Contact Harvest

by CommanderApplejack

Chapter 25

Don't underestimate me.
I know more than I say, think more than I speak, and notice more than you realize.

The castle's dining room was filled with beds, pillows and saddlebags by the time everypony had arrived. Pinkie had even given Maria the scare of her life by appearing from nowhere to announce a party, the spartan having waited out the day on the castle's main balcony and just observing the coming and goings around town from afar. Twilight had sent a message back to spike telling us she'd be here in the morning so we held off on telling most of our story and just allowed Pinkie to organise her 'welcome Maria and Crusader return sleepover party'... Though we were going to miss the evening portion of that party.

“The high balcony gives you a good view over the field up to this 'Everfree Forest',” Maria stated as she loaded a magazine into her assault rifle, Scootaloo did the same with her respective rifle and Bloom with her shotgun. “Belle will take an overwatch position there while we meet up with the guard at town hall. If we can catch it leaving the trees you'll have an immediate shot.”

“Sounds good to me,” I stated, levitating my stanchion next to me, my HUD telling me it was fully loaded and in peak condition.

“Y'all be safe, right?” Applejack nervously asked as she'd seen us gear up and get ready to confront the timberwolf, Rarity was in a similar position and only Rainbow Dash didn't look bothered at all by us getting ready for combat. She, of course, had been aware of our occupation for longer.

“The plan is to stay at a distance anyhow, and even if we'd get in close we're well equipped to deal with a timberwolf,” I assured them. “And if you want to talk to check up on the girls you can come up to see me on the balcony.”

Applejack frowned in confusion. “What do ya mean by that?”

“They have radio and other stuff in those suits,” Rainbow helpfully provided. “They can probably even see what the others are looking at.”

“We can indeed tap into each others helmet feeds as long as we have a sufficient connection,” Maria stated as she held out her claw and called on her magic.

“Ya know, Ah'm still amazed ya can do that. Ah was sure ya would turn into a unicorn on this end,” Bloom stated as she shook her head.

“Being transformed, even though I knew it was almost certain to happen, is still rather disturbing to me. I'm glad to have retained something akin to hands,” Maria said, waving her claws.

“Ah know what ya mean, can't say fingers weren't handy but Ah am still an earthpony at heart,” Bloom smirked, the pun drawing a snort from everyone who'd been on the other end of the mirror... even Maria. Bloom, Scoots, and I shared a quick glance at the outburst of emotion from the spartan, not being used to anything other than her usual stony facade.

“Radio discipline is light, there's no opponent capable of intercepting signals anyhow,” Maria stated in her usual tone of voice again, clamping her rifle to the mag-clamp under her left wing.

“Yes ma'am,” the three of us replied, tuning into the right frequency.

“Good, we're a go. Belle, take position. Bloom, Firewing, on me.” I saluted and turned to make my way up to the tip of the castle, Applejack and Rarity following me up and a short trip later I had positioned myself comfortably in my overwatch position.

“So ya can actually talk ta my sis?” Applejack asked while I calibrated my rifle and made sure my night vision worked properly.

“Yes,” I simply replied, propping up my rifle on the balcony in anticipation of what could become a very long night.

“So what they doin' now?”

“Walking to town hall,” I sighed. “Look, not that I'm against your company, Applejack, but I'm not going to give an update on every step the girls take. If the two of you come up here periodically I'll be happy to talk, after setting up we'll probably be talking with each other anyhow.”

“Ah guess that ain't unfair,” Applejack said reluctantly as she shook her head. “Ah'll bring some things ta eat and drink up too then.”

“That'd be nice,” I said with a nod, Applejack leaving for Pinkie's sleepover party which left me with Rarity.

“You sure you'll be okay up here?” Rarity asked as I slowly checked out the edge of the woods for movement.

“Yeah, most of the night will be boring anyhow,” I stated.

“Alright, I'll come check on you later too then,” She said before following Applejack back down the castle.

Being alone I connected to Apple Bloom's helmet feed, putting it in the bottom left of my visor. Their group had just gotten into view of town hall and were on their way over to it and the group of eight guardponies assembled in front of it.

“Hey! What are you doing here?!” one of the guardsponies called out as he noticed Apple Bloom.

Must be that pony that tried to stop Bloom when she was bringing Starlight in.

Moving my rifle over, I zoomed in on the group of guards, getting a secondary view of the situation.

“We're here to support you in hunting this 'timberwolf',” Maria told him, Bloom keeping her mouth shut. “Who's the officer in charge here?”

“I am, lieutenant Swift Wing.” an older looking pegasus stated, “And who are you three?”

“I'm Chief Petty Officer sierra zero-six-two, United Nations Space Command, and these two are sergeant Bloom and corporal Firewing,” Maria stated, looking down at the lieutenant.

“Right, and I'm Celestia's butler. Go home you three before you get hurt, I have no need for civilians interfering with my operation,” Swift Wing stated gruffly, turning back to the rest of his guards. I could practically feel Scootaloo ready to explode on the older pony, the only reason she probably didn't was Maria turning to address the two of them.

“Find a position at the edge of town and go for observation,” Maria told them, the lieutenant turning to face her again.

“If you interfere with my operation I will have you arrested for obstruction, am I clear?” he growled.

“Corporal Firewing, give the lieutenant your helmet. Corporal Belle, tag your own location,” Maria ordered, I meanwhile switched over to Scootaloo's feed and got Scootaloo to give me momentary control. The lieutenant hesitantly took the helmet and put it on, looking around in wonder as he got to experience its systems for the first time.

“There's a blue marker on the castle, please turn that way,” I instructed him over the radio.

“Who's this?!” he immediately demanded.

“Turn towards the castle and you'll find out,” I stated again, the moment he'd found the marker I'd placed on myself I made the helmet zoom in on my position, seeing myself aiming straight at him. “Congratulations, you've found me.”

“Corporal Belle is my long-range marksman, she's the one who will take out the wolf after one of us spots it,” Maria explained. “We are no amateurs, lieutenant. I am sure you will hear more after Princess Twilight returns tomorrow and I have time for proper introductions.”

The pegasus returned Scootaloo's helmet and frowned. “Alright, I'll bite, but if the princess doesn't vouch for you there will be consequences.”

“Of course,” Maria nodded. “If you attach your ponies to mine we'll rotate watches, use our equipment to communicate.”

“And you're sure your marksman can take care of the timberwolf?”

“More like obliterate it,” I muttered.

“Positive,” Maria replied, ignoring me.

“We'll see about that. If your methods fail then my ponies take over, clear?”

“Naturally.”

Swift Wing nodded and ordered his ponies divided between Scootaloo, Bloom, and Maria. The three teams split up to take positions that gave us a view covering the majority of the Everfree's border. Over the next hour there was the occasional chatting over the radio but mostly I was on my own. That changed as I heard somepony approach from inside.

"Chimera-three to sierra-zero-six-two, I'm off the scope for a bit, ping me if there's movement. Over."

"Copy that Chimera-three, stay within five seconds the balcony in case of movement and remain in comm network. Over."

"Roger that, Chimera-three out," I stated as I put down my rifle next to me and pulled off my helmet, making sure I still had a bead in my ear so I could hear comms. I turned to see Rarity observing me from the doorway, two steaming hot cups and cupcakes in her magic aura.

"I... thought you'd appreciate something to drink," she said awkwardly as she levitated a cupcake and the drink, a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows and cream, over towards me. I snatched them from the air and levitated them over to myself, blowing on the hot drink to cool it off a little.

"Thanks, Rarity," I said with a smile as my big sister took position next to me on the balcony, looking out over Ponyville.

"So, did that wolf show its wooden nose yet?" Rarity asked in a clear attempt to start a conversation of sorts.

"Nothing yet, though if it shows up we'll make sure it won't get into town," I replied, looking out over the village without my night vision. An awkward silence fell between the two of us again as neither of us really knew where to start. I took a small sip from the chocolate milk, closing my eyes for a moment as it had been literally forever since I drank something so sweet.

"Is it that good?"

"It's been a long while since I last got something sweet," I softly stated, taking another sip of the drink.

"That's what scares us... Applejack and I that is," Rarity croaked, tears in her eyes. "You three were gone for only a short while to us but with how you came out... You went from silly fillies to hardened warriors in what to us was no more than the blink of an eye, and you three have only been giving vague hints how!"

"You know we are going to-"

"Tell us later," Rarity exclaimed with a wail. "But we're just so confused, and terrified!"

Applejack too appeared in the doorway to the balcony, looking almost as distressed as Rarity. I sighed as I opened my radio connection to the others. "Chimera-one, I'm up here with my sister and AJ I'm going to tell them what happened. They deserve to know."

"You sure you're up for that now, Chimera-three?" Apple Bloom asked, sounding concerned.

"I'll be able to make the shot when needed, don't you worry," I said, rolling my eyes and turning back to the two older ponies, Applejack having joined Rarity in her seated position. "Let's start at... well, the beginning..."

"So who the hell are you guys?" one of the three guards with me asked as I yawned, my helmet sitting next to me as I stared out at the edge of the Everfree. The four of us had sat here for a good three hours, I had mostly been ignored by the three royal guards until now.

"We're locals actually, well, mostly. We've been gone for..." I sighed as the difference in passed time was gonna make explaining things suck. "For you guys, it was two weeks, for me... almost four years."

One of them snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure."

"Playing around magic castles and getting sucked into magic portals sucks. But hey, you get a front-row seat to how we learned to deal with our problems," I stated with an eye roll of my own. "So how long have you guys been in the guard?"

"Me, five years, that asshole four, and then he just joined." The guard pointed at the one who'd rolled his eyes and the other who hadn't spoken yet.

"No shit. So, you two ever see action?" I asked, taking a sip from a bottle of water.

"Nah, just patrol duty up in Canterlot. Sometimes some critters pop up but last time we needed to take care of a timberwolf another team got the kill," The oldest of the three stated.

"Eh, nothing wrong with a safe job," I shrugged, my eyes moving across the treeline as I thought I saw some movement.

"Hey we want to-"

"Shh!" I immediately went for my helmet, slipping it on and activating night vision. "Chimera-two here, I've got movement in trees. Painting them now"

The three guards had jumped up too as they peered out as well while I used the IR laser on my rifle to mark the location where I'd seen motion. "Chimera-two on station, scanning."

"Chimera one here, spotted more motion, painting too." Another laser sight lit up the treeline further back as more things were moving in the treeline.

"God damnit, that's not one wolf, that's a pack!" I growled as I tried counting the shapes.

"A-A pack?" The rookie stuttered.

"Yeah, piss yourself later, we got work to do," I shot at him as I stood onto my hind legs, aiming my rifle. "What's the word Six-Two?"

"Hold your fire, let them step into the open." We all acknowledged the order, keeping our positions and letting the wolves step out of the forest.

"What in Celestia's name are we doing?!" The elder guard hissed, gripping his spear tightly.

"Waiting," I said calmly, knowing the timberwolves weren't going to shoot us from range was strangely calming. "We need to make sure we get them all."

"Weapons free."

The first thing that happened was that the biggest of the pack, what was probably the alpha, got hit by a streak of light from the castle. Sweetie's shot tore almost the entirety of its torso to shreds. The rest of us opened fire immediately after, a burst of my shots hitting another part of the lead element, our bullets not doing as much damage as Sweetie's sniper rifle but not doing nothing either. The three guards around me had jumped away from me, their ears flat as they could not have expected the loud sounds from my rifle. The pack of wolves was in complete disarray, their leader disintegrated and several of the larger packmates were in splinters.

"We have ta burn the remains, timberwolves reform if ya don't!" Bloom called out as the majority of the wolves were either down or so badly damaged they couldn't get away anymore.

"Copy that, move in and keep them down." Maria ordered, I could see her already sprinting forward along with Bloom. I followed soon after, leaving my guard escort behind as I took to the air and hovered over the few struggling wolves and put them down. Maria lit her talons up, somehow still being able to cast magic and sending a jet of flame out over the downed wolves. Not a very long time later we were standing in what were no more than the smouldering remains of what had been the pack, checking if everything was properly scorched.

"Sweet Celestia..." The lieutenant whispered as he and his ponies walked up with wide eyes as we were confirming our kills.

"We did say we were professionals," Bloom stated as she kicked on a still rather intact bit of wood and splintered it further.

"Yes, you did," he stated, a lot more respectful towards us now. "My ponies will keep watch for the rest of the night, if there's even any left then we can handle it."

"Of course Lieutenant, my people need to rest anyhow, we have a meeting with the Princess tomorrow," Maria stated.

"Rest well, we are in your debt. We would not have been able to take on a full pack. We owe you our lives," He thanked, lowering his head down. We parted ways as ponies poked their noses through windows, probably all of the village's inhabitants had been awoken by the loud gunfire. Well, better that than a pack of timberwolves roaming the town.

"Chimera-two, I've gotten down from the balcony, I'll see you all inside. Out," Sweetie called in as we got close to the castle. Everypony inside was awake as well as we entered, looking at us with wide eyes as Sweetie was already among them.

"I gave them the quick rundown," Sweetie stated as she was laying on a mattress, armour still on. "Tired now, can use the sleep before tomorrow."

"Ah agree-" Apple Bloom was cut off as Applejack slammed into her, making the armoured pony stumble as she was pulled into a crushing hug.

"Ah can't even start ta imagine what ya went through but know Ah'm here for you." Bloom had to process for a moment before returning the hug and responding.

"Thanks sis, Ah... think I'll need a listenin' ear sometime soon..." Bloom sighed as she released her sister again. "But Sweetie's right, we gotta sleep a little before Twilight gets back tomorrow cause we're gonna have a few long days."

"Well, we had that covered until the four of you started making all them noises," Applejack chuckled, nudging Apple Bloom's chest piece. The two of them finding a sleeping spot together. Sweetie did the same with Rarity as everypony went back to sleep. Maria went off on her own, finding a dark corner to lay down in her armour. Not really having anyone to lay down with I joined her as she tried finding a comfortable sleeping position.

"No family here?" she asked as she gave up and just lay down on her stomach.

"None other than the girls and Rainbow," I shrugged laying down on some pillows. "I'll survive another night on my own." Maria gave a tiny nod in acknowledgement, having another attempt to get comfortable. "Having trouble there?"

"Changing into a different species was... more unsettling than I care to admit," Maria stated as she tried a position on her back. "I may not be picky in where I sleep but I can't for the life of me find a position where I'm sure I can get rest in, have some advice?"

I thought for a moment, I knew some pegasi were really picky about where they slept for some reason and that was clearly something Maria was suffering from too at the moment. Hmm what if I tried...

"Hold on for a moment, I need to try something out that could maybe help you out..." Jumping up I flew out of the castle at speed, finding a fluffy cloud in the sky and taking a deep breath. Here goes nothing...

Having seen Dash do it thousands of times I pressed my hooves against the cloud and started pushing, the smile on my face as it moved where I wanted it too was immense. A few minutes later I flew it right back through the doorway which I'd left through and let the cloud sit on the ground. Maria, though wearing her helmet, was clearly shocked seeing a cloud being handled like that. "I'm not sure how well this stuff is going to be able to carry the weight of your armour, but I was always told it made for great bedding."

Maria carefully poked the cloud, finding that it actually felt solid before she tried stepping onto the cloud. She sank in a little as her armour did weigh a ton but the cloud was apparently strong enough to hold. "I... wow." she simply stated as she laid down and immediately found a good position. "I'll have to try this out without armour..." she muttered, making me chuckle as the spartan was completely entranced by the clouds, running her claws through the white mass.

"You should, but I'm gonna nap too now. Good night."

"Yeah, you too."

Author's Note:

Just one more, getting very close now.

Comments

[Helljumper206]

A Spartan sleeping on a cloud. That is sure a funny image to see.

[Tempestus]

Stanchion is bea.

[Venerable Ro]

Good op, nice and tidy. Can't wait to see how Twilight reacts to all this.

[stag the story teller]

11110607
Someone needs to draw it

[Xblaster]

Hey commander i found a problem, the "next" button is gone and i can't find it :c

[PonyofEntropy]

Awesome story and updates. Great work!

[avidreaded]

Well damn, I apparently found a hell of a time to get into this fic. Great read so far, couple typos here and there but no biggie. Definitely excited to see the full reaction of the rest of their friends and Princesses.

[Goose600]

Is chapter 25 all you wrote?

[Killjoy1221]

Is Maria's emotion suppression pellet malfunctioning?

[josue]

11362151
It's the equestrian Magic I'm surprised she hasn't broken out into song yet