Aqua's New Lord

Aqua Star sat in her bathroom looking at herself in the mirror, the blue unicorn was a soaked mess. Her purple mane hung in streaks over her face hiding most of it, but she could still see her eyes in her reflection, a look of lost mare staring back at her. She’d just stepped out of the shower after standing inside it, staring blankly at the wall, for an unknown amount of time. It felt like forever to her but maybe only thirty minutes had passed and she had been thinking non-stop about what she was going to do, how she was going to cope. She had been invited to the home of a pony who she once knew as Lord E. Centric, a power player in the city of Canterlot who many believed was a kind stallion; Spending time with the Canterlot elite, hosting dinner functions for charity events. In the eyes of the media, he was a hero, caring for the less fortunate. However, he had his dirty side that was only considered vile rumours among the Canterlot Elite, spread by those who were jealous of successful ponies. Rumours such as stealing funds from those charities he raised money for, extortion, blackmail, and other things, but no pony dared to speak up. His influence was so grand that those few who spoke out against him had their own reputations tarnished and were forced to move away, unable to make a living in the city and would soon leave the city without a word. Others would just go missing, with the police giving up the search quickly. The Canterlot guard wouldn’t get involved either, too busy protecting the city from outsiders rather than protecting the citizens already inside.

She was now seeing that those rumours barely scratched the surface of what he was capable of.

Two months ago a stallion in a ski mask had entered her house, tied her up and raped her; but not before breaking her spirit and leaving her in fear of reporting it to any pony. Earlier today she had met with a stallion who was the father of Sandy Shores; a filly she cared about and looked after while she was sick in the hospital where Aqua worked. Only today had the mare met the father and she’d recognised the voice quickly. The grey earth pony stallion with the blue mane noticed that she recognised him, his red eyes bore deeply into her purple ones. She'd never forget his eyes. There was no mistaking that this was the stallion that had raped and impregnated her.

Aqua looked down at her belly where a bulge was only just starting to form. She could hide it at first, but once word got around, there was no longer a point. Her friends had asked who the lucky stallion was but she never gave a straight answer, she had always found an excuse to leave quickly. They stopped asking eventually and she assumed they either no longer cared or maybe assumed it was a one night stand and she didn’t use the proper protection, now was stuck with a foal with no father. She wished that was the case because it would be far better than the truth. After realising that Lord Centric was her rapist and he could tell that she knew, the unicorn was invited (Although it felt more like a threat to her) to his manor for dinner that night. She knew that to have refused the offer would have been a bad choice, considering who she was talking to. Aqua was terrified of the stallion, she knew what he could do and he knew where she lived. If she said no, he would almost certainly come for her and do, who knows what to her this time.

The mare thought about leaving the city so many times but had nowhere to go. Not enough funds to hide out somewhere and no other family that would take care of her. She was trapped. Aqua, still looking at herself in the mirror, saw what a complete mess she was. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, her soaked mane hanging in ribbons, her blue coat ruffled and matted where she had stopped taking care of herself properly. Centric had told her that it would be a fancy dinner and that she should look her best for the evening and a small part of her wanted to just go as she was, a wreck of a mare with a destroyed sense of self-worth. Maybe he’d leave her alone then, think she wasn’t worthy of his attention. But the most rational part of her mind told her to do as he said and don’t incur his wrath again. The stallion was dangerous and took pleasure in terrifying his victims. How many more mares had he been with since that night? How many did he seek out after and bring back to his home? What did he do with those mares afterward?

There was a meow from Aqua’s side. She looked down and saw her tabby cat, Tibbers. She reached a hoof down to pet him gently, then as she pulled her hoof away the cat jumped onto her lap, making himself cosy while she kept petting him. She looked at the mirror again and then used her magic to levitate a hairbrush to herself, she hesitated for a second, considering her options again but then started to brush all the tangles out of her mane. Once she was finished and it hung down long, thin and straight, the mare pulled out her hair dryer and began to blow dry it. Tibbers stayed in her lap, just staring, looking up at the mare. She playfully blew the hairdryer at her cat a few times, which prompted Tibbers to swat at it a few times. Aqua smiled a bit during that and then returned to doing her mane. It was now thicker and had a lot more bounce to it, just how she liked to have it before a big night out. She then took the brush to her light blue coat, taking out any matted parts on her body and made her coat shine. She looked really nice and was happy with the way she looked, but then remembered where she was going. Her smile instantly faded.

Ding Dong

There was the sound of a doorbell ringing. Tibbers jumped up from Aqua and ran out of the bathroom. The mare had no idea who it could be. She wasn’t expecting guests. Was it him? Did he get tired of waiting? Aqua stood up and stepped out, heading to the stairs. Each step was a slow shaky descent as she made her way to the front door. The doorbell rang again. She got to the bottom of the stairs, headed to the door and slowly undid the locks. She had installed several new ones since that night; two locks, a bolt and also a chain lock, which she left in the latch. Aqua opened the door enough for the chain to pull tight, keeping the pony on the other side from entering.

“Who… I-I mean, yes, can I help you?” Aqua stumbled over her words, too nervous to think correctly. On the other side of the door was a very slim, mint green stallion with a grey mane. He wore a black suit with a matching tie and had black-rimmed spectacles. He was a unicorn and levitated his glasses lower to see over the top of them, eyeing the mare while he addressed her.

“Good evening mam, my name is Irwin D. Terny. My client, Lord E. Centric asked that you be collected tonight and escorted to his private manor. I trust you are ready to go.”

She wasn’t expecting that he’d send ponies to come and collect her. Did he fear she would run away? She wished she could have.

“No. I mean yes! I mean… that’s okay. I- I can walk, you don’t-“

“Actually mam, we do. We are under strict instructions to make sure that you and your… child,” He said looking at her belly. “Are to be taken immediately to the Centric Manor. It is for your own safety, after all.”

Aqua didn’t like the way he used the term safety. She looked past the stallion into the darkness and saw two much larger ponies stood on her lawn. They were much larger than the average stallions and she was terrified of what they might do to her, or were told to do should she not cooperate. The blue mare nodded slowly and then closed the door, immediately reopening it after removing the chain.

“Please, let me just finish getting ready, I won’t be a moment.”

“On the contrary mam, I believe it would be better not to keep his Lordship waiting any longer than we already have done. He’s a busy pony and deadlines must be met.” Irwin said, with no emotion in his voice.

“It would just take a-“ She started to say but then saw the stallions in the back start walking towards the house. She sighed and then left her house shutting the door behind her, locking it. A feeling of dread washed over her, knowing that there was no going back now. Not that there ever was. The skinny stallion escorted her, keeping one step in front of her till they reached the end of the path, once there Aqua looked up and saw a large carriage before her. It was a beautiful rose red with curtains inside to match with gold trim, it certainly looked like the fanciest carriage in all of Canterlot, even the princesses didn’t have one such as this, although they preferred an open royal cart so ponies could see them and they could greet their fellow ponies. Centric didn’t feel the same way it seemed, happier with a cart that kept prying eyes out. One of the larger stallions pulled the door open and a set of steps dropped out. Irwin signalled for the unicorn mare to go in first. She hesitated but then took a deep breath, climbing the steps and going in. The inside was even more impressive. The oak seats had red cushions with gold coloured tassels and from above hung a small lantern, lighting up the cart and making the dark walls shine with polish.

The stallion behind her nudged her flank, making her jump forward and giving him room to enter. He sat down and indicated for her to do the same opposite him. She did and then the door slammed shut, Aqua could hear the two larger stallions walking to the front of the carriage, attaching themselves to it and then after a few seconds they were moving. Aqua and Irwin both sat in silence with the curtains drawn over the window, preventing anypony from looking in, or seeing out. The location of Centric Manor wasn’t a secret to anypony, so she thought maybe she could open the curtain and look out, but the beige unicorn wordlessly gave her a sign to leave the curtains alone as she reached for them, so she instead just sat still. Being in this small carriage with a stallion that wouldn’t stop staring at her was making her feel very uncomfortable, after a while he finally spoke up.

“Lord E. Centric has given me specific instructions to make sure that you arrive at the manor looking formal for the occasion.”

Formal? For dinner with a rapist? This sparked something inside of the mare, for just a moment she no longer felt scared.

“Oh, well I’m sorry," Aqua said sarcastically. "I'd have loved to have dressed up for his lordship, but somepony rushed me out of my house before I could even get a dress or anything!” She was surprised to find she had the strength within her to yell at this pony like that. It's felt good to have even a little strength within her. Irwin seemed unphased though. He stared at her through his glasses and then his horn glowed. The stallion lowered a suitcase down from above himself and laid it on his lap. Aqua began to worry. What was in that suitcase? Mobsters always carried weapons in suitcases like those in the movies. Was this what it was? Was she about to be ‘whacked’ for speaking out to him like that?

Aqua backed up against her seat about to apologise when she saw him levitate a dress out of the suitcase and float it towards her.

“Lord Centric has asked that you kindly wear this dress to the dinner tonight. It’s very expensive and a rare purchase, it was custom made from the finest clothes store in Canterlot. Canterlot Carousel.”

Aqua’s eyes lit up. Such dresses were not cheap and she’d always dreamed of wearing one. She'd seen mares wearing the beautiful dresses before and wished she'd had the bits to get something so wonderful. She took it in her own magic and looked it over. A beautiful yellow dress with frills around the neck, the skirt looked like white flower petals, there were green malachite gems added to the skirt to make it dazzle, along with little shoes matching the skirt and a band for the right foreleg. It was such a beautiful dress and she knew she’d look gorgeous in it! A gorgeous dress from Centric... that she was being made to wear... by a rapist. A rapist that completely destroyed her life. The mare looked at the dress again and then lowered it, looking to the stallion.

“I’m not… I cannot wear this.” She said flatly. The stallion closed the suitcase and used his magic to put it back up on the shelf, the dress still floating in Aqua’s aura.

“I don’t believe you understand yet.” Irwin said, raising a hoof up to remove his glasses and wipe them with a cloth. “If you do not arrive at the manor as instructed, wearing that dress, then I fear you may offend Lord Centric.”

Aqua stiffened up at that.

“A stallion such as himself has very powerful friends. Many of which have kind donations being sent to the local hospital to keep the medicine coming in. Technological improvements that save ponies lives. The funds that are needed to keep the building from collapsing into a terrible debt. A debt that was acquired after they had to borrow money from my client for the intensive foals’ ward. however, what would happen if the funds suddenly stopped? I don't think the ponies would recover well without their local hospital, do you? So many patients, so many foals.“

“What? But his daughter-“

“-Could have received treatment in any hospital in Equestria. But I doubt any could have had your kind bedside manner. You did a fine job with that filly, restoring her back to health after that virus she caught. Truly heartfelt his Lordship was towards you. It’s why you’re receiving the honour of dinner at his manor tonight. Try not to insult his Lordship by throwing his generous gift back in his face.”

This is clearly blackmail. Centric was going to take back all his money from the hospital if she didn’t comply, discrediting them in the process. How could he even consider doing that? She had to do this, for the foals’ sake.

“Fine. I’ll… wear the dress.” She said, defeated. Centric was a terrifying pony and she was going straight to his house, whether she liked it or not. Hopefully, if she didn’t upset him, maybe she could go home after dinner and this would be the end of it all; but she didn’t count on it. Irwin sat back, replaced the spectacles on his muzzle. As Aqua held up the dress about to put it on, she then became very aware of how little space there was and of the stallion staring at her.

“Could… I get a little privacy?” She asked, but the stallion didn’t move, not even so much as turned his head. Aqua Star huffed in annoyance then turned away from him. She began to slip the dress on, layer by layer while Irwin watched her. She could feel his eyes staring at her as she put it on. She buttoned up the blouse and then stepped into the skirt, pulling it up and the securing the white belt, connecting the two halves. Once she was fully dressed she became very aware of the skirt. It was pretty but also very revealing, and any pony walking behind her would get a full view of her personal area. As ponies, they almost never wore clothes, but when they did, the dresses would usually cover up the hindquarters for modesty’s sake.

Aqua sat down in the chair and looked away from the stallion in the carriage with her, she knew he was still staring at her but ignored him, instead deciding to look out a small gap between the curtains she had made putting the dress on. She couldn’t see anything out in the darkness but that didn’t matter, as long as she didn’t have to look at him. They remained in silence for the rest of the trip, and soon there was a banging signal coming from where the stallions were pulling the cart.

“We’re almost there.” Irwin said, adjusting his spectacles again. ”Remember, make Lord Centric happy and you’ll have a good time tonight at dinner. Make him upset and… well… his wife has been missing for a few years now. Would be terrible if the same happened to you.”

What did that mean? What happened to Centric’s wife? The carriage came to a stop before any of these questions could be asked.

“Time to go, Miss Star.”