• Published 20th Dec 2013
  • 3,731 Views, 189 Comments

Lady Octavia - Cyber Clash



Octavia finds herself a new servant.

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Chapter 2: Confession

The walk from Drycker was not a particularly long one. During the walk, Octavia glanced at her new servant. She kept wondering why her eyes were hidden behind those shades. It was night, making the use of sunglasses completely useless for a seeing pony. However, Octavia knew better than to question somepony’s choice of clothing. After all, she wouldn’t like it very much if Vinyl insulted her bowtie.

“You like what you see?” Vinyl asked, giggling as she felt the cellist’s eyes hovering over her in examination.

“I…guess?” Octavia responded, oblivious to the innuendo.

“Hmph. So how much longer?” the servant switched the topic.

“Actually, it’s this one,” Octavia said as she nodded toward the magnificent home with two treble clefts on the balcony walls.

Vinyl gave a low whistle out of acknowledgement, “This house is huge! Do all Canterlot ponies live in places like these? I knew they were rich, but this one has your cutie mark and everything!”

“Not all ponies live in places like this. I simply have a lot of money from my parents, and I make quite a bit of money with my job as well.”

Octavia opened the iron gates, allowing Vinyl to hold the door open for her mistress. She stepped inside after the grey mare and looked around. The house was absolutely incredible! In contrast with the smooth purple bricks used for the outside, the interior was an incredibly elegant pink, produced by the lights of a chandelier made of topaz. The floor was alabaster and there were two marble spiral staircases on either side.

Octavia showed her to the living room, past the entrance. It had redwood floors with a rug and two cushions in front of an unlit cobblestone hearth. The kitchen was white with grey and black cupboards. The master bedroom was upstairs, where the halls were all covered by a luxurious amethyst and pink carpet, and had a large black bed in a white and purple room. It even had it’s own little balcony. Vinyl’s room was right next to Octavia’s; it was only a bit smaller than the cellist’s and was designed to be grey and the bed was white with pink pillows. There were a few paintings on the walls, along with a closet and a wooden chair, but other than that the room had plenty of space for extra furnishing.

“What else do you need to know…Ah, the bathroom is to the left, across is the study. Next to that, the music room, and next to that is the theatre room. What do you think?” Octavia awaited her opinion.

Vinyl’s jaw had been ajar the whole time. She was completely in awe with how much the design portrayed the mare, “This house…it’s amazing. Did you do the design?”

“Oh, no no no. My parents designed this and hired workers to get it done. I know it looks a lot like…well, me, but I can get your room redone if you want,” she offered.

“Please, don’t. It’s fine,” Vinyl walked up to her mistress and hugged her tenderly, “Thank you so much.”

Octavia wasn’t used to hugs, but she put a foreleg around her servant and said, “Well, it’s not like I could leave you on the streets like that. Besides, you’ll be working for me the whole time.”

“Still, it’s a lot. I couldn’t possibly be able to thank you enough.” Just then, Vinyl’s stomach growled loudly. She hadn’t eaten since the potato chips. She simply blushed.

“I suppose sustenance would satiate your ravenousness?” The grey mare offered. Vinyl tilted her head in confusion and Octavia rephrased her sentence, “Would you like dinner, I mean?”

“Nah, you’ve given me enough. I’ll be fine,” she dismissed.

“Vinyl Scratch, until you are completely satisfied with all your needs, I won’t let you work!” Octavia said with determination.

Vinyl smiled and reluctantly accepted, “Fine. But something small.”

Once in the kitchen, the cellist prepared a pot of superb minestrone soup. Vinyl ate quickly and ravenously. When Octavia offered more, Vinyl refused, but the cellist didn’t bother anymore. The unicorn cleaned up after herself and they sat on the living room couch for a while to talk.

Vinyl said to her, “You know, you’re super generous. Like, it’s insane. Every single second, you offer me something.”

“Would you like me to not be so generous, then?” the cellist asked.

“See? There you go again. That’s what I should be doing. I should be offering you anything I can think of.”

The elegant pony chuckled, “You know, for my part, I wanted you here as a roommate. It wasn’t entirely out of good heart.”

“Yeah I get it,” Vinyl smiled, “You’ve got this huge house with no one to share it with. You must feel so lonely! You poor thing, don’t worry,” Vinyl brushed her tail against Octavia’s flank and whispered seductively, “I’ll let you be selfish with me.”

“M-Miss Vinyl Scratch, you are my butler, n-not my sex slave!” Octavia blushed, her heartbeat becoming rapid.

“I know.” The white mare said, “I was joking. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I just hadn’t joked like that with anyone in a while.”

“It’s fine, but it’s just that I’m not really…comfortable with that type of humour.”

Vinyl sat up, as she seemed to have struck a chord, “So…you’re, like, a prude or something?”

Octavia chuckled, “Kind of…I’m…I-um…” the cellist began to blush.

“You don’t have to be ashamed of telling something to your servant. I swear if you were ever raped, I’ll stop those jokes right now. I mean, that’s…super bad, like I’m sorry if you went through that. Is that what’s bothering you?” Vinyl said, grabbing Octavia’s hoof to comfort her.

The cellist immediately pulled her hoof from the unicorn’s grasp and sighed, “No, it’s not rape…I’m sorry, I just…” She trailed off, chuckling and blushing. Once again she couldn’t say the right words.

Vinyl began to put the pieces together and deducted the sheepishness down to one last thing. She asked slowly, “Miss Octavia, are you…into mares?”

The grey mare took a deep breath and nodded, “I think I should have told you that before bringing you into my home. I haven’t told anyone.” Octavia’s cheeks became more sanguine and she swallowed a lump in her throat as she imagined Vinyl Scratch walking right out the door.

Instead, the unicorn hugged her friend, tighter than last time, “You’re so weird. You probably have a bunch of nice friends, and yet you just tell a random pony you’ve just employed that you’re gay. I don’t mind though. It’s not like it changes who you are.”

Octavia let a small tear run down her cheek, “Thank you. I thought you would feel uncomfortable and leave me,” she sobbed, burying herself in Vinyl’s neck, “But I swear I’m not a pervert! I-I’ve never even had a marefriend. I’m still new to it, and-“

“Chill,” Vinyl commanded, “I’ve had gay friends before. It’s not like you’d sneak into my bed in the middle of the night. I mean yeah, I’ve got a nice plot but-“

“Vinyl!” Octavia giggled, smacking her friend’s shoulder and pulling away.

“Alright, Alright. I’ll stop.” Vinyl promised, “I’m really happy that you trusted me enough to tell me that.”

“Well, you’re going to be living with me, so you should probably be aware.”

“Speaking of things I should be aware of, I need you to tell me what exactly I need to do, ‘cuz I’ve never been a butler, so…” Vinyl trailed off.

“Of course, I wasn’t expecting you to know right away. Do you think you’ll need to write this down?”

“Nah, I got it.”

“Okay, well,” Octavia began, “since you’re the only one here, I don’t expect you to do everything all at once. Maybe one day, you can dust off the music room, study, and recording room, and other days you could clean the kitchen and the living room, and so on.”

Octavia paused and Vinyl nodded her head, “Okay, don’t clean everything in one day, got it.”

The mistress nodded and continued explaining, “Whenever I get home, I will be expecting you to greet me at the door, or sometimes, you could take me home if you get the time. I will take care of all the bills so don’t worry about that. You will be doing much of the shopping, and you’ll be in charge of fixing anything that needs fixing, or call a professional if it comes to that; I have a phone book in the study. You could also help with the cooking if you won’t be terribly busy, and I may ask you to bring me something now and then.”

Vinyl Scratch nodded her head slowly, “Got it.”

The grey mare took a deep breath, “I know it sounds like a lot, but I had to do it all by myself before you came along. I promise I’ll help you out whenever I can.”

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Vinyl said for the third time.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you passing out like I did.”

“I’ve got my magic, okay? I can clean a bunch of things at once and then take care of you, well, your needs I mean,” Vinyl said, blushing in embarrassment.

A giggle escaped the cellist’s lips, “I know what you meant to say.” She looked at the clock, “Well, it’s getting late. How about we both go to sleep? I wake up at seven tomorrow, so you need to be ready by then.”

Vinyl bowed her head, “Of course, I’ll be ready, my lady.”

“You know, you needn’t be so formal with me,” Octavia smiled.

“I know,” Vinyl said getting off of the couch, “It’s just fun to speak fancy.”
The next morning, Vinyl awoke Octavia by softly nudging the grey mare, who had made a cocoon out of blankets. Her mind was still trying to function while her servant brushed her hair and tied her bowtie. Once she had fully awoken, the cellist made her way to the bathroom whilst Vinyl went into the kitchen to prepare a fitting breakfast for her mistress.

“Let’s see…does she have a cookbook around here or what?” Vinyl muttered to herself as she looked in every drawer and cupboard in the magnificent kitchen. Her search proved successful when she found the book, “Aha! Now, what do fancy ponies eat?” She quickly flipped with her magic until she found an Eggs Benedict recipe.

Vinyl used as much magic as she could to prepare her mistress’s breakfast. She poached the eggs while toasting the crumpet and sliced the lettuce and tomato while she made the sauce. She was tired of using magic, so she hoped it would be worth it.

Octavia walked downstairs, and greeted Vinyl, “Good morning,” she said simply.

“Good morning, Miss Octavia. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I slept wonderfully.”

Vinyl placed the Eggs Benedict on the table as she sat down. She placed a napkin on the echelon’s lap with her magic and let her eat her food as she brought a cup of tea she had been preparing for Octavia.

“How is it? Did I get the recipe right?” she asked as she placed the hot green tea next to the plate.

Octavia swallowed the sustenance in her mouth, “Tis absolutely delectable. Have you tried it?”

Vinyl shook her head, “Nah, I should always serve you first.” Her stomach rumbled, in rebellion to her choice.

“Come now, grab a plate and sit with me. I don’t want you to starve for my sake. That is why I took you in after all,” Octavia ordered.

“Yes, ma’am,” the unicorn said, grabbing another plate of the poached egg goodness.

“Now I can eat and not feel guilty, knowing you aren’t starving.”

Vinyl savoured the creamy yolk and sauce. She had been skittish to make sure she got every detail right down to the decorative cilantro on top. A couple minutes after her first bite, she asked with food still in her mouth, “You know, I’ve never met shomepony ash nishe ash you.”

“Vinyl, could you please learn to avoid talking with your mouth full?” Vinyl nodded and swallowed, “Good, now start again.”

She did as she was told. “I said that I’ve never met somepony as nice as you…in the upper crust, I mean.”

“Really? Well, thank you.” Octavia smiled.

Once they had finished eating, Vinyl cleaned the plates. She left them impeccably glossy with cleanliness. The mare went around the house, cleaning furiously with a mop wiping the floor quickly, a duster dusting the nearby shelves, careful to not drop anything on them, and a fresh rag and spray cleaning the windows of the room she was in, all with her magic. She even got the mail and took out the trash.

Octavia watched from the upstairs hall, with a bow in her hoof. She had been trying to practice playing. The noise of the unicorn cleaning frantically wasn’t obnoxious, but it was distracting the cellist. The earth pony could see Vinyl rubbing her head. She seemed to have used a little too much magic. She came up to her and offered, “Would you like to take a break? You seem to be tired.”

Vinyl rubbed her temple, “Nah, it’s fine. I’m just overusing my magic a little, I guess. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

The classical musician knew Vinyl was only being stubborn and that she really did need a break, so she tried another method, “Well, I am composing a song, and I need to know if it sounds alright. Could you help me?”

Vinyl nodded, and followed Octavia to the music room. The servant held the door for her mistress, and walked in afterwards. Once inside, Octavia took out one of Harpo’s compositions from her desk drawer, while Vinyl sat down on a cushion in the room, and placed a hoof on her temple. She placed it on her music stand and positioned herself with her cello. Once she was prepared, the cellist took a deep breath and played.

Vinyl Scratch still felt an intense ache from her horn and her head. However, her eyes widened behind her shades and all of her pain was forgotten after a few minutes. It had been a long time since she had heard high quality music. Of course, Drycker put on music from their speakers if no one was performing, but the speakers would release an unpleasant static sound. Vinyl liked the performances as well, but the crowd wouldn’t cheer for her, they would cheer for someone else, and Vinyl would feel nostalgic of her past.

Octavia’s notes were fast and complicated, impressing the unicorn since Octavia lacked the use of magic. The notes grew slightly slower and slower, but Vinyl felt like the cellist had made them sombre without the intention. The unicorn’s theory proved to be true as she noticed Octavia glare slightly at the sheet before her, as if scolding the notes to rewrite themselves to Octavia’s satisfaction. The song came to a close a few measures later.

The cellist looked down, thinking about how she could have played better, and then at Vinyl, whose mouth was ajar. The earth pony noticed that her hoof was no longer massaging her head, meaning her music had soothed her ache as she had planned. Octavia placed herself on all four hooves, and prevented her cello from hitting the ground by holding its head with one hoof.

“What did you think?” Octavia asked, hoping to break the silence.

Vinyl snapped out of her trance, “Huh? Oh! It was amazing, Miss Octavia! It was probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard from classical music.”

Octavia sighed in relief, and joked, “So you didn’t sleep during my playing, right?”

“Hell no. How could I fall asleep in the middle of that awesomeness?”

The grey mare smiled, “Well, alright.” She asked, “Do you think there was something I could fix? I really need this to be perfect.”

“Well,” the blue mane mare thought, “I’m not an expert in classical music, but there was this one part that felt a bit…sad. It was in the middle of the song, where the longer notes are. Are they supposed to be like that?”

Octavia looked through her sheet music, and found it. Measure forty-seven had notes written to the side that read, “work on this” and “must be jovial.” She knew exactly what the unicorn meant. Octavia always made that faux pas in her playing. The cellist sighed, this time frustration, “I know about that. I’ve been trying to improve on that part, but no matter how many times I try, it just won’t come out right, you know?”

Vinyl walked over to Octavia, “Actually, yeah. I know what that’s like. I had trouble with it whenever I made songs, too. You can play that part better by thinking of something that makes you happy.” Octavia stood silent, and the unicorn continued, “How about taking a break from music to think it over?”

The grey earth pony nodded, “Okay, then.” She looked for something to switch topics, “Vinyl, do you play any instruments?” she asked, remembering her cutie mark.

“Instruments? Well…I used to play the harmonica, but it’s been years since I’ve even seen mine. Why?” Vinyl curiously tilted her head.

“Well, it’s just that I saw your cutie mark, and I figured you played something.”

“Oh! This thing,” she said, turning toward her flank, “Before I wound up in the streets, I used to be an awesome DJ! I’d get the crowd going real good. Everyone would have a good time and-“

“Wait,” Octavia interjected, “You were a…DJ?” Vinyl nodded. “Oh, well…” Octavia looked around, trying her best not to seem disgusted.

“Hey, it’s not like I did drugs and all that,” Vinyl said in defence, “I just gave music to those ponies. I swear, all the elites think we’re just obsessed with drugs and booze and sex. They even suspect us for thefts and stuff! We’re not all like that. I mean, yeah, I’ve gotten drunk, and stuff, but I’ve never done anything bad!”

The echelon nodded, “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. Just don’t do anything foolish.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes behind her purple shades, “Whatever.” She then remembered something, “Oh yeah, a mailmare came by this morning. She gave me a letter for you. Let me go get it.” Vinyl said before running off.

To avoid the use of magic, she held the letter in her mouth. Octavia took the letter with her hoof and inspected it. The cellist sighed, “It’s junk mail. We might as well throw it away.”

“Whoa, you sure? Who’s it from?” the unicorn asked.

“My parents. I don’t want to read it,” she dismissed.

“Why? I’m sure they-“

“I just don’t,” Octavia said, scowling. “I-I’m sorry. I just can’t read that,” she said, giving back the letter.

“Okay, you don’t have to read it, but I won’t trash it.” Octavia nodded in agreement. “Now, how about I go make something to eat? Or we can go out.”

“I don’t usually go out on Saturdays, so maybe we could eat here.”

“Alright. Well, I’m gonna get something cooking, okay?”

Just then, something crossed Octavia’s mind, “Wait, Vinyl,”

“Yeah?” she turned.

“Are you blind?” the cellist asked.

“What? No. Why?”

“No reason. Just go cook.” She dismissed.

Vinyl shrugged and left Octavia to practice. Well, that answers that. She thought.

Author's Note:

Why did this take me so long to update? I don't know. I would say that I was busy, but that would be a very lousy excuse. I didn't really procrastinate either, or at least, I didn't mean to. I wanted to update this sooner and I don't know why I didn't do that. Oh well.

Anyway, let me know if there are any mistakes in here so that I may fix them. I'm not good at revising things when I'm tired. Strangely, I always tell myself to revise things whenever I'm tired. I should probably break that habit. It's like telling someone to eat when they just had a huge meal moments before. It's something you should do, but not at that moment, because that's simply illogical.

So yeah. That's it. I'm going to go get a cup of tea now because I'm tired, my face hurts, and I have nothing else to say. So enjoy this chapter if you can. Bye.