Once more, Dear friends

In the frozen north about 14 miles from the Crystal Empire a purple mare sat inside a metal beast that her and her team had been studying, when they were attacked by snow wolves.

The mare was forced to take cover in the contraption and locked in.

"It's so cold." She shivered non stop looking around in the darkened interior. It smelled of iron, oil and gunpowder along with the smell of rust and rotting leather.

She had come out in this wasteland to investigate the sighting of a strange creature or something. It had been discovered after a snow drift that uncovered it after a few colts and fillies that were playing around it uncovered it.

It had a long barrel that stuck out from the 'head' that pointed at the snow and was bent in the middle.

The mare stayed quiet as she moved from the hatch and to the front looking out the ports to see. It was really cramped inside as she moved to the right of the large metal contraption that took up most of the inside built right in the middle.There was a seat right next to it and she could see below it an opening with some kind of long brass tubes with back tips. She used her magic to pick one up noticing how heavy they were to her.

"Oh wow this is really heavy. What is this?" She pulled it up setting it between her legs and looked it over. She grew bored after a while and set it back and looked around moving back to where she was before and began fiddling with some of the things on the inside.

She saw on the ground a book with a strange insignia on it with a bird and standing on strange symbol.

"Oh great, now I got something to pass the time with." She picked it up and opened it and nearly cried when she looked inside.

"I can't read it." She whimpered as her horn lit up and looked closer at it seeing some Equestrian letters here and there making her smile.

"Actually this does look familiar. Hey I know this language! It's Germane. Is this thing something of theirs?" She began to read smiling.

*First Page, October 1st 1940*

I'm finally done with training. I'll be a gunner for the Panzer VI in my new company. I can't wait to show those Ivan bastards what for. I'll be part of the 3rd Company of the 29th Panzer Regiment, 12th Panzer Division I'm very lucky.

*Becomes too smudged to read.*

"Hm so he was a military pony. So what is this thing? Germaney doesn't have anything like this that I know of." She said flipping a page but it was too worn to read making her frown. After a few more pages she saw another one.

*September 1943.*

I'm so tired of this damn war. Nothing but death and more death. The Fuhrer is insane. There is nothing left for Germany to win! The Fatherland is kapoot.

The allies have destroyed most of our supplies and he wants us to redeploy! I'm so sick of this war. It's consumed everything leaving nothing but death and sorrow in its wake.

"I don't recognize this date and I don't remember a war like that especially with Germaney in the middle of it. This is very strange." She went back and started to read more till a tapping sound on the side was heard.

"Ms. Twilight! The guards are here are you ok in there!?"

Twilight smiled tucking the book into her saddle bags that were thrown down with her in the rush to get her to safety. She used her magic to open the hatch and saw her brother along with her friends smiling at her.

"Yah scared us half to death sugarcube. Are you ok?" The orange and blonde mare trotted up to her pulling her into a tight hug.

"Yes Applejack I'm fine. Is everypony else ok? Did anything happen to them?"

"Yeah they're fine. Shaken up pretty good but they're ok." A rainbow maned and cyan coated pegasus said flying into the air.

"I'm glad to hear it Rainbow Dash."

"Oh darling it must have been dreadful in there. Here take another scarf." A white and purple maned unicorn said wrapping a scarf around Twilight's neck.

"Thanks Rarity, it was pretty chilly in there. But I found a book to pass the time."

"Oh my what kind of book? I didn't think something like that carried books." The yellow and pink pegasus said trotting up to Twilight.

"Actually it a very old journal. The writing is in Germane and a lot of it isn't readable. I'm going to need some heavy machines out here to move this so I can study it more."

"Twilight, you shouldn't look at other ponies things without permission. At least that's what you and the Cakes tell me all the time" A pink mare said bouncing up to her friend pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

"ACK! Pinkie to tight!"

"Oops sorry Twilight"

"I'll get some workers down here soon lets just get you out of the cold and some hot coco in you." The large white and blue maned stallion said smiling down at her.

"Thank Shining Armor. I could use some of Cadences coco about now while I look over this journal."

"Ok come on lets get back then."

(A few hours later)

Twilight was a little taken aback at the sheer size of the metal monster, at a stunning 27.9 ft long from the tip of the barrel after it was straightened back to how it was suppose to be. It stood 9.10ft tall and was 11.8ft wide weighing in at a massive 54 tons. Even the friendship Express engine didn't weigh that much.

"This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this!" Twilight gushed as a stallion walked in.

"Ms. Twilight? My name is Dark Steele and Princess Cadence said you would need a mechanical expert with something." He was staring at the massive steel beast as she nodded.

"Yes. This was found in the snow and I want to know what it is and if possible get it to work. It's some kind of machine that nopony has ever seen before." She said getting a nod from the stallion.

"Well first things first Ms. Twilight we need to strip it down and see what makes it tick and if there are parts to it on the market then buy them. If not we'll have to make them." He said walking around it inspecting it noting the holes in the side but no real penetration while a few of the wheels were missing along with rust and corrosion.

"Well with the this thing it should take about three months to take down and get the parts we may need altogether. From what I was told we will need a lot of heavy machinery to move any of it." He said while Twilight nodded with a giddy smile on her face as she stared at the beast.

"Well lets get to work I would love to see this thing in working order." She said getting a nod from him as a swarm of earth and unicorn ponies came in.

"Alright boys and girls we are going to be taking this apart and clean it up as best we can before putting it back together and seeing if we can make it work. Tech Gear I'll need your help with assembling parts we might need. Glitter Shot make sure to watch the other unicorns when they assist in lifting parts of it away. You were with the recovery team and know more about the dangers." He said to a stallion and mare.

The stallion had a cyan coat with a yellow mane with glasses while the mare was tan with a slightly sparkling mane.

"Got it boss." They said before rounding up their ponies.

"Ms. Sparkle."

"Please just Twilight." She smiled.

"Alright. Twilight I'm gonna need you to exit the building till we-

"No. I need to archive everything that comes off that thing and take stock of what needs to be built." She said as he sighed and put a hard hat on her head.

"Alright but stay out of the way of the workers."

"Ok!"

Over the next few months the 'Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf.E' or Tiger from the journal and a manual titled 'Tigerfibel ' That showed how it worked and what was needed to maintain it. She found it in a toolbox that was kept by the gunner's seat.

Twilight along with the princesses were shocked to find out it was a weapon of war. Celestia immediately wanted it destroyed but with Twilight's and Princess Luna's pleads to at least study it and put it in a museum of some kind for such a remarkable find. She finally gave in due to the combination of teary eyes from her two favorite ponies.

She looked out over the floor where it was completely taken apart with pieces lying everywhere. But everything was sorted with parts that went together and equipment that was on the tiger separated to another part of the warehouse.

"Good morning Twilight, up late again last night?" She turned and smiled at Dark Steele who had two cups of coffee handing her one.

"Thanks Steele. Yeah, I wanted to do another check to see what we might be missing on the tiger. A lot of the wiring and most of the motor had to be replaced. From the journal I found the tiger had a lot of mechanical problems and I want you, Tech and I to brainstorm on how to get past these. It's going to take a lot more time to get the tiger to work again than we thought." She sighed sipping her coffee.

Almost all of the interior of the tiger was covered in rust and water damage not to mention there was barely anything salvageable from it besides the chassis, turret and tracks. Luckily the wheels itself were freight sized and with the tigers massive weight they could replace the unsalvageable wheels with ease using existing train wheels that haven't made it to the processing plant to be grooved for the tracks.

Tech Gear has been an invaluable member of the team coming up with ideas after Twilight telling him of all the problems that were mentioned in the journal. He had cut the time down of restoration to a year and with five months already in things were beginning to really show progress.

" I know but I think if things stay the speed that we're going then we'll be done in no time. A lot of the ponies here are elated thinking of what it can do when we finally get all the parts made for it." He smiled walking behind her as she did her inspection.

"I know I can't wait, we might even have to take more trips out to the area and see if there is any other wrecks like this. Could you imagine if we've stumbled on a advanced extinct war like race and this area was a one time a battlefield?! This is so exciting!!" She squealed making him smile at her.

"Yes, well before we do anymore exploring why don't we finish one project before moving onto the next one hm?" Steele said just as Tech Gear walked in with a cup of coffee himself.

"Morning everypony." He let out a big yawn smacking his lips as the two smiled.

"Good morning, Gear." Twilight chirped as he sighed.

"I'll never understand how you can stay up all night and all day. It's in pony I tell you." He grumbled.

"That's because I take naps through the day." She said taking a sip of coffee as he joined his friends.

"Should have known. Anyway taking another inventory of the stuff that can be salvaged?" He asked sipping on his own coffee.

"Yes. Today we're getting the new engine block and hoses and a stronger transmission. Gear, how long will the new wiring for the tiger take to get here from Germaney?" She asked taking a sip of coffee.

"Should be arriving in a few days Twi. Oh and the things we found on the inside, um MG 34's is what the book said they were right? Well anyway the replacements to those should be arriving today from the forges. Also the treads have started to be refurbished and some new ones are being made as well." Gear said as they moved over to the where the chassis was as more ponies began to file in mumbling greeting to the three.

"We have two steel workers coming in a few days to being repairing these holes and we're going to be reattaching the cannon today.." Steele smiled taking a clipboard from a mare.

"Oh looks like those rounds have been made that you found. About 92 rounds altogether remade." Steele said getting a nod from Twilight while handing her the clipboard.

[The PzGr. 39 (armor-piercing, capped, ballistic cap)

The PzGr. 40 (armor-piercing, composite rigid)

The Hl. Gr. 39 (high explosive anti-tank

The sch. Sprgr. Patr. L/4.5 (incendiary shrapnel)]

"Good what about the other rounds?" She asked.

"They're still being made right now but they should be finished by the end of the week. A good 4,200 rounds for the MG 34's. Captain Shining has the tiger rounds stored in the barracks." Tech said getting a nod from Twi.

"Good with those stored and the rest on the way we can give the ponies here a real spectacle to see once the tiger is up and running." Twilight looked up at the tiger thinking of all the things they could learn. Not only was this a ancient war machine but it also brought things that may never have been thought of in maybe a hundred years.

No longer would they have to rely on carriages pulled by others with a combustible engine and with some design shrinkage they could have their own motorized carriages.

Not only that but what was called a radio could revolutionize their communication systems. They would no longer have to rely on scrolls that could take day to weeks and shorten it to instant communication! The possibilities were amazing!

"Anyway Twi you mind going and making sure that the engine makes it here on time. It should be ready." Steele asked getting a nod from the mare and headed out.

"TWILIGHT!" The mare turned just in time to catch a pink missile with her back.

"PINKIE!"

"Yes Twilight?"

"Please get off me and why are you here anyway?"

"Well its not just me." She turned back and pointed to their friends who came around the corner.

"What are you guys doing here?" Twilight asked getting up from the ground while Pinkie bounced beside her.

"Hello darling we came by to see how you and Spike were doing with your little project." Rarity smiled as Dash flew up to her.

"We miss you egghead. You've been gone for the longest we've ever seen. Why don't you come home for a little while?" She asked as Twilight sighed.

"Sorry girls but I have so much work to do here and will probably be staying for a few more months. But you're just in time, come with me and watch as a new era dawns on us all." She beamed trotting towards the west side of the empire with the girls behind her.

After a while of walking they came to a large factory as a mare came out to meet them.

"Hello Twilight we have your engine ready, the girls are loading it into the mover now. We got everything right down to the littlest detail." She smiled as a huge chunk my metal and iron came out with eight earth mares carrying it.

"Oh excellent! Girls I want you to meet Iron Works. She's from Equestria and moved here to start her own metal and Iron casting works." Twilight smiled as the mare nodded to them.

"Oh and Twilight I even kept all the molds just incase things don't go right and you need a new one. Oh and I looked over the blueprints from your scan on the chassis of the Tiger and turret. We can begin work on building a brand new one from scratch if you want. It will be expensive I can tell you that." She had a serious face getting a nod from Twilight.

"I understand. Hold onto the blueprint for now. Now why don't we get that thing into storage till it can be tested with the rest of its new home?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth. Lets roll out!" With that the elements walked back towards the barracks where six stallions were on standby. waiting for the engine.

"So Twi, what did the princess say when she heard about it being a war machine?" AJ asked getting a sigh from Twilight.

" She was more than a little bit worried. She wanted it destroyed immediately, but Luna and I were able to talk her into letting me study it. There is so many things that we could learn from it AJ." She said as her eyes lit up.

"How did y’all manage to do that?" She asked.

"A lot of begging from the both of us. Oh AJ can you see it? A whole technological revolution, farm work finished in half the time. Motorized carriages, instant communication with other countries. The sky's the limit" She sighed as they reached the barracks.

"Hey Twilly." Shining Armor said.

"Hey Shining. You mind taking this off my hooves for a while? Just put it with the others and DONT drop it. We can't have these things break and set us back anymore than we are." She stated sternly getting a nod from her brother.

"Ok I'll make sure its handled with care." He said as six stallions took over from the mares who let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you BBBFF, I'll be in touch." She smiled getting a nod from him as he directed the soldiers to the storage area while the girls headed back towards the warehouse.

"So um Twilight how much longer will you be here studying this thing? If you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as Twilight smiled.

" Oh I could be here for years if I didn't have you girls back home but I should be coming home with in the end of this year if no mishaps go down. I'm hoping that we get the Tiger running by the beginning of next year." She said getting nods from them.

"That's wonderful darling. How is Spike enjoying his stay in the castle?" Rarity asked while Twilight laughed.

"He's actually working with Iron Works. He was dying of boredom so she offered him a job till we left. He heats the furnaces so yeah. Nothing too hard for him." Twilight said opening and heading into the warehouse.

"Now girls let me introduce you to Tiger 131. The same one from a few months ago." She stood on her hind leg throw her arms out dramatically smiling all the while.

The five mares gaped at the massive Tiger as sparks flew all over it from workers and the likes. Most had their ears covered from all the noise but it never bothered Twilight after being around it for so long.

"Hey Twilight!" They all turned to see Tech trotting over to them with a smile on his face.

"Hey Tech! Girls this is Tech Gear one of the leading engineers on this project to refurbish the Tiger! He's very good at what he does and has helped cut our time down considerably over the last few months!" She yelled over the noise.

"Thanks Twi! By the way you're just in time! We're about to put in the cannon!" He yelled pointing to the barrel that as being moved by wires across the warehouse while she spotted Steele heading their way and waved.

"Girls this is Dark Steele the brain of all this! Steele these are my friends I'm sure you know them!" She yelled getting a nod from him.

"Who doesn't know the Elements of Harmony!? It's a pleasure to meet you girls!" He greeted while putting ear protection on Twilight's ears over her hard hat and five more for the other girls.

"Darling could we please head over to somewhere more quiet!? I can't think with all this noice!" Rarity asked as Twilight nodded pointing to a door on the other end of the warehouse.

"Meet me in there! It's sound proof so it'll be much quieter in there!" The other nodded while Pinkie and AJ stayed watching the workers weld and bolt in the cannon to the turret.

"Wow that's a much bigger party cannon than I have!" Pinkie yelled bouncing.

"I got to say sugarcube it's a might scary!" Applejack yelled a bit intimidated but interested none the less.

"Don't worry AJ it's not going anywhere for a while! Now why don't we head inside?!"

"Sounds like a plan sugarcube!" The girls moved through the warehouse and into the a small office on the side where the other girls were.

"So darling once you have that thing working what do plan to do with it?" Rarity asked.

"After it's up and running again we're going to be hosting shows with it and maybe even make more for the military. It after all was a war machine, though I think that the original will be staying here in the Crystal Empire. As far as more being built I plan to actually have one built for myself to study back at home so I won't be gone so long anymore. You girls have no idea how much I miss you all every day. "She sighed as AJ pulled her into a hug.

"Aw it's ok sugarcube, you got work to do just like all of us we just wish it didn't take you away for long is all." She comforted getting a smile from the unicorn.

"Thanks Applejack that means a lot." She looked over to see a spark in Rarity's eyes that made her wince.

"So darling tell me about these two stallions that you're so close to." She smiled slyly as her fellow unicorn blushed hard.

"It's not like that! They're just some friends and coworkers that I go have some lunch with every once in a while is all. Nothing like that." Twilight explained as the mare huffed.

"Well I'm sure that it took more than a bit of begging for you to convince Princess Celestia to keep that monster out there. So tell us about it." Rarity said digging for some good gossip.

"Well....."

(Flash back, Canterlot)

Twilight trotted through the halls with a little pep in her step heading to the throne room where Celestia and Luna were waiting on her.

She was greeted by the guards that were in front of the door nodding slightly to her as she passed through the doors.

"Twilight Sparkle my most faithful student! How are you dear?" Twilight smiled trotting up to her teacher as the two embraced.

"Hello Princess Celestia, I'm doing great thank you." She smiled getting a nod from her mentor.

"Good evening to you Twilight Sparkle." Twilight turned to see Princess Luna walking up to them with a smile of her own greeting her first friend.

"Hello Princess Luna it's good to see you again." She said getting a nod from the night princess.

"Now pray tell what have you called a meeting for that was so urgent?" Luna asked as Twilight smiled pulling out a picture of the un earth Tiger.

"We found something in the ice in the Crystal Empire. A massive armored beast. I believe that has technology that far surpasses us and could jump start us centuries ahead of our time!" She said following the princesses back into the room where they sat on their thrones.

"Please continue Twilight, we are most interested." Luna stated while Celestia looked a little uneasy.

"From what we gathered so far whoever created this thing had a great understanding of instant communication, combustion engines, and electricity. Thing about it. With just a thing that we have learned is called a *radio* ponies will be able to instantly communicate with loved one without having to travel all across Equestria just to see their loved ones." She smiled handing the two pictures of some sort of box.

"This is very interesting Twilight. What else have you learned?" Celestia smiled feeling a bit better that most of these things could indeed help Equestria in a very big way.

"Also with these combustible engines we will be able to phase out the pony drawn carriages and ponies will be able to actually steer and drive their own carriages where ever they want!"

"Amazing. Do you think we could have this... engine within this decade?" Celestia asked getting excited herself while her sister and student looked like school fillies.

"Indeed sister. We would like to partake in a moon lit drive, it sounds so unique." Luna smiled.

"That's not all, with the wiring and things that we were able to find we found out that we would no longer need lightning clouds to power our homes. Think about it, we would no longer have to worry about ponies safety if a lightning cloud was kicked the wrong way. With indoor personal electricity we could free up that tedious job and focus those pegasus more on controlling the weather than making house calls every day because a ponies house is out of power for the day." Twilight beamed looking at her mentors proud face along with a very impressed Luna.

"The only drawback to that last one would be wiring everyponies homes and we would have to build a electrical grid of some kind that didn't depend on lightning even if it would help some, but that would lead us back to square one with pegasus at risk of electrocution and constantly having to recharge the grid if it were to power a city like Manehatten." She sighed getting nods from the two.

"This is something to really consider Twilight you have given my sister and I something to seriously think about." Celestia said as Twilight smiled.

"Oh there is one more thing that it can be used for that we found out about it." She spoke up as the two blinked.

"There's more? This is really amazing Twilight, I have to really commend you and your team for such a find." Celestia said as the mare beamed at the praise.

"Well it can also be used for military purposes." She said as Celestia's face went blank while Luna's eyes sparkled.

"Do tell young Twilight." Luna spoke up.

"Yes, well from what we gather the thing is what is known as a Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf.E but has been dubbed the Tiger by everypony working on it. It was used as a weapon of war by who ever designed it, I even found a journal and a manual on how to operate it and maintain it. If we were to rebuild it and get it working again we would be decades ahead of any rival nation that may try to threaten us." Twilight reported.

"No. Whatever this Tiger has to offer that is any good is far outweighed by the fact that it is a weapon of war. We have no need for such a horrible thing. The Elements of Harmony has protected us for eons. I don't see the need to build these weapons of death." She said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Come now sister, don't be so short sighted. This Tiger could give us a massive edge over our enemies who would see us in ruins. It is no secret that many want what Equestria has, the Element of Harmony would work on dark creatures like Sombra, Discord, and the Nightmare that had taken me. But what of a invading more advanced and higher numbered enemy comes to our gates?" Luna pointed out.

"Not to pick sides Princess Celestia but Luna is right. Since her return my brother and a few friends I have in the guard has told me that you have reduced all aspects of our forces to mostly just town guards. We do not have a standing military if we are suddenly attacked. Our allies wouldn't get here in time to help us before we would be completely over run in a matter of weeks if not days depending on how advanced our enemy is." She stated.

"I believe that diplomacy would win out before anything like that would ever happen. Besides that nopony would dare attack us with our allies, the gryphons alone could repel any attack that would threaten us let not to mention the minotaur's. Those two allies alone could destroy any invading forces that may threaten us." She countered as Luna sighed.

"But sister they would need time to mobilize their forces and even though they are powerful allies we would have to hold the enemy off till we could be relieved. The gryphon and Minotaur forces are massive and slow to move. Even a *quick* response would take months to prepare and mobilize." Luna stated as Celestia looked down.

"With the Tiger we could hold out against almost any enemy not to mention the smaller weapons that we could fit with our other ground forces we could hold out until our allies are able to respond." Twilight continued as Celestia sighed.

"Very well. I will allow you to keep this Tiger but I want to see it when its repaired and operational. You will also be showing off it capabilities and how it would be be in combat. Also what smaller weapons?" Celestia asked.

"There were smaller weapons that the manual called MG 34's they could be mass produced to equip our forces. With them I believe we could hold off an army in itself with enough ammunition for them with a only a small company of our soldiers." Twilight stated as Luna was starry eyed at the prospect of Equestrian might like that.

"That is a truly horrifying thought Twilight. But I can understand how well it would be if we ever needed it. Very well I want to see them in action as I'm sure that my sister would as well and our leading military generals." Celestia sighed while Twilight and Luna smiled.

"Dear Tia there is no need for such a face. We are only looking out for the betterment of our nation. What's that saying? Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it?" She asked giving her sister a pouty look making Celestia cringe and look at Twilight who had watery eyes.

"FINE!" She yelled as the two mares smiled.

(End Flashback)

"So after that we're going to be having the first runs on the MG 34's very soon and Celestia will be here with a lot of powerful ponies." Twilight sighed.

"Do you really think that something like that would ever happen sugarcube? Do you think somepony would ever attack Equestria?" Applejack asked a little worried.

"I would like to think so Applejack since with our allies it would be a very foolish thing to do. But Luna made a good point, it would take our allies far to long to respond if we were attacked suddenly by another nation." Twilight stated.

"Why would anypony want to attack us anyway darling?" Rarity said a little worried herself.

"Well Equestria is the largest exporter in the world with the most rich in land and natural resources. And many nations want that, those that are allied with us have prospered for eons after the unification of the tribes and the princesses returned." Twilight stated

"I'd like to see some bunch of punks try and take our home! They'll have to go against the great Rainbow Danger Dash!" Rainbow boasted as the others smiled.

"Oh Dashie." Pinkie giggled as the others joined her.