Staring into the Sun

How the other half lives

A Celestia in the Vogonverse Story

I awoke to the sounds of chirping. For a moment I hoped that I was hearing real birds, but instead it was the recording that Alfie had set up for me. I let out a small yawn, sat up, and looked at my surroundings. I was in my room, on the water bed, as I learned it was called, and for the most part completely safe and bored.

I was bored enough that I would have given my entire right arm to hear a noble complaining about his gardener not growing his rose bushes fast enough. I was actually bored enough to wish for my day court.

“Alfie?” I asked.

“Yes your highness?” he asked.

“What is Thomas doing?” I asked.

“The Master is going to recruit laborers for his farms. Today he is set to visit the Southern Stacks,” Alfie said.

My interest peaked as I thought about what that meant. Thomas was going somewhere besides this home, and that meant that I could also leave. I stood, quickly grabbed a dress Alfie had shown me, and dressed in it. The long flowing mulberry wine colored dress flowed down to just above my hooves. The silk of the dress felt wonderful against my coat. I looked at Alfie and noticed that he was pointing down. I wondered what he meant when I realized that I wasn’t wearing any panties. The dress, was fine as it was. It felt wonderful in fact, and my tail was comfortable through the adjustment that had been made to it.

Still, I needed to wear something under it, and I looked through the dresser finding a lacy white pair I had chosen, and quickly decided on them. I also noticed thigh high stockings, and for a moment I considered them. I decided not to, and I finished dressing myself. I walked out of my room and found Thomas dressed in a charcoal gray suit. He turned toward me and his eyes widened.

The last month and a half I had grown very close to Thomas, but today I wanted to see another part of his life. I walked toward him, gently touched his cheek and smiled.

“Alfie said that you were going out today,” I said.

He nodded.

“I would like to join you. Perhaps I can give some insight to what it is you are doing,” I stated.

“Are you sure ‘Tia? This isn’t something that I think you’ve done before. The place I’m going to isn’t known for being friendly,” he replied.

“I had to set over delegations at Trottingham Thomas. It is a city of orphans and broken dreams. Believe me, I can endure whatever this is,” I said.

He shrugged his shoulders and nodded. We walked out to a see an armored vehicle waiting. Alfie had shown me much about these cars, but this one didn’t look like it was meant for comfort. The guards saluted Thomas, nodded to me, and opened the side door for us. We stepped inside, and I felt the armored vehicle lurch forward. Thomas pulled a small tablet from his pocket and touched it.

“Master?” Alfie asked.

“Alfie, I want you activate the security protocol while we’re gone. Remember, no warnings,” he said.

“They will never know what hit them Master,” Alfie said before he disappeared.

I breathed in the filtered air, and then I coughed. The smell was becoming stale, harsh, and abrasive. I felt my eyes watering for a moment, and then we stopped. There was the sound of something pinging off of the side of the armored car, and then several loud pops from above us. It was quiet after a moment and then there was a knock.

“Sir, it’s clear,” one of the guards said.

Thomas stood, walked toward the door, and opened it. I stepped out behind him and saw three teenage foals lying in a heap together. I covered my mouth as I looked at what had happened. The foals looked sickly, terrible, and they had attempted to attack the armored car. Our guards had protected us by killing them. I looked away feeling sick.

“‘Tia, are you okay?” Thomas asked.

“Why?” I asked.

“They would have killed both of us, most likely they would have raped you several times before they killed you, and then they would have stripped anything they could off of our bodies, and took what organs they could from us for the black market. I don’t like killing, but there is a time and place for it,” he said.

I stood and shook my head.

“No, there is never a place for it,” I said.

He stopped, turned toward me, and looked me straight in the face.

“You’re a ruler. You know the weight you carry, and you’re telling me that if it came down to protecting your ponies, your home, and everything you cherish that you would not kill? ‘Tia, I’m sorry to sound like a dick, but I’m calling bullshit,” he said.

I shook my head.

“I’d try to find another way first,” I replied.

“That’s part of what we’re doing here. I don’t want to see more end up like those three. I’d like to give them a chance at a better life, and the farms I’ve got running would provide that,” he said.

“Sir, we should make our way toward the secure point,” one of the guards said.

“Of course, lead the way,” he replied.

I shook my head and followed them. This felt wrong. This felt so very wrong. I looked around me and I realized that I had been wrong. Trottingham wasn’t this bad. These homes were falling apart. There was screams of fear coming down from some point above me. I wanted to help them, turn this into something better, and perhaps I could. This could be a project that I could work on. I could make these… Stacks, into a better place for the ones living in them.

Author's Note

(And that’s where we’re stopping. Yeah, not a long chapter, but it’s starting with Celestia’s new project. She’s going to try to do some urban renewal on the Stacks. Maybe it will happen, and maybe not.

Anyway thanks for reading and commenting.

LF)