>Be mare
>Your Sunday started with you and your coltfriernd taking a little trip around the bed
>Not the most adventurous or athletic trip
>But you came twice then finished him off in your mouth
>Assuring his attentiveness and compliance for the next few hours
>Which is good because you intend to suggest something you know he'll disapprove of
>After that you went to get some goodies at the Chinese bakery
>A couple of pork buns and a hot dog bun you brought home to have with your second cup of coffee
>The two of you maintain a mostly vegetarian diet, but Sunday is cheat day
>Actually that's not quite a thing
>Any day could be cheat day, it's just usually Sunday
>Sitting across the small kitchen table from your coltfriend you take a sip of coffee and sigh louder than you intended to
>"What's that about?," he asks
"Oh... You know... in spite of the mixed feelings I'm glad it's over"
>"What? Blinders?"
"Yeah. I'm grateful I had the opportunity... and I appreciate all the fans who watched..."
>"The paychecks weren't so bad either"
"No doubt. And I like to think the show had a positive effect, but that last season..."
>"There was a lot of arguing"
"And talki9ng over each other. That's what drove me nuts. It was like we all stopped listening to each other"
>"To be honest I didn't even bother watching much of the last season"
"I think it was pretty obvious I didn't want to be there anymore. Getting cancelled was more of a relief than a let down"
>"Five seasons is still a good run"
"Four would have been better, but yeah, whatever"
>"It left us pretty much set for life"
"We were nearly there anyways"
>"True. When the place is paid off and your indulgences are shit like this"
>He holds up his half eaten pork bun
>"It's kinda hard to spend all of your money if you've done well. And we have"
"Yeah, I mean, we COULD travel, but it seems like we don't have to because the world comes here"
>"If you want to travel we can go to Queens. Much less of a pain in the ass when you have a car"
>You laugh
"I know there's a whole big world out there to see, but... is it overly smug of me to say we can see most of it without leaving Brooklyn?"
"Brooklyn has become a thing. When I was growing up it was definitely second fiddle to Manhattan"
>He takes another bite of his pork bun
>"But now? Williamsbug, Bushwick, Bed-Stuy? To the kids today those places are what the East Village was back in my day"
"I don't know if I've ever even been to the East Village"
>"Not much to see there now - it's all NYU students and expensive restaurants. But back in the day?"
>Now it's his turn to sigh
>"I ran into Joey Ramone on the sidewalk more than once"
>He's played you the Ramones
>Every song is like, two minutes long, but a lot of them were catchy
"Must have been fun"
>"It was a different time. Going out meant seeing a loud band play in a dive bar. Lots of them sucked, but some were great"
"But the bars were crappy?"
>"Yeah. The bathroom at CBGB was legendary"
>OK. There's your opening
>Here you go
"Speaking of bathrooms... neither one of us is all that big on cleaning, and this place, particularly the bathroom is getting a little..."
>"Lived in?"
"You could put it that way"
>"So you want to hire a cleaning pony? Why not? We can afford it"
"I was thinking something along those lines, but you have to promise to hear me out and not just shut me down"
>"I don't like the sound of that"
"Promise?"
>"Yeah, OK"
"I was thinking more of a live in help situation. We take all the crap out of the front closet and that's a room for a pony"
>"That sounds expensive, and we're not that old yet"
"By the time we hit the break even point on the initial investment we will be"
>"Initial investment? You're not talking about..."
>Shit, now he looks horrified!
"I know you're an abolitionist. It's like Skydancer said, new converts are always among the most zealous, but hear me out"
>"You ARE talking about..."
"Look. You know there are plenty of mares out there who are not that good looking, not that bright and destined for..."
>Come up with some good examples
"Life in a sweatshop or agriculture or... worse"
>"That's why we're fighting for freedom!"
"But we're not there yet, and it's not happening tomorrow, is it?"
>"So that's an excuse to do something morally reprehensible?"
"Is it reprehensible to give a good, easy life to a mare destined for a hard, crappy one?"
>"Still, owning another sentient being is just plain wrong"
"If I could wave a magic wand and change things I would have done it a while ago. You KNOW that"
>"But we're working toward that change. You've been a part of it"
"I talked about it on TV for years. There have been marches. How many laws have been passed as a result?"
>"We're gaining momentum"
"If we are it's happening very slowly. I agree the system stinks. But we're in a position to use that system to give one mare a better life"
>"Cleaning our bathroom?"
"Cleaning the place, cooking the meals, doing the shopping, the laundry... and when we get to the point where we need live in help..."
>"We'll already have it. Damn, you thought this through"
"You sound disgusted"
>"I am, a little. But I haven't lived this. You have. So I can't just discount your thoughts on the matter"
"If you want we could write it into our wills that she gets emancipated upon our deaths with enough inheritance to live off"
>"Oh my god, are you serious?"
"Sure, but she can't know that. Might give her ideas. I'm saying if you can't change things then use your position to do some good"
>It doesn't sound entirely altruistic to me"
"It isn't. It's a calculation. A calculation where everyone benefits"
>"And you're not worried the media will have a field day with this?"
"Some nutjobs on social media might. But let's be honest, my fifteen minutes of fame were over before Blinders was even cancelled"
>"And you're not worried about those nutjobs?"
"As far as I can tell the dangerous nutjobs are likely to see it as vindication, not an affront"
>"You're probably right"
"Roseluck will lose her shit, but I don't care. I've heard enough of her opinions to last a lifetime. The only opinion I care about here is yours"
>His silence speaks volumes
>After a while he says, "This is a lot to take in"
"I'm not asking for a decision right now. I'm just saying it's worth thinking about for the future"

>Be mare
>Waking up in your Brooklyn apartment much earlier than usual because you didn't sleep well
>There's a warm masculine arm draped over your barrel, as usual
>And an equally masculine imperative poking against your hind quarters, also as usual
>He's not even awake yet!
>Why do men want it so much in the morning?
>It's really not the ideal time for that stuff, but that's when he's the most fired up
>Normally you'd find this reassuring, even if it's not the best timing
>It shows he still desires you
>And his thing still works, which is hardly a given for a man his age
>Plus it gives you the opportunity to adjust his mood for the next few hours
>Making sure the day gets off to a pleasant start
>Normally you'd take advantage of this opportunity
>But not today
>You have other things on your mind
>Snowdrop - you still can't believe they SOLD her!
>From a business point of view it makes perfect sense, but you didn't see it coming
>In retrospect you probably should have
>She missed your weekly zoom call with Sky and Durril two weeks ago
>And didn't respond to texts or even calls
>She just went dark
>Then last week you were doing the books and saw an unusual depreciated capital asset sale
>Of couse they wouldn't give you any details about a private sale, but you knew what it was
>$7450 - that's what they sold her for
>You remember when she earned that much in a couple weeks!
>But that was a while ago
>Older whorses don't earn like young, fresh ones
>You understand that's just how the business works
>But it's left you in a near panic state because she's your oldest friend
>And you have no way to contact her
>No way to find out if she's OK
>Or if she needs help and there's something you could do
>She's still worth seven grand, so it's not like she was just disposed of
>But she very easily could be in a bad situation
>You feel another masculine poke against your hind quarters
>Not today
"I'll make the coffee," you say, pulling away from him and getting your hooves to the floor
>He responds with something between a yawn and a groan
>It's a typical morning sound of his, but you detect a slight edge of protest in it today
>Not your problem
>You head toward the kitchen, but stop at Lucy's room (formerly the front closet)
>Opening the door you're met by a sleepy plain brown mare with a black mane and tail standing in the small space
>She fits the bill perfectly - not that pretty, not that smart, young, but not THAT young
>And not all that expensive
>It took a fair bit of convincing to get your abolitionist leaning coltfriend to go along with it
>But you prevailed
>And now life is better for it
>Neither of you really wanted to clean, cook or do the laundry
>Or the shopping
>Now, after a few months of breaking in Lucy handles all of that seamlessly
>"Good morning, Miss"
"Good morning, Lucy. I'll make the coffee today"
>"Yes, Miss"
>You check your phone, but of course there are no messages
>Particularly no message from Snowdrop
>Of course they took her phone away when they sold her
>It'd be stupid to keep her on the company plan when she's no longer with the organization
>But you're still hoping against hope she'll find some way to contact you
>And there's still a brown mare standing front you you awaiting instructions
"Master could use a blowjob," you say distractedly
>Her eyes widen
>"Miss?"
"A blowjob. I assume you know how to suck a dick?"
>She looks at the floor, blushing, and drags a forehoof in front of her
>"Yes, Miss"
"So I don't have to explain the mechanics of it to you?"
>"No, Miss"
"Then off you go," you say, stepping out of the doorway to make room for her to leave her closet/room
>She walks toward your bedroom and you head for the kitchen, just a few steps away
>Time to wrestle with the coffee maker, which is an Italian aluminum thing not designed for hooves
>You get it twisted apart, knock yesterday's grounds into the sink, give it a rinse and fill with water
>Then put fresh coffee in it, screw the top on and put it on the stove
>In a few minutes the top will be filled with strong, bitter tasting black liquid
>It took you a while to get used to this kind of coffee, but now it's your preference
>He describes it as being "punchy"
>It's very bold in terms of flavor, but less jangly than regular coffee
>You adjust the flame on the stove to the right level and wait
>What was that bit of theater from Lucy about?
>Acting all innocent like that?
>No mare her age who is private property could be that innocent
>Oh, wait...
>She's been here for a while and this is probably the first time she's had to perform THAT kind of duty
>When you first got her you told him you were cool with it if he wanted to take her for a spin
>Sharing is caring, and it would only take a little pressure off of you
>But you're 99% sure he hasn't taken you up on that
>Your intuition is pretty good that way
>and you know he's the kind of man who can easily spot the difference between Prime and Choice
>This is the first time then
>She probably figured that taking care of master wasn't going to be part of her duties - that's what the reaction was
>She thought she was off the hook for that sort of thing
>What a fucking princess!
>Oh shit, he might have figured the same thing!
>Damn, he's probably gonna want to talk to you about it afterwards
>Well, that will have to be after you have your coffee
>The coffee maker is even more of a pain in the ass when it's hot
>You have to pick it up by its tiny plastic handle and slowly pour itinto the cup
>Otherwise coffee spills all over the counter
>Normally this would be Lucy's job, but today you're trading places
>Finally you take a sip of the hot black elixir
>That's better...
>And your phone rings
>Snowdrop?!
>No, it's Roseluck
>Why is she calling you at nine in the morning?
>Did something happen to the colt?!
>Who just calls out of the blue without texting first unless it's an emergency?
>Wait, she's old - it might not be an emergency
>You answer
"Rose, is everything OK?"
>"I'm afraid I have some sad news"
"The colt?! Is he OK?"
>"Oh, he's fine. Dating a woman, which I don't approve of, but there's nothing I can do about it"
"Then what happened?"
>"You got along well with Cloudy back when we did the show, right?"
"The stylist pegasus? He-who's-name-I-won't-say's little plaything?"
>"She passed"
"Oh my god, what happened?!"
>"John found her last night. By the time he called me it was too late to call you, so I waited until now. I know you two got along"
"Yeah. She was a sweethart. What happened?"
>"It seems like," she lowers her voice, "it was by her own hoof"
"Fuck. I know she had issues with depression, but she seemed to be doing so well"
>"While she was working on the show she was fine. When it ended Vidal retired and she had nopony to take her under their wing"
"I should have kept up with her"
>"You really had no reason to"
"I suppose not. We were just work friends, not really all that close. Still that's horrible!"
>"Yeah. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I figured better you find out from a friend than just find out"
"I appreciate that. How have you been, by the way?"
>You haven't been so great about keeping up with Rose, either
>After being encouraged to antagonize each other on the show for a couple years you didn't feel like talking to her that much once it ended
>"Well today's not so great a day, but overall pretty good. Taking a more hooves on role at the flower shop, which is good"
"That's what you really wanted in the first place, right?"
>"You betcha. I love it. How's retirement treating you?"
"I still work part time. It's good, though. This week has been rough"
>"What's wrong?"
"My friend Snowdrop - you met her - got sold, and I'm worried about her, and I have no way to get in touch with her to see if she's all right"
>"That's why we have to keep up the struggle for abolition"
>You can almost hear a capital A on abolitiom
>If she knew about Lucy you'd never hear the end of it
"We can try to change the world for the better, but we still have to live in it the way it is"
>"Are we back on the show again?," she asks with a nervous laugh, then adds, "I'm sorry about Snowdrop. Did you try Twitter?"
"I haven't been on Twitter in years"
>"Me neither. But I remember following her back in the day when that's what you did when you ran across somepony interesting"
"I haven't checked Twitter. I don't know how to do it while I'm talking to you. Can I call you back?"
>"Sure, but there's no rush. I usually get home around seven, so you can call pretty much any day after then and we can catch up"
"Sounds good. And I assume there's no service or anything like that for Cloudy?"
>"I'm sure you assume correctly. Talk later"
"Bye"
>Poor Cloudy!
>What a waste of a pretty, talented little pony
>Depression is a bitch - you've seen it up close and it's anything but pretty
>It's cruel
>But now you've got to check Twitter - your REAL Twitter, not the one from the show
>You had nothing to do with that
>Snowdrop was really into it when she first got a phone
>It's been years, but you still remember your login
>Probably because it was one of the first logins you ever had
>Hopefully it's the same for Snowdrop
>Direct Messages... Oh, you have a bunch... You really did just stop Tweeting one day and never looked back
>Shit! There is one from Snowdrop!
>It's from a week ago
>Thank you, Rose!
>You click on it and read:

I got a new job! I'm learning to sew! It's hard work and long hours, but they say I'm good at it. They don't like us using the computer, so I'm going to miss our zoom calls. I'm somewhere in Brooklyn, so we're neighbors! Let me know if you get this.

>She's in a sweatshop somewhere
>Not great, but could be worse
>And knowing she's more or less OK is a big relief
>Now you have to think up a reply that won't make it seem so bad for her - she's pretty suggestable
>That's going to take a few minutes
>You take another sip of coffee and start wrestling with the coffee maker to get his cup ready
>You hear the sound of hoofsteps heading toward the bathroom and then the sound of...
>No!
>She's not spitting in the sink!
>Yes, she is
>Where does that kind of entitlement come from?!
>You almost want to slap her, but you know that's not the right move in this situation
>You're going to have to have a talk with her about that
>But first you're probably going to have to have a talk with him, and you don't want her around for that
"Lucy!"
>The sound of hooves coing toward you precedes the mare coming into view
>"Yes, Miss?"
"Did you do what I asked you to?"
>"Yes, Miss"
"Good girl. Why don't you take ten dollars out of perry cash and go get yourself a treat. Just be back in time to make lunch"
>"Thank you, miss"
>She's out the door before his coffee is even ready
>But you hear him taking a piss, so he's nearly on his way to you
"Coffee is ready!"
>"I can smell," he says from the hallway. "Thanks"
>He picks up the cup just moments after you managed to pour the coffee into it
>Without spilling a drop
>You're so glad it's Lucy's job to deal with this fussy Italian thing now
>You never want to touch it again
"I heard from Snowdrop"
>"Really?!," he asks, brightening. "How did she manage to...?"
"Twitter. I never would have thought to check there, but Roseluck did!"
>"Look at Rose being smart for once in her life. Where is she?"
"Apparently in Brooklyn. In a sweatshop"
>"Could be worse"
"Exactly"
>"She's OK?"
"From what I can tell from a short DM, yeah"
>"That's a load off my mind - yours too, I know. Umm... are we gonna talk about what just happened?"
"We don't HAVE to..."
>"I think we kinda do"
"Did she finish you?'
>"Yeah," he repies sheepishly
"No teeth or anything like that?"
>"No... I just don't know how to feel about it"
"Maybe like a guy who just got a blowjob first thing in the morning?"
>Don't be too flip with him - you know he's a little torn about this
"I gave her the rest of the morning off, so you can speak freely"
>"It was weird to wake up with another mare sucking my cock"
"But weird good, right? You love that, and it's nice to let the B-team play every now and then"
>"I just... you know... it doesn't seem... right?"
"What is it? The C-word?"
>"What, her cunt? I was nowhere near her cunt!"
>You laugh. Of course he hears C-word and thinks "cunt"
"No. Consent. You're bothered by the fact that she couldn't consent to what I told her do"
>"Yeah, maybe a little. Mmm hmm, that's it"
"She's not a white woman. She's a pony we happen to own. Consent doesn't apply to her"
>"But shouldn't it? I mean... She's a living, breathing..."
"'Should' is a really stupid word. Are we giving her a better life than she would have otherwise had, like, working at a sweatshop with Snowdrop?"
>"Yeah, I guess"
"You guess?!"
>"No. Of course we're giving her better than she would have had otherwise"
"Then we're doing the right thing by her. No reason to drag in ideas that have nothing to do with her like consent into it"
>He sighs
>"I guess you're right"
"Of course I'm right. Besides, she cost a lot of money, so we may as well get as much use out of her as we can"
>"By the way, kid, the way she did it versus they way you do it? No comparison"
"Goes without saying. I will have a word with her about the spitting"
>"That's OK. Really"
"No it isn't. Like I said, she isn't a white woman. I don't know where she got the idea that was an option, but it's not"
>"You're the boss"
"And don't you forget it!"
>He tousles your mane with a gentle hand
>You lean into it, eyes closed
>When you open them you realize something
>He's not wearing pants and...
"Are you half hard again just from talking about this?"
>"I dunno. Maybe?"
"Well I'm in a much better frame of mind than I was fifteen minutes ago. How about round two with the A-team?"
>"Keep talking dirty while I finish my coffee and you're on, kid!"