“So…what exactly is this?” asked Fruit Crunch suspiciously, alternating between poking at the purple stuff and the green stuff on his plate.
“Steamed shallot with faux grass,” replied Feather Duster, her voice curt as she gave Fruit Crunch a look that dared him to complain about the food.
But he didn’t have a chance to test her patience as Straightlace spoke up instead. “What’s a shallot? And foie gras too, for that matter.”
“Faux grass,” corrected Feather Duster. “It’s green beans that have been marinated in onion juice squeezed from the shallot before it’s steamed.”
Cleansweep took a bite of the vegetables in question, only to grimace at the flavor. “Mom, I know we said that we were getting hungry, but don’t they have any peanut butter sandwiches or something?”
Feather Duster glowered at her daughter, but Fiddlesticks chimed in before she could say anything. “Don’t complain,” she admonished gently, slowly feeding a long green bean to Tiddlywinks, the baby cooing happily as he gnawed on the vegetable. “Back when Block Party was in charge, we would never have eaten this well.”
“Just so long as you realize that,” murmured Feather Duster, finishing the last of the food on her own plate. She hadn’t been around back when this place had been run by that Block Party fellow, but from what little she’d heard food had been even scarcer than it was now. Fortunately, Trotsworth had been quite amenable to her request that the foals Lex had sent here be given something to eat. The kindly old stallion had also made sure to give her a helping of food too, refusing to take no for an answer when she’d tried to turn it down. After everything that had happened, the unexpected show of compassion had almost brought her to tears, and now that she was finished Feather Duster knew that she needed to get back to work.
“I’m going to head back and see if Master Legis needs anything,” announced Feather Duster as she stood up.
Fruit Crunch’s reaction was instantaneous. “We’ll come too!”
But Feather Duster was just as quick. “No, you won’t!” Even if Lex was an unstoppable monster, and even if she and Cleansweep were inextricably bound to him now, she could at least try and run some interference for her daughter. It might not be much, but it might stop her from getting into another fight, since the next time she did she might lose more than just her pet snake. “You’re going to stay right here!”
“But we’ve already had some doctors look at us,” muttered Feathercap timidly. Despite having faced members of the Royal Guards only a few hours ago, the little guy looked completely intimidated by Feather Duster now, hiding behind his binoculars again. “They said we were fine.”
“I’m aware of that,” replied Feather Duster, keeping her eyes on the foals as she made her way toward the door. “But right now Master Legis is, er, resting, and you all shouldn’t bother him.” She nudged the door open with one leg, her back still to it. Cleansweep and Straightlace both seemed ready to object to what she was telling them, and Fruit Crunch had gotten to his hooves, looking like a cat that was trying to dart outside. “If he calls for you, I’ll be sure to let you know,” added Feather Duster – it was true enough, since defying Lex would likely mean a fate worse than death – and she was mildly relieved when that seemed to mollify the children. Backing out the door slowly, Feather Duster somehow managed to refrain from voicing a sigh of relief. “Now, I want you all to stay here and try not to make a ruckus-”
“-because she’s in my wa-a-a-ay…”
Feather Duster had just enough time for her eyes to widen before the owner of the familiar voice plowed into her, knocking them both to the ground. The breath went out of her lungs in a whoosh as the other mare fell on top of her, and by the time she’d gotten her wind back, the voice’s owner was climbing off of her. “Sorry about that-, oh hey!” exclaimed Sonata. “It’s you!”
Feather Duster’s annoyance at being knocked down was immediately drowned beneath a wave of embarrassment and mild panic as she realized that the collision had ridden her skirt up, and she hurriedly pushed it back down. “Y-yes, Miss,” she squeaked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. While Sonata was acting like what had just happened had been an accident, Feather Duster couldn’t bring herself to trust her. After all, this was the mare who had willingly become Lex’s girl. Or rather, one of them; it was already well-known that Lex was in a lurid relationship with several mares, and although Feather Duster had resigned herself to one day being ordered to join in their depravity, the prospect of it still terrified her.
“Hey! Sonata!”
The voice made Feather Duster jump, almost sending her to the floor again as she stood up, but Fruit Crunch didn’t seem to notice as he galloped up to Sonata with a huge grin on his face. “What’re you doing here?! Did Lex send you to get us? Has he said anything about how we handled those guards? I know he was kind of mad at us for threatening that one pony,” his smile faded a bit, but he recovered a moment later, “but we still did great, right? Even…even if we lost our spirit animals…” Again, his smile wavered, and he suddenly had to blink several times. Nor was he alone, as the rest of his friends walked up behind him – save only for Fiddlesticks, still feeding her brother – looking up at her expectantly.
Sonata blinked at the rapid onslaught of questions, before giving the children a smile. “Oh, yeah! Absolutely! I was just with Lex, and he couldn’t stop talking about you guys!”
“Really?” The look on Fruit Crunch’s face right then wasn’t just joy, but also relief. Behind him, Straightlace and Feathercap smiled at each other, bumping hooves. Even Cleansweep looked pleasantly surprised, giving a cheer and leaping into the air, her wings fluttering to hold her there. Only Fiddlesticks looked skeptical, one eyebrow raised high.
“Totes!” nodded Sonata, bobbing her head up and down vigorously; slightly too vigorously, in Feather Duster’s estimation. “He said that you guys did really well, and that he was, like, super proud of you, and, um, that he was all impressed and stuff!”
“So…” Feathercap took a halting step forward. “So he’s going to ask the Night Mare to bring Ulespy and the others back?”
Sonata licked her lips, but Feather Duster didn’t give her a chance to say anything, putting herself between Sonata and the foals. “Children, settle down. I’m sure that Miss Dusk is here on an important errand.” She glanced back at Sonata, forcing herself to smile politely. With any luck, she’d forget all about what the colt had asked; the last thing Feather Duster wanted was for her daughter to be hanging around that awful snake again, even if – no, especially if – it gave her magic powers. “Isn’t that right, Miss Dusk?”
Sonata looked around at the empty hallway, before pointing to herself in bewilderment. “You mean me?”
Trying to keep her expression from becoming pained, Feather Duster nodded. “I’m sure Master Legis sent you here for a reason…?”
“Yeah, I was supposed to go talk to River, and then, um…” glancing upward in thought, Sonata tapped her chin for a moment before gasping. “Oh right! I’m trying to find Aria! She’s in one of these rooms somewhere, but I got kinda lost looking for her.” Her last sentence ended with a giggle, though Feather Duster couldn’t imagine what she found funny about that.
Fruit Crunch’s eyes lit up, turning around to look at his friends. “Alright you guys, you heard her! Our mission is to find Aria, who’s somewhere in this mansion! Let’s locate her quick and keep showing Lex how helpful we are!”
Feather Duster’s eyes widened. “No, wait!”
But it was already too late, as Fruit Crunch rushed by her, followed by Straightlace and Cleansweep, the latter yelling “don’t worry, Mom!” over her shoulder as she flew down the hallway.
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” cooed Sonata, waving at the foals as they charged down the hallway, yelling plans and instructions at each other before splitting up.
“Nooo!” wailed Feather Duster, giving the retreating children a horrified look. “Come back!” Desperate, she looked at Feathercap and Fiddlesticks. “You said you have magic now, right?! Call them back!”
“W-we can’t,” muttered Feathercap. “Without our animals, we don’t have our powers. But, um…” He managed a tiny smile, looking at Sonata. “We could go with you, if you want…”
“Tiddlywinks is still hungry,” added Fiddlesticks, “so I’m staying here.”
“You’re both staying here!” yelled Feather Duster, before turning a pleading look toward Sonata. “Miss, please, help me find them!”
Sonata took a step back, slightly unnerved by Feather Duster’s descent into hysteria. “Whoa, like, what’s the big deal? They’re just gonna go around and help me find Aria. Once they figure out where she is I’ll drag her back with me, those kids can come back here and hang out, and everything’ll be good.”
But Feather Duster only seemed to grow more panicked. “What if they run into some of the Royal Guard ponies?! Or worse, the princesses?!” Just the thought threatened to make her faint. “If they run into Princess Celestia now, after what they helped Lex do to Princess Luna, she…she might…!”
Feathercap and Fiddlesticks traded an alarmed look, but Sonata couldn’t have been less worried. “Look, take a breath, okay? I’ve talked to Big White a couple of times now, and she seems pretty chill. I really don’t think she’s going to pick on a couple of kids. I mean, sure, Lex kicked her huge marshmallow butt, but according to him it was all her and her sister’s fault anyway, so she’ll probably be totes cool about the whole thing.” She paused for a moment, then added. “I dunno about those guards, though. They really seemed like jerks.”
“But…!”
“And besides,” added Sonata, “if she does do something dumb like pick on those kids, Lex’ll totes be all over her like hot fudge on a sundae. And I bet she knows it, so she won’t wanna do anything that’ll make Lex clip her wings too.” She threw a foreleg around Feather Duster then, giving her a friendly hug. “So don’t worry so much. You’ve got a hero on your side!”
Feathercap and Fiddlesticks seemed reassured by that, but Feather Duster opened her mouth…only to close it a moment later. As bizarre as it was to consider, what Sonata had said made sense. Even if Princess Celestia blamed Cleansweep or her friends for what had happened to Princess Luna, what could she do about it? Lex was a monster, but he was a monster who would fight to defend what was his, which included Cleansweep and the rest of her group. Fiddlesticks had been right about Lex; he was like a dragon that jealously guarded its hoard. But that’s still protection, she admitted to herself silently. Lex Legis is going to protect my daughter from the wrath of the princesses… The thought was like something out of a fever dream, but that was her life now.
“Anyway,” continued Sonata casually, “it won’t be a big deal if we find Aria first. C’mon, I bet we’re getting close!” Her foreleg still around Feather Duster, she turned to lead her away, glancing back in the room. “You guys be good! I’ll talk to Lex about your animals!” Feather Duster bit her lip at that, but it was too late to say anything as Sonata led her down the hallway.
“Okay,” grinned Sonata, oblivious to her companion’s discomfort, “I was singing a song before, so let’s you and me take a new one from the top! Ready?” She didn’t wait before she started up with a cheery tune. “Ninety-nine rooms in the mansion to check! Ninety-nine rooms in the…no, wait, that doesn’t fit. Ooh! I’ve got it! Check check check the rooms, quickly in the…um…huh, this is kinda hard.” She frowned in thought, before giving Feather Duster a contemplative look. “Hey, is there any way that rooms can have ears that hang low?”
Biting her lip, Feather Duster could only hope they’d find Aria soon.