51 - The Answer
Lex watched Waterlily’s reunion with her siblings dispassionately for a few moments before losing interest in them. Their joy at having their sister brought back to them was more than obvious, and spoke to their commitment to seeing to her welfare. As such, he no longer needed to be concerned what happened to her, at least no more than anypony else.
Turning away from where they were embracing in a tangle, Lex directed his gaze to Sonata, who – feeling the weight of his eyes on her – looked up at him. Silently, he gestured towards the exit, waiting just long enough for her to nod before turning and leaving.
Pausing as she reached the threshold, Sonata looked back at Fireflower, still crowding around Waterlily with the rest of his family, tears of joy sliding down his face. The sight was enough to make her smile. She’d felt awful rejecting him like that, so it was really great that he had something so wonderful to focus on instead.
Turning away, she left him behind as she hurried to catch up with Lex.
“Hey,” she started as she moved up next to him. “That was really great what you did back there. Although, come to think of it, what exactly did you do back there? I thought Fireflower said that Waterlily was killed by the dragon.”
“She was,” answered Lex flatly, giving her only the briefest of glances. “I had her resurrected.”
“Resur-, wait, for realsies?!” Sonata’s eyes widened, and she darted in front of Lex, moving in front of him to block his path. “You can do that too?!”
Sonata had been on Everglow long enough to know that magic that could bring dead people back to life was a thing, but it was supposed to be, like, super difficult to do. And something about it being limited to priests or something like that. That Lex could do even that, on top of all the incredible magic he’d used to kill that dragon, was enough to stagger her.
Lex paused for just a moment, then kept walking, moving around Sonata. “No. I wasn’t the one who brought her back.”
Biting her lip for a moment, more at his terseness than his answer, Sonata moved alongside him again. “Okay…” she prompted, her follow-up question hanging in the air, unspoken but obvious.
Lex sighed. “I made a deal…” He trailed off, glancing at the ponies around them. “We can discuss this once we get back to our room.”
The finality in his voice made Sonata’s anxiety rise. Was he upset over what had happened with Fireflower? No, wait, obviously he was upset, but he shouldn’t be upset at her! She hadn’t done anything wrong! Another guy had hit on her, and she’d turned them down. Period. There was no reason for Lex to be acting like…like…this!
“Why do you love him so much?”
The memory of Fireflower’s question, and how she’d been unable to answer, made Sonata wince. Had Lex heard that part? Even if he hadn’t, he’d heard her not answering when Fireflower had asked her why the second time. It wasn’t exactly the strongest defense of their love.
And Sonata was certain that what she felt for him was love. It had to be! So she couldn’t say why she felt that way, so what? That didn’t change how she felt when he smiled at her, or how worried she’d been when he’d been hurt, or how they’d both cried their hearts out when they’d gotten back together just that morning. That was totes love, right? Right.
Nodding to herself in renewed determination, Sonata stepped closer to Lex, pressing her side to his and leaning her head in to nuzzle him gently. He tensed, and for a moment she thought that he wouldn’t return the gesture. Then she felt him relax and nuzzle her back, and she grinned in relief.
The feeling was magnified a moment later when Lex stopped, lifted a hoof to her face, and kissed her. Closing her eyes, Sonata stopped thinking about everything else as she luxuriated in her boyfriend’s affection, letting the kiss go on for long moments before it ended.
“We should talk, after we get back.” Lex’s voice was softer, using the warmer tone that Sonata had come to expect from him during intimate moments. It was enough to make her smile as she nodded, feeling much better than she had a few minutes ago.
With the tension between them diminished, the two returned to their hotel room. Once there, Lex proceeded to tell her everything that he’d done in the last few hours, from when he’d woken up to when he’d brought Waterlily back to Busy Bee’s. It had been enough to make Sonata momentarily forget about what had happened with Fireflower.
“Wow! So the Night Mare gave you super powers, a whole buncha bling, and even brought Waterlily back to life? I totes thought that she was just a grumpy goddess!” Sonata missed how Lex rolled his eyes in response to her summary of what had happened, thinking instead of how the Night Mare had appeared in her dream with Kara. She was about to mention that when a thought occurred to her.
“Hey, you said that you could control Waterlily, but not animals, right? What about ponies? I mean, Waterlily looks like a pony and all, but she’s really a big spider, isn’t she? So maybe that’s different.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” admitted Lex. “I’ll need to run some experiments on the limits of the powers that the Night Mare granted me. The trick will be finding test subjects.”
Sonata blinked. “Seriously? There’s, like, a whole town full of ponies out there,” she said, gesturing to the window. “Just grab one and see if you can make them turn cartwheels or something.”
“Experimenting on somepony without their knowledge or consent is highly unethical, Sonata,” frowned Lex. “Everypony who lives here…no, everypony in this city, whether they live here or not, is my responsibility. I will not impugn their dignity by treating them as resources to be utilized for my convenience.”
A disappointed look crossed Sonata’s face. “C’mon, it’s not like I’m telling you to make them do something awful, or, I dunno, make them into slaves for the rest of their life or anything. Just make one of them dance or wave or something for a second so you know if it works and then let them go.” She shrugged. “I bet if you did it fast enough, they wouldn’t even know what was going on.”
“I would know!” snapped Lex, hackles rising. He was about to launch into an explanation of how ethical frameworks functioned when Sonata cut him off.
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry I said anything,” she relented, holding her hooves up in a gesture of surrender. She had brought it up because the thought of Lex just waving a hoof and making someone else do whatever he wanted was a sexy one, but now she regretted having spoken up, feeling the tension between them starting to rise again.
Lex seemed equally unhappy at how the conversation had gone, scowling as he settled down. An uncomfortable silence fell for a few moments before Sonata sighed, ready to bite the bullet. “About what happened before…with me and Fireflower…”
She trailed off, not sure what to say. But Lex didn’t seem inclined to try and move things along, scowling and looking away in silence, so she forged ahead. “Listen, I had no idea that he felt that way about me. Seriously, if I’d realized that he was, you know…falling for me, I would’ve, um…done something different.” It sounded incredibly lame, even to her own ears.
“It’s fine,” muttered Lex. He was regretting his earlier suggestion that they talk about this. He’d felt confident then, despite not knowing what to say or even to think about what happened, that they could work it out. But now all he felt was awkward and uncomfortable.
Sonata looked at him in disbelief. “‘It’s fine’? Are you kidding me? You’re, like, clearly upset!”
“There’s no reason for me to be upset.” He didn’t meet her eyes as he spoke, looking at an empty corner of the room instead. “No moral abrogation took place that I can determine. Certainly not on your end, at least. Fireflower’s actions might have deviated from conventionally-polite norms, but there’s little to indict his behavior to the point where any sort of sanctions would be required.”
Sonata’s eyebrows rose as Lex spoke, until she was gaping at him. “What the heck are you talking about?!”
“Nopony asked you what you thought!”
Sonata recoiled, but felt surprise more than anger at his response. “What are you-”
Her question died midway through as Lex took the scythe off of his back and tossed it away. But before it was halfway through its arc it stopped, righting itself as it hovered in midair. For a moment, Sonata was confused, before remember what Lex had just told her.
“Oh, you were talking to that thing! Um, Severance, right?”
To her amusement, the weapon turned to regard her…or at least, it looked like it did, rotating so that the point of its blade was turned towards her. It then bent forward until its shaft was almost parallel to the floor before resuming its upright position, and Sonata giggled as she realized that it had bowed to her. “Aw, you’re a real gentleman! I’m Sonata Dusk, pleased to meet you.”
She held out a hoof, but before Severance could move in reply, the roiling purple aura of Lex’s telekinesis surrounded the weapon. Yanking it back to his side, Lex stomped over to the adjoining bathroom, tossing it inside. “Stay in there until I retrieve you,” he snarled before slamming the door shut. He knew that there was no way that a flimsy wooden door could feasibly contain an artifact-weapon forged by a goddess, but he’d be damned if he had to let the thing witness private moments between himself and his beloved, let alone interject its opinion.
“Aw, you didn’t have to do that, he seemed nice.” Sonata wasn’t sure what made her think that the weapon was a “he.” Maybe because bowing seemed like something a boy would do?
“You’ve hung around enough nice guys for one evening,” replied Lex darkly. He wished he could have taken it back the instant the words came out of his mouth, but it was too late. Sonata didn’t hesitate to pounce on his inadvertent admission of displeasure.
“I knew it! You’re totes upset!”
Grinding his teeth, Lex closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to keep calm. “I told you, there’s no reason for me to be upset. No one did anything wrong, so-”
“Stop it! Just stop it already!” Sonata closed the distance between them and took Lex’s head in her hooves, his eyes snapping open as she got in his face. “This isn’t one of your logic puzzles or anything like that! I don’t want to hear some theory about proper behavior or whatever! I want you to tell me how you feel!”
“Fine! I feel awful! There! Are you happy now?!” Lex shook her off and took a single step back from her. For a moment he glared at her, angry that she’d pushed him this far. But then his ears folded back and he resumed his earlier sour look.
“Okay.” Sonata spoke slowly, trying to make her voice as soothing as she could, wanting him to know that it was okay for him to tell her how he felt. “It’s, like, totes normal to be jealous-”
“I wasn’t jealous.”
“Lex…” Sonata couldn’t keep the exasperation out of her voice. He had just been starting to open up to her, and now he was backpedaling.
But Lex looked at her directly, his petulant expression fading into one of earnestness. “I wasn’t jealous, Sonata.”
She blinked in surprise. She was sure that had been it. “Then…” she swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “Are you mad at me for not pushing him away harder?”
“That’s not it either.” He moved past her as he spoke, moving to the room’s only window and looking outside, facing away from her.
“Then what is it?” This time she didn’t follow him, letting him have his space.
He was silent for several long moments, trying to figure out that very question. He knew that the thought of Fireflower admitting his feelings for Sonata upset him, but he couldn’t figure out why. Other than a reflexive moment of doubt, he hadn’t been worried that Sonata would leave him again, not after the heartfelt moment they’d shared that morning. Nor did he feel at all threatened by Fireflower; Lex honestly couldn’t imagine that the little twerp could ever come between the two of them.
So then why did the memory of that little brat confessing to Sonata make him want to crawl out of his skin?
“…I hate that he thought he could try.”
“Huh?” Sonata tilted her head, not sure what he meant.
Lex turned back around to face her, and couldn’t keep the discomfort off of his face. “He thought that he had a chance, right then. That if he told you how he felt, you’d see something in him that you didn’t in me. I can’t stand that.”
“Lex, I’m telling you, I would never-”
“I know! That’s not what I mean!” He could feel himself getting agitated. Trying to put his feelings into words was something he’d never been good at. It was what had so often driven him to master esoteric conceptual disciplines, hoping that their exacting methods of thought and communication would give him the tools necessary to better make himself understood by others. But he had to keep trying. He had to make her understand!
He looked her dead in the eye, and the intensity in his gaze kept her pinned in place as surely as the magic vines had before. “He wouldn’t have told you how he felt if he hadn’t thought that he had a chance with you, right? That’s what I can’t stand! I don’t want anyone else to ever think that they could possibly love you more than I can. I want them to see us and know that my feelings for you will forever eclipse theirs. I want them to realize that they could never offer you as much love as I can.”
He advanced on her as he spoke, and Sonata could feel her heart quickening as he did. “I want everyone who sees us to know how much you mean to me, how badly I want you with me, and know that they never had a chance with you. And he didn’t know that, which means that I failed to do as much as I should for you.”
They were standing right in front of each other now, both of them breathing heavily with the intensity of what they were feeling. Lex’s voice has been growing softer as he’d approached her, but the passion in his words had only heightened as he’d gotten closer to her, and she shivered as she looked up at him.
“That’s why I’m upset.”
He almost whispered the words as he leaned in and kissed her again, and the effect was electric, making Sonata gasp as she felt his lips press against hers.
And suddenly she knew.
Sonata was aware that she had never been the brightest bulb in the pack – years of teasing from her sisters had thoroughly driven that point home – but even to her it had been obvious from day one that Lex was a super-genius, his brain running on overdrive all of the time. But now she understood that it wasn’t just that; everything about him was cranked up to the max. Not just his thoughts, but his feelings as well.
Whatever emotion he was experiencing at any given time was amplified to an incredible degree compared to other people. When he was angry, he could barely control his fury. When he was sad, he fell to the very bottom of the world. And when he was swept up in his passion for her, the force of it was greater than anything she’d ever felt before. No matter how many people, humans or ponies, she’d ever controlled with her magic, no matter how many brainwashed thralls she’d forced to adore her, it couldn’t compare to the love directed at her from this one stallion.
For a Siren, a creature whose entire reason for being was to be revered and cherished, it was nothing less than fulfillment on the most fundamental level imaginable. It was enough to make her adore him in return, filled with more gratitude and thankfulness than she knew how to express. It was enough to make her absolutely certain that she’d never leave him again, no matter what happened.
It was why she loved him.
The kiss slowly ended, and Sonata whimpered softly, needing more. Her eyes fluttered open, and she could see that he felt the same, his face flushed and eyes burning with desire. The sight sent a thrill down her spine, ending at the base of her tail, and she felt herself starting to melt. He must have known, because he kissed her again, and this time there was a hunger there, his tongue pushing into her mouth, making her moan again even as he gently but firmly guided her towards the bed.
Breaking the kiss, she panted for air, tilting her head back. “Lex…”
His response was to lower his head to her neck, kissing it once before nipping the soft skin there, making her shudder in excitement. She felt the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed, and stepped back from him to turn and climb onto it, letting her tail brush his face as she did.
“I’ve got an idea,” she gave him a sultry smile as she crawled across the mattress. “Let’s run an experiment, right now.”
He paused only long enough to throw off what little he was wearing, following her onto the bed. “An experiment?”
She grinned as she laid back, letting him move over her. “I want you to use that power you have…and take control of me.”
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First off, Dawwww~
Okay, I was expecting Sonata to volunteer herself when Lex refused to test his powers on the ponies of Tall Tale...though the way she did it was unexpected...or not if one includes the fact that she's a Siren.
Severance, despite it's(he, if Sonata has anything to say about it) status as Lex's gear, it feels a little bit like a quiet companion that offers to punish folks for transgressions against him. Guess Lex should try and figure a way to communicate with it to avoid making random and probably aggressive comments in public.
Aww, Sonata rewards Lex for not blowing his top, by doing it for him instead.
Poor Severance, having to hear everything but not watch, unless its senses are just that good.
7776748 I'm glad you liked the chapter! I was trying to make the end into a "romantic sexy" atmosphere, rather than just the two of them lusting after each other.
Sonata's offering to be Lex's plaything seemed entirely in-character for her. I've been very conscious of the fact that the story has made it clear that Lex needs Sonata - he's a very hard pony to love, after all - and so I wanted to make it clear just why she needed him so much as well, hence the bit with her trying to answer that very question over the last few chapters. Of course, her hedonistic and narcissistic tendencies made that come across in a distinctly different way from him.
Insofar as Severance goes, I'm trying to work off of the little bit that David featured that character. One particular quirk is that Severance is "quiet" in terms of how it communicates; that is, we the readers never see its dialogue directly. We're told that it can talk to its wielder (and by the by, Applejack also referred to it as "him"), but we don't actually "hear" what it says. Either the essence of its message is narrated, or another character clues us in. I've tried to keep that particular aspect going, since it struck me as distinctive. Beyond that, I'm trying to hew closely to what David wrote, in terms of the weapon's personality. We know it's a loyal minion, but if someone tries to separate it from its wielder, or is leading them "astray," it will lash out.
Luckily, that doesn't seem likely to happen here...so far.
7777286
Damn it, I lol'd.
One has to wonder just how much an animate weapon understands such things. Would it grasp the meaning of what was happening, or just think that he was stabbing her over and over again?
I'm outta work. No typos here.
Good going. Make Sonata your ***** Lex. No regrets!
7777805 Sorry to hear about your unemployment, but take heart! I have to slip up sometime!
And Lex, with all his dreams of taking over Equestria, is currently engaging in a whole 'nother kind of conquest.
Wait... wait... Is him controlling the Magical Beast that is Waterlily a reference to the fact that he has Leadership for... well, magical beasts?
7782120 That's the right answer! ...sort of.
Lex does have a Magical Beast-specific version of Leadership as one of the powers that he's received from the Night Mare. However, that's not what he's using to take control of Waterlily. That's because Leadership, as I understand it, doesn't provide for any sort of mystical bond between the leader and their followers/cohort. Rather, it's just them deciding to follow you on their own because they've decided that you're worthy of their fealty simply because of how awesome you are. Lex has, essentially, been granted a regal aura where Magical Beasts are concerned, but it's up to each individual if they'll follow him because of it.
Of course, unlike with normal Leadership, where followers just show up of their own accord, Lex's version is modified to allow for more followers, but he'll need to personally, actively recruit them via his power to take control of them (see below). Even then, they don't necessarily have to fall in line if they're not inclined to. In narrative terms, unless Lex makes a dedicated effort to show off why some Magical Beasts should be his servants, via showing off his power over them, he's not going to get any of them to serve him.
So what was going on with Waterlily? That was a different power that the Night Mare granted him. Specifically, it was a Magical Beast-specific version of "rebuke undead." That is, it was the power to actively take control of a Magical Beast, and only a Magical Beast, for a short period of time on a successful turning check.
I noted this on my blog post here, but you can see the full-on game stats for Lex as he is now (with a few non-canon elements and some mild spoilers, since I wrote those stats months ago, before I'd resumed updating) over on my other blog.
Nothing bad could result.
Soo, I kinda stumbled on this story. So far so good, and I have a looong journey ahead of me : )
10697880 I'm really glad you like it, and hope you'll continue to enjoy the story as you play the long game of catch-up!
Also, thanks for taking the time to comment. Like all authors, I greatly appreciate it.