Dawn of the Jaegers

The two had talked for a few more hours until finally it was time for bed. Twilight changed into a pair of shorts and tank top, crawling into her bed she shut off her light and said her goodnights to Tempest who returned it in equal share. She expected to dream but found nothing till the morning where she saw Tempest standing over her already clothed and shaking her. "Wha huh?" She mumbled out trying to remember where she was.

"Come on. We have to get your gear before class starts. Trust me you need this." Tempest said walking over to her roommates closet and grabbing some clothes to throw at her.

Twilight rushed out of bed to the bathroom and got cleaned as fast as she could, stopping for a moment to let the water wake her up from her sleepy state. Stepping out the cold room sent goosebumps across her skin as she dried off. Putting on the clothes Tempest had grabbed she did a look over herself in the mirror. Still damp hair with a highlighted streak across it, dark purple leather jacket with metal band shirt that read slasher, black jeans and her old combat boots. Peeking out she let her complaint air to Tempest. "You literally chose all the pieces to make me look like a punk rock member." She said in annoyance.

Tempest gave her a look over before shrugging. "Eh, look more like a badass so you'll fit in better. Now come on we have to hurry!" She said grabbing Twilights wrist and rushing down the hall, stopping every now and then to see if the coast was clear. "Remember how I said I act the way I do to make sure people don't get to buddy buddy with me?" She questioned looking over her shoulder at the punked up Twilight.

"Yes. What about that?" Twilight asked looking over Tempest's shoulder to see down the hall.

Tempest leaned back to look at her roommate. "If we are seen I have to act like you are just following me or that I don't know you. Very few people know how I really act and those that do understand the importance of not spilling." She explained with a fireball appearing in her hand that looked like a screaming soul on fire. When Twilight gave a gulp and step back she continued. "But it's also known that those that reach a high enough rank I start to 'notice' if you will." She said making quotation marks.

After that brief discussion the two continued out into the open and across one of the many paths to a large building with various different sized chimneys spewing smoke into the air. Stepping inside hit the pair with a wave of heat along with the sounds of armor and weapons being made. A small dwarf walked up to the two, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. "Well if it ain't the scare queen herself. Who's the little lassie you brought with ya." He said in a surprisingly high pitched voice.

"Hey there O'mally." Tempest said, shaking hands with the dwarf. "This is Twilight. Twilight, this is O'mally one of the best weapons and armor maker in the world." She explained, stepping to the side so he could get a look at her partner. "He's also one of the people I told you about that knows the real me." She added when Twilight looked between them weirdly.

"Ho ho ho silly girl, what she really means is I'm THE best weapon and armor maker there is. I make the stuff you need to kill omegas lass." He said puffing out his chest.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Twilight said, reaching a hand out for a shake but instead had herself pulled down lower by the dwarf who was looking over her arm.

"Prefers hand to hand, heavy magic flow I see hmmm. What's your type of weapon?" He suddenly said while walking over to a bench with plans scattered over it.

The two followed him as Twilight spoke up. "I prefer gauntlets and runed armor to help focus my magic." She looked over the mans shoulder which wasn't to hard with how short he was. "Um, what is this place exactly?" She asked making the man wheel around to her suddenly.

"Why you're in the Forge. At least level one of it." He said, grabbing up the plans he walked over to an arch with runes etched into it. "This here is level one of the Forge. There are four levels exactly, this is for those ranked D to C. Next is the volcanic Forge which is for Rank B, then Heaven and Hell Forge for rank A, and finally the Abyssal Forge for those ranked S." He stated as he continued past the arch to a workbench and fire pit. "Show me what gear you got already." He ordered with a tap of a hammer on the table.

Twilight pulled out her arm pieces and put them on the table. The dwarf looked them over while humming. "Not bad for basic stuff, not great either though." He mussed before raising his hammer that was glowing with blue runes. He brought it down with a crash on top of each piece making them shine and change.

Twilight picked them up when he stepped away. What once was originally just basic steel and leather had changed to a purple tinted metal with minor gold lining in the edges. Slipping them on she felt the sudden stable feeling like she could put more magic in her punches without breaking them. "What...how?" She started to say but was cut off by the dwarf.

"What being I made them better and as for how because it's me that made them better." He answered smugly as Tempest started to drag Twilight away.

"Thanks again O'mally!" Shouted Tempest as the went out of the door, waving to the dwarf who gave a small salute back.

The pair walked into the class building to see it still mostly empty of people. A few were around but once they caught sight of Tempest they made themselves scarce. "So let us see what classes you got." Tempest said pulling up Twilight's file. "Hm Homeroom, Physiology of Monsters, Gym, Magical Combat, Physical Combat not bad. What else? Oh Alchemy." She muttered as she sent the magic screen over to Twilight.

As Twilight looked over her schedule she notice Tempest was in a few of them. "Huh, looks like we will be seeing a lot of each other." She said pointing it out to the woman. The bell started to ring signaling it was getting close to the start of the first day of school. The two rushed to their first class. Finding seats apart Twilight couldn't help look over her newly upgraded gear. "What if I do this?" She thought to herself as some of her magic started to flow into the gauntlets, seeing the magical symbols across the surface give off a gentle glow.

A hand slammed down on her desk scaring the woman's focus away. Looking up she saw it was Rainbow dash who had a look of suspicion on her face. "Are you the real Twilight?" She questioned, getting close to Twilight's face.

"What the hell do you mean real Twilight? Of course it's me." She replied offended.

A hand gently tapped Rainbow on her shoulder making her turn and see Fluttershy. "Rainbow you know that rumor about Tempest replacing her roommates is fake." She said soothingly. It did the trick as her multicolored haired friend gave a 'humph' and sat down next to Twilight. "How went everything Twilight?" Asked Fluttershy, taking the other seat next to her.

Before Twilight responded she could feel Tempest staring at the back of her head. "Well I could definitely see why everyone is scared of her." She said with a nervous laugh, hoping no one would pry further. An idea to get them away from Tempest popped into her head. Looking between the two she asked "So when were you guy's going to tell me you all are so low ranked?" Causing the two to flinch away and look everywhere but at the questioning friend.

Rainbow let out a chuckle while Fluttershy squeaked out a response. "We didn't want to scare you away from being our leader." She explained. "When we learned you were trained by Cinder and could beat up Blueblood we kind of forgot to really mention it." She added, hoping Twilight wouldn't be to angry at them

A huge sigh escaped the magic user. "Let me be clear, I have never lead anyone before and just because Cinder trained me does not mean I'm that great." She started, causing the pair to droop down in defeat. "But!" She continued making them straighten back up again. "That doesn't mean I'm not willing to try just know this. After school we are all going to meet up and I'm going to see what you all can do." She finished with a dark chuckle that made them shiver slightly.

A voice spoke up from the front of the classroom. "Enough chatting everyone it is time to get started on your first day of school." A light pink haired woman said, clasping her hands together. "My name is Miss Cheerilee. I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year." She explained with a happy smile on her face as she looked over the classroom. "Normally I would say we all introduce ourselves but most of you already know each other from last year or have enough status that you are known before you arrived to this school. So instead I'll have each of you stand when I say one of the following goals most Jaegers strive for that you align yourself with." She said, walking up to the board.

"Fame." She started with making about half the class stand up including Rainbow Dash.

"Fortune." Came the next prompt as more students stood including Tempest.

"Glory." She added making the rest of the class but Twilight stand up. Twilight's eyes widened a little when even Fluttershy stood up at that one who could only look at her and sheepishly shrug.

"Hm that appears to be all... You there, Twilight was it? Why haven't you stood up?" She asked after scanning over the crowd and seeing her still sitting.

Twilight saw everyone looking at her with a mixed array of faces. Some with confusion, others intrigue, one or two of disgust. Giving a sigh she stood up and said. "Because I'm doing this to protect those that can't." A murmur swept through the classroom.

Cheerilee's smile dropped at this comment. "Hmmm, it's been a while since we've had a selfless Jaeger." She thought to herself before putting back on her smile. "A noble goal indeed. I do hope you impress and fulfill that goal." She said, gesturing for everyone to take their seats again. The class continued on going over what is to be expected in the classroom or answering any questions till one caught Twilights.

"How do I get higher in the ranking system?" Asked a large man in slightly straining clothes that were stretched across his muscles.

"That's Thunderlane, he's a Pegasus like me and Shy." Rainbow whispered to Twilight.

Cheerilee clapped her hands at the question. "Excellent, good thinking. For those new we have a ranking system but to climb higher there are a few things you can do! One being that you take on bounties or missions. Another being scoring high on challenges or tests here in the school. Finally the one most of you will probably try at least once is combat." She explained, the last one making people sit up straighter or lean forward. "Before you all start throwing weapons and magic around listen and learn. Let us say you are rank B and you wish to get to rank A, first you must be within the top twenty of rank B so challenge anyone you need to get to that level then from there you may challenge any of the bottom twenty Rank A. Beat them and you fill in that slot and everyone below you shifts down one so the scale is always shifting for you to do work. But know this that if you are in rank F and you get shifted down off the list... then you are expelled." She finished making a few students gulp.

The bell began to toll, signaling the end of the first class. Packing up what little everyone brought the students separated to head to their other classes. "Hey Fluttershy, it looks like we have the same class for this next one." Twilight said, putting away her schedule.

"Oh my... Follow me I'll take you to the right classroom." She whispered. Taking turns in the halls till Fluttershy opened a door to a room with an open top that had criss crossing bars over it. A grizzled black man with a raggedy beard sat atop a small mountain of shaking crates and boxes, sharpening a knife. "Hello Mr. Roads." She said politely, walking up to the dangerous looking man.

A single eye focused on her followed by a shout of joy. "Miss Shy! So good to see you again. Glad last year didn't scare you off my dear." He shouted, jumping off the crates and hugging the woman in a bear hug. "And who's this little lady?" He asked turning to Twilight. "Wait don't tell me!" His loud voice carried over the room making some of the other students look at them. "You must be that girl who put on such a great show during the entrance exam uh Twinkle was it?" He asked.

"Twilight." She corrected.

"I knew it!" He shouted again slamming a fist into his open palm. "Well pleasure to meet you. Let's get this class started, everybody to the higher floors please!" He yelled to the crowd. Once everyone was in their spots he continued from his position in the caged area. "Welcome to Physiology of Monsters or as some of the older students affectionately named The Pit. This is where you'll learn all about the little beasties we hunt and fight against. Learning how to spot weak points in armor or how certain elements or weapons do more damage, for example!" He said, clapping his hands together. A door on one of the cages opened and out pounced a small dog like monster with two heads. "This would be a beta. They are the weakest in the scaling of the monsters we fight." He explain as the monster charged him. Pulling out the knife he had been sharpening he stepped back causing the monster to miss and with a quick stab downward severed its spine, killing it in one go. "Now can someone tell me the full scale of monsters?" He asked looking around at the bewildered students.

Fluttershy raised her hand and once Mr. Roads nodded at her she spoke up. "There are first the betas which are the weakest of the monsters but you always tell us to never underestimate any level of monster even the weakest," She started with making the rough looking man nod for her to continue. "Betas usually aren't too dangerous by themselves and if enough regular people fight back they can be taken down but most travel in packs to make up for their lack in strength. Then there are alphas who are higher in the scaling usually the math goes for ever twenty betas that equals a weak alpha but this also rises up to even a thousand betas to one alpha." She said taking a deep breath before continuing. "Alphas are always reserved for a Jaeger or team of them since they are much tougher to take down. Finally there are omegas which are the worst of the worst. There's no real math to help understand the scope of how strong an omega is as no one has been able to successfully measure it. Only the strongest Jaegers like the princess or some in the high council can take on an omega by themselves and even then it can be a challenge is its a older one. Most need a team of the best to fight them and also most of the time at least one Jaeger will die." She said taking one more breath. "That's also not counting the area as most reside in places that boost their powers and also can fly, swim, or walk on land." She finally finished and sat down.

Mr.Roads clapped his hands before addressing the class. "Remember this and know that my goal is that by the end of this class you all can not only see what a monster would be either beta, alpha, or god forbid omega but that you can survive the encounter with them. Some of you know about the group in this school known as Armageddon." He said, looking at the classes varied expressions. "Each one of them in some way has helped take down an omega but one thing to know is they did not do it alone or were the main ones doing damage. To those of you that live long enough in this job to face an omega, pray you have freaks of nature by our standards like them or that there are enough of you to fight it." He said, his voice more sober.