Carefully poking his head up from behind the bench Max quickly scanned his target. The front of the house was still packed with sentinels, at least a dozen as far as he could tell from this angle. It was a few less than the last time he’d done this but still enough that he’d easily be spotted if he went in that way. It looked like he’d have to try the side again. Good, he thought with a grin, that was more fun anyway.
Abandoning his cover Max quickly scurried down the small path separating his target from the next nearest building. He was almost to the part of the wall that he knew from experience had several bricks missing allowing for easy climbing when he caught sight of the shadow of a winged figure starting to round the building from the back. Thinking quickly Max leapt towards a nearby tree hoping to take cover. His heart raced as he carefully edged around the trunk trying to keep it between him and the pegasus. The flying pony halted for a moment and swooped down not far from the tree. Max to froze in place. Had he been caught? He’d find it hard to explain why he was here if he was challenged.
A drop of sweat started to make its way down his barrel as the pegasus got closer and closer. Just as it seemed there was no way he wouldn’t be seen there was a commotion from the front of the house. Quick as a shot, the pegasus rushed towards the noise, desperate to join his companions.
Max let out the breath he had been holding. He didn’t know what was going on over there but this was his chance to make a break for it. Looking back and forth for any other ponies who had not joined in whatever was happening at the front of the building Max crept towards the wall. It only took a few seconds for him to scale it. With the added height he could just about make out the pony that had almost spotted him, along with many others was gathered around somepony who had just exited the house. They were mobbing whoever it was mercilessly. For a moment Max wanted to go and help, but he had a mission to complete, he had to keep him mind on the job and hope whoever it would be was ok.
He hopped off the wall carefully bending his legs to land without hurting himself and just as importantly without making a sound. Now he was within the grounds themselves he had much more options when it came to hiding places, shrubs, trees, even the odd statue and a small shed containing gardening tools. Picking his route carefully Max hopped from cover to cover glancing around for any other ponies. It was unlikely the sentinels would be this close, they mostly congregated around the walls, but you never knew. During his first trip he’d found one perched on the mansion's roof. That had been a close one.
Seeing that everypony was still busy at the front of the house he checked the nearby wall. The thick layer of ivy meant that scaling it was easy for somepony of his talents. He was halfway through the open window in only a few seconds. Once there he felt the frame close around his haunches, and panicked for a second, he really didn’t want to get stuck here, he’d never hear the end of it. Luckily a few kicks pushed his whole form through the window, still he hadn’t had that problem before, maybe he should leave off desserts for a few days.
Cautiously he picked himself up and turned his head from left to right, keeping an eye out for any guards. Inside the building he was technically safer but to be honest he had come to quite enjoy the game of sneaking into the building. Seeing nopony around he moved forwards on tiphoof gently pushing open the door. There was his target hunched over a desk a quill clutched in her mouth, making quick notes on a scroll in front of her. She gave no sign of having noticed him yet.
With a grin Max carefully made his way over towards the hunched form careful to keep to her back, his hooves making no sound in the thick carpet. He halted for a moment just a few hoofsteps from her unprotected flanks positioning himself for a final pounce. The he leapt. At the last moment she must have seen the movement in her peripheral vision but by them it was too late. She opened her mouth to gasp letting the quill fall to the ground which left her in a perfect position for him to press his lips to hers. Holding her tightly he pressed his body against hers. He could feel her heart thumping a mile a minute, he liked to think that that wasn’t entirely due to the surprise alone. After a moment the shock wore off and the mare’s tongue curled around his own in greeting. It was several long moments before they separated again.
“Max!” gasped Fragrant, “I wasn’t expecting you yet!”
“My committee meeting ended a bit early,” he said. “So I thought I’d spend some time with my favourite mare.”
“Nopony saw you?” she asked sounding nervous.
“Nope,” he said proudly, “I was like a Shadowbolt!” Pulling up a chair he sat down next to the duchess. “It’s been weeks now, they still haven't gone away out there.”
She signed. “No, the ponyratzzi are known for their patience. Unless there’s something juicier for them to latch onto, a celebrity wedding,” she scowled, “or even better a divorce, they’ll continue to hound me.”
“Shouldn’t they be following the budget preparations rather than you?” asked Max.
Fragrant smiled weakly. “The more prestigious papers might, but there’s nothing like a nice simple scandal to bring out the press. By avoiding them for so long I think I’ve riled them up.”
“Isn’t there something you can do? Complain in some way? Create a privacy bill?”
“They are staying within the law, if barely and as offensive as they can be the press do have their role in our society.” She nodded sadly before raising her head again. “So how did Fancy Pants’ birthday party go last night?”
“Pretty good, I think. He hoped you’d recover from your, um, feather flu soon.” Since the opera Fragrant had become almost a recluse in order to avoid the press, he thought she was taking things a bit too far but she refused to give any personal interviews on the subject, only providing press releases via her office. She attended the more important council meetings of course, but the official excuse for her lack of social appearances was that she was recovering from a bout of the flu. “Everypony who was anypony turned up, the princess herself stopped by for a bit. Duke Greengrass made a bit of a scene,” Max grimaced. “He gate-crashed, tried to talk to the princess and some of the other high ups about something I think. The Night Guard threw him out pretty quick. He’s lucky he didn’t end up in jail.”
“He seems to be doing anything he can to get attention recently. He was just here actually, wanted to talk to me, something crazy about a solar cult in the city. I said if he had any real evidence he should take it to the Shadowbolts or the police. He insisted he needed my help. I think he’s just trying some stunt to get back into the princesses’ good graces and thought I might be desperate enough to help him. I really hope he isn’t crazy enough to try and fake something. Although it might be for the best if he did and was stripped of his title. I don’t know who would replace him if he was, probably his father, Greenmeadow, in the short term. He was a much better courtier.”
Max nodded. He wasn’t the Duke’s biggest fan himself, he’d been tricked by Greengrass earlier in the year, and he’d met Greenmeadow, he had seemed a nice enough stallion, if a little grumpy.
“So,” said Fragrant as she turned back towards the desk and the papers on it, “how are you doing making your submissions for this year's budget?”
Max tried to hold the grimace from his face. “Well I’ve gotten started...” he admitted. It was the time of year when the yearly Equestrian budget was due to be submitted to the princess by the finance ministry. Each noble and committee had to submit a breakdown of what they thought their needs would be for the coming year. The finance ministry then decided how to split the year's funds between them all and finally the princess rubber stamped the plan. It meant that at this time of year Vicerence Puscience, the finance minister normally became not only very very popular but also very busy. She was an extreme stickler for punctuality and even worse it was rumoured that the Princess herself would go through the proposal with a fine-toothed comb to locate any corruption in the court this year. To make things even worse he was still trying to sort out the tax situation in Nulpar so the amount of money his people would be contributing to the government was still up in the air. “I finally managed to organise those meetings with the Apple Trust and Fisher Agriculture. I still need to run a few things past the ponies back at home but I think we might have reached a compromise about things.”
Fragrant nodded. “Good, I think you should talk to Baroness Fields about that, she is a member of the northern farming committee and she has a good relationship with the Trust. This time of year you might want to feel out how the grant situation is going to be next year. How are your committee proposals going?”
“I’m, well, I’m a bit behind at the moment. There seems to be so much to do, me and Mrs G have been up to all hours trying to get everything filed away.”
“You need to keep on top of that,” said Fragrant strictly. “I might be able to lend you a few members of my staff if you really need them but most of my ponies are spread thinly as it is. The situation with Saltpeter couldn’t have happened at a worst time.” She sighed again her head drooping. Max rested an arm across her back in support. “Thank you, Max,” she said nuzzling against him for a moment.
“No problem, look if you want me to help out at all, I’m sure I could-”
“No Max, I am fully capable of running my ministry without a personal assistant, even from here. It’s important that you build up a reputation as a pony capable of dealing with your committee work on time. You don’t want to find yourself cut from the budget, the Vicereine is known to be rather vindictive to those who make her job harder. I know it’s a lot of paperwork but it’ll be worth it.”
Max nodded. “Mellow asked me to pop by later, we can talk over the road building committee then.”
“Good,” said Fragrant with a smile, “networking with the other courtiers is a very good skill to have. You’ll be able to resubmit your road subsidy bill again next month and it will certainly help to have as much support as possible. If you can make Puissance job easier that will be a good start to getting her on side.”
Max tried to look happy at that. To be honest he hadn’t expected quite the amount of paperwork needed to submit a budget proposal, every single thing needed to be confirmed again and again. He sometimes thought that the cost of all the forms must be more than that for schools, or the military, not to mention the quills and ink! “Let’s not worry about that right now, I’m sure you’ve been working all evening. It’s almost midnight, I’m sure you could do with a break and something to eat.”
Fragrant arched her back with an audible pop. “You’re right, I think I’m due a short rest. I’ll ask my chef to send me up some sandwiches or something.”
Max would have preferred if they could have gone out somewhere to eat, but still it was nice to be able to spend some time with Fragrant.
Max quickly trotted down one of the numberless corridors that made up the inside of Canterlot Castle on his way to Buttercup’s office. He could remember when the whole castle seemed like nothing more than a maze but after only a few months he’d learnt to navigate it, well most of the time anyway, he never did manage to find the spa Greengrass had once told him about.
As he approached he quickened his pace, he hoped the meeting wouldn’t take long, not that he didn’t think his ex-lover would help him despite her rather icy attitude to him since her father’s death. No, he just wanted to get back to his own rooms as quickly as possible, he’d left Mrs G with a huge pile of paperwork to work through and he didn’t want her to over exert herself. The budget work was hard going for the old goat, she’d been snappy all week. Hopefully he would be able to lighten her load and let her get away early today she deserved a rest after all the work she’d put in so far.
Turning a corner Max came to a halt at a cordoned off area. An out of order sign was affixed to the door of a nearby toilet and a janitor pony was listlessly mopping away a large puddle of what Max hoped was water. Nodding to the servant Max carefully stepped around the area. There had been a number of minor problems with the castle’s plumbing over the last few weeks. He’d heard the issue was being looked into, the castles pipes were getting on a bit. The new budget was likely to include a sum to refit the castle, there was even talk from the more technocratic courtiers that it should have cables laid for a set of those new electrical lights while the workers were at it. To Max that didn’t seem all that important, given most of the castle’s lighting was magical. Still, it was amazing that committees which might argue for years before spending a few bits elsewhere in Equestria would reach a speedy conclusion when the money was needed for their own comfort.
Shaking his head at the thought Max made his way down the corridor until he came to the door of the small office which housed Baroness Buttercup Fields. Its wasn’t the most prestigious of billets but it was far from the worst, the main council chamber wasn’t that far away. It was certainly better than his first set of rooms, although Buttercup had inherited them from her father. Max raised a hoof and knocked on the door.
He paused, there was no reply, he tried again even waiting a few minutes but there was still no response. Frowning he tried for a third time again, he supposed she might be out. He probably should have checked with her assistant first. He furrowed his brow, he actually didn’t think he’d met her assistant yet, even if Buttercup was out someone should be ponying the office. He tried the door, it wasn’t locked. He paused for a moment, he really shouldn’t enter without permission but what if something was wrong? Slowly pushing the door open he revealed the small outer office, much of its space taken up with bookshelves and filing cabinets. At the far end stood a small desk mostly clear but for a few pictures. Max’s gaze scanned across the room and then widened in shock. Buttercup’s insensate body was sprawled over the floor!
Quick as a flash Max threw open the door and rushed over to the mare’s body. After a moment's panic he noticed the regular rise and fall of her chest, a quick examination failed to reveal any injury, certainly no blood was visible. It was almost like she was asleep, but in the middle of the floor?
He rested a hoof on her flank and shook her gently. “Buttercup, Buttercup,” he said calling her name quietly. After a few worrying moments she started to stir, her big green eyes opened and blinked sleepily.
“Max?” she mumbled. “What are...? Where...?”
“Are you alright?” he asked moving back to give her room to stand. He reached out a leg to help her and after a few tries she managed to get her legs under her and got unsteadily to her hooves.
“I think so... I...” she swayed a little, “dizzy...” she mumbled. Max quickly grabbed a chair from behind the desk and she gratefully sunk into it.
“What happened?”
“I don’t...” she squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and shook her head. “I’m not sure, I’d just finished a meeting with Duke Greengrass and I was just about to go to one of my committees. I got up, I felt a little lightheaded and tired... the next thing I remember you were here. What time is it?”
“About two I think,” said Max, he couldn’t see a clock around but he’d left Fragrant’s mansion at about one, given how long it normally took to get from there to the castle that sounded about right.
Buttercup’s eyes widen and she leapt to her hooves, stumbling and almost falling again. “I’ve been out for over an hour! I’ve missed the start of the committee meeting!” Max reached out a hoof and grabbed her. “Let go!” she cried.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Max, “you passed out, or fainted, or something. You can’t just run off, you should have a doctor check you out.”
“I’m fine Max!” said Buttercup shaking off his grasp. “I was just a bit tired and hungry, its budget season, I’ve been busy.”
“Hungry? When was the last time you had something to eat?” he asked.
“I didn’t have time for breakfast,” she admitted, “and I might have missed supper last night... and dinner...” Max examined her a little closer, there were dark rings beneath her eyes, she looked exhausted. Her normally lustrous mane hung limp and dull on her head and he could see her ribs through her coat!
“That’s it then, it’s too late for you to get to your meeting now. You can just send your apologies. You should have a doctor check you out, and get something to eat.”
“I don’t need to see a doctor!” exclaimed Buttercup with some venom. “I’m perfectly fine. I can handle things by myself. I don’t need your help.”
“This might be something to do with, well, with your father’s medicine,” said Max. Buttercup had helped her father by transferring some of her own life energy to him, it had been months since he had passed, but what if there was some sort of long term effect?
“It is nothing to do with that!” she snapped then seemed to calm a little. “I got checked out over the summer, there were no lasting effects of the spell. I’m just, yes, I’m just a little hungry,” she admitted cradling her abdomen with a hoof for a moment.
Max ran a critical eye over her for a moment. “Well if you’re sure,” she nodded. “Then at least let me take you to the canteen. I want to talk to you about one of your committees. We can talk while you eat.”
For a moment it looked like Buttercup might argue, but after a moment her head drooped a little. “I guess you’re right.”
“Good,” said Max leaning forwards a little. “I’d hate for you to hurt yourself,” he said gently causing Buttercup to flush for a moment. “Come on,” he took her by the hoof, “the banqueting hall isn’t that far, I think I saw that they had hayburgers when I last headed through.”
It turned out that there weren't any hayburgers left, apparently there was something wrong with the ovens at the moment but there were plenty of other options available. Given he’d only just eaten Max decided to just have a cup of tea while Buttercup had a coffee and a salad piled high with pickles.
“I can’t believe you can eat those things,” said Max screwing up his muzzle as Buttercup devoured another of the foul-smelling vegetables.
“I got a taste for them as a foal but then I sort of got sick of them,” she admitted putting down the last of the treats. “But recently I just can’t seem to get enough.” She gobbled down the last pickle and leant back with a contented smile. “I needed that.”
Max looked her up and down. She still seemed as worn out as when he’d found her on the floor of her office but at least she seemed a little healthier now she’d gotten something to eat. “I still think you should see a doctor.”
“No!” she exclaimed. “No,” she repeated more gently, “I just overdid it a bit, its budget time that’s always stressful. It’ll be over soon, then I’ll be able to relax a little.”
“Can’t you delegate a bit more? Hire some more staff maybe?” He should probably follow his own advice, but he didn’t know how to broach the subject with Mrs G.
“I really should get back to work now,” said Buttercup hurriedly getting to her hooves. “I’ve got a meeting with a business pony from my province soon.”
“Can’t your assistant deal with that?” asked Max.
“Look, I, I” Buttercup sighed, “I don’t have an assistant, it’s just me.”
“What? You’re running your whole provinces business by yourself?”
“And doing a good job of it!” she said defensively. “My father didn’t need anypony when he did it, it was just him and me! I’ve been doing this for a long time now Max, I can handle it.” She scowled. “Houyhnhnm’s even smaller than Nulpar, although with a bigger population.”
Max blinked, he couldn’t imagine anypony managing a whole province by themselves. Nulpar alone was stretching him and Mrs G to their limits. “But when your father was in charge of your province, he had you to help him. You’ve got nopony.”
“I. Can. Handle. It!” she hissed glaring at him. “Houyhnhnm is my family's province, I will deal with it, I don’t need your help!”
Max swallowed painfully, he didn’t know Buttercup could act this way. “Ok, I’m sorry. I’m just, I’m worried about you, I don’t want you to push yourself too hard. If you get sick it’s no good for anypony.” He reached out a hoof and rested it on her own. She pulled her leg away as if it has been bitten then her body slumped a little.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “I know you want the best for me,” she slowly lowered his hoof again. “I’ll, I’ll try to relax a little, maybe get some help around the office. Once the budget’s over.”
Max looked at her a little dubiously then nodded. “Promise me you’ll take at least one day off after the budget.”
“Max, I am not some school filly! I can look after myself!” Max held her gaze. “Ok, fine! I’ll take some time off.”
Max nodded. ”Just look after yourself. Things may not have worked out between us but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”
She stared at him for a moment then let her head droop a little. “Ok, Max. I appreciate that.” She reached out and took another sip of her coffee. “Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Hum?” asked Max.
“Why you came to my office in the first place? You didn’t have an appointment.”
“Oh, right, I’ve had some dealing with the Apple Trust recently, about setting up an orchard in Nulpar. Fragrant said you might have some advice for me.”
“I’ve had some experience with them in the past, they do a fair bit of work in my province,” she paused for a moment seeming to think. “The trust isn’t a monolithic block, there are different competing family groups, you can play them against each other sometimes. Who have you been dealing with so far?” she asked.
“Sorry I was away so long Mrs G,” said Max as he returned to his office. His assistant looked up from the paperwork in front of her and rearranged her glasses as she blinked at him. Her eyes were a little bloodshot and her mane disordered. The incident with Buttercup made him wonder if the old goat might be working too hard, he wouldn’t want her to collapse as well. “I brought you something from the canteen.” He carefully lifted the plate of donuts he’d picked up as a peace offering.
Mrs G looked at the plate suspiciously for a moment before a smile spread across her face. “Thank you dearie,” she said taking a bite out of the first of the treats. “I hope you didn’t waste all your time with your lady friend, we’ve still got a lot of work to do for this budget thing.”
Max flushed a little. “I didn’t spend all my time with Fragrant,” he protested, “she suggested that I talk to Buttercup about dealing with the Trust.”
“How did that go?”
“Um,” began Max he wasn’t sure how much he should say about Buttercups situation. He trusted her, but Mrs G could be a bit of a gossip sometimes. “I think she might have overdone it a bit, she’s running her whole office by herself.”
“Well if she’s managing that all the better for her,” said Mrs G after a moment's consideration. “Still we have more than enough work for the two us.”
Taking the hint Max nodded to his assistant and quickly trotted up the stairs that led to his part of the office. Large piles of paper surrounded the rather cluttered desk. He still had to complete the final contract for the Apples, Buttercup had suggested he discuss the decision with a few more senior members of the Trust she knew but that would delay the whole thing even longer. Still there wasn’t much that could be done to set up their new farm until spring anyway. However, even with that part of his role parked for the moment he still had an awful lot of work to do. Sighing he slumped into his chair and took the first form in his mouth, placed it on the centre of the desk, and started to read.
Groaning slightly Max twisted his neck to try and work out the crick in it. It felt like he’d been sitting at his desk for days now. He glanced up at the small windows around the top of the office he could see the faint predawn light starting to filter through them. It was about time to call it a night. He glanced around at the still towering piles of papers around him, or maybe not. He’d gotten a lot done but nowhere near enough, it looked like it was going to be another late morning. He’d likely end up spending another day in the small bedroom at the top of his tower rather than going home to his town house. His ears pricked up as he heard the sound of hooves and scrape of metal on stone from below, Mrs G must be getting something from the files. He knew she was pulling just as many late nights as he was, maybe even more, he was sure she was sleeping in her office sometimes. Not tonight though, he was going to put his hoof down and make sure she got home at a reasonable time... if she’d agreed to it at least.
Max hopped down of his chair and arched his back feeling his vertebra pop. He could really do with a trot or something before he got down to a mornings work. But first things first he had to persuade Mrs G to go home. Stretching again he opened the door and started to make his way down the stairs.
As expected there was Mrs G leant awkwardly over a filing cabinet carefully placing sheet after sheet of paper into their correct locations. A wide yawn caused her to drop a sheet and she swore in goat as she leant down to the floor to pick it up again. “Let me help you with that,” offered Max as he galloped down the stairs.
“I can do it,” she insisted as she carefully filed away the report. “I’ve finished that agricultural report Baroness Dawn Chorus wanted. What’s next?” she asked blinking at him through her glasses.
“I’ve made good time, I think we’re just about done for the day,” said Max.
“You’ve finished everything you had to do? Both stacks?” said Mrs G dubiously.
“It was easy when I put my mind to it,” said Max feeling his brow start to sweat as he tried to match the old goats unnerving gaze.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” she swallowed painfully, “Just a few things to tidy up now. You can call it a day if you want.”
“I can stay if there’s anything else that’s needed,” she said not looking convinced.
“No, no everything’s fine. You got that letter from Brian this morning,” Well probably from his wife Caoimhe, or his brother Conn. Mrs G’s eldest son had never been all that good at writing. “You should write a reply, you know how the postal service is.” He smiled hopefully.
Mrs G narrowed her eyes for a moment and Max found a wide grimace stuck to his face as he tried to look convincing. “I suppose you’re right,” she eventually said, “don’t stay too late, I’ll see you this evening.”
As soon as she’d turned her back Max let out a deep breath. He didn’t like lying to Mrs G but she deserved a night or two off given how hard she worked for him. Her first grandkid was due before the end of the year. She hadn’t mentioned it but Max knew she’d want to visit her family soon after the birth if not be there for the event itself. He’d have to make sure he could manage on his own before then, or get more help. Once Mrs G had made her way back down to her office Max stretched again, he really didn’t feel like getting back to work right now if he was going to spend all morning at work he at least needed to stretch his legs a bit first. He needed to check up with Mellow, maybe his friend hadn’t left yet? His office wasn’t all that far away but it would at least get him a little exercise.
Max paused outside of Baron Mellow Dramatic’s office, hoof raised ready to knock. The rest of the castle seemed to be clearing out quickly, as the majority of the court went home for the day, his friend might have already gone home. Still give how close budget time was Max was probably far for the only pony working into the day. The odds that Mellow was still in was fairly good, even if he caught him just as he was leaving then at least they could arrange to meet at another time. Plan made Max smacked his hoof against the wood of the door. To his surprise the door opened almost instantly and he was dragged into the office.
“Max!” cried Mellow, “I’m so glad to see you!” The other stallion leaned forwards and gave him a hug.
“Oh, um, likewise,” said Max feeling rather disoriented, he hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic greeting.
“Oh, I’ve just got to tell you. It’s the greatest thing ever! I’ve been waiting all day to tell somepony, if I don’t I’ll just explode!” Off to one side Max noticed Mellow’s assistant rolling her eyes as she cleared her desk for the day. He had to agree that Mellow was a nice enough stallion but he did tend to get overexcited about things.
“Look I need to talk to you about the committee’s budget-” began Max.
“Of course,” said Mellow waving a dismissive hoof. “Later I’ve just got to tell you about this now. It’s supposed to be a surprise but I’m just bursting to tell somepony. Why I almost let it slip to Duke Greengrass when he came by earlier, and you know what a disaster that could be! Nopony trusts him anymore, not since the gala!” Max found himself once again dragged across the office and into Mellow’s personal rooms. The excited pegasus shut the door behind them produced a key and unlocked a nearby cupboard. Then he carefully brought out a small box velvet covered box holding it reverently out to Max. “It took so long to get done, but you can’t rush perfection and this really is perfect. He carefully opened the box revealing something which glinted with silvery light.
Frowning Max leant forwards to examine its contents. It appeared to be two items of jewellery, one a bracelet and the other a smaller ring. Both were formed of silver inlaid with small rubies and diamonds. Carved into the metal were symbols, Max instantly recognised the twin masks that were Mellow’s cutie mark, but it took him a little longer to recognise where he’d seen the mirror symbol before. “Are those...?” he began.
“Yes,” exclaimed Mellow almost vibrating with excitement, “Engagement tokens! I’m going to ask my Conny to marry me!”
Max couldn’t help but let a wide grin spread across his face. He hadn’t seen all that much of the couple but he had to admit it was clear that Mellow and Confidant were head over heels in love with each other. “Congratulations!” Although maybe they might be taking things a little too fast, from what he knew the two had only been a couple for a few months now. Still not everypony had to take things as slowly as he and Fragrant. The thought made his tail writhe a little.
“Thank you! I know some might say it’s too quick,” said Mellow slowly running a hoof around the band, but I just know we should spend the rest of our lives together! I just had to have Glory Glitter make these for us, it took a while and cost a lot but she’s worth it.”
“Well I’m very happy for you Mellow, for both of you.”
“Thank you, Max.,”
“When are you going to pop the question?” he asked.
“Well, um, I, well I don’t really know,” said Mellow suddenly looking rather nervous. “I want things to be perfect, just perfect. I don’t know, should I plan something, a special event or something? Or just wait for the right moment to come along?”
“I’m not really an expert on this sort of thing,” admitted Max. He had once or twice considered proposing to Zephyr but things had kept getting in the way. “I guess you’ve got some time to sort things out. Although given her powers of divination she might already know what you’re going to do,” he joked.
“Maybe,” muttered Mellow looking a little nonplussed.
“Anyway,” said Max hurriedly, he didn’t want to make Mellow overthink things or they could be here for hours. “I’m sure you’ll work it out. Now the reason I popped by was to talk to you about our committee’s budget, I thought we could get things done quicker if the two of us talked things over before the next meeting...”
Max yawned as he opened the door to him tower. He didn’t feel all that refreshed by his chat with Mellow, but at least he could tick a few things off him to do list. Trotting up the stairs to his office he stared listlessly at the large pile of paperwork left there he could have sworn it had grown while he was away. He slumped back into his chair, the quicker he started, the quicker he would be finished. There was an envelope with his name on it sitting in front of him, he frowned he was sure that hadn’t been there earlier, had Mrs G left him something? He used his hoof to tear it open, inside was a short note with the words ‘Equestria is in danger, come quickly’ on it. There was also an address and map of the city with a winding route picked out on it. There wasn’t any sign of whom the letter could have come from.
Leaning back in her seat Max puzzled over the note. Could it be some sort of joke? Maybe even a trap? But he couldn’t think of anyone in the city who would wish him serious harm. He wracked his brain for a moment, the address wasn’t familiar, a few tiers down not that far from one of the train stations. He thought the area mostly contained warehouses. It wouldn’t take him all that long to get down there. He looked back at the papers towering over him as if threatening to smother him, really he should get back to work, the note was probably just a waste of his time. He glanced back at the envelope and its contents, still it did say that Equestria was in danger, surely as a baron it was his duty to ensure the nation's safety...
Max cautiously approached the meeting place, it did indeed prove to be a warehouse. The route he had been given had been complicated, frequently twisting back on itself, whoever had sent him here hadn’t wanted him to be followed. Maybe it was just his imagination by Max had wondered if a few of the citizens he had passed on the way were following him. Still there didn’t seem to be anypony around right now. It was the crossover hour when any sensible pony would be at home. Canterlot never truly slept, it kept the hours of both the night court and the normal ponies of Equestria, but there was a short time in morning and evening when it was too early for most ponied on one shift to be active and too late for the other.
“Hello?” called Max, a little nervously, as he trotted up to the door which hung off its hinges. The building seemed abandoned, there were dusty crates here and there and a few broken pallets leaning against the walls. It looked like nopony had been here for months if not longer. He was about to call his trip a waste of time and head back to the office, when he noticed that the sun shining through the grimy windows was not the only source of light in the room. There seemed to be a faint glow through the floor as well, it made out a roughly square area. A trap door? thought Max.
His heart pumping a little harder Max trotted over to the light and after a bit of effort managed to get his hoof into the gap between the door and the surrounding boards. With a grunt he forced the trap door open resulting in golden light spilling out into the warehouse. A mix of unexpected smells wafted past him, flowers and damp earth, heat was seeping up from the ground. Whatever could be down there? Trying to be as silent as he could Max made cautiously made his way down the revealed staircase and into the space below. It quickly opened out into a short corridor which came to an end with a door, slightly ajar.
Unsure what this place was but still driven by his curiosity Max carefully pushed the door open. He blinked as bright magical light burst forth. The room beyond looked like a garden. Rather than hard stone the floor was covered in a thick layer of dirt, growing all throughout the chamber were plants of all sorts placed in orderly lines and grouped into environments with paths between them, one or two Max recognised but most seemed strange and exotic to him. Regardless of their source they all seemed to be healthy and succulent. He couldn’t stop his mouth watering, it had been a while since dinner now.
In the middle of the room knelt a short red maned earth pony stallion whistling a little off key as he tended to one of the plants. “Duke Greengrass?” asked Max in surprise.
“Ah, you made it, I wondered if you’d gotten lost,” exclaimed the stallion as he stood up smoothly. “Come in! Welcome to my garden,” he gestured around the space, “not many ponies have seen this place.”
“How did you get all of this?” asked Max entering the chamber, he couldn’t tell where the light was coming from, presumably there was some magic involved.
“Oh, here and there, I’m rather a collector,” said Greengrass, “I like to come here now and again, I find it helps me relax. I don’t invite just anypony you know. It’s a sign of just how important this meeting is to me,” continued the duke wiping off his hooves.
As Greengrass approached Max noted that he looked even more dishevelled than he had at the party last night, in fact Max thought he might still be wearing the same clothes. His eyes had deep bags beneath them, had he been up since then? “Are you alright?” asked Max.
“A little tired maybe,” admitted Greengrass wiping the sweat from his face with a cloth before tossing it aside. “Look, Max, I need your help.” He almost tripped over his own words and seemed to be vibrating with nervous energy. His enthusiasm was enough to make Max take an involuntary step back towards the door. “You’re a heroic sort, right? What if I told you that you could help me stop one of Corona’s plans? Help save Equestria.” The Duke stepped forwards a wide smile on his face which didn’t even come near his eyes, they looked nervous, almost downright scared.
“Save Equestria? What are you talking about?” asked Max, this didn’t sound right.
“What if I told you that I’d discovered a Solartic cult in this very city?”
“What? How could you...?” stammered Max.
“Don’t worry about that,” said Greengrass throwing a leg over Max’s shoulders. “But if you help me I’m sure we can share the glory, it could be a quick route to the top for you. Thank of all the good you could do for your province with a bit more power, eh.”
He was hoping to get his road building bill through, it seemed a long hard process, surely something like this could help things? And if there were Solartics in the city he should do something about it right? Still, this didn’t seem right. “Why me? What can I do that a Duke can’t?” asked Max, he couldn’t think that access to the few committee’s he was part of would benefit Greengrass much.
“Well you might have noticed but I’m not that popular pony around this place anymore, after the gala, but you, well everypony likes good old Baron Mounty Max, he’s going places they all say. Plus you’re well connected, Duchess Posey was your mentor I’m sure you could put in a good word with her and everypony knows she has Vicereine Wallflower’s ear.” Greengrass drew his face into an even wider grin.
Max’s ears twitched at the mention of Posey. She’s said that Greengrass had tried to talk to her earlier, as had Buttercup and even Mellow. He must have tried to ask them the same thing and they hadn’t believed him. Now Greengrass had made his way down to him to try the same thing on. It had to be a trick, probably some way plan to humiliate him, like with the grant vote all those months ago. “What is it you want?” he asked his brow furrowing.
“Well you see Max,” said Greengrass patting his hoof on Max’s barrel, “My investigations have led me to believe that the cult might be headed by a member of the court itself.” Max flinched. “Hard to believe, I know, that a member of this august body would sink so low, but I’ve heard that Baroness Dawn Chorus is behind it all.”
Max’s brow furrowed, he’d only seen her a few times but she certainly didn’t seem like a cultist. The baroness was a rather unassuming pegasus from what he recalled, she’d been at court for even less time than him, having only joined at the beginning of this session. He thought she’d replaced somepony who stood down after the princesses’ ultimatum, Goldie somepony hadn’t it been? Why on earth would Greengrass be picking on her? This had to be another one of his games. “If you know this why not take it to the police, or the Shadowbolts even?” asked Max suspiciously.
“Well, I don’t have all that much in the way of evidence yet, plus well as you might imagine it’s hard to know who I can trust. That’s why I asked you to come here to talk,” he flung out a hoof to indicate the area around him. “but I’m sure if you help me out we can get things sorted out. Think of it,” Greengrass held a hoof out to the horizon, “Mounty Max, Hero of Equestria.”
It did sound nice, thought Max, then he shook his head. This just didn’t seem right, that there couldn’t be a cult here in Canterlot, much less one lead by a member of the court itself, it was just too farfetched. “No,” he said.
“What?” exclaimed Greengrass.
“I said no, I won’t help you, this is some sort of trick. Like getting me to vote against Fisher, like when you got me to keep your father out of your way for an afternoon. You probably think by accusing some other poor pony of treason you’ll look like a hero. I don’t think you can manage to do anything honestly!”
Greengrass removed his grip from Max as if he’d just been burnt giving Max a chance to start back towards the door. “No, look I’m telling the truth this time,” he called as Max reached the door. “There really is a cult, and I need to stop them.” Max looked back over his shoulder in time to see the Duke’s gaze drop to the ground. “It’s not just about me, Notary’s in trouble, it’s my fault. I really do need your help! Please believe me!” he begged.
For a moment Max felt himself being swayed by Greengrass’s oratory, he seemed so passionate, but then he shook his head. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you.”
Greengrass opened his mouth but then seemed to slump in defeat. “I guess you’re right,” he mumbled, “nopony will believe me. Sorry for wasting your time.” He turned back towards the lush plants surrounding him. Max felt a pang of regret as he made his way back to the warehouse about, maybe he could have been a bit nicer then, even to Greengrass. The stallion seemed almost broken, but he couldn’t risk being made a fool of again, and he still had a lot of things to do today.