//------------------------------// // 2. The Duke // Story: At the Grand Galloping Gala // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// Canterlot. Built into the side of the Canterhorn Mountain, it was not the largest city in Equestria, but it was one of the oldest, and served as the shining capital of the nation. The mighty Galloping River which traced its source to the melting snow atop the Canterhorn bisected the city, before flowing off the edge of the cliff that Canterlot was built upon, its sparkling blue water plummeting to a lake that lay more than half a mile below – the tallest waterfall in the known world. The city itself was constructed of granite and darkened marble, its roofs capped in blues and greens and purples and silver that held the same glow as the moon, and everywhere the black-and-blue flag of Equestria, depicting a crescent moon and star holding back the treacherous sun, flew proudly. Canterlot was sometimes called the Sleepless City. While the individual ponies who lived there did bed down eventually, of course, the city as a whole always had at least a third to a half of its population awake at any given hour of the day, depending upon the time of the year. The ruler of Equestria, Princess Luna, took care of the sun in the stead of her mad sister, but her true passion was for the beauteous night sky, and so she was nocturnal by choice, sleeping away the morning and a goodly bit of each afternoon, meaning that the government in Canterlot had to also be nocturnal if they ever wished to accomplish anything. It followed then, that other ponies had to be nocturnal: courtiers and lobbyists, newspaper journalists looking for an interview, the ceremonial guards, the librarians, and of course a number of store owners and restaurateurs who wished to feed all the previous ponies. Needless to say, the city was constantly teetering on the edge of running out of coffee. Duke Greengrass was not in the best of moods, and not simply because he had missed his evening coffee. He had been in a good mood, in fact, but the natural low-level paranoia that being a part of the Night Court bred had a way of killing good moods when he saw Princess Luna speaking in to anypony, especially a pony like Fancy Pants, one of Luna’s closest confidants and friends and, Greengrass suspected, her personal spy on the Night Court. His unease would double if he saw Luna talking to Viceroy Night Light, arguably the most powerful pony on the Night Court and certainly a force to be reckoned with. But most of all, Greengrass’ internal alarms were set off when he came around a corner on the way to his meeting, and he saw Luna talking to both of them. The conversation was not quite whispered, simply kept quiet as the Princess trotted through Canterlot Castle’s halls. Luna was unaccompanied by her usually entourage of secretaries, adjutants, and even the Night Guard, leaving Greengrass wondering if she had pulled that split-body trick of hers to get alone time with Fancy and Night while a doppelgänger of her was elsewhere running the country…into the ground, Greengrass’ internal thoughts couldn’t help but append. The trio of ponies stopped in the hallway, said a few last words to each other – Greengrass thought that he heard Luna say something to the effect of “I am disappointed” to Night Light, but he couldn’t be sure. Certainly neither Luna nor Night Light seemed to be particularly pleased with one another nor the direction of the conversation. Fancy Pants, meanwhile, seemed to be his usual jovial self, trying to keep the princess and her viceroy from breaking out into harsher, louder discussion. Fancy Pants liked to play the part of a fool, but nopony could be as vapid as he pretended to be and possibly survive the rigors of the Night Court. Luna and Night Light parted ways before reaching Greengrass as he continued to trot down the hallway, pretending to take only cursory interest in what tidbits he could overhear which was, unfortunately, essentially nothing. Fancy Pants followed Night Light, leaving Luna and Greengrass alone in the hall. The Duke bowed respectfully once Luna was close enough for protocol to demand him to do so – about twenty feet, give or take. “Your Majesty,” he greeted as Luna continued her slow trot. “I hope I’m not intruding, but I don’t suppose I missed something important just now?” One of Luna’s eyebrows arched just slightly – not much of a betrayal of emotion, but Greengrass understood it perfectly as surprise that the Duke would attempt to pry into her personal affairs. He had been as polite as could be expected while doing so, though, so Luna only shook her head. “Nothing of importance, Duke,” she informed him. “Just a disagreement between old friends.” The Duke offered his best consoling smile, falling into step beside Princess Luna once she passed him. “I hope the disagreement is resolved quickly, Majesty.” “And I as well,” Luna said. “I do not wish to go to the Gala and have the general mood of the event ruined.” Luna looked to Greengrass. “In light of…recent events…I feel a sense of normalcy is important to maintain.” Luna was referring, of course, to the escape of her mad elder sister from her millennial imprisonment within the heart of the Sun. Corona wanted the throne of Equestria, wanted to reign supreme over all Ponydom. Six months after her escape, and Corona had not yet been captured, nor even seen by anypony, and what strikes she had made against Equestria were only a fraction of what she – supposedly more powerful than even Luna – was capable of. The last time anypony in Canterlot had seen her, she had been about to destroy the city, and only fortuitous circumstance had saved it. It was a considerable glare in the eye to live with that knowledge. The Duke could perfectly understand Luna’s reasoning. He just didn’t agree with it. Not entirely, in any event. But, he kept such thoughts to himself as he and Luna reached another corner, and Luna found herself face-to-face with a deep blue alicorn, wearing the same black crown and royal regalia – a perfect doppelgänger of Luna, save that this one was flanked by two Night Guards. Neither Luna slowed down as their horns glowed and their eyes closed, then they stepped into each other, their forms and details becoming indistinct blurs. With a soft flash of blue light a moment later, a single Luna manifested, facing Greengrass with eyes closed. Neither Night Guard reacted in the slightest to the display. Greengrass, despite himself, found that he had stepped back a pace. It was one thing to intellectually know that Luna sometimes split her consciousness up amongst several bodies; it was quite another to see it displayed, and so casually at that. When Luna opened her eyes, her face took on a slightly serene look – or perhaps, in fact more likely, a haughty smile. “If you will excuse me, Duke,” Luna said, “this is the closest to free time I am likely to have all week. Was there something important you needed to discuss, or…?” Greengrass shook his head. “No, Majesty. In fact I have some business to attend to. With your leave?” Luna nodded once, and Greengrass turned and left after a final bow of respect. He noted with a degree of interest that it was several moments before Luna’s own hoof-steps began echoing down the hall as well. He wondered if she had been simply collecting herself after…well, literally collecting herself…or if she had lingered while considering Greengrass specifically. Luna could not only split herself amongst multiple bodies, of course – she could change her appearance as well. Not for the first time, the Duke found himself wondering the limits of the Princess’ abilities in that regard. Did she perhaps maintain alter egos within Canterlot? Was there a noble on the Court who was, in fact, Luna in disguise? Or was she hidden in a more innocuous place – as a servant or a guard or some other lowly position? Did she maintain entire false lives beyond Canterlot castle’s walls? Greengrass elected not to pursue that line of thought – madness lay in that direction, or at least a headache. Instead, he focused on his destination, one of the many side-rooms and studies that Canterlot Castle was festooned with, the consequence of a millennia-old castle that was constantly added to and expanded. Many rooms ended up getting lost in the shuffle, not their location, but certainly their purpose. When that happened, they invariably ended up with almost identical appointments: Sitting cushions or couches arranged around a reasonable table, space enough for six or seven ponies in total, with a clock, a glow-gem, and a bookcase filled with whatever excess tomes the Royal Library wanted to move from its shelves but didn’t quite want to donate yet. The rooms made perfect locations for the clandestine meetings that were the bread and wine of the Night Court. The Duke found that he had arrived first, despite his hold-up with the princess, though he had scarcely settled down before he was joined by a white unicorn with a blond mane –Prince Blueblood. ‘Prince’ was his name, not his title, that being viscount; the entire Blueblood family had a tendency to name their foals after noble titles or important positions always, Greengrass had noted, of higher rank than the family actually held, though Prince Blueblood represented a particularly high delusion even for that family. When they had first spoken, Greengrass had taken the effort to make himself seem like a stupid, idealistic pony in the Prince’s eyes, in order to get Blueblood to do what he needed, and the viscount had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. That had changed over the past few months, however, when a scheme of Blueblood’s had failed rather spectacularly (admittedly a related one undertaken by Greengrass had as well, but he had recovered far better) and ended up indebted to the duke, a situation he no doubt found intolerable but which he could do little about. Blueblood acknowledged Greengrass with only a nod. The duke found that to be decidedly unfriendly of him. “Good evening, viscount!” he said brightly. “How are you?” Blueblood almost visibly winced at the Duke's joviality. “Just fine, Greengrass, just fine,” he said, taking a seat near the room’s window. This particular room looked out over the cliff face that Canterlot was set upon, offering a wide view of twilit Equestria, the vast fields and farmlands colored in shades of purple and blue in the sun’s fading light, and here and there the bright lights of a township or other settlement. “If you don’t mind,” Blueblood said after a moment, checking his hoof, “I hope we can make this meeting a short one. I have business to attend to.” You have tailors to torment, Greengrass mentally corrected. Whatever his other faults – arrogance, stupidity, and a healthy additional scoop of arrogance – Blueblood was, at the end of the day, an excellent example of stallion physique, often considered to be one of the handsomest ponies in Equestria. He was aware of this and was planning to go to the upcoming Gala dressed accordingly, which meant that he had hired a virtual army of clothiers and tailors to design his suit. “I don’t plan on it going on for too long,” Greengrass assured Blueblood, as Archduke Fisher joined them. Fisher was a slate gray unicorn, with a mane and tail of brown and bluish-gray, and who sported an impressive, thick moustache. He was slightly taller than Blueblood, which made him nearly a full foot taller than Greengrass himself. He also scowled an awful lot for a pony with his amount of power and influence in the Night Court. Fisher didn’t offer any kind of nod or greeting. Instead, he jumped straight to the point. “Well?” he asked. “You called this meeting, Duke. Begin it already.” Greengrass pursed his lips. “Not quite…” he said, though he did settle down more comfortably onto the cushions he was sitting on. “We’re still waiting for Puissance.” Fisher offered a rare smile, though it was laced with sarcastic intent. “The vicereine is quite busy at the moment attending to personal affairs. She won’t be joining us.” Greengrass blinked. “Ah,” he said after a moment. “She had her estate connected to the telegraph network and is too busy playing with it, then?” Fisher didn’t offer a verbal response other than a slight chuckle, which Blueblood and Greengrass both shared. Vicereine Puissance liked having things, and used her power and position as one of the three viceroys, along with Night Light and Wallflower, to acquire said things. Or to put it more succinctly, she was a greedy old pegasus who nevertheless was enamored by the new and novel and things that weren’t hers, and whenever she acquired something new, tended to become quite lost in it. She, at least, seemed to use her position to enjoy herself, like Greengrass but unlike many on the Night Court, who became too lost in the quagmire of the Game to ever look around and just realize the fun that could be had. If not for the fact that Greengrass was going to have to, one day, remove Puissance from the Night Court, he might have almost considered her a role model. “A telegraph, though?” Blueblood asked. “Who needs a personal telegraph?” “Oh, there are any number of advantages, I suppose.” Fisher mused as he sat down opposite Greengrass. “None of them, however, relevant to the matter at hoof.” Greengrass offered a shrug. There was important business to discuss, he supposed. “By now,” he said, as Blueblood took a cushion of his own, “we’ve all heard of the incident in Ponyville, yes? And the details?” Blueblood and Fisher both nodded. “Allegedly,” Blueblood said, “that zebra minion of Corona’s placed a curse on the town.” “I find it utterly preposterous,” Fisher put in. “Only foolish earth pony – earth pony farmer – superstitions. There is no such thing as a curse, as any unicorn would be able to tell you.” Greengrass elected to not call out Fisher’s hardly-contained slip there concerning earth ponies. He instead only looked to Blueblood, one eyebrow raised. Blueblood was staring at one of his own hooves, horn glowing slightly as he picked out dirt from it. He realized after a moment that Greengrass was staring at him expectantly. “Sorry?” he asked. The Duke, through a heroic exertion of will, resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Curses. Apparently any unicorn could tell me that they’re not real.” Blueblood offered a shrug. “Archduke Fisher’s special talent is magic,” he observed. “Exactly!” Fisher said. Greengrass eyed Blueblood, who had returned to paying more attention to his hoof than the conversation. Whatever – he was an idiot anyway. “It doesn’t matter much what it was,” Greengrass said. “Their claim remains the same, and the damage was extensive, to the tune of nine hundred thousand bits. They are asking the REMM for aid. But Viceroy Night Light has denied them aid.” That got Blueblood’s attention, as he had Fisher looked between one another. “Surely the viceroy doesn’t think he can get away with that?” Fisher asked. “If it really was an attack…” “If it really was,” Blueblood noted. “That is a rather large if. I am given to understand that Corona’s zebra crony escaped…and without her, the town has no proof. The curse – ” “Curses aren’t real,” Fisher interrupted. “The alleged curse,” Blueblood corrected, “supposedly caused the town to drink to the point of loss of control, but did not allow them to actually drink themselves comatose. For three days. I can scarcely imagine the damage…but the point is, there is no proof that this was an attack. It may very well be – from Night Light’s perspective – an attempt by a small town to not have to pay for their own damages from a festival that got out of control.” “That may be,” Fisher noted, “but if Ponyville really is nearly destroyed, surely it is Night Light’s responsibility to render some form of aid.” “Ah, but you forget,” Greengrass said, leaning forward, “that Ponyville is the home of Lulamoon – and that a few months ago, Night Light’s daughter had an…episode…there. Her whereabouts are still unknown, and Night Light, I believe, holds Lulamoon responsible.” Blueblood and Greengrass both considered this. Trixie Lulamoon. Student of Princess Luna. Element of Magic. Representative of the Night Court to Ponyville. And a vain, egotistical, abrasive, and above all else stupid pony who had somehow managed to gain the ear of the Princess herself as well as becoming the living embodiment of one of the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magic known to ponydom and the only weapon known to be of any use against the still-at-large Tyrant Sun. So far, Trixie hadn’t yet tried to leverage what she had to her own benefit. But what if she did? Suppose Corona appeared in a province and attacked. Would Lulamoon not intercede unless offered something in return? If the province of a noble she did not like was attacked, would she ignore it? The Elements could not, in all likelihood, be removed from their bearers, the six mares that now lived in Ponyville. But as long as Lulamoon was their leader, Equestria was not safe from the depredations of Corona. The Elements needed to be curbed, controlled, contained, placed under the hoof of a pony who wouldn’t abuse their power for personal gain as Lulamoon would. And for the past six months, Greengrass had been working towards the goal of being that pony. His nominal alliance with Blueblood, Fisher, and the absent Puissance, were all geared towards moving closer to that goal. Theoretically they were going to share control, but Greengrass doubted if any of them – except Blueblood – was stupid enough to think that would be the case. Still, before they could squabble over that matter, they had to gain control of the Elements first. “So this is a revenge play by Night Light,” Fisher said at length. “Or…perhaps his own attempt to gain control of the Elements.” Blueblood blanched, apparently not having considered that. “Oh dear,” he noted. “Indeed,” Greengrass said. He couldn’t quite fault Blueblood for that slip – Night Light did not normally play the shadowy games of the Night Court like this, in fact was famous for being an upstanding example of nobility. Apparently exceptions were made where his own family was concerned, however. “Now, I am given to understand that later today – “ a glance at the clock in the room confirmed that it was, indeed, a matter of later today rather than tomorrow – “Lulamoon will be coming to Canterlot in order to make a personal appeal on the part of Ponyville to Night Light. If Night Light is going to make any move towards controlling the Elements, it will be then. Therefore, we must work to keep Lulamoon from Night Light. I also believe that we can use the incident in Ponyville towards our advantage. Nine hundred thousand bits is no small amount of money, but split between the three of us – ” “Four, with Puissance,” Blueblood noted. Fisher and Greengrass both stared at him, waiting for him to catch up and realize that they were going to cut Puissance loose from their arrangement. “Ah,” he said after a moment. “Of course. Three ways, then.” Greengrass’ eyes fluttered, and he had to shake his head to clear it from that latest bout of ineptitude from Blueblood. “Split between us,” Greengrass said, “I believe we can cover the cost of repairing Ponyville easily enough. Lulamoon will accept and return to her town as a hero, of course, her nature won’t allow her to do otherwise. And she will be firmly in our debt. As I understand things, the Elements are a set, where one goes, the other must follow – and Lulamoon is their leader.” “A tidy scheme,” Fisher noted. “Keeping Lulamoon from Night Light may not be so easy, however.” Greengrass offered a grin at that. “Oh,” he said, “I think we’ll manage.”