Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Crossing
Chapter 2: The Auction
Chapter 3: House of the Red Sun
Chapter 4: Starting from Scratch
Chapter 5: Off to a Good Start
Chapter 6: Sterilis [Dark]
Chapter 7: Don't be Sad

Chapter 1: The Crossing

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism | Chapter 1

Clear skies bathed a Zebrican merchant ship in fresh sunlight as its sails dropped around two massive masts, collecting enough air to put the ship into full sail. Not a single cloud was visible for miles in every direction, leaving the waves calm off of Equestria’s southern shores so that the many ships sailing in and out of the coastal towns and villages may move unmolested. Ships of all nationalities—from Cervidas to Boarador or Equestria’s own ships—sailed into and out of port alongside the single merchant ship.

Zebras ran to and fro along the ship’s deck, securing the masts and sails as they dropped and deftly tying knots around the rings meant for the ropes. The crew no doubt all originated from Zebrica, with their darkly colored and striped coats as well as their many golden rings and piercings covering their bodies. However, many had the look of a grizzled seapony about them. Their coats remained crusty to the sea air no matter how much they scrubbed at the coastal inns they stayed at, and they all wore caps or coats of some kind to protect them from the cool nights.

The captain of the ship—a burly male zebra with a pair of goggles strapped to his forehead and a brown, ragged cloak fastened around his neck—strode along the decks between his crew. He wore numerous facial and ear piercings, and he had rings engraved with various intricate patterns attached to one of his hooves. His gaze that drifted among his fellow zebras was that of ice and one who knew that they were in command.

A female zebra trotted up to the captain and saluted, a forehoof slapping against her forehead. The captain eyed her for a moment before nodding his head, allowing for her to lower her hoof.

“Captain, all sails are secured, sir,” she said, her voice heavy with a Zebrican accent*. “If the weather keeps up and we continue to have the wind at our backs, we should reach Whoazambique in a week.”

“Very good, Mira.” The captain nodded. His voice also had a Zebrican accent, but not nearly as strong as Mira’s. “Is the cargo secured?”

“Cargo is secured and ready for inspection, sir.” She relaxed slightly and looked back at the cabin that led below decks. “We have quite a bit of a haul with us this time. It is a wonder how we made it past Equestrian inspection.”

“Equestrian inspection is a joke,” the captain laughed. “They wouldn’t know cocaine from sugar. There hasn’t been a threat to this nation in nearly a thousand years, so what makes them think there would be anything soon?”

“Our cargo isn’t something as easily concealable as crack, sir,” the mare stated. “In fact, I would say that unless a guard merely glanced at our ship, we should have been found out.”

The captain snarled. “You may be my first mate, Mira, but you should really refrain from asking too many questions. You may find something out you’d rather have not.”

The captain pushed passed Mira, who hastily gave him another salute and watched him walk away. Small beads of sweat formed on her brow.

“Yes, sir,” Mira said as the captain opened the door that lead to below decks. The faint smell of musk entered his nostrils and he smiled, closing the door behind him. The steps creaked under his descent, and beneath the deck the rock of the ship from the Eternal Sea’s water felt more prevalent.

When the captain reached below deck, he turned and walked through another door that lay behind the stairs. Slowly the door creaked open, and the captain was met with the sight of rows and rows of ponies lining the walls and center of the ship. Pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns all bunched together and either staring down at the manacles that encased their hooves or trying to catch up on whatever sleep they could manage. In the back he heard a few sobs, but as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, not a single pony looked up to see who might be entering.

As the captain slowly made his way towards the back of the room, the faint smell of bile wafted towards him and he grimaced. The first of the sea sickness plagued the ponies below deck, and it was only a matter of time before the stench became more powerful. He took shallower breaths as he continued to walk, blocking out the putrid smell that emanated from somewhere within the room.

Walking through one of the rows of ponies, the captain saw out of the corner of his eyes glances of distaste or abhorrence. He didn’t blame them, these were ponies who had been pulled from their homes, after all. They lived in the free land of Equestria where the benevolent princesses ruled with both firmness and compassion, but that, of course, didn’t stop the corrupt bureaucrats who acted from the side lines. Loans had to be paid and debts had to be collected on, so ponies had no choice but to turn to less legal options in order to make their money. Suffice to say, there were some consequences upon turning to said less legal opportunities.

The captain stopped in front of one particular pony, turning his body to face her and looking down. She was a filly unicorn with a dark grey coat and a mane and tail that sported three different colors—light grey, dark blue, and light blue. She had yet to earn her cutiemark and find her special talent, leaving her a blank flank. The manacles from the lines of chains were much too large for her small hooves, forcing the crew to use simple rope as an alternate means to secure her below deck.

Frowning to himself, the captain kicked the little filly’s hooves, jerking her awake. She squeaked and backed away from him, but when she felt the tug of the ropes on her hooves she stopped and looked down. He heard the whimpers coming from the filly before she even looked up at him again, and then he saw the tears in her eyes when she did.

“Ah yes, confusion is what I see in your eyes, young one,” the captain said without a hint of sympathy. “Are you wondering what you’re doing in such a dark room with so many ponies, your hooves tied to the floor and the stench of bile easing its way into your nostrils?”

The filly’s look of confusion slowly became mixed with a slight tinge of terror and she tried to back away from the captain as far away as the ropes would allow. He chuckled as he watched her crawl. When the ropes went taut, the captain stepped forward to close the gap.

“What’s your name, young one?” the captain asked.

“C-caligula,” the filly said in a quiet and squeaky voice.

“Caligula?” the captain repeated. “What an interesting name. And how old are you, Caligula?”

“E-eight.”

“Eight. Wow, you are quite young. Perhaps the youngest one here.” The captain glanced around the room. “Or maybe just the only filly here.”

Caligula squeaked and her tail wrapped around her hooves. The captain reached out a hoof and put it under her chin, gently raising it up so that she could look him in the eyes.

“You know, I was there when they came for you, Caligula,” the captain said darkly, a smile spread across his lips. “A couple of couriers on this very ship knocking on your parent’s door and demanding that the payments that they owed be paid for immediately. I can only assume that they had been missing payments for a few years now.” He chuckled. “Seems like they still didn’t have the money, so they had to give something else up.”

Tears rolled down Caligula’s face as she listened to the captain, and her tail wrapped even more tightly around her hooves. She started shaking her head.

“N-no. My parents love me,” she whined. “They wouldn’t ever give me up.”

“Oh?” the captain asked, cocking his head. “Then why are you sitting here below the deck of my ship? I’m a slave trader, Caligula, and you happen to be a part of my cargo. Oh, don’t worry, your parents pleaded and cried for us not to take you, but it didn’t matter. We drugged you and took you on board the ship.” He sneered at her. “They didn’t even try to stop us once we were out the front door.”

“No, that can’t be true,” Caligula protested. “They must have.”

“Now that I think about it, perhaps they wanted to,” the captain mused. “Unfortunately with you in our hooves, any further involvement with those spineless coneheads would have resulted in you getting killed, and that would have been a very messy day for everypony.”

Caligula screamed and charged at the captain, but he stepped back out of the length of the ropes. She lost her balance once the ropes went taut again and fell flat on her face. Groaning, she slowly pushed herself up and looked at the captain as some tears trickled down her face.

“Y-you’re a good for nothing…” Caligula trailed off, her breathing turning heavy. “I want to go home.”

“I’m sure that many of these ponies would agree with you, but unfortunately that’s not the case,” the captain said. “You’re mine now, and in time, you’ll be somepony elses. Get used to this new life of yours, foal. It might be the last that you get.”

The filly burst into tears now, laying on her stomach and covering her eyes with her hooves. The captain watched, apathetic to her pathetic whimpers and cries, until he felt several eyes of the other slaves staring him. A small snarled twisted his lips and he turned around, glaring at the rest of the ponies sitting in the room.

“Where you’re all going, my little ponies,” the captain said mockingly, “is a land where the love and compassion of your goddesses falls short of naught. You are nothing more than an item, no, a possession, of somepony else who deems you worthy to be taken into service. You all have failed somewhere, somehow, to meet the courteous demands of those who have helped you, and so you must pay the price owed to them.”

The captain’s snarl faded when nary a peep was said back to him. The only sounds below deck were the creaking of the ship as it rocked on the Eternal Sea’s waves and the small filly crying behind him. With a snort the captain took a note out from his coat pocket, placed it next to Caligula’s hooves, spun on his hooves, and turned towards the door that lead up the stairs to the top deck.

“I trust you all will have a comfortable and safe trip,” the captain added dryly. “Please be courteous of the crew and refrain from making a mess.” He stopped at the door and flicked his tail. “And one more thing. Any attempt of escape will be met with severe consequences.”

The captain stepped through the door and trotted up the stairs. Mira stood waiting for him when he came back on deck, and with a quick salute she followed him towards the bow of the ship.

“How is the cargo holding up, sir?” Mira asked.

“Fantastically terrified,” the captain replied. “We’ll be getting no trouble from them while on our voyage to Whoazambique.” When they reached the bow of the ship, he threw his forehooves over the railing and stared out into the sea. “Start rationing out the food for the trip and take inventory of our supplies. I want to make sure that we can sail away from the city and up to Cervidas without needing to restock our supplies.”

“Yes, sir.” Mira replied. She then added hesitantly, “Sir, there was a filly brought on board the ship before departure. May I ask how she is faring?”

“You may,” the captain said slowly. “She is too young, too naive, to have her life changed as drastically as it has been. A dark filly living in a coastal Equestrian city will be torn apart in a nation like Zebrica.”

Mira glanced around to make sure that none of the other crew were nearby. “We could always keep the filly for ourselves.”

“And risk having the crime lords from Zebrica hunt our ships down to the ends of the known world? I don’t think so, Mira. Go take you and your fancies and get that job done.”

“Yes, sir.” Mira said and trotted off.

The captain breathed a sigh of relief as Mira left and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a compass. He flipped open the top hatch and watched as the arrow inside quickly spun towards the direction of north, the opposite direction of the ship’s current route.

Meanwhile, below the deck of the ship, a little filly lay curled up on the floor. Freshly wet cheeks darkened the fur on her face, leaving two long lines that extended all of the way down to her chin. She folded the note open and read over the contents scribbled onto it.

Our dearest Caligula,

We are so sorry. We thought we had more time, but in our foolish efforts we lost the one thing that we were most proud of in the world. Please stay safe, we’re going to miss you so much. We’ll see each other again one day, we promise.

Love,

Mother and Father

Caligula crumpled the letter up in her hoof and clutched it to her chest, tears rolling down her cheeks once again.

Chapter 2: The Auction

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 2

Shouts from above deck woke Caligula from her slumber. What sounded like hundreds of hooves moved every which way above her, thudding loudly as they raced from one side of the ship to the other in a hurry. The voices above were undoubtedly zebras, and they continued to say something about reaching a port or getting ready to dock and unload the cargo. Caligula’s ears strained to make out what all of the zebras were saying, but between the sudden chatter rising from amongst the slaves and the thudding hooves still moving above deck she could not make out everything.

Several minutes later Mira busted through the door into the room and stopped. Two other zebras came waltzing in after her and paused at her side, remaining silent for a few moments before Mira stepped forward several paces.

“Get them up and secure their restraints,” Mira said. “We need them unloaded and moved to the pens before the top of the hour.”

One of the zebras began to remove the pegs that secured the chains connected to each pony’s manacles, but the other paused. He walked up next to Mira and asked, “What should we do with the filly?”

Mira stood in silence for a moment, her eyes falling on Caligula. The little filly whimpered and curled up into a ball, clutching her parent’s note tight against her chest.

“Put her in the pen with the rest of the mares,” Mira said. “She’s going to get the same treatment as everypony else.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the zebra said before he went to work on the pegs.

Mira turned and walked back up the stairs to above deck, leaving the other two zebras to deal with the slaves. They worked quickly over the pegs, pulling one out after the other before just as quickly pushing them back in. In no time the rows of slaves pushed themselves to their hooves and stretched their legs, groaning and grumbling quietly to themselves as they moved their limbs for the first time in perhaps over a week.

Caligula was not exempt from her legs feeling like they were made of jello, and when one of the zebras zipped by her and pulled up the peg, she nearly fell flat on her face when she stood up. Gaining her balance, she picked up the note from her parents and after she looked over it one last time, she folded and tucked it in between one of her manacles and her hoof. Once it was securely stowed away, the filly looked up once more towards the zebras, but neither of them had neither seen nor bothered to pay attention to where she hid her note.

Once the zebras finished pulling the pegs up from the chain links, they trotted back up towards the door and took the very ends of the chain links into their mouths. They both glanced at each other, and when the zebra that held the chain link that Caligula was a part of nodded, the other zebra made his way through the door and up the stairs to the top deck. The ponies connected to the other chain link let out a few groans and whimpers as they shuffled their way forward, their bones creaking and muscles aching from nary any use.

Caligula watched on as the last of the ponies from the other chain disappeared up the stairs, then felt the tug on the chains as her chain link was forced to move next. The ponies of this chain groaned as well, but with a hiss from the zebra pulling the chain everypony else fell silent. They shuffled forward, and soon Caligula took her first step on the staircase that led up to above deck. The air here smelled more like salt mixed with the smells of fish and cooked vegetables compared to the damp, molding, putrid smells from the belly of the ship. Her stomach growled and her mouth watered, the fresh smells stirring in her a hunger that the waves at sea and the rock of the ship during the voyage took away.

Then came the blinding light. Being forced below deck rendered Caligula’s eyes more accustomed to darkness, with the only light being tiny rays pushing their way through small cracks in the ship’s wooden hull. She squinted and blinked, nearly losing her balance a second time as the pony walking behind her bumped into her. She squeaked and glanced behind her, but the other pony apparently had not even noticed her presence, instead looking off towards the port side of the ship. Still reeling from the sun tearing into her retinas, she followed the pony’s gaze.

The filly’s eyes unmistakably met Whoazambique. Moderately sized walls made of sandstone rose up on either side of the city’s massive port, which ran around in a circle around the city and protected its inhabitants from the mysteries that lay out in Zebrica’s sands. Huge watch towers soared high into the air above all of the other city buildings, with zebras making their patrols around and around the tops of the towers to look over the city and the land beyond the wall. Not even the central building within the city rose higher than the watchtowers, but it still made an impressive display with the many eagle and vulture statues that covered the building’s roof.

The port was nearly as large as the city itself. Ships from all over the world lay docked all over the port with all manners of creatures loading and unloading all sorts of cargo. Crates and wooden boxes lay scattered all over the port, their wares left mostly unguarded as their owners wandered off to the many taverns or pleasure clubs present along the edges of the port. Seagulls flew overhead, as well, their squawking reverberating through the whole city.

It’s so… different, Caligula thought to herself, her eyes trained on the building with the many statues. There’s so much sand and… and the colors seem to all mesh together like some sort of camouflage. It’s not like Equestria where the colors of the buildings stand out from the wildlife in the background, vibrant and exciting. Here? Here it’s dull and… terrifying.

“Keep moving,” a zebra growled as he kicked the pony in front of Caligula. The line moved again more hastily as the ponies were led off of the ships and onto a wooden dock. Sturdy land felt wonderful under Caligula’s hooves once again, but a chill crept up her spine as the zebra tugging on the chains led them deeper and deeper into the docks. Once the column disappeared behind several crates, any time Caligula looked back she was no longer able to see the ship she came in on.

After what seemed like half an hour, the zebra finally led the ponies to a large warehouse. He pulled them all inside, then fastened the chain to a wall hook before pulling out a set of keys that he used to detach the manacles from each pony’s hooves. Another zebra stood waiting for each pony to have themselves freed from the chain so that he could push them back into one of the pens that lay at the back of the warehouse. The writing above the pens was nothing like Caligula had ever seen before, but their words were clear. They marked the different genders as mares were herded into one pen and stallions herded into another.

When the zebra reached Caligula to detach her manacles, several shouts rang out over next to the chain link that had walked in front of Caligula’s. Both she and the zebra looked up in time to see a stallion make a break for the door leading out of the warehouse. In no time one of the zebras standing over near the pens raised his crossbow and took aim at the stallion, then fired a bolt. The shot hit true and embedded itself into one of the pony’s hind legs, sending him tumbling head over hooves until he skidded to a stop on his face.

The zebra rushed over and slammed the ponies head to the ground when he tried to lift it, snarling.

“Oh, that was very brave of you, but where do you think you’re going, klutz?” the zebra asked slowly, his hoof digging into the stallions cheek. “Last pony who tried to make a break for it under my watch didn’t last long when I gave him a pair of cynderblock flippers.”

“This isn’t right!” the stallion shouted, yelping when he felt the zebra place more pressure onto his face. “You can’t just do this to ponies! We’re free.”

“Who says that we can’t?” the zebra sneered, lowering his head close to the stallions. “Ah ah, don’t squirm. From the way I see it, you’ve got no where to go in this city. Who’s going to listen to you? The guard? The common rabble?” He lifted his hoof from the stallions face before yanking the bolt out of the stallion’s leg. “I don’t think so. Slaves have their place here in Zebrica as they are a valuable commodity. In fact, you should be honored that zebras with money will even pay attention to you.”

“Honored… to be treated like… an object and… not a pony?” the stallion asked through ragged gasps, reeling in pain.

The zebra kicked the stallion in the stomach, forcing him to roll over onto his other side.

“Does it really matter?” the zebra snicked and turned. “When you walked off of that boat you no longer belonged to your home nation. You’re ours now, welp, whether you like it or not.” He trotted back over to his post, issuing orders over to the zebra who was in charge of the stallion. “Put some wax on his hind leg and clean him up. Good as new, eh?”

The zebra standing over Caligula unfastened the lock and detached her manacles from the chain, then gave her a shove towards the direction of the pens. Tucking her tail between her legs, Caligula slowly made her trek across the floor of the warehouse. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the stallion raising himself up to his hooves with the help of another zebra, then getting very nearly dragged right behind her. She folded her ears behind her head, trying to block out the whimpers and yelps of pain the stallion released whenever he put pressure on his hind hoof.

The sounds, the pain; I wish that they’d all stop. Caligula pleaded to herself.

When Caligula reached the mare’s pen, she was shoved once again through the doors to stand among the rest of the mares sitting within the confines of the steel cage. Glancing around the pen, she spotted a small hole between two pegasi mares butted up against the metal bars. Sighing to herself and looking at the ground, she started to make her way over to the open spot. Unfortunately for her, Caligula bumped right into another zebra.

Timidly, Caligula’s head rose until her eyes met a zebra mare, and thenhastily looked away. She tried to skirt around the mare, but was blocked once again when the mare moved along with her.

“The auction is already in progress, filly,” the mare said icily, “and you are to be put up on that stage as quickly as possible.”

Caligula looked back up at the zebra mare and nodded her head, but she stood there as she was unsure of what to do next. The zebra narrowed her eyes and snapped her teeth onto Caligula’s ear, who let out a yelp as she felt herself lose her balance. She was then dragged across the pen towards a steel door, and when the zebra pushed the door open Caligula heard the first of the shouts and cheers coming from outside of the warehouse.

Fear crept into Caligula’s mind, the thought of her getting dragged out onto the stage in front of however many zebras may be present outside terrifying her. Her limbs shook and she shut her eyes.

This is a bad dream, she thought, sniffling. This is all a bad dream. The sounds, the ponies, it can’t be real.

Once she dropped off the filly for another zebra, Caligula’s handler spit her ear out and stomped back over to the door leading to the pens. She disappeared behind the steel door and let it swing shut. Caligula whimpered and opened her eyes, staring up at the zebra that stood in front of her. She was a heavyset mare with a very tall mane and ears covered in silver and gold piercings. Both of her forehooves wore rings of various sizes and colors.

Caligula flinched when the mare reached for her, causing the mare to pause. She slowly lowered her hoof back down to the floor and turned, instead rifling through various grooming instruments present on a table top.

“There is no need to fear me, little one,” the mare said in a sweet, zebrican accent. “Unlike those… handlers out there, I don’t see your current status of something that deserves the loathing that you undoubtedly receive.”

Caligula slowly returned her gaze to the mare, her tail wrapping around her hooves as she sat down. The zebra caught the filly’s eye and smiled.

“Why don’t you come closer?” the mare asked, waving a hoof at Caligula. “We need to get you cleaned up before you are to be put on stage.”

After hesitating only a moment, Caligula stepped forward and sat on top of a small drain grate. She craned her neck to try to peer around the zebra to get a look at the instruments that were on the table.

“That’s better,” the mare said, then procured a nozzle and positioned it over Caligulas head. With a squeeze of her hoof, cool water emptied out of the nozzle and instantly soaked the filly, who yelped and squirmed. “I know it’s cold, but slaves are not allowed access to hot water. I’ll work quickly.” The mare turned the water off and then dipped her hooves into a bowl filled with a strange, green liquid. “My name is Jua, by the way. What is your name, little one?”

Caligula shivered when she felt Jua’s hooves rub into her back. “M-my name’s… Caligula, m-ma’am.”

“Caligula?” Jua slid her hooves over Caligula’s own hooves, rubbing the foaming liquid into her coat. “That’s quite the name for a filly. Tell you what, Caligula, since you’re being so sweet and cooperative I’m going to give you some advice once you leave this room.”

Caligula nodded her head and looked down at the floor, her ears flopping back against her head. The sounds emanating from the auction going on outside echoed more prominently than before, the voices shouting out different prices.

“Just because you are a filly doesn’t mean that the buyers will go easy on you,” Jua said. “Here in Zebrica, blank flank fillies are the most sought after commodity when it comes to the slave industry. They represent purity and innocence in their truest forms. You have not found what you are good at, and slave masters will do their best to repress that aspect of you to keep you in line. A blank flank filly will more likely grow attached to their master rather than a filly with a cutiemark.”

“W-what happens if I earn my cutiemark?” Caligula asked quietly.

Jua gave a visible look of disgust, although it was not directed at Caligula. “Best you not think about it, sweetie. Your blank flank is the most valuable trait of your being and when a master purchases you, you begin a dangerous game of chance.” Jua finished lathering Caligula up in the strange soap, then took the water nozzle and doused her in cold water once again. “Some mares go their entire life being blank flanks, their masters keeping them protected and guarded.

“But don’t let the prospect of earning your cutie mark scare you,” Jua added. “As horrible as it sounds, a pretty little filly such as yourself will more than likely receive certain treatment from your master that will do everything in their power from keeping you from earning your cutiemark.” Jua tossed the nozzle to the side and grabbed a towel from the table, using it to dry Caligula off. “You see, masters do not enjoy hurting their slaves. Scaring them, manipulating them, yes, but hurting? No, all slaves are valuable assets to their house and masters will have paid good money for you. It would be like kicking an expensive lamp or jumping on a pricey piece of furniture.”

Caligula’s head drooped and she let her tail wrap around her hooves once again. “S-so it’s like the stallion and the captain said. I’m an object of another pony now.”

Jua sighed and hastily dried Caligula’s mane. “Yes, that are what slaves are viewed as. Lower than the rabble and the slums of the most destitute of cities, yet valued more than the lives of our tribal leaders or kings. Fit to be used as common maids or shaped into monstrous killing machines for our armies. They are the strongest economic beneficiary to Zebrica, yet they are demeaned and broken into depressive and lost shells of the ponies that they once were, or what they once could have been.

“Caligula, the life you will enter when you walk up onto that stage is not something that anypony should have to undergo or even witness.” Jua put her hooves on Caligula’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “It’s cruel, it’s inpony, but here in Zebrica there is nothing that anypony can do about it.”

Jua took a brush off from the desk and ran it through Caligula’s mane, coat, and tail. The filly felt knots being broken in her mane, and although she whimpered from the little pangs of pain running through her scalp, it didn’t compare to the terror of the sounds of the zebras shouting outside. They’re fighting over some burly stallion standing on that stage, prices calling out and profanity being thrown back and forth between bidders. Then she heard Jua humming to herself—a sweet melody that reverberated a warmth through Caligula’s bones.

Inside the walls of our mother’s home

With the fresh smells of the grass and brome

We sit around the fire and tell our stories

About all the dirt and grime and inglories

Never have we thought to ourselves of the love that we share

Radiant and prominent in the wistful night air

But more of the sought after revenge

that has been the heart of pony’s goals

Something destroys us more and more

until what we no longer see are souls

So in light we must see

In the mirrors we are free

And so will we ever be

Jua pulled away from Caligula once she ran the brush through the filly’s tail one last time. She stared at Caligula, her eyes soft and searching, watching as a small spark gleamed in her eyes. She patted Caligula on the head.

“When you walk out there, Caligula,” Jua said. “Fear will grip your mind and pain will rattle your bones, but never forget that hope is ever present and willing to lend a hoof when you most need it. You may be a filly, but I’ve seen younger than you make masters quiver with fear in their shoes.” She rose and pushed Caligula towards the door leading towards the sounds of the auction. “From small beginnings comes great adventures. No matter what you think, you will always be in control of yours.”

The door to the plaza opened and Caligula was met with the full frontal force of the sounds of the auction. Zebras shouting prices, handlers yelling over the zebras to get the slaves moving, and auctioneers shouting over both the zebras and handlers over who currently had the highest bid. Again, Caligula’s ears flopped back against the sides of her head as she did her best to drown at the noise. She looked back towards Jua, but instead she found the door to the warehouse closed behind her and Jua nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s get moving, filly!” a zebra yelled at Caligula, fastening a collar around her neck that was connected to a leash. “You are slotted to be next on the list for the stage!”

Caligula whimpered and looked down at the collar around her neck, but before she was able to get a good look at it the zebra yanked on the leash. She yelped and was promptly dragged forward, being led around the the back of the stage to stand behind a stack of crates that hid slaves who were next in line from view. She stared forward, up the steps and onto a large stallion earth pony who stood at the center of the stage. The leash attached to his own collar was secured to the stage by a peg.

“And that’s five thousand kipandes!” the zebra standing on the stage said over the roar of the zebras in the crowd. He wore a large brimmed hat, his pierced ears sticking up along the sides of the bowl of the hat. His legs were covered in all sorts of ornate rings, and his teeth had been filed down into fangs. “Do I hear five thousand five hundred kipandes? Five point five thousand kipandes? Anypony? Ah, you there? No? Well, how about you? Come on now, he’s a big, healthy stallion. Just look at him!”

Caligula cringed as she watched the stallion hang his head. She saw from his posture that he wanted to burst into tears, but the fear from what the other zebras might do to him kept his eyes dry.

“No more bids?” the zebra on stage asked one more time. “Then sold to Mr. Koni!”

Caligula watched as a large zebra with a thick goatee stepped on stage. His face was covered in piercings and his tail was trimmed very short. He carried a scimitar across his back as well as padding strapped to his knees and his underbelly. Mr. Koni hoofed over a bag filled with what was unmistakably kipandes, then picked up the leash and led the stallion of stage. When the both pony and zebra left the stage, there was a huge roar of applause.

“How about that, eh?” the zebra on stage said. “We all know where that stallion is going! He’s going to make a fine, oh so fine, addition to Mr. Koni’s personal army. Wouldn’t you all agree?” There was a cheer and the zebra smiled. “I thought so. Well, I’m sure you all will get a kick for what’s up next on our list. Strong, muscular stallions are all well and good. They can tend your crops, provide as bodyguards, even act as… entertainers.” There were a few whistles from the mares in the crowd. “However, there is one type of pony that we all are looking for who is worth more than ten of those stallions.” A few whispers ran through the crowd. “I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. Bring her up!”

The zebra holding Caligula’s leash gave a yank, and together they made their way up the steps and onto the platform. The entire crowd looked on in silence, watching the filly as she was led to the center of the platform, then had her leash secured to the stage. Caligula refused to look at the crowd, her head held low and staring at the ground and her hooves, scanning over the grooves in the wood of the platform.

The zebra who pulled Caligula up onto stage gave her a shove so that her body faced the crowd, then he pushed her head up so that she was no longer staring at the floor. She watched in horror from all of the zebras looking up at her. Zebras with face piercings and tattoos, with expensive dresses and suits or tattered armor, with rings around their legs and wrappings around their tails.

The whispers, however, were the worst. Whispers of her being a blank flank, whispers of the jobs she can do, whispers of how beautiful and innocent she really looked. Fresh for the taking, ripe for the picking. She was going to be a master’s entertainer, a simple maid, a toy for the house guards. She could be used as a sacrifice, she could be used as a diplomat. Caligula stood, gazing out on the crowd with fear shaking her legs.

“Hailing from the southern coasts of Equestria,” the zebra on stage said cheerily, “she retained the dark coat that is usually prominent of the unicorns in the area. Beautiful blue eyes, eloquent and uniquely colored mane and tail, she is quite a sight to behold. How many of you would agree?” There were nods and more whispers from the crowd. “Inspection starts… now. You have ten minutes.”

Several zebras rushed forward to the stage, scrambling up the other side where a small gate was located. They then crowded around Caligula, who whimpered and tried to back away from them as they approached. The zebra announcer, smiling as widely as he could manage, blocked the filly from back peddling anymore and kicked her in the flank, forcing her to stand up straight and stay where she was.

A tall zebra decked out in various piercings and chains linked to his body stepped forward, taking charge of all of the zebras that were crowded around Caligula. He stared down at her, then roughly placed a hoof on the top of her head and jerked it around, closely inspecting her cheeks and her jaw. All of the zebras around the two began muttering to themselves and casting side glances at each other.

Satisfied, the tall zebra then pushed open Caligula’s mouth and moved her head around, making sure that all of the zebras around the filly received a good look. More murmurs arose from the crowd of zebras, followed by a few nods and a very quiet whimper from Caligula herself. The zebra pulled his hoof back and allowed her to close her mouth. She did so, but then stared up at the zebra with wide eyes when she saw him twirling his hoof around in a circle.

Tears flooded Caligula’s eyes and she very slowly turned around, keeping her tail tucked tightly between her legs. When she finally had spun completely around, the zebra auctioneer forced Caligula’s face to the floor and stared down at her with hard eyes.

“Don’t you dare move, filly,” he said quietly to her, “or you’ll regret it.”

The cold stare disappeared from his eyes and he looked back up once again to the other zebras crowded around Caligula. He nodded his head at what was probably the tall zebra, and it didn’t take long for the filly to realize what the zebras were doing when she felt a hoof on her flanks. More tears rolled down her face when she felt her tail getting pushed out of the way, and she hardly managed to refrain from shaking as she heard one last murmur run through the crowd of zebras who were up on stage.

After what felt like an eternity for Caligula, she finally felt the zebra letting go of her tail. The auctioneer shoved Caligula’s head back up to the upright position, then spun her around.

“That’s it!” the auctioneer said, holding a hoof in the air. “Inspection is over. You may all return to the crowd.”

The zebras on stage filed down the steps one after the other, some occasionally throwing a few last glances towards the tearful and humiliated filly. Caligula stood staring at her hooves, her tail tucked tightly between her hind legs.

“Right! Well then.” The announcer ran a hoof through his mane and smiled at the crowd. “She’s quite the beautiful specimen, wouldn’t you all agree?” He paused as he heard several mutterings of approval from the crowd. “Good, good… I thought as much. Well, let’s start the bids, shall we? One thousand kipandes!”

Caligula looked up and caught a zebra out in the crowd raise his hoof in the air. The auctioneer pointed at the zebra.

“One thousand five hundred kipandes!”

More hooves rose into the air and Caligula’s breath caught in her throat. One of the zebras was wearing tattered armor.

“Two thousand kipandes! Three thousand kipandes!” A hoof went down. “Four thousand kipandes! Five thousand kipandes!” Several more hooves went down.

Caligula’s eyes snapped back down to her hooves as fresh tears rolled down her face. They all wanted her. Not just the wealthy looking zebra mares, but also mercenaries and what looked like zebra merchants, too. She was just a filly, a blank flank, yet that is what everypony wanted.

“Six thousand kipandes!”

Her hooves shook under her knees. The mercenaries had all put their hooves down, but there were also no longer any wealthy looking zebra mares bidding either. As prices rose on her purchase, Caligula felt as if the world was slowing down more and more.

“Seven thousand kipandes! Eight thousand kipandes!”

The note from her parents burned against Caligula’s hoof, and the mere thought of them brought more tears to her eyes. They had to give her up, no, they were forced to give her up. They couldn’t pay with what they had, so they had to pay with some other sort of currency.

“Eight thousand five hundred kipandes!”

The hooves in the air were quickly receding. Caligula was nothing but a product, an object, a payment; something that had physical monetary value. The mind that she had, the emotions that she carried, no longer gave weight to what other ponies thought of her. Her blank flank was all that had worth now.

“Eight thousand five hundred kipandes going once!”

Caligula stood on the stage waiting for somepony to give her some kind of price tag.

“Eight thousand five hundred kipandes going twice!”

She looked up and stared at the sole remaining hoof in the air. It was from the tall zebra.

“Sold! To Mister Nyeusi from the Red Sun house!”

Chapter 3: House of the Red Sun

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 3

Whoazambique left many foreign visitors awestruck by the sheer originality of the city. Standing out as the major port for Zebrica, creatures from all over the world were met with ornately sculpted and decorated buildings. Roofs rose high into the air in massive domes, obelisks depicted knowledge and history from known Zebrican tribes tales and folklore, and narrow streets with tarps draped from rooftops so as to protect citizens from the sunlight. And since Zebrica lacked any major forests because of its vast deserts and harsh climates, most buildings were built from sturdy sandstone compared to the wooden and stone structures from other countries. Albeit not quite as strong as the other materials, sandstone proved a much better choice so as to easily keep buildings cooler than outside.

Dragged down one of the narrow Zebrican streets, Caligula could not hold back her curiosity over the vastly different atmosphere that Whoazambique held for her. Nyeusi had said nary a word to her since he dragged her off of the auction stage, instead preferring to move through the crowded streets quickly with the leash held in his mouth. Caligula was left to her thoughts, to which she took the time to observe the city as she was hastily pulled through the maze of the city.

Early on it became clear that Jua’s advice was correct, and that many of the citizens within Whoazambique went about their ways without so much as throwing a glance Caligula’s way. Even the slaves, other ponies or zebras who had leashes pulling them along and strange wraps around their tails, didn’t look at her, instead with most keeping their eyes pointed at the ground that moved under their hooves. The little filly’s ears slowly folded back against her head, feeling that even if nopony paid any attention to her, it was as if the entire world had its eyes on her back.

Nyeusi and Caligula passed by small shop vendors who would spread out their wares on any piece of ground that wasn’t expected to become trampled by hooves as ponies walked by. If there was an open alley or a lesser tread speck of ground, it was possible to find a zebra trying to sell something. Food, magical trinkets, dishes, plants, strange powders and odd smelling potions that made Caligula’s nose wrinkle.

“Carrots! Fresh Carrots!”

“Get your lucky wards here! Everything to keep the spirits out of your homes!”

“Want to find the zebra of your dreams? Don’t worry, I have a potion for that!”

Caligula squeezed her ears tighter against her head, trying to block out the noise from all of the vendors. They were visible everywhere she turned, but it was clear that there was one spot within the city that they were centrally located. Even with all of the noise the vendors made on the individual streets, towards the center of the city came the unmistakable whir of noise that could only belong to a market.

It quickly became clear to Caligula that the residential part of the city that was closer to the docks was supposed to be ponies who had some kind of lesser income or wealth than others in the city. As the tall building with the many statue’s on its roof came closer and closer, the buildings all around her became larger and more beautifully furbished than the ones she left behind. Houses and apartments with beautiful palm trees, fruit trees, and lush grass covered their yards, and banners and tapestries hung from windows to depict certain kinds of symbols or paintings. Even the roofs here were more beautiful, ranging from different colors other than red and brown.

Not soon after Nyeusi and Caligula transitioned to the wealthier district did they come to a stop at a large iron gate. The gate connected to a small sandstone wall that spanned around the garden of a magnificent manor, with outer walls that looked made of white plaster and a light blue roof that covered the entire building. A walkway lead through the gate and around a fountain that sprayed water from the mouth of a tall zebra mare, who wore a dress that flowed as if it were rippling in the wind.

A zebra waiting behind the gate unlatched the lock and pulled it open. Nyeusi nodded his thanks to the zebra and then stepped through, pulling Caligula along with him. She was lead up around the walkway and past the fountain, with which both she and her master were met by two zebras standing guard in front of a set of massive, wooden double doors. Nyeusi hoofed over Caligula’s leash to one of the guards.

“Welcome back, sir,” the other guard said, bowing. “The auction was a success, then?”

“More than just a success,” Nyeusi said, his voice deep and commanding. “Take a look at what kind of filly I managed to acquire.”

The guard cocked an eyebrow and left his post, taking a look at Caligula. When he found nothing out of the ordinary from her, he began to circle and stopped, his eyes drifting onto her flank. Caligula tried to make herself look smaller, but the guard ignored her and returned his gaze back to Nyeusi.

“A blank flank?” the guard asked, surprised. “No one out bid you?”

“Not this time,” Nyeusi replied with satisfaction. “She’s still young, too young to be of much use yet, but given enough time I might be able to attract some of the other houses to my parties. Today was an off day for most of the other higher bidders, fortunately.”

The guard nodded. “A stroke of luck, I tell you. The Red Sun is always a good omen.”

“That it is.” Nyeusi turned to the other guard holding Caligula’s leash. “Take her to the slave organizer so that she can receive her introductions and assignments.” The guard nodded and turned to leave, but Nyeusi opened his mouth again. “And take her through the slave quarters door this time, not the guards barracks. I will not be having the whole house know that we have a blank flank until the slave organizer has spoken with her. Is that clear?”

The guard nodded again, then tugged on Caligula’s leash, leading her away from the double doors and down another path that snaked around the building.

“In any case,” Nyeusi said to the first guard, “this calls for a celebration, so I would like for you to-”

His voice disappeared as the guard lead Caligula around the back of a beautifully cut bush wall. Back here a set of doors that remained opened led to the inside of the manor, but the guard carrying Caligula’s leash merely walked past them. Voices were heard inside; deep and heavy ones that no doubt belonged to mercenaries that were being stationed in the manor. Caligula’s tail tucked between her legs and she hurried her pace a little bit, walking closer to the guard who led the way.

Once they were far from the opened doors, they came to another door that remained closed. The guard stopped at the door, pulled out a set of keys from a pouch that sat on his side, and unlocked the door. When he pulled the door opened, voices that were speaking inside immediately fell silent. When Caligula peered around the guard, she was met with many other eyes of both ponies and zebras.

The guard tugged on Caligula’s leash and pulled her through the door, and the voices resumed for only a moment before there were several gasps off to Caligula’s side. She turned to look in the direction of two earth ponies and a zebra and saw that they were staring at her. No, they were staring at her flank, to which Caligula released a small whimper.

“She’s a blank flank,” an earth pony whispered.

“A blank flank? Here?” the other earth pony asked.

“Look.”

Slowly the rest of the room trained all of their eyes on Caligula, and the whispers started to fly. Caligula’s eyes shot to the floor, keeping her head low and her ears flat against her head in the hopes that maybe it would block out the sound. Unfortunately, she still heard all of their whispers.

“She’s a unicorn.”

“Blank flank.”

“How did Nyeusi get her? Did he buy her from somepony else?”

“What do you think will be done with her?”

“Blank flank.”

“She’s quite pretty.”

“Look at her little hooves!”

“The poor thing…”

“Blank flank.”

Finally the guard led Caligula through another pair of doors and then down a narrow hallway. A plush rug covered the bare floor underneath, and large windows covered one side of the hall as they looked out into what was unmistakably the backyard of the manor. Two more fountains lay out in the garden that had statues similar to the one in the front, and orchards of mango and papaya trees spread out down two long rows to the sandstone wall in the back. Mahogany tables and chairs covered the top of a beautiful stone patio, with umbrellas poking up through the middle of each table.

Strange looking birds of a variety of colors soared over the trees and perched themselves on the branches, singing beautiful melodies that put the birds back in Equestria to shame. For a moment Caligula almost wanted to ask the guard if they could wait for a moment so that she could listen, but when she felt the sudden tug on her collar she threw every notion of such an idea out the window.

This time the guard and Caligula came to a stop at a large wooden door, and the guard knocked. After a few moments the door opened and a thin zebra mare poked her head out. She noticed the leash attached to Caligula’s collar, and she opened the door the rest of the way, allowing for the guard and the filly to step through.

Inside the room a desk sat in the center with paintings covering the walls. Several pillows lay stacked up against the side of the desk with little frills attached to the sides, and there were plants decorating every corner of empty space.

The guard attached Caligula’s leash to a tack that was nailed to the desk, before he spun around on his hooves and trotted out. The zebra mare shut the door behind him with a quiet click, then turned to face Caligula. She had several multi-colored piercings in her ears and wore gold rings on all four of her hooves.

“Well now, what do we have here?” the mare asked, slowly advancing on Caligula. “Nyeusi is leaving me in charge of foals now? What kind of ma-” She stopped when her eyes fell onto Caligula’s flank, whose tail slowly wrapped around her hooves as she sat down. “Oh, you’re a blank flank. I wonder how he managed to acquire somepony such as yourself?”

The mare walked around Caligula and then took a seat behind the desk, flipping open a book and taking a quill from an ink well. She began writing something into the book, leaving Caligula in silence for several minutes. The filly fidgeted in place, her eyes slowly drifting around the room.

“So, blank flank,” the mare said, snapping Caligula back to her. “What’s your name?”

“C-caligula, ma’am,” Caligula said quietly.

“Speak up more,” the mare said, writing something down. “Slaves will not be asked to repeat what they have said if the other fails to recognize what they have said.” Caligula nodded. “Good. At least you’re quiet, nonetheless. Those slaves down in the slave quarters are a fucking noisy bunch.”

Caligula winced and looked at the floor. The zebra mare finished writing something else into the book before setting the quill down.

“Now, you will address me as Mistress Sandra, understood?” the mare asked. Caligula nodded again. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Y-yes, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula said, trying to sound a little louder.

“You will always address me as such whenever I am speaking to you,” Mistress Sandra said curtly, “and you will always address Mister Nyeusi as Master Nyeusi. He is your master now and you will remember as such.” She clicked her tongue. “You are his property, and therefore you will always remain in his possession until he says otherwise. That means that, like all of his other possessions, you will remain here in the house unless otherwise instructed, and you will take orders from those that he has given command to give orders. Those ponies include Mister Nyeusi, his wife, myself, guests of Mister Nyeusi, and guards upon certain requests.”

“Yes, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula said in a shaky voice.

“Good, now, under no circumstances should you ever disobey any commands given to you or leave the house premises. Disobeying commands is punishable under whipping, solitary confinement, starvation, and larger workloads. Leaving the premises is punishable under whipping or death. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula replied, nodding her head quickly. Her whole body shook under the guidelines that Mistress Sandra was laying out for her.

“Being that you are a filly,” the zebra went on, “you are restricted from entering places such as the guard barracks and the family apartments located on the top floor. In no circumstances are you to enter such an area or you will be met with… painful consequences.”

“Yes, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula said one more time, her voice hardly above a squeak.

Mistress Sandra sat back in her chair and stared at Caligula for a moment, her eyes tracing over the filly’s face. She had eyes that felt like needles boring into her skin, and Caligula wanted to look away if she didn’t fear for what would happen to her if she did.

“Mister Nyeusi has been trying to acquire a blank flank filly for a long time now,” Mistress Sandra said. “For the most part, auctions down at the docks usually attract the attention of one of the wealthier houses here in Whoazambique and Zevera, and for zebras like Mister Nyeusi he can’t hope to compete with such ponies. But now he has you…” She leaned forward.

“I-I don’t understand, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula squeaked, remember what Jua had said. “Blank flanks are really that p-popular?”

“They most certainly are,” Mistress Sandra said. “And a blank flank unicorn pony, no doubt. The innocence that the likes of you carry within you is a commodity sought after by the wealthiest in the nation. Zebras will pay sums up to fifty thousand kipandes to get their hooves on somepony such as you.”

“So, that means that… that Master Nyeusi is very proud to have a pony like me?” Caligula asked.

Mistress Sandra chuckled and stepped around the desk approaching Caligula. “Don’t let the thought of you being a blank flank forget the fact that you are just a slave, child. You still must adhere to the rules of the house, and failure to do so results in very much the same sort of consequences that a pony with a cutiemark should suffer from.” Her voice grew ice cold. “You’re smart; very dangerous for a pony of your stature. If you’re not careful, saying something like that could earn you a few lashes on the block.”

Caligula shrank back and her tail tightened around her hooves. “Y-yes, Mistress Sandra. I won’t say s-something like that ever again.”

“Very good.” Mistress Sandra straightened herself out. “If that will be all, I already have a few assignments for you to complete.” She walked back to her desk and picked up a piece of paper. “Mister Nyeusi is hosting a party tonight and he is going to need table clothes washed and pressed before then. You will find slaves already working on the order in the laundry room.”

“Yes, Mistress Sandra,” Caligula said as she bowed her head. She felt the leash attached to her collar coming undone.

“Very good,” Mistress Sandra said, tossing the leash away. She then pulled a long, white strip of cloth from the desk and walked to behind Caligula. “I don’t know if you noticed on your way over here, slaves here in Whoazambique are required to wear a tail wrap so that they may be easily recognized by the rest of the citizens. Stand up and lift your tail.”

Caligula did so, standing back onto her hooves and lifting her tail like she was asked. Fresh memories flashed before her eyes and she whimpered, feeling the strip of cloth wrapping around the base of her tail. When Mistress Sandra was done, she tied the tail wrap off and walked back behind the desk.

“You are free to leave.”

Mistress Sandra looked at Caligula for a moment longer, then sat back down and began looking over the mess of papers on her desk. Caligula took her cue and turned, exiting out of the room and back out into the hall. Nopony lay in sight, and the filly stopped in front of one of the large windows and stared out. A trio of birds circled around each other above a mango tree, their blissful chirps putting Caligula’s heart at ease for a moment.

How can this be happening? Caligula thought to herself. She felt the paper tucked under her manacle burn against her skin for a moment. What could possibly have… happened to my parents for them to do this?

The birds all landed on one of the branches and began sticking their long beaks through the feathers on their wings, preening themselves. Caligula sighed and rested her head on the window sill.

Will I ever see them again?

Staring only for a moment longer, she then turned off and trotted down the hall and back towards the slave quarters. The tail wrap around her tail felt odd and out of place, and it took all of her composition to not walk with some sort of funny limp when she stepped into the room. Upon seeing her with the tail wrap, everypony inside fell quiet.

Caligula stared into the room, her blood running cold and her tail slowing tucking to in between her legs. With a gulp, she walked up to the nearest pony near her; a small, creme colored pegasus mare.

“Um, excuse me, miss,” Caligula started, “could you tell me where the laundry room is?”

The pegasus mare hesitated for a moment, then said, “It’s down the hall to Mistress Sandra’s office and off to the left.”

“Th-thank you,” Caligula said quietly.

When she left the room, she heard the voices inside resume once again. She knew what they were all talking about, which only kicked her trot into a near gallop as she sped off down the hall to the laundry room.

Chapter 4: Starting from Scratch

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 4

Caligula stumbled back down the hall towards the slave quarters. Night had long since fallen outside, blanketing the entire yard in darkness that left the orchards of fruit trees obscured to anypony who happened to look outside. All that remained visible was the patio that basked in flickering light from torches that ran around the outer boundaries. Several of Master Nyeusi’s guests sat out on the patio, sitting around several of the tables and talking amongst themselves in some sort of language that Caligula didn’t understand.

There came a low growling sound and a pain from Caligula’s stomach, and when she looked down she realized that it was her own stomach that was doing the growling. Not once had she eaten today, not ever since when she was unloaded off of the ship. From the auction all the way until she completed the last of the tasks that Mistress Sandra gave her, Caligula never managed to get a bite to eat. The trek down the hall and towards the slave quarters felt much longer now.

The filly groaned as she felt some of the achiness from her legs shift itself into her back. Never in her eight years had she been requested to work so vigorously and at such a speedy pace. What started as a simple order to clean tablecloths for Master Nyeusi’s party had turned into her running about the house to not only be given introductions by some of the head slave staff, but collecting various tools for other slaves to use for the party preparations. On top of that, the smells that were wafting from the kitchen several halls down from Caligula’s location didn’t help her current predicament.

Caligula pushed open the door to the slave quarters and stopped in her tracks. She stared around the room, finding that many of the beds were occupied by slaves who had already turned themselves in for the night. Whether or not their shifts for the day were over was unclear to her, as these slaves may be woken up to help with something or another that may need doing, but for now they rested peacefully.

The door swung shut with a click behind the filly and she spotted a bunk bed off in the corner of the room that held an empty lower bunk. Sighing to herself, she tread across the room, dragging her hooves all of the way to the edge of the bunk, to which she promptly climbed onto the stiff mattress and lay herself down. She shifted around so that she stared up at the bed above her.

It’s better than sleeping on the wooden boat, Caligula thought to herself. Her stomach growled. It’s probably too late to get anything to eat…

Even as hungry as she was, Caligula felt her eyes getting heavy. She rolled over onto her side so that she may shut her eyes and go to sleep, but she was met with the big, green eyes of a zebra filly. Caligula yelped and scooted backwards into the wall, her ears falling flat against her head.

The zebra’s eyes widened and she lifted her forehooves onto the mattress, waving them at Caligula.

“No no, don’t be frightened!” the zebra pleaded in a whisper. “I was just... um…”

Caligula rolled onto her stomach, although she still kept her distance with her flank pressed up against the wall.

“I-I’m not taking your bed, am I?” Caligula asked weakly.

“You, uh… well, you kind of are,” the zebra answered quietly. She noticed Caligula moving on the bed and quickly waved her hooves again. “No, no! You can take it. I’ll take the bunk above. Nopony sleeps up there.”

Caligula stopped and curled her tail around her hooves. “Are you sure? I don’t mean to be a bother… I can take the top bunk.”

The filly looked Caligula up and down and shook her head. “From the looks of it you wouldn’t be able to make it up there anyways.” She climbed onto the bed when she saw Caligula look down at her hooves. “I saw that you were working pretty hard today. It’s tough for anypony’s first day.”

Caligula rested her head on her hooves and turned away, staring off towards the doors to the slave quarters. Several ponies and zebras entered the slave quarters while several others left, apparently switching shifts. The ponies and zebras walking into the room looked as exhausted as Caligula felt.

“I’m Jade,” the zebra said, scooting closer to Caligula. “Um… what’s your name?”

Caligula looked up, her eyes meeting the green eyes of Jade once again. “C-caligula.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Caligula,” Jade said with a small smile.

“It’s, um, yeah…” Caligula squeaked, fumbling with her hooves. “You saw me working today?”

“Yeah huh,” Jade said with a nod. “Mistress Sandra was sending you every which way through the whole house. I don’t think I’ve seen somepony work that hard on their first day in a long while. Usually she at least gives the work to some other ponies, too. She seems pretty interested in you.”

“Her and everypony else in the city,” Caligula said.

Jade’s ears folded back against her head and it was hard for her eyes to not dart right to Caligula’s blank flank.

“Well, yeah,” she said. “I heard that blank flanks are pretty popular here…”

Caligula’s eyes left Jade’s and for the first time she looked over the rest of the zebra filly. Unlike many of the other zebras found all over Whoazambique, she had yet to receive any piercings to her body or wear any rings around her hooves. Instead her face was left untarnished to the metal, although it was unclear for how long that will remain. Jade’s stripes looked very similar to other zebras, and her mohawk of a mane made the rest of her head look comically small. On her flank was a picture of an odd triangular shape with circles placed on each of the sides.

Then Caligula’s stomach growled and she winced, watching as Jade’s eyes glanced down at her.

“Was that your stomach?” Jade asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Caligula said, curling up. “I’m not that hungry.”

“I’m guessing that you weren’t even fed before or after the auction today,” Jade said, and her face softened when she saw Caligula look away. “And Mistress Sandra had you running around so much today that I know that you couldn’t have slipped in a bite to eat.”

“Would we even be able to get some food at this time?”

Jade waved her hoof and smiled. “Of course we can. Although slaves are not allowed to eat certain foods, it’s not like we can only eat when we’re told.” She hopped off of the bed. “Come on, I’m sure that Chef Lovelock will have something for you.”

Hesitating for only a moment, Caligula rose to her hooves and followed Jade off of the bed. The zebra smiled at her when she saw that Caligula was following, then turned and made a beeline right for the doors out of the slave quarters. Caligula followed in tow, her hooves weak under her weight even if she looked as skinny as a rail.

“So, how do you like Master Nyeusi’s house so far?” Jade asked without looking behind her.

The two fillies pushed their way through the slave quarter doors and back out into the hall. They turned down the corridor leading towards Mistress Sandra’s office and the patio.

“Well, it’s… it’s big,” Caligula answered quietly. “It’s bigger than any other place I’ve seen or been to, I think.”

“You’ve never been to Canterlot?” Jade added, glancing behind her. She saw Caligula’s face droop and she cringed. “Sorry, I… I just thought that since you’re a pony that you were maybe from…”

“No, it’s okay,” Caligula said with a sigh. “My mom and dad never took me far from our home town. Our largest building was the town center and it was maybe half of the size of this entire house.”

“Oh.” Jade fell silent for a moment, staring down at the floor as they walked down the hall together. “Where are your parents now?”

Caligula didn’t answer, instead pointedly looking away from Jade while she felt her parent’s note burn against her fur under the manacle. The thought of her parents at a time like this didn’t bring the smallest inkling of vivacity. She didn’t want to imagine what might be running through their heads right now or if she will even have the chance to see them again. Instead her eyes drifted onto the zebras who were speaking amongst each other outside, their strange language still perplexing Caligula.

“What are they saying?” Caligula asked.

“Oh, Master Nyeusi’s guests?” Jade said as she picked up their pace. “There are two types of languages spoken here in Zebrica, and the most common one used is the one that you’re familiar with: Equestrian. However, Equestrian is not Zebrica’s official language, that instead going to the zebra’s native language Zebrish.”

“Zebrish? If that’s Zebrica’s official language, why haven’t I heard the language at all until tonight?”

“The language is sacred to zebras,” Jade replied solemnly. “Zebrish will only be spoken with zebras who are deemed trustworthy, and only under the roofs of trustworthy houses. It’s never spoken out in the streets, to tourists, or to slaves out of respect. It’s not a law, really, but if you were to talk in Zebrish to anypony who isn’t worthy to hear the language you will have shamed yourself.” Jade looked back out onto the patio one last time before she and Caligula cleared the corridor. “Or if you fail to speak the language to somepony who is worthy you will have shamed them.”

Caligula took her eyes away from the party guests and looked down at her hooves. “Do you know how to speak any Zebrish?”

“I’m fluent,” Jade replied. “My mother taught me ever since I was able to speak, although my lessons couldn’t continue.”

“If you’re able to speak Zebrish,” Caligula said slowly, “does that make guests and Master Nyeusi more uncomfortable that you know a language that slaves are not supposed to be able to speak?”

“No, not really. Master Nyeusi knows that zebra slaves will probably know how to speak Zebrish since even our… homeless are taught, but he expects us not to speak it to him or each other.” She lead Caligula around a corner and the fresh smells from the kitchen hit Caligula’s nostrils like a hurricane. “Maybe he’s hoping that some of his slaves will forget it if they don’t speak it for long enough.”

“Oh.” Caligula opened her mouth again, but the smells from the kitchen were so strong that it clamped shut again when her stomach let out another growl. She saw Jade smirk next to her and her cheeks turned beet red.

“I won’t forget it, though,” Jade continued, staring off down the hall. “Zebrish is something that us zebras hold close to our hearts, and forgetting something like that would be like forgetting who we are. My mother once told me that zebras have spoken the language for thousands of years, never once changing or morphing to accommodate new languages that appear from new nations.” They stopped in front of a pair of heavy set wooden doors. “I practice everyday, even if it’s with myself, so that maybe I’ll be able to speak Zebrish against one day.”

Caligula searched Jade’s face as the filly continued to stare at the doors. “Nopony’s worried that you might get caught?”

Jade shook her head. “Nope. Most of them ignore me or give me funny looks.” She pushed open the door and stepped through, motioning for Caligula to follow her. “Come on, let’s get you some food before all of the good stuff is gone.”

Caligula followed behind Jade as they both walked into the kitchen. Ponies and zebras ran to and fro carrying pots, pans, and plates of all sizes and colors, either placing the dishes on stoves for cooking or in sinks for washing, or they were placed onto trolleys if they had food on them so that they may be rolled out and eaten by Master Nyeusi’s guests.

She eyed one particular plate that was piled high with all sorts of delectable fruit. Oranges, melons, strawberries, and mangoes piled on top of each other and freshly cut, their meat still moist and dripping with sweet juices. Caligula’s mouth watered over the fruit, and her stomach growled loudly as if it, too, knew what the filly was staring at. Thankfully, nopony in the room heard her as all of the clanging from the dishes and talking from the cooks drowned her out.

Jade ripped Caligula from eyeing the plate of fruit and made her way deeper into the kitchen, weaving in and out around ponies going about their jobs. Steam rose from some frying vegetables off to Caligula’s right, and somepony lifted the cover off of a massive pot to her left, allowing for the smell of some fresh mushroom and basil soup to seep into her nostrils. She felt as if she was on the verge of entering heaven with all of the delicious food that she would ever want within a hoof’s grasp.

Finally Jade stopped at the hooves of a hefty-looking zebra. He was rippling with muscle with a good layer of fat to hide his veins from bulging out of his skin, and his face was covered in gold and silver piercings. A scar covered his right eye, and his tail looked as if it had been cut off at one point or another.

The zebra chef stared down at Jade with an intimidating stare that sent Caligula into a fetal position, but Jade held her ground. She stared back up at the zebra with what looked like an attempt to mimic that stare, but all that she managed to do was curl her lower lip into a pout and puff her cheeks out a bit.

After a moment, the zebra burst out laughing, rearing onto his hind legs and kicking the air. When he landed back onto all four hooves, Jade giggled.

“Good to see that you still have cute face, little Jade,” the zebra said in a very heavy Zebrican accent. “Should you not be in bed? The moon nearly at top of sky and you still awake.”

“Oh, I’m here because my friend hasn’t had anything to eat here, Lovelock” Jade said simply with a smile.

Caligula threw a side glance at Jade while she was still cowering on the floor.

Friend? she thought to herself. She thinks I’m a friend? But we just met…

“She just came here today,” Jade added, “so you probably know that she hasn’t had anything to eat since she talked with Mistress Sandra.”

“You’re friend?” Lovelock repeated, lowering his head to get a closer look at Caligula. The filly squeaked and curled up even tighter, but he didn’t seem to care. “What’s your name, young one?”

“Caligula,” Caligula said quietly.

“Well, now you little Caligula,” Lovelock said with a smile, then lifted himself back up to his full height. “So you the little blank flank that the master picked up today?” Caligula winced, but Lovelock was already turned around and putting something into a frying pan. “The first one that Master Nyeusi ever gotten! Not for ten years have been blank flank filly walking halls of Red Sun house, but now here you are.”

“Th-thanks?” Caligula squeaked as she rose back onto her hooves.

“No compliment,” Lovelock said with a shake of his head. “Merely a statement. Blank flank dangerous for filly, but you no worry, though. Lovelock here to take care of little Caligula and little Jade.”

“Take care of me?” Caligula asked, cocking her head.

“Be like father,” Lovelock replied. “I cook, I clean, and I fix you up if you get hurt.”

“Like a father,” Caligula repeated, watching Lovelock as he slid a bunch of cooked lettuce and carrots out of the frying pan and onto a plate. He then placed the plate in a corner and nodded his head towards it, inviting Caligula to eat. One look at the plate, with its vegetables still steaming and mixed beautifully well even with its simplicity, was all that convinced her. She hopped over to the plate and dug in. The carrots tasted like the sweetest carrot cake, and the lettuce was crisp even if it had been cooked.

Jade sat down next to Caligula and tapped her hooves together happily. “How does it taste.” Caligula’s silence was more than enough of an answer for her, and she nodded over in Lovelock’s direction. “Good! You already looked really skinny, and I guess Lovelock noticed, too. He gave you a pretty large plate.”

Before Caligula knew it, most of the salad was gone. She looked up from her plate and smiled sheepishly, her gaze shifting around the room.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Caligula asked.

“Said about what?” Jade said with a cock of her head.

“About… about me being your friend.”

Jade smiled and scooted closer to Caligula, bumping hooves with her. “Of course I did, silly. Everypony needs a friend, and when I saw you on my bed something in me just clicked.” She made a clicking sound and Caligula smiled. “So… yes, I think you’re my friend.”

Caligula smiled and took Jade’s hoof in hers. “You’re my friend, too.”

For a moment it looked as if the two fillies would only stare at each other, but they finally burst into a fit of giggles and gave each other a hug. Jade’s body felt soft and warm, cozy and sweet for a hug that Caligula—admittingly—desperately needed.

“Thank you, Jade,” Caligula said with a smile.

Chapter 5: Off to a Good Start

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 5

Caligula wore a bandana over her head, pulling her mane back so as to keep little strands of hair away from her face. She lay bent over the patio to Master Nyeusi’s house, holding a brush in her mouth and carefully scrubbing the stones for any dirt or grime that remained after the master’s party. Food had been dropped, a drink spilled here and there, and some zebras managed to kick up some dirt onto the patio itself when they went walking into the garden. Nevermind the mess that was left behind inside of the house, outside looked as if some sort of riot erupted during the night.

With the beating Zebrican sun on her back and with how large the patio actually was, Caligula’s coat was soaked in her own sweat after having scrubbed for several hours. She looked up from her task over to where Jade sat, also bent over and scrubbing the patio with her. The little zebra filly smiled and waved over at Caligula, who waved back with a small smile of her own.

“The sun doesn’t make our job easy,” Jade said. She looked as sweaty and as tired as Caligula did.

“No, it really doesn’t,” Caligula said with a shake of her head. “You’d think that after scrubbing out here for so long that we’d become used to the heat.”

Jade giggled. “Oh come on, Cally, you’ve onl-”

“Did you just call me Cally?”

“Yes, I’m going to call you Cally.”

Caligula sat up and dropped her brush into a bucket of soapy water next to her. “Why Cally of all names?”

“It’s cute and I think it suits you well,” Jade replied, eyeing Caligula up and down. “Yup, it definitely suits you.”

Caligula groaned and crossed her forehooves over her chest. “Well, if you’re going to be calling me Cally, then I’m going to be calling you… calling you…” Her eyes slowly fell to the floor as she sat thinking of a good nickname for Jade.

“Can’t think of anything?” Jade asked with a sly smile.

“Hey, give me a second! I’ll think of something.”

Jade giggled again and went back to scrubbing. “Anyways, you’ve only been here for a couple of days and you’ve managed to scrub more of the patio than I have.”

“That’s only because you came late,” Caligula interjected, scrubbing the patio again as well.

“I was feeding Master Nyeusi’s birds!” Jade said. “And that’s not even my point. I’ve seen ponies come here and pass out from the heat way earlier than you. The heat here isn’t very forgiving and for most it’s way too much to handle.”

“I guess you could say that I’ve had experience with heat,” Caligula said. She scrubbed a particular nasty looking stain on the patio, slowly wiping the crust and discoloration away with each stroke of her brush.

“Why do you say that?” Jade asked, looking up from her scrubbing and glancing over at Caligula.

“Well, where I’m from our summers get to be pretty hot,” Caligula said. “Not as hot as here, but with the humidity that we get in southern Equestria it feels like we’re getting cooked alive some days.”

“You’re from southern Equestria? What’s it like there?”

“It’s beautiful. I mean, I haven’t seen much of the world, but I just know for a fact it’s beautiful.”

“Beautiful like… like forests and animals and weather beautiful?”

Caligula giggled. “Sort of. There was a little bit more to it than that, though.”

“Oh, oh!” Jade squeed. “Tell me about it.”

Caligula paused her scrubbing, staring at the floor for a moment. “There’s a lot to talk about, I suppose.” She sat up again and dropped her brush into the bucket. “I lived in a little town called Stableside that was near the southeastern-most tip of Equestria. There weren’t very many ponies there, but… but maybe that was a good thing? Everypony knew each other for the most part, so if something happened in town everypony knew within an hour.”

She glanced over at Jade and saw that the zebra filly had stopped scrubbing, although the brush still remained in her mouth. “Imagine a town full of dark wooden houses with red tiled roofs, all of which sloped downwards at the same angle and were connected together in long rows. Most houses would have their shutters open, curtains flying out of the windows whenever a breeze picked up as if the houses themselves waved to you. You’d want to wave back, but then you thought of how silly you would look at waving to something like a house.

“Nonetheless, with curtains flying in the sea air all around you, you’d walk down wide streets paved with brick roads and limestone sidewalks. Carts passed you as they traveled along the roads at a…” Caligula scrunched her nose up. “...a leshurly pace, ponies pulling or sitting in the carts and waving at you as they drove by. You’d wave back—you couldn’t help yourself—and maybe you’d be wondering what they might be doing that afternoon.

“Then you’d walk beyond the town’s limits and be met with a pretty dense forest. Colorful birds fly around your head, and small squirrels or chipmunks run up the trees or through the bushes as you walk past. Singing and chittering and the clip clop of your hooves leaves you with a melody unlike anything you could find in a theater ready for a music concert that night. So unique and beautiful that you feel like you have been drawn into painting worthy to be hung up somewhere in the halls of the castle back in Canterlot. Something that you only hear in the fairy tales that your mom or dad read to you before you went to sleep.

“And then you travel further, breaking the edge of the forest and meeting the beaches of the Eternal Sea. Sand stretches out for miles in either direction, disappearing into the horizon just as the sea itself disappears, almost as if you could see the very edge of the world. The breeze was stronger here, running through your mane and your tail. You felt alive, as if you were galloping for first place in a race or riding a wagon down the tallest hill that you could find.

“But the picture wasn’t complete until you saw the sunset.” Caligula looked down at her hooves and sighed. “Reds and pinks and oranges and yellows, all mixed together in a panorama that took your breath away. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, late one day on one of the beaches. You would sit there and stare at the sky until the last bits of the sunset disappeared, and all you’d be left with are the twinkling stars of the night shining overhead.”

A light breeze picked up, rustling both Caligula’s and Jade’s manes. Caligula’s ear twitched when she heard Jade drop her brush into the bucket, and she looked up just as the zebra sat down in front of her. Jade’s expression was soft and warm, a small smile pursed on her lips and her eyes brighter than ever.

“What you just told me, Cally,” Jade said, “it was beautiful.”

“It’s where I lived for my entire life,” Caligula said. “It’s all that I really knew and… and I loved it.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Jade added. “What you described is something that is terribly important to you, perhaps one of the most important memories that you hold close to your heart. It’s… it’s not really the place that you lived or that you grew up, it’s your home.”

“Do you think I’ll ever be able to go back?”

Jade looked side to side, to the orchards and then to the house. When she turned back to Caligula, she nodded her head vigorously, her large mane flopping around.

“If you keep that bit of hope in your heart,” Jade said as she poked Caligula in the chest, “and that memory close to you, one day I’m sure that you’ll find your way back. A place like this and a pony like Master Nyeusi can’t keep you cooped up forever.”

Caligula smiled and gave Jade a hug, the zebra filly jumping in surprise before she hugged her back.

“What’s this?” a voice asked off in the direction of the house. “The blank flank and the runt slacking off on the job when they should have the patio cleaned before sun down? Oh, Mistress Sandra won’t like this one bit.”

Caligula and Jade quickly released each other from their hug, backing away and turning to face whomever was speaking to them. At the door leading inside of the house stood two zebra mares and a pegasus mare, all of which wore the tail wraps and manacles of slaves. The one that stood at their head, a tall zebra mare with copper piercings on her eyebrows and ears, stood smirking at the two fillies. She then stepped forward, walking closer.

“I can only imagine what kind of punishment that Mistress Sandra will have for you two,” she added. “Only your third day here at the Red Sun House and you’ve already been caught, blank flank? You’re not off to a good start.”

“Leave her alone, Sori,” Jade growled.

Sori chuckled. “Why? What’s it to you if the blank flank gets a little reminding to do her job?”

Jade stepped in front of Caligula, who already lay cowering against the stone patio. She had her tail wrapped around her hooves and her eyes fixated on Sori.

“I said leave her alone.” Jade said, her voice cracking. “Don’t you have your own jobs to do?”

“Well, yes,” Sori with a shrug, “but what does it matter if I report a few ponies slacking off on the job? I’ll get a waiver, maybe even a decent meal if Mistress Sandra finds the issue dire enough, and you two will be left with your food privileges revoked for a few days.”

“Come on, Sori, Cally just got here. She’s not used to working like this or being in this kind of place. At least I have two years of experience, and you even more s-”

Sori stomped her hoof and growled at Jade. “Shut up, you fucking runt! I don’t care about her, she’s going to live the easy life anyways when she gets older. With a shake of her flank and a whip of her mane she’ll have all of the damn nobles fawning over her and you know it.”

“How do you know that?” Jade asked, backing up until she felt her hind hoof bump into Caligula’s side. “How do you know if she’ll be that type of pony? You don’t even know her.”

“All blank flanks are the same,” Sori said, her glare drifting from Jade to Caligula. “They know they’re important and they use it to their advantage. They won’t care about ponies like you once they step onto that dance floor and hear the cheers from their viewers. She may not be like that yet, but just you wait. When she’s older and pretty, you’re just going to be another slave at the bottom of the pile.”

“I… I wouldn’t ever do that…” Caligula piped up with a voice barely above a whisper.

Sori laughed, one of her forehooves stomping against stone floor. The zebra and pony behind her laughed as well, although it was forced.

“Oh, look at you!” Sori exclaimed. “You can tell jokes, too. You’re going to be a really hit with the nobles. Who knows, maybe Master Nyeusi will sell you and get rid of your stupid flank if one of those idiot nobles offers enough money for you.” She saw the look of hurt across Caligula’s face and smiled wider. “Oh yes, that’s right, Master Nyeusi might want to sell you for more money. Doesn’t that just tear you up inside, knowing that even though you might the most important slave of this house, you can still be sold like a dumb animal?”

Jade looked behind her and saw Caligula’s eyes watering up. She faced Sori again with her face scrunched up into a pout and her face turning a slight shade of red.

“Leave now, Sori,” Jade said coldly. “You’ve had your fun.”

“You’ve had plenty of opportunities to get back to work,” Sori chided. “You could have ignored me. Who knows, you might have even finished by now, but no, you felt the need to get involved with this little initiation here.” She turned and flicked her tail at the two fillies. “I did have half a mind to let you two off of the hook with Mistress Sandra, but now… well, you know. Good luck.”

Jade watched Sori walk back towards the doors to the house, sensing an air about the zebra like she wasn’t finished. She looked back at Caligula again and saw that she was still on the verge of tears. Her heart twisted up. Caligula didn’t deserve this kind of treatment, not today.

“Wait, Sori,” Jade said begrudgingly. “Is… is there anyway that we could convince you to not tell Mistress Sandra?”

Sori stopped and looked back. “You’re willing to strike a deal, are you? Oh wow, that’s just not like you at all.” She snickered and nodded at the pegasus and other zebra, who turned and went back inside. “Well, there is one thing. You see, the three of us are feeling impeccably tired today, so we were hoping to find some way to take the rest of the day off. Since you are so… willingly volunteering yourself, how about both you and the blank flank finish up the rest of our jobs, hm?”

Jade cringed and looked down at the floor.

“Y-yeah, we’ll do them for you,” she said.

“Good!” Sori exclaimed. “Now then, after you’re finished with the patio, you’re going to need to trim the front hedge, move potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and parsley from the basement up to the kitchens, and light the window sill candles on the third floor of the house. Think you can handle that?”

Caligula nodded her head while Jade grumbled something inaudible to herself. Sori straightened herself out and glared at the two fillies.

“Don’t forget what happens if you fail to do any of those chores,” Sori reminded, then turned and trotted back into the house.

Once Sori was inside, Caligula carefully got back onto her hooves and wiped her nose with a sniffle. From the corner of her eye she saw Jade pacing back and forth in front of her bucket of soapy water, muttering to herself. She felt cold all of a sudden, even with the sun still in the sky.

“J-jade, how are we going to finish all of those chores before sundown?” Caligula asked.

Jade didn’t answer, instead still pacing in front of her bucket. Caligula sighed.The zebra filly looked angry or frustrated, her snout scrunched up and her brows furrowed into a pout.

“Jade, are you there?” Still no answer aside from the mumbling. “Jade, come on, we need to hurry up and finish the patio.”

Jade hopped into the air, her eyes shooting open as wide as they could possibly go. She landed back onto the stone patio with a clip-clop of her hooves and turned to Caligula, who stared at her quizzically.

“I’ve got an idea, Cally,” Jade said.

“Jade… you heard what Sori said,” Caligula said. “If we don’t finish these chores, she’s going to tell Mistress Sandra about us not doing our jobs.”

“Don’t worry about Mistress Sandra for now, I think I know a way that we can get back at Sori and avoid doing those three’s jobs at the same time.”

Caligula’s ears perked, clearly interested, but she still searched Jade’s eyes, unsure of her intentions.

“How do you think we’ll manage that?” Caligula asked. “If Sori finds out that we aren’t doing any of our jobs, she’s going to go straight to Mistress Sandra and tell her about us.”

“Then we’re just going to have to be fast,” Jade answered, smiling. “Come on, I’ll explain while we finish up cleaning the patio.”

~~~

Sori lay in her bed all covered up and comfortable under a pile of blankets. With Caligula and Jade off doing the rest of her chores for her, she now had the extra time to kick back and relax with her hooves up. Her bones and muscles felt as if they were releasing pound after pound of pressure as she sunk lower into the stiff slave’s bed, sending shivers up and down along her spine and a causing her to release a little sigh.

“I was surprised that the zebra runt cut a deal with you, Sori,” the pegasus asked from the bed next to her’s.

“I was surprised, too,” Sori replied, digging herself deeper into the bed. “That filly always takes Mistress Sandra’s punishments over doing anything for us. Just to spite us. Making that deal with her… It was unusual.”

“Maybe she’s looking out for the blank flank?” the pegasus suggested?

Sori shook her and growled. “If she is then she is a fool. The blank flank’s not going to care what happens to her once she’s picked to start taking those dance lessons. She may be the only other filly among the slaves in this house, but that’s really striking me as desperate.”

“The blank flank did look sincere with her words,” the pegasus observed.

“Of course she did,” Sori said. “She just got here. She has no idea what kind of world she’s been thrown into, let alone what is expected of her within the coming years. I’d like to feel sorry for a pony like her, but then again all blank flanks turn into haughty cunts who sit on their high…” Sori stopped and rolled her eyes. “You get what I mean.”

The pegasus snorted and opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut short when the door to the slave quarters slammed open. Both the pegasus and Sori lifted their heads to see who it was. Jade stood in the doorway out of breath and looking around the entire slave’s quarters. Only Sori and the pegasus sat in there.

“Sori, you have to come quick,” Jade said after taking a deep breath. “Somepony’s been hurt over in the south halls and we need help getting them to the clinic.”

Sori groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. “There are plenty of slaves in this house. Why couldn’t you go find one of them?”

“They’re all busy!” Jade protested with a stomp of her hoof. “Come on, Sori, Cally and I can’t do this by ourselves.”

Sori rolled out of bed and stretched. “Fine, but if I find out that this is some kind of trick of yours…”

Jade had already ran off, forcing Sori to break into a brisk trot to keep up with the little zebra filly. They wound their way through the halls, passing by the stairs that led up to the higher floors of the house where the guests and family stayed. A massive chandelier hung in the very center of the room, the candles being lit by one of the pegasus slaves. The candles on that chandelier totalled over two hundred, Sori knew, allowing for the light fixture to illuminate every bit of the massive hall that marked the entrance of the house.

They then passed through the pool room, which housed a multitude of different pools full of a variety of fish. Salt water fish, fresh water fish, eels, stingrays, and then a whole bunch of much smaller fish. The air smelt fresh and salty in here and Sori nearly stopped herself so that she may be able to take a moment to take in the beauty of the room.

Jade led the two of them on, however, and finally they came to the entrance to the southern halls of the house. Jade bounded through a crack in the doors leading in the halls that was just small enough for a filly to fit through. Sori stopped at the door and rolled her eyes, and then began to put her shoulder to work as she pushed the heavy door open further to allow her through.

To Sori’s misfortune, however, her attempts to open the door were met with a tidal wave of water as a bucket of water sitting at the top of the door tipped and landed right on her head. Now blinded by the bucket, Sori came barreling into the hall and tripped over her hooves, slamming into the ground on her face.

“Jade! Get back here you little runt!” Sori shouted, her voice muffled by the bucket. She attempted to pull the bucket off of her head, pushing her hind hooves against the rim of the bucket with all of her might.

Jade hopped from her hiding place behind the massive door with a cat o nine tails in her mouth. She wasn’t quite sure what this was used for, but upon closer inspection she had noticed that using the floppy end against a pony’s skin might sting a little. She looked over at Caligula who sat on top of a ledge next to a box of bricks. The filly unicorn waved to Jade and nodded her head.

Gripping the cat o nine tails in her mouth tighter, Jade whipped the tails across Sori’s flank, who yelped and immediately jumped to her hooves. With the bucket still on her head, she sprinted forward and right in a potted plant that stood in the center of the hall. Both Sori and the plant tumbled over, the pot breaking and Sori skidding to a stop a few meters beyond the crash. Her tail lay perfectly encircled in a rope.

Seeing her chance, Caligula pushed the box of bricks over the side of the ledge, leading to the rope catching around Sori’s tail and hoisting the zebra high into the air. She hung there, flailing about with the bucket still on her head.

Jade smiled and hopped up to Caligula’s position on the ledge. She held out a hoof, to which Caligula bumped it with her own hoof and they giggled.

“That couldn’t have gone more perfectly,” Jade said, watching as Sori went about trying to pull the bucket off of her head again.

“I will get you two fillies for this!” Sori shouted from the bucket. “I swear, when I’m getting down from here you two are going to be seeing Mistress Sandra’s whipping board.”

Jade opened her mouth, but Caligula quickly stuffed her hoof in and shook her head.

“Shh, I think I hear guards coming,” Caligula said, hunkering down on top of the ledge. “They must have heard the noise.”

Jade hunkered down next to Caligula and together they looked over at the door that Jade led Sori through. Within moment a pair of zebras in light armor stepped through the door and looked at the sight before them. They stood in a puddle of water, and directly in front of them hung Sori who had a bucket stuck to her head, a cat o nine tails lying directly underneath her and a broken potted plant all over the floor. They both looked at each other for a moment, then slowly strode towards Sori.

After having struggled with the bucket enough, Sori finally managed to push it from her head. It fell to the floor with a clang, then continued to roll until it stopped haphazardly at both of the guards’ hooves. Sori slowly looked up, terror etching onto her face as she realized what sort of predicament she was in right now.

“No,” Sori said, shaking her head. “No no no, I didn’t do this! Those fillies did this! They led me in here.”

One of the guards narrowed his eyes and drew a dagger.

“That’s a good one,” he said. “I thought you were more clever than this. In fact, I thought you were the most clever out of all of the slaves.”

“But it’s the truth!” Sori protested. “Those fillies set me up! They were slacking off you know, and I caught the-”

Sori was interrupted when the guard slashed through the rope keeping the zebra suspended in the air. She fell to the floor with a thud, to which she was then hoisted up onto her hooves and dragged across the floor to the door.

“Tell it to Mistress Sandra,” the guard said. “I’m sure she’ll be more inclined to hear your stories than us. She looks the type.”

“No, please, they are around here somewhere!” Sori shouted, her head twisting around the room in search of the fillies. “They have to be in here somewhere!”

The guards dragged Sori the rest of the way out of the hall, kicking and screaming against their powerful hooves. The door slammed shut, and Jade jumped up from her spot and snickered.

“That really showed Sori, now, didn’t it, Cally?” Jade said, rubbing her hooves together.

“Jade, I don’t think that this was a good idea,” Caligula said, slowly getting to her hooves as well and staring at the door. “What do you think will happen to her?”

“Who knows,” Jade said with a shrug. “It’s not like she’s going to get a severe punishment for anything that she did here. She is Sori after all, and Mistress Sandra likes her more than anypony else I think.”

Caligula shook her head and sighed. “I know she probably deserved it, but… I don’t know, it didn’t seem right after how I saw the guards drag her away like that.”

Jade’s smile faded. “Cally, this wasn’t her first time being mean to other ponies so that she could get what she wants.”

Caligula looked at Jade. “Does it have something to do with how surprised she was that you agreed to her deal.”

“Sort of,” Jade said, nodding her head. “I… usually don’t give in to Sori trying to make demands at me. I usually take the punishments from Mistress Sandra.” She saw Caligula’s face scrunch up. “No, don’t give me that look, Cally. She’s trying to bully ponies and stuff. She’s mean and angry and… I guess a lot of other slaves are, too, but at least they look after each other when it comes to the guards. She’s more of a suck up.”

“Why did you never try to get her back?”

“Nopony wanted, too. Nopony really likes Sori around here, but they’re afraid that if they get involved with me that they’ll just keep getting punishments from Mistress Sandra. That or they don’t like me since I’m a filly. Fillies can’t really do the harder chores around here.”

“Well, I’m glad that I could help,” Caligula said, smiling a little, “even if I do have mixed feelings about the whole thing. You helped me, so... I know that Sori’s mean, but I don’t want to seem mean, too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jade said. “Hey, how about this. We’ll just do our best to stay out of trouble and keep to ourselves, how does that sound?”

Caligula smiled wider. “I think I like it. It’ll be just you and me against everypony else.”

Jade scooted closer to Caligula, but before she could say anything more her ears perked up from the sound of hooves approaching through the door that Sori was dragged out of. She hopped off from the ledge and waved her hoof up to Caligula.

“Come on, we need to get out of here before the clean up crew arrives,” Jade whispered.

Caligula hopped down after Jade, and together the two fillies galloped through the door on the other side of the hall.

Chapter 6: Sterilis [Dark]

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 6

Caligula stared out of the window, her eyes drifting back and forth over the horizon that stretched across the Eternal Sea. The day was warm and humid, leaving her coat damp even if she remained within the cool confines of her house. Seagulls and parrots flew overhead of the small southern Equestrian town, squawking and barking at each other over bits of breads that several ponies threw to them out in the two center. Although town officials generally advised against feeding the birds due to health and dependance reasons, nopony actually enforced such silly rules and ponies were free to feed however many birds that they wished.

Stableside was a close town anyways, with everypony knowing everypony on more or less a first name basis. Neighbors took care of of each other’s foals or house sat while they were away, and ponies at the local market place all held specific discounts depending upon which pony was asked or coerced. If something big within the town happened, everypony who lay within the town’s limits knew within the first hour and had viewed the event within the first two hours.

Caligula sat back on her haunches and sighed. She longed to step outside and play in the Eternal Sea, building sand castles with her dad or looking for seashells along the beach with her mom. However, later today she also had an appointment with a photoshoot so that she and her parents could take pictures. An easy way for her mom to make some early Hearth’s Warming presents. Going outside and running about or playing in the salty Eternal Sea would soak or cause her coat to become all crusty, which would make her look utterly ridiculous for such a formal appointment.

Perking her ears, Caligula heard the heavy hoofsteps of her dad making his way down the hall towards her room. Before he managed to knock on her door, she pulled the door open and beamed up at him with a giant, filly smile. He smiled back and chuckled.

“Heard me again, did you?” he asked.

“You walk like a big elephant,” Caligula said with a bounce.

“I suppose I do,” her dad replied. “You might want to be careful or I might accidentally squish you under my fat hooves.”

Caligula squeaked when she saw her dad lift his hoof as if to stomp on her, and she dashed towards the other side of her room, giggling. Her dad rushed into the room just as the doorbell downstairs rang, but that didn’t stop him when he saw her dive behind the bed. He sped around the bed and lunged at Caligula, but being as small and nimble as she was she jumped up onto the bed. She stuck her tongue out when he crashed into the nightstand.

“Ugh, hey, get back here, you!” her dad chuckled.

Still fawning over her victory, Caligula didn’t noticed her dad’s hoof come and scoop her right off of the bed. She yelped and squirmed in his grip, but it was already too late. Her dad was in the perfect position to give her what she detested most: tickles. He buried his muzzle into her belly and blew raspberries, causing Caligula to burst into a fit of manic giggles.

“Nooooo!” Caligula shouted, kicking her little hooves and giggling uncontrollably. “Nooo, dad! Stooop! Not my tummy!”

Her dad chuckled and continued the tickle onslaught until he saw that she was nearly out of breath. Smiling at her, he tossed her into the air and onto her bed where she landed with a “whump.” Caligula giggled some more and quickly scrambled onto her stomach, her tail wagging behind her as she crouched low and stared at her dad with a smile.

“Nuh uh,” her dad said with a shake of her head. “You need to get ready for the photoshoot, missy. Your mom said to go and take a shower before changing into the clothes you're supposed to wear.”

“Daaaad,” Caligula groaned, flopping onto her back again. “It’s so hot. Can’t I skip the shower?”

“You’re all damp from the humidity already,” her dad pointed out. “If you take a cold shower, you’ll both cool down and be all freshened up for when we head on over to the place.”

Caligula pouted. “But I took a shower this morning!”

Caligula’s father opened his mouth again, but he was stopped short by a feminine voice from downstairs.

“Dear? There’s some ponies here that we need to talk to.”

“I’ll be right down,” Caligula’s father called back. He then looked back at his daughter. “Go and shower up now. No buts, just do it.”

He got up from his position on the side of Caligula’s bed and trotted out of the room. Groaning after he left, Caligula rolled onto her stomach again before crawling off of her bed and towards her door. She pushed the door open and meandered her way down the hall towards the bathroom, muttering to herself something along the lines of being already clean.

Once she reached the bathroom door, her ears perked up when she heard a group of voices talking amongst each other downstairs. Looking at the door again for a only moment, she took a minor detour from her shower and trotted over towards the stairs. The stairs sported a railing that overlooked the steps that led downstairs, and through the railings Caligula spotted a pair of zebras speaking to her parents. The zebras had several strange piercings covering their bodies and they both wore tattered black capes that shielded their backs and hindquarters from the sun.

Caligula strained her ears to catch the conversation that was going on between her parents and the zebras. She pushed her muzzle up to in between the railings and swiveled her ears forward.

“Hasira’s still waiting on the payment from you two,” one of the zebras said in a dark zebrican accent.

“Um, we weren’t expecting you to arrive so soon,” Caligula’s dad replied. “We’ve been trying really hard to collect enough money to make the payment, and we’re almost there.”

“You said that the last time several of our zebras came by to pick up the payment. Hasira’s given you close to a year to pay us back, but every time you’ve continued to stall and ask for more time. She’s growing impatient and demands that you pay your dues now.”

Caligula watched as her dad straighten out. “We almost have the payment this time. If you give us a few more weeks, we’ll have the final thousand bits to give back to you and the debt will be paid off.”

The zebra narrowed his eyes. “Almost isn’t going to cut it this time. When ponies ask Hasira for money she gladly loans out the desired amount, but only so long as they repay her in full at a reasonable time with no interest. It’s been nearly a year now since repayment was first demanded, yet you two still haven’t managed to scrounge up any of the remaining money.”

“How else can we pay then?” Caligula’s mother asked. “We don’t have anything we could give you.”

“There is one thing,” the other zebra, who had remained quiet up until now, said. “Where’s your daughter?”

Caligula’s blood ran cold and she saw both of her parents pale. Her dad stepped in front of the door, blocking the zebras from getting in.

“We are not giving up our daughter,” her dad said. “You can take anything else that we own. Our furniture, our food, but don’t you dare lay one hoof on our daughter.”

“You don’t have much of a choice at this point,” the zebra said. The other zebra drew a scimitar from underneath his cape. “Step out of the way.”

Caligula’s dad held firmly in place. “We said that you are not taking our daughter.”

“I don’t think you quite understand the circumstances here,” the zebra said. “You cannot pay the payment dued to Hasira, therefore you have to find some other way to pay her back. Seeing as you live in this… place, the only real option you have left is to give your daughter to us. Or, well… unless you feel the need to get her involved with the part of the contract that states what happens if you two fail to meet the terms of the contract.”

The two zebras and Caligula’s parents stared at each other in utter silence. The tension held between them forced Caligula’s hairs to stand on end.

“Time’s up,” one of the zebras said.

The zebra reared up onto his hind legs and bucked Caligula’s dad in the face. He was sent tumbling backwards, which forced a scream of terror out of both Caligula’s mom and Caligula herself. Both of the zebras rushed in and immediately spotted the filly making a break for it down the hall.

Caligula’s mother lunged at one of the zebras, but he merely shrugged her off and took off after the other zebra, who already had managed to bolt upstairs and was barreling down the hall after the filly. The slam of the door to Caligula’s room gave away her location and in no time the zebra was hammering on her door, loosening the screws holding the door in place.

Huddle off in a corner of her room, Caligula whimpered and cried to herself, shivering every time she heard the zebra beat on her door. More and more the screws loosened, and a crack started to form along the center of the door. Her heart raced and she folded her ears back against the sides of her head, but it did little to block out the bashing and cracking that continued to reverberate from the door.

Just before the door busted open, a blinding flash of light emanated from the center of the room and time seemed to stop. All of the noises that filled Caligula’s ears faded away, and all of the colors and textures that made up her room vanished right before her eyes to be replaced by utter nothingness. Black and empty space took hold of Caligula’s surroundings now, freeing her from the emanant threat of the zebras who wanted to capture or bring some sort of harm to her.

The darkness, however, failed to alleviate Caligula’s mind from the sudden terror that she just experienced, and she slowly curled up into a ball on the floor, shivering. The darkness didn’t welcome her with open arms like her room did, and the utter silence was so bizarre and eerie that she felt as she had gone deaf rather than sound merely ceasing to exist.

Caligula felt a hoof touch her shoulder and she squeaked, jumping into the air and spinning around. What she saw terrified her even more. Before her stood Princess Luna in all her regalia, her blue and silver mane and tail flowing in the windless air and her long, slim body dwarfing her own. Her large blue eyes sparkled even in the darkness, and her massive wings lay spread out on either side of her.

“There is no need to be afraid, little one,” Princess Luna said with a small smile.

“P-princess Luna?” Caligula stuttered, wide-eyed. “But… but I was with the zebras, and my parents, and Stableside, and I was being taken… And… i-is this a dream?”

Princess Luna nodded her head. “Indeed it is.”

“But, then…” Caligula looked down at her hooves. “How can you be here? In my dreams? I have to still be in Zebrica.”

Princess Luna’s smile faded, but she still held an aura of warmth about her. “That you still are, but just because you are so very far away from Equestria doesn’t mean that I can’t extend my reach to you, too.”

“B-but why stop my nightmare?” Caligula asked, relaxing a little. “I can’t be the only filly having a nightmare tonight.”

Princess Luna sighed and sat down on her haunches. The dark world around both she and Caligula in burst into a bright light, and in the next moment they were sitting in a large meadow of wildflowers. The meadow was surrounded by what looked like Whitetail Wood from the north part of Equestria, with the beautiful golden and orange leaves falling from their respective trees. On top of that, Caligula had a clear view of the Drakenridge mountains towards the northeast, their snowcapped peaks standing out like beacons across Equestria.

“That they are,” Princess Luna confirmed with a nod. Several birds flew overhead. “But I must speak to you in particular.”

“M-me?” Caligula asked, catching a glimpse of the birds. They were the same birds that she saw flying all over Whoazambique over the last two weeks.

“Yes. You have been taken far from your rightful home, young one, and on the basis of such horrible circumstances. My sister and I know of the trade ring that operates between Equestria and Zebrica, but such an operation isn’t so easily stamped out and, unfortunately, some of even our youngest make it through.”

Caligula sniffled and sat up, her tail wrapping around her legs. “A-are you here to take me back?”

“If only I could,” Princess Luna said with a shake of her head. “You’ve been taken far from our jurisdiction. No, only you can bring yourself back to Equestria, Caligula, where you rightly belong. I can do nothing more than try to offer the guidance require for you to reach your final destination.”

“But how can I do that?” Caligula asked. “It’s so scary here and everypony is watching me.”

“Sometimes the answer to our problems doesn’t come quickly and we must wait,” Princess Luna said. “As much as your predicament is startling and terrible, you must endure whatever you can. One day you will see your chance and take it, freeing yourself from the prison that you are currently held and take a turn in a new direction.”

“En… en…” Caligula scrunched her nose up in frustration. “Princess Luna, I don’t want to be a slave. I don’t want to be here any more.”

“I know you don’t, sweetling,” Princess Luna said with a sweet smile, “but you are a strong pony. Your day will finally come, and until then you will make the best of what you have. Even in the bleak world that you currently tread, light still pokes through in the places that you least expect it. Keep your eyes open and your ears trained; you’ll surely find what you’re looking for.”

A breeze ran through the dream, rustling Caligula’s mane. Princess Luna frowned and looked up into the sky.

“How will I know what to look for, though?” Caligula asked quickly. “There’s so many dark and scary things, how can there even be anything that can make me happy here?”

Princess Luna returned her gaze back to Caligula. “It may not be obvious now, but in time you will know what it is that you are looking for. In fact, you may have even found some now.” Princess Luna’s eyes turned green, turning into the spitting image of Jade’s eyes.

“J-Jade?” Caligula gasped.

“Have faith in her, Caligula,” Princess Luna said. “And don’t give up hope.”

“But… But, Princess-” Caligula started, but Princess Luna shook her head.

“Not now, young one,” Princess Luna said quickly. “I fear our conversation is coming to a close. Be wary, they come for you.”

~~~

“Little Caligula.”

Caligula’s eyes flicked open, meeting the soft eyes of Lovelock. Another pony stood behind him, one of the slaves that Caligula came to recognize living amongst all of the other slaves at the Red Sun House. Lovelock’s mouth had turned upside down into a frown, and dark bags hung over his eyes as he motioned for her to raise herself up out of bed.

“I must take you to place, Little Caligula,” Lovelock said.

“What place?” Caligula asked, yawning.

Memories of the dream Caligula just witnessed came flooding back into her mind. Her capture interrupted by Princess Luna, all vividly ingrained in her in her mind as if she visited Canterlot Castle herself only yesterday. Princess Luna had actually spoken to her, offered her some sort of assistance that she needed to free herself and get back home. Told about the opportunities that she had to hold on to the hope and sanity that she still retained.

“You must follow me,” Lovelock said. He paused, grimacing. “You may be able to understand when we get to there.”

Caligula rolled out of bed and balanced herself on the floor when her hooves touched down. Still groggy, she looked up at the top bunk towards Jade. The little zebra filly lay awake, watching both her and Lovelock in silence. Caligula smiled and waved at Jade, who smiled back at Caligula and waved as well, although her wave was small.

“Come on, let’s go,” Lovelock added. “Little Jade will still be sleep when you get back.”

Caligula listened to Lovelock’s urgings and turned, following the large zebra out of the slave quarters and turned down the hall towards Mistress Sandra’s office. The other slave followed them from behind, forming a train of ponies with Caligula shuffled into the center.

The longer they walked through the continued silence and the dark halls, Caligula grew more and more worried. She wondered whether or not she had committed some sort of atrocity or if what Sori had said earlier was true. Maybe some other slave master discovered that Master Nyeusi was in possession of a blank flank and wanted her for himself. She would then be sold and separated from Jade.

The group passed through a set of double doors and into a dimly lit room. In the center of the room lay a gurney raised up with two zebras dressed in sterile scrubs and wearing mouth caps standing around it. The room was tiled with dark stains covering some of the tiles around the bed. Around the outer walls were all sorts of cabinets and drawers that were undoubtedly filled with all sorts of things. In addition to the bed, there were also several large metal boxes with screens on them and a pole on wheels that carried a bag full of clear fluid.

One of the zebras, a male, turned towards the group and narrowed his eyes, spotting Caligula. He pulled down his face mask.

“This is Caligula?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, Ramesses” Lovelock replied.

“A filly…” Ramesses said and shook his head. “Get her strapped in.”

The female zebra sidled up to Ramesses. “We’re operating on a filly?”

“Apparently we are,” Ramesses replied quickly.

“Are you kidding me? Look at her, she looks like she’s no more than nine.”

“And what do you expect me to do about it, Genisis?” Ramesses asked, turning towards her and narrowing his eyes.

Caligula watched the two zebras bicker amongst each other as she was lead up towards the gurney. Lovelock lifted her onto the gurney before running a hoof through her hair. He gave her a sad look.

“Lay down on your back,” he said.

Caligula stared in Lovelock’s eyes before she slowly lay down onto her back. The gurney felt cold against her back, and she shivered by the time she had lowered herself completely onto the pad. She then felt both Lovelock and the other slave push all four of her legs into the leather straps that were situated, and they were promptly locked in place. Caligula struggled against the bonds.

“L-lovelock,” Caligula whimpered, “w-why are you strapping me in?”

“Shh, everything going to be okay, Little Caligula,” Lovelock said, stroking her hoof.

“Lovelock, please, let me go, I don’t want to be here!” Caligula said, her voice becoming more frantic.

“Gag her,” Ramesses instructed as he wheeled a cart over next to the gurney.

Lovelock pulled a piece of cloth off of the cart that Ramesses wheeled over and secured it to Caligula’s mouth. The little filly fought against her bonds and the gag, but when she looked up into Lovelocks eyes she ceased. He looked dejected beyond belief, and when the gag was finally secured around her mouth he pulled away from her with a tussle of her mane.

Looking over onto the cart that Ramesses wheeled over, Caligula felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Scalpels, scissors, and an assortment of other sharp objects lay on the table.

“Ramesses, we have to reconsider,” Genisis stated, sliding her own fask mask off of her mouth. “We majored in the same field, and I know damn well that you and I both know that what we’re doing against all of the laws of ethics that we studied and swore oaths under.”

Ramesses sighed and looked over towards Lovelock and the slave.

“Leave us,” he said. When Lovelock and the slave had left, he returned his attention back to Genisis. “Do you want to lose your job? Hm? We were hired by Nyeusi to perform another job for him, and the payout that we are to be given is big. Real big. Bigger than anything that we have ever worked under.”

“Does it really matter?” Genisis asked. “We could lose our licenses over malpractice such as this. Not only are we operating on a pony without their consent, she’s a filly.”

“And she’s also a slave,” Ramesses pointed out. “If we are caught and play our cards right, we won’t have to worry about losing our licenses. This is Zebrica, the land of black markets and everything wrong with the world. Do you really think what we are doing is a risk?”

Gensis stared long and hard at Ramesses. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You’re telling me that not only is it okay to operate on this filly because she’s a slave, but that you have a whole plan set up for the ‘just in case’ that we do caught?”

“Genisis, you have a husband and a foal to take care of. I have a foal of my own. If you think I don’t hold any sympathy for this filly then you are sadly mistaken. As much as I hate the very thought of operating on a filly without the consent of her or her parents—wherever they may be—I must think about the wellbeing of my own family first.” Ramesses flipped a switch under the gurney and a light overheard flickered to life. “Work here in Whoazambique is scarce; our services are just to expensive for most ponies that need our skills. So when we find work, we have to jump on it. Don’t tell me that I’m wrong.”

Genisis opened and closed her mouth a few times. When she couldn’t think of any words to counter Ramesses’ reasoning, she sighed and walked to the other side of the gurney.

“I’m sorry, young one,” Gensis said down to Caligula. “Stay strong and you’ll get through this, okay?”

Caligula nodded, confusion swirling about her mind and filling her eyes. Genisis pulled the long pole with the clear liquid attached over to her, while Ramesses stuck several cold patches onto Caligula’s chest. Looking over, Caligula saw that the patches were connected to a wire running towards the metal box, and on the screen a green, pulsating line appeared that beeped each time with her heart beat.

Looking back over to Genisis, she saw a needle connected to a tube that was then connected to the clear liquid. Caligula’s eyes widened and she squealed, but Genisis was too quick and already shoved the needle into Caligula’s forelegs. Next, Genisis procured a syringe and flicked the needle with her hoof.

“This is going to help you sleep while we get to work, okay?” Genisis asked Caligula.

The filly nodded her heard slowly, her eyes wide and the heart rate monitor beeping faster. Genisis glanced between Ramesses and the heart rate monitor, then stuck the needle into Caligula’s other foreleg and emptied it’s contents.

“Okay, now, I want you to count backward from a hundred,” Genisis said. “Can you do that.”

Caligula nodded again and began to count.

One hundred…

Ninety nine…

Ninety eight…

Ninety seven…

Caligula counted all of the way down to sixty two before she saw Genisis look over at Ramesses, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her face.

“Ramesses, she’s not falling asleep,” Genisis said quickly.

“Up the anesthesia, then,” Ramesses said.

“She’s already at the max dosage for foals. Any more and there is a very good chance she could overdose.”

“Then we begin the operation whether she falls asleep or not,” Ramesses said, a beed of sweat also tricking down the side of his face.

“Are you kidding?” Genisis asked, appalled. “You’re going to operate on her while she’s still awake? Can’t we put this off for a few more days? Wait and try again later?”

“There is no ‘later. Nyeusi want’s this done today or we will be out of the job.”

Genisis grimmaced and pulled some towels and a set of tweezers off of the cart as well. She looked up at Ramesses, who stared at Caligula for a little while. The filly was starting to tear up, fear taking hold of her as she listened to the two zebra’s argue.

“Get the tape ready,” Ramesses said.

Genisis pulled out a recording device and set it on the on the table with all of the surgical supplies. She pushed the red button and the tape started recording. She nodded at Ramesses.

“This is Doctor Ramesses and Doctor Genisis,” Ramesses said. “This recording is for the tubal ligation operation of slave name Caligula. As per ordered by Nyeusi, the operation shall begin.”

Caligula raised her head up as she saw Ramesses pick the scalpel up and hold it over just below her belly. The pain was almost immediate, dulled by the anesthesia, but still ever present as the scalpel dug into Caligula’s skin. Nothing had felt more intense to the filly.

The gag muffled her screams.

Chapter 7: Don't be Sad

Carte Blanche: The Paradox of Hedonism Chapter 7

Caligula whimpered on the back of Lovelock as the large zebra carried her through the halls of the house. She wore bandages wrapped around her lower body, hiding the stitches and mangled fur that had been set in place by the two reluctant doctors. They’re work carried on much longer than anypony present had intended, forcing more and more agonizing screams out of the filly as her fallopian tubes were cut and blocked. The pain was so intense that even Lovelock and the other slave standing outside of the surgical room had trouble blocking the poor filly out.

Lovelock stopped at the door to the slave quarters and waited for the other slave to open it. He looked back at the whimpering filly, his ears drooping and his frown deepening. He did his best to mitigate the amount of bouncing that Caligula would receive on their way back to the slave quarters, but even with his efforts the aftermath of the operation took its toll on her. The residual pain remained due to the fact that the doctors feared giving Caligula sufficient painkillers on the basis that she may have further damage done to her internal organs.

“Chef Lovelock?”

Lovelock turned his head to find Jade standing at the entrance to the slave quarters. Her mane was all frazzled and dark circles hung under her eyes, indicating that she had not gone to sleep since Caligula left hours ago. She peered around the large zebra and spotted Caligula. Her ears fell flat against the sides of her head.

“Little Caligula need rest,” Lovelock whispered. “She go through ordeal—terrible ordeal.”

“Is she okay?” Jade asked. She stepped out of the way when Lovelock walked into the slave quarters. He carefully strode over to Caligula’s bed, followed by the other slave, who then gently lifted Caligula from his back to place her on the mattress. Jade stood a little ways off from the two larger ponies, her tail tucked between her legs and her lips quivering. Her heart felt heavy watching her friend keeled over and clearly in pain.

Lovelock turned from Caligula’s bed with a sigh and walked back over to Jade. She stared up at him with her big eyes, her mane flopping back away from her face.

“You must stay strong for Little Caligula,” Lovelock said. “She in much pain and sorrow. Need friend like you with big heart and big soul.” He touched his chest, to which Jade did the same.

“What happened?” Jade asked, glancing behind Lovelock to see the other slave gently pulling Caligula’s blanket over her.

Lovelock shook his head and said, “That for her to tell you if she wishes. The circumstances she maybe not know. She only know of the pain of doctors and servitude.”

Jade sighed and looked at the floor, kicking one of her hooves. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the slave that was tending to Caligula depart from the bed.

“Is it okay if I visit her?” Jade asked.

“It be best that you do,” Lovelock said with a nod of his head.

Jade and Lovelock stared at each other for a little while longer before the larger zebra trotted off over to his bed. Jade looked over at Caligula and found that the unicorn filly lay staring at her. Their eyes locked only for a moment before Jade broke from her spot to walk to Caligula’s bed. Testing the bed with her hooves, pressing down on the mattress to see if Caligula uttered a sound, she found it was safe for her to climb up and get herself settled in next to her friend.

Jade ran her hoof over Caligula’s cheeks, then slid her hooves down further under the covers. She lifted the covers and peered underneath, immediately regretting her decision and cringing. Caligula’s forehoof reached out and touched Jade on the chest, who responded by letting the covers fall back around Caligula’s body so that she may clasp their hooves together.

“It hurts, Jade,” Caligula whimpered.

“I know, Cally,” Jade said sympathetically. “It probably hurts more than anything in the world.”

Caligula nodded her head. “W-why’d they do this?”

“Master Nyeusi does what he wants,” Jade whispered.

“How can somepony do something like that?”

Jade sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Cally, remember what you told me a few weeks back? About your home and the forest and the beach?”

Caligula nodded her head again.

“Protect yourself with that memory. Imagine you’re back home with the forest and the animals, walking through its paths that lead you to the long beaches and Eternal Sea. You bask in the sun’s light and stare up at the night sky’s beauty. You’re safe, free, and it’s all your’s. You can forget the pain that hurts you and forget the cruelty that plagues you.”

Caligula choked and nuzzled herself up against Jade’s side, shifting herself in her bed. Sharp jolts of pain ran up along her sides, but she suppressed any further cries that she may have uttered otherwise.

“I want to go home, Jade,” Caligula said.

“And it’s a beautiful home that you want to go home to,” Jade said. “Teeming with adventure, full of wonder and excitement and love. Far away from the savagery and heartlessness that makes up the empty sands of this country. The crossing you undertook, far from fair or sincere, brought you here against your will, and it is only right that you try to find your way home.”

Caligula sniffled and looked up at Jade. “P-princess Luna told me the same thing in my dream.”

Jade blinked. “Princess Luna talked to you in your dream?”

“She can travel through dreams to ponies who are even very far away.”

“Cally, that’s… incredible. You spoke to Princess Luna!”

“But I don’t know how I’ll find my way home, Jade. The world is so big and we’re so small.”

Jade smiled and shook her head. “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. In a world as big as this our goals may be so distant, but that only means that we have a whole bunch of options to achieve them. We can make plans, take adventures, live and love and laugh until finally our road comes to an end at our destination.”

“It’s so scary, though,” Caligula said. “Princess Luna says that we must endure and wait for our chance, but how can we do that if ponies will keep hurting us?”

“With help, of course,” Jade said. “I have you and you have me, and together we are an unbreakable team. When one pony knocks us down, we just help each other get back up. We can’t give ground to anypony that only wishes to hurt us over and over again.”

Caligula looked up at Jade as a small smile etched across her face. She hugged the zebra filly, who took Caligula’s head in her forelegs.

“See? Now you’re getting it,” Jade said. “No matter how bad things may get for us, we’ll be there for each other. Our goal is to escape into a better life, and we can only do that if we are helping each other along the way.”

“We’ll be the best friends ever,” Caligula said. “You give me so much hope, Jade. Even when I’m down, you find someway to pick me up and make me smile again. I could be in pain or crying, but that doesn’t matter to you. You know how to cheer me up and make me feel better again.”

“You mean the world to me, Cally,” Jade said with a hum. “I know you’d do the same thing if you were in my hooves.”

Jade and Caligula snuggled up closer to each other and Caligula’s ears perked when she heard her friend humming. It sounded sweet yet melancholy, like the last slow song of one of the best parties somepony had ever been to. The melody swam in Caligula’s ears, and she felt herself relaxing as the hum of Jade’s voice took over the gentle snoring of the slaves around them.

“I live in a dream,

With open eyes I breathe again.

I see all of your fears.

Together we can feel.

I feel, we can heal,

And take the road less traveled on.

To here, in the new

Like diamonds we will shine.

We will rise

Two hearts, where souls are free again.

We live.”

Caligula closed her eyes and felt her heart getting heavy. It wasn’t sorrow anymore that plagued her, she felt the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach that only came from excitement. The pain within her slowly subsided, subdued by the magic of Jade’s voice as she sang on and on. Happiness welled up in her like never before, her smile growing wide as Jade acted as the catalyst.

“We sail the seas of life and believe

The storms will lead us home

These open roads will call us with The Promise

We walk the earth alone.”

Unbeknownst to them, Lovelock looked over at Caligula and Jade with a smile on his face. He recognized the song that Jade sang, a warm and ominous song, something that warmed the hearts of ponies fortunate enough to hear it sung and sung well. Jade’s beautiful voice was no exception. Caligula sat more at ease through Jade’s efforts than any other time she had come to Zebrica.

Lovelock rolled over in his bed and closed his eyes, although he still kept his ears perked in anticipation for the rest of the song.

“This dream is a universe

And every soul shines

Where the darkness turns into light

I take you to fly with me

And follow the way

There will always be a new day

There will always be a new day.”

Caligula looked up at Jade as she finished the last verse. The warmth coursing through her body was unparalleled to anything she had ever felt before.

“Jade, I want to promise you something,” Caligula said. She saw Jade cock her head before continuing. “You’re… the greatest friend that anypony can ask for. The smile you put on your face, the hopefulness that you give to me and everypony is something that not even the princesses can hope to have. It’s something that I wish I had, but am glad that you show me.” She took a deep breath. “No matter what, Jade, I promise that whatever happens, I will always be your friend and always be by your side.”

Jade smiled and hugged Caligula, careful not to hug her too tight to set off any pangs of pain from her surgery. Caligula heard Jade’s heart beating furiously.

“And I promise to always be by yours, Cally,” Jade said. “You’re special to me, the most special pony that I know. Never will I separate myself from you.”

The two fillies settled themselves in to Caligula’s bed, shuffling below the covers. Jade took Caligula into her hooves, wrapping her up in a warm and loving embrace. After tonight neither of them wanted to separate from the other, far more content to know that in their hooves, only millimeters apart, is each other.

It didn’t take long for either filly to drift off to sleep, but before too long it was morning again. Dreading for working with the pain coursing through her body, Caligula groaned when the sunlight finally found its way to both she and Jade’s eyes. The light didn’t remain, however, as Lovelock came into view and blocked out the annoying glares.

“Stay in bed, young ones,” Lovelock said. “We take care of jobs for you.”

“You really mean it?” Caligula asked.

Lovelock smiled and nodded his head. “More than anything.”

Jade and Caligula looked at each other for a moment before their eyes lit up. They smiled and hugged each other, squeeing. Jade quickly had to retract her hug, though, when Caligula burst into a fit of “ows” and whimpers. She coughed and looked away, apologizing under her breath.

Lovelock chuckled and walked away from the bed, leaving the two fillies alone. Caligula pushed Jade’s head back up and smiled at her.

“Would you like to teach me Zebrish?” she asked.

Jade’s eyes widened and her ears perked up. “Would I!” She shrunk back afterwards and looked down again. “But… it’s forbidden for slaves to use the language. I’m not allowed to teach you.”

Caligula looked around the room. “I don’t see anypony else here. Besides, it’ll help you stay in practice, right?”

Jade looked up and around the room as well, a smile forming very slowly on her lips. She returned her gaze back to Caligula and nodded her head.