C.A.M.A: Day Ninety One
March 7th, 2013
I slowly opened my eyes, for my required hours of sleep were fulfilled. I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to slight amount of light in the room. Wearily, I turned my head towards my wind up clock and realized that it was 12:42 in the afternoon. I then raised my body up and sat in my bed, rubbing my face with the palms my hands.
"Mmm, Night Hunter, I think we overslept." I mumbled, groggily.
Night Hunter did not respond to my statement.
"Hey, Night Hunter." I said, a bit more lively.
No response again.
Once I fully woke up, I realized that Night Hunter was not in his bed at all. I then got up to see if there was note for me, but found nothing. I just shrugged it off and headed into the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. After my refreshing shower and putting on a change of clothes, I checked to see if Night Hunter was in the hallway, but to no avail. I then went to check the classroom and rec room and got the same thing. Since I couldn't find him inside the building, I decided to ask a guard outside if he saw Night Hunter leave. I then slipped on a winter jacket and exited the wall interior. When I got outside to seek a guard, I immediately took notice that all the snow had melted and it had to be at least a perfect seventy degrees outside.
"It ain't winter no more, Caleb." a guard said, noticing my winter apparel.
"I can see that," I said, taking off the coat, "Was I asleep for an entire season or what?" I asked.
"Winter Wrap Up happened exactly seven days ago." the guard answered.
"Winter Wrap Up?" I asked, confused.
"It's basically when all the earth, pegasi and unicorns come together to complete the transition from winter to spring." the guard explained.
"Ah. I guess that makes sense," I said, unsure to believe him or not. "But, anyways, have you seen Night Hunter at all today?" I asked the guard.
"Yeah, he left about two hours ago to go get something. He says." the guard replied.
"Alright, thanks." I said.
After heading back into the building, I tossed my coat on my bed. I then clapped my hands together and stretched my arms.
"Okay.. might as well get something to eat." I suggested to myself.
I blindly moved my hand around in the darkness in search for the light switch near the downstairs entrance. Finally, I came into contact with it and the lights illuminated the stairs that led to the kitchen, which still had some lunch MRE's left. Once I made it to the kitchen, I grabbed an MRE that had a veggie burger, mandarin oranges and a salad. Would've preferred something with meat, but oh well, so much for wishful thinking. As I got everything prepared and began to eat, I heard a bang from upstairs. I figured it was Night Hunter, so I just continued eating. Shortly after, I heard hooves clopping upstairs.
"Caleb?" Night Hunter called from upstairs.
"I'm down in the mess hall!" I notified.
Night Hunter then began to walk down the steps.
"Hey Caleb." Night Hunter said.
"What?" I asked, chewing on my oranges.
"I got some gifts for you." he said.
"Really? Did you wrap them up and put a pretty bow on them?" I asked in a sarcastic manner.
"Not exactly." Night Hunter replied as he showed me two large cardboard boxes.
"Eh. Packages will do. So, what do you have for me?" I asked.
"While you were still asleep, I was out getting your uniform, outfit and some other stuff you might need." Night Hunter clarified.
"Oh, nice! They're done already?" I asked.
"You betcha," Night Hunter replied. "Use your plastic fork to open up your packages."
"Right." I said, grabbing the plastic fork.
Gently, I jabbed the fork into the slit where the tape connects each side of the package flap. I began to drag the fork along in a vertical direction as the tape emitted a tearing sound. Once the tear was complete, both sides opened up and revealed my C.A.M.A uniform.
"Hey, it looks just like yours." I remarked.
My C.A.M.A uniform consisted of a black leather jacket with insulative fur on the inside for keeping me warm on the cool nights, a black T top, black cargo pants with multiple zip pockets, a black cap with the Equestrian flag emblem on the front side, black fingerless gloves that looked like they belonged to a tactical SWAT team and a pair of black boots. All in which, they were the perfect size for me.
"There sure is a lot of black going on here." I said while feeling the leathery texture of the jacket.
"Yes," Night Hunter said with a chuckle. "The reason why is because C.A.M.A wants you to blend in with the darkness of the night." he clarified
"Seems like they'll do the job nicely." I agreed with Night Hunter's statement.
"And as you can see we have the camouflage outfit at the bottom." Night Hunter said, directing my attention towards the bottom on the box.
I reached in the box and pulled out the clothing. The entire outfit was covered in green, light brown, brown and black splotches. This would include a camouflage jacket, pants and completed with a cap.
"Remember that this outfit is used when staking out Timberwolves or other creatures. Though TImberwolves have good vision, they shouldn't see you if you stay still while next to some forestry or vegetation," Night Hunter informed. "Also remember that Timberwolves have terrible hearing, but when they howl to each other, communicating, they hear it crystal clear." Night Hunter reminded.
"To call each other?" I asked.
"That, or if they spotted you." Night Hunter answered.
"Oh." I said, flatly.
"Yeah." Night Hunter said.
We sat in silence as both of us checked out the clothing until I saw the other cardboard box.
"What's in the other box?" I asked.
"Stuff that'll come in handy." Night Hunter replied, levitating the box over to me.
I grabbed the fork and repeated the same action I did before with the other box. I took both of my hands and tore the top flaps off like a thin piece of paper on accident.
"Whoops." I said.
Looking in the box, I discovered numerous packaging peanuts. I reached my hand in the pool of styrofoam and felt around for any objects. Within no time, I felt something deep within and pulled out a large digital wrist watch for my size. The watch was set for military time since the time read 13:17. The watch was also silver and had a circular design, obviously.
"Digital, huh?" I asked Night Hunter.
"Believe it or not, digital watches are a rarity to come by in Equestria and are very expensive. Some cost around a thousand bits." Night Hunter said.
"In my world you can walk into a store and buy a good one for twenty five bucks or so." I contrasted.
"Why?" he asked.
"They're just way more common and I'm pretty sure we have more advanced technology than this world." I said.
"Now I see," Night Hunter realized. "Now the purpose of this watch is not only to track your time, but also a reminder when it's time for your duty." Night Hunter said.
"So, it'll beep when it's time?" I asked.
"Yes. The watch has been pre-set to go off at six o'clock in the evening and again at three o'clock in the morning, which are your hours for patrol." Night Hunter said.
"Nice." I simply said.
I slipped the watch on my right wrist and it fitted perfectly. I think I might use this in my entries to tell the time and to space out events.
"Let's see what else we've got in here." I said, reaching into the sea of packaging peanuts.
Instantly, I felt a somewhat big metal box in the far right side of the package. Gripping it, I pulled it out and a few styrofoam peanuts fell onto the floor. What I placed on the table was a first aid kit with a green cross label with the text: "Individual First Aid Kit" at the bottom, or IFAK for short. I used my index fingers to unlatch both latches on each side of the box to reveal its contents. Opening it up, I found a box of band-aids, a large roll of ace bandage, a tourniquet, alcohol, gauze pads and scissors. Curiously, I picked up the bottle of clear liquid and read the label.
"Alcohol. Use on cuts to encourage cell regeneration and prevent infection." I recited.
"You can also combine it to the gauze to cover an open wound if you were to get one." Night Hunter informed.
"Good idea." I said, putting the alcohol back in the kit.
Putting the first aid kit aside on the table, I went into the packaging peanuts once again and felt something that was made out of thick fabric. A small metal part came in contact with my thumb and it was a zipper. I took the bag out at an angle in order to not spill anymore packaging peanuts on the floor. Once fully out of the box, I pulled out a backpack for my equipment.
The right side of the backpack was designed to hold the Iggy while the left side was used for holding the Timberferno, just for convenience whenever I may be in a pickle out there in the Everfree. The large pouch at the top will most likely be used to store the first aid kit, MRE's and water because hunger and thirst must be satisfied to keep my strength up. The smaller pouch can be used for my smaller devices such as the X-Ray sensor and the sound emitter. I grabbed the first aid, unzipped the backpack and slid it inside the biggest pouch.
"I like how everything is huge and designed especially for me." I said.
"Told you I had a word with the designers." Night Hunter reminded.
"And it seems like they they took your word for it. Look." I said as I placed the backpack upright next to Night Hunter.
The backpack alone was probably half the size of Night Hunter, who is five foot two.
"I know, right?" Night Hunter agreed.
I then directed my eyesight on the holding straps for the Iggy and the Timberferno.
"You also spoke to the designers on creating a Iggy and Timberferno for hand use?" I asked.
"Yes, I did." Night Hunter replied.
"Will I be getting those tomorrow? Because if I do, I'm gonna have to hide them from my friends once I arrive back in Ponyville." I said with concern.
"No, no, you'll be getting those two on your first night." Night Hunter answered.
"So, some secret shipment escort is going to come to me?" I asked.
"Yes. Remember that open field located on the left side near the outer rim of the Dovere territories?" Night Hunter asked.
"Yeah. The one field I landed in when I entered this world." I said.
"That's the one. The shipment will arrive at twenty four hundred hours sharp." Night Hunter said.
"Got it." I said.
"Speaking of which, try to find out a way to signal the shipment crew so that they know your position. I would recommend using the strobe effect on your flashlight." Night Hunter suggested.
"Don't worry, Night Hunter. The Land Rover has all of these blinding headlights and roof lights. There's no way the shipment crew can miss that." I said.
"Perfect." Night Hunter smiled.
I dug into the box once again to see if there was anything else, but there was nothing but styrofoam peanuts.
"Looks like that was all." Night Hunter noticed, digging into the box as well.
Night Hunter then levitated both boxes and tossed them into the recycling bin by the other side of the room.
"Now I want to tell you about tomorrow, the graduation." Night Hunter started.
"What do I need to do?" I asked.
"Grab your stuff and head upstairs." Night Hunter instructed, getting off his seat.
I collected my articles of clothing and items before following Night Hunter upstairs. I made a quick stop at the bunks to put my new belongings on the bed. After that, I went to Night Hunter who was waiting by the rec room at the end of the hallway.
"Okay, so what am I doing?" I asked.
"At nine o'clock, you'll be waiting in here until I signal you to come out. Once I give you the signal, come into the classroom and to the podium in the front of the room. There will be an audience anticipating a straightforward speech, doesn't have to be long, but short and sweet." Night Hunter instructed.
"Who's gonna be the audience? It's sure as heck ain't gonna be civilians." I said, confused.
"The princesses and the guards whoever decided to accept my invitation to watch." Night Hunter answered.
"That's not so bad." I said.
"After your speech, there will be a photographer who will take your picture and will quickly laminate it on an ID card for C.A.M.A and yourself." Night Hunter added.
"Sweet!" I exclaimed. "Will I also get my own badge?"
"Of course. What kind of agent wouldn't be complete without their badge?" Night Hunter replied in the form of a question.
"A very poor one?" I answered.
"Damn straight." Night Hunter agreed.
"What happens after the graduation?" I asked.
"Well.... that's when me and you part ways." Night Hunter replied.
"Aw, really?" I said, a little down.
"Yes, unfortunately. You'll be taken back to the Canterlot train station just in time for the next train back to Ponyville." Night Hunter said.
"And my first night out on patrol will be on...." I trailed off.
"Monday of next week. Saturday and Sunday will be inspection days for your designated territory; Dovere." Night Hunter reminded.
"Alright. Thanks for the reminder." I thanked.
"No problem, kid." Night Hunter replied.
9:02 PM
I was just about to doze off into a deep sleep. Everything was quiet until I heard hooves clopping on the floor. It sounded like somepony just walked out of the room because the door creaked open. I rose off the bed with the help of my arms and poked my head out of the doorway. Night Hunter was walking down the hallway towards the exit of the building. He slowly opened the door with his magic and closed it.
Due to curiosity, I followed him out the door and outside. I immediately heard chattering on the other side of the wall. I slowly crept outside of the wall and it was a bit humid outside. As I turned the right corner, I found out the chatter was just Night Hunter talking with some guards.
"Evening, colts." I greeted.
"How's it going, Caleb?" a grey guard asked.
"I'm doing fine. What are you doing out here?" I asked Night Hunter.
"Couldn't fall asleep, so I decided to have a quick smoke." Night Hunter replied, blowing smoke out of his mouth.
"Ah." I said.
"What about you?" the same guard asked.
"He woke me up with the sound of his hooves clopping on the floor." I replied.
"Sorry, Caleb, it's just the way us ponies are made." Night Hunter, putting the cigar in his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah. You comin to the graduation?" I asked the guard.
"I think I might. Congrats by the way. You're not too bad." the guard replied.
"Thanks." I said.
I leaned up against the wall with my right foot pressed on it while my left remained on the ground.
"Caleb..." Night Hunter started.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Did I ever tell you about the story of the Bugbear?" Night Hunter asked.
"No." I replied, raising my right eyebrow.
"Oh yeah. That happened a month ago." the guard said.
"What the heck happened?" I asked, skeptically.
"Years ago, the Bugbear was captured and imprisoned in Tartarus by a special agent, whose identity I wish to remain a secret." Night Hunter said.
"Okay, and?" I asked.
"Well.... It found a way to break out of Tartarus and we have no idea where its exact position is at. However, it's most likely somewhere out east on another continent." Night Hunter said.
"Huh. So it's pretty far away." I said.
"Hopefully it will stay there, but this thing can fly and I don't know if it will stay on that continent." Night Hunter said, worryingly.
"Let's just hope for the best." the guard interjected.
"And prepare for the worse." I added.
"Right." Night Hunter said.
I then let out a yawn as I began to feel sleepy again.
"I'm going back to sleep, guys. I'll see you both in the morning." I said.
"Night, Caleb." they both said.
"Jinx!" the guard blurted towards Night Hunter.
"Darn it!" Night Hunter exclaimed.
After that, I headed back inside the building and got back in my bed. Shortly after I got in bed, Night Hunter came back into the room and he tried to be all quiet with his hoofsteps, but I wasn't worth it.
"Night Hunter, I can still hear you." I mumbled.
"Sorry." he apologized before crawling into his bed.
Finally, I fell into the deep sleep that I dearly wished for.