//------------------------------//
// Something New 
// Story: A Midsummer Night's Dream. 
// by Killbles 
//------------------------------//

	A Midsummer Night’s Dream 
        Chapter 20: Something New 

“Alert, Category III Kaiju signature detected. All personnel report to stations.”
Misty snapped wide awake in an instant, tumbling out of her chair and banging her jaw on the desk she had her legs propped up on. A moment later a tower of heavy books toppled down off the desk and landed on her head, eliciting a loud string of profanity from the mare. Her eyes watering from the sudden, sharp pain, she rolled upright, ignoring the surprised looks of the other ponies she had been sharing the library with. Misty stifled a yawn. She had hardly found a chance to sleep since her fight with Tusker, and even if she’d wanted to, the incessant ramblings of a dark and twisted form seemed to always invade her thoughts, telling her about various brands of confetti, the benefits of chocolate milk in a balanced diet and generally other nonsensical things.
‘Must’ve dozed off.’ She thought sleepily, staggering with as much dignity and haste as she could manage towards the door. She couldn’t remember why she’d been in the library but it must’ve been important, she’d made a veritable fortress of solitude out of nearly two score various books.
Her first thought was to find Lightning Streak. No doubt her brother would’ve heard the alert by now but you could never quite know, sometimes he would truly do some stupid stuff at the worst of times. She pushed past a few confused cadets and made her way down towards one of the academy's exercise halls. It was probably no later than eight if the high moon and her somewhat whacked body clock as any indication. Something about the alert seemed distinctly wrong to Misty but she couldn’t quite place a hoof on it, not at least until she’d half galloped, half staggered into the Kwoon room. It came quite suddenly, like a train hitting a surprised Timberwolf.
The academy doesn’t have an alert system.
The thought had barely registered in Misty's mind before a bag of confetti opened over her head and an impossibly loud party whistle shrilled in her ear.
“What th-?”
“Happy birthday!” Pinkie Pie yelled, jumping down from the spot above the doorframe she’d somehow been hiding in.
Misty simply stared in blank shock, her mind quite unable to process what had happened. She tried to grasp at something rational, something she could understand. Her mind immediately skipped over Pinkie, if the last few weeks she’d spent observing the hapless recruit was any indication, Pinkie Pie and rationality didn’t go hand in hand. She tried instead to get a grip on the room but immediately gave up. It was covered from ceiling to floor in streamers, balloons, big, frustratingly happy signs and filled with ponies she either didn’t know and didn’t want to be around or ones she did know and really didn’t want anything to do with right now. At least half of them looked as surprised to be at the party as she did, almost as if they’d been plucked from whatever they’d been doing and simply dropped in the hall.
“I-?” Misty stammered, the only sane thing she could reasonably latch onto being the slightly overfilled punchbowl in the corner. “What?”
“Well a certain somepony told me it was your birthday today so I couldn’t help myself and organised a super-duper party for you. It’s sort of my thing.” Pinkie explained proudly. “It’s great, right?”
Misty just flapped her mouth open and shut like goldfish. “The- what? Who?”
Pinkie seemed to understand her just fine though. “Oh the alert? That was just to get you down here. I had to ask a lot of favours to get that one put out.”
Misty felt herself shaking slightly. Had Pinkie really just fooled her that easily? She clenched her teeth almost instinctively. She wasn’t sure whether to be angry or just plain confused.
“You set off the alarm, which doesn’t even exist, just to get me down here, for a party I don’t want and certainly didn’t ask for.” Misty said, her voice almost deathly clam.
Pinkie considered this for a moment, blissfully unaware of how close Misty was to crossing the line into explosive anger. “Yes.”
For a moment Misty missed the sensation of being able to clench fists. It probably wouldn’t have helped temper her simmering anger, but at least she tried. 
“WHY?!” Misty yelled. 
“Because it’s your birthday and who doesn’t enjoy a good party?” Pinkie asked, delicately plopping a striped party hat on Misty’s head before bouncing off with an ear-grating song spouting from her mouth.
Misty glared after her, her teeth grinding together like millstones. She felt a hot surge of embarrassment creep over her and for a moment, Misty had the overwhelming urge to just sit down and cry. The tips of her ears turned red and Misty felt like everypony was staring at her, her usual bravado and cocksure attitude retreating under a wave of embarrassment. 
‘No.’ She thought resolutely, the pink mare may’ve thought she had outsmarted her and made her look like an idiot in front of the academy but she would show her what she really thought. She scowled, her embarrassment being replaced by manufactured anger as she started looking around for Pinkie. She stormed through the crowd, her eyes flashing dangerously, but the pink mare seemed to have vanished as quickly as she had appeared. 
“Nice hat.” Lightning Streak said, appearing out of the crowd like a ghost and trotting alongside her with a stupid smile. 
Misty’s head jerked to the side, a fierce scowl aimed squarely at her brother. She wanted to say something but held back her words, unable to think of anything that could appropriately sum up what she thought about the hat. 
“Oh, great. She’s angry.” Lightning Streak muttered just loudly enough for Misty to hear him. 
“You think?” Misty snapped back, batting the bright party hat off her head with the tip of a wing.
“I think a lot of things. Right now I’m wondering why you are hunting down a particular mare to give her a piece of your mind.” He asked accusingly.
Misty hesitated for a fraction of second, he sounded like his patience was being sorely tested by something. She gritted her teeth though and ignored the cautious feeling that swelled in her gut. “That stupid mare made me look like an idiot in front of half of the academy.” Misty fumed, her eyes still sweeping the crowd for the pony in question.
“Idiot?” Lightning Streak questioned incredulously.
“Yeah, idiot. Laughing Stock. Fool. Don’t you remember how to use words?” She snarled indignantly. “Didn’t you see everypony laughing at me?”
“Nopony was laughing at you, I don’t think anypony really noticed you arrive, honestly.” Lightning Streak said calmingly.
Misty felt her cheeks burn red. “Well obviously you weren’t paying attention then.” She snapped brusquely.
 “Sis, you’re taking this way out of proportion. Nopony is laughing at you, Pinkie certainly didn’t mean to make you look like an idiot so why don’t you just cool your jets and enjoy-.”
“But she did!” Misty yelled, attracting the gaze of several ponies who happened to be standing nearby.
Lightning Streak let out an exasperated sigh. “Not this again…” He muttered bitterly. 
“That idiotic, feather-brained… lunatic!” Misty started spluttering, painfully unaware of how much attention her remarks were earning. 
Lightning Streak quickly intervened, pulling his sister aside before she blew a fuse. He forcefully pushed her out of the hall the impromptu party was being hosted in and shoved her into a janitors closet and slammed the door shut behind him before Misty could fight back.
It took Misty a moment to realise that she wasn’t surrounded by ponies anymore. “How dare you-.”.
“Misty, you have got to calm down!” He interrupted crossly.
“Me? Calm down? You see what I’m dealing with here? How can you expect me to calm down?!” Misty yelled back.
“Yeah, I know, I was there. “He muttered scathingly. “Look, maybe it’s a bit tiring for you but you’ve just got to put up with it, you’re better than that.” He scolded.’
Misty seemed set to erupt again. “Tiring!” She shrieked, her voice rising in pitch.”That mare is a lunatic, a plain rotten, demented, psycho! She made me look like an idiot in front of everypony!” 
“Misty, shut up.” Lightning Streak said seriously, his eyes cold like a blizzard. “Just for once in your life, shut up and listen.”
Amazingly Misty fell quiet. It was rare for Lightning Streak to have such cold conviction in his voice. In fact, Misty couldn’t remember the last time his voice had sounded so deadly. 
Content that he now had her attention Lightning Streak continued. “This mare has gone out of her way to do something nice for you. When was the last time somepony has ever done that for you?” He paused for a moment his eyes locked on his sister’s. “That’s right, you probably can’t even remember. Not only that, but this is the same mare that you almost immediately declared a write-off as soon as she stepped into this academy. Has it possibly occurred to you that she’s not trying to undermine you, that she’s not trying to make you look like an idiot but is simply doing something nice, because she can?”
“No.” Misty admitted after a moment of strained silence. Even in the dim light, her expression was clearly one of complete dumbfoundment, why would somepony just do that?
Lightning Streak let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, I know it’s your ‘thing’ to just be better than everypony else, lord yourself over anypony who doesn’t measure up to your impossibly high standards and get fired up any time somepony does something out of step, but you can’t keep doing this. I thought you’d learned your lesson with Applejack, but clearly you’ve just ignored that in the face of your ego.”
“You just expect me to bend over and take it then?” Misty snapped back hotly.
“No, but I expect you to reign yourself in a little. You start to explode like that again and I’m outta here, I’m walking right out and nothing you say or do will bring me back.”
“What, you’ll just quit?” Misty asked, a disbelieving smile breaking across her face.He had to be joking. Yes, he was known for his bad jokes at times but this was just too far. 
“Yup.”
Misty found herself laughing nervously. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Not for a second. You pull your head in or I’m gone.”
Misty stared at him in silent disbelief, Lightning Streak had almost been a constant in her life. They’d done everything together and despite what she’d admit in public, she loved her brother more than anypony else in the world. She was the only family that she had left and he was the only pony she was close with, even if their relationship was strained on occasions.
“No, no. Don’t do that, don’t you dare screw with me.” She threatened, one of her forehooves twitching off the ground slightly. “Don’t you dare…”
Lightning Streak looked at her unflinchingly. “I mean it. Every last word”
Misty took half a step backwards. “Don’t screw with me. Not you. Please, not you.” She said again, her snarling threat turning into a desperate plea.
“Misty…” Lightning Streak said apologetically, realising he may’ve gone a little too far.
“Don’t go.” Misty choked, throwing her forelegs around Lightning Streak’s neck and pulling him into a tight hug. She wiped her eyes with a wing, not wanting him to notice that they were starting to well up with tears.
Lightning Streak sighed quietly and returned the hug. It was probably the first time he’d seen Misty display an emotion besides anger or contempt for several years. The iron walls which Misty habitually build around herself came crashing down and all her emotional uncertainty came flooding out. For a few seconds the pegasus was reduced to a quivering, sobbing mess.
“Aww, jeez…” He muttered.
“You’ve always been there. Always. No matter what I’ve done or said you’ve always stuck around. Whatever happened, I always knew you’d be there for me.”
Lightning Streka let out a quiet chortle. “Not that you ever needed me.”
She ignored his jab. “I’d be nothing without you. Not a Wonderbolt, not a Ranger. Not Castle Bravo. Nothing. I’d be a washout” Misty said with a quiet sniffle. 
“Don’t say that. You're one of the most talented ponies I know Misty. You’ve always had a fierce drive… maybe just a little too fierce.”
Misty let out a choked giggle. “It doesn’t help that everypony else is just so stupid.” She said, pulling away from her brother with a guilty look. It was hard to swallow her pride but if it meant keeping Lightning Streak it was something she could manage, the alternative just wasn’t an option. 
“Misty, are you crying?” 
“No..,” She said, turning her head and wiping her eyes clear with a wing. Misty took a slow breath, feeling the jitters flow out of her body and a slight sense of calm return. “You’re a right bastard.” She muttered accusingly. 
“Yeah, probably.” Lightning Streak admitted. “But I knew it would make you pull your head in a bit.”
“I want to make something clear. If our situations were swapped and I was the only one in the world you could rely on, I would never do that to you. I would never threaten you like that.” Misty hissed venomously. “Is that clear?”
Lightning Streak nodded. “Crystal.”
“Right, what do you want me to do then?” Misty asked as nicely as she could manage, blinking her stinging eyes clear again.
“Well, I want to you to try and do two things for me, okay? First, I want to you try and keep your temper under control. Vent to me if you have to, but do it in private. Second, I need to you go back out there and try to enjoy your party. You don’t have to talk to anypony if you don’t want to but just stick around for a little bit. I’d really appreciate it.”
A dark look crossed Misty’s face. “I don’t think I could do that, when was the last time I enjoyed a party?”
“Probably when you turned thirteen. It was just me, you, mum and dad. Dad brought home pizza and mum made you a cake that looked like the Wonderbolt’s emblem. I remember you ate so much pizza that mum thought you’d just vacuumed it up. I got you a plushie of Captain Raze, you didn’t let that thing out of your sight for a week.”
A flicker of a smile crossed Misty’s face as she recalled the event. He was right, it had been a good party. “I miss them.” She whispered. 
Lightning Streak sniffled quietly and rubbed his nose with a hoof. “I know.”
The two siblings sat in companionable silence. Lightning Streak wrapping a wing around his sister and pulling her close. 
“I’m sorry.” He said, tucking her head under his chin. “I shouldn’t have done that to you.”
“I probably deserved it.” Misty remarked bitterly.
A bemused smirk appeared on his face. “Probably?”
“Okay, maybe I deserved it.” Misty jeered. “And maybe you deserve a size 23 boot up your arse.”
He let out a snort of amusement. “That sounds more like the Misty I know… can I have the nice Misty back please?”
 Misty let out a quiet scoff of amusement. 
Lightning Streak retracted his wing. “There’s a party going on out there with your name all over it, you ready?”
Misty let out a quiet sigh. “Ready as I’m ever going to be.”

***

The aftermath of Misty’s surprise party was better than Lightning Streak expected. Misty returned to the party with as good a grace as she could manage and managed to get through without grinding her teeth down to stumps. The days immediately following it were equally bearable. Misty barely talked to anypony, instead stewing silently during lessons and only snapping out mild rebukes in place of long winded rants. Perhaps she didn’t want to admit that her brother had a point or maybe she was still raw after his threat, but whatever the reason, Lightning Streak enjoyed the short time without his sister flying off the handle at every little thing. He could still tell she was fuming internally but at least she appeared to making an effort to keep her temper in check.
Pinkie remained blissfully oblivious to the pegasus’ ire and carried on in her perpetually cheerful manner just like she always did. She even seemed to have wisened up a little in the face of Misty’s criticism, Lightning Streak actually saw her wrestling with her sister from time to time though he was unsure if they were actually properly sparring or just messing around. He swore he even caught her paying attention during one of the Kaiju biology lectures a visiting K-Science representative was giving. 
A sort of monotonous pattern started forming. Lightning Streak would wake up, run simulator drills with promising cadets, observe the rest of them in training, eat, watch his sister stew silently, train more and then go to bed. Although he hated to admit it, Misty flying off the handle every now and then did make his life more interesting. Week after week trudged past wearily and the end of the second trimester started looming on the horizon. The most interesting and lengthy conversation he’d had with his sister had been about table salt and the only relief Lightning Streak found from the almost unbearable tediousness was when Pinkie did something funny, like completely fill his quarters with balloons in under an hour or wear a silly mustache for a day for no discernible reason other than that she liked it.
It was quite a welcome change then, when two weeks before the end of the term, something interesting happened.  
The first indication that something was happening was the rapid clip-clopping of many hooves hitting concrete and the distinctive scrape of metal rubbing against metal. The Lightning Streak barely had time to process this sound before a trio of guards appeared around a corner and galloped down the corridor he’d found himself in. Not wanting to become a red and blue smear across the ground he quickly darted out of their way, swearing as the small group rushed past him like a charging bull. He glared after the three ponies angrily before a sudden surge of curiosity made him take after them.
Usually such a thing would go unnoticed by Lightning Streak, it wasn’t his business to go snooping around when it came to things concerning others. He was exceptionally bored though, Misty had already turned in for the night and the few cadets under his care had been given the luxury of a night off from drills. Whatever had prompted these guards to bolt off like they had been whipped was certainly more interesting than practicing alone for an hour or two.
“What’s going on?” He asked as he caught up with one of the three guards.
“One of the alarms in the simulators tripped. Somepony is in there when they shouldn’t be.” She said back, an almost disturbing amount of pleasure in her voice. 
“Intruders, great.” He muttered, tempted to drop out of the chase and go find a nice book to read instead. He abstained though, swooping along behind the guards. An extra hoof never hurt after all and the unexpected break-in promised to be the most exciting thing to happen for a while.
The three guards rounded on the simulator hall like they were running a race, the lead one stopping abruptly as they reached the one clearly active simulator. 
“Something wrong?” Lightning Streak asked.
“Whoever is in there didn’t force their way in,” The guard explained cautiously. “Either they know the codes or they used some sort of magic.”
Lightning Streak frowned. Only a handful of ponies knew the codes to access the simulators and none of them would not have been so stupid or careless as to set the alarm off. A unicorn could have teleported in but that seemed unlikely, there were no unicorns in the current batch of cadets who were simulator ready for starters and blind teleportation wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for most unicorns either. 
“Hold it there guys, I think I know who’s behind this.” Lightning Streak muttered, waving the guards back a few steps and punching in the access code for the simulator. The heavy door swung open and to his complete lack of surprise, revealed Pinkie and Maud bedecked in a pair of gunmetal grey practice drivesuits. 
Lightning Streak shook his head slowly. “Why am I not surprised?”
Pinkie turned around to look at him, completely unconcerned with the trio of frustrated looking guards behind the pegasus. “Oh hey!”
“When they said there were intruders I imagined something a bit scarier.” Lightning Streak said, for some reason finding something remarkably funny about the situation. He turned to the three flustered guards and shooed them away, confident he could deal with the two sisters alone. 
“Intruders? How’d they get in? Intruda window?” Pinkie giggled. 
“You shouldn’t be in here.” Lightning Streak said quietly. 
Pinkie considered this for a moment. “Well, yeah…” She trailed off innocently.
“Most would ask how you got in here, but I think for the sake of my sanity I’d rather just leave it my imagination.” Lightning Streak continued, trotting into the simulator. Only a few of the lights were lit and the front view screen was dark. He motioned to the lifeless screen. “You need access to the control room to get this to work you know, just for future reference next time you decide to break in.”
Pinkie and Maud shared a look. “Oh, that makes sense. Where’s the control room?”
“Pinkie, what are you doing here?” Lightning Streak asked patiently, idly flicking a few switches. 
The pink pony seemed to realise the potential trouble she could be in  “Practicing? Trying to practice? Trying not to get caught while pract-”
Lightning Streak let out a deep sigh and trotted around to the front console. “Look Pinkie… I’m just not sure your cut out for this. Great at parties, pranks and picnics, yeah. Fighting? Ehh, not so much. Sorry.” 
Pinkie looked at Muad and then back at the pegasus. “Let us try, please.” She begged. It was the most serious Lightning Streak had ever seen her, for once it didn’t sound like she was about to deliver a punchline. 
“Why should I?” He asked, staring straight at Pinkie. “Come on, convince me.”
Pinkie looked down at the gated floor for a moment before looking back at the Ranger. “All I ever wanted to do is make ponies smile and be happy. To feel good and… stuff. I’ve seen firsthand what the Kaiju do to ponies they make them sad, they make them frightened and scared. I don’t like that.”
“And you would do anything to make them happy again. Even if that means fighting, several thousand ton alien monsters?”
Pinkie smiled weakly. 
“You’re not a warrior, Pinkie.” Lightning Streak said firmly. 
“No.” Pinkie admitted. 
“You see my problem then?” He asked.
The earth pony sighed sadly and looked down at the ground again. “I understand.” 
Lightning Streak felt a pang of guilt. Pinkie and Maud were probably some of the most capable candidates they had compatibility wise, even if he hadn’t read their file just seeing the two around each other made it plain to see. Their marks were abysmal though, Pinkie was failing both the physical and theoretical parts of the coursework. Maud was a bit better though her stoney persona was frustrating her psych instructors to no end and her occasional bouts of literal mindedness caused some issues in her classes. A little mischievous voice in his head told him to boot the simulator up but he forced it down, he could only imagine what Misty would think. 
‘Stuff her!’ He thought, slamming his hoof down on the deck resolutely. “Pinkie, Maud, wait here.” He said,a determined gleam in his eye.
The two sisters looked up, but he had already left the simulator, a quick flash of his tail in the door the only indication that he’d been there at all. A minute later a hundred lights flickered on across the control board and a low thrumming echoed around the conpod. A wide grin split Pinkie’s face as the intercom crackled to life.
“Okay, I could quite possibly be putting my career at risk here but you know what, so what? Screw it! You two have potential, much more than your grade would imply. So let’s do this thing.”

***

“Misty. Misty, wake up.” 
Misty Fly ignored the voice, pressing her face into her pillow and dutifully banishing it from her mind. Privately, Misty enjoyed the small measure of comfort the Jaeger Academy offered over the Shatterdome. The beds were softer, her dorm was larger and the food was better. Most importantly, she enjoyed being in charge. The feeling of being able to get a full nights sleep and not be roused to a random drill at the whim of a superior was an almost euphoric sensation to her.
“Come on, sis, get up.” The voice nagged persistently again.
Misty cracked an eye open, a dark and fuzzy Lightning Streak slowly coming into view.
“Piss off.” She grumbled flatly.
“Nice to see you too. Come on you featherbrain, get up.” Lightning Streak persisted.
“Are we under attack?” Misty asked tiredly.
“No.”
“Then it can wait.” She muttered sourly, rolling over so she was facing away from her brother. 
Lightning Streak didn’t relent, jumping up onto her bed and bouncing up and down excitedly next to Misty like he was a foal.
Her patience lasted a gratifyingly short time. Misty rolled over again, hurling her sheet at Lightning Streak and shoving him off the bed with an explosive groan. “WHAT?!” She yelled. 
Unperturbed, Lightning Streak poked his muzzle through the sheet tangled over his head. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“And it couldn’t wait?” She growled dangerously.
“Nope.”
“Is it really that important?” 
“Yep.”
The two pegasi maintained eye contact for a few long seconds, Misty’s irritation almost visible in the form of mental rays. “I hate you sometimes.” She grumbled.
“I know, I love you too.” Lightning Streak said back, happily wearing a dorky grin as he tried shaking off the sheet his sister had thrown over him.
Misty considered going back to bed for a moment before relenting, her blood was pumping and it would probably take her a good hour or so to calm down and get back to her all-important slumber. “Alright, fine. Just give me a moment to make myself look decent.” She muttered scathingly, ripping the bedsheet off her brother and neatly tucking it back into the bed. She took a moment to brush her messy mane back into place before trudging out after her giddy looking sibling. 
“What time is it?” She yawned, noticing the sky was still dotted with stars.
“Don’t know, I’ve had about five cups of recaf in the last hour though and it’s making my head feel funny.” Lightning Streak answered quickly, turning around and waving her forward “Come on, hurry up!”
“Get a grip on yourself, you’re acting like a giddy little filly.” Misty growled,
“Well excuse me princess.” Lightning Streak shot back cheerfully. “It doesn’t hurt to be excited about something every now and then.”
“I think you’ve been having a too much recaf…” Misty muttered sourly. “Now, where are you taking me?”
“Simulators.”
Misty let out an exasperated sigh. “Dare I ask why?”
“Because there’s something I want to show you.” Lightning Streak answered irritably. “If you opened your ears you would know that by now.”
“Yeah, but what?” Misty persisted.
“It’s a surprise.”
Misty gritted her teeth silently, it wasn’t usually like Lightning Streak to hide something from her. It seemed him standing up to her a few days ago had given him a small measure of courage. She growled quietly, reminding herself that she was still angry over his threat. Grudgingly accepting that she wouldn’t get anything more out of him, she followed him in frustrated silence, the quiet clack of hooves echoing down the hallway the only sound in the deserted building. They quickly reached the simulator hall, Lightning Streak’s caffeine induced state lending him a sense of urgency he very rarely displayed. He guided Misty past the banks of simulators and into the long control room at the end of the hall. She noted that one of the machines was active, the low, steady thrum of electricity and a few rapidly blinking lights tipping her off. 
“Alright, what am I looking at?” She demanded impatiently. 
Lightning Streak took a second to consider how to break whatever news he had. “For the last two and a half hours I’ve been running Pimkie and Maud through the simulator.” He answered, deciding that using the subtlety of a wrecking ball was the best way to go.
Misty laughed heartily. “Good one, I see your sense of humour is still rubbish. Thank you for waking me up for nothing.” She said, finishing with an annoyed snarl and moving to wheel around. 
“I’m not joking. See for yourself.” He said, activating the simulator’s interior camera feed and bringing a slightly fuzzy image of the two earth ponies into view.  
 Misty’s eyes bulged. “Please tell me this is some sick joke, those two can’t even- .”
“They are very good, if you’d just give them a damn chance.” Lightning Streak growled defensively.
“Those psychos-.” Misty started.
“Those ‘psychos’, have maintained a stable drift since I started, I think that has to be worth something.” He interrupted. “You can see for yourself if you don't believe me.” he added, directing Misty to the mission data screen. 
“I- They- What?” Misty spluttered, her eyes bouncing between the numbers on the monitor, her brother and the camera feed like they were rubber balls. She eventually seemed to gain a small measure of her composure and her eyes drilled into Lightning Streak. “You undermined me!” She exclaimed indignantly. 
“You have no more authority on the matter than me. You know that.” Lightning Streak said calmly. “Now shut your damn judgemental ego up and watch them.”
“But-!”
“Misty, trust me. Please.” Lightning Streak begged.
Misty’s eyes dropped to the floor and she let out a long, irritated sigh. “Fine.” She muttered, dragging a chair over to the console and watching the data like a hawk. She wanted to yell at him, tell him he was wrong and that she was right but for once, she knew she was wrong.
“Thank you.” Lightning Streak said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I mean it.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Misty muttered sourly, letting out another regretful sigh. “Sorry...” She added, a trace of sincerity in her voice. 
Lightning Streak smiled. “Don’t sweat it.” He said thankfully, turning to the microphone and switching it on. “Alright girls, you two ready?”
“You betcha, Streakster!” 
“Streakster?” Misty asked, biting her tongue so she wouldn’t let out a scornful laugh.
“Shut up.” Lightning Streak shot back, his face turning a faint red. He turned back to the microphone. “Alright, we’re gonna run just an easy exercise. I’ve got Misty up here now so I want you to show her what you can do.” 
“Advanced terrain course?” Misty asked incredulously as he booted up the mission. “That’s easy?”
“It is for them.” Lightning Streak said back proudly. 
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Misty said, the faintest trace of curiosity in her voice. 
‘Good, maybe she’ll warm up to these two.’ Lightning Streak thought, loading the mission  “Might want to grab a recaf, this could be a long night.” 

***

The next few hours seemed to blend together in a strange mixture of recaf, Pinkie’s occasional nonsense and an almost constant stream of incredulous and condescending  looks and language Misty threw out. As the two sisters mastered every challenge thrown at them It became increasingly apparent, even to somepony as stubborn as Misty, that the two earth ponies had an incredible amount of talent. The impromptu session carried on for hours, neither of the earth ponies showing any sign of fatigue, mental or physical. It was only when the door to the control centre opened and Soarin and Wave Chill sauntered in, that Lightning Streak realised that they had been cooped up for nearly six whole hours. 
“Morning.” Soarin said cheerily as he passed, he and Wave Chill casually working their way down towards one of the other control stations. “Didn’t know you two would be in here this morning.”
“Neither did I.” Misty grunted under her breath. 
Soarin trotted over curiously. “Who’ve you got in there?”
“Pinkie and Maud.” Lightning Streak answered, gratefully accepting a pastry that Soarin offered him from a positively overflowing plate he was carrying. 
“Oh that’s nice- wait, what?” Soarin spluttered, doing a quick double take. He peered over Lightning Streak’s shoulder at the camera feed into the simulator. “You can’t mean those two crazy earth ponies who organised that neat party for Misty?” 
Lightning Streak grinned. “Yep, that’s them.”
Soarin blinked slowly as his brain digested the information. If Lightning Streak listened closely he could probably hear the gears turning in the stallion’s brain. “I didn’t think they were passing.” He said slowly.
“They weren’t.” Misty answered crossly. 
“Then why-?”
“I gave them a shot,” Lightning Streak interrupted “I’m probably gonna get chewed out for it but, hey, they’re good. I’m considering giving them their first combat sim later this afternoon if there’s a spot free.”
Soarin's jaw dropped, it had taken weeks for any of the cadets, even the seemingly gifted ones like Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, to be combat ready. “How long have they been at it?”
“About six hours.” Misty yawned widely, trying to look at the readouts on her display and not at the smug look her brother was wearing. 
“Six hours.” Soarin echoed incredulously, sure he’d misheard the mare. “Straight?”
“Yeah, they seem to have a knack for it.” Lightning Streak replied looking at his sister with the sort of look that screamed ‘I told you so’.
“Holy shit.” Soarin muttered, borrowing a phrase he had heard Shane utter more than once when something surprised him. 
“Yeah, they’re great.” Misty grumbled darkly.
“She’s just jealous.It took us this long just to get a stable drift going.” Lightning Streak said cheerfully, ignoring his sister’s scowl. “These two though? First try. Heck, I could probably link them with just a pair of rusty iron cables and they’d still drift fine.”
“That’s incredible.” Soarin said, his jaw still hanging slack. “And the drills?”
“Picked it up first time, all of them. We barely had to tell them anything. They just… knew. It’s a little creepy actually.” Lightning Streak admitted, shifting in his chair slightly.  
Soarin shook his head in amazement again. “Amazing. And to think…”
“That they were going to be writeoffs?” Lightning Streak finished, looking at Misty accusingly. 
“Don’t villianise me.” She grumbled indignantly, pressing herself against the back of her chair as if she thought she could simply vanish into it.
“As if I’d ever do that.” Lightning Streak said innocently. 
“Yeah, right.” Misty growled, rising up off her chair and sulking out of the control centre.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to bed, it’s half past eight. If you disturb me again today I’ll string you up and hang you from the roof.” She snapped tiredly before slamming the door shut behind her.
“She seems to be in good mood.” Wave Chill commented dryly from the other end of the room.
“Yes, she didn’t pull anypony’s head off for starters... what did you do?” Soarin asked, rounding on Lightning Streak curiously.  
“I do a lot of things.” Lightning Streak answered defensively. 
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her quite as pissed off at you before ,what’d you do? Steal her brush? Hide a snake in her bed? Put soy milk in her recaf?”
Lightning streak let out an amused scoff. “No, I told her I was going to leave if she didn’t cool her jets.”
“Hmm, that’s why the academy’s been so quiet.” Wave Chill remarked from the other end of the room.
“That’s cold.” Soarin said, shaking his head slowly. “Did you know when Spitfire promoted her, Misty was only going to take the position if you went with her?” 
“I thought that transfer was an error, a simple mistake? That’s what she told me.”
“I don’t. Misty is the type to talk about her feelings out loud.” Soarin said with a small smile.  “She’s never loved anypony, only you.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.” 
“Look, I don’t like Misty as much as the next pony but... nopony deserves that, to be alone.” Soarin said softly. “We excel when we work together, not we fight among ourselves.”
Lightning Streak let out a tired sigh. “You’re right, I hate it that you’re always right.” He muttered, rubbing an eye tiredly. “Just... it’s so embarrassing, so frustrating when she loses her top. Sometimes I just put up with it but I don’t know what came over me the other day, I just couldn’t stand to see her explode over literally nothing.”
“We all hit out limits at some point.” Soarin reassured him.
“Not too sure about that. Have you ever hit your limit?”
“Once. I hope it never happens again.” Soarin said, taking a warm croissant in his mouth and taking a large bite out of it. 
Lightning Streak strained his mind for a time when the usually calm stallion had ever lost his cool completely. Struggling to come with a moment he looked back up at Soarin. “What happened?”
Soarin flashed him a weak smile, chewing on his croissant silently. 
“Ah, I get it.” Lightning Streak yawned. “Well, I guess I should probably follow Misty. I think I’m going to fall asleep in my chair otherwise.”
“Probably not a bad idea, give those two a break as well.” Soarin said, gesturing vaguely to the simulator with a wing.
Lightning didn’t answer him, just nodding his head slightly.
Soarin watched him for a moment. “Lightning, what are you doing?”
A quiet snore answered him. 
The stallion let out an amused snort. “Out like a rock.”
. 

***

For possibly the first time in his life, Soarin found the throaty roar of an airship's engines annoying. He could hear it clearly, a slightly higher pitched whine, an off-pitch note of complaint from the forward starboard engine as it spun just a little faster than the rest of the engines. 
‘Sloppy.’ He thought, glaring up from the observation deck towards the small bridge behind him. Whoever had the helm was apparently deaf. He gritted his teeth, trying to not focus on the odd sound. He flicked over another page in the magazine, it was a mindbogglingly boring article, but it was infinitely better than stressing over the sound of a slightly out of sync engine. He glared irritably at his copilot. Wave Chill was dozing on the lounge opposite him, his head resting on his forelegs and his chest rising and falling softly, seemingly unconcerned by the noise.
“Soarin, I’m bored.”
Soarin looked up slightly, Rainbow Dash had dropped down from the roost she and Lightning Dust had made at the back of the observation deck. The other pegasus seemed to have fallen asleep as well, her mustard tail hanging lazily and swinging slightly as the airship occasionally shuddered.. 
“Well it’s a half-hour flight. I’m sure you can amuse yourself somehow.” He said politely. 
“When you’re as fast as me, half an hour is a long time.” Rainbow scowled. 
Soarin wondered if he could block his ears without her noticing. He’d lost count of how many times he’d heard her say something to that effect since he and Wave Chill had dropped the news on them three days ago. He hit himself internally, how had he ever thought telling Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust that they’d be going to test a Jaeger in advance was a good idea? Ever since he’d told them the two pegasi had practically been chomping at the bit to get out of the academy and into the shatterdome. They were actually very lucky to be going at all, in the wake of Pinkie and Maud’s exceptional performance over the last few weeks following their unexpected promotion to the simulators it had seemed more likely that the two earth ponies would be claiming a Jaeger first. It was only at Soarin’s insistence that the marshalls changed their mind, giving the test run of the newly finished Daring Dragoon to the two pegasi rather than Maud and Pinkie. It had been a slightly controversial point with Misty, the furious pegasus suddenly jumping to the defence of her trainees despite the indifference she had previously shown them.
“Can’t this thing fly any faster? What’s the point of having a nice ‘fast’ airship if it flies at the speed of an old mare doing her shopping?” Rainbow Dash complained, glaring out at the passing scenery from the large observation deck.
Soarin looked up from the magazine he was reading, fixing the mare with a soft glare.  “You could really do with a little more patience. Enjoy the world, enjoy the opportunities where there’s nothing immediately pressing, no paperwork, no drills, nopony yelling at you. Those moments are what you should live for. Try it out some time.” He suggested before flicking over to the next page. 
“I like napping.” Rainbow pointed out, as if she were correcting an error on a test he’d taken.
Soarin looked up again. “That’s a start I guess. I always enjoy finding a nice cloud to curl up and waste an afternoon on. I admit that’s a bit of a luxury now though.” He added quietly.
Rainbow nodded. “There’s a difference between wasting your own time and somepony else wasting it for you though.” She muttered sourly. “I could fly faster than this hunk of junk.” the pegasus added, attracting a few glares from some the airship’s crew who were within earshot.
“Your point is noted. However, we have appearances to keep.” Soarin chided her softly, putting his magazine down and watching the mountains slip past quickly beneath them. The last time he’d seen the breathtaking view, he’d been on his way to fight Tusker and the mountainside had been socked in with rain and fog. Now though, the sun was shining brightly and the few, patchy clouds were high above them, revealing a stunning mosaic of greens, browns and the occasional patch of cold grey as a slope dropped off sharply.  
“How does it feel? To pilot a Jaeger?” Rainbow asked suddenly.
Soarin hesitated, unsure where to start. The spine-tingling sensation of feeling through a second skin? The slick feeling of oil pumping through his veins? The growling, barking presence which occasionally rose up in the back of his mind? The brain-numbing pain of losing a limb that wasn’t quite your own? His gut clenched at the thought and his right foreleg started prickling uncomfortably. “Different.” He summed up.
Rainbow Dash let out an amused snort. “You’re about as useful as a screen door on a battleship.” 
“Having being stationed on a battleship for a short time, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a screen door. Hot and cramped like you wouldn’t believe.” Soarin chuckled softly.
A quiet sound of annoyance escaped the mare’s mouth and she glared at Soarin like he was an obtrusive bureaucrat. “What about fighting?”
Soarin fixed her with a cold look. “It is the single most terrifying and exhilarating thing I have ever experienced. I sincerely hope that the number of Kaiju I have to fight is kept to a minimum.”
“I thought you were brave.” She stated accusingly. 
“Courage is one thing sure, but I think your regards of how brave you think you are, you tend to shake a bit when you fight something over a hundred times your size. The only thing between you and that is a few metres of iron, some wit and the pony next to you.” Soarin said levelly, tossing a look over at the sleeping Wave Chill. “I know you and Lightning Dust will make a good team. Look after her, because when it comes to it, she’s the only thing between you becoming paste on the ground.”
Rainbow almost looked a little put off. “Right, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” She said, the tiniest hint of anxiety in her voice.
Soarin gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”
“Who said I was worried? I’m not worried. Do I look worried to you?” She fired back a little too quickly.  
Soarin silently shook his head, an amused smile creeping over his face as he returned his gaze back out the window. The heavily forested mountains had started making way for cleared fields and low, rolling hills. A thin ribbon of steel snaked its way across the countryside beneath them and it didn’t take long for Soarin to spot a train; a colourful, vintage steam locomotive pulling a half-dozen cars towards Manehatten. 
“Don’t see them much anymore.” He remarked before noticing that Rainbow Dash had left his side and was now sitting closer to her silent co-pilot, a contemplative look on her face. Feeling a little foolish, he turned his gaze back out the window, watching silently as the lush countryside slowly turned into sprawling suburbs. The airship dropped slowly, avoiding the bulk of the city and instead aiming for the imposing, squat shatterdome which was nestled near the city’s extensive dockyards. The facility was buzzing with activity, a handful of the massive rotaries buzzed around like oversized bees and even from a distance Soarin could see dozens of workers clearing the main ramp in preparation for the launch.
A low throb whipped past the airship as one of the rotaries zipped past them, its freshly painted hull gleaming in the sun.
“Cheeky bugger.” One of the airship’s crew muttered as the rotary’s nose pitched up slightly before vanishing behind the shatterdome. 
Soarin peeled his attention away from the rapidly approaching shatterdome, trotting over to Wave Chill and giving the stallion a gentle prod.
“Not another dry clean- huh, whu?” Wave Chill exclaimed, his wings flailing about madly. The airship started shaking slightly as its engines kicked into reverse, slowly arresting its forward momentum.
“Get up, we’re landing.” 

***

Rainbow Dash was out of the airship before the gangway had even touched the landing pad, Lightning Dust followed barely a second behind her, her mane and tail flapping wildly in the downwash from the ship’s engines. 
The impromptu windstorm whipping wildly across the top of the shatterdome wasn’t enough to discourage a small welcome party for the arrivals though, and Rainbow Dash had barely time to notice the few ponies near the base of the gangway before a purple shape leapt on her. 
“Rainbow!” Twilight cried excitedly, giving her friend a rib-crushing hug before she could fight her off.
“Uh, hi, Twilight.” Rainbow choked back, her voice little more than a quiet squeak. She tried freeing herself from her friend’s crushing hold, aware of the silent, mocking smirk Lightning Dust was giving her.
“Oh it is so good to see you again! I wish I had visited before but I’ve been really busy. You have no idea how much I’ve had on my plate.”
Rainbow squeaked out a unintelligible response, her words being lost over the roar of the airship’s engines and the fact her lungs were virtually crushed under her friend’s hug. 
“I think she wants you to let go.” Lightning Dust droned emotionlessly. 
“Oh, yes. Of of course.” Twilight said sheepishly, letting go of the pegasus before she injured anything more than her pride, and trying to get her somewhat wild mane back into place. The airship’s engines rose to a faint whine as they cycled down and the rest of the small procession trotted down the gangway.
“Morning Princess.” Wave chill said cheerily as he passed.
“Ma’am.” Soarin said, giving the alicorn a slight nod.
“Good morning Rangers. I believe they’re are waiting for you down in the LOCCENT.”  Twilight replied.
“Better not keep them waiting then.” Soarin muttered, dodging a stray piece of plastic that tried lodging itself in his mane. “We’ll catch up with you two after the test, good luck.”
Twilight let out a quiet, content sigh as the two stallions trotted off. “Such an exciting day. No time to sit back and relax though, lots to do. Come along you two.” She said to Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash. 
Rainbow coughed awkwardly. “Twilight, I don’t think you've ever been properly introduced. This is Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust, Twilight Sparkle.”
“I know who she is.” The two mares answered in tandem, Twilight answering with a trace  of bitterness in her voice. They exchanged a glare before trotting off and leaving Rainbow behind with a sheepish look on her face. 
“Well that makes things… easy.” Rainbow grinned nervously, flapping her wings and taking after the former librarian.
“Yes, I remember you, you almost killed my friends.” Twilight said, her tone almost disturbingly friendly. 
“And I remember you flew a flimsy balloon into restricted airspace.” Lightning Dust shot back as the small group got into one of the elevators.
“How about we just put that all behind us, huh? “ Rainbow piped up, not wanting the mares to get into a brawl just yet. Who would she get behind if that happened, one of her best friends or her Jaeger’s copilot?
Twilight scowl flickered up at the hovering pegasus before going back to Lightning Dust. “Agreed.” She said, her scowl softening into a barely welcoming smile. She punched the button for the Jaeger bay and the elevator dropped smoothly, a few distant clangs and a soft mechanical whir the only things to break the tense silence. 
“So, Rainbow. How have you been?” Twilight asked eventually. “Enjoying your time at the academy.”
The thunder of heavy artillery exploding overhead flashed to the fore in Rainbow’s mind. She smiled weakly, deciding that story was probably better off not being told. “Could be better.”
Twilight rolled her eyes at her friend’s non-answer. “Lightning Dust?”
“Swimmingly.” The pegasus shot back dryly. 
“Hmm.” Twilight remarked impassively.
A quiet ding sounded and the doors slid apart, allowing the three ponies out into a bustling hallway. While Rainbow prided her sense of direction, the seemingly featureless hallways and abundant artificial light was making her feel disoriented.   
“This place is so big, how do you not get lost all the time?” Rainbow asked as she stepped off the elevator after Twilight.
“You get used to it pretty quickly actually, most of the shatterdome is taken up by the Jaeger and construction bays. Most of the amenities are in the back of the facility and the upper levels are all training, suiting and accommodation. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it rather quickly.” Twilight said, approaching a heavy, several inch thick steel door. She quickly tapped in a code on the access panel next to it, making the door slide apart with a quiet hiss. 
“Welcome to the heart of the shatterdome.” She announced.
“Woah..” Rainbow and Lightning Dust breathed in unison as Twilight ushered them forward into the Jaeger bay. The space was massive, at least a hundred metres high and several times that long. Massive armoured skylights were built into the roof, allowing small amounts of the morning sun to filter into the massive space. A massive set of doors at one end of the bay were open, revealing the shimmering harbour and a long, worn concrete ramp leading down to it. The bay itself was full of machines and ponies; five massive Jaegers partly concealed in their pens and hundreds of technicians tending to them. Rainbow immediately recognised the hulking form of Frontier Justice standing on all fours closest to her and the sleek, graceful hull of Castle Bravo in the pen beside it. At the back of the bay sat Midsummer Night, the massive human Jaeger standing out quite distinctly from the rest of the machines. Most interesting though, was the distinctive shape of Everfree Bandit, the almost finished Jaeger was missing plating along one of its forelegs and its head was strangely absent. Unlike any of the other Jaegers in the bay, it was still a dull factory grey. 
“Is that Wild Mustang?” She asked, pointing to a stripped down hull next to the human Jaeger. It certainly looked nothing like the proud, if somewhat ugly, Jaeger she’d seen in pictures.
“Salvage is still underway.” Twilight affirmed, trying not to look at the managed hull.
“Where’s our Jaeger?” Lightning Dust asked, not spotting Daring Dragoon in the bay anywhere. 
Twilight nodded to the other end of the bay. “Should be coming through there any second now…”
As if hearing her words, a klaxon sounded and the large doors separating the Jaeger bay from the construction areas slid open, slowly revealing the Jaeger they had come to pilot.
The machine stood a little over 45 metres high on all fours, positively tiny compared to the massive, hulking form of Frontier Justice which occupied the bay next the them. It’s front half was relatively blocky in shape, but to Rainbow it still looked speedy, each piece of armour seemed to simply flow into the next and the pair of large intakes studded into it’s thick chest gave it a powerful, muscled look. The most impressive features though were the two large thrusters seated above the Jaeger’s haunches and a pair of long, metal cylinders which jutted out of the Jaeger’s elbows and ran almost all the way back to its powerful, curved hindlegs. While the Jaeger they’d piloted in the simulator had been a flat, boring grey, the finished version had a brilliant coat of dark turquoise and ice blue covering its armour. A few plates on the Jaeger’s wrists, shoulders and hind legs were picked out in a blazing orange and a few bright red trimmings stood out vividly against the the dark hull. A low rumble sounded and the Jaeger moved towards them, the crawler carrying it rolling forward with a throaty roar of its massive engine.
“Now that, is a Jaeger!” Rainbow crowed. 
“I’m rather pleased with it myself.” Twilight said, a hint of pride in her voice. “Now if you’d follow me again.”
“Where are we going?” Rainbow asked, unwilling to leave the Jaeger behind just yet.
“J-Tech. You’re Jaeger has to run some pre-trial tests before we’ll let you in the conpod.” Twilight explained, giving the unresponsive Rainbow Dash a gentle push back towards the elevators.
“Uhh… fine! Fine fine fine fine fine.” Rainbow grumbled reluctantly, following Twilight and Lightning Dust back to the elevator. 
“Isn’t she just so cute when she’s grumpy?” Lightning Dust jeered.
“She has that effect sometimes, doesn’t she?” Twilight chuckled.
“It’s pretty hard to take Dashie seriously sometimes.” Her co-pilot continued.
“I know right?”” 
Rainbow grumbled quietly to herself, irritated that Twilight and Lightning Dust seemed to be bonding over making fun of her. She fluttered into the elevator car again, Twilight pressing another button to make the car drop like a rock. 
“And down we go again.” Twilight muttered as the elevator dropped down into the bowels of the facility. 
“Gee, this seems like your sort of place.” Rainbow said as the doors slid open to reveal the beating heart of the J-Tech division. “Nice place for all you eggheads to sit around and do your magic in.”
“It’s a marked improvement.” Twilight admitted. “We originally had open-air hangars.”
“I’d rather the hangars.” Rainbow muttered under her breath as she dodged a cart stacked with crates and boxes being pushed by an oblivious earth pony. 
Twilight ignored her, trotting cheerfully down a wide hall before veering through a door with her name and position stamped on a plate next to it. “My office.” She proclaimed. “You can wait here until the test is ready to begin. She swung a monitor around with a soft pulse of magic and concentrated for a moment, a dizzying array of numbers and figures dancing across the screen. “The reactor is in it’s final shakedown phase, shouldn’t be too long.”
Rainbow nodded silently, looking around the office curiously. The large room was almost buried in some places under stacks of messy paperwork or odd trinkets that looked like a mad scientist’s personal experiments while other parts where almost jarringly clean, a few ornaments from the Golden Oaks library sitting proudly on the shelves. She immediately noticed a framed picture of her friends, the six ponies in the photo looked much younger than she felt.
“Nice roof.” Lightning Dust remarked. 
“Thank you.” Twilight purred, craning her neck back to stare at the slightly shimmery web of stars, constellations and other celestial phenomena which crisscrossed the office’s ceiling. The whole illusion was set against an almost velvet night sky, making Rainbow feel like she was outside again. “That took me a while to figure out, but I think it’s a nice touch.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow muttered, reminding herself that she was in fact several floors underground and not out in a field.
The two pegasi admired the illusion for a moment longer before Lightning Dust moved around behind Twilight’s desk and sat down in her chair, ignoring the alicorn’s sudden glower. 
“So,” Lightning Dust started, kicking her hooves up on Twilight’s desk contemptuously.. “You’re the top whiz around here, what can you tell us about Daring Dragoon? Preferably something we don't know.”
Twilight looked between the two pegasi. “Daring Dragoon. I like that. Did Rainbow suggest Daring Do?” She asked with a small chuckle.
“Of course not.” Rainbow lied. 
“Of course.” Lightning Dust answered at the same time with a smirk.
“I’m sure Miss Yearling would love to take some royalties from that.” Twilight remarked before shuffling through a stack of papers. “Ah-ha. Jaeger equipment… This is a new one, the Advanced Ratcheting, Reflexive and Feedback System” Twilight announced proudly.
“Or Reflex Joints, if you don’t like your alphabet soup. We already know about those.” Lightning Dust remarked wryly. “Or at least, I do.”
“That is not the correct designation.” Twilight said, a small scowl aimed at the pegasus appearing on her face.  
“I’m curious, how do they work?” Rainbow asked, immediately regretting that she had. She understood the basic workings of the system but the simulator could only offer so much, her question had been more aimed at wasting some time rather than gaining actual information. If the look on Twilight’s face was any indication though, she was bound for one heck of a lecture. She pushed the alicorn’s sudden monologue to the back of her mind, dredging through her memory for whatever she knew about the mechanism herself.
Essentially the Jaeger’s reflex joints were a complex ratcheting and feedback system which allowed the Jaeger to bend its arms and legs at impossible angles, lock them in place, and then transfer momentum with relative ease. How it worked was beyond Rainbow Dash’s comprehension, but from what she understood, this would allow a Jaeger with sufficient speed and flexibility, such as one like Daring Dragoon, to perform anything from several thousand ton Judo throws to suplexes with a Kaiju, quickly twisting the creature into the ground and then pinning it there with relative impunity.
 This would then give the Jaeger’s primary weapons, a pair of massive objects unimaginatively called Impact Hammers, room to work. Each ‘hammer’ was an almost three-hundred ton plate of solid tungsten positioned past the end of each of Daring Dragoon’s elbows. When activated, massive capacitors along the length of the arm charged until a magnetic force fired the plate out to the Jaeger's palm in a fashion similar to how Midsummer Night's railguns worked. By placing the Jaeger’s hand against a Kaiju's skull or rib cage the weapon could, theoretically, instantly kill the creature in one shot; turning the beast’s armour against it by transforming it into a hail of lethal shrapnel inside its vital organs.. 
The system did have some drawbacks though, the sheer amount of power each ‘firing’ required meant that many other secondary systems other Jaeger’s boasted were absent and firing them more than a few times each mission could be problematic depending on the Jaeger’s other power needs.
“Rainbow Dash, are you paying attention?” Twilight asked accusingly. 
“Yeah, of course. Real interesting.” Rainbow lied, noting that her friend had pulled a blackboard from the corner over and had filled it with diagrams and calculations since she’d stopped listening. Her eyes drifted over to a clock set onto the wall and noticed with surprise that almost twenty-five minutes had passed. 
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “What was I saying then?”
Rainbow looked the board over quickly, not immediately understanding any of it. “Maths. Calculations. Mathematic... calculations.”” She stammered lamely. 
“Right. Since apparently that was all a waste of time then…” Twilight muttered sourly, wiping the board clean with a quick swipe of a duster. “Any real questions?” 
“Can we try it now?” Lightning Dust asked impatiently, she clearly hadn’t been listening either, her focus seemingly directed on a paper clip which appeared to be stubbornly crawling across Twilight’s desk.
Twilight let out a quiet huff of annoyance and looked back at the monitor she had linked with the Jaeger’s systems. “It’s ready. You’ll need your drivesuits.”
“Okay, then why are we still here then?” Lightning Dust asked impatiently. 
Twilight rolled her eyes so quickly Rainbow thought they were going to fall out of her head. An irritated sigh coming from her mouth, the alicorn lead them out of her office and back to the elevators. She glared at the two pegasi accusingly before rapidly entering a code into the keypad, prompting the elevator to slid back the way they’d come.. 
The trip was mercifully short and within a minute Twilight had led them to a wide suiting room comfortingly similar to the one at the academy. A dozen technicians waited patiently around the edge of the room, flanking two open compartments that contained a pair of matching drivesuits. As soon as Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash stepped forward onto the small pedestals they sprung to work, fitting the two mares with a tight circuitry suit and then layering armoured plates on top. 
The suit was much heavier than the simulator suits and unlike the spotless white suits Rainbow Dash was used to, her suit’s armour was a brilliant shade of dark aquamarine that matched the Jaeger’s hull and hugged her body like a second skin. 
“I feel like a model.” Lightning Dust complained, stretching her legs to test the fit.
“They’re lighter than the first generation suits.” Twilight explained over the mechanical whirring of the drivers locking the suit’s bolts in place. “They feature more reactive circuitry and better, more reliable failsafes and some other material changes which I know you’d just ignore if I bothered explaining them. We’ve also improved the display and the customisability based on pilot feedback.”
“Still clunky old helmets though.” Rainbow pointed out, knocking a hoof on the side of the heavy, half-face helmet a technician slipped over her head.
“They’ve been some gearing issues with the full head designs.” Twilight said apologetically. “I’d guess they will be ready in a few months.”
“Suits me just fine, I’d imagine I’d feel like a goldfish in one of those full-face things.” Lightning Dust chuckled, satisfied that she still had an almost complete range of motion in the suit. “Does my butt look big in this?” She asked self-consciously. 
“Massive. Now quit checking yourself out and get your helmet on.” Rainbow snapped, clicking her tongue impatiently as she waited for Lightning Dust to put her helmet on and sync it with her own. 
“Yeah, yeah don’t get your wings in a twist.” She complained quietly, slipping her helmet on and poking her tongue out at Rainbow. “Happy?”
Rainbow pulled a disgusted face back. “What, are you twelve?” 
“I’m ten, I’ll have you know.” Lightning Dust shot back, leaping down off the pedestal and following Twilight out of the suiting room and back into the elevator. Rainbow trailed behind, an irritated look on her face. Lightning Dust seemed much more playful than usual, maybe the upcoming test had just put her in a good mood. The elevator rose up again, taking them higher into the facility before coming to an abrupt stop.
“Where are we going?” Rainbow asked, stepping out into the corridor beyond cautiously. Something about the hall didn’t feel right, it almost felt too high. She looked over at Lightning Dust but the pegasus seemed to be completely unconcerned. . 
“Launch bay, where else?” Twilight replied sweetly. She took a sharp right and stopped by a thick metal door that two technicians stepped forward obediently to open. “This is you.”
Lightning Dust bounded through the door and out onto a catwalk without a worry in the world, completely unconcerned by the big drop on either side. Rainbow followed a little more cautiously, her gut still telling her that something seemed off. 
“Hey, where’s the rest of it?” Rainbow demanded, her eyes falling on the massive conpod sitting at the other end of the walkway. Just the conpod. The rest of the Jaeger was conspicuously missing. 
“Well you get in the head, don’t you?” Twilight pointed out from the doorway.
Rainbow peered over the edge of the gantry, they were in a rectangular concrete box which looked to be at least a couple of hundred metres long. A score of gantries and platforms sprouted out from the wall and large numbers were printed on the wall. The most interesting thing though, was the twelve rails which ran from the ceiling and extended towards the floor in sets of four. Daring Dragoon’s conpod was secured to four of these rails with two massive sets of orange clamps. Curious, she looked down, a large hatch ringed with yellow and black warning stripes, easily big enough to accommodate the entire conpod, was sealed shut beneath her. 
“Come on Rainbow!” Lightning Dust urged as the small door built into the back of the conpod hissed open. 
Rainbow scowled, following her co-pilot into the conpod and trying to dispel the sense of unease that sat in her gut. The feeling was completely forgotten though as she stepped into the conpod. 
“This is awesome...” Lightning Dust trailed off.
The interior of the conpod was a cool, calming white. Deep blue lighting strips were nestled into the walls and floor, making the entire cockpit look like it was underwater. Three pairs of heavy pipes snaked across the back of the cranial frame and hull reinforcements lined every surface. Two almost delicate looking harness sat in the centre of the conpod, a large control panel hanging from the roof like a bat. The large, reinforced visor was segmented into six parts, giving the two pilots an almost 180 degree field of view of their surroundings. 
“Yeah… wow.” Rainbow agreed, her eyes darting around and drinking in every little detail. This was nothing like the simulator. 
“Good morning cadets.” An unfamiliar voice said over the radio. “I’m Torque, your mission controller for today’s exercise. Get hooked in and we’ll begin.”
The two pegasi didn’t need any more encouragement, clipping their boots into the drivetrain and rocking forward slightly as their harnesses clamped down on their back. The two technicians did a quick check over before exiting the conpod, closing the door behind them with a solid thud.
“Securing conpod, stand by for drop.” Torque announced cheerfully.
A mechanical click reverberated around the conpod as the locking bars slid into place.
‘Wait, what?’ Rainbow thought.
“Release for drop.” Lightning Dust said calmly.
“What do you mean ‘Relea-.’”
The words had barely left Rainbow’s mouth when a sense of weightlessness overcame her and her gut felt like it was now somewhere in low orbit. The sensation only lasted a moment before the conpod dropped like a rock, hurtling down a narrow passage like an out of control elevator car.
Rainbow Dash screamed.
Lightning Dust laughed. 
A sudden jolt of deceleration shook the conpod and the interior of the massive Jaeger bay appeared through the windshield. The conpod shuddered again, a solid impact reverberating through the entire structure as they hit something solid.. She had barely a moment to catch her breath before the conpod jerked to the right, spinning in a quick, complete circle that made Rainbow felt like she was going to be sick before returning to its original position.
“Coupling complete.”  An energetic voice belonging to the Jaeger’s computer announced. It sounded unnervingly like a male version of Lightning Dust, even possessing the same cocky, self-assured tone that Lightning Dust always displayed. . . 
“What the heck was that?” Rainbow stammered.
Lightning Dust chuckled loudly. “Your friend went into great detail about it, weren’t you paying attention?” 
Rainbow shook her head clear. “You were?”
“You weren’t.” Lightning Dust stated dryly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rainbow demanded, her ears burning red with embarrassment.
“Thought you knew.” Lightning Dust snickered as a series of vivid blue and orange lights flickered on across the viewscreen. 
“Pilot-to-pilot connection engaged. Prepare for Neural Handshake.”

***

The shatterdome’s LOCCENT looked like a bee hive. Dozens of ponies milled about, reading data off screens, talking over headsets and giving off a general feeling of efficiency that the command centre usually acquired when something exciting happened. It would’ve been wrong to say though, that anypony was more excited than the two figures standing at the front of the control room, their muzzles almost pressed up against the glass windows which overlooked the Jaeger bay. The watched sas Daring Dragoon’s long conpod came roaring down out of the ceiling and slam into the hull nervously, it hadn’t been the first time such a test had been tried of course, but now there was a much more valuable cargo inside the metal cage hurtling down the rails. 
Soarin let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding as the conpod hit home, locks engaging as it spun around quickly. 
“I swear, they do that to our new Jaeger and I will shoot somepony.” Wave Chill muttered off to his side, his distaste for the new system evident in his voice. 
“I think it could be quite fun actually.” Soarin chuckled.
“Thought you hated flying in a Jaeger.” Wave Chill muttered accusingly.
“That’s not flying, that’s falling.” Soarin pointed out.
“Two pilots onboard and ready to connect.”   
The two stallions turned as the Jaeger’s onboard AI piped through the console behind them, it sounded almost unnervingly familiar.
 “Gotta wonder who does the voices for those.” Wave Chill muttered, shaking his head disbelievingly.
“Or if it just makes its own voice up on a whim.” Soarin added. 
“Initiating Neural Handshake.” Torque announced from somewhere behind them, flicking a few of the oversized switches which covered the front of the console. 
Soarin and Wave Chill watched tensely for a moment, the two pegasi in the conpod had drifted more times than they readily count now, but this was different; they both knew first hand that drifting in a Jaeger was an entirely different kettle of fish. A few seconds passed, the two pegasi silently watching the conpod like hawks.
“You think they’ll...?” Wave Chill asked absently
“They’ll be fine.” Soarin said, almost as he were daring the two pilots to do something on the contrary.
His statement was confirmed a moment later as the Jaeger slipped forward slightly, barely half a metre but enough of a sign to indicate that the pilots had shifted in their harnesses as if they’d suddenly stumbled.
“Neural Handshake strong and holding.” Torque announced a second later.
“See?” Soarin said, wearing a faint smile on his face. A few cheers and whistles rang out around the command centre as the Jaeger took a small, cautious step forward. 
The first thing Soarin noticed was its slick, almost organic movement. When it moved, it didn’t stomp and thunder around like Frontier Justice did, instead taking careful, measured steps like an athlete approaching the starting blocks of a sprint. Where any of the larger Jaegers are accompanied by the thrumming of cooling systems and the grinding of metal against metal, the only sound that this machine made as it seemingly slid across the floor of the shatterdome was a smooth electric hum.
As the Jaeger passed through the massive bay door, a pair of stabiliser fins snapped up smartly from its shoulders like a pair of small wings, lending the already quick looking Jaeger a sleek and sporty finish. Down on all fours, its rear legs spread for stability, the nimble machine looked like it was about to run a race.
“Oh, that is so sexy.” Wave Chill muttered from off to the side, his eyes firmly focused on the Jaeger.
Soarin found himself agreeing with his co-pilot, watching silently as Daring Dragoon took another few cautious steps down the ramp towards the water. The lithe Jaeger was either so light or so eager, that its pilots had decided they didn’t need the crawler to take it down to the water.  The Jaeger seemed to glare at the calm water suspiciously for a moment for bounding in like a playful dog, sending small out surges of water that broke against the harbour front. It sounded its foghorn, an almost delicate sound compared to the booming blasts that Frontier Justice or Castle Bravo habitually unleashed, before breaking into  gallop, the faint electric hum building in intensity as the Jaeger ploughed through the water and away from its pen
“Whoa...” Soarin muttered, his eyes going wide as the Jaeger shot off like a shell out a cannon. The sheer speed was unreal, even the Broadways would’ve had trouble keeping up with the Jaeger at a full run. He wheeled around following the Jaeger’s progress on one of the Jaeger’s camera feeds which played on monitors around the control room.
Daring Dragoon skidded to a sudden halt about two kilometres distant from the shatterdome, its legs splaying out wide before leaving the sea bed as the Jaeger performed an impromptu combat roll.  The feed went dark for a second as the Jaeger plunged beneath the water before emerging again, sheets of water rolling off its sleek form and sparkling in the morning sun. It shook its head, as if clearing its vision before continuing to trot around like a showpony on display. 
“Now they’re just showing off.” Wave Chill grumbled.enviously. 
“I’m sure Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust are going to enjoy every single moment they get in that thing and make that fact very public.” Soarin agreed.
“Yeah. You don’t say.” Wave Chill muttered as the machine jumped around the bay playfully, its rear thrusters puffing occasionally to keep the Jaeger’s balance. 
“A real beauty, isn’t it? I honestly thought it was maybe a little ambitious but it seems to be working quite fine” Michael said, slipping up behind the two former wonderbolts silently. “You must be proud.”
“Very.” Soarin affirmed.
“I thought you would.” Michael nodded, clearing his throat quietly. “Soarin, if you have a minute there’s something I’d like to discus. It can wait until the test is over actually, meet me in my office when you’re done.”
“Yes sir.” Soarin nodded absently, wondering what the human could possibly want. He tossed a look at Wave Chill but the stallion simply shrugged his shoulders, he was clearly just as clueless as Soarin was.
“Good, I’ll leave you two to it then. Talk to you later.” Michel said before striding out of the command centre. 
“What's that all about?” Wave Chill wondered aloud. 
“I’ve no idea. He seemed a little nervous about it, whatever it is.” Soarin muttered, trying to refocus his attention on Daring Dragoon’s movements. He scowled, Wave Chill was right, the Jaeger had an undeniably attractive edge to it. Even with its rough, almost blocky finish, it still managed to give off an attractive, athletic appearance.
Or was that just the pilots inside he was thinking about?
‘No’ He thought resolutely, quashing that thought like an ant beneath a boot before it could take root. That was a no-go zone, he was technically the soon-to-be-ranger’s superior and he didn’t want to add fraternisation to the list of things he had to worry about. He’d already skirted that line once and he wasn’t exactly keen on a rerun.
“You clench your jaw any harder and you’ll break it.” Wave Chill chuckled. “Hey, where are you going?” 
“I’m going to see Michael.” Soarin grumbled, dutifully ignoring the monitors with Daring Dragoon on them. He stormed out of the command centre and into the corridor beyond, feeling immensely frustrated with himself. 
‘You’d think I would’ve learnt my lesson.’ He thought, a fierce glare scattering a few technicians who were stupid enough to get in his way. Soarin strode down the hall, only pausing when he was outside Michael's office. ‘Get a grip on yourself, just a stray thought. It means nothing.’
“Bah!” He spat, burying the poisonous thought as best he could and putting a more pleasant look on his face. He took a quick breath and knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
Soarin pushed the portal open poked his head through the door. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
Michael nodded, concealing a look of surprise and waving the stallion in and then resting his chin on the top of his hands. “You’re early.” He remarked.
“Didn’t want to wait around for the test to finish.” Soarin muttered.
“Something bothering you?” Michael asked, a trace of concern in his voice.
“No sir, I’m fine.”
Michael shrugged. “Fair enough, you know yourself better than I do.” He paused, giving Soarin a slightly disbelieving look before he continued. “Anyway, have you been following the construction of the Trottingham shatterdome at all?”
Soarin shook his head. “Can’t say I have.” He answered.
“Well that might be a good thing. Development hell, so many hoops to jump through… made a few political promises I would’ve rather not. Still, it’s nearly finished. Finally.” He added.with a small smile. 
“Good to hear.” Soarin replied, wondering what this had to do with him. 
Michael tapped his desk slowly, as if considering something. He remained silent for a few seconds before  gesturing at Soarin. “How would you feel about handling a strike group?” 
“Sir?” 
Michael cleared his throat slightly. “We need someone to run shop over there. I’m sure Shane would love to do it, but then we’d be down a Jaeger, practically speaking at least. You’ve had command experience before and you’re the longest serving pilot we’ve got, thought you might be interested.”
Soarin considered this for a moment. “What about Wave Chill?”
“He’d be your XO. Think he’d be up to it?”
Soarin nodded slightly, Wave Chill had technically been an officer before leaving the wonderbolts, even if he’d rarely actually taken on any command duties. “I’m sure he’ll manage. Who would you be sending over?” 
“We’re thinking Frontier Justice and Daring Dragoon, along with your new Jaeger, once it’s finished. Castle Bravo will remain here along with Everfree Bandit, once it’s operational. I think that should give us a nice balance of Jaegers until the Mark III program is finished.”
The pegasus nodded again. “Yes sir. When are we going?”
Michael tapped the tip of a pen on his desk and looked down at a few sheets of paper messily spread in front of him. “End of the week. There will be a small amount of outfitting to be done still, but it should be liveable. That’ll give you a few days to settle in before we send the Jaegers over. By the start of next week you should be fully set up over there.”
Soarin cleared his throat quietly “If you don’t mind me asking, what about the cadets?”
“Thought you might ask that.” Michael said with a small smile. “You seem to have gotten rather attached to some of yours…” 
Soarin looked up at the ceiling innocently, his face paling slightly. Could humans read minds? 
“There’s one week until the term is officially over. We’ve got one outstanding pair of pilots, one very good pair of pilots and few reasonable ones and the rest are pretty mediocre. Once the term is over it’s pretty cut and dry who’ll be making the grade. You’ll get to keep your pet rangers, we’ll get those other two Misty and her brother found.”
Soarin considered pointing out that if Misty Fly had her way, the two earth ponies probably wouldn’t have gotten into a simulator, let alone a conpod but instead nodded diplomatically. “And we can keep an eye on them easily enough while they train in a real Jaeger.” He summarised, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. He was sure the two pegasi in Daring Dragoon would have never forgiven him if they had not been allowed to keep their new toy
“Pretty much.” Michael agreed.  
“Great.” Soarin muttered as cheerfully as he could manage. “Anything else I should know about?”
Michael frowned slightly, Soarin was usually more lighthearted. “Yes, one last thing. Did you have anything planned after midday?”
“Well I was planning on eating lunch, hope that isn’t a problem.” Soarin remarked. 
“I’m holding a strategy meeting at one o’clock, as Strike Commander you can consider yourself invited.”
Soarin raised an eyebrow. “What kind of strategy are we talking about?”
“Offensive strategy.” Michael explained. “We’re going to hit the breach.”