Pony Tankers: Snow and Steel

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."