A shadow fell over the knot of ponies. Octavia looked up and saw that the sun had been blocked by the silhouette of a pony wearing a hat and trenchcoat who was perched atop the traincar. It reared up, then stomped its front hooves against the roof. With a groooan the metal plate pressed against Octavia's back retracted like a garage door, revealing a wall made from squares of an odd black metal mesh. On each square, etched in bone-white cursive, was the word Mareshall.

Scoffing Song's left eye twitched as she stared in mute incomprehension. "What in the black pits of-"

PwaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA... Whooomp.

The grey mare found herself knocked flat, completely disoriented. She wondered for a moment if that wet feeling in her ears was blood. With what seemed a heroic effort, she experimentally daubed a limp hoof against the side of her head, then felt her eyelids flutter shut.

Noises came to her though the ground, as trembles rather than sounds, and she wondered where the two things that had been holding her had gone. For a few long seconds, her entire world was the feeling of railyard gravel against her belly.

So... tired. Octavia bit her lip and forced herself to stand up, then shook her head to dislodge the numbness. Her eyes spun a few more times before she could see straight again. The two reanimated corpses were still flat on the ground. Octavia's knees wobbled, but she managed to stay upright as she looked around. Earth ponies were built tough. The intruder seemed to have hit the opposite railcar hard, then bounced down to the ground. She had collapsed in a heap like a discarded cleaning cloth, her tail splayed over her upended body and her horn half-buried in gravel.

That titanic shadow still hung over them. Octavia lifted her head just in time to see its source fall to the ground. It was a mare, dressed in red, with an unruly cobalt and cyan mane hanging out from under her hat. She did not turn to look at the stunned assassin, but strode leisurely over to where the specter lay. Octavia felt her hearing slowly return, and realized that there was a curious high-pitched whine coming from Scoffing Song. Perhaps the whine was supposed to be some kind of speech, but if so the grey mare's ears had not recovered enough for her to comprehend it.

The new arrival cleared her throat and swished her tail to the side, waiting for the specter to get up. After she grew bored, she hauled Scoffing Song upright by the left front leg, then raised her own. An evil red glow flickered from behind the pony's purple shades as she slapped the witch right in the side of the head with the back of her hoof. The mare dropped like a sack of busted vodka bottles, this time completely silent. However, the creature in red was not done with her yet. It reached down and picked up the limp body, then yanked open one of the mare's eyelids, which drew a scream and a gasp from Scoffing Song.

"Das," the new arrival pointed an unnaturally pale front hoof toward the grey mare, "ist mein Octavia."

The unicorn's mouth hung open in shock. "Buh... buh... wha... how?" She tried to push the mare in red away. "I should be the strongest here, I-"

With a sigh, the creature in red held up her slapping hoof again, and the unicorn scuttled backward in fright. A sly grin crossed the pale pony's face.

"No." Scoffing Song rubbed her eye. "No, I know what you are. You're just another memory." A mean smirk of her own began to work across The Daughter's muzzle. "A thug, is that all you have left, Octavia?" The specter turned to look at the grey mare, who had finally recovered enough to begin to make out words. Sparks began to flicker from her horn to the ground. "You drug up some street trash to hurl at me, and thought it would-"

Yoink-BAP!

Scoffing Song was on the ground again, another nasty bruise beginning to form on her face. The pale mare snickered, and rubbed her slapping hoof against her front.

The cult leader scooted backward again, then lept into the air. Her horn crackled with angry sparks, and the passenger cars around them began to wobble as she reached out with her magic. "No, little figment. You have no idea what you're dealing with!"

The pale mare yawned.

"I could just freeze you like I did her father, but no. No, I'm through trying to salvage anything from this mess." She raised her front hooves with a mad cackle. The four nearest traincars levitated into the air, then crashed against one another with incredible force until they tore apart into shards of steel and iron. Metal rain fell upon the mare in red, and though she tried to dodge across the newly-opened ground, many tore through her flesh and splattered her blood all across the railyard gravel. "I'm going to slice you into a million pieces, then bury you under all this, and I'm going to do it right in front of your little mudpony's eyes so she can see that in comparison to you," Scoffing Song threw her head back and laughed, "I am a demigod!"

Octavia tried to think of something, anything she could do to turn the tide, but... but she was a mudpony. She really was useless. Why was this... this mare she did not even remember, fighting to protect her? Abruptly, it ceased to matter. With a shink, a particularly large piece of metal impaled the pale mare, leaving her hanging a meter off the ground. Red vitae oozed down the scrap of train.

Scoffing Song brushed her front hooves together and smirked. "Really? That's all? Really."

"Really."

The specter looked back and forth, then down at the hanging corpse. Had it spoken? "R-really."

"Really?" There could be no doubt, it was that same cold voice with just a touch of evil.

"Really!" the Daughter spat back, as if she could silence the troublesome pony by pouring enough venom into her words.

A red glow flickered behind the pale mare's purple shades as her head slowly rose. "Really!" She threw herself to the side, ripping free of the spike with a gut-wrenching prrschlorp, and rolled upright. After a shake of her mane, she seemed little the worse for wear. The unicorn's horn glowed, and little trails of blue light etched over the rune-encrusted technosorcery she wore under her trenchcoat. "Releasing The Wubs, level one."

"Level what?" the specter started to say. She was abruptly cut off when a pair of speakers finished materializing next to the mare in red, and a sonic shockwave resonated through the strips of metal sticking out of the ground. It bounced from spike to spike like they were a forest of tuning forks, before roaring up into the sky. Scoffing Song tried to fly away, but the unicorn's levitation could not push her to supersonic speeds in time. The wall of sound hit her like a hammer, sending her into a screaming spiral until she hit the ground and skidded to a stop a few meters away from Octavia.

The pale mare sauntered toward them, her speakers melting back into the runes beneath her trenchcoat. She yawned again, then adjusted her hat to shield her face from the weak sun overhead. "Y'know, you're really lucky. I don't normally make daylight appearances, but sometimes you have to go where the audience is."

Octavia stared down at the crashed wreck of her tormentor. Her knees were still weak, but at least that wet feeling had gone from the sides of her head. Had it only been her imagination? She turned her gaze toward the mare in red and stared at her. A moment later, the pale unicorn reciprocated.

"Hey babe." The pale mare smiled as she tilted her purple shades down. Her eyes were twin pools of crimson, each swirling around a black abyss and surrounded by a field of bonemeal. Her fur was a sickly shade of white with just a touch of yellow, and there was no blush of life in her cheeks. But most terrifying to Octavia were those teeth. Each one was sharp, looking as though it could rend metal, and the crown jewels were two long fangs.

The assassin gasped, and took a step back. A strained laugh came from the specter as she struggled to her hooves again. "A vampire. A tale made up to frighten fillies. That's all you could dream up to stop me? I serve a True Power, I have seen horrors beyond your comprehension!" A touch of her bravado faded as she winced in pain, then turned a glare toward the pale mare. "But you got me good. I'll... admit that." The specter coughed.

"Mmm-hmm," replied the vampire as she took a step toward the intruder.

"Ah-ah," Scoffing Song grinned. "Halt."

The mare in red raised an eyebrow, but obligingly froze mid-step. Then she yawned. "Why'd you two have to hash this out in the middle of the day..."

The specter tilted her head to the side, and her eyes glowed with anger. "I said halt!"

Octavia looked from one to the other, wondering if she should attack the intruder while she was distracted, but... but she was so strong, and... I am just a mudpony. When I tried that before, I failed. I am... I'm... useless. Scoffing Song threw a glare at her, just to make sure she would not have the courage to act.

"Psst."

The grey mare looked over at the pale pony, who mouthed something to her. Octavia leaned her head to the side, then blinked.

"Green light!" mouthed the mare in red again.

"Green light?" Octavia said, her mind still rattled. In response, the pale mare bounded toward the specter, a merry gleam of bloodlust twinkling in her eyes.

"Halt!" screamed Scoffing Song, backstepping a few paces in fright. With a sigh, the mare in red froze, then rolled her eyes. The intruder took a deep breath. "What's wrong with you, stupid figment? You should be turning grey by now and stiffening like a statue!" With a grand gesture, she shooed the unicorn away. "I've no more time for you, I've things to do!"

"What things?" the mare with fangs asked innocently.

"Important things! Things a figment like you would never..." her voice trailed off slowly as she began to realize that the pale mare did not seem completely at the mercy of her mind-warping will.

"Pssh. I do things too. I take enthusiastic walks," she winked at Octavia, as though waiting for a punchline.

The grey mare scratched her head. "Green light?"

"No, no, you know... and kill homocidal vampire Educarchyites."

Octavia blinked hard. "Ah... What is an Educarchyite?"

The mare in red sighed. "Never mind. It didn't work." She reached up and pulled off her shades. "It did not work."

Scoffing Song stomped toward the pale mare and raised a hoof, her anger getting the better of her common sense. An expression of absolute, uncontrollable glee stretched across the vampire's face, and her red eyes bored deep into the other unicorn's. "Dooo it. Do it. Do it, do it, do it!"

The specter swallowed very hard and took a few large steps away. "N-no. No... I've a better way of swatting a fly." Her horn pulsed again, and a column of magic lifted her off the ground. She reached out her aura and levitated a massive steam locomotive. Scoffing Song gritted her teeth as the strain of controlling her magic took its toll on her astral projection, then grinned in triumph as she hurled the huge steel behemoth at the little pony on the ground below. The cult leader leaned her head back and laughed as it fell. After a moment, she wondered why there was no earth-shaking crash!

"Did you... eh... forget I'm a unicorn too, smart one?" The vampire's horn glowed bright blue as she yawned again and dumped the steam engine on a nearby set of tracks. "Now, I was totally going to do you a solid and dodge out of the way in time so you'd get that feeling of satisfaction, but you were tossing this thing too close to my main mare over there." She waved a hoof at Octavia, who nodded slowly in gratitude, still shellshocked.

Scoffing Song huffed, feeling as though steam was hissing from her ears, then pressed a hoof to her forehead. She needed to think. How droll. She was so very, very close to absolute power, why did she have to deal with this now?

Meanwhile, Octavia was struggling to recover. I need to move. I need to fight. I need to... to do something! The grey mare swallowed hard. I... I am useless. Is that why this mare in red is here? To remind me how useless I am? She felt a spark of anger flicker in her heart. I do not need her charity. I do not need anypony! I just... I... Octavia looked up and saw the specter glaring down at her with absolute hatred.

"You're just going to let her fight all your battles for you, aren't you, little mudpony?" taunted the intruder, continuing to funnel her anger into her gaze. She still had the upper hoof. All she had to do was pour her emotions into the mudpony, who would then lash out against her protector, and then both would die. It was a perfect plan. All she had to do was stuff this Octavia full of rage and hatred, make her see how pathetic she really was. The cult leader resisted the urge to cackle with what she considered a heroic effort.

Octavia turned her eyes to the pale mare and bit her lower lip. She thinks I am useless. Everypony thinks I am useless. She is only here to remind me I am useless. A blush of rage began to appear on her cheeks. She was that hum, that awful, awful hum!

The mare in red yawned again, then strolled over to the earth pony and held out her front legs. "You look rough, babe. Hug?"

Octavia's left eye twitched. She felt the twitch spread down to her front legs, and before she knew what she was doing she socked the vampire right in the muzzle. It was... good. As though she had owed the pale mare that for a very long time. Then a wave of nausea rolled over her, and the grey mare fell to her knees as she emptied her stomach. I... feel so... Her skin seemed to be boiling hot, and her fur quickly turned wet from sweat. Wrong. She heaved again, only vaguely aware that the vomit was splashing on a red trenchcoat in the corner of her vision. Her muscles felt so weak. Octavia realized she was about to fall into a pool of her own puke, but there was no way she could stay upright. I am... useless.

Then something cold wrapped around her barrel. "Easy, easy. Frack, girl, you must have had one hades of a party before I showed up." Octavia felt and saw something red drag across her mouth, wiping the vomit off. A chilly body pressed against her side, drawing out the heat of rage.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Scoffing Song roared. "She hit you!"

The vampire hugged Octavia upright, letting her spit out the last traces of bile in her mouth. "And... that's supposed to stop me from doin' this?" She flicked on her purple shades with a pulse of her horn. "Sheesh, girl, you ain't been to many cheap drink nights at the rave club, have ya?"

Scoffing Song growled. The stupid mudpony had not gotten angry and clobbered the stupid vampire. She had vented the injected hate through her sweat and her vomit, just as the floating unicorn had through her magical gaze. If Scoffing Song had been in a more charitable mood, she would have called it ingenious. Perhaps the grey mare's body instinctively tried to center itself, just as its owner tried to keep her mind calm. Still, all was not lost. Maybe she could needle the vampire. "So what? Do you truly wish to be friends with a worm who hits you and defiles your clothes?"

"Uh... that's kinda a requirement for the position, yeah." The vampire scratched her mane, then yawned again. "I mean, she doesn't commit arson on a whim, or pick fights with flyboy gangs, and she usually yells at me when I turn my music up loud, but I can let that stuff slide." She rubbed Octavia's poll gently. "You good?"

The earth pony nodded slowly. She felt better, but still... useless. "T-thank you."

"No problem. A good friend helps a friend in need." The vampire winked. "You taught me that."

Octavia turned to look at the vampire, then blinked. "I... did?"

"Yup!" replied the vampire as she helped the grey mare into the shade of a railcar. "That's why I've been looking for you. I could tell somethin' was wrong."

"The hum, yes," replied the earth pony. A rancid taste filled her mouth. "You were that hum, and the... the noise that cracked my Father's den?"

"Dead on," said the pale mare with a smirk. "I tried to glomp you in the library, then again out here, but you kept goin' your own way."

Octavia leaned her head to the side as she tried to comprehend. Above, Scoffing Song was rubbing her fetlocks together as she tried to come up with another plan. Things had deteriorated rather rapidly.

"The notes," clarified the mare in red. "You'd follow them up to a point, then duck away just before I got to you." She reached out and tapped the grey earth pony's barrel. "The notes came from your heart, I just pulled at the stave with mine. You know me, gimmie a sound and I can bend it!" She reared up on her hindlegs and flexed like a superheroine. "Ha! I put my heart in action!"

Without conscious thought, her mind still foggy and her mouth tinged with bile, Octavia smiled. "You do not have a heart." Then she blinked. "I... I am sorry, I do not know what came over m-"

"Nah, nah, you're bang-on." The vampire grinned wide, exposing more teeth than any creature should have. "You remember!"

"I..." the grey mare held a hoof to her head. "I remember... something."

"A fleeting glimpse out of the corner of your eye?" crooned the pale mare.

Octavia swallowed. "I do not know... but... I..."

"You trust me?"

The earth pony's head jerked up, and her eyes narrowed. "Trust is a Weakness." She slid a few centimeters away from the vampire. Father is gone. Mother is gone. I am alone.

"Uh..." the vampire's lower lip began to wobble. "Um..."

"Die!" Seizing the moment, Scoffing Song swooped down from above, a large sledgehammer in her front hooves. The vampire glanced up, then sighed.

"D'you mind? Kinda in the middle of a-" the sledgehammer head hit her squarely in the face, knocking the pale mare back several meters. She lay very still. Octavia wondered how she could survive a hunk of metal through the body but not a mere whack in the head, then saw a sharp shard of iron sticking out of the pale mare's face. Cold iron.

"Ah, the direct approach," gloated the cult leader, producing another rail spike as she turned and walked toward the earth pony. "But I do hate getting my hooves dirty with plebeian work."

Octavia hauled herself upright and backed away slowly. then stopped. Her muscles had relaxed. The fear was gone, replaced with a cold sense of control. She was slipping into a fusion of conscious thought and muscle memory, just like in the moments before she pulled a trigger. Why?

"Because your close-combat review scores are unacceptable, Miss Octavia." A voice she could not recognize rushed by in a gust of wind. "And, as a fellow earth pony, there is no reason to ignore the abilities you were born with. My maidservant will train you on the practical side, but... she is not very good at communicating the more complex theoretical concepts. Hmm. Officer Rollins was raised at Pendulum, I'm sure he will be happy to tailor a course to your skill level."

Scoffing Song swung. Octavia rolled forward, under the blow, and sprung upward. The poll of her head rammed into the unicorn's chin, and her magical aura winked out from the pain. Both the sledgehammer and the rail spike fell to the ground as the grey mare tackled her attacker.

"You little-" sputtered the cult leader.

"You are a riflemare, Miss Octavia. A fine one, yes, but I have many riflemares. The Organization demands more from you."

The Organization. That meant something. It was a powerful word. At first that seemed a ridiculous concept, for there were many organizations. There were organizations for musicians, for magicians, for mailmares, and for animal lovers. And yet... the word sounded so very ancient when the wind spoke it. As though there had once been only The Organization, and all others were merely similar ideas built upon fairy-tales or myths that had been passed down through the ages. It was not her Father's organization. The Organization would not be something he could approve of. She knew this to be true as she held the unicorn in a sleeper hold.

I have to make him proud. I am his legacy. I am a Jäger. I-

"My father told me, when I was a very young filly, that it is our honor to feed the hungry. He told me that many mistook profit for success. It is an indicator of achievement, nothing more. True profit is found in Harmony. For when a customer trusts you to give her a good value for her bit, you will earn that bit again and again." The wind stilled as the unicorn beneath her went limp, then blew through the railyard again. "I know I have your loyalty, and that is worth more than you could ever eat. Believe it or not, your upkeep is usually less than the cost of cleaning up after your friend."

Octavia's eyes widened. Her legs went slack around the unicorn's neck. She had... sworn fealty to this voice? Was it another trick? Fear gripped her heart. What would Father think?

Scoffing Song let out a scream of rage and exploded upwards, sending the grey mare flying across the gravel. Octavia landed next to the mare in red, then recoiled in horror. The spike had slammed in right between the vampire's eyes, shattering her glasses. Red vitae oozed over her pale fur and dripped to the gravel. I... is she dead? Something about the power of cold iron against monsters rattled around in the cellist's thoughts, but she could not quite grasp it. She was kind to me, tried to help me even after I hurt her.

The earth pony rolled upright, put her head in her fetlocks, and whimpered softly. Dead. This was too much. Mother. Father. Her. All because of how useless I am. Octavia took a very deep breath, trying to focus... but then a little giggle escaped her. "Very well. Very well, then. You mean to break me." Her eyes turned skyward. "To make me go crazy. Nuts. Insane. Bonzo. No longer in possession of my faculties. Three hayfries short of a happy meal." The cellist paused for a breath, "wacko!"

Octavia giggled again. It was a long giggle, like a banner of paper dolls cut with safety scissors. "Well, you have done it, do you hear me!" Too much, oh, too much for any mare. Voices in the wind. Vampires. Committing herself to something called The Organization. Father would never approve of that. Father dead. Fighting a levitating unicorn in a trainyard in her mind, with the help of an unremembered ally. Mother dead. Too much.

And yet... why did she feel so clear-headed now? The earth pony pulled herself upright. "Clear now. It is all so very, very, clear now. Why?"

"Sometimes you gotta be crazy to think straight," said the pale mare with the spike through her face. "Can you lend me a hoof here?"

Octavia jerked in surprise, then looked up. Scoffing Song was coming around for another pass. "Who are you?"

A long hiss of disappointment rose from the vampire, whose tongue did not seem affected in the least by having an iron spike through the part of her head where her brain should be. "You don't remember? Really?"

The assassin shut her eyes and tried to think back.

"Dunno if I ever told you this part, but I worked as a club bouncer before I got famous as a DJ. Roadie, bouncer, barkeep, dancer, cashier, kegmistress, mmmm... booze'n'blood..." her tongue lolled out of her mouth for a moment. "Yeah. I've done it all. 's how I keep it real."

"Wait... famous?" The grey mare pressed a hoof to her head, trying to pull out the memory that the pale mare's words had called up. It was a poster, plastered... on a brick wall. A poster for an orchestra event, with her name listed alongside many others. I was in an orchestra? When had her father allowed that? She was staring at the poster, smiling, then... a colt trotted up to the wall with two saddlebags, one full and one empty. He tore the orchestra poster down and plastered up three posters for some nightclub in its place. The orchestra poster went in the empty saddlebag, then he trotted down the sidewalk in search of the next.

Octavia bit her lip. On the poster was a picture of the pale mare, wearing only her purple shades and a feral grin. There were words beneath, but they were too scrambled to read. Some looked like numbers instead of letters.

"Yeah, famous!" The pale mare smirked in self-satisfaction. "But you didn't know that. When we first met, I was just another punk on a train."

The earth pony opened her eyes. "I don't... remember. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I... I can't trust you." But the grey mare dearly wished to. "It would not be right."

"Sez who?"

Octavia scratched her head and looked up. "She is coming back for another attack."

"Right. Can you help me out here?" The pale mare pointed to her face with a hoof. "Kinda stings."

The grey mare leaned down and wrapped her fetlocks around the spike. It came out with surprising ease, slick with red vampire vitae. A sweet, strong scent reached out to the earth pony's nose, and she sniffed curiously. It was definitely coming from the vampire's blood. Then she felt her tongue stretching out toward that sweet red...

What am I doing? She jerked the spike away. That is disgusting! Octavia threw the spike on the ground and shivered. I... I am not one of them. I am a... a... She bit her lip, finding it hard to use the "J" word. An assassin.

The vampire rubbed her face. "Thanks! Ugh... eh, still, not so bad. I've had hangovers that were worse." She sat upright and growled, then pawed around on the ground. "Shades, shades... shades?" Her ears perked up. "Oh, no she didn't!" In her hooves were the shattered remains of her purple glasses. The imaginary world seemed to drain of all sound for a moment, save for that curious static of true silence. Then the pale mare's gaze swung to Octavia, her eyes glowing bright red.

"I did not-"

"I know." The unicorn in red said, then gently slipped her beloved eyewear into a pocket on her trenchcoat. "I know. But playtime's over." She stood upright, then her eyes dimmed and a hopeful expression crossed her face. "Hey... you don't remember me... but do you remember..." Her muzzle dipped into the depths of her trenchcoat, and returned with a strip of cloth. "Then... moo mu mat meast memember dis?"

Pink. Octavia swallowed hard. Dangling from the unicorn's mouth was, no doubt about it, a pink bow-tie. My pink bow-tie. She felt her pulse quicken, and gently touched her neck. That is what was missing. How could I have forgotten it? With a worried bite of her lip, she admitted to herself, I have forgotten a great many things. I need help.

But how could she trust this mare? Even though she had been kind, Trust was a Weakness. Trust was not what her Father would have wanted. Could she not make him proud in this one little thing? Could she not defeat this specter on her own?

No. No, I cannot. And Father is dead. Mother is dead. I am his legacy. She swallowed. No. I am... I am...

The vampire smiled happily around the silk cloth in her mouth, then produced a white cloth collar to match. It was the dressy sort of collar, worn by ponies at high class events, not the doggy sort. Despite the red glow of her eyes, when she held out those little accessories like a child offering a teddy bear to another, she seemed almost... cute.

I am... Octavia shut her eyes again. I am sorry, Father. She reached out, felt the silk against her hoof. I have to remember. I have to become what I was again. I am... I am not your legacy. The earth pony threaded the bow-tie through the collar with her eyes shut tight. Then she took a deep breath, and tied the bow. It came easily, so very easily, for she had tied her bow-tie uncountable times before.

Click-clack, clickity-clack, click-clack, clickity-clack, clack-click...

When Octavia opened her eyes, the gravel railyard had fallen away. She knew this place, it was the inside of a small railcar, with benches down each side for passengers. Such railcars moved ponies through cities, not between them, and she remembered that they were called commuter rail. Well, perhaps she did not remember it so much as see it written on the ticket of the mare sitting next to her.

Octavia looked down at her own hooves and saw they were almost transparent, as though she were a ghost from a fairy tale. That did not hold her attention for long, though, since the mare sitting next to her was most curious. She was a young mare, neatly dressed and groomed, holding her instrument case tight as though it were the only thing she owned in the world. Her eyes looked heavy with sleep, but every time she started to nod off, she would jerk awake and stare suspiciously at the pony sitting across from her.

It was certainly an understandable sentiment, since the unicorn on the opposing bench was picking her teeth with a switchblade. She wore a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled so far over her face that she looked more like a cultist from an old horror movie than a citizen of Equestria.

However, that did not hold Octavia's interest for long either. Her eyes returned to the pony sitting next to her ghostly self on the bench, for she was also an earth pony with grey fur and a black mane. In fact, she was the spitting image of Octavia, right down to the bow-tie and cello case.

Author's Note

If you picked up on the foreshadowing of Vinyl's appearance before this chapter, congratulations! I've been building to this for a little while, and it's really good to be here.

I thought this would be the last chapter of Aquarium, but after five hours of writing and editing, I feel that there's another chapter's worth of material that needs to be told.

Also, I hope y'all enjoyed the little nods to Hellsing Abridged. Don't worry, next chapter Vinyl is scheduled for some real action. I wanted to focus on Octavia's mental struggle here. I hope that Vinyl's rough and tumble antics didn't distract from that point!

There was also a nod to the Schoolhouse Rock song: Verb: I'm an Action Word! It just seemed like something Vinyl would say, and also opened up an opportunity for Octavia to begin remembering.

I hope you are having even more fun reading this story than I am writing it.