“No sir.. That is NOT the body of your daughter, Seren Angelus.”

Drake Knight paced back and forth in his office. He had spent many hours secretly researching this girls disappearance. She was one of several unanswered cases that had come up over the years.

“Are you a hundred percent Positive?” The mans voice on the end was tear filled. “Can you guarantee that this is NOT my daughter?”

“I’ll stake my life on it. Your daughter is still out there and she is alive. It’s simply a matter of finding where she is. But that in it’s self is inherently the problem.”

“What do you mean! Just put the word out that it’s not her..the police can begin their search again.” Her father was frantic.

“If I did that..and let the world know that I knew Seren Angelus was alive, whom ever paid so much money to have the coroner cover his findings up..would know as well. She would disappear further. We don’t want that.” Deake ran a hand through his shoulder length, silvery hair. “You must trust me on this.”

“But..She’s MY daughter! I am a senator damn it! And You’re telling me that I am powerless? That I have to just SIT here and wait!?”

“Do you Want to see your daughter alive again, sir? Just answer the question..and THINK about what I said. Someone PAID, with very deep pockets, to have her death OFFICIALLY marked. They killed someone ELSE’S little girl to Hide that fact as well.”

“Do what you must..I don’t care how long it takes. I want my daughter found.” Her father’s voice deadly serious. “Have you any clues so far?”

“Only one..”

Drake’s eyes strayed to a crumples up note that had been type. It was water damaged and nearly unreadable but he could figure it out. He could make the note come alive and tell him the story.

“What is it?” The girl’s father asked.

“Just trust me to do my job. It might take a long while or..It could end swiftly..I don’t know. I do know I will find her though. Until I do..or say otherwise however..as far as the world is concerned, Seren Angelus is dead.”

“I see..very well. Do what you must..”

The line went dead and Drake sighed. He hung up the phone and looked at the tattered little note that simply said

‘The world of Ponies’.

He was an attractive man in his Mid twenties. Drake knight was twenty-five and he was not officially a Private investigator but he was the best. Her father, Taron Angelus knew this. That’s why he hired the man.

“The world of Ponies...what could that mean.”

Talking to him self, pacing once again. His tall, slightly built frame proof of strength. He worked out and kept in shape. His resources practically unlimited when he pooled the right ones. He was A handsome figure with Silver hair and Steele blue eyes.

“Who wrote you..who..is trying to get out?”

If only this note could talk. It was found on the clothing remains of the dead girl and hidden well enough that the coroner missed it. Drake went to the morgue that she was at and did his own research in secret though.

The death was perfect. There was no prints to be found. It was hoped, probably, that the sharks would only leave behind the barest traces of remains and they did. Drake stole a tooth from the skull, since that was the only identifiable way left to find her identity, and paid for his own analysis. He also paid his friend to keep the information quiet.

He felt bad that this girl had to die but maybe he could save another. Maybe he could save many if this was the break he needed to those other missing girl cases.

***********************

Back at the Manner

“James? Why have you not got her groomed and put away yet?”

Giovanni walked into the stables that night and found James, very slowly, washing Caballo. She was trembling weakly and nearly half asleep on the grooming table. Another day of Mistress Raven’s lessons and she was Exhausted.

“She needs the warmth of the warm water to relax her muscles.”

“Is that so?” Sighing. “I think you are too soft hearted sometimes, James.”

“Someone must be, master..or ponies like Caballo..would die. I know you think I speak out of place but it is the truth and you would not have me speak any less to you.”

“Yes..I certainly wouldn’t appreciate it. But I wonder James..What is it that you hope to achieve here? Do you hope that somehow this pony will see that you are something else and give her heart to you? Is that it? The heart weakens a Master, James. In our world..we can’t afford a kind hand heart. Your pity...for this pony only weakens you to that point of not seeing this logic.”

“It’s not a weakness..sir.”

“Yes it is. Yes..Treat them well...IF they deserve it. Make sure they are healthy, cared for and well fed. But to keep offering a compassion to one? There are many ponies at this stable..and you do not act like this with them. So therefore I can only conclude that you hope to win this ponies heart somehow.”

“The other ponies at this stable willingly came.” James finished rinsing her and started to dry her now. “She did not. You took her from her world as she knew it. Maybe it’s me who’s confused as to what you really want with her. You have spared no expense when it comes to her. You have let your pockets run deep. Someone else had to die..for you to keep her. So why? Why do it if she is not willing? I thought..that half the pleasure of this..life style was because they wanted it too.”

The voices groggy. She groaned and looked up at the blurred visions of Giovanni and James. James picked her up since she was not able to walk and carried her to the stall.

“Look what you do now, James..You carry a pony..”

“I carry someone that is too tired to walk because of something done to her that she didn’t want done.” Laying her down in the stall, covering her. “She is already asleep..”

“She had a hard work out..but she is learning..and that is what Ponies do.”

“No sir..answer my question from earlier.” James locked the stall as he stepped out. “Yes..I stay here..I serve you..I keep your secrets. I am owed this answer. Why her? Let her go. She doesn’t want to be here.”

“Why her? That answer is simple, James. To purely posses her. That is Power James. It is a power you will come to appreciate when you are a stable master and not a stable boy. To have something you want and have the power to make it happen. Even if that something doesn’t want it, they must accept it. Think about it, James.”

“Think about how you torment and make her suffer? That is not pleasure for her. The other ponies may like the humiliation and the feeling it gives but she doesn’t.”

“And what would do if I GAVE her to you? Let her go? Let her free into that world she was taken from?”

“Probably..”

“And then you and I would have the world down on us. Our lives ended all because of ONE sympathetic moment. She could never function in that after. She would forever have the scars of this world on her. The nipple piercing. The tail ring. The Brand. She would get up in the morning and see it..and be depressed. Her world would slowly fade..just as ours would. And to what purpose does any of this do any good? You would kill her by putting her back in THAT world.”

James looked away from the man in silence.

“And If I GAVE her to you..what if you didn’t let her go? What if you kept her and kept your kind heart with her. You would hope that she loves you. I see right through you, James. The truth is evident in the way you treat her as compared to the other ponies. You’re in love with an animal..but I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me since you are animal by half.”

“What?” James blinked in confusion.

“That’s right..when I FIRST started and joined this world..I had compassion..like you. I used a kind and gentle hand. Hard to imagine but it is so. And in my discretion of taking one of the Ponies and seeing her as more than just..that..You were born. My sin..my shame. But never the less you are mine and I take care of what is mine.”

His breaths felt heavy. James heard the words but he couldn’t believe them. It was as if he were in a wind tunnel now.

“You will ALWAYS be mine. That is the power and reality of this all..She is MINE. They are MINE. You..were born MINE. Do you understand now? I don’t have to lower my self to sleeping with animal..to feel that pleasure. I posses them completely. I make them tremble. I even silence you. That Power..is undeniable..and..yes..I may..play with a pony or two..but I will not make the same mistake twice and care for one as more than the animal they are.”

Silence still his tongue. James listened to this man and felt a new found fear rising in his soul. A new fear of Giovanni. The deathly serious tone. The words. The attitude.

“Now you are understanding, James. For punishment..tomorrow you..will be the one who straps her down into the breeding shanks and it is YOU..the HALF animal whom I will make tear her innocense away. You did it to her. She doesn’t need a hymen to win for beauty. She can win that without it. But you..will fully understand the consequences of your actions. A lesson must be learned.”

“N..no sir..Don’t make me do that her.”

“You want to..I can see it in the way you look at her. You WILL do it. Your loyalty is mine. It will always be so because I can command that fear in you. Besides..who better to take it..than the kindly stable boy whom she trusts?”

Smiling almost sadistically. Giovanni turned and walked off without another word. James’s knees buckled and he fell to the ground, panting. It took every last bit of strength he had to remain standing so boldly in front of Giovanni but now?

Tears fell down his cheeks. What had he done to that poor girl? What had he done? His care and concern for her had only brought about a new torment for her and for him.

“I’m so...sorry...Caballo..”

Whispering towards her Stall. Part of him was glad that she was too exhausted to hear that conversation but then part of him, a dark part which he hated, found excitement in it. He fought against that urge to want her so many times. It was only because Giovanni was right. He did love her. And now here it was slapping him in the face.

He would be forced to take her. That dark part would be indulged and further brought out of it’s shell if he wasn’t careful.

“I won’t let him turn me into an animal..”

Whispering to him self in the darkness as stable lights went out.

“I won’t...”