Blood in the Breadbox
Chapter 13
Blood in the Breadbox
A sickening crunch of bones snapping and steel shrieking woke Applejack with a start. It took her a few moments to realise it’d been a dream, the snapping and tearing sound a mere figment of her imagination. Forcing a calming breath down her throat she looked around the darkened room, taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be in some sort of dimly lit medical ward, the off-white walls and tasteless decor enough of a hint without the small array of medical devices beeping quietly at her bedside. She shifted uncomfortably, she hated hospitals at the best of times… what was she doing here? She racked her mind, trying to figure out why she was lying in a slightly lumpy hospital bed. Her eyes darted around the room worriedly, all she could remember was a sudden falling sensation followed by a loud crunch.
A red shape shifted slightly in the corner of her eye, a shape she realised numbly wasn’t a lump of blankets stacked messily in a chair as she’d first thought, but her brother slumbering peacefully. Outwardly, he seemed fine so Applejack turned her attention to her own body, wincing as she wriggled about. Her chest felt like someone had been at it with a hammer and then messily glued it back together, one of her ribs in particular flaring painfully whenever she put any shifted her weight around. She had only a moment to ponder over this conundrum when a row of lights studded in the roof flickered on with a pale, almost moon-like glow. Applejack turned her head, instantly spotting who she presumed was a doctor or an orderly of some kind standing at the end of the hall.
“Sorry if I startled you, I just couldn’t help but notice you’d woken up.” He explained softly. Applejack’s eyes flickered to the back of the room, noticing what appeared to be some sort of small room which would usually house a nurse. A bright orange light spilled out into the hallway behind the pony, evidently he’d been reading before Applejack had caught his attention.
“How long have I been out?” Applejack asked, suddenly realising how dry her throat was. The orderly must’ve noticed her hoarse voice as he vanished and then reappeared a moment later with a tall glass of cool water.
“About eighteen hours, you took quite a fall.” He quipped.
Applejack tried to sit up but a sudden wave of vertigo made her decide that probably wasn’t the smartest idea. Her eyes flickered to the quiet snoring form of Big Macintosh propped up against the wall.
“Your brother is fine.” The orderly said gently before the words had even formed in Applejack’s mouth. “A few bruises, bit of shock maybe, but nothing lasting.”
Applejack let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “What about me?”
The stallion shrugged slightly. “A bit of internal bleeding, a concussion and a nasty fracture on one of your ribs. We already fixed you up but it might hurt for a little while.” He explained pleasantly.
“What about anypony else?” Applejack asked nervously. She remembered the tumbling fall their Jaeger had taken and the sound of bones being crushed and snapped that still echoed in her head.
The pony’s gentle smile didn’t fade but his eyes seemed to tell a different story. “No, you didn’t hurt anypony.” He said after a moment’s hesitation.
Something about his statement didn’t seem quite right to Applejack but she let it slide, her brain didn’t seem like it was exactly the way it should if the way her vision keep blurring at the edges and the way her skull felt like somepony had driven a spike through it was any indication.
“Try to get back to sleep, you should feel better in the morning.” The orderly said quietly. “If you need anything just let me know.”
Applejack nodded slowly, cautious of making her head spin again. She laid her head back in the reassuringly soft pillow and drifted into a troubled sleep, her mind echoing with the cry of tearing metal.
***
The next morning Applejack was positively flooded with visitors. First was Twilight, the young alicorn’s face almost etched into an expression that screamed ‘I told you so’. Her concern overwhelmed any urge to say the words though and instead spent a good half-hour simply talking with the farmer before Big Mac woke up and almost jumped on Applejack. He’d stayed up most of the night worrying over his sister and it was clear to see that he was thrilled that she had pulled through alright.
Shane and Michael were also delighted to have her back so quickly, although their joy came from the fact that they wouldn’t have to go find a new set of pilots for Frontier Justice rather than just being concerned for her wellbeing. Naturally they put the duo back to work immediately, although thankfully sparing Applejack from physical activates until she’d healed.
“She needs at least two week to heal properly.” The shatterdome’s doctor had ordered sternly, eyeing Shane and Michael like they were a pair of suspicious hooligans messing around in an alleyway.
Despite this they still had the duo on light duties, attending classes and meetings mostly but also sitting in on some of the combat lessons. It was one such meeting a few days after the incident when things almost got out of hand.
“We should be doing another round of simulator drops this week, I was hoping we could cover some deep water operations as we haven’t really had time to mess around with those yet.” Michael said the six assembled pilots. “It’s a completely different kettle of fish to fighting above water or shallow water drops, blocking, dodging, walking, standing… it’s all different when you’ve got that third dimension and the added water resistance.”
“I still think some of us need to learn how to stand up straight on dry land first.” Misty said pointedly, her gaze snapping around to Applejack and Big Macintosh.
“Misty...” Michael warned, aware at how tense the atmosphere had suddenly became.
Not taking the warning for what it was, Misty rose to the bait. “With all due respect sir, I find it hard to be comfortable when my so called ‘backup’ falls over like a drunken idiot the first time they step into a Jaeger.” She snapped back in tone that seemed completely at odds with the term respect.
“It could’ve been a lot worse, it was a good recovery on their part.” Michael retorted firmly.
“Yes, a great recovery that ended up with a Jaeger ploughing face-first into the ground. Great job.” Misty said snidely. She looked around the room at the assembled pilots, failing to realise just how quiet it had suddenly become. Wave Chill was examining the ground as if he’d suddenly found a gold deposit, Soarin was looking at her like she’d farted loudly at a formal dinner and both Applejack and Big Macintosh looked like they’d just run over an adorable bunny with a cart. She turned to Lightning Streak, wondering if she was the only sane one in the room. “What?” She asked the group at large.
“There’s this thing called tact, maybe you should look into it.” Shane said quietly.
Misty clamped her mouth shut and instead glowered at Applejack like it was all her fault. She stayed that way for the rest of the meeting, silently glaring at the farmer out of the corner of her eye and only occasionally grunting or nodding in assent when somepony said something she agreed with. It was only at the end when Michael finally pulled her aside.
“Misty, I get that you think you’re the best and that everyone is complete rubbish but you’ve seriously got to tone your attitude down.”
“I think my ‘attitude’ is justified. Those two couldn’t even stay upright for more than a minute.” Misty said pointedly.
“Yes, because the god-damn crawler decided to retire to Florida and die.” Michael barked. “Not their fault.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Look, I think you need to understand that your attitude isn’t being conducive to our team and if you can’t work as a team, we don’t want you.”
Misty seemed slightly taken aback. “Me? What about the-.”
“Christ pull your head out of your ass for just one second!” Michael snapped. “Applejack and Big Macintosh have the makings of fantastic pilots. Unlike you, they haven’t been professionally trained for years and thankfully possess a good deal of modesty, something I don’t think you even know the meaning of.” He fumed.
“Now understand me when I say that I’m this close to kicking you and your brother out, this close.” He held his fingers together. “I don’t care that you’re the best pilots we’ve got and I certainly don’t care for that raging ego of yours okay? You sort your shit out or god-damn it, I’ll sort it out for you.”
Misty took a step back, she’d never considered that they’d actually kick her out, she was far too good for that. Michael didn’t look like he was joking though and the threat that Soarin had originally given her some time ago suddenly seemed a very real and present danger. A slightly more reasonable side of her poked its head out from underneath the thick outer layer she wore.
She bowed her head slightly. “Yes sir. Sorry, sir.” She said, a slight trace of sincerity entering her voice.
“Now there’s a word I never expected to hear from your mouth.” Michael said, surprised his rant had actually gotten to her. “Spend a few days thinking about whether you really want to be here or not, hopefully you’ll chose the right option. Now get outta here.” He said with a jerk of his head to indicate that he was done with her.
Misty trotted off, her ego slightly bruised. She was so caught up with her thoughts that she didn’t even see her brother until she’d almost stepped into him. Misty looked away embarrassedly, hoping he hadn’t heard the heated exchange nor seen her being cowed by Michael’s threat.
“What was that all about?” Lighting Streak asked.
“Nothing.” Misty lied. “Nothing at all.”
***
It was a curious day that Princess Celestia found herself sitting in the Shatterdome’s main reception. She was supposed to be relaxing, having organised some time off from her usual duties which she was using to visit the great cities of Eastern Equestria.
A vacation, dare she call it that, was something that Celestia was a little unused to. Luna had been left reluctantly to watch over Canterlot in her absence, a move which Celestia greatly appreciated as it gave her both some breathing room for when she returned and some peace of mind that nopony would do anything particularly stupid while she was gone. Luna was less thrilled by the prospect although this was hardly unusual, she lacked both the patience and finesse for general politics, her mind suited for other slightly more nefarious tasks that a royal had to invariably deal with. Still, Celestia relished the opportunity for a slight change in pace. Even if she did have some official duties to attend to during her stay, she intended to make the most of her trip while she could. Of course if she’d known about the recent incident involving Frontier Justice she probably wouldn’t have been quite as happy as she was but as they say, ignorance is bliss.
The reason then why she the monarch was sitting in the main reception of the Manehatten Shatterdome then, and not say, relaxing at one of the cities many spas or arcades, was a little beyond her guards. Well, at least if she had a reason, she wasn’t sharing.
Nevertheless, her appearance seemed to have caused a little bit of a stir among the administration team as they frantically searched for someone to see her. While she waited she perused a newspaper, the broadsheet loudly announcing the most recent crisis Celestia had to deal with. A small of group of tourists had been captured a few days ago by a pack of Diamond Dogs and being held for ransom, something Celestia was rather hesitant to pay lest it set an example for other roving packs of the creatures that they could pinch ponies from under her nose and be paid for it.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long and she’d barely gotten halfway down the page when Shane strode out into the foyer, a somewhat lacklustre look on his face. “Hello Celestia.” He said flatly.
“A pleasure as always, Shane.” Celestia said back in the same bored tone, making the edge of the human’s mouth raise slightly. She looked behind him, half expecting to see his brother in tow.
“Where’s Michael?” Celestia asked when she realised Michael wasn’t hiding behind a pot plant.
Shane adopted a slightly amused expression. “He’s negotiating with some Air Force brass for use of their crawlers.”
“And you’re not with him because..?”
Shane’s eyes flickered upwards with a look that showed his poorly concealed irritation. “Well, you know me.” He muttered ruefully. “Don’t suppose you could ask them to play nice, do you?”
“Yes, I presume their throats prefer not being jumped down.” Celestia replied dryly.
Shane rubbed his hands together, brushing her deadpan remark off like he hadn’t heard it. “So, what brings you here then? Can’t resist sticking your nose in like always? Can’t help but visit your two favourite aliens?”
Celestia brushed the jab off with well-practiced east. “You left so quickly I didn’t have time to congratulate you on your victory in the senate. I would’ve visited earlier but my duties have kept me in Canterlot. I will admit visiting Manehatten is a welcome change of pace.” She said coolly.
“Come to visit us on your vacation, that’s so sweet.” Shane said dryly. “Your other duties must be incredibly dull for you to think this is a blast.”
“Being a princess is not all it’s cracked up to be. Make one little mistake and suddenly everypony’s over you and its nothing but work, work, work.” Celestia lamented. She smiled at Shane like she knew something he didn’t, an infectious yet cheeky smile which Shane found incredibly hard to not mirror. He struggled to keep a straight face and instead begun another line of questioning.
“You know, I’ve been wondering…”
Celestia raised an eyebrow slightly. “Wondering?”
Shane pondered the wording for a few moments. “If you’re princess, who’s the ruling monarch?”
The corner of Celestia’s lips twitched slightly. “I am. I just like the title ‘Princess’ better.”
“Alright then, being the all-powerful leader you are then, couldn’t you have just, you know, ordered the government to give us money?”
Celestia chuckled lightly. “Democracy does not work that way.”
Shane huffed. “And what about some sort of supreme executive power? Dissolve the senate and take power?”
The alicorn’s face hardened, the cheeky look she’d held vanishing in an instant and being replaced by a look that would turn water to ice. “I do not think that the current situation is severe enough for me to invoke those, neither would I want to at this time. I’m no tyrant.”
Shane put his hands up defensively, clearly it was a somewhat touchy subject. “Alright, alright, just asking.”
Celestia made an apologetic sigh. “I appreciate your curiosity for the inner workings of our politics Shane, but I’d rather not discuss that matter. The last time I resorted to such measures were dark times, ones I’d rather not repeat for the sake of my people nor my character.” She eased a smile back onto her face, replacing the hard look she had fixed on the human. “Besides, it seems you have the senate’s support so I doubt such an action will be necessary.”
“But will we keep it?” Shane mused. “Fighting a war requires three things: money, money and yet more money. I don’t think it’s the last time we’ve seen those pinheads.”
Celestia nodded in agreement. “I do not doubt it for a second. I believe it would take a remarkable event to lose their goodwill though.”
“Well I hope you’re right, I don’t think I could stand that sort of punishment again.”
“Oh it’s not that bad.” Celestia jeered. “Besides, you would visit Canterlot again and if I understand correctly, you quite enjoyed your time there.”
“I’d be more comfortable being hooked into a rusty old bucket like Brawler Yukon to fight a CAT IV than I would be going back to that chamber.” Shane grumped.
“You have a strong bond with your machines.” Celestia remarked.
Shane shrugged. “They’re means to an end, nothing more.”
Celestia made a thoughtful sound. “You’re somewhat of an enigma Shane, you persist that your machines of war are nothing more than that yet still seem to care deeply about them.
“Speaking of enigmas, do you know anything about this thing called Discord?” Shane asked, quickly changing the topic before she could push it further.
Celestia’s face seemed to take on an expression somewhere between an amused grin and a look of concern. “I think I could fairly say I’ve had too much to do with him. I’m hardly surprised you bumped into him, or more likely, he chose to dump into you.”
Shane felt like she hadn’t said anything at all. “But who is he?
Celestia’s amused look faded. “He’s a powerful spirit of chaos, more cunning than a fox, slipperier than a snake and gifted with the power to shape the world as he sees fit. He answers to no one and he plays his own games. Even I don’t know what his aims are most of the time.” Celestia explained. “While he’s somewhat reformed from his chaotic ways, Discord is still someone you shouldn’t trifle with.”
“So he’s basically a god, right?”
“I’m not sure I understand.” Celestia queried.
“A powerful, omnipotent, omnipresent being, maybe?” Shane explained, remembering the Equestrians’ didn’t really seem to have a concept of a deity.
“I wouldn’t say so, no.” Celestia purred. “Discord can die and fall ill like a mortal but if age troubles him, I do not know. Nonetheless, he would one of the more powerful forces in Equestria.”
“Uh-huh, how powerful are we talking?”
“I do know not know if there is a limit to his powers. He surprises even me with his magic on occasion.” Celestia said cautiously. She glanced at Shane for a moment before deducing his interest in the chaotic spirit. “You think he could help you in your battles, don’t you?”
“Got me there.” Shane admitted.
Celestia snorted in amusement. “Good luck convincing him. As I said, he plays his own games. Getting him on your side would be like convincing a Diamond Dog to part with a-.”
“Princess Celestia!” A voice cried out, cutting the monarch off midsentence.
Celestia turned her head, immediately recognising the voice which had called out to her. Standing off to the side of the hallway with a pile of perfectly arranged papers levitated above her was Twilight sparkle. The young alicorn was framed in the doorway, the light spilling out from the room behind her making her look like some hero from the cover a book, albeit one with a pair of glasses that fought with paper and words rather than a sword or spear.
“Twilight, a pleasure to see you!” Celestia said warmly. Aside from the occasional correspondence, she hadn’t seen or heard from her former pupil for some time, work keeping them apart. Celestia felt almost a little guilty about it, the last time she’d heard from Twilight the young alicorn had been chewing her out and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d create a rift in their friendship. The slight trace of suspicion that the younger alicorn held seemed to indicate the possibility.
Shane on the other hand seemed delighted, almost as if something he’d been looking for had been delivered to him on a platter. He turned to the current head of Jaeger development cheerily.
“Twilight, me and Michael were going to have a sit down to discuss the new hulls that got approved, naturally I thought you would want to participate.”
“Of course.” She answered immediately. “My design team already has some work done.”
Shane nodded in approval. “Very good. Anyway, when you’re done with Sun-butt drop by our office.”
“I’m right here you know.” Celestia remarked.
Shane simply chuckled and wandered away, leaving the two alicorns alone in the hallway, it didn’t take a genius to figure out Twilight and Celestia wanted to be alone.
“Sun-butt.” Celestia echoed, slightly outraged.
“He calls Luna Moon-butt on occasion so I think it’s only fair.” Twilight remarked casually. She smiled wickedly, enjoying the privilege of being able to poke a little fun at Equestria’s ruling monarch. She’d endured enough of Celestia’s tricks and mischief in her childhood to make it a oddly satisfying feeling.
“Undignified.” Celestia shot back. Her face told a different story though, a ghost of a smile gracing the ancient alicorn’s lips. At least she still knew how to take a joke.
Twilight chuckled quietly and led Celestia down the hall to her office, a small room packed to the brim with files, research notes and books that backed onto her jarringly empty personal quarters. It struck Celestia just how empty the small room was in comparison to her former student’s office, the bare walls and uncluttered floor a rather dramatic change.
“Some tea perhaps?” Twilight suggested, already filling a dinged kettle with water and lighting a fire underneath it with a spark of magic. In addition to their emptiness, her quarters seemed remarkably clean, almost as if the alicorn had hardly been using them. The notion hardly surprised Celestia, she’d known Twilight to spend several days on end in the dark corners of the Royal Canterlot Archives with her nose in some stack of research papers. The alicorn took to new information like a fly did to garbage, and if the way which she seemed to have integrated herself into Equestria’s steadily growing Jaeger program was anything to go by, Celestia guessed her proverbial fly had found the proverbial garbage tip.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Twilight said directly, “Didn’t really take it as your sort of thing not to mention just how busy you are with your duties.”
“Sometimes a watchful eye needs to be maintained over your most prized possessions, even if they are secured in the safest of strongholds.” Celestia quipped.
Twilight slowly raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, Celestia’s comment indicated well enough that some group with considerable influence seemed to be having second opinions about the Jaeger program. Even if Celestia had visited just to reaffirm whatever doubts they may’ve had, it seemed a little off that the group would be so discrete with their attitude.
Celestia let a ghost of a smile cross her face as she beheld Twilight’s anxiety. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, Twilight.”
“Hmm.” Twilight grunted, feeling that Celestia was once again deliberately leaving some important information unsaid. The kettle started whistling quietly but she paid it no heed, instead glaring at Celestia suspiciously.
“Celestia, I thought after our last disagreement you would be slightly more open, especially when it came to keeping both myself and your sister informed.” She advanced on Celestia slowly, “I’m guessing Luna doesn’t know why you’re really here either, does she?” Twilight added, now nose to nose (or more accurately, nose to somewhere-below-the-nose; Celestia was still a fair bit taller than her.) with the solar monarch.
“Twilight,” Celestia said firmly, “I can understand your misplac-.”
“Don’t you lecture me about misplaced faith, dear teacher. You left me in the cold, literally, for months while you planned and schemed your way towards almost certain ruin.” Twilight barked before softening her tone to a more sociable standard. “Celestia, I’m no longer your student, please don’t treat me like one.”
“You mightn’t be my student anymore but you still have a lot to learn, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia said lowly.
“And Luna?” Twilight persisted.
Celestia sighed and lowered her head, a shameful look appearing over her face. “I have still not gotten used to her being back yet. It certainly isn’t helping issues that she is either away or doesn’t want to partake in politics, she hardly tries to integrate herself in my life.” She admitted.
Twilight nodded, she could understand that Celestia was a little hesitant about bringing her sister back into the fold, even if she had been expecting her return. Even so, it had been years since Luna had returned from her exile… perhaps Celestia was being a little too hesitant.
“I’m sorry Twilight, after ruling this nation for nearly a thousand years by myself it’s a little unusual to have to share it again with not one, but two other ponies within such a short space of time.” She said quietly, as if she could read Twilight’s thoughts. “A creature of my age sees the world differently, days seen like minutes, decades in mere hors... Countless lives I’ve walked this earth, taking in its wonders and fighting the many terrors that lurk in the dark. Your perspective changes after a while.” She explained.
Twilight nodded again. “Nonetheless, I think you could at least consult one of us before you do something rash again. You don’t have to do this by yourself, Celestia. For starters it would’ve been nice to know you were financing our Mk.I program.” The young alicorn said, her good mood returning somewhat. ”You don’t have to micromanage us either, I know what I’m doing.”
Celestia laughed. “Do you now?”
“Mostly.” Twilight admittedly sheepishly. “I’m learning as much as I can but there’s a lot to learn.”
Ceelstia shook her head, a broad smile on her face. “All in good time, just remember that sleep is indeed still a thing.” Celestia assured her, relieved that Twilight had scolding her and was back to her old self. She flicked a look over at the kettle which was now whistling shrilly “Now, about that tea…”
***
Celestia and Twilight ended up talking for the better part of an hour, their focus dancing around but always seeming to be lightly brushing against the topic of Jaegers or Kaiju. While Twilight could’ve possibly gone on for hours, both alicorns had other duties to attend to and Celestia eventually excused herself, promising to try and visit again when she could.
No sooner than Celestia had left, Twilight collected her design team’s documents and made her way up through the bustling shatterdome. Her route took her through the Jaeger bay, not a strictly necessary detour but she liked looking at the Jaegers and took any opportunity she could to learn more about their inner workings. She passed Frontier Justice’s bay, craning her head back to stare up at the towering leviathan’s conpod. The last of the damage from the dramatic fall was being buffed out, a few diligent workers reapplying a new coat of paint over the rough edges. The Jaeger itself, no thanks to Big Mac and Applejack’s quick reflexes, hadn’t sustained any major damage, a few busted shock absorbers and a few leaking hydraulic lines the only lasting damage that had shown itself. She smiled thinly, the Jaeger seemed just as tough and stubborn as its pilots.
Leaving the Jaeger bay behind her, Twilight made up her way up through the labyrinth structure towards where the two humans had made their quarters. She knocked quietly at the door, waiting patiently until Shane opened it and invited her in. As usual the office seemed rather bare, the occasional piece of alien decoration standing out from the concrete walls. Twilight dropped herself into one of the tough looking chairs around Michael’s desk and deposited her paperwork on top of what appeared to be a steadily growing pile of requestion forms that littered the human’s messy desk.
“Yay, more paperwork.” Michael moaned. “I’m a pilot, not a desk jockey.” He flicked through the heavy document with an annoyed sigh before cupping is chin in his hands and adopting a much friendlier expression. “So, what do you have for us today?”
“For once, good news. I’ll save the best for last.” Twilight said, immediately launching into her pre-planned lecture. “Firstly, Frontier Justice is back to operational status.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “That was fast.”
“Minor damage only, barely took a scratch. Hopefully our investigation can shed a little more light on what actually happened though.”
“Indeed.” Michael muttered, happy to move along. Frontier Justice’s fall had become a bit of a messy business and he was quite glad that they’d managed to keep news of the incident relatively quiet. It would do little for their programs if the first Mark I was hailed as little more than a clumsy waste of money.
Twilight nodded. “Secondly, I may have solved your mobility concerns.”
Shane and Michael started paying a little more attention at this, the issue had plagued the Jaegers since Midsummer Night had been forced to trek northwards to Bolton.
“I decided to do a little research of my own and with some help from Soarin, I may’ve sourced someone that can help.” She rifled through her file and pulled out a neatly folded letter. “The Griffon Empire uses a machine they call a Rotary which appears to be similar enough to what you call a ‘helicopter’. While they have nothing on the scale that we’re looking for, I incidentally discovered that one of their plants actually produces the engines we use for our airships. I sent them a letter with our design requirements and I got a fairly positive response back. While it’s somewhat unknown territory, they seem confident they can build something that can carry your Jaegers.”
Michael read the letter slowly. “And they’re happy to do that?”
“Provided we pay them, naturally.” Twilight said with a chuckle. “They’re rushing a prototype through now, if their estimates are right it should hopefully be ready for testing in a few months.”
Michael gave the letter to Shane to read. “Anything else? We were going to talk about the new Jaegers we have.”
“Of course.” Twilight answered. She levitated the heavy file on Michael’s desk open. “As soon as we heard the news the design teams have been investigating costs and potential future developments for the Jaeger program.” She flipped a few pages over, the summary of the report, so Michael could read them.
“Looking at these estimated delivery costs, I think going for this route would be the optimal choice.” Twilight said, pointing to a few paragraphs in the short summary.
“Three hulls now and two more later.” Michael muttered quietly, flipping the first few pages over and then spreading them across the table like pieces of a jigsaw.
Twilight nodded. “I was hoping that with the assumed savings that we could possibly incorporate some more advanced technology into the Mk.3 hulls. Magic use was kind of what I was hoping for.” She admitted.
“Magic?” Shane queried. “I haven’t really seen you guy use much that could be… uh, useful.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and let out quiet snort of amusement. Before either of them could stop her, she levelled her horn at the wall and shot a purple blast of energy from the tip. A loud crack rang around the office as the outer surface of the wall ionised, leaving a small, blackened crater.
“Hot damn.” Shane whispered, edging away from Twilight slightly.
The alicorn looked remarkably pleased with herself. “There are other uses as well, as you’ve undoubtedly seen, most unicorns are adept with telekinetic spells.” She focused for a moment before reappearing behind them with a loud pop. “Teleportation could also be implemented, although I doubt many ponies could shift a whole Jaeger.”
Michael spun around, clearing one of his ears out and yawning widely. “Mind not doing that in here?”
Twilight adopted a bashful expression. “Sorry, I’m just a little excited by the idea.”
“Got anything else locked away in that horn of yours up there?” Shane asked vaguely.
“Dozens of spells, not all of them are obviously useful though.” Twilight said, projecting a small purple bubble around herself after a moment of consideration.
Michael looked at the dome curiously for a few seconds. “What’s that, some sort of air bubble?”
Twilight shrugged her shoulders. “It can double as one but it’s actually a basic shield.”
“Cool…” Michael muttered, reaching out absently and finding an impenetrable barrier of energy surrounding the alicorn. It felt like running water and every time he poked it small shimmers of purple and white spread across its surface like ripples. He poked it a few more times, making a small smiley face appear in the faint waves. “Is there a downside to making magic capable Jaegers?”
“Well, any crew would have to be skilled magic users or your advantage is lost. Projecting this sort of field around something as big as a Jaeger isn’t an easy task for most ponies. Most ponies can’t even do this this sort of magic.” She confessed.
“I’m assuming they’d have to be unicorns or uh…” he gestured to Twilight.
“Alicorns.” She finished. “Yes, you’d be right.”
“And why couldn’t you just build a laser cannon thingy instead?” Shane asked, pointing at the now smoking crater in the wall.
“Because firstly, it’s easier to harness a powerful unicorn’s inherent power to shoot purple bolts of doom rather than build something that does it. Secondly, a unicorn is much more versatile, as I’ve just shown you and lastly, because we’re still trying to build a giant laser cannon thingy.”
“You’re building a giant laser cannon thingy?” Shane asked.
“We build a lot of things.” Twilight said dismissively.
Michael held a hand up before they got off track. “And you’d want to outfit both of the Mk.3s with this ability?”
“If possible, yes.” Twilight answered.
“Which means we’d have to find four unicorns, four powerful unicorns to drive them.” Michael said flatly. “Doesn’t exactly sound easy.”
“Well, you’d probably only need one powerful one to focus the abilities, two would just be a boon.” Twilight pointed out. “The energy for the spells would be coming from the Jaeger’s power plant rather than just from the user. Mafic amplification is a reasonably well studied field, although I don’t think anypony has ever tried adding something like an atomic reactor into the mix.”
“I suppose that’s a bit better.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, “What do you think, Shane?”
“Hell I’m down if we get to see that again.” Shane said, pointing to the blackened crater again.
Michael nodded at Twilight. “Alright. Look into it. What about the Mk.2s?”
Twilight shrugged. “My designers has put some preliminary stuff together, nothing concrete yet. We do have some nice tech that’s starting to come together though so I’m hoping we can put that to good use.”
Michael gestured openly. “Care to share?”
The alicorn grinned happily. “Might be easier to show you.”
***
As usual the Jaeger spaces seemed to be bustling with activity. Technicians ran every which way, loaded down with replacement parts, piles boxes stacked haphazardly on carts or in one case, a firing mechanism that was big enough for Shane to fit his head inside. It wasn’t just to bustle of ponies that made the space look busy, stacks of spare equipment, replacement parts, sheets of metal and what could only be described as junk gave the warehouse-like space an air of a glorified junkyard. Most of the junk seemed to evade the two alien’s attention but one pile caught their attention, the familiarity of the design meant there could only be one source.
“Uh, what’s this?” Shane asked, picking up one of the charred components carefully. It looked vaguely like a Jaeger’s actuator, provided you discounted the dried oil smeared across it and the heavy burn marks which covered one side of the cumbersome device.
Twilight looked around. “It’s a component of Wild Mustang, one of the techs thought he could scavenge it.”
“But there wasn’t a fire on-board…” Michael murmured, drifting over to the small pile and eying another part, this one a fastener for a motor. His eyes tracked over to Twilight suspiciously. “Was there?”
“Not a fire, no.” Twilight affirmed, giving a half melted capacitor a stern look. “Several of the Jaeger’s systems were a bit, uh… how do it put it, broken, after fighting Thresher.” She explained. “It’s amazing it got through that fight intact.”
“Bit of luck can go a long way.” Shane muttered, tossing the actuator back into the pile with a snort of disgust.
“Relying on luck is not a mathematically sound option.” Twilight said as of the idea was poisonous, moving the broken piece of Jaeger back onto its assigned pile, rather than in the pile of circuit boards Shane had tossed it into.
“Not very reliable.” Michael murmured, a look of concern on his face.
“That bucket of bolts went together so fast I’m surprised it worked as well as it did. We’ve had time to improve the layout, add more redundant systems, hardier electronics… somewhat, don’t worry about that.” The alicorn reassured him. “Now come on, I didn’t bring you down here to show you scrap metal.”
She led them past a stack of neatly ordered drawings pinned to a wall and down a short flight of stone stairs which opened up into a long but narrow test chamber. At least a score of ponies milled around the outer edges, some of them looking up as Twilight emerged from the stairwell but most were too concentrated on their work… whatever that was, some were tinkering with devices too alien for either Shane or Michael to comprehend. What really caught their eye though was what they could only describe as a long metal device which looked vaguely like a large salt grinder. Twilight lead them over to the device and started fawning over it.
“I have no idea what I’m looking at.” Shane said bluntly.
The alicorn seemed rolled her eyes like she was explaining to a pre-schooler that the stove-top was hot. “Laser-induced plasma channels. Infrared excitation of air to create conductive plasma trails.”
Shane looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “In English?”
Twilight let out an annoyed huff and trotted over to the machine. “Well this thing here, the laser, emits a powerful beam into the air. This rapidly heats and ionises the air, which in turn causes the surrounding gases to turn into plasma. A split second after this happens, an electric current passes through these newly created channels, and since plasma tends to electrically conductive, well… might want to take a step back.” She cautioned, flicking a few switches on the control panel. A low electric buzz filled the chamber and the centre of the device started glowing a faint cyan. The buzz shifted a sharp whine and then a crack of thunder as the weapon discharged, a blizzard of lightning leaping from the end and wasting itself against the opposite wall with an electric hum that set their hair on end.
“Well then…” Michael said lowly, blinking away the image burned into his retinas.
Twilight nodded with satisfaction. “That’s just a low power setting, I’m sure it could be stepped up several times with a Jaeger’s reactor powering it. From what I can tell it works in a similar way to your Jaeger’s energy caster although this will have slightly more range as its only limiting factor is the laser’s cohesion… so probably a hundred metres at high power.” She guessed.
“What’s the limit on it?”
Twilight’s wings rose up and down in the rough equivalent to a shrug. “Don’t know, I guess as much power as you want to dump into it.”
Michael frowned. “Where’d you get all this stuff from anyway?”
“One of the bright sparks in the Las Pegasus Science and Research Institute came up with it based on some notes on an emitter we pulled from Brawler Yukon a way back. The actual lethal part was my own idea.” Twilight admitted proudly.
“Makes me wonder what you think about in your spare time.” Shane said with a low chuckle.
Twilight gave him a flat expression. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Shane shook his head slowly. “Shit, give her a bit of time and money and she’s already an evil genius. I should’ve shot you when I had the chance.”
Twilight scoffed. “And miss out on all these fun toys?’ She drifted to the other side of the room and gestured to a complicated looking pneumatic system. “One of my designers put this together after watching one of your simulator battles, she particularly liked the big green Jaeger of yours so made a copy of its weapon system, or at least as close as she could. “
Shane examined the machine for a few seconds. “Nice, pistons fists?” He deduced.
“How astute.” Twilight remarked.
“Hardly, a few of the Mark Is and II were fitted with a similar system. It’s a reliable and powerful weapon, maybe not quite as devastating as a trio of goddamn chainsaw hands but it works.” He said cheerily.
“Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one.” Twilight said pragmatically. “And if said solution is a pneumatically fired fist the size of a house to deal with some abnormally large pests, then by all means let’s build one.”
***
Applejack rolled to the right, wincing as she shifted defensive stances. It was a simple move one of the combat instructors had taught her several weeks ago but now the manoeuvre seemed painfully difficult.
As the doctor had rightly predicted, Applejack was back on her hooves within the next week. Although she still suffered from occasional chest pain, especially when she exerted herself, it was manageable and she soon found herself back in the shatterdome’s main combat room practicing with Big Mac daily. Although Applejack had tried to mix things up a little, Big Mac insisted they stick to the basics while she recovered, a fair call as Applejack was still struggling to keep up with her older brother. She swore internally as she dodged another heavy blow, an ungraceful stomp that seemed more at place at the orchard back home than in a combat arena. Her normal agility was hampered somewhat though and the usually quick action was somewhat sluggish, Big Mac’s blow landing a little close for comfort.
Applejack noticed Misty Fly trot into the combat room out of the corner of her eye and was immediately tempted to have a dance in the ring with her… ‘First things first though’ She thought, noticing Big Mac ponderously come about for another go. He wasn’t a particularly graceful nor quick fighter, but Applejack could attest from their fights that when he hit it hurt. She ducked under the blow and the follow-up she knew would follow. She was a little slower than normal though on account of her recent injury and winced as Big Mac’s blow glanced off her rib cage.
“You alright?” Big Mac asked, immediately dropping from his combat stance when he noticed Applejack stagger.
Applejack sucked a breath through her teeth, she would’ve loved to admit that she’d want nothing more than to just take the day off but her pride didn’t her allow her, instead making a small nod in response to her brother’s worried question.
“Ah think we can take a breather.” Big Mac said in a soft yet firm voice. Applejack cursed internally, of course he knew. She let out a quiet sigh and backed out of the combat ring gratefully, Big Mac drifting off to watch Soarin and Wave Chill spar on the other side of the long combat hall. She grimaced as another flare of pain shot up her chest, one of the shatterdome’s physicians had given her some painkillers to try and take the edge off but she’d neglected them, a decision she was starting to regret slightly. She made to exit the hall, noting with a tang of distaste that Misty was still hovering around near the door, almost as if she was waiting for her. She made an annoyed sound deep in her throat but carried on regardless, she wasn’t going to give the pegasus the pleasure of knowing how much she despised her.
Misty’s mouth curled into a faint smirk as she trotted past. “Still taking it easy, huh?”
Applejack ignored her, grinding her teeth together in frustration. If that comment had been from anypony else it would’ve been fine but Misty Fly had a way of making everything that wormed its way up her throat sound either snide or just flat out obnoxious. Her mouth seemed to constantly ooze venom, something she constantly wondered how Lightning Streak put up with. He wasn’t a bad pony, he just seemed to be partnered with the most insufferable thing to crawl to life since whatever evil magic had spawned the Timberwolves.
“Applejack.” Misty called out in an almost apologetic tone as the farmer passed her silently.
Applejack disregarded her, she wasn’t interested in sitting around and letting Misty hurl more mud at her. In truth she wanted nothing more than to kick the living daylights out of the rude and arrogant Pegasus but she managed to withhold that urge, that’d just get her into trouble.
“Hey, I’m talking to you.” The pegasus barked, wheeling around to follow the farmer.
‘She just won’t take the hint, will she?’ Applejack thought, quickening her pace slightly. It was an exercise in futility though as the Pegasus quickly caught up to her. She felt a hoof rough grab at her shoulder.
“Look you stupid mud-.”
‘Oh that’s it!’ Applejack thought angrily, lashing out with her hind leg and catching Misty straight in the mouth. She didn’t give the Pegasus time to recover, spinning around and delivering an anger-fuelled right hook that would’ve floored most ponies. Misty Fly was made of sterner stuff than most though, using her wings to propel her forward and knocking both ponies into a tumbling heap before the blow could properly connect.
“What’s your problem?” Misty spat, a small glob of blood flying out of her mouth and landing on Applejack’s cheek.
“What’s yours?” Applejack snapped back, kicking the Pegasus in the gut and clambering upright. She leapt at Misty again but the cocky pegasus was already moving again, darting aside at the last moment and slamming Applejack into the unyielding concrete wall with her shoulder.
“Pathetic.” Misty sneered, letting Applejack crumble to the floor like a ragdoll. Their fight had attracted a few onlookers but she didn’t care, her blood was running hot now and now that the tension between them had finally snapped, she was finding it awfully hard to not give the farmer an extra kick or two for good measure. All thoughts of trying to set things straight with the earth pony were gone, replaced by an anger which would’ve put a small sun to shame.
“Y’know, I was starting to feel a little sorry for you back there. Now? I’m not so sure.” Misty continued. “Credit where it’s due though, for a mud pony you’ve go- oofph!” She exclaimed, her head snapping back violently as the downed Applejack used her hind legs to uppercut the base of her jaw. Misty stumbled back from the blow, giving Applejack the room she needed to clamber back to her hooves again. There was fire in her eyes now, an insatiable urge burning inside of her to hurt the arrogant pegasus who’d made the last few months a living hell. She swung at Misty again with a yell, aiming squarely for the crest of her snout. The pegasus was tough though, shaking off the last blow like it was a mere pinprick and raised a hoof to block the strike. With a vicious snarl she slipped under Applejack’s guard with her hind legs, using her wings to do a quick on the spot summersault and sending Applejack crashing into the opposite wall back first. Unlike last time where she had gloated at her opponent’s misfortune, Misty piled on straight away, not giving the Earth pony a chance to even recover. She had Applejack in a vicious leg lock before a pair of burly hands ripped her off and hurled her away. Now free of her hold, Applejack made to lunge at her but someone moved between them.
“What the hell are you two doing?” The monstrous figure of Shane barked, easily holding both ponies away from other. A pack of guards behind him moved in, restraining both ponies.
“Practising, sir.” Misty said, glaring at Applejack venomously.
“Bullshit.” Applejack snapped back, wondering if she could throw off the three guards that held her back. She tried freeing herself but the combined strength of the burly guards holding her down was too much to shift.
“Still ready for round two, eh?” Misty Fly jeered.
“Enough!” Shane roared, stepping between the ponies and pointing to the three guards holding down Applejack “You three, take her down to the infirmary. Once she’s patched up bring her up to our office.” He glared at Misty. “You’re coming with me.”
***
In retrospect the most painful thing wasn’t the slow throbbing of her jaw from where Applejack had kicked her but the seemingly endless wait as the two humans let Misty stew outside. They seemed to debate for hours before Shane opened the door and motioned for the pegasus to come in.
As always the office seemed overly decorated, little ornaments that held no value or meaning to Misty adorning the walls and desk like trophies. An elegant chronometer sat on the back wall, remarkably out of place with the rest of the somewhat dingy space. Michael sat behind the ornate desk, a slew of paperwork and reports covering nearly every inch of the polished surface. He looked at her closely, a surprisingly flat expression on his face. It disturbingly reminded her of a look Spitfire would adopt before tearing into a pack of new recruits with the frenzy of a pack of sharks into a dying whale.
“Would you care to explain yourself?” He said, his voice as impassive as a rock.
Misty looked down. “I thought about what you said to me after Frontier Justice crashed and decided you were right.” She said levelly.
“And that you were wrong, Applejack and Big Macintosh are a bit more than cannon fodder.” Michael interjected.
Misty Fly coughed roughly. “I didn’t say that.”
Michael let out a heartfelt sigh. “So instead of bucking up, you lashed out?”
Misty bristled with anger. Wasn’t she the victim here? “I didn’t do anything.” She proclaimed.
“Having seen your attitude towards those two, I find that rather hard to believe.” Shane remarked dryly.
“She started it.” Misty complained, wincing as she breathed in and out. The adrenaline was out of her system now and the bumps and bruises from the fight were starting to hurt more than she had initially thought, her jaw in particular felt like it was being rubbed up against a whetstone.
“A likely story.” Shane said flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
She looked between them with disbelief. “I’m telling the truth, sir.”
Michael looked over a small medical report that the infirmary had sent up. “You beat her up pretty good for what you say was self-defence.”
Misty stood up angrily, her body screaming in protest as she did so. “What, do you want me to just run away? She kicked me in the face!”
“No, you should’ve been able to sort something out before you came to blows.” Michael said sternly. “We should’ve done something.” He added his tone much gentler, feeling a little guilty. They should’ve done something sooner, tried to iron out the kinks in the relationship between the two teams… too late now.
“So what are you going to do to me?” Misty demanded.
Shane and Michael glanced at each other. “We’re considering putting you back to second line duty, team three is recovering well so they should hopefully be ready for duty, albeit a little undertrained, before Castle Bravo is finished.” Michael said firmly.
Misty shook he head disbelievingly. “No, you can’t.” She choked.
“You’re not calling the shots here, cadet. Teamwork is an essential skill, a skill you are grossly lacking in.”
For the first time since she’d arrived in the shatterdome, Misty Fly’s usually proud face showed defeat. “And my brother?’
“He’ll go with you, finding another drift partner for him would be more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Ah…” She said, feeling like she’d been kicked in the gut again. She was surprised by how much the knowledge that they were punishing him as well affected her, her brother had never displayed an avid interest in the Jaeger program but he seemed happy here, even if he was privy to her thoughts some of the time. She could only guess how he’d take the news, most likely he’d blame her, just like he did for everything…
It struck her quite suddenly that for once, it was actually her fault. She swallowed a lump in her throat and bit the inside of her lip, she rarely acknowledged her mistakes but when she did it was usually a rather profound realisation.
“We’ll need some time to sort out the specifics but for the moment you’re grounded, understand?’
“Yes sir.” Misty muttered.
“Good, now get outta here.”
***
A few minutes after dismissing Misty Fly, Shane and Michael found themselves down in the shatterdome’s infirmary, a white-walled and sterile environment that seemed a little at odds with the somewhat Spartan facilities the Shatterdome also hosted. They drifted through silently, quickly finding Applejack under the eyes of an elderly looking orderly. The earth pony seemed less than thrilled at being back in the care of the shatterdome’s doctors so soon but made no verbal mention of it, the fierce glower she wore more than enough of enough of an indication of her mood.
“Well aren’t you Little Miss Sunshine?” Shane jeered. The cheeky look quickly fell off his face when Michael discretely stamped on his foot. A doctor drifted up behind them before he could protest.
“Nothing too bad, she’s a tough one.” He reported before turning to Applejack sternly. “Just so you know, fighting with your fellow cadets does count as exerting yourself. You’re staying here for a few days so that rib of yours can properly fix.” He said like a parent scolding a child. He glared at her again before moving off to tend to another patient.
“Ah don’t have to stay here again do I?” Applejack complained as soon as the doctor was out of earshot.
“Doctor’s orders.” Michael said with a shrug.
Applejack sighed explosively and folded her forelegs across her chest. “Great.” She muttered, her annoyed look turning even bitterer. It took Michael a moment to realise she was glaring at something behind them and turned to find Misty fly limping past with a nurse in tow. The nurse put her a few beds down from where they were and starting probing around the pegasus’ jawline with a trickle of magic.
“Magic.” Shane muttered under his breath. His tone wasn’t overly hostile but it held a trace of caution in it, caution which was far outweighed by awe.
“Magic.” Michael agreed. He watched as the aura vanished from around Misty’s jawline, making the pegasus shudder slightly. Seemingly pleased, the nurse started patching up her other wounds with an efficiency that any human doctor would’ve found impressive.
Applejack bitter look hadn’t left the Pegasus, although it seemed to have demised in intensity somewhat, the daggers which had shot of her eyes before thankfully vanishing. “What’s happenin’ to Misty?” She asked.
Michael didn’t look away from the pegasus in question. “We’re demoting her and Lighting Streak to auxiliary roles. We’re not going to tolerate infighting in our Jaeger corp.”
Applejack winced, she was as much to blame for the fight as Misty was. Getting rid of the arrogant pegasus was no doubt a small boon, but Applejack didn’t feel right letting somepony else take the fall for her actions. It just wasn’t fair, especially considering Lighting Streak was getting knocked down as well. She struggled internally for a few seconds, she could vindicate Misty Fly just as easily as she could condemn her.
“Sir.” Applejack blurted out.
The human turned around. “Yes?”
Applejack hesitated a moment. It would be so easy to simply say nothing and let her rival get knocked back… “Ah did it.”
Shane raised an eyebrow, an expression mirrored by his brother. “Come again?” Michael asked.
Applejack hesitated again, what if they demoted her and Big Mac instead of the other team? ‘No, it’s the right thing to do.’ She thought resolutely. “Ah started the fight.” She admitted.
The two humans snapped to look at her, a look of surprise on their faces.
“Did you now?” Michael asked quietly
Applejack nodded silently, wishing she could hide under her sheets from the two humans.
“Guess Misty was telling the truth then.” Shane muttered softly as Michael pulled him away from the hospital bed.
“Still leaves an issue with behaviour.” Michael pointed out. “The two teams just don’t seem compatible.”
Shane rubbed his face irately. “Misty has already been chewed out for her behaviour, she improved a little. If she did really try to iron things out and Applejack lashed out I don’t think we can punish her.”
“And we can’t afford to lose both of them, regardless of what their disciplinary records are like they’re both fantastic pilots.” He tossed a glance between Applejack and Misty Fly, neither seemed particularly happy with the situation.
“So what do we do then?” Shane asked.
Michael made an almost imperceptible shrug. “Misty provoked her, Applejack lashed out. Get Misty to drop the assault charges and give the two of them stern warnings. I really don’t want to drop either of them and I think they’ve realised there was a misunderstanding between them, hopefully.”
“So they get off scot-free, that sets a great standard.” Shane remarked dully.
“Do you want to drop either of them?”
“Not really, no.”
“Thought so, so unless you’ve got a better idea speak up now.”
Shane indicated he had no further opposition, as usual deferring to his brother’s more diplomatic outlook like he usually did in such situations. “How are you going to get Misty to drop it, what reason would she have to do that?”
“I’ll appeal to her better nature.” Michael replied, already aware that was a small flaw in his plan.
Shane adopted a wry smile. “She has one of those?” He asked.
“You’re not helping.” Michael remarked, making his way over to Misty’s bed.
Shane followed him reluctantly. “Oh there’s no way in hell she’s gonna go for this.”
***
The LOCCENT was comparatively quiet, only the low whir of fans and the occasional snatch of conversation working its way to his ears. He liked the graveyard shifts for this reason, the shatterdome had an odd charm to it when the work crews were away and the staffing at a minimum. Some thought it was creepy but for the slightly anti-social and awkward stallion it was a nice change from the regular clamour. The view out the wide window was beautiful as well, the floodlights casting long shadows on the sleeping giants that had started populating the bay. Without the dozens of ponies which seemed to crawl over the machines during the daylight hours the constructs seemed to take on a more organic quality, he liked to imagine each of them slumbering away, dreaming of whatever eighty metre high robots dreamt of. Torque smiled thinly, dismissing the thought and swung down into the low chair office chair which sat next to the main command console.
Torque ran a hoof over the console, wiping a small amount of dirt from between the controls. “Morning beautiful.” He purred before leaning back and relaxing in his chair, a comfortable one he’d bought himself to replace the tasteless hard-backed one which used to reside in the command centre.
“Didn’t think you thought of me that way, Torque.” A voice he immediately knew belonged to Skyray said from behind him. Torque swore internally, wondering how the pale mare always seemed to get the jump on him. It had become something of a morning ritual, Torque would stalk into the command centre and sit down, she’d appear and make some comment, they’d exchange a few pleasantries and then the whole process would repeat itself again the next morning. She smiled at the slightly embarrassed look on Torque’s face and chuckled lowly. “Feeling alright this morning” She asked, delicately swirling the last dregs of recaf around in her mug.
“Fine, yourself?”
She sighed quietly. “Same old, I swear though if that kitchen gives us that ground up vegetable shit again I’m going to flip.”
Torque smiled thinly, although living on base has its perks, the pony in charge of catering seemed to be a little unimaginative at times. He personally didn’t mind it but the occasional lack of variety seemed to rub some of the staff up the wrong way.
“You could go somewhere else for your meals.” He pointed out, quickly paging through the previous night’s log and thankfully spotting nothing out of the ordinary.
She leaned across the back of the console, her head in her hooves. She looked in his vague direction, the angry red scars across her face glaring up at him under the soft light. “Got somewhere in mind?”
Torque thought for a few minutes, absently setting the board’s controls back to his preferred layout. “There’s this place downtown that makes this weird stringy things with sauce, it’s pretty good.”
The pegasus baulked slightly. “Sounds… interesting?” She said sceptically.
“Nah it’s great, one of my friends was over here a few months ago for his birthday and he took me there. Delicious.” He affirmed, smacking his lips together for emphasis.
Skyray looked at him dubiously, an eyebrow slowly arching itself over her good eye. “Alright, consider me curious. How about you take me there for lunch?”
Torque shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure.”
She yawned quietly. “Alright, see you later then.”
“Yeah, later.” Torque replied, watching her leave the command centre with a slightly giddy feeling in his chest. He slapped the sensation down and returned his attention to the board, trying to not think about how long was left in his shift. ‘Yeah, no. Not gonad happen.’ He thought dumbly, already eyeing the clock warily.
“Well at least I have something to look forward to.” He said with an uncharacteristic smirk.
As if hearing him, the console started beeping; a high pitched drone which could only mean one thing.
“Movement in the breach, dilation indicates Category I signature.” The computer chimed right on cue.
“Oh you gotta be kidding me! I wasn’t talking to you, you glorified piece of-.” Torque exclaimed, words failing him as he spun around to collect the data the computer splurged out mechanically. Were the Kaiju really that inconsiderate? He finally got something that could remotely be called a date and a Kaiju just had to appear to ruin the mood, didn’t it? He glared at the steady stream of data crossly, now it just seemed personal...
‘This is why we can’t have nice things.’ He thought sourly. Whatever creature had decided to stock its arse through the breach was small, smaller than Thresher had been. Torque frowned and pulled up a sonar image, noting that although the creature’s mass was a bit lower than the last Kaiju’s, it seemed at least twice as tall as Thresher had been. There was also some weird feedback filtering back through the system, almost as if the Kaiju was attempting to dampen its signature. He glared at the image for a moment, watching the sonar returns as the large blob seemed to shift around in the water like a shark following blood for a few moments before assuming an arrow straight course. Whatever this thing was, it was moving quickly, powering through the water at a little over 240 kilometres an hour.
Despite his irritation at the Kaiju’s appearance he couldn’t help but be fascinated, this was the first time he’d managed to track one of the creatures for more than a few moments and the wealth of data the computer was churning out was truly incredible. They’d have to wait until one of the Jaegers pacified the creature to get precise information of course but he could already imagine the half-insane biologists who had taken to researching the creatures salivating over the new data… for whatever it was worth to them. He double checked his recorders, the creature was almost out of sensor range and it would be something indeed if he found out they hadn’t been recording when the data was later processed.
With a frustrated sigh he starting warming up the two Jaeger’s reactors, a slow warmth building in their chests as their hearts starting turning over and rousing the machine from its slumber. Torque flicked the intercom to the alien marshal’s office, hoping one of the creatures would be a wake at the early hour.
Today was going to be a busy day.
Stats
Page generated in 0.033 seconds
Total duration
754 users online
837,454 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice chapter you got there, but let's see the rest......
Also....
'a trio of goddamn chainsaw hands'
Are you referring to Crimson Typhoon? XD
IT'S ALIVE! AND MISTY IS IMPROVING AS A PERSON! YAAAAAAAAAY!
More please....
I can't wait to see what other Jaeger weapons get developed. Dare I ask what a Royal Jaeger for Celestia and Luna would be like????
And I still think a team of Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn working together would get the most use out of a Jaeger by combining their specialties.
Side note: Don't forget the Crystal Empire specializes in magical crystals, what if those could be used to make weapons or boost the effects of spells with less strain on a unicorn???? Especially if the crystals can simply be grown with a special matrix like a circuit it could make construction easier and possibly speed up replacement of parts.
4164919 No she's not. She's growing as a pony. Get your species straight.
Damn, Misty's gotta sort out her issues.
Also, Torque is lucky
...Or he would be, if it weren't for the kaiju
"Gonad"?
i just realized:
a two jaeger drop? YES!
4163972
Who cares??
Chainsaw hands!!!!
And wasn't crimsons technically buzz or circular saws?
OOOH SHIT! Bitch you getting some lessons so Ah hope ya learn something so I dun' have to pound 'em in yo' head mhmmm!
I loved that part, holy shit I loved that part just lemme like this story again real quick.
*likes story again*
Oh heeeell yeah that shit's fucking fiiine like a fancy ass nigga should be.
Onward!
This fic surprises me sometimes, especially with little things like this:
Either that is a lovely Freudian slip or just an amusing typo. Still not sure.
Weeks.
Extra fullstop.
Forgot one more fullstop to make an ellipses.
Forgot to capitalise.
Seem, Hours.
Magic.
The.
Meant to be a closing quotation mark.
Extra spacing here.
Was mentioned but since there was no reply...
4164919
No Anthro here.
8816481
Bro shut up, please!
Me, enjoying this story and then seeing it hasn't been updated in four years