Prim Rose's Redemption

by Hope


Chapter 24

“Good evening, Lady Rose,” Tao said as Prim exited her chambers, stretching.

“Tao, ah, yes, guard rotations,” She remembered. “Art thou prepared for a great deal of walking?”

“I had my boots cushioned just for the great exertion,” Tao joked as Evenstar took up Prim's other side and they started off towards the solar wing.

“Excellent. There is much to be done. Firstly it is of paramount importance that we insure that the second throne’s chambers are proceeding as planned, then we shall have breakfast. Hast thou eaten yet?”

“Eat? Thestrals do not eat,” Tao said sarcastically.

“Yes, apparently we steal and consume the souls of those who are disloyal to her Majesty,” Evenstar said with a roll of her eyes.

Prim slowed her stride, glancing to the guards incredulously.

“A new rumor? Where, pray tell, did such a gem of distilled ignorance appear?”

“Not in the castle, thankfully,” Evenstar sighed. “But it was an old solar noble in the new Cork and Cask winery.”

Prim resumed her pace, shaking her head. “I shall have to find them and shove their head in some water. It seems to work on that type.”

They shared a laugh, as they passed a pair of guards and a hanging curtain to enter the portion of the castle under repair.

It looked less like a crater now, and more like a nearly finished portion of the castle. After more than a year of work, the room was complete, the walls were in place, and the roof was being redone after the prior version had collapsed due to a miscalculation with the weight of the gold-glazed tiles being used to finish it. Once the roof was finished, the windows and other fittings would be put into place, and the castle would be whole again.

Workers moved stone blocks and heavy wood beams in teams, and rearranged scaffolding to support each section of the roof as it was put in, forming a half-dome visible through the balcony that revealed the second floor, and opened up the side of the room facing the windows to form a grand open space.

“Well on it’s way, where’s the foremare?” Prim asked a passing worker.

The worker gestured to a unicorn mare standing by the glassless windows, watching the work proceed. As a gentle breeze rolled through the room, causing her mane to take flight briefly before she brought it back into line with her magic. Prim thought briefly that the mare looked uniquely confident. Not just in charge, but as though she was a stone, immobile in the face of the world around her. There was a very brief flash of jealousy in her, but she buried it and walked up to the foremare.

“Greetings, we’ve come to assess the progress of the repairs, and I’d appreciate a report on the rise in costs due to the previous roof’s failures. I’d not wish to underpay thee or thy crew.”

The foremare nodded, turning her head slightly to focus first on Tao and Evenstar, before looking to Prim. She smiled a little, amused by Prim’s appearance or perhaps her presence.

“Prim Rose. The new Castalian, correct?”

Prim hesitated, wondering if this mare had known Golden.

“Yes,” Prim nodded. “And who art thou?”

“White Diamond,” the mare said as she turned to face Prim. “I hath brought a message for thee, from the Sol Faithful.”

Before Prim could fully understand what the mare had said, Evenstar leapt in between Diamond and Prim, swinging her spear down to block a long thin dagger that had appeared, diving towards Prim.

But as Prim stepped back and Tao called out for other guards, a second dagger materialized and plunged into Evenstar’s neck, sending her to the ground gasping for air.

Prim’s steps became more unsteady and frantic as she backpedaled. Tao, however, did not falter.

With a roar of fury, the thestral spun and brought the tip of her spear into a deadly path, headed right for White Diamond’s heart. But White was more willing to sacrifice herself than Tao had predicted, and she lunged forward instead of recoiling, allowing the spear to impale her midsection but to avoid the vital organs that may have stopped her in her tracks. Though her hind legs buckled, showing that the spear may have glanced off the inside of her spine.

White replied with a roar of her own as her twin blades darted out at Tao, ripping holes in her wings and bloodying her coat, but failing to stop her as the guard spun and jumped to get ever closer to White.

In a final moment of frantic movement, Tao tackled White to the tile floor, the heavy thud reverberating through the wood underneath like a drumbeat, and causing a cry of fear to ring out from the few workers who hadn’t started running. The two guards from the hallway were entering the room, but they were still a hundred hooves away, and couldn’t intervene as the two daggers plunged down into Tao again and again, while Tao beat White with her hooves, screaming like a rabid animal.

Prim watched as the light pouring from White’s horn became brighter and brighter, every ounce of her energy being poured into harder and harder thrusts with the twin blades.

Finally the two daggers fell to the floor with a clatter as Tao broke the unicorn’s horn off with a particularly vicious blow, knocking White unconscious, and likely killing her.

In the shocked silence, the two other guards rushed forward, while a third only reached the entryway to the vast room before Prim took notice and turned to them.

“Healers! Immediately! Fetch her Highness as well!”

The guards rushed off, while the other two tried to slow the bleeding that had turned Tao’s armor blood red, and was dripping on the tile to leave a smeared puddle.

“Prim!”

Tao’s breathy gasp got Prim’s attention, and she rushed closer.

“Yes, Tao? What… What dost thou need?”

Tao shook her head and looked Prim in the eyes, reaching out to touch her cheek to make sure she was looking her straight in the eye.

“I go to rest with Evenstar now. I go… I did what I must, and thou shalt not regret this, hear me?”

Prim nodded numbly and Tao smiled bitterly as her legs gave way and she rested on her stomach.

“Joked I’d be killed by one of Celestia’s minions. Thought I… Didn’t think…”

As Prim watched, she faded away mid sentence.

“Healer…” Prim whispered, unable to take her eyes from Tao, who was so eerily still.

The floor shook and stardust scattered across the floor as Luna appeared in an abrupt flash of light. Quickly striding to Prim’s side.

“Art thou injured, Lady Rose?” she asked.

Prim looked up to Luna and numbly noted that Luna was dressed now in armor and had a scythe floating next to her. She looked cold and dangerous, and filled with fury.

Prim shook her head and looked back to Tao as Luna inspected her two fallen guards.

“Secure the grounds, close the gates. Distribute spears, and secure all workers in the dungeons,” she said, sending several guards flying away to distribute the commands.

The workers protested, but they were quickly rounded up, even the ones that had tried to run when the attack began. All were detained as Luna gathered her two fallen guards and cleaned them with wet rags meant for washing the stone tile. Prim didn’t move, she just watched while the pile of white rags became a pile of red ones, and then grew. Until finally Luna laid the two guards down looking as though they were sleeping, but clean. She then looked to the guards who were standing at the ready.

“We hath been informed of the assailant's name and association. These Sol Faithful clearly mean to darken our sister’s name and sign. They hath committed a crime most grave this eve, one which resulted in the loss of two of our most faithful members.”

She stood and turned toward the guards, and they all stood a little straighter.

“Our punishment shall be swift, but fair. We shall begin location and infiltration of this organization this night, with the sole goal of executing all of those who express a sympathy for this evil act, or a willingness to replicate it. The workers held below shall be held for only this one night, monitored, and released. Upon release we shall trace their paths and be sure of their allegiances. Those whom we find worthy shall return to work at double pay, and be embraced as staff. Those in question shall be released from their contract. From this night on, all guards shall be armed, and none in patrols of less than three. This shall not be allowed to happen again.”

The guards saluted, and Luna looked back towards the two fallen bodies, before closing her eyes.

“Evenstar and Tao shalt know the same tomb, as they served at each other's side, and shall each be granted the rank of captain. If there was more to be done for them, it would be done. But the reaper does not heed our demands.”

She seemed to look at the space over the bodies for a moment, looking into the distance, as though at something no one else could see. Then she looked back to the body of the killer, shattered and bloody.

“Hang the murderer’s body from our tower, so all may see her fate.”

Then Luna turned and began marching for the throne room, accompanied by about half of the guard. She stopped though, when she realized Prim was not following.

“Prim?”

She looked to Luna when she heard her name, and for a moment seemed confused before looking back to Tao. Slowly, she stood. She hung her head to hide her eyes as tears began to well up. She then followed Luna as the whole group marched to the throne room. As they did, lights were being lit all around the castle to offer better visibility, and she wondered who would be tending to Tao and Evenstar. They were likely cold, or was it true that the dead couldn’t feel anything, and they were just armored corpses, nothing more?

She took her position next to Luna on the throne, and just listened as Prince Spring entered the room and took his place at the neighboring throne.

“Dost thou have a moment to inform… us of what has happened before court?” Spring asked haltingly, while clearly trying to maintain the proper patterns of speech.

“It is quite simple,” Luna said cooly.

By the lack of noise, Prim knew Luna had not turned to look at Spring. Her mane made a soft brushing sound when she turned her head while in her throne, as the stars ran over the velvet like water. But there was none of that, which meant that Luna was staring ahead still.

“An assassin attempted to kill Prim Rose, and in stopping the assailant, our finest two guards were lost. The assassin claimed that she brought a message from the Sol Faithful. This organization being unheard of, we shall have to pursue them as a threat to the security of Equestria,” Luna continued.

There was a pause, and Prim dried her eyes on her sleeves, still unwilling to look up.

“Thus the armor?” Spring said nervously.

“And weapon,” Luna agreed. “In this court session, as we are invulnerable to such threats ourself, our goal shall be to prevent any further injury to our little ponies. Each petitioner shall be brought directly to us, without being allowed any period to sneak away into the castle, and we shall address their concerns before seeking to assess any threat they may pose.”

“Princess…”

There was another long pause before Spring spoke again.

“Luna, while this action certainly shall protect our ponies, it may serve to project an appearance of aggression, when in fact we are the victims, and must be seen as such.”

Prim stepped back behind the thrones, but did not make it to the hidden door that would allow her to hide. One of the guards that Prim did not recognize caught her before she hit the floor, and held her far more gently than she would have expected from a guard, while she cried silently into their pauldrons, making the black metal and the coat of their shoulder gleam slightly with tears.

She couldn’t hear Luna and Spring, but she could hear the guards and maids-ini-waiting who surrounded her in the hidden dark space behind the throne.

“She’s been through much, what can we do? She cannot leave her post this moment,” one nervous voice said quickly.

“Calm, Ananas. Fetch mint tea, hot and cold water soaked towels, and… There surely are apples in the kitchen, say it is for her Highness.”

“Yes, Lady Silver.”

A set of hooves quickly left, and Prim could feel Lady Silver taking her mane out of her braid and brushing it out, trying to assist in calming the distraught mare, while the guard held Prim gently. It was a true thestral, she could tell, by the thickness of the coat and the way their leathery wing felt against her back. She cried herself out into the thestral’s arms, not even knowing their name.

“Five minutes until court begins,” Ananas said as she came back into the dark nook, passing things to Lady Silver.

Prim was pushed to sit up, and she kept her eyes closed as her face was gently cleaned with a warm towel, then a cold one was pressed to her eyes and nose to reduce swelling and make it look less like she’d been crying.

“Drink, eat, Lady Rose,” Silver said quietly as she put a hoof to Prim’s shoulder to steady her as she offered the cup of tea.

Prim sipped slowly, staring into the liquid and smelling the mint as she watched the dim light of the great hall shimmer off the surface. She’d never seen a death before, and nothing even close to as brutal. Even Compass Rose, her beloved sister, had passed away in her sleep without Prim’s presence. No matter how much Prim regretted it, that was the fact of things. She’d been witness to the first deaths in her memory this night, and they were of a caliber that most soldiers would not even know.

She felt an icy certainty creeping in her heart, that this pain would not fade. That this hurt would not be set aside, and nonetheless that she would go on. That her job would be done, and she would tend to her Princess’s needs. It felt somewhat like dying, she mused. To give up on the optimism and innocence so many ponies took for granted.

“It will be alright,” Silver said, running her hoof down her back.

“No,” Prim replied quickly, causing those present to freeze while she sipped from the tea. “It will not be alright, but I shall continue on nonetheless.”

The mares in waiting and guards looked between eachother as Prim finished and set the tea aside.

“My thanks to thee all, but I must attend to my post now,” Prim said simply, before moving back out from the shadows and taking her side next to Princess Luna.

Luna had taken her armor off and set it aside with her weapon, in plain view but stowed.

Luna looked to Prim for a moment before reaching out to pull her a little closer with her wing. It wasn’t quite a hug, but close to it.

“We shall keep thee safe, Prim,” Luna said quietly, likely too quietly for Spring to hear.

“I know,” Prim replied simply, before standing and walking down the stairs to the door. There were more guards than normal, but she ignored them as she did her job. She pulled open the doors, and found on the other side that the line of petitioners was guarded by two dozen guards, making the scene outside tense.

“The Dusk court of the two thrones is now open, Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna presiding.”

She then gestured for the first group to enter. It was a noble and a servant, both mares. They were dressed in fine cloaks to keep them warm in the snow outside, and as they drew their hood back and bowed, Prim recognized the noble.

“Presenting, Fine Filigree, to the court,” Prim said with a slight tone of disappointment and amusement.

Filigree flinched at the introduction, looking briefly to Prim before looking back to Princess Luna, high above her.

“Your highness… I come to thee this night to admit that I know the mare which hangs from the tower,” she said quietly.

Swords and spears were drawn, and the suddenly tiny seeming mare hunched in on herself.

“Art thou a member of the Sol Faithful?” Luna asked calmly as she gestured for the guards to stand down.

“No. Despite my status and court, it seemed too much a guild of hate for my conscious. But when I saw White Diamond upon the wall, I knew… She came to me requesting to be employed as a foremare, and I allowed it. If I’d known her intentions, I would never have allowed it. But I surrender myself now at the court’s mercy, for I know my negligence has caused Equestria pain.”

Princess Luna stood and slowly walked down to Filigree, who shrunk in on herself until she was cowering, while the servant hesitantly stepped away from her mistress. Luna arrived in front of Filigree and put her hoof to the mare’s chin, raising it so that Luna could look her in the eyes, as tears began falling from the noble’s cheeks to the floor.

“Dost thou give thy title of Solar Duchess?”

“I do,” Filigree said quietly, but without hesitation.

“Dost thou give to us thy holdings, thy wealth, and thy life to do with as we please?”

“I do.”

Luna nodded and stood tall, before removing the gold and silver sun-themed cloak the mare wore. She then gestured to Prim, who stepped up next to Luna.

“Thou art in need of a Chamberlain, art thou not, Lady Rose?” she asked casually.

“I am. The position must be filled by one familiar with the finery within.”

“Then Fine Filigree shall serve the post. Keep half of all thy wealth, by value, and the rest shall be given to the Children of the Night,” Luna instructed Filigree. “Then report to Prim Rose for thy post and instruction. Oh…”

She took the cloak off Prim’s back, hesitating until Prim nodded her assent, and fastened the black, blue, and silver moon themed cloak to the former noble.

“We do not let our subjects freeze in the cold,” Luna said simply. “But we shall not suffer one of our servants to wear the sigil of Sol any longer.”

“Of course, your Highness,” Filigree said as she bowed low and backed away.

Prim returned with Luna to the throne, as Filigree left, with her servant at her side.

“A fair retribution for her crime, Spring?” Luna asked as she settled in.

“Fair enough,” Spring sighed. “For her actions did assist the enemy, but she did surrender upon that realization. But is the body hanging from the towetower truly necessary?”

“Yes,” Luna said simply. “It is our way of displaying all of our enemies. This is simply the first such display in thy lifetime.”

Spring seemed to conclude that pressing the point would be unwise, and turned to face the other petitioners, while Prim pondered whether she could sneak away to see that body. Maybe it would serve to ease her aching heart and mind if she saw again the mare was still. No longer a threat.

But, as the next petitioner walked into the hall, Prim realized that she wished the assailant wasn't dead. She wished that she could beat the life out of White Diamond herself.