Pony Tankers: Snow and Steel

)()()() 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.