Chapter 4: Search and Rescue
The Everfree Forest was a dangerous place at night. Vicious monsters roamed the forest, but that doesn't mean they don't roam during the day. There have been few occasions Twilight and her friends went into the forest at night, and tonight was the latest. It was just her, Applejack, Rarity, and the otherworldly newcomer, Garrett.
"Twilight, are you sure we're going the right way?" Garrett asked as he walked beside the purple unicorn. His night scope had already been placed in front of his right eye, allowing him to see his general direction in night vision. He could still see normally because of the moon light, but there wasn’t enough light to see much.
Twilight looked up at Garrett from the corner of her eyes and answered, "Of course. This path has been used a lot. I'm sure those fillies went through here."
"Then I hope they're safe somewhere," Rarity added. "Let's just leave this dreaded forest as soon as we find them."
Applejack noticed the strange-looking device in front of the human's eye and began wondering what it was. "Garrett, what's that thing in front of yer eye, if ye don’t mind me asking?"
Garrett looked down at Applejack for a moment after hearing her question. "It's called a night scope," he answered. "It allows me to see in the dark."
"Well, Ah guess that's some fancy contraption right there." The orange mare nodded. She understood the general purpose, but how it exactly worked was beyond her.
Garrett couldn't help but mentally chuckle from Applejack's compliment. Clearly, none of these ponies had ever seen weapons and equipment like what he had before. He couldn’t blame them for their lack of knowledge. Before anyone or... anypony could let another word out, something caught the human's attention through his night scope followed by the sound of ruffling nearby.
"Girls, stop," he said quietly as they stopped moving. "Get behind something. Go." The four hastily dispersed, clearing the path. Applejack and Twilight hid behind a bush, while Garrett and Rarity hid behind an old, overturned tree trunk. In the prone position, Garrett peeked around it and aimed his weapon from the trail to the trees surrounding it.
"What's wrong, darling?" Rarity asked, blinking in confusion.
"I saw something," Garrett answered, using both the ACOG scope and night scope to scan his surroundings. "But, whatever it was, I couldn't get a clear look at it." After a few minutes of looking around, he returned to his feet along with the others.
The group continued to walk down the trail, but they were more cautious this time. The search felt like an eternity to them, despite Garrett already having been used to situations like this. Since his first combat tour rotation, he remembered having to go on missions that took a day or more, or even overnight, before returning to his FOB.
The silence of the forest was eventually interrupted by a unison of screams, which startled the group. To Applejack and Rarity, the voices of the screams were definitely familiar.
"It's them!" Applejack exclaimed as the others rushed toward the source of the scream.
--
When they reached their destination, three fillies were cornered by a huge boulder behind them. However, in front of them were three familiar figures Twilight and her friends were hoping to avoid...
"What are those things?" asked Garrett as he lay prone beside a tree, aiming his M4 carbine at the two potential threats.
"Timber wolves..." Twilight answered. "They may look fragile on the outside, but don't let that fool you. They're dangerous."
Garrett took a quick look at the three scared fillies. One had a light yellow coat with a red mane and a ribbon on it. The second one was orange-colored pegasus with a short purple mane. The third one was a white unicorn with a light pink and purple mane.
"I got this."
Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity looked at Garrett after hearing his last sentence, not clearly sure what he meant by that.
With the support of his weapon's foregrip, infrared laser sight, the ACOG scope, and his helmet's night scope, Garrett took aim at the timber wolves. "Twilight, you know what else separates humans from other species?"
The purple unicorn leaned her head in confusion.
"Humans can kill at a distance." Almost immediately, Garrett fired his weapon at the timber wolves. The sound of the weapon going startled everypony. Each trigger pull sent a bullet flying toward the intended target. Two bullets hit the nearest timber wolf in the body, while one hit one of the forelegs. The surprise sent the three animals, with one of them wounded, fleeing into the forest.
The ponies froze in shock upon seeing what had just happened. Applejack and Rarity broke the trance by rushing toward the three fillies. Garrett and Twilight followed suit.
"Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle!" The two ponies yelled in unison as they approached and the came together in a group hug.
"Everypony was worried sick about you three. What were you doing here in the Everfree Forest at dark?" Rarity asked.
"We heard rumors that some new creature was discovered here. So, we went here to see for ourselves," Sweetie Belle answered.
As questions and answers were being exchanged, Garrett and Twilight approached the group. Garrett looked down at the pieces of wood left behind by the wounded timber wolf. The last shot took a good chunk from one of those creatures. It happened to be one of the forelegs.
"Um... Who the hay is that tall one there?" The orange pegasus asked, motioning to the human.
"His name is Garrett, Scootaloo," Twilight answered. "Fluttershy took him in earlier today. Don't worry, he's not going to hurt any of us."
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked up at Garrett in awe noticing how tall he was compared to them.
"Garrett, there's something I forgot to tell you about those timber wolves," Twilight grabbed Garrett's attention with a worried tone of voice.
"What about them?" He looked back at the unicorn mare with confusion.
Before Twilight could answer, pieces left behind by the wooden creatures began moving on their own. To her and her friends, fear was all over their faces. For Garrett, surprise. The pieces flowed past them and moved toward the direction of where the timber wolves had fled to earlier. As if on cue, the three timber wolves revealed themselves from the treeline. The pieces returned to the one Garrett had injured and was rebuilt as good as new.
"They can rebuild themselves just like that," Twilight finally said.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Applejack yelled as the group began running with the three fillies in tow. They found themselves back on the trail they used earlier.
Garrett, as the last one following behind, took a quick peek back, still seeing the timber wolves following them. There was no way they could outrun the wooden creatures except... "Girls, keep running! I'll draw them away!" he yelled before stopping in his tracks.
Before Twilight and her friends said anything, they stopped and turned their heads upon hearing Garrett's weapon going off. They then saw him fleeing into the forest, with the timber wolves on his tail.
"He's going to get himself hurt!" Rarity gasped.
"We have to do what he said. He's our best chance to get out of here safely," Twilight said as they continued running.
--
Garrett was running into the forest after grabbing the timber wolves' attention. "Good. It worked," he said to himself. "I just hope the others get to safety." He vaulted over a dead tree trunk and ducked behind it, panting for air. He peeked up and fired off a few rounds from his M4 carbine before he continued running.
He was starting to slow down due to exhaustion. “Dammit...” Garrett quietly cursed at himself as he tried to regain his pace. The weight of his IOTV and other equipment on him was causing the slowdown, but he was trying to ignore it. Looking back for a moment and taking a quick sip from his Camelbak, the soldier continued until he found himself at a cliff edge.
"Uh oh, not good..."
The timber wolf trio stepped out of the woods and surrounded the lone, exhausted human. Garrett removed the night scope from his eye and stared at his pursuers. He was tempted to fire his weapon until its chamber caught his eye. The bolt was locked to the rear, indicating that there was no more bullets in his current magazine. He could pull out his Beretta M9, but he was still outnumbered. The creatures slowly approached him as he backed up until his heels were at the edge of the cliff.
Garrett looked down at the cliff and saw nothing that could break his fall. He was given two choices - Become dinner for wolves made of wood or jump to a quick and painless death. When the timber wolves began running toward him, Garrett's choice was made. He faced away from the creatures and made a quick leap of faith to have one 'hell of a way to die.'
"I ain't gonna jump no more..." Garrett said, closing his eyes before mentally laughing at the dark humor of the situation. Did he survive an IED/small arms ambush in one of the most dangerous provinces of Afghanistan, only to fall to his death in an unfamiliar place called Equestria? He was ready to accept his fate... until he felt a shift of some sort in midair.
"Phew... Gotcha just in time."
Garrett opened his eyes upon hearing a somewhat familiar voice. More importantly, he found himself on the back of a cyan-coated pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane. "R-Rainbow Dash?!" he gasped in surprise and relief. That was her name... right?
"Good to see you again." Rainbow Dash smiled widely and chuckled. "The girls told me what was going on and that you were drawing the timber wolves away from them. I figured you needed a lift out of here."
The soldier chuckled, relieved that the pegasus had figured that. As the two ascended to the sky, Garrett saw the timber wolves do nothing but watch their prey fly away. He became quiet when he thought about what would have happened if Rainbow Dash hadn’t arrived in time.
"You okay?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah... I'm just worn out. That's all," Garrett answered, masking his pain.
--
Twilight and her friends were at the front of Fluttershy's cottage, waiting for Rainbow Dash and Garrett's return. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle waited with them as well. "They're still not here..." Fluttershy was growing worried for her two remaining friends.
"Don't worry, sugar cube." Applejack placed her hoof on the yellow pegasus' shoulder. "Ah'm sure they'll be here at any time now." She still remembered Garrett diverting the timber wolves' attention away from them, but was he safe himself?
Scootaloo looked up at the night sky, recognizing a familiar silhouette approaching the cottage. "Rainbow Dash!" she yelled in excitement, grabbing everypony's attention.
Rainbow Dash and Garrett landed safely at the cottage's front yard and were immediately surrounded by the mares, rejoicing for their safe return. While still grasping his side in quiet pain, Garrett backed away from the group upon seeing them talking among themselves. He sighed in relief, knowing everypony was now safe and sound. As soon as he faced the cottage, he heard his name called out.
"GARRETT!" The voice came from Fluttershy, who ran toward the human from the cottage and jumped to embrace him in a hug, which knocked the wind out of him. This was a greeting he didn't expect getting. She was hugging him as if they were close friends... Unsure of how to respond, he returned the hug.
As soon as they backed away from their hug, Fluttershy giggled nervously after realizing what she did. Garrett removed his helmet and gave her an assuring, “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Mister Garrett?”
Garrett looked at the light yellow coated filly. Applebloom, wasn’t it?
“Ah want to thank you for saving me and my friends from those timber wolves,” Applebloom said sheepishly. “If you and the others didn’t come, we would have been their supper already.” With that, two of her friends came up to Garrett as well.
“Thank you, Mister Garrett,” they said in unison.
Garrett nodded his head in acceptance. “You three are welcome, but just call me Garrett. It’s fine by me.”
Soon, everypony was heading home, and Garrett and Fluttershy were back inside the cottage.
“Jeez, that search made me worn out...” Garrett sighed in relief and rubbed his forehead before removing his IOTV and Camelbak.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “It was good you went with my friends, I guess...”
“True. They may not have gotten away from those timber wolves if I wasn’t around.” Carrying his belongings, Garrett went back to his room. “Anyway... Good night, Fluttershy. I’m heading to bed now.”