//------------------------------// // 558 - Meeting of the Disordered Minds // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Lex had no idea if the silence that filled the room was a good thing or not. Scattered in front of him, the ponies from Las Pegasus quietly traded glances in the aftermath of his proposal. Seeing those quick looks made Lex tense up, hating that he couldn’t decipher whatever wordless communication was passing between them in those momentary exchanges. It wasn’t even that his inability to read their dispositions weakened his ability to conduct this meeting – though that was a large part of it – rather, it was a reminder that after a lifetime of trying, he was still no closer to compensating for whatever defect he had that made interpersonal communication so difficult. Knowing he needed to calm himself before he grew agitated enough that his tulpa began to taunt him – or worse, before his eyes changed color, telegraphing his aggrieved state to the Las Pegasus ponies – he forced the emotion back down. Instead, he made himself review the details that River had briefed him on prior to her bringing everypony in. None of them had been meaningful that he’d been able to see, but she’d seemed to think they were important. The seating arrangements had been one of them. As inane as it seemed, apparently who sat closest to him during the meeting had been a major concern for River, to the point where she’d had the long conference table he’d thought they’d be using removed ahead of time. In its place, she’d arranged a large chair for him to sit at – with a smaller one for herself at his side (with Feather Duster standing attentively behind him) – one that was high-backed and ostentatiously decorated. Everypony else, by contrast, was sitting in parlor chairs that had been spread out in a one-hundred-fifty degree arc in front of him, equidistant. The order of introductions had been another matter that Lex couldn’t have cared less about, but which River had apparently put a great deal of thought into. While Lex would have simply done away with the entire thing, since River had already told him about each and every one of the ponies she’d brought back, that was apparently some sort of major faux paus. Worse, unlike with the chairs, there was no way for her to arrange any sort of parallel presentation there, since apparently it was imperative that everyone be presented to him individually rather than as a group. As such, River had defaulted to the least-tendentious manner of introduction she’d been able to think of: alphabetical order. As it was, those introductions lasted nearly a half-hour on their own. Far from River simply reading off everypony’s name as they walked into the room, each and every member of the Las Pegasus delegation had insisted on making a display of obsequiousness, showering him with pointless flattery while simultaneously attempting to talk up whatever merits they thought their business successes credentialed them with. It had been a complete waste of time, one that Lex had indulged only because River had previously cautioned him was very important for putting those ponies in a receptive mood. It was only after those mundane pleasantries had been dispensed with that Lex had finally been able to get down to business. Over the course of almost forty minutes, he’d outlined precisely what he wanted from the ponies River had brought to him, and how he expected them to go about fulfilling his wishes. In this area, too, River had taken it upon herself to be proactive, frequently breaking in when she apparently felt he’d made a point that required further elucidation. That was entirely by design, of course; without Sonata, he needed someone else to act as his spokespony. The only difference was that he hadn’t bothered to use his whisper-spell for River; with everypony focused on them, and no background noise to act as cover, even a whisper would be highly conspicuous. Now, with his design having been laid out, there was nothing left to do but wait and hope that everyone would see that what he was proposing was in everyone’s best- “Your Highness.” Lex’s reminiscing abruptly fell away as a unicorn mare with a sepia-colored coat – Pretty Penny, the hotel magnate – stood up. “First, please allow me to congratulate you on crafting such a comprehensive plan for Vanhoover’s recovery! I think I speak for everypony here when I say that it’s wonderful that our newest prince is so concerned with the welfare of Equestria’s downtrodden!” That brought a murmur of agreement from everypony else, and Pretty Penny smiled, as though anticipating a favorable reaction from Lex. When it became clear that none would be forthcoming, her grin sagged for only the briefest instant before she forged ahead. “I’d also like to be the first pony here to personally pledge my wholehearted support for your grand vision! And in that spirit, I’d like to propose one minor alteration to this incredible enterprise you’ve shown us.” Pretty Penny’s announcement brought an immediate frown to Lex’s face. The program he’d come up with wasn’t anything particularly complicated, but he’d still put considerable time into reviewing it, making sure that it would serve the best interests of Vanhoover’s ponies while simultaneously positioning him to be able to seize political authority over Las Pegasus in the near future. Even a slight deviation could put one or both of those goals at risk, and that wasn’t acceptable. But on the other hoof, while both prior experience in general and what he’d been told about these ponies in particular suggested otherwise, there was still the chance – however small – that Penny’s suggestion might improve upon his design. For that reason alone, she deserved to be heard. As much as Lex was aware that his intelligence outstripped virtually everyone else in Equestria, he was equally cognizant of the folly of presuming that no one else had anything useful to add. The memory of Sonata screaming a warning at him that the dragon attacking Tall Tale breathed acid mist, rather than fire, was proof enough of that. “What alteration?” he prompted. Flashing him another smile, Penny gave a deep nod that was almost a bow. “I’d like to propose that, rather than donating my share of the funding toward the aggregate investment, I’ll instead invest directly in renovating and building new living accommodations for everypony in Vanhoover.” Lex’s frown deepened. So much for her having anything useful to add. But before he could tell Pretty Penny exactly what he thought of her idea, River spoke up. “Penny, His Highness made himself very clear during his presentation. The sum total of the loan will be made via the corporation you’ll be joining, with the funds being presented to Prince Legis in installments to be used at his sole discretion.” “Oh, of course, of course,” chuckled Penny. “It’s just that this way, I can donate the money rather than loaning it, reducing High Highness’s debt. Even better, I can send labor and materials directly, cutting out the middlemare so that construction can be built without draining local resources-” “You mean you can have your people come in and build more of your cheap hotels,” snickered Razzle Dazzle, the elderly pegasus whom River had said ran some sort of dance hall in Las Pegasus. “Because that’s really what everypony here needs now, a set of overpriced fleabag resorts.” Penny’s smile remained, but its mirth drained away in an instant. “Razzle, dear, are you sure it’s not time for you to take your medication? You’re being quite rude in front of the prince.” “The prince,” snapped Razzle, “is clearly a pony who values frankness, something you know nothing about.” By that time Penny wasn’t smiling anymore, but Razzle didn’t give her a chance to retort, instead focusing on Lex. “Your Highness,” she purred – though her aged voice came out as more of a guttural rasp – “you don’t need money from selfish ponies like this. That’s why I’ll be happy to pay for Pretty Penny’s share of the loan if you feel like expelling her from this meeting for her audacity. In fact…” She waved a hoof at several of the other ponies gathered around her. “I daresay don’t need to borrow much money at all. You have a pair of exceptional beauties living here, don’t you?” For some reason she glanced at River as she said that, before returning her gaze to him. “I bet that if a new branch of the Palace of Prance were to open here, and your girls headlined, you’d rake in money from tourists faster than you would from some complicated loan.” “Whoa, now let’s all slow down just a minute,” chortled a stocky earth stallion whom Lex recognized as Gladmane, owner of one of Las Pegasus’s larger casinos. “Prince Legis just put his crown on barely a day ago, and after a fight so spectacular, I bet it’ll be the talk of the town here for years to come. Maybe what we need to do right now is give the prince some space to consider all these big ideas in a more relaxed and welcoming environment.” Displaying a set of teeth so pearly-white that they were almost fluorescent, he slicked his mane back as he nodded at Lex. “Your Highness, I bet that if you spent some time enjoying yourself at my casino, you’d come up with the perfect solution that’ll keep everypony happy and get you that big score you’re looking for. Why, who knows? Maybe you’ll even win so big that you won’t even need to take out a loan at all.” He punctuated that last part with a wink and a throaty chuckle. But his good humor died as he saw how the prince’s eyes were shining green and purple. For his part, Lex’s patience was at an end. Every single suggestion made so far had sought to compromise some essential element of what he was trying to accomplish. Worse, they were nakedly self-serving in their attempts to do so, to the point of openly trying to undermine each other in their attempts to turn what he was trying to do to their own ends. It was a display of such wanton cupidity that it was impossible to for him to affect even the flimsiest pretense of indulgence. “You should all-” “You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” The new voice caught everypony unaware, including Lex. Only River seemed to recognize it, though she seemed no less confused for that. “Pixie? Is that you?” Outside one of the nearby windows, a sudden burst of smoke appeared. The sight prompted Lex to rise, already activating his circlet in mild alarm as he scanned the sudden plume of sooty vapors for magical emanations, calming only slightly when he detected none. Even so, he continued to eye the fumes warily, ready to lacerate them with black crystals if anything even vaguely threatening happened. After the events of the last two days, he was thoroughly sick of surprises. But what emerged from the smoke after a few moments was an aquamarine hoof, waving blindly as the sound of coughing could be heard. Finally, the hoof found the windowsill and grabbed on, its owner – a middle-aged unicorn mare with a grey mane and tail, her cutie mark showing a smiling peacock with multicolored tail feathers – awkwardly climbing in a moment later. “Forgot,” she wheezed as she stumbled inside. “Those work better for exits than entrances.” “Pixie!” Her expression vacillating between anger and worry, River marched over to the newcomer, helping her inside. “What are you doing?!” She glanced back at Lex, reading the tension in his body language before gulping and turning back to the unicorn. “You could have been seriously hurt!” “I’m sorry,” coughed Pixie again, taking a moment to get her breath back before she continued. “But I couldn’t help myself! I was just so mad!” Glowering at the Las Pegasus ponies, she pointed at them accusingly. “I was outside trying to practice some new tricks, and I couldn’t help but overhear what you guys said! How can you be so two-faced?!” “Now miss,” soothed Gladmane. “I don’t know what you think you heard, but-” “No!” interrupted Pixie, giving him a dirty look. “Just yesterday, you all were laughing and saying the most horrible things about this pony because he was planning on fighting Blueblood, the same way I know you all gossiped about Jack Pot and I breaking up! And now that he's taken Blueblood's crown, you think you can just pretend like you're all his biggest supporters, saying you want to help out if he'll just help you out, acting like you never said all those mean-” She didn’t get a chance to finish, however, as Lex raised a hoof and brought it down hard against the floor in a loud crack that made everypony turn back toward him immediately. “Shut,” he pronounced darkly, “up.” Now wearing his displeasure openly, he glared at Pixie. “You were not invited,” he snarled. “And you are not helping!” The unicorn started to babble an apology, her indignation melting away in the face of Lex’s anger, but he had already turned toward the Las Pegasus ponies. “And as for the rest of you, these terms are non-negotiable. The only recompense you’ll receive for participating is the interest on the loan, to be paid out on the timetable I previously outlined.” He let that hang in the air for a moment, daring anypony to object. When no one said anything, he slowly sat back down, though his irritation was only slightly appeased. Vanhoover was on the edge of ruin, and the ponies whose money he needed were all idiots who couldn’t see past their own pathetic desires! But this is going to happen, he swore silently. And it's going to happen today! There won’t be another interruption- It was at that moment that another voice floated through the room. One sultry, and female, and laden with erotic pleasure. A voice that Lex knew quite well, having heard it as recently as last night from Sonata. “OH YESSS!!!”