Chapter 3

Twilight was having a lovely day. Or at least she was, until Applebloom came galloping into her library screaming something about a large monster-turtle in the apple orchard.

“A large tortoise?” Twilight pulled a book about large reptile species from a shelf and brought it over to an already cluttered table.

“It was a massive, noisy turtle!”

“Tortoise or turtle?”

“What?” Applebloom tilted her head in confusion.

“Turtles live in or near water and a tortoise lives on dry land nearly full time.”

Applebloom still looked confused. “A uh, tortoise, I guess.”

Twilight flipped rapidly through the book as the filly watched her impatiently.

“Could ya hurry it up, Twilight?”

Twilight paused and eyed Applebloom. She quickly returned to her readings.

“I don’t want to address the problem without knowing what it even is or how to deal with it.”

“Oh, okay,” Applebloom replied quietly.

Twilight quickly finished looking through the book and tossed it to a pile on the far side of the table.

“There was nothing about large tortoises,” she groaned loudly.

“Ya think we should go get the others and check it out for ourselves?”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah, let’s go get them...”

“A turtle?”

“Tortoise.”

“Yeah whatever,” Rainbow Dash peered at Twilight and Applebloom from a small cloud. “A large tortoise, like Tank?”

"Bigger."

“Bigger than Tank,” Dash rubbed her chin. “As big as me?”

Twilight wasn't in the mood for a guessing game.

“About the same size as a small house. A very small house. More like a shed. We don’t know if it is dangerous-”

“Cool!” Dash was excited, as ever, for a potentially hazardous adventure.

“I want you to get Fluttershy and Rarity; I’ll go get Pinkie Pie.”

Dash nodded in compliance and zoomed off, dissolving the cloud that she was laying on. Twilight didn’t have to go far to find Pinkie Pie. The bouncy earth pony was actually, luckily, on her way to say hello to Rainbow Dash.

“Hello Twilight!” Pinkie cheered. “Whatcha doin today?”

“Applebloom said she saw a giant tortoise in their orchard,” she tilted her head in the direction of the young filly. “And we are going to go check it out.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves together and smiled, literally, from ear to ear. “That sounds fun! Want me to throw him a party?”

“Uh...”

“Do tortoises even like parties?”

Twilight shrugged. “If he is nice then you can give him, or her, a party.”

“Yippie!”

Immediately after the beast had spoken its pleasant words, Applejack noticed a panel in its uppermost shell hinge open and something starting to emerge. Afraid of being discovered, AJ turned and ran towards her barn to await the arrival of her friends. Granny Smith was waiting by the fence when Applejack returned.

“Now where ya been off to?” She asked, voice rattling and all.

“We have a mighty large vermin in the orchard, Granny,” Applejack replied, amused.

“Did ya ask yer friends to come over and help?”

“Why yes, I did.” AJ nodded. “How did ya know?”

The old mare pointed down the road where her friends and sister were fast approaching.

“Oh shucks, Granny.”

Twilight was the first to reach her friend.

“Hello, AJ.” Twilight looked stressed about something. “Did you see the tortoise?”

“I sure did.”

“Do you think the poor thing is lost?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“The way it wandered aroun’ made it look like it was lost. But there is is somethin’ mighty interestin' I learned about it.”

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked, sounding impatient. She hovered in the air, front legs crossed in front of her chest, a doubtful look on her face.

“Is it hostile?” Twilight bit her lip, hoping that it wasn't.

“Well uh, no,” Applejack smiled. “I learned that it can... talk.”

“Wow!” Twilight’s eyes widened comically.

“What did it say?” Dash landed next to AJ.

Applejack grinned uneasily. “Well uh... it said ‘fuck this tank.’”

“Young lady!” Granny Smith chided AJ. “Don’t ya go sayin’ them bad words! Did I not raise ya proper?”

“But Granny, that's what it said!”

“Why would that tortoise say that about my tortoise?” Rainbow Dash growled. “What did Tank ever do to him?”

The pegasus leaped into the air to go and give the large tortoise a piece of her mind, but Applejack snapped at her tail, stopping her.

“Ah don’t know why he said that ‘bout your pet but we’re all goin’ together and finding out.” Applejack turned to her Grandma. “Has Big Mac came home yet?”

“No he hasn’t but I know he is alright. You six run along now and get that turtle-”

“Tortoise,” Twilight and Fluttershy quipped.

“-out of our orchard. Applebloom, yer stayin’ here.”

“But why! I found it!” Applebloom protested.

“I don’t want you being around a large, cussing turtle.” Granny Smith noticed the irritation in Twilight’s eyes. “Ah mean… tortoise.”

Matt stared intently as Bill and Jeff worked on the tank’s engine. An idea slowly crept into his mind; he clambered up the side of the tank, past the sleeping form of Zeus and into the hull. He reached, rather awkwardly, past Ian’s hip, who was too busy checking the equipment, and retrieved a box. He climbed out and returned to the others by the engine.

“What’s that?” Bill demanded.

Matt did a little dance with the box. “Pancake powder!”

“Why do you have that?”

Matt smiled at the driver. “For pancakes. What else do you use pancake powder for?”

Bill glared at the loader, eyes contemplating murder. “I meant, how are you going to make them?” Matt removed his canteen, a small pan and looked at the overheated engine.

“No,” Bill grabbed Matt’s shoulders and pushed him away from the tank. “You are not using Lucky as a stove!”

“But apple pancakes...” Matt put on his best puppy-dog expression. Bill just glared back.

“No. Where did you even get that?”

Matt’s grin spread even wider. “Stole it from the camp a while back.”

Patton noticed the two tankers and joined them.

“I haven't had good pancakes in a while.”

Matt and Bill hadn't noticed the General approach and they both jumped slightly and saluted him. Patton saluted back, then glanced at the box of pancake mix.

“I await some good apple cakes for all of us.”

“Yes sir,” Matt and Bill replied in unison. Jeff was still busy looking over the tank.

Patton nodded and lumbered away.

“Great,” Bill said angrily. “Now I have to help you make our dinner.”

Walking had never been an activity Rainbow Dash enjoyed. As the friends gradually trekked after the tortoise, Dash started to feel on edge. She longed to soar into the sky and find the beast much quicker. The pegasus raked her mind for an excuse to fly ahead.

She finally found her excuse when they crossed over into Whitetail Woods, where the ground became packed down and rocky and the tracks became harder to follow; the occasional broken tree and flattened bush helped them stay on the trail, but it still was a difficult path.

“Hey Twi,” Dash said, landing next to the violet unicorn. “I think I should fly ahead and scout out the monster's location.”

Twilight was about to protest the idea but she decided otherwise.

“Very well...” Dash squealed in excitement as Twilight continued. “But don't go too far ahead just in case you need us.”

“I will. I mean, I won’t!” Dash jumped vertically into the air and bolted away over the trees.

She flew for what seemed like five minutes, all the while enjoying the flow of the wind around her wings and body, when she suddenly heard a deep rumbling, growling noise. Dash followed the noise, excitement building. Then she saw it- the massive beast lumbering along. The pegasus landed in a nearby tree just as it ground to a halt and a hatch creaked open. Rainbow Dash was surprised to see a strange ape-like creature lumber out, jump off the tortoise’s sides- though now she realised that it was some sort of vehicle- and rush into the woods all the while mumbling indistinguishable curses under its breath.

She glided out of the tree and followed it closely.

“I knew those fuckin’ pancakes were too good to last,” Matt groaned as he waddled into the woods, out of view from the others and pulled down his pants. “They tasted great but-ohhhh yeeaah.”

Matt relieved his upset bowels with a goofy grin on his face.

“Hurry the hell up, Shelly!” Ian called out. The tank commander’s voice sounded distant and Matt wondered how far he had ran. He stood and prepared to head back to the tank when he heard a nearby bush rustle in the non-existent breeze and what sounded like an angry hiss of someone cursing. His heart froze- the first thought in his head was ‘Germans.’ He raised his grease gun and aimed it towards the bush.

‘What was that damn passphrase?' Matt chewed on his lip. Fear rising rapidly. ‘Oh yeah.’

“Baseball!” He called out towards the bush all the while hunkering down closer to the ground. After a long pause and not hearing a reply, Matt aimed and laughed.

“The callback of today was hot dog, you fucking kraut! Just thought you should know before I killed you.”

He squeezed the trigger and let loose a burst of .45 rounds into the bushes. Immediately after the bark of the gun echoed away he heard a sound that made his heart sink. A scream that didn't sound like a German soldiers- no, it was that of a young teenaged girl. Matt stood rooted to the spot, mouth hanging open, afraid to look. When he heard whoever he shot start moaning and crying in pain he instantly made the decision to help. He ran to the bush and parted the leaves; in the fading sunlight he saw something that both horrified him and confused him.

Staring back at him with pained-and-fear-filled rose-colored eyes was a blue, rainbow-maned pony. Matt then noticed three neat holes, one under her shoulder above her heart, with the other two in its left-front leg. Blood was rapidly seeping out onto the bed of leaves.

“Matt!” Ian called and the loader could hear several of his crewmates rapidly approaching.

The fear in the pony’s eyes increased and her breathing sped up. Matt instantly felt compelled to comfort the wounded animal. He placed his gloved hand on her head and softly patted the pony.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Shhh, it’s okay.”

The pony squeaked and closed its eyes just as Ian and Zeus arrived. Matt could see the slow rising and falling of her chest, so he knew it was still alive at the very least.

“What the fuck is that?” Ian shouted, as loud as an order.

Zeus just stood there, staring.

“I don’t know.” Matt was, unexpectedly, close to tears; he wiped away his eyes with a blood-covered glove. “But we have to help it. We can't let her die.”

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I do not own MLP:FiM.
Oh no! Not Dashie! What have I done!?!
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