Into the Crystal Empire, and the Capital: 1
As a low-level Changeling, life can be tough. Living in the Hive is safe, while most of your fellow Changelings are ignoring you, or looking down at you.
Living on your own is tough, you don’t have any Changeling behind your back, and none is looking over your safety or providing anything else for you.
I had been stationed close to the Capital of the Crystal Empire. Going there had not been too hard, but I had jumped on the mission as I heard of it. This is after all the heart of the Love we are dependent on. The Ponies of Equestria are producing what we can see as insane amounts of it on a whim. It is why Queen Chrysalis had chanced everything on her attack on the Ponies in the first place.
Her failure and defeat had humbled us as a Nation and as a Species. As well as the plan had been going, just the few Ponies had still pulled the ground right out from under her very hooves.
What ever she had missed or failed to predict; but she had failed and the Ponies had inevitably defeated her, and the entire swarm she had brought with her. Yet, the embarrassment is in how she had been defeated, and the means with which it had been accomplished. Love, of all things.
I had heard a new rumour, Princess Cadance is pregnant and Captain Shining Armour is the Sire. The news is not unexpected in and of itself. The interesting part is the opportunity it is to me, if I could capitalize on what I imagine is up for grabs here.
A Royal foal needs a nanny, a foal sitter; just like any other foal. Just that this would place me in the center of all Love. I need do nothing but what they were asking of me, and I would have more Love than I could handle on my own. The prospect is daunting, but the greatest threat is from the Hive and my Queen; not the Ponies or even the Princess herself.
After entering the Capital of the Empire by train, like all the other Ponies who come here, for what ever reason they may have; yet I do not check in, at any hotel. I have little to nothing to carry with me; and there is no point in checking in, just to have an address to show for myself right now. If I do not get the job, I am not staying around in hopes to get hired by any other Pony.
As an afterthought, what if the hotel had been booked up in advance; there may be reason enough for Ponies to come to the city at this time, for all I knew.
With the saddle bags on my back, I take the time to look around, to see a few sights; buying a few items as I am here. Yet, every step is aimed towards taking me where I had to go; there is no denying the destination, even if I could hide it from the common crystal Pony on the street.
A gift from me to the Princess may be taken as a bribe and an attempt towards buying the position, something I could not afford to take a chance on, while I know she is much wealthier than I am in any event. What I had been buying, are merely a few items I found a fancy in. There was the one time, where I made the purchase in the hopes of a slice of love in return; which I incidentally did get from the owner of the stall as I left.
After a long and winding path around the city, I had managed to get to the Royal castle; just in time for a public tour, by the looks of it. Maybe this truly is my lucky day? I had never been stopped, or questioned for any reason; not that I had given any of the Ponies a reason to, passing for the next tourist inbound by train. Oh, but what I am I complaining about, the ticket is fairly priced; even for a poor low ranking Changeling such as myself. On that note, the guided tour is a good excuse to see the castle, and I may have a chance to ask a few questions that could be quite helpful on my end.
“The tour is about to begin, so if you are interested to see the castle; follow me!” the mare with a typical crystal fur explained in the common dialect of the Capital of the Crystal Empire.
I noted that she is speaking with a fairly high dialect, but that she managed to refrain from any snobbish mannerisms or anything like that. Her voice is actually on the more melodic side, making her even more interesting to follow as I hear her explain various details and spreading anecdotes on various historical or cultural items along.
“That is the Crystal Heart!” she pronounced, with infinite pride and reverence; affording it an extra long glance over, as we passed the place where it is hanging suspended in mid air.
“That crystal is responsible for finally ejecting the former King Sombra!” a crystal pony on the tour whispered, casting a glance at the heart.
“Then we are safe here, in the castle!” I suggested in response.
“With Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armour in the city, we certainly are!” the pony responded.
Then I noticed a sign that indicated that I had been on the right track. A board with a few posters, stipulating vacancies on the staff in the castle. I quietly followed up on the lead and trotted of in the direction without a sound.
As I arrive at the wall, where the board is hanging; I can read all the notes on ponies required. There are apparently all kinds of positions open, but just the one I had been looking for.
An arrow was pointing at a door, where I had to go in order to apply for the position I was hoping for. I followed the short hall towards the door and gave it a short, tentative knock.
“Enter!” the voice came from the other side.
As I push the door open, there is a small wooden desk on the other side of the room. There is a crystal Pony sitting, waiting for me; or any other Pony looking for a job. Of course, having a job at the castle is the chance of a lifetime; not just a mere job.
I slowly walk towards the desk.
“I understand that you are looking for a job!” she prompted, as I finally reached her desk.
”Welcome to the Royal castle of the Crystal Empire, Nurse. I am Princess Cadance!” she greeted me.
“Greetings, Princess Cadance. It is an honour to be of your service!” I merely responded, in as deep a bow as I could muster in the presence of the Royal Princess.
This is the true Matriarch, a Queen in her full power; she stands taller than any Royal Queen ever could, the Love radiating from her in a manner no mere Queen of Changelings ever could have managed to maintain. In her case, he Love is not mere reflection of what she had consumed and is prepared to share in order to sustain her subjects, it is love in the truest and purest form, actual love from the source of all Love. She is after all the Princess of Love. She is also the reason why I am here, even if that is in a lesser extent.
There is a shift in the mood, and I hastily try to correct my stance and bearing; before I am angering her, trying my best to make it into an honourable retreat, to the stance a loyal subject is maintaining in the presence of her Queen, or in this case, her Princess.
“I do appreciate the Respect you demonstrate, but you don’t need to bow down quite that deep or maintain it longer than a mere second. I certainly am not my predecessor, King Sombra!” she pronounced jovially.
“No, Princess Cadance. It is just such an old and deep habit!” I stammered.
“Since you are the first to apply for the job, you will sleep in the room adjacent to the foals room as the Head Nurse. Your first task is to prepare the room for my first born foal. I expect the room to be ready, at the date of her birth!” she put forth.
As I followed the instructions, I soon found myself in the room that I had been assigned as the Head Nurse. Either the head Nurse is a higher position among Ponies, or their servants are granted more space and luxury than we Changelings could have been afforded. For a moment I am shocked, but the impression will cling to me for much longer than it took me to recover from the initial shock.
I have a large bed to the right of the room with a nightstand, in which I could store a few items. The bed had been embedded with the Royal bed linen in Crystal style and in the Princess’s own colours, which was a smaller surprise than I had been expected. Of course the linen are of high quality and will be quite nice to sleep in, soft and smooth as they are.
On the hoof end of my bed, I found the double doors to two Queen size wardrobes. Naturally the walls are all the same crystal as the castle, as are the doors to all rooms and even the wardrobes. It is after all the Royal castle of the Crystal Empire. What had I been expecting? As good as stone or wood had been looking and feeling to me, but these would have been cheap replacements here.
As the acting Head Nurse, I should not be worried about privacy for myself, more than for any pony else in this wing; that is part of my responsibilities. At least it is how I interpreted it. For now, I am the sole inhabitant in the wing; not just the room in which I deposited my few belongings, including what I had bought or traded for on my way to the castle.
In surprise, I noticed that I had both a shower and a mares’ room. These will be very convenient facilities to me, when ever I need them.
“Maybe a shower wouldn’t be such a bad idea, right now?” I pondered.
“Of course, I do have one; so I could as well try it out, for myself!” I responded.
Just as I had expected: the walls, floor and ceiling is the same crystal as the room outside. Everything is just standard for a shower, just fancier in the Royal Crystal style.
I stepped right in and pushed the controls and enjoyed the warm water raining down from overhead. The water is actually warm, and just about the heat I had expected.
Minute by minute, the air in the room is warming up by all the hot water. As if I had expected anything else, but the air is starting to turn into a thickening fog. I don’t see all that much, but what do I need to see.
The small room is just the same crystal, aside from the few details to control the shower. Nothing much to see here. I may have been freshly changed into the form as a Nurse, but I still do enjoy the privilege of having a warm shower all by myself. Quiet and intimately private. Is this the pony side of me in the form I have taken?
Even if I don’t have any duties calling for my attention at this instant, I can’t stay in the shower forever. I step out, drying myself of with the towel as any Pony would have done. I don’t care if they would have detected my Changeling magic, it is more along the lines of preserving my energy and magic to when I actually need to be expending them on something. As a Pony, it is easier to use a towel and I actually quite enjoy doing it. Maybe it is the Pony in me talking, but I don’t let this get to me.
Knowing that I am alone makes it much easier on me. Trotting around, looking at everything and examining it for myself; all in my own time.
A thought hit me, and I trotted to the door and opened it; before I trotted along the hall to the large wardrobe, where I found what I had expected to see. The uniforms for all the Nurses intended to work here. Strangely, the uniform for the Head Nurse actually is fitting me, and not just close enough to pass.
Once I had slipped into my uniform, I picked up a set of uniforms and carried them back into my room and slipped them into my personal wardrobe. With that; I have accepted my post as the Head Nurse and will be recognized as such, as I move around in the large castle.
