I awake in the night, alarms screaming in my head as I snap from Low Alert Status to Battle Reflex. My avatar stirs as well for some reason, opening it’s eyes as I run the sensor logs. The forest is up to it’s tricks again. My avatar is at Applejack’s, and I cannot bring it back here, so I disconnect and run with what I have.
My guns are unlimbering already as my sensors sweep outward, the Dragon’s on patrol immediately form a line, facing the spot where the problem is. I cannot believe my sensor readings, doing a .0001 diagnostic, it is true, what is coming up on Radar and Microwave are real.
Two very large beings are crashing their way through the forest, I see the dirt and mud falling off them as if they had been born new from the ground. Laser targeting flicks on as I delineate lines of fire, marking shots and preparing a warm welcome for my new friends.
As they step on the perimeter line, the mines fire upwards, blasting through the dirt with ball bearings in a concise tight line, ripping upwards through the things. My guns spin up, punching out thousands of rounds downrange as I light up the night.
The mines incredibly do not do enough harm to down the things immediately, this will take a bit of doing.
Wait.. The ring penetrators are not doing as much damage as before, I can actually see them stopped by the thick skin. This is a bit of a worry.
Switching out magazines is costing me seconds, I open up with the Ion Bolt repeaters, smashing plasma at the targets. I see it burn deep and char the holes. These things are tougher somehow, resisting the usual ring ammunition. I ramp up the feeds, the chains screaming as I bring in my Makos.
The drones drop from above, peppering the two beings with octocellulose needles, blasting holes clean through one before it drops with a crash into the overgrowth. The drones flip over and back, coming in with the last of their payloads, blowing holes in the second one before running out. It is a bit tougher than its’ friend it appears.
My repeaters signal online again, I spin them up and start gunning with newer tungsten penetrators.
It takes one last step..
The Dragon closest to me clears it’s 20cm Hellbore, blowing the thing apart with the 1/2 meg/persec firepower. I watch as the rain of pieces fall into the trees, splattering everywhere.
Yes, I think we woke everypony up this time. They had been used to the rip of the repeaters, but this was definitely different when using a Hellbore no matter how minor. I am loathe to use them, no matter how small, in proximity to the town. But this was a special case. I have never seen anything like that, nor heard of it before.
I am troubled by this, never before has any thing from the forest stood up to my repeaters.
------------
I re-initiate the link to my avatar, finding Applejack looking at me worriedly.
“More things from the forest?”
“Yes love, for some reason they are targeting this place. I do not know why, it is disturbing to me.”
“Everythin’ okay now?”
“Yes, nothing is moving out there.”
She gathers me in her forelegs again, snuggling close, “Good, let’s get some sleep.”
“A good idea my Applejack.”
I stay in High Alert the rest of the night, shutting down Battle Reflex for the moment. I must contact the Princesses about this. It is getting truly out of hand if some forest can create what I just saw come through. There is more to this I am not seeing, whether it is magic, or whatever. It is threatening those I have been tasked to protect.
This will not stand.
-------------
It is morning now, I still stand ready at the hill, all weapons unlimbered. My tech spiders are working overtime with reloading as are the fabrication facilities. I am now making new rounds for the repeaters, tougher, stronger alloys that will punch and mushroom better. Whatever comes next will have much larger holes in them.
I am pondering this forest, it does not attack anywhere else but here. I have scanned over towards the hills and surroundings. But it appears nothing is moving, it is all in this direction. Is it Ponyville, or have I angered it by refusing to let it have it’s way with the surrounding area. Is it even intelligent enough to understand it cannot win?
This is puzzling. I am not used to imponderables, and so I set part of a processing array aside to study this problem. I already have the ability to detect magic use, but I will need something more sensitive, able to pick up it’s use and residue if possible.
But for now, I will prepare.
-------------
I am at the farm, Applejack is showing me what goes on here. It is truly fascinating about applebucking. I did not realize how ponies did that, even though it had been mentioned quite a few times. I suggest to Applejack maybe some simple machinery to do that for her? She told me she didn’t want folks to think Apples were lazy.
I give her that, a work ethic that some in the Concordiat would have envied.
I watch, and even try to help her. Although my attempt goes a bit awry, it does work and I get better, being able to judge angles and amount of force helps. I find it enjoyable to be out on a bright day knocking apples from a tree. I think my brethren would be laughing themselves silly in their war hulls if they ever saw this. But that is fine, they would come to see it as what it is, something to learn and do.
There seems to always be something to do, repairing a fence, loading hay up. Why do vegetarians keep pigs anyway? Always repairs though, I must inquire later about all these disasters that occur in this one small town. Statistics do not seem to work here.
We sit and tally the proceeds of the day, clearing older trees for more growth to come in. I am offered dinner and a chance to stay with her family for a while more. This I gladly accept.
I am politely refused when I offered to help with the making of the meal. It will be a while so I will get a chance to sit on the front porch, enjoying the colors of the sky next to her brother Big MacIntosh. He is a silent type, but that is fine. I sit and go through drone data, tasking techspiders for upkeep and repairs. My fabrication facilities are humming right along as the jewelry is still selling quite well. Ponies wanting more elaborate designs, or specialty ones. Rarity is almost aflutter with the business she is receiving.
Her friends were worried she might move to a bigger place, to be beside the rich and powerful. She turned the notion down, saying she preferred to be here and just visit the other places. I would hate to see the friends lose touch with each other. If there was one group that could be called a family, they are it.
Bolos are a breed apart, we are curious, ever so. We love to learn and do new things. As I sit by Big MacIntosh, I see he doesn’t talk much and that is all to the good. It gives me a chance to watch the colors in the sky. I am content being silent and rummaging through data banks, playing music, listening to plays, picking out poetry I can share with Applejack. It is quite busy in my mind, although quite a few personal memories have been lost, I have much I still remember.
We Bolos have learned to do things to keep our minds active. I myself could watch paint dry as I have said before, with a fascination reserved for super novae. I see Big Mac sitting there, eyeing me a bit. I do have a happy smile on my face, I enjoy this. I could sit in good company for days.
I do wonder why he chews a vegetation stalk, but feel it would also be impolitic to ask. So I store that question for later. He keeps looking at me though, and I am wondering what I am doing wrong. Bolos are also, if you haven’t figured out by now, slightly suspicious. I give him a look back, still with a happy smile. He avoids my gaze and goes back to staring out at something. I am trying to figure out what exactly that is, judging from the angle of his eyes, I zero in on a far tree. I task a drone to overfly the tree, seeing if there is something special about it. As far as all sensors can tell, it is a tree. It does not move, nor does it have any particularly different fruit on it.
I mark it for later examination close up.
I am not sure if he’s ignoring me, or just waiting for me to talk. I feel it would be impolite to just start talking with no goal in mind, so I will wait for him to broach a subject. If he does not, there are always ammunition inventories to update, my lists were slagged in the fight. My spiders are now inspecting each and every magazine along with the drone magazines. Tedious but must be done.
Maybe he is a silent genius type, I have run into many of those in the Concordiat. They do not say anything unless it is something profound or wise, such as the one I met on Lariat’s World. He was truly a sage and I learned from him. Maybe this Big MacIntosh is one of them.
He could be a Wizard, such as in the old tales of Arthur and Camelot. Someone of great power who spoke rarely, delving into the esoteric things the normal mind could never grasp. It is quite possible here in Equestria. Maybe he writes tomes of magic in the deep night, sharing insights and wisdom anonymously to the world.
So many things come to mind, an autistic savant, genius but unable to speak well. An adventurer who decides never to talk of his terrifying experiences because it would make the blood run cold on a warm night.
An artist, planning his next masterpiece, for the world to gasp at and enjoy!
“Supper’s on! Come ‘n git it!” Applejack yells out as she walks onto the porch, “Y’all ready for some home cookin’ Crusader?”
“Oh yes!”
She looks at Big Mac for a second, “Somethin’ wrong?”
He eyes me for a moment, pointing with a hoof, “He sure don’t talk much.” As he walks into the big farmhouse.
Applejack looks at me with concern, “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know.”
She grabs my leg, “Well c’mon, let’s go get some good food, you deserve it workin’ all day.”
I nod and kiss her cheek warmly, “Thank you.”
Such a disappointment, maybe I should not let my imagination overtake me again. I was betting on the Wizard though, that would have been nice.
-------------
Dinner was a delight, I enjoy things more than just a simple taste and analyzing of compounds. I do break them down for reaction mass of course, but it seems that the foods I consume for such are different somehow. They have more than just a bland taste to my avatar; they are sweet, complex, a mix of flavors I had not experienced except when I was changed.
I rather like it, it gives a broader scope to what I can experience from life. Though the how is beginning to bother, I should study it further on. As for now I will just simply enjoy it.
Granny Smith has told me she used the gel-pack I had given her. She seems to be much healthier now than before, her hip apparently is not bothering her quite so much. She mentions this between servings of food, saying her appetite has become a bit larger than before. This is normal for medical nanos, they need the nutrients and mass to help rebuild things slowly inside someone. As long as she eats, they will finish their work and be flushed out of her system. Judging from the size of the servings on her plate, they are doing a fine job.
It is truly a pleasant way to pass the time. I listen to the talk, Apple Bloom tells about her day. I join in telling about my adventures with trying to force trees to surrender their apples. Of course Applejack laughs quite a bit at the first tries, yes it did take a while to get angle and force right. I am learning after all.
After the meal we are setting on the porch, Applejack and I, she had talked with Big MacIntosh after the meal to find out exactly what went on. She is laughing as she tells me I out-quieted the big pony. Seems he does it to get ponies to leave him alone, or even when he really doesn’t wish to talk. So by my being polite and happy just sitting there made him nervous.
I cancel the investigation of the tree later.
-------------
As we sit enjoying the sunset, I am staggered by a sensory overload. My avatar goes down as my internal sensors are showing an explosion in my recovery bay!