It was three in the afternoon, and time for step one of the six-step plan: arrange that Mango Mania would be ready to storm a random noble’s office.
Greengrass now had Mania’s address. He went to the abandoned home in his ‘Hugh Belly’ disguise and knocked sharply. “I need to talk to you!”
He’s a religious zealot. It shouldn’t be hard to convince him to do what I want, if I just tell them that it’s what Corona wants too.
Mania opened up the door. “Belly?” He quickly urged the Duke inside. “What is it? How did you find me? Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“The Shadowbolts escaped somehow. I don’t think they know who we are, but we’ve got to move fast. They’re smart, and pure evil, and—“
“Wait.” Greengrass smiled genially. “Don’t worry. They aren’t stronger than Celestia, right? And I think she’s with us.”
“…what?”
“I was sound asleep,” said the Duke, in a tone of reverent exhilaration, “When I had the strangest dream. I was outside, in a field of poppies, when I happened to look up and see that the sun had changed into a fantastic image. It was an alicorn, with flowing rainbow-colored hair and a massive horn—“
“Celestia!” gasped Mania. “You had a vision!”
“The sun spoke to me. She said that our time of triumph was almost at hand, that soon the corrupt government would fall and She would take Her rightful place on the throne – and that we would both be well rewarded.”
Mania beamed.
“But, she said, there is one possible problem. One of the nobles has almost discovered our group – I think those weren’t Shadowbolts, I think they were his agents -- and must be dealt with.”
“What?! Who?”
“I don’t know yet. She said that this noble would be revealed at the next meeting of our group, the one we’re having tonight.”
“Okay. Well, we can deal with that then.”
“You and I.” Greengrass nodded. “After the meeting, let’s deal with the noble. We’ll give him or her a chance to repent and join the Light, and if that fails…”
Mango’s sun pendant flashed. “We deal with him then.”
Okay, I need to make sure he doesn’t actually hurt Fisher. Well, hurt him too badly at least. “Perfect.”
###
Step two, three-thirty in the afternoon. Ensure that the Royal Guards (and NOT the Unicorn Special Forces) would be ready to storm the same office.
If it wasn’t for the USF, this would be a trivially easy task. Greengrass and Notary could just anonymously tip off the guards that Something Bad was going to happen in Archduke Fisher’s office a half hour before Cadenza’s celebration, and a few guards would show up to check it out. But now that the USF were helping with castle security, that wasn’t a safe option. They might be sent instead of the Guards, and they were of course still loyal to Archduke Fisher. They wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.
If it wasn’t for the party, it still wouldn’t be a terrible problem. Notary did her best to stay on top of the Guard schedules, and would be able to find out who was in that part of the castle that night. She could attract their attention and lead them to the office. But because of the party, the schedules were all completely screwed up. Most of the Guards would be at the celebration (along with the Night Guards, probably, some Shadowbolts, and part of the USF), and she couldn’t be sure what the revised patrol routes in the rest of the castle were.
So Notary had to first somehow find out who was still available, then contact them. The obvious solution might have been to look at the roster in the Office of the Royal Guards. However ,that Office was defended a lot more fiercely than the barracks that Greengrass had (barely) broken in to a few days prior. There were two armored guards on duty at all times, and the entire area was spelled to set off alarms if any unauthorized ponies entered. Even once inside, it would be nearly impossible to break into any particular offices to do anything – and then there was the issue of getting out. Notary had known a few personal assistants and minions who had tried to illegally access the Office; none had succeeded and all were in jail.
Fortunately, the castle’s Accounting and Personnel Office wasn’t nearly as well defended.
Notary picked the lock to get into the foyer of the Office, then made her way into the records rooms and found the file cabinet for requests for vacation and sick days. The castle staff had to know who was present so they could allot resources and staff for them. If half the Guards were out sick, for instance, then the amount of food set aside for them needed to be decreased. If a Lieutenant, or another Guard with his own office, was away on duty, then his office had a different cleaning schedule. Things like that.
Notary began paging through the files until she found the list of Guards scheduled to be out that night. Most hooves were on deck, but there were about ten that weren’t there. Notary looked at the listed reasons. Two were sick, two were on long vacations in Prance, one was on unpaid leave for getting drunk at a banquet and tossing a tapir ambassador into a seven layer cake, and five were off duty at home.
Notary checked those guards’ files and found their home addresses, then left and began to hurry out to find them. She’d leave them each a letter telling that an emergency had come up and they had to be by Fisher’s office a half-hour before the party.
If they believed the notes, great. Even if they thought it might be a trick, they would still have to show up. After all, if the notes were false, somepony was trying something that required misleading the Guards, and the Guards would want to find and arrest that pony… so they’d go to the rendezvous and be ready to arrest her. Either way, they’d be there, and then they could nail Fisher.
###
Step 3. Point Mango in the direction of Fisher.
The meeting of the CCPS that evening, in a small, empty storage room squarely in the middle of a cavernous basement, was a tense and agitated affair. Except for Notary (who had to work on other parts of Greengrass’s plan; Greengrass had told Mango that she was ill and couldn’t make it), every member of the CCPS was there.
“I received notice from our supporter about a celebration being held to honor the corrupted Court,” intoned Mango. His eyes were bright, almost blazing. “We are going to disrupt it!”
He outlined a plan for general sabotage. When the event started, there would be a long dance period before the speeches and the food. During that period, the leader would make a ‘sign’, and the other ponies would begin wrecking the place. “Pipe bursts, a couple of you can get by the food and salt it, you three break into the cloakroom and steal everything. Make it the most chaotic night in the castle’s history!”
“I don’t know,” said Mopping Swish. “This is a lot more public than the other stuff. What if we get caught?”
Greengrass smiled to himself. Mango didn’t care about that, he thought that his victory was preordained.
“We’ll be so sudden they won’t know what hit them. Wear the fanciest clothes you have to disguise yourselves. And get ready – I have a feeling that tonight’s activities are going to be of the utmost significance. This could be the action that makes the Court realize it must change its ways, lest these acts continue!”
Greengrass was standing very close to the storage room door. Distantly, he heard something clatter to the ground – the tin cans he’d set up by the basement door. Nopony was supposed to be here at this time; this basement was empty and unusued. That meant the newcomers had to be…
“Hush!” hissed Greengrass, catching Mango’s attentions. “The Guards!”
Mango blanched for a moment, then began talking loudly. “…Anyway, that’s why the right fertilizer is the most crucial ingredient in growing mangos! As you can see—“
The storage room door opened, and two USF ponies walked in. “What’s going on? Why are you down here?” demanded the leader.
“We’re discussing farming,” said Mango, looking somewhat cross. “Every room in the castle’s being used for planning for this big party, and since we’re not invited, we had to cram down here.”
The two looked at each other. “Why are you wearing cloaks?”
“Look.” Greengrass pointed to a huge spider that was spinning a web in a corner of the room. “They’re everywhere in here, even on the ceiling. I wore this cloak so that they wouldn’t fall on my mane or coat.”
“So did I!” said Mopping Swish, quickly.
The two USF members looked at each other again. Greengrass smiled to himself. He’d tipped them that there was some sort of smuggling operation going on in this basement, led by a quartet of rough and tough mob ponies from Manehattan. But there were clearly no smuggled goods in the room; there was nothing in the room at all.
“Some idiot jumping at shadows,” muttered the leader to his companion. “Saw these bozos and thought he was in a Daring Do novel. Come on.” The two left.
The meeting resumed, even tenser than before. And afterwards, when Greengrass pulled Mango aside, Mango immediately said, “Those are Fisher’s soldiers. He must be the one who found out about us!”
“Let’s go deal with him. At… how about half an hour before Cadenza’s celebration?”
Mango paused. “Is that enough time?”
“I feel it’s exactly the right amount.” Greengrass smiled. “Besides. I think I have something that will help it go faster. I’ll get it to you at midnight, okay?”
“…okay. It seems like Celestia’s talking to you; if she’s with us, we can’t possibly lose.” Mango nodded. “We’ll meeting outside his office and barge in. If he accepts what we say, fine. If not…” He smiled. “We deal with it.”
###
Step 4. Prevent the USF from interfering.
Notary couldn’t arouse Fisher’s suspicions, so she had to go to his office at her usual time and help with his business duties.
She would somehow have to arrange for any USF soldiers that weren’t already slated to be at Cadenza’s party to be there anyway. Most of them would be there – they were going to bust the CCPS there, after all. But there would probably still be a few wandering around the castle, and that could cause problems. If any of them came by the office when Mango showed up, Fisher might be able to salvage the situation.
Unfortunately, Fisher no longer technically controlled the USF, so Notary couldn’t simply forge orders from him and arrange for the unicorns to get them. She’d have to be sneakier about it.
“Archduke,” she said, as she settled into her desk.
“Yes?”
“During my investigation with the CCPS, I became aware that they might be working with another dissident group.”
Fisher straightened. “…you learned this when?”
“Earlier today. I was tracking Mango Mania and I saw him entering a bar that is known to have… criminal elements. I followed him inside and saw him talking with a small group of ponies. They looked athletic, and judging by their clothes, they belong to one of the Manehattan syndicates.”
Fisher took a few seconds to say, “…alright. Thank you for telling me.”
She bent over her work, but she heard Fisher summon Turquoise Blade. “Go to the USF patrols in the castle. Tell them that they all need to be at Cadenza’s party. There’s going to be more hostiles than we thought.”
“Yes, sir.”
Notary smiled to herself as she filed some papers that she’d written up just a few hours ago. Things were going great.
###
Step 5. Make Mango as overconfident and cocky as possible.
Greengrass looked at the papers that he had forged. After writing on them, he’d put them near a lamp to get them to crinkle nicely, stained them with a very light coating of sepia-toned paint, and delicately tore a few holes in a few specific places in the pages. The papers looked hundreds of years old, now. It wouldn’t fool any scholar, but Mango was an incompetent fruit farmer. He wouldn’t know the difference.
Greengrass went to his house, knocked on his door, and gave him the papers. “Ancient sun magic,” he said. “Simply cast this spell and you’ll be able to smite the unrighteous.”
“Perfect!” Mango took the spell and read it over. “I’ll try it now.”
Greengrass hoped that he’d copied the spell out of the book correctly. He wasn’t a magician, after all. Mango read it over, focused, and…
His horn glowed like a massive torch. Greengrass had to look away. It was like there was a lighthouse perched atop Mango’s head.
“Perfect!” Mango grinned. “Of course, it won’t smite us because we’re righteous, but – that light, it’s so pure and strong, it will destroy any of Luna’s depraved minions!”
“Wonderful,” said Greengrass, marveling that a prank flashlight spell he'd learned about in a joke book was proving so useful. “I look forward to it.”
###
And step 6. Ensure that Fisher was in his office.
At about three in the morning, one hour before Cadenza’s party, Notary turned to Fisher. “By the way, sir, the Digging Industries tax statements came in today.”
“The… the what? Those aren’t due for two weeks.”
“I think they wanted you to check them. They got tangled, or something, and—“
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?!” Fisher scowled. “Hurry up!”
They raced back to his office, where a very large pile of tax files had been neatly left outside.
“What is this?” Fisher began scanning through them. “These are a total mess!”
Notary was no accountant, but she knew what tax statements looked like. And Greengrass had shown her, with glee, how to take a simple six-page statement and turn it into a thirty-page nightmare of circulars references, bad math, and hay soda spills. “It says they need it back in two days,” Notary stated blandly.
Fisher’s eyes narrowed. “I’m firing somepony over this.” He looked at his desk. “This needs to be finished before the party. Majordomo! Cancel my appointments. Notary, I hope you’re good at math.”
“Yes, sir.” Notary sat down. “Quite good.”
###
Greengrass carefully pulled up a dandelion that had somehow taken root in his garden.
This was it. This night would indicate whether he got back in the Court, or was arrested and sent to jail forever. There was no turning back; there was only the Game, and his own talent and skill versus that of Archduke Bobbing Fisher.
“I can beat him. I’m better than him,” Greengrass muttered. “I’m faster to adapt to changing circumstances. I’m bolder. What’s he got that I don’t?”
Well, he had a paramilitia, a higher title, and political influence. In any kind of dispute, his word would be taken over the Duke’s. He had powerful friends. That sort of thing.
“So he’s got more material than me. I can still win.” Greengrass shook his head. “I have to win.”
When the time came, Greengrass rose up from the dirt. He looked at his garden, aware that this might be the last time he ever did it. He wondered, briefly, if it would have been smarter to just give up on politics and go home after Lulamoon had ruined his career.
But he shook his head. “If I gave up when things were hard, I’d never have gotten this. I couldn’t even grow grass, and now… now, this is one of the best gardens in the city.” He nodded. “I’ll get my seat back. I’ll resume my career.
“And one day, I will rule this country.” He grinned. “My own garden, to nurture and tend to. That’s my goal. And if I can’t try for that… well, would jail really be any worse than a lifetime in exile at home?”
He strode out. He had work to do.
###
It was just about time.
Notary almost dropped the paper she was biting into when Fisher said her name, but it was just to tell her to get the fifth volume of the tax code from his bookshelf. She got up and did so.
The minute hand on the clock moved to the ‘6’.
Notary took a deep breath. “Sir, I think it would be best if I got my slide rule. May I?”
“Fine,” muttered Fisher, not paying attention.
Notary went to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. As she shut it, she held it so it didn’t quite catch, and then began trotting swiftly away.
Not even one minute later, Greengrass and Mango Mania trotted into the hallway. “Why don’t you do the talking?” said Greengrass. “You’re better at speeches than I am.”
“What should I say?”
“Just introduce yourself and me, and talk about our group. You know, big, powerful, blessed by Celestia, going to wreck Cadenza’s thing…”
Mango nodded. “Got it.”
He reached the door, smiled, and then burst through it. Greengrass followed, shutting it behind them.
And thirty seconds later, Notary hurried back down the hallway, four Royal Guards in pursuit. Okay, future note – insulting Shining Armor works a little too well to rile these ponies up. She ducked into a small nook, hoping that the shouting would start soon.
“You little brat,” hissed one of the Royal Guards. “How dare you—“
“WHAT?!” screamed a voice from Archduke Fisher’s office.
The guards stopped and stared at each other, and then the voices continued.
###
Fisher stared in incomprehension as Mango began to rant.
“So, you thought you could stand up against the forces of righeousness and Light? You thought you could take us on?” he cried.
Turquoise Blade and Lightning stepped out of a back room, but Fisher waved them off. Majordomo retreated until he was standing with them. Fisher stared at the intruders. “I’m sorry, but who the Hay are you?”
Ah, thought Greengrass. Of course. Fisher never met this idiot himself. He just had Notary, and before her probably Majordomo, drop off messages and money. This should be good.
“I’m Mango Mania. Formerly just another pony who was ruined by the machinations of your corrupt Court! But now I have my own group of ponies who aren’t going to take it anymore. The Canterlot Common Pony Supporters. We’re going to make it impossible for this government to run! It’s corrupt and decadent and…”
As Mania began going over what else the government was, Greengrass smiled to himself. This was perfect. As long as Mania confessed to everything, things would remain on track. Then the guards would come in and Greengrass would initiate the next phase of his plan.
Fisher evidently had no idea what was going on – but of course, he hadn’t expected anything like this to happen. Greengrass could practically hear him trying to figure out if this was going to ruin his own plan of arresting the group at Cadenza’s party. “Get out of my—“
“No! We won’t leave!” Mania laughed, well, maniacally. “The CCPS has been shutting down this castle for a month now! Busting pipes, spoiling food, stealing books. Now we’re going to destroy the party for Princess Cadence! We will bring wrack and ruin upon you! We will upset your—“
Evidentally, the mention of the party was enough. The door burst open and the Royal Guards ran in. “Stop! You’re under arrest!” yelled one.
“What?!” Mango turned to stare at the guards. “Impossible! Celestia Herself has blessed us!”
One of the guards turned to look at Greengrass and Fisher. “One of you mind explaining?”
Fisher opened his mouth, but Greengrass got there first. “Explaining? Certainly? The Archduke and I became aware of this ‘CCPS’ group a while ago, and we’ve been working to expose them. I recently gained the confidence of their leader, Mango here, and was able to induce his confession.” He smiled broadly. “You can arrest him now.”
“WHAT?!” yelled Fisher and Mango, albeit for entirely different reasons.
“I’m not employing you!” roared Fisher, sounding more irritated by the suggestion than the actual situation.
“Oh, don’t be so modest. I admit that you were the brains on this little operation, and I just did as you asked.” Greengrass chuckled. “I mean, if you weren’t involved, why would we be here at all? With our public… animosity, surely we can all agree I wouldn’t give you credit for exposing a terrorist group for no reason?”
The guards glanced at each other, and Greengrass smiled to himself.
Fisher can deny it, but then he’ll have a lot of awkward questions to answer. Like – why are we here, then, if I wasn’t working with him? Why would I give him credit for no reason? Why is Notary both one of his employees and a member of the group, if he’s not involved? Plus, if he does deny it, the Guards will have to search his office to find out who’s telling the truth, and Notary planted those employment contracts stating quite plainly that we infiltrated the group on his orders. Not to mention, with Notary working in his office, he has to know that it’s possible that she found some evidence implicating him in stealing my money to fund the group… or, for that matter, that she could have planted some. Denying that I was with him could lead to that evidence being found when the guards try to sort out which of us is being honest, and could land him in very hot water, as that would indicate that he founded the whole group and was responsible for everything. He’ll have to go along with my story.
“You liar!” Mango screamed. “You betrayed me! You betrayed Celestia!”
“My loyalties,” said Greengrass, as primly as he could, “Are to the true leader of this nation, Princess Luna Equestria. Of course I’m not one of Celestia’s acolytes. Do I look crazy?”
A guard moved to grab Mango. (Fisher and his employees, for their part, seemed to be paralyzed in shock). Mango shoved him away, but then the other three tackled him and began cuffing his hooves. “I’ll destroy you all!”
“Not a chance. We’re arresting you.”
“No.” This seemed to break through Fisher’s logjam. “No, you can’t!”
Second, this way, the Guards make the big arrest of the leader. Not the USF. All that planning, and the USF just looks like chumps who had to have the Royal Guard take care of the problem. Fisher won’t benefit like he was hoping – he won’t benefit at all!
One of the Guards looked at Fisher. “Were you really working with him?”
“Uh.” Fisher stared.
Third, the great Archduke Fisher, reduced to using the outcast Greengrass? He’ll be humiliated! Sure, it’s better than possibly being arrested, which is what could happen if he denies it, but… I think Fisher’s star will be descending rapidly in the Court now.
“I’m happy to be of service!” said Greengrass, grinning brightly. “A loyal servant of the Court and Equestria, that’s me!”
And, fourth, now that somepony did see fit to ‘use’ me, that should make it easier to get back into the Game. After all, clearly I’m back in play. I think I already know what my next moves will be…
“Now, to be fair, I can’t take all the credit for helping Fisher. My personal assistant, Notary, did so as well.” Notary stepped into the room. “And she’d be happy to testify to anything this group did, as would I.”
“I thought she worked for Fisher?” asked one of the Guards. (Mango was screaming something, but nopony was listening to him).
“We were all working together,” said Notary, in her clipped tones. “After this bust, of course, I was going to return to Greengrass.”
“You were not!” Fisher almost screamed, as if desperate to challenge some part, any part of the story.
“Your employment notice for a new secretary is in the third drawer of your fourth filing cabinet,” said Notary, in clipped tones. “The Guards can check if they don’t believe me. For that matter, the contracts we both signed agreeing to work for you, stipulating our duties and pay, are in the second drawer of the second filing cabinet.”
One of the Guards shrugged and trotted over. “Yep,” he said, upon finding the various forms Notary had listed.
Fisher’s eyes narrowed, and Greengrass had to fight back laughter. He understands. But now it’s too late. The only sensible thing for him to do here is—
Mango sprang at the Guards, horn glowing brightly. Blade and Lightning moved to intervene, but Fisher was faster. His horn glowed, and suddenly Mango was flying into a bookshelf and collapsing under an avalanche of legal tomes.
—Is go along with it. There’s too much indicating that we’re working together for him to get out of this, and if he tries, I might be able to have him nailed for founding the group in the first place. Saying, ‘yes, it’s true, arrest Mango’ is the only sane option. I know Fisher hates to lose, but…
Fisher’s expression shifted from rage, to panic, and then a smug sneer. His eyes sparkled. He did not look like a pony who was about to surrender.
…then again, he founded a sabotage group in the castle. Maybe sanity is expecting too much from him.
Fisher stared at Greengrass, eyes full of malice, and then began to trot forward.
Uh oh.
“Yes, of course. It’s all true,” said Fisher, in an unctuous voice. “Thank you, Duke Greengrass, for bravely going undercover and extracting the confession. I must commend you. Notary, you as well. Magnificent work. But we can hardly stop now – we have to wrap up the rest of the group!”
“They’ll be at Princess Cadenza’s party,” said Greengrass.
“Exactly.” Fisher got the list of names of the ponies in the group from his desk and passed it to the Guards. “I’ll go with you. We’ll make sure to catch every one of these saboteurs. Since this was my operation, I’ll take responsibility for completing the arrest. Lightning, Turquoise Blade – you make sure that Mango here is delivered to Foalsome Prison. I think they’ll have a lot of questions for him.”
A Guard paused. “Er, shouldn’t we stay with the prisoner—“
“Well, the USF does have legal authority to transport prisoners.” Fisher grinned. “Of course, if you’d rather deliver the prisoner and do paperwork for an hour than go to the party and make public arrests, I—“
The Guard laughed. “Yeah, good point. You sure your USF can handle him?”
Turquoise Blade stepped forwards. “We’re quite capable of it.”
“Wait a minute,” said Greengrass. “I—“
“Now, Greengrass, relax. I told you, I can handle it from here. You’ve done enough.” Fisher grinned. “Why don’t you wait in my office? I’ll be back soon and I can give you your bonus.” He began to trot out, the Guards following.
“Wait!” yelled Greengrass, trying to figure out what last-second gambit Fisher was initiating. “I—“
But the Guards and Fisher, now outside the door, didn’t even seem to hear him.
“Soundproof spell,” commented Turquoise Blade, brushing past him. “Don’t bother yelling.”
Greengrass blinked. In the room were himself, Notary, Majordomo, a handcuffed Mango, and the two USF soldiers. If the USF were going to do something to them, he’d be hard-pressed to stop it.
And then, after a few minutes, Turquoise left the room without expression. Lightning grinned viciously at them, then followed. Majordomo was the last to leave, slamming the door behind him.
Mango screamed something inarticulate from beneath the pile of books.
Notary ran over to the door. “Locked,” she said, trying it. “And it’s probably enchanted too.”
Greengrass frowned. “What’s his game now?”
###
Fisher’s horn glowed slightly as he cast the intricate, complicated spell that could let him ‘throw’ his voice to their ears without moving his mouth. He’d found this spell years ago, in an old book, and insisted that every member of the USF be able to use it to both ‘send’ and ‘receive.’ The USF soldiers were required to always have the ‘receiving’ part of the spell active, whenever they were on duty – precisely for moments such as this, when he’d have to talk to them without alerting others. (Fisher was something of an exception to this rule, only activating the ‘receiving’ part for himself when he was expecting messages. But he so often had very important business and thus couldn’t be disturbed by an excitable USF soldier.)
“Lightning,” he whispered, casting the ‘receive’ portion of the spell as he did so. “You wait by the office. Do not let anypony inside escape. I will return later to deal with them.”
“What if,” Lightning responded, using the same spell, “Mango attacks Greengrass?”
“Then that solves a lot of our problems. If they destroy each other, that would be a very good thing. But it doesn’t matter either way, in terms of your duties. Just don’t let any of them leave the room.”
“Yes, Archduke.”
“Turquoise Blade. Get Mesmero, tell her I will pay double her usual rate. She should be stationed outside the party. Have her come to… Conference Room E, in the 5th floor of the Eastern Wing. I will lead the Guards there. She is to give the Guards false memories of having been on patrol for the last hour, and having seen nothing.”
“Archduke… I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Shining Armor has unicorns who—“
“Yours is not to question me. Do it,” responded Fisher. “Majordomo.”
“Archduke.”
“Get to the party. It… it is vital, absolutely vital, that the CCPS attack and the USF defeat them. The nation needs them; without them, we have no viable defense against Corona – that idiot Lulamoon can’t do it, and the Guards could barely defend the city last time. So. Without Mango, we will have to induce their attack ourselves. You know the members of the group and what they look like. Find them and tell them to wait for a signal – a bright, sun-like light, in the northern window of the room. Then get to the auxiliary storage room just off of the party room. You and I will summon the light at the appropriate time. Then the CCPS will attack and the USF will defeat them. Exactly as planned.”
“Archduke.” Blade’s voice sounded a little more urgent. “I really don’t think—“
“Do it,” ordered Fisher. “The USF is vital to the safety of this nation. It must be given all the resources it needs. Ergo, it needs a resounding victory. We would not be in this situation if you had not failed in Ponyville, but we are. So this is what we have to do.”
Fisher broke off the communication and smiled at the Guards. “You know, I don’t think I’ve expressed enough my gratitude towards the ponies like you who help keep this castle safe…”
###
Greengrass hammered on the door. “No use.”
He looked around the office. There were a few doors, but they probably just led to Fisher’s bedroom, other living areas, and maybe a storage area or too. There was a large window at the other end of the room that overlooked the castle’s western courtyard. If they hadn’t been something like ten stories up, it might even have been a viable escape route.
“The window?” offered Notary.
“Probably spelled more heavily than the door, and neither of us can fly anyway. No, there’s got to be a safe way out of here.” Greengrass sighed. “Just give me a few moments to think—“
With a bright flash of light, books were thrown in every direction. Mango jumped to his hooves, shackles broken and dangling around them. His pendant glowed with a bright, blinding light.
Greengrass looked at the sun-worshipper who had beaten a Shadowbolt in a fight and gulped.