//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Prim Rose's Redemption // by Hope //------------------------------// “No, this is quite the  typical night.” Prim sighed, looking back at the great hall as she followed Princess Luna towards her private chambers. The practical army of ponies that followed the Princess everywhere she went somehow remained quiet as they moved through the hallway. “It does not seem proper. Everfree City contains many ponies that are awake through the night, who would benefit greatly from bringing their problems to a Princess to address in a fair and just fashion.” “They are afraid,” Princess Luna answered, more gently as she strode into her chambers, the doors held open by two guards. “Afraid?” “Many of the ponies of the night are of questionable legal status. Stallions who sell their sensuality, ponies who steal or grift. The homeless and the criminals. The night is no longer a time of contemplation and romance. The night is no longer respectable.” Prim did not try to dispute the assertions with the bitter princess, but followed her to the patio at the far side of the room. Once outside, they sat together looking out on the Wilds, the district of the rich. There were few lights burning in the district, and most of them were in the businesses. In the early morning, there were no ponies on the street. “So none come to the night court, and the day court is crowded through the whole of it’s allotted time,” Prim sighed. “Indeed. Though we hath no pity for our beloved sister. She has ignored our pleas for greater assistance for the ponies that live in our night. She has written off entire populations as undesirable in order to placate the rich. Her crowded schedule is a self inflicted wound.” Prim grimaced and looked away from Luna, her eyes falling on the Puffs and the towering white cloud structures that glowed in the moonlight. A few winged shapes moved through the area, but Prim could not distinguish their features at such a great distance. “So, what else hast thou done thus far?” Princess Luna asked. “Well… I had clothing made for me as thee can see, to fit my new position. I had a fine meal in…” She gestured across the walls and moat at the buildings nearest to them. “One of those places. I had never had a meal before that I did not have a hoof in making.” “Thou wert raised in isolation?” “Not intentionally. My family grew flowers, which required a wide swath of land. So we lived out among other farmers in the hills. I knew some of our neighbors at a distance, but when the plague came to Trothnicum, we stopped going to town when we could help it, and my family became very cautious. I did not see the city again until after the plague had passed and we became Equestrian citizens. We journeyed to town then to receive the supplies that were sent to be distributed to the citizens, and the streets were nearly empty. It left an impression on me, and until my sister became sick I hadn’t planned on ever leaving our land again.” Princess Luna sighed, looking to Prim with sympathy. “What sickness claimed your sister?” “A swelling at the base of her horn. She became incapable of thought over the course of a year, and once she passed away I left. I’d planned on being one of your mares in waiting. Or a scribe. Anything, truly.” “But always thy intention was to join our court?” Luna asked, an eyebrow raised to mark her surprise. “I had no desire to join in the mundanities of court, to fight for a lowly position and be kept in strict codes of behavior. Not to be impertinent, but thy sister is known for her… ordered approach to ruling, even as far away as Trothnicum.” Luna smiled and shrugged as she looked back to the city. “There seems no ill will in thy statement, and it is true enough. So thy journey here was in search of some more… chaotic purpose?” “More free, your Highness,” Prim corrected. “Chaos dost not please me, but freedom always has.” “Thou shalt find that there are many restrictions upon freedom in the life of a noble.” “Then I thank thy stars that I am not a noble,” Prim chuckled. Luna put a hoof to Prim’s withers and leaned in to meet her gaze directly. “Thy title carries nobility, Prim Rose. Thy family is now noble, by our writ. They shall no longer need to pay their impost to our sister, but rather directly to our coffers, and their land shall be their own, rather than tenants on city acreage. Chamberlain and Castalain both impart nobility for service” Prim felt very very small. She nodded a little and squeaked “Oh” as she contemplated her new title in a different light. “May I compose a letter to my family to explain the situation?” she asked nervously. “Of course,” Luna said as she wrapped her wing around Prim’s back again. “But not this moment. We feel there is much to discuss. A great weight has been placed on thee, and thou art the youngest noble in court. Certainly, there must be questions and concerns.” As Luna sat up, giving Prim some space, Prim closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before offering her princess a nervous smile. “Thou shalt never cease to impress us with thy resilience, Prim Rose,” Luna said with a chuckle. “But no need to rush.” Prim took several minutes to gather her thoughts before she spoke. “What do you want me to do, princess?” Princess Luna pondered the question carefully before deigning to answer. “We hath survived without a chamberlain or seneschal for months. In truth… We were pleased to have all of our affairs firmly in our own grip. However… We are not blind to the purpose of these positions. There is meant to be a sort of assistance. Consultation and the chance for a princess to discuss her dealings with somepony. We would like you to be loyal to us, but that is not always possible, as this is a diarchy. In lieu of loyalty, we would gladly accept thy friendship.” “So… thou wouldst wish for me to be thy friend?” Prim asked, in awe. “Yes,” Luna said simply. “Well… Then yes, I shall like to be thy friend,” Prim replied with a giggle. “Friends with a princess, this night gets better and better!” “Thou shalt find we are not all that impressive, behind the title,” Luna said with a smile. “Please, what other questions dost thou have? What else can be done to assist thee?” Prim realized at that moment that Princess Luna was completely the opposite to Princess Celestia. Not just because she ruled the moon while Celestia ruled the sun, but because Princess Luna was not trying to be a princess. She just was one. She happened to be an alicorn, and she tried to rule as herself. But Princess Celestia was embodying the idea of a princess. The proper and historical model of what a princess should be. Prim was not sure if her brief interaction with Princess Celestia was even genuine, if it was all just a political play to manipulate Prim into doing what she wanted her to do. In a halted breath, she almost told Princess Luna about it all. About everything that Princess Celestia had told her. The pressure rising in her pounding lungs finally was released in a rough cough, as she turned away from Princess Luna, pale. “I need to get some sleep, I’m so sorry your Highness, I shall find other questions by next night, excuse me.” Prim ducked out of Luna’s wing and almost galloped out of her room, leaving a shocked princess behind. She got to her room and slipped inside before locking the door and falling against one of the desks, her tears streaming down her cheeks. Princess Luna wanted to be her friend, and truly cared about her, and Prim was lying to her. Prim was keeping a potentially deadly secret. The weight of the nation’s future truly did rest on her back, and it was not a weight she could bear. It buried her, squeezing the air from her lungs and making her tremble in fear. If she said the wrong thing, did the wrong thing, she could destroy the diarchy. Even if she did it for the right reasons. Being honest to her only friend, after so long without anyone who cared, could destroy that friend’s life. “I can not, I can not do this,” Prim gasped in between sobs, dragging herself to her bed and curling up on the too-soft sheets. She cried for some time, but could not find sleep waiting for her. Instead, she found the heavy book and opened it, to that page with the ominous words. “She’s in my head.” For the first time, she wondered if the desperate phrase referred to Princess Celestia. How far would such a figurehead go to fulfil her goals? Prim closed the book, and set it on her bed, before taking off her bags and putting them next to the book. She could not sleep, but she could not sit in her room with all the pressure in her mind. Prim left her room and quickly made her way out of the main doors and then through the courtyard, to the gates that led to the gardens. At the gates were two night guards. “Am I permitted to enter the gardens?” she asked them as she approached. One of them bowed, as they opened the gate. “Of course, Lady Rose.” Prim managed to suppress her surprise at the use of her title, and she passed through the gate and into the gardens that were lit only by the moon above. She looked up at the moon, and wondered if Princess Luna was watching her. She was an incredibly powerful alicorn, and goddess of the moon. Prim had no idea what she was capable of, but she took a small amount of comfort that Princess Luna may be concerned about her sudden departure, and may be watching over her. Turning her gaze back to the path ahead, she began to wander through the gardens aimlessly. She passed flowerbeds and fountains, that lay still as the magic pumps were not active. The gardens were quiet except for the soft wind that blew overhead and the shifting of pebbles under her hooves. “What shall I do?” Her whisper seemed far too loud, and she looked around to make sure she hadn’t been overheard. But she was still alone. Nearby though, there was a pond surrounded by grass and a pair of benches. She laid down on the bench and watched the stars ripple off the surface of the pond. She pondered Princess Celestia’s request. For her to hide the nobility’s plot to overthrow Luna, for her to think about helping Princess Celestia prove that Luna was fit to rule. How would she know what Princess Luna should do to be a proper princess? She was eighteen, and the princesses were hundreds of years old. Maybe older, she didn’t even know. “What should she be doing?” she asked with a sigh. Should Princess Luna be acting like Princess Celestia? No. Maybe Princess Luna did not act like her sister, but she acted like a ruler. She acted like a princess, just a different kind. Prim was walking through the fields of daisies that her family had planted in the spring. Her mane was out of its braid and hung down the side of her neck, loose and ragged-cut. The wind was gentle and cool despite the warm air that clung to the field. The flowers were all white petaled with eyes, watching her as she brushed through them, leaving a wake of rippling daisies behind her. She did not have to look back to know that her sister followed her, she could hear her light and innocent laugh and the joyous bounce of her hooves as she danced to each thin patch of bishop’s weed between the flowers. Prim smiled, calm and relaxed as she listened to her sister play, but she kept her eyes forward. Far in the distance, a tall blue figure stood upon a hill, but Prim paid it no mind. Likely just another seasonal worker, to be gone before she would learn their name or their favorite flowers. “‘Rim-rose! ‘Rim-rose! Thinkin’ o ye while out fer a ramble, ‘Own by ah cold frosty stream! Set down on a bed of hemlocks and primroses gently ah fell inta dream!” Prim knew that the voice that sang and laughed behind her wasn't her sister’s voice, it was her mother's, though young and filled with vigor. “Into a dream, Compass?” Prim asked with a lighthearted chuckle. “What kind of dream would that be?” “Well ye'd be there, o’course,” Compass said quickly. “And so’d be Fencepost, an we'd all three go out inta the great beyond! Adventure, an travel, an danger.” Prim looked down at the flowers in front of her. They were still watching her, and it seemed with an air of pity. “Fencepost… tell me about Fencepost again?” “Well, he's dead, idn’t he?” Prim kept walking, blinking tears from her eyes. “I know. But tell me about him. What he was like.” “He was the finest dog that there ever was, Prim. We found ‘em sittin in a hole out by the West way, like a Fencepost come ta life, an given floppy ears. He waited till we fixed ta pull em out afore he hopped out quick as ya please, an set about tryna lick pa’s head clean.” “I remember, ‘Pass. I was there.” Frightened by the things she knew could be said, Prim let silence return, as Compass Rose followed behind her, humming and giggling while she dodged through the endless field of flowers. Prim never looked back. “Are we going to the forest?” Prim laughed and nodded as she adjusted her course slightly. “Don't see why not. We've got no work to do,” Prim replied. “and I've finished all my reading.” “I wanted to learn to read,” Compass said sadly. They were among trees, and Prim was hiding behind one. Her sister was on the other side of the tree, in the little wooden fort they had built of fallen wood. “I know,” Prim whispered. “But I… didn't have the time.” The sound of her sister’s hooves dragging through the leaves brought a pit to her stomach. “Can you tell me a story, Prim?” “Y… yes,” Prim said, licking her dry lips as her mind spun, looking for something to say. “A story of a princess.” The hooves stopped, and Prim figured she had her baby sister’s attention. Prim relaxed against the tree and looked up through the leaves at the sky. She tried not to cry, but a few tears snuck free as she sat there. “There was a princess that lived far in the hills on the coast of the pony lands,” she said as she wiped the tears away. “The ponies she ruled over loved her, and she ruled them kindly.” Prim hesitated. She was so scared of darkness and pain, she couldn’t continue the story, she couldn’t let anything bad happen, even in her story. “Prim, are you okay?” Prim felt the hoof on her shoulder and she flinched, before looking up at her sister. Compass rose was perfect in every way. Her pink coat and white mane were brilliant and lively, and her bright green eyes looked concerned but full of life. In that moment, the beautiful impossibility of the dream was broken, and Prim knew her sister was dead. “Everything is okay, Prim,” Compass said softly, stepping closer. “No! No it’s not!” Prim sobbed, covering her mouth with a hoof as she backed away. “It’s not okay! You’re gone! You’re gone and… and… and I didn’t even get to say goodbye!” The wind around them grew in strength, and the sky darkened with clouds. Prim was wearing a black dress, uncomfortable and too tight and too heavy with memories. She was struggling to breathe. “You can say goodbye,” Compass said as she stepped closer, holding out a hoof. Somewhere nearby, there was crying, and Prim could feel her mother’s hoof on her back. She was standing in a graveyard, and staring down at Compass, who was laying in front of her in the rain. “I can’t,” she whimpered. “I can’t said goodbye… Come back, ‘Pass… Come back!” Abruptly, Prim awoke as she fell from the cold stone bench to the pebbled path. Eyes filled with tears, she beat the ground with her hoof, sobbing until she wore herself into exhaustion. Silently twitching on the ground. Slowly, she found the strength to dry her eyes and stand, looking around the gardens wearily. She was bitterly pleased to be alone. Judging by the moon’s position in the sky, she’d been asleep several hours. Hanging her head low, she began walking slowly back towards the gates. When she passed through the tall iron gates, there was a different set of guards, who just nodded as she passed by and headed into the castle. Her cloak fluttered in the wind, and she kept her eyes straight ahead. No point in trying to talk to the guards, they just let her pass. Soon enough she was slipping back into her bedroom and wearily observing the sun starting to rise out of the window in her bedroom, the black sky brightening to blue, then teal, then hints of yellow. She turned away from it all and drew her curtains. After all, her walk in the gardens hadn’t helped resolve her painful dilemma, or helped her forget the pain she’d come so far to run from. With the room again dark, she took the tome to her desk and set it down, before flipping open to the journal pages. There were still many blank pages left to be filled. She thought of what to write, what she could put down in words that wouldn’t be treason or some other form of betrayal. She closed the tome and set it aside before rifling through the stacks of papers and drawers. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. A blank sheaf of paper, bound into a half-width little book. Into it, she poured the last few days, desperate for some emotional release, and in that little journal of secrets she bled her heart.