A Balance of Fire and Light

by Stolenalicorn

4 Game Night

Starlight and Rainbow Dash laughed together as they looked for their assigned holosuites. They were running a little late but they had their usual suites reserved right alongside those of James and his family. With a wave they both stepped into their assigned suites and walked into the Raven's Nest.

Rainbow Dash pranced slightly as she came in beside Starlight.

“You're happy.” Starlight commented with a grin.

“Of course!” Rainbow Dash was grinning ear to ear. “These competitions get intense, especially when we get closer to the end. Lucca and Tali will be especially tough.”

“I wonder who James will team up with, since it was going to be you and him.” Starlight idly commented.

Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks and groaned as she smacked her face with her hoof, she had completely forgotten that she had promised to be his partner for this.. “And this is a doubles competition.” She groaned again at her mistake.

“So he can't join?” Starlight asked.

“Not if he doesn't find a partner.” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I can just watch …” Starlight said before being cut off.

“Why would you do that?” James asked, smiling as he approached the pair.

“I'm sorry James.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked up to James and rubbed the back of her head. “I forgot my promise.”

James held his fist out and Rainbow Dash tapped it with her hoof. “Don't worry, I've got something set up.” He said with a wicked grin.

“So you were plotting something.” Starlight chuckled.

James began to laugh out loud. “I told you I was. Unfortunately Sara decided she didn't want to team up with her old man and chose to play some of her own games instead. So I moved on to Plan B.”

“What's Plan B?” Rainbow Dash's face lit up as she asked.

“A surprise.”

“We'll be starting in just a minute, where's the harm in telling us.” Starlight gave James a sly smile as she took a step forward.

“Because it will spoil the surprise for everyone … And possibly take away my advantage.”

“Come on Starlight, let's go register. It won't make a difference if we know or not. We'll go right through him when it's time.” Rainbow Dash said with her normal confidence.

“Trust me.” James' wicked grin looking even more ominous. “No one's going right through me.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed and strutted forward. “Go grab us some pizza, Starlight and I are going to need our energy for the competition.” Tossing James a smile she flew off towards the registration counter.

Once James and Starlight were alone he knelt down and placed his hand on Starlight's shoulder. “How are you doing?” He asked with his typical half smile.

Starlight returned the smile and nodded. “I'm doing alright.”

“I hope so. And if there's anything at all I can do to help you feel better, don't hesitate to ask. … I mean it.” James stood and began to walk towards the crowded lounge.

Starlight smiled weakly as she walked alongside James. “Thanks.”

“Once we're out of here we can actually spend some time and talk if you like.” James offered.

Starlight paused a second. “I forgot that we're in different rooms.”

James chuckled. “Good. That means everything is working right.”

“So if it's all illusion …?” Starlight didn't finish, she knew James understood her question.

“Well, the pizza is real. A replicated version from my original universe, but real. We'll each get a couple slices.”

“I look forward to trying it.” Starlight grinned as they walked.

“Then you should go get registered, the Pizza will at the table when you're done.”

Rainbow Dash was already at the counter finishing her registration as Starlight approached. “So what song should we use?” She asked, turning to her friend.

“Song?” Starlight asked as she began the relatively short process of getting registered.

“Yeah. It plays when we enter for the first time and again when we win the fight, kind of like a theme. They've got a whole list of music here. I'm thinking “We are the Champions.” It's one song that could just as easily be two but they split this one up appropriately. We'll get “We Will Rock You” going in, and the “We Are the Champions.”

“Oh.” Starlight hadn't expected music to play a part. “Just go with what you want, I'm sure it'll be good.”

“It'll be awesome!” Rainbow Dash corrected.

Starlight was almost finished when she noticed Rainbow Dash's pilot name. “You're name is “The Danger?””

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Cool, right? What's yours?”

Starlight shrugged. “Moonlight.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash's voice was deadpan as she asked. “That's so close to your name you may as well use your name.”

“Well I changed it to Moonlight after I found the sword.”

“No way!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “You've got the Moonlight? Please tell me you've got it equipped, that will make this so-o-o much easier.”

Starlight grinned and nodded. “Equipped it when I got it and haven't removed it since.”

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash happily said as she did a loop in the air. “This is going to be awesome!”

“Well, I'm done. Are we registered as a team yet?”

Rainbow Dash flew up a moment and quickly found where James was sitting in the lounge. “Yep, let's go see if James got us that pizza.”

As they got closer Starlight immediately recognized Lucca and James, but not the extremely pale, raven haired woman sitting with them. She looked at her gentle features, white starry eyes, friendly smile and couldn't help but feel she knew this woman from somewhere.

Starlight sat in the last available chair as Rainbow Dash went to get her plate of Pizza.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash sounded slightly hurt as she looked around the table. “Where am I gonna sit?”

James scooted his chair out a bit, not standing as he did. “Here's good.”

Rainbow Dash blushed as James spoke, careful to not look at either him or Starlight. Lucca and the other woman smiled as they watched.

“Well if you're not going to take his offer …” The other woman got up and quickly sat on James' lap, wrapping her arm around him as she did.

“Not as nice as the real thing.” James said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Suck it up. This is how everything feels to me.”

Starlight recognized the voice of the woman, despite not having the familiar distortion she was used to hearing. “Tali?” Starlight gaped at the woman now happily sitting on James' leg.

Tali raised a three fingered hand and waved. “Hello.”

James rubbed her shoulder a moment as he smiled at Starlight. “Since it's actually pretty easy to sanitize the holosuites she'll occasionally wear something different. Though she doesn't need those precautions anymore.”

“I know, I just can't be out of my suit out there.” Tali squirmed uncomfortably.

“It's alright, we've all got our issues.” Lucca said, shaking her head as Rainbow Dash sat in the recently vacated chair.

James wrapped his other arm around Tali as well and smiled. “Besides, if I just don't let you go I don't need to worry about losing to you two.”

Tali scoffed and looked at James, “I'll just turn off collision and walk through you.”

Starlight smiled as she watched the interaction of the two, genuinely happy for them. She felt welcome here, and even blushed as James smiled at her.

“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash spoke up excitedly, pointing to the screen with her hoof. “They've got the brackets set up!”

The table went quiet as they turned to see the placings.

“Wait. James, the board isn't showing your partner.” Starlight said, echoing the thoughts of most at the table.

“Yeah, once Sara turned me down I got in contact with Ash'ra to approve me going solo.”

Lucca gave James a sidelong glance, before looking to the screen herself. “Looks like none of us are going against each other first.” She then turned to give James a smug smile. “I'm going to find out what your plan is.”

“I'm more curious what these two are going to do.” James said as he looked between Rainbow Dash and Starlight. “They're the real wild card here.”

“I don't think so, you're trying to get attention off yourself.” Tali gave James a sly grin.

“The first fight is starting!” Rainbow Dash excitedly said, generally ignoring them and drawing everyone's attention to the monitor at the back of the Raven's Nest once more.

It was easy to get lost in the cheers and general excitement of the group. And the conversation they were having, as well as any discomfort, were soon forgotten. Rainbow Dash cheered the loudest as the battle continued, Tali leaped to her feet and applauded when a particularly good maneuver was executed. Even Lucca let out a few shrill whistles occasionally.

Starlight was happy to be here. Not just to avoid the Trivia Trot, and not because Sunburst wasn't here. Everyone was happy here, even the losers were cheered as loudly as the winners when they got back. She would have to see about coming back for more of these competitions.

As her attention turned back to the table, she found that only herself, James and Rainbow Dash were still there. James looked out and smiled towards Tali and Lucca who mingled with their friends while Rainbow Dash ate her slice of pizza.

It wasn't long before it was James' turn to go against a team, and with a nod he excused himself to attend to the competition.

The other mechs waited as James' music began. Horns and drums rang out, and immediately Lucca and Tali turned to the monitor to watch as a massive, crimson humanoid mech with a heavy chain gun mounted on each shoulder, and a third in his right hand. It's sheer bulk making it appear squat even though it was as tall at the other two mechs.

Calls of foul play were joined by laughter as each person had their own reaction to seeing the mech.

“Ash'ra.” Tali called. “That AC is against the rules.”

A Quarian man looked up from his omnitool and turned to the group. “He's taking on two opponents. The way I see it there's no harm in letting him use Big Red as long as he abides by the other equipment restrictions.” Nobody could see his face through his environmental suit, but he emoted enough to make it clear that he was enjoying the twist. “He asked me about this days ago.”

“It's too powerful!” Another pilot called.

“We've got at least one pilot who can beat him.” He turned and looked to Rainbow Dash. “If you think you can beat her, you should be able to beat him.”

The mood was noticeably different this time as everyone quietly stared at the screen.

James took a knee as he brought about one of the shoulder mounted chain guns. Rotating in place as he kept the stream of bullets trained on one of his opponents.

His opponents strafed around him, occasionally moving forward and back, having not expected to fight a stationary target.

Starlight leaned over the table towards Rainbow Dash and whispered, not wanting to make much noise as everyone watched the fight. “What's he doing?”

“Big Red is tough, but really slow. He can't maneuver well enough to do half of what we're doing. So he uses those heavy guns that have to be stationary and takes the hits. One on one he can just soak it up, but I don't know about fighting two.”

They watched as James switched guns and continued his assault. Shortly after, the first of his opponents crumpled over, destroyed. James' mech stood up and with a blast from his boosters slid to the side, into the tunnels surrounding the arena.

“James has them now.” Rainbow Dash whispered, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“What? How do the tunnels help?” Starlight leaned forward again, interested.

“James can corner them in the tunnels. He's so big nopony can get around him, and he doesn't need to aim to hit them with everything he's got.”

“Then why didn't he go for the tunnels straight away?”

“Because they wouldn't have to aim either. Strafing to avoid his fire made them miss some of their shots, so he may just be able to soak up that last little bit now.” Rainbow Dash never looked away from the screen as she explained James' tactics.

The monitor split as James moved further away from his opponent, trudging aimlessly through the tunnels.

“He's got to follow him.” Rainbow Dash quietly said to herself. “James isn't going to come out, you have to go after him.”

The other mech couldn't continue waiting where they were, and eventually followed James into the tunnels. After a few moments of silence the judge turned on the audio from the mechs to give some information.

A general amused chuckle arose from the group as they heard James casually singing to himself. More than one spectator began to sing along with him.

The other pilot wasn't as relaxed as they walked through the tunnels. They muttered to themselves, wondering where James could be, and paused at every intersection.

“AC's have radar. He should be able to tell generally where James is.” Starlight muttered.

“To make it interesting the judge has all radar jammed. You can only tell where they are when you're really close to … There he is!” Rainbow Dash shot up and shouted as the screen merged into one. The view changed to behind James as his mech flew forward, swinging an energy sword as he went. His maniacal laughter echoing throughout the Raven's nest as he did.

The other pilot shouted and hopelessly boosted as James continued to push them back into the corner. They fired frantically, trying to get some distance between the two, but there was nowhere to go. James continued to slash with the energy sword until his opponent crumpled over, defeated.

“You said you could beat Big Red, right?” Starlight asked as the horn and drum music started once more and James was declared the winner of the bout.

Rainbow Dash laughed uncomfortably, “Yeah … about that. It was with an AC I had specifically put together to beat him.”

“And aren't you using that one?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “It's not good for beating anypony but him. It's great at getting around fast and overheating him since Big Red can't cool down quickly, but it doesn't deal much by way of actual damage. It's completely useless for competitions.”

“Who's he going against next?”

“Most likely Lucca and Tali.”

“Who would you rather we fight?”

“James. You've both got the Moonlight, so you can do a lot of damage to him while I get him from a distance.”

“What about Tali and Lucca?”

“I think you should go after Tali, she likes fight up close so you get her with your sword. I'll go after Lucca.”

Loud cheers interrupted their conversation as the pilots returned. While James got a couple handshakes and pats on the back, it was the losers who received the greatest congratulation. It wasn't hard for James to get away and sit back down with Starlight and Rainbow Dash.

“It's great that they're so supportive of the guys who lost … but this seems a bit much.” Starlight commented as Lucca and Tali prepared for their coming fight.

James gave his normal half smile. “They deserve it. That's a tough mech to beat, and it's basically considered cheating for me to use it.”

Starlight looked to him a moment before whispering. “It's not right to just dismiss you, though.”

James shook his head. “It's only because I'm using Big Red. Things will be back to normal next time.”

“I think you did great. You were outnumbered, immobilized for most of the battle, and still won.” Rainbow Dash praised.

“Thanks.” James calmly said.

All too soon the chatter and noise dropped when the music for Lucca and Tali's team played over the sound system. The ACs looked almost identical, save for coloring, weapons, and one being slightly larger.

“Which one is Tali?” Starlight leaned over and asked James.

“The larger one with the shotgun.” He whispered back. “Tali fights up close while Lucca takes a backseat and fights from a distance.”

“Rainbow Dash mentioned that. If they win this one, you'll be fighting them next.”

“I'm pretty sure they will. Their opponents are good on their own, but can't fight as a team. They don't work together and just act like they're each doing their own solo fight.”

Starlight started to settle back into her seat before leaning towards James again. “Why are we whispering?”

James chuckled . “Because everyone is studying Tali and Lucca, they want to dethrone them.”

“Is there some kind of prize?”

“Bragging rights.” Rainbow Dash answered in James' place.

They watched Lucca and Tali operate just as Rainbow Dash and James both predicted. While their opponents broke away from each other quickly, going after their chosen targets.

Lucca had to constantly dodge as the other mech pressed in on her.

Starlight had noticed just what was going on: Lucca wasn't even aiming for him. Instead she was firing at the mech that had engaged Tali. While Tali was keeping their attention, Lucca was pecking away and before long they broke down. Before they even finished collapsing Tali had turned and moved on to take the other mech from behind.

Starlight leaned back over to Rainbow Dash and whispered. “I don't think that plan is going to work.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. She'd seen them fight together before, but Tali hadn't been used as a distraction before. They needed a plan to get the two apart and use each other's strengths.

Rainbow Dash gulped as she realized that she didn't know Starlight's strength. All she knew about her partner's build is that it used the Moonlight. She had just assumed Starlight was ready for a close fight.

In a panic she turned to talk to Starlight. “Okay, so we can't fight them like that. Do you have any ideas?”

Starlight chewed her lip, she had at least fought alongside James once, but had no practice at all fighting alongside Rainbow Dash. “Divide and conquer?” She halfheartedly suggested. “If I can get Tali to follow me into the tunnels then you swoop in and keep Lucca off of me then we might be able to win.”

“Yeah, but then we're fighting them one on one, and these two just trade the Champion position back and forth.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Rainbow Dash fidgeted as she tried to think, but came up with nothing. “Alright. Let's do it.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” James mumbled.

“Sorry.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Just thinking about the worst case.” Starlight covered.

“That doesn't help.”

“You're planning on how to beat us.” Rainbow Dash commented.

“Nope.” James grinned. “I've got a couple strategies with Big Red, and they either work or they don't.”

As the pilots returned there were some playful jeers and laughter. Lucca found her way to the table quickly while Tali stayed amongst the group and mingled.

“How's everyone here?” She asked slyly. “Intimidated yet?”

James leaned over and kissed her. “Not at all. Big Red can handle that punishment.”

“Yeah, he's going to be a problem.” Lucca grinned as she turned to Rainbow Dash and Starlight. “I'm counting on you two taking him down if Tali and I fail.”

“Oh don't worry.” Rainbow Dash smiled confidently. “We'll get him for you.”

“I love how you all talk like I'm not even here.” James spoke up.

“Oh don't be like that.” Tali said as she walked up from behind him and wrapped her arms around his head. “You're just so fun to tease.”

James faked a pout and let out a melodramatic sigh.

Tali adjusted her stance and kissed James' cheek. “Hey, we do it because we love you.”

“And I love you girls too.” James said with a chuckle.

Casually, Lucca glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Rainbow Dash and Starlight to find they were both blushing slightly.

After a moment of quiet James once again spoke up and the group got more lively as the next battle was set to begin. Paying attention off and on as James, Lucca and Tali provided commentary.

Almost too soon it was Rainbow Dash's and Starlight's turn to fight.

Once they went through the doors to get to their ACs they were brought into their individual mission rooms where they could make last minute changes to their ACs if they needed. Since this was a competition, Starlight couldn't do that, but it was still nice to see her room.

The program allowed these rooms to be highly customizable. Her's had large windows that looked out over a field, information about her opponents and allies were written on the window and she had pictures of her friends everywhere.

She paused a moment as she looked at Sunburst's picture. A dull ache filled her chest briefly and she reminded herself that she had come to have fun with everyone. I guess I'll have to change that to a picture of Sunburst and Velvet.

Confirming her AC she left the room and entered her cockpit. Fortunately for her and Rainbow Dash, before either had started playing James had found someone to design a custom cockpit for ponies to use. James had mentioned something about it being a smaller variation of an Elcor design.

She sat in her control chair, placing her hind hooves on the pedals and gripping the control sticks with her forelegs. The screen in the cockpit flashed on and she could see the arena. Her vision dipped as the mech smoothly rolled forward.

The music Rainbow Dash had chosen played over her speakers, and Starlight had to admit it was a good song. Even tempting her to keep the beat as the singer chanted the lyrics. To her side Rainbow Dash's mech flew forward. Unlike her own four legged rolling mech, Rainbow Dash's was constantly flying.

While Rainbow Dash could move around quickly in any direction, she had to fight against drift. And to even use a flying mech she had to keep it light, so she couldn't use the stronger weapons. The Moonlight alone would put Rainbow Dash near her weight limit.

Their opponents both rolled into the arena, one using a heavy four legged configuration the other rolling on tank treads. Both equipped with the heaviest weapons they could have. They were clearly trying to get as close to Big Red as they could and still have their mechs be mobile and allowed.

Just as the match was going to begin Rainbow Dash's voice came over Starlight's sound system. “Okay, Starlight. I'll try to keep them off of you, but you've got to hit them as hard as you can.”

Starlight grinned. “Oh, no worries about that.”

The moment the battle began Starlight rushed forward, swinging her sword as Rainbow Dash flew straight up and began shooting with her shoulder mounted machine gun.

Given her build, the recoil from the gun constantly pushed Rainbow Dash back, but she used that instead of strafing to help her avoid attacks.

As much as it would have made the fight easier, their opponents weren't stuck being stationary like James as they attacked, and as Starlight rushed forward both opposing mechs came to meet her. After a swing of her sword she used her thrusters to back off quickly, but not without taking a few hits for her trouble.

“That was a mistake.” Starlight muttered to herself before speaking out loud to Rainbow Dash. “They're focusing on me so if I duck into the tunnels they should follow. You come in after them and we'll have them between us.”

“Right!” Rainbow Dash's voice came in over Starlight's speakers. “Then there's no way they can escape!”

“I'm going in.” Starlight quickly turned and retreated, the entrance to the tunnels wasn't far off and she quickly ducked inside.

Just as predicted she was followed into the tunnels, however it was only by the tank treaded mech. Starlight didn't have the luxury of figuring out why the second hadn't followed as she now had to focus on the enemy in front of her.

She moved backwards as her shoulder mounted rocket launcher came to bear. Using it was often tricky as there was no tracking lock so she had to eyeball the targeting, but here she didn't have to worry about aiming. She emptied it quickly, and soon her opponent's mech was smoking. She grinned as her plan had at least partially worked. It wouldn't take much more to end this skirmish.

This fact wasn't lost on her opponent either and they retreated quickly from the tunnels, eager for a wider arena where they could better maneuver.

***

Once Starlight and her opponent had entered the tunnels the four legged mech shifted their attention to Rainbow Dash.

She had hoped Starlight's plan would have worked out, but would just have to made due with what she had. However the two had separated and she could work with that. She took a few potshots at the remaining mech to make sure she had their attention, and after dodging the return fire she began flying around the arena.

Her real advantage was her energy machine gun which she could continue firing indefinitely, pausing only to cool down. The trade off was that it didn't do much damage, but it was just what she needed. As long as she kept flying circles around them she could dominate the fight.

As she strafed her alarms suddenly blared as three small dots appeared on her radar: missiles, and they were right on top of her.

She braced herself as the explosions threw her mech around. And as soon as she was able, she hit her boosters again, shooting off to the side and brought her machine gun to bear again. She had taken a hit, but she was far from out of it. The best way to avoid the missiles, though, was to get up close. She was not prepared for a face to face fight, but she could still do this with hit a hit and run strategy.

She allowed herself to drop down, boosting forward as she reached the ground and closed the distance between the two. As she hoped, they fired another volley of missiles and they flew harmlessly around her. She was so close they couldn't get a lock.

She fired her machine gun again, getting a nice little peck in, and boosted upward just in time to see them slash their sword where she had just been. She may not be able to keep distance, but she was still quick.

Her strategy certainly put her at more risk, and she wasn't getting away without taking a few more hits, but she was still better off than her opponent.

After another few hits she noticed Starlight's opponent boosting out of the tunnels. “Starlight! Are you alright?!”

“Of course. I've got them on the run.” Starlight's voice came over Rainbow Dash's speakers.

“Nice. I've got my hooves full out here, but you're doing awesome.”

“Your friend there seems to be focusing on you. What do you say? Trade partners and dance?”

“Way ahead of you!” Rainbow Dash immediately switched her targeting to the rolling mech and boosted forward.

Starlight took the opportunity to rush past the smoking mech, swinging her sword at Rainbow Dash's former opponent. On contact, the mech began to smoke and with a second swing it crumpled over, defeated.

Rainbow Dash's opponent was dispatched just as quickly as she flew around above, firing down at them. Before long they found themselves returning to the Raven's Nest.

“That was awesome! Up high!” Rainbow Dash held her hoof up as they walked through the corridor towards the lounge.

Starlight smiled as she smacked Rainbow Dash's hoof with her own. “That was great. You think we'll have as good a chance against Lucca and Tali?”

“Oh yeah. That championship's as good as ours.”

They met with their opponents in the elevator, a Turian and an elf who both congratulated them on their win.

Rainbow Dash smiled at the compliments. “You two did awesome as well.”

“The Moonlight is a bit heavy for my build, but it hits hard.” The elf said as he looked to them.

The Turian laughed a moment. “You didn't take that volley of rockets, Ferron. I think I could have handled the Moonlight without getting a face full of those.”

Cheers filled the lounge as the elevator doors opened. Congratulations came from all directions as they made their way back to the table where James and Lucca sat, Tali once again having gone to mingle.

As the ponies sat down James reached over and began rubbing Rainbow Dash's neck. Starlight caught a smile spread across Rainbow Dash's face along with a blush.

James then turned to smile at Starlight. “Great job. Those two can be a real pain.”

“Come on, was there any doubt who would win that?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.

“Nah, I guess not.”

Over the next five fights the conversation got more comfortable with people drifting over and joining and leaving, James getting drinks and snacks for everyone. And among the crowd beyond their table small betting pools sprang up for the better known combatants.

Rainbow Dash hooted and cheered as the most recent fight came to an end. She was as into this as she got into any competition. And with as smile she turned to James and Lucca. “So …” She said with a sly grin. “any predictions on the fight?”

James smiled as he looked to his wife. “I'd say it's a toss up.”

“Please, just because you're using Big Red doesn't mean you're going to win.”

“We'll see.” James said as he and Lucca stood up. He casually draped his arm across her shoulders as they walked, and his other across Tali's as she joined them.

Rainbow Dash's tail swished back and forth as she eagerly watched the display, excitedly waiting to see the imminent battle. Starlight, however had another idea.

“Hey, how have things been between you and James?”

Rainbow Dash's tail stopped abruptly as she turned to regard her friend with some confusion. “They've been good. I mean, it's nothing we haven't talked about.”

“If you like things where they are that's fine. But I was thinking that you wanted more from your relationship with him.”

Rainbow Dash looked around nervously, talking only when she trusted that nobody was listening to them. “I do, but … I never imagined I'd be like this, you know. Mares and stallions I was ready for, but James …”

“I know …” Starlight paused a second as she considered her own thoughts on the subject. Once again she began to feel guilty about what she had been thinking the other day. “… believe me, I do. I just think that maybe you need a push. I understand James was a bit blunt when he approached the subject, and that probably didn't help any. So how did bringing back some of the things you did while your relationship with him was a joke go?”

“Well … like you suggested, we were kind of dating a little after the joke. Casually. Very casually. Breakfast or dinner sometimes. And we've even gone out on what could be serious dates and having fun together. As a family too: with his daughters, Lucca, and Tali, and even Scoot as well.”

“As a family?” Starlight hadn't realized that's how Rainbow Dash saw them all.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “between my parents deciding Sara and Amber are their grandfoals and everything we've all been through, we've just kind of accepted that we're a family now.”

“That's a big step, and I'm proud of you for taking it. But I've noticed there still seems to be this barrier for you. You'll hug him, be very affectionate and playful, act like his girlfriend in many ways. Maybe a little way you can take a big step would be a quick kiss on the cheek. Since you seem to want this, don't be afraid to push yourself.”

Rainbow Dash's wings stood out straight as she looked around uncomfortably again. Even though nobody was really looking at them, she felt like every eye in the holosuite was on her at that moment.

Starlight was quick to pick up on this and knew just what to say. “I mean, if you are afraid, then you don't have to do it. I was just making a suggestion.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “What? Me? Afraid? Puh-lease. I'm not afraid of anything!” She argued, despite her body language.

Starlight smirked, she'd hit the mark. “Then when he comes back, give him a kiss. No big deal if you're not afraid.” She knew she was pushing hard, but she felt she had to. She needed to encourage their relationship to make up for what she had been thinking earlier. It felt like such a violation of her friendship with Rainbow Dash, to say nothing of her feelings for Sunburst.

Rainbow Dash balked a moment and set her face before nodding. She cleared her throat as she turned back to the display and watched as Big Red took a knee and began firing his chain gun and forcing Tali away from him. “So who are you betting on?”

Starlight wasn't going to push any harder right now, and allowed the subject to change. “Well, if he goes to the tunnels I think that he'll have this in the bag, but with Lucca blocking that entrance and Tali keeping him too busy to get to the others, it looks like they've got him trapped out there.”

Much to Starlight's surprise, James used his size and fire power to force Lucca into the tunnel.

The lounge burst out into a chaotic mess of roars and cheers as Lucca's mech crumpled over defeated. Several people tried changing their bets to no avail, as others eagerly watched while Tali tried to locate James.

Cheers for either James or Tali rang out as the two finally encountered each other. While James pressed in on Tali, she did manage to keep her distance enough to get a few good shots in with her shotgun. But once she could no longer keep backing away they both began slashing at each other with their swords. Tali's speed proved to be the deciding factor as James' mech crumpled over defeated and once again the roars of the spectators filled the lounge.

“That … was … Awesome!” Rainbow Dash leaned over the table and announced as James and Lucca sat down. “You almost had them! And you two actually beat Big Red!” She was smiling ear to ear as her wings beat in excitement, lifting her over the table for a moment.

Starlight smirked at Rainbow Dash as she sat back down.

Noticing the smirk, Rainbow Dash blushed and slowly got back up, leaning over and giving James a quick peck on his cheek.

James quickly turned to her and smiled, “You know, turnabout is fair play.”

Rainbow Dash's wings once again shot out and her face flushed as she heard James' comment.

Lucca chuckled as she watched the exchange. Her omnitool lit up briefly as she typed something, before blinking out just as quickly.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash. It's our turn.” Starlight happily said as she got down from her chair.

Once they were out in the arena, Starlight couldn't help but speak up. “So, did you like it?”

“What?”

“The kiss. Are you happier now that you've finally kissed him?”

“It just happened, and it was just a kiss on the cheek, we did that a lot during the prank.”

Starlight smirked, not that Rainbow Dash could see her. “If that was easy, maybe you could go a little further.”

“Starlight! We're about to start! Can we talk about this later?”

“Alright, but we are talking about this later.”

“Fine.”

Soon after the agreement the fight began. Unlike their last fight Starlight immediately began firing her rockets, hitting the mech directly in front of her twice before they boosted away. She began to strafe around the arena, hoping to get a good shot at her target when Rainbow Dash's voice came over her speakers.

“Starlight, he's just a distraction! I need your help!”

Starlight turned abruptly to find that Rainbow Dash was indeed in trouble as the mech that went after her was close enough to hit her with powerful short range attacks. They couldn't match Rainbow Dash's agility, but the shotgun spread meant that they didn't have to, they just had to be close.

As Starlight made her way over to help Rainbow Dash her mech was knocked forward by the fire of the mech she had just left behind. Helping out Rainbow Dash meant leaving herself wide open to attack. But not helping meant Rainbow Dash was doomed.

She had no time to debate herself, not that there was a debate to be had. She boosted up to Rainbow Dash's attacker and shot him in the back with a rocket, knocking him away long enough for Rainbow Dash to get away. But for her trouble she got several hits in the back herself.

This fight was already going poorly. Starlight looked to her status on her HUD to find that she was at seventy five percent already. She couldn't take many more hits like that.

“Thanks Starlight,” Rainbow Dash's voice came in, “I'm half gone.”

“Half gone?! We've got to rethink this.”

“I'll go after the grounded guy if you can keep his friend off of me.”

“Sounds good.” Starlight made sure to place herself between Rainbow Dash and the mech that was still trying to get to her.

Starlight watched her damage counter as she continued to defend Rainbow Dash, determined to not let her down now.

A cry of frustration soon came over her speakers. She turned quickly to find Rainbow Dash's mech hitting the ground and crumpling over, defeated. Starlight didn't have to look at her HUD to understand that this fight was already over. Even so, she wasn't going to go quietly.

She ignored all semblance of a defense, instead going for a direct assault. Bringing out her rockets, and boosting to use her sword whenever she could. She managed to take down one opponent during her blitz, but was soon brought down herself.

Once again, they met up with each other in the corridor on the way back to the raven's nest. Starlight could hear Rainbow Dash grumble as they got closer to each other.

Rainbow Dash sighed as they met up. “Well, that sucked.”

“Sorry.”

Rainbow Dash waved the apology off. “Don't be. We just weren't ready for this. I'm sure if we got some practice we could come back and wipe them out … just not this time.”

“I know how important winning is to you.”

“Yeah, losing sucks. But if it were that important, I'd never come back to these. Nopony beats Lucca or Tali, that's just a given.” Rainbow Dash explained as they got to the elevator where the other pilots (both Asari) were waiting. “And we're not even the professional players.”

Starlight's jaw dropped. “Wait. There's professional players?”

“Oh yeah. Those people are insane.” One Asari commented.

“Not just with their skill.” The other added, elbowing her partner.

“Yeah. They're awesome players, but lousy sports. Feuds pop up all the time and over the stupidest things.”

“Oh, if you two want to watch something really exciting where the loser is better behaved: Centaur Jousting. They make it as dangerous as possible, but they're all cool with each other when someone wins.”

“You just love it because you're weirdly good at calling the winner.” While she spoke the doors to the lobby opened and the last of her words were drowned out by the wild cheers of the spectators.

Starlight and Rainbow Dash took their congratulations as they walked through the gauntlet to their table. Not that Rainbow Dash was particularly interested in their praise for her effort.

“Those two are going to be tough.” Lucca mumbled once Starlight was near.

“I'm kinda glad I didn't have to face Starlight's Blitz. Between the two of them Big Red would have been a goner. Still fun though.” As James talked his hand casually came to a rest on Rainbow Dash's hoof. She blushed and smiled weakly as she looked to the others at the table. “You girls want anything?” He asked with a smile.

Rainbow Dash swallowed hard as she looked to James out of the corner of her eye. “Cider.” She squeaked.

“Sure. Starlight, Lucca, anything?” James smiled as if nothing were out of place and soon went to place their orders. Starlight and Lucca both smirked at Rainbow Dash who refused to look at either of them.

***

The sun was just beginning to set when Starlight and Rainbow Dash returned to Twilight's castle.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me. It was a lot of fun.” Starlight said with a smile as they walked through the halls.

“No problem. Let's practice for the next one sometime.”

“Since we're alone now …” Starlight said, her words bringing Rainbow Dash to the ground. “You said that kissing James' cheek wasn't much of a step forward. Maybe try the real thing. You've been pretty clear that you want this relationship. Maybe you should just go for it.”

“Why are you pushing this now?”

Now it was Starlight's turn to falter a moment. She knew the reason, but maybe all of the details weren't necessary. “Maybe because I'm still upset about how things went with Sunburst. And seeing you happy has helped me feel better.” She said with an awkward smile.

Rainbow Dash examined her a moment. “Okay … weird. But do you really think I should? I'm still nervous about, you know, being all lovey with him.”

“And you won't get over it if you keep avoiding it. You've come a long way to accept this part of yourself, don't get cold hooves now that it's time. Do what you do best: leap in and to Tartarus with the consequences.”

Rainbow Dash looked into the distance for a moment before turning back to Starlight. “You really think we're ready for this?”

“I thought you two were ready years ago.” She answered, trying to reassure her friend. “But if you want, I could always ask him for you.” She added with a smirk.

“Nope. No. That's alright. Just … just give me a bit to get ready. If I'm doing this, I want it to be awesome.”

“You've had quite a long time already … but you are only now accepting these feelings. So I'll give you a month.”

“What do you mean you'll give me a month?”

“I mean that you get this going in a month, or I'll have a talk with James and it'll start his way.”

Rainbow Dash balked briefly before nodding. “Yeah. A month is more than enough time. …” As she thought she realized that maybe this wouldn't be a good time. “But I've got Wonderbolts practice at the end of the month.”

“Then you've got less than a month.”

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at the statement. “Seriously? Not even a month?”

“You want to take this slower?” She was just trying to push Rainbow Dash's buttons now.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Two weeks.”

“Two weeks.” Starlight agreed with a nod.

Author's Note:

I wanted to make a terrible joke after James' round against Tali and Lucca. I really wanted to make that terrible joke.
And you can probably guess the joke from this picture.