//------------------------------// // Packing // Story: Fangs // by Sapphic //------------------------------// *~~~*~~~*~~~*...Shakes...*~~~*~~~*~~~* I lazily leaned against the door to my house, using my body weight to push open the door. I couldn't help it, I was worn out. I mean, I knew Vinyl was pretty good with that horn of hers, but jeez, that one dose of magic to my chest was brutal. It felt like getting punched right in the gut, but with a bit of a burning after affect, like when you spill some alcohol on a cut, but a lot worse. From what I saw, sis had got hit by the same shot, but hers wasn't point blank, and I can tell you that magic loses its concentration and, consequentially, power the longer the distance it travels. Not to say she didn't get it bad, in addition to getting hit with the magic, she hit the back of the booth with her head pretty hard. I assure you that Mahogany can definitely hurt. Sweeps crashed in the door soon after me, barely making it over to our couch in the center of the room before she passed out. I would have done the same, but my throat was killing me, and I needed some water. "Hey sis?" I heard Sweeps call out, her voice muffled by the couch. "Hm?" I responded lazily, paused halfway to the kitchen, not feeling up to voicing an actual response. "Can you get me some water?" She asked, using that pleading tone that she knew I couldn't resist. There was just something about it that got to me. I sighed. I couldn't "Hm?" my way out of this one, and that meant I had to actually use words to respond. "Fine." I said softly, turning and trudging off to the kitchen. As much as I complained in my head, it was where I was heading to anyways. Believe it or not, that walk home in the night can really get you tired and thirsty, especially when you have to walk uphill for about a block. About half way through, I had started thinking about that offer Vinyl had offered and how I should have accepted. I mean, she was offering. I mumbled to myself as I reached the small and generic kitchen we had, marble flooring and a glass kitchen table with a few chairs around it, but I paused in front of the cabinets. Those top cabinets where we stored all of our glasses. There aren't many things that I regret doing, but storing the glasses on the top shelf was at the top of list as of right now. I, of course, wouldn't do anything about it because I'm just like that; finding it healthy to complain about something every now and then, really helps getting some of those pent up emotions out. I sighed heavily before raising myself up onto my hind legs, that were now burning from how tired they were, and opened the cabinet. I grabbed two glasses, not paying attention to which two they were, before dropping back down and placing them on the counter. I looked up to the still open cabinet, hesitated on the thought of getting back up on my hind legs, and then turned away and headed for the sink. "Here you go." I said in a breathy voice as I placed one of the glasses, now filled with water, on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. She looked up just enough to see that she actually had to move to get the glass, then promptly let out a big groan. I rolled my eyes at that before placing mine down beside hers and taking a seat on the couch. Her sprawled out form made it difficult to get comfortable, so I gave up and just decided to use her as something like a pillow. I'm sure she would have protested, If she wasn't totally exhausted. Sweeps, after a good five or ten minutes of resting, decided to try her luck at getting the glass of water. It went well, she got it up to her lips and almost all of it down, even putting the glass back without spilling a single drop, though she almost chocked on the water. I giggled softly, the small pinches of pain I got in my chest convincing me not to laugh too hard, before deciding to settle in and try and get some sleep so I closed my eyes, the light sound of my sister snoring already filling my ears. *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* I woke up to the sound of the same light snoring. It was a pleasant sounding snore, the kind that you don't mind listening to. I lifted myself up, the side of my cheek felt numb from resting on my sisters rump, that's not to say it wasn't comfortable, but let's get off of that topic shall we? I sat up on the couch, eying the water that I had got myself last night and forgot to drink. I shrugged and picked up the glass, just now realizing how parched my throat was, and took a big swig, draining half the glass in one go. I felt a slight pressure in my chest and stomach area, the same area that had suffered magical punishment, but it was barely noticeable thanks to the few medications I had taken before Octavia and Vinyl got there. I always kept a few in my office for emergencies, but thanks to our ex-bouncer destroying my office, it took a bit of digging to find them. Something that didn't exactly help the injuries, and once I found one, that I gave to my sister, I had to look for another one for me. The search was well worth the struggle, I was just now noticing how much better I was feeling now. I don't regret giving my sister one, except for that I forgot Sweeps doesn't exactly handle medications as well as me and she got a bit loopy after she took hers. Hey, I would choose to be loopy and numb than clear headed and in pain, not that hard of a choice to me. I heard a light voice mumble something that was muffled by the pillow it spoke into, pulling me from my thoughts. 'Looks like she's awake too.' I thought before answering. I decided to let her enjoy her state of half consciousness, she was really wiped out from last night, and probably needed some rest anyways. A sudden knocking on the door got my attention. "Who could that be?" I whispered to myself as I raised up off the couch and trotted over to the door, opening it to a sight that I found both surprising and odd. *~~~*~~~*...Octavia...*~~~*~~~* "Hey Vinyl?" I asked, breaking the silence that had consumed my bedroom for what seemed like hours, though, according to the clock, it had only been ten minutes since we stopped speaking. She had agreed to let me help, but she didn't say when exactly we were going to leave, and I was reluctant in trying to push the issue since it seemed like she didn't want me to go in the first place. Not because she thought I couldn't handle it, which I probably couldn't anyways, but because she just didn't want me to get hurt. She turned her head to respond. "Hm?" She sounded eager. I guess she wanted something else to talk about too. I had thought nearly all of those ten minutes about what to talk about, and I finally found it not to long ago when my eyes landed on my instrument. It brought back memories of her playing the piano at that thing with Fredric, who seemed to go off the grid after that night. I hadn't heard a thing from him. I should probably check into that some time. "Where did you learn how to play the piano like that?" I asked, getting a bit of a weird look out of her, I guess she wasn't expecting it to be about a piano, before she put on a thinking face. "Well..." She said before trailing off in thought, a hoof tapping idly on her chin as she looked up for some reason. "I started it a pretty long time ago, and at the time I honestly hated the idea of the piano. In fact, I still do." "So why are you so good at it?" I asked, interrupting unintentionally. "Well, just because I don't like it doesn't mean I wont play it." She said making enough sense for me. "Wait..." I said, thinking about what she had said. "If you hated it, why did you learn it?" I said, referring to her earlier statement of hating the idea of the piano. She shrugged. "Liked the teacher?" She said, sounding more like she was asking me. I decided to drop the subject and press in a bit further. Does she played other instruments? "So, other than the piano, do you play anything else?" "Like what?" "Well..." I said, eying my cello. "What about the cello?" "The what?" I rolled my eyes and got up, walking across the room and over to my cello. "The cello." I said, gesturing to my cello. "Well, maybe...I don't know." She said with a shrug. "How do you not know?" I only got another shrug. "Well, I'm guessing that you play it since there's one in your room, so why don't you play me something?" She asked, a small and sly smile forming on her face. "Maybe I'll remember if I hear you play it." She said with a clearly joking smile on her face, but I was still curious if she knew any other instruments, so I agreed. "Fine, what do you want me to play?" I spoke. As soon as the words left my mouth, I face hoofed a little on the inside. I was about to apologize, forgetting that she didn't know "anything" about the cello. "Bach's Cello Suite number one, just do the prelude for time's sake." I heard her say, stopping me dead in my tracks. I gave her a questioning glare, only to see her leaned back in the bed with a cocky smile. Of course she knew how to play it, or maybe she just knew some cello pieces. If so, then she had excellent taste. Bach's Cello Suite's were some of the first major musical pieces I learned, and I still find them to be my favorite. I put on a smug smile of my own, if Vinyl thought she was getting the surprise on me, she was wrong. I knew how to play it, and I knew how to play it well. She still surprised me by knowing something about cello music, but I guess that explains why she was acting so coy about the subject. I set up my cello, propping it against my own body while I used it as support for myself. I stood on my hind legs when I played, since that was really the only way to play it. Next, I pulled up the bow to the strings, playing a couple notes to be sure it was still in tune. Finally, I played out the beginning of the melody in my head, the countless times I had practiced leaving my memory of he song spot on. I pulled the bow across the strings, my hoofs resting atop the neck of the cello to press down on the proper strings, causing the first notes to begin to seep out, resonating from deep within the cello and forming a melody. I went on with the song with my head tilted down, casting occasional glances up to Vinyl to see if she was shocked or not, but every time I looked up, she had the same smile on her face when I had began. The second I was starting to wonder if she was even hearing it, she began to sway her head to the music. I smiled at it; apparently the DJ has a soft spot for classics. Who knows, she could have been around when this piece was first made. Heck, she could have helped make it for all I know. The prelude winded down to an end, finishing with me holding the last note before dropping the bow into a resting position. I looked back up to Vinyl and saw that her smile had grown. "So, never played a cello?" I asked, getting a little laugh out of her. "Nope." She said with a smile, getting a roll of the eyes from me, but I couldn't help the smile that crept on my face. "Did you at least enjoy it?" I asked, trying to get some more feedback out of her other than the smile that was always on her face. "Yeah! It was great!" She said as she got up from the bed. I smiled, content with that feedback. "Except for your second G on measure sixteen; it sounded a bit loose. Maybe try taking less glances at me next time." She said casually as she trotted towards the door, a knowing grin growing on her face. I had frozen at that point, eyes slowly widening at her response. "W-what?" I stammered in disbelief. 'S-she saw me?' I thought, even stammering in my head. "Come on, let's get some breakfast, I'm starving, and I think you deserve a treat for such a good job." She said, turning the corner of my doorway and making her way down the hall. I was stuck there, thinking back on what she said. 'How?' Was all I thought. She was able to pick up the slightest off set of a single note in the piece that I had, otherwise, played it perfect. Even I didn't hear my loose G. Not only that, but she was also able to catch me taking glances at her. "You coming Octi?!" I heard her call from my living room. "I'll let you walk if you want, but I figured you'd wanna let me take you." That got me out of that state of light shock. "Y-yeah...Coming!" *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* She had asked me where I wanted to get breakfast at, and I couldn't think of anything creative at the moment since my mind was still mulling over what had just happened, so I just chose the same cafe that I would usually eat at with me friends. Of course, I would be eating on the inside for the first time in what was probably months, not that I mind eating inside. My main concern was Vinyl finding something that she could pronounce, eat and enjoy. About the only things that they had there that I thought she might enjoy were the salads, which all had fancy names for those who didn't know where they were. It was a marketing strategy I guess. We sat down and got some waters, after convincing Vinyl that she didn't need a beer of course. Afterwards, I had to read off the menu items to her and basically deduce what they were so that she would understand them. Eventually, after reading off nearly every item three times, she decided on something; basically just a salad with a few toppings. Once the waitress left, she took a deep sigh, looking a bit sad, before she put a serious look on her face, one that I hadn't seen before, but I could tell she was about to talk about something important and meaningful. "Octavia," She began, a tone that sounded like that of a teacher that grabbed at my attention. "If your going to come with me, if you still want to of course." She gave an anxious look, but I nodded that I was still going, and the look withered back to the same serious look. "Well, if we're" I smiled at the sound of her using that word. "going to go, we're going to need a few things." "Like?" I asked. "Well, basically just some stuff for camping out, cause I don't think we're gonna make it one day and I don't think we want to be exposed out there." She said, making a good point. It'd be best not to rush ourselves, as for actually getting some sort of camping gear: That was a problem. "Do you have an idea on how to get any?" I asked her, knowing I didn't have any of my own. What purpose would they serve to a mare living in an apartment anyways? What would I do? Go camping in my living room? "Well, I do know one pony..." She said, turning the slightest bit sheepish. I raised a brow at that. The waitress returned carrying our salads, saving Vinyl from telling. The meal went on and she decided to keep on playing coy in telling me who exactly this pony was that had the camping gear. I had honestly no idea who it could be, but I decided I wouldn't make any guesses since she has yet to stop shocking me with hidden talents and knowing pothers that you would expect not to know. She clearly had quite a reputation judging by the few times she had taken me places, even some of the elites talked about her. For all I know, it could be Celestia's sleeping bag and Luna's tent that she was going to get. The salads came, the salads went, passing by in a comfortable grazing, boring for the most part. It was when it finally ended that things got a bit more interesting. "Would you just tell me who it is already?" I asked, almost begged, to her for about the fifth time. She sighed. "Fine." She said, sounding a bit annoyed as she rolled her eyes, accompanied by a sudden flash of her horn that caught me off guard, causing me to stumble backwards and trip over my hind legs. *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* I felt my back end hit something solid. I opened my eyes, blinking them a few times as they adjusted from the sudden flash of bright blue. "A warning could have been nice..." I mumbled, knowing that I had asked for that. When the finally came into vision, I saw that I was on a rough stone porch that was tucked underneath a small bit of roofing. A porch that looked vaguely familiar to me. Vinyl stepped into view, coming up from behind me, and up to a oaken door. She brought her hoof up and gave a couple quick and heavy knocks, hitting a bit too hard and leaving a mark on the door. I was still confused, and still sitting on the porch, scanning the other aspects of this house to try and figure out where I was. I swore I knew who's this house. It finally hit me just as the door began to creak open, revealing the owner of the house inside.. "Vinyl?" A voice belonging to Shakes spoke in disbelief. I watched as her eyes met with Vinyl's, who was giving her a small smile, but they eventually drifted down to me, giving me more of a funny stare. I felt my cheeks blush a bit as I quickly scrambled to get up and collect myself, looking a bit clumsy in the process. "Octavia?" She said as I steadied myself, also sounding in a bit of disbelief. "Hello Shakes." I said happily. 'So Shakes has the camping gear.' I deduced in my head. "So, uh...Can I help you guys with something?" She asked, clearly confused why we were standing outside of her house. I jumped the gun. "Well, we were actually looking for some-" I was silenced by a white hoof. "You're going to wanna sit down for this." Said Vinyl, smiling sheepishly. Shakes looked confused at first, but decided to just shrug and gesture us into her house. *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* "So let me get this straight." She said for what seemed like the hundredth time as she placed her hooves against the glass coffee table that we all sat around. She had brought us to the kitchen to let her sister sleep. "You want me to lend you two my camping gear and let you wander off into the forest to face the guy that put Vinyl under some kind of spell and almost killed us?" She repeated, getting yet another nod out of me and Vinyl. "Look, Shakes," I started. "We understand if you don't want to give us your camping gear, we we're just wondering if you could since your the only one we know that has any. If you can-" She cut me off. "And you didn't even invite me?" She sounded genuinely upset and shocked. "What?" Me and Vinyl said in perfect synchronization, eyes widening. "Unbelievable!" She exclaimed in outrage, further increasing our shock. "Shakes, I don't think you should go with those band-" Vinyl tried to protest, but to no avail. "Sweeps! Sweeps get in here!" She shouted, interrupting Vinyl. The sound of fumbling was heard in the living room that held her snoozing sister and eventually a tired looking unicorn trudged into the kitchen, her hooves almost tripping over themselves. "What?" She said, her tone lazy and annoyed. "These two are going on a suicide mission!" Shakes exclaimed, getting no reaction out of her sister. "And?" She said nonchalantly. "And they didn't even invite us!" Shakes continued. "What?!" Her sister shouted, joining her sisters rant with a surprising amount of energy. "Exactly!" Shakes said, throwing her hooves into the air to punctuate her outrage. I leaned over, getting closer to Vinyl's ear as they continued their ranting. "Are they normally like this?" I asked, being a serious as possible. "Now do you see why I wanted to take this inside?" She said, still shocked, but hinting that she had apparently encountered this before. We sat there in mild amusement, watching and listening to the sisters go on and on about how absolutely rude and ridiculous it was of us to not invite them on our "Suicide mission". The more passionate of the two was Shakes, but her sister didn't fall too far behind, not by a long shot. We let them finish their protest, additionally letting them cool down for about five minutes, before even attempting to talk to them. "Done?" Vinyl asked. "No! How could you not invite us!?" Shakes said, still mad about it. "Because I don't want you guys to get hurt!" She said, sounding like it was obvious, which I thought it was. "Oh, so you'll take your mare friend, but you won't take us!?" Sweeps chimed in, making both me and Vinyl blush a bit, me especially. "Unbelievable!" Shakes agreed. "But she-" Vinyl began before being cut off. "No! No more excuses! Were coming and that's final! Isn't that right sis?" Shakes said, turning to her sister and getting an approving nod, making it clear that they were coming no matter what. "Strength in numbers?" I suggested sheepishly, getting a look out of Vinyl that made me sink back down with a sheepish smile, but a look of praise and approval from the two sisters. "See? Your mare thinks its a good idea, why don't you?" Sweeps asked. With the two sisters staring at her with determination, Vinyl finally gave in and said: "Fine." She said, sighing and placing her head in her hooves. "We leave at first dark! Sweeps! Fetch the camping gear!" Shakes said, sounding comically like an old general. Sweeps nodded and ran into another room, Shakes not too far behind, leaving me to reconcile with Vinyl. "I'm sure it will be fine." I said, placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "I hope so." She said, massaging her temples gently.