The Blazing Sun

You were already in the bathroom before you were actually awake. It seemed that your body was moving on autopilot. You could do your entire morning routine now without even thinking about it, probably because of the amount of stress that the mornings caused you. Sadly, you had awoken only halfway through the routine, leading your mind wander off towards places you’d prefer it wouldn’t.

Today was a new day in the same torture chamber.

"Fucking hell..." You stare at yourself in the mirror, pulling at the bags under your eyes. There was light blue discoloration, with some purple coming through. Every day, it would only get worse, and it wasn’t like you could easily fix it. You couldn't just sign yourself out of slavery. Well, you suppose that you could run away, but that wouldn't get you far. You were stuck in your own personal Hell no matter how much you hated it. You always reminded yourself of that, despite it stressing you out even further.

You shook your head before exiting your bathroom, giving your room one last look over before heading to your boss’ quarters. You felt your stomach churn in every direction, but you’d learned how to control yourself, so you kept your back straight and kept walking. You weren't going to be defeated by this. You're better than that, and you knew it. You tried to think of all the positive things that Luna had tried to help you remember, but it hardly worked.

You stopped in front of Daybreaker's door, knocking twice.

No answer.

You gave a look around before knocking again, just to get the same result. "What the fuck?" You muttered under your breath as you took another cautious look-around before grabbing the handle of the door. You knew it was a bad idea, but you had never in your six months not gotten a response from the Princess. You gently opened the door, stepping inside the brightly-colored room. Did she just up and leave? A vacation you didn't know about, perhaps?

Sadly, those thoughts were too good to be true. Behind the desk sat Daybreaker, reading a paper sitting in front of her. It looked like some sort of news article, and it had a picture of her in it. She was staring at it, entranced by whatever the words were saying. You knew it was probably best to announce your entrance before stepping any closer. "Ahem, ma'am?"

Daybreaker looked up at you, her eyes lazily trailing up to your face. She then looked back down at the paper. "Anonymous."

Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.

"What's... what's the matter, ma'am?"

She shook her head before looking back up to you with a smile. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, Anonymous." She said with a happier tone than before. "I don't think holding court is a good idea for today, so I've decided to close it for the time being. I’ll handle that headache some other time, but unlike Luna, I tend to like my days off."

'Yeah, so did I before I became a fucking slave.' You thought.

"Today, I had a realization." Daybreaker said, standing up from behind her desk and approaching you, a sly smile on her face. You always hated how she had an aura about her, constantly making it seem like she was plotting something. This time, though, you were sure that she was. "What are you to me, Anonymous?"

'A slave.'

"Your personal assistant?" You asked, the sentence forming into a question.

She nodded. "Yes, but all this time I've been treating you like a lowly scribe of sorts. No, I have another pony for such tasks. You are my personal assistant, and I haven't been utilizing you in ways befitting your capabilities. In earlier days, such assistants were called Pages, and they were utilized in all sorts of ways. Some were traditional servants; gathering documents and items for their noble ponies, whilst others were..." She licked her lips. "...unorthodox, in their duties."

You felt a shiver go down your spine with that one. Like hell you were going to be some prostitute!

"However," She continued. "Pages serving high nobility such as Luna and me would have duties that none other could do. Washing our bodies, going with us to retrieve food, and accompanying us for simple things. All this time all you have been doing is assisting me with paperwork and standing by my side during court sessions. That could hardly be considered using you to your fullest potential. So, how about we expand your duties?"

This is where you have an aneurism, right? Where a blood vessel pops? Where you don't have to live in a world where you are washing Princess Daybreaker's body? You knew somewhere that somebody was dreaming of this, but you certainly weren't. No, you wanted to be far from her. With this in mind, you simply nodded your head. "Yes, ma'am."

She grinned. "Excellent. Today will not be bogged down by Court, so other things are able to be tended to. I have been meaning to do an inspection on the next line of guards coming into service, but I haven't been able to until today. That will be the first order of business." She said, walking past you towards the door.

Your stomach grumbled loudly.

She stopped to look at you, a brow raised. "What was that?"

"I uh... Nothing?"

She gave you a deadpan look. She could see through your bullshit every single time! It didn't help that you were absolute shit at lying, too. "Anonymous, have you eaten breakfast yet? Have you eaten breakfast at all since you've been under me?" She asked, almost disappointed.

You shook your head. "No, ma'am... I just don't find there to be enough time. I'll be fine, I promise." You say, giving her a fake smile as you could feel your stomach rumble again, this time quietly. She shook her head at you, obviously not believing you for a second.

"No pony, or creature for that matter, should miss breakfast. I may eat mine before you arrive in my room in the morning, but I still do. It is important, and it is the only way you can get through the beginning of the day with enough energy to make good decisions. It is the most important meal of the day."

Okay, she was really bothered by this. Who knew that the princess of the fucking sun would be worried about the first meal of the day. You shrugged at her. "I don't want to be a bother to you, ma–"

"Stop calling me ma'am." She said, her tone shifting only slightly. "It is becoming strenuous to have to converse with someone who annoys me with that word. It will no longer be a request, but an order. I will also not have my personal assistant be bogged down by the stress of the day worse than should be necessary, all because of missing breakfast. We shall make our way to the dining hall at once, and find you a suitable meal."

'It's not breakfast that's killing me, it's you!'

"Yes, ma-... Yes." You said, correcting yourself of your mistake. She nodded at you with a smile again, before walking out of the door. You followed her as you usually would, by her side and a foot behind. She gave a sigh while walking, but you couldn't tell for what reason. You resigned to looking up at the ceiling in thought, forcing your eyes shut. If you had just eaten the night before, you wouldn't be starving right now. If you weren't starving, you wouldn't be in this situation at all.

Well, it’s too late now! It's probably better to just get over it.