365 - Unyielding Will
His grip on Severance was becoming tenuous. The weapon was thrashing harder now, as if sensing that it was almost free, and in his mind it was still clamoring noisily for Luna to be vanquished in the Night Mare’s name. And if his single, untested plan to destroy the thing didn’t work, then there’d be very little he could do to stop it.
But despite all of that, Lex found himself experiencing a rush of confidence.
How could he not? After all, he had just defeated Celestia and Luna! No matter that he’d previously determined that he wouldn’t be able to use this victory to take over the whole of Equestria, just the knowledge that he’d managed to overcome the Royal Sisters in combat was heady in its own right. It served as validation of what he’d always known to be true: that he was stronger than them. That he was smarter than them. That he was a true-
“MONSTER!”
Luna’s scream of impotent fury earned only a perfunctory glance from Lex, more to confirm her position than because he cared about what she was saying. Whatever threats or promises she made now were meaningless, since her current inability to cast spells left her unable to back them up. She was already beaten, whether she was willing to admit it or not.
But Luna either didn’t recognize that, or didn’t care. Standing next to where Celestia had fallen, she glared up at him with a look of pure loathing. “YOU’RE A MONSTER!” she screamed. “AND I WON’T LET YOU HURT ANYPONY ELSE!” She had barely finished when she leaped into the air, wings flapping as she furiously as she soared upward.
Lex snorted as she surged directly toward him, apparently intent on trying to pummel him with her hooves again. Stupid, Lex scoffed. Hasn’t she realized that she can’t touch me while I’m in this form?
He received his answer a moment later, as Luna stopped her vertical charge before she’d completed it. Instead, she levelled off before she’d reached his height, hovering in the air as she turned over so her back was to the ground as she began flapping her wings harder. The result left her hovering in place upside down as she sent stronger and stronger gusts of wind up toward him, as if trying to quite literally blow him away. But the movement of the air had no effect on his incorporeal form, and Lex didn’t even feel the breeze that she was sending at him.
The futility of what she was doing was enough to make Lex narrow his eyes in confusion, unable to believe that she thought that would work. It was only when she adjusted her position slightly, placing the orb of electricity hovering below him – the one he’d left hanging there after Luna’s failed attempt to make it collide with him – directly between himself and her that he realized what she was attempting. She’s still trying to attack me with my own spell.
It was such a pathetic plan that he very nearly laughed. The sphere, being composed purely of magically-conjured electricity, had no mass to speak of, and so couldn’t be moved via gusts of air any more than his shadow-form could have been. She’s either desperate, or even stupider than I thought, he decided wryly. Most likely both. But his amusement was cut short as he felt Severance give another sharp tug against his telekinesis, very nearly freeing itself. Tightening his grip on the thing, Lex turned his attention back to the scythe, pausing only to spare a thought to make the orb move down toward Luna.
His intent hadn’t been to strike her – the sphere moved too slowly to have any real chance of accomplishing that – but to demonstrate that her efforts were fruitless. With that firmly established, Lex was certain that she’d break off her attacks and instead focus on extracting Celestia from the battlefield. He was thus caught off-guard when Luna instead winged upward, deftly dodging the descending orb, and placed herself directly between him and Severance. “You imbecile!” snapped Lex, no longer amused by her antics. “Get out of here! You’re in danger!” Being as close to the scythe as she was meant that if he lost his grip on it now, it would attack her before he could use his spell!
Luna, however, didn’t seem inclined to listen to his warning. Instead she looked at him and seethed, her lips twisted in a rictus snarl of fury and pain as her she pointed her horn at him, clearly trying to channel her magic through it despite the injury she’d sustained. “You cursed the ponies here who wouldn’t obey your tyranny!” she shrieked. “You’ve injured my sister, killed my worshiper, tried to kill me, and now you dare to act as though you’re concerned for my welfare?!” Visibly straining, an aura flickered into being around her horn, only to fade out a second later. But Luna didn’t stop, and her eyes began to glow as she pushed herself harder.
“What are you doing?!” roared Lex. A unicorn himself, he knew full well that trying to use Equestrian magic with a horn injury was like trying to run on a broken leg. It would only compound the damage, potentially seriously. “Stop!” He didn’t move, instead directing his thoughts towards the electrical orbs…
“I WON’T!” screamed Luna. Her eyes were glowing brighter now, having turned a solid white as she kept straining. The aura faded back into being around her horn then, thin and sputtering, but sustained. “I AM LUNA, EQUESTRIA’S GUARDIAN GODDESS OF THE NIGHT! I WILL NEVER-”
“YOU ARE NOT A GODDESS!” roared Lex. He could only hope this would work, needing to keep Luna distracted while he moved the spheres into position. Her tantrum couldn’t be allowed to continue; not only was she at risk of seriously injuring herself, but he could feel his grip on Severance reaching its limit. If she wasn’t incapacitated immediately, protecting her would be impossible, and at the moment the only way to do that was to hit her with the same power that had knocked out Celestia. Now if he could just keep her occupied long enough… “THE NIGHT MARE IS MORE WORTHY OF THAT TITLE THAN YOU’LL EVER BE!” Closer…closer… “SHE’S STRONG, WHILE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU IS WEAK!” Move them into her blind spots… “SHE EXALTS THOSE WITH THE COURAGE TO LEAD THE WORLD RATHER THAN RUN FROM IT!” Almost there…just a little more… “SHE’S A TRUE GODDESS, AND YOU’RE JUST A PRETENDER!” Now!
Incensed beyond all reason, Luna’s eyes glowed like lanterns, shining brightly enough that they were painful to look at. Her horn was emitting sparks, the aura around it pulsating and strobing dangerously. She opened her mouth, but what she intended to say was lost as all three of Lex’s electrical orbs moved in and made contact with her at once. Coming from beneath, behind, and above her, Luna wasn’t even able to scream as they collectively discharged their power into her, her limbs spasming as her body jerked and trembled under their combined current. Lex only kept them in contact with her for a moment, knowing that hitting her with all three at once was a dangerous risk, but that she had to be taken out of commission before she could make things any worse.
As the orbs moved away from her, Luna managed to hang in the air for just a moment – her horn no longer shrouded in an aura, and her eyes having changed back to normal – before she went limp and began to fall. Lex made no move to catch her, but instead mentally directed his miniature tornado to position itself under her. The whirlwind arrested her fall, tossing her a few feet back up into the air, bleeding off the momentum she’d accumulated before it moved out of the way, letting her hit the ground with a soft thud.
Lex was already moving, floating down after her and returning to physical form as he went over to check on her, certain that she wasn’t anywhere close to consciousness now…if she’d survived. Stumbling as the full strain of holding Severance back fell on him, he struggled to maintain his enhanced telekinesis for just a little longer as he made his way over to Luna, pressing a hoof gently against her neck. He couldn’t suppress a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse a moment later, confirming that she was still alive.
But there was no more time to focus on that. Looking up at Severance, Lex released his telekinetic grip on it, fighting back the urge to gasp in relief. Instead, he immediately started casting, forcing his tortured muscles to bear it as he poured as much power as he could into his spell…
“I don’t believe it…” whispered Nosey as she came to a stop, too shocked to continue running.
“Hah! Told ya!” grinned Sonata, her discomfort from a few minutes ago forgotten. “Those princess ponies totes got owned! Lex-, wait…” Furrowing a brow, she put a hoof to her chin as something occurred to her. “Hang on…that means…” She put her hoof down with a triumphant stomp a few seconds later, her smile returning in full force. “They got powned!” Visibly pleased with herself, Sonata elbowed Nosey. “Get it? Ponies? Owned? Powned!”
But Nosey wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she dazedly took her glasses off, rubbing them to make absolutely sure what she was seeing wasn’t the result of the lenses being smudged. But the view was the same when she put them back on.
Having just reached the edge of the camp, the full scope of the battle was now readily apparent. Near the train station, the landscape itself had been altered by the titanic clash that had just concluded, with the ground being pock-marked by scorch marks and holes, while black crystals of varying sizes jutted up from the earth intimidatingly. But that was nothing compared to the sight of Lex standing over the fallen princesses.
He really did it, thought Nosey dizzily. He actually defeated Celestia and Luna, all by himself. Part of her knew that she shouldn’t be as shocked as she was. Sonata hadn’t been wrong about Lex defeating powerful monsters before, something Nosey had seen up close and personal when he had rescued her from Xiriel. Likewise, she’d read all about how, when the changelings had invaded Canterlot, Princess Celestia had fought and lost a duel against their queen, Chrysalis. Neither Lex’s might nor the Royal Sisters’ fallibility should have surprised her…and yet it did.
“Lex Legis is now the most powerful pony in the entire world,” she murmured, her bottom hitting the dirt as the full weight of what she was saying settled over her, that realization being too momentous for her to remain standing. Sure, Princess Twilight and her friends were also pretty strong, having defeated monsters like Tirek and Discord, but Nosey had just finished telling Sonata how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had once performed those exact same feats…and they had just lost the fight against Lex now. If he could defeat those two, then there was no reason to think that Princess Twilight and her friends would do any better if they challenged him. “He can remake Equestria however he wants now.”
“Hold on a sec,” frowned Sonata as she tapped Nosey on the shoulder. “So you’re saying I don’t even get a chuckle for my ‘powned’ joke?”
Nosey gave the other mare a wide-eyed look. “Sonata…do you not understand that Lex basically just overthrew the princesses?”
Sonata tilted her head. “For realsies?” For some reason that sounded familiar to her, reminding her of stuff that she’d talked to Lex about back when they’d been dating on Everglow. “That’s…a bad thing, right? I think I remember him talking about that before, and me telling him it was a bad thing.”
“I don’t know,” admitted Nosey. The entire situation was too big for her to wrap her head around, especially in conjunction to what had just happened with her and Sonata. It was like this morning was the culmination of all the craziness of the last couple of days, with everything she thought she knew suddenly being turned completely upside down. For a moment it was enough to make Nosey just want to run away from everything, feeling as lost and uncertain as she had right after Xiriel had used her…
Her anxiety must have shown on her face, because Sonata suddenly gave her a worried look. “Nosey? You okay? Do you need me to use my calming spell on you again?”
For a moment Nosey almost said yes, but took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before she let out a breath. “No. No, I’m alright.” The first rule of being a newsmare came back to her then: when in doubt, gather facts and talk to people. That would make her feel better. “C’mon. We need to meet up with Lex.”
“Okay!” nodded Sonata, striding purposefully forward, before pausing to look back at Nosey. “So…we’re totes gonna ask him about that whole ‘conquered the world’ thing, and not about the ‘whole buncha girlfriends’ thing, right?”
A pained look crossed Nosey’s face at that. “Er…” But she was saved from answering as a sudden movement in the distance drew her attention.
Sonata saw the look on her face, and turned to see what she was looking at, smiling as she caught sight of something rushing down from the sky toward Lex. “Aw, look!” she cooed. “Severance wants to go say congratulations!”
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Huh, Nosey does have a point. For all intents and purposes, Lex just defeated the princesses so he could technically take over and implement his plans for Equestria earlier than anticipated. Then again, there is still the problem of keeping them imprisoned, the very same reason that changed Lex's mind about attacking the princesses in the first place.
Plus, even if Lex does destroy Severance, or at the very least, banish it, he still has to contend with the mess the scythe left him in. And as amazing as Sonata has been at 'diplomacy', I have to wonder how they'll salvage this situation. One outcome I can see is for the guards to take the princesses and run, leaving Vanhoover in Lex's control.
9675613
I mean, he could take over the same way Chrysalis or the Storm King took over, meaning that he'd only have terrified enslaved ponies under him and all kinds of ponies would work in the background to depose him.
Which is why fighting them was a bad idea. Not that it was his choice of course.
9675621
True, (well save the lack of an army) though given the average Equestrian's reliance on the Elements and other more capable individuals to handle these kinds of situations, Lex could go largely unopposed aside from Cadence and Shining Armor...who are currently unaware of the situation.
Still, despite the potential rewards, I am somewhat doubtful Lex would take such an action, especially given what he has on his plate already. Then again, he does have a habit of taking on tasks right after he's done with one.
Lex actually managed to win a single battle against the princesses though I don't think it would make him the most powerful pony around g nor would it give the legitimacy or right to rule Equestria. Might does not make right after all.
History might be written by the survivors, but its those that survive history that get to write it. This is but a disagreement in time. Now to see what to do with Severance given it managed to return from a Divine Plane shift, given the angels? If Lex has the Planewalk spell noted and useable, is he just going to shove Severance back in Night Mares face, along with the part of limb carrying her Favour?
ok now that the first problem is out of the way it is time to get to the real problem Severance.
9675551 That Sonata, she is a card.
9675613 The social ramifications of what's just happened can't really be overstated. Seeing one pony overcome the princesses in battle strikes me as something that would be shocking to your average citizen of Equestria, especially one raised in Canterlot the way Nosey was. If we accept that sovereignty is ultimately backed up by force, then Lex has just demonstrated that he is now the preeminent power in Equestria. Of course, we the readers know that Nosey might not be giving Twilight and her friends as much consideration as they deserve...
Of course, now the problem is "what comes next?" Lex himself already decided that simply beating the princesses in a fight wouldn't be good enough, and there's still issues of Lex's public profile being...not very good, to put it mildly. And of course, the issue with Severance. At this point, it's not inaccurate to say that Lex might have won the battle, but his proverbial war to rule Equestria is still very much an unresolved matter.
9675621 I wonder how much anypony would actually work in the background to try and undermine him. Have we ever seen anything like that in the source material? Because most ponies, that I recall, simply seem to submit to whatever overlord takes over.
9675783 Lex would agree that might doesn't make right, but he'd also argue that it's an integral component of it. He's never predicated his desire to rule on his being stronger than the princesses, but rather on the idea that he would run a government that would do more for the people than they do. As for being the most powerful, well...Nosey doesn't seem to fully appreciate what Twilight and her friends can do, I'd say.
9675791 It's a little more than a disagreement; at the very least, Lex has demonstrated that Celestia and Luna won't be able to force him from power. Or at least, not easily; it's possible that they might have been able to do more if Lex hadn't managed to disable Luna's horn early on. But it's not like he just got lucky there; he knew what their weak point was and he made sure to target it.
As for Severance...well, I suspect we're about to find out. (Unless the next chapter, say, decides to shift the focus back to Fencer and her friends.
)
9675842 One can only wonder exactly what spell Lex is bringing to bear against the Night Mare's artifact-weapon.
9676085
Trixie's takeover had everyone obeying her publicly but secretly working together against her. And it's the one we saw the most detail about.
There was also the changeling resistance I guess, although the changelings didn't leave them much choice.
9676173 I haven't watched Magic Duel (season three, episode five) in a little while, but as I recall only Twilight's friends (who're quite clearly exceptional, since by that point they'd already defeated several threats to Equestria) were actively trying to undermine Trixie, and even that only consisted of "get a message to Twilight." That wasn't really indicative of any sort of resistance network brewing; their extended network of friends and family (e.g. Big Mac, the CMCs, etc.) only came into play when Twilight already came up with a plan to win that required them to participate in order to work.
As for the "changeling resistance"...I'm not sure I know what you mean there. If you're referring to what we saw in the alternate timeline where Chrysalis won in The Cutie Re-Mark - Parts 1 and 2 (season five, episodes twenty-five and twenty-six), that honestly looked more like some ponies defending their last bit of free territory (having retreated into the Everfree Forest) than a resistance per se. I'm not trying to split hairs, there; the typical characteristic of a resistance movement is that it's members work within a conquered society to disrupt an occupying force's stability and civil order; meetings will be clandestinely held by a few rebels who otherwise go about their business normally (much like what we saw with ponies such as Sugar Belle and Party Favor in The Cutie Map - Part 2 (season five, episode two), though even they were more curious than openly trying to undermine Starlight Glimmer).
What we saw in that The Cutie Re-Mark - Parts 1 and 2, however, was basically that Zecora and a few other ponies had retreated from the territory that Chrysalis had conquered, treating the Everfree Forest as their last bastion of freedom...which we got to see fall apart.
I won a battle,
now i have won the war is very wrong
its like if japan claimed to have won the war at pearl harbour
9676264 To his credit, Lex previously determined that simply winning a fight against Celestia and Luna wouldn't be very conducive to his goals, which was why he ultimately decided not to attack them.
Of course, it didn't turn out that way, but the larger point still stands.