Lex cursed softly as he tossed aside what was left of the ragged dress that Fencer had been wearing.
As he’d suspected, the garment had contained additional knives. Sufficient shaking had caused them to come tumbling out of the dirty cloth, and the clatter they’d made as they hit the ground had been a testimony to what might have happened if he hadn’t stripped her. Despite having no idea why his girlfriend had expressed such a misplaced bout of righteous indignation over that, he was glad that he had ignored it. While he knew that Sonata was no weakling, just the thought of what could have happened if Fencer surprised her…
Shaking his head, Lex turned to Severance and gripped the weapon telekinetically. He half-expected to hear it express vindication, as it had warned him about giving the newcomers so much freedom so easily, but the weapon expressed no such sentiment. Instead, it asked what he intended to do with Fencer, causing Lex to ruminate for a long moment.
When he didn’t answer immediately, Severance spoke up again, causing Lex to frown. “I am punishing her. Right now Sonata is abrogating her mental autonomy.” Even as he said that, a shudder went down his spine. For someone who utilized intellectual acuity as his only means of interacting with the world, the idea of someone reaching in and altering his thoughts represented a violation of ineffable proportions. But as much as he loathed the very idea of mind-manipulation, he knew that it had its uses, as Fencer had just demonstrated. If she found Sonata’s magic traumatizing she’d have no right to complain, since it had been justly utilized and caused minimal harm to her while still forcing her compliance in an expedient manner. “No further punishment is necessary,” he decided. Severance made its disagreement known, but Lex ignored it as he swung the weapon, reducing Fencer’s knives to so much scrap metal.
He had just finished when he heard a high-pitched shriek coming from the shelter. Alarmed, he started towards the door when he saw that fat little earth pony from before, Piggy Bank, come rushing out. Eyes wide with fear, he barreled down the warehouse before managing to trip over his own hooves and go tumbling. Coming to rest near an empty shelf, he clumsily scrambled onto it and huddled there, trembling.
Looking back at the shelter, Lex could faintly hear laughter and light conversation coming from it, which alleviated his concern that an enemy had somehow gotten in. Instead, he turned and headed to where Piggy was trying to hide, his hooves over his eyes and shaking like a leaf. “What happened?”
His voice made Piggy yelp and jump up, only to hit the shelf above him, causing a loud clang to ring out as his head collided with the metal. Collapsing instantly, Piggy put his hooves to his head and whimpered with pain, cracking one eye open to see Lex gazing at him impassively. “Y-you…” he gulped, his eyes flickering to where the scythe was floating beside him.
Lex tried again. “What happened? Why are you out here?”
“I didn’t do anything!” grimaced Piggy, still holding his head. “I was just talking to Cloudbank, and telling her what I could do for her, and next thing I know she’s telling me to close my eyes and I did and then suddenly I was terrified and ran out here and I don’t even know why!” His voice was thick with self-pity, and tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. He was sure he had to be the saddest, most pitiful little pony in all of Equestria at that moment; his mom had always been able to see that about him when something bad happened, so surely Lex would too?
But the only reaction he got was a disgusted sigh. “Go back inside. Find Cloudbank and tell her that I want to see her immediately.”
“But…!”
“Do it. Now.” A single glare was all it took to make Piggy squeak in renewed fear, and he wriggled out from the shelf and quickly trundled back towards the shelter. Lex watched him go with narrowed eyes. His story made it sound as though Cloudbank had cast a spell on him, which highlighted that he needed to stop putting off talking to her about her new role as the Night Mare’s priestess. She needed to be made to understand what exactly that status entailed. They might be interrupted by Sonata’s reporting what she’d found out from Fencer, but that was no excuse to at least get started.
Now he just needed to figure out exactly what he was going to say to her…
Despite herself, Fencer couldn’t help but feel a flicker of amusement at Sonata’s suggestion. “Girl-talk?”
The other mare nodded, all smiles. “Yeah, mare-to-mare.”
Snorting, Fencer sat down, giving Sonata a condescending look. “Is this the part where you work your ‘magic’ on me?”
Unable to keep from giggling, Sonata nodded. “Oh, totes!” For a moment she couldn’t help but revel in the fact that she had completely pulled one over on someone else. All of a sudden she felt super smart! I bet this is how Lex feels when he’s getting the drop on someone. The thought sent a pleasant warmth through her chest. Normally she only felt like she understood what it was like to be him when she was feeling down or upset; getting a glimpse into his mindset when he was happy was a lot better.
Another snort from Fencer reminded her that she had a job to do, and she settled down. “Okay, so. We need you to, like, tell us where Cozy’s husband is.” She held up a hoof then to forestall any objections. “And I promise, even if you did something bad to him, I won’t hold it against you.”
“Oh really, now?” drawled Fencer.
Sonata nodded, and gave her a smile that was slightly sadder than her normal carefree grin. “For realsies. I know what it’s like to do stuff that you regret later on.”
“No.” The tension had returned to Fencer’s voice. “I don’t regret what I did, any of it, because it had to be done.” Again, she stopped abruptly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to center herself. Opening her eyes, she regarded Sonata again. She was sure of it now; this little girl was Lex’s plaything, and her “magic” was nothing more than her magnetic personality. It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for her, since she was in for a rude awakening when that arrogant stallion dumped her for somepony else. “Look, I don’t expect you to understand this very well, but this,” she waved a hoof as though to encompass everything around them, “is a place where there’s no harmony anymore. Questions of good or bad don’t mean anything here, it’s just about whether or not you can survive from one day to the next. I’m not concerned about whether or not everypony back there is upset with me about what happened with that crystal stallion. I’m concerned with what I get in exchange for telling you what I know.”
“But that’s awful,” protested Sonata. “You won’t make any friends like that!”
Fencer shrugged. “So?”
“Aw, come on! I might not be all super-smart like Lex is, but even I know that surviving…or, come to think of it, anything else, is easier when you have some friends!”
Fencer frowned. As much as she hated to admit it, Sonata had stumbled onto a good point. Vanhoover had become a place where trying to survive on your own was tantamount to suicide, and she had just lost her entire group to this one.
As if sensing the other mare’s consternation, Sonata kept going. “So this way, if you helped Cozy out and told us where Pillowcase is, you could be friends with everypony in our group! Then-, ooh! Brainstorm! That’s what you’d get in exchange!” She grinned widely, super pleased with herself.
“I don’t want to be part of this group!”
Sonata deflated instantly. So much for having a brainstorm. “Why not?” A sour look was the only answer she received, and Sonata huffed. For her to be this stubborn and unpleasant even after putting her under a charm spell, Fencer’s personality was seriously awful. It was almost like talking to a female Lex. “Seriously, why not? This place is safe, we have food and medicine, and everyb-, everypony here is, like, totes awesome. Why would you not want to be part of this?”
“Your boyfriend thinks that he can order me around,” Fencer growled, her composure cracking. She didn’t know why, but for some reason she found herself wanting this mare to understand her, and that was getting her worked up. “That he can tell me what to do. You want to talk about making friends? He’s the one not interested in making friends!” Sonata flinched at that, ears folding back as she remembered the scolding she’d given Lex about this barely two hours ago. Now it was Fencer’s turn to push forward. “You see what I mean? He’s only interested in telling others why he’s better than them, that they’re weak, and NOPONY has the right to call me that after what I’ve lived through!”
“You’re wrong!” Sonata stomped a hoof. “Lex is interested in making friends! He’s just, like, super bad at it! And he’s been through a lot of stuff too!” She was about to go into detail about how much Lex had done, but she cut herself off. This wasn’t working. She was supposed to be getting information about Cozy’s husband from this unpleasant mare, not arguing with her. It was enough to make her wish that she had magic that could force her to just tell her what she wanted to know, but she didn’t. The closest she could come was to suggest ideas or manipulate emotions, or even just hold her in thrall like she and her sisters did to the students at Canterlot High, and that wasn’t good enough.
Instead, she tried to think back to when she herself had been convinced to give friendship a chance. What would Pinkie say, if she were here? The pink pony had been the very first pony to give her a chance, and had inspired her to want more out of life than just magically-enforced adoration. C’mon, think! This mare’s like talking to a female Lex, right? So what would I say to convince Lex, besides all the flirting? “Just because he’s strong, doesn’t mean he thinks you’re weak.”
“Hm?” Fencer raised an eyebrow, dubious.
“He barks orders, he’s terrible at giving compliments, and he knows that he’s a lot stronger than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean he thinks you’re weak.”
“If you think you’re stronger than someone, then by definition it means that you think they’re weak,” scoffed Fencer.
“No, it doesn’t!” insisted Sonata. “When a whole army of monsters came out of the ocean a few days ago, Lex was too hurt to fight them by himself. So instead, he came up with a plan and we all fought them together! Each and every one of us did our part, and even when it looked hopeless, Lex relied on everyone else! He had faith that they’d come through and save the day, and you know why?” Sonata looked Fencer dead in the eye, overflowing with conviction. “Because they’re his friends.”
“Somehow I’m having a hard time picturing that,” replied Fencer flatly.
Sonata waved a hoof toward the shelter. “Ask anyone in there if you don’t believe me.” She smiled, her earlier anger gone. “He’s strong, and he’s running the show here, but that doesn’t mean that you’re weak. He wouldn’t rely on weak ponies to kill a monster army. And they relied on him, too, and together we were all even stronger than any of us, even Lex, would have been alone.” She grinned widely as she finished, proud of her speech. Now for the finishing touch. “That can be the case for you, too.”
Her satisfaction grew as Fencer looked away, quiet for a long moment before speaking. “Alright.”
“Alright? Alright what?” Oh please oh please oh please…
“I’ll tell you what happened with that crystal stallion.”
“Woo-hoo!” Sonata leapt into the air and raised a hoof in triumph. “I mean, thanks!”
“Sure.” Fencer’s reply was curt, but inwardly she was sighing. If he really made those ponies in there strong enough to be able to fight off a monster army, I want to know more about that, she decided. That was far more than her own group had ever been able to accomplish on their own; the best they’d ever achieved was to be able to mount a fighting retreat whenever the undead ponies attacked. And besides, if that didn’t work, then she could always go back to her original plan, the one that she’d come up with after that blonde reporter had started talking about Lex’s adventures while the doctors were treating them.
After all, if he can graft King Sombra’s horn onto his head and gain all that power, then so can I.