Crews ran to their vehicles and prepared to move out. Along with them, several soldiers boarded halftracks. Steel Lance and Twinkle Star went over to one of the partially occupied ones. Twinkle climbed onto it. As she went to sit down, she looked at the other passengers nervously. She started fiddling around with her scoped Lee-Enfield.
"Alright, now before we head out I want to know by name some of you new lads and lasses who will be with us today," Lance said.
"I am Sergeant Resin of the 7th Joint Motor Rifles, recently transferred," a male changeling carrying a PPSh-41 replied, "My new squad is waiting at the rendezvous."
"Private Chernov, 7th Joint Motor Rifles. Same as Serzhant Resin-recently transferred," another male changeling, this one carrying a Mosin-Nagant, replied.
"Sergeant Cheshire, 20th Equestria Royal Armored Division," a female earth pony carrying a Lee-Enfield replied, "And here's Corporal Ditch, Corporal Vinney, Private Mackerel...and Duffy." She pointed at a male unicorn with a Sten gun, a female pegasus with a Bren LMG, a male bat pony with a Lee-Enfield, and a male earth pony with another Lee-Enfield respectively.
"You sounded a little put off at mentioning Duffy," Lance commented,
"When you get stuck with a pony like him, you'd feel the same," Cheshire replied.
"Oi, I heard that," Duffy interjected.
"You were supposed to, Duffy," Cheshire retorted. She then took notice of Twinkle.
"You're the new pony-err...changeling?" Cheshire asked Twinkle.
"C-corporal Twinkle Star, reporting for d-d-duty m-ma'am," she fidgeted.
"She'd prefer it that others refer to her as a pony," Lance replied, "Also, she gets a little nervous around some of her superiors."
"Ah, well nothing to worry about, lassy. I won't bite," Cheshire reassured. Twinkle smiled back weakly.
"Anyways, remember to cover up. It's going to get cold out there," Lance reminded Twinkle.
"R-r-right..." Twinkle replied. She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and then was briefly surrounded by green fire. When the flames disappeared, a yellow unicorn that had the same green mane and blue eyes was in Twinkle Star's place. She had a cutiemark of a set of piano keys. She opened her eyes again and exhaled.
"You two acquaintances?" Cheshire asked.
"You could say that. I'm her stepbrother."
"Ah. Well rest assured, I'll make sure she stays safe."
"EVERYONE READY UP, WE HEAD OUT IN THIRTY SECONDS!" a sergeant in a halftrack up ahead yelled. The gates leading outside the base began to slowly open.
"Right. Good luck then. I'll be in the Crusader in the front." Lance hurried to his tank.
"So...is Duffy just a nickname?" Twinkle asked nervously.
"Hm? Oh yeah, me actual name's Duffel Bag," Duffy answered, "But no ane really bothers to call me that anyways."
Meanwhile, Lance had opened the hatch of his tank and got inside. When he climbed in, a male earth pony driver and female unicorn gunner were already at their stations.
"Evenings, Lance," the unicorn greeted.
"Same to you, Crest," Lance greeted back, "Hey, Press, you having a good day so far?"
"Other than the bloody snowdrifts, it's been just fine," the earth pony answered.
"Alright, the gates are open! Convoy, move out!" the lead tank, a Cromwell, declared. The vehicles that followed consisted of two T-70s, one T-80, three Crusaders, two SU-76s, three M5 halftracks, two Panzer IVs, and three M4A1 Shermans.
-----
Not far away, another group of vehicles were waiting. It consisted of mostly T-34s of both the 76 and 85 millimeter gun models, numbering to 8 of the tanks total. Amongst these tanks were two US6 trucks and three M5 half tracks. There was also two tanks that looked very similar to M4 Shermans, and one tank destroyer built on a T-34 chassis.
"Сколько еще мы должны ждать, Алексей?" a female griffon standing on a T-34/85 asked.
[How much more should we wait, Alexei?]
"Не слишком долго. Наездники не известно, обычно поздно," the male changeling commander of the T-34/85 replied.
[Not too long. The Equestrians are not known to be habitually late.]
"Эй, подожди. Я вижу их приходит сейчас," the changeling T-34/85 gunner declared.
[Hey, wait. I see them coming now.]
"This is Starshiy Serzhant Alexei Kolpachi to Equestrian forces. Can you hear this transmission?"
"Staff Sergeant Steel Lance of the 20th Equestrian Royal Armor Division, E company. We hear you."
"Lance? Haha, is good to see you again, my friend! Bzzzt, how is your sister doing?"
"Mmrph.."
"Pretty okay except for you making her very nervous with your buzzing. You know she has a phobia of bugs."
"HA! And ironic one at zat!"
"U-um...p-please don't do that again..."
"I vill try. Still, you should stop being like doormat."
"Hey, I'm not a doormat!"
"Can ve get on vith zis already?" the female griffon interjected.
"Wot's the matter, Helga? Can't we just have a few minute of reunion?" Lance asked.
"It is getting dark very quick. Ve should try to get zere as fast as possible," Helga retorted.
"Da, da. You were always to ze point. Fitting for a Royal Ranger, but still..." Alexei commented.
"She's right. Let's try to cover as much ground before the sun goes down," Lance said. The convoy began its long drive to the ruins. Several soldiers accompanied them on foot, weapons ready for any raiders that tried to intercept the convoy.
"Everyone, switch to global frequency," the Cromwell commander said, "Keep in radio contact-weather conditions might render you unable to see the rest of us if you stray too far."
"Lance, let us team up again," Alexei said.
"Gladly," Lance replied. The Crusader drove alongside the T-34-85, close enough for the two commanders to clearly see each other..
"Oh, before I forget...meet our new SU-100, Shiva," Alexei said. He pointed to the tank destroyer driving on the opposite side to the Crusader. Its commander, a female changeling, poked her head out of the commander's hatch. and waved.
"Shiva...god of destruction. How fitting for something already nicknamed the Pizdets Vsemu," Lance commented. The SU-100's commander giggled.
"Da! A SU-100 can take on Tigers without breaking single sweat," Alexei said, "Wish your sister had some yesterday night, yes?"
"It would have been much more helpful, but we didn't know Nightmare Moon had several dozens of those hidden in the forests."
Steel Lance then noticed the other curious sight in the allied convoy. It was the two M4 Sherman lookalikes. They were indeed Shermans, but with a "refurbished" look to them. To be specific, they were lend-lease tanks that were given to the Soviet Union. Which meant these were practically museum pieces. One of them had a "crab flail" mounted on its front. Lance smirked at the sight of it-while crab flails were used for clearing out minefields it was also infamous for turning anything else that got in its way into the consistency of chunky salsa.
Other than the curious sights in the convoy itself drive was rather uneventful, bar the few times when one of the vehicles got stuck in a snow drift. As it was dangerous to be alone when the sun was going down, the convoy would pause and help in getting the vehicle unstuck. Soon night would come. Lance closed his eyes and leaned against the turret's interior.
-----
"Everyone watch your twelve o'clock. We got enemy Victors closing."
"So much for the element of surprise, they know where the satellite's goin'!"
"How the hell could they know? You hacked the God damn satellite!"
"How could they know? Look up!"
-----
"Oi, commander. You alright?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. Was just dozing off a little bit. Not much to do right now."
The snow began to come down harder than before. The arctic wind also began to pick up, blowing back several soldiers that were traveling by foot.
"Blizzard is picking up. We should move faster," Resin said.
"I-I c-can't-t s-serzh-zh-zhant" one of the changeling soldiers marching replied, "...M-my h-h-hooves are f-f-freezing..."
"Get in ze halftrack and varm up," Alexei said, "Speaking about zat, everyone, get on a vehicle. You're just slowing us down otherwise."
Suddenly something else was howling.
"Chto eto bylo?" a changeling soldier asked.
[What was that?]
"YA ne znayu ... podnyat'sya na bort." Resin replied.
[I'm not sure...climb aboard.]
Three changeling soldiers ran to the infantry halftrack Resin was in. The blizzard made it gradually harder to see. Two managed to climb aboard-the third was lagging behind.
"Davay! Bystro!" Resin shouted.
[Come on! Quickly!]
"YA idu," the soldier yelled, "ya id-AAARGH!"
[I'm coming, I'm coming-]
The changeling was thrown onto the ground and dragged away, disappearing into the blizzard. His screaming continued on for a short moment afterwards, and was then silenced.
"Chyort!" Resin cursed, "Eto ne khorosho..."
[Damn! This isn't good...]
"Serzhant!" Private Chernov shouted, "My dolzhny spasti ye-!"
[Sergeant! We have to rescue him!]
"I riskov ostal'nuyu chast' nashey zhizni tozhe? On uzhe mertv Oboroten' , Chernov. Tam my nichego ne mozhem sdelat'."
[And risk the rest of our lives too? He's already a dead changeling, Chernov. There is nothing we can do.]
"N-no...Serzhant Smola..."
[B-but...Sergeant Resin...]
"Pover'te mne, ryadovoy. YA poteryal ves' otryad odin raz, chtoby chto-to vrode etogo ... YA ne khochu, chtoby eto povtorilos'."
[Trust me, private. I lost my entire squad once to something like this...I don't want it to happen again.]
"Kak ty vyzhil?" the first changeling that climbed aboard asked.
[How did you survive?]
"Kto skazal, chto ya sdelal?" Resin replied, "No eto budet istoriya dlya drugogo raza, ryadovoy."
[Who said I did? But that will be a story for another time, private.]
"Report in, what happened?"
"One of our soldiers was taken by...something. Better find a vehicle to get on, and quickly."
"Shiva, reporting. I think I saw something in ze blizzard."
"I think I see it too..." Helga added, "okh yebat'."
Running into sight were several large werewolf-like creatures. Their white coat made them hard to see under current conditions. Twinkle looked out the halftrack for a moment to see what was the commotion was about-she then immediately sat back down and tucked herself tight into a ball, shivering not due to cold but due to fright.
"Chyort! Vinter vorgens, take zem down!" a griffon soldier yelled. The tanks in front opened up on the winter worgens with their machine guns. The worgen quickly scampered away and disappeared into the blizzard.
"I hate those mudaks..." Resin said seethingly.
"We heard gunfire from the front!", a driver of a M5 in the rear said, "What happened?"
"We got bloody worgs stalking us," Lance replied.
"Och, for Celestia's sake. Is a pony with a gun not scary enough for thae stupid dugs?" Sharp Turn, driving one of the other Crusaders, commented. "I don't think thay even know how dangerous a tank is."
"It's not going to be safe driving in the dark anymore," the commander of the Cromwell said, "Everyone, switch on lights."
Gradually, each vehicles' spotlights were switched on, illuminating the way ahead. The glow also in turn lit up the snow, which was currently being furiously rained down to the ground.
-----
The snowing was intense enough to coat much of the vehicles with a thin white layer. It was even worse for the two SU-76s, in which due to being open-topped had the crew compartment filled up to knee length. The commander of the first one opened the door in the rear, shoving out the snow. The second followed soon after. The first SU-76 had an all changeling crew, while the second one had a all pony crew.
"Brr...I h-hate t-t-this c-c-c-cold..." the first SU-76's driver said. He looked a little odd in comparison with his fellow changelings as his mane and tail are rainbow colored and his body is a light blue.
"Vell zat's vhat happens vhen you live outside of the North, Isaiah. Cold resistance is trained in, not inherited," the gunner replied. She looked more like the average changeling, minus the fact that she is somewhat taller than the rest, has a broken horn, and a half torn off wing.
"B-b-bah...I p-prefer w-w-warm p-p-places any t-t-time..."
"Krikiki, ve know you live in Ponyville because you're obsessed wiz zat rainbow maned pegasus."
"Oh hardy h-har-har, Misha. It's c-called being a fan."
"Is it any different? You even changed your last name to 'Dash'. If I didn't know better, I'd say you-" Isaiah turned his head around to face Misha.
"Misha, you b-better watch y-your mouth before I turn g-g-get up and s-s-sock all your t-teeth out."
"Bring it." Misha readied herself for a brawl. This was not the first time she had to teach a hotshot first-year that messing with a veteran was not a good idea. Isaiah was just about to take his hind hoof off the gas pedal when the loader put himself between the two changelings. While he had remained quiet during the conversation, he had to intervene before it could disrupt the mission.
"Would you both cut it out?", the loader said annoyedly, "We already have enough problems traveling out here in the night. We don't need juvenile crap like this getting us killed." Although not as stand out as Isaiah, the loader still looked a little odd for a changeling-he has a blonde mane and tail, his green eyes were like that of a pony's, and he had a cutie mark of a shotgun shell.
"Zat'll be enough, Sergeant," the commander said in a calm yet firm tone. The commander looked the most like a typical changeling out of the four with the exception of being taller than all of them but Misha and having a slightly molted grey color. In addition to the winter coats that the crew was wearing, the commander also had a thin steel chain on his neck with a blue glass-like shard attached to it.
The loader flared his nostrils, then went back to his position in the crew compartment. Misha and Isaiah decided that fighting each other was not going to solve anything and focused back on their tasks.
"I swear, they're worse than the recruits I had to handle back in Germaneigh..." the loader muttered. The commander sighed, directing his attention back to surveying the area as the SU-76 slogged through the snow with the rest of the vehicles.
Meanwhile, up near the middle of the convoy, Resin repetitively looked outside the half track, alert for any more threats that dared approach the convoy. On occasion he would see shapes skirting on the edge of the lights. He was certain that these were more of the worgs. Sometimes though he saw snow being tossed up in the distance in a peculiar way. He couldn't exactly put his hoof on it, but it did not look like any old animal running through the snow.
"Um....Serzhant Smola?" one of the changeling soldiers aboard asked.
"Yes, private...?" Sergeant Resin replied.
"It's Feodora. You seem very on edge right now."
"I don't think we have only worgs lying in wait."
"Bandits?"
"Most likely. And they don't seem to be of the knives and spears kind."
Twinkle Star, overhearing the short exchange, clutched her Lee-Enfield tighter. The rest were also nervous at the prospect that the type of bandits they're going to be dealing with are properly equipped.
"Hey, you all seeing this?" the driver said. Resin looked towards the front-up ahead there is a faint glow off in the horizon. As the vehicles got closer, the silhouettes of buildings could be seen.
"We're nearly at the ruins!" the Cromwell commander declared, "Pick up the pace, lads and lasses!"
"What the-"
*Plink!*
"We got fire coming at us!" the tank right behind declared.
"From the ruins?!"
"No, on our right flank!"
Poking out from behind a snowdrift was four T-34s. They were painted white with small stripes of grey showing from underneath it.
"We got bandits attacking! They have bloody tanks!"
More T-34s appeared from behind the snowdrifts. They began charging right towards the convoy.
"All tanks and tank destroyers, engage those bandit tanks! The rest of you, get to the ruins!"
Following their orders, the combat vehicles in the convoy stopped and aimed their guns at the advancing tanks while the trucks and halftracks made a beeline to the ruins. Just as the first shots were to be fired, the ground exploded beside the T-34 leading the charge. This caused the tank to be flipped onto its side.
"Friendly artillery? Where did that come from?!" Crest exclaimed. Lance opened the hatch in time to see another artillery shell being shot from the ruins and right into another bandit T-34.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" the Cromwell's commander shouted, "Fire on them!"
The impromptu defensive formation came alive with muzzle flashes, shells barraging the the charging tanks. In addition, those riding on the tanks that had anti-tank rifles contributed to the storm of firepower. Despite this, the T-34s did not falter and approached optimal firing range. While many got hit the moment they stopped to fire, a few managed to pull of a shot.
One shell found its mark into the front of Steel Lance's Crusader. It flew right through the driver's compartment.
"Gah!" Press shouted in pain. Several shards of metal buried themselves right into him. Lance grabbed the medical kit attached inside the turret and pulled him out of the driver's seat to tend to his wounds.
"Lance, your tank's been hit! Status report!" the Cromwell's commander demanded.
"Our driver's wounded, but we can still fight!" Lance replied, "Crest, target that wanker!"
"On it!" Crest complied. She took aim at the offending tank, and fired. The 6 pounder shell tore into the front, through the hull machine gun. Another T-34 attempted to drive right into the Crusader. It got its right front sprocket shot off by a anti-tank rifle. Right after, a 85mm shell destroyed the vehicle.
"No one messes with our friend!" Alexei shouted.
"Thanks for the save!" Lance said.
"Another T-34 closing to your left!" Helga announced.
"Crest! You heard her!" Lance commanded.
"Already at it!" Crest replied. Turning the turret accordingly, she fired another shot at the T-34 that Helga spotted.
The bandit tanks were destroyed in droves. Eventually, with much of the bandits decimated, the surviving tanks fled.
"Alright, let's regroup with the rest of the convoy."
"Sergeant Cheshire here, we've met with the contacts. You won't believe who they are."
"Roger that. Get mov-"
Suddenly, the rear half of the Cromwell was blown apart. The force of the explosion also partially ripped the turret from its ring.
"Hey, you okay?! What happened?!"
No response.
"Cromwell's knocked out!" the T-80's commander yelled, "Taking fire from an unknown source!"
"This is Shiva, we see it!" The SU-100 shined its light on a misshapen snowdrift. Only except it was not a snowdrift at all.
"IS-2! TWO OF THEM! OH BLOODY HELL, GET US OUT OF HERE!" one of the Crusader commanders yelled. The second IS-2 aimed at one of the Shermans. In panic, the crew quickly tried to abandon their vehicle. The IS-2 fired, destroying the Sherman. The last crew member to get out, the driver, was thrown to the ground by the blast. The SU-100 fired at the first IS-2. Its shell penetrated the front once. The IS-2 traversed its turret to the SU-100.
Just as the first IS-2 was about to fire again, a tank shell smashed it into its side and destroyed its ammunition, causing the turret to be blown off. The second IS-2, intimidated by the sudden and violent destruction of its partner, backed out of sight.
"Cheshire here, our 'friends' managed to fix up that little problem you were having. Come along now, they don't have all day."
The surviving vehicles resumed their drive towards the ruins. After making sure that Press was stable, Lance took his place at the driver's seat. Three M5 halftracks were parked at the entrance into the ruins.
"Follow me. I vill take you to meeting place," a gruff, male voice said on the radio. One of the M5 halftracks drove back into the ruins. The other two drove towards the knocked out tanks. Next to the Cromwell wreck were its loader and driver; the rest of the crew didn't make it out. The Sherman's crew was huddled not far away from their destroyed tank.
As Lance's Crusader entered the ruins, he noticed a hard to see shape-it was a tank with a very large and long gun. There was still some residual firing smoke-this was the tank that took out the IS-2.
-----
The inside of the ruins did not look as dilapidated as the outside. Some of the buildings looked almost freshly built or at the very least renovated. The roads were well-maintained. There was even working telephone poles, though they only ran through certain parts of the ruins.
That wasn't the surprising part. What was surprising was that there were actually ponies and changelings living here. Guards stood ready on sentry posts, farmers were tending to crops, and there were even a few shops here and there that sold items that Lance has never seen before. He also noticed several bipedal creatures along with them-they looked similar to apes, but they stood up perfectly straight and lacked body hair. Those creatures were all wearing fully body winter wear-presumably just to keep warm due to having no fur. Lance swore he knows what these creatures were-but could not exactly remember what they were called. There was one point where they passed a few artillery pieces-the crews, consisting of both ponies, changelings, and the creatures, were idly chatting away.
Eventually the halftrack stopped in front of a building, which already had several vehicles parked there including the halftracks and trucks from the convoy. Judging by the simplistic red, white, and blue striped flag flying on top of the roof and how it is taller than all the other buildings, this was the town hall. The driver got out, went to the door of the building, and motioned them inside-Lance noticed that he too was one of the bipedal creatures. Several crew members from each vehicle got out and followed the creature inside. Several of the soldiers riding the vehicles also got off.
The town hall was very spacious-the lobby room had enough chairs for everyone to be seated in and more. There was a vacant reception desk near the back on it was a receiver for a intercom system. The creature went to the desk, put on a headset, and pushed the button on the receiver. It looked almost brand new in comparison to the desk-which was positively ancient.
Wait, ancient, ancient, ancient...oh, right, they're Ancients!, Lance thought. He was amazed that he was seeing living, breathing members of the species in these ruins. Maybe they haven't went extinct as everyone thought they did?
"Ostal'noye zdes'," the Ancient says. After a few seconds, he takes off the headset.
[The rest are here]
"Alright, ze information has already been given to one of your comrades to review," he says, "If zere is any questions you need to ask, ze people who have ze answers vill be vaiting in the conference room, third floor. You're free to explore ze building, but don't do anything funny." He then opens the door at the back of the room. It leads into a hallway. Immediately to the right is a mail room, with several letter desks inside. While most of the crews headed towards the stairs at the end of the hallway, Lance stopped at the mail room.
"Hm, maybe I should write a letter to Smartmouth and Mel..." Lance pondered. He went over to one of the desks and took out two envelopes and two pieces of paper. He then grabbed a quill with his mouth, dipped it in the ink well, and began to write on the first paper. Alexei, curious, went over to look at what Lance was writing.
"'Dear Smartmouth'? Hey, you vriting letter to your girlfriend again?" Alexei commented. Lance carefully put the quill back into the ink well and then turn to speak with Alexei.
"Alexei, I already told you, we're just friends," Lance replied.
"HAH! 'Just friends', eh? I've heard zat one before. A couple says zey're just friends, and zen vhat do you know? Five months later zey get married."
"Alexei..."
"Ah calm down, moi droog! I vas just messing vith you."
-----
"Ah-aah-aahh-choo!"
"Something wrong, Smartmouth?"
"Ugh, it's nothing, Tanky. For some reason my nose was itching suddenly."
-----
Lance sighed and then smiled. Alexei was always one to keep upbeat. He also likes teasing others. Lance went back to writing the letter.
"Dear Smartmouth,
Today has been interesting, to say the least. Not only did we discover new ruins, they are inhabited by ponies and changelings. Many of the buildings are restored to running condition and the infrastructure here seems well looked after. They also possess technology that looks pretty brand new. And that's not all. You won't believe what-or rather who-else lives here..."