Artemis Sparkshower

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It was the start of a new day, and Artemis Sparkshower was making the final preparations for her first first-shift of VIP duty. Time to make the final checks before taking up her post! Turning to the small mirror in the common room, Artemis gave herself one last look-over.

Armour: Polished to a shine, and securely fitted without being uncomfortable.
Helmet: Also polished to a shine and securely attached.
Crest brush: Starched and firm.
Hoof-spats: Present, shiny, and well-fitted.
Wings: Preened.
Tail: Brushed.
Spear: In hoof.

'Everything is a go!' Heading down the servant's stairway from their shared quarters, Artemis quickly arrived at her destination. With a deep breath, she reached up with her free hoof before firmly rapping on the double doors to the Royal Engineer's chambers.

"Come in."

Artemis pushed open the doors and entered. "Specialist Sparkshower reporting for duty, sir!"

She instinctively started to take in the details, even as she introduced herself. To her right, Anonymous was just getting up from where he was sitting at a dining table, wearing his suit pants and white shirt, with a napkin stuffed into his collar. In front of him was a plate with a half-eaten bagel. Beside it, a glass of water, and a stack of papers. Glancing around, she found that the room was typical of the larger private chambers in the palace. in the right corner was the dining area with a table for six and a china cabinet. Ahead of her, just inside the doors, was the living area, furnished with an elegant sofa, three sitting chairs, a coffee table, and a buffet server on each side, partitioning the area off. To the left, an office or working area contained a large bureau desk covered in papers and books, several wooden filing cabinets, a pair of glass-doored bookshelves full of books and scrolls, and a pair of smaller desks with writing chairs.

"Oh, excellent. Welcome, Specialist," Anonymous greeted, while placing a sheet of paper down on the table.

She bowed her head, still surveying the layout of the room.

The left wall was all windows with heavy, blue patterned curtains. Prench doors behind the bureau lead out to a twenty-foot-deep paved patio that followed the contours of the building wall all the way around the corner and out of Artemis' sight. A short wall of decorated wooden partition pieces separated off what was obviously the sleeping area at the rear of the room, while the door on the right led to the chamber's washroom.

"... So, do you normally stand outside, or...?"

Artemis instantly recalled her Very Important Pony bodyguard training. "Sir! Typically, the bodyguards are posted inside the doors to a VIP's chambers, but may be dismissed outside as needed, such as for privacy."

Anonymous seemed to accept this, and sat back down. "I see. Well, by all means, take up your post in here. I'm just finishing breakfast."

Nodding her head, she closed the door behind her, and sat down in front of the entryway. Meanwhile, Anonymous picked up the sheet and continued to read it, munching on his bagel. Having taken in the general structure of the room, she started to examine the finer details.

And what fine details they were! The classical luxury surrounding her was almost overwhelming. The carpet was a rich red with an elaborate floral pattern. The furniture was mahogany wood, upholstered in blue with white embroidered check. The table tops were all marble. A stately lighthouse clock dominated the far side of the sitting area. A number of gas lamps were neatly arranged on side-tables around the room, all with beautiful, bulbous glass shades. Oh, and the ceiling! An elaborate trim around the edges served as the frame for a wonderful floral plaster pattern.

She could get lost in that ceiling.

Still, it's all in keeping with the palace's general style. When she was accepted for VIP duty, Artemis was received in the Marshal's palace chambers, and they were similarly decorated. But that was just for a few minutes! She was going to be in this beautiful room for eight full hours! A guard didn't get to sit on anything, sure, but just being in the presence of such opulence was exciting. And there were so many little details about everything to notice!

Over in the dining area, the Royal Engineer stood up again, pulling his napkin off and placing it on the table, before gathering up some of his papers. Without a second thought, he crossed the room to the office area and was just about to sit down at the great desk, before looking up at Artemis.

"I'm afraid your shift today will be a bit dull, Specialist. I'm going to be working on this treatise all day, and I'm not expecting any visitors."

This, too, was covered by her training. "Not a problem, sir. It's all part of the job. And I did volunteer for this position."

Her charge seemed to accept this answer, and sat down.

He picked up one of his pen-quills, and was just about to dip it in the pot of ink, when he paused and looked up at the specialist again. "Did anything in particular make you want to volunteer for this work?"

Okay, now she was getting a bit into uncharted territory. Training covered how to behave, but not how to answer personal questions. What should she say? Before she could figure how to answer, Anonymous shook his head, dipping his pen into the inkwell.

"I apologize; that was a personal question and I shouldn't oblige you to answer it. Please forget I asked."

Part of her was relieved, but another part of her sort of wished that he hadn't dropped it. After all, conversation would pass the time. But Artemis knew that it would be inappropriate to occupy her VIP's precious time. It was nice of him to be a gentlecolt about it, though.

Artemis straightened her posture and leaned her spear against her shoulder, adopting a pose the pegasus knew she could comfortably keep for hours.

---

She was more than halfway through her shift. Since Anonymous had started working, the only noteworthy activity was one of the palace butlers, accompanied by a maid, arriving to clear away his breakfast. Otherwise, it was just the Royal Engineer reading, writing, shuffling papers, flipping pages and occasionally standing up to get another book or bundle of papers. Right then, her charge was standing and leaning over his desk, rearranging his documents. By his manner, Artemis could tell he was looking for something. By the fact that he was scrabbling over the same areas again and again, she could tell he was getting frustrated at not finding it.

"Where the devil did I put that book?" Anonymous muttered, half under his breath.

Instantly, Sparkshower recalled an hour ago, when Anonymous had gotten up to pour himself a glass of water from a carafe in the sitting area. He'd had a book in his hands, and he'd put it down on the coffee table, amidst a stack of sealed scrolls.

She cleared her throat. "That book, sir?" Anonymous looked up, and Artemis pointed at the item in question. He strode over and picked it up, immediately flipping through it to a certain page. Satisfied, he looked up at her.

"How did you know which one I was talking about?"

"It's the only book in the room not in a case or on your desk, sir."

He turned and took the measure of the area, as if verifying the specialist's statement, then faced her again, clutching the book. "Armored Reconnaissance, wasn't it?"

Her lips curled up into a smile. "Yes, sir."

The Royal Engineer shook the book in acknowledgement. "Sharp eyes. My thanks, Specialist Sparkshower."

With that, he headed back over to his desk and continued to work. It was such a small thing, getting a compliment like that for so trivial a task, but inside Artemis was swelling with pride. She volunteered for guard duty in order to get to know Canterlot society. She wanted a life in the Royal Guard, with an eye towards maybe even trying to become an officer one day, and that meant dealing with the upper crust. Even her commanding officer thought it was a good idea for her, though he expressed his regrets about missing the specialist's abilities while she was on this assignment. But if she could still put her talents to good use, even if it was just to help her assigned VIP get their work done, that was all the better. Even though it had only been five hours, Artemis felt that this posting was going to work out just fine.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4 Estimated time remaining: 37 Hours, 7 Minutes