FireWatch

by Darkness Moon

Buried Past

Being so immersed in history, the night caught them off guard. Aria was right, Sunset and Adagio took longer than a shower required. They took the shower separately, and they still had time to spare unlike the others. Sonata was almost finishing another of her delicious creations, while the little ferret rested on Aria's lap.

"It's been going on for two hours now." Aria said.

"Yes, but I'm glad to see them so in love." said Sonata. "Why aren't you more like Sunset?"

"Submissive and weak?" Aria asked.

"No, loving and romantic." Sonata said, preparing the food.

"You know I'm not so ... affectionate" replied the siren. "Only with you I make an exception."

"I know. But is it too much to ask that you last more than one orgasm? " Sonata smiled.

"Hey! You're the one who doesn't last even the first! " Aria answered angrily.

"Last night you didn't want to!" Sonata yelled, pouting.

"Heavens! You never get tired of fighting." Adagio said, coming down the stairs.

"About time," Aria said. "And Sonata, I'm sorry I'm not a damn cow like Adagio who needs 20 liters every morning."

"Well this cow will show you that-"

"Adagio." Sunset appeared holding her arm, preventing another fight. "You are always scolding them for fighting, but you are as easy to provoke as Aria."

"Don't interfere, Sunset. If you can't tolerate the fire then get out of the kitchen." Adagio smiled.

"I'm aware of your fire Dagi, I'm the one in charge of turning it off… and on~" Sunset smiled.

That comment earned giggles from the other sirens and an intense blush from the leader.

"But before I get on with the shower, I'll need some energy," Sunset said, hugging Adagio's waist. "What did you prepare Sonata?"

"Curry! Seafood for us and vegetables for you.” she smiled, serving the dishes on the table.

"You're lucky I'm hungry," Adagio said, as grumpy as Aria.

The four sat together, only Onix remained. They served him food and began to eat the delicious dish.

"Can you go on with the story, Sunset?" Sonata asked.

"When we finish eating, I don't want to throw up," Aria said, eating.

"There are no gross parts, really intense," said Sunset.

"Then go on," Adagio said.

"It's okay. They were the worst nights that I lived, I couldn't sleep with the fear that they would enter the tower, but I didn't expect what was coming: "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I reclined in my chair analyzing my wall, I had marked the entire wall with papers trying to find clues of who was spying on us and why. I picked up the radio and tried to call Delilah… again.

“Thorofare tower, this is Two Forks, calling you for the oh fiftieth time today. The Jun’s Fire continues to move in a southerly fashion. Delilah, for fuck’s sake, answer your radio”

“Helloooo sunshine! Sorry, I went out for a Little bit. What can I do you for?” I almost fell out of my chair hearing her voice.

“I didn’t sleep a wink last night and I’ve been going crazy for the past six hours of sun-up. How are you so shipper?”

“Well it’s a new day. What a day, this we’ve been given!” How can she be so calm ?!.

“Maybe I am actually asleep right now. Maybe I didn’t stay up all night knowing that someone is-…”

“I actually slept just great!” she smiled without a hint of concern.

“Uhh… okay?” what's your game Delilah.?

“By the way, I was wondering if your flora of the Shoshone info poster was still up inside your tower?”

“…What?” I looked around the room for said sign, but that only confused me more.

“It’s just protocolo that those stay up, you know, info about your tower, the surrounding tree species, etc.”

“Uh, alright…?”

“Just, you know, have a look at it. Make sure it’s in shi-shape”

“Okay, yeah, it’s up. Why are you acting like this?”

“Great! Just wonderful. Do you see the tree in the top row, second from the left?”

“Sure… It’s the uh-”

“NO. You don’t need to tell me. Just um, internalize it. It’s a great tree. And there’s an área called, um, that tree’s name in your sector that maybe you shoul take a mid-day hike to. Maybe.” Now I understand…

“Oh. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I should go for a hike” She's talking to me in code, smart.

“Nothing like afternoon in the Rockies, I tell ya. Radio me the moment you get there”

It makes sense now, she's trying to tell me to go to that place, so whoever listens won't know. Second tree on the left, Cottonwood, on the map I remember an area on the map, "Cottonwood Creek''. I took my backpack, and I left the tower. I could see the June fire that didn't seem to disperse.

“Whoa, the Jun’s fire isn’t going anywhere, huh?”

“No. That’s those guys cameo ut to burn that line. It’s at the stage where all we can do is pay attention to it”

“They’re not going to try to put it out?”

“Not yet, apparently”

At least it is a distant danger, not as bad as the who or those who listen to us, and follow, at least me. Every sound made me nervous. I wish I had brought a weapon with me, even though I have the ax I found the other day. Not that I'm scared, but I have a strange feeling for the simple fact that someone is following me and I don't know their intentions. After a while, I got to the area and laid out those circular rocks on the map.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/img]

“I’m here. I’m at Cottonwood Creek”

“You see the cache box there?”

“It must be around here somewhere” I looked around and it was there in my view.

“It is. Find it and open it. I changed the code. Es 5-6-7-8”

“Are you kidding me?” I opened the box with a sigh

“I was in a rush!”

Once open, I took the opportunity to update the map. I see that inside there was another of so many books, and also… a new radio? It was bigger than the one he had. It was when I understood Delilah's intentions, finding a way to avoid being overheard, with this special radio should be solved. Take the new radio, and leave the other one in the box. I turned it on and adjusted the antenna.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.jpg[/img]

“I’ve got it now”

“Good. I spent all day getting you that radio. I hiked a cahe box, lied to a ranger, lied to ANOTHER ranger and hopefully you are now holding a clean, untapped radio.”

“Hopefully”

“Holy fuck, Sunset, We have to ge tinto that site”

“What the fuck is going on?!? People are listening to us?” I could finally get angry and look for answers.

“I don’t know

“Our radios are tapped? Are toy fucking serious?!” started walking away from the area.

“Our radios are definitely tapped.That’s why I left you the one you just got”

“How is this even possible?”

“I don’t know, Sunset”

“What do you know?”I was suspicious, upset, again I can't trust anyone.

“I know that I’m scared”

“Who is doing this?” calm me down a bit, she's not to blame.

“I don’t know who could be doing this”

“Sunset, I've been at this job off and on this for five years, sometimes here, sometimes over near Jackson. A couple of times down in Wind River. And nothing like this has EVER happened before"

“Are there any other lookuts this happening to? Somene else in on this? Anyone?”

“Ugh… This is just happening to us. Everyone else is fine”

“Are you sure?”

"Yes. I’ve tried to bring it up to Chimney Rock, Elk’s Fork and Beartooth, lookout and every one tof them got confused, asked me if I’m okay and if I needed to be relieved. Our fucking state coordinator asked if I was just having lady troubles. So no, this isn’t happening to anyone else. And I'm done asking. I just changed my clothes lying on the floor, because I don't know who may be watching me"

“Am I just… making all of this up? The eavesdropping, the spying, is this… fuck, are you… is any of this real?”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Maybe I’m just. Maybe I’m just losing my mind” I remember stopped on the edge of a cliff.

“…WHAT?!”

“Like dad… Maybe it’s happening to me and I’m imagining that I have a boss out here that we’re being spied on” I getting down on my knees, leaning dangerously on the shore. Even doubted if everything since Equestria was real.

“Sunset…” listen to a tone of empathy.

“I may be losing my mind like him and end up committing suicide. Or my condo was underneath some power lines and, you, Delilah, you’re not real and just be part of my mind. Seek comfort in what does not exist and forget the living by being obsessed with stupid investigations that lead you to abandon the only thing you had in an orphanage!" I screamed in hard anger, my hands hitting the pointy rocks, ending up with serious scrapes, but not lethal.

“Sunset. Think about him. If what happen to him were happenint to you, you wouldn’t even be able to realice it.”

“Okay.” She didn't know what I was talking about, however, she helped me to calm down.

“Sunset, Sweetie, I am real and this is happening. I’m as real as the sky is blue. Take a second and then call me back. I’m on your side.”

I got up and down the cliff with a rope, when I got to the ground, rest a second, just one, and I went back to my step, we had to enter that place, even though I didn't want to...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She should know the truth, after all, that's how…he raised me" Sunset whispered the last part.

She had remained with her eyes closed while she narrated that part, that when opening them, not expect in hers face of the siren so close to her.

"Girls..?"

Between the three of them they surrounded Sunset in a warm hug, the pony girl making a supreme effort to not cry.

"I'm fine, thanks" she smiled hugging the trio.

They parted but stayed with her.

"Sunset..." Sonata whispered.

“Okay, when I finish telling you guys, will understand why I mentioned him. For not to make the story longer than it is with my life. Summary; I grew up with my father, I never met my mother, my father dropped me off at the academy of gifted unicorns a week after being a chosen student of Celestia "

"You've never... ever talked about it before" Adagio said.

"It's a part of me that I tried to forget"

“But Sunny, you can't suppress that kind of thing. In your position of turning to anyone, not even following your ‘friends’ you were alone.” Adagio took the face of her lover. "But no more... you have us"

"We were feared creatures in equestria, monsters who didn't care about anything or anyone, but we had us," Aria said. "With you is the only exception we have made in centuries."

"In centuries? Nobody else besides me? " Sunset asked, surprised.

"There were people we tolerated, but we didn't get romantically involved," Sonata said.

"Will you tell me about your past lives one day?"

"Not this time Sunny, one story is more than enough." said Adagio.

"If it's okay for you to tell us the rest." Aria continued.

"Yes, I can continue: "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, I’m alright. I’m headed towards the site”

“Good. Keep your head up” I did, until I got to the fence.

“I’m busting the gate down. There’s nobody around and it’’s the quickest way in”

“Copy that”

With the axe it was more than enough to break the door and the padlock.

“I smashed open the gate. Should I try to fix or hide this?”

“No, screw it”

“Okay then.”

Now I must investigate the WAPITI station, go down a makeshift bridge, walk down the hill until I reach the source of a very noisy sound, it was an antenna connected to a generator.

“Okay, I’m at the site. I don’t see anybody around”

“Lucky for us”

“Yeah, lucky for us” I close to the tower. “D. there is some serious comms equipment out here. Wireless stuff.”

“What do you mean?

“I’m talking a big, twenty-foot tall transmission tower. They can probably listen to whoever the hell they want. They’re nestled down in this valley which makes it imposible for you or any lookout to see them.”

I walked ahead, I felt restless but confident of knowing the origin of everything, I came to an apartment. First I made sure that there was no one and I entered the area.[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image006.jpg[/img]

“There’s all sorts of contraptions and shit out here”

“Like what?”

“Dishes and stuff on metal legs. There’s wires all over the place I don’t know. I’m not really up on hight tech” Even then I was a Waylon Park trainee, he taught me all about programs. “This equipment is not stuff from the hardware store. They’re doing somethng with the soil out here too. It’s gridded off”

“Who knows what else they’re up to”

After reviewing the area I entered the folder. There were about three beds, things and papers thrown away, a plan with the map of the area, tents, food, and clothes.

“I’m in the main tent” I report.

“What’s it like?”

“It’s definitely some of monitoring station. I just wonder where they are. All of their stuff is here.”

[img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image008.jpg[/img]

“And they know you’re there. So see what you can find and get out.”

“The table is a mess. It's as if someone had been in a hurry or had dropped some things” that made me remember the voice that was coughing that you could hear things falling. “Hey, it seems like everything is registered on this table. Well... controls, computers and other puppies. Shit, do you think they can record our heart rate and things like that? "

"At this point, I believe anything"

"Well. Shit. Here's a map that confirms that they are following my… our… people's movements. The map has all kinds of trails and marked areas. There are lines that look like some of the trails that I usually walk”

"Are you SURE it's you?"

"No, but I think so"

I took some papers and useful things. Until I checked a box with a strange gadget inside.

“I think I found the thing they use to track us” it was a receiver of waves.

“Holy Shit…”

“You know you sweer like, a lot”

“Not the time, Sun”

“Anyway, It’s called wave receiver. It looks like picks up anything that emits a signal. I’ts got basic orienteering capabilities, everything. Holy- “

“Holy Shit, Sunset?”

“Yeah, holy shit”

“You’re gonna take it, right?”

“Yeah, of course”. I took the device in my hands and turned it on, the device began to beep.

“Okay, this thing is losing its mind. Beeping like crazy”

“I can hear it. What’s it after?”

“I don’t know, I’m gonna go find out.”

I walked around the place. The sound was slower, but when I was in the store it whistled louder. Whatever it is it must be inside. Then I walked in and the sound whistled like crazy on the table. I moved the papers and found a device that was like a black box, I took it and turned it off. Underneath it was a folder with our names and Delilah's. I opened the documents and couldn't understand what I was reading. “Are you shitting me...”

“What? W-What is it?”

“There’s a folder of reports here”

“What do they say?”

“They’re assessments. About the two of us. There’s stuff in here about my Friends and Father”

“Like what?”

“Stuff I didn’t tell you. This is-” I read our profiles without believing it.

“W-What does it say about me? You said there was one about me.”

“And it looks like they’ve been following me around. What I do when i’M OUT HIKING. ¡SHIT!”

“Sunset, do you hear me?”

“They say you and your boyfriend are still together.”

“What?! We’re not. They’re messing with us.”

“Yeah, okay” It's not like I care.

“They are. How do they even know who he is? How the hell does this- I’m so sick of letting these people do this to us. We should just burn the place down”

“Yeah. Fuck’em.” I said without thinking.

“They’ll dump an ocean of wáter on it and these assholes will spend the rest of the summer picking up the pieces. We get to finish out our contracts. Hell, we’ll even call in the fire.”

“Yeah, okay”

“You don’t sound too excited about that.”

“I’m not.”

“Look, worst case scenario…”

“The whole forest burn down along with whoever’s in it?”

“Uhh, fuck… Yeah. Worst case. Well… maybe it’s not the best idea.”

“No, it’s definitely not the best idea” sighed regaining my composure.

“I’m so fucking wound up!!”

“I’ts alright. I’m just going to hike back. We have the wave receiver and tomorrow we can figure out what to do.”

I took the axe in my hands and I moved away from the place. When I was passing over the bridge it started collapsing. Luckily I was able to jump in time. When I regained my composure I saw a hill of smoke where I was before.

“Hey, shit, the bridge collapsed climbing out here and, uh, now it looks like there’s smoke coming from the site”

“¿What the hell happend to IT’S DEFINITELY NOT THE BEST IDEA?”

“It wasn’t me!”

“Ah. What do we do?”

"We just call it in like any other fire."

“And what about who started it? What about them?"

"The person who started it?"

“Yeah” she sounded really mad.

“We’re talking about people watching us out here who are now burning the forest and everything in it around us. I don’t know what to do about that”

“Except get the hell out.”

“Yes. Ge tus the hell out of here”

“I will.”

Comments

[Viatorem]

Finally an update \^_^/ Even though I know the story of Firewatch form top to bottom, what is making this fic interesting is the interaction between Sunset and the dazzlings :)

Also, I’m going to sound like a sales person, but I will recommend you to pass the fic through grammarly, you only need to make a profile (you don’t even have to give any information besides your email) and the free tolls will help to detecting and dealing with most of the issues, that being said I recommend you to get an editor here:

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/97/looking-for-editors

[Darkness Moon]

Thank you, I hope to finish the story soon and continue other projects.😊
And about that, I already have an editor. I continued the conversation while I watched the game, with subtitles, I guess it didn't look as good as I thought. 😅

[Silentwoodfire]

I should probably point out that the embedded pictures are NOT showing

[Darkness Moon]

10707147

[Silentwoodfire]

10708099
Yeah, like this one: [img]file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image008.jpg[/img]