She didn't even have to decide which tea to brew! Rawsthorne only had one sort. All the cups were the same, so she didn't have to pick the crockery. Also the sugar, which she had found by smell, was just cubes in a bowl. The job had required exactly one decision: whether to boil the water on the stove, or use her magic.
The first presented a problem. The part of the kitchen which Celestia decided was the stove seemed completely incomprehensible to her. Sleek black surface with several white rings drawn on. There were no knobs, nor any holes where the fire might come from. She resolved to ask Rawsthorne how it worked, but for now she had simply heated the water with a quick flash of her horn.
When she walked into the meeting room with the entire tea set floating behind her, she drew amazed looks from both humans.
"That was fast," Mr. Plain said. He was used to levitation, but had forgotten that she had other spells at her disposal. Her new owner just seemed impressed by the floating objects. She made a show of setting the table. Saucers floated and gently touched the wood just in time for the cups to land on them. Spoons swam around the air while she poured the tea. She didn't even have to look at the sugar bowl to place it exactly in the middle.
It was like a smooth, intricate dance and she timed it perfectly. The moment the last cup was filled all the spoons landed at once. She kept the teapot floating for a moment more, then set it down beside the sugar in case anyone wanted a refill. The magic was elementary and one she had been using nearly every day of her life. Of course she was good at it!
She could read the wonder and astonishment in Mr. Rawsthorne's face, however well he tried to hide them. She smiled pleasantly and politely waited for him to begin.
He picked up the spoon and examined it. "Impressive," he said at last. He put the utensil back down and took the cup without putting any sugar in. Celestia was horrified. Tea without sugar was simply unthinkable!
She debated with herself if she should sweeten her own cup at all - if Mr. Plain didn't take any, the mare would feel like a glutton if she did.
Luckily the auctioneer added several lumps and Celestia gratefully matched his number. She took a sip and was impressed. 'Earl Grey' the box had said, but it was good despite the drab name.
The humans continued their business. It was mostly legal talk, and revolved entirely about the fine details of her contract. She knew it all, so she didn't have to pay particular attention to it. But she still watched her owner, ready for any little job he might have for her while he and Mr. Plain discussed the final few points.
At long last, they stood up, shook their hands and said their goodbyes.
"Celesta, please see our guest to the door. Then put all this away and come find me in the living room."
"Of course, Gregory."
She walked Plain to the entrance, where he stopped and looked up at her worriedly. "You sure this will be okay? He looks kind-of demanding. You're not going to have much fun like this."
The mare couldn't help but laugh. "On the contrary, Mr. Plain. I have had the most peaceful few days I can remember in the past thousand years. Do you know how many life-or-death decisions I have had to make today?"
He stared at her in confusion.
"None! Having someone else in control of the smallest details of my life is remarkably liberating."
Now he clearly thought she was crazy, but didn't say anything about it. "Well, just remember the number."
"Thank you, Mr. Plain. Goodbye!"
She closed the door after the man and waited until his car started. Then she went to pick up the tea set and took it to the kitchen. She briefly considered washing it, but Rawsthorne hadn't told her to do that. He just said to 'put it away'. Besides, she couldn't see the soap and didn't relish the idea of rummaging around for it. Instead, the pony went to look for her new master in her new home.
It wasn't hard, despite the size of the mansion. She followed the sounds and wondered why Rawsthorne needed so many rooms if he lived alone. The pony found her owner on a large, comfortable-looking couch. He was staring at a window-
No, Celestia realized. That wasn't a window. It was a rectangle and she could see people and objects in it, but the image changed to show different angles. A faint rumor tickled her memory.
"This is a 'tele-vision', sir?"
The human had heard her approach - the hoofguards weren't exactly stealthy. But he hadn't taken his eyes off the magic rectangle until she spoke. "You haven't seen a TV yet?" he asked, a little surprised.
"I have not been in your world for very long."
Her explanation was accepted. The man picked up a smaller black box and showed her. It had tiny bumps with writing and symbols on them, but the Princess couldn't make heads nor tails of it.
"This is how we control the television. It can show us images from anywhere in the world. Exactly how it works is immaterial right now, but perhaps the easiest way to understand it is like a window. One for which we can choose where it faces."
Rawsthorne pushed some of the bumps on the smaller rectangle and the picture changed. It showed a bunch of humans standing in a square, listening to a finely-dressed human on a balcony. Then it showed cars, driving very fast. Then a woman was explaining something - before the image changed, Celestia recognized the words 'Thursday' and 'Friday', with little pictures of clouds under them. Finally, the view returned to the one it had been showing when she entered. Some serious-looking men, standing around a shining green table. There were colored balls on the green surface and one of the men sighted down a stick at the orbs. A voice - Celestia couldn't see the speaker, spoke some numbers and, she guessed, human names.
As curious as she was, the mare knew there would be time to explore these marvels. Right now, her top priority was to make as good a first impression as possible.
"The table is clear. Should I wash the dishes?"
Rawsthorne waved a hand. "Just stack them in the dishwasher for now. they can wait until dinner." He saw her blank stare and almost smiled. "I will show you later." His attention returned to the television.
"Would you like me to begin preparing dinner?"
"Oh, that's right. Mr. Plain said you can cook. What can you make?"
"What would you like, sir?"
She knew that the man immediately recognized her deflection. But he didn't seem to mind. "Would it be rude if I asked you to cook meat?"
The question was not one she was prepared for and it flustered her for a few seconds, but the pony quickly rallied. "If you give me the recipe and do not force me to eat it with you, then I would be happy to try."
In truth, the idea of having anything to do with dead flesh revolted her. But maybe, if she plugged her nose, didn't pay too close attention and used her magic, rather than hooves, it would be okay?
The man laughed at her expression, even as she desperately tried to hide it. "Don't worry, I won't make you chop up a chicken or something like that. How about something vegetable for today? Come, I will show you the pantry and you can decide for yourself."
The tiny, windowless room, which opened from the kitchen, was mostly filled with shelves. It wasn't even big enough for two people, let alone a human and an alicorn. Celestia just poked her head in, while Rawsthorne gave her a quick tour of the shelves and the refrigerator. Understandably, he had mostly non-perishables. Most of his produce was in cans and jars, although the man assured her that he often visited a market on his way from work.
He mostly cooked light dinners for himself or ordered delivery if he was particularly busy. He was rarely home for lunch and never ate breakfast before he went to work. That last horrified the pony and she was glad cooking meals would become her responsibility. Two meals a day was no way to live, even for a human.
She was to jot down whatever ingredients she needed in a notepad and Rawsthorne would be sure to pick it up. For the present evening, the mare glanced over the meagre stock and tried to come up with something half-decent.
"I know it's a bit empty," the human admitted, "if you can't make anything from this stuff we'll order something for today."
"No, no, I have a few ideas!"
She wanted to impress. She smelled, more than saw, a few cloves of garlic. It was on the point of sprouting, but still good. She pulled it out with her magic and then glanced over the shelves. A couple onions floated up as well. She added a pack of what looked like flour. And from the refrigerator, she grabbed a box which contained sour cream, as she read from the label. There were also some cans in there. One of them sported an image of green peas and the pony picked that up as well. She didn't see any spices, not even pepper and salt, so Celestia guessed those were elsewhere. She hoped his spice rack was reasonably stocked, at least.
"How would you feel about split pea and onion soup and some homemade garlic bread? I shouldn't take more than an hour." She remembered a vital detail. "Oh, that is - if you have any yeast." Her voice was doubtful. It didn't look as if Rawsthorne baked a lot of bread. But he opened a tin box on a shelf and pulled out a small packet.
"Dry yeast okay?" he asked and showed her.
"I'm not familiar with that sort."
"You just mix it with a bit of warm water and sugar and then it's like regular yeast," the man explained.
She was a bit doubtful, but willing to try. "Sure, that sounds okay. Now if you can just show me how to operate your stove and oven?" She remembered the smooth, shiny black surface. Rawsthorne turned to leave the room and she backed out of the entrance, her foodstuffs floating above their heads.
"Not a problem," he said and led her the few steps to the appliances. It turned out that she couldn't use the black surface. Rawsthorne said the buttons were of the 'touch' sort, and apparently that meant only human fingers worked on them. Hooves did not. At his advice, she tried to poke at them with her nose, however silly it looked. But the little symbols were too small for her to hit reliably.
They were at a loss until Rawsthorne remembered something and went to fetch it. He returned with a small, black stick. On one side it ended in a metal tip, but the other was rounded and soft to the touch.
Amazingly, the rubber part worked on the 'touch buttons'. Celestia listened closely to Gregory's explanation on how to use the contraption. It wasn't difficult, once she had poked at it for a bit. The oven was used in the same fashion and also quite simple. She would have preferred to work with actual fire - the woodsmoke added a certain flavour - but she could use the things just fine with her little stick. She made a mental note never to lose it.
After he had shown her the impoverished spice rack, Celestia smiled and gently prodded the human out of the kitchen with her muzzle and wings. "I have everything in hoof, Rawsthorne. Dinner will be served in an hour."
He didn't resist, but the human had obviously intended to watch her. The Princess knew that she had to set these boundaries early on. She would not gain his trust if he felt he had to constantly supervise her. Confident, efficient and polite, those were the key words. Plus, she would wow him with her cooking.
Despite the strange devices around her and despite her short battle with the can, the pony felt happy enough to hum a little tune as she worked. This 'servitude' business would be a piece of cake! So very relaxing!
The meal went over well. It was rather simple, but her new owner seemed to enjoy himself well enough. Celestia could barely eat herself as she watched the human nervously.
Finally, the verdict was in: "It's not bad. Quite good, in fact. Thank you, Celestia."
It was less praise than she had anticipated, but the pony accepted it graciously with a nod of her head. Regrettably there was no dessert, a point she brought up once the human had finished eating.
"I would have done even better, Master Rawsthorne, but your pantry is regrettably understocked. I could do so much more with only a few extra ingredients."
The human raised a finger. "Not 'Master', remember? Just 'Rawsthorne' will do or 'Greg' is fine. Write down what you need most urgently and I'll fetch it tomorrow when I return from work. I suppose I can also take you down to the markets on Saturday, if you wish."
It sounded like fun and she was instantly looking forward to it. "I would appreciate that, Gregory. Now, if you could just give me a quill and some ink, I will prepare a few suggestions for tomorrow's dinner."
The man laughed. "Quill? What century did you come from? The touchscreen stylus has a pen on the end."
It was almost an insult, but the mare quickly rallied. She concentrated and her horn glowed. The human stared as the little stick floated over from the kitchen. Celestia sternly resisted the urge to smirk. She was good, but it would not do to gloat. She placed it on the table before her and inspected it again.
The metal bit? That is a pen? Where is the ink?"
Rawsthorne got up and went to rummage in a drawer. He came back with a small yellow block made of paper, and slid it toward her. "The ink is contained in the pen. Try it."
She experimentally scratched the gleaming tip on the yellow pad. It left a crisp, clean line. She hadn't doubted the human, of course, but seeing it was like some kind of strange new magic. As if to convince herself it really worked, the pony did it a few more times, until the paper was full of lines, loops and squiggles. She almost opened her mouth to ask, but then she noticed that the block was formed by many pieces of paper stuck together. She removed the top one and there was a fresh page underneath. Almost like a little booklet!
"This will do perfectly. Thank you, Gregory!" She left the paper and pen on the dining table and picked up the dishes. She was about to take them out, but paused at the door with the crockery and utensils floating around her. "Could you also get me a book on human cooking, so I may learn to prepare more appropriate meals?"
The human didn't even have to think. "Oh, there should be some in the library. We'll check tomorrow. For now, put the dishes in the sink and I will show you to your bedroom. You can wash up tomorrow when I'm at work."
"Very good, sir."
She made a quick visit to the kitchen to do as he said, then came back. The dining room was empty, but Celestia could hear the human walking around. She picked up her magic pen-button-stick and the notepad. She would need to come up with a better name for it. The human had called it 'stylus', so she opted to use that. Rawsthorne was found on the first floor in the hallway. He heard her hooves on the hardwood but didn't look back. "Here, it was meant as a guest room, so I think it will do nicely. Do you sleep in a bed, or should we arrange something else? Like a haystack?"
As if she was some kind of animal! The mare repressed her tiny flare of annoyance and walked into the room. "I have slept in a bed every night of my life, Rawsthorne. I'm not a beast, you know?"
He raised his hands up. "Yes, of course! Sorry."
Celestia went and sat on the bed. It wasn't as soft as her mattress in the Canterlot Palace, but it would do nicely. She didn't mind 'roughing it' for her vacation.
"You may use the wardrobe and the dressers, although I saw that you don't have any luggage. Are there things you will need? Clothes? Brushes? Uh... bridles?"
She stared at him pointedly for a moment. Then she got to her hooves and went to peer into his eyes from right up close. The man was a little nervous with her as tall as she was. Good. "Mr. Rawsthorne. I think it would benefit our relationship if you immediately removed from your thoughts any ideas that I am anything like your Earth horses. I would be most grateful if you thought of me as a person, instead. I will sleep in a bed, I will brush my teeth, I will take showers and I will sit at the table for meals. It would be much easier if you thought of me as a four-legged human, rather than a pony."
It worked. The human spread his arms. "Yes, yes. Of course, you're right. Sorry! I merely had some incorrect preconceptions because of your shape."
Mightily pleased with the progress, the mare went back to her bed. "Excellent. Which reminds me: I will need a toothbrush and some supplies. Mr. Plain told me that most owners prefer to provide these things for their ponies themselves, so I did not pack anything. It can wait until Saturday - I will do the essentials with my magic until then."
She was becoming aware of an uncomfortable pressure. "Oh, and if you could show me to the bathroom?"
The human led her a few doors down the hall and pushed it open. It was nicely roomy and looked quite clean. Celestia guessed that whoever Rawsthorne hired to clean his house had been there that very day. All the required furnishings seemed to be in place, so the mare turned to face the human and smiled pleasantly.
"I will get myself ready for bed and retire for the day. Is there anything else you require?"
He shook his head. "Not today, thank you. We'll talk about your other duties in the morning."
"Very good, sir."
It was a good line. She saw why her own staff kept using it all the time. It could mean practically anything and was useful in any circumstance. She waited for the man to start walking away, then closed the door and went about her evening ablutions. She opted to skip showering, so it didn't take too long. Cleaning her teeth with magic was a snap, though she preferred the brush. Her mane was on the verge of being acceptable and her tail probably wasn't. She decided she would wash both the next day, while Rawsthorne was at work.
Then it was time for bed. She removed her vest - a simpler version of her ceremonial garb. And kicked off the plain metal hoofguards. Mr. Plain had advised against bringing gold and silver to Earth and she had agreed. Out of habit the Princess tried to lift up her coronet, but it was not there. Another sacrifice of necessity. She spread the cloth over a chair and pushed the four metal pieces under it, out of the way. Then she climbed between the covers.
With all the strangeness and excitement, the mare didn't think she would ever fall asleep. She was right. The bed, although more comfortable than what Mr. Plain had provided at the auction, didn't seem to want to accept her. After turning around for the twelfth time, the mare sat up with an exasperated sigh. She considered beating the mattress with her magic until it became softer, but decided against it.
With a heartfelt, sorrowful sigh, Celestia got up, walked over to the window and looked outside. She could see the shadow of the mountain, stretching up and away. To the right was the road, with a lone car driving down it. The pony wondered who was out this late. She could see the general shapes of trees, if not the detail. Based on the light and shadows, Celestia estimated that the moon - Earth's moon - was somewhere behind her.
The though evoked memories of her sibling and the Princess wondered how Luna was doing. Was she, perhaps, staring up at the night sky from the castle balcony? Was she, too, missing her sister? Now that she was at her destination and the bustle and excitement was largely behind her, Celestia felt homesick. She considered slipping out through the window and going home. This world was huge and complex. The stove and oven, with their touch-buttons. The TV. Even these cars were far beyond her understanding. Was she too old for all this bewilderment?
On the other hoof, Celestia knew herself too well. She had expected doubts to come, especially during her first few nights here. She firmly squashed them. There was fun to be had! Despite her self-assurance, the mare still wiped away a tiny tear and pressed her hoof against the glass.
"Be safe, Sister. I will see you again."
The short ritual made her feel a lot better, but now Celestia was fully awake. She knew, on a deep, subconscious level, that she wouldn't sleep that night. She briefly considered waking up Rawsthorne. But then she thought: what could the human do? The man had work in the morning, whereas she was on vacation. Let him sleep. Instead, the pony cast a simple spell to muffle her hoofsteps. She glanced at the metal guards, but decided against them. Somehow, going about the place 'bare-hoofed', as it were, seemed naughty. And fun!
The sheer outrage made her smile. Other than in her own room and her bed, the Princess never went unshod, even in her own castle. Now, just thinking about it thrilled her. In fact, Celestia decided, she would not wear the things at all on Earth! And she would also forgo the vest! After all, she had wanted to be just another slave, no?
She had to work hard to suppress a giggle as the mare slipped out of her room. Her magic-enhanced hooves made no sound, even on wood. She crept up to Rawsthorne's room and gently opened the door to look inside. It was much like hers, except with more wardrobes and drawers. That was right, Celestia remembered, humans wore a lot of clothing. She wondered what they looked like naked, but decided against lifting Rawsthorne's cover to check. Instead, she carefully closed the door and crept away.
The house was dark, but she could see well enough in reflected moonlight. She poked her snout back into the kitchen and dining room, just to make sure she remembered where they were. She also found another bathroom on the ground floor, before she lost interest in exploring the inside.
The front door was locked, but it didn't take Celestia more than a minute to work out how to turn the various locks along the side. She let herself out, walked to the middle of the lawn and looked back. The house was just as ugly at night, so she quickly turned away.
The mountainside and the road were much more interesting. She went to inspect the smooth, black surface. There hadn't been time before. It wasn't as hard as she expected - the material seemed to yield a tiny bit under her hoof. She stomped it experimentally and heard the faint clop, even through her silencing spell.
There were lines on the sides and down the middle. The pony quickly figured them out. They helped the humans to drive on their side and avoid running into opposite traffic. It seemed like a useful idea and Celestia filed it away for later. Perhaps it could improve traffic congestion in some parts of Canterlot!
She heard a car in the distance. It was approaching and the pony quickly stepped off the black surface. She waited by the side of the road to try and see the humans in the vehicle.
It was deceptively fast! The foliage around the road muffled the sound until it was suddenly right before her. The thing sped around the curve and blinded her with strong lights. As she reflexively looked away, she heard the squeal of tires and the car slid to a stop not far from her.
She could see nothing through the glare of the lamps, but suddenly the pony was scared. She turned and fled back to the house. Just in time, too! She heard the car door open and a voice say something, but the mare jumped inside and pushed the door shut. She listened intently, fearing the human would come investigate. It would not do to wake up Rawsthorne! The mare was trembling in fright until the car door slammed shut and the vehicle pulled away. Only then did Celestia breathe a sigh of relief.
A fit of giggling threatened to overpower her and the mare did her best to muffle her mouth in the crook of her foreleg. Oh, how she wished she could have seen the look on that human's face! An unexpected alicorn at the side of the road. The thought made her chuckle some more.
It subsided slowly and she made her way back to her room. Enough adventure for her first day, Celestia decided. She still couldn't sleep, so she just pushed a chair to the window, sat and stared out at the landscape.