//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: Off Duty 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

Excitement and trepidation vied for the top spot in Celestia's mind as the car slowed down and the human spoke up. "This is it," he said, with a certain finality. The drive had been silent for her part because the mare was tired. She had gotten the idea to bake something for Rawsthorne's colleagues. Too bad it had only occurred to her right after her sauna.

Of course, Once she thought it, the pony simply had to do it. Nothing fancy though - a few trays of cookies and one of muffins. She had finished at two A.M.

All residual sleepiness fled as Rawsthorne drove into a dark, gaping hole in the ground. Celestia felt a slight discomfort as her mind threw up the image of them being swallowed by a large dragon. Luckily the inside was well lit past that initial, scary ramp. The human deftly manoeuvred his car into a spot between two others, then switched it off.

"Stay close to me. There's gonna be some surprise, but I don't expect any trouble.

The mare realized he had said it to ease her fear. She became aware that her ears were lowered, like a frightened filly. While it was fun to pretend sometimes at home - that is how she chose to remember it! - this was a place of business. She had to put on her diplomatic face and act the part of a skilled politician. She followed her owner to a small room, full of mirrors and with a column of buttons on the side. It was a tight fit and the pony had to twist a little. Her muzzle was right in her owner's hair and she smelled the faint scent of his shampoo.

They had talked about it and her owner assured her that there were absolutely no ponies anywhere near the office. The mare had therefore decided not to disguise herself as 'Supple Branch'. A smaller pony would have fit more easily in this tiny room, but holding on to her spell over the entire day would be very tiring. She certainly did not want her magic to slip during the pony meeting!

Rawsthorne pushed a button labelled '16' and Celestia felt the floor lurch. It made her shuffle her feet nervously. They were rising! The human noticed her look and put a hand on her neck. "Relax, it's just the elevator. This way we don't have to walk up eighteen flights of stairs."

"Ah. Okay. Thank you."

There was a ding and the door slid open. Celestia looked out with curiosity. It was a corridor lined with glass offices and with a soft, blue carpet on the floor. She could see in the nearest few that they contained a desk, one of those 'computer' things Rawsthorne told her had the 'Internet', and a bookshelf. Just barely visible were big blocky things - filing cabinets, the mare decided. Full of binders and papers and other office supplies.

Twilight Sparkle would probably love it here, the Princess thought and it brought a smile to her lips. She followed her owner down the hallway, acutely aware of the collar on her neck and the stares of people in offices. There were also some humans in the corridor, their conversation halted by the sight.

Rawsthorne paused at the reception desk, where a plump, red-haired woman stared at them in surprise. It was hard to tell her age, because there was too much makeup on her face. While Celestia inspected the woman, her owner broke the ice. "Morning, Wendy. This is Celestia. She, uh, keeps my house in order."

The mare glanced at her owner and wondered why he hadn't said 'slave', or 'servant'. Perhaps it was rude to mention it? On the other hoof, the collar was right there, proclaiming her position beyond doubt to everyone who looked! Celestia decided to solve the mystery later. She followed up on the introduction and levitated a small saucer, wrapped with that transparent plastic foil. Quite useful stuff.

She made sure her voice was cheerful and her smile bright and pleasant. "Good morning, Wendy! Here, I made these for you!"

It was a couple of muffins and a selection of cookies. Celestia realized that the woman was staring at the floating plate and remembered her owner's reaction to her levitation spell. It was too distracting, so she laid the impromptu tray on the receptionist's desk and let the magic fade away. She also became aware that people had exited their offices to look at her. She was starting to feel decidedly uncomfortable with the scrutiny, despite her years and years in the public eye.

Luckily, Rawsthorne came to the rescue. He clapped his hands together and turned to the crowd. "All right, people, nothing to see here. You've all heard of equestrians. We've had several cases, remember?"

It was enough. There was a murmur of conversation, indistinct even to her ears, then the crowd slowly dispersed. Even Wendy, the receptionist seemed to snap out of her shock.

"Oh! Yes, of course, Mr. Rawsthorne!" she squeaked. She looked apprehensively at the cookies, then up at the mare. Celestia kept her smile in place. "She's... bigger than I imagined."

"She's taller than an average pony, yes."

The receptionist poked the plate of sweets with a finger. "What did she mean by 'made these for me'?"

Rawsthorne rolled her eyes. "You can ask her yourself," he said, politely, but with an air of slight annoyance. "I'll introduce her to Denis, then she'll keep you company for a while."

Again, the woman looked at Celestia, but this time there was some admiration there. "Well, she certainly is pretty," the lady remarked.

Celestia took the matter in her own hooves. "Thank you. And I like your hair. It reminds me of a friend from home."

Wendy patted her head a little self-consciously, then managed a weak grin. The mare kept her own smile, but it was starting to feel a bit strained.

"Please, try the cookies. It's my own secret recipe!"

That worked and Wendy unwrapped the plate. She carefully took one of the muffins and looked at it uncertainly.

Thankfully, Rawsthorne came to her rescue again. "Come on, let's go meet Denis and then you two can talk," he said and took a step.

Celestia was only too happy to follow her human down the corridor and into a corner office. The sight made her gasp a little in surprise. The view was spectacular. The entire wall was windows and she could see for miles and miles! They were so high up, too! The pony hadn't realized just how fast that elevator had moved. She ignored her owner for a moment and went to press her nose right up against the glass. Even her wings fluttered a little as she looked straight down, at the tiny cars and people.

"Rawsthorne, late as usual! Hey, when did you get one of those?" It was a new voice and the pony dragged her gaze from the view. The man was thin and tall, with a mess of hair that was just starting to go gray. He put her in mind of nothing so much as a beanstalk. He seemed jovial enough. Aside from a cursory glance, he didn't stare at the pony which instantly made Celestia like him.

"A couple of weeks. Denis, I'd like you to meet Celestia. She's the one who did that contract for you," her owner explained. It made the other human stare for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Ha ha! Pull the other one, you asshole. Who really did that?" the laugh was a bit insulting, so Celestia looked at Rawsthorne and waited for him to confirm it.

"It's true," her human said. "She used to be a diplomat in her country and I swear she has an eidetic memory for legal stuff. Wait-" he paused and stared at her, as if just realizing something. "That contract Mr. Plain brought me - that wasn't standard auction stuff. Did you come up with it? Why am I only realizing this now?!"

Celestia gave a nervous smile. "Yes, I helped with certain points. The contract his Auction had was... inadequate. I wanted to make sure."

Denis looked from Rawsthorne to her, then back. "Don't tell me you expect me to believe this little spiel?"

Her owner just shrugged. "Well, she did it. Read the trade laws, read the contract and - well, you got the result."

The tall human laughed again, but stopped when neither Rawsthorne nor Celestia joined in. "Okay, we'll just see about that then," he said quietly and pointed a finger at the pony. "Don't go anywhere!" He left the office at a fast walk and turned down the hall. The mare looked at her owner.

"It's a little insulting, you know?"

Rawsthorne came to pat her mane. "Sorry about that. I never told him you were a pony. He'll believe it, just give him time."

He stopped when Denis rushed back, a sheaf of papers in his hand. He glared at Rawsthorne, then transferred the look to the mare. "Very well, miss pony-lawyer, tell me this," he demanded and turned the page toward her. It was one of her recommendations for a tricky part of the trade agreement. "Tell me where did you get this?"

Celestia searched her memory. Rawsthorne had said that some of her suggestions were weak, but he never told her which. So she simply retraced her reasoning. "Well, that particular part - let me see - yes. It was in one of the laws. Do you have the books?"

Rawsthorne wordlessly went to his bookshelves and pulled out a volume. Celestia remembered it from her studying and picked it up in her magic. She quickly leafed to the correct part. "Here. Sixteen, paragraph two. The language is a little ambiguous, so I wasn't sure. I rewrote those sentences in the contract to work around it."

Denis looked at the floating book before his face. He didn't seem to notice the magic at all. He scanned the page, muttering a little to himself. Then, at last, he lowered the text and stared at the pony. "You wrote those corrections," he said flatly. It didn't sound like a question. Celestia looked at Rawsthorne, who nodded.

"I d-did." She wasn't sure what else to say.

The man stared for a moment longer, then his eyes lit up and he smiled. "A damn fine job! And this asshole here," he said and nudged her owner, "never mentioned you were a pony. Not that I'd have believed it!"

It made her frown in displeasure. "Mr. Denis. I assure you, ponies can do all the same jobs that human can. And more!" It shut him up. Her tone certainly made Rawsthorne choke a little as he suppressed his laughter.

The tall man stared at her again, then his face split in another grin. "I believe it! Anyway, lunch is on me. This saved me a bunch of time." He stepped closer and put himself between Rawsthorne and her. He also lowered his voice a little. "How'd you like to come work for me, instead?"

Without even waiting for her response, Denis turned to her owner and fumbled in his pocket until he found a small booklet. "Fifty K. Right now."

Celestia's blood froze. If this man became her owner, she would have more things like that contract as her job. It would be right back to the same old politics and diplomacy! She caught Rawsthorne's eye and shook her head with as miserable expression as she could manage.

"Sorry, no deal. Find your own talent."

Celestia felt her wings and ears droop from relief. Even her knees went weak for a moment. But Denis wasn't so easily deterred.

"Hundred K? Hundred and fifty? Come on, man. How much did you pay for her? I'll triple it!"

Her owner shook his head to all of those. "She'll help you from time to time, but only if she feels like it. And you'll pay standard rate."

It worked and Denis deflated. "Fine, fine!" He turned to Celestia and winked, all trace of disappointment gone instantly. "You, if you ever get tired of whatever he's having you do, come find me."

"Uh, sure, Mr. Denis."

He laughed and patted her on the back. "Just Denis to you. Come around my office at twelve and I'll take you to the finest restaurant around here. Both of you!"

Just like that he was gone. The pony looked at her owner in confusion.

"What... just happened?"

Rawsthorne, unable to contain the laughter anymore, had to sit down behind his desk. "Oh, don't mind him. Denis offers to hire anyone who shows the smallest bit of talent. And he usually fires them within a week, as soon as they make their first mistake."

"Thank you. For not selling me. It sounded like a lot of money."

The human shrugged. "It was. But money isn't everything you know?" It was an unfamiliar attitude. Celestia was aware that most humans valued money above everything else. It was strange that her owner, who apparently had a lot of it, didn't.

"So, what should I do?"

Rawsthorne looked at his wristwatch. "I have a meeting in five minutes and it'll probably drag until lunch. Go to Wendy, tell her I sent you. See if she has any little jobs you could help with." The human paused, then offered an alternative: "Or, stay here and read, if you'd prefer that. Just don't break anything."

Celestia thought quickly. Her eyes scanned the rows of books on the shelves. All law books and legal texts. As boring as books could get.

"I'll be with the receptionist."

Her owner shrugged, then gathered up a few folders from his desk and left the office. It seemed she was on her own. Celestia couldn't help but be flattered by the trust. She went to inspect the view again. The city was spread before her like an open flower. This was far higher than even her balcony in the Canterlot Castle. She traced the path of one particular sidewalk until it went out of sight behind a building. Then her eyes switched to a glistening pair of railroad tracks. They weren't much different from equestrian ones, except that the trains themselves didn't seem to run on steam. They were sleek, red and yellow and green things that gave the impression of tremendous speed, even when sitting still at what Celestia assumed was a station.

Her inspection of the city ended soon. The mare sighed, cast another look across the distance, and turned resolutely away. True, Rawsthorne had said she could spend the day in his office, but the mare had put a lot of effort into preparing treats for her owner's coworkers. She wasn't intending to bring the fruit of her labor back home with her. She poked her head out through the open, glass door and looked down the corridor. It seemed mostly empty, so she stepped forward and turned toward the reception.

Again, the people in offices looked up from their work to stare at her. But at least none of them came out to ask her questions. It seemed Rawsthorne's word carried a lot of power in this place. For some reason, it made Celestia feel proud that he was her owner. The receptionist stared at her, once again. It made the mare shuffle nervously and wonder if there was something on her face.

She gulped and ventured: "I'm- Mr. Rawsthorne asked me to help you with any tasks you might need."

The receptionist was no help. "What sort of tasks?" she asked, perhaps a tad suspiciously. The woman had been in the process filing her nails, but now stopped and watched the mare closely.

"Whatever, really. I can make coffee, or proofread documents..."

"Hmm. Can you use a phone?" came the question. Celestia hadn't done so before, but she was confident she could after Mr. Plain's instruction. The pony nodded.

It made Wendy smile again. "Good. Come here, let me show you what you need to do."

The alicorn made her way around the desk. The task was simple. Wendy 'printed out' a list of people and their numbers and some dates. It was Celestia's job to use the phone to reach everyone on the list and make sure the people knew about their appointments on those days. Simplicity itself. Most of the voices that answered the mare were uncertain, perhaps even slightly scared after she told them where she was calling from. But she made her voice as reassuring as she could and coaxed all of the 'clients' to agree to their meetings.

By the time she was done, Wendy was impressed. "Mr. Rawsthorne didn't bring you in as my replacement, did he?" the woman asked, only half-joking.

Celestia giggled a little. "No. I help him around the house. You have nothing to worry about."

They talked a bit more - with occasional interruptions as Wendy answered her phone, or fiddled with her computer. Then they made coffee and took it around the offices. It was the perfect opportunity and Celestia added a couple of cookies and a muffin with each serving. It was quite well received and pretty soon the mare felt right at home in the office. People still stared, of course, but she was able to put it out of her mind, thanks to her long practice.


Before she knew it, noon had come around and the mare found herself sitting in a nearby restaurant with Rawsthorne and Denis. The two were deep in conversation about some of their cases, so the pony used the time to look around. It was certainly a fancy place. Thick carpet, lush curtains, gilded chandeliers, polite staff. There was surprisingly little comment at the fact that she wasn't human, too!

She didn't know many of the foods, but on Denis' recommendation, Celestia ordered the 'Greek salad'. The other two asked for steak and it was only through force of will that the mare kept her face neutral. Denis tried to buy her again, but Rawsthorne gave him a firm no and put a stop to it. It was flattering, but also starting to get annoying.

Luckily, the tall lawyer changed the topic. "So, Celestia - what kind of trade deals did you usually arrange at your old job?"

It was a bit hypocritical of him. He had said 'old job', as if she had come to Earth for a change of scenery or something. Yes, it was true in her case, but most ponies didn't get a choice. That's why it was called slavery!

Despite that she made her expression pleasant. "All sorts, really. Our neighbors include the griffins, minotaurs, dragons... all sorts of people! You wouldn't believe what they wanted to trade!"

The human grinned in anticipation. "Come on, give us an example!"

She thought back to the weirdest she could recall at the moment. "Well, once there was his pompous griffin lord, who wanted our criminals. There aren't many ponies who commit heinous crimes, but he wanted them. It turned out he was hoping to let them go in the wilderness and then hunt them! Can you imagine?"

All three of them laughed.

"Of course I said no! No amount of gold would make me sell out my-" The mare caught herself and blushed. She felt her ears lower and finished lamely: "-the citizens. Even criminals."

Rawsthorne opened his mouth, but the other guy was a second faster. He just spoke over her owner: "Well, I heard where ponies are selling themselves into servitude. Mostly for medicine, or sometimes to get one of them back from Earth. A trade, or something."

Her face darkened. "The crown doesn't condone that, oh no! In fact, I heard the Princess is planning to make that illegal! And she's working with the human government to get the ponies back!"

The two humans leaned away from her fire. "Sheesh, sorry to have brought it up. I didn't realize it was that important to you," Denis said, raising his hands.

The mare forced herself to calm down. "It is alright. I just- don't like it."

The grin was quickly back on the human. "Well, if you ever see the Princess again," here he looked at Rawsthorne and winked, "you can offer her our services. I'm sure we could help with the proper wording to get that legislation through more easily."

Celestia kept her face impassive. "I'll keep that in mind."

The tall man wasn't done yet. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking - why are you here?"

The mare thought fast and decided to use the same story she had tried with Mr. Plain. "I sold my contract in exchange for medicine for a friend."

"How long?"

Rawsthorne answered that one. He seemed to feel her discomfort discussing it, even if he thought it was for a different reason. "Twenty years," her owner answered.

Denis whistled. "Expensive medicine. What disease?"

Celestia looked down. The disease and the medicine were real and her 'sacrifice' had helped. It still wasn't something she particularly enjoyed talking about, not least because some desperate families really were in that bind, and some mares - fillies, really - sold the only thing they had. Themselves.

"Cancer."

The human simply had to try again: "Well, I can pay it off and reduce your contract to ten years, how's that sound?"

She glared, but Rawsthorne held a hand up. "Stop it, or you're fired!"

Denis just laughed uproariously. "You can't do that, buddy! We're partners! But okay. Sorry. No more offering to buy the pony, I promise."

Luckily, their food arrived and they didn't have to talk anymore. Celestia bit into her salad and found it extremely tasty. It was almost good enough to make her forgive the human who had bought it. Hopefully he'd keep his mouth shut for the rest of the meal.


They were back in Rawsthorne's office before too long. She pushed the door closed and cast a simple spell to shield the room from eavesdropping. "That pompous, good for nothing, arrogant,... Aargh!"

Her owner chuckled. "Sorry. He's not too bad once you get to know him, but he never had much feel for people. Apparently also ponies."

The mare glared at her owner, but sighed and tried to relax. It failed. She took a few calming breaths, but the words bubbled back from her memory and the mare stomped her hoof. "Buy me a stallion to keep me entertained?! Who in Tartarus does he think he is?! I'll show him 'buy me a stallion'!"

She snorted, leaving a layer of condensation on the glass. "I'm not doing any more work for him, lunch or not. Got it?"

The human nodded. "Sure, sure. No problem. What's with the glow, by the way?" If he was concerned about her magic, Rawsthorne didn't show it. Or perhaps by now, he trusted her enough.

"Sound-shield. No one can hear what we say."

"That's quite useful."

"Humph! If that... human tries to buy me again, I will break his legs, understand?!"

That seemed to be going too far. Rawsthorne looked up sharply and frowned at her. "Now now, behave yourself. Denis is tactless, but he's a good attorney and partner. I already told you I'll have a word with him."

She just gave a grunt to acknowledge him. Then went to watch the view. It did wonders to relax her. "So, what now?"

Her owner shuffled some papers around. "I've got to finish some of this work. You can help, or you can relax for a bit. We still have about five hours before the pony meeting, and it's not too far from here. You're gonna change for that?"

It took Celestia a second to realize the human didn't mean clothes. "Oh yes! Of course. I need to go as 'Supple Branch'. I'll change in the car."

"Good, good," Rawsthorne replied, already deep in thought. He was reading something from his computer screen and the pony walked around the desk to see. It looked like a legal document. No surprises there.

"So, what are you working on?"