The next meeting of the CCPS was in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the town. Greengrass knew that he shouldn’t help the group with anything, as that would ruin his plans, but he was finding it hard to avoid yelling at them about their novice-level mistakes. Still, somehow, he endured, and put the next step of his plan into action.

When the leader entered, Greengrass immediately took him aside. “Can we talk later?”

“About what?”

“I want in.” Greengrass modulated his voice to sound hard and serious. “To the real stuff.”

“This is real.”

“You know what I mean. When I said I was going to contribute my resources, I didn’t mean to the jangle-ante civil disobedience stuff you talked about last time. I want to go bigger.”

The pony shifted slightly on his hooves. “Why?”

“Because I hate them,” said Greengrass, figuring this would be the most likely motive to garner results. “The Court and their myriad depravities. I hate the way that nothing in Equestria can get done unless it benefits some lazy noble who never leaves his mansion except to collect taxes. I hate how the idiotic machinations take precedence over actually governing the country. I hate how my – how a close friend of mine lost their home because it was in the way of some baron’s pet project. I want to wreck them.”

“Motivation is one thing,” murmured the leader of the group. “But what do you have to offer? I’ll tell you right now, we don’t need money or supplies.”

That was interesting… so the existing backer was covering everything. But that could wait. Greengrass said, “I’m the best in the city at uncovering secrets. You want the nobles to do anything? If you’re a commoner like us, the only way to do it is to blackmail them.”

“Interesting. I suppose I should ask you to prove it.” The pony chuckled. “Of course, I don’t really know that many secrets of the nobles. So I couldn’t verify anything you said.”

Greengrass passed him a piece of parchment. “I found this out in two days.”

The pony looked at it. “Hmm. You’ve identified a fair chunk of us. After one meeting.”

“Yes.”

“Mmm. And I know you’re not in the Guard because…?”

“Those ponies aren’t in jail, are they?” Greengrass smiled. “Plant a tail on me if you think you have to; I don’t mind. But I’m tired of the Court ruining everypony’s life. I want to help bring them down. And I think you’re the stallion to work for.”

Greengrass nodded to himself. The information he’d gathered demonstrated his ability, his speech would hopefully indicate passion, and his slightly reckless act of flat-out admitting what he’d done to the leader would hopefully convey that he was not a political expert, and so could be discarded if he became a liability. Maximum benefit, minimum risk.

And the leader said, “Well, it’s certainly possible that I do have a few bigger things in mind. Maybe you are the pony to help with them.” He nodded. “Let’s see how you do on the raid tomorrow night. If you do a good job, we’ll talk.”

And Greengrass had his in.

###

The plan for the library raid was to first soak the library by causing a pipe collapse in the ceiling, then steal about thirty important books in the confusion.

Greengrass volunteered for the second task, as it would better demonstrate that he was uniquely talented. After all, members of the group had already caused pipe failures in the castle. But that did cause a problem for Greenrass, namely, figuring out how exactly he was going to appear to steal the books.

“The easiest option,” he mused after he returned to his quarters, “Would be to just steal them as planned. Apparently, one of the group members works in the library and will be removing a lot of the security spells, so stealing them directly wouldn’t be too challenging in the chaos.” But the big problem with that, of course, was that Greengrass was planning on eventually revealing the group to further his political career. If he committed crimes while with the group, or even directly assisted with their crimes, it would be an excuse to deny him a reward, if not punish him outright.

“Okay, I could steal them, and return them a few days later. The library will be flooded, probably closed for a few days, it won’t surprise anyone to find that the ‘missing’ books were just dumped in a corner somewhere.” But that wouldn’t be enough. They would still have been technically ‘stolen’ for a few days, and while it wasn’t much, Greengrass had a feeling that Luna would seize on any excuse to deny him credit.

“I could have them marked as checked out before the raid. Then, even once we stole them, nopony would think anything of it; they wouldn’t know there even was a theft. Whichever name I used would be blamed for being overdue. I’d never get in trouble for it.” But then nopony in the Court would worry about the books being gone – after all, they were officially signed out and everything. The CCPS leader would surely notice that nopony cared and would wonder why.

“So if I can’t steal them, steal and return them, or have them be checked out…” Greengrass paced. “That doesn’t leave – wait.”

He grinned. “Aha. That’s the way to do it.”

###

“Hello, Page Turner?”

Page Turner, assistant library to the Canterlot Castle Library, looked up at the Duke. “Yes?”

Greengrass hefted a large bag of bits onto the counter, and a piece of paper with the names of the books on it. “I’d like to buy these books, please!”

“… buy?”

“Yes!”

“You can’t buy books.” She spoke as if talking to a child. “This is a library.”

Greengrass smiled winningly. “But you have so many of them!”

“Do you know what a library is?”

Greengrass shrugged. “Look, I’m offering three times the market price for those books – and nopony ever reads them; we can check the punch cards if you don’t believe me. You can buy copies of all those books, they’ll be here in a week, and do whatever you want with the rest. Put it in the library fund… maybe a little bonus money…”

“So, you’re telling me that you want to buy some books at three times their price from the library, instead of going to the bookstore and buying them at market value.”

“Well, yes.”

“I suppose you’re just feeling fiscally irresponsible today. Or do you have an actual reason?”

“Oh, you know. The bookseller clerks can’t keep their mouths shut when a noble buys a bunch of books, and the next day, everypony knows. I’m sure you heard the scandal when Duchess Healthy Lunch, the health-food nut, was caught purchasing Devilishly Decadent Desserts. Don’t want them to know what I’m doing.” Greengrass winked. “Whereas you, why, I know you can keep a secret for me. We do go back a ways, after all.”

“We used to. But that ended a few months ago.”

“But that was months ago! Let’s bring that friendly relationship back now.”

“Yes, of course. Because I have absolutely no problem with betraying my new employer and the Court to help you in exchange for nothing but a few bits.” Turner rolled her eyes. “Go away, Greengrass.”

“But—“

She stood and spoke more loudly. “I’m not selling you the library’s books. Go away!”

Greengrass sighed, then turned, passing by the patrons and staff that were blatantly eavesdropping. And when he was out the door, he grinned.

“Exactly as planned.”

###

The next night, the Duke met with the other group members in a small conference room. Greengrass nodded approvingly; since this meeting was important, it looked like the leader was actually picking a sensible location.

“Team One, go in first and do the pipes, just like last time. Team Two, wait until everypony starts running from the library. Most of you will be appearing to ‘help’ with the cleanup, so we don’t arouse suspicion and can vouch for each other. As for grabbing the books—“

“I’ll do that,” said Greengrass.

“Fine. Take two others, get all the books into these bags.” He passed Greengrass two duffels. “Those are enchanted to block the library security spells. Get the books and get out.”

“Check.” Greengrass smiled. “Let’s go strike a blow against the Court!”

“Woohoo!” yelled Mopping Swish.

Greengrass resisted the urge to bonk his head against the wall.

###

The raid itself went perfectly.

The pipes burst at exactly the moment the specified time, and ponies began fleeing the library a few moments later. Greengrass and the others, wearing concealing janitor’s outfits, hurried in right afterwards. The shelves and tables were dry, thanks to the protective magics around them, but the floor and other furnishing were quickly drowning. The remaining patrons and staff were running around in a statle of total confusion. It was the perfect atmosphere for a theft.

Most of the CCPS ponies began ‘helping’ get things under control, though careful observation would reveal that they weren’t really doing anything. Greengrass made a beeline for the desk and leapt over it, then put his plan into action. It was a good plan, but it did require speed, so he’d have to be fast.

There -- that drawer was dusty and looked less worn than the others; it clearly wasn’t often used. Greengrass jimmied it open and shoved a bag of bits – bigger than the one he’d showed Turner – into it. He also included the list of books, and a forged ‘receipt’ in page Turner’s writing.

“Hey, aren’t you coming?” yelled Nourriture.

“Yes!” Greengrass took off with the bags and hurried into the stacks to get the books.

In the short term, he’d steal the books, and the CCPS would notice and approve. Later, the bag of bits would be discovered (probably in three or four days, once the library dried out), but that was exactly what the Duke wanted. Combining that with the receipt and the public argument he’d had with Page Turner, everypony would assume that Greengrass had tried to buy the books, failed the first time, but later succeeded when he’d offered her more money. Even better, it wasn’t illegal to buy books from the library (librarians were not generally supposed to sell them, but if they happened to do--such as for a fundraiser--it was quite legal to buy them), so Greengrass wouldn’t be in trouble for it. The guards would probably show up subsequently and demand the books back, and Greengrass would return them, but that was okay. The only snag was the CCPS leader getting suspicious about the books being recovered, but Greengrass could just say that the government had quickly reprinted them, and tried to save face by blaming a down-and-out noble who had nothing to do with anything.

He grabbed the books and left the library. Nopony challenged him.

And later, when he spoke to the leader and showed him the stolen books, the leader smiled and said that, yes, they could meet to talk about getting involved “at a higher level.” Noon the next day, in the Western Garden. The time wasn’t pleasant, but Greengrass didn’t care. He bid the leader farewell, talked to the other ponies in the team (accepting congratulations and compliments with aplomb), and then went back to his quarters in good spirits.

He’d done it. He was in. All was well.

###

Earlier that night, just as Greengrass was getting up and starting to fill up his bag of bits, Notary had already been hard at work in Archduke Fisher’s office.

“File the third quarter earnings with the others. Bring me the Digger Industries files.” Fisher’s horn glowed, and words appeared on the page in front of him. “And mail this to the Canterlot Press.”

The last one was odd enough that it gave Notary just a moment of pause, but she took it and put it in her outgoing mail. “First class or regular?”

“First class. I want the city to see this as soon as possible,” Fisher growled.

Majordomo entered the room. “Sir, Justician is here to see you.”

“Ah, good. Send him in!”

Notary rose – Fisher didn’t usually like her sitting in on his business meetings -- but Fisher shook his head. “I trust your stenography is in good shape.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take a record of this, then.”

Justician was a black-coated pegasus with white bands around her legs and barrel; Notary had met her a few times before and had noted that she looked like an inverted zebra with wings. The pony ran a major charity initiative in downtown Canterlot, and was a frequent guest at Fancy Pants’s charity balls and auctions.

“Archduke,” said Justician, smiling. “I’m glad you could find time to see me.” (Notary began to take the record, typing down what Justician said on a fancy new typewriter).

Fisher gestured at a seat in front of his desk.

“May I assume that you do want to donate to the Orphan—“

“No. You may not.”

Justician paused. “Er… then why did you ask me here?”

Fisher gestured at a copy of the Canterlot Press. “Tonight’s edition.”

“Ah. But, uh, that hasn’t hit the stands yet…” Justician gulped.

Fisher turned the page so that an editorial was displayed. “The one in which your most recent editorial will be printed. ‘Rampant tribalism in the Court.’” He began to read it. “’Despite the progress and prosperity of our age, and the generally enlightened attitude of our citizens, we cannot help but notice a dangerous retrograde trend in some of our most esteemed Courtiers. We refer not only to the merely corrupt, like the now-infamous Duke Greengrass,’ – well, I suppose that part is acceptable – ‘but also tribalist beliefs, which have been cropping up everywhere.’” He looked at Justician severely. “’In fact, it is rumored that some of Greengrass’s associates aided him because they wanted to take the Elements, now split equally among the three tribes, and redistribute them to just one.’”

Justician was sweating. “I don’t see why that bothers you, I mean, you’re not one of those tribalists, right?”

Fisher gave him a long glare. “Skipping ahead – ‘We also urge ponies in the Court to be wary of single-tribe groups. The Unicorn Special Forces, for example, put together by Archduke Fisher. Why restrict them only to unicorns? We urge the Archduke to open up his unit to all willing and able soldiers.’” He threw the paper down. “You are a popular pony, Justician. When ponies read this, they will want me to swell the ranks of the Special Forces with earth ponies and pegasi.”

“That is why I wrote it, yes.”

Fisher rose. “This editorial is not getting printed. I have already spoken with the editor and made it very clear that this is a national security concern and he had better comply. And if you ever try this again, with this paper or any other, I will personally ensure that every one of your foundations collapses.”

“What?!” Justician shot to his hooves. “But—“

Notary barely saw her move, but Turquoise Blade was suddenly behind Justician, sword drawn. The pegasus froze, looking scared. Fisher waited a few seconds to wave Blade off.

“The reason I have only unicorns, and no other tribes, is not due to simple personal preference. These ponies are going to be the forefront of Equestria’s defense. They need to be as capable as possible. And they – they alone – are the only tribe capable of the magic that we need to keep our neighbors at bay.” Fisher’s eyes flashed. “The griffin armies to the north would love to seize a few of our provinces. To the south, tapirs prowl, capable of walking through our dreams and stealing our most secret thoughts. Or, suppose we forget them for a moment – think of Corona, the Tyrant Sun. We cannot withstand her if we water down our military by adding ponies that cannot use magic!”

“But earth ponies and pegasi can do things unicorns can’t—“

“Really? Like what? I know half a dozen spells to strengthen the body and increase its stamina. I know spells to give unicorns wings, or straight-up levitation and cloud-walking abilities.” Fisher shook his head. “I have nothing against the other tribes. Growing food and manipulating the weather is important work. But in the area of defense? Let’s not lie to ourselves. We need the most capable ponies, and that means unicorns.”

“But—“

“If the USF is not accepted, if we do not receive the resources, funding, and recruits that we need, then Equestria will not be able to defend itself. Therefore, I will not allow statements like this,” Fisher shoved the paper at Justician, “To be seen. Go. Do not do this again, or you will regret it.”

Justician left.

Fisher let out a deep breath. “Did you get all that, Notary?”

“Yes, sir.”

Fisher shook his head. “Majordomo!”

Majordomo entered from a side room. “Yes, sir?”

“Is this… nonsense, really as widespread as Justician made it sound?”

Majordomo hesitated. “Well, obviously no sensible pony agrees with him, but there are some bitter and resentful members of the other tribes, and even a few unicorns, who are inclined to support him. For the same reason that they disagree with you about the Elements.”

“The Elements.” Fisher snorted. “The Elements are supposed to be Equestria’s biggest magical weapon, and four of them can’t do any magic at all. Let’s not even get into one of them being half-blind, four of them can’t cast magic! It’s simply not possible that they can use the Elements at their full potential.” He shook his head. “We have to beat them, Majordomo. For the sake of the nation. The country matters more than Lulamoon’s ego.”

“Yes, sir.”

Fisher sighed and turned back to his desk. “Our plans?”

“Underway. The Elements will be humiliated.”

“Good.” Fisher checked his clock. “Notary, it’s time for you to go infiltrate the CCPS. Go. I have other concerns right now.”

Notary, restraining herself from snapping in his face, rose and left.

###

I’m surprised he even deigned to hire me. After all, I’m an earth pony who isn’t growing food. I guess I don’t have value.

But he was her employer, and she would loyally carry out his wishes. That was what she did.

And so she put on a concealing cloak, then headed to the library section of the castle. Fisher’s spies had told him that the CCPS would be planning some kind of heist or attack there, so she would get there early and reveal herself to them.

She didn’t have long to wait. No sooner had she made her way to the pipes above the castle and begun working on them than she heard hoofsteps approaching. She intensified her work, succeeding in getting the pipes half open before the CCPS ponies arrived.

“Hey!” One of the ponies hesitated. “Did you run ahead?”

Notary looked up and put on a guilty expression. “I’m not doing anything! I – uh – wait, why are you carrying tools? These pipes aren’t due for maintenance for another month.”

“Then what are you doing?” challenged one of the CCPS ponies.

Notary hesitated, then looked down. “Alright, you caught me. I was trying to break the pipes. Please don’t arrest me—“

“Why?” The pony’s voice was gentle.

Fisher had told her what this group’s angle was. “I don’t know, I’m just mad. Vicereine Puissance imprisoned my cousin on some nonsense charge so she could seize his property. I’m just… I want to get back at her, at the whole Court that does things like she does, but I don’t know what to do. I thought, even if I could just bother them—“

“Wait a minute.” One of the ponies nodded at her saddlebag. A little bit of green paint was leaking from it. “Upper Crust Tailors? And, wait, the other stuff that we didn’t do? Breadloaf’s food?”

“Yes.”

“Fillies and stallions, I think we have a new member of the team.” The lead pony nodded. “We’re the CCPS. And we’re taking down the Court, one act of sabotage at a time.”

Notary blinked. “Really? You’re not going to arrest me?”

“Nope. We’re going to help you. Welcome to the club!”

###

Notary returned to Fisher’s office having secured an offer to attend the next CCPS meeting.

What would Greengrass think? I’ve been doing very well lately; I’ve succeeded in everything I’ve done for Fisher and soon he’ll be on the ascent with his USF. He valued ambition and skill, what would he say?

Probably something like, “Good job, but Fisher’s a snake. Be careful of him betraying you.” But she thought she was doing pretty well on that front too. She’d been seen in public with him, so it wasn’t like he could have her take the fall for something without looking bad for hiring her. And she hadn’t signed any papers with her name except for his business correspondances that needed notarization. (She had been a bit concerned that he might be able to get her to sign something, then use his telepathic-writing spell to somehow reword the paper to say something incriminating, but she’d watched him carefully and he didn’t seem able to do that. If he made a mistake, he always corrected it manually or started over).

And now it was time to report her success. Notary trotted to the office, only to meet with an unexpected obstacle.

The door was locked.

“You’re early.” She turned to see Majordomo approaching. “You don’t go into the Archduke’s office until he asks for you.”

“Would he really object to me doing work early?”

“Yours is not to question him. Do as you’re told.”

Notary gave him a wintery smile. “You know, Archduke Fisher’s usually able to hide his bigotry, or come up with some justification. You, not so much.”

“Hah.” Majordomo grinned. “I’ve served Fisher for twenty years. He’s not just a politician and an industrialist; he’s a historian. And I am too. It used to be that unicorns ran the entire country.”

“Actually, that’s a myth. The three tribes unified after the Warring Tribes period and—“

“Lies. Unicorns ran it all. Earth ponies grew the food, weather ponies shaped the weather, and unicorns handled industry and government. And everything was run well.”

Notary rolled her eyes. “Really? Unicorns used to run this country, and it was great, so let’s go back to that?”

“Yes. Let’s.”

“Well, Corona also used to run this country. And I hear she did a pretty good job for the first few millennia.” Notary’s eyes twinkled. “Why don’t we invite her over, then? I’m sure she has all kinds of useful advice.”

Majordomo paused. “Wait, no. That’s different.”

Notary was about to respond, but an explosion from within Fisher’s office cut her off.

“Out of my way!” Majordomo shoved Notary aside and quickly unlocked the door. “Are you alright, sir? Sir, I – hey, you’re not allowed in here!”

Notary poked her head inside and saw a quartet of ponies – two unicorns, one pegasus, one earth pony – in black outfits. The pegasus had a blackened head; it seemed she’d tripped a magical trap on Fisher’s desk and had been blasted away. Notary recognized the unicorn as a mercenary that had recently been seen with Vicereine Puissance. Ah, politics.

She turned to Majordomo. “The USF is the best military force in the country, is it?”

“Shut up.”

“They’re doing a great job—“

Majordomo’s horn flashed, and Notary found that she was suddenly unable to talk. Her eyes widened in pure anger.

Majordomo strode into the room. “Surrender now, and the Archduke may consider mercy.”

“Why?” The unicorn laughed. “We’re just about done.” She smiled, and her horn glowed. “That’s our ride. See you.”

The four ponies glowed, and vanished –

Only to reappear a moment later, with a fifth.

“What?” yelled the pegasus. “You idiot! You said you could teleport us!”

“I did! Something yanked us back here!”

Turquoise Blade and Lightning trotted out from a side room. Blade’s horn was still glowing. “That would be me.” She turned to Lightning. “You want them?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Early birthday present.” She smiled. “Have fun.”

“Hey!” One of the earth ponies began to run over. “You let us go, or—“

Lightning bucked him, and his horn flashed. There was a noticeable ‘zap’ as the blow connected, and then the earth pony was flying into the nearest wall. “Thanks. Awfully considerate of you.”

“No problem.”

The pegasus took off for a window, but Lightning cast a quick lightning bolt at her, zapping her out of the air and into the floor. “I feel bad taking them all, though.”

The other three ponies charged at the two. Lightning ducked under the earth pony’s blow and hit him with a lightning blast that sent him flying into the air, parrying a blast from the teleporter unicorn as he did so. Blade, meanwhile, sent her sword into the air and slammed the broadside of it against the other unicorn’s head, knocking her out. “Alright, I got one. Last one’s all you, Lightning.”

The teleporter unicorn backed up, then erected a shield. “Now just hang on!”

Lightning went to Fisher’s desk and picked up one of his new drill bits. He tossed it in the air, then bucked it at the last robber. It passed through the robber’s shield, shattering it, and then sliced a sizable chunk of his mane off before falling to the ground.

“Ah, good. So they do pierce defensive magic too,” said Lightning, as the teleporter collapsed in shock and fear. “I was wondering about that.”

Notary blinked. The two had just taking out five robbers in about thirty seconds.

Majordomo sneered at her. “Yes. They are.”

She scowled at him, then trotted around the robbers and over to her desk. Lightning, however, moved to intercept her. “Hey, Notary. I’d just like to say that, if you want to go against Fisher, I’m entirely in favor of that.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he said I could be the one to hunt you down.” Lightning grinned.

Notary, implacable as she was, could not deny a slight twitch of fear.

###

Fisher looked at the message and sighed. His source in the Shadowbolts told him that the spy organization had discovered the CCPS.

If they busted the group, the USF wouldn’t. That wasn’t acceptable.

Well, he’d just have to deal with them too, then. And he’d accounted for this; he had a strategy already set up. It would just be a little more work for Notary. That was all.

Author's Notes:

'Sharp play' is chess-speak for risky, complicated moves where it's not clear what will happen or whether a given move is actually advantageous. #TheMoreYouKnow

Early cameo of a Cadanceverse pony!... not really. I had forgotten all about this Page Turner when I wrote up the Cadanceverse. I don't think this one would have put up with C!verse Tavi for as long.

Notary is a bit snarkier here than in the mainline continuity... I think I like the more taciturn pony, but to be honest, I remember enjoying her mocking the pompous, racist Majordomo.

As before, the Court is a bit darker than in the main universe. Puissance sending mercenaries after Fisher, for instance, would probably not be tolerated by canonical Luna. Unless she thought it was funny, I suppose.