Mission 1: The Hooves that Fell from the Stars
“Egghead! I think I see something!” shouted the pegasus to her friend, pointing with her forehoof towards the distant woods. Beside her, Twilight sighed in relief, having been nearly dead on her wings for a while now. Flapping with a last bit of effort, the pair, a rainbow pegasus and a purple alicorn, landed near the object that had landed a night ago in the Everfree. Around it, the once virgin woods, untouched by any hoof or hand of their world, was burned or broken, with many trees hanging in bent mockery of their once mighty forms.
At the center of the devastation, sitting in a crater, was the object that had fallen from the stars. Last night, a great thunder had crashed through Ponyville, many miles distance, and Luna had asked Twilight to investigate it as quickly as she could, with Celestia adding her own plea, as the pair of them tried to keep everypony in Equestria calm. Twilight had in turn asked her friends to keep Ponyville from its typical panicked response to new stimuli, though AJ and Rainbow had insisted the pegasus come along, just in case.
Now staring at the source of all this chaos, Twilight was reminded of some of the things she’d seen on another world. Cars and planes and other such vehicles, built of metal rather than the wood Twilight was used to. Those were simple transports though, while this looked far more advanced, especially considering, despite the impact, the object had not a scratch on its alabaster white form. The other details made it look like some kind of insect, with no head, but six ‘legs’ sticking out of it.
Walking closer, cautiously, Twilight observed that the legs were oddly structured, like they were folded up or something, with longer bits of them contained in the main body of the object. She cast a simple recording charm, intending on sharing the images with her fellow Princesses, when the object let out a low pitched, but powerful, hiss, causing Rainbow to quickly tackle Twilight, bringing the two of them behind a rock as they watched a gout of steam emerge from the legs, before a small hatch opened atop it.
“What in Equestria is this thing?” asked Dash, and Twilight shook her head.
“I don’t have data on that, Dash. But I’m getting the feeling that it’s inviting us in,” she said, as the object stood still now, as if waiting for something. The timing of the opening could not have been coincidence, considering it would have been her for at least a few hours already, and more, the hatch that had opened had a fairly obvious arrow on it.
“Yeah, I see that, but I think it might be a trap. We should go back,” said Rainbow, thinking of all the trouble she could get into with the other Bolts back at base if she let one of the Princesses do something this obviously stupid. Of course, if she’d been alone, she totally would have dived straight in already. The thing was begging to be investigated, but she had her duty, and would not fail in it.
“If it wanted to do damage, this thing could have crashed closer to Ponyville or even in Fillydelphia, that’s only forty-three miles away after all. No, I think it wanted someone to find it, and get inside,” she said, and Rainbow nodded, only to be surprised when Twilight, taking an initiative the girl just didn’t normally have, launched herself upwards with a single flap of her wings. Following close behind, when the shock wore off, she landed just a moment behind Twilight, their hooves clink on the metallic surface of the object.
“Wow, look in there Dash,” said Twilight, as she stuck her head over the edge of the whole. Inside, wires and lights, a lot of other high tech looking things could be seen, all of it blinking and twirling around.
“Looks real fancy, Twi, but I’m thinking that means it’s extra dangerous. Let’s go back now, maybe get your broth-TWILIGHT!” Rainbow shouted the last, an instant too late, as Twilight had leaned just a bit too far in to see one of the displays down below. The alicorn’s hooves, not used to the smooth metal, slipped, and Twilight tumbled end over end inside, screaming all the while. For Dash, however, the scream was cut short, as the hatch slammed shut, and the white object suddenly threw off a wave of force, while flashing golden, sending her vaulting into the sky.
“Wah!” Twilight’s cry echoed around inside the object, before she smacked down onto a platform inside. Landing with a dull thud, the alicorn rubbed at her sore head, and looked around. About her was what appeared to be a bubble made of black tinted windows, but before she could say anything, the lit up, revealing themselves as computer screens ones that quickly displayed a lot of data she only just saw, before it all vanished, and a trio of figures stood staring at her.
“Welcome, Champion of this world,” said the first, one who looked sort of like a human, but was obviously mechanical in nature, with deep yellow glowing eyes, and wearing red armor that reminded Twilight of neighponese style, plates that appeared loose to the untrained eye, but would provide good protection when struck.
“The Contest sings its siren call, and draws you to it,” said a second, very similar being. It’s armor, in the same style, was black as night, with trimmings of gold, and a helmet that, had massive golden horns sticking out of the side.
“Will you answer it?” asked the final figure, this one similar, and yet different from the other two. It was unmistakably artifical, same yellow eyes and all, but its armor was more traditional Tribes style, locked plates that didn’t move, and a helmet with a visor over those same glowing eyes.
“Um, well, I don’t know, I just kind of fell in here,” she said in answer, and this seemed to bring the three figures up short for a moment, as they looked at each other, and then finally shook their heads.
“Such is the way of things, I suppose. You who have entered this Fuunsaiki, the Horse Gundam, have been chosen then. By Luck or by Fate, your destiny is now before you. A Great Contest will soon be held in the heavens. There, the Destiny of Worlds shall be decided. We offer you then, this opportunity to have a hand...hoof in the outcome,” said the knight looking one, and Twilight suddenly felt a push at her mind, and she saw things she didn’t know from where, but images of beings like the three before her, fighting each other in great battles.
“What if I say no?” she asked, and the three drew their weapons, a katana, a straight sword, and an arquebus, pointing them towards her.
“Then your Destiny will be decided for you, and you may not like what that entails,” said the black armored one.
“Er, well then, I suppose I can’t say no,” she admitted, and the three withdrew their arms, before flashing away. When they were gone, the displays came back, but with them, a ring began to descend on her. Shouting in surprise, Twilight could only watch as the ring filled with black stuff, and then pulled itself down over her. The black proved to be some kind of gel, and it clung to her body as it passed, pushing her down with enough force that, for a moment, she felt like she would be crushed.
Twilight refused to be done in, however, and instead forced herself to stand, finding as she did, that movement slowly became easier, as the black gel solidified over her, taking the form of a body tight suit, sort of like the Wonderbolt’s uniform, but with the a shiny black sheen to it all. With a snap, the gel came apart, and the ring locked in place, Twilight’s mind opening up as the systems of the suit linked with her, showing her he battles it had fought.
Into her mind, flowing like a river, was knowledge. A million wars, across a million stars. Battles fought by men and women who wanted peace, and chose to claim it through force of will. Weapons, Mobile Suits she knew them now, like the one she was in. She saw them fight, saw them explode, as names crossed her mind. Amuro, Kamille, Judau, Domon, Heero, Kira, Setsuna, and many, many more. All of them warriors as she was now, all those who had chosen to fight for their ideals.
Outside, Dash was at a loss, not willing to land on the object, as it continued to glow. Instead she had been circling it for almost fifteen minutes, wondering just what she would do, when the thing shot into the air, spinning like a new year’s firecracker. When it was at a height above her, Dash watched as the legs unfolded, taking on equine hooves, and a head, while a tail made of lines of fire shot from behind. Transforming from the first mode to the second was the work of moments, and before her, floating on jets, was a great mechanical horse.
“Wow, that’s a rush,” came a familiar voice from the mech, and Dash started, as the thing, white and red, soon shifted to a purple scheme matching Twilight’s coat, even spawning wings like hers, but made of fire, and then her cutie mark on the side.
“Twilight!” she shouted up at the thing, and the head turned to her, the horn beginning glow with the power barely contained within.
“Rainbow! I have something I need to do. Something really important. Tell Celestia I’ll be back as soon as I can. There’s a battle that needs winning, and I’m the pony to do it,” she said, turning her head towards the sky, as lines of power seemed to be sucking into the soles of her hooves.
“Because my horn, is the horn that will pierce the HEAVENS!!!” she shouted the last, as her hooves carried her off into the sky. Below, Dash stared in awe as Twilight moved faster in that giant horse robot faster than anything Dash had ever seen. Then, she pointed her horn forward, and all the power built up inside shot out like a lightning bolt, creating a hole in the sky into which she charged, vanishing into the midst of a great battle between warriors for the glory of their Dynasties.
(This is Fuunsaiki, Twilight’s Gundam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITYtEFf0cBc
For anyone curious, the three gundams she was talking to were Musha Gundam Mk 1&2, as well as Knight Gundam)
