//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: Prim Rose's Redemption // by Hope //------------------------------// Prim was dizzy. Then a cool blue light swept over her, and a pain she’d not even noticed faded away, and the dizziness vanished abruptly. She opened her eyes, and she could see Luna leaning over her bed, smiling. She looked a little sad though. Prim smiled as well and reached up to touch Luna’s cheek with her hoof. “Did I dream… You sang…” “T’was not a dream,” Luna said, her voice soft and low, as she leaned in and kissed Prim so gently on the lips, that it could have been a feather brushing her skin. “Kissing an old mare, what wouldst thy children think?” Prim chuckled. “They would be most pleased that I have finally come to my senses,” Luna said as she used her magic to pick up Prim and carefully set her right side up on the floor. “How wouldst thou enjoy a walk through the gardens?” Prim braced for the pain she’d become accustomed to when standing, but it didn’t come. “Stars above, have I been cured?” she asked hopefully. But Luna’s face fell and she pulled Prim into an embrace. “I am so sorry,” she whispered. “Do not do this, Luna. Do not blame thyself,” Prim said firmly. “Simply… How much time remains for me?” “Days at most,” Luna said as she tucked a bit of Prim’s mane behind her ear and kissed her on the cheek. “Hours, if we are unlucky.” “Then we shall plan for days,” Prim said firmly. “For I have ever been the luckiest mare there has ever been, certainly, to catch thy eye.” “So… A walk through the garden?” Luna proposed again. Prim nodded, and began walking, waiting to ensure that Luna would be at her side the whole way. They passed through the halls, ignoring the guards, and even ignoring Princess Spring, who watched them pass with a smile. They exited the castle, into the evening light, and then turned to the right. Prim looked to the Home of the Night, the building of stone that now looked so natural, like it was supposed to be there all along. Prim then turned her attention to the iron gates being opened to the gardens. They had once been only a hundred paces across, but now the Lunar gardens had expanded to cover half of the unoccupied grounds around the castle. But Prim took notice of the first arrangement of flowers just within the gates. They were primroses. Red and purple, with a few white ones. She gently lifted one of the flowers to smell it, noting how thick the stems were, and how many leaves were decaying on the ground. Clearly the flowers had been there for quite some time. “These… didst thou plant them in honor of me?” “Something to remind us of thy guidance, Prim. Something to calm us when thou art unavailable,” Luna said quietly. Prim sighed and smelled the flowers again. “They are beautiful, and I am honored, but stay in this moment, my sweet star. Do not drift into a sad time that will come later.” Luna smiled a little at being called a sweet star, and followed as Prim made her way through the gardens, touching the stone bench she’d once fallen asleep on as she passed, and tossing a pebble into the fountain which poured a thin sheet of water into the pool below. Eventually they arrived in a grassy clearing surrounded by hedges. She looked around at the private space before going to Luna’s side and nuzzling her neck. “I don’t know what to do,” she sighed. “Without a schedule. A list.” “Well that is because thou art not at work,” Luna said, returning the nuzzle. “Thou art, for once, without duty.” “Then what am I, if not Castalian?” Prim asked, exasperated. “Thou art my love,” Luna replied quickly. "Then what do two lovers even do?" Prim asked with a laugh as she leaned on Luna. "I'm too old to play at being a sexy mare. Too realistic to think I could attend court by your side, wrapped around your arm, displaying my adoration. What is left for an old mare and the whole night sky worth of beauty?" Luna blushed at the compliment, and lifted Prim up as she rolled on her back, laying Prim on her stomach so that the old mare could relax, while looking Luna in the eyes. With her legs outstretched, she could barely touch Luna's cheeks, while her hind hooves hung near Luna's cutie mark. "They stay close. They talk freely. They care for each other, and sometimes I've even heard that they kiss," Luna listed casually. Prim scooted forward a little bit, and she kissed Luna. This time it was a bit more forceful, an it lasted a long time, resting there, exploring what kissing could be like, and what got a reaction out of Luna. It was simple, and quiet, but by the end they were both smiling and blushing and a little out of breath. Luna wrapped herself around Prim, holding her. “Sometimes?” Prim chuckled. “Sometimes,” Luna replied with all the seriousness she could manage. “I love thee,” Prim repeated. “I truly do, Luna. I… I am so sorry I did not say it sooner.” “It may not have been any better if thou had been more prompt,” Luna sighed, putting her cheek to Prim’s as she held her. “Ruling Equestria, being so blind to my own feelings, the pressure of the public… There were many obstacles we faced. Many difficulties we addressed by simply ignoring our own pains.” “But we could have had more,” Prim whispered, her tears wetting Luna’s cheek. “Just as thou art keen in reminding me not to dwell on a painful future, do not dwell on what could have been, Prim,” Luna urged her as she rolled to the side to let Prim curl up on top of her wing, warm and safe. “We may have been capable of having more, we may not have been, but we have this. We have eachother now, and we have our love without the concerns of the public, without political complications, and without our own hidden feelings.” Prim closed her eyes and pressed herself into a tight little ball pressed against Luna’s chest and stomach, and for a little bit they were quiet. “Prim?” Luna asked after a few minutes, tone worried. “Hmm?” “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought…” “I’m not gone yet,” Prim said as she kissed Luna’s neck. “Just enjoying… I never got to be this close to you, before. Well… Except for when we danced.” Luna smiled as she remembered the dance, and she began humming a song that got Prim to open her eyes and smile. “That’s so… So familiar,” she said with fascination. “Where have I heard it before?” “The dance,” Luna said with a raised brow. “That was the song being played.” “I only remember the dance for the children. There was no music, but the tapping of a guard’s spear,” Prim admitted. “I wish I remembered… We danced again?” “It was more formal,” Luna nodded. “I’d nearly forgotten the dance for the children, myself. But We danced again at a royal gala. We were not so pressed together as the dance for the children, but… It felt close. In my heart.” “If only I were not so frail, we could dance again,” Prim sighed. “Perhaps in thy dreams tonight,” Luna said as she kissed Prim’s forehead. “We may have a chance to dance again.” Prim grinned and looked up at Luna before kissing her on the lips, a more reckless and passionate thing than the exploratory kiss before. “Truly? I’d near forgotten that thou art capable of such a thing.” “Your memory has been fading,” Luna said as she prushed Prim’s mane back with a hoof. “Do not worry of which things you may remember. It is alright, I will take care of you.” Prim began to cry, and Luna had a moment of panic, wondering if she was hurt or if Luna had somehow failed to keep the painkiller spells active, until she realized Prim was smiling. “What… Why? Art thou alright?” Luna asked as she adjusted to hold Prim even more gently. “Oh Luna… Oh little moon of course I’m alright,” Prim said as tears streamed down her cheek and wet Luna’s wing. Prim scooted up until she was curled against the bend of Luna’s neck. “All my life I took care of others. IT was what I was good at. It was my job. It was… It was everything. Caring for other ponies came first, myself second. Thy care was shown, and was evident, do not misunderstand me, but nonetheless I cared for even thee, and now… Now there is an utter safety. A complete envelopment, and I can… I can let go of all that. There are no more schedules, no more complicated matters to attend to. For thou art caring for me. It is… An incredible act of love, to care for one so completely.” Luna smiled at that and leaned in close so her head was against the back of Prim’s neck, curled around her as she was. “Then thou hast shown me incredible love for thy whole life here,” Luna pointed out. “Thou art sure to make me cry again,” Prim said as she made little kisses along Luna’s neck, ignoring the tear-soaked dampness of the coat on her cheek and neck. “These are happy tears, so I shall not regret causing them,” Luna said cheerfully. Again they laid there for some time, until Prim shivered and Luna pet her mane back out of her eyes. “It will not do for thee to become sick.” “More sick,” Prim corrected as she stood with Luna’s assistance. Before Luna could focus too much on what Prim had said, she started off on a quick trot towards the guard barracks. “What dost thou seek, my Rose?” Luna asked curiously, noticing the determined path. “Well, I ought to see if Tao and Evenstar are about!” Luna slowed, and used her magic to gently turn Prim to a nearby door into the castle instead. “Prim… They are not… Tao and Evenstar passed away,” Luna said gently as she opened the door. “Ah.” They went inside and Prim was suddenly grateful for the warmth of the castle walls. She hadn’t noticed how very cold she’d become outside. Yet she found an unusual energy in her, pressing her on. “Well, it cannot be helped,” Prim said as she started down the hall. “Ah! My old office, I suppose…” She paused, frowning as she looked to Luna. “Who…” “Silver Decanter,” Luna said with a fond smile, imagining Prim so many years ago, standing in front of the same door. “Ah, the… The stallion,” Prim said, suddenly wary of the door. “So casual, thy sexism, Prim. Dost thou find it comforting after so many years of fighting it?” Luna asked Prim, leaning in close to kiss Prim’s cheek. Prim did notice that this was the first time Luna had kissed her in front of the guards, and took a special thrill in that, which outweighed the frustration with what Luna had said. “Perhaps it is comforting!” Prim huffed, though she couldn’t muster true anger. “Let me meet him then! Though… I trained him, did I not?” “True, for he, this shall be a re-meeting of sorts,” Luna nodded as she knocked on the door. The click of the bolt being withdrawn from the frame coincided with a sound like rushing air in Prim's ears. Her vision sharpened to a degree so vast that it was as though she could simultaneously see every speck of dust in the air and not discern where her hooves ended and the floor began. There were no edges, no boundaries. The world bled through Itself as she opened her mouth to speak, to try and explain what was happening to her, but it was interrupted by the door beginning to swing open. It revealed herself, but as a colt, in silver molten light, surrounded by beams of moonlight that disintegrated the last of Prim’s consciousness. She fell to her side as she felt her whole mind being drawn out through her horn, like a thread made of her thoughts. Then there was darkness, and somewhere far away there was a gasp, and warmth.