//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Meet the Van // Story: Bloody Show Ponies! // by GentlemannlySniper //------------------------------// Sniper sighed, as he took a bullet out from his chest pouch and fiddled around with it idly. The bullet glinted off the moonlight, accomplishing a cleaner look that not even his eyesight could ever hope to succeed at acquiring. This glinting piece of copper quickly caught the attention of the ponies that walked on both of his sides. "Hey, what's that?" Twilight inquired, turning a newfound thought of the bullet in Snipers hand. "Oi, this lil' beaut' 'ere?" Sniper asked, as he casually held the bullet in between his index finger and middle finger, much like he would if he held a cigarette. "Still 'aven't 'ad a chance t' use this ol' piece o' devastation yet... New lil' gizmo that me n' th' Engineer made a while ago... Supposed to be used fer some kind o' 'special occasion' or somethin'... Neva' gave it much thought really...." He said, as he began rubbing his chin in contemplation. "Um...M-Mr. Sniper, sir, ummm...Can I please a-ask where we're going? I-If you don't mind me asking, that is..." This gave Twilight a chance to chime in. "Yeah, we are straying a bit far off from the base, do you have your own special building you live in?" The Sniper placed his special bullet in his chest pouch, and only let out a small chuckle, before responding. "Yeah, somethin' like that!" He said, adjusting his glasses coolly as he did so. Twilight raised her eye in interest and confusion, as they continued their walk towards the ominous van that was parked on the side of the road that they were walking on. The Sniper opened the door into the dark van, making a creak as he did so, which only purposed itself to make the van even more sketchy than it should... Fluttershy and Twilight looked to eachother in slight fright, but saw nothing of it as they hesitantly made their way inside, clambering over the two seats in the front in the darkness. The Sniper sought out to fix this problem, as he hopped in and looked for something around the van. After reaching under the steering wheel for a short while, he found what he was looking for and clicked it, making the Van light up, illuminating every dark area of the van with its in-built lighting system. Fluttershy and Twilight were dazed for a short time, but sighed in relief, knowing that they can now see where they were... Speaking of which, considering the space outside the van, it's pretty small in here...How are they even supposed to sleep here? This thought was quickly dismissed as the Sniper opened up a small door inbetween the driver seat and the passenger seat, which led into a much bigger room. After showing the two ponies inside, he sat on the bed and watched the ponies closely, making them feel more than just a tad bit nervous. After collecting his thoughts, he took a deep breath, and got up from the makeshift bed, which was just three small mattresses piled up on the corner, with a blanket and a pillow. "Alrighty then, Twilight, was it? You can sleep on m' bed fer tonight...As fer you miss butterfly, you can 'ave th' couch. Neither of 'em are primarily comfy, but I ain't really got much better..." He said, with a simple shrug. "Make yerselves at 'ome, I guess..." He said with another shrug, as he made his way to the front of the van, closing the door behind him and leaving our two heroines to their thoughts. Twilight began taking in her surroundings, climbing up onto the bed and giving everything a small mental note. She inspected the walls, first, which had one large window on the left and right side of the van, both of them being covered by shutters, so that the light from the outside would not get inside, and vice versa. Next, she inspected what was inside the room altogether. What she saw was the aforementioned makeshift bed and couch, along with a white box of some sort at the end of the couch, which had a wire hooked into it that snaked its way deeper into the back of the van. That was quite an interesting pattern Twilight was seeing there. Most things that would normally be powered by some kind of magic is connected by some kind of rubbery string to a wall or something. This was quite weird... After Twilight inspected all that she could she sighed, and assumed the position of sleep on the unnaturally firm, yet soft bed that she was assigned to for sleep. It was surprisingly easy to find a comfortable position to sleep on the bed, actually, despite its firmness... Fluttershy on the other hand, was poking at the white box with her hoof in confusion and curiosity. Soon after doing this, the door for the container slowly opened itself up, a white light peering out from the confines of the white box from its new opening. Fluttershy opened the container all the way and looked at all the different varieties of drinks that was stored inside, before closing it, hoping that the Sniper wouldn't get angry that she was looking through his stuff. She soon hopped onto the couch, and made herself comfortable, falling asleep a tad bit quickly. Twilight was going to ask a question, but when she saw her companion out cold, she sealed her lips, and just let out a soundless sigh. She began to close her eyes and try to sleep... only to find it a bit harder than it should be. She kept fidgeting in her sleep, moving to get a new comfortable position, or just opening her eyes and just ruining any kind of sleep at that moment. She let out a bored sigh. This was going to be a long night... Of course, these lights weren't helping either. That thought was quickly quelled when the lights suddenly went out with a simple click of a switch. This slightly startled Twilight, but she probably thought it was just Sniper turning the lights off... Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Twilight just began to tense up on instinct. After reminding herself of her somewhat protected state, she quickly calmed down. Her ears twitched at the footsteps of whom she could only assume was the Snipers, and the she could feel the force of another body on the bed laying down with her. "Um, excuse me...what are you doing?" She asked shakily, moving herself to the edge of the bed to make room for the much bigger animal in the bed. "Sleepin' in me bed...why?" He asked, as he adjusted himself in the bed to get comfortable. "Well, why are you sleeping with me? In the bed, I mean..." She asked, fidgeting about nervously. "Well, nowhere else to really sleep, and yer small enough t' make enough room fer' th' two of us...." The Sniper explained. Twilight nodded to herself in acceptance to that logic. She didn't really see a place anywhere else to sleep, so it would make sense that somepony would be sharing beds with somepony else...or in this case someone else... She let out a bored sigh, as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark, as she blankly stared at the ceiling of the van. There was no sleep for this pony tonight... The Sniper let out a soft growl, incase Twilight was asleep. He adjusted his glasses, as he stared blankly at the ceiling. The expert headhunter sat up, slowly, and went to the front to see if he could do something... Twilight looked over to Fluttershy, who was sleeping peacefully throughout the night in complete bliss, and sighed in envy as she moved up to the front with sniper, taking the passenger seat as her own. "So then..." Twilight started out, trying to think of a topic to talk about. "Yeah...?" Sniper said. Trying to get Twilight to go on. Twilight let out a soft sigh, before finally coming up with a question to ask. "Can we...go...somewhere?" She asked. Sniper blinked, then looked over to Twilight with a confused look. "Go somewhere? Where would we go?" Twilight looked out the window, and adjusted herself in her seat. "Well, neither of us can't sleep, so why not go for a walk?" She suggested. Sniper put a hand to his chin in thought, before chuckling. "Nah...We can't walk, but we can certainly drive there!" He said, as he strapped in Twilight in a quick motion, causing her to jump. "W-Wait, what are you doing?" She asked, getting comfortable with the new belt fastened across her hip. "Takin a little trip. That's what ya want, right?" He asked, as he fastened himself into his seat. He searched a compartment on the ceiling of the car, before grabbing a set of keys and putting them into the appropriate slot. He twisted the key, making the car softly roar to life. Twilight squeaked and jumped in fear, contracting her legs onto the seat as she did. The Sniper let out a small laugh and patted Twilight on the head comfortingly, as he began to slowly drive his car forward. "W-Where are we going?" Twilight couldn't help but ask, as she slowly calmed down and slid into a normal seating position. Sniper shrugged, "Dunno, we're jus' going." He said plainly. Sniper let out a small chuckle, as he drove past the two forts, with a familiar looking car a small distance behind the BLU base... A few seconds after the car passed by, it roared to life, and began tailing its twin, making sure to keep a far distance from it... The hunt was on...