Pony Tankers: Snow and Steel

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.