Sundance's vision continued to shake as the massive machine came to a halt. Or maybe it was his nerves causing the constant rumbling of his body. Solo fighting wasn't his best skill when his life was on the line, especially against a seasoned warrior as past experience had already shown.

The Mad Dog was a full five tons lighter than his Hellbringer, yet the smaller machine mounted half a ton of armor more, and its dual LRM-20 launchers and strong laser loadout made it effective at all ranges. Sundance had to be very careful or he could lose the battle without getting in close enough to land a single shot.

The Trial of Position, commonly referred to as 'The Blooding,' had always been a terrifying concept to Sundance. Even though the one he was about to go through seemed impromptu and hadn't been fully prepared in the way a normal Trial would have been, that didn't change the fact that it could still end with his death.

Relax, Sundance. This is just like that training exercise on Dike where you fought Vermilion, except your current opponent is fifteen tons lighter than before and has less weapons, Solis said encouragingly. As long as you're careful, this should be a walk in the park.

"But that was different. Our skill gap pretty much negates the weight difference, and there aren't exactly an abundance of trees here I can use as cover," Sundance replied. He glanced anxiously at the Mad Dog as it neared a ridge a few hundred meters away, heading to its starting location. They would begin the fight somewhere around a kilometer apart, well out of the effective range of his deadly autocannon.

Solis sighed. You're letting the enemy win and the fight hasn't even begun yet. Listen. Take a deep breath to calm yourself, collect your thoughts, and come up with one of those unexpected strategies of yours. Stop focusing on the bad outcomes. They're only distracting you.

Sundance nodded. "Okay, I'll try."

Per the other pilot's directions, the fight would begin as soon as she reached her own starting position, a location unknown to Sundance. He was allowed to pick his own spot to start from, giving the skirmish a bit more unpredictability. The battle scenario was there was an enemy 'Mech of known tonnage, loadout, and general location past the ridge, but no other information was given. It was a simple Trial, but no less terrifying.

There were a number of strategies Sundance could use to surprise his opponent, but not many of them would be very effective. He needed a way to close the distance between them as fast as possible so he could get within range of his weapons. "Could I just run forward and hope for the best? No, our 'Mechs have an equivalent top speed. I'll need to be more creative," Sundance thought. The Mad Dog had just reached the crest of the ridge and would likely be in position before long. He had to come up with something, and fast.

Solis hummed at an idea as it popped into Sundance's head. That might work. Or it might not. Is now the time to test something we've never tried before?

Sundance shrugged and pushed the throttle forward as the Mad Dog disappeared from view. "I can't think of anything else. This is the best I've got."

The Hellbringer took short, light steps forward, keeping its movements as quiet as possible. It wasn't possible to make the footsteps of the sixty-five ton war machine completely silent, but Sundance could at least make it seem like his 'Mech was located further away than it really was if the other Ghost Bear MechWarrior was listening.

It took a while for Sundance to reach the ridge, and he had begun to fear he wouldn't make it before his opponent had gotten into position. "Okay. You ready for this?" Sundance asked.

No, and neither are you, Solis said dryly. Not that it matters. The Trial of Position is intended to mimic real war, after all.

"I know." Sundance sighed. "Well, I guess this is it. Hopefully we don't-"

"It is time. The Trial begins now," the other voice barked over the comms, cutting in through Sundance's thoughts. The faraway stomping of the Mad Dog sent chills down his spine, and he fumbled for the controls.

Relax. Making a hasty error won't help you here. What can you hear? Solis asked. She knew she had to keep the pony calm, otherwise he could end up making a careless error.

Sundance took a deep breath and strained his ears. He could hear a lot more of the outside world without a neurohelmet blocking some of the sounds, and from what he could tell, the footsteps were moving away from him off to his right. "She's heading towards the mountain, so there's probably cover for her to use there. She'll hit us from range with her LRM's before ducking into cover, reload and vent heat, then repeat. If she gets there, the fight is over."

Then don't let her get there. She wouldn't have expected you to select a starting position so close to hers, so push that advantage while you still have it.

"Got it." Sundance took another deep breath before slamming the throttle forward in its housing. The acceleration was so instant he nearly lost his balance and caused the Hellbringer to stagger, but he managed to right the 'Mech before it hit the ground. The heavy machine was up to its top speed of eighty-six km/h in a matter of seconds, and Sundance let out a shaky breath. "Damn, I didn't know this thing could shoot off like that."

Solis made an odd noise, something Sundance generally took as her equivalent of shaking her head. Neither did I. This 'Mech almost feels as maneuverable as the Shadow Cat was. If our new Techs are this talented, I could get used to being in Clan Ghost Bear, She said, impressed.

Sundance grunted in agreement but didn't continue the conversation further. His target had noticed his approach and was turning in an arc to face him. He smirked slightly, knowing his opponent would have been completely surprised to see him cross the ridge so soon. Even so, they were still out of range of his autocannon. He needed more time.

Sundance gritted his teeth as he realized he had forgotten to check the ammunition his 'Mech had been loaded with. Standard medium-range missiles would be preferred, as they had enough range to hit his target and loaded more explosives than Extended Range missiles. High Explosive missiles, the shortest range of the three types, would mean his probable loss of the Trial and demotion to another caste. Best case scenario, his LB 20-X had slug ammunition to punch through the armor, and his ATM-6 had Standard missiles to distract his opponent and ravage the internals of their Mad Dog.

For a brief moment, Sundance panicked when he saw High Explosive missiles were loaded into the ATM. Though high in damage, they didn't have enough range for his plan. Fear turned to confusion, however, when he saw an indicator for each ammunition type. Similarly, the autocannon showed both slug and cluster ammunition. "What? Solis, what does that mean? I've never seen that before," he asked.

I'm not sure. Is it an error? I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary, Solis mused. Not that I know what ordinary is anymore. The Techs installed so many new systems that I can hardly tell what's what anymore.

"I don't think it's an error." Sundance glanced back at the controls and noticed a panel of buttons he had never seen before. Three were glowing a dull blue while two others were bright white, leaving the remaining five buttons dark. The two glowing buttons were labeled HE and CSTR, while the others were ER, STD, and SLUG. "What..?"

Realization quickly dawned on Sundance. "This 'Mech mounts every ammunition type. Is that another one of the upgrades Enzo was talking about?"

I don't know, but we don't have time to think about that, Solis said hastily.

Sundance glanced up and saw that the Mad Dog had finished turning around, and a small salvo of LRMs was heading his way. The missile lock warning hadn't gone off, meaning the weapon had been direct-fired and was likely meant as a distraction while the pilot locked-on to his 'Mech with the other missiles.

The Hellbringer barely managed to move out of the path of the explosives, but Sundance knew a much larger payload was about to head his way if he didn't do something, and fast. "How long does it take to switch ammunition types?" he thought. He shook his head. "Probably too long. I need to work with what's loaded."

Urgently, Sundance aimed at the ground a few dozen meters away from his 'Mech and fired the High Explosive missiles. Without waiting to see them hit, he immediately slammed the STD missile button and watched as the indicator for the ATM flashed to Standard ammunition. "So it really is that simple. Good to know."

The force of his missiles shook the cockpit of Sundance's Hellbringer, and he winced as he felt shrapnel pelt the armor of the machine. The explosions hadn't been close enough to cause noticeable damage to his armor, but what they had done was send up a massive dirt cloud in-between the two 'Mechs. The Mad Dog wouldn't be able to track him past the temporary obstruction, buying him the few seconds he needed to complete his half-baked plan. "We've got this, Solis. I think we can win."

As long as you don't get cocky. I'd really rather not lose an arm again, Solis said with a hint of annoyance.

"Me neither. Don't worry, I'm being careful this time," Sundance replied, thinking back to his last battle. It was a mind-numbing level of pain he never wanted to experience again.

Sundance turned the Hellbringer to sprint off to the right as the dirt cloud began to disperse. He had to continue to surprise his opponent so he could get in close and use his autocannon, the biggest advantage he had in the fight. Just a few well-placed slugs to the side torsos of the Mad Dog could eliminate all of the 'Mech's weapons, securing his victory. "Let's hope this goes as planned."

The Mad Dog became visible as Sundance sprinted through the cloud, a good thirty meters away from where he would have been expected to appear. The enemy pilot had to take time to adjust, during which Sundance aimed the ATM at the feet of the smaller 'Mech and fired again.

With smaller warheads the result was less spectacular, but with the dirt cloud being so close to the enemy 'Mech, it gave Sundance the freedom to move anywhere on the battlefield without being seen. He turned back to approach from another direction and changed ammunition types again. "We're getting close. By the time that dirt cloud disappears we should be within HE missile range."

Sundance recoiled at a stinging pain in his right arm. When he turned to look, the Mad Dog had stepped through the cloud and was firing one of its Large Lasers at him. "Shit, I don't know how I didn't think of that," he thought, annoyed at himself for overlooking such an easy way to counter his plan.

Sundance raised the right arm of his Hellbringer and fired his own ER Large Laser at his opponent. The weapon glanced briefly across the 'Mech's torsos and melted a neat line in the armor, but didn't cause any substantial damage. He followed up with the ER mediums, trying to distract the pilot long enough to get into close range.

The Mad Dog shrugged off the ineffectual laser fire and sent a hail of missiles towards Sundance. The missile lock indicator flashed, and he winced at the pain in his hind legs as he suddenly threw his 'Mech off to the left in an attempt to dodge the warheads. The limited turning speed of LRMs meant he managed to avoid most of them, but a few explosions sent a burning sensation into his right side and shook the cockpit.

Damage minimal. Now's your chance, Solis said hastily. They needed to get in close and disable at least one of the LRM launchers if they wanted to win the fight.

Sundance readjusted his course and sprinted directly at the Mad Dog. The smaller 'Mech pedaled backward and pulsed its medium lasers at his Hellbringer, but he pushed through the pain and launched the HE missiles at his target.

The warheads exploded on the 'Mech's left torso, damaging the equipped missile launcher and sending chunks of armor flying in all directions. Sundance followed up with a slug round from his autocannon, hoping to punch through the armor and disable one of the dangerous weapons. Being at the end of the weapon's effective range he wasn't successful in hitting his mark, though the shot did manage to slam into the Mad Dog's left shoulder actuator, which disabled the arm and left it hanging limp by the 'Mech's side.

The missile lock indicator flashed as the smaller 'Mech fired its LRMs again, albeit in a lower quantity given the damage sustained to one of the launchers. Explosions rattled the cockpit of Sundance's Hellbringer as he hastily turned the torso and absorbed most of the damage in the right side of his 'Mech, hoping to protect his autocannon from damage.

Critical hit, right arm. Critical hit, right torso. Heat sink destroyed. We're within effective LBX range now. Let's finish this before she reloads, or we're finished Solis said.

"You got it." Sundance punched the CSTR button and fired all of his lasers at the Mad Dog's right arm, ignoring the massive temperature spike that sent the internal temperature of his 'Mech soaring above safe levels and turned the cockpit into what felt like a sauna, even with his cooling suit running at full power.

Heat level critical.

Sundance tapped the override button and glanced back at his target. His attack had destroyed his opponent's remaining lasers, giving her no way to retaliate while the 'Mech's missile launchers reloaded. Neither his ATMs or the autocannon generated too much heat, so even with a few shots, the temperature should only be at dangerous levels for a couple of seconds. He knew Solis could handle it.

Shutdown sequence overridden. This is an uncharacteristic risk from you, Solis said curiously.

"It's been a long five months," Sundance thought with a shrug. They'd been risking everything every single day since starting their Trial, and he had become almost accustomed to it. It was strange to realize how much he had changed in such a short time.

The Hellbringer's left arm raised as Sundance came within a couple hundred meters of his opponent. The cluster round had just finished chambering, and he fired directly at the Mad Dog's weakened left torso. The shot tore apart the internal structure of the 'Mech, destroying heat sinks and electronics as it passed through. He followed up with another HE missile barrage from the ATM, which blew the entire left side of the machine clean off. The explosions also set off a chain reaction in the Mad Dog's ammunition, which sent a fireball shooting out of the gaping hole as its stored missiles detonated.

Miraculously, the Mad Dog remained standing and powered up. It was unable to fight given the lack of functioning weapons, and the fusion reactor appeared to be damaged as its movements were all sluggish and seemed miscalculated. Sundance loaded a slug round into his autocannon and glanced at the damaged machine. "What now? Is the fight over?"

Not as long as the enemy 'Mech is still functioning. Fights in traditional Trials end when a 'Mech is rendered inoperable or the pilot dies, quiaff?

"Yeah, but this isn't exactly a traditional Trial." Sundance wiped the sweat from his brow and ran his tongue over his missing tooth. Now that he wasn't in any danger he could allow the cockpit temperature to drop before firing again.

Sundance tapped the override button again to disable it and raised the left arm of his Hellbringer. The damage indicator showed the Mad Dog still had most of its armor on the center and right torsos, so it would take a couple of shots to punch through. In its damaged state, though, the risk of a reactor failure was higher than normal. An extremely rare occurrence in standard circumstances, a reactor failure always killed the 'Mech's pilot and heavily damaged anything within a couple dozen meters. Did this really have to be a fight to the death? Why wasn't she ejecting?

"Enough."

The voice was so commanding Sundance nearly mistook the speaker to be Cobalt, though he recognized it as belonging to Enzo. A new dot popped up on his radar, and the strangest 'Mech he had ever seen stepped over the ridge from the direction of the DropShip.

Sundance's targeting computer labeled it as a Fire Scorpion, with a UAC/20, two LRM-10s, and five machine guns. True to its name it looked like a scorpion, and unlike every other 'Mech he had seen before, this one had four legs, not two. QuadMechs were extremely rare among the Clans since their limited internal space affected the number of weapons they could mount, and very few Clan pilots were willing to give up firepower for the intuitiveness of four legs.

Enzo whistled in surprise as he stopped a few hundred meters away from the two 'Mechs and eyed the heavily damaged Mad Dog. "Good fucking job. Clever with the dust clouds, too." He turned to Sundance and paused for a moment. "Something's changed about you. I'm not as good at reading ponies as my brother is, but you're different than from when you left. Not that it's unusual for these trials, but still."

"Thank you, sir," Sundance replied. "I've had a lot of time to think the past few months, but my 'Mech was a big part of my victory."

Aw, you do appreciate and recognize me, Solis said jokingly. At least, Sundance thought she was joking.

"Of course I do. You're the only one left to keep me calm," he replied with a smile.

Enzo sighed. "I told you, you don't have to get all formal with me. Besides, we're equals now. More or less."

Sundance sucked in a breath and blinked a few times. The older pony was right; he had completed the Trial of Position and was officially a warrior of Clan Ghost Bear. The gravity of that fact had only just begun to sink in, and he had a hard time believing it had been that easy. He had always pictured the Trial as some terrifying hurdle that would decide his fate, but now that it was over, it was almost anticlimactic.

Almost immediately Sundance's thoughts went to his friends. Would they have to go through their own Trials of Position, too? While he could see Cobalt doubting him and wanting to test him specifically, the possibility was still there. He was sure Vermilion could handle himself, and like Obsidian, Hazelnut had completed his own Trial before the procedure in Clan Draconequus was discontinued, and as a result didn't need to go through another. Mist's combat skills were dodgy at best, and he had only seen Mint fight a couple of times, so he wasn't sure how she would do, either. "I guess there's nothing we can do now but hope," Sundance thought anxiously.

Enzo turned to the Mad Dog and exchanged a few words with the pilot over a private channel. Soon afterward, the damaged machine began ambling back to the 'Ship at its now limited top speed of thirty km/h. "Alright, let's head back. Cobalt will be interested to hear about this once he's done overseeing Mist and Mint's Trial. Oh, and Sundance? Welcome to the Ghost Bears."

---

Meanwhile in the Inner Sphere, on an undisclosed planet...

Discord sighed as the trail he was following dropped away again. Why was it so difficult to track a pair of princesses traveling with a full entourage? As much as he loved a good chase, this had been going on for much longer than he had expected. Short, intense confrontations followed by chaotic reveling were more his thing, not drawn-out hunts that left him in unfamiliar locations, like where he was now, surrounded by berry bushes and fruit trees.

The planet Discord was currently on, some small rock in the edge of space controlled by the House of Honesty, was almost entirely rural. Farms covered most of the planet, save for its capital that was in charge of trade. It was so small, in fact, that the horizon had a visible curve to it if one were to look closely.

Discord shook his head and was about to cast the tracking spell again when movement off to his right caught his attention. When he turned to look, he could barely see the tip of a bright blue tail sticking out from a blackberry bush, and there was a little too much pink visible through the leaves for it to be natural.

There was a cry from the bush as the earth pony hiding in it was pulled out roughly by Discord's magic. Her coat and mane were pastel shades of pink and sky blue respectively, freckles covered her round face, and pink eyes so pale that they almost looked white were wide with terror.

"Well, what do we have here?" Discord said as he looked the pony over. Twigs and leaves from the bush stuck into her long mane, the juice from blackberries stained her fur and mane, and blood dripped from countless small cuts caused by the thorns. It was a pitiful sight.

"P-please don't hurt me!" the pony whimpered as she threw her hooves over her eyes.

Discord sighed in annoyance. So this was going to be one of those ponies. "If you want to live, tell me where the princesses went."

"Princesses?" she asked nervously.

"Yes. One white and tall with a sun on her flank, the other dark blue and less tall with a moon on her flank. The heads of Canterlot? Leaders of the Inner Sphere? Heard of them?" Discord said impatiently. Five months of searching had left him quite irritable. Maybe he'd kill this pony to make himself feel better. He could use a way to relieve his stress.

The pony gasped in pain as a branch from the blackberry bush reached out and nicked the side of her face with a thorn. She pressed herself into the ground and trembled with terror. "I-I-I don't know anything! Why would they come here?"

"Because I'm going to kill them, just like I'll do to you if you don't tell me where they went. I know they were here, so where are they? Tell me!"

"I didn't see any princesses!" the pony managed to squeak out.

Discord growled. He had reached the end of his patience. "WHERE DID THEY GO?!" He bellowed, shaking the ground underneath them. Magic flowed through his body as he cast a truth spell on the pony, and she opened her mouth as a torrent of barely intelligible words began spilling out.

"They left this morning! They were only here for a couple of hours and they told us you were coming and that you would probably kill us if you found us and that they were traveling across the Inner Sphere and telling ponies what was happening on Terra! They didn't say where they were going but they did say we're the last planet around here they visited and I'm pretty sure they're heading to Angel II since that was in the general direction their ships went and it's the closest planet that isn't under the rule of Jonagold so they must-"

The pony's eyes went wide as the blackberry branch suddenly coiled around her throat and crushed her windpipe. Sharp thorns dug into her neck, and they sliced cleanly across her carotids as the branch wound itself tighter. More branches whipped out from the bush and snapped across her soft flesh, covering her entire body in neat little slices.

In a matter of seconds, the pony was covered almost entirely in her own blood. Her life flowed rapidly from the wounds on her neck, and it didn't take long for her eyes to begin to flutter shut. With a final surge of magic, the branch around her throat squeezed tightly and snapped her neck. The body immediately went limp, and Discord allowed the sharp tendrils to return to the bush they came from.

"Angel II? So they're heading to planets controlled by the House of Kindness next. I might be able to beat them there if I'm lucky." Discord scratched the top of his head and frowned. He'd never been to Angel II and he wasn't entirely sure where it was, so he couldn't just teleport himself there. He'd have to get there the common way, much to his distaste.

A bright flash enveloped Discord's body as he morphed into a grey unicorn with a short black mane and red eyes, his usual disguise for traveling among ponies without being discovered. He would rather not bother with disguises, but he hated to admit that things went a lot faster and smoother when he didn't parade around as a draconequus. Especially when everypony on the planet knew he was hostile.

Discord levitated in the air and turned towards the planet's capital. Before he flew off, however, he glanced back down at the farm. It was painfully boring, with perfect little rows of trees and bushes stretching for kilometers in every direction. The pony's painful death had given him an idea, and maybe he could make things a little more interesting around here. After all, what fun was a planet without a little discord?

The ground below began churning as every plant on the farm suddenly came to life. Branches swung in the air, roots burst out of the ground, and carnivorous mouths dripping with acid morphed from wood. Flesh-eating trees were sure to add a little excitement to the lives of ponies, Discord was sure. With any luck they'd populate across the whole planet, causing chaos and terror for as long as it was inhabited.

A wet snapping noise below Discord caught his attention. The dead body had attracted a few of the floral creatures, and wooden tendrils snaked across her entire body. The sound he had heard was one of her forelegs being ripped from her body. He had looked in time to see it disappear into the grotesque mouth of one of the apple trees, leaking blood all over the dirt.

The remainder of the corpse was entirely wrapped in branches and vines as the countless plants in the orchard fought over their first meal. The body was dismantled bit by bit; her jaw went to one blackberry bush, her hips to another, her last foreleg to the same tree that had claimed the first... it was a gruesome sight, and Discord felt a strange twinge of guilt as he watched. He hadn't needed to kill her, and creating these monsters was completely unnecessary.

Every time this happened, every time Discord had killed another pony or left some terrifying creation behind on a planet, it was always accompanied by this feeling. Deep down, he knew what he was doing was wrong. "Maybe Fluttershy was right. Maybe I'm not entirely evil. Should I stop before things end in ruin for everypony?"

Discord shook his head. "No. The Clans must answer for their crimes, and Celestia and Luna will pay for what they did to me." He began soaring through the blue sky, on his way to the airfield where a DropShip would take him to Angel II. "In a universe ruled by chaos, justice is mine to command. Those who cross me... Will burn in the flames of my anger."

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 - Trial by Water Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 27 Minutes