Sunset and I followed Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to the tree/library in 5 minutes from the town hall in the tank. We stopped outside of the library and as we got out of the tank, I could hear yelling from inside the library as we approached the door.

"And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" I heard Rainbow saying as Sunset and I walked into the library

"Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?" said Applejack

"I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!" Twilight said as she pulled at her hair

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide," Pinkie said pulling a book from one of the shelves

"How did you find that?!" Twilight asked

"It was under "E"!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice

"Oh. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters." Twilight said, "It is located in what is now--"

"The Everfree Forest!" They all said in unison.

"What, you mean the one on the edge of town?" I asked leaning up against the wall with my arms crossed.

"Well duh, is there any other forest near the town?" Pinkie asked

"Well, there is the White Tail woods to the west." I responded

Pinkie walked up to me narrowed her eyes, and glared at me for a moment, "Fair enough." She said walking back to where she was previously.

"If you are all going into the forest, Sunset and I should probably come with you. At the bare minimum, we can give you a lift into the entrance of the forest." I said looking at the group

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own." Twilight said

"Where have I heard that before." I said whispering to Sunset. To which she rolled her eyes in response.

"No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." Applejack said, getting a hmph in agreement from the others.

"So, if you are done chatting. Do you want that ride or not? Cause, either way, I'm heading towards that forest. If the Elements of Harmony are there, I'm willing to bet every bit I own that Nightmare Moon is heading there as well.

*Insert Scene Involving Twi Asking questions and start of the everfree trip here*

"Sure? I mean, it is faster than walking right?" Twilight asked

"Oh definitely. We can fit 4 of you inside of the tank, and two of you will have to hold on from the outside." I said as I walked out of the library, "I would recommend those who can fly be on the outside, and those who can't be on the inside. Any objections?" I ask

"I call hanging out the back of the turret!" Pinkie said sitting on the open hatch on the back of the turret. I look behind me and there is a smoke outline of where Pinkie was before. How did she... Never mind, best not to question it.

"Ok, so Pinkie has chosen the empty ready rack area. Who wants to be up front and who wants to be in the turret with me?"

"I'll join ya in the turret." Applejack said

"I would love to be up front." Rarity said

"I guess I'll also be in the turret." Twilight said

Sunset and I helped the others into the tank. Rarity sat up front in the radio operators position, Applejack got the gunner's position, and Twilight got the loaders position. While Rainbow sat on the left side of the engine deck, and Fluttershy on the right side of the engine deck.

"It is kind of cramped in here." Twilight said as she got into the tank.

"Well, we never had a full crew in here before. And it could be even more cramped if Pinkie wasn't hanging out the rear of the turret."

"Why are ya complaining Twilight? It is even more cramped down here." Applejack said from below me.

"I have to agree with Applejack on this one." Rarity said

"Well, at least yall got a place to poke yer heads out of. I ain't got that luxury."

"All right, all right. That is enough. Next time Sunset and I build a tank we will go for one with more space in it." I said to the group. "Now hold on, as we start going forward. Sunset, full speed towards the Everfree Forest."

"Alright. Heading towards the Everfree Forest now." Sunset replied as the tank lurched forward.

As we started moving towards the Everfree, Twilight started asking me questions about the tank. Specifically how it was moving and what it was made of. I went into detail about how the tank is made of a crystal-infused titanium-steel alloy that when it is hit with offensive magic, the mana of the spell gets dispersed along the entire hull, and can be used to charge a series of mana crystals in the rear of the tank. Which in turn fuel an electro-mana generator which in turns power electric motors that turns the main sprocket at the front allowing the tank to move. I also went into detail on how the tracks allowed for the tank to have a better grip on surfaces and allowed for it to pivot in place without having to go in a large circle to turn around. She also asked what the gun was and what it did. Since she didn't know what it was, I was very vague in what it did. I told her that it was for defense and hopefully, we wouldn't have to use it.

After a few minutes of traveling through the town, and ponies who were still panicking diving out of the way, we finally reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. As we approached Applejack told us that there was only one main path in the forest, and directed us towards it. As we approached, the sounds of insects and while beasts could be heard. Looking at the main path, it was going to be a tight fit, but the tank could make it on the main path with about 2 ft of space to spare on either side. I told sunset to slow down as we went through the forest as to make sure we don't end up driving off a cliff. Turning on the headlight at the front of the tank, it helped to illuminate the path, but not for more than 60 ft ahead of us.

About 20 minutes into the forest, we came to a sharp left turn, with a wall to the left, and a sloped drop to the right. The path was a little wider here, but I had Sunset take it slowly all the same. As the tank crawled slowly along the path, I was paying attention to the right side of the tank, making sure we don't go over the edge. Constantly having Sunset make adjustments the entire time. We were all so focused on making sure we didn't go over the edge that none of us noticed a blue smoke coming up from behind the tank, and flow into the ground just ahead of us.

As we reached the middle of the section what the smoke creature entered. The ground beneath the tank gave way, we started sliding down a slope that was easily a 45-degree angle. As what just happened registered in my mind, "Turn to the right and full reverse! Do everything you can to stop us before we slide too far down!" I shouted at Sunset, as I used my magic to grab the tow cables from the side of the tank and looped them through the hooks at the back of the tank, and using my magic changed some spare track on the side of the turret into four grappling hooks. Attaching the hooks to the tow cables, I wedged the hooks into the ground. As we continued to descend, four trails of upturned dirt appeared behind us as we desperately tried to show the massive tank down. I saw Rainbow and Fluttershy flying after us, as they approached, I grabbed the final, thinner tow cable and looped it through a hook on the turret, and a metal pole through each of the loops on the tow cable. As Rainbow and Fluttershy caught up with the tank, I handed one of the poles to each of them and told them to fly back towards the top with everything they got. Ducking inside the tank, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight were freaking out, while Pinkie just jumped out of the open hatch at the rear of the turret. I grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and looked her square in the eyes.

"If you can teleport, get Rarity and Applejack out of here and back up to the main path. Do you understand?" Twilight just looked at me frozen in fear. I slapped her to snap her out of it, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" I said much louder this time. To which Twilight nodded and grabbed Rarity and Applejack by the hands and they blinked out of the tank with a purple flash.

I poke my head out through the commander's hatch, and about 1000ft in front of us is a sheer drop. Time slows down, as I realize we won't make it at this rate. I duck back into the tank and grab onto Sunset's shoulder as I prepare to teleport us 2000ft up into the air. But right before I cast the spell, I feel the tank lurch as we come to a sudden stop. I poke my head out of the commander's hatch again, and I see we stopped less than 10 ft from the cliff edge. Looking behind me, I see the tow cables enveloped in a purple magic glow, and up by the main path, I see Twilight focusing on making sure we don't plummet to our doom, and Applejack halfway down the slope her hooves dug into the ground assisting Twilight by pulling on two of the cables.

"Twilight! Focus on the hooks on the rear of the tank! I'm going to move the tow cables to the front and once we get the tank turned around, pull the tow cables as we move back up!" I yelled.

"No way! The second I let go, you will go off the cliff taking Applejack with you!" She yelled

"Now listen here. We won't go off the edge. What he is sayin' to you is the honest truth. Now let go, we will be safe!" Applejack said in a strained voice.

"Alright! Im trusting you!" Twilight yelled in response.

It took us 20 minutes to get back up to the main path with the tank, and to say we were on edge from then on was an understatement. Not to mention Twilight was worn out from stopping the tank dead in its tracks. We took a moment to calm down, and while we were doing so, I was scanning the ground with magic to see if we would have to deal with this thing again further down the path. As I was scanning the area where the ground gave way, I could detect trace amounts of foreign magic in the area that gave way. Most likely it was Nightmare Moon trying to stop us.

"Ok, so that wasn't natural. After scanning the ground, there are traces of foreign magic in the area that gave way. I'm thinking that Nightmare Moon is trying to kill us before we stop her." I whispered to Sunset

"Should we send the others back to town as we go after the elements?" Sunset asked

"Eh, for now, let's just have the gun loaded in case we encounter something else that tries to kill us. " I say as I load an AP shell into the main gun. "And let's keep this quiet, we don't want them panicking. Panicking leads to mistakes. Something we don't have time for."

"Agreed," Sunset replied.

Turning to the group, I clap my hands together, "So, shall we hop back in the tank and get a move on?" I ask the group

Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight, and Applejack all look at each other and nod, "If it is all the same to you, I think we will walk," Twilight said

"That's fine. Just stay close to the tank." I said as I hopped back in the commander's position.

Moving forward, Fluttershy opted to sit on the turret with her feet dangling down into the loaders position, Rainbow sat in the middle of the engine deck with her legs crossed, and the rest of the group walked single file to the right of the tank with Twilight in the front, followed by Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie. 10 minutes after the near-death experience, we came across a small clearing in the forest. As we entered the clearing, a Manticore jumped out of the bushes at the other side of the clearing. The entire group except for Fluttershy went after the Manticore to try and get it out of the way. While the others were doing various things to get it to move, Fluttershy was telling them to wait the entire time. Though she was speaking really softly, causing the others to not hear her over the ruckus,

"Fluttershy, what up? Why do you want them to wait?" I ask

"Well... I think I can get him to move out of the way. Judging by the way he is moving, I think it is in pain." Fluttershy practically whispered

"Well, if you think you can stop it. I'll pull the others away from the Manticore. But if you are wrong, I'm going to kill it before it can kill you. Is that acceptable?"

Fluttershy gulped, "Y-yeah." She said as she flew down to the manticore as I pulled the others off of it, while at the same time aiming the gun center mass.

"Shhh... it's okay. Oh, you poor, poor little baby." Fluttershy said as she approached the manticore

"Little?" Rainbow said while still encased in my magic

"Now this might hurt for just a second." Fluttershy said as she grabbed the paw of the Manticore. Who then proceeded to let out a roar.

"Fluttershy!" the others yelled struggling in my magic. Only for the Manticore to start purring and licking Fluttershy's face while she held a large thorn in her hand.

"Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are." She said with a giggle while petting the manticore. Satisfied that the situation has resolved itself, I released the others from my magic. Twilight then walked up the Fluttershy.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked Fluttershy

"I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." Fluttershy responded. Did... did Fluttershy just guess? Holy shit, that could have ended so badly if she was wrong. Or it could have easily resulted in her eardrums blown out and covered in blood if I had shot it.

"Eh hem, if you are done risking life and limb, can we get a move on? The last thing we want is for Nightmare Moon to get to the Elements of Harmony before us." I said

A half hour later, we had to be about a quarter way into the forest, as the forest density had been steadily increasing over time. And the dirt path started to become mud, either due to rain or because of a nearby water source. As we were approaching an especially dense and dark section of the forest, to the point where Sunset and I were in the front with the tank, and the others were in a group behind us. As we hit a really muddy spot in the path, and we ended up coating the others in the others in a layer of mud.

As they cleared the mud from their eyes, lightning flashed in the forest, causing the trees around us to be lit up like scary monsters. I was unfazed, but the others started freaking out and panicking. All except for Pinkie, who was laughing and making faces at the trees. What is she doing?

"Pinkie, what are you doing? Run!" Twilight said mid freakout.

"Oh girls, don't you see." Pinkie said as she approached the others, "When I was a little filly and the sun was going down..." She started to sing.

"Tell me she's not..." Twilight started

"Music Magic! Sunset seal the hatches!" I said ducking down into the turret and closing the open hatches on the turret with my magic. I hate music magic, I still don't understand how it occurs, but it tends to get anyone near the song to get involved and start singing and dancing. I learned that the hard way when I was younger and ended up in a song and dance number. I hated not being able to control my body as the magic took hold. I'm still working on trying to figure out what causes this phenomenon. but it is proving difficult. I have only had success in nullifying it, and some success in stopping it from occurring.

Sunset and I waited in the tank for around 7 minutes, as we waited for the song outside to die down. Looking outside through the periscopes occasionally, I watched as the others started to jump towards the treed and laugh at them. It had to be one of the strangest things I had ever seen. Eventually, though, they got in a group and started laughing at what had occurred. Sunset and I waited another minute before we carefully poked our heads out of the tank.

"Is it over? Has the music magic subsided?" I asked the others

"Yeah, it stopped alright. Why did ya hide from it in the first place?" Applejack said

"I don't like being part of musical numbers," I said flatly. "Now if you are done, let's get a move on. we don't have all night." I said as I went back inside the tank. "Come on Sunset, let's start moving before they start stinging again."

"Agreed. I never liked those musical numbers anyways." Sunset replied

As we moved forward, the ground became muddier as we approached a river. Testing the depth, I figure that the tank can make it across with a little effort.

"Ok girls, Sunset and I are going to cross here, are you coming with?" I asked

"And get in the muddy water? No thank you, darling, I think we should check farther down the river for a bridge or a shallower part of the river." Rarity said in a huff, clearly still mad about the mud in her mane.

"Suit yourselves. If we don't see you on the other side of the river, we will meet you at the old castle." I said as I helped Sunset get the tank ready to cross the river. The girls went farther down the river and out of sight, as Sunset and I were making sure all hatches were sealed and watertight. I also made sure that the engine bay was sealed tight, luckily since the engine used mana to run, it didn't need air to operate at all times.

With the tank sealed up, Sunset got into the driver's position through the turret, and I got back into the commander's position. We put the tank in reverse, till we were a good distance back, then we floored it. As the Tiger 2 reached its top speed, we hit the water and everything below the turret ring was underwater. I felt the tank get pushed to the right as it fought against the flow of the river. Looking out the commander's hatch, I could see that we were getting pushed down the river as we were crossing it. The longer we were in the water, the more the tank slowed down, going to half speed halfway across, and down to quarter speed as we reached the other side. As the tank climbed out of the river, I could see several types of grasses and a few fish were crushed in stuck in the tracks. I sighed knowing I would have to go in and get rid of all of that gunk later.

Moving away from the river, we continued making our way deeper into the forest, eventually, I spotted hoof prints of the group and I directed Sunset to follow them. After a few minutes of following them, we spotted the group except for Rainbow standing at the edge of a ravine covered with fog.

"Oi, there you girls are. Where is Rainbow?" I asked as we rolled up behind them.

"She went to the other side to fix the bridge, but a group of ponies called the Shadow Bolts were trying to convince Rainbow to join them and leave us. As we tried to call out to her to tell her not to, this fog appeared." Twilight said

"That sounds like Nightmare Moon is trying to stop us. What is on the other side of the ravine?"

"The castle is on the other side, all we needed to do was get the bridge back up so we could cross."

"What kind of bridge is it?"

"A simple rope bridge. I don't think your tank will be able to cross it."

No shit Sherlock. I thought to myself. There is no way that the tank would be able to make it across. "Alright then, Sunset, I'm going to leave you in charge of the tank. Be ready to fire the gun if you feel your necklace go off." I said climbing out of the tank, sliding down the front. Landing in front of the tank, I use my magic to make make a quarterstaff appear out of the upper plate of the tank.

"Alright, but please, be careful. I don't want anything happening to you." Sunset said

"I'll be fine. Just make sure you keep yourself safe." I said as I heard the girls start cheering behind me. Turning around, Rainbow had come back to this side, and the fog has dispersed.

"Alright, the bridge is up, and we can make our way across," Twilight said as she ushered the girls across.

On the other side of the ravine, there stood a ruined castle that looked to have been reclaimed by nature, there were piles of stone littered on the ground, and moss was climbing up the remaining walls. Trees were growing out of a hole in the wall on the side of the building, and the stone was wet from recent rain. At the top of a set of stairs, there stood wooden doors. As Twilight went up to open the doors, they opened with ease, as if they had just been oiled. On the inside, the roof had caved in, and the pillars in the room were covered in ivy. And in the center of the room stood a large pedestal with several stone orbs on platforms jutting out from the center of it.

"Whoa." Twilight said taking in the sight around her

"Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" Applejack said

"The Elements of Harmony, we've found them." Twilight said as she rushed up to the pedestal containing the orbs. "Fluttershy, Rainbow go up there and get them." As Fluttershy and Rainbow went up to the pedestal, Twilight was saying "Careful, careful!" Over and over as they brought them down to the ground

"One, two, three, four... There's only five!" Pinkie said counting them one by one

"Where's the sixth?" Rainbow asked

"The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed." Twilight said

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen." Twilight said as her horn glowed and she focused on the elements.

I stood in the corner of the room and watched as Twilight focused on the elements. As she was focusing, I saw a blue shadow come out of a pile of rubble in the corner of the room. As it made its way towards Twilight and the Elements, I ran up to towards it. As I approached Twilight, I leaped over her head and whacked the smoke monster with the quarterstaff made from the crystal-infused Titanium-Steel alloy. As it made contact, It caused the smoke monster to fly back and slam against the pillar the elements had been sitting on. As it hit, it transformed into Nightmare Moon. I noticed right away, that there was a gaping hole in her chest piece where the tank shell had hit her back in town. I guess that while she was able to regenerate her armor didn't.

As she stood up, and her horn glowed as a burst of magic radiated out from her. Slamming myself against a pillar in the room, and knocking the girls over. As I hit the pillar, I saw her walk over to the stone elements and she crushed them in her magic. Twilight looked distraught as she saw what we came here for get completely obliterated.

"You have failed to defeat me. Now I shall bring eternal night to Equestria and rule it as the one true ruler!" She said letting out a cackle.

As Twilight lay on her ass, she said "As long as I live, I will not bow down to a false ruler. I will repair Elements of Harmony, and I will come back and defeat you, Nightmare Moon!"

"And that is why I shall not let you live." Nightmare Moon said as she started casting a spell. But having seen this once before, I teleported behind her, and with my quarterstaff, I started chocking her out.

"Twilight! If you can fix those elements do it now! I can keep her occupied for a little bit, but not for long!" I said pulling Nightmare moon away from the others.

As I was pulling her away, she started struggling against the quarterstaff against her throat. I saw her horn light up again and I could feel her try and use her magic to pull it off her throat. But due to the properties of the metal, her magic had no effect. Seeing as how her magic wasn't working, she started elbowing me and trying to pry my arms off of the staff. Her elbows hit my side and it hurt like a mother fucker. It the stories about alicorns are true, they have the strength of Earth Ponies. And I have seen an Earth pony shatter a boulder with a single kick. As she kept hitting me, I could feel her starting to get out of the position I had her in. But as she was breaking free, I saw on the other side of her the girls floating off of the ground, with Twilight wearing a crown, and the others wearing necklaces.

As they floated off of the ground, their eyes glowed white and a rainbow beam started coming out of them. A different color originated from each of them and met in the middle to form a rainbow. It looked like the Death Star firing its main weapon. The rainbow beam shot towards us, and as the beam hit us I could hear Nightmare Moon scream as she took the brunt of the beam. And what hit me burned like hell. It was like my blood was boiling, and my skin was melting. As beam continued, Nightmare Moon started shrinking, and more of the beam started hitting me. The pain was so bad, that I could feel my consciousness slipping, and just before I blacked out, I hear Sunset scream.

"Moonshadow are you alri... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!"

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait. Writer's block hit like a ton of bricks, and college comes first. So uploads will be periodic. Part 2 should be coming in a week or two.
Using this image to judge rough locations.

Fun Fact: If Wikipedia is to be believed, crews were forbidden from carrying ammo in the turret after a couple T-34's ambushed and destroyed a ludicrous amount of Tiger II's.