Sundance, Mist, and Vermilion were walking towards the mess hall with Chartreuse skipping happily ahead. All of the other first-year cadets had left for the mess hall long ago, with the exception of the cadet who piloted the Rifleman. Sundance looked over his shoulder and saw Commander Charcoal walking along the catwalk toward the 'Mech as it powered down. “I guess the Commander wasn’t too happy with that cadet’s performance. I wouldn’t be either. That pilot should probably stick to a lighter Mech,” Sundance thought.

Mist leaned over to Sundance as they kept walking. “I know getting your cutie mark is exciting and all, but don’t you think Chartreuse is too enthusiastic? I mean, I’m happy for her, but still. It's strange.”

Sundance turned back towards Mist and opened his mouth to reply, but Vermilion cut in on their conversation from Sundance’s other side. “I think she’s more happy about what her cutie mark is. You’ve noticed how she’s always fawning over Sundance, right?” Sundance scratched the back of his head awkwardly while Mist made a face and looked away. “With that in mind, why do you think she’s so happy?”

“Well, if you put it that way, it does make a bit more sense I guess,” Mist said.

Sundance shook his head. “I’m not following you.”

“Think about it. You got your cutie mark for piloting Mechs, Chartreuse got her cutie mark for shooting Mechs... Get it yet?” Vermilion said as he tapped Sundance on the forehead.

“Ow. No, not really.”

Vermilion sighed, visibly annoyed. “You’re a dense motherfucker, aren’t you? The two of you have related cutie marks and similar talents. Both of you are good at the same things. Of course she would be happy about that. You hadn’t even realized she liked you until I told you, had you?”

Sundance opened his mouth to protest, but Mist cut him off. “No, he did. Only because I told him, though. He probably would have been completely surprised just now if I hadn’t,” he said, shouldering Sundance playfully.

Sundance scowled at Mist as he regained his balance. “You don’t know that. I might have realized before now.” He glanced at Chartreuse. “Or maybe not.” Vermilion shook his head.

“I wonder what my cutie mark is going to be,” Mist wondered aloud. “You got a Timber Wolf, which I’m still jealous about by the way. Chartreuse got a crosshair, which is cool I guess, but that kind of thing doesn’t fit me, you know? Maybe it’ll be blueprints, and my talent is designing new Mechs?”

Sundance rolled his eyes. “Leave that to Cadmium and whatever weird shit he works on in his free time. I don’t think you want to end up like him.”

Mist smiled. “Yeah, that’s a good point. Constantly adjusting glasses, grumbling at everything, just being a pain the ass in general. I wouldn’t want to be like that.”

Vermilion frowned at Mist. “Sure, like you’re not already a pain in the ass.”

“Hey. I take pride in my ability to antagonize people. It’s an art form, more than just annoying everypony else like Cadmium does.” Mist thought for a moment. “Maybe that’s what my cutie mark is going to be...”

Vermilion reached over Sundance to try and shove Mist, but he jumped sideways just in time to avoid being pushed to the dirt. Sundance laughed, and Mist shot him a smile. “See what I mean? If I were Cadmium, nopony here would be happy.” Vermilion glared at Mist, and he only grinned wider. “On the subject of being happy, you never seem happy, Vermilion. When was the last time you smiled?”

Vermilion sighed and glanced at the ground. “Probably not since I lost Carnelian, my brother.”

“I wish I had an older brother. Seven years is kind of a big difference, though. The two of you must have been close?” Mist asked.

Vermilion nodded. “Obviously. He isn’t... wasn’t that much older than me, though.”

Mist looked at him, confused. “But didn’t you say he died in his first battle last year? Shouldn’t that put him seven years ahead of you, since you’re twelve? Unless you’re not...”

Vermilion shook his head. “I’m fifteen. They didn’t move me to a Sibko until this year because... well, for reasons.”

“Ah, everything makes a lot more sense now. I thought you acted strangely for somepony our age.”

Sundance glanced back at where Vermilion’s cutie mark should have been. “How come you don’t have a cutie mark if you’re that old?”

Vermilion shook his head again. “I-I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just eat lunch. The mess hall is right here,” he said as he sped ahead of the others.

Sundance looked towards where he was heading and realized they were already at the mess hall like Vermilion had said. It hadn’t felt like they walked that long, but they did, evidently. Chartreuse slowed down as they got closer to the gray building to walk next to Sundance. “It seems like he’s hiding something, don’t you think?”

Mist looked at her, startled. “You could hear us the whole time?”

“Of course,” Chartreuse said. Mist’s face fell in despair, and she laughed at him. “I’m kidding! I only heard the last bit. I didn’t listen in on whatever deep, private conversation the three of you were having earlier.”

Mist sighed and chuckled. “I think I understand how everypony else feels around me now. But yeah, it seems like he’s not telling us something."

Chartreuse nodded. “He’s obviously keeping in his emotions, which isn’t healthy. You noticed him stutter, right?” Sundance thought about that for a moment. He actually hadn't realized Vermilion had stuttered. Maybe Sundance was as dense as Vermilion had said.

“I know, right? I didn’t think I would have ever seen Vermilion be that nervous, so it was kind of surprising. It’s gotta be something that’s really bothering him. Probably something to do with Carnelian,” Mist said.

Chartreuse nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I don’t know if we’ll get anything out of him today, though.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s quite ready to open up that much. Maybe soon.” Mist walked over to the doors of the mess hall and held them open for Chartreuse and Sundance. Chartreuse walked through with barely a glance in Mist’s direction, and Sundance gave him a sympathetic look. That was the kind of nice thing Mist should be doing to get somepony to like him, but maybe that just wasn’t her thing.

Sundance was too busy exchanging glances with his friend to notice that he had walked into the path of a particularly ill-tempered green pony carrying a food tray. Mist’s eyebrows shot up with alarm right before Sundance rammed into Bittersweet, and the two of them crashed to the floor, the clattering of his food tray hushing the mess hall and drawing everypony’s attention. Sundance shook his head, dazed, while Bittersweet angrily pulled himself to his hooves and dusted himself off before storming over to Sundance.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he bellowed, slamming a horseshoe-clad hoof down inches from Sundance’s face. He flinched backward at the loud noise and stared up at the older pony, trembling.

“I-I-ah...” Sundance stammered, too scared to formulate a sentence. He glanced around wildly at the other ponies in the room. Some of them looked excited by the confrontation, others seemed sympathetic, and the rest were all showing wide ranges of emotions. Although, even with this large amount of different reactions, Sundance didn’t see a single pony who looked like they wanted to help. He looked back at Bittersweet, quivering harder. “Please don’t let this happen again. I can’t handle ending up as a bloody mess for the second time. Celestia, please help me!” he thought as he squeezed his eyes tightly closed.

Bittersweet scowled down at Sundance and snorted. He planted a hoof on Sundance’s neck, pinning him to the ground. Sundance’s eyes shot open as terror began building up in his mind. “You have a bad habit of pissing me off,” he snarled through his teeth. Sundance opened and closed his mouth, unable to breathe past the pressure on his throat. He brought his hooves up in an attempt to remove the much stronger pony’s death grip, but to no avail. Bittersweet brought his face close to Sundance’s and opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when a shadow moved over top of him. Sundance looked up and saw Chartreuse standing next to them.

“Leave him alone,” Chartreuse said, glaring dangerously at Bittersweet.

Bittersweet turned his head towards her. “Or what? What’s a pitiful pony like you going to do?” He stood up to his full height and stared back at her with just as much fire in his eyes. “I’d like to see you try and stop me.”

Chartreuse took a step backward as her confidence wavered. She opened her mouth nervously to reply, but Mist stepped forward and stopped her. “He didn’t mean to run into you, Bittersweet. I distracted him, and that’s what caused this. It was just an accident, so please let him go.”

Bittersweet sneered. “Of course the most useless and lazy pony in the Sibko would be the cause of our problems. Why don’t you just crawl into a corner and off yourself? The rest of our lives would become incredibly easier.”

Mist recoiled as if Bittersweet had struck him. His mouth opened and closed his mouth a few times, his lower jaw trembling, before he looked down at the floor and sniffed.

“That’s enough,” a steely voice said. Sundance twisted his head towards the sound and saw Vermilion standing a few meters away. He was staring defiantly at Bittersweet with his nostrils flaring.

Bittersweet turned towards him and laughed scornfully. “I’m not afraid of you, Vermilion.”

Vermillion walked up to Bittersweet steadily and stopped right in front of him. Vermillion was barely taller than Bittersweet’s shoulders and he had to crane his neck to make eye contact, but he remained undaunted nonetheless.

Bittersweet glowered at him. “Do you want to join your brother? I can make arrangements if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Vermillion tensed his jaw muscles. “I said that’s enough.”

Bittersweet shoved his face into Vermillion’s hotly. “I’m seconds away from bashing your face in. Stay out of this, or I’ll kick your teeth out through your ass.”

“That’s. Enough,” Vermillion growled as he held his ground. Sundance stared up at the two of them, still struggling for air. He could feel Bittersweet’s muscles flexing, and he was worried that a fight between the two of them would end with one seriously injured, or even dead. Vermilion was strong and fast, but Bittersweet was much bigger and had more combat training. Sundance wasn’t sure who would come out on top if they came to blows.

Suddenly, Sundance felt the pressure release from his throat, and he rolled over. Chartreuse rushed over to him and rested a hoof on his shoulder comfortingly as he coughed against his sore throat.

Bittersweet snorted in Vermillion’s face. “Fine. Have it your way.” He turned away from Vermillion and began walking back towards the serving window. “You’ll never be your brother,” he threw over his shoulder. Vermillion glowered after him but said nothing. Instead, he turned towards his friends.

“Are you guys alright?” he asked. Sundance and Chartreuse nodded, but Mist remained still. He had barely moved since Bittersweet’s remark towards him and was still staring at the floor. Vermillion walked over to him and rested a hoof on his shoulder. “Ignore what he said. He was wrong.”

Mist didn’t reply, so Vermillion gently lifted his head with his other foreleg to force Mist to look at him. “Hey. Don’t listen to what Bittersweet said. You’re our friend, and careless jokes aside, we care about you. You’re not worthless to any of us.”

Mist stared at Vermillion with his eyes watering. After a moment, he sighed and nodded his head. Vermillion patted his shoulder softly. “Now let’s eat. I already grabbed food for all of us.”

Chartreuse helped Sundance to his hooves and the four of them walked over to the table Vermillion had selected. They sat at the end with Chartreuse and Sundance on one side, and Mist and Vermillion on the other. They ate in silence, the clatter of silverware being the only noises they made. Mist mostly just pushed around the vegetables on his plate, rarely taking a bite. “Poor Mist. I wish I could make him feel better, but I’m not exactly an empathetic pony,” Sundance thought as he glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye.

After a few moments, Chartreuse broke the silence at their table. “Thank you for standing up for us,” she said to Vermillion.

“Somepony had to. Bittersweet is a cunt,” Vermillion replied. He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. “I couldn’t just let him have his way with you guys.”

Sundance smiled at him. “Yeah, he definitely is. Thanks.”

Mist nodded but remained silent.

“Umm...” Chartreuse began. “Did Bittersweet know Carnelian? He seemed to be familiar with your situation.”

Vermillion put down his fork and nodded solemnly. “Yeah, he did. Carnelian used to be the best cadet here. Everypony looked up to him. Including Bittersweet.” Vermillion sighed. “Bittersweet idolized my brother. He wanted to be just like him, and my brother tried to help him along. He always had a hard personality, but he wasn’t cruel back then. I think losing Carnelian hit him harder than most other ponies.”

Sundance leaned back, shocked. “So Bittersweet isn’t just a total prick for no reason?”

Vermillion shook his head. “His reasoning doesn’t justify his actions, but no, he used to be tolerable.”

“So what was Carnelian like? He sounded like a great pony,” Chartreuse said, trying to see how much she could pull from Vermillion without hurting him. She wanted to help him feel better, but she needed to know the full story to do that.

Vermillion nodded. “He was. Carnelian was the best big brother I could have asked for. He always knew what to say, he never intentionally hurt me, he stood up for me, he was kind, caring, selfless... Sometimes I feel like I’m living in his shadow. I didn’t mind when he was here, but now that he’s gone...” he coughed awkwardly as his voice broke. “I’ll never be able to live up to Carnelian’s reputation, just like Bittersweet said. He was an amazing pony, the best I’ve ever known. I just wish I had said so while he was still alive.”

“Didn’t you ever tell him what he meant to you? Just once?” Chartreuse asked.

Vermillion shook his head. “I did, but just as a formality. I never realized just how important he was to me until he was gone. Do you know what the last thing I said to him was? The last thing he heard me say before he marched off to his death?” Vermillion ran a hoof over his face.

“I told him I hated him, and that I never wanted to see him again. We were fighting before he left, and I was just so angry. I couldn’t think straight, and I said so many terrible things. Even through that, though, he never once raised his voice at me. Even with me shouting horrible things at him, he remained kind right up until the end. He-” Vermillion continued, his voice rising slightly in pitch. He swallowed. “He hugged me. He told me he loved me. He said, that even if things were hard, he knew I could find a way through. And I still said that as he walked out the door.” Vermillion buried his head in his forelegs as his shoulders beginning to shake. “I’m such a fucking idiot. I should be the one who’s dead, not him.”

Sundance stared at Vermillion, surprised. He hadn’t seemed like the type of pony to get angry like that, especially from how he had acted when he defended Sundance and the others. Chartreuse made a sympathetic face and reached over the table to comfort Vermillion, but Mist was closer.

“I doubt Carnelian actually believed you hated him,” Mist said softly, placing one of his forelegs across Vermillion’s back. “He was your brother, after all. I’m sure he knew how you really felt, even if you never said anything, and I can almost guarantee his last thoughts were about you.”

Vermillion looked up at Mist and sniffed. “Do you really think that?” he asked.

Mist nodded. “From what he sounded like, I can’t imagine anything else.”

Vermillion smiled and pulled him in for a hug. “Thanks, Mist,” he said. He let go and leaned back in his seat. “Well, I think I’ve put enough of a gloomy air on today’s lunch. Are you guys ready to go?”

The other three nodded, and they all got up, food trays in hoof. Chartreuse shot Sundance a strange look as they walked to the serving window. “That was an eventful lunch,” she said.

Sundance nodded. “Yeah. It was a lot more than I would have preferred to be shoved into twenty minutes.”

Chartreuse smiled. “At least we got Vermillion to talk about his past a bit.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Maybe he and Mist aren’t as incompatible as they looked. I wonder if Mist will be able to help him out more than we could.”

Sundance shrugged. “Hopefully. Either way, I’m glad he opened up a bit. It must be hard for him.”

Chartreuse nodded. “Losing ponies you’re close to can be debilitating. Vermillion isn’t too far gone, though, so I think the three of us can help him out.”

Sundance glanced at Vermillion as they dropped their food trays off at the window and turned to walk out of the building. “I sure hope so. I hate to see him or Mist so sad.”

“I guess we’ll see what happens.” Chartreuse smiled at Sundance. “We certainly are a strange group, aren’t we? There’s nothing remotely normal about any of us.”

Sundance chuckled. “Yeah. I wouldn’t give any of you up for anything, not even if I could be Khan of the Clan,” he said as they walked through the doors into the open air.

Chartreuse beamed at him and nudged him playfully. “That’s good to hear. The three of you are great friends to me, too.” She looked up at the mountains in the distance, their jagged peaks catching the sunlight like diamonds. “I hope we can all stay together for the rest of our lives.”

Sundance woke to the shaking of his bed. He cracked an eye open to find Mist standing closely in front of him, and he recoiled sluggishly in surprise. “Come on, Sundance!” Mist exclaimed as he took a few steps back. “We’re starting combat training today!”

Sundance rubbed his eyes and pulled the blanket off of himself. “I’m up, I’m up.” He pushed himself drowsily onto the cold floor and made his bed. “No drill instructor today?” he asked, looking around the room. Most of the other cadets had already woken up, with the last few being shaken awake by the others.

Mist shook his head. “They needed his help for our training session today, so we’re on our own. No morning training session, either,” he said with a grin. “We get to eat breakfast and then go straight to the hangar.”

Sundance glanced at the door to the barracks and saw the grey light of morning streaming in through the window. He yawned. “Cool.” Sundance grabbed his jacket from the locker under his bed, threw it on, and walked over to Mist.

“Let’s go, come on! Vermillion is already on his way to the mess hall,” Mist said as he trotted over to the door excitedly.

Sundance rubbed his eyes again and followed his friend. He glanced around the barracks as he walked down the aisle of beds. “No Bittersweet. Good,” he thought. He glanced at Mist, who was holding the door open and beckoning to him eagerly. Sundance sighed and walked through into the frigid air, his hooves sinking into the soft snow that had fallen the night before. He pulled his jacket tight around himself and squinted at the sun, which had barely started poking over the tops of the snowcapped mountains. It had been over a year since he had gotten his cutie mark, and he had never felt so unsure of himself. “What’s the point of being able to pilot a Mech if I won’t be able to fight in one?” he thought. “I’m just going to get humiliated today.”

Mist bounced out ahead of Sundance, his hooves leaving trails in the barely touched snow. Sundance sighed and reluctantly trudged behind him. The two of them made their way to the mess hall, following the tracks of the cadets who had left before them. The training camp was barely recognizable now that all the leaves on the trees were gone and the ground was covered in snow. It almost looked uninviting. Sundance shivered. He and Vermillion had been talking about what was going on in the Clan recently, with freeborn ponies being treated like herds of cattle. He wasn’t sure if Vermillion had just made him paranoid, but he had begun to notice a lot of things that certainly painted ponies like the drill instructor and Commander Charcoal as the bad guys. Sundance scratched the back of his neck. “Is Vermillion right about all of them? Are they just luring us into a false sense of trust?”

Sundance shook his head and looked at Mist, who was still bounding ahead of him. “I know Mist is probably on Chartreuse’s side in all of this, but I wonder what he thinks. I’ve never heard him talk much about us being here. I guess he did say he has a tendency to just ignore his problems. Maybe I should try to get him to think about them instead.” Sundance sped up until he was walking beside his friend, whose excited jumping through the snow showered Sundance with the cold powder. He shielded his face. “Hey Mist, can I ask you a question?”

Mist calmed his excited outburst a bit and turned towards Sundance. “Of course, whatever you want.”

“If we could somehow escape from here and take Vermillion and Chartreuse with us, would you do it?”

Mist glanced at him, surprised. “Escape? I’ve never thought about doing that. I guess I just kind of accepted our fate a long time ago.” He looked ahead and thought for a moment. “We’d probably be hunted down and killed if we tried to run away, just so they could make an example out of us.”

Sundance shook his head. “Hypothetically, what would happen if we did and they didn’t come after us? Just pretend.”

Mist scratched underneath his chin. “If it were possible, I guess. I have no idea where we’d go, but I wouldn’t mind getting away from all of this. Dying isn’t really my thing, you know? Why the sudden curiosity?”

“Don’t you feel at least a little angry about the whole taken from our home thing? I mean, they pretty much stole our entire lives from us,” Sundance said.

Mist frowned. “Well... I guess they did, but it’s not like there’s anything we can do about it. Isn’t it just simpler to go with it and accept our situation? The only thing fighting back will get you is a bumpy ride in the trunk of a car tied up with a bag over your head, then a bullet through your skull in the middle of some remote field.” Mist shook his head. “Trust me, we’re better off just riding this war out. At least then we have a chance at surviving, even if it's slim.” He peered at Sundance. “You’ve been talking to Vermillion a lot lately, haven’t you?”

Sundance sighed. “Yes, I have. He has really valid arguments, though. Why can’t we stand up for ourselves?”

“Because it’s safer not to.” Mist sighed and stopped walking. “Listen. Vermillion is a great guy, and he’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had. But he has a dangerous way of thinking, and I worry constantly that his lack of caution is going to get him killed.” Mist placed a hoof on Sundance’s shoulder. “I get how you feel. It’s frustrating, and it would be great if we were still back at our homes. But we’re not, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Please don’t talk about this kind of thing anymore. I don’t want to have to worry about losing you, too.”

Sundance sighed heavily. “I can't change how I feel about this. But I guess I can stop talking about it so much.”

Mist smiled and patted his shoulder. “Good. Trust me, the four of us are going to make it through this war together. We’ll do whatever it takes, and we’ll get out alive. Now come on, let’s make it to breakfast before Vermillion eats all the good food.”

Sundance nodded, and the two of them continued towards the mess hall, which had become visible quickly through the leafless trees. The two of them went inside and walked towards their usual table, where Vermillion and Chartreuse had beaten them there. As usual, Vermillion had already gotten all of their food for them. Sundance smiled. “I know he said he’ll never be like Carnelian, but I don’t think he needs to be. He’s an amazing pony the way he is,” he thought happily as he sat down next to Chartreuse.

Chartreuse smiled at the two of them as they sat down while Vermillion nodded at them. “Hey guys,” she said. “You ready for today?”

Mist nodded enthusiastically. “Definitely! I’ve been waiting for this day for ages,” he said as he shoveled his breakfast into his mouth.

Sundance shook his head. “Mist, nopony can understand you with food in your mouth.”

Mist glanced at Sundance, hurriedly chewed his food, and swallowed. “Sorry, I’m just so excited. I’ve been looking forward to today for a long time.”

Chartreuse laughed and looked at Sundance. “What about you?”

Sundance sighed and rested his chin on one of his hooves. “It’s cool, I guess.”

She looked at him, slightly worried. “Is something wrong? You don’t seem like yourself today.”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just worried about what’s going to happen in training.”

“How come? You’re the best pilot in the Sibko. Nothing could go wrong,” Chartreuse said.

“Don’t jinx it.” Sundance leaned back in his seat and sighed again. “You remember all those times Bittersweet pushed me around in the past year, and I was always too scared to do anything about it? What if the same thing happens today?”

Chartreuse made a sympathetic face. “You’ll be alright. We were there for you every time, weren’t we? We can’t fight for you in training, but you’ll be fine if you just remember we’re not far away.”

Vermillion nodded. “Don’t think about your fear too much.”

Sundance smiled slightly. “I’ll try that. Thanks.” Truthfully, he was still terrified about combat training. He wasn’t sure either of them were much help, but he didn’t want to make them worry any more than they already were. It’s not like they could truly understand what he was feeling, after all. They didn’t have the same problem he did, so how could they?

“If everypony is done talking, let’s hurry up and eat. I want to be there before anypony else!” Mist exclaimed, still stuffing his cheeks. Sundance shook his head at his friend.

The four of them finished eating quickly, left their trays by the serving window with the other dirty dishes, and stepped out into the cold air. Chartreuse shivered and pulled her jacket tight around herself. “Why couldn’t they give us winter jackets, too? It’s freezing out here.”

“Because they’re too busy sending all of the good shit to the trueborn Sibkos. We just get whatever’s left, which isn’t very good, obviously,” Mist said as he pulled on his tattered cadet jacket. “Honestly, getting only one new jacket every year sucks. We have to wear these things constantly, and we can’t exactly be gentle with them.”

Vermillion shook his head. “That’s just how they treat us. We probably would have been better off dead rather than being here.”

Mist shot Sundance a glance and raised an eyebrow. Sundance sighed and turned away. He almost agreed with Vermillion. As much as he wanted to believe what Mist said about them all making it through the war, Sundance wasn’t too sure they could. The Clan had been pushing freeborn cadets out with worse and worse training and equipment recently, at least according to Vermillion. “I have no idea how all the other cadets can remain so optimistic. It’s almost like they’re brainwashing everypony.” A theory popped into his head, but Mist’s excited outburst cut him off before he could think about it any further.

“Come on, guys! The hangar is right here!” Mist called as he charged ahead of them when the massive steel doors became visible through the trees.

Vermillion shook his head and turned towards Chartreuse. “He said you were too excited about getting your cutie mark last year and look at him now.”

Chartreuse giggled. “So that’s what you three were talking about after training that day?”

Sundance glanced up at Commander Charcoal’s 'Mech Bay as they passed through the hangar’s entrance, and he noticed it was empty. “I guess the Commander already left for the training field.” Sundance scratched the back of his head. “I hope he doesn’t expect too much of me today.”

Mist rushed past them as he ran out of the locker room, his cooling suit already on and his neurohelmet in one foreleg. He grinned at them and ran towards his 'Mech Bay. Sundance sighed. “He really doesn’t know when to calm down, does he?”

The three of them got into their cooling suits and headed over to their own 'Mechs. Some of the cadets had begun to trickle into the hangar, none of whom seemed remotely as ecstatic as Mist. Vermillion nodded to Sundance as they reached the top of the stairs, and they climbed into their Mechs. Sundance put his neurohelmet on as the access hatch swung closed and turned on the Hellbringer. The usual beeps accompanied the start up procedure, and he heard Solis hum to life. "Good morning, Solis," he thought.

Good morning, Solis said.

Sundance smiled. He had gotten to the point with Solis where he could understand her basic emotions as words. He wasn't anywhere close to being able to have a full conversation with her, but he could at least understand greetings and ask yes or no questions. The Hellbringer stepped out of its Mech Bay and followed Mist out of the hangar with Vermillion and Chartreuse not far behind. By the time Sundance had cleared the doors of the hangar, Mist had already almost sprinted out of view, moving quickly between the trees.

"He certainly is lively," Vermillion said as he followed Sundance.

Sundance nodded and glanced after the disappearing Mech. "He's almost like an entirely different pony when he's this excited," he thought as the three of them walked towards the training field. From this high up, it was a bit easier to see where the path used to be through the snow. Before long, the three of them reached the training field where Mist was already waiting. Sundance saw the Commander's Mad Dog near the end of the field, along with another Mech he didn't recognize.

"God damn. You got here fast," Vermillion said as the three of them stopped next to Mist.

"Of course. I did say I was excited."

Vermillion shook his head. They stood there in silence as the other cadets slowly began filing onto the field. Before long, the last straggler made it onto the field, and the Commander walked over to them with the other Mech trailing behind.

"I think that's a Gyrfalcon," Mist said over their private comm channel. "I don't know much about it, though. They're produced exclusively by Clan Jade Falcon, so I have no idea how we got one." He scratched the back of his head. "They haven't joined the war officially, so the only reason I can think of is they're supporting our side while staying out of the fighting, which is strange for them." He frowned. "I'll have to think about this more."

Sundance nodded, not really listening. He was too busy worrying about humiliating himself when the mock battles started.

The Commander halted in front of the cadets with the Gyrfalcon stopping not far behind. "It is time for combat training, cadets. I hope you all came prepared. We are going to get right into it today so that we can finish this as soon as possible. All 'Mechs fifty tons and above, follow me. The rest of you, stay here with Commander Juniper. She will be evaluating you instead," he said with a gesture toward the Gyrfalcon.

Commander Charcoal turned around and walked back to the other end of the field with about half of the cadets following him. He stopped when they reached the far side of the field and turned back towards them. "As you have probably already guessed, I am not going to have you guys use live ammunition yet, despite the training methods of the other Clans. We put all of your Mechs in training mode and replaced the ammo with dummy ammunition. While your Mechs will not take physical damage, they will act as if they did when being shot, which makes this an excellent way to train for real-world situations. For now, though, an open field will do.

"The way this works is I will select two cadets who will fight once I give the signal. The winner is whoever is left standing at the end, and they get a point. The loser gets nothing. It will be a tournament-style system, with a winners' bracket and a losers' bracket. In addition to this, you will get a certain score based off of your performance, which is what we are really looking for here. The tonnage difference is accounted for in this score, so if you, for example, lose to a 'Mech that is ten tons heavier than your own but you still manage to inflict substantial damage, your score gain will likely be similar to that of your opponent's. Keep your heat in mind, since that is a factor in your score, too. Your 'Mech is going to keep track of the estimated heat you would have with real weapons without actually accumulating heat, but you will still shut down if it reaches the threshold.

"So now we will get started. Cadets Chartreuse and Mist, you are up."

Chartreuse giggled and stepped forward from the group while Mist turned towards Sundance with a defeated expression. Sundance chuckled and shook his head at his friend. "I'd say good luck, but I don't think it would be enough."

Mist sighed and walked out to stand across from Chartreuse. The two of them looked at each other, both knowing fully who was going to win.

"He should have put me up against her. I would have had a chance," Vermillion said to Sundance over a private comm channel.

"Maybe it's personal? Mist can be quite irritating when he wants to be, so it wouldn't be surprising."

Vermillion barked a laugh. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Start!" the Commander said over the open comms. Chartreuse immediately began firing, and bright flashes came from her Marauder's PPCs. It looked strange since there weren't actually any projectiles coming out of the weapons, but Mist's Summoner still recoiled as if it had been hit.

"I guess the training mode makes the Mechs move as if it's been hit, too," Sundance thought. He targeted Mist and pulled up his Mech's data on the targeting screen. "Mist isn't doing too good. Barely ten seconds in and he's already lost half of the armor on his torsos."

Chartreuse kept up her constant barrage, keeping the Summoner's torso rocking and making it almost impossible for Mist to aim. He managed to hit her with a few glancing shots, but he couldn't get in any meaningful damage before his 'Mech inevitably shut down from the simulated damage. An easy victory for Chartreuse.

"Punched straight through the CT. I guess Chartreuse didn't get her cutie mark for nothing," Sundance thought as the targeting screen flickered off. A 'Mech was taken out most commonly by destroying either the head or center torso, and if this had been a real battle, Mist would have a gaping hole in the middle of his 'Mech.

"Very good performance, cadet Chartreuse," Commander Charcoal said. "Better luck next time, Mist. Power back up and your damage will reset. Vermillion and Sundance, you are up next."

Sundance sighed and glanced over at Vermillion's Timber Wolf as they stepped out in front of the other cadets, feeling even more anxious than he had before. "I guess I should have expected that," he thought. Solis hummed reassuringly. Not only was the Timber Wolf ten tons heavier than the Hellbringer, he had a feeling there wasn't much of a skill gap between them, either.

Sundance's heart was pounding as he stopped and faced Vermilion. "It's no big deal. I'll do fine. Right?" he thought to himself. He pulled up Vermillion's 'Mech on his targeting screen and waited anxiously. His heart began pounding harder as the seconds dragged out before he heard the Commander's call to start the skirmish.

"Start!"