“I hope you don’t mind my making myself at home,” drawled Aria, the smirk on her face making it very clear that her words weren’t sincere in the least. “I just figured that since you turned all of your stuff over to Lex, that meant you wouldn’t mind if I helped mys-, ow!” Yanking her head away from the pony who’d been combing her hair, she glared up at him. “Work the tangles out gently, idiot!”
“So sorry, madam,” murmured the comb-wielding pony, eyes downcast.
Aria didn’t look the least bit mollified by the apology. “Do that again and I’ll make you pluck the hairs out of your tail one at a time,” she growled.
The threat was enough to make all of the servants dancing attendance on her go pale, with the pony in question swallowing nervously. “O-of course, madam.”
“Hmph.” Turning back to River, Aria’s scowl morphed back into her usual mocking smirk. “What’s that old expression? Good help is so hard to find?”
But that little exchange between Aria and the help had given River enough time to regain her poise. “It is indeed,” she nodded, giving her unexpected guest a warm smile. But the look instantly changed to one of stark disapproval as she looked at the servants. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves, treating such an important guest in such a shabby manner!” she snapped.
Despite having ignored her previous outburst, the staff all flinched at that, and River saw them stop what they were doing as they exchanged nervous glances. The sight made her smile inwardly, but not nearly as much as the confused frown on Aria’s face, though to her credit she managed to recover fairly quickly. “That’s right,” huffed Aria, glancing around quickly. “You all should…” Her eyes fell on the platter of beet, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches that three of the servants were preparing in front of her. “Cut the crusts off those!” she snarled. “Honestly, who doesn’t know to do that?”
But River was already several steps ahead of her. “Oh come now, somepony of such importance deserves so much better than this pitiful arrangement,” she scoffed, before giving the servants her usual stony expression. “Go prepare the hot tub right now!”
Again, the servants exchanged worried looks, before one of them cleared their throat. “Begging your pardon, Miss, but the hot water still isn’t working.”
“Then use cold water and heat it up,” said River slowly, as though explaining things to a rather stupid child. Or Piggy, since that was about the same. “And go pick some blueberries from the garden out back. I want two bowls full of them, along with some cream, by the time that water is ready! And a bottle of Chardonneigh!”
The servants hesitated again, this time directing their eyes toward Aria, as though waiting for her to sign off on the orders they’d just been given. The sight made River’s self-control strain, certain now that Aria had ensorcelled them. They would never have dared to disrespect her so openly otherwise. But I have my own way of making people do what I want, she thought darkly. “Do it now,” hissed River, “or none of you will have jobs tomorrow!”
It was with vicious glee that she watched the servants scatter then, rushing for the doors with a flurry of murmured apologies as they ran to carry out her orders. Whatever magic Aria had used to compel their obedience wasn’t so powerful that they didn’t know to be afraid of her. But River knew better than to openly gloat, changing her expression back to an easygoing smile as she looked at Aria. “I was just going to go for nice soak,” she lied. “Why don’t you join me? We can enjoy ourselves and talk about what brings you here before you have to get to Lex’s meeting.”
“Screw Lex and screw his meeting, that’s what brings me here,” sneered Aria, stretching as she got to her hooves. “And you better get more than just one bottle of whatever that was, because I’m not in the mood to share.”
River raised an eyebrow at that. She wasn’t this angry at him when we were all having breakfast together earlier. “Trouble in paradise?” she asked, keeping her voice casual as she turned to lead her guest toward the manor’s specialized bathing areas.
“Lex wouldn’t know paradise if she laid down in front of him, spread her legs, and said ‘do me baby,’” muttered Aria darkly. “Instead, he’d just tell her to shut up and then take her voice away.”
Coloring slightly at the lewd phrasing, River didn’t have to fake the interested look she gave Aria over her shoulder. “Okay, now I’m intrigued,” she admitted. “What happened?”
“…none of your business,” huffed Aria after several seconds, her face sullen.
“Of course,” agreed River, knowing that the other mare would almost certainly volunteer the information on her own sooner or later. She’d had more than enough experience with gossipy socialites to know that you didn’t drop a hint like that unless you wanted to go on about it at length, and even if Aria had the willpower to hold back the wine that was waiting for them would almost certainly loosen her up. Instead, River changed topics. “Do you have any preferences for aroma oils? I find lavender quite relaxing, but there are days when a touch of vanilla is just what the doctor ordered…”
Keeping up a stream of idle chatter, River made sure to take the most circuitous route towards her destination. It wasn’t just to make sure the servants had enough time to heat the water up; the path she was currently taking was one that kept them well away from where the princesses were staying. That was no coincidence; although she had yet to volunteer the particulars, Aria had quite clearly had some sort of falling out with Lex. Given what River had heard about Aria from Sonata, as well as what she’d seen of her this morning, the sulky Siren was almost certainly the sort of girl who’d want to get some payback…which she likely hadn’t gotten already, since she was still pouting at the mention of the stallion who’d upset her.
That was enough to let River make an educated guess as to why Aria was here, and she didn’t like the answer she came up with. And even if Sonata’s sister wasn’t out to somehow sabotage Lex’s conference with the princesses, just the thought of her running into Silhouette was enough to make River cringe. Even if Aria didn’t care that Luna’s pet fanatic almost disrupted the ritual that made her into a pony, they’re both arrogant enough that they’d hate each other on general principle, she felt certain. If the two of them met, they would most likely come to blows – or rather, magical attacks – and River didn’t want that to happen in her manor. Hopefully a tub of warm water, something pleasant to drink, and a sympathetic ear would be enough to make Aria forget about everything else long enough for the meeting to begin without her realizing it.
Besides, mused River as she snuck another glance at the brooding mare following her, there might be an opportunity here…
“…so then I came here,” finished Aria, pausing long enough to take another swig of the bottle sitting on the rim of the hot tub before continuing. “Tell ya what though…I shoulda told ‘im exac-,” a small hiccup cut her off, and she tried again, “exactly where he can shove his dis-a-pro-val,” she sounded each syllable out in a sing-song fashion, “except he’d have to reach waaay back and take the stick out first!” She snickered at that, leaning back and closing her eyes.
Sitting across from her in the bubbling water, River pouted in righteous indignation. “I can’t believe he took your voice away like that! He knows how much that means to you!”
“I know!” Aria’s eyes opened a little too widely as she nodded in outraged commiseration. “But apparently my feelings don’t matter as much as Little Miss Sonata’s.” The words came out bitter, and for a moment Aria looked like she was going to hurl the bottle away. Thankfully she didn’t, instead tipping it back to take another drink from it. A second later it was empty, and Aria stood it back on the rim of the tub next to the two others that she’d polished off.
“Lex owes you an apology,” declared River. “And I don’t just mean saying he’s sorry. He needs to make some sort of significant gesture to show you that he wants to make up for what he did.”
Aria gave a breathy laugh at that. “Yeah, ‘cuz that’ll happen.” Lazily, she reached out for the nearby bowl of blueberries, scooping a few up and managing to get them into her mouth after only two tries. “He’s gotta be allergic to sayin’ he was wrong,” she snorted as she gulped the berries down. “Besides…s’not like he even really cares about me. I was just some experiment. The only girl he wants is Sonata…” Her voice had grown steadily more depressed as she’d spoken, and by the time she’d finished her ears were folded back, eyes downcast, and her expression one of heartbreak.
“He does care about you,” insisted River. “If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have responded so strongly when you tempted him before.”
Aria shrugged, still looking depressed. “Not strongly enough…”
“Even so, it’s proof that he cares.” River took a sip of her own drink – pouring it into a glass first, like a civilized pony – before continuing. “He’s just doing what stallions do, getting so wrapped up in his big plans that he can’t see what he’s doing to the mares in his life.” River couldn’t keep the wry note out of her voice, thinking about how Mounte had always been excited about one harebrained scheme or another. “But if we figure out how to nudge him in the right direction, he’ll realize how much he needs you.”
Across from her, Aria glanced up, lips curling into her usual smirk. “Heh. ‘We,’ huh?” She unsteadily slid around the edge of the tub, giving the other mare a hooded look as she closed in on her. “I see right through you, y’know. You’re one of those whatchamacallems…gold miners. ‘Cept you don’t want gold, right? Because you’ve got all this,” she waved a hoof at the room they were in. “So what’re you after? Hoping he’ll win it all ‘n’ make you Queen of Canterlot or something?”
Alarmed at Aria’s sudden bout of insight, River nevertheless refused to retreat. “You’ve got it all wrong,” she insisted. “I want to help Vanhoover because this is my home, and I want to help you because, well…I think of you as a friend.”
“Uh-huh,” drawled Aria. “Yeah, you wanna help out so much that you gave Lex some pretty little pony in a short, short skirt, prancing all around.”
“That was-”
But Aria didn’t let her finish, shrugging. “Hey, I’m not complainin’. I think watchin’ him go all Big Bad Wolf on her would be hot.” She grinned, her expression turning lewd. “Heck, I’d wanna join in. She’s the sorta chick that makes you wanna bully her.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” protested River.
“Nah, I think ya do,” chuckled Aria, close enough now to grab River’s liquor bottle and take a long pull from it. “But if you really wanted to rope Lex in, you shoulda done it yourself. He’s the sort who makes a big deal out of bangin’ someone, and if I almost got ‘im you could too, since you look like me ‘cept for the sag and the wrinkles.” She laughed at that, downing the rest of River’s bottle. “You should ask Lex if he has a spell that’ll fix that for you…” Yawning, she laid her head back on the rim of the tub, her voice growing softer. “If he doesn’t, bet he can make one…he can do anything…s’part of why I fell for ‘im…”
River frowned as Aria’s words trailed off, replaced with a soft snoring a second later. For an instant she contemplated pushing the mouthy mare’s head under the water, but the urge wasn’t serious. Still, as she got out of the tub and leaned out the doorway to signal some servants to retrieve Aria and put her in a nearby guestroom, River couldn’t help but feel unnerved by how completely Aria had seen through her. Hopefully she won’t remember this conversation when she wakes up, she thought uneasily. Or at least, how it ended. Helping Aria patch things up with Lex offered too many advantages to pass up; it would be delicate work, but repairing his relationship with the Siren would definitely help her get in good with him.
And best of all, she’d already made some progress on that front: as she stepped back into the hallway, one glance at a nearby clock confirmed that Aria wouldn’t have any chances to interfere with the princesses now.
Lex’s meeting with the Royal Sisters would begin in less than five minutes.