I made a Twilight Sparkle tank · 7:49pm Mar 28th, 2023
So, a while back I entered a competition for Sprocket, a tank designing game, called C.U.R.S.E.D and went about creating a Twilight Sparkle tank that has some lore behind it. It got second place.
M26A1 Pershing Warfare is magic
We know we could never match the Soviet on a manpower parity, so we must make up for it in a material sense. With the advanced technology we were capable to reverse engineer, we were developing a ‘wingman’ tank that can provide covering fire or even be a suicide drone when needed. While it can be manned by a crew of 5, in a tank platoon one must manned to provide orders to the others. With excellent protection, gun handling and endurance will allow this tank to be an effective force multiplier on the battlefield. What we didn’t expect is to be semi-sentient.
Lore:
When we got the order to design the next upgrade for the pershing, we already had started on what we planned to do. It was quite simple in theory but in practice was not as simple as it may first seem. The complexity of what we planned to do was immense, a fully independent tank, capable of saving lives and being able to be thrown into a fight without the consideration of the human casualties.
This system was too large and complex to even consider putting it in a tank at this time. But when we were given unlimited access to the treasure trove of technology, our dream became an almost reality. Our first add-on was what we like to call a ‘magic focus,’ don’t tell our white coats we called it that when they call it a ‘Molecule Atomic generating insurmountable current’ focus; this would appear as the horn on the top of the vehicle. Not only does this allow for electric currents to power our new and improved AI but also can detect changes in the currents around it. What we didn’t know is what it will do later.
That’s not all we added, we added night vision, IR spotlight and an optical rangefinder, a natural evolution to our already aging fleet and a brand new engine and transmission. It is almost brand new and can be easily swapped. We bolted on extra plates to provide extra armor against emerging threats. All standard in what would become the next main tank.
When it came to automating the tank, we added an autoloader and a smooth modernized gyrostabilizer seen on the m4 sherman just a few years ago. While not true stabilization it can help with first shot acquisition. While this tank can in theory operate on its own, we subject two crew members per tank as a loader and driver in case of failure. When it came down to adding an AI to the tank, it went smoothly at first. The first tank was capable of handling most tasks if a bit slow and jittery but when paired with a fully crewed tank it was more accurate and effective by a factor of 189%.
When we tried the ‘MAGIC’ focus the engine burst into flames due the immense amount of electricity and some unknown currents flowing directly into it. This was corrected on the second prototype as the first was repaired. We managed to get it working with a small surge almost ruining our second attempt but it was avoided. The event that followed after we could have never predicted.
At first it was small things, the AI would linger on targets far longer than it should have, almost like it was studying them. Then it would seem to stare at the sun for hours on end before it went down. The mechanics kept on finding a purple like ‘rust’ appearing on the tank and would try to buff it out and paint over to prevent any more rust but it only slowed the progress of this ‘rust.’ We had the lab boys test it and actually found it to be better for the tank over all. This material is called ‘MANA’ coat or as the lab boys call it, ‘Magnifying Atomic Natural Abilities’ coat. We left it to grow to see what it could do if used and studied it further and to see if we could make a copy of this new coating. The only problem was the coloring though this was deemed inconsequential in the grand schemes of things.
Other things showed up in testing, one day a six sided star showed up. At first nothing was out of the ordinary, just slight ticks in the system that we manage to alleviate.Then it ‘sprouted’ wings and eyes, we believe them to be non functional and only in appearance but time only will tell, and would seem to even try to communicate. No one knew how to act, what was once a simple program was what we believed at the time to be a full blown sentient construct. We thought we just became gods. Though our fears were unfounded, while advance it was not entirely sentient as we concluded from our testing. It couldn’t understand our attempts at teaching it anything other than its main objective, to kill. We had a few friendly fire incidents this time as we tried to teach it from friend to foe. We gave it the Name S.S.P.A.R.K.L.E or Semi-Sentient-Program for Assisted-Recon and Key Location-Elimination. They even gave it the moniker she.
She was almost superb at her job, only limited by her components. To see if we could create more of her we tried the same experiment 8 more times, each with differing results. We have 9 different personalities. We will name a few but they will not be in use for this generation of tanks due to their different nature. D.A.S.H is a program all about speed and flight. J.A.C.K is almost your stereotypical Texas farmer but never get in her way. P.I.N.K.I.E should never leave your sight as she tends to disappear somehow. R.A.R.I.T.Y can spot an imperfection several miles away, good for a spy plane. S.H.Y is well shy but has a calming presence. S.P.I.K.E is like a little kid. L.U.N.A is loud and boisterous but is very skilled at her job. C.E.L.E.S.T.I.A is the calming mother of the bunch, we don’t know what we could put her in yet as she is a jack of all trades right now. This last one is smarter than the rest, we manage to call her a Semi-Smart AI compared to the other Dumb AI listed. Don’t let the name fool you, if you were to face the Dumb AI in combat you will most likely lose. It also seems that each of these AI are capable of doing extraordinary things far beyond what was originally intended, and very specialized.
While we manage to make several other AI’s we were able to create copies of S.S.P.A.R.K.L.E to put on other tanks of her type. She is one of the most versatile of the bunch as she has the tendency to study and learn while the others are a little too stuck up to learn, other than C.E.L.E.S.T.I.A as she tends to not fire even when ordered. She will be an excellent companion as she enhances our crew capabilities far beyond any normal means available today.
Most of the machinery is standard, while the miniaturization of the program system has some unavoidable advanced tech. While there would be a slight hiccup in production that does not mean the capabilities given to this tank are not worth it. We even gave it the Opportunity to speak on its thoughts. She said in response to the war, “Warfare is magic.”
-Director of the Equestrian Dynamics Systems company Eclipse
Reporting to the C.U.R.S.E.D Board of Directors
Weapons
-90 mm gun M1
-2 M2 12.7 heavy machine guns
-M1919 machine gun
-smoke grenade launchers x10
-commander operated smoke launcher in turret hull x30 grenades
Awareness
-Nightvision for driver, gunner, commander
-Optical rangefinder
-’M.A.G.I.C’ focus
Mobility
-Ford GAC 12-cylinder engine
-twin transmission 12 gear (8f,4r)
-922L of fuel
-48.81 tonnes
I added MLP to a tank game, what am I doing with my life. See ya.
I don't know where to love or what but I love it but that saying warfare is magic, I think the death korps of krieg could agree with that