Pony Und Panzer!

by Diceman

Chapter XII:Determination

Chapter XII: Determination

Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked over to the bed on the other side of the room. Elly was already up and about doing things around her small home. This had been the case for the last couple of days since they left the palace. She would sleep in a bit more than normal and Elly would be up and at it making breakfast an hour or so before dawn. Scootaloo sat up and stretched, today was the day she could actually introduce her friends to her big sister. All she had to do was wait for the mail containing the royal order from Celestia and Luna to continue going about her business as usual.

"We need time to set up a proper guard system in Ponyville. We need eyes on you and the rest of the town but not so much as to be entirely obvious." Scootaloo remembered the words of Celestia, she remembered her being very adamant that both her and Elly staying inside their home.

"You are safe inside there, I have set up a new un-plotable spell myself. No pony short of my sister can break it." Scootaloo remembered Luna's command, she had never seen her so...stern before.

"Maybe she's just really worried about me." Scootaloo sighed. She knew Luna and Celestia meant the best for her but being cooped up all day like some kind of chicken was a bit unnerving. Worse yet her sister Elly was a sore loser when it came to basically any game, making the cooped up situation all the more unbearable.

"Really Scootaloo? A 745 hit combo? Did you swallow a game genie or something?"

Scootaloo giggled to herself. Remembering her massive win streak in 'Mortal Konflict' the previous day, though she still didn't know what a 'game genie' was. She pushed her blanket to the bottom of the bed and swung her legs to meet the floor. She then stretched again, this time like a cat before standing entirely upright. Scootaloo looked back at her wings, none of them seemed to need preening but to be fair there wasn't much wing to preen. She did notice that a few new feathers toward the edge were coming in though.

"Well If they can't be functional they may as well look pretty." Scootaloo said to herself as she stared at her diminutive wings.

"You know, staring at them and feeling sorry for yourself isn't gonna make you fly." Elly walked into the room with a small plate on her back that contained a single orange, two pancakes and three eggs. She walked up to Scootaloo's nightstand and set the plate of food down on it.

"Yeah I know. Still wish I could fly though." Scootaloo said.

"Well that's one of the fifty- fifty things you get by being a Loo. Most of the pegasus in our family end up either very poor fliers or unable to fly. That;s why most of the family end up being airship builders, myself included." Elly said.

"But you have nice full grown mare wings. You don't need an airship to fly." Scootaloo pointed at Elly's wings.

Elly looked back at her own wings. "Yeah, I'm one of the few members of the family with fully developed wings. Our great aunt on our moms side had them as well, so I guess I dodged the proverbial genetic bullet on that one but I'm still not a strong flier."

"How so? Those wings are larger than Rainbow Dash's." Scootaloo said.

"Yeah they are large but take a closer look." Elly folded out her wings and set them straight in the air. "You see, while there is a lot of size to them they are not particularly well toned for acceleration. I can in a pinch go fairly fast but I don't have the proper feathers or power to maintain top speed." Elly stretched her wings out to the sides as far as they would go. "I do however have the wingspan to be a glider and have excellent turning ability. It's how I managed to evade the few griffons that did chase me over the years."

"But griffons are really fast and stronger physically. You would think they could catch you easily." Scootaloo said as she examined Elly's right wing.

"You would think that but I noticed that almost all the griffons chasing me had one thing in common, they are good at diving but turn like they are a made of stone. They couldn't risk using talons when they did managed to get the jump on me, they needed me alive and couldn't risk the chance of hitting something vital." Elly folded her wings back into tucked position. "Most of the time if I managed to get in the air they wouldn't bother chasing me. Speed isn't everything you know."

"I guess it's not. Sure helps though." Scootaloo stared back again at her own wings.

"Stop that." Elly said as she booped Scootaloo lightly on the nose with her hoof. "You may not have flight capable wings but you have the other things that make Loo's special. Sharp wit and guts to follow through with things, despite of the consequences."

Scootaloo looked up to Elly. "Well, we still have that whole tank thing to build yet but we don't have clearance to leave my house yet."

"Yeah, I know. Cabin fever is starting to take its toll on me as well. Normally I would just do whatever I please and just ignore what Luna and Celestia command but..." Elly ruffled Scootaloo's mane affectionately. "I have a sibling to protect and sometimes the cost of a gamble is like the rent in Canterlot; too damn high."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Is rent really that high in Canterlot?"

"Did you see the prices I have to charge for something as simple as electric scooter repair? Just one months rent in that city could pay for a small home out here in Ponyville." Elly complained. "Anyways I'll be back with my breakfast in a minute. Just so you know though I want a rematch in 'Mortal Konflict' after we eat."

"You're on but don't expect me to set my handicap bar to full this time." Scootaloo said confidently.

"Whoa now, shots fired. I'm not that good." Elly smiled before walking out of the room.

Scootaloo sat down next to her meal and began to nibble on one of the pancakes when she realized something; Elly was right, she did have a good head on her shoulders, or at least it felt that way when compared to other fillies her age. Then again her skills were limited to structural things, like how to put together a scooter, replace a batter or damaged spark plug.

"You're doubting yourself again." Elly said as she walked in the room with her own plate on her back.

"Huh?" Scootaloo said, her mouth full of pancake.

"I know that distant self loathing stare anywhere. I know, I used to do it a lot to myself in the mirror when I was younger. You will eventually stop doing it as you get older though." Elly set her plate on nightstand near her bed, and swallowed one of her eggs in a single gulp.

Scootaloo chewed the pancakes in her mouth and swallowed before speaking. "it's true though. I only know a few things about mechanical stuff and well, tank cannons but that was a really short primer, a book I borrowed from Twilight.I mean, haven't you ever felt you know, inadequate?"

Elly nibbled on a bit of her toast before replying. " Are you kidding me? Both of my older cousins used to entirely demolish me when it came to engineering competitions. They would make elaborate engines that ran on steam or purified unicorn magic. Gadgets that could turn ponies into chickens temporarily and even a pie cannon that could fire straight into space."

"Wow, sounds awesome!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

"It was but it had a hurtful effect on me. At the time I didn't realize exactly how much older they were than me and I always ended up with silver medal in the competitions I entered. I kept beating up myself about it even thought about quitting mechanics all together. Then mom stepped in and dropped a little tidbit of advice that I have held in my heart ever since." Elly pointed to her heart.

"If you won't believe in yourself, then why should other ponies believe in you?" Elly said, closing her eyes to imagine her mothers voice.

"That...sounds cruel and not at all like the mom I remember." Scootaloo said disapprovingly.

"She was dead right though. At the end of the day you have to look at yourself in the mirror and believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself then other ponies will believe in you." Elly grabbed the egg on her plate and finished it off in a single gulp. "After taking that bit of advice I doubled my efforts, studied hard and spent night after night for my entry to the next competition."

"Did you win?" Scootaloo asked.

"Buck no, my experimental dual engine had a massive cooling failure and exploded in my face nearly took a judges nose clean off his face." Elly said , laughing a bit as she remembered the incident.

"That must of been disappointing. All that work and it just blows up in your face like that." Scootaloo said somberly.

"Nah, I learned that day that losing and failure can be just as good as success and winning." Elly said cheerfully.

"How so? That doesn't sound like something to be cheerful about." Scootaloo said.

"Think about it. Everypony is wrong sometimes and being wrong means you can either keep being wrong or fix what is wrong until it is right. If that engine hadn't exploded then I would have never known about the problem, a problem I would have never fixed. It's better to be proven wrong then to forever be wrong." Elly stated proudly.

"Sounds more like you skimped on the testing a bit sis." Scootaloo said.

"Exactly. In my haste to get me a gold medal for the first time I skipped a crucial part of any invention;testing. I corrected the mistake and entered my invention in the next contest. Though the judges were behind a metal blast barrier when I started it up this time." Elly rubbed the back of her neck, blushing in embarrassment.

"Did you win that time?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yep, by a whole one point." Elly said proudly.

"A single point? That doesn't seem like much."

"Nah, the judge from before was still a bit miffed about the last time but I finally did it, I beat my cousins in a contest." Elly said.

"Were they happy for you?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nope, said next time they will make me look so bad I don't even place. They didn't much like a upstart like me popping their inflated ego." Elly took another bite of her food and swallowed. "Still proved them wrong though, got silver in the next two competitions we entered."

"Did you ever beat our cousins like, consistently?" Scootaloo asked, taking a bite of her food as well.

"Nah, I got the best of them here and there but they were still far better than me, even got hired for the family business on a few high profile contracts. If they were alive today they would probably still be better than me." Elly said.

"Don't you want to be the best though? I mean Rainbow Dash wants to be the best all the time." Scootaloo said.

"Who is this Rainbow Dash you keep mentioning? She a friend of yours?" Elly asked.

"Kind of like an adopted sister. She want's to join the Wonderbolts, she even managed to get on the reserve team. Or well, she was, she's been really busy with this whole tank competition thing." Scootaloo said.

"I see. Has she been helping you out with any of the work?" Elly asked.

"Well, no. Not really. Rainbow Dash is well, a bit self absorbed at times." Scootaloo said.

"She sounds like a bad influence if you ask me but I'll reserve judgement until I meet her." Elly said.

"Do I detect jealousy big sis?" Scootaloo said while lowering her voice to a accusatory tone.

"Huh what? N-no of course not. Why would I be jealous of somepony I don't know?" Elly blushed and turned away quickly from Scootaloo.

"Ha! I knew it, you are-" A sudden knock at the front door made both Elly and Scootaloo jump up in surprise. "That's odd. Mail isn't due to run for another hour or two at the earliest. I wonder who that could be." Scootaloo moved into the foyer and towards the front door when Elly stopped her.

"Wait, you haven't told anypony where this house is aside from the postal mare right?" Elly whispered.

"No, I was told by Luna not to tell any pony aside from a few select ponies." Scootaloo responded in a hushed voice.

"Who have you told where the house is?" Elly whispered.

"Just the mail mare and Apple Bloom." Scootaloo whispered.

Another knock came from the door, this time more urgent than the last. "Hey, is anypony home in there?"

"I'll take a look. If I remember correctly Luna said that only me, you and herself can unwind the unplottable spell by revealing the location of this house." Elly looked up though the hole in the door, being careful to not make any sounds.

On the other side stood a slightly anxious mulberry colored unicorn mare. She had a dark purple mane with a single streak of indigo and rose pink running though her mane that ran all the way back to her tail. She seemed to have a set of stars with one large star in the center on her flanks.

"There's some kinda mulberry-ish colored unicorn out there." Elly whispered.

"Oh, Berry Punch? Tell her I don't got booze, I'm not old enough to get any for her. I swear that drun- wait, did you say unicorn?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, she has a star on her flanks and like, dark purple-ish mane with streaks in it." Elly said.

"Oh!" Scootaloo pushed Elly aside and opened up the door. "Hi Twilight, what brings you here?"

"Scootaloo what is she's a spy!" Elly said as her fur stood on end.

"She's no spy. She's one of my friends." Scootaloo ushered Twilight into her house.

"Scootaloo! If she blurts out about the location of -"

"I'm here on personal business. I'm no your enemy Elly Loo. I'm here to talk to you about the security measures in Ponyville until you and Scootaloo's pursuers are apprehended." Twilight said as she set her saddle bag on the floor.

"Wait, how do you know about all that?" Elly asked.

"She's Celestia's student and handles all kinds of problems around Equestria and stuff. She even beat a Ursa major!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

"Ursa minor, Scootaloo." Twilight corrected.

"Really? That thing was minor? It was bigger than that dragon you guys shooed away." Scootaloo said.

"Minor accomplishments aside-" Twilight giggled to herself. "Sorry, no pun intended on that one. Anyways I have been charged by Luna and Celestia with helping lock down the town with as many detection spells as I can muster. As of today you are free to move about the town as you wish. however I must warn you that only up to a mile around the main town is protected. My spells do have limitations."

"Oh, but the tank testing grounds are outside that limit. Does that mean those are off limits?" Scootaloo asked.

"That's a bummer. I was kinda hoping to get my hooves dirty with some class A engineering." Elly said somberly.

"That isn't a problem actually. Luna herself is goi8ng to be on watch for the duration of the competition here in Ponyville, or at least her images will be.We also moved the 8th and 12th combat regiments into town under the command of Spitfire of the Wonderbolts." Twilight said.

"THE Spitfire?" Scootaloo said excitedly.

"How are you going to hide that many troops in such a small town? Won't the town folk start asking questions?" Elly asked.

"That's the ingenious part. I know stallions from those regiments stand out like a sore hoof, that's why all of them will be in disguise." Twilight said.

Scootaloo and Elly looked at each other and then back to Twilight. "Disguised as what exactly? Brick houses?" Elly said sarcastically.

"Sarcasm noted. No, we have them all disguised as rowboat teams and put ads in the paper stating that rowing teams will be doing all their practice and competition in Ponyville. It probably won't fool those griffon agents that are after you but the fact is eyes will be everywhere watching over you while in town. You will be practically untouchable." Twilight said proudly.

"So...we can leave my house now?" Scootaloo said eagerly.

"Yes, I don't see why no-whoa!" Both Scootaloo and Elly ran past Twilight so fast that she spun in place and fell over.

"Sorry Twilight but I really need this!" Scootaloo yelled back.

"You can have our breakfast in Scootaloo's room if you want!" Elly yelled back.

Before Twilight could stand up and answer, both of them were well out of earshot, having run over a hill leading into town. "A little too enthusiastic I think and she forgot to put on the tracking necklace I brought them." Twilight opened up her saddle bag and set a single gem on the kitchen counter. "Well at least I can setup this hypersonic ward for griffons." Twilight looked around the small cottage. "So She lived her alone for years and no pony was the wiser eh?"

Twilight walked out of the cottage, closing the door behind her and sighed. "I'll have to catch up to them sometime today to give them these necklaces."

Elsewhere Elly was spreading her wings and taking to the sky for the first time in days, Scootaloo trying to follow suit but only managing to hover off the ground a few inches at best.

"Not too bad sis. You're doing better than I did at your age." Elly said, cheering her younger sister on.

Still feels like I'm getting nowhere. I can only manage to hover a bit and only in short bursts." Scootaloo moved her wings as fast as she could but only managed to get maybe another six inches of air at best before landing back on the ground, exhausted. "See what I mean? Rabbits flapping their ears get more air than I do."

"It will come to you eventually and I can bet my lunch that you won't ever see a rabbit fly. That's just preposterous."

No sooner did Elly make her statement than a pair of rabbits ran by Scootaloo. A male was chasing himself a female for a date and he was occasionally hopping into the air and fluttering his ears to get altitude so he could continue to keep watch on the potential mate in the tall grass.

"Well...looks like I'll be eating words for lunch today." Elly said as she watched the rabbits run off into the distance.

"Mah, it's too early for lunch anyways but I know something you been wanting to do for the last couple days. Follow me!" Scootaloo ran off in the direction of the tank testing grounds.

"You may not be able to fly sis but you sure can run." Elly said to herself as she followed Scootaloo from the sky.

***

It didn't take them long to reach the outskirts of town where the tank garages and testing grounds were located, or at least it didn't for Scootaloo. She had run clear out of Elly's sight. "I need to get higher into the air, I can't have her out of my vision like this."

Elly climbed up another hundred or so feet when something blue and kind of rainbow colored flew by her, knocking over a raincloud then rounding about to stop behind her. It was a mare, about her size and build but with very slim wings build for speed. She Had a light cyan coat, a short sporty mane and tail that had multiple colors of the rainbow. On her flanks was what looked like a cloud with a bolt of lightning colored in rainbow colors coming from it.

"Hey, ya missed one slacker!" The mare said angrily.

"Err...missed what now?" Elly said, looking around for what she missed.

"That storm cloud you just passed up, you do know as a weather patrol pony you're supposed to you know, kick storm clouds before they build up." The mare said in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.

"Weather patrol? Oh, you must be mistaken. I'm new to Ponyville, I'm here to help my little sister with this whole tank competition thing." Elly said.

"Oh, sorry for that. I mistook you for Ponyville weather patrol. They are usually around the town at this altitude during this time of day." The mare said, blushing apologetically. "Anyways I'm Rainbow Dash. What's your name?"

Elly's eyes went wide. "Oh, you're That Rainbow Dash? My sister mentioned you a few times. Actually i think I seen a picture of you in her room before.

"I see my reputation precedes me. What else did she tell you about me?" Rainbow Dash asked, clearly gloating. " I bet she even told you about my Sonic Rainboom."

"Rain broom? Is that a cloud cleaning tool or something?" Elly asked.

"No, No. Rain Boom. I wouldn't be caught dead in the sky carrying a broom. In the sky while I work, too much of a lightning hazard." Rainbow Dash said. "So, what's your name?"

"Well My nickname is Wild Fire but my real name is Elly loo. Glad to meet you." Elly put a hoof out to Shake with Rainbow Dash when Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "Wait, 'Loo' as in the Loo family?"

"Yes?" Elly said, confused.

"So that means you're Scootaloo's...sister?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah? I assume you are familiar with the Loo family then?" Elly asked.

"Bit's and parts. I remember reading in flight school that you were basically the black sheep of the family and Scoot's parents hated you." Rainbow Dash accused.

"No, no you have it all wrong. We ran that in the paper as a cover up story, to prevent...things from happening." Elly pleased. "You have the story all wrong."

"I know Scootaloo is a member of the Loo family and her sister suddenly appearing seems awfully fishy. You're here to steal the family fortune and break Scootaloo's heart aren't you?" Rainbow Dash flew up into Elly's face. "Admit it, you want the family fortune to yourself, why else would a long lost sister suddenly show up?"

"Rainbow Dash!" A newspaper surrounded by a light purple aura appeared in front of Rainbow Dash and bopped her on the nose. "Bad Rainbow, you been reading too much Daring Doo Mysteries again."

Rainbow Dash looked down below her. Twilight Sparkle was standing below with a rolled up newspaper hovering next to her.

"But Twilight, you have to admit there is something clearly suspicious about Scootaloo's older sister just suddenly showing up." Rainbow Dash accused as she pointed at Elly.

"I was going to explain that but you kept pointing and getting in my face about it." Elly growled.

"Get down here, both of you. I'm calling mediation." Twilight declared.

"Aww but mediation is boring. It never catches the bad guy." Rainbow Dash begrudgingly flew toward the ground, Elly soon followed suit.

Twilight waited for both of them to land before moving in between them. "Firstly, Elly, I met Scootaloo at the tank testing grounds. I already berated her for running too far ahead of you." Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'll explain the specifics when I don't have such a tight schedule but Scootaloo has been an orphan for a very long time now."

"Wait, what!?" Rainbow Dashes jaw dropped. "W-ait a moment, if she's been an orphan for so long then why didn't her big sister take care of her?"

"Because she was busy keeping the griffons that wanted to hurt both of them on her tail and not Scootaloo's. Didn't you read 'The History of Airships volume three? The entire family died in a fire when Scootaloo was very young. Well almost, Elly wasn't present when it happened and neither was Scootaloo's grandma."

"Oh, I see." Rainbow Dash folded her ears in wings back and glanced somberly at Elly. "Sorry, I didn't know the whole story. I'm kind of protective of Scootaloo."

"Tell you what, I'm going to treat Scootaloo out to dinner in town tonight, kinda a makeup to her for all the birthdays I missed. You can come too, actually bring all of Scootaloo's friends. We need to clear this up." Elly said.

"You sure about that? I mean this could be a massive security breach if all this got out. Maybe you should talk it over with Scootaloo and maybe run it by Celestia or Luna first. News travels really fast around Ponyville and I would suspect that both heirs to the Loo family suddenly showing up would attract all kinds of unwanted attention." Twilight said.

"We can maybe confine it to her closest friends, ponies she interacts with on a daily basis. I'll have a talk with her, if Rainbow Dash's reaction is any indicator of what could happen." Elly watched as Rainbow Dash lowered her head shamefully before continuing. "Then we will have to un-muddy the waters and hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the flank."

Twilight sighed. "I was due in the tank testing grounds in a hour but now I'll have to have a meeting with Celestia about this. I'll get back to you on her thoughts about all this shortly." Twilight closed her eyes and in a purple flash, was gone.

"Well, at least I know where Scootaloo ran off to. It was...interesting meeting you Rainbow Dash." Elly said as she took to the skies.

"Yeah sure, I guess." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck.

Elly turned around but realized she didn't know where the tank testing grounds actually were.She turned back to Rainbow Dash to ask her but she was already a blue and rainbow blur on the horizon, busily dealing with Ponyville's thunder cloud problem.

"Huh, I guess I can go up higher for a better view." Elly managed to get just a few more feet into the sky when she heard what sounded like a massive explosion. "Whoa, that was loud." Elly looked behind her and saw a cloud of smoke less than a mile or so south of her. "I guess I found where the testing range is-" Elly had a sudden realization. "Scootaloo!" Before Elly could dive for speed she felt a pair of hooves grab her from under her front legs.

"I heard that too. Put you wings angled down, I'll help you get there faster." Rainbow Dash had sped up behind Elly and was flapping her wings furiously. "What are you waiting for? Yer kinda heavy ya know."

"Oh, sorry." Elly angled her wings for a dive just as Rainbow Dash began flapping her wings with all her might.

It was like a whole new sensation. Everything around her was like a blur, is what it must be like to go fast. Judging by how fast the trees were moving beneath her she was moving at least in excess of five hundred miles per hour. Elly looked up at Rainbow Dash, she had seen that look before, that look of worried determination.

She really must care about Scootaloo...

Just as soon as it began she felt the world around her and herself begin to slow down. She could see a smoking wreck in the tank testing grounds below. Rainbow Dash Let Go and flew as fast as her wings would carry her too the ground.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash yelled as she landed outside the tank driving range.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy waved Rainbow Dash down.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Ran toward Fluttershy, who was busily picking bits of chocolate out of her fur.

"What happened here Flutters? Is anypony hurt?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh well you see, Lyra was trying a new fuel system for their teams umm...Panther Tank was it? Anyways her new energy system interacted with her old one and detonated the entire engine block, oh and their entire supply of hard candy ammunition too." Fluttershy explained.

"Is anypony hurt!? Where's Scootaloo?" Elly landed just behind Fluttershy, shouting questions at her.

"I...ummm, shes well..." Fluttershy folded her ears back, and backed away slowly.

"She's what?" Elly asked in a panic.

"Is entirely fine. So are Lyra, Bonbon and the rest of her crew, although they will be sticky until they get themselves a bath." Scootaloo said as she walked out of the crowd followed by Sweetie Belle and Apple bloom.

Elly didn't waste a moment and scooped up Scootaloo in a bone crushing hug. "I was so worried about you! I was worried you were hurt of worse in that explosion!" Tears began to form in Elly's eyes.

"Jeeze sis, I love ya and all but getting hurt in this area is nearly impossible. Also I think you may be choki-i-ing me." Scootaloo broke away from Elly, gasping for air.

"Wait? How? Clearly that explosion could easily seriously injure a pony , even kill them." Elly pointed above the heads of the crowd where the wreck of the exploded vehicle laid. There were fragments of wood ranging in size from pebbles to 2 by fours strew about, some of them impaling other nearby tanks. Large chunks of sugary goods were also everywhere, chunks of chocolate, peppermint fragments and what looked like a transmission made of fossilized cake was in the middle of the yard.

"Surely even high velocity shrapnel could hurt somepony." Elly said.

"Nah, we get a spell put on us during inspection before entering that makes of impossible to hurt by anything containing sugar. Since all of the vehicle parts, the fence and even the dirt in the testing areas has a light coating of sugar or have their cores infused with it, all of it bounces harmlessly off us." Sweetie Belle said while patting Scootaloo on the back. "Also, sister?"

"Scootaloo, I thought you said you didn't have a sister?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I umm. Well you see, it turns out I do have a sister, it's just she's always busy in Canterlot." Scootaloo lied.

Apple bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at one another and then back at Scootaloo.

"Okay then. I can understand that, I mean if my sister wasn't sick she would be in Canterlot all the time during the summer." Sweetie Belle said.

"And I still have cousins that I've never met so I guess that's plausible. So errr...Scootaloo's sister, what's yer name?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I'm Elly Loo but my nickname is Wild Fire." Elly bowed slightly as she introduced herself.

"She's a professional engineer from Canterlot! She's gonna help us with building our tank!" Scootaloo fluttered her wings excitedly.

"Wait. We just got done cleaning up the shop, we were actually coming out here to tell the operators to clear out the tank." Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, remember that whole thing outside the hospital? Babs Seed already went home and neither Granny Smith." Apple Bloom stopped and looked at Sweetie Belle.

"Or Rarity will give me permission to compete." Sweetie Belle added.

"Really? Why not? I got us an adult to supervise us and everything." Scootaloo stated, pointing at Elly.

"It's not like Apple Jack didn't give me permission, she was right furious about the whole forgery thing but she was gung ho about everything else. It's just..." Apple Bloom sighed. "Granny Smith doesn't think I'm old enough yet and I kinda feel guilty with all the chores piling up on big brother and granny while she's in the hospital."

"Rarity is well...a bit delirious from the sickness. It will be another month before her short term memory stops malfunctioning. Right now we can barely get a consistent answer out of her for what color bathrobe she wants to wear, let alone permission for this contest." Sweetie Belle kicked the ground. "I wish I could get a hold of mom or dad, they wouldn't have a problem with it."

"Ummm, Sweetie, your mom and pops are at the hospital right now. I saw them while I was cleaning up the sky this morning." Rainbow Dash said.

"What? Really!" Sweetie Belle ran off in the direction of the Ponyville hospital stopping a hundred or so yards away to yell back. "I'll see if I can get permission okay?"

"Apple Bloom was it?" Elly asked.

"Yeah?" Apple Bloom said.

"What do these chores at the farm entail exactly?" Elly asked.

"Oh, well you know, farm stuff. Feeding and getting chicken eggs, washing the pig, helping the cows milk themselves and buckin n' sortin apples." Apple Bloom paused. "Yer not thinkin what i think yer thinkin are ya? I don't think granny Smith or big brother will take too kindly to a city slicker workin on our farm."

"Oh, no, no, no. I had enough of THAT non-sense growing up when I got a summer job helping Apple Jack. I've had enough stubbornness for one lifetime." Elly said.

"Wait, you know my big sister and big brother?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Of course I do. I used to live in Ponyville, I know most of the residents. Or at least I used to, haven't been here in years. What I mean is I can hire some seasonal workers from Hoofington to help with the apple harvest and such. I'll even provide the the funding so they can build a summer home here in Ponyville while they work." Elly said with a smile.

"Are you...nutty? Do you have any idea how much a house costs?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, and? Being a mechanic pays well and I promised Scootaloo I would help her with this competition. Money is no object." Elly said as she rubbed Scootaloo on the head.

"Are you sure? I mean are you absolut-"

"Yes! Yes I am." Elly interrupted. "S-sorry. I get a little antsy when folks don't accept my generosity."

"Okay then. I guess I'll go have a talk with granny and Big Mac, see what they think of all this." Apple Bloom headed off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres leaving Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Elly and the few stragglers from the crowd that had yet to disperse.

"Well, I'll be off. We still on for dinner tonight? Oh and can Fluttershy come too?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sure, bring whoever." Elly said.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Will do. I'll see ya around town square tonight." Rainbow took to the skies and in a few second was nothing more than a blue dot on the far end of town.

"So, want to see the hangar?" Scootaloo asked.

Elly felt a small tap on her tail. She turned to meet face to face with Fluttershy, whom immediately backed away in shock, staggering over her own tail and following over. She quickly got up back on her feet, noticing a few ponies staring at her strangely.

"I, umm...Elly was it? You can't go into the hangars yet, you have to check in with security." Fluttershy whispered.

"Can you speak up a bit? I can't hear you." Elly said.

"I ummm..." Fluttershy turned her head away, her hair mostly covering her face.

"Did I say something wrong?" Elly moved forward. "Are you okay?"

"Let me handle this." Scootaloo walked up next to Fluttershy and whispered in her ear. Fluttershy whispered back while doing her best to avoid eye contact with Elly. "Oh I see, I forgot about that."

Scootaloo stared at Elly while Fluttershy continued to whisper. Scootaloo broke away from Fluttershy and nodded to her. "Sis, we have to go though the inspection and protection procedure at the registry desk down that way." Scootaloo pointed to a desk at the far end up the driving range.

"Is that what she wanted to tell me? Why couldn't she j-" Scootaloo shook her head and Elly nodded back in response.

"Fine, lead the way." Elly sighed.

***

After a brief visit to the front desk for registration Scootaloo led Elly to garage and after fidgeting with the combination lock on the front door for a few minutes they finally managed to get in. As she entered the shop a familiar smell of grease, wood chips and metal assaulted her nostrils. Even though it had only been a couple days since she last been in a workshop somehow it felt as if this was her first time all over again.

Scootaloo jumped up and hit the switch to turn on the lights. Above them were bright florescent lights slowly turning on in sequential order with a few toward the front and back having minor blinking issues. her eyes however were immediately drawn to the center of the shop. Sitting on a large hydraulic jack was a she could only imagine as some kind of wooden garbage truck. The front was slightly angled there seemed to be a cannon sticking out of the right side and there was a smaller cannon on the very top in what must have been a very cramped space. Elly began to walk around the vehicle, taking in every detail of it's construction.

The suspension looked as if it was spring loaded and the road-wheels were covered with tracks as if it were a bulldozer or other large construction vehicle, most likely to spread out the load over a wider area to avoid sinking into soft ground. However the tracks were fairly thin for the overall size of the vehicle which means it would still have issues on some kinds of terrain. She slowly walked alongside the vehicle, noticing how exceptionally flat the armor was and how there seemed to be little port randomly around the whole vehicle with empty tripods in them.

"So, this is your vehicle you picked? Kinda seems like a poor choice compared to some of the parked ones outside." Elly said as she kicked one of the road-wheels.

"Yeah well, we kinda turned up late and this was the only option left. the original was actually entirely destroyed, i think Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle rebuilt it to original specifications. We wanted to rebuild it better but you know, time and all that. I think we got the short end of the stick though, from what we read its under-armored, too tall and under-gunned compared to what the others have." Scootaloo said.

"I see that. Armor is flatter than pita bread. The large caliber gun is set too low to the ground to be of any use unless they are right in front of you on even ground. All the spare holes on the sides won't do you any good." Elly walked underneath the vehicle. "Suspension is a really outdated spring configuration while many of the ones outside are torsion bar." Elly moved out from under the tank and began to inspect the little opening all over the sides. "What are these openings for? Ventilation?"

"Those are supposed to be little side gun ports but we removed them, they seemed to small to actually do any kind of damage." Scootaloo said as she pointed to a pile on the other side of the room containing candy corn firing guns.

"That little dome on top, does it do anything?" Elly asked staring at the very small dome on top of the vehicle.

"Not really. We found in testing that the caliber is on the low side. It can hurt other vehicles but most times it's only there for cosmetics.

"I see. So you ended up with a lemon while everypony else ended up with solid gold. Am I right?" Elly asked.

"Yep. We tried our best to get it up to snuff but it's just not good enough. We haven't even decided what armor to use on it and the competition starts in just under two weeks." Scootaloo said as she kicked the floor, discouraged.

"Well when life gives you lemons you make explosive lemons and toss them at the pony that gave you them in the first place. Or make lemonade, I don't remember how that saying actually went." Elly blushed. "Anyways who was doing what here in the shop?"

"Well, I was working on the weapons system. Apple Bloom was assistant fabricator for parts with Big Mac, Sweetie Belle was our engineer and Babs Seed was in charge of frame work and armor. She's no longer on the team, her parents kinda said no and took her back to Manehattan. Apple Jack was lead director and granny was in charge of all the paperwork stuff. Still Don't know what Rarity was supposed to do but both of them are sick." Scootaloo said somberly.

Elly opened up the front hatch and peered inside. "I see she set the transmission in the back with the engine. Would be better if it was centered but I guess that works, tank is already a bit front heavy." Elly stepped inside the tank and sat down in the divers seat. Next to her on the right was a small seat for the pony controlling the large gun. On her left back was a seat with a radio station and above was a seat for the commander in the very small turret.

"So this thing needs, what, four ponies to operate?" Elly asked.

"Actually the recommended amount of ponies is five but we figured the loader wasn't really needed as the gunner could do both." Scootaloo said.

"I see, then Who is handing you ammo for the smaller gun on top?" Elly said as she noticed the ammo was reasonably far away from the gun on top.

"We hadn't worked that out. Maybe Sweetie Belle could do that when she isn't busy on the radio." Scootaloo shrugged.

"So we have all of two weeks to get this thing in working combat condition." Elly said as she stepped outside the tank.

"Yeah, I don't think we have enough time to get it up and running. We could take it in as is but I don't think it actually stands a chance." Scootaloo said somberly. "We could at least find a way to get that experimental ninety millimeter gun on this thing. On paper it sounds like a dream come true. Effective long range, more accurate, higher penetration and better damage output." Scootaloo pointed to the large gun barrel and breach on the far side of the shop.

Elly's face contorted in a determined yet oddly devious smile. "Sis, gather up your friends and meet me here in an hour. We have work to do."

***

Elly paced back and fourth in the shop while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom watched nervously. Occasionally she would stop and stare at the clock, then continue to pace back and fourth.

"Sis, yer making us nervous. I'm sure Sweetie Belle will be here soon." Scootaloo said.

"In the meantime couldn't ya just tell us what we are doin? I don't like sitting around doing nothing." Apple Bloom said.

The sound of the door opening up caught every ponies attention. Sweetie Belle walked into the shop, her head down low as if she were sad.

"What's wrong Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Oh, don't tell me your parents told you no?" Scootaloo asked worriedly.

"Nope! They said I can!" Sweetie Belle suddenly went from sad to perky in an instant, catching everypony off guard.

"Good to hear. Now everypony take a seat." Elly said and show took a seat near one of the work tables. "We have exactly twelve days to get this tank in working order and competitive. I have come up with a way mount that large gun on the other side of the shop but I'll need all of you on fifteen hour shifts minimum to do it. Can i count on you fillies to get the job done?"

"You can count on me sis." Scootaloo said.

"Me too!" Apple Bloom added.

"Doesn't this violate quite a few child labor laws or something?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The rest of the group gave Sweetie belle confused looks, as if she had suddenly said a dozen curse words all at once. "Oh, sorry. You can count me in."

"Good. I have a blueprint ready in the other room but first..." Elly Walked over to a radio and pressed the play button. "We need montage music!"

The speakers creaked and began to play. "Cause I've got friends in low places, where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away and I'll be okay."

"Seriously? Country?" Elly covered her ears as if nails were suddenly dragged down a chalkboard.

"What? Garth Shooks is an amazing singer." Apple Bloom said defiantly.

Elly reached over and pressed play on the secondary cassette slot on the radio. "Your the best, around! Nothing ever gonna keep ya down!"

"There we go, much better. Okay ponies, lets get to work!" Elly cheered.

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle all stood on their hind legs and tapped their hooves together.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders gun carriage operators! Go!" They cheered in unison.

Comments

[sjo3989]

thanks for the update!!

[Diceman]

4606957

Originally I wasn't expecting to update today. I accidentally hit the publish button But hey my fic made the front page becuase of my mistake so it's all good.

Ps- editing may be a bit funky though becuase it was a mistake.

[darkeva]

Yay! Back to world of tanks! With nice heaping side orders of Mystery, Intrigue, Evil Machinations and old school Spy v Spy Action.

...

Yay!
PS. Nice to see this back in action.

[kluck]

about time

[Diceman]

4608247

*Takes a puff from a cigar* About damn time...

ps: I been doing multiple fics at once and lemme tell you it is DIFFICULT to juggle them all.

[kluck]

I cant even imagine how hard it is to write multiple fics (since i cant write even one) but........scootaloo is best pony thus must always be number one on anyone's update priority's

my life for scoots!
ehhh maybe? No. yea umm sorry ill just shut up now and hang my head in shame for awful S.C pun

[Silvery Lilly]

More please!!!!!

[Diceman]

Update: yeah i know i've been update-less for more thana month now but I have MANY other fics running at the same time. However, I have managed to get the first 3k or so words of the next chapter done so far, so be on the lookout for the next chapter in the next 2 or so weeks.

[Silvery Lilly]

4935431
Cool, thanks!