//------------------------------// // The Forest of Brightly Coloured Paint Splotches // Story: Bastion Goes to Fight Camp // by Wise Cracker //------------------------------// Live Wire was off for his lesson with Sunburst, and Bastion and Doldrum followed the rest of the campers to one of the small woodland areas that belonged to the domain. Neither Starlight nor Sage had given them any indication of what to expect, and Bastion suspected Starlight wasn’t even in the know about today’s plans. Everyone gathered in front of the path leading into the woods, and Sage took centre stage. “Okay, everypony!” he called out. “In a couple of minutes, we’ll be starting our first camp game. For those of you who are new: we do these things in pairs, usually bunkmates but not necessarily. So if you haven’t picked a partner yet, now’s the time to do it.” A few foals went back and forth to form pairs, Bastion stayed with Doldrum for the time being, no need to break up the strongest bunk, after all. “As for the details of today’s game, I’ll leave that to our game master for the day.” Sage smirked. Bastion noticed Starlight’s ears perk, and he turned his head to see what caught her attention. He heard it only a moment later, and realised Doldrum had already spotted the incoming figure. What came in was a blur of motion, stopping right next to Sage Cracker. The blur, once standing still, turned out to be green Unicorn stallion with a purple mane, and light violet eyes. “Good morning, Fight Camp!” he called out. “Everyone ready for some fun?” “That’s B.T.?” Starlight asked. “Yup,” came the reply next to her. Bulk Biceps had joined her. “One of Sage’s buddies in Canterlot. Fastest Unicorn in the city, really good at-” “Acceleration spells, of course,” Starlight said. “And I think I can guess his real name, too, then, judging from the cutie mark.” Bastion tried to get a good look at that mark, but he didn’t recognise it. It looked like some sort of metal rod that came to a point, with motion lines surrounding it. “Alright,” he said. “My name is Bullet Time, and I’ll be your game master for today. Today’s activity is going to be a simple game of tag. You all start with a basic score, you get points for tagging other ponies, you lose points when you get tagged, and if you’re tagged, you are out and unable to tag anyone else. At the end of the game, we tally the points for the round, whoever has the most points wins. Bastion contemplated those rules for a moment. In a situation like that, the winner wasn’t necessarily the pony who lasted the longest, but whoever got the highest amount of cheap shots and weak targets before being dispatched. He pouted. This game was going to favour a dirty style of play. None of the other campers seemed excited by the prospect, either. That is, until Bullet Time produced his surprise. In a flash of light, he teleported six boxes around him. He opened one up and rifled through it. “Oh, and perhaps I should mention? Getting tagged means getting hit, with one of these little gems, courtesy of the E.E.A.” Bastion saw him pull out a crossbow, but Doldrum was the one who gasped, almost giddily. “A bellythrower? We get bellythrowers?” “What’s a bellythrower?” Bastion asked. “It’s a particular type of crossbow, also known as a gastraphetes,” Starlight replied. “Very popular back in the day, especially for Pegasi. You reload it by pushing it against your stomach. That activates a mechanism that pulls the bow back, hence the name ‘bellythrower.’ Looks like it’s a modified version of it, though, one for pellets instead of arrows. I’m pretty sure that’s an airtube in there.” “These are genuine bona fide bellythrowers,” Bullet Time explained to the crowd. “So the name of the game today is paintball. You’ll find plenty of supply drops in the forest, along with opportunities to boobytrap them.” Bastion smiled. “However, this also means your ammunition will be limited. These weapons are enchanted with a basic recognition spell, they will know when you’ve taken a hit and they will refuse to function as a result. Oh, and if anyone was thinking of hacking the system, the paint reservoirs are linked to the hit detection spell, so even if you did manage to pull it off, you wouldn’t be able to use them in combat anymore. These things are certified and viable for competitive use, so they’ll give you a good idea of the basic mechanics, even if they don’t quite have the feel and impact of a real crossbow.” “So we’ll want to find a supply drop as quickly as possible,” Bastion said. Doldrum nodded. “Can you turn into a blood hound and sniff them out?” “No.” “Big eagle for a bird’s eye view?” “No.” “What about a squirrel to scout?” “No, I can’t shapeshift,” Bastion said. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise.” “Well, I mean I can, but this is a game. It wouldn’t be fair. Right?” Bastion looked up at Starlight. “He’s right,” Starlight replied. “You have to play fair in these things, otherwise there’s no fun in it. I’m sure Sage would agree if he could hear us.” She nodded to the stallion as he started floating the paintball crossbows over in his magic. “I guess,” Doldrum grumbled. “Oh, and one more thing,” Bullet Time said. “To keep the game interesting, there will be a hunter tossed into the mix after the first half hour. You know, just to make sure we can end the round in a swift fashion.” He took out a larger, adult-sized bellythrower. “And that hunter will be me. If you see a blur, or hear a whizzing sound, you’re welcome to try your luck, but you’re gonna have to be mighty quick if you want to get the drop on me.” “But that’s not fair!” Bastion cried out. Everyone in camp stared at him. “I-I mean,” he stammered. “How’s anyone supposed to beat a grown-up like you? With super speed and everything? Do you even have an ammo limit?” “Of course,” Bullet Time replied. “I’ll be playing by the same rules, with the same restrictions as you. But as for fairness, the object of the game is to teach you to be on guard. Being on guard can mean evading an enemy by hiding, or preparing an ambush in advance, or even moving to counter-attack before the enemy realises they’ve been detected. I’m sure the more strategically minded among you will enjoy such a challenge. Who knows, you might get a lucky shot in.” Doldrum snorted. His bellythrower came floating by, then Bastion’s. Sage walked to them and nodded. “Get ready, you two. You’re gonna have a big target on your backs, and you’ll want to have a plan.” Doldrum and Bastion snuck through the forest at a leasurely pace, never going into more than a quick trot so as not to make too much noise. Carrying their weapons on their backs, it was slow going, but at least they had the comfort of knowing all the other campers were likewise encumbered. Everyone had split up and circled around the edge to give every team a fair chance of finding ammo, so they hadn’t run into any sudden ambushes yet. With the high number of Pegasi at camp, Bastion kept one eye on the sky at all times, even if the canopy kept them mostly hidden from such attacks. Doldrum had taken the lead right away, his light gait and silent breath letting him move undetected. Even with his blue hide contrasting against the browns and greens of the woods, Bastion would have been hard-pressed to find a pony who could hide as well as his artificer buddy did. Every step he took was with a glance to the right and left, a perk of the ears, and a set goal to whichever tree trunk looked like it would obscure them best. Bastion didn’t object to the Pegasus taking the lead, since this was clearly not his first rodeo, to borrow a term from Apple Bloom. Eventually, the two found a box in a clearing. It was a normal-looking box, no labels or anything suspicious about it aside from the location. “There’s a supply drop,” Doldrum whispered. “Doesn’t look like it’s opened yet.” “Could still be a trap,” Bastion said. “You could just turn into a squirrel and find out. I’m pretty sure most of the booby-traps aren’t gonna trigger on anything that’s not pony-sized.” “No,” Bastion insisted. “Stop asking me to cheat, I want to do this fair and square.” “Fine.” Doldrum groaned and gave Bastion his bellythrower. “Wait here.” He lowered his body into a pouncing position, spread his wings, then jumped. The motion was unlike anything Bastion had seen from a pony so far. On one hoof, it looked like a short-distance flight, with Doldrum’s body never touching the ground. On the other, it looked like a dive, body stretched out like a plank and wings pulled tighter to the body than usual. Doldrum only touched the ground when he was directly by the box, then pressed his back against it. He peeked around the left side, then the right, then scanned the canopy and beckoned Bastion to come closer. “All clear.” “You sure?” “Positive.” The Pegasus turned his back on Bastion and opened the box. Bastion gave him the crossbow back and looked inside. It was a treasure trove, to be sure. Full clips of paint ammunition, disks that Bastion presumed were some sort of land mines, and little spheres with muzzles on them. “Wow, they even got us base turrets.” Doldrum gave Bastion a sheet of paper with instructions. Bastion looked at them for a full minute, absently loading up his crossbow, then gave them back to the expert. “Do you know how to set these up?” Doldrum was already slotting clips into the ball. “Uhuh. Here, give me your hoof.” Bastion did so, and Doldrum placed it alongside his on the turret’s barrel, before muttering a phrase in what Bastion guessed was Old Ponish. “There. Now it won’t fire at us. And we’re loaded up.” “Okay. What do we do now?” Bastion asked. “Why are you asking me? You’re the strategist, don’t you have a plan?” “We should probably set up these turrets somewhere,” Bastion said as Doldrum kept loading them up and speaking their command word for safety. “And we can’t carry those mines too far, they’ll slow us down.” “We could boobytrap the box with them? Make sure no one else gets whatever we have to leave behind?” Bastion looked around, thinking. “Not a bad plan, but a little predictable. I think we can do better. Besides, most of the kids in camp can fly.” “We’re in a forest, though. If you hide in the ferns, no one can see you. And the canopy is so thick you can’t really dash around that far.” “That’s what I thought. Think you can get those things up for a little killbox?” For the first time that day, Doldrum smiled at Bastion. “Well, I am good at heavy lifting. What do you have in mind?” They found the second ammo drop easily enough, given that it was placed right on one of the walking paths through the woods. They’d left the trail a few minutes earlier, at Doldrum’s suggestion, though Bastion couldn’t be sure why. Deeper in as they were, the ferns and bushes of the forest floor created ample opportunity to hide, but making their way through without making noise was more difficult as a result. Both Doldrum and Bastion looked around carefully as they approached the clearing. “Looks like it’s not defended,” Doldrum said. “So it’s probably a trap.” “Yeah,” Bastion replied. “Only question is if it’s a trap with ponies guarding it or of it’s one that’s set to go off.” “I can defuse it if it’s supposed to go off, but I don’t see any turrets around.” They both jumped at the same time, dodging a paint pellet. Bastion barely had time to process what had happened when another shot came their way, driving them back. A third nearly clipped him in the wing, but Doldrum managed to pull him back in the nick of time. They hid behind a tree, away from the clearing. “Three shots,” Doldrum whispered. “So three shooters.” “Probably a fourth one, too, if we’re all working in pairs,” Bastion concluded. “I think I can hear them walking closer. What’s the plan?” He looked where his bunkmate had been, and found nothing. Bastion blinked. He’d only turned his head for a second. “Doldrum? Assault? Where’d you go?” Another hiss of a shot came from his right. Out from the cover of the bushes came a whining green Pegasus colt. “Aww, come on!” the colt whined. “How’d you know where I was?” Bastion heard Doldrum reply, even if he couldn’t see him. “You stomp too much, River Dancer. Anypony could hear you from a mile away. No offense.” Three more shots fired, hitting the tree trunk Bastion was hiding behind. The hiss of a single shot of return fire, then another cry of objection, and Bastion still couldn’t tell where Doldrum had snuck off to. “He’s on your left!” a filly cried out. A single shot, a yelp, then one more shot to finish it. Doldrum came gliding past the tree, bellythrower on his back. “There. That’s all of them.” “You could have left me one,” Bastion suggested. “You didn’t want to use your magic to beat them,” the Pegasus replied. “So I wasn’t going to make you.” “Yeah, Assault can pretty much solo anyone in camp.” River Dancer groaned as his compatriots came out of the proverbial woodwork. “We thought maybe we could get you if we grouped up.” “Sorry,” Doldrum said, without any hint of apology. “Maybe next time.” A rustling sound caught the ears of the foals present. All six turned their heads towards the source. “Hey! Assault’s over here!” One of the Pegasi called out. “We got caught, but you can still snipe him if you want!” “Thanks a lot,” Doldrum grumbled. “Come on, Bastion, we’d better get moving. We don’t wanna get caught out in the open.” Bastion snorted at the foals. “You shouldn’t cheat, you know. Just because you lost, doesn’t mean you should try to get us to lose.” “Hey, he doesn’t play fair either,” the colt replied. “So why should we?” Bastion didn’t reply. He followed Doldrum into the bushes, keeping low as more rustling sounds started to get closer. Doldrum held up a hoof once Bastion was close, a signal for the changeling to stop. “I don’t like this,” Doldrum said. “I think we’re getting herded.” “Do you see anypony?” Bastion asked. “No. That’s what I’m worried ab-” he was gone in a flash, and in his place was three small specks of paint on the ground. Bastion shook his head; “Wait, that was a rapid fire. Is that Bullet Time shooting at us?” Doldrum sighed. “No. That’s the Unicorns trying to gang up on us.” Bastion looked up at the canopy. He barely caught a paint pellet’s trajectory as it came towards him, then returned fire. His shot hit the tree trunk, and he was fairly certain he heard the sound of magic, probably a levitation spell of sorts, judging from the sound. “They’re cloaked,” Bastion said. Doldrum nodded. “Still think we should fight fair?” Starlight stood at the edge of the forest, Sage and Bullet Time behind her. “Are you sure this is an appropriate exercise for them?” she asked. “For the campers? Of course. Paintball’s a perfectly serviceable exercise, I hear they even do it in Silver Shoals retirement homes,” Sage replied. “I don’t mean for the campers. I mean for Doldrum and Bastion.” “I wouldn’t know,” Bullet Time replied. “I never met the little changeling before today. But Assault should do well in this thing, I imagine.” A beeping came from Bullet Time’s custom bellythrower. “And speaking of which, we have our first casualties already.” “Doldrum and Bastion?” Starlight asked. “Well, Doldrum, at least, he got the shots off. Judging from what it says here?” He tapped on the side of the weapon, producing a projected display. “Everyone’s managed to find some ammo, a few have set up traps, and a couple of them are smart enough not to mess with anything they can’t use. But we do have the usual cliques forming, looks like.” “Time to go play predator?” Sage asked. “Might as well. End the first round nice and quick, give’em a chance to learn something for round two.” Starlight furrowed her brow. “Maybe you should give it a few more minutes? Just to make sure the kids have some fun with each other and not, you know, get all traumatised from getting shot by an adult?” “If you insist,” Bullet Time said, putting his weapon aside. “I will defer to your wisdom. I’m not that familiar with handling foals, so I will take whatever advice you’re giving out.” “Really?” Starlight said. “Oh. In that case, mind if I ask you something? About our boys?” “Go right ahead.” “Is it true Doldrum and Live Wire have restraining orders?” Bullet Time chuckled. “As surprising as it may sound, yes. Sage may have mentioned it, but I’m a museum curator back in Canterlot. My particular set of skills makes it easy for me to manage a larger building on my own. Unfortunately, that also means I have to make a lot of the more painful decisions on my own.” “Of course. So, umm, what happened with those two, exactly?” B.T. looked at Sage, Sage shrugged. “She’s a former nurse, she can use the information, probably more than I could.” Bullet Time shrugged in kind and nodded. “Well, they didn’t get it at the same time, for starters. But they are both banned until further notice from any museum in Canterlot. They both came in one day and they both, well, had a little accident. Separate from each other, that is.” Starlight winced at the prospect. “What kind of accident, exactly?” At least eight enemies had honed in on them. Up above, random single shots would harry Bastion and Doldrum as they slowly snuck back through the undergrowth, while at ground level they had to contend with rapid fire that came from unknown origin. They’d been ducking from tree to bush for fifteen minutes now. Bastion glared at the forest, as if it were an enemy in itself, which technically it might as well have been. “We could try and get a shot off once they target us again,” he suggested. “I doubt it,” Doldrum replied. “Even if we get one, we’d have to get all of them in one round.” “The Pegasi would go down easily.” “But the Unicorns can reload too quickly.” Doldrum sighed. “And they’re still invisible. So unless you want to turn yourself into a fruit bat?” “I am not shapeshifting for a game. Maybe we should just let them have this?” The air around the colt went cold. “Fine. You give up if you like,” he whispered tersely. He got up and checked his ammunition clip. “I’ll deal with them myself. Try not to get hit in the meantime.” “Wait, don’t-” Bastion wasn’t quick enough. With a single beat of his wings, Doldrum leaped up into the trees and flew a circle around where Bastion suspected the other campers were. Great. Okay, how do I think my way out of this? They haven’t found me yet. If I just lay low and wait for someone to stumble nearby, I can pick them off one at a time. “He’s behind us!” someone shouted, before getting pelted. No way. Up ahead, the forest exploded with the din of battle. Colts and fillies shouted, little puffs and slaps of paintballs punctuated the outcries as one by one, the enemy forces dwindled, unseen by the changeling. “I got him!” someone called out. Another single shot, another bit of protest mixed with language he’d once heard Apple Bloom describe as ‘nautical terms,’ and it was clear they probably hadn’t hit their mark. “Okay, every Unicorn around! Keep your guard up!” A voice called out. “Doldrum’s flying from tree to tree, you know what to do. Keep your eyes peeled for anything blue, and don’t move! He can’t see you if you don’t move!” That was most likely one of the foals who’d been taken out of the game, directing the rest. Silence fell. Then a shot came, and another, and another. Silence again, and another shot. Finally, there came a big ‘fwoomp!’ followed by at least four voices whining. Bastion tensed. Doldrum appeared out of nowhere in the treetop to his left, then jumped and glided in a mad dash towards their hiding spot. “There,” he said, panting. “It’s done. They fell for their own little landmine.” He let his head hang, putting his crossbow to the ground. “Are you happy now? Was that fair enough for you?” The changeling blinked. “Umm… seriously? You just took out eight foals on your own. There’s no way anyone would go up against you in a fair fight. You can’t honestly think this is fair, do you?” There came a ruckus up ahead, where the other foals had been. Voices joined the sounds of the fallen, and Doldrum groaned. “Not again.” Bastion’s ears perked. “That’s… that’s gonna be a lot of enemies to deal with.” “Great. Guess I’ll go back to sneaking around.” “Wait, don’t. Look, you don’t have to take them all out on your own.” “Are you going to shapeshift? If you just turn into a bird, or a squirrel, anything-” “No. That would be cheating.” “Then what do you suggest?” Bastion looked back. “We can get them to the killbox. We can make it if we run.” “No. No running. They’ll catch us if we run.” “They’ll catch us if we don’t. They’re getting closer. Even if they don’t know where we are yet, they’ll have us surrounded soon. And unless you want to go ninja on every single pony in camp, we need a plan.” “Alright. What’s the plan, then?” Bastion closed his eyes and thought. “I do have one idea, but it’s gonna be risky.” “Risky, how?” “It’ll cut down the number of enemies, but we’ll be sitting ducks once that’s done.” Doldrum pouted, but nodded to the path and started walking, head and body low to the ground. “I’m listening.” Phase one of the plan was in motion: retreat to a section of the forest that was familiar terrain. Phase two was underway: lure the enemy to said section. Phase three required a minor effort from Bastion. “Ready?” he asked. “Ready,” Doldrum replied, before flying up silently into the trees to get a good vantage point. Bastion whipped his horn around and let loose a ball of energy, before detonating it above the treeline. The loud bang was sure to draw the attention of all the campers, and it wouldn’t be long before a few dozen of them would descend on their position, if Bastion’s estimate was good. He ducked in the bushes, waiting for the next stage of the plan. Soon enough, the first two campers came into view: two Earth ponies. He waited patiently. Step by step, the pair went further toward the killbox he’d set up. They came into range. Grabbing his bellythrower, he took aim and let loose a shot. The first pony didn’t know what hit him, the second one could only stare in shock as Doldrum got the follow-up shot. Of course, since this was paintball and not actual combat, there was still no real way of keeping the casualties quiet after they had become casualties. “They’re over here!” The two called out. Bastion moved quickly, quietly, before lying down and pressing the weapon against his stomach to reload. Already he could hear shots being fired, ponies getting trigger-happy at the prospect of getting a shot on Assault, no doubt. Then he heard a blurring sound, and he grinned. One pop, two pops, five, ten, twenty. Bastion retreated further. The next stage of the plan was when the real challenge would begin. They’d managed to dispatch most of the opposition, though there wouldn’t be much of a score to it with the way he’d done it. Up above, he barely caught the sound of Doldrum moving about, and he suspected that was only because Doldrum wanted Bastion to know where he was. Once they were in position, Doldrum set down. “Did you see him?” “No. Did you?” “Yup.” Their final opponent strode towards them, taking the regular path through the forest. Exactly as planned, Bastion’s little emergency flare had drawn the predator to their location. “Alright, boys,” Bullet Time said. “You got my attention, and you got me to take out a lot of the opposition. Sound strategy, I must say. But I have to ask: what were you planning to do once I was done with the other ponies?” Bastion chuckled. “Well, for starters, sir, we were thinking of getting you into our killbox.” “Uh oh.” The turrets the boys had set up sprang into action, coating a trail of green paint over the ground. Bullet Time was already gone, though, whizzing across in a blur. He skidded to a halt right in front of Bastion and raised his crossbow. Doldrum had taken the shot before the Unicorn could pull the trigger, forcing a retreat. While his winged friend reloaded, Bastion took another shot to drive Bullet Time back towards the turrets, almost making him trip on one of the mines. “Not bad, not bad,” Bullet Time said. “I can see why Sage wanted you on his team, little changeling. But you’re still outmatched. Static defences don’t work against super speed, you should know that.” “Maybe not,” Bastion replied. “But they can keep you distracted enough.” Bullet Time quickly turned to dodge another shot from behind. “Excellent positioning, little Stormcrafter, but you’re no ninja, unfortunately. And unlike you, I don’t have to have keep my hooves free to fire.” The volley that erupted from that crossbow was monstrous. Paint pellets pelted against tree trunks, forcing Doldrum out of sight. Bastion took the cue and hid himself, not even bothering to try and get a shot out on the move. He circled around the stallion and took aim only when he knew he had a steady hoof for it. He missed, and got another volley out of the stallion for his efforts. He rolled over the ground to safety and reloaded again, panting. “Okay. Rapid fire, and super speed. I can handle that.” “Can you, now?” Bastion’s blood froze. On instinct, he ducked out of the way before anything could hit, but he felt the wind of the projectiles whizzing past him. This time, he fired back clumsily, hoping it might get the pressure off somehow. No such luck. Bullet Time was on his trail, and locked on. Before he could blink, Bastion found himself face to face with Bullet Time and no time to reload. The crossbow stared him in the eyes. “You know, you could have used your magic to reload, too,” he said. “All the Unicorns who play this game do it like that.” Bastion smiled. “I know. But I didn’t need to. I just needed you to get trapped.” “How so?” “Look at your ammo: you’re empty. And I’m not.” Bastion pressed the crossbow against his belly and took aim. Bullet Time, for his part, nodded in respect. “A sound observation. However…” The hiss and pop of a paint shot made him jump back. “Slippery little sniper, you’re a lot more mobile than I gave you credit for. Sneakier, too.” He landed easily, unharmed by Doldrum’s long-range shot. Where the colt was, neither Bastion nor Bullet Time could see. “But I know you’re smart enough to realise what your buddy doesn’t.” The crossbow raised in his magic, Bullet Time took the shot. A light twinge of pressure hit Bastion’s forehead, followed by wetness. “But, but…” “Even if the clip is empty, there can always be something in the chamber. Remember that.” He grabbed another clip and dashed off. Bullet Time came to a skidding halt. He turned around, hoof on his chest, and blinked as he looked at the green spot on his coat. “Nice one, Doldrum!” he called out. “How’d you manage that? Didn’t think you were speedy enough for that kind of snap shot.” The Pegasus floated down, face wet with sweat from all the excitement. “I’m not. But I’ve been working on making some Sandals of Arrow Snaring. The, umm, the reflex action you need to have for that? It’s kind of the same.” “Ah, of course. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Very clever. Come on, we’ll round up the other campers and get ready for round two.” “We’re doing another round of this?” Bastion asked. “Of course. A second round, we might even get a third one. And I will not be cleaning up your mess a second time. But, now that you know the lay of the land, I’m hoping you won’t need to, either.” Doldrum looked at Bastion expectantly. “Well, no.” Bastion rubbed the back of his head, shaking. “I-I think I can come up with something to get everypony off our backs, probably? Congratulations, Doldrum. You won. I… I lost.” Doldrum shrugged and followed Bullet Time out. “Don’t feel bad. At least it was a fair fight.”