//------------------------------// // First Night On The Run // Story: The New Talent // by Vinyl Mfing Scratch //------------------------------// First Night On The Run The four ponies lay around the living area of the luxurious hideout. Ray had made a variety of different pastas, salads, and other vegitable based dishes. Vinyl had been genuinely, and honestly speachless. She had had no idea he knew how to cook at all, let alone so well. As they all lazed around the furniture, Vinyl and Ray intertwined with each other on the loveseat, and Carbon and Sound on their respective ends of the couch, they just idly chatted. Not about anything in particular, just friendly talk, despite the more serious moments when they discussed the trip they were taking. They sat around until a few hours after the sunset, idly discussing random subjects, making seemingly pointless conversation. At some point in the conversation they decided to that Carbon would take the first watch, and they all said goodnight. Vinyl and Ray returned to their bedroom, while Sound went to his as well. Sound took to the sheets immediately, almost instantly falling asleep. Carbon looked around the house for a while, seeing that everything was in place. Once he'd secured that everything was as normal as it could be in the current situation, he headed upstairs, looking for an attic access. He'd keep watch from the roof. He wasn't going to up and leave the inside watched, though. He'd left multiple miniscule motion sensores around the entirety of the house which were all remotely connected to a beeper he'd kept between a couple of the knives on his utility belt. Carbon walked the perimeter of the roof, dropping off a few mobile, propelled cameras. They were also small, remotely connected devices that would patrol around the safe house, small cameras and motion sensors installed. Carbon was prideful in his work, and his technology. He'd been the only one to have kept a small amount of it after his team was.. 'disbanded'. He'd been a special forces pony, preforming in a secret Ops team. His team had recieved a particularly difficult objective, though they all thought they could handle it. That was their mistake. They'd taken on so many difficult missions that, when they heard of this one, they'd thought nothing of it. 'Just another Op, right? No big deal.' Or at least, that's what they all thought. Carbon shook his head. He wasn't one to sit around and mourne his past, though he did miss the company of his old friends. Sound Wave had been the only companion he'd made before he was recruited to his Special Ops division. Carbon had enlisted and immediately blown away all possible scores. He was the top in all physical competitions and was excellent with the psycological section as well. He'd scored so well he barely had time to befriend Sound. They did manage to become good friends beforehand though, luckily for them both. Carbon sat upon the roof, lost in his thoughts when a high pitched beeping made it's way to his ears. Before the stallion knew what he was doing, he'd launched himself in the direction of the door that lead to a staircase into the hideout. He skidded to a halt as the door, surprisingly, opened. Vinyl stepped out, her eyes growing wide at the sight of the stallion. Carbon hadn't realized it, but he'd drawn half of the six combat knives he had lined across his belt. He sighed at himself as he lowered the blades back to their places. 'Sometimes I really hate the training I went through.' He thought. Vinyl gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, everything okay up here?" She asked. Carbon gave a laugh of his own, "Yeah, I just thought there was a security breach." He explained. "You tripped a motion sensor on your way up here." He told her, tapping the beeper he had on his waist with a hoof. A look of understanding crossed over Vinyl's face for a moment. "So, you look like you could use some company." She told him, walking past him to seat herself where Carbon was before. Cargon hesitated for a moment before taking his place next to Vinyl and settled himself on his side with his head lying on his crossed legs. Vinyl gave a sigh and looked up the the stars. The pair sat in silence, simply enjoying Luna's beautful night. Vinyl took her eyes away from the sky and looked down to carbon. "So what was up with you earlier?"She asked. Carbon looked confused, "What are you reffering to, exactly?" "Earlier when Sound made a joke about me and Ray. You got quite and didn't say anything." Vinyl explained, "And by the look on your face, I'd say something was up." Carbon winced, visibly, earning a concerned look from the mare. He noticed and gave a small smile. "I'm sure you can figure it out, but I'll just say it. No point in avoiding the conversation." He said, "I'm envious of Ray and yourself." This reveleation shocked Vinyl. There was no way Carbon could be jealous of Ray and herself. Having managed to keep a straight face, Vinyl asked "Do you have your eyes on somepony, specifically?" Carbon ran a hoof through his mane. "Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you know her." Vinyl smiled at thought of one of her friends having Carbon as a special somepony. "Who would that be?" She asked, becoming more emersed in the conversation. Carbon hesitated again, this time a bit longer. When he finally spoke, his voice had dropped considerably. "Octavia..." Vinyl gave a full on grin at the image of her oldest friend with one of her newest. Vinyl's face went slack as a lost thought felt like it smacked her in the face with a smoked salmon. She'd forgotten to tell Octavia she'd be away from Ponyville for a while. Vinyl had taken to going out with Octavia once or twice every couple weeks to try and find her somepony. Initially, Octavia had refused, but Vinyl's persistance wore out the earth pony's resolve. Vinyl noticed Carbon staring at her, his head tilted to one side. She realized she'd been sitting there staring off into space while he was in need of somepony to talk to. "Sorry, I remembered something I forgot before we left Ponyville." She told him. She gave an apologetic look, "So when did you start having a thing for Octy?" She inquired, playfully but with an air of seriousness evident in her voice. "Well.." He started slowly, clearing taking caution in his words, "I've seen her around, a few times with you, and I've tried talking to her but I always end up looking like an idiot." He shook his head at himself. "I just don't know what to talk to her about. It's like every time I try I shoot myself down." Vinyl ran a hoof down her neck before she responded. "You know, she's not hard to talk to. She just makes it seem like it." Carbon fell into a confused state. "And what that means is?..." Vinyl laughed a bit, at Carbon's expense. "It means that she looks all prisy like she's some noble, but she just does that to keep up public appearances." Explained the white unicorn, "She does act a bit uppity at times, but that's just how she was raised. Just walk up to her and start a conversation like you would with anypony else." Vinyl finished explaining her friend and waited for Carbon's response. "It sounds easy when you say it like that. I just don't know much about her. What she likes, what she doesn't. Stuff like that. I don't want to try just to have her think I'm just some jerk trying to score." As Carbon finished, Vinyl smiled. She was beginning to want Carbon to be with Octavia. He seemed to be a good stallion. In a way, he was almost like Ray. Almost. "I think I can help you out there." Vinyl told him. The two poines sat upon the roof, Vinyl telling details about her gray furred friend, to her new body guard, and Carbon occasionally asking questions and providing scenarios for Vinyl to give him instructions on. Some time later, the two unicorns said goodnight, and the mare returned to her room. Carbon looked up to the moon again, smiling. "It's great to have friends like you Vinyl." He said aloud. He spun around abruptly at the sound of a feminine voice. "It really is."