Herding Inquiries

by Askre

Chapter 1 - Herd meeting

Octavia Melody scrunched her face in thought as she read the newspaper article that had caught her attention. Then her head tilted a bit, a brow rose, and a small smirk came over her muzzle. Reaching for her teacup, she drank from it while keeping her eye on her reading.

“How quaint,” she mused to herself and put the cup back down. Then she glanced over the paper to look at the pony sitting opposite the table. “Sis, have you read this?”

The mare sighed when there was no response. Vinyl Scratch, or DJ P0N-3 as she was better known, showed no indication she had even noticed being addressed, banging to the music on her earphones as the white pony ate her breakfast with her usual gusto.

“Vinyl!” Octavia raised her voice, which had some effect. Vinyl finally looked at her. The grayish pony turned the paper towards her and simply patted firmly the article of the paper with a hoof.

“Getting a decent discussion out you can be such a bother sometimes,” Octavia grunted with a slight huff. Maybe she was used to this by now, but it didn’t change the fact it could be annoying. “They are actually writing about a new herd being created.”

Vinyl turned the music down on her headphones and tilted her head curiously. That was all her sister needed to know she should continue. This had obviously caught Vinyl’s attention as well.

“So rare these days. I think our family was the only officially registered herd in existence,” Octavia remarked, getting a nod in agreement from the other pony. The cellist turned the paper back to read from it.

“Herds were a form of marriage of earth ponies in ancient times - especially among farming communities. They are extremely rare today and considered a rather eccentric form of relationship. Not banned or discouraged, but certainly not something you hear about in your everyday life. Fillydelphia now sees its first in a very long time, with the union of three ponies who have decided to officiate their relationship to that of a herd,” she read part of the article to her sister.

“Huh, wonder if they are opening an application period for it?” Octavia mused, dropping the paper down to the table.

Vinyl gave her an uncertain look, then reached over to get a better look at the paper. No picture followed the article, so there was no indication of which ponies it was forming this very old, ancient custom that barely any pony today actually followed.

The unicorn shrugged and sat back properly, put on the music again, and returned to her breakfast. The earth pony, in the meantime, was still rubbing her muzzle in thought, considering the article in the paper.

“It would certainly be…Vinyl!”

Vinyl sighed, turned down the music again, and looked at Octavia, who was staring at her once more. Her sister was clearly insisting on having a conversation about this.

“It would certainly be interesting to see if they want a new member,” Octavia said, grinning at the unimpressed look coming from the unicorn in front of her. The earth pony made a circle with her hoof in the air. “You would finally get me out of the house.”

At that, Vinyl arched her brow and looked around. They were currently sitting in Octavia’s part of the house, which was, as far as the unicorn thought, very boring. It had a stand for Octavia’s cello, a piano, and a fancy couch. The earth pony used old-style lamps to light things up. Vinyl’s part was in contrast modern, with modern lamps, her electric keyboards, and a large bass system.

Still, it was a home she shared with her sister and the thought of one of them leaving was a little weird. Despite her refined look and taste in music, Octavia wasn’t above doing things differently, even combining her musical talents with Vinyl’s to put on shows. Yet if there was one thing Vinyl knew, if Octavia got an idea, she would follow through on it. Nothing would stop her, so the techno pony just shrugged to show she didn’t mind all that much.

Morning breakfast might even be a little more audible, Octavia held back a sigh. She loved her sister dearly, but she had to admit these one-sided discussions were becoming a little repetitive. Vinyl was not a mare of many words and seemed fairly content on just expressing herself with her music or just mute signals.

Octavia returned to the paper to read further on. To her dismay, there wasn’t too much more information on this herd. She wondered why. Since it was being made official and was so rare, the mare would have thought names and photos of the ponies in question would be plastered all over.

“Well, I think I will do a little research…” Octavia fell silent when seeing that Vinyl had already departed the table and gone to her half of the house to work on her bass.

“Thank you for your insightful commentary, sis,” the earth pony muttered. After cleaning up breakfast, she left the house and headed for Ponyville train station.

---

“I just can’t help feeling like I’m talking to myself all day. I don’t meet my band all that often any more - especially after my solo career took off like a rocket. Sometimes I’m not always sure she’s listening with those headphones on her head all day,” Octavia groused and eyed the passing scenery from the train car window.

“I mean, I love my sister very much, but when we agreed to split a house together, I was hoping we could talk more often. We got so little of that when we were first starting - she with the modern form of electric music and me with my band and doing solo work.” The mare sighed heavily and turned to the stallion sitting on the bench in front of her. So far he only had a neutral expression on his face, but Octavia could tell by his eyes that he was listening.

“So, sorry to go off on you like that. I just needed to speak to someone, anyone.” Octavia felt a little embarrassed. She had hidden her annoyance so well that the mare had just started to automatically rant to her fellow passenger the moment she got on the train.

“Uh, sure,” the unicorn muttered.

Octavia gave him a look; she had barely caught his response. The stallion was dark gray and had a blonde mane and tail, his hooves were brown and there was a book image on his flank.

“You look familiar. I think I’ve seen you around Ponyville before…with a black filly?” The mare continued to look the pony over. He still carried that unreadable expression.

“Dropping my niece off to see her half-sister,” the unicorn simply mumbled.

Octavia raised her brow a little. No she had not been mistaken. There was a hint of nervousness in that voice. She also noted that he spoke quietly and dryly, like somebody not used to speaking too much.

“So, you’re not from Ponyville?” she asked. This time the stallion just shook his head. “Since this train is going to Fillydelphia, you’re from there?”

The unicorn nodded. Octavia hid a grin. Fillydelphia was a much larger town than Ponyville, but chances were that the inhabitants would still know of any local events. She had planned to see if any of the local papers had anything more on the herd, even the names of the ponies in it.

“So, I take it you have heard of the recent unorthodox union happening there?” she asked curiously, noting the unicorn immediately shifting ever so slightly in his seat. Slowly the stallion nodded.

“I apologize for dropping on you like this with that, but I just read about it in the paper this morning. It really caught my attention since I grew up in a herd myself. Not many know that unless they really go digging into my back history. So, seeing a new herd being officially announced thrilled me,” Octavia started to ramble excitingly.

“Herd are so rare these days, at least the official ones. Usually, nowadays it’s more just ponies being in open relationships and jokingly calling them herds. But an actually confirmed herd, it just doesn’t happen so often. Monogamous relationships are so boring. Ponies are herd animals; we need company…and I’m so sorry, I’m going off again, aren’t I?” the mare caught herself again. The unicorn just politely nodded.

“You wouldn’t know who the ponies are that made this herd? Oh, what am I saying? Just because you are from Fillydelphia, it doesn’t mean you just know everypony there…do you?” Octavia cringed a little, realizing again she was talking to a stranger about stuff the mare had no idea he was even interested in.

The unicorn was still silent, but his neutral expression was gone. He seemed caught off guard now. He started to look around and Octavia felt embarrassed, wondering if the poor guy was trying to see if he could escape to another seat.

Maybe that’s why Vinyl just remains silent. I talk too much, the mare wondered if she should apologize again.

“Um…” came from the unicorn and Octavia braced herself, worried she had made a complete fool of herself. “I’m part of that herd.”

The cellist blinked and for once was the one silent as she processed that information. Octavia also couldn’t believe her luck; she was face to face with the herd's stallion. Now she couldn’t help but wonder what mares had agreed to form it with him. She was very intrigued, but her previous embarrassment was high on her mind. She had basically just started to ramble on the poor guy just because she had been annoyed by her sister.

“Sorry… I don’t like talking too much, uh…I’m a big fan, Miss Melody.” The unicorn still spoke in a dry tone and looked downwards.

“Oh, you’re a fan?” Octavia thought she now understood why she detected nervousness in the stallion’s voice. He had probably been stunned that she had chosen a seat right opposite him. Then felt very awkward that she just started pouring her grievance about Vinyl on top of him.

It will be a little awkward asking about applications now. Octavia could just picture how well that would go if she tried.

“I like your music. I own all your solo albums,” the unicorn mumbled as if responding to her question.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoy them,” Octavia smiled, hoping she hadn’t completely shattered the guy’s perception of her. Figuring this was probably a topic he was more comfortable talking about, she decided to steer away from the herd talk for now. “Any, in particular, you especially like?”

“Uh, War of the Windigos, Commander Hurricane’s last battle, The Shame of Saddle Arabia,” the stallion quietly counted.

“Oh, my historical pieces. I really did enjoy composing some of those. I originally did some of them for the band, but the other members didn’t feel it fit for festivals and balls, which is where we usually play. So, I tried doing them solo instead,” Octavia nodded.

“Next stop Fillydelphia!” came a shouting announcement.

“Ah, guess that’s our stop.” Octavia peeked out of the window and could see the train station in the distance. The unicorn just nodded.

“Um… so you’re really interested in my herd?” the stallion quietly asked now with an unsure expression.

Octavia cringed inwardly; this was supposed to be a covert reconnaissance. Find out the names, maybe where they lived, then maybe check out if there were any signs this was a herd that wanted to expand. Meeting one of them just right on the train had not quite been the plan.

“Yes but…I really should be talking with your head mare about what I want to ask and she would bring it up to you, you know.” Octavia smiled as she looked at the stallion who gave her a blank expression in turn.

“Head mare?” he sounded genuinely confused.

“Yes, your senior mare.” The cellist arched her eyebrow when the unicorn looked even more confused. “You do know how herds work, right?”

“It’s a group of more than two ponies who form a relationship?” the unicorn didn’t sound so sure in his response.

“Um, it’s a little more than that…” Octavia wondered if the ponies involved had decided to just call it a herd out of a lark. “Who are the mares in the herd?”

“Uh mare, only one,” was the unicorn’s answer, catching the earth pony completely off guard. “The other one is a stallion. Well, there is a foal also, but he was born before we decided to form it.”

Now I really want to meet this herd. Octavia blinked. Two stallions in a herd? Unless it was father and son, foals were junior members and were generally not counted within the rank structure since they eventually left it.

Before she could inquire further, the train started to halt and the conductor announced again what the stop was. The unicorn started to walk to the exit, but did glance back at her. Octavia took it as an invitation to follow.

As they left the train car, she heard a clear voice. “There’s daddy.”

Octavia saw a blue pegasus mare with a candy cane striped mane approach them. She held a blue colt, looking just under a year old. The boy was babbling happily as he reached with his hooves towards the unicorn stallion.

The cellist watched as the unicorn happily accepted his son to give him a hug, then proceeded to nuzzle the mare who returned it. She remained silent, wondering if she would be introduced. The earth pony then noticed a much bigger unicorn approaching as well.

Oh my. Octavia’s jaw dropped. She of course recognized King Sombra. The black flowing mane and tail, the dark gray coat, and the red knife-like horn were unmistakable. What was different was that he wore a black silk robe with white trims instead of a crown and a cape.

“Oh, this is Octavia, you know the cellist.” The smaller unicorn stallion finally turned to Octavia. He had placed the colt on his back. The mare and Sombra looked at her. “She is interested in our herd.”

Now I really need to know why they left out names. Octavia managed to close her mouth just in time and smile politely. She wasn’t sure how to take the skeptical look Sombra gave her.

---

Sitting in the kitchen of a house in the suburbs of Fillydelphia, Octavia took a moment to savor the tea from her cup. She was actually in the home of the herd she had read about and by pure luck met on her way to the city. The mare of the herd, Dew Doe, as she learned her name was, sat across from her, explaining things.

“Well, it started two or three months ago. Sombra and Private started to go on dates. My marriage to Private was an open one because I didn’t want to deprive him of the opportunity to be with a stallion as well. Despite their past and Sombra did tread very carefully, they did start to hit off, but so far it was mostly just them being close. What I wasn’t expecting was Sombra starting to ask me out on dates.” Dew Doe shook her head. Just at that moment, Sombra walked past the kitchen entrance.

“I didn’t hear you complain,” the unicorn remarked and just chuckled when the blue pegasus stuck her tongue out at him. He continued further into the house.

“That old-fashioned dork won me over. Well, the dates were more apologies to me for his past behavior and he wasn’t expecting them to be anything else. Then I just started to really see what Private saw in him, and I started to want more and well here we are, in a herd,” Dew Doe shrugged.

Octavia wondered if there was more to this, but didn’t want to pry. After all, she was an outsider to this family. She was just trying to get a little peek in, but if anything, her curiosity had grown tenfold. She really had to curb the more invasive questions forming in her head.

“I did have an opportunity to talk with Private on the train about your herd. I take it you are not that familiar with how they work?” Octavia asked, hiding a chuckle when Dew grinned rather innocently. At least she wasn’t offended by that question.

“Oh, is it that obvious?” the pegasus giggled and took a sip from her cup. “Yes, we got a little cross-eyed going through the registration forms. They of course assumed the herd would be a stallion and at least two mares, not two stallions and a single mare. Thankfully city hall was very accommodating and adjusted the paperwork for us. Mayor Filibuster absolutely insisted on officiating the ceremony.”

“That brings me to another thing I was curious about. Why didn’t the papers name any names?” Octavia asked. “I mean with King Sombra…”

“Former King!” came a half-annoyed declaration from somewhere.

Octavia gave the kitchen entrance a look. She was a little surprised at hearing Sombra say that. “Erm…with Sombra in this marriage, I would have thought the papers would be all over this.”

“The walls here are paper thin, sorry, plus his hearing is razor sharp.” Dew Doe shook her head but chuckled. She had been thinking over Octavia’s question when Sombra so firmly corrected their guest.

“Was it the Ponyville Express that you read?” the pegasus asked.

“Uh yes,” Octavia confirmed and saw that this seemed to explain everything for Dew.

“Yeah, they are banned. Mom hates that paper. Guess they couldn’t resist at least touching on it, but were careful not naming any names and showing any photos.” Dew Doe chuckled when she saw the confused look Octavia gave her. “My mom is Sky Dive,” she added.

This caused the cellist to nearly spit out the mouthful of tea she had just drunk. After barely managing to swallow it, she looked at the pegasus shocked. “You’re Sky Dive’s daughter?”

That explains it then, Octavia thought when receiving a positive nod in response. Sky Dive was infamous in high society circles for viciously protecting her private life and that of her daughters.

The earth mare took a moment to look around. She noted that the kitchen was pretty modest and though the building was two-story, it wasn’t exactly glamorous-looking, just a fairly neat, quaint little house out in the suburbs. “What is it that you do?”

“I'm a therapist. I used to be a nurse, then went into social work, but opened up my own therapy office a few months before Blue Axe was born,” Dew Doe explained and chuckled. “I like helping ponies, I just couldn’t decide how to go about it. I think I’ve finally settled it, though.”

Octavia nodded; she hadn’t needed to go into what she did. She had a good feeling that if Private was a fan of hers, Dew Doe already knew.

“So, um… is this herd open for expansion?” she carefully asked, kind of expecting just to be thrown out. This didn’t sound like a conventional herd after all.

“Expansion?” Dew Doe looked very confused now.

Well, here goes nothing. Octavia thought, since her rump wasn’t kissing the pavement outside, she figured the pegasus wanted an elaboration.

“Generally, when herds first form, they do start small, but expand a little over time. It can be for various reasons, but often it is through an open application period that lasts maybe a year or so,” she explained, still expecting Sombra to be called in to toss her out.

“Uh Sombra,” Dew Doe called. Octavia grimaced, fearing that moment was now. The dark unicorn arrived at the kitchen entrance.

“Could you get the copy of the herd registration form we got?” the pegasus asked. “Octavia was asking about expansion.”

“Huh, read something about it there. They told us it was optional,” Sombra muttered, but summoned several papers with his magic and gave them over to Dew Doe. Then he simply walked out.

Octavia held her breath while Dew Doe looked through the papers. She hadn’t been kicked out. If anything this had piqued their curiosity. The cellist hoped that was a good thing.

“Let’s see, oh expansion of the herd. We didn’t check that, but we didn’t check either for a closed herd. Let’s see.” Dew Doe picked out a note from the papers. “The expansion option is optional; you can add it in at a later date if you wish.”

“Wait, you want to join the herd?” A lightbulb had clearly lit up in Dew Doe’s head as she looked at Octavia, unsure.

“I am so sorry,” Octavia put down her cup and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Barging in on you like that with this kind of proposal was not my intention.”

“I was going to first inquire about your herd and hear from the grapevine if you had an open application period. If so then I was…yes considering it,” she sighed and lowered her head, feeling very embarrassed.

“Oh wow, lucky for you Private was on the train coming from Manehattan visiting his brother.” Dew Doe chuckled while stacking the papers up in a neat pile on the kitchen table.

Octavia looked up, then it dawned on her that Private hadn’t boarded the train. He had already been seated. She had been taking the Manehattan express, which did stop in Ponyville.

“Can I ask why you are interested in joining our herd?” the pegasus asked. She didn’t seem put off. More curious than anything. That relaxed Octavia a little bit.

“I grew up in a herd. It was the only officially registered herd in Equestria in a long time. Dad and two of his friends started it and my third herd mother joined in during the application period. It’s a life I knew, even if my sister and I were junior members. So, hearing of a new one sparked both my curiosity and…” the earth mare fell silent.

“I’ve kind of lately wanted to move out. I love my sister, but sometimes it feels like I’m just living alone. Vinyl isn’t a mare of many words and talking with her can be a bit one-sided. Sometimes it feels like she isn’t listening. I want to change something, but I don’t want to force her to change just because I’m feeling lonely,” Octavia then confessed.

“Oh…. I should warn you then. Private can be very silent, then again he talks more when he feels comfortable…oh right, he’s a fan of yours. He was probably screaming internally in joy when you sat opposite him on the train,” Dew Doe smiled and glanced out of the kitchen. “He's probably rummaging right now through the albums to find one for you to sign.”

Octavia giggled; she did recall Private saying that he didn’t like to speak much. Yet she could give him that. He at least looked like he was listening and eventually did respond to her. Then again as Dew pointed out, he was a fan of her music.

“Now I should explain herd applications since you do seem unfamiliar with them,” Octavia said prompting Dew Doe to nod, no doubt thinking the same.

“It’s not necessarily for romantic partnership, though that can come later. Granted in the ancient days, herds were formed to make big families, especially in farming communities where many hooves were needed. The new applicant is more just looking for a new community to join, if that makes any sense. This custom is so ancient and so rare that this has been kind of lost in translation,” the cellist started.

“Yes, this is a form of marriage, but weren’t you a little surprised that even if you were already married to Private that you could just start adding others into it?” Octavia then inquired. This made the pegasus think for a moment before nodding.

“I thought that was a little odd, but since we were already going to have it an open marriage, I didn’t think that much about it,” she admitted.

“Yeah, that was what dad and his friends were originally just doing. They didn’t want quite to call it marriage; they just lived together and wanted to continue living together and forming some sort of a union made things easier legally. So, they decided to form a herd, then the romance started. My third herd mother came in later, she was just looking for a new place to live and things went from there,” Octavia continued to explain.

“Think of it more as me wanting to move to Fillydelphia, but instead of just buying and renting a house and moving in there and later making friends. I’m kind of jumping ahead a little with the friend things before I move over, you get what I mean?” Octavia wasn’t sure she was doing a good job of saying what she wanted. She had a clear idea in her mind, but saying it out loud made it sound a little off.

“I think,” Dew furrowed her brow. “So, it’s not like, hey welcome to the herd, come right in. This will be a process, we’ll see if you do fit in, get to know you better, and all that.”

“Of course, it would only be proper. You can’t just accept anyone willy-nilly. A herd is a family after all. This could take weeks, even months and the final decision is on you all,” Octavia assured her.

“It is certainly an interesting proposal. I have to admit I never really considered there was so much to being a herd,” Dew Doe furrowed her brow as she rubbed her muzzle in thought.

“Guess that’s the main thing I would contribute to it, my experience of being in a herd, albeit as a junior member,” Octavia giggled a little. The pegasus nodded in agreement.

“We are probably going to have to discuss this together first, then hear from you later,” Dew Doe said, still clearly thinking this over.

“Naturally. Again, I’m sorry for just barging in on you all with this. I honestly didn’t even expect to get this far today. As you said, I lucked out that Private was on the same train as me,” Octavia giggled. Dew Doe smiled in response.

Author's Note:

Yes, Octavia and Vinyl are siblings here. You can all blame Commander Firebrand over at FOB Equestria for that. In his Taking Slice of Life too seriously, he theorized that Octavia and Vinyl's housing setup looked more like that of siblings. I just took that headcanon and have been running with it since.

Also I'm using both Vinyl's fanon name and her canon name. Vinyl is what family and friends use and Dj P0N-3 is her stage name.