Nesting Site (Patreon)

The morning breezes tussled Coco Pommel's wide brim sun hat and her mane as she sauntered along the beach in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. The earth pony was walking on the beaches of the Western coastal city of Del Mare on an early spring day.

     Above Coco the air was alive with hundreds of Blue Bill Cliff Terns. These seabirds swooped and wheeled over the dunes filling the air with their sharp clicking calls. The birds raised their chicks in numerous nooks and crannies that dotted the sandstone cliffs that quickly rose above the beach.

     At this time of the year the waters nearby were teeming with numerous, dense schools of small baitfish. These vast schools supported a wide variety of seabirds and marine life. In fact Coco had observed the waters just offshore suddenly seem to boil as thousands of small, silvery baitfish leaped out water to avoid predators below, only to fall prey to the numerous terns, gulls, pelicans, and other seabirds wait above.

     Over the centuries the terns and other local seabirds had come time their nesting season with the arrival of these baitfish schools, and like these seabirds there was those who were enthusiastic about bird watching and planned trips to Del Mare to observe this event. So Coco's was hardly alone on the beach. Hundreds of ponies were there to watch the spectacle or just enjoy a day at the beach. The earth pony's outfit made her blend in amongst the beachgoers. Only the black-and-white graphics on her white cotton t-shirt was out of the ordinary, and most ponies paid it no attention to it. However she did notice a couple of ponies connect the dots and then nod their heads before wandering on.

     The beaches of Del Mare were public property, and parts of them were set aside as Royal Wildlife Sanctuaries. But along the top of the cliffs there were in some areas where collections of large, luxurious cliffside mansions resided. These homes had breathtaking views of the ocean below. One of these mansions was the real reason for Coco's expedition today. A large, sprawling mission-style single story affair. Most of it was set back some distance from the cliff face, but there was several guest cottages/auxiliary buildings that was perched at the edge of the cliff. This particular mansion was owned by one Foggy Night. A pony that the RESF had become very, very interested in.

     The terns didn't care about Foggy Night's private property rights, and there was dozens of nests located beneath it. After taking a drink from her water bottle the Coco began peering at the cliff face through a pair of compact binoculars. To anypony passing by they just looked like a pair high-quality consumer grade binocs, and once upon a time they had been. Then the boffins at RESF had gotten ahold of them and made several custom additions. The built-in digital camera wasn't unheard of in top-of-line consumer binoculars; neither was the built in laser rangefinder.

     The long range multi-phase ward detector and spectrum analyzer was not standard consumer equipment. Pressing a button on the right hand side of binocular body activated the analyzer. Coco nonchalantly raised her gaze a bit higher and looked at the top of the cliff face and the mansion. The analyzer began chirping softly as it started identifying, cataloging and recording several different sources. It was an extensive array of the wards, but nothing that the RESF hadn't dealt with in the past.

     On Coco's second sweep noticed something. Another pony standing by the guardrails looking down at her. They looked like they'd been sent down from central casting. In their dark suit, white dress shirt, no tie and sunglasses this unicorn mare staring at her had BODYGUARD written all over her. RESF was aware of at least 6 ponies employed by Foggy Night to be full-time security for the mansion.

     Continuing the guise of being a random bird watcher Coco Pommel lowered her binoculars and with a big smile on her face she waved enthusiastically at the mare on the cliff face, for her part the other mare gave a much less energetic return wave. Then she continued her patrol of the mansion grounds. Coco continued her bird watching for a few more minutes. Then headed back to the parking lot.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

     Coco found a nice cafe close to the hotel she was currently staying at. A light lunch of Nicoise Salad and Pilsner refreshed her from morning's expedition. Having obtained nourishment the earth pony returned to her hotel room just down the street. Upon entering her room the earth pony locked the door and tossed her light denim blue sun hat on the bed. From her purse she withdrew a portable battery that one would use to recharge one's cell phone or laptop while traveling, and it could recharge one's portable electronic devices.

     However if one pressed the power button in a very specific series of long and short presses the power status screen would begin a series flashes. After several seconds of this it would give a reading of either Nominal or Fault. What it had just done was scan the room for unauthorized wards or physical surveillance devices.

     Another trick from the boffins at RESF RD.

     Get a Nominal from the device Coco picked up her cellphone and put an earbud in one ear. Then she placed a call. Several seconds later she heard the voice of Rarity her Operations Officer on the other end.

     "Darling! How did your birdwatching go today? See anything particularly interesting?" They were speaking on a secure, encrypted phone and the Coco had swept her room, but neither mare was taking any chances. So the 2 mares were using a series of predetermined coded phrases for this conversation.

     Coco sat down on the bed and pulled out a brush. As she started brush her two-tone aqua colored mane as she spoke. "Oh yes! I can't wait to come back at sunset or the early evening and take some pictures of the birds as they're bedding down for the even, and the sandstone cliffs should look amazing!"

     "Oh dear that sounds simply stunning. I so look forward to seeing it myself in few days. Do you think you'll need use a really large telephoto camera lens to get the shots you want?"

     Miss Pommel shook her head. "I won't need my really big telephoto lens, but I will want some zoom capability and be able of taking pictures in quick succession. Also I will need to remember to bring the right filters for it. I'm planning to take one of those tourist helicopter flights down the coast at sunset so I can get some panoramic shots."

     "Well darling I can't wait see you in a couple of days. Now I need to go and make a trip to the market to pick up a couple of things. You have a great afternoon. Bye!" Then she hung up.

     Coco hung up herself and flopped onto the bed. Staring up at the ceiling she decoded the phone conversation in her head.

     She wouldn't need her 14.5x114mm or even her 12.7x99mm anti-material rifle to breach mansion's wards, but she would need something in .338 Magnum/ 8.56x70mm. However she would require semi-automatic fire for quick follow up shots. Since the operation against Foggy Night would be commencing at sundown she would need a multi-function IR/NVS/Thermal scope on the rifle. The helicopter was something they'd established at the early stages of planning for this operation.

     And now Rarity was putting in an requisition order with RESF armorers to make sure the kit would be arriving with Rarity in a couple of days.

     Coco rolled off the bed and retrieved her laptop. She then sat back down cross-legged on the mattress. From a front pocket of her cargo shorts she produced a small solid state data drive. She turned on her computer and entered a series of passwords followed by the thumbprint from her right hand. The earth pony then inserted the data drive into a port on the laptop and proceeded to open up series of files. Some were photos of the suspect. A middle-aged, earth pony mare of modest looks. There were also floor plans and numerous photos of mansion from numerous angles, including some that might've been satellite imagery. She then plugged her binoculars into the laptop and retrieved the data she'd collected herself early that day. The analyzer data matched up with the intel that RESF has assembled already. That was good. It meant that the target didn't appear to aware that they were in RESF's crosshairs and had not changed their routine.

     For next couple of hours Coco pored over the data again. Memorizing it. Then she shut down her laptop and went to take a shower. Apparently there was going to be a band playing live jazz at the local brew pub tonight, and she was looking forward to enjoying an evening of food, drink and music.

To be continued.