//------------------------------// // Octavia's Gift // Story: CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT OCTAVIA'S! YAY! // by Wise Cracker //------------------------------// Scootaloo eagerly munched down on the oats, her snout dribbling with milk once she was done. She licked it all off in one fell go, to which Octavia winced. “We really must do something about your eating and drinking habits, dear.” Scootaloo looked around and wiped her muzzle with a napkin. “Umm… sorry? I didn’t make a mess, did I?” Octavia inspected the kitchen table around the girl, before casually taking a sip of her tea. “No, but it’s still not a good habit for a filly to have.” Scootaloo took her bowl off the table, as she always did, and put them in the dishwasher. Octavia noted the girl’s nervousness, the tiniest of tremors could be seen in her wings. “You know, this is the first time your friends will be coming over. You might want to consider freshening up a bit?” “Why?” She looked herself over and sniffed under her pits to check. “This is your home, darling. This is where you have the opportunity to make yourself as fresh and pretty as you like. It’s one thing to be a little messy after some exertion, but you wouldn’t want your friends to think you don’t make any effort at all, do you?” Octavia kept her voice steady, but her eyes bored into the filly. Scootaloo suppressed a shiver. “Umm… okay. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do for that, though.” Much to the girl’s surprise, Octavia cracked a smile. “I thought you might say that. That’s why I got you a little present.” Scootaloo jumped up in excitement. “Really? What kind of present?” Octavia got up from her seat with a little blue box in her hooves and pointed to the stairs. “You’ll want to see this in a full length mirror, darling.” Excited, Scootaloo darted up and started jumping up and down in front of the mirror that was placed just to the left of the top of the stairs. Octavia slowly followed her, walking on her hind legs as she was used to. Scootaloo looked up in the mirror to the mare behind her. She looked so big, walking about on only her hind legs. She was big all around, really, but Scootaloo knew well enough it wasn’t due to any fat on her body. Octavia just had thick limbs and with her own experiences in watching athletes -- or acting like one – she could tell the mare hid a lot of strength behind her calm exterior. “Close your eyes, darling.” With her jumping stopped, Scootaloo smiled and closed her eyes. She felt something go around her neck, something cold and metallic. It fit loosely, but once she heard the ‘click’ she knew it wouldn’t just fall off. “Now open them.” When Scootaloo opened her eyes, she did a double take. Octavia had gotten her a necklace, as she’d guessed, but not the kind of necklace she’d been expecting. A flexible metal strip went around her neck, the silver contrasted on her orange fur. The shine of the metal made her think it really was silver, but that just wasn’t possible. Octavia would never get her something that expensive, not even for her birthday. Not because Octavia wouldn’t get her any presents, mind, but because Octavia knew that kind of present was mostly wasted on the girl. She’d be far happier with some CD’s, or even a book, if the topic was to her liking. Although, if Scootaloo had to be perfectly frank, that necklace did look good on her. Right above her collarbone, a single black gem sat, a pure smoky quartz that seemed to radiate its blackness. Scootaloo’s heart skipped a beat. Such a simple thing, just this one little thing, and she looked like a proper noblefilly. She could parade around with it in Canterlot, or she could show it off to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She might wear it to some fancy work party her parents would take her to, or she might show it off to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Showing this thing off to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sounded like a really good idea right now. Scootaloo just kept on staring at the reflection. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.” Octavia smirked and reached into the blue box, fetching a small black remote. “That’s quite all right, darling. I’ll be telling you what to say from now on.” Scootaloo wanted to turn around to ask what she meant by that, but her head wouldn’t turn. She tried to speak, but her tongue refused to move and her jaw wouldn’t obey her commands. She tried to walk, flap her wings, start blinking quickly to give any sort of signal something was wrong, but nothing came. She just stood there, frozen. The collar slowly tightened until it sat snugly against her fur. It held fast, and her body had become a statue. What’s going on? Why can’t I move? And why does that gem suddenly look purple, like my eyes? Octavia flashed her a wicked grin. “Now follow me, dear, and be careful you don’t fall. You wouldn’t want to dislodge your control collar.” Moving down the stairs, Scootaloo took stock of what was going on. She moved slowly, mechanically, exactly like Octavia commanded. On her own will, she couldn’t move anything in her body, no matter how frantically her thoughts rushed through her brain. Octavia stood before the girl in the kitchen and grabbed a notepad from the box. She let her eyes wander over it and chuckled. “Oh, my, I really must do business with these fine gentlecolts again. They do think of everything.” Scootaloo didn’t reply. She couldn’t respond. Octavia took a moment of reading to notice. “Right then, Scootaloo, what you are wearing is a control collar. It makes it so you cannot disobey any orders I give you. You’re more than welcome to try and resist its effects, but I think you’ll find this is quite impossible. Your body cannot fight its control, and your mind is trapped.” Octavia took great care to read the note aloud. “Listen carefully and remember these things as the new truths of your life. From now on, you will be unable to speak of your collar in any situation. You will not be able to do anything that reveals its control, or even speak of anything related to the collar or my control over you. Whenever you are in sight or hearing range of another pony, or if I command it, you will act as your normal self would. You will be able to speak with others once I allow you, but you can only speak as if you were not wearing the collar and instead were acting normally. Any option you can think of to take it off or to communicate in any way what has happened to you will be impossible. Thinking about it will cause a sharp pain, like a lash made of ice whipping over your back, and even that pain you cannot show.” Scootaloo screamed inside as her escape plans all yielded the sensation of lashes over her back that gave her frostbite. She couldn’t even grit her teeth or cry to show it. Octavia kept her confident smirk up, still reading off of the note. “You also will not be able to call for help. You can no longer scream, unless a life is in direct danger. And even then, when any help arrives you will not be able to reveal the collar’s influence on you. You cannot remove the collar, you cannot even think about a way to remove the collar. It hurts to want to be free of its control. But you will be able to show what you are truly feeling when I command it so. I want you to show me how you are feeling, right now, with your voice reduced a whisper. Your face is free, the rest of you remains as is.” Scootaloo gasped as the sharp pains shot through her body. She tried to scream, but her voice got stuck in a whisper. “O--ow. It hurts, it really hurts. W-why can’t I call for help? I want somepony to come and help me, why can’t I call?” “Because I won’t allow it, darling. I have total control over you now, and you’re going to do exactly as I say. No more needing to adjust my schedule, no more having to wait for you to be out of the house to get some peace and quiet, it’ll be just perfect. And speaking of which, there’s one more thing I need to put in your head before we can call this a success.” Scootaloo gulped. Octavia put a small controller box on the floor, the remote. It had a set of buttons on it, as well as a dial. She read the note aloud again. “This is the master controller. It is the only thing that can release you. You will find it impossible to get closer to it without my command. You will simply stop whenever you are thinking of going near it, and then continue acting as your normal self, always keeping up the charade. And even if you do get close, you’ll find this object is scorching hot. When you try to reach for it, you will feel a heat. When you are a few inches off, you will feel agony. And by the time you are close enough to touch it, the searing pain will feel like your foreleg is incinerated, causing you to pass out before you can touch it. The same will happen whenever you try to get another object close to touch. The object will heat up the closer you get. You will drop anything you might use to get a grip on this remote, the pain will make sure of that. Is that clear?” “Yes.” What? No. No, it’s not! No, please! “Good girl. Don’t worry, I won’t be so magnanimous as to have you call me ‘mistress’, it’s not worth risking the suspicion. Still, let’s test how well you obey now. Walk towards the controller until you feel the heat, and extend your right front hoof towards it.” Scootaloo winced as she did it. Her hoof extended towards the thing holding her captive, the imaginary heat already feeling quite painful. Octavia grinned. “Put your hoof a little closer, dear.” Despite herself, Scootaloo obeyed. It burned, hotter than anything she could remember. Little flashes of sunburn and walking over a hot beach on a summer’s day danced across her mind as she inched that hoof closer. “Please don’t. It hurts.” The mare shook her head, clearly gauging the distance. “A little closer, still.” “Aahhh…” she whimpered, tears flowing freely in agony. Her head swam, and her body went weak all over. Octavia picked the thing up, and the pain subsided. She came closer with a paper tissue in her hoof. “There, that’s much better. Now, let me just clean up your tears. Show me a smile, darling, act casual.” Scootaloo felt her face comply, the pain still at the back of her mind but her body unable to call out for help. Octavia cleaned off her tears. Just like that, there was no trace of the agony she’d just suffered at the hooves of the mare she’d been entrusted to. “You are just perfect, Scootaloo. And now you’re going to walk out and head to Sugarcube Corner for me, and buy some donuts for breakfast.” Octavia put her purse with some bits on Scootaloo’s wing. “And you might as well get a little sweet treat, whichever one you feel like. With the commands now embedded in your head, along with the settings the gem is set to, you shouldn’t have any trouble acting normal. So, off you go, then.” Scootaloo found herself bounding off with a smile on her face, the same sort of smile she’d wear if she knew she could get some sweets. She was still screaming inside, though. “Oh, and one more thing,” Octavia called out. Scootaloo turned to look and saw her turn the dial, which made the collar produce an odd tingling sensation. “Just in case your mind wandered to it, that collar is invisible now. There will be nothing showing once you go outside. As far as the outside world is concerned, nothing is wrong with you. No one will help. No one will even know. Any questions?” Scootaloo’s voice lowered to a whisper again, despite her best efforts. “Why?” “Because I just can’t be bothered to have to keep my eye on you, dear. As much as I’ve learned to lie my way through Canterlot company, I don’t like sugar-coating your appalling behaviour. I had to spend the better part of an afternoon lying about you to ponies who, to me, seem rather decent. I do not intend to do that again if I can help it, but you leave me no choice. You’ve no respect for rules, you never listen to your elders and your parents are too busy compensating for leaving you in someone else’s care to give you the discipline you need. So I’m just cutting out the middle pony, really. Now, as you were.” Just like that, she was out the door. Scootaloo didn’t look about as she donned her helmet, she just went about her usual business. Before long, she was standing at the counter ordering donuts and a swan pastry, her favourite. “Will that be everything, Scootaloo?” Mister Cake asked. Help me. Please help me. Take this thing off, Octavia’s gone crazy. I can’t move, please just take this thing off. Pain shot through her. She’d swear she had a scar on her back by now as the whipping continued. Her back chilled and numbed, and her wings felt like they were shrivelling. She was dying, her wings first, she was sure of it. Pain. Pain’s good. I have to get more pain, make my face react. Come on, just reach up for it. Reach for the collar. She thought of reaching up, but her legs didn’t move. She still felt the reaction, though. The burning cold on her back intensified. Fibre by fibre in her wing was struck by frostbite, before giving up and dying off. Come on, just wince. Whimper, moan, groan, shed a tear, anything! “Nope, that’s everything. Thanks, Mister Cake.” Scootaloo’s heart sank as she said it. Or it would have, if the iron grip of the collar would only allow it. Her retreat home was sullen, at least in her mind. Her body, though, refused to show it. She was cut off, a prisoner in her own body. Scootaloo got back and entered, right in view of several adults who’d no doubt save her in a heartbeat if she could only tell them what had happened. She jumped and nearly dropped the bag of treats when she saw the company. “Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! I thought you weren’t going to get here by noon.” She closed the door, not wanting to make a scene where anypony could hear. “Octavia said we could come in. She had a present for us, see?” Apple Bloom pointed to the black gem currently around her neck. Octavia smiled. “Indeed, and it looks fetching on you, doesn’t it? Scootaloo, what do you think? Doesn’t that look nice on your friends?” No. Please, no. Take it off, get it off them! “It looks great,” Scootaloo replied, gently placing the bag on the kitchen table and walking over to her friends. “Hold on, though, the colour isn’t quite right yet. I’ll have it match your eyes.” No. The button was pushed, the gems changed from black to green and red to match Sweetie Belle’s and Apple Bloom’s eyes, and Scootaloo knew her friends were lost. NO! “No need to keep up the charade now, dear. Stand still and answer me, in your whisper.” Octavia grinned wickedly. “Do you think Applejack and Rarity will appreciate me making their sisters a little more manageable?” “You can’t do this. Somepony will notice eventually. You can’t hide this thing forever,” Scootaloo whispered. Octavia draped herself over the couch and furrowed her brow at that ignorant remark even as she smiled, almost amused enough to afford a chuckle. “Darling, I don’t think you understand the severity of your situation. You can’t show your predicament to anyone, anyone at all. And as for hiding it forever, you seem to think I made this contraption myself.” The mare's words ran around in Scootaloo's head, but nothing important stuck out. “What does that have to do with anything?” Octavia chuckled, getting up to ruffle the manes of her two latest prisoners. “Try to understand, the thing you and your friends are wearing is a special order. It is made by a company, one that makes money off this.” Octavia leaned in closer. “There are more fillies like you, more mares like me, and I don’t need to know how to hide it. They do, and they were kind enough to write some very helpful tutorials on the topic. I might even invite some of them over, let you see how other collared children live their lives. There’s quite a few applications, let me tell you. My point is, darling, that any mistakes you might hope I make have been foreseen and prepared for. This has been happening for a while now, and so far nopony has gotten caught doing it. What makes you think I should be the first?” Scootaloo shook her head in confusion. “What about my mom and dad? I’m not going to be with you all the time, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle –“ “You and your friends don’t need to be with me all the time, dear, that’s the whole point. You just went outside, and I don’t see any outraged adults pounding down my door. I can make you act normal, and I will. As for keeping you closer, I can wait. The three of you have a wonderful set of skills, you know, and I’m sure I can find good use for them. Your parents already trust me enough to take care of you. Building a career with my help won’t even make them bat an eyelash. If nothing else… I can have a little fun with you as my servants once you’re old enough to move out of the house.” Scootaloo’s breath came in ragged. “All this just because I don’t listen?” Octavia opened her mouth, but didn’t reply. She put her hoof on her chin and pondered. “You know, you have a fair point there. I suppose this is a bit harsh, you’re not quite a criminal, after all. Tell you what, since you have been a good girl, I won’t make you watch as I start putting some more advanced programming into your friends’ minds. Stand up on your hind hooves for me, darling.” Wordlessly, Scootaloo obeyed. “As I count to three, you’ll find your head getting lighter and lighter. It’ll feel as if you are on the precipice of a great chasm, right on the edge and about to fall. I’m actually curious, would you fall backwards or forwards?” “Please don’t,” Scootaloo pleaded. “Nothing to worry about, Scootaloo. When you wake back up, I’ll have you all dolled up and all set for your new life with me to guide you. I’ll even start giving you some positive reinforcement, you’ll like that a lot. But in the meantime... three.” A headrush swept over the girl. She started wobbling back and forth. “Two.” Vertigo hit her, and her heart started pounding. Octavia just smirked. “One.” A shock went through her, a dull impact that roused her out of the control of the collar. Dark. It’s too dark. Scootaloo tried to move. She got her limbs to respond, but she was bound by something. The collar wasn’t holding her anymore, though. I can move. Thank the stars, I can move. Come on, got to… She heard a door open in the hallway. Light came out from under the crack of her door. She was in her bedroom, on the floor, in some sort of straightjacket. All dolled up, just like she said. How long was I out? Thundering hooves rushed to her door. Octavia swung it open and bathed the girl in blinding light with a flick of the light switch. “Scootaloo? What happened?” Scootaloo squirmed in her restraints even as Octavia came over. She kicked and flailed as the mare got closer. “Get away from me, don’t come near me!” She croaked. Scootaloo’s throat felt dry and raw, but her eyes were certainly doing their best to compensate. She couldn’t quite scream, though, not yet. Octavia didn’t heed the girl. She just closed the gap and started fiddling with the material holding the girl’s forelegs and wings bound. One of her kicks connected, but Octavia merely swatted it aside. “I said: get away! Get away, don’t-“ “Shh,” Octavia cooed. “It’s all right, darling.” Scootaloo stopped kicking once Octavia’s forelegs were around her. “W-wha…” She looked to the straightjacket that had so cruelly locked her in mere moments before. It was just her bed sheets. She felt her neck. There was nothing there. She felt her chest. Her T-shirt clung to her, soaked in sweat. Octavia got her out of the wet shirt, then pressed the girl to her chest, rubbing her mane. “Darling, your chest is absolutely pounding.” The mare reached a hoof around to pat her on the back. Scootaloo felt the warm touch, right between her wings. She was cold as ice there, and the feeling made her shudder to her core, before the bit of warmth calmed her down. Octavia blew softly over her wings, making them spread to catch a fake wind. She looked up at the mare holding her. “I-I don’t understand.” Octavia kept her clutched close, rubbing to warm her chilled back up. “It was just a nightmare, Scootaloo. Whatever monsters you dreamed of, they’re gone now.”