Swords and Magic

by Shadow Watcher

Chapter 7

The Equestrian Empire. It expanded from Gryphonia in the west to Saddle Arabia in the east. To the north lay a frozen wasteland. And to the south the Lunar Confederacy.

From atop the walls of the Imperial City of Canterlot, Rainbow Dash stared down at the south. The Badlands, which acted as a natural no-man’s land was a two day journey. If Applejack could get the Howzer running. Trains used to run across the Badlands, connecting the two nations peaceably.

For the past twenty years, the Badlands have become more and more dangerous. Tales of monsters, demonspawn, and bandits were abundant. A lone road remained the most reliable way through. Which is why Rainbow hoped AJ got the Howzer working.

Built fifty years ago, it remained a marvelous bit of tech. Automobiles were not a recent invention, the first having been built roughly a hundred years ago. Tanks had been conceptualizer twenty years later, but they had no practical application until just fifty years ago.

An incident had occurred in Saddle Arabia. The deserts were full of metals used for industry. Mines were abundant with manastones and gems, each growing naturally along the leylines that ran throughout the world. Not that Rainbow knew too much about that; that was more Twilight and Applejack’s field of work.

It had started with a protest. Safety concerns about one of the mines. Then the mine collapsed, and the whole province ignited into a war zone.

Celestia had sat back, at first, letting the local government regain control. Except the rioters had pushed back harder and far more organized than they anticipated. Worse, the rebels gained control of several key cities, down to their armories and factories. Now heavily armed, and threatening to move deeper into the empire, Celestia had no choice but to crack down hard and fast. The resulting battle only ended in a stalemate. Both sides were equal in terms of firepower.

With the conflict getting bloodier by the day, two Imperial soldiers, a knight and a magus, came up with a plan. Over the course of a week, they completely gutted a tank, remodeled and refitted it, using everything they knew about magic, machinery, engines, and every spare part they could find.

The resulting machine tore through the enemy line like a hot knife through butter. The Howzer, built by the unlikeliest of heroes: Henrietta Smith Apple of the Apple clan, Applejack’s grandmother, and Starshine Sparkle of House Twilight. The two families became good friends due to their actions.

Which is why Applejack was considered one of the finest, and toughest, mechanics out there. The eldest born always inherited the family farm, the second was taught the finer points of machinery. Every once in a while the roles would reverse, given personal preference and what not, but each were required to at least learn the other’s trade first.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. She always joked that AJ had two lovers: farming and machinery. Loud chiming broke her from her thoughts. The sun was climbing higher in the sky, and she still needed to finish her run before meeting Twi...TWILIGHT!

Taking off across the wall top, she practically flew. Shoot, shoot, shoot! If she were late in meeting Twilight, she’d never hear the end of it!

A curse slipped passed her lips as she slid under a cart, haphazardly shouting an apology over her shoulder. With a final burst, she tore into a courtyard, collapsing right in front of a particular bench.

Twilight Sparkle closed her book with a loud thump. Smiling, she stood, while Rainbow sat on her knees panting for breath. “Ah, right on time! Shall we go see Applejack?” Rainbow only waved at her. “It’s been a while since I last saw her, but at least now I know why! Oooh, I’ve always wanted to see the insides of the Howzer! I mean, THE Howzer! I’ve gone over Grandma Starshine’s blueprints, of course, but Granny Smith’s never let me see it up close before!”

“Cause she knew you’d want to gut it to see how it all works firsthand.” Rainbow snickered between pants. “Seriously, Twi, chill. I mean, they’ll probably ask for your help getting the core started again anyway. You’ll get your chance.”

Twilight tapped her chin. “I wonder if grandma is there now. Heh, wouldn’t be surprised if those two have been working on it this whole time.”

“Wouldn’t be too surprising. I know AJ said she would be helping out, doing most of the work.” Rainbow shrugged. She stopped at a stand, buying two hot, fresh sweet rolls. She handed one to Twilight.

“Thanks!” She said as she took a small bite. “Mmm! Think we have time to stop at Joe’s? I could use a coffee to go with this.”

“I was already planning to.” Rainbow said with a shrug. “His shop isn’t too far from AJ’s shop. Though Granny Smith still complains about her having a shop in the city. Wonder if Apple Bloom is up?”

“If Granny is, you can bet Bloom is too...” Twilight fell into Rainbow as they were nearly thrown off their feet.

Rainbow shook the ringing from her ears, looking up to see smoke rising from a few blocks away, several guards already hurrying that way. “Oh great, AJ, you blew up the tank!” She muttered, pulling Twilight to her feet and taking off ahead.

Twilight blinked. Lavender sparks of magic mixed with the black smoke pouring out of an open set of ceramic doors.

Bubbles of green magic formed and burst, clearing it all out before Twilight could move a finger. An elder magus stepped out, a faded set of robes hanging from her shoulders. Short white hair rested just above her shoulders. She huffed before turning to shout back inside. “It’s no good, Henrietta. We’re going to need to replace the whole array. I told you it wouldn’t handle the newer system.”

“Now listen here, Shine! I done told ya, we’ll get ‘er runnin again. An if you says we’ll need to replace the mana array, then we’ll just have to do it. Cause let’s face it, Shine, this system of Applejack’s would really solve the the efficiency issues. In both the canon, and the motor functions.” The grizzled voice of an old woman shouted back.

Starshine shook her head. “Now calm down, I’ve not said anything against Applejack’s system! That girl has the best head on her shoulder I’ve seen, after yours, of course. Given she’s your granddaughter only solidifies it. Still, if we’re replacing the array, then I’ll need to redesign the matrix.”

“Actually, Twilight has, like, fifteen different redesigns already made up.” Rainbow Dash said as she stepped in.

The Howzer was all but gutted. Raised up on a platform off the ground, all six wheels were off, most of the playing had been removed, and smoke was still rising from the still pulsing core.

Starshine raised a brow as she regarded her granddaughter. “You’ve made your own revisions?”

The girl fidgeted where she stood, before meeting her grandmother’s eye. “Well, it was only by going over the original blueprints, but when I knew Applejack was designing a new system, I went ahead and startied going over how to integrate it, as well as improve upon the enchantment matrix.” Several rolled up scrolls appeared with a flick of her wrist.

Starshine gently grabbed one and unrolled a part of it. After a brief glance over, her eyes furrowed in thought, and she reached for another one. She gently grabbed her granddaughter’s shoulder and ushered her into the shop. Not a second later, she was asking questions, Granny Smith joining them.

Applejack stepped out, wiping off her hands and face. Rainbow blinked at her. “You look like you’ve been helping Rarity with her forge again.”

“Mm, don’t even remind me of that. She’s been a right help, repairing several gears and such for the Howzer, plus I still owe her from that one time.” She replied, finishing wiping the grime from her face. “As you can see, Howzer’s still not quite done.” She sighed and looked back over her shoulder. “I should really get back in there. Works out, though, cuz Rarity told me to send ya her way whenever you and Twi showed up. Said she had your new armor done, finally, as well as a lil’ somethin extra.”

Rainbow sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “Finally! Alright, I’ll head on over to the Forge. You seen Pinkie or Flutters today?”

“Saw Flutters earlier this morning, gathering herbs. My guess, Pinkie’s been busy gettin everything ready on her end.” A couple shouts and loud bangs came from the garage. “Well, that’s my gue.” She held back a yawn. “If you come by later, I’ll probably be taking a power nap. Land sakes, I been at this for three days already.”

“And now Twi’s in on it all too. I’ll go see Rarity, then check in with Pinkie and Fluttershy. Give them a progress update on the Howzer. Catch ya later!” Rainbow waved, heading off.