//------------------------------// // The Black (Finale Part 3) // Story: Equestrian Rim // by Visharo //------------------------------// Applejack watched her sister trot away with her friends and it left a smile on her face. She would need good friends after all this was over. Making sure she turned the bend, the orange mare headed out. It was a simple trot before coming to the medical bay. "AJ! You made it. How do I look?" Coloratura grinned and posed like a fashion model. Due to the upcoming fight and Applejack needing a copilot, the pop singer volunteered. The problem was her useless front left hoof, but Pura Vida, Bleeding Heart, and a crystal pony came up with a magical prosthetic for combat only. It was black and thin, but looked strong. "It looks great, Rarara. Ready to head out?" "Let's go!" The two friends trotted out and headed towards the newly rebuilt Honest Riot. Walking through the Shatterdome halls together, just like old times, hit Applejack in a place she never knew and started tearing up. She tried to stop them, wiping a hoof across her eyes, but it wouldn't stop. "Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong?" Coloratura said before getting a good look and then pulled her into a hug. It felt nice. "Is it because of Apple Bloom? That filly is brave, she'll be fine. She has her friends too." Her words and voice were comforting and Applejack felt herself easing slightly, but not enough. She clutched tighter and her friend let her. "When will this end? The war. Ah can't even remember life before the war, do you?" Her sobs and country twang made it hard to understand but Coloratura has been friends with her for so long that she understood her perfectly, maybe even more than Applejack knows. "It'll be alright, they'll be alright. It will all end after this." Just like Coloratura, Applejack understood more than what was being said. "One way or another, right?" "One way or another." She agreed. *** "Activating Drift...Right hemisphere stable...Left hemisphere stable...Neural bridge stable." "It's been a while, hasn't it?" "Ah don't like this, Rara." "Be prepared." "Goin' to be the death of us all." The two somber Rangers made their way out of the Shatterdome in the new and improved Honest Riot. The hull was reinforced with more magic and various alloys. The joints were smoother, allowing for faster movements. The magical hologram inside of the connpod has been updated to make the system run smoother. Their weapons have been modified too, packing a heavier punch as it were. But the most serious addition to the Jaeger was the megaspell bomb strapped to their back. There was a release button if needed and the plan was to use it, but neither Pilot believed that was going to happen. "Riot." The comms crackled. It was Marshall Rack. The heaviness in his voice expressed everything he wanted to say and more. The two Pilots shared a look and shared a sad smile. "Marshall." Applejack responded, her legs moving at a constant pace, Coloratura matching. "Give 'em Tartarus." "Plan to." The two stomped along the shore, their heavy hooffalls causing massive tremors, scaring away animals away. Probably for the best. They were headed towards Fillydelphia as it was the least defended, it also didn't help that it was in the center of the East Coast. It was quiet, despite the thumping, and peaceful. Equestria to their right and the Celestial Sea to their left, it was like a painting. The clam before the storm. "AJ?" "Yeah?" "Nothing really in particular." "Just wanna hear a friendly voice?" "Something like that, yeah." "Ah understand." They were silent for a while, then she spoke up again. "Ah really did miss ya. Ah felt mahself slippin' a couple of times, times where ah could've been a lot better if yer were there. Don't matter much, got all solved in the end. Thing ah miss the most, though, was yer smile. Sure missed that smile." "I tried, I really did, to contact you or send a letter. You were just always moving around, I just couldn't pinpoint you. But it doesn't matter now, does it?" She chuckled, smiling slightly. "Well, one thing's for certain, this place is beautiful. Should come here more often." "Isn't that what ya always say when ya find a 'picture perfect moment?'" The two of them giggled, recalling their little adventures when they were still teenagers and reckless. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" Coloratura said after several peaceful moments. "Yeah, ah guess we are." The two arrived in Fillydelphia and was met by a hulking Jaeger. The last working Mark I, made when size meant power in the early days. They were Piloted by two Yaks of considerable age. It was impressive how they were still handling the strain it takes to operate a Jaeger. "This is Smash Yak Smash, are you Honest Riot?" Definitely elderly, the wheezy breath gave it away, but behind the ailments, Applejack heard strength. Yes, these yaks weren't going down without a fight. "Eeyup, that's us. We've got the bomb as well." Glancing behind the Mark I, four other Jaegers were to be seen. It looked like there was another Earth Pony Jaeger, the smoothness suggested it was a Mark IV. The rest were Mark III's, them being a griffon, changeling, and a dragon one. The last one considerably smaller than other dragon Jaegers Applejack has seen. That could only mean one thing. Coloratura caught on to what the orange mare was thinking and smiled a little. Together they waited and the Pilots of Smash Yak Smash allowed them into the Fillydelphian Shatterdome. They beelined straight to the dragon Jaeger who sat up in surprise. The design was sleek enough for a Mark III, the joints and hull looked sturdy and fabricated out of magical allows and crystals. Another interesting detail of the Jaeger was that it didn't have wings. The color scheme of the mech was a strange mismatch of green, purple, and orange. "Well, if it ain't Spike and Emziko. How ya'll been?" She chuckled to herself, remembering when Spike came to the castle one day with a timid green dragoness with orange spikes. It was when the friendship council were doing their monthly gatherings so he had the complete and utter nervous breakdown as he explained that Emziko was now his girlfriend. That sure was an evening. "Oh, hey Applejack. We've been good...at least, I think we've been good. Have we been good?" There a slight rustle and some whispering. Spike cleared his throat and spoke again with more confidence. "Yeah, we've been good!" The Pilots of Honest Riot chuckled. Youth sure was something. The four of them spent the next hour chatting about life and the happenings of the Pilot lifestyle. Before they were able to start the conversation on a new gem type Em had found, the Kaiju alarms started ringing. The six Jaegers of various forms, shapes, and races stood tall and prepared to face down the onslaught that would come forth. The silence lasted a couple of minutes before the water surged upwards revealing a Category III Kaiju. No communication was needed, as all six crews were veterans, and let the changeling Jaeger charge forwards. Before the announcement was made on what the nickname was going to be, the Kaiju was already dead. Mandible and Spiracle were the first Changeling Pilots to join the Jaeger program after their reformation. Due to being part of Chrysalis' honor guard, the two of them were great at combat and that translated well in their Piloting. Their Jaeger, Gilded Weathervane, was built to acclimate to their brutality and their diverse fighting style. This Kaiju was their seventh if Applejack's counting was correct. They didn't have to wait long before the next one arrived. On unspoken mutual agreement, everycreature will take turns unless needed, so the earth pony Jaeger stepped up. This one was a special one, a Clover design, meaning it had three Pilots. Rose, Daisy, and Lily Valley were fellow Ponyvillians and joined the Corps. a year after Applejack did. They too quickly rose through the ranks with their unique fighting style, if you could call it that. The Jaeger, Floral Horror, had three torsos that rotated on a large bearing, allowing for continuous hits after hits as well as allowing for quick movement. The downside is that the Pilots inside get dizzy really fast, but the three mares were accustomed to it after all these years. This fight lasted much longer, but the Kaiju, a Category III named Ripplescale, could barely land a hit. It would charge forwards with its larger and thicker skull, attempting to smash its way to victory, but at the very last moment, Floral would spin and rotate out of the way and then deliver a nasty smack, followed closely by another, and then another. It looked really comedic, but it was really effective. The Kaiju soon fell under the continuous barrage of heavy hooffalls. The next one rose up, this time a Category IV. The griffon Jaeger took care of this one. Out of the six of them, these two Pilots were the youngest, but still experienced enough to have two Kaijus under their belt. Bloody Claws, the Jaeger, and Saltbrine, the Kaiju, went head to head for long enough for another Kaiju to come out. Yak Smash Yak moved to intercept. Applejack was feeling restless and Coloratura felt it through their mental link, but no matter what she did, the farmer couldn't stop bouncing in place. Honest Riot would shake a tiny bit every time the orange mare jumped. Then everything went wrong. A third Kaiju erupted out of the water and pierced a huge sword-like claw straight through Yak Smash Yak. There was a crackle, a hiss, and then a huge explosion. The Kaiju had directly hit the megaspell reactor resulting in three burnt corpses. Two Kaiju and one Jaeger. Fillydelphia Shatterdome confirmed that both Pilots were dead. There was a guttural roar over the comms and Bloody ripped through Saltbrine with their sharpened wings. The remaining five were in shock. Their leader died within moments, no farewells, no fanfare. Just like that. Then came the grumblings, especially from the griffons, Gabe and Gantruvablon, or Gan for short. Together, they waited for the next Kaiju and prepared to shred it. They were surprised to see that three burst out at once. So surprised in fact that Spike and Emziko weren't ready and a Category IV body slammed them into sailing over into the distance. "Go go go! Take the left one!" Coloratura shouted, starting to canter in place, the walking struts moving the legs down below. Applejack moved in sync and was already preparing the Arc Whip. Next to them, Gilded charged as well. The Shattedome was on top of things and listed that two of them were Category III's and one was a Category IV. Phobos and Deimos were named because of how intimidating their face plating was. Ragged and spiked, it even had five gleaming red eyes to complete the look. Ares was the name given to the Category IV to complete the family of an ancient Pantheon. "We'll take Deimos!" Applejack shouted, she got a grunt in reply as Gilded veered to tackle Phobos instead. Bloody was riding Ares, their razor wings plunged into its back, but it didn't seem to have an effect. "AJ! Duck!" Reacting instinctively, the two rolled forwards, the Jaeger copying their movements, as Deimos' meaty fist sailed over their heads. They rose back up and flicked their Arc Whip on, the metal glowing with hot electricity. Hunter and beast circled each other warily before they were fed up and charged. The Kaiju reared back on their back legs in response, not wanting to be crushed by millions of pounds, Honest shifted ever so slightly to change the direction of their charge, allowing for the crush to miss. While Deimos was recovering, Honest launched themselves upward and landed on the Kaiju's back, straddling it like an angry bull. From experience and copied experience, the two were able to hold on like professional cowponies. After a few attempted bucks, Honest Riot slung their whip underneath the Kaiju's neck and pulled as hard as possible. The skin started to sizzle and heat vapors were seen going into the air. The Pilots grinned and pulled even harder, but before the job could be completed, something flew from the side and crashed into Honest, sending the Jaeger flying. "What was that!?" Thinking they had no time, Applejack and Coloratura launched themselves upwards and tried to attack the nearest enemy. They were met by another Jaeger, Bloody Claws to be exact. "Gilded, what's wrong?" "Bruv chucked us meters, not cool." The griffons pushed themselves upwards and flew like an arrow back to Ares who was roaring in conquest. The Pilots of Honest didn't have time to react towards the giant Kaiju who snuck up on them and before they could blink or scream, they were tossed into the air. They plummeted back down straight into the Kaiju's awaiting open mouth. Ignoring the limits of the Jaeger, Applejack and Coloratura twisted as far back as their backs allowed and whipped their Arc Whip around Deimos' head, bringing it to its knees. The two mares panicked a little after seeing that the Kaiju had kept its mouth open. Thinking they had no other choice, they twisted even further so that their belly was now facing the Kaiju. Coming down was stressful on the hull as evident from the screeching and cracks, the two Pilots pushed forwards, determined to take out Deimos. The landing was loud and destructive. Their reinforced hooves smashed through the Kaiju's thick skin and the Arc Whip cut even deeper into its neck. The monster screeched loudly, loud enough for Applejack and Coloratura to instinctively clutch at their ears, their grip on Deimos loosened, allowing it to buck the Jaeger off of it, landing Honest Riot in a middle of a battle between Phobos and Floral Horror. In the distance, Applejack had a moment to glance at Burn, Spike's Jaeger, and Bloody doing not so well with Ares. Honest heaved upwards, their sights on Deimos. Before they could take a step forwards, they were knocked into the side by none other than Phobos. The magical alloys screaming as the Kaiju dug even further into the torso. Applejack and Coloratura, feeling the pain of the Jaeger, collapsed as far as the walking struts allowed them to, screaming in pain. Just as fast as it appeared, Phobos disappeared, dragged off by Floral. The three torsos whirled around in rapid succession as the three Pilots slammed their hardened hooves again and again. Phobos crumpled underneath the blows, its blue blood seeping out into the ocean. Yelling out a quick thanks, Applejack and Coloratura got back up, ignoring their pain, and charged forwards. Every thud felt like a jab in the side. Sparks and liquid came out of the gaping hole in their barrel, but it didn't hamper their ability to fight, so fight the did. Deimos, by now, had shook its head and was looking directly at Honest, hatred and its beady red eyes. Bellowing a challenge, the two monsters charged each other. It was almost as if it were slow-mo. Honest rotated on a dime, the Arc Whip trailing behind them, somehow still functional, and letting it wrap around the Kaiju's neck once again. Deimos, going too fast to stop, kept on going forwards. The momentum and the high electricity, severed Deimos' head entirely and the headless body crashed into Honest, sending the Jaeger tumbling backwards. Pinwheeling, the two Pilots tried to right themselves, but the body was too heavy and down they went. Due to how badly damaged their hull was, the way down was bumpy and Applejack was thrown out of her walking struts and banged her head on the bulkheads, leaving a sizable amount of blood on the metal. She barely had time to form a coherent thought before darkness overtook her. *** "AJ!" Applejack came to from being shook all over the place and a panicked voice screaming into her ear. "APPLEJACK! WAKE UP, PLEASE!" "AH'M UP!" The orange mare opened her eyes like she just awoke up from a bad dream and shot upwards, accidentally hitting Coloratura on the way up, sending the pop singer to the floor. "Holy, ah'm sorry! Ya alright?" "Applejack! You're okay!" The farmer barely had time to react before she was tackled by Coloratura. She yelled out in pain as the various bruises and cuts from the previous fights flared up. Wait. "The Kaiju!" Applejack scrambled to get back onto her hooves but once she found a purchase, she started tilting backwards. "Careful AJ! You have a concussion and lost a lot of blood. You need to rest for a bit." Her friend put on a reassuring smile, but it looked strained. "The Kaiju!" Applejack repeated, desperate and worried. "They've been defeated. We didn't lose anycreature else. We're fine." Her somber tone said otherwise. The farmer racked her brain, wondering why she was acting like that and then it hit her. Smash Yak Smash, their tank and leader, was gone. She didn't know the Pilots or their names for that matter, but she knew that they were heroes. "They're gone?" She drawled, her eyes conveyed what she meant with that. "They're gone." The confirmation brought feelings of relief and dread at the same time. Applejack sighed and rested her head on the floor. It was uncomfortable, but it was much better than standing up. Coloratura waited a few seconds before resting beside her. Together, they waited for Celestia knows how long. The entire time a single thought ran around in Applejack's brain but she didn't have the guts to say it. It took several minutes, maybe even more, before she could work up courage and lifted herself up. Coloratura looked at her questioningly and Applejack opened her mouth but before she could utter a word, the Kaiju sirens went off. Without sparing another second, the two rushed back to their walking struts and initiated the drift sequence. It went without a hitch. "What's going on, Spike?" "The portal's opening again! The scientists back at the Shatterdome are saying that even more Kaiju will arrive! We need to get the bomb over there now!" Most creatures would compliment him on his bravery but Applejack has been his friend for years. She heard the quiver. "Roight, we've already asked for help from other Shatterdomes." Gabe broke in with his heavy Griffish accent. "We should get their answer pretty quickly." The Jaegers of Fillydelphia squared themselves, preparing mentally and physically for the ordeal that would inevitably come. While they waited, the ocean glowed in an ominous glow, promising beasts of tremendous power and viciousness. The thought alone was enough to make Applejack shiver. One way or another. There was a crackle on the radio. Marshall Rack spoke, "We're sending most of our Manehatten Jaegers. They'll try to carve a path to the portal." Confirmations from Baltimare, The Griffish Isles, Griffonstone, and Dragon's Den were enough to fill Applejack's heart with pride and confidence. They were going to do this. Blood Claws saluted and charged forwards. Gilded Weathervane and Floral Horror followed soon after. Burn tried to follow but Applejack held out a hoof. "Protect the Shatterdome." "But, the fight!" "Promise me, Spike. Promise ya stay here and protect the Shatterdome. Ah can't lose another friend to this blasted war." There was a stretched silence. Coloratura and Emziko wisely stayed out. Then Spike sighed. "Fine." "Thank ya." With that, Applejack and Coloratura saluted to Burn and the Fillydelphia Shatterdome for what might be the last time. With that out of the way, the two galloped in sync, heading towards the final battle. One way or another. *** It was pure chaos. Metal and monsters fighting each other, trying to gain dominance over the other. Every Pilot was given the objective to protect the payload, meaning Honest Riot, and clear the way so they'd be able to drop the bomb. Applejack was forced to stand on the sidelines and watch as her comrades fought for her sake. Everytime she would step forward, Coloratura would hold her back. "Honest Riot!" "Mystical Annihilator! Yer up an runnin' again." "Your sister and her friends are fine. They were left behind at the Manehatten Shatterdome." Marshall Rack explained after sensing the inevitable question. "Thank ya mightily." "Nothing to thank me for." With that statement, Annihilator wheeled around and tackled a Category III. It all started going wrong when a Category IV grabbed Creamy Gorgonzola and ripped their wings off of their back. Over the radio, the intense chatter and stern orders were overtaken by a horrendous screech. Pilots from all sorts of Jaegers clutched at their ears instinctively, leaving an opening for the Kaiju. They were immediately whaled upon, the veterans holding their own, but the newer Pilots were getting overwhelmed. Applejack watched as Paid Debt charged the Category IV with a determined caw and scraped their sharpened wings along the side of the Kaiju. It did nothing and they barely had time to react before the Kaiju caught them as well and threw them far away. Paid was then snatched by a Category III with wings and was flown upwards. Winged Glory was pinned between two Kaiju, Soarin and Spitfire's frustrated grumblings were evident over the radio because of their colorful choices of words. One of the Kaiju darted forwards and raked its claws across the barrel, leaving a nasty gash. The radio fell into static as the Jaeger stumbled about, waving their hooves and wings at the slowly advancing Kaiju. Griffonstone's Pride and Enlightened Protector, both griffon Jaegers, were standing back to back, fending off four Kaiju. One of which was a Category IV. They seemed to be doing well before one of the Category III's opened its mouth and shot out a blood liquid that started fizzing the moment it touched the hull. There was some screaming over the radio before it was cut off. Applejack watched in horror and Enlightened Protector slumped over and the megaspell reactor shut down. Switching her view around, she was just in time to witness the connpod of Gilded Weathervane fly without the body. The now lifeless head sank to the bottom of the ocean where nocreature would be able to retrieve it. Bloody Claws and Floral Horror were beating back the Kaiju who decapitated their friends and gave no quarter. It wasn't before long Floral started stumbling around in a drunk daze, no doubt the Pilots were dizzy from twirling around too much. "ENOUGH! Rarara, we need to get in there! Our friends are dyin' and ah can't take it anymore!" Applejack didn't need a reply, they were in each other's heads after all. Without a second of hesitation, the two started running at full tilt, determined to take out the closest Kaiju. Several hours later, out of the 11 Jaegers that came to the portal, only six remained. Broken Table, Mystical Annihilator, Bloody Claws, Griffonstone's Pride, Winged Glory who are still in radio silence, and Honest Riot. They huddled back to back, fending off the swarming Kaiju with potshots and jabs. Things were getting desperate and everycreature knew it but with silent agreement, literally in Glory's case, they weren't going down without a fight. Before they could rally themselves for one last glorious charge, more crackles on the radio announced more creatures joining the crystal wavelength. In the distance, Applejack saw a wave of water and metal charged towards them. To the other side, a large looming shape was coming closer. What was fear turned into awe as the legendary GEM dropped onto the battlefield, crushing several Category III's. "Hello?" Marshall Rack asked tentatively and breathlessly. The Jaegers of the original attacking crew were still defending with all their might, dodging and weaving, jabbing and slashing. "Harmonic Convergence reporting for duty!" A cheery voice responded. That was the catalyst and soon the Pilots' ears were filled with many voices of many backgrounds. "Come At Me Bro is here to kick flank!" "Plaster here." "DJ Pon3 in da haus!" "Plushie Armageddon!" "Gotta Get Schwifty!" "Reservoir Dogs are here!" "All Might has arrived!" "Death to the Usurpers!" "For the glory of Grayskull!" "FOR EQUESTRIA!" "FOR THE PRINCESSES!" "FOR MUFFINS!" Emboldened by the surprising amount of Jaegers coming to their aid, the Pilots surged back at the Kaiju. Together, they trampled through them like a knife with butter. They felt powerful and it felt good. All the worries and grief faded away with mindless and glorious slaughter. Applejack and Coloratura ducked an attack and bucked said attacker. The Category III Kaiju was launched straight towards a scrappy looking Jaeger but was covered in large spikes. The Kaiju was dead before it came to a full stop. The Pilots of that Jaeger whooped in delight before rolling over to the next Kaiju and attempted to prick it. Honest took a step forwards, attempting to engage with the next monster but before they could take another, a Jaeger slid in front of them. It was most peculiar, this one. Built like a pony on their hindlegs, they had tons of large speakers and a large metallic cello in their hooves. Over the radio, Applejack heard, "Bass Cannon!" The world went awash in white and colors as the bass cannon blasted music and dangerous levels, confetti cannons spewing paper everywhere, and party lights painting the slowly darkening sky. In the connpod, Applejack could barely make out Vinyl Scratch jamming away at her mixing board and record player. Behind the eccentric unicorn, Octavia was playing her cello at rapid speeds, the giant metallic one copying her movements. The Kaiju in the nearby vicinity were all on the ground screeching and growling. The Jaegers wasted no time and started pummeling the downed Kaiju. On the other side of the battlefield, GEM was raising up on their backlegs, their immense size completely dwarfing the ocean, shadowing everybody. The Jaegers immediately abandoned the area, no doubt fearing for their lives, once the last metallic monster left the vicinity, GEM crashed back down to earth. A huge wall of water erupted from where the dragons crashed along with a copious amount of blue Kaiju blood. Applejack and Coloratura were taking this all in while charging towards the portal. Ducking underneath a pegasus Jaeger that looked to be built out of wood, Honest Riot galloped at full tilt. They were briefly interrupted by a Category IV who was immediately tackled by a Kirin Jaeger that was somehow bathed in flames. Hastily throwing a salute, the two Rangers kept to their charge. Right before they made it to the edge of the portal, the ground shook. Then the world turned a bright blue, blinding many of the Pilots. Kaiju took their chance and threw themselves back into the fight, the surprise attack had now lost their power. Moments before Honest could right themselves, a large hulking figure burst out of the ground. Jaegers and Kaiju alike were both pushed backwards from the massive tsunami-sized waves. Applejack and Coloratura, crying out from gravity suddenly going haywire. "Ya alright?" Applejack coughed out. Her everything hurt and she couldn't feel one of her ears. Blood was dripping down her head and into her left eye. She tried to blink it out. Unsuccessfully. There was a groan that caught her attention. The orange mare twisted and saw a form out of the walking struts. Groaning and roaring with pain and determination, the farmer heaved herself out of the struts and started towards Coloratura. With every inch she gained the more panicked she felt. Behind her, the radio was crackling with a constant barrage of questions and orders. The magical hologram was flicking in and out, painting the entire connpod with a strobe effect. Applejack's hat was in the corner, the half of it was completely torn in half. None of this mattered to her, what mattered was the lifeless form before her. "Rarara?" Applejack poked the pony. A groan responded. The relief the mare felt was immeasurable which then fell back into despair when a particular bad timed hologram flicker revealed the state of Coloratura. A metal pylon had somehow broken free from wherever it came from and pierced through the singer. Her battle prosthetic was ripped out of her body, leaving a huge pool of blood. Adrenaline somehow fueled Applejack and she pushed herself back onto her hooves and stumbled to the medkit on the wall. Ignoring her wounds and aches, she ripped the case open and grabbed several items out of it before collapsing back to Coloratura's side. "Come on, come on! Hang on. Ya can't die on me now, ya just can't!" Cycling through her medical supplies, she tried everything. From bandages to theoretical and questionable consumables, it seemed to have her stabilized. Her breathing eased and her breathing didn't sound as pained as it did before. Applejack collapsed on the floor, the adrenaline rush was slowly fading away. A boom shook the Jaeger and a panicked voice spoke out on the radio. Applejack sat up with a frightened look. She completely forgot about the battle! Glancing mournfully at her co-pilot, she made a decision. *** It took around 20 minutes and the battle raged on outside. Applejack heaved the limp body of Coloratura into the escape pod and closed it. Typing in the amount of pressure that'd be put into the chamber so the pod would launch itself back to shore. Hopefully somecreature will see and help. Kissing the glass, Applejack saluted one last time and pressed the button. She watched for a minute as the escape pod got launched way over the heads of the Jaegers and Kaiju and off into the distance. Then She got back into her walking struts. Preparing for the mind melt of the century, due to lacking a second mind, Applejack hit the drift button. The strain was immediate and painful. "Come on, come on, come on, COME ON!" With a yell that rivals a dragon's roar, Applejack heaved upwards and the Jaeger followed. Taking a step forward, Honest copied. The hologram popped back into existence and her breath was taken from her. Before her stood a gargantuan Category V that rivaled GEM. Jaegers of all shapes and sizes lay about the watery battlefield in pieces. Kaiju did too but less in amount. GEM lost a wing and was currently locked in battle with the Category V. The remaining Jaegers were battling the smaller Kaiju, keeping them away from GEM and Honest. The moment she moved a voice popped on the radio. It was Marshall Rack and he sounded beyond tired. "AJ. You alive?" "Yeah." There was a silence that stretched between them. The weariness in her voice told him everything he needed to hear and more. He made a choking noise that came from witnessing too much death. "Good luck." "Yeah." There was a sudden boom as GEM collapsed into the water, sending tidal waves in every direction. They were still moving, meaning they weren't dead, but it was still terrifying to watch. Then two beams of immense power shot out of nowhere. Two miniature sized Jaegers flew forwards and drove their horns into the Kaiju's skin. Daybreaker and one Applejack didn't know, but what she did know was what this was. This was a distraction. Lifting back up, the weight of the entire Jaeger on her shoulders, she charged forwards. One way or another. Her left eye was completely closed now and her nostrils were streaming blood. The toll of carrying the Jaeger was too much but she kept on going. A Jaeger corpse flew past her, but she kept on going. A Kaiju raked its claws over Honest but was then immediately tackled by a Jaeger of griffon origins. The Jaeger was immediately destroyed but it was enough for Applejack to keep on moving along. Every step felt like the end of the world but she kept on going. There was a pop and her back started screaming and so did the farmer, but she kept on moving. One way or another. It was like a mantra she kept on repeating in her head. Then she made it to the portal. Applejack weakly lifted a hoof over the detonation button and pressed it. She halfheartedly grabbed a piece of Kaiju before dropping into the portal itself. She was certain she heard a 'goodbye' before everything turned white. "Ah'm sorry."