//------------------------------// // Safe House // Story: The New Talent // by Vinyl Mfing Scratch //------------------------------// Safe House The quartet came to rest at a run down bulding on the outskirts of the opposite side of the Everfree Forest. They'd spent a fair amount of the time on their way there with the two veteran ponies conversing in front and the other two holding small talk and keeping close to eachother. When they finally arrived after a few hours of walking, a couple timberwolf encounters, and dodging a group of the ponies pursuing them, they were all relieved to finally sit and rest. "Whew, that's a good work out." Ray said as he sat down on a set of steps outside of the building. He turned his head around and curiously inspected the building. "This place is totally sacked. That could either be a good place to hide, or a bad one." "A bad one, how?" Vinyl inquired to him. "Well, if they know we're in this direction and see an old beat up house like this, their first thought would be that these are what ponies typically use for hide-outs." He explained. Vinyl looked to contemplate this for a moment when Sound Wave interjected. "Actually, when we were losing that group back there in the forest, me and Carbon led them away." He informed the couple. "Besides, they're not a very smart group of ponies anyway." He added, earning a light chuckle from Carbon. "You've got that right." Carbon said, "They've got to be the worst trackers on the face of Equestria." During the conversation Vinyl had sat down next to Ray on the steps, letting out a sigh as she came to rest against him. "So, is there somewhere we can set up that's not so.. open?" She asked, giving Sound a quizzical look. "Oh come on Vinyl. Do you really think I'd bring a lady without a place for her and her special somepony to have some privacy?" He asked with a sarcastic smile. Vinyl blushed furiously while Ray placed a hoof over his mouth, desperately trying to withold his laughter. "I have no idea what you're talking about..." She said as she tried her best to burry her face in her coltfriend's mane. Ray nuzzled her, having regained control of himself. "It's okay Vinyl." He said. Ray turned his head towards Sound. "And, for the record, nothing of that nature has happened yet." "Yet." Ray opened his mouth to retaliate but closed it for fear of making the situation more embarassing than necessary. He sighed. Not one of displeasure, but of content. He was resting out in the (semi) wilderness, his marefriend leaning against him. It was a nice moment, minus the teasing from the other stallion. Surprisingly, Carbon didn't comment on anything to do with the couple. Vinyl made a mental note to ask him about it later. "So, we going inside sometime today, or are we gonna set up a signal fire for them?" Carbon asked, a bit more seriously than the other three had expected. Vinyl gave him a concerned look, but the expression he returned to her told her now wasn't the time to get sympathetic. Sound Wave moved to unlock the door, with a key that nobody saw him produce, and waved them all inside. Carbon was the first to enter, followed by Sound. Ray waited for Vinyl to get up so he didn't pull himself from underneath her, and followed closely behind her. They walked in and froze, jaws dropping. The entire place was furnished. As you walked in, you could see an entirely full living room, with a couche, loveseat, end tables, a T.V., entertainment center, and everything else you'd expect to be in a living room. If it was as luxurious as this one, that is. As they traveled further into the building, they came upon a doorway to the left of the living area which revealed a fully stocked kitchen, and pantry. The kitchen had all kinds of appliances, some of which Vinyl hadn't even been acquanted with. She doubted she would be, though, not being a very good cook. As they toured the rest of the safehouse, seeing full bedrooms, bathrooms, etc, Vinyl stopped and addressed Sound Wave. "So you have a hide-out on the other side of the Everfree that just so happens to be fully stocked, and furbished. And I thought you were just a Studio Manager..." She said, her voice trailing off. "Just in case, right?" He responded. Vinyl didn't answer, but just continued to look around the house, awestruck. "Anyway, you two can take the master bedroom, and me and Carbon can take the two guest rooms." Sound Wave told them. Neither Ray nor Vinyl argued with him, and walked over to the aforementioned bedroom. and emptied out their things. Ray caught Vinyl before she walked back out the door and pulled her back into the room. Without speaking, he pulled her into a deep, thorough kiss. Vinyl gave a small gasp as he pulled her into it, which caused Ray to smile. They kissed for a few minutes, only pausing briefly to catch their breath. Eventually, they seperated and stood in a loose embrace, Vinyl nuzzling herself into Ray's neck. They stood there, not speaking, just enjoying each other's warmth. "Ahem." Ray turned his head, not moving the rest of his body, letting Vinyl rest her head on him. "What's up?" He asked. Carbon stood in the doorway. "Sound wanted to talk with you two." He said, giving a nod in the direction of the living area. "Okay, we'll be out in just a sec." Ray said, before Vinyl had time to remove herself from him. Carbon nodded and left the doorway, heading back to the living room, and taking a seat on the couch, opposite Sound Wave. Vinyl lifted her head off of the stallion, and said, "We should see what's so important." "Yeah, I guess we should." He said, giving the white unicorn a quick kiss on the cheek and motioning her ahead of him with a hoof. Vinyl let out a small giggle. "Thank you, my good stallion." Ray smiled and followed close behind Vinyl out of the room. As they entered the living room, they walked over and sat down on the loveseat, entagling themselves with Ray lying his head just under Vinyls front legs, Vinyl's other legs wrapped around him. Once they got settled, Sound cleared his throaght and the couple shifted their heads towards him. When sound finally began to speak, his tone wasn't especially pleasing to Vinyl. He didn't usually carry that kind of tone when he spoke. "From here we'll be moving North, further away from the Everfree, until we reach the mountains. I've got a few more safehouses along the way, but they're all a few days apart. We'll be staying at each of them for a couple days to rest and restock on food, and whatever else we need, and then we'll be on our way. We'll have to camp in between them so we'll have to distribute who carries what, to make sure nobody goes down because they've got too much weight." Everyone listened intently as Sound went into further detail of the procedures for security when it came time to set up a camp. Who did what, who took what shifts when to keep watch, where and when they'd stop to eat, rest, etc. Once they'd finished going over all of the details of their travel, Ray took the floor. "So," He began, "Who's hungry?" He asked, earning a couple of surprised looks from the other stallions. As if on cue, Vinyl's stomach growled loudly, and the ponies laughed. Ray nuzzled his head against Vinyl's chest as he lifted himself from the loveseat. "I guess I'll get cooking then." He said, walking off into the kitchen.