Originally posted October 2018

> Your first awareness of the pony's presence is when she speaks up, practically at your elbow.
> The comp-stick in your hands had utterly engrossed you:
> Feeding hard holographic footage straight into your eyes - a border class between some star-frigates and an inhuman raiding party near some distant border - right until her soft voice sounded by your side.
> "Milord? I have drawn up your bath now, if you would care to take it."
> A few months ago - when you had first moved in to your family's holdings - you would have jumped at that startling appearance.
> So quiet, for a creature with hard hooves!
> In fact, you had almost ordered her to walk more loudly.
> But that would have been to acknowledge fear of the presence of a mere servant.
> Nobles did not show fear - and certainly not of a pony!
"There in just a moment, Celestia. The lower bathroom?"
> "The terrace room tonight, Master."
"Very good!"
> Now you were simply used to her near-silent movement.
> Even though you were objectively aware she was following just behind you, you didn't whatsoever feel the worry or fear you might have once.
> Quite the contrary, in fact.
> Stepping into the bathroom, you begin to shed your shirt and pants onto the gleaming marble floor.
> The rich, warm field of Celestia's magic soon joins you, helping the last of the clothes off with the bare minimum of action.
> As the last comes off, you gesture to the waiting bath with one hand.
"Which shampoo today?"
> "The tea oil, Master, and the new soaps imported from Niedre Lossa."
"Oh, excellent!"
> The terrace room's bath is easily large enough to hold five or six people comfortably.
> As is, you sink into the steaming water with a delighted sigh.
"You always do manage to get the water just right..."
> "My magic, Master. It is useful for these things."
> Celestia sinks in beside you, brush and scrubbing pad floating beside her.
> "Would you like the screens opened, Master?"
"Yes, that would be good."
 
> The computers could do it on their own, but Celestia's horn ignites to pull the folding walls aside:
> Revealing the terraced edge that gave the room its name, and beyond that rolling floor of the vast space station which held your family's manor.
> Creeping orbit had brought the planet it circled up into view:
> A disk of blue and white, green and brown through the transparent hab-dome, alone amid the ever-reaching void.
> "May I begin, Master?"
> Damn - your thoughts had wandered again!
> Although, in this delightfully hot water you could hardly blame yourself...
"Of course, Celestia. Do go ahead."
> The shampoo settles on your head - also warmed by her magic, and carefully spread about and contained so that it did not come within an inch of your eyes.
> Eyes slipping shut, you watch the planet's procession as her magic works the shampoo into your hair.
> Let the commoners have their sonic scrubbers and ion baths.
> This may be demanded of your family's archaic tradition - going long back to pre-void days of Earth - but you enjoyed it for rather more base reasons.
"Your touch is delightful, do you know that? Absolutely hypnotic."
> "I have had much practice, Master."
"True, true - seventeen generations in my family's service, after all."
> "And six before the conquered my old Owners. You must remember these things, Master."
"You know history hasn't ever been my strong suite."
> "And yet you are a ruler. You must remember it, or be doomed to repeat."
> Water runs up from the tub in a narrow spindle, siphoned as though grav-beam.
> It arcs over to spill out across your head; as before your eyes are ever-shielded by Celestia's careful attentions.
> Dirty water immediately siphoned away to the drain-basin on the tub's edge.
"Hmm. That world... it was your world, was it not?"
> "Are you trying to change the subject on me, Master?"
> The touch of a smile creeps up your face.
> Celestia never did lose track of anything, you'd found.
> Another early lesson about her.
"If I say yes, will you answer me?"
> "Of course, Master."
"Then no. I was just looking at it."
> Her response is a delighted, tinkling laugh.
> You are pulled from the side of the tub to rest your back against her chest; rather than fight it, you lean back into the dense, tick coat that layered her chest.
> Celestia was, as always, lit by some inner warmth that you could feel seeping out onto the hot as the water you rested in.
> And besides, from this angle you could still see the planet hanging up there in the star-scattered sky.
> Vast white wings sweep through the water.
> They encircle your chest to leave you cocooned in warmth and white.
"Well, I answered your question."
> "So you did."
> Her answer is held teasingly for a moment longer, but you never doubted she would give it.
"It - was, Master. The planet I was from."
> The hitch in her voice was almost unnoticeable.
> But laying against her as you were, you could subtly feel the vibrations along her neck as she spoke.
> And when they stopped.
> It was an odd thing, one that left you frowning.
> Celestia's past was some mystery - a war prize from some long-ago campaign during Man's expansion.
> She was hardly unusual.
> Now, the Septiloids the Ullsaren family had serving at their manor... they were rather more odd.
> But Celestia had never told you more, and you had never asked.
> Why would a noble care about their property's past?
> She served you, as she had your father and so many before that.
> As she would your children.
> Now you do actually try to change the topic:
"I think I will have my dinner here tonight, Celestia.
> "I will send the word down, Master."
> Her horn flickers once - a pulse of golden light briefly illuminating the room.
> You spend the minutes until it arrives in a heat-addled haze, drifting in her cocooning touch.
> Celestia might be singing softly, her forelegs slung over your shoulders to gently massage at your chest.
> Some flowing alien tongue.
> Technically forbidden.
> But who else could get you as relaxed as this?
> Such a minor slight, you are inclined to overlook.
> So strong was the sleepy fog that Celestia must rouse you when the night's dinner is set by the edge of the tub.
> Regretfully you detach yourself from the cozy grip she held on you in.
> Swimming to the edge, you heave yourself half-out and dry your hands on a towel helpfully provided by Celestia's magic.
> Tonight's menu - a delightfully fluffy pastry stuffed to the bursting point with vegetables and cheese.
> Dipping it in the provided sauce, you savor the first bite with a delighted hum.
> Celestia giggles, and you offer the next to her.
> "Oh, Master, I could not..."
> But she does anyhow and swallows the pastry in two bites.
> No slave would ever refuse such an offered delicacy, not when such treats were so far out of their reach otherwise.
> You do spoil her, though.
> Soon the food is done with, and you sink back into the water.
"The dessert should have been brought in by now. Do go see where is, Celestia."
> "Of course, Master."
> Though your eyes fall shut, you can hear the mare pull herself out and strip the water from her coat before vanishing down the hall.
> But her hoofsteps return far to too quickly, though.
> And something else about them is creeping up in the back of your head.
> They sound -
> Heavy.
> That was important.
> Why?
> You rack your brain seeking a conclusion,
> It comes only a second before the one responsible steps onto the bathroom marble.
> "Your dessert, oh Master of Ours."
> Your eyes fly open, blood going cold.
> If your House's records had not been utterly clear, you would have doubted this pony could ever be Celestia's sister.
"Luna."
> "Ah, soaking thyself into a limp mess again, We see. How predictable."
> The platter of desserts touches down just out of your reach.
> Luna stands beside it, smirking.
> "Then again, there is not much muscle for thee to lose anyhow."
"Bring it here, Luna. I'm not in the mood tonight."
> "But oh, Master. Surely it would do thee some good to get up and find thy own food. Gorging thyself on platters brought to thy face cannot be good for Our Master's health."
> The beginnings of a snarl cross your lips.
"Luna. Here. Now."
> The plate slides to the tub's edge.
> "Are thee truly incapable of feeding thyself without Our assistance? How infantile."
> Oh, for-
> Where is Celestia?
> The white mare was one of the few who had even a chance of keeping her sister's acid tongue in check.
> But she would be a while back from the search you'd sent her on for dessert-
> Dessert.
"You held it back, didn't you? Waited until I had to send your sister to figure out what the hold-up was."
> "We are innocent of such things."
> How her eyes sparkle with vicious mischief says otherwise.
> Fine.
> You know what?
> Two can play at this game.
"Well, since you are here now you can finish bathing me in her place."
> Her expression - smug and victorious - collapses into a scowl.
"Now, Luna. Use the soaps; your sister has already done my hair."
> Without a word she marches forward, slipping into the tub.
> You, in turn, are lifted out and set on the edge, so that she can spread the soap over you.
> There is none of the loving care Celestia had used.
> At least she bothers to siphon off the dirty water into the drain trough.
> While she lathers and rinses, you watch from the corner of your eye.
> Luna was, in nearly every way, her sister's opposite.
> Her biting an acerbic tone, in place of Celestia's soft and loving one.
> How she fought you for the smallest things, forcing you to order the most miniscule jobs.
> If not for the fact that it would have been - gossip for a Noble family to sell off such prize, you would have sent her away a long time ago.
> Even her appearance - while Celestia's coat was thick and luxurious, Luna's was thin enough to leave the contours of her muscled form clearly visible beneath it.
> And then there was-"
> "Dost thou like what thee sees?"
> You jump - actually jump.
> Luna had caught your eyes lingering her, and now stretches luxuriously amid the steaming water.
> "Do thee wish to use us? We know thee take Our sister to bed often enough."
"That's enough-"
> "Such an exemplary stallion. So old already, yet no mate - forced to use thy property to fulfill thy desires."
> Your cheeks burn.
"No arrangement has been found-"
> Luna climbs clear of the tub water, letting it run from her sopping coat in long rivulets.
> "But you desire an 'arrangement' with Us, do you not?"
> The heat in your cheeks intensifies.
> It was true - she was a fine form, and with her already-thin coat now laden with water...
> Leaning in, Luna whispers in your ear:
> "We shall geld thee, if thee ever try it."
> Then her teeth snap shut just beside your ear - a sharp 'Clack!' which you cannot help but stumble back from.
> Your hand settles in something soft.
> The dessert platter.
> Shaking with fury, you stand upright and point a finger at her.
"I should have you flogged."
> "The whip? Thee think We fear it? We relish it's touch over thy own."
> She actually has the gall to turn, exposing her hindquarters to you.
> "Come. Do thy worst to us."
> It's a dare.
> A challenge.
> She wants you to snap and have her tortured for this.
> To admit she got under your skin.
> But you cannot.
> Because - it would be exactly that admission.
> And because if you are totally honest with yourself?
> This mare scares you.
> She knows it, too - shooting you a victorious smirk as she turns with a swish of her tail and prances from the bathroom.
> You are left standing, nude and one hand still covered in chocolate.
> That hand slowly clenches into a fist, so that when Celestia all but gallops back into the room the fury on your face must have been obvious.
> "Oh, no! She was already here. Please, Master, you must forgive Luna-"
> Celestia thinks you were angry at Luna alone.
> Oh, you were infuriated with that mare - but more you were incensed at your own cowardice.
> Words having failed to earn a response from you, Celestia ignites her horn and sets about diligently scrubbing away the chocolate staining your skin.
> "I will clean you up, Master. And see another dessert made for you-"
"Dessert? I don't want another dessert, Celestia."
> Your hissed response produces absolutely no reaction from her, but that in and of itself was a reaction.
> Instead she simply finishes rinsing your hand off.
> Free hand rising to squeeze the bridge of your nose, you sigh in defeat.
"What am I to do with her?"
> "I - what did she do to provoke you, Master?"
"Provoke me?! She insulted and threatened me!"
> The soap actually slips from Celestia's grip, plopping into the water with a muted splash as she stiffens.
> "Oh, no..."
"Yes. Oh, no indeed."
> "My sister does have her moods, Master, but-"
> Celestia gives you a look through hooded eyes that makes you twitch between your legs.
> "-I am sure I can get your thoughts back to better matters."
"Oh? Can you now?"
> You know full well what she is doing.
> But as she lays you down on a bed of her golden magic, you can't really find it within you to protest either.
> "Naturally, Master. You can always rely on me-"
> Lips trailing down your chest, her head finds its way down to your crotch - the tip of her nose brushing down your stiffening shaft, and then the teasing tip of her tongue tracing back up.
> God - if you weren't hard before...
> Giggling softly, she kisses the very tip - drawing a low moan from you - and whispers up.
> "See, Master? Always good for you."
> You know better than too respond.
> This was a moment for just leaning back into her magical hold and letting your slave do her best.
> A wing extends, feather-tips brushing your sack, as her lips close about your shaft head and teasingly suck.
> Her eyes rise to fix on yours while her head sinks down the length of your shaft.
> The deep breath you draw in a cannot be attributed to the pleasure of the act alone - Celestia knows exactly how much you love seeing her eyes when she does this.
> Just as she knows to arch her hips up and wriggle her ample rump as her head begins to bob.
> Yes, there was no doubt this was good.
> But-
> As she works, you also can't help but let your thoughts drift.
> Back to her sister - to Luna thin coat emphasizing the sinewy strength hiding beneath those sleek curves.
> What would she be like?
> In the few months you had been here, you never had taken her to bed.
> Could she be as enthusiastic as her older sister?
> Did that firm rump imply a tighter mare?
> Celestia slips a leg beneath each of your thighs, lifting your hips.
> Her mouth sinks down to meet your hips, taking you all the way into the back of her mouth.
> And all the while her eyes remain focused on you - soft, tempting, alluring.
> When she vibrates her mouth against your shaft, it's altogether too much.
> Your vision takes a moment or two to recover from the pure-white burst which filled it as she suckled down your seed.
> The next thing you knew, Celestia was gently depositing you back into the warm tub - cleaning the lingering remnants of her spit and your seed from your shaft.
> There was, of course, not a drop left on her face.
> And yet you felt...
> Empty.
> Not merely because of what she had drained from you, but for a lack of what should have filled it.
> You lean back against the edge of the tub, thoughts whirling.
> "Was I worth it, Master?"
> Of course she was, but -
"My father, when he passed this title and its holdings on to me, suggested that I'd be an idiot not to take your council on certain matters."
> "He was a wise man."
"Actually, he mostly suggested I was an idiot anyhow and listening to you would at least keep me from ruining my family's name too quickly."
> To this, she diplomatically refrains from commenting on.
> Sinking into the water up to your chin, you let your eyes wander up to the field of stars in the false-sky above.
> Unfortunately, gazing out into the deep void of space no longer proves as satisfying as it once had been.
"So, Celestia - advise this fool: What am I supposed to do with Luna? As long as she avoids me I can - excuse -"
> Ignore.
> Because you are a coward.
"- her behavior. Not this, though. She is your sister, isn't she? Can't you do something?"
> No answer comes immediately, but you know how she must be feeling and cannot bring yourself to force her.
> Despite her - service, your mind had not been swayed to better matters.
> When you do eventually look back over the sight that greets your eyes is enough to give you pause.
> Celestia had turned aside to hide her face from you, and although you could not see her you could sense the emotions behind that mask.
> Could see how distraught she was.
> Spotting your look, Celestia turns away.
> "Forgive me, Master, I just need a moment-"
"No. Come here and tell me."
> Her gaze falters.
> "...I beg you, Master. Don't be harsh with Luna for this. Even after all this time, the weight of servitude is heavy on her."
> Responding to your beckon, the mare comes to your side in the tub - sinking down to her belly and leaving only her head and feather-tips above the water.
> In response you take her head against your chest:
> Fingers curling to hold it to you and stroke her cheek.
"I read my father's journals, you know. After he abdicated our House and retired planet-side."
> You chuckle bitterly, leaning your head over against her neck.
"When I was first trying to figure out what Luna's problem was. It turns out he wondered the same, and read my grandfather's journals. Apparently they were pretty clear - no physical punishment could dissuade her attitude. Not anything from the lash to shocks to a week in a sensory-null pod."
> "My sister has... endured far more than a week of oblivion."
> The deep and bitter sadness with which she says that piques your curiosity, but that will wait.
"He was apparently pondering either implanting her with a neuro-control unit - just turning her into a Lobotic - or just putting her out an airlock."
> Beneath the water, her tail lashes at that thought.
> "This was... discussed with me. In the end he simply asked me to keep Luna away from him, Master."
"And hence my choice to try and do the same."
> Celestia leans over slightly, resting her head against your chest.
> It is a strangely intimate-feeling touch, given that she had just offered her body to you in a far more clear way.
> You run your fingers through her mane and earn a soft huff.
> "I wish he had taken us with him."
> The words slip out almost impulsively, and you can feel her stiffen in anticipation of your reaction.
> Slaves, after all, did not get wishes.
"Why? He didn't seem terribly fond of you."
> "He was not. We have not been treasured since your Great-Grandfather's time. But it has been so long since either my sister or I saw our wo- the world we came from."
"Putting up with him would have been worth it?"
> "Perhaps."
> Something else she said is sticking with you too, though.
> They had not been treasured since great-Grandpa's time?
> God, that would have been a hundred and fifty years ago; your family tended to work long and abdicate late - taking full advantage of life-extension treatments.
> Except for Grandpa, of course.
> His body was still drifting with the wreckage of his freighter, out on the Frontier - if scrapper-crews hadn't found it and picked it dry.
> But, what did she mean by 'treasured', though?
> You cared about her!
"Celestia? What do you - what was my Great-Grandfather like?
> For once, a smile touches her lips.
> "He was one of the greatest men I have ever known, and certainly one of the finest I have served."
"Well, I mean, he's obviously great. Brought down the entire Farpaal Sector rebellion in six days, and barely any bloodshed."
> Something your father never ceased reminding you of.
> "More than that, Master. Do you know why he could do that?"
> Pulling back from your chest, Celestia raises her head to looks straight at you.
> "He listened. He did more than take counsel - when others spoke up, he never stopped there. Always dug deeper. Wanted to understand them - whether they were his foes or servants."
"I listen-"
> "No. You accept things given to you; with him we proposed, questioned, even argued. We did not always win, but we never feared losing either. We were like a part of your family."
> One hoof rises to tap your chest - hard, gentle yet hinting at the immense strength behind it.
> "More even than an open heart, he had a vision in his heart."
"A few months, Celestia. That's all the time I've been head of the family for-"
> "It is not a matter of acts, but of attitude. He did not content himself with pool-side dinners or bedding his slaves; he wanted to build something greater for them too!"
> You flinch back.
> That was possibly the closest Celestia had ever come to reprimanding you ever.
> Seeing that a line had been crossed, she turns aside.
> Eyes again half-closing.
> The fire that had filled them for a moment, fading to a dull look of regret.
> "Forgive me, Master. That was too far. I overstepped my bounds."
"No."
> If great-Grandpa had won his success by listening, then this was where it should begin.
> Reaching out, you pull her back into a new embrace.
> This time her wing emerges from the water to tentatively join in circling your shoulders.
"You didn't. Well, you did - but maybe those bounds weren't right anyhow."
> Now she settles back against you, eyes sliding shut.
> "...my sister and I were once rulers, of course. When your Great Grandfather was alive, we hoped he might grant us return to our world. To care for our ponies again."
"It didn't happen, though."
> "It crushed Luna, I believe. For a moment she had dared to hope. Then your Grandfather went missing in Frontier Space, and she grew - embittered."
> She sighs, heavily, eyes staring somewhere off into infinity.
> "No punishment can break her, because no punishment can match how Luna scourges herself in her own mind for failing. For daring to trust. For daring to be friends."
> For failing to achieve what she needed to.
> Like you would never live up to your father's expectations.
> You need to make this right.
> Undo what you'd been doing.
> Somehow-
> You slide from Celestia's grip, leaving a confused mare behind.
> "Anonymous? Master?!"
"I'm going to find Luna. I'm going to fix this!"
> "Master, wait-"
> But you do not wait - bathrobe only half-on, still dripping water, you pull the house computer up through your implants to locate Luna.
> She greets you with a sneer when you barge through the doors half-clothed and panting.
> "Ah, We see thee have returned. Come to try and bed Us again? Come to inflict some new punishment on Us-"
"I'm sorry."
> Two words crash through her armor.
"I - haven't been fair to you. I was cruel. I was uncaring. I - used you. Celestia told me what great-Grandpa was like, and - I'm sorry. I want to make this right, Luna."
> Extending a hand, you offer it to her.
"Please. From now on, no more using. From now on, I listen. You don't have to - to hate yourself anymore."
> For a moment she says nothing.
> Shows nothing on her face, in her eyes.
> And then-
> Laughter.
> Bitter, ringing, hollow laughter.
> "Make this right? Thee think to make this right?"
> Luna's lips pull back to reveal a toothy grin, one that somehow seems to fill her mouth with pointed fangs despite that being impossible.
> "Thou art a slaver. Thou art human scum. Disharmony is thy father, bloodshed is thy mother; thou brothers and sisters are sloth and cowardice. Thee will never be anything but a limp, spineless, heartless fool."
> She advances, and you involuntarily take a step back.
> But the door has been shut and thoughts of how to open it seem to have fled your mind.
> "Do not think for a second that thee know a fraction of Our pain, and do not ever dare pity Us."
> Tears bead on the corners of her eyes.
> You realize with some distant surprise that they are filled not with pure rage but with unfathomable sadness.
> Sadness that, you now realize, must have been masked by the haughty stares and threatening words.
"Luna-"
> "Thou art unfit to say Our name. Never speak of this again!"
> Then she is gone, turning and vanishing in a flash of star-shot tail that seems to encompass her entire body.
> You are left alone.
> Despondent.
> The last drops of vigor which had filled you only moments earlier now rushing out as through a breach into space.
> Eventually you become of a broad white wing around your shoulders, gently guiding you to a seat.
"I... I thought I could help."
> "Such things are not so easily done, Master."
"Can it even be done?"
> A shudder runs through you, goosebumps raising on your skin.
> To face - that thing again...
> "I believe so. I have seen Luna rescued from her own emotions before, and I shall not surrender the fight now."
"I don't have your magic."
> Celestia smiles a gentle smile.
> And although you can also see a deep well of sadness in her eyes, you can also see hope.
> "The magic I used to rescue her does not require a horn, wings, or hooves."
"Tell me, then. How did you do it before?"
> "Well, the story goes something like this: 'Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there were two sisters...'"