//------------------------------// // Exposure // Story: Fangs: The Order // by Sapphic //------------------------------// *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Maple...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "Are you sure you're fine? You still seem out of it." "If you're asking if I'm still tipsy, then yes. If you're asking if I'm fine, then no. If you're asking if I can handle myself, then maybe." "I'll... take that as a yes?" I had managed to bring Shakes inside, almost dragging her inside the bar while she gave me drunken blabberings of directions on which way to go to get into the front door. Of course, I did this after checking to see if the five left in the alley were alright. They were, thankfully the beam of magic had gone right over them. Though a few still had some singes on them, but nothing more. "Why are you... here anyways?" She asked through a hic. They seemed to be coming slower and slower as time passed, a sign of her sobering I hoped. My mind found itself conflicted. If this really was the Shakes that Flint had talked about, she was still a superior to me and a potential ally to us. Then again, Flint had never said just how their meeting went, so I couldn't be sure. I hoof waved in front of my face. "Hey, you still home?" Shakes asked. "Oh, uhm, yes." I stammered. "So why're yah here?" She asked again. "Well, I was out doing business for someone." I said. 'Perfect.' I thought. I couldn't tell her stance on the current mission - whether she was spiteful towards me and Flint for taking up what she couldn't do or if she was actually willing to aid us - so I wasn't giving her any clues on what I was really doing here. She admittedly probably knew I was from The Order at this point, but that didn't matter too much. "Ah," She smiled. "so you're Flint's little playmate huh?" "H-How..." I said meekly. "I didn't." She chuckled before continuing. "So, I'll ask one more time, what were you doing?" She asked, hoof stretching across the bar counter in a vein attempt to get a hold of another bottle. "Well, I was..." I paused again. "Any day now. Hey you're a unicorn, get me that bottle up there would you? Second on from the left on the top shelf. I sparked my horn and brought the bottle down gently to the table, my mind made up on whether or not to tell her. She immediately began prying at the bottle's top. "Well, Flint told me to pair up with this, uh, stallion to try and get some information on a mare you probably know. Her name is Vinyl Scratch, you supposedly were after her as your last mission?" I said all at once, a bit surprised at my eagerness to say all of it. She froze up and hesitated for a moment. "So, she sent you out to get some dirt on Vinyl, huh?" She asked, a bit more sober sounding. "Y-Yes." I responded. The atmosphere seemed to shift after I had mention 'Vinyl'. Maybe I hit a nerve? "Hm." Was all she had left to say. The room began to go quietly, and I jumped at the opportunity to learn a few things about her. "So Flint said she asked you to hel-" She cut me off. "Say..." She was left hanging. "Maple." I filled in for her. "Maple. Ever think about why you hunt? Or, why you're in The Order in the first place?" She asked, her eyes looked distant. "I, uh..." I had never really thought about why I did this whole "hunting" thing. I guess one reason would be the pay, since it was pretty good and what wasn't paid to me was given in benefits. I guess the main reason would be to hunt down Vampires - despite the public knowledge of their existence, or lack there of. I mean, nothing that actively seeks the death of others as self sustenance could be that good. "I guess to help get rid of Vampires? They don't seem that good of things for society." I answered, the lack of confidence in my answer making itself known. "Hm." She hummed, taking in the information. Despite her drunkenness, if you could call it that at this point, she was quite sober sounding. "Well, do you think hunting them is the best way to go about it?" She asked suddenly. "What do you mean?" "Like, maybe a contract or treaty or something. Social Contract where they have to behave themselves around us and we to them? Heck we could make a market for blood at that point. It'd be like groceries for them and we could pay ponies for it." She mumbled. She seemed to have gotten excited over the idea, and in the same notion got me thinking. It was an idea, though the problem with it is just that. It was an idea, not the reality. Even if we could get them to stop and listen to us for a moment, the current status of them being hunter would make some of them doubtful; they would keep hunting us as we did them. "Yeah, you got me there." She admitted when I voiced my thoughts. "Still, I don't think treating all of 'em cause of the actions of a few is that solid of a logic. It's like treating you like an alcoholic for my addictions." She laughed, was that sarcasm? "Ah, anyways, you wanted something?" She said, having given up on opening her bottle. It took me a moment, but I remembered. "Oh, uh Flint said that she stopped by a while ago and asked if you wanted to help us get Vinyl? She never really told me anything about how it went, so I'd like to hear it from you." "I take it you saw some of her new patches?" She asked smiling, her eyes finally meeting mine. I assumed she was talking about the burn marks on Flint, so I nodded. She laughed, sounding almost sad. It was around this time I noticed that the edges of her eyes looked matted, almost as if she'd been crying. "Heh, well I actually ended up-" A bright flash cut her short and caused both of our eyes to clinch, the sudden light being shortly followed by a heavy sounding thump. "What the-" She muttered, something cutting her short. When I opened my eyes I found myself still looking at her, though she had this look on her face that I couldn't quite explain. It had the look of surprise, though something lingered yet that said the exact opposite. This look faded into an odd looking smile. I turned to see what she was looking at, and found myself unintentionally gasping. A broken monocle sat on the floor a few feet in front of the crumpled form of a bulky looking stallion in the fetal position. I rubbed my eyes, though he didn't disappear despite my assumptions that he was just an illusion; he actually unfurled just enough for a familiar mustache to be visible. I noticed the his stomach was burnt pretty badly. My blood ran cold at the sight of him. Even Stone had admired the stallion, and I was sure Flint at least saw his physical state as well as his wits thanks to has rather well thought plan. For someone to send him here as what looked like a show of rebellion made me a bit worried for my own well being. Still, who could have- "Heh, I take it he was one the ones out looking for Vinyl with you all?" Shakes asked. "T-The local veteran..." I found myself choking on my own words. She laughed. "It will take a bit more than smart thinking and brawn to get Vinyl to go quietly. Right now I can only think of two ways to get her to agree. One of them is suicidal, and the other she would never let happen." She laughed to herself once more. Is it even possible to touch this mare? Not to mention harm her? *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Octavia...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "Are you sure you're okay?" "Well, it would might help if you got off of me, Vinyl." Vinyl had, for a lack of a better term, 'taken care' of the stallion who had approached us. She seemed a bit helpless at first, but I had failed to see a case yet where Vinyl couldn't just magic or buck her way out of something. "I just want to be sure." She said in a caring tone. "I assure you Vinyl, it didn't hurt that much." I had also gotten a bit scuffed from the encounter, after rather foolishly trying to aid Vinyl by pushing the stallion. Well, it had more of a result then I had ever expected, tipping him over just enough to the point of where he had to move his legs to keep steady. I half expected my own self to be tipped off balance, though I guess I had some sort of luck this time around. Even his eyes had widened a little in surprise of the fact I moved him. Though my victory was short lived as he gave a rather hard shove to me myself and pushed me backwards. Dumbly enough, it was myself that had caused myself to fall. I had a tendency to trip over my own legs when I was nervous or worried, and I guess when it lined up the way it did it made the stallion out to look like he had hit me. Vinyl...didn't take that well. As a result, there was now a bit more blood in the dirt than when we had first arrived, and Vinyl was now feverishly checking me for injuries of any size. "Vinyl please." I protested, to no avail. She had used the brief amount of leverage I had given her to break from the stallions grip and escape quickly. The stallion had shot out a flurry of bolts in protest, though a volley of blue magic that was turning darker by the second met each each arrow and then some. The stallion, to his credit, stood strong against the magic and was ready to fire another volley at Vinyl in what looked like an instant. Well, if it weren't for Vinyl's hooves coming crashing down on his skull after teleporting above him. She didn't seem sated by that for punishment, so she walked up to him, aimed her horn to his stomach, and fired yet another volley of magic into the stallion at point blank. I actually had to yell her name a few times to break the savage beating she was giving him. She then rushed over to me, and here we were now with her feverishly looking over me for scuffs. I had even adopted a rather deadpan look by the foal like treatment. She seemed to have the maternal instinct of a mother of one that hadn't realized I was sentient. It took her a few minutes, but she finally seemed satisfied with my state of well being. "I swear," She sighed. "these 'Order' guys are getting really annoying." She air quoted 'order' as if it were a conspiracy. "I wonder what they're after." I realized how stupid and redundant that question sounded the second it left my mouth considering the brief conversation that stallion had just had with us not but a few minutes before hoof. "I've got a few ideas..." Vinyl said, sadness lingering on her voice. It occurred to me that this would be an ideal time to comfort her. "Vinyl please... don't do anything you might regret." I said, though it came out sounding more like a question. I still wasn't the best at comforting someone, but I dare say that I had improved. She smiled at me, and nodded. It felt nice to see her smile, despite the fact she was still straddling me and not showing a sign of getting up, leaving me pinned. Though that feeling was short lived, as a shiver ran through my spine and an odd, uncontrollable, feeling of dread washed over me in an instant. I felt cold now, and if it weren't for Vinyl being a top me I was sure I would have begun to start seeing my own breath with every exhale. It was a unnervingly familiar feeling, one of me being watched by a pair of eyes I couldn't see. I craned my head from side to side, though no one was inside the simple stone circle with us; even the rooftops that stretched above the tall stone walls were empty. "Vinyl, do you mind if we head home? I feel..." I paused, trying to think of a word for how I felt. "Watched?" She said with a comforting smile. My eyes widened at her. "Yeah, I feel it too Tavi." She said simply. She straightened her back and turned to a spot behind her, the feeling suddenly disappearing the second she began the motion. Vinyl then lifted up from off me, helping me get up in a caring way - apparently still not convinced that I was fine. "Lets get going." I had never quite heard a tone of such...seriousness used with Vinyl. She almost sounded worried, scared even, though she still kept it expertly masked. I guess we did have the whole "masking certain emotion" thing in common after all, but that didn't detract from the fact she was actually using it. Vinyl never did that, and it left me speechless for a moment "O-Okay." *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* "Hey Tavi." "Yes?" "I gotta second stop I gotta make, mind if I drop you off and go on my own?" Me and Vinyl had been walking towards my home for a few minutes by now, a comfortable and brisk stroll thanks to the air of the night. Though I was thankful for the fact that the feeling of being watched hadn't come back; though if it did come back, it wouldn't have been to that much of a surprise to me. Though Vinyl's question, was a bit worrying. I still hadn't forgotten about that feeling of eyes burning down onto me, and in fact had ended up thinking too much about it. What if whoever it was planned on targeting us when we separated? "Are you sure you have to Vinyl?" I asked. "Yeah, I think I do." She mumbled to me. She sounded firm on her decision, though I still wasn't convinced. If she wanted to go alone, it most likely meant something bad for her. I paused. "Alone?" I asked hopefully. She shrugged. "Heh, well I guess you could come along. But do you mind waiting outside when we get there though? What I have to deal with is kinda... personal." She said sounding sheepish. "Of course, I'm just worrying a bit too much is all." I admitted with an awkward chuckle. "Thanks." *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Rose...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* I let out a sigh, my eyes buried deep into a book I had managed to snag from a vendor during one of the increasingly normal lunches where I left this depressing office. Of course there were not many repercussions since I was my own supervisor and no one bothered to come while I was away anyways. Well, there were a few, though they were all my own fault. One of them I could mention was the downside of going out to eat; the service I had gotten at the restaurant was horrible. So the book I got was more of a motive to help cheer me up. And that 'book' now had me leaned back in my office chair, as my eyes skimmed meaninglessly along the lines. It was an extremely dry book, something about the many uses of snails. It hadn't been quite as interesting of a read as the title had suggested and it was beginning to become more of a pain to read than not. Not that many ponies knew of the vampires, so I guess that was good, but I wouldn't be lying if I said that made my job a heck of a lot more boring. 'One more chapter, then we'll stop.' I muttered internally. Suddenly, the ring of the doorbell pierced the silence of the room. Normally I would have been shocked at the sound of the bell, but at this point I was just a bit annoyed. A horrible lunch, a horrible gift meant to cheer me up, a horrible self reflection on my job; needless to say it wasn't that helpful to my cause. "Hello?" A voice called out, confused. I waved a hoof into the air, signaling them. I heard the sound of their hooves approaching. They were hasty and precise. "Um, is this the place where you..." She mumbled off. I sighed. Never thought that I would still be hating my job even when I actually get to do it for once. "Contracts. Yes." I replied, looking past my current page to check how far off the next chapter was so that I might be done with this goal. "Great!" She said happily. "So could I place one?" She asked. Another heavy sigh left my lips. Hopefully whoever it was was getting the message. "Sure." I said, my hoof going down and pulling open the cabinet full of contract forms without my eyes leaving the page. I had memorized this whole process during my first days of the job, in the vein hopes that I would meet a lot of others. I pushed the contract forwards to her, taking the pen that rested on my ear down and placing it on the paper as well. The sounds of slow and deliberate scribbling went on for a few minutes before the sound of the pen hitting the desk signaled her being done. "If that's all, we'll be sure to take care of your-" I stopped myself short as I looked over the paper that had been filled out - in unnaturally neat hoof writing - and noticed the conflicting writing in two boxes. In fact, the two most important ones. One was the name of the target, the other being the one who assigned the contract. Though the latter was optional, so that wasn't too big of a deal, but since the two conflicted I'd have to bring it up anyways. Admittedly I didn't actually read the boxes since my brain had just about hardwired that I skim over things, these seldom used contracts included, and check and see if anything didn't work. The most I had made out was the shape of the name, and saw that it was also used in another field. "Miss, I believe you-" "Is there a form to fill out on descriptions? "I- um." I paused for a moment at her interruption and then pulled out a scrap sheet of paper. In all truth, we didn't have a form for descriptions. Though mother always said to get the description if someone is offering to give one. "Go ahead." "Well, for starters they're a mare. A unicorn mare. A white coat and this dumb looking, spiky, two toned, blue mane. One is a dark blue while the other is really bright blue; can't miss it." "Anything else." I said, finishing the last scribble of her description. "Yeah, she's always wearing these big, plastic, sunglasses that are purple. Oh! She also has this really dopey looking smile too." 'Well, this is really accurate. Finding whoever it is will be just a matter of waiting it out.' I thought to myself. "Good, looks like everything is in order." I said, taking the contract and preparing to store it away and mail it off later. "Though, there is still the matter of the two boxes you filled out." "Hm?" She hummed, confused. "Well, you filled out two of the boxes with the same name on accident it looks like." I said, mulling over her descriptions one more time. "I did? Where?" She asked. I lifted the sheet up to her and let her mull over it once more. "No, it looks good to me." I huffed. "Miss, are you tell me that you are and placed a contract for-" My eyes locked onto the name of the target for the first time and I felt the temperature of the room drop significantly. Vinyl Scratch My eyes widened as they slowly traced their way down the paper to the name of the one whom filed the contract. Vinyl Scratch I looked up. A white unicorn mare stood in front of me, a pair of purple glasses reflecting the light of the lamp beside me, with a shaggy looking mane hanging over the corner of the glasses. The mane had an odd coloration in it, one half being a deep and vibrant blue while the other was a lively neon. 'T-This...has to be a prank. Right? N-No way that she w-would just show up to this place and give a full description of herself to m-me.' I thought to myself, a bead of sweat making its way down my brow. I even found myself stumbling over words in my thoughts. A friendly smile crossed her lips, the small ends of what could have only been fangs sticking out for me to see. That was all the proof I needed. "N-No..." I choked. "Are you okay?" She said, her voice filled with concern. She made a motion with her hoof towards me and I found myself recoiling to get away from it. "S-Stay...away..." I found that my tongue felt thick for some reason, making words come out slower. I finally felt my head getting dizzy as the world began to go black, and my body began to go limp.