Pony Tankers: Snow and Steel

Chapters

"Under New Management" - Cream
"One for the Money, Two for the Show..." - Sage
"Driver's Ed" - Flax
"And Four to Go!" - Emerald
"Trial By Fire" - Flax
"Home Sweet Home" - Cream
"Mixed Signals" - Emerald
"Pack up Your Troubles" - Sage
"Paying Your Dues" - Emerald
"Hooves-On Approach" - Flax
"Taking the Reins" - Flax
"Out of the Frying Pan..." - Cream
"And Into the Fire" - Emerald
"What's in a Name" - Sage
"Motors and Makeovers" - Cream
"Setting the Stage" - Flax
"Finest Hour" - Emerald
"Getting Your Hooves Dirty" - Cream

"Under New Management" - Cream

Cream Soda was cold. Freezing cold, as a matter of fact. She was seated on a wooden crate outside the command tent of the Equestrian 2nd Armored Battalion after being rudely awoken from a nap in the front seat of her supply truck. The sun had just started to disappear behind the hills in the distance in front of her, casting the entire encampment and all its busy inhabitants in a fiery orange glow that filtered through the barren tree limbs all around them. Her crate was cold and damp, even after her best attempts to sweep all the snow off its surface, and she could already feel the icy cold water soaking into the thick wool of her winter uniform and her red fur beneath it. Were it not for the cold and the ever-present fear of how the war effort would go, Cream could almost say she liked the view presented to her.

She'd arrived at camp some two days ago, alongside a convoy of other trucks carrying vital supplies, and since then had spent most of her time trying to stay warm. In the far north of Equestria it was cold almost year-round, though there was at least some reprieve in the summer months. Right now, though, in the midst of a harsh winter, it was all a pony could do to keep themselves from getting frostbite. The infantry were coping well enough with their tents gathered around large fire pits, and she had already caught a few glimpses of the more privileged officers sneaking electric heaters into their tents. Until a few hours ago, Cream was fortunate enough to be able to use her truck's cabin heater for much the same purpose. Between that and games of poker with the other logistics ponies, her stay had almost been pleasant.

Speaking of heat, she felt the wisps of warmth reaching her from the command tent's open flaps as an enlisted pony stuck his head out. She looked over, doing her best to look a little less pathetic while she sat and shivered on her box, and their eyes met for a second before he spoke. He wore the same grey uniform jacket as almost everypony else at camp, though he had decided to forgo his heavy winter coat. Given the pair of space heaters Cream could see just from her limited point of view outside the tent, that made perfect sense. His hind hooves were protected from the frozen ground by a pair of brown boots that came up to his fetlocks, and the rest of the exposed fur up to his hocks was tightly wrapped up in a set of puttees. His front hooves were protected by a set of black socks to allow them some degree of grip, and he wore a wool cap with ear flaps in place of the usual steel helmet that was issued to the infantry ponies.

"Enlisted Cream Soda?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. Without waiting for her to respond, he beckoned her forward with a hoof and turned to disappear inside the tent flap once more. Cream Soda huffed, eyes crossing as she watched the cloud of hot air appear in front of her muzzle, and stood up on slightly stiff legs. She lacked most of the winter gear afforded to the average mudslogger, though she had at least managed to beg a winter jacket from the quartermaster a few hours after her arrival earlier in the week. Not wishing to keep the cranky officer who had requested her presence in the first place waiting, she crunched through the snow up to the front "door" of the tent and slipped inside.

Stepping into the air inside the tent hit her like opening a furnace, blasting her with hot, heavy air that sent a shiver running up her spine as her body struggled to adjust to the shock. She looked around from the entrance and simply admired the buzz of activity - tables were set up all around the tent for various purposes, whether that be holding maps, radio equipment, spare rations, personal equipment, or some combination of all of the above. Officers and aides alike trotted to and fro, speaking in hushed tones so as not to disturb the dozen other conversations going on at any given time. Cream Soda was bumped aside when a runner trotted into the tent behind her and nearly ran her over in their rush, though she knew better than to raise a fuss.

She didn't get to do much more standing around before the officer she was looking for spotted her. He was a tall unicorn with a stern frown seemingly permanently etched into his features. His snow-white fur made him stand out even among his similarly well-dressed peers, and his height allowed him to spot Cream Soda despite several other ponies standing between the two of them. He glared at her for a moment before calling out.

"Enlisted Cream Soda, over here. We haven't the time to waste," he ordered, and Cream was moving before he'd even finished speaking. She trotted up to the small folding table he occupied alone and glanced down at the mess of paperwork scattered across it. She could also see his name and rank indicated on his uniform, Major Silver Spirit. She snapped to attention a second late, bringing up her right forehoof for a salute and bumping her helmet. The cold steel and her already aching hoof did not agree with one another, and it was all she could do not to wince at the sudden sting running up the length of her foreleg.

"Cream Soda, reporting for duty, sir. I was told you wanted to speak with me, sir?" She asked, after Silver motioned for her to be at ease. She elected to leave out the part about how the major's aide had to violently shake her awake before delivering the summons. Silver seemed intrigued, if only for a fraction of a second, by Cream's noticeable Manehattan accent. It was a strong contrast to his posh Canterlotian one.

"Indeed I did. You are being reassigned to the second armored battalion," he said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "You are trained as a driver, we need drivers. I have already gathered the appropriate paperwork for your new position, and..."

The major trailed off, his frown growing just the slightest bit more pronounced as a hint of disgust colored his voice. As if he could barely stomach what was about to come next.

"And, as part of your new role, you are also being promoted. You are hereby raised from the rank of enlisted soldier to corporal. Do you understand and accept your new responsibilities as a soldier of Her Majesty Celestia's army?" Silver Spirit's tone changed again, and he rattled off the last bit as if reading from a script. Cream Soda knew from experience that he was, having been given the same terms when she enlisted as a truck driver. The speech wasn't what gave her pause, though.

Frowning, Cream Soda cleared her throat before speaking in a more hushed voice than before, realizing she probably looked as afraid as she felt to be questioning the decision of an officer. "I... sir, if I may-"

"You may not. This decision has already been finalized, we are merely going through the courtesies now," the major interrupted, holding up a hoof and stopping Cream before she could even begin. She closed her mouth and did her best not to look too frustrated. "You have been assigned to the newly formed fourth reconnaissance regiment. Your crew is already waiting for you in the motor pool, so I suggest you hurry down and meet them. You're going to need time to learn the ins and outs of your new machine, no doubt, and time is a precious commodity."

Cream Soda merely nodded, choosing to stay quiet for now. At least that way she could hide the sudden feeling of dread that gripped her. The entire reason she'd enlisted in the logistics corps was so she could avoid being pressed into the infantry service and so she could stay as far out of harm's way as she could. Now, it looked like that clever plan of hers was going to be for nothing. Major Silver Spirit shoved a piece of paper her way alongside a set of rank tabs to add to her uniform. The paper was mostly covered by military jargon that she hadn't understood when she enlisted months ago and certainly didn't understand now.

Still, Cream knew better than to ask. She merely took the offered pen in her mouth and scribbled her name on the dotted line across the bottom, nudged the paper back to the major, and swiped up her new rank tabs.

)()()()()()()(

After finishing up her paperwork, Cream Soda's first stop was at the quartermaster's tent. The transition from the warm command tent to the freezing air and dim lighting of dusk was a painful one, but she managed well enough. Trudging through the snow was at least made easier thanks to the existing paths carved out by heavy hoof and vehicle traffic up and down the wide lanes between tents. She poked her head in and smiled at the mare behind the main desk, though she wilted slightly when the mare returned the look with a scowl. Cream Soda explained her reason for returning so soon and showed off her new papers, and that was enough to convince the quartermaster to dish out some new equipment. Cream turned in her helmet in exchange for a black hat that looked like somepony had tried to make an in-between for a beret and a flatcap. She also traded in her weapon, losing her standard-issue rifle in exchange for a sleek submachine gun. The quartermaster explained the weapon's designation and a few important details, but Cream missed most of them.

After also receiving a new backpack and bedroll, Cream Soda was finally outfitted with all the necessary equipment for her new job. She trudged out of the supply tent loaded down with gear, her new weapon bouncing against her side as it hung by its strap around her neck. It was lighter than her rifle, fortunately, though the long magazine sticking out the bottom made it somewhat awkward to fit around the rest of her gear. Her backpack also wasn't adjusted properly, and one strap being looser than the other left it hanging off-kilter. All of this would've made her walk through the cold even more miserable than before if she wasn't so focused on what her new rank and position meant for her.

On the one hoof, the extra pay a corporal got was going to be nice. On the other, climbing into a tank sounded like the worst thing since joining the army in the first place. She had heard stories about the rather grim fate of crews on the receiving end of enemy fire, and some of the survivors she'd seen made her wonder if they were really the lucky ones. Her mind continued to wander while her legs carried her forward, and her thoughts were turning back to home like they so often did just when she reached her destination.

The "motor pool" was really just a large area of flat ground near the edge of camp that was set aside for vehicles. She'd seen it on the way in, given that the main entrance road went right down the middle, though she and the rest of the supply train were ordered to park on the far side of camp. With the sun now fully disappearing behind the tree line, the camp was rapidly getting dark. Large spotlights at the corners of the motor pool did their best to illuminate the area, and they succeeded well enough to make it safely traversable, but that was about it. Rows of vehicles stood at attention on either side, and Cream Soda got a good look at them for the first time.

There were quite a few, apparently organized by type, though the ones that stood out the most were the ten boxy little tanks arrayed in two groups of five. One tank in each group sported an additional radio antenna, and she noticed that they lacked the protruding machine gun barrel in the front of the hull as all the others had. Big rivets marked where each armor plate had been attached to the frame, and every tank sported the same stubby little cannon in the front of the turret. The snow and dirt in the motor pool was packed down and marred by track marks, giving Cream the impression that these tanks had been parked rather recently.

She started to slowly walk forward, approaching the group of tanks on the left, and a glance around revealed that she was alone - or at least, it looked like she was alone. Most of the tanks seemed more or less brand new, but one she passed by stood out as having a few dings and scratches in the armor that looked to be the result of bullet impacts. On top of that, a quartet of black rings was painted on the cannon barrel, the meaning of those easy enough for her to guess. Right around the time Cream reached the end of the row of tanks, she stopped and turned around at the sound of snow crunching under another set of hooves. Her ear flicked, and her eyes darted left and right as she searched for a silhouette in the dimly lit motor pool.

When nopony revealed themselves, she let out a sigh. What was she getting worked up over? She was miles behind the front line, she knew, and she'd never heard so much as a peep about Crystal Empire spies infiltrating camps like this. Maybe, she thought, she was getting herself too worked up about her promotion. Really, moving from enlisted to corporal wasn't that big of a jump. It was just the bare minimum to say "You aren't at the bottom of the ladder", right? She leaned back against the front fender of the tank she happened to be standing beside and looked around, eyes gliding over the motionless silhouettes of the machines standing on the opposite side of the road. They almost seemed to be huddling together, parked so close as if they were just as cold as all the ponies out and about tonight.

Cream Soda's thoughts were beginning to wander yet again when a voice suddenly came from her left.

"You just hangin' around to hang around, or are you the driver we've been waitin' on?" A mare's gravelly voice drawled, seemingly coming from out of nowhere. Cream Soda nearly jumped out of her hide, coming off the tank she'd been leaning on and scrambling against the icy ground for a second to keep her balance. When she finally recovered a second later, Cream looked up and spotted the source of the voice.

Standing a few feet away from her, face partially illuminated by the glow of a burning cigarette, was another Earth pony mare with pale blue fur. The pins on her uniform and her beret indicated her rank, and if Cream remembered correctly (which in all honesty she probably didn't), she was looking at a second lieutenant. The mare was around average height and build, making her just a tiny bit taller than Cream Soda, and the look on her face would've been difficult to read even in ideal lighting. Cream Soda did the only thing she could think of and snapped to a salute, earning her an eye roll from the new mare.

"Corporal Cream Soda, reporting for duty, si- er, ma'am!" She barked, wincing at the near-slip she'd made when addressing her superior. "As of tonight, I'm assigned to your unit as a driver. So... here I am?"

"At ease, corporal. Second Lieutenant Flax Seed, pleased to meet'cha," she said, her southern Equestrian drawl contrasting with Cream Soda's Manehattanite accent in an entirely new way compared to the stuffy voice of the Major back in the command tent. Flax Seed somehow managed to speak unimpeded around the cigarette in her mouth, working the thing over to one corner and letting it bob up and down with every sound. The glowing red tip distracted Cream, her eyes flicking over to it while her new commanding officer addressed her. "The rest of the crew showed up earlier today, you're our last addition. Was wonderin' if they were gonna send me a driver after all or if I was gonna hafta go 'n' scrounge one up for myself - glad they did the scroungin' for me."

As if on cue, another face appeared around the corner of the tank the two mares were standing beside. The new arrival's dark green fur looked almost black in the dim lighting, her head nothing more than a barely discernible silhouette against the wall of snow a few meters behind it shrouded in darkness. Flax Seed glanced back at the sound of more hooves crunching on snow, then promptly refocused on Cream Soda when she saw who it was. After finishing off her cigarette with one long drag, Flax spat out the stub into the snow and extinguished it with a little stomp and twist of her right forehoof. The new mare stepped up beside Flax Seed but remained silent, and it was then that Cream Soda spotted the black eyepatch covering her left eye.

"This here's our loader, Sage. She ain't much of a talker," Flax introduced, waving at the green mare with a hoof. Cream Soda nodded, slowly relaxing now that the conversation had taken a more casual tone. "She 'n' I've been in the tanks a good while. Served with the fifth armored for a while, but we got shuffled out to this frozen hellhole about, what, a month ago?" Looking to Sage for an answer, Flax raised one eyebrow and leaned over to brace her weight on the fender running the length of the side of the nearest tank.

"Aye," Sage murmured, a highland accent coming through in her soft voice. "About that long, give or take; I dinnae remember the exact days. Not the first time we've been moved around."

Cream Soda waited for Sage to continue, but after a few seconds of silence, it became apparent that she wasn't going to. Cream glanced around, her eyes eventually settling on the machine beside her, and a detail stood out to her. If she was the driver, and she was talking to the commander and the loader, then who occupied the fourth seat? Of course, she was only guessing there would be a fourth seat based on the number of viewports cut into the front hull of the machine. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask.

"We got a fourth yet?" She asked, jerking her head at the tank in case it wasn't clear what she was referring to. The question made Flax Seed roll her eyes again, though Sage didn't visibly react. "Guessing that's a no?"

"Naw, we got one. She's a real piece'a work, though. Unicorn. Used to be a captain b'fore she got busted all the way down to the bottom of the ladder. Ain't managed to find out why, but she's real bitter about it, spends most of her time sulkin' around and bein' mad at everypony." Flax's tone of voice made it quite clear that she didn't hold this mare in high regard, even if her words hadn't already made that obvious.

"Aye," Sage added, in almost exactly the same quiet voice as before, "haven't seen 'er smile since I met her a day or so ago. Still has her officer's hat and everythin', even if she's not allowed to wear the bleedin' thing anymore."

"Sounds like a ray of sunshine," Cream surmised. "Could they really not find somepony more suited to... whatever she does?"

"Probably," Flax responded, "but not on such short notice. Radio ponies are spread thin as it is. Ain't got time to go pokin' around for one ta steal from another unit when we got one right here that can 'redeem herself'. You'll be rubbin' elbows with her in the hull." Flax raised a forehoof and patted the side of the tank, a little grin playing at the corners of her mouth. Cream got the implication, realizing how small this particular vehicle was for something that was supposed to carry four ponies. Before Cream could ask any more questions, Sage addressed her directly for the first time.

"You been in the tanks very long? Ye look greener than I do," she said, squinting with her one uncovered eye as if sizing Cream up. The little pun made Flax snicker, but she did a good job of keeping it under control. Cream stood up straight, mouth opening halfway before she closed it again and considered her answer. She didn't want to look like a newbie in front of two mares who were obviously veterans, but she also knew they were likely to see through whatever flimsy story she could make up.

"Me?" She asked, raising a hoof to her chest, before realizing what she'd just said and pressing on before she could be questioned. "Not very long. I just left basic training a couple of weeks ago, so this is my first real assignment. I was actually down here to get familiar with my new machine." There you go, Cream. A halfway believable lie, she thought. Judging by the looks on Flax and Sage's faces, they were strongly considering buying it.

"Well then, glad you're thinkin' ahead," Flax said, a dangerous edge in her pseudo-praising tone. Maybe she didn't buy it after all. "Just keep in mind - this here's my machine. You just get to drive it, and you'll be drivin' it exactly how I tell ya to. We clear?"

Cream Soda gulped. "Y-Yes ma'am. Understood, ma'am. Uh... do you mind if I climb inside, ma'am?"

"Go on ahead," Flax said, the dangerous look disappearing in favor of a satisfied little grin. "Climb on up and open the hatch on the hull, just be careful - she's real slick."

With Flax Seed's blessing, Cream Soda turned and hooked a forehoof through one of the large handles bolted onto the exterior of the machine. It was a squat little thing, easy to climb, though the lack of any steps to clear the large roadwheels made it a little awkward. After almost slipping and falling to certain death on the flat top of the vehicle, Cream crouched down and worked at the two-piece hatch on the left side of the hull until she hefted it up and open. It folded neatly over itself and hung over the front of the hull, revealing the pitch-black interior of the tank. The sound of hooves on metal alerted her to Flax Seed climbing up to open the turret hatch and climb in there, and a glance aside revealed Sage clambering up to sit on the back of the engine deck to keep her hooves out of the snow.

Cream twisted to lower herself into the tank rump first after shrugging off her saddlebags and gun, going down farther than she expected before her hind hooves met the fabric of a seat. Dropping fully inside, her entire field of view was shrouded in darkness save for the tiny bit of light that managed to stream in through the rectangular viewport. Squinting and feeling around in the darkness, Cream's forehooves eventually found a piece of equipment. In front of her was the hull machine gun, pointed skyward, and to her left was a radio set. After another moment or two of feeling around, she realized two things. The first was that she'd found the radio operator's position. The other was that her actual seat didn't have a hatch to escape through in the event that she had to leave the vehicle in a hurry.

That understanding came with a fresh wave of dread about her new job, but Cream did her best to ignore it. She was in for the long run now, and no amount of whining about a less than ideal (for her) vehicle layout would sway Silver Spirit or anypony else to reassign her. Cream had just begun feeling around in the dark again when a light abruptly switched on behind her, momentarily blinding her until her eyes adjusted. When they did, she turned to look over her shoulder and saw the ends of Flax Seed's hind legs dangling down from her seat up in the turret. Flax had switched on a lightbulb, bathing the tank's white interior in dim orange-yellow light. Cream smiled, clambering out of her current seat and over a large bulge in the floor to the seat on the right.

Upon closer inspection, that bulge was the transmission. A lever stuck out and leaned over to be reachable from her new spot, mingling with a few other levers and pedals. It was nothing like any vehicle she'd ever sat in, and certainly nothing like the truck she'd gotten so accustomed to driving. She stared at all the various gauges and was relieved to find at least a few familiar faces - tachometer, fuel gauge, speedometer, engine temperature, and a few others. A small switch on the side of her instrument panel was labeled as "lights", and Cream reached forward and flipped it under the assumption that it would light up the panel itself. When a bright white beam of light suddenly appeared in front of the tank, visible through her front viewport and illuminating the machine across the road, she quickly switched it back off.

"Whoops! Wrong switch," Cream mumbled, and though she couldn't see it, she could feel Flax Seed rolling her eyes again. Continuing her exploration, Cream was able to deduce the purpose of a few more things. The two levers on either side of her seat were probably for the tracks, and the pedals were at least easy enough to figure out as gas, breaks, and clutch. There were a few other buttons that were frustratingly unlabeled, but they were on a separate panel on her right. Maybe those were less important? Surely that was the case, or else they'd be labeled too, right? Regardless, she couldn't risk asking so soon after assuring her new commander that she knew what she was doing. Cream sighed, wiggling in her seat to try and get more comfortable, and did her best to avoid touching any bare metal with exposed fur.

Despite being protected from the wind, the metal box she was sitting inside of felt more like a freezer than a shelter. Flax Seed ruffled some papers up above, but remained quiet otherwise. After a long pause, Cream leaned back in her chair and looked up at her with a little grin.

"Say... you wouldn't mind if I took this machine for a little test drive, right? Get acquainted with it?"

"One for the Money, Two for the Show..." - Sage

Sage leaned against the side of her tank while Cream Soda introduced herself to the fourth and final member of their motley crew. The other mare, a unicorn by the name of Emerald Aura, was one that Sage and Flax had the pleasure of meeting only one day prior. Already, Sage was having her doubts. Flax had managed to squeeze a bit of backstory out of the mare, but the most they could gather was that she was demoted from her officer rank after some major screwup. Now, Emerald was doing her best to talk to Cream - or anypony else for that matter - as little as possible.

Sage worked the toothpick in her mouth from left to right, then stood up straight again and took a step closer to join the very one-sided conversation. Cream Soda was just finishing a brief ramble about what went down last night, and Sage could tell Emerald was only just barely pretending to listen to her. "How are the two of you getting along?" She asked, interrupting with her quiet voice. "Well enough I hope, for both of your sakes."

"Yes, Patchy, we're getting along just fine. Don't you have something better to do than setting up a playdate for us?" Emerald responded first, reusing the nickname she'd apparently settled on to make fun of Sage's eyepatch. Oh well, Sage thought, no sense being upset over something you can't change - especially if it's the snooty attitude of a Canterlot pony. "And where's the commander? Isn't she supposed to be the one ordering us around?"

"Right? I mean, I technically outrank you, er... what was your name again?" Cream Soda added, earning a glare from Emerald. Sage rolled her eye but held her tongue for the moment, settling in against the side of her tank again and shifting her toothpick from right to left. Instead, Sage focused on her surroundings and left Cream and Emerald to their chatting. Celestia's sun was slowly climbing into the sky, bathing the entire camp in orange light, and the frigid nighttime air was beginning to warm up. Enlisted ponies were waking up as needed, hastily throwing on winter uniforms and dashing out of their tents to get started on whatever work they needed to complete today. As the minutes ticked by Sage noticed a few fellow tankers trickling into the motor pool. They came in groups, she noticed, though it usually wasn't a whole crew at once.

The first tank to have all four ponies show up was the one right next to Sage's, three stallions and a mare who seemed to be getting along well despite none of them looking to be morning ponies. Then another tank across the road filled up, then another, then another, until the motor pool was absolutely brimming with busy ponies going through morning checks. A few engines growled and rumbled to life, likely the ones that weren't turned over yesterday and needed to prevent freezing up, and several ponies were sent to fetch whatever supplies their crew decided they were lacking. Sage tuned out the buzz of activity with thoughts of her past, her one eye going unfocused as she turned inward.

She and Flax Seed had been serving in the tank corps since just before the war broke out. Back then, things were different. Training was just passing the time, and a full-blown war seemed unlikely to happen any time soon. Obviously, that turned out not to be the case. Sage remembered the panic in the early days, but she also remembered just how well she and Flax worked together no matter what the Crystal ponies threw their way. The transition from her last unit serving in an infantry support tank to this newer, smaller, lighter recon tank was a big shift, and a part of Sage wondered if Flax was going to handle it as well as she hoped. Sage's job was actually easier, all things considered. Her old tank sported a stubby seven-and-a-half-centimeter cannon with short, heavy shells - this new one featured a much smaller caliber with lighter shells.

Sage was just cracking a tiny grin at the thought of how she could probably juggle this lighter tank ammunition when she heard hooves crunching through the snow toward her. She climbed out of her deep thoughts and stood at attention just in time to see Flax Seed walking her way, plus another mare with first lieutenant rank insignia walking the other way toward a different tank. Sage raised her right forehoof in a salute, then raised her left hindleg to kick the hull of the tank to get Cream and Emerald's attention. Both mares were slow to respond, but they were at least quiet when Flax Seed finally reached them.

"Oh, good, y'all didn't run off," Flax said, sarcastically. "Ears open, the Lieutenant's gonna fill us in on the game plan."

"Already? But I barely know how to drive this thing!" Cream protested, turning away from Emerald to fix Flax with a pleading look. Flax opened her mouth to respond, but Sage beat her to it.

"You'll learn on the field just fine, lass. I dinnae think they'd throw us into something too tough right off the bat like that," she said, before casting an apologetic glance Flax's way. Sage knew the mare was a capable commander, but she was historically bad at coming up with encouraging words. For what it was worth, Sage thought she did a good enough job judging by the effort Cream made to reverse her frown. It still wasn't a smile, but it was a start. A second later it was Emerald's turn to get cut off before she could begin, opening her mouth for what Sage assumed was going to be another snippy comment when a bellowing voice called out and silenced all the hushed conversations around them.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP! AS OF THIS MORNING WE HAVE RECEIVED NEW ORDERS - TANK COMMANDERS, GET WITH YOUR CREWS AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED," the first lieutenant shouted whilst standing on the front hull of her tank. That was one of the tanks with the upgraded radio setup, Sage noted, with the hull machine gun replaced with extra communications equipment. After taking a moment to look everypony in the eye from where she stood, the lieutenant continued. "WE LEAVE IN TWO HOURS. I WILL EXPLAIN THE SPECIFICS OF OUR MISSION OVER THE RADIO ON THE WAY! DISMISSED!"

"I'll bet they promoted her just for her pipes. Probably the only way a bumpkin could make it that far up the ladder, too," Emerald muttered under her breath. Flax glared at her for that one, but chose not to comment. Instead, she beckoned her crew closer and stepped up in front of her tank. Sage was first to oblige, taking up a position on Flax's left so she was on the same side as her one good eye. Emerald took Flax's right, and that left Cream awkwardly trying to look over Sage's shoulder. At the very least, Sage leaned aside and tried to make room for Cream.

"So, not exactly what I was expecting her to say. Still, y'all already know most of what you need to know; the rest is for us commanders to worry about. To make it real brief, we're doin' recon by fire on a forward position. With any luck the Shinies will fall for our bait and come out to meet us in force."

"Wouldn't that be a bad outcome, Lieutenant?" Emerald cut in, raising an eyebrow and looking at Flax as if it were the most obvious question in the world.

"We ain't plannin' on sticking around to fight 'em, Aura," Flax quickly shot back, shutting the unicorn down. "As soon as we encounter stiff enough resistance we're supposed to fall back and report our findings in detail so the brass can make the next move. Our timeline is two weeks, so I need you three to make sure you've got everything you'll need for a camping trip."

"Should have almost everything already, ma'am," Sage said, after a pause. "I can head to the quartermaster and see if I can scrounge anything else, though, if ye think it necessary."

"Thank you, Sage," Flax said, sounding relieved to have somepony taking the initiative. She spoke while climbing up the boxy front of her tank, placing her hooves on the front plate before hoisting herself up and leaning on the turret. From there, she flipped the hatch open and lowered herself inside. Sage knew she was taking inventory, and she knew better than to interrupt her in the middle of it. She turned and started to trot away, glancing back over her shoulder just in time to see Cream clambering up to do exactly what she expected - going to bother Flax with more questions. Sage had a private giggle at that.

What she didn't expect, however, was seeing Emerald trotting to catch up with her. Sage slowed down and allowed her comrade to fall into step at her side before saying anything, keeping her gaze focused straight ahead as she did so. "What's with you? Finally decide that you're feeling sociable?"

"Don't get too excited," Emerald groused, "we're just going to the same place. I'm missing a few pieces of kit I'd rather not go without."

Sage merely kept silent, crunching along through the snow and silently thanking her lucky stars for finding a pair of boots that was big enough to cram an extra layer of socks into. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she'd been getting off easy as of late. She and Flax being moved to the same unit was something of a statistical anomaly, she knew, and even before that, they'd been on rather light duty. It was enough to keep the two of them sharp, but she hadn't been genuinely scared for her life in at least a month. With what little she knew about how the war as a whole was going, Sage took that as a sign for something. Whether it meant she was finally on the up and up or that she was in for a very bad time soon, she couldn't decide. Sage chose to believe the former.

"That, and I can't stand being around our new driver for more than a few minutes. I'm dreading having to work alongside her in that tin can," Emerald suddenly elaborated, prompting Sage to look over at her with a raised eyebrow. The silence, Sage supposed, had been getting to her. "You've been in the tanks longer, tell me what it's like. Is Flax a hardass on you, too, or is it just me she doesn't like?"

Sage took a moment to consider her answer, walking slowly forward, and Emerald was just about to prod her again when she finally spoke. "I cannae say much. Most of my job is loading a gun, not asking questions. I didn't even have a viewport in me last assignment, so I barely saw the outside world when we were in a scuffle. As far as the Lieutenant, not much I can say there either. She's smart, and does her job well, she's just lacking in pony skills sometimes. Hasn't gotten me killed so far, so that has to count for something."

"Gee, thanks. With an answer as informative as that, I feel far more prepared," Emerald snarked, rolling her eyes. The silence that followed felt different, or it did to Sage. For whatever reason, she got the feeling that Emerald really was considering her words, even if she was dismissive of them. Sage had come to accept her reputation as a quiet pony, and in her mind, part of that was making the few words she did say count. If nothing else, she hadn't lied to Emerald when she said she couldn't say much. The silence persisted for the rest of the long walk across camp to the quartermaster's tent, and Sage was only slightly surprised when Emerald picked up the pace at the last moment to enter before she did. Sage just rolled her eye, taking her spot in line behind the other mare and waiting patiently. She overheard what Emerald requested, and saw the dubious look on the quartermaster's face, but ultimately she relented to Emerald's request. A moment later, Emerald was walking out of the tent with a crate full of field ration kits and a few spare tools. Sage stepped up next, and the mare behind the desk perked up at a familiar face.

"Back again, Sage? What'll it be this time? And before you ask, no, we don't have any more winter coats. Gave out the last ones to a squad of infantry ponies who got reassigned to this place yesterday."

"Already got all the coats I need, Tulip. Just dropping by to see if I can fetch a few packs of cigarettes - the good ones, not the army-issued ones." As soon as Sage made it clear what she was after, Tulip's demeanor changed. She hastily glanced around, making sure none of the other logistics ponies were close enough to overhear, then frowned at Sage as she answered in a hushed voice.

"C'mon, Sage. You know better than to go yelling about this stuff... I can spare you a pack, but that's all. What do you even need 'em for? You didn't pick up smoking since we last spoke, did ya?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and a little grin at her friend whilst reaching into her winter coat's interior pocket. Sage merely shrugged, taking the offered carton and stuffing it into her uniform jacket.

"No, and I dinnae plan to start. This is for Flax - she's busy and can't drop by, and I have a feeling she'll be needing them," Sage said, before standing up a little straighter. Now for the less secretive part of her order. "While I'm here, could you spare a few boxes of ammunition? Pistol and machine gun."

Tulip was far more willing to accept that deal publicly, standing up and shoving her chair back in one smooth motion. "Now that, I can most certainly acquire! Wait right there a moment, would you?"

Sage nodded and watched as the pink-furred mare trotted off to fetch what she'd asked for, fidgeting uncomfortably around the square bulge the pack of cigarettes created in her jacket. She was just beginning to get antsy when Tulip returned, balancing two rectangular ammo cans on her back and a further three cardboard boxes on top of those. Sage stepped up and leaned over, letting Tulip deposit her cargo onto her back with her taller stature. Sage glanced back over her shoulder and double-checked - two cans of seven-point-nine-two, three boxes of nine-by-nineteen. Satisfied, she looked up at Tulip and nodded her head in thanks.

"Don't spend it all in one place!" Tulip joked, chuckling as Sage turned and trotted back outside. She hoped that wouldn't end up being a problem, but something about the plan Flax told her left room for doubt. Regardless, it wasn't her job to worry about it. Sage was hardly surprised to see that Emerald hadn't stuck around, and she didn't feel like waiting to see if she would show up again. Instead, she decided to hurry back to the motor pool and drop off her supplies before her back started hurting under the weight of all that ammo.

"Driver's Ed" - Flax

Flax Seed had been hesitant to trust Cream's judgment. She'd just met the mare, after all, and this late in the evening was no time for playing around. If nothing else, Flax didn't want to attract the ire of her new commanding officer before she'd had a chance to prove her worth in the field. Nonetheless, staring down at that winning smile on Cream's face, how could she say no?

Some forty-five minutes later, she knew fully well that she could've - and should've - said no. The first hiccup came only seconds after Flax begrudgingly agreed to let Cream take the tank on a drive, what with Cream being unable to find the button for the remote start. The next problem was less her fault, but still an annoyance. With how cold it was, and with the air only getting colder now that the sun had gone down, the engine was not in the mood to cooperate. It coughed and sputtered while Cream Soda tried the remote start again and again, but to no avail. Eventually, Flax had to order Sage to turn the engine over by hoof using the crank at the vehicle's rear. Once the engine was running, roughly at first but evening out to a steady purr that was partially muffled inside the fighting compartment, Flax was again disappointed when Cream asked how to get the vehicle moving.

Flax Seed was trained to command a tank, but she knew enough to fill any position in a pinch. The more she listened to Cream Soda, though, the more she realized that just sitting inside a tank more than once made her more qualified than her new driver. It took all of five minutes for Flax to decide that the mare had been lying about her training, and she passed that conclusion along to Sage once she joined her in the turret.

Cream Soda eventually figured out most of the basics, and with some more coaching from Flax Seed she even managed to roll the little tank out of the motor pool and onto the snow-covered road leading away from camp. Flax knew better than to wander too far, even if they were behind friendly lines, and she didn't let Cream drive more than a few hundred yards down the road before ordering her to turn back. Moving at higher speeds introduced Flax to another shortcoming, as she felt the machine lurch every time Cream struggled to shift gears. Flax leaned back and peered down at Cream while she worked, watching her form, and quickly realized the problem. Cream looked to be too focused on working the two sticks for the tracks, and she was rushing through gear shifting at the last second. The gearbox seemed just as upset as Flax Seed, grinding whenever Cream fumbled, and the constant halting movement of the tank made Flax worry that they were going to break something already.

After what felt like an eternity of enduring Cream's extremely amateur tank driving abilities, Flax Seed could see the motor pool coming up again. She'd opened up her hatch and stood up on her seat to have better visibility, and so she could get away from the grinding transmission and the risk of hitting her head, resting her forehooves on the raised cupola to keep herself steady. The frigid nighttime air whipped across her face, but her blonde mane was already tied back in a tight bun to keep it secure. Squinting at the dim lights of the motor pool, Flax picked up her headset from where it rested around her neck and placed it over her ears. A nudge to Sage, and she passed the message along for her and Cream Soda to do the same.

Before Flax could issue any orders, though, Cream Soda keyed her mic and spoke first.

"I think I'm figuring it out, ma'am!" She shouted, making Flax cringe. "Another week of practice and I bet I'll be a pro!"

After recovering from the ringing in her ears, and accepting that she'd probably just suffered some minor hearing damage, Flax keyed her microphone and spoke in a stern voice. "The most you're figuring out is how to fast-track a transmission replacement on this poor machine, damnit! Just take us back to where we started, but don't try and park on your own, I'll hop down and guide you in."

When the tank was finally back in position after several minutes and multiple retries, Flax nodded and Cream killed the engine. It hadn't even finished winding down before Sage climbed out of the turret, and Cream managed to wiggle herself back out the way she came a moment later. She hopped off the side, and Flax watched as she landed, stumbled, and fell flat on her rump in the snow.

Flax sighed, already wishing for another cigarette, and shook her head. "What now? Slip on a patch of ice or somethin'?"

"Uh... no, no I didn't," Cream mumbled, suddenly disheartened. Flax raised an eyebrow at Sage, then stepped up to see what the problem was. Cream stood up before Flax could reach her and stepped back, pink in the face and kicking at the ground like a foal who had just been caught with their hoof in the cookie jar. Flax didn't like that look one bit, and when she glanced down at the ground it all made sense. She hadn't even considered that Cream still had all of her gear when she was inspecting the tank, and it seems Cream had barely considered it either. She'd dropped her pack off without a second thought and left it on the hull, and as soon as the tank started moving it fell off. Now it was smooshed almost totally flat in the snow between the two mares.

Flax sighed again, looking back up at Cream Soda with a harsh glare. "So let me get this straight," she began, taking a step forward and forcing Cream to take one back. "y'all said you were fresh outta basic, and I accepted it. Then ya can't drive a damn tank to save your life, then ya don't understand how to treat your superiors, then ya go 'n' do somethin' like this!?" Flax jabbed a hoof down at the flattened saddlebags for emphasis. "I wasn't born yesterday, corporal. You ain't gonna get away with lyin' to me, so I suggest ya wisen up before ya get us killed. I dunno what lousy unit they plucked you from where actin' like you do is okay, but it ain't gonna work out here! There's a war on, in case ya haven't noticed!"

Flax Seed's voice rose with every sentence, until she was almost shouting in Cream's face. Her voice echoed through the relative silence all around them, and a few enlisted ponies had even stopped near the edge of the motor pool to watch the showdown - if one could even call it that. Cream Soda shied away from her commander's voice, hunching her shoulders and lowering her head, and all she could manage at the end was a weak nod. Flax turned away with a snort, head lowered, and started to walk away.

"Get that mess cleaned up before ya leave," she added, far quieter but with no less venom in her voice. She didn't look back to see Cream's reaction as she marched out of the motor pool, nor did she check if Sage chose to accompany her.

)()()()()()()(

The next morning Flax Seed was woken up far sooner than she would've liked, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. Dawn's light was just beginning to creep into her little tent under the flaps, and Sage's nudging was insistent but gentle. She groaned and rolled over in her sleeping bag, her wooden cot creaking beneath her, and waved a hoof to signal that she was indeed awake. Even that small motion, and the opening of her sleeping bag, was enough to let the freezing cold air into her bag. From there it was only a few seconds before Flax had to give up on any thoughts of catching a few more minutes of sleep. She shivered and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sage stepped back and plopped herself down on her cot set up across from Flax's, looking as alert as ever.

"Sorry to wake ye, ma'am, but I figured I'd pass along the major's orders. Wants to talk to ye first thing this morn'," Sage finally said, barely louder than a whisper. Flax nodded whilst running her hooves through her blonde mane, doing her best to straighten out the worst of her bedhead. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and got to her hooves a moment later, then went to the wooden crate at the back of the tent to fetch the rest of her uniform to put on over her undershirt. A couple of minutes later, Flax Seed had transformed from a barely conscious shell of a pony to something resembling a proper soldier, even if only vaguely. She straightened her uniform jacket before clipping on her belt, then donned her winter coat over top of that and plopped her beret on top of her mane once it was tied back how she wanted it.

"Major say what he wanted?" Flax finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence that hung after Sage's explanation. Sage only shook her head in response, having been busy making her cot while Flax got dressed. Sage was already dressed, and Flax knew the mare had likely woken up only shortly after sunrise. She didn't know how or why Sage did it, but Flax was appreciative of her friend's ability to operate like clockwork. "Figures. Maybe we'll get lucky and it's because he wants to tell me he picked a different driver for us after realizin' the one he gave us was lousy."

"She cannae hope to get any good at it if you're going to treat her like an idiot, ma'am," Sage advised, giving Flax a momentary pause after her (admittedly rude) joke. "Ye remember how we did in our first assignment, yeah? The old vets probably laughed behind our backs too."

"Fine, fine, I reckon you're right," Flax said, cutting Sage off before she could continue. Despite heavily outranking the other mare, Flax knew to trust her thinking after serving alongside her for so long. "Would ya be a dear 'n' go round up our two newbies? They ain't had a chance to get acquainted with each other yet, and I want 'em at least familiar before we get assigned a mission," Flax asked, already stepping toward the tent flaps to head outside into the cold morning air.

The walk to the command tent was short, and Flax Seed didn't bother waiting for the enlisted soldier at the door to invite her in. She ducked her head and pushed through the tent flaps, savoring the wave of warm air she walked into, before glancing around to quickly spot Major Silver Spirit hunched over a desk near the corner. Passing effortlessly through the swirl of organized chaos going on in the rest of the tent, Flax Seed stepped up to the major's desk and snapped to attention with a salute.

"Second Lieutenant Flax Seed reportin', sir. You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, lieutenant, I did," he said, abruptly looking up from the maps he had been staring so intently at. "At ease, and take a seat, if you please."

Flax obliged, relaxing her posture first before looking around in her immediate vicinity for any chairs. Conveniently enough, a folding chair was within leg's reach, and she pulled it over with ease. Plopping herself down, Flax roamed her eyes over the maps and reports scattered across the table in search of any hints as to the meaning of this meeting. Silver Spirit was eyeing them too, hooves pressed together on the table's edge, while he seemed to be deep in thought. Before Flax could ask any more questions, there was a stir behind her that prompted her to look over her shoulder. A new face entered the tent, and this time it was somepony she recognized.

A mare with a first lieutenant's rank markings on her uniform jacket confidently strode into the command tent, her pale pink fur and tightly braided yellow mane immediately standing out. Flax Seed nodded in silent greeting, recognizing her direct superior and fellow tank commander Apple Blossom. She stood beside the small table Flax and Silver occupied, looking between them with a grin that made Flax slightly self-conscious of her inability to be a morning pony like seemingly everyone else.

"Good morning, Major," the new mare said, throwing her hoof up for a quick and casual salute before turning her gaze to Flax. "Mornin' to you too, LT."

"Yes, good morning First Lieutenant," Silver Spirit said, doing a very good job of covering his disappointment at the mare's casual approach. Flax Seed noticed it anyway, and the little grin on Apple Blossom's face suggested that she did too. "Now that you're both here, we can get started." Flax Seed sat up straighter in her chair, and Apple Blossom widened her stance a little to get as close to "settled in" as she could while staying on her hooves. Silver Spirit cleared his throat before continuing. "As the two of you are undoubtedly aware, our counter-offensive against the Crystal Empire has been proceeding well. I believe, and high command agrees, that it has been going too well. We've pushed the frontline back quite a ways and only encountered token resistance along the way - mostly from infantry units dug in around terrain features, and even then they've been quick to fall back and give us ground."

Silver Spirit paused and reorganized the papers on his desk. A map came to the forefront, levitated in his golden magical aura, and a color-coded graph showed the general shape of the front. A large bulge of blue protruded into a wall of red, marked with little X symbols all along it. Various arrows and squares indicated the placement of different units, and Blossom and Flax both quickly spotted the 2nd Armored Battalion's HQ near the middle of that bulge among a few other units. They also saw how close it was to the prewar border with the Crystal Empire in front and the city of Whinnyapolis behind. After both mares got a good look at the map, Silver set it down on the table again before continuing.

"We think it to be a trap. The two of you and your unit are being sent on reconnaissance duty to a village ahead of our current position to make sure it is both safe and strategically sound for our battalion to advance as a whole and try to reclaim more territory. You are to take and hold the village of Riverpool, marked here." Silver pointed with a stick held aloft in his magic, a tiny black dot a short distance northeast of headquarters and over a small river. "You will secure the village and use it as a forward operating base, from there you will monitor enemy movements in the region and attack targets of opportunity as you find them until the enemy responds in force or you have maintained your position for a fortnight. I must stress that this is not an offensive mission - you are to gather information first and foremost, and you will break contact as soon as you encounter a superior force. I will entrust the specifics of this plan to your judgment, First Lieutenant. Any questions?"

Apple Blossom spoke up immediately. "Will we have any attached support, sir? Ten light tanks ain't exactly a force to be reckoned with, and we've had trouble in the past with some of the heavier hardware the Empire has kickin' around."

"And, if I could add, ain't this a little high profile for a scoutin' mission?" Flax Seed interjected, earning a small frown from Silver Spirit.

"You will be receiving additional support in the form of an attached self-propelled gun platoon and a platoon of infantry ponies to help secure the town. You and your tanks will still be the primary element," Silver explained to Blossom, before turning his attention to Flax Seed. "As for the size of this mission... that is intentional. A larger force will, obviously, provoke a larger response in kind, and the more cards we can get the enemy to show at once, the better. Have you any more questions?"

A pause, and when neither mare spoke up, Major Silver Spirit nodded firmly. "Good. You have until noon to have your units gathered and ready to roll out; dismissed."

Author's Note

So here it is! Chapters 1 and 2, from Cream Soda and Flax Seed's POV respectively. With any luck I plan to upload at least one more chapter every Sunday, so stay tuned! Feedback is appreciated in the comments or in my note box, whichever you feel is appropriate, and thank you for reading what I've got so far!

"And Four to Go!" - Emerald

Emerald shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The engine ran at a steady purr a few feet behind her, still plainly audible through the firewall, and the transmission grinding every time Cream Soda shifted gears was thankfully drowned out by the road noise. Once Sage had rejoined the crew, and all of the necessary supplies stowed away, Flax was eager to get the show on the road. Apple Blossom, the unit leader, felt the same. Emerald had been forced to let Cream crawl inside the tank first seeing as there was only one hatch on the hull, and for how much she hated having to be so close to somepony so irritating, the added warmth certainly wasn't a downside. The tank was at least somewhat warm on the inside, though the wind coming in through the two open viewports in front was putting a damper on that. Emerald had only now bothered to commit her tank's designation to memory, seeing as it was now her job to remember it - tank number 21. The rest of Flax's platoon were numbered 22 through 25, and they formed the second half of a convoy headed out from the HQ.

The front half was commanded by the first lieutenant, Apple Blossom, and they were tanks 11 through 15. Technically some of them had nicknames the crew had picked out, but it wasn't Emerald's job to remember them, so she didn't bother. Between the two platoons of tanks were the support vehicles, starting with the tail lights of the supply truck Emerald could see bouncing along the road a few dozen feet ahead of her. It was loaded down with ammunition and food for the future camp to use, and she knew there were several more trucks filled with supplies and enlisted ponies. Emerald had caught wind that their little parade was also being joined by a self-propelled anti-tank unit, but she'd yet to see any of them from her limited point of view. The radio was silent, and had been ever since Apple Blossom gave her briefing earlier. Now that she knew the plan in slightly more detail, Emerald liked it even less.

When Flax told her it was simply recon by fire, it sounded ludicrous. Sure, the plan was to pull back if things got too heated, but wouldn't the enemy anticipate such a move? Of course, her protests to Flax were met with dismissive remarks and insistence that she should trust the plan. Emerald eventually decided that no amount of arguing would sway her commander's mind, and even if it did, Flax was unlikely to be able to sway Apple Blossom. So she sat quietly, listening to the clickety-clack of their tank's metal treads rolling along and the cacophony of engines in front and behind.

The sun had fully crested the horizon by now, and with the convoy leaving the relative cover of the thinly populated forest around HQ for the open road visibility was improving. The cloud of loose snow tossed into the air by the lead tanks spoiled the view somewhat, but Emerald could see far better than she could before. Glancing far to the side with her limited field of view, she watched the occasional tree or lonely building on the side of the road. Cottages, barns, sheds, and sometimes even post office checkpoints, all scattered out in the vast, snowy loneliness of No Pony's Land. Emerald's mind was just beginning to wander when a voice cut through the white noise of the convoy, startling her enough that she nearly rammed her horn against the hatch above her.

"Driver, status report. How's the engine doin'?" Flax asked, her voice slightly garbled over the tank's intercom system. Glancing back over her shoulder, Emerald could see the blue-furred mare leaning back in her seat in the turret and looking down at Cream Soda. Cream seemed just as surprised as Emerald was, hastily glancing over her instrument panel before responding.

"Fine so far, ma'am! I think it just needed a bit of time to warm up," she said, referring to the bout of trouble they'd had when it was time to leave the motor pool back at HQ. Emerald recalled everypony being on edge when the thing failed to turn over three tries in a row, but eventually, the problem was solved when Sage volunteered to start the engine with the crank. Emerald knew these tanks were somewhat new, but the whispers she'd heard about the design had all been positive - talking about how reliable it was above anything else. Maybe those ponies, Emerald supposed, hadn't experienced the lackluster performance once it got cold.

"Maybe next time we'll tuck our tank in with a nice blanket," Emerald snarked. "Or light a campfire under the engine to keep it from freezing. I'd hate to have to jump out and start the engine by hoof if we were getting shot at." The comment earned a little snicker from Cream, barely audible on the intercom, though Flax clearly didn't find it as amusing. She issued a little bump to the back of Emerald's head with a hoof.

"If we gotta start her up that way, we'll just have our resident hornhead do it with her fancy magic from the safety of her seat. Maybe then she'll start earning her keep." Now it was Sage's turn to chuckle, echoed by Flax and Cream. Emerald just sighed and rolled her eyes. She could've tried explaining how telekinesis worked, but she knew better. Explaining magic to earth ponies was like explaining color to a blind pony; they just couldn't get it, and it'd be a waste of breath. Instead, Emerald just held her tongue and turned her attention back to the countryside rolling past her viewport.

)()()()()()()(

The rest of the trip to Riverpool was quiet, save for the occasional check-in over the radio. There was almost a hint of excitement when tank number 24 had some engine trouble, but it was resolved as quickly as it came up. 24 was ordered to fall to the back of the convoy, and 25 was tasked with keeping an eye on them in case any more problems arose. Trailing along just slightly slower than the rest of the convoy, a gap quickly formed, but thankfully the convoy reached their target before the opening became too severe. Emerald decided to take a mild risk and opened her hatch without asking, letting the two-piece door fold over itself and hang over the front of the hull. She rose up in her seat, standing on her hind legs and laying her fores on either side of the opening, and for the first time in her life, Emerald saw the town of Riverpool. It was somewhat small, with a prewar population of only a few hundred ponies, and it had been all but completely abandoned ever since the evacuation orders came four months ago. The frontline quickly moved past the little village, leaving it almost entirely untouched.

Houses stood exactly as their owners left them, some doors still wide open and letting freshly fallen snow pile up inside the opening. The two tallest buildings, the town hall and the clock tower, loomed over everything else from the center of the town. As the convoy rolled toward them, vehicles started to split off from the line and find places to roll to a stop. Apple Blossom and her platoon circled around and took up positions facing north, pointed down the wide central street that ran through town. The trucks turned and found their way into a large backyard across the street from the town hall, disappearing behind a brick wall where Emerald guessed their passengers were quick to start dismounting and unpacking. With the trucks out of the way, Emerald also finally got a look at those self-propelled anti-tank vehicles she'd heard about.

They were small, and she could tell they were based on a different hull than the tank she rode in now. They featured smaller and more numerous road wheels and a boxy hull shape, but the turret had been removed in favor of a large gun shield and a square superstructure made of thin metal. A massive gun barrel protruded forward, and she realized with a mix of amusement and sympathetic misery that the fighting compartment was wide open. One of the three vehicles at least had a canvas cover installed, but the other two were uncovered. Emerald could just barely pick out the helmeted heads of two ponies in the back of each vehicle, hunkered down and doing their best to stay out of the freezing wind. All of a sudden, being crammed into a tank with three mud ponies wasn't so bad. At least her vehicle was enclosed.

Emerald was still looking over the curious design of the anti-tank vehicles when her headset crackled to life, Apple Blossom's voice coming through once Emerald switched the receiver from intercom to radio. "Second platoon, follow Flax's lead and take up a position to watch our eastern flank. Use the houses for cover, and no more than one tank to a yard or street corner."

"You heard the mare," Flax cut in, as soon as the transmission was over. "Spread out and find somewhere to set up, try to pick a position with plenty of cover and a good sightline if you can. Afterward, I want every tank commander to meet me at the town hall." Emerald kept the line open while a string of affirmative answers came through, turning her attention back to her surroundings. The streets were mostly narrow roads only fit for wagon traffic, save for the large central avenue that the convoy had taken into town. Everything was piled high with snow, left to accumulate with nopony sticking around to keep on top of shoveling all of it, and the whole place had an eerie atmosphere. Stories of ghost towns came to Emerald's mind, but she quickly dismissed them. After all, it wasn't as if the town had been abandoned under any mysterious or supernatural circumstances; war was, unfortunately, a perfectly natural chain of events.

With tanks splitting off from Flax's unit and going in separate directions, Cream slowed down and allowed them to pass by with little issue. Switching back to the intercom, Emerald caught the tail end of her brief conversation with Flax.

"... you sure, ma'am? I'm not sure I can-"

"Yes, Cream, I'm sure. Take us behind that green house in front of us and we'll set up shop in the backyard. If we knock down the fence we'll have a clear line of sight down the eastern approach and be able to cover our buddy across the street."

Emerald braced herself, gripping the edge of her hatch with both forehooves and making sure her cap was firmly affixed to her head. She could hear the sounds of other tanks getting into position nearby, though with the turret of her own tank blocking her view behind, Emerald couldn't see much. The vehicle lurched forward as Cream shifted gears, then slowly trundled down the brick-paved street until it met the snowbank at the edge of the backyard of the house Flax had picked out. The tank stopped for a moment, but its tracks quickly found purchase and soon it was crawling over the obstacle. After crushing the sorry, frozen excuse for a fence on one side of the yard, the tank was parked in the middle of a decently open space. The house had clearly seen better days, perhaps in a state of disrepair even before being abandoned. It sagged on its foundation as if it was tired, and the layer of snow covering the roof told Emerald that there was no heating to be enjoyed.

Emerald heard the clang of metal on metal behind her, and she glanced up to see Flax standing out of her hatch in the turret. Their eyes met for a second before Flax turned her attention elsewhere, watching the rest of the tanks in her platoon getting into position. More fences were crushed and more snowbanks were flattened out, and soon enough the other four tanks were scattered around the village's eastern side in more or less defensive positions. The sun was beginning its descent in the west already, having peaked during the drive out to Riverpool. Emerald looked up for a moment, glancing at the few lonely, wispy clouds drifting across the sky, and for a moment she could pretend it was a comfortable, warm spring day. Of course, that daydream didn't last long before a gust of wind reminded her where she was. Emerald shivered, feeling her forehooves beginning to go numb, and a part of her wished she'd thought to grab a spare set of socks before the mission began.

As it was, Emerald was barely more protected than somepony wearing the summer uniform. A thick coat covered her uniform jacket, and her hind legs were protected by a pair of socks and a set of boots. She hadn't managed to scrounge anything up to protect her head and neck, and the black cap she'd been given along with her orders to transfer to the tank corps did next to nothing. Still, next to nothing was better than nothing. Emerald listened to the radio traffic bouncing back and forth between the tanks in Flax's unit, mostly just commanders announcing that they were in position and intended to stay there for the time being.

"Alright, Cream, shut her down. We need to be careful about how much fuel we're burning," Flax suddenly said, her voice cutting through the chatter. Cream obliged immediately, and Emerald heard the engine beginning to wind down a second later. "Now then, everypony out. Our work is just getting started."

"Yes, ma'am," Emerald and Cream answered in unison. Sage was silent, and Emerald wondered how the mare got away with acting the way she did so often. After pulling her radio headset off, Emerald climbed up and out of her hatch and jumped off the tank to plant her hooves into the snow. Cream followed shortly after through the same hatch, sliding down the front of the tank. Flax and Sage were next, dropping down in front of Emerald.

"Shall we go and start shoveling sidewalks for a few spare bits, ma'am? Or perhaps get together for some Hearth's Warming carols?" Emerald snarked, leaning on the side of their machine.

"Careful what you wish for, Aura," Flax warned, fixing Emerald with a harsh stare. Emerald relented, knowing better than to attract the genuine ire of her commander. After making her point clear, Flax continued. "I'm headin' to the town hall to meet with the first lieutenant and the other commanders. You three get dug in... actually, scratch that. Sage and Emerald, y'all worry about makin' this place homely. I want Cream to go find another crew and talk to their driver, maybe learn a thing or two before you tear up our transmission."

All three mares saluted, though Emerald noticed some hesitation on Cream's part. With a sly grin on her muzzle, she turned to Cream and put a forehoof on her shoulder once Flax was safely out of earshot. "Nervous?"

"Uh, yeah? How am I supposed to just walk up and start bothering another crew? Won't they have their own stuff to worry about?"

There was a pause while Emerald considered her words, and Sage opened her mouth to answer instead, but Emerald silenced her with a look. "They'll have their own problems, but don't worry about it. I know my way around the army, so let me come along with you and make the process a little easier."

"You think you're getting out of chores that easy, lass?" Sage finally interjected, raising an eyebrow above her good eye to give Emerald a skeptical look. Emerald suppressed a sigh, rolling her eyes where only Cream could see the gesture before turning around.

"I'm not avoiding work, patchy," she said, with a placating smile and her best attempt at a friendly voice. Sage did not look impressed. "I'm just helping our colleague. She's shy, and she needs some help if she's going to be the best driver she can be. You don't want her inexperience to cause us a problem in the field, do you?"

Sage glared at Emerald for a moment, then huffed. "Fine, go on your way. Just keep in mind, I can't - and won't - lie to Flax for ye. You'd best be back before she is, or she'll be pissed."

Emerald waved a hoof, turning away and putting that same hoof around Cream's shoulders to start leading her out of the yard. "Yes, yes, I'll be a good little filly. You don't have to go and tell on me to mother."

"Trial By Fire" - Flax

Flax Seed shivered as she slowly crunched through the layer of snow covering the main road through Riverpool. The street felt empty and lifeless, even with fellow tankers in view just a few dozen feet away. Somehow, that expanse of untouched white snow felt bigger than it was, and Flax felt smaller in turn. The town hall stood proudly over the little town, even if it was a mere three stories high, and it had quickly been converted into a makeshift command post. Flax squinted while her eyes were still adjusting to the searing brightness of so much snow reflecting sunlight, but she could make out the Equestrian flag hung from the face of the building around the second-story balcony.

Infantry ponies were hard at work filling sandbags, though they were arguably working even harder just to find something to fill them with. The town hall was on a concrete foundation, and the ground around it was frozen solid. Flax watched with a mixture of amusement and disappointment while a young mare slipped and fell in her attempts to break the surface with her entrenching tool. Her squad laughed at her expense while she sat and rubbed her aching flank, and Flax even managed a little grin before she finally reached the front door of her unit's new HQ. The old door was shut tight, and she had to apply a little more force than she initially expected to pop it open. Loudly stumbling into the front room, Flax flushed when she realized several sets of eyes were now on her.

The first floor of the town hall was a fairly large, but cozy lobby. A large rug covered the wooden floor, and a desk faced the door from the room's far end. A couple of bookshelves stood on either side mostly filled with books about the town itself, and there was a group of four enlisted ponies standing around the only other piece of furniture in the room - that being a table covered in playing cards. Flax steadied herself and shunted the door closed, narrowing her eyes at the lollygaggers and carrying on to where she assumed the stairs to the next floor would be.

Flax guessed correctly, opening a side door and climbing the steep stairs to the second floor. As soon as she entered the main room, she was in the meeting room Apple Blossom had hastily put together. This room had originally been an in-between area of sorts, wide and open with doors leading to different offices. As such, it was devoid of any furniture - or at least it was originally. A large table had been dragged into the middle of the open space, placed directly under a hanging light, and several other chairs and desks had been requisitioned to provide more flat areas to store important items. Apple Blossom stood at one end of the table, her eyes glued to the map spread out before her, while a collection of tank commanders huddled around and did their best to listen in on her strategizing. The other end of the table was left wide open, and when Flax stepped up and cleared her throat, Apple Blossom finally noticed her presence.

"Howdy, lieutenant! Ya got here just in time," she said, fixing Flax with a grin and a nod in greeting before turning her gaze back to the map. Several of the other commanders nodded along, glancing Flax Seed's way. "I've been lookin' at the map of this area, and given the shape of the terrain I can already pick out a few good spots within' range that we ought to take a look at. I want you to take your platoon out for a little field trip over this here hill to our north and see if the Shinies have anything hidden away in there that our observers ain't spotted yet."

Flax looked down at the map as Apple Blossom spoke, her eyes following where the other mare's hooves indicated. The hill was a few miles away, judging by the scale of the map, and Flax guesstimated that she had enough daylight left to make a quick run. Standing up straight, she looked Apple Blossom in the eye before responding. "Sounds easy enough, ma'am. We can be back before sundown so long as nothin' gets in our way. And, er... if I might ask, do we got any idea what to expect in this neck of the woods? The Major seemed awful sure about sending us so far ahead, 'specially considerin' we're out of range of artillery support."

The first lieutenant hesitated to answer at first, meanwhile, all the lower-ranking tank commanders glanced back and forth between their two leaders. After a moment, Apple Blossom just sighed. "Ain't heard a peep about what might be lurkin' around here - reckon that's why they want a recon unit up here in the first place. That said, y'all be careful. We can't afford to go losin' a whole platoon of tanks on our first day here. If ya run into anything ya can't handle, turn tail and run like you never ran before, and hopefully they won't track ya back here too easily."

Lacking in information though it was, Flax knew that answer would have to be enough. She nodded firmly, then raised her right hoof for a salute. "You can count on us, ma'am. When do ya want us to roll out?" Once again, all eyes changed direction. Flax glanced at the collection of sergeants gathered around the table, noting with some small amount of guilt that she didn't recognize a single one of them. In hindsight, it might've been a good idea to get to know the ponies she was going to be commanding on the drive out to Riverpool. Oh well, Flax thought. Too late now; she'd just have to make up for it in the field.

"As soon as y'all are able to - we don't have much daylight to waste," Apple Blossom finally said, a few seconds later. Then, she glanced at the gathered sergeants. "Second platoon, dismissed! First platoon, y'all stick around. We need to wrap up our plans for defendin' this little outpost of ours." Apple Blossom continued on, laying out the details of her defense plan for the town, but that wasn't relevant to Flax. She watched for which four ponies would step away from the table, and once they did she knew who she had to make introductions to. The four tanks under her command were in turn commanded by four sergeants, two earth mares, a pegasus stallion, and a unicorn mare.

Turning to lead the way away from the first lieutenant's meeting table, Flax beckoned for her subordinates to follow. The quartet was quick to oblige, following in Flax's hoofsteps until they were safely out of earshot of Apple Blossom's continued briefing. Once they were, Flax turned around and looked each of them in the face before speaking. "Apologies for meetin' y'all so late, but here we are. I'm second lieutenant Flax Seed, Apple Blossom's second in command and the leader of this little band. I'm in tank number 21. Who might you be?" Flax started with the earth pony mare on the left of the group, fixing her with an expectant look.

"Sergeant Rivets, at your service," she said, with a notable Manehattanite accent. Her fur was dark and her mane was darker, both shades of grey, and the latter tied back in a bun not unlike Flax's. She was somewhat short, though she looked a little more solidly built with the layers of winter clothing stacked on top of her uniform jacket. A scarf was wrapped around her neck, its bright white wool standing in stark contrast to her darker color scheme. "I'm in charge of tank 22, Midnight Rider. We were right behind you on the drive over here."

Flax nodded, committing the mare's name and tank number to memory before looking to the next pony in line. It was the pegasus stallion. "Alright, you're up. Name and tank number?"

"Sunny Skies," he said, speaking far louder than the mare before him. "I'm in command of tank 24. We were the ones who, er... had that engine problem on the way here. I've got my driver working on it as we speak, and she said it probably isn't anything major. We should be set to go whenever you give the order, ma'am."

Flax raised an eyebrow, studying the stallion for a second, before nodding slowly. "If you say so, sergeant. Just don't push it too hard - we can't exactly go and tow your sorry behind back to town if you break down out there."

"Understood, ma'am!" Sunny raised his right wing for a salute instead of using his hoof, and for a split second Flax had to wonder if that was actually allowed within army protocol. She decided it didn't matter just as quickly, moving on to the next pony in line.

"Vanadium Shield," the unicorn mare said before Flax could ask for her name. She sounded quite grim, her facial expression like a stone carving meant to depict the least happy pony in history. She was tall enough that Flax wondered how she was ever cleared for service as a tanker, and the scar over her left eye spoke of previous experience. Flax was relieved to have at least one definite veteran in her platoon, especially with the, to her, questionable eagerness of Sunny. "I am in command of tank number 25, the one you asked to babysit 24 and its ailing engine."

Flax nodded firmly, hoping that her attempt to look respectful outweighed her immediate distaste for such a dismissive attitude toward a comrade. "I'll keep you in mind, sergeant. How long have you been in the tank corps, if'n you don't mind me askin'?"

Vanadium was silent for a moment, glancing at the ponies on either side of her, before responding. "Long enough to know what I'm doing."

Flax suppressed a sigh. "Good enough. You're my second in command for now, understood?" Vanadium nodded, and Flax was satisfied to move on to the fourth and final commander in her platoon. She was a short earth pony, her fur and mane made up of earthy tones that weren't too different from Sage's. Flax looked at her with the same expectant look she'd given the first three, though this was the first time she'd had to look down at one of her sergeants. "Name and tank number?"

"Morning Dew," she answered, standing up a little straighter. "I'm with tank 23, my crew and I named her Whispering Wind. I might also point out that my crew is comprised of new recruits, so there may be a learning curve before my machine is as efficient as can be."

"Understood, Sergeant. Thank ya for the heads up," Flax said, smiling just a tad. "We'll keep y'all at the back of the formation for now, at least until your crew is a little more comfortable. We need our best sets of eyes at the front." With the introductions finally out of the way, Flax breathed a small sigh of relief before stepping back to address all four ponies as a group again. "All of y'all heard Blossom's plan, and I don't intend to stray too far from it. Get out there, get with your crews, and get ready. I wanna have everyone lined up on the main road and ready to move out in ten minutes!"

All four sergeants nodded, sounding off with a "yes ma'am!" more or less in unison, before dispersing to head back outside and find their crews. Flax followed at the back of the pack, somewhat glad to see the group of infantry ponies who had been playing cards in the lobby had been put to work outside again. Passing through the door and back out into the snow, Flax shivered again while the comforting warmth of the town hall faded in a matter of seconds. The sun was on its way down now, and a glance up at the clock tower revealed that it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. The sky was mostly clear, save for a few lonely, wispy clouds, and the wind was calm. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a scouting mission, Flax thought.

She trotted quickly back to where she knew her machine was parked, coming in the opposite direction through an open fence gate. As soon as Flax entered the yard, she was disappointed. There was Sage, unloading excess supplies from the stowage bins, all by herself. Cream was gone, just like Flax ordered, but Emerald was also nowhere to be seen. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. Trotting up and picking up the end of a crate that Sage was dragging through the snow, Flax frowned. "So, Emerald ran off on ya instead of helpin'?"

"Aye, that she did. Cannae say I'm surprised. She went to go 'help' Cream with learnin' the ropes from another driver, haven't seen her since," Sage said, sounding as though she weren't particularly upset. Walking backward, Sage maneuvered the wooden crate through the back door of the house they'd parked behind and into the living room. The rest of their meager supplies that weren't intended to stay with the tank were all gathered here, and as Flax inspected everything she realized she should've asked Sage to grab a little extra from the quartermaster's tent.

On top of some spare clothes and enough rations for every pony in the crew, there were a few cans of ammo for everyone's small arms, a couple of tool kits, some spare parts, a pair of fuel cans, a box of grenades, and a small medical kit. It wasn't much, even by normal standards, and Flax knew those supplies weren't going to cut it in such cold weather. But that was a problem for later. Right now, she had a rogue radio operator to track down. Once Sage dropped her end of the crate, Flax followed suit and stood up straight again. She stepped over and flopped down onto the couch placed against one wall, wincing when her flank met cold fabric, and huffed. "I don't figure Emerald told ya where she was headed? I'd be willin' to bet she might've had a specific 'friend' she wanted to visit in another crew."

Sage shook her head, crouching down to pop the lid off of the wooden box and start unpacking some camping equipment - lanterns, cookware, poles for holding up shrouds and tents. "Nae, she didn't. Got real antsy when I mentioned I wouldn't be doing her any favors if and when ye came asking about her, though. Suppose she went to visit one of the crews across the street?"

Flax pondered Sage's answer for a moment, rubbing her chin with a hoof, before shrugging. "Reckon so. Here's hopin' Cream at least managed to learn something while I was talking with the LT."

Before Flax could make another comment, her conversation was interrupted by the sound of hooves crunching through the snow outside. She'd left the door wide open when she and Sage passed through, figuring there wasn't much point in trying to seal up a house that didn't have any functional heating. She heard the hushed voices of Cream and Emerald, slowly approaching from the same side of the yard the tank had been driven through originally. Standing up from the couch, Flax nudged Sage on her way outside and motioned for her to follow. When they got to the yard, Cream was busy giving their tank a once over while Emerald lounged on the back porch of their borrowed house.

"Where did he say you were supposed to check track tension, again? At the back, right?" Cream shouted, poking her head around the rear right corner of the machine. She froze when she spotted Flax, smiling sheepishly before disappearing behind the fender again. Emerald had been about to answer when she noticed Cream's expression, her relaxed grin dropping off into a frown as she spun around to look her commander in the face.

"Ah! There you are, lieutenant. I was just looking for you," Emerald tried, quickly putting on her best attempt at a smile. Flax was unimpressed.

"Yeah, was just lookin' for you, too. Get your ass in the tank, we've got a mission and I'll be damned if I'm late to lead my own platoon because you couldn't be bothered to do your job," Flax barked, her mood already thoroughly soured. Sage was silent, stepping around and past her as she made her way back outside and toward the tank. Emerald scowled, but did as she was ordered, hopping up from where she sat and walking over to climb up the front of the hull. When Cream didn't immediately show herself, Flax marched over and glared down at the mare while she cowered on the snow-covered ground behind the tank. "That means you, greenhorn. Get on in there."

"Y-Yes ma'am! Sorry, I was just, er... practicing some of what I learned. Track tension, and stuff," Cream Soda mumbled, shying away from her very ticked-off commander as she rounded the corner of the tank and made way for the front. Once she lowered herself into the hatch, Emerald followed and settled into her position. Flax waited until Cream was climbing up the front of the hull before hoisting herself up the side, using the hoof holds until she was on top of the turret. Sage was already inside and settled into the loader position, leaving just enough room for Flax to squeeze in beside her. Once she did, Flax snugged up her radio headset over her ears and raised her seat so she could comfortably sit with her head above the hatch.

"Cream, get us rolling. Take us to the middle of town so the rest of the platoon can form up behind us - we're heading out to the north," Flax ordered over the intercom, glancing back just in time to see the exhaust cough up a thick plume of black smoke once the engine turned over and started running. Good, Flax thought, the electric start hasn't gone completely kaput after all. A second later she jolted back as the tank lurched forward, tracks squeaking and rattling as they shook off some of the snow that had accumulated thanks to the wind over the last few hours. Flax glanced around, hearing the distinct rumbling of several other tank engines on the neighboring streets.

By the time Flax's machine rolled out onto the main road, two of the other vehicles in her platoon were able to join her. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted the Midnight Rider with its name painted in flowing, black cursive along the side of the turret. Rivets was turned out as well, resting her forehooves on the edge of her hatch while holding a cigarette between her lips. The sight of it reminded Flax that she could go for one, and after nudging Sage to pass one up to her from the stash in the turret storage box, she was following Rivets' example. If nothing else, the warmth near her face was a nice bonus. Behind Midnight Rider was number 24, though Sunny Skies had apparently elected to stay buttoned up for now. Flax couldn't fathom why, especially given that she'd heard pegasi were suited to cold environments just fine, what with how they lived above the clouds. Nonetheless, he was there, and that was what mattered.

"Emerald, get ahold of our other two commanders and see what the hold-up is. We're just waitin' on them now," Flax asked into her microphone, looking down through her hatch to see the back of her radio pony's head. Emerald nodded, then swapped her headset from intercom to radio and keyed the transmit button.

"They're on the way, ma'am," Emerald reported a moment later, looking up and back. "Sergeant Dew says she had a little trouble getting out of a ditch, Vanadium said she's watching Dew." Flax rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. Figures the newbie driver would get stuck.

A few minutes later, Flax was pleased to see that all four of her platoon's tanks were lined up behind her in single file. All five engines were running smoothly, and all but two commanders were turned out of their hatches and ready to go. Flax looked back motioned forward with her hoof, signaling for everyone to start rolling, then spoke into her microphone. "Alright, Cream, we got a job to do. Punch it!"

)()()()()()()(

The drive out of town and toward their objective was surprisingly quiet. Flax decided to keep her head out of her hatch for now, enjoying the added visibility even if it came at the cost of being exposed to the frigid wind. She kept her ears tucked down, letting her beret help as much as it could, and did her best to avoid looking directly into the wind. Glancing down, Flax saw that Emerald and Cream both had their viewports opened all the way to have an easier time watching the road ahead. Calling it a road was being somewhat generous, though.

As soon as Flax and second platoon left the limits of Riverpool, the road was all but totally lost under a layer of snow and ice. The powerful engines and grippy tracks of their recon tanks handled the terrain well enough, but it made it rather difficult to stay on course. Flax was checking her map every few minutes, double and triple checking that she was heading in the right direction every so often by asking for an update on which way the compass mounted to Cream's instrument panel was pointing. So far, so good. Around the time Flax estimated they should be reaching their destination, she saw it - or she thought she did, at least.

They were approaching a hill, not very steep but tall enough to obscure whatever lay on the other side. The snow here was untouched, the light and fluffy layer on top being tossed into the air in a thin cloud as one tank after another passed through in single file. As they closed with the hill, Flax keyed the microphone on her headset and broke radio silence for the first time since leaving town. "We're gettin' close to our target - everyone spread out and form a line, thirty feet between each vehicle."

A string of affirmatives filtered through, and Flax turned around in her seat to watch as her platoon followed through. Midnight Rider and Whispering Wind went left, spreading out to cover that flank, meanwhile tanks 24 and 25 went right. Sunny Skies finally poked his head out of his hatch, his brightly colored fur and mane plainly visible over the dull grey turret of his tank. Flax caught him glancing her way and motioned for him to keep his eyes forward. Cream was slowing down now, cautiously driving their machine up the gentle slope while Flax leaned forward in an attempt to see over the hilltop as soon as possible. Just before they made it, though, Flax heard a noise - actually, a series of five noises. They came one after the other, the unmistakable percussion of artillery fire from down in the valley. Although Flax couldn't see them just yet, the bright flashes of burning propellant and the shockwave that could only come from big guns were plain as day.

"Artillery! Everyone, stop!" Flax shouted into her microphone. A second later, all five tanks came to a halt just a few feet shy of being visible over the top of the hill. "Okay, we've reached our objective, and now we know what's down there. Those shells didn't go screamin' overhead back the way we came, so... odds are they're poundin' some of our friends somewhere else. We need to shut 'em down."

"Are we allowed to engage 'em, though?" Rivets interjected, her voice slightly distorted over the radio. "LT didn't say anything about fighting what we found, she just wanted us to come out here and take a look."

"We cannot allow them to continue firing," Vanadium countered. "Whatever they're firing at, it is in support of enemy units elsewhere. We should crush them while we have the chance."

"We're goin' down there, end of discussion," Flax cut in, retaking control of the conversation. Looking to her left and right, she saw Rivets and Morning Dew ducking into their hatches and swinging the lids shut. Given that they were about to charge into a fight, Flax followed suit. She lowered her seat and reached back, finding the handle with her hoof and heaving the heavy steel hatch closed. The rumbling engines and the gently blowing wind were suddenly muffled, and Flax's whole world was reduced to what she could see through the rectangular viewports in her cupola. A glance to the side, and Flax met Sage's one-eyed gaze. Sage had a determined look about her, and Flax knew she probably looked the same. A silent nod between them, and she was back on the radio. "Rivets, Dew, you two swing wide and take the left flank. Number 24, stay close to me and we'll hit 'em right in the middle. Number 25, stay up here on the hill and keep an eye on things. Y'all got that?"

The guns thundered again in the valley, sending another salvo of explosive death into the distance, and another string of affirmatives poured through Flax's headset. After waiting another few seconds, around when she guessed the Crystal artillery crews would be in the middle of a reload, Flax switched to the intercom. "Cream, floor it!"

Flax's tank lurched forward, transmission struggling while its inexperienced operator tried to get into the proper gear, but in just a few seconds Flax could see the enemy position coming into view over the top of the hill. She pressed herself as close to her viewport as she could, squinting at the long, pointed shapes in the near distance. There was a white camouflage net covering one part of the position, but the dark grey of the artillery pieces was impossible to miss at this distance. There were five guns, just as she'd expected, and each one was lined up side by side. The outlines of their crew were in plain sight, and just like the last time she'd seen them Flax could recognize the faint shininess inherent to Crystal ponies. It was pretty, sure, but it was also a pretty terrible feature to have in a situation where stealth was important. Oh well, just made the job easier for her.

It didn't take long for the Crystal soldiers to notice the quartet of tanks thundering down the hill, several enlisted ponies frantically abandoning their position behind artillery guns in favor of running for whatever weapons they had on hoof. Flax pulled away from her cupola viewport and looked at Flax, yelling over the rumble of the engine rather than using the intercom. "Sage, gimme HE! Keep another one on hoof and load as soon as I fire!"

Sage obliged without a word, turning and opening the little springloaded cover for the ammo rack on the right side of the turret. She retrieved one shell and armed the warhead, then rammed it home into the open breech of the cannon. While Flax was still getting her eye up to the scope, a high-pitched bang sounded off outside. Flax watched through the narrow scope as a bright red tracer zipped into her field of view from the right where Vanadium's tank should be, impacting a few yards short of the first enemy artillery piece and throwing up a cloud of dirt, smoke, and snow. Before the cloud of debris had fully settled, Flax reached over to the gun controls and lined up another shot. The hydraulic turret drive whined as the turret rotated a few degrees, then the gears rattled as the gun pitched up and slowly aligned Flax's reticule with the center of the first gun's carriage.

Once she was sure she had a shot, Flax slammed her hoof on the firing button and moved to put her eyes up to her cupola viewport in the same instant. Her cannon thumped, rocketing backward in its recoil mount and creating a flash of orange and yellow fire at the end of the barrel outside. A split second later, before the shell's tracer component had even ignited, Flax was pleased to see she scored a hit. The small explosive charge wasn't enough to destroy the enemy cannon outright, but she could see that the breech was badly damaged and the carriage was bent to the point of uselessness. Sage was already loading the next shell when Flax glanced down, just in time for the first bits of return fire to try and answer the cannon fire. The Crystal ponies seemed to lack any anti-tank weaponry, caught unprepared and without anywhere to run that wasn't exposed, and at the moment the only things they had to shoot back with were rifles and a lone machine gun.

Peering through her cupola viewport, Flax watched the artillery ponies ducking down behind anything solid and setting up their rifles. They were splitting their fire, and rifle bullets pinged off of the armor of Flax's machine in a staccato rhythm. She guessed they were aiming for viewports, but with more than a hundred yards between them, it was down to luck more than anything. There was another sharp bang outside, and Flax pressed her eyes up to her left viewport to see Midnight Rider and Whispering Wind entering the fray as well. The chattering of machine gun fire from each tank picked up almost in unison, with everyone opening up as soon as Vanadium set the example. Leaning back and glancing down, Flax saw that Emerald was doing her best to contribute. The hull machine gun barked in five-round bursts, raking back and forth against the partially exposed enemy while spent shell casings clattered noisily to the hull floor. For a short moment, Flax allowed herself to be proud. At least Emerald could do something right.

Refocusing on the battle outside, Flax realized that she and her tank were getting awfully close and awfully fast. "Cream, slow us down and swing right! Don't expose too much of our side in the turn!" A pause, and Flax swapped over to radio. "Vanadium, follow my lead. We're gonna pivot right and encircle the position!"

"Understood, ma'am. We should be careful of getting too much closer, in case they have grenades," Vanadium answered, surprisingly calm given the circumstances. Flax just hoped she wasn't getting cocky. While the two tanks began their maneuver, Flax rotated the turret to compensate and keep the enemy in sight. The one pony wielding the machine gun was near the middle of the position, surrounded by sandbags and doing their best to suppress an enemy who was bulletproof. Given that was the only real firepower she'd seen so far, Flax considered them a worthy enough target. Sage was operating the coaxial machine gun when she wasn't focused on loading the gun, having released the lock to allow the gun to rotate freely in its mount. She was less careful or accurate with her bursts than Emerald, spraying bullets in the general direction of the Crystal ponies and keeping their heads down.

Flax worked her controls until she had her cannon lined up with the machine gunner's position, having to keep the turret rotating to account for the tank's movement. When she had her target lined up for more than a split second, Flax slammed the firing button again and watched as her shell struck home. The gun had barely returned to its starting point after recoiling by the time Sage rammed another HE shell into the breech, nodding to Flax from across the turret. The poor pony on the receiving end, however, was no more. Their position went up in a cloud of smoke and fire, and as Flax watched through her cupola viewport she realized there was almost nothing left by the time the debris settled. Another cannon went off, this time in front of Flax's tank, and she saw the muzzle flash from Midnight Rider. The shell zipped right into the middle of the artillery position, striking a large crate that a couple of rifle ponies were using for cover, and that was when Flax saw what was possibly the biggest explosion in her life.

The crate had evidently been full of ammo for those big guns, and, naturally, it reacted poorly to being blown up. Flax felt it more than she heard it, the shockwave blasting over and through her tank and rattling her to her very core. Her ears rang, her bones ached, and for a split second she was sure her entire world would fall apart. Her viewports were all alight with fire and smoke, orange light pouring in uninterrupted for several seconds. Flax wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she was sure her entire tank had rocked to the side from the force of what had to be several hundred pounds of explosives going off a mere hundred yards or so away. The shooting stopped before the smoke had even cleared, and for a moment all Flax could hear was the rumbling of her machine's engine and the ringing in her ears.

"What the hell was that?!" Vanadium shouted over the radio, breaking the surreal silence that had settled over the valley. Her voice barely penetrated the dull ache in Flax's ears, but she heard it well enough. Before she could respond, though, somepony else did it for her.

"That was me, that's what it was!" Rivets hollered, sounding pleased as could be. "I knew there was something important in that box! Just, y'know, wasn't expecting quite that much of a boom. Everyone alright?"

"Sound off," Flax cut in, only mildly surprised when her own voice sounded muffled. "And report any enemies left standing."

"We're good," Rivets immediately answered.

"Operational," Vanadium said next.

"No problem here, Lieutenant! Helluva show you four put on," Sunny replied, sounding like he'd just watched a rock concert.

"Morning Dew? Talk to me 23," Flax said, after a lengthy pause. There was no response. "Shit... anypony got eyes on 23? She should've been right next to Rivets." As she spoke, Flax pressed her eyes up to her viewports again and scanned her surroundings. The Crystal ponies' artillery position was barely more than a smoldering wreck at this point, with the guns tossed every which way by the massive ammo detonation. Bodies were strewn about like discarded toys, and Flax winced when she noticed many of them were missing pieces. The snow was rapidly being stained black by the ash slowly coming back down from the explosion, and the few tiny pieces of wood that had survived the blast were still on fire. From where Flax was sitting, it didn't look like a single Crystal pony survived the charge, let alone the massive explosion that had ended the fight.

Scanning to the left, Flax finally saw Whispering Wind. They were still beside Midnight Rider, but Flax immediately knew something was wrong. There was a large dent in the front hull armor, a couple of the rivets even looking like they'd popped loose, and the front of the tank was smeared with black soot. They had been closest to the explosion, and Flax could guess they'd been hit by a particularly large piece of debris. The top hatch slowly swung open to reveal Morning Dew, unharmed, and Flax released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Rivets popped her hatch open a moment later, and Flax watched while the two commanders exchanged words. A second later, Rivets came over the radio again.

"Dew's alright! Just a little shaken up, and she says their radio isn't working. We think part of one of those cannons might've hit her," she said, sounding equal parts relieved and amused at the unlikely odds of such a thing happening. "I bet those newbies in her tank pissed themselves."

"And they wouldn't have if you were more careful with picking your targets, Rivets," Flax chastised, opening her hatch to sit up and look the other mare in the eye across the field of destruction they'd created. "Just because your quick shooting paid off this time don't mean it will next time. You could've just as easily gotten some of us killed doin' that." Flax paused, heaved a small sigh, and slumped down slightly. "But... I reckon this is still pretty good for our first fight. Good work, y'all. Now we oughta get turned around and head back before anypony comes to see why their artillery battery suddenly shut up."

"Home Sweet Home" - Cream

Cream Soda's hooves were still shaking as she gripped the brake levers to keep the tank on the road. Small adjustments here and there were plenty, directing the multi-ton steel beast left and right while it rumbled back toward Riverpool. Ever since Flax got the platoon back in order and pointed toward town again, Cream felt like she was living in a dream - though perhaps a nightmare would be more accurate. Even if she hadn't directly had a hoof in the fight, she saw plenty through her viewport. The machine gun chattering right next to her, not to mention the spent brass flying her way, made for a very noisy and unpleasant first experience for Cream's combat career, but that was less important. What was important was that she'd survived, somehow.

The bullets pinging off the armor right in front of her, the only thing keeping her safe from a painful death being a few centimeters of metal, were almost enough to make Cream fall apart right then and there. Still, with Flax's good shooting and even better leadership, they'd all made it through. Cream was safe and sound. So why couldn't she get her hooves to stop shaking? It wasn't the cold, especially not after the tank had warmed up to an almost sweltering temperature despite the freezing air outside. She'd been scared in the moment, but now she was safe - she knew it, but her body didn't seem to have caught up yet. Cream took a deep breath to steady herself while her heart kept thundering in her chest, then rolled her shoulders and refocused on the road ahead.

In the half hour or so since the fight ended, clouds had quickly rolled in to start a gentle snowfall. Visibility was still good even with the headlights off, and Flax was even poking her head out of the hatch on top. Emerald seemed to be busy paying attention to her radio set, and Sage was as silent as ever. Eventually, Cream couldn't take the silence. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then keyed the microphone on her headset. "Hey, girls?"

"What is it, Cream? Something wrong with the engine?"

"Er... no, ma'am. I'm... just wondering something," Cream stammered, her feeble confidence all but shattering as soon as Flax spoke.

"Spit it out. Did the Shinies get a lucky hit somewhere and damage your visor or something?" Emerald sounded dismissive, though that was hardly unusual in Cream's experience. She gripped her steering levers a little more firmly, eyes glued to the road ahead.

"Something on your mind, lass?" Sage added, her voice far more gentle than the other two. "That was your first fight, I figure. Nary a thing ye could've done better, all things considered."

"Just... just nervous," Cream finally managed, her voice tense like a coiled spring. She noticed how she sounded, even while desperately trying to calm herself. "That was my first combat. Never been shot at before, so... new experience. I'll get used to it."

"Aye, you'd better, or things are only going to get harder for you from here on out." Sage was doing her best to lean down and look at Cream while she spoke, even if her spot in the turret was a little too high up to do it. Cream didn't see her, still focused on the road.

"You did good - all of you," Flax cut in, her voice mixing with the sound of wind blowing past her microphone. "With a little more practice, we'll be workin' like a well-oiled machine."

After Flax finished speaking, silence fell back into place. Cream glanced aside and double-checked before she had to shift gears, wincing when she still managed to fumble the timing just a tad. She was getting better, she knew, but the horrible sounds she managed to draw from the poor gearbox were as embarrassing as ever. Their machine kept rumbling along, the snowfall steadily increasing in intensity as the sun crept down toward the horizon. Riverpool was still over an hour away, Cream knew, and standing between her and the town were miles of open countryside. There were a few clusters of trees here and there, but the north Equestrian climate was not conducive to the same thick, lush forests that could be found further toward the interior. To Cream, though, it was all new.

Her mind began to wander back to Manehattan, and the little suburb she'd called home before the war. It wasn't the most luxurious place, and it was far from exciting, but it was home. She knew most of the ponies on her street, and she and her little group of friends were hanging out just about every weekend. That changed when the invasion came. The first wave of change came with ponies enlisting. All of a sudden, dozens of ponies were shipping off to join the army, and a few of Cream's friends were on that first train out of town. Next came the draft. More ponies disappeared, including more of Cream's friends, and before long her street was looking more like a rundown ghost town. The elderly and the young were left behind of course, but it felt like more young adults like herself were being shipped off to boot camp by the day.

Finally, Cream had decided it would be best to enlist on her own terms. She signed up, lied about having experience with truck driving, and was promptly shuffled into the logistics corps. After a few weeks of training, Cream was plonked down behind the wheel of a supply truck and sent along as part of a convoy to bring relief to the ponies fighting on the frontline. She'd only been driving for about a month when she got sent out on a supply run to the 2nd Armored Battalion's HQ, and from there it was a whirlwind that left her where she was now. Here, seated in an uncomfortable chair in an uncomfortably hot tank in an uncomfortably cold part of the country with an uncomfortable job. Part of Cream wondered how it could've all gone so wrong for her, but another part of her knew she should be thankful. After all, she wasn't digging trenches and carrying a rifle. All she had to worry about was driving a tank and the knowledge that a failure on her part could get three other perfectly capable mares killed along with her. No pressure at all.

The more Cream thought about home, the more she started to realize a few things. For one, she'd barely kept in touch with her family. It wasn't intentional, of course, but there was rarely time for sitting down and writing letters when you were always behind the wheel. Come to think of it, Cream couldn't actually remember the last time she sent anything home - or when she got anything in return. Maybe it was just as hard for the mail to keep up with her as it was for her to find time to send any. Aside from her lack of contact with her folks back home, Cream also realized she hadn't heard a peep from any of her friends since they'd shipped off to boot camp. Maybe she'd see them again when this was all over. Maybe.

In the meantime, Cream shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts, correcting the direction of the tank before it drifted too far toward the edge of the road. The snow was coming down harder now, individual flakes zooming past Cream's viewport like stars suspended in the night sky. Speaking of the sky, it was turning a dark, stormy, greyish-blue color as the sun went down and clouds blocked the dimmer light of sunset. Instinctively, Cream took one hoof off of a brake lever and reached for her instrument panel. After hesitating for a moment, her eyes found the appropriate switch. With a click, the headlights turned on and illuminated the road ahead for a few dozen feet. The change was quickly noticed.

"Turn them lights out," Flax hissed, "are you tryin' to get us spotted?" Cream huffed, reaching over again and flipping the switch again. The lights went out, and once again Cream was back to pressing her eyes up to her viewport and squinting into the dim. This was going to be a long drive.

)()()()()()()(

By the time Second Platoon returned to Riverpool, the sun had fully set and the snow had yet to let up. Cream was struggling to see more than a few feet from the bow at this point, but she could at least make out the outline of buildings once they drew near. With darkness closing in and the wind picking up, Flax had finally decided to close up the hatch and finish out the ride with limited visibility. There hadn't been much more conversation, save for some speculation started by Emerald as to what that Crystal Empire artillery battery had been doing set up seemingly all alone, and Cream was starting to tune out the constant rumble of the engine.

Riverpool still looked like a ghost town from the outside, but once she was among the buildings Cream could ever so faintly make out the details that gave away who was inhabiting it now. Sandbags were stacked against walls, snow had been shoveled out of alleys to allow for easier travel, and the light of campfires glowed from scattered backyards being used as resting areas. Flax directed Cream back into the very same yard they'd parked in before, right behind that old green house, and as soon as they were in position Cream killed the engine with the push of a button. The hatch on top of the turret and the hatch right above Emerald swung open almost at the same time, thumping against the hull and starting to let the hot air inside the tank waft out and be blown away by the nighttime breeze. As soon as Emerald cleared her hatch, Cream scooted over and followed right behind her. Her hooves met the frozen ground with a crunch, and a shiver immediately ran up Cream's back as the thin layer of sweat in her fur began to work against her. She'd gone from uncomfortably hot to uncomfortably cold in a matter of seconds, and the dark house a few yards away suddenly looked very inviting.

"Alright, y'all, listen up," Flax ordered, still standing on the front hull of the tank in order to look down at Sage, Emerald, and Cream all at once. Cream suppressed a whine, turning around and looking up at her commander's barely visible face in the dark. "I've gotta go give my report to Apple Blossom. Morning Dew's crew had a hell of a rough time out there, so I want one of you to go 'n' check up on 'em. Another one of y'all should go check in with the infantry and see about getting some dinner for the rest of us. Whoever's left behind, go inside the house and start settin' up - try 'n' make it homely, while you're at it."

After a chorus of 'yes ma'am's, Flax dropped down and trotted off toward the town hall. Cream looked at her comrades with a raised eyebrow, waiting to hear if either of them would volunteer for something specific. As luck would have it, they would.

"I'll head over to the mess and nab something for us," Sage said, looking at Cream and Emerald in turn. "You lasses try not to get into trouble before the lieutenant gets back, aye?"

"We'll be fine, patchy," Emerald groaned, rolling her eyes. "I'll start unpacking and setting up our little abode. You can go talk to your new friends, Cream. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you after today."

"Sounds like a plan. Meet up here in an hour, I guess? I, er... dunno how long Flax will be with that report, and I'd rather not stay out all night in this cold." Cream shrugged as she spoke, then glanced aside as she adjusted her jacket from where it had bunched up on her way out of the hatch a moment ago.

Sage mirrored the shrug, already beginning to turn toward the nearest campfire. "I dinnae think it'll take that long, but ye never know. Flax probably won't complain too much if you're still out and about helping the other crews by the time she gets back - I'll bet she'll be keeping an eye out for Aura instead."

Emerald scoffed, already halfway toward the house's back door. She called over her shoulder as she stepped inside. "You two just worry about yourselves! I've got some sleeping arrangements to arrange!"

And just like that, Cream Soda was left standing alone in the yard. The tank stood silently beside her, still radiating heat, and she could hear the muffled conversations of dozens of ponies all around her little pocket of quiet. Every few moments she could hear something being moved around inside the house, and occasionally even catch a glimpse through a window of the glowing corona of magic around whatever Emerald happened to be moving via levitation. Sage's crunching hoofsteps were drowned out quickly by the wind, fading out of Cream's hearing in mere moments, and for a minute she just stood and waited. Eventually Cream willed herself to move, shaking off the light dusting of fresh snow that had accumulated on her side and back. She stepped around to the front of her machine, squinting as she tried to make out any of the finer details in the darkness.

The front hull was covered in dings and scratches from rifle bullets ineffectually splashing against it, though a few lucky shots did some superficial damage to the exposed stowage bins on the sides. Peeking inside, Cream was relieved to see that nothing had been struck aside from some heavy-duty tools. They were dented as well, but looked to still be in usable condition. The turret was similarly unaffected by the fire it received earlier today, though Cream noticed that one shot had come extremely close to hitting the coaxial machine gun directly. Instead, it had glanced off of the thin shield around the gun barrel, leaving behind a shallow gouge a few inches long and nothing more. Overall, Cream figured they were pretty lucky. She'd heard about, and seen, what a real anti-tank weapon could do to a tank. She shuddered when the phrase "can opener" rose to the surface of her mind again, coined by a tank pony who had survived an ambush and was resting at a camp she was resupplying a couple of months ago.

After another moment or two of staring at her machine, Cream decided she'd delayed her mission long enough. She turned and made for the nearest campsite she knew of, the very same one she'd visited earlier. It was a short walk, just across the street and behind a small house, and Cream was pleasantly surprised when she stepped around the corner and into the warm glow of a campfire. Four ponies were seated around it, and parked a few feet away was the Whispering Wind. Morning Dew noticed Cream first, looking up from a bowl filled with some steaming liquid, and waved her over.

"Good to see you again," she said, smiling slightly as Cream settled down onto an unoccupied crate. "Care for some soup? Rosebud made it for us to celebrate our first successful mission." Rosebud, the loader, blushed and looked away as she was mentioned.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Sage is rustling up something for us, and I hear she's got a knack for rustling."

"Just come to visit, then?" Dew asked, before lifting her bowl for another sip. Cream didn't get to respond before the radio pony, Midnight, spoke up.

"You just missed Rivets dropping by to apologize for what happened earlier. She could've at least pretended to mean it... she was still bragging about how big that boom was, crazy bitch didn't think about us being so close to it. I should've knocked her teeth out." Cream looked over and realized the mare's head was bandaged, right above her right eye, with a length of white gauze. There was a small red stain, but she didn't act as if she was terribly bothered by her injury. Given the layout of the tank, Cream knew she had to have been right behind where the front of their tank was hit.

"That's enough, Midnight. You know better than to talk about a comrade that way, especially one who happens to be a superior officer," Dew chastised, narrowing her eyes at the other mare. Midnight sighed, slumping her shoulders and turning away slightly.

"She's got a bit of a point, though," a male voice cut in, one Cream recognized as the friend she made earlier. His name was Butter Biscuit, but he had insisted on just calling him 'B.B.' for short. "A move like that could've killed one of us, or just taken out the tank entirely. We're lucky we didn't catch a bigger piece of debris than we did. Even then... I dunno how I'll be able to fix the damage it did - at least not without some major work."

Morning Dew sighed, shook her head, and set her bowl down beside herself on her crate. "I know what she did was foolish, and... well, I agree that she oughta be more sorry about it, but it is what it is. We could've died, but we didn't. You'd best get used to that happening a lot on the frontline."

A round of silent nods, and the conversation died for the moment. Cream shuffled awkwardly in her spot, unsure of what to do. She didn't feel particularly close to her own crew, but she felt even more alien to this other group of ponies who had spent more time bonding with one another. Thankfully, somepony else broke the silence before it became unbearable for her. "So... Cream, what brings ya by?"

Looking up from her hooves and back at B.B., Cream hesitated a moment before shrugging. "Dunno. Just wanted to check on you guys, make sure you're all doing alright. Maybe, er... learn a bit more about maintaining the tank? I know you've probably got your hooves full worrying about repairs now, but..."

Biscuit waved a hoof, barking a short laugh. "Bah! Nah, you don't gotta worry about that. C'mere, you can get a better look at what happened earlier."

Seeing no reason to delay, Cream hopped up onto her hooves and trotted around the campfire. Dew, Midnight, and Rosebud started up another conversation, but Cream tuned it out. Instead, she followed Biscuit's lead and took a close look at the front of Whispering Wind's hull. The left corner was badly dented, and one of the rivets near the corner had popped halfway out of its socket. If she stood at the right angle, Cream could see inside the tank - or she would've with proper lighting. As it was, she just saw a black void where the firelight didn't reach. Black soot still covered part of the front, though it was obvious that most of it had been wiped away with minimal effort. The barrel sported one white ring painted near the muzzle, and Cream squinted at it for a moment. "What's that for? We didn't kill any tanks out there."

Biscuit looked at Cream, then followed her gaze up to the barrel. "Oh! Eheh... Dew felt like we earned that one. We might start using them to mark successful missions rather than individual kills."

"Makes sense. Er... I guess. Did that hit break anything else, or did it just rough up the armor?"

"Oh, yeah, it shook us up plenty. Chunk of metal is what hit poor Midnight in the head, barely missed her eye and lodged in her eyebrow. Nasty, too..."

Midnight suddenly interrupted from across the campsite, speaking up to be clearly heard. "It wasn't that bad!"

"Fine, so it wasn't, but it looked pretty ugly in the moment," Biscuit amended, rolling his eyes. "The shock also knocked our radio dead. I'm no electrician, but I think we can get it working again with a little TLC and a spare part or two. Here's hoping somepony remembered to pack some..."

Cream was still admiring the scarred machine while the stallion spoke, eyes slowly scanning over every little detail. Whispering Wind had taken just as much rifle fire as her own tank, she noted, but it had been just as ineffective here. Eventually, she turned away, leaning on the fender and looking up at Biscuit. "Do you guys want me to go and see about some replacement parts? Surely it can't be that hard."

"Eh, don't worry about it tonight. Odds are the repair ponies are all settling in for bed by now, and I'd rather not send you on a mission to piss 'em off. We'll see to it first thing tomorrow. Speaking off, shouldn't you be getting ready to hit the hay too? We might be getting sent out on another field trip tomorrow, I hear."

Suppressing a sigh, Cream stood up straight again. "Yeah... yeah I probably should. But can you do me one favor?"

"What's that?" Biscuit asked, raising one eyebrow and leaning in a tad. Cream was blushing, already struggling to maintain eye contact.

"Can ya show me how to shift gears without grinding them, again?"

)()()()()()()(

By the time Cream was done with her latest lesson, the moon had fully risen above the horizon to cast its pale glow on the world. Most of her learning was done in a stationary vehicle this time around, but B.B. was good enough at reciting what he'd learned in basic training for Cream to absorb a little knowledge. The most important thing she learned, she thought, was the fact that the tank transmission was "sticky" compared to that of her truck. With that tidbit in mind, plus a few other tips and tricks from Biscuit's personal experience, Cream felt more confident. If nothing else, she could probably shift gears without tearing them up now.

After finishing up and saying her goodbyes and goodnights to the crew of Whispering Wind, Cream Soda finally turned back toward her tank and her crew for the night. The wind hadn't died down in the slightest, and the brief moment it took her to cross the street between the two houses felt like an eternity spent crossing the frozen north. The wind whipped her mane up and down and made her overcoat flutter like a cape, and her uniform jacket did almost nothing to stop that same wind from biting right at her hide. She galloped as quickly as she could manage while ankle-deep in snow, and soon enough she made it across the street and into the merciful shadow of the house her crew was staying in. Sighing, Cream tried her best to stop shivering on her way up to the back door.

Their tank, number 21, stood silent guard in the backyard. It was easier to see now that the moon had come out, the grey hull reflecting the pale light just enough to make its outline easily defined. Cream paused, though she didn't know why, and merely stood on the back porch for a moment. It was quiet all around her, save for the whistling wind, and she knew the rest of her crew were likely asleep by now. She was in a camp surrounded by ponies, but the moment felt oddly lonely. The tank looked lonely too, sitting away from the house like a dog put out of the house and without anywhere to sleep. After thinking on it for a moment, Cream realized that it was probably silly to be assigning emotions to a big steel tub full of oil and bullets.

Turning around, Cream opened the back door as quietly as she could and crept inside, discovering that Emerald had done quite a bit of rearranging while she and Sage were busy. A mess tin had been saved for Cream, set aside on a short and squat table placed in front of the couch, and her bedroll was placed neatly on the floor beneath it. Their supplies had been stockpiled in the corner, covered by a small tarp just in case. Cream grabbed her tin and bedroll, balancing the latter on her back, and silently shuffled through the house. The kitchen was dark and likely useless without electricity and natural gas running to the house, so Cream passed it by without much thought. Beyond that was a hallway lined with doors - two on the left, three on the right. The first door was a bathroom on the right, then the rest looked to be bedrooms. One, sadly, was full of partially melted snow that had been allowed in through a window that the previous occupant left wide open.

Cream poked her head in anyway, exploring what appeared to have been the master bedroom. A big mattress dominated the room, dusted with snow, and in the corner was a similarly big wardrobe. Cream stepped toward it, but felt her hoof slip on something smooth on the floor. After nearly losing her balance, she glanced down at the offending surface. It was difficult to see in the dark, but after leaning down a little, Cream realized what she was looking at. It was a sheet of paper, printed with an evacuation order for the town of Riverpool. The date was close to the beginning of the war, and all of the official wording boiled down to an order to abandon everything that wasn't absolutely necessary and head to the train station to be evacuated to Whinnyapolis. Cream felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed, backing away from the little note. Had the ponies living in this house made it out in time? Had everypony else in Riverpool? There weren't any bodies, sure, but the town had been in enemy hooves for most of the war - that was plenty of time to clean up.

Before her thoughts ran away, Cream reined herself in. She knew the town had been evacuated early, so the odds of anypony becoming a prisoner were probably slim to none. Everypony probably made it out of town just fine. Satisfied with her reasoning, Cream crept back out of the master bedroom and finally found where the rest of her crew were sleeping. The room right across from the bathroom was a smaller bedroom, occupied by three other sleeping mares all bundled up in sleeping bags and huddled together for warmth. Cream sat down and dropped off her things, shrugging her bedroll off onto the floor and carefully grabbing her mess tin. Opening it, she was greeted with lukewarm oatmeal. A little bland, but it beat going hungry - besides, it was far from the worst meal she'd had since joining the army.

After eating in relative silence, Cream silently set her tin down and wormed her way into her sleeping bag before trying her best to get comfortable. The room was cold, and the blankets that had been laid out on the floor did little to make it any softer of a sleeping spot. Nonetheless, Cream curled up and closed her eyes, running through her usual routine of quieting her mind and slowing her breathing until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Mixed Signals" - Emerald

Emerald heaved a sigh as she fiddled with the various knobs on her radio set for the umpteenth time. She was sat in her combat position, of course, and everypony else was in theirs. They had been since just an hour or so after sunrise, the early morning sky still painted with gorgeous yellows and oranges, and Emerald got to spend that quiet time crammed into a tin can with a noisy engine while they rolled out of Riverpool. Flax had woken them before the sun came up, taking a considerable effort to rouse Cream Soda from her deep sleep. She must have come in late, Emerald guessed, and probably hadn't slept more than a couple of hours. Glancing over, the sight of the mare only further confirmed that theory.

Cream looked utterly miserable, and despite how much of an annoying greenhorn she'd been so far, Emerald had to admit she felt a little bad for her. There were bags under her eyes, and she was noticeably sluggish all morning. At least now, with the tank sitting still a few miles outside of town, Cream could rest for a moment. The mission today, as far as Emerald remembered it, was to wait in a treeline and keep an eye on a road that is supposedly being used by the Crystal Empire to rush troops to wherever they're needed and contain any breakthrough attempts.

This mission was a smaller one, and rather than sending Flax and her entire platoon Apple Blossom had deemed two tanks to be sufficient. With Whispering Wind still undergoing repair, that left only two options. Flax chose Vanadium and her crew, much to Emerald's disappointment, and they were now dragging into their third hour of no contact. Her radio set may as well have been useless so far - Vanadium had suggested they impose radio silence, just in case, and Flax had agreed. That meant she and the poor sap working the radio in the other tank got to sit on their hooves and do nothing. Of course, their job wasn't particularly exciting anyway, but it was nice to at least have the option of chatting on occasion.

The wind whistled through the bare trees all around, white and black trunks standing like the legs of some spindly creature, but even with her viewport opened all the way Emerald couldn't see much. She could see roughly eighty feet of road from one side of her port to the other, but she knew it stretched on for at least a mile in either direction before taking another turn. Both tanks were situated as far back from the road as they could be, grey hulls heavily coated with snow and tree limbs to make them slightly harder to spot. Emerald rolled her eyes as she remembered a comment Cream had made while they were digging in, comparing the work to building an exceptionally large snowmare. She knew that Cream was inexperienced, but her utter lack of care for the situation got under Emerald's hide more than she would've liked to admit. As it was, she tolerated her, but only because she had to. It wouldn't do any good to be hostile with the pony you had to sit almost shoulder to shoulder with for hours on end in a metal box.

Whilst idly adjusting the knobs on her radio, though, Emerald eventually picked up on something. With her headset still snug around her ears, she noticed slightly thicker static coming through, and after chasing the frequency for another moment or two... there it was! Emerald sat up straight in her chair, only to wince as her horn slammed into the hatch above her. Cursing under her breath and rubbing her sore head with one hoof, Emerald pressed one side of her headset against her ear with her free hoof. It was faint and hard to make out, but it was undeniable - voices! Hastily snatching up her tiny notepad and pen, Emerald scribbled the frequency down on the first page before turning around in her seat and shouting up into the turret. "Flax? Flax! You're going to want to hear this, commander! I think I found something big!"

Flax, with her head currently stuck out of the turret, had to drop all the way back inside before she could respond. She looked notably less enthusiastic, much to Emerald's annoyance. "What is it, Emerald? Unless you mean to tell me you saw somethin' through that viewport that I couldn't see up top."

Furrowing her brow, Emerald pointed at her radio set with one hoof. "A radio transmission! On a non-Equestrian frequency, that is. If we can pick it up, they've got to be close."

Flax suddenly seemed far more interested, her expression brightening as she pointed a hoof down at Emerald. "There ya go! That's the kinda smart thinkin' I like to see. Can ya figure out which way it's comin' from? And did ya note down what frequency they're usin'?"

Emerald nodded to both questions, feeling quite proud of herself. Puffing out her chest, she levitated up her notepad for Flax to see. "Yes ma'am, I did," she quipped, flashing her commander a grin before putting the notepad down. "And yes ma'am, I can. Can't do it while we're sitting still, though; the trick only works if we're moving, either toward the source or away." Pausing to listen to her headset again, Emerald frowned. "Or... or maybe they'll come to us. It's getting clearer, ma'am. Should we notify Vanadium?"

"I knew you were worth somethin' after all," Flax teased, chuckling quietly along with Sage. When Emerald relayed that the source was getting closer, though, Flax suddenly looked grim again. "How fast are they comin'? And do ya have any idea what we should expect? If it's an onboard radio, then... my only guess is tanks, or scouts."

After another few seconds of adjusting her radio, Emerald finally had a clear enough reception to make out words. They were heavily accented, barely comprehensible to her Canterlotian ears, but she could still pick out enough detail to answer Flax. "Uhh... if I'm hearing them right, we're listening to a scouting party. They're looking to find out who attacked their artillery yesterday, if I had to guess. No idea how close they are yet, or which direction they're coming from, but they're moving at a pretty good clip."

Flax nodded firmly, standing up again and poking her head out of her hatch. Judging by the shouting that came a moment later, Emerald guessed that Vanadium also happened to be turned out. When Flax dropped back down, all eyes were on her - even Cream, who looked like she'd been just about to nod off again. "Alright, y'all, here's the plan. We're gonna wait here and see if they pass us by. Assumin' they do, we'll launch our ambush and catch their scouts by surprise. With any luck, we'll have 'em out of commission before they can cry for help. Regardless, we're gonna have to scoot as soon as we're done. Cream, can we count on you to be ready?"

Cream nodded firmly, raising one forehoof for a quick salute. "You got it, ma'am. We'll be ready to roll, but... the engine might complain if we try and start it right when we need it, we've been sitting still long enough for it to cool down all the way. Should I start it now?"

Flax shook her head. "Uh-uh. If we get her runnin' now, we'll be meltin' all of our cover by the time them scouts roll by, not to mention makin' noise. We'll just have to hope she turns over quick enough." Cream hesitated, but nodded, turning around and putting her eyes back on the road. "Emerald, can ya gimme an update on that transmission? Still comin' closer?"

Emerald perked up, and after straining her ears a little, she nodded. "Yes ma'am, still closing in. They've got to be close, now."

No sooner than the words had left Emerald's mouth, there was a distinct rumbling fading into hearing range. It was to the right, up the road and hidden behind some houses, but it was there. Emerald preemptively closed her viewport, reducing her vision to whatever she could see through the tiny optic. Cream followed suit, darkening the interior of the tank, and everypony seemed to be holding their breath. Emerald glanced back when she heard Flax loading the cannon, then manually rotating the turret via the crank. A few more moments passed in tense silence before Emerald saw them passing by on the road in front of her - two armored cars, one carrying a small cannon in a turret on top of a four-wheeled chassis while the other lacked a turret entirely.

The lead car, the one without a gun, rolled along through Flax's field of fire for a few seconds before abruptly stopping, likely when the crew noticed the pair of tanks pointed right at them from the trees. As soon as they stopped rolling, Emerald felt her tank jolt as Flax let rip with the cannon. There was a muffled thud and a puff of flame, and she saw the hole left behind where the shell punched through the side of the car. A plume of snow exploded into the air behind it, revealing that the projectile had gone clean through the other side. Without waiting for an order from Flax, Emerald gripped the levers for her machine gun and lined up her sights.

Emerald knew those cars were bulletproof from the front, but from so close and with a clean shot at the side, she figured she had a good enough chance to take a few shots. Her guess paid off when, after letting loose a stream of twenty or so bullets, she saw a myriad of tiny holes punctured in the side of the vehicle around the giant hole the cannon shell left behind. No doors or hatches opened, and smoke poured out of the two holes left in both sides of the car.

Less than a split second after Flax fired, Vanadium had followed suit. Her shot hit just below the turret of the second armored car, failing to penetrate all the way through the vehicle but stopping it dead nonetheless. The coaxial machine gun let rip with a burst, and just like the first car the bullets cut clean through the thinner side armor. Emerald felt another swell of pride for a job well done, especially one that hinged on her own abilities so much, but it wouldn't last long. With her headset still on, Emerald picked up on a new stream of heavily accented yelling that made her blood run cold.

The transmission lasted several seconds, but she was turning around in her seat to yell up to Flax before it had even finished. "Flaaaax," she called, voice rising in volume as she drew out the word, "bad news! Those two weren't alone - their friends down the road saw what happened and they know our position!"

Flax looked down, then slammed her hoof into the turret wall. "Damn! Should'a known they wouldn't be comin' out here so lightly armed... Cream, get us moving now!"

Cream Soda nodded, and a second later the engine was coughing and sputtering as it tried to turn over. The frigid air wasn't doing it any favors, and Cream was looking increasingly panicked when she let off the electric start and tried again. Just when it seemed hopeless, the engine chugged once, coughed again, and then finally jumped to life. The tank shuddered as if it were just as full of adrenaline as its crew, lights springing to life now that they were supplied with power from the generator. Cream didn't need to be ordered to move, flooring the throttle and holding onto her brake levers as the engine roared and the tracks started to turn.

Emerald quickly found the Equestrian military frequency again and keyed her microphone, transmitting to Vanadium's radio operator. "Slate? Slate, if you can read me, we've got bad news. More Crystal vehicles are in our area, and we've got to move. Tell Vanadium to follow us!"

"Understood," a gravely-voiced stallion replied, before a pop of static signified that he'd switched over to the intercom in his own vehicle. Emerald slumped back, left without anything to do at the moment, and held onto her seat while they rumbled out onto the road.

"Point us toward them houses," Flax ordered, "see if we can't pick out where the rest of those scouts are hidin'!" A second later, Cream locked up the right track and let the left keep spinning, dragging the tank into a sharp right turn before coming to a stop with its front facing the little gathering of homes. Peering through her viewport, Emerald once again felt a wave of dread washing over her like a tsunami. There, situated on the road right between two houses, was an honest-to-Celestia tank. It was short and squat compared to the boxy thing Emerald found herself inside of now, and its cannon looked almost diminutive on its big, round-faced turret, but that didn't make it any less terrifying to be staring straight down the barrel. Emerald braced herself, hoping for a quick and painless death, but it never came. There was a distant crack from the enemy gun, and an instant later a horrible, deafening bang inside Emerald's ears.

The shell struck home, right in the middle of their frontal plate, but it failed to penetrate the armor. A noticeable bulge had formed on the inside, and a few tiny flakes of metal fell off where the armor wasn't able to bend perfectly. Still recovering from the impact, Emerald barely noticed when Flax returned fire. Peering through her viewport, she saw where the shot landed. The Crystal tank sported a second, smaller turret down on the hull that looked to be armed with a machine gun. It took the brunt of the impact from Flax's gun, the front end being nearly completely caved in while fresh smoke poured from the hole. Before the enemy tank could reload and take another swing at Flax's tank, Vanadium fired again.

Emerald watched as the second shot also found its target, this one going clean through the turret face. The force of the impact knocked the enemy's gun off target, leaving the turret sitting at an angle with the gun going limp in the mount and pointing at the ground. A few seconds later, two hatches opened. One down in the hull, right next to the destroyed machine gun turret, and the other on top of the main turret. Only two crystal ponies bailed out, and the one climbing down from the turret looked badly wounded already. Emerald stared, watching them scramble down the sides of their tank, and hesitated. She had her machine gun right in front of her, but were they really worth shooting? And even if they were, could she? They were defenseless now, not even carrying sidearms as they struggled to climb out of their stricken machine. The driver was swift enough to make it to cover, galloping off the main road and behind the collection of buildings to the left. The pony fleeing the turret, however, was less lucky. With one of his forelegs maimed and a nasty gash running down one side of his body, he was likely a lost cause already.

While Emerald was still debating on what to do, somepony else decided faster. One of the two machine guns on Vanadium's tank rattled off a short burst, cutting down the Crystal tanker just as he managed to drop down into the snow. Emerald hissed through her teeth, watching the snow beneath the body steadily turn red, and turned away from her viewport. When no more gunfire sounded off, Flax's voice came through loud and clear on the intercom. "Fight's over, girls. Y'all can relax. Cream, get us turned around, we need to find a new position to hold onto for the rest of our mission."

"Do ye think any of them managed to get a message out before we took them out?" Sage asked, looking concerned. Emerald watched Flax closely, her face going through a range of emotions before she finally answered.

"It doesn't matter. Whether they did or not, we still got a job to do out here."

)()()()()()()(

It didn't take long for Flax to decide on a new position, directing Cream up the road in the same direction the enemy scouts had come from. Vanadium followed along behind her on the road, both commanders turned out of their hatches and keeping their eyes on the surroundings. Radio silence had been imposed once again, and that left Emerald as nothing more than a second pair of eyes to watch the road ahead. The thrill of the short battle earlier had more or less been washed out of her system, but Emerald was still stuck thinking about the tanker she'd watched trying to flee. What became of the other pony who made it to cover in time? They didn't show themselves for as long as Emerald and the rest were still around, and they were stranded with no functional means of transportation to get back to wherever their lines were.

The thought of getting stuck out in a place like this made Emerald shudder, and not just because of the cold. She'd heard plenty about how, once ponies evacuated an area, wildlife tended to creep back in and reclaim things rather quickly. One story about a pack of wolves was more than enough for her. Regardless of that crystal pony's fate, though, Emerald's job wasn't over. It was nearing midday, and the scouting mission was supposed to last for another few hours. Flax was breaking protocol, if only slightly, by advancing past the agreed-upon ambush area, but she had insisted to Vanadium that it would pay off. After all, they were out here to catch an enemy troop movement, and hopefully, they'd put up less of a fight than that tank did.

Vanadium, ever the stickler for rules, argued with Flax's decision immediately. Emerald got the feeling that Flax wasn't used to leading a formation, listening to the mare argue with her subordinate when she could simply remind the other mare of her rank and end the discussion. Then again, Emerald knew a lot more about holding rank over other pony's heads than Flax probably did. That, she supposed, was a useful skill to have, even if she'd probably never get to use it again in the army. It was while she was thinking back about her previous role with the signal corps, mind lost in memories and digging up old reserves of anger she'd tried to move past, that the first sign of contact went right over her head - literally.

A long, jagged red streak zipped across her field of view, going above her viewport and striking the front of the turret with a clang, followed a split second later by the muffled blast of a gun. There was a flurry of activity all at once, and Cream seemingly panicked and brought the tank to a dead stop.

"Keep goin', keep goin'! We're sittin' ducks out here, we gotta keep movin'!" Flax shouted, voice distorted as her headset microphone peaked out. Cream was quick to oblige when another round struck the front hull, failing to penetrate just like its predecessor. A moment after the second impact, Emerald finally put two and two together. The muzzle flash of ani-tank rifles was coming from another house up ahead, and judging by the delay between impacts there were only two of them. Glancing around as much as she was able with her limited field of view, Emerald realized they were still out in the open on the main road.

Cream floored the throttle once again, making the tank lurch forward as the engine revved up. Emerald could only guess Vanadium was following suit behind them, listening to more rifle fire sporadically ping off the hull. The cannon boomed as Flax started to return fire, echoed by Vanadium, and then all four machine guns across both tanks lit up at once. A stream of bullets arrowed toward the building the Crystal Ponies were firing from, as well as the numerous outlines of more infantry hiding in the trees and bushes on either side of it. The chatter of automatic gunfire was accompanied by the clattering of dozens of shell casings on the hull floor, and Emerald realized she was beginning to create a pile of hot brass right next to her leg when she felt the heat radiating off of it and through her pants.

Shying away from the hot metal as much as she could, Emerald squinted through her viewport and watched where her tracer bullets landed to adjust her aim. The two ponies with anti-tank rifles were pinned down for the moment, though that left everyone else free to act while the machine guns focused on them. Emerald swept her gun across the treeline for good measure, simultaneously hoping to have landed some hits and hoping that she managed to shoot over everypony's head. A split second later, she wished she'd been paying closer attention.

Emerald spotted the muzzle brake an instant before the gun fired, a hefty device attached to the end of a long, slender barrel. The anti-tank gun was short and well hidden, but the massive flash from its cannon and the cloud of snow it tossed up were unmistakable. The boom that followed was surprisingly loud, especially given the distance, though that only further confirmed how deadly that gun was. When the armor in front of her didn't catch the shell, nor was it penetrated, Emerald felt a wave of relief at the realization that they'd missed. Flax quickly silenced the gun with a high explosive shell, tearing it apart and sending its crew running in opposite directions. Emerald didn't feel quite so bad about cutting these ones down, if only because they'd just tried to kill her.

With their primary source of firepower out of action, the rest of the enemy troops seemed far less keen on staying in the fight. They began to break and retreat in groups, some trying to drag or carry wounded comrades along with them, and Emerald could only watch while Sage sprayed in their general direction with her machine gun. As much as the mare insisted her missing eye didn't hinder her, Emerald was seeing the proof to the contrary. Sage's gunfire went wide for the most part, though a lucky bullet here and there managed to find a target. By the time Sage's ammo belt ran dry, there weren't any more crystal ponies for her to shoot at. Emerald slumped back in her seat once more, releasing the levers for her gun, and heaved a sigh. Looking down, she realized her hooves were shaking, though she wasn't terribly surprised. Looking right down the barrel of an enemy gun twice in as many hours was enough to shake anypony, and Emerald knew better than to try and uphold some kind of tough pony act.

Emerald was just about to speak up and ask how everypony else was holding up when Flax suddenly screamed a curse, her voice shrill and filled with an odd emotion that Emerald couldn't quite place. Brow furrowed, Emerald turned around as much as she could in her chair - kicking aside some cooled shell casings in the process - and looked up at her commander. "Did one of those AT rifles get lucky? What happened?" Flax was staring out the right viewport of her cupola, jaw clenched and eyes wide, and Emerald could faintly see yellow flames reflecting in her eyes. Given the direction... that could only mean one thing. Emerald swallowed hard, then spoke up again in a softer voice. "Ma'am...?"

"They're gone, lass," Sage interrupted, answering for Flax with a somber tone. "Those bastards on the anti-tank gun must've hit 'er ammo - set it right off, nary a thing left but the hull and some scattered parts. At least it was quick, aye?"

"Yeah," Flax added, her voice hollow. "Yeah, it was quick. We're outta radio range from the camp, but we gotta report the loss as soon as we are. Cream, turn us around. We gotta get back as quick as we can." Flax paused and swallowed heavily. Looking up at her, Emerald could see the other mare's eyes were wet with tears that wouldn't quite fall. Flax clenched her eyes shut while the tank spun around, lowering her head and slowly removing her headset. Nopony spoke, and Emerald had a feeling it was going to be a long, quiet drive back to Riverpool.

"Pack up Your Troubles" - Sage

When Flax's machine rolled back into Riverpool in the early afternoon, they were greeted with a knowing look from the perimeter guards. Sage could see them through her small viewport for aiming the coaxial machine gun, her one eye pressed up to the glass to catch a glimpse of the world rolling by outside. The entire trip had been silent, save for the whine of the engine and the rattling of metal track links, and Sage could feel Flax slumping against her in the cramped turret. They had escaped the skirmish with barely more than some scratched paint, and although Sage hadn't seen it, she knew the fate of Vanadium and her crew was all but guaranteed. The look in Flax's eyes was still imprinted in Sage's memory, and she knew her commander - and friend - would need a while to recover.

Silence reigned all the way up until Cream parked the tank in the backyard of that little green house again, rolling through an increasingly familiar path and stopping in the very same rut they'd dug when they first arrived. Flax shoved her hatch open and climbed out, making room for Sage to follow along behind her. Once everypony was out of the tank and standing in the yard, Sage got a good look at the faces of the other three mares. Flax looked tired and sad. Emerald looked much the same way, and Cream was exhausted. Perhaps she hadn't fully processed the fight yet. Sage figured she looked about the same as she usually did, and she'd heard plenty of ponies over the years accuse her of having a face of stone.

Everypony took turns looking each other in the face while they stood there, ankle-deep in snow, while a cold breeze brushed past them. The camp was still lively around them, the sound of a cutting torch just barely audible in the next yard over. Perhaps Morning Dew and her crew were almost done with repairs, Sage wondered. When someone finally broke the silence, it was Flax speaking up with a rough voice. "I'm gonna go give my report," she said, pausing and letting out a quiet sigh, "and then get the rest of the commanders in the unit together to give 'em the bad news. Y'all clean up the tank as best ya can, and make sure we're fit for another mission at any time."

Emerald and Cream saluted, then turned to go their separate ways. Cream was heading for the tank, probably looking for the toolbox, and Emerald was heading for the house. Sage didn't move, though. "Are you sure you're alright, lass?" She asked, her voice gentle yet strong enough to stop Flax in her tracks. She looked over her shoulder at Sage, and Sage stepped forward to put a hoof on her shoulder. "This is yer first time as an officer, aye? Losses happen, it weren't yer fault."

Flax sighed again, her gaze angling down toward the ground. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Gotta get used to losin' some good ponies every now and again - it's just how things go, ain't it?"

"Aye, that's the way it goes. You did as good of a job as ye could've. Still, the war isn't over - far from it. We need you to keep yer head in the game if the rest of us are gonna make it home. Got to make sure Vanadium and her crew didn't go for nothing, right?"

Sage watched Flax closely, her one eye slightly narrowed while a tight frown stretched across her muzzle. After a moment, Flax just nodded, remaining silent while she raised one forehoof and gently squeezed Sage's side in a loose hug. Once Sage was satisfied, she let her commander go and turned around. She listened to Flax's hoofsteps crunching through the snow, steadily getting quieter while she headed off to the HQ to relay the news of the battle to Apple Blossom. Two skirmishes in as many days was a lot, even compared to the fighting Sage had done while serving in the regular tank corps, and she had a feeling her greener comrades might be taking it harder than she was. Once Flax was fully out of earshot, Sage turned her attention to the yard.

The tank was motionless in the middle, still warm from the drive, and from in front Sage could see the fresh assortment of battle scars it had picked up. There were even more dings and scratches from rifle bullets that had no hope of penetrating the armor, though they were joined in a few places by deeper gouges and dents left behind by the far more potent rounds from anti-tank rifles. The end of the cannon barrel, once pristine like the rest of the machine, was covered in black soot left behind by the burning propellant that followed every shell. The one headlight, Sage noticed, had also been shot clean off at some point during the fighting today. Its mount remained, the thin metal badly twisted where the bulb and its housing had been sheared off by an impact. Several more holes had been poked into the various bins and other lightly armored sections of the outer hull, namely the fenders running over both of the tracks. They were so full of holes that they might as well have not even been there, dripping with water from the melted snow running off of the warm vehicle. Just like her and everypony else, it looked tired.

While Sage was busy looking over the machine, she also caught a glimpse of Cream's vanilla-colored mane bobbing up and down while she worked on something near the rear of the tank. Sage hesitated for a moment, then quietly marched up beside the other mare to get a look at what she was doing. Looking down, Sage watched while Cream fought to get a wrench into position for a particularly poorly placed bolt. It was the last one that needed to come out before being able to open the rear access panel for the engine bay, and Cream seemed to be struggling. Sage made a noise as if clearing her throat, gently getting Cream's attention.

"Huh? Oh, it's you," Cream said, sounding surprised at first but relaxing when she saw a familiar face. "What's up with you?"

"Just thought I would pay you a visit. Need an extra set of hooves?" Sage offered, crouching down to be closer to eye level. She noticed then that Cream was using a small box to keep her rump off of the cold ground, a good idea that Sage knew she likely wouldn't have thought of right away. "Or perhaps just a set of ears? All of you girls seem to have something on yer minds after today - I can hardly blame you."

Cream stared up at Sage for a long moment, and she looked like she was weighing her options before deciding on an answer. Sage waited patiently, trying her best to look inviting. Eventually Cream let the heavy wrench flop out of her hooves and into the snow, then turned around on her makeshift chair and leaned back against the tank. "A little chat might help," she admitted, sounding somewhat pouty.

Satisfied, Sage tucked the end of her winter jacket under herself and sat down. It was an imperfect solution, but it beat freezing her butt off in the snow. "Then I'm all ears. Yesterday was rough, and today was rougher. You're new to the game, lass, so it's only natural things sting more than they do for an old coot like me." Attempting to lighten the mood with a bit of self-deprecating humor, Sage cracked a small grin. When Cream didn't smile back, Sage let the facade drop. "It gets easier. Not very much, but it does."

Cream was silent for a long moment, and Sage guessed she was mulling over what she'd said. Soon enough, Cream looked up from the ground again and right into Sage's eye. "Why us?" She asked, her voice plain. Despite the simplicity of the question, Sage had a feeling she understood where it was going. "I mean... why not us? Why did that gun crew target Vanadium's tank and not ours? How come they're the ones in pieces and we get to live to tell about it?"

Looking away, Sage suppressed a sigh. It was a question she'd asked herself more times than she cared to remember, and every time the answer eluded her. Rather than telling a sweet lie about it, Sage knew she couldn't be anything but honest. Cream deserved it, if nothing else. "Nopony knows. As far as I see it, you cannae reason with luck and fate. Things happen the way they do regardless of what we think, and all a pony can do is live with it. Maybe they targeted her because her tank was an easier shot, maybe they were aiming for us and just shot wide. We'll never know, and I figure there be no sense in dwelling on it. There's no changing what happened, no matter how hard ye try." Sage knew her message wasn't the most helpful or inspiring, but she also knew that wasn't her strong suit. The uplifting speeches are somepony else's job.

Cream was silent for a long moment, mulling over what Sage had said. Sage just waited, letting the gentle breeze toss her mane about while Cream enjoyed the cover provided by the tank. After a few moments, Cream shrugged and heaved a small sigh. "I guess so. Doesn't make it fair, though."

"Aye, never said anything about fair. That's life," Sage quickly answered, catching the look in Cream's eye that suggested she still didn't fully believe what she was hearing. That was fine, as far as Sage was concerned. It had taken her a while to get the lesson too. Raising one foreleg to rest on Cream's shoulder, Sage smiled once again - this time a genuine one, rather than trying to make a joke. Being inspiring wasn't Sage's strong suit, but she could damn well try. "Ye did fine today, lass. Nopony can ask for any more than that, and I know Flax is proud of you."

"Thanks, Sage, I..." Cream trailed off, avoiding eye contact for a moment. Sage was happy to wait again, trying her best to look encouraging despite how off-putting she knew her eye patch was. "... I think I needed to hear something like that. This whole mess should've never happened. There had to be some other way besides... this."

Sage snorted quietly while Cream slumped back again, standing herself up and brushing snow off of her jacket and pants. "Aye, now that's the real answer. But nae lowly earth pony cryin' out about how awful this war is will change the minds of ponies in the past, will it? Best we can do now is survive the whole mess and see what happens next." After stretching her legs, Sage thumped one hoof on the rear armor plate of their machine and nodded to Cream. "I'll leave ye be for now, just wanted to check in on you."

Turning to walk away, Sage caught one last glimpse of a thankful smile on Cream's face while she walked away. A moment later, Cream was back to work fiddling with her wrench in her attempts to access the engine bay. Sage paused when she neared the back door of their "borrowed" house, considering if she should be bothering Emerald right then. Emerald had been less than friendly the entire time Sage knew her, and she didn't seem terribly bothered even after what happened earlier today. After a few moments spent in indecision, Sage realized it might be a better use of her time to check up on Flax. She turned in place and trotted out of the yard, crunching through the ice and snow toward the town hall.

On her way, Sage glanced around at how the camp was developing. The mess tent occupied a courtyard of sorts between a few houses, its green peak just barely visibly over a stone wall while thin trails of smoke rose into the air from the cooking fires. Nearby that was the area the infantry had elected to set up camp, some of them curiously choosing to use their tents instead of setting up inside any of the numerous abandoned houses. Most of them were milling about and chatting amongst one another, and Sage caught whisperings about a recon patrol that was taking a little longer than expected to return. She slowed down, glancing at the town hall once before turning to try and listen in on those quiet conversations again. Flax likely wasn't done with her report anyway, so Sage decided to pay the infantry ponies another visit. She'd chatted with them last night, seeing who from the 2nd Armored had come along for the trip and who were new faces.

Much to Sage's surprise, the majority of the non-tanker ponies gathered up for this mission were fresh recruits. Ordinarily, she wouldn't care, seeing as they had no real bearing on how well she and her tank crew performed, but it did pose a problem when she wanted to come around and ask for favors. These fresh ponies didn't owe her a thing, and there was only so much Sage could do to leverage her veterancy. Nonetheless, they were a decent source of information and conversation, so Sage waded into their camp once again. Most ponies didn't spare her so much as a glance, though a few seemed to recognize her. Walking up to one stallion in particular, Sage stood on the opposite side of a campfire and nodded at him in greeting.

"The cyclops returns," the stallion joked, his voice smooth and friendly. Sage wasn't exactly fond of the nickname, but she knew he meant well. Plus, with his highland pony accent, she knew he came from the same neck of the woods as her. "Was beginning to wonder if I'd ever be seein' ya again after hearin' about the mission the leftenant sent you on. How'd it go, by the way? Blow up any more rock heads?"

"Aye, you're still stuck with me for now, Brook. Went worse than we were hoping for, lost a tank and all her crew - ammo went up." Sage paused while the stallion winced sympathetically, then shook his head. When he was done, she continued, "but me and mine made it back okay. What's this I keep hearing about another patrol that's overdue? Any of your lads in on that one?"

The stallion, a tall and lanky type named Bubbling Brook, was silent for a moment while he considered the details. He rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Nae, none of my boys on that one. They keep shufflin' us around so much it gets hard to keep track, but I've done well enough at keeping a running head count. As far as the patrol themselves, I'm afraid I dinnae know any more than you do already. They left an hour or so after you lot, headed west last I saw."

Sage pondered the tiny sliver of additional info she'd been given, then nodded. "Thanks anyway, Brook. Stay safe," she said, before turning to seek out another pony to pry at. She heard Brook echo her farewell back to her as she walked away, flicking her tail to signal that she had at least heard him. A moment later, she was back in the thick of all the infantry ponies. She noticed that they tended to form a similar sort of community no matter where they set up camp. Squads typically sheltered together, but rarely hung out around their campsite. Certain tents seemed to almost be serving as unmarked "common areas", collecting larger crowds for no reason other than the fact that a few ponies chose to stand there first. In this case, the platoon of ponies occupied one of Riverpool's longer streets in its entirety yet decided to all gather on the corner near what used to be a general store.

Ponies leaned on walls or occupied benches, some even hanging around inside the various abandoned shops to stay out of the cold and the snow. Campfires were burning anywhere they could reasonably be started - including inside several metal trash cans. Sage noted, with some small amount of amusement, that these soldiers were lucky there wasn't a unicorn in charge of their unit. Otherwise, they'd probably get chewed out for making their military camp look more like a homeless camp from the big cities. Glancing around, it didn't take long for Sage to spot another familiar face.

A pegasus mare was seated on one side of a table that had been "borrowed" from the park in the middle of town, brow furrowed while she focused on a set of playing cards she held in one wing. The earth stallion across from her looked smug as could be, reclined in his chair while coolly inspecting his own cards. Sage stepped up beside the table and waited to be noticed, though she slowly came to the realization that that wasn't likely. Standing there and watching the two ponies for a few moments, and letting the stallion make his move by slamming down a pack of cigarettes in place of poker chips or money, Sage finally coughed to get their attention. The mare nearly jumped clean out of her hide, just barely keeping a grip on her cards, meanwhile the stallion just seemed annoyed to have his game interrupted.

"Top of the mornin' to ya," Sage snarked, rolling her eye, "I wanna have a word, unless you're too busy bluffing with that bad hand of yours." Of course, Sage hadn't actually seen the mare's cards, but the scowl on her face was priceless. She held in any laughter for now, glancing aside at the stallion - or rather, trying to. Sage still hadn't fully adjusted to losing her left eye, and every now and then she still tried to make use of it out of habit. Instead, she had to turn her head to bring him into her field of view. "We'll be just a minute, lad, don't spit your bit."

The mare tucked her cards into the breast pocket of her jacket, keeping them safe from any prying eyes while she stood up from her overturned crate and faced Sage. She was shorter and younger, barely old enough to qualify for the draft, but Sage could tell she was sharp. Electric blue fur and a mane that was black as coal made her stand out somewhat from her peers, even if her wings did most of the work for her in that department. Looking up at Sage, the mare frowned. "What did you want? And make it quick, I don't wanna lose that game."

"Just a question or two, is all. You know anything about the patrol that left this morn' bright and early? Whispers 'round the camp say they're late to return."

The pegasus furrowed her brow, studying Sage for a long moment before finally shaking her head. "No, don't know anything about 'em. Or... mostly. One of my friends went with 'em, but he's tough. He oughta be fine. Why do you wanna know?"

Sage merely shrugged at the mare's question, tilting her head casually away. "Oh, no reason. Just curious, poking around to see who keeps their eyes and ears open. You'd do well to start paying more attention, you know." Sage paused, knowing fully well her little jab would agitate the already grumpy mare. Before she could respond, though, Sage placated her. Looking down, Sage plucked a small bundle of army-issued cigarettes held together by a rubber band out of her jacket pocket and passed it over for her to take with her wing. "There ya go, compensation for your trouble. Now you probably should get back to that game, your stallion friend is looking mighty impatient already."

The mare snatched up the offering and stuffed it into her other pocket, though her frown at least softened a little bit. After looking Sage up and down one last time, she nodded and turned to go sit back down. Winning ponies over like this was an odd game to play, Sage knew, but she had to start somewhere. A little gift, especially tobacco, would go a long way, and she got the feeling she was going to need more favors before this 'recon by fire' business was over with. Sage watched the game for a few more moments before deciding it was time to move on, turning and trotting back toward the center of town.

With any luck, she wouldn't be sitting around the town hall for too long before Flax finally showed herself again.

)()()()()()()(

As it turns out, Sage was not as lucky as she thought she was. She found an unoccupied bench that was mostly sheltered from the wind by a nearby building and plopped herself down - after wiping away as much snow as she could - where she could wait. Curled up in a ball to stay as warm as she could, Sage tucked all four legs into her large winter coat and got comfortable. Though she didn't know for certain, she had a feeling the HQ would be off-limits to a lowly enlisted pony such as herself. Rather than wasting time with the guards at the door, she just waited... and waited... and waited.

When a few minutes' wait was beginning to look more like an hour, Sage finally began to be concerned. Her ears had been numb for a while by then, and though she wasn't quite shivering cold yet, she felt stiff as a board. Still, Sage was a tough pony, and she'd handled colder. Her mother's words echoed in her head, as they often did, and reminded Sage that she wasn't raised to be a wimp. Snorting a small laugh, Sage wondered what her mom would think if she saw her now - down an eye, plus a few scars here and there, and apparently moonlighting as a therapist for her tank crew.

Sage momentarily raised her head, peeking over her raised collar and squinting slightly as she looked around again. The unending whiteness of undisturbed snow all around stung Sage's eye if she focused on it, or tried to look around too quickly, but it was manageable enough. She wondered just how bad snow blindness could be for somepony like Flax who had to look down a scope all the time, and how unlucky anypony with a bright-colored coat must feel on such a monochromatic battlefield.

Sage was pulled out of her idle musings when she heard the front door of the town hall slam. Looking over again and narrowing her eye, she spotted the familiar blue coat and blonde mane of her commander. Heaving a sigh of relief, Sage uncurled her legs and hopped off of her bench. In an instant, she regretted her hastiness. Her legs were still stiff and cold, her muscles slow to respond to her will, and it combined with a bout of bad luck that saw her landing right on top of a patch of ice. All four of Sage's hooves met the ground at once, and they slipped right out from under her just as quickly. Letting out a very uncharacteristic yelp, Sage flopped into the snow on her side and winced when her body met concrete. The snow cushioned the blow slightly, but the sidewalk beneath it was still plenty solid enough to leave a bruise.

Groaning and squirming on the ground while her side ached, Sage looked up to see Flax doing her best not to laugh at her from across the street. Sage glared, then waved a forehoof Flax's way as if shooing her off. Of course, Sage knew that Flax would do nothing of the sort, and a moment later her friend had reached her side to help her back to her hooves. Brushing some sticky snow off of her coat, Sage sighed again and hobbled back to her bench. Flax sat beside her, and there a moment of comfortable silence passed between them.

"I take it you were waitin' for me out here?" Flax asked, one eyebrow raised. When Sage nodded, she continued. "Hopefully you weren't sittin' there too awful long. Ended up stayin' longer than I anticipated, just, er... chattin' with the LT. She's got more experience with this sorta thing than me. She said she knew what happened as soon as I walked in, saw the look in my eyes and my face. Reassured me it ain't my fault and all that crap the brass usually tells ya, but... I dunno, Sage."

"Aye, nopony does. Cream took it hard too, you know," Sage cut in, speaking up when Flax trailed off. "Haven't spoken to Emerald yet, but she's mopier than usual." Sage paused again, sensing that Flax wanted to continue. She'd gotten good at reading the other mare's intentions, and it was almost a point of pride for her. She could only hope that Flax paid such close attention to her.

"Just hard to imagine this is where we are. Ain't real long ago I was joinin' the army just for the paycheck, weren't nothin' on the horizon to suggest there would be... all this. It beat bein' stuck on a farm back home, then, but now I ain't so sure. At least back there all I gotta worry about is gettin' up early and watchin' plants grow."

"Are ye so sure there was no warning, though?" Sage asked, eyebrow raised over her covered eye. "It might not have been on the front page news every day, but I cannae say I never imagined something like this could happen."

Flax hesitated to answer, and Sage allowed her. Another few seconds passed in silence before Flax spoke up again. "Reckon there's a little truth to that, yeah. Still, even when I did consider the possibility, I didn't think it'd turn out like this."

"I suppose if somepony did, they wouldn't have led us into this mess in the first place, would they?"

"No. Reckon they wouldn't. Still, what was the point of havin' such a big army if we ain't even gonna use it right?"

Sage pondered that for a moment, even if it was clearly a hasty remark that Flax hadn't considered all that much. Eventually, she just sat back and shrugged. "Dunno. Served its purpose in the past, maybe they figured it'd do the same thing now. Probably didn't count on somepony else not playing by their rules."

Flax chafed at that, huffing quietly as she slumped back to mirror Sage's pose. "Helluva lot of good them rules do us now, huh? I saw some of the maps the Major had in his tent back at the HQ before we left - couldn't make heads or tails of most of the labels, but the big picture was easy enough to see. This little... breakthrough? Whatever you wanna call it, is the exception." Sage gave Flax a look that made her pause, then blush. "Right, sorry, you... prolly know that already. Still, it ain't a pretty picture overall. Old fashioned tactics ain't cuttin' it, especially when the shinies are throwin' around brand new toys we ain't ever seen before."

Sage held up a hoof, stopping Flax from ranting any further. "I know, lass. Ye remember I've been sitting right beside you for most of it, yeah? Don't have to remind me. I'll tell ye about the same thing I told Cream, there be no sense fretting the big stuff. We're little ponies, cannae move the mountain just because we stress ourselves out about it." Flax was silent for another long moment, crossing her forelegs over her chest and sticking her hooves into the folds of her jacket to keep them warm. Eventually, she just sighed, and Sage took that as her cue to make her last move. "Oh, and before I forget, here's a wee gift I was saving for when I figured you needed it."

Of course, Sage knew that Flax would know what she was talking about before she even revealed it. She plucked the unopened pack of cigarettes out of her jacket pocket and hooved them over, only mildly surprised when Flax promptly took one from the box and stuck it between her lips. After fetching a lighter from her pocket, Flax took a long drag and let out a small cloud of smoke. "Thank ya kindly, Sage," she mumbled, "I'll try 'n' make 'em last. Celestia knows I'll need 'em."

Author's Note

Phew! Sorry for the delay on this one, and I'm also sorry to say the next chapter will also be delayed, but I should be back on my schedule after that! Thanks again to everyone still along for the ride.

"Paying Your Dues" - Emerald

With Cream Soda engrossed in performing a checkup on the tank and Sage wandering off somewhere to gossip, Emerald found herself left totally alone. She'd wandered inside the house she and her crew were 'borrowing' for their stay in Riverpool, and habit led her to plop herself down on the couch in the middle of the common room. It wasn't a well-furnished place by any stretch of the imagination, and Emerald could tell the average wealth of ponies living in this town couldn't have been all that much. It was a far cry from the luxurious accommodations she'd gotten used to in Canterlot.

Being a unicorn, it wasn't at all unusual that Emerald came from an affluent background. Before her time in the army began, Emerald's parents were teaching her to continue the family business of gem cutting. They owned several small mining operations out in the countryside, and those gems all went to some of the finest jewelry and manufacturing centers in the nation. It was a promising future, one full of success and money if Emerald played her cards right, but it didn't strike her as particularly fulfilling. Sitting on the couch and staring off into space with her hooves in her lap, she could still remember the shock on her mother's face when she showed her the enlistment papers.

The family drama that ensued was nothing short of a nightmare, but Emerald got her way in the end - on one condition. Her parents insisted that she go through officer school, taking the proper place of a unicorn in the armed forces as a leader for the less educated ponies slogging it out in the mud. Emerald didn't mind that restriction at all, and in fact she'd planned on pursuing such a role anyway. Her notion that earth ponies were inherently less intelligent had been thoroughly tested ever since the war began several months ago, and as she stared out the window and watched Cream work, Emerald found herself pondering it once again.

Sure, earth ponies tended to work manual jobs, and they lacked any sort of understanding of the finer arts that unicorns were known for, but Emerald would be lying if she said she understood any of what they did. Farming was utterly alien to her, construction was a vague concept instead of a solid process. Even in her area of expertise, working with radios and communication, Emerald found herself surrounded by earth ponies as often as she did unicorns. As her mind wandered toward her previous position once again, so too did she tread over the same catastrophe that put her where she is now.

Emerald was so lost in her thoughts, letting that cold anger slowly warm up and rise to the surface, that she didn't even notice Cream Soda stumbling inside to take a break - at least, not until the mare spoke.

"You just gonna sit there and look all mopey?" Cream asked, half-jokingly, before hobbling over and collapsing onto the far end of the couch. Emerald could tell the mare was chilled to the bone, forcing her stiff legs to bend and carry her forward. The wind had picked up outside, making the old house creak and shudder around them, and she could see clouds of loose snow blowing around haphazardly.

"That was the plan, at least for the moment. Why, you want to join the party?" Emerald asked, looking over and raising an eyebrow. She was as bundled up as she could be, wrapped up in her heavy jacket and trying to use the gap between the couch cushions to keep her hooves warm. Cream was still shivering, coated in motor oil and dusted snow in equal measure.

"Nope," Cream quickly answered, wiggling her numb forelegs to try and encourage better blood flow. "Just taking a break before my hooves freeze off. I wouldn't mind a little help out there, you know."

And there it was. Emerald suppressed a long-suffering sigh, then looked away with a frown. "No thanks. I'm no good with mechanical work anyway."

"Fine. I'll just wait until Sage comes back from... well, wherever. She seems to understand team effort better than you, anyhow," Cream said, her voice carrying a drop of venom despite the effort it took to even speak clearly past her chattering teeth. Emerald knew it was just a foalish jab - a comment made while Cream was miserable and cold. Nonetheless, it got right under her skin in a heartbeat.

Emerald leaped up off of the couch in an instant, all four hooves landing on the old wooden floor with a stomp. Glaring at Cream Soda, she thrust one forehoof at her in an accusing point. "You watch your bloody mouth! In case you forgot, one of us was a captain once - the other was a glorified delivery mare!"

Cream seemed to forget how cold she was, rising from the couch on her slightly shorter legs and glaring up at Emerald. Emerald knew she'd struck a nerve, and for a brief moment, she felt proud. "What the hell does it matter what rank you used to be? You got busted all the way down to the bottom! I outrank you now!" Cream shot back, her voice full of righteous anger. Emerald knew she didn't have an adequate rebuttal for that one, so instead she grit her teeth and stepped forward to try and scare the shorter, younger mare with her size alone.

"Oh, my apologies, corporal," Emerald spat, using the word like an insult all its own, "I forgot the army's desperate enough to put rank stripes on any dumb mule who can write her own name and push a few pedals! At least I went to school to get mine!" Cream reeled at the name-calling, briefly looking equal parts shocked and hurt. She recovered quickly enough, but Emerald could tell she'd hit yet another insecurity. She was worryingly good at this, she realized. Before Cream could piece together a response, Emerald shouted again. "You sit and wait for the blasted cyclops to get back, see how much help she is!"

Turning on the spot, Emerald made to storm out of the room and head down the hallway to the makeshift sleeping quarters they had set up the night before. On her way out, she kicked with a hind leg and snapped the leg off of a flimsy old side table placed next to the couch. It collapsed onto the wooden floor with a pathetic plonk, and Emerald didn't look back to see if Cream followed her. The lack of hoofsteps was telling enough on its own.

Emerald stomped her way down the hall, then slammed the door to the bedroom closed behind her, the force of her outburst sending another rattle through the old home.

)()()()()()()(

Emerald spent quite a while hiding in the privacy of the bedroom, lying on the bed in the corner amidst the pile of empty sleeping bags and pillows. She heard the front door closing a few minutes after she locked herself in, and a glance through the closed blinds over the window revealed that Cream had gone back outside and gotten to work again. After a few more minutes, Emerald made use of her magic to float her infantry saddlebags off of the floor and bring them onto the bed with her. She set them at her side and raised the flap on the left half, reaching in with her telekinesis and pulling out a folded letter. It was one she'd written and never sent, still nestled inside the envelope she'd bought fresh from the commissary back at the HQ.

Slowly and carefully, so as not to crease the paper more than it already was, Emerald slid the letter out and unfolded it again. It wasn't much, barely more than a couple of sentences, but she still felt a twinge of pride at her excellent hornwriting. That was one of the things her parents had taken special care to train her for, always reminding her that she'd need to give a good first impression for new business partners once she took over the family trade. The letter was almost as old as the war itself at this point, written just a few days after she lost her rank. Emerald had yet to muster up the courage to send the letter home, to reveal to her parents that she'd failed, and at the moment there was no way for her to send it anyway. A part of her was glad, and that same part spoke up as it often did to suggest just burning the letter. Why come clean now? Wait until the war is over. Maybe by then, Emerald thought, she'd have had a chance to redeem herself.

The rest of her subconscious reminded her of how foolish such an aspiration was. Her parents would find out eventually anyhow, especially given the lack of letters she'd sent back otherwise. Then again, maybe they already knew. Emerald wouldn't have been surprised if her screw-up made the papers, and perhaps her parents got one look at the headline and gave up on her then and there, and that explained the lack of mail from home.

Laying her head back and staring up at the ceiling, Emerald heaved a sigh and tucked the letter back into its envelope. It floated back into her bags, then her bags floated back down to the floor with a quiet thump. The wind was still periodically howling outside, strong gusts coming and going seemingly at random and battering the old houses like they always had. Lost in her wandering thoughts as she was, Emerald didn't even notice when the front door opened and slammed closed again. She did notice, however, when two sets of hooves started getting closer to the room she was hiding out in.

Emerald had just managed to sit up and make herself somewhat presentable when the door swung open, revealing Flax's scowling face. Emerald gulped, having a strong feeling that she knew exactly what this was going to be about. Behind Flax, Sage was standing in the hallway with the same infuriating, impassive look on her face. Emerald hastily crawled out of bed, smoothing the wrinkles out of her uniform with her magic on the way, and snapped to a salute once she was standing in the middle of the room. Flax didn't look impressed.

"At ease, Emerald," the mare said, her expression softening by the tiniest of margins. "Actin' prim 'n' proper now ain't gonna help ya out of the hole ya dug yourself into." Emerald slumped, letting her forehoof drop back to the floor with a clop. Instead, she just focused on trying to make eye contact despite Flax's withering gaze. "I shouldn't have to be playin' foal sitter to a bunch of grown mares in the military, but here I am."

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I-" Emerald tried to speak up, but Flax silenced her with a snort.

"There's plenty more than respect due from you, Emerald. I know ya had a rough day today - hell, everyone did - but that don't excuse what ya said to Cream. We're supposed to be a team, and rely on each other, and if I can't trust you, you ain't got no place in my crew. Fightin' like that's only gonna get us killed sooner or later, and I'm not puttin' up with it." Flax paused to step closer, raising one hoof to point right in Emerald's face. "And you got some 'splainin' to do, captain."

Of course, Emerald knew exactly what Flax was referring to. She'd avoided divulging the details of her demotion so far, and she'd hoped to keep it that way. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Emerald heaved a sigh and looked away, then stepped back from her commander. Flax looked ready to chastise her again when Emerald finally spoke. "Yes, I was being honest before when I said I got demoted. Cream told you correctly when she said I used to be a captain. Of course, being in the signal corps, it didn't mean the same thing it does for the mudsloggers."

Sage stepped into the room next, sneaking in past Flax's shoulder and fixing Emerald with a look of immense disappointment. Looking back at the older mare, Emerald almost felt like she was being stared down by her mom all over again. "Had a change of heart, have you, lass? About time."

"Back off her, Sage. She's cooperatin'," Flax admonished, glancing aside before turning her attention back to Emerald. "You were sayin'?"

"Thank you. I was saying," Emerald continued, pausing to give Sage one last glare, "that I was responsible for handling communications running up the chain of command. It was easy, especially before the war, but... my responsibilities changed once the invasion started."

"Yeah, war changes a few things. Go figure. So what'd ya do?" Flax asked, sounding as though her patience was already running thin.

"I was getting to it, if you'd have an ounce of patience," Emerald snapped. The scowl on Flax's face made her reconsider immediately. Perhaps now wasn't the time to be snippy, even if she was interrupted for the second time. "Apologies, ma'am. To make a very long story short, I was demoted for a mistake on the job. My... I got some of our troops stuck without support, and they paid the price. The brass above me had to pin the blame on somepony, and the alternative was even worse. Now I'm at the bottom of the ladder, and probably a disgrace to my family's name."

Of course, Emerald was omitting a lot with that simplification, and she knew it. Flax seemed pleased enough, which was a relief, even if Sage still looked unconvinced. In truth, Emerald had abandoned her post at the radio in favor of eavesdropping on a superior officer. Even now she didn't know what, exactly, had possessed her to do it. He had been issuing orders to another officer in a similar position, a pony who worked in the very same tent as Emerald. She could've simply asked the mare later, had it truly been important. Now, though, it was too late. In exchange for her momentary lapse in judgment, Emerald had to live with the mother of all demotions and the knowledge that an entire platoon had been lost because of it. To top it all off, she didn't even have anything to show for it. She had heard tales of ponies in the past disobeying orders and saving the day, only to get demoted later. They had inspired her, given her something to dream about as a sort of hero fantasy. Emerald had only come to understand how foalish that dream was after somepony else paid the price.

"You aren't the first pony to lose their rank," Sage reminded her. Emerald held back a sarcastic remark about telling the obvious. "And ye won't be the last. I suggest you start worrying about what comes next, instead of what happened. War's not over, lass."

"Yes, pa-... Sage, I know. I took my lashings and learned my lesson. I'm still the property of the Equestrian military for the time being," Emerald retorted, though her tone softened slightly. So long as she could heed the mare's advice without fully giving her the win, she'd do it. The last thing she wanted to do was give somepony like Sage something to hold over her, like so many others had apparently done already. Come to think of it, Sage seemed quite adept at maneuvering social situations. Perhaps it was something for Emerald to pay closer attention to - it would certainly be nice to earn the same kind of respect and patience from Flax.

"Well then," Flax interjected, derailing Emerald's train of thought. "If you're done moping, you owe Cream an apology." Emerald scowled at the mere notion of being told to apologize like she was some school filly. Flax apparently expected that, grinning like an evil kitten. "Don't worry, I told her to say she was sorry, too. Y'all can make up and play nice and we'll all be happier for it. Ain't that right?"

"Aye, it is. Even if I'll miss the entertainment from watching you lot bicker back and forth," Sage answered, snickering and raising her hoof to answer Flax's offer for a hoof-bump. With that, they both turned tail and filed out of the room to head back outside. Emerald was left alone for the moment, slack-jawed and wondering when she'd been transported out of a warzone and into some kind of strange drama act. Flax and Sage's conversation continued as they trotted down the hall, but their voices were too muffled behind the door for Emerald to make out. Instead, she turned around and peeked through the window to see what had changed since the last time she looked nearly an hour ago.

The sky had darkened somewhat, and Cream was nowhere to be seen - at least not from here. Several panels on and around the tank's engine deck were left open, protected from snowfall by a tarp, and a myriad of parts and tools were scattered about in some form of organized chaos. Emerald had never had any affinity for the mechanical, and even after her schooling she struggled with the electrical, but... maybe, just once, she could give it a try. If nothing else, playing nice with Cream while Flax was around to see it would be a good start on digging herself out of the hole she found herself in.

"Hooves-On Approach" - Flax

Flax and her crew had spent the majority of the rest of their evening doing housekeeping - literally, and metaphorically with maintaining their tank. The sun sank below the horizon sooner than she would've liked, as it often did in the winter months, and she quietly cursed the shorter daylight hours for every minute she spent fumbling around in the dark with her tools. Flax also noted that Cream was surprisingly good help, and she allowed herself a small moment of pride in seeing a pony under her command doing so well. Sage helped too, of course, but there was only so much she could do with her limited mechanical know-how. Most surprising of all was Emerald's attempt to pitch in, but it was quickly and unanimously decided that she was even less help than Sage.

Instead, Flax had sent Emerald off to pester the ponies running the cooking tent and fetch dinner for everyone. They were eating late, and Flax knew Sage had already used up most of her goodwill with those ponies for the time being. That night they all slept in the same arrangement as their first night in Riverpool, huddled together in their borrowed bedroom where they tried to stay as warm as possible.

The following morning, Flax woke first and quickly roused the rest of her crew to join her. The sun was just barely peeking above the horizon, filling the sky with brilliant orange and yellow light that struggled to reach between the haphazardly placed buildings of Riverpool. Everypony else was still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and complaining about sore backs when Flax heard a trio of firm knocks on the back door of their house. Flax rolled her eyes as she marched down the hall and yanked the door open, only to shiver when a blast of cold air hit her in the face. A moment later, she snapped to attention and raised a salute when she recognized Apple Blossom standing in front of her.

"Mornin', Lieutenant! Came to join us for breakfast?" Flax asked, a hint of playful sarcasm creeping into her voice after Apple Blossom motioned for her to be at ease.

"Afraid not," the other mare responded, and Flax knew something was up from her tone of voice. "Got a little outing planned for us today, reckon you'd wanna get all the details before we mount up and roll out."

Flax hesitated to answer, glancing back over her shoulder to see Cream shambling down the hallway like a zombie in search of coffee. Forcing herself not to grin at the sight, she looked back at Apple Blossom. "Ma'am," she began, only to stop when Blossom gave her a stern look, "er... Lieutenant, are ya sure it's a good idea to put both of us out there at once? We're both what I'd call HVTs."

Apple Blossom took a split second to understand the acronym, and then, to Flax's surprise, she laughed. "Hah! Yeah, reckon we are. Still, that don't change the fact that sometimes ya gotta go 'n' do somethin' yourself. Got a little... terrain feature, I guess you'd call it, that I can't quite make heads or tails of on any of my maps. It's just a little ways northwest of here, and I wanna get a look at it with my own eyes rather than relyin' on whatever somepony else says it looks like."

The plan made at least a little more sense now, but Flax was still uneasy. She'd tried to hide it, but clearly, her trepidation was visible on her face. Blossom just shook her head and chuckled, raising a foreleg to clap Flax on the shoulder before motioning for her to follow behind her. It was a short, frigid walk from the house to the town-hall-turned-HQ

)()()()()()()(

Sitting in Lieutenant Blossom's makeshift office and looking over the day's mission in detail, Flax was finally certain that her commander had fully spit her bit. Over the last few minutes, Blossom had explained that all of her maps were frustratingly vague about one particular area near a railyard. It seemed like a strategic point of interest, and Blossom was highly interested in checking it out for herself. The plan was to take Blossom and her tank, plus Flax and hers, alongside one additional tank from Blossom's platoon to go and scout the area and fill in the blank spot on the map - plus keeping an eye out for enemy movements along the way. Three tanks, Blossom predicted, was more than enough for a job that amounted to little more than surveying and "taking a gander".

Seated across from Blossom, Flax leaned back in her chair and crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Suppose it's as good a plan as any other," she hedged, eyes still glued to the various markers scattered across the main map. It was somewhat close to known enemy positions, but far enough away from their perimeter that patrols weren't likely. The more Flax thought about it, the whole thing hinged on a lot of "probably" and "most likely", and she didn't like it one bit.

Of course, Blossom could easily read the expression on Flax's face - heck, she wasn't even trying to hide it. Flax was hoping her commander would reconsider, but she would have no such luck. "I know you're nervous, Flax, especially after yesterday. This is just the way things go sometimes - ya gotta take the initiative and bend the rules every now 'n' again if ya wanna make any headway. If it makes ya feel any better, I'm bringin' along my best crew to give us backup. Any more than the three of us and I'd be worried about the Rockheads spottin' us from farther away and respondin' in kind." The last point, at least, made sense in Flax's mind.

Nodding slowly, Flax forced herself to try and look a little more confident. It was a short mission, just a scouting trip. Nothing more. With any luck, they wouldn't even have to fire a shot. Eventually, Flax nodded again - firmly this time - and stood up. "Alright... alright. Maybe it ain't so bad. Still, promise me that we ain't gonna go takin' any risks while we're out there? I'd like to get back in one piece, and ideally with you leadin' the mission both ways."

Blossom just grinned, extending her hoof for a shake. Flax took it and made sure to be firm, meeting her commander's gaze with her own. "Just gotta have a little faith. And think about it this way - if things go sideways, you're lookin' at a battlefield promotion! Wouldn't that be nice?" Blossom snickered at her own attempt at gallows humor. Flax laughed, too, despite the seed of dread it had planted in her mind. The two of them stood up in unison, chairs sliding across the old and worn wooden floor with a grating squeal, and Flax turned to lead the way out of the office. It had evidently been the mayor's office, before the war, and most of the pony's personal effects were still around - most notably, at least to Flax, was the half-empty bottle of Wild Pegasus whiskey that Blossom had claimed for herself. There were awards and pictures and decrees hung everywhere there was room for them, painting the picture of a very proud history.

Flax had never even heard of Riverpool until a few days ago, and she was reasonably certain that she never would have were it not for this operation. Somehow, that helped put into perspective just how big of a place Equestria was. Flax had seen maps before, of course - she knew the nation was utterly massive, but it had never been highlighted in such a way as it was just now. This town, filled with hundreds of ponies, existed in an entirely different world compared to her little farming town on the opposite end of the continent. In a way, it was humbling. She was still processing this unexpected revelation by the time she and Blossom stepped outside, her thoughts derailed by the blast of cold wind washing across her face and sapping what little warmth she'd been able to enjoy in the headquarters.

As the two mares subconsciously started to separate and head back to their tanks, Blossom paused and issued one last comment. "I think you'll like who I'm bringin' with us! She's a hoot." Something about the tone of her commander's voice, not to mention the sly wink that followed, gave Flax a bad feeling. Regardless, bad coworkers were the least of Flax's concerns. She just nodded and waved over her shoulder, then hustled up to get back to her "barracks" in short order. The open streets were as windy and frigid as ever, so Flax stuck to weaving between buildings and trying to use them for cover as much as possible. Clearly, she wasn't the only pony to have such an idea, and she had to squirm past infantry ponies using those same alleys as resting spots during their patrols.

When she finally got back to her house, Flax was pleased to see Cream fully awake and doing some morning maintenance checks. Sage was standing nearby to oversee the operation, and the open hatch on the hull gave away Emerald's location as well. Flax dug into her jacket pocket and fetched a cigarette - one of the crummy army-issued ones - and stuck it between her lips. After finding her lighter in the other pocket, she lit up and took a few puffs before entering the yard proper.

"Good mornin' to y'all again," she said, simultaneously exhaling a cloud of smoke, "good news. We got more work to do - special field trip with the Lieutenant. Be ready to mount up in a few minutes, we're gonna form up at the center of town before rollin' out."

The three different reactions to her words were about what Flax expected. Sage looked impassive as ever, simply nodding and strolling toward the tank to climb in. Emerald groaned audibly from her seat, already inside. Cream flinched in surprise at the unexpected noise, slamming her hatted head into the mudguard that extended over the left idler wheel at the back. Flax just rolled her eyes, deciding it wasn't worth the time or effort to mention proper protocol to any of them. Instead, she just strolled around back and checked up on Cream.

"What's got you spooked, Corporal? You ain't in trouble," Flax joked, extending a forehoof to help the younger mare back to her hooves.

"I'm fine! Just, y'know... I was 'in the zone', didn't hear you walk up. Any idea what kind of field trip we're in for, or did the LT keep you in the dark this time?" Cream asked, after hoisting herself up with Flax's help. Flax paused to consider her answer for a moment, then merely shrugged.

"Nothin' serious. Scoutin' trip, just drivin' out and takin' a look at somethin'. Ain't no big deal." Flax could tell her answer wasn't entirely satisfactory just from the look on Cream's face, but Cream evidently knew better than to argue. Instead, she just nodded and turned around to collect her tools. Flax helped, haphazardly piling the various wrenches and pliers into whichever storage bins they'd fit in before walking around to climb up the side of the tank. Glancing down, she watched while Cream and Emerald struggled to fit past one another before eventually giving up. Emerald had to climb out and wait, then follow behind Cream and retake her position in the hull. They got along better after their little 'friendship lesson' last night, Flax noticed, but they still had a long way to go. Still, it was good enough for now.

Realizing she'd already been distracted long enough, Flax finally hauled herself up and over into the open hatch on top of her tank's turret. The seat was already raised for her to see over the rim of the cupola, and she drummed her forehooves on the roof once she was situated. "Turn her over, Cream! Get us rollin' into the town square, then we'll wait for Blossom and her support to join us."

No sooner than the order left Flax's mouth, Cream keyed the remote start. The engine coughed and sputtered, as Flax began to see as the pattern in this cold environment, before turning over. It chugged once, sounding as though it would stall, before Cream pushed the pedal and gave it more gas. The engine finally roared, spewing black smoke for a few seconds before settling down to a steady purr. Once it was running smoothly, and all the tank's electrical systems came to life, Flax snugged up her headset over her ears and thumped the roof again. Cream understood the message and shifted gears, smoothly this time, and let the tank roll forward until it cleared the flattened fence and then turned to drive into the center of town. The ancient roads running through Riverpool were clearly never designed with tanks in mind, and Flax could feel her machine bouncing and rocking as it crawled over the numerous potholes and inclines that marred the main thoroughfare.

It probably would've been worse in a wheeled vehicle, but as it was, the heavy tracks simply rolled right over any obstacle that was hidden beneath the inches of snow covering the road. Flax was still scanning the road ahead - more out of boredom than anything else - when Cream finally eased the tank to a stop in the shadow of the clock tower. Snapping out of her momentary distraction, Flax looked up and saw Blossom's tank already idling a few meters in front of her. It stood out as a command model thanks to the extra radio antenna extending up from the hull, not to mention the nickname scrawled across the side of the turret in big, blocky letters. Apple Bucker was a fitting name, Flax thought with a grin, given who the commander was. Staring at those letters, though, Flax realized she'd yet to assign any kind of name to her own machine. Number 21 was its identifying number, but it was woefully lacking in personality.

Just then, she heard a third engine rumbling up behind her. Twisting around in her seat, Flax got a good look at the tank Blossom had elected to bring along as extra firepower. The name Snooper was scrawled across the turret in very fancy cursive, and below it was a unique flag design that Flax had only seen a hoofful of times in her entire life. It was a fuzzy memory, but she could've sworn she recognized the symbol of Germaneigh. It was a small duchy in Equestria's northeastern region, right on the border with the Crystal Empire, and one that she knew had been swallowed up quite quickly after the war began. Beyond that, Flax knew nothing about it - that thought reminded her of her earlier realization. Yet another place, full of ponies leading lives as complex as her own, that she had never seen and likely never would. This time, instead of her thoughts being interrupted by a faceful of wind, they were interrupted by a voice.

"Hallo! Sorry ve are late to zhe party, had a bit of engine trouble! It is all good now though, ja? Good to go!" A mare shouted, in some of the most thickly accented Equestrian Flax had ever heard. She was the commander of Snooper, poking her head out of the hatch to reveal herself as a very large earth pony. Flax wondered how such a mare even qualified for the tank forces, let alone got assigned to such a notoriously cramped vehicle. Then again, she knew, the army was hardly in a position to be choosy about who went where. She was well-built, about like Sage, and with dark brown fur and a pale orange mane. Curiously, she also chose to wear a truck driver's flat cap in place of a tanker beret.

"Howdy, sergeant," Blossom shouted back, greeting her subordinate with a wave. "Nice of ya to finally make it! Was beginnin' to wonder if you got cold hooves after all!" The other mare just laughed at Blossom's jab, then turned to look at Flax.

"You are zhe second lieutenant, ja? Sergeant Amberholz, at your service!" she said, instinctively extending a forehoof for a shake. Seeing as they were in entirely separate vehicles and several meters apart, Flax couldn't accept it. Amberholz realized this a second later, retracting her hoof and instead sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "We shall have to save zhat part of the pleasantries for later!"

"Pleased to meet ya," Flax finally called back, grinning at Amberholz's antics. "Second Lieutenant Flax Seed, but you probably knew that already. You been in the tanks real long, sergeant?"

"Ja, ja, since right before zhe war started! I vas in zhe artillery back then, though - one of zhe self-propelled machines with zhe biggest guns! Still miss it, even if zhis one can leave it in zhe dust in a race," Amber said, glancing away with a wistful look in her eyes. Flax chuckled, feeling a pang of nostalgia for her previous assignment as well. That seven-point-five centimeter gun did pack quite a bit more punch...

"You've been puttin' her to good use so far, Amber," Apple Blossom interjected, shooting the sergeant a wink. Amber chuckled again in response before Blossom continued. "Don't go gettin' rose-tinted glasses now. Besides, we're takin' you along 'cause you're the best shot in the whole platoon! Ain't that right?"

"Five kills und counting, Lieutenant! Here is hoping I can add a few more today, ja?" This time both mares shared a laugh, but Flax felt uneasy again. Once again, though, she didn't get to dwell on it for too long before things were moving forward again. Amber glanced at Flax, then waved at Blossom to get her attention again. "Are we going to move anytime soon, or what?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing! Unless y'all got any last-minute business to attend to, let's roll out," Blossom instructed, before reaching back and grabbing the handle on her hatch. She sank down into her turret, pulling the hatch closed behind herself, and disappeared from view. Amber followed suit, contorting her taller self down until she fit just enough to close the hatch over her head. Flax wondered about the mare's poor loader having to cram into the turret with her while she buttoned up, lowering her seat and tugging her hatch up and over until it latched with a clank.

Keying her microphone for the intercom, Flax cleared her throat before issuing her orders. "Cream, wait 'til the other two are movin' before you bring us in line to follow 'em. We'll take up the rear of the formation on the way there."

"Aye aye, ma'am," Cream answered, leaning back and looking up through Flax's legs to give her a salute. Flax snickered, saluting right back, before bracing herself for the lurch once the tank started moving again. Blossom was apparently in a rush, taking off down the road and pushing her machine near its limit. A cloud of snow and dust quickly appeared behind Apple Bucker, and it was further stirred up by Snooper rolling along behind it. This meant that, after just a few minutes, Flax and her crew were effectively blind as they followed along at the back of the line. Flax pressed her eyes up to the vision blocks in her cupola, squinting in an attempt to see through the cloud, but the most she saw of the road ahead were brief glimpses of the back of Amber's turret.

After a few minutes of relative silence, save for the purring of the engine and the squeaking of treads, Emerald spoke up. "So... now that we're on the road, care to fill the rest of us in on the mission, ma'am?"

"It be none of our business - even if it were, what does us knowing about it change? Nary a thing," Sage retorted, trying to keep her voice level. She succeeded for the most part, to Emerald's frustration, but Flax could tell something was up. Still, she couldn't address it now. It would just have to wait until after they got back to HQ.

"Fine, since y'all asked so nicely, I reckon I owe it to ya to be a li'l more open about details. Y'all are ridin' into it with me, after all," Flax said, obviously faking her annoyance in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't seem to work, and she knew that she was in for a long, quiet trip once again.

)()()()()()()(

When Flax finally heard something to break the monotony of rolling down a tiny woodland road, it was an unexpected sound. She still had her headset on, and a brief crackle of static preceded the voice of her lieutenant pouring through the speakers. "Alright, y'all, we're gettin' close. Break outta the line and spread out a little, and keep an eye out! We're just a little ways outside the definitive Crystal line at this point."

Flax was only momentarily surprised before she remembered one of the quirks of a command tank - Apple Blossom could transmit to the tanks in her unit to issue orders directly, only Flax and Amber couldn't talk back without first relaying the message to their radio ponies. It felt like an oversight, but Flax knew it served a purpose. Much better to have one voice on the command channel instead of five. Refocusing on her surroundings, Flax once again pressed her eyes up to the vision blocks in her cupola and looked around. The road they were following was just barely wide enough for their machines to fit comfortably, and it was flanked on either side by dense trees. They were tall and spindly, covered in snow and devoid of leaves, but they provided decent enough cover from any distant observers.

"Cream, take Blossom's left flank there and follow along at her speed. Emerald, relay our intentions to Amber so she doesn't run us over tryin' to get into the same spot," Flax ordered, glancing down to talk directly at the back of Cream's head despite using the intercom. Both mares nodded and got to work, and Flax felt her machine listing to one side slightly as its momentum was redirected. Peering through the vision port on her right, Flax could also see Amber's tank veering off to the right and falling into formation once again.

Apple Bucker was the only tank still following the road, and Blossom had to order her driver to slow down while Snooper and Flax's machine caught up. It was slower going offroad, and Cream had to weave back and forth around the thick tree trunks that had grown near the sides of the road. Dead branches and exposed roots crunched and twisted beneath metal treads, adding to the racket each machine was already making. After a few moments of relative silence, Flax reached up and popped open the lock to swing her hatch open. She poked her head out and looked around, seeing nothing but forest in each direction except forward.

Straight ahead, Flax saw where the treeline ended and seemingly dropped off into nothing. The landscape continued behind it, of course, but it seemed so distant. Hundreds of yards of open ground stretched before her, and it became clear that the forest ended at the top of a steep hill. "Emerald, hail Blossom again. Ask her where she wants us once we break outta the trees."

"Understood," Emerald responded, before cutting herself off to switch channels again. A moment later, Blossom responded directly.

"We're gonna stop at the top of this here bluff and have a little look-see," she explained, speaking up over the roar of her own engine as her driver gave it more gas, "with any luck, we'll be able to map out the spot I'm lookin' for from up here. Plus, that rail yard oughta be in sight too." There was a pause, followed by some indistinct mumbling, before Blossom barked a short laugh. "Hah! Send back to Amber that she's free to try - hell, Flax, you go with her. She wants to go and take a peek at that railyard while I fill in the map. Break off and follow her, it's just a little ways down the treeline, should be able to see it without even leavin' concealment."

Flax was immediately nervous again. Splitting up, even for something so trivial, sounded like a bad idea. Then again, they were hidden - it wasn't like they were rolling around in plain sight and just waiting to get picked off from afar. Flax hesitated for a moment or two before sighing. "Emerald, tell her we'll go with Amber, but please remind her that I didn't wanna take any unnecessary risks." When no additional chatter reached her ears for several moments, Flax sighed again. "Alright. Cream, slow down until Blossom passes us, then hard right to fall in behind Amber. She'll lead us to where we need to go."

"Aye aye," Cream answered, before promptly carrying out Flax's order. It was calming, in a way, to see her crew operating so smoothly. Emerald was relaying messages flawlessly, Cream was driving like a pro, and... well, Flax felt a twinge of guilt when she realized that Sage doing nothing was actually ideal. Maybe that was what she was cranky about earlier? Hard to say. Flax had known Sage for the better part of two years, and yet she could barely read the mare even when she was being overt about her feelings. She held onto the edges of her cupola as her machine drifted to the right, crawling through the snow and past countless trees as it made its way over to play more 'follow the leader'.

Moments later, Amber's tank came to a stop at the edge of the trees. Her hull pointed parallel to the tree line, meaning she had to turn sideways after unbuttoning from her hatch. Flax felt Cream ease them to a stop right behind Amber's tank, finally sitting still when they were a couple of meters back. Flax turned sideways as well, squinted, then ducked back down into her hatch. After fumbling around for several seconds, she felt Sage bump her on the shoulder with the item she'd been looking for. "Oh! I was wonderin' where I put 'em. Thanks, Sage."

"No problem, lass. Figured I'd hold on to them before you broke them like the last pair," Sage teased, referencing a crushed set of binoculars from months prior. Flax rolled her eyes lightheartedly and snatched up the binoculars before standing out of her hatch again. Then, she climbed out all the way and dropped down into the snow. To her right, a set of hooves crunched noisily onto some dead branches. Glancing aside, Flax saw that Amber had also dismounted.

"So what exactly are we hopin' to see down here?" Flax asked, walking diagonally until she was at Amber's side. "Ain't real sure what the shinies would want with a railyard that's so far outside of their own lines - at least right now. Figure they'd push forward and claim the territory if it was safe enough for a train to sit around and unload."

"Whatever we can see, zhat's what," Amber responded with a chuckle, clapping Flax somewhat roughly on the shoulder before carrying on. "It is an important asset, ja? Even if it is unoccupied, at least zhen we will know it is unoccupied instead of assuming now and being unpleasantly surprised later. Besides, did you really want to sit beside zhe Lieutenant while she scribbled on her map? I certainly didn't."

Flax could hardly argue with Amber's logic. She just grinned and snorted a quiet laugh, shaking her head. "Reckon I wouldn't either. Anyway..." Flax trailed off as the two of them reached the edge of the trees, just a few meters away from their idling tanks. Glancing back over her shoulder, Flax spotted who she assumed to be Amber's loader poking his head out of the turret. He was a small, scaredy-looking earth pony who kept looking around as if he was afraid something would jump out and get him. Flax didn't dare comment on it out loud, but she didn't feel much safer knowing that he was their overwatch.

Amber dropped down to a low crouch, slinking through the dead bushes and dried tree limbs until she could get a good look at the valley below. Flax tried to follow suit, but couldn't find any suitable spots to poke her head through. Sighing, she buttoned up her jacket all the way and dropped down onto her belly to crawl through the snow and find a lower spot. Once she finally did, she raised her binoculars to her eyes and peered into the vast openness that lay before her. The railyard was right smack in the middle, surrounded on all sides by sparse clumps of trees. A small ditch ran halfway between the yard and the hill they were on now, and it looked like it would probably contain a creek in the warmer months. As it was, it was full of nothing but ice and snow. Amber was silent, unusually so, and Flax got a bad feeling even before she had a chance to get a look at the railyard itself. When she did, though, she went quiet too.

Inside the walled perimeter were several large buildings made of brick, organized roughly in a grid pattern, and the ones on the western side were up a small incline that was paved with asphalt. The upper buildings were adorned with banners marking them as property of the Crystal Empire, and the myriad of little specks milling about were unmistakably soldiers. The outpost itself was surprising already, but what Flax saw next left her speechless. There, in the very middle of the yard and in plain sight, was the biggest train she had ever seen in her life. It hung over the sides of the rails on both sides by at least a pony length, and the four rail cars attached to it were loaded down with materiel. One at the back even featured a cannon, currently pointed skyward. At the front of the train, the locomotive only vaguely resembled the steam engine it surely had been at one point in time. Everything was covered in layers of plate armor, painted white and grey to provide some degree of camouflage in the frozen wasteland of the north, and Flax could even see a smaller secondary turret near the front that housed a pair of machine guns with large water jackets around their barrels. After slowly taking in the sight of an armored train for the first time, all she could do was let out a low whistle of amazement.

"Zhat is one big train," Amber whispered, sounding just as awe-struck as Flax felt. What she said next was almost just as bewildering. "We have to kill it."

"Taking the Reins" - Flax

Some fifteen minutes later, Flax still hadn't convinced Amber that this was a terrible idea. What was worse, after relaying their findings to Apple Blossom, she was on board with it too. Both mares had swiftly scurried back to their tanks and mounted up, driving right back to where they left Blossom behind to continue their scouting mission. Now here they were, all three mares standing in a loose huddle while their crews waited anxiously in their tanks a short distance away.

"I'm tellin' y'all, this is no good. They got way more firepower than the three of us - hell, more than our entire company of tanks. Ain't no way we can assault a fortress like that and expect to get anything but dead," Flax insisted, reiterating what she'd already said to Amber at least twice by now. Unfortunately, neither mare would hear it.

"You forget why we're out here in the first place," Blossom explained, trying her best to sound friendly despite her patience clearly wearing thin, "it's recon by fire. That includes firin' at the enemy from time to time, in case ya haven't picked up on that yet. We ain't gonna ride down there and get stuck in for a fight to the death, Flax. A little raid, just to remind 'em who they're dealin' with and to see if we can bait out any reinforcements. Ain't nothin' to fret over."

"What are one train and a bunch of rifleponies going to do to stop us, anyhow?" Amber interjected, still sounding supremely confident. "It is not as if zhey can run away! It will be like... er, how do you say it - fish in a bucket?"

Blossom chuckled at the mild language barrier Amber had run into, shaking her head. "Yeah, somethin' like that. You're a good enough shot anyway, so I wouldn't worry about 'em too much. If it's that much of a concern for ya, Flax, you can stick close to one of us while we charge down there."

By now, Flax had heard enough. Neither mare would listen to her, and she couldn't leave them to do this alone. She huffed quietly and closed her eyes, taking a moment to steady herself before finally answering. "Fine. We'll go, but we turn tail and run like hell the second they call for help. I ain't gettin' stuck down there tryin' to save either of your sorry asses 'cause ya went too deep." This answer seemed to placate Amber and Blossom both, the latter grinning while the former nodded firmly.

Without another word, Flax turned to head back to her tank and mount up. The other two did the same, hustling back to their respective machines and clambering up the sides. Flax was just settling back into her seat when Sage spoke up. "What'll it be, Flax? Couldn't bend their ears?"

"Nope. We're ridin' down the hill with 'em, right into whatever mess we just set ourselves up for. I'm gonna need all of you workin' your best if we wanna get through this in one piece. Any of y'all got any last objections?" Flax asked, lowering her seat so she could look everypony in her tank in the eye one by one. When nopony spoke up, Flax nodded. "Good. Cream, get ready to follow the two of 'em down the hill. Once we're out in the open, we'll wanna spread out and be a harder target until we get close enough to shoot back. Emerald, keep an ear to the radio and your hooves on your gun - lots of infantry down there, and I don't wanna miss any squawkin' for help comin' from Amber. Sage, we're gonna be slingin' HE for the majority of this little raid, so keep a round on hoof and one in the gun; I'll let ya know if I need solid shot."

All three mares answered with an affirmative, and their confidence - faked or otherwise - helped Flax to calm down just a tad. Everypony knew their job, and they were qualified to do it. With a little dash of luck, everything would go smoothly.

Just then, she heard an engine rev up outside. Blossom was moving, and a second later Amber was too. She didn't even have to give the order for Cream to follow suit. As their machine stalked closer to the edge of the treeline Flax could see more and more clearly, sunlight filtering through fewer tree limbs to get down to the ground. Just when they reached the edge, Flax braced herself against the inside of the turret and awaited the drop. "Hold on, y'all! Gonna get rough," she shouted, unable to use her intercom with her hooves occupied. A split second later, the entire tank pitched sharply forward as its center of gravity passed over the edge of the incline. There was an awful moment of freefall, a split second that seemed to last an eternity, before the ten-ton machine crashed onto the ground a meter below and kept rolling. Lights flickered and every loose item rattled and bounced, but nothing broke. Flax was proud once again.

The engine revved louder now that Cream was free to accelerate, and Flax peered through her vision blocks to watch the railyard getting closer. By the time they were crossing the creek - frozen solid as it was - they were moving at a fairly good clip, and Flax was surprised that they hadn't been spotted yet. Apple Bucker was thundering across the valley to Flax's right, and to their right was Snooper doing the very same. Each tank was followed by a cloud of snow and smoke, tearing their own path across the open ground. They were finally noticed when they were just a few hundred yards away from the outer walls.

The first response was to raise the alarm, a terrible wail sounding off from somewhere inside the compound while crystal ponies scrambled to defensive positions. Bullets were flying before the siren had even finished winding up, ineffective rifle fire occasionally pinging off of the outer hull of Flax's machine. Glancing aside, she saw the same was happening to her comrades. They swerved in different directions, Apple Bucker angling toward a particularly shabby section of wall while Snooper went straight for the main gate. Flax looked ahead for any obvious points of entry, eyes jumping left and right while her tank rocked and bounced across the valley toward its target. A moment later, she saw her chance.

"Cream, gentle left! We'll smash through that section of low wall there and come through on the western side of the compound! Floor it, and don't stop 'til you're through that wall! If we get stuck we're good as dead," Flax shouted, holding her microphone in front of her mouth with one hoof. Cream couldn't respond while using both hooves to operate the brake levers, but Flax knew she'd been heard when she felt her machine drifting to the side once more. As the last few meters between herself and the wall closed up, Flax braced herself against the walls of the turret again and closed her eyes. For a brief moment, her entire world was sound. The roaring engine, the muffled pops and bangs of rifles, and then the deafening SMASH as an unstoppable force met an immovable object. This time, the unstoppable force won out.

Opening her eyes, Flax wasn't terribly surprised to see that she was mostly blind. Her vision ports were all blocked by dust and snow tossed into the air, and as it cleared she could see that they were finally inside the railyard. The uneven prairie soil had turned into flat asphalt, and a glance through the rear view port revealed a pile of smashed and shattered bricks that had once been a wall. Flax also thought she saw the twisted remains of a rifle poking out of the rubble, but she tried to ignore that. After all, she had bigger problems. The sporadic dings and bumps had dramatically increased in rhythm, now an almost constant drumbeat of bullets on steel. Flax knew the grenades would be flying any second, so she leaned down and put her eye to her gunsight. Sage had already loaded the gun, so all Flax had to do was find her target.

While she was still traversing the turret, one hoof on the pedal while the hydraulics whined, Flax heard Emerald letting loose with the hull MG. She fired in short bursts just like she'd been trained, spraying into occupied windows and at any exposed Crystal troops. Flax went for a harder target, finding a small bunker made of sandbags and wood. It stood at the end of this "street", with a water-jacketed machine gun barrel poking out of the front. Three Crystal ponies ran inside to take their post, but Flax didn't intend to let them. She lined up her sights and exhaled slowly before slamming a forehoof on the firing button. The cannon went thud, the breech recoiled and kicked a shell out into the brass-catcher bag hung below it, and... it fell short?! Flax sat up and looked through her cupola to get a better view, cursing under her breath at the rapidly settling cloud of debris that had appeared a dozen or so meters in front of her intended target.

Cannon fire sounded out elsewhere while Sage reloaded the gun, reminding Flax that Apple Blossom and Amberholz had made it into the railyard almost exactly when she did. There had been no word on the radio, good or bad, and Flax decided that was a good sign for now. After Sage clapped her on the shoulder to signal that the gun was ready, Flax snugged her eye up to the scope again and adjusted her aim. Another shot, and this time it was a hit.

The shell went straight through the opening in the bunker's front, exploding inside and flinging the remains of the machine gun out onto the ground. Smoke poured out of every opening, and Flax knew it was done. Still peering through her gunsight, Flax also saw a stream of tracer bullets from Emerald's machine gun find their mark on a pair of fleeing soldiers. Grinning with grim satisfaction, Flax sat up again to look around in her cupola. "Cream, take us forward and hang a right at the intersection between them warehouses - we wanna group up with the other two if we can!"

Once again, Cream obliged without a word. The tank lurched forward and carried on down the paved street, leaving behind a path of destruction and bullet-riddled defenses. The railyard itself was a maze of storage and administrative buildings, all tightly packed and organized into something of a grid. Trucks and wagons occupied the edges of the road in most places, parked haphazardly where they'd been in the middle of being unloaded. It occurred to Flax that most of the ponies here were probably logistics troops who didn't have much in the way of anti-tank weaponry. Oh well, that just worked out better for her.

Flax took two more shots with her cannon on the way down the street, blasting apart trucks that were still loaded with materiel. The explosions scattered scrap metal and bits of wood in every direction, all while a hoofful of Crystal ponies still scrambled for cover. By the time they'd reached their turn, though, this "street" was nothing but an abandoned, flaming wreck. Peering through her vision blocks, Flax was slightly surprised to see that the next street looked empty too. Lots of equipment left behind, but no soldiers standing their ground and shooting. The chaos of the fight was still running high just a few buildings down, but this part of the railyard was eerily quiet.

"Cream, give her some more gas. We're wastin' time just sittin' here with nothin' to shoot at," Flax ordered, her voice calm despite her heart thundering away in her chest.

"Got it," Cream finally responded, managing to take a hoof away from her controls long enough to speak. "Flax, we're getting a little crowded here, don't you think? Those were quite a few infantry ponies running around..."

"Yeah, they were, but we got a job to do," Flax quickly answered, her resolve unshaken. "If we leave, the ones shootin' at us will just gang up on Blossom and Amber even more than they probably already are. We gotta help 'em if we can."

"Speaking of," Emerald interrupted, talking over the end of Flax's order. Flax frowned, but went quiet. "Amber's requesting assistance - sounds like these ponies have some firepower after all. She said she ran into a tank and hid behind a building, can't break from cover without giving them a shot. What do I tell her?"

Flax's jaw fell open for a moment. She anxiously glanced around through her vision ports, terrified that she'd somehow missed a tank in plain sight already, but for now, she was safe. They were still slowly rolling forward, creeping closer to a corner that would open up to another long street. The sounds of gun and cannon fire were getting closer, so Flax knew they were headed in the right direction. "Tell her we'll help," Flax finally answered, before turning to Sage. "We've already got HE loaded, yeah?"

"Aye, sure do. I'll get you solid shot next," Sage answered, already opening the ammo bin to replace the shell she was currently holding. The green-tipped projectile went away, and instead she grabbed one with a heavier, black slug that featured a white band near the nose.

"Much obliged," Flax said, grinning at her friend for a moment before turning her attention back to the outside world. It was at that exact moment that they were starting to round the corner, and Flax was immediately glad that Cream was going so slow. Had they been rolling any faster, the Crystal ponies hastily wheeling an anti-tank gun toward the fight might've noticed them. As it was, they were all facing away from Flax's machine a few dozen meters down the road. They were pulling the small cannon through an alleyway, but they would be in the open for a few more seconds. That was all the time Flax needed.

She rotated her turret until her sights were lined up, double-checked her elevation, and let another round fly. The muzzle flash blinded her for just a second, but when it cleared she knew her aim was true. The gun was tossed over onto its side, and three of the four ponies towing it were in a very bad way. The fourth scampered away with shrapnel wounds, Flax guessed, and wouldn't be worth pursuing.

Sage tapped Flax's shoulder again when the gun was loaded, and Flax nodded. "Alright - Cream, keep us movin'. I want all of y'all keepin' an eye out for that tank, plus any friends he might have rollin' around. I doubt they just have the one."

Almost as if on cue, Apple Blossom's voice came through on Flax's headset. "Flax, where in the hell are you?! Amber and I are backed into a dead-end street, and they're puttin' on the squeeze! We're tradin' shots with at least two tanks, and I'm bettin' they got more. If you're deeper in the compound, try 'n' flank 'em!"

Flax's blood ran cold. One tank was bad, two were worse, and two almost certainly meant there would be more. Sucking a breath through clenched teeth, she keyed her intercom again. "Alright, change of plans. Amber 'n' Blossom are stuck, and they're countin' on us. Cream, floor it. We ain't stoppin' for anythin'!" A split second later, Flax was clutching her gun controls while her machine leaped forward and raced down the road. Buildings rushed past her viewports wherever she looked, and yet there was still a troubling lack of resistance. Only the occasional straggler here and there, none of them brave enough or armed enough to be worth the time or ammunition to dispatch them. Flax knew something was up, but she didn't have time to figure it out.

A few moments later, after rounding one more corner, Flax could finally see her targets. Two more of the squat little tanks like she'd fought the other day, with their flat, hexagonal turrets and tiny guns. They were parked side by side a little ways down the road, both of their guns turned away from Flax and toward the large warehouse Amber and Blossom had taken cover inside of. The tank on the left fired blindly, putting an armor-piercing shell through the wall of the warehouse. A second later, Blossom spoke again with the tail end of her previous comment coming through. "... son of a bitch that was close. Flax, where are you?! They're aimin' to kill us, damnit!"

"Emerald, tell the Lieutenant to keep her britches on. Just sit tight for a couple more seconds," Flax groused, fully expecting Emerald to deliver the message somewhat more tactfully. In the meantime, she was lining up her sights with the tank that hadn't fired yet. She took aim at the back of its hull and fired, and at such close range, it was practically impossible to miss. The shell punched through the paper-thin armor in the rear and buried itself into the engine and transmission of the Crystal tank. Sage was still reloading the gun when the enemy tank burst into flames, a fuel fire quickly engulfing the back half of the vehicle while the crew tossed open their hatches to bail out.

Emerald hesitated to shoot, just like last time, and Flax knew she'd have to talk to her about that later. Fortunately for the moment, Sage had no such reservations. Sage disconnected the coaxial machine gun and took control of it, hosing down two of the four ponies fleeing their stricken machine. The other tank crew had apparently noticed the demise of their comrades, their turret slowly spinning around to face their unseen attacker. Flax adjusted her aim just in time to send a shell through the side of their turret, stopping it halfway toward its target. After a reload from Sage, Flax also put a round into this tank's engine - just like the first, its fuel tanks caught fire and doomed the machine.

Finally, after the longest thirty seconds of her life, Flax slumped back in her seat. The cold steel of the turret was comforting compared to the sweltering heat created by the engine. Mopping some sweat off of her brow with one hoof, Flax nudged the back of Emerald's head with another. "Emerald... tell 'em they're free to come outta the warehouse now. Tanks are dead."

Emerald seemed more than a little irritated with Flax's methods of getting her attention, but Flax could care less. Her heart was beating like a drumroll in her chest, and her forehooves had started shaking again. Shifting her head to the side, Flax suddenly remembered that she was fortunate enough to have a solution to at least one of her problems. She turned around and opened the turret storage box, fetching the pack of good cigarettes Sage had given her. She plucked one out and lit up, then exhaled her smoke into the turret ventilator fan above her head to avoid clogging the fighting compartment with even more smoke.

Sitting up again and looking through her cupola, Flax watched the grey, boxy shapes of two Equestrian tanks hesitantly rolling out of the large garage door they'd smashed their way through moments ago. Their turrets were pointed in opposite directions, watching either flank as Apple Bucker led Snooper back onto the street. They approached until they were as close as they could get, blocked off by the two disabled Crystal tanks in the middle of the road. Once again, an odd silence had fallen over the street. Flax could hear the flames burning ferociously as they consumed the two machines she'd knocked out, and the heat was intense enough to melt rubber and boil fluids. It was a uniquely awful smell, thick and heavy with chemicals, and it seemed to stick to the inside of Flax's nose even as she covered her muzzle with a hoof to try and block it out.

"Damn fine shootin', Flax," Blossom said, her voice full of pride and only slightly frayed. She covered it well, but Flax could tell her commander was still anxious. "Meet us on the next street over and we'll keep pushin'! This is goin' even better than I was hopin'. Next, we gotta get that train..."

)()()()()()()(

It took only a couple of minutes for all three tanks to be reunited. Flax guided Cream backward until she could turn around, then directed her to follow the narrow passage between two buildings that led to the next street. There, Apple Bucker and Snooper were waiting to continue the attack. Still no sign of any more Crystal troops, Flax noted, and she got the distinct feeling that something was up. It was more than a hunch by now, she'd decided. It was true, and it was only a matter of time before whatever trap they were laying was sprung.

"Emerald, would ya be so kind as to point out to Blossom that there's somethin' off about the fight so far? Been real easy to push our way in here... I'm worryin' that they're drawin' us in."

"Understood, I'll pass it along," Emerald answered, before cutting herself off to swap from intercom to radio. Flax waited for a moment, watching Apple Blossom's tank through her right viewport, and though she couldn't see the other mare she got the feeling she was looking right back when she answered.

"If it's a trap, we'll be more than ready to fight our way out of it. We're in this far, I ain't backin' off now. Amber, you take point. I'll follow behind you, and Flax can head up the rear while we head for the middle of the yard. Hopefully that train wasn't ready to high-tail it outta here when we showed up..."

Flax cursed through clenched teeth, slamming a forehoof against the side of the turret hard enough to be audible over the engine's purr. "Damn fool," she spat, not even bothering with the intercom. "She's gonna get herself killed, and drag us down with her if she ain't careful."

Flax paused to simmer, eyes narrowed while she glared at her surroundings. She flinched when Sage laid a hoof on her shoulder from across the turret, looking over to see her friend awkwardly reaching past the cannon's recoil guard. "It'll work out fine, lass. You cannae change her mind, so ye best listen to her for now. We can raise a fuss about it later," she said, trying her best to sound reassuring. It didn't help much.

Still, she was right. Flax had a job to do, and she wasn't going to help Blossom's odds any by sitting back and being pissed off at her. Rolling her shoulders and clearing her mind, Flax nodded slowly. "Thanks, Sage..." she said, her voice trailing off as she looked her friend in the eye. A moment passed in silence before Flax turned away and keyed her microphone. "Cream, get ready. We're gonna be back of the pack again while we get closer to our main target."

"You got it! I'll keep us rolling. Still going to need your directions though - I can barely tell where we're going with all of this clutter blocking my view," Cream responded, leaning back and craning her neck to look up at Flax as she spoke. Flax met her gaze and nodded.

A moment later, everyone heard the growl of engines as Snooper took off in the lead. Apple Bucker followed close behind them, and Flax kept an eye out through her left and right viewports while Cream eased her machine forward to complete the formation. It was slow going, all three tanks weaving and swerving to dodge abandoned crates and various other objects. A truck tried its best to halt the advance, either deliberately positioned as a roadblock or simply left behind when the infantry scurried away. Regardless, it was hardly an obstacle. Snooper rammed it at full speed, and while the machine wasn't tall enough to outright crush the lighter vehicle, it smashed it aside and nearly flipped it over. With the road cleared, Apple Bucker and Flax's machine could rumble right past it.

The advance was going remarkably smoothly as they neared the train tracks in the middle of the compound. The buildings here were smaller and more open, most of them barely having walls to speak of and instead serving merely as protection from rain or snow. The artificial canopy was supported by an orderly jungle of metal beams, each one spaced out equally and with plenty of room for wagons and trucks to pass through while trains were unloaded. Boxes of varying sizes were scattered about, providing visual cover from certain angles, and Flax was suddenly even more anxious than before. Too much open space and not enough solid cover; her machine was a big target.

"Slow down, y'all," Blossom ordered over the radio, her voice low as if somepony could actually hear her inside her tank, "heads on a swivel until we get outta this here pavilion."

Flax relayed the order to Cream, and she watched as Apple Bucker and Snooper slowed to a crawl in front of her. They were still close together, rolling along in single file, but now Flax could get a better look at every possible firing position before they passed it up. Flax could hear - and feel - her heart thumping in her ears, her breathing slow and steady while she scanned her surroundings through the frustratingly limited field of view her cupola provided. She wanted to poke her head out, to get a better look, but the logical part of her mind told her that would be a death sentence.

So instead she just waited. Waited for the inevitable attack that would spell the end for her, her crew, or the ponies in the other two tanks. There was no sign of the enemy in here, and yet she was certain it was coming. Soon enough, her fears were confirmed.

It was a lone gunshot - a muffled BANG from somewhere only a dozen meters away. Flax caught it out of the corner of her eye, the muzzle flash of an anti-tank rifle firing from within a pile of crates and tarps. The blast tossed dust and paperwork into the air, and the armor-piercing bullet found its mark. Apple Bucker abruptly spun to the left, metal screeching on concrete as the tracks spun wildly. Pressing her eyes against the forward vision block, Flax saw that the left track had been severed by the impact. It wasn't until the vehicle had turned a full ninety degrees that Blossom's driver managed to stop, now pointing directly at their unseen attacker.

"Shit! Full stop, defensive formation," Blossom yelled, ringing Flax's ears with her panicked order. Flax hadn't the slightest idea what "defensive formation" looked like when she was a fish in a barrel, but she knew there was a better option than sitting still. First, she traversed her turret until she lined up a shot with where the anti-tank rifle fired from. Slamming the button on her right, Flax was reminded that Sage had loaded solid shot when all she got was a round hole blasted clean through one crate and not much else.

"Sage, HE!" Flax barked, pulling her eye away from the scope to look at her loader. Sage was already obliging the order before it had even been given, plucking one shell from the ammo rack and arming it before slamming it into the breech. At the same time, the air was cut apart by the staccato rhythm of several machine guns opening fire at once. Emerald was shooting, and so was Amber's radio pony. Blossom's tank lacked a hull machine gun, and her loader was apparently too preoccupied to use the coax.

Blossom fired before Sage could reload the gun for Flax to finish the job, though she too was stuck with an armor-piercing shell at first. This one at least hit something solid, tearing through the concealed fighting position and the Crystal pony within. When the pile of crates collapsed in on itself, giving away that the shooter was dead, the fight abruptly stopped.

"Y'all okay?" Flax asked, even if she knew the answer. A round of affirmatives from her crew, and she was satisfied. "Good. Emerald, talk to Blossom and see what needs to be done. Cream, get ready to hop out and help 'em get their track replaced - we'll cover you if-"

BOOM!

Another gunshot, and this one was far louder. It came from the other direction, to Flax's right and directly behind Apple Bucker. Flax didn't even look at the source of the sound. Instead, she looked straight ahead and watched as a tank shell passed clean through the rear of Apple Bucker's hull and back out the front. The rear plate was badly dented and only hanging on by a few loose bolts, and the front plate looked like it nearly shattered from the force of the shell penetrating it from inside.

Snooper was the first to return fire, and Flax finally tore her gaze away from Blossom's tank to see her assailant. It was a Crystal tank on the far side of the storage area, once again concealed by camouflaged netting and stacked crates. A long, slender barrel protruded from a round, barrel-shaped turret. The hull was short and boxy, and it didn't look to be much larger than Flax's machine overall - save for that long gun. Amber's shot went wide, missing the side of the enemy's turret by a foot or two and slicing through a nearby support beam before carrying on into a wall.

"Tank! Cream, back up and get us turned to face them head-on, we'll try and draw their fire away from Blossom while she tries to bail out. Sage, switch back to AP!" Flax ordered, already traversing the turret to get the gun on target. The hydraulics whined as it seemingly took an eternity, but she saw the silhouette of a vehicle entering her gunsight soon enough. Flax knew she had high-explosive loaded, but she had to fire in order to clear the breech. Lining up her shot with the enemy tank's turret face, she slammed the firing button once more and braced for the recoil.

When the fire and smoke cleared from her field of view, Flax wasn't surprised to see her shell had little effect. The front of the Crystal tank was scored and blackened, but hardly damaged. Its engine roared as it suddenly rolled forward, crushing and tearing its concealment as it pressed closer. Snooper fired again, and this time Amber's aim was better. Her shell hit the side of the turret where she'd narrowly missed before, though it was just as ineffective. The sharp angle led to a ricochet, and the shell made a very odd warbling noise as it tumbled through the air away from its target.

"Flax!" Emerald shouted, derailing Flax's tactical thought. "Amber says to try and swing wide, we can encircle the enemy and force them to focus on just one of us!"

"Sounds like a plan. Cream, floor it! Try and put us between Blossom and that damn gun before they fire again!" Flax answered, pulling her eye away from her sight once more to avoid hurting herself when her machine lurched forward. Cream had just put the tank back into gear and started moving when the enemy tank's turret started to traverse and line up another shot. They had to be careful, maneuvering such a long gun past all those steel beams, but they still had ample time to find their target. Flax realized her plan was too little, too late.

She looked through her left vision block, mouth slightly agape, and desperately hoped to see Apple Bucker with her hatches already open and her crew dismounted. Unfortunately, she was still buttoned up. Apple Blossom hadn't even begun to get to safety when the Crystal tank fired again, this time finding its mark on the back of Blossom's turret. Just like the first shell, it punched in one side and back out the other. The turret jolted in its mount from the impact, and Flax saw the first sparks of a fire beginning to burn inside the engine bay. She couldn't see for herself, but she knew the inside of that tank likely wasn't a pretty picture. Apple Blossom and her crew were gone.

This time, Flax couldn't even muster up a curse. Just like with Vanadium a few days prior, she just stared while her eyes burned with tears that wouldn't fall. Apple Bucker sat motionless, smoke beginning to pour out of the four new holes in her armor, and for a short moment Flax forgot everything else around her. She'd barely known her lieutenant for a month by this point, but her death stung all the same. Apple Blossom had a good head on her shoulders most of the time, Flax knew, and up until now her recklessness had always paid off in some way or another. Today, it seems, Blossom's luck ran out.

Flax was shocked out of her thoughts by another cannon going off, this time from Amber. She didn't see the effect on target, but seeing as the Crystal tank was still moving when Flax looked through her sights, she assumed it was another ricochet. Flax waited while Cream guided her machine forward, support beams rushing past Flax's crosshairs like fence posts on a country road. The enemy tank was mere meters away when she finally took her shot, dead on with their side. Flax's gun thundered once more, dropping an empty case into the brass bag, and Flax was rewarded with the sight of a penetrating hit.

Her shell cut clean through the flat side armor of the Crystal tank, embedding itself deep inside and stopping the turret in the middle of its path to line up a shot on Snooper. Mere seconds later, Snooper fired again from the opposite side and had a similarly effective shot. Flax couldn't see it, but she heard the crunch and squeal of metal being torn apart from the impact.

Cream had eased the tank to a stop by now, leaving the engine idling while Flax stared through her gunsight at the motionless Crystal tank. Sage had already loaded another round, and Flax was silently daring the enemy to move again. When a full minute passed with no signs of life, she let out a heavy sigh and slumped back in her seat. There was another moment or two of tense silence while everypony gathered themselves and calmed their nerves, and it was Emerald who eventually broke the silence.

"Flax," she croaked, her voice suddenly weak, "Amber called, and... asked what we do now. The mission is in your hooves now, ma'am." She hadn't seen what became of Apple Blossom and her tank, but Flax could tell that Emerald knew well enough already. Sitting up straight again, Flax looked around the interior of her tank slowly before finally answering.

"We retreat. We're in deep enough already, and I ain't riskin' our lives anymore tryin' to get that damned train. It'll just have to get away this time," she said, her voice cold as the ice outside. "But first... I gotta do somethin'. Cover me, and tell Amber to keep an eye out too."

Flax pulled off her headset while Emerald started to relay the message. She turned around in her seat and grabbed her submachine gun, checking the magazine to make sure it was loaded. Satisfied, she swung her hatch open and climbed out of her machine and into the comparatively frigid air. Flax dropped down onto the concrete and stepped away from her tank, weapon slung around her side, and marched up to stand beside Apple Bucker. She stood outside her for a long moment, her mind torn between desperately hoping to hear something and nothing at the same time. Eventually, the latter turned out to be true.

She steeled herself, mentally preparing for what she knew was inside, and climbed up the side of the hull. Flax wrenched the turret hatch open and peered in through the cupola, and her heart sank down to the pit of her stomach when her fears were confirmed. It was an ugly scene, but at least it had been quick. She hesitantly reached inside, bumping Apple Blossom's mangled remains out of the way, and fetched the case containing all of her maps. They were of no use to Blossom anymore, and Flax knew she'd need them if she was going to take over.

After stashing the map case in her belt, Flax lingered for a few seconds more. She couldn't bear to look at the nightmarish scene inside the tank for much longer, but there was one last thing she needed. Reaching her forehoof inside one last time, she found Blossom's body again and yanked her tags and rank tabs free from her uniform.

After stashing the tiny, bloodstained items in her pocket, Flax carefully closed the hatch again and hopped back down to the floor. She silently walked back over to her tank, climbed inside, and stashed the map case in the turret storage bin right beside where she returned her submachine gun. Nopony spoke as Flax slammed her hatch shut, but Cream knew what she needed to do as she got their machine spun around and began to lead the way back to Riverpool.

Author's Note

Breaking my own rules to do a double feature, I know, but I really wanted to do this battle from Flax's perspective.

"Out of the Frying Pan..." - Cream

Cream rolled her shoulders for what had to be the tenth time in the last five minutes. She was trying to cool her nerves, to settle her mind. The fighting was over, at least for now, and all she had to do was guide her tank back out of the railyard the way it came in. The atmosphere in the fighting compartment, though, was heavier than ever. Flax hadn't uttered a word since she returned from her brief outing to Apple Bucker's remains, and nopony else had dared to try and break the silence - or rather, relative silence. The rumbling of the engine, the squeaking of the suspension, and the rattling of the tracks made for a cacophony of background noise. It wasn't anything like the gentle purr of the four-cylinder engine in her supply truck, but Cream was already learning to tune it out.

The only remaining tank besides their own, Snooper, had taken up the rear while they maneuvered through the destruction left behind by their advance. Cream couldn't see much through her small viewports, but she saw enough to know that this outpost had been woefully unprepared for an armored attack. A few corpses lay around on the narrow streets, cut down by machine gun fire, shrapnel, explosions, or some combination of the three. Cream could only do her best not to run over them on her way out, now.

Come to think of it, she never even saw the armored train they'd initially come here to take out. The pessimistic side of her mind told her that meant this was all for nothing, but she attempted to find a... well, not a happier answer, but one that wasn't so bleak. Apple Blossom and her crew hadn't died for nothing, after all. They still made a racket and put a damper on the Crystal Empire's ability to use this railyard, not to mention destroying valuable supplies. Cream heaved a quiet sigh. It wasn't much reassurance, but it was the best she could come up with to try and cheer herself up.

"Hang a left here, we can just use the front gate now that it ain't guarded," Flax suddenly said, speaking over the intercom and startling Cream out of her thoughts.

"Got it, ma'am. Do we... head back to base, once we're clear of the yard?" Cream asked, taking her hoof away from the right brake lever while her other hoof pulled back on the left to begin the turn.

"Yup. We gotta let everyone know what happened as soon as possible, and... I gotta pick up where Blossom left off."

"Will do," Cream mumbled, unsure if she even remembered to use the intercom this time. Instead, she just focused straight ahead.

The front gate of the yard came into view soon enough, little more than a gap in the brick wall with a wooden gate to give the illusion of security. Cream simply carried on in a straight line, letting her machine smash through the wooden obstacle without so much as slowing down. With the gate liberated from its hinges, Snooper was free to follow right behind - Cream could just barely make out the shape in the tiny, dirty mirror placed on her machine's front right fender. It had barely been of use when it was new, and now it sported a large, horizontal crack and a smattering of ash and snow covering part of its surface.

Carrying on across the wide plain between the yard and the forest, Cream finally eased the throttle forward and shifted in her seat as her machine picked up speed. The speedometer steadily climbed toward the highest reading, but she knew it never quite made it even on a downhill drive. Now, running with the throttle wide open and the cover of the trees fast approaching, Cream's ear twitched as she listened to the engine working behind her. It sounded... off. It wasn't anything major, or at least she didn't guess it was based on the sound, but it sounded like it was running rougher than normal. A glance across the instrument panel revealed no warning lights or unusual gauge readings, so Cream dismissed it for now.

Instead, Cream focused on the sharp incline that was rapidly approaching. She eased back on the throttle a little, hoping to lighten the impact, and braced herself against her seat. Glancing around at her friends, she saw them doing the same. Wait...

Cream mentally paused, zoning out for a split second. Were they really friends? Probably. They'd certainly had their share of "bonding time" over near-death experiences, but she didn't really know any of them that well. Sage and Flax were friends, but they seemed closed off to her and Emerald. Emerald was another story entirely. That was all the further Cream got, though, before being shaken out of her thoughts. The tank rattled and clanked as it met the almost sheer wall of dirt, its treads biting into the soft surface and beginning to climb. The front end rose awkwardly, pitching up a few feet before finding traction on the top. The engine whined a little louder, and Cream quickly shifted to a lower gear to allow her machine to complete the climb.

After a few seconds of slipping and sliding, not to mention plenty of dirt and snow excavated from beneath the tracks, Cream was bounced in her seat by the front half of her tank slamming back down onto level ground. Glancing through the viewport to her right, she saw Snooper having similar success. Maybe she could talk to their driver and pick up some more insight once they got back home...

)()()()()()()(

Cream had zoned out once again during the two-hour drive back to Riverpool. The road was long and winding but devoid of interesting landmarks. On top of that, she'd already seen it once on the way out here. Add that familiarity to the extreme wave of tiredness that always came after a battle, not to mention the darkening sky outside, and it was all Cream could do to keep her eyes open and on the road. Even despite her best efforts, her attention was wandering.

Cream glanced aside, pretending to keep one eye on the road through her vision slit while looking around at the interior of her machine. Conversation had been sparse, to say the least, and everypony seemed to be doing their best to wind down. Flax had finished off a cigarette or three since leaving the railyard, each one signaled by her opening the pistol port at the back of the turret and discarding the butt... Emerald had first busied herself with doing her best to do a maintenance check on her MG without removing it from its mount, then spent the rest of the drive brooding... and Sage...

Actually, Cream didn't know what Sage was doing over the last hour and some minutes. The mare sat right behind her, up in the turret, so it was difficult to get a good look. Whatever she'd been doing was quiet, at least, so Cream didn't have any reason to assume she had suddenly turned into a chatterbug.

A rough crunching sound tore Cream from her thoughts, and she flinched as she realized she was beginning to doze off in her seat. Sitting bolt upright, Cream pressed her face up against her viewport and saw that she'd let her machine drift to the side and into the ditch on the side of the road. She overcorrected one way, then evened out with a little swerve to set herself back on course. The swaying and shaking didn't go unnoticed, however.

"Just making sure we're all awake?" Emerald snarked, looking over from her reclined position. She'd leaned her seat back and shut her eyes, keeping her radio headset over her ears just in case. Now, she was propping herself up on the elbows of her forelegs.

"Yep! Gotta keep us ready, right?" Cream said, looking back with her winningest smile despite the obvious lie. Emerald let her off the hook as easily as she'd tried to catch her on it, merely rolling her eyes and settling back down. Cream breathed a quiet sigh of relief and settled back into her chair now that they were rolling along smoothly again.

The countryside was still rolling by at a good clip, and Cream had yet to let off the throttle since climbing that slope at the start of their journey. The engine still didn't sound perfectly healthy, but none of her gauges gave any indication of a problem. By now, she'd decided it was something to check once they parked for the night; after all, it had been a day or two since the last checkup. Then again... she'd never given this machine a proper checkup, now that she thought about it.

Cream realized she only knew how to even do such a thing after her friend in Morning Dew's crew, and she'd only learned that two nights ago. Everything before that was just guesswork and assumptions based on what little she knew about maintaining her truck. A mild sense of dread fell over Cream as it dawned on her that she could've completely glossed over an issue without even knowing it. But... it was probably fine. The engine was noisy because it's never been running for this long at one time before, probably, and it was adapting to drawing from the secondary fuel tank now that the main was getting low. That made some degree of sense, at least to Cream, even if she didn't fully understand how the system worked to begin with.

"Emerald, wake up," came Flax's gruff voice from up above. Cream glanced aside, despite the words being directed at somepony else.

"Yes, ma'am?" Emerald asked, after snapping to attention and raising her seat. She looked like she'd been seconds away from a nap.

"First of all, keep your damn eyes open. Second, get on the radio and check in with Amber. See how they're doin'."

Though Emerald was careful to hide the gesture from Flax, Cream saw the unicorn mare roll her eyes. Suppressing a giggle, Cream turned away and looked at the road again while listening in to the radio call as it began. Emerald was inaudible to Flax and Sage, sitting far enough away that her voice was drowned out by the engine, but Cream had the luxury of being right beside her in the cramped hull.

"Platoon lead to tank twelve, how copy?" Emerald asked, repeating a line she'd used hundreds of times by now to establish comms. A moment later, she continued. "Requesting a status report - anything new on your end? We're about thirty minutes out from HQ."

Cream waited while Emerald received her answer, unable to hear the other side of the conversation even from so close. Emerald's general lack of interest betrayed the message before she even spoke - Cream could tell nothing exciting was going on in Amber's tank either. Then again, had anything actually happened, they probably would've said something rather than waiting for Flax to check in...

"Copy that. Relaying your message," Emerald said, before swapping her headset over to the intercom. When she spoke again, Cream heard her voice through the headset instead of slightly muffled. "Amber's doing fine, but she says she's going to need time to repair once we get back to Riverpool. Reported a couple of non-penetrating hits from anti-tank rifles during the engagement."

"Much obliged," Flax said, her voice devoid of any real satisfaction or gratitude. "Back on radio silence. We don't need any Shinies between here and there playin' the same game you did and listening in on us."

"Understood," Emerald said, settling back into her seat and rubbing her eyes with one hoof. With the exchange apparently over, Cream saw the opportunity to bug Emerald instead. She leaned over, just a little, and stuck out her elbow to bump the other mare's side. "What?" Emerald hissed, forgoing the intercom to speak somewhat privately.

"Nothing," Cream said, acting innocent, "just getting you to help me stay focused, too."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Is Amber's radio pony Germane too, or is it just her? And if they are, are they even harder to understand over the radio than they are normally?"

Emerald gave an exaggerated eye-roll, crossing her forehooves over her chest and slumping back. "No, it's just the commander. Perhaps somepony higher up the chain realized how big of a mistake it would be to put someone who can barely speak Equestrian in the radio pony's seat."

"I'll bet they did! Wonder how many ponies like her are in the army as a whole, though," Cream continued, using this new line of thought to keep herself entertained. A smile had already found a home on her lips, and though Emerald seemed to be resisting the urge to do anything but frown, Cream could tell she was already feeling a little less dour.

"Not many, if I had to guess. If you recall, that region was one of the first to be overrun when the invasion began - just a few days after the first shots, and the papers were already talking about a mass retreat in the region." Emerald looked thoughtful, pulling up details she'd almost entirely discarded. "That does make me wonder, though... what are the rockheads doing with all those ponies? All the intel I've ever been given or overheard says they're short on troops across the board."

"What, you think they're pressing them into service?"

"Huh? No. No way they'd get those ponies to join up so soon after blowing up their towns. I just wonder what else they're doing, or if it's even a stable occupation of the area. The front has been quite static since that initial push."

"Some kind of resistance, then? Or... maybe the Crystal ponies are using the locals for labor?"

"Those make more sense, especially the latter."

"Then again," Cream said, taking one hoof away from her controls to point at Emerald for emphasis, "what if that intel is wrong? I don't get to see or hear much, but even I know our recon ponies miss the mark as often as they hit it."

Emerald looked uncomfortable with that line of thinking, hesitating a moment before answering. "Possible. Worryingly likely, even. Our only advantages so far have been more ponypower and more land to give, I'd hate to see one of those go out the window so soon."

"Are those really all we have going for us, though? These tanks seem to be doing pretty well, for example."

"Maybe... doesn't do us any good if we don't deploy them just right, though, does it? Even in the beginning, I overheard plenty of units making radio calls while desperate for supplies we couldn't give them. It was bleak, and... probably why I was so eager to make a hero of myself."

"That was all before I joined up, but I've heard stories. I'm just glad we patched it all together before it fell apart for real," Cream said, feeling a shudder run up her back at the thought of 'what if'. Thankfully, Emerald had an answer that reassured her.

"It wouldn't have. We'd be hard-pressed to bungle things worse than we already did, but the war wouldn't have ended overnight. I didn't know all the details, but I knew enough to feel confident. I still do. After all, this whole mission is happening because we're back on the offensive, isn't it?"

Cream opened her mouth to respond, but cut herself off when a new sound reached her ears. It sounded like the distant rumble of thunder, but... different. Heavier. Stronger. Her blood suddenly ran like ice in her veins, and she peered through her forward and starboard viewports to try and get a fix on the sound. Evidently, Flax noticed it too. The hatch in the turret swung open, and Cream heard a creak as the mare stood up in her seat to get a better view. The rumbling was at an unnatural pitch and rhythm, and it seemed to be coming from everywhere straight ahead.

With a sinking feeling, Cream realized that she recognized the sound after all.

Guns. Lots of them.

"And Into the Fire" - Emerald

"Emerald, get on the radio," Flax ordered, her voice suddenly strained. "We oughta be close enough to HQ now. Ask 'em what's goin' on."

Emerald swallowed a lump in her throat before nodding her head, already channeling her magic to flip switches and turn knobs on her radio set. It took just a few seconds for her to find the correct frequency, and she didn't even get the chance to open her mouth before chatter started pouring through on the very crowded network.

"Two tanks, northwestern flank! Where the hell is that anti-tank gun?!"

"Northeast! They're pinned down and can't assist!"

"What about our armor?!"

"Occupied! You're gonna have to sort those tanks out yourself!"

And the stream of shouted questions and answers continued to bounce back and forth, a small cast of officers desperately trying to coordinate a defense against - at least what it sounded like to Emerald - a superior force. Emerald quickly swapped back to the intercom channel, grateful for the sudden silence in her headset, before looking over her shoulder to meet Flax's gaze. "They're already in the thick of it, ma'am. It sounds like the Shinies came in behind us and launched an attack on the town. It's... not sounding pretty, at the moment."

Silence hung in the air for a long moment, and Emerald was just about to repeat her conclusion when Flax finally spoke. "Get back on our net and tell 'em they've got help comin', and to watch their fire. We're gonna hit the Crystal troops from behind and pen them in - with any luck, they ain't gonna realize it's just two tanks hittin' 'em from back here."

Emerald fidgeted in her seat, already feeling uneasy about the hastily assembled plan that Flax seemed to be running with, but nodded once again. "Understood, ma'am. I'll pass it along. Shall I tell Amber the gameplan as well?"

"She'll need to know. Tell her to follow our lead, and to make sure she don't stray too far away from us unless we start takin' direct fire. Ain't much cover out here..."

Emerald nodded again, then turned to her radio set and got to work. Her hooves were shaking too much to manipulate the controls with any degree of accuracy, so Emerald continued to use her telekinesis instead. Her horn was bright compared to the dimly lit fighting compartment, its green glow casting long shadows behind the protruding levers and boxes all around. After tuning into the platoon frequency again, Emerald keyed her microphone and spoke. "Platoon lead to tank twelve, how copy?"

"Tank twelve, loud and clear. Orders?"

"Follow us as closely as you can, and separate once we start taking direct fire. We are going to attempt to encircle the Crystal units attacking headquarters and take some of the heat off of ours. Hold fire until we give the signal."

"Roger-dodger, relaying to Amber now." And with a quiet pop of static, Emerald heard the stallion on the other end swap his radio back to the intercom. He seemed like an agreeable pony, if a little unprofessional. Assuming they all came out of this engagement in one piece, Emerald supposed she might even owe him some gratitude for being such a good radio operator to work with.

Then, Emerald remembered she still had one more radio call to make. She hastily tuned her radio, finding the company frequency again and preparing her ears for the onslaught of voices again. They were just as loud as last time, just barely avoiding talking over each other, and it took several seconds for Emerald to find an opening to force herself through. "All units, this is company lead - suspend radio traffic to receive new orders!"

There were a few more hasty calls back and forth before every voice went silent, save for the muffled sounds of gunfire leaking into several microphones. Emerald gulped again when she heard yells for help through her headset, so far away and yet so close. It felt like an eternity had passed before she finally found the words she needed. "Tank twenty-one has assumed control of the company after the loss of tank eleven and First Lieutenant Apple Blossom. New orders are as follows: adjust fire to avoid hitting friendlies approaching the enemy from the rear, prepare an opening in the defensive line to allow two tanks to rejoin the rest of the force after a breakthrough is made."

Another moment passed in tense silence before a mare shouted back. "An opening?! The rockheads are gonna make an opening of their own in a few minutes! We can't hold this damn line much longer, and if they get through the perimeter they'll get right to the wounded. We don't have anywhere to move them!"

Emerald took a breath and steeled herself, weighing her options. She could relay the concerns to Flax, or she could shut them down herself. The former was likely the right idea, but the latter was something else. A chance to prove herself, at the very least. Eventually, Emerald made up her mind. "The orders stand. Company lead, out." With a flip of a switch, Emerald had switched back to the intercom. "Orders are out, ma'am. Everyone knows the plan now."

"Good work," Flax praised, before looking up and making sure her hatch was securely locked shut. "Now keep an ear out for Amber needin' our help. Whatever's happenin' inside the defensive perimeter is their problem, we'll worry about it once we make sure they'll be alive when we get there. Sage, make sure we have high-explosive loaded."

"Already on it, lass," Sage responded, speaking up for the first time in over an hour. "Emerald, how's your ammo looking? Need another box for the hull gun?"

Emerald glanced down, checking her ammunition supply for... come to think of it, the very first time. She'd barely done any shooting so far, and it showed. The spare box in the rack by her left hindleg was full, and the belt currently loaded into the gun was still more than half full. The pile of shell casings on her right was small, and it had mostly spread out with all the rattling and shaking the tank did on the road. Momentarily distracted, Emerald found her eyes drawn to the floor of the vehicle. Shell casings were spread out like a carpet, albeit one with more holes than anything else, and they all noisily slid around as the machine rolled along. There were small puddles of oil here and there, leaking out of the more exposed components, and... was that a slip of paper jammed under the turret basket?

"Are your ears just painted on, lass? I asked about your ammo, not the damned floor," Sage repeated, sounding just the slightest bit impatient. Emerald flinched, nearly slamming her horn into the hull roof again, and looked up at Sage.

"I'm fine on ammo, thank you!" Emerald finally shouted back, making sure her eye roll went unnoticed. Settling into her seat again, she double-checked her machine gun and made sure a round was chambered. Then, for the first time since hearing the sounds of battle in the distance, Emerald put her eyes up to her viewport and took a look.

The first thing she noticed were several pillars of black, oily smoke trailing into the sky. The base of each pillar was glowing a fiery orange, marking the spot of a roaring flame. On the ground, each of those fires was feeding off of the blasted hulk of a disabled tank. More Crystal tanks than Equestrian, so far, but Emerald could already see the unmistakable grey, boxy silhouette of one recon tank knocked out of action. It was in a hull-down position, buried up to its turret in sandbags and snow, but that hadn't been enough to save it from an anti-tank shell. The sun was on its way down now, leaving the world in a state of twilight, and the dim was illuminated by tracer bullets flying back and forth like bolts of magic. Yellow bolts were from Crystal soldiers, and red ones were from Equestrians, flying back and forth and targeting each other's points of origin whenever they could.

The pops and bangs of rifles were mostly drowned out by the cacophony of machine gun fire from both sides, the bright muzzle flashes giving away the position of the automatic guns and necessitating frequent repositioning. Emerald watched as her fellow Equestrians scrambled to keep their guns on the move, soldiers just barely visible as silhouettes against the large, dark shapes of houses and other buildings in Riverpool. Most of the light for the battle was supplied by a burning building, its red and orange flames licking at the sky and rather unhelpfully illuminating a portion of the Equestrian line. As her machine rumbled closer, Emerald could also make out more of the Crystal Empire's line as it bowed around the front of the Equestrian defenses. Tanks were spread out and surrounded by infantry, and there was an occasional field gun or mortar in the mix being hauled around by weapons teams seeking an opening to lend their firepower to. Emerald was just beginning to wonder how close they would get before Flax gave the order to open fire.

"Girls, let loose!" Flax shouted, ignoring the intercom to keep her hooves free. No sooner than the order left her mouth, Flax fired her first shot with the cannon. A thud echoed right over Emerald's head and the tank rocked on its treads, the bright flash from the cannon barrel visible even from Emerald's viewport. A split second later, she saw another flash where the explosive shell found its mark among a group of Crystal ponies. After that, Amber fired a shell of her own and had similar success.

Emerald gripped the handles of her machine gun, wrestling control of it in its stiff mount, and started lining up her sights on any exposed troops. It occurred to her then that she had only made use of this gun a couple of times by now. That creeping guilt found its way into her mind again while she prepared to shoot yet more ponies who couldn't defend themselves - even if, logically, she knew they could. They just had their backs to her this time, instead of being wounded. The muffled chattering of a machine gun nearby told Emerald that Amber's radio pony was already shooting, bright red tracers zipping past Emerald's machine on the left and finding their mark. Finally, Emerald decided she'd hesitated long enough and squeezed the trigger paddle in her hooves.

Her gun barked out a five-round burst, spilling casings on the floor haphazardly while the bullets went wildly into the darkness ahead. One tracer bullet told Emerald that she was aiming high, her shots going right over the shinies' heads and into the walls behind her fellow Equestrians a few hundred meters away. Cursing under her breath for the close call, Emerald adjusted her aim and tried again. The group of five ponies she'd taken aim for were only just realizing they were being targeted from behind when Emerald fired again, and she felt a rush of ice-cold adrenaline as she watched their silhouettes crumple and fall into the snow.

"Good work, lass! Takin' 'em faster than I can find 'em!" Sage praised, almost yelling despite using the intercom. A second later, the tank rocked again when Flax fired the cannon.

"Scratch three more. Sage, load solid shot. Cream, swing a right and take us around their flank, we need to start prioritizing their tanks," Flax ordered, her voice almost unnervingly steady.

"Any orders for Amber and her crew, ma'am?! They've got to be almost blind just like we are!" Emerald asked, taking her hooves away from her gun for the moment.

Before Flax could answer, the inside of her machine was rung like a bell. Emerald swore under her breath again, clutching her hooves over her ears. Without even seeing the source of the sound, she knew what it had to be - a non-penetrating hit on the armor. She couldn't even tell where it was, with the fighting compartment being as dark as it was. Finally, Flax found her voice again. "Cream, keep us moving! That was either a bad shot from our own or the shinies are already onto us!"

Emerald tuned out the hasty shouts back and forth, once again switching over to the platoon frequency and turning on her radio. "Platoon lead to tank twelve, how copy?" She asked, before continuing without waiting for a response. "Begin evasive maneuvers, split away from platoon lead and take the enemy's left flank. Enemy armor is priority target, infantry and guns are secondary. Over and out."

Emerald could only hope that her orders were received, let alone followed. They didn't have Flax's blessing, but she was more than a little busy right now. Tuning out any thoughts of what might happen if Amber ran into trouble while alone on her side of the battlefield, Emerald picked up the grips of her machine gun again and took a deep breath to steady herself. The tank rocked again as Flax fired the main gun, sending an armor-piercing shell through the back of a Crystal tank's turret. The fire that ignited soon after revealed the design of the vehicle, another one of those squat, long-barreled menaces like the one in the train yard. Emerald didn't feel quite so bad for seeing one of those taken out of action.

Then, Emerald was abruptly tossed about like a ragdoll in her seat as her own machine roughly pitched forward and slammed into the ground. They weren't stationary for long, but Emerald got the gist of what happened just from the movement of the hull. They'd dropped into a ditch beside a road, and the whine of the engine hitting its highest rev gave away just how close they'd come to getting stuck. Nonetheless, they were still on the move, and Flax was still picking off targets with deadly efficiency. It wasn't until the enemy finally fired back again that Flax's rhythm broke, one of the Crystal tanks having noticed the demise of its comrade a few meters away. They'd swung the turret around and spotted their foe while Flax was busy with another target, Emerald guessed, and taken their sweet time lining up a shot. Had Cream not been giving all the throttle she had, they might've died right then and there. As it was, the Crystal tank only got a glancing blow over the back of their machine that was accompanied by the screech and roar of metal being torn apart.

Emerald reflexively cowered from the sound in her seat, hiding her head behind her forelegs for a second before she realized she was unharmed. Looking up into the turret, she saw that Flax and Sage were alright, too. What she also saw, though, and what Flax didn't, was a bright glow visible in the rear viewport of the cupola. Orange and red flickered violently, and Emerald knew right away what had happened. They were on fire, but the tank was still moving. With their machine highlighted like a beacon, the Crystal troops caught onto its position even easier than before - Flax only noticed when the pings and bumps of rifle bullets hitting the armor abruptly rose in intensity.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Flax shouted, after finally noticing the billowing flames attached to the engine deck of her machine. "We've got the spotlight now! Cream, get us the hell out of the line of fire, try to swing wide and get us back to our lines before the engine gives out! Floor it!"

"O-On it, ma'am!" Cream responded, her voice nearly breaking in her panic. She was already giving the engine everything she could, but she slammed her hoof on the throttle nonetheless. Emerald could only hold onto the machine gun in front of her, using the grips like handlebars to keep herself steady while their machine rumbled and rocked in its mad dash across an open field.

The battle raged on outside, but there weren't any Crystal ponies in Emerald's firing arc to aim for. All she could do was wait, listening to the staccato rhythm of Sage's machine gun in the turret and the jingling of spent brass raining down onto the hull floor. Flax wasn't firing the cannon at the moment, too busy keeping an eye on the inferno behind her and the darkness ahead of her to make sure Cream was going in the right direction. Peeking through her viewport, Emerald could see the square outline of houses rapidly approaching - that gap was made in the defenses after all, she noted with a hint of satisfaction, and it was ready for them to roll through to safety.

Equestrian troops fired around Emerald and her machine, picking off any Crystal ponies that tried to follow the fleeing tank while it was defenseless. Sage couldn't even fire the machine gun once Cream turned toward friendly lines, what with the fire on the rear of the vehicle blocking her line of sight once the turret was rotated.

"We're close, now! Cream, keep her rollin'," Flax ordered, her voice tense as a piano wire while she hunched down to look everypony in the eye. "Once we get into Riverpool proper we need to dismount this machine as fast as we can and get that fire out! If it burns too long it'll cook the engine and she'll be beyond repair. Emerald, you're no good with repairs, so I need you to hoof it to the town hall the second we come to a stop. Get in there and tell whoever's currently leadin' the defense that I'm takin' over command of the company and to wait for my orders before doin' anythin' else - even if the shinies break off the attack. Y'all got me?"

"Aye, ma'am," Sage responded first, still sounding impossibly calm.

"Got it! Here's hoping the fire extinguishers are still attached to the hull," Cream answered next, before leading their machine into a shallow left turn.

"I'll get it done, Lieutenant," Emerald finally said, looking Flax squarely in the eyes for a second or two before turning around. She looked through her viewport just in time to see that Cream had finally taken them onto the wide, paved road that was the main street in Riverpool. It was clogged with soldiers running to and fro, dodging around medics as they dragged wounded ponies away from the front and toward the makeshift hospital that had been set up on the opposite side of town.

Without anywhere better to park, Cream simply brought the machine to a stop once it was behind solid cover. A house or two was all that separated them from the battle raging on, but it felt like a world away when Emerald threw her hatch open before the tank had even stopped rolling. She squirmed her way out, unintentionally kicking her machine gun in the process, and stuck her head out into the frigid nighttime air. It burned her eyes after spending so long in a hot, humid box, but it felt like heaven on her fur for just a few precious seconds. Then, the smell of the fire hit her nose instead. It was a fuel fire, she could tell, and it was burning hot enough to curl her hair even from a couple of meters away.

Scrambling out of her hatch to make way for Cream to dismount next, Emerald dropped down onto the pavement and turned around to finally get a look at her machine. It was in a bad way, covered in fresh scars from bullet impacts, and the fire on the engine deck looked like it had already consumed all of the lighter equipment - like the bedroll strapped to the turret, or the wooden crate full of spare food and water. Flax and Sage were already climbing down, their forms silhouetted by the inferno behind them. Once again, Emerald met Flax's gaze for what felt like an eternity. Emerald couldn't will herself to speak, and Flax apparently couldn't either. All the latter mare did was nod her head, and Emerald got the message.

Turning in place, Emerald dashed off toward the town hall with her news and her orders in mind. She only hoped there would be somepony there to receive them.

"What's in a Name" - Sage

The moon hung high in the sky by the time the fires were put out and the shooting stopped. The stars were blocked out by the lingering clouds of smoke and ash, and the stench of burnt gunpowder hung heavy in the air, but the Equestrian line had held. After being attacked from the rear and having most of their armored support damaged or knocked out, the Crystal troops made a fighting retreat to preserve the rest of their equipment and ponypower. Even without getting a good look at the infantry, or hearing a definite casualty count, Sage knew it had been almost as costly for her side as it had been for the enemy.

Sage, Flax, and Cream fought for several minutes to extinguish their flaming machine, and when they did it took longer still for the metal to cool off enough to be safe to touch. Sage was the first to identify the cause, recognizing the twisted and charred remains of the pair of fuel cans they'd been carrying on the back of the hull. After Sage pointed them out, Flax was quick to put two and two together. That near miss from an enemy tank had ignited the spare fuel, and the resulting blaze had come terrifyingly close to overheating the engine and stranding them out in the open. Sage thanked her lucky stars that didn't happen, but she couldn't help but feel like she'd used up all her luck for the time being. That just meant she'd have to be careful for a while, then.

Shouts still echoed back and forth as soldiers tried to regroup and rebuild their fighting positions, meanwhile, Sage was crouched down behind her tank whilst helping Cream open the maintenance panels. Flax was standing nearby talking with a sergeant, receiving a status report and being filled in on what Apple Blossom's plan had been before her demise. Sage was only half paying attention to the tools in her hooves, one ear perked and turned toward her commander to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"... and I don't think we can survive another attack like that, ma'am. With all due respect, I must recommend a retreat," the sergeant said. She was a short mare with a hard expression, probably a military pony even before the war started - just like Sage herself. "We have enough ammo for the MGs to last us... maybe one or two more firefights. Three, if we conserve ammo. But a prolonged battle will run us dry."

"I'm considerin' it," Flax said, thoughtfully rubbing her chin with one hoof. "Retreatin' right now is too risky though. They know we're disorganized and they know we're weak, not to mention all the damn casualties we can't move yet. We gotta give our medics at least a day to stabilize who they can."

"Maybe... maybe we could pull back the line, a little? The shinies might be hesitant to push so aggressively if they know they'll have to fight us door-to-door in the town itself," the other mare suggested, reaching up with one hoof to tilt her helmet back. She had to look up quite a bit just to meet Flax's gaze.

"Nuh-uh. Gettin' stuck in like that just gives 'em more reason to resort to shellin' us instead. We ain't got the defenses to weather a barrage, and we ain't got the firepower to shoot back. Speakin' of, any word from our mortar crew? I ain't seen hide or hair of 'em since I got back."

At Flax's question, the sergeant looked uneasy for a moment. After fidgeting on her hooves for a few seconds, she shook her head and shrugged. "Haven't seen them either, ma'am. I'll send out a runner or two to track them down, and..."

Sage's concentration on the hushed conversation was shattered when Cream bumped her shoulder. Turning her head to look at the mare hunched down beside her, Sage snorted quietly and shuffled to the side. "Hitting me just for fun, or do ye need something?"

"I needed you to get your hooves out of the way," Cream meekly answered. Her tone made Sage realize that she'd come off ruder than she intended. Wincing slightly, Sage set her wrench down and backed fully out of the way to make room for Cream to get both forehooves into the open hatch.

"Sorry, lass. Wasn't paying attention, that's on me. Do ye need any help, or can you handle the checkup by yourself?" Sage asked, making an effort to soften her tone. No sooner than she asked, Cream made the answer clear. She had reached into the engine bay and found the radiator, only to scream and recoil away from it hard enough that she fell on her rump. Sage gasped in turn, stumbling back even further while Cream clutched both of her forehooves to her chest. The younger mare rolled left and right on her back, writhing in pain while tears rolled down her face and left trails of clean-ish fur on her dirt and oil-covered face.

"What in Celestia's name are y'all doin' over here?!" Flax demanded, turning away from the infantry pony she'd been talking to and rushing over to Cream's side. Cream was rubbing her hooves around in the snow now, still too choked up to respond. With Cream unable to explain, Flax's expression of worry mixed with building anger flipped to Sage. "Well?! Did the tank bite her, or what?"

"I dinnae know what happened to her, Flax!" Sage answered, raising her voice just the tiniest bit to answer Flax's shouting. That small difference seemed to be impactful enough to get Flax to pump the breaks. Good. "She reached into the motor and then came flyin' back out like she'd burned herself - be surprisin' if that weren't the case. Give the poor mare a minute and she might tell ye herself, hm?"

"Y-Yeah, burned," Cream mumbled, after a few seconds of silence. She slowly sat up, hooves shaking, and looked up at her commander. Her lip quivered before she continued, and it was clearly an effort on her part to keep her voice level. "I, uh... I think there's an oil leak. Or a coolant leak. Or both. Either way, hot fluids are where they aren't supposed to be. I got a big glob on my hoof as soon as I reached past the radiator. I-I just... I wanted to make sure the radiator was alright, since the fire was burning right above it."

Flax heaved a sigh as she crouched down, getting closer to eye level with Cream. "Alright, fine," she said, giving her a firm clap on the shoulder. "You're just doin' your job, ain't nothin' to be sorry for. Shit happens, and I'd be shocked if somethin' in there didn't have a problem after the hell we put it through today. We'll have to be extra nice to the poor girl for the next few days - this is her way of tellin' us."

Cream brightened slightly, even as she visibly shook from the weight of Flax's hoof on her shoulder. Sage noted that she really was a scrawny thing, but at least she tried. "Yeah, yeah we'll... well, I know you're the commander, but as the mechanic, I really should take the time to give her a good once-over. We've done a lot the last couple of days, and I haven't had the time or the help for any real maintenance. I'll probably snag a driver from another crew for help."

Listening to the other two refer to the tank as 'her' so much, Sage finally remembered a question she'd been meaning to ask. Standing up again and walking over to lean against the back of the hull, Sage made a show of looking the vehicle up and down with a critical eye - even if she only had the one - before making a 'hmmph' sound. That got Flax and Cream's attention easily enough, and they were both suddenly eyeing her with curiosity. "If we're gonna give her a personality, we may as well give her a name, aye? It's been long enough, and she's kept us alive so far. I cannae think of anything off the top of my head, though..."

"How about Comet?" An unexpected voice said, prompting Sage to look over in mild surprise. Flax and Cream followed suit. Standing nearby, the sergeant mare from before hadn't gone anywhere and had apparently been listening the whole time. When three sets of eyes settled on her at once, though, she faltered slightly. "I mean, because... during the battle, we saw that fire start on the back of your machine and thought you were toast for sure. Then you just kept rolling, left a trail behind you like a... well, like a comet. Real pretty, on top of giving the shinies something to shoot at that wasn't us."

Sage raised one eyebrow as she turned to look at her crewmates again, getting similar looks in return. Then, she turned back to the other mare and grinned. "Not a bad name, even if we had to get shot to earn it." That comment got a short round of laughter from everyone, even Cream, and Sage was happy. Mission accomplished.

"Ain't bad at all," Flax echoed, stepping up to lean on the other half of the tank's hull right beside Sage. She looked up at the turret with a thoughtful expression, then nodded. "I like it. We'll see what Emerald thinks, but... I dunno, she might just be outvoted anyhow. Whaddya think, Cream?"

Cream was just beginning to try and stand up, but she quickly changed her mind once she tried to put any weight on her sore hooves. She winced and sat back down, looking up at everypony standing around her. "I think it's great! Oh, can I be the one to paint it on somewhere? I've got an idea for it," she asked, looking up at Flax with her very best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. Sage just chuckled and looked away, fully expecting a particular answer from Flax.

"Hmm... fine. Just nothin' too flashy, yeah? I don't wanna go paintin' a target on her, especially so soon after tryin' our luck like we just did," Flax said, relenting after only a split second of hesitation. That was almost exactly what Sage thought she'd say, and the confirmation made her laugh again. Flax noticed this time and turned to her, brow furrowed in confusion. "And what're you laughin' at?"

"Not a thing, ma'am! Not a thing," Sage insisted, doing her very best to slip back into her usual stony expression. It worked, sort of, but her lips kept twitching as she tried not to grin. Damn. "You may be a wee bit predictable though."

"So long as it's you predictin' what I do and not the enemy, I reckon we'll be fine," Flax said, before the smile slowly fell away from her face. Looking at the sergeant again, Flax was back to business. "Sergeant Pumpkin," she said, getting the mare's attention, "get on back to your unit, and finish puttin' together that casualty report. I gotta know what I'm workin' with before tomorrow mornin' rolls around. Dismissed."

Pumpkin nodded firmly, raised one hoof for a salute, then turned and trotted off toward the defensive line again with a determined look in her eye. The merriment had been short-lived, but Sage was happy for it. If nothing else, it put a smile back on Cream's face. Flax sighed again and turned away, beginning to trot in the other direction before Cream called out to her. "Where are you going, ma'am? I'd have figured you wanted to visit the rest of the officers around."

"Headed to the HQ. Gotta round up Emerald, and hopefully fill in some blanks after talkin' to whoever the Lieutenant left in charge behind her. Y'all stay put, and do what ya can to get Comet ready to move - not real far, just enough to get her back to where we normally park." Then, with that simple explanation out of the way, Flax turned away again and picked up the pace. Sage looked down to meet Cream's gaze and shrugged.

"Suppose we'd best take another look then, aye? Careful where ye put your hooves this time around," Sage warned, half-jokingly as she crouched down again. Cream rolled her eyes and snorted a quiet laugh, but otherwise didn't respond. With the two of them working together, Sage was confident that they could at least get their machine rolling again for as long as it would take to park - and probably not a moment too soon, with so many ponies having to weave around the vehicle parked right in the middle of the street. Comet had a nice sound to it, though... Sage liked it.

"Motors and Makeovers" - Cream

By the time Comet was back in her parking spot, Cream was ready to throw in the towel for the night. It was already past midnight, as the tiny clock in the fighting compartment informed her, but there was still work to be done - or there would've been, had Flax not made the executive decision that everypony got some rest. Cream was hardly about to argue, and Emerald and Sage were in the same boat.

Unfortunately, their rest was shorter than any of them would've liked. Cream most of all, being the last to crawl out of her sleeping bag and greet the frigid morning air. She'd shuffled down the hallway just like she had the last few days and found the fresh pot of coffee in her mildly delirious state. Sage had been good about having it ready so far, and Cream always made sure to thank her for it. It was a nice change of pace compared to having to rush and beat the rest of the supply truck drivers to the camp mess tent. The only thing that could've made it better was having decent coffee instead of the crap the Army gave out in ration packs.

Regardless, it had the most important ingredient - caffeine. Cream was finally awake and feeling like a living pony again by the time she'd gulped down half of a cup. Coincidentally, Flax barged back into the house at around the same time after making her morning rounds.

"Good, y'all didn't go back to sleep," she teased, stomping her hooves at the door to knock some snow off before stepping fully inside. She stood at the head of the dining room table, meanwhile Cream, Sage, and Emerald sat around it. "Finally got us a gameplan put together, and I know y'all ain't gonna like it, but it's what we're gonna have to do."

"This should be good," Emerald groused, behind her own cup of coffee. Flax shot her a mild glare, but didn't comment further.

"We're all ears, ma'am," Cream said, wincing when her voice came out slightly strangled thanks to her dry throat. She coughed before trying again. "Does... the plan require us to move Comet? She's not exactly in fighting shape."

"I was hoping for some time to piece her back together this morn' after we got ourselves sorted," Sage agreed, finally joining the conversation whilst leaning her chair back against the wall. Flax rolled her eyes and waited a few seconds before continuing.

"If y'all're done interruptin', I was gonna get to that. Right now the plan is to fix what we can on Comet, then we're gonna work on pullin' back to HQ. We were told to fall back if we met overwhelmin' resistance, and we came damn close to it last night. No way the Shinies are gonna let us stay camped out here much longer, so we gotta pack up and get gone before they can take another swing at us," Flax explained, stepping forward and dragging over a chair to sit down on. She looked at each member of her crew in turn, and Cream gulped quietly. She had a feeling she knew what was coming just from the look in her commander's eyes. "Our first priority is gonna be gettin' the wounded out - we're gonna send them back first, and some of us are gonna stay behind to keep the enemy occupied so they don't just run 'em down."

"Sounds like suicide," Emerald cut in, looking decidedly unenthused with the plan so far. Flax glared at her again and sat up a little straighter.

"Aye, it certainly will be, if ye give up before ye even start. It wouldn't kill ye to try and be positive every once in a while, lass," Sage immediately countered, cutting off Flax. "But I guess I am curious... we rode here all together, why can't they all ride back?"

Flax sighed quietly, then nodded her head. "I was wonderin' the same thing. Turns out some stray shots took two of our trucks out of action - pretty much permanently. The spare parts we got are gonna go toward keepin' our tanks goin', so we're already down on transport capacity. It ain't gonna be easy, but... if we work this just right, it shouldn't be too rough either. I think the most important thing is gonna be tryin' to keep the Shinies from noticin' that we're tryin' to leave. If they do, they might get desperate and jump us early."

Cream finished off what was left of her coffee by then, then slowly pushed her seat back and got to her hooves. She looked at all three of her friends and put on a small smile, doing her best to look like she meant it. "If that's what we gotta do, then it's what we gotta do. I'll go ahead and get started on giving the tank a once-over, see what she needs and what can be done. Sage, think you can lend a hoof?"

"Suppose I can," Sage quickly answered, a little grin of her own appearing on her face as she stood up. Cream felt like she could smile a little easier, stand up a little straighter, knowing that somepony had her back. Flax and Emerald exchanged looks and stood up as well, and within a few moments, everypony was filing outside to start the day in earnest.

)()()()()()()(

It didn't take long for Cream to get stuck in, especially since she didn't bother fully closing up all of Comet's access panels the night before. The air intake grate on top of the engine deck was already removed, and it sat on the back porch right beside the engine access cover. Both of them were covered in soot and scorch marks, but otherwise no worse for wear.

Cream slowly walked around to the side of the tank and stretched up, lifting open the main engine access panel for a better look now that she wasn't forced to squint in the darkness. She was initially pleased to see that nothing looked too badly damaged by the heat of the fire last night, but closer inspection revealed that some of the burning fuel had found its way inside. A few hoses had holes melted in them, and some wires looked badly frayed or were outright severed. Most troubling to Cream were the holes in the fuel line leading to the fifth cylinder of the engine, plus the wires that fed its spark plugs being all but totally destroyed. She pulled her head out of the engine bay and glanced around, then waved for Sage to come closer once their eyes met.

"What did ye find? Nothing too bad, I hope," Sage murmured as she stepped up to stand beside Cream. She glanced inside the engine bay, but it was clear she didn't understand most of what she was looking at.

"Well, I guess it's good and bad," Cream hedged, gesturing to the sorry state of the tubing, "we're lucky that cylinder wasn't getting any power, or we could've had an even worse fire on our hooves. As it was, it just leaked fuel down the inside... still, that explains the trouble we had getting her started last night, and the rough noises."

"Aye, I see what ye mean. So... what does that mean for our old girl? Can you fix her?"

"Oh, absolutely! Or... most likely. Assuming the damage is all external things like this, yeah. If the engine has too much damage inside, though, we're probably dead in the water. I'd... have to ask one of the other mechanics for help. But I'm no good with wires, hooves are too clumsy and I am not trying to do that with my mouth," Cream answered, leaning into the engine bay again to look over her findings.

The rest of the damage seemed to be superficial, but Cream knew better than to assume that was the full story. Odds were, this engine would be due for a rebuild once they got it back to headquarters. At any rate, that was a problem for later. In the moment, she had to worry about how to fix the most glaring issues, and her eyes settled on the leaky hose and frayed wires once again.

"Hooves are no good for it," Sage agreed, nodding slowly, "so I suppose it's a good thing we have a hornhead with us, aye?"

Cream looked up to see a sly grin on her friend's face, and she couldn't help but grin right back. "You think she'd actually do it? I know she tends to get... 'nervous'... around the engine. I could probably walk her through it, but she'd have to be careful."

"If you're going to talk about me, at least make sure I'm not within earshot first," Emerald grumped, speaking up from where she was sitting at the front of the tank. She poked her head out of her hatch, stopping whatever she was doing inside, and hastily climbed out and hopped down into the snow. "If it's wires you want to play with, I know what I'm doing. Radio pony, remember? Lots of little cables in my job." She didn't seem capable of hiding the sarcasm in her tone, but it made Cream giggle nonetheless.

"Then we might have need of your ability to 'play' with wires," Sage countered, nodding her head toward the engine. Cream stepped back to give Emerald room, and Emerald leaned forward to get a look. She stared at the mess of mechanical and electrical parts for all of five seconds before shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay, I give up. What am I looking for, exactly?" Emerald asked, turning back to Cream with a raised eyebrow.

"Those wires there," Cream explained, pointing over Emerald's shoulder with a hoof. "We need to replace them to keep the engine running right. Think you can do it?"

Emerald hesitated, narrowing her eyes at the problem now that it had been pointed out for her. Eventually, she nodded. "I can do it, but I'll need some wire to do it with. I'm talented, but I can't conjure up fresh copper from thin air."

Then it was Cream's turn to be silent for a moment, wracking her brain to think of a source for fresh wires. Disassembling anything was off the table, given how limited their equipment already was. Checking the supply tent was a decent option, but they were likely already swamped with infantry ponies rearming after last night. It wasn't that much wiring that they needed, either...

"Actually, I might have an idea," Emerald said, speaking up while Cream was still thinking. Cream flinched at the sudden derailing of her train of thought, her ears twitching as she refocused.

"You do?" She asked, sounding hopeful. Emerald's slight smile fell away into a frown.

"No, I just said that for the hell of it," she snarked, before turning back toward Comet's front. "But seriously, yes, I think I know where we can get some wire. As I'm sure you're aware, every tank comes with a scuttling charge to prevent it from falling into enemy hooves..." Emerald trailed off, giving Sage and Cream the opportunity to put the pieces together for themselves. Sage seemed to make the connection first, furrowing her brow, though Cream had yet to decipher why.

"Are ye sure it's a sound idea to go playing with that?" Sage asked warily, taking a step forward.

"Why not? The wires are safe so long as the bomb isn't armed," Emerald casually retorted, waving her hoof to dismiss Sage's concerns. "And it isn't like we'll be needing the timer anyway. We're not staying here to fight 'til the bitter end, so we can just request a fresh one when we get back to headquarters. Simple as that." As she spoke, Emerald clambered back up the side of the tank and ducked inside. Cream stood beside Sage, noting the skeptical look on the mare's face, and waited patiently for Emerald to reappear.

"The mare's gone mad," Sage eventually mumbled, having to turn her head before being able to glance down at Cream with her one good eye.

"I dunno, I think it's an alright idea," Cream answered, keeping her voice just as low. "She's probably right about us not needing it, and having the engine running smoothly is more important than being able to blow the whole thing up if it doesn't."

Sage opened her mouth to counter Cream's argument, but Emerald poked her head out before she could say anything. Emerald's horn was glowing, and as she climbed back out of the tank Cream saw a little bundle of freshly cut wires floating along in the green aura of her magic. "Do you... need anything else?" Cream asked, wondering just how Emerald would actually complete the repair.

Emerald didn't even bother to respond, merely nudging her way in until Cream and Sage were out of her way. Then, she leaned forward and grabbed what was left of the connection to the spark plugs with her magic. The old, charred, twisted wiring was yanked out and the new floated into place, then... nothing happened for a second. Cream was just about to ask if anything should be happening when it became obvious. Emerald's brow was furrowed and her jaw was set, her eyes focused on the little bits of copper as they began to heat up. The ends were glowing after just a few seconds, and a decidedly unpleasant smell filled the air as the plastic insulation around the wires melted and dripped. In just a few moments, Emerald had soldered the ends of the new cable into place and repaired the connection.

"Maybe you aren't completely mad after all," Sage praised, standing over Emerald's shoulder to admire her hornwork. "Where did ye learn that little party trick?"

"The first time a radio malfunctioned," Emerald coolly bragged, sounding quite pleased with herself as she turned around and made a show of dusting off her hooves. "They were going to wait for a technician pony to come by and do the work, but I insisted I could do it myself. Took a few tries, but I figured it out; simple magic, really, once you get the hang of it."

"Wow," Cream muttered, still staring at the result of Emerald's work. It wasn't quite a seamless patch, but it was darn close. For once, Cream felt truly jealous of what unicorns were capable of. "I mean, thanks! Seriously, I wasn't sure what we were gonna do..."

"No problem. Just don't expect me to do it again, yeah? No spare wire left, and I don't have the rep to make some 'magically appear' like Sage does."

"I cannae make it appear from thin air! It's just about making the right friends. You should try it out a time or two, you might be surprised."

"Did you ever think of working together?" Cream interrupted, cutting off the small argument before it could truly begin. Both mares turned to look at her, and she grinned awkwardly. Not quite the response she expected, but at least they weren't snipping at each other. "I mean... Sage knows how to get stuff, Emerald knows how to use stuff. Why not cooperate?"

Sage was the first to recover from her mild surprise, chuckling heartily and raising a hoof to clap Cream on the shoulder. Cream wobbled on her hooves, caught off guard by Sage's strength. A second later, though, she realized she should've expected it. Loader, handles ammunition all day, helps move all the heavy spare parts... probably has some muscle. "That's the spirit, lass! Now we just need a few thousand more ponies who think like you, and we may well be home by the end of the year. Fancy that, huh?"

"Fat chance," Emerald interjected, rolling her eyes. "Now was there anything else you needed my boundless talent to get done?"

"Well... since you're here... think you could also help patch up this fuel line?" Cream asked, nodding her head to the leaky hose in question. Emerald didn't get a chance to answer before Sage butted back in, though.

"Nae, I'm handling this one! The braggart can go back to minding her own business, I can work a roll of tape just as good as she can. Cream, why don't you worry about painting Comet's name on her? Ye volunteered to do it last night, if I recall."

"Oh, right! I'll... just need to find some paint. Probably check the supply tent, then maybe ask some of the other crews if that's a no-go. Be back soon, I guess?" Cream offered, asking for confirmation as much as she was laying out her own plan. Sage just nodded, already rummaging through the various storage bins around Comet's exterior in search of a roll of tape.

Cream tipped her beret to both of her friends before hastily turning and trotting out of the yard, habitually glancing both ways before she crossed the street and headed toward where she thought the supply depot was. Of course, calling it a 'depot' was being more than a little generous - the amount of gear the unit could take was limited to begin with, and it all amounted to a little less than what could be crammed into a large tent that had been set up behind Riverpool's one and only general store.

Cream found it quickly enough, merely watching where the bunches of infantry ponies were all headed with empty hooves and returning with fresh ration packs and equipment. Unfortunately for Cream, though, there was a line. It stretched all the way out into the street, visible from the town hall, and it didn't seem to be moving quickly at all. Ponies stood in small huddles to keep warm, but seeing as she didn't know anyone, Cream opted to just stand by herself.

Even with the sun shining unobstructed from high in the cloudless sky, the wind blowing through town was enough to cut right through Cream's outer coat and her uniform. She began to regret her decision to go without hoof socks almost immediately, raising one hoof at a time to give them a break from being buried in an inch or so of snow and ice.

Staring down at the pavement and focusing on her balance while she stood on three legs at a time, Cream didn't even notice when the line started to move again - at least not until she got a bump from behind. "Eyes open! I don't wanna stand here any longer than I gotta," a stallion grumbled from behind her.

"Sorry! Sorry, just cold," Cream muttered in return, earning an unseen eye roll from the impatient pony.

What felt like an eternity (but was really only ten minutes or so) passed before Cream finally made it to the tent, only to be met with the most exhausted-looking mare she'd ever seen. A few helpers were trotting around behind her, organizing the remaining stock, but they seemed just as run down as her, maybe even more. The yard was haphazardly packed full of various military junk, all stacked into loose piles, and clearings in the snow made it obvious where stacks had already been completely cleared away. Ammo was in high demand, unsurprisingly, but there were still a decent number of metal boxes full of rifle-caliber rounds. Troublingly, Cream didn't notice any crates with tank ammunition left, but... that was probably fine. Comet had room for plenty of ammo, and she'd been full up when they left HQ. They hadn't fired that much, had they?

"Do you need something, Corporal, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" The quartermaster finally asked, one eyebrow raised as she spoke around a lit cigarette.

"Paint!" Cream blurted back, before shaking her head and getting ahold of herself. "Sorry, uh... some white and orange paint, please. Plus a brush. And... could you spare any machine gun ammo?"

The quartermaster looked back over her shoulder, checking the stocks, before shaking her head. "Paint we can do, and a brush is easy, but no ammo - not unless you're with one of the MG teams."

"That's alright! The paint is what I'm mostly after anyway. I'll... bring back what I don't use, I guess?"

"Hell, doesn't make any difference to me. You're the only one to ask for any since we got here. Just don't go painting bullseyes on any of our equipment, huh?"

Cream had to giggle at the suggestion, but she nodded firmly nonetheless. "I won't! Promise," she said, smiling anew. After being handed the items she'd requested, Cream quickly stepped out of line and made a beeline back toward her temporary barracks. She had an idea, and she had to bring it to life before it escaped her.

"Setting the Stage" - Flax

"Ma'am, with all due respect... are you sure about this?"

Flax groaned and rolled her eyes. She'd been giving out orders all morning, and so far the feelings from her new subordinates were more or less the same. The plan was to have the entire unit pull back and use the edge of Riverpool as a buffer zone, taking defensive positions closer to the town hall at the center. While they kept an eye out for any curious Crystal troops, the remaining trucks would carry all of yesterday's wounded back to headquarters a couple of hours away. Then, they'd turn right back around and come back to pick up everypony else and leave with the protection of the tanks. Simple enough, Flax thought, but it was proving to be a hard sell.

"Yes, sergeant, I'm sure. You and the rest of your squad are to make use of the stone houses to the east of this building - the harder materials will give you better cover when the Shinies start shootin'. Y'all have to make sure you don't give them an inch, because that row of houses is all that's protectin' our current stagin' area from bein' in the line of fire. You'll have a tank or two to help, so don't fret too much," Flax explained, nodding her head toward the wall of her borrowed office in the indicated cardinal direction. "Set up as much of a Killzone as ya can - the layout of the buildings ain't great for it there, but I'm also lettin' y'all have one of our remainin' machine gun crews. I hope I'm makin' it clear how important this little slice of town is gonna be."

The sergeant, a mare named Coconut Twist, stood across the room from Flax and nodded, a look of grim determination on her face. She raised a forehoof for a salute that bumped her dented and scratched helmet. "Understood, ma'am. We won't let 'em through."

"Damn right you won't. Dismissed," Flax said, unable to resist the tiniest upward curl of her lips or the pride creeping into her voice. It never failed to make her happy seeing that fire in another pony's eyes. She could count on a pony like that. "And send in my next guest on the way out, would ya?"

Twist nodded once more, giving the office door an extra bump on her way back outside. It was open long enough for Flax's last visitor for the morning to get his hoof in, and he stepped fully into view a moment later. Flax didn't recognize his face, but the name printed on his uniform was vaguely familiar. Sergeant Brook, a friend that Sage had mentioned once or twice but never had the opportunity to introduce Flax to. Seeing him now, Flax could immediately spot the similarities. Brook was a tall, grizzled-looking pony. His stubbly face had a couple of small scars, and he looked just as stone-faced as Sage always did.

Flax smiled and nodded, beckoning the stallion forward with one hoof. "Good mornin' to ya," she said, resetting her tone from the last meeting back to casual conversation.

"Aye, swell morn' so far. Word's gotten around that you're handing out death sentences for the rest of our unit," he answered, unable to suppress the warm chuckle that followed.

"That bad, huh? Ain't a lick of sense around here... makes me wonder how the hay Apple Blossom kept y'all operatin' so smooth."

"Perhaps she had an easier go of it because she weren't facing odds like yours, ma'am?" Brook retorted, trying his best to sound encouraging. Even more like Sage than he seemed, Flax noted. "Ye've been dealt a bad hand, no sugar-coating that. I'm just glad somepony's got a plan put together to begin with, aye?"

"An okay plan is better than no plan, right?" Flax offered, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway... I was savin' you for last 'cause I know you ain't gonna like what I got in mind for you and your squad. The rest of my orders were non-negotiable, but... yours, I wouldn't blame ya for backin' out."

"Fah, don't feed me that load of crap, Leftenant," Brook groused, taking Flax by surprise. She couldn't muster a response before he continued. "You need the job done, we'll bloody well do it. What're the orders?"

Flax sat up a little straighter, spotting that same fire in Brook's eyes as she'd seen in Coconut's. Maybe it was ponies like the two of them that kept Blossom sane...

"You 'n' yours are gonna be our forward guard, usin' the old defensive line at the edge of town. You'll get dug in there and wait for any sign of the Shinies advancin' and cry wolf as soon as you see 'em. I know your unit's a little smaller, so I don't expect y'all to be able to delay 'em much, but do what ya can. Use them flare guns to let us know the fight's on, if ya still got 'em."

Brook allowed himself a little smile, turning to the side and gesturing to his gear with one hoof. Flax looked, and she was pleased to see that he was still carrying the standard issue flare pistol given to most scouting units. "We'll slow them down, ma'am. You can count on us, but try not to leave us hanging in the wind too long, aye? We won't have any of the fancy machine guns on hoof like the main line."

"I know it, but we only had so many of 'em to go around. We'll keep a corridor open for y'all to retreat through if we can, and I'll make sure we got at least one tank around to give y'all some fire support. Other than that... that's all I got for ya, sergeant. Best go and start gettin' your troops dug in.

"We'll be ready for a fight within the hour. See you on the other side, ma'am." Brook saluted, then took a moment to give Flax a meaningful look. Their eyes met for just a moment, and Flax could sense the second meaning. That was as much a question as it was a promise, and she raised her hoof to salute back.

"Eeyup; see ya on the other side, Brook. Good luck," she said, lowering her voice a little and offering the stallion one last nod before he turned tail and trotted out of the office. Flax waited until the door swung shut to slump back in her chair, heaving a sigh of relief.

A moment or two passed in silence, and Flax knew it was time for her to leave the headquarters behind for the last time. Her crew was waiting for her, just like the rest of the platoon, and the first phase of the evacuation was due to kick off in just a couple of hours. Still, she had time for one last thing. Reaching under the desk she'd been using, Flax found what was left of the Wild Pegasus whiskey that Apple Blossom had claimed for herself just a few days ago. A pair of shot glasses were hidden away in the drawers, and Flax fetched both of them to set out in front of her.

After struggling for a moment to uncork the bottle, Flax filled both glasses and shoved one aside. Then, she picked up her own and stared at the first. "Gonna need you watchin' over me too, Blossom," she whispered into her glass, "dunno if this whole thing's gonna work without ya."

Flax knocked back her shot and swallowed, grimacing at the burn in the back of her throat, and pushed herself out of her chair. It was time for the final blocks to fall into place.

)()()()()()()(

Sitting in the commander's seat inside Comet, Flax focused on herself for a moment. She centered her mind and paid close attention to her immediate surroundings. Blossom's dog tags were hanging off of the periscope handle directly in front of her, glinting in the light that poured in through the open hatch overhead. Comet herself was rumbling with anticipation, her engine firing on all cylinders again and running smoother than it had the last few days. Emerald was chattering back and forth via radio with the remaining tank crews that had yet to finish getting into position - the one tank that was knocked out last night, it turned out, was another from Blossom's unit. The ponies on board survived, but they were wounded badly enough that they were part of the first batch of ponies being trucked back to base today.

Sage was seated almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Flax in the turret, going over the ammo storage and preparing to give Flax the final count. Flax knew they still had most of their ammo, but she wanted to know how much of each shell type they had left. In the meantime, Cream was down in her position double-checking machine gun ammo. She didn't have much else to do once Comet was parked in her defensive position, so Flax assigned that task to her. Now it was just a waiting game, and Flax was calming her nerves with a cigarette - one of the good ones Sage had gifted her the other day.

"Fifty shells left, Flax," Sage suddenly said, having finished her ammo counting first. "Thirty high-explosive, twenty solid-shot. Should be plenty with aim like yours, aye?"

"Here's hopin'. With any luck, we won't need to use any of 'em to begin with - maybe the Shinies learned their lesson and won't come back before we're already cleared outta here."

Just then, Cream apparently finished her count too. Flax's ear twitched when she heard an ammo box slam closed, then the tell-tale rattling of ammo belts sliding around as they were repositioned. Then, Cream leaned back in her seat to look up and join the conversation. "We'll definitely need the luck - we've only got a few hundred rounds for the MGs. Gonna have to be careful with where we put them. Er... no offense, Sage," Cream said, wincing apologetically as her voice trailed off. Sage just snorted a laugh, shaking her head.

"None taken, lass. I've no delusions about my eyesight these days; that's why I'm the one doing the loading and not the shooting!" Sage's comment at least earned a little giggle out of Cream, but the sound died down just in time for Emerald to join the group at last. She pulled her headset off of her ears for a moment and twisted around in her seat, only halting for a second to nudge the handles of her machine gun out of the way.

"Just got word that everyone is in position, commander. Just waiting on your orders to send the first run of trucks back toward headquarters," she reported, her voice soft but level. Flax got the feeling that the mare was nervous, but she still didn't know her quite well enough to be sure. Fortunately for her, Sage seemed to get the same hint, and she was always better at picking that sort of thing out.

"Keep your wits, Emerald. Fun part hasn't even started," she encouraged, earning a quiet snort from Emerald.

"Go on and give 'em the word to roll out, and make sure everyone else has their eyes peeled and their guns loaded. Speakin' of... Sage, give us solid shot first. We'll probably be needin' it, if they try the same play they usually do and send the tanks ahead of the infantry." Flax glanced aside to see Sage already obliging her order, fetching a black-tipped cartridge from the ammo rack and slamming it into the breech. The block locked closed with a click, and Flax mentally marked one shell off the list. Nineteen more.

Then, she hoisted herself up and raised her head out of her cupola to get a better look at her surroundings. Comet was parked right on the main road in the shadow of the town hall, and Flax knew that Rivets and Midnight Rider were on the other side covering the blind spot. Riverpool had roughly been divided in half, with the northern side of town turned into a kill zone that would hopefully slow down the enemy enough while also soaking up any incoming fire that might otherwise hit the unarmored trucks fleeing to the south. The old defensive line, a haphazard string of fortifications along the very edge of Riverpool, was where Brook and his scouts were lying in ambush positions and awaiting the enemy advance.

Just one alleyway had been left unobstructed for them to retreat through, should the need arise, and on either side were the entire rest of the unit. Flax looked to her left and grinned as she spotted one of the three tank destroyers set up in an ambush position of its own, the long barrel partially concealed by camouflage netting. She briefly met the gaze of the commander of that vehicle, and she gave the stallion a nod. He returned it just as Flax heard the distant growl of engines picking up.

Turning around and leaning to the side, Flax caught a glimpse of the first trucks leaving town. They were traveling in a tight group, just as she'd instructed, but Flax frowned as she saw just how much of a snow cloud they were creating. That, combined with the noise, had to be quite the obvious sign. Still, several moments had passed and all seemed to be going according to plan...

"How will we know if the fight's started?" Cream suddenly asked, her slightly distorted voice streaming through Flax's headset. Flax leaned back in her position, propping herself up by planting her hooves on either side of her ring-shaped hatch.

"Brook's squad knows how to signal us when they've sprung their trap. They'll make a fightin' retreat back to the rest of our line and distract 'em as much as they can, then we'll do our best to keep the Shinies far enough back that the trucks can come back for the second run," Flax explained, running through the same plan for what felt like the hundredth time. Every time she laid it out, though, she felt just a little more uneasy about it. Had her officers been right to be hesitant? Maybe.

Then again, just trying to leave all at once wasn't an option. With a few trucks and several tanks out of commission, there was just no way to get all the infantry back without forcing some to march - a death sentence with the enemy so close at hoof. Still, now that she had time to sit and let her anxieties mount, Flax considered how she could have stacked the deck differently. They were outside radio range from HQ, so they couldn't simply ask for help and wait in Riverpool... but could she not have sent a courier on a solo mission?

Possibly, but a lone pony - or even a small squad of them - would be easy pickings for any Crystal troops that might've gone around the town. That was another troubling line of thought; what if Riverpool was encircled and they didn't even know it? What if she just sent truckloads of wounded ponies straight into the line of fire? Flax shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking over her shoulder once again just in time to see the last truck peeling out of town and onto the main road. No shooting yet, so they'd probably be fine.

Several more minutes passed in relative silence, and Flax was beginning to relax. She let her shoulders droop, and she leaned back against the rim of her cupola. The wind quietly whistled through town, and it felt like everypony else was holding their breath just like she was. The sun shined down from a cloudless sky, illuminating the town and banishing nearly every shadow. Looking straight ahead, Flax could still see the aftermath of last night's skirmish. The Equestrian tank that had been disabled was scuttled, but the Crystal tanks were simply abandoned in No Pony's land. The charred, battered hulks stood motionless as if they were glaring at the town and its defenders, cut down mere meters away from the breakthrough they sought to achieve. The colorful lumps poking out of the snow marked where Crystal soldiers had fallen alongside their machines, and Flax noted with some grim fascination that they were still just as sparkly even after death.

So caught up in soaking in the scenery, Flax almost didn't notice when the red glare of a flare shell went up straight ahead of her. It soared into the air for what felt like an eternity, her eyes locking onto the bright center and the red smoke cascading down toward the ground. Then another shot up beside it, and another on the opposite side. Then, the air was torn apart by the sounds of gunfire. First only a couple of rifle shots, then the drumbeat rhythm of Equestrian submachine guns joined the cacophony. Seconds after that, Crystal troops began to fire back on Brook and his scouts. Then, the sound Flax was dreading most of all - cannon fire. The Empire had caught on to Flax's gambit after all, and they were coming to make her pay the price.

"Emerald, get back on the radio. Let everpony know the fight's on," Flax ordered evenly, her blood like ice in her veins as the adrenaline started to flow.

"Understood, ma'am," Emerald answered, her voice wavering slightly. "Any... any specific orders, or do we stick to the plan?"

"Fight like hell, and don't give 'em an inch. Ain't no other way."

"Finest Hour" - Emerald

)()()() Two hours earlier... ()()()(

Emerald was not impressed. She was stood beside her machine, staring up at Cream's grinning face, and getting her first look at the new paint job. She never agreed to the name, nor was she even asked when it came up, but that wasn't quite as important. What was important was the silly idea Cream had cooked up to make their tank "unique".

"Pretty great, huh?" Cream asked, once the lack of a response became awkward. It shook Emerald out of her musing for the moment, and she immediately shrugged.

"Eh, not bad, I suppose. I still would've liked to have been part of the whole decision," Emerald snarked, making no effort to hide her eye roll. Sage, who was sitting on the front of the hull, scoffed but didn't comment. "Besides, isn't it a little too flashy? I swear I remember Flax saying something about not making us a target at some point or another." Emerald couldn't actually remember if Flax had ever said such a thing, but it sounded like something she would. Cream's embarrassed reaction seemed to confirm Emerald's assumption.

"Well... maybe," she hedged, glancing aside at the design, "... but c'mon! I can't just scrub it right back off! And I think it'll look good if we all pitch in for this part. I promise it won't ruin your coat - Sage and I already did ours!" Cream was referring to one particular part of the design she'd come up with, the primary thing that Emerald was hesitant about. Aside from merely writing the tank's name, Comet, in flowing white script, Cream had also tried to represent an actual comet by placing everypony's hooves - covered in paint - in a roughly circular pattern. So far it was only half finished, Cream and Sage's hoof prints touching tips while the trail of the comet was already painted behind them. Emerald thought it didn't look bad, all things considered, but it was brightly colored.

"If I do this, will you promise not to make a big deal of it?" Emerald asked, one eyebrow raised. She knew exactly what Cream would say before the words ever left her mouth.

"Yes! Promise, lips are sealed. I just need your hoof to complete the whole thing - er, plus Flax, once she gets back from headquarters."

Emerald sighed, deciding she'd finally had enough of playing the 'straight mare' for the time being. Cream had a way of wearing her down like that, but at least this time Emerald managed to keep any hurtful remarks to herself. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't think them. Cream's insistence on "lightening the mood" felt an awful lot like she wasn't capable of taking things seriously. To Emerald, it was a risk. Sooner or later Cream would make some mistake in pursuit of a laugh and get everyone hurt, or worse. As much as Emerald hated that she sounded like her parents when she thought this way, she couldn't deny her feelings.

She also couldn't deny that she'd just agreed to help Cream, and she was still standing there. Emerald quickly shuffled forward, clambering up the side of their tank and holding out one forehoof for Cream to get ahold of. Cream wasted no time, taking up the paintbrush handle in her mouth and holding Emerald steady with her forehooves. A quick slather of orange and yellow paint, which made the frigid air blowing past them that much worse, and Emerald was ready. "There you go! Now just add your hoof to the side of the turret there, right next to mine. Flax will put hers across from yours when she gets back," Cream instructed.

"Right, yes, I get the concept. Thanks," Emerald mumbled, shifting around on the limited surface area whilst trying her best not to slip and fall into the snow. Climbing with three hooves was an awkward affair, but it didn't take long for Emerald to get herself into position. She pressed her paint-covered forehoof against the cold steel, feeling the sticky paint glue her to it, and held it there for several moments. Once she pulled away, Emerald admired her work. It wasn't much, just a fire-colored hoofprint amongst two other fire-colored hoofprints, but it was at least a solid print. Satisfied, she dropped back down and hastily wiped her hoof clean in the snow. "There... now, can I please get back to work? I have to make sure our radio set is in perfect working order before this whole evacuation kicks off. I don't have time for more arts and crafts."

"I dunno," Sage butted in, a smarmy grin on her face, "you do an awful good job of it. Remember that party trick with the wires? I think you've got a good chance at becoming an art teacher once this whole war business is over with." Emerald groaned, but she knew better than to play into it. Instead, she just shuffled past and climbed up the front of their machine's hull to drop down into her seat. For the added peace and quiet, she also swung her hatch shut over her head.

Once Emerald was situated, she switched on the backup power supply in order to have her radio powered on without turning on the engine. Sure, it would be draining the batteries of their limited life, but it wasn't like they wouldn't get charged right back up with just a few minutes of running the engine. Once a series of multi-colored lights illuminated her dimly lit fighting position, Emerald knew her radio was ready to be fine-tuned...

)()()()()()()(

"Fight like hell, and don't give 'em an inch. Ain't no other way," Flax instructed, before turning her attention back to the world outside. Emerald gulped, took a deep breath, and obliged her commander's orders. First, she tuned her radio to the new frequency she'd been instructed to use for the whole platoon, then she cleared her throat and keyed her microphone.

"Platoon lead to all vehicles, the battle has begun. Do not retreat. Provide cover for surrounding infantry, and remember your assigned sectors. We cannot risk leaving any angles unguarded," Emerald said, laying out the plan as she had been told mere minutes prior. She could see her forehooves trembling in front of her eyes, but no matter how much she willed them to be still, they wouldn't. A glance out the viewport in front of her revealed no signs of a fight yet, but she could still hear the cracks, pops, and rattles of distant gunfire. She reached forward and checked her machine gun for what felt like the dozenth time in the last twenty minutes, twisting it in its articulated mount and making sure it had a full belt of ammo ready to go. The brass cases glinted in the thin beam of light streaming in through her viewport, each one just slightly smeared with oil.

Everything seemed to be that way, now that she thought about it. Or at the very least, everything to do with a tank. Her seat was oily, her uniform was oily, her hooves were oily, her mane was oily - it all smelled like gasoline and smoke, and she hated it. The only upside was the protection from small arms, but the small bulge in the armor plate directly in front of Emerald reminded her that she wasn't invincible even inside her machine.

Her mind was just beginning to wander back to that battle when her radio crackled to life once more, a male voice coming through and shouting over the sounds of gunfire. "Enemy armor comin' outta the woods! Looks like three... no, five tanks! Scout team's pulling back now, make sure you've got that alley open for us!"

"Understood, we'll keep our eyes open," Emerald responded, trying her best to keep calm. The stallion on the other end was doing a surprisingly good job of it. Emerald waited a second or two for the signal to clear before she spoke again, changing her tone slightly as she addressed the rest of the unit. "Forward element is retreating, give them time to reach our lines before firing freely."

"Emerald, get our mortar team in on it! The Shinies are breakin' cover and pushin' forward, now's the time to hit 'em!" Flax ordered, her head still poking out of the top of the turret. Emerald was just about to acknowledge the order when another voice came through her radio headset.

"Snooper to platoon lead," a gruff female voice called, "falling back with the infantry - too much armor up here for us to handle. Where do ya want us to form up?"

"Roll back slowly," Emerald instructed, pressing her eyes up to her viewport in case she was able to see the battle yet. Unfortunately, nothing. It was still down the slight slope on the northern side of Riverpool, just far enough to hide the scouts even when they stood straight up. "Then... once you've got some breathing room, find an ambush position on the eastern side of town - group up with one of our tank destroyers if you can!"

"Got it," the other radio mare responded, before a pop of static signaled that she'd swapped back to her intercom to relay the instructions to her commander. Emerald was doing a similar move, swapping off of the company network and choosing the one that had been set aside specifically for the mortar crew so as to avoid any confusion.

"Mortar team, how copy?"

"Loud and clear. We heard the fight kicked off already - we got a fire mission yet? We'd hate to have to carry all these mortar shells back with us!" The mare on the other end managed to laugh in a situation like this, and Emerald was almost jealous. She took a breath to steady herself, then keyed her mic again.

"Use the predetermined coordinates to fire at the northern edge of town. Scouts report heavily concentrated enemy presence, and they're on the move."

"We'll do what we can," the other mare answered, sounding a little less certain, "but we've only got the one tube! Anyway... HE on the way, firing for effect!"

The last sound Emerald heard before the connection closed was the first THUNK of the mortar tube. Then, a split second later, she heard the screaming of a shell arcing overhead toward the skirmish outside town. The sound of the explosion reverberated through the houses between Emerald and the source, barely audible over the idling of Comet's engine. The shells were coming as fast as the crew could fire them, but the rhythm of gunfire up ahead only seemed to be increasing.

"They're here!" Cream suddenly shrieked, her eyes pressed up to her viewport. She didn't even remember to use the intercom, but her voice was loud enough without it. Emerald forgot what she was about to do next in an instant, leaning forward and taking a look for herself instead. Sure enough, the first Crystal soldiers were working their way up the street. They stuck to the sides, using abandoned wagons and piles of snow for cover whenever they couldn't easily enter a building or hunker down in a ditch. A shockwave carried through Emerald's body as, on the other side of the town hall, Midnight Rider fired their first shell. It streaked through the air down Riverpool's main street and hit the side of a house just as a few rifle ponies were trying to occupy it, blowing a pony-sized hole in the front wall and partially collapsing the wooden building.

Then, it sounded like it was raining. Or perhaps hail on a steel roof. Either way, Emerald recognized the sound by now as small-caliber bullets impacting Comet's armor. They were aiming for viewports and other fragile parts as always, but the distance and the suppressing fire from Equestrian infantry and other tanks meant their aim was lousy at best. Emerald shook herself to try and steady her hooves one last time, then reached forward and took hold of the handles on her machine gun. She swiveled it in its mount, tracking along the street until she found a group of enemies that weren't currently being shot at. It took just a few seconds to find a worthy target, Emerald's sights settling on a group of four or five Crystal ponies using a drainage ditch for cover.

She narrowed her eyes, taking just a few more seconds to perfect her aim, before squeezing the trigger paddle for a five-round burst. Dirt and snow exploded into the air to mark where her bullets landed, and she was pleased to see that she'd perfectly placed her shots to suppress them. Four helmeted heads ducked down, and Emerald squinted as she tried to confirm the presence of a fifth.

It didn't take long to single them out, one last head just barely peering over the edge of the snow drift at the front of their makeshift fighting position. Emerald sucked in a breath, mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do, and fired off another burst all in the span of a second or two. The Crystal pony didn't stand a chance, their exposed head an easy target against the white background. Their helmet was tossed off of their head, the snow behind them was painted red, and the remaining four soldiers were that much more hesitant to try and take a peek again. Emerald took a few breaths to keep herself steady, even if she nearly choked on the smell of gunpowder and motor oil.

Before Emerald could spot any more targets, Comet shuddered as Flax fired off her first round from the cannon. Glancing down the road, Emerald watched a flurry of sparks and shrapnel explode from the front of an enemy vehicle. Another one of those armored cars, she realized, and it was utterly defenseless against a real tank cannon. The cloud of dust that went up behind the vehicle gave away that the shell had gone straight out the back, and the pillar of smoke that soon began to billow out of the car's rear told Emerald that it was out of commission. Only one hatch opened, a trapezoidal door on the side that was angled toward the ground, but the occupant didn't get far before somepony spotted them.

A Crystal mare desperately bailed out of her stricken vehicle, only to be cut down in seconds by well-aimed rifle fire from the entrenched Equestrians. Emerald stared at the brightly colored body lying on the pavement, but she didn't have much time to feel bad for her before a new threat presented itself. The ground was rumbling with the sounds of dozens of engines, and Emerald didn't know them well enough to discern between Equestrian and Crystal vehicles by sound alone. All she knew was that they were everywhere, and that she felt outnumbered already.

Still looking through her viewport, Emerald watched as another Crystal tank turned onto the main road. This one was accompanied by a second vehicle a moment later, and both of them were joined by a cluster of infantry using them for cover. The first tank was another of the squat, boxy ones with the hexagonal turrets she'd seen before, but the other one... the other one was new. Emerald squirmed nervously in her seat, taking in the details of this new machine and wondering what kind of firepower it was carrying. It was taller than its comrade and somehow even more boxy in appearance, being completely square on all sides including the turret, and its cannon looked a bit beefier than the other tank too. To cap it all off, the sides of its turret were adorned with a peculiar frame that mounted some kind of extra weapon that Emerald couldn't identify.

Fortunately, the crew of that particular machine was more than happy to demonstrate. The larger tank swung its turret around until it was pointing at a house on Comet's left, just barely within Emerald's field of view, that was full of Equestrian troops. She waited for the percussion of its gun, but it never came. Instead, they revealed that those extra weapons were massive rockets. One of the motors ignited with a jet of flame, and the green blur screamed its way past Emerald's front before slamming into the side of the building. The explosion that followed rattled Emerald to her core, rocked Comet on her suspension, and covered half of the street with a cloud of dust and debris.

"What the hell is that thing?!" a voice called over the radio, and Emerald took a second to recognize it as Midnight Rider's radio pony. "They're putting rockets on those things! Tell the infantry to stay away from the windows until we deal with it!"

Ordinarily Emerald knew not to take orders from a subordinate, but she was hardly in a position to argue. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get the chance to follow through before her own crew was yelling too. "Sage, another round of solid-shot, now! Cream, be ready to get us the hell off this street!"

Comet's engine revved as Cream tested the throttle, and the whole vehicle shuddered as if it was also afraid of what was to come. Emerald clutched the handles of her machine gun to keep herself steady, leaning forward with wide eyes as she stared at the rocket tank. The other tank beside it was thankfully already knocked out by Midnight Rider, fire and smoke pouring out of its opened hatches and a few dead crew ponies scattered around it. The snow melted away beneath every flaming wreck, letting the fire and descending ashes scorch the cobbled road black as coal in a large radius.

Emerald tore her eyes away from the destruction that framed either side of the current threat, staring down the barrel of an enemy gun yet again. Flax shot first, rocking Comet with the recoil of her gun, and Emerald watched... and felt her heart sink as she watched the smoke and sparks clear away to reveal an unharmed enemy tank. The boxy vehicle took the shot squarely to the turret face and came out unharmed, save for a large dent on the right side, and was poised to return the favor any second. Emerald gripped her gun even tighter, muscles tensing up as she clenched her eyes shut in preparation for the inevitable. The last thing she heard was a shout from Flax up in the turret. "Cream, get us moving!"

Then, Emerald's world exploded.

The tension in her body gave way to thunderous sound, the screech of tortured metal and the percussion of a supersonic projectile passing straight through Comet's frontal armor. She couldn't even hear the boom from the enemy gun; it was merely the aftershock and the grinding sound of mechanical components damaged beyond repair. Emerald peeked one eye open, ready to observe the damage to her machine and - with much dread - herself. However, before she could look down, Cream caught her attention instead. Emerald stared at the other mare, so close and yet so far away, and took stock of her situation instead. She was saying something, but Emerald's ears were ringing too loudly for her to hear it. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she was glued to her seat. A shaft of light suddenly appeared in Emerald's peripheral, and she realized it was Flax opening the roof hatch and bailing out. Sage was quick to follow along, but... oh, right. Cream couldn't leave until Emerald did. Emerald tried to move again, but Cream stopped her with a hoof on her shoulder.

Cream was in a bad way, bleeding from an array of cuts and scrapes from her forehead down to her stomach, but she was still in one piece. So why was she stopping Emerald? Didn't she want to get to safety? That Crystal tank was bound to fire again any second.

Then, Cream glanced down. Her eyes widened, and she looked up to meet Emerald's gaze with a solemn shake of her head. Emerald's hearing had recovered enough for her to hear the battle raging outside, so she tried to ask. "W-... What's going on? We need to bail, Cream," she said, her voice starting off weak but gaining strength as she realized she could hear herself speak. "I've got to get out of your way to let you out..."

"I-It's... it's no good, Emerald. I didn't want you to look until I could tell how bad it was, but... well..." Cream trailed off, her voice wavering as she tried, and failed, to keep her composure. Emerald knew in an instant what she meant, and yet she had to look down anyway.

That was a lot of blood.

The enemy shell had passed through the front of the transmission housing, obliterating it in the process, and carried on through the fighting compartment until it lodged itself in the engine at the rear. It destroyed everything in its path along the way, and that included one of Emerald's hind legs. It was just... gone. Severed just below the hock. Her uniform was shredded and torn around the mortal wound, and Emerald saw that she had also been hit with a scattering of shrapnel everywhere else, just like Cream. Then, as if being made aware of her wound allowed her mind to realize it had happened, Emerald suddenly felt lightheaded. There was a dull ache in what was left of her leg, but the amputation itself was surprisingly painless. Shock, she realized. Emerald knew she didn't have much time left.

"Shit," she muttered, surprising Cream and herself with the simple acknowledgment of what was to come. Perhaps the shock was also making it easier to process. She raised one bloodied foreleg and put it on Cream's shoulder, forcing herself to turn away from her own wound and look the younger mare in the eyes instead. "You have to get out. Now. Climb out through the turret, I'll... I'll just stay here. I'd only slow you down, and I'm done for anyway," she croaked, her mouth suddenly feeling quite dry. It was a funny thing, something that was normally so minor an inconvenience becoming an obstacle that she could barely overcome. Cream just looked like she'd seen a ghost, frozen in place and unable to respond for a long moment.

"But Emerald, I can... we can make it! We have to! Flax and Sage are already out, and... I don't even know where they went! I don't wanna get shot out there!" Cream eventually sputtered, letting her worries jumble together. Emerald just grunted, shifting in her seat and trying to ignore the way her own blood made it slick beneath her.

"I said get out!" Emerald yelled, only to wince when the effort of doing so made her chest hurt. "I'm going to bleed out in seconds... minutes, at most. I'll find some way to keep the fire off of you, but you have to get out of here now." Cream shrunk back like a kicked puppy, but she nodded nonetheless. She took one last look at Emerald's broken body, looking like she didn't know if she wanted to cry or retch at the sight of the wound, before beginning to worm her way out of her seat and into the turret to escape through Flax's hatch. Emerald slumped back, already tired of the effort it took to keep herself upright. Instead, she cast her eyes around Comet's interior, looking for some kind of tool, or... really, anything she could use. The machine gun was her first guess, but of course, the damage from the Crystal tank's shell included tearing away the ammo belt as it passed through. The ammo belt had been resting over Emerald's hind leg.

She realized next that the flurry of shrapnel created by the penetration ruined her radio, embedding chunks of steel into its fragile shell and putting its lights out for good. Emerald had to laugh at that, the odds of so much deadly metal missing her and hitting the equipment instead. She was certain, at least as certain as she could be with her eyes fading, that she would have died if all of that hit her. Lucky Emerald, she just gets to bleed out after the fact.

Then, her eyes finally settled on something she could use. She glanced up to make sure Cream was gone, only to see her hesitating at the last moment. Emerald stretched in her seat, trying to reach her tool of choice, but her forelegs just weren't long enough. She instinctively tried to push off her seat for a little extra reach, but the leg she'd need to do that wasn't there anymore. Cursing under her breath, Emerald channeled everything she had into her magic one last time.

She picked up the scuttling charge from where she'd discarded it after ripping out the wiring for its timer and levitated it over to her lap. It felt oddly heavy in her magic, but she knew it was the fatigue weakening her ability. Emerald stared at the thing for a long moment, trying not to smear too much blood on it, and thought about what she was about to do. Was this really the best she could do? Possibly. Was it how she wanted to go out? Gods, no. Would it even help Cream? She didn't know.

But maybe, just maybe, this would get her a piece of what she wanted after all. Emerald thought back to how she'd wanted to be a hero when she enlisted in the officer corps, how she'd utterly failed in an attempt to earn glory at the expense of others. Now she was trying it the other way around.

Emerald cradled the bomb in her forehooves and looked up at the cold steel above her, her magic already holding the plunger that would arm the bomb - and without the timer, detonate it immediately. She let out a slow breath and closed her eyes, raising one hoof to pat the metal hatch above her.

"Sorry, Comet. This is going to hurt."

Then, with the last of her strength, Emerald pushed in the detonator.

"Getting Your Hooves Dirty" - Cream

Cream's hooves hit the cold stone of Riverpool's main road with a thump, and her legs promptly gave out under her. She rolled once, then twice, before finally landing on her belly a couple of meters away from Comet. She slowly raised her head in a daze, her vision somewhat fuzzy, and she thought she could just barely make out Flax and Sage taking cover behind a building a short distance away. Blearily reaching forward, Cream thought if she could just... move a little further... she just might reach them, and she'd be safe.

Then, a trio of bullets tore up the road right beside her, missing her by mere inches and showering her with a mixture of snow and dirt. Each impact made her flinch, the air torn apart as though somepony was cracking a whip that was just a hair too short to hit her. She wasn't even sure if they'd missed, at first, but the fact that her minor bleeding wasn't getting any worse was proof enough. With the ringing in her ears finally beginning to subside, the cacophony of the battle raging around her began to break through.

Cream's head pounded with the percussion of artillery, and another shockwave rolled through her body as another one of the Equestrian tank killers let loose with its massive gun. Glancing aside, she was just quick enough to catch sight of the Crystal tank that had mortally wounded Comet going up in flames. Then, a new sound reached her ears, muffled as it was.

"... Cream! Cream! Get your fuckin' head on straight! Get off! The! Street! They're gonna kill you out there!" A voice called, and she had to turn her head toward it to realize it was Flax shouting at her. Her eyes were wide and desperate, and Sage was standing right beside her with a similar expression. Cream knew that standing up out in the open would be a death sentence, so she did the only thing she could. Slowly but surely, she started to crawl across the street toward the safety of the building her crew was hiding behind, or, as her frazzled mind only pieced together a moment later, what was left of it. She was only halfway there when an explosion to top all the rest erupted behind her.

Cream heard and felt it without seeing it, the detonation of the scuttling charge in Comet's hull tearing the little machine to pieces and igniting her ammo along with it. A wave of heat and smoke washed over Cream's prone form, but thankfully the majority of the shrapnel was blown skyward instead of into the surroundings. She was pushed down into the stone as if somepony was attempting to smother her, and the ringing in her ears returned in full force to drown out everything else. A moment later, the sensation gave way to a tightness in her chest, and an almost serene silence. If she focused, the ringing was still there, but the trickle of liquid down the side of her head told her that one of her ears was bleeding.

Cream's mind reeled, and the barrage on her senses seemed neverending. She wanted nothing more than to curl up right where she was and await a well-placed bullet - or, as a more wishful part of her mind hoped, to simply teleport someplace far away from here. She didn't even care where she went, just so long as she wouldn't have to stay there on that hellish street. Madness reigned all around her, and the swirling maelstrom of battle was starting to swallow her up.

Then, she felt a hoof on her foreleg.

Cream forced her eyes open, her vision blurry with tears, and recognized Flax's face. She was just a few meters from safety, and her commander had darted out of cover to drag her in. She wondered how Flax hadn't caught a bullet already, but glancing around revealed the answer. Emerald setting off the bomb and destroying Comet had created quite a cloud of smoke, and it left that side of the street temporarily shrouded from view. It wasn't safe by any stretch, but it was enough for Flax to take the risk. Cream still couldn't force any of her muscles to cooperate until after she was safely behind the house alongside her friends.

Cream sat back against the stone wall and tried to steady herself. Her eyes were wide open and unfocused, and it was all she could do to keep her breathing in check. She was on the verge of hyperventilating when Sage suddenly stepped into her field of view and crouched down. Cream almost didn't even notice the other mare until she grabbed her face with both of her forehooves. The contact snapped her out of her spiraling, and she awkwardly made eye contact while looking into Sage's one eye. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, and Sage spoke over her before she could try again.

"You're alright!" Sage shouted, forced to nearly scream over the din of the battle around them. "You're still in one piece, lass! You need to get your wits back - we're gonna need you if we want to make it out together, aye?!"

"A-Alright," Cream croaked, her voice barely a whisper by comparison. She could hardly hear herself, but Sage seemed to understand nonetheless. "Alright... I'm okay. I'm okay. I-I just... Emerald was... She-"

"Emerald did what she had to! I dinnae like it any more than you, but ye can't change it now. We need you right here, right now - can ye do that?" Sage leaned forward, bumping her forehead against Cream's as she spoke. The gesture was simple, but the extra contact helped to slow her down a little more. Cream nodded slowly, swallowed the lump in her throat, and glanced aside to see Flax checking the magazine of her submachine gun. Reminded that she'd left her own weapons behind in the tank, Cream felt a little pang of guilt. Too late for them now.

Evidently satisfied with getting Cream back on track, Sage released her head and stepped away. She got Flax's attention and asked her a question, but Cream wasn't paying attention. Instead, she looked around from where she sat against the wall and took in the battle all around her as more of a spectator rather than an active participant - or, with how she felt lying on the street, a victim.

Equestrian troops darted to and fro among their makeshift barricades and houses-turned-pillboxes, returning fire on their determined attackers wherever possible. Machine guns roared and cannons thundered, and as more of Cream's hearing returned to her she could finally make out the rumble of engines. More machines, just like hers, rolling through tight streets in a brutal melee of their own. Looking further to her left, Cream leaned away from the wall behind her to try and see around the silhouette of the town hall. She could just barely make out the rear end of Midnight Rider parked on the far side, seemingly still intact with smoke rising from its exhaust pipe. She didn't dare poke her head around the corner to see what became of the Crystal troops directly ahead of her fighting position, but the fact that the rhythm of gunfire going both ways hadn't decreased gave her plenty of indication.

Then, before she could do any more watching, Cream felt another hoof on her shoulder. This time it was Flax. "Here's the game plan," she began, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Sage was listening too. "Y'all are gonna stay close to me while I go find the nearest radio. I gotta stay on the air to coordinate the defense and warn them trucks not to come too close if they start comin' back before the battle's over. Y'all ready?"

"Ready as I'm going to get, Flax," Sage answered first, nodding slowly. Cream gulped, then nodded as well. She pushed off the ground and stood on shaky hooves, taking a moment to wipe some snow off of her side, and stepped closer to her commander.

"Flax, I'm... what are we supposed to do now? I mean, without Comet? We're tankers, not infantry!" Cream pleaded, knowing fully well she was stating the obvious. She felt like a scared little filly, whining over nothing, even if her fear was warranted in a situation like this. Flax had just begun to turn away when she heard Cream's voice, perking one ear before facing her again with a stoic frown.

"We're gonna fight like hell, Cream. That's what we're gonna do; bein' out of a tank don't change our mission, and it don't change the fact that we still got a battle to win. The rest of the unit's countin' on us, and those trucks will ride right into the trap if we aren't here to warn 'em." Cream gulped again, but nodded. What else could she do? She kept her mouth shut for the moment, merely ducking her head and galloping along behind Flax and Sage as they made for the west side of town. That was where the defenses were strongest, and where Flax was most likely to find a radio.

Passing between buildings and in front of barricaded alleys, Cream didn't have much time to calm her nerves. The intensity of the battle varied from place to place, but Riverpool wasn't a large town, and the Crystal ponies brought plenty of firepower for everyone. A walk that would've taken just a minute or two before the war was taking at least twice as long, and it felt like it was taking even longer. Flax seemed to be the most knowledgeable about staying alive outside a tank, taking the lead and guiding her crew along. Cream took up the rear, taking some of the pressure off of Sage and her limited eyesight.

It seemed like they just might make it when they were only a street or two away. Cream could hear the thudding of their one and only mortar raining death on the Crystal troops mixing with the roar of two of their precious few machine guns. Shouts and screams mixed with the gunfire, and Cream realized the enemy was close enough that she could hear them shouting right back. There was something of a language barrier, but it wasn't enough to stop either side from hurling vile insults and threats alongside bullets and grenades. Flax took one moment to look back over her shoulder, her eyes meeting with Cream's, and she signaled for a halt.

"Alright, last stop... we gotta cross the street one more time, and they're real close. I'm gonna see if we can't get our friends across the road to pop a smoke grenade for us and give us cover - otherwise, we're as good as stuck here. Ain't no way we're crossin' that street with the Shinies this close..." Flax trailed off, turning her eyes forward again, just in time to let out a shriek. She'd been so focused on Cream, and Cream focused on her in turn, that neither of them noticed the Crystal soldier charging forward to try and take a few meters of ground.

One soldier was quickly joined by a second, and they went for the mares in front. One tackled Flax to the ground before she could raise her weapon, and the other rushed Sage and repeated the maneuver before she could even fetch her pistol from its holster. One of them looked to be about Flax's age, older than Cream and far stronger judging by the way she wrestled her friend to the ground. The other was closer to Cream's age, or at least she looked it. Cream was frozen in horror for what felt like an eternity, the two Crystal ponies apparently having missed her entirely while focused on their quarry.

The one pinning Flax to the ground used her rifle for leverage, holding it longways and using it like a bar to keep Flax's forelegs pinned down. With her own fores occupied, the Crystal pony resorted to trying to choke Flax out with the rifle while Flax squirmed and struggled beneath her. Just a couple of feet away, Sage wrestled and coiled on the ground with a mare who was clearly weaker than her and almost seemed like she'd take the advantage. Then, just when Cream was hopeful that Sage would roll her opponent over, a solid thwack with the butt of the Crystal mare's submachine gun dazed her long enough to dash that hope as quickly as it had arisen.

"Cream!" Flax rasped, fighting for air and her very life, "Cream! Fuckin'... do somethin'!" Staring from where she sat, Cream wasn't sure that she could do anything. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a choice. Flax calling out alerted the two Crystal ponies to her presence, and both of them glanced away from the pony they were fighting with mixed reactions. The one choking Flax out looked downright murderous, but the one who had just barely managed to subdue Sage looked terrified. Seeing as the one on top of Sage was closest, Cream went for her first. She clenched her eyes shut and charged forward, pushing off the ground with her hinds and hoping against everything that she was heavy enough to have an impact.

Cream collided with the small Crystal mare with a thud, knocking the wind out of herself for a split second and sending both of them to the pavement. The other mare's helmeted head clonked against the ground, and that left her dazed just long enough for Cream to get on top of her. The only problem was, now that she was there, she had no idea what to do. The other Crystal pony was still focused on Flax, but Sage was slowly recovering now that she was freed. Cream glanced left and right with wide eyes, her chest heaving again, when she finally spotted something she could use - the very same submachine gun the Crystal pony had whacked Sage with!

Cream snatched it up from the ground, but... then she just stared at it. The mare beneath her would recover any second, but Cream was once again paralyzed. She'd never so much as pointed a gun at somepony, let alone considered pulling the trigger. She'd always been a driver, and the last time she even held a gun was during basic training. Now, here she was, fighting not just for her own life but for the lives of her friends. She had a choice to make, and not much time to make it. Just when Cream was about to make up her mind, though, she was out of time. The other Crystal pony left Flax behind, diving away from her and instead tackling Cream. What had started as a semi-orderly melee, or as close as such a thing could be, was rapidly devolving into a desperate dogpile with Cream in the middle. She dropped her gun as quickly as she'd snatched it, screaming in terror as she fell to the side and joined the first Crystal pony on the ground.

Looking up, Cream's ears twitched as she heard the unmistakable sound of a knife leaving its sheath. All of a sudden, her situation felt that much more dire. Cream flailed her forehooves while they were still free, and she just barely managed to catch the other mare's hoof before she could drive the tip of her bayonet into her stomach. The blade glinted in the light, reflecting the pure white snow all around, and the Crystal pony on top of Cream cursed under her breath as she tried to force the blade forward. "Scheiße... Quit your schtruggling! Let me end zhis!"

Realizing that the other mare spoke Equestrian, or at least some, Cream tried one last thing as her strength began to fail her. "W-Wait! Please! I don't wanna die! Not like this! We d-don't... we don't have to do this!" She wailed, forelegs trembling as the tip of the bayonet inched closer to her. She was just beginning to feel it poking through her uniform when the tide of the scuffle turned again. Cream saw a flash of blue fur over the Crystal mare's shoulder, her eyes widening just a little further as she recognized Flax getting back to her hooves. Cream cried out as the bayonet started to pierce her hide, but then it stopped.

It stopped, because Flax had picked up the steel helmet that the Crystal soldier allowed to fall off her head when she tackled Cream. Using the piece of headgear as a weapon, Flax bludgeoned the mare across the back of the head hard enough to make her eyes cross before she was out cold. Her hooves went limp, and the knife that had been seconds away from plunging into Cream's barrel fell away. The Crystal pony keeled over to the side and landed in a heap, blood trickling down the back of her neck. Cream shuddered and took several deep breaths to calm herself, curling up on the ground and turning away while Flax moved in to... finish the job.

A few more firm whacks for good measure, each one coming with a curse under Flax's breath, and Cream retched when the last one was punctuated by a crunch. Only then did Flax let the dented helmet out of her grasp, dropping it onto the corpse of the enemy soldier and getting back to her hooves. Cream just barely peeked one eye open, noticing that the sheer brutality of Flax's counter-attack had also frozen the other Crystal mare with fear. She looked Cream's way, and their eyes met for the second time. That mare had been trying to kill Sage just a moment ago, and Cream had been about to kill her just seconds after that, but... Cream felt sorry for her. She couldn't will herself to speak, but she tried to reach out to her as best she could. Cream shook her head, and the Crystal pony nodded slowly. Cream hoped the message got across.

Just then, Sage finally recovered and stood up with Flax's help. She took her pistol out of its holster and racked the slide. She leveled the weapon at the cowering Crystal mare with a sneer, but she didn't get to pull the trigger before Cream intervened. "No!" She shouted, surprising even herself with the volume of her voice. Sage looked over, dumbfounded, while the enemy cowered on the ground. "You can't! She gave up! Can't you see?! She's not a threat anymore, she surrenders!"

Cream glanced aside, desperate to be right about her last assumption. The Crystal mare got the hint, hastily unclipping her infantry webbing and worming her way out of it. Now utterly defenseless and without any of her equipment, the mare raised her forehooves and stared up at Sage with wide eyes. She was looking right down the barrel of that pistol. Cream clenched her jaw, already bracing her ears for the gunshot... but it never came. Sage sighed and lowered her pistol, much to Flax's surprise, and nodded. "Fine. You're right, lass. It isn't right. I got ahead of meself."

Flax was apparently less understanding, even if she wasn't about to outright kill the mare either. She hauled the mare to her hooves and jerked her to the side, terrifying her with her mere presence. The mare had watched what became of her comrade, after all. Flax's chest was still heaving as she caught her breath after that kill, but she was recovering from the rush of the fight. "Damnit, Cream... we ain't supposed to be draggin' around prisoners! She'd better be worth somethin' when we get the chance to question her. For now, she's comin' with us. Take the lead and get our buds across the way to throw some smoke for us like we planned - I'll keep an eye on our friend."

Cream slowly got back up, her legs feeling like jelly beneath her, and gulped. That went better than she expected, all things considered, but she tried her best not to catch a glimpse of the dead mare lying nearby. Flax really did a number on her, and she hardly seemed fazed by the ordeal. Cream was certain she'd be having nightmares about today for the rest of her life, but in the moment it was almost worryingly easy to push it all down and keep the ball rolling. After all, they weren't out of the woods yet, and her crew was counting on her.