Equestria Girls /0

by Bitt_Player

Chapter Nine - Progression

“Two Dibisons and a Helcat,” Sunset Shimmer stated matter-of-factly, the Zoids in question on the Hover Cargo’s screen. “That’s what the Dazzlings are piloting now.”

“Oh yeah, they started using those like a week ago, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nine days, if we’re being pedantic,” Sunset corrected with clear self-awareness. “And exactly one match, which could be good for us. They haven’t had much battlefield experience with these Zoids. The downside is, I didn’t have much to go on when I was working on this strategy.”

“Are we to understand that Adagio Dazzle is using her Helcat to forward observe for the other two while remaining invisible?” Rarity asked.

“That is what they did in their last match, and probably what they’ll try today,” Sunset confirmed. “But guess what?” Sunset directed extremely smug finger-guns at Applejack. “Multisensor.”

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack adjusted her hat. “Dazzle cain’t hide from me!”

“That she can not,” Sunset agreed. “Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, you’ll cross the battlefield in a triangle formation with AJ in the lead, ECM running. Keep the formation loose, but stay within AJ’s ECM shroud. As soon as you spot Adagio, mow her down. Now, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk kept far apart from each other in their last match, probably so they could attack from two directions. I don’t know how they’ll react to losing Adagio, but my guess is they’ll try to close ranks. Sweep the battlefield, try to catch one before they get close together. They’ll probably be lurking in the rocky outcroppings to avoid direct fire. When you spot one of them, hit her from the side or back. You’ll probably need to break formation and approach from multiple vectors.” Sunset nodded at Pinkie. “We all know the kind of damage one Dibison can cause, and the Dazzlings have two. Be careful out there.”

---

Sunset Shimmer rubbed her hands together as her teammates moved to their initial positions in the battlefield’s eastern starting area. The battlefield, clusters of granite outcroppings separated by large zones of open prairie, was beautiful. Its grassy plains were pockmarked with just the right number of blast craters and fragments of scrap chassis, and the scorch marks on the granite were positively artistic.

“We should have convinced Luna to stick around, this looks like a great place for a picnic,” Sunset commented.

“We got close to an old ruin she’s been hoping to explore and, well, you know how she gets,” Celestia said evenly.

“I just hope all our Zoids are in fighting shape,” Fluttershy said. “The Dibison’s neck is stiff and the Dark Horn is due for a lubricant flush. The Storm Sworder needs its paint retouched, too.”

“This is only our second match since we left home,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “I think we’ll manage.”

“Here comes the Judge!” Pinkie called out as her Dibison roared its greeting at the falling capsule.

“Area scanned! Battlefield set up!” The Judge announced as its capsule opened. “Battle Mode Zero-Nine-Eight-Three! The Dazzlings versus Empyrean Team! Ready… Fight!”

The Dark Horn didn’t so much charge forward as lumber, Applejack keeping a wary eye on her sensors. The Pinkamena D. Bison maintained a similar pace, while Rarity’s Zaber Fang was reduced to what could only be called meandering in order to maintain formation. Moving slowly and staying among the outcroppings as much as possible would make them more difficult to see, and Adagio Dazzle would need a clear visual to call shots, due to the ECM.

“I see Dazzle!” Applejack said suddenly. “She’s on top o’ a big ol’ rock. That’s kinda weird.”

“She stands a better chance of seeing you from up there, she must know about your ECM,” Sunset said. “Then again, she should also know that your Multisensor can see through her optic camouflage. She’s taking a pretty big risk.”

“I ain’t sure I can git into shootin’ range without her seein’ me,” Applejack pointed out. “She picked herself a good spot.”

“Well, it would be a good spot if we didn’t have Pinkie Pie.” Sunset fiddled with her console. “Stay in formation, move towards her until the Dibison’s guns can reach her, and forward observe for Pinkie.”

“Is this going where I think it’s going?” Pinkie asked gleefully as the Zoids changed course.

“Don’t unload everything at once,” Sunset cautioned. “Adagio’s likely to take evasive action. Fire a few shots and adjust as needed.”

“Roger-dodger!” Pinkie confirmed.

Sunset leaned back in her chair. “It’s only a matter of time now,” she said.

---

“Okie dokie Sunset, I’ve got one shot lined up on Adagio and four more where you think she’s gonna jump to,” Pinkie said. “Applejack, you do know that Multisensor’s amazing, right?”

“Don’t thank me, thank Fluttershy,” Applejack said.

“Oh, um, it was no big deal,” Fluttershy said quietly, shifting her hair to partially hide her face.

“Girls, we all know Fluttershy’s wonderful, but please deal with Dazzle before she sees you,” Sunset admonished, watching Fluttershy’s face turn red.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie replied. “Fire~ing!” The Pinkamena D. Bison loosed its volley, and Sunset grinned as Adagio Dazzle, apparently panicking, vaulted from her perch -directly into the second shell’s blast area. The Helcat yowled as it flipped over in the air, its optic camouflage failing as it hit the ground turret-first. The remaining shots didn’t really accomplish anything, nor did they need to, but they exploded anyway for good measure.

“Perfect!” Sunset clapped her hands together, her smile widening. “All right girls, keep this up!”

“You heard the lady, let’s git ‘em good!” Applejack said, steering her Dark Horn northwest, towards the closest area where Sunset thought the other Dazzlings might hide. With no more fear of being spotted by an invisible enemy, Applejack was able to push her Zoid to full throttle, so the Dark Horn lumbered with noticeably increased haste. It wasn’t long before the Multisensor pinged another target.

“Dibison on the move!” Applejack announced. “What d’ya reckon, Sunset?”

“Feed Pinkie her projected course. Pinkie, fire for effect, we need her pinned down.”

“Sure thing, Sugarcube.”

“I love firing for effect!” Pinkie declared gleefully.

Within moments, the Dazzling Dibison was stationary, shuddering from Pinkie’s shells but suffering little actual damage. Rarity ranged ahead of the team, approaching from the Dazzling’s left to get a clear line of sight.

“That emblem on the shoulder is Sonata Dusk’s.” Sunset pointed out. “Good, of the three of them she’s the best shooter. Rarity, can you finish her off?”

“Of course, darling. My missiles are locked on… And away they go!” All three of the Zaber Fang’s missiles sailed out of its turret launcher, shattering the beleaguered Dibison’s armor.

Sonata’s Zoid bellowed as it collapsed, leaving Aria Blaze to fend for herself.

“I may have made a slight miscalculation,” Rarity admitted, “in that those missiles were the only weapons I had that could pierce a Dibison’s armor.”

“Don’t worry about it, Pinkie’s got plenty of ammo and AJ hasn’t even fired her railgun yet,” Sunset assured her.

“You’ve got this in the bag!” Rainbow added. “Just take Aria down and we’re in C-Rank!”

“We’re so close I can smell it! Like brownies! Wait, that’s my air freshener, never mind!” Pinkie contributed. Sunset almost asked where she’d found a brownie-scented air freshener, but caught herself. Questioning Pinkie could only lead to madness.

The Empyrean pilots swung east, Rarity moving ahead of her teammates.

“Careful, Rarity, stay-” Sunset began.

“-In Applejack’s ECM shroud, I know, darling,” Rarity interrupted. “Aria must know we’re coming from this direction. I can get her attention even if I can’t damage her Zoid.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Sunset admonished.

“Darling, when have I ever?” Rarity asked with a dismissive laugh.

“Don't need the Multisensor this time,” Applejack said. “Tomfool idiot’s just standin’ out in the open. Same plan, Sunset?”

“I don’t like this. Spread out. You’re almost in her firing range and -Rarity! MOVE!” Sunset interrupted herself as Aria’s Dibison angled its front slightly downward to aim at the Zaber Fang. Rarity swung her Zoid to the right, but Aria shifted her Dibison’s shoulders to lead the shot.

A massive golden beam seemed to blast from Aria’s Dibison as tracer rounds fired from all seventeen cannons at once. The Judge’s horn blared even as the shot was fired, but his announcement was drowned out by the earth-shaking explosion as the attack hit the Zaber Fang’s left side, slamming it away from Aria’s Dibison as Rarity shrieked in shock and terror.

“RARITY!” Everyone on Empyrean Team cried out at once.

The whiplash snapped the Zaber Fang’s neck hydraulics as it rolled along the ground, losing both its front legs, its left rear leg, and its turret. The Zaber finally slid to a stop, its chin on the ground, but its torso left-side-up. The main power cable was the only thing connecting the Zoid’s head to the rest of it.

“I’m. All. Right.” Rarity said, gasping for air between words. “I do believe I shall have to lie down for a while though, and Fluttershy, sweetness, I’m sorry to say you have your work cut out for you.”

The Judge’s horn sounded again. “The battle is over! The battle is over! Use of the Megalo Max Barrage against a Zoid weighing less than two hundred tons is forbidden! Pilot Aria Blaze is disqualified for excessive force!”

“What?!” Aria shrieked. All communication with the Judge robots was over open comms. “You can’t do that!”

“I certainly can! My function is to enforce Zoid Battle Commission rules and subject violators to appropriate penalties!” The Judge retorted. “The Dazzlings are hereby suspended from all Commission battles pending a full review of this violation. The results of this review will be announced within seventy-two hours. Now get off my battlefield!” With that, the Judge turned his pod to face Empyrean Team’s Hover Cargo. “Empyrean Team! Congratulations on your win, and welcome to C-Rank!”

There was a brief pause, as Empyrean’s members struggled to decide how to react to the situation.

“I’m going to need someone to tell me what he said once my ears stop ringing,” Rarity complained.

---

The mood aboard the Hover Cargo was, at best, subdued. Someone in the repair bay, where the Zaber Fang lay, might lean towards ‘mournful.’

Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer were both feeling quite mournful. One might wonder where Rarity was, but she had already had all the mournfulness she could handle for the time being.

Sunset took a breath, prepared to speak, then didn’t. After reconsidering just how to phrase the obvious but requisite question, she returned to her original plan.

“Well Fluttershy, what’s our prognosis?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy sighed. “Sunset, I can see its Zoid Core. The whole thing. It’s right there.” She motioned towards the gaping hole that most of the Zaber Fang’s side had become. Indeed, an off-white sphere, roughly six feet in diameter, was clearly visible deep in the machine’s center.

“I mean, I don’t expect you to have it doing backflips tomorrow, but-”

“Sunset, I don’t think you understand,” Fluttershy interrupted. This caught Sunset off guard: She occasionally forgot that Fluttershy knew how to be impolite.

“Okay. What am I missing?” Sunset asked, still taken aback.

“Nearly all of the left side is gone, the head is almost fully detached, three legs have been torn off and the remaining leg’s hip is so badly damaged it would actually be better if it had come off, and every single weapon has been both ripped off and destroyed. The force of the impact actually traveled through the Zaber Fang’s interior and rattled several of its teeth loose before the neck broke. And that’s just what I can tell without getting my tools out.”

“You can tell when the teeth broke?”

“Rattled loose. It’s a talent.”

“So, what’s the bottom line, Fluttershy?”

“It would be faster and less expensive to pull the Zoid Core out and use it to grow a new Zaber Fang. We might be able to convince a scrap dealer to buy the rest, but given the state of it I wouldn’t even take that for granted.”

“I… wow. I need to check if we even have the money to grow a new Zoid.”

“We don’t,” Fluttershy said forlornly. “I already asked Celestia.”

“Oh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Dare I ask how Rarity’s taking it?”

Fluttershy sighed through her nose. “She’s… being herself.”

“Alone in her room crying all her makeup off?”

“She needs to get it out of her system. It’s probably going to take a while.”

“I can understand that.” Sunset said, running a hand through her hair. “I need to call Luna, get her opinion on that ruin she’s exploring. She might pick up some good stuff to sell. Other than the Zoid Core, do you think you can recover anything else?”

“The cockpit might be salvageable.”

“... Wonderful.”

“Emphasis on ‘might.’”

“Is… is it even worth the effort?”

“I doubt it, but I’m kind of a pessimist.”

“You’re also the one of us who knows what she’s talking about. See what you can do, but don’t go to too much trouble. I guess the big question is, how are you taking it? I know you really love all our Zoids.”

“I… not as bad as Rarity. I think” Fluttershy wiped away a tear. “But… it’s not easy, you know? I always feel so bad for our Zoids when they come back damaged, and this…” Fluttershy turned away from Sunset. “I’m sorry, I need some time with the Zoids. You’d… you’d better make that phone call.”

Sunset squeezed Fluttershy’s shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Thank you, Sunset.”

---

“Talk about a pyrrhic victory,” Luna commented into her phone, leaning back in the Gustav’s pilot seat.

“We’ve lost matches and had our Zoids come back in better shape,” Sunset agreed. “I mean, that time Vinyl Scratch dropped a Pteras on Applejack? Better than this. Which reminds me, why wasn’t Vinyl busted for excessive force for that stunt?”

“We’d have to go digging through the rulebook to find that out, but I’m sure there’s a reason. Anyway, I’m going to camp outside this ruin tonight and go in bright and early tomorrow. The place looks pristine, in a manner of speaking. I don’t think anyone’s been here before, so there’s a good chance I can find Rarity a new Zoid. Or at least some sweet loot I can trade for one.”

“Is a new Zoid what she needs? Instead of, like, regrowing the Zaber Fang?”

“Regrowing the Zaber Fang makes it a new Zoid. And frankly, we had the Zaber Fang because it was what I could get. They’re okay if you’re on a budget, but it would be better for the whole team if we could convince Rarity to upgrade.”

“Geez, Luna, I didn’t realize you could be such a stone cold opportunist.”

“I consider myself a realist. I balance out my sister’s starry-eyed idealism and we end up making a good team.”

“Yeah, but it makes you two real scary when you argue,” Sunset complained. “Like when my parents were sober. Oh Tartarus, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“You did. Sunset, you only ever talk about your parents on accident. If there’s something you need to-”

“Don’t. Don’t even. Just, not now, all right?”

“All right, if you insist. Just know that I’m here for you, even if it's just over the phone. We all are.”

“... Thanks, Luna. I think Rarity’s problem is a little more immediate, though. I should go see if she’s pulled herself together enough to talk about it.”

“You do that. Good night, Sunset.”

Comments

[Bitt_Player]

Sorry, Rarity. Take comfort in knowing your new Zoid will be dramatically more fabulous.

[WolfenaxDart]

8123442 Your planning on giving her the CAS prototype Zaber Fang or the likes arn't you

[Hopelight]

8124881 Perhaps it is a custom Zoid of the author's design, which can utilize the Change Armor System/Units.

[Bitt_Player]

8124881
8125673
There won't be any new Zoid chassis invented by me in this story. I've pushed the limits in terms of customization for some existing Zoid types (the Dark Horn Applejack Special in particular) but I made myself a rule to have feature only Zoids that exist in the model kit lines, if not the TV shows. Even the Rainbow Jerk. I'm tempted to assemble a team of pilots who all hold incredibly unreasonable grudges against Rainbow Dash, symbolized by their all-Rainbow Jerk stable. Possibly as one of Sunset Shimmer's bonkers dream sequences.

[WolfenaxDart]

8138269 I find that reasonable. Though I was hoping that You'd give Rarity the CAS prototype Zaber fang as a form of poetic justice as it was the foundation of all zoids that use the changing armor system like the liger zero and berserk fury. Especially durring the inevable battle against sci twi if she uses a CAS compatible zoid.

[Bitt_Player]

8138471
I was bouncing around looking for a new Zoid for Rarity (having decided to deprive her of her Zaber Fang, though not yet how) when I hit upon a certain retrofit of a certain Zoid that only exists as a very rare model kit that was briefly available, which I thought complimented her style of combat quite nicely. It doesn't have a CAS, I'll give that away, but it's a high-quality piece of machinery, and the (pun absolutely intended) rarity of it would probably appeal to her as well.
Not to worry though, there will be at least one CAS Zoid running around Neo Equestria before we're done.

[WolfenaxDart]

8143798 That's quite fitting. Though you just open the floodgates as there are a few zoids that came in limited numbers.