*Credit goes to NCmares for the NightMares headcanon idea and the cover art!*
Equestria, having established friendships through Twilight with other nations around the world now has extensive trade networks. These budding, undefended trade routes quickly became favorite targets of pirates, looters, and state enemies looking for easy gains. When the Royal Guard went looking for a solution they found it in the far north. The robust Earth-pony tribe roaming the northernmost woods below the tundra did not disappoint, and the mares were augmented into a weapons platform- the NightMare. This story focuses on a very dedicated former NightMare I&T engineer and his favorite NightMare.
Chapters (16)
I would like to recommend adding the scifi tag.
64.media.tumblr.com/e948365919fba04cf9f2a3f229de07f9/tumblr_nrybcxwV8I1qk24apo1_500.gif
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Done! Thank you so much for reading and for your advice!
11803271
That's a pretty good description one of this story's big themes!
Thank you for reading!
While the lore dump at the begining is a bit clunky, i like it anyway. I especialy like the bit that (tho they are supersoldiers) they are still little ponies, like 3 foot (at the withers) 400 pounds is a piece of a horse.... But still a small-ish pony. A 2 ft 100 pound one would be almost cudle-able.
Anyway the stroy seems to be interesting, i'll definitely follow and if it continues like this for a couple chapters you have a like guaranteed.
11808481
Thanks for reading my story! I hope it will live up to your standards. To provide a little background on how I'm doing the sizes if you're interested, I attended a HarmonyCon panel held by PsiStarPsi and Professor Haystacks that identified five sizing scenarios: Rarity's measuring stick, the 8 foot candy cane, EG, Cheese Sandwich's mugshot, and a Soccer ball. Those produced standard mane 6 sizes of 1 meter from ground to top of the ears on all fours at 60% probability, roughly the size of how I describe the NightMare at 20% probability, and wild size (unrealistic given the physics) at 20% probability. I'm using the 1 meter for the standard mare height. On a G4 pony, the withers are about 55% of overall height. Thus PW is about 1.06 m in height from ground to the ears on all fours. Then all I had to do was measure the NightMare as compared with the technicians on the story image. And thus it provides the size of the NightMare! For weight, I took a 3D model of a G4 mare without mane and tail and did a volume count in blender. Since animals are roughly the same density as water, I was then able to calculate the average mare weight and then scale that up to the size of a NightMare as the ratio of the height cubed. That's how I arrived at 400-450 lbs.
What is the NightMares headcanon idea?
11809394
In November, artist NCmares started posting pictures of big mares with bug guns and short 1-liner descriptions like 'I'm assembling a team. Counter-piracy ops shall be conducted along the fringes of Equestria's trade-routes' and 'The robust earth-ponies who roam the dangerous, bleak lands of Equestria's Northernmost woodlands made for ideal candidates and, as expected, readily adapted to the augments'. That's the head cannon as I understand it. Upon seeing the image that is now featured as the story image, I envisioned the concept of the loyal engineer supporting his NightMare, and asked NCmares if he was cool with me writing a story based on that concept. He approved, and here we are!
The image makes me think of Halo.
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We have NCmares to thank for that art! The Spartans from Halo were also size selected from their species and augmented with lots of modifications to exceed normal human capabilities. And that is exactly what the NightMare is to Equestria- with the sole exception of being distracting to her enemies. Thank you so much for reading my story!
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I haven't read it yet. I wanted to comment on the picture.
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Oh ok. Thanks for the comment though!
Great job on this so far, I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
11827360
Thank you so much! Plenty more is to come.
For anyone wondering what 4-4-0 means; the first "4" means that the engine has four bogey wheels (These are the normally small wheels at the very front of an engine), the second "4" means that it has four driving wheels (These are self explanatory), and the "0" means that it has zero trailing wheels (These are whatever remaining wheels that are behind the driving wheels, though tender wheels don't count).
An example of an American 4-4-0:
preview.redd.it/1k46aupt1iu81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=414e43a141b14948d3da77d6eff10ab2ff81ac88
I can't believe it took me this long to realize that Ponyeon was Raytheon.
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Yes we must draw our inspiration from somewhere! Not poo-pooing them of course- Ponyeon fell victim to, well, something classified that will be addressed in a later chapter.
Thank you for your continued interest in the story!
11838931
You're welcome.
Scary
11844998
Yup, PW sure has his work cut out for him. Better to share her fate then survive her! Luckily for him, PW is loyal beyond measure to her.
keep up the great work.
11851384
Thank you so much!
Could Permafrost work as a call sign?
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That's a pretty good callsign other then being a little too close to NightMare-2's callsign. Their 1920's era radios are too cackle-y for it to be distinguishable. I have some sections written ahead so I already have a callsign in mind. Though I'm trying to name a colt in the furthest reaches of the jungle, bordering on the Bone Dry Desert. If you can come up with a good name for a colt in that part of the world I'll use it as his name!
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Desert Shield seems fitting to me.
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And so his name shall be.
I’m just waiting for Recce to show up and go nuclear.
Uh oh
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Yes, for sure you won't want to miss her! Though note she's not in this engagement. This one is just PW and Frosty, next one will feature Echo, and the one after it has a very pent up, hot blooded, ferocious, raging Recce. I release 1 chapter a week, so she is on her way- stay tuned! And thank you for being a reader!
I really like reading this. However, will we see PW do a proper turnover? He just vanished from his job.
11869093
I'm glad you asked! The powers that be will soon force him down that path. Thank you for reading and I'm so glad you're enjoying it!
Really enjoying this story. Can't help but wonder if Polaris's callsign will be "PeeWee" if only because that's what first came to mind seeing his initials in conversations.
11870678
Thank you so much for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying this! When the time arises, he will get the chance to pick his callsign. It's not as ruthless as the U.S. military where you're given your name based on a previous f--- up.
Thank goodness for that.
11871362
Indeed! We cannot have our favorite mare warrior going out due to shotty equipment! For submarine enthusiasts, her fingers are starting to become a 'Mark-14 torpedo' type issue.
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Fun
Can I write a fanfiction for this universe too pls?
11874039
Sure thing. I don't have a lot of set canon but I nonetheless compiled a few key details that might prove useful:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DjT6fuIm6SofWBhuXG4wuLUmmqs5TjG_E32rfHwMchQ/edit?usp=sharing
Here's hoping it goes well.
11871449
Oh my God, not the Mk 14. BuOrd screwed the pooch on that and cost countless lives before being brute forces by Admiral Lockwood to fix it.
Admiral Christie on the other hand can burn in hell. “There’s nothing wrong with the magnetic exploder, use it or I’ll court martial you.”
11876974
Indeed. I don't think the management will be very happy if PW continued trying to help without permission!
11878150
Military bureaucratic corruption at its worst. Cool thing about it is I learned of the Mk 14 issues while playing Silent Hunter IV. I remember saying to myself 'this thing stinks!' and then proceeded to not use it until I had no other option. Well done simulator, allowing me to arrive at the same conclusion independent of the WW2 sub caps'.
11874848
Omg thank you :)
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I also applaud and support this effort (not that I have any say in it anyway). More stories mean the bigger this gets. If this sub-fandom grew to a critical size, we could see a panel, FiMfic readings, large (and possibly very heavy) Night-Mare pillows, and more!
I'm excited
Excited for the next chapter
This guy needs to be locked in an office and never, ever let out into the field. Borderline obsessive. Valuable for training information but a liability due to blind fetishized worship.
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Indeed, but remember management really cares about bodycounts and so long as that can stay minimal everything is happy. It's actually very rare that somepony with former project experience and a prior clearance comes along either, so it's slim pickings. Also, they've already got issues of their own: in a few chapters we're going to meet a Night-Mare that thinks the same way about the little ponies, from the other side of the tracks.
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I get you, I’m just playing devil’s advocate from the military side. Dude has a point about the mares aren’t getting the backup they need and the REMFs are grudgingly acknowledging it.