Equestrian Rim

by Visharo

Knifetail

Ranger Goldenrod's yellow face shimmered with determination. His bright red eyes glowed in the alarm lights. His cutie mark was hidden under a white Ranger battle suit with yellow highlights to match Celestial Advice's color scheme. Ranger Silver Platter appeared behind him with the same battle suit on. His ivory coat shone more brilliantly while his dark blue eyes betrayed no emotion as he stepped into the walking struts on the left. Goldenrod took the right one and helmets were plopped down on their heads.

"Initiating neural bridge...right hemisphere calibrated...left hemisphere calibrated. Neural bridge stable."

The young mares hiding in the back, far from the pilots' sight, felt the floor tremble. Apple Bloom looked through the conn-pod's visor and saw the ground leaving, and from the noise outside, she assumed that helicopters were bringing them to the Kaiju.

"Alrighty Goldie, another Kaiju. Do you think you can keep up with me?" Silver kept his eyes forwards, but a small smile broke out.

"Mighty talk Silver, do you really think you're better then me?" Goldenrod also smiled as the duo took up a stance while they waited for the helicopters to drop them.

"All Pilots! Advice, you are to take down Knifetail while Carol stands as backup. A bunker malfunctioned stranding civilians out in the open, so take down the Kaiju as fast as possible!" An unknown voice rang through the conn-pod, making the Cadets wince.

With an affirmative, the two Pilots braced for impact. A loud clang rang out as the helicopters disengaged Advice above the sea. Nothing happened for a few seconds; then a big woosh and thud caught the mares off guard, sending them tumbling around with grunts of pain. Thankfully, the water Advice threw about suppressed the noises in the back.

The duo took up a fighting stance, still oblivious to the four mares in the back, and waited for Knifetail to show. Celestial Advice mirrored the stance, front left hoof in front while the right a bit back and the two back hooves stood wide, allowing the pilots to dodge or attack if needed. Advice's legs were thick, and sturdy, made out of multiple alloys, allowing for easy but powerful bucking. The head fits snugly in the broad shoulders of the midsection, both made out of harder materials than the legs, increasing their durability. The visor took up most of the head, allowing for increased vision for pilots if the magical holograms were to fail.

The six ponies waited with bated breath; then the sea shook. A terrifying beast, thick scaly skin that dripped with salty water, 10 meter spikes lining it's spine, but most terrifying of all; a 20 meter tail that could pierce through enchanted metal. In height, it stood larger than Celestial Advice. Knifetail charged out of the water and tackled Advice, sending all the ponies to the floor. Before anypony could do anything, the Kaiju gripped one of the Jeager's hooves in its jaw and spun around in a circle before releasing. Advice flew through the air before crashing into the water again.

Goldenrod and Silver stood up, panting and gritted their teeth with determination. Advice followed their movement, step after step, then a gallop. One hoofstep caused water to splash everywhere; another causing tremors, and the third crashing into the Kaiju's jaw. Knifetail fell back, temporarily stunned. It tried to open its jaws before it got hit again and again. By the fifth hit, the Kaiju's head was submerged in the water, slightly bleeding, letting its blue blood mix with the ocean's.

Advice reared backwards, trying for a devastating stomp, but Knifetail whirled around, sending its tail forwards. The Cadets gasped as they saw a hologram of the Kaiju's tail pierce through the Pilot's bodies. The duo collapsed on the ground, gasping in pain. Sweetie Belle tried to trot over to offer some encouragement, but Babs pulled her back before the duo could see her. When she protested, Babs argued that if they knew there were Cadets aboard, they would immediately head back to the Shatterdome. Scootaloo opened her mouth to say that's exactly what they wanted before a loud crash resounded through the conn-pod.

Brawling Carol launched itself on the Kaiju's back. Thorax and Pharynx reared backwards and thrust downwards with an added boost from the rocket boosters on Carol's back. The pressure forced Knifetail under the water. The folded wings sprouted outwards, sharp points that glistened in the sunlight. When the Kaiju heaved upwards, the changeling duo flipped backwards, using their newfound wings to balance themselves. Knifetail threw it's namesake at Carol, but they ducked under it and galloped forwards. The Kaiju tried it's tail again, but before it could recover from another failed attack, the changeling Jaeger raked its sharpened wings along the Kaiju's side, drawing blood.

But not enough. Knifetail recovered quicker then anycreature expected and charged. It knocked Carol to it's side and proceeded to rip off one of the wings and tried to do the same with the second before it got tackled by Advice. While the changelings screamed out in pain from the magical feedback, Goldenrod and Silver were beating Knifetail to a pulp.

At least that's what they thought.

The earth pony duo lifted their front hooves and brought it down. It never landed. The Kaiju lifted upwards and hurled Advice away. It then deflected a blow from Carol, who recovered enough to fight, wing retracted, and headbutted the Jaeger. Before Thorax or Pharynx could do anything, Knifetail opened its jaws and spewed out a blue liquid.

"What the buck is that!" Pharynx lifted a hoof to prevent the liquid from spraying all over the green visor. Then the duo gasped when they saw the liquid eating through the metal everywhere it touched.

"IT'S BUCKING ACID!!!" Thorax hit the eject, sending himself and Pharynx out of the walking struts and onto the floor before the acid ate through the visor. Through the new holes, the changelings saw Advice leap forwards and dragged Knifetail away from the crumbling Jaeger. Thorax took the chance and dragged Pharynx away from the pooling blue acid to a hatch. Once outside the conn-pod, they turned into unicorns and teleported to the beach where they collapsed from the sheer amount of magical, physical, and mental energy they expended.

***

Applejack wandered the halls with a look on her face. Anycreature who were still in the hallways, quickly steered clear of the mare. She looked high and low for the missing Cadets. Her Cadets! When the alarms sounded, the orange mare quickly rolled out of bed and took stock of the situation. She counted four missing and then immediately interrogated them. It got so intense that Pay Check excused himself and left with a hurry.

After some intense eye staring contests and hoof slamming on tables, which hurt, Candy confessed that she saw the four trotting away sneakily in the dead of night. Applejack brought the young mare to tears trying to get her to fess up where they went. It took Peach Fuzz to drag her away to make her see that Candy knew nothing.

During the whole fight, she searched the whole Shatterdome and only came out of her stupor when the alarm sounded for a fallen Jaeger. Applejack rushed to the command center located in the middle of the Shatterdome, overlooking the hanger bay for Jaegers and the sort.

The moment she trotted onto the bridge, heads turned. Ranger Pay Check was already there as well as Marshall Rack. A large unicorn, known for his legendary fight against the first ever category III; Breacher. His co-pilot; Whey died during the fight, and he had to finish the fight alone. After the fight, he collapsed sustaining heavy mental damage. The doctors recommend that he should never enter a Jaeger ever again, or else his mind will turn into sludge.

"Ranger Appl..." The Marshall began to say before getting silenced.

"Shove it Rack, ah've lost mah sister and her friends, a Jaeger out there is dead in the water, ah am not in a fine and dandy mood. Are the Pilots dead?" Applejack pointed her question to griffon who keeps track of the vital signs. He shook his head and showed her the electrocardiogram. She nodded then looked back at the Marshall, "how are the others farin'?"

"Badly. Our scanners show Carol is completely melted, there's no saving that one, and her pilots are passed out on the beach. Our medstaff should be arriving there shortly. Advice is sustaining heavy damage, we're contemplating on sending another Jaeg..." Marshall trailed off when everybody in the command center heard an extended beep.

***

The Cadets stared in horror at the lifeless body that was Goldenrod. Silver was sent to the ground under the overwhelming weight of a Jaeger. He gritted his teeth and heaved upwards. He lifted a hoof and brought it straight down on the tail that ended his partner's life. The sudden pain forced the Kaiju to extract his tail, leaving a jagged hole through the visor, leaving nothing to the imagination for the young mares hiding in the back.

That single Ranger who held his ground, finally saw the terrified stowaways. His face alternated between emotions, flickering from surprise to anger to determination. He pushed up straighter and yelled out a battlecry and charged. The entire weight of the Jaeger on him, blood dripping from one nostril, he turned tail and bucked as hard as he possibly could. The blow connected so painfully hard that the ponies inside the conn-pod could hear its jaw snap.

"You...should leave...please. Take the...ejection pods...I can't..." Silver gasped before collapsing. He struggled to stand, still, looking at his unexpected passengers, his eyes pleading. A loud crash tore the Ranger's gaze. He groaned and twisted sideways, the Jaeger awkwardly following his movements. Too slow.

Apple Bloom watched with stark horror as the flickering magical hologram showed a snaking tail coming straight at them. The hologram disappeared as the young mare's eyes could only focus on the real tail as it pierced Silver right through the chest. Before anypony could blink, the tail disappeared, taking Ranger Silver Platter with it. With no one to pilot, Celestial Advice tilted to its side, before falling into the water.

The Kaiju outside roared, its beastly screams hounding all reason away from the Cadet's hearts as the wrecked conn-pod started filling up with water.

***

"BUCKING HAY! Marshal, ya better give me a Jaeger and a co-pilot or imma whoop yer ass into next moon." Applejack's eyes bore into the unicorn standing before her. Her green eyes slowly turning an unhealthy shade of red, every creature in the room backed away in case her mane caught on fire or something. The Marshall however, did not back down and stared right back.

"Shade, call the Winged Glory team." He never broke eye contact, nor did she.

"...Aye sir!" A young pegasus saluted and pressed a button.

"Warning! Kaiju, category IV. Rangers Soaring and Spitfire, you are needed..."

"Umm sir?" The griffon shrunk back considerably when the two ponies glared at him, "...Advice is moving..."

"W-wha...how?" The fire died somewhat in Applejack as she trotted over to look at the electrocardiogram, then her eyes turned pure red and her mane caught on fire.

***

Cadet Apple Bloom and Cadet Babs Seed stood in the struts of the Jaeger; Celestial Advice.

"Initiating neural drift...right hemisphere calibrated...left hemisphere cali...error...left hemisphere is out of alignment"

Apple Bloom stood watching as Ranger Silver Platter got taken away...except it wasn't Silver. It was Applejack. She did nothing to help or did anything to prevent what happened...what was going to happen. The scene went back to where Applejack stared straight at her. Straight at Apple Bloom, love and desperation in those green eyes, pleading for her to leave, to flee. But Apple Bloom did nothing and watched as the snaking tail came and stabbed her sister right through the chest. It retracted right back from where it came from, leaving a jagged hole in the visor, exactly like the one in her heart.

"Apple Bloom. Ah know you can hear me, don't go down the rabbit hole. Remember yer trainin'. We need to defeat this here Kaiju and go brag 'bout it to Peach Fuzz and the rest. Come on Cuz, howabout it?"

Apple Bloom looked at Babs. The young mare smiled at her cousin, her bangs covering one side of her face, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was the determination and love Apple Bloom could feel from Babs. Then the yellow mare smiled.

"...Left hemisphere calibrated. Neural bridge stable."

"Let's do this thing!" The cousins stamped their front hooves in sync before leaping after the Kaiju that's making its way to shore. Before either could reach their destination, a large winged shape came hurtling out of the sky. Apple Bloom gasped as she recognized Winged Glory as it did its signature move where Soarin and Spitfire grab a Kaiju by its neck and haul it over Glory's back.

Knifetail fell on its back, its four legs waving in the air as Glory leaped upwards and slammed their hooves on the stomach. The Kaiju, mistake or not, released an excess amount of the blue acid stored in its mouth. The pegasi pilots had to flap their wings backwards to avoid the nasty liquid. Knifetail tried to get up but was pinned by the cousins.

Apple Bloom grinned as she and Babs lifted Knifetail by its tail and slammed it back down. She felt like she could take on a hurricane! The Kaiju whirled around and opened its mouth, no doubt trying to spray its acid. Before it could get a chance, the Apple cousins flicked a hoof straight towards the already broken jaw, shearing it off its head.

The mares just stared in shock at the now jawless Kaiju staring back at them through the broken visor. Their hesitation would've been their downfall if Glory had not headlocked Knifetail and brought it downwards. Kaiju and Jaeger wrestled for a minute before Glory got launched backwards, crashing through a building. It didn't hold them down for long, though, as they came rushing back out, their razor-sharp wings spread out.

Apple Bloom and Babs knew exactly what to do and as if rehearsed, they grabbed the tail that almost skewered them and heaved forwards. The duo braced and stood on their back hooves as they whirled the Kaiju around and around before releasing it towards Glory's open wings. In a split second, Knifetail went from jawless Kaiju to a lifeless, shredded, corpse lying on the Manehatten beach; it's blue blood spilling everywhere.

With a tired sigh, Apple Bloom and Babs trotted forwards before crashing into the beach themselves, sand spraying everywhere and unfortunately as well as the conn-pod, much to Sweetie Belle's displeasure. With help from Scootaloo, who couldn't stop grinning, the cousins unhooked themselves from the Jaeger struts who somehow survived the spear tail attacks. Then the four mares gulped at the sight of a very angry mare staring straight at them.

Author's Note:

Eyooo. If you're wondering about the perspective, it isn't really fixed, more of a a third-person omniscient perspective. It allows me to write about the main characters while adding outside details such as Celestial Advice and Brawling Carol fighting Knifetail despite the fact that Apple Bloom was inside with limited vision.

Electrocardiogram=Machine that records heart thingie, those things in the hospital that go beep or go beeeeep when someone dies.

Also, Pacific Rim: The Black Season 2 just released? It's pretty cool.

Kudos on Blu for helping me with ideas and such.

Comments

[VISHARO NUMBER 1 FAN WOO]

EYYYYYY best chapter yet! now u better write the next one REAL fast COS IM GONNA STAB U IF U DONT. love u bai <3