599 - Funding Goal
“This wasn’t the deal.”
Willow didn’t answer Dark Streak immediately, instead taking a slow, deep breath to calm herself. It didn’t escape her notice that she’d been doing that a lot lately. “This was exactly the deal. You wanted half the money up front, plus coverage for your expenses. There it is.”
Willow pointed at the slips of paper sitting on her kitchen table, untouched since she’d put them down barely a minute ago. For her part, Dark Streak’s eyes narrowed dangerously, the griffon making no move to pick up the pieces of parchment. “I wanted actual money, not a bunch of IOUs.”
“They’re promissory notes.”
“They’re worthless is what they are!” hissed Dark Streak, glancing at the papers in disdain. “They’re all pledged to someone named Blueblood, which means only they can redeem them!”
Now it was Willow’s turn to narrow her eyes, not in anger but in concern. The last time Dark Streak had stood in her kitchen, she’d been calm to the point of being unflappable. Now, she was visibly agitated, tense and demanding where before she’d been cool and unconcerned. What had happened?
No, decided Willow a second later. That’s the wrong question. What I should be trying to figure out is how to make sure I don’t upset her even more. The fact that Dark Streak had broken into her house in the middle of the day – a troubling revelation which the assassin's assurances that she'd done so unseen had failed to assuage, since Willow didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if Sunflower had been here and she hadn’t been; thankfully, he was out, helping his friends try and get cutie marks in scooter construction (which seemed oddly specific) before they got ready for the talent show tonight – was bad enough. If she flew off the handle, Willow knew things could get much worse in a hurry.
Keeping her voice level and her movements slow and visible, she nodded toward the papers on the table. “You need to look closer. Blueblood already signed each of those, and added instructions to them all saying that the full balance listed therein should be paid to the bearer of each note. Altogether, they add up to fifty-four thousand two hundred nineteen bits, which covers the first half of the money and, I trust, whatever expenses you’ve accumulated.”
The explanation didn’t make Dark Streak’s expression any less sour, but after a moment she snorted and picked up the stack of promissory notes, looking through them one by one. “These are all from ponies in different cities,” she groused as she glanced between them. “Whinnyapolis. Baltimare. Fillydelphia. I’ll need to track them all down one by one.” She scowled as she glanced at Willow again. “You couldn’t have cashed these in ahead of time?”
Willow shrugged, keeping her tone light and airy. “You’d rather I had half a ton of coins piled up here for you to haul away? Because I’m guessing those bags of yours can’t carry that much.” That much she felt sure of. While magic items weren’t exactly cheap back on Everglow, they were hardly the exclusive purview of the rich either, with extradimensional storage containers being one of the more popular items sold. But there were limits on how much those could hold, she knew, and pushing those limits would cause the price to rise steeply.
But Dark Streak only scoffed as she shoved the promissory notes into one of her bags. “I’d rather you exchanged these for this country’s play money and then converted that into something with actual worth, like high-value gems.”
Willow shook her head. “They don’t have those here.”
Dark Streak raised a brow, her demeanor seeming calmer now. “I saw gemstones all over the place in Canterlot.”
“None of which are worth very much,” explained Willow, “Equestria might be rich with gems, but despite their cut and polish, they’re extremely brittle, and don’t stand up to damage well. Just dropping them on the ground can cause them to shatter. No one uses them to represent large sums here.”
“Of course not,” huffed Dark Streak, and Willow felt a slight pang of sympathy for the assassin. On Everglow, gems were the medium of choice for moving huge quantities of money around, since they were tough, compact, and could be worth hundreds or even thousands of gold coins. Finding out that Equestria’s gemstones were fragile commodities of only minor value had been difficult to accept, since at a glance they looked like they should be worth a small fortune. “So they normally use these statements of debt instead?” continued the assassin. “Forgery must run rampant here.”
Willow had thought that at first too, but for all that Equestria was the land of harmony, those promissory notes had several anti-counterfeit techniques on them, ranging from embossed seals to personalized stamps with intricate logos on them. None of which Willow was interested in discussing at the moment. “If you’re satisfied, then we’re done here. I’ll have the rest of the money prepared by the time you finish the job and get back from Vanhoover.”
“I’m not going to Vanhoover.”
Willow paused at that. “What?”
Dark Streak smirked, her mood apparently buoying more at Willow’s consternation. “Lex Legis is currently vacationing in a city called Las Pegasus.”
That was enough to make Willow raise an eyebrow, skeptical at the thought of that dour stallion taking time off to relax. “And you know this how?”
The griffon’s answer came in the form of a newspaper, pulling it from one of her pouches and tossing it to Willow. Catching it, the purrsian’s brows rose. “PRINCE LEGIS RESCUES WAYWARD PONIES” read the headline, beneath which was a picture of Lex – Sonata and Aria on each side of him, along with a cheering crowd in the background – overseeing a group of ponies boarding a train, the hotels and attractions of Las Pegasus shining brightly behind him. It was only belatedly that she glanced up at the date, seeing that this had happened less than a week ago. Nor was that the only detail she noticed. “This is the Las Pegasus newspaper,” she murmured. “Where did you get this?”
“Does it matter?”
“Humor me,” pushed Willow, continuing to scan the article.
For a moment it looked like Dark Streak would refuse, but after a moment she shrugged. “I saw one of those ‘news papers’ in a shop I was visiting. After the proprietor answered some questions about what it was and where it came from, I asked about papers from other cities, since you said Lex Legis is someplace called Vanhoover. They said they didn’t have any, that every city prints their own, but I just figured that meant I needed to dig deeper.”
Willow glanced at her over the top of the paper. “And you found someone importing another city’s newspaper?” Most newspaper were willing to mail issues to ponies in other cities if paid to do so, but few people bothered since major news was shared between papers anyway.
“I didn’t need to,” answered the assassin. “I just went down to the train yards and asked around. Capital cities tend to receive traffic from the entire country, so wasn’t hard to figure out that someone taking a train from the western region might have brought one of those papers from Lex Legis’ city, discarding it later since they're apparently disposable. After that, it was just a matter of sneaking onto a train and looking around until I found what I was looking for.”
She shrugged again. “Of course, I didn’t find one for Vanhoover, but it was just as well. Now I know that he’s in a different city, and apparently without most of his guards, that’s where I’ll do the job.” She held out a talon expectantly. “I’ll leave immediately, since that article about him makes it sound like he’s only going to be there a little while longer.”
Willow couldn’t help but feel impressed at the griffon's ingenuity, nodding as she returned the paper to Dark Streak. “That should-”
The sound of her front door opening cut her off in mid-sentence. “Mom? You home?”
Willow froze at the sound of her son’s voice, the prospect of him catching sight of Dark Streak making her blood run cold. Griffons, like all non-ponies, were highly conspicuous in Equestria. If Dark Streak was spotted while eliminating Lex, something that was far from inconceivable since Willow had made sure to impress upon her how no one else was to be killed, then word would quickly spread that a black griffon was the one responsible for assassinating the upstart prince. If that happened, Sunflower – or whoever else he told, since she had no doubt he’d remark about such an unusual guest in their home – would no doubt recall the visitor in their kitchen and put two and two together.
That couldn’t be allowed to happen, Willow knew. If it did, their entire conspiracy could potentially come to light. Worse, if Sunflower realized that she was involved in the death of his idol, he might hate her for it!
“My costume for the talent show ripped,” called Sunflower again, his voice closer this time. “Can you fix it?”
Trying not to panic, Willow turned back toward Dark Streak. “Hide-”
The word died on her lips, her eyes widening as she stared at a lanky earth mare she’d never seen before, standing right where Dark Streak had been.
She was still staring at the unknown pony when Sunflower walked into the kitchen, his costume held under one paw. “Mom! Why didn’t you-,” He stopped as he caught sight of the pony there, blinking in confusion as he looked back and forth between them. “…what’s going on?”
Dark Streak – that had to be her, Willow realized; she’d used magic to disguise herself somehow – said nothing, simply glancing her way, and the purrsian floundered for an excuse, even as she tried to keep her outward demeanor relaxed. “It’s nothing. This is just…an assessor from the restaurant, here to talk about the damage.”
Sunflower cocked his head at that. “Really? How come?”
“I was there when it happened,” muttered Willow, already regretting her choice of lies. The last thing she wanted was her son paying attention to that particular debacle.
To say that Shining Armor had hit the roof when Blueblood had offered to give them the money they needed in exchange for receiving permission to wed Princess Cadance – and, the ex-prince had insisted, Shining Armor’s assistance in convincing her to go through with it – was an understatement. It had been all Willow could do to stop him from beating the blond stallion to a pulp right then and there. Even then, she hadn’t been able to prevent him from shoving Blueblood headfirst down the dumbwaiter, resulting in him being firmly wedged in there since it was far too small for a full-grown pony to easily squeeze into.
It had taken several hours of convincing on Willow’s part – during which time a construction crew had been called in to disassemble the wall and pry the stuck stallion loose – to get Shining Armor to agree to Blueblood’s proposal, pointing out to him repeatedly that the threat Lex Legis posed to Equestria was far greater than the threat Blueblood posed to his marriage. Thankfully, he’d eventually come around, albeit extremely begrudgingly. Once Blueblood had been freed, they’d informed him of the good news, and the former prince had been quick to turn over the promissory notes that were apparently the source of his remaining funds. Last Willow had heard, the two of them were on their way back to the Crystal Empire to tell Princess Cadance the “good” news.
Of course, the consequences of Shining Armor’s tantrum weren’t limited to Blueblood. While no one had gotten in his face about it (and Shining Armor had made sure to leave before word had gotten back to Twilight), everyone had been intensely curious about what had made him fly off the handle so badly, all the more so when it became known that the other party was the recently-dethroned Blueblood. With no ability to try and control the rumors while she was trying to convince Shining Armor to accept Blueblood’s offer, the waiter who’d brought them their orders had apparently let it slip that Shining Armor had been a little too insistent that Willow was “just a friend” whom he was teaching how to entice stallions. Add in a few nearby patrons picking up just enough of Shining Armor’s angry yelling to understand that the situation involved a lady, and Willow knew that the rumor mill was on the cusp of making the conclusion she’d wanted to avoid.
That Sunflower hadn’t heard anything yet was a good sign, but Willow also knew that she’d need to deal with the situation, especially since she might need to meet with Shining Armor again if any new developments happened with Dark Streak. But that was a problem for later. The problem for right now was getting her son out of the same room as the assassin she’d hired. Dark Streak might have been able to change her appearance, but Willow didn’t want to take any chances.
Luckily, she knew just what to do.
Seeing Sunflower’s mouth opening to ask more questions, Willow beat him to the punch. “You know what? That costume does seem a little shabby now that I think about it. Do you still want to use the genuine articles instead?”
For a moment he didn’t seem to understand what she was talking about. Then his face lit up. “Really?! You mean-”
“Just this once,” she cautioned, taking out a key and tossing it to him. “They’re in the trunk at the foot of my bed. Go ahead and take what you need.”
His eyes sparkling, Sunflower raced forward, dropping the costume she’d made him in favor of wrapping her in a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” he gushed before letting her go and racing away, wings flapping excitedly.
“And I’ll see you at the talent show later tonight!” called Willow after him.
Dark Streak sneered at the spectacle, earning a dire look from Willow. But the pony she’d turned herself into – either with an illusion, shapeshifting magic, or something else entirely – didn’t seem intimidated in the least. “As you were saying, I believe we’re done here,” she concluded, turning to leave. “I’ll let you know when the job is done. Try to have something more substantial than a bunch of papers ready for me when I do.”
Willow didn’t say anything, watching as the disguised griffon left. Normally she’d have made it clear that proof of completion was expected before turning over the other half of the money, but that seemed like overkill. From what she knew about Lex, he’d either overcome the assassin or die trying. Running away or faking his own death wasn’t in his nature, any more than a vacation was; the article had confirmed that he was there as part of some business deal, with his publicity-stunt rescue mission being some sort of sideshow. When Dark Streak made her move, Lex would either fall victim to it, or he’d break through and turn the tables on her.
The only question now was which one of them would kill the other.
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Well, that explained how Blueblood had that much money though having most of it not easily accessible is quite troublesome since while I'm sure that Dark Streak can cash in some of the notes without issue, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them might renege on the promise since he's no longer a prince(for now). Especially if some of them are tied to Las Pegasus' rich elite.
Granted, I could be completely wrong given how different Equestria's society is. Still, if the IOUs are reliable, Dark Streak could consider them as emergency funds she could access as required should she require them, and given how each town and cities are essentially self-governed, I doubt she can rely on banks to store her money and withdraw it at another city or town. Well, unless the ones who own the banks open a branch there but if they're anything like River, any attempt would likely be shot down by the local bank owner.
Then again, given Dark Streak's desire to have nothing to do with Equestria after her job is done...yeah I see why she's so miffed by this.
Blueblood is in the latex buisiness?
Otherwise how else can he write so many rubber chzecks?
10828550 One of the consequences of Equestria's lack of innovation with regards to its infrastructure - financial infrastructure, in this case - is that macroeconomic frameworks only have nascent existence. For instance, there are no national banks; only a patchwork collection of local banking establishments. While their owners probably have some degree of informal relationships with their counterparts in nearby cities, there doesn't seem to be any sort of cooperative structure between their establishments. If somepony wants to move money around, they'll need to actually withdraw it from their local bank and physically transport it to a different bank in another city, depositing it there.
One consequence for this is that written promises to pay X amount to Y individual - essentially an early form of what we now recognize as checks - are still completely dependent on that individual honoring their word. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the particular individual in question has to be the one to fork over the money; if they're rich, they could very well have a representative who'll handle that for them (remember how Blueblood farmed out most of his financial work to Stuffed Shirt?), or might even direct them to their local bank, where the manager will verify the note and disperse the listed funds on the debtor's behalf, but otherwise it has no guarantee of payment; the entire system relies on goodwill, with no enforcement mechanisms in place.
Naturally, that's bad news for Dark Streak, since it means that she has to pursue several extra steps to get paid, and likely knows that the notes aren't a sure thing. But she seems intent on collecting the money, presumably because she anticipates that it'll help her set up whatever new life she's planning on making after she leaves Equestria. Though to be fair, I'd imagine that an assassin in a land of peaceful ponies would have ways of convincing the ponies who wrote those notes to honor their promises.
10828719 Actually, those notes were written to Blueblood, not by him.