Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
The lobby of the train station was utterly silent, save only for the sound of heavy breathing as the seconds passed by.
Each of the girls kept their eyes fixed firmly on Lex, lying on a nearby bench, alternately hoping and fearing that at any moment he’d get up and continue what he’d just been doing. But as the seconds turned into minutes with no sign of him resuming his amorous activities, uncertainty began to set in. Each girl began to fidget in place, surreptitiously stealing glances at the others to try and figure out if one of them knew what was going on, making sure to avoid eye contact if at all possible. When it gradually became clear that none of them was sure what was happening, uncertainty morphed into confusion, and the same thought passed through each of their minds: Is that it?
Finally, the not knowing was too much to bear, and Nosey hesitatingly stepped forward. Just the sound of her hoof striking the floor seemed incredibly loud to her, making her wince and fold her ears back. She could feel the weight of the other girls’ stares hitting her from behind, and that was enough to make her lower her tail as much as she could, instinctively trying to cover her backside as she crept toward the stallion who’d so recently caressed her. “L-Lex?” she called, keeping her voice at a whisper for reasons even she wasn’t sure of. “Lex?”
When no answer came, she inched even closer to his prone form, her nervousness spiking as she got to within legs’ reach of him. “Lex…?” Her heart hammering in her chest, she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.
No reaction came, save for the continued rise and fall of his chest.
Blinking, she tapped him again, whispering his name once more as she moved right up next to him. When he still failed to answer, she felt her nervousness dissolve even as her emotions began to churn in a renewed vortex of confusion. It was enough to momentarily blot out the embarrassment she’d felt a few seconds ago as she turned to look at the other two, her disbelief showing on her face as she reported her findings. “He’s asleep.”
Both of them gaped at her for a moment, Aria recovering first. “What the actual f-”
“Ow!” When she saw Aria and Nosey looking at her questioningly, Sonata lowered her hooves from her ear. “I pinched myself,” she explained, also keeping her voice at a whisper. “I figured this had to be some sort of crazy dream.”
“So that wasn’t, um…how he usually…” Nosey gestured helplessly, turning bright red as she struggled to say what she meant without actually saying it. “…gets things going?”
“Oh, like you don’t know,” sneered Aria.
That was enough to get a frown from Sonata, glancing between the other two. “What does that mean?”
Aria’s lip curled even further. “You really are dumb, aren’t you? You really think they didn’t do anything after you left them alone in that tent this morning?”
Nosey sputtered at the accusation, eyes widening. “Nothing happened!”
“Yeah!” Sonata nodded, a little too deeply. “Nosey wouldn’t do that, and Lex definitely wouldn’t do that! He loves me too much!”
“Uh-huh,” whispered Aria dryly. “And that’s why he was just feeling all three of us up.”
Neither mare could reply to that, and for a moment silence fell, each of them trying to deal with what had just happened and what it meant. Again, Nosey was the first one to speak up, moving away from Lex and toward the other two. “Maybe this was something magical?”
Sonata cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
Nosey shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not a wizard like you guys are. I’m just saying, maybe Lex did something and it, you know, went haywire and that’s why he was acting so…like that.”
She thought it was a plausible explanation, but Sonata and Aria were already shaking their heads. “I wish,” muttered Sonata. “That’d be, like, totes easier to deal with.”
“But it might have been,” pressed Nosey.
Sonata sighed. “Look, I’m not a super-genius about how magic works or anything, but I’m pretty good at telling when someone’s enchanted. It’s kind of my thing.”
“Our thing,” snapped Aria, but Sonata ignored her.
“Yeah, but you…”
“What?”
Nosey hesitated. “…nothing”
“No, not nothing.” Sonata could feel her earlier exasperation, from back on the platform, starting to come back. The whole wilting flower act is getting old! Just hurry up and get back to your normal self already! she cursed internally. A lot of this wouldn’t be happening if you weren’t all weak and clingy now! “I what?”
Nosey wavered for a moment, but then – as if she’d heard Sonata’s thoughts – a flicker of strength found its way into her voice as she spoke again. “You didn’t know when I was possessed.”
“Oh come on!” Sonata had to fight to keep her voice down, glancing at where Lex was still snoozing before turning her eyes back to her best (for the moment) friend. “Being enchanted is, like, totes different from being possessed! One is using magic to mess with your head, and the other is having someb-, somepony else in there instead!”
“You still should have realized that I wasn’t me! Or at least gotten out of Lex’s way so that he could have figured it out sooner!”
“Wait a sec,” interjected Aria, giving the mares a confused frown. “What’s this about someone possessing blondie here?”
“She went to interview Block Party,” answered Sonata coldly, though her eyes stayed on Nosey. “Because of course going to see a bad guy all by yourself in the middle of the night is such a great idea. And when she found out that he was being controlled by some kinda demon, it took over her.”
“Yeah,” continued Nosey through gritted teeth. “And then my own best friend didn’t even notice. Instead, she got in the way and kept Lex distracted for an entire day until he figured out what was going on and rescued me.”
“Well I’m sorry!” Sonata’s tone didn’t match her actions, stepping forward and getting right in Nosey’s face. “I wish I had noticed! Because maybe then I could have saved you and you wouldn’t be hanging all over my boyfriend!”
Aria chuckled spitefully at that, leering at Nosey. “So that’s why you’ve sticking so close to him all of a sudden, huh? Lex saved you, and now you want him inside you like that demon was?”
“Hey, shut up!” Nosey could feel herself starting to tear up at how everyone was suddenly picking on her, but she pushed the urge to cry away savagely, hating how fragile she felt all the time now. “I’m staying with Lex because he makes me feel safe! That’s better than how you’re trying to use him to fix your voice!”
“For realsies,” added Sonata, giving Aria a dark look. “If Lex was going fool around with someone else, Nosey’s a heck of a lot better than you! You’re just messing with him because of what he can do for you, and so you can be mean to me. It’s not like you really like him.”
“I like him plenty!” shot back Aria with a snarl. “He’s strong, he’s loyal, and he appreciates me!”
Sonata blinked. “Wait, what?”
“That’s right,” smirked Aria. “Lex knows what I’m worth. He flat-out said that I saved everyone from those ghouls last night. When I got hurt going into Vanhoover with him to look for his friends, he healed my wound. And he’s still keeping his promise to give me my voice back even after everything that’s happened.” She crossed her hooves over her chest triumphantly. “So yeah, he knows a good thing when he sees it. Guess you’re not the only apple of his eye, huh?”
But Sonata didn’t rise to the bait, instead looking at Aria in surprise. “You like him? Like, like like him?”
“Yes!” It was only a second after the whisper left her lips that Aria realized how much she’d just revealed, and immediately started trying to backpedal. “And, you know…he’s really the only worthwhile guy here anyway. I mean, look at all the others. Aisle might as well change his name to Completely Whipped. Or whatshisname, Disc Jockey, who has to ask his mother before he does anything? Please. Lex is just the best of the batch, is all.” But it wasn’t working; Sonata was just standing there, still thunderstruck by Aria’s inadvertent confession. Growing more uncomfortable with each passing moment, Aria reached for something that was sure to change the subject, plastering a sneer onto her face. “Plus, I don’t mind if he fools around with other girls.”
“Wait, really?” Now it was Nosey’s turn to be wide-eyed, unable to help herself. Growing up in Canterlot, where everypony was very conscious of their public image and social standing, made a statement like that sound scandalous to Nosey’s ears. Under different circumstances, that would have been a headline quote right there!
“Of course,” whispered Aria, waving a hoof nonchalantly as she closed her eyes and put her nose in the air, the very picture of nonchalance. “That’s what every guy wants, you know.”
“Yeah, well, he’s my boyfriend and I mind! So he won’t be doing anything with anyone who isn’t me!” Sonata, now recovered from the bomb that Aria had dropped, huffed as she sent dark looks toward the other two.
“Sure, except for a few minutes ago when he was petting all three of us.” For once, Aria was thankful that she could only whisper. It made it easy to hide her relief that they weren’t talking about her feelings anymore. “And besides, I don’t recall hearing you protest when he was touching me and discount-Adagio here.”
Nosey frowned at that, not sure if she’d been insulted or not, before letting it go as she turned back to Sonata, who was already opening her mouth to reply. “Look, this is getting us nowhere. Why don’t we just wake Lex up and ask him what that was all about?”
“No!”
The word came from Sonata and Aria at the same time, causing the two of them to glance at each other before looking back at Nosey. “He needs to rest,” insisted Sonata. “We can totes ask him in the morning, but for now he needs to let himself recover.”
“That and he might get mad if we wake him up over this,” added Aria. She was already in the doghouse – or rather, train station – with him over her having left with Cozy and Aisle before. There was no way she was going to risk ticking him off enough to go back on his promise to fix her voice, especially not over something as stupid as a fight with her idiot sister and her friend!
Sighing, Nosey shook her head, feeling completely drained by everything that had happened. “Fine. Works for me. Goodnight.” She didn’t wait for a response before turning around and heading back into the lobby.
“Hey! Where’re you going?” Sonata frowned as she trotted after her.
“To sleep,” replied Nosey with a challenging look, detouring just long enough to turn down the wall-lamps before climbing onto Lex’s bench and settling down, pressing herself against his left side.
“Fine,” huffed Sonata. Not to be outdone, she climbed onto the bench also and pressed herself against Lex’s right.
“Good enough for me.” Aria dragged herself in front of the bench, curling on the ground before leaning up to lay her head on Lex’s middle, between the two mares. Long moments passed as the three of them glared at each other, silently daring the others to try something, before they slowly relaxed, too tired to keep up their posturing. Sonata fell asleep first, with Nosey passing out next, and finally Aria.
For each of them, Lex was the last thing they looked at before they closed their eyes.
Feelings are shared and secrets are bared as Nosey, Sonata, and Aria have a heart-to-heart.
But was anything resolved?
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Huh, Aria actually does seem like she feels for Lex. I don't think Nosey really does though.
As soon as Sonata's alone she's going to call up Kara tomorrow and complain about this, I'm sure.
Grievances are aired and confessions are made, though the former might take a little longer to resolve but being the besties they are, Nosey and Sonata should pull through with minimal awkwardness.
Wonder how this will affect how they interact with each other, not to mention how they'll behave around Lex here on out. Hell, Lex inadvertently landed himself into a dating sim, Sonata the bubbly ditz, Nosey the shy girl(for now) and Aria as the one that goes 'It's not because I like you ar anything'.
Joking aside, I like how you used Nosey's thoughts on Aria's opinion on open relationships pretty much states that polygamy or herds, doesn't exist in Equestria. Though Lex might have inadvertently planted the seed for a potential one. (I know Nosey stated her feelings for Lex to be something other than romantic but with Kara's blessing in effect...)
Aria is tsundare-plane waifu. LEx's rise to power ground to a slow stop when he stepped into the waifu harem zone. Can he survive? Of course not!
Lex all wrapped up like a Siren Taco?
9155016
Consider Nosey's response in the context of how she's been acting toward Lex ever since he saved her. Note also that when Aria teased her about wanting him, Nosey didn't deny the charge; she deflected by saying that she had a legitimate reason for staying close to him (i.e. that he made her feel safe). Is that because she doesn't have any deeper feelings toward him, or because she managed to do what Aria couldn't, and kept them under wraps during the exchange?
As for Sonata...yeah, some help from the love goddess might be in order.
9155365 Would that be more appropriate than the "sister sandwich" Aria teased Lex about in chapter 89?
9155138 So long as none of them are calling Lex a baka and/or trying to whack him with a huge mallet in a jealous rage, I think he'll be okay.
...for now, I mean.
9155070 Nosey is an open question at this point. She said she has a benign reason for staying so close to Lex, but she give an explicit denial of having any other feelings for him. Was that because there was nothing there for her to deny, or was she making a deliberate omission? Remember, she's a reporter, and likely knows a lot about interviewing and how to make statements that suggest something without actually affirming it. On the other hoof, she's also been traumatized and is emotionally unstable at the moment, so it might be a stretch to suggest that she was parsing her words so carefully. Maybe she doesn't know what she's feeling at the moment. We'll just have to wait and see.
With regards to herds/polygamy...yeah, I don't subscribe to that idea for this depiction of Equestria. As I've said before, I take my cues from the show itself, and "herding" is a complete invention of the fandom; we've never seen anything that even hints at any sort of multi-partner relationships in the show, so I'm not including that as an extant idea here.
Now, I do think that Equestria has more mares than stallions. I've listened to a lot of the counterarguments against this idea, ranging from selection bias to how that would violate Fisher's principle to meta-contextual explanations involving "clone-stamping" for background ponies, and quite frankly I don't find any of them convincing. Virtually any panning shot of a lot of background ponies (e.g. this shot in season five's The Mane Attraction) shows mostly mares, the show has consistently violated all sorts of biological principles (e.g. that the three tribes of ponies could interbreed while still retaining distinct physical body structures, a la the Cake family) which means that we can't hold that others must therefore necessarily be taken to be true, and even when using clones for background ponies the animators would still be picking the sex of the characters in question.
So this leaves us with a situation that, as you rather cogently noted, could be construed as being open for being changed. And as you'll recall, Lex is looking to institute a number of changes in Equestria. Now, I seriously doubt that he's trying to alter the construction of the family unit, or alter standard practices for courtship/romance...but the law of unintended consequences is a real thing, especially when he has the blessing of a certain manipulative goddess of love...
9157484
I think it's hard to imagine she could develop these really deep, genuine feelings of attraction in the midst of all the trauma she's going through. Like I could see Nosey genuinely falling for Lex, but not over the last few days, and right when she's suffering so much. I think of Nosey as similar in many ways to a victim of rape, someone who's still trying to find their way to normalcy.
Also, Kara's "help" should always be put in quotes.
9157836 I won't say too much more, since I don't want to give away any developments, but you've made some very interesting points.
Geez Lex, you know just how to stir up trouble.
9221751 Yeah, but this time it's the fun kind of trouble, right?