//------------------------------// // 6 - Surf’s Up // Story: Apples, Tanks, N' Badflanks // by ultra1437 //------------------------------// Celestia shot upright. Something wasn't right. Something, no somepony, was missing. Celestia popped her head up and out the top of the Abrams and looked about. “Luna? Where are you, sister?” One of Luna's hooves shot up from behind the Thunderbolt. “Over here, 'Tia.” Celestia hopped out and made her way over. As she rounded the other side of the plane, she was surprised. “Breakfast! I made huckleberry pancakes!” Luna gestured to two plates stacked high with pancakes on the Thunderbolt’s wing. Celestia deeply inhaled the wonderful aroma and looking at the two massive stacks of pancakes. “How did you make pancakes? I know we had some berries left over, but where did you get the rest of the ingredients?” Luna looked away shyly before responding, “I woke up an hour ago, and could not get back to sleep. I was hungry and wanted to make pancakes. Did you know that they have all these cooking ingredients and food just stored in one of those buildings? There was no one around, so I took some, hoping to make us breakfast.” Luna looked back at her sister, ears pinned back against her skull. “Was that a bad thing?” Celestia smiled, eyeing the pancakes hungrily. “Truthfully? Yes that was bad, stealing from them again. But what’s done is done, nothing we can do about it now. Besides, these both look and smell delicious.” Both ponies dug in with gusto, and the pancakes suffered a total defeat at their hooves. “So ‘Tia, I remember something in the manuals about regular maintenance to keep the vehicles fit for use. I know we have had them a short time, but would it not hurt to give them a once over to make sure nothing is wrong?” Luna asked, sipping at her water. Celestia raised a hoof to her muzzle thoughtfully. “I suppose not. There must be some tools on them to help expedite the process.” Celestia stood up. “Come, let’s find them.” Celestia waved a hoof over to the Abrams. Luna nodded and joined her. Ducking into the tank for a minute, Celestia brought the manuals back out and they looked the books over. “‘Tia? I have found it.” Luna pointed to a diagram. Standing up, she moved over to the tank’s rear. “They are in the back, over here.” Luna lifted a very long, hollow, metal bar out from its hiding place on top of the Abrams’ hull. “Alright, it says here that we’ve got to use this bar to relieve the tension on one of the return roller wheels… wherever they are, then use this–” Celestia pulled out another, smaller crowbar right next to where the original was housed. “– to remove the wheel and check for damages. The other, pointy end can be used to separate individual links to replace them if necessary, too.” “Let us get started then, sister. The sooner we get started, the sooner we get to start looking for a way home!” Luna exclaimed. “So, where are the return roller wheels?” Celestia brought the manual back in front of her eyes. “It says that they’re the top wheels on the track, and that they’re hiding behind this sheet of metal.” Her crowbar tapped against the metal on the tank’s side. “There are four bolts holding this sheet to the main hull…” Celestia’s crowbar tapped against four separate spots as Luna hopped up and onto the tank’s hull, following along its path. “I see them. They are tiny, but must be strong,” Luna remarked, regarding the bolts holding the sheet to the hull. Magically, she torqued one, and it started unscrewing. She looked over to Celestia, smiling, “‘Tia, I will handle them.” Celestia nodded, going over the manual’s last few pages again. Luna removed all four bolts with her magic simultaneously, before the panel loudly slid down and off the tank’s side. Celestia’s ears perked at the sudden sound and she quickly hopped to the side, avoiding the panel currently crashing to the ground. “Luna, you must be more careful! What if the panel was damaged?” “Sorry, ‘Tia. I thought it would have hung there for a second. Anyway, our path is now unobstructed!” Luna cheered, bending her neck down to look at their prize. “It is… much more bare than I had thought it would have been. I mean, there are only three of them!” Luna’s description was accurate, the now-revealed part of the tank’s suspension was surprisingly easy to figure out. As the track wrapped around the top wheel, it just shot back to the rear in a straight line, its weight supported by three much-smaller wheels. “Alright, so we have to lift the track off one of these wheels–” Celestia grabbed the longer bar from Luna, sliding it into a slot right next to a wheel, before lifting it, and the track, off the wheel. “– and then we slide the other one here…” Her smaller crowbar fit into the wheel, and she pulled sharply. There was a loud snap, and the wheel fell to the ground. Luna looked on as Celestia removed the wheel. “Sister, I do not think that was a good sound. Hopefully we can fix that.” Luna lept down and they both examined the wheel, then the mount. There were two bolts in it, now sheared off, with some left still on the mount, while the wheel was deformed slightly where Luna had pulled it. “Hopefully we can get those out, and replace them, Luna,” Celestia spoke. ‘Otherwise, this could be bad,’ Celestia added in her own mind. She looked down at the bolts, then to her diagram. “And now I feel silly. I accidentally missed a step that didn’t translate properly.” Luna smirked cheekily. “The Wise and All-powerful Princess Celestia making a mistake? That must be a first!” Luna received a hurt look, but the shine in Celestia’s eyes betrayed her true feelings at the joke. Luna kept her tone, “Alright, I will go see if we can find another return-wheel-thing for the Great and Infallible Princess Celestia to fix.” Celestia repressed her urge to giggle like a filly. “Alright, Luna. See if you can find one for the ‘Ageless and Beautiful Princess Celestia’ to fix!” Celestia’s royal tone was betrayed by her widening smile. “Do take care not to let your ego best you, oh Humble and Down to Earth Princess Celestia,” Luna called back, hopping to the tank’s other side. The dam finally broke and Celestia laughed. Not the gentle giggle most would hear when a poor joke was told, but a full, incapacitating guffaw. She rolled onto her back, laughing uncontrollably, as Luna keeled over, laughing much the same on the other side. After a minute, both sisters calmed down and Luna set about finding another wheel to replace the broken one. “Oh Wonderful and Approachable Princess Celestia, another wheel has been appropriated for your usage!” Luna hopped back over to Celestia’s side of the tank, clearly struggling to hold her laughter in. She set another wheel and two bolts down next to her sister. “Thank you, oh Wise and Beautiful Princess Luna! It is just the one I’d been looking for.” Celestia gave her sister a bow before giggling like a filly. Both sisters quickly descended into another laughing fit. As the latest attempt to choke on her own laughter died away, Celestia sighed loudly. “Oh Luna, thank you for that. Truly, that was what I missed the most when you were away.” She shook her head. “But you’re back, and we’re not likely going anywhere without each other anytime soon.” “I agree there, ‘Tia.” Luna hopped down and bopped Celestia’s schnoz with a wingtip. “Beside that, with whom else would you chat and act like a silly pony with, other than myself? Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia’s ears pinned back. “Well, yes, bu–” Luna interrupted her, holding her wingtip back over Celestia’s mouth. “She is more like a daughter than a student, is she not?” Celestia nodded. “I rest my case.” Removing her wing, Luna lifted the broken wheel and inspected it again. Finding where the bolts were sheared in two, she checked the mount. Luna gripped the two remaining bolt pieces in her magic and turned them, slowly backing them free. Once the obstruction was clear Luna motioned to Celestia, who hefted the new wheel into position. “Alright, now we have to line the holes up and insert the new bolts. Could I get a little light, ‘Tia?” No more than a second later, Celestia’s horn poked her in the cheek, shining weakly. “Thank you, sister.” Luna spun the wheel slowly with a hoof, eventually lining the holes up. She tapped Celestia once. “Bolts, please.” Both bolts levitated right onto her nose, followed by a cheeky giggle. “Thanks.” Her own horn lit and one lifted into position, turning slowly. After a minute, the bolt and its friend were snugly in place, securing the wheel to the mount. “There!” Luna backed out and away from the tank, looking at her hoofwork. “Now that the wheel is changed, let us inspect the track for any damage.” Celestia was way ahead of her, checking the track as best she could, even turning a road-wheel invisible to view the track underneath it. “So far it looks in good condition, other than being a bit dirty. Though, that’s to be expected.” “Really, sister? I expected it to be immaculate, after running through the sand and forest like that,” Luna deadpanned. A minute more and they finished their inspection. “It appears to be in perfect working order, Luna. Let’s hope that the replacement is secured tightly enough,” Celestia spoke reassuringly. Luna huffed childishly. “I am sure it will, ‘Tia. After all, I replaced it.” “Oh yes, the Mechanical Savant Princess Luna has saved the day once again!” Luna struck a heroic pose with a hoof pointing straight forward, as Celestia continued, “However will we hope to keep up with her greatness?” Luna held her pose as she replied, “Oh, there is no hope for anypony to catch up to my greatness! Well, none for anypony other than my sister, but I have not seen her smiling face in quite a while. I fear she may never return.” She giggled again before lifting the damaged wheel and replacing it where she found the spare. “Yes, wherever could she be? Wherever she is, I hope she’s alright.” Celestia struck the same pose Luna had a few seconds earlier. “Until she returns, I shall stay with you, Luna!” Luna jumped down and ran back over to Celestia, matching her pose, their outstretched hooves bumping together. “Then the greatest of friendships has been forged!” They collapsed together laughing again. After calming down Celestia thanked her sister, “Truly, this fooling around is what I’d missed. Thank you.” “It was no problem, ‘Tia. Is there anything else to look over on the Abrams?” Luna asked. Celestia looked to the manual before shaking her head. “Not really, Lulu. Just calibrating the gauges and realigning the cannon’s sights, but those shouldn’t need to be done.” She stepped forward, looking to the cannon. “It says something about that needing to be done every three or four operations.” She flipped a page and hummed for a second. “The rest of this can only be done with some kind of specialized lift. It appears we’re done, sister.” “Alright then, ‘Tia. Come, let us look over the Thunderbolt.” Luna motioned a hoof to the plane, before making her way over to it. Celestia followed, stopping only to retrieve the plane’s manual. “Well, we can give the wheels, body, and engines a once-over, Luna. Everything else here has to be done with more equipment,” Celestia sighed, snapping the book shut sharply. ‘This requiring special equipment thing’s really putting a dampener on our together-time here.’ “Well, let us look it over then, ‘Tia. The sooner we get this done, we will be able to focus on going home.” Celestia hopped up to the top of one of the wings, inspecting the engine in the rear as best she could. Luna stood underneath, inspecting the wing’s underside for any damage. Finding nothing wrong, they moved to the other side. Celestia spoke softly, “Well, sister, there’s nothing that appears wrong with the engines, as best I can tell.” “There appears to be nothing wrong with these wings, either,” Luna replied, bumping her horn against a wing lightly as she got out from underneath it. Luna shrugged with her wings, stretching them. “Well, with that done, we focus on going home, then.” Celestia still stood on top of the plane and she noticed something coming from the forest. As it neared, her eyes widened in realization. “Sister, look! Is that what I think it is?” Celestia pointed to the nearing cloud of green smoke. Luna looked where her sister had pointed, and her eyes widened in realization. “It is! A message! How did it find us here?” “I intend to find out, Luna.” The smoke cloud hovered in front of her horn patiently, almost stuck to the end as she hopped down to the ground. A quick flash of Celestia’s horn and the smoke cloud spun itself into a scroll. Celestia quickly opened it up and read aloud. Dear Princess Celestia, This message has been enchanted with a locator spell. Hopefully it doesn’t run out of charge before the message reaches you. If it does, please send it back with a return address. No, Spike, don’t write that. Discord’s just being himself. Don’t write that either! From what Discord’s told us, this is all some kind of accident and we’re working hard to get you home. He’s been surprisingly helpful, actually. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to keep Equestria calm in your stead, along with raising the sun and moon. That particular endeavor has seen mixed results. If-no, when you get back, Princess, you’ll definitely have your work cut out for you, especially with the nobles. Anyways, I’ve rambled on long enough. Discord says that there’s some kind of spell he wants to try to use to find you, but this won’t be the only message I’ll send. They’ll all be slightly different, just to make them distinguishable for when you return. Then maybe we’ll have a viable form of long-range communication between worlds if the need arises! Make sure to tell Luna I said hi! Your Faithful Student fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle Message 03, Magically-boosted Dragonfire Communication Spell P.S. Spike here. Twi’s been up most of the last 24 hours trying to keep a city-wide riot at bay. She’s starting to get a little loopy. I’ll make sure she gets to bed after this letter. Celestia set down the letter. “Well, that was certainly… something.” Luna spoke, looking shocked. “At least they’re trying to help us get home!” Not a second later, a second cloud of smoke, this one angrily flashing red, hovered over to the pair before attaching itself to Luna’s horn this time. Not wasting any time, Luna flashed the smoke cloud into a scroll. Luna unrolled it and before she could start, the scroll started reading itself aloud, nearly shrieking the words that had been written. Dear Princess Loony, Where are you? We looked all over the castle and you and Sunny were missing! I be- Sorry, Pinkie started screaming into the letter, and now it’s going to have that tone. The letter sighed audibly. Anyways, we’re doing our best to find you, blah blah blah, each message is different, yadda yadda radda. Twilight says that one or more of these is bound to find you sooner or later. I just hope this one isn’t one of them. The other letters will probably say this much less plainly, but I’m sorry. This was all an accident and I’m hoping you come home soon. And not angry. Mostly that last part. There’s other letters to write, so I’ll just send this on its way. Hopefully still your friend, Discord P.S. Next time we drink like that, no magic afterwards. Learned that lesson well enough right now with Sparkle breathing down my neck. When the screaming stopped, both sisters exchanged glances before pointing at each other and laughing again. Both of their manes had been blown straight back and now stuck that way, only waving slightly in place. They both exclaimed at the same time, “Your mane!” Luna attempted to run a hoof through her mane, trying to get it to return to normal, but it stubbornly stuck blown-back as it was. As they ruffled their hair into a more normal state over a few minutes, Celestia noticed something in the forest had changed. Gone were the birds chirping, rustling leaves, and any other sound that their current dwelling had produced. It was dead silent. Celestia lit her horn and re-established the mental link with Luna. “Luna. Listen,” Celestia commanded her sister over their mental link, looking around them. Luna’s ears perked up and swivelled around, trying to locate what her sister asked. “It is quiet, ‘Tia,” Luna replied after a minute. “Exactly. Where’re the forest’s normal sounds? I hear no wind, no animals, nothing. Something isn’t right,” Celestia explained, looking about. Luna shuddered. “‘Tia, I think we should probably get moving. If we have to return eventually to go home, we can. But I don’t like this feeling.” A small crunch broke the silence, and both of their heads whirled around to look at what made the noise. At the clearing’s edge was a biped, one from the camp. It was dressed like they’d seen before, in some kind of armor with a portable, miniaturized version of the Abrams’ cannon. Celestia bolted to her hooves. “They’ve found us! Luna, get to your plane, we need to run!” As she stood, the biped yelled something unintelligible, yet menacing. It brandished its weapon, pointing it at them. Celestia lit her horn again, ripping the weapon from the biped and throwing it into the distance. “Go, Luna. I’ll turn it around when you’re inside.” Celestia’s horn shined brighter, and a small shield appeared around herself and Luna, while much larger shields appeared around their vehicles. Hopefully safe for now, both sisters moved to their vehicles. The smaller shields faded as they entered the vehicles’ larger bubbles. Once inside the Abrams, Celestia telekinetically lifted and turned the Thunderbolt around, so it could take off. “Go, Luna. I’ll catch up in a moment,” Celestia spoke to Luna. “I will cover you as best I can, ‘Tia.” Luna started the engines and waited only long enough for them to get up to speed before rocketing off into the sky. Celestia ducked down into the tank and started its engine, before looking about for where Luna had taken off to. Deciding on a direction away from the camp, she headed into the forest. “Sister! I see a portal! I think it’s Twilight!” Luna’s voice exclaimed over their link. “Oh. It is on an island. On the lake near the camp.” Luna’s tone grew depressed. “Where would that be in relation to the sun, Luna?” Celestia asked, spotting the sun through the treetops. “Put the sun on your right wing, sister.” A plane roared over the treetops, close enough to make them sway with its contrail. “Thank you, Lulu.” As Celestia shot through the forest, dodging rocks and trees, trundling over the occasional young sapling, she heard the distinct sound of other engines off in the distance. “Be careful, I think they brought a full force this time, Luna. I hear other tanks in the forest.” The rumbling grew steadily louder, and Celestia crashed through a few large bushes. Immediately, she was upon six other Abrams tanks, their turrets looking in other directions. Almost reflexively, she drove between the two that had started to turn toward her, and through the formation. “If they have their other tanks looking for us, I imagine the planes cannot be far behind,” Luna added helpfully. “The other tanks are after me, Luna. Is there any way we can speed this Abrams up?” Celestia asked. A few seconds later, the area around her lit up in explosions as the other tanks fired at her. “Once you clear the forest, we can see about hooking our two vehicles together. If we can’t lose them, we might have to do it on the move,” Luna replied morosely. “If we have to, we have to, Luna. We won’t have a choice at that point,” Celestia growled at her sister over the link before realizing her tone. “I’m sorry, Luna. You didn’t deserve that.” “It is fine, ‘Tia. I know you meant nothing by it,” Luna replied seriously. As the tanks shelled Celestia, only occasionally did they strike home, knocking small holes in her shield. Celestia reinforced her shield each time it was hit, but ignored the heat and occasional bit of molten metal that made it through to her. “I’m just leaving the forest right now, Luna. Where are you?” Celestia asked, her tank picking up to its maximum speed as it neared the forest’s edge. “Look up.” Luna’s plane roared overhead, distinguishable by the shield Celestia had given it earlier. It looked a little dim, so Celestia reinforced it as best she could. “They keep on firing at me, Luna. We’ll have to do this on the move.” “Alright, sister. Create or acquire some long chains or ropes that you can use to attach our vehicles together.” There was still several miles to go until they reached the lake, so Celestia stepped out and on top of the Abrams, looking about for anything that might be usable. “They’ll have to be magically lengthened, but I found what appears to be two towing cables, Luna.” Luna’s plane circled back and wove a tight circle high above Celestia. “Levitate them above the tank, I will do it. It looks like if you take on any more strain, you might cascade.” Celestia lifted the cables up and outside the shield, where Luna took them over in her telekinesis. Straightening up, she hooked them to a mount on each wing. “How long do you think they need to be, ‘Tia?” Luna asked, lengthening the cables to several times their original length. “Long enough that if I get stopped suddenly, you won’t find yourself pointed at the ground a second or two later,” Celestia replied sarcastically. “Ha ha, ‘Tia. Very funny,” Luna shot back, lengthening them more. “Alright, these should be long enough. How are we going to do this?” “Make another pass, and I’ll hook them up as you pass over slowly,” Celestia stated preparing herself for what was to come. Luna peeled off, quickly circling around behind Celestia, the cables dragging several feet off the ground now. “Luna, can you slow down more? You’re passing by too quickly.” “No, sister. I’m at minimum speed to remain airborne, if I slow down any more, this plane is liable to fall out of the sky.” Luna’s voice brokered no arguments about slowing down any further. Celestia face-hoofed at the sudden thought. “Make another pass, but lower. It’ll give me some slack to use and hook them up quickly then.” Luna’s plane descended and circled around again. Celestia grabbed the two cables, and hooked them into position on the front end, near the tracks. As Luna’s plane pulled past, the cables pulled taut, and the tank jerked forward for a split second before disaster struck. The cables snapped out of the hooks on the Abrams and flew free, one nearly striking Celestia as it careened wildly. “The cables snapped free from the strain, Luna. Can you reinforce them?” Celestia asked. “Give me a few seconds, sister.” The cables quickly glowed blue before Luna turned around for a final pass. “They should hold this time. Though, you should fuse your end to the hull, since I imagine the hooks are broken, right?” “Yep. That was my plan, Lulu.” Again the cables draped over Celestia’s tank, and she quickly used some of her magic to superheat the cables’ ends to the hull, where the hooks used to be. As they pulled taut again, the tank lurched, but the cables stayed attached, and it picked up speed. Celestia stepped back down into the turret, looking to the sky as another plane joined Luna’s in the sky, strafing her shield with gunfire. Several others flew past the Thunderbolt as well, but made no attempts to attack it. “I’m hooked up, Luna!” No sooner had Celestia spoken, when Luna’s Thunderbolt accelerated, pulling the tank faster and faster. Looking one last time to the magically reinforced cables connecting her Abrams to Luna’s Thunderbolt, she sighed. “Are you sure these cables will hold?” “I am sure, ‘Tia, I reinforced them. I just hope that suspension on your tank can handle the extra speed without tearing itself apart,” Luna’s tone grew worried as she spoke to Celestia through their mental link. A loud whine approached, then passed overhead quickly and departed before Luna continued, “My shield has taken several hits since I took off, they are desperate to take me down. Could you reinforce it?” “Alright, Luna. I’m coming up to reinforce the shields.” At her sister’s behest, Celestia made her way on top of the Abrams. As she stepped out onto the turret, a rear hoof bumped against a box, which started playing sound. Each word in that sentence is a song. Pick whichever one you want. Or your own, if you’ve got a better choice. Be wary of ads, too. Celestia listened to the sound, now recognizing it as some kind of alien music, letting her hoof tap along to its rhythm. ‘This is their music? It’s not bad. Anyways, I must get to work.’ Focusing, Celestia lit her horn and reinforced the shield protecting their vehicles, and themselves, from harm as they sped toward the portal. “Sister? Hold onto something, your tank will be hitting the water in just a few seconds.” Luna’s voice echoed in her head. She turned to regard the calm lake that separated them from the portal. Overhead, a plane streaked by, strafing Luna’s Thunderbolt with gunfire. Celestia grunted loudly as the force tore at her concentration, but the shield held, glowing much weaker now. She forced more power into the shield, restoring it to its previous sheen. She ducked her head back into the turret and grabbed their regalia, and as she pulled back out she poked the box, accidentally turning its music up louder. As she stood back up, she noticed the water was much closer in the few seconds that had passed, she hunkered down in preparation for the coming trouble. “Luna, punch it. We’ll need all the speed we can get to get across this lake without sinking.” Far behind them, the six Abrams tanks took aim and fired at Celestia. Only one round struck home, finding its way against Celestia’s shield. The tank’s shell managed to create a coin-sized hole in the shield, and its remaining force showered Celestia, and the turret she rode on, in molten tungsten again. Celestia, used to her own sun’s heat, largely ignored it while what was left of their regalia that was sitting at her hooves melted down. Looking down, she noticed the gold and silver pooling about her rear hooves and she quickly hit it with a bit of ice magic to secure her herself against the Abrams’ turret as she smirked. “It is already punched, sister.” Not two seconds later, the Abrams left the dirt and started onto the water. The extra speed provided from Luna’s Thunderbolt kept the Abrams from sinking, though it did pitch backward dangerously at first. The two vehicles slowly bled momentum from the Abrams’ water resistance, but determinedly kept on towards their goal. Celestia turned and fixed her own shield in time for another shell to slam against it, glancing off to the side this time. “They are persistent, Luna. I fear that we may have to drive them off or worse before venturing through the portal.” “I agree, bu– I think I see Twilight Sparkle, sister!” Celestia turned around toward the portal and squinted slightly, noticing a little purple dot hovering in place nearby. A purple dome shot up over the portal, with a large hole in the side, big enough for Luna’s plane to fly through. As they made their way across the lake, one plane made the unfortunate mistake of staying in front of Luna's plane too long. She fired a short burst from her plane's gun and tore it apart, sending pieces falling to the ground. The waters around Celestia's tank were whipped up from the enemy tanks continuing to fire at her. She looked to face where the fire was coming from and reinforced the shield again, immersing herself even more into the music that came from inside the tank. During a reprieve from attacks, the song grew intense. While falling into the music's trance, she closed her eyes and rose to stand only on her rear hooves, her wings spread wide for balance. She held her forehooves out in front of herself, spread almost as wide as her wings and she took in the music completely. Her head and neck continued to bounce along with the music as she committed the song to memory. After a minute, the song died away, another one started to play, but Luna's voice interrupted her trance. “Look sharp, 'Tia. We're across the lake.” As the Abrams hit land again, the worst came to pass. A loud snap came from the right side and Celestia looked to see pieces and parts of the track and suspension shoot off and away. Looking behind her, what was left of the track slid out from under the vehicle and came to a stop. In response to half of its suspension taking such damage, the tank pulled sharply to the right. Celestia used her magic to quickly melt the cables and the metal securing herself to its turret, separating the two vehicles as she leapt clear. The Abrams’ remaining track dug into the mud and its momentum carried it into a roll. As it lost momentum, the turret came off and slid to a stop while the rest of the tank stopped several dozen feet in the distance. Celestia didn’t notice, but the cables had already pulled taut and ripped themselves, along with a small chunk on each wing, from the Thunderbolt, sending Luna into a wild roll. “Luna! The Abrams is damaged, I’ve released the cables. Get to the portal and cover me, if you can.” She quickly cast another bubble shield around herself, dropping the one around what was left of the Abrams. Luna quickly recovered and took stock of the damage. “I will cover you, but I will not go on without you. We pass through the portal together, or not a–” Luna grunted as another plane strafed hers, firing both guns and missiles this time. “–or not at all.” The shield around Luna’s plane had all but disappeared now. Celestia noticed a second plane coming in for another attack on Luna. Trying and failing to reinforce Luna’s shield from their distance apart, she called out to her sister, “Luna, dive quickly! There’s a second one behind you!” Luna dropped altitude, but she wasn’t going to get clear before the plane attacked her. Thinking quickly, Celestia’s horn took on a second, then third, overglow as she pushed herself into a cascade, her magic output switching from linear to exponential. Time seemed to slow down for her as she thought, ‘I hope that I don’t pay for this in a few seconds, but I have no choice.’ The Abrams’ turret, lying on the ground, was surrounded in her telekinesis and she picked it up. ‘This thing weighs nearly as much as Luna’s whole plane does!’ She focused on the turret as she remembered its layout. First, she popped the ammo box hatch open and floated out a shell and charge, loading them into the breech magically. “Sister, if you could reinforce my shield, I would greatly appreciate it!” Luna’s voice chimed in. Celestia maneuvered the turret to face toward the plane attacking Luna. ‘I wish I had Twilight’s nearly savant-mind here, she’d be able to calculate the physics necessary for this shot in time…’ She flipped off the gun’s safety and got ready to press down on the trigger. “You’re too far away, Luna. I can’t, not without further triggering my cascade. But I can do this.” She pressed down on the trigger, and the cannon fired. Whereas, when the turret had the rest of the tank’s mass to dissipate the cannon’s recoil, it now had none. Celestia lost her grip on the turret after the shell left the barrel, coming crashing back to the ground. Celestia prayed that she had aimed properly, watching the shell speed toward the attacking plane. Just when she thought she’d gotten lucky, the shell started to drop. It dropped too far. Celestia’s eyes widened as she realized her folly. ‘Oh no. Oh no… NO!’ “Luna, run! Get out of there, Luna!” A scream tore its way from Celestia’s throat as the shell she fired impacted her own shield that surrounded Luna’s plane. It tore through the shield like it was nothing, and the backlash from the shield failing went just as ignored, turning the plane's rear half into little more than a falling fireball. The canopy popped off the Thunderbolt just after the shell impacted, but she saw nothing emerge. The attacking plane disengaged and retreated at the sight, moving much more slowly this time. ‘I… Luna…’ As the Thunderbolt’s flaming wreck dropped past the tree line, Celestia looked back to the forgotten turret. Almost mechanically, she lifted it up again. Despite the tears in her eyes she aimed, compensating better for the distance this time as she reloaded the cannon and fired. Even when the shell hit and destroyed the attacking plane, she was numb. Twice, she was attacked by other planes, but her shield held. ‘Luna… What have I done?’ As they attacked her, she returned fire, and when all but one that retreated were all destroyed, the turret hit the ground one last time, its edges glowing red-hot and various panels dented and warped from her cascade and the heat. “‘Tia? Sister, are you alright? You are strangely quiet after screaming at me like that.” Celestia's ears perked up and she looked toward where her sister's plane had fallen. In the distance, a small, blue dot hovered just above the tree line. “What hit me, ‘Tia? Even the weapons on the other planes were not that powerful.” The dot quickly approached, followed by a second, smaller dot. Celestia quickly realized that the first dot was something Luna was carrying with her as she returned, and it was much larger than she was. “‘Tia? Are you still there?” The sole remaining plane in the sky made its way over to Luna, attempting to attack her again, but before Celestia could destroy it, the thing Luna was carrying with her spat fire at the plane, tearing a wing off. The plane spiraled out of control and sailed into the tree line. Taking this small reprieve from being attacked, opened a hole in her shield and she doused the turret in water, cooling it off. “Yes, Luna. I am fine. I thought I had lost you!” In short order, Luna landed next to Celestia, the shield’s hole closing up. Luna's coat was covered in soot, with a few patches of fur missing, but otherwise appeared hale and healthy. Noticing her sister's condition, Celestia nearly tackled Luna in a hug as a thud sounded nearby. “I couldn't reinforce your shield from that distance!” She sniffled once, hugging Luna harder. “I picked up the tank's turret and fired at the plane, but…” she trailed off, looking away ashamedly. “I wasn't accurate enough.” Her eyes watered up. Luna looked shocked and tried to pull back. “It wasn't that plane that hit me, was it? It was you.” Celestia gripped her sister tighter, nodding once. “‘Tia, it was an accident. I know you didn't mean to hit me.” Luna bopped her sister on the nose with a wingtip, speaking more forcefully, “Sister. Look at me.” She forced Celestia to look her in the eyes with a hoof as she spoke, “Celestia. It. Was. An accident. I am alive.” Celestia blinked, her eyes fearful. “You know full well that this dust and dirt on my coat is nothing. You may have missed the first shot, but while I was looking over the Thunderbolt's wreck, I noticed that other plane explode just as violently as my own did.” She looked into Celestia's eyes again, noticing her pleading look. Luna slumped slightly, giving up. “Oh, fine. Get it over with. I know you will not forgive yourself until you do…” Celestia stepped back and cast a spell unique to herself. While it was a healing spell, it didn't actually heal injuries. It only transferred them from another pony to the caster. There were only three beings still alive that knew of her old title, 'Bleeding Heart' Celestia, and one was sitting in front of her and she, herself, was the second. Luna's wounds healed, her fur grew back and the same patches fell off Celestia. She fell to her haunches and panted slightly as she took on her sister's stamina drain as well. When all was said and done, Luna was immaculate. As Celestia took her sister's injuries as her own, Luna gestured to the item she brought back with her, lying on the ground nearby. “I managed to salvage the Avenger from the Thunderbolt, by the way. After this adventure, I am taking it as a souvenir to remember this trip, even if it doesn't work anymore. I think you should take the turret as well.” Celestia seemed to pause for a second. “No. I’m not taking it. I already hurt you with it, and I wish to be rid of it for good.” She looked over to the turret disdainfully. “Take it, sister. If for no other reason than to remember this trip. It will help you remember that nopony is perfect. Everypony makes mistakes, even you, dear sister.” Ears folding back, Celestia grumbled, more to herself than her sister, “I make mistakes more often than you think, Luna.” Luna nuzzled into her sister's neck. “I know you do. Still, take it. If for no other reason than to remember that.” As the last word left Luna’s mouth, several explosions smashed against and around Celestia’s shield. Already weakened from taking her sister’s injuries, Celestia fell to her knees and cried out, but the shield held, glowing much less vibrantly. Luna looked about and spotted the six Abrams tanks speeding toward the shoreline, aiming directly at them. “Celestia, the tanks have returned!” Luna cried out, pointing in their direction. “I see them, Luna.” Luna looked over to her sister, noticing Celestia’s third glow on her horn as the shield took on a much more solid hue. Her eyes widened with one realization. “How close to a cascade are you, sister? I can take over shielding us if you wish.” Celestia stood, a fourth coating of overglow appearing. The Abrams turret lifted into the air and whipped around to face the six remaining interlopers. She fired at one of the tanks, the shell striking true against the turret, but failing to do any noticeable damage to it. “I already have, Luna. Just a very minor one, but any further and the area will get hot quickly.” A hole large enough for Luna to exit appeared on the shield, facing the portal. “You might want to take cover near the portal, Luna. I’m taking the fight to them. They’ve attacked us for the last time.” Celestia stood, her front legs stomping down on the ground hard enough to leave small depressions in the ground. A second later, more shells struck her shield uselessly. ‘Oh horseapples. This is not good. This is far beyond just anger.’ Luna thought, noticing Celestia’s change in demeanor. “Celestia. You need to calm down. Going after them is exactly what they want you to do.” “I know. I don’t care. I nearly lost you, Luna. Multiple times. I’m ending this fight now. Then we can return to Equestria. I do not wish to hurt you, Luna. So please, take cover by the portal.” More shells slammed into the shield, utterly ignored at this point. “I will not, Celestia.” Luna stomped a hoof down, creating a matching hole on the ground they stood on. “I told you earlier. We survive together, or die together. I will not let you fight this battle alone.” Luna met her sister’s gaze. The tanks continued to pound the shield before Celestia blinked. “Only if you’re sure, Luna. You know of my power during a cascade. I cannot protect you completely from harm.” Celestia’s mane and tail started to flow much faster, from a calm wind into much like that of a hurricane’s gale force winds. A fifth coating of overglow appeared on her horn, and the air inside the shield grew increasingly hot and stuffy. “You do not have to.” Luna chuckled, her tone less serious, “Besides, what is a few burned feathers and having to regrow some fur to us? We pretty much had do that every other week after defeating Discord. If nothing else, give me two minutes to enchant this Avenger. It is nearly out of ammunition and is slightly damaged from the crash.” Celestia snorted. “Alright, Luna, you’ve got your two minutes. After that, I’m taking the fight to them.” The fifth and fourth glows died away and the again red-hot Abrams turret slammed into the ground. Again, the turret was doused with lake water, which faded to steam as Celestia sat back down and shut her eyes pensively, focusing on the shield. Luna quickly grabbed the Avenger and looked it over once more. ‘It appears to be in working condition…’ She sniffed once, wrinkling her nose. ‘Though I will need to enchant the barrels to spin, that last burst burned out something in the motor…’ Detaching the drum from the weapon, she looked at the rest of the weapon. ‘Alright, so it feeds from this area, draws through to the barrels, and back into the drum? It must be to save the unused parts to reuse them again. That saves me a bit of magic.’ Reattaching the drum and connecting the feeds, Luna wove three enchantments over the weapon. The first set the barrels to spin quickly, adjustable as necessary. The second replenished the ammunition in the drum as spent casings returned to it and took the most from her reserves of the three, as well as a minute of her allotted time. The third was an enhanced durability enchantment on the barrels and feed systems to prevent jamming and warping from overheating. Just as she hefted the weapon and tested the spinning enchantment, Celestia stood back up and took an aggressive stance, her horn regaining its fourth and fifth overglow. “Your time’s up Luna. Are you sure you’re ready?” Celestia looked back to Luna, concern evident in her eyes, despite the anger showing on the rest of her face and posture. “I am. Let us finish this.” Celestia opened a hole in the shield and fired a single bolt of golden magic from her horn, three of the five overglows disappearing as the bolt left her horn as her mane and tail returned to their previous calmly flowing state. The bolt slammed into the left-most tank’s turret, where the gun met the turret proper. Instantly, the metal turned white hot and began to warp and melt. What was left of the bolt continued through and into the crew compartment, before finding and melting into the ammunition rack. A few seconds later, the heat and melting metal set the rack off and the turret’s rear blew out, spilling orange, blue, and white flames. “That’s one of them. Let’s get the other five, Luna. Then we can go home.” Celestia strode forward, dropping the shield once the latest barrage came to an end. “Now, sister. Let us finish this!” Celestia grabbed the turret and tried to take off, completely forgetting its weight rendered her too heavy to fly. Yelping surprisedly in realization, she splashed into the lake. As she disappeared underwater, the area around her quickly boiled and let off steam from the heat. Just as suddenly, the glow around turret disappeared and it dropped to the ground, and Celestia surfaced a few seconds later. Luna stood nearby, a smirk on her face. “Right. That was stupid of me. Let us never talk about that. I’ll stay here and provide support then, since I cannot fly.” She hefted the turret once more and fired, the shell striking one of the middle tank’s tracks, immobilizing it. “Sister, why don’t you just hit them each with another bolt like the first one?” Luna asked, legitimately confused. “I can’t keep firing those, Luna. I don’t have the energy to fire another two, let alone five, with the drain I took on healing you.” Luna took to the sky, the Avenger hovering along in her telekinesis. “You are right. I had simply forgotten about that.” The remaining four mobile tanks quickly reversed and spread out, making themselves less of a single target and continued to fire at Celestia. “Take them out, sister. It appears they’re focused on killing me.” Celestia kept the turret close, constantly moving with a small, mobile directional shield in front of herself to deflect the remaining tanks’ fire. Luna soared into the sky, circling the fight. ‘From what I remember, their armor should be the weakest at the top and the rear… I wonder which is the weakest.’ She swooped down, Avenger spewing shot after shot down into the previously-immobilized tank. After a few seconds of fire, her own velocity slowed, stopped, and reversed, despite the dive she was in. Luna cut her fire off, resuming her dive. ‘Well then… Guess I am sticking with small bursts, lest I become a sitting target.’ Her fire was minimally effective, only a few finding their home inside the vehicle itself. One made its way into the engine, setting it aflame. The crew quickly abandoned the vehicle, making a dash for the forest, then the camp. After a few seconds, Luna discarded the brief thought of killing the unarmed bipeds fleeing the vehicle. ‘They have no weapons, and I will not stoop to that level.’ She changed tactics and came around at one of the other tanks from behind, Avenger firing as soon as she was lined up. Bursting fire for a half second at a time, she kept her speed and riddled the tank’s rear with fire. Like the first one she targeted, its engine was set aflame, but both tracks had been blown apart where they met the engine itself. Again, much like the other tank, its crew abandoned it, then the battlefield altogether. Luna let out an audible whoop in excitement. “That makes three, Celestia. How are you holding up?” Luna passed over the tanks at speed, flying out over the lake, before doubling back. Celestia sighed into their link. “I’m fine, Luna. Truthfully, I’m sick of this place. Finish it quickly, then let us return home.” While Luna dealt with those two, Celestia and the remaining tanks traded fire, with Celestia dodging with fancy hoofwork that would make any freerunner proud. She aimed as well as she could, but only once scored any kind of damaging hit on her opponent, a glancing blow against the hull’s side, knocking off a pair of plates that left part of its left track exposed. Celestia’s shield had taken one direct hit, and another had struck along the turret’s top, showering its inside with molten tungsten. After the turret was damaged, she had to drop it and focus on cooling it down, lest its own ammunition explode from the heat that the striking shell and her own magic imparted into it. When the turret hit the ground, it was glowing more yellow than the deep red her magic had heated it to previously. “Luna, I can’t return fire, the turret can’t take any more heat, else it will melt or explode,” Celestia spoke frankly, urging her sister on to finishing it off. ‘Or both.’ “I am just starting a dive now, sister. Can you hold out for a minute or so?” Luna asked back, picking up speed to attack the final tank from behind. “I can, now that I can fly,” Celestia responded. Celestia dodged another shell, taking to the sky as she was no longer hindered by the turret’s weight. She made sure to keep the tanks’ attention as she peppered them with miniscule little magic bolts, nowhere near the power or intensity she’d used before. Luna attacked a tank, and set it ablaze, much like the two before it. The other two quickly accelerated and left Luna’s line of fire before turning to attack her. As the flaming tank’s crew fled, Luna climbed out of their line of fire. Celestia took advantage of their distraction, firing another powerful magic bolt at one that faced away from her, striking its ammunition rack. The crew abandoned it quickly as the ammunition fires spilled over into the engine. The last tank took off, headed back toward the forest, and Luna dove straight at it, firing into the top of its turret. One of her shots managed to catch its left track after ricocheting off the turret, splintering a link into pieces. It quickly unravelled from the suspension and the wheels dug into the soft dirt, causing it to spin hard. From its momentum, it slid and rolled down the small hill, coming to a rest on its top. Nothing seemed to emerge from the flipped tank as Luna made her way back to Celestia, setting the Avenger down by the turret and coming to hover next to her sister. Celestia was just scooping more water onto the turret, attempting to cool it slowly. “Well, that was certainly a one-sided fight, ‘Tia.” Celestia nodded in agreement. “It was. I doubt this turret will be of much use to anypony, with the stress it just went through.” As she slowly cooled off the turret, its color changed back to red, then the tan it had been originally, though many of its panels were warped or bent and looked much more brittle than before. “Maybe I should keep it, just to remind myself not to carelessly heat and cool metals like that.” Luna chuckled, then broke out into full-bellied guffaws as she fell to the ground on her back. Celestia joined in, relieved that the fight was over. It was several minutes before their ears perked to the sound of a pair of flapping wings drawing closer. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Princesses, but are you two going to come back to Equestria soon? Keeping this portal open isn’t easy.” A familiar voice broke up their moment. Both sisters looked over to see Twilight shakily landing nearby, bags under her eyes and mane unkempt. “Can we go home now? Please?” “Twilight? How did you find us? We thought it might be weeks or months until we got home again.” Luna looked to Twilight, helping her sister to her hooves. “I’ll tell you once we're home, Princess. We’re not safe here, that much is certain.” Twilight huffed, letting her tired state affect her attitude. Luna chuckled. “Too true. Come sister, let us return home. Remember to take your souvenir.” She picked up the Avenger and pranced her way over toward Twilight. Celestia sighed in defeat. “Fine. I’m taking it under protest.” She lifted the turret and all three made their way through the portal, letting it collapse on the other side.