Pony Tankers: Snow and Steel

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.