//------------------------------//
// Capture 
// Story: Fangs: The Order 
// by Sapphic 
//------------------------------//

	
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Maple...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*


A hard knock rang through the inside of the apartment building.

My sleep driven stupor passed it off as Stone turning in his bed. He had done it before, and fell off the bed as well, and made a thump around the same sound as this one. It woke me and Flint up with a start, mainly cause we thought something had fallen through the floor, but this thump was different. It was from farther away, not Stone's direction.

Another knock rang out, part of a longer sequence of knocks that hit my ear drums like the sound of a cannon.

I cracked an eye open from my spot on the bed, looking towards the open door of our bedroom out towards the living room where the knocks were coming from. My eye drifted over to Flint, who had risen up slightly and peered at the door herself.

"Who is it?" I mumbled, curling back into the bed.

"Don't know. Get up." She said simply.

She sounded serious, so I begrudgingly obeyed and raised up, trying my hardest to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

Flint continued to usher me through the process of waking, despite the ungodly hour, and eventually had me tailing behind her into the living room. I managed to make out the bulking shadow of Stone, who had already risen and was standing near the door.

He looked prepared for something.

"Who ya' think it is?" He whispered.

"Don't know." Flint repeated.

"Vinyl?" I suggested.

Flint soured and tensed at the same time.

"I hope so. I'm more than ready to get a bit of one on one with that mare. And her mom will be next." She said, already up in arms at this unholy hour.

Stone sighed.

"Then I'd better go get someone to patch up back together after they tear you apart."

"Shut up Stone."

"Face it Flint, ya' lost and based on how things were going during that fight you'd be dead if Vinyl hadn't stepped in or I got there. If not dead then wounded enough to send you back to HQ." Stone said, one of the first times I saw him get a bit agitated by Flint.

He turned his head back towards the door.

"That magic isn't something to mess with." He said, being the only one with enough experience. After all, he let it crash over his neck so he must have some sort of feel for the magic.

"I could beat her." Flint mumbled, more quiet than before.

"Can we open the door please?" I asked, trying to hurry things along in an attempt to get back to the calling bed.

They both exchanged a glance before nodding and facing the door.

The knock rang out one more time before Flint twisted the handle and opened the door.

A stunned silence overtook the two, light from the hall shining through and highlighting the looks on their face.

I was curious at first, though the mare that walked through the door answered my question as quick as it came up.

A mare walked through the door with her head hung low, a limp body slung over her back. A familiar, shaggy, two toned mane marked just who the body was.

"I-Is t-that?" I stammered, the sight being plenty enough to wake me up.

Vinyl Scratch was placed on the ground in front of us as the light turned on to illuminate her downed form. She was out cold, though there were no scuffs or marks on her to suggest a struggle or even physical contact which suggested that something else had taken her down.

I stole a brief glance up at the mare who had brought her in and gasped.

"Shakes?" Flint stammered, apparently just as shocked as I was at the appearance of the mare.

Though Shakes didn't respond, and in fact never even looked up. Her eyes were glued to Vinyl Scratch's limp body with almost a burning hatred in her eyes.

Though it was hard to see just what that hatred was aimed at.

"How did you-" Stone began, only to have himself be interrupted.

"Doesn't matter. Get packed. Now." She said, her voice authoritative and dangerous. It was clear that she would eagerly snap on either three of us.

And the fact that she had brought in a target neither of us had managed to nab yet was enough to make me and Flint back down. Stone wasn't exactly going to oppose her, but it would have been interesting to see just how he would have went about it.

When none of us moved, all of us still a bit shocked, she decided to elaborate.

"Her mother doesn't know yet, but you can expect to deal with her when she does. So I suggest you all get moving."

That was all that Flint and Stone needed to begin quickly packing, and it was far more than enough to get me moving.

I didn't exactly have any belongings to pack with me all things considered, so I simply decided to stay in the living room with Shakes as the two generals moved about the apartment and picked up whatever it was that they had brought along with them.

Shakes had since sunk down onto her haunches near Vinyl, her head hovering over the white mare's own and staring at her eyes despite them being closed. I also took note that her purple glasses were missing. I had the idea of pressing what exactly she had done to subdue Vinyl Scratch without a weapon or force, but figured that if I did ask her that, then she might be all to happy to demonstrate that on myself.

I wondered what kind of blackmailing Flint would have had to do in order to leave Shakes so beat up and depressed looking.

Well, I'd have plenty of time to ask her on the long journey back to HQ.


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


Ironically, it was raining out side. Suiting, I guess considering the current mood that Shakes had around with her. I didn't know why she was so saddened or depressed or whatever she was by bringing this mare to us. Maybe she had grown to like the mare, something along the lines of a friendly feud; fighting each other for fun to get through their day to day lives.

She had Vinyl Scratch draped over her body as she walked in front of me and behind Flint and Stone, having refused to let anyone but herself carry the body. I guess she was nervous about us being credited with bringing in Vinyl Scratch.

"Did you call for a cab?" Flint asked Stone.

"Aye. Stopped by a local station and had a unicorn send a note to base. Said they'd send one over as soon as possible. Should be just outside the gates. Should be gettin' there within an hour or so." Stone nodded.

"That fast?" Flint asked in awe.

"I may or may not have mentioned we had Vinyl Scratch with us." Stone chuckled.

I wondered why Flint didn't send it herself, but put it to rest just as quickly with a mental shrug. Maybe she felt above sending messages herself.

It was around this time that I noted just how far away the gates were from the apartment, my hooves beginning to hurt with every step as we shuffled along. It'd make sense vampires would set up shop around these parts, important places were so far spaced from each other.

As we moved along, the gates came into view.

And so did some guards.

I began to get a bit worried about the fact we were about to tote a body through an official checkpoint, though as we closed the gap with them they made no move to stop us. In fact, they hardly even batted an eye at us. I began to feel two ways about the situation: either the guards of Canterlot were in cahoots with The Order and knew Flint and Stone were on business, or that there was a serious lack of security around even the pauper areas of town.

And this was a pretty rich part of town from what I could tell.

I mean, it piratically looked like we committed murder.

After we passed through the gates, the group took a sharp left and wandered along the side of the wall for a few yards then abruptly stopped.

Flint slid to her haunches and Stone visibly relaxed while Shakes took Vinyl off her back and placed her gently on a grassy patch near the wall so that she wouldn't get rained on as much.

I gave everyone a bit of a look, the way everyone was acting was reminding me vaguely of how an actual unit of Hunters worked when setting up camp.

And just like camp, most of the time was going to be spent doing nothing but waiting.


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


My eyes were blurred as they opened up, a crick in my neck making itself known as I lifted up off of the ground with shaky hooves. My head throbbed with a dull pain, enough to rival past migraines I had had.

While placing my front hooves on the ground for some footing, I landed on something cold and plastic feeling that managed to get my attention.

As my eyes began to focus, the color purple began to register in my head as I looked to the hoof where I had felt the object. The dark lighting of the room did make it a bit difficult, though I eventually did manage to focus my sight to the point of registration of edges.

My eyes widened as I saw them.

A pair of purple sunglasses that never seemed to leave a certain white mare, with white mare nowhere to be found.

My memory came back to me in an instant. Finding Shakes inside my house when i got back from dinner. Her sour mood and depressing demeanor. Vinyl's mother trying hard to cheer us up. Shakes offering Vinyl a drink.

Vinyl falling.

A hoof hurdling at my head.

My eyes widened at the realization.

I looked up and turned my head from one corner of the room to another corner, looking for any remote sign of white in the hopes that Vinyl was somehow still here.

"Vinyl?" I called out hopefully.

No answer.

The sound of running water that I hadn't realized before suddenly shut off, and soon after, the sound of a door opening followed.

My ears perked and I turned quickly, hoping that Vinyl was taking a shower, only to find Vinyl's mother coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her neck and using one end to dry her ears. She was oblivious to the fact her daughter had been abducted, and quite frankly that could be a good thing. Though she was bound to find out sooner or later.

But informing Vinyl's mother was my second most priority right now. This first one was finding Vinyl.

I felt my muscles tighten as I got up and ran towards the door, slinging it open and racing to the elevator. Needless to say, slowly going down that elevator was the longest event I had been through in my life.

Though once the brass doors opened and the door to the building was insight, I was out them just as quickly.

Ran hit my face like small bullets as I rushed through the street, though it may as well have not been raining at all. I couldn't feel the drops hitting my face, neither could I feel the throbbing pain going through my head, nor the burning sensation as my hooves hit the ground far too hard and far too fast than they were used to.

I couldn't feel the warmth of my tears mixing with the cold rain.

I couldn't even hear myself as I screamed Vinyl's name to the passing alleys.

Eventually I stopped moving, my chest feeling as though it was about to collapse on me as I took heavy and fast paced breaths.

I didn't know what to do. I hadn't ever been through having something important to me being taken. Not even my job came close to this, I could deal with that and I could understand losing it. This. This I could not understand.

Why?

Why did it happen?

Where was Vinyl?

I looked down the alleyways around me feverishly, just on the small one in a million chance that Vinyl might be in one of them. And in one I did see a white mare with a blue mane, though it wasn't the one I was wanting to see.

"Mind telling me why exactly you bolted out the door when I stepped out of the shower?" Vinyl's mother asked calmly through the downpour.

She took steps closer, not minding the rain, and spoke in a low and dangerous tone.

"And where my daughter is."

Despite the sickly sweet sound of her voice, I could tell that this wasn't a question from her to me, it was a demand of me from her. One that I wish I could answer myself, because if I did know then I wouldn't even be talking to her.

Her voice was one of the first sounds too actually make itself known to me, making her already warning voice even more impacting and I found myself blurting the truth.

"I...I don't know."

Her face was void of emotion; she clearly wanted more than a simple 'I don't know' from me.

"I-I was knocked... unconscious and I think..." The adrenaline was finally beginning to fade away, and I found myself breathing heavily.

"I think Shakes took her." i blurted, looking at her with fear for my life. I wasn't sure if she'd blame me for not stopping the abduction of her daughter, though right now I did as well, but more so I wasn't sure how she planned to cope with the news.

For once, she looked dumbfounded, her mouth slightly agape and her brows raised.

Though as the information began to process, a more defined reaction began to surface.

Her eyelid twitched, shooting up briefly and revealing the whites of her eyes. Though she shut them just as quickly. I wasn't one to make blind assumptions, but I was beginning to think that her eyes seemed to have a relation to her mood. A fact that made me all the more fearful for the fact that it took this much to see them open slightly.

I was genuinely fearing for the day when she finally opened her eyes.

"T...Took her?" She repeated. It was the first time I had ever heard her break that motherly tone she constantly kept, now she sounded confused. As if she couldn't exactly comprehend the idea that someone took her daughter.

I barely managed a nod in response, my body suddenly feeling weak to the point where I sunk to my haunches with my head hung low.

The sound of a sudden boom was enough to bring even my tired head up to see what happened.

I found it was suddenly a bit darker than usual, the result of the street lamps suddenly turning off. I also found that a series of large cracks branching out from the hoof of Vinyl's mother, spreading across the street and - conveniently - right under the lamps that had turned off. I noticed the way she was gritting her teeth, giving her a look of restrained rage as she began to walk closer to me.

I felt like running, though my body had given up on movement and the most I got out of the attempt was stumbling backwards.

She hovered over me, her horn sparking up to only increase the scariness of the situation.

I closed my eyes and lugged my hoof in front of myself in a vain attempt to defend.

I felt a hoof gently push my own away, to which my hoof easily obliged and fell limply to the side. I opened my eyes cautiously to see that Vinyl's mother had dropped down to her own haunches and hovered in front of me with a new found smile on her face. It was disturbing to see her sudden change in emotion. It reminded me vaguely of Vinyl, and how she would commonly smile at the enemy as either a scare tactic or from pure enjoyment.

In all honesty, I found her gritted teeth to better than this option.

"M-M-Miss Scratch?" I stammered.

"Let's get out of the rain dear." She said kindly, a street lamp behind her flickering in a vain attempt to turn back on.

I had no words, but she didn't need an answer. She simply leaned her horn closer to my face as a white light blinded me.


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


Within a blink I found that the rain had stopped and the coldness of the Canterlot streets had faded away, replaced with the comforting feeling of room temperature of my apartment.

I felt the wet form of Vinyl's mother raise up from me, and a brief look up showed that she had gotten up and was smiling oddly.

"So, dear, I believe I'll be heading out soon to go retrieve my daughter."

"A-Are you not scared? I mean, they did manage to take her in the first place." I blurted out before clamping a hoof over my mouth as the impact of the statement came to mind.

Though she only laughed sadly.

"Fear is something that I haven't felt in a long, long time dear. I dare say I'd be delighted to get some sort of fear out of this, though I don't think I will." She said softly, unwrapping the towel from her neck and levitating it into the air, folding it gently, and setting it down in the kitchen.

She wordlessly turned and started towards the door, and in the same moment I felt something arise in myself. It was something I wouldn't describe as an eagerness, though it was a yearning for something at the same time. Like a debt of sorts; not necessarily wanting to pay but having to anyways.

"L-Let me help." I choked out.

She stopped, and turned.

"'Help' dear? I don't mean to be blunt deary but I don't think someone such as yourself could do much to help me get my daughter back. Though-" She sounded almost hollow with her statements, for once in the short time I had met her sounding cold and detached from the situation.

I found myself blurting again.

"But I want to....please." I found myself struggling to speak.

"Y-Your daughter is... well she's-" I took a second to find my words.

She chuckled briefly at me.

"So that's how it is then." She said simply.

She turned back around and came closer to me once again, kneeling down on her haunches and hanging her head low. The wet strands of her man had begun to cause her hair to fall around her face, giving her a sort of rugged look.

"Take care not to interrupt your elders dear, it's just rude." She said kindly, and I found myself blushing as I realized that I had interrupted her.

"S-Sorry."

"Don't fret dear, but let me finish what i was saying."

"I was saying that you wouldn't be much help for me getting my daughter back. Though that only means some changes are in order. I haven't made a decision whether or not your love for my daughter is true, though at this point I don't have many other options." She said vaguely, making me feel a little nervous.

I ignored the last part and focused on a single word she had used.

"C-Changes?" I stammered.


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