Fangs: The Order

by Sapphic

Decisions

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

The further I went into my parent's home the more I began to resent the way they reacted. I still couldn't understand my father's my reaction to Vinyl, which was something I aimed to find out at the end of all this, but my mother's reactions were just plain rude. She was normally tolerant and outgoing to everyone, but tonight she seemed rather edged. I guessed that it was because of Vinyl's appearance and gender, but that shouldn't reflect her treatment as a well behaved guest.

My steps seemed to become louder and the halls began to get darker. I seemed to be focusing intently on how I would go about dealing with my parents and it didn't seem to end well in most of my imagined scenarios. I trashed the 'too good to be true' ones as well for obvious reasons.

I began to feel something entirely foreign to me.

I think I was angry at my parents.

I had never been mad at them as I had never had a reason to be. They had always been kind and supportive and it was almost sickening how much I remembered about them being that way.

I finally reached the study, my head raising up from the tilted position it had been in as I walked down the halls in thought.

I heard vague voices from the inside; loud enough that I didn't even have to stick my ear up to the door to hear them.

"...run out like that?" The voice was my mother's.

"Dear, that mare is nothing but trouble to anything she comes into contact with. I knew that Octavia had come into contact with her, in fact that mare has actually done a great amount of good for her, but I had never imagined that it had progressed to this." This voice was my father's, ragged.

"So why are you so panicky? If she's good for Octavia then what is your problem?"

"Panicky? No. Scared? Yes." This was the first time I had heard my father describe himself as scared.

"What does the word matter? Why?" My mother pressed, sounding concerned.

"The mare's records are wiped on an almost daily basis by a source that is beyond even the head of the guard. I had to make a call to him, who then had to make a call to the outposts across Canterlot, who then had to call the local businesses, who had to check their rosters just to find where she was on that one night. They were lucky enough that she went to a club that had a list, if she had gone to an anonymous bar we wouldn't have found her. She has the ability to stay off the radar that would be envious of every criminal in history."

The words from my father made me angry. More of this nonsense about her past, focus on her present if you want to judge; not what is behind someone. It was just illogical to do otherwise.

"Are you saying she is a criminal?" My mother asked with an edge to her voice. She seemed to pick up on my father's assumptions as I had and seemed to have an equal stance on it.

"No." My father replied darkly.

"You know how I feel about assuming things." My mother's tone was dangerous, and it made me happy that she was standing up for Vinyl, even if it was just solely on a belief basis.

"Yes yes, I know how you feel about it. Which is why I'm not judging her on just that."

Oh?

"I first found about this while on one of our lunches with the captain's family. He was telling me of some of his interesting past experiences whilst in the guard when he brought up a local disturbance a few years back. A suspicious group of ponies had been snooping around town, looking for someone it seemed like, and it seemed that they found...something-"

There was a pause in their conversation.

"-Here, read this."

I gritted my teeth as I decided it was time to enter the room, I just wouldn't stand for this plotting against Vinyl. Being suspicious of her on your own was one thing, but swaying someone else into it was another. It was hard for me to believe my father of all people was the person piling evidence against her.

I opened the door almost violently as I entered the room, hard enough that the door hit the inside of my fathers study. Their eyes snapped to me with shock upon entry, a look that I wasn't used to seeing from them.

"O-Octavia?" My mother asked, clearly taken aback by the rather unorthodox entry.

I was silent. It looked like I did it for effect, but in all honesty I was doing it because I had forgotten how I was going to go about talking with my parents.

"What's the matter dear?" My dad asked calmly.

How dare he play ignorant.

"'What's the matter?' How could you ask that?" I snapped at him, getting widening eyes as a reaction but nothing more.

"I've looked up to you two my entire life, the two of you have always been my role models. But why in Equestria would you two treat a guest like that?"

Maybe it was my own manners speaking, but I was more angry about this than about their rude table manners. Though I guess this reason did make it out to look like I wasn't eavesdropping on them, so I guess it was an accidental win on my part.

My mother seemed to see my point and sadness washed over her previously shocked face while my father remained motionless, a look of thinking on his face.

"Octavaia, I don't think you knw-" My father began, only to make my agitation grow. He was going to bring up the exact same thing he did to my mother in an attempt to sway me against Vinyl as well.

"Know about Vinyl's past? I know plenty; plenty more than you do Father." I snarled. Although it might not have been about Vinyl's past, I most definitely knew more about her than my father did. It didn't matter how many documents my father found in the darkest sections of the guards storage, nothing could tell more about someone than knowing them.

He seemed mildly shocked about me knowing that, but didn't say anything more.

"Even if her past is questionable, is that really a reason to treat her so rudely after she had been nothing but kind to you both? Shouldn't that count for something?"

My mother stepped in.

"She was rude herself Octavia, did you not hear her-" I cut her off just as easily I had cut off my father.

"Be honest with you? Try her hardest to make a good impression to you two? It may not look like it to you but she told me just before I left to talk to you two that she only was being honest to you two."

I grew a bit meek.

"She's...different." I said simply.

That was enough to render my mother in a stunned silence.

I had never so easily cut off my parents while they were speaking and seemed to have an impact on them both. They must have realized how big of a deal this was to me.

My father seemed to think hard on my words and it bring a certain type of satisfaction to see him listen to me. My mother was more or less in the same way of thinking at this point, I could see that much in her eyes.

It was a minute or so later when father finally got up from his desk and let out a big sigh.

"She's right." He said firmly. His voice showed no sign of backing his statement,

My eyes lit up.

"R-Really?" Me and my mother stammered in unison.

"Yes, on one thing. She is our guest and we have an obligation to treat her as one. You don't know who you are dealing with Octavia, but I can't stop you from hanging around with her. You're level headed to say the least and it seems as though you're on good terms with her, considering we're all still alive." He said darkly.

He looked up to me, a look of struggle in his eyes. He looked scared for me, but also agitated in me for what was most likely my persistence to peruse a mare that he was disturbed by.

"Be careful." He added.

He turned to my mother.

"Come. We have a guest to entertain and apologize to as well." He said playfully, grabbing my mother by the hoof and pulling her towards the exit of the room. My mother could only mumble with a dumbfounded look on her face.

I smiled as I watched them leave, laughing internally at my father's antics. He had taken the mood of the room and thrown it away and then replaced it with something more comfortable to him; I had no idea if this was the reason he succumbed to my protests or if he was actually doing it because of his affection for me. Either way, I was happy.

Well, I thought they left, but it seemed as though my father had lingered at the door.

"Oh, and Octavia."

I turned to see him standing in the door with a look that I couldn't describe on his face.

"When I said 'be careful' I meant it. I've got the strangest feeling that some ponies might be after that -" He stopped and shook his own head at his rudeness.

"My apologies. After Vinyl."

I nodded dumbly, not quite knowing what he meant. Who would be after Vinyl?

With that his face melted into a kind smile before he nodded and practically skipped out the door, heading down towards the dining room once more.

I felt something come over me again after he left. This time, it was curiosity.

I turned my head back towards my father's desk, the smile on my face fading quickly as my eyes locked onto the papers sitting idly on his desk. I tossed my head over my shoulders and looked at the door, checking if my father had come back for me once more. He hadn't, so I made my way slowly over to the desk; as if somepony would pop out to ask me what I was doing.

A small folder was out on my father's desk, its front open with a small, but fair, stack of papers on the inside with the top one skewed ever so slightly from where Mother had been looking at it. Considering when I had barged in, I'd imagine she hadn't gotten too far into the paper.

I raised a brow at the bold casing of the title of the top paper and turned it around so I could read it proper.

"Local group discovered traumatized from unknown causes. Guards and Store Owners alike report nothing matching group's claims." I read aloud, my curiosity growing as I moved the top paper off of the stack to look at the one underneath.

My stomach churned at the sight.

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

The door to the apartment slammed shut, gaining my attention as I played with a crumpled piece of newspaper Stone had given me to entertain myself with. He hated the sports section, so I got it. I was laid down on my back facing the ceiling with my hooves in the air tossing the paper around and dropping it down to my hooves occasionally. Stone was, as far as I could tell up to now, a very relaxed pony; not really getting worked up over anything that came across him.

Flint trotted into the room with a dumb smile spread across her face, clearly happy with something.

She didn't even bother to give me a raised brow.

"Someone is happy." Stone murmured from behind his wall of newspaper. He seemed to read them a lot.

"Of course I am! I was right on my assumptions!" Flint cheered.

"What assumptions? On whoever it was being there?" I asked, dropping the paper ball.

"Yep, she was there in the flesh. It's been awhile since I've seen Shakes."

"Hm, how's she doing?" Stone mumbled, a small amount of care surfacing in his voice.

"Fine, I think. She didn't seem to happy about my visit; maybe even a little bit angered by it. I guess she's mad about me taking her kill." Flint giggled.

The more they went on and talked about this 'Shakes' pony, the more and more I got curious about her. If the generals were extending to her for some help then she must clearly by someone, right?

"Who is Shakes anyways?" I asked casually.

Stone folded his paper at that and Flint got all dreamy eyes.

"She...she was something is for certain." Flint said slowly.

I raised a brow at that.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked.

"She's a member of the order, or at least we think she is." Stone said simply.

Think she is?

"Shakes came up in The Order some time before I showed up. In fact, she was around the rank of commander when I was first getting my bearings for hunting. She was my platoon leader for a while too."

"Wow, really?" I stammered. To be looked up to by the now-general Flint was rather impressive for me considering her feats since becoming general.

"Yep, she was real nice too."

"Not to mention her abilities." Stone added, showing almost equal admiration for the mare. Stone had been a general for far longer than Flint had, so I figured that this mare's respect was well earned.

"Oh yeah, she was really good at her job. Much better than I am now even with her disadvantage of being an Earth pony."

"Wasn't she in line to be general hadn't she off and disappeared?" Stone asked.

"Yep. Definitely would've gotten it too, not quite sure what happened to her though. I knew she wasn't dead though." Flint replied.

Wait what? She would've been a general, but just left? No way anyone would've done that.

"What happened to her? Seems a bit odd somebody with a bright future would just up and leave." I said.

"That's what everyone said and still does when she comes up in what few conversations she does. Around now shes more of a myth to the veteran ponies around The Order - only the oldies like me remembering her; a legend if you would." Stone stated, respect brimming his voice.

'Veterans' of The Order were considered members of two years of service or more. The number of years was so short because most ponies didn't make it through boot camp; followed by the cut of ponies who realized how violent and bloody this job could get; then there were the ones that fell on the field; and even after that most ponies only served for around a year before leaving. I myself had only been serving for about a year, my brother not that much farther ahead of me.

"She got assigned a mission to inspect a disturbance around Canterlot and headed out with her select few to take care of it. About seven of them went out with her included; only three of them came back and had to all be submitted into the mental trauma section of HQ."

"That...that's horrible." I said in barely a whisper.

"Yes, it is. Shakes was one of the ones to not return and many claimed her KIA - though definitely MIA - but I could never believe that." Flint said solemnly.

"One of the reasons she was eager to gather records from the guards and most likely took this mission all together." Stone chuckled.

"Bingo." Flint chuckled back. "Don't care how violent it got in here, it'd take a lot to drive her out of here. I personally believe that she is still here on that contract, and think that shes gonna make her big return someday." She said, saying her predictions the same way a filly would talk about Santa Hooves.

"I honestly don't much care about credit for this kill, and I'm willing to give it to her just out of respect. I'm still happy that I got to see her after so long." She said honestly.

"Aye." Stone nodded with a smile.

"Speaking of the kill," Flint began again. "a local group of hunters have offered up to take their first stab at getting at Vinyl Scratch. Made a bet that they could find and get her before we did." She stifled a laugh.

"I love a good gamble." Stone hummed.

"I said they were good to go by tomorrow night after I get my answer from Shakes." She smiled.

"You're not worried about them taking the kill and credit?" I asked.

Stone scoffed.

"If Vinyl Scratch is any sort of a threat this group should be a breeze to scare off. I'd be disappointed if those lads one."

I began to see that this really was nothing more than a field day for them; something of an excuse to let loose and have fun as opposed to their normal duties around HQ.

*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Shakes...*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*

Knocks rang out from the door to my room.

"Shakes, you okay in there?" Sweeps asked. She didn't sound concerned, but I knew she was.

I didn't answer, I was still shaken from earlier tonight, and tried to curl into the covers harder than I already was.

I managed to hold it together up until Flint had left, but afterwords I almost broke down in the bar. I had drank enough for my sister to need to come pick me up from the bar but not even that could get me to stop thinking about the decision I had to make. If I didn't respond I knew that she wouldn't hesitate to start, she wouldn't give me more time either. She was determined, I could see it in her eyes.

The door creaked open, my sister's head poking in just enough for me to see her face. It was confused and worried, one brow raised high over a set of eyes filled concerned.

"I'll take that as a 'no'?" She asked.

I clinched my eyes shut as she trotted farther into the room.

"Look, you're not going to get any better - from whatever it is - if you don't talk about it." I felt my bed sink in around my hooves and assumed that she had sat down on the bed.

I sighed.

"It's about Vinyl." I muttered sadly.

"What about her?" She pressed, glad to be getting somewhere.

"Someone is after her again."

"Since when is that new? Seems like somebody is always after her." She muttered with a small bit of amusement.

"Well, usually I'm not worried about her either. But this time the person after her can actually do something. We got lucky with that sicko back in the forest; these guys could actually kill Vinyl." I said with a lack of emotion.

My sister was silent.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"She won't."

"Not with that attitude." My sister chuckled. "How'd you find about somebody chasing Vinyl?"

"They told me."

"Really? That's a first. Saves us the trouble of finding out who they are."

I sighed.

"They said that if I don't chose to rat her out, they guarantee they'll kill her. If I do tell them who's helping them then they said they will keep her alive." I said flatly.

Silence.

"And how can you be sure they won't kill her anyways." My sister sounded more serious now.

"I can't." It was true, there was no way I could be sure they wouldn't kill her. Though if I accepted, I could be included in their schemes against her and be there when they captured her - what a moment that would be. I could at least make sure they wouldn't kill her while I was around if I accepted.

I could practically feel my sister's eyes narrow on me.

"You're not honestly considering helping them get Vinyl are you?" She asked. Her words carried weight, and I could tell that my answer to this question would heavily influence my sister's opinion of me as both a friend of Vinyl and a sister of hers.

"I am."

It was the sad truth of the matter, but above all I didn't want Vinyl to get hurt - much less get killed - and if helping in her capture would prevent that, then so be it. It sounded wrong in concept, I should be on my friend's side right? Well, that would make sense if it was someone I didn't know had the ability to both find and capture her on their own. And with someone else who was either on par or better suited to do the same job helping out, it was a definite that they would get her.

Of course, there was the side of me that held strong against those two. That Vinyl could somehow best them; something that she may very well have a chance of doing if I stood with her. I knew the two more than the average person did, maybe I could help Vinyl with my knowledge of how they worked and fought. Friends help friends? I was sure I was Vinyl's friend so shouldn't it be out of the question of whether I should help her or not?

Both sides were equal in their stances against one another, if one would give a push then the other would surely would crumble and my mind would be made up in an instant.

It's just that neither side seemed to be willing to give.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the hardening look of my sister as she looked down on me. It was a bit easier to deal with it that way.

"Really?" She asked in a voice that made me grit my teeth and clinch my eyes tighter to the point where it hurt.

I nodded. I couldn't respond with words.

"Alrighty." She said, the malice gone in her voice as I felt her weight get off the bed.

I popped an eye open to see her heading for the door and opening it halfway, where she lingered for a second before speaking again.

"I don't know much about Vampires and hunting them and stuff, but I know you. And if I know one thing about you is that you'll know what the right choice is." She said, not looking back at me but rather out the door.

And with that, she left to my silence.

I was stunned by that. It was one of the few times my sister got 'deep' with me and they always seemed to leave me more self conflicted than I was to start with. I felt the sides in my head fill with renewed vigor by my sister's words, each one fighting hard enough now that I could feel my head pulsing.

I pressed my head back into my pillow once more.

Back to square one.

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas!

Comments

[Guilty King]

Merry Christmas!

[Backlash91]

Happy new year!

[TheStratovarian]

Huh, quite the dilemma. And certainly ouch on the choice.

[Silentwoodfire]

Youd think one of these times theyd just buck the status quo, tell everyone out and expose the whole sordid mess before it got worse....