//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32 
// Story: Off Duty 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

It was the moment Celestia had been dreading ever since she decided she liked Rawsthorne. If her owner had been just another human slaver, the mare would never have thought about it twice. It wouldn't be so hard! She would just leave and get Mr. Plain to smuggle her back home, problem solved, but she really liked this human. She respected Rawsthorne too much to simply vanish. He deserved an explanation. Besides, the mare also wanted to make it work. There were feelings she hadn't yet fully explored. Questions she hadn't asked and, of course, pleasures she hadn't indulged in. She had hoped this moment would be some time in the future. After she really had Rawsthorne' trust.

No time for regrets. She should have realized that the Internet, with its free and easy sharing of information, would be her undoing. She should have kept her form of Supple branch at work. How she could have avoided the pictures at Sally's birthday, Celestia couldn't say. Christine had seen her as an  alicorn - changing that would raise questions and require explanations she didn't have. It was a useless venue of thought in either case. She followed her human from the car to the living room, where Rawsthorne sat down and looked at her.

There was still concern in his eyes and it wasn't helping in the slightest.

One important thing, first. "Greg, could you call Wendy and ask her not to answer any questions about me on Facebook - or anywhere?"

This was so far from what the human had been expecting that his hand pulled out his phone before he realized. "What?! Why?" he peered at the alicorn again. "Are you in some kind of legal trouble? Was I right after all and you're stolen or something?!"

The mare shook her head. "Nothing like that. Please, call Wendy, and then I will tell you everything. Nothing held back, I promise." Any more pleading in her voice and Celestia would be begging. She would have done it, too.

It was critical that her pony friends learned about her from her, not some human. Even so, it would be almost impossible to repair their trust. Not to mention that she would have to come up with a good explanation for her 'vacation', but one problem at a time. Rawsthorne first, ponies later. After a few moments of silence, the human tapped on his phone. The mare was flooded with relief and sagged a little. Her rump landed on the carpet as she sat down to wait.

She could hear the ringing, and then Wendy, slightly worried but mostly bewildered: "Yes? Mr. Rawsthorne?"

"Hi, Wendy. Sorry to bother you, but Celestia really wanted me to call and give you a message," he explained.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Even the lady was concerned about her.

Rawsthorne waved his hand, despite the fact that Wendy couldn't see him. "No, nothing like that. She is just asking you not to talk about her over social media."

There was silence. It was a strange request and the lady would deny it, Celestia knew! Her ears folded down and she began to sigh.

"O-kay, but I don't understand-"

Her owner interrupted the woman on the phone: "No, neither do I, but I'll get to the bottom of this. So you will agree?"

"Yes, of course! She'll be in the office tomorrow, right?"

Rawsthorne looked at the mare, who nodded. Again, the relief made her head sag. One small crisis averted. "Thank you!" She said it loudly enough so that Wendy would hear. There was a pause again.

Then the woman spoke up: "Am I on a speaker or something?"

Her human laughed a little. "No. Pony hearing, remember?"

"Oh. Well, if you can hear me, Celestia, I'll want answers tomorrow!" Wendy demanded. It made Celestia lower her ears quickly again.

By now, Rawsthorne was holding the phone before him, since the pony and his receptionist were having a conversation without him.

"Yes, of course, Wendy! Thank you!"

There was a grudging: "You're welcome," then the man put the phone back to his ear.

"Have a good night," he said, "and sorry for the late call." The woman said something affirmative, then hung up. His eyes settled on the pony. "Well?"

Celestia gulped. She almost blurted it all out, but Rawsthorne had more to say. "This is about your disguise to the other ponies, isn't it?" he guessed.

"Y-yes."

He put his elbow on his knee and leaned his face into his hand. "Okay, out with it, then."

Where to even begin? Celestia thought about the story she was about to tell Rawsthorne and picked the worst spot. If she got through that part first, the rest would be easier.

"I've been lying to you, Greg. Maybe I had good reasons, but it was still wrong. I never expected it would have to come out, but I don't have a choice anymore."

His eyes narrowed as the two stared at each other. "Lying about what?"

Here it was. The moment of truth. Celestia thought her heart would hammer through her ribcage and fall on the carpet. She tried thinking of the situation as a diplomatic discussion. Turn the words around to make herself out in the best possible light. Make the truth dance a little.

Except she didn't want to do that. Not to Rawsthorne. He deserved better. "I've been lying about who I am and why I am here." She had intended to tell him the whole thing, but her coward mouth couldn't quite form the words. Even as it was, the mare was shaking a little. Wings wanted to unfurl and take her away from there, but she sternly kept them pressed tightly against her body.

"So, who are you really?" The question was, of course, inevitable. She had known that, but it helped push her past the block. It was as if her tongue was losing strength! But the alicorn made her say it.

"I'm Princess Celestia. My sister and I rule Equestria - the land of ponies." Maybe it was better to give him bit by bit. It was a shock. She saw his eyes widen, even if the face was carefully neutral. She decided to explain a bit more. "Alicorns are... like royalty in my land. This form has to be earned through great deeds and it marks us out from other ponies."

"So, that's why you wanted a disguise? So the ponies on Earth wouldn't know their ruler is here?"

Very perceptive. If she wasn't so scared, Celestia would have felt quite proud of her owner. "Yes. It would crush them to see me in a collar."

The man closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids. "And you didn't think having your photo taken and posted online would cause exactly that?"

"I did not realize what Facebook was. I didn't even know what the Internet was, Greg."

He let it drop for the moment and continued with the next question. The alicorn had known this one was coming, too, in one form or another. "Okay, so you don't want your ponies to know that you've been captured. You intended to hide this for the rest of your life?" the human pointed out.

"N-not exactly." She found herself unable to continue. Her ears were already as flat as they could go, but now she hung her head as well.

"Not exactly? What then? What is it you don't want to tell me?"

"I didn't intend to stay on Earth forever. I just meant to be here for a few months."

Of course Rawsthorne asked: "Why?"

She glanced up. There wasn't any anger, not yet. First, Rawsthorne was trying to get the whole truth, and then he would decide how he felt about it. There was absolutely no way it would be good, but she also had no real choice. Yes, she could run away, but that would mean abandoning her subjects and the court case. More importantly, it would mean abandoning Rawsthorne.

"It was meant to be a vacation."

Now her owner barked a laugh, as if disbelieving her. "What?! You let yourself be enslaved as a vacation?! What kind of twisted-"

She couldn't take the tone anymore. Celestia drew a breath and jumped into Rawsthorne's word. "You don't know what it is like. Years and years and years of the same thing! Court. Serving my ponies. Diplomacy. Generations and generations of diplomats, each trying the same tricks again. I did not have a single day off for the past thousand years, Greg!" She saw the next question rising up in his eyes, but she pushed forward, wanting to get it all out before her courage failed her. "Even when I tried to take a vacation - let my sister take care of the court - they sought me out! Everywhere I went, they knew me, treated me like royalty and then brought their problems before me!"

Just one more bit, and then she would let him ask the question which was on the tip of his tongue.

"Yes! Earth was a treasure! Finally I would be someplace where I wasn't known! No court, no duties, no negotiations. Housework and cooking is downright relaxing in comparison!" The mare ended up breathing heavily after her forceful speech. She waited for the man to ask.

"Thousand years?" he said, right as she was expecting.

"Yes." Her voice was calmer now, gentler. She had poured her fire, her passion into the speech. There wasn't much left, maybe enough to get through whatever else Rawsthorne wanted to know and then to receive the verdict. She still had an exit, if necessary. There was no ring on her horn. She could magic her way out of whatever way Rawsthorne tried to trap her.

"I'm over a thousand years old, Greg. Becoming an alicorn gives us a greatly extended lifespan. Infinite, perhaps. Even I am not sure. I do not age and I do not fall ill."

"You're a thousand years old?!" the human blurted out. He wasn't trying to hide his shock anymore.

"Yes!"

He groaned a little and put his hands on his forehead. "Celestia, sometimes you act like you're three!"

That explanation was easier and the question gave Celestia hope that Rawsthorne wasn't quite as angry as she had feared. "Yes! Because back home, I never can! I step out on the balcony, there's ponies with cameras. I go out of the castle, there's subjects, prostrating themselves. Can you imagine the scandal if the Princess rolled around in the snow a little?!"

The human didn't answer her.

"There are standards I must always adhere to, Greg! Is it so hard to believe I wanted a change, at least for a while?" If that was his biggest problem, then she was in the clear, but when Rawsthorne looked back up, the last sliver of hope died in her heart. The human looked furious. He glared and his hands gripped each other until his knuckles were white.She deserved a beating, the mare believed that firmly, but she still shuffled back, almost involuntarily.

"So, let me get this story straight," Rawsthorne began with a voice that was far too calm. "You got tired of ruling and the duties that came with it, so you came to Earth and had yourself sold as a slave. I expect Mr. Plain is in on this little plan?"

The mare just nodded, wide-eyed.

"Okay. Someone was to buy you and give you light, household work. You'd be able to have some fun and rest from your stressful, ruling lifetime, and then what? When you'd had enough of slavery, you would just escape?"

Another nod.

"And whoever bought you - they would simply have forfeited their money. Pony would vanish without a trace."

"Y-yes." She glanced away from his expression. "B-but not in your case! Greg, I really like you! I would have made Mr. Plain return your money!" She had intended no such thing until just now, but she would have promised anything to placate her owner.

"Go up to your room," her owner said quietly.

"What?"

"Your room. You can escape now if you want, but I expect you have a reason for telling me all of this, or you would have done it already."

She nodded hurriedly. "Yes, I have to help with the case! It's important for my subjects-"

"It doesn't matter," Rawsthorne interrupted. "I don't care. You won't run away tonight, will you?"

She gulped. A part of her really wanted to, but it would leave too many things unfinished. "No. I promise I won't, Greg. Please, I just-"

"Then shut up. Go to bed. I want to think about this."

She stood up, but didn't walk yet. "W-what will you do?"

Rawsthorne shrugged. "I don't know yet. What should I do?"

Celestia didn't have an answer to that. "I d-don't know." She let her head hang until the mane fell over her face. The pony was glad that her owner had such excellent self control, but any further relationship between them was most likely over.

She looked up and blinked away a tear. "Greg, I wasn't lying when I said I liked you."

His face hardened again. "You were lying about everything else!"

"I really didn't think-"

"No, you didn't!" he said more loudly.

Celestia flinched a little at the interruption, but she couldn't leave it alone. If she didn't try everything, the pony would never forgive herself. "Please, listen! It wasn't supposed to go like this! I started to like you, first a little and then a lot! And then more!" She was too late to prevent a sob escaping. "I don't want it to stop, Greg! I'm sorry about lying and I'm sorry about the money! I'll find a way to pay you back. I'll do anything!"

He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to order her to leave again, so the mare spoke faster: "Please, anything! You can belt me as much as you like, or forbid me sweets, or the bath. You can make me sleep outside in a dog house! I don't care, I'll do anything!"

"You'll do anything for what?" he asked.

The pony sniffed in misery and wiped her muzzle with a hoof. Tears were leaking freely now, but she didn't care. Maybe Rawsthorne would believe she was being sincere. "I'll do anything to stay with you."

It surprised even the mare herself. Just how hard had she fallen for the human?!

"And the nation you're supposed to be ruling?" the human asked quietly. She saw he wasn't done with anger, but right now there was some pity there.

Pity was good. She could hope. "I will find a way!"

Again the unreadable mask! Celestia wanted to kick her human. She couldn't tell what he was thinking! "Get up to your room. We'll talk again in the morning. If you're still here," he ordered, still speaking calmly and quietly.

"Please, Greg-"

"YOUR ROOM!" he roared and the mare took a step back in fright. She took another look at his face and decided against arguing some more. She fled from his sight and up the stairs. Perhaps she had pushed Rawsthorne too far.


Celestia couldn't stop pacing up and down her room. She ignored the complaints of her growling stomach and instead tried to calm her distressed mind. What would Rawsthorne do? At this point, she would have welcomed a beating, if only it meant she could start earning back the human's trust. She would have apologized profusely, even begged for leniency, if it would help, but the mare knew it wouldn't. At best, Rawsthorne would send her to bed again. At worst, he would...

The alicorn couldn't tell. Throw her out? Refuse to see her again? It would effectively put a stop to all her efforts with Miriam, and Celestia was desperate for those to continue. The DA would probably still win, the mare hoped, but the Princess simply had to be involved now. Maybe she saw it as an excuse for her willing slavery? For the way she had all but mocked her subjects' misery directly. If she could tell them: yes, I did belittle your pain, but I made sure something good came of it. A better fate for all her ponies who were being kept on Earth. It wouldn't excuse her poor judgement at being photographed and seen on the Internet, but it would help!

Worst of all, it wasn't the whole reason. Beside the burning need to see the court case through, there was Rawsthorne. Celestia had never met a person like him. She wanted to know him better! This had nothing to do with her ponies, or the politics. The desire came from Celestia the mare, not Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. The mare realized she had been staring at the clock without seeing it. She quickly identified the thing which had brought her out of deep thought. Her ears perked up as they caught a familiar sound from the bathroom. Rawsthorne was washing up. How many nights had Celestia lain in his bed, listening to these same noises as she waited for Rawsthorne to come, give her an absentminded scratch and put his arms around her?

It couldn't have been more than a couple, and yet...

Celestia already missed that casual closeness. She missed his scent. The thought that she would have to sleep in her own bed, alone, revolted the alicorn. She glanced at it. Comfortable and warm it might have been, but the mattress now looked as if it was stuffed with rocks. Rocks made out of ice!

It was entirely unappealing. Celestia whimpered a little as she heard Rawsthorne' bed rustling. The human was getting in. Now he was stretching out! Her overactive imagination painted his hand sliding along the bed, looking for that warm, equine body to which he had become so used. Celestia swore she heard the human sigh in disappointment! He was just as miserable sleeping alone, the mare knew this!

How fast a body could become used to cuddling something soft and warm at night, Celestia despaired. How quickly she had associated Rawsthorne's smell with safety and comfort! It was all her fault! The mare sniffed and went to her bed. She lifted a hoof and placed it on the mattress, but her legs didn't seem to have the strength to lift her up. What would be the point anyway? It wasn't as if the mare would be able to sleep. She leaned her nose closer and inhaled deeply. Nothing except her. The loneliest smell in the world. The alicorn sighed and let her hoof drop back down to the floor. It was entirely unfair!

"All I wanted was some time away!" She spoke softly, so that her voice wouldn't wake Rawsthorne up. "Every pony gets a vacation, why can't I?!"

A millennium of service to her subjects with hardly a luxury accepted for herself. Surely Celestia had earned a bit of happiness? She looked out through the window at the bright, moonlit world. "What should I do, Sister?"

There was no reply, of course, but Celestia tried to imagine Luna. Her fierce, determined expression. The slight scrunching up of her muzzle when she didn't understand something, but was determined not to show it. The happy little smile when things went her way and the Princess of the Night was allowed to strut a little.

The side so few ponies ever got to see: The Lonely Princess. Luna was feared and respected. She was also alone. How alike they were? Celestia was a public figure and Luna was a recluse, but they were both lonely, each in her own way. The face Celestia had to show to the crowd was so often not her own. Luna had not yet learned that trick, so the expression she showed the ponies was her real one, but it was not one they were expecting, so they slid away, polite, yet distant.

Each of them only had the other. Each would only ever have the other. Whatever friends they made were like petals on the wind. Beautiful, fragrant, but so very ephemeral. Was it wrong that Celestia tried to find something - a short something - with Rawsthorne? Would her sister begrudge her a romance?

No, Celestia decided at last. If anything, Luna would encourage her older sibling to take what happiness should could find in the world, and to find it, Celestia would need to go looking! The mare stood up, fresh determination shining from her eyes and face. She made her way out through the door and to Rawsthorne's room. She sat down in the hallway and focused her ears. There! Right at the edge of her hearing was his soft breathing. She waited until she was absolutely sure that it was steady and regular. Then the alicorn cast a spell remembered from a mischievous youth. The glow flowed from her horn and settled around her hooves before vanishing.

Now, when she moved, her hoofsteps were completely silent. How many centuries since she had used this particular spell? It seemed like it had come from a different lifetime. There was something deliciously naughty about it and despite her worry and apprehension, Celestia had to stifle a giggle. She gently opened the door and went to Rawsthorne's bed. Then she considered the next problem.

It was imperative that the human didn't wake! With extreme care, Celestia gripped a corner of the blanket with her magic and lifted it up. The glow was as faint as she could make it and the cloth was on the verge of slipping out of her grasp. She moved it with glacial slowness and kept her ears trained on the human, so she would hear any unusual sound which would warn her if he was about to wake. Once she had uncovered a good patch of the mattress, Celestia placed her hind hoof gently on the bed. She carefully shifted her weight to it. Soon she followed with her foreleg.

Rawsthorne slept on, oblivious to her machinations. Soon, the mare was standing awkwardly half on the bed and half on the floor. The human shifted slightly and Celestia froze in terror. She didn't even dare draw air into her lungs, but the human settled back and the rhythm of his breathing steadied again. The alicorn relaxed. Next came a difficult bit. Celestia slowly lowered herself down, mindful that she didn't jostle her owner. It took several minutes to get through that, but finally the mare was lying mostly on her belly, with two hooves still on the floor. She lifted the blanket some more, making sure the glow of her magic was still faint, and carefully rolled to her side.

That completed her movements and the alicorn ended up lying on her side, facing away from the human. She swiveled her ears to him and listened closely. He was still asleep. Celestia gently lowered the blanket over her flank. Rawsthorne was lying on the other end of the cloth, so it came a little short, but the mare didn't mind. Her hooves poked out, but she was warmed by the human's presence, more than the fabric. What she had really wanted was to be embraced by the smell and his bed was soaked with it. The pony pushed her muzzle in the pillow and inhaled, slowly but deeply. She didn't dare shuffle closer - touching Rawsthorne's skin might wake him up, but she was in the same bed at least. She probably wouldn't sleep, but she could listen to the human breathing and feel the tiny movements of the mattress beneath her.

Her ears and her nose might be enough to take her to a happier time. She savored it for a moment, then let her breath out quietly. It might be her last night in his bed, but at the very least it was one more night with Rawsthorne beside her. The human murmured something and began to get up. Celestia froze again in terror and waited for the indignant shout. It never came. Rawsthorne turned and lay back down while his hand sought out her flank. The mare flinched a little at the unexpected touch, but Rawsthorne patted her side and murmured something which sounded comforting. Celestia doubted he had even woken up. She risked a little more and shuffled back to poke her rump into Rawsthorne's lap. He moved again and the mare gulped in fear, but the human just hugged her around the barrel, pushed his face into her mane and went right back to sleep.

It was very promising. His subconscious actions betrayed how he truly felt about the alicorn. This could yet be salvaged, Celestia thought. She just had to approach it the right way. Put her best hoof forward. Hit Rawsthorne with the things he liked most about her. The pony remembered what that was and smiled in the darkness.