“It’s just a little poor me, walking down this lonely road.” To pass the time after waking up, Shade decided to indulge in a life-long hobby of hers. Improvised singing. She spoke whatever came to mind with no rhyme or reason and it always ended up becoming a nice song. She would eventually stop, catch her breath, and then start a new song. She was on her fifth song by now.
“Oh, the tragedies we’ve faced. So many, there have been, but it’s alright because we’ve got each other! It’s just you and me against the world!~” And, as suddenly as the song had started a few minutes ago, it ended.
This was good timing too, as Doctor Extreme entered the room a few seconds after. “Ah, Shade, I see that you’re already awake.” He gave a small smile as he gave a good morning.
“Good morning doctor, how are you this morning?” Shade needn’t be in a rush with this conversation. She was in a better and more sociable mood after indulging in her singing.
“It has been alright so far. After this last check up and some food, you’ll be good to leave and start work.” Extreme took out a clipboard from his pocket and a small table of tools that Shade noticed earlier was pushed next to her bed with telekinesis. “It’ll just be a general checkup, since you seemed fine last time.” He picked up a stethoscope and equipped it before Shade sat up at his approach.
Doctor Extreme put the stethoscope to Shade’s chest and listened in. “Breathe in and hold your breath, please.” Shade did as she was asked and held her breath. After a few seconds, Extreme told her to exhale and then put the stethoscope back on the table after she did.
“Heartbeat and breathing is fine.” More small tests were done, but the author of this story isn’t familiar enough to detail what happened.
As Shade left the hospital wing, giving a farewell to the hospital staff as she did, she discovered the fact that she was in a mini-hospital that was set in the castle. She was surprised that she hadn’t thought that there was such a thing in this castle but she supposed that it made sense.
Shade spotted a guard and approached him. “Excuse me?” The guard turned to her. “Could you tell me how I get to the staff break room?” He nodded and began walking away. Taking that as a sign that he’ll take her to her destination, she follows behind.
To put it simply, the palace was large but not confusing. There was the occasional bout of confusion but it was relatively easy to find the break room, with a small sign next to a door saying ‘Staff Only’.
“Thank you.” The guard nodded and left Shade to return to his post. She heaved a sigh and went through the door. Past it was what looked almost like a self-serving diner. Multiple tables were in the room and in the back there was an open kitchen where some small food items were on display and ready to be eaten. There was also a coffee machine and a fridge next to it, which Shade assumed held cold items and possibly other drinks.
The room was largely empty in the form of occupants, save for three ponies.
A unicorn stallion wearing a butler outfit with a white coat of fur. He had a styled back black mane and green eyes. On his flank was the image of a paper with a red ribbon.
An earth pony mare wearing a maid outfit. She had a light pink coat with a blue mane and tail with orange eyes. Her cutie mark was the image of a chunk of some black rock.
Lastly, a pegasus stallion who was also wearing a butler’s outfit. He had a green coat and a violet mane and tail with blue eyes. His mark was the cartoonish drawing of a gust of wind.
At her entrance, the three ponies looked to Shade. It took a moment or two before they gave a wave and the earth pony mare said, “Hey, you must be the new recruit!”
“Uh, yeah.” Shade walked over to the three, nervousness bubbling up as she did. Was she supposed to look for a certain staff member or just any to teach her the ropes? It only took a few moments before Shade was then standing in front of the table. “I guess I’m supposed to be looking for someone? The doctor didn’t really tell me much.”
“Ah, no need. We’ve been expecting you,” the unicorn spoke, distinctly reminding Shade of how people portray Dracula’s voice with the accent he put up. The unicorn stood and held out a hoof. “I’m Counted Agreements, or just Count for short.”
Shade took the offered hoof and gave it a shake. “I’m Shady Drawing, but feel free to just call me Shade for short.” After the hoofshake, the mare stood from her seat and jumped over the table without hesitation, landing with her hoof out for a shake.
“Hi there! I’m Snowflake Obsidian, but feel free to just call me Snowflake.” It took a moment before Shade caught up with what the mare said before she took the offered hoof and gave it a shake.
“Nice to meet you.” This one gave an eerie reminder of a certain pink pony to Shade, but she assumed that she was just eager to meet new people. Ponies.
Snowflake then returned to her seat at the table, staying on her hooves as she picked up a previously unnoticed cup of coffee and gave it a sip. The pegasus of the group didn’t stand or offer a hoofshake, simply holding up a hoof while saying, “Sup. Name’s Gust Canyon, but just call me Gust.” Shade quietly replied with a wave.
“Now that introductions are finished, let’s get to business.” Count took a sip of his own mug before continuing. “The three of us also work under Princess Cadence and we’re supposed to help teach you how things work.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty basic stuff though.” Snowflake added. “Dust here and there, clean clothing, and do whatever the Princess asks for. We’re all on break right now, since the newly wedded couple hasn’t come back yet.”
“Oh, they haven’t?” Shade was somewhat expecting Cadence and Shining Armor to have returned by now but, then again, they just had their wedding, and who knows what their honeymoon consists of? Because Shade for sure didn’t.
“Nope.” Gust took another sip of his mug. “They’ll probably be back tomorrow though. Until then, we’ll be working under Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It basically is the same.” Shade gave a nod, showing that she was listening as they explained.
“But before that,” Count said. “We are going to have to get your uniform. Can’t be a maid without the outfit, otherwise you’d be mistaken for something else and may or may not get wrongly arrested by the guards.”
Gust and Snowflake gave a nod at that. “Yeah,” Gust started, “I forgot to put on my uniform once and had that happen to me. A hassle and a half later, I was released and I almost got arrested a second time after that! No one escorted me so some uninformed guards almost made the same mistake.” Gust grumbled to himself as he took a long sip out of his mug, setting it down once it was empty.
“O…kay.” Shade did not like the idea of being arrested because of such a small reason. “So, where do I get my uniform?”
In reply, Count summoned some of his magic and a bundle of clothing appeared in the middle of the table. “Right here. Your measurements were already taken and it was finished just last night.”
“…” That seemed just a bit disturbing to Shade. And the fact that Count said it so casually just further weirded her. “Ohhhhh kay. Are there some kind of dormitories for the staff?”
“Yep!” Snowflake happily responded. “I can take you there right now. Then you can get changed and I’ll show you the ropes!”
After being led to the staff dorms, and figuring out how the heck one puts on a maid outfit, Shade discovered just how…odd it felt to wear a dress. For her, at least. Perhaps it was simply how the maid outfit used a shorter skirt? Then again, she hasn’t been wearing clothes this whole time until now. Why is she only now feeling off about it?
No matter. Shade followed Snowflake after getting dressed and Snowflake began going over the daily chores herself and the other maids must complete when on the job.
“Every week, you must dust off whatever you can. This is more preferable to Princess Cadence’s part of the castle than anywhere else for us, but feel free to help with other places if you want.” Shade and Snowflake made brief stops while walking the halls to make sure no dust had accumulated before entering the tower that Cadence took residence in.
“When morning comes around, the both of us will need to wake up the Princess, as well as her newly wedded husband, and help the Princess prepare for the day. We leave Captain Shining alone in the latter case, since we only assist the Princess.” Going up the stairs, Snowflake opened the door inside and passed what looked to act as a living room as she continued explaining while Shade attentively listened, not taking in any details of the room until later.
“Afterwards, we clean up the bed and do the laundry. If we’re needed for any miscellaneous tasks, Princess Cadance will be able to call us with a spell that turns on some enchantments. If you’re busy then you won’t be notified to help, but if you are specifically called then the enchantment will let you know.” The duo went through another set of doors and Snowflake took a pause with a question. “Could you fix up the sheets while I check for anything to clean?”
The inside of the bedroom wasn’t much to look at, in Shade’s eyes. It was a large room with a bed in the middle against the wall, between two large windows where sunlight streamed in. The floor was carpeted with a light purple and the bed had drapes that were a darker pink with more red sheets. There was a mannequin to the side that held Princess Cadence’s usual wear for day to day activities, next to a door that Shade assumed led to a bathroom. Besides that, there were some dark blue nightstands on either side of the bed that completed the look.
Shade gave a nod and went to straighten out the sheets while Snowflake continued. “Anyway. The enchantment lets you know if a call is being issued by having your clothes give a pull in the Princess’ direction. It’s pretty noticeable, trust me. Once someone is close enough or already starts heading to the Princess, the call will cancel out and the pulling will stop.”
“Sounds like some complicated stuff,” Shade idly commented, finishing a final corner of the bed as she spoke.
“Yeah, but it really helps with making sure everyone doesn’t drop their things to do whatever the Princess needs when it’s a one pony thing,” Snowflake walked over next to Shade, mutely fixing a mistake Shade had unnoticeably made. “But yeah, that’s all there really is to it. Any questions?”
“Nope.” Shade shook her head. “It will probably take a hot minute, but I’ll eventually get the hang of it.”
Snowflake gave a nod. “That’s the spirit. Maid duties aside.” She took Shade’s hand and dragged them to the living room area before taking a seat. “I wanna see your talent in action!”