Panzer Vor!
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Everyone in that cold, underground room shared my look of disbelief - but, I bet, not my particular feeling of excitement - as Fringe pointed an armor-clad hoof out at the wide, angled front of the beautiful, turreted, tracked behemoth. Slowly I trotted about to the side of the massive white-painted beast, the heavy, wonderfully functional Balefire Egg Launcher mounted upon my back forcing me to shift about my weight as I moved. Ooooh, somepony please buck me upside the head, I so must be dreaming right now. My own BEL, a mess of balefire eggs, and now... an entire tank! A really stupid grin was on my muzzle as I spread my wings and gave them a flap... a few flaps... okay, downside to the BEL, flight is not exactly an optimal mode of transport with it. At least I managed to get up off of the ground far enough with it to set myself down on the long back, the dust blowing about from by flapping making for a more than slightly obscuring cloud for Minty and Nikolai, who'd moved around to see exactly what I was up to. Sorry boys, curiosity can't wait!
"What the right hell is a tank doing on an airbase? Let alone one of these things..." Fringe grunted loudly as the doors on the front section of the ridiculously long tank swung open with a creak, myself climbing up onto the top of the gun-turret thing and looking down at the barrel. By the goddesses, that thing was almost as big as my hoof! As I turned, the back end of the BEL struck against a metal wire or something sticking out, making it produce an honestly rather comical 'boioioing' sound as it settled once more. As I turned to see what it exactly was, my back hoof tapped against a metal plate that seemed a good deal more hollow than the rest of the turret - well, weird palce for a weak spot, I would think. Come on Equestrian engineers, can't make a tank without it having a... is that a handle? Is this a hatch? Is this...
"Uh, Twintails? I, um, I think we found what this thing fires..." Minty seemed rather hesitant in his voice as a crate of four brass cylinders was levitated up onto the long metal back and set down, each one of the rounds carefully held and spaced by a sort of foam material. I swear I recognize that stuff on the ends... pulling the top section of the carrying foam off, the actual bullet sections of the tank rounds was revealed. Honestly, if I keep on getting good surprises like this, I swear my heart'll stop from the excitement alone. Minty let off a sigh, shaking his head and adjusting his glasses, hefting himself up to meet alongside myself. "I guess you weren't the first pony absolutely crazy about balefire eggs after all. What's next, a balefire egg hoof grenade?" Yanno, that actually didn't sound like such a bad-"Don't you even think about it."
"Party pooper." Sticking a tongue out at Minty's outstretched rubber-soled hoof, I turned my attention once again back to the hatch atop the turret of the tank, reaching forth and pulling at the metal handle. The small door opened with a loud creak, a half-circle of thick metal plating supported on a hinge and falling with a loud clang against the turret's top. Okay, maybe I sould take off the launcher before trying to climb in this way. Minty moved up alongside myself, lifting open the second half of the hatch and peering inside, his horn providing a bit of illumination on the inside of the tank. A loud electric buzzing filled the air for a few moments before large floodlights turned on on the walls of the room, better illuminating the area around us as well as taking us both by surprise. Minty looked over to the far wall, where the ammo apparently was... by goddesses, that was a LOT of ammunition for this thing... spotting Nikolai standing beside a large switchbox. Well, at least we weren't finding our way around in the dark anymore.
"Okay, rule one for this thing, no firing the cannon indoors. Got that, Twintails?" Yeesh, first Minty's going off at me for just considering the tantalizing idea of hoof-throwing balefire eggs, now Fringe is getting in on the act with telling me something that I would've eventually figured out by myself? I'm not THAT irresponsible with fun big explosion-things! There was a thud from underneath us, Minty and myself both glancing down at the top of the tank, a distinct whirring sound filling the air. The groan of metal against metal was almost unbearable, Nikolai bounding across the room with his cannon and hammer in tow, leaping up onto the tall back of the tank with us, looking up at the high roof of the storage room it was sitting in.
"Minty, you should get as many of the crates of shells onto here as you can, I have a feeling this will ultimately be a one-way trip..." The zebra faced towards my unicorn friend, looking at him with a hint of worry in his eyes. One-way trip? What did he... The whirr reached a fever pitch, and suddenly the floor of the storage room was moving away from us, the ceiling getting closer. Cargo elevator, of course the tank was still on the cargo elevator! Minty was understandably hesitant, looking between myself and Nikolai for a few moments before flaring his magic and moving a few more of the wooden crates up onto the tank's large metal back. That stupid grin of mine came back - this was going to be fun. Fringe stuck his head up from the opened hatch, his large armor thumping against the metal inside.
"The thing looks like she'll run, but for how long, that I can't tell you. Just think we might want to consider hightailing it soon as the lift reaches the top, that cluster of hellhounds looks like it won against those robots..." As if on cue, the roar and scraping of the hellhounds drawing closer blew over the sound of the cargo lift, heavy thudding against the large metal door near the base. Well, eheh, at least we were part of the way out as is... can't this damn lift move any faster!? Fringe ducked back in through the commander's hatch, Minty beginning to move the racks of balefire egg ammo into the tank as myself and Nikolai watched the door. That was a -very- big dent.
The metal of the door warped further before yielding, three snarling, scraping, very battered and VERY angry beasts bursting forth and letting loose a growl up at us. Minty brought in the last set of shells, diving inside the open hatch and landing with a clang and grunt of pain - yeah, last time I checked, tanks weren't exactly padded, ya dummy. Nikolai had moved to slide his large lightning cannon and hammer inside the tank next myself still fixated down at the floor of the storage area. We didn't even get half of the shells there, that's just really disappointing... The lift shuddered as the beasts began to tear and claw at everything there, ripping apart the crates and scattering the shells around. A low humming sound could be heard, if just barely, as a few of the balefire payloads began to glow an almost evil green color. Armed. One more ought to give those hellhounds the good news...
"For Celestia's sake you idiot, get in the tank!" As I was lining up a shot with the egg launcher - hey, it would've taken care of the hellhound problem pretty quick! - I felt a sudden tug as both myself and the launcher were pulled through the hatch, a hoof connected to a striped leg pulling the egg out of it's cradle just as my jaw clenched on the bit, the air pressure stored in the cylinder discharging the piston harmlessly. Oof, my teeth are really killing me right now... pulling myself to my hooves, the interior of the tank slowly faded to focus, Fringe having to constantly shuffle about inside the relatively tight area. Boy, power armor and tanks do not fit well together. The left wall was stacked with the crates of ammunition, the right having what appeared to be a few fold-down cots and medical supplies mounted upon it. Well, all things considered, at least it doesn't look too bad.
"Hold onto yourselves, I dunno what we're looking at but I can tell you it isn't going to be pretty!" The power-armored earth pony pushed forwards to the front of the tank, sliding into the seat and adjusting himself at the controls. Nikolai climbed back up and pulled shut the hatch doors, Minty dropping one of the cots and laying himself down upon it, leaving myself to... uh... "I hope you know something about reactors, because that mess in back apparently is one, and is what's supposed to power this thing." Fringe looked over at myself, pointing a hoof towards the rear end of the vehicle. Man, this thing was long, but if it's really a reactor and it's been sitting here doing nothing for two centuries straight... Gamma, don't fail me now!
Dropping my battle saddle and bags against the inside wall, the small magical energy reactor in front of myself, I took to work tenderly waking the thing back up. Let's see... coolant levels are optimal, reaction appears to be under way, interior core temperature rising within safe measures, and... by the goddesses, that was a nasty crack in the turbine's main piping. This thing would explode the moment any pressure was put through it, and I'd imagine being steamed alive like a vegetable isn't very pleasant. If only I had a welding torch and some more time. The lift - and tank - shuddered, an explosion below giving myself a generous timeframe of 'get this thing running before it turns into our coffin in a few seconds'. Yanno, no pressure. Uh... maybe I have some scrap in my bags that I can use, yeah! That might get us a few minutes of not exploding, if Minty can regain enough energy to weld it onto the crack without killing himself in doing so.
Goddesses, why did I have to be the only one who worked in reactor maintainence?!
Dropping the contents of my saddlebags onto the floor - remember to count all those balefire eggs later - a small tube caught my eye. Toothpase? Where did I pick that... wait... it was decorated with strange writing, and seemed to glow faintly, a lime-green color eminating from the clear sections of the packaging. Picking it up to examine it closer, the writing actually seemed to shift around to something legible, if just barely; 'General-purpose material restoration gel, 32 ounces. Apply to damaged material and apply heat, results visible within seconds! Do not ingest.' Thank the goddesses for helpful aliens!
Without a second thought, I had the cap on the tube flipped open and began squeezing it out onto the long crack and around the main seals, watching the thin glowing lines of gel begin to absorb into the metal and smooth out, seeming to crystallize before my very eyes. The lift lurched again, the sensation of rising having stopped - surfaced already? Gently I cracked open the valve on the heat exchange, steam humming through the pipes and making the crystallized material glow faintly before solidifying into shiny new metal, sealing the crack and repairing the old gaskets. Oh, I could kiss that alien stallion right now! The turbines whined up to speed, connected to the generator, lights illuminating the inteior of the long tank and making many of the guages light up and start to waver. Tuning the last few dials, I spun myself around and saw Fringe peering back at me with Nikolai sitting beside, a smirk behind his moustache. With a smile and nod back to him, he turned about, peering through the viewport and pushing forwards. The tank lurched as the drive kicked in, the old tracks clattering as they moved along - holy shit, this was actually happening! This is so awesome!!
"Well, this is not exactly what I would call a fast escape, honestly..." Nikolai leaned over and peered at the various dials and guages in front of Fringe, myself moving up with them as Minty cuddled with his plush of cross Stitch. Glancing at the dial, the fact that we were apparently managing a pleasant 20 kilometers an hour gave at least some truth to the statement - I hope this thing is explosion-proof. Fringe had the pedal against the floor, Nikolai nervously resting a hoof against the top of what looked like one of Featherweight's big autocannons mounted in a ball joint, myself glancing up through the turret to the hatch on top. Well, hell, I want to at least see the fireworks if it's going to be my last time. Climbing up the ladder carefully, I rested my back hooves on the small platform, pushing open the hatch and letting the doors fall with simultaneous clangs either side against the top of the turret armor.
Poking my head out, a chill breeze blew in my mane as we trundled along, a pair of wide, parallel tracks being left behind us as we moved away from the cargo elevator. The ground shook and buckled, snow being thrown into the air as the ammunition depot detonated with a roar, the heavy tank not seeeming to be phazed as the shockwave caught up and resonated in my ears. Ow, stupid tinnitus... but hey, look! A couple hundred balefire eggs still causes a mushroom cloud! Aw, isn't it just the most adorable little thing of radiation and burning hellhound?~ I chuckled lightly, leaning back into the wind from the motion of the tank, relaxing and watching the cloud slowly move away from us, soon becoming nothing more than a more distinct cloud in an already clouded wasteland, snow falling slowly. The sound of hooves trotting in from below brought my attention back down into the belly of the tank, Nikolai looking up at myself.
"Looks like we're heading away from the cloud's drift, and, ah, if my pip-buck map's right we'll come across EQUAD soon if we keep heading this way. That, or ocean." Hopping down, I gave my wings an idle stretch, trotting over to the pile near the reactor. A few small boxes and hooflockers sat empty on racks next to the fold-down cots, myself taking the time to start sorting through and see exactly what crap I really was still carrying around in these things. Oh hey, Sparkle-Cola!
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"Welcome back, to all you of the ghoulish type out there between Topatow and the SCAB - well, latter meaning anyone who's left out there. You're listening to Dead Air on Roughcoat Radio, and we're coming back to you with chatter and talk for anyone with a working transciever. Anyways, as always, lines are open, so- ah, hey, whaddayaknow, someone actually is listening to me out there. Man, that's a weird bandwave... hey, welcome to Roughcoat Radio, what d'ya have to say?"
"Hey, Dead Air, it's me, Nikolai! You're never going to believe what I'm talking t-"
"Ay, Nikki! Haven't heard from you in a few days, what's up, my fine striped friend? Been keeping yourself busy cozied up in Celestia-knows-where up here? Heh heh..."
"Ah, well, actually, that's what I hopped on to tell you. See, ah, I just came out of the SCAB with a few friends, and, well... I guess there was far more there than anyone could have guessed survived."
"The SCAB? As in, -THE- SCAB? What the hell were you doing there, boy?! And, uh, these friends, they happen to be an earth pony, unicorn, an' pegasus?... what are you transmitting from, anyways? The reciever here switched over to some old military bandwave."
"Oh, uh, nothing in particular... just a tank."
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"That doesn't look all that much like Horseshoe Basin..." Minty was sitting atop the tank's turret, peering off into the snowy distance with a pair of binoculars. We'd been driving for an hour at top speed already, you'd think we would've even hit Pripytrot by now! I was rested in the commander's hatch, peering downrange with him, the light from the pair of headlights cutting through the perpetual twilight and shining off of the snow. Large forms of what looked like big warehouses stood prominently against the dark sky, a salty breeze blowing towards us every now and again. My augmented friend stood himself up, looking down at myself with the faintest hints of worry in his eyes. "Twintails, I... I think we're lost. My pip-leg doesn't even show us being anywhere in the wasteland anymore, it's just snowy desert in every direction. Celestia knows what we're headed for now, even that's hidden."
"Might be pre-war military, or something. Maybe some kind of stealth depot?" Shrugging idly, I hopped back down inside the body of the long tank, Minty moving in after me. Nikolai was fiddling with his sledgehammer while Fringe continued driving us along, the smell of old metal and sound of the turbine driving us along filling the somewhat cramped space. The whole thing was like a moving stable hallway, if stable hallways had turrets, anyways. Minty trotted back to the bunk, myself moving towards the front, Fringe chewing on an unlit cigar and glancing back at myself. "We haven't seen any recognizable places in ages, are you sure we're headed the right way?" The earth pony grunted, peering out through the small slot that served as a viewport.
"I honestly couldn't tell you. We've never had scouts this far out, supposedly there's an old shipyard here, though." A smirk came to his face, moving the cigar around. "Maybe they have some spare parts for this battleship. Whaddaya think, something this big surely has got to float, right?" Releasing a snicker, Fringe's leg motors whirred, moving one of the control levers and turning the tank slowly. Nikolai rolled his eyes, setting his hammer down against the wall of the tank and shouldering the end of the autocannon, pulling the bolt back. "Right, better be at the ready. No telling what's up here... just don't fire unless they do. I'm not particularly a fan of one-sided battles." Um... well, that's an interesting revelation from a sniper. Ah, don't bother over it, time to have fun with my balefire egg launcher! I really should name the darn thing, something cute... I dunno, 'Kindness', maybe. The orange mare in my head wore a slight disbelieving smile, an eye twitching errantly - what? It's my big fancy balefire-throwing toy, I can name it what I want to!
Picking up the large launcher and moving up to the turret, I paused to take a peek out through the gunsight. Oooh, hopefully we'll have to do a bit of wall-breaching, I really wanna fire off this thing's gun~ The markings on the sight indicated that we were roughly a couple hundred meters or so from the front gate of the shipyard, still trundling along at a pleasant pace. Popping open the hatch once more and steadying myself outside it, the cool wind blew harder against my face and the salt stung deep in my nose - is this what a sea was? I mean, the old pictures and maps, it just looked like a big swimming pool, but...
"What was- Fringe, movement! Left side!" Nikolai's voice resonated up through the open hatch, myself hefting up the launcher onto my shoulder with my back against the hatch ring, scanning about the snow. If we've got something to shoot at, I sure as hell want to be first to give them the good news!... if I could see them. Maybe -I- need glasses. The cool air seemed colder as we continued along, the ever-present feeling of being watched not really fading as the fence came into our headlights. A sign held on it by a few rusted screws displayed faded letters; 'ROYAL EQUESTRIAN NAVY SHIPYARD - TRESSPASSERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT AND ESCORTED OFF THE PREMESIES'. Welcoming. Welp, if anypony's still alive around here, they're sure going to be getting a nasty knocking.
The fence buckled easily beneath the large tank, the barbed wire atop it being thoroughly crushed into metal sheeting between the permafrost and the heavy tank's tracks as we pressed forth inside the military dock. Gazing around the snowed-in facility, the sting of salty air making it just a little bit harder to see, a faint glint of metal caught the corner of my vision. Was that- no, nope, just a piece of metal. Hell, they've got me a little bit paranoid, I was about to launch a balefire egg at...
What was that skeleton holding?
"Ah, keep going ahead guys, I'm going to scout around a bit. See if there're any goodies near these outer buildings." Sliding myself out of the hatch and affixing the launcher onto my back, a snap of the wings had me out of the tank and hovering behind it, watching as it trundled off at that slow pace. Hell, that was almost running speed. The salty snow crunched underneath my hooves, another shrill blast making me really wish I had some heavier clothing against this damn sea wind. Sliding inbetween the buildings to where the skeleton was, the slicing wind was subdued, whistling in the alleyway and adding some background noise as I trotted forth.
The skeleton was adorned in a strange getup, an all-black visor on a thick helmet and a load of fabric entangled on one of the heater units connected by string to its back being prominent features. The faint stink of decay eminated from leaks in the suit, making myself really wish I was a unicorn right now as I reached up to remove the metal square. An old holotape? What could... was that a movement of metal? Ears perked and alert, I peered out of the alley and into the roadway beyond, looking down in the direction of the tank. Probably just a building settling, nothing to worry about. Might as well start heading back, listen to this thing in the meantime. Plugging the tape into my pip-buck, it swiftly downloaded, another fiddle of dials getting it to start playing. A stallion's voice came over it - desperate, afraid, frightened.
"Wildcat, it's me, Seafire. I know this isn't exactly the best time to admit, but, I really want to get this off my chest before... before it's too late. I never should have taken advantage of you like that. There... there isn't a day I don't regret it. That foal you're on leave because of, that..." The voice let off a shuddering sigh, disgust ripe in his tone. "I'll raise her with you. I'll raise her FOR you. Whatever happens, I want nothing more than to make it up to you. I... I'm sorry." The drone of a far-off siren sounded, a warning klaxon soon following with it. There was a shuffling of papers and muffled shouting, a door slamming open and a gruff, commanding voice - with more than a hint of fear in it - screaming loud enough to be picked up.
"Seafire, get your flanks in gear, Cloudsdale's been wiped outta the sky! The stripes launched, it's fucking happening!" O...kay, so he was afraid and frightened for an ENTIRELY different reason when this recording started. Well, if this isn't lovely. The recording skipped a little, static crackling in my ears before being replaced with the sound of running, the voice on it sliding into something canvas.
"Goddess-damned... fucking... Where's my saddle!?" The door banged again, a series of screams erupting far from the microphone. The canvas shuffled, the stallion gasping in surprise at something. "Oh, GODDESSE-" An insufferable... familiar... bang erupted through the speaker, breaking way to static for a few seconds before the recording ended. I placed a hoof against my chest - my heart was pounding. This was a recording of somepony's last... suddenly, I felt that perhaps going back to the tank and staying there for a good long while with a bottle of Sparkle-Cola was probably a very good idea. Scurrying out of the alleyway, I glanced back in the direction of the tank, completely blindsided to the metal hoof connecting to the back of my skull. Ow, my tinnitus...
"Flash-Bang, don't frighten me like- you!? What're you doing up here?!" Recovering myself from getting a faceful of salty snow - ow, that was a very bad sting in my eyes - and flipping myself around, I was met with the very surprised face of Minty... wait, not-Minty... wearing some sleek dark-purple power armor, a pair of armored wings and a barbed tail that reminded me of something I saw once in biology class standing out prominently against the white snow. Rubbing at the back of my head and letting off a groan, my eyes focused on the slotted muzzle-end of a boxy rifle-thing mounted on the armor. Oh joy. "F-F-Flash-Bang? Got an issue here!"
"Wait! Ow... we, what are we... what are YOU doing up here?" Not-Minty kept her laser rifle-thingies pointed at myself, glancing frantically between me and Kindness. Okay, yeah, I probably am not in the best of positions right now with this thing. A second blackish blur landed with a plume in the snow, this one mounting quadruple rocket launchers either side of, again, very imposing wings and a black metal tail, the mare inside the, honestly, kind of familiar armor looking at myself in a sense of disbelief. Not-Minty and not-me shared a glance, myself... ooh, that ringing was so bad right now... I fell to my haunches, holding my ears and rubbing at my head, wrenching my eyes shut. Nopony told me that listening to a lot of close-range explosions was a fast way to go deaf! Guh, hindsight is 20/20. The ringing FINALLY faded, not-me looking into my eyes closely.
"You sure did a number on him, Sugar. Hey, Twintails, y'alright?" She reached out a hoof, helping myself back up, my pulse thudding in the back of my head. I grunted a little, pushing aside the heavy launcher and holding the place where she'd struck me, letting out a shuddering breath. That's going to hurt in the morning... evening... whatever time it was right now! Not-me... ah, Flash-Bang, I mean, moved and looked into my eyes again, staring intently for a few moments before letting off a sigh. "Mild concussion. You'll be alright, but you'll have to come with- freeze!" She looked to my side and threw myself back into the alleyway, my head impacting heavily against the hardened snow. Oh, goddesses, there's my tinnitus again... it fading is good. I got back up to my hooves, looking out into the road on a stumbling gait, catching sight of Nikolai frozen in place, Flash-Bang and... Sugar Rush, right, both aiming at him. Like a bloody family reunion... emphasis on 'bloody'.
"Flash-Bang, Sugar Rush, this is Nikolai. Nikolai, Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush. They're friends... I think. Ow." I groaned again - could the world stop spinning for a moment? - the two mares and zebra looking at myself with sympathetic grimaces on their faces. Nikolai moved to hold myself steady, looking between me and Flash-Bang, eyes getting wider with each glance and jaw becoming more and more agape. Somepony stop my heart, that beating is giving me a headache.
"I, um... I think I'll just take him back to the tank..." I stumbled a little, wrapping a hoof around Nikolai's neck before feeling my other foreleg grabbed and lifted by the mare with the rocket launchers, our eyes meeting for a moment. Hers were filled with worry, before looking past myself and to a surprised Nikolai. "Um... alright, ah, follow me." Oooh, man my head hurt. Maybe I just needed some sleep, yeah, some nice, comforting, slee-OUCH! Oh, that was a needle prick.
"Don't fall asleep, that'll make your concussion worse. Or, well, something. You got the shot of adrenaline already, so you're staying awake." Gee, thanks a lot Not-Minty. Now I've got a whole percussion ensemble in my head. Letting off a soft groan of pain, we began following the tank tracks left in the snow, a gentle snow falling about us all... I think. It was kind of hard to do that when your head felt like an overinflated balloon. Flash-Bang glanced at the pair of wide tracks, in disbelief, then back across myself to Nikolai.
"You guys actually found a tank? What the hell was one doing up here?" Nikolai shrugged at the question, myself readjusting my hoof around his neck and trotting between them both with my back hooves, having to twist my torso about to keep Kindness from falling off. Flash-Bang glanced up at the egg launcher, her eyes going wide. "Yanno... maybe I shouldn't ask. How far away are we from it, and who else is with you two?" We rounded a corner, seeing the big fat rear of the tank just down the road, stopped in front of a building formerly used as the mess hall, if the faded paint is true.
"Besides myself and Twintails, there is also a unicorn named Minty Candy and an earth pony named Moral Fringe. Though, I'm within reason to believe the unicorn may be trotting beside us just to spite me." Nodding towards Sugar Rush, Nikolai wore a small sneer, prompting the unicorn mare to give him a look of confusion. All fairness, she did look a lot like Minty... if I saw Minty through water in a glass cup. Stupid headache. "We did not get off on a good hoof, as you'd say. He seems to have an inexplicable prejudice towards me, sometimes I think he may be a ghoul in disguise." Nope, pretty sure he's just brainwashed... unless he's got a very expert skin grafter somewhere. Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush shared a worried glance, us all moving up alongside the long body of the tank towards the front doors.
"You said an earth pony named Moral Fringe, right?" The zebra nodded, tapping a hoof against the set of metal doors a few times. The latches inside were moved open, the doors swinging outwards and revealing the soft-hatted cigar-smoking power-armor-clad earth pony himself. He nodded towards Nikolai, opening up the second door and freezing as his eyes met with Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush. His jaw fell agape, the cigar he was half-finished with falling into the snow and sizzling out, us all standing there for a moment as Nikolai blinked a few times, understandably confused. "Captain Fringe. It's a pleasure to see you again." Flash-Bang hefted myself in through the open doors, Fringe moving aside and helping Nikolai up as well. 'Captain' Fringe? Again? What did she mean?
"Leftenant Flash-Bang. I haven't seen you since Pripytrot. Didn't think you'd run this far up." Nikolai tried to bring myself along to one of the cots, but I somehow managed to turn myself around, propping up against the steel doorframe and looking between the mildly surprised Fringe and determined-looking Flash-Bang. Panting a few times, I held a hoof to my head, starting to feel the slightest bit faint - yeah, that was a pretty small adrenaline shot, Sugar Rush. That, or I'm starting to get used to it... I hope it's the former.
"Alright... somepony is going to have to... explain, some... things... Ngh..." Letting my body fall against the hard metal frame, the world outside seemed to fade to black, the sweet, wonderful grasp of unconsciousness grabbing myself and drawing me in. I smelled faint hints of grease and cordite, my back and forelegs being picked up and gently layed down, my body floating upon clouds... or, what I think were clouds, anyways. Every now and again muffled screaming broke through the ever-thickening curtain, a light sigh escaping my lips. Everything went quiet - peaceful.
---
It was black. Everything was black around me. It wasn't like the last time this happened, I mean, I could still feel myself, even still see myself when I waved my hoof around in front of my face, but... it was still really goddess-damned black. Every now and again, I thought I heard the voice of a mare, or a whine of static, or something. It was getting closer. Behind me, yeah, it was behind me. And it was getting closer. I had to run - I tried to, anyways - but I was just running on a black plane, hearing my hoofsteps echo in the emptiness, and that mare's voice. It wasn't Gamma Ray, that was for sure. It wasn't Flash-Bang or Sugar Rush, either. This was something new. And it scared me.
"It isn't your time yet..." I thought I was running away from it, but it sounded louder than ever. I skidded to a stop, trying to spread and flap my wings. Trying to fly away from it. Trying to move muscles that weren't there anymore. I looked back; my wings were still attached, I could still feel them there, rubbing against my body, but no matter how much I struggled, they stayed put. It wasn't like they were glued there - oh, I knew that sensation. I wasn't really a clever foal. No, this was... I really couldn't move them. Panic setting in - well, more panic, anyways - I spun my view back to the front, seeing a sea of ponies I'd never seen before. Four of them trotted forth, standing in a line, my view slowly settling on them.
On the far left stood a dashing pegasus stallion, sporting a blue formal jacket decorated with an array of medals. His black mane was neatly combed back, eyes hiding something behind them as he seemed to look myself over, unblinking. To his right was a vibrant pegasus mare, her deep-blue coat covered by a large combat jacket, one of her forehooves moving to hold her belly softly. Her mane was an almost water-blue, flowing in loops behind her ears and over her face, spread neatly apart. Her eyes landed upon myself for a moment, before looking over to the mare beside her.
This third mare, I could best describe her as just looking as the most unfortunate pony I had ever seen; her red mane was in a mess, light-blue coat stained with blood and her belly semingly torn open, but not dripping, hanging loosely before her inner thighs. She sniffled a little - the first one of them to have actually made a noise - a gentle smile forming upon her muzzle as her eyes met my own, becoming slightly dampened. Beside her, with a forehoof resting softly around her neck, stood a rather tall unicorn, bluish mane flowing and sparkling like the stars above, looking down at the mare beside her comfortingly, then up at myself. The unicorn... alicorn... Princess Luna... spread her wings softly, nodding towards myself, the sensation of a hoof sliding around my neck and resting gently against me coming to my mind, the soft, cool breath I knew so well blowing gently into my ear. In a sort of harmonic unison, they all spoke, starting to become blurry around their forms, their voice fading to match a whine of motors and turbine. Gamma Ray's voice stood out most prominently inside my head as everything faded to black once more.
"It isn't your time... Twintails..."
---
"He's coming to! Move back, give him some space." The red-tinted light of the interior of the tank faded into my vision, my head not pounding nearly as much anymore, my forehooves moving to lift myself up from the lower bunk and look around at the group that surrounded me. Sugar Rush set down the medical pack from the wall, wearing a faint smile and with weary eyes, letting off a sigh of relief. Flash-Bang was closest to me - she was really worried about me? I suppose that makes sense, seeing your doppelganger die probably would hit you pretty hard. Fringe was standing the furthest back, his face turned to the floor, the soft whine of his suit's motors filling the air as he adjusted himself, holding his eyes shut. Nikolai was missing, and so was Minty - where were they?
"Welcome back, Twintails. You... had us worried." Flash-Bang's eyes seemed strained, and she wiped an armor-clad hoof across her nostrils. She was actually crying? She stepped forwards, wrapping her hooves around myself in a soft hug. They took off all my barding... lovely. Please don't lean forwards, please don't lean forwards, please don't have pressure-sensitive armor... Thankfully she broke the hug, resting back on her hooves and looking over to Fringe. Her smile fell to a soft frown, before facing back to myself. "Did you ask him about Wildfire?"
"Uh..." Did I? Um... oh, wait, was that when he threw me against the ground? Yeah, he distinctly avoided the question by not avoiding me when he decided to test his power armor's lunge servos or something. "Y-yeah, but... he didn't really answer me." Fringe lifted up his head, facing towards me with eyes shut, letting off a small chuff through his nose. Flash-Bang stepped towards him, Sugar Rush giving me a worrying glance.
"You should tell him everything. Now." Fringe let off a sigh, blinking his eyes open and nodding once, moving past Flash-Bang and towards the end of the fold-down cot. He stopped at the foot, pressing a button on the outside of his power armor and slipping out of the sections and pieces, the torso seperating and two large, dampened, dark-green-feathered wings spreading out from it, the mustached stallion letting off another sigh. Okay, so he's a pegasus that wears power armor... and never told anypony about it. Didn't Nova say something about there not being any pegasi in the Steel Rangers?
"Captain Moral Fringe of Enclave wing squadron 22, strike force one-forty-one, sniper unit, formerly under command of General Titchbreeze and Major-General Mosquito. Wildfire... Wildfire was an unlisted mission given to me by Titchbreeze on the fifth of August, seventeen years ago. Tasked to assassinate a dashite with ties to the General, tracked her to the enterance of Stable number 34. Confirmed kill." That... that was my stable. Seventeen years ago... Fringe trotted up to myself, his flank displaying his cutie mark of the same insignia as on his armor breastplate. Our eyes met - his were tense, beginning to dampen. "When you both first arrived at EQUAD, I saw her in your eyes. Twintails... Wildfire was your mother. And I put a bullet through her skull."
The small orange mare with the stetson in my head dropped her hat, and jaw, blinking a few times in disbelief. She spoke for the both of us, my own mind having ground to a complete standstill as it was.
'Didn't see that one coming.'
-----
I scanned over the area through J01-T5’s scope, the tinted glass magnifying the surrounding landscape. The wind blew some of the looser snow across the ground, a feral ghoul coming into view against the thermal setting. It stumbled through the snow, a few strips of its flesh being lifted by the wind and revealing pearly bone underneath - uck, disgusting. Gently pulling the trigger, another bolt of energy flew out of the muzzle with a distinct zap. The magnetically propelled round landed in the snow near the ghoul’s hooves, sending up a cloud of the white stuff and knocking the gory thing over. I grunted in frustration, taking my eye away from the scope and levitating the rifle beside myself. How is it a magically magnetic powered bolt of energy still has this much celestia-damned drop off? Taking a breath and standing myself up, I slung the rifle over my shoulder, the ghoul lost in the darkness without the help of the night vision scope.
Sliding the drained cells out of their slots and slipping them into my saddlebags, I pulled out another three, looking over them for a moment. Guh, I had better learn how to shoot this thing properly, or I’m going to be burning through cells like the old Stable generator. My stomach clenched as the smell of the maintainence areas hit me once again, that familiar, welcoming... I need to see Cross Stitch as soon as I can. I don’t want him worrying… Peering out into the perpetually night-shrouded wasteland, I sighed, my breath freezing in the air. The sound of hooves broke through the snow behind me, prompting myself to turn around and pull out my plasma rifle in defense. Nikolai skidded to a halt in front of myself, panting nervously. “M-Minty… Twintails, he’s... he's really injured. Fringe and, and the mares that look like you two are looking after him... I don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
My stomach fell through the ground, my eyes going wide - even the yellow mare in my head seemed to be faint. Twintails, not going to make it... what happened to him? Nikolai spun himself about quickly, heading back towards the dark outline of the massive armored vehicle. I ran after him, my mind racing with scenarios, each worse than the last. No, no, no no no, you can’t lose him now, too! We leapt over a small puddle of slush beside the tank, Nikolai opening the hatch doors on the side. As we both dove in, Twintails was standing there to greet us both, followed by… me? When did Sugar Rush get here?
We stopped in front of them, both looking exhausted. “Twintails, oh thank Celestia!” I wrapped my hooves around him, pulling him into a hug. He didn’t say anything, instead pushing me back slightly, a worried expression on his face. Only when he did, did I notice he wasn’t sporting his normal bulletproof vest and deep-green duster - instead, he was adorned in a set of heavy power armor, but it wasn’t nearly the same as the Steelponies or Fringe’s. It looked far more advanced, a few exposed coils on it's back humming and arcing, and it was almost... familiar...
“Uh… I’m sorry, I’m... I'm not Twintails.” That voice was distinctly higher... What was going on? Where’s Twintails?! I tried to push them back, but his doppelganger and Sugar kept me from moving further back in the tank. “Listen, listen… Twintails is fine. Fringe is talking to him now, he’s... he's alright.” I tried to push past her again - that damned power armor! “But… look, they’re going to need a lot of time alone. He’ll be alright, he’s awake, he’s breathing.” She spoke slowly, resting those black metal hooves on my shoulders. “Just… leave them alone for a bit, ok?” My breathing slowed, but my nerves certainly weren’t relaxing any. And that armor, I just couldn't put my hoof to it...
“Please, can I just see him?” The two looked at each other, sighing a little. Not-Twintails' ears flopped down as she kicked at the floor, biting her lower lip softly. I looked between them, my own ears moving back against my head. They didn’t say anything, though I could tell they really did want to let me through. But... something was holding them back. I nodded slowly, Sugar looking back up at me, lifting one of her similarly armor-clad hooves to place against my chest.
“Maybe you should stay in the front. You two can talk tomorrow. He just... he just needs to think right now.” I didn’t say anything, Nikolai moving aside and allowing myself to slide into the seat with the machine gun, himself sliding into the driver's section. I rolled over, cuddling up to my Cross Stitch plush, peering into it's two button eyes with a faint frown. The zebra pressed at the controls, the motors whining to life as I squeezed the plush closer to me, both he and Twintails never leaving my mind. The rumble of the tracks was rather pleasant as we moved along, myself soon falling to unconsciousness and the grace of sleep.
---
I opened my eyes, my vision blurred as I fished around for my glasses. When I slid them onto my face, the rusty inner wall of the tank came into focus. I rolled over, finding my Cross plush had fallen over the side of the chair, now laying between it and the controls. Fringe was snoring rather audibly in the bunk behind us, Nikolai lazily resting in the driver's chair as he read through Rusty’s Electronics: Volume II. His gaze moved yp to myself, and then back to the controls, pulling a lever back and watching the dials on the board. The tank slowed a bit as it began to turn, the compass needle rotating as we faced further east. Sugar was sleeping atop a small pile of old barding on the floor, her hooves draped across her chest. She snorted awake, attempting to look busy as my magic encompassed the plush, Nikolai readjusting the levers before standing himself up and stretching, pushing past the two mares. Ech… why didn't we have another open seat in front? Not-Twintails trotted up to the sleeping unicorn mare, nudging her in the shoulder lightly. “Come on, Mint-butt, you’ve had your turn to drive. You need to sleep anyway.” Sugar grunted and stood herself up, picking up the pile of barding and relocating to the rear of the tank.
I looked over to Sugar as she trotted to the back, taking notice of her armor. It was so... familiar... I thought back, racking my mind, trying to dig up where I knew it from. My eyes went wide as my thoughts settled on my Stable. The explosion… the ponies… that pegasus I killed, he had the same armor. But… that means… Sugar, and, and the other mare… I could feel my breath growing shallow as the yellow Pegasus in my mind grew worried. “Why the FUCK are you two wearing that?!” I leapt out of the seat, drawing the magnetic rifle and pointing it at the uncovered face of Not-Twintails. Sugar and the other mare’s eyes went wide, Nikolai ducking down beside the crates of ammo.
Sugar put up her hoof, trying to calm me down. “Minty, Minty stop! It isn't what you think, we’re not with the Enclave… not anymore.” I pointed the gun at her, making her stutter as she stared down the long blue-glowing barrel. “P-please! Listen, we’re not part of them anymore, we're both deserters! Just… listen, please!” I grimaced, but the little mare in my head tugged at the wires, forcing me to lower my gun. Damn her... The pair looked at each other, Nikolai peeking out from behind the corner as Fringe snorted once again. Sugar caught her breath, the other mare walking over to her, whispering something into her ear and embracing her in a hug. Sugar was about to protest, but the other mare pushed her away. Not-Me and Nikolai moved back, the pegasus mare trotting slowly forwards and sitting in the operator's seat, beside myself.
"So... I suppose you're wondering what exactly's going on, huh?" I nodded again, peering forwards at the ball joint that held the machine cannon. Flash let off a soft sigh before continuing, her black metal armor settling in the chair. "Yeah, Sugar and me were in the Grand Pegaus Enclave. Were. Now, listen, before you decide to shoot me..." I only turned to face her. "Look, we heard about what happened to your stable, we would've done anything if we could stop it. Things like that, that's the reason we left. The Enclave was supposed to be the big saving grace, the thing that actually rebuilt this place after the bombs fell, but..." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I think they gave up on that early on. Living above the clouds and all, with all that bueraucratic nonsense and propaganda, sort of disillusions you to it. They've been trying to create a way to kill off all the... uh... 'degenerates', as they say. I think that's what they used when they attacked your stable... or at least, a sampling of it."
Flash leaned back into her chair as the tank rumbled forward. I heard a few clanks of metal on metal echoing down the short hallway, myself peering over the shoulder of the chair, seeing Fringe shuffling about in his bulkier Steel Ranger power armor. He trotted over, opening up and looking out of the forward hatches for a moment before his gaze shifted to myself staring at him. I quickly shifted my gaze to the various buttons and dials on the control board. “Ah… Twintails is still asleep, then?”
“Yeah. He went through a lot last night, I wouldn’t expect him up anytime soon.” The earth pony stallion grunted, pulling out a cigar from a satchel on his foreleg with his teeth and striking it on the steel of the tank, opening the front doors a crack. Smoke started to furl up from the end as it lit, his gaze a little more sympathetic than it normally was as it settled on myself. “The offer still's standing to teach you how to fire that thing. No experience with a rifle like that myself, but a sniper rifle's a sniper rifle.” He pointed towards the J01-T5, the smoke from his mouth being wisped out by the air rushing past the opened door. I stood myself up, adjusting it on my back and looking towards him.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” Fringe turned himself about, taking a draw off of his cigar and moving to the ladder leading to teh top hatch. I faced Flash for a moment, a faint bit of resentment on her face as she kept her gaze low. I followed Fringe up the short ladder, hooves clanging heavily on the rungs. The hatch banged loudly against the side of the tank, as the wind blew my mane back. I shut the hatch behind me as Fringe trotted towards the back of the tank's turret, hopping down out of the crosswind with his soft hat flapping lightly. He turned back to me as I approached him, sitting down. “So, how do I start?” He stood, scanning the area, pointing out a relatively large rock atop a hill a good ways away. The snow hadn't drifted around it yet - maybe it was
“There, that ought to be a big enough target to start out with. Remember, you're also going to have to take into account the tank's motion as well. Take a shot, just to see what you need to fix.” I lifted up the rifle to my shoulder, placing my eye against the scope and sitting down. The rock shone faintly in the tinted scope as I lined up the crosshairs, pulling the trigger. The rifle cracked loudly, the bolt of energy flying out of the muzzle and flashing through the air, smashing into the snow below and well in front of the rock. I grunted, pulling the scope away from my eye, Fringe chewing on his cigar as he thought.
He blew a puff of smoke into the air, the wind blowing it away. “Alright, first of all, no firing sitting down unless you're resting it on a ledge. Your shoulder’s pushing it to the right, here...” He moved over and adjusted J01, the butt digging a little more into the joint. I shifted a bit, pushing J01 back to its original position. “You’re going to need to get used to that feeling, or learn how to adjust for the error. Maybe if you weren't treating the scope like a bloody peepshow, too...” I rolled my eyes, as he adjusted the gun again. Gack, that smoke tasted horrible... He shifted the cigar between his teeth, looking at the rifle intently. “The thing still has some drop off, but not nearly as much as a regular rifle. There any notches below the crosshairs?” I blinked a few times, peering down the scope - don't jam your eye against it, remember that Minty - and nodded. “Alright, those are around a hundred meters each beyond…” Fringe paused for a moment as he ran through some calculations, moving the cigar in his mouth again and letting out a chuff of smoke, peering at the rock. “Settle on 500, that rock’s further away now. Try again, and make sure you use the lower notches this time.” The tank pushed forward, the rock slowly growing smaller as we trundled away and I pushed in another three energy cells.
I lifted J01 back up, aiming towards the rock. Easy now... tugging the trigger, another bolt of energy shot out of the end, flying through the air with a crackle and sending a light tingle through my augmentations. The shot ricocheted off of the top, the crack of the rock resounding through the chilly air. Fringe tilted his head to either side noncommittally. “That was a bit high. We’re not quite at 600 meters, but in training, a hit's a hit. Probably help if we weren't firing from a moving platform in the first place.” He let off a grunt, pushing forwards to the front turret, when a loud roar resounded off in the distance, drawing both our attention.
Well off in the distance, a cloud of snow was being thrown up, as a large pack of Hell Hounds raced towards us. How persistent are these things... and where the hell did they come from!? Fringe spat out his cigar, pulling his rifle off of his back and dropping himself down onto the back of the tank. I ran to the hatch, flipping it open and leaping down as Fringe fired off a shot. Landing with a heavy thud as I let my pip-leg take the brunt of the impact, Not-Twintails looked back at myself in surprise. “We’ve got a pack of Hell Hounds rushing our tail!” I glanced around the tank, Sugar Rush jumping to her hooves and looking past myself, eyes gone wide. Not-Twintails cursed, jumping out of the seat and moving up to the ladder.
“Go get Twintails and Nikolai, I’ll help Captain Fringe out.” Not-Twintails pressed a button on her armor, a pair of quad rocket launchers moving out and settling underneath her armored wings. Sugar Rush followed behind her likewise, a pair of new-looking laser rifles... no, laser machine guns fitting either side of her body. Okay, yeah, I kinda want a battle saddle like that... The Hell Hounds’ roars seemed to emanate from the walls as I pushed deeper into the tank, seeing Nikolai pushing forwards to the front of the tank, and Twintails... naked. Helium atom cutie mark, how'd I forget he had that?
“Come on, we’re under attack!” Twintails remained frozen for a moment, before moving up and following myself down the hallway. Another shot from Fringe's rifle was heard from above, the idle thumping of three armor-plated ponies trotting around the long back. “There’s Hell Hounds coming at us fast, and, well, uh...” I trailed off, that look in Twintails' eyes growing... scarier, as a wide smile crept onto his muzzle, the implications of what he had in mind all too obvious. Well, it’s comforting to know whatever happened hasn’t killed his insane love for destruction. We both raced up the ladder, and onto the small ledge that held the cannon’s firing mechanisms and sight. “Okay… uh, what do we do?” I looked to Twintails expectantly, who was already getting to work. Was... was he whistling?
“Easy enough, load it up, shut it, aim and shoot.” He said almost gleefully, as he moved one of the large cases of four shells up onto the small ledge. He lifted one of the large cannon shells with a grunt, moving it over to the back of the gun and slamming it home with a hoof. The heavy door shut with a click, myself lifting out another cannon shell as he looked out through a small gunsight, hooves moving to a pair of wheels. His eyes went wide, peering through the sight - I'm guessing that's nothing good. “Oh, shit!” There was a loud smash as I was slammed into the wall of the turret with the shell, stars appearing before my eyes. Ding, soup's done...
There was a loud, insufferable scraping as the Hell Hounds clawed at the metal hull, Fringe, Not-Twintails and Sugar all taking shots at it. Fringe backed up towards the gun as Sugar pelted the Hounds with a barrage of laser beams from her guns, Flash flying above and letting loose a barrage of small rockets. “Fringe!” I shouted through the broken glass of the view port. He looked over to us, running up, but still facing the hounds, firing off another bullet. Squelch, that'll leave a mark... “See if you can drive them back, we need some distance!” He nodded, jumping off and running away from the tank. Twintails had recovered himself, squeezing a secondary trigger; massive spent casings fell from another autocannon, filling the turret space with a distinct smell of detonated gunpowder. He let off a cackle, peering through the gunsight, myself falling back for the moment.
Fringe let off a charging scream and took a shot, one of the Hounds’ heads exploding as Sugar and Flash rushed after him. The hounds turned their attention away from the tank, following the three fleeing ponies as Twintails started to gauge the distance again. “Alright, let's give these fuckers the good news..." Turning the wheels under his hooves, the entirety of the turret body rotated on electric motors, the gun slightly adjusting as I levitated another round up on standby. Letting off a mad cackle, the pegasus squeezed the other trigger, causing the gun to resound with a heartily massive bang. There was a deafening thud as the shell flew from the muzzle and the mechanism ejected the large spent casing, a dense smoke trail following it. The three fleeing ponies flew into the air, wings spread wide as the shell's tracer was plainly visible through the second viewport. Twintails slumped back, a bright blush on his cheeks, chest heaving heavily. "...that made me so wet you could sail a boat up me." Okay, little bit too much info, there, buddy.
The flash of light from the balefire egg round striking the snow blinded me, but before the interior of the tank fell back into focus, I was thrown to the side of the turret again. Ow... My horn bounced painfully off of the metal, the explosion roaring in my ears. It soon dissipated, and I got to my hooves shakily, peering out of the small window and seeing the snow stained red with a few bits of robotic body parts still intact. I tentatively lifted the top hatch open, peering out from the wider view angle into the night, looking past the large greenish fireball and cloud. The hounds were all dead, a few that were further from the blast extremely disoriented but still somewhat together. Hefting myself out onto the metal deck, Twintails took up my place, sticking his head up through the hatch and wearing a widened grin. Sugar, Flash, and Fringe all landed in front of us, Sugar shaking nervously, the copper and brass wings clanking against her... Hey! "What the hell did you two fire off?! You're lucky the blast wave just pushed us away from that thing!" Twintails chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his mane and resting against the hatch ring.
"Alright, so maybe the shell was more powerful than I thought it would be." He kept that stupid grin on his face, chuckling weakly as Sugar glared at him. The set of metallic wings on her back slid into a resting position, as the fan's whirring died down - come on, the least she could've done was ask first! Fringe ruffled his feathers as well, holding them closely against the interior thermal suit of his armor... wait, what?! My jaw fell agape as I stared at the stallion, watching the heavier armor plating starting to slide back into place. Fringe, wings, pegasus, what!?
They didn't say anything, Twintails’ smile fading. Fringe eventually let off a grunt, spitting the nub of a cigar he had left off the side of the tank, sounding much more somber than he normally did as he began to speak. “Rather obvious now, isn’t it? Yeah, I was in the Enclave with these two.” I looked between the three, still trying to piece everything together. Fringe, pegasus, Enclave sniper... “Leftenant Flash-Bang's first mission was with me, three years ago during the first attack on Pripytrot. Long-range sniper unit, we hung back and picked off... survivors.” He paused, gesturing first to Not-Twintails - Flash-Bang? - as she chewed her lip and hung her head. He let off a breath, turning his gaze over at Twintails. “This… this is part of what last night was about.” Turning my gaze back to the hatch of the tank, Twintails had dropped back down below, prompting myself to follow. He was sitting on the lower fold-down cot, holding the metal pipe edge of the bed with his hooves, eyes wrenched shut and sniffles escaping him.
“Fringe… he, he was ordered to… to kill…” Twintails was tearing up. I trotted over to him, pulling him into a hug. He sniffed a little before giving me a squeeze back and looking up to me. “I… I wasn’t born in my Stable, Minty. I-I mean, I was born in it, but my... my mom wasn't. Fringe… he was ordered to kill her. I don’t know why, but somepony high up wanted her dead. He… he did it, but…” Twintails took another shuddering gasp as I sat myself down beside him, gently squeezing him in a hug, trying to help him relax. “He tracked her to Stable 34, and took the shot after she crawled out of the entrance. She... she had me, and then she left. Gamma Ray adopted me, and, and...” Fringe shuffled himself down the ladder, making a cursory glance towards us both, then turning his head away and facing towards the front of the tank. Oh…
Twintails sputtered, Nikolai shuffling past Fringe and looking towards the radio setup. He fiddled with the dials, holding the headset to his ears “Hey, I think that's Steel Ranger chatter. If this thing just had a better transciever... uh... I'll go see if Fringe needs help with anything.” The zebra set the headset down on the radio setup, turning himself about and moving to the seat for the machine cannon. I looked over to Twintails, who was sniffling lightly as tears rolled down his eyes, hunched over on the lower bunk.
“You should get some rest. I promise that everything'll... everything...” I let off a sigh, the black-maned pegasus beside me looking up with his reddened eyes and rubbing some tears off of his cheeks. My magic encompassed a small plush figure I'd slid into my saddlebags, levitating it between us both for a moment before gently setting it in the hooves of the greiving Pegasus. I had a feeling he needed something to cuddle a bit more than I did, right now... He returned a gentle hug as I slid myself off of the bunk, watching as he curled himself up with the small plush of cross Stitch, a light smile across my muzzle. Trotting to the front section of the tank, Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush had climbed back down into the body and pushed past myself, moving to the back. Fringe was already busying himself with the controls, Nikolai glancing back at the pegasus with sympathetic eyes. And I thought mine was a sob-story... Fringe grimaced as a whine of static ran through my augmentations, my horn gently brushing against the metal interior of the tank. Oh no, not again... wait... this was radio chatter.
"Unit 442, Knight Whisper, northwestern sector, do you copy?" Stallion's voice... man that was a beat-up microphone he was talking through. Fringe fiddled with his suit, most prominently pulling a pair of earphones out. Oh, that had to hurt... "Copy that base, Knight Whisper here. There was a large explosion followed by a mushroom cloud and fireball, but we don't believe it was of balefire warhead scale. Seemed like a skywagon detonating... uh... Knight Quick-Fire, did the Royal Equestrian Armed Forces ever develop land-battleships?" That was a mare - Knight Whisper, I guess - and she seemed -really- confused. I wouldn't blame her, what was she seeing that she thought it was a land battleship? "Negative, Knight Whisper, you are clear to engage and disable. Destroy if absolutely necessary." Ooh, now that sounds like a battle. Steel Rangers versus a land-battleship, plasma and rockets flying around, all those gleaming silvery steel ponies in power armor fighting on a snowy tundra... talk about eye candy. I let off a light chuckle, before the tank was struck and rocked by a barrage of explosions at the side, throwing myself to the floor. By Celestia, I never realized how long this freakin' tank was...
"Land-battleship... oh, fuck."
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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The TOG (II) has too large of a health pool to defeat with anything less than a KV firing 152mm shells.
I'm reading this on furaffinity, just faving it here to keep an eye on updates.
Well this chapter was depressing as hell, but also badass. Nice job.
Well, that was definitely a bombshell filled chapter
A tank. Shades of Deus. Love the illustrations, pity they are not included in the epub. Maybe they would be if I was brave enough to use the djazz plugin for Calibre.
So, loving the story with all its quirks. Thanks for writing this and including so may pictures on FimFiction.