//------------------------------// // A Scribe at Work // Story: Chronicle // by Honey Mead //------------------------------// Chapter 2: A Scribe at Work I spent most of the rest of that day briefing the scribes who would be taking over my case load. I spent hours going over the details of each case and answering their questions, only allowing them to leave once I was certain that they were properly prepared. Once that was done I went to see Mr. De'facto one last time. "I'm sorry to see you leaving us." I nodded in agreement, "Your work was always stellar. Whenever I saw your name on a file I had no doubts as to the accuracy." he paused taking in a breath, "You were like the son I never had." "But don't you have a son?" "I'm going to miss you." He said with a sad smile. "Ah, but don't let me keep you, you've got a big day tomorrow." He led me to the door. "Don't be a stranger." "Thank you Mr. De'facto." I said stepping out the door, "It was a pleasure working for you."          With everything else finished I made my final stop to clean out my desk. I did not have much in the way of personal effects; my mothers’ phoenix feather quill, my fathers’ old reading glasses, and the tiny portrait of the three of us from when I was a colt. I remember getting that picture drawn.          It took three different trips to the artists studio and hours of sitting as still as a statue to finish that painting. It was the only family portrait that we had ever gotten. My father, with his untamable blue mane graying at the sides, looking over his glasses as serious as always; my mother, wearing her pink mane in a mess of curls, grinning from ear to ear. I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. I quickly put the picture away hoping that would allow me to suppress the memories. Regaining my composure I turned to leave the office for the last time.          As I was leaving my coworkers caught me off guard when I was stopped by everypony wishing me a heartfelt goodbye. Some even expressed how things would not be the same without me. I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled as best I could, thanked them for their kind words, wished them well, and did my best to flee without looking like I was. I finally made it out of the office, escaping the awkwardness of my co-workers goodbyes. I started back toward my room trying to understand what had just happened. Sure I knew most of them by name, but I had never really socialized with anypony and Mr. De'facto was something else altogether. I wasn’t able to get my head around their reactions before I found myself standing in front of my room.          Pushing through the door I sighed heavily, glad to finally be alone and to have the chance to think about the days to come. But at the sight of my pallet the fatigue that had been building up during the day hit me like a charging buffalo and I was asleep before my head hit the hay. ************* So there I stood, outside the Princess’ office. Sunrise still a half an hour away; I refused to be anything but prompt. My father used to tell me fifteen minutes early was fifteen minutes too late. I had taken that to heart and done my best to be early for everything and it had severed me well. I am sure that the guards weren’t too thrilled with me though. For almost thirty minutes they had stood stock-still barely blinking an eye as I waited outside the door. It didn’t take me long to start worrying about what they were thinking. I was never very good with ponies, but if I was going to be working with the Princess than I would be well served by not being on their bad side. The last thing I wanted was for them to resent me; I needed to make a good impression. “Hello.” I said tentatively looking back and forth between them. “How are you two doing this morning?” Nothing, “it must be exciting being on the Princess' personal guard.” –Blink-blink- “Um…” I faltered; I’m not sure what I had expected to happen, in all my years at the palace I hadn’t seen a single guard react any different. They were like half animated statues that only moved when they were escorting the Princess. I was saved from embarrassing myself further when the door opened slightly, “You can come in Mr. Chronicle.” I entered the office with my head bowed and once I cleared the portal I went to my knees. "Your majesty." "There is no need to be so formal and please my name is Celestia." "As you say your majesty." I said rising My eyes went wide as I took in my surroundings. Had I not walked there myself I would have sworn that this was not the same room from the day before. The book cases and file cabinets were as I remembered and the same desk still dominated the center of the office, but the office itself looked completely different under the light of the moon. The walls themselves seemed to glow, filling the room with a soft silvery illumination that provided just enough light to see by. I tilted my head back to look up at the domed ceiling. The glass panes that had lit the room during the day were an impenetrable pitch black. Where before the soft light of the sun had shone through now hundreds, maybe thousands, of diamonds seemed to float in the air shinning like the stars of the constellations they depicted. I marveled at the diamond stars suspended above my head. It was as though the glory of the stars had been stolen from the sky and trapped within these four walls. My eyes were drawn away from the false sky by a bright light at the corner of my vision. Turning toward the offending light I discovered a tiny tree no bigger then a bouquet of flowers. The small trunk and limbs were spattered with tiny scales that emitted a light almost akin the night-flies that many ponies captured for use in their lanterns. “Do you like it?” the Princess asked stepping next to me. “Its… amazing…” “Yes,” She said sadly, “it was a gift from… somepony who used to be very close to me… a very long time ago…” I turned toward her, but her flowing rainbow mane obscured her face. I struggled to find words of comfort, but before I could she spoke again, “It is time for me to raise the sun.” Her voice had recovered, carrying the amused tone of a mother bending to her the whims of her children. “Ponies seem to worry when I am even a little late.” She moved toward the balcony to stand out under the open sky; I followed her, too preoccupied with everything I was taking in to realize what I was doing. As the cool night air washed over me realization struck home. My legs locked in the grips of fear. I clenched my jaw and dropped my eyes to the balcony floor. My left foreleg tried to step back of its own accord as I fought the urge to curl up into the fetal position. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think. Panic held me paralyzed. All I could do was turn an eye toward the Princess and hope that she would be able to help me. A golden aura began at her horn slowly expanding to engulf her entire body until she was shining like the sun. I was bathed in the surge of magic radiating from her. It filled me with warmth and began to melt away the terror that had paralyzed me. My upraised hoof found its way to the floor as the first rays of light broke the horizon. But as the magic faded so to did the calm and I could feel the panic clawing its way up from the back of my mind. Not waiting for the Princess I quickly backed myself into the room and spun around. My eyes darting around the four walls of the room to reassure myself of their presence and quell the rising panic. I slowly began to regained control and realized that I had been hyperventilating. The palace had been my aegis for such a long time that I had forgotten what it was like outside. As my breathing slowed I heard her step back inside. I felt her place a hoof on my back stroking my mane. She hummed a soothing melody that I recognized but couldn’t place. My mind filled with memories of my childhood. The same scene played out a hundred times, but with my mother doing her best to calm me instead. “I-I’m sorry.” I said swallowing a gasp, “I didn’t mean to-“ “Shhh, it's ok, you're safe now, back inside...  There is no need for you to be present when I raise the sun or moon.” “Th-thank you, your majesty.” I said, regaining my composure I finally noticed the room. Everything was back to the way it had been the day before. The walls no longer seemed to glow, a soft light was beginning to shine through the glass ceiling without a diamond to be found and the tiny tree looked to be just another house plant. My mind reeled at the changes. “Do you think you are well enough to continue? There is a great deal of work to do.” I nodded without really thinking. “Excellent, we will begin today with something that I think you will enjoy,” an amused smile crossed her lips, “paperwork." She took her seat behind the desk and I sat on the provided cushion from the other day. Using her magic the Princess lifted half the stack of papers from the box titled "in" and placed them on the floor next to me. Without another word we both began work on our piles. The papers included everything, expense reports, orders for supplies, royal edicts such as the auction of Mr. Monger’s property, requests and any other piece of paper that required the Princess’ seal or signature. We worked in relative silence, the scraping of quills on paper the only sound. I worked through each piece of paper marking any discrepancies I found or any item I thought important enough to bring to her attention. Each paper I finished was placed in one of two piles on the desk. The first, and by far larger one, contained approvals and the second one was the rejection pile. As she worked she would alternate between her own pile and the two I was adding to. If she agreed with my decision she would sign it then place it on the out box. When she found one that she disagreed with she would have me explain why I made the choice that I had. Inevitably she would show me why I was wrong leading me down a path of thought that I had not considered. As we worked I had to ask many questions regarding specific items that I was unsure of and she would answer with a smile. With each page I began to understand how the castle worked just a little better. For the first time since yesterday I felt sure of myself. And I relished it, getting lost in my mountain ofpaper work. All the tension that had been building up for the last few days seemed to slip away, if this was going to be my job than I would have no problems. At the end of the second hour or so the Princess put her quill down and rubbed her eyes. “If you will excuse me, I am going to step outside for a moment.” She stood and walked out on to the balcony as I continued to work alone. A few moments later there was a soft knock at the door and a young pegasus pushed through. I glanced his way as he entered the room. I had seen him passing out papers and mail in my old office. Though I couldn’t place a name to his face I did recognize his Cutie Mark, a picture of a scroll with three parallel lines running toward his tail. I guessed that he was here to collect the outgoing paper work. Trying to be helpful I reached out to straighten up the pile. The moment my hoof touched the first page I felt a spark of magic shoot through my entire being. I was stuck! The papers had been booby trapped! I struggled against the magic that gripped me for all the good it did. The young stallion starred at me for a moment before breaking into the most ridiculous grin. “Haha oh she got you good That was probably meant for me though She is going to be angry I wouldn’t worry too much She will probably let you out once she gets back This your first day huh My name is Zipp” He said without seeming to take a breath. “I run the Princess’ messages throughout the palace Hey I recognize you Yeah you work in the legal department desk twenty-three right That’s a pretty big promotion” Using his wing he opened his saddlebags and brought out a large stack of papers dropping it onto the almost empty inbox. “Man you’re going to have a long day ahead of you Hope you like paperwork” He collected all the papers from the out box and shoved them into the pocket that he had just emptied. “Well I better get going can’t keep people waiting It was nice meeting you again Have fun Oh man is she going to be surprised.” And with that he was gone, the door closing behind him. The Princess came back in from the balcony wearing a smug expression, “Looks like I finally got you...” she faltered at the sight of me frozen in place leaning over the desk. “The best laid plans…” she sighed shaking her head. “I see Zipp managed to sneak in while I wasn’t looking, again. And you managed to spring the trap that I planted to catch him." leaning forward she touched her horn to my head. "I swear that colt is luckier than a two sided bit and a stacked deck." A sharp jolt ran through my entire body as she removed the hex and I fell back on to the cushion. I was at a complete loss, “I-I’m sorry… I didn’t reali-“ “Oh, it’s not your fault. Don’t worry yourself over it. I’ll just have to come up with something new for next time.” She looked over at the freshly stocked inbox, “We will have to come back to these later. It’s about time for you to make your first appearance by my side in public.” “Yes, your majesty.” I felt my mouth go dry. As confident and comfortable as I was with the paperwork I had no idea what it would be like at court as the Princess’ secretary. The events of yesterday were the first time I had been actively involved in anything besides prep work for Mr. De’facto. I had known that this was coming, but I had avoided thinking about it until this moment. Before I could think about anything else I heard that old pony’s voice “Stand on up and keeper going. It sounds to meh like the Princess were mighty impressed wit ya. And ya should trust her…” She believes in me, she trusts me. I could still feel the uncertainty gnawing at the back of my mind, but it was bearable. I could do this; as long as the Princess believed in me then I could do this.   Her magic aura surrounded her horn again and a set of saddlebags bearing the royal star-burst floated out from behind the desk. “These contain everything you might need for today. Once you put them on we will be ready to leave.” I nodded slightly taking the bags with my own tan aura. I fastened them across my back before looking up at the Princess and receiving an encouraging smile. We left the office taking the same path we had the day before. I once again had the opportunity to admire the stories of Equestria played out on stained glass murals. But I was too busy listening to the Princess brief me on exactly how things would go once we arrived. “Most of what happens at court might seem like a complete waste of time and it would be, but ponies expect the pomp and circumstance and I have found that things run smoother when you give the ponies what they expect. Once we arrive the guards will make the announcement of my arrival. You will then follow me up to the dais and stand on the left side of the throne. From then on the herald will do most of the work announcing each petitioner and making sure that everypony knows what to do. For today your primary focus will be on taking notes and simply observing the goings on. Don’t feel like you need to record everything that happens, stick to just the items that seem like they might be important enough to keep track of. I will also need you to maintain my calendar of events. It won’t do for me to not at least know about the important events that are happening, even if I won’t be able to attend them myself.” She continued to inform me of the procedure of the court and what kind of things I should consider important enough to make note of. Before I realized it we were at our destination. The guards stepped forward opening the door and walking through to take up positions on either side. With a magically enhanced voice one of the guards announced her presence, “All bow for the Sovereign of all Ponies, Ruler of Equestria, Raiser of the Sun and Moon, your Eternal Princess Celestia.” “And one last thing,” she said as she stepped toward the door, “I am expecting a delegation from the Griffin Empire today.” With those words I followed the Princess into my own personal waking nightmare.