Apple Bloom, been a cadet for a month now, been to three Shatterdomes, and even fought a Kaiju, but she couldn't walk for a single moment outside and not slip. She, and the other Cadets, were galloping towards the Shatterdome for their daily lesson. Before they were called, they were hanging out at the dormitories that were built separately from the Shatterdome itself.
"Why does this place rain so much!?" Sweetie Belle whined, her usually styled hair now a dripping mess.
"Yeah! This is so not cool." Scootaloo grumbled, her small wings buzzed furiously, trying to dry off her wings.
"We're so close!" Apple Bloom yelled and increased her speed. The other Cadets followed suit with their own mumbles and complains. It didn't take long for the mares to reach the Shatterdome door, but their fur was drenched. Within seconds, the Cadets were shivering, teeth chattering, and nose tips turned blue.
"Cadets!" Marshall Gian's shrill voice rang out causing the mares to snap to attention, a hoof raised in the air in a salute. "You are needed in the training deck."
Apple Bloom waited for another second before releasing her salute. She sighed and started to trudge in the direction of the training deck. The three Jaegers loomed over everycreature stationed there. Creamy Gorgonzola looking agile and sleek contrasting with the bulky, aggressive Paid Debt. The unnamed Jaeger was still being worked on but with a careful look, Apple Bloom could make out griffon elements in the Jaeger skeleton.
Long winding corridors led the Cadets to the big hall that is the training deck. A spot of pale red that stained the wooden floor reminded Apple Bloom of the beating she and Pinkamena received a couple of days ago. Standing in the back of the room, was Marshall Gian. The griffon that was in charge of Griffish Isles Shatterdome. The mares filed in the room and stood to attention.
"Good. Today is going to be another hoof to hoof session." He paused when everypony grumbled. Gian snapped his huge wings up and growled, the intended effect brought the mood down quite a bit. "There is a twist, however, and that is teams. You'll be separated into two teams of four and your goal is to claim that flag." The Marshall pointed with a claw to a red cloth hanging on the wall.
"Psh, that's easy! Just a bit of magic or flying, easy peasy." Scootaloo chuckled to herself, which died within seconds of receiving Gian's death glare.
"I said Hoof to Hoof, Cadet!" His anger brought out a peculiar accent. "There will be no magic or flying, this is an honest fight between teams! No dirty tricks or you will be expelled! Do NOT tempt me! Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Came the resounding response.
"Good, now get into teams."
***
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed stood shoulder to shoulder. Their faces smeared with red paint and nasty faces painted on their muzzles. In the other corner, Mellow Marsh, her sister Candy Pop, Peach Fuzz, and Wind Sprint. Peach was looking as mean as ever, while the other three were looking uncertain.
"Right, now that we're settled, you may start when the gun pops." Before anypony could ask any questions, Marshall Gian pulled out a gun with his claws and raised it in the air. Apple Bloom saw an impish grin on his beak and fired. The resounding crack made everpony fall to the ground, screeching in pain.
"Bucking hell, what was that!?" Peach yelled, her hooves clamped over her ears.
"Language." Gian grinned, clearly enjoying their misery.
The first pony to recover was Scootaloo, she quickly got up and started galloping towards the flag, although a bit unsteadily. It was mere seconds after Wind Sprint chased after the orange Crusader. Scootaloo somehow stumbled and Wind easily caught up and delivered a nasty kick which made both participants wince in pain.
Babs got up from the ground, an evil expression wore on her face. There was no galloping, but stomping was what happened. The Manehatten Crusader quickly came up behind the purple pegasus and gave her a buck worthy of the apples. While she was doing this, Babs made sure her eyes were trained on Gian's. Apple Bloom could've sworn she heard a gulp.
She and Peach Fuzz both got up, their ears still ringing but that didn't matter. They both took off, glaring at each other as they galloped past the three mares and it seemed for a second that Peach was pulling ahead. Bunching all of her strength, Apple Bloom harnessed farm life and pushed with all of her might. She landed atop of Peach, sending both mares to the floor. The little tumble resulted with both of them kicking and hitting each other.
Mellow Marsh, Candy Pop, and Sweetie Belle finally got out of their pain and also stood up. Sweetie took a single look at her now disheveled mane and growled with such ferocity, the two candy sisters started shaking like leaves caught in the wind. After she made sure the other two weren't going to be a problem, she chased after Peach and Apple Bloom.
Wind Sprint was backed into the wall by Scootaloo and Babs, two grinning mares with sadistic streaks. The pegasus' ribs were bruised badly by the latest kick from Babs and she feared what was going to happen if she got bucked again. Thankfully she need not know. In mere seconds, the Crusaders were tackled by Candy and Mellow, angry at being tamed like a timberwolf.
Marshall Gian looked at the overall carnage with a delighted grin. These ponies can be the most ruthless creatures on the planet but they've been trained in the art of friendship. The griffon spat on the floor. If he was going to train fighters, he needed them to act like it. As he watched Scootaloo and Babs fight back to back, hooves twirling about, deflecting and counterattacking the other Cadets' attacks, he decided that he had succeeded.
Apple Bloom slid across the floor, her chest ached badly. She warily got to her hooves, stars danced in her eyes. Blearily, she saw Peach Fuzz slowly limp towards the flag and the Crusader made a whimper and tried to follow. It didn't last long. Before she could despair, however, it was when a white shape hurtled past her fallen form and tackled the offending peach-colored pony.
Screeches filled the room as well as solid thuds and yells. It wasn't long before everypony just collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Marshall Gian looked at the fallen forms and nodded, this next batch of Cadets sure had grit, he'll give them that. He turned to go find a pail of water to throw over them when the sirens started wailing.
***
Applejack led Lineage and Newt through the train station of the Griffish Isles.
"What are we doing here again?" Lineage grumbled. "If you don't mind me asking, but ever since we started following you, we've reached nothing but dead ends!"
"Trust me on this one, sugarcube." The farmer replied, her face grim. "If mah cousin wasn't goin' to help none, ah had a backup plan."
"And what might that be?" Newt asked, his nose twitching constantly.
"To go see the Butcher."
"Oh, of course!" Newt threw his hooves in the air. "Why not go see the creature called the Butcher, isn't that a fun idea!"
"Oh, do shut up Newt. If Applejack knows of a way, then she'll get it done. At least, I do hope so." Lineage muttered the last sentence, his eyes downcast and worried.
Applejack frowned at both of them before trotting towards the Shatterdome in the distance. "Shut yer yappering. The Butcher is an acquaintance of mine. She's famous amongst the Jaeger Pilots. On whether or not that's a good thing changes dependin' on the pony."
The journey from the train station to the Shatterdome lasted not even ten minutes. In those past ten minutes, Applejack tried very hard to no buck these scientists into next week. The farmer sighed when they finally got to the front door but before she could open it, the door opened by itself. Her uneasiness shot past the roof when a pink head poked out of the doorway.
"Applejack! I've been expecting you!"
"I didn't expect anything else Pinkamena." Applejack tipped her head to the pink mare then turned back to the scientists. "Gentlecolts, may I present to you, Pinkamena the Butcher."
Before anypony could say anything else, the sirens went off.
"Looks like the guests are here!" Pinkamena said with a smile that sickened Applejack.
***
"Warning! Kaiju, category IV. Rangers Gael and Gage, you are needed on deck. Warning! Kaiju..."
Apple Bloom got to her hooves akin to a drunkard. "Wha...what's happenin'?"
"Kaiju." Marshall Gian spat and quickly took off through the halls.
The yellow Crusader was left with a nasty headache and seven other Cadets who were in similar conditions as hers. It wasn't long till the constant blaring of the Kaiju siren got everypony to their hooves. The eight of them stumbled towards the command center, the creatures they met in the hallways kept out of their way.
When they finally got there, Paid Debt was already out of the Shatterdome and heading straight towards the Kaiju. Nicknamed Leatherback because of it's tough looking hide on it's back. It also had heavy mace-like fists as well as protrusions all over its body that looked sharp enough to pierce a Jaeger's armor.
Paid Debt, maybe the bulkiest griffon Jaeger ever built as well as the toughest. Sporting a heavy torso, layered with various alloys, both magical and Griffish, proved to be quite the combination. The conn-pod was protected with similar alloys in addition with crystals imported from the Crystal Empire not to mention the grim looking claws on the front legs and vicious wingslashers hanging from Paid's sides.
"Activating Drift...Right hemisphere stable...Left hemisphere stable...Neural bridge stable."
"A'right lads! Let's light up this wanker!"
"Couldn't have said it any better, bruv!"
The two behemoths stood in the ocean, slowly circling each other. As per orders, Paid Debt is to distract Leatherback long enough for the population of the Griffish Isles to reach safety amongst the Kaiju bunkers. Thus they circled each other.
Then it happened.
Leatherback charged with a guttural cry and bounded forwards, it's thunderous steps making huge splashes. Gael and Gage reared back on their back legs and lifted upwards. They spread their wings and the Jaeger did the same. Taking flight, they were able to dodge the attack from the Kaiju and allowed them to access the situation from the sky. It didn't last long however as Leatherback seemed to be smart enough to pick up a building and throw it at the griffon Jaeger that sent them tumbling out of the sky.
Paid was not to be outdone so its Pilots hauled itself up and charged forwards, maniacal cackles could be heard over the earpiece and into the command center. Using their fine tuned senses, Gael and Gage managed to side step the first attack and deftly come up close when the second one pounded the ocean causing a massive wave, thankfully it shrunk enough to not do major damage to the island.
Wasting no time, Paid whirled around, using the steel blades attached to its wings to rake the side of Leatherback. The Kaiju roared in pain and tried to counter but the griffons were already gone. Warnings pinged all over the conn-pod, telling the Pilots of the stress they were putting on the old frame.
Leatherback charged, its beady six eyes filled with malice. Paid couldn't side step in time and was thrown backwards, the left side taking heavy damage. Gael and Gage landed on a shoreline, spraying sand everywhere, but they quickly got up and rolled to the side before Leatherback could pound its heavy fists down.
Twisting to its side, Paid Debt got back up and faced the Kaiju once more, its left side sparking with punctured magical wiring. Leatherback glared back, its right side leaking out blue blood. As if rehearsed, the two titans charged forwards once again.
Deciding to take the high ground, Gael and Gage lifted themselves off the ground with a powerful kick and an equally powerful wingbeat. Leatherback rumbled underneath Paid and before it could do anything about it, The Jaeger dropped atop the beast and plunged its metal talons into the Kaiju's back.
Letting out a guttural roar, Leatherback proceeded to buck and shake as furiously as one could when an 8,000 ton mech sits atop them. The Kaiju succeeded however, sending Paid Debt sprawling. The Pilots didn't have any time to react as they saw, through the magical hologram inside the conn-pod, Leatherback bearing down on them.
The two griffons let out cries of agony as Leatherback speared one of its protrusions into the gut of Paid and then proceeded to lift it up. The screams of both the metal alloys and the Pilots almost synced when Leatherback hurled them far into the island, buildings and paved roads all crushed and shattered under the weight of a flying Jaeger.
It took a while, but Gael and Gage got to their claws unsteadily. The looked up just in time to see Leatherback bearing down on them once again, but this time Paid was ready. Side stepping at the right moment allowed for the Kaiju to hurtle past them without having time to adjust. While the beast was running past however, the griffons were able to snap their right wing and plunge it deep into Leatherback's side.
The blood that poured from the wound was in the gallons. The Kaiju collapsed, the body sliding along the floor, breaking a few buildings as it slid by. Paid stumbled over and plunged its talons into the beast just to make sure it was well and truly dead.
After making sure it was a done deal, Gael and Gage collapsed, the adrenaline finally wearing off. Back in the Shatterdome, medical teams were sent out along with the Pilots from Creamy Gorgonzola.
***
"That was a juicy fight!" Pinkamena grinned, her left eye twitching slightly.
"Right, well ah assume ya know why we're here and all?" Applejack placed her hat towards her chest, sympathizing with the owners of the destroyed buildings.
"Ayep! You need a Kaiju secondary brain. Well don'tcha worry, Aunt Pie has got you covered!" With a giggle tinge with a disturbing amount of malice, the pink pony cartwheeled out of the room.
"Can we trust her? I mean she's clearly deranged!" Lineage peered at the door where Pinkamena disappeared through.
"That she is, pardner. Well, ah wouldn't worry none, she's crazier then a bull in heat but she's reliable." Applejack put her stetson back on and started to march off. "Now if y'all don't mind, ah've gotta find mah sister."