Mares und Panzer

by Indulgence

Kein Druck

Pain, white hot and searing, surged up her forehoof, scorching every nerve ending in the limb as it went. Dawn recoiled from the table shaking her hoof as if doing so would dislodge the hurt it felt within, at the same time trying to will away a tear which had forced itself from her eye in response.

‘Damn Dawn, I’m sorry!’ Coquette was immediately at her fellow earth mare’s side. ‘Are you alright?’

As quickly as it had appeared the pain dissipated, although everywhere it had burnt still felt stunned. ‘Yeah I’m fine; it was my stupid fault anyway.’

‘In any case I think that’s as clear a sign as any that we should really wait for Bloss.’

‘Agreed’ the third of their number concurred, leaning lazily back in her chair. Dahlia was one of the rebellious crowd, unsurprisingly all blacked out except for some acid green frosting the tips of her jagged mane, the tone matched in her hoof varnish. The unicorn’s one passion seemed to be music; a feature evident in that she pretty much permanently had at least one headphones glued to her ear, and had hence been chosen as the newest team’s coms operator. ‘I don’t exactly get why we’re doing this anyway.’

The table at the trio’s centre was piled high with several sets of radio equipment in various states of de/reconstruction, accompanied by soldering gear (the cause of the captain’s recent injury) and multiple wide open user manuals.

‘We’ve got to know how all our kit works’ Dawn declared definitively, having had this conversation before, ‘so if they’re damaged during a match we can still get our communications up and running again.’

‘Plus we generally need to tune them better anyway’ Coquette agreed. ‘I’m already sick to death of hearing static all the time!’

‘Fine, makes sense for you guys, but I’m pretty much at the centre of our Hydra’s hull, deep in the belly of the beast.’ Dahlia stretched out further with an absent sounding yawn. ‘If we take enough damage for me to feel it I reckon our tank will have bigger issues to deal with than just fouled up wiring.’

‘Tsk tsk Dahl, where’s your martial spirit?’ Appearing from nowhere (something she seemed annoyingly good at) Rook brought the other unicorn straight back to attention with her criticism. ‘If memory serves it was you who were the bitchiest about not having a tank before now.’

‘Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be helping to fix it up rather than leaving your minions to it?’ the golden-maned coms operator interjected.

‘Well yes, and we’ve all been lending a hoof where we can, but Corset’s pretty much a one mare army when it comes to this stuff, not to mention that none of it is exactly my forte’ Rook countered.

Corset?

Both Coquette and her commander exchanged blank looks before turning in the direction of the Hydra One. Blossom was in the midst of lifting away the main turret’s second smaller calibre gun with her magic, it having indeed been deemed surplus to their needs.

‘Do you mean Blossom?’ Dawn turned and enquired with an unsure frown.

‘Hmmm? Yeah that’s right.’ Rook’s look became conspiratorial. ‘And therein lies a story you could ask her about if she hasn’t already told it to you.’

‘Hey Dawn!’ In a flash of pink and white Split shot down out of the sky, (unintentionally to be sure) planting herself in the way between the rebel leader and the team captain. ‘I’ve finished giving the other gunners a lesson like you asked, and they’re currently set overhauling their weapons’ she beamed. ‘So is there anything else at all I can help out with?’

‘Erm… thank you.’ The pegasus’ change in attitude had occurred soon after their return from Hollow Shades and Dawn was still far from used to it. ‘Right now the only thing I can think of is showing those who’ll be on the Hydra’s guns too, it’s got three turrets which will all need effective operators after all.’

Briefly the expected grimace passed across Split’s visage, but just as quickly it disappeared. ‘You got it!’ With a triumphal grin on her face she turned to the electric blue unicorn at her back, herself also succumbing to a small scowl. ‘Come on then you; show me to my new pupils.’

‘Fine’ Rook acquiesced with an eye roll. ‘See you later Dawn.’ Rapidly they were off, muttering at one another under their breath.

‘They’re here!’

The shout was called from the garage’s drawn back doors, where Onyx Gem was the picture of excitement, a look quickly repeated on the faces of the rest of the popular crowd along with Coquette as well and a few others. The arrival they had announced meanwhile drew up outside in a small bus, its sides marked with the letters RCA in painted mock filigree. From this a group of young stallions stepped out, lugging with them saddle harnesses of various tools, immediately being set upon by a giggling Ruby and co. Inevitably therefore they began to gravitate in the direction of the Lion until a louder voice called all to a halt.

‘Oi, hold it!’ The gruff tone belied somepony far older than the rusty coloured stallion who spoke it, bringing his comrades back into line. ‘Work first. Who’s captain here?’

‘Erm… that’d be me: Dawn Melody.’ The cream earth mare rose, briefly scrabbling in the table’s spilt wires and resistors for a piece of note paper, but being denied she made her way over.

‘Chain Drive’ he introduced in reply. ‘Not to be impolite but where can we start?’

---

‘Called it.’

Set back at the electronic laden table, Dawn watched a quite literal hoard swarm all over the shell of the Hydra One. Three sides fought for dominance on the multi-turreted creature’s back: Rook and company barking a constant stream of demands, the visiting engineers trying to fulfil them, majorly impaired by the presence of Ruby’s bunch clinging tightly to them. The selection came with the addition of Coquette, at that moment draped over a chrome coloured stallion who was trying to juggle a welding torch despite this complication.

‘Called what?’

‘Exactly what you’re looking at’ Blossom answered coldly, roughly pulling a fuse from the radio set before her with some pliers. ‘You’d think it’d take more to turn her into a fawning filly, but no’ she half-sighed half-huffed, severing a cluster of wires. ‘She’s so many things and yet she wastes herself so.’

Dawn decided that diversion was perhaps the best course of action. ‘Are you making any progress?’

‘No.’ A more concerted huff from the hazel unicorn proved the captain’s tactic to be a failure. ‘These things are bloody complex, and it’s an age since I’ve handled electronics.’ A particularly loud giggle flew over from the much more densely populated side of the room, causing her to wince and then scowl. ‘If you give me ten minutes maybe I can get a bead on it, and then give you more of a hoof.’

‘Thanks again Bloss.’ Without much else to do, and feeling decidedly inept, Dawn’s eyes passed elsewhere. There were of course jobs she should have been doing, working out the repairs the other tanks needed or coming up with a debrief for their last game for example, but for either she had need of Toffee. On the one hoof the caramel earth mare was far more the expert of course, but added on to this she provided a much needed support, particularly where public speaking was concerned. In any case though, the farmer was still missing. Drifting elsewhere her emerald irises went to the other end of the shed, far from the commotion which was consuming its opposite. ‘I’ll be back in a bit.’

Blossom registered with a silent nod, making an obvious effort to focus solely on the jigsaw in front of her over all other distractions.

The team captain moved off, hopping across a couple of construction bays as she went. Her purposes were simple and twofold. Predominately, like the one she left but for different reasons, she had need of occupation. At the same time though intrigue had drawn her, having caught a lone figure out of the corner of her eye.

In contrast to the raucousness of elsewhere, another sat quietly on a stack of large boxes. In this way, having placed herself beneath one of the cavernous building’s few skyward windows, Crystal seemed to shimmer, wraith-like or ethereal within the rays. The pale unicorn had tied up her mane yet much of it still fell down her shoulders, it like her position (seemingly trying to rise above the oil of the garage floor) conveying a steely determination alongside her delicate air. She did not notice that she had gained an audience, even as they drew closer, keeping her gaze on the book before her crossed forehooves.

‘Erm… hi’ Dawn began tentatively, feeling even as she spoke to be intruding and more insecure as even her slight words made the other mare startle.

‘Erm… hi’ Crystal mirrored, initially adding nothing more except leaving a hanging silence. ‘Oh sorry, have I forgotten something?’ Her voice turned worried with her question.

‘No no, nothing like that’ the cream mare tried to backpedal and reassure. ‘I just wanted to see how things were going… What you reading?’

The unicorn closed her tome, revealing its title: The Handbook of the Tank.1 ‘I thought that I’d better improve my skills, or lack thereof’ she sighed, ‘particularly with my new role.’

‘New role?’

‘Oh for buc… I mean sorry.’ Colour filled Crystal’s cheeks, turning her an adorable shade of pink. ‘Sorry’ she repeated, ‘I thought you’d been told, but me and Ruby have swapped places so I’m now the Lion’s commander. The consensus was that of all of us I handled myself best at the Shades, but I don’t know…’

‘Good for you, that’s great!’

‘Not really…’

Dawn cocked her head to one side, if she thought about it likely attempting to channel Blossom in an encouraging look. ‘Come on…’

‘No!’ Crystal snapped a forehoof down on the book in front of her, immediately recalling it to catch her overly loud lips. ‘Sorry. Look it’s just… two matches for two we’ve failed, and that was more than bad enough, but now it’s all on me to turn that around, and I really really want to. I don’t want to let anypony down anymore; I don’t want to let you down anymore…’ The unicorn again turned pinkish.

‘Finally! Where the hay have you been?’

The sudden call from Blossom’s voice forced Dawn’s neck to spin around, discovering the heralded arrival of a certain until then absent farmer. Although this of course brought a major relief, in that moment it hardly registered, immediately brushed aside as she turned back. ‘Crystal?’ The unicorn had however disappeared, leaving only the vacated crates in her place.

‘Hey Dawn!’ Blossom hollered, ‘look who decided to show up!’

---

‘…So I took Solstice up on her offer and spent the morning before we were supposed to leave putting her Hunting Panther through its paces on the practice course’ Toffee explained, smiling in a barely reigned in mixture of happiness and pride. ‘I don’t think I really have to tell you, but it was awesome! After that though there was still some time left, so I had a go in a Leopard Three, which I obviously had to compare to one of their earlier EL-2s, and then there was this converted Assault Tiger…’2 Her features strolled leisurely through memory lane and then turned sheepish. ‘And so in short I kinda missed the train and had to jump on the next one, so I got back a day behind you.’

‘And what about the jacket?’ Blossom asked, in the process of rewiring a speaker.

‘Yeah’ Dawn added in, returned as the third of their number around the improvised radio repair shop.

The caramel earth mare had indeed gained a new item of clothing: a wide collared and double breasted officer’s coat. It was however in a slightly fancier style than those seen during their brief visit to the other school, equally monochromatic but bearing the addition of fringed epaulette’s and Hollow Shade’s cybernetic bat logo in an embroidered circle of laurels on its back. This lay between two openings in the fabric, likely meant for somepony with wings. ‘Oh this?’ Toffee skirted somewhere between mock surprise, an act she was not particularly adept at, and un-repressible pride. ‘It was sorta cold when we headed out in the morning, so she kinda gave it to me.’

‘And I assume you haven’t taken it off since?’ the hazel unicorn asked, pausing midway through her work with a set of wirestrippers and becoming all grin.

‘Yeah…’

‘And from now on your probably never going to take it off?’

‘Maybe…’ Toffee’s shrug turned into a giggle, then becoming a laugh which spread around all three of them.

‘Attention everypony!’ Dice boomed, silencing the shed and demanding attention. ‘The pres wants us all in the hall double time, and no before you ask I’ve got no idea why. Come on, move it!’

---

Breath! Breathing is good, so remember to do it!

‘Easier said than done!’ Dawn thought back to herself. Where she was the act of simply breathing seemed much more of a luxury. She felt like she was placed on a podium, set up high and singled out, and she loathed every fractional second she had to spend there. She hated being on show, she hated being the centre of attention, and she hated all the eyes which felt like they were focused only on her.

‘…And that brings us to the final item of business this afternoon.’ The president addressed a hall of wholly bored faces, some obviously labouring to keep them supported on their forehooves and eyelids open.

Finally! Not much longer, keep breathing!

‘By now all of you know AIA’s newly established tank team, who won such a stunning victory against our neighbour’s from Dodge in their first match!’ The council chief made a sweeping gesture to Dawn and the rest of her comrades who shared the back of the overly full stage, evidently choosing to forget their most recent game’s result. ‘Although new, and therefore having far less experience than their competitors, they have shown considerable talent…’

Dawn found herself turning pink.

‘…and it has therefore been decided that our school will enter the national championships this year!’

Eep!

In lieu of words her mind jettisoned all eloquence in favour of wordless terrified noise. Those eyes that had been her enemies before redoubled their assault, quite a few waking to join in this newly focused barrage.

‘Victory in this competition would obviously bring our school great honours…’

No pressure.

As reality sunk in her subconscious returned, although its words remained as unhelpful as ever.

‘…and a considerable funding boost is up for grabs as the prize, which I know everypony, including myself, would appreciate.’

No pressure!

‘So please join me in wishing them, and Dawn Melody their captain, the best of luck! We’re all counting on you!’

No pressure!!!

---

The repair shed was still, whilst within only a few dim lights were switched on against the creeping shadows, in this and in so many other ways the antithesis of its daytime self. The only sound meanwhile to echo throughout its recesses was the light patter of raindrops against the tinny panels of its roof. Outside, the glittering fields of the evening sky had been stripped of their adornments, covered by thick covers of foreboding cloud. From these however nought beyond a faint drizzle dropped, still in of its limited self an oddity in the desert climate, all else behind which would have fallen from the moon and stars being blotted out by their sources’ presence.

‘No pressure’ Dawn whispered to herself, tone dropped even lower than it normally would, still sensing herself loud against her background. ‘No pressure.’

Although in truth she was alone, her quiet words therefore drifting to nopony’s ears bar hers, what she said was meant to be heard. Against her audience she was little more than a speck, a blip, dwarfed both by their scale and more than imposing stature. The five figures looked down on her statuesque, metallic visages blank, armoured shells standing firm whereas her own was forced to shiver despite itself.

‘In the grand scheme of things it’s no big deal’ she reassured. ‘If we don’t win it’s not like the world is going to end, or the school’s going to be closed down, or anything excessively apocalyptic like that.’

It would be nice though.

That she could not deny. Although her more reserved gaze did not alight as high as bringing home the trophy, still a part of her revelled in the idea of victory, even if she could only achieve one or perhaps even two. For all the terror her responsibility brought, stoked up by the glimmering hopes of all those that looked to her, more than that she wished to maybe achieve that much.

Her audience remained unmoved, staring her down through their multitude of gunsights. They gave nothing away; all they did was watch as she made her petition, joined in state by the neatly stacked boxes of supplies and spare parts which had needed to be catalogued earlier.

‘I’m going to do my best, and we’ll see how far that takes us.’ Her emerald eyes came up into focus staring straight back. ‘And all of you are going to do the same; at the very least you’re going to keep everypony safe.’

A loud unconcerned yawn caught Dawn entirely off guard, stopping up her words as her ears flicked outward. Even as they began their more concerted search a sigh followed the initial noise, further falling on her hearing. ‘Hello?’ Her quiet question received no answer. ‘Is somepony there?’ Still naught, spurring her eyes to follow her initial sense’s suit in scanning the space. Initially there was even more nothing, taking a third pass to notice the something that she sought, although she was as yet none the wiser as to exactly what that was. There was a tiny light, one that she was sure she had not switched on, glowing out just visible from the top of the Little Lion, the near unique tank set second in the row between the Tornado and her own Panther. ‘Hello?’ Once more there was no reply, pulling her forward on the tips of her hooves, creeping across the shed. An access ladder remained propped against the machine’s track and this she climbed, coming to the turret’s open hatch.

Crystal let out a second sigh, totally unaware of the earth mare that had appeared above her, delicate form regularly rising and falling curled up in the limited space of the commander’s position. A small engine inspection light hung from the hatch’s rim, illuminating a previously cramped space, already having to accommodate the breaches of two cannons, made even more so by a circle of half open books.

You’re not the only one who’s feeling the stress.

This observation brought with it a spike of guilt, making her whole previous monologue feel like a total self-indulgence. Despite the distracting intrinsic cuteness of the scene, the unicorn’s aims were perfectly clear, as were the fears which motivated her, fears that they obviously shared. None of this was made any easier as a shiver coursed its way through the sleeping figure’s form, causing her pure white fur to bristle. Ultimately Dawn felt responsible in a weird way.

You have to try harder, be more, and do more…

The earth mare found herself back by her own tank’s supply chests, rummaging amongst the contents of their winter fighting kit which had apparently come free with the vehicle. Just as quietly she returned, carrying a fleece blanket with her. As gently as she dared she tucked the cover inside the turret, helped as Crystal turned over pulling the warming material around her. The sight helped a little, as did a third more contented sigh from its occupant, letting Dawn make her way to the shed’s door. With a final glance back and a nod to the statuesque war machines she slipped out, just as the drizzle began to peter out.

Author's Note:

Title: No Pressure (German)

Notes:
1) Taschenbuch der Tanks by Fritz Heigl
2) Panzerkampfwagon II Ausf G, light reconnaissance tank and Sturmmörser Tiger, heavy self-propelled rocket mortar (Germany)