A Midsummer Night's Dream.

by Killbles

We’re Drift Compatible?

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
        Chapter 18: We’re Drift Compatible?

It was late in the afternoon when Rainbow Dash rolled out of bed. Unlike every day for the last eight weeks at the Jaeger Academy, she had been granted the rare pleasure of a day off. It was a well deserved holiday, Raze had been mercilessly pushing them nearly every hour they weren’t in class and even with exams to study for, their sadistic trainer delighted in coming up with the most grueling exercises for her tired charges to complete. Although Rainbow hadn’t been counting, she felt like she’d only gotten about five or six hours of sleep over the last week. Her natural response then, was to spend the few days that made up the semester break sleeping as much as possible. She blinked wearily and yawned, looking at the small clock perched next to her bunk dangerously. The small alarm clock had a few dings in it, courtesy of Rainbow Dash herself, when it prompted her to wake up at some extraordinary early hour.
“Four...” She murmured groggily, doing some quick calculations in her head. Fifteen hours of sleep hardly seemed enough to make up for the massive sleep-debt she’d accrued but she forced herself upright anyway, reasoning that her stiff wings could use a stretch and that she probably wouldn’t get back to sleep for at least a few hours anyway.
She was so tired, in fact, that she completely missed the letter taped crudely to the side of her head until she was halfway to the mess hall. She peeled it off slowly, wincing as as a small clump of her fur went with it. The top corner of the letter was emblazoned with the golden phoenix of the Equestrian Jaeger Corp and her name was neatly printed on the front. A small sticky note was stuck on top roughly, a few choice words that Rainbow Dash had come to associate with Raze’s extensive vocabulary of profanity and condescending endearment scrawled on hastily as if an afterthought.
Her excitement building, Rainbow tore the letter open, her  jaw fully dropping as her eyes blitzed down the letter. She reread it twice, her mind unable to take it all in at once.
“Yes!” She yelled, unconsciously leaping into the air and doing an impromptu summersault. Her loud cry of joy scared a pair of engineering students down the hall and the sound of clattering tools quickly joined in with her victorious cheers.
Her body’s tiredness and hunger quite forgotten, Rainbow Dash zipped down the hallway, darting between other students, light fittings and open doors like it was all some big obstacle course. She didn’t have an exactly clear course in mind but she needed to celebrate and if celebrating meant turning the academy into some sort of slalom course, so be it.
Her breakneck trench run was abruptly interrupted though as a pink shape flew through the air towards her, a half formed scream of excitement tumbling out of its mouth as it wrapped around Rainbow Dash like a doona. The stunned pegasus barely had time to register the fact that she was now grounded before a bubbly set of blue eyes forced their way into her vision.
“We did it, we did it we did it!” Pinkie chanted, her voice almost reaching a screaming pitch. Rainbow covered her ears until her friend recovered her decorum. Pinkie had her own letter proudly gripped in her mouth, waving it around like it was a rubber chicken at a rave.
“Pinkie is excited.” Maud said, enough emotion in her voice that she could’ve been mistaken for a tree.
“You said it sister, up high!” Pinkie cheered, holding up her hoof for her sister to hit. Maud looked at it for a moment before deliberately placing her hoof against Pinkie’s with a soft click.
“Woo.” She deadpanned, her eyes never quite focusing on any one thing in particular.
“Great!” Rainbow congratulated them, slowly recovering from the sudden shock of being virtually pulled out of the air by her hyperactive pink friend. She endured another rib-crushing hug any self-respecting grandma would be envious of before forcing her way out of Pinkie’s iron grip and flapped up to an altitude probably out of reach of her friend. “Not to be rude though, how exactly did you..?” She asked, trailing off sceptically as she thought about it.  How Pinkie could’ve made the grade was frankly, beyond her. Although she wouldn’t admit it aloud, she had barely managed to pull through herself.
“I have no idea!” Pinkie exclaimed, closing her eyes and looking up at Rainbow Dash cheerfully, holding her acceptance letter proudly like a puppy with the morning paper.
Rainbow Dash switched her gaze to Maud but the stoic earth pony simply looked back at her silently, emotionless as ever. The stand-off persisted a few seconds before Rainbow Dash realised that getting something more than an emotionless look out of Maud would be like getting Fluttershy out of her cottage to watch dragons, unnecessarily hard and painful. She pushed the thought aside for now, that would be something she could sit down and ponder later. In the meantime, she still had some rounds to do, namely, she wanted to check if Thunderblitz had made it through the first round of selections. She was tempted to find Lightning Dust and shove her own letter in her face but pushed the idea down, knowing her luck, Lightning Dust would’ve also qualified and if she hadn’t, Rainbow Dash was happy enough to leave her alone. If her rival had been selected though, Rainbow was sure she would know at the end of the day by simply having her ears switched on.
“Well that’s great I guess, Pinkie.” She said warily. “Look, I gotta check up on some other ponies around, I’ll catch you in mess hall B in a few okay? I haven’t had anything to eat since last night.” Rainbow said apologetically.
“I’ll keep the cake ready!” Pinkie Pie called after her enthusiastically.
Rainbow didn’t bother questioning this, knowing Pinkie, she probably would have a cake, a large, frosted monolithic pillar of sugar and stomach pains that defied sensibility, ready for her when she did reach the mess hall  
How Pinkie achieved such a feat was something best left unquestioned and just chalked up to one of those things that happened around the apparently boundless pink pony.
Disregarding the slightly maddening thought, Rainbow trotted away cheerfully to find Thunderblitz. Despite the hour, it didn’t take long to find him, a curious look in the library yielded nothing, prompting Rainbow to head back to his quarters. She could barely conceal her excitement when she rounded the open door,
“Look what I just got!” Rainbow boasted proudly, shoving the letter in Thunderblitz’s face so he could read it.
His dark eyes looked it over glumly. “Yeah, great. Good for you.” He mumbled.
Unlike Pinkie, Thunderblitz didn’t hold the slightest trace of cheer on his face. While he wasn’t exactly renowned for his excitability, Rainbow Dash would’ve thought the prospect of getting through the first cut would’ve given him something to smile about. She quickly pieced two and two together, suddenly feeling bitter for how quickly she’d shoved her own acceptance letter in his face.
“You didn’t make it through, I take it?” Rainbow asked quietly.
Thunderblitz looked up slowly and shook his head silently.
Rainbow frowned. “That’s bullshit, you were as good as anypony else that got through.” She said, her mind suddenl wondering if that was a compliment or an insult considering how many ponies she knew of that had actually gotten through.
“Apparently not.” Thunderblitz muttered, packing the last of his personal effects into his saddlebag and flapping it shut. “Some sorta, cognitive dissonance or something. They offered me a technical position but Ah turned that down, Ah want ta fight.”
“Well they aren’t going to give you a Jaeger.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.
Thunderblitz shrugged, placing his saddlebags over his rump. “Might join up with the army or something. They could give me a shot”
“Dangerous much?” Rainbow said with a nervous smile.
“And piloting a Jaeger isn’t?” Thunderblitz shot back.
Rainbow smiled thinly. “Just watching out of my friends, that’s all.”
Thunderblitz returned the smile half-heartedly. “Yeah, thanks.” His gaze lingered on Rainbow for a moment longer. “You look after yourself, you hear? Don’t want to have to come and save your sorry behind. Again.”
“Again?” Rainbow complained. “If you’re talking about that Grizzly incident, me and Lightning Dust saved your scrawny butt, thank you very much.”
“Yes and I am eternally grateful.” Thunderblitz drawled, brushing past her and sauntering off down the hallway. “Ah will see you, someplace else.” He said in farewell, gracing her with a friendly smile.
“Yeah, see ya.” Rainbow said as he vanished around the corner. The mostly empty hallways made her suddenly feel quite lonely. She sighed quietly and glumly played with the door handle for a few moments before trotting off the meet Pinkie and Maud in the mess hall.
Somehow, Rainbow got the feeling she wouldn’t see him again.
 

It wasn’t often that Misty Fly found herself surprised. Being the meticulous, control freak she usually was, she often planned things well in advance and it was a rare situation indeed if something caught her completely unaware.
It was then when she and Lightning Streak were called in to observe the newly minted Ranger cadets and hopefully pick out drift compatible pairs, she received quite a shock.
The cadets were a few weeks through their second trimester now, combat drills and the grueling process of familiarising themselves with the Academy’s simulators taking up the vast majority of their time. It barely came as a surprise to the six fully fledged pilots that they’d have the thankless task of observing the cadets as they trained, watching from the sidelines as the academy's staff whipped them into shape. The four former wonderbolts had been rostered to go first, Applejack and Big Macintosh staying behind in the shatterdome with Frontier Justice in case a rapid deployment was required.
Soarin and Wave Chill had drawn the short straw and Misty was all too happy to take the paired group. She reasoned it would be much easier to spot potential for drift compatibility in a group where the ponies involved were much closer to start with.
What she hadn’t expected though, was to run into the metaphorical – or literal, depending on your point of view – village idiot and stone wall.
Before the group of ranger cadets had arrived she’d expected a hard, tight-knit group of cunning fighters. Her surprise was almost total then, when the group turned out being mostly farmers and miners. There was half a dozen royal guards and a few security officers according to her files, but not the veritable wave of seasoned warriors she’d expected.
The most surprising thing though, was Maud and Pinkie Pie. As the group of hopeful cadets drifted in, her gaze was almost instantly drawn to the differences between them. One was bright and energetic, like Surprise on a caffeine drip. Her mane and bounding gait seemed to defy gravity and her coat was a gaudy, bright shade of pink that made Misty’s eyes water if she stared for too long. Everything about the mare seemed to defy what she expected in a Ranger, she was hardly the splitting image of fitness and if the way her head twisted round as she and her partner bounded into the room was any indication, she hardly knew what the term ‘attention span’ meant.
Her partner was almost a polar opposite. Her mane was slicked down in uncompromising straight lines, her stony gaze held not even a flicker of emotion and her walk reminded the pegasus of a slightly energetic sloth. Unlike the bouncing pink mare which accompanied her, the dull looking earth pony looked strong enough to lift a boulder. Misty watched the two with something approaching morbid fascination, the two ponies, the pink one doubly so, seemed to simply defy everything she thought possible.
They were the most disjointed, improbable pair that Misty had ever laid eyes on.
But they were perfect.
Even without seeing them in action, Misty somehow knew they were what she was looking for. She didn’t know where the feeling had come from but somehow, she just intuitively knew they were the best choice, the right choice.
‘No, that’s stupid. the pink one could barely fight alone, never mind in sync.’ She thought, forcing the ludicrous idea down only for it to surge the fore again, rising up in the back of her mind like a persistent rash. Misty swore under her breath and tried ignoring it to little success, it was like a needy child that screamed louder when you looked away, demanding constant attention. She tried suppressing it again, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the feeling. Something was telling her to pay attention to the two mares. She swore again and in a rather uncharacteristic lack of stubbornness, gave into the urge, focusing on the two Earth Ponies like she was tracking them across a plain.
 As the rest of the trainees spread out and started their exercises under the careful supervision of their trainers, the two ponies drifted off to the side and sat down away from everypony else. None of the trainers paid them any head, dismissing them like they were annoying flies buzzing around on a hot summer day. Curious, she called one of the trainers over.
“Why isn’t anypony keeping an eye on those two?” She asked.
The trainer snorted with bemusement. “They’re a lost cause. Trust me, it’s not worth your time trying to get those two to do anything.” He grumbled.
“Names?”
“Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie. Sisters.” The trainer answered.
Misty nodded and excused the trainer, padding back slowly to her previous position. She flipped through her large stack of files, stopping when she reached the two sisters.
Their record was unimpressive, to say the least. Pinkie had barely scraped past the course’s physical requirements and her mental state had been succinctly summed up as ‘eccentric’. Maud was a little more Misty’s style, her file seemed to indicate she was somepony who would focus on getting the job done first and letting other concerns come second. She did seem a little slow though, not the energetic and hot-blooded sort of pony Misty would imagine piloting a Jaeger. Misty read further, frowning slightly as she examined their files closely. Despite her gut screaming at her that they were exactly what they were looking for, the two sisters certainly weren’t what she would’ve picked as Ranger material.
“Ah, I see.” She muttered, turning the page and encountering the abridged version of the neurological report. The academy’s chief neurologist, a vaguely familiar sounding pony by the name of Rainy Daze, had insisted they be admitted on their mental bond alone. Even without a pons to bridge their minds, Pinkie and Maud seemed to understand and perceive each other’s thoughts and feelings almost perfectly. A trait rare enough to warrant them getting a pass on that merit alone.
Misty scowled, she didn’t like the look of Pinkie, her attitude seemed far too flippant and random to adhere to anything resembling the chain of command and her fighting skills seemed non-existent, something these training sessions were supposed to be alleviating. She sat on the feeling for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that her lower intestine seemed intent on dragging her over to the two ponies. They would need a lot of work before they would be worth anything, maybe too much.
“Ah, what the heck…” She said with a resigned sigh, giving into the compelling feeling in her gut, throwing the file away and trotting over to where the two sisters were sitting.
“What are you two doing?” Misty demanded, her barking voice making the two earth ponies stop and look at her.
“Playing a game, wanna join?” Pinkie chirped, shifting aside so Misty could sit and join them. She seemed entirely unfazed by the pegasus’ sharp voice or intimidating posture.
Misty peered closer, noticing the thin game matt and he small tokens and dice strewed across it. She recognised the game immediately. Kaiju and Jaegers, a fairly new but popular roleplaying game not dissimilar to Oubliettes and Ogres although with less emphasis on character creation and more so on punching giant monsters in the face. She’d played it all of once with Soarin, Wave Chill, her brother and Torque before deciding that it wasn’t her sort of game. That decision, of course, had come immediately after rolling a natural ‘10’ on the critical failure table and having her Jaeger explode in a titanic ball of nuclear fire.
It was safe to say that Misty Fly was a very poor loser.  
“Stop messing about, get up and continue your training.” She ordered sternly.
 “We are practicing, I’ve already killed three Kaiju.” Pinkie pointed out.
Misty resisted the urge to scream, instead focusing on maintaining a strained look o composure. “That’s wonderful, what about your sister?” She asked scathingly.
“Eighty-seven.” Maud answered flatly.
Misty shook her head. “Where did you get this anyway?”
“Games room.” Pinkie answered.
“We don’t have a games room.” Misty deadpanned.
Pinkie looked up at the ceiling innocently. “Do now…”
Misty Fly’s eye twitched slightly, it wasn’t just hard talking with Pinkie, it hurt. Her voice scratched and squeaked in her ears in the most painful way she could imagine and she didn’t seem to understand the idea of talking quietly. She grabbed Pinkie roughly by the neck and yanked her to her hooves.
“Stop wasting my time, you’re here to train. You want to goof off and play your little games you can go down to kiddies corner and mess about.” Misty growled. letting go of Pinkie with an annoyed grunt. She briefly considered dropping the duo and moving on but a little voice in the back of her mind told her to stick with it for the moment.  “Now show me what you’ve got.”
Pinkie blinked obliviously.
Misty gritted her teeth. “Have a spar with your sister, I want to see how well you can fight.” She said in a deceptively calm voice.
“I might hurt Maud though.” Pinkie objected
‘Yeah, unlikely!’ Misty thought, aware of the stone-cold glare Maud was giving her. She had to remind herself for a moment why she was bothering with the two ponies in the first place before moving on.  “Alright, fine. You can fight me.” She offered.
Pinkie scratched the back of her head for a moment before nodding cautiously. Misty breathed a quiet sigh of relief, finally she was getting somewhere. She took a few steps back and adopted a fighting stance, her body low to the ground and her wings outstretched for balance. Pinkie looked confused before adopting the same stance with a playful growl. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Misty, growing tired of the pink pony’s inactivity, darted across the mat, snapped a leg around Pinkie’s neck, rolled over her back, dragged her to the ground and placed her in a headlock. She stared into Pinkie’s startled blue eyes for a moment  before pulling an imaginary blow across her windpipe.
“You’re dead.” She growled as Pinkie squeaked with surprise.
Pinkie smiled nervously. “Can we try again?”
Misty growled with distaste, her already limited patience running dangerously close to expiring. Her subconscious was still screaming at her insistently though and she felt that despite Pinkie’s incompetence, maybe it was worth trying again. She mustered up the sternest look she could manage.  “If you somehow make it to a Jaeger, I give you a life expectancy of five minutes. Tops.” She growled before rising up off the mat and helping Pinkie up with a reluctant sigh. “Please, prove me wrong though.”
“Alright, let’s do this. I’m ready. So ready. Never been readier ”
Misty rolled her eyes contemptuously and reset her position on the mat across from Pinkie.
In the time it took to blink the scene changed.
Pinkie was now riding astride a tastelessly blue, antique cannon with pink and purple wheels, its impossibly wide bore aimed squarely between Misty’s eyes. The pegasus had barely begun to form a sound of confusion before the cannon went off with a bang that left Misty’s ears ringing. Instead of a solid shot, a veritable wave of balloons, streamers, confetti and general foolishness erupted from the cannon’s muzzle, showering Misty Fly with a kaleidoscopic barrage of party decorations. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Misty gave the wall behind Pinkie a furious look as the rain of streamers and confetti rained down around her cheerfully. The more rational part of her mind wanted to know where the frustratingly pink pony had pulled the obscene cannon from, but the less rational part was already contemplating how best to dispose of a corpse and she was having a hard time replacing that rather macabre thought with a happier one. She blew a short purple streamer off her snout with an irritated huff, feeling her temper boil over.
Like a dike breaking under floodwater, Misty’s fragile composure snapped and she rounded on the Earth pony with a frustrated snarl. “Is this all some sort of joke to you? Some… some, sick, deranged joke?” She yelled furiously, her chest rising and falling quickly as she advanced on the mare and backed her up against the wall.
For once Pinkie seemed to stop and pay attention, her eyes focused squarely on Misty’s burning eyes.
“Look, I don’t know what you were expecting this to be, but this is not some sort of novelty fair or circus. We’re training to fight a war, I don’t know if you’ve quite realised that. This war is not fun, this war is not some game, you screw up and thousands of ponies die, you screw up and a town or city gets flattened like a bug.” An image of a Kaiju like Bile rampaging through a city rose up in Misty’s mind and she had to suppress the sick feeling that rose up in her gut. “We need ponies who are willing to step up to the plate, ponies willing to sacrifice everything, not some careless buffoon like you who scraped through by sheer luck. If you’re not willing to knuckle down and get that this isn’t some great adventure, some grand game, then you can go home.”
Pinkie’s mouth flapped open and shit like a fish out of water, her ears pinned back against her head as if they were glued down. Her eyes started wobbling and for a moment Misty was sure sthe particularly pink pony was about to break down into a bawling mess.
“I… I…” She stuttered pitifully for a moment, choking on her words like she had swallowed a rock.
“Come on rookie, say something!” Misty sneered.
Maud rose off the mat with a cold look. “Leave her alone.” She ordered.
Misty let out a snort of amusement but backed off Pinkie, shaking her head slowly. “Gladly. She’s not worth my time. She’s not worth anypony’s time. She’s just baggage.”
“She’s my sister.” Maud said back sharply.
“Good, at least you’ll be able to die together.” Misty sneered viciously. She regarded the duo for a moment longer before spinning on the spot and marching off, wondering what foul atrocity she had committed to deserve this.

A hall over, Soarin was thinking much the same as his colleague.
Though inside of his frustration being directed at a particular cadet, he found it directed squarely at his copilot. The two pegasi had arrived at the training hall early and not letting an opportunity go to waste, Soarin had suggested they have a light sparring session while they waited for the cadets to arrive. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, they’d been so busy drilling and practicing that it had been some time since they’d actually had a nice, simple tussle with each other. Soarin’s enthusiasm had quickly drained after that as Wave Chill had proceeded to quickly stomp him flat to mat seven times in nearly as many minutes. Soarin had managed to level the score slightly but after nearly half and hour, Wave Chill was still comfortably sitting on nearly twice as many points as he was. Soarin blinked away a bead of sweat, silently circling Wave Chill and waiting patiently for him to make a move.
“Are we going to be doing this all day?” Wave Chill asked mockingly, letting his grip on his hanbo slip slightly. Soarin saw through his feint though and remained still, his green eyes solidly fixed on Wave Chill’s.
A loud, cackling laugh sounded off in the distance, echoing up the hallways and spreading around the room. Soarin glanced off to the side, momentarily distracted by the sudden noise. By the time his eyes were back on Wave Chill, the stallion was already halfway across the mat and Soarin had barely a second to throw up a desperate block.
He cursed under his breath as Wave Chill pounced on him. The younger stallion was making him pay dearly for his mistake, slapping his stick aside with a casual swipe and pinning him to ground with a savage grin. The pegasus pressed his friend into the mat, almost taking a little too much pleasure at the way Soarin squirmed under him.
“You’re making this too easy, you old relic.” Wave Chill jeered as Soarin’s struggles ceased.
Soarin scowled. Wave Chill’s superiority over him was starting to annoy him. While they’d been relatively well matched at first, Wave Chill had shown a greater aptitude for piloting and slowly but surely had started outclassing the older stallion. He’d become more confident and boastful, not necessarily a bad thing as he’d been almost been a little too reserved before. What annoyed Soarin the most though, was despite how much effort he put into improving himself, Wave Chill was still better. It seemed remarkably unfair that despite the fact that his co-pilot had a lot more downtime, he was still beating Soarin more often.
“I’m not that old.” Soarin protested, pushing Wave Chill off him and standing up again. “I’m not that much older than you, and you’re younger than some of these new cadets.” Soarin said, ignoring the fact that Wave Chill was, in fact, nearly ten years younger than he was.
“Whatever.” Wave Chill chuckled quietly, readying himself again.
Soarin glared at him silently, wanting to do nothing more than snap his light hanbō across his friend’s snout and wipe that stupid smile off his face. He didn’t have the chance to though, the doors into the expansive combat room flew open and the steady babble of dozens of voices started drifting around the room. He resolved to finish the fight later and tossed his stick away into a corner, turning to face then new arrivals with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.
There was a good hundred of them, the majority of them looking rather excited to see a pair of real Rangers in the flesh. The group’s trainers quickly marshaled them into smaller teams, setting down the planned exercises for the morning session.Soarin and Wave Chill watched them silently for a few minutes, slightly taken aback by the sheer number of ponies they were expected to watch,
“Is that..?” Wave Chill asked eventually, his eyes settling on a mare about halfway up the room from them.
“Lightning Dust, yeah.” Soarin answered impassively. His eyes locked on the mare as she effortlessly powered through her routine. ‘That could be fun...’ He thought dourly. Soarin watched her silently for a few seconds before striking out at random to inspect the now busily practicing cadets.
“See anything you like?” Wave chill asked, his eyes locked on a mare who would’ve looked more in place at a high-profile fashion show than a combat room.
“Focus.” Soarin admonished gently.
“I think you could learn that too, Mr. Glanceylot” Wave Chil teased.
“Yeah, yeah…” Soarin muttered  suddenly freezing in place as he locked eyes with another of the trainees.
“Morning, sir.” Rainbow Dash chirped, taking a quick break from battering at the trainer she was practicing with. She was the same as Soarin remembered her, lively and spirited with a spark of mischief in her eye. The pegasus had obviously been training hard, her toned form was sleek like a shark and she seemed a few centimetres taller than he remembered.
“Hi.” Soarin said, recovering from his surprise and flashing her a quick smile.He felt a little stupid for not even considering that she would be in attendance at the academy, she had the drive and ambition along with enough stubbornness to get through just about anything.
‘Yeah, she’d go well in a Jaeger.’ He thought before realising that he was probably staring at her a little too intently. “Enjoying the course?” He asked idly.
“I don’t enjoying would quite the right word.” She said back with a soft chuckle, her eyes darting down to the faint bruises which covered her body.
“Ouch.” Soarin remarked, following her gaze.
“You should see the other guy.” Rainbow said, referring to the battered looking trainer across the mat with a sidewards glance.
“Need something a little more your own size?” Soarin guessed, noting that the stallion’s bumps and bruises were almost disproportionately more abundant than the ones that covered Rainbow Dash.
“What did you have in mind?” She asked curiously.
Soarin’s mind ticked over for a moment dumbly before striking gold. It was a bit of a long shot but it certainly could be interesting to watch. He contemplated it for a second longer, aware that both Rainbow Dash and Wave Chill were looking at him like he had suddenly stopped working.
“A challenge.” Soarin said levelly, motioning for the two pegasi to follow him.
“Got any idea what’s he thinking of?” Soarin heard Rainbow Dash ask as she fell in step behind him.
“Something crazy, no doubt.” Wave Chill responded cheekily. “Soarin has a habit for being a little left field…”
“Don’t suppose he’s ever traded ideas with Commander Raze eh?” Rainbow joked. “Hope he isn’t going pull a tank out of his pocket or something. Should I've checked behind the light fittings on my way in?”
Wave Chill looked surprisingly serious. “Maybe, I think they’re related.”
“She’s my aunt.” Soarin said, turning his head slightly so he could enjoy Rainbow’s shocked reaction.
“No way!”
“Yeah, she makes the best chocolate and blueberry muffins for Hearthswarming.” Soarin said, wondering how far he could lead her on.
“Bullshit!” Rainbow scoffed.
“Alright, maybe not the best, but they are pretty good1” Soarin admitted with a thin smile, leading the small group over to where Lightning Dust was cheerfully beating the snot out of one of the trainers. Unlike most of the other cadets around the room, she seemed completely intent on beating each one as quickly and efficiently as possible with little regard for actually paying any attention to what they were saying about her combat style. As much as Soarin disapproved of her technique, he had to admit that it was working and as she forced her seemingly hapless trainer to the mat with a  pair of swift kicks, he was forced to grudgingly admit that she was probably better than almost all of the other ponies in the room.
Almost.
“Impressive.” Wave Chill said in a fashion that made it clear that he actually thought nothing of the sort. Soarin resisted the urge to gag him, again wondering where his sudden spurt of arrogance had come from.
Lightning Dust didn’t miss the verbal cue and leapt at the chance to put herself over him. “Oh, you wanna have a go then?” Lightning Dust taunted. Wave Chill made no effort in resisting the challenge, grabbing a spare hanbō and striding confidently to the centre of the mat. Soarin and Rainbow Dash stopped to watch the fight, the two pegasi exchanging a knowing look as Wave Chill obliviously took position across from Lightning Dust.
He had barely gotten into position when Lightning Dust darted towards him recklessly. Caught by surprise, Wave Chill barely had time to block her stroke. Trying to seize the initiative, Wave Chill tried forcing Lightning Dust back, pushing back against her short hanbō with is own.
The two quickly became locked in a sort of vicious grapple, each one trying to put the other off balance. It was a delicate game and the slightest slip in concentration would’ve given the other the edge. Soarin and Rainbow Dash watched silently, both silently impressed that Lightning Dust could keep up with the stallion. The duel lasted a few more seconds, both pegasi straining against each other feebly before Lightning Dust lifted her head slightly and whispered something in Wave Chill’s ear. He glanced down for a second and in that brief lapse of concentration, Lightning Dust struck. Within a lightning fast movement, she clipped Wave Chill under the chin with a foreleg and using her hind legs, drove him into the mat with a kick that sent him sprawling. She held her hanbō victoriously under his chin for a moment before withdrawing it.
“All you stallions are the same, this is getting easy.” She chuckled, taking her weapon away from Wave Chill’s face and giving him an obnoxious wink. She turned back to Soarin and Rainbow Dash with a sly smirk.
“What did she do?” Rainbow asked curiously. Soarin seemed to have understood for he was chuckling quietly, clearly quite enjoying seeing Wave Chill sprawled over the mat like a wet towel.
“Very impressive, cadet.” Soarin said, only answering Rainbow Dash’s question with a knowing smirk. “I doubt that trick would work against a Kaiju though. Just for your consideration.”
“Probably not.” Lightning Dust admitted, twirling her hanbō around delicately. She fumbled and dropped the short stick, scowling fiercely at Rainbow Dash’s badly concealed snort of amusement. She gave the room at large a challenging look, as if daring anypony else to fight her.
“How about we get you two in there together?” Soarin suggested idly, motioning Rainbow Dash to join Lightning Dust on the mat. “”Just for fun.” He added with a friendly smile.
“You serious?” Lightning Dust asked, retrieving her hanbō from the ground with savage glee.
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Soarin replied, taking a careful step back and giving Rainbow Dash an encouraging wave onto the combat mat.
“Rainbow smiled thinly, she’d been waiting for this. Finally she had a chance to to give Lightning Dust a good smack on the head and get congratulated rather than reprimanded for it. She gave Lightning Dust a wicked look, only to be a little perturbed to see that Lightning Dust seemed to have the exact same look of delight on her face.
Soarin hauled the still dazed Wave Chill off the mat and passed Rainbow his hanbō. “I trust you know how to fight with that?” he asked.
“A bit, yeah.” Rainbow affirmed, grabbing the short stick in her mouth and trotting into the centre of the mat to face Lightning Dust.
“This should be good.” Soarin muttered under his breath, giving Wave Chill a gentle prod to make sure he was alright.
“Whatever you say.” Wave Chill slurred, sitting up groggily to watch the fight. He tilted his head to the side, his neck making an audible pop.
“Ouch.” Soarin remarked dryly, favouring his co-pilot with a sidelong glance before returning his attention to the impending fight.
 

As Rainbow Dash strode to the centre of the combat mat, she started subconsciously analysing Lightning Dust. Everything from the way she held her head, down to her hoof placement, stuck out as Rainbow as she prepared herself for the fight. On of her trainers had mentioned something about how knowing your opponent was just as important as know how to fight, if you knew how they would fight and how they were likely to react, it was much easier to counter them. This idea was the entire reason Ranger cadets fought each other so much, the more they knew about each other the better the chance they would match up across a pons.
Rainbow took a steadying breath, Lightning Dust was cocky and arrogant, but with good reason, she was skilled and most of the things she boasted about were probably true. If her short bout with Wave Chill was any indication, she was probably a bit more of a talented fighter than Rainbow Dash, or at least she was happy to resort to dirty tactics in order to win. Rainbow had watched the fight closely, it resembled her own fighting style somewhat, a mix of fast blows and low cunning to get an opponent off-guard and then a single heavy strike to hopefully knock them down for good.
She paused at the thought, giving Soarin a sidelong glance. Was he testing them together?
No, that was ridiculous, she and Lightning Dust hardly got along; they certainly wouldn’t make a good piloting pair. She assumed a low, balanced stance, signalling to Lightning Dust that she was ready to begin. Rainbow readied herself to dart aside at a moment’s notice, she expected the turquoise mare opposite her to attack early and spare little thought of holding back.
Her expectation was dead on and Lightning Dust flung herself at her, her light stick sweeping low to trying and knock Rainbow Dash off her hooves. She rolled aside before the blow could connect, quickly recovered and then lashed out, aiming to knock Lighting Dust across the ear. Lightning Dust parried the blow effortlessly, grinning with enjoyment as she shoved Rainbow back a few paces. With a yell, she flung herself at Rainbow Dash, the sharp crack of wood ringing around the room as the two lightning fast pegasi beat at each other futilely.
Clearly irritated that she couldn’t pin Rainbow down so easily, Lightning Dust forced Rainbow’s hanbō up before diving forward, sending the pair sprawling across the mat in a flurry of flailing limbs, feathers and creative language. Rainbow managed to break free though, using her powerful wings to reorient herself and copied Lightning Dust’s previous tactic, sweeping low and trying to unsettle her.
Lightning Dust rolled aside, mimicking Rainbow’s previous move with a quiet grunt. The fight became a sort of twisted dance, the two mares weaving, ducking and dodging around each other amidst a rapid flurry of strokes. Neither seemed to be able to gain the upper hand, any ploy being swiftly thwarted by a mixture of agility and an almost unnatural prescience they both possessed.
“Stop copying me!” Rainbow growled, frustrated that Lightning Dust seemed to just brush off her strokes like they were nothing. The turquoise mare chuckled, countering with a low move that Rainbow could see coming from a mile off.
“That’s kind of the point, genius.” Lightning Dust sneered playfully, moving aside before Rainbow Dash could rap her across the back of the head. They both drew back a few paces, watching each other cautiously. The respite only lasted a few seconds before the two pegasi were at it again, wings flapping and breath panting as each tried to land a solid blow. Whatever more skill Lightning Dust had was offset by Rainbow Dash’s slight advantage in speed, Lightning Dust simply swinging at thin air as many times as Rainbow Dash found her stroke stopped by a clever parry.
The duel started attracting more attention, Misty Fly and Lightning Streak had even broken off their group in the hall over and along with Soarin and Wave Chill, watched with thinly concealed interest. The furious melee lasted another full minute before the two pegasi broke off again, neither able to land a serious blow on the other.
“Getting tired, Dashie?” Lighting Dust jeered, panting slightly. Thin rivers of sweat ran down her forehead but the fire in her eyes was burning no less fiercely than it had before. “You look like you ran through traffic.”
“Had a look in the mirror?” Rainbow shot back, blowing a tuft of her mane out of her eyes.
Lightning Dust smirked, brushed a few strands of her own mane aside and then leapt at Rainbow with a fierce yell. They traded a score more ineffective blows before Lightning Dust backed off slightly, her breath coming in ragged pants. Rainbow let herself put a little weight on her hanbō, she was just as tired as Lightning Dust was but she was determined not to show it.
“Seems we’re at an impasse of sorts. Maybe we’ll just keep doing this forever.” Lightning Dust panted, a faint trace of admiration in her voice.
“Actually, I think you two have done enough.” Soarin butted in, stepping between the two exhausted mares and waving them down before they could take another swing at each other. “I think we’ve found ourselves a team.” He looked back at the other pilots for support, slightly irked to see that only Misty seemed really on board with the idea.
Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash looked at him like he had suggested they make-out in front of the class. “What.” The two pegasi said in unison, their voices flatter than a saltpan.
Soarin let out an exasperated huff. “You two have potential together. A lot of potential.”
“Yeah, right. And I’m a pretty princess.” Lightning Dust deadpanned.
Soarin gave her a flat look. “If you weren’t so feathering blockheaded…”
Lightning Dust’s eyes flashed angrily, her grip on her hanbō tightening reflexively.
“Soarin, no disrespect to you, but are you sure you’ve got your head screwed on straight? I can’t work with Lightning Dust, you want to put me in a Jaeger with her?” Rainbow protested.
Lightning Dust nodded. “I won’t work with her.”
Soarin scowled. “You two are as stubborn as each other.” He muttered, looking back at the three other pilots that had gathered for support.
“You two are letting a stupid grudge get in the way of what’s best.” Misty said firmly, finally lending another voice to Soarin’s proposal."I think you should give it a shot."
“That’s pretty rich coming from you, Misty…” Lightning Streak muttered quietly, getting a solid whack on the back of his head for his trouble.
Soarin gave the siblings a quick glare before they could start squabbling before returning his attention back to Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust.  “If you won't do it voluntarily, I'll make you do it. You two are going to train together, eat together, heck, and even sleep together until you start working together as a team.”
“But she-!” Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash said in tandem before cutting themselves off and looking at each other coldly.
“Yes, yes, I had Spitfire chewing at my ear for a few good months after you two made a mess of each other at the Academy. I get it, but that was years ago, I had hoped you two would have enough common sense to be able to be able to grow up and put that aside.” Soarin explained, irritation lacing his voice.
Lightning Dust pulled a long face.
“Oh, get over yourself princess.” Soarin snapped. “Both of you report to the simulators in an hour, we’ll go through the basics and see what you can do.”        
 

 
Nearly an hour later, Rainbow Dash herself making her way to the academy’s simulator section. She had been there all of once during orientation and out of all the facilities the academy boasted, it was probably the most exciting. While the prospect of getting into a Jaeger, albeit a simulated one, was simply thrilling, Rainbow could’ve hoped for a much better drift partner. She gritted her teeth and pushed that thought behind her, snarling and growling about it like a frustrated baby Timberwolf wouldn’t get her anywhere except trouble.
She still couldn’t brush off the feeling completely though, why had Soarin insisted they partner up? Wasn’t it plain to see that they wouldn’t work well together? She scowled, feeling the familiar feeling of frustration rise up in her gut again. She rounded a corner quickly, barely paying any attention as to where she was going and nearly slamming straight into Soarin.
In an odd display of cat-like behaviour, the stallion had planted himself right outside a door, simultaneously reading a file and chewing away at an obscenely large cookie. He looked with surprise up as Rainbow swore and skidded to a halt, his look of confusion being quickly replaced by cheerful look.
“Oh, hello.” Soarin said through the abnormally large biscuit, folding the file shut quickly and slipping it under one of his wings. “Heading my way?” He asked with as much of a smile as he could manage through his treat.
Rainbow looked at him flatly, finding it surprisingly difficult to not crack a smile at the goofy look he was giving her. He reminded her of a dog that had just been given a treat. “Suppose…” She grumbled.
Soarin’s expression dropped a little as he set off at a measured pace, Rainbow falling obediently into step behind him. He munched quietly on his cookie for a while before breaking off a chunk clumsily with his other wing and offering it to Rainbow. She declined it politely, leaving Soarin with a few broken bits of biscuit lodged in his wing. She had to stifle a laugh as he tried pulling the chunks out but succeeding in only removing a few loose feathers.
“This isn’t working quite how I planned…” He said, spitting out a small blue feather sheepishly.
“You’re an idiot, sir.” Rainbow said pointedly, grabbing his wing and knocking the few remaining pieces loose before he hurt himself in some creatively stupid way.
“On occasions.” Soarin admitted. “Thanks, by the way.”
Rainbow grunted out a response and fell silent again. “Why did you choose us two anyway?” She asked after a few painful seconds.”Me and Lightning Dust, I mean.”
“Because I saw a lot of potential.” Soarin explained patiently. “Despite what you might like to think, you two seem very similar. Your physiological assessments seem to match up as well, you both have a very strong drive and enjoy pushing yourself to your limits. Self-centred, egotistical…”
Rainbow Dash frowned slightly but made no protest, she wasn’t going to admit that Soarin was right in that respect, Lightning Dust was pretty much the same as her, though perhaps quite a bit rougher around the edges.
Soarin continued, oblivious her irritation. “Quick-witted, brash and often the first to step up to a challenge. You like winning, even if it comes at the expense of others.”
“I’d never leave my friends hanging.” Rainbow Dash rebutted crossly.
Soarin smiled thinly. “Of course. There’s a few differences here and there, but you two are pretty much the same pony, personality wise. With a bit of training, I wouldn’t put it past you two being very good Rangers.
“But what about the Wond-.”
“Yes, I am completely aware of what she did, what you did yadda yadda.” Soarin interrupted irately. “I mightn’t have been there at the time but guess what happens when you’re good friends with your CO?” He asked rhetorically.
“You get why we can’t work together then?”
Soarin shook his head. “No, not at all. That little blunder happened ages ago and it’s not like you’ve been at each other’s throats for every moment in between now and then. Learning to forgive and forget could be a very smart move, Rainbow.”
“Yeah, not like she’s going to go for that.” Rainbow muttered.
Soarin shrugged. “Well you can only…” He sighed and struggled for the right word for a moment. “Try, I guess.”
Rainbow Dash knew Soarin was right but it she was reluctant to admit it. She wanted to simply get over whatever rift plagued her relationship with Lightning Dust but it was hard to simply put it behind her when Lightning Dust took it upon herself to aggravate the situation as much as she could.
“Yeah, I guess.” She mumbled quietly.
“Well that’s a start at least.” Soarin said, cracking a small smile as they walked through a yawning arch and into a wide hallway. The left side of the short hall was open, the wall cut away to reveal a large warehouse. Several large metal boxes dominated the space, each connected by a narrow metal gangway that led back to the hall Rainbow and Soarin were walking down.
“Simulators. Brand new.” Soarin said enviously. “It’s amazing what happens when you get the proverbial blank cheque…”
Each simulator was effectively an eight metre high replication of a conpod mounted on an advanced feedback system to replicate the movements of a Jaeger as a pilot moved. The rig could also simulate battle damage ranging from anything from missing limbs through to conpod breaches. Although Rainbow Dash wasn’t quite sure if it was true or not, she had heard the entire system could also be flooded and drained in a matter of seconds.
“Fancy.” She remarked, craning her head back to look at the top of the massive device.
“Yeah, and to think I didn’t have such nifty toys when I was called in. I was trained in a real Jaeger.” Soarin said wistfully.
“Lucky.”
Soarin crinkled his nose up, remembering the first few tries he and Wave Chill had taken in Brawler Yukon’s scavenged conpod. “Eh, the proportions were off by a mile and most of the systems were cobbled together. Made for one heck of an ad-hoc trainer. Enough chit-chat though, go get yourself a drivesuit, I’m sure they’ll have one in your size.” Soarin said, gesturing to a wide door off to the right.
Rainbow wandered into the room, marvelling at the rows of midnight black suits that lined the walls. The old stallion supervising the room took one look at Rainbow before grabbing one of the heavy black suits and handing it to her.
“Do this enough kiddo, and you get pretty good at picking out the right size suit on the first try.” He explained at her questioning look. “Had another mare just like you come in for a suit, fitted her just fine so thought you’d be right with that.”
“Uh-huh.” Rainbow muttered. “How do I get this thing on?”
“Head back outside, take the first left and you’ll find the suiting rooms. Should a few ponies happy to help there.”
“Thanks.” Rainbow muttered, slinging the heavy black suit over her back and following the stallion’s directions to the suiting room. It was a fair bit bigger than the storeroom and was bustling with activity, a good half-dozen ponies already fusing over an annoyed looking Lightning Dust.
“What are you looking at?” Lighting Dust snapped irately, noticing Rainbow Dash standing in the door stupidly. She was half-covered in a suit of thin white plates, the black form-fitting circuity suit poking out underneath in places.
“Nothing.” Rainbow said firmly, following a technician’s gesture and standing on a large round plate a few metres across from Lightning Dust. The process was faster than she imagined, first two ponies helped her into the tight black suit and then started layering on the plates of armour. The plates seemed to simply mould to the circuitry suit before locking into place with a sharp click. Rainbow looked down at her armoured form, it was nowhere near as bulky or heavy as the real drivesuits she’d seen other pilots wearing. She wriggled slightly, delighted to note that the plates hardly restricted her freedom of movement at all.
“Looking good ladies.” Soarin purred stepping into the suiting room through a side door. He regarded them for a moment before the technicians handed the two mares their helmets and waved them towards the heavy door set at the back which presumably lead out to the simulators. The small group went out onto the gantries, their hooves clacking noisily against the steel grating before Soarin waved them into the first metal box.  He trotted in after them, squinting slightly as the harsh white overhead lights snapped on.
“Right, left? Any preferences?” He asked idly, flipping a few switches on the large control panel that stood between the two harnesses.
“Right.” Rainbow blurted out immediately.
“Left.” Lightning Dust answered simultaneously.
The two mares shared an incredulous look, much to Soarin’s amusement.
“See, fun.” He joked, pressing down a small button on one of the upper control surfaces. “We good to go Wave chill?”
“Everything appears to be in order.” The stallion chirped through what Rainbow realised was some radio link to a control room.
“Great, now if you two would be so kind as to ante up, we can get started.” He urged, inviting them to clip into the drivetrain on the floor. He showed them how to the clip their suits in and after a quick check to make sure their harnesses were secured, darted out of the simulator, slamming the heavy door behind him.
“Booting it up, standby.” Wave Chill announced, the view screen fuzzing over slightly and a large, black and blue arena appearing on the screen.
Rainbow Dash looked around, they were standing in a square, featureless room. If there was a roof, it was out of her sight.  A glowing pedestal set in the centre of the arena, a large holographic representation of a Jaeger slowly rotating around silently. The room had a pair of long halls branching off it, each marked with a few glowing portals. The two corridors stretched off into the distance as far as the eye could see, their ends being lost in a faint blue haze. She jumped a little as a voice spoke to them through the conpod’s speaker system.
“Welcome to the Shatterdome Jaeger Combat Simulator. In this combat simulated environment you can load battlefield scenarios of your choosing.” The simulator’s A.I. canted coolly. It had a distinctly intelligent, feminine and machine-like quality to it, quite unlike anything Rainbow Dash had ever heard before. “To begin a mission please step through the portal. For the safety of yourself and others in this test environment, maintain neural synchronisation with your teammate at all times. If you have any further questions please consult the help section or the Simulator Deck Officer.”
“Ignore all that jazz about combat simulation just for now, baby steps for the moment.” Soarin’s voice piped in through their helmets. “For the moment we just want to work on establishing that neural bond. Depending how co-operative you are, we might be able to move onto a basic exercise later. First though, look down at the control panel.”
The two mares looked down simultaneously.
“Good, now that’s a lot of buttons isn’t it? Lots of potential for mayhem and mucking around.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, there were at least a couple of hundred buttons and lights crammed onto the small control board.
“Don’t worry too much about learning them all of the top of your head, you pick up a sort of strange intuition when you actually drift with the Jaeger. Somehow you instinctively know that orange one there turns on the windscreen wipers, not the demister. Bit weird at first, but it comes naturally in time I can assure you.” Soarin explained cheerfully. “Most of the Jaegers functions are controlled through your MUI anyway, the buttons are just a hard-line in case something screws up. Anyway, see that black switch about halfway down on the right side? Should be labelled PONS INPUT or something similar. Flip that to the right.”
“What does it do?” Rainbow asked, search for the switch amid the mess of controls that covered the solid panel in front of her.
“Turns on input from your station. If it’s off you can’t drift. We’re supposed to use it for jumpstarts, although I’ve never done one myself.”
Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “A what?”
“Oh, right. Basically it’s starting up without the computer being slaved to the shatterdome’s. Anyway, flip it over and we’ll get started.”  Soarin explained.
Rainbow Dash hesitated, flipping it over would effectively consign her to being stuck with Lightning Dust. If Soarin was right and the two were drift compatible, she’d most likely be forced to stick with Lightning Dust, for better or worse. She bit her lip silently, she would have infinitely preferred somepony else.
But what if there was nopony else? Would she let her pride get in the way of what could be her one chance to actually pilot a Jaeger? She glanced out the viewport, Soarin obviously thought that she wouldn’t. She let out a quiet sigh of resignation and flipped her switch, prompting a cool green light to spring on the top corner of her helmet.
“Lightning Dust, turn your switch to the ready position.” Wave Chill ordered over the radio.
“Waiting on you.” Rainbow said pointedly.
Lightning Dust scoffed. “Ah ha, no.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. What foul atrocity had she done to deserve this? “Get over yourself.” She said, mimicking Soarin’s earlier comment.
The other pegasus growled lowly, her switch resolutely staying untouched.
“Really?” Rainbow questioned, frustrated at her obstructive behaviour. “You’re really going to be like that? What do you have against me so much so that you’re willing to throw out a chance for both of us to get through this thing? Remember when we actually worked as a team to beat that Grizzly? Wasn’t it nice to not be down each other’s throat for just a little while?” Rainbow asked, ignoring the fact that an hour ago she had been vehemently opposed to getting inside a conpod with Lightning Dust.
“Lightning Dust, please flip your switch to the ready position.” Wave Chill asked again.
“Alright! Fine!” Lightning Dust grumbled, relenting and flipping her control to the ‘READY’ position with a scowl. “I’m not doing this for your sake though.” She snapped irritably.
“Thank you.” Rainbow Dash mumbled. She considered what Soarin had said to her out in the hallway for a moment before turning to Lightning Dust. “And, sorry. For whatever I did. I never meant for you to get the boot, probably would’ve preferred if you’d stayed on board actually.” She added with an attempt at a friendly smile.
“Whatever.” Lightning Dust muttered, looking out through the conpod’s viewport impassively.
‘Blockhead.’ Rainbow thought sourly, at least she was trying to be reasonable.
“Alright, ten second timer. Counting down now.” Soarin informed them. “Try and clear your mind, it’ll make this a lot smoother.”
 A display flickered on, counting down the seconds with a worrying speed. Rainbow dash looked over at Lightning Dust again but the pegasus showed no outward sign of even noticing the timer. She wanted to say something obscene or profound to get Lightning Dust to snap out of it but nothing came to mind.
 “Drift sequence: initiated.”
Rainbow felt like her head had been smashed through a wave. A surge of bright blue light filled every recess of her mind and clawed its way down her spine like a persistent bug. She felt her conscience expanding, growing like an air bubble until it brushed up against another almost electric force. She started hearing vague whispers and flashes of images, tastes and smells that she had never experienced. Curious, she pushed against the electric buzz, attempting to force her way in. Ultimately though, it was like naively poking a Manticore with a stick and thinking it wouldn’t maul you in response and Rainbow Dash sprung back, a sharp shock running up and down the base of her spine. The wave of blue light which flooded her senses snapped off like somepony had removed a filter and she slumped in her harness, panting like she’d just done a morning of rigorous exercise. She turned her head towards Lightning Dust, the other pegasus looked no better than she did, her head slumped and her chest rising and falling like a panicky bird.
“What the heck just happened?” Rainbow panted. She shook her head slowly, she felt like she’d just run a marathon.
“Uh, I think you just had a fizz. Just a mild one from the looks of it.”
Rainbow Dash strained to think clearly. “A what?” She asked.
More or less when the neural bond shorts out, can be from equipment failure or when the drifters don’t meld.”
Lightning Dust seemed to perk up a little. “So we’re not compatible then.” She said, more like it was as statement than a question.
“Not quite. In fact from what I’ve been told, a fizz is a fairly normal on a first drift, me and Wave chill fizzed first time we tried. More likely one of you isn’t letting the other in, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“We have to do that again?” Lightning Dust moaned.
“Yup, maybe that’s a little bit of an incentive to try and do it properly this time.” Soarin growled.
If the look on Lightning Dust’s face was any indication, she probably would’ve tried throttling Soarin if he was close by. “Kill me now.” She muttered scathingly.
“Suck it up princess. Just focus, and remember what you’ve been taught and everything will go just fine.” Soarin rebuked her. “Alright, you two ready again?”
“Yes.” Rainbow said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
“No...” Lightning Dust muttered under her breath.
Soarin either didn’t hear this comment or chose to ignore it. “Good, starting in 3, 2, 1…”
 

In the end, despite Soarin’s hopes, they ended up with no more success than when they had started. The only thing they had to show for their efforts = or perhaps lack of – was a pounding headache, a slightly runny nose and in Lightning Dust’s case, a few brief seconds of unconsciousness. Soarin relented after that little incident, reluctantly letting the two pegasi unplug and join the other ranger cadets in the mess hall for dinner. He seemed disappointed by their progress but steadfastly remained convinced that the two ponies would line up fine. Neither Rainbow Dash or Lightning Dust were particularly convinced by his enthusiasm  and when they put their drivesuits back into storage, Lightning Dust brushed out past Rainbow before she could stop her.
Several hours had passed since Soarin had dragged them away from the combat hall and Rainbow Dash found her throbbing head and Lightning Dust’s irritating behaviour taking a backseat in priority to her rumbling stomach.
The mess facility was all too happy to oblige though, providing a hearty soup and warm, soft bread that reminded Rainbow Dash of Sugarcube Corner’s more sensible baked goods. She wormed her way through the half-full mess hall searching for an empty table so she could sit down and think. She spotted the four pilots at one end of the hall, Wave Chill was talking with Lightning Streak and Misty Fly animatedly, bits of his dinner flying around as he waved his hooves around her emphasis. Though Rainbow couldn’t tell what he was talking about, Soarin didn’t look overly pleased with it.
She shook her head slightly and avoided the pilots, after her dismal performance with Lightning Dust in the simulator she didn’t feel like she could even look them in the eye,
She close a vacant table as far from them possible and tucked into her food, ignoring the comings and goings of other ponies around her. She felt some of the other ranger cadets looking at her enviously but ignored them in favour of her soup.
She was quite surprised then, when a tray loaded with food clattered down on the table across from her and Lightning Dust dropped into the chair with something that could’ve resembled an attempt at a friendly smile if Rainbow squinted hard, turned her head twenty degrees to the left and was halfway across the room.
“Evening.” Lightning Dust purred.
Rainbow Dash grunted out a vague reply, unsure of what to say. She pretended that she hadn’t seen the other pegasus, instead tucking into her soup and trying not to burn herself. The awkward silence stretched on for several minutes, Lightning Dust equally unsure of how to handle herself. It seemed like she was about to start talking several times but only let out a pitiful choked sound in place of intelligible speech.
 “I’ll work with you.” She eventually managed.
 Rainbow almost choked on her soup, taken aback by her rival’s sudden change in tact. “Come again?” She gagged, sure she’d misheard the other pegasus.
“Those radar-dish ears of yours must be ornamental.” Lightning Dust jeered, quickly assuming control of the conversation in manner Rainbow Dash found reassuringly familiar. “I said I’ll do it.”
“Pilot with me?” Rainbow asked, her food quite forgotten.
“No, wrestle in mud pit with Princess Luna.” Lightning Dust replied flatly. “What do you think genius? I’ll allow you to be my co-pilot.”
“Allow…” Rainbow echoed hollowly. “Funny choice of words you’ve got there.”
“There’s a certain amount of dignity that comes with the position. I wouldn’t let anypony get in a Jaeger with me.” Lightning Dust sneered.
“But I’m the best you’ve got, huh?”
Lightning Dust’s face dropped a little. “I could’ve hoped for better.” She muttered, mirroring Rainbow’s earlier sentiment on the matter.
“That was what I was thinking as well.”
An uneasy silence drifted between the two mares as they both considered this. It was a curious feeling, neither particularly wanted to be with the other but neither really wanted to go anypony else. They knew what the other could do, what they couldn’t, what they stood for and what they shunned. They seemed to reach the same conclusion at the same time.
“We made a great team once. Nopony could beat us then.” Rainbow said after a few quiet moments. “Nopony will beat us now.”
“Of course.” Lightning Dust said, not even a trace of doubt in her voice.
Rainbow brightened slightly. “You might just make a good co-pilot after all.”
Lightning Dust ignored Rainbow’s remark and pointed her hoof at her counterpart dangerously. “Just understand something, I’m not doing this out of some misguided sense of honour, friendship or some other crap like that, but because you’re my best ticket to getting behind the wheel to one of those Jaegers. We’re not pals, we’re not buddies and we’re certainly not friends. You’re my co-pilot, nothing else. We get in that thing, we punch a big gribbly in the face and that’s it, we clear?”
“Crystal.”
Lightning Dust let out a quiet huff. “Alright, let’s get this shit over with then.”

 
“Soarin, get up, get up!”
Soarin groaned quietly, pushing his face into the soft pillow he was lying on. His billet at the academy had come with a welcome surprise, more hospitable accommodation and meals. Soarin strangely found himself reluctant to abandon his bed for a few more hours. He was forced to consciousness though, as a series of rapid-fire hits bounded along the edges of his pillow and across the head of his bed.
“Go away.” He grumbled into his pillow. Ge cracked a single eye open, noting that his room was still dark. Soarin blinked groggily as a dark blue hoof tapped him on the side of the head.
“Get up, they need us.” Wave Chill insisted.
Soarin’s sleep-deprived mind ticked over slowly, still not understanding the reason for Wave chill’s urgency. “Who?” He slurred, wondering who would come knocking at this hour. His image of Rainbow Dash or Lightning Dust banging his door down popped into his mind but he quickly dismissed it, he doubted they would be foolish enough to disturb him at this early an hour.
Hopefully.
Wave Chill gave him another light tap on the side of the head. “There’s a Kaiju coming, biggest one yet. Category III, I heard.”
Soarin looked at his co-pilot suspiciously, his green eye narrowed slightly. “Is this another drill?”
“No, real. Now come on, get up.” Wave Chill insisted.
Soarin felt his fatigue wash away as a sudden surge of pre-combat jitters rose up in his gut. ‘We’re being deployed.’ He thought dumbly, rolling out of bed hastily and tangling himself up in his thin bed sheet.
“You know which way up is?” Wave Chill jeered, helping Soarin to his hooves. “You good to suit up?”
Soarin shook his head groggily. “Recaf first, then suits, then saving the world. Get your priorities right.” Soarin’s mind went blank for a moment. “What time is it?”
“’Bout half-past three. Sun will be up in few hours. There’s a ship coming for us, should be here in about twenty minutes or so.”
Soarin rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Right, good. Just point me at the nearest mug of recaf and I’ll be golden.”
Wave Chill grinned thinly. “Right this way.”
 

 
Half an hour later, Soarin found himself on the small observation deck of a small patrol cutter, Sting, quickly winging its way towards Manehatten. A few metres behind him the small command staff talked indistinctly, urging the small ship to go as fast as its powerful engines could take it. Soarin glanced back towards the small command centre idly, Wave Chill was talking cheerfully with the navigator, a small, spry looking mare who seemed pleased with the attention she was getting from the Jaeger pilot. Soarin smiled thinly, provided she didn’t get distracted and plot a course into the mountainside he didn’t care how much Wave chill chatted her up. He watched the dark landscape slip past, he probably could’ve flown faster by wing but he was happy not to, a heavy rain storm was brewing and the occasional gust of wind shook the small airship from time to time. A few splotches of fat rain splattered against the windshield with loud thuds Soarin could hear over the throaty roar of the ship’s engines. The view of the mountains jutting out of a sea of dark clouds was abruptly cut off as the ship plunged into a fogbank, replacing the panoramic sight with a swirling mass of dark grey mist.
“Ah, she’s a keeper.” Wave Chill sighed, trotting up to Soarin with a wistful look.
“Your latest girlfriend dump you already?” Soarin said back dryly, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the windshield.
“No, she’s got to steer the damn ship.” Wave Chill fired back defensively.
Soarin let out a quiet snort, allowing the short conversation to drift into companionable silence. He knew Wave chill was already in fight mode, mentally running through combat patterns and motions. If he had knuckles, the young pegasus probably would’ve been cracking them repeatedly at this point.
‘Small mercies...’ Soarin thought thankfully, his eyes slowly drifting back to the glass around him. Somewhere out there, a creature of impossible size and strength was bearing down on them, eager to destroy all in its path. Even with thee reassuring thought that he’d be fighting it in Wild Mustang, Soarin had to admit it was a little frightening. He stole a look at Wave Chill, he seemed to handling it just fine.
“You alright, Soarin?” Wave Chill asked, seemingly aware of his co-pilots slightly pensive mood.
“Yeah, fine. Just thinking.” Soarin muttered, turning his gaze back to the front window as the ship broke through the heavy cloud layer and brought the dazzling lights of Manehatten into view. The rain was pounding down in earnest now, a steady thumping that beat down on the airship like a tribe of mad drummers. For some reason he found himself thinking about the two pegasi he’d forced into the simulator yesterday.
“About?” Wave Chill prompted.
Soarin bit his lip silently. “What if I’m wrong?”
“About Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash?’ Wave Chill guessed.
Soarin nodded. To a regular pony, Wave Chill’s perceptiveness would’ve been a little creepy but to Soarin it seemed as natural as a pig wallowing in mud. They had probably logged no more than a couple of hundred hours or so in neural sync, but he swore occasionally he could catch fleeting afterthoughts from his friend even when he was alone.
“Eh, you can’t always be right. So what? You make a mistake, learn, move on.” Wave Chill said with a slight shrug.
“I know what I saw.” Soarin muttered.
“Well maybe your vision is getting a bit fuzzy old boy, I didn’t see jack-shit when they were hooked up.” Wave Chill jeered, slicking his mane back a little and looking back at the navigator. “All I saw was a pair of mares who didn't want to co-operate.”
“Thanks.” Soarin muttered dryly, tempted to give him a good kick for his trouble. Wave Chill sauntered off before Soarin could put the thought to action though, again leaving the pegasus to his own thoughts.
He returned his gaze out the rain-smeared window, wondering where Wave Chill’s sudden cockiness over the last few days had come from. He wasn’t usually so brusque. He scowled, whatever it was, he didn’t like it. Soarin brushed the thought away, it was probably just a phase Wave Chill was going through, he was young and overconfident, dare Soarin even say a little blind and naive.
Sting powered over the city, dipping lower and lower until the outer suburbs of Manehatten drifted by only a few hundred metres below them. The airship made a wide sweeping turn over the bay and lined up with a massive structure barely visible through the sheets of pouring rain, the Manehatten shatterdome.  He turned his head slightly as one of the crew slid up alongside him.
 “Sir? We’ll be touching down in a few minutes. Wind shear is pretty bad down there so we’d rather not stick around too long.” The stallion said crisply.
“Alright, could you go check on Misty and her brother, they’ve probably fallen asleep back there.” Soarin asked, jerking his head towards the back of the ship where the two former Wonderbolts had made their roost.
“Of course sir. And sir? Good luck. Give that ugly bastard one for us would you?”
Soarin smiled darkly. “Yeah, thanks.” He muttered as another suddenly squall made the ship shudder like it was being tossed around by a Kaiju. ‘Looks like we’re gonna need it.’
 

 
Barely a minute after Sting touched down outside the shatterdome, the four pilots leapt out in the pounding rain and galloped to the welcome refuge of the Shatterdome’s steel doors. the gusty wind had picked up, blasting fat drops of water into their eyes as they made the quick journey across the exposed landing pad.
“One hell of a shower.” Misty remarked as they trooped into the elevator, each of them drenched from head to hoof in water. She shook herself off, showering the other occupants of the car with a spray of water.
“Real kind of you, Misty.” Soarin deadpanned, wiping a few heavy drops off his nose with a disgusted sigh.
Misty gave him a wild grin back as the doors slid open, depositing them just short of the shatterdome’s LOCCENT. The corridors were uncharacteristically empty, the ringing Kaiju alarm was enough to clear the halls faster than even the most intimidating of drill sergeants could’ve hoped.
Though he completely understood what the alarm heralded, Soarin took some pleasure at the way it cleared the deck so quickly. Non-essential personnel scrambled aside, going to their stations or a shelter and leaving the usually bustling shatterdome almost unnervingly empty. The proverbial calm before he stepped into a Jaeger and made a storm.
The almost eerie silence evaporated as the group found its way to the command center. Everypony was at their station, talking into headsets or watching boards carefully. There was a comforting sense of efficiency about the place, everypony knew what they were doing and seemed completely at ease despite the looming threat of a Kaiju.
Michael stood at the end of the command centre, his tall form silhouetted against the ceiling to floor windows that lined the wall. He was bent over slightly, looking at a piece of paper and talking with Torque, presumably about the latest incursion. Applejack and Big Macintosh were already in their drivesuits, the pair waiting anxiously beside the main console for the others to arrive. As they trotted closer, the conversation started drifting through the general clamour of the packed control room.
“-and then the quarterback, that’s this guy here, catches the snap and either hands it off, throws it to an open player or runs up field.” Torque explained.
“So it’s basically American football? Seems pretty much the same.” Michael said with a small frown.
Torque looked at him blankly. “I’ll take you word for it.”
Michael pointed vaguely at his forehead. “What about your unicorns and pegasi, can they play?”
“They play in different leagues, the Unicorn Major League can be pretty, uh, interesting.” Torque explained, coughing politely as he realised they had drawn a small crowd.
“Hoofball, huh?” Misty asked, looking slightly unimpressed. “You’re really talking about sport at a time like this?”
“Lady, this is hoofball. Calling it a ‘sport’ makes it sound like it’s optional.” Torque protested.
Misty glared at him silently.
Michael flashed Misty a nasty smile. “Nice to see you too, grumpy guts, don’t like being up this early?”
“I’d prefer the world to start at a more reasonable hour.” She admitted sourly.
“Well, sadly, the Kaiju aren’t quite so accommodating. As you would’ve heard, it appears we have one coming in. Category III, big bastard. Latest telemetry indicates he’s heading to Bolton, should be there in about three or four hours.” Michael explained.
“What’s the plan sir?” Soarin asked.
“Despite what our griffon friend has assured us, we’re still waiting for a few squadrons of Broadways. We haven’t got enough to move all four Jaegers at once, not that I could join you anyway.”
It suddenly obvious that Shane hadn’t joined Michael in the LOCCENT, despite his usual eagerness for a chance to deploy.
“Shane’s come down with some sort of stomach virus, he can barely get out of bed. Piloting a Jaeger is a bit beyond him at the moment, despite what he thinks on the matter.” Michael explained at the blizzard of questing looks.
“We’ll go first, we can handle this.” Misty volunteered.
“You’re all going.” Michael said firmly. “Back each other up, stay close enough so you can support each other. It’ll be a tough fight. I’ll keep an eye on you from here.”
“We’ve dealt with Cat IIIs before, shouldn’t be too hard.” Wave Chill said dismissively.
“In the simulator. I don’t think I should have to remind you just how different a real fight is, the computer isn’t nearly as good as I’d like it to be.” Michael warned him. “No risk taking, alright? No glory seeking, that goes for you too, Misty.”
“Yes sir.” She grumbled sullenly.
“Good, no mistakes this time alright? Everyone comes home in one piece” Michael affirmed, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.
The six pilots nodded silently.
“Alright, suit up. Clock’s ticking.”
 

 
The quick briefing over, Soarin and Wave chill made their way up to the suiting rooms. A few of Wild Mustang’s ground crew were already there, running quick checks on the suit’s on-board systems and ensuring all the moving parts fitted well. It had been long enough since Soarin had worn his real drivesuit that he had almost forgotten just how unsettling it was at first, the chilling touch of the synthetic, skin-tight circuitry-suit against his fur and then the hard clamshell-like plates that covered his torso, legs and rump. The thick plates of armour had started to become a little scuffed around the edges, the blue paint starting to wear off slightly as edges the armoured plates rubbed together. He gratefully accepted his helmet from one of the technician and pulled it down over his head, the heavy piece of armour immediately synchronised up with the rest of his suit’s circuity. They had been promised full-face designs at some point but it seemed that project had been put on the back-burner for the time being.
Soarin couldn’t blame them, the three Jaegers taking shape in the construction bays at the back of the shatterdome seemed to be the real focus of attention. He felt a twinge of jealousy, the new Jaegers far outstripped anything Wild Mustang had in both speed and power; he’d had a quick look at the specifications for the new Jaeger’s reactors, they almost made Wild Mustang’s look like a steam engine in comparison. He quickly quashed the thought, as if the simple idea was somehow a betrayal of his Jaeger.
“Soarin, you alright?” Wave Chill asked, his helmet’s strap dangling jauntily as the stallion sauntered over to door from the suiting room, his heavy boots thudding against the metal floor grating loudly.
“Yeah, fine.” Soarin mumbled, tightening his helmet’s strap and following his co-pilot out into the narrow hall that lead down to where Wild Mustang would be patiently waiting for them. They passed Misty Fly and Lightning Streak in the hall, the two former Wonderbolts were almost chomping at the bit to get into their Jaeger.
“Just waiting for the farmers to clear the portal.” Misty grumbled, glaring at the solid steel door that separated them from the Jaeger bay as if somehow it would make Frontier Justice move faster. “Don’t know why they didn’t send us out first.” She muttered, wiping a bit of muck off her otherwise perfectly polished drivesuit.
Soarin shrugged, a somewhat difficult motion in the heavy suit. The shatterdome only had threeexits for the Jaegers, the two sets of main doors at the end of each bay and the massive flower-like opening in the roof which Jaegers could be winched out of. The opening had been dubbed the portal, it was almost like their own mini-breach, except only Jaegers came out of their one, not Kaiju. “Probably cause if you went out first you’d try soloing this bastard.”
Misty grinned slyly. “Maybe, then again, we probably could…” She looked at her brother for his assurance but he didn’t look quite as certain as she did.
Soarin chuckled. “Watch out for that ego of yours, last time I checked the drivesuits don’t grow with it. Could be painful.”
“Just shut up and get into your rust-bucket, you relic, don’t want Wave Chill getting too far off on his own now.” Misty jeered, waving her helmet at Soarin’s co-pilot.
Soarin felt a little hurt by the comment but hid his irritation impassively. He could tell Misty was just poking fun at him, but her attempt at humour was completely lost on him.
Wave Chill looked like he had just scribbled over a famous painting with a permanent marker, his ears folded back against his head and his eyes downturned. Soarin gave him a withering look before trotting down to their where their Jaeger was waiting.
“Well that was… different.” Wave Chill muttered once they’d left their comrades behind.
“It doesn’t matter.” Soarin answered gruffly. He was less aggravated about Misty calling him old than he was her calling Wild Mustang a rust bucket. She had a point though, compared to Castle Bravo it was pathetically underpowered but it was his rust bucket.
“Sorry.” Wave Chill said sheepishly, banging the top of his helmet down firmly.
Soarin looked him sternly. “Sorry? You’re sorry? You go around and talk like I’m some sort of dusty out thing you pull of out the cupboard when you need me and you’re sorry? This whole tough guy act you’ve got going on reeks. I don’t know who you’re trying to impress or what the point of it is, but it’s just insufferable.” Soarin growled.
Wave Chill deflated a little, his ears flopping down and his wings sagging a little.
Soarin let his tirade sink in for a moment. “What’s gotten into you? You’ve never been like this before, sure a little cocky at times but never flat out obnoxious.”
“Are you cross because I’m better than you at something?” Wave Chill asked accusingly.
Soarin halted in his tracks, he wasn’t exactly used to winning, he was used to placing second behind Spitfire for most of his career for starters, but he certainly hadn’t ever been stuck in last place before. He flapped his mouth open and shut a moment before dismissing the thought as ludicrous, he was neither that petty nor vain. “No, I’m just a bit irritated how much you’re letting your ‘prowess’ get to your head. You keep acting like this and you’ll end up like Misty did, assigned to the arse-end of the world because nopony can stand you.”
Wave Chill bit his lip silently, his eyes downcast.
Soarin let out a sympathetic sigh. “Now I feel like an arse. Sorry, I’m not trying to belittle you or anything, I just… just don’t want to be like her. You’re probably my closest friend besides Spitfire, heck, sometimes I think we’re pretty much family. Seeing you become like Misty just rubs me the wrong way.”
Wave Chill ran a hoof over the top of his helmet. “I get it.” He muttered. “I guess it’s just, nice, y’know, being good at something.”
Soarin slid his own helmet on and marching to the heavy door which would take them out to the Jaeger bay. “Be good all you want, just don’t let it get to your head.”
Wave Chill followed him awkwardly. “So, we’re cool then?”
“Yeah, cool.” Soarin replied curtly, standing aside so a technician could open the heavy steel door that separated them from the noisy Jaeger bay. The locking mechanism spun around smoothly as the door swung open, letting a cloud of steam into the narrow hall.
Wave Chill seemed happy enough to drop the issue and stomped out along the short gantry behind Soarin, the expanse of the brightly lit Jaeger bay spreading out beneath them. Soarin caught a glimpse of Frontier Justice being lifted skywards through the roof before the massive Jaeger’s feet vanished from sight.
The heavy conpod door swung open as the interior lighting snapped on, a cool blue light that reminded Soarin of an underwater glass bubble. Small blinking lights snapped on across the control surfaces and a cool voice spoke as they tramped to their harnesses. “Beginning launch operations. Enabling pilot to Jaeger interface, beginning primary system diagnosis.”
The heavy harness thudded down against Soarin’s back, a pair of large bolts securing his drivesuit to the reinforced frame as conpod door slammed shut with a thud, a sharp click sounding a moment later as four thick bars slid into place and locked it firmly in place.
The entire Jaeger shuddered as the crawler beneath them rolled forward. Wild Mustang snarled forward slightly as its reactor roared up to power. A thousand diagnostics pinged through the Jaeger’s network of systems, checking every last function from life support to control surfaces and fire suppression. Satisfied that everything was in working order, the computer pulsed a faint green light across the edge of the HUD.
“System scan complete.”
Soarin waved the message down with a gesture and powered on the Jaegers sensor suite as they passed through the massive set of steel doors guarding the Jaeger bay from the outside world. The world sprung into view around him, dark clouds and the foamy, choppy sea outlined in a faint shade of green as the Jaeger’s low-light cameras panned over them. He imagined the night air would be mild, a typical warm, wet spring morning that Manehatten was renowned for. If he was still in the Air Force they’d probably be patrolling down around Silver Bay, maybe he would’ve had a late night, a nice dinner in Lucky Seven’s ward room followed by a few drinks and some friendly conversation with Spitfire before bunking down to take the midmorning watch the next day. Maybe if he was lucky he would’ve had some time off to see his family.
He scowled, sharply jabbing a few of the sensors online and opening the Jaeger’s vents in preparation for transport.  He hadn’t seen any of them for over a year and a half. His youngest brother, Shady Daze would nearly be finished primary school and be onto Academy. He made a mental note to take some leave and see them once this incursion had blown over and the Mark II pilot program was on its feet.
“Thinking of your folks, Soarin?” Wave Chill asked quietly, his voice almost lost in the heavy rumble of treads and roar of engines as the crawler plunged into the warm water of Manehatten Bay.
“Yeah, guess so. Actually, just thinking of how things have changed. Two years.” Soarin muttered, letting out a contemplative sigh. “No way does it feel that long.”
Wave Chill chuckled lowly. “No way would I’ve seen myself here a few years ago.”
“Different times, different world.” Soarin mumbled, arming the six rockets idling in their launchers and setting up a practice firing solution. Satisfied, he powered the system down again. “What about your family? You miss them?” He asked offhandedly.
Wave Chill frowned darkly, flipped his visor down and turned his attention to the massive rotaries thumping through the air above them, Frontier Justice grasped securely in their harness.A moment later Castle Bravo roared overhead, hanging from eight more of the heavy lift craft. Soarin didn’t have the chance to question this, his radio crackling as another pack of the massive Broadways appearing overhead to pick Wild Mustang up.  He felt a slight pricking at the base of his spine as the Jaeger shuddered to a stop at the base of the ramp and the computer spoke again.
“All systems online, ready to activate the Jaeger.”