Two days later, Twelfth of First Rains…

With an Imperial attack on the town imminent, the citizens of Ponyville redoubled their efforts to evacuate. The watch found themselves working around the clock, with some members volunteering to take double, even triple, shifts. Rainbow Dash, well known for her tendency to work only as much as needed, surprised many by volunteering to take on triple shifts as needed.

************

In the midst of all of this, there was one pony who was heading into Ponyville. He walked toward the town, taking in the sight of ponies evacuating the town, and the trees and birds and grass and animals and the river.

Seeing the river, he smiled, and rushed over to it. He looked into the river, watching as the fish swam down the river, and pulled out a camera. The sound of a camera shutter clicking as he took pictures of the fish.

He heard a click as a gun safety was flicked. Being satisfied with the pictures he took, he stood and turned around, holding his hands up.

Three ponies stood there. Members of the Ponyville Town Watch. Two younger ponies flanking a tall pegasus mare with hair with a very recognizable set of colors. Where had he seen her before?

“Hello,” he started, smiling, “who are you?”

The mare raised an eyebrow of the same set of colors as her hair and spoke, “The one with the rifle.”

Clearly. Be honest. “I’m Wolfram Script.”

“General Script’s son?”

The smile became forced at the corners. “Yes.”

Sharing a glance between the two other ponies, the mare shrugged. “I’m Rainbow Dash, Captain of Ponyville’s Weather Patrol and, obviously, a member of the Town Watch.”

Eyes widening as he made the connections, Wolfram’s smile returned to being genuine. “I knew I recognized you from somewhere. I saw you in the paper, in an talking about an up-and-coming pegasus from out here. One who’s greatly admired by my siblings.”

Dash flashed a cocky smile. “See, you guys?” She bragged to the two other ponies, “There are ponies outside Ponyville that can see my talent.”

The other two rolled their eyes. “I still think he’s a spy,” said one.

“Me, too,” agreed the other.

A quiet sigh escaped the stallion. If I had a notebook, they would take it and look through it and promise to examine it thoroughly.

“Considering the war,” he agreed, “I can see how I’d be suspicious looking.”

“So, why are you here, Wolfram?”

Wolfram’s smile widened. “I’m here to help my sister with evacuating.”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“Sorta,” he pulled out a piece of paper, “she sent me this with the letter she sent me.”

Dash took the paper, and scanned over it. “Ah. The vacation house here in Ponyville. I know where it is. Come with me.”

She gestured to the other two. “You two keep patrolling.”

“Aww…”

“Go on. Get going. Not my fault that you two are rookies.”

The two rookies turned and went on their way. “Come on, Wolf,” Dash said, unknowingly using a long disused, and hated, nickname of Wolfram’s, “let’s go see your sister.”

“Don’t call me ‘Wolf’,” Wolfram growled.

***

Wolfram and Dash walked side-by-side as General Script’s second house came into view. “So, you’ve never been out here before?”

“Never cared for it,” Wolfram replied. Anything to stay away from Father. “I enjoy the comfort of my home in the capital over being in one of my House’s vacation homes.”

“Oh?” Intrigued, Dash pressed the subject, “Why’s that?”

The stallion waved a dismissive hand. “Father could get away with his… less than virtuous things out in the country. My words of protest did little to sway him. So, instead, I used the times when Father was away to go look at nature with Mom.”

Dash nodded. “Yeah. Sounds like you had it rough.”

“…And we’re here. Thanks for showing me here.”

Wolfram gestured to the gate ahead of them, behind which a very short path lead to the house itself.

“No problem. See ya later, Wolf.”

“Don’t call me ‘Wolf.’”

The mare was already walking away.

“Wolfram!”

A voice filled with joy pulled Wolfram away from snarling at the pegasus. A large smile appeared on his face. “Isinglass! I’ve missed you!”

“Me, too!”

The two ran to each other and embraced. “Your hair and tail shine brighter than ever before, sis.”

“It’s because I’m really happy to see you!”

“Sure.”

They broke off the hug, and Wolfram became aware of the stares of other ponies. The other ponies smiled and waved as they headed on their way out of town.

Wolfram smiled and returned the waves. He looked down at his sister “Is, I can see why you moved here. Ponies here must be really nice.”

“Yeah. I’ll have to tell you about it some time.”

“Come on,” Wolfram prompted, “let’s get you packed up and out of town.”

“Yep!”

************

Isinglass watched as her brother explored the house. They had packed up everything that could be taken in an evacuation, clothes and the like.

This was Wolfram’s first time being away from the western regions of Equestria, so he was taking the opportunity to see the inside of one of the many vacation homes that House Script owned.

He was a whole head and a half taller than she was, so her hugs came up to just below her brother’s elbows. The stallion, while a bit eccentric at times, was everything Isinglass wanted in a brother. She smiled sadly.

Not everypony was as accepting of crystal ponies like the ponies in Ponyville, or her brother. She shook her head. Not the time to be thinking about that.

Her brother was immensely curious when it came to new things. He nodded toward a room he just stepped out of. “Definitely Father’s room while he stayed here.”

“How can you tell?”

“The empty alcohol bottles.”

Isinglass shrugged, she stayed away from the room where Father stayed while at the house, so that room went uncleaned. “For all his mistakes, he did something right.”

“What’s that?”

The mare hugged her brother. “He adopted me.”

Wolfram smiled, and rubbed his sister’s head. “Yeah, he did, didn’t he?”

The hug ended. Stepping back and looking up, Isinglass smiled brightly. “You, Dad, the ponies here in Ponyville, you’ve all been so accepting of me.”

The taller stallion tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“For millennia, we crystal ponies have borne the stigma for causing the Calamity whose scars the continent still bears to this day. There are so few that are willing to look past that.”

“Those that don’t are fools who can’t appreciate the beauty of crystal. Crystals are bright and resilient. Some are even endlessly clever. Like you.”

Isinglass blushed, and threw a light punch into her brother’s stomach. “Stop it, you’re flattering me.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Is. It’s thanks to crystal ponies that some of the greatest technical innovations came to pass.”

“Wolfram…”

Wolfram shrugged.

Slinging his sister’s duffle bag over his shoulder effortlessly, as it seemed to Isinglass, the stallion said, “Come on, let’s go.”

************

Wolfram pulled the door shut behind him, and locked it using the key that Isinglass had given him, just to lock the door. He started toward the open gate, while his sister was standing against the fence, watching her brother.

“Yo, Isinglass!”

A familiar voice called out. Wolfram sighed. Isinglass turned, smiling, and replied, giving a salute, “Rainbow Dash, ma’am!”

Dash chuckled. “Easy with the ‘ma’am’, Isinglass. I might be a member of the town watch, but you can be friendly with me. ‘Cause I’ve told you that like a million times.”

Rubbing the back of her head, the crystal pony chuckled nervously.

A pink blur shot past the gate, and up to Wolfram. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be new to Ponyville!”

Wolfram looked between Rainbow Dash and the hyperactive pink mare, who was currently looking over the confused stallion. “I’m… Wolfram. Isinglass’s brother. I’m just here to help my sister evacuate.”

The pink mare was unnaturally beautiful, and moved with a grace that was similarly unnatural. Her bright blue eyes held cheer and warmth. She wore a genuine smile that filled the stallion with an assurance that everything would turn out alright.

“Uh, Wolfram?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something else that I need to get out of Ponyville, too.”

“Where is it?”

Isinglass pointed and replied, “It’s in the barn out back.”

Wolfram looked at the other two mares, trying to get a confirmation as to what might be in the barn. Dash shrugged, but looked intrigued. Pinkie shrugged slightly and kept smiling. “Alright,” he said, shrugged himself, “lead the way.”

***

Isinglass pulled the doors to the barn open. Inside was a very large object covered by a sheet. Dash and Pinkie tilted their heads. Dash asked, “What is it?”

“Is it a really big refrigerator? Or is it a refrigerator that’s bigger than a normal refrigerator but smaller than a really big refrigerator?”

“Uh, Pinkie,” Dash replied, “it’s not a fridge.”

“Well, what is it?”

“I just asked that question.”

Wolfram had an inkling as to it was and spoke up. “Is, is that Father’s tank?”

The mare grabbed the sheet with both hands and yanked, hard. The sheet came off in a smooth motion, revealing a tank unlike most of the tanks that Dash or Pinkie had seen.

Wolfram had his answer, and he smirked. “This,” Isinglass bragged, “is the tank built by my birth father, Spinel. The Mosippa. It was built for General Mercury Script after the end of the last war.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like a Mark Three or Mark Four. You maintain her all by yourself?”

“Yeah. I took a maintenance course last year as an elective. I’ve been keeping her maintained since then. And tinkering with her systems during my free time. I enjoy it.”

“So,” Pinkie asked, “is it a lightweight, heavyweight, or sits in the middle of the two?”

“Technically,” replied the crystal mare, “one would classify it as a heavy tank because of the armor, firepower, and weight it possesses, but I would classify the Mosippa as a medium tank. It’s far more mobile than tanks built in the same era and I’d bet it would still compete with the medium tanks of today.”

“Well, is the Mosippa ready to go?”

“Yep. She’s all oiled up and fully fueled. All we need is the ammunition that I had made last week for her.”

“That means going to the ammo dump used by the Town Watch.” Dash spoke up, “I’ll run ahead and let them know that they’re going to get a very special visitor.”

Dash left, and Pinkie asked, “Can I ride on the Mosippa?”

Isinglass and Wolfram shared a look. “Sure,” Wolfram said, “I don’t see why not.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

Pinkie hopped onto the turret of the Mosippa and smiled. “Why do you need ammo?”

Isinglass shrugged and responded, “You never know, we might have to fight our way out of town.”

“I just hope you haven’t jinxed things, Is,” Wolfram deadpanned.

Author's Note

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