World of Tanks Chronicles: Tales of the 20th ERAD

by TS874

Chapter 2: Making the Far Shot

On a regular day, if Chalky were to accidentally fall off our tank and onto the ground I would have helped her up. This day, though, was not a regular day. Her being bowling-balled by a pegasus right into a mud puddle was way too funny not to laugh at.

What? It was. What happened next was even funnier-the pegasus responsible tried to get the mud off of her by creating a whirlwind around her. She was able to, but now that Chalky got flash dried her mane was all puffy. It was rolled into a semi-spire pointing upwards. The rest of us started laughing our butts off at her predicament. That's when I noticed the prissy-looking white unicorn was just staring at the mess with horror. The unicorn went up to her and told her that her mane was in a utter mess and that it needs to be fixed up. She dragged her away towards what I think was the spa.

The rest of us walked in the opposite direction-towards the military base in Ponyville. Aside from a chain-link fence, the base itself wasn't that intimidating. The complex looked like it was converted from some of the larger buildings in the town. Thatched roofs, exterior wood bracings, walls being made out of wood themselves, and brightly colored coats of paint gave the buildings a more homey feel than a militaristic one.

After saying goodbyes to families and friends-Mum made me promise to visit her and sis when I'm off duty-we went inside the barracks. I was right-the place was essentially a bunch of converted apartments. The interior reminds me of that hotel that my family and I stayed at when our house had to be fumigated. Long corridor with doors off to the sides leading into very, very large rooms. Each crew was to be assigned to separate rooms. Not complaining, as this was the same setup back at the academy in Canterlot. As usual, Blaze called the top bunk, I got the bottom. In the other bunk Merry was at top and Carry was at bottom. Chalky would get a bed to herself. After unpacking our luggages, Blaze and I went to check out our new tank while Merry and Carry went to explore the rest of the base.

As to be expected, there wasn't anything that looked particularly interesting about our new tank, seeing as it's just a different version of the training Sherman we used back at Canterlot. In fact the only difference I noticed is that the turret looked a little fatter. It was painted olive, typical of the Sherman series of tanks.

"Hey, since this our tank now, does that mean we can do anything with it?" asked Blaze.

"I'd think so, as long as we don't wreck it on purpose," I replied.

"Okay, then the first thing I'm going to do with this is to give it a new paint job," she declared, "It looks awfully dull."

"Mmph, and can maybe after you finish playing hoofpainter maybe we can do something practical with this thing?" I said, "Like maybe file a requisitions for a longer gun?"

"Fine, fine, geez. You're such a killjoy sometimes."

"Aye, the lad's got a point, yah know," said somepony.

I looked behind me and saw a brown pegasus mare with a sandlebag of equipment. She was also wearing a Brodie helmet with a pair of dust goggles on it. She must be one of the engineers. Next to her was an undisguised changeling wearing a pulled up winter cap with a red star on it. I think it's called a Shanka or something. It had something on its back with a blanket covering it.

"The Sherman's seventy five millimeter cannon is good for fighting against infantry, but it's absolute rubbish against more modern armor. Tossing a wet piece of haggis would be more effective," she said.

"Huh, and you are...?" Blaze asked.

"Name's Cogswing," the pegasus replied, "but ye can call me Cogsy. Most of my friends do, and I got a feeling we're going to get well acquainted in the next few weeks." She held out a forehoof, I held mine out to shake it.

"The name's Far Shot," I said. I then pointed to Blaze, "And this is my crew's driver, Blaze."

"Nice to meet ya lads," Cogsy said, "I'm one of the Sappers here-got shipped out after a few months of training in Trottingham. Been here for about a year so far."

"A few months?" Blaze said skeptically, "Doesn't training usually take around a year?"

"Aye, but mine was a little streamlined, due to my natural talent." Cogsy pointed at her cutie mark-a gear with a screwdriver and wrench in front of it. "Had experience with engineering before joining up-used to help my dad in his job as a mechanic."

"Wait, since you're a Sapper, that means you're going to be put in combat duty?" I asked.

"Yes. Why ya ask?" Cogsy replied.

"My dad was a Sapper at the Battle of Trottingham."

"Huh. What's his name?"

"Arc Shot."

"Oh. Hey, wait a moment! Arc Shot was our Drill Sargent."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really tough on fresh recruits, although he's really confident in us. Said that we were the pride of the army at training graduation. Loved to yells insults at us to fire us up during exercises. "Mule dung" was one of his favorite ones." I saw the changeling wince a little. "There's a rumor that he sleeps with a PIAT under his mattress."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like dad alright. Always did love to see things blow up, especially when he was the one doing it."

"Wait, so the rumor's TRUE?!?" Cogsy exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Sshhh," the changeling said, "you're going to wake up little Katie." It pointed at the tiny thing on its back. I only just noticed it was a tiny sleeping changeling. It murmured at bit, then resumed sleeping.

"Oops, sorry," Cogsy apologized, "By the way, this is Anton. He's from the Moscow Hive."

"Is good to meet you two," the changeling said. He had a slight buzz to his voice.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied, "And if you don't mind me asking, where did you get the little one?"

"Queen Anastasia gave the nymph to me," Anton replied, "Most changelings traveling abroad are given a nymph to take care of. The queen says it's better to have them grow up away from the hive."

"And you are here because...?"

"I grew up in Stalliongrad, just like many others from the hive. I returned to Moscow after I reached adolescence, then came back after I became an adult. Afterwards I was granted Equestrian citizenship. Decided to join the Royal Army. Got shipped to Ponyville five years ago."

"Wait, so the nymph is about five years old?"

"Seven years."

"Wait, then why-"

"She's having one of her daytime naps right now. Younger changelings tire out a lot easier, but that's common with most creatures, yes?"

"Huh, that's not how I remembered it. Isn't seven years when kids are the most hyperactive?"

"Oh she is when awake. You should have seen her getting all excited about you and the other crews coming here. Was jumping all over the place. Loves it when there's new people coming over. Bzzt, is exhausting trying to calm her down..."

"I hear you. It was bloody difficult to have my sister sit still for more than five seconds when she was younger."

"Same here, only except she's still like that sometimes even as an adult." None of us said that, but it sounded familiar.

I looked at the garage entrance and saw a green earth pony mare. Took Chalky long enough. She was all cleaned up. She wasn't wearing her uniform anymore, then again us ponies don't normally wear clothes anyways. I notice something else that was a little bit different-while before she always wore her red mane down, now she was wearing it in a ponytail.

"Took your sweet time, eh?" I remarked.

"Not that I really had a choice," Chalky replied. "Rarity insisted that I get all the mud cleaned off, get at least a better manestyle, and get a hooficure. And that was when I said I had to get somewhere quick. Otherwise I'd be stuck with her for the rest of the day off to who knows where."

"Lemme guess," Cogsy said, "Ye got knocked over by the resident daredevil? Cerulean coat, rainbow mane?"

"Yeah...what's up with her?" Chalky asked.

"She's an avid Wonderbolt fan. Wants to be one of them some day. You can always see her practicing stunts when she's not handling the weather. Or napping," Chalky replied.

Wait...

Why was she answering her own question?

I looked away from Chalky and back over to Cogsy and Anton. Only except, Anton wasn't there, just Chalky. Cogsy didn't seem surprised. I looked back over to the other Chalky, her eyes were very wide. I looked over to Blaze, her jaws were dropped right open. I looked back at the Chalky behind Cogsy.

"What."

Cogsy couldn't hold it in any longer. First it was a snicker, then it turned into full out laughing. The Chalky behind her had a smirk on her face. I also heard another voice of laughter, this one much younger. Then I noticed that a tiny changeling with a blanket and a oversized winter cap on it was standing on that Chalky's back.

"Oh of bloody course. Changelings can do that," I said. Why in the name of Celestia did I not remember that.

"Ye shoulda look at yer faces! They were hilarious!" Cogsy said after she was able to talk through her laughter. I just gave her the evil eye.

"Alright, alright," she said after wiping her tears off, "the name's Cogsy, and me buddy behind is called Anton. And you are...?"

"Sergeant Chalkboard. Certainly interesting meeting you two," Chalky replied.

"The feeling is mutual," the not-Chalky replied.

"Hello! I'm Katherine!" the tiny changeling said. It was now standing right in front of the real Chalky. "But you can call me Katie!"

"So the little princess awakes," not-Chalky said.

Wait, princess? .....Nah, probably just one of those nicknames given to children.

"Anty, why didn't you wake me up?" Katie asked.

"You needed your rest. You want to grow up properly, don't you?"

"Fine then, mom." At this statement not-Chalky blinked out of confusion. Then "she" realized what was wrong and was momentarily engulfed in blue fire. So that's what happens when a changeling disguises. Anton then cleared his throat and walked over to Katie to take the winter cap off of her. He placed it back on his head.

"Huh, that was pretty a good impression. You sounded and looked just like me," Chalky commented.

"Many thanks. Us changelings appreciate being complemented on our ability to mimic others," Anton replied, "Sure, is not necessary for our hive anymore since we can get love and other emotional energies without needing to pose as others, but is good to stay in practice."

"Hey, Anty?" Katie asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can we show the new ponies around?"

"I don't see why not."

"Yay! Okay everypony, follow me!" Katie ran off through one of the doors. The sign on it said "TO: War Room, Armory, Hangar". We followed after her. This could be interesting.

--------

Well, some of the rooms did seem interesting to look in (the armory and forge coming to mind in particular) but Katie just spent around two minutes explaining each room before running off to the next. Maybe I'll look into the rooms more extensively next time. They were not unlike the ones at the academy, though a few were off-limits to us back there.

Eventually it was time to have dinner. Everyone met up at the mess hall. While there is a sizable amount of ponies here, it's definitely not as much as there were back at Canterlot. There's even some unoccupied tables. Anton, Cogsy, and Katie sat with us alongside a few other ponies that I haven't seen before. They said their greetings and introduced themselves, we did the same. A bunch of them were Cogsy's fellow sappers. They had different shoulder patches to indicate their role. A wrench meant they were repair and maintenance sappers, like Cogsy. A detonator and mine detector meant there were explosive ordnance disposal and demolition sappers. A flying rocket meant that they were anti-tank sappers. A fire meant they were flamethrower sappers. A few of the others said their job is to guard tanks in combat. Quite a few were just regular soldiers. The rest of the time was just each of us eating our meals; I noticed that Anton, Katie, and several other undisguised changelings eating regular food. I'll have to ask them about that later.

After the meal most of us head back to the barracks-some of the ponies who were on night shifts instead headed towards their stations. Me, I went back to armory to pick up the Lee-Enfield I gave to security at the entrance and practiced at the shooting range. Nothing is more satisfying to me than hitting a target dead center. I spent about an hour shooting cardboard targets before I decided turn in for the day. I gave my Lee-Enfield back to the quartermaster and went back towards the barracks.

While walking outside, I decided to take a little stroll. The moon was out tonight. The bright side of it was fully visible. On the moon was a pattern of craters that resembled a pony. I remembered a old tale about why the craters on the moon are arranged as they are-supposedly a mare was banished to the moon because she threatened to engulf the world in everlasting night. It is said that the stars will align a thousand years after she was banished, and she will once again threaten the safety of the world.

Now I'm not much for a doomsday theorist, but I'm a little worried. She was banished almost an entire millennia ago. Our calendars mark years by Years After Banishment (but the banishment was said to have happened in the middle of the year), based on that same story. Right now it is 1000 AB. That means that her return will be sometime this year. Then there's the Nightmare Cult, who claims that she will return this year's Summer Sun Celebration. That's only a week from now.

Well, I decided to stop brooding over that and to get some sleep. I'm not one for doomsday theories. I headed back to the barracks and to my crew's room. Everyone else was already sleeping. I checked the clock-it was ten o clock. Must've stayed out longer than I thought. I got into bed and pulled up the covers. It took me a while before I could fall asleep.

Author's Note:

-Vehicle Data-
M4A3E2
Another version of the M4A3 model, this Sherman featured heavy frontal armor that was bolstered by its slope. Originally intended to support infantry, some were given M1A1 guns for tank-hunting. Slower than most of its Sherman brethren, it was more like a heavy tank.
-Weapon Data-
PIAT
A curious anti-tank weapon made by the same group of Ancients that made the very first tank rediscovered by the Equestrians. It spring-launches a warhead that detonates upon impact. It also be can used in indirect fire due to the nature of the firing system-turning it into a portable artillery piece. Surprisingly, the spring is very strong, which along with the warhead being fin-stabilized allows it to hit targets a good distance away in direct fire despite being more akin to a mortar or a catapult than a anti-tank weapon.