A dimension away, Sonata sat listlessly across the counter from Drowsy End. "It's really nice of you, I mean, letting me stay here and all."
Drowsy made a dismissive wave of a hoof, "You are welcome here. We are like friends? Besides, I feel you will not remain here for too long. There are greater things in your future than to spend your days with a sleepy mare."
Sonata reached across the counter and gently ruffled Drowsy's mane, "You're still nice, drowsy or not. Thank you." She sniffed loudly, "Still can't believe they all left so quickly. Do you think they'll come back?"
Drowsy shook her head, "I could not say yes or no. It is uncertain at best, but we can wait a while to see." She didn't object to the petting, so it continued. It made her fall into a light nap, but most things in life seemed to have that effect on her.
With no warning or fanfare, the door to the inn suddenly burst open and Lex stumbled in. He froze in place as he saw her. "Sonata?" he called her name in mild disbelief, before a relieved look crossed his face. He started to make his way over to her, dragging himself with the slow steps of somepony that was utterly exhausted.
Sonata jumped in place at the voice, then spun around. A broad grin spread over her face, though it was tinged with doubt. This was not the same Lex she remembered, but close? "Lex? Is that you? What happened? I mean, besides looking as tired as Drowsy." Drowsy had no comment, being asleep. Sonata advanced to offer a supporting hoof. "You came back for me!"
Contrary to how he usually acted, Lex didn't refuse her offer of support, leaning against her. He idly wondered if she knew that he wouldn't have accepted that gesture from any other pony, with the possible exception of Twilight.
"I came back to Everglow because I needed to leave Equestria in a hurry," he admitted. "But I came back to Viljatown because I wanted to see you again."
It had been a dizzying last two days. He had fled with all haste to the Tree of Harmony, the one place in Equestria that he knew radiated enough ambient magical energy that it would let him recharge his magic immediately. The trip there had been one long flight through the wilderness, avoiding open areas as much as possible so as to try and escape any search parties that had been dispatched to try and subdue him.
He'd been lucky to make it to the Everfree Forest without encountering any other ponies, but he'd very nearly had to fight a cragadile when crossing through it. Even after that, it had taken an hour-long ritual to siphon off enough of the magic that the Tree had naturally radiated to replenish his magic and prepare the plane-shift spell that he had learned from Twilight. He was just glad that her copious notes had included instructions about the proper tuning fork to use, and that he'd had the foresight to purchase one before they'd gone back to Equestria.
It had been obvious to him by that point that he was done in Equestria, at least for now. With his attempts at making Celestia see reason via diplomacy having failed, force was now the only option remaining, and for that to stand any real chance of working, he'd need to acquire more power. The best way to do that was on Everglow, which had greater magic to match its greater dangers.
As it was, casting the spell had been far more draining than he'd anticipated. He'd been forced to simultaneously lengthen the casting time to draw in additional ambient magic while he'd worked the spell and channel the excess magic painfully through his own body. It had pushed him to his physical limits...but it had worked. He had arrived just outside of Viljatown, having visualized it instinctively because he knew Sonata was there, and had returned to the inn that he'd stayed at before...it was to his good fortune that she had been there.
"Things didn't work out as well as I'd hoped in Equestria," he admitted as Sonata guided him to a seat.
Sonata tilted her head with some confusion, "What happened?" She frowned with imagined situations, "Was someone being a jerk? Let me talk to them and we'll get it fixed, like, yesterday or something." She helped him settle down before plopping herself beside him, "It's so quiet without you guys around! I thought I was gonna go nuts by myself, uh, no offense to Drowsy End."
"None taken," replied the seemingly still sleeping mare between soft snores.
Lex shook his head. "It's not going to be fixed... and I doubt we're going to see the others again for a long time," he said, before telling her what had happened when he'd returned to Equestria. He left nothing out, unashamed of how he'd acted. After all, he had been right to do what he did.
Sonata listened to the telling, then blinked with confusion, "Why did you pick a fight with their qu--Princess? You could have totally been a national hero for keeping Twilight safe!" She snorted loudly, "You're really smart with some stuff, Lex, but you're kinda dumb with people, and I say that as a friend so don't spaz out at me." She leaned in a little, "Tell me what you wanted to get done, like, really get done, assuming everyone said 'Yes Lex, you're totally right!' and tossed Celestia onto the curb."
He started to speak, then caught himself. He could have gone into major detail, but he was certain that that would only have confused her. Instead, he sighed, "I would have done everything I could do, within the moral boundaries I have set for myself, to make life better for all of the ponies in Equestria. That's what I want to do. It's all I've ever wanted to do." He looked at her levelly as he summarized everything he'd done. "It's the only way I know how to try and engage in the reciprocal altruism that is the basis of friendship."
Sonata nodded, "Alright, that sounds mostly good." And some of it went flying over her head, "So now let's pretend you wanted to do that anyway, but Celestia wasn't going anywhere. How would you get that done then?" She held up a hoof, "This is a game. Assume Celestia is like a magic-proof rock, she's not going anywhere! Too bad, so sad, she's stuck. You still want to do your stuff. How?"
"By smashing the rock," he said simply. "I want to do the most good possible, and I explained why and how that was the case. If she's intent on stopping me from doing good, for ideological rather than practical concerns, then she's corrupt, and needs to be removed from the equation."
Normally, he'd have engaged in Sonata's game, finding the exercise to be a good chance to teach her something, but in the state he was in now he was in no mood for it. Instead, he moved on to another topic, "Have you gone back to your swim-instructor job to finish your sentence?"
Sonata snorted, "Heck no! I told them how we busted up those gnoll things and freed a bunch of people and how we saved all of those people in the train. They heard about it and were like 'Well I guess you learned your lesson!' and practically kicked me out. Like, that part was OK, but then you guys were totally gone, off to start wars with princesses." She stuck out her tongue a little, "Is Equestria that bad? The way everyone else was going on about it, it sounded like a really nice place."
A surprised look crossed Lex's face, "You received a pardon?" He almost asked if she'd used her magic to enchant some unwitting official into pardoning her, but decided against it. If she had, there was no way to prove it now, and besides... she didn't seem like she'd do that.
"Equestria is a good place," he admitted, "a wonderful place. It's my home, and I care about it deeply. That's why I want it to be as good as it can possibly be, and I'm not going to stop striving for that." He sighed, standing up, "I'll help you find someplace to live here, and then I'm going to recuperate and head out. The sooner I can acquire more power, the sooner I can head back there and work to improve the situation."
Sonata raised a hoof to point at herself, "I tried that. Me and the other sirens. We took places over, made them do what we wanted to get done. Was that right?" She rose with him, "If we did good things after brainwashing everyone, would it suddenly be OK?" She shuffled a little, "I don't think it does..." She moved to nudge against Lex, "I'm staying with you either way, you big dolt. I just think..." She trailed off. What did she think? This stuff was complicated. "I want to be friends with Twilight, and her friends. Can't you make things better without more fighting?"
He froze as she momentarily pressed herself against him, but slowly relaxed. "It's not the same, Sonata," he replied. Normally he'd have snapped at her, but he was too tired to muster up his usual indignation. "Using magic to bend the minds of others is immoral, regardless of what you use it for. Violence, if used in a moral fashion, can sometimes be the correct answer. If those gnoll slavers we fought had peacefully refused to give up their slaves, we would not have been wrong to fight to make them comply, because it was the only measure left by which to achieve a moral goal that needed to be achieved."
He paused to toss several coins on the counter, making Drowsy blink as she lifted her head. "Get me a room," he said curtly.
Drowsy smiled, "You can use Sonata's" She took the coin though, and was soon drifting off again.
Sonata gave a brief giggle, "She's been letting me stay for free." She nudged Lex, "From what the girls were saying, Equestria just isn't like that. They don't live with constant violence, and you know what? That sounds pretty nice. I mean... what if you did beat up the Princess and took over, what's going to stop someone else from beating you up? I don't want to live in a world where everyone's beating each other up for the right to wear a stupid hat." She let out a slow sigh, "I'm sorry if I sound stupid, but I really think you can do a lot of good without being bad for a moment to do it. We've both been bad before, when does it stop?"
He could feel his patience wearing thin. "Then what do you suggest, Sonata? That I give up on my goal to help the ponies of Equestria just because Celestia doesn't like it? That I just allow her to continue ignoring the virtuous undertakings that she has a responsibility to enact? Because she won't compromise, and neither will I. Furthermore, I-...wait, hold on." His head snapped back around to Drowsy, suddenly turning red. "We can't sleep in the same room!"
Sonata reached for Lex's head, trying to direct him back towards herself, "There is more than one way to help the ponies of Equestria. Just because you can't have the whole cake doesn't mean a slice is suddenly bad or something." She sat down, trying to hold his cheeks in her hooves, "Look at me. We could be happy, and help make other people happy. It won't be everyone, but it will be some, and that can be enough. I will stand by you and we can become heroes and help out all the ponies you can reach, but you're not getting that whole cake, and that's OK."
Lex tried to reach for his usual counterarguments, but was suddenly finding it difficult to order his thoughts. He could feel his heart pounding at Sonata's touch, at how close her face was to his own. "I, um... I think, I mean... I don't cede the argument, but I'm willing to, you know... have the discussion."
Twilight moved around her crystal tower. It had grown dusty over time and she was hard at work fixing that. Spike wasn't being as helpful as he could be, but she forgave that. Applejack had gone off to reunite with her family, and Rainbow Dash was... somewhere... That girl! Twilight let out a satisfied sigh as she approached her journal and flipped it open. She had so much to write about, it might take a while to get it all down, months even! But she'd give it her best shot.
"Princess Sparkle?" came a new voice.
Twilight glanced up to see a pony looking at her expectantly.
"Cleaning crew's ready to go, ma'am," he said.
Twilight nodded, "Do proceed, thank you."
There were some benefits to being royalty at least.
Elsewhere, Grass Patch, Spike, and Soft Mane sat around a table. Spike was looking forlorn. Soft shrugged a little, "It isn't that bad..."
Spike cocked a brow, "I appreciate the thought, but c'mon. You tower over me now."
Soft nodded, "True, and eventually you'll tower back over me. Nature's funny that way."
Spike rubbed behind his head, "But now I'm all round and useless again..."
Soft prodded Spike in the ribs, "Don't ever say that again. You are not useless, in any shape."
Grass Patch looked out through the window, "Your friend, Miss Sparkle, arranged a very nice plot of land here. Not fit for peat, but I'm certain I can coax something good out of it."
Soft smiled gently at her mother, "I know you can, and we won't even be far away now! That sounds like everything worked out to me."
Spike joined in the smile, "Yeah... I guess there are good parts. So, uh, are we still going to?"
Soft raised a brow, "If you're asking what I think you're asking, doing so in front of my mother is not appropriate."
Grass Patch snorted, "I'm no blushing maiden, and I'm still waiting for grandchildren."
Soft placed a hand over her face in mortification, "Mom... Anyway, Spike, you look... young? Like real young. Like how old are you anyway? Nevermind that, are you, you know, mature? I'm not voting to break up either way, mind you, but I can wait a year or two if you need to, uh, get to dragon puberty?"
None present knew much on the subject of Equestrian dragon development, but waiting seemed like the best course of action.
Rainbow landed lightly before Carousel Boutique. She rapped on the door thrice and waited. The door swung open to reveal a smiling Rarity. "Darling! You're back! Come in, come in!"
Rainbow followed her inside, looking around. "Hey Rares, nice to be back, uh, didn't you go off with a donkey?" She saw no sign of any other occupancy.
Rarity made a dismissive wave, "It just didn't work out. He wanted to be useful and couldn't settle into home life, and off he went. A shame, really, but I do hope the darling finds what he's looking for."
Rainbow nodded, "Alright, guess I wouldn't want to be tied down to one spot either." She spread her wings, enjoying the feel of her older, faster, pair, "How're things around here? Fluttershy feeling better?"
Rarity smiled brightly, "It was the most fantastic thing, dear. Pinkie Pie held a week of 'therapeutic parties'. She invited different ponies each day, and they shook Fluttershy out of her shock and got the poor thing smiling again. Things are almost back to normal. In fact, I have an appointment to keep with her for a spa day. Care to come along, my treat?"
Rainbow was not normally keen for spa treatment, but... "Sure. It'll be a gift from me, to me, for this adventure."
Rarity nodded, "And you simply have to share all the details, minus the bloody parts. I don't think poor Fluttershy can handle those."
Applejack had one leg thrown over Big Mac's withers, hugging her brother warmly a moment before she fell back to all fours.
Apple Bloom cried happily, "Ahm so glad yer back!" She bounced on top of Applejack, riding her. "It was so lonely without ya around!"
Applejack moved to give Granny Smith her turn, hugging and nuzzling warmly, "Ahm sorry for staying away for so long, but ahm back now, and I got something y'all are not gonna believe!"
Granny raised a wrinkly brow, "What's that ya got that we won't believe? I'll believe it when ah see it!"
Applejack turned to face the nearest tree and pointed up at an apple, "Watch this." She took a firm stance and spoke an odd word. The apple quivered, then tugged gently away from the branch before lowering to hover just before Applejack, where she bit into it, "Mmm, Apple quality."
Apple Bloom went wide-eyed, "But how'd ya do that?! Yer not a unicorn!"
"Nope," agreed Big Mac.
Eager to show off, Applejack said a few other strange syllables before she waved a hoof at Big Mac, turning him from a big red Apple to a big green one. Big Mac didn't notice, but Granny and Apple Bloom did and they began to snicker softly.
Granny adjusted her glasses a moment, "Lands sakes girl, ya done something funny. Where'd you get them fancy tricks from?"
Applejack reached into her saddlebag with her mouth and pulled out a book that she put down, "Twilight showed me how to do a fancy new kinda magic. Don't matter none what kinda pony y'are. Not too many fancy spells for apple harvesting, but that's fine, Ah got perfectly good legs for those."
Big Mac nodded in agreement, "Yup."
Apple Bloom grinned widely, "That mean ah can learn to do magic tricks?!"
"Maybe," said Applejack with uncertainty. She picked up the book and tucked it away, just to be safe.