284 - Ambition and Recompense
“-and Lex was all like, ‘I have a plan,’ and then he used his magic to make weapons and armor for everyone, and I totes sang a super awesome song to get everypony pumped, and Lex gave Severance to Cloudbank and had Aria turn her invisible, and even though Cozy’s a super awful nag she made lights on everyone’s armor so we could see, and then we went outside and started fighting, and there were like a gajillion fish monsters, and-”
River nodded absently, having long since tuned the younger mare out as the two of them made their way through the city. She’d sent the rest of her staff to her manor to start unpacking and tidying the place up, letting Sonata guide her to meet this “Lex Legis” character. According to what Sonata had let slip back on the yacht, Lex – who was apparently her boyfriend – was “like, the greatest wizard ever” who was “running the place now.” River couldn’t have cared less about that first part; she’d met plenty of unicorns who’d taken some supplementary magic lessons and thought they were the next Star-Swirl the Bearded. It was that second bit of information that had demanded her full attention.
On paper, Vanhoover’s highest authority was the mayor. In actuality, everypony knew that the mayor was a figurehead, good for little more than passing out trophies at festivals and giving the occasional speech. The real authority was divided up between the Banks, the McNeighs, and the Hoofingfords, with the local government doing little more than trying to stay out of their way. Which meant that this Lex Legis pony, if he was claiming to be in charge now, had to be a puppet that one of the other families had put forward in some kind of post-disaster power-play. That made it imperative that River meet with him so she could figure out whether it was the McNeighs or the Hoofingfords that were pulling his strings. Once I know, I’ll be able to put a stop to whatever it is they’re doing, she’d been certain.
But as Sonata had led her through the city, River had begun to feel less and less certain of herself.
It hadn’t been due to her companion. Although the fact that Sonata was almost supernaturally beautiful was still daunting – River had made sure to get a good look at her from the back, and had been almost overcome by despair at the sight of just how perfectly-formed Sonata’s posterior was – River’s insecurity had been mollified, at least somewhat, upon learning that the younger mare was a complete airhead. She might be a beauty, but I’d like to see her try to balance a ledger, she’d thought smugly.
She hadn’t been sure of that at first, wondering if Sonata was just pretending to be vapid in order to lull her into a false sense of security for some reason. But listening to the girl’s wholehearted belief in the utter rubbish she was saying about her boyfriend – that he had slain a dragon and become the mayor of Tall Tale, for instance – had made it clear that Sonata was all looks and no brains. That, and at one point she’d stopped to chase a chipmunk that she’d spotted, laughing all the while.
Rather, what was bothering River was the state of Vanhoover itself.
When she’d disembarked from her yacht, she’d felt a sense of smug satisfaction at there having been no other ships there. That had doubtlessly meant that the Hoofingfords hadn’t gotten their act together yet, since maritime activity had always been their area. But as Sonata had led her through the streets, River had slowly come to realize just how empty the city was. There hadn’t been anypony anywhere. No ugly little children playing in the street, no businessponies rushing to get to their pitiful jobs, no street vendors hawking their ghastly wares. The entire city was completely silent, with the only noise being Sonata’s running dialogue of whatever nonsense Lex Legis had fed her.
“-and then Lex was all ‘use all your magic on Fencer!’ And I was like, ‘okay,’ and then he-”
“Where is everypony?” interrupted River, no longer able to keep her anxiety in check. They had just reached the town square, and the fact that it was empty of people and strewn with trash had been the last straw.
“Huh?” Sonata stopped in place, cocking her head and giving her a confused look. “I told you, the camp outside of town is where all the survivors are gath-”
“‘Survivors’?” echoed River in horror. “What do you mean ‘survivors’? We had a flood, not some sort of, of…cataclysm! It wasn’t like there was an earthquake or an invasion!”
“Uh, yeah, there was. Weren’t you paying attention?” huffed Sonata. “We had fish creatures and undead ponies and all sorts of monsters here. They’d still be here if it wasn’t for Lex taking care of everything.”
“That’s prepos-” River cut herself off, pursing her lips. Sonata’s stories were simply unbelievable, but at the same time it was equally unbelievable that Vanhoover could be so utterly devastated. The difference was that she could see that the latter was true with her own eyes. But the idea that monsters had invaded and commenced in some sort of wholesale slaughter…no, it was simply absurd. There had to be some other explanation.
She suddenly wished she’d gone home instead of leaving it to the staff. Mounte and Piggy would certainly have gotten out of the city, which meant that they very likely weren’t back yet, but if they were then they’d have headed back to the manor. Maybe they were there right now, in which case a little detour-
River shook her head, clearing her thoughts. I’m acting like that little nitwit I just fired, she scowled. Either Mounte and Piggy would be at the manor or they wouldn’t; her going there wouldn’t make any difference. Right now she needed to focus on getting answers about what had happened so she could figure out what she needed to do. “Nevermind. Let’s go.”
Sonata gave her a worried look. “You sure? We don’t have to be back until noon, so if you wanna sit and relax for a bit, that’s fine.”
Years of practice kicked in as River kept herself from voicing her real opinion of Sonata’s offer, already regretting having let her demeanor slip. Instead, she gave the other mare a polite smile. “That’s very nice of you to say, but I’d really rather keep going if you don’t mind.”
Sonata beamed, and River knew the look would have turned most stallions’ knees to jelly. “That’s great! I’m sure Lex has a lot he wants to ask you.”
“Oh, no doubt. And I have so much that I want to ask him.”
“So what’s your story, anyway?”
Aria opened one eye, glancing at the blonde mare lying on the bench a short distance away from her. For a moment she considered ignoring her and just trying to go back to sleep, just for the fun of spiting her, but decided against it. It was only her third day of house arrest, and now that Lex and Sonata had left she was already bored to tears. But that didn’t mean she’d just roll over either. “What, didn’t your little ‘bestie’ already tell you all about me?” she sneered.
Nosey snorted at the attitude, but didn’t back off. “Journalism 101. Always ask someone about the things that other people say about them.”
Now it was Aria’s turn to snort. “Great, so I get to listen to you parrot what that little ingrate’s been saying about me behind my back?” She waved a hoof. “Pass.”
Nosey grit her teeth at the rebuke, taking deep breaths. With Lex gone, the rising sense of panic that she’d felt ever since he’d rescued her from Xiriel was starting to come back. She’d known that would happen when she sent him after Sonata, of course, but she already felt terrible for what she was doing to her best friend’s relationship, so she’d chosen to stay behind and let the two of them have some space. Now she had to deal with that.
He killed it. It’s dead, and it’s not coming back, she repeated to herself silently. The words helped, but only a little, and she knew that if she was in a crowd she’d be having a complete breakdown by now. Being alone was only a little bit better, and so she needed Aria to keep talking, to distract her from the thought that Xiriel would suddenly appear out of nowhere and drag her back into that nightmare. It was with that thought in mind – along with how unpleasant Aria was – that she reached for the most provocative thing she could think of. “Sonata doesn’t owe you anything, you know.”
That got Aria’s attention. “Excuse me?” she hissed, a dangerous look on her face.
But Nosey refused to be intimidated. “She told me what happened in that other world, when she got sick of you and your other sister picking on her and left. You losing your voice is your own fault, not hers.”
Aria drew herself up, teeth bared. “I’m warning you…”
“She doesn’t owe you an apology, she doesn’t owe you her help fixing your voice, and she certainly doesn’t owe you her boyfriend.”
“YES SHE DOES!” rasped Aria, her face twisted in fury. “YES SHE DOES!” She swung her tail, slamming it against the ground hard enough that Nosey felt the vibration from across the lobby. “Everything I’ve had to go through is because of her and SHE OWES ME!”
She lurched toward Nosey then, crossing the distance between them and putting her face within inches of the pony’s. “She thinks we treated her badly?! We were the ones who had to listen to her endless, mind-numbing stupidity all the time! Do you know how annoying that was?! And then she runs out on us, on me, right when we needed her the most!” She thrust a hoof up, pointing at the scar on her neck. “If she had stayed, we wouldn’t have been captured and I wouldn’t have this! I certainly wouldn’t have been thrown back here and run into the sahuagin and made to live like an animal! It’s all her fault!”
She slammed her hoof back down. “And then, to top it all off, she meets a guy and gets to be deliriously happy with him?! Not just any guy, but someone who’s actually, finally, willing to do right by me, without being enchanted?! I didn’t ask him to fix my voice, you know! He offered!” She started circling Nosey then, like a predator cornering a meal. “And he has the power to do it, too! He’s strong enough that he can do whatever he wants, and he wants to help me, even after I tried to kill him! Even after I tried to run away from here! A guy like that, someone strong and sexy and loyal, and you’re telling me that Sonata gets to keep him all to herself, just because she met him first?!”
Nosey didn’t move, didn’t give her any excuse to escalate things, so Aria turned and grabbed one of the nearby benches, lifting it and flinging it across the lobby in a fit of rage. “No! No no no no NO! I don’t care if he keeps doing her too! He’s too devoted to take anyone for granted! But she doesn’t get to keep him all to herself!” She reared back then, raising her face toward the ceiling. “I want him, I deserve him, and SONATA OWES ME!”
Seconds passed as Aria panted, out of breath in the wake of her final declaration. Slowly, she lowered herself back to the ground, and Nosey was wondering if she should say something when Aria looked at her with a bitter expression. “There. That’s my story. Happy now?” Without waiting for a response, she crawled away, curling up in a corner of the lobby with her back to her.
Nosey simply watched her, having no idea what to say in response to such a raw outpouring of emotion. She’d known, generally, what Aria had gone through, but she’d never realized just how deeply it had affected her. Like me, she realized with a start. She went through something awful, and she’s trying to figure out how to deal with it.
Slowly, she slunk over to a nearby chair and sank into it, turning what Aria had said over in her mind.
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Miss High and Mighty is going to really get a shock when she finds out most of the remaining population are in big holes in the ground, and the crew who put Lex in charge aint just the boss, but The Boss.
While I'm almost certain that Mounte Bank didn't survive the ghouls, the silly side of me can't help but wonder if his propensity for half-baked schemes saved him somehow. Like some sort of hidden safe in the manor where he keeps the money for his own personal ventures(which fail) or something like a secure larder that keeps any food inside it forever fresh but it has flaws like that it only affects one thing or it causes everything to taste like cheese.
Silliness aside, River's assumption of Lex being a puppet ruler, while laughable to us readers, would make sense in normal circumstances but this is far from normal. At least she'll start to listen more to Sonata now if she wants to learn more about the state of her city and who Lex truly is. Wonder if she'll try to cling onto the idea of Lex being a puppet ruler to keep herself from falling apart.
Speaking of falling apart, many deal with traumas and tragedies in their own way like Aria lashing out and Nosey living in near constant fear but unlike Aria who seems content with her methods, Nosey is trying to put it behind her and her efforts seem to be slowly bearing fruit if one compares her current state to how hysterical she was when she woke up in the medical tent and didn't see Lex.
also:
That chipmunk must have been quite the survivor in a city full of ghouls.
9225319
I'm sure the princesses intended for Lex to foster friendly relations with the families and cooperate with them to rule Vanhoover together or maybe they thought the families could contain Lex's ambition.
Regardless, I doubt either of those is going to happen.
9225627
Or like a necklace that allows one person to speak perfectly, But when it is taken off TheY Can only say FUCKIN POTATOES for a week
9225319 Lex technically reached an accord with the Princesses that gives him authority over Vanhoover, but I suspect that he'd bristle at any implication that they installed him as the ruler there. To his thinking, they withdrew their authority over it in favor of letting him take over, essentially ceding the territory to him.
It's questionable if the Royal Sisters would interpret things that way, but that's what happens when you don't conduct important deals in writing.
9225627 It's amusing to consider that Mounte might have survived because he bumbled into some sort of way to stay safe. Or, more soberly, he ran off but left Piggy behind (much like what River did). Though I suspect that the truth is far more grim. Of course, something tells me that River wouldn't shed too many tears, but Piggy...well, he hasn't mentioned his dad very much so far, has he?
In fact, I'd wager that the bigger shock for him will be what happens if River is naive enough to challenge Lex's authority. As you said, her assumptions are reasonable, but we all know that she's waaay off-base here. How she approaches this is going to be a huge factor in exactly how Lex "corrects" her mistake. If she's smart, she'll listen to Sonata, but between her petty resentment over the fact that Sonata is better-looking and her deciding that she's too dumb to pay much attention to, well...it doesn't look good.
As for Aria and Nosey, the latter just realized that they're both traumatized. As for what she does with that insight, it remains to be seen. After all, they have different personalities, went through different things which lasted for different lengths of time, and left different scars on them, physical and otherwise. But at least now she realizes that Aria is working through something of her own, and that she's not just some shallow mean girl the way Sonata seemed to think (even if Sonata does seem to have some vague guilt over what happened to Aria).
Fun fact: that chipmunk is an epic-level character with supreme arcane and divine magical abilities, incredible combat prowess, omniaptitudinal skillfulness, and numerous other pow-...no, wait, that guy's a squirrel. My mistake; the chipmunk is just a chipmunk.
9226601
Might just be a chipmunk. Its the other chipmunk, mice, and fly you have to worry about.
Time for a little Of Mice And Mayhem?
9226870 Hm, now I'm wondering if there should be a spin-off story about the unknown animal defenders of Vanhoover, who are the only reason why the city didn't end up worse than it was?
9226953
Plague Dogs:Fallout Equestria?
So there. Caught up.
Aria really does blame Sonata for everything. And is an entitled brat on top of it, but being a Siren that can get whatever she wants at a moments' notice would do that to a person.
And River... well, she believes something bad happened here, at least.
9228969 Congratulations on having caught up! I'm very impressed that you were able to do it!
Aria does indeed blame Sonata for what happened to her; the question is whether or not she's right to do so. It ultimately hinges on whether or not their little escapade back on Everglow would have ended differently if Sonata hadn't turned on them. There's no way to know that, of course, but Aria has decided that it would have. But then again, Sonata's the only one there to blame; Twilight Sparkle is nowhere close, Queen Iliana is back on Everglow, and even the sahuagin and the Great Lord of the Deep are gone now. Aria has nowhere else to go with her anger and her pain.
As for River...she's starting to put the pieces together, but she isn't quite ready to believe the picture they're making.
9228987
Doing 30 chapters a day for 3 days helped.