River was quite pleased with how well she was handling everything.
Sure, it had been a shock to come home and find that her city was in ruins, her husband was dead, and her son had quite possibly knocked up some gold-digging nag. And certainly, she had made some missteps when she’d met the irascible wizard who’d declared himself overlord of what was left of Vanhoover, resulting in her needing to give him everything she’d spent her life acquiring in order to get back on his good side. But now she’d acclimated to the situation, which was why word that Lex had actually defeated the princesses in battle – to say nothing of what he’d done to Princess Luna – had thrown her not at all.
Though, come to think of it, all the liquor she’d had with Aria a little while ago might have helped with that.
“No,” decided River after a moment’s consideration. “It was all me.” The thought made her smirk in self-satisfaction, and she leaned back in her favorite chair, eyes closing as she savored the beautiful music coming out of her phonograph. She’d originally started listening to Ponygliacci shortly after she’d married Mounte, figuring that an appreciation for high art was expected of her now. To her surprise, she’d come to enjoy the opera quite a bit, and now she listened to it whenever she felt the need to relax. It always did the trick, and even now she felt the grandeur of the music wash over her, calming her down to the point where River could remember the sight of Princess Luna – lying there battered and bruised and no longer an alicorn – without feeling herself start to shake.
“I can handle this,” murmured River quietly as the music reached a crescendo, filling her study. “I can handle him.” Certainly, this latest demonstration of Lex Legis’s power was terrifying, but what did it really change? She’d already known that he was a wizard of prodigious might and wrathful temperament, having experienced both of those firsthoof. But she’d still managed to seduce him, stroking his ego with gifts and flattery and apologies until he’d given her what she’d wanted.
Really, it wasn’t any different than it had been when she’d been forced to take her little extended vacation to Las Pegasus after Vanhoover had flooded. Just like Lex, the rich stuck-ups in that city were ponies that she couldn’t boss around. Except in their case, it was because they were outside of Vanhoover’s social structure, rather than because they had enough magic to defeat both of the Royal Sisters at the same time and were willing to use it on anyone who displeased them…but other than that, it was exactly the same. Everything would go her way so long as she said and did the right things to make herself invaluable to the pony that had, for all intents and purposes, declared war on Equestria…a war that he could conceivably win.
All of a sudden Ponygliacci wasn’t as soothing as she’d hoped. River had just gotten up to look for a different opera when a knock came at her door. The sound made her jump slightly, and she scowled at herself as she turned the phonograph off. There was no reason for her to be so anxious; she was the one who’d asked to be informed of any developments. Sitting back down, River let out a slow breath. “Come in.”
The door opened a moment later, and Trotsworth stepped inside. “Miss Sonata Dusk to see you, madam.”
He moved to the side as he spoke, revealing the mare in question, who trotted inside with a casual wave. “Hey River,” smiled the little bumpkin. “Totes swanky place you got here!”
Ignoring the compliment – though it really didn’t deserve to be called that, having less depth of appreciation than her fat son describing his favorite flavor of ice cream – River plastered a smile on her face. “Sonata!” she squealed happily, years of practice making her voice sound natural. Trotting over to the mare in question, River air-kissed each of her cheeks. “How are you? How’s Lex? I was so worried when I heard about what happened with him and the princesses!” She tossed a glance at Trotsworth, and that was all it took for him to nod, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
Looking a little put-off by the affectionate reception, Sonata rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Aw, I’m okay. I wasn’t even there for what happened. Lex is pretty out of it though.”
“Is he alright?” Unlike her happiness at seeing Sonata, the worry in River’s voice now was entirely real. If Lex’s victory over the Royal Sisters had been a near thing, then he might not be so lucky if and when the other princesses came looking for revenge. And if he went down, River didn’t want to consider what would happen to everypony who’d supported him.
Unsurprisingly, Sonata didn’t seem to have thought that far ahead, adopting a look of exasperation rather than trepidation. “Honestly, he’d be a lot better if he hadn’t gone overboard making that Luna lady’s wings disappear since, the way he said it, that apparently hurt him worse than the actual fight itself, but going overboard is kind of what Lex does. That and not resting afterward, even when he really needs it,” she snorted.
River knew she was supposed to commiserate, but instead she merely nodded absently as she considered what Sonata had just let slip. According to her, Lex had sustained the majority of his injuries after the battle had ended, as a consequence of whatever backlash he’d suffered changing Princess Luna from an alicorn to a unicorn. Which means, she realized, that it wasn’t a close fight, not if he injured himself worse than Celestia and Luna did. The thought was actually somewhat comforting; it meant that Lex would probably win if he found himself in a fight against the two remaining princesses.
Reassured, River made herself smile again. “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“Thanks. That’s kinda why I’m here, actually. Lex wants to talk to you.”
“He does?” It took River a moment to figure out what he could possibly want to see her about. “Oh, about my finances?” She’d given him the ledger containing the Banks’ family assets that morning, with him stating that he’d summon her to go over them later. It seemed a little odd that he’d want to do that now, but she couldn’t imagine any other reason he’d have to summon her.
But contrary to her guess, Sonata shook her head. “Nah. He wants you to go to that Las Pegasus place.”
Completely thrown for a loop, River could only blink. “Las Pegasus? Why…?” For that matter, how was she even supposed to get there? Were the trains running again?
Sonata grunted an approximation of “dunno.” “He said something about that to me a while back, but I don’t remember what it was about. Just that he wanted to send me at the time, and that he’d have Aria by his spokespony while I was gone.” The memory made her snicker a little. “I was, like, so mad at him for saying that that I totes dumped a plate of food on his head.”
“I see…”
“Oh, speaking of, have you seen Aria at all? I’m supposed to bring her back too.”
River suddenly found herself wishing she hadn’t drunk quite so much before, having trouble keeping up with how fast the topic of conversation was changing. “She’s here. She’s sleeping in one of the guest rooms.”
Sonata’s eyes widened. “For realsies? All this stuff happened and she slept through it?”
“She needed to, she was rather heartbroken. Apparently she and Lex had some sort of fight?” The question was purposefully leading. Fixing whatever relationship problems Lex was having with his little playthings was another way that River intended to stay in his good graces, and although Aria had already told her everything about what had happened, another perspective was always useful.
But for some reason, the little ditz didn’t rise to the bait. “More like she got what was coming to her,” she scoffed, heading for the door. “You mind having your butler show me where she is? I would’ve gotten lost just coming to meet you if he hadn’t led me here.”
Slightly chagrinned at how Princess Celestia had said much the same thing when she’d bumped into her earlier, River moved alongside Sonata. “How about I take you there myself? That way all three of us can head back to Lex together.”
“That’s okay,” smiled Sonata politely as she opened the door, Trotsworth standing at the ready on the other side of the hallway. “She and I have some stuff we need to talk about anyway.”
For a moment River wondered if Sonata was purposefully trying to avoid telling her what had happened between Lex and Aria. Mulling that over for a second, River considered prying but decided against it, not wanting to take the risk of upsetting the one member of Lex’s mares who was well-disposed toward her. “I understand. In that case, I’ll go see what Lex wants me to do in Las Pegasus. Trotsworth.” At hearing his name, the dutiful old stallion stepped forward. “Take Sonata here to Aria, would you?”
“Of course, madam. Right this way Miss Dusk.”
“Awesome! Thanks River!” Throwing a foreleg around her neck, Sonata pulled her in for a quick hug, as though they were just two girls discussing a sleepover rather than events that were shaping the course of Equestria. “I’ll see you later!” she waved, heading toward Trotsworth, who dutifully started leading her toward Aria’s room.
“Take care,” replied River, waiting until Sonata was out of sight before rolling her eyes, having found another reason to be jealous of the empty-headed mare. Not only was she a sorceress, and had a body to make a supermodel weep, but her vacuous nature quite obviously insulated her from things like stress or anxiety. After all, that little exchange had made it quite clear that Sonata wasn’t shaken in the slightest about how Lex had defeated the princesses.
For her part, River fully planned on packing her opera records when she went on whatever errand Lex had for her in Las Pegasus.
“Princess Luna has regained consciousness!”
Sonata blinked, not sure what the significance of that was as she looked at the younger stallion – also dressed like a butler – that had run up and blurted out that message to Trotsworth. For his part, the older stallion nodded solemnly. “I see.” Turning, Trotsworth gave her a polite bow. “Miss Dusk, do forgive me, but I must liaise with the doctors regarding the princess’s condition. You’ll find Miss Blaze’s room down the second hallway to your left, third door on your right.”
Smiling, Sonata trotted in the direction indicated. “Thanks! Oh, and tell the princess not to be sore about what happened, because it was totes her fault!” Not noticing the blank looks she received in reply, she headed toward Aria’s room.
Except, after heading down the third hallway on her right and checking the second door on her left, Aria wasn’t there, the door opening into a closet. Blinking, Sonata had tried doubling back, going down the second hallway on her right and opening the third door on her left, but that hadn’t been it either. Neither had been the third hallway on her left and the second door on her right.
By now hopelessly lost, and not having run into anypony who could help her out, Sonata instead decided to make a game of it, checking doors at random as she trotted through the place. It was actually kind of fun, like on those game shows where you had to pick what was behind the door. Giggling, Sonata found herself singing a cheery tune as she trotted down the hallway, one that she’d learned from her friend Pinkie Pie back on Everglow, substituting her own lyrics for the pink party pony’s as she turned a corner.
"My name's Sonata Dusk, and I am here to say, I'm gonna crash into that maid, because she's in my wa-a-a-ay…"
Her brain caught up to her mouth a second later, but by that point it was too late, and Sonata's eyes widened just as she collided with the maid in question, who had been exiting a room backwards, talking to someone within. The two of them went down in a heap, and Sonata groaned, rubbing her head as she looked at the mare underneath her, grimacing as she realized that the maid's skirt had ridden up rather provocatively. Geez, first Nosey falls under my spell way too much, then River's all with the cheek-kisses, and now this. Maybe Lex isn't the chick magnet after all. Maybe it's me. Sighing, she started to climb off of the pony she'd run into.
"Sorry about that-, oh hey! It's you!"
Red-faced, Feather Duster smoothed her skirt back down. "Y-yes, Miss."