Octavia casually tossed aside the remains of the broken lamp in her hand. At her feet lay an unconscious unicorn mare, one of the members of the Society. She never really considered herself a violent pony, but she was never more satisfied than when she heard the porcelain shatter against the mare's skull. Crouching down Octavia frisked the unicorn, searching for the key that would let her out of the room she was currently locked in.

"It has to be here somewhere..." The earth mare said to herself as she shifted through the knocked out pony's pockets. Pulling out everything she found what she was looking for along with a large sum of money. Not really seeing a use for the cash she tossed it aside, but then focused on something else the unicorn had which could be of some use. She picked up the limp body and sat it up against the bed before carefully removing the mare's clothing.

Before long Octavia had the unicorn nearly naked, leaving only her underwear on since she didn't need the garments nor did she want leave the mare completely nude. The clothing way thankfully a bit loose and even though it was about a size too small the only place it seemed tightly fitted was around her breasts. Octavia had to admit that it felt odd wearing clothes again after going so long without them. They felt constricting and the feeling of the fabric against her fur gave her an odd sensation. She ignored that though as she thought that it might provide a decent disguise. A guard might not think twice about her walking freely down the halls since only members were allowed to wear things besides bondage attire.

Using the key Octavia unlocked the door and poked her head out to see if anyone who could recognize her was around. Doing so she saw that the halls were just as dark as the room she was in. Whatever caused this blackout seemed to be affecting the whole facility. "This is good." Octavia thought. As dark as it was no one would be able to tell her apart from anyone else. For once she was glad there were no windows to let in sunlight. She stepped completely out of the room and locked the door behind her, hoping that it would be some time till the mare inside awoke.

The earth pony looked down the dark corridor she was standing in, trying to plan her next move. She might have been given opportunity to escape, but she really didn't have a clue where an exit was. Every place she was ever taken to never showed signs of being close to the outside. "That's ok." Octavia thought, a sly grin growing on her face. "If the places they wanted me to be in don't have a way out I am sure I will find one in the areas that they didn't want me to be in."

It made a bit of sense that they would keep her far away from any place she could escape from, but even so it was risky. Then again what she was doing right now was risky. She didn't even want to think about what was going to happen to her if she got caught. Instead she focused on her next dilemma, whether or not to try and help other ponies trapped in this place. If she went left down the hall she could make it to the kennels pretty quickly and perhaps she could cause a riot or even get someone out with her. Perhaps even Coco. Out of all of the slaves Octavia could call her "inner circle" in the Society Coco had always seemed the most vulnerable and if Octavia could she would like to take her with her.

"No.... I can't.... I'm sure there will be guards there in a situation like this. It'll be impossible.... I'll have to leave them...." Turning the opposite direction from the kennels Octavia started her way down the hall. "Just hold on Coco. I'll get you and everyone else out of here. I promise." The grey mare said, her heart heavy in her chest as she thought of the small mare. Even if Octavia made it out she still had no idea where the Society's club was located. For all she knew it could be in the middle of nowhere and it could be days or weeks before she could get to someone who could help. She could only hope that when she did the mare that would be waiting for her would be the same one she left behind.

After a short run down the halls Octavia turned a corner to get closer to the lounge, since there was a place beyond that room where she had seen members come from but not the slaves. As she did she stopped in her tracks when she spotted a bit of blue light floating in the middle of the passageway. She stood there for a moment to let her eyes adapt to the illumination, but ducked back around the corner when she heard a voice come from it.

"Is everypony here?" A blue unicorn stallion called out, using the natural glow generated by his magic to light his path. At first Octavia thought he had seen her, but then another voice called back to him.

"There are two of us over here!" A female voice said from Octavia's left. "We have three slaves with us too! They are getting a bit fidgety! What's going on?"

Following the voice the unicorn moved closer and closer to Octavia, forcing the earth pony to back up further back down the path she had come from. She waited for the stallion to turn and move farther away from her before trying to get past him and continue her course, but again she froze when the unicorn's glow revealed who it was replying to his calls.

It was Whiplash, the pegasus that had used Octavia the first day she was brought to the Society. If anyone was going to notice the grey mare it was going to be someone like her; someone who had used personally. "Do you know what's going on?" Whiplash asked the unicorn.

"Not sure exactly. Something made every light go out all at once. Me and some other unicorns are going around to make sure everypony is fine." The unicorn replied. "We're leading everypony towards the lounge, figured it would be the best place to sit this out."

Whiplash looked visibly irritated by this incident. "I can't believe it, first day off in a month and this happens. Lady Tourmaline should have taken measures to prevent things like this. I thought the lights were magically fueled anyways, how does something like this even happen?"

"Who knows... All I can say is that once this is over I'm going to have to speak with our distinguished leader about how this place is powered." The unicorn turned around and led Whiplash back the way he had come from. With them were four other ponies, three of them bound in ways that made it so they had no way to take advantage of this situation. It was honestly pure luck that Octavia had been released from her own bonds just moments before the blackout.

Allowing the group to pass the earth pony slipped in right behind them, placing herself right behind the slave ponies in hopes that she would blend in if she just remained quiet. It wasn't the best idea to stay this close to Whiplash or any member of the Society for that matter, but they were heading straight to the location she need to get to. If they just didn't notice that their party had grown by one it would make the trip a cakewalk compared to having to sneak around in the shadows.

As she kept pace with the ponies, taking care to stay at the edge of the unicorn stallion's light radius, she noticed that the two ponies she was leading were Comet Tail and Flitter. Octavia didn't really know Comet Tail very well since male and female slaves only spent time together when they were being used, but she did know Flitter as the two mares often spoke with one another in the shower area.

If Octavia thought she could get away with it she would've tried to get the pegasus mare away from Whiplash, but the grey mare knew better since it would be three members against her and there was no guarantee that the other slave pony she didn't know wouldn't join in. Even Comet Tail could turn on her on a whim if he felt he would be rewarded for it. He had already proven in the past that he was one of the ponies here who only cared about his own safety.

The trek to the lounge didn't take too long and never once did any of the ponies she was following look back to see her. However as they got close to the location the grey mare noticed a purplish glow getting increasingly stronger. Octavia figure it had to be another unicorn using their magic to guide ponies, but there was something about it that made her pause. She allowed the group to walk ahead of her and was glad she did when she heard the unicorn speak.

"Miss Whiplash, I see you found your way here safely." Said a voice that could only belong to a certain crystal pony.

"Lady Tourmaline, what is all this about?" Whiplash asked, giving the crystal unicorn an annoyed tone.

"My apologies." Schorl replied. "It seems that we had a bit of a problem with our power system. We are doing everything in our power to fix the issue in a prompt manner."

"Hmph, and what is with all these minotaurs?" Said Whiplash

"Well we are taking a few precautions to make sure everypony is safe and where they are suppose to be." Schorl explained. "I've sent a crew to search the halls for any ponies that have lost their way. We also have stationed some minotaurs to key locations to make sure that no pony wonders into restricted areas."

Octavia didn't like the sound of that. To her "restricted area" translated to "any place she could escape from". Not only that but if Schorl was up ahead with a group of minotaurs it would prove difficult to slip past. She had to adjust her plan to adapt to this new information or at least figure out how to get past the obstacles blocking her path. She did have one idea, but to get it to work she was going to need a little help.

The grey mare crept up to the back of the group once more, praying to Celestia that no one would notice her. Luckily for her the glow from the crystal pony's horn was a dark purple and concealed her just enough to sneak behind Flitter.

"Flitter... don't say anything and don't turn around." Octavia whispered as Schorl and Whiplash continued their conversation, placing a hand on the pegasus mare's shoulder. Flitter, having been surprised by the earth mare, tried to jump in shock but found herself firmly planted to the floor by the strong grip holding her. "Don't be afraid, it's me... Octavia. Now I need you to listen to me. If you understand look up for a few seconds." Flitter did as instructed and looked up for a couple of seconds, acting nonchalant as she performed the action.

"Good, now listen. I am getting us out of here. I got free and I'm going to escape to get help. First though I need to get past this point and to do that I need your assistance." Once she finished explaining what was going on Octavia felt Flitter shivering slightly as she did her best not to draw attention in her direction. The grey mare knew she was asking a lot of her friend. At any moment the two could be caught talking to each other and it would be very likely that Flitter would be held accountable for not saying anything. While Octavia could make a run for it to try and lose any pursuers the pegasus was held at the end of a leash and would have no place to go. It was really unfair for Octavia to ask the mare to place herself in harm's way, but it was the only chance that any of them had.

"I know you're scared. I am too, but I can't do this without you. I just need a bit of a distraction, something to get the attention of Schorl and her guards. Give me a few seconds to get ready and then do whatever you can." Octavia removed her hand from the pegasus and stepped back into the shadows. Now all she had to do was wait till Flitter was ready.

Octavia kept her eyes on the pegasus, using the lights from Schorl and the unicorn stallion to outline the silhouettes of each pony in front of her. A minute passed and Flitter still hadn't made her move. Octavia was starting to get impatient, all Flitter had to do was make a bunch of noise or try to pull away from Whiplash or something that would get everyone focused on her so she could go by unnoticed. She kept at the ready though knowing the pegasus wouldn't let her down.

"Well I held you all up long enough." Schorl said, bringing the conversation to its conclusion. The crystal pony and the minotaurs moved out of the way to allow the group before them passage. "Please enjoy yourselves in the lounge. I have arranged refreshments to be given out, free of charge of course, till this problem has been resolved."

Octavia watched as the silhouettes disappeared in the darkness as they went past the crystal pony and as she did realization of what had happened set in. Flitter had chickened out and instead of causing a distraction or telling on the earth pony she had decided to simply stay quiet about the whole thing. Octavia could understand that position, not wanting to be involved in something that could easily get her in trouble, but that didn't stop her from feeling a bit angry at the girl. She really would have to fall back now and try something else, even though she didn't have the first clue of where else she should go. Turning around she headed back towards the area where the private rooms were, believing that she had wasted her time in this endeavor.

"AUWAHH!" Octavia stopped dead in her tracks as she heard an ungodly noise come from the direction of the lounge. As she looked back towards the noise she saw the purple light bounce up and down rapidly and get increasingly dimmer. Not exactly sure what had happened she decided, against her better judgement, to investigate.

"What's going on here?" She heard Schorl say as she got closer.

"I don't know. This girl just crumpled over and started screaming." Whiplash replied.

As Octavia continued towards the sounds of screaming she noticed that the guards had been lured away from their station and towards the lounge. Poking her head around the corner she could see that everyone from the group she was following, as well as Schorl and the minotaurs, had encircled Flitter. The pegasus mare was on her knees, curled up in a fetal position as she clutched her stomach.

"It hurts! IT HURTS!" Flitter yelled. The pony's cries expressed intense pain as she rolled over on her side. Octavia herself thought that something serious had happened to the pegasus until she begun to figure out what Flitter had done. The pegasus had waited till she was taken farther down the hall and turned at a fork, drawing Schorl and her guard down one way while leaving the other clear. This was much better than her own plan, which was to try and slip past the large minotaurs in the narrow hallway while they were looking the other way.

"Flitter, I'm sorry I ever doubted you." The grey mare thought as she slipped into the halls across from the crowd. While this wasn't the way that she wanted to go it did lead to another area that was off limits to the slaves which meant it was possible that an exit was there. Seeing as the path towards the lounge was completely cut off at this point she didn't really have much of a choice. She walked away, listening to her friend's very realistic screams until she made it to a point where she felt she could run without being heard.

Racing away from the crystal pony and her guard as fast as she could Octavia found that this area was a straight run. She was glad that it was since she had never came down this way before and the last thing she wanted was to get lost. Every once in a while she would see the shadowy outline of a door, but she had decided not to look into them thinking that they would just lead to dead ends. That was until she notice one that was slightly ajar. The fact that it was left in this state indicated that someone had been there recently and didn't have enough time to close it went the blackout started, at least that was what the earth pony deduced. If that was the case then perhaps in their haste they had left something behind that she could use, maybe even some sort of weapon to defend herself with. She took a deep breath and peeked inside.

As she looked inside she could make out that the walls were lined in metal racks that held a wide variety of bondage items and sex toys on them. It seemed that she had stumbled across a supply closet. Believing that there was nothing in here of use she started to move back into the hall until she felt something grab a hold of the collar of her shirt.

Octavia lifted her hands up in response to the feeling of being grabbed, attempting to removed whoever had her so she could get away. However before she could reach what was holding her she was pulled inside with a hard tug. Losing control of herself in the momentum she was unable to avoid the hard kick to her shins that swept her off her legs and caused her to fall face first on the floor. Before she knew it a heavy, toned body was straddled on top of her around her torso, pinning her to the ground. Next she felt her attacker press an arm on the back of her neck to hold her still. "Nighty night you bitch." Octavia heard a male voice say a she felt his body shift.

She was about to get hit and knocked unconscious. It was over.... she had failed. This was her one chance for freedom and she blew it. As panic set into her mind she screamed out one last desperate plea as her mind anticipated the blow. "No! Don't!"

The mare clinched her eyes tightly in reflex, but to her confusion the guy on top of her relaxed and got off of her. "Octavia?" She heard the male say.

Turning on her back she looked up and after letting her eyes adjust she made out the form of a familiar pegasus stallion. "Golden Touch!?" She yelled in a whisper. "What are you doing here!?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing in those clothes?" He said back to her.

"These?" Octavia said adjusting her shirt back in place. "I thought it could work as a disguise if anypony tried to get a good look at me."

Golden Touch rubbed his brow, taking in everything. "Well it worked... I almost knocked you for a loop. Didn't I tell you to stay put?"

"No, you told me that I wouldn't be any help. I think that I've proven that wrong by getting as far as you have." Octavia said, smirking at the stallion believing that she had proved her resourcefulness. "So what's the plan?"

"Well I was trying to find some needles they had in here for piercings." The stallion explained. "I swear I saw some just a few days ago, but now the entire kit is gone."

"Needles? What would you need those?" Asked the grey mare.

"Lock picking.... I wasn't planning on it, but Schorl locked the door to her chambers." Said the pegasus.

Octavia was a bit skeptical about this plan. "Why do we want to go there? Wouldn't there be an exit close to the lounge?"

"Probably, but it would the most heavily guarded one. I happen to know that Schorl has her own private exit that she uses on the rare occasions that she leaves the building. If only I had something with a point on it...." Golden Touch looked at the shelves once more, making sure that he hadn't overlooked the pins.

"Something with a point...." Octavia reached back into her tail and felt around for a moment before touching something solid. Grabbing a hold of the object she gave it a good yank, plucking a strain of hair out in the process. Opening her hand in front of her she looked at the small screw that sat in her palm. Ever since she had got it back she had been hiding it on her body by using her hair to tie a knot around it. She got the idea from how Fleetfoot had kept it in her wings to hide it before. "What about this?"

Golden touch turned to see what she was talking about, taking the screw from her and looking it over. "It's a bit thick, but I think it might just work." He paced back and forth for a moment, thinking it over again and again. "I guess there is only one way to find out. Come on, let's go."

The two went back out into the hall and continued down it in the opposite direction from the lounge. They opened a door at the end of it that lead into a waiting room of some sort before the stallion crouched down at a door on the other side. Octavia, watching the pegasus stick the point of the screw the door's keyhole was not entirely sure about this. "Are you sure that you can do this? I know I couldn't."

"Don't worry, I'm really good with my hands." Golden Touch said as he focused on his task.

Octavia couldn't help but blush at that comment, remembering her time with him before. "I have noticed." The pegasus chuckled at his reply, getting her implication, which made her laugh a bit too. She didn't really know the pegasus well, but he seemed like a nice guy. Perhaps if they had met under different circumstances they could've been friends.

The pegasus messed with the lock for some time before a telltale click filled the room, indicating that the lock had been released. Golden Touch opened the door and as he did a bright light shined through the doorway, making the two ponies cover their eyes. "Ugh.... looks like you missed a spot."

The stallion grabbed Octavia's hand and pushed forward into the bright room. "Every room in this section runs on a separate power source. It really wasn't worth disabling it too since Schorl likes to involve herself with every aspect of the Society and she was sure to want to deal with this situation first hand."

As Octavia's eyes adjusted she could make out the crystalline chamber she was walking through. It was an undeniably beautiful area, the type of place that would be fit for an alicorn princess. It was a pity that the creature that resided here was such a despicable being. She was almost entranced by the sight of it all, but Golden Touch pulled her along to another door at the back end of the room. "Come on, we can't linger here."

Going through to the next area Octavia found it to be less extravagant than the crystal chamber, but still was more luxurious than any of the other halls or rooms of the Society. It really was a testament to the crystal unicorn's ego as it seemed that she saw herself on par with royalty with the amount of lavish items she surrounded herself with.

"We're going to need to split up." Said Golden Touch, looking into a room for a moment only to shut the door when he saw nothing of use there. "We can cover more ground and find the way out quicker."

"I thought that you knew where the exit was." The grey mare replied, having assumed the stallion had been in this area before.

Golden Touch shook his head. "No, I just know that when Schorl says she is going out she always heads off in this direction."

Octavia's began to get a little discouraged. What if there was no exit this way? What if all their effort had been for nothing? They had already spent too much time getting to this point, they would never make it to a different exit now. Stress was setting in as the idea of being caught became more and more real to her, that was until she felt a small kiss on her cheek. Snapping out of her train of thought she looked at the golden hued stallion next to her. "What was that for?" She asked, a bit put off by what she perceived as an act of affection.

"To make you feel better. I know it looks bad, but I'm sure this will all work out. Just stay calm." Golden Touch said as he looked through another doorway. "Looks like this leads off elsewhere. You check out the this hallway while I check out where this goes." Octavia watched the pegasus disappear from her sight before going off by herself. She was still a bit unsure about this, but she now had the motivation to carry on despite it.

The earth pony inspected each room along her way down the hall, finding even more examples of the crystal pony's decadent life style. Wine room, a luxurious bedroom, a bath that looked as it could double as a pool, if anything Schorl had made quite a profit from her business. There were also rooms that were much like the private rooms in the club area, having dungeon-esque themes to them with devices and tools that looked a bit more brutal than what was given to the members.

She continued her search through every single door in hopes that one would be the way out until she came across a room with walls lined in bookshelves with a desk near the center of it. She would've just moved on since this was obviously not the exit, but as she closed the door she heard a slight whimper from inside. "Oh my gosh... somepony's in there." The earth pony said to herself. Having left both Coco and Flitter behind she didn't want to leave behind another if she could help it, especially being this close to a possible escape.

"Hello?" Octavia said in a hushed tone, still worried that any moment a guard could come around the corner. "I heard you in here. Please help me find you." She called out, getting another groan in response. This time she could tell that the sound was coming from the desk itself. The earth pony hastily went over to the other side of the piece of furniture. At first she still couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from, but then she moved the chair aside and spotted the source.

Bound in rope in a crouching position was the unicorn mare Sweet Mint. Her arms were tied behind her back and the collar around her neck was attached by a cord to a metal ring bolted to the floor. On the mare's head was a cloth blindfold and an oral gag that forced her mouth wide open, her tongue hanging out and held in place by a rod that went through the muscle which was attached to the gag itself. As Octavia looked at the mare shocked she felt an urge of revulsion build inside her as Sweet Mint flicked the tip of her tongue at the air and let out another throaty moan. Mint wasn't calling out cause she needed aid. She wanted her mistress and craved to pleasure her.

Octavia slid the chair back into place. She knew that Mint was too far gone to want to leave. The unicorn probably would try to stop her if she released her from the bindings. It was best to just leave her where she was and go back to looking for a way out. Octavia would've done just that, but then something caught her eyes. A bunch of things in fact.

"What... is... this?" She said aloud as she picked up a few photographs that were sprawled out on top of the desk. The images were of six specific ponies. She immediately recognized the two in the photos she was holding. One was a pink earth pony with poofy hair that she had encountered at the Grand Galloping Gala. She didn't know her name, but she would never forget how that pony had helped turn the formal party into a fiasco. The other was the newly ascended Princess Twilight. Each of the images had small notes on them that seemed to tell about their personal quirks as well as mark the intent Schorl had for each pony.

"Pinkie Pie: Erratic personality. Not member material, intensive slave training required. Princess Twilight Sparkle: High priority target. Must wait for opportune time of capture." Octavia tossed down the pictures and picked up a few more. "Applejack: Work pony. Has relatives who are Society members. Might be an issue if enslaved, but not really member material. Rarity: Shows promise. Might be the best pony to pursue for membership. Fluttershy: Naturally submissive. Will require little training. Performing the Crystal Heart Ritual on this one is a must. Rainbow Dash: Extremely independent and strong willed. Time with Lightning Dust may be required to break her. Will use passion fruit as necessary."

Octavia trembled as she placed down the images. This was turning into more than just a pony trafficking ring and becoming more like a conspiracy to either enslave or convert these ponies. Octavia needed to know more, if anything this information would prove useful when she went to the authorities. Shifting though the pictures she found a piece of paper with a large amount of writing on it.

Progress Report.

As of next week I will be sending one of our newest members to draw in the first of the Elements of Harmony. Expectations are high as the earth pony, Miss Pollomare, has connections with the mare as does her slave, Coco Pommel. At the very least they should be able to bring the unicorn, Rarity, to the club. From there we will give her the standard offer and if she agrees then we will begin her formal training. If not then we will go to plan B and re-educate her as a slave. From there we will proceed to the plan to claim each of the remaining Elements. We still haven't aroused too much suspicion, but at this phase of our plan we expect a certain level of awareness to reach the alicorns. However we are prepared to transfer the slaves at the facility to Minopolis at a moment's notice.

The letter stopped there, but there was obviously more to this. Who was the letter to? Why did they want the "Elements"? Where in Equestria was this Minopolis? It was all over Octavia's head, but whatever it was couldn't be good. She had to get out of there and tell someone, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.

"Miss Melody...." The grey mare heard, sending a chill down her spine. She didn't even have to look up, she knew it was Schorl. Lifting her head up she laid her eyes upon both her and her minotaur guard, Sartek. "You disappoint me. I had such high expectations for you, but then you go ahead and do something as stupid as this." The two stepped into the room and Sartek closed the door behind him. Octavia was trapped. "Did you really think I wouldn't have some sort of security for my chambers? I knew the moment you opened my front door. An enchantment signaled to me that somepony was intruding in places they didn't belong."

Octavia picked up the chair next to her and lifted it high. She knew that it wouldn't effect the minotaur one bit, but if Schorl got close she might be able to do a bit of damage. "I know what you're up to. The Elements of Harmony, Minopolis!"

Schorl chuckled. "Such an inquisitive slave. So you know about some of our targets and our escape plan. What of it? As long as you are here such information will do you no good. Now...." The crystal pony's horn begun glowing and Octavia felt the chair in her hands get yanked from her grasp. "Get on your knees and I might lessen your punishment a tiny bit."

"Fuck you! And I'm not your fucking slave!" Octavia yelled at the mare.

"Oh really?" Sartek said, stepping forward. "Then why is it that you still wear that collar?" Octavia brought her hand to her neck and felt the piece of leather around it. She had completely forgot about it. "We haven't locked it to your throat, but when given the opportunity to escape you left it on. Even in those clothes if anyone saw that they would know your status." As the minotaur made it to the desk he grabbed one side of it and easily tossed it to the side with his massive strength, scattering all the photos and papers on top of it and revealing the tied up unicorn underneath it.

"Please be careful! Try not to hurt Sweet Mint!" Schorl called to the large creature.

Sartek grabbed Octavia around the neck and lifted her off the ground. "Face it mare, the collar is now a part of you. Even if you say you're not you know that you are a slave, just a very disobedient one." The grey mare grabbed the minotaur's wrist and tried kicking at his body, hitting his solid muscle which only served to annoy him. "Don't worry though...." The minotaur continued as he raised the mare up high above his head with one arm.

Letting out a loud roar he brought the helpless earth pony to the ground, slamming her hard on her back. The air was pushed out of Octavia's lungs from impact and as she gasped for breath her vision faded to black. "No... I can't... not here... stay..... a.....wake..."

It was no use though, her mind was shutting down to ignore the pain. Staring the smiling minotaur in the eye as she lost consciousness she heard him finish his thoughts. "We know exactly how to deal with ponies like you."

Author's Note

We are about at the end of the Octavia arc. All that is left is one part before we move on, which should satisfy all you sadists out there. Sorry that this chapter completely lacked any sexy bits, but like I said next time should more than make up for it.

Just to clarify for those not musically inclined the title today is a play on words as "Grave" is a musical term to keep with the theme of the chapter names. It also works to make the situation seem more dire.

Golden Touch belongs to his creator and I'm very thankful that he let me use him.