//------------------------------// // "You have unlocked a new weapon" // Story: How the hell did this happen? Or should that now be hay? // by Lucky424 //------------------------------// “Hey, has anypony seen Fluttershy? We're late for our spa appointment.” At this everypony turned to the newcomer, and ushered her in to the library. Rainbow was the first to speak up. “We were just talking about that. Tank woke me up early being sick and I was worried, so I took him to Fluttershy's just after eight, but she wasn't there. I left Tank there and came here to see if I could find her.” At this Rarity grew quite concerned. “So none of you have seen her this morning?” Get head shakes all around, she posed her next question as Shining Armour walked in. “Do....you...think that the creature got her?” The was a slam as the door was shut and orders were barked followed by the thundering of hooves as the guard took off to begin searching. Twilight was the next to speak, the mud on her coat and in her mane examples of what she had been doing that morning. “No, she lives near the Everfree. The creature ran in to Whitetail.” As she was about to continue, the door burst open with a ragged looking farmer standing there. “Everypony, we have a problem!!! Ah just saw Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie coming back from the woods with a smile on their faces!! They then just nodded and went their separate ways!” Twilight instantly started to over think things. “Do you think they found it? How are they not injured? Why didn't they come to us??” A blue hoof clamped her muzzle shut as Rainbow stared in to her eyes. “Calm down. Here's what we should do. You and AJ go talk to Pinkie Pie. Me and Rarity will go talk to Fluttershy. Nod if you agree?” Twilight gently moved her head up and down, and Rainbow released her grasp. She turned towards the door and started walking. “Thanks Rainbow. Okay girls, lets go get us some information!!!” Damn, those eggs were good. I bet they were fresh as well. Finishing up a blueberry muffin, how did she know they were my favourite?, I gathered up my gear and thought about what to do next. I can't just go wondering back in to town. Maybe I should head back to the castle and see if there are any clues there. I stowed the rest of the muffins in my bag, and considered what gear to take. If there was a CBRN skin threat, it was all ready too late for me. I felt fine, so I took my NBC suit out and left it in the tree. That left me deciding between my S10 and my GSR. The GSR was fairly new in to service, and when I went on a week long course to learn about it, some more information came to light. Our course had been chosen to test a new feature, not just the respirators, but in general. Apparently, some eggheads down at R&D had come up with a HUD system, using a layer of LCD inside the visor. My GSR happened to be one of these. They linked to sensors on the weapon to give a general area of aim, showing up just like a video game, and they had even put a motion sensor on it. Unfortunately, my rifle was bog standard. No sensors or anything. S10 it is then. Plus it's smaller, so less to carry. Climbing out of the tree, I remembered I had just woke up. Time to answer the call of nature. Finishing my business, I set off in the opposite direction from town, hoping to find my tracks from the day before, not knowing I was in a different forest. Hey, trees all look the same to me!!! “Good afternoon Pinkie Pie, do you have any time to talk?” The pink mare turned from the back counter to see an eager looking Twilight and Applejack. She guessed what this was about, and with Applejack there, it would be harder not to tell her the truth. “Oh sure girls, just let me finish up, and I'll be right with you okay?” Nodding the two grabbed some snacks and trotted over to a table to wait. A short while later, Pinkie let out a sigh before she trotted over to her friends and sat opposite them. “So girls, what did you want to talk about? Are you planning a surprise party? Because I'm the best choice for parties you know!” Applejack pulled off her hat and set it on the table, giving a sign that this was a serious thing. “Actually, Pinkie, we were wondering what you an' Fluttershy were doing in Whitetail Wood this morning?” “Well, she asked for my help in tracking down an animal, thinking that my Pinkie Sense might pick up on it. We found it and she helped it, and you must have seen us when we came back to town!” “Well, there's your answer AJ, it was just Fluttershy being Fluttershy. I've got to get back to the library.” As she made to leave, Applejack began speaking again. “Pinkie, Ah am shocked at you. Never have Ah know you to lie, even if it's just a small one.” Twilight turned around as she continued. “You an' Fluttershy went to look for it, didn't you?” At this Pinkie's head dropped, and she knew that their secret was out, and there was no denying it now. “Yes” All of a sudden, her head was yanked up and she found herself staring in to a set of lavender eyes wide with worry and excitement. “Did you find it?” “Yes.” Twilight and Applejack gasped, and seeing no reason not to, she continued. “Fluttershy was worried that it might still be injured, so we went to look for it. It was hiding up a tree, so she flew up to take a look. When she came back she told me it looked cold and hungry, so we came back. She went to get a blanket, and I grabbed some muffins. When we met up again, Fluttershy had the blanket and had cooked some eggs for it. When we got back she flew up there and delivered it. She then came back down, and we returned to town.” She drew in a deep breath before finishing. “There, that's all of it. So what now?” Twilight spun around and ran in to the kitchen. “Mr and Mrs Cake!! We need to take Pinkie to the library, she and Fluttershy went looking for the creature, and found it!!!” At this, she was pushed out of the kitchen, followed by the bakers themselves. “Take her, this is too important to ignore.” “Thank you both, I'll try to have her back as soon as possible.” Setting her attention on the downcast mare sat at the table, she wrapped a hoof around her. “It's okay Pinkie, we're not upset, we were just worried. Applejack, go find the others. Pinkie, come on, lets go to the library and sort this out.” As I made my way through the forest, something didn't feel right. I thought the Everfree was supposed to be dark even during the day, but I can see everything in here. My thoughts came to an end as the trees started to thin. Thinking I had gone the wrong way, I slowed and edged my way forward. It wasn't Ponyville I saw in front of me, it was a cliff on the opposite side of a canyon. Ghastly Gorge. It has to be. Looking down, I could see the river at its bottom, and I followed the flow with my eyes. I could see holes in one side of the canyon wall, and that confirmed my suspicions. Looking upstream, I spotted something that made my heart jump. Sticking out above the tree line there was a structure, a tower to be precise, that looked old and dilapidated. Perfect, just where I wanted to go. There was just one small problem, it looked like it was on the other side of the canyon. Sighing, I looked along my edge and noted the tree line followed the edge almost exactly. Perfect, I still got cover. Moving back under the trees, I started off in the direction of the tower. “She's still not here? She must have gone to look after some animals. Why don't head you back to the boutique, I'm sure you've got work to do right?” As Rarity was about to respond, a shout from outside drew their attention. “Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow!! Where y'all at?” As they went outside, they met Applejack galloping across Fluttershy's bridge. “Wh.....wh......where's Fluttershy?” “Applejack, do calm down dear. You will just injure yourself otherwise. As for Fluttershy, she has not returned yet. Now, what has you all riled up like this?” “Pinkie an' Fluttershy went for looking for that thing, and they found it!!” This instantly gained Rainbows attention. “Whoa, really? Was it all sneaky like in the hospital?” “No, Pinkie said it was sleeping.” “Did they wake it up?” “No not right away. Pinkie said Fluttershy went to look and said it looked cold an' hungry, so they went to collect a blanket and get some food for it. It was on their way back when Ah noticed them. Twilight has taken Pinkie to the library. Now we just need to find Fluttershy.” Not having an idea of where to look, they trotted back in to the cottage. Rarity spotted Fluttershy's appointment schedule on the side and opened it up. “Girls, we must go now. It says here that after our spa appointment that she has a check up with Owlowiscious.” She gave a glance at the clock. “In ten minutes!” The ponies looked at each other before galloping out the door. Turns out that if karma really does exist in Equestria, then it gives the bad to me in my dreams. The canyon had twisted away to the right, and as I followed it the tower was on my side of the river. The ground had started to gradually rise until I was almost climbing up the side. It wasn't straight up, but it was definitely a higher angle then forty five degrees. Making it to the top, and feeling completely fucked, I took a moment to rest. After catching my breath, I made my way back inside to where I had arrived, and noted it was still dark. Making my way over to where a window should be, I started to remove the vegetation that was blocking the light. Turning back, I noticed the other stuff that had made it through. Sitting in a hole in the wall was a RB211. Well, that's not right! That should be mounted to a wing of a C17. What the fuck is it doing in the wall? I'm not a pilot, and with out the rest of the aircraft, it was just a heap of scrap. Continuing my search, I spotted some wooden crates balanced precariously on a ledge. “Well, only one way to get them down.” I checked around to make sure it was safe and then put down my gear, removing my field jacket. Reaching up to the ledge, I grabbed the nearest crate and yanked it off. The rest followed as they were all tethered to each other, and I was rewarded by a series of cracks as they burst open. Inspecting the first one, I grew excited. Spread around the floor were little brown boxes. Stamped on a side of each box was the following: 5.56mm x 45mm L2A2 BALL x 30 rounds “Fuck yes, ammo!!! At least I'm not going to run out soon!!” Getting over my giddiness, I moved to the second destroyed crate. Inside I could make out the muzzle of a rifle, so I started out removing the broken wood. After doing so, I was rewarded with not one, but two rifles. One, another L85A2, the other a M4A1. But more importantly, both of these weapons had the sensor system installed. I should have brought my GSR. In the bottom of the crate was a small black case, which I opened right away. Sitting in it was a HK USP .45 Auto, fitted with the aiming sensors. Okay, if this isn't all a dream, then damn. I always wanted one of these!!! It was then I remembered that it only came in .45 ACP, .40 S&W, and 9mm. Going back to the ammunition, I started to organise them, hoping there was some ammo for the pistol. Once I was finished, I had three piles. The largest was the 5.56 rounds. The smallest was the .45 rounds. However the middle pile was 7.62 rounds. Both the L85's and the M4 were 5.56, so what were these for? As I looked around, I spotted what looked like a rifle case teetering on the edge of a broken wall. It slipped off the edge, outside the wall, and I just managed to grab the handle in time. Pulling in the crate, I noted in was longer than the M4, and it was definitely a rifle case. But it was padlocked, and there was no sign of the keys. Now I was not worrying about running out of bullets, I picked up the USP and a empty mag, which now littered the floor from the third box, I bombed up and chambered a round. I pointed it at the padlock and fired. The resulting echo made my ears ring, but it had done it's job. Opening the crate my eyes grew wide. Sitting in foam padding was a stock, a bi-pod, a barrel, and a body with a scope on it. Pulling it out, I started to piece it together. I looked at the barrel and I knew just what the 7.62 were for now. And it also had the sensors built in to the main body. There was even a complete user guide for all weapons with the sensor systems in there. “Well, time to get my GSR.” If I had known just how “easy” that would be, my last sentence would have been “Fuck you, Murphy.”