A/N: the positive reviews for this story keep on coming, I want to thank you all for your support, so I have decided to present you with another chapter for this story, sit back, relax, and read as the stakes grow higher, hope you enjoy.
Wonders of Science: chapter 9: walk in the forest
Nathan slowly opened his eyes, as he heard his buzzing alarm go off, he groaned as he sat up, despite that he was sleeping on the floor, he actually felt well rested, he groaned again as he stretched his back, and heard his bones pop, he slowly stood up and threw on a fresh pair of clothes, just as he heard a knock on the door, "yeah, come in" he said, the door flew open and in walked Twilight and Spike, "is everything ready?" he asked, Twilight smiled and nodded, "yes it is, Fluttershy's waiting at her cottage, but I should warn you, there are many creatures in that forest that are very dangerous, things you probably don't have in your world" she said as she walked back down the hall.
Nathan watched her for a minute, he looked down and reached into his bag for equipment, taking out small cutters, and some bags, he looked back at the door to make sure nobody saw him, he slowly pulled out his 9mm handgun, checking a second time, that he wasn't being watched, he pulled out the clip, and made sure it was fully loaded, he was relieved to see that it was, he put the clip back in and slid the gun, under his belt, and pulled his shirt over it, and stood up, making sure he had all the essentials, he walked out, closing the door behind him.
(PonyVille, Fluttershy's house)
As they walked up to her house, they saw Fluttershy talking to Discord, as she walked out of her house, "now remember, keep an eye on the place, I won't be gone long, and stop messing with angel" she said, Discord nodded, "of course Fluttershy, I wouldn't dream of messing with that rat of yours" he said as he slammed the door shut, Fluttershy smiled at them as they walked up to her, "hey Fluttershy, you ready?" Nathan asked, she looked up at him with a smile, "yes I am, got everything I need" she said with a weak smile, Twilight looked up at him, "how long do you think you'll be gone?" she asked, a worried look on her face, Nathan thought for a minute, and shrugged his shoulders, "um, I'm not sure, won't be too long, just going in to collect a few samples, with Fluttershy with me, I'm sure I won't get lost" he said smiling at her, as she simply smiled back, a light blush to her cheeks.
Nathan and Fluttershy both turned and started making their way down the small dirt path into the forest, "you ready?" Nathan asked, Fluttershy merely nodded, Twilight merely watched as they slowly disappeared into the shadows of the forest, when they were completely gone, she sighed and slowly made her way back to the library.
(Everfree forest)
As Nathan and Fluttershy walked along the path through the forest, Nathan was looking in all directions, taking in everything he saw, "wow, you and your friends really found me here?" he asked looking at her, she nodded her head, also watching for any signs of danger, "yeah we did, when we found you, you looked seriously hurt, you were bleeding from a gash at your side, from there we took you to the hospital, and you know the rest" she said as they kept walking, Nathan had the strange feeling that they were being watched, and that something bad was going to happen, he felt a shiver run up his spine, making him shudder, "geez, I think I know why you don't like this place, it's creepy as hell, this isn't the kind of forest I would want to go camping in" he said as they suddenly came into a clearing in the forest, the sun brightly shined down through the opening.
"this is a good spot, I'd rather not go any farther, if you don't mind" Fluttershy said, as Nathan walked forward, chuckling a bit, "can't say I blame you" he said as he looked down and saw a small plant, with other plants surrounding it, all over the clearing.
He smiled as he got on his knees, and pulled out his clippers and a small plastic bag, while Fluttershy kept an eye out, he leaned in further, and examined the flower, he observed it as he brought out his recorder, and pressed the record button, "this is the audio log of professor Nathan Richards, four days have passed since my arrival to this mysterious world, I have been given a chance to examine the plant life of this land, as from my observations, the plant life doesn't seem very different from ours, back on Earth, I will collect some samples, and take them back to my living quarters here, and examine them further" he said as he released the button and put it back in his pocket, he carefully knelt down, and opened up the bag.
During that time, Fluttershy watched the surrounding forest, for any sings of danger, so far there was nothing, she heard Nathan speaking to something, she turned around and saw him holding a small mechanical box up to his mouth, "um, Nathan what is that?" she asked, turning to him, he looked back at her, pulling out his recorder again, "it's just a recorder, I use it to record my voice, to keep for later, to preserve my observations" he said as he went back to his plant, after he did, Fluttershy heard a twig snap behind her, she quickly turned around, and saw nothing.
She looked into the forest, and for a second, she thought she saw moving shadows, some of them with glowing yellow orbs, Fluttershy thought for a moment, and realized what it was, and it made her blood run cold, "um, Nathan, I think we should be going now" she said as she started backing up.
Nathan heard her and replied, "What? But we just got here, I need to collect some samples" he said as he clipped of a few leaves of the flower, and placed them in his bag, "but it can't be, this isn't timber wolf territory" she said as she started to hear growling coming from the shadows of the tree line, Nathan was about to ask what she meant, when a particularly loud roar came from the shadows, this time Nathan heard it.
He quickly stood up, putting the bag and clippers in his pocket, "what is that sound?" he asked, looking into the tree line, he watched as he saw multiple glowing orbs emerge from the tree line, followed by more growling, "it's timber wolves" Fluttershy said, complete fear in her voice, Nathan looked down at her, and reached under his shirt and pulled out his handgun, and brought it forward, as three large shadows emerged from the tree line, revealing to be large wolf-like looking creatures, except that they were made of wood, Nathan looked down at Fluttershy, who was shaking in her hooves, "um, Fluttershy, what should we do?" he asked as the growling got louder, and the timber wolves stepped closer, he looked down and saw that Fluttershy wasn't there, he looked at the dirt path, and saw that she was running down it, "running, okay, that works" he said as he took off in a sprint, running down the path, the timber wolves ran after him, barking and howling, as some came up to Nathan at the sides, snapping their jaws, at his ankles, he saw a tree root sprouting out of the ground, causing him to trip and fall on his stomach, he groaned as he pushed himself up, he heard the sound of growling coming from behind him, as he rolled himself on to his back, he looked up and saw three timber wolves surrounding him, he looked and saw his gun, just a few inches away, just as the middle wolf began to get into a pouncing position, Nathan quickly reached and grabbed his handgun, and brought it forward, and fired off three bullets as the wolf jumped at him, he watched as the bullets hit their target, and the wolf seemed to break apart into pieces of wood, and scatter everywhere, as he covered his eyes, he heard more growling as another wolf pounced on him, he brought his arms up in defense, placing his arm at the wolf's neck, keeping its face a mere few inches from his, as he struggled against the wolf, he thought he saw something flash in its eyes, to him, it looked like a face of some pony like creature, but he couldn't tell, because he lost his grip, and the wolf pushed past his arm, and sank its teeth into his shoulder, and bit down hard, Nathan screamed in agony, as he felt blood gush from the wound, he looked and saw that the other wolf was getting ready to pounce for his neck.
Nathan looked to the side, and saw his gun there, using his free arm, he tried to get it, but just as he reached for it, he heard a whistle and a growl, he looked up and saw a rock fly and hit the wolf in the head, letting go of his shoulder, and looking up, Nathan followed it's gaze, and saw a familiar orange pony with a cowboy hat on, shoot another rock at the wolf on him, "hey, you big overgrown mutt, over here!" she shouted as she threw one up in the air, and used her back legs to kick it at the wolf, hitting it straight in the head, it growled as it got off of Nathan and began walking towards her, Applejack turned to him, "run!" she shouted as she threw the last two rocks in the air, and bucked them both at the two wolves, Nathan scooted back, clutching his shoulder, he grabbed his handgun and ran the other way, still holding his shoulder, his run wasn't that fast, he saw a light through the tree's up ahead, he realized it was the forest's edge, he tried his best to run faster, he once again tripped on a tree root, and tumbled through the bush and landed outside, landing on his wounded shoulder, he cried out in pain, as he rolled on to his back.
He stayed like that for a little bit, just looking up into the bright blue sky, when none other than Fluttershy and Applejack appeared above him, "oh my gosh, Nathan are you alright?" she asked, he tried sitting up, but cringed as he flexed his shoulder, he looked at the hand clutching the shoulder, it was soaked in blood, his shirt had holes torn through it, and blood soaked.
He breathed heavily, "I'm not sure, ah shit that hurts, one of those damn things nearly chewed my arm off" he said as he stood up, still clutching his shoulder, "we'll take you to Twilight's, she'll probably know what to do with a wound like that, come on" Applejack said as they made their way back to town.
(PonyVille, public library)
Twilight was happily walking around the library humming to herself, as she moved certain books, from shelf to shelf, while waiting for Nathan and Fluttershy to return, but despite trying to ignore it, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, a feeling something terrible had happened, she got her answer when the front door flew open, and in walked Fluttershy and Applejack, followed by a wounded Nathan, he was clutching his shoulder, which was stained red with blood, her eyes widened as she ran over to him, "oh my gosh! Nathan what happened to you!?" she asked frantic, Nathan slowly leaned against the wall, and held his shoulder, "we ran into a pack of timber wolves in the forest, one of them tackled Nathan and nearly bit his arm off" Applejack said with a worried tone, Nathan slowly slid to the floor, Twilight walked up to him, "let me see" she said, Nathan reluctantly removed his hand, and Twilight placed of hoof on the wound, causing Nathan to cringe heavily, "oww that hurts easy, if it weren't for Applejack, I would probably be dead, they said you might know something that could fix this" he said cringing as he removed his shirt, and throwing it to the side.
Twilight turned to her friends and smiled, "thanks girls, I think I can take care of this from here" she said, Applejack and Fluttershy looked at each other and shrugged before leaving the library, Twilight turned to Nathan, who was breathing heavily, she observed the wound, "we need to clean the wound before it gets infected, I'll get some stuff" she said as she began to move away, but Nathan stopped her, "no, I have some stuff in my bags, just get me a rag" he said as he got up and went down to his room.
Minutes later Nathan sat down on his sleeping bag, he reached into his bag, and found a small med kit, opening it up, he pulled out a bottler of rubbing alcohol and unscrewed the cap, Twilight watched as he poured some of it on the rag, he took a deep breath, and placed the rag on the bite wound, immediately regretting doing so, he closed his eyes hard, tears of pain spilling down his cheeks, as he clenched his teeth hard enough for them to break, he tried his best not to cry out, as the alcohol cleaned the wound of any dirt and bacteria, Twilight watched him and cringed as she could imagine what kind of pain he was feeling.
After a few minutes, Nathan took the rag away, and looked at the shoulder, it was no longer gushing blood, but it still had dried blood, he took another rag out and a bottle of water, that was in his rag, dampening the rag, he slowly began to wipe away the dry blood, Twilight watched as he got out another roll of bandages, but before he could do anything, she stopped him.
"wait, if you want, I could try a new healing spell I learned a few days ago, I'm not entirely sure it will work, but if it does, it will heal both wounds" she said referring to the wound on his side as well, he looked at her and then at his wounds, concern written on his face, "I'm not sure" he said hesitantly, Twilight laughed and stepped closer, "don't you trust me?" she asked, Nathan still hesitated, but slowly turned to face her, removing his hand, she stepped closer, "you may want to close your eyes, it may hurt a bit" she said, Nathan looked into her eyes, but he took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
Twilight also took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, as her horn started to light up, she moved her horn, and touched it to Nathan's shoulder wound, causing him to cringe slightly, after a few seconds, she moved her horn to his side, and did the same, once again making him cringe slightly, slowly Twilight backed away, and her horn returned to normal, she opened her eyes, as did Nathan.
Nathan looked at his shoulder, and his eyes widened, the wound had vanished, all that remained was a large light red spot, he slowly began to move his shoulder, there was still a slight amount of pain, but he raised his arm fully up and back down, looking down at his side, he removed the bandage, and was again surprised, the wounds was also gone, a happy smile appeared on his face, and he turned and looked at Twilight, who was also smiling, "wow, your amazing! It feels better already, why didn't you do that before?" he asked, Twilight merely chuckled and shrugged her shoulders, "you didn't ask for my help, but it may still be sore for a day or two" she said with a smile, Nathan reached into his supplies bag, and pulled out a mirror, unaware of the small black box that fell out as well, he happily looked at his side and shoulder in the mirror, he slowly moved to put away the mirror, when the small black box caught his eye, he slowly picked it up and examined it, Twilight looked at it too.
"What is it?" she asked, Nathan didn't seem to know either, "I'm not sure…" he said as he slowly opened it and looked inside, he turned it over and out fell another small box, he picked that up, and turned it over, there lay a small switch and above it a light, that seemed dead, he looked up at Twilight, "it's a distress beacon" he said standing up, and walking around the room, "well, what does it do?" Twilight asked, a curious yet concerned look on her face, Nathan looked at her as he paced around the room, "a distress beacon, sends out a signal, when this switch is flipped, signaling that you're in trouble, the general must have placed this is my bag, before I got into the machine" he said surprised, as he finally stopped.
"that means that they must think I'm dead or in trouble, that's not good" he said, as he slowly got ready to flip it, but Twilight stopped him, "wait, don't flip it, if you do, then they'll think you're in trouble" she said in a concerned tone, Nathan sighed and turned to her, "that's true, yes, but if I don't flip it, I'll never get a chance to go home again, or see my family, my fiancée" he said as he looked at her, Twilight stared back at him, she knew he was right, she sighed deeply and nodded.
Nathan looked down as the switch, and he slowly flipped it upwards, just as he did, the light began to flash red, and start blinking slowly, after he did, Nathan turned to Twilight, "what do we do now?" she asked concerned, he looked at her in a concerned look as well, "now…all we can do is wait" he said in a calm yet serious tone.
(United States, Nevada desert, secret military instillation)
As the progress of the machine was underway, Drake and the General, kept two scientists on watch, for when and if Nathan would activate his beacon, so far nothing had come up, and it felt like nothing would happen.
As the two scientists sat up in the main console room, talking to each other, they both completely ignored their job, when suddenly one of the lights on the console started to flash red, the scientists looked over, as their smiles faded and their eyes widened, "is that what I think it is?" one of them asked, as they leaned in closer, "go get the General and Professor Edwards, tell them what's happened, go now!" he said, and the second one ran out of the room, as he started pressing buttons, and bringing it up on screen, a few minutes later, Drake and the General ran in, just as the first scientist brought it up on screen, a picture of Nathan appeared, followed by his vital signs, which seemed to be in a very steady motion, indicating he was alive, Drake gave a sigh of relief, the General turned to him, "good, we know he's alive, but we still don't know where he is, or what kind of condition he's in, get this machine built and running, you have two weeks" he said as he left the room, but Drake stopped him.
"But General, you said we had unlimited time, we would need to work for hours on end" he said, the General turned to him, a serious look on his face, "yes I did, but each and every hour could make a difference, if we don't get there in time, he could already be dead, get your scientists working" he said as he left the room, Drake turned to the two scientists, "well, you heard him, get down there, and work on the machine" he said, and the two scientist ran out of the room.
Drake watched them go, and then turned to look at the screen, "hang in there, we'll be there so enough, just hold on" he said as he walked out of the room.
A/N: well, that's it for now, hope you all enjoyed, there will be more chapters to come, and more excitement, thanks again for all the support.