*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Octavia...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
"You want me to do what?"
"Oh, nothing really dear, just perhaps...let me take a little, shall we say, sip?" Vinyl's mother asked, waving her hooves as if picking her words carefully.
My eyes widened a bit at the clarification of the request.
"B-But why?" I stammered.
"Well dear, if you haven't noticed yet I suppose it be as good a time as any to tell you I am a vampire. And though my sweet daughter starves herself, I prefer to drink." She said, almost mockingly.
"N-No, I mean why me? Can't you just go find some drunk off the street? I seem to recall you talking about it before." I replied.
It wasn't that I was entirely creeped out by the request to feed on me, but it was the fact it was someone other than Vinyl. It sounded out now that I think about it, but the only one I can remember feeding off of me was Vinyl, and I kind of held that as something special. Despite knowing that she was bound to have fed on other in her however-many-years she's been alive, it just felt special to me. I don't really know.
"Well, you're right about that. I could go run outside and find some drunk passed out in an alleyway and feed off of his rancid, alcohol ridden blood. Though... well, I won't lie about it; I've been curious about what your blood tastes like." She admitted, sounding somewhat sheepish for once.
"What my blood tastes like?" I repeated.
"Yes dear. I only think it natural that I be concerned over what my daughter fell in love with." She said, her sickeningly sweet tone beginning to wedge its way in.
"I-I..."
I hesitated, and finally found something that I had never seen in myself before. I was typically passive about most things, as I had been raised with the message "the world changes us, not the other way around" in mind, but was also always taught the importance of one's self. Though I think I found something that had been hidden in that message, something that I hadn't really seen inside the point before.
I found some resolve.
"I'd rather you not." I said, surprisingly firm.
"I won't force it upon you, unless my urges force it upon myself." She said sagely, though it did little to convince me she was done perusing her goal. If she were anything like Vinyl, this was far from the last I'd hear about it.
But for now, I wasn't going to let her. If anyone was going to do it, it'd be the person I'd let do it before. And so far, there was only one on that list.
"Anyways dear, I'd like to talk with you about something else." Vinyl's mother said, smiling warmly.
I cocked a brow, convinced she was just going to further pursue her previous goal but from another angle.
"Well, less of talking with you but more so...testing, for a lack of a better word." She said carefully.
"Testing?" I repeated, trying to use a tone to show my disapproval of the idea, though it ended up coming out more as confusion than sarcasm.
"Yes. I was thinking, ever since that little play date of ours..."
I shuddered a little.
"...and discovering that you still have quite a bit of vampire fluid still inside of you, if you could possibly still tap into the ability you and my daughter talked about when you two had a small tussle at the castle." She said.
"You mean when things began to move slowly?"
"Yes. Well, it's more like you processing things faster and choosing to see them slowly, but that's not the point. The point is, I want to see if you can still do it so that you might be of some ability when we go and get my daughter back."
"You seem oddly fine with your daughter being abducted..." I said suddenly. Though I meant every word.
"You'll learn someday - or maybe you won't, who knows? - that things happen, darling. And you'll also learn that stressing and worrying over those things will only make them a bigger obstacle to overcome." She said, getting up from the couch and making her way to the kitchen.
"Now, onto my little test..." She said, rummaging through some cabinets inside the kitchen.
"Do you need help finding whatever it is you're looking for? I could most likely help you-" I stopped short.
"What are those?" I asked her, worry building in my voice as I noticed the glinting objects she was holding.
"These dear?" She asked, holding up a large kitchen knife. "They're knives."
I found my legs moving back on their own as I made my way out of the kitchen, not daring to break eye contact with her form. I began to think that the small life lesson she had told me was a lie and she finally lost it because of Vinyl's abduction, though her posture was far to relaxed to be crazy.
"W-What are you going to do with them?"
"Well, I had the idea of seeing that if simulating danger would cause you to enter a state of panic, and jump start your sight ability. So, I'm going to throw knives at you." She said nicely.
'This mare is crazy.' I thought to myself.
"I-I believe there might be a better alternative to that other than knife throwing." I almost pleaded.
"Nonsense darling." She said, tossing a knife up and loosely catching it.
"Besides, surprise is the biggest aspect of it." She said, going silent and smiling lightly.
"Surpris-" I began to question her, though my back hoof hit something and caused me to fall backwards onto my back just in time to hear something whistle by me and thud somewhere behind me.
I looked back to see a sharp kitchen knife sticking out of the wall.
I turned back to Vinyl's mother to ask just what in Equestria was she thinking when she through that, though the crooked, motherly, smile on her face as she pulled out another kitchen knife wiped that thought immediately and replaced it with the yearn to run.
She arched her right hoof - the one with a knife - back as if she were going to throw it, though what she did was loose a knife from her other hoof within the same motion.
I managed to register the knife and moved just in time to dodge the knife as it whistled past me, actually managing to hit the handle of the first knife she had thrown.
"Well dear, is it working?" She asked genuinely.
"N-No!" I shouted, finally getting a moment to talk to this deranged mother.
Her motherly smile faded at the tone of my voice, going from her typically kind look to one of amusement and disappointment; an act that was enough to lower my ears and regret my outburst instantly - despite how warranted it was. Though that smile returned quickly as her horn sparked and other knives wrapped in a worrying, red aura began to float around her.
"W-Wait, I-I'm sorry -" I began, but she interrupted me.
"Oh, don't worry dear. It just means I need to try harder..." She said, the two knives behind me pulling themselves from the wall and floating over to join the others in the air, totaling for about seven knives in total.
I gulped.
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Shakes...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
'Why hasn't she run yet?' I thought to myself, staring at Vinyl as she sat stock still with a far off look in her eyes.
Why hadn't she ran away, she had so many opportunities too and yet here she was. The smoke from before, during the ride when the door was blown off the side, when I sent her to the back with the weakest current link in the group, even now when we were riding with her nearest to the doors with Stone driving and Flint too far away to stop her.
Why?
This wasn't what I wanted. I wanted her to run, that's the only reason I did this to begin with. I figured that if I brought her in, I could avoid her getting hurt or killed by Stone and Flint and get them off her and Octavia's case at the same time. She could just get away after scaring them a bit.
Though if I had known Vinyl's mother was here, I would've held off. I mean, it's her mother; Vinyl's mother. She'd have to be scary, or at least strong enough to slow Stone and Flint down long enough for me to think of something.
Though with how Vinyl was, I was beginning to wonder if her mother would even be necessary. She had to have done some feeding with that kind of strength, right? I mean, she was prone to holding back, but was that a glimpse at what she could really do? I had known her for long enough to get a basic grasp on what I thought was how strong she was, but then again most of that observation was based on her magic -- which was scary.
But now she was just going along with it.
"Say, prisoner?" Flint said, eyeing Vinyl.
"H-Huh?" She stammered, shaking her head a little and a bit of drool as well.
"Why haven't you left yet? I mean you've had plenty of opportunities..." Flint asked, voicing my exact thoughts. I eyed Vinyl closely, wanting to know the answer as well.
She cocked her head a little in confusion.
"Do you want me to leave?" She asked, sounding almost passive aggressive in her what-could-be-considered a threat and or challenge.
"Well, no, but that's just me. You probably could've left and got away by now if you wanted to. I mean you're sitting right next to an open door with a big defense occupied, and me all the way over here. The only one who'd be able to stop you is Shakes, and judging by how you ripped those first shackles, you could push her off pretty easy." Flint explained.
"Well, I dunno." Vinyl said, getting an inward facehoof from me.
"Guess you guys would just come back after me if I ran wouldn't you. That'd probably put Tavi in danger to." She said, sounding sad at just the mention of Octavia.
"'Tavi'? Who's that?" Flint asked.
"Oh! She's my roomy! She's really nice to be around, and she's got this really cute little bow tie that she always wears, and..." Vinyl began, going on a small escapade about Octavia and everything that she liked about her.
"...but her friends were kinda mean at first, well two of them were. One of them was pretty nice, and his marefriend came around to me after awhile. Well, she mainly just blushes around me for some reason, but she doesn't insult me anymore!"
"Sounds like you really like her then.... Is she your mare friend then?" Flint asked, sounding ever so slightly nervous about the answer.
"Well, we kissed a few times. And I think she likes it when we cuddle. So I guess so." Vinyl said, sounding a bit doubtful in herself.
It was pretty fun watching Flint get a little sad at Vinyl's answer. It was even more fun watching her face change as she listened to Vinyl talk about what she'd been through ever since, going from angry at how some had treated Vinyl.
"Getting a bit comfortable with our prisoner, aren't we Flint?" Maple asked, half teasing and half serious.
Flint blushed a little, though her coat made it hard to see.
"Hey, she's interesting."
I kept my eyes on Vinyl for a moment longer, at first out of a sort of respect, but then it was when I noticed her eyes starting to get glassy. The eyes were the big sign for her "mood" to be approaching, but I knew it was almost unavoidable the second we put her inside with blood within a few feet.
Ever since she first met Octavia, her desire to fast had been slowly going down. She seemed to be embracing her vampiric nature more often than pre-Octavia times. She used to run away at the sight of blood, though back then she had the freedom to run as well. Lately, I'm hoping, she's been almost forced around blood with no option to run.
And when she can't run, she feeds.
But now it was coming. There was no stopping it unless we just flat out dumped the drivers on the road, but I couldn't see that happening.
It was just a matter of how long Vinyl decided to not feed. She had the willpower not to if she really wanted to, I'd seen her do things way more will testing than "don't touch this". She had control before blood touched her, though if a drop got into her system she loses most of that control.
At this point, I was wondering who she'd go after first. I was closest, and I had betrayed her entirely, so I was pretty sure I'd be first. Maple was the weakest link here, no offense intended, and Flint was pretty much the only obstacle. I don't think I could will myself to hurt Vinyl more than once in at least a month.
So, if she chose Flint, we'd be pretty much screwed if she succeeded.
Speaking of the fiery mare, she seemed to be digging around under the seat for something.
"Come on... where is it?" She mumbled to herself before finally pulling out what she had been looking for.
A flask.
'Oh god why...' I thought to myself, my eyes widening as she opened the top of the flask.
It didn't need much explaining why this was a recipe for disaster. Two bloody drivers, alcohol, and one Vinyl who was wanting to let go with every passing second was just about the worst thing that could happen about now. Well, that, or if Octavia was in danger, but that shouldn't be a problem since I got Flint and them out of Canterlot.
I wasn't quite sure which one I was more scared of. Angry Vinyl or drunk Vinyl. And may god have mercy on us all if they ever meet each other.
Vinyl's head tilted up, her nose in the air while sniffing.
"Flint, you might wanna put that up, I don't think-"
"Oh calm down Shakes, I need a drink after that little scuffle. I didn't get to sit down and have a drink while I was in Canterlot, it's only fair if I get a drink now." She chuckled.
"Yeah but..." I began, mumbling off as I saw that Vinyl had locked eyes with Flint.
"What?" Flint asked me, staring me in the eyes with some genuine concern.
I gestured to the side towards Vinyl, and her eyes followed.
She met Vinyl's half lidded, crimson gaze and she froze up. Her eyes were wide as she started at Vinyl, the whole carriage going silent as they stared at each other.
"Heh, uh... you looking for something?" She chuckled nervously.
It was understandable, Vinyl had been really well behaved up until now. She hadn't harmed anyone, hadn't ran away - sadly- and hadn't even insulted Flint or Stone. To see her suddenly staring at you with a look of lust on her face would throw just about anyone off, Flint included.
"Y-Yeah." Vinyl replied shakily, her voice not quite at that stage yet, but it was definitely getting there.
She started to move, using her front hooves to move across the gap between the seats. Flint scooted back in her seat, squishing Maple into the wall.
The advance continued and so did Flint's retreat, moving to the point where Maple was forced from her seat and jumped into the spot beside me. We looked at each other briefly before looking back at the two to find that Flint had run out of room to run, but Vinyl still had room to get closer.
And closer she got.
But she decided to milk it, punctuating each movement forward as she closed in and began smiling with sultry. Flint was already blushing, but now she looked like she might catch fire at any given moment.
"Sh-Shakes?" Flint plead.
I simply watched on, curious to see how Vinyl would go about this.
Flint was visibly shaking when Vinyl got as close as possible, practically nose to nose with each other. Vinyl's dopey, half lidded look only made her look more like a predator with Flint being the prey. Even with Vinyl in chains, she looked completely in control.
Flint suddenly seemed to get an idea, and opened her mouth.
"Sto-" She began to yell for Stone, but that was about all she got out before Vinyl's hoof made it up to her mouth.
Flint's eye went wider than I had seen them been ever since the beginning of the trip, going slightly cross eyed as they stared down at Vinyl's hoof. I thought I could make out a faint blush on her face, but it must've just been the flickering lighting thanks to Flint's position.
"So loud..." She said, her voice now in full action.
Vinyl moved in closer, nuzzling into Flint's neck and bringing her mouth up to her ear and whispering something I couldn't make out. Though, whatever it was, it made Flint's eyes go from shocked to pleading.
Vinyl finally decided to move things along, taking a move back to over look Flint before moving her hooves up to Flint's and pressing them into the wall of the carriage. It made Flint stretch herself wide from the waist up, giving Vinyl plenty of opportunity to lean down with her head and draw little circles along Flint's chest.
It took affect immediately as Flint shivered visibly.
"S-Stop..." Flint murmured.
Vinyl cocked her head and looked confused.
"Why? You look like you're liking it... Am I doing something wrong." She said.
Flint only blushed and looked away.
Vinyl shrugged a little and moved onto Flint's face once more, moving her moth back up to her ear again. Though, this time she gave it a small nibble instead of whispering, which seemed to have an even greater affect than the whisper as Flint began to arch her back as her cheeks notably got redder. She tried her best to muffle what looked like it was going to be a moan.
Both me and Maple at that point were blushing furiously.
I gave a bit of a cough, to show that we were still here.
Both Vinyl and Flint turned to look at me, Vinyl looking attentive as if I had called for her and Flint looking absolutely embarrassed.
Though that look didn't last long, as Flint finally managed to make out enough resolve to push Vinyl away from her. She went from putty in Vinyl's hooves to agitated and rebellious with the flip of a switch.
"Weren't you just talking about a mare friend? How does she even respect you if you go all over ponies whenever you get a bit tempted? And how in the bloody hell does she-"
The sound of wood crunching interrupted Flint's scolding, a white hoof disappearing into the wall of the carriage right beside Flint's head.
A warning, and a serious one at that.
"Don't talk about her." Was all Vinyl said, a serious look flashing in her half lidded eyes as her smile faded briefly as she stared straight through Flint.
Flint stayed silent, clearly stunned by the sudden change Vinyl had.
Even I was in all honesty. Vinyl and her attitude weren't the only things that changed, the whole atmosphere changed when Vinyl got serious for a moment.
Vinyl's gaze drifted from Flint and over to Maple, her smile reforming as she locked eyes with her. I guess she found a new toy, and was intent on playing with it as soon as possible. Her chains creaked a little as she crossed the gap between the seats for a second time, heading straight towards the nervous looking Maple.
She looked like she wanted to draw her crossbow, but her hooves wouldn't respond to her brain's request.
Vinyl got close to Maple, about a foot or so, before I managed to see what Flint was doing.
Taking the opportunity of Vinyl turning her back to her, Flint was arching back a hoof aimed right at Vinyl's head. I began to move my mouth to say something just as her hoof came down, though it turned out I wasn't even needed in the first place.
Vinyl moved upwards and to the side slightly, enough for Flint's head-aimed hoof to land just about Vinyl's shoulder. She then grabbed onto Flint's hoof, pulled and turned; moving Flint from the seat, over Vinyl and hurdling down towards the gap between the seats with Vinyl on top.
The sound of Flint struggling died down quick as Maple made a sudden move and tried to pull Vinyl off of her.
Maple's efforts seemed useless at first, though after awhile Vinyl obliged to let off of the downed general. She even went as far as too help Flint get up, which Flint was surprisingly accepting to. Though I guess part of that was explained on her face - which had a scarred-for-life look to - as she was hoisted back up to her seat.
I guess it would be a bit scary for someone like Flint, a practically untouched general, to get tossed around pretty lazily by someone like Vinyl. Though Flint was still pretty young in the general position - not that I'm that old to begin with.
"General?" Maple asked, scooting back over to Flint's side when she didn't respond immediately.
"General?!" Maple said louder, shaking the stunned general.
Vinyl came back up to sit beside me, and when I turned to give her a look I found that she had gotten something in her little struggle.
A shiny metal flask.
She looked happily at it, smiling wide like a child getting a new toy, and held it close to her chest like a doll.
"Was that all you were after?" I asked her.
"Nah, but it was the second priority." She said, suggesting there was something else she was trying to get.
I gave Flint a once over, checking for a bite mark or a sign of bleeding, but didn't find anything.
"Not blood?" I asked Vinyl.
"Nope." She said, struggling with the lid of the flask. She ended up using one of her small fangs to pry it off, kind of ironic considering she had broken through iron shackles not but an hour ago.
"Did you get it?"
Vinyl gave Flint a look, looking at her stunned figure before smiling with satisfaction.
"Yep!" She said cheerfully, tipping the flask up and taking a sip.
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
The rain had finally began to come to a stop, as well as Vinyl deciding to take nap. Though, she decided that that she was going to sleep on someone else this time.
And that someone else, was Flint.
It was quite the sight to see in all honesty. An innocent looking mare curled up with her hooves near her chin and hind legs curled as well with her cure looking face laid in the lap of a mare that looked ready to scream at any given moment. It was like finding a spider on your nose, and not being sure whether to not scare the spider or scream like hell and hit yourself in the face.
Though instead of a spider, it'd be more like an unnecessarily strong caterpillar with fangs.
The carriage suddenly began to slow, gaining the attention of everyone but Vinyl.
Maple cast a look outside the door and saw the passing walls of what could have only been the main base of The Order.
I felt my heart wrench a little as I realized I had pretty much failed my intended goal, and was stuck on the team opposite of Vinyl for now unless I wanted to face death myself. Though I knew sulking wasn't going to help with anything, so decided against it. If anything it only get me more discouraged to do something.
The carriage came to a stop and shook a little, most likely coming from Stone unhitching himself.
The sound of multiple hooves trampling closer came from all directions, and the outside of the carriage lit up to an outrageous level of brightness.
"Bring her out!" Someone shouted.
We both turned to Vinyl, neither Flint or Maple wanting to touch her.
"Honestly." I sighed, picking up the empty flask and tossing it lightly against Vinyl's head.
Her eyes creeped open, red irises coming into view with a uncomfortable look in them
"Gotta get out Vinyl."
"Time already?" She asked, sitting up and stretching her hooves before getting up.
I briefly considered how easy going I was about imprisoning someone that I deemed as one of my best friends. It was a bit disturbing honestly, and sickening to even me that I actually followed through with this. I regretted it now. I should've just fought Stone and Flint like an idiot rather than over thinking it and making a stupid plan like this. I mean, look where it got us.
Vinyl's in vampire prison. And I'm to blame.
Vinyl cast Flint a glance, smiling sheepishly and thanking her.
"Y-Yeah..." Flint stammered in response.
Vinyl stepped out of the missing door frame, arriving on the ground outside while I trailed close behind her.
The first thing I noticed were the bright, magical, lights pointed at us by roughly ten unicorns. The second, were the uncountable amount of ponies circled around the carriage, each of them with either a hoof raised with a crossbow attached or a horn tilted down with magic flaring and ready to go.
'All of this for just Vinyl...' I said to myself.
I made out the sound of Maple and Flint getting out of the carriage behind me, each of them trotting past us and siding with Stone who was standing at the edge of the circle formed of hunters.
It was just me and Vinyl standing there now.
Suddenly, the sea of ponies parted, allowing a single stallion to walk forwards towards me and Vinyl. They were flanked by a group of three guards on each side, each one armed to the teeth. The stallion walked fearlessly towards Vinyl and I, a glimmer in their eye that gave off an odd feeling. They had a brown coat and a black man, and their eyes were a glimmering yellow.
As they finally arrived in front of us, they took in the sight of Vinyl's chains and the broken pair above them. he proceeded to smile at the sight, though it was a tamed one, as if he had expected nothing less.
"How was the ride?" He asked.
Neither Vinyl or me answered.
"You don't need to answer, your silence says everything. Though I will be introducing myself to the both of you." He said.
"My name is General Care. I'm here to lead you to your cell, though don't get to comfortable, the experiments will begin within the hour." He said, turning and beginning to head back towards the building he had came from.
Experiments?