Pony Tankers: part two is out! Thoughts, lore, and future plans.

Now that I have finally finished uploading part two, spacing it out properly so you fine ponies have more chances to lay eyes upon it, I think it's time for another blog post. I told myself I would only make these, barring extraordinary circumstances, after I FINISH posting a part, seeing as I made the last one after I had posted all the parts of Summer's arc. Today I can share some of the burning thoughts I've had since then regarding the story, relevant news, and plans, you know.

Oops, first off, internally I call it "part two" - you all know it as the Minty chapters, of course.

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PLANS:
So let's start off with my plans for this story, since that's the most important and I can't very well expect you to read the whole probably boring blog post for this information. This story is intended to be FIVE parts long; First Summer's POV, then Minty's, and, well, you'll just have to see who's next, but there are only three names to choose from.

I don't write a lot in a day and sometimes I get stuck on plot details, so you can probably expect it coming in a month or more likely two. Between that, and the editing and re-editing plus or minus a week to let things settle and help me catch silly plot errors or think of new opportunities (such as the case with a late-addition aspect of Minty's story I'll get to later), I always miss my deadlines. Oh well.

So, yes, there are five parts planned. This next one is challenging to write for its own reasons in a way Minty's kind of was, kind of wasn't. This is also an experiment and a challenge to myself to stick with a story for the long run, even though I've got like three other stories pressing on my mind I REALLY WANT TO TELL but aggghh I've got to finish this one - I certainly wouldn't forgive the author if I found this and had to add it to my pile of "it's good but I wish it was finished", you know?

Trying my hoof at my first properly long story with arcs and everything.

Let's talk about those other stories for a minute, since I've been wanting to get the ideas out there at least, maybe get feedback, maybe give someone an idea?

Story one is a continuation of sorts, utilizing this same world I've made for myself here. Even though I started writing "the tank story" last december, I change fixations every few months, and recently I've been extremely planepilled. Therefore, I had in mind telling a story about a young fighter pilot in Equestria's fledgling air force, but set on a colonial backwater. It would let me explore things like the Equestrian colonies (they've got to have them, right?), the absolute STATE of the Equestrian air force (which is something I haven't said anything about yet in Pony Tankers beyond a few implications), learning how to fly in a world that has natural fliers, and amusing banter with a crazy mare with a notched machete and a bloody cutie mark. Her I'm especially looking forward to, and researching so I can properly do a colonial accent in text, Twain style.

Story two already has a title: I call it "The Equestrian Revolution". The idea is very simple: Tell a story about the French Revolution, complete with all the socioeconomic and political struggles that entails; clashes of ideals, lost innocence, you know. No barricades, though - what does this look like, 1823?
Basically, I had the stunning realization that the Mane Six, or most of them, anyway, neatly track onto "french revolution character archetypes". For instance, Pinkie pie is an energetic young captain of artillery, Twilight is a highly educated and disaffected young intellectual (or she's a lawyer - but for the role I have in mind for her, that would be a bad idea), and Applejack is a catholic, or rather Celestian, salt-of-the-earth working pony, one of the starving workers of paris Canterlot. Bonus round, Fluttershy can be one of the "housewives of paris" and have something to do with the women's march on the palace.
Kind of the intention is an arc about finding out just how benevolent Celestia really was and Twilight eventually coming around to wanting her back, Celestia's kindheartedness costing her the throne, Twilight facing resistance from the radical left WING (haha geddit) and right wing alike at the notion, and, I don't know, I thought it could be an interesting read.
Also, the nature of faith in a world where your goddess is literally the living ruler of your nation would be very interesting to explore.

Aaaand the third one is not as big of a priority, but basically, it's sort of kind of a human story. It features a character who is human, or rather who WAS human, finding himself in Equestria. Twilight will be involved, of course, because she always is where strange magic is concerned, but anyway, the human-turned-pony is not here for sex, or romance, or slice of life, or even "coping with his new form" - he's here for a PURPOSE. And that purpose has to do with attitude.
You see, I was thinking about just how incongruous things like guns are in MLP, and what the presence of a gun implies for the world that has them. weapons are made because you need them, you see? So it kind of turned into a thing in my head about the necessity of violence, the merits of nonviolence, and how we think the way we do because of the world we've grown up in, and the ponies think the way they do because of theirs. For example of how their world has shaped their thinking, think about what they took with them to root out a dragon on the peak in "Dragonshy". No weapons? No weapons. But I probably would have.
Therefore, the story is centered around the human's correct-but-not-really attitude towards violence as a means of solving problems, clashing with the ponies' correct-but-not-quite attitude towards the same -
I wanted to explore how both the human and the pony perspective are equally valid on the matter.

Maybe it would be undermined a bit by how the intention was that it was actually CELESTIA that brought him to the world, specifically because she sees value in his unique and entirely unponylike outlook on things, and uses that to deal with a threat the mane six could never have managed with friendship?

...But I've yapped about potential stories for two long. if you're still here; five parts total, I'm working on the next one, be back in a month maybe, thank you and bye.

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THOUGHTS:
Thoughts? er...
Well, let's also do relevant news. I watched Girls und Panzer in between posting Summer's arc and Minty's arc, and while I would LOVE to write a whole ass review here, I talk too much, so I'll leave it at: I liked it.

The tank continues to garner errors, but I think we all gave up on this being a genuine panzer four a long time ago. I did, anyway. The turret motor is actuated by floor pedals, which are maybe easier for hoofs to use, and the gun is fired by a switch rolled like a motorcycle throttle. This little tidbit I lifted from the panther in "T-34", the bit where the gunner dude uses the (SOMEHOW) captured panther to shoot the other panther menacing our heroes in the town so that the commander can do that epic shot where the shell hits the enemy commander's shell and they mutually deflect into nearby buildings - god, T-34 is such a silly movie but it goes so hard sometimes.

Also, while I had a chance to fix/retcon the location of the coaxial gun from being set in the turret face (not the mantlet) and operated by the loader (instead of the gunner), I elected not to, because: it lets me do the silly but interesting thing of replacing the coax with a literal rifle, AND it gives the loader, in this case an experienced infantrypony, something to do. Slowly but surely, the Sterling Ranger is morphing into an odd frankentank, borne of the duress of the extreme front line, and kind of having the tank permanently change as we cycle through our characters and arcs move on and some things change and some things don't is an idea I really love.

On writing: I'm majorly inspired by the style of Robert Jordan in the way of how he presents his third-person limited perfect. You may have noticed, I never use italics for character's internal monologue, and I don't have any heavy lore dumps - although, with the nature of the story, those would be helpful. No, obviously characters think what I think they would think and don't explain little things like why the hell the floating factories are necessary to begin with. There's a lot going on here I don't want to explain to the audience in the story, because it just wouldn't fit, you know?

On combat, I try to strike a balance, kind of - well, let me put it this way: good combat is like good sex - it's over too soon. Or as I put it, WRITING combat is like writing sex, and so on. I like short and punchy, like in The Godfather, you know? But also, combat is a great chance to see our characters in action, how they think and feel under duress, and get across certain details you might want to get across, like how exactly the machine and the crew functions. So, yeah, a balance between short and punchy and long and detailed.
Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes I do short and stilted sentences and mention random standout sounds (the sound of Thrash's rifle's buttplate hitting the floor during the ambush, for instance), because what I'm going for is a kind of "mosaic of combat" type vibe - you know, like the kind of little details that stick out in your mind when you think back on a stressful situation, such as literally fighting for your life. Also, sound is cool.

On that note, if I have one regret, it's not figuring out how to work in to Summer's arc the auditory experience of stepping into the camp, what with the conversations, orders, distant guns, generators (where does Equestria get all this fuel??). I kind of did it with Minty, mentioning the sounds, but it's not the same, since Summer's was THE fresh face, the face of introduction.

One more thing before we move on to lore.
I've kind of modeled my plans for the story's progression off of Wings of Fire - oops. The thing is, well...
I have five characters, you know, I've tried to make them CHARACTERS, and I just wanted so badly to get into each of their heads, you get me?
If you look closely at Summer's arc, well, you probably already know it was written as a standalone, without sequels in mind. The thing is I think of things in terms of arc and animation and TV show plots too much, so if you look closely, what I'm doing there besides telling a (honestly in my view lackluster) tank story is setting up elements for the future - her relationship with the commanding officer going forward, her feelings towards her peers (tank commanders who are earth ponies), her first taste of battle, her relationship with her crew (such as her (I hope) obvious crush on Supercharger). Details like that are just BEGGING for elaboration, right? An enticing taste. It's trying to be a pilot in addition to a story, a pilot to a show I am not writing. Written with potential in mind.

But the thing is, not only do I have all these characters I want to do things with, bounce off of each other in fun ways, There are conversations I want to have, interactions I want to have, that I CANNOT have with Summer's POV. I want to explore these other things, but I've locked myself to the third person limited perfect. Not that it was a bad idea, since LITERALLY THE reason I started writing this whole thing to begin with was out of an interest in the character's actual perspective from inside the tank. Well, anyway. I may have said it before, but certain conversations you just don't have when the commander is around, you know. So by freeing myself from Summer's POV, I'm able to dip my hooves into some drama or melodrama or whatever it is that I've written this last time around.

And rest assured, what's happened in the Minty arc is far from over.

Of course, this means subsequent parts won't be as interesting to spectate, since the commander has the best view in the house when it comes to tank combat. The loader's should be particularly hard, since, well, your job is to load, and fire the coax, on this particular fictional tank.

But where was I? Oh, right, Wings of Fire.
Yes, I've been obsessed to a greater or lesser degree with that series for nigh on two years now. Again, I'd love to give a lengthy review, but for now, I've been thinking about the way each character only gets one book from his or her POV, they have some personally significant arc within that book, while also moving the wider plot along. There's a lot to like and a lot not to like about the series, but I think where the author falls on her face in worldbuilding she makes up for in character writing.

and, you know, I love character writing, it's fun. You get to see your little babies interact with each other in ways they would do, and sometimes surprise you - it's all very rewarding.

But I've waffled enough about that.

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LORE:
You know, I'm not sure this section is really a good idea. I wanted to explain what's really going on with Minty, without the ambiguity and implications of the story.
If you're still here after all that noise, uhh, don't proceed beyond this point if you want to maintain death of the author, because I'm about to spill some authorial intentions.

Still here? Okay.
So some things I was able to work in, some things I had to cut in regards to Minty. Basically, as she says in a dialogue that's probably pretty clumsy now that I think about it, she was a Very Boring Pony. No hobbies, no friends. Because I am the opposite of a charmer, I couldn't think of a way to have her not relay this information, because I needed a prompt for Thrash to kiss her. Essential story events, you see.

Anyway, when the war broke out on the northern border, she saw this as a chance to become and interesting pony - go out, be a soldier, come home with a headfull of stories. Well, she's got a headfull of SOMETHING, alright, but I digress.

So she volunteered, finished training, and was able to participate in operation Star on High, a name which she has mentioned in the text; this was the first, biggest, and most successful counterattack of the war carried out by Equestria. Field Marshall Luna may be the master of the organized retreat, but she is pretty bad at planning attacks. Remember that bit about worldview and thinking from wayyy earlier?

Anyway, it didn't go very well for her, and since then, she's been around the block. She was not among the FIRST fighters of the war, but she is among one of the first, and she's still here, alive and in one piece, which is more than most of those chaps can say. Minty is described in my notes as "a quiet, taciturn veteran", and while my characters inevitably deviate from my original notes for them, I think that is still true.

During all that going around the block, she's served under several officers, although mostly in the artillery corps.
One of these officers in question, and a large part of her current reluctance to fraternize with officers, and especially not the aristocrats, was a young unicorn she fell in love with. It was mutual, actually, but he was too caught up in "his place" as both a unicorn, a noble, and as an officer, to make any untoward gestures towards her. But they shared looks, and they Knew. This whole subplot/aspect of her past comes late in writing that part, because I felt a tragic lost love would round her out a bit more, give her some ANGST, you know. So he's the stallion that died in her arms, er, hooves, when their position was bombed. Dive-bombed, actually.

This kind of ties in to the ABSOLUTE STATE of Equestria in the air war I mentioned earlier, but I'll talk about that in more detail some other month. Can't be giving away all my secrets at once, can I? All you need to know right now is that they're losing that front hard, and the Crystal Empire is much better at this whole flying machine business.

Anyway, Minty ended up in the tank corps about three months ago through some mechanism or another. She met Supercharger over cards; Minty is a good card player, Supercharger is a massive gambler, and they got on very well. Three months might not seem like a long time, but in the war, it's an eternity. I haven't been able to work in Supercharger's gambling yet, really; There was no room in Summer's plot, and in Minty's she's a bit busy, if you know what I mean. Stay tuned?

Oh, before I forget, How does she cope with things? A blend of a whole lot of nicotine (but she doesn't chew, though that would give a better kick, or so I've heard), consciously shutting it off in her mind, and the long practice of the deep dreamless sleep of the front line. Or mostly dreamless. Whatever she's up to, it works, but man is she going to be a wreck once the war is over.

Speaking of the war, Equestria is a big place, but maybe two years was too long a timeframe. You're telling me it's been two years of constant (organized) retreat from the north, and not once has the enemy managed a decisive victory? I should have honestly made it shorter, you know, a bit of a lightning war, make things more desperate. "At war only four months and they're already cleaning out the training corps. for officers?" sort of thing.

I think it's needless to say that Equestrian high command is garbage at everything but giving ground. Celestia is no Stalin, and she won't be the one to tell her beloved sister "not one step back", so, really, retreat is the only option. Because, you see, there is one thing Equestrian high command has going for it, or against it, depending on your point of view: a strong reluctance to waste pony lives. Ponypower. Horsepower? That, really, is the reason for, as Havoc puts it, "moving every few weeks". Pulling back and not making a definitive stand, like, hypothetically speaking, in a city on the bend of a big river, ultimately saves pony lives in the long run. Nevertheless, it's a grinding calculus, and eventually, they're going to run out of country, big though it is. When will that happen? Stay tuned for part five...

Why are they so bad at their jobs, strategic command? Why have they neglected logistics to sorely? One of the major reasons is they're fairly hidebound, and the new blood (like Luna) are inexperienced in the ways of war. You know, I was actually going to have this be a universe where Nightmare moon was still bing chilling in the moon, since the existence of Luna as a general implies the Mane Six to rescue her, and the mane six in this universe would definitely have something to say or do about this war, and that's just kind of a can of worms. But, I liked the idea of Luna as the inexperienced supreme commander overly concerned with casualty reports, so here she is.
Anyway, hidebound. War has changed, and most of them are still thinking like Summer and her antiquated wargames, only unlike Summer, who's got her head in it and adapts quickly, these fellows are still thinking in those terms.

One last tidbit of lore to do with logistics:
This was a bit I wanted to work in, but couldn't find a place to put it naturally. One would think, when seeing the Crystal Empire pull guns along with their advance deep into enemy territory, "Why don't we do that?"

Well, Cashmere asked that, anyway, to prompt Minty into explaining this.

The answer is that Equestrian artillery crews actually DO - or rather, they are provided the equipment to do so. The big guns, obviously, require whole teams, but some wheeled field guns take one, two, or four-pony harnesses to pull. Mostly, nopony bothers to use it, since the usual methods have always worked fine, and it's easier to get a tractor or something to yank around a big gun, or take it down, that pull it around like a bunch of mules.

Related to the earlier point on the war, Equestria is big, the army has retreated a great deal, and not every retreat goes without a hitch. The Crystal empire soldiers in the story are using harness captured for their own use, mostly - it's easier than making it themselves, when they have so much of it anyway. They use the four-pony harness for some very light guns, not because they need to, but to share the load and preserve team stamina for a long march, since they need to be fresh as they can to have some hope of containing pockets of resistance before the tanks get there. Yes, if Summer and company had remained a day instead of aggressively attacking, they would have had a number of british-styled infantry tanks to reckon with.

That said, I think my handling of their encirclement line was bad, and I obviously cannot be trusted to write military fiction.

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CONCLUSION?
If you read all this 3am babble or you just skipped to the end, thanks for taking a look anyway. The important point is that I'll be back in a month or two months with something new for y'all, and in the meanwhile, just the fact that you cared to read my silly little story means the world to me.

I bet I've forgotten something I wanted to ramble about - in fact, I know I did. But that's good, because I get to save something for next time

Good night, my friends, and until next time.