//------------------------------// // 2) Betrayal // Story: Climbing the Mountain 2 // by Talon and Thorn //------------------------------// Wiping a final tear from her eye, Fragrant Posey carefully closed and locked the cloud-forged gate to her family cemetery. She always found visiting her parents’ memorial soothing, but others brought back extremely painful memories in her. She paused for a moment to gather herself before walking into the lush greenery of her estate. Plants were normally rare in a cloud-city such as Cloudsdale, but Fragrant’s special talent was hydroponics; the science of growing plants on a water medium, such as clouds. Although she didn’t have as much time as she wanted to personally experiment, she funded and oversaw several teams who developed new breeds of plant suitable for the cities unique environments. The results covered much of the area around the Posey estate, and were quite a profitable side-line for her brother’s company.   Fragrant paused and sniffed a nearby bloom. Her nose was enticed by a subtle lemon like scent, wonderful, just as she’d hoped. It was good to spend a few days relaxing at her ancestral home now that the court was closed for the summer. It gave her time to catch up on the happenings of Cloudsdale and to work on a few personal projects, such as this plant. Of course, the timing of her holiday was not entirely coincidental; she had made sure it coincided with her yearly estrus.   From discussions with her friends, she understood that her yearly cycle was normally mild compared to many other mares’, rarely lasting more than four days with her only symptoms being particularly vivid dreams and a slightly raised libido which was easy enough to deal with by herself. Not for her the desperate urge to jump random strangers in the street that Fleur had once reported. She was sure the mare had been exaggerating, although her lover Fancy Pants had seemed both happy and exhausted to the point of collapse by the end of her heat.     This year, however, had been worse than normal. Maybe her body realised that she now had somepony who could help quench her hormones and was acting accordingly. Alternatively, she’d heard that a mare’s last few heats were particularly fierce, as her body tried for one last time to persuade her to bear a foal before the chance was lost forever. Fragrant didn’t think that was the reason – she was rather young for the menopause – but still, it was not beyond possibility. She hoped that wasn’t the case. If you had asked her a few months ago, she would have said she had no intention of having a foal, but now, well, maybe there was the slightest glimmer of desire there.   Unfortunately, the cause of her change of opinion was hundreds of miles away from her at the moment. Mounty Max, her paramour, was spending the summer in his own province of Nulpar in the far north of Equestria. Although Cloudsdale was currently heading in that approximate direction to spend the rest of the summer in cooler climes, it would not be passing closer than two hundred miles of him. She had measured. During her most hormonal moments she had been gripped with the urge to visit him, and had had to fight against herself not to demand the cities pilots make all speed towards her beloved. She was glad she had restrained herself; moving a whole city off course just to make a ‘booty call’, as her nephew would no doubt call it, would be rather embarrassing.   However, even though she kept control of her conscious mind, her unconscious continued to fixate on the grey earth pony. In a particularly vivid dream at the height of her heat, she had pictured herself as a female version of the pegasus hero, Commander Hurricane, and Max as the leader of a small earth pony settlement which had resisted one of her raiding parties. When she and the rest of her forces had arrived to deal with the upstarts, Max had challenged her to single combat to save the lives of his ponies. She could no longer remember the exact details of the battle, but her fevered mind had conjured up visions of Max’s muscled form repeatedly slamming against her own and the two of them rolling around in the dust in a mass of limbs. The fight had finally come to a close when she pinned him to the ground between her legs; he had struggled but had finally spent the last of his strength and had lay there beneath her, looking so vulnerable. Unable to resist his charms, she had ordered his village spared and taken him captive to join her harem. Unfortunately, it had been at that point that her maids had decided to awaken her. Still half in the dream, she had demanded they have Max washed and brought to her bedchambers so she could further enjoy the spoils of her victory. When she had finally fully woken up, she and her staff had shared several very awkward moments before she finally gathered her wits together enough to dismiss them.   She had no doubt the story was all over the estate by now. So much for keeping her relationship with Max quiet. Still, she trusted her staff to keep her secrets, or she used to think she did. She had not too long ago found a spy amongst her personal staff: a maid who had been passing on her itinerary to the press. She had been furious and had sacked the traitor on the spot. She truly hoped there were no others like her.   She shook herself from her thoughts. Recalling her dreams had brought a flush to her cheeks and a certain tingle rather further back along her body. Maybe her hormones hadn’t entirely burnt themselves out yet. Should she take another day off before returning to her duties? No, she had spent too much time putting aside her work already, work that would now be piling up and requiring her attention. Sighing, she took one last look at the garden before returning to her personal office. As expected, piles of uncompleted paperwork has started to build up. The estate’s seneschal, Skyla Dash, and her current personal assistant, Saltpeter Principle, had tried their best to deal with the situation, but neither of them had Notebook’s instinct for that sort of thing. Her normal assistant was spending the summer in Canterlot, acting as Max’s proxy. Max didn’t have anypony else to rely on while he was away, so she had offered Notebook; he had filled in for her in the past so he knew the ropes, and with her niece, Forming, acting as her proxy this year, he wasn’t needed in her service.   Sighing again, Fragrant carefully sat on the cloud seat positioned in front of her desk and considered where to start. Glancing around, she noticed an envelope embossed with a large seal. Lifting it from the pile of other correspondence, she examined it. It was the mark of her friend, and mentor, Vicereine Wallflower. Fragrant hadn’t been informed of any correspondence arriving from her – it must have fallen through the cracks. Picking up a letter opener with her mouth, she carefully prised the missive open before unfolding the contents, and began to read the message in Wallflowers blocky mouthwriting.   Dear Fragrant           My apologies for not passing this message to you in person. It is pure cowardice on my part, I’m afraid. I have wrestled with my conscience long and hard to decide whether to send this note to you but I believe that you deserve to know the truth. As part of our agreement with the Princess we said that we would disclose the identities of all the informers we held within other courtiers staff, and as you know in my case that was a large number. However, I did not disclose everypony. I did not inform you of the agent I placed among your people. Please, I ask you not to think too harshly of my agent, although employed by myself I believe his loyalty to you was true. If you need to blame anypony, blame me and my lack of trust. However, it is only right that I inform you that my agent is none other than...   The letter gently fluttered to the ground, falling from Fragrant’s nerveless hoof. She stood silently for a moment, her mind running round and round over the information she had just received. It didn’t make any sense. How could he? After so many years? How? Why? She felt numb. It was just too much. There had to be some explanation, some reason. Why would Wallflower do this to her? She had always been her ally, her friend even, she’s introduced her to her wife! The cold numbness started to clear to be replaced by a burning heat. With a snarl, Fragrant slammed a hoof into the antique writing desk, leaving a large dent. Wings spread wide, she stormed from the room.   Less than half an hour later, Fragrant’s personal air chariot made an unscheduled departure from her estate, heading east at its maximum speed and making a beeline towards Canterlot.     “How could you!” growled Fragrant, advancing on the traitor. “After all I’ve done for you!”   Notebook sat impassively across a desk from the angry mare. “I am sorry...” he said calmly.   “Sorry! Sorry!” she cried. “I trusted you, I made you my personal assistant, I thought we were...” She tried to bring herself back under control, to still her wildly flapping wings and thrashing tail. “And all this time you were employed by Wallflower to report on my activities, to spy on me! Why did you do it? For money? Did she promise you more power? What did she offer you?”   “Nothing.”   Fragrant gawped. “Nothing?” she cried in astonishment. “You just betrayed me for free!”   “It was my duty as a member of the Royal Diplomatic Corps, as ordered by my superior Vicereine Wallflower.”   Fragrant was once again taken aback. “You literally are a spy!” she gasped.   For the first time Notebook showed some emotion, smiling slightly. “A failed spy, I’m afraid.”   “Then everything you’ve told me about your past is a lie? You didn’t train as an actor before joining the weather service?” She was intrigued despite herself.   “Actually, that was true. I was an actor, not that successful of one, but enough to catch the attention of the RDC recruiters. You might be surprised how much in common actors and spies have. They trained me for field work, and that included a good amount of bureaucracy – again, you might be surprised how much spies and personal assistants have in common. However, I didn’t quite make the grade. I probably would have been given a role somewhere in the more administrative sections of the RDC, but Wallflower herself contacted me with a mission. She said she would place me within your ministry, and I was to work my way into your inner circle and report back to her of any wrongdoings.”   “And so you told Wallflower about everything I did, spilled all my secrets to her, invaded my privacy, pretended to be my friend!” She tried to hold back her tears of anger and sadness.   “I told her nothing,” said Notebook, standing from his chair and holding out a hoofkerchief.   Fragrant frowned. “But you said...”   “I was instructed to report back any evidence of wrongdoings on your part, and there were none. I could find nothing wrong. I did not pretend to be your friend... I am your friend. Or I was.” His mask broke, and a look of sadness settled on his face as he looked down towards the ground. Fragrant reached out and took the scrap of cloth, slowly dabbing her eyes. “I’ve always meant to tell you, but it’s not easy. I know how much you value privacy and how much this hurts you. I’ve been dreading this day all the more since Wallflower told me she was telling you of my role. I haven't been sleeping well. I was expecting you a fortnight ago – I guess your time of the year got in the way of you opening your mail?”   Fragrant nodded. He knew her so well, and that was the problem. If he had just been any other member of her staff, she might have been able to forgive him, but he had been her personal assistant for almost ten years now. The betrayal was just too close to her. She’d trusted him to look after Fluttering and Forming during their times at court – she’d trusted him with her family!   “I really am sorry for how you had to find out, for all of this, but I’ve never wanted to hurt you,” continued Notebook. “Please, can you forgive me?” he pleaded, looking her in the eyes.   She looked at the contrite pony in front of her and thought of all the times they had spent together; the support he’d provided her with, both personal and professional; the time she’d comforted him after he’d found his stallionfriend cheating on him, unless that had been a lie too. Had it really all been based on lies? How much was real? She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I can’t. You’re fired.” She tried to keep her voice level.   A look of shock passed over his face and he almost staggered back, resting a hoof on the desk to stop himself from falling. “You can’t do this!” he gasped.   “I am sorry. I cannot trust you any more, not after this. I will pay you full severance and provide good references, but you can’t work for me anymore.” Her face was blank.   “No, I mean you can’t. I don’t work for you at the moment. I had to technically resign to take up a role as Max’s proxy for the summer.”   Fragrant frowned. That had not occurred to her. “Very well. I will contact Baron Max about this and he will decide what to do with you, but you will not be welcome in my employ.”   Notebook nodded and slumped against the desk. “I truly am sorry that things ended this way. If things could have worked out differently...” He stopped. “I’m sorry. I did enjoy our time together. You were my favourite boss, and one of my best friends.”   “I wish things had been different as well, but I cannot forgive this. I hope you do well with whatever you choose to do with your life.” She turned and stiffly walked from the office.   Once outside, Fragrant glanced around to make sure nopony was watching before leaning wearily against the wall. Why did this have to happen? Why now? Things had been going so well, Fluttering was feeling better, the court was being reformed, she had Max. And now, treachery so close to her, from someone she trusted implicitly. Could she truly trust nopony? Would Max do the same someday? No! She couldn’t let herself think that way, couldn’t lose all hope. This wasn’t even really Notebook’s fault. There was further betrayal here. He had been put up to it by Wallflower, the next pony she had to speak with.     Fragrant’s temper had cooled by the time she finally made her way through the bureaucratic hurdles to get an appointment with the vicereine. Despite her close friendship with Wallflower, it still took several hours for her request for a meeting to make its way to the earth pony. However, the invitation was immediately accepted, as if Wallflower had expected her, and the two of them met in Wallflower’s study. The large wood-panelled room was heated by a roaring fire despite it being summer, and portraits of Wallflowers ancestors, stuffed fish, and several crossbows hung from the walls. Fragrant had refused the drink a servant had offered her, but Wallflower had a large tumbler of some golden liquid by her chair. The earth pony’s huge double-headed dog sat quietly at its mistress’s hooves, apparently sensing the tense atmosphere between her and Fragrant.   “Why?” asked Fragrant as soon as she was seated facing the older mare. “Why were you spying on me?”   “Because I am a vicereine,” intoned Wallflower. “I am maybe the second most powerful pony in Equestria, the world even, and I don’t hold that power without making sure I know everything my enemies are doing.”   “Enemies!” exclaimed Fragrant. “I thought we were friends, you trained me, you were my mentor, I introduced you to your wife!”   Wallflower sighed. “We are friends m’dear, but we might not always be. You are a powerful pony. The weather ministry could be quite a weapon if you ever used it as such. I have to make sure you don’t misuse that power.”   “Like you have?” said Fragrant pointedly. “When have I ever done anything wrong?”   “You paid a bribe, according to the Princess.” Fragrant flinched. “Look, it’s nothing personal. I have tried to place agents in many nobles’ staff, although most of them weren’t as close as Notebook was to you.”   “You really thought I’d abuse my power? Why would you ever think that?”   “You’ve not always been all that stable. Remember how you were after Greenhorn left you because of...”   “You have no right to bring that up!” screamed Fragrant suddenly. Her eyes flashed and her wings spread wide.   Wallflower’s face paled at Fragrant’s reaction. “You… you’re right,” she stuttered. “I’m sorry, that was a low blow on my part, but you have to admit we’ve all had bad times in our lives, and some of us have the power to ruin the lives of a great number of ponies. Look what Night Light did. Although I’ve heard his daughter’s come out of hiding, given herself up, so maybe we can put that nasty business behind us now.”   Fragrant rested her hooves in her lap for a moment. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to stop herself from shaking. “Why... why have you told me? I would have been happier in ignorance.”   “You’re a smart mare, m’dear. I think you would have found out sooner or later. Maybe Notebook would have told you himself. Maybe this way is better.”   “Ten years, ten years he’s been my assistant and another five in my employ. Was this really the best time to tell me?”   “I told you because, as you yourself have pointed out, the court needs to change or Luna will disband us all. I did what I felt I had to do at the time, but it wasn’t the right thing.” She shook her head. “I’ve hurt you and many other ponies and it needs to stop. And I’m sorry for what I’ve done, I truly am, m’dear.” Wallflower sighed and took a sip of her drink. She seemed older than she had a few minutes ago, more withdrawn.     “I suppose I should thank you for that, at least,” sighed Fragrant. “But you know how I value my privacy. I don’t think you could have found a better way to hurt me.”   “I think Luna has plans for you, I do too, but you’ve always been, well, fragile. See what happened after the gala. We were all hurt, but you seemed to take it worse. If you’re going to play with the big fillies, you’re going to need to be able to deal with this sort of thing. To not take things so personally. This is the way things work. I have my bright young things in the diplomatic service, Night Light and Puissance have their own agents, Fisher has his military intelligence assets. Notebook wasn’t the only mole in your staff, was he?”   Fragrant shook her head. Many other nobles had revealed their agents in her ministry, and she doubted all of them had been revealed. Still, she’d hoped Wallflower was better than that. “And isn’t that just the sort of thinking we’re trying to stamp out with the courts reforms? We shouldn’t sink to the level of the bad seeds. We need to be better than they are.”   Wallflower was silent for a moment, tapping a hoof on her muzzle. “That might be why Luna has plans for you,” she muttered. “You’re right, which is why I told you, but you’re a fool if you think the new regulatory body by itself will fix everything or that it won’t have to use the same methods as I have.” She leaned forwards. “Do you think we can still work together after this? Can you be professional?”   Fragrant scowled. “I do not think you have been all that professional. But yes, I can continue to work with you, although I do not know if we can continue to be friends. Not now. Maybe later.”   Wallflower sunk back into her chair. “Fair enough. Maybe I can regain your trust.”   “May I go?” asked Fragrant, getting up from her chair.   “Of course.”   Fragrant paused at the door. “Did Holly know what you did?” Fragrant had long been friends with Wallflower’s wife; the two of them had been roommates at university. Wallflower’s betrayal had been a surprise, but for Holly Bush to know... she couldn’t believe that.   Wallflower sighed. “No, she did not. I told her the same time I sent you the letter.”   “And?”   “And I spent several nights sleeping with Liebe, Toleranz and the rest of my babies in one of the spare bedrooms. But she’s come around now. She knows that what I did was for the best.”   “And was it? For the best?”   “I think so,” mumbled Wallflower. Then she looked up. “Don’t blame him.”   “Who?”   “Notebook. He was only acting on my orders and he never reported any wrongdoings to me. Never reported at all really, just said nothing was wrong.”   Fragrant nodded. “I know, he told me. I didn’t entirely believe him, though.”   “What are you going to do with him?” asked Wallflower.   “I fired him,” said Fragrant sharply.   “I think you should reconsider,” said Wallflower. “I think he’s more loyal to you than me.”   “That might be true, but I can’t forget what he did.”   “It is your decision, but I would be happier if you were angry with me rather than him.”   “I am angry with both of you,” said Fragrant coldly as she left the room. “I don’t think either of you could have thought of a way to hurt me more if you’d tried.”     Fragrant struggled not to slump against the wall as she left Wallflower’s rooms. How had things managed to turn around so quickly? Only yesterday she had been happy, looking forwards to a new tomorrow for the court, a better tomorrow. Now, one of her friends had been spying on her on behalf of another. She could just about understand why Wallflower had done it, she knew how other courtiers could be, why – say Blueblood or Fisher – needed to be kept under a watchful gaze, but did she really deserve the same? Or was she being hypocritical by thinking that? Why did things have to be so complicated? So murky?   What should she do about Notebook? Could she ever trust him again? Was it even really his fault? She couldn’t just forgive him. Maybe he didn’t pass on any secrets to Wallflower, but he could have at any point. He had lied to her.   She sighed again and started to trudge back towards her estate here in Canterlot where her sky chariot awaited for the trip back to Cloudsdale. She didn’t think she could stay in the capital at the moment, not after what she had just found out. She needed somepony to talk to, somepony who she could trust. She didn’t want to burden Forming with the news, not as she was acting as proxy for the first time. Her brother, maybe? She could trust Thunderous, but sometimes she thought he could be to controlling; she was still trying to find out exactly what he had told Cloudia’s daughter to get her to agree to look after Fluttering. It was likely that he would agree with Wallflower. She needed someone not ground down by life at court. She needed Max!   Nulpar was some way off, but not that far. She could be there in a few days. But what of her duties? Cloudsdale needed her, there was so much to do, and she had ministry duties as well. Maybe, maybe she could hold on for a while, finish off her work in Cloudsdale… and then, well, as a new province Nulpar should probably have its weather situation reviewed. A full team would be needed, and it wouldn’t be out of the question to visit herself, even if only for a few days.   A week, maybe two, and she could see Max again, be in his arms again. Well, maybe that was going a little far, but at least she could talk to him and then maybe, just maybe the world would make sense again. She hoped.