40 - Taking Responsibility
“Miss, please calm down.”
“I am calm!” yelled Nosey at the pegasus stallion behind the counter. “I’m very calm, so stop worrying about me and start worrying about how to get this envelope to Canterlot so I can get this story published!”
“Miss, I’ve told you: with the trains out we can’t make any deliveries. If you want to wait until the dockyards reopen, we might be able to see about delivering it to Las Pegasus. I’m sure a courier service can deliver it for you from there.”
“That’ll take forever!” Nosey let out an exasperated sigh. “Even after the mayor lifts her emergency decree that the docks are closed, I’d still have to wait for a ship to leave, and then wait for it to make it there, all just to get this sent out! I need it to reach Canterlot ASAP!”
“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.”
“This isn’t an inconvenience, this is a travesty! The news is being suppressed!” She threw her forehooves into the air, the very picture of drama. In the few hours since she’d gotten back to Tall Tale, Nosey had run like mad to get her story ready for publication. Or at least, a truncated version of her story, designed to whet the appetite and stoke public demand for her forthcoming book. To that end, she’d banged out an article about Lex’s fight against the dragon, summarizing the major points while teasing at more details being forthcoming, and managed to find a photography studio to develop her pictures, making copies of two of them to accompany her feature.
Now she had them all ready to go, but there was no way to get them delivered to her editor!
Turning away from the unhelpful pony at the counter for a moment, Nosey rubbed her chin in thought. There had to be some way to get a delivery to Canterlot! After a moment, a lightbulb went off over her head. “You have delivery-pegasi on staff, right?”
“Of course we do. Heck, I’m one of them.”
“Okay,” she grinned. “Then I want you or some other pegasus to follow the railroad tracks to the next town on the line. According to what I heard, that should be past the breaks in the tracks, so the mail should still be running there.”
“Miss, with all due respect, that’s not going to happen. The nearest town on the rail line is a hundred miles away; we only make personal deliveries for items that are staying here in Tall Tale. Having one of our employees fly so far just to drop an envelope off isn’t viable.”
Nosey’s response was to take out her purse and upend it over the counter, letting bits rain out. “Here. Is this enough to make it viable?”
The pegasus blinked, glancing down at the mess of bits. There were a lot more there than a single delivery would normally cost. After a moment he coughed politely. “Yes, well…as I was saying, while we normally don’t perform long-range deliveries, we can make an exception for such an, er, important matter.” He began gathering the bits into a sack. “Just let me get some supplies and I’ll deliver your envelope personally.”
Nosey was all smiles. “Excellent.” Turning around, there was an extra spring in her step as she left the courier’s office. Everything was going great! Oh, she would have loved to have seen her editor’s face when he read her piece over, particularly when he saw those pictures, but she’d have to settle for just writing a story that would launch her career like never before.
Of course, that still left one problem that needed to be solved.
Now that she’d spent all of her money having that envelope mailed, where was she going to sleep tonight?
Sonata blinked in confusion, staring at Lucy blankly. “Huh? Whaddaya mean ‘resign’?”
“She’s going to quit being the mayor because of what happened with the evacuation!” Lucy was almost in tears, clearly very upset by the prospect. “Tell her she can’t do that!”
“Lucy!” Ribbon Cutter’s voice carried a sharp rebuke, but she sighed a moment later. Standing up, she gestured to Lex and Sonata. “Please come in. Lucy, you wait outside, and make sure you close the door behind you.”
“But…!”
“I promise we’ll talk more after I’m done with this meeting, okay?” Ribbon gave her secretary a tight smile, which seemed to mollify the younger mare, since she left without any further protests.
Waiting until the door had clicked shut, Ribbon let out a sigh, gesturing to the seats in front of her. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.” She’d waited until the pair had settled down before continuing. “I apologize for my secretary’s outburst. She’s been with me ever since I took over this office, so she has very strong feelings about what I’m proposing.”
“Are you really gonna quit?” asked Sonata.
“Yes, but…I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.” Ribbon closed her eyes and gave a perfunctory cough, visibly gathering herself as she straightened up in her chair. Opening her eyes she started again. “First, let me introduce myself again. My name is Ribbon Cutter, and I’m the mayor of Tall Tale, at least for the moment.” Cracking a small smile, she turned her attention to Lex.
“Mr. Lex Legis, I presume?” When he nodded silently in response, she continued. “I’ve asked you here because I’ve only heard scattered reports about what happened, and wanted to confirm directly. Would you please tell me what happened this morning with the evacuation group?”
Lex paused for a moment, silently evaluating the mare in front of him, before nodding. “Very well.”
The subsequent explanation took some time. Ribbon sat back and listened intently, occasionally asking a question or for some point to be expounded on. Sonata also chimed in frequently with various details.
Finally, they reached the end of the tale, and Ribbon sat back, a pensive look on her face. Silence fell, unbroken for a long moment until Ribbon got up and turned to look out her office window. “So the dragon really was going to eat everypony?” Her voice was soft, and Sonata wondered if she was genuinely asking or just thinking out loud.
Lex, however, took the question at face value. “Without a doubt. Even if you discount the testimony given by Fireflower’s siblings, which would be foolish as it explains how the dragon knew to coordinate its appearance with their immobilizing everypony, it was already assuming an attack posture when it approached us. There can be no argument that it was hostile.”
Ribbon slumped, seeming to cave in on herself. “I was so sure that it was different…that it wanted to help…”
“Oh, that’s because you were enchanted,” ventured Sonata casually.
That got a more pronounced reaction. Ribbon started, as though she’d received a sudden pinch, and turned around to look at Sonata. “What?”
“You were under a spell that influenced your behavior,” explained Lex, adjusting his circlet as he spoke. “In fact…hm,” his brow furrowed. “I’m not detecting any magical emanations.”
“That’s because it’s worn off now,” said Sonata. “But it was there before.”
“Wait, wait.” Ribbon circled her desk, moving closer to the pair. “The dragon…it used magic on me?”
“Yep!” Sonata nodded. “When I talked to you before, you said you were kidnapped and taken to its cave, right? And that you were talking with it and ‘realized’ how nice it was and that it just wanted to help? That was when it happened.”
Ribbon looked like a drowning mare who had just been thrown a life preserver. “So this…what I did…it wasn’t my fault?”
“It wasn’t,” confirmed Lex dispassionately. “Given the reputations of dragons in Equestria, you would have had to have been unforgivably stupid to have put any faith in such a creature. That’s why it had to beguile you with magic to ensure your cooperation. You’re a victim, not a collaborator.”
“Isn’t that great?” smiled Sonata, springing to her hooves. “I mean, it’s not great that you were duped and made to trick other ponies into almost being the dragon’s breakfast, but it’s great that it wasn’t your fault that you did!” Oblivious to her tactlessness, she went over to Ribbon and raised a foreleg, holding it out towards her for a hoof-bump. “Now you don’t have to quit being mayor!”
“I…” Ribbon started to hold out a hoof in response, but stopped halfway, before shaking her head and lowering it. “No, I’m still going to resign my office.”
“Huh? But why?” Sonata tilted her head, confused.
Ribbon slowly returned to her chair, sitting down with a sigh. “Because somepony needs to take responsibility for everything that’s happened.”
Lex raised an eyebrow, his appraisal of Ribbon going up by a few points. Given how Celestia and her ilk had seemed intent on avoiding responsibility at every turn, apparently being of the persuasion that everything was fine so long as there wasn’t an ongoing crisis, this mare’s insistence on holding herself to a higher standard was a breath of fresh air.
Sonata seemed to think otherwise, moving up to Ribbon’s desk and placing her forehooves on it, leaning forward. “But we just said that it wasn’t your fault! You even said so yourself!”
“I know, but there’s more to it than that,” Ribbon replied. “The very fact that I was able to be manipulated like that in the first place means that I wasn’t able to fulfill my duty to the ponies of Tall Tale. And even if I had known what was going on, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it, which is another strike against me.”
“But that’s crazy!” insisted Sonata. “Nobody could have done that.”
“One pony could have,” replied Ribbon, directing a pointed look at Lex. It was more than enough to clue him in on what she was talking about. In fact, he realized, this was the real reason that she had wanted this meeting. It wasn’t just that she wanted a first-hoof report about what had happened. It was because she wanted to appoint her successor.
Sonata was slower to catch on, but eventually the idea got through to her. “Hang on…you don’t mean…” She sank back into her seat in surprise.
Ribbon didn’t break eye contact with Lex. “Am I right in guessing that, since you have enough magic to defeat a dragon in a one-on-one fight, you can’t be enchanted the way I was?”
Lex nodded. “I have numerous magical defenses on my person at all times, including resistance to mental influences.”
Now it was Ribbon’s turn to nod, clearly having expected an answer along those lines. “And there’s no question as to your strength, or your dedication to helping ponies in need.” She swept her eyes over his wounds. They were, she knew, a testament to just how far he was willing to go for complete strangers. Indeed, from what they had told her just now, he hadn’t even realized that this mare who seemed like his girlfriend had been there until after the battle was joined.
Sonata’s eyes were widening, looking back and forth between Ribbon and Lex.
Ribbon stood up again, and this time Lex did the same, sensing the magnitude of what she was about to say. Belatedly, Sonata did also. “In a few hours I’m going to make a statement about everything that’s happened.” Ribbon’s voice was firm, having made up her mind. “At that time, I’m going to publicly announce my resignation as the mayor of Tall Tale. I’d like to name my chosen successor as part of the announcement.”
She paused, and a pin dropping could have been heard in the ensuing silence. A moment later, she continued.
“Lex Legis, will you become the new mayor of Tall Tale?”
It had been less than five minutes since it had become clear to Lex that Ribbon had been leading up to that question. But in that time his mind had run through myriad different considerations, weighing numerous factors and examining each and every of them, both in isolation and within the context of multiple different frameworks. By the time the question left Ribbon’s mouth, Lex had already decided upon his answer.
“Yes, I will.”
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Of course he said yes. He plans to take over all of Equestria eventually, so he needs to collect all the cities one by one. Clearly.
Its a good thing Celestia int hardcore, or she could take Lexs current decision as desertion and a whole other unpleasant things?
At least the messanger pegasus can get news of the rails needing repairing and other such problems out there, to get crews out and Canterlot notified?
Interesting to point out from this point Lex could have turned down the offer and proceeded to Vanhoover. As a "helping ponies" motivation, it would be the thing to do. But from from a strategic standpoint, Tall Tale is a much better starting point, in that it still has infra-structure that doesn't need rebuilding, and the pony's there are alreadt eager to put him in a leadership position. Of course once his plans have succeded he'll be in a much better position to help the ponies of Vanhoover. And since everypony would be better off if he ruled Equestria, then persuing his ambition IS helping ponies.
Is he deliberately Pony Lex Luthor, or is that somehow the weirdest co-inky-dink ever? 
(Because he is totally Pony Lex Luthor)
7727071 What? Lex collecting cities? Would he do that?
7727121 Celestia tends not to step in unless the situation is "near-apocalypse" level...and sometimes even then, she farms it out to Twilight and co. As such, I doubt she'd get too involved with what Lex is doing now, especially since the mayor is asking him to take her place.
The news about the train tracks needing repair was definitely called in by that train engineer that dropped off Lex and Sonata.
7727151 You're absolutely right about Lex seeing no difference between pursuing his ambition and helping ponies. He's long held that his rulership would be the best thing to happen to Equestria. Whether or not that's actually true remains an open question.
Ironically, Lex's name wasn't directly inspired by Lex Luthor. Rather, "Lex Legis" is Latin for "the promise" or "the convenant." I picked the name because it highlights his ultra-lawful nature. The irony there is doubled because the character of Lex Luthor (as played by the inimitable Michael Rosenbaum on Smallville...at least the first three seasons, those being the only ones I saw) was one of four characters that I drew from when shaping Lex's portrayal - two good, and two evil; likewise, one of each category was the major influence, while the second in each category was the minor.
In Rosenbaum's character - the "minor evil" source of inspiration for my Lex - we saw someone who wanted desperately to do the right thing, but whose instincts and inclinations ran in exactly the opposite direction. For most people being good is how they're raised; for Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor, it was a constant struggle against his inner nature. I drew on that for how Lex Legis wants to be an upstanding pony who gives to his community, but is easily driven to frustration and anger because he can't understand the social norms that everyone else considers to be so basic as to be intuitively understood. That and he uses dark magic, even if it's for good ends.
So kudos to you for seeing the connection between that Lex and this one.
Lex becoming the next mayor of Tall Tale seems obvious in hindsight since with Cadence's presence in Vanhoover overshadowing any possible contributions he'd make as its mayor so the next best thing was to carry out his plans at a different location. Plus having its citizen view him as a hero is going to give him a free pass at the first action he takes as mayor though it's clear it would cause some friction. I just hope he'll let Sonata in on his plans so as to cause the least amount of tension between him and the townsponies.
As for where Nosey would sleep, she'd probably ask Lex to return the favor for letting him sleep at her place and maybe an interview on his new role as mayor to boot. Or even a job as his PR?
7727672 A very cogent analysis! But will things work out that way?
We'll find out!
First to destroy typos!
I'm sure there is a courier service who can deliver it.
Either you have an extra quotation, or are missing one. Your choice.
Ummm, wouldn't she have to wait for one to arrive first? There isn't a ship already there, is there?
Tense issue, this hasn't happened yet, but it talks about it as though it has.
Feels awkward using Mr with their first name. I have heard it this way before, but it is still awkward.
I don't think the "silently" is needed here, as nodding is a silent action.
So if it wasn't hostile, why did it attack?
I see those Rarity lessons are paying off. She just needs to take a couch with her wherever she goes and she's all set.
Is that hundred miles literal or metaphorical?
And maybe a typo, don't they use metric in Equestria?
Those life preservers don't always preserve life...
Aurthur teleports in, just to drop that pin, then leaves. Just to be a troll.
Good chapter, but if Lex is ruling Vanhoover, how can he also rule Tall Tale? Will he merge them? That would give Vanhoover the room it needs to expand, but would remove Tall Tale.
So many options!
7728297
Fixed those.
She's presuming that there is; to her mind, any ship that has a dockyard will probably have at least one ship there. Whether or not she's right is undetermined.
That's because her feelings are being narrated, rather than directly expressed. She's also thinking about something that she knows won't happen (her being able to see her editor's expression), so there's cause for her to think about is something she's already lost.
I agree, but I'm not sure there's a better way to go about it. The problem is that pony names don't follow any strict patterns. We have siblings that use a single name for one pony (e.g. Rarity) while the other has two (e.g. Sweetie Belle). Families that have family names (e.g. the Apple family) won't necessarily use that name even for children of the same parents (e.g. Big Macintosh and Applejack). So the entire idea of surnames and personal names seems to be a loose guideline, at best. Hence, using "Mister" or "Miss" before an entire name, rather than just part of it, seems like it would be more standard.
The use of "silently" wasn't to characterize the act of nodding, but to underline the lack of any accompanying verbal response.
He's not saying that it wasn't hostile, he's saying that there's no argument - that is, no disagreement - that it was.
At least she's not saying that it was the worst. Thing. EVER!
It was meant to be literal, but I'm playing slightly more loose than I'd like to with the distances, since, well...don't get me started on the issue of the maps of Equestria that we have.
Metaphorical statement is metaphorical.
And you wonder why I didn't want to use him.
Indeed. Let's see what happens next!
7728692
What's wrong with that? How bad could having another Discord around be?
That is literally what he said. There is no argument that it is hostile. While I know what he's trying to say, he is not saying it.
Sure they do, they are all adorable.
True, but is this really all that much better?
7728757
You're reading it wrong. You're seeing "argument" to mean "assertion" (e.g. there's no assertion being made that it was hostile) when in this context it's being used as "disagreement" (e.g. there's no disagreement about it having been hostile).