//------------------------------// // The Highest Stakes // Story: The Duke Abides // by GrassAndClouds2 //------------------------------// Duke Greengrass was not a superstitious pony. He walked under ladders with ease, laughed at the black cats which trotted across his path, and had never once thrown a horseshoe over his shoulder for good luck. (He’d thrown a few when fleeing some enemy, but that was a different matter). Greengrass prided himself on being rational, reasonable, and not held hostage to ancient tales. Nevertheless, he still found it a profoundly disconcerting experience to be out in the garden at high noon. There were a few guards stationed outside, of course, but even they tended to be in buildings, nooks in the walls, or at least under shade. Greengrass avoided them as best he could, taking a meandering route to the particular spot in the Western Gardens where he was to meet the leader of the CCPS. The Mirror Square was pretty much what its name sounded like – a garden plot of roses, even on each side, and surrounded by mirrors. At night, Greengrass knew, the moonlight would bounce from mirror to mirror and create a dreamy, almost ethereal effect. Walking through the field during a full moon was like floating in a moonbeam, or so the Canterlot Castle Garden Newsletter said. It was one of the more notable and beautiful features of the garden. At night. At day, Greengrass found that he couldn’t look directly at it. The sun was blazing overhead and blasting light from mirror to mirror, reflecting until it looked like the roses had their own little sun overhead. Greengrass had considered numerous risks when embarking on this venture, but he hadn’t realized that blindness was one of them. Squinting, Greengrass made his way around the square to a bench. On that bench, he found a cloaked figure. The leader of the CCPS. “Belly. Glad you could make it.” Greengrass saw the leader, more or less. He was clothed in some kind of spell that blurred his features and body. That meant he was probably a unicorn, and Greengrass was able to determine that he had a fairly athletic frame and a reddish-white coat. More than that, though, was beyond him. (As for disguises, Greengrass had just opted for dyes for his coat and mane, and the cutie mark that Belly was supposed to have, a plate with a big carrot on it). “Glad to see you.” Greengrass sat. “Let’s talk.” “Alright.” The leader nodded. “But… one warning, Belly. You can back out now. Once I tell you what’s really going on, I won’t be able to let you quit so easily. Okay?” Ah, so after ths, he would be ‘committed.’ Greengrass smiled to himself; that could only mean that he’d be getting some useful information. All he really needed was the leader’s true name, and that of his backer, and then he could arrange to have their next plot exposed by the guards and bring down the group. “Tell me.” “I’m serious. I’m about to tell you everything – what I want and why I want it. If you try to quit or tell the guards, after this – I will destroy you. In a very literal sense. And trust me, I might not look it, but I’m a great fighter.” “Understood.” “Alright, then. I guess it began six months ago, when I was a simple businesspony.” The leader looked into the mirrors; Greengrass noticed that the blinding glare didn’t seem to trouble him much. “I ran a small farming organization – I did the business, had about forty earth ponies doing the actual farming. Nothing extraordinary, but we did alright. We sold tropical fruits – mangoes, coconuts, papayas, that kind of thing. And we were doing well too. We’d actually just landed a big contract with some catering companies that would have taken us to the next level.” “But that wasn’t in the Court’s plans.” The pony hissed. “It started off small. One of our farmlands was hit with locusts. Okay, that affected a bunch of farms in the region. Maybe it was just coincidence. Another got mold. Two of our major clients canceled, saying they wanted apples instead – apparently they’re cheaper, and Horsefeathers to anypony who points out that they don’t taste half as good or have half the nutritional value!” Greengrass nodded. “How did the Court get involved?” “Isn’t it obvious? We suffered setback after setback. The weather schedule suddenly had three straight weeks of sun, which dried out our crops. When we got rain, it was practically a monsoon, drowning what was left. A tax inspector came by and said we were delinquent.” The pony shook his head. “There was no other explanation.” For a run of bad luck? Greengrass didn’t hear anything that sounded out of the ordinary, or even as a result of plotting. Weather mismanagement happened, as did bug infestations. The most the Court could be blamed for was not helping the farm out. “The Court was behind it. They hated us, and I knew why. They didn’t want a small upstart competing against their favorite groups, the Apple Trust, Hay & Alfalfa Inc., the Tuber Union… the big companies that donate buckets of bits to Courtier scum. That’s why they caused all those problems. That’s why, when we sent in petitions demanding aid, they were refused.” “So you want to take on the Court because of that.” Greengrass nodded. “Makes sense. They—“ “No. After all that, I just wanted to get drunk. But I found a new purpose.” It was hard to tell through the illusion, but the pony seemed to smile. “You know what I realized? This kind of thing was inevitable. I mean, the Court runs in the dark, right? Where all the sneaky, wicked dealings going on. What hope did I, a farmer, have against them? I mean, you can only grow things in the light.” Greengrass suddenly had a very bad feeling about where this was going. “And then I ran into this… not a pony, something else… zebra, I think she was. She made it all so clear. The Court is corrupt, and Luna – their leader – is even worse. She condones their playing with our lives. She doesn’t care for us; she wouldn’t mind if ten thousand of us vanished tomorrow. But who else is there? Celestia? Surely she's even worse… according to Luna’s history books and teachers.” The pony took out a small necklace. Greengrass recognized it as a blazing sun – Corona’s crest. Greengrass was beginning to feel nauseous. Oh no. “Once I realized that, once I realized that the Court was hopelessly corrupt and the only thing to do was tear it all down and have a true leader come in to fix things… well, then it was simple.” The pony laughed. “So yes, I want to go bigger .I want to rip down the walls of Canterlot Castle, scattered the guards, and summon Princess Celestia Solaris to separate the good from the bad, banish the depraved Courtiers to the sun, and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for the common pony. I want Luna and her minions in chains before her, receiving the judgement they deserve. I want revolution.” He sighed in contentment. “I admit that we started small. Pipes and stolen books won’t kill a Court, but they’ll make it just that little bit harder to run. Weaken the Court and make it just that bit more likely for Celestia to succeed when she returns – and she will return. But with you, I think we can do something big.” “Did you see her when she returned?” The Duke could not avoid asking. “No. Had a big party on Longest Night, crashed right before she showed up. Wish I had, though. I mean, I’m sure I’d have been terrified, but to have seen her glory…” Greengrass felt that he had a pretty good idea of why this stallion couldn’t run a farm, and it had nothing to do with the Court. He was crazy, stupid, or both. “Uh. These big plans. Any particular ideas?” “Not yet. Obviously, I’ve no desire to get arrested and sent to Luna’s prisons. But something… grand. You can help me think of it.” The pony grinned. “You’re with me, right?” Greengrass heard a slight buzzing. It sounded like a spell being charged up. He had a feeling that a ‘no’ answer here would result in him being blasted halfway to Ponyville. “Of course.” ### It was three in the afternoon, but Greengrass couldn’t sleep. Bad enough to be helping some kind of sabotage-focused protest group, but a Corona-worshipper? Forget breaking pipes, the kind of schemes the stallion had proposed involving property damage on a vast scale, injuries, deaths. Greengrass had probably already committed high treason just by talking to him. “Okay, hold it together. I can beat this.” Greengrass knelt and checked to make sure that the rose was planted correctly. At least his secret garden was still secure, even if his position was not. “I have ninety percent of what I need.” The leader, apparently having decided that there was little point in keeping the groups’ members secret from Greengrass any longer, had told him the names of the other group members, in case he wanted to coordinate with them on his own. “All I need is his name, and I’m sure if I research farm failures in the last few months in that province, I can find it, and the name of the backer.” Even the leader didn’t know who the backer was; after arriving in Canterlot, he’d found letters in his residence. The letters had been instructions on retrieving money and setting up the CCPS, apparently, the zebra had promised that something like this would be available, and so he hadn’t questioned them. But Greengrass guessed that, even if just by watching that pony’s house to see who delivered the letters, he could trace them back to the backer. “Get the names, expose them at their next stunt, and then it’s even better. I didn’t just bring down a bunch of saboteurs, but a full-fledged traitor. I’ll get my seat back for sure!” Assuming the stallion didn’t figure out what he was doing and kill him, and that the Shadowbolts didn’t move in first and arrest them all, and that the group didn’t do something so damaging that Greengrass would have to go into hiding regardless. Assuming all that, he’d be in the clear. Greengrass considered, for one moment, throwing in the towel and just going to the guards with what he already knew. He wouldn’t get his seat back (or anything, really), but he’d get out in one piece. Notary would be recommending that, he knew, if she were here. She would be strongly recommending that. But she wasn’t there, was she? Besides, Greengrass hated to quit, and he wanted his seat on the Court back so badly that he could almost taste it. The group’s leader hadn’t done anything big yet and hadn’t sounded like he’d had concrete plans that would take less than a few weeks to implement – and many of those plans were flat out impossible (no, they couldn’t smuggle Celestia into the castle without anypony knowing. Even if they were able to talk to her without being incinerated, Greengrass highly doubted that Celestia would want to be put in a box and transported by courier into the Court.). He would stay the course. Yes, this was a lot harder than he’d aniticpated, and a lot more dangerous too, but so long as nothing else went wrong, as long as there were no more surprises, he could handle it. He was good at the Game; he could play it and win. “Besides… what else could go wrong?” Greengrass moved on to the next rose. Just a little longer, he told himself. Just a little longer and he’d be back in the Game. ### The CCPS meeting that night was in the observatory again. The meeting began late. The leader arrived ten minutes behind schedule, sweating like he’d just been in a brawl with somepony. Nonetheless, he opened with a triumphant proclamation that the Court was in chaos over the book theft. (Greengrass hadn’t noticed any such thing, but then again he’d had his mind on other problems as of late). He announced that their next plans would be even bigger, and perhaps a bit more dangerous, so they should all get ready. And then he said, “By the way, some of you have recommended to me a new member. She was instrumental in several independent acts of sabotage, and I’m sure she’ll be a helpful addition to the team.” He waved a hoof at the door, and Notary stepped in. 
Greengrass stared. She was wearing a cloak, yes, and she’d taken some pains to disguise her gait, but he knew his former assistant. That was Notary. She took one glance at him and almost stumbled over her hooves. No. No, no, no… Greengrass thought. “Now, if we can move on to other ideas…” If I destroy the group now, she might go down with it. She’d go to jail with them… “I think we can agree that the gardens are perhaps uniquely vulnerable. If we let the birds loose, for example…” Notary’s not a lunatic, she wouldn’t have joined this group because she agrees with their methods, she’s being used here by whoever her new master is, but I don’t know who that is because I’ve been focusing on this… “Furthermore, the birds and the gardens are a personal pride of Luna’s; she shows them off to foreign dignitaries, and by damaging them we prevent her from being able to conduct her business…” Now I have to destroy these idiots and the leader, and somehow save Notary too… but I don’t know how, even I can’t win a Game in a crippled position… “…Alright, I think we’re done. Let’s meet again, here, tomorrow!” Greengrass realized that he’d missed almost the entire meeting. And he thought, I don’t think I can handle this. There was too much. Not only did he have to watch out for the guards, for the idiots in the group, for a crazy Celestia lover, but now suddenly there was Notary, another player with another angle that he didn’t understand. He still didn’t know the leader’s identity, or the backer’s, and the guards could swoop in at any moment, and… And I think maybe I should have gone home. But I can’t even retreat now; that lunatic leader might come after me… “Wait.” The leader approached Greengrass as he turned to join the others in leaving. “Could you hang around for a few minutes? I want you to see something. The reason why I was a bit late.” Greengrass shot a frantic look at where Notary had been standing, but the assistant had already left. What now? Not knowing what else to do, he followed the leader into a hallway. “What?” “Look!” The leader opened a door that led to a small storage room and hurried in. Greengrass followed to find the leader standing over the tied up and gagged form of a pony in a waiter’s outfit. She had minor injuries – she’d been fighting, and recently. Another pony, dressed as a janitor, was unconscious behind her. “What – what is this?” managed the Duke. “Told you I could fight.” The leader laughed. “Got a message from our backer today. The Shadowbolts were on to us, they sent spies.” Greengrass could only stare. …Could this night just please end? “These are Shadowbolts. That you say you attacked,” managed Greengrass. “How can you tell?” Great. If the Shadowbolts know about this… okay, calm, they don’t necessarily know my real identity, that’s not the end of the world, but if they’re getting ready to bust the team… “Yeah. Look, they hide it well, but they have official insignia on them – you know, in case they have to make an arrest.” The leader searched the saddlebags of the bound captive and quickly took out a small disk with the Shadowbolt’s Crest on it. “See?” “You beat her?” “I’ve got good magic,” said the leader. “I didn’t know that mango farmers had that kind of power.” “Celestia Herself has blessed me.” The pony smiled and gestured at his necklace. “I received this from the backer just after entering town. It amplifies my power tenfold!” Wonderful. So this guy had artifacts as well. Greengrass forced himself to remain focused and speak, rather than collapse into a gibbering mess. “…I hate to ask this, but what now?” “I was reading some old books. There’s a magic purification spell that removes the corrupted aspects of a pony and leaves them pure and whole. Celestia Herself invented it. By using it on the spies, they can become pure again, able to serve the true ruler of the country!” Greengrass would have bet everything he owned that using some kind of ancient sun-spawned magic would be more likely to either kill her or render her into an obedient zombie than actually make her not-evil, or whatever it was supposed to do. “Uh. That sounds dangerous.” “Who cares? They serve the Usurper Luna.” The leader frowned. “You’re not getting cold hooves, I hope.” Greengrass debated bucking the leader and running like mad. Maybe if he got home and hid well enough the group would collapse, the leader would take all the blame, and nopony would think to look for Hugh Belly, or find him if they did search. This situation was now completely beyond him; nopony would seriously expect him to solve this kind of thing on his own, and it wasn’t like the guards would believe him if he told them that a selection of servants in the castle had joined up with a sun-worshipper, captured Shadowbolts, and were planning to free all of Luna’s birds. He could do it. He could excuse himself, leave, and go home to his fiefdom. Let the lunatics and guards fight it out. Maybe he would be able to return later to pick up the pieces. But he didn’t. Greengrass himself wasn’t entirely sure why. Some of it was that, for all his sins, he wasn’t a sociopath, and didn’t actually want (relatively) innocent Shadowbolts (or ponies mistaken for Shadowbolts) to be ‘purified,’ whatever the Hay that entailed. Some of it was that he was no quitter; he desperately wanted to return to the Game and didn’t want to surrender what seemed to be his only chance. Some of it was a flash of contempt – at this moron who seriously thought that Celestia would be good for the country, and at the noble backer who had set him up as part of some idiotic scheme that had a huge chance of blowing up in his or her face. And some of it was Notary. If he left now, she was doomed – she’d be destroyed when the group fell, unless her new master was very smart and very willing to go to bat for her. And in this particular instantiation of the Court… that was not likely. He was no longer her master, but she had served him long and well, and he’d grown to like her. For her to be wasted on this bunch of morons was… not tolerable. All those factors, and half a dozen more. Greengrass himself was not aware of the summands, but he knew the result. He wouldn’t leave. He would go forward, on the knowledge that he was betting everything. A failure at this point would likely kill him or have him sent to jail forever… so he just couldn’t fail. But he still had a chance. He was good at the Game – one of the best, even. He would succeed. “No, I – I just meant that you can’t purify them yet!” Greengrass laughed. “They're Luna’s henchponies, right? Obviously their hearts are totally black. If you just purify them right off the bat, there’ll be nothing left! They'll die! It needs to be gradual.” The other pony paused. “What do you mean?” “I mean, get them away from Luna’s corrupting influence. Put them in a secret room somewhere. Have them fed fresh fruit and grains and pure water. Explain to them the error of their ways.” Greengrass was lying as fast as his mouth would work. “Then, once they're already almost pure, if you use the spell, they'll be wholly clean and ready to serve Celestia!” “But…” The leader was clearly out for blood. Greengrass stepped closer to him. “Celestia wants to protect and guard all her ponies, right? What would she prefer? Saving these two, or just blasting them?” “…you’re right. Of course, you’re right. I have just the hiding spot. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they can’t get away and that they comes back to the Light.” The leader cast a spell, and he and the captive vanished. Once Greengrass was sure they were gone, he let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Now he had to keep the Shadowbolts alive (and how had the backer known about them anyway? What was going on there?), and save Notary, and bring down the group, all without being arrested or banished or sent to the sun or bucked off the tower by a Celestia-obsessed nutjob. And he had to do it before the Shadowbolt leader realized that agents was missing. They were a relatively loose-knit organization, he knew, and operated fairly independently, so he might have a couple of days before the absences were known… but no more. He had to wrap this whole thing up in a few days. This was proving to be a harder round of the Game than he’d have thought when he started. But there’s no use whining about it. It’s the Game; I need to figure out the politics and weed out my enemies until Notary and I are the only ponies left. This is how the Game works. The stakes are a bit higher than usual, but… yes. I can beat this and save myself and Notary. It’s what I do. He smiled fiercely. It’s what I love to do. ### What in the world was Greengrass doing as part of the CCPS? Notary wasn’t able to figure it out. Some scheme to get back into the Game, yes, but she couldn’t figure out what it could be. How could joining a group that was breaking things in the castle help him? Maybe he was trying to infiltrate them, like she was? But he didn’t have Fisher’s USF or an equivalent, so how could he bring them down? Go the guards? But they’d arrest him too… And then there was the other thing. She’d trailed Greengrass and the leader to the side room and heard their conversation. She was reasonably certain neither of them had noticed her; she’d wanted to alert Greengrass, but didn’t think she could do so without tipping off the leader as well, and that could have gotten ugly. The leader had just beaten two Shadowbolts in a fight, and while it was true that the Shadowbolts were spies and investigators, not soldiers, they were still supposed to be fairly tricky to take down. So now the leader wanted to kill two Shadowbolts, and Greengrass was keeping them alive. Well, it would make him look good, but that meant the Shadowbolts were on to the whole thing, which upped the stakes for everypony involved. Notary’s head hurt. It had been a long night. Fisher had started her out by having her sneak into the leader’s house and try to steal information on the backer, such as letters. She’d been able to find one in the trash – ripped up, of course, but she was more than capable of reconstructing it. She’d taken it back to him, and he’d told her the next part of his plan. “I want to try to fool the leader. With this letter, we’ve got the backer’s writing style, signature, everything. I’m going to forge a letter telling him to do something revealing.” “I can do it,” offered Notary. “I—“ Fisher tapped his horn with a hoof. “Oh.” Right, it would be easy for Fisher with his writing spell. All he had to do was visualize how he wanted the script to look and it would appear. “So you can write like anypony,” she’d joked. “Can you sound like them too?” Fisher had seemed annoyed, but his horn glowed, and he replied in Notary’s voice. “Yes. Now back to work.” He’d forged the letter and had Notary deliver it to the leader’s house. At least she hadn’t had to enter this time; she’d just slipped it into the mail slot. Then she had to leave to go do stenography for Fisher again, and after that she had to hurry over to the CCPS meeting. And then, finally, when that was done, and she was more confused than ever, she still had one more task. Break into the leader’s house again, but this time, instead of getting the backer’s letters, she was to look for the names of ponies in the cult. (Why couldn’t she have done both the first time? She had no idea, but Fisher was being stubborn again and wouldn’t listen to her suggestions). So Notary once again approached the house and jimmied the broken window, then slipped inside and began digging around. The house was big, and a mess, with everything dirty and in disarray, excepting the shrine to Corona in one room. Finding anything in particular would be a challenge. Well, at least the leader wasn’t home. After half an hour of digging through random piles, Notary happened upon a lockbox. It was big and sturdy, and looked like it had been both locked and bespelled – it was shining, a sign of ostentatious magic. It was the only locked thing she’d found so far, and it looked newer than the other furnishings. “That’s not suspicious at all,” she muttered. That was something the Duke would say, and— Okay, again, focus. Worry about the Duke later. Focus on the job now. She didn’t want to risk picking the lock; the spells on the box could do almost anything to her. So she opened her bag and took out one of Fisher’s new drill bits, which she’d mounted for herself on a little hand drill. She’d seen them cut through magic, and while they probably couldn’t beat every spell – Shining Armor’s Aegis, for example, was supposed to be nigh-invincible to cut – she guessed that this lunatic probably didn’t have that kind of magical firepower. So she carefully began to drill into the back wall of the box. With a flash, the glow vanished. Notary smiled. She’d have to see about getting a few of these for herself; they would come in handy in a lot of places. Notary drilled through the wall and was able to stick a hoof in to start taking things out. “Here we go…” And lo and behold, the first document was an old deed to a farm. It was made out for one Mango Mania. “Is that it?” she mused. Other documents in the box included newspaper clippings about the farm, which she saw had gone bankrupt recently due to bad luck and worse weather. There were a few hoof-written rants about the Court. And then there was a series of letters describing a zebra he’d met who had taught him about Corona. And, at the bottom of the box, was a set of signed papers – he’d made the group sign loyalty oaths. Notary smiled and looked over them, memorizing each name. “Perfect.” This was everything except for the backer’s name; she could tell Fisher, he could break up the group, they’d both ascend, and— She paused on the most recent name on the list. “Hugh G. Belly,” she read. One of Greengrass’s aliases. Right. She was to tell Fisher all the names. That would include Greengrass, wouldn’t it? ### Notary never drank on the job, but as it happened, she’d finished up in Mango’s house a lot earlier than expected. So she went to a local bar, sat in a corner, and tried to figure out what to do. “I work for Fisher now, not Greengrass. Greengrass certainly didn’t have any problem with asking me to help him take down ponies that I worked for before we met.” But she couldn’t make herself believe that. She’d been with Greengrass for a few years now. They’d had a lot of adventures together, and they were alike in so many ways. They made a great team, and… “Friends? I don’t know…” What did that even mean, anyway? Greengrass had gone to bat for her when he didn’t have to. When her brother had been trapped in some kind of pyramid scheme back in Moscolt, Greengrass had put his business on hold and gone there to extricate him. When her pegasus cousin had graduated from Flight School, when she’d told her that she was going to audition for the Wonderbolts, Greengrass had given Notary personal days so she could go cheer her cousin on. And she’d done the same for him -- there had been times where Greengrass hadn’t wanted to bother her with some problem, she’d found out anyway, and she’d gone to help him. That was what they’d had. What would he say, if he knew what she were thinking? Well, she had a pretty good idea. “Notary, you work for Fisher now. Do your job to the best of your ability, like when you worked for me. If I lose to you and Fisher, it’s my own fault for not playing as well as you two.” And then he’d chuckle and say something like, “But watch out – I’m a pretty good player, and I won’t go easy on you!” No, he’d bear her no ill will. But that still didn’t make it any easier. She could just not report the name, or report it as Hugh Belly. She could not report it and warn Greengrass. He’d have to flee, Fisher would never know, and… I’d know. I’m not in this just because I want to have a high-paying job. I could work for a rich idiot and sit on my flank all day and make buckets of bits by massaging their ego. I want to do useful work and serve a king. And both parts of that mattered. Yes, she wanted to serve the highest ranking pony she could. But she also really wanted to serve them, not just sit on her flank and collect money for massaging egos and handling the occasional message. She did not understand ponies who didn’t want to change and influence the world, who only wanted to do minimal or irrelevant work for a munificent paycheck. Other ponies seemed to like that sort of thing; she found it repulsive. That was why she had never once asked Luna for a job, after all. Luna Equestris was nigh-omnipotent. She didn’t need servants. She tolerated them for… well, Notary didn’t know why, but she knew that she didn’t need them. Luna could make the rivers run backwards and the mountains fall into the valleys if she desired. She didn’t need a messenger, secretary, or assistant. Greengrass, and now Fisher, did. So, no. She wouldn’t flake on her duty. She would serve, and serve well, because that was what she did and who she was. And she’d still try to save Greengrass; there was nothing in Fisher’s scheme that required his destruction (it wasn’t like he was even really part of the group), but she’d still carry out Fisher’s orders to the letter. ### “Sir. These are the names of everypony in the group, excepting only the backer.” Fisher’s gaze was one of pure astonishment. “Really? I – I didn’t expect you to find them so quickly.” Notary nodded. “I work fast.” “Well, uh, good job. Take the rest of the morning off.” Fisher stared at the paper. “Anything else I should know about?” “Yes. The Shadowbolts have discovered the group.” Fisher nodded. “I figured they would do so about now. How do you know?” “The leader caught two of them and captured them.” Fisher looked surprised. “…he didn’t kill them?” Notary sighed, wishing she could forestall this moment forever. But she could not. “No. Duke Greengrass persuaded him otherwise.” The reaction was electric. Fisher’s head shot up as he stared at her, and then down to look at her list. “Greengrass…” “I don’t think he’s really part of the group. I believe that he is trying to bring them down for the same reason we are – so he can gain political power.” “Yes, yes, of course, but… alright. Notary, thank you. Your help was invaluable; you’ll find a bonus in your pay for this week.” He paused. “I’m… surprised that you told me about the Duke, though.” “Greengrass instilled in me the value of loyalty to one’s employer.” “A true virtue. Thank you again, Notary.” ### When she was gone, Fisher sighed. “The Shadowbolts… Lightning. Turquoise.” The two entered. “Yes?” “We’re moving up the timetable. We have most of the names; we have a message conduit to them with Notary; I want them gone in three days.” “Yes, sir,” they said, in unison. “By the way, Lightning, you’re in charge of the operation.” Lightning blinked. “I -- I mean, thank you, but why?” “It seems a mutual friend has joined the group, and I thought you might like to affect his capture personally.” Lightning scanned the list that Fisher gave him, and then grinned. “No. No way. Really?” Fisher grinned as he moved a piece on his chessboard. “Yes. Now, to be clear, his presence changes nothing about our strategy – I just thought you’d want to know.” He chuckled. “We’ll take them all down. And you can be the one to do it.” “And… Notary, sir?” “Notary?” Fisher smiled. “She sells her services to the highest bidder. She’s a common criminal, who is only serving this country because I am paying her more than those who would have her ruin it. And – perhaps more importantly – she’s part of the group, now, isn’t she?” He smiled. “The country is better off with her in jail.” “Thank you, sir!” He chuckled as his soldiers left. Yes. This was perfect. Not only would the USF be bolstered, not only would he prove that they – and only they, not the Royal Guard or Shadowbolts or Night Guard or whoever – could defend the castle, but he’d take down Greengrass too. That monster, who corrupted the Court for his own ends, who thought only of his own power and glory and cared nothing for the country – he’d be in jail. Forever. As well as his chief minion, Notary. And maybe others. Notary and Greengrass were so corrupt, they’d be certain to flip on their other associates. He could take down the whole ring. And they were only the beginning. Puissance too, and all the other corrupt Courtiers – and then the merely inept, like Mounty Max. He’d leave the Court in the hands of competent, quality leadership, like himself, Night Light, and the other nobles who could be trusted to do right by the country. He’d reserve the country’s slide, fend off Corona, and lead the way into a new era of prosperity and peace. “Was there ever any doubt?” he mused.