Chromeponies

Chapter 2

Lock Jaw

The true training picked up the next day. The seven friends had stayed in rooms prepared for them by Celestia, and had to be down in the hangar directly after they ate. After they descended the staircase leading to the hangar, the group met a new pony as they opened the door. He was a rust colored pony with a short, light grey mane and tail, and held a clipboard in his hoof. He wore a radio headset and was talking to somepony about fuel lines.

He looked at the group as they entered the hangar and approached them once they all entered.

"Greetings everypony," he said in a gravely voice, "My name is Lieutenant Lock Jaw and I'll be in charge of teaching you the proper way to pilot you PONYs. Now, which of you is..." he looked at his clipboard, "Spike?"

Spike raised his hand, "That's me Lock Jaw!"

The lieutenant looked at Spike and raised his eyebrow, then said, "I take it you're the one that's using that smaller PONY?"

"That's right!" Spike replied.

"All right then, but one thing before we get into the training."

"What's that?"

He slammed his hoof on the floor, breaking the clipboard. "I am NOT Princess Celestia or Luna, I'm not your friend!" he shouted at the group, "I'm here to make sure you come back alive from Neighroimus. From now on you will address me as sir or Lieutenant, not Lock Jaw, not L.T., nor anything else. Got it?" he asked as he looked over the surprised and frightened ponies.

Nopony spoke up.

"The proper response is either 'Yes sir!' or 'No sir!'. Now, got it?" he repeated.

"Yes sir!" the group responded in unison.

"Excellent, now Spike, you're up first for pilot training. You'll serve as an example for everypony else. Now go over to your PONY and get the mechanics to show you how to get in. Myself and your friends will be in the observation room."

"Yes sir!" Spike said and then he walked towards his PONY. A light grey mare with a short pink mane was waiting for him and directed him up the ladder to the open cockpit waiting for him. He sat down in the seat and looked around the cockpit. All shapes and sizes of buttons were scattered across the console, with two control sticks near the armrests of the seat. Displays that would hold some sort of information were dark and all the gauges were down.

The mare climbed up the ladder and onto the platform around the cockpit, then tossed a key to Spike. "All right kid," she said in cheery voice, "Put that key into the slot in the middle of the console and turn it. That will start up the PONY. Then I want you to press the button on the display that says cockpit controls and close it. After that, put your headset on, pull the visor down and then just sit tight and wait for the Lieutenants orders," the mare explained, "By the way, I'm Gear Box, nice to meet you."

Spike did as instructed and turned on the PONY. It made a terrible racket as it started up, but then died down to a low murmur. Displays lit up, showing fuel levels, ammunition reserves, temperature, and many other pieces of vital information. Gauges went up and some buttons lit up, while others did not. Spike located the correct display and managed to get the cockpit cover to close. There was a slight hissing sound, followed by a click as the cockpit quickly shut tight. Spike grabbed the headset that sat hung from a small holder on the side of the cockpit and put it on his head and lowered the visor over his eyes. A small reticle appeared on his visor as it synced with the PONYs weapons systems.

Lock Jaw motioned for the others to follow him and led them to an elevator that went up to a room that was filled with monitors and a giant window, through which a massive cavern filled with crystals could be seen.

"Everyone to the window, observe Spike as he learns how to pilot his PONY," Lock Jaw instructed as he sat in a chair in front of a set of monitors.

"Yes sir!" the ponies responded.

The six ponies went to the window and could see a set of seven doors directly opposite the window, lit up by red lights. Six of the doors were closed and through the one open doorway , they could see Spike's PONY. It was an olive drab camouflage and stood on two thick legs, with a short, pointed cockpit. A similarly pointed generator was attached to the back of the cockpit. On each side of the cockpit there were two sets of weapons and one set on top. On the left side were three machine guns that had a hexagonal frame around them for easier attachment. Opposite the machine guns was a set of similarly framed shotguns and lying atop the cockpit were two large cannons that also had a hexagonal frame at the point of connection with the PONY.

Lock Jaw brought his hoof up to his headset and keyed it, "Hey Gear Box, has he started up it yet?"

"Yes sir, he's online. He has his radio on and you can connect to his PONY using channel Carrot," the pony named Gear Box replied.

"Thanks mate," he replied as he switched channels on his headset, "Spike, this is Lock Jaw. If you can hear me, press and hold the button on the side of your headset and speak."

There was a moment's pause and Spike's voice came over the intercoms in the room, "I hear you sir."

"Good. Now, see the two control sticks in front of you on the console?"

"Yes sir."

"Those control your PONY's movement and weapons. I need you to take one in each hand and ease them forwards. You'll feel a slight lurch as the legs move, just walk until I say stop" Lock Jaw switched back to Gear Box's channel, "Gear, go ahead and turn the lights on in the cavern."

"On it sir!" the grey mare said.

As Spike eased the sticks forward, the PONY moved forward a step, then another, and another. With each step the massive mech took, the hangar echoed with the sound of it's booming steps. As Spike stepped out of the hangar, the lights came on in the cavern, illuminating beautiful crystals of blue, green, and pink.

"Aaaand stop," Lock Jaw's voice said over the radio.

Spike brought the sticks back to their starting positions and awaited his next orders.

"Alright Spike, now for turning."

This kept up until Spike had learned the proper way to move his PONY and was ready to move on to the next portion of the training: weapons training.

"Okay Spike, looks like you can manage to move on your own, now let's get you doing some target practice. On your console you'll see a display with your location and the surrounding terrain, split into a grid. Confirm this for me."

Spike looked over his console and spotted a large screed at the center that showed a map of the cavern,  split into a grid like the Lieutenant said.

"Found it sir!" the purple dragon replied.

"Alright, see that green arrow? That's you, which ever way your cock pit is pointing is the direction the arrow will be pointing. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now head to point A-4 on your map, you'll see some tanks when you arrive. When you reach the point, wait for further instruction."

"On it sir!" Spike replied as he headed for the specified point.

Spike arrived at the point to find six round turreted tanks sitting in a group, oblivious to his presence.

"Okay, I'm here. What now sir?"

"Locate the weapons selector on your console, it will have pictures of your weapons and an ammunition counter."

"Got it sir!"

"Okay, now select you machine gun set by pressing the button next to it, that will bring up a crosshair on your visor, then shoot the tanks by squeezing the triggers on your control sticks."

Spike gulped, "There's not anypony in there, is there sir?" Spike asked nervously.

"What? Of course not, they're just old hunks of junk, now shoot the damned things!" Lock Jaw shouted over the radio.

"Yes sir!" Spike replied.

Spike selected the machine gun group and put his cross hair over one of the tanks. He squeezed the triggers and let loose a volley of bullets on the tank. As Spike shot it, it suddenly exploded and caught fire, causing Spike to jump and let go of the triggers.

"Good work Spike, now do the same for the others,"

"Why did that tank explode sir?" Spike asked the Lieutenant.

"We thought it would help get you used to the sound, so we packed them with explosives, now shoot the others!" Lock Jaw ordered.

"Yes sir!"

Spike turn his guns on the next tank, then the next and repeated until each tank was nothing more than a bullet ridden, burning pile of scrap metal.

"Okay Spike, now for something that could actually pose a threat. Head north from there and locate the four legged ACVs known as 'Bulls' and wait for orders upon arrival."

"Yes sir!" Spike replied as he headed around the burning tanks and headed north.

He soon spotted the mechs the Lieutenant was talking about. A pair of boxy, low walking mechs stood idle side by side, . The legs on them stuck out of the side and the weapons sat just above the cockpit. Each had three shotguns in hexagonal frames and were painted the same olive color that Spike's PONY was.

"Alright now Spike, switch to your shotguns for the left one and then use the cannons on the one on the right."

Spike switched from his machine guns to his shotguns and opened fire on the first Bull. The three shotguns fired in unison and punched massive holes all over the Bull, but it did not explode. Instead, it's guns slowly turned toward Spike and fired before Spike could react. The Bull's shots bounced off of his PONY's armor and Spike fired again, this time the Bull collapsed and exploded.

Twilight and her friends gasped and Twilight stormed over to where Lock Jaw was sitting. She grabbed the back of his chair and spun him around so she could look him in the eye.

"Are you crazy?! What in the name of Celestia was that?! That thing SHOT at Spike! Are you trying to kill him, Lieutenant?!" Twilight shouted in pure rage.

"Simmer down, Sparkle, he's fine! Those ACV's are using dummy rounds made of rubber and even if they weren't, the PONY's armor wouldn't have been penetrated anyway, so I suggest you go back over to the window and observe before I put your purple flank in one of the ACVs!" Lock Jaw shouted back at Twilight.

This took Twilight aback, but instead of arguing, she rejoined her friends by the window.

"Can you believe him?" Rarity asked, "Shooting at little Spike!"

"Ah outta go over there and smash his head in!" Applejack whispered.

"No, let's just let Spike finish his training, Lock Jaw says he's using dummy rounds, so I guess Spike is safe. Besides, I'll talk to Luna after this is over."

The others still wore worried looks, but said nothing as they watched Spike continue his training.

Spike switched over his cannons and blasted the next Bull with two shots from the heavy guns. This one never got the chance to shoot back as it collapsed and exploded.

"Okay Spike, I think you're done for the day. Head back to the hangar and dismount your PONY, then head on up here. Pinkie Pie, you're up next for Soldier training, so head back down to the hangar and find Gear Box, she'll show you to your PONY."

"Yes sir!" Both Spike and Pinkie replied.

Spike reached the hangar as Pinkie descended in the elevator and disembarked from his PONY. They met up just as Pinkie was getting off the elevator.

"Pinkie...I-I..." Spike tried to start.

Pinkie then scooped Spike up into a bear hug and shouted, "Oh thank goodness, oh thank goodness you're safe! I was worried about you when that big, mean, old Bull shot at you!" Pinkie then put Spike down and smiled, "Go on up, everypony is waiting for you."

Spike smiled back and hugged Pinkie before heading into the elevator and ascending to the observation room.

Pinkie the bounced across the hangar and spotted a grey mare with a short pink mane.

"Hi!' Pinkie shouted, "Are you Gear Box?"

The mare looked at Pinkie and smiled, "Yep, that's me. I guess you're Pinkie Pie then. Head up the ladder here and hop into the cockpit."

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie replied as she climbed up the ladder into the cockpit of her PONY. Pinkie sat down in her seat and Gear Box climbed up after her.

"Alright Pinkie, the key is in the ignition, see it sticking out of the console?" Gear Box asked as she pointed to a small, pink key sticking out a hole in the console.

"Yep!"

"Go ahead and give it a turn, then close the hatch and put on your headset and visor, then wait for Lock Jaw's orders." Gear Box instructed.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie replied as Gear Box went back down the ladder and she started up the PONY.

Pinkie grabbed her headset and placed it on her head and then lowered her visor.

"Alright Pinkie, let's get started," Lock Jaw said over the radio.

Spike had rejoined the others at the observation room and quickly ran to Twilight.

"Twilight..." Spike whispered as he hugged her leg.

"It's alright Spike, just wait for Pinkie to finish up and then we'll talk to Luna," Twilight assured the scared Spike.

Spike nodded but still held tight to Twilight as he watched Pinkie go through similar trials as he had.

Pinkie's PONY was a similar built to Spikes, but with a larger cockpit, generator and a different weapon set. Hers had three large rifles on the left side in place of machine guns but still had the shotguns and cannons.

"Okay Pinkie, you'll see two gauntlets under the console. Slip those on, they're how you'll control the PONY."

"Yes sir," Pinkie replied as she located the gauntlets. She slipped them onto her forelegs as far as they would go until she reached the end of them. They were dark and and on the end had little robotic fingers.

"Okay, they're on! What's the deal with the fingers sir?" Pinkie asked the Lieutenant.

"The basic design for the original PONY was developed by griffins, Pinkie, so they developed these gauntlets so their allies could use them too," Lock Jaw explained, "Our hooves are just too big to use the PONYs otherwise."

"Ooooooh!" Pinkie said, understanding the point of the fingers, "So how do these work? Sir?" the pink pony asked.

"They tap into your nervous system through magic and simply by visualizing the fingers moving in your head, you can move them as if they were your own. It just takes some getting used to. Now, try wiggling your fingers."

"Yes sir!" Pinkie replied. Pinkie focused on her fingers and tried to make them move. After nearly thirty seconds, she had made each finger move.

"I did it! I did it sir!" Pinkie cried out in excitement.

"Good work kid, now try grabbing the control sticks in front of you."

Pinkie reached forward with her new fingers and wrapped them around the control sticks. "Okay, got 'em Lieutenant!" Pinkie called out over the radio.

"Right then, now ease them forward and head out into the cave."

For the next few minutes, Pinkie went through the same basic tasks that Spike did before her. She had gotten used to the hand-gauntlets rather quick, and was more than ready when it cam to her special task at the end of her training.

"Alright Pinkie, enough of this kid stuff. We're deploying a varied squad of ACVs consisting of Bulls, Chickens and Mantises for you to fight," Lock Jaw informed her.

"Bulls, whats and whats sir?" Pinkie asked, clearly confused.

"Chickens, they have reverse jointed legs that bend the other way, like chickens."

"Okay, and the other one Lieutenant?"

"Mantises. Tall, skinny four legged ACVs equipped with sniper rifles. You're to eliminate them all, understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now the first group is at point D-6 on your map."

"On it, Lieutenant," Pinkie replied as she moved out to engage the new targets.

Pinkie soon arrived at the designated area and found a group of two Bulls and a Mantis. She switched to her rifles and put nine shots of semiautomatic fire into it, destroying it before it could retaliate. The two Bulls then turned their machine guns towards her and opened fire as she began to evade and switch over to her cannons. The pink party pony got one of them in her sights and opened fire, sending two massive shells into its side, punching through it's armor and destroying it. The remaining Bull kept up its fire and peppered Pinkie's PONY with the dummy rounds, which were still enough to startle her as they hit the cockpit.

"Alright you, take this!" Pinkie shouted as she switched to her shotguns and quickly fired six shots into the Bulls side.

The bull ceased firing and exploded as a cheeky grin came across Pinkie's face.

"That wasn't so bad. Where's the next group sir?" Pinkie asked.

"Point E-6, just south of you," Lock Jaw answered.

"Alright, I'm heading there now sir," Pinkie said as she turned her PONY south to meet the next group.

She quickly arrived at the point, finding this group twice as large as the last. With three Chickens, each armed with machine guns, two Mantises and a Bull armed with a howitzer, this group would take time. Pinkie quickly decided to take out the Mantises from range, and opened fire on them first with a dual blast from her cannons, taking the first out without it knowing, then the other with her rifles as it turned to face her.

The Chickens then began charging at her, machine guns blazing, as she continued firing her rifles into them. The first of them fell before they could get close to her, while the others continued their charge. The Bull hung back and began firing it's howitzer at her, forcing her to have to evade while still keeping up her fire on the two Chickens. A few more shots from her rifles finished off another of the Chickens, but the last was closing in and firing rounds directly at her cockpit.

"Careful Pinkie, those may be rubber rounds, but enough sustained fire on your cockpit could shatter the glass," Lock Jaw warned her over her head set.

Pinkie did not respond with words, but instead with switching to her shotguns and firing all three into it's cockpit, tearing colossal holes in it. The walker then fell over on it's side and exploded, as Pinkie switched her attention to the Bull. It had fallen back and had found a small hill to gain some height over Pinkie.

Pinkie switched back to her rifles and began firing at the Bull as it fired it's cannon at her. Pinkie managed to put nine rounds in it before the shot hit her. The shell hit her PONY in the left leg, bounced off, but still made an audible smack as it hit.

"What the hay was that? And why are the legs on this screen blinking?" Pinkie asked.

"That was the howitzer round hitting your legs, and that blinking says you've been hit in the legs. If it had been a live round, it would have done some serious damage to your PONY. That wraps up your training for today, now let me evaluate your performance, then you can go," Lock Jaw responded.

"Yes sir."

A few seconds passed before Lock Jaw came back over the radio, "You did well, you seem well suited to this RT and should do fine out in the field. You and your friends are dismissed."

"Yes sir," Pinkie replied as she headed back to the hangar while her friends descended from the observation room. They met up with her just after she got out of her PONY.

"How was it Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked the pink pony.

"It was alright, I'm sure I had a better time with it than Spike though."

"Well he said you did well, so I suppose that's good. What was it like using those gauntlets?" Rarity inquired.

"It was weird, I couldn't really get used to moving those things, but I think you and Twilight might do better with them." Pinkie responded.

"Enough chitchat girls, we need to go find Luna and talk to her about Lock Jaw," Twilight said as she set off to find Luna, "C'mon, this won't stand."

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