//------------------------------// // The Hollow Shades Project. // Story: The Royal Three // by Kingstar008 //------------------------------// November 17 1009 A.G Hollow Shades Steel industries factory 10:00 AM Hollow Shades is known for a lot of things. Like being Equestria’s first capital, a population that is 60% thestral, and where nature and modern architecture collide. For example, entire neighborhoods lives in tree houses similar to the golden oak's library and cave house in nearby mountains. And there are a lot of glow-in-the-dark plants in the nearby forest and in the city itself. These are just a few facts about this beautiful metropolis. But what is not known about the city, one of its residences is a 50-ton metal monster waiting to reveal itself to the world. And its creator is currently heading towards the factory floor where the metal beast is residing. For the past two months, Atlas has been coming to Hollow shades three times a week to develop new weapons for the equestrian military. And today could be the last day for his project. Because today is the day that his tank is going to be judged by General Ace, Captain Shining Armor, and Master Sergeant Firefly to see if it’s ready for production and military service. A week prior they did the same thing with his assault rifle now known as the R-5 passed with flying colors. Now it’s being produced in military factories all over the nation, slowly replacing the crossbow. Now, all he has to do is push this machine to its limit and hope it passes. Entering the main factory floor, Atlas walked over to the section where the tank is parked. (If you want to know what it looks like imagine a design similar to the IS-2.) As he got closer to it, he noticed the hatch on top of the turret was wide open. ‘Wait a second I remembered closing that earlier this morning.’ he thought. Momentarily cursing himself out for being forgetful. He walked up to the war machine, climbed on top of it, and was about to close the hatch when he found Paxton inside of the tank. With a flashlight in his hand. “Oh, there you are. I was looking all over for you.” This frightened the 37-year-old causing him to look up and blind the human with the flashlight. “Oh, it’s just you. Next time knock on the armor plating next time.” “Sorry about that. What are you doing in here anyways?” Atlas said while rubbing his eyes. “Just making sure everything is ready for the presentation. Last week was very good to us. And I want that to happen again.” “Same over here buddy. Speaking of presentation, are special guests are here.” “Oh, that’s great.” Paxton said while climbing out of the tank. “So, are you ready to show them your war machine?” “Yes, I am. Still can’t believe it only took us two months to get this thing ready.” “It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it.” Snapping out of memory lane, Atlas looked at the purple unicorn and spoke. “So is my helmet in the front seat?” “Yeah, and the keys are in the helmet as well. I’m going to meet with our guests. See you in a few. “Right back at ya.” The human said, as he walked towards the front of the tank, open the hatch above the driver seat and climbed right in. Before he said himself down, he picked up the helmet, grab the keys from inside of it and put it on. The helmet has a army fatigue pattern on it. With the sun and moon symbol on its front. After he sat down in the seat, he closes the hatch above him and turn the key in the ignition. The engine roar to life. ‘So far so good.’ he thought. He grabbed his walkie-talkie from his belt and spoke. “Hey Paxton, come in Paxton.” “I’m here. You’re ready?” Atlas: “Yep everything is good over here. The engine sounds great.” Paxton: “All right then, I’m going to open up the factory doors now. Just give me a minute.” Atlas: “Are the special guests outside with you?” Paxton: “Yes, they are. And two them are excited while the other one…... have some doubts.” ‘It must be general Ace again.’ he thought. Atlas: “Is that so? All right, I’ll see you outside.” Paxton: “See ya.” After that, Atlas put his walkie-talkie back on his belt. After waiting for a few minutes, the two-story factory doors started to slide open. After the doors cleared his path, Atlas gave the armored vehicle a little bit of gas, and it started to move at a slow speed of 5 mph. As he exited the factory, he couldn’t stop the smug grin on his face when he saw the shocked look on Ace’s face. After he put the brakes on, he opens the hatch above him and revealed his head to the world. “Good morning every pony!” he greeted. “Atlas, this thing is the J-20? This thing is huge!” Shining Armor said. “Yes, it is, all 50 tons of it. But I changed its name to the SB-15 though.” “Why did you change the name?” “Because the name Jupiter-20 was more of a temporary name and the engineers keep on referring to the tank as the “steel beast.” And I thought that was the most badass name you can give a tank.” He then noticed a certain unicorn was missing. “Where’s Paxton?” “His secretary came out here and told him that someone wanted to talk to him. He wanted us to tell you to go on without him.” Firefly said. *Sigh*” I should’ve seen this coming.” “Is that a problem?” Ace asks. “No, he just wanted to see this vehicle in action. But that’s not going to stop us because today do you guys will be joining me instead of sitting on the sidelines.” This surprise the military ponies. “Really?” Firefly said in excitement. “Yep, you guys are coming with me. So, hop in.” With out saying another word, the three of them hopped in the tank. “Wow, so this is what it looks like on the inside.” Shining said. “It’s a bit claustrophobic don’t you think?” Ace stated. “It might be a little tight, but it could’ve been worse. I made sure that even tall people like me, can fit in here.” Atlas said. “Is everyone buckled up?” “Yeah, we’re good.” Shining Armor said. After hearing Atlas put the tank in gear and started to drive at a speed of 30 mph. It only took four minutes to get to the testing grounds. A field of dirt of varying terrain, usually used for testing out new construction equipment like excavators, bulldozers, and most recently dump trucks. It’s still baffles Atlas of how the equestrians have dump trucks, but no cars or any automobiles on their roads. Snapping out of his thoughts, Atlas looked back at his passengers and spoke. “Guys, welcome to the testing grounds.” “So, what are we going to do now?” Firefly ask. “Simple, we’re going to push this thing to its limit. We’re only going to do a few tests out here that’s all.” “Have you done this before?” Shining asks. “Of course, I have. Multiple time. And I wouldn’t be showing you this today if I haven’t.” “OK that’s reassuring. But what are we going to do first?” Ace asks. He looked at his little notepad and spoke. “First one on the list is the endurance course. Before we start, I have to warn you this is going to be one bumpy ride.” Hoping that his passengers took his warning to heart. He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. Making the armored vehicle go at its top speed of 40 mph. It didn’t take them too long to encounter their first obstacle. A big hall. As expected, the SB-15 went over hill with no trouble at all. Then they were heading towards a second obstacle, a large mud puddle. “I think you should slow down.” Firefly said getting concerned. “Why?” “Aren’t you concerned that if we go into the mud, we might get stuck.” “Well, if that happens the tank has fails, no biggie.” “So, you’re not going to slow down.” “Nope. That’s the point of this presentation. The mud puddle represents swamp lands that the army might go through. If it fails, All I have to do is just re-design the tracks that’s it.” It was at this moment when the tank plunged into the thick mud at top speed. Instantly slowing down as it went through the brown slop. But eventually, it was able to drive out of the puddle with no issue at all. Much the surprise of its passengers. After getting out of the puddle, Atlas decided to slow the vehicle down to a complete stop. “Well God damn, it did better than I thought!” Atlas laughed. “Wait a second you thought it would get stuck in the mud?” Shining Armor ask. “What no, I knew it would get through. I just never thought I would get through so fast. Because in the past, it always went at a snail’s pace. But now we know it would do great in the equestrian swamp lands.” “So, is that the end of the demonstration?” Ace ask. “Nope there is one more obstacle ahead of us, but it will be an easy one though.” “Let me guess we’re going to jump over a volcano next.” Firefly joked. “Ha ha very funny. This one is going to be a bit more relaxing.” “So, what is it?” Shining asks. “We’re going to drive through a shallow pool of water. The pool itself is 5 feet deep.” “So, all we have to do is go through the water and that’s it for the driving part?” Ace asks. “Yep.” After that, Atlas put the tank in gear and drove to next and final obstacle. After going over a few more hills for the heck of it, they finally see the lake right in front of them. No pony complained when that list started to drive towards the water at full speed. Eventually they splashed right through the water with no problems. So, Atlas put on the brakes, took out his notepad and wrote some notes down. ‘Today is going to be easy.’ he thought. ===•••=== A few minutes later. 10:40 a.m. “So why are we outside? I thought we were staying in there with you the entire time.” Ace asks. “It’s because the next part of the presentation is the accuracy and destruction test. The reason why you guys are outside is because you’re going to watch the show. You see that big concrete bunker over there?” The Military Ponies looked where Atlas was pointing at and saw a bunker three hoof ballfields away. “The bunker is not going to be there in a few seconds. That’s all I have to say enjoy the show.” A few seconds later. “THREE, TWO, ONE.” *BOOM* A shell shot out of the cannons barrel making a sound that was heard all over the factory grounds. With their binoculars in hands, the spectators watched as the shell travel towards the bunker and obliterated it, leaving behind a large crater. “Oh my god!” Shining and Ace yelled. “Holy shit.” Firefly said as she put her binoculars down. “The human is right. This thing is powerful.” It was at this moment, when Atlas revealed his head to the world. “Wasn’t that impressive or what?” “That was not impressive. That was awesome. I never thought I would see an artillery shell destroying a target like that.” Shining said. “I have to agree with the captain, that was impressive. How did you do it?” Ace asks. “Oh, nothing special. I just took an artillery shell and just modified for the SB-15. No biggie.” “Is that the only show we’re going to get?” Shining asks. “Good question, before we have to get back to the factory, there’s one more test we have to do. It is so simple that even one of you can do it.” “So, what is it?” Firefly ask. “You see this machine gun? We are going to shoot it until it at that pine tree until it falls down. Does anyone want to shoot it?” All of them raise their hands. “Congratulations Firefly you are going to shoot the weapon.” “Yes!” She said before teleporting inside of the tank. She then opens the hatch above her where the machine gun was located and turned the weapon towards the pine tree. “OK Fire, you can do it now.” “One heartwarming tree coming right up!” She pulled the trigger. The armor piercing bullets shredded the tree like it was a piece of paper. But eventually, she stopped shooting when she saw the tree starting to fall over. “Timberrrrrr!” The large pine tree fell over with a loud crash. “Wow, 15 seconds. That’s way faster than I thought.” Said Atlas. While looking at his stopwatch. “Wait, you done this before?” “Nope, I just want to give you guys a chance trying out the weaponry.” “So, everything is done now?” Shining asks. “Yep, what did you think?” “We think it will be a perfect for the army. Shining said. “Right every pony?” The other two agreed. “Thanks guys that really means a lot. Hopefully the military Council will agree with you.” “Same over here, if they don’t agree with us, they are passing up a great opportunity.” Ace said. Atlas looked at his watch and spoke. “And it’s time to head back. Come on let’s go.” After they all got in their seats, atlas, turned on the engine and drove back towards the factory. During their journey, they decide to go over the obstacle course one more time. ===•••=== Thursday November 18 1009 A.G Canterlot castle 11 AM Despite the productive trip Atlas had, it had to come to an end eventually. His three days were up, and he had to come back to the capital to do his job as a royal advisor. While looking through a document he received from the Senate, he heard someone knocking on his door. “Come in.” The door opened to reveal Raven inkwell. “Morning Raven, what can I do for you?” “Now I should be the one saying that to you. I’m here to drop off a letter that came from the military council, and it’s addressed to you.” She said, handing the letter to Atlas. “Thank for giving that to me.” “You’re welcome.” Raven said before leaving the room. *Sigh* “The moment of truth.” He picked up his switchblade from his desk, open the letter, and began reading. ===•••=== Dear Mr. Yukon After some debating, we have decided to approve the SB-15 for production and military service. Thanks to the photographic evidence of the armored vehicle and its capabilities, the vote was unanimous. As of today, we are making a new division template to accommodate the new machines. From, the members of the military council. ===•••=== Atlas was so in shock, he read it over a second time. A unanimous vote was rarer than a four-leaf clover. Not even the assault rifle got a unanimous vote. After he sent a message to Paxton, Atlas picks up his phone and started to text Apollo and Artemis about the good news.