The shock passes as I start to try and bring sensors in the bay online. It is no use, they and the cameras are knocked out. I have nothing but nearby clusters to tell me of the explosion which appears to be centered on the bay itself.
Internals farther in were saved by interior shields and blast shunts, otherwise my fabricators would have sustained damage as well.
I find this extremely odd, my suspicions going into overdrive as nothing was in that particular bay, except for the Ferret and techspiders. The drone wreckage was secured, their fuel cells almost impossible to overload unless directed to do so!
Perhaps the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash did more damage than I had seen? There was no reason to inspect the drones more than visually, I had no plans other than to recycle for more parts or building replacements. I immediately shift fabrication to more tech spiders, there were a few destroyed in the bay, I am no longer receiving their signals.
A techspider makes it into the area now, moving quickly as it turns its’ eyes on the walls and floor. There is quite a bit of damage, the Ferret is on it’s side, the remains of the drones are scattered piecemeal. I see the various spiders in pieces as well. This was a concussive blast of some force, by techspider readings there is no radioactivity. Nor are the chemical sniffers in the spider picking up any octocellulose remains, or any other explosive so far.
But once again, this should have been impossible unless done so deliberately. Nopony has been near that wreckage, there were no signals incoming or outgoing. I cannot understand this.
I delegate half of what is left of my repair spiders to go into the bay, sort and separate all drone wreckage for investigation. The Ferret I can lever up on it’s treads later. I am stunned at the entire thing, but it is nothing that cannot be repaired given time. What is truly bothersome is when the explosion happened inside the bay, the hatches were dogged and sealed.
------------
Applejack is looking at me with a worried expression, “Are ya alright?”
I adjust my avatar to stand upright again, seems I have fallen on my side, “I am. There was an explosion in one of my bays.”
“What? Is everything okay?”
“I have sustained some damage, but nothing threatening. It is odd, nothing in there should have done that.”
“Well when it comes to explosions we can always ask Pinkie,“ She cracks a slight grin, “But I know what yer sayin’. Are ya sure everything’s alright?”
“It was contained, there was hardly any fire. It can be rebuilt. But Applejack, this should not have happened.”
“Well as long as there’s no danger to you..?”
“There is not as far as I can see. It will take some time to assess the full extent of the damage. Though anyone standing on the hill might have gotten a rude surprise when the explosion was vented outwards.”
“How so?”
I must look a bit sheepish as I twist my hooves in front of me, “Well the shunts go outward, meaning it might look like a geyser opened up, blowing out a bit..well..a lot of dirt.”
“Oh fer...seriously?” She grabs my leg, tugging me into a trot, “C’mon, let’s go find out. Sometimes I think you just attract trouble like those other Crusaders!”
I follow her quickly as we make our way towards my hill, “This one is not my fault!”
--------------
It is a bit of a trip, but we make it in good time. I am analyzing the damage done, it is extensive but only to the Recovery Bay itself, thanks to shielding. Levering that Ferret back up will be a chore. But the spiders have already been sorting the wreckage for the better part of an hour.
There were five drones taken down by the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash. I brought them into the recovery bay after visual inspection. There was nothing else but them and the Ferret.
The chemical sniffers are telling me there was a fuel cell rupture, I somewhat expected that due to targeting of the barbed darts, taking proper precautions. But if so what set off the fuel mixture? How it happened to trigger is baffling. Concordiat technology had so many fail safes sometimes it was pure overkill. I have never let my drones go without a maintenance check either. Perhaps Masada had let things slide in it’s lust for destruction. Too bad I cannot analyze the program anymore, but it is best left to the past.
We do see the vent holes, I am glad nopony was standing right above them, that would have been a bit hard to explain being shot into the air on a plug of dirt. I should have cleared those out before this. I keep trying to plan ahead, but the unexpected is happening in ways that I have not thought of. I am beginning to wonder if old earth tales of cursed places are real. Ever since I awoke it truly has been a roller coaster ride.
“Ooo wee Crusader, that’s a big hole alright.”
“A bit of understatement Applejack,” I watch her looking down a vent hole, approximately ten feet wide leading downwards. There are two of them. Thank goodness nopony was standing there.
“Least nopony’s down there, can ya get em filled back up?”
“Yes, I can make sure they are filled in overnight. Though we might wish to mark them for safety.”
Applejack nods, “Yeah, there’s some ponies I wouldn’t trust not to get themselves stuck falling down one.”
I purpose a couple tech spiders to bring marker paint outside, making a large orange ring around the holes, with a warning spelled out along the lines.
After they are done, I send them back in to decontaminate the bay, cleaning it of the fuel cell mixture before the fumes or anything else gather.
Applejack sets next to me, with a puzzled look on her face, “So what ya think happened?”
“I have no idea, it was a surprise to me as well.”
“You don’t think them Cutie Mark..”
“No, no they wouldn’t have access to anything like this.”
“Think something out of the forest snuck in?”
“I don’t know, the hatches were sealed, security checks said nothing moving except my spiders. Could whatever is in the forest be intelligent enough to do such a thing?”
“Ya know sugar, I don’t know. Ah think maybe we’ve got to do some talkin’ to folks about this. This is mighty strange.”
“You’re telling me, ever since I awoke it’s been nothing but strange.”
Her hoof pokes my shoulder gently, “Now it ain’t all been bad.” I see her smile out of the corner of my eyes.
“No, no it hasn’t. I admit some times have been very special.”
“Oh?” She leans closer, “What times would that be?”
“The drinking game with Rainbow Dash. Oh and listening to Twilight talk about magic.”
She has a very soft look on her face, blushing a bit.
“Any ...other...times?”
“No, none I can think of.”
My ear gets cuffed as she gives me a look of consternation, “Smart aleck.”
“Yes, yes I am my Applejack.” I lean over, giving her a kiss, her lips are warm from the sunshine, “They will always be special times to me. Always.”
Her smile brightens my day as always, she hugs me tight. “For me too.”
We both sit a moment under the clear skies, watching a few Pegasus push clouds around.
“I think we’d better get to Twilight’s and start asking. Something is wrong here, very wrong.”
Applejack looks back at me and nods, “I’d say so, c’mon we got us a hike.” She takes off at a fast trot, I follow her.
As we move quickly, my mind is now receiving data as the spiders start piecing together what they can of the five drones. Something failed spectacularly, but how and why is the question. I cannot rule out sabotage. But then how would somepony know how to detonate a fuel cell, and why?
-------------
Twilight receives us graciously as always, she is all smiles seeing myself and Applejack, leading us into the library.
“I’ve received more books from stores around the country, but no one really goes into the background of the Everfree; all I have is what I’ve been told or picked up through reading really obscure material.”
I settle on a cushion, thinking for a moment, “How long has that forest been there?”
“From what I heard from the Princesses, before Ponyville was founded. It was a lot bigger then. The ponies had to keep working to drive it back and keep it that way. But they say it goes far back, they knew of it when Nightmare Moon happened.”
“So this goes further than Equestria’s founding?”
Twilight nods, “I believe so. It’s always been a place of danger, but this is getting way out of hoof.”
Applejack chimes in, “I’ll say! Them things he described I ain’t never heard of before.”
Twilight gets a curious look on her face, “What were they? Do you know?”
“No, they were not in my tactical data cores. I have descriptions of all animals Fluttershy has dealt with. I can deal with them non-lethally. Anything not in it, well, they receive a warm welcome.” I had recently talked with Fluttershy, making sure my cores were intact and still contained the correct data.
“I cannot understand really, why the forest is so active. From all accounts it was not so before I awoke. It was dangerous true, and sometimes things wandered out from what I hear. But this, massed attacks, creating new creatures? Is this maybe because of my preventing it from doing so anymore?”
Twilight furrowed her brow, thinking, “I’ve checked Ponyville histories, there’s nothing noted in them like this at all.”
“Maybe I am the cause then.”
Applejack nudges my shoulder, “I dunno, this whole place’s been one disaster after another even before you came.”
I raise a hoof, “That is true. I mean statistics and what I know of them, say this is impossible that so many events should happen in such close proximity and in one place. Is there something special about Ponyville?”
The mulberry mare looked at the orange one in turn, “Not that we’ve ever known. Celestia guided the founders here, told them it was a good place to set up a town. Other than that, I mean, it’s just a town.” Applejack nodded in agreement.
I take a few seconds to think, really push my processors for the moment, “It’s like tales from old earth. The Bermuda Triangle, where craft disappeared without a trace, or so legends said. There were often tales of strange places where mysterious things supposedly happened. Often they were not true, but it makes one wonder.”
Applejack laughs, “I always thought we ought to put up a sign, “Welcome to Ponyville, 38 days since the last disaster”, Jes’ start keeping track.”
I get a good laugh out of that, joining Applejack and Twilight.
“I do wonder Twilight, has there ever been any indication of an intelligence out in the forest?”
“How do you mean?”
“Something directing it, making it grow a certain way, attacking ponies.”
“There’s always been theories, but nopony’s ever proved any of them. Of course going into the Everfree is pretty dangerous in itself. Applejack and I have seen plants acting intelligent, or monsters doing certain things.”
She gets a panicked look on her face, “Ohmygosh! We forgot about Steven!”
“I’m sorry, who is Steven?”
“He’s a Sea Serpent who helped us to cross a river when we were going after the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon!”
“Sea Serpent?”
Applejack nods, “Oh yeah, he was great! See he’d lost part of his moustache, and Rarity cut off her tail to make it match, looked purty nice too. He helped us get across the river. He sure was a nice fella.”
“A Sea Serpent with a moustache? Rarity cut her tail off to give him a missing piece of it back?”
I see them both nod.
I begin to get overload warnings on my arrays as I calm them, shutting down the extra processing cores before they overheat. Nanites are still rebuilding some of the cooling systems.
“You are kidding me right?”
Applejack leaned into me, nuzzling my cheek, “Sugar, honestly, we wouldn’t kid ya like that.”
No, I am not going to do this. I accepted Pinkie Pie, and so many other things. What is a Sea Serpent with a moustache. No, I am not going to get into this.
“So... why are you worried about...Steven?
Twilight looks a bit flustered, “Well last time we saw him he was in the Everfree in the large river running through there. I hope he hasn’t gotten hurt with the explosions and everything!”
“One second..”
I run a quick tactical download, going back into the logs when the bombing run of the Everfree was performed when Fluttershy got hurt. I can see the angles of attack and the drop areas. None seem to be by the large river running through the forest, it was more to the west of it, near where I thought would do the most damage. Even with splash there shouldn’t have been any danger as I controlled the run very carefully.
“I am sure he’s all right. I have gone over the records and if the large river running through the forest is the one where he lives, the bombs were not dropped near. Though he might have gotten some dirt and splinters flying his way. How long is he?”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed slightly as she thought for a moment, looking at Twilight, “Uhm.. I’d say about the width of the river plus half again? He was purty big. About a pony or so wide too, he made a bridge out of his body so we could walk over to the other side. Right nice of him.”
Twilight nodded, “Yeah, he was about that big.”
“I haven’t noticed anything like that in my drone patrols, I’ll keep an eye out. He should be fine.”
I do not exactly say I have not noticed a body anywhere. Which I have not. I immediately re-purpose a drone for river over-flights the next few days. If something that big is in there, I will spot it. But seriously, a moustache? Bolos are not supposed to get headaches.
Twilight cheerfully pipes up, “Oh! He had a great mane of hair too, really stylish!
I see Applejack nodding.
No...
-------------
Applejack and I sit in Twilight’s library, scanning through books that make even a mention of the forest. Some tomes are so old they are brittle to the touch, it takes Twilight’s magic to hold them together so we can peruse the writings.
I find it intriguing that nopony has written much about that tangled growth, even though it impacts quite a few of the stories and legends in these books. Almost as if it wants to be forgotten until it does something, then is washed away in memory once more. I wonder if possibly, given the use and power of magic I have seen so far, can it erase such memories? Does it temporarily block them until it is forgotten? Is it intelligent enough to do so?
I listen close, to Twilight and Applejack telling of the plants that attacked them. That shows intent, intelligence, whether it is in the plant of from a directing force. It is there, just a matter of finding the source and eradicating it.
They have told, and I have listened many times, about ponies fighting back the forest. Moving it back to help the town grow in it’s first stages, protecting the frontier. It is larger than most suspect.
They are deep these woods, mysterious like the old earth tales of missing ships and planes, people and whole villages sometimes. The legends grow with time, but I wonder, was there a core of truth to them? The congruency of events and problems run any statistics into the ground. Until we can find an answer, whether in a book or by going into the forest itself, it will remain something to ponder.
My techspiders are already done with the wreckage, metallurgical analysis is ongoing right now to fit anymore pieces of the puzzle of the explosion. I leave nothing to chance, taking samples, running them against my diagnostics programs. Tracking the least clue as best I can to find out why it happened.
Twilight has told me teleportation might be a factor. Some pony getting inside with a spell. As much as I want to disbelieve I have learned better. But I have asked her to find if the pony needed to know where they were going or could send something in blind without a destination. She is looking for the specifics of the spell right now, there are many variations on it they require research.
I am signaled by my analysis programs, something very odd in the wreckage. I run the tests once more, waiting the few minutes required and receiving the same result. It is curious. I run a complete inventory of all drones in magazines and ones currently on patrol, the numbers are green.
All my weapons and materials have a part of the local metals and materials in them, they show a consistent signature I recognize immediately for purposes of identification. Ever since I awoke I have used local materials to bring myself up to specifications.
As the scanning goes on, I notice other peculiarities, my processors indicating a bit of alarm.
This is not my drone.
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5608195 Oh now that's just... I mean.. Okay ya got me...
And there's the twist I've been waiting for.
5608215
Where's my drone? That drone has an unknown serial number and IFF signal that is one hour old. That's not my drone.
Oh my goodness. What a twist!
Oh my! The mysteries!? Thanks for another great chapter! :D
I wonder. Who could have made some thing similar enough to one of his own drones that he would mistake it for one? Doubt it's another Bolo, but still.
5608282 Answers forthcoming! Working on next chapter already
5608270 You are always welcome!
5608260 I know the PM's are gonna fly on this one
Oh my.
Given that an awful lot of plant based defenses include psychoactive alkoloids and neurotoxins, saps, exudates, vapours and pollens, Id say with magic, it doesnt take much more for the forest to be able to come up with near anything.
The trick with Megabyte though. Yup.
The Forest has been infected with Masada?
I'm loving it - Brought to you by McDonald's
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What could possibly make another drone?
Also, congratz on another feature!
inb4 skynet has awoken in equestria
Oh, well, crap. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
A unknown drone? Either Masuda jumped into one of them or there's another bolo...
...Or the forest just got a hundred times more dangerous
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You folks are the funniest, greatest, fun to read comments, I've ever had the pleasure to do so. Thanks, you really do make it all worthwhile!
And to everyone not included in this list, you're awesome! I try and answer everyone I can, but All you guys are just great
5608455 Thank you
* takes a graceful bow*
I aim to please
As do all of us
5608455
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5608455
Oh, sure, just ignore me, I see how it is! Even after I slaved thee rough reading your whole story, now you ignore me.
Lol.
5608543
Yer awesome!
What lies at the heart of the dark Forrest? What corrupts and denies the magic of the world? Could it be a defender of old earth twisted by time and lost to reason; roused fully by the voice of a lost brother calling out to all who remain? Could it be using old science to twist the flesh of the forests denizens into horrors to serve its purposes, to silence the voice that reminds it of all it has lost?
CONSPIRACY ALERT!
ANOTHER BOLO EXISTS!
Ah, what a place to catch up to!
5608455 Why thank you, I do try.
Ooo, will crusader a long lost a long lost sibling or will it be discord playing with an old shell. Find out next on tells of interest!
5608215 Curiouser and curiouser...we'll all be waiting with anticipation now thanks to you good sir.
recently read the story, quite a nice story i must say, and I like how the story flows. :)
All in all very interesting, im a very sci-fi interested guy so this was a very nice gift on Monday
Well I hope you don't keep us waiting, write so we can throw money at you!
I see you kept the theme of the story very close to the books. A +1 for Dedication and Detail!
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local materials, the forest made the drone out of the bits of itself crusader harvested.
5608319 in that case... welp, shtf
So that's where GRUE 23Phi got too! Sorry Crusader. Just be happy her self destruct was too damaged to have her fusion battery go critical like it's supposed to. Wait... that was a flying drone, not a quadrupedal stealthed camera droid... Fuck!
Oh my glob! what's gonna happen next?! *grabs popcorn furiously and waits for next chapter*
While a little short on swatting battleships out of low orbit with linear nuclear blasts, this is everything I wanted out of a Bolo fic.
*Reads last sentence*
Now, I have a small theory to throw out: did anypony think to grab that magically charged gem that Scootaloo and Applebloom dropped? If not, I can totally see it causing this mystery drone to explode when it released its stored magic.
I now have the scary though there's a second Bolo on Equestria... and it's buried beneath the Everfree Forest.
Not Crusader's drone....is the Everfree really intelligent enough to mimic a damaged drone well enough for Crusader to come haul it into his bays, or is there another bolo out there and the pegasi attacked one of its drones? Honestly, I'm not sure which would be worse. Another bolo Crusader might be able to reason with, but that could spell widespread destruction before he did so. The Everfree having that advanced of a malevolent intellect is a truly frightening proposition, because if it is a genius loci then razing the forest alone probably would not kill it.
Um.
What if the malevolence behind the Everfree, is something else that managed to stasis survive from the days of Bolo.
But. Isnt a Bolo, But an enemy?
5609806 Definitely something to ponder, the Everfree is evil, it's been proven time and again. Very very astute observation!
5609787 The gem was dropped in the psychotronic arrays, not the recovery bays, hmmmm...
5609660 Thank you very kindly for the wonderful compliment!
5609610 I'mma writin'! I'mma writin'!
5609586
5609377 Those are awesome!
5609329 Thank you kindly. I am glad I can keep to the canon of Bolos as close as I can so folks like you enjoy the story. Lots more story to tell!
5609286 Them darn cliffhangers, I tell ya just keep popping up
5609189 Action! Adventure! Thrills! Chills! Popcorn!
5609143 I'm glad you enjoy the story, thank you! Yes, I'm really bad with cliffhangers, I sure get alot of PM's about those for some strange reason
5609058 Nooooooo..would I do that?
Well if it's not his drone then it must be from another bolo! I expect you to write another parallel story Nfire detailing another bolo that survived on earth and is living/allied with the gryphons or some other race. Different environment different ideals etc etc.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!
5610151 I sure get that lot for some reason
5610065 THERE IS ANOTHER BOLO!
5612276 Excellent description!
5612276 thank you
I have a sneaking suspicion that Crusader is going to have to exhume himself at some point.
And then that twist. Hoo-boy, that twist.
M. Night Shyamalan is weeping right now, and he doesn't know why.
5609787 I second the scary thought.
Well... Ah, huh.
I don't know what is worse, you making me speechless, or me being speechless...
Wait, did I say 'making me speechless' yet?
5627331 obi wan says droids, not drone or are you just using it in context?
Hm, another Bolo? Enemies of the Concordiat? Other remnants of Old Earth?
Crusaders thoughts on Steven...