//------------------------------//
// Confrontation into Clarity 
// Story: Fangs: The Order 
// by Sapphic 
//------------------------------//


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


I found myself staring at my hoof for the majority of the walk home, letting Vinyl make trial and error with the correct turns to get back to my apartment as I stared at my hoof that now looked good as new. The only thing left on my hoof that hinted towards injury was a faint line maybe an inch or so long and a hairs length across. It still boggled me what exactly Vinyl could do that wasn't necessarily a display of strength or speed.

"Say Vinyl?" I hummed, looking up to see that we were at least now somewhat near my apartment. Not that I minded, taking a walk with Vinyl was more than a treat.

"Hm?" She said, seeming to shake from her own train of thought. 

I guess what I wanted to know was what other types of tricks she might have as a vampire. Though saying that idea to myself made it seem like Vinyl was a toy that I was starting to grow bored of, which made me a bit hesitant. In reality I was just curious whether I had made a dent in Vinyl's hidden arsenal of odd abilities, or if I was just scratching the surface.

Either way, I was content.

"I'm just a bit curious, and please don't take this the wrong way, but are there any other interesting things you can do?" I said a bit nervously, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

She put her hoof up to her chin while she looked at the ground thoughtfully, which game me a bit of an internal sigh. In hindsight I doubt she would've taken it the wrong way anyways, but my socially inept brain kept trying to regard Vinyl as someone who wasn't as oblivious as I was.

"I showed you the venom thing with water, didn't I?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Hmm...." She began, but eventually seemed to give up. 

"Uh, I might, but I can't really remember all of them." She said, nervously snaking her hoof to the back of her head and chuckling lightly.

"You... don't know?" I said, trying to process her rather basic answer.

"Well, it's kinda like memorizing notes for a song you have to play for a concert or something. But this song is really really long. Like, longer than a really long book long. I knew a lot about what I can do, but I've forgot a good chunk of it 'cause I never use most of it." She said with a sympathetic looking shrug.

"Don't worry Vinyl, you've got plenty tricks right now. Any more and I might need to start making a list." I said in a fairly poor attempt at a joke, but she snickered nonetheless. 

Truth be told, it was incredibly frustrating - like trying to find an answer to complicated question, but whenever I would make any progress, new information would surface. And even more was hinted at after that.

It felt like trying to find the end of an ocean.


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


"So, how was your visit?" Vinyl's mother greeted me and Vinyl, sitting on my couch with a paper lifted - not even bothering to meet us with a gaze.

I froze up a little bit at her words.

"It was good! Tavi let me drink her arm!" Vinyl said, disregarding her mother's statement, cheerfully trotting over to the couch and taking a seat beside her.

"Did she now? Did the knife get in the way of that at all?" She asked back, only getting a shake of the head from Vinyl and some response about spitting something out.

"H-How do you..." I began, trailing off as I faced the floor while my mind began to race through possibilities.

She tossed a shut-eyed stare over the couch, a small smirk on her face as she answered.

"Mother's know everything, dear." She said, half chilling and half motherly.

"I...that's-" I began, only to be cut off.

"So, Octavia dear, I was wondering if you'd be happy to join me and Vinyl for dinner?" She said nonchalantly, turning back to her paper as her horn lit up a vivacious red, the door behind me gently bumping into my rump as she scooted me inside my own home, as if she she were the owner.

"I'd...yes, of course." I stammered, still reeling from a number of things, but all of them revolving around Vinyl's mother - the biggest being how she knew about going to Fredric's.

"Delightful. Vinyl said she'd like it if you came, but couldn't work up the courage." She dismissed casually.

"Mom!" Came a childish whine from a crimson, wide eyed mare.

"If you didn't want me to tell her, you should have just asked her yourself." Vinyl's mom shrugged, failing to hide her playful smile before it shifted to a more thoughtful one.

"Vinyl dear, could you let me talk with Octavia for a moment?" She asked.

Vinyl flashed a look that almost looked like worry, but nonetheless gave a nod and walked back towards my bedroom. Only when the sound of the the door shutting rang out did Vinyl's mother begin to speak, and even then it still wasn't aimed towards me.

"Ears shut Vinyl." She said with a coy smile.

I perked my ears to listen for a response from Vinyl, but none came.

"Anyways," She began again, apparently seeming satisfied that Vinyl couldn't hear us. "I wanted to talk about that little stunt you pulled with my daughter." She said, her voice changing drastically and hitting a tone that probably could have frosted the windows in my apartment.

Even my limbs felt like they were going numb.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean...to..." I found myself slowing down as a stern look from her icy eyes, now completely opened, slowed my speech.

Truthfully, my apology seemed a bit ridiculous to me - though I'd never voice that opinion - but Vinyl wanted to go with me. Additionally, I might've suffered a fate far worse than a pair of suckling lips on my arm and a deep blush.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now that my relationship with my daughter is more than protective, and you're also the only one that has remained with my daughter after I've met them." She said condescendingly.

'The only one? Does she interfere with all of Vinyl's dates?' I thought to myself.

"Yes I do, and rightfully so mind you." She practically snarled at me.

My eyes went wide as she seemed to have read my thoughts, though I guess this wasn't her first time having this talk considering what she had just told me. Aside from the potential mind reading, I also felt tinges of fear build up at this new side of Vinyl's mother - something more foreboding and intimidating than the rather sweet mare from before.

I actually assumed we were on rather good terms after rescuing Vinyl.

"Still..." She continued, looking downwards and crossing her hooves.

"You're also the only one thus far to be approached by my daughter rather than you approaching her." She said, still somewhat condescending, but with a bit more respect this time.

I looked down at that claim, a mix of feelings coming with the implications of her words. One being the mention of Vinyl's prior relationships, and how they seemed to not go so well. 

It sounded selfish of me, but the thought of others being in a relationship with Vinyl made her feel less of...well, mine.

"Hey Tavi!" A whisper called out.

My eyes seemed to focus and reveal the bright and innocent eyes of Vinyl, head poking out from under the edge of the couch with her hooves also peaking out.

She gave me a smile with a little wave.

I recalled exactly how me and Vinyl met, something that I often didn't think about - particularly how odd it was. A back alley of a bar with Bigs trying to hit me with a pipe and Vinyl waltzing through whistling. She also posed a point I hadn't forgotten, in that Vinyl somewhat did approach me - though with that being said it was in a blood driven, drunken stupor. Still, I suppose she could've left anytime, and even when I made her it seemed like we both wanted her to come back.

"How do you know that anyways?" I asked, wondering if she had been watching even back then; if she had been watching every waking moment of interaction up to now. It was a chilling thought, one that made me ques-

"She told me."

'...Well I suppose that's a rather logical answer as well.' I thought to myself, glancing down to see Vinyl offer a sheepish look and a shrug.

"Anyways..." She said, eyes drifting back towards me as she raised off of the couch, her stature maybe an inch or so above my own, and stared holes into me.

"...I expect you to start returning the favor my daughter has been consistently giving you." She said with the sound of a mother giving a final warning.

At first I wondered what favor she would be mentioning, but either she knew I would be lost or intended to tell me anyways, as she slowly leaned in, putting her lips right next to my ear, and all but hissing to me what she meant.

"I expect you to start putting yourself in harms way for my daughter, just as she carelessly does for you."

She hesitated at my ear, as if waiting for response, so I mustered what I could from my shaking body and offered an unsteady nod of the head.

Like magic itself, her cold and harsh nature disappeared as if it were an act from the beginning, replaced with the bright and motherly personality she typically had with her.

"Perfect!" She said happily. "Know this dear, I don't dislike you - you seem to have a real interest in my daughter, not an investment. She gets into a lot of trouble, as you could probably guess, but none have stepped up to the plate like you have. That being said, not many have had that opportunity anyways. I just want to make sure you stay on that plate, understand?"

I gave a weak nod, head feeling a bit light.

"Perfect!" She beamed.

"I do expect you to still join us for dinner? Me and you still have business to address." She said, my own fears getting the best of me that she meant to have another 'talk'.

I nodded quickly.

Most wouldn't have nodded, especially with the fears I mentioned, but I figured refusing dinner would only warrant a much more harsh talk than what she had planned for me.

That, and I'd have Vinyl with me at dinner.

'Speaking of Vinyl...' I thought, looking down to see that she had disappeared.

“Splendid dear!” Vinyl’s mother continued, getting up and prancing around me as she headed for the door. “I have a few errands to run, and by the time I’m done I’ll be back here and ready to go.”

The way she said errands sent a shiver down my spine.

“I’ll see you then.” I barely managed, hooves starting to feel a bit numb, just as she looked back from the doorway, offered a cheery nod, and exited.

It felt as though a weight had lifted when she left - nothing was scarier than an upset mother, much less one of a legendary vampire. Though with her gone, my mind wandered back to the couch where Vinyl had been hiding.

‘How did she even fit under there? It’s barely even off the ground as it is...’ My mind wondered, pressuring me on as I dropped down on my stomach.

Lifting up the small panel cloth flaps covering the bottom of the couch, I found exactly what I expected:

Nothing.

Not a trace of the slippery, white mare was to be found, just the emptiness beneath the couch.

“I could’ve sworn...”  I mumbled to myself as I strained my eyes.

“Boop.”

There is a certain feeling that rushes through your body when something touches you in a place it shouldn’t when you aren’t looking. It’s different for everyone, but it’s a feeling that isn’t pleasant. Particularly because I couldn’t find Vinyl, and her mother had just left.

That is the feeling that rushed through me as…something prodded against my flanks, which I had unconsciously raised into the air when trying to shimmy deeper under the couch to see if Vinyl was somehow hiding down there.

I let out a yip as I rushed backwards, only letting whatever it was bump into me again, only furthering my haste.

Looking behind me I found the playful, red gaze of Vinyl, with her head still tilted down and her horn stuck out from where she had poked me.

“V-Vinyl!” I shouted, cheeks flushing.

“Heh, thought you might need a pick-me-up after talking with my mom.” She said honestly.

“That’s your idea of a pick me up?” I deadpanned at her, only getting a coy shrug.

Silence began to fill the room as my mind still processed her little...stunt? She seemed to look seriously at me, noticing the thoughts rushing through my head.

She must’ve perceived it as worry.

“Do you want me to do it again?”

“No!”


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


The day went on rather quickly after Vinyl’s “boop” as she called it. She suggested practicing on my cello, to which I happily agreed.

It was still a bit odd to be critiqued by her when I play - and calling them critics is a huge overstatement, it’s more like her smiling knowingly at me as I blushed about the slightly off key note I had played.

She even tuned in once or twice with her horn, making melodic sounds with her magic and swaying her head gently in perfect tune to every song I played

Her knowing the tempo changes of every piece I played was the true magic, however.

Which brings me to where I was now, walking towards a rather crowded looking, dimly lit restaurant with a Vinyl and her mother.

“Remind me again how you found this place? And much less how you got reservations?” I questioned.

The restaurant was called The Bale, which was a place even my parents thought was a bit exclusive. You typically only found people like them going there as well - the more humbled and easy going part of the upper crust. 

A fact that was true mainly because the staff would actively choose to allow or refuse a customer, which was something that just ate at every noble's skin and made them all want to get in. Though if you came off as having a mentality like that, they’d simply refuse you.

As dumb of a business idea as it sounded, the place had one of the highest profit margins in Canterlot. 

Fancy came to mind as a frequent patron, to the point where you might think he owned the place.

“As I said dear. I had errands to run.” She said vaguely. Instinct said to not ask further, but curiosity had other plans.

“What errands could you have possibly ran to get a reservation in a restaurant that turns away almost eight out of every ten people who request entry.” I pressured as we approached the back of the line.

Vinyl’s mother disregarding the line, and myself, as she made her way across the red carpet lining the entry and through the doors as if she owned the place. No amount of words could describe the number of sneers and scoffs - even outright laughs - that we received as we went through those doors.

The place smelled like comfort food and looked like the most spacious log cabin you would ever see. Paintings of smiling mares and stallions lined the walls, complemented by seats and couches made from what looked like tree trunks with plush, red cushioning on the inside of them. Looking further in you could see that the tables had a similar theme to them

“Oh my....” I found myself gasping to myself at the humble prestige the place gave off.

The clumped line led up to a set of desks, also maintaining the natural theme of the place, with both a mare and a stallion sitting behind it - each with a small smile on their face and a neat uniform on that reminded me of the ushers you see in theaters.

A mare and a stallion that Vinyl’s mother approached instantly.

“Hello madam, do you have a reserva-” The stallion began, only to receive a sharp elbow in the side from the mare that sent him down for the count.

“Terribly sorry miss, your seat is waiting for you.” She said cheerfully, not even batting an eye at the cohort that she just downed.

The sound of dozens of upper crust protests sounded at Vinyl’s mother’s acceptance, though they quickly faded as the previously downed stallion managed to get up and limp us to our table - still with a smile on his face.

He led us to a small, U - shaped booth where he handed us menus from seemingly nowhere before flashing a toothed smile.

A toothed smile that held a small set of fangs.

“Thank you dear.” Vinyl’s mother said smoothly as the stallion limped off, presumably back to the desk.

As soon as he was out of earshot, I tossed Vinyl’s mother a knowing glance, only to find her using her menu as a shield from my gaze.

Though I soon found one shielding my gaze as well, as Vinyl held up a menu in front of me and point to an item.

“Tavi, how do you say that and what is it?” She asked, like a small child learning a new word.

“That says ‘spaghetti’, Vinyl.” I said, only slightly deadpanning as there was always the off chance she didn’t know what spaghetti was.

I thought that dinner was going to be me basically explaining to Vinyl what everything on the menu was, but ended up being a bit more interesting than that as a familiarly warm face approached our table not but a few items down the list.

“My my, and here I was thinking that exclusive restaurants weren’t your thing.” Chuckled an old and mellowed voice.

I turned to see the glowing face of Fancy as he made his way to our table, armed with a gentle smile.

“Fancy.” I commented, a bit surprised by seeing him even though I knew how often he came here.

I felt Vinyl’s hoof slip into mine and tighten, and a brief glance to the side revealed her eyes peering over her glasses and into Fancy.

Even her mother seemed to sense the tension.

When Fancy arrived at the table, he almost had to have seen Vinyl’s look. But nonetheless he spoke in a tone that rang pleasantly through one’s ears.

“Well if it isn’t the best pianist in town too. How blessed I must be to have the joy of meeting the both of you.” He said, his voice seeming to make Vinyl’s grip loosen.

After offering Vinyl a smile, his eyes drifted over to her mother, where they widened.

“Oh my! Who might you be?” He asked, looking intently at Vinyl’s mother who coyly shied away from the attention.

‘Tease...’ I thought.

“Wait...” Fancy said as his head tried to piece it together and he gave Vinyl another look.

“Sister?” He asked her.

“Mother.” Vinyl said simply, not exactly warmly, but not cold either.

Fancy’s eyes widened to the point where his monocle fell out of place.

“Simply amazing.” He said, turning to Vinyl’s mother. “Fluer would love to talk with you about your skin care to keep it looking so...immaculate.” He whispered before shaking his head slightly and looking to Vinyl.

“May I?” He asked, looking to an empty part of the booth.

We all looked to Vinyl for the answer, as she truly was the one to answer that kind of question.

And after a second of hesitation, she nodded.

“Perfect.”

After sitting down, Fancy had no trouble seeing the grip Vinyl had on my hoof, and the emotions behind that grip. Vinyl seemed to notice it as well and simply stared at him, as if in judgement.

Fancy had a particular stance on filly fooling that not everyone agreed with, but everyone respected.

“I couldn’t think of a more fitting couple. Congratulations.” He said honestly with a smile before moving the conversation in a way that only a seasoned host could.

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t help but get the impression that you all aren’t exactly frequent visitors?” He asked, raising a brow slightly knowingly.

I didn’t take a response from any of us to answer his question, as he simply clapped his hooves as the stallion who had escorted us to our table earlier appeared from nowhere with a notepad in hoof.

“Your orders?”

“They’re new, so treat them well - on me, of course.” Fancy said smoothly.

The stallion scribbled something quickly onto the notepad in his hooves, though he tossed a look up to Vinyl’s mother before quickly adding something extra onto the order and prancing off.

“Odd boy. Quirky, but I like it.” Fancy said to himself before turning to us. “I hate to order your food and run, but Fluer will be expecting me. I have a sneaking feeling you’ll enjoy dinner though.” He said cheerfully before walking off himself.

There were reasons I didn’t mix with the upper crust so often, even the ones who had bearable egos and enjoyable personalities. 

And the biggest was how odd some of them were.

Dinner went on rather silently after that, chatter between the three of us filling the gap between Fancy leaving and our food arriving. Though, I couldn’t help but feel that something was bothering Vinyl’s mother the entire time - like some sort of agitation.

Another thing was this light grey mare a few tables over who kept looking at us before ducking behind her menu. I could’ve sworn it was Silver, but this mare had been here before we had even sat down and Silver hardly even knew Canterlot, much less this place.

As we began to finish our meals, that agitation about Vinyl’s mother finally reached it’s breaking point.

"Oh come on dear, when are you going to give us your answer?" She suddenly blurted, sounding exasperated.

‘...What?’

"Answer to what? You haven't asked me a question all night that I haven’t answered..." I said innocently.

Vinyl’s mother looked at me as if I’d offended her deeply, and then put her expression to words, 

“Your answer to whether or not you will go through with what has been started and stopped plenty of times by now, dear.” She said, voice hushed enough to make the conversation private, but loud enough to get her agitation across. 

My eyes widened and jaw slacked as I pieced together just what she was referencing to. I glanced over to Vinyl only to find her cowering slightly at the sudden question her mother had brought up.

“P-Pardon me?” 

“Vampirism dear. Surely it’s crossed your mind as well throughout your relationship with my daughter if you’d ever...turn, as you call it?” She said almost accusingly.

“Uhm...M-Mom?” Vinyl began, actually stammering, but she was quickly out voiced by her mother.


“Vinyl, you know as much as I do that this subject can’t be put off forever.” Vinyl’s mother said in an almost scolding tone to Vinyl.

It was then that I began to feel a bit agitated at Vinyl’s mother.

“Why bring this up now then?” I asked, tone a bit sharper than before as I cocked my brow.

“You’re in the prime of your life dear. Now is the perfect time. Just look at myself dear.” She said almost flauntingly. 

“Do you not think you’re being a bit...childish?” I asked, doing my best to remain polite, but it was becoming increasingly hard.

“Childish is thinking you can stay with someone like my daughter when you can hardly even make your own decisions.”

“Mom…” I heard Vinyl begin, but this time she was cut off by me jolting upwards.

I felt my hind legs almost snap straight as something in my head finally ticked.

“I think I’ll take my leave.” I snapped, sliding out of the booth and walking briskly towards the exit without even daring to look back.

Though I couldn’t help but hear a single word being whimpered.

“Tavi…”


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

I hadn’t realized how much time had past inside that restaurant, the previous sunset from when I had entered had long faded and the streetlights of Canterlot had begun to light.

I found myself in what looked to be a nearby park, sat firmly on a bench as I stared upwards to the moon and surrounding stars, letting thoughts float freely - most of them of the recent altercation of me and Vinyl’s mother. Some said I was right to have left, others said it was wrong to have. Irregardless, I wasn’t happy with how it had ended up.

“I shouldn’t have left Vinyl like that.” I muttered to myself, guilt practically looming over me like the night sky at this point.

I found my thoughts dissipating at the sound of my own voice, as if I had broke my own train of thought.

A light shift in the weight of the bench drew my attention, and my gaze, to the spot beside me where I found a rather sad looking white mare sitting next to me.

“Hey...” She barely managed to whisper.

“I’m, um, really sorry about how my mom was acting.”

I couldn’t help but cock my brow at that. The child taking responsibility for the mother’s actions? That wasn’t quite right.

“Don’t apologize on her behalf Vinyl.” I said simply.

“Sorry, she still shouldn’t have talked about that at the table.” Vinyl said, seeming a bit flustered as a blush ran across her face.

I thought the reason might be because of how sensitive the topic was. I had known it was rather touchy for vampires, at least for Vinyl anyways, but was still curious as to why and what it was.

“Say Vinyl?” I asked gently.

“Hm?” She asked, perking up a little.

“What do you think about what your mother said?” I asked.

I wanted to hear what Vinyl thought about the matter for once.

“I-I…” She began to fumble, but I slid my hoof over and gently placed it on hers.

She was a bit taken aback by the gesture, in a positive way however, before snapping out of the awe and answering my question. Not to mention that I myself wasn’t used to offering gestures like that, I always thought it would come off as odd when I did it.

It seemed like the opposite for Vinyl.

“I-It’s something you shouldn’t take lightly. I know a lot of people don’t wanna do it because they think it makes them less of a person.” She began, still stammering.
I was about to attempt and comfort her again, but she suddenly seemed to even out as she let out a deep breath.

“Some people want to do it, but those kinds of people are usually the ones that turn out to be bad guys. The ones that usually make the best of it are those who either have the option proposed to them or have it done by accident.” She continued, a small smile forming.

“Mom really likes you if she’s bringing that up to you.” She said quietly as she stared up to the stars with a dream-like gaze, stars reflecting off of her crimson eyes that paired well with her ruby cheeks.

It was a fairly staggering statement to say that Vinyl’s mother likes me considering how she had been acting around me, but if there was anyone’s word I could trust about the matter it was Vinyl’s.

But she still hadn’t mentioned one thing.

“But what do you want Vinyl?”

She turned to me with wider eyes and a bit of a slack jaw, her cheeks reddening further.

“What... do I want?” She repeated, as if she couldn’t believe someone was wondering her opinion.

She sort of wandered off after that, and I began to wonder if I had broke her with that single question, but after about a solid half a minute of looking scatterbrained she seemed to become resolved and donned a huge smile - not unlike the one I saw when I first met her.

“What I want is for you to be happy. Whether you take it or not, I’m sure I’ll be happy as long as I get to spend the time after you pick with you.” She said, obviously a bit embarrassed but persevering nonetheless.

“The only difference between saying yes or no is how long I get to spend with you afterwards, which I’ll cherish the same either way.”

Up to this point I could firmly say that I had never been told anything that expressed how deeply important I was to someone, save for my parents.

Today, that changed.

“V-Vinyl...” Was all I could muster after that.

She simply kept beaming at me after that, unable to hide her pure happiness. She leaned in afterwards, pressing her soft lips into my own like she usually would. Though I guess her happiness had an influence on how daring she was this time around, because the gentle sensation of one of her fangs nibbling on my lips sent a shock of new feelings.
She eventually leaned in enough to topple me onto my back, her lips still latched to mine and only letting go when she forgot to breath through her nose.

Her hooves were planted on both sides of my head as she raised up, looking down at me with something reminiscent of the lust she had had so many times before.

But this time, she wasn’t thirsting for blood.

“Wanna go home?” She asked, breathing raggedly.

I couldn’t speak past the knot in my throat, so I meekly nodded instead, to which she smiled heavily before leaning back down for another embrace.

A gentle glower came from her horn as she kissed me again, thought this time I felt something else from her.

‘Is that...her...tou-’ I began to think, but the bright flash of light cut off my thoughts.

It might just be some mix of feelings thinking for me, but thanks to Vinyl’s opinion, I think I could say I have the answer to that question.


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