Prim Rose's Redemption

by Hope

Chapter 4

Prim Rose woke in a strange bed. It was too large, too soft, and she was surrounded by far more light than she was used to.

Stirring, Prim’s head bumped into something and she groaned, rolling over in the opposite direction so she could turn and look at the object. The schedule book laid there on the tan sheets, like an ominous brown stone sleeping next to her.

After blinking away the last remains of sleep, she took the book up in her hooves and pulled the cover away to reveal the first page.

“Schedule, ledger, and roster of the Lunar court. Book twenty eight, years 551-560 after unification. Owner:”

She paused in her reading to take in the list of names that turned the bottom half of the page into a scribbled grey inkstain.

“Seems like this job needs filling often,” she muttered. “Only five years of use and already there’s… Twelve?” she huffed. “I shan’t be giving up as easy as they clearly did,” she decided as she got out of bed and went to one of the desks, getting out ink, a quill, and a small container of white powder called pounce.

A moment later, her signature was drying on the bottom of the page, and she dusted it with pounce to dry the ink faster so she could turn the page without risking staining the inside of the cover.

The next page contained a table of contents. There were four sections to the book. The royal schedule was first, followed by the ledger, then the roster, and lastly a journal section that was free for the Chamberlain to use to take notes or write down important details on the record.

At the start of the schedule there was a template, an example for a week’s worth of schedule with explanation for each part of it. It had been edited many times to improve it or suit each Chamberlain’s style.

She continued, flipping through the schedule. Each page contained a month’s worth of schedule, and up until a week ago each day had been notated with the time Princess Luna took her meals and any unusual activity such as leaving the castle grounds or requesting something besides a meal. It seemed she typically ate at sunset, midnight, and sunrise. A quick peek out the window let her confirm that it was about midday, and she sighed as she came to grips with needing to become nocturnal. It wasn’t unwelcome, but still a swiftly needed change.

Flipping through the remaining pristine schedule pages, she arrived at the ledger. She had to re gather her wits as she gazed at the sum total of the Lunar Treasury’s wealth. Wealth she was now responsible for.

“A thousand thousands worth of gold bits. More, even,” she whispered to herself.

She closed the book, took a deep breath and opened it again. The number remained staggeringly large.

There were notes of taxes received from the cities under the Lunar court’s domain, and of taxes gathered directly from the noble families, and certain taxed businesses. It seemed that Princess Luna spent roughly 15,000 gold bits per month on her retinue, supplies, castle upkeep, and other expenses. She took in a little over 17,000 a month in taxes on average. With how simple the ledger was, she was thankful that she was not in charge of the Solar court’s finances. They were likely to be much more complex.

Taking note of the last few day’s numbers being in a loopy elegant style entirely unlike the prior chamberlain that had served, and assuming that Princess Luna had done her own books for that time, she continued on to the Roster.

The list was composed by listing the position, the name of the current holder of that position, then it’s pay in descending order. The first position on the list was Captain of the Night Guard, who was paid 200 bits a month. Then Chamberlain, followed by the Princess’s private cooks, personal apothecary, astronomer, and her Cellarer, who watched over the stock of wine in the wine cellar, and made sure it did not run low. Only after all of those professionals came the head Mare in Waiting, then finally the rank and file guards, the Mares in waiting, maids, and servants among other lower paid positions.

It was a hefty list of employees, but Prim noticed a few absences. There was no listed herald, a position she would have to fill as Seneschal, and there was no mention of a secretary or scribe, which any retinue should have.

She floated over a blank scroll and wrote down “Inquire of Scribes” before returning to her review of the books. It looked like the next day was the pay day for all the castle staff, and she would be the one to dispense the monthly pay. She totalled the pay for all of the castle staff as well as the extra staff who worked outside of the castle but under the Princess’s pay and added “Request 8752.25 G bits from treasury for pay tomorrow” to her list.

Lastly, she browsed through the notes from the previous chamberlains. Some of them were normal, but a few pages had long panicked scribbles that were hard to decipher. Though in one part she did see the words “She’s in my HEAD” etched heavily into the parchment.

Prim looked it all over with a sense of detachment. At worst, she’d be executed for trying to do her job, but even then her first month’s pay would get to her family safely, and that would be enough to make her happy.

When she reached the end of the previous notes, she closed the book and tucked it into a pair of saddlebags. She then cinched the bags tight to her back, and added in a quill, ink, and a few other things she might find useful throughout the day. She then set out into the hallway, hesitating once she realized that she had no idea where she was going.

She turned to one of the bat-winged Night Guards who was standing in the hallway and cleared her throat. The guard turned to face her.

“My lady?”

“When dost Princess Luna rise? I hath several matters to discuss with her Highness.”

“Two hours prior to sunset on most days.”

Prim bowed slightly. “Many thanks to thee. Where might I find the treasury?”

“Cross the Great Hall, to the right side,” he said as he gestured with a hoof.

Prim bowed and thanked him again before making her way back along the rampart path that Golden had taken her the night before, so that she could cross the Great Hall near the entrance doors rather than near to the thrones. Princess Celestia was on her throne, with several ponies around her. Prim briefly met her eyes before looking away, and continuing on her way to the treasury.

Sure enough, the treasury was the first to the right in the large hallway. Prim knocked a few times and waited until the heavy steel bound door opened. Behind it was an elderly unicorn mare with a perpetual scow, wearing fine silk robes.

“What?”

Prim took out her note and recited to her what she needed.

“For paying the Lunar staff tomorrow, I have need of eight thousand golden bits, five hundred silvers, and two hundred twenty five coppers.”

The mare huffed and looked Prim over before shaking her head.

“I’ll not give a single copper to a messenger. Tell the Princess to come fetch her money herself and not send some scruffy scribe.”

With that, the treasurer slammed the door in Prim’s face, leaving the new chamberlain to gawk silently at the crude treatment she’d received. Taking a moment to examine herself, she had to conclude that she did look a bit scruffy compared to Golden Sparkle and the other important ponies in the castle. With a final glare at the closed door, she turned and headed back towards the Great Hall before hesitating and returning to the treasury door.

She knocked, and again the mare opened the heavy door to glare at Prim. This time, Prim held up the ornate book and her ring of keys.

“If thou dost not wish to dispense such a large sum to me, then I shall seek Princess Luna to withdraw it, but at least may I have my Chamberlain’s pay of one hundred gold so that by court I may look less… Scruffy?”

The treasurer seemed to argue internally before taking Prim’s set of keys in her magic and sticking it in the treasury door’s lock, watching it properly engage and disengage, before giving it back to Prim.

“Fine. I shall give thee thy pay.”

She stalked back into the room, letting Prim see inside for the first time. The small room was filled with shelves of marked bags of bits and gems, keys, and other small items of value. Some of the bags had names on them or insignia. On the far side of the room, a spiral staircase descended into the ground.

“What is thy name, Chamberlain of the Night?”

“Prim Rose.”

“Suitably noble name I suppose,” the treasurer sighed as she passed the heavy bag of bits over to Prim. “The Rose family can be traced back to landholders at least. I am Treasurer of the Castle. I serve under Princess Celestia, and mine name is Silver Gleam. Do be sure to return with the Princess to confirm thy first large deduction. After that, I shall have no trouble dispensing to thee,” she said with a firm nod.

Then she again closed her door firmly, before Prim could reply. Groaning with frustration, Prim tucked her pay into her saddlebag and headed for the great entrance doors. Just before she could make it to them, she was stopped by Sparkle.

“Prim, if thou hast but a moment…”

Prim stopped and nodded to Sparkle with a bit of a smirk. “Of course. I have only a few errands to run. What may I do for the Castellian?”

Golden looked Prim over as though trying to figure out if she was just insulted or not, before shaking her head and stepping in front of Prim.

“Princess Celestia wishes for thy presence in a brief meeting.”

“Can it not wait until I am more presentable?” Prim asked wearily. “I’ve not many more clothes to my name than the bag I carry, and Seneschal not to mention Chamberlain are posts that deserve some amount of finery. At the least may it be delayed by three hours? By that I should be presentable to Her Royal Highness.”

Sparkle relaxed and nodded quickly. “That is quite acceptable. In three hours, she shall have a meeting with thee before her evening meal. Hast thou the necessary funds for what may be needed?”

Prim nodded in return and walked around Sparkle. “I do.”

So Prim Rose passed out of the castle’s great gates and into the city of Everfree.

The city spread out away from the moat to the edge of the forest, which could have fit another two castles on every side with room to spare, though bits of the city were lost to the slivers of forest that lined the Harmony River. The river split the city in half, and fed the moat that circled the castle grounds,

As with most cities split in half, the wealthy and the poor had dug in firm holds upon their assigned sides. In the case of the Everfree, they had been assigned by proximity to the road that led in from the plains. The poor needed quick access to the road and the jobs it offered, and the wealthy wished to be as far as possible from the dust and noise. So the Wild and Common districts were born. The city’s expansion over the course of the castle’s construction five hundred years prior had created a Craftsmare’s district that became known as the Bricks, and a district known as the Puffs. Of course, none of the residents of the Puffs called it that, they called it Pegivale. But everypony else took one look at the cotton ball look of it’s architecture and knew what everyone was referring to when they said “the Puffs.”

Prim headed straight for the Bricks. Despite it’s name, it was as much a place of artisans as it was of construction materials and heavy machines. She soon enough found a clothing shop that claimed to have designed one of Princess Luna’s gowns several years ago, and went inside.

Though the clothes in the place were beautiful, the shop itself looked like it was in dire need of repair. In two places, heavy wooden beams held the roof up, as the roof’s struts had started to give way, and two of the windows were cracked, though that fact was artfully hidden with signs on the outer surface of the glass.

“Do come in, come in. Thou must be new to the Everfree, hast thou come in search of some extravagance?”

Prim turned and took in the mare that had stepped out from behind the counter. She was tall and thin, and moved gracefully with a confidence that perfectly matched her dress. She wore a corset and gown that together gave her an eerie quality. The dress was a black satin that shone in the dim sunlight, and the corset was an emerald green that glittered like powdered gemstone, or like the carapace of some great insect.

Her dark grey coat went with the clothes, and her vivid green eyes took in Prim’s form with casual thoroughness.

“Yes… Madam?”

“Madam Chrysalide, please, refer to me as Sali. Now, what may I do for thee, darling?”

Prim paused a moment to take in the mare’s style before looking back towards a rack of cloaks she’d been eying.

“I have been made member of the Lunar court, and wish to have clothing appropriate to my new post. Not… I wish it to be convenient and useful.”

Sali chuckled quietly to herself as she strode over to the cloaks.

“How I wish it were not the assumption that I’d dress any court member in Courtesan’s cloth,” she said in an amused tone. “What position dost thou hold then?” she asked with a bit of a smirk.

“Chamberlain and seneschal,” Prim replied as she stepped up next to Sali.

The fashion mare’s expression was one of surprise and a bit of incredulity. But after a moment she nodded.

“Well, I do hope that thou hast begun searching for a second place of employment then,” she said with a sigh. “But we may make thee presentable for the time being.”

“I’m not planning on a departure,” Prim said, maybe a bit more firmly than she needed to.

“Of course. So, I would recommend a blouse, vest, and cloak. Some jewelry to accent of course, and all in a Lunar style.”

“That sounds… acceptable,” Prim said as she nervously took in the more finely made cloaks that Sali touched as she spoke. “Though… What sort of cost may I accrue?”

Sali chuckled and strode over to a desk where she checked a piece of paper.

“Perhaps five… Ten gold bits?”

“That seems like quite a bit more money than I had expected to be spending on clothes, no matter how fine.”

Sali chuckled to herself and picked up a quill to write out a few things on her paper before humming softly and examining Prim.

“I do not deal in cheap clothes and faux jewels. But I believe we may find suitable attire for four bits, madam.”

Prim nodded, calming down as she looked back at the cloaks.

“Very well. Blouse then would be first correct?”

She stiffened as Sali’s hooves brushed smoothly along her back, and then down around the bottom of her barrel. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was startling to be touched so intimately without warning.

With a blush, she waited for the other mare to stop, and gave her a light glare.

“My sincerest apologies,” Sali said with a sly grin. “Would thee prefer to measure thyself?”

“N… no, just… a moment of warning may serve to let a mare compose herself,” Prim said haughtily, looking away and trying to hide the blush that had sprung to her cheeks.

Sali simply continued with her examination. It didn’t take long and once she was done she began gathering the clothes she would be modifying. She held up a crisp white blouse to Prim’s withers to judge the length to her hooves and then draped the vest over her to see how it rode on her waist.

Once she had her comparisons, she nodded to Prim and sat behind her desk.

“I shall have them done within a few hours, and accompanying jewelry. Please do clean thyself up, thy appearance should compliment thy clothes if thou art to be audience to royalty.”

Prim just nodded and headed back out into the street, before realizing that she did not know where to go. She ducked back into the clothing shop and met Sali’s polite smile with a nervous laugh.

“Where…”

“There are four public bath houses in the city, one in each quarter. They are each… Exemplary of their regions. I would recommend the bathhouse in the Wilds, there are services available there which may yet make thee seem noble.”

“Thank you,” Prim said simply, ignoring the not so subtle insult to her appearance and heading back out of the shop.

Prim crossed over a bridge that spanned the Everfree river, and headed into the Wilds. Immediately the difference between the Wilds and the Bricks was apparent, the buildings were in finer condition and gated yards seemed commonplace. The ponies were of a different sort as well, dressed in the type of cloaks and dresses that Prim had just ordered, and bedecked in enough gold to make Prim feel that she was a commoner in a sea of nobility.

But before she could locate the bath house, she was drawn in by the smell of something divine.

She drifted into the restaurant and almost ran into the host before she stopped and collected her wits. The host, meanwhile, seemed to be trying to decide what method to use to oust her from the establishment.

“I’m so sorry, I do not have a reservation, but I have bits,” Prim said quickly. “I just smelled something absolutely divine within and…”

She paused as the host reevaluated her. After a moment he sighed and picked up a menu in the glow of his horn.

“Very well. We shall seat thee… out of the way.”

Prim put aside her pride for the moment, and was seated at a small table that seemed placed in a desperate attempt to fit one more seat into the venue. It placed her between a wall and a large fern, and so close to the kitchen doors that she could feel the hot air wafting past her as she settled in.

The restaurant was not crowded, in fact it seemed sparsely occupied, but she could see all the other customers were wearing fine clothes and were groomed to perfection. Meanwhile she was decidedly not bedecked or clean. But she hadn’t eaten anything since noon the day before, and was willing to suffer nearly any indignity to have a taste of the heavenly aroma she had detected. She looked down at the menu only long enough to identify the likely culprits and quickly memorize their names. Before the waiter could even ask her for her order, she was ready to tell him exactly what she wanted.

“Thanks to thee, yes, I would like a glass of the Clarique wine, then the yellow squash quiche, the black bean and onion soup, and a berry lemon tart.”

“Most excellent madam, and wouldst thou wish to sample some of the cheeses we currently have in, to add to thy soup?”

Prim hesitated. If not for her father’s stories she wouldn’t even know what cheese was, but for once in her life she had the wealth to explore, and to try new things.

“Yes, that would be appreciated,” she said cautiously.

The waiter bowed, and was gone.

Prim sighed, and rested against her seat. It was odd how intensely she felt she didn’t belong in such a fancy place, but at the same time how determined she was to be there. It made her think of Princess Luna, and how she’d stared down the princess in the first place to get her new job.

All her life she had cared for others and done what she was told, and now when she decided to be firm and to let her anger or determination show, it paid her in gold and power. She shuddered to think how such a world could reward such things, and wondered what that meant of Princess Celestia. The singular most powerful being in all the world. Prim did not know how the Princesses had gotten their posts, she had not been educated as an Equestrian, but rather had been taught about the world by her grandparents while working.

She knew the Princesses supposedly never died, and she knew they helped unite the three races so long ago, but that rather neatly summed up all of her knowledge up until yesterday and her personal encounter with them.

Now that she was so close to them, she felt almost as though everyone had misunderstood. They were just overgrown and incredibly powerful foals, just like everyone else in power.

Of course, Prim couldn’t hold that scorn for long. The princesses did run a country, and she now served one of them directly. At the very least they were foals with fine taste and a need for servants and all the bureaucracy needed to manage servants.

She chuckled to herself.

“Thou art just a well paid servant, is all,” she reminded herself softly.

Her glass of wine was set down in front of her, and Prim’s horn lit up a golden yellow. The same light wrapped carefully around the stem of the glass, and she sipped her drink slowly. The whole purpose of the wine glass after all was to keep potentially spoiling unicorn magic away from the wine that had been so carefully crafted. One had to learn how to pick up such a thing without drowning it in their magical aura.

She, of course, had entered the restaurant knowing none of this, and had simply read it off the menu. Apparently, they were used to novice unicorns complaining about dull tasting wine and had gotten tired of it.

Prim sighed as she enjoyed the complex flavor of the wine, but before she’d managed to drain half of the glass, her food began arriving.

Her quiche arrived and was finished in rapid succession, the rich nutty flavor lingering in her mouth until her main course arrived. Next to it she had a small dish with five small pieces of cheese. Carefully, she sampled each one.

The first was a deep orange and sharp, almost sour in it’s tang, but all at once laced with the flavor of smoke. While she enjoyed it, the smoke was not a positive thing for her.

Next, she tried a cheese that was soft, creamy and sweet. It was unoffensive but not very complex to her. It didn’t catch her attention.

She worked through the remaining three more quickly, and on the last one she found her new favorite. It seemed mottled with something blue, but it’s rich and forceful flavor demanded for it to be combined with something.

Adding it to the soup, she ate it more slowly than she had eaten the cheese, but found herself wishing there had been more when she finished, her stomach sated but the flavor seeming to be something she wanted to continue experiencing.

She smiled and drew her glass close again, relaxing to breathe for a moment, though that moment only gave her time to think more about her situation. She knew that she needed to do so much. Read the records for the Seneschal’s position, understand the state of the Great Chamber, clean herself up, get her clothes, meet with Princess Celestia, and so much more. It really began to feel like a mountain on her back, and she was struggling to breathe.

“Madam’s berry lemon tart.”

Prim opened her eyes to the tap of the plate, and nodded gratefully to the waiter as he trotted away.

The dessert was sweet, and filling, and everything she could have asked for, but the state of her mind gave her no room to enjoy it more than as a passing pleasure.

She paid her due as well as gratuity, and left silently.

Comments

[Backlash91]

They were just overgrown and incredibly powerful foals, just like everyone else in power

I found this humourous ^^