44 - Reaching Out
Applejack raised a brow at Lex, but Willow pressed gently past her towards him. "Hello, my past savior. A pleasure to meet you again. Are you well?"
Lex blinked, apparently caught off-guard by the warm greeting. "Ah, yes...I'm alright." He regarded Willow for a moment, uncertain. He believed that saving someone meant that they were his responsibility, but only until they were able to look after themselves again. That had seemed to be the case when Willow had left, but now Lex wasn't so certain of that.
Taking a half-step toward Willow, Lex lowered his voice. "I already asked your son, but I wanted to check with you. Are you in trouble? Do you require assistance?"
Willow gestured back at Applejack, then the fillies. "I'm here for them, trying to see them home. I thought my duty was done getting them to the city, but my son insists otherwise." Sunflower had the decency to look ashamed, though his mind clearly didn't change. "Now what is going on in here?"
"He isn't wrong," insisted Lex, glancing back at Sunflower. A look that might have been approval flickered across his face as he regarded the kitten, before turning back to Willow. "Duty might be laborious, but it must be seen through to completion, despite the burden. As for what's going on here," his gaze went to Sonata next, "apparently we were sitting and talking."
Sonata smiled brightly. "We were waiting for you and Applejack." She waved a hoof at Applejack. "Come and join us, then you get to tell me why you left me behind." Her expression soured a little. "That was, like, totally not cool."
Applejack did enter the room, her attention pulled towards Sonata. "Weren't ya still workin' fer yer crimes? Of course we left ya behind. How's that going, by the by?"
Sonata waved a hoof dismissively as her eyes rolled. "They couldn't wait to get rid of me." Her expression darkened further. "I rushed back here and you guys were already long gone. No note, no way to reach you. Just... gone. I thought we were friends!"
Lex moved alongside the morose sea pony. "Sonata, that was a misunderstanding. All of us thought you'd be stuck here for months working off your sentence, and the portal to Equestria would only remain open for so long."
Applejack quickly nodded in agreement with Lex. "Exactly so. We didn't mean nothing by it. 'Sides, we're here now."
Scootaloo nodded her head. "We could rescue you now!"
Sweetie Belle tapped her chin. "As soon as we figure out how to reach Twilight."
Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Or Princess Celestia. Ah bet she could do it."
Lex turned to regard the orange mare, and his expression cooled. "You're here because of an accident, not because you meant to come back for her. As it stands, I want to speak to you privately about the state of Equestria."
Applejack snorted softly. "Speaking of that, how did ya end up back here anyway? Last time ah saw ya, ya were running away from the guards something fierce. That weren't the smartest thing ah ever saw done, attacking the princess and all."
"In the face of imminent aggression from Celestia and her guards, creating a diversion so that I could retreat was the wisest tactical decision available to me," hissed Lex, his demeanor shifting back to its usual hostility. "After that, I simply used the plane-shifting spell I received from Twilight to fall back to Everglow, beyond Celestia's reach."
Applejack put a hoof over her face with a sigh. "Ya done surprised her. If ya kept a cool head, nopony had to get riled up." Click. "Wait, what? Ya know the spell? Ya can use it?" She smiled brightly. "Well shoot, ya can send us home then, right?" The Crusaders joined in her smile, except Scootaloo, who looked a bit wary.
Lex was about to tell Applejack exactly what he thought of her suggestion, but cursed inwardly as she asked about him plane-shifting them back to Equestria. That spell had not been among the ones he'd prepared when he'd managed to replenish his primary magical stores barely two weeks ago, and unless they came across a major source of magical power, it would be months before there'd be a celestial conjunction that would enable him to do so again.
He couldn't tell them that, however. That was the single greatest limitation on his powers, and had to be hidden at all costs, especially from anypony that would tell Celestia or Luna. "I have no reason to come to your assistance in that regard. You're still in service to Celestia, whom I've vowed to overthrow."
Applejack shrugged. "Fine, if ya hate me that bad, but don't take it out on tha fillies. They need ta be home, in Equestria, not galavanting around this place." She pointed at the three fillies. "They're missing school and ah'm sure their family misses them too. Ya insist yer working for the good of ponies, how can that not be good?"
Apple Bloom puffed up. "Ah'm not leaving ya here, Applejack!"
Applejack stomped a hoof down. "Ya will and ah won't hear no backtalkin' on it. Ya don't belong here in Everglow."
Lex bristled internally at her attempt to use his own moral code against him, but forced himself to settle down. Dealing with tricky problems of ethics were his specialty. "You misunderstood me. When I said that I have no obligation to come to your assistance 'in that regard,' I was referring to the specifics of casting that spell. Because it doesn't allow me to pinpoint exactly where you'd end up, I'd be morally obligated to go with you to make sure that I didn't send you into a hazardous situation, such as the middle of the Everfree Forest. That would leave me stranded until I could prepare the spell again, which would put me in danger since I've declared my opposition to Celestia's government."
Crossing his forelegs, he continued, "Despite what you think, I do not hate you. But you're asking me to place myself in considerable jeopardy, despite your immediate circumstances," he glanced around, indicating the comfortable room they were in, "not requiring such drastic action be taken."
Sonata stood up as an idea came to her. "Can you, like, send a letter to them or something?" She approached the cross-looking Lex and smiled at him. "Just let them know they're here?"
Applejack sighed as she drew out Twilight's spellbook. "Ahm afraid we took this along fer the ride, so ah'm not sure what Twilight can do without it, but Celestia did get us back last time, right? If they know where we are, shouldn't be too hard, ah reckon." She shook her head. "As fer yer legal shenanigans, ya don't have to be in opposition of anything. Celestia's a mighty fine princess."
"She is not a fine princess!" Lex snarled. "She doesn't know the first thing about being a competent ruler, and she refuses to learn!" He was prepared to go on citing the princess's numerous faults, but felt his anger drain away as he caught sight of one of the fillies, the white one, turn away, clearly distraught.
One of the benefits of having such a rigorously-defined set of morals was that he virtually never transgressed them, and so could avoid feeling guilt. But that emotion suddenly gnawed at him. Everything he'd said about not sending them home had been technically true, but it didn't change the fact that Applejack was right...these fillies didn't belong here, on such a dangerous world. Even if he couldn't get them back, presenting himself as being unwilling to help, no matter how cogent his justifications, was beneath him. He should be focusing on what he could do for them.
Heaving a sigh, Lex reached into one of his saddlebags, withdrawing a large opal. "This contains a spell that is designed to allow for short two-way communication, even across planar boundaries," he explained. "I'll contact Twilight, and tell her that you're here."
Applejack was ready to fight at first, but the situation defused itself before it came to it. She smiled lightly. "Well that's right kindly of ya. Tha sooner she knows where we are, the sooner she can get somethin' done."
Sonata moved beside Lex, gently pressing against him. "You should show her she's wrong by example. Like, if you were running a city or something and it did super well compared to all the others, she'd have to listen, right? All the people would see your way was totally the better way."
Apple Bloom waved a hoof excitedly. "Tell her ah been practicin' mah potion makin'!" The other Crusaders hadn't especially practiced their Twilight-given skills, and looked guilty a moment.
Lex, who had been preparing to cast the spell embedded within the gem, paused as he considered Sonata's words. That was a rather indirect way to attain his goals...but then, trying to acquire enough power to dethrone two alicorns by force was not a quick route either. And perhaps...perhaps demonstrable proof would convince them to abdicate where theories had failed.
Turning his head towards her, Lex caught Sonata completely by surprise as he gently nuzzled her. It was the first physical contact between them that he'd initiated. "That's not a bad idea. We should discuss it more later."
Glancing at the others, he motioned for them to settle down. "I'm going to contact Twilight now. There's a small chance that the spell won't make it past the planar divide, but it will likely make it successfully."
With no further preamble, he started to chant, drawing his hooves across the gem's surface, causing it to glow softly. A moment later, he began to speak. "Twilight, this is Lex Legis. I am in Viljatown, on Everglow. Applejack and the fillies are here with me. Send a twenty-five word response."
Sonata glowed with satisfaction as her idea was well received, and she even got a nuzzle out of the deal. And they say she didn't have good ideas, hmmph!
The reply came fairly quickly. "Lex Legis? I'm surprised to hear from you. Someone took my spellbook. I'll have to contact Celestia. Can you be more specific?"
Applejack looked a bit confused. "She sounds like she didn't know we were gone. Ah wonder where she thought we were all this time. Uh, that's a fair idea there, Sonata. Ah bet if ya ask fer a chance to show yer stuff instead of demanding her throne straight off, she'll be less ornery 'bout it."
Lex snorted at Applejack's half-hearted endorsement. "That's the sum total of what the spell can transmit. What happens next is up to her to make happen."
Willow leaned against a wall. "Then we wait, don't we?"
"Sounds like it." Apple Bloom sank to the floor.
Scootaloo licked her lips. "We could get in one last adventure before we go?"
Applejack frowned at the idea. "The last time Rainbow Dash was in this city, she got herself in a huge heapa trouble with Spike. Don't go lookin' for it now."
"Your sister is correct," concurred Lex. "While Viljatown is relatively stable, this is still a far cry from Canterlot or Manehatten." He looked at Willow. "What will you do, once this expedition is over?" He normally wouldn't have asked, but still felt some lingering obligation towards the purrsians.
Willow sighed softly. "I would say I'd go home, but I am certain that option will not be given to me." She stretched out, then patted the ground. "Sunflower, come here." The smaller cat was quick to obey. "Your mother's getting tired of running away from trouble. What do you think of that?"
This question was a bit heavier than Sunflower was ready to answer easily, but he gave it a try. "You should take what you want." He thrust up a finger. "As long as it doesn't hurt anyone."
Willow smiled gently. "A wise addendum. I think I'll do just that. Go on and play." She swatted Sunflower away, but he wasn't as eager to go just yet.
Lex tilted his head as he watched the exchange. Realizing that this was an excellent chance to further confirm what he'd learned from Sonata about an exchange of personal histories facilitating goodwill, he spoke up. "I can't go home either, even if I returned to Equestria."
Willow looked to Apple Bloom. "Lend me your quill." As the filly retrieved her writing supplies, Willow turned her gaze back to Lex. "Why is this? From the sound of it, you've gotten to a rather bad footing with the local authorities?" She clucked her tongue against her teeth. "But I feel that is not the reason."
Sonata wrinkled her snout. "We can make a home for ourselves, like, wherever we are."
Sweetie suddenly giggled, taking delight in Sonata's transparent fondness of Lex.
Lex glanced between Sonata and Sweetie Belle, clearly not understanding the significance of the former's statement or the latter's sudden laughter it provoked. Shrugging it off, he looked back at Willow. "I was visiting the Crystal Empire, a province with a name far more grandiose than it deserves, when the previous owner of this horn battled Celestia and Luna. He was defeated, but sealed the place and its inhabitants in stasis for a thousand years, myself included."
Applejack spoke up suddenly, "Well if yer looking ta be around tha crystal ponies, they're still alive and kickin'. They just got back themselves ya know. Their ruler was Twilight's foalsitter once upon a time."
Willow looked bemused and just a little lost at the exchange. "Curses are no joking matter. I can feel for your plight, at least in part. Our own city of Murrage was forced to hide from the world for some time after the great demon Apep began tearing up the world with wild abandon. The Everglow we returned to was not the one we had left." She narrowed her eyes at Applejack. "Ponies. Ponies everywhere."
Applejack snorted softly. "We ain't bad neighbors, now are we?"
"I wanted to ask you before," turning his attention to Applejack, Lex moved to a corner of the room and made himself comfortable. It was clear that they'd be here for some time. "Did Twilight read the scrolls I left for her? Did she ever mention anything about my vision for Equestria?"
Applejack shook her head. "Ah admit, matters ah state go right over mah head. The way she's been acting, ah don't think she much likes ta think about most of her time here. Reckon it was too exciting and sad." She tapped her chin. "She'll be mighty pleased ta hear Blue and Yeller's doing alright."
With a sudden crackling, a portal lifted from the center of the room, horseshoe shaped as the last. It was a dark red color, with rubies and emeralds studding its form. Applejack quickly perked up. "That was fast!"
Lex leapt to his hooves, instantly wary. Twilight had said that Celestia would likely be the one to open the portal, and he didn't trust the alicorns not to have treachery planned when they heard that he was involved.
Not risking being left behind again, Sonata trotted for the portal immediately. "Last one in's a horse apple."
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This is in error; it should use the revised text as follows:
For all of his logic, Lex seriously never considered providing a concrete counterexample? Incredible. Nearly as incredible as trying to present Celestia defending herself as "imminent aggression." Well, gee, maybe if he could've just taken "no" for an answer and tried again later...
In any case, the gate is open. The journey is drawing to a close... or so it seems. There's still plenty of time for a surprise or two.
Don't worry, Tartarus may technically be a different plane than Equestria, but there's a permanent gate. You just need to remember to bring a ball.
of
Scootaloo, who
continued,
Twilight-given
extra space
think
6003066 All fixed, thankee.
6003062
He was under the impression that his logic was so unassailable that no concrete example was needed.
I'll direct you to the conversation in the comments from two chapters ago.
Oh, he was fully intending to try again later, albeit with force.
6003082
As the frequent arguments in the comments demonstrate, logical arguments sound a lot more persuasive to the person making them than they do to anyone else.
6003185 Sure, that's one of Lex's faults; he doesn't understand that logic alone often isn't very convincing, no matter how correct it is.
I wonder what there level now?
Poor scootaloo.
6003620 Who's? Everyone's sheet but Lex's is in the same PDF.
6003620
6003634 For what it's worth, Lex is level 9. I'm going to update his sheet over the weekend. It's not publicly available, but I'm considering making a blog post with his updated stats soon.
first message sent and received.
as to the portal opening n the room, even I know that is to easy.
Harts Fire
I wonder are All the foals in the same room, and if Lex is in so much trouble, how come he remained in teh inn, never mind the room? given the short duration of the portals. Or wouldve it been targeted on the message opal?
Oh wow, you can get Break as a Level 1, with a Feat that allows a Level 1 to be a Level 0 cantrip, and because the material componant is a twig, less than 1gp, you can get No Material ability? What if you add in the Silent and Motionless Spell componant feats as well. Would you be able to run around breaking chain mail ring, harnesses, armor straps, bags of holding etc all day?
This was a rather staid chapter, in terms of action, but I felt that it was one of the stronger ones we've seen recently with regards to character development. We got some good insight into the various (adult) characters here, and it was interesting watching them bounce off of each other.
I feel that Lex showed some unexpected character growth here, though it was subtle. That he was actually able to stay in a room filled with other people and carry on a conversation, without storming out or getting into a shouting match (even if he did come close a few times) was rather unexpected for him. I put this firmly down to Sonata's presence, not just right there but most likely over the last few weeks; it's an open question if he even realizes it (or if she does), but she's changing him, and likely vice versa.
It was especially notable that, when she suggested that he scale back his ambitions, at least for the time being, he actually listened to her; he moved right past Twilight when she suggested the same thing (though her suggestion was during a very tense situation). More than that, he was actually affectionate towards her for it, something that the story called out was unprecedented up to that point. Everything that remotely resembled a tender moment between the two of them, up to that point, had been initiated by her - his nuzzling her was huge in that regard. The interplay between them was enough that Sweetie Belle was able to pick up on it, likely more clearly than he did.
What was far more ambiguous, however, was how Willow treated Lex. Her greeting at the beginning of the chapter was surprisingly warm, at least for her. I honestly can't seem to pin down what, if anything, is between them at the moment. Was she being polite, or is there something else there? Similarly, her statement about no longer running away from her problems was cryptic - she has personal problems, to be sure, but how is she going to "stop running away" from them? That's not a bad resolution to make, but it's one of those things that's easy to make in the abstraction, but much more difficult to put into practical terms.
I'm less certain if Applejack's forthrightness upon meeting a criminal who attacked her princess was appropriate or not. It's rather difficult to predict how she'd react to meeting an ostensible enemy again, when they're not acting immediately hostile. While I did think that she'd be at least somewhat more suspicious, I do think that this chapter was right to point out that she wouldn't immediately become aggressive. Moreover, she was absolutely right in trying to shame Lex into helping them get home; while she may not have realized that's exactly what she was doing, it was still the natural reaction to take when she realized that he had the ability to do so, and that it matched his stated goals of being a benevolent ruler. Had she not done so, he likely would have brushed them off once their conversation was concluded.
As it stands now, it seems like the journey is over; the portal home is there, after all. That said, there was a detour back to Equestria in "A Dangerous Sparkle" as well, and that was hardly the end of the journey. Given that there's apparently going to be an attempted reconciliation between Lex and Celestia, there's still a lot of room for things to go sideways. Oh, the suspense!
6005827 This train's not done yet, good sir. We never did fix those breaks from last time.