Once more, Dear friends

*June 14, 1034 AN*

(Seven Months later, Present.)

After that day we were all changed for better or worse we didn't know but we don't care. We all lost something that day. Homes, family, friends, loved ones. We were all fighting for something. We were fighting for ourselves and for the ones we lost.

We were fighting for revenge.

(Dream Valley)

"Harmony reports enemy tanks in our sector"

[Confirmed darling, you are cleared to engage]

"Roger. Load APC rounds."

"Loaded Twi."

"Target sighted. Fire when ready."

"Now I got you, come to momma" They feel a round hit the front of the Tiger bouncing off shaking the crew a little but nothing more.

THOOM!

"Shot out!"

"HIT! Enemy tank is down!"

"Confirmed, let command know that Harmony has another kill." The mare watched as the enemy tank burst into flames as its crew tried to bail out only to be mowed down by the hull MG 34.

"Target sighted, enemy cannon, range one mile at our 2 o clock."

"Roger, load HE and prepare to fire."

"Loaded!"

"Fire when ready."

THOOM!

The brass casing dropped to the ground before a mare tossed them out of the way.

"Target down. No targets in sight Twilight."

"Good, radio command and let them know that our sector is clear of threats. Proceeding to base for rearm and resupply. That's 34 today girls, good job." Twilight smiled at her crew as Pinkie looked back giving a small nod, her straight mane in a bun with a black uniform like the rest of them except Twilight who wore a black officers cap.

"Whew sugarcube, I got to say its been a long day." She opened up the rear hatch letting some cool air in as she sighed.

"Didn't think a whole company would be coming this way. Well we showed those damn imperialist bitches what's what!" Dash said her wing twitching a little while her stub flapped.

"They deserve every bit of it." Fluttershy said as she headed through the field towards a forest ahead of them.

Twilight kept quiet knowing that it was really hard for the mare to talk about her critter friends. Each one having been slaughtered in the attack on Ponyville when a bomb landed right in the house when the attack started killing everything inside, Angel bunny being one of them.

She took it hard when she found them all ripped to pieces from the shrapnel and explosion.

That day they racked up over 154 kills defending the destroyed town till the guard arrived to push back the infantry if barely with heavy losses. It was then a draft to all able bodies to report to a recruitment center immediately.

Twilight and the others became part of the the Lunar Special Armored Force under the direct command of Luna herself.

Twilight officially took command of Tiger 001 leaving Tiger 131 back in the Crystal Empire. So far their kill count was well over 300 for the ace Tiger crew.

Twilight stood up through the hatch wiping sweat from her face letting the cool fall air wash over her as the other hatch beside her on the right opened and Applejack stood out taking hold the mounted MG 34.

"So where to next Twi?" Rainbow called up to her friend.

"I'll show you when we get to the resupply station. You heard about what happened to Steele right?" She asked.

"Yeah his tank was knocked out last week. He was the only survivor, still don't understand why the princesses won't build Tigers, the only thing these other tanks have on us is speed but even then they can't penetrate our armor!" Dash cried.

"I've told you before Dash, the Tiger is costly in time is the main reason but we just don't have enough ponies that know how to operate it." Twilight reminded.

"So they make these stupid tanks that are mass produced so we don't get over run but are just as pathetic as what they were copied from." She groaned.

"I'm not disagreeing with you Dash but that is what Celestia and a majority of the military is best right now." Twilight could see something in the distance heading their way making her climb in.

"Turn turret 23 degrees left. Three targets moving this way. Identify."

"Stand down they're friends." Dash reported as the tension disappeared and Twilight stood back out.

She watched as the squad moved past them with the three commander staring in awe.

"Looks like we're even known out here to." Applejack said seeing a town not to far from them making her smile.

"Well just make sure you just get what we need and then we're heading back out again. So get some sleep while you can, in the morning we're going hunting." Twilight ordered getting nods from the girls.

As they came into view they saw many soldiers in camouflage uniforms stop what they were doing watching the massive tank rumble into the town and to the ammo depot near the center of town.

"Ok AJ you know what to do. Pinkie, Shy, see if you can get us a weeks worth of food for our hunt. Dash watch the tank I need to talk to command here and see what kind of help they need before we head out." She said climbing out of the tank as Dash nodded going over to the loaders area and began to pass the spent rounds out of the open hole to Applejack.

Fluttershy and Pinkie got out and headed for a diner not far from them serving some troops who froze seeing the two black clad mares heading their way.

Twilight headed to the only building that had guards standing outside getting a salute from the two mares.

"At ease, go find something more productive to do girls." She dismissed them as they looked at each other before heading over to some of their friends while she entered the building, a hotel of all things where she found Commander Thunderwing who looked up going wide eyed when he spotted her.

"Colonel Sparkle." She gasped snapping a salute while Twilight gave a lazy return one.

"What's the situation?" She asked while the mare blinked before looking back at the map.

"We're getting hammered by pegasus and armored units from the south and we can't get through to command for reinforcements. We had a runner head back yesterday but he hasn't come back yet." She reported the situation with a worried look on her face.

"Our radio works so we can call for air support. How have you been able to hold for so long?" She asked.

"Oh another one of your unit came to our rescue last night when our lines were about to collapse. They were able to turn the tide back and headed out this morning to help with reacon of the area."

"I see, who was the commander?" She asked.

"Major Steele. With Tiger 002." She said as Twilight's eyes flew open just as a loud clanking was heard and the familiar roar of the engine of the Tiger.

Twilight shot out of the door to see a green, tan and brown camouflage Tiger enter the town as they all froze even her own crew as Steele opened the hatch and looked around before spotting her waving.

"Hey Twilight!" He called as she disappeared and appeared in front of him with her arms wide open.

"STEELE!" She cried as she fell into his arms crying as her crew came running climbing onto the tank piling on the poor stallion as they cried happy to see one of their friends alive.

"Girls! Hey I'm ok really." He said as they pulled back with smiles on their faces letting him climb out with Tech Gear behind him who was instantly tackled by the mares happy that he was alive.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked wiping happy tears from her eyes.

"We were heading this way and stumbled on these guys here having a hard time so we decided to give them a hoof." He said smiling as the rest of his crew climbed out.

"Oh hey I want to introduce you to my crew." He pointed to a pegasus mare that was blue with a white mane and tail with white tipped wings. Three white wolves were her cutie mark two white heads facing out while the center one was a full wolf as all of them were howling. She was wearing the traditional black uniform of the Lunar Special Corps. She had a survival knife strapped to her left leg.

Corpral Wolf ma'am. It's a honor to me- Applejack?" The two mares ran to each other embracing as they cried.

"I thought you were dead! When I heard of the attack I- I-" She broke down as the orange mare cooed to her.

"Shh it's ok sugarcube, Bloom and Mac made it out with me but Granny, she ain't make it." She explained as the others looked at them confused.

"Wolf here has been a family friend for years and I knew her since we were fillies. We ain't seen each other in a while. Last I heard was she went to Manehatten, that was when the attacks happened." She said her own tears going down her face.

"Go catch up AJ. You need some time I can see it." She smiled getting a nod from AJ as they headed to the diner.

"She's my driver one of the best ones I've ever seen, I think she could give Shy a run for her money." He smiled as they gave one of their own.

"Now this is Serra, my radio mare. I'm sure that Pinkie has heard of her." He stated as the pink mare nodded.

"So you're the 02 romeo that I've been hearing lately." Pinkie said getting a nod from the mare.

"Yep. Been doing this at command for awhile and was trained under Captain Rarity herself." She beamed. She was a pale blue unicorn with a bright and dark red highlights in her mane and tail that was cut short similar to Rainbows.

"Private Serra was able to get a call out to command but we don't know if they ever got it. Our antenna was blown off by a enemy tank." He explained.

"Yeah Rarity said she got a garbled message from here and sent us to see what was going on." Twilight said getting a nod from him. She was dark orange with dark grey eyes with a small black highlight going through her mane.

"And this is Thunder Dawn, our gunner. We've scored over a 173 kills over the last few days and we've nicknamed her hawk eye." He said as Dash smirked.

"We'll have to have contest and see who the real better shot is. They call me eagle eye. What's your longest kill shot?" She asked as the other pegasus smirked.

"A mile and a half." She said while Dash laughed.

"That's it? My farthest kill shot was clocked at 3.2 miles it was a command post. Put the shot right through the enemy commanders bedroom window with a HE round." She boasted as they all looked at Twilight who smirked.

"What? She's telling the truth. I gave the order to fire." Twilight said as Thunder growled looking at the smirking pegasus.

"Whatever, I'll blow your record out of the water in no time." She challenged as the two got face to face glaring.

"We'll see about that rookie!" Dash shot back.

"Ok you two." Both their commanders said pulling them away from each other.

"Anyway Tech is our loader and on site mechanic if things go wrong for reason." He said as they embraced each other.

"It's so good to see you again Tech." Twilight said as the stallion smiled adjusting his glasses.

"I'm just glad the rumors were true that you were still alive. So word around the fire is that you girls have really built up a scary reputation. Demons of the battlefield? Just the sound of your engine can make commanders reconsider attacking if you're in the area." He had a raised eyebrow as while she shrugged.

"I don't care what the enemy calls us. The more that are taken out the easier it will be to take back our home." She said getting a nod from them.

"Anyway what's your next move Dark?" She asked as he motioned for her to follow him.

"I'll meet you guys later make sure we're resupplied Dash and get something to eat to. We'll be moving out soon."

"Got it Twi. Come on, lets get the rest of our rounds in and we'll help you with yours." Dash said as Twilight and Steele headed over to the HQ.

"Commander we are taking over the building for a little while. We need you and your staff to leave until further notice." Steele stated as the she looked surprised.

"Wait you can't just-

"I believe that a major and a colonel outranks a commander. Don't make us repeat ourselves." Twilight stated motioning with her head to the door as the mare growled but obeyed along with the rest of the staff.

The two walked over to the map on the desk pointing to where they were.

"This is where we are now, I plan to move us 200 miles south. We lost radio contact with the base there and if the enemy has taken that position we'll have to take it back. If they gain a foothold in that area then they'll have access to this bridge where they can bring in more troops and supplies. That bridge is vital, I'll be leading a tank battalion with troops to retake the base if it has been captured." He said tapping the position with his hoof and looked at her.

"What's your plan?"

"We'll be leaving here in the morning heading out at first light heading north where the main defensive is. I've been getting reports of the Imperials were mounting up for a massive offensive there. We're going to be doing recon on the enemy base and see if the reports are true or if its a fake and they're hitting in another spot." She said getting a nod from Steele.

"Sounds good. Be careful Twilight, I've lost far to many friends in this damn war. I wish I knew what was taking our allies so long to come help." He said as she sighed.

"Steele we have become the most powerful military might among our allies. They may have numbers but with how advanced we are now there is really nothing they can do but offer supplies to keep us in the fight. They would be walking into a slaughter if they tried to step in and we don't have the means to supply them as well with our weapons." She said getting a nod from him.

"How are you holding up Twi?" He asked as she sat down letting out a long sigh.

"I'm hanging in there Steele but as you know the attack has really messed me and my friends up. To see ponies slaughtered like that.." She trailed off as a haunted look came over her face.

"Yeah, I can only imagine. When we were hit I was actually blown from the tank, when I came to my entire crew was dead. Hell of a way to die." He said sitting beside her.

"But hey at least you guys are safe and alive and Serra has somepony to talk to when we're resting." He smiled getting one from Twilight.

"I think Pinkie would like that." She said as they fell into silence for a while.

"I better get back to my crew. It was good to see you again Steele. Stay safe out there." She said getting a nod from him as he got up looking over the map.

"Till next time Twilight."

"Till next time." With that she headed out where she saw Dash laughing with Dawn while Serra, Pinkie and Fluttershy talked. She spotted Applejack with Wolf smiling and talking by the door to the supply depot.

As she made her way to them all conversation stopped giving their attention to her.

"Alright everypony load up and lets move out." Her crew nodded and finished strapping their food to the Tiger before piling in. While AJ waved to her friend.

"I'll give you a call every night before we hit the sac sugarcube!"

"I'll be waiting!" Wolf called back smiling.

"Yell for your mare later AJ I want you to get those rounds sorted just in case we run into trouble." Twilight smiled at the small blush.

"It ain't like that." She mumbled climbing back down as they headed out of the town taking right into the woods and disappearing.