The Prince and the Slave
Chapter One
It was a day like every day before. It's always the same. At least from the Prince's point of view.
Waking up at 7 a. m every day, breakfast in bed, having a bath, getting dressed and then meeting his royal advisers in the throne room. He felt more like a puppet with invisible strings attached to his body. HE WAS THE PRINCE. And yet he was treated like a young colt who always needed some pony to tell him what to do. Being a prince doesn't only mean living in a castle and having everything you need and want. It's more the opposite.
Because the thing he wanted the most was the thing he just couldn't have.
Freedom.
But he had to live with it, no matter if he liked it or not.
This morning the Prince had to meet with the local Lords and Ladies around his kingdom.
They wanted to talk with him about matters considering their land. The rest he couldn't remember.
He and his advisers prepared to leave the castle with a chariot, drawn by his royal guards.
They will meet at the "Skylla Inn", a pub only for wealthy Ponies. But for that they'll have to
go through the city. The Prince was annoyed, he would be much faster if they would fly.
He was a Pegasus, it's his nature after all. But no, it would be too dangerous.
The Prince just rolled his eyes.
Luckily the trip only lasted 20 minutes. Unfortunally the meeting didn't. Listening to their boring conversation about why one Lord should give another Lady more land, just because she needed more space to build her own little lake so her nephew could go fishing there.
After 2 hours they finally had an agreement and the Prince settled down in a private room in the back to rest. He noticed a simple brown coat hanging at the wall shortly after the others left the room. Without thinking he snatched the coat and left the pub through a window.
He put on the coat and blended into the normal pony folk.
It was amazing to see his kingdom in a complete different view. So many ponies, but none of them recognized him. It was wonderful!
The Prince knew his guards and advisers would already be looking for him, but he didn't cared. For once he finally felt…. Free. As he walked around the corner, lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt something crash into him and he stumbled back, trying to keep his balance.
Right after that he heard a cry of surprised, he opened his eyes again and saw a white mare lying in front of him. She fell into a puddle of mud after they crashed into each other.
But by the looks of it, she was already dirty before. She brushed her red mane out of her face and looked at him with a hurt look.
The first thing the Prince noticed was, she was a unicorn. The second thing, were her eyes. She had big, dark brown eyes and inside them was such a sadness he had never seen before.
His hearted skipped a beat as he looked at her closely. She looked up at him.
"I'm very sorry, I didn't saw you there."
"No no, it's ok. It was my fault."
The Prince bent down and helped her up, but the moment she stood his hood slipped off his head and revealed his face. Of course she recognized him and with a shocked expression she threw herself back into the dirt, quivering in front of his hooves.
"I'm so sorry your highness, I didn't meant to cross your path and dirty your coat. Please, accept my apology, please don't punish me!"
The Prince was shocked to see her react like that. She was really scared of him!
Do all of his subjects feel like that about him?
It nearly broke his heart to see her like that, so he bent down once more and helped her get up again.
"I'm not going to punish you, I assure you that. Nobody got hurt, so please don't be scared of me. Tell me, what's your name young mare?"
Just as she was about to answer his question the royal guards and his advisers appeared behind the Prince.
"Your highness, here you are! We've been looking for you everywhere!"
As the white mare saw the guards her fear grew and she suddenly ran for her life.
The Prince yelled after her, asking again for her name but she already vanished behind a corner.
"My Prince, you really shouldn't talk with a mud like that one. She's not worthy your presence!"
"Now look at you! Your clothes are dirty too. It's time we head back to the castle. We still got a lot of work to do!"
The Prince, his guards and his advisers made their way back to the pub, got in to the chariot and headed back to the castle.
Since then weeks passed and he didn't saw the white mare with the big, brown, sad eyes again.
It was a sunny morning and the town was already filled with voices everywhere. And in a small cottage, which seemed like it could fall apart any minute, slept a small frame. Cuddled up into a dirty, old and thin blanket.
The creature under that blanket shifted a little on the cold, hard floor it slept on and revealed white hooves and dark red hair. It yawned, stretched its legs and finally got up.
In fact, the creature was a pony. A white mare with a dark red mane and tail. In the morning light it almost looked like blood. As the blanket slipped from her face, her horn was now fully visible. She was a unicorn.
Again she stretched her knocked up body and made the biggest yawn you've ever seen.
She sat there for a moment, still fighting the urge to go back to sleep and stay awake.
Even though she slept the whole night through, she was just soooooo tired.
She was always tired. Well, almost. If she wasn't tired, she was hungry. And she was always hungry.
But it's no surprise, if you just got no food. She looked around her cottage, trying to spot anything that she could eat. But she wasn't lucky. It seemed like she had to go out and find something. Finding food was always a hard task, considering that she didn't have money to pay for it. Mostly she just looked around if any pony lost an apple for example or anything else. If she wasn't lucky…. Well, she had to steal then.
The little mare never liked stealing, because she could get into big trouble because of it if she wasn't careful.
So she left her little cottage and went on her little journey through town, just like every day.
Only now, she was more cautious then normal. Because last time….
She could have run into any pony, a simple salespony, a knight or another street rat like her, but no….. She ran into the PRINCE! WHY did it have to be the PRINCE?!
She really could have gotten into trouble. She thought he would yell at her, punish her because she dirtied up his coat. Instead he helped her out of the dirt and smiled at her.
It really surprised her, because that wasn't the reaction she normally got. Most ponies ignored her, but some would look at her with disgust or even hatred. They just didn't wanted to be around a dirty street rat like her.
Her mane hang in streaks down her face and her normally white coat was more greyish-brown because of the dirt. After all those years living on the street, you could only imagine the young, snow white unicorn she used to be.
Yes, there were many things she used to be. She used to live in a nice house, used to have a family. Parents, sisters, brothers in law and nieces and nephews. She used to have friends, go to school, have fun. She used to spend time drawing pictures on her laptop whenever she could.
And now? Now it's all gone. Burned down and died in a raging fire. She was the only one left.
And now she was all alone. No real home, no family and no friends.
And no pony looked at her like the normal filly she used to be.
Except for him.
Him.
The stallion with the bright blue eyes, just like the sky…
She quickly shook her head. She really shouldn't think of him that way. He was a Prince. Royalty! And she was just….. a mud.
But she had to admit that he was a real stud! But since that incident a few weeks ago she avoided him. She didn't wanted to be seen near him, because it was like a crime if you bothered the Prince. She saw him a few times, but every time she saw him she turned away or hid somewhere and just watched him. Waiting for him to leave so she could go on.
But every time she watched him from around a corner he looked like….. he was looking for something.
But of course he wasn't looking for her. Why should he? She really couldn't think of a reason why. There wasn't anything interesting about her.
Or maybe….. maybe he changed his mind and saw that the stains he got from her on his clothes wouldn't come off and now he's angry with her!
That thought really made her shiver. But…. He looked so nice at first…..
While she kept on thinking about the prince she, again, bumped into something. But this time it was a cart. A cart full of beautiful and delicious apples.
The mare looked around. The sight of those apples made her drool a little. She was soooo hungry! Again she looked around if any pony could see her, and she quickly snatched an apple from the cart and tried to make a ran for it.
When she suddenly felt a hoof on her neck, she was jerked back and forced to drop the apple.
"Now what do we have here? A dirty little thief!"
Her eyes widened in fear. She got caught. By a ROYAL GUARD!
He looked at her with a smile, but not the kind that would make you smile back.
He had a smile on his face that told her that this was it. She was doomed!
"Now, do you even have the slighted clue who you just stole from?"
She bit her lips, she didn't knew what to say. If she said no, he would laugh at her for being so stupid. If she said yes, he would punish her for being so foolish to steal from the royal family.
"So? What's wrong, cat got your tounge? ANSWER!"
Now she was shivering with fear, trying to fight back her tears.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't knew-"
"You didn't knew? What are you? Blind? Didn't you see the royal crest on the cart?"
Now he jerked her once again, holding her face against the cart, making her look at the royal crest painted on the cart.
"Do you know what we do with ponies who steal from the royal family?"
She quickly shook her head, some tears falling from her eyes.
"Well, you'll soon find out!" With that he pushed her on the ground, put his hoof on her back and grabbed a rope from the cart. He tied up her front hooves, then picked her up, spread his wings and flew her to the castle
The Prince was bored out of believe, it's been over a month the last time something interesting happened. There really wasn't anything to do. He tried to entertain himself, tried to draw something, which was one of his hobbies, fly around the castle a few times to train…
But it didn't really work. So he decided to take a walk through his garden. It was always relaxing to listen to the birds and just walk around outside without any pony near him. As he was walking around, he entered his favourite part, the rose garden. He loved the smell of the flowers and the sound of digging….. Wait, digging?
He looked around and saw a pony, digging around the roses, planting new ones.
He looked at the pony and as he came closer he recognized it. It was the white mare he ran into on the market a month ago. He never imagined that he would see her here, in his own castle.
The Prince was about to say something, call out to get her attention as he noticed her stumbling, losing her balance and then she fell. She was out cold. Shocked he ran up to her, nudging her to wake her up. She didn't respond, but she was still breathing.
What should he do? It scared him to see her that way, but he couldn't leave her like that.
Without thinking he picked her up, threw her on his back and quickly flew back to his room, entering through a window.
He gently laid her on his bed and thought of what he could do. He covered the mare with a blanket and then sat next to her and waited.
As she woke up, she didn't knew where she was. The last thing she could remember was digging in the ground, planting new roses. Then she fell. But whatever she was lying on didn't felt like the hard ground she was on last. It was soft and smelled wonderful. It felt like sleeping on a cloud….. A cloud?! Oh god, did she…. Did she die? Was she in heaven? She couldn't believe it, was it finally over? Her cruel life…..
She opened her eyes, but it was too bright. It took some time before her eyes could adjust, but then suddenly a wing came into view. A wing? Where did this wing came from?
But then, all of a sudden everything became blue. All she could see was blue. Blue like the deep sky….
"Hey, are you alright?"
A voice rang in her ears. Was it an angel? Was it the mighty creator of all ponies?
"How do you feel?"
Finally she see could see better and what she saw frightened her. It was a pony. But not any pony. It was HIM again.
"Hey, can you hear me? Do you feel better?"
She looked at him. Where the buck was she? She looked around, it definitely wasn't the royal garden. Oh god was she… in his bedroom? And in his bed too?! "I-…"
"What's your name? You didn't tell me last time."
"My name? W-Why do you want to know?"
"Well, I want to know your name when I talk to you."
"My name is… ArchAngel."
"That's a pretty name! I am-"
"The Prince, I know. Every pony knows you. But, what am I doing here? How did I get here?"
"I saw you in my garden, but then you passed out and I brought you here so you can rest. How do you feel?"
"I-….. I feel better, thank you."
"You look hungry, would you like something to eat?"
"I- You don't have to give me anything your highness. I don't want to be a burden to you!"
"A burden? Listen, if you were a burden to me I wouldn't have brought you here. Now, do you want to eat something?"
"…. Yes, that would be nice….."
"What would you like?"
"I don't know, I'm happy with anything I can get."
"Well, then I'll call for a maid to bring some food. In the meantime, would you like a bath? How does that sound?"
"A bath? That would be wonderful. I haven't had a real bath for so long…"
"Alright, then it's settled. You just stay here and relax some more while I'll prepare a bath next door."
With that the Prince left the room, leaving a very confused and surprised mare back.
The feeling of hot and clean water on her coat felt amazing. It's been so long she had a real bath. The last years she could only clean herself in streams or when it was raining. But that wasn't very pleasant, it was always so cold. And she never really got clean enough.
ArchAngel leaned back against the bath tub, slipping deeper into the water. It was wonderful. She wished she could stay in here forever. She picked up a sponge and rubbed the dirt of her body, slowly dirty grey turned into snow white and her mane and tail felt like a heavy weight was lifted off them. It made her feel ashamed to see how dirty she really was. She was disgusted of herself.
"Do you have everything you need?"
The Prince looked through the door that connected his bedroom to his bathroom.
"Yes, thank you. Thanks for letting me use your bath."
"No problem….. Is it ok if I come in?"
"Ergh…. Sure, ok."
The Prince entered and sat next to the bath tub. "I have a question. What exactly are you doing here in my castle?"
"I'm working here. I was suppost to plant new roses for you."
"Ah, so found work here?"
"….. This work actually found me. I'm your slave!"
"Slave? What did you do?"
"I stole an apple from you. I…. was just so hungry. I didn't knew those apples were meant for you my Prince. I got caught by a royal guard and he brought me here. They decided to punish me by making me a slave for the royal family. That was last week. I've been working here since then….."
The Prince was shocked once again. That was the reason? Because of an stupid apple?
"That's ridiculous!"
"But it's a rule. It's a crime to steal from you. Besides, I was lucky. I could have been killed."
"Now that's very unlikely. No pony would kill another pony because of an apple!"
"Oh, you don't know what some ponies would do for an apple. I lived on the streets long enough to know."
"My god…. I had no idea. I-"
Just that moment they heard a knock on the door. The prince quickly turned around and spread his wings to form a curtain in front of the tub.
ArchAngel covered behind him.
A maid looked through the door and smiled. "Your highness, we brought the food you wanted."
"Yes, thank you. Place it on the table and leave!"
"As you wish." She disappeared through the door again and they heard other ponies move things around. As soon as it all quiet down, the Prince folded his wings back together.
"Well…. Dinner is served. I'll go out so you can get ready." And he left the bathroom.
The now again white mare climbed out of the tub and dried herself up.
After she was done she entered the bedroom. She was amazed by the amount of food that was now served on a table in front of the bed. There was apple sauce, apple pie, hay fries, carrot soup, baked tomatoes, cherries, bread and much more.
So much food!
She noticed the Prince chuckle as he watched her. She was actually drooling as she looked at the dinner in front of her.
"Well what're you waiting for? Dig in!"
"Aren't you going to eat something?" She asked him.
"Well, I wanted to wait a little longer but dinner with you sounds like a great idea. Take anything you want, we got enough for 10 ponies!"
The two of them then enjoyed their dinner and talked till late in the evening. They only noticed the time when they saw how high the moon was already.
"Oh god no! I should've been back in my cell by now! What do I do?"
It was obvious how scared she was. It's not a good thing if slaves don't do as they're told. She would be punished again if the guards notice she was still gone!
"Don't worry, I'll get you back to your cell."
"But how? They would see us!"
"Not if we use the corridors only I know about. There're many secret paths in and under the castle. I found them when I was a young colt and since then I use them to get somewhere faster or if I just want to get away. Come, follow me."
The prince then walked to his fireplace and pressed on a stone flower. Suddenly there was rumbling and the fireplace moved first a bit back into the wall and then to the side. He picked up a torch and walked inside the dark tunnel behind it.
She silently followed him, a bit scared. It was very dark in there and the only light they had came from the torch in his hoof.
They walked for a while until the Prince stopped again in front of a wall. He pulled in another torch and the wall opened. They now were under the castle in the cellar.
"Well….. It seems like our path splits here."
"So it seems….. Thank you so much for helping me and for the bath and the food. That was very kind of you."
"Like I said, it's no problem. I enjoyed your company. I would like to see you again some time!"
"That would be swell! But, if some pony sees us together-"
"Don't worry. Let's meet tomorrow evening again here at this wall when the sun goes down.
I'll be waiting for you."
"Thank you… For everything." She turned around and quickly sneaked into her cell and lay down on her hay bed. She fell asleep with a smile on her face. That night was the first night in months she had a wonderful dream. Because she dreamed of him. Her savior. Her Prince.