Dread Intrusions
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Chapter 5: Dread Intrusions
Shane dozed peacefully on the floor of the conpod. He was curled up on a surprisingly comfortable sleeping mat with a survival blanket loosely covering him. Despite the chilly wind which howled through the city, the interior of the Jaeger was a pleasant temperature courtesy of the swathe of environmental systems which allowed it to operate in almost any known environment.
Clack clack.
The sudden noise of something ringing against the metal floor of the conpod woke him with a start. He scanned the darkened interior of the conpod, dozens of shadows leaping out at him as his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark interior. Seeing nothing that stood out, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, convincing himself the noise had come from some part of the Jaeger contracting in the cool winter night.
Clack clack clack. CRASH “Ow!”
He shot upright again, heart beating slightly faster. “Michael, is that you?” He asked, feeling a little foolish. He looked around the conpod again and noticed nothing out place. A quiet snore answered his question and Shane shook his head slowly; he must’ve been hearing things, maybe it was some side effect from the drift? He lay down again and rubbed his forehead slowly, why was he so nervous?
“Who’s Michael?” A bubbly voice next to him asked.
“CHRIST!” Shane spat, jumping a good foot in the air as a shape resolved itself next to him. He fumbled around clumsily for a flashlight.
“Now that’s just not helpful, who’s Christ? Are they important?” the voice asked again. Shane swore and grabbed the torch, shining it straight into the bright blue eyes of an obnoxiously bright pink pony that sat next to him. His heart hammered in his chest as the shock slowly washed out of his system. To its credit, the pony blinked back at him innocently, unfazed by the light or sudden movement.
“Who the hell are you?” Shane stammered.
The pony blinked her royal blue eyes. “I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name? Is it long, short, silly? Do you even have a name? Are you Christ?”
Shane felt his mouth fall open as the pony continued to ramble, almost as if she was completely oblivious to the fact she had somehow broken into an alien war machine.
“How did you get in here?” Shane asked, wondering how long he could hide a body before someone found out.
“I walked, what else did you expect? I mean, wouldn’t a more rational question be ‘How are you Pinkie?’ or ‘Nice weather we’re having?’ Besides, I asked you a question first.” She stated firmly.
Shane darted his arm forward and clamped his hand over her muzzle. “You, just… just stop talking.”
“Well how can I talk to you and ask questions and be best friends if I don’t open my mouth?” She asked despite Shane’s hand holding her mouth shut.
“Pinkie Pie was it?” Shane asked.
“That’s a-me.”
Shane scowled. “Pinkie Pie, shut your mouth or I’ll shove it up your ass so far you’ll be tasting cotton candy every time you swallow.”
“Well I’m sure somepony like Twilight would say that’s anatomically impossible but I say we go for it. I like cotton candy.” Pinkie said cheerfully, ignoring the fact that Shane was now forcibly clamping her mouth shut.
“How the hell are you doing that?” Shane murmured before deciding it was a question best left unanswered for his sanity. He shook his head and tried to nail down the feelings of confusion, shock and curiosity that swam through his head. How had she got in? Why hadn’t the A.I. seen her and most importantly, why was she staring at him with something resembling hero-worship?
It took Shane a moment longer to realise what she was.
“Oh no…” He groaned. “You’re a-.”
“Pony?” Pinkie yelled excitedly. There was a grumble from the other side of the conpod and the faint outline of Michael rose from the floor.
“A fan,” Shane muttered, rubbing his face in annoyance. “And by the looks of it, the most rabid, crazy, excitable…” He stumbled for the word. “…Impossible, one yet.”
“What’s going on?” Michael slurred, lurching over to his brother’s makeshift bed. He nearly tripped over the pink lump sitting at the end of Shane's makeshift bed.
“We have an unwelcome guest.” Shane grumbled, waving limply at Pinkie.
Michael rubbed his eyes and peered at the bright pink pony sitting next to Shane. His gaze flickered to the roof of the conpod and then back to the pony. “How’d you get in here?” He asked groggily.
“I walked, why do you keep asking that?” Pinkie asked lamely.
“Because that hatch is rated for more than fifteen thousand pounds of force per square inch.” Shane said in a deadpan voice.
The pony shrugged, a somewhat disturbing yet oddly human gesture. “Look I don’t even know, strange things just happen around me.”
Michael sat down cross-legged and stared intently at the pony. “What are you doing up here?”
Pinkie bobbed her head from side to side. “I’m not really sure, I mean, your robot is pretty cool I guess. I was down at the docks when you left to fight that big alien monster and I mean, wow! You guys are so cool!” She mimicked the Jaeger’s fog horn with surprising accuracy. “I just had to come and say hi!”
“A fan.” Shane repeated deadpan.
“Well they’re better than enemies I suppose.” Michael said, clicking his fingers and whistling softly to Pinkie. She shifted from her position next to Shane and sat on the metal grating next to Michael.
“Do you have a name?” Michael asked.
“Pinkie Pie.” She answered cheerfully, investigating one of Michael’s toes like it was an alien bug.
“Well I’m Michael, he is my brother, Shane.” He said, offering his hand out. Pinkie stared at it curiously, wondering if she should lick it. After a moment she blew on her hoof like it was a balloon, causing four stubby fingers to spring out with an audible pop.
Michael blanched.
“Well that’s… uh… interesting?” Shane mumbled, forcing down the bile that rose in his throat as Pinkie wiggled the little stubs around. She giggled then retracted the stubs with a hiss of escaping air. Michael quickly withdrew his hand.
“So what do you two do for fun around here?” She asked.
Shane shrugged, he enjoyed fighting Kaiju in the Jaeger but he considered that a little sadistic to say. “Stuff?” He hazarded.
Pinkie rolled her eyes in a fashion that seemed to scream ‘Oh you!’. “Really? I would’ve never guessed.”
“Oh great, she knows sarcasm, this is new.”
“Oh I know a lot of things, I know that Princess Luna has a terrible addiction to toffee apples, I know there are six-million five-hundred-and-eighty-two thousand three-hundred and twenty nine rivets, nuts and bolts in your robot, I know Twilight is on a secret mission to the Northern wastes and I also know that you’re about to ask me something that has a fairly obvious answer.” Pinkie said matter-of-factly as Shane opened his mouth to speak.
“Secret mi-?”
Michael cut him off. “How’d you know about the rivets?’
“I counted.” Pinkie said in a tone one would use to tell their neighbour that their dog had eaten their favourite slippers.
Shane tossed a curious look at his brother. “How’d you know?”
“I got bored yesterday… asked the A.I. to tell me something funny. Guess it has a strange sense of humour.”
Shane shook his head slowly. “It’s a computer, it doesn’t have a sense of humour.”
“Alright, let’s get back on track here,” Shane said, fixing the best inquisitive he could muster on Pinkie Pie. “What did you say about a secret mission?”
“Well Twilight came back today, packed all her things and left on the first northbound train. She said she was set some task up there by Celestia. Something they found in the ice I think she mentioned.”
“Interesting…” Michael muttered, staring at nothing in particular. “Do you know anything else?”
“Nope.” Pinkie said cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the possible implications of her words.
“Well that tells us nothing other than there’s something up north that your princess finds important.” Michael muttered, rolling over and yanking a large map if Equestria that Celestia had left them out of its case and onto his lap. He surveyed the northern reaches, noting the presence of a few small towns and hamlets. A single railway line snaked off the edge of the map towards somewhere marked as the Crystal Empire. He followed it with his finger, listing off the few towns that lay along its path.
“Horseshoe Quarry, Stonefall, Caine’s Peril, Tabor’s Mine…There’s nothing else up there.” Michael said. He turned to Pinkie and showed her the map. “Is there anything interesting about those places?”
“Do I look like a geography teacher to you?”
“Not at all… come to think of it, what do you do?” Shane asked curiously. He’d noticed the strange tattoos that had appeared on the flanks of every pony he’d seen and wondered if they had something to with their chosen profession of if they were merely cosmetic.
“I bake.” Pinkie said, yawning slightly and curling up like a dog. She continued to stare at Shane with her sparkling blue eyes.
“Like cakes and stuff, yeah?” He asked, the secret mission to the northern reaches of Equestria momentarily forgotten.
“Well I don’t bake the Cakes but I do bake cakes.”
Shane disregarded her somewhat backward comment. “And what does that have to do with balloons?”
“Cakes, parties, balloons…” Pinkie yawned. “I don’t know, that’s just the way it is.” She eyed Shane and Michael suspiciously. “Hey, I don’t suppose anypony has thrown you a Welcome-to-Equestria party yet?”
“Oh we had enough of a party with Switchback thanks. There was dancing, explosions and a good old game of pin the railgun slug on the Kaiju.” Shane said.
“Sounds like fun, can I play?” Pinkie asked, her usual excitement returning in an instant.
“Sure, it’s ‘Bring your own’ Jaeger though.” Shane laughed.
“Was there cake?”
“No, no cake.” Shane answered warily.
“Well then it wasn’t a real party, good thing I brought extra.” Pinkie announced, pulling open a compartment in the floor and removing a slightly squashed mud cake. “I know you’ll like it.”
Michael’s jaw worked up and down wordlessly. “Alright one, that hatch should be locked. Two, where the hell did the cake come from and three, how did you know I like mudcake?”
“Call it a lucky guess.” Pinkie said, nonchalantly pulling a wickedly sharp knife and three dozen full inflated helium balloons from the tiny compartment. Shane stared at the balloons for a second before throwing his arms up in frustration and declaring he’d had enough. He stormed to the other end of the Conpod and sat there, grumbling to himself about how the universe was unfair and unkind. It took Michael some time and a hefty slice of cake to draw him out of his shell.
“This is actually really good.” Michael said, taking a large bite of the muddy coloured cake. “Tastes like real chocolate. I don’t remember the last time I had actual chocolate.”
“You don’t have real chocolate?” Pinkie asked, horror written across her face.
“We’re in the middle of a war, we miss out on the luxuries.” Shane muttered, glaring suspiciously at the balloons resting against the top of the Jaeger’s cranial frame. He noticed with a start that they had crude faces drawn on them.
“You’re in a war?” Pinkie asked through a mouth full of cake. “Who are you fighting?”
“Monsters, like the one we punched the snot out of today.” Michael said simply.
Shane looked quizzically at his brother. “You reckon Kaiju have boogers?”
“I don’t know why you’d even think about that.”
“I mean, picking their nose would be pretty hard…” Shane trailed off with an evil grin
“Alright, that’s enough. I think all the sugar is getting to your head, we are not shoving our hand up one of their noses.”
“Well we nearly did when we fought Hammerjaw,” He chuckled. “That was a tale and a half…”
“Oh oh oh,” Pinkie interrupted, bouncing up and down on the spot. “Can you tell me the story, I love stories!”
“Alright, alright. No need to go crazy, well, any more than usual.” Michael said, holding her down with some difficulty. “So here we are, guarding the miracle mile off this little town in north California called Eureka when this small CAT III Kaiju, Hammerjaw, pops out of the water about a half-mile away. Now, Mammoth Apostle was supposed to be running point on this deployment so you can imagine you can imagine our surprise when this bastard slips past Mammoth and goes straight for us.”
Shane took over, both of them could recall the encounter vividly. “Anyway, we’re standing there, looking a little stupid when the National Guard, who have lined up in their little tanks along the shoreline, open fire. Suddenly, there’s shells flying everywhere and they’re really not doing much to Hammerjaw other than really pissing him off.” Shane said, mimicking the screaming of dozens of shells whistling past the Jaeger. “So we finally get our act together and pop off a couple of railgun rounds which Hammerjaw does a great job of dodging, by the way. One clips him about here,” He traced a line across his shoulder. “And he gets real mad. He gnashes his big jaw which, no surprise here, looks sorta like a big hammer and charges right at us. The National Guard are still blazing away like it’s a new year’s celebration and I can feel some of their stray rounds hit us in the butt.”
“Yeah, great shooting on their behalf. Pride of the nation indeed…” Michael muttered ruefully. “So we meet this guy’s charge, grapple him a bit before we manage to pick him up and throw him a few hundred yards. The National Guard is still blazing away like they think their pea shooters can actually do anything while we move into to finish Hammerjaw off with an energy caster to the face.”
“Just our luck that one of the armour-piercing shells from the tanks hits our spine dead on and punches through the armour there. Thankfully the shell doesn’t explode, but the damage is done. The neural input gets scrambled and we end up flailing around like a blind man on the dance floor.” Shane said, remembering the panic as their Jaeger had wildly spun out of control. “Again though, just our luck that one of our randomly swinging arms connects with Hammerjaw and our fist goes straight into the Kaiju’s gullet and up through his brainpan. One minute we’re about to curb stomp the slimy bastard and the next we’re windmilling around with his brain grasped in our hand, waving our arms around like we’re in a musical number from Grease. I think he was just as surprised as we were.”
“Well he would’ve been if he wasn’t missing his brain…” Michael shot back dryly, helping himself to another thick slice of cake. “What’d you think that of Pinkie Pie?”
A quiet snore answered him. He looked down to discover the small pink pony had fallen asleep at his feet.
“Wow, I knew I was a bad storyteller, but that...? Just rub it in why don’t you?”
Shane let out an amused snort and chewed down the last bit of his cake. He savoured the taste for a moment before he leaned over and examined the map closely. “I get the impression you think something is going on up here.” He said after a few minutes, pointing to the northern reaches of Equestria. "I don't see why we should care..."
“It's the fact she sent Twilight. I mean, replacing a liaison because they nearly caused a diplomatic crisis is sensible enough, but…”
“But?”
“Just, why her? Why not some other nitwit. She’s spent more time around us than anyone else. I think she’s clever enough to have picked up a bit from our rust bucket if you catch my drift.”
“Yeah I get what you mean...”
“But,” Michael said eventually, staring at the map as if he could extract some hidden knowledge from it. “All we can really deduce from this is that there is something that Celestia has the hots for up north. What we really need to know is, does it concern us?”
“Meddle not in the affairs of wizards… well, err, ponies.” Shane said pragmatically. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open but it could just be an internal affair. You know, reassigned to Antarctica or something.Who knows?”
“You’re probably right, but it seems a little suspicious, right? Secret mission and all…”
“Now who’s the paranoid one?” Shane said with a small smile. “If it keeps that thieving fur-ball away from us I’m happy. Let her freeze her gonads off in the north, see if I care. I just want to get this soup-can fixed and go home.”
“Well that’s good enough for me.” Michael said, stifling a yawn. He looked down at the quietly snoring Pinkie with a hint of fondness. She had seemed genuinely interested in talking to and befriending the pilots and while her methods had been a little… unconventional, she clearly meant well.
“They’re kinda cute aren’t they?” He asked, playing with a lock of her bubbly pink mane.
“A little.” Shane admitted ruefully. He watched cautiously as Michael scratched softly behind Pinkie’s ears. A low purring sound came from the dozing pony.
“Ponies don’t purr.” Michael said cautiously, taking his hand away quickly.
“You know, from what I’ve seen I don’t think she’s exactly a normal pony.” Shane pointed out, cracking a small smile.
Michael nodded in agreement. “So, how are we going to get her outside?”
Shane’s face turned a little pale, the pony didn’t exactly look like she was light. “With great difficulty.”
***
Applejack shifted through a pile of rubble cautiously, alert for signs of the potentially dangerous slips the mounds were prone to. She was one of dozens of ponies hunting through the scrap for materials that were still salvageable. She’d found more besides, toys, crockery and in one case an entire collection of intact comics which featured a giant lizard on the front cover. She’d found other less… pleasant things as well, smears of blood or other bodily fluid, a limb missing its owner and in one case a pair of ponies whose bodies had been crushed almost beyond recognition. She’d needed some time to recover after that; she was tough, but even she had her limits. She wiped a bead of sweat off her brow and inspected her work, a respectable sized pile of scrap metal and wood that lay a few metres away, waiting for one of the burly stallions pulling carts around the city to collect. She was about to start sifting through the pile again when the creak of wheels turning made her look up. A large wooden cart filled with scrap metal being pulled by a red stallion was slowly approaching. She cocked her head in confusion, immediately recognising the stallion pulling the cart. “Big Macintosh, what are you doing here?”
The stallion’s face suddenly looked like one her little sister had made when Applejack had caught her stealing cookies. “Uh….” He said, his eyes shifting from side to side nervously.
“Who’s running the farm? Who’s looking after Applebloom?” Applejack asked hotly.
Big Macintosh looked anywhere but at his sister. The farm was doing fine, it was that time of year where the only thing to do was watch the orchards grow and check them for pests every few days. Despite Applejack’s insistence, Applebloom was fully capable of looking after herself.
“What were you thinking leaving the farm without anypony to look after it?” Applejack demanded.
“And what were you thinking running off?” Big Mac said back sternly.
“The Princess asked me to.” AJ countered.
“Just like always. Running off on some adventure with your friends without a word.” The red stallion said with a slight scowl. “But when ah leave the farm, it’s the end of the world.”
Applejack winced, she didn’t like to admit it but he was right. She’d lost count of the times she’d left the farm at the drop of a hat to go on some adventure with her friends.
“You volunteered, didn’t ya?” Applejack asked.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac said, loading the scrap metal in Applejack’s pile into the cart methodically. “Ah also donated most of last season’s crop.”
Applejack’s eye twitched slightly. “We can’t afford to do th-.”
“We can take it. They need it more than we do.” He lowered his voice. “Besides, ah think we got bigger problems.”
“What’re you talking about?” Applejack asked.
He glanced around nervously and gnashed his teeth together. “The monsters…”
Applejack raised an eyebrow sceptically. “What about ‘em? We’ll fight, we’ll win. Just like we always do.”
“These things are a bit different to the Timberwolves on the farm AJ.”
“That fancy alien robot killed two of them just fine, didn’t’ it?”
“Well there’s only one of them and who knows how many monsters. Those numbers doesn’t add up. How long until one of them gets lucky?”
Applejack stared at the scrap pile for a long time as she digested her brother’s words. He was right, why was he always right? She thought back to the two crushed ponies she’d discovered and shuddered, there had to be a way to stop them.
“We’ll figure something out.” Applejack said with a confidence she didn’t truly feel. Everypony was scared of the monsters which had risen from the ocean. The unease which had clung to the city since the first monster attack had only intensified when the metal giant had returned covered in fresh scars from its second battle. It was clear to all but the most naive that the aliens could only hold so long before they fell.
They needed a weapon of their own.
“Well we better.” Big Mac said, effortlessly loading the heavy scrap metal into his battered cart. He tossed his head as if he was rejecting some ugly thought. “Sooner rather than later, preferably.” He hitched himself back to his cart with a grunt.
“I’ll throw rocks at them if I have to.” Applejack said staunchly.
“Fat lot of good that’ll do unless you got a death wish.” Big Mac said back. “Now come on, back to work. This place ain’t gonna clean itself up.” He quipped before trundling away to find more scrap.
Applejack grimaced and returned to her rubble pile, noting with distaste a small smear of blood splattered over a chunk of rubble. They needed something like the alien robot. Something that could fight and win. A way to fight the monsters on their level.
But how?
***
“Twilight. Twilight!” A tiny voice said. A faint tugging roused her from her dreams of giant monsters fighting equally gigantic machines. “Get up we’re nearly there.”
She cracked an eye open tiredly, wincing as the harsh morning light reflected off a seemingly endless plain of snow their train was chugging slowly through. She rolled her head, feeling a slight click as her stiff joints protested from the movement. A small purple drake blocked her view of the snow fields momentarily and she straightened herself out.
‘That’s a lot of snow.” She said, her voice laced with awe.
“Yeah, and to think it’s all natural here, no weather control!” Spike said excitedly. Twilight frowned and hushed the dragon, there was another pony sharing their compartment and he was still asleep, snoozing quietly under the turned down brim of a hat. She yawned quietly again and her gaze drifted to a pair of hurriedly packed suitcases sitting on the rack above her. After the machine had heroically destroyed the invading monster, Princess Celestia had ordered Twilight to take the first train north. Although Twilight had inquired as to why, the princess had been less than forthcoming.
'A task of great importance.' She'd called it. What exactly was so important though she'd left out, much to Twilight's annoyance. She knew her mentor liked to play things close to her chest but when she didn't trust her own student... it ruffled Twilight's feathers.
‘There’s something she’s not telling us…’ Twilight thought, remembering what Rainbow Dash had said when they had first arrived in Manehatten. She glanced back at Spike who now had his face pressed against the window like a child at the zoo. She smiled thinly, Spike had arrived in Manehatten a few hours before she was due to leave and after abandoning him so quickly in Ponyville, Twilight had brought him with her to make up for it. Naturally he'd been overjoyed that they were going on an adventure together.
“You reckon it’ll snow later?” The young dragon asked.
“Well it snows almost every day of the year here, even in summer there usually is a good layer of snow cover.” Twilight answered, remembering the little fact from a guidebook she had been reading the previous night as their train had rocketed towards the frozen north. She looked up at the slightly grey sky. “In fact, this is probably one of their only clear days this year!”
The pony opposite them woke with a start. “Somepony say me name?” He asked, instantly awake. While Twilight could make out the sounds that spilled out his mouth, she barely recognised them as words. She raised an eyebrow, the pony was clearly foreign, from one of the colonies perhaps.
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She apologised.
“Nah it’s fine, it’s fine. I tend ta jump when somepony says me name, that’s all.” He said, tipping the crest of his hat back to reveal a short horn. He yawned slightly and shucked off the long coat that covered him. “So we’re we at? We ain’t gone past Stonefall ‘ave we?” He asked politely in his almost unintelligible accent. Twilight shook her head.
“No sir, we’re still…” She turned to look at Spike who held up a few claws. “…A few minutes away.”
“Ah don’t call me sir, ah’m Rainy Daze, or Doctor Daze if ye prefer.” He said with a quick tip of his hat. Twilight looked him over curiously, the name seemed familiar but she couldn’t quite place it. He looked deceptively young, if wasn’t for the grey starting to infringe on the edges of his well combed ginger mane and a few wrinkles under his golden eyes, she would have mistaken him for a much younger stallion.
“Do I know you?” Twilight asked curiously.
The stallion chuckled. “Well that depends on hoo you are.” He said, his eyes slowly drifting to the set of fluffy wings on Twilight’s back. “Ah have a feelin’ ah already knoo that though.” He tipped his hat again. “Princess.”
“A pleasure, Dr Daze. Twilight will do just fine though.” Twilight said with a small nod, she’d always hated the formalities that came with her position.
“As you wish.” The Doctor said. “Ah wouldn’t be surprised if yoo’d heard of me, I was the chief surgeon at Edenbrough before I became the royal physician. Retired now.” He added.
‘Of course!’ Twilight mentally smacked herself, the name was one she’d seen in several of the medical journals she’d studied in her own time. She remembered one in particular which discussed the neural pathways of a ponies brain that had gained the doctor much renown He was probably Equestria’s most renowned neurologist.
“I’ve read many of your journals and books.” She said with a hint of admiration. The stallion’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“Really? Yoo like ‘em?” He asked.
“Very good, you’re quite knowledgeable.” Twilight said, tugging Spike away from the frosted window before he did something stupid like freeze his tongue to it. A few scattered buildings were visible through the frosted glass, informing Twilight the train was pulling into the station.
“And this little fella is Spike, ain’t he?"Dr Daze asked "I've heard plenty about him.” He cracked a small bag open and removed two small,slim bottles. He took a pill from each and placed them back in his bag, each bottle making a satisfied pop as he slammed the lid shut.
“Yes, my name’s Spike; thanks for asking.” Spike muttered.
“Yoo’ave idea how much I’ve wanted to examine a dragon’s brain, it’d be very interesting I reckon.” The doctor said, looking at Spike wistfully.
“Don’t even think about it.” Spike grumbled, clamping his claws over his head protectively
“Ach, it was worth a shot. Anyway, what brings yoo up this way Pri- Twilight? A bit oot of the way fer a princess.” He noted insightfully.
“I could asked the same, last I heard you were enjoying retirement on the tropical west coast.” Twilight retorted.
“Well yoo’d be right on that one. But it was a bit odd yer see. A few days ago I get this letter from the princess, magic delivery ‘an everything. Tells me to go up north to a little backwater toon called Stonefall for something, doesn’t say what though.”
“Interesting, that’s more or less what she told me.” Twilight muttered, attempting to conceal her annoyance.
Daze scratched his chin. “Now that is a bit odd. Guess we can find oot together, eh?”
“That we can.” Twilight said with a surprising amount of cheer as the train ground to halt with a squeal of brakes and a cloud of steam. The carriage groaned quietly and Twilight levitated her luggage down of the overhead racks. In a show of courtesy, she floated down a large bag Dr Daze was having trouble with.
“Thanks lass, me magic ain’t not quite what it used ter be.” He said with another tip of his hat. The two unicorns slid the compartment door open, dodging the burly conductor who trotted past, bawling out the name of the station. They filed outside, Twilight bumping the three suitcases she levitated in front of her against Spike, the wall and together in the tight corridor. Finally making it out of the confines of the train and down onto the platform, Twilight looked around foolishly; she wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be a welcoming party or not. A cold wind bit into her and she scrambled for her cloak; it was cold here, colder even than the Crystal Empire had been.
“I think this’ll be our lot.” Dr Daze said with a nod towards a quartet of uniformed ponies which appeared out of the steam cloud the noisy engine at the head of the train was puffing out. He tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Did the Royal Guard get noo uniforms?”
“Air force.” Twilight muttered, remembering pictures of the dark blue uniforms, usually with some famous flyer stuffed into them that Rainbow Dash had constantly shoved in her face.
“Ah, armchair generals the lot of ‘em.” Rainy Daze said with obvious contempt. Twilight smiled silently, watching the four ponies sent to greet them cross the platform. Although the small station was crowded, they had no need to jostle through the crowd; their uniforms and rock hard faces being more than enough to encourage anypony to get out the way.
“Princess.” The lead pony said with a bow of her head when she had reached the trio. She turned to face Rainy Daze. “Doctor.” She added with a curt nod. “I’m Major Misty Fly, welcome to Stonefall. If you’d come with us please, we’ll get you out to the site.”
“Site?” Twilight asked, breaking into a quick trot to keep up. A pair of the Major’s cronies took their bags, carrying the heavy suitcases like they were twigs.
Misty Fly seemed to hold back an annoyed sigh. She clearly seemed less at ease having to babysit civilians, even if one was a princess. “We’ll explain on the way, there’s a storm forecast in a few hours and we need to get Rogue Two undercover before it hits.”
“We’re flying?” Rainy Daze asked. “I hate flyin’.”
“Please, feel free to walk.” The pony on the other side of Misty Fly drawled.
“Lightning Streak, my Executive Officer.” Misty said with obvious distaste.
Twilight looked between them curiously, noting that their mane and fur colours were almost mirrored. “Family?” She asked, noting the striking resemblance the two officers shared,
Misty made an annoyed sound deep in her throat. “Yes ma’am, he’s my older brother.”
Twilight concealed her surprise, it was highly unorthodox to have siblings serve in the same command. They trotted through the surprisingly busy town, their uniforms again clearing a path without issues. It took Twilight a moment to realise that most of the ponies around them were similarly clad, either bearing the crest of the Royal Equestrian Airforce or Engineer Corp somewhere on their winter coats.
“Uh, how many ponies do you have here?” She asked as they dodged a gaggle of engineers who were unloading what looked like massive a piece of mining equipment.
“Roughly 800 or so. We’ve got two companies of engineers, the crew of Rogue Two and another company of Royal guard. For a town of about 1000, it’s a sizeable boom to the population.” Misty Fly explained in a bored voice. "I've been placed in overall command of the taskforce."
“What do you need that many ponies for?” Spike asked, watchign the engineers carefully unload and inspect the drill.
“We’ll explain once we’re underway. I’d rather not have any eavesdroppers.” Misty Fly said, her eyes tracking a pair of the town’s residents.
They turned onto the main road through town, trotted past a series of flat cars on a siding and found themselves in an open field that looked like it had been recently cleared of snow. In the centre of the field sat a large, snow covered military airship. Two of its six engines roared loudly, drowning out the sounds of the small crowd of ponies which were loading supplies and equipment into its cavernous holds. Twilight and Spike were impressed, they’d never been this close to one of the floating giants before. The name Rogue Two was painted on the bow in large bold letters.
“That’s a right pretty bra-washer yoo’ve got there.” Rainy Daze said with obvious distaste. The old unicorn smirked as Misty Fly and Lightning Streak glared icy daggers at him. Clearly they felt a little different about their airship.
“Ex, get these people on board and settled, there’s some engineers I need to yell at.” Misty grunted, switching her cold glare to the dozens of crates and pallets that were scattered around the landing field. She stormed off through the pile and soon the sound of the engines was drowned out by a stream of yelling.
“Yes ma’am. Right this way please.” The ice blue stallion said, leading them up a narrow gangway and into the heart of the airship. The tirade of angry yelling that had flared up from behind them suddenly being cut off as they entered the metal superstructure.
“Doom and gloom as always,” Lightning Streak said as they clambered through the hull of Rogue Two, dodging frost covered technicians and off-duty flight crew. “Sorry for the cold introduction, the CO hates this place.”
“How long have you been here?” Twilight asked.
“A couple of days,” He smacked his lips together in annoyance. “Already we’ve had engines fail from the cold, entire patrols blown off course by the wind and this infernal snow gets everywhere.” He said, eying a patch of the white fluff piled up against a bulkhead. He led them through another compartment when a rather flustered unicorn appeared around a corner in front of them. He spotted Lightning Steak and pulled a report from a pouch on his flank.
“Ex, latest weather reports.” He reported, gawking slightly at the small purple dragon trailing behind Lightning Streak.
“What, never seen a dragon before?” Lightning Streak asked, unfolding the report and perusing it briefly. “Shesh… Corporal, take this down to the CO. She’s down at the port loading hatch. I think it’s time we got this tub moving.”
“Yes sir.” The unicorn said before dashing off.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“The storm is moving in faster than we expected. We’ll either have to go now and leave some gear behind until the weather calms down or wait until it clears up to head up to the site. Neither are really an appealing option. Come on, let’s get up to the bridge.”
“Cripes, I already hate flyin’ and noo this buckets gooin’ thru a storm as well?” Rainy Daze complained, keeping step with Lightning Steak as they made their way towards the bridge.
“Quiet down you old fart, it’s only about a half hour flight.” Lightning Streak groaned.
“Hoo you callin’ an old fart you wet-nosed gurl? I’ll turn yer head into a flour sifter yer jumped-up wuss.”
Lighting Streak let out an amused snort and entered the airships bridge. A half dozen other ponies milled round, checking engine readings, watching the scanners and handing out duties to their subordinates.
“Status?” Lightning Streak asked, taking to the small raised dais in the centre of the bridge with a casual ease.
“Engine three is still playing up sir, all other systems are green.” The watch officer answered.
“Fantastic,” He muttered dryly. “Make ready to cast off, make sure everypony is at their stations and accounted for.”
“Sir, what about the gear?” A crew member asked, pointing to a few pallets that were sitting outside on the snow covered landing field.
“We can make do without, it’ll just have to wait until the next flight up. Storms rollin’ in and I’d rather not get caught out in the open.”
“Aye sir.” The pony replied, ducking back down to his console.
“Corperal, take our guests down to the wardroom please.” Lightning ordered, pulling aside one of the earth ponies that had accompanied them to the station.
“Yes sir.” He turned to the two ponies and the dragon gawking dumbly at the controls. “Princess, sirs, right this way please.” He said, leading them off the bridge. Lightning Streak had barely breathed a sigh of relief when another presence came up from behind.
“Playing captain again are we?” Misty Fly asked, a hint of contempt in her voice.
“Lay off, you would’ve done the same sis.” Lightning Streak grumbled quietly.
“You’re right, I would’ve… but you see this extra stripe on my shoulder? They put me in command, not you.” She reminded him softly.
“Yes ma’am.” Lightning Streak said through gritted teeth. He hated it when she rubbed her recent promotion in his face. They were always fiercely competitive but Lightning Streak found her crossing the line between being a good opponent and being a dick a little too often for his liking.
“Si- Ma’am, all hands are on board and accounted for.” The watch officer announced, quickly correcting himself.
Misty Fly allowed herself a small smile. “Excellent, cast off when ready.”
***
Rogue Two roared northward, the steady building wind buffeting the mighty airship as it struggled towards its target. As Twilight had never been on an airship, she found the experience both interesting and unsettling. She knew the physics behind it all but the way the airship lurched like a toy in the hands of a child when the gale howled against it did little to ease her nerves. The older unicorn travelling with them had fallen asleep, claiming air travel made him sick and nauseous.
Twilight didn’t blame him as Rouge Two hit another air pocket and lurched sickeningly.
“I don’t feel too good Twilight.” Spike complained, his face a pale shade of green.
“We must nearly be there, Lightning Streak said it was only a short flight.” Twilight reassured him.
“Maybe for them…” Spike groaned. He smiled weakly as the door to the wardroom slid open and Misty Fly stepped over the threshold. She closed the door behind her and took a commanding position over the table the trio had occupied, her lips slanting upwards slightly as she noticed spike’s somewhat unhealthy shade.
“We’re approaching the site, we’ll be landing in a few minutes so get your stuff together. Might want to wake the old geezer as well.” She said briskly. “In the meantime, I thought I’d fill you in with what we found.”
“That’d be nice.” Twilight said, amazed at Wonderbolt’s steady footing.
“About two weeks ago, a pair of miners stumbled into what they thought was a wall. On closer inspection, it actually turned to be an alien machine... not unlike the one in Manehatten.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped open. This was unprecedented news.
“While we’ve been unable to determine its mechanical condition, it does appear to be badly damaged. We’d like you to head our research efforts.”
“Do the aliens know it’s there?” Twilight asked.
“We think not. Celestia would rather they didn’t find out, she was worried they might try and confiscate or destroy it to keep it from us.”
Twilight hummed quietly, she could understand Celestia's apprehension but she disagreed with her methods. If she were in charge she would've been more open with the aliens. After her incident in the Jaeger, she could appreciate the need for openness in their relationship. “May I ask, what is it we’re trying to get out of this expedition?”
“And where do I fit in all this?” Rainy Daze asked, surprising all of them with his presence.
Misty Fly looked at Twilight. “Whatever we can. Tech, information... weapons. You name it, we want it.” She turned to face Dr Daze. “We’ve been lead to believe the machines operate on some form of mind control, Celestia thought you were perhaps the most qualified in this field.”
“Well that’s mighty kind of her, but I don’t knoo shite about machines.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure I can help in that regard. I practically built my own computer.” Twilight said.
“Very good, now if I can how your attention out the portside window please…” Misty fly said.
“Woah…” Spike breathed, pressing his face up against the frosted glass. The ship had dropped below the cloud cover and the vast fields of snow Twilight had noticed before were once again visible. Lying face up in the snow was a titanic metal machine. Hundreds of small shapes darted around it and among a collection of prefabricated structures. It looked like a small town had sprung up in the shadow of the colossus’ corpse.
The Wonderbolt smiled thinly. “Welcome, to Brawler Yukon.”
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i wonder how Shane and Michael are going to react when they find out the ponies found are now studying Brawler Yukon's corpse and are keeping it a secret from them
3337049
Poorly.
Celestia... What are you doing.. Celestia... STAHP!! Do you know that what you are doing is criminal where Shane and Michael are from?
well atleast Twi has the right idea... But still Celestia must know much more than she's letting on about the Kaiju to go so far as to commit what equates to a war crime(more or less stealing tech that does not belong to them.)
Hmmm.... what ponies would fit well for the Drift? Rainbow Dash and Applejack are good candidates, Twilight and Shinning Armor, Applejack and Big Mac (I know I said AJ and RD but still)... Luna and Celestia... umm... that's all I can think of Cannon wise
Lovely chapter.
I got not much more to fill in then to state the obvious.
And i don't like doing that.
3337049
"Well, gee, given how badly you reacted to us trying to learn more from you. You're surprised when we don't want to share about working on our own defenses so that we're not dependant on your flakey help?"
"Uh..."
celestia is a secretive bitch in this(like in all the others), and i dont like it.
3337049
Well their emotional gut reaction will be along the lines of "That Jaeger and it's crew died in battle and it should be left to rest!", but when they start thinking about it, they'll intellectually have to conclude the ponies didn't do anything except salvage an abandoned piece of tech that had been discarded, which they probably had every right to.
3337049
Probably not well.
3337196
Two wrongs don't make a right. It's not their tech to tamper with.
While I can understand the secrecy angle, these secrets are only going to bubble until they blow up right in everyone's faces. Then it's easy pickings for the Kaiju while everyone stalls and squabbles. While I know it can't happen for the sake of storytelling, and realism, the trusting option would be better for both sides.
By the by, espionage, and let's face it that's what this is, can qualify as "trying to learn more from you".
Besides, two words: Reverse. Engineering. That would go much faster, and everyone is short on time here, if the ponies had the humans' help.
Shitstorm Inbound.
I wonder just how much input Brawler Yukon's AI will have in this. Will it co-operate with the Pony's secret salvage efforts? Does it even have a choice in the matter? I'm not sure just how much autonomy a Jaeger AI is supposed to have.
Don't tell Pinkie that. Next thing you know, she'll disappear for an hour and then show up with Coyote Tango or something.
3337249
Didn't the first chapter mention that Brawler was an unmanned wreck used in the initial test of the Teleporter? There shouldn't be any corpses onboard unless the PPDC is impossibly callous about Ranger morale.
3337196
"Well alright then. Have fun dealing with the next Kaiju to come out of the breach on your own. I mean, clearly you're big kids now and everything, you've got your own Jager! Too bad it's ruined, probably beyond repair, and its entire generation is a notorious death trap for the pilots."
3337187
I'm pretty sure "Salvaging an abandoned wreck" is not even REMOTELY close to being a war crime, unless you live in a third world dictatorship ruled by an insane megalomanic.
3337192
Well apparently not just any set of siblings are viable Drift Canidates. Remember, of the six or so canonical pilot sets, we had like one set of twins, one set of triplets, one husband and wife team, one father and son team, a pair of close childhood friends, and a pilot from a former drift and a woman he met about eighteen hours beforehand. It also seems you can mix and match pilots to a degree, since they swap out Chuck for Pentacost for the Breach run.
But Misty Fly and Lightning Streak are so obviously being set up as Ranger candidates it hurts.
So I was wondering why the Kaiju followed the Midsummer Night. Or was it just coincidence that the rift just happen to open on Equestria shortly after the Jaeger arrived. What if the rift isn't a rift like the one on Earth. What if the Kaiju were all trapped in Tartarus long ago because they were too powerful to be killed. When the Jaeger it ripped open a rift in Tartarus. It makes a little more sense to me and fits the canon just a little bit better.
3337525 "salvaging an Abandovd wreck" that has closely guarded technology onboard. Trust me, you'd be surprised what the US military would do just to keep the full specs of an F-22 Raptor from full display. As it is we only get less than a third of the information on something like that, hell they pack the fusalages with explosives that detonate after the pilot ejects to destroy the aircraft and deny any 'enemies or foreign powers' acces to anything posibbly left in a crash wreckage.... Hell we still don't have full specs open to the public for the F-14 Tomcat, a plane that has been retired from service. So what would the governments of Earth do to keep Jaeger tech under wraps? Or the PPDC for that matter? As it is Jaegers are for all intents and purposes Military Tech and the exact specifications are most decidedly kept from the Public in the Pacific Rim universe. So I'd say yes it falls under war crime.
My rant aside you do know how to structure an argument.
and i agree with your statement about Pinkie... Shane really shouldn't have said that to her.
Hmm, we have Twilight, a neural expert, a sibling pair and a downed Jäger.
I can totally see it comming: Midsummer Night. at its knees after a fight with a CAT IV. The Kaiju is about to launch its final attack when all suddenly its head explodes in a shower of blue. From a wall of cloud emerges a ragtaged Brawler Yukon, its guns smoking.
I can see some conflict between the Jäger pilots (I forgot their surname) and Celestia but they will come around it. Aferall they should be familiar with Celestias reaction and secretive ways, high-ops on Earth arent anymuch different. Also, I think if they were told that a dead Jäger was found they'd be the first ones to suggest either its reactivation or salvaging. They know that Equestria (and pretty much the whole planet) is doomed without propper defense against the Kaijus, heck, last chapter the two discussed this in all quiet.
3337187 We cannot speak of stealing tech here. That would be if the equestrians went to Earth and stole a Jäger. In this case they are slavaging equipment that was dumped on their own territory.
An example: If a US combat aircraft crashes due to, lets say, engine failure in Austria, the government could decide to keep the plane or return it, depending on the political game, this of course as long as the pilot is beeing cared for and returned.
Also, war crimes involve the deliberate killing of civilians and the use of bilogical/chemical weapons, stealing/salvaging tech does not count as war crime.
It would be one if Brawler Yukons pilots were killed by Royal Guards, however this highly doubtful.
I don't know if it is just me... but I REALLY hate Pinkie Pie in this chapter. She seems far more obnoxious than usual. Again, maybe that is just me...
...Heh.
As for the wreck: hopefully they actually ask the humans about it (though as others noted they likely won't be too happy about being kept in the dark until now) before they try to repair it or something like that. Radiation poisoning is not a fun way to go...
3337679 Point taken West. Point taken. You have effectively shutdown and rendered invalid my argument like a fifty through an engine block
3337610
I'm sorry, but Wikipedia says you're wrong. Now if immediately after salvaging her brand new (ONLY SLIGHTLY RADIOACTIVE) Mark One Jaeger she went full Sun Tyrant or something and started using it to brutally slaughter millions of Zebras or Griffons because they refused to bow down to her divine majesty, THAT would be a War Crime. Just salvaging and reverse engineering something that the original owners literally threw away is not even remotely a war crime, regardless of its interior contents being state secrets or not. Hell, if she was on Earth, and a pilot of an F-22 landed in her kingdom with the intention to defect, she would be fully within her rights to set up a internet blog dedicated solely to providing the people of Earth with complete and up to the minute details of every little bit of skunk works tech that her ponies pulled out of the chassis, and the International Court of Justice would tell the USA to piss off if they started trying to compare her actions to a real war criminal. Not saying that would be a responsible use of her time, but she could do it and no one would have any rights to charge her with crimes against humanity.
Now I'm not an expert in International Law, but perhaps an argument could be made that ownership still rests with the PPDC. In which case Celestia would then probably be eligible to receive a percentage of Brawler Yukon's original value as a monetary reward for salvaging it. But that's going to be a process that takes years, millions of dollars, and hundreds of top notch lawyers to resolve, which is more then enough time for Celestia to get a basic idea of how a Jaeger works, if not actually build one.
3337753 I was already corrected. Refresh and Read the comments before replying some time.
3337690
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Celestia is going to try to keep this a black op till something goes horribly wrong and she needs the Human's help to fix the mess she created.
I can't remember, did the Rangers already tell her WHY they pilot the Jaeger in pairs? Because I can see that being an easy way to drive Celestia to that point, having one of her ponies brain's melt under the strain. Otherwise it's probably going to be acute radiation poisoning, or just "You tried to Drift with a Jaeger calibrated for a pair of dead, alien pilots, so your pilot's had their heads explode."
3337781
Oh shit, forgot about all of the early drift issues. Yeah, this is probably not going to end well.
Dude... when Shane and Michael find out about Celestia's secret...
Let's just hope they only Goomba-Stomp Manehattan and not ALL of Equestria.
Ah, the classic 'we have no idea what we're dealing with here but can still understand how it works and reverse engineer it' cliché. Good for when Equestrians are dealing with alien tech. Have no idea what it is but can still learn how to work in just under a month, sometimes even shorter depending on the author and/or how advanced the tech is.
3337049
My guess is... Equestria will NOT be canceling the Apocalypse anytime soon, let alone with our heroes there to help them.
Strike 1: Twilight infiltrating
Strike 2: This
Strike 3: I don't think they'll be waiting for a 3rd strike before giving the ponies the finger and skedaddle.
3338221
Naw, see, Celestia just needs to shift the Genre from low tier Super Robot to TTGL tier Super Robot. I mean, she already has a one of a kind prototype, now she just needs to throw a pair of 14 year old hotblooded fillies who want to fight the power into the cockpit, paint that bitch red and slap some custom parts onto it, and equip it with some experimental magi-tech weapons in a mid chapter upgrade. She'll have so many mecha tropes colliding with one another they'll merge and form a singularity of Super Robot.
Which means that most likely, Celestia's douchebaggery will not come to bite her, if ever, until a very long time from now. Meaning that particular plot tumor will continue to fester that entire time, sucking out all the enjoyment I might have derived from the rest of the story.
Well, fuck.
3337679
They were conducting flat-out espionage on Midsummer Night. While that isn't usually at the level of a casus belli, it is undoubtedly a hostile act. And this was before they knew more Kaiju were on the way (so the survival/defense excuse doesn't fly) and despite the fact that simply the process of fixing her up would have left them with more than enough new knowledge to keep them going for decades (they simply got greedy).
3337690
Nope, same here. I was hoping Shane'd pitch her over the side the entire time.
I would love it if, during a conversation with Celestia, Michael & Shane casually mention that operational Jaeger's can detect each other & Celestia suddenly says she's needed elsewhere, right before Sweetie pipes up with a signal contact.
Busted.
Can I, for once, find a story where Celestia's manipulations blow up in her smug know-it-all face?
Please?
not gonna lie, wee bit insulted by the liberal use of oo's for the scottish accent. other than oot or yoos (meaning you plural) we dont really make every new or due into noo or doo. just saying. your story like, doo as yoo please, im not one of those fuckheads whoo think "i'm offended" equals "i'm right and this is wrong and should stop" oother than that, great story so far, looking forward to the inevitable shitstorm when the too hoomans find out about ponys trying to secretly steal whats basicaly an atrifact, military property AND a war heroo all at once.
3338221 This guy... he's in the right.
I sense a star wars refferance
.
3337049
At best, with stern words, and a frown (Michael on a good day.)
At second best, a subtle veiled threat of an angry pilot in a Jaeger being set loose, should they keep something like this secret from the two pilots again (Michael on a bad day)
At worst, the ponies are going to be looking down the wrong end of a railgun or plasma caster, with angry threats and ranting blaring out of the speaker system (Shane.)
Words will be eaten, I just now it!
Fast food at its finest!
But Misty does not approve! 
Well aside from the technological leap you gave the ponies, I don´t think they can make it work.
1) They abrely know how it works.
2) They lack the knowledge and facilities to maintain them, unless you coup out with magic like many do...
3) The Jaegers are humanoid and designed for the human brain, so I doubt 2 ponies can make it work.
4) Brawler Yukon is an old Jaeger, and a prothotype. Sadly, I doubt I could give new Kaijus a good fight, if the new Jaegers can barely hold class 3 and 4, and come with experience.
3338330
This is fantasy at its best!
3338615
I wouldn't give her strike 3 either.
In fact, I'd be ready with a baseball bat just in case to intercept strike 2.
~hey batta batta batta~
SWING!
3338485
You would LOVE Diary of a Mad Man or Cultural Artifacts, if thats what you want.
Be warned that DoaMM is INCREDIBLY long. Hell I stopped reading it around chapter sixty just because i needed a change of pace.
3337679
>Implying Midsummer Night will last that long
>Implying Brawler Yukon has guns
Heh
3338428
Actually I'd planned to have Celestia being bitten on the bum in a few chapters... You know, when shit really hits the fan. She'll get what she deserves.
3338006
Heh... a month. Funny.
The Mk1 Program took 8 months to get from an idea to a its first kill with Brawler. I wouldn't expect the ponies to have a faster or easier time of it... and even if they do, who's to say they'll have something that actually works well at all?
3337690
Yeah sorry about that, I have never written Pinkie in any serious role so I'm still trying to get her character down. Hopefully I'll get a bit better at it as we go along.
3338494
Not sure if genuinely insulted or just taking the piss...
3338976
Oh god!
3339027
This guy gets it.
Although Brawler kind of Bitch-slapped Karloff like he was a sausage dog so in prime condition it could probably do alright against low tier Kaiju.
But it's not in prime condition...
3337488
A.I. is really a bit of a misnomer here... they're not really capable of much autonomy. As Shane has pointed out many times, they're just computers that help run the Jaegers and respond to pilot inputs. Brawler's A.I. doesn't really have a say in the matter and is probably has so many errors in its system that it's probably beyond worthless.
Could use a few more commas here and there, otherwise it's pretty good.
Also,
Corporal*
Can't wait for more!
Lots of contraversy in the comments... What did you do?!
Nah, I'm kidding.
Loving this story and how it's written. I like the way you've written the characters, they're good enough to be believed and that's half the battle, so to speak. So yeah, keep up the awesome work.
Also, as far as writing the Scottish parts, I'm not offended like others may be. I found it kind of funny, to be honest. I mean, yeah, it's way off, but I have to give you a tonne of credit for even trying and coming close... Ish.
It's not easy to write and it's strange, more so when spoken. But otherwise, good work.
If you need any hints or tips, feel free to ask and I'd offer a few pointers.
Ind A'h leave yi' wae this; keep up the ged wurk, pal. Yu'r daein great.
:D
3339577
*giggles*
Pointers plz. Not over to top, as I'd still want readers to be able to understand him. Show, not tell.
Contrast this to 'They're a weird mob.', a fantastic book by John O'Grady which features full on Australian that even I (as a native) have trouble understanding at times.
Don't let the ponies have the human tech. My pride will not allow that.
3339993
They'll have their own gear that they developed from human tech.
Good enough?
3340045...we shall see...
3340045 AND NOTHING OP...please
3337049
With any luck, poorly. I'd like to see them wipe the floor with Brawler Yukon. I want the ponies to find a way to defend against the kaiju, but a lone jaeger, especially a Mk. I, doesn't stand a chance. Everyone would be better off if they just stripped Yukon for parts.
3340058
Haha, I've actually planned on giving Equestria an instant 'I win' button.
Thing is, it's built into the Kaiju and the only way to activate it is by punching them with giant robot fists.
If I was one of the pilots and I learned they were keeping secrets, especially this, oh man, would I be pissed