Chapter XIV: Take It to The Limit
Scootaloo instinctively closed her eyes, not wanting to see where Derpy's shot had landed. She covered her ears just as the shot exploded on the side of someponies hull. The Shockwave knocked her out of her seat and into Elly's lap.
"Get back up there sis, this isn't over! She's still functional!" Elly growled as she pushed down the accelerator as hard as she could.
ShScootaloo opened her eyes and crawled back into her gunners seat. When she peered through her scope, the sheer carnage surprised her. The entire gun mantlet of team Derpy's KV-2 was blown clear off and was sticking into the side of the Tiger's turret. She could see into the inside of the Kv-2 and could of sworn she saw Derpy just shrug her shoulders and mouthe "I don't know what went wrong".
The Tiger itself was no better off. The shock of having an entire gun mantlet sticking in the side of the turret destroyed the loading breech and caved in the turret on the left side. The guns on the front were both crossed, mangled together and entirely unserviceable.
"They are unarmed!" Scootaloo shouted.
However, no sooner had she shouted that they were unarmed, did the twin cannons on the front of the Tigers hull open fire.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot her!" Elly said as she pushed as hard as she could into the Tiger, doing whatever she could to keep the Tiger simply from running them over.
High velocity candy corn sprayed everywhere as it bounced off the front of Unbreakable's hull. Sweetie Belle checked her instruments, trying to gauge how much damage their armor had sustained.
"Frontal armors holding firm, but if they keep this up they will eventually just splinter their way through it bit by bit" just as Sweetie Belle had finished her sentence, a piece of candy corn from an earlier ricochet bounced down from the commanders hatch, off Elly's chair and into Sweetie Belle's left hoof; stopping cold and falling to the floor.
"Good to know that protection spell is working" Apple Bloom said as she finished loading the next pie into the breech. "Ready to fire!"
Scootaloo looked through her view port, small bits of candied destruction bounced off the front of Unbreakable, each one slowly taking bits of wood with them. The turret of the Tiger was essentially unworkable, the turret ring was half way shattered, the guns were broken and even the coaxial gun in the mantlet was pushed in. However, as she tried to aim the gun at the body of the tiger, she noticed something wrong; she couldn't bring the gun to bear on the hull of the Tiger.
"Apple Bloom I can't get the gun down any further. You have any idea what is wrong?" Scootaloo asked.
"She only has maybe four degrees depression Scoots. We only had time for a nice uniform turret, we couldn't get the ocilating turret we wanted done on time."
"That's not good. We need to back up a few feet for a clean shot." Elly put the tank in reverse, but the Tiger driver was having none of it, the second she began to back away the Tiger slammed into them again, guns blazing.
"It's no good, she's not letting up" Elly said as she tried to break the deadlock without success.
"Derpy team can you hear me?" Sweetie Belle asked over the radio.
"I think thier radio may be bunk. We haven't gotten a message from them in a while now" Apple Bloom said.
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Scootaloo asked.
"I dunno Scootaloo, burlap is kind of itchy for a dress" Sweetie Belle replied.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both stared at Sweetie Belle, rolling their eyes.
"I'll see if I can signal her somehow." Scootaloo climbed up into the commanders cupola and tapped hard on the top to get Derpy's attention. Derpy's ears stood up and she waved to Scootaloo to show that she noticed her. Scootaloo took her right hoof horizontally and placed it up against her left leg, which she was holding up vertically. She then moved her right hoof away slowly from her left leg and then moved it quickly into the side of her left leg, knocking it away.
Derpy just stared at Scootaloo absent-mindedly for a few moments and then nodded, confirming that she had got the message. What was left of the KV-2 backed away slowly, it's left track dangling off the side of the vehicle; its road wheels running bare on the ground. The driver of the Tiger failed to even notice them pulling away, his attention fully on keeping Unbreakable locked into place.
The Kv-2 made pretty good time for a vehicle as damaged as it was. It managed to back away a good thirty or so feet. Meanwhile, inside Unbreakable, a few more stray rounds bounced around inside, one of them damaging Sweetie Belles radio equipment.
"I hope she knows what she is doing, we can't take too much more of this" Elly said.
One could hear the candy corn ripping up layer after layer of wood, the sound of the impacts becoming much lower in pitch as they bounced off the front of the hull.
"You think they would have run out of ammo by now" Apple Bloom said.
"She's charging forward!" Scootaloo yelled.
Scootaloo watched in horror as the KV-2 kept swerving left and right each time adjusting its course for them, then to the Tiger.
"You may want to brace yourself for impact, that broken track of hers is throwing her all over the place." Scootaloo held onto the gun breech.
If she hits them, then I can take the shot. If she hits us by accident, I need to be able to at least fire on them when she pushes us aside Scootaloo thought to herself.
Apple Bloom jumped down from her loading chair and huddled in the back corner with Sweetie Belle, both of them snugly against the back wall of the tank as to not go flying around the vehicle upon impact.
Scootaloo took one more quick peek out of the commanders hatch. Derpy was going to hit them, all of her bare road wheels on the left side were breaking away and she was mere seconds away from impact. Scootaloo closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact when the strangest thing happened; there was no impact, at least not on them. Scootaloo looked out of the commanders hatch and watched the KV-2 roll on by, roll up the side of a small embankment like skater on a half pipe.
The tank came back at them on the opposite side, except this time the KV-2 was aimed squarely at the engine deck of the Tiger.
"Pull back now!" Scootaloo shouted.
Elly pulled a lever and the tank pulled back hard in reverse. The Tiger tried to keep up and then it happened. The KV-2 slammed hard into the engine deck of the Tiger crushing the entire side of the vehicle and blowing out the tracks.
"Stabilize her sis, I have a shot!" Scootaloo shouted.
Elly hit the brakes and angled the tank slightly to the left to help deflect some of the shots coming from the short range cannons on the front of the Tiger.
Scootaloo looked down her gunsights, adjusted the angle to hit the lower front armor plate of the Tiger, but before she could fire something unexpected occured.
Slowly peeking out of the top of the turret was a small rising stick, tied to the end of it a white flag signifying surrender. Holding onto the flag was a very disgruntled looking griffon with purple eye liner, slowly rising out of the wrecked turret.
"Ok, ok. You dweebs win, no point in dragging this out" Gilda said, a haughty tone still in her voice.
One of the pegasus referees above made some signals with a pair of flags and blew his whistle, quickly swapping it for a megaphone.
"That concludes todays match, all competitors are to assemble at the banquet we have put together for all of you by the main announcement podium. A cart will be by momentarily to pick up those unable to get back under their own power." The ref put away the Megaphone and flew off, signaling other referees to get a cart over to Gildas wrecked Tiger.
"Hey dweeb, we still have an artillery unit left the last time I checked" Gilda growled at the referee.
The ref stopped and glared at Gilda angrily."My ledger shows they ditched the vehicle in the water seconds after you raised that white flag. Kind of a scummy thing to do if you ask me." The ref pointed at his ledger, showing a picture of an artillery unit with a big blue water droplet over the picture. "See, that thing is all wet." The ref quickly put his ledger away and flew off into the distance, clearly aggravated by Gildas attitude.
"Well, now that the ref is gone, I wanna see what ponies managed to take me down after running rampant through most of your team" Gilda said while flicking bits of wooden debris from her head feathers.
Derpy peered out of the front of the broken KV-2 turret and waved, followed shortly by Dinky and Red Typhoon.
"Hi, sorry I had to ram you, but we like winning" Derpy said.
"Great, a cook, a retard and a filly on one side how about the chumps about to shoot me?" Gilda asked.
"Should we show ourselves Elly? I mean Luna did warn us-"
"We should, if anything, it will send home a message that we are not to be trifled with" Elly said, interrupting Scootaloo.
"I'm all for it, how about you Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie Belle didn't reply, as she was busily trying to make her mane presentable, only stopping when she caught a scowl from Apple Bloom.
"What? If they are gonna take pictures and stuff for the papers I have to look fabulous. I would never hear the end of it from Rarity if I went in front of a camera looking like I took a ride in the dryer on fluff" Sweetie Belle said as she tried to fix her mane in the radar screen reflection.
"I haven't got all day, the cart will be here to pick us up shortly. What are ya, chicken?" Gilda teased.
Scootaloo snorted angrily and popped open her commanders hatch on the top of the turret. She hoisted herself up and peered out over the tank, staring down Gilda with a vicious glare.
"Who you callin chicken?" Scootaloo growled.
"Yeah, Scootaloo is more of a really angry goose at this point" Sweetie Belle added as she popped her head out of the left side hatch.
"Really Sweetie Belle? A goose? That doesn't sound very menacing" Apple Bloom added.
"Are you kidding me? Those things are mean, they hiss at you and spread their wings like they have no fear at all. One even bit Rarity right on her behind one summer when she got too close to its eggs. They are outright terrifying" Sweetie Belle said nervously.
"Really... a bunch of kids beat the best commander in this contest? What did you have a unicorn cast a bonus luck spell on ya or something?" Gilda teased further.
Elly popped open the front drivers hatch and smiled. "You don't need luck when you have and engineer like me. I actually know what I'm doing, unlike that monstrosity you're driving."
"Monstrosity? This is the best vehicle money can buy. Anything that gets in front of us is as good as wrecked" Gilda said proudly.
"Unless they are small and quick to get around you. That's why you ordered your team to prioritize any targets that were nimble. Having an unarmored backside means even a pea shooter can completely wreck you if it gets around. Too bad you missed one" Elly finished snidely, tapping the front armor of Unbreakable.
"Pfft whatever" Gilda hopped out of her broken vehicle and took to the skies, along with two other griffon crew members. "I'll see you losers in the finals, assuming that piece of junk makes it that far."
Gilda and her crew flew off, faint laughing could be heard as they passed behind a hill.
"They are really not that bright." Elly jumped out of Unbreakable and began to circle around the demolished Tiger tank Gilda and her crew left behind.
"What are you doing sis?" Scootaloo asked as she too hopped down from the top of Unbreakable to join her, soon followed by Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
"I'm examining how they put this thing together. It's a design I've never seen before and could help us in the future if we run into her again" Elly said as she looked into the back of what was left of the turret.
"Isn't that cheating?" Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom asked together.
"Yeah, what they said. That's kinda like spying and definitely against the rules" Scootaloo said.
Elly rolled her eyes and sighed. " Have any of you fillies ever heard of corporate espionage rules or obvious obstruction laws?
"Why do you ask questions you know that we don't know? It's like you have some kind of super villain need to do that" Sweetie Belle stated. "I mean the pronoun game is really dated if you ask me."
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stared quizzically at Sweetie Belle for a moment.
"What? It's true, at least according to my sisters Dr. Mil books" Sweetie Belle said.
"Anyways, it's only called spying if you're in a place where you're not supposed to be or hear something that was never meant for your ears. Out here in the open all things are obvious, so long as I don't tamper with anything." Elly circled the tank and noticed that they essentially made the rear armor on the vehicle paper thin at the back, but very thick just over the engine deck.
"Apple Bloom, come over here. I Think you will find this interesting" Elly motioned Apple Bloom over to her.
Apple Bloom rushed over to where Elly was standing and her mouth dropped. "How in tarnation did they make the top super thick and the side thin as paper out of one piece?" Apple Bloom walked around the vehicle trying to make sense of what she was looking at. "I just don't get it, the only way they could have done this is if they manually cut and sanded down a massive chunk of tree."
"That's some pretty advanced machinery too. The ones at the airship construction yards could do it, but those things are massive and expensive. Their team must have deep pockets to get something like that." Elly peered into a hole by the engine deck.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Elly said, flabbergasted.
"What? What's wrong sis?" Scootaloo asked as she tried to look around Elly's wing to get a look at what she was staring at.
"See for yourself" Elly said, backing away to let Scootaloo peer inside.
Scootaloo looked through the hole and noticed there was just a single block of wood where the engine should have been. "That's weird, I don't know what I'm looking at. It's just...a big old block of wood. Wait, it kinda looks like ours."
"It's a direct electric engine, like the ones on trains in Fillydelphia and the one I helped install in Unbreakable" Elly said.
"Wait, I have seen those before in a book once. Aren't they huge? Like the size of a trailer house or somethin, I mean besides our engine?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I read that same book. Those things are massive, me and Elly had to come up with a miniature design just for our own tank." Sweetie Belle added, still figiting with an unruly lock of hair on her mane.
"It doesn't make sense. Griffon technology is nowhere near this far along the last I checked, it took us nearly a week just to come up with a miniaturized version and I've worked on them before. They could have gotten a second hand engine from an old train but-"
"They wouldn't even know where to begin, right?" Scootaloo asked.
"Exactly. I wonder what else they have been doing that we don't know about. Scootaloo, jump on my back and tell me what you can see inside the tank" Elly said as she lowered herself a bit to allow Scootaloo to stand on her back.
Scootaloo jumped on Elly's back and looked into what remained of the heavily damaged turret. There wasn't much left to really see. The loading system was nothing but splinters, the seat positions were all mangled and even the back side of the gun barrels was entirely jammed with splinters and dust.
"Can't make much out of it. Seems Derpy did a really good job entirely wrecking everything in this thing." As Scootaloo prepared to jump down, she noticed a kind of spring system right underneath where the loading system used to be.
Huh, that shouldn't be there. The rules clearly state no metal parts for safety reasons. Scootaloo thought to herself as she landed on the ground next to Elly.
"Sis, they have some kind of spring system under the gun" Scootaloo said as she pointed to where the gun assembly would be.
"That's a violation of the rules if memory serves. All vehicles were inspected an hour or so before the event began, so they must have put it in as soon as the inspection was over" Elly said as she took to the sky to get a better look at the vehicle.
"Should we report them? " Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, that's cheating!" Sweetie Belle added.
"Don't think we can. That ref over there has been watching us look around the vehicle while we wait for pickup. All Gilda and her crew have to say is we sabotaged them by tossing springs into their tank." Elly landed by Scootaloo just as the pickup cart came into view."Just put it out of your mind, even if they were found guilty it would only get them a slap on the claw at best."
As the cart came into view, Elly noticed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle duck behind her in a defensive manner, both peeking out just to the left and right of her wings.
"What? Is something wro-oh ponyfeathers." Elly looked toward the cart and noticed there were two other ponies in the back of it; Apple Blooms older sister, Apple Jack and Sweetie Belle's older sister, Rarity.
"You did tell them we were going to be in this competition right?" Elly asked.
Apple Jack waved at them, soon followed by Rarity.
***
"So, let me get this straight. Wild Fire, which our family used to hire as help during harvest is actually...?" Apple Jack paused, waiting for Scootaloo to reconfirm what she just told her.
"Yes, her real name is Elly Loo and she's my older sister" Scootaloo said.
"Wait...so you're not an orphan? You actually have a family?" Apple Jack asked, clearly baffled.
"Orphan?!" Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Apple Bloom said together, shocked.
Scootaloo swallowed some air, she knew this day would eventually come. Ever since her sister came back into the picture she had been avoiding telling everypony her situation. Not only for her sister's sake of avoid all the vitriol she would undoubtedly get, not to mention all the concerned stares she would get in town; like she was somehow broken or different from any other filly.
How to go about telling them...and how did Apple Jack even find out? Scootaloo thought to herself.
"Don't get yer hooves in a hustle, I've known for a long time now. At least for a few years now" Apple Jack said. "Long before you even met Apple Bloom I knew."
"But, when...how?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, your granny used to stop by Carrot Top's stand every morning to pick up some carrots and then stop by my cart for a few apples. She mentioned that she was your grandma and that your parents were constantly in and out of town. I believed it for awhile, until your granny passed away that was." Apple Jack inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry, still not 100% after being sick still."
"Wait, she had a grandmother?" Rarity asked. "How? When? I almost know every pony in town except this mare."
"She avoided you because you're a gossip gums. She had a big secret to bear and she didn't need no-pony snooping around her families business" Apple Jack stated, pointing an accusatory hoof at Rarity.
"Then how did you find out aside from snooping around hmm? You think a secret that big would be well kept" Rarity retorted, a victorious grin on her face.
"Fer yer information, ferreting out a lie is an apple family specialty. Also, I caught on when I finally met Scootaloo's so called parents, I seen the same pair of ponies when I was much younger in Manehattan during a play. They were a couple washed up old actors from when I was staying with my relatives." Apple jack turned her attention to Scootaloo "Also, you have slight nervous wing twitch when yer tellin a lie."
"But those ponies came really recommended, they fooled everypony" Scootaloo said.
"Not everypony, you forget a lot of ponies in town knew your parents and some knew you as well. We even tried to adopt you after your granny died, but, well..."
"Well, what?" Scootaloo asked impatiently.
"We were blocked by a wall of lawyers and paperwork. You weren't even listed on the orphan registry. Shucks, even the Cakes tried to find a way to adopt you, but couldn't find a way." Apple Jack stared off into the distance, noting that they still had a few miles to go before they made it back to the staging area.
"Wait, no pony ever brought this up or asked her about it before? You think a filly her age living alone would be a massive red flag to the community" Rarity complained.
"I brought it up during a community meeting shortly after her granny passed away, before the mayor could even speak, she was blocked by a well dressed city pony and a small security force. It was like Scoots here had her own personal secret spy service or sumthin." Apple Jack glared at Elly loo. "But you showing up...once I'm better, me and you are gonna have fightin words."
"Apple Jack!" Rarity shouted.
"Sis? Why?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Because she left her alone!" Apple Jack heaved over coughing, Apple Bloom and Rarity trying to pat her on the back, but being pushed away by Apple Jack.
Apple Jack looked up, still wheezing. "What kind of filth abandons a young filly to fend for herself? Have you no shame?"
"Apple Jack, you don't know the entire story!" Scootaloo pleaded.
"No, she's right. I made a lot of really dumb decisions in trying to keep Scootaloo safe. Looking back, there were probably much better options than what I settled on. When granny passed, I had only been an adult for a couple years. A combination of fear for her safety and the fear of me not being able to provide a stable home for her scared me to death." Elly lowered her head. "I am ashamed of myself. I can't even begin to make up for what I did to Scootaloo. If it makes up for it in the least, I will gladly let you beat me up, I won't even try to stop you."
Apple Jack was taken aback as if she was not expecting that answer. "I...I wasn't expecting that."
"Apple Jack, maybe you should calm down and let her explain what happened?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, sis. You don't know the whole story" Apple Bloom added.
"Does my mane look a bit too ruffled? I don't want the news taking pictures of me if I look like a got in a fight with a blender" Sweetie Belle said as she tried to adjust her mane.
"Darling, not the time for that. Though you do have a bit of wood in your mane...and a bit of a cowlick going on" Rarity said as she adjusted Sweetie Belle's mane.
Rarity stopped as she noticed all the glares coming from other ponies in the cart. "What? Just because we are having an emotional exchange is no reason not to look fabulous for the press."
Apple Jack shook her head and stared at Elly. "I want you to explain to me step by step what happened after you granny passed, possibly even before that."
Elly opened her mouth only to be stopped by a growl from her stomach. "Can we maybe talk about it over food, after the point tally perhaps? My treat?"
"You know I still kinda wanna hit you in the face, but manners tell me never turn down free grub. That and I've had mostly nothing but hospital food for the longest time. I'll see you at...?"
"Oh, there's a place called the Captains Grill on the edge of Ponyville. I used to go there as a filly."
"Sis that place shut down years ago" Scootalloo interjected. "AJ, meet us at sugar cube corner, okay?"
"Fine by me."
***
The cart finally arrived at the edge of the staging grounds. After a brief exchange to set up a kind of dinner date with Apple Jack and Rarity, each group went their seperate ways.
"Don't be long dear, we have much to catch up on. Also your mane is a mess, I simply must perm it" Rarity yelled and waved as she walked away.
"You too, Apple Bloom. I still need some help at home with the chores" Apple Jack stated staunchly.
"Sis, your're fresh out of the hospital. You should relax for a bit, ya don't wanna make yourself sick again" Apple Bloom said.
"I can still do little stuff around the farm, you can help me with that at least." Apple Jack sighed. "Big mac won't let me do anything more than little stuff, stubborn mule... no offense mister."
"None taken" said one fo the mules pulling a nearby cart.
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black" Apple Bloom grumbled out of the side of her mouth at Scootaloo's direction, eliciting a laugh from her.
"What did you say?!" Apple Jack growled.
"She said you were calling a kettle black, but I don't think you own a black kettle. Do you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Jack stared at Sweetie Belle and then at Apple Bloom. "Yer gettin double chores tomorrow for that one smart ass little missy...no offense to you either."
"None taken" A well dressed donkey said as he passed by.
"That's fine. You don't work too hard, okay sis" Apple Bloom said with a smile.
"That's the problem..." Apple Jack sighed. "I'll se yall later." Apple Jack walked away, her ears folded back.
"What's wrong with her?" Scootaloo asked. "One minute she's ready to tear your head off and then the next she's all mopey.
"I have no Idea Scoots. The Apple family seems like a simple thing to understand at first. You think they are all workaholics, typical farm ponies that revel in a job well done. However, I think it goes much deeper than that. I think somewhere deep down she wanted to be a big sister to you as well, possibly even a replacement mother."
"I can see why she's like that. Apple Jacks always been like a combination of a big sister and mom to me. She would let me stay over, even on school nights." Scootaloo noticed a pony beginning to post large scores on a big bulletin board. "Look's like they are putting up the team scores."
Before Elly, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom could approach the bulletin board, a crowd of ponies swarmed in, each clammoring for a peek at their score.
"That was quick, I wonder how we did?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Move back, move back everypony!" Luna came walking through the crowd, hovering a podium above her head and placing it just to the left of the bulletin board. Luna then stood on the podium. "Every pony that took place into todays competition, please have the courtesy to keep the talk to a low roar. I'm about to announce the teams that move onto the next round, teams that are moving on to the losers bracket and the teams that were eliminated entirely."
The ponies in the crowd began to slowly calm down, some of them sitting in anticipation...or jumping wildly in anticipation in Pinkie Pie's case.
"You think we made it sis?" Scootaloo asked.
"I'm not sure, we only took out a small part of their team. I sure hope we make it" Elly said worringly.
"Today was the first match of the competition Ponyville vs Hoofington. The top 5 teams are as follows;
Luna pulled a stack of cards from a drawer under the podium. "The first ranked team for overall performance is...team Derpy, for thier amazing assitance in taking down a Tiger tank, reporting enemy movements and heavy support fire."
"What! You got to be kidding me! That backwoods retard team dusted us at the start!" The crowd parted to give a paticularly livid filly some yelling space.
"You know, AJ would say that I'm a bad pony for enjoying others suffering, but you know what; I'll be that bad pony if it means I get to enjoy little miss princess eating crow" Apple Bloom said proudly.
"Why would you eat a crow? That doesn't sound very tasty, also meat. Gross." Sweetie Belle added, putting her hoof in her mouth and making a gagging sound.
"Excuse me little filly, but what seems to be the problem?" Luna asked calmly.
"Honeykins, that's the princess you're talking to. Mind your manners" A well dressed pony with slick greased hair said.
"No, I'm going to speak my mind. You dare say that cross eyed, dumb, poor excuse for a mail mare and mother-"
"Hey!" Dinky yelled in protest.
"And her inbred bastard child-"
"Hey!" Derpy yelled, gritting her teeth in anger.
"And a shoddy, talentless cook-"
"Oh, that's It! Filly or not I'm putting these Irish hooves to good use and tanning her little flanks!" Red jumped forward only to be stopped by Dinky and Derpy holding her tail.
"Dear, you seem to be aggrivating the peasantry" the slick haired ponly said with a nervous grin.
"Don't care dad. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, that those team killing jerkfaces should get anywhere near first place is laughable at best and downright criminal at worst. Look at Derpy, she can't even see straight. She never get's mail addresses correct and she's a single mother because no stallion would have her." Diamond Tiara glared at Derpy, whom looked as is she was about to burst into tears.
"Enough!" Luna growled, her mane puffing up angrily. "I will not have you insult a pony for defects she has no control over. Mr. rich, if you do not get your daughter under control I will be forced to handle the problem personally." Luna's eyes were glowing hot white, you could hear the gritting of her teeth.
"Y-yes your highness, sweetcakes, pelase don't anger the princess of the night any further" Mr. Rich pleaded with his daughter.
"Pfft what can she possibly do, she's just the lesser sister of Celestia. She's probably adopted, the half witted, dark horse, emo cun-" A beam of light struck Diamond Tiara and in a puff of smoke, she vanished.
"Wh-what did you do! You disentegrated my little filly!" Mr. Rich yelled angrily.
"Silence!" Lunas power was so heavy that she was beginning to burn the top of her podium with her hooves from the pressure. "I sent you little monster to the Las Pegasus quarry work camp. It is a camp designed for both overweight ponies looking to lose weight with a summer job and ponies with severe attitude problems because of poor parenting."
Luna took a deep breath, her mane no longer on end and her eyes going back to normal. "Before her little outburst I was going to give you a token for the reserve team in the next match because you were accidentally destroyed at the start of the match. I will still give this token, but your team will have to wait for her return. Her sentence is only a week or two at most depending how she shapes up. I will file the paperwork granting you visitation rights."
"How dare you take away my authority as a parent to raise my child as I see fit-"
"I will hear not a word more from you, Mr. Rich. If you did your job as a parent I wouldn't have to intervene so harshly. Continue to speak up and I will fine you an additional five thousand bits, do not test my patience." Luna inhaled deeply, trying her best to compose herself. "Now where was I?"
Mr. Rich seemed as if he wanted to say something more, but held his tongue out of fear of pushing Luna too far.
"Well, can't say she didn't deserve it. You play with fire and you're eventually going to get burned" Scootaloo said.
"Eh, she will be fine. I had a cousin that was at that camp to lose weight and get in shape. The drill sargents are a bit harsh, but they feed you well and they aren't crazy. They will work her, but they won't go too far. least that's what my cousin said anyways." Apple Bloom's attention was redirected to the podium, where Luna has regained her composure.
"I am sorry for that outburst from me, but I have a few buttons you don't press and that filly was stomping all over them. Anyway, next on the list is the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Luna looked over the crowd and winked at Scootaloo and her team. " For thier excellent supporting role and damage done to a far superior vehicle, of which gave them a huge score boost."
Other ponies in the crowd turned around to see what Luna winked at, some of them confused.
"Wait, did a bunch of fillies just get second place?" One pony asked.
"You saw the footage of the battle from the big screen, they locked horns with one of the largest enemy tanks on the Hoofington team and came out on top." Another pony added.
"Psst just grin and wave girls, grin and wave" Elly said as she smiled nervously and waved.
"Sis, I thought you were used to this kinda thing?" Scootaloo asked.
"You would think so, but I always get a bit nervous; even to this day."
"I hope my mane looks okay" Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Oh hush, we all look a bit dirty, all the tank crews do" Apple Bloom said.
"If I may have your attention. The next group on the list is team...Fluttershy?" Luna did the smallest of doubletakes and then looked in Fluttershy's direction, a bemused expression on her face. "It says here that you destroyed a light tank and managed to sneak up and destroy four other much more powerful tank destroyers...is this accurate?"
"Oh, yes it is. Mr. Bear has been training the crew on how to move about all sneaky like. At first I didn't agree with it since it didn't seem fair but then-"
"Crawk!" A giant pink Flamingo interrupted.
"Oh yes, it really was a mean insult" Fluttershy said as she patted the Flamingo on the back.
"Care to share with the rest of the crowd Fluttershy?" Luna asked politely.
Fluttershy suddenly noticed how many ponies were looking directly at her. She began to breathe rapidly, closing her eyes and ducking behind her large bear companion to shield her from the crowds view.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, I'll tell them what happened in your place." Twilight Sparkle walked up to her friend and reassured her before walking up to the front of the crowd. "During the battle, Fluttershy's team managed to sneak up behind an enemy tank destoyer and shoot them in the back without being spotted. Somehow, that enemy got on her radio frequency and started calling her a big crybaby wuss and then-"
"I got out there and wrecked their shit! I will give all my enemies suprise butt kicks and hear the lamentations of thier loved ones and repair crews. There will be a torrent of unending sponge cake that will blot out the sun and give them nothing but the dispair of defeat. I-"
"Rawr?" Mr. Bear said as he picked up and hugged Fluttershy to calm her down.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I, umm...got a little carried away there." Fluttershy blushed, her bear companion licking her mane affectionately.
"Well then... I know a pony that I'll do my best to never anger. Anyway, next on the list." Luna flipped the page and began to read to herself before looking up at the crowd of ponies. "The next two on the list are teams Pinkie Pie and team Rainbow Dash, both for thier excellent teamwork in cordinating supressing fire."
"Aww yeah, you spot em, I splat em!" Pinkie Pie said as she shared a high five with Rainbow Dash.
"Wait, Twilight's team didn't make the top five?" Rainbow Dash asked Luna as she glanced at her downtrodden friend.
"Team Twilight made 7th place, they are in the losers bracket. She has another chance to redeem her poor performance.
"Shucks, I guess rolling out into the open, even with all that armor was a bad idea." Twilight kicked the ground in frustration. "Stupid scumbag artillery..."
"As for the rest of the team; I will be posted exact point results on the baord behind me within the hour. If you're team is in the bottom five of your team, then you are eliminated. However, it's only a game and remember, you're all winners in my book. In the meantime, we have prepared a banquet for both teams near the parking area where your vehicles were originally parked. Try to enjoy yourselves, even if you were eliminated." Luna stepped away from the podium, just as Celestia landed behind her and whispered something in her ear, something that made Luna jerk back, her ears folded in worry.
"Something is wrong" Scootaloo said as Luna seemed to be in some great distress.
"What do you mean?" Elly asked.
Luna shot a worried glance toward Scootaloo, then back to her sister. She sighed and nodded at Celestia then began to walk toward Elly and Scootaloo. As she approached Luna pointed to a spot of grass that was out of earshot of most other ponies.
Scootaloo and Elly nodded and headed towards the spot indicated by Luna.
Something is wrong, I never seen Luna so worried before. Scootaloo thought to herself.
"Luna, what's wrong?" Scootaloo asked.
"Elly, Scootaloo. I bring grim news, the pony responsible for maintianing your estate for all these years has been killed. We found his body just minutes ago. Celestia has ordered a full lockdown of all boarders as well as the entirety of Canterlot." Luna checked around her to make sure no pony was listening in.
"Gerald...no..."Elly tried her best to hold back tears, but it was in vain as they were quickly free flowing. "He...he was like an uncle to me..." Elly said as she tried to control her crying.
"That's not the worst part, they wrote a message for us to find in Gerald's blood on the wall." Luna stared at Scootaloo, an expression of deepest worry on her face. "It said 'the sisters are next'. "
Elly gasped, quickly grabbing up Scootaloo in an embrace. "Over my dead body!"
"Sis, I think that's the point" Scootaloo said as she tried to push away from Elly's crushing embrace. "Mind putting me down, your're hugging a bit too hard.
"What would you have us do?" Elly asked, setting Scootlaoo back down on the grass.
"As of this instant, I am officially your fifth crew member. I will also be living with the both of you in your small home as of today" Luna said sternly.
"The guards we have all over ponyville isn't enough?" Scootlaoo asked.
"Afriad not, the security detail we had protecting Gerald were some of the best as well. None of them survived the fight either." Luna looked toward her sister Celestia who seemed to be preoccupied arguing with Queen Walarah. "My sister thinks I should remove you from the competition as well, but I have the final say in that and I figured me being with you at all times would be a much safer compromise."
One could hear the loud voices coming from Walarah and Celestia, each of them barking mad at one another.
"I call horse shit, the medallion worn by YOUR inner guard was found at the scene of the crime, including identifying claw marks that match your personal guard!" Celestia shouted angrily.
"How dare you accuse me of putting a hit out on some worthless beancounter lawyer pony. As if I would order something as tasteless as assasination!" Walarah yelled back.
"I best go try and diffuse that, a citizen executed on her watch is bad enough, but she's still furious about her royal guards being killed as well." Luna flew into the air, landing between Walarah and Celestia.
"Maybe it would be better if we disappeared again?" Scootaloo asked.
"We already tried that. Even if we were to vanish into the dragon wastes or far north they would eventually find us. Sadly our best bet is to take up Luna's offer... but something still bothers me." Elly sighed, her thoughts seemed to be wandering as she stared at Canterlot in the distance. "Only a few ponies knew where to find Gerald and only Walarah has the resources to assasinate him unnoticed...either that or whomever organized the hit has more connections that we initially thought. "
Elly stared at the Queen of the griffons as the confrontation between her and Celestia diffused.
"I smell a rat..." Elly growled.
***
The old griffon stretched his wings as he lit another cigar. Looking out the window from his desk chair, he watched as his forces marched in lines, each of them saluting him with a wing outstreched. Others not in line were busying themselevs on various small attack aircraft and a few lightly armored ground vehicles. However, the crown jewel of his army could be seen in the distant shipyard, so massive that is obstructed the view of the mountains behind it. He inhaled from his cigar and then set it in a little claw on his chair to hold it while he turned his chair around to face the office door.
He reached over the desk and pressed a button. "Bring her in" He said in a gruff voice.
"Unhand me! What is the meaning of this!" A female voice could be heard through the door and possibly clean down the hall.
The door opened and a well dressed griffon in a gold and lavender dress was being pushed forward by two large burly griffon gurds in green and brown uniforms.
"Ivan!" The female in the dress growled.
"Come now my former Queen, you can at least address me by my formal name. I prefer you not call me by my first name in front of my minions" Ivan said as he picked up his cigar from the chair, taking a long drag before putting it back on the chair claw.
"What is the meaning of this! I am your Queen and I demand to know why I was stripped of my crown, tossed in a potato sack and dragged here. You will release me or I will have your head!" Walarah growled.
"You're not in any position to be making threats Walarah, barely a third of the entire population even consider you remotely fit to lead anymore." Ivan pressed another button on his desk, a small monitor loweing from the ceiling attached to what looked like a mechanical arm. "Bring Vespa in here, I want to see the look on her face."
The two guards saluted and moved like lightning out of the room, leaving Ivan and Walarah alone.
"I know what you're thinking; can I possibly take on a trained killer with years of combat experience?" A crude smirk appeared on Ivan's face. "By all means, I'll give you the opportunity, but first I want you to see what I have built." Ivan pointed to the window behind him, standing up and turning his back on Walarah, beckoning her beside him.
Walarah hesitated, carefully planning her next move. I'm an orange belt in Klaw Magraw and with his back turned I could possibly-
"Even now you think you're capable of beating me in combat. Even in the incredibly rare chance you land a killing blow, you will be horribly outnumbered."
Walarah sighed and walked toward the window beside Ivan. Peering out the window she stepped back in terror. "Wh-what is going on here!? Why is my entire military out there?"
"Bwahaha, you think that is YOUR military? No, I built this all myself, right under your beak" Ivan gloated.
"How? Where could you possibly get the funding for this?" Walarah asked.
"Simple really, I had the royal accountants under my wing for years. Not to mention your fund allocation for public works just vanished. You wondered why so many of our youth were constantly restless didn't you? None of the general welfare funds went where they were supposed to, nor any funds for the roads. It was easy to sneak millions of bits into my war machine."
Walarah felt the cold talons of her once subordinate on her shoulder. "Why, why all the military hardware?"
"War of course, or at least an overwhelming force to push Equestria into a quick surrender." Ivan Looked Walarah right in the eyes. "What I need from you is something that only you can provide. The remnants of your military could pose a problem to me and I would rather our forces not engage in a civil war. What I want you to do is join my forces. Bring some of our old decommisioned airships back into action, join me in the glory of battle and reap the spoils."
"And if I refuse?" Walarah asked, her voice tinted in fear for the possible answer.
"Trust me. You don't want to know what I will do to you and all of your allies if you refuse my generous offer. Actually, I'll show you what I will do soon as, ahh, there she is."
The door to the office opened up. The two guards walked into the office, between them was a mare with green eyes, a brown flowing mane and a light orange coat. Her expression was blank, as if she was staring off into space.
"Vespa Loo!?" Walarah stepped back. "But, she died years ago!"
"Officially dead. We managed to kidnap the entire family in a single night, Illusion magic is an amazing thing. Guards, set to mind only, keep the body paralyzed."
One of the guards nodded and pressed a button on a small gold square behind Vespa's ear. A few moments later Vespa was out of her trance, her eyes blinking slowly and her head bobbing side to side as if she were dizzy.
"So Vespa my dear, have you decided to help me put this locket together?" Ivan asked, his claw tapping near a buttonon his desk.
Vespa got her bearings and gritted her teeth. "No, trying to play my emotions against me with pictures isn't going to make me budge. The fact that you still haven't managed to catch them is testament to your incompetence."
"Who said I didn't catch one of them?" Ivan grinned as he pressed a button on his desk. The monitor above turned on, at first it was nothing but static. However, after a brief adjustment of a dial on Ivans desk a picture started to come into frame. It was a room, roughly ten by ten feet and colored white. In the room was a single pegasus pony. She had a brown bowl cut mane, a cream colored coat and a tire with fire coming off of it for a cutie mark.
"E-elly!?" Vespa's eyes went wide.
"I'll give you one more chance, either tell me what I want to know or put together this locket with a family member." Ivan moved his claw to another button on his desk, this time a red button with a capital black S on it.
"What are you going to do to her?" Vespa said as she watched Ivan hover his claw over the button.
Ivan stared at vespa and then moved his glance onto Walarah. "I suppose that I should give a demonstration of what happens to those that defy me. Be it pony," Ivan looked at Vespa "or griffon." Ivan cracked a grin at Walarah and then pressed the button.
On the screen a light red clouds of gas started to fill the room. The pony in the room used her wings to hover above the gas, but she quickly found that it was filling up the small room. She immediately tried to hold her breath and after a minute began to breathe in the red gas.
"Please, stop. Don't hurt her" Vespa cried.
"You had your chance Vespa, now others suffer for your pride" Ivan said with a grin.
"I won't allow it!" Walarah took a swing at Ivan, clipping his beak. Ivan responded with a chop to her chest to wind her, followed up by another chop to the back of her neck, knocking her out cold.
"Pitiful" Ivan gloated as he kicked Walarah in the stomach.
Vespa watched in terror as the image of Elly inhaled copious amounts of the gas. At first she seemed fine, but then she collapsed on the floor, her face contorted in pain. She began to kick wildly in an effort to control her pain, but it wasn't long before you could visibly see her screaming on pain, her body contorting in unatural poses in effort to find a way to make it stop.
"Stop it, I'll give you what you want!" Vespa yelled, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Very well." Ivan pressed the button again and the red mist began to dissipate. Elly was still on the floor, but breathing. "In case you are wondering, no the gas I used isn't fatal in short bursts and has no long lasting effects. It's a pain gas called serration gas. Quite a powerful interrogation tool as it mimmics the effects of thousands of little serrated knives stabbing every inch of your body." Ivan pressed a button and turned off the screen which quickly retracted towards the ceiling. "Now, about this locket..." Ivan grinned.
I can't believe she actually fell for a projection...soon all of Equestria will be mine!
***