Chains

Living in the Palace

The Royal Palace of Canterlot was indeed a magnificent building. Its spires and parapets made it an imposing and beautiful landmark. Its tallest tower overshadowed all but the mountain on which the city of Canterlot was actually built. Pony kind looked upon it with awe as it was both a symbol of Celestia’s greatness and power for all who called Equestria home. And outside the gates, a young filly and human child stared up at it with awe, and in the case of the human, a small bit of fear.

They had traveled here with Twilight’s parents, and bid them farewell. Twilight had small saddlebags on her, carrying a few things, while Chains carried some larger bags for her. They had traveled relatively light, as Celestia had said she would provide all Twilight would need for the duration of her studies.

They were now waiting, but they didn’t have to wait long. The gates of the Royal Palace opened, and a young dark blue unicorn stallion wearing the armor of the royal guard came out to meet them. He wore a smile, “Greetings Miss Sparkle. If you would follow me, I’ll show you and your human to your room, and from there I will escort you to see the Princess.”

She nodded her head shyly, and looked to Chains to follow as well as she was led into the massive structure by the young guardspony. As they walked on, she piped up, “What’s your name, mister?”

He looked back at her as they walked on, some of the maids and servants were running around doing their duties to keep the castle clean and presentable. “I am Sergeant Blue Star,” he introduced himself. “I am assigned to be your personal guard here in the palace, as well as the rest of Canterlot, at least until you’re older,” he explained.

She looked at him and smiled shyly, “Okay, well, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is my human, Chains,” she said, indicating the human boy who was following them at a relatively slow pace, having to carry the heavier bags. “Say hello, Chains,” she told him.

The human looked at the stallion who was a good deal taller than he was, and gave as best a bow as he could with the baggage, “H-Hello sir,” he greeted, a little intimidated by him.

The dismissive look the guardspony gave him didn’t help at all. “I don’t care much for humans myself; all the Palace staff is ponies. In fact, humans are rarely allowed here,” he told them, turning his attention back to his front. “You hear that, boy?” he called to the human, getting his attention. “You’ve been given a tremendous honor that is more than you deserved, so don’t get into any trouble,” he said sternly, his attitude changing when regarding the human child.

The slave merely bowed his head as they walked, quietly saying, “Yes sir,” as they walked on.

The young filly was a bit confused as to why Blue Star was being so stern with Chains, but could only dismiss it.

The three of them came to a set of double doors. Blue Star opened the door with his magic, revealing a large room with a fairly well sized bed with heavy blankets, and huge shelves for which to put books on. There were already a few in the mostly bare shelves. Twilight resolved to fix that as she grew excited at seeing the room. She went in giggling and jumping onto the bed, bouncing on it a little bit before looking around to the rest of the room. It was certainly more extravagant than her room at home.

Chains smiled, seeing his Mistress so happy. He timidly walked in, shying away from Blue Star, “Mistress, where should I set your bags down?” he asked her.

The filly was still entranced by the room, “Anywhere for now,” she said happily giggling as she pranced about the room.

“Miss Sparkle, I know this new room of yours is amazing to you, but we must go to see the Princess,” Blue Star said.

Twilight’s face went serious and she walked towards the entrance of the room, and Chains put the things down, coming too.

“You stay here boy,” the stallion said, making the human stop in his tracks. “Your kind doesn’t have the right to see Princess Celestia,” he told the slave sternly.

The human looked at the stallion, a fair share of fear in his eyes. He nodded and backed up.

Twilight looked up at the guardspony, her eyes narrowed, “He’s met the Princess before,” she told him.

Blue Star just looked down to her, his eyes and tone still stern, “A mere slip of chance,” he told her. “Humans are below us, and if they should get a mere glimpse of Princess Celestia once in their lives it is more than they deserve,” he told her. “Don’t put even a hint of kindness towards his kind, they may start thinking they’re entitled to something more than their station in life,” he said harshly, turning into the hall, “Come Twilight, we’d best not keep her Highness waiting,” he said.

Twilight was awestruck at the guard’s words, and looked back at Chains before she reluctantly went to follow Blue Star, sadness in her eyes at the sight of her human looking sadly at the floor of her room.

Chains stood where he was, eyes fixed on the floor, trying to fight back the tears as the doors closed behind the two unicorns, encased in Blue Star’s magic. He heard a lock. At that, tears fell forth, staining the carpeting of the room.

He knew his station in life. He knew he couldn’t hope for anything better. But he thought he was doing a good job. His Mistress was kind because he was a good slave, right?

That was the only reason he could think of. This stallion tells her that she’s been too kind to him? Was she? Did he deserve worse?

Maybe, he thought. Maybe he did deserve worse. He lied to her before, but he thought it was to help her. He thought to when she almost threw away her chances at learning magic for him. He covered his eyes in his hands and fell to his knees as he wept openly to himself in the empty room.

The stallion was right. He held back his Mistress, and what he was given was too good.

But what could he do?

He felt so helpless, and for the first time in his life, he felt angry, but only at himself and the weakness of his station in life.

For the first time in his life, he truly felt like a slave.

And right now, crying was all he could do.

………..

Twilight was before the ruler of all of Equestria, and while she was nervous at first, the kind tone of the Princess calmed her. She had explained the schedule that she would follow for school and the personal studying she would go through with the Princess herself. She was to attend regular classes and after school she would study with the princess every day for two hours, and five hours on days off from school.

Once they were done, the filly still had something on her mind, though it wasn’t about her schooling. “Is there something you wanted to ask me, Twilight Sparkle?” asked the Princess. “You seem troubled.”

The young unicorn looked up at Celestia, becoming a little more comfortable with her over the hour. Trying to find words for her question, “It’s about something that Blue Star said,” she finally said.

“What did he say?”

Twilight kept thinking of how to word it, “He told me to stop being nice to Chains,” she said. “Are… are humans supposed to be treated badly?” she asked.

“Do you think they are to be treated badly?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t know how humans are supposed to be treated. So, I just treated him nicely because my Mother and Father told me I should treat everypony nicely.”

“Do you think you’ve been doing wrong?”

Twilight thought on that question, and looked to the princess and shook her head, “I really like Chains, I couldn’t be mean to him,” she said.

The Princess came closer to the filly and gave her a gentle nuzzle, “Follow your heart, Twilight Sparkle,” she told her.

Twilight nuzzled back, small tears at the edges of her eyes, happy that she didn’t have to be mean to her only friend.

“Now go, Twilight. Get yourself settled in, and if you need anything, just let Sergeant Blue Star know,” she told her. “And don’t forget what I told you, no matter what happens in your life, follow your heart.”

Twilight smiled brightly up at her, “I will,” she said, going to the door with the Princess. She and Blue Star went off.

As they turned a corner down the hall, the princess looked to the other guard that was outside the door, “I am going to my chambers,” she informed the guard. “You may take your leave, I will not need anything for the day,” she told him. The guard bowed in respect, and left as the Princess went on her own way to her bedchamber, memories of days long past coming back, just like on the day she met the young filly.

……….

Twilight Sparkle and Blue Star came to the door to her room, “I’m sure you’re tired. Will you need anything tonight?” he asked her.

She shook her head, “No thank you, you may go now,” she said. She gave him a smile, despite how he acted towards Chains, the words of Princess Celestia still in her mind.

The unicorn guard nodded, and turned to leave, leaving the filly there at the door alone.

She sighed to herself in relief once he was out of sight, and used her magic to open the large doors to her room.

There she saw the young human boy who she was sharing this room with. His back was to her as he was placing books from her bags onto the empty shelves. They seemed to be sorted by size of the book rather than alphabetical order. The filly watched as the boy moved books around when he found one that was bigger or smaller. He seemed to always remember the sizes and would know exactly where it would belong.

She then had to wonder because of his method of sorting. Did Chains know how to read? Thinking on the matter, she became sad once again, remembering what Chains was. Of course nopony would teach him to read.

On the other hoof, it just seemed amazing how he only had to look at the book and would know where it belonged in reference to size of the other books. Could he pay that much attention to detail?

Chains didn’t seem to notice Twilight as she approached him, until he felt a gently nuzzling from behind. He turned, a bit startled, to look into the face of his Mistress.

“Mistress, um, how did your meeting with Princess Celestia go?” he asked her.

She smiled to him, “It went well,” she told him, and then turned her attention to the books he had been sorting. “I was watching you for a little bit as you sorted these,” she said.

He stiffened, “Um, I’m sorry if they’re out of order, I didn’t know how to best sort them. I don’t know how to read, so I thought-” his explanation was cut off, as Twilight nuzzled him once more.

“You did a good job, Chains. They’re fine this way,” she said. “We’ll sort them together another time, and maybe I could teach you to read,” she offered.

The human looked at her with a fairly shocked expression. “B-But I’m human,” he said. “Mistress, you could get in real trouble if you teach me to read,” he said.

She frowned at him, “Why should it matter,” she said. “You’re too smart not to be able to read,” she reasoned.

“No, I’m not smart. I’m nothing special,” the human tried to argue.

Small hooves pressed on his chest, pushing him into the bookshelf, as the young Twilight Sparkle used it to look the slightly taller human in the eyes, “You’re very special, Chains,” she said. She thought for a moment. “Is what Blue Star said making you hurt so much?” she asked him.

Unable to look her in the eye, Chains looked to the ground, “But he’s right Mistress, I don’t deserve to be treated well. It’s because of me that you almost turned down coming here,” he said.

“That isn’t important Chains,” she moved her posture to look him in the eye again. “And you’re my human, not Blue Star’s,” she told him with a smile.

The boy slowly smiled back, and put his arms around his Mistress carefully, “Thank you, Mistress,” he said quietly. “If you want me to learn, I will,” he said.

Twilight smiled and once they ended the embrace, she let out a small yawn, “It’s time for bed, Chains. I have my first classes tomorrow. Will you be alright here alone?” she asked.

He nodded, “Yes, I will,” he told her. Giving her a brave smile, “You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll make sure everything stays orderly,” he promised her.

She smiled and nodded, going to the large bed provided by the Princess. She hopped on as Chains started to set a smaller bed up on the floor for himself. “Goodnight Chains,” she said.

“Goodnight Mistress,” was the response, as both children went to sleep in their new home.

………

Celestia lay in her chambers, large cushioning lay on the ground for her to lie on while she contemplated things in front of a warm fire.

Right now, her thoughts were on the man that the boy reminded her of.

One brown eye, and another colored blue.

The last time she saw those eyes was three hundred years ago. They were hurt and betrayed. They pained her heart still. The human they belonged to was clever and eager to learn. He learned much of the ponies in the time he spent. The Princess and this man had become fast friends. The memory of those times brought a smile to the monarch’s face.

“Celestia, you… you approve of this?!”

As the words echoed in her mind, a frown appeared, and her heart ached more. Tears of regret threatened to spill as she remembered the one decision that was the hardest she had made for centuries.

“Please forgive me,” she whispered to the ghosts of the past. “I couldn’t do anything else.”

..............

Authored by Bookybrony
Edited by SpyroManiac_1