so this is where we'll go."

"Aren't you worried someone'll steal your car?"

"I modified the security, so no worries there." The armour should repel most low-level thieves, and for those who tried to force it, they would get a slight, increasing shock. Built-in sensors, flush with the outer shell, would tell the onboard computer whether the vehicle was under persistent attack, so overuse of the electric defenses would not occur. In the meantime he, Rayne, and Pinkie could be as persistent in their pursuit of the Dazzlings as they needed to be.

"Well, I'm always up for a challenge," Rayne said. "I'll take Adagio. Don't worry, I'll be careful." Glancing at her grin, Gerald could almost hear her say 'not. I'm going all-out!' "Who do you want, Gerry? Aria or Sonata?"

"Aria's so gloomy," Pinkie said. "I bet I could brighten up her day!"

"Then we can count on you for her," Gerald said. "That leaves Sonata."

"Just one hug should do it," Pinkie said.

"I don't know," Gerald said. "She's more hardcore than she seems. I will not underestimate her just because she's so happy-go-lucky: she's a Dazzling."

Gerald turned left, and pulled all the way into an alley that ended in a chain-link fence. "This is as close as we can drive, so our mission starts here."

"Finally," Rayne said, getting out of the car. She was wearing jeans, a simple T-shirt, and cross-trainers. She had a couple pouches on her belt that contained high-strength lines on grappling hooks, in case she needed to get somewhere her Parkour couldn't take her: she was not going to let anything get in her way.

"Yay!" Pinkie bounced out onto the asphalt. There were only two amendments to her usual outfit, on Jackie's insistence: running shoes and jean shorts.

Gerald finished stowing the adapter and dropped his smartphone into a pant pocket so he could pull his white longcoat on. He did not doubt the Dazzlings would recognize it from that last performance, and he counted on that recognition. Gerald had his steel dagger up his left sleeve in a clever knot for easy release, and his geargem dagger, which could lengthen to full sword length with a thought, on his belt. He made sure the latter was visibly on the right side, because despite his watch showing him as being right-handed, any prospective mugger might think twice if they thought he was ambidextrous. Since he had all his gear, Gerald closed the door and pressed the button on his fob to visibly lock and secure the car.

He squeezed the right temple on his glasses, and the Heads-Up Display showed a mini-map and an arrow pointing along the shortest route to the targets. The headset clip he wore activated at the same time. "Rainbooms," he said, "mission start."

"Roger that," Twila said over their signal. She and the others would try to ensure the equipment they needed was where they needed it.