*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Octavia...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
I trotted along the sidewalk slowly, head hanging slightly low and eyes seemingly glued to the pavement. I didn't feel sad, though I couldn't bring myself to act happy. Even though on a regular basis I didn't act particularly ecstatic, I at least acted stoically; I was acting a bit mopey now and I just couldn't figure out why. I wasn't that hung up on the orchestra was I?
Vinyl had came out of the back a bit more cheery and lively than usual, I assumed she hadn't heard the conductor's decision but figured I wouldn't bring it up to her. She'd probably take it harder than I would. She also was acting a bit more touchy and clingy than she had been earlier, hugging up to me more than usual as we trotted through a number of back alleys.
The walk was relatively silent for the most part, only until we got about a block away from my apartment building did Vinyl ever say anything. And what she said shocked me.
"Hey Tavi?"
"Hm?" I grunted, my throat still a bit swollen from the orchestra. Was it allergies or something?
"Mind if we go out for dinner tonight?" She asked.
"I don't see why not." I said stately, though she didn't seem to notice or care.
"Oh, and can we invite along that friend of yours too?" She asked excitedly.
"Who? Harpo?" I asked in return, using the only other pony Vinyl was on good terms with.
"Oh yeah! Him too."
"Too?"
"Yeah, I was talking about that mare. Wasn't her name Fruity or something?" Vinyl pondered, nuzzling into my shoulder.
"B-Beauty?" I stammered in shock.
"Yeah! That was it!" She said with glee, going back to silence and leaving me rather dumbstruck.
We finally arrived at my apartment building , the desk mare eyeing me and Vinyl only for a moment before going back to her coffee. She had gotten used to me coming in with Vinyl hung around me in some way, and also used to me coming in with a blush across my face trying to push Vinyl off me. Believe it or not but she still managed to make me blush just as well as she did when she first started pulling these kind of things. It personally amazed me to an extent.
It was when we had gotten up to my room that Vinyl finally seemed to pick up on my apparent sadness.
"Tavi?" She asked cautiously as I dropped my cello off and took a seat on the couch.
"Yes Vinyl?" I replied flatly.
"Is something bothering you?" She asked innocently. This pretty much confirmed my suspicions that Vinyl was unaware to the conductor firing me.
"Well, it's just that..." I trailed off, my throat swelling a little and my eyes somewhat tearing up.
This only seemed to press her on to find out what it was. She came over and sat on the couch with me, pressing up to me and asking once more what was bothering me. The concern in her voice was enough to show me that she was on the edge of tearing up herself.
"You didn't hear the conductor...did you?"
She gasped a little at the mention of the conductor.
"Did he..." She trailed off, the implications obvious. Her eyes dropped a little and she couldn't seem to meet my eyes.
"Yes..." I agreed solemnly, my own gaze trailing off.
I suddenly felt her hooves wrap around me and a feeling washed over me, one of relief, but not a good kind. It was as if something snapped, the last string holding up something big inside of me finally giving out under the weight pulling it down. I felt my throat swell once more, bigger than ever, and my nostrils burned while my eyes began to water. I tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a choking sound and that was when I finally realized what was happening.
I was crying.
It had been some time since I had cried like this, genuine tears from something important lost to me. I hardly cried over anything.
I ducked my head down, hitting firmly against Vinyl shoulders and pressed inwards in a dumb attempt to hide myself as if some kind of audience watching me. It was when I actually hit her shoulder that I stopped trying to hold it back and simply let my tears roll, choking sounds coming more frequently than before. The tears matted her shoulder and my face, with warm tears as my jaw clinched for some reason; something hurt. What it was, I didn't know, but I knew that it was aching.
I felt a hoof come up and rest on my head, Vinyl's hoof, and simply lay there in comfort. It only seemed to make me cry harder.
I couldn't tell how long we sat there, at least a half hour, but all the way Vinyl stayed there patting my head and not muttering a word. I guess she wasn't that good at comforting ponies, either that or she knew the best remedy for tears was silence.
When we finally parted the air was cold against my eyes, them having gotten use to being pressed into a shoulder matted down with tears.
"T-Thanks...Vinyl." I said awkwardly.
Hardly anyone had ever comforted me like that before; not my parents, not Wilfred, not Beauty, nor Harpo, or anyone. They had comforted me on smaller things, like a hoof on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile, but never a caring hug whilst I cried. Then again, I didn't cry that much.
"Tavi?" Vinyl asked for my attention.
"Yes?" I said with a sniff, looking to her to find that her glasses had been thrown off at some point during my sobbing.
"I'm here for you. Okay?" Her eyes showed earnest, what she said was true; even a socially illiterate mare like me could see that.
"O-Okay." I stammered at her conviction, her passion for me. It was...well it was staggering frankly.
She smiled greatly at my answer, the joy flickering through her eyes and shining out through her teeth. She seemed happy from my happiness and well being, and sad when I got depressed or harmed in some way or another. One might call her disregard for her own sake unnatural, but it wasn't that in the slightest.
"So, what 'cha wanna do til we go out for dinner? We'll probably have to talk to your friend at some point..." She mumbled, beginning to unravel herself from my hooves.
Something inside me moved my hooves forward and grabbed her rising body.
"I'd..." I trailed off, shocked at my own actions.
"Hm?" She hummed.
"I'd-I'd rather sit here...for a while." I felt my cheeks blush at how silly I sounded.
Vinyl didn't seem to see that at all, she simply and wordlessly sat back down and pressed her back into my stomach and let me handle how I would wrap my hooves around her. I struggled with that as well, not quite sure where to go, but she took care of that as well by grabbing my hooves and guiding them to rest over her stomach; hugging her from behind while we rested out heads against the arm of the couch.
Her eyes were closed and a smile graced her lips while I felt one tugging at my own mouth, but my brows seemed to be bent in caution of how she felt. Was she comfortable right now?
Her eye peaked open and she looked up at me with a smug smile, making eye contact just before snugging back into me.
"I think I could get used to this." She said with a sigh.
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Maple...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
"So," Flint chirped, dropping a number of papers and maps onto the table that she, Stone, and I were crowded around. "anyone have a suggestion for a first plan?" She asked casually.
"Nothing solid here." General Stone bellowed.
"No surprise there..." Flint snickered, getting a laugh out of Stone as well.
It amazed me how ponies of such a rank casually threw insults at each other and just interacted with themselves in general. They even incorporated me into a few conversations, as if we were just casual acquaintances with each other rather than a soldier to a superior officer. I brought it up to them and they both gave each other this sort of look before bursting into laughter that shook the room.
"Ho," Stone cried. "we don't know why you younger ranks think us Generals some kinda machines. We be just as pony as you or the next stallion or mare. Just cause we happen to be a veteran means we can't talk to our soldiers?" He said, bursts of chuckles still popping up in his sentence.
I actually felt kind of stupid after asking it, everything he said was completely true, it's not like they didn't feel anything. They were just as pony as I was.
"Heh, there's probably some other soldiers in the ranks that are better suited for the jobs of generals than me or Stone here; we'd much rather be hunters again, which is why we jumped at the opportunity to get our hooves dirty for once. Most action I've gotten was from sparring the recruits, and now even they're coming in fewer numbers to throw down." Flint said, sounding sad at being treated the way she did.
"Anyways," Stone said suddenly. "what we need to come up with is some sort of way to find this shifty vampire 'for she causes some more ruckus inside the city of the princess."
The room went silent for a moment, all of us thinking of some sort of idea to find what hadn't been found for a few years.
"Bartenders?" I suggested. I already knew the information committee had failed to come up with any solid evidence so I ruled our archives out immediately.
"Tried them 'for, they weren't much more use than asking a brick." Stone said bluntly, his black, bushy brows furling in thought.
We all died down into silence, deep in thought, until Stone spoke up suddenly in his gruff voice.
"Hm, well in that case we can make a plan of action when we get to the city itself; though we still have many a problem about stayin' nice and quiet about this whole thing." He said sagely.
"Like?" I asked.
"Fitting in as citizens and not vampire hunters - me and Stone are kinda like icons to those who have the slightest clue about The Order and will most likely run on sight or cause a scene to get away. That also means that the target could tell others, and the word could quickly get out of hoof and not a vampire could be in the city within two days. We also have the issue of finding housing to use as a base of operations." Flint said nonchalantly.
"Aye, they gave us plenty a' funds but not really anywhere to use them when we get there. Flint suggested renting an apartment and maybe getting jobs to help get a local lay of the land and the ponies 'round town while also saving money. Said we might finda' fella or lass who knows of this slippery vampire's whereabouts." Stone added, mammoth form shifting on the couch.
"Wow. How long do you two plan on stretching this mission?" I asked.
"As long as it takes." They replied in unison with their eyes burning into me with enough passion to make me slink back into my chair, an overwhelming response despite being made by only two ponies.
"Either way," Flint said, leaning back in her chair. "since we're gonna make a plan later, the only thing holdin' us in this buildin' is a place to set up."
"So our next move?" I asked.
Stone turned and pulled a tall pile of magazines from under the coffee table with a single hoof and dropped them on the table with enough weight behind it to give me a fear the table might break.
"We look at houses." Flint said cheerfully, clasping her hooves together in glee.
At first I felt useful in browsing the magazines with them, looking at houses and apartments and the like, but I quickly found out that I was wrong. Every idea I suggested was shot down immediately by one of the two generals, sometimes even both of them at once. Their reasons were odd and almost dumb; things like the kitchen not looking good or not having enough walking room. I also found that even they weren't free from their disagreement, one general shooting down the other just as quickly as the other found an idea. It went on for at least an hour or two, I personally quit after the first, and began to lose it at the second.
"Find anything?" I asked with a huff, dropping the tenth magazine back onto the coffee table.
"Nothing really catches my eye, everything I'm finding is just too expansive or a box with windows. Nothing cozy and spacious at the same time." Flint murmured, flipping another page with her eyes fixed intensely on the houses.
"Aye, nothin' that's old with a modern touch; needs to be big as well to fit me and myself, but not big enough that it would feel empty if only one of us was there." He agreed with Flint.
I was still slack jawed at how these two rumored machines-of-war were sitting over here discussing kitchen designs instead of loading up a carriage with weapons to try and get the mission over with.
"Oi! This one looks nice." Stone said, Flint rushing over and staring at the home.
My ears were perked with interest at the two indecisive generals having maybe found a house that fit the both of them.
"Hm," Flint hummed. "well it does fit the heights we want, as well as space. And is even in the area we were going to start the search. Heck, it's a pretty fair price as well! Two bedrooms and a living room built in with the kitchen. One bathroom, which might be a bit straining, but I think we can manage that. And look at that, pre-furnished!" Flint seemed to be building excitement as she went down the list.
"Aye, I think it's the one!" Stone seemed to match her excitement at the apartment building. It was rather odd to a stallion of his size get excited over such a small thing.
Their eyes turned to me with an expectant look, and I replied with an eager nod even without looking at the house or apartment they chose. I just wanted to get things moving.
"Well, with that out of the way. can head out once we're all packed. Maple if you'd like to head down to the armory and pick up what you might need, if they ask you tell them two of the generals sent you. Me and Stone here will swing round back and get a carriage ready for transport to the city." Flint said, getting up and stretching her hooves and cracking her neck. Stone soon followed her suite.
I was almost shocked at her sudden change to a professional manner, it managed to trigger my professionalism as well.
"Yes ma'am." I replied almost automatically, turning on my heels and heading out the door and back to the lobby.
The armory was stored in two different places. One was the on scene training armory that was on the outside of the building, located around back where the carriages were loaded and morning routines were held. The second one was much more extensive, it was the real armory. It was about three times as big and stored about two floors underground; it was also the field testing location for all the new weapons The Order came up with. Though new weapons were usually a rarity since almost all of our equipment was optimized to its fullest extent by the engineers that lived here.
Well, at least that's what Rose told me after she read the booklet the desk mare gave her. Though something seemed off about the orders she gave me.
"Have you already packed, or did you want me to..." I began to trail off once their hysterical laughter hit my ears; my cheeks burned with embarrassment, and I didn't even know what I was embarrassed about.
"Sorry 'bout that lass, but no, me and Flint are already good to go. Take your time and meet us when you're ready." Stone said between giggled. Flint was in the same shape, having fell to the floor during her fit of laughter.
I chuckled a little bit to myself in an attempt to make me appear less shocked by there laughter; I think it only slightly worked before I decided to just up and leave to go see the desk mare and inquire about the armory and how to get there.
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
The walk to the armory was a lonely and silent one, the only sound I heard on my entire trip there being the sound of others conversation and the light hum of both the lights and air conditioning.
The armory itself was just as big as I had played it out to be, about the size of a warehouse, and filled to the brim with all kinds of things. Isles practically dedicated to one type of weapon and all its variations. Of course, I wasn't skilled in practically any of them so my choices were quite limited. The ponies at the check out counters didn't really seem to mind me taking things, and I didn't even have to mention the generals to get there go ahead for taking what I wanted.
What I ended up walking out of with was a hoof crossbow modified with a foldable sight, plenty of arrows, blood vials, a silver hoof blade, and a small jar of poison to dip the arrows in.
The venom couldn't actually kill a vampire by just hitting them with it alone thanks to their stronger bodily systems, but it could definitely cause some unpredictable effects based on where you shot one. It would essentially cause that part of the body to momentarily numb or shutdown or cause it to overwork itself and overload the vampires senses on that particular region - short term hypersensitivity.
The checkout clerk admired my choices, especially the venom and stated that it was a rather underused item of the armory.
After coming out of the armory and heading back up to the surface, I headed outside and followed a narrow, cobble, path around to the back of the main building where I found a large station full of carriages. They were divided up into sections of destination, matching the style of the carriage of that area.
I kept walking and looking for the Canterlot carriage, but ended up finding the red mane of General Flint first; I guess their unique appearances had an advantage after all, though I was somewhat embarrassed I missed General Stone since he was about the size of a normal carriage.
She smiled to me and her hoof snaked around to the back of her head sheepishly. I wondered breifly what she could be shy about, but discovered it soon enough.
General Stone was stuck halfway through a door to a carriage with about three stallions and two mares trying to pull him out, each of them with a determined and strained look on their face.
"I told him he wouldn't fit. Boulder for brains never listens to me." She said with a snicker.
"I heard that ya hot head!" A muffled voice called from inside the carriage.
It took them a total of seven members to eventually give up and break out a saw to cut out the edges of the door around Stone's massive figure. Flint and I giggled the whole way, though Flint was more or less rolling on the ground when she saw the saw come out.
Stone took it in good spirit though, joining in with out laughter as the team of now eight hunters disbanded and called for another - much larger - carriage to come pick us up.
And larger it was.
About twice as long and half wider than the first one, this time holding double doors to enter the passenger area.
"No wonder they've had trouble keeping things quiet before...." I thought to myself as Stone went into the back seats with much more ease with Flint and I following close behind.
The passenger area was now seated in a circular fashion that was similar to how a limo was laid out, though a bit more bunched up than that. Though it didn't make much difference since Stone easily took up half or three quarters of the space back there, which left me and Flint rather squished. Though she didn't seem to mind nearly as much as I did.
I also noticed that there was three stallions pulling us this time.
The doors shut quickly and we soon began moving, I knew this because the windows on this carriage weren't tinted and I could see right through.
Stone was quick to spark up a conversation.
"So, I was thinking, since this ride's gonna be quite the long one, why don't we brainstorm for an idea on how to search for the target?"
"Aren't so hard headed now are yah?" Flint commented, getting a chuckle out of Stone.
"Shame those bartenders are out of the equation, probably the most informed and well known ones in town." I said sadly.
"Aye, cheer up lassy! We'll still stop by and give 'em a visit for a drink or two!" Stone said with enthusiasm.
A light bulb seemed to go off in Flint's mind as something struck her. Hard.
"Well hold on a minute." Flint interrupted. "There might be one who can help us out. A good friend of mine who I think would be perfect for lending a hoof." She said, reaching around Stone's leg and rummaging through a bag that I hadn't seen before that looked like it held multiple folders and maps in it.
She finally pulled out a small folder and spread its contents across an open section of seat. In particular, she pulled a picture of a mare with a light blue coat and dark red mane; striking aqua blue eyes filled with excitement stared at the camera that took the photo.
Stone stared heavily at the photo.
"And how do we know she won't lie like the rest?" He asked.
"If I were the one asking, I know she wouldn't." Flint replied quickly.
"Friend of yours then?" I asked.
"Yep." She nodded.
"She gotta name don't she?" Stone asked, picking up some of the contents of the folder and sifting through them slowly as his eyes read from side to side down the page. He leaned his hulking hooves over a bit and let me read on with him, I was lucky I was a faster reader than him.
"Shakes. Soft Shakes." She said simply.