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.