My Life on a Cassette Tape

Button slowly came back to wakefulness, something having woken him up. Stretching out in his bed, he froze when he felt the warmth of another pony in the bed with him. Slowly looking over, his mind raced to piece together what events led to this, only to slot the last pieces together as he finally looked on the lovely face of Brass Tacks who still slept peacefully. If Button was to be honest, it wasn't the face of a porn star, or even a pony who was conventionally attractive. Brass was one of those ponies that despite her outward appearance struck Button as beautiful, and it wasn't just the blank expression he'd met her with. There was just something about the mare that made Button see her as beautiful, gorgeous really.

Shifting out of bed, he crept over to the door to his room and peaked out, careful not to disturb Brass. The house was quiet, almost too quiet for his liking. Even the sound of his mother's old record player was missing, the usual replacement for sound while his mom saved up for a new TV. To say Button was concerned would be an understatement.

Pushing the door fully open, he made his way through the house, looking for his mom. After looking about, he came back to his bedroom, finally taking a moment to check his phone. It was half past one, though the text message was the main thing he noticed.

Going to do some shopping today so that we have enough for Ms Brass

You two play nice and be sure to take care

I'll be back before too long

Judging by when the text was sent, being a few minutes ago, he could likely look forward to the rest of the afternoon with Brass, not to mention it might have even been the door closing that had woken him up. Button thanked his lucky stars that Cress had taken the initiative with a recording that excused his possession of Brass. His mom was more than accommodating, a wonderful change from what might have been.

"And she'll be home?" Button asked as he walked alongside Cress.

"Yes, again, she'll be home. She was mostly untouched. I think they realized she wasn't an artifact user and so put as little effort as was needed." Cress replied, the slight edge of annoyance evident to even the rather socially inept Button. "She'll be home, she'll be fine, and best yet, she won't remember being a brainwashed slave. I've made sure of that."

"And she won't try anything funny?" Button asked, a little scared what residual effects may linger, and what those effects might mean for his and his mother's bond. He liked being just her son, and her just being his mom, he didn't want extra features. Brass was, in many ways, a way to avoid doing dumb things like he had been tempted. If he had a mare willing to spread her legs at any moment, Button could only guess that he'd lose the temptations associated with having such a powerful artifact and a mother who was hot enough that even he noticed.

"I doubt she'll have anything left of substance from her brief induction by Gunther. The memories I've extracted essentially paint the picture of your mom being a hypnotic lightweight, though you apparently were a harder nut to crack, requiring the use of Brass' artifact. Good on you for that, I guess." Cress had said in what resembled a comforting remark. "And here we are." Looking up, Button was indeed in front of his house.

It was strange standing before it like this. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to go in. What if his mom's revulsion at slavery was strong enough she overcame whatever effect Cress had and threw Button out on his ear? What if that wasn't the case, but she began to dislike Brass for another set of reasons? There were so many things Button didn't know, but desperately wanted to know, needed to know.

"Don't worry," Cress busted into his thoughts, "I took the precaution to make sure you owning Brass, at least for the time being, doesn't come off as strange. You'll be able to walk in there and act as normal or as abnormal as you like about Brass and your mom won't know the difference." That was honestly more comforting to Button than anything else that Cress said or did.

"Alright... thanks." Button gulped, looking up at the door, registering Cress walking away, when suddenly a thought came to him. "H-hey, Cress!" He turned to face the stallion who seemed so much older than the eighteen that he was. Cress simply returned the stare, waiting for Button to make his intentions known. "Look... I know that things are tough, and I know it really isn't my place to ask, but could you be kind to Gunther?" Cress didn't seem to react, either taking this extremely well, not exactly caring, or not having heard Button at all. "I get it, he deserves your punishment, but really, I think reducing him to his," Button motioned to the empty stare that Brass had on her face, "I think that really is enough. It makes them not a threat and unable to repeat the actions they once took. I can't see why anything further is necessary beyond wanting revenge."

"Two hundred and thirty-nine ponies." Cress said simply, leaving Button confused before he continued. "Gunther single-handedly took two hundred and thirty-nine ponies away from their lives and forced them into servitude. He has yet to meet with justice sufficient to the crimes. As for Brass here..." He paused, giving Button a faint glimmer of hope that maybe he'd see her as not needing punishment. "She forced her entire platoon to be her sex slaves and then forget it. Some of them she had made into triggerable puppets. Neither of them are blameless, and neither of them are worthy of escaping their consequences."

Button slowly nodded, coming to terms with the fact that Cress seemed dead set on this. "I guess I'm just asking you consider the merits of a lenient policy towards them." Button said with a shrug and an awkward smile.

"You keep your slave as you will, I'll keep Gunther like the trash he is. I can only hope that you don't call me within a week to complain about how she has reverted somehow." Cress said sounding thoroughly fatigued with the situation. Button was grateful that he wasn't irate, but in the end, Cress was acting more testy than he seemed to before. Was the friendly demeanor an act or was this just due to the high pressure of the situation?

"Just... be kind. And stay safe." Button said finally. Cress nodded slowly before heading off to return to his own place. Button returned his gaze to the door before him and gulped once more. Even with the reassurances he had been given, he wasn't entirely convinced this would go well. Turning to Brass, he sighed. She was still acting blank, which really wouldn't do - even if Cress was right that his mom wouldn't react to how weird it was, no matter how weird it was.

"Brass, eh... stop acting blank, please?" Button asked - not feeling like he could even order her, more so suggest she do things. He might've gotten past the trauma in some small measure, but even so she was a mare of the guard who stood about half a head above him - not to mention she was in her fatigues. She looked menacing without even trying. Brass' eyes snapped back to focus and turned to Button and smiled like a little school filly, an odd expression for the face that could've been carved from marble.

"Master!" She squeed, making Button cringe at the high pitch noise that, like a lot of things, was incongruous from her appearance. She wrapped her arms around Button, holding him close, making a confusing swirl of emotions come up within Button as they stood in front of a house that very easily could have the front door open to reveal any number of relatives - whether his mom who actually lived here or any of the number of frequent visitors. Button wasn't sure if what Cress had mentioned about making it seem normal for him to own Brass was specifically for his mother, or if it covered his extended family too. Either way, he hoped to not figure it out any time soon.

"Eh... please, just Button... unless we're in a bedroom... alone... or with somepony that we're making love with... or if I ask you to I guess." Button fumbled his way through, trying to wrack his brain for all scenarios he wanted to be called Master, and all the situations he didn't care for the title being said.

"Do you want me to call you Master now?" Brass asked, cocking her head to the side.

"N-no, we're about to head inside and meet my mom." Button said, trying to take a step away, but the mare's furiously tight hug prevented any forward motion.

"Oh wonderful, I can't wait to meet her! Should I call her Mistress?" Brass asked with the innocence of a child asking if they were allowed to breathe sugar in through their nose like daddy.

"NO!" Button blurted out, panicked, much like the mother in the aforementioned scenario. "N-no, just... she'll introduce herself and she'll tell you what she wants to be called."

"What if she asks me to call her mistress?"

"Then you can call her that, but she won't call herself 'mistress'. Let's.... let's just get inside." Button said defeatedly, not knowing how much more of this he could take before he just curled up in a ball to the side and rode it out while taking up as little space as possible.

Opening the door, the warmly lit interior gave Button and immediate sense of calm. It was beautiful in its own simplistic way, and was far nicer than it had been when the power had been cut off for the ambush. Over by the small kitchen area, which was easily seen from the front door in the small home, was Button's mom, scrubbing away at a dish. Turning to face her son, her expression lit up.

"Button Mash! How was your day with that other young stallion... Ascension? No, that wasn't it..."

"Crescendo?"

"Yes, that's the one. How was your day, honey?" She beamed at him, making Button feel all the more guilty for what he was about to do to this house.

"It's been... complicated. I've had a rough time of it, not because of Crescendo, mind you - in fact he helped get me out of a tight spot... it's just... well." Button stepped to the side and revealed the tall mare Brass who walked inside fully beside Button. "Uh... mom, this is Brass Tacks... she's my..."

"I'm his slave." Brass said cheerily, making Button go wide eyed and almost faint at the impossibility of the whole situation.

"Button, dear, you got yourself a slave pony?" His mom asked as she used a rag to dry off her hands. Button sneakily pulled the front door closed. No pony needed to see this. "How ever did you afford it?" She asked, coming around the counter towards them.

"It... she was actually free." Button stumbled, unsure how his mom could be so calm... well, actually he knew very well how she could be so calm. There was nothing strange here, after all - so said the artifact. "It's a... rehabilitation program." Button's mom nodded understandingly. How in the world she'd understand that lame lie was beyond Button, even with the artifact's influence. Then again, was it a lie? She was undergoing reformation of a sort.

"I see." His mom said finally, standing in front of Brass Tacks, looking her up and down. "Anything I should not ask for?" She asked, wrapping the towel around the back of her neck.

"No, ma'am, I'll do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want!" Brass replied happily. Button's mom nodded slowly.

"Very polite, though not quite as formal as might be appropriate." She noted, turning her head towards Button. "How have you been referring to her? Or have you had her long enough to decide?"

"Eh... I was just gonna call her Brass... it is her name. Should I be calling her something else?" Button asked, not sure where his mom was going with this. The mare smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Button Mash, you know very well what it looks like when you bring a slave home, not to mention a slave of the opposite gender." She said, almost as teasingly as Berry had been when Button had interacted with her briefly. "So, have you given her a good rutting?" Button went from tan to crimson in a second.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-what?!" Button fell backwards.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." She said coyly. Turning back to Brass, she smiled, giving her another once over. "Well, if you are going to be my son's slave, does that mean I have authority over you too? He is my son after all."

"Yes, ma'am, you do have authority over me, though Button can overrule you." Brass replied simply. Button's mom nodded with a pensive pursing of her lips.

"Very good. Alright, I suppose I'll call you Ms Brass for now, though I might change my mind later. You can call me 'Mistress' when we're in the house. In public you can call me 'Ms Cream Heart', though if I here that inside of this house you'll be in for more than you reckoned for." She said with a joking waggle of her finger, flooring Button further. His mom... had just asked to be called 'mistress'. Was he in a porn flick? That would explain a lot, now that he thought about it.

"Yes, Mistress." Turning to Button, Brass smiled widely. "Am I allowed to call you 'Master' in the house now?" Button sputtered for a few seconds, unable to collect himself enough to answer.

"Yes, dear, you may call him 'Master' as long as we don't have company over, same goes for me. Someponies might take it the wrong way." Someponies might take it the wrong way? This whole situation was the wrong way!