Mares und Panzer

by Indulgence

Picknick

Nestled in a protective ring of rocky outcrops, surrounded beyond only by seemingly infinite dunes, blue waters shimmered at the base of a natural bowel. Only faint ripples played across the mostly still lake’s surface, running glittering sparkles in amongst its otherwise serenely aqueous tones. Around this great mirror further concentric rings radiated outward, its calm waves lapping gently against a beach-like shore, these sands then disappearing beneath a leafy border of trees. Inevitably, lying so close to Appleoosa, the boughs of the gnarled sentinels were thick with fruit, but in turn they defied the apple orchards of the rest of the township in sprouting pears in their stead. Everything in this secluded world seemed to have grown and flowed organically from the earth except for a single metallic pipe which reared out of the soil to one side, plunging its neck into the pond.

Far above, the sun shone down, just passing the peak of its ascent. The airy ceiling from which it glowed was a twin to the waters below, spread out as a cover of light blues, largely unmarred by anything which might veil the solar sovereign’s rays. What little rains there had been a week ago, blowing into the desert as the remnants of a storm elsewhere, by now were obviously long gone. There was in fact only a single cloud in the ether above the oasis, but if given more than a momentary consideration it became clear that it was not in fact a cloud at all. From a fluffy base rose classically styled pillars, supporting above a domed roof of the same substanceless material. Ultimately it was a palatial (if small) house, anchored static where it was and floating seamlessly.

This world both tranquil and warm felt even in the shade like the air was a comfortable duvet. It was hard therefore for Dawn to suppress the yawn which gripped her features, sprawled as she was on a blanket beneath the overhanging braches of the trees. She and five others similarly relaxed at the beach’s edge shared this serene haven, having long ago finished their picnic, content to let it settle.

‘This was such a nice idea’ Coquette sighed, verbalising what was a communal feeling. She had eaten more than the rest of them and was therefore beset by a far greater lethargy, choosing to use the hazel unicorn beside her as a pillow, leant up against the other’s barrel. ‘A great plan as always captain’ she tiredly mock saluted.

In a similar state Dawn waved away the other earth mare’s words. ‘Thanks, but it was really Split’s idea’ she countered.

‘True I suggested a picnic’ the pink pegasus countered, unlike the rest draped over one of the larger fruit bearing limbs above. ‘It wasn’t my idea to bring everypony along though’ she added just audibly, sulkiness just underlying her tone.

‘I never even knew this place existed. Thanks for bringing me along.’ Crystal smiled the captain’s way, ostensibly sharing the same tartan expanse as her fellow commander but placing herself separate, shying away to its furthest edge.

‘I haven’t been here in ages’ Toffee came in, half on her own blanket, noticeably patterned in desert camouflage, half supporting herself against one of the tree stumps. ‘At least not since you bought the place and the signs went up.’

‘How many times have I gotta tell everypony, that wasn’t my idea!’ Split huffed irritably into her forehooves. ‘It was my “Dad” who felt the need to buy the land, him who had the house built as opposed to letting us get a normal place to live, and it was him who put up those stupid “private property” signs! Is it too much to ask for everypony to just move on?’ She buried her face further. ‘I’m not like that.’

A quiet followed, although lacking its previous tranquillity, unintentionally broken.

‘Erm…’ the driver attempted, trying to sketch over her accidental blunder, ‘looks like we’re up against Las Pegasus High next round.’

‘How’ve you figured that one out?’ Blossom turned to ask, stopping as Coquette made a whining noise, instead remaining still. ‘I thought you said it would still be awhile before the full results for round one were released? What’re you reading?’

Toffee made a poor job of concealing the papers in her hooves, scrunching them to her chest. ‘Er… it’s a letter… from Solstice’ she admitted. ‘Since the match we’ve kinda stayed in touch.’ Her eyes went back to skimming the script. ‘She sends her congrats on our win versus Stalliongrad by the way, and her lo… never mind.’ She stopped, changing from caramel to burnt rose, making a show of shuffling back through the sheets with a concealing cough. ‘Anyway, she was up against Maretonia a few days ago and on the way back her train passed Las Pegasus’ in a siding. Since they were apparently celebrating its likely they beat Whinnyapolis, meaning they’d be through to face us, so she thought we ought to have the heads up.’

‘Good job consorting with the enemy’ Split sniggered from her branch.

‘Oh, she also said they had something hidden on one of their flatbeds’ the farmer continued, ignoring the comment. ‘She couldn’t get a proper look at it cos they had it covered, but whatever it is its huge.’

‘Sounds foreboding’ the unicorn turned cushion commented. ‘Isn’t that your hometown Split? Any ideas?’

‘Nope’ the athlete answered bluntly, only moving to aggressively shake her head, ‘besides I was only born there, nothing more.’

‘Hey!’

Split stiffened, reacting to the excited youthful voice just too late, knocked from her perch as a bright orange bolt struck the bough. She was more successful in catching herself though, breaking into a neat hover just before she crashed.

The streak of lightning was less adept, roughly hitting the ground and becoming a ball as it rolled through the sand. ‘Hey!’ the ball repeated loudly, unfolding to change into a tangerine coloured pegasus filly.

‘Why aren’t you in school?’ the older, taller and pink version of the new arrival deadpanned, tucking away her wings.

‘Aw come on! Don’t be so lame!’ the younger pegasus pouted back. ‘We got the rest of the day off cos there was an accident in zoology which I totally had absolutely nothing to do with.’

‘Mil…’

‘Anyway, stop being so rude already! This is the part where you introduce me, you know, to be polite and stuff. This has gotta be your new track team right?’

‘Actually…’ Coquette began before being immediately cut off.

‘That’s right’ Split broke in with a silencing look the golden earth mare’s way. ‘Dawn, Crystal, Toffee, Blossom, and Coquette’ she pointed out, ‘meet Milly: my baby sister…’

‘Don’t call me a baby!’

‘…and world renowned migraine inducer.’

‘Shut up!’

‘Don’t you have homework to do or something?’ the sportsmare asked, looking down to her sibling.

‘Hey everypony!’ Milly beamed, consciously ignoring the question before making a blunt answer. ‘Nope.’

‘Really?’ Split raised an eyebrow, giving her question an underlying warning.

‘Nope’ the filly repeated, ‘which means we’re going swimming!’

‘No way, not happening.’

‘Yes way, totally happening right now, or else.’

‘Or else what?’ the older sibling scoffed.

‘Or else I’ll do this…’ The filly stuck out her lower lip and her eyes became saucers, far surpassing even the most shameless of puppy eyes. ‘Pwease.’

‘Cut it out!’

‘But I said pwease and you pwomised!’ Impossibly the clichéd adorable display managed to magnify, Milly persisting and nuzzling against her sister’s side.

‘Okay fine!’ Split relented, resistance failing miserably. ‘Unpack you school bags and stuff first, and then I’ll come join you.’

‘Yay!’ The orange streak of colour immediately returned, shooting off in a blur towards the miniature sky palace. ‘You’re awesome!’

The pink pegasus watched her sister depart, a small but obvious smile playing on her lips before she remembered everpony else and tried to reset her usual degree of flippant nonchalance. ‘So, who’s coming with? I’m not dealing with her all by myself.’

‘Nope, too tired.’ Coquette rolled onto her side, putting her back to the lake. ‘And you’re not stealing Bloss either, she’s too comfortable.’

‘Have you been drinking?’ the hazel unicorn asked in a slightly condescending tone, but making no effort to throw off the one lying all over her.

‘Does food drunk count?’ the golden mare returned with a tiny burp.

‘Same here.’ Dawn shook her head. ‘Well, sort of. I’m way too tired I mean.’

‘Seriously? Don’t leave me hanging here!’

‘I will’ Toffee offered, carefully folding and stowing away her letter.

‘Likewise.’ Crystal rose. ‘It’ll be nice to cool down. We’ll even race you’ she grinned the farmer’s way, getting only confusion in return.

‘You’re on!’ Split’s powerful wings instinctively flexed. ‘How much of a head start do you want?’

‘Oh, none thank you.’ The pale unicorn’s grin grew even broader. ‘Three, two, one, go!’ In a flash of silver both she and Toffee disappeared in a burst of light, succeeded immediately after by another above the glittering pool, two splashes and then laughter.

‘Cheat!’ The duped athlete tore off after them, leaving the final three to themselves.

‘Do you think there’s a…’ Coquette began after a momentary quiet, pausing as she thought about her words and rolled onto her back. ‘A conflict of interests’ she decided, ‘with Toff I mean, since the closer we get to the final the more likely it is that we’re gonna fight the Shades you know?’

‘Personally I’m not worried.’ Blossom fielded the query. ‘Last time Toff played a major hoof in bloodying up Solstice’s sister’s nose, and she gave her a jacket for it. I think our little fanfilly probably revels in the idea of going a step further and beating their team.’

‘Could we get it to work in reverse though you think? You know get a buy through maybe?’ the coms mare ventured.

‘Where’s the fun in that!’ the loader scolded. ‘Besides, again I doubt it. From what little I saw of the Shades’ captain she didn’t seem like the quitting type, no matter the reason. Her beaten up sister again comes to mind as evidence to the contrary, plus I might add that it’s not like we need that sort of help.’ She sent a warm look Dawn’s way. ‘Together I reckon we’ve got this. Oh, while I remember…’ From a discarded saddlebag Blossom levitated out a small box done up in wrapping paper, telekinetically passing it over to her captain.

Dawn sat up, plucking the ribbon-tied parcel from the air. ‘What’s this?’

‘Not from me’ Blossom explained, nodding to the shape curled up at her side, ‘or little miss currently embarrassing herself here.’

The golden lump made a muffled whining noise again in response.

‘Rather they’re from Crystal, so dust doesn’t sting your eyes anymore.’

The pale cream commander pulled on the loose strands of the bow, releasing the lid. Within sat a set of goggles, much like a flyer’s, but with thicker protective lenses, their securing strap and face padding made from a soft black material. ‘She shouldn’t have…’

‘She said she’s no good at stuff like this, so asked me to give them to you.’

‘She’s very different when it comes to you’ Coquette came in. ‘If you’re our Manestein then you need the proper kit to go with your title! There’s even a place on the side where we can embroider the logo, when we actually have one that is.’

‘Damn it!’ Dawn jumped, startling the other two likewise in the process, ‘I knew I’d forgotten something!’

‘Calm, that’s not your problem.’ The golden earth mare waved a hoof lazily, brushing the air. ‘Before you start panicking, you haven’t missed a meeting; I’m handling the logo. Sitrep is that Blue and the Wraith each came up with their own design, so I told them to go away and come up with something together, suffice to say that they weren’t happy but at least they’re on task.’

The captain exhaled deeply in a relieved sigh, at least one problem lighter. ‘Thanks Belle.’

‘The last thing you needed was mediating between the two of them on your plate as well as everything else you’re already dealing with.’ Coquette found the strength to sit up for a moment and stretch, gaining a thoughtful frown as if further reminded of something. ‘Bloss?’

‘What’s up?’

‘Well… we know each other pretty good right?’

‘What is this?’ The loader turned onto her side to face her friend. ‘Seriously, what’s up? You never talk like that.’

‘It’s just why does Rook call you “Corset”?’

‘Yeah, I wondered about that too’ Dawn seconded.

Both earth mares gave a questioning look in unison.

‘Erm…’ Uncharacteristically Blossom stumbled, for the first time in at least one of her compatriots’ hearing. ‘That goes back a long time, back to when I first came to Appleoosa.’

‘But I’ve known you ever since you arrived’ Coquette countered in a more confused tone.

‘Not exactly true. I’d been here the best part of two years before we properly met.’ The hazel unicorn sidestepped an oncoming interruption with a quick glance. ‘Obviously when I transferred here I didn’t know anypony, so I kind of fell in with Rook, Lab and the rest, mostly because I was doing pure arts and shared a load of their subjects. With that I conducted myself very differently to how I do now, for want of a better way to put it, hence why we didn’t really know each other maybe. If you can imagine me blending into that crowd it sort of gives you the right image. Anyway, passing over a long series of potential anecdotes, I ended up wanting to get a piercing, Hel taught me generally how to do it, I wanted something different, and in short she ended up giving me a corset. Thus the name, like others not particularly inspired.’

For once the golden earth mare had gone quiet, therefore leaving the stage open for Dawn to query further. ‘Sorry, I still don’t get it; principally what exactly that is?’

‘Oh, it’s where two lines of flesh rings are put in on either side of your back and then you lace them up, with ribbon for example, making it look like the fastenings of a corset’ the unicorn answered like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. ‘Hel did a great job on it and it looked great, I loved it, still think it looked great actually, but that was the peak point.’ She paused, considering and selecting her words. ‘The speech that this has become shouldn’t be confused with regret by the way, it was fun and I’m still good with Rook and everypony. It was just… with all that metal on my back, and there was a lot of it, that kind of became all I was. I mean that on a petty look level, but slightly deeper as well; I didn’t like looking 2D or seeming it to others. Basically I got bored.’ Having chosen to look to the sky while she talked she glanced to her side, met by one usually more vocal remaining quiet. ‘So over one summer I reverted a bit and took them out, then when I came back very few recognised me so it became a new start. For the record though Belle we did share a creative writing module before that, though in my state then I wasn’t exactly the most approachable.’ She cracked a small grin, making light of it, and then rolled away onto her other side, reaching a forehoof over to point at her back. ‘Hel is really good at what she does. There were sixteen rings on each side and you can still sort of see the scars from where they were…’

‘Sweet Celestia Bloss!’ As soon as the taller mare turned away Coquette broke from her trance, moving in close like a nurse inspecting a wounded patient. ‘How could you let her do all that to you?’ Evidently none too happy with the marring marks she found she leapt to embrace the hazel unicorn, drawing up behind her and pulling her into a tight hug.

Blossom’s initial response was to stiffen up, fur bristling at the sudden increase in intimacy, a faint blush following close behind. ‘First: she didn’t “do” anything to me, I asked her to, and second: have you seriously not been drinking?’

‘Sorry… I…’

This is starting to feel awkward.

By now Dawn very much felt like a guilty spectator, considering that it maybe would have been better to follow the rest to the lake. For the first time since she had met her she saw the golden earth mare turn pink, and this served to only deepen her sense of intrusion.

Coquette had recognised that she had probably overstepped the mark, pulling back slightly, but not letting go. ‘Sorry, it’s not really about that; it’s more a question of why you’ve never told me about any of it?’

‘I don’t know.’ From her previous discomfort Blossom’s frame relaxed, although she kept her face away and its embarrassed burnish had certainly not dissipated. Tentatively she brought a hoof to her shoulder and the other’s forehoof still enwrapping her, wordlessly bringing its owner back into their cuddle. ‘I guess I didn’t want you to judge. Just because I don’t regret anything doesn’t exactly make it a point of pride.’

‘But since when have you cared about how any other pony has judged you? I wouldn’t ever do that anyway, and I’ve always shared everything with you...’

Feeling really awkward now!

‘Get a room you two!’ Split’s voice broke in, forcing the pair apart as she landed with a broad grin on her features. ‘More important than… whatever this is…’

‘We’ve found some tanks!’ Milly like the sister which preceded her shot down out of the sky, landing on the other sibling’s back. ‘Although I still don’t get why you’re all so excited about it. What do you even need them for anyway?’

‘Never mind that, the point is that there’s a couple of vehicles at the bottom of the lake’ the pink pegasus concurred.

‘Really?’ Dawn felt more than a little bit relieved by their appearance. ‘At the bottom of the lake? How does that even happen?’

‘Luna knows, but they’re either tanks or bloody big steel elephants, and the first option seems far more likely.’

‘She’s right’ Toffee agreed, running up and unlike the pegasus, dried in flight, dripping from the pool, usually mussed up hair slicked back across her head. ‘Crystal spotted ‘em.’

The silvery unicorn was the last to return, dextrously tying her soaked mane up in a tail. In Dawn’s eyes at least the water seemed to have turned her into her namesake, the droplets clinging to her already shiny fur having the look of glass as they glinted in the sun, shimmering like the rest of her being. She paused, noting the opened present, and added a shy smile.

Stop staring!

‘What kind of a state are they in?’ the captain managed to recover.

‘Likely severely messed up, regardless of how long they’ve been down there’ Toffee reported, getting a nod of agreement from Blossom. ‘They look like a couple of heavies though, so if we could get them even partly running they’d be an asset. In any case though, we can’t just leave them down there to rust away to nothing!’ Her tone managed to make such a thought seem like the worst crime ever considered in the history of Equis. ‘So what’s the plan?’

Author's Note:

Title: Picnic (German)