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.
This has been a lousy day, decided Sonata as she trudged toward the river.
Hopefully things would start to turn around once she got all the camp ponies to come back and start eating something, but somehow she doubted it. After all, nothing else had gone right so far. First Lex had yelled at them just for eating breakfast. Then he’d admitted that he’d gotten hot ‘n’ heavy with Aria last night. Then she’d accidentally done the same thing with Nosey. Then Kara had been all “you should totes share your boyfriend with other girls.” Then Lex had gotten into a fight with those princesses and hurt himself badly – again – and left her feeling guilty about not having been there to prevent it.
It’s not like it’s my fault though, she groused to herself sullenly. Severance was the one who started it. That’s why Lex said he was glad that me and Nosey weren’t there, since we might have gotten hurt… But knowing that Lex had been worried about them while she’d been off making a bigger mess of everything only made Sonata feel worse. More than that, it left her wondering if she could have stopped things from turning out like they had. After all, Lex had said that he’d tried to tell Celestia and Luna that Severance had gone berserk, but they hadn’t listened. I could have said it better than however he did. And even if that didn’t work, I could have used my magic to MAKE it work. Then that fight wouldn’t have happened at all. But nooo, I just HAD to go play “Mares Gone Wild” with Nosey so that Kara would get her flank down here. And she didn’t even have any good advice! That was the part that bothered her most; not only had she made things weird with her best friend and not been there for her boyfriend, but she’d done it all for nothing. Kara had always known just what to say to make her feel better before, but her perfect record was definitely over now.
“It was like talking to someone else altogether,” huffed Sonata as she kept walking, wishing that there was something she could kick to make herself feel better. But a casual glance around showed a complete lack of rocks-, no! There was one!
Giggling with wicked glee, Sonata trotted over to the small stone poking up amidst the grass. “Oh, I’m gonna send you flying!” she cackled, winding up for a kick before lashing out hard. “Welcome to the school of hard r-, OW!” But contrary to her declaration, the rock didn’t budge as her hoof made contact with it, leaving Sonata cursing and rubbing her now-bruised leg.
“Aw c’mon!” she shrieked, positively seething now. Glaring at the stone – which continued to sit there smugly – it took Sonata several seconds to recognize that it wasn’t so much lying on the ground as it was jutting up from it, leaving the majority of its mass buried. It was just pretending like it was a kicking-rock! she realized furiously.
A small part of Sonata’s mind knew she was being irrational. That this was all due to the guilt and confusion and frustration she felt over everything that had happened that morning. That small fraction of her brain told her that the best thing to do would be to forget what had just happened and keep heading toward the camp ponies. Moreover, that small part of her brain told her that once she’d gotten something accomplished she’d feel better about herself, and maybe even calm down enough to where she’d be able to have a serious, adult conversation with Lex and Nosey and Aria about everything that had happened and what they needed to do about it.
Then the rest of her mind pointed out that she’d just been outsmarted by a rock.
It took only a few seconds for her to sing the necessary harmony to activate her spell. Then, taking a deep breath, Sonata let out a wordless scream of pure frustration, bending her face down close to the offending stone. Amplified many times over by her magic, her shout – which she’d previously used to pulverize ghouls and fish-monsters – sent cracks spreading through the rock, and a moment later it shattered into pieces, sending shards everywhere.
“HA!” laughed Sonata victoriously. “Betcha wish you’d just let me kick you now, huh rock?!” Seeing no reason not to indulge herself, Sonata didn’t resist the urge to do a little dance to celebrate her victory. “You thought you’d just be tricking ordinary ponies,” she jeered, “but you didn’t realize you’d be up against a Siren! Who’s smarter now?”
Letting out a satisfied breath, Sonata turned her back on her vanquished enemy and started toward the river again. It had been a bad morning, but she felt sure that things were finally starting to turn around. Now, to get all those camp ponies back!
Still reveling in her victory, Sonata was all smiles as she trotted up toward where the camp’s population was spread out along the edge of the river. Her grin grew a little wider as she saw that all eyes were on her as she approached, loving being the center of attention. “Hey everypony!” she announced, waving as she approached them. “I just wanted to let you all know that Lex says that everything’s A-okay now, so let’s all head back and get some lunch-”
“Are the princesses dead?”
The question came from somewhere in the crowd, choked out by a voice that sounded like they’d been sobbing. It was enough to throw Sonata off her game, making her frown in confusion. “What? No! Of course not! Lex would never kill a pony!”
“He killed that one guy,” came another voice. “That stallion with Princess Luna!”
“It’s true! I saw it!”
“Me too! He used that scythe right out of nowhere!”
“Whoa! Whoa!” called Sonata, “everyone calm down, okay?” For a moment it seemed like the assembled ponies were going to ignore her, but slowly they quieted down. “Lex didn’t kill that Silhouette guy,” she continued. “Severance, his flying scythe-thingy did that all on its own. Lex totes didn’t sign off on that. Like, for realsies.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re one of his girls!”
“Excuse me?” Sonata’s eyebrows went up at the plural usage, and it took her a moment to realize that she recognized that voice, looking over at where a green-coated pegasus stallion was trembling. “Wait, DJ? Is that you?”
Gulping nervously, Disc Jockey was shaking all over. “You’re just trying to cover for your boyfriend, aren’t you?” he whimpered. “Lex killed that guy because he ticked him off, didn’t he? And if we go back there now, he’s gonna kill anypony who’s ever made him mad…” He couldn’t finish, somehow managing to turn an even deeper green as he doubled over, looking like he was going to be sick.
“Hey, c’mon,” protested Sonata. “You know that’s not true. You were there when Lex showed up in camp that first night. Block Party got all up in his face and Lex didn’t do a thing to him!”
“Yeah, and then Block Party died the next day!” called another voice, as anonymous and panicked as the others had been.
“Lex didn’t kill Block Party!” shot back Sonata indignantly. “He killed the monster that killed Block Party! He just didn’t say anything about it because…because…” All of a sudden Sonata realized what she’d just done. “Oopsie…”
“Did…did you just say a monster killed Block Party?”
Sonata could feel a cold chill running down her back. Lex had been serious about wanting to keep Xiriel a secret for some reason. He’d been plenty mad when he found out she’d spilled the beans to Princess Celestia, and only the fact that Nosey had told him that Princess Luna had already known about that monster had calmed him down. Even then he’d made sure to tell them not to tell everypony else, worried about how they’d take it. “Okay,” she sputtered, desperately trying to figure out a way to put the genie back in the toothpaste tube. “Okay, listen-”
But it was already too late. “There was a monster here in camp?!” shrieked a mare somewhere. “Since when?!”
“How did it kill Block Party with no one knowing?!”
“Did Lex let it come in on purpose to do his dirty work?!”
“ALL OF YOU, STOP IT!” Even without magic, Sonata’s voice was a shriek. “Just stop it already!” She wanted to be so angry right then. She wanted to be a towering pillar of rage the way Lex so often was. She wanted to scream at them for how unfair they were being. But at that moment she just didn’t have it in her. Knowing that she’d just done something that would make Lex mad at her – on top of everything else – was her last straw, and this time she was the one trying not to sob as she spoke. “Why don’t any of you ever want to give him a chance? After everything Lex has done, after how hard he’s worked and all the times he’s gotten hurt protecting everyone here, why can’t you all just believe in him?”
Her eyes scanned the crowd, and the earnest expression in them made everypony look away, uncomfortable. But a moment later she caught a pair of familiar faces, and she walked toward them. “This guy here,” she continued as she approached Spit Polish, “tried to kill Lex in his sleep. And yes, he was angry about that. Like, super angry. Wouldn’t you be?!” Turning, she looked at Peachy Keen, who was right next to Spit Polish with one foreleg around him. “What would you do if somepony tried to do that to you?”
The orange mare shuffled in place, not able to meet Sonata’s gaze. “I…I don’t…”
But Sonata didn’t wait for her to try and answer. “Because you know what Lex did? He put a curse on him.” She pointed at Spit Polish, looking around with a helpless expression. “He didn’t kill him, he didn’t banish him to Tartar Sauce or whatever that place is called, he just cursed him. And it wasn’t even a curse that made him, like, really ugly or forget the letter ‘E’ or some other awful thing. It was a curse that only made him dumb and clumsy so long as nopony else helped him.” She moved her outstretched foreleg then, pointing at Peachy Keen. “Lex wanted him to pay, and maybe that’s harsh, but he didn’t want him to be miserable forever. This is the guy who kicked the stuffing out of other ponies on Block Party’s orders, and who tried to kill Lex, and Lex still wanted him to have a reason to try and get everypony to forgive him!”
She could feel her eyes starting to water, but she didn’t stop, pouring her heart out. “Lex tries so hard. He just…he tries so hard, and he doesn’t even realize that a lot of the time he’s trying too hard, and he keeps making all these mistakes and he gets frustrated and angry, but he never gives up. He always keeps trying, and you know why? You know why he keeps working so hard and never asking for anything in return?” She looked back and forth, silently inviting anyone to venture a guess. When none did, she kept going. “It’s because he’s lonely. I saw it the very first time I met him. He’s so, so lonely and he just wants to be accepted and he doesn’t know any other way to do it.”
She had to stop then, knowing that if she kept going she’d completely break down. Sniffling, she wiped her eyes, and that gave enough time for Peachy Keen to speak up. “But…if all he wants is to have friends, why doesn’t he act nicer?” Sonata looked up at her, and Peachy flinched but kept going. “I mean, why doesn’t he ever smile or laugh or, or play some games with us once in a while?”
Sonata gave a hopeless laugh, shrugging as all eyes turned back toward her. “I don’t know. He just can’t. It’s like…it’s like how I’m not smart enough to figure out why people always say that an open door somehow becomes a jar. I’m not good at math problems like that, and Lex isn’t good at friendship. I know he wishes he was, but he isn’t. So instead he does what he is good at, which is taking care of other ponies.” She swept her eyes over the crowd again, silently begging them to understand. “He’s not as nice as those princesses, and he probably never will be, but he’s more dedicated than anyone else, and he would never, ever let somepony die – let alone kill them – if he could help it. So please, please…just give him a chance…”
Uncertain looks were exchanged among the crowd, and Sonata knew it was the best she could hope for. Slowly, she turned around and started walking back toward the camp. For the first few steps her heart was beating loudly, and she bit her lip. Then, when she’d gotten a dozen paces away from everyone, she heard it.
The sound of a large number of hoofsteps, all following behind her.
In the aftermath of Lex's battle with the princesses, Sonata opens her heart to the camp ponies in an effort to turn them around on Lex.
Has she succeeded, or is this another hopeful moment that's soon to be dashed?
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Lex is not meant to be a leader.
Spoken honestly from the heart and it seems that it worked, no song and dance number needed here. Hopefully things will look up after this but with the news of Luna's state looming on the horizon...well, that and the remnants of the battle near the train station. Still, a win is a win so let's hope she can keep the ponies calm and collected while Lex gets some rest(deals with the Night Mare)
Honestly, that isn't unexpected.
9711628
Why not?
good words Sonata.
Whats Lex got on his roll for things to screw up when Sonata gets back with the hungry masses?
Lex is just freindship dumb enough to be a Grand Vizier?
9711628 His cutie mark suggests otherwise.
9711690 One of the hardest parts about writing Sonata is that her magic relies on singing (and dancing, but mostly singing), which isn't really something that translates very well to a textual medium. I've seen some authors try and write full lyrics into their stories, others post links to music on Youtube and elsewhere, but I don't think any of those work very well. That doesn't leave me with very much, short of simply saying some variant of "she sang a (particular type of tune)" and describing what happens, or simply avoiding the issue altogether by having her go for non-musical options. This chapter was very much the latter, with Sonata basically saying "why don't you all see him the way I see him?"
Fortunately, it seems to have worked. Hopefully.
9711699 Hopefully she'll have the sense to keep that particular encounter to herself...but knowing Sonata, she'll end up saying something like "I got tricked by a rock, once."
9711900 That's why she's Lex's spokespony.
9712041 Well, just finding out that Luna is no longer an alicorn might very well do that for him.
9711628
No he is meant to be a ruler. He makes all the hard decisions most couldn't do. He requires help from others to be at his best.
I truly hope Maud Pie shows up to teach Sonata a lesson for her actions in this chapter.
More seriously, Sonata makes an excellent case for Lex. If these were humans, she would focus on Lex's successes, and the concrete ways he's improved things. But they are ponies, so she does the spokespony equivalent of using "I feel" language instead. I think she will win over a fair amount of the ponies with her diplomacy, maybe even the majority.
That said, I bet a significant minority of the camp ponies will still leave if they can. They're going to realize that Vanhoover is basically no longer a part of Equestria. Being a follower of the Princesses is a big part of the identity of many ponies, and having a choice between "stay and join whatever new society Lex is building" versus "leave and start over in a new city in Equestria" means many ponies will choose the latter. A lot of times when someone seizes power civilians don't want to leave because they don't want to give up their homes and businesses. But in this case their homes and businesses are destroyed, so these ponies all have to rebuild from scratch no matter what.
Additionally, while the food they are eating was partially conjured by Lex, this camp is supported by supplies given by Equestrian ponies that may not be willing to donate more in the future to a hostile foreign power. Lex is planning to pay for a rebuilding with loans and trade with other cities, and that's going to get much harder now that Vanhoover is essentially at war with Equestria.
Don't get me wrong, River is quite cunning, and has a lot of connections in cities up and down the coast. She's probably on track to become Lex's foreign ambassador. But right now Van Hoover has basically no commercial assets or viable long term business-prospects, just a few hundred ponies in a refugee camp and some very powerful magic-users who, as far as I know, don't have a way of monetizing their power (unless Lex starts doing a bunch of Fabricates every day!)
So that's why I think a lot of the camp ponies would still leave Van Hoover, even though Lex is awesome and Sonata is persuasive. However, it did make me realize something: Rather than go through the incredible amount of work of rebuilding Van Hoover, why doesn't Lex just work on migrating the population to Tall Tale? There's plenty of room for both populations in Tall Tale, which has an infrastructure in need of much less repair. Tall Tale has a functional economy, meaning it would be a lot easier for Lex to strike up trade with other Equestrian cities, even if they don't like what he did to the Princesses. Of course, the one pony who would hate that idea would be River...
9713015 You know, when I realized that Sonata's rock gag was going to be a little bit longer than one or two lines, I tried to think of a way to reference Maud. But the closest I could come was that Pinkie might have mentioned her to Sonata (since Pinkie was her friend back on Everglow), and that ended up making Sonata seem slightly more perspicacious than she typically is. So I had to abandon that idea, which I'm sure Maud would think was a shame.
That aside, you're right that Sonata stumbled into exactly the right thing to say, here. Ponies, as we've seen in the show, respond very well to honest displays of emotion, as well as good intentions. Trying to talk up Lex's successes (which probably would have been his answer) wouldn't have had nearly as much effect as simply telling everypony that he wants to do good, and is trying his best even if he keeps making mistakes and suffering setbacks. (After all, Sonata tried talking up Lex's successes back in Chapter 232, but when she followed that with "oh, and the ghouls are coming" everypony still tried to run. She calmed them down with her magic - and was quite pleased with herself as a result - but in this case she knew that a different take was needed; that and she knew better than to use magic, since Lex would have been upset.)
As for why Lex isn't simply focused on taking everypony to Tall Tale, part of that is logistical issues. There are around twelve hundred ponies in the camp now. If Lex were to take all of them to Tall Tale, that would put an economic burden on the city; those twelve hundred ponies would all need to be sheltered and fed, most of them for quite some time while new homes were found for them. That food and housing would all need to be paid for, and that would represent a not-inconsiderable burden on the city's resources. How long could a hotel put even a fraction of that many ponies up for free before they'd start to see a serious hit to their profits? What food vendor could give away a percentage of their resources day after day before they lost enough money that they'd start to refuse? Someone would need to step in with the money to make that work, at least in the short-term, and we know that Tall Tale's government doesn't have that sort of money.
Now, some of those ponies would probably go to other cities to live with friends and family, and some would try and find local jobs in Tall Tale, but for the most part that wouldn't be enough to ease the serious strain that it would place the city under. Especially if you hold that Tall Tale (and most Equestrian cities) are actually on the smaller side in terms of their permanent population. Remember, a major lesson that Vanhoover put on display was that simple goodwill and community spirit isn't enough to overcome a major disaster, and throwing over a thousand refugees into Tall Tale would run the risk of creating an "aftershock" on the city's community.
The other reason is that cities, for lack of a better term, are power centers. There's a reason why a single metropolis with ten million people would be widely known, but ten million people spread across a rural area where no one lived in villages of greater than a thousand people would seem absolutely bucolic by comparison. The concentration of the population in a city allow for major socioeconomic activity beyond what smaller municipalities can support. If you can overcome issues of feeding the population, requiring either satellite farms or robust shipping, and waste disposal (both of which are major concerns; on Earth, cities such as Cahokia were abandoned due to these and related problems, such as disease caused by waste disposal issues), then you can manage to attract and support specialists who will devote themselves to pursuits beyond food production. Urban areas are where you'll find large markets, institutes of higher learning, common points of travel, and all of the myriad benefits those bring.
Losing Vanhoover by essentially abandoning the city would mean losing all of that, and Lex knows that would be a major blow to both the region and his dreams of founding a breakaway kingdom from Equestria. Vanhoover, after all, functions as a focal point for all of the farms in the northwestern region (i.e. the ones north of Vanhoover and west of the Unicorn Mountains). They go there to sell the majority of their produce, as well as buy various goods and services with the money they make, much of which is imported from the rest of Equestria. Without Vanhoover, they'd lose the major market for most of their goods, and would become much poorer in comparison to ponies elsewhere. Worse, ponies all over Equestria would find that the markets for subsurface vegetables (those being the major produce from this area; most of the rest of Equestria focuses on avenaceous products, above-ground vegetables, fruits, dairy products, etc.) would see a reduced supply, driving up prices for those that were left. That probably wouldn't cause serious economic problems, but it would still be a hit.
Lex isn't intent on letting that happen; the situation in Vanhoover is bad, but he knows that the best course of action is still to try and revive the city rather than abandon it, and that means increasing the population and putting them back to work, increasing economic activity and attracting more money and returning ponies. But in the meantime, a massive influx of cash and supplies are needed to kickstart the process, and he's having an incredibly hard time making that happen, largely because other issues keep getting in his way, the princesses being the latest obstacle distracting him from putting his plans into action. He knows that, and he's doing his best, but there's only so much he can accomplish at one time...which is why he needs to get better at relying on others fast.