//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Equestria Rim // by Imperator Chiashi Zane //------------------------------// Five years later “For five years, ponies from all walks of life have been working tirelessly on building the coastal defense wall, a fully Kaiju-proof barrier that will render the Jaeger program obsolete. Today is the last day, and we will be forever safe from the Kaiju,” the reporter, a greyish mare with bright red mane and a pen crossed over a scroll on her flank, looked over her shoulder at the view of the towering wall, “Today is also the ceremony for the formal deactivation of the last Australian Jaeger, umm…Can I even say its name on broadcast TV? No, I’m pretty sure I can’t.” She seemed a little stunned, being unable to utter the name of the Jaeger, only to shout its name a moment later when a Kaiju punched through the coastal wall like it was made of tissue paper, “Mother-Bucker!” The so-named Jaeger stomped down the streets of Sydney Australia, and leapt into the air, firing explosive bolts that snapped out a pair of long, blade-like hoof attachments that it drove into Kaiju’s neck. Inside, the sibling team of Applejack and Big Macintosh roared as one, spinning around to give the Kaiju a skull-crushing kick, fueled by the raw power of two of the most powerful members of the Apple Family, who had been a military line for nearly six generations now. They were known, outside their Jaeger, for being able to kick down trees going on a century of life without breaking a sweat, and pulling buildings off their foundations to make blockades. Now, they re-emphasized that strength as their Jaeger ripped the roof off the Opera house and slammed it around the Kaiju’s neck before hauling back and driving the monster head-first into the bay, hard enough that it collapsed the rest of the Opera house, even as it shattered the Kaiju’s neck and stopped it abruptly. JaegerJaegerJaeger Rainbow Dash strutted across an I-beam, making sure to keep the safety tether between her and the structure of the part of the wall she was working on. She still loved heights, and being above the clouds, but ever since the incident with Storm-Breaker, when she lost Fluttershy, she had been unable to actually fly. Hover maybe, but her left wing had been pushed through physical therapy for nearly a year before she gave up on it. The scars from the harness pulling her wing back too hard were still there, boxy and fur-less. She mostly kept them hidden under her bomber jacket, the only thing she had kept after the accident, with Fluttershy’s favorite stuffed animal, a rabbit she called Angel Bunny, stuffed into the inside pocket, along with Storm-Breaker’s crew-patch. She grumbled as she reached the elevator and piled in with the Earth-Ponies and Unicorns that couldn’t fly to the top, because, like them, she was stuck near the ground. She rushed to her locker and tucked the welding pack into it before slipping her saddlebags on and starting for the truck she called home now. She was nearly there when a familiar voice stopped her dead in her tracks, “Rainbow Dash. I know you saw the attack on Sydney.” “Ah, Marshall, What brings you out here?” She intentionally avoided the question, not wanting to let her former commander know how much it had hurt to see that nothing they did could stop these monsters. Luna shook her head, “I came to get you. Storm-Breaker has been repaired, and needs a pilot.” Dash stuck out her bad wing as much as she was able to, “I can’t. Remember. My Drift Partner is dead. Gone. I’m alone.” “Dash, listen, we have several possible replacements that we believe could be Drift compatible with you. We need you.” “Can’t you just use two of them?” “Rainbow Dash, do you understand what the magic in the Jaeger does, exactly?” “Yeah. It makes it possible for two ponies to share a single mind, a single body, and each-other’s deaths. Why didn’t that spell get outlawed?” “It does far more than that. I know it. Every time you saw an attack, a Kaiju on the news, do you know what Storm-Breaker did? She threw punches, powered down, even disconnected entirely from any sort of power source, she moved. She mimicked your fighting style, your instincts.” “So why can’t you send her out alone then?” “Because without a true mind, a Jaeger is a clumsy monster, no better than a Kaiju on a rampage. And without the mind that made it, the other options cannot pilot her. We’ve tried. Do not speak anymore. We have a helicopter arriving in five minutes to take us to the Hong Kong Shatterdome to reacquaint you with Storm-Breaker, and with your new co-pilot.” Dash shook her head, annoyed that she wasn’t being given a choice. She couldn’t even fly anymore. How was she supposed to pilot a Jaeger with wings? “I need to think about it.” “Alright, you can think on the flight back. JaegerJaegerJaeger The helicopter touched down in a rain-storm. Of course. Ever since the Kaiju, weather ponies had been too busy to reign in the Everfree forest, and it was beginning to overthrow the entire world, starting with the weather. She splashed out of the helicopter and stormed towards the open entrance to the dome. Luna stopped beside a young filly, couldn’t have been more than fifteen. And still without a Cutie mark, though the young Pegasus hid her rump beneath a full-length monotone skirt, rather than having it embroidered on the skirt. Dash had her lightning bolt Cutie-Mark embroidered into the back of her bomber jacket, full-back, with a smaller patch of Fluttershy’s butterfly Cutie-mark stitched into the left breast of the jacket, near her heart. “Rainbow Dash, please come meet Scootaloo. She’s one of our scientists, the one who found all the possible drift-partners for you.” “Pleasure to meet you, Scoots,” Dash smiled for the first time in five years. She didn’t want to be the one to disillusion a filly about how harsh the world of Jaeger pilots really was, but she could tell how much the girl wanted to be a part of that world. The three stepped into a large elevator with what appeared to be large jars of Kaiju brains. Dash almost went to punch through one, stopping herself at the last moment as a purple Unicorn stepped in wearing a black skirt and a white long-sleeved blouse. A second Unicorn, this one white, and wearing an outfit that probably cost as much as the helicopter they had flown in on, galloped out of the rain and pressed against the side of the lift opposite the brains. “Are these what I think they are?” Dash asked as the lift started moving down. The purple unicorn nodded, “They’re Kaiju brains in ammonia. Keeps them alive, so I can study them,” the mare started to turn back to the brains, “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Twilight Sparkle, everyone calls me Twi. I’m the lead researcher into Kaiju behavior, and one of their biggest fans!” She slid up both sleeves, revealing a mess of ink and shaved fur that showed several different Kaiju. Dash peered at one, “Is that Discord?” “My favorite. I wish I’d been able to study its brain. Oh, it would be my dream to get close enough to a live one to study it directly.” Dash pressed the researcher against the nearest brain, harshly growling out, “No. You don’t. Discord nearly killed me. And I wasn’t trying to study it. I was trying to KILL it.” “Well maybe if you weren’t resorting immediately to violence, like try to talk to it!” “You brain damaged Unicorn! I Oughta!” “STOP! Both of you. This is very unbecoming of mares. And in front of a filly,” the white unicorn pointed her nose up in the air, “You two should be ashamed of yourselves.” Dash spun around, “Oh yeah, and who’re you to make me?” The white Pegasus waved her horn in the air, “Rarity. Fashion designer before the Kaiju came. I lost my little sister to them. She was visiting a pen-pal in Japan. That was when I joined the research teams, hoping my noble bearing and upbringing could inspire them to focus on the good of the world, give them something to look forward to.” “Really?” “Also, my ability to locate gems, such as those used in the manufacture of Jaeger computer modules, has come in quite hoofy.” Dash sat on the floor, “Well then, I suppose I should thank you. Can you make this nut stop?” “I’ve been trying for years. She’s a lost cause,” Rarity sighed dramatically. Twilight grumbled and slid her sleeves back down, “Honestly Rarity. You act like I’m an Otaku without a care in the world.” “Because you are.” “Should I stop them?” Dash looked at Luna for advice. Luna shrugged, “Let them fight. It’s the only way for them to de-stress at this point.” The elevator hit bottom, and the ponies scurried off it, Dash and Scootaloo following Marshall Luna towards the cafeteria. JaegerJaegerJaeger After an exhausting tour of the facility, and a short, nightmare filled night, Rainbow stared hesitantly at the choice Drift Partners. She was supposed to fight them all one-on-one to determine who was most in synch with her pre-Drift. Tartarus, more than three quarters weren’t even Pegasi. It took two hours for her to determine that the Pegasi were not up to her standards, as even without flying she had smeared them into the mat in less than six moves. The Earth ponies, even worse matches. One or two Unicorns had stood a chance, and one actually got her on the floor with a poorly thought out blow to her damaged wing. She responded by breaking the Unicorn’s foreleg almost in half and grabbing him in a chokehold until Luna stopped her. After the last one, she looked up at Scootaloo and Luna, who were observing. Scootaloo was taking notes on a tablet again, and Dash asked why. “Well, that’s the last one. We’re counting hits to see who is the closest synchronized with you. I will make my decision, and we will…” “What about her?” “Huh?” “Scootaloo. She wants to be a Jaeger pilot, right?” Scootaloo nodded, and Dash continued, “Let her try. It’ll probably be her last chance to be a Jaeger Pilot.” “Absolutely not,” Luna spoke calmly, not wanting to call down her sister’s wrath for using the Royal Voice on something so small. Dash smirked, lips widening, “How ‘bout this. I duel her, or I don’t pilot Storm-Breaker. Deal?” Luna looked like she was about to break, but she grabbed the tablet in her magic and floated it away from the filly, “Very well.” Scootaloo rounded the mat, opposite Rainbow Dash, and the two moved in an almost perfectly choreographed match, every block, every strike, neither one leaving the ground for more than a moment, and neither giving an inch. Fifteen minutes later, the crowd had grown, and even Celestia was there. Ten minutes after Celestia arrived, she spoke, “STAND DOWN! YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR POINT TO MY SISTER!” The two Pegasi stopped, panting as they collapsed to the mat. Dash rolled over, “What was the score, Marshall Luna?” Luna looked at the tablet, where she had been marking every blow that had connected properly, “Hmm. This is quite vexing. Zero hits from Rainbow Dash,” Dash stared at her. She was certain at least some of those blows had been enough to break the filly’s defense, but then Luna continued, “Zero hits from Scootaloo. It is an exact tie.” Dash and Scootaloo raised their hooves in the air a few hoof-spans, muttering a paired “Yay.” JaegerJaegerJaeger Rainbow stared at the now armored Scootaloo. She looked almost exactly like Fluttershy had the first time they had suited up, only with more red in her color, “Lookin’ good Scoots.” It hurt, remembering that day. She forced the memories down, trying to resist the urge to run over there and scoop the filly up in a bear-hug. The two stepped into the Jaeger, and she stepped, very intentionally, over to the side that Fluttershy had previously occupied, hoping the different perspective would stop the flashes of memories from interfering. “I’ll have this side, ok?” Scootaloo nodded. It became quickly obvious that the filly was about to go into her first Drift, and Rainbow Dash leaned over, whispering into the filly’s ear, “Let the memories go. Don’t focus on them. Focus on me. Don’t lose yourself in the Drift.” Scootaloo nodded as the two finished being hooked into the conn-pod, “Neural Hoofshake initiated.” Dash smiled. Red Alert was still in charge of something. She immediately tamped the memory, focusing on Scootaloo’s face. She found herself on the bridge, this time approaching from Fluttershy’s side, and saw Scootaloo, as bare as she was, standing on the bridge, eyes flashing everywhere but Dash’s face. Just like Fluttershy had been the first time. In wonder. She slipped, and saw her own face from Fluttershy’s eyes, saw the Kaiju teeth closing around herself, saw herself get torn away. Everything flashed, and she realized what Scootaloo had seen as Tokyo formed around the bridge, and the bridge disappeared. Scootaloo was gone, and Dash stood in an alley, wearing her flight suit, “Oh, HORSEAPPLES. Scoots! Scoots! Luna, can you hear me? Break the connection! Dammit! Break the connection!” She watched the filly, even younger in the memory, running around the corner of the alley. It hurt her to see that, to see the filly stumbling on a missing horseshoe. Why wasn’t she flying? Dash tried to keep an eye on the memory, even as she checked the filly hiding behind the dumpster. A massive crab-like Kaiju stomped past the alley, and she heard whimpering. “Scoots, can you hear me? Oh, please answer. I can’t get ahold of Luna.” The filly started speaking, though not to Dash, more to herself, “Oh, Sweetie Belle. Why! Why did you come to Japan! I told you it wasn’t safe here!” She held a hat in her teeth, one with a unicorn-horn hole in the brim. That seemed familiar. Her attention jumped back to the Kaiju as a Jaeger, one she recognized as Diamond Drake, punched it in the face. Back to Scootaloo and the hat she held, Dash looked at the brim, taking note of the white fur and purple mane strands stuck to the brim. Possibly the only problem any pony found with wearing a hat was that there was, without fail, fur stuck in the brim, mane strands getting stuck with them. The color pattern looked familiar. Dash felt another memory surfacing, but forced it back, ignoring the white Unicorn mare, who on second glance seemed actually mad at Scootaloo. “Oh. LUNA! GET YOUR FLANK IN HERE!” The link broke and Dash threw herself over the crying filly, tackling her away from the control harness, and pinning her by her wings, “It’s a memory Scoots. Focus on my face. My face!” With one hoof she knocked off her helmet, and the filly’s helmet in a single sweep, her own memories of her first drift resurfacing as she buried the filly’s face in her armored chest. It was only after the adrenaline had stopped that she realized that the Conn-pod was tilted sharply, at the angle that it only would be if it was trying to stand on a forward plasma cannon. Which meant they were still on the Jaeger. She hadn’t even remembered linking to Storm-Breaker, but she could feel it. “Scootaloo, if you ever do that again, I will personally wipe your memories myself. I won’t even give Luna the chance,” she started to weep into the orange filly’s mane, “Dammit Scoots. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to see that.” She would have never taken the filly into her mindscape if she had known what would happen. Luna was already rushing into the pod, using her powerful wings to fly over, and her magic to pry the hatch open from the outside. “What happened! The Drift was going great, you were at 100%, then all of a sudden Storm-Breaker raised a plasma cannon at the control room. That was when I heard you shouting in my mind. I broke the connection as fast as I was able to.” “I slipped. Got caught up in the last Drift, and it pulled me away. Without me to hold her steady, she slipped and fell, hard.” Luna looked at two Pegasi who had arrived shortly after her, “Take Scootaloo to the medical bay and get her checked out. I will bring Rainbow Dash.” As soon as the Pegasi were out of hearing range, the Alicorn princess of the night grabbed Dash in her magic and lifted her so they were eye to eye, “What did you see?” Dash broke the magic’s grip and pressed her hooves to the princess’ mouth, “Everything. I know what she means to you. I know what you promised her. I know Everything. I need the strongest alcoholic beverage you have. Now.” “No. You’re on duty Rainbow.”