My Litte Shazbot: Friendship is Going Fast

While waiting to drop to the surface to assist our troops, I was starting to feel anxious. Alright, more like my hooves were rattling holes in my boots. This was nothing like the combat simulations. There, the enemies didn't know a thing about what they were doing, and it was almost too easy to fill them with lead or land a disc on them, in the air or on the ground.

But this was different.

Looking out the window of the dropship, the ravaged surface could be seen far below. There was a blackened line in-between the areas of the planet that were resolutely controlled by friend and foe. The relatively lush continent still controlled by the Tribes of Man, and the blackened wasteland of fire and death that the Bioderms called home.

This was my first battle, as part of the first of the new wave of recruits.

The alarm sounded, warning everyone to put on their helmets; the airlock was opening in 30 seconds. Anyone who didn't would be sucked out and have my lungs ripped out due to explosive decompression before they could gasp for air.

I had already had my helmet on since the beginning, not wanting to be sucked out into the atmosphere without it. Our radio channels were not broadcasting into the atmosphere, so I could hear nothing as I watched the other ponies talk amongst themselves. This ship was full of mares, not a single stallion in sight.

The alarm for 10 seconds came on, and the last helmet was put onto the head of a pink pony who looked elated to be dropping into a decades-long war.

When the airlock opened, we were all swept out into the atmosphere, and it was an almost eerie sight. I was the last to go out the airlock, because I was standing at the windows, and as we fell into the atmosphere, I could see everyone else in formation, legs spread out to control the fall.

I did the same, and leaned forward to catch up, feeling the wind buffet my frame, but at the same time unable to hear it because of the helmet.

Static began to emit from the speakers, and voices began to talk, apparently the others next to me.

"Alright everypony, we've got one mission today, and one mission only! There's a command center about 3 clicks from an aqueduct, and those slimy some-bitches are using that aqueduct to transport troops. They're bombarding that center like it's lunchtime for them. We're landing about 5 clicks behind the Derms' lines, and we're to proceed forward to the structure, killing all the Derms in between. Two Beowulfs and a Shrike are being dropped to our LZ in the meantime.

Pinkie, you'll be the gunner for one, Applejack, you're manning the other. Newbie, you listening?"

I was startled by the voice. They must have meant me.

"Y-y-yes, I am...um, what was your name again?"

The voice chuckled, followed in short by the others.

"You never got it, sweetpea. The names' Rainbow Dash, but that's not too important right now. You'll be manning the chain cannon on Pinkie's tank; just shoot everything big and ugly and you'll be fine.

Now, Rarity, you'll be circling around in the Shrike, provide active air support as we cut through their lines." As quickly as she had addressed me, she was on to another pony, giving out orders. Though she wasn't as gruff or strict as I had assumed my CO would be. In fact, she sounded to be around the same age as myself.

I started to worry when we started to cross over into enemy territory, still falling, falling fast.

Artillery fire started to flare up all around us, whipping by in flashes of red and green and yellow, but never once hitting us, though there were some close calls. We were descending into the no-pony's-land in the middle of the conflicting territories, and it was not a pretty sight.

As we fell between mountains, I realized they were masses of mechanical junk and bodies. Bodies of all kinds, shapes, sizes, and degrees of mutilation. It unnerved me slightly. We had been trained to ignore the suffering and pain of others, and focus on bringing honor to our Tribe and to our families', but this was too much. I almost missed Rainbow Dash's call of "Engage skiing!", but did so out of instinct.

We hit a slope going close to 500 km/h, but thanks to the anti-grav boots, were now skiing along at that speed, before soaring into the air again, putting along with our jetpacks for extra momentum.

In the distance, and growing larger every second, was our supply drop: two hulking hover-tanks and a single-person fighter-craft used for hit-and-run tactics.

As we came upon them, I noted the scorched grass and hard ground all around us. We were in an area that had previously been a farm on the edge of a large city, but now looked like a desert on the edge of an abandoned civilization, the buildings sandblasted and weathered away by the intense combat.

We stopped in front of the vehicles, and I noticed that one of the ponies was wearing different armor than ourselves.

This was less of armor and more of a tight suit that had plates attached to it in some places. It looked much lighter than our suits of armor, and had bulges on the back where its' wings were held. A pegasus; the least common of all the pony types...well, to see one fighting for the Tribes, at least.

The pegasus turned to me, still faceless behind the mask, and began to talk.

"Alright newblood, you're in this tank right here. Just get in through the turret on top and get acclimated with the controls before we set off. The Derms know we're here and it won't be long before they're pelting us with rocks and guns...maybe some skulls too." This was my CO, I realized.

She was just about the same height as the rest of us, and the only distinguishing difference was her armor, which did not have any discerning rank attached to it.

I jumped up on the hulking vehicle, climbing atop the turret, finding the large hatch she informed me of. Opening it, I found the decent-sized cockpit, inside of which a single seat and a set of pedals aligned with a firing group half-way up the side.

Jumping in, I strapped myself into the vehicle, getting snugly set, before closing the hatch, watching the important components light up as the ashen light was blocked out.

"Alright scrub, that gun's got a pretty huge ammo reserve, but to maximize power output and damage, you can only fire a hundred some-odd rounds at once before it overheats. However, that thing is loaded with sabot rounds, and can show some Derms' a thing or two about investing into proper energy armor."

Several view screens came up, both on my helmet and on the panels, showing me a small outside view of the vehicle, currently depicting the others mounting up on this tank, the other tank, and the CO leaning over the Shrike, apparently talking to its' pilot in a private channel, as the current one was only full of chatter from those in the tanks, talking mostly about inane things, and who would frag the most Bioderms today.

They were pretty confident that we would complete our mission without a scratch, but I was politely doubting that. Even as I scanned the area around us, listening for anything outside the dead winds sweeping across the body-mountains and whistling through the skulls of the recently-departed, I felt like we were being watched.

I tapped the rotation pedal with my hoof, becoming slightly disorientated as my crosshairs remained static, but instead the whole world rotated around the screens. The gun turret moved quickly and precisely, and after messing around with it for a few seconds, I located the hand controls for both firing the weapon and moving it vertically. I didn't fire just yet, as I was unsure of what it would sound like, and because I didn't want to waste ammo.

After a minute or so, I heard a metallic CLANK on our tank, hearing it repeat in a softer manner until it was right above me. Glancing on the monitors, it was the CO, who was standing on the vehicle, detaching her disc launcher from her belt. She then came onto the public channel, causing a static rush as the outside environment was picked up through her helmet.

"Alright girls, we're moving out! About seven clicks that way! As soon as we crest the next hill, our target will be in sight, and Derms' will be absolutely everywhere, so light 'em up and make me proud! I'll be off, as soon as you hear the enemy shoot at me, start launching Cannon shots over the hill!"

With that, she jumped up into the air, and was sent rocketing off by the Thrust Pack on her back, she went up the hill at almost 130 KM/H, and while she was still in the air, we began to move forward, a grinding sound telling me the Beowulf's cannon was being moved into place. As she began to come down, I saw the grainy distortion on the horizon, indicating the usage of primitive bullet weapons being used.

With a clang and a boom, the large Beowulf cannon fired, sending a 400mm projectile loping over the crest of the hill, and the ground shook as it impacted.

We began moving forward, and I was surprised at the speed at which the vehicle moved. We were topping 85KM/h, which seemed significant when we were holding enough firepower to level a small town.

Then they began to come over the hill. Their faces, goat-like and grotesque, most of which were hidden behind masks or helmets and exposed to the elements. Some were skiing, some were not; some were holding crude bladed weapons, some had crude bullet weapons, and a select few were holding Tribal weaponry, no doubt taken from the fallen.

I opened fire, feeling the main turret shake from the rapid-fire rounds spewing forth. They kicked up a good amount of dust and rocks as they impacted low, cutting them off at the knees and sending them careening down the slopes of the embankment made out of the corpses of their foes.

I adjusted my aim to hit the line in the chest as I sprayed a horizontal grouping along the line. Our tank continued to fire over the hill, while the tank opposite tank began to focus its' full destructive power towards the hoard. The tank shells would take out twenty of the monsters, but three dozen would rush over the hill in the time it took to reload. It took the same amount of time to reload the tank cannon as it did for my turret, so we had to slow down in order to not come into contact with the brutes.

Their screams and howls were mounting to such a level that I could hear them through my sound-proof helmet, as well as the thick, airtight cockpit, indicating the mass out there numbered in the thousands.

We rode through the storm of bodies, both alive and dead, and managed to outpace the hoard as we drove up the hill, even as we fired behind us into the crowd of primitive creatures.

As we crested the hill, however, we came upon a situation that left me wishing that the numbers we had cut down had been called significant. They weren't.

The hill looked down into a valley. In the middle of the valley, was an aqueduct of enormous size, easily 60 meters tall, and it stretched across the valley, and continued down the side of it on the other size.

Looking underneath the structure, we could see the command center that the CO had informed us of.

Well, we could see the squirming mass of flesh and bone covering it, and flowing through the valley towards it, as incoherent as water itself.

Performing strafing runs and flying through the arches of the pipeline itself was the Shrike, flying close and clipping heads with a clip of the wing, before going into a vertical climb and circling around to attack again. She flew low, too low to be hit by anti-aircraft weapons, but high enough to be out of the maximum ranges of many Bioderm weapons.

Our CO was flying around the edges of the valley at an extremely high speed, launching green disks into the onslaught that was pushing for the command center. We began bombarding the massive enemy force, but my gun was useless at this range.

"Excuse me, my gun isn't doing anything at this range...we need to get closer for me to make a difference." Expecting to get reprimanded by the driver, I received an enthusiastic response, much to my surprise.

"Yippee! We're going in close girls, hold on tight! Applejack, do try to keep up, hm? Keep your hoof on that fire button newbie, you're gonna need to!"

Another voice sounded on the channel, with a very distinct accent.

"Aw, y'all gonna need to keep up with me Pinkie, 'member what happened last time you tried to beat me in this?"

As their banter continued, we suddenly lurched forward as we went down the incline at what I expected to be open throttle, hurtling towards the mass of enemies that either not noticed us, or didn't care. Neither boded well for us.

As we got closer, I started to fire again, getting much better results, watching skulls and skull helmets shatter elegantly as the warrior it formerly belonged to fell to the dirty ground, only to be trampled a split second later by another muscled warrior brandishing a bladed weapon of yore.

We impacted with the mass of trollish looking aliens at over 140KM/h, crushing a few dozen against the sheer weight of the vehicle, and our momentum sent us bouncing into the air, the hover tanks landing smack dab in the middle of the mayhem we had so recently began. As they closed in from all sides as we drove forward against the unrelenting force, I locked the rotation to maximum speed and opened fire, shooting in all directions, mowing down countless nightmares with every deposit of bullets into the body bank, but they never seemed to decrease in number.

The Shrike and our CO were now in the area, attacking forces directly around us, cutting a small swath ahead of us to go through, where we avoided a mass of troops by flying onto a lake that was now stained with blood, but gave us a minute to re-evaluate our plan before launching into the meat grinder again.

The enemy forces were eying us as they stood on the shores of the lake, awaiting our return, for a full-frontal assault on them would be suicide, and they knew that we knew it.

The CO was sitting on the wing of the Shrike, panting heavily. She took off her helmet, even, shaking out her rainbow-colored mane, letting the sweat drop off of it into the water, making diluted clear splashes against the red and green foam.

"Well, here's the deal. That CC is holding up for now, and our little surprise attack put a pretty nice dent in their forces, but we still need to drive through the the base, get their generators up and running, get their shields up, and then call in an Orbital Strike to take these fuckers clean off the map."

I had never thought of the reason as to why we were grabbing the command center. I thought it was tactically important, perhaps, but now it was slightly more clear.

We were going to rush from behind, get inside, shore up their defenses, and then call in the precision big-guns to wipe out the overwhelming opposition. The enemy would never expect it, especially not the Bioderms, who were only capable of space-travel through a fluke, and were more likely to eat advanced technology than they were to use it for its' intended purpose.

"Alright, I contacted a Havok about 15 minutes ago, they're going to be in the area in a few minutes, and they said they have a spare Mortar Strike that'll be brought down on our target. I told them 300m north of the friendly scan profiles, and they have target locked the location. Once they're done bringing the man-portable rain, we'll zip through their forces and get inside."

As she was explaining that, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that probably caused my fur to turn whiter than it was normally.

"...What...is...that." The CO looked up to what I was looking at, and her response confirmed my fear, and made me start counting the seconds I have left.

"Well fuck me with a Gladiator, that's a Dermie Predator...how about we say we move?" Everyone backed up with all due haste as a four tonne boulder landed in the space we had been in moments before, sticking out of the shallow water.

As one, all of the Derms on the shore began pelting us with anything they could find, using their brute strength to hit us with anything from empty ammo canisters to the corpses of their brethren.

Firing back in earnest and pushing forward despite some minor damage, another new voice came up on the local channel, from someone close by enough to be picked up by the short-wave sensors.

"Uhhhh, yeaaahhhh...Havok Four Tio here, we're scheduled for a Mortar Strike...incoming in 10 seconds, hold onto your hats!" A deep voice with an accent that reminded me of that girl Applejack came over the comm, and in a few seconds great balls of green death rained down from above the clouds, exploding with stunning force as the impacted with anything unlucky enough to be below them.

Before it was even done raining death, the CO waved us forward, dropping off of the Shrike's wing and into the mayhem, zipping along while holding our ceremonial sword out, taking off heads as she went by.

We surged forward into the chaos, and watching a mortar explode not more than a few meters in front of us, I had to wonder if today was the wrong day to arrive on-planet.

A/N: Yeah, a bit different. Just a bit. Hope you enjoy it, and a review would be awesome! I'm planning on continuing this, because the concept is too awesome to leave well enough alone. I had a version wrote up that was a lot funnier and less serious, but I decided on this one...this version is more Tribes: Ascend and Tribes 2 based, the other was mostly Tribes 1 based. If anyone wants me to finish and upload the other version, I'm more than happy to do so.

My Little Shazbot: Friendship is Going Fast

Chapter 2: Those Who Came Before Us

We were coming in for the Command Center proper with the enemy converging on all sides. I had long since ran out of ammo for my turret, and had resorted to firing out of the turret with my Eagle pistol. Supersonic near-instant hitting rounds, but each one only had a chance to take down one of these monsters if it hit one in the eye.

"The lower levels! Go in that tunnel!" The CO ordered us, and as I paused my rapid pistol fire to duck down into the turret and glance at the view screens, I saw that the tunnel in the ground was partially concealed in the shadow of the pylon supporting the aqueduct.

I lurched forward and smacked my horn and my helmet against the screens, and grunted in pain as we went down a steep incline. The cockpit suddenly went dark, as there was no light underground, but the enemy was still very much audible, with several having followed us down the rabbit hole, so to speak.

"Everyone out, grab some primaries out of the cargo of your Beowulfs! Rarity, we're in Service Duct 2, keep circling around and clearing them from around it. Alright, RD out." I clambered out of the hulking tank that was only a meter from the ceiling, using my jets to land on the ground on the soft side. It was hard metal, and my hooves made soft, clipped noises as I headed for the back of the vehicle.

I had never been so glad to be back on solid ground. It doesn't matter if that were only a few inches off the ground, it was a journey through my deepest and most horrible nightmares...

"Turrets out, take a breather newbie!" The insane pink mare who had been the driver of my hell-raising circus ride was holding a yellow submachine gun, tapping her back hoof on a small auto-turret that was aimed at the sound of Shrike cannons and the horde of savage adversaries.

Was I really shaking that much? To be expected, I guess. Real combat is nothing like the organized team-based fighting the Academy had taught us to expect. But of course it hadn't been; the Academy was nothing more than a series of scrimmages in-between the Tribes and their affiliates.

"Here, make yourself useful. You prefer a disc or a buster? Hmmm, all we have for busters are Dust Devils..." Dust Devils? Oh, hell to the yes. For those unfamiliar with the slang used out here in the Wilderzone, Dust Devils are a special variation of the Arx Buster. While both fire a trio of sticky grenades whose fuses only light upon contact with an object, the Dust Devil has a much larger explosion radius. It's commonly used on peaceful worlds as a mining tool, as the radius is predictable, and because the ignition material is less volatile, and less dangerous to store.

...But I need a real-world tried and true setup here.

I sighed and nodded to the pink mare, looking past her into the rear compartment of the fighting vehicle, quickly piecing together the best set of weaponry I would be able to carry. What I found surprised me.

A Stealth pack, a silenced sub-machine gun similar to the pink mares', sticky grenades, and throwing knives that explode on impact.

"I have to say, the shroud looks good on you! We missed out on names before. I'm Pinkie Pie. I like to party, have fun, make friends, and blow the shit out of enemies of the Diamond Sword. You?"

Pinkie Pie. How fitting. She's...energetic, at least. Unlike the orange mare who I'm going to conclude is Applejack, who is staring at the ramp coming down here with a Heavy Bolt Launcher and a dumbfire rocket launcher, she's trying to enjoy life a little. I can respect that.

Before I could respond, however, the twitchy pony held her gun behind her with one hand and pulled the trigger, sending a balanced breakfast of lead into a 'Derm that had been hiding underneath the tank. Now that I thought about it, her little auto-turret had been beeping and not in an active scan mode, meaning it had a target lock. Wow, she's perceptive.

She must have seen my expression, because she laughed heartily as she reloaded. She even had fun while switching magazine, throwing the long thin rectangular object into the air and catching it in her gun neatly.

She looked to me as she deposited a second auto-turret on the side of the tank, set to watch for targets we couldn't see.

"Now then, your name, before we're up to our ears in uglies again?"

So casual...don't tell me this is just another day for them. I don't think I could take this madness. I'm no Griever, I could never...well, I don't want to say never, because war makes people do things they thought they'd never do.

I pushed that from my mind as I leaned against the tank, shaking my head, feeling the fabric of the head shroud graze ever-so-slightly on my horn.

"Uh, yeah, my name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle...in the Academy I was the top dueler, preferred loadout of Spinfusor and Spare Fusor, primary team role of stand Defense, my implant set was Rage and Quick Draw; my current implant set is Stealthy and Survivalist."

She nodded, while tapping her feet in time to some unknown tune she no doubt was playing to herself in her head.

"Yeah, you've probably noticed that real warfare against the Derms isn't anything like Academy scrims. I see you're using a cloaking setup; good idea, we'll need an ace in the hole if we're overrun-"

She was cut off by the screeching of metal against metal behind us.

I spun around, seeing the supposed end of the tunnel rising up, revealing the dimly lit service corridor of a design popularized by The Children of the Phoenix.

"C'mon Sparklies, get on the Beowulf! We need to get inside before that door closes!" Pinkie Pie slammed the cargo hold shut, grabbed her turrets, re-magnetized them to the tank itself, before diving into the cockpit. I used my jetpack to land on the front, crouching down so that the main cannon was clear.

I could see the orange mare, who had been standing next to the door the whole time, lumber inside and stop within the threshold.

The tank lurched into reverse and we drove towards the entrance. As we approached, I noticed that there was a re-supply pad on the ground; as we drove over it, the clanging indicated the main cannon had been topped off with rounds. Alas, the pads would not fill the ammo for the turret, as they were stored in the top of the chassis, not the bottom.

We finally got inside the lit portion, and not a moment too soon.

A thick flow of Bioderms came down the ramp, growling with the menace of a thousand blood-hounds, of which they were, only slightly more intelligent, and much more intimidating.

"Safety Close Sparkles, keep your head down!" I did her one better, jumping off the tank and throwing a Sticky Grenade down the tunnel, watching as they ran over it.

BOOM.

I saw the tank rock backwards as the round was fired, and I saw the tunnel be unable to withstand the sudden outward explosion of the round, the grenade, and the bodies being thrown about from said explosions. The tunnel ceiling caved in, blocking us off from the enemy before the meter-thick blast doors shut in front of us.

"You know, you just blocked our only means of escape."

Turning around, I saw someone whom I wouldn't have thought to see outside of a history book, much less in the battlefield, wearing a suit similar to the CO, and carrying a rifle that could probably take off the head of a Predator from a couple thousand meters. Behind her were about half a dozen Diamond Sword Doombringers, large hulking stallions that wore thick armor and had chain-fed machine guns similar to those from the Beowulf tank mounted to their backs.

"C...C...Colossus Celestia!" Pinkie Pie had emerged from the cockpit, falling to the ground for a graceful bow. I did the same, but felt slightly more dignified about it.

"Rise, little ones. It is not the end of this world, or any others, but only makes our objective of holding our position and forcing the enemy out of the base proper no longer an option, but a complete necessity."

I noticed Applejack was still standing in the shadows of the door. She hadn't bowed to Colossus Celestia either...well, maybe she couldn't, considering she too was wearing Doombringer armor, though of a different, and much less lustrous color.

"Are you all of our reinforcements? We were hoping for slightly more..." The Colossus didn't sound angry, only slightly pondering.

She was a legend. Her skills in the Arena during the war against the Blood Eagle in the years preceding the emergence of the Bioderm threat were unequaled since then. She was a crack shot with anything you threw at her, and she alone popularized the literal Diamond Sword weapon that was now the standard melee weapon for any foot soldier. It was during the 4th Battle of Tartarus that she killed an enemy officer by dropping out of a Havok above the cloudline and bisecting him as she landed. She proceeded to escape by hijacking a Grav Cycle from the enemy staging area and rode all the way back to the Diamond Sword outpost that had been established more than 10 clicks away. All while dodging mortar fire from a dozen Juggernauts.

I decided to speak to the living legend, hoping I didn't sound stupid; Pinkie Pie was still trying to use her helmet for something, and Applejack was not looking directly at the white unicorn pegasus.

"Ummm, our CO and one other pony aren't here...they're outside...I think her name is Rarity, she's flying a Shrike...and the leader of this group is named...Rainbow Dash...I think." Too slow and unsure of yourself. I need to fix that.

At the words Rainbow Dash, she looked directly at me.

"Don't be scared, my student. Rainbow Dash, you say?...She must have something up her sleeve...very well, we should head to the defensive line we formed." Wait, she knows the CO? How? I didn't see a rank on her...or anyone else, actually. Is she actually someone of rank? She seemed much too informal to be anything higher than a Tech Specialist...maybe a Captain at the highest.

Colossus Celestia and her honor guard turned and made their way down the passage that was obviously made for vehicle use, so I climbed onto the tank while Pinkie Pie matched the speed of the group in front of us. Applejack finally moved, using her boots' jump jets to land on the rear of the vehicle, causing the hover-tank to sag towards the back, before it compensated for the extra weight.

I turned to the larger mare questioningly. She was looking directly at me.

"I know you're gonna ask a couple things, newbie. I don't want to talk about it, okay? Long story short, I messed up, bad. Another thing I know you'll ask is everyone's rank. Well, out here in the Wilderzone, rank is based off of killcount, but them there 'Derms breed like rats, so basically everyone is at least a Sergeant, 3rd class. Except Fluttershy, of course. She's still a Sworn Sword."

Fluttershy. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but at the same time, I didn't know where it was from...

"Applejack, you know I hate killing. I have to say sorry after I shoot someone, even if its' a Bioderm!" Our comm channel came alive, and only then did I realize there was another tank behind us, its' sound masked by the louder hum of the taxed field generator.

Where had it been when we came down here? Oh, right, it had pulled into the corner, where Applejack had climbed out. I need to pay more attention. So this Fluttershy hated killing, absolutely abhorred it, but was tangled up in this war? I don't know if that's ironic, or just plain sad. What kind of promise did she make herself that brought her to do this? Or perhaps she's just a masochist.

"Fluttershy, I know you're hating every second of this, but it still means a lot tah the rest of us that you didn't let us go and play the hero while you stayed and tended to the HERC fleet all alone...speaking of which, who did you even manage to get tah take on that mighty big task?" Applejack's voice was slightly muffled and sounded deep as it rebounded off the edges of her enormous armored head section. That could also have been the fact that the hum from the Beowulf moving down the labyrinthine passages slightly obscured everything.

"Well, you know, I managed to enlist the help of a drifter who rolled into town right before you guys left for Basic Training. He was this cute little baby dragon, who claimed that his caretaker had just been selected to join the ranks of those uppity ups in the Tribal Academy in Canterlot. I let him live with me, and he had a knack for associating with the HERCs, so right now, they're in his care. His name is Spyke; a nice little bundle of joy, he'll be fine."

I almost fell off the tank onto the ground, accidentally firing my gun into the ceiling a few times as I regained my balance, causing the Colossus and her guard to stop and look back at us.

I shook my hoof at them and jetted over to the other tank.

"Did you just say Spyke? My best friend Spyke? There's no way-" I sat down on my haunches. I had thought him to have simply left and gone somewhere far away. He had claimed that I betrayed him when I chose to go to the Academy over staying in Canterlot with my family and him. But I couldn't...the Academy was such a prestigious place...though now I'm coming to find out that prestige didn't mean much out in the Wilderzone.

"Woah now newbie, hold your Tribals, how do you know this character?" Applejack hadn't moved, as I bet it was too much effort, but her helmeted, featureless face was turned to me. That was almost a 120 degree turn, which was quite impressive considering the bulk of the armor.

Taking a deep breath and putting my arm around the barrel of the cannon, I tried to relax as our small convoy started to ascend a small incline.

"One day I found a dragon egg while working in the data archives in Canterlot. Someone had left it in the returns bin, and while I was working, it hatched, and the newborn dragon came to recognize me as its' caretaker. His name is Spyke, and while he can be pretty lazy sometimes, he's a great friend and helped out alot around the house when the archives became too busy for me to handle alone.

We had a big argument when I couldn't have him board with me at the Academy, and he told me some nasty things, and we left off on a bad note...It's good to hear he's okay though..."

Before anyone could reply, the incline ended and we entered a large room full of people, clustered around a few large devices in the middle of the room. In the very center sat the Generator that would, in normal circumstances, power the bases' assets.

A wave of mutters washed over the two-dozen odd ponies, mostly stallions, at our arrival.

Still, all of them bowed to the Colossus upon her arriving in the middle of the room, as to do otherwise was disrespectful.

"Despite the power that a pair of main battle tanks gives us, this is not the true advantage given to us by reinforcements. There are two other ponies fighting to gain entrance to the base, even now. One of them is an old friend, and I am highly confident in her ability to assist us in achieving victory here today." She turned to look at us, especially the turrets that Pinkie Pie had affixed to the sides of the hover tank.

"I request that your Technician begin conducting repairs to our Generator. It was severely damaged in the last Bioderm suicide attack; they managed to get inside this room and critically damage the main core. We shut it down to negate further damage, but no one here is in a Technician gearset, and the backup Generator powering our Repair Gun dispensaries was also disabled, we have been unable to leave this section of the base for the better part of an hour. No doubt the enemy has taken over the rest of the base, and it will be an uphill battle to recapture it."

Pinkie Pie was out of the tank in the blink of an eye, skiing over to the large dormant power cell with the synonymous yellow Repair Gun in hand, starting to repair dead circuits and reconstruct the portions of the large capacitor that had been destroyed entirely.

Something dawned on me, however, as I looked around the room. There were several Base Turrets set in the room; no doubt they would raise to an active position once the Generator was activated. There was also a massive door that appeared to be wide enough to fit two Shrikes side by side in with room to spare.

I skied over to a blue pony who was cleaning her laser pistol, using a small piece of fabric to make the glowing green indicators shine.

"Excuse me...uh, what's that large door on the other end of the room?" She looked up, her eyes interesting in that they only seemed to reflect once.

"Trixie informs you that those doors lead to the upper levels. They automatically open when power from the Generator is actively running in the system."

I turned back to Celestia, who was watching Pinkie Pie perform her duty with great interest. I approached her nervously, making sure my gun was aimed far and away from her. I could feel the stare of everyone on me.

"Um, I just want to point out that you think the enemy will come down here as soon as we get the Generator working, and that pony over there also said that the doors to the upper levels open as soon as there is working power...I think we should aim the Beowulf cannons at the doors and man the tanks before the Generator turns on."

The enormous white pegasus unicorn nodded a few times before speaking.

"Yes, that would be excellent. Thank you for catching that detail, little one. You're a quick thinker...I like that. Now go, do as you have suggested, there is no time to waste." As I climbed into the cockpit of the Beowulf Pinkie Pie had been piloting,the mysterious Fluttershy, whom I still haven't physically seen, was positioning the floating weapons platform adjacent to the door, about 15 meters away. I did the same, and aimed the large cannon at the door.

Not a moment too soon, as the whine of the generator soon began, and the rushing of feet on both sides of the door began; the troops in the room began to form a line on top of, and around the tanks. I clutched the firing group for the main cannon nervous hooves.

Someone on our side fired a grenade underneath the door when it barely risen off the ground. The explosion on the other side caused the guttural roars to be heard over the sound of the Generator, the tanks idling engines, and the shouts of the soldiers around us coordinating.

Then the whole world turned upside down, as the door suddenly receded into the ceiling fully, leaving the surprised forces on both sides staring in bewilderment at each other. The Bioderms were already covered in blood and gore, as that grenade had exploded amongst them, and they were no doubt not exactly expecting a pair of tanks to be facing them as they came to crush the opposition.

The smart ones tried to run. The others pushed them forward as they came to their doom.

I pulled the trigger on the cannon as Fluttershy, or no doubt someone in the turret, did the same, and the combined force of the pair of high-velocity, high-explosive rounds obliterated the entire front section of their forces.

Those crowded around us open fire as well, assault rifles, plasma weapons, submachine guns, grenade launchers, fusors, bolt launchers, chainguns, rocket launchers, mortars, sniper rifles, laser rifles, and something that sounded somewhere between a cannon of old and a shotgun. Needless to say, the vastly unprepared primitives were quickly cut down under the onslaught of less than three dozen Tribals.

As they stopped coming, or got their wits about them to retreat, a few of the stallions with grenade launchers fired said weapons up into the upper levels, giving them a good message of "don't screw with us".

I climbed out of the tank as the assembled forces moved to disperse. I was quite surprised to find Colossus Celestia lying down on the top of the vehicle, her massive rifle sitting on a bipod attached to the barrel.

She looked up to me, winking an eye and nodding.

"You may think I'm something special, little one, but I'm just another soldier, like you, or like Rainbow Dash. Our lives are no more or less important than each other's, and we contribute the same amount to the ones we care about. Remember that when you have to make tough decisions.

Now, let's press our advantage and win us back some of Forward Outpost Stigma."

I was surprised at the truth in her words, and nodded.

The voice com came on in my helmet at that exact moment.

"bzzzrt-Hey! There's-bzzzzrrrrt-of them! We need-bzzkkkkk-now! The beacon is in place on the-kkkkrrrrrrt-stand on the central building! I repeat, orbital -brrrzzzzk- now!"

Celestia quickly got to her feet, leaving her rifle where it was, nodding to one of her aides. He handed me a pack; a Stealth pack with a larger energy allowance...

"You're already set up for the job, but there's a shield generator that just needs to be switched on...it's on the top floor of the base. This Stealth pack should render you invisible until you reach the shield room, which can be locked from the inside. Turn it on and contact me once you do."

I switched the packs and watched my energy count jump from 110 to 450. This would keep my out of sight for over a minute. Plenty of time.

"See you in a minute, or never." The Colossus laughed gently, which made me realize that everyone here is just as crazy as I thought. No matter, I guess.

I watched myself fade from view as I turned on the Stealth pack. I walked into the energy conduit, which would replenish my energy until I stepped out of it.

I flew upwards until I found an open doorway, and landed inside it.

There was a solid wall of Bioderms in a narrow, tall walkway heading for the staircase.

Sure, it's more sane than anything else I've done all day.

A/N: Here you go, bit longer of a delay than I thought. I'm pretty sure I just skipped doing homework to finish this too, so feel special. No timeframe on the next chapter, either.