The Day After
Fragrant snapped awake. Blinking groggily, she glanced around her room. It was just starting to get light – she had hours before she’d have to get up. In the back of her mind, warning alarms were going off, but she tried to ignore them. Giving a slight groan, she began to burrow back into her sheets. It was harder than she expected; something seemed to be constraining her. She’d just had the strangest dream: going to the gala, dancing a tango with Max, then being cursed to only be able to speak the truth and admitting her feelings for him, and him revealing he felt the same. It had been a nice fiction. Then it had turned into a nightmare. She shuddered slightly. The filly with the horn and wings had been there – she was common in Fragrant’s night terrors. Being berated by the princess for her corruption was again a common theme in her darker nights, but this time it had been different, more realistic; the whole court had been there to see her humiliation. It was strange what her mind came up with when under stress. So what did she have to do today? Whenever today was. She couldn’t quite seem to...
Her eyes widened as recollection returned to her still half asleep brain in a flood. It had all been real! She had to... had to something... somehow appease Luna... she was a bad pony... she had to... She struggled to get to her hooves, heart racing. A grey hoof gently wrapped itself around her barrel and it and its twin – which she only then realised she was lying on – slowly contracted, pulling her towards a source of warmth seeming to cover her whole back. She felt the weight of a head rest on her withers, and as suddenly it had started, her panic stopped. She felt so safe. A wave of drowsy relaxation ran over her body and her heart slowed, the tension drained out of her limbs, and her eyes became heavy.
As long as she could remember, being constricted had made her feel safe. Most pegasi found it scary to be constrained, to be unable to fly free, but she loved the feeling of being held tightly. It made her feel protected and loved... so very loved... as long as she stayed like this, nothing could hurt her. As she drifted back into sleep, her last thought was that she never wanted this feeling to end.
Slowly, Max was washed ashore from the sea of dreams, an unwelcome beam of light shining onto his face. He could sense it even with his eyes closed. It must be past midday by now – time to get up.
But he didn’t want to! He was happy to stay here, forearms wrapped around his nice warm soft comforter, his face buried in its floral-scented nest of hair. Wait, that wasn’t right, was it? He carefully opened an eye to glance at the mess of pink mane directly in front of his snout, and then the gorgeous mare it sat atop. Oh, this was one of those dreams, then. He might as well enjoy it while it lasted. He pulled the unconscious pony closer until they fit together seamlessly. He felt a little annoyed that his sleeping mind had decided to put both a blanket and two sets of clothes between himself and the mare in his forearms; still, snuggling was nice. Opening his muzzle, he took the mare’s nearest ear in his mouth and gently bit down on it. His partner gave a delightful little shudder and squeak. Disturbed, Fragrant rolled over in her sleep, trapping one of Max’s legs under her weight. He struggled to contain a hiss of pain. Wait a minute, that didn’t seem right! Suddenly he was wide awake and both eyes shot open. Fragrant was lying on him! He was in the same bed as Fragrant!
Memories of last night came crashing down on him, but he ignored most of them, concentrating on the mare lying only a few inches in front of him. She was perfect; her mane looked like a bird’s nest and her make up was ruined from last night’s tears, but still perfect. Relaxed in slumber, she looked so much better than her distressed state last night. He tried to repress a shudder lest he wake her. She had taken the Princess’s words so badly. It just wasn’t fair that she singled out Fragrant out of all of the rest of the court – there had to be much worse ponies in the government. Max sighed. Apparently they were all much worse. Not even one member of the court had lived up to Luna’s expectations, himself included, and it was their own faults. Fragrant probably had done whatever she’d done with the best of intentions, but why had he helped Buttercup? Because he liked her? Because the crime seemed victimless? Why did things have to get so complicated?
On top of all that, what would he and Fragrant do now? What would she think when she finally awoke? Would she regret what she had said? Would she be embarrassed? And if she wasn’t, what would they do, what were they to each other? Should they start dating? Where could they go? He knew she could dance, yes indeed she could dance. Did Canterlot have hoedowns? Or the theatre? So many questions. He kept messing up when he thought about things – maybe he could just lie here for a while longer, admiring the spectacular view. That seemed the right thing to do.
Fragrant shifted again, bringing a wave of pins and needles to his trapped leg. He gently tried to shift it, but it was securely wedged. If he pulled it out, he’d probably wake Fragrant, and he’d be happier to gnaw his own leg off than do that.
In front of him, Fragrant’s eyes gently flickered open, her saliva covered ear flicking a few times. She took a few seconds to realise what she was seeing, then a smile graced her face and her eyes drifted closed again. “Max,” she mumbled, making his heart beat faster. Then her eyes shot open again. “Max!” she repeated much louder.
“Um, hi,” said Max, waving slightly with his free forearm.
They remained there for quite some time, muzzles only separated by a short distance, an awkward silence taking up the space.
“Thank you,” began Fragrant, “For looking after me last night, I fell apart,” she said lamely.
“Yes, well, no problem.”
“No, I’m sorry, it... it just hit me so hard... Luna shouting at me like that, she... she was right, I...” Her eyes started to water again, and almost without thinking, Max tightened his grip on her, pulling them even closer together and resting his forehead against hers.
“I’m sure you did it with the best of intentions,” he muttered.
“I... I don’t know, I... I have to tell you.” She gently pushed him away again.
“No, you don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
She sniffed and took a deep breath. “No, I have to tell somepony. It was a long time ago, almost twenty years now. I hadn’t been in court very long, I was still finding my hooves. I... I wasn’t as good as my mother had been, I had money but not many connections. There was a grant going, to help improve hospital facilities, to build a new m-maternity ward.” She shut her eyes for a moment. “That sort of thing rarely goes to a cloud city where only one of the tribes can use the facilities, but Cloudsdale really needed it. We needed a facility for potentially grounded foals to be born. It’s not good for a foal if it can’t run in its first few hours and we’d need several professionals to cast cloud walking spells or special enchanted equipment for that, both of which would be expensive. But I... my city needed it. There were several other cities putting in bids for the monies and some might have been better than mine, but I really needed the grant so I... I bribed one of the clerks to misplace some of the paperwork for the other bids. They all made it to the vote but they didn’t look so good. In the end Cloudsdale got the money, but I don’t know if it would have without the bribe. I... I felt so bad about it, it made me s-sick. I... it wasn’t worth it.” She started to weep again. “Life... it... punished.” Max drew her against himself again and rocked her gently. What did she mean by punished?
“But you never did it again, did you?” he asked.
She looked up at him and shook her head, unable to speak.
“What you did was wrong, but I... I think you’ve done a lot of good over the years to make up for it. And you had the best intentions for your people, for all the foals.”
Fragrant started to sob again.
“Mine didn’t even have the best of intentions, really,” said Max. “I found out that a fellow courtier was using illegal magic to help her fa... to help a relative. I should have reported her, but it seemed such a little thing. It felt like it was doing more good than bad. But it wasn’t up to me to make the decision.”
Fragrant pulled her head back and looked at him hard for a moment, before drying her eyes with the sheet. “Who was it, Max?” she asked.
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I can’t tell you, it’s my crime now.”
A slight smile spread over her face. “Why do you have to be so noble, Max? Is that why you broke up with her?”
“Well... um, how did you know? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“I’d never force you to have to do the same for me,” said Fragrant.
“So, um, does that mean we’re, um, well, together then?” asked Max hesitantly, not wanting to risk jinxing it.
She looked away shyly. “We have spent the night together, sort of.” She gestured at the sheets separating them.
“Well, I suppose so, but, well, I never thought you’d want, well, me. There have to be so many more powerful stallions you could have if you wanted.”
Fragrant impetuously leaned forwards and gently kissed the top of Max’s muzzle, silencing him. “Hush. I don’t want any other stallion, I want you.” She smiled. “I think we can probably think of last night as being our first ‘date’ as it were, even if it didn’t end so well.”
“So, we’re dating?” Max’s heart jumped as a smile spread across his face.
“Courting, if... if you’ll have me?” she looked coy and unsure for a moment.
“Of course! I’d do anything for you, sing it from the mountain top, light the...”
“Maybe we could keep things a little more low key for the moment? The press can be...” She shuddered, sending a fresh wave of pins and needles through Max’s trapped leg. “...rather intrusive around the romantic lives of nobles.”
“Well, if you want to,” said Max, a little crestfallen. “We could go to Baron Fields’ retirement party together?” he suggested.
Fragrant raised an eyebrow.
“Not much of a date, eh?” said Max.
“No, and not very private, although I will of course be going. I have known the baron for a long time.”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something, then. Oh, we don’t have much time, I’m due to head back to Nulpar in a fortnight.”
“And I am returning to Cloudsdale in a few weeks once Forming has settled in.” Fragrant sighed. “But I am sure we can make the best of the time we have, and we can write while we are apart. Distance can make the heart grow fonder, you know. Just don’t expect all of our dates to end with you in my bed – I was raised to be a proper mare,” she said strictly. Max’s face fell and Fragrant couldn’t help but giggle at his look of dismay. She kissed him again on the lips. “That should keep you going for the moment. Remember, good things come to those who wait.”
They laid there, looking at each other as time passed; maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour.
“So what do we do now?” asked Max.
“Well, sooner or later we’re going to have to get up,” noted Fragrant regretfully.
“I meant about the court.”
“Oh.” Fragrant sighed. “Not one of us clean,” she mumbled. “I suppose it’s a good sign that the Princess didn’t dissolve the court straight away, but I don’t know what to do. It seems so big, so difficult.”
“No!” exclaimed Max. “It’s not difficult. We just have to be better, be the government that Equestria deserves.”
“If only it was that easy.”
“It can be. We just have to try our hardest, work together, make things right.”
“Maybe...” muttered Fragrant. “All it took to stop my feud with Jet Stream was to stop fighting, but what about...”
“See, we can be better, you just have to be brave enough to try.”
“You are right,” said Fragrant, sitting up in bed and finally releasing Max’s aching leg. “We’ll need to gather together whatever courtiers we can and try to organise them, to come up with a plan to prove to the Princess that we really want to do better. Wallflower might be best to contact first; she has the widest connections of the courtiers I’m close to. Maybe Night Light as well,” she said to herself.
Max looked up at her with a smile. That was the mare he admired and loved, so smart, organised, brave... his list was broken off as his stomach rumbled loudly. “Maybe we can talk about it over breakfast?” he suggested.
“Hum... Oh, good idea. I could... we could probably both do with cleaning up as well.”
Max looked at Fragrant. She was radiant, but yes, her hair could do with a brush, and her makeup had run from her tears, both last night and more recently. “You wash and I’ll see about rustling up something to eat,” he suggested before leaping off of the bed. To his surprise, his still sleeping leg collapsed beneath him and he fell to the ground.
“Max!” cried Fragrant in surprise, scooting over to the edge of the bed to see what had happened.
“Don’t worry,” said Max, rubbing his aching leg. “Just a bit of a trip.” He glanced around for his hat, then remembered that one of the foals at the Gala still had it. He doubted he’d see it again. Oh well, he thought, shrugging as he staggered to the door before closing it behind him.
Fragrant watched Max leave the room before sighing and rolling over. She took a deep breath from the cooling furrow that Max had just abandoned, feeling her body tense then relax. She did so love the smell of his unwashed body. She probably shouldn’t tell him that, it sounded rather... off. She remained there, her snout buried in the sheets for a moment, before rather unwillingly rolling out of bed and stretching all six limbs. She really could do with a shower, and it was starting to get late. She was surprised one of her maids hadn’t... her servants! How could she explain Max’s presence to them? How could she explain it to her family? She rushed to the door.
Max yawned as he trotted out of Fragrant’s room, a certain skip in his step. He’d visited her estate enough times to know most of its layout; the kitchen should be in this direction, he thought as he set off. He knew he should feel down about the court, but at the moment he felt on top of the world. He was dating Fragrance! He’d never even allowed himself to hope things would work out this well. He was about to start whistling when his way was blocked by a yellow shape. He staggered back as he came face to neck with a large, yellow-coated stallion with a flaming red mane. “Oh excuse me,” Max exclaimed.
The towering stallion looked down in surprise, his eyes flickering back and forth between Max and the door he had just exited before narrowing. “What are you doing here?” he growled in a deep voice, then continued before Max had a chance to answer. “You wouldn’t happen to be Baron Mounty Max, would you?”
“Err, yes,” said Max. Who was this?
“I’m Thunderous, Thunderous Posey.”
Max’s eyes widened. Fragrant’s brother! What was he doing here? Max looked down at his rather crumpled outfit and the door to Fragrant’s bedroom he’s just come from. Oh, this probably doesn’t look good. “Oh, um, nice to meet you, I didn’t know you were here.”
“Fragrant didn’t mention me? What exactly is your relationship with my sist...”
The door behind them burst open, halting Thunderous in mid-sentence. Fragrant came rushing out in a panic. “Max!” she cried. “You...” She noticed her brother standing there, looking rather surprised, and quickly tried to compose herself. “Oh, I see you’ve already met my brother.”
“We just sort of bumped into each other,” said Max.
“Yes,” agreed Thunderous, “when he came out of your bedroom. I was going to check if you were awake yet. It’s almost lunchtime.”
“Max escorted me back from the Gala,” explained Fragrant. “It was very late and we... we fell asleep together, nothing more. Not that it is your business.”
“Nothing more? Wasn’t there a bit more to your dress last night?” asked Thunderous raising an eyebrow.
“I had to tear it off when it got in the way,” said Fragrant, blushing as she realised what she’d just said.
“Uh!” exclaimed Thunderous. “Too much information, Smelly.” The large stallion looked a little green for a moment.
“That’s not what I meant, Boom Boom!” cried Fragrant, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
“Relax, Smelly. It’s not my business who you take home from the gala, even though I thought you had better taste. But as long as you’re happy.” He paused. “You are happy, right?” he asked more quietly. “You’d tell me if you weren’t?” He glared at Max for a moment.
Fragrant relaxed and hugged her brother. “I am happy, Thunderous.” She turned to Max. “Very happy.” She smiled like the sun rising.
“Good,” said Thunderous now smiling as well. “Now, food?” he asked.
“Give me a few minutes to clean up.”
“Ok, it’ll give me a chance to get acquainted with Max here.” The large stallion gave Max a pat on the back with one of his forehooves, almost driving the smaller stallion to his knees.
“Good,” said Fragrant, looking back and forth between the two stallions. “I will not be long.” She trotted back into her bedroom.
There was a long moment of silence as Thunderous seemed to measure Max with his eyes, and Max couldn’t help but think he came up rather wanting. “You run the Cloudsdale weather factories, don’t you?” he asked, trying to start a conversation.
“Yes, we provide weather to over seventy percent of Equestria. So, you and my sister?”
“Really, nothing happened last night... not that I didn’t want something to happen, she’s a beautiful mare... but she’s very special to me and...”
“Good,” growled Thunderous, turning to Max. His eyes were hard. “Because I can’t help but notice that she’d been crying recently. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he spat.
“Last night was very upsetting for her. I tried to help her as much as I could... I’d never want her to cry, ever.”
“What did happen last night? The newspaper reports are rather vague. The Princess called some sort of meeting, didn’t she?”
“It... Fragrant should probably explain it herself, but it was bad.”
Thunderous seemed to digest this for a moment. “Now, for some strange reason my sister seems to like you, Mounty, but what are your intentions towards her? A way to climb up the ladder? A notch on your bedpost?” he spat, stamping a large hoof on the ground. “She’s been hurt before, very badly. I won’t let that happen again.” He shook his head.
“No! I would never hurt Fragrant, she’s... she’s.... I don’t have the words, but I would rather die than cause her any pain.”
“You better, because if even one of those tears was because of you, then the only weather you will ever see again will be bad weather. In fact, if you really do care for her, you should just leave now, because you really don’t look good enough for her,” said Thunderous, drawing himself to his full height and towering over Max.
“That would be up to Fragrant, not you. If she doesn’t want me, then I would leave.”
“And what exactly would you do to stop me from making you leave?” he glared, pushing forwards against the smaller stallion.
Max took a step towards Thunderous, looking up and snorting so their muzzles almost touched. “Well, first I’d find a ladder,” he began. “Then I’d punch you in the mouth!”
Thunderous looked shocked for a moment. Then a grin spread across his face and he gave a barking laugh. “You know, I think I might like you, Baron Max. It’s a shame you seem to be dating my sister, or I might actually be your friend.” He threw an arm over Max’s back. “While we wait for Fragrant, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the family.”
Fragrant tidied herself up as quickly as she could – she didn’t want to leave Max and her brother together for too long, but she also didn’t want Thunderous to raise any more questions about her bedraggled state. She didn’t have time to brush out her mane so she quickly did it up in a practical bob and washed off her makeup. She abandoned her ruined dress; it was a shame, Suri had done a good job. She'd have to patronize her again in the future. For a moment she considered going to see her family unclothed – she could normally deal with them without aid – but having to talk about Max would probably put her under extra pressure. She thought for a moment and quickly threw on the first summer dress she found in her wardrobe. Checking the mirror, she at least looked equine, if not her best.
She nodded to herself and trotted off to the smallest dining room where she normally entertained any visiting family. There sat Thunderous, Edelweiss, Forming and Max; the latter looking a little awkward. “Oh, Fragrant, you look much better,” said Max, standing up. “Not that you didn’t look good earlier, because…”
“Thank you, Max,” said Fragrant, as she trotted over to the table. Max pulled out a chair, causing Edelweiss and Forming to share a look, and she sat down next to him with Thunderous on her other side. A light lunch – or breakfast from her and Max’s perspective – had been laid out by the staff. She began to select a range of vegetables and place them on her plate, and the others sitting around the table followed suit.
“So,” said Thunderous eventually. “How was the gala? I heard there was some sort of disturbance.”
“There was an,” she wasn’t sure how to describe the creature that had been apprehended, “Intruder, but she was captured by the guard before too much damage could be done.” Physical damage, anyway. The damage to the court's reputation, well, she still needed to sort out what to do about that. No need to bring any of her family into that yet, although Thunderous had no doubt heard most of what had occurred; she sometimes thought he had more contacts at court than she did. “The Princess briefed the court about the implications.” She shuddered a little. “I’ll talk to you about it later, and to Forming as well.” Should she still have her niece act as her proxy given what had happened? She would have to think about it.
Edelweiss finally pointed out the elephant in the room. “And Baron Max, what brings you here at zis time?”
“Oh, well, you see...” began Max hesitantly.
Fragrant bit her lip for a moment. She could probably make something up about an early meeting… she glanced at Max’s crumpled suit. No, she didn’t want the press to know about her new relationship, but these were her family – if she couldn’t trust them, who could she trust? “Max is a colleague, and a friend, and…” Fragrant felt herself tense. She had to get the words out. “And he is my coltfriend,” she said. The words felt good on her tongue. Max’s head shot around to Fragrant in surprise, but she put her hoof on his own. A goofy grin slowly spread over Max’s face and for a moment she thought he might start to cheer.
There was silence around the table for a moment. Edelweiss was the first to speak. “Oh zhat is marvellous!” she cried, stretching over the table to nuzzle Fragrant. “I knew you’d find somepony! However did you meet?”
“Oh, well, I’d just arrived in Canterlot and Fragrant was waiting at the station to greet me,” said Max.
“He wasn’t actually on the train, of course,” chided Fragrant. “He decided to climb the mountain and turned up several hours late, so I had to wait for him.”
“Making a mare wait, that iz bad form, baron,” chided Edelweiss.
“Climb the mountain?” piped up Forming.
“Yes, it’s, um, my mark. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it, and, well, the view is amazing.”
“Oh, I know! Whenever I’m in Canterlot I so want to sketch the Canterhorn, the sunrise can be magnificent.”
“I know just the place, there’s a ledge on one of the castle’s towers where you can see the sun rise over the whole city,” said Max excitedly.
“Zo where are you from?” asked Edelweiss. “Your accent, makes me think...”
Fragrant leaned back and let her families voices flow around her as they began to chat with Max, Thunderous still sounded a little disapproving but even he seemed to be warming up to Max. He really was hard to dislike. She still had to think about the court, but for the moment it seemed like nothing could go wrong.
The butler interrupted the conversation with a discreet cough. Fragrant looked up at the deceptively young-looking mare. “Yes?”
“There is a page here for you, madam.”
Fragrant frowned. What could this be about? “Show her in, please, Loyal.”
“Of course, madam.” Loyal Service turned before returning momentarily with a mare with an almost aggressively pink coat and mane.
“Duchess Posey,” said the mare formally. “The Princess requests a meeting with you at your earliest convenience.”
The blood seemed to freeze in her veins and Luna’s words from last night echoed around her head. Not more punishment, she thought. She must have paled, as she felt Max’s hoof come to rest on one of her forelegs, and a moment later her brother gripped her other foreleg. She tried to relax and think. The Princess had sent a page rather than a guard to summon her, and the wording of the request was standard; maybe this would just be a normal meeting? She doubted it, though. “Thank you,” she replied, trying to keep a waiver from her voice. “Please tell her majesty that I will attend her within the hour.”
The page bowed and turned, quickly galloping off.
“I could come in with you, you know,” said Max.
“The invitation was for me alone,” replied Fragrant a little regretfully. They were standing in a small waiting room in the castle. Thunderous and his family had been persuaded to stay back at the estate, but Max had insisted on coming with her.
“I don’t know what else she can have to say, after how she treated you last night.”
Fragrant once again tried to hold back a shudder – she remembered last night well. “This may not have anything to do with that. She might want to talk about business. The court may be closed, but the ministry of weather carries on all year.” She could hope.
“I suppose,” muttered Max. Then he leaned forward and put a leg around her. “I just don’t want to see you like that again.”
Fragrant felt her legs buckle for a moment, but Max held her up. Then she felt fresh strength flow into her. She sniffed, luxuriating in his scent.
“I’ll wait for you here,” suggested Max.
“No, you should go home and clean up. It’s been a long day for you.” He pulled back, taking his fragrance with him. “Once you’re done, try to arrange a meeting for us with Wallflower, or Sands if she’s unavailable. We need to talk about the rest of the court.”
Max nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good,” said Fragrant as the page from earlier opened the double door leading into the meeting room. With a last look at Max, Fragrant took a deep breath, drew herself up, and strode into the room.
The Princess was sitting at one side of a conference table. Fragrant trotted to a halt in front of her ruler. “Your highness.” She bowed, just a little lower than was required.
“Duchess,” said the Princess, nodding towards a seat opposite her. Fragrant sat as directed, butterflies starting to flutter in her stomach. “Thank you for being so prompt…”
“It is no problem, your majesty,” said Fragrant. “I had nothing planned for today, and I serve at your pleasure.”
Luna looked at her sharply for a moment, then her gaze became gentler. “Thank you.”
“Is anypony else going to be attending?” Fragrant glanced around the room. This was one of the smaller meeting rooms, designed to only seat half a dozen or so, but even given the Princess's size, the room seemed empty with just the two of them. Fragrant briefly wondered why the meeting was not being carried out in Luna’s chambers; maybe the princess did not want it to seem too informal?
“No I think only you and I will be necessary. You have recovered from last night?” she asked.
“I... I am sorry for my loss of control,” said Fragrant, lowering her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry again, she wasn’t!
“Don’t be,” said Luna, surprisingly gently. “Tears are honest. I am sorry I had to pick on you.” Then her tone hardened again. “I had great hopes for you, and it was disappointing to find out about your earlier misdeeds.”
For a moment Fragrant felt like arguing – it had been so long ago, and only once – but the Princess was right, wrong was wrong. “I am sorry I disappointed you, your majesty.”
“It has not just been the court. I and my representatives have had words with the castle and ministry staff. There will be investigations, many investigations into their actions, but still in some ways I am just as disappointed in myself. As I told the ponies of Ponyville, the actions of the Night Court are ultimately my own actions.”
Fragrant looked up, and for a moment met her gaze with the Alicorn of the night. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “We are responsible for our own actions.”
“It often seems that not all of your colleagues feel the same way. However, as a ruler you understand that you have a responsibility for those you rule and vice versa. I am responsible for all the ponies of Equestria, including the Night Court.” said Luna. “However, I did not summon you here to be entirely maudlin. There are matters of state to discuss.”
The Princess and Fragrant talked for the next hour about various weather ministry business; although some was quite urgent and several times Fragrant wished she had her notes or assistant on hoof, she was surprised. None of the matters discussed would require the Princess to be here in person. Fragrant began to believe that the meeting had some ulterior motive.
“I think we are just about done here, duchess,” said Luna at last. “Unless we have something else to discuss?”
“I do not think so, your majesty. I just want to once again apologize for my past lapse. I really do regret my actions.” Keep it together, she told herself, feeling her eyes start to water again. It always hurt to think of that time, and to have it brought up so painfully. Would the pain ever stop?
“I would like to accept your words, but sometimes words are not enough,” intoned Luna.
“Is there something I can do to regain your favour?” asked Fragrant, feeling a possible spot of hope.
“It is not just my favour you and the other courtiers need to regain – it is the trust of the ponies of Equestia. Your own actions may have been for their benefit rather than you own, but still they do not deserve such methods. You need to be the ruler the land deserves,” said Luna, getting to her hooves. She walked to the room’s large window, watching the afternoon sun glitter over the city below.
“I’ll do my very best, your majesty,” said Fragrant.
“I’m sure you will, as well a few others... Baron Max, Count Glowing Light, Vicereine Wallflower, Viceroy Ni... perhaps not.” She sighed. “But it is not enough. A house cannot stand with only a few solid beams. It may linger for a while, but a storm will still cause it to fall, and I fear my sister may be that storm. I may yet need to demolish the house and start again.”
“What more can I do?” asked Fragrant trying to keep the pleading from her voice.
Luna stiffened for a moment, and Fragrant feared that she would shout again. Then she relaxed. “You, I can forgive; your crime is relatively small and your remorse seems genuine. Though it still pains me, I had hoped you were better than this. But I cannot forgive you all, not without a sign, something to make me believe that the good in the court outweighs the bad. That my words from last night will actually sink in, that things will not return to how they were. Please, I need hope.” She was almost begging.
Fragrant sat looking at her Princess for a long moment before bowing again. “I will try.”
“I am sure you will, and I am glad you will not have to do this alone. A burden shared is a burden halved, as they say. I am sure you have a certain special somepony to help you,” she said with a small grin and a literal twinkle in her eye.
Fragrant felt her cheeks warm. Could she know about her and Max? How? “Y... yes, your majesty. May I go?”
“Of course, you are dismissed. Thank your for your service, Duchess Posey.”
Max felt a little overawed, surrounded as he was by a group of powerful mares. Once he had left Fragrant with the princess, he had quickly returned home to wash and change. He’d picked up Fragrant’s discarded socks from last night and decided to return them as quickly as possible; he didn’t want her to think he might be keeping them for... untoward purposes. Then he set off to try and arrange a meeting with the vicereine to discuss gathering the court; her office had been surprisingly empty, but he had eventually found an assistant willing to take a message to his employer, and he had quickly returned with a note. To Max’s surprise, it was not from Wallflower but her wife – Vicereine Consort Holly Bush – who had agreed to a meeting.
Max had spent a while finding a page to take a message to Fragrant once the Princess finished with her, and then finally waited for her to arrive. It hadn’t taken long. He’d been glad to see that she seemed calm after her meeting; he’d feared the Princess would have lambasted her again, but she even seemed a little upbeat. Unlike the vicereine, who sat slumped deep in her chair, staring into a large glass of brandy resting on her hoof. Next to Wallflower sat her wife, Holly. The two of them were a study in contrasts. Whereas Wallflower was short and plump, Holly was tall and thin; her pale blue coat and mint mane made her seem cold, and her eyes magnified through the lenses of her glasses made Max feel like she was studying him. However, currently she only had eyes for her wife.
“So it sounds like the Princess wants some sort of gesture from the court to show you’ve turned over a new leaf?” asked Holly.
“I think so. She wasn’t exactly clear,” said Fragrant, sitting in her own chair in front of the couple. Max was sitting off to one side in a slightly smaller chair; he felt like a foal sitting at the adults’ table.
“Well that’s something, she hasn’t entirely lost hope in the court then. We can do something to show her they’re not all bad, can’t we dear?” asked Holly turning to her wife.
“Doesn’t matter, there's no way she’ll trust us now, ” mumbled Wallflower, eyes still fixed on her drink. “Eight centuries my family’s ruled Canterlot, and I’m the one who brought it all tumbling down.”
“Oh, Blossom,” sighed Holly, reaching out and taking her wife’s hoof. “It’s not your fault, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Don’t be so bloody stupid,” cried Wallflower, suddenly animate, pulling her leg back. “It’s all my fault, I’m a vicereine, I’m supposed to be in charge! I run the diplomatic corps, of course I knew what the court was doing! But I was happy to just ignore it all because they weren’t trying to challenge me!” Holly backed away from her wife, startled by her outburst. “Oh, Holly, I’m sorry, I didn’t...” continued Wallflower, seeing the taller mare’s reaction.
Holly quickly composed herself and reached out to take her wife’s hoof again. “I know you don’t mean it, any of it. You’re a good mare. Now stop being so stupid and do something about it.”
“I... I don’t... how, how can we fix this? The whole court? There have already been resignations already, you know. Over a dozen. Most of them the old guard, ponies I’d expect to resign in a few years anyway, probably not got the stamina for a change, but young ones too. Good and bad ponies alike.”
“We need to gather as many of the court together as we can,” said Fragrant. “And we need to agree on what to do, how we can show the Princess that we really do want to do better.”
“Maybe,” muttered Wallflower. “But what could we propose? Some way to limit our powers? Some sort of check on the court?”
“Well,” said Max. The others in the room jumped a little as if they had forgotten he was there. “The Princess did mention replacing us with mayors. Maybe they could be given further powers, a sort of second court elected by the ponies?”
“That doesn’t seem very practical, Max,” said Fragrant. “Most mayors don’t have much experience at wider organisation. I don’t think they’d make a good court.”
Wallflower nodded. “Plus they get changed every few years; you really need longer to learn the ropes at court.”
“Well I was a mayor, you remember?” said Max, feeling a little snubbed. He thought his idea had been a good one.
“Yes, and see how hard you’ve found it?”
Max couldn’t really argue with that one. “Well, it was just a thought,” he mumbled.
“And not that bad of one,” said Wallflower. “A bit impractical, but you might be onto something about a big change.”
“Some sort of improved investigatory service, maybe? Something to crack down on general corruption?” said Fragrant. “Some of the ministries have them, but they normally focus on staff rather than the nobility, and of course they are run by the relevant ministers.” She herself headed a group involved in auditing weather managers; a distressing proportion of their budgets often went to other purposes.
“There is the Internal Affairs Bureau, it’s supposed to police the court,” pointed out Holly.
“That agency has been a joke for a long time now,” said Fragrant. Max hadn’t even heard of it.
“Mostly because the court’s spent the last hundred years or so limiting its power. It used to be an important organ of state after the big reshuffle of 802,” said Wallflower, tapping her muzzle with her hoof. “But it’s an idea, a start at least. I could probably push something through to strengthen it while court is ‘closed’.”
“No, the Princess doesn’t just want one or two of us to do this, she wants us all to show that this is what we want. Plus pushing things through without following procedure is something we’re trying to avoid.”
“I get your point, but the whole court agreeing?” said Wallflower with a raised eyebrow. “That’ll be like herding cats.” Next to her one of her orthros’s heads growled quietly while the other blinked sleepily.
“We’ve done it before. Remember the King Hindenburg rebuttal? We got unanimous support on that one.”
“Good point. I’ll see what I can do,” said Wallflower, leaping out of her chair, seemingly energised. She downed her drink in a single gulp and slammed the glass down into the table. Next to her, both heads of her pet perked up. “Holly, if you could get on that speaking cable thing and try to get in touch with the closer provinces and get their courtiers back here, I’ll try to light a fire under some of the higher-ups.”
“It’s called a telegraph, dear,” sighed Holly.
“I know, Holly-Wally,” said Wallflower giving her wife a kiss on the cheek. “Come on, Liebe, Toleranz, the game is ahoof!” called Wallflower as she galloped towards the door, followed by the bounding dog-like creature.
Holly smiled as her wife thundered off. “That’s the Wallflower I married,” she mumbled. “Once we’ve gathered everypony together, shall we all meet up in the banqueting hall at, say, sunset?” she asked.
“I think that will work,” agreed Fragrant. “Come on, baron, we have work to do.”
“Of course,” said Max prizing himself out of his chair. “What do you want me to do?”
Fragrant paused for a moment, cocking her head in thought. “I’ll try the manors in the city, you check if anypony is still in their offices.”
“On it,” agreed Max as the two of them rushed out into the castle.
“Er, hello?” called Max. “Is anyone in?” The only answer was silence. Max sighed; he hadn’t been very successful so far. Almost all of the offices he had approached had been empty, as might be expected with the court closed for the summer. A few had had servants present, but they usually didn’t know where their masters were and often only had more questions for Max; rumours of what had happened last night were already rife.
So far Max had only found two nobles. Baronet Slime Ball had been holed up in his office, working on a resignation letter; after some quite firm prodding on Max’s part, he had agreed to put it aside for the moment and come to the meeting. He’d been less successful with Countess Glory Days; she had been packing when he found her and had literally run away from Max rather than discuss the situation. He didn’t want to think about what Luna had found out that had scared the mare so badly.
Still, there were quite a few offices still to search through, thought Max. He was certain he could find some more courtiers to come to the meeting. The next door was quite simple, only having a maple leaf and a sign noting it’s owner was Duke Greengrass on it. Max paused. He didn’t like the stallion much; he’d tricked him in the past and didn’t seem to take his work seriously. Max considered not even trying for a moment, but he did recall that the duke had given him the idea of taking Brave Heart to the Princess. He guessed he did owe him something, so he reached out with a hoof and knocked on the door.
He waited for a moment, and was about to try the next door when it opened to reveal a white mare. “Baron Max?” asked Notary. “What can I do for you?”
“Oh, um, is the duke in?” asked Max.
“I am afraid that Duke Greengrass is,” she paused for a moment, seeming to think, “indisposed at the moment.”
“Who is it, Notary?” came a loud call. The white mare visibly winced.
“It is Baron Max, sir,” she called back.
“Max? Show him in, Notary.”
For a moment it seemed like the mare was going to argue, but she bit her tongue. “The duke will see you now, sir,” she said.
Max carefully trotted into the room. Several half-filled boxes and bags were spread around the office. There were several tables around the walls containing a number of lush potted plants; a few had small magical lights floating above them, providing them with their own climate.
Greengrass himself was in the inner office just visible from the door. “Ah Mounty,” he cried as Max approached. “Good to see you. What brings you here? Come to tell me I’ve been a naughty, naughty colt?” His tail lashed about, apparently unnoticed by its owner.
“Are you alright?” asked Max as he cautiously approached.
“Oh, I’m fine,” he said, smiling just a fraction too widely. “Just getting ready to return to Caneighda for the summer. What can I do for you?”
“Duchess Posey and Vicereine Wallflower are arranging a meeting for as much of the court as possible, to try and find a way to apologize to the Princess and to stop further corruption, and, well, I thought you might like to take part.”
A frown spread over Greengrass’s face. “Are you sure you’re talking to the right stallion?”
“We need to get everypony we can. We all need to decide how to deal with this, how we can do better.”
“I think I’m doing quite well, thank you.” He grinned. “Things might look a little r-rocky right now,” a light sweat broke out on his brow,”but it’ll all blow over given a little time. Lucky it’s the summer holiday now, isn’t it.”
Max couldn’t believe how calmly the duke was acting. “Look, you heard what the Princess said last night! Any more games and she’ll shut down the whole court!”
“Did she really? I might have missed that b-bit.” He glanced towards the inner office where Notary was still packing, gently laying a picture of a small herd of white ponies in a box. “That must have been what Countess Days was going on about, she seemed a bit upset. Still, I’m sure Luna doesn’t really mean it, probably just a few slaps on the hooves and that’ll be that, business as usual.”
“Missed it? How could you miss it? The whole court was summoned by the Princess!” Now that Max thought about it, he couldn’t remember seeing Greengrass in the throne room.
“Well, I didn’t get it.” The Duke shrugged. “I was doing some thinking, getting introspective, I don’t recommend it.” He paused for a moment, seeming to be unsure if he should continue. “You know what the court reminds me of? A weed. And they’re persistent things, weeds, you pull them up and leave even the smallest bit of root and they’ll be back. Besides, it’s hardly like I’m the worst of the bunch, I never burned down a factory, for instance. I’ll be fine.”
“How do you know it’ll work that way? Luna may remove us all. She said none of us are clean and she wouldn’t tolerate anything more.”
Greengrass leaned back looking relaxed, although his still thrashing tail and dipped ears put the lie to that. “There’s no way the Princess will disband the court. She needs us. The mayors would run this place into the ground. If she was smart she’d take personal control, but she’s afraid of becoming a tyrant like her sister was.”
Max shook his head. The duke didn’t seem to understand how urgent this was. “Look, are you going to come to this meeting? I don’t really like you all that much, but you seem to be a smart pony, most of the time. We could probably do with your help.”
Greengrass stared hard at Max. He blinked. He blinked again. “You really think the Princess is going to disband the court, don’t you? And you’ve come to me to try and get me to help make the court a better place? Did you perhaps miss me announcing to the world that I wanted to depose the Princess and rule in her place last night?” he asked.
Max’s jaw dropped. It was several minutes until he could speak. “Um, actually I did, I was rather, er, distracted when the truth potion was in effect.”
“Well, I did.”
“Oh, well, I suppose we all think we should be in charge now and again. I’m sure you felt bad about it once you’d said it.”
“Yes, of course I did,” Greengrass paused for a moment. “But only because I ended up saying it to the Princess's face.”
Max was flabbergasted. “But how can you say that?”
“Because I believe it! The court would be so much better if I was in charge.”
“You saw that the court was corrupt and wanted to fix it?” asked Max. Maybe Greengrass would be useful in figuring out how to reform the court after all.
“Yes. The Princesses rule is archaic, inefficient, she is out of touch with modern times. I could do much better, usher Equestria into a golden age.”
“So you think things would be better for the common pony if you were in charge?”
“Yes I do.” He paused for a moment. “Sort of.” And another. “Look, stop twisting my words to make them sound noble!”
Max smiled a bit. “I think you might be a better pony than you think you are,” he said. “If you’re interested, we’re meeting at the banqueting hall at sun down. I’ve got to be off now. At least think about it.” Max turned and, with a wave to Notary, which she confusedly returned, headed back out into the castle.
Greengrass sat there for a long time, staring into the distance. “Notary!” he called. The mare stuck her head into the office, a neatly folded knitted tea cosy resting on one hoof.
“Yes, sir?”
“Am I a good pony?” he asked.
Notary opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it again. She remained deep in thought for a long time. “I don’t know sir, I do not think I would work for an entirely evil pony. If that were the case, I’m sure Corona would pay a decent wage for a good contact in the court.”
“Is that your way of asking for raise?”
“Of course not, sir, although given what Baron Max said, our position may become rather more difficult in the coming months. Anyway, do you think you are? A good pony, I mean.”
“I didn’t think I was, but... but Caneighda’s doing well, isn’t it?”
“Yes sir, production is up, as is life expectancy and wealth.”
“How did that happen?”
“We are good at our jobs, sir.”
“And it was... fun?”
“Well I have generally enjoyed our time together.”
“I think I might have a meeting to attend, at least to find out what is said, and a pay rise may be in order for you. We wouldn’t want you defecting to Corona. I’m not sure Equestria could survive it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Max trotted into his office, hoping for a few minutes’ peace before his meeting with the court. He’d just returned from a quick trip into the city itself to alert the guard to Dirt Digger’s activities. However, when they got to his house it was deserted, and when they finally got one of his neighbours to talk, they explained that apparently Dirt had left rather hurriedly with most of his possessions that morning, apparently scared off by somepony. Max wondered who, but it didn’t seem important right now. Buttercup would be safe from his advances, for the moment anyway.
To Max’s surprise he found Mrs G lying on top of her desk, covered in a knitted blanket snoring quietly. She stirred as he entered and opened her eyes to blink blearily at him. He stared at her for a moment before rushing over and helping her off the table. She rubbed her head with a hoof. “Cuine?” she mumbled.
“Not long until sunset,” replied Max, “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, the party went on a wee bit late. I think I might have been a little air mhisg, I wasn’t sure if I could make it home so I guess I decided to sleep here.” She smacked her lips and Max took his cue to start to heat some water at the office’s small gas stove to make tea.
“Why didn’t you use the cot in my room?” he asked.
The old nanny opened her mouth for a moment, then frowned and closed it before glaring at him.
“Never mind,” he said, returning to making the tea.
“Just a touch of the hair of the dog for me,” noted Mrs G. “Is there something you’d like to tell me, Max?” Max turned to see her pointing towards the trailing end of one of Fragrant’s socks, sticking out of his saddle bags. How long had it been hanging out like that?
“The-they’re not mine!”
“I guessed that. Why are you carrying a mare’s unmentionables around with you?”
“They’re Fragrant’s!”
Mrs Gobhar raised an eyebrow and smiled gently. “I take it last night went well, then?”
“Yes! Well, no, it was horrible!”
“Horrible?” asked Mrs G, sounding confused.
Max slumped into his chair and started to tell his assistant the story of the joyous and terrible events of last night. The goat sat there, sipping her tea and chewing the cud.
“Oh, Max.” She sighed. “The Princess had no right to treat you like that. I’ve got half a mind to tell her what I think of her.”
“But she’s the Princess, Mrs G, and what I did was wrong.”
“Doesn’t give her the right to act that way. And why was it wrong? No one got hurt.”
“No, it was illegal,” he said with finality. “But beyond that, what are we going to do about the Princess?”
“I think you’re on the right track, try to get the court to apologize to her. Maybe some sackcloth and ashes?”
“I’m not sure if that would go down well with the court.” He gave a smile at the thought of some of the prissier nobles – Viscount Blueblood for example – deliberately dirtying themselves in that way.
“Well I’m sure you, or Fragrance, will come up with something. That mare’s got brains even if she doesn’t know her heart.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well it took her long enough to do something about you, didn’t it?”
“But how long...” sad Max gawping.
“I don’t know for certain, but I’d guess the first time she met you, give or take a few days.”
“But why didn’t she...”
“You’d need to ask her that, Max. Now,” she put down her cup, “I think we have a meeting to go to.”
“Oh, you don’t need to come.”
“I think you’ll need all the support you can get,” she said, walking a little stiffly towards the door. “Although maybe we can stop at the kitchens on the way? I fancy something sweet.”
“The meeting’s in one of the dining rooms.”
“Even better!”
The banqueting hall was worryingly empty by the time Max and Mrs G got there. Only a small huddle of maybe half a dozen nobles sat in one corner, including Fragrant, Wallflower and Holly. Baron Fields and Buttercup were also present, the old stallion studiously ignoring Max. While Mrs G veered off to find a staff member to order food from, Max bounded up to Fragrant and was about to embrace her, when she held out a hoof, her eyes flickering towards the others. Oh, he thought as his heart sunk and he shook the offered hook, they were supposed to be a secret.
“I am glad you made it, Max,” said Fragrant slightly woodenly. “Did you manage to find anypony?”
“Only half a dozen agreed to make it, I’m afraid.”
Fragrant sighed. “I had a little more success, maybe two dozen. Many have already left the city for their estates or are too scared to act.”
“I think I’ve managed to rustle up another fifty,” said Wallflower, trotting over. “Puissance still doesn’t seem to grasp that this thing affects her as much as anypony else, she doesn’t think the princess would act against her. I talked to Night Light and I think he’ll make it. We should get a few more by word of mouth.”
“Will that be enough for the Princess?” asked Fragrant.
“Who knows! Even if they turn up, getting them organised will be even harder.”
“Surely once they all realise we have to work together, they’ll co-operate, it’s for the best of Equestria and the whole court,” said Max.
“Let’s hope so,” said Fragrant. She felt Max gently lean against her in support and couldn’t help but lean back. Wallflower glanced at them and raised an eyebrow. Fragrant blushed and leapt aside so quickly Max almost fell over.
Slowly more and more nobles started to file into the room, in ones and twos and the occasional small group. Most stood apart guiltily, trying not to meet each other’s gazes. A few chatted in hushed tones. It seemed like none of the court were unaffected by last night’s castigation. Max noticed that Greengrass was one of the last to arrive, standing alone near the back with most of his peers trying to keep their distance from him.
Finally the trickle stopped, and as the moon rose outside the castle, Max estimated the final number to be a bit over a hundred, not far off half the court.
Seeing that as many ponies as could be expected had turned up, Wallflower stepped forwards to speak; to one side of her, Holly, to the other, Fragrant, the three mares standing tall. Off to one side stood Max, trying to look supportive.
“Quiet down everypony,” called Wallflower. The background chatter cut out and every eye turned to the short mare. Used to being the centre of attention, the vicereine continued to speak. “We were all present for Luna’s...” she paused for a second. “For Luna yelling at us like we were naughty foals last night. And you know most... that we all deserved it.” The crowd looked back and forth between each other guiltily. “Now, I’ve called us all together to try and do something about it, to prove to the Princess that we really deserve her forgiveness. It’s not going to be easy.” She let her words sink in for a moment. “But I think if we all...”
“There’s only one way to deal with this situation,” came a shout from the floor. Baronet Slime Ball stepped forwards. “We should all resign! Fall on our spears before the Princess fires us all! It’s the only honourable way out, let our successors start with a clean slate, its better than leaving the country in the hooves of the mayors!”
Loud chatter broke out at the Baronet's announcement. “He’s right, the mayors are all corrupt anyway,” called a pink maned mare.
“Don’t be crazy,” came another cry.
“Well I certainly don’t need to resign,” came a third. “Maybe your conscience is too guilty, but I’m sure the Princess will forgive me, right?” it begged.
Holding his head high, Slime Ball began to march toward the exit to the hall, one of two other nobles following him. On the way, Jet Stream stopped him and shared a few words, before the stallion shook his head and left the room.
“Stop!” cried Fragrance from the front of the crowd. “We can’t just despair and give up! We need to show the princess we can act fairly, that we can do her proud.” One of the stallions about to leave part turned and seemed to weigh her words before shaking his head and carrying on.
“What would you know?” came a cry from the floor. “Miss just one bribe! Luna singled you out, how do you know she’ll ever forgive you?”
Fragrant paled for a moment, then seemed to rally and stood forwards again. She tried to speak but Wallflower got there first. “Luna told us we were all corrupt, everypony! There is no need to single out scapegoats.” Out of the corner of his eye Max noticed Mrs G glaring at this slur.
The crowd quietened to a grumble.
“We all need to work together,” continued Wallflower. “Now, we all have certain agents we use to gain information on each other, certain compromised individuals we know in others’ organisations.” Many of the ponies around started to nod thoughtfully. Fragrant looked at her mentor in shock. “Most of us do, anyway. I am willing to release the names of any contacts I may have if you all will. We can take them to the Princess and she can decide what to do about them. We can all clean house, and start on a level playing field.”
“What about those courtiers not here!” called Kibitz. “They get to keep their agents?”
“We can try to put through legislation to tighten up security later, but we need to show to Luna now that we are willing to try a different way!”
“How do we know you’ll actually give up all your agents? You have the whole Diplomatic Corps behind you! This could be a trap, we give up our sources and you keep most of yours.”
“Yeah!” called another pony.
“The Vicereine wouldn't do that,” came another cry.
Max looked on in astonished horror. He couldn’t believe how split the court was. If this was a vote on some farming subsidy he could understand it, but this was an important matter. Couldn’t they just trust each other? “Look, we all need to work together, it’s for the good of Equestria,” called Max into the chaos.
“That’s easy for you to say. Who are you anyway?” called a stallion from the crowd. “You haven't been in court long enough to build up a network. It’s no loss to you!”
“Besides,” argued Countess Quill, “doesn’t our sources let us hunt for corruption in each other? This could just make things worse.”
“That is what the Internal Affairs Bureau is for,” came a voice from the back of the hall. The crowd turned to see Night Light standing there. “Its remit includes corruption amongst courtiers and their staff.”
“Its only a paper tiger,” cried Archduchess Nobility. “It has no real power and even less resources. Perhaps the guard could take over the role?”
The crowd seemed less than enthused at that idea.
“The powers and funding of the Bureau could be increased,” added Night Light.
“Such a good idea,” said Greengrass. “And that particular organisation is part of the Ministry for the Interior, is it not? One of your ministries?
Nightlight opened his mouth, then closed it and nodded.
“And of course, viceroy, you would never use your own powers to carry out a personal vendetta, would you?” his words hung in the air for a moment. “Oh wait, I’m sure the ponies of Ponyville would disagree.”
Further arguments rang across the room, growing louder and louder. Wallflower tried to call for order, but her voice was drowned out by the hubbub. Max hopped onto one of the tables and reared up before slamming his forelegs onto it; with a loud echoing snapping sound, the table splintered into two. Max staggered a little but managed to keep his balance as the courtiers all turned to him in surprise. “We all need to work together!” he yelled. “Surely we can all agree that we need to do something to show the Princess we want to make things better?”
There was a grumble from the crowd. Mellow stepped forwards. “I agree that we need to put our disagreements behind us. The events after the Gala showed that we need to all work together to gain the Princesses trust.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d like us to think that!” cried Kibitz. “Get us to trust you, then show your true self, like you did with my daughter!”
“That was the truth potion,” said Mallow, looking pale.
“Yes, it showed us the truth, the truth of what a perverted pony you are! I never should have trusted you after what your grandmother did! I will never stand alongside a scion of house Dramatic!”
“We can’t let petty squabbles separate us,” cried Fragrance. “We must put aside our feuds.” She looked out upon the crowd. “You know of the long history of distrust between Cloudsdale and Los Pegasus? Well, I have managed to settle my differences with Marquis Jet Stream.” She gestured towards the pegasus who, after a moment’s hesitation, stepped forwards and linked her wing with her former enemy. The two of them stood as one in front of the court.
This was it, thought Max, this was when the court would start to work together, would see that mending their ways was best for them and for all of Equestria, and it would be Fragrant who would be remembered for bringing them all together. He was so proud.
Then the shouting started again, as everypony seemed to want to talk at once and all to say different things. Wallflower and Fragrant once again tried to regain order, but nopony would listen. Accusations of past and current offences flew this way and the other, suggestions were made and ignored. Max looked on is numb shock at the government of Equestria. Then, one by one, the crowd started to leave, abandoning any pretence of harmony. Max knew he should do something, get them back, make them listen to sense, but it just seemed so hopeless, he felt numb. He glanced over at Fragrant, whose face was plastered with the same emotions that he felt.
Did the government of Equestria even deserve to survive this?
And here we are, sorry for the delay, I hope this was worth the wait.
As always thanks to Mooncalf for his editing services and to Grass and Clouds2, Rainbowdoubledash and RK Striker JK 5 for their pre-reading and comments.
I've got another 2 and a half chapters to go in Mountain season one and I'm hoping to get them up one a week from this time on so it's done by the end of the year.
Oh and here's my attempt at Fragrant's family including dangerous who you haven't met yet.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
851 users online
1,249,068 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I lost it here.
Gosh but Thunderous is large. No wonder Rainbow Dash tagged his daughter with the nickname FlutterSHY.
5345661
I think he's described as being over a head and a half taller than Dash in Carrot Top of the Line, and given ponies are about 30% head that's a lot.
Very intriguing stuff n_n
Wish I could say something more than the fact that this story continues to be among my top five best in the Lverse. I continue to love Mounty Max as a character and it was great seeing him and Fragrant finally get their feelings for each other out in the open (even if it took a magic poison of truth to get it to happen). I also very much enjoyed Buttercup's scene with Fragrant, showing just how strong she is to be able to let Max go and support him being with Fragrant while also making it clear she wants him to be happy. She's a good, supportive friend.
Really, seeing good ponies like this in the Night Court did need to happen so much sooner in the Lunaverse, but its good to have it now. With this caught up to the end of Season 1 I'm curious to see what kind of adventures and situations these characters will get up to during Season 2's run. The L6 are mostly out and about doing Knightly adventures, and there should be less scheming among the Night Court, which makes me wonder what Max and Fragrant will be doing in the meantime? Preparing for Corona's attack on Canterlot? Working to repair long term damage from the Night Court's older activities? Just figuring out where their relationship is going to go? Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to more.
Fragrant and Max snuggles! Makes my day to see the chapter start like that.
Oh lordy, so for years Fragrant has been blaming her loss on her one mistake of dishonestly acquiring the funds for a maternity ward? Thanks for ripping that scar open, Luna.
You had to know that last inclusion would make me happy, heh. This'll be my favorite fic in the 'verse forever if we really truly get to see Night Light's redemption on-screen in it.
Max lost his wonderfully terrible hat! Yes and/or no!!!
This conversation with Thunderous is the best possible thing. Smelly and Boom Boom, bwhahahahaha!
Poor Max. Other than Fluttershy, Fragrant's entire family seems to be rather larger than life. On the other hand, Max's climbing hobby might be right up their collective alley.
That page is totally Luna.
Hmn, well at least Luna kind of apologized to her. "I'm sorry I had to publicly humiliate you, but you completely deserved it".
Arrrrggggh.
Oh yeah, that page had to be Luna.
Hmn, Wallflower seems like quite the go-getter once she's properly motivated. Nice. And giving the Internal Affairs Bureau some nice sharp teeth is probably a great start to that change Luna is looking for, though I'm not convinced it'll be enough to punch through her despair.
Hahaha, never change, Max.
Wow, that meeting sure didn't go very well. I suppose it's technically not over yet, maybe something will happen to turn it around next chapter.
5346997
Given her description she's supposed to be Paperweigh but there's no reason why it can't be Luna I suppose.
Luna: It's been a lot cheaper to run the palace since I started to employ only myself.
Page-Luna: Wait, we're not getting paid for this?
Luna: Quiet me!
Damnit, didn't notice this was up (stupid Library thing doesn't light up when there's a new story these days), and now I have to go to work...
5345897
I've got various idea's for season 2, I'm hoping to write it more or less in real time, so a chapter or 2 each month covering a month of time in story. I've got a few idea's for plots although I'm certainly open to ay suggestions.
As there have been a few stories that feature Max, Fragrant or the court so I'll still have a few 'cross-overs' as it were: -
Concert will bring Fragrant on a visit to see her niece
Just Us features Max and Greengrass's relationship and has it's own sort of unwritten prequel, the Duke Abides
You talked about having Max and / or Fragrant at least Cameo in your own Contest and I'm delighted at that depending on how big a part they are I can fill in around or deal with the fall out of anything that happens then
And of course end of season events will effect my cast as well as the whole world as may the world tour depending on exactly what happens.
As for non cross over stuff well: -
You can't go home again - A few chapters about what's been happening to Nulpar while Max has been away
Max making a serious political blunder which Fragrant can't immediately fix, showing he's got to work harder on his political skills
More on the Equal rights sub pots
The introduction of Inkie Pie and Marshal Blueblood as supporting cast
A look into Fragrant's early years at court and previous relationships
The growing relationship between Max and Fragrant as it progresses and the issues surrounding Fragrants wish to keep things secret
An odd couple relationship between Max and Greengrass
A betrayal by somepony (or maybe two someponies) close to Fragrant
5346997
Night Light's redemption is not due in the short term I'm afraid, however, I would say you've seen him at his lowest and I don't plan for him to do worse (others might though) and yes eventually he we be better, although probably not until Twilight gets back.
As discussed above Thunderous was originally described as verging on the gigantic (probably a little under Mac scale), Max is a touch below average for a stallion while Fragrant is a touch taller than him. Edelweiss as an ex-model has a build much like Fleur (although after three foals things are a bit less pert than they used to be) and is taller than average.
These gene's have carried on to most of their foals, Fluttering (in my head anyway) is taller than average (I think her Equestria girls version was taller than the other girls but I can't immediately find a picture so it might be my imagination) making her about her aunts height. Forming has taken after her father and is basically an amazon although that makes her considered somewhat unattractive in traditional Equestrian terms (She's rather 'butch'), Dangerous isn't quite full grown but he's below average height and has inherited her mothers body type making him look at best somewhat androgynous and down right feminine to most ponies.
5348894
*It's About Time style freak-out*
Gods, I hope not, or if they do that it doesn't pass the quorum. That sort of character development for him is what I've been campaigning against this entire time, hell, that's why I pushed back so hard when you had him vote against Fragrant's bill while glaring down at her. Every story including him makes him a worse pony, and that leads to every subsequent story making him even worse in turn.
How I long for the days of season one, pre-ATGGG Lunaverse when Twilight's father was never described as anything other than an honorable stallion.
Anyway, I meant larger than life as in the idiom, not an actual description. Though yeah, Boom Boom is apparently pretty large too.
5349115
Sorry to scare you, I'm not saying I know of anyone planning to use the character just that I don't own the character in any way. I have some idea's for using him going forwards (after all he did marry a mare much more politically powerful than himself) but if someone else uses him first well I'll bend my plans to match theirs.
If you want to do a redemption for him maybe you can think of something that fits the something ends / something begins challenge we have this month?
5349129 Haha, heart attack averted.
Regarding the writing prompt idea... I have not done any creative writing in like 15 years. I'll have to think on that, I suppose.
5349139
Well the writing challenges last year was how I got into writing, I think their a nice low pressure way to give it a go.
What's the worst that can happen?
5349216 Oh man, in the few hours since I read this and drove home while thinking I keep coming up with concerns that are making me hesitant to try. Concerns about starting a new time commitment on top of my existing full time job and various fandom commitments (mostly an imagined requirement to comment on certain stories). Concerns that I don't really have the proper understanding of the overall 'verse storyline to reasonably write a story in it, or that such a story will be terribly received because every member of the Lunaverse group other than me hate Night Light with the passion of RK. Even concerns that I'll somehow show myself to be a reader with lots of opinions but no writing chops to back them and therefore a waste of time on the site.
Heh, concerns that I've owned Dragon Age Inquisition for a full month and haven't played a moment of it yet.
5349718 : I don't think everyone hates Night Light. And I, for one, would like to see what you come up with.
5349718
It's ultimately up to you but my first attempt ended up with this piece of... not very good writing. But I was hardly ridiculed for it.
The advantage of the challenge stories is that they aren't normally there to be canon, they're there to let writers cut loose a bit more and not have to worry about fitting things to the storyline that much, but they can still be canon if things work out. You get to feel some things out and just try them without any pressure.
As for the commitment, yeah, I know that problem, I keep meaning to cut back but more idea's come up, hence it currently being 3am here. It's just you choice to give it a go or not.
Okay, I'm back.
I love this bit, 'cause it's like a teenager talking to her parents for the first time, even though Fragrant is pushing 40, if I recall correctly.
Hey, Luna's been under a lot of pressure lately! So what if she has an extra helping of cake after every meal? It's comfort food!
Just got a flash to one of Ten's Christmas episodes; the one with Kylie Minogue and the Starship Titanic.
"Huh, they really do that."
Fun botanical fact I learned while doing some research about weeding for Greengrass: there is literally no difference between a weed and any other plant, except whether or not you want it in your garden. It's all about perspective.
That would actually be hilarious to see. It's possible that half the problems with Celestia and Luna could be solved if they had just had a grandmotherly figure to talk down to them on occasion.
Reminded of a line of mine in another fic. "You are so lucky mom and dad are just abstract concepts of light and shadow or I would so tell on you!"
5349775
The ages I'm currently going with (they change every few days) are Fragrant is 42-43, Max is 34-35, Buttercup 22-23, Rolling in his 80s and Mrs G mumble mumble.
There are actually some 'weeds' that can only grow on cultivated ground, they've evolved so closely with humans they need up to survive, and we don't want them around.
This is a good chapter, but I believe that the job Paige is Paige.
I work with ElectionMathematics. The way I would design a legislature is with 3 Houses:
* An House of Proportional Representation elected using Asset-Voting.
* An House of Local Representation with Districts draw using the algorithm SplitLine and members elected using Approval Voting.
* An House of Regions with members chosen using Approval Voting.
The Houses of Local Representation and Proportional representation have the cube-Root of the Population of Equestria as members. The Houses of Proportional Representation Local Representation approve sections of bills using >50% is approved. The sections go to the House of Regions where they are edited into complete bills. If the complete bills get >50% of the House of Regions to approve them, they go back to all 3 houses. If each house gives over >50% approval, they go to the Executive Elected Popularly Using Approval Voting who either signs the bill into law or vetoes it. The houses can overturn a veto if >⅔ of each house votes to do so.
* Approval Voting
* AssetVoting
* Shortest SplitLine
Loved this chapter. I think my favorite detail was Notary having a knitted tea cozy; I think we all know which goat is fond enough of knitting to make some presents for her new friends in Canterlot. Friendship amongst the staff is always a lot of fun, and I can just see Grobnar and Notary exchanging presents, and stories about their bosses. Get Pokey in there and the story would pretty much write itself. :-)
5349775
I can just see Grobnar chewing Luna out for being mean to Max. For all of Luna's years and experiences, that would probably be a new one on her.
I really have no idea how to feel about this chapter. Some things worked, like Greengrass and his little breakdown...yet others felt just flat out wrong, like Max twisting Greengrass out to be more noble than he is, as if all the ponies live's he has ruined, all the careers he's cut short, and above all, the hypocritical actions he takes and treats as a game are okay because he wants to fix the court(which is still a part of the character I find impossible to believe) . And all of that is made worse with Night Light going from a courtier who has done, IIRC, only one truly corrupt act (and the motivation behind it wasn't even all that evil, either) , to somepony with almost zero possibility of being as good as he should be, as if any and all good things he has done in the past are null and void. I just...I can't wrap my head around how many people want to redeem Greengrass, yet basically make no effort to even suggest that Night Light is anything but irredeemable slime.
On another note, I find it rather...alarming that Grobnar sees no problem with letting illegal medical procedures be performed on somepony without consent. Seriously, is she just ignoring how flat out wrong that is?
Oh, YES! Screw you, Night Light!
5348894
I don't think he deserves any. He's been shown as utter scum with a vengeance streak a light-year wide. His redeemable factors have been few and far between, if any of them at all. Screw him and toss him into a volcano!
5349721
I do. He's a ruined character for me. I honestly hate his guts and wish him pain.
Anyway, great chapter. I love Max and Fragrant. I think Luna's a hypocritical ass considering some of her own past actions, though.
I wonder how that would affect poor Octavia. And what Luna would think of her.
5364124
This.
His daughter screwed up big time. Yeh, Trixie goaded her, but Twilight did the damage, then ran.
Night Light was going to let innocent ponies suffer, because his daughter was never taught right from wrong. And had the entitlement mindset that says, anything she wanted to do was ok. Look at all the laws she broke before Ponyville.
Rather than think 'gee, maybe we should have spent more time being parents and less time being 'Nobles' '. He tried to punish Trixie, when Twilight was in the wrong. And Shining is just as bad. He seemed to want to get back at Trixie more than see to it his dangerous sister was arrested.
Luna should punt them and that douche-nozzle Fisher into the sun.
I'm yayme, and I approve this message.