Author's Note

Wooo! I got free time to finish the story! And I'm not dead! Granted, this story is going a little wobbly, but hey! It's a story. And it's the best I can do. Not to mention I am getting much better at writing these chapters.

Chapter has now been edited! Only near the end.

Night Falls

Twilight wasn't showing aggressive body language yet, but she certainly didn't seem amused at the current situation. She appeared to be trying to speak above that Rainbow local's laughter. This, of course, was a serious task.

After quite some time, Rainbow had died down to giggles, and Twilight took her chance to speak.

"Well, it was just a call-sign, it's us naming you based on what you make us think. So when you started pumping questions in the courtyard, it made you look like... Well an egghead, to be honest." I jabber, sounding a bit more frantic than I was trying to.

Well what would YOU do? I'm starving and at risk of execution, torture, or whatever other medieval crap this community has.

"I'm... Not an egghead! I just get curious! That's all! There's no-" Twilight gets cut short.

"Forget it, Twi! That's two to one! And they aren't even.... PONIES! You lose!" She laughs.

"Uh, really, I didn't mean to speak out of line, there's no need to get hasty." I offer, silently gripping at my holster, rubbing my thumb over the safety.

"Hasty? I'm not being hasty!" She retaliates, slightly unfolding her wings.

More than enough of an action to get me and Elliot to set the safety to 'fire'.

Clearly this Rainbow character took watch of our hands, as she started to poke at Twilight's arm.

"Uh, Twi?" She cast a pointing gaze at the holsters at Elliot's side.

Twilight turned back to us, following her friend's gaze, and quickly changed expression. Resulting in her ears splaying back, quite obviously exposing her fear of the weapon.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean any harm. Please, don't try it." She begs, with a hint of some sort of emotion I couldn't recognize. It wasn't quite fear, she didn't seem to feel imminent danger.

I really don't trust this, the tension in this room is boiling up. I squint my eyes in an attempt to look intimidating. I nudge Elliot's arm, and we both slowly lower our hands hesitantly.

That was about when I started counting strikes.

"I didn't mean to worry you, it's just... What you called me is exactly what she calls me." Twilight raises an arm at her friend, who seems to be giving a slightly more panicked stance than before. All for good reason, of course.

"Right, clearly your friend thought it was funny." I point at the Blue one.

"Well, I always said it as a joke, and it kinda annoyed her. So hearing you say it too was pretty funny." She responds, smirking a little.

"Oh! That sounds familiar!" I look at Elliot, causing him to get defensive.

"Whatever, you'll always have Private Pyle's name on ya!" I laugh.

"That was a coincidence! You can't hold that on me!" He defends.

"Sorry, you clearly shouldn't hear Pyle anymore..." I wait a few seconds for suspense. "At least, not until you actually stole food from the hall." I joke.

"Oh... You're gonna get it one of these days." He warns, hiding a smile.

"Um, Pyle? I thought he was Elliot. What am I missing?" Twilight interrupts.

"Oh nothing really, just a movie reference we made in boot camp. Three separate people called him Private Pyle, because of the way he acted." I laugh, poking at Elliot's shoulder. To which he punched mine.

"In this movie there was a jack-up named Private Pyle. And Elliot here, is pretty much his twin. Save for how skinny he is, that is." I explain.

"I didn't steal a jelly doughnut!" Elliot argues.

"You stole a biscuit." I continue to tease.

Elliot growls, holding his hands out with a strangling motion just in front of my neck. Before he gives in to laughing, understanding the humor, a polite way to avert the mind from the fact that we may never share that experience with another human again.

Silence again fills the room, as night as fallen outside. The candles faintly illuminate the room.

"You all act very similar to ponies, it's surprising you have such different technology." Twilight speaks.

This doesn't help to start a conversation. That Rainbow character is still clearly a little nervous. Swaying around, tapping her... hoof? Just generally jittery activity.

"I assume I can trust you two to sleep on these couches for a night?" Twilight asks.

Elliot and I nod, eager to sleep on something that isn't the cold, hard ground.

"Well, I suppose it's about that time. Please don't try to do anything late at night. I trust you won't, but you understand that I-" Twilight begins.

"Hey, Twi? Could I... Talk to you?" The Rainbow character asks, leaning closer to her friend without taking her eyes off of us.

"Oh, uh... Sure?"

The two get up from the couch, and Rainbow leads her into a small room that appears to be a kitchen, carved into the large tree that somehow isn't collapsing from lack of support. Some strange engineering they have here.

Elliot leans close, whispering to me over the quiet chatter we hear from the other room.

"Can you make out any words?"

"No, they're talking too quietly."

"Well, what do you think they're talking about?"

"Shut up a second and I'll listen to what I can."

No words are made out, but it sounds to get a little bit heated. Clearly the Rainbow character is getting riled up about something.

About a minute later, the two come back in, no signs showing of what went on, save for that constant gaze from Rainbow, which really started to creep me out.

"You all may sleep out here, Rainbow's going to go back home now." Twilight explains.

"Bye Twilight, see you guys later." She calls, opening the door and leaving.

We all call out similar messages, before the door shuts. The room falls into another silence, which really gets old quickly. For a sniper, I really can't stand the quiet today.

"Well, I'll be upstairs. Just come up if you need anything, we'll talk more in the morning. We still have alot of talking to do." Says Twilight.

"You're just going to let us sleep down here, in your house?" Elliot asks suspiciously.

"What? You wouldn't hurt me, you don't show that kind of spirit." She replies, having already climbed the short set of stairs, standing at the top.

Elliot nods as I fall back onto the sofa. He gets up and lays on the opposite sofa as I am.

"Good night, you two." She calls.

"Good night, Twilight." We both call out in sync, an instinct from boot camp.

Elliot and I, without a word, begin to take off our gear and very carefully examine it. After a few minutes, both of us seem satisfied, and I begin to clear my rifle. I don't dare leave the pistol unloaded, however.

"Still don't trust them, Elliot?" I whisper.

"Not one single bit, what's the contingency plan?" He returns.

"For now, guns blazing. I'm too tired to think, now go to sleep." I lay all of my gear underneath me, mostly at the feet. If it was stirred, I'd most likely feel it. Certainly the rifle. I rest my head on the small pillow and begin to clear my mind, which proved to be a tough task to achieve.

It didn't take more than five minutes, before Elliot started to snore obnoxiously loud.

It didn't take more than two after that, for me to do the exact same.