Octavia stared deeply into the eyes of a pony in front of her, trying to determine who this creatures was. She had heard once that the eyes were the window to the soul and if that was the case then the outward appearance of the pony did not match the pain and sorrow reflected within those two orbs. Her fine combed dark grey mane, her neatly groomed grey coat, the regal looking clothing that she wore, they said nothing about her compared to those purple eyes.

"Is something wrong Octavia?" Looking just over the pony's shoulder Octavia saw a black earth pony in a white maid's outfit approach the mare from behind. "You seem to be lost in thought. Do you see something in the mirror?"

Octavia twisted her body in her seat and looked directly at the maid. "It's nothing Onyx, just thinking about tonight."

"I hope you aren't having more rebellious thoughts." The black mare said, knowing full well what Octavia had been through before coming to Fancy Pants' mansion. "If you cause the master any trouble tonight I won't be hesitant to discipline you afterwards."

"You don't have to remind me." The grey mare said rubbing a bruise on her arm that was concealed the sleeve of her uniform. "You and your sister have expressed the point enough times already." During her time at the manor the other ponies serving Fancy Pants were quick to show her where she stood amongst their ranks. As a mare who hadn't gone through the crystal heart ritual, one who still retained her free will and thus was un-loyal to the master, the others under Fancy Pants' control took every opportunity to correct what they saw as poor behavior.

"Diligence, Practice, and constant reminders are the path to becoming a proper lady." Onyx stated in a matter of fact tone. "Perhaps if your mother had taught you proper etiquette and given you a few swacks with a soup ladle when you were a filly I wouldn't have to now."

Octavia held back a dirty look from the maid that was at least three years younger than her. That plus her acceptance of Fancy Pants
supposed "superiority" made the black mare's condescending words all the more bitter. "Can we not bring in each others' families? I mean I'm sure you come from a long line of mares whose sole purpose in life was being some rich bastard's bitches... but I'm not holding that against you."

"Why you..." Onyx lifted her arm, ready to backhand the other mare for her remark.

"Ah, ah, what would our master think if you bruised my face right before the recital?" The grey mare said with a smirk.

Thinking of what her master's reaction would be made Onyx stop just as she started her swing. The stallion's disapproval wasn't something she wanted. Not only because she didn't want to disappoint him, but with it came Fleur's wrath. For as kind and understanding a soul Fancy Pants was his wife was cruel and unforgiving.

"I'll never understand why the master sees you in such high regard." Hearing a knock at the door the black earth pony dropped her arm to her side and answered it. As both the mares had expected it was Fancy Pants on the other side, with him Fleur and a white earth pony mare Octavia knew as Onyx's twin sister Pearl.

Onyx grabbed the sides of her skirt and lifted them as she bent her knees, going into a curtsey. "Welcome master, welcome mistress." She greeted the pure white unicorns as they entered the room. "Octavia has been made presentable for your guests. Hair combed, coat cleaned, hooves polished to a mirror shine."

Fancy Pants gave Octavia a cursory inspection to make sure Onyx had done a good job, having learned recently about the other servant ponies' attitude towards his newest mare and how some had even taken to trying to sabotage her. More than once he had to give those involved a stern talking to. When he was certain everything was fine he took a step back. "You look beautiful."

"Save it." Said Octavia. "I don't need your compliments. We both know that I'm only complying because you're holding Vinyl hostage. If not for that I would be at the palace so fa-ow!" Octavia felt a sudden shock against her throat emanating from the black crystal in the choker she had on.

"Seems that Lady Tourmaline didn't appreciate your outburst." Fleur said, finding the earth mare's mild pain amusing.

"Fleur please..." Said Fancy Pants. "Miss Melody may be our property, but she is here under protest. As long as she is obedient I think she has the right to voice her grievances every now and then."

Octavia rubbed her throat, trying to sooth the pain she felt. Another reminder, not only to stop being defiant but that Schorl was watching. Despite how many guests were in the manor that night she couldn't try to alert any of them to the Society's presence without putting every pony they already had in jeopardy. With how organized they seemed during her stand in their headquarters she didn't want to gamble with the lives of others, even if it would grant her freedom. She had to bide her time, for the sake of all her friends that had been captured or brainwashed.

"Forget it." The grey mare said as she got out her her seat. "I'd rather not have your false sympathy. If you cared you wouldn't have put me through all this. Let's just get tonight's activities over with."

"Fine, come with me." Said the stallion. As Octavia headed for the door she passed by the white furred maid that Fancy Pants and Fleur came in with, catching the scent of pure sex. It seemed that the two unicorns had the earth mare entertain them with her body. If Octavia was to assume what happened she would guess that Fleur had touched and teased the maid to orgasm while Fancy Pants watched the act, for some reason the stallion never wanted to join in himself and saved his sexual pursuits for his wife in private.

The aroma made Octavia tremble a bit, as her own well trained libido sparked to life at the promise of sex. Her knees becoming weak she reached out for anything to catch her fall, receiving Fancy Pants' hand in assistance. "Are you ok?" He asked legitimately concerned, knowing what was wrong with the mare. "Have you been taking the medicine Lady Tourmaline provided?"

"I'm fine!" She said standing upright once more. "And I'm not taking those damn drugs. For all I know they're hypnotics."

"Lady Tourmaline said that they would help wean you off your sexual urges." Said Fancy Pants, unhappy with Octavia's refusal to take the medicine. "If she had something to make you easier to control she would've used it on you by now." Octavia didn't respond, simply leaving the room. She didn't want to argue, it wouldn't solve anything and would probably earn her another shock. Fleur and Fancy Pants followed right behind her, leaving the two maids to their own devices.

Octavia made her way to her master's private concert hall, where she would be playing that night, adjusting her posture and slowing down to allow the two unicorns to catch up with her. She had to keep up appearances, lest Fancy Pants punished Vinyl for her transactions. The stallion had only purchased her because Octavia said she would "take responsibility for her actions" so if she failed to do that by disobeying or making herself seem less than enthusiastic to be "working" for the unicorn in public it would be on her friend's head, or so she was threatened by Schorl. Whether Fancy Pants himself agreed with this didn't matter, the debacle Octavia had caused had put him on thin ice and thus he agreed to let Schorl have more control over Vinyl's training just to get the mare off his back for a while.

Soon the three ponies entered the concert hall, getting the attention of all the guests as they made their entrance. "Fillies and gentlecolts..." Fancy Pants announced to the guests sitting in wait for the recital to start. "Allow me to introduce in her debut in high society, Miss Octavia Melody." The crowd applauded for the grey mare trying her best to wear a smile. "Please try to play something a bit uplifting this time." He then whispered to Octavia, having noticed during her practice that she had taking to playing very angry or sad tunes.

The mare only replied with a nod and then headed up on stage to a folding chair and a cello case that awaited her. Getting into position and looking out to the crowd as she prepared her instrument she could spot several Society members among the guests, making it unclear to her how many of the ponies could also be members that she just hadn't met yet. Taking a deep breath she put her bow on the strings of her cello, readying herself for what would be her most prominent performance to date. After this every pony in Canterlot would be talking about the new mare who plays lovely music on Fancy Pants' behalf. It was everything that she had ever worked and strived for. Yet tainted as it was by the Society she couldn't help but hate the only thing she had ever wanted.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the rest of the Octavia/Vinyl arc. Next week will be the start of the Rarity arc. Now to warn everyone I am going to mark this story here as complete and start the Rarity Arc in a fresh story page to get rid of cluttered chapters. Now if you wish to continue the story you can keep reading here.

Thank you everyone who has stuck with this for as far as it has gone so far. I appreciate all the up votes, favorites and comments so far. I have enjoyed writing this an I hope that can keep it enjoyable as we enter a new phase of the story.