Fluttershy grumbled. Yes, she grumbled she did. She had just been dismissed by the army's general. They told her that she was useless due to her cowardice on the most recent mission in Hollow Shades. They told her she wasn't fit for the army. Maybe they were right, but Fluttershy knew they were wrong.
Ever since the Crystal Empire was retaken by the one who redeems sins, Fluttershy had been in the army because he saw something in her. Something that stood out compared to the rest. He told her it was her stare. It had held him in place, almost like a spell. She had argued with the general about this point, but they wouldn't listen.
Perhaps she was just being bitter about this whole job relocation thing. It was better than being a slave, a sinner. Then again, being a castle maid wasn't much of an honorable job, unlike fighting for her forced belief. She was grateful nevertheless. She would be working right next to the one in which she respected.
She still believed she wanted to be in the army, though. She had received proper training and everything. Then, when she finally gets to go out on a mission, she gets decommissioned. It didn't matter now. The past was in the past, after all.
As Fluttershy approached the Tower of Crystal that stood in the middle of the city, she thought to herself. She thought of a battle plan. Well, not so much a battle plan as it was a regular plan. She wanted to find the respect of her King. She wanted direct respect from him. She wanted to be recognized, like she had been when they first met.
She would do everything to help him. Yes. If he requested help from her, she would do it in a proper way.
Now that Fluttershy thought about it, she hadn't seen her King a while. The only time she saw him was the time they met. The time when the Crystal Empire wasn't busy with the repenting of sins. That was not but two months ago, now. Continuing to think about it, Flutters was actually kinda eager to meet her King again. See him every day.. Yes, that did sound rather exciting.
Flutters was not but a couple seconds away from the doorway of the Tower. Said doors were on the legs of the tower. One specific leg, to be precise. So, approaching said door, she saluted her fellow soldiers. They did not salute back.
She handed one of them the paper the General had wrote about her decommission. The General had told her to give it to the guards outside the Tower's doors, so that's exactly what she had did. The guard whom she had given the paper to accepted said paper and opened up the door to the tower for her.
Behind the door was a spiral staircase, probably just there to lead one up the leg of the Tower.
The door closed behind Flutters. How courteous of the guards out there to close the door behind her.
Luckily, this did not put her within pitch black darkness. There were, indeed, torches along the walls of the staircase. There was one right above the first step. Yes, that torch was a bit odd colored, but it was just burning with higher temperatures, making it blue rather than orange.
So, Flutters began to ascend the decently lit stairs. She had ascended about a tenth of the way up before deciding just to fly the rest of the way up. It was probably faster than her just walking up these stairs. It was, indeed, faster.
When Flutters had finally reached an actual floor rather than another step of a stair, she had almost smacked her face into the top of the staircase because of the speed in which she was traveling in order to get up the stairs. Yes, stairs. Stairs, stairs. Flutters bet that there were going to be a lot of stairs here (seeing as how almost everypony here was an earth pony).
Landing gracefully on her hooves, Flutters examined her new surroundings. She immediately realized that there were other maids waiting for her arrival. Apparently they also got the memo about her being kicked out of the army. Said maids were all Crystal Pony scum, but they were still her co-workers. She supposed she would be nice to them.
"H-Hello there!"
One of them greeted (there were a number of them all waiting for her). Flutters could tell that they were obviously a bit spooked by her. Yes, a soldier who was now to become a maid. Somepony with training on how to properly battle was now to learn how to dust things. She could see how they would be spooked by her.
"Hello."
She replied, giving off a soft tone in order to soothe their nerves. She couldn't work around ponies who were afraid of her, now could she?
Obviously a bit more relaxed, one of them decided to give Flutters a full explanation about what was going to happen while she was here. It was a rather lengthy one, so I'll just sum it up.
There was breakfast. Flutters was to wake up at an unreasonable time (7:30AM) to set up the table. All the other maids would be cooking for the King (or doing other tasks) during the following time. He would enter the dining room at around 8AM, but it really was up to him. After breakfast, there would basically be a time between eight and twelve where they would be just dusting off everything. That and cleaning carpets, beds, etc.
Next was lunch. Only for maids, though. The King didn't have lunch. He was much too busy for that. So, all the maids would gather in their personal dining room and eat there. After lunch, there was another one of those free periods of just cleaning and stuff. Then, there was dinner. Dinner happened also happened at eight. Instead, it was 8PM instead of AM.
The expected time in which maids were to retreat back to their rooms was 9PM.
"That's the jist of it."
The maid had finally finished.
"Since it's almost nine right now, I'll show you to your room. Your maid outfit will be in there, so you don't have to worry about that."
Another spoke up. Flutters nodded. She was a bit tired. She was looking forward to the beds here, actually. The beds back in the military camps weren't exactly the most soft. They were made out of rock. Straight up, fresh out of the mines, rock. Like, rock. Legit rock, bro.
The maids bid each other goodnight and headed down two different hallways. Obviously these were the servant halls, in which kept all the maids together. Flutters had the room at all the way down the hallway, which seemed to be a lucky room. The explanation as to why will soon be revealed.
"You know, everypony was excited to meet you today. It's not often we get new maids around here. It's especially rare to have an outsider like you. All of us here except for you and.. H-Him.. Are different races."
The maid spoke as the two walked down the hallway.
"Is that so?"
Flutters was nonchalant about this whole conversation here.
"W-Well.. There's only two pegasi in this entire empire. All of us Crystal Ponies don't have any special features like wings or horns. So you can imagine how excited we would be to learn that you were coming in today."
The maid explained. The two were getting fairly close to Flutters room now.
"I suppose that's understandable."
Fluttershy kept herself from insulting the fact that the Crystal scum didn't have any special features. It was hard to do, but she managed. She needed to make a good impression with these things, so this was the right way to do it.
"Anyways, uh.. Like everypony else, there's a journal in your room along with a stick of lead. It'll be sitting on your bed. Oh, there's also one more thing about your room."
The maid had stopped at the door of Flutters new abode.
"You're one of the lucky few who have a window. It doesn't have any glass on it, but it's still a window. You won't be able to fit through it because it's way too small, though."
The maid informed.
With that, Flutters thanked the maid for her time and entered her new room. The maid went off back to her own room.
Flutters found the room to be small, but cozy. Like promised, there was a window, a maid's costume (folded neatly on the bed), a journal (also on the bed), and a bed. The bed had one pillow on it. Fancy. It was nicely made, though. Well, as nicely made as a bed with one pillow and one blanket could be.
Flutters took everything off the bed and placed it on the floor. She first wrote in her journal, making her first entry. Of course, she entered the date of arrival (1/10/6012) in her journal. Then, she tucked it underneath her bed.
Thus, Flutters flopped over the bed and almost fell asleep ontop of the rough, uncomfortable and probably going to make her itchy in the future covers. Flutters decided it was better if she actually got into bed, though.
Flutters fell asleep almost instantly in the actual bed. It was better than just ROCK, that was for sure. Maybe she could get used to this new life as a maid. Probably not. It was more likely that she would cause shenanigans and get in trouble because of it. That was a lot more likely.
Author's Note
Man, reinstalling a series you haven't even looked at for over a year is pretty spooky. Pretty spooky. Plus, new people are probably going to be confused as to why the comments are so old and not on existing chapters.
Anyways, my art has gotten better over that almost year long hiatus, right? Yeah. I think so. I can't shade, though. Ech. Or draw backgrounds of any sort.
Day 1 (8:26 AM) 2/11/6010
It had been twenty minutes. Twenty whole minutes, and he still hadn't shown up to breakfast. Flutters really just wanted to get her duties and get the day over with. To be honest, she wasn't digging this maid outfit. Luckily enough, it was nice and prude rather than revealing. Still, it was scratchy. Plus, it didn't have any holes for her wings so she had to rip some holes in it this morning. Not her wings, the maid outfit.
"Is.. Is he always this late to breakfast?"
Flutters asked the maid next to her. They were all standing in a line against the dining room wall. Fluttershy was at the end of the line because she was new. That's just how it worked. New peeps to the back of the line.
"Not usually. Sometimes he'll be five minutes late, but never this late."
That was enough of an answer for her. Flutters turned her attention back to the overly lengthy dining table. It looked pretty good, if she did say so herself. All those plates set up for no one. Yeah, sure wasn't a waste of her time to set out all those plates.
Speaking of wasting time, where was her King? Flutters kind of wanted to see him again after all this time. It had been a couple months. Two. Two months.
Flutter's ear twitched. Metal against crystal flooring. A slight bit of scraping. If she remembered correctly, the armor he wore was of some sort of metal. Flutters wasn't sure what sort of metal it was, but it was a sort.
Thus, her predictions were correct. A less than spectacular entrance was made by her King. In which, he slightly pushed open the dining room door and just walked on through the door quietly. He looked a lot less confident and robust when that fur-lined cape was draped over almost all of his figure, hiding almost everything. The head held down and the eyes half closed part didn't help either.
Flutters was an expert at 'judging a book by its cover'. She could tell that there was an obvious lack of sleep, due to the noticeable bags under his eyes. She wasn't going to say anything at this moment, but she would later.
Her King moseyed on up to the farthest end of the table. He sat himself down in a chair and looked down at the now air temperature food. That food being the nutrient filled breakfast known as steak. It looked uncooked, like it was raw. Flutters felt a shiver shoot down her spine. Meat had always unnerved her because of her connection with many a animal back in Ponyville (who were now probably all dead).
Flutters watched in horror as her King just ate that raw piece of meat. Her face contorted to disgust as she watched him. Something that he quickly saw and took notice of. His eyes (which were previously void of anything other than drowsiness) had narrowed. The sickly green whites (which weren't white) of his eyes glowed as his fury was quickly ignited.
Flutters ears were quickly folded backwards from fear. Yes, she may have had the training of a soldier, but even the highest ranking soldiers in the army were fearful of the one they protected. This did not disclude Flutters.
"What you staring at."
He hissed, his volume loud enough for her to hear across the room. That voice was one strong one, that was for sure. Even when it sounded like he was lacking sleep, it was still something to recognize as strong. Nice and deep. Though, there was a problem. His grammar.. Eh.. It wasn't the best.
Flutters wasn't sure why his grammar was bad, but her only guess was that he didn't learn the Equine Language until fairly recently. If she got the chance, she would be his teacher when it came to linguistics. Hopefully, at least. Probably not.
Flutters shot her line of sight down to the floor.
"No staring, teach her."
He addressed the other maids, who obviously didn't get too many conversations in with him because they seemed rather nervous. As nervous as an anxiety ridden introvert trying to make friends with outgoing and cool people. There were some mumbles of agreement from one or two of the maids.
"Or I will."
He obviously turned his attention back towards Flutters. She could feel his gaze upon her. Made the hair on her neck stand up, it did. What also made her unnerving amplify was the sound of meat being stuffed into her King's face. Flutters wasn't sure what to do about that. The sound came from a couple feet away, but it sounded like he was eating it right by her ear.
Flutters lifted her gaze from the floor. She took occasional glances at her King, but not full blown staring. Just enough to get some more information. He seemed to be almost finished his food, but he was taking his time. It was like slow torture for Flutters, watching him eat that meat.
Made her cringe, it did.
Flutters watched him yawn. Yes, that toothy yawn. His teeth, they were jagged and stained with red. Fluttershy sarcastically wondered what his teeth were stained with.
After that yawn, his eyes closed, and his chin bumped the plate below him. He had stopped eating and stopped moving. Flutters looked around, looking at the other maids with a look of confusion. One maid inparticular had her eyes almost pop out her sockets, as she shot out of line and into the kitchen in a split second.
Flutters's eyebrow raised. What was that maid going to go do? Get more food? Well, her question to herself was answered fairly quickly as that maid galloped out of the kitchen at full speed, wielding a slicing knife in her mouth. It was obvious what her co-worker was going to do. Flutters and her quick reflexes sprung into action. Using her powerful wings, she dashed over to the attacker faster than said attacker could run.
Flutters slammed her side into the mare, causing the smaller pony to topple over and fling the knife to the floor as well. It had skidded a distance, but Flutters was making sure that the mare would not be getting that knife.
Using her own weight, she pressed the mare down by her forehooves.
"LET ME GO!"
The maid screeched directly into Flutters's face. Flutters gave a long, hard stare at the mare below her. Said mare was struggling beneath her, but due to Flutters's larger size, the struggling was in vain. Flutters shot a glare back at the other maids, who hadn't moved. They looked upon the situation in shock of how quickly this had all went down.
"You are under arrest for attempted assault against The King. You will be coming with me."
Flutters stated, voice harsh. It would be most unlike her past self, wouldn't it? The past isn't today, however.
Day 1 (8:53 AM) 2/11/6010
It was a hassle, but Flutters had eventually called some of her old colleagues over to arrest the mare who posed a threat. She was 'escorted' out of the dining room in a most 'hospitable' way possible. Within this time, her King had woken up and took in what was going on.
Time to strike.
"M-My king.."
Flutters spoke, walking up to his seat. He stared at her groggily.
"I fear it is no longer safe for you to sleep here.. Uhm.. I shall escort you back to your room, posthaste."
He snorted at her statement, getting up from his seat. His horn suddenly flared up with magic that distorted the matter around it. If anything could emit light of black, it was the magic he was conjuring.
The magic was that of black ink, said ink produced bubbles of purple. Much less to say, it didn't look like regular pure magic (like advertised). It looked a lot more sickly, much more.. Well, you get the idea. It didn't look like the regular magic he used back when they first met. It was more of black electricity, rather than ink. The bubbles were still around, but.. You get the point, right?
As the two walked side by side, he did not talk. Flutters took this time to get a good look at him. Man, was he tall. A lot taller than her. He was probably taller than most stallions. He seemed around Luna's height, actually. He was very muscular, though. Well, as muscular as the cape around him would let show. It covered his shoulders and flank, as well as part of his chest.
Flutters opened the door of the dining room for her king, letting him go in first. Flutters got a look at the cape covered booty thanks to this. Flutters was always out looking for booty, no matter who that booty belonged to. Booty hunter, she was. Nevertheless to day, she wasn't sure if her king had a booty or nah. Mostly because it was covered.
He seemed to know where he was going, so Flutters was really just following him. She did remember to close the dining room door behind her, though. Always close the door behind you, kids.
It took the two not but five minutes to get to the master bedroom, in which The King slept. Flutters opened the door for him, only to reveal.. There was nothing behind the door. It was a wall. Flutters put her hoof on the crystal wall. Yep, it sure was a wall. As much of a wall as a wall could be, it was.
"Are you sure-"
"Yes."
Before she could even get her sentence out, she was interrupted by him.
"Alright.."
Flutters played the submissive game here. She was much more than a submissive, in regular situations with other soldiers she would be the one to insist and insist until they gave in to her commands. This wasn't the case.
"I can tell. Try to play to niceness. Try to get on my good side. While a soldier once, are not now. Seen as loyalty, do not overstep boundary between loyalty and other feeling."
He said in his gramatically incorrect speak. It sounded all rather cryptic, but it was understandable. Fluttershy nodded in an attempt to lie and say she understood what he was saying.
"I understand, my King."
Flutters stated.
"Then go work. Leave."
He requested, but there was one thing that Flutters needed to say.
"My King, the bags under your eyes are noticeable. Have you gotten sleep?"
It was not but a couple awkward seconds before he replied.
"No. Go."
Flutters couldn't argue with that, really. So, she turned her sorry butt around and walked back down the hall.
"Remember to get some sleep, my King."
She suggested, moseying back down the corridor. She had a lot to look forward to now. Yes, the anger of her colleagues as they were forced to show her around the place and forced to tell her about the ropes. How fun. Why would they be angry in the first place, she wondered. Flutters was just doing her job. Well, her old job.
Still, she felt like it was her duty to protect her king from any harm, whether it be inside the castle or out.
Day 1 (9:45 PM) 2/11/6010
Flutters was laying in bed. She just couldn't get to sleep for some reason. She couldn't understand why, but she just couldn't. Maybe it was because of the words her co workers had said to her. They were quite nasty words, they were. She just thought about those horrid words over and over again. Yes, they hurt her feelings sooooooo much.
Flutters knew her sarcasm was only to be known by her self at this moment in time, as there was no one else within her mind to understand said sarcasm.
Flutters tossed and turned in her new bed. It was comfortable compared to her old bed, but she knew she would get sick of it in the coming week or two.
Flutters eventually went to sleep, but her dream wasn't any better. The dream that she had was a common dream, one of booty. Booty as in butt. Like, flanks n stuff. For Flutters, a dream about booty was one that happened every night. It didn't matter what sort of booty she dreamt about (or what gender the booty belonged to), it was there in her dream.
You know, one could say that Flutters was pervert, dreaming and hunting booty like this. She would not deny that fact if you dared to bring it up. However, not a single soul knew her overwhelming obsession with butts. Well, other than Angel, who was probably dead due to starvation.
Anyways, the specifics of the dream were the usual. Flutters was a queen, commanding all ponies who existed below her. Her commands were bland and always repeated every single dream. She would command for her guards to bring her random citizens so that she may admire them.
Then, Flutters would demand that the citizens turn around and put their butts in the air. Then, she'd evaluate the butts to find the best one and take the one with the best booty back to her room. Then, the dream would end.
This time around when the citizens were retrieved, she was given a lot to choose from. Most of them were the maids from today, but there were a couple of her old soldier companions in the line too. Then, there was her King. He didn't seem too happy to be here, in Flutters's dream.
Flutters made the command. Head down, booty up. All but(t) one did so. You can predict who was the only one to not put their butt in the air. Of course, it was the King himself. So, Flutters flapped her wings open before flying on over to him. In this realm, she was the ruler. It didn't matter how much she respected him outside of the dream world.
So, using the magical power of dreaming, she got him down on the ground and that butt up.
This time around, the dream ended when she touched the butt of her King. Though, there was a five or so second interval between her eyes snapping open and the touching of that round, ash gray booty.
Flutters sat up in bed.
She knew what she was going to do. She knew her goal. This dream was a message of times to come.
That message itself..
"Touch his butt."
Author's Note
There's going to be a slight formula change here. I will be doing chapters instead of weeks.
