“Why did thee not teach me all this months ago?” Prim whined.
Golden Sparkle huffed angrily, pushing Prim’s hoof with her magic, getting it into the right position to properly hold the banner over her head.
It had Princess Luna’s Crest and Mark, with Prim’s own mark below it, small on the corner of the cloth, next to the Equestrian flag. It was mounted on a heavy oak pole that Prim had difficulty lifting with her magic alone, and was surprised to learn was designed to be held by an earth pony. With how much unicorns seemed to be treated overly well in the castle, it was a surprise to find anything designed explicitly for an earth pony or pegasus to use.
“Thou wert Princess Luna’s Seneschal. It has been almost fifty years since Princess Luna preceded over a major court alone, as the regular nightly courts don’t require such formality, and most major events were led by myself. Now that Her Highness is leading a court, the duty to act as Seneschal finally falls to thy back.”
Prim nodded as she stood a bit straighter, making sure to keep the banner straight.
“Now, recite Her Highness’s full introduction.”
Prim concentrated, trying to remember each accolade and mark of recognition.
“Presenting Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna of Equestria, Lady of the Moon, Sovereign of the Stars, Sole rightful ruler of the Badlands and the Whitetail woods.”
Sparkle nodded. “That is the first half, yes.”
Prim paled, she had thought that was all of it.
“First… What is the second?”
Sparkle chuckled and withdrew a scroll from her bag.
“Don’t fret, the second half thou art permitted to read from the records.”
Prim relaxed as she opened the scroll and frowned as she reviewed it.
“This is Prince Spring’s title.”
With a nod, Sparkle simply waited for Prim to read it aloud.
“His Royal Highness, Prince Verdant Spring, Lord of the land, consort to the sun, rightful heir to the Canterhorn mountains and Hoofnia.”
Prim paused, frowning as she finished, and lowered the scroll.
“Is something wrong?” Sparkle asked.
“It doesn’t seem right to me that a Prince is referred to as Consort.”
Sparkle hesitated as well, looking at the scroll in a new respect.
“Can it be changed? Is there enough time?”
“Certainly,” Sparkle conceded, “But we would need to determine the proper title.”
“Duke to the Solar Court, and Marquess of the great Plains.”
Both Sparkle and Prim turned to see Princess Luna, half hidden in the shadows of a servant’s hallway from where she had spoken.
“Those would… suffice,” Sparkle agreed slowly.
Prim quickly added the line to her scroll and then read it aloud a second time.
“His Royal Highness, Prince Verdant Spring, Lord of the land, Duke to the Solar Court, Marquess of the great Plains, rightful heir to the Canterhorn mountains and Hoofnia.”
Princess Luna nodded and ducked back into the hallway, quickly vanishing as suddenly as she had appeared.
“Very well. Thou hast the titles of the attendees, and the order they shall appear in. Thou must ensure that they take their place in the hall before calling the next attendee. This includes their accompaniment, if they are followed by ponies, wait for them to be seated as well. If they do not sit, stare directly at them, they will sit eventually. They should all know where to sit, but if anything comes up the rule to follow is to seat the most important dignitaries up front, center first, then to the right of the hall, then to the left. Guards and other armed individuals are to line the walls, our own Day and Night guards will ensure none go into the halls where they should not be.”
Prim followed Sparkle’s pointing hoof to each part of the hall and did her best to memorize it all, before asking any questions.
“What happens when the court session is finished?”
“There is a meal planned for their Highnesses and the Mayors of each city, that will take place in the Great Chamber. I took the liberty of assigning the best two servants we have to clean and prepare it, and thou may examine it after we are done here.”
“My thanks to thee,” Prim said genuinely, relaxing a bit and letting the banner lean against the wall. “I think I may have lost my mind if thou had told me I needed to prepare the chamber without help as well.”
“There is no shame in needing assistance to do a job properly,” Sparkle replied, her tone a bit more somber than Prim’s. “Had my Princess known that, perhaps she would still be here.”
Prim did not want to agree, but knew that Sparkle was likely correct. She remained quiet until she found another question to ask.
“How are the subjects dismissed at the end?”
“Princess Luna will signal to thee that the court session is over. At that point, thou shalt state that this session of the Lunar court has come to an end, those that should leave shall leave, those that should go to the Great Chamber shall be guided there.”
Prim wrote it all down on her scroll quickly, before nodding.
“I think I’m ready.”
“Not likely, it is thy first court and it is a large one, there are bound to be mistakes, but if there are simply continue despite them. There is no point in stopping and making a bigger mess of it.”
Prim nodded along and took one last look at the scroll before rolling it up.
“Okay,” she sighed as she tucked it away. “I have enough time to check the great chamber, get something small to eat, and check the meal preparations before I take my post, dost thou need me to do anything?”
Sparkle stood and began limping away, shaking her head.
“I shall be overseeing Prince Spring’s preparations. Fare thee well, Prim Rose.”
Prim watched her go, and then went to her tasks. The chamber was properly prepared, though Prim ensured the newly added large table was rotated to let the light fall directly on it from the moon above, through the skylight. She then ensured the wine was ready to be brought up when the meal would begin, and that all the glasses were cleaned a second time, to ensure they were perfect.
She then went into the kitchens. There was a joke among the castle staff that there was one part of the castle that the princesses had no sway over, and that was the kitchen.
The royal kitchen was funded jointly by the two treasuries, and operated independently of the courts. Certainly they could be held to the same legal standards as any business operating in Everfree city, but they could not be fired or punished except by the Chef. This meant that all meals and events were paid for directly to the Chef, and that Prim had only as much authority in the kitchens as any maid that may be sent to retrieve an order.
But nonetheless, Prim had a responsibility to ensure that preparations were on schedule, and that included checking on the progress of the meal.
When she opened the door she took a moment to take in the large room.
The floors were well worn wood, and the walls were covered in white tile that seemed pristine. The stoves and ovens used unicorn mage enchanted stones to heat their food, but a separate group of stoves and ovens were designed for wood, for when the chef did not want to use the mage heat. Every pony in the room wore aprons and washed their hooves after walking any distance, and the stairs down to the cellar seemed well traveled.
The ordered and clean environment was marred by a portion of ceiling and wall missing, burned away with star fire hot enough to melt metal. Two of their workers had been on duty during the late night shift when the attack had happened, and the kitchen had been hit by Daybreaker's attacks, costing them both their lives.
The missing portion of the wall was covered with several layers of canvas, which kept the cold night air out.
Prim waited until she could spot to Chef among the six ponies in the kitchen.
“Chef?”
The green coated and black maned earth pony mare extracted herself from the line of ponies that were chopping vegetables, and trotted up to Prim.
“Lady Rose, are there any changes to the meal?”
“No, no,” Prim said quickly. “The orders stand as is, but I wished to check on the status of the preparations, to ensure everything is proceeding as planned.”
Chef sighed, nodding as she washed her hooves in a nearby sink.
“Yes. Yes, Lady Rose, the preparations are proceeding as planned. If any delays arose I would seek thee out to inform thee immediately. Please, no interruptions during preparations.”
Then, she went back to her preparations, leaving Prim to nervously nod and back out of the room.
Once she was back in the hallway and the door swung close, muting the busy sounds of knives on wooden cutting boards, Prim turned around and headed down the tunnel into the meal hall, deciding that she would not concern herself with her interruption of the kitchen’s work, just remembering not to disturb them without cause again. She did not want to see Chef actually get angry with her.
The constant conversations being carried out in the hall formed a droning hum that was all at once comforting and almost overwhelming, almost every night guard and servant filling the hall, making sure to eat before the event that would not let them leave their posts for possibly the whole night. Prim did not expect to be noticed, but a cluster of the bat-winged night guards stopped talking and waved to her.
She hesitated, but decided that it would be better to address the issue immediately, if there was a problem. So she went over to them.
Despite not being very skilled at recognizing the differences between the Thestrals that made up all of Luna’s night guard, she was able to tell that Tao and her partner were two of the group of eight, as well as the captain of the night guard, judging by the nicer armor and cloak that Captain Night Fury wore.
“We hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting face to face,” Fury said as Prim approached. “With thy presence seeming to be a more lengthy one, we shall have to rectify that. My name is Captain Night Fury.”
Prim shook the offered hoof and tried to smile, despite her nervousness persisting from all the things she had to keep in mind about the next few hours.
“I am Prim Rose, It is a pleasure to meet thee, Captain Fury. I shall admit I myself did not expect to persist so long, but it seems Her Royal Highness has seen fit to extend my service indefinitely.”
“Well then, let us all hope that thy service dost not suffer the same collapse that Her Majesty’s sister experienced under the weight of Equestria’s banner.”
That use of “Majesty” again bought a nervousness and tension to Prim’s shoulders, as she felt again like she was among blind loyalists, while she was simply a realist, who had on occasion referred to Luna by name alone.
“I do hope,” Prim agreed. “Pardon, I must have some small meal before Court.”
Her abrupt departure left Captain Fury frowning, as Prim tried to walk away without urgency.
“Please, let us speak further, Lady Rose!” Fury said with a sneer.
Prim hesitated and looked back at them. Captain Fury smirking, Tau and her partner worried, the others a mix of impartial and amused.
“Sustenance first, Captain Fury. Then I shall speak with thee further.”
“Of course, of course,” Fury said as she rolled her eyes and stepped back to her table.
Prim sighed and continued on to the counter on which the meals were being served up. The meals were more personal and finely crafted, now that the hundreds of injured ponies had been moved to newly constructed infirmeries around Everfree City and the kitchen staff had fewer mouths to feed.
Prim waited for one of the servants to notice her before stepping forward.
“There is stew, bread with garlic and butter, baked aubergine and carrot, and tea.”
“Some of all would be wonderful,” Prim said, accepting a plate after it was prepared. The stew was thick, the reduced mushroom broth more like a sauce and barely spreading on the plate. Prim’s mouth watered and she realized she had neglected to eat anything when she had woken up, and she’d been hungrier than she’d likely allowed herself to notice.
She recalled the words of the healer she had encountered in the great hall before, and how she had spoken of forming a strict schedule to “comfort the heart.” Maybe she needed to adhere to that more than she had been, to ensure she was fed and cared for properly.
She sat alone in a corner and ate her meal quickly, barely tasting the food besides the lingering garlic which she let herself savor in between gulps of water. Other tastes that she couldn’t identify by name swam at the edge of her awareness, tangling with the smells of the meals other ponies were having.
Deciding that she couldn’t put off the conversation with Captain Fury any longer, Prim took her dishes back to the counter and then went back to the cluster of Night guards who had gained two members, bringing their number up to ten in total.
“Thou art welcome to sit at our table, Lady Rose,” Tao said in a tone that suggested she was at least sympathetic to Prim’s concerned expression.
“My thanks to thee, Tao. Though I’d wish to be certain thy captain wished for our conversation to be public.”
“These mares are loyal to myself and Princess Luna without question. ‘Tis not public in the least,” Captain Fury replied, turning to situate herself opposite Prim across the table.
“Very well, then in thy confidence, what dost thou wish to discuss?” Prim asked, hoping that Fury would have some simple matters to clear before the event, and she could go to Luna briefly before it began.
“Thou wert a secret keeper for Celestia, I have heard,” Captain Fury said, her expression and tone betraying no sign of displeasure or even the barest change of emotion.
“I made a habit to keep the secrets of any royal or noble that gave them to me, until the secret being kept would harm the diarchy,” Prim admitted, trying to negotiate some justification in her mind.
“That becomes thy saving grace,” Fury agreed, leaning forward onto the table a bit as though to casually examine Prim. “To bring thy secret to Princess Luna’s attention at such a crucial juncture, one could say that thou art responsible for Princess Celestia’s transformation into the Daybreaker.”
Prim did not have a rebuttal for that, and looked down at the floor, cheeks flushed with a bit of anger, and confusion. Captain Fury was not wrong.
“One may say that thee acted as a salvation of Princess Luna as well.”
Prim looked up, suddenly confused and taken off guard.
“Pardon?” was all she could stammer out.
“Did it not cross thy mind that the anger, the obsession, the paranoia that Princess Luna was expressing were… extreme?”
“I knew her no other way,” Prim pointed out. “Upon my arrival, her Highness saw me as a spy and I cannot blame her. There was a plot to put one in my post, after all.”
“We know,” the captain said as she settled back, tipping her head towards Prim in agreement before continuing. “If that plan had succeeded, it may have come to pass that Princess Luna would have succumbed to the same Alicorn darkness in her heart, and fallen rather than her sister. I am pleased that I have my princess still, no matter the cost, and for that I owe thee.”
Prim stared at the captain as though she’d told Prim that she was going to wake up a thestral the next night. She stared so long that Tao tapped her shoulder with a hoof gently.
“Art thou alright?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes. Apologies, I… I had expected some sort of confrontation, not… Not a debt of gratitude,” Prim said quietly as she looked between Tao and Fury. “So… I shall not attempt to extract some repayment from thee, Fury. I… I do not know what to say.”
Fury chuckled and nudged a guard next to her.
“She is but a child, I should have known she would freeze,” she joked, getting a very short lived scowl from Prim that faded into a smile.
“I am quite young for the post, it is true.”
“But thou art a natural thus far, it seems! So, no more of the avoiding of discussion, or the excessive formality, thou art new to court and likely hath never seen one of our kind before. There are a plethora of trivial questions we are asked by every new noble and member of staff, so go ahead, ask thy questions.”
Prim hesitated only a moment before speaking.
“Why do Thestrals refer to Princess Luna as Her Majesty? I’d thought the term retired.”
Captain Fury nodded as Prim asked the question.
“I thought I detected some aggravation when I referred to her as such. It goes back to a three hundred year old legend. There is no way of knowing its truth as Princess Luna will not confirm it, but it is our legend so we believe it. Thestrals were a race that lived in an enchanted land at that time, a land where the sun was blackened by thick smoke, and only briefly shone through by the wind’s whim. We were an assemblage of three tribes which cooperated in all things except one. An ancient church built upon a hill that all three tribes claimed. Within that church was a dark well from which a voice spoke, and which all three tribes wished to claim as part of their own, an arrangement that served the voice well, as all three tribes brought it endless gifts seeking it’s loyalty.”
Captain Fury hesitated, looking to the others before continuing.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived in our lands in search of a great evil which was using it’s power to reach out into Equestria and corrupt the minds of the ponies there. They immediately came upon the church, and sought to bring the darkness up from it’s hiding place, though the tribes found the two alicorns before they could do so, and demanded they leave immediately. They wished to protect the voice. Before long the Star clan negotiated an understanding with Princess Celestia, sympathising with the idea of the voice being evil and manipulative. They wished to gain the loyalty of Princess Celestia instead. The Dusk tribe sided with the voice, and decided to protect it at any cost. Our tribe, the Wind tribe, decided to seek no loyalty but to listen to Princess Luna’s knowledge and seek some solution given more time.”
Prim opened her mouth but stopped before speaking. Captain Fury nodded for her to speak.
“Three tribes, the wind tribe… Are you saying there were once Thestral unicorns and earth ponies?”
The captain chuckled but shrugged.
“As much like the unicorns and earth ponies as we are like the pegusi, but yes. Approximately.”
“I apologize for interrupting, please continue,” Prim said quickly.
“Thy curiosity is… heartening,” Fury admitted. “Not many care so. They instead seek assurances that we do not drink blood, or bathe in it, or fear garlic,” she said with a smirk and a gesture to the half eaten garlic bread on her own plate.
Prim let herself chuckle at the absurdity of the rumors she was glad she had never heard. Fury smiled a little, and continued.
“When the voice realized the tribes were divided, it chose to have the Dusk tribe assault the Star tribe, and a war began. We named it the War of Church Hill, but it is not recorded anywhere but our legend.”
She hesitated again, and this time Prim could guess why.
“Princess Celestia let them fight, didn’t she?” she asked softly.
“She fought as well, but yes. She killed many of our kind, though in a righteous cause.”
One of the guards huffed angrily, and Fury did not correct them.
“Princess Luna drew the fighting to an end as soon as she could, and she proclaimed we would be under her care. Part of that included discovering the nature of the voice. We learned then that ‘twas a dragon. Ancient and fat with magic and greed, it had abused our kind for so long that we were but part of it’s collection. A collection it wished to expand with ponies from Equestria. After the fighting, many of the Wind tribe left that bloodied land, and came here to live and serve the princess that had saved us.”
They sat quietly for a moment before Prim nodded and sighed.
“So, it’s a sign of respect, as she’s your protector,” Prim said, understanding the use of the word for the first time.
“More than that, she’s always been our only princess. Our only ruler, and one we chose. So for us, she is the only queen we’ve ever known. All the reasons ponies avoid that word do not apply.”
Prim smiled and looked around at the guards.
“I… am curious, I noticed that the Night Guard does not patrol outside during the day, is that… Does the sun hurt?”
“Not hurt, really. It doesn’t burn us, but our eyes function much better in dark light, and being in bright light for extended periods of time can injure our eyes, leading to spots of blindness.”
“Oh!” Prim smiled. “That makes… a lot more sense.”
“More sense than talk of us retiring to coffins when the sun rises?” Fury asked with a smirk.
“More sense than being frightened of the sun. I’d never heard of… coffins.”
“There are many bizarre theories ponies have regarding us,” Fury sighed, looking around at the other ponies in the room, namely the ones without Night Guard armor. “Many make us seem scheming and evil. What other things are you curious about, Lady Prim?”
“Well… Are you glad to see Princess Celestia gone?”
The guards all shifted, uncomfortable and possibly worried they were being accused of treason.
“We… appreciate that Her Highness was a crucial part of Equestria, and mourn her loss, or absence if she is to return eventually. But many of us are pleased that ponies are finally seeing Princess Luna as the ruler she is. Treating her with respect. Most thestrals are not especially surprised that Her Highness had such an emotional break.”
“But not necessarily glad,” Prim pressed.
“No. No fall of such magnitude can be celebrated. Especially with all the death resulting. We lost three of our own, and the world would be a better place if there had been a way to keep her from such an act.”
Prim nodded in agreement and looked around at the meal hall. It was mostly empty.
“It is nearly time, we should take our positions,” Captain Fury said as she stood. “Thanks to thee for taking time to meet us. I hope we can work together.”
Prim shook Fury’s hoof and offered a true smile.
“I hope so as well.”