//------------------------------//
// An Even More Eventful Morning for Others 
// Story: Fangs 
// by Sapphic 
//------------------------------//


	*~~~*~~~*~~~*...Octavia...*~~~*~~~*~~~*


I sat in the tent with the unicorn, who was now sweating from the exertion she was putting out to keep this 'barrier' up. Her horn shining brightly as she kept straining herself. I honestly admired her exertion, but for what it was for, I was still uncertain. Though from what the stallion had said someone was taking 'potshots' at us. I didn't know what 'potshots' were, but I could only assume they were bad since they said some were in the medical tent.

The stallion outside had just shouted out the orders to the rest of the campers, I thought it was a dumb move, but I guess they were pressed to find out who it was that was shooting at them and he didn't have the time to make a team huddle and explain the plan in a more stealth way.

He had taken good care to tell me to stay in here with her for a few reasons. One was to look after his sister to make sure she didn't hurt herself and that the attacker didn't get her, another was to make sure I didn't get hurt outside doing something stupid. I couldn't blame him really, since it was probably true that I would get myself into trouble.

A clash from outside rang out in the silence, which was quickly followed by the sound of many hooves running towards it. That must have been the sound of something hitting the barrier, judging by how the ponies outside were asking each other things like "Do you see them?" and "Where are they?!", but it wasn't the sound that startled me, it was what the unicorn beside me did.

She gasped for air and leaned over forwards, her horn stayed alight however. She turned up to me with a new look of fear, not like the one from before where she was still remaining calm, this one expressed her fear more precisely; It was pure panic.

"T-they're inside." She stuttered, sounding on the brink of tears.

My eyes widened at what she said.

"W-what?" I stuttered in return. She turned her head back down once more, the glow of magic visibly draining from her as her horn grew dark.

"They're inside, they're inside of the camp... I don't know where...b-but whoever it is...they're in." She said with a growing tone of panic.

The entrance to the tent burst open, I turned to see that it was the brother with a look of panic, though it paled in comparison to the sister's look.

"What happened? Why is the barrier down?" He asked feverishly. The sister turned to him, and just like she did to me, told him shivering news.

"They're inside." The brothers look turned to a look of disbelief as he looked at his sister for a second and then turned to go back outside the camp.

I heard him outside once more. 

"Fan out! Check every tent for the invader!" I heard the sound of more fast paced hoof steps as they spread around the camp in search for their unwanted guest.

Meanwhile I remained with unicorn mare and hoped for the best.


*~~~*~~~*~~~*...Bigs...*~~~*~~~*~~~*


I noticed that the barrier had dropped nearly immediately after Vinyl had entered the camp, so I figured that the unicorn must have "felt" the magic of the teleportation enter the camp or something like that; I wasn't an expert at how unicorns and their magic work, and I was pretty sure that unicorns weren't either.

I also noticed that the hunters inside of the camp were checking nearly everywhere, including the tents, and as much as I would love to see how Vinyl handled getting caught inside of a tent, my lower body was beginning to cramp from being in this awkward position inside of the bush. So I decided I would 'pay back' Vinyl saving me from that bolt blowing my mind, literally, by doing something I was rather good at: Causing trouble. I was assigned to this mission too, after-all.

The stallion leader, or at least that what I made him out to be since he was the one giving orders, was heading towards the tent Vinyl was in. If I knew hunters well enough, which I did know how they 'go about things' rather well, then there was one thing they couldn't resist: The hunt.

I mean, with a name with 'hunt' in it, they couldn't resist the temptation of a good chase after a vampire like myself, and I planned on taking full advantage of that.

I raised up from the bush and began a casual walk towards the camp, and as I got within about ten feet of the stallion leader, I turned my casual walk into a sprint; running at him with full speed. Some of the others shouted at me and, eventually, drew his attention to me.

He turned just in time to see me and duck the slightest, letting me jump over him. I wasn't aiming to hit him, If I was then I would have hit him, then he might stay behind because of the injury and still find Vinyl. I was sure Vinyl could handle him, even if he wasn't injured. Hell, she could probably take the whole camp, but I was just aiming to get their attention. All of their attentions.

I gave a sharp whistle that made every upraised head raise from wherever they were looking and turn towards me. I looked from side to side, scanning over every hunter they had and I counted sixteen in total; more than enough to kill me, but not when I was running away on my own turf.

I gave them all a devious smile, making sure to show off my fangs a much as possible before turning and kicking dirt at the stallion, bolting away and hoping they would give chase. Since the stallion was the closest to me, and alone as well, I chose to kick dirt in his face only in hope that he wouldn't notice that I was lacking the horn to be the one shooting the magical bolts.

To my fortunate surprise, the stallion leader shouted out for his men to give chase as he tried to pry the dirt from out of his eyes, and by this time I was already on the edge of the camp and out of the light. I did take the time to turn back and take a quick glance at the tent Vinyl was in.

'Now, were even...' I thought to myself as I turned my focus back to running away, the hunters not to far behind, but I would have to take it slowly so they wouldn't give up too quickly.


*~~~*~~~*~~~*...Octavia...*~~~*~~~*~~~*


I had been sitting inside the tent with a growing curiosity of what was going on outside. It was when the shout of a few of the stallions finally made that curiosity get the best of me. I raised from the tent, not exactly in a hurry, and made my way to the entrance and opened the flaps just in time to see all of the stallions and mares running in one direction with the stallion following at a slower pace, also wiping something from his eyes.

I felt another stick their head beside my own, also looking outside just in time to see the chaos that was going on.

"What the..." Was all that the mare beside me could say, and it was pretty much the same case for me.

The stallion turned and looked at the both of us, finally getting whatever it was that was in his eyes, out of them.

"We, uh, found him." He said awkwardly before he raced off to join the others.

She sighed heavily before turning away and trotting back into the tent. I lingered a little while longer, taking some time to look at the things around the camp. While I was looking at a few of the tents, I could have sworn I saw something move inside of one of them, but when I blinked it was gone and the tent was just as still as the others, so I waved it off as nothing, hoping it was my imagination; probably an illusion in this dark forest.

I shrugged it off mentally and turned back into the tent to join the mare inside.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

It was about twenty minutes later that something interrupted me and the mare, who when I asked about her name only told me "It was personal" and nothing more, from our card game that she had so graciously brought with her. Though, after a good set of cards and a deal that if I beat her she would tell me her name, I did pry it from her.

Her name, she said, was "Sweet Maple" but her everyone just called her Maple. I nearly laughed when I first heard it, it was just unexpected for that to be her name, but the glare she gave me muffled the laugh that was so close to coming out.

From my position that was facing the back of the tent, I turned around and looked towards the entrance, interested what the sound was.

"What was that?" She asked from behind me.

"I don't know, maybe one of the ponies from the medical tent?" I suggested as I turned back to her, only to see her shake her head.

"No, no, there's no way there moving around yet, not without magic at least; and none of them are unicorns." She said factually.

"Well do you want to go find out then...Maple?" I asked, rubbing in her name and growing rather bored with losing nearly every game that we played. She only shrugged.

"Sure" She said, but not after a good cringe from hearing her name, probably just as bored with beating me in nearly every single game we played.

"It beats just sitting around here." She said with a huff, probably because I had used her name at every given opportunity presented.

We had grown rather acquainted with each other, Maple and I, ever since we were left to ourselves inside of her tent. I wasn't leaving on my own knowing that there was something or someone out there trying to hurt others, and she wasn't leaving because she had to stay with the wounded in case whoever it was came back around to finish the job

We walked outside of the tent and began to look around, she was taking the right side of camp whilst I took the left. She was looking near the bushes, a bit farther than I would like to go, so I decided to just look in tents. Who knows, maybe I could find some more interesting things that these "campers" decided to bring along.

The first tent I decided to look in was the closest one to our own, its contents were practically the same as the unicorn mare's, though they varied only in the slightest ways. I didn't decide to look through the bags this time, I was only looking through the tents to find whatever that noise had been, though that didn't stop me from investigating the things that were out of the bags. The second tent led to the same result, with a few sandwiches and some personal entertainment, as did the third as well.

When I finally arrived at the last tent on my side, I hesitated.

This was the same tent that I had looked at before, the on that I had thought I had seen something, or someone, inside. Although I thought it over and gave it well more than a second though, though in the end, against my better judgment, I threw cation to the wind and decided to enter the tent and see what I could find.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

I opened the tent flaps to reveal the interior that looked almost identical to all the other tents. Almost. 

There was a white figure neck deep in one of the bags near the back on the tent rummaging around. At first I thought it was one of the campers that had stayed behind, but the closer I looked at the unknown figure, the more familiar the figure became. I noticed their hair was a light neon blue on one part, and a darker shade of blue on the other, and there was only one pony I knew with hair like that.

"Vinyl?" I called out in disbelief, my hopes rising rapidly.

The second the words left my mouth, the rummaging of the white figure stopped and stilled for a few seconds before removing their head. When I saw the red eyes my suspicions were confirmed; it was Vinyl with a plastic wrapped sandwich hanging in her mouth.

"Oh Vinyl..." I started as I began to move towards, my feeling getting the better of me, but I didn't get very far.

The second I started moving towards her, she dropped into a defensive posture, similar to that of a wolf, and brandished her fangs.

This was enough to cease my movement, the pure surprise that she would be bearing her fangs at me being enough. I was confused, she had only done that when she was hungry, and even when she had done that it was a more playful posture. This, this position she was in, it was like a cornered dog that would snap at anyone who got to close, even one that only meant good.

"Vinyl? What are you doing?" I asked, utterly confused.

Though she didn't answer, she only stiffened.

'What's gotten into her?' I asked myself.

I started moving towards her once more, this time at a much slower pace, as if I were approaching a defensive and feral dog. She didn't react to me moving this time, only staring me down as I got closer and closer until I was literally in front of her, I noticed that her defensive stance had softened and she was now in a more loose stance, as if she were unsure of what to make of me. What was wrong with her?

"Hey did you find anything?" A voice rang out in the silence that had been the tent we were in. The voice was loud enough to startle me, and the pony in front of me.

Vinyl bolted forwards, half shoving me out of the way and going for the mare behind me.

"What the-" Was all she could say before getting tackled out of the tent.

The flap of the tent closed on me, leaving me alone inside of the tent in a slight daze from being suddenly knocked onto the ground. A good shake of the head and a second to gather myself and I was off the ground and hurrying towards the entrance, or exit in this case, of the tent.


*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*


I came out of the tent to see Vinyl raise a hoof up as she straddled the unicorn from before. I realized what she was doing just as it happened and the hoof came down at a blistering speed and made a firm connection with the unicorn mare's head, effectively knocking her unconscious.

"Vinyl!" I screamed as I saw it happen. I didn't know what else to do, I didn't know what was wrong with her, and I also didn't know if I was next.

She turned around with a stoic expression on her face, no emotions shown; no pity, no regret, for what she had just done. She lifted herself from the unicorn's body and turned to face me, fangs shown once more, dropping into the same posture from before.

I took a cautious step backwards, growing more fearful if she had plans on doing the same thing to me that she had done to the unicorn.

Her horn lit, though it was different from before. Its color had changed, where it had previously been a brighter, more lively blue, it was now a dulled, dark, blue. I probably couldn't have even seen it if it weren't for the campfire's light.

It was this color that made me miss the dirt in front of me begin to glow a faint blue.

The dirt flew upwards, and even though I caught a glimpse of it begin to move before it hit me, I wasn't able to react fast enough to stop the dirt from getting into my eyes. It caused me to recoil both from the surprise and the odd pain that came with the dirt entering my eye.

Vinyl must have taken the opportunity this provided her, since I felt something, or rather someone, tackle me to the ground.

I felt my arms pulled downwards to my sides and then someone straddle me, preventing me from moving my arms at all, and also from wiping the dirt from my eyes. Well, that's what I thought, until I felt a pair of hooves touch my eyes and begin to wipe the dirt away.

My vision cleared and I saw who it was that was on top of me, and as much as I wish it wasn't, it was Vinyl.

She looked down on me with empty eyes.

"Vinyl..." I said in a half whimper, half protest. It got me nowhere though, she merely looked into my eyes with the same stoic expression.

After awhile of doing that, she did do something else, though I wasn't exactly expecting it. She bent over, getting closer to my head, and then took a big sniff. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, and it definitely wasn't normal, it was just...odd.

I was puzzled at first, and I even looked up at her as she pulled her head away, apparently only needing one sniff, though I still didn't understand what the first one was for.

My puzzled expression was quickly replaced with fear as she lifted her hoof back up, exactly how she had done with the unicorn mare, Maple. My world narrowed in on her hoof, it became the only thing of importance as it begin its decent, aimed at the center of my eyes. It seemed to go in slow motion as it happened, my eyes were stretched wide with fear, and their edges had begun to sprout tears.

The hoof was nearly an inch away from my face when it suddenly flew off course accompanied by the sudden lift of weight from my body.

I looked up to see one very exhausted looking Shakes, clad in a dark looking cloak that had the hood pulled off and panting heavily, who had apparently just rammed Vinyl off of me. Though her eyes were elsewhere, specifically, they were locked with Vinyl's.

"Get...up." She said in between pants.

Though I was surprised, in a good way, by her sudden appearance, I certainly wasn't going to protest against her.

I scrambled to get myself upright as the two had a stare down with each other, neither seemed to want to make the first move, though as soon as I was up, Shakes darted into her bag and pulled out a cluster of small pellets. I wondered what they were, but when she threw them onto the ground and smoke began to quickly cloud around us I began to get a good idea of what they were.

Without making a sound, she grabbed me and pulled me away from the camp and into the forest. I stumbled at first, taken off guard by the unseen force pushing me in the opposite direction, but my hooves began to catch up with her, and soon enough, we were off.

During our sprint from the camp, I managed to look back to see the smoke clearing and Vinyl still unmoved from her position, an unnerving smile graced her face as she turned away and walked somewhere out of view.

A sudden concern filled my mind.

"Are we not helping Maple?" I asked.

"Maple?" She responded.

"That mare back there on the ground...are we not helping her?" I clarified.

"Not my problem." She began, sounding rather cold.

"Besides," She added. "her group could probably help her more than we could." She said in between more panting and as much as I wanted to protest, I knew it was true.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

We ran for a good five minutes straight, until Shakes slowed down to a casual walk and then into a tired trudge, though she kept moving.

I brought up taking a break to her, in which she happily obliged as she practically collapsing on the spot.

I let her rest for a few minutes before trying to start conversation.

"Um, Shakes?" I asked. Though she didn't respond, she did tilt her head up and looked at me expectantly.

"So...why are you here?" This was enough to get her to sit up from her sprawled out spot in the middle of the path.

"I could ask you the same thing, what happened to "First thing tomorrow morning", Huh?" She said, sounding a bit annoyed.

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I just tilted my head down in shame of my impatience, which followed with a sigh from her.

"Ah, forget it. What's done is done." She said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm more concerned about Vinyl." My head and ears perked up when she mentioned her name. "I mean, she was about to knock you out, heck, maybe even kill you." I shivered when she said that.

"No," I said quietly "She wouldn't do that..."

'Would she?' I added mentally.

"Well it looked like it was going to be something along those lines, what's wrong with her anyways?" She asked, looking to me with concern

I shrugged before starting. "I don't know...I had only found her a little while ago and she was acting weird...feral almost." I said coldly, tears bracing the sides of my eyes as I remembered how she didn't even hesitate to bring hoof down at me.

"Hey, uh, not to bring this up anymore than need be but...She didn't do anything 'weird' did she?" Shakes asked with a cocked brow. I thought about it for a second before turning to her and giving a response.

"Define 'weird'." I said, returning the cocked brow.

"Take something from you, lick you, smell you, stuff like that." She said with casual tone, accompanied by a hint of panic.

"Well...she did sniff me, but what does that have to do with anything?" Her expression turned grave when the words left my mouth.

"What?" I asked, earning no response as I watched her expression

She immediately got off the ground and started down the trail again, only turning around to flick her head at me, signaling for me to follow. Confused as I was, I got off the ground and started trotting hastily with her, though I still didn't know why.

"Shakes." I called, again earning no response as she trotted quickly down the trail.

"We have to get back to the bar." She said coldly.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

She stopped suddenly and turned to look at me.

"The reason she didn't follow is because she didn't need to; She already has your scent." She said before turning around and starting down the trail again before speaking up once more.

"She's hunting you." She said flatly.

My eyes widened as the words left her mouth.

"W-what?" I stuttered in shock.


*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*