//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Equestria Rim // by Imperator Chiashi Zane //------------------------------// “Shy, hey, Shy, wake up! We’re being called!” Rainbow Dash smacked her butter colored partner on the flank before tearing away her blanket, almost completely ignoring the brilliant red lights flashing in the room, the only illumination. In the background, Fluttershy noticed the distinct sound of the Jaeger intelligence calling them to their stations. She rolled out of bed, flaring her wings, “Oh, how nice. What time is it?” Dash smiled as she backed into her flight suit, “Two in the morning!” “Can’t the Kaiju wait a little longer? I’m still a little tired.” Dash bit the zipper on her flight suit and pulled it up to her neck, “Shy, come on. It’s not like we get to fight a Kaiju every day,” she grabbed Fluttershy’s flight suit and pushed the still half-asleep Pegasus into the olive green suit, zipping it up, and barely noticing the whining of her bright yellow friend, “Move it! Move it!” She started pushing Fluttershy down the hall, stepping into her leather jacket as she reached the door, and throwing the second jacket over Fluttershy’s back, pressing the shy Pegasus’ wings down. The two reached the staging room in record time, considering that Dash was basically carrying her still waking up partner on her back, “Marshall Luna, any idea what it is yet?” One of the Marshall’s aides stepped up with a tablet held by her horn, “Preliminary readings show it to be at least a level 3. We’ll try to get more conclusive data as soon as possible,” the young Unicorn smiled, her brilliant red fur glistening in the lights. “Thank you Red Alert,” Marshall Luna shooed the Unicorn back to the computers, then turned back to the two Pegasi, “Jaeger Storm-Breaker is ready for you. Please hurry.” The two Pegasi nodded and saluted before galloping down the halls to the dressing room, where Dash unashamedly dropped her flight suit and jacket before spreading her wings as far as they would go. Fluttershy took slightly longer, not really comfortable with being undressed in front of so many other ponies yet, even with Dash’s influence. Unicorns and Earth Ponies alike started press-fitting armor plates around the two Pegasi, the protective gear necessary in the Jaegers. The last part, and the only part Dash hated about the whole process, was the Neural Tap, a long belt that ran from the base of her skull down to the top of her tail, and stuck thousands of tiny needles into her skin. She waited until the needles were done settling before she flinched hard enough to make the uninformed of the crew jump back. Fluttershy took it better, having been spending more time wearing the suit, ostensibly for practice, though Dash suspected it was because the shy Pegasus preferred to have the armor to protect her from the world. The two stepped into the control pod for Storm-Breaker, placing booted hooves into the control locks on the floor, then pressing their armored wings into the upper braces that controlled the three-hundred foot mechanical Pegasus’ wings. Dash winced as an Earth Pony pressed the connection cable into the Neural Tap at the base of her neck, right between her wings. Fluttersky instinctively did the same, and Dash smiled. They were in each-other’s minds enough that part of her was starting to rub off on the shy Pegasus. From the headsets built into the helmets, both heard Red Alert speaking, “Attention crew, please clear the Jaeger. Initiating Neural Hoofshake.” Dash closed her eyes, focusing on Fluttershy alone, as the Unicorn magic in the computer dipped into her head, and into her partner’s. The two were quickly dumped into a mental duplicate of the immense Jaeger’s conn-pod, where they gently touched hooves. This world was their own. No-one else could see what happened here, which was probably a good thing, since the next thing Dash did was press Fluttershy to her side hard enough that their mental dopplegangers merged into a single creamy blue Pegasus with a pink mane and tail. Together they spoke, “Hoofshake Successful. Holding.” Red Alert spoke again, “Dropping. Prepare for Jaeger synchronization.” The conn-pod, shaped like a giant Pegasus head, dropped into the neck of Storm-Breaker, locking into place quickly as Dash mentally cradled Fluttershy to keep her from screaming. It wasn’t like they were even going that fast either. “Testing. Testing,” Dash and Shy kicked their wings out together, the wings of their Jaeger moving in synch, before pawing at the ground, the Jaeger again mimicking their movements. They started forward on a massive crawler platform that rolled out the front of the Shatterdome and into the ocean. It promised to be a dark night, without even Luna’s stars on display. The stars and moon seemed to have taken a break, ever since the first Kaiju arrived. Luna and Celestia both had been placed in charge of the now necessary militia, and the Jaeger program, as had Princess Cadenza, so the sun and moon rose and fell at whatever time the orbiting bodies felt was appropriate, day lengths differing by minutes to hours, rather than being precisely the same down to the second as they had been before. “Jaeger Storm-Breaker active. Any more information on that Kaiju, Red?” Dash took charge almost immediately, keeping Fluttershy focused. Red Alert replied quickly, with slight interruptions that sounded like he was slurping coffee between words, “Class…Three. Fish-type…Five million tons estimated. Nearing the coast…near Nome. Designated…Discord.” “Thank you,” Fluttershy spoke up. “Do not engage if at all possible,” Luna’s voice rang over the radio. Dash looked at the radar map, “What about this fishing vessel? It’s right in the path.” “Protect the coast-line. Do not engage unless necessary. It will hurt to lose those ponies, but it will hurt more if we lose Nome,” Luna pointed out, “Do you confirm, Storm-Breaker.” Dash looked pointedly at Fluttershy, their mental bond passing a full conversation back and forth in the time it took to blink, “Confirmed. We will not engage unless Discord attacks first. Storm-Breaker Dash Out.” The radio faded into silence as Dash looked back at the broad view-port, “My flank we’ll let those ponies perish.” Fluttershy looked at her hooves, “Orders are orders Dashie. What if they take away our command of Storm-Breaker?” “Ha!” The Jaeger started for the small boat, intending to intercept it before the Kaiju arrived. Their timing was not quite where it needed to be, and they were a few moments late. Fortunately, they were able to, with a bat of the large wings, send the boat inland at a pretty high rate. The Jaeger wrapped both fore-hooves around the Kaiju’s back and flapped, hard. Inside, Rainbow Dash was kicking her wings into high gear, pulsing them in a pattern that was echoed by Fluttershy as the powerful nuclear thrusters embedded in the metal wings powered up, hauling the soaking wet Jaeger and the Kaiju into the air. Sure it was less agile than a real Pegasus, but it was also much stronger. Dash threw a left-hoof kick at its abdomen, only to receive a bite to the wing that made her scream. Had she been anyone else, having Kaiju teeth sunken through a wing that was hers as much as the feathered ones growing out of her back, wouldn’t have been nearly as agonizing. But then, most Pegasi walked if they didn’t need to fly. She flew if she didn’t need to walk. Fluttershy echoed the scream, though much quieter, as was her normal. Now bleeding out fuel and hydraulic fluid, the two crashed into the ocean hard enough that the wing armature snapped off. Fluttershy stood taller now than her pained partner, “C’mon Dashie. It’s not your real wing. You’ll live. Now get your flank up!” Dash spat into her flight helmet mask, saliva mixed with blood from her torn tongue splattering against the transparent visor, “Buck! Rip its Bucking head off!” She drove forward, teeth gnashing as the two grabbed the Kaiju around its fishy neck. Fluttershy managed to get her side to pin the Kaiju’s tail to the sea-floor as both of them arched their backs, ripping the Kaiju’s body apart. Now slick with Kaiju Blue, the Jaeger could no longer hold onto the Kaiju, but they had it dead, they thought. The two turned to start back towards shore when the not-quite dead Kaiju leapt from the boiling sea and ripped off Fluttershy’s side of the conn-pod. Rainbow Dash bit through her tongue, spitting the chunks of flesh into her now broken helmet as she experienced all at once, Fluttershy’s last thoughts, the Jaeger becoming entirely hers, and her nose starting to bleed as the neural load started to tear her brain apart. She flapped both wings, roughly using the thrusters on the intact wing to push the dying Jaeger to shore where it was at least recoverable. It was five in the morning in the Crystal Kingdom, just a few miles north of Freezing my Flank off, and a few south of the top of the world. There was snow and ice everywhere, which was at least good for cooling her injuries, “Comms. Shatterdome, help. Storm-Breaker disabled. Crippled. Flutters is dead. Attempting to set down on land. Marshall, I don’t feel so good.” Luna’s voice responded, gently, “Stay with me Rainbow. We’re sending a rescue team to your predicted landing site. Can you reach that?” Dash looked at the holographic map, blood-splatter on what was left of her visor combined with the double-vision granted by blood-loss making it near impossible to read, “I can’t read the bucking map, Marshall. I’mma go straight until I find a nice snow-drift.” “Rainbow Dash. Don’t you dare die on me. Remember who controls where you go! I’ll bring you right back so I can kill you myself if you even think about it.” Luna began to roll into her royal voice instinctively, shedding the role of Field Marshall in favor of that of Princess of the Night. Dash took the advice to heart, biting down on the already ragged, torn tip of her tongue, tasting the thick blood. The pain of that, plus a not-so-friendly reminder of Fluttershy’s last thoughts, last feeling, kept her conscious long enough to crash the Jaeger face-first into a small mountain, heated shell melting into the ice and snow, and leaving the bleeding Dash to disconnect into a large puddle of cold water that shocked her fully awake. She stumbled out the shattered side of the Conn-pod and tore off her helmet, spitting blood into the pristine snow. A few moments of coughing followed as she ripped off her wing harness and the armor on that side, rolling snow into her injuries, “Gah! Sweet Celestia! BUCK!” The helicopters, piloted by skilled Unicorns and far-sighted Pegasi, cruised in overhead, and she reached for her emergency flare, only to find that she had somehow managed to not grab an emergency kit when she left the Jaeger.