//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - The following week // Story: Herding Inquiries // by Askre //------------------------------// When Octavia returned to her house in Ponyville, she immediately noted how quiet it was. When she entered, her sister was nowhere to be seen. Probably not at home. The earth mare closed the door and went over to her cello. The cellist took her instrument off the stand and rose to her hind legs so she could play it, using the cello to keep balance on two legs. Octavia closed her eyes as she began playing a random score from the vast repertoire of her mind. Octavia wasn’t really sure how well this had gone. Sure this eccentric herd had been surprisingly nice. Dew Doe had been accommodating and patient with her questions, even curious herself when Octavia had brought up the application process. She hadn’t really met Sombra that much, but her mind just couldn’t escape the train tip. As far as she was concerned, that had been a major gaffe. Even if Private was a fan of her music, it couldn’t have been easy for him to meet an idol who would without prompt, pour out her annoyances in life all over him. Of course I blew it. I met them far sooner than I had planned, she thought. This was something that required guile, finesse, and careful planning. Not just dropping in them going: ‘Hey I heard you have a herd, can I join?’ blunder like I ended up doing. “Ugh, music, you are failing to soothe me,” Octavia grumbled. She stopped playing and leaned now a bit on her cello. Ugh and Dew was so cute too, and Sombra... good grief, talk about tall dark, and handsome… Private, eh not too bad, a little scruffy looking, but I’ve dated worse, far worse. Could you imagine the headlines though? The cultured and refined Octavia joins in herd union with King Sombra! Octavia grinned which dropped quickly. Yeah more like ‘Octavia’s blunder of the year.’ “Oh, if they only knew what I do in my off-time,” she snickered and tried playing again, switching to one of her historical pieces that Private had mentioned were among his favorites. The front door opened and in came Vinyl Scratch, nodding her head to the music blasting away in her earphones. Octavia didn’t bother looking over, knowing by now her sister wouldn’t notice any greetings. As she suspected, the white unicorn went straight to her side of the house without even looking towards her. It’s just a routine by now. It feels more like we are just two strangers who happen to share a house, Octavia thought, trying very hard not to show her irritation in her playing. “Face it, Octavia, you blew your chance,” she muttered and switched to another song. She didn’t notice that Vinyl was watching her play while sitting on a chair in her section of the house. The unicorn had switched off the music in her headphones. The techno pony noticed more intensity in the cello music and Vinyl knew that only meant her sister was annoyed or frustrated by something. Vinyl glanced at the paper from this morning, which still lay on the kitchen table. Octavia often kept it there for later to do crosswords and other puzzles. That wasn’t on the unicorn’s mind. Silently she walked over to pick it up and unfolded it, she reached the page with the herd announcement. Frowning a little, the unicorn glanced at her sister while refolding the paper and replacing it on the table. Then without a word left the house again. Octavia in the meantime, stopped playing and groaned in frustration. Usually playing helped calm her down, but this time it wasn’t working. Irritated, the pony dropped down to all fours and replaced the cello on the stand. With an annoyed grunt, she went to her bedroom, slamming it shut behind her. The cellist didn’t come out of her room until the next morning. Grumbling and mumbling the earth pony went to the bathroom to clean up. She heard no signs of her sister, so Octavia figured Vinyl was either still sleeping or had gone out. Band rehearsal next weekend. A recording in a few days, ugh better make an appointment at the spa for a hooficure and mane treatment. I think they need a new photo for the next album. She went over her schedule while brushing her mane and applied her pink bowtie around her neck. Maybe go to Rarity’s for a new dress. They probably want something new. “Time to drop back into the routine. Break’s over, Octi,” she grunted and put the brush back and left the bathroom to go to the kitchen for much-needed tea and breakfast. Over the next few days, ponies that knew Octavia were starting to notice she seemed more irritable. She was a little more curt than usual. At the recording for her next solo album, the director had to ask her several times to tone the intensity down. Nobody understood why she left the studio seething. Her agent barely dared remind her that she did in fact need a new dress for the album cover. “Darling, you need to relax more. You are too stiff,” Rarity gently instructed the earth pony as she was being fitted for a new dress intended for the album. “I’m trying,” Octavia grunted, took a deep breath and tried to relax her entire body. “Better. Now, I understand the theme for your next album is spring and summer?” the fashionista inquired, arching a brow when only getting a curt nod in response. “I do think this is quite fitting, yellow for the summer and green for spring,” Rarity said, doing her best to fit the yellow and green dress on the earth pony. “Yeah sure,” Octavia just mumbled, causing Rarity to pause again. The cellist could usually talk and talk about her upcoming solo albums. She was also a highly valued customer for the unicorn, so the fashion pony didn’t want to make any comments that might set off more of whatever bad mood Octavia was in. “Well, if you are satisfied, I will have it sent to the photo studio,” Rarity announced and helped the cellist out of the dress. “Right,” Octavia just said and stomped out of the boutique without another word, leaving Rarity a little dumbfounded. Octavia was well aware that she was in an unusually bad mood and was straining not to show it. She just still felt bad about her conduct in Fillydelphia. Felt like she had just barged in on a family, very much uninvited, and just threw them a question they quite possibly weren’t even considering at all. Quite honestly, she felt rotten and wasn’t surprised at all she hadn’t heard back from the herd. Octavia was seriously considering calling in sick for band rehearsal, worrying now that her mood would just ruin the band cohesion and they wouldn’t really manage to practice much at all. She couldn’t let her bandmates suffer for her blunders. Yet she couldn’t just get out of her mind this opportunity she had thrown away. Previous relationships had just fallen flat because she thought they were too boring, too monotonous. But no pony she had tried was game for an open relationship or a herd. Her sister didn’t even date at all. Octavia suspected she just wasn’t interested. Vinyl was very focused on her music. Octavia gave a weary sigh when she finally reached her house, resigning herself to another non-conversational rest of the day. She did take a moment to check the mail and saw that there were a few letters and a telegram. She grabbed it all in her mouth from the post box and went inside the house, dropping everything on the coffee table. “Oh, it’s for me?” The earth pony noticed that one of the letters had her name. The rest and the telegram were marked with Vinyl’s stage name. Probably a fan letter, Octavia thought. She often got those. They hadn’t cheered her up so far, but she might as well read it since someone had gone through the trouble of writing her. She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter to read it. As she did, her eyes opened wider and wider. Dear Octavia Melody. After discussing things and doing tiny more research, we have decided to accept your application to join our herd. We would like to conduct a more proper interview and start the more formal process to see if you can be accepted, as you yourself explained to us. Please let us know when it’s convenient for you to come to see us again. Dew Doe “Oh my Celestia I need to catch a train… “ Octavia started to shout but immediately fell silent and tried to calm herself down. “No, no we’ll do this properly. I’ll send them a telegram.” With that Octavia ran out of the house, not spotting Vinyl peeking out from her bedroom with a small smile. The unicorn snuck out and went to the coffee table and picked up the telegram. DJ P0N-3 Thanks for your input. It greatly helped us in our decision. As requested, we sent this telegram to let you know we’ve sent the letter. Dew With a silent chuckle, Vinyl gathered up the rest of the letters and disappeared back into her room. “I swear I thought I blew it. I mean I practically barged in on you all,” Octavia confessed and took a long gulp from her teacup. This time she was sitting on a chair in the living room of the herd’s house. Across her on a couch sat Dew and Private. “Not to mention how I behaved with you, Private, on the train. I’m still really sorry about that,” she then added. There came a small grunt from the unicorn. “That means it’s okay,” Dew quickly translated. “I somehow had a feeling. I’m not too bad at reading silent ponies,” Octavia grinned. The interview was mostly over. They had discussed who Octavia was, her work, and her family. She was also told about Dew Doe, Private and Sombra. “Now I have to confess that Private has abstained from voting on this, as he feels he’s too biased,” the pegasus explained and eyed the unicorn who hung his head, looking mildly embarrassed. Gee, I wonder why. Octavia chuckled to herself. From where she was sitting she could see the gramophone and that many of the albums had her image on them. Well, he gets a big brownie point for being a fan. “Personally, I’m not too conflicted about this. Might be nice to have someone new in the house. My sister used to live here, but decided to move out shortly after Private and I got married. She met a guard during the ceremony named Blackberry. They live in the Crystal Empire now,” Dew explained and smiled a bit. “So honestly it’s Sombra who you need to convince. I’m such a 'let’s just do it pony' sometimes that you would just be moving in tomorrow if only I were making the decisions.” “Yes, let’s take it slowly. It’s only the first interview after all,” Octavia chuckled and looked around. “Speaking of?” “He has a meeting with mom and her stockbroker. They are helping him invest some of his gambling winnings, so he has an income. Sombra isn’t exactly a job market candidate, so he’s trying to at least earn some form of an income,” Dew Doe explained, then rolled her eyes. “And keep him away from Las Pegasus. I think he’s developed an addiction to it.” Octavia nodded; she could see that. What she knew of King Sombra, the mare couldn’t quite picture him getting jobs easily. Granted she could picture him as a bodyguard. Though if he agreed to it, that was another matter. “By the way, I should confess. Your sister helped us a lot in making our decision,” Dew Doe then said. This time Octavia spit out her mouthful of tea. “Excuse me, what!?” the cellist wasn’t sure she had heard that correctly. Private had already dropped to the floor to clean up the spill with some paper tissue. “Your sister. She came over a few days ago while we were still mulling over your proposal,” the pegasus explained and smiled. “She seemed very concerned about you.” “She…concerned?” Octavia grimaced and was starting to feel terrible. She had somehow completely forgotten how observant Vinyl could be. Sure she could look oblivious with these heavily tinted goggles and headphones covering her ears. Yet she was always watching, even if she never made much noise about it. While she thought over this revelation, Dew Doe was called away by a wail from upstairs. The pegasus quickly rushed off to take care of the newly awoken foal. Private offered to pour Octavia more tea, which the earth pony accepted. Octavia started feeling guilty over being annoyed at her sister’s silence. The cellist was sure now that Vinyl had been listening far more than she gave her credit for. That made her even guiltier for having ranted about her to Private, who at the time had been a stranger. “I have just been making a complete fool out of myself for no reason at all, haven’t I?” she finally sighed. Private shook his head. “Surely I should know by now that my sister doesn’t like small talk and conversations,” Octavia groused, figuring she knew what the stallion meant by that. His only response was to grab a picture from a shelf and show it to her. It was of him and another unicorn, nearly identical except the other had indigo eyes instead of blue and his mane was trimmed. “Oh, that’s your brother?” the earth pony asked. Now Private nodded. The cellist raised her brow a little. “You drive him nuts also with how little you talk?” When Private just simply nodded again, Octavia couldn’t help but giggle. This was reminding her just so much how her conversations usually went with Vinyl. She talked and her sister just either nodded, shook her head, or pointed at things. “Granted. I think your sister has me beat in the silence department,” Private quietly said and allowed himself a small smile. “And they at the museum where I work say I can out-silence the statues there.” Octavia giggled at that statement. She could see what the ponies at the museum meant. During the actual interview, Private had in fact not spoken a single word. It had all been her and Dew Doe. Yet she felt that Private’s silence was different. She just couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. The front door opened and slammed shut. The two ponies didn’t need to wonder for too long what was going on; Sombra walked in looking frazzled, his eyes twitching a little. “Um, you alright?” Octavia asked. Even Private looked a little surprised seeing the dark pony like that. “Numbers and again numbers….” Sombra growled and just sat down where he stood on the floor. “I enjoy mathematics, but this was ridiculous.” Then something happened that confused the earth pony. Sombra suddenly glared over at Private as if something had been said, though no words were spoken. Then the dark pony assumed a more serious expression and looked at Octavia. “But never mind that. I take it then that you have been interviewed by Private and Dew Doe,” Sombra addressed her. Octavia nodded, but before she could say anything else, the large unicorn was already rising to his hooves and heading out of the living room. “When you believe you are ready, talk with me in my study,” he said and soon could be heard walking up the stairs to the second floor. Octavia wasn’t quite sure how to read into this. Sombra sounded very guarded to her, she saw that Private was shaking his head a little. “Sorry, Sombra is still a work in process,” Private muttered just as Dew Doe returned to the living room. “I see tall dark and grumpy has returned,” the pegasus lightly remarked while getting seated again. “Yes, apparently I am to report to his study for an interview with him.” Octavia figured she was starting to see what Dew had meant that it was him she would have to convince. “Yes I should probably explain this one a little further before we send you to the 'dragon's den' to be scrutinized by our resident former dark lord,” Dew Doe chuckled. She looked much more relaxed compared to Private who had seemed more apologetic. “As we have already told you in brief, our past history with Sombra is checkered. Very checkered. It’s only been in the past year things improved and we have been working on him to continue that improvement,” the pegasus continued and glanced at Private who was looking at her curiously. “Oh, Blue Axe latched onto his face and refused to let go, so Sombra just took him to his study.” “That colt would tackle a dragon if we let him,” Dew said, then giggled for a moment before resuming a more serious look and returned her attention to Octavia, who patiently waited. Having already guessed that Private wanted to know where the colt was since the boy had clearly awoken from his nap. “Sombra is guarded and wary of others. He still has trouble fully understanding why we have given him this chance, which is nothing sort of a miracle considering his past with us, especially Private. He is slowly coming along, but the best way to put it is, he just isn’t used to this kind of life.” “I think I understand,” Octavia rubbed her muzzle in thought. Maybe he is wondering why anyone would want to join a herd with him in it. Octavia approached the innermost door in the hallway of the second floor. That’s where she was told Sombra’s study was. Dew had already gone up to collect her son after Octavia decided she was ready to have this private talk with the dark pony. So, the cellist knew he was waiting. The mare didn’t even need to knock; the door almost instantly opened. Within it, she could see Sombra sitting by a desk. On it rested a journal that he was currently scribbling in. She also noted that further inside was a workbench with chemistry equipment and other tools. Octavia assumed they had something to do with magical experiments. There were also shelves loaded with books and scrolls. When Octavia fully stepped in, the door closed behind her. She noted there were toys in one corner, a clear indication that Blue Axe was allowed to play in there. The earth pony found it impressive that Sombra fully participated in the colt’s upbringing. Sombra stopped writing, put the quill away and turned to face her. He looked very serious as he scrutinized the mare from the short distance between them. “I hope you are aware that association with me will have consequences,” he stated flatly, then gestured to himself with a hoof. “It’s not been that long since I was locked up in Tartarus for my crimes.” “Aware? I’m absolutely counting on it,” Octavia responded with a smile. She fought down a giggle when seeing the unicorn arch his brow. “Okay, maybe counting on it isn’t quite the right phrase. Expecting it would be more proper,” she then conceded. “Why are you interested in joining this herd?” Sombra asked. He was clearly suspicious, and Octavia couldn’t say she blamed him. It had to sound very strange that so shortly after he forms a herd with two ponies, there is suddenly this mare showing up wanting to join in. Octavia took a moment to consider how to answer this one. Dew Doe had sounded very curious about it and even all for it in the end. Private was probably in a dazed ‘Octavia wants to join my herd!?’ mode. If anything, Sombra was being the most practical, scrutinizing her motives to join. “Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with you being in it. I didn’t even know it was your herd until Private and I stepped off that train about a week ago. I was already committed back then to finding out who the ponies in the herd were and then seeing if they were open for expansion, no matter who they were,” Octavia decided to clarify first. Sombra still didn’t look too convinced, but his hard expression softened slightly. “Publicly I may not look it, but I’m not very conventional. I grew up in a herd. I know how they work and it’s a family life I quite enjoyed and has kind of affected my own dating life,” the mare sighed. “Unfortunately for me, monogamy has become the prevalent rule of our society and most ponies wouldn’t even consider being in an open relationship. I’ve tried, believe me, but it never panned out.” “Now don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that ponies are satisfied with just their one and true love. It just doesn’t work for me, I want options. However, starting a herd is more than just saying it. All individuals have to be on board with it,” she looked down for a moment. This was actually harder to justify in words than she had initially thought. “I guess I’m trying to find ponies that are willing to put up with me and this is my last desperate gamble to do it?” Octavia looked at Sombra again. The dark pony was starting to look more thoughtful. “Your sister certainly gave us an impression that you wanted a change of pace in your life,” Sombra muttered, then glanced towards the door. “Dew has been feeling a little lonely lately, she misses talking with her sister. I’m afraid neither Private nor I are great conversationalists.” Oh, wow. Does Dew have the same problem as me? Is that why she seems so keen? Octavia tried so hard not to blink in surprise. This hadn’t come up at all during the interview in the living room. “I sometimes wonder if I chased Foxy out by moving in here. They keep assuring me I didn’t. She hit it off well with that crystal pony she met during Dew and Private’s wedding and now they are living together in the Crystal Empire. It is a fair distance to travel for visits,” Sombra kept talking, though sounding more like he was talking to himself. Octavia wisely decided not to comment. “Look, I’m not here to just invite myself in and just act like I’m already part of the family. This is something that needs time. General herd integration of a potential new member happens gradually. It will at first just be me visiting a lot more. You all get acquainted with me and vice versa. This will take weeks, if not months,” Octavia decided to tell him, worrying Sombra thought she was just rushing in. “If we all feel it is working out, then and only then will I move in and join officially.” “My third herd mother took almost a year to be fully accepted in,” she then added as an afterthought. Octavia saw that Sombra looked at her more curiously now. “That’s a term I’ve not heard before. Why do you call her your third herd mother?” he asked sounding somewhat interested. “Because she was the third mare in the herd. My actual mother was my dad’s second; thus I refer to her as mom. The first mare is paradoxically thus my second herd mother. Then again, she would be referred to as the head mare anyway,” Octavia explained. “Since I’m a junior member of that herd, I don’t really have a rank. My sister is actually my half-sister or herd sibling. We have the same dad, but her mother is my third herd mother.” “I see, so there is a ranking structure,” Sombra furrowed his brow as he considered this. “Yes, in a traditional herd the mares are ranked, but given yours is not quite traditional, you stallions could have a rank. So, have you decided who is the second to the head?” the earth pony wondered and wasn’t surprised to see the dark pony shake his head. “I guess ranking isn’t so critical while the herd is so small, but it can get important if it expands. The heads run the household, but need to be able to delegate duties. It is important to have a bit of structure in a union that has multiple adults in it,” she pointed out. “That is a good point. I must confess, I really only agreed to this because Private and I were growing close, but I didn’t want him to have to choose between Dew Doe and myself. I knew I would lose. Those two are very closely bonded,” Sombra sighed a bit. “In turn, Dew had the same idea. She didn’t want to deprive Private of the opportunity to indulge in his nature to be attracted to stallions.” “The fact that I was even allowed to participate is…” Sombra fell silent, then eyed Octavia. “Very well, we’ll do it your way. You’ll begin visiting here and we’ll all get to know each other over time. If it works out, then you can join,” he said and used his magic to open the door. Octavia took that as a sign that she was being dismissed, so she rose and walked out. The door closed quickly behind her. The mare couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had  helped convince him to agree to the trial run that would now commence. Well, Octi, you got one hoof in. Now to see if the rest of me will be able to squeeze through, she thought and started to trot towards the stairs. I should head home soon. I owe Vinyl a giant sister hug.