"Okay girls, get this," Sunset said, starting off her pre-fight briefing. "Vinyl Scratch has swapped her Shield Liger for a Blade Liger. A. Blade. Liger. Specifically, a Blade Liger Mirage, which has that white paint standard and mounts those big ol' boosters on its blade armatures. Bafflingly, she's left it stock except for the detail paint being blue instead of red. That's frankly weird for Vinyl Scratch, she's never failed to hot-rod a Zoid before. Even her Shield Liger had more customization than the paint job."
"I'm gonna go an' assume yer fixin' to fight her in Daydream Liger, ain't ya?" Applejack said.
"Daydream Liger is faster and has a stronger shield generator." Sunset replied. "Her strike laser claws will tear through the Blade Liger's shield, too. On the other hand, those blades are absolutely vicious, and whatever we can say about simulation time, Vinyl has me overwhelmingly beat in real-life experience. But to be honest, I've lost to her enough times that I'm fine with doing it in person. Besides, I'm not going to debut Daydream Liger by pulling a Salem Team. Now, Roseluck has, unsurprisingly, left the Metal Thrashing Madwomen. However, Sonata Dusk is still around, and she seems to have settled in to that Gojulas Mark Two."
Rarity sighed. "Oh dear, not that thing again."
"Sonata replaced Vinyl's custom cannon mounts with the stock ones, and given it a new name and a fresh paint job, but otherwise it's still the Scratched Gojulas," Sunset continued. "Full-auto Panova surface-to-air laser, paired laser machine guns, ECM, anti-missile point-defense laser that we didn't have to deal with last time, and those big hecking cannons."
"So why'd she ditch the custom mounts?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know," Sunset admitted. "If I had to guess, I'd say to improve stability and fire control. Fire support is Sonata's thing, after all. While Vinyl wanted to reduce the minimum range, I think Sonata prefers the accuracy. With that said, Gojulas Ad Libitum is way over the two hundred ton minimum, and the battlefield is relatively open. Pinkie, you’re going monster hunting with your Megalo Max Barrage."
"Don't those guns outrange mine?" Pinkie asked.
"Yes, and that's a problem," Sunset admitted. "That's the other reason I'm rolling out Daydream Liger. While I'm trying to keep Vinyl off of you, Sonata will probably do her best to keep me off of Vinyl."
"Ooh! That'll leave me free to get Sonata in range!"
"Exactly. Now, if Vinyl brings me down, you'll have to fire for effect to keep her away until your shells break down her shield. It's not a good plan, but it's all I've got."
"What if Sonata ignores you and drops Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.
"If I can bring down Vinyl without leg damage, Daydream Liger can make lining up a shot pretty difficult," Sunset replied. "Hopefully I can pull off a win. Hopefully. Of course, if Vinyl damages Daydream’s motive systems, I’d be in for a bad time."
The difference between piloting a Zoid in battle and just practicing its controls on an open prairie was even greater than the difference between simulator training and being in a real cockpit. Sunset Shimmer had been aware of this on a factual level, of course, but there is also a difference between knowing something and experiencing it.
Sunset realized the difference between knowledge and experience when the first of Sonata Dusk’s artillery shells came screaming out of the sky, slamming into the ground to the Daydream Liger’s left and blowing open a crater as long as the Liger. Dirt and stones clattered against the Liger’s armor, but it had been well out of the blast radius.
“Sweet screaming Tartarus!” Sunset exclaimed. “Pinkie, she dialed in on me without an opening salvo!”
“I noticed!” Pinkie replied gleefully. “Sonata’s getting better!”
Liger Zero dodged the next shell as both opposing Zoids came into view on the horizon. Vinyl had kept her Scratched Blade Liger close to the Gojulas Ad Libitum, clearly intending to intercept Sunset.
“Target marked!” Pinkie announced. “I just need to get close enough!”
“Vinyl’s coming right at me,” Sunset replied as both Ligers activated their boosters. “Let’s make this happen!”
The Scratched Liger’s blades lowered into place and began to glow as the big cats approached each other. Sunset triggered her shield generator, so focused on Vinyl’s Zoid that she barely registered the sound of Sonata’s cannons.
“Sunset! INCOMING!” Pinkie shouted. Sunset snapped out of her tunnel vision as the Daydream Liger swung its head up just in time for the Gojulas’ shells to hit dead center on the Liger’s shield, overloading it as they detonated. The feedback, combined with the blast, stalled Daydream Liger’s momentum and set it staggering as the Zoid tried to keep itself on its paws. The Scratched Blade Liger Mirage shot past its counterpart, headed directly for Pinkie’s Dibison.
“Cerberus on a playdate!” Sunset hissed. “Not this time!” She pulled Daydream Liger around and restarted its boosters. “Not this time not this time not this time!” Sunset repeated as the Daydream caught up to the Scratched Liger. Strike laser claws ablaze, Daydream Liger launched into the air as Vinyl spun her Zoid in an attempt to skewer Daydream with her blade.
“You can’t escape our golden claws!” Sunset declared in triumph as her Liger came down on its opponent, laser claws gouging deep rents in its boosters and back. The Scratched Liger collapsed as Daydream Liger vaulted off its back, landing at its opponent’s side.
The Scratched Liger dragged itself to its feet, but Daydream lashed out with its strike laser claws, ripping through the Scratched Liger’s upper leg. Something gave, and the Scratched Liger collapsed again.
“How do you like that?!” Sunset taunted.
“The Scratched Blade Liger Mirage can no longer fight!” The Judge declared. “Vinyl Scratch is out of the battle!”
“Hahaha! I finally beat you! Finally!” Sunset said, elated, as the Daydream Liger roared into the air.
A shell from the Gojulas Ad Libitum exploded terrifyingly close to the Pinkamena D. Bison, and Sunset realized that she’d forgotten her other opponent for the second time.
“Pinkie! Blitzkrieg!” Sunset swung Daydream Liger around and charged towards the Gojulas, ion boosters blazing.
“Woo-hoo! An artillery party’s my kinda party!” Pinkie brought her Zoid chasing after the Liger. The Gojulas’ cannons thundered again, one shell targeting each Empyrean Zoid. Pinkie dodged her shell, but Sunset took another hit to her shield, stalling out Daydream’s momentum again.
“Wow, Sonata’s good!” Pinkie said.
“No kidding!” Sunset replied as Daydream Liger staggered back into its run. “I can not let her hit me again before Daydream’s shield resets.”
“And boy does she know it!” Pinkie said as Sonata fired again, both shells arcing towards the Liger. Daydream’s boosters vectored slightly to the side, pushing it clear of both explosions.
“Almost to Megalo Max range!” Sunset said.
“Abso-total-lutely!” Pinkie agreed. “Keep her looking at your sweet tushie a couple more minutes!”
“Wait, what?!”
Sonata fired both cannons at the Daydream Liger again.
“Just like that!” Pinkie said, bringing her Dibison to a stop.
“No, seriously-” Sunset was drowned out by Pinkie’s tooth-rattling Megalo Max. The shells smashed into the Ad Libitum’s chest, shattering layers of armor and sending the massive Zoid reeling back onto its tail. The Gojulas tipped forward and fell, its chin bashing a small crater into the ground.
“The battle is over! The battle is over!” called the Judge “The winner is... Empyrean Team!”
“Pinkie, we did it! We did it!” Sunset called out gleefully. “We beat the Metal Thrashing Madwomen! I beat Vinyl Scratch!”
“No kidding! You and Daydream Liger rocked the house!” Pinkie said. “We’re gonna hit B-Rank in no time!”
“With the points we racked up from this match, we’re pretty far along already.” Sunset agreed. “Let’s get back to the Hover Cargo and call it a day. I’m coming down from the adrenalin rush.”
“For sure!” The Pinkamena D. Bison turned towards the Hover Cargo and settled into a moderate walk, Daydream Liger moving to its side. As they passed the Scratched Blade Liger, Daydream paused of its own accord and gave the other Liger a nod. Vinyl Scratch, perched on her fallen Zoid’s head, offered Sunset a salute and a grin.
“She seems to be taking this better than I took all our losses to her,” Sunset pointed out.
“Vinyl doesn’t get upset about anything,” Pinkie said. “That girl is super chill.”
Vinyl Scratch was the last one into the expansive hangar of the Metal Thrashing Madwomen. Octavia and Sonata were already there, along with Vinyl and Sonata’s Zoids. Octavia was calmly examining the Gojulas Ad Libitum’s shattered armor, while Sonata stood nearby, wringing her hands and staring at her feet.
Vinyl glanced at Octavia, who shrugged slightly. She then went to Sonata, who looked up nervously.
“I-I know I missed a lot of shots, a-and I got taken out-” Sonata was startled into silence when Vinyl wrapped her in a tight hug.
“... Huh?” Sonata managed.
Vinyl took a step back and took her glasses off to look Sonata in the eye. She smiled and, for the first time that Sonata knew of, spoke. “Everyone loses sometimes. Don’t worry about it.”
Having said her piece, Vinyl put her glasses back on and left. Sonata looked at Octavia, wide-eyed, having immediately recognized Vinyl’s voice.
“Vinyl Scratch is DJ P0n-3?! The most popular electronica artist no one’s ever seen?! Literally my favorite musician ever?! No offense.”
Octavia shrugged again. “Vinyl likes to keep her musical career and her Zoid career separate. Her music finances the team.”
“Not talking in public must be hard on her.”
“I’ve known Vinyl our whole lives, she was never verbose,” Octavia said with a nostalgic smile. “It’s been relatively easy for her to adapt.”
“I guess trusting me with a secret like this means you don’t think I’m gonna quit on you.”
“Vinyl and I are confident that you’ll remain with us for the duration.”
“For sure!”
Sunset sat in her traditional command chair in the Hover Cargo’s control room. She was leaning back, hands behind her head, eyes closed. The smile on her face bordered on disturbing.
“Um, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked.
“Fluttershy,” Sunset opened one eye to look at her teammate. “Come. Gloat with me.”
“I’m... not sure how.”
“That surprises me more than it should.” Sunset opened her other eye and sat upright. “But seriously, what’s up?”
“Those hits Daydream Liger took to its shield burned out some of its circuitry. It still works, at least for now, but it won’t take as much damage to overload, and running it could make the damage worse.”
“Can you fix it? Wait, that was a dumb question. How long do you need to fix it?”
“Half a day. I’m glad I thought to bring some spare shield generator circuit boards.”
“Excellent. We have a few days before our next battle.”