//------------------------------// // 7:Effective Target Range 2000 yards, Height or Distance? // Story: Friendship is Deception // by Your Antagonist //------------------------------//                                          Friendship Is Deception By: Your Antagonist (VegaKS03) Edited By: TheWattsMan Act II: ...Wait, There’s a Plot? Chapter Seven: Effective Range 2000 Yards, Height or Distance? I see you, but you can't see me. Where am I? Who am I? Why you? It doesn't matter to me. I am the ghilly in the mist; I kill what I'm told. I am the bane of the Battlefield. I lay in wait while my blood runs cold. If you cross my sights, I might surmise, that the distance coupled with your inexperience will be your demise. I am the Sniper, the Ghilly in the Mist; if you cross my path my trigger finger won't resist. I stand adamant with my claim: need I wait one day or three, I swear to you, through my sights I shall watch your blood run free. Ditzy Doo left the Mayor's office, on a bit of a bad note with the older mare; she had destroyed Mayor Mare's window upon reporting for duty after seeing the organization's flag. Fortunately, today the Mayor was being unusually patient with Ditzy as she hadn't started bellowing out insults upon the Pegasus' arrival. After Ditzy was given her mission she looked at the accompanying photo with her target and it revealed that nice white unicorn who made her dress for the Grand-Galloping Gala. ‘Awww.... I really liked that one...’ As much as she didn't want to eliminate the white unicorn, orders were orders; and after having her request for a muffin denied, she proceeded to leave the office, only to become entangled in the curtain that hung loosely from the window. Once outside, Ditzy made her way to her room in the Ponyville post office; she was the proprietor of the building, and handled the entire mail load for all of Central Ponyville by herself. Most ponies had the preconception that, because of her clumsy nature, she was by default very stupid, and must've had help organizing all of the mail for delivery and taking care of the finances. These, however, were merely preconceptions, and they were horribly inaccurate at that. Ditzy placed her mailbag on a dresser in the small room, electing to take care of mail delivery tomorrow, proceeded over to her bed, reached underneath to withdraw a large black Pegasafe* attache case, and proceeded to exit the building and lock up after herself. The streets were relatively empty at the moment, so the gray pegasus took to the skies and searched for a particularly large and thick cloud. After spotting one she promptly dove right into the center of it. Ditzy proceeded to go to work inside the cloud: she hollowed it out, forcing the extra fluff she had no use for to the outside of the cloud, further increasing the amount of concealment, ensuring she had a decent, if a bit tight, workspace. She set the attache case on the 'floor' of the cloud and proceeded to open it, revealing several black metallic and plastic components all bearing the Pegasafe logo, which she proceeded to remove and place on the flooring of the cloud cover she had fashioned. She also removed a blueberry muffin from the case and placed it next to the black components, but it sailed helplessly through the cloud and met its final resting place on the head of a cart owning earth pony who would forever be convinced that the Pegasus race could rig up a pastry rain given the right motivation. Ditzy stared sadly at the spot where her muffin once stood, sighed and proceeded to assemble the black pieces on the ground. Eventually she held up the completed product, and rubbed the barrel of it as though it were a child. Firearms weren't new to equestria, but it was definitely an extremely rare case for anypony but a royal guardsmen and select firms to even own one. However, the equestrian underworld had a plethora of resources to tap into for such ludicrous items. Ditzy ran a functions check on the freshly assembled weapon to insure there were no errors, and after it passed her scrutinization, she locked a magazine into the weapon, set it on safe, and proceeded to punch a hole in the cloud to scan for her target. In her boredom she began to muse about the weapon Why do they call it a magazine? There's nothing to read on it, and there's no pictures... I wonder if it has a year long subscription... whoa... a magazine subscription! I wonder if I'd get a gift... Her rather erratic train of thought derailed itself upon noticing two cloaked figures enter an alleyway nearby, and shortly after she observed the two vanish from sight she noticed a third figure creep in behind the two. Another misconception most ponies have about Ditzy is her eyesight, as one eye is horribly off center and the other one seems to stare in a semi accurate direction about forty two percent of the time. The vision in the eye that always seemed to be gazing upwards was normal 20/20 some might say, however the other eye that stayed centered was perhaps the reason for her abnormal clumsiness: the vision she possessed was three times as powerful as a normal eye. The uniqueness with her vision didn't stop there however; she could move the off center eye independently of the other. This being said, she recognized the third pony to enter the alleyway as her target, and set up shop. She covered the hole she was peeking through, and popped a new, albeit smaller, hole in the general direction of the alley. She pushed the rifle barrel through and began to wait for her target, she had been at this sniper business for a while; she knew that patience often yielded the greatest rewards. About 15 minutes of watching that alley entrance passed, and finally she saw the two figures exit again, her target was nowhere to be seen, so moved her cloud cover just enough so she could peer into he alleyway, and investigated via the rifle scope. Not a soul inhabited the alleyway, Ditzy came to the conclusion that she had been played, and her target might have been on to her. She now turned her attention to the two cloaked figures, and decided to trail them until some sign of her target came up again. She trailed the pair for what seemed to be an hour, watching them as they met with that purple dragon from the library, and observed them as they went to that boutique shaped like a merry-go-round. ‘Merry go round? Looks like fun! Can the store be ridden?’ The pair stayed in the store for ages, and nothing of interest occurred until several other cloaked figures went inside the boutique and left with a smaller figure in tow. The two from earlier left the library again and proceeded to make their way out of the boutique through town and along the road to Sweet Apple Acres. They eventually stopped amongst a group of mares who seemed to be having some kind of quarrel, and engaged them in conversation. Shortly after speaking with the mares, the two removed their hoods. Ditzy immediately recognized one of them as the white unicorn from the picture, and positioned her rifle back into her hooves and into her shoulder, focusing the sight on the ivory unicorn. She lined up a shot; it was going to be bucking beautiful. Ditzy moved a hoof to the the trigger, focused her breathing, and waited for the natural pause on the exhale; the shot was perfect, all that was left was to--- click, BANG: the round left the barrel. She watched patiently, but noticed a blue unicorn had wandered haplessly in front of the white unicorn, and took the full brunt of the rounds momentum; he ceased to exist at that point. ‘Oh... now the mayor is gonna be mad at me and say mean things...’ A moment of failure was all it took to upset the Pegasus, and she began frantically pulling the trigger without proper aim, hoping to perhaps hit one of the 6 on the ground. This only resulted in causing the group to run for the trees.  ‘Awww... Now I have to wait... I wish I had my muffin... hehe, magazine subscription...’ "We've been marked by a Sniper," Twilight announced to her friends. "A what now?" Applejack inquired "A killer who specializes in long-distance assassinations. I've only dealt with one before, but I had help that time..." Twilight explained "Dealt with one a them before? Just who are you anyways Twi'?" Applejack pressed her friend for info casting an accusatory look. Twilight opened her mouth to explain but Rainbow Dash stepped up at that moment: "Applejack, I think we have more pressing matters than singing kumbaya and telling campfire stories, don't you agree?" "Girls! My tail is Twitching again! Get down!" cried Pinkie who was shaking behind a tree with Fluttershy and Rarity. Another shot ripped through the tree line and planted itself in a tree five feet away from Twilight's head; needless to say she took immediate action and rolled behind a tree where she was joined by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "We need a plan!" Rainbow shouted as another round kicked up dust by her leg. "Oh, really? I didn't notice!" Twilight quipped sarcastically "Rainbow, give Twi' some quiet now, she needs ta focus," Applejack instructed. Rainbow complied with a hufff followed by crossing her forelegs as she slumped along the tree. Another round slammed against the tree that was providing cover for Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, causing the apples that hung from it to fall to the ground. Rarity cringed and began to hyperventilate. She had never been in a combat scenario before, and she felt absolutely helpless at the moment. She was ready to just run out in the open and accept the inevitable, until she felt a soft hoof on her shoulder. She followed the source of the hoof to Fluttershy who shot the nervous unicorn a reassuring grin before saying: "It's okay Rarity, just have faith in Twilight; she'll get us through this." Rarity gave a nervous nod and returned a weak grin to the optimistic Pegasus, then turned her gaze to Twilight who seemed to be deep in thought. Twilight assessed her surroundings hoping to deduce the sniper's position before formulating an attack plan. After checking the tree she was hunkered down on for moss and comparing the moss growth of the other trees relative to the direction of the shots, she had come to the conclusion that the sniper was North from their position.  Direction was a good start--- Another round took a few chunks out of the trunk--- But sadly direction alone would only get her killed facing the right direction. Twilight looked up at the darkening clear blue sky and cast an envious look upon it, and noticed there were no clouds over Sweet Apple Acres, as Applejack had most likely requisitioned a day for nothing but sun to sustain her apple trees, the sun was setting, causing the atmosphere to become eerily beautiful for this situation. Returning her attention to the task at hand, she pulled out a mirror, and levitated it around the corner and proceeded to scan for anything that might give her a tactical edge here. Trees, trees, trees, oh and surprise, more trees, wait what's... She noticed something about the scene didn't exactly fit. Rotating the mirror upwards, there was something odd about the sky: while the rest of the sky was clear, there was a solitary cloud. In any other situation she might have assumed that it had merely floated over from Ponyville proper, but with her predicament being what it was she couldn't be too careful--- "Twitch-a-twitch twitch-a-twitch!!" Pinkie shouted from the other tree, and seconds later Twilight's mirror exploded. Between Pinkie's twitching and the random cloud, Twilight arrived at the conclusion that the sniper must be in the cloud.  Knowing the exact position would only get her killed looking right at the sniper, she needed a plan. She turned to her friends, who returned hopeful glances, and realized they were the key to surviving this nightmare scenario. "I've evaluated the situation, and I believe I've located the sniper's position--" "Alright, that's our egghead!!" Shouted Rainbow Dash excitedly; Applejack shot her a "Shut the buck up" glare promptly after the outburst. "--and I have a plan to capture our assailant, but I'm going to need everypony's help to do it." "Ah don't think you'll be hard pressed to get our compliance sugarcube." As though to punctuate Applejack's sentence, a wild shot kicked up dirt between the two trees. "All right, AJ how well do you know your way through this orchard?" Twilight asked Applejack merely grinned and shot a sarcastic "really?" glance at Twilight. Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash now and levitated her dagger from the sheath and moved it towards the pegasus, handle first. Rainbow grasped the handle with her mouth. "You're the fastest, so when you hear the signal I need you to fly as fast as you can to the only cloud in the sky right now." Now her attention was directed at Pinkie Pie: "Pinkie, I need you to use your Pinkie sense to let us know when a round is going to land, think you can do that?" "You dare to question the legion of- I mean Okie Dokie Twilight!" ‘Weird,’ Twilight thought, turning towards Fluttershy who was comforting a shivering Rarity. As far as Twilight knew, Fluttershy was only here by proxy of Applejack, and Rarity would be somewhat useless throughout this... or not. As she contemplated a small grin spread across her features; she was going to enjoy seeing this plan come together. Ditzy Doo waited patiently for the next glimpse of her targets, it was a little hard to see them among the trees, but their various color coats gave them away each time they stuck something out a little too far. Scanning her terrain for any sign of her prey she noticed some rustling from the trees, and all six of her marks came storming out of the bush as though they were charging her. Ditzy looked up from the rifle, blinked twice and rubbed her eyes, and even rotated her off center eye forward just to ensure she wasn't seeing things, but plain as day she saw the six charging at her: A purple one, a pink one, an orange one, a blue one, a yellow one, and the white one. ‘Hey they look like bittles....mmm...bittles,’ Ditzy found herself being distracted by the similarity between her favorite fruit flavored candy and her targets, which were obstinately charging down the road exposed, clearly not giving a buck about the fact they were going to be fired upon. ‘Oh well,’ Ditzy thought returning to her rifle sight, she wasn't about to complain about an easier workload.  She lined up the shot a few paces ahead of her targets, opting for an ambush approach*. 3...2...1... click Bang click Bang click Bang. Ditzy watched in anticipation for the rounds to impact, it took a couple of seconds, but she was rewarded with a cloud of smoke and the absence of her targets. ‘Easy job, now I can replace my muffi-- What the hay?’ Sure enough, through the smoke all six of her targets continued to charge. As she prepared to line up another volley of shots, she noticed the apple trees had started to shake in the orchard to her left, and she rotated her off-center eye to investigate while she pumped out another salvo of rounds. She saw the orange pony kicking trees, resulting in the release of several apples falling to the ground. As opposed to wondering why she was bucking apples at a time like this, all Ditzy could think was ‘Poor apples...I will avenge you!’ Deeming the charging ponies a decoy, cast by a unicorn in their group most likely, Ditzy changed targets to deal with what she had estimated to be the actual assault. Her thoughts were confirmed as she saw the purple, white, and yellow ponies following  close behind, and she lined up up a shot and squeezed the trigger. She missed only because they changed direction and ran deeper into the trees, and she continued to trail them. Looking up from her rifle for a moment to allow some fresh air into her eye, she noticed that the decoys hadn't stopped and were remarkably close... actually they were getting faster, a lot faster, specifically the blue one and the pink one. She recalled the group in the trees and noted, she hadn't seen those two in that particular group... ‘For Luna's sake,’ Realizing what just happened, she turned the rifle towards them and attempted to get a clear shot, but the blue one suddenly vanished in a rainbow trail, the pink one managed to keep up at a similarly quickening pace, and Ditzy couldn't realign fast enough. Suddenly the Rainbow one was gone, clear out of Ditzy's line of sight. ‘Oh buck this isn't good.’ She had been feinted. She didn't have enough time to berate herself for letting this happen however, as at that moment, a blue blur erupted from the bottom of the cloud. All Ditzy could register was a cold sharp sensation that flowed through her neck before she felt immense pain. She realized she had been cut by the blue pony who stood in front of her. "That was---" Ditzy coughed up blood, "That was awesome" "Yeah, I know. Sleep now, you did good... I guess" The blue pegasus' response held no hint of modesty. "My last regret... was not having... a...muffin...for breakfast..." The world went dark for Ditzy, and she closed her eyes welcoming whatever came after this. At least wherever she was going she wouldn't have the Mayor belittling her, and she embraced the sweet bliss of nothingness. The ironic thing about Pegasi is that though they can support themselves on clouds, their blood just drips through, but this isn't a widely known fact as it is incredibly difficult to cut oneself on a cloud. However today, the strangest bit of weather in Equestria came not from a mysterious case of raining pastries as one earth pony continued to rant, but instead from a lone cloud in a clear sky hovering over sweet apple acres raining blood. Rainbow Dash descended from the cloud and met back up with her friends who were cheering and celebrating life and their victory. As much as she wanted to join them in celebration and hated destroying a party mood, she decided upon a business before pleasure policy which was completely against her nature, but was necessary. After trotting up and being tackled by Pinkie Pie who locked her in a ursa like embrace, she faced the others and stated solemnly: "We need to talk." Chapter 7 end. *Pegasafe-A company that specializes in making objects that can support themselves on clouds without falling *Ambush approach- When a sniper lines up a shot for a moving target by placing the sights ahead of the target as opposed to on the target, so the target essentially 'walks' into the shot.