> The Incredible Tank
>  by Arthor2017
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> Chap. 1
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It is said that every day in the magical lands of Equestria are bright and wonderful. The ponies doing their activities with happiness and harmony, except in some cases where the presence of an evil being or a catastrophe threatens to end that peace. Fortunately, they always found a way to solve the difficulties and everything would return to normal.


This day was supposed to be wonderful and bright, like other days. 


Rainbow Dash has wake up early from her bed, an incredible feat even for herself, excited to go to the bookstore and buy the Daring Doo's new hit with the intention of reading it alongside her friends and her beloved pet tortoise. 


What she did not expect was to hit against a brick wall made of condensed clouds. Who would have thought such a thing? 


That only caused the cyan pegasus to be angry with the construction worker, who in turn was disgusted with Rainbow's behavior. Without either of them could notice, a small black cloud began to form over their heads - a Drearie. A being that feeds on the bad mood of living beings getting more stronger the more angry and annoyed the guest turned in. 


Sadly, that was only the beginning. 


On her way to the bookstore, Rainbow Dash's bad mood spread around Ponyville, making easy the work of the cloud creature to multiply and affect every inhabitant of the village. Rainbow Dash's patience came to an end when she arrived at the bookstore only to find a long line of ponies eager to acquire the new book, unleashing her frustration on those who where present at, including her friends. 


Soon the Drearies multiplied without control, leaning on everypony's head - from Big Mactintosh to Apple Bloom, passing through Derpy Hooves and even Shining Armor (who was visiting a friend and Twilight with his wife, Princess Cadence) and the Wonderbolts as well. Not even Princess Celestia or Princess Luna couldn't get free from thoose little pests. 


Only Spike, the baby dragon assistant of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Zecora the Zebra and Tank seemed to be unaffected by the bad mood rolled upon, though Zecora noticed that the chelonian was uncomfortable since this whole situation began.  Actually, Tank seemed to be unconmfortable for some weeks when something bothered him or an unpleasant situation arose, as it was being presented in these moments.


Perhaps this word was little to describe the reptile's expression, one might notice that looked.... angry? 

  
Any other thought was put on a halt when she looked up at the sky and saw a huge black cloud begin to form over the town, a as a result of the Drearies's constant multiplication and the bad vibes around Ponyville. The Herbalist feared that if the cloud continued to increase, it would not only cover the town alongside the city of Canterlot nearby, but also would threaten to expand to other zones untilo it covers all Equestria. 


"Uh-oh." Zecora said "Perhaps this situation has gotten out of control. Why don't you give Rainbow a bit of console?"


Tank didn't need to be told twice to comply with the order and rushed to go at his owner's side and calm her. Sure, at the rate any earth tortoise could go. 


Quickly, Zecora pushed Tank to where Rainbow Dash was, lightly touching the mare's side with the sole intention of reassuring her and bring joy. 


But what he found was the bitter-faced image of his pegasus friend staring at him as if he was a nuisance; with the main Dreary on top of her head, drawing a malevolent and derisive grin. 


"¡TANK!" she called out "Watch where are you going! Yeesh, this is already the worse day and you're trying to make it even more terrible! If you're just going to be underhoof and annoying you can go HOME"




 


In other circumstances Tank would have burst into tears after being shouting at by Rainbow Dash, snapping her out and realizing her actions she would ask for forgiveness to her reptile companion as well to everypony in town. Thus would lead the Drearies to lose control over them and disappear alongside the huge dark cloud since there would be no anger from which to feed on. 


This..... was not the case.



 


The ponies gathered around couldn't believe what just happened a few secs ago gasping in astonishment and horror, even the Sonic Rainboom's performer and future member of the Wonderbolt's rank was unable to process the moment.

"¿T-Tank?" Rainbow Dash asked nerviously approaching to the tortoise, hoping for him to be fine. Then she start to notice something unusual on the reptile's iris; for they were suddenly turning into a brilliant green.

And the worse part was about to happen.

Tank gave a slight roar audible to some ponies standing near the cyan pegasus as they watched in terror how the buildings of the chelonius started to change. His body began to increase gradually as the magic-propelled helicopter rotor strapped to his shell broke out and his aviation google fell out of his head. His hind legs thickened to give way to two powerful legs that would allowed him to stand up like a bipedal creature. The front legs became a pair of muscular arms ending each one in big hands. The shell appeared to have been fragmented and rearranged as the tortoise continued its metamorphosis, plates over plates until it formed a canopy armor. The head and neck changed in size as well, not too big neither too small that it could be on par with the rest of its changing body. Finally, and perhaps the most striking feature, the tone of his skin became a greener tone than usual showing his veins in some parts of the body.

After a few minutes the process was over. Behind was left the familiar figure of the Element of Loyalty's pet, and in his place was the presence of a monstrous green creature whose body seemed to have been shaped for combat, a little higher than the Solar Princess and full of wrath.

Wrath focused on a certain parasite in the form of a black cloud and those that resembled him.

"¡¿ T- T- Tank?!" Asked again Rainbow Dash, now in fear. The Dreary perpetrator froze, too, about to make a escape. Next everypony heard was:


¡¡¡¡¡¡ RRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRR !!!!!

> Chap. 2
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There was no word in the dictionary, or any other textbook, to describe what the ponies had just contemplated; From one moment to another a green beast ten feet high stood in front of Rainbow Dash where once there was a harmless turtle.

"Can anypony care to explain me what in the Tarnation just happened here?!" Asked Applejack, who was concerned by the entire scene; Besides, her rainbow-colored friend remained motionless by fear of that monster, concerning her even more.

"And how Tank could change into that thing?!" Followed Fluttershy, who was in panic like the cyan pegasus was at this moment. How she wished this was just a bad dream and could wake up.

"I ... I wouldn't know how to explain it" Twilight Sparkle replied "I had read about some species that have the ability to change their structure when they feel threatened or to attack their enemies. But never in that way!!"

"Well, Twilight, if you'll let me," said Pinkie Pie with a serious look "I can think of a possibility: at some point Tank was exposed to a strong concentration of radioactivity that - for some reason - didn't killed him, or he ingested some radioactive substance that - for some reason again -  didn't kill him; plus adding the presence of those annoying black cloudy things provoked his anger. Thus achieving his transformation."

............

"That. Or something is messing with us by writing out in a form of a script." She finished the explanation with a typical joy smile on her face.

The rest of Mane 6 were not surprised by the commentary, or the behavior, from their pink mained companion. Although they should agree with something. These creatures were the main cause of the phenomenon that was the metamorphosis of the chelonian; And whatever he has been subjected to would only make him more angry than they can foresee, putting at risk the sake of everypony.


"Now, we will figured out whatever happened to Tank later," commented Rarity "Our priority is to keep these ponies out before they could get hurt or- What is he doing?!!" The fashionista couldn't finish her sentence as she pointed to where Tank was. The mares all turned around and gasped in horror - again - at the gaze. From what it seemed to be an eternity, the behemoth finally raised his arm with the intention of, apparently, attacking Rainbow Dash.

"DASH, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!!"

"RAINBOW, PLEASE, SNAP IT OUT!!!"

"OH MY GOD, I CAN'T SEE!!!!"

"DASHIIIIEEEEE!!!!!"

But the calls of her friends ended in deaf ears; for the only thing that the athlete could manage to do was to cover herself with her hooves and wait for the impact.

Yet she felt nothing.

Indeed, Tank prepared himself to connect a blow, but it wasn't directed towards Rainbow Dash. The one who got all the impact was the Dreary that was on her head; Who, like a projectile was thrown against the bookstore, creating a hole in the front.

The ponies who were present didn' want to wait a second longer and ran away in terror as the monstrous tortoise ran with incredible speed for a being of its size to connect a powerful kick against the small black cloud; And, again, he was sent flying into the center of Ponyville.

Debris was all what left of the bookshop, but it wasn't enough for Tank. Boosting on his legs, he made a powerful leap after the Dreary's leader, and hopefully he would find the rest of them to be eliminated once and for all.

Rainbow Dash was finally able to look up and, still in shock, managed to see his friend hurrying toward the center.

Tank..... What i have done She managed to said mentally.
> Chap. 3
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There had never been such a scene in the streets of Ponyville where its inhabitants never ceased to speak or shout their frustrations among themselves, as well as any other negative thoughts that might come to their minds.


From anything unimportant they began to deny: from the fact that one pony's house looked bigger than the other, from when a cherry was placed to the hay shake, or the fact that the great majority of ponies did not wear garments of dress (which - to tell you the truth - had never cared).


And if that were not enough, no pony paid any attention to the dark gaseous creatures forming over their heads and multiplying every now and then; They did not even bother to notice the presence of a certain black cloud that covered the whole town as if it were a mantle, increasing its size in a threatening way thanks to the bad vibe of the environment.


"Please, ladies and gentlecolts, calm down for a few seconds if you want!" Mayor Mare asked from the stand of the City Council, who also tried to keep herself calm "We are an orderly society with enough maturity to be carried away by insignificances that do not come to the case!"


Shortly after this call out, everypony seemed to take a rest with the arguments – she hoped.


"I'm telling you. The ‘X-Mares’ is a cheap knock off of the ‘Power Ponies’! Take a look at comic’s content!" A reddish brown earth pony stallion demanded to his yellowed amber pegasus companion.


"Knock it off!! The ‘X-Mares’ were already creating their own franchise long before the first issue of the ‘Power Ponies’ came around!!”


And thus, the beige mare has grown up even more frustrated as well. Before she could say anything about the matter, the sound of an object crashing against the floor was heard on the Town Hall; the ponies left their meaningless arguments turning their attention to what just happened, the Drearies doing the same without moving from their positions.


Coming out of the hole left by the crash, a Dreary was trying to stay on his feet after being apparently brutally beaten by something or someone. The Dreary did not have time to think of anything else when he lifted for a second to the sky, and desperately stepped aside when a huge green mass came at full speed from nowhere crashing violently.


And slowly the figure of a muscular and huge mutant turtle was revealing out of the debris, who looked completely angry and searching for something; and apparently, he already had his gaze locked on the crowd. Specifically about the Drearies present, they began to panic within themselves.


"AAAAAAHHHHHHH !!!!!"


A total chaos was generated in the central square whith each pony doing everything in his power to run away or try to hide from the presence of the green monster, so did the little black clouds. Those Drearies who didn’t run remain motionless, either because they weren’t out of their astonishment yet or they were consumed by an unknown fear.


Grave mistake.


Tank lashed out at the Drearies at the front - a total of 7 - with a mighty onrush, breaking through the walls of two houses on his way until he crashed them against a nearby wall, literally fading them into the air. But this was only the beginning of what would be a mass beatdown.


Quickly the raging reptile attacked seven other Drearies who were trying to sneak up on their right with a powerful clothesline; in each hand he took a handful of Drearies and slammed them into a clash of palms; another Deary who was flying in his direction was received with a blow of his own, directly connected to his face, sending him to crash against the front door of a house.


He pushed upward to reach another group of Drearies who were flying terrified, catching a few in his grip and impacting them against a three-flat building; then he circled around the wall, crushing the dark clouds that were cornered, descending to make disappear a couple more that lay on the ground and in his way he took down the roof and part of the structure of the house. Using his legs, he kicked the larger debris against another set of Drearies about to leave the village, effectively making them disappear; however, the impact almost killed a group of mares who, horrified, hid behind a table. The remaining hiding places hit other surrounding structures, wounding a few ponies on the way.


It is unknown if Tank was aware or not, but with each attack towards the Drearies several ponies ended up seriously injured, as well the other inhabitants of Ponyville: 

Roseluck would have ended without head if she hasn’t duck at the last moment when the chelonian sent to fly a Dreary with a powerful slap. Daisy received several cuts of glass when all the windows of her house exploded with another impact coming from a stone carrying several of those black clouds things away. Derpy Hooves saw with sadness as her muffin was crushed by Tank’s leg while removing by clean fist another good group of the small invaders – she was filled with remorse for not having eaten it when she had her opportunity. 

And so, each pony was injured from the uproar, saving themselves from death at each moment. For how long? They weren't sure, but they'll do anything at their might to try and keep in safe.






Meanwhile, the leader of the Drearies was well sheltered in the storeroom of one of the many shops watching his fellows being massacred in every way by the immense reptile.


He was so mad at the fact that a few minutes ago these quadrupeds were under their control, feeding on how much negativity they could obtain to be able to expand to other areas. And somehow, THIS tortoise had managed to become a sort of comic book freak and was giving them the beating of their lives; besides of causing the havoc HE and HIS minions should be provoking at!!!


Dumb mare..... This happens for not putting the pet in a cage.


Anyway, the gaseous creature was analyzing his current predicament and so far it presented two options:


Option one: Escape from the village and hide in the Everfree Forest for a while, but apparently any attempt to escape was immediately suffocated by the attacks provided by Tank. Discarded idea.


Option two: Fighting.


…


Perhaps the Dreary should reconsider this alternative before making a decision, since he physically did not qualify for any type of confrontation. Neither did he possess the necessary resour - In fact, he actually DOES possessed one factor ... Numbers.


There were more than enough Drearies to wipe out Ponyville and the capital city of Canterlot from the map, if he wished to. A mocking Machiavellian grin formed again in his face as he ordered his ideas for a massive attack.


If the pet wanted to become a hero, then so be it. No one will remember when the storm breaks upon him.