Chapter 5: Into the Night
"Seize her!" the mayor ordered, "Only she knows where the Princess is!"
"You heard the lady! Sic her!" Firehawk shouted. Royal guards armed with spears and swords charged Nightmare Moon while rifleponies took aim.
"Stand back, you foals!" Nightmare Moon effortlessly repelled all of the melee fighters with lightning strikes.
"Have a bullet or two, wanker!" Far Shot fired, all the others followed in suite. The collective boom of the rifles firing had caused most of the audience to drop to the floor with their hooves over their heads. A mass of lead flew right towards Nightmare Moon, only to be all stopped by a shield that materialized right in front of her. Apparently it was almost too much, as the shield suddenly cracked and disintegrated. Dozens of bullets fell onto the ground, all malformed from impact with the shield.
"Impressive. But not enough!"
"Fire! Fire!" Firehawk shouted. This time Nightmare Moon changed into the mist, and then appeared right in the middle of the formation of rifleponies. She forcibly scattered them in all directions. Far Shot was launched into another pony. Cogswing was thrown to the ground, dropping her weapon. Anton was sent flying into a pillar. Chalkboard was knocked onto her back. All that was left near the alicorn was Firehawk. He drew his revolver with his mouth and fired. Nightmare Moon simply caught the shots with her shield and then shot the revolver out of Firehawk's grasp with her magic. He then pulled out his dueling sword from its sheath, and then charged. Seeing the sword, Nightmare Moon promptly created a sword of her own using her magic, and parried the attack. He quickly leaped back, anticipating a counterattack.
Nightmare Moon once again transformed into mist, but this time instead of moving to another position she shrunk down to size of a normal pony. Firehawk was only allowed a moment of astonishment and confusion before Nightmare Moon attacked. He was able to block her sword, and attempted to jab her midsection. She reacted quickly, deflecting the strike. She then attempted to swipe at his sides, but he was able to block that too. Suddenly, she brought her sword downwards onto his head. He barely keeps it away using his sword. Nightmare Moon then rapidly pulls her sword away and rammed him in the stomach using the hilt. He fell over and clutched his stomach. She held the tip of the sword pointed at his face.
"Did you really think you could defeat me, even on equal terms?" Nightmare Moon said, "I had centuries to hone my skills in the blade. Your experience pales in comparison."
"UUURRAAAA!" Anton charged at Nightmare Moon with his Mosin-Nagant's bayonette. She swiped the blade away from her, then slammed one of her fore hooves into the changeling's jaw. This sent him flying and then falling face first into the ground.
"Pathetic little insect." Anton, enraged by the insult, got back up and charged again. This time many of the other guards and rifleponies had recovered, and resumed their attack. Even with Nightmare Moon assuming a smaller form, they still couldn't even inflict a scratch on her. She parried every weapon and dodged every bullet without breaking a sweat. One by one she incapacitated each of her attackers. After nearly shooting one of their own, the rifleponies fixed bayonettes and charged into the fray. Unfortunately, this is no more effective than before.
Anton got up for the sixth time to attack. Unlike many of his comrades (of ponies, changelings, and otherwise), he just simply refused to be put down. Even so, he isn't invincible. His running was way more fatigued than the first time, and his injuries were starting to become much more pronounced; his chitin-protected body was riddled with bruises and small cracks. This time instead of trying to stab her, he used his rifle as an improvised club. Nightmare Moon, now thoroughly annoyed at the changeling's persistence, caught the rifle in mid-swing. Anton tried to pull his rifle away, but Nightmare Moon had an iron grip. She then tugged-hard-on it, sending Anton towards her. This time, she aimed her hoof at his right eye.
"AAAARRGGHH!" Anton collapsed onto the floor. The protective membrane over his eye had cracked and ocular fluid was leaking out of it. He was slowly losing vision from his right eye. Nightmare Moon stood over him, now a fully-sized alicorn again.
"Your attempts are futile. The only reason why none of you are not dead is because you all will still have a purpose once I have taken over Equestria," she said.
"I'd rather die than serve a dog like you," Anton replied raggedly. Nightmare Moon stomped on his face, then kicked his stomach for good measure. "Grr...ggnnn....What's the matter? To afraid to crush a 'pathetic little insect'...?"
"So be it then." She raised her hoof again, this time intent on smashing the changeling's skull.
"Gunner, target twelve o'clock! Fire!" A loud explosion was heard. A tank shell flew past Nightmare Moon's face and impacted the wood floor in front of her. Luckily the splinters did not injure anyone. Sticking its gun through the town hall entrance was a Panzer IV. "That was a warning shot! Stand down or we will ram seven kilograms of metal right through your skull!" Nightmare Moon only chuckled.
"Did you really think I did not expect that? Two can play at that..." She turned into blue mist and flew towards the entrance. The Panzer IV fired again, the shell going through the mist and into the other side of the town hall. "Hehehe...now the game truly begins..." The mist passes the panzer and disappears into the night.
-------
The scene of the aftermath was sobering. Soldiers and guards were strewn all over the floor like rag dolls. Quite a few of the civilians were traumatized by the whole incident that unfolded in front of them. Some though have recovered and are trying to help the injured personnel. Medics arrived to patch up the injured as much as possible. Two of them, a batpony mare and a unicorn stallion, are tending to Anton. Katie watched as the medics tended to him. She was very scared about Anton's current condition.
"You think he'll be okay?" Firehawk asked. He was one of the first to get back up and refused to receive any medical attention, telling the medics to tend to the rest before him.
"Vell, zis one has multiple closed and open wounds and a particularly nasty gash at ze chest area," the unicorn replied, "Also, ve are going to try our best to heal his eye, but whether it become fully functional again is unsure. Zat liquid leaking from his eye? Not a good sign. Not good at all."
"Just do what you can, Doktor."
"Alright lad," the batpony said, "try not to bite yer tongue off. This is going to sting a little." She poured a potion over one of the open wounds on Anton's chest.
"Nnnnghh!" Anton's body jerked from the sudden pain.
"Anty!" Katie cried.
"Aye, hold still. It'll be better in a minute. If you think that's bad, this next one you're REALLY not going to like." The batpony held open Anton's damaged eye. "Want a wood block this time?" Anton nodded weakly. "Alright then. Doc?"
"Jawohl." The unicorn levitated a small wooden block and placed it in between Anton's jaw. He then opened a surgical kit. "Sorry, comrade. Zis next procedure can only be described as being...excruciating. Has to be done without painkillers."
"Just do it already," Anton said while biting the block.
"If you say so. Don't move too much, or else you might get a blade in ze eye...probably shouldn't have said zat, but might as vell give you ze warning." The unicorn held up a medical scalpel and a syringe containing blue potion with his magic. He then carefully levitated the scalpel near a loose piece of protective membrane.
"Close your eyes, lass," the batpony said to Katie. She did as instructed and also covered her eyes with her forelegs just in case.
"I swear, once I got my hooves on that bastard child of a unicorn and pegasus I'm going beat her to a bloody pulp." Far Shot had received a blow to the forehead and several sword cuts on his right foreleg from the fight. He had bandages wrapped around both. The medics said the injuries wasn't too serious and that they should fully heal within a day or two. He was angry because the medics said that he should avoid using his rifle or operating a tank cannon while his foreleg heals.
"Don't jump the gun, Far Shot. That's going to get you killed," Chalkboard said. Far Shot just snorted in response.
"Alright, anyone who can still walk, gather around," Firehawk declared. The personnel who already had their injuries tended to or didn't suffer any serious injuries walked over to where Firehawk was. "The Princess is nowhere to be seen. Our current goal is to try and find Nightmare Moon and capture her. Seeing as she's already immortal, lethal force is authorized. Infantry is almost useless against her, so you'll be accompanied by vehicles. A tank shell would probably just knock her out cold whereas it would scatter a normal pony's bits all over the place."
"That's our plan? You sure that's going to work?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Currently we do not have any other solutions. I'll call you over the radio if something comes up."
"Commander, what about Canterlot? Shouldn't we let them know about this?"
"One of our radioponies back at base said that communication's all messed up as of the moment. They're trying to figure out the problem right now. Just in case, I told them to send some runners to Canterlot to deliver a report of our situation. Any other questions?" No response. "Good. Everyone able is going to be on guard duty. Cover all major points of entry into town. Let the rest of us know if you see any suspicious activity. Dismissed. Be careful out there, who knows what tricks Nightmare Moon has up her sleeve." Everyone started filing out the entrance, some with a slight limp. A young mare ran up to Far Shot.
"Be careful out there, big bro," Far Shot's sister said.
"Don't worry. I'll be back soon enough," Far Shot replied.
"Just promise me you won't be coming back in a bucket, alright?" she asked worriedly.
"...Okay then, little sis," Far Shot promised, "Make sure you don't get in trouble neither."
"Didn't even cross my mind." Far Shot's sister grinned. Far Shot smiled back.
-----
At the southern entrance into Ponyville a small detachment of soldiers and vehicles stood guard. A male pegasus and a female batpony was idly chatting away the night, however long it takes.
"Sigh, ich habe diesen Beitrag, weil ich dachte Dinge wäre ereignislos," the pegasus said in Germane.
"Wenn Sie einen unauffälligen Job wollten, sollten Sie bis Buchhaltung haben abgeholt," the batpony replied to her friend.
"Du weißt ich hasste Mathematik, Nacht Lied."
"Mögen Sie es nicht zu langweilig? Sie können sich so wankelmütig zu Zeiten."
"Oi," another pegasus said, "any o' you want a smoke? Helps calm the nerves." He had a cigarette in his mouth.
"Nien danke, Trench Spade. Mother did always say smoking was bad for you," the batpony replied.
"Suit yourself, Night Song." The pegasus blew out another puff of smoke.
"Hmm." The batpony looked up at the moon. "To think that ze world's really going to end...."
"The world's not ending, dummkopf," the Germane pegasus replied, "We're stuck on night, so what?"
"It's not natural. Ze sun and moon are suppose to take zeir turns up on the sky. Ze moon up zere when it should be broad daylight, it's very ominous."
"I thought you were a batpony, Nighty," Trench Spade said, "Your kind thrives in the night."
"Yes, but imagine ze sun up there, all day and night."
"I guess that can be pretty annoying, if not downright creepy."
"Excactly. Ze sun and moon, zey are one of the most essential balances in nature."
"Don't worry, mien freund. We will figure out something eventually," the Germane pegasus replied.
"Achtung!" one of the soldiers yelled, "Ve have six civilians attempting to leave ze town!"
"Can you identify?" Night Song asked.
"It's...Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Princess Celestia's student, and-"
"HI!"
"Waaah! Pinkie, don't do zat!"
------
"Sir, one of garrisons have something to report," a radiopony said. The war room was filled with ponies manning radio equipment and examining maps. Several were operating telegraphs, attempting to send out messages to nearby cities and towns.
"Patch them in," Firehawk replied.
"This is the southern garrison," a soldier said over the radio, "We have six civilians trying to exit the town. One of them is Princess Celestia's student. She says that she knows how to stop Nightmare Moon."
"Hmm...hear her out. I want to know."
"Got it, sir."
"Uh...hi, this is Twilight Sparkle speaking."
"Go ahead ma'am. You said you had a solution to our little problem?"
"What? Oh, you mean Nightmare Moon? Well, yes I do. Legend goes that she was defeated when her sister used the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon. The last known location was the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."
"The Everfree Forest."
"Correct."
"Sir, permission to speak freely?" the radiopony asked.
"Granted," Firehawk replied.
"You sure this is such a good idea? I mean it's just an old legend."
"One that just came to life again!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Mmm...she's right you know," Firehawk said, "We don't really have any other options than to patrol in hope that we might bump into Nightmare Moon."
"Your orders, commander?" the soldier over the radio asked.
"Let them through. Make sure they have some escorts."
"Roger. South guards, out."
"Sir! A garrison has something urgent to report!" one of the radioponies said.
"Put them on."
"This is the western guards! We are under fire!" Gunfire can be heard over the radio.
"What happened?"
"Bloody tanks rolled right out of Whitetail Woods! They got Panthers and a Tiger with a forward mounted turret! We are undergunned, repeat, we are undergunned! Our weapons are doing jack against them! Send help!"
-----
"Chyort! Stay down!" One of the changelings knocked the radiopony over, just barely out of the machine gun burst directed towards them. In a nearby pit, a earth pony soldier stood up with a M9 Bazooka and fired. The rocket impacted the Tiger in the upper front hull. It did nothing but reveal the anti-tanker's position. He quickly got out of the pit before the Tiger fired. He then ducked into one of the quickly dugged slit trenches.
"Hey! Is help coming or not!?" he yelled to the radiopony.
"The commander says they'll be here in five minutes! They're bringing seventeen pounders!" A SdKfz 234 tried futilely to damage one of the Panther tanks. It received a shell through the turret for its troubles. A sickly scream was heard broadcasting from the vehicle. The driver panicked and backed the armored car away from combat.
"Tell commander he better make that two minutes or else there will be no garrison left to save!" A nearby M4A1 Sherman fired its 105mm cannon at one of the Panther tanks. The explosive shell detonated on its front armor. The Panther lurched backwards from the blast, but is otherwise unscathed. It fires back-its 75mm shell ripped clean through the frontal armor of the Sherman. The shell tore into the engine, causing a fire. As the crew desperately tries to put it out, the Panther loads another shell in preparation for the knockout shot.
Suddenly, a much smaller shell hits the Panther in the lower glacis and penetrates. Before the Panther's commander could discern the source of the shell, yet another hits the lower glacis. The commander finally sees the tank firing-but not before it fires another shot right into the cupola. The commander had ducked just in time. Looking back at the tank, he momentarily wondered how he did not see it before. It was a Crusader, but it was painted red and had lots of mismatched tank armor strapped onto it. Also attached to it was various "war trophies" from large beasts. It also had a spiked ram attached to the front and dual machines guns mounted on a pintle on the turret. A slightly more subtle addition was a second coaxial machinegun mounted to the right of the gun in addition to the one mounted on the left. The gunner, seeing the more dangerous enemy at hoof, fired at the relatively diminutive tank. Against a regular Crusader, the shell would have penetrated the front and exit out the back almost effortlessly. This Crusader was anything but regular-the shell made a metallic crack and broke into several smaller pieces as it hit almost perfectly unangled armor.
"Hmph. Dat 'ittle kitty ain't so scary! He's gots a biggah shoota, but we has da shootier one! Drivah, close da distance and let's wreak sum havoc! Say it wit me boyz!" Two of the hatches on the turret and the one above the driver's viewport popped open. Sticking their heads out were three green ponies. The commander had a brown mane. The driver wore a bomber cap and a pair of goggles. The gunner was bald, and his lower jaw was metallic.
"WAAAAAAGGHH!"
"Wait, it isn't...?" the antitank pony asked.
"Da, it is," the changeling replied, "I almost feel bad for our enemies. Almost." The Crusader made a mad charge towards the Panther tank that fire at it. Just as it fire again the Crusader veered out of the way and drove behind the Panther tank.
"IT'S DAKKA TIME!" the gunner yelled. The Crusader's six pounder fired at blistering speed into the rear of the Panther-far faster than any normal six pounder gun should have. The sheer amount of shells shredded the back armor and started a engine fire-an ironic twist of fate for the Panther's crew. "Oooo, dat 'un burn real good!"
The Crusader drove to the Panther on the right. It unleashed a stream of shells into the sides of it. This time it shredded apart the ammunition rack and caused an explosion. The Panther's turret went flying from the detonation. The remaining tanks finally took notice of the Crusader and turned their guns to fire.
"A'wright, da numskulls think wee's worth fightin' now," the commander said, "Let's take down da biggest one before dey do da same ta us!" The Crusader towards the Tiger. It once again unleashed a storm of shells on the tank. The Tiger had taken extra caution and positioned its hull to face the Crusader. Most of the six pound shells simply bounced off. "Gunnah! Quit goofin' around! Ya can't penetrate dat armor!" the Crusader veered to fire at the Tiger's side armor. It let out another burst of shells, right before the cannon made an audible click.
"Uhhh...boss?" the gunner said, "We gots no more ammo left. We gotta go!"
"Ya heard 'im! Drivah, get us outta 'ere!" the commander shouted. One of the Panthers fired. Its shell impacted the Crusader in the rear sprocket, detracking it, and jammed itself into the engine compartment. The Crusader drifted a few feet before stopping, exposing its sides clearly to the Tiger. The Tiger turned its cannon to fire at the immobilized tank.
"Uh-oh! WEE'S ALL GONNA DIE!" the driver screamed. A thunderous boom was heard.
The seventeen pound shell slammed right into the Tiger's back armor. Another drilled through the back of the Tiger's turret, instantly killing the gunner. The Tiger attempted to turn its thick front towards the new combatants. One of the AT crews, anticipating this very maneuver, fired a APDS round into the Tiger's very angled side armor.It penetrated and then wildly bounced around inside the compartment, injuring the Tiger's radiopony, loader, and driver. More seventeen pounder shells ripped apart several of the Panther tanks. Some tried to retaliate-most of the return fire either missed or glanced off of the AT guns' shields. In addition to the anti tank fire, several tanks rolled out of town to engage the remaining Panthers. Seeing the situation rapidly being turned against them, the surviving Panther tanks retreated back into the woods.
"Her Majesty's royal seventeen pounders are reporting for duty. You lads missed us?" said one of the gunners of the 17-pounder AT guns.
"Thank Celestia you got here! Those tanks almost murdered us," the radiopony replied.
"Ya would 'ave if wee's didn't stall em fer ya," the commander of the Crusader added.
"Indeed you did," the AT gunner said, "I'm actually a little surprised you only knocked out two tanks. What's the matter, getting a little soft?"
"Oi! Youse know dat be fightin words!" the gunner of the Crusader replied, "We woulda killed dem all if we didn't run outta shells to shoot!"
"You ran out of shells?" the AT gunner asked incredulously.
"Yes, Zzaptzgutz 'ere finally got dat autoloada ta work."
"Dey makes good dakka dakka! Me newest invenshun woz a success!" Zzaptgutz, the Crusader's driver and crew mechanic, declared proudly. He had gotten out to replace the Crusader's missing sprocket and fitting the knocked off tread back into place.
"Uses up dem ammo too fast dough. Youse gotta work on dat," the Crusader's commander said.
"How about you colts figure out how to do that some other time," the AT gunner said, "We're going to be very busy with defending the town. I think that was only their first wave."
"Good. Dat means once wee's fill up on ammo again, its back to killing time!" the Crusader's gunner declared.
"I didn't know the Royal Army accepted homicidal maniacs," the antitank pony commented.
"Better them being on our side than on the enemy's," the changeling replied.
-----
"Commander, the attack on the western garrison has been repelled," one of the radioponies reported.
"Good. Keep all channels open and monitor for any activity," Firehawk replied.
"Soldiers from the garrison had reported tanks that fit the description for the Panzer Five Panthers...and the Porsche Tiger."
"Ugh...where do these ponies get those kinds of equipment?" Firehawk said to himself.
"Sir, the runners have returned," another radiopony said, "Canterlot is currently undergoing a coup right now. They'll try their best to send some reinforcements to help, but don't expect too much." Firehawk sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"This is going to be one very long night."
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75mms to 17 pounders... boy did that escalate quickly. XD
Ork ponies. OK.
How fast does their 6 pounder fire? because I have a Crusader, and buddy, it shoots every 2.2 seconds on the dot wit the gun rammer, and that ain't bad.
2572260
A shell every 2.2 seconds is still below an Ork's (or in this case an Ork pony's) minimal dakka requirement, so try imagining the fire rate of one of the low-tier German light tank FlaK guns (about 132 rounds per minute). That's how fast the Ork Pony's modified 6-pounder is firing its shells. Made possible in part due to ingenuity, another being the Ork WAAAGH psychic field (not physically possible? Dem orkz sez oderwize). They would have gone further, but then it would start melting the barrel even with the WAAAGH keeping it together.
Oh, and by the way, the Ork Pony crew was the idea of one of my clanmembers. I'll just leave it at there for the moment, cause spoilers otherwise.
2569456 Soon we will see a KV-2. Betting on it.
Suddenly, ORKS OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE!
A tiger dies in here everytime
XD