C.A.M.A: Day Nine
December 15th, 2012
I woke up early today and discovered that Night Hunter was not in his bed, but I did find a note on it that clarified he was preparing the weapons, devices, and that today he'll be teaching me outside for the hands-on weapons, so I was rather excited. I did my normal routine for the morning, put on my winter coat, hat, gloves and waited for Night Hunter's return.
Some time had gone by and I was beginning to wonder if Night Hunter was even coming back. Curiously, I grabbed the note again and noticed a little side text that instructed me to turn on the back because there was no more room on the small square sticky note. The backside revealed that he'd be back by nine o'clock and it was eight-twenty one at the time a read it. I didn't really know what to do to pass the time, so I decided to go eat something again.
After heading downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a breakfast MRE that contained cereal with raspberries, oat biscuits with blackberry jam, a dark chocolate energy bar, orange flavored energy drink powder and a plastic spoon. I opened up the cereal packet and dumped some water into it so that that the cereal will absorb the liquid and turn it into a cereal-oatmeal mix.
"Am I eating because I'm bored?" I asked myself while chewing on the energy bar.
Finishing the MRE, I headed back upstairs and had fifteen minutes left before Night Hunter returned. When the time had past, I heard the door to the entrance open and Night Hunter's silhouette could be made out at the end of the hallway.
"Be sure to bring your notebook!" Night Hunter yelled at the end of the hallway.
"Don't worry, I'll get it." I replied as I went back into the room to grab my notebook and pencil.
I hurried over to Night Hunter and we both left the building.
"What kind of equipment you got in store for me?" I asked.
"You'll see soon enough," Night Hunter replied. "Okay, so today we're going to be heading down eight-hundred meters from Canterlot." Night Hunter said.
"You mean we're heading OFF of Canterlot and back down there?" I asked, pointing downwards.
"That's right. I got some royal pegasus guards to fly us down there so that we won't have to use the train." Night Hunter said.
"Oh, I see." I said.
When we reached the other side of the wall, there stood two royal pegasus guards with a golden carriage attached to them. I also shockingly noticed the back side was open and there were no safety belts, but only a railing to hold onto.
"No safety belts?" I asked.
"Yep. Just hold on tight and don't let go." Night Hunter replied.
"Oh, that's great." I said, nervously, with a gulp.
Both of us stepped onto the carriage and Night Hunter curled his foreleg around the railing while I gripped my hands tightly. I looked down to my right and noticed a large bag that probably contains the weapons and equipment I'll be working with.
"Ready?" one guard asked in a husky voice.
"Yep." me and Night Hunter replied.
With that, the guards began to flap their wings at a fast pace, creating a little woosh sound with each flap. While flapping, the guards began to run forward, reaching a certain distance before the carriage began to lift off the ground until we were high up in the air.
"Woah!" I exclaimed, looking down as vertigo began to set in.
I looked back and Canterlot was becoming smaller the further we went.
"Where the heck are we even going?" I yelled as the cold air blew into my face.
"We're heading to a secluded valley so that there will be no chance of any civilians spotting us using these weapons," Night Hunter yelled back. "We should be there soon."
Shortly after he stated that, the carriage began to gradually descend, giving me that weird feeling as if my stomach was rising upwards.
"You feel that in your gut?" Night Hunter asked.
"Oh yeah, I can feel it real good." I replied.
"We're near our destination." one guard announced.
I observed the surroundings and each side of the valley were multiple large hills and a frozen river that ran through the middle. The carriage descended more until it finally came into contact with the snow covered surface. Me and Night Hunter hopped off the carriage and Night Hunter placed the long bag on his back as if it were a saddle. We walked a good distance away from the carriage before we stopped at a specific area out in the open space.
"Alright, so just like before, you write down what I say and later on when we get back to C.A.M.A. I'll give you a packet that'll have labels of the weapons and the devices so that you can learn what certain parts of the equipment do." Night Hunter said.
"Sounds good." I said while flipping the notebook pages.
"So first we'll start with devices." Night Hunter started.
Night Hunter unzipped the large bag and levitated out a small, black cylinder contraption
"This is called the X-ray Sensor. This device is designed to allow the user to see any creature through any physical obstacles. Once the device is switched on and the sweep button is pressed, the sensor will emit a pulse of wave energy that will sweep a one hundred meter circumference, outlining any creatures both biological and non-biological in the area for a good twenty seconds." Night Hunter said.
"So Timberwolves will be outlined as well?" I asked.
"Yes, yes, they will be outlined. Allow me to demonstrate." Night Hunter said.
Night Hunter than stood on his hind legs, put his right hoof under the device and used his left hoof to press the sweep button. Once pressed, the device let out deep hum sound that made my hearing go deaf for about a millisecond as the visible light blue wave quickly flowed across the ground and past me, heading off into the distance.
"Look at your arms." Night Hunter said.
I looked at my arm and shockingly discovered that my entire skeletal system was visible, created by an orange, undulating outline on my clothing. Night Hunter, however, wasn't affected by this.
"How come it didn't work on you?" I asked, suspiciously.
"If the user places a part of his or hers body underneath the scanner, located at the bottom, it will not pick them up." Night Hunter explained.
"That explains." I said.
"Want to give it a try?" Night Hunter asked.
"Sure." I replied.
I walked over and Night Hunter gave me the device. I placed my hand on the bottom of the sensor and gently pressed the button, emitting the pulse wave. Night Hunter's skull outline began to slowly manifest on his face while the rest on his skeleton appeared on his fur coat and leather jacket.
"Oh my God, that is one of the most creepiest sights I've ever seen." I said.
"I thought the same thing about your skeleton." Night Hunter replied, his mandible bone visibly moving as he spoke.
"But it's so cool at the same." I chuckled.
Night Hunter levitated the sensor out of my hand and placed it diligently back into the bag.
"Now this next device is rather more simple and straightforward," Night Hunter announced, digging in his bag before levitating a black cube device with speaker holes around it. "This is a sound emitter, or in simple terms, a speaker. This speaker plays a recording of a stallion having a full blown conversation. It's used to attract hostile creatures that may be in your area. This would be used for a strategic ambush, for say." Night Hunter said, putting the speaker back into the bag.
"Next is a small personal use flashlight that can be attached to your clothing in case you need to see in the dark. Pretty self explanatory," Night Hunter said, showing me the small light. "This flashlight can also be used to disorient creatures with its strobe mode, as you can see here." Night Hunter added as he switched strobe mode on, causing the light to blink at a rapid pace.
"Wow, that even blinded me and it's daytime right now." I said.
"The brightness is meant to equal to a stage spotlight, so you can see why it's so bright." Night Hunter clarified.
"Maybe a bit too bright." I said.
"Well, when you're out in the Everfree at night, you're going to need all the light you can get." Night Hunter reminded.
"True." I agreed.
Night Hunter put the flashlight back in the small pouch on the side of the bag and unzipped a wider zipper space.
"Now inside contains the weapons that you will be using. So, mark that down for this next section of notes." Night Hunter said.
"Okay." I said.
After he opened the bag, he levitated out this long, futuristic firearm that looked like a freaking railgun.
"This bad colt right here is the Igneous-1006, or you can call it Iggy." Night Hunter said.
I inspected the way it was designed and it looked like it was intended for pony use only.
"How am I supposed to use that? It looks like it's meant for pony use." I said.
"About that. I've discussed with the designers on how a highly evolved ape will be using it, so they're working on a version suitable for your hands." Night Hunter said.
"Did you really refer me as a highly evolved ape?" I asked.
"Nah, that was just a joke. And I'm pretty sure almost everypony in Equestria knows about you by now from the news." he replied.
"Oh, okay, because I was wondering how I was going to use that. It would be pretty uncomfortable to wrap my forearm around the trigger." I said.
"Don't worry, I thought ahead," Night Hunter said in a bragging manner. "But as I was saying, thanks to the collaboration with Celestia, the Igneous-1006 has the capability to turn any small creature into stone." Night Hunter said.
"Woah, woah, Night Hunter, are you telling me this sucker has Alicorn magic as ammunition?" I questioned, perplexedly.
"Precisely. And the ammunition also has a regenerative agent. Therefore, you'll never run out." Night Hunter added.
"Goddamn. That's actually pretty cool." I said.
"Now here's how it works. First, you switch the on button located at the top," Night Hunter said, showing me the on switch and pressing it, causing the magic energy inside it fill up it, "Now you have two choices: thin, lesser power, or thick, maximum power. Thin, lesser power is used for small creatures such as Timberwolves and generates ninety decibels when fired. Thick, maximum power is used for larger threats such as dragons and generates one hundred-forty decibels, so it's pretty loud. Also, to increase the intensity in each mode, just hold down the trigger and for normal intensity, just tap it normally. To reload, all you have to do is cock the the bolt action lever on the left side and the next shot will be primed and ready." Night Hunter explained.
"What's the range of fire?" I asked.
"Four hundred meters." Night Hunter answered.
"You think I could give it a shot?" I asked after writing my note.
"I don't see why not." Night Hunter replied, handing me the Iggy.
Yes, I decided to call it the Iggy from then on.
Now getting my hands in the right position was quite a predicament. For example, I had to insert my left forearm into a circular "grip" near the barrel of the Iggy and the trigger was quite odd. There was a trigger guard on it, but the trigger was molded right on the interior backside, so I slightly cupped my hand around it, not gripping it. After awkwardly positioning my arms, Night Hunter instructed me to get into a stance.
"Got a good feel for it?" Night Hunter asked.
"I think so." I replied.
"Very good. Now how about you take a shot at that hill over there?" Night Hunter suggested.
I checked the right side of the Iggy to see if the thin, lesser power was on and cocked the lever to prime the magical energy. I brought the sights up to my eye level and aimed at the snow-covered hill.
"Got it?" Night Hunter asked.
"Yep, I got it." I reassured.
My arms slightly trembled as I took in deep breaths and made sure my aim was accurate. Finally, I quickly tapped on the trigger and a golden-yellow stream of energy immediately exited through the muzzle of the Iggy with a loud droning sound. My arms slightly jerked backwards while the laser-like energy soared towards the hill with a loud fssst sound, almost like the sound of a firework being launched into the air. Once the energy came into impact with hill, I could see it form into a ball for a second before exploding, turning the white snow into a fairly large patch of solid stone.
"C'mon!" Night Hunter exclaimed, leading me to the patch of stone.
Once we made it the hill, the snow had melted and the grass was turned into small stone filaments as well as the soil.
"This may be a stupid question, but would this affect me?" I asked.
"What, if you were shoot yourself in the foot? Don't do that. You'll be petrified before you even realized you made a mistake." Night Hunter answered.
"Right." I said.
"If you want, you can take another shot or we can continue onwards." Night Hunter said.
"I think I'll take one more shot to get a good feel of it. This time I'm setting it to extra thick and holding down the trigger." I said.
"Oh, getting bold aren't you?" Night Hunter asked.
"You know me." I said.
"If you're gonna do that, then I must warn you to not press the Igneous up to your shoulder or else you'll probably blow out your arm socket. You're gonna have to fire from the hip." Night Hunter urged.
"It's really that powerful?" I asked.
"These settings are meant for the big creatures, so yes." Night Hunter said.
After walking back to our original position, I got back into my stance and aimed from the hip and switched on thick, maximum power.
"Also make sure not to hold for more than thirty seconds or else it'll overcharge." Night Hunter informed.
"Got it." I replied.
Taking in a deep breath, I gripped the trigger tightly, charging up the magic as the Iggy began to hum loudly.
"Woah-ho!" I exclaimed.
I then slowly eased off of the trigger and then.....
BANG!
A much larger stream of yellow energy shot out of the Iggy. I stumbled back few steps from the force and nearly fell over. Hell, it was so loud that the bang echoed throughout the valley. The laser traveled at a faster rate this time before impacting the hill, causing a louder explosion that slightly vibrated the ground. A decent chunk of the hill turned into stone once impacted.
"You guys alright over there?" one guard shouted.
"We're fine! Just had to test out the Iggy." I replied back.
"Nice shooting, Tex." Night Hunter said.
"You think that the stone patch might look a little suspicious if somepony were to come across it?" I asked.
"It might. We'll just have to hope for the best." Night Hunter said.
"Yeah. Hope no one will catch on." I said.
"Exactly." Night Hunter said.
"Okay, so what's next?" I asked.
"Ah, yes," Night Hunter said as he switched off the Iggy and placed back in the bag, "What we have next will be used against Timberwolves or to shoo away other creatures."
"Whatcha' got?" I asked.
"Remember when I said that Timberwolves burn easy?" Night Hunter asked.
"I remember clearly." I replied.
"Well, what we have here is the Timberferno-1002," Night Hunter revealed, levitating a contraption that looked like a flamethrower, but small enough to use two hand easily. "Just like the Igneous, the Timberferno contains magical energy with a regenerative agent, but another agent that's very similar to fire is stored in these two blue tanks." Night Hunter said.
"I see. It's magic, but it acts like fire." I said.
"You're right. And fire is the next biggest weakness to Timberwolves aside from light. As soon as this heated energy comes into contact with the timber wood, it'll be set ablaze like a pile of dry leaves." Night Hunter said.
"Cool." I said.
"To activate the Timberferno, just turn the valve right here to open up the muzzle. And to fire, just simply aim and squeeze the nozzle here, don't jerk it." Night Hunter said, pointing at the nozzle that looked like it belonged on a caulk. "Once fired, the flames can reach a maximum ten meters in length." Night Hunter added.
Night Hunter began to curl his foreleg in a squeezing motion around the nozzle and a dark red magical energy with tiny white sparkles spewed out of the muzzle. What made this even more legitimate is the fact that extreme amounts of heat radiated onto my face, causing me to squint my eyes. The snow also had a slight shade of red casted onto it.
"Another thing I should mention is that the rate of fire can last for ten seconds before it must recharge for that certain amount of time to prevent overheating." Night Hunter added.
"Okay." I said as I wrote that in my notebook.
"And to deactivate the Timberferno, just turn the valve to the left to close the passageways," Night Hunter said finished. "Wanna give it a try?"
"Ummmm, sure." I replied.
Night Hunter then gave me the Timberferno and I adjusted adjusted my grip on the nozzle. Unknowingly, I placed my left hand on one of the blue tanks, which was searing hot. I quickly reacted as I felt my hand sizzle a little.
"Damn, that's hot!" I hissed, shoving my hand into the refreshing snow.
"Horseapples, that was my bad! I should've told you that the tanks get very hot after use. My bad." Night Hunter apologized.
"That's alright. I'm glad I took my hand off while I could." I said.
"You sure you're alright?" Night Hunter asked.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Let's try that again." I said.
This time I made sure not to touch the blue tanks and placed my hands in the right positions. Gently squeezing the nozzle, the red hot magic came out in spurts before becoming more fire like. The magic made a fffffff sound as I slightly waved the Timberferno left and right. I directed my aim at the ground and the cold, powdery snow melted instantly.
"Sure does the job well. Melts snow and burns skin." I said.
Night Hunter chuckled at the comment and levitated the Timberferno from my grasp, turned the valve to the left and placed it bag into the bag.
"And that concludes the weapons and devices presentation. Please don't burn down the forest." Night Hunter concluded.
"Okay then. Are these weapons and devices new or has C.A.M.A recently developed them?" I asked.
"The Igneous-1006 has been around for a while, but the rest are fresh, brand new ideas brought to reality." Night Hunter answered.
"Oh, okay. So, are we heading back to C.A.M.A now?" I asked.
"That we are. Let's go." Night Hunter said.
After making our way back onto the carriage, the two pegasus guards started to run and flapped their wings at the same time before lifting off into the sky.
"So any lights will work on Timberwolves?" I asked.
"Uh-huh. They can't stand sunlight because, as you know, the sun is a giant ball of light." Night Hunter said.
"No kidding. Those Timberwolves will be in for a big surprise." I said.
Later on, we arrived back at C.A.M.A and Night Hunter handed me a packet with the weapon and device diagrams, labels and all that. Aside from the packet, I plan on making flashcards because that method of studying seems to be doing good for me. However, I need to be more descriptive with the weapons and devices units to fully remember what I need to know for the next test that will be two weeks from now. So, for now, I plan on laying low for a while and give myself a break since I have two weeks, plenty of time. I just wonder what those six mares and that little dragon are up to at the moment.