//------------------------------// // Found // Story: Fangs: The Order // by Sapphic //------------------------------// *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Maple...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "And you're sure that you can catch her?" Flint asked a gruff looking pegasus with a bushy mustache and eyebrows to match, under one of these said eyebrows was a monocle. Flint decided that she was going to meet with the "Local Veterans" early in the morning, and for some reason decided to take me along with her. It was the crack of light - the sun just bright enough to light up the sky - and here I was sitting in an uncomfortable office chair in a pitch black room. The only things that were lit was the white, plastic table we three sat at with the light provided by an over hanging lamp. It was the day after the run in with the neighbors, yesterday I spent most of my time wandering around town with Stone. He told Flint it was to get a lay out of the land, but in reality he used it as an excuse to get me out of the house and to 'bond' with me in general. He seemed to have realized I didn't exactly like hanging around the house all day, so it at least showed he was taking note some of the time. "Yes ma'am, I'm sure that we can get the job done." He said. His voice reminded me of one you might see on a safari trip, someone who decided to do something outrageous in their free time - like boxing or alligator wrestling. "I assume you have something to go off of? It's fine if you guys don't but I'm kind of on a schedule here..." Flint said casually. She was surprisingly relaxed in this so called 'meeting' we were having. "Ma'am, the second you brought up that name my team began digging for anything we have on her. I've been here for some twenty years - I was here when that name first began to get some weight behind it. Much like the others in the area, I did my fair share of looking for her. And just like the others, I gave up after awhile. But if it is your will general, I will stop at no expense this time." He sounded determined beyond belief. I guess Flint was an inspiration to some. Flint seemed to notice the passion burning in his eyes. "Good." Was all she simply said. The squinted brows turned to me. "And you said she was a unicorn, bright blue magic, possessed astounding strength and speed even by vampire standards, had a tendency to play with prey, changed attitudes quickly and also seemed to be protecting something?" He asked, reciting all we knew about Vinyl Scratch. I nodded. He smiled, though the smile seemed to not be from the information he had gotten from me. Maybe he just felt happy for me to have contributed to the conversation. "Well, the magic will probably be our main clue..." I heard him mumble while he rubbed at his chin. He stood up from the table with a sudden movement, his hoof extended. "Ma'am I swear to you that we will find this mare and bring her to you." Flint got up and met his hoof. "Good. Try and bring her back alive as well," Flint's face turned dark for a moment. "I want to see the face that hurt my hunters." "Have faith in me ma'am, I know of plenty in the area whom were also looking for missus Vinyl Scratch; plenty of whom know how to take down vampires in the most effective and efficient manner. She will be alive, though I cannot promise you unharmed." He said. "Harmed is fine - beat her up all you want - just don't kill her." Flint said with a devious smile. They seemed done and let go of each others hooves, Flint turning and heading towards the door while the stallion straightened out a stack of papers that had been on the desk. I got up quickly and followed behind Flint, turning back enough for me to take notice the surprising bulk in his form - he may not have been tall, but he was big. Just as we reached the hallway that the room was connected to, I heard some yelling come from the room. "Sharp!" The voice of the mustached stallion called out, receiving a meek 'Yes sir?!' in response. "Get as much blood as you can and pack it all into jars - the bigger the better. We're using the location Madam Flint gave us of the last group that was attacked and will be distributing blood into the alley ways and back streets every few blocks away from that in a one mile radius in every direction." He said sagely. He was smart as well. I had never even thought of something like that - if you don't know all of what she looks like just lure in a bunch of her kind and use the process of elimination to get rid of all the others until you arrive at the real deal. Simple and efficient. Sounded like his hunting party was going to be much larger as well if he was going to cover all of those jars. Another 'Yes Sir!' replied to him, followed by the sound of rampant hoof steps. The last bit that I managed to make out was, once more, the voice of the mustached stallion. "Better get the boys back together, been awhile since we had a good hunt." So that was his weird hobby. Well, I guess I did it as well in a sense, but I imagine his hobby had started up way before joining The Order. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* Flint was particularly silent on the way back home, just staring almost vacantly into the distance with a squinted look of something that could pass for strain. Her eyes looked almost angry. She did provide a break in this look once though, turning to look at me with forced gentle eyes. "Wanna get breakfast?" She asked suddenly. "Uh, sure." I replied, taken aback a little by the sudden shift in her demeanor. We walked into a small coffee shop - one of the seemingly infinite supply of them that littered this city - and Flint ordered us something light. She immediately went back to sulking after that, staring unconsciously at my chest intensely. I decided to say something. "Hey, uh, Flint?" I asked. No response. "Flint?" I asked again, knocking on the table to no avail. I decided to push the part on her head just below her horn, finally managing to snap her out of her little trance. "Huh?" She asked. "What's wrong? You got all vacant after meeting with that guy." I pointed out, and in response she let out a massive sight that blew up the long side of her mane. "Meh, lotta things on my mind right now..." "Care to expand on that?" I raised a brow. "Hm, sure." She answered, getting comfortable in her seat. "Well, between the first wave of casualties we got within a few days of getting here and then putting that mustached stallion in charge, I'm beginning to get a little worried about all the ones who might get hurt in this stupid little assignment we're on." "That's it? But you're a general - shouldn't you be used to casualties?" "That may be true, but just because I'm used to 'em doesn't make it any less easy to deal with those reports..." She said solemnly. "My main issue is this big escapade that vet is about to go on; he's got a sizable number of hunters with him, and I know you were also listening in on the plan he shouted so you should know about all the ones he's going to be sending out." I was a bit shocked about her also listening in on the plan that stallion had shouted, but even more so about her knowing that I was also eavesdropping. "Regardless of how he plans to spread them out to cover all those blood jars, there are going to be more rookies than hardened hunters on this mission facing down some kind of... monster. And that's coming from someone who's job is to kill vampires." "Well, I guess at a certain point it was impossible to avoid casualties." "Yeah, right when I accepted this mission." She mumbled in response. The waitress arrived back at our table with two cups of coffee, a glass of juice and two biscuits. Flint gave a smile as she sat them down, changing attitudes on a whim as the waitress walk away. "Well, whatever happens I can only hope for the best." She said, in a tone that I would guess to be cheerful if it weren't for the conversation we had just had. I gave her a serious look, wondering about just how stressful her position was, before looking down to the juice she had pushed towards me. The two cups of coffee were for her. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Octavia...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* My eyes turned to the couch once again - I had lost count at around twelve or so - and looked at the still sleeping form of Vinyl. She had been sleeping for more than twenty four hours at this point, excluding the quick fight she had dealt with that had made my night more than uneasy to say the least. It was around late afternoon at this point, the sun was falling over the horizon and giving way for the oncoming night. I was beginning to get worried for her, whether or not she was going to wake up at all, though she definitely still seemed to be aware of her surroundings somehow. I had given an experimental walk through the space between the couch and coffee table - where her hind legs were residing - and they moved almost on their own out of my way. I did it a second time and got the same result. I tired waking her once or twice, though it ended in two different scenarios. The first involved her nibbling on my hoof when I put it near her nose in an attempt to poke her while the second involved something similar to what she did with the mare from the encounter - wrapping me up somehow and using me as a body pillow of sorts for a few hours. It wasn't until around lunch time that she moved with the intention of getting up rather than adjusting to a more comfortable position. I was in the kitchen when I saw her body teeter up from the couch, her hair ruffled and matted as she sat up. She put her front hooves above her heads and stretched them each individually, letting out small grunts as she did so. "Vinyl?" I asked experimentally. Was she sleep walking? "Huh?" She mumbled, turning to look at me with a faint smile and rugged eyes. Was she still tired after a near full day of sleeping? I didn't really have a formulated response at this point, believe it or not. I had been prepared for her to sleep longer than this, yet still hadn't thought of something to say when she woke up. Though the one thing I did do was smile. "Nothing, just glad to see you awake." I said almost instinctual. She replied with a yawn, looking around the room until something finally caught her eye. "Hey Tavi, what's that?" She asked pointing up at the ceiling. I followed her hoof up to the bolt still firmly planted in my ceiling. "Do you not know?" I asked her. It somewhat sounded like I myself didn't know, though I was asking her since she was the one who indirectly had it put there. She shook her head at me before continuing to look around the room, this time looking for something else since it occurred to her that something had happened. Her eyes finally landed on the twisted piece of metal that was the crossbow laying a few feet in front of her near the closed blinds. She then picked herself up off the couch, her legs wobbling just a little, and made her way over to the object. She picked it up and looked it with a look that soon turned to curiosity before turning to me. "Who's is this? Shakes'?" She looked back at the device. "Man it got messed up." "Um, no." I replied, trotting to the edge of the tile from the kitchen. She looked a bit confused for a second, but her head seemed to piece together the implications of my response, the bolt in the ceiling and the crossbow. She let out an annoyed sigh. "Did someone come while I was sleeping?" She asked, her voice a lot more bland than before. Lacking an emotion, though not serious. "Do you not remember?" I asked. I hated how evasive I was sounding, but I wanted to know if she had indeed forgot. "No, so did they?" *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* I took all of about thirty minutes of telling her about the group of ponies that had come in and attacked. We moved over to the couch at my request, since I figured it might take awhile. Her face stayed the same throughout most of the talk, despite me telling her things that I thought would at least upset her slightly. The only times she did make a face was when I told her about me getting tied up - where she frowned - and the times when she was shot with bolts - where she cringed. She even looked at her hoof when I spoke of her pulling the bolt straight through. After I had finished, I had hoped for a reaction a watched her closely. I did get one. After a bit of time, she leaned back into the couch and let out a sigh the lifted a puff of mane up into the air. Her eyes went cross eyed as she followed the clump of hair go up and come back down. "Vinyl?" "Thanks for protecting me, Tavi." She said suddenly, her eyes still facing forwards. "W-What?" 'Did she not hear me? I was tied up and helpless for all the fight while she took multiple bolts for myself. If anything I should be thanking her. ' I thought to myself, followed by voicing said thought. "Heh, you can protect people in more ways than you'd think." Was all she said, turning to me with a smile and look of admiration. She sounded like she didn't even believe herself when she said it. "What do you mean?" I asked, perplexed. "I tend to be a bit more emotional when I get woke up early. My head's kinda still sleeping even though I'm awake, so feelings get a bit out of hoof then." She said with a giggle. 'So she works more off emotion when she wakes up early? Well that could certainly explain some situations in the past. It would also explain why Vinyl attacked them so quickly, as it usually took a bit more to provoke her.' I thought. Even getting shot with a bolt might not be enough to get Vinyl to attack them as hard as she did. She might use magic to dispose of them, like teleporting them away, but it usually took something more for her to use physical violence like how she had slammed the stallion. Though that still didn't explain why she was thanking me for 'protecting' her. "Well, from what you told me I did, I imagine if you weren't there at the time some... things might have happened that I wouldn't have done if I was thinking right." She said sincerely. I felt a bit warm at that statement, despite still not knowing why she was thankful of me. Maybe she was just saying this to make me feel a little better about not being able to do anything when she needed me, but it was working. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Maple...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "So you want me to go why?" I asked. Flint sighed. "Look, I don't half believe any of those recruits the mustached guy is sending are competent enough to handle the vampires that come that aren't Vinyl Scratch. I also believe that they believe they are competent enough to handle her, and are just going to get hurt trying to follow those dumb orders." She huffed. "Aye, that stallion sounds like a good strategist, but he over estimates the abilities of those he is commanding. Good orders don't count for nothin' when you don't have men who can follow them." Stone agreed. I gave them another look. "And we believe that you will know not to try and engage her, so we're sending you in in the off chance to get a glimpse of her." Flint said again. Man they were desperate at this point. Well, Flint seemed to show it, I wasn't so sure about Stone. It must have been really getting to them if they were desperate enough to send me out to one of the tens of squads that were being deployed to find Vinyl Scratch. What were the chances that I would find her and get away to tell them. "We know the chances are low, but thanks to the implications that she can make those who see her forget we need someone who knows to get away from her. Not some blindly loyal rookies." Stone said sagely. "Not that we don't have faith in them... well, actually that is what it is." Flint admitted. "But isn't the reason I was sent here to be sure you two weren't left alone?" I asked. That is what they had told me. "Yeah, but our reason for being here is to get Vinyl Scratch. One has a different - higher - priority than the other, right?" Flint said. I could tell when she used 'our', she meant me as well. I hesitated for a moment, before looking back at them and nodding. She was right on that one, and her orders we're technically the only ones given to me. The Order didn't tell me I was supposed to stay with them, and even if they did she was the one who decided those orders anyways. "Great." Flint said with contained joy, her eyes brightening at me consent. Even Stone had a smile on at my response. Despite not exactly looking at them as the generals they were, it did feel good to have such higher ups look at me and thank me like I was an equal to them. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "So the generals want you to join in on my mission?" The mustached stallion asked. I was back inside the same building I was in when Flint had talked with this guy. I went out on a guess to assume that he was still here and had the others setting up the traps. "Yes sir." I replied. "Any particular reason why?" He asked. "They said that you would be rather spread out with this mission and said you could use all the help you could get." I recited the reason Flint had given me. He hummed a little at the response. "Good to see they are thoughtful ponies. I've already sent out a few groups to set up the blood jars and they've been ordered to open and pour them at roughly eight thirty." He said. It was eight right now. "You can go..." He took a moment to look at the map that was to his side, scanning over it thoroughly and adjusting his monocle before planting his hoof on a spot. "Here." He said. I leaned in and look at the spot he had pointed out, a small alleyway about a block up from a theater. It looked like it was set out to be behind a bar, so that should be easy to find. "You should get there just in time for the hunters to begin pouring, so you won't miss any action if you hustle." He said. I nodded to him. "Good, get going." He said, turning back down to the work set out in front of him. I took that as my queue to leave and got up from my chair, exiting out of the door and turning down a familiar hallway only to hear a familiar voice call out again. "Sharp!" The mustached stallion called out, not waiting for a response this time around. "Get my gear ready. We'll need to hurry if we wish to get to our spot." He said loudly. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* I wandered up the streets for around fifteen minutes since I had left the secluded building where I had talked to the troublesomely loud stallion with a monocle. If the map he was using anything close to what the guard had told me about, the bar I was using was called 'The Cozy Colt'. I had already found the theater that was near it, and had been wandering up the street for a few minutes. It was close to being night, so I figured I needed to hurry up before the other hunters poured and Vampires started coming to investigate, or else I'd be in deep trouble. 'Wasn't this bar in the papers somewhere?' I asked myself, looking at a what I could only guess was a drunk passed out on the sidewalk underneath the a street light. I never thought that I would take drunks as a good sign. I spotted a small building in the distance, different looking than the others and slightly newer looking. As I approached, it became clear that this was the bar that I was looking for. "Now to find where those hunters are..." I mumbled to myself, walking towards the bar and scanning the rooftops as that tended to be a place where people went to hide and watch others. My eyes narrowed in on a group of poorly hidden ponies on the roof, which I could only assume was the rookies that I was supposed to be meeting up with. My eyes looked around them and found a rusty looking fire escape, which I guess they had used to get up there in the first place. It was a bit of a rough trip getting up there, but when I did I was greeted by the surprised look of three ponies. They each had crossbows strapped to their hooves, which confirmed my suspicions of them being the hunters I was looking for. They scrambled to load a bolt in after a second of looking at me. "Woah!" I said, hooves up. They stopped. "I'm here to help you guys out. That monocle guy sent me." They all sighed in relief. "Thank Celestia." One of them sighed as I noticed a distinct lack of a jar full of blood around them. I asked them about it and they all pointed to the rooftops across the way were two stallions sat, one with the jar by his side. I hadn't even seen them from the streets. They sat on opposite sides of a space between rooftops, the gap which I assumed was the alleyway of the bar. "They're the two most experienced of all of us." One of the mares said from behind me. 'Five ponies on one position? Just how many ponies did that stallion have under his command?' I asked myself, settling down on the roofs on a different spot than the other three. "Oh, you guys can be seen from down there by the way." I added, the three looking to each other before scrambling over to where I was. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* After settling down, I spend a few minutes exchanging names with the three. They all seemed a bit reluctant to be there judging by the tone they used. After that, we got a sharp whistle from the two stallions across the roofs, who then poured the jar out into the alleyway below before hopping down into the streets and making their way over to us. They gave me a brief look when they arrived, but shrugged it. Probably because I hadn't chowed down into the three others just yet. "So you got sent here by the monocle guy too?" One of them asked me. I nodded. "Man, he must really think this will be the place that vampire comes to. Hes got single ponies on other places. The stallion said who poured the jar said. "Yeah, well unless we want to get ate by the ones that do come here we best start being quite." The other stallion who had been across the roofs replied. We all nodded to that and quickly shut our mouths. It was roughly forty or so minutes before the two stallions crawled up to the edges of the roof to peer over to the alleyway. The rest of us stayed where we were. My haunches were aching, it was blistering cold tonight for some reason, and I hadn't ate anything before I came to this spot. I began to regret caving to Flint at this point, considering that the bar across the street was looking more and more appetizing by the second. The others around me must have been in a similar predicament, because they all seemed miserable. Finally, after maybe another half hour of miserably waiting on the roof, the stallions came back to us. "Anything?" One of the ones beside me whispered. They nodded together. "Only one though." He said. "Well a vampire is a vampire is a vampire, so let's get moving before it drinks all that blood." The other stallion said. We started down one by one, each of us taking the same rusty fire escape slowly as to not make any noise. It worked for the most part, even the rookies not making much of a peep. After that, we all gathered in a group at the bottom, the stallion nodding after the last set of hooves hit the ground, and making his way to the edge of the alleyway. He motioned for us to make a sort of wall at the exit of it to be sure it didn't rush past us. We nodded, and finally moved. We made the formation perfectly, all the ones with crossbows having them raised and aimed at the form of the vampire down the alleyway. I could now see that the pony was wearing a rugged looking cloak. They were bent down at where I thought the jar had been poured. "Hey, what's that pony's name again? The one we are looking for." The lead stallion asked. "Vinyl Scratch!" I yelled myself. The cloaked figure froze and raised up. The others around me stiffened and retook aim. The pony turned around and looked at all six of us, a white horn sticking out of the hood of the cloak. I could also manage to make out the mouth of the pony, flat and lacking in any blood covering it. 'Was she not drinking it?' I asked myself. A disturbing smile began to cross the vampire's face as she looked at us six, despite the position she was in. At the same time, I felt an odd feeling come across my entire body. It came in the form of chills as I saw that smile, my mind begging me to turn and run but my body refusing to budge an inch. I felt hunted.