The living room was empty as Octavia slipped inside and closed the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She felt confident that Vinyl was here, probably asleep in her room, but the longer she could put off confronting her, the more time she would have to prepare.

As quietly as she could, Octavia moved to the door of her bedroom and, with one last look around, let herself in.

Octavia's room was not quite as neat and tidy as most ponies would probably suspect. Certainly, it had been cleaner before she fell prey to Vinyl's music, but there were books and scrolls scattered about the room that had been there well before that.

With a quick glance, the cellist found one of the things she was looking for. The electric blue headphones were still laying on her bed from the night before. She no longer needed them, but Vinyl still liked to make her wear the headphones sometimes when they... when she...

Octavia shook her head, wondering how any of this could be real. She had trusted Vinyl, in some ways, even admired her, and her now EX-friend had brainwashed her. Had made her a puppet.

But it ended tonight.

Slinging the headphones over her ears, Octavia turned to her desk. It was piled with sheet music that hadn't been touched in weeks. In spite of everything, Octavia groaned at how out of practice she must be by now. Moving to the desk, she began shuffling through the papers.

It wasn't there.

Panic gripped Octavia as she searched with increasing desperation. She KNEW she'd left it on the desk. It should be right here! It should be... and then she saw it. It was sitting, not on the desk, but on the bookshelf. Odd.

Octavia accidentally knocked over her music stand in her haste to get to the bookshelf. It clattered loudly on the hardwood floor, and Octavia swore in a very unladylike fashion. Stepping over it, she took from the shelf the digital music player that Vinyl had given her two Hearth's Warmings ago.

She paused for a moment, remembering Vinyl showing her how it worked. How she had laughed at Octavia's ineptitude with anything more advanced than a phonograph. A tear rolled down the cellist's cheek, and she brushed it away with a hoof.

It wasn't too late, though. Vinyl was just... sick. She needed Octavia's help, and the earth pony would be there for her, in spite of everything. She had a plan.

She knew that there were speakers all around the apartment, and that Vinyl could turn them on remotely with her magic. That was the biggest danger. But with the headphones and her own music, Octavia felt confident she could protect herself from that. Then she just had to disable the sound system and... and...

She shuddered a little, hating the next part. But the only way she could think of to subdue Vinyl without hurting her was to use her own music against her. Vinyl was always careful to wear earplugs when she played the music over speakers, and Octavia knew that meant that the DJ was not immune to the effects of her own music. She hated it, but it was the only way...

With a deep, calming breath, Octavia checked that her music player still had battery life, plugged the headphones into them, and then stepped out the door.

Vinyl was there.

The unicorn smiled warmly at her roommate, "Hey babe. Thought I heard you. I just finished something I think you'll... ooooh..." Her eyes moved to the electric blue headphones over Octavia's ears. "Well..." she said, with an excited purr in her voice, "Somepony's eager tonight, aren't they?"

In spite of herself, Octavia felt a thrill go through her. Felt her body warming at Vinyl's words, and the hungry look in her eyes. She fought it, staring into Vinyl's ruby eyes with her own violet ones.

"You know," the DJ went on, stepping slowly closer, "I was getting pretty jealous of those two mares in the club tonight." Her movements were slow, deliberate. Like a jungle cat stalking its prey. "I thought, 'Maybe Tavi prefers earth mares to unicorns?' Is that true? Do I need to start bringing an earth pony over every night to make sure you're fully... satisfied?"

The last three syllables came out in a low, breathy voice, and Octavia found the heat inside her going up another notch. But when she spoke, her voice was as cold as ice.

"I can't believe you, Vinyl."

The white unicorn stopped, looking with surprised curiosity at her roommate. "Can't believe what?"

Octavia stomped her hoof, "This! All of this! This brainwashing! The things you've made me do! That you've done to me!" She kept her voice from cracking, but only just. "You've used me like a toy. But I'm not your toy, Vinyl. I'm free of your control, and this. Ends. Now."

Vinyl stared at her for a long moment, and the silence that filled the room was deafening.

Finally, the unicorn spoke. "I don't get it," she said, and the words surprised Octavia. "I gave you everything. I gave you awesome sex, paid for all your stuff, made sure you were always happy... and this is how you repay me?"

Octavia blinked. She had expected any number of responses, but this... this was none of them.

"Vinyl," she said, and was startled at how soft her voice had become, "What you've been doing... it's wrong."

"Wrong?!" the DJ's eyes blazed as she said the word. "No... 'wrong' is what you were before. Every day, you came home exhausted and miserable. Every day, I listened to you complain about that miserable conductor, and those other ponies who resented you because you were better than them. In all the years, did any of them, apart from Lyra, ever give you the respect you deserved?!"

A hundred thoughts raced around Octavia's mind. This was nonsense, of course. She loved her music. That was absolutely true. And she loved being in the orchestra... even if they did work her too hard sometimes. Even if the other ponies made jealous, spiteful remarks about her when they thought she couldn't hear. Even if she was passed over time and again for first chair because she wasn't popular with the conductor...

She bit her lip, and gave her head a shake. It didn't matter. What Vinyl was doing was wrong. And she had to put a stop to it.

"Vinyl," she said, as calmly as she could, "You're insane. You can't escape your problems with... any of this."

Vinyl tilted her head, "Sure you can. And you will." Her horn began to glow. "If it's going to be a choice between you living happily as my plaything, and you being free but miserable, then I'll make that choice for you."

As soon as the glowing earplugs entered her ears, the music started. Octavia was ready, though. She pressed the play button on her music player, and the sweet sounds of strings drifted through the headset.

Something was wrong.

It was her music. The music she loved. But it was different. It sounded the same, but... it wasn't.

She looked up at Vinyl, who was smiling. "That's kinda funny, actually," the unicorn said with a half chuckle.

Octavia stared at her, uncomprehending, as the music swelled with a sense of triumph. A triumph over hardship. A triumph over pettiness. A triumph over free will.

Oh no.

"That's actually what I was going to tell you, Tavi. I knew how much you love your boring classical stuff, so I've been working on a way to improve it for weeks now. The dubstep was much easier to make work, but I finally got your stuff fixed, too!"

Octavia hit the 'next' button, and the track shifted to a fugue she knew well. A light, quick piece where each new instrument celebrated the joys of Vinyl Scratch.

Octavia recoiled. She couldn't think, not because of the hypnotic suggestions filling her mind, but out of shock. It felt like her music was betraying her. Like her oldest and dearest friend had turned on her when she needed it most.

"Two lessons I've learned, then," Vinyl was saying, as she trotted up to the pony who seemed momentarily paralyzed. "First is that this stuff seems to work better when it comes with music you already like. I know you were never a fan of dub, so I guess it's no surprise you never really listened to it when it told you what to do."

She reached Octavia, lifting a hoof and running it through the earth pony's dark mane. Octavia simply stood there. Her brain had finally started moving, and was shouting at her to yank the headphones off. But her music told her it was alright. She just had to stand still, and Vinyl would take care of her.

"Second..." Vinyl continued, her expression darkening, "Is that you need to be properly trained. Otherwise, you'll just end up betraying me again."

Octavia nearly choked at the word. SHE was the one who had been betrayed, not Vinyl! ...right? She was no longer quite so sure... Then, another word registered with her.

"Trained?" she gasped out, "Vinyl, I'm... I'm not your pet..."

Vinyl simply laughed. "Well then... let's see what we can do to fix that, shall we?"

A magical glow enveloped her horn, and from her room, a box surrounded by a similar glow came floating over to the pair of ponies.

"It will be some time before the music really gets you," the DJ told her plaything happily. "And before it does, I intend to train you to be the perfect pet. When I'm through, you'll be all mine in mind..." she ran a hoof down Octavia's back, all the way to her rear, "...and body."

Octavia felt a thrill run through her as Vinyl touched her. Whether it was pleasure or fear, though, she couldn't be sure. Then, the music stopped. The headphones were no longer on her, and Vinyl was trotting sedately away. She reached the sound system before Octavia realized what had happened, and then turned to look at her earth pony captive, smiling wickedly as the music player floated at her side.

It was too late to run. Even without the music, her hooves felt like lead, and she was so, so tired. She didn't have the strength to run.

But she could still fight.

She raised her head and looked Vinyl straight in the eye. "I won't let you control me," she said, with iron determination.

Vinyl made a noise of pleasure, as though her victim had just whispered sweet nothings into her ear, "Mmm... Tavi... I love it when you struggle..." And with that, she plugged Octavia's music player into the speaker system.

The music that had been filling her headphones now filled the whole room, and the gray earth pony felt her strength leaving her again. She stood helplessly and watched as Vinyl turned her attention once more to the box she had brought out.

A strip of shiny black leather came floating out of it, a metal buckle on one end, and a shiny silver heart dangling from the middle.

Vinyl floated the collar close, holding it up so Octavia could see it. "I had all this stuff made just for you, so it ought to fit perfectly. See? It even has your name on it."

Sure enough, the silver heart in the center had the word 'Tavi' carefully engraved on it.

Octavia wondered briefly why Vinyl even had such a thing... and what else was in the box.

"I refuse to wear such a..." she began, but Vinyl cut her off.

"Oh no, I'm not putting this on you. Not yet. You don't deserve it." Her face was loving, but stern, and Octavia felt a momentary regret that she had hurt her friend so... and quickly realized that she was having trouble separating the music's message from her own thoughts.

"You'll get this when I'm sure you'll be a good pony. Not before." Vinyl lowered the collar back into the box, and Octavia could hear a group of clarinets that seemed to say 'You want to be a good pony.'

"I want to..." Octavia started to say, and then caught herself.

Vinyl turned and looked at her, trying not to smile, "You want to what?"

Octavia shouted at herself mentally. She was giving up without even fighting! She had to resist, because that was what Vinyl wanted... no! She had to resist because it was what SHE wanted! She didn't want to be a slave! Didn't want to submit to Vinyl... to live a life of comfort as Vinyl's pet... to be happy forever...

She broke free of her reverie as she felt the buckles of the saddle on her back secure themselves below her. She hadn't even noticed Vinyl taking it out of the box, but now she felt it squeezing her firmly.

"It looks great on you!" Vinyl told her, her hooves tap-tapping the ground in apparent frustration. "Too good, maybe... it's hard not to reward you like I want to..." the DJ licked her lips, her red eyes hungry. "But I have to be strong... for you," she told her friend, after a moment of indecision

Then, the white unicorn reached out a hoof, and for a moment, Octavia thought that she had changed her mind. That she was going to be rewarded with Vinyl's caress.

Something of her thoughts must have shown in her eyes, because Vinyl laughed coldly. "Oh no," she said, "Not yet. But soon, I think..."

Instead, she gently pushed Octavia, who moved obediently, although moments before she would have sworn her hooves were nailed to the floor. She turned until she stood facing the pony-length mirror by the door. What she saw in it took her by surprise.

The shiny, black leather saddle did indeed look good on her, and it fit perfectly, accentuating her curves quite nicely. What surprised her, though, was the look on her own face. It wasn't stern or defiant. It was hungry. It was a face that begged for release. She tried to change her expression, to at least appear to have a modicum of self-control, but it only made her look more desperate.

In the mirror, she saw the glow of Vinyl's magic once more, and contained within it was what looked like a tangle of leather and small bits of metal. Octavia couldn't tell what it was supposed to be... until it began to fit itself firmly around her head.

The bridle, which was made of the same shiny black leather as the saddle, was sliding into its proper place when Octavia felt something cold and hard on her lips. Glancing in the mirror, she could see the bit pressing against her closed mouth, wrapped in Vinyl's magic.

This was too much. Octavia pressed her lips tightly together in defiance.

"Oh come on..." came Vinyl's voice behind her, but, Octavia didn't budge. This is where she would resist Vinyl's control with everything she...

She felt Vinyl's hoof, which knew her so well by now, slide inside her and give her clit an expert flick. Octavia gasped in surprised and pleasure, and the bit slid into her mouth.

She had lost, she reflected sadly, as the bridle magically tightened itself around her head. It was over.

But it wasn't over.

"Did you think that was it?" Vinyl said, smiling condescendingly. "A little dress up and I'd forgive you?" She shook her head. "You've got a streak of defiance in you, Tavi. And I can't just suppress it. I know that now."

Octavia heard the sound of something clipping to the back of her saddle. "MY saddle?" she thought, dully. And then Vinyl pushed something inside of her.

It wasn't very large. At least, it wouldn't have seemed so normally. But inside Octavia, it felt enormous. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was smooth, and seemed to be egg-shapped. She squirmed, but whatever it was was firmly inside her now. It hurt at first, but after a moment, she had to admit that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation.

Vinyl's lips were right next to her ears now, and even though she whispered, Octavia could hear her words perfectly. "Before I can make you my pet, I've got to break you."

Octavia barely heard the click before the thing inside her began to vibrate.

The sensation was incredible. She knew what vibrators were, but the dignified earth pony had never tried one for herself before. Now, as it sent waves of pleasure through her whole body, she wondered why. It only took a few moments before she felt herself climbing towards...

"No." Vinyl told her firmly, looking straight into her eyes. "No orgasm for you. Not until I say it's okay."

Octavia stared at her. She had to come. She needed release so badly...

Slowly, Octavia nodded.

"Good," Vinyl told her approvingly. The earth pony felt a sense of pleasure that seemed somehow even greater than the vibrator inside her. This was how things were supposed to be.

The music filling the room was now almost perfectly in sync with her own thoughts. Or was it the other way around...? Octavia couldn't think about it. Not now. She could scarcely think of anything except Vinyl, and how good she felt. The mindless pony ran her tongue over the thick metal bit in her mouth, savoring the feeling of it as she licked. She was vaguely aware that she was drooling, but it didn't bother her in the slightest.

Something else floated out of the box. A riding crop. The brass section swelled, and Octavia longed to be whipped by her mistress.

Mistress?

"Yes," she thought, "My mistress, Vinyl Scratch."

A second later, her hopes were answered as Vinyl struck her on the rear, with a firm, "Trot."

Octavia trotted obediently around the room, following each of Vinyl's commands perfectly. Every command started with the wonderful sting of the riding crop on her rear, and ended with Vinyl's words of praise. Both caused her more joy than she had ever imagined.

Crack! "Trot." "Good girl."
Smack! "Hold." "Good girl."
Whack! "Orgasm." "...very good girl."

During her exhibition, Octavia had left a trail of juices across the living room as she moved around it, but there were still plenty left when she was given the final command. Her scream of pleasure was muffled by the bit in her mouth as the waves of pure ecstasy washed through her.

Then it was over, and everything was clear to her. Her own juices ran down her legs as she stood there, breathing heavily and utterly spent.

Vinyl came closer and nuzzled her pet affectionately, then stepped back to look at her face.

Octavia stared into her mistress' eyes. The bright red eyes that seemed to pull her in and drown her. She happily drowned in them now, giving her will, her mind, and her body fully to her mistress.

She saw her mistress' horn glow once more, and the bit came out of her mouth, allowing her to speak.

"I'm so sorry," she told her mistress, with absolute sincerity. "I should never have defied you."

Vinyl stared at her for a long moment, and then broke out into a smile. "It's okay, my slutty pony. I forgive you."

Tavi could still hear, far at the back of her mind, a small voice crying out. It shouted that she still needed to fight. Which was, of course, stupid. Fighting her mistress was like fighting the passing of days, or the flowing of the tides.

Vinyl's pet smiled happily as the collar came up once more, the silver heart that read 'Tavi' flashing in the light. It slid around her neck.

"No! No no n..." the voice said, but was interrupted, silenced forever, by the soft *click* of the collar.

Author's Note

Comments appreciated!