• Member Since 11th Jan, 2024
  • offline last seen 6 hours ago

Michael Spruce


Just a small-town pony with a few big ideas in my noggin.

T

It's been two years since the war began in the north. Two years of being pushed back, kilometer by kilometer, across Equestrian soil. The nation runs short of ponies fit to lead her masses, and casts her net ever wider in search of bodies for the furnaces of war.

Summer Meadows, the youngest daughter of a venerable unicorn house, is pulled from her officer training early and sent to the front to be a tank commander. She is, of course, excited at the prospect of serving her country and her princess at last, but there is one small problem: she doesn't know the first thing about being a tanker...

/ - / - / = \ - \ - \

A tank crew ensemble story set in a world in which Equestria finds itself in a losing war with a power-hungry neighbor, using hardware loosely based on the Second World War. It combines two things I love: ponies and tanks, in a never-before-seen kind of pony war story.

Chapters (17)
Comments ( 26 )

I noticed there aren’t many comments here but I just want to say that I love the work that you have put into this story and I cannot wait for future updates

this is honestly, amazing. Can't wait for the next chapter

11836160
You are certainly in luck, then, because the next chapter is already up!

I'm uploading what I have written and polished at a rate of one chapter a day, you know, just to have some consistent exposure in "recently updated" category. This overarching "part" of the story comes in six chapters - it would have been three, but each chapter got to be a bit of a bite to chew at a time, and there were convenient scene breaks right in the middle I could use, so why not?

11836719
Eyyy, new chapter. Pretty interesting the new guy.
I wish you luck with the other chapters

dang, another chapter

Gonna be entirely honest, I really didn't like Summer for most of this chapter (Except for the end though). Also, with the shear quality writing that this story has, I feel as though it is currently criminally underrated.

Gotta love how even though they're in a fight for survival, the Equestrians still continue to be racist towards one another.

Nice

Will say that it is rather interesting (And neat) to get to see Summer from the perspective of another one of her crew members.

You know, since my story is rated teen, I'm not sure if the bare implication of the deed, with absolutely no details, warrants the "sex" tag. Anyone more educated on the use of the tags and ratings than I am care to weigh in?

I would say that if you continue to reference it, you should probably add the "Sex" tag with a Teen rating and just leave a note in the description saying something like: "Sex tag is for innuendo featured occasionally throughout the story".

The extraction fan whirred in the relative silence, drawing out toxic fumes and cigarette smoke alike.

So just toxic fumes then?

I definitely was not expecting that to come out of Misty's backstory.

Supercharger defending Sterling Ranger's engine from those truck mechanics was honestly kind of adorable.

sweet chapter mate:pinkiehappy::twilightsmile:

Her horn projected through a hole between the dual hatches Minty had persuaded one of the welder ponies to cut specifically for this purpose when Supercharger left the tank alone to deliver her "personal report". Not only did Summer not have to crane her neck so much anymore when she sat, but also, in Minty’s opinion, it was worth the look on Supercharger’s face when she returned to find the work already finished.

They probably should add something to the hatch to cover her horn, lest the tip get shot off in combat.

Tank no.7, as Minty had learned, had taken an armor-piercing shell through the front that had killed the commander and gunner outright, and wounded the loader so badly she died only minutes later. Now, the radio operator had taken over as commander, because only he and the driver knew anything about tank operations, and the driver was indispensable. He was trying his best, but he was definitely a weak link in the chain.

And this is why (In the US at least) every crew member of a tank is trained on all of the tank's positions, makes it easier to swap people around if crew members become incapacitated.


To answer your question Michael_Spruce, yes I did rather like the approach that you took for Minty's ark.

I liked it a lot. Thanks for writing!

i.imgflip.com/37wfhk.png


I want to give Turnip a hug.

I also hope she can rejoin her crew at some point in the near future.

noooooooo.
oooh, does this mean we'll get POW action?

Oof, I hope Turnip (And the rest of her unit) will be alright.

Things certainly are getting interesting, though I do feel bad for Turnip for having had her stuff effectively stolen.

They had Equestrian weapons, for the most part, Equestrian trucks, and, further back, out of the firelight of the several sunken cookfires, they even had a hooffull of Equestrian tanks. One of them was a new long-barreled support model, so they weren’t just working with old dregs, either.

Hmm...

Strangely, the map was creased and water-damaged.

Hmm...

Turnip ran her eyes over the officers, and one unicorn's appearance in particular stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Sergeant Meadows?” Turnip blurted out.

I knew it!

I had a feeling Turnip might bump into Summer & Co. :pinkiehappy:


I'm happy to see that the gang's back together, and I hope that maybe things can be a bit smoother for them going forward.

Turnip awoke to find daylight filtering into the turret through the open commander’s hatch. She was lying on her side on the cold metal of the turret floor underneath the gun. At some point in the night, somepony must have covered her up, because an army blanket was tickling her chin.

It was probably Minty :twilightsmile:

“Don’t even mention it,” Thrash said, casually reaching out to lift her braid with a hoof. Turnip tossed her head to flip her braid to the other side, out of his touch.

:ajsmug:

Turnip stood silently. A unicorn officer asking her ponies what they thought? Now this was a first.

And with that, I'm liking Summer even more.

She headed through the woods at a brisk trot in the direction she had been told the party had left in, hoping to catch them up.

Yeah, there's no way this ends well.


While the gang is back together, I find myself frustrated with Thrash, mainly because at this rate it would seem that he might just be the sole reason as to why Turnip may be forced to fight with the grunts.

This is giving off Valkyria Chronicles vibes AND I LOVE IT IM LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE...I Mean looking forward to more of this beautiful story.

The corporal chewed on this. The greenish-tan coated stallion from yesterday, Strongheart, cut in, “You can’t be seriously considering this, sir! We shouldn’t be taking fillies into combat zones, no matter how useful they might be. Think of your sister, sir!”

I don't like Strongheart.

She groaned and let her tense jaw go slack. Something heavy fell from it to plonk onto the crushed grass. Once started, the slackening of tension would not stop; the next thing she knew, she was on her side on the ground, staring at the dented Equestrian entrenching spade a hoofful of centimeters in front of her eyes. The edge had a fresh crust of blood.

And it would seem that Turnip went full Kriegsman on that Crystal Pony.

“Not r-” Turnip began, then stopped herself. She drew in a deep breath, wincing at the pain in her chest, and sighed explosively. “Fine. Let’s talk.”

:twilightsmile:

On the one hand, I am rather excited to see just how much Summer is improving as a leader. On the other hand though, gosh darn it Turnip, I honestly hope she has to go through something in the near future where she's forced to confront how stupid it is for her to continue a rather petty feud in an active war zone. And on a final note, I am a bit nervous to see how acting as vanguard will go for everyone, and whilst it is a bit of a pipe dream, I hope that both them and their tank can make it it out alright.

All too soon, they were moving again, pitching down a grade and then up the next. Turnip heard the muffled pop of distant rifle fire begin. She slid an armor-piercing shell from the side rack, backing slightly under Summer’s chair, and set it point-up in the rear corner, where she leaned over it, waiting.

This is where the fun begins...

Minty tapped the side of the turret, where the hinges of the hatch met the armor. The steel was caved like a pony had struck with a supernaturally strong hoofstrike, and the middle set of hinges had burst open. On the floor in front of her lay the slightly deformed enemy shell.

:rainbowderp:


Something I forgot to to mention yesterday was just how good your fight choreography is, Spruce, with it I find it very easy to tell what is going on, and when it is going on, from melees to large combined arms battles like this, I would just like to applaud you for your skill in doing this.

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