Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
“What are you thinking about?”
Aisle blinked as he turned his head to regard his girlfriend, Cozy’s question pulling him out of his daydreaming. “I was thinking of how beautiful you are,” he answered, looking over at her with a smile.
“Flatterer,” she smiled back, but it only lasted for a moment before her face turned serious. “But really, what were you thinking about?”
Aisle’s grin faded, and he gave a self-deprecating laugh as he looked back up at the sky. “Saw right through me, huh?”
He had suggested that the two of them get away from the camp for a little while yesterday evening, telling Cozy that he wanted to spend some time alone with her. In truth, he’d simply wanted to get her away from everypony else. Having to watch her wince or flinch whenever one of the injured or sick camp ponies passed too close to her, thanks to Lex’s curse, had been awful. So he’d managed to get a little of the leftover food and a dilapidated old tent and asked her to follow him a few hundred feet north of the camp, close enough to still be in sight of it while far enough away that they had some privacy. They’d spent the night together, and neither had been in a hurry to get back to the camp once the sun had risen, just enjoying the peace, quiet, and company.
Gently, Cozy reached over and turned his chin so he was looking at her. “I didn’t see through you,” she corrected softly. “I see you. All of you. Even before we were together, I noticed you.” Her hoof slowly traced the side of his face, caressing him. “I noticed that you were always kind, no matter how tense or scared you felt. I noticed that you were brave, without needing to show off. I noticed that you were selfless, and never asked for anything in return.” She leaned forward then, nuzzling him as she continued. “And then, before I noticed it, I’d fallen for you.”
“Cozy…”
“So that’s why I don’t want you to hide anything from me.” She raised her other hoof then, gently cupping his face between them as she leaned forward to plant a tender kiss on his lips. “I know you’re worried about me, and I know I’m not alright yet, but when you do that…when you try and hide what you’re feeling, even if it’s to protect me…it feels like you’re leaving me alone.” Her hooves slid down, embracing him, and she laid her head on his chest. “I don’t want to be alone again, Aisle. Not this soon after Pillow…”
He heard the tremor in her voice as she said her late husband’s name, and that was enough to make Aisle’s heart clench, his forelegs encircling her and hugging her back. “I’m sorry.” For a long moment he didn’t say anything else, closing his eyes as he held Cozy before he let out a small sigh, licking his lips. “I was thinking about before,” he admitted.
This time it was Cozy who heard the catch in his voice, looking up at him. “You mean last night?”
“…yeah.”
Hearing the embarrassment in his voice, Cozy gently separated herself from him, wanting to look at him directly. But he didn’t meet her gaze, looking away as his ears folded back. “Aisle…hey, look at me.” For a moment he didn’t seem like he’d do it, but then he slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, a miserable look on his face. The sight made Cozy’s heart go out to him, knowing that he didn’t deserve the humiliation he was struggling with right now. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.” Her voice was soft, but her words were filled with determination, silently willing him to believe what she was telling him.
“It doesn’t feel that way,” he murmured, still looking extremely uncomfortable.
She grit her teeth then, a sudden flash of anger running through her. But it wasn’t directed toward Aisle; rather, it was aimed squarely at the pony responsible for his misery. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she repeated. “Lex is the one who did that to you. It’s his fault, not yours.” His response was to nod, but his eyes slid away from hers, and she knew she wasn’t getting through to him.
I should have said no, last night, she silently reprimanded herself. I should have told him I wasn’t feeling well, or that I was too tired, or something else. But the thought lacked conviction, knowing that she couldn’t lie to him to spare his feelings while telling him not to do the same for her. Even so, that didn’t make her feelings of guilt go away. We knew what his curse was. Why did we have to confirm it? “Aisle-”
He held up a hoof to stop her. “I know. I just…I know what you’re going to say, and I know you’re right, but…” His jaw worked silently for a moment, and he looked everywhere but at her as he tried to work out how to put what he was feeling into words. But after several long seconds, he still hadn’t figured out what he was trying to say, and he shook his head, frustration clouding his features.
Realizing that she’d pushed him too hard, Cozy almost apologized, but caught herself at the last moment, remembering how unpleasant it had been yesterday when he’d been excessively careful of her feelings. That had highlighted, rather than mitigated, how bad she felt, and she didn’t want to do the same thing to him now. Instead, she blurted out what she’d been thinking about for the last several minutes. “I want you to come see Princess Cadance with me.”
That did the trick, wiping the shame off of his face and causing his ears to flip back up as he looked at her in surprise. “Huh?”
Suppressing the urge to sigh in relief, Cozy kept talking. “I don’t know if she can bring Pillow back, but I’m sure she can remove Lex’s curses.”
Aisle’s eyes widened at that. “Wait, really?!”
Cozy couldn’t help but smile slightly at the hopeful tone in his voice. “Well, I’m not one hundred percent certain, but I have seen her perform some impressive miracles with Lashtada’s power. I bet getting rid of that horrible pony’s evil magic will be easy for her. Besides,” she added as her smile fell away, “I want her to see some of the awful things Lex has done.”
She half-expected Aisle to argue with her about that, since he’d mentioned before how he wasn’t convinced that Lex was a bad pony. But instead he turned so he was standing next to her, gently pressing his side to hers. “I want our curses gone, but I have to ask: are you sure my going back with you is a good idea?” he asked quietly.
Now it was her turn to be surprised, giving him a confused look. “What do you mean? I told you before: I want you with me.” Back when they had been taking shelter in that apartment building, one of the ways they’d all tried to keep their spirits up was by talking about what they’d do when the disaster was over. Aisle’s dream had always been to reopen his grocery store. But now that they were together, Cozy felt certain that if she went back to the Crystal Empire and he stayed in Vanhoover, their relationship would wither. But at the same time, she needed to go home, and not just for herself; Princess Cadance was Pillow’s only chance to be brought back. And even if she couldn’t, he deserved to be laid to rest in the place where he’d grown up. If Aisle didn’t want to come back with her, there wouldn’t be anything she could do about it, and that thought made her chest tighten painfully.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be what he was talking about. “I mean, if I go back with you, you’re going to want me to stay by your side, right?”
“Of course.” The question made her frown; why wouldn’t she want that?
Aisle licked his lips before continuing. “If Princess Cadance can’t bring him back…you don’t think that will be a little awkward when you talk to Pillow’s friends and family?”
The question hit Cozy like a physical blow, and for a moment she just gaped at him. “I hadn’t…” She trailed off, the weight of what he’d just said settling over her.
He was right, of course. As horrible as it was to tell Pillow’s parents that their son was dead, the idea of telling them that he’d been gone for less than a day before she’d found a new boyfriend was even worse. No matter that she truly did love Aisle, or that she felt certain that her new relationship didn’t diminish what she’d shared with her husband. His parents would look at Aisle and see nothing but the stallion that had moved in on their son’s territory before his body had grown cold. Worse than that, they’d think that her finding someone else would mean that she wasn’t mourning Pillow’s death. Just the thought of them reacting like that was almost a physical pain.
That must have shown on her face, because Aisle put a foreleg around her shoulders. “Listen, we don’t have to figure everything out right now. The trains aren’t running yet, so we have some time before-”
Cozy shook her head. “I don’t need time to think about things.” She took a deep breath, steadying herself before moving so she was standing directly in front of him, looking him straight in the eye. “I want you with me when I go back.” There was a challenge in her voice, daring him to try and talk her out of it. When he didn’t, she relaxed, but only slightly. “You’re probably right about what’ll happen, and I understand if you don’t want to go through that. I don’t want to go through that. But I will not act like our love is something to be ashamed of!” She was almost shouting by then, becoming more upset as she went on. “You are not taking advantage of me, and I am not using you to deal with my grief! I’m a priestess of the goddess of love, and I’m more qualified than anypony to say that what we have is real! And if there are some ponies who can’t accept that, that’s their problem!” She glared at him as she finished. Although he wasn’t the target of her anger, she suddenly wanted to lash out at somepony, hating the unfairness of it all.
For a moment Aisle didn’t reply, looking at her with a neutral expression, before a small smile made its way onto his face. “Okay.”
“Darn right it’s okay!” she snapped, still riled up.
“It is,” he agreed, closing the distance between them and hugging her again.
She stayed tense for a moment before she finally started to relax, shuddering as she leaned into him. Slowly, she let out a breath. “Besides, we won’t have to worry about any of that,” she murmured. “Princess Cadance will bring Pillow back and then everything will be fine.”
“Yeah,” agreed Aisle. “Until everypony finds out that you have a new boyfriend in addition to your husband. Then they’ll have a very different reaction.”
Cozy snorted at that, and a moment later began to snicker, before finally erupting in full-blown laughter. Aisle chuckled as well as he held her, hearing the occasional sob mixed in with her mirth. Finally, she calmed down, sniffling. “It’s just…it’s all so hard sometimes, you know?”
“I know,” he replied softly, one hoof stroking her mane. “I know.” They stayed that way for some time before separating, Aisle nodding toward their tent. “Come on, let’s pack everything up and head back to camp.” He smiled as he glanced at the distant forms of the crowd of ponies.
“I’m sure Cloudbank and Drafty are back by now, and I know that they’ll be happy for us.”
Cozy and Aisle continue to work out their new relationship.
What will happen when they realize their friends haven't made it back yet?
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Cheeky bastard, keeping us all in suspense!
As much as I hope Cozy does make it home one way or another, I fear that her report to Cadance might provoke her into conflict with Lex, and that's another problem Vanhoover doesn't need right now. Even if Lex is able to deal with the body snatcher tonight, there's still a heap ton of undead to clean out, and alienating one of the only sources of clerical magic in Equestria isn't going to help solve that, even if Kara would be thrilled if it meant Lex kicking all Lashtada worshipers out.
Cozy. Equal opportunities herder?
Aisle, the sensitive realist and Cozy, the hopeful optimist. Not exactly the best way to describe how I see the pair but that's the vibe they're giving off here.
Putting aside how Cozy and Aisle would make their way to the Crystal Empire, the results of her actions could prove detrimental to Lex's plans. While Spiritus Arcane makes a good point of Lex losing Cadence's support in restoring Vanhoover, I doubt Lex would lament the loss as he believes Cadence's relief efforts were the Crowns' roundabout way of interfering with his plan.
The problem I see is Cadence sending Shining Armor with a force of guards and any clerics as relief to Vanhoover if not join them to see for herself who this second coming of Sombra is what Cozy claims to be. Regardless of whether she comes or not, the relief group would undermine Lex's efforts the same way his conjuring the feast did to Spit Polish and the other lieutenants' efforts to keep the camp fed by raiding nearby farms.
While the Vanhoover survivors would welcome the relief, Lex would likely rebuke their aid and attempt to force them out, similar to what Block tried with Lex and his own relief effort. Kind of funny how that works out, now that I think about it.
8701352 Mwahahaha-, er, *cough*, it's not like I did it on purpose or anything.
That said, I'm 95% certain that we'll get back to Lex in the next chapter.
8701571 Is Cozy's apparent intention to give Cadance a bad report about Lex foreshadowing for what's to come? Or will something happen to change her mind before then? Or will it make no difference either way?
As it stands right now, it looks like things are set up for a bad relationship between Lex and the Crystal Empire, but it's too soon to say for certain. Besides, Cadance doesn't seem like the judgmental type, right? Surely she'll be able to keep things from escalating.
8701687 If she were an "equal opportunity herder," shouldn't she be romancing a mare instead of another stallion?
8701733 Cozy and Aisle have a different relationship dynamic than most of the other couples in this story. That's because their relationship is borne out of a tragedy, and those tend to have a hard time surviving the return to normalcy that follows their immediate circumstances. While Cozy is adamant that what she and Aisle have is true love, she's also made it clear that she's not exactly stable right now, and that she desperately needs an emotional connection to someone else to sustain her in the face of her intense grief. Likewise, Aisle has clearly decided to believe her, but he's noting - not incorrectly - that they have several hurdles ahead of them, such as what the ponies back in the Crystal Empire will think. It remains an open question if their relationship will last after the crisis ends (if it ever does, the way things are going).
Unfortunately, as this chapter makes clear, Cozy plans on delivering a negative report about Lex to Cadance. The problem then is how Cadance reacts to that. While Cadance as we've seen her on the show is level-headed and wise, she's also had a bad history with King Sombra, and given that Lex makes no secret of his connection to that pony (and it's been called out in the newspapers, albeit while noting that he saved Tall Tale), that might lead to a rocky start.
What's interesting to remember, however, is that Lashtada's religion puts love as not only the most important thing, but the only important thing. Lashtada is a True Neutral-aligned deity, after all, and holds that a dictator that doesn't restrict love is more acceptable to her than a free kingdom where love is restricted (e.g. via social and/or cultural pressure). As such, if Cozy says that Lex is a defender of ponies who is nevertheless only pretending to love Sonata so that he can manipulate her - which seems to be what she thinks right now - then that will almost certainly ping pretty hard on the radar of somepony who's acting as Lashtada's representative in the mortal world. So clearly, if everything goes the way it's indicated in this chapter, Cadance will make some sort of response. Exactly what that is remains to be seen.
As for Lex, he'll almost certainly be put in a tough spot. I don't agree that he'd send any relief efforts away; he's too conscientious for that (hence why he tried to contact the princesses before, in chapter 114), but at the same time he's very aware that someone else stepping in and just fixing everything will weaken him. That's a conflict he's been wrestling with since chapter 75. A reckoning may be coming soon...though first he'll have to deal with Nosey.
"Reads mushy stuff"
Ya'know, it's hard to believe that both this and Lex are written by the same person... unless there is something you're not telling us?
9217065 I'm actually writing this in conjunction with my multiple personalities. Well...some of them, at least. The rest of us are doing a crossword puzzle.