Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

572 - Retributive Remuneration

River Bank had, in her own estimation, been at the top of her game recently.

Luring the richest ponies in Las Pegasus, to say nothing of a prince, to come back to Vanhoover with her – using nothing more than guile and innuendo – had been an impressive task in and of itself. To then negotiate the terms of, as well as officiate the opening to, the duel that resulted in said prince losing his crown was far greater. And of course, having a central role to play in the new prince’s coronation was a great honor. Each of those was a feather in her proverbial cap beyond anything she’d achieved in over two decades since she’d taken over the Bank family.

So great were those accomplishments, River knew, that they would elevate her social standing by orders of magnitude, at least among the ponies who really mattered. While common ponies might not ever bother to learn who called the formal beginning of the duel where the new prince had defeated the old one, or wouldn’t care who planned the festivities at the upcoming coronation, high society ponies – the ones who presided over the upper echelons of Equestria’s largest cities – would all be keenly aware of the mare who had done so much for the new royal. It would take some time for word to get out, of course; most of Equestria likely hadn’t even heard about the transfer of power yet. But once they did, River knew that anypony who aspired to be somepony wouldn’t be able to get away with treating her like a nopony, the way Canterlot’s movers and shakers had when she’d gone there begging for an age spell.

That wouldn’t mean they’d fall to their knees and welcome her back with open forelegs should she find herself there again, of course. With how bad her patron’s relationship with the princesses was, the battle lines were no doubt already being drawn (though hopefully only in a figurative sense). But they wouldn’t dare dismiss her the way they had before; not when they heard just how powerful the pony she served was. The potential repercussions were simply too great, and it brought River no small amount of glee to think that those same ponies who had all but laughed in her face would soon be sweating the ramifications of their thoughtless actions.

It was, in other words, her second success story. The same way she had risen to become one of the most powerful ponies in Vanhoover, she was now completing her ascension to a far loftier perch. Just like before, it was a victory that she’d attained with nothing more than her own intelligence and willpower, a testament to what she could accomplish if she brought her full potential to bear.

All of which meant nothing right now.

Because Lex Legis, the stallion whose ambitions and accomplishments made her own seem feeble by comparison, was once again sitting in judgment over her.

Sitting in the same chair he’d been in when he’d suspended her sentencing her a few days previous, Lex looked slowly around the parlor. River couldn’t imagine what he was looking for, his eyes slowly sweeping the room as seconds ticked by, the silence only broken by the ticking of the grandfather clock behind her. Finally, he seemed satisfied with whatever search he’d been conducting, and spoke at last.

“The time has come,” he pronounced menacingly. “Are you prepared to make your recommendation regarding the sentence of the pony who wronged you?”

Although the words hadn’t been directed at her, River couldn’t help but flinch, looking at the only other pony occupying the room. But Feather Duster didn’t return the look, keeping her eyes trained purely on the prince. “Yes, Your Highness, I am.”

Lex’s expression didn’t change, revealing nothing of his thoughts on the matter. “And what say you?”

Feather Duster hesitated, glancing at River out of the corner of her eyes for just a moment before looking back at the unicorn who was their lord and master. “Sire, may I address Miss Bank directly?”

Lex raised a brow, but gave her permission with a nod.

Giving him a brief bow in thanks, Feather Duster turned to look at River, who reluctantly turned her full attention to the mare in response. “Miss Bank,” began Feather, her expression carefully composed. “When Prince Legis said he’d punish you based on my recommendation, I was very uncomfortable. He said…” She took a deep breath then, as though needing to steady herself before continuing. “He said he wanted you to know what it was like to have your fate be in the hooves of someone who bared you ill will. That upset me, and I didn’t know why.”

Not sure how to react to what she was being told, River stayed silent, and after a moment Feather Duster continued. “It took me a little while to realize that it was because he was right: I do bear you ill will. I’ve never been somepony who’s comfortable with being angry, and you took advantage of that. You threatened me. You threatened my little girl. You made me so scared that I…I would have…”

Swallowing, Feather Duster glanced at Lex then. Seeing that his impassive expression hadn’t changed, she licked her lips before speaking again. “I’m not somepony who’s comfortable with being angry,” she repeated, cringing a little. “I don’t think that it helps anything. Being angry at somepony usually makes them angry back, or it makes them scared of you, and both of those things only make a bad situation worse. Anger takes us away from harmony, instead of leading us back toward it. And if I’m being honest, it frightens me, the things that anger can make somepony do…”

Straightening up, she looked River in the eye then. “But recently, I’ve learned that sometimes getting angry is the right thing to do. There are some ponies who’ll take advantage of you unless you make them stop, and that you – that I – can’t do that unless I get mad.” Feather took another deep breath. “Miss Bank, I’m angry at you. I’m angry at how heartless you were, about how scared you made me feel, both for myself and for my daughter. For how humiliated I felt when I went to His Highness’s room that night.”

River felt her blood run cold as she realized what was about to happen.

“That’s why I want Prince Legis to punish you harshly,” concluded Feather Duster. “To give you a curse so horrible that you won’t ever dare to threaten me or anypony else ever again.”

Stumbling back, as though Feather Duster were waving a weapon under her nose, River almost fell over as collapsed into a sitting position. Dimly, she turned toward Lex, prepared to beg him to be merciful, to remind him how useful she’d been to him these last few days and how much more helpful she could be in the days to come, but the sight of his dispassionate expression made her throat close up, knowing it was pointless. He’d told her as much, after all; when she’d volunteered to be his representative in negotiating with Blueblood, he’d made sure to tell her that he wouldn’t take that into consideration when delivering her sentence. Besides, he had a whole slew of royal servants now, like that bootlicker Stuffed Shirt, who’d be able to-

“However…”

That single word was a lifeline of hope, and commanded all of River’s attention as she looked back at Feather Duster.

“However,” said the pegasus mare again, “I can’t forget what you said right before Prince Legis suspended your sentence. I don’t think that you look like an old mare, but I know that you think you do, and that it’s causing you a lot of unhappiness, and that was what made you desperate enough to do what you did. Plus, you’ve been a lot of help to His Highness over the last few days, and I’d feel terrible if he lost somepony so valuable just because I was feeling vindictive. And even though I’m still angry at you, I don’t want to be the sort of pony who makes someone else suffer just so she can feel better. So that’s why…”

Her heart pounding in her chest, River watched as Feather Duster turned back to Lex and bowed again. “My prince, please be lenient with Miss Bank.”

Lex didn’t answer right away, scrutinizing Feather Duster for several seconds as though weighing what she’d said.

When his horn and eyes began to glow a second later, River almost shrieked, thinking that he’d rejected her reasoning, or that his definition of “lenient” was still incredibly harsh. But all that happened was a matching aura surrounded a quill on a nearby writing desk, which – after a single glance from Lex to confirm the position of some nearby paper – began to scribble something at a rapid pace. River’s eyes watched every motion the quill made, knowing that whatever it was writing assuredly had something to do with what Lex was going to do to her-

“River,” spoke Lex at last.

“Y-yes!” Standing up again, River kept her eyes firmly on Lex, even as she followed the quill’s motions as best she could with her peripheral vision. It was moving incredibly quickly in Lex’s aura, despite his not looking at it; she could already see the top sheet of paper – now covered with writing – being moved to the side as the quill began to rapidly fill out the next page.

“The first time you committed malfeasance while under my purview, you were able to acquire clemency by placing all of your resources at my disposal,” began Lex, his voice calm and measured despite how fearsome he looked. “It’s now time for us to formalize that agreement.”

River had no idea what that meant, but she knew better than to do anything except agree. “Of course, Your Highness.”

He gave another crisp nod. “The contract I’m writing will stipulate that everything you own, as well as all business arrangements to which you’re a party, will now be passed to me. This will include not only everything you wrote in your ledger – your liquid wealth, material possessions, real property, and other tangible assets – but will also see all the ponies in your employ transfer their terms of service to me as well, though if any of them object to the transfer I’ll allow them to resign without penalty. Either way, when you walk out of this room, it will be as a pauper.”

“I understand, Sire,” murmured River, fighting down a wince. The loss of everything she spent her life acquiring hurt, but it was nothing compared to when he’d cursed her to be unable to bear the touch of any of life’s finer things. Besides, she’d come up from nothing before; she could do it again, especially if… “Please forgive me for asking, but will I still be allowed to continue serving you?”

“You will,” answered Lex immediately, causing a shudder of relief to run through River’s body. “Though you’ll find the salary and attendant benefits to be of modest proportions, though perhaps enough to rent a room here, if this manor’s new owner is feeling generous.”

River blinked. “The…new owner, my prince? You mean you?”

“Only for a moment,” corrected Lex, “since once you sign the papers turning it over to me, I intend to transfer it – along with the employment contracts of everypony who works here – to Feather Duster as compensation for the anguish you’ve put her through.”

Both mares’ jaws dropped at that, with Feather Duster finding her voice first. “M-my prince, that’s…that’s too much!” she sputtered. “You already gave me such a generous employment contract, and now this…!”

“The terms of your contract are proportionate to the value I place on your service,” replied Lex evenly. “This is a separate consideration entirely, being remunerative for what River did to you.”

“But this whole manor…” murmured Feather Duster, looking around the parlor with wide eyes. It was only a moment later that something occurred to her. “Your Highness, even with how much you’re paying me, I can’t afford to pay all the staff members who work here!”

Her protest earned her a flat look from Lex. “That’s what article five, section four of your employment contract with me is for.”

Feather Duster gave him a blank look, not having read the full terms and conditions of the packet of documents that she’d signed a few days prior. “Article five…?”

“The provision that says you’re empowered to hire additional help, subject to my approval, and can request commensurate funds,” explained Lex. “Since I’m currently working out of this location, and will be for the foreseeable future, the necessity of exercising that option should be self-evident.”

“O-oh,” gulped Feather Duster, her cheeks reddening. “Of course.”

River, for her part, watched the exchange quietly, amazed that Lex had somehow seen all of this coming. Although she knew she should stay quiet, a sudden bout of curiosity seized her, and she found herself speaking up against all common sense. “Your Highness,” she blurted, “if Feather Duster hadn’t asked you to be lenient, what would you have done to me?”

“This,” answered Lex, narrowing his still-glowing eyes at her, “but I also would have cursed you so that your outward appearance was elderly in the extreme, since it was vanity that motivated you to act with such depravity in the first place.”

Feeling herself start to shake as she realized how close she’d come to having her worst nightmare made real, River lowered her eyes. “I’m grateful for your mercy.”

“This is not mercy!” snapped Lex suddenly, making River stiffen. “This is the punishment being proportional to the crime, with the victim being the one to determine the rate of proportionality. Is that clear?”

River nodded so fast it nearly rattled her brain.

“Good,” continued Lex. “Now, once the papers have all been signed, the three of us will make a joint announcement to the staff here. That should eliminate any confusion brought on by these changes. Feather Duster, since you’re coming to Las Pegasus with me, you’ll need to designate somepony to carry out whatever instructions you might wish to make regarding the manor’s operations while we’re gone. I suggest Trotsworth.”

Feather Duster made a statement of acknowledgment then, but River wasn’t listening, instead taking a moment to tabulate what this meant for her.

Lex’s punishment had been light, she knew, compared to what he could have done to her. Moreover, he’d left the door open for her to potentially earn future rewards if she kept doing his bidding. After all, if he was willing to give Feather Duster so much – that remark about her employment contract had been a detail River hadn’t missed – just for being a decent maid, then surely he’d see fit to do even more for somepony who helped advance his dream of founding his own kingdom.

That thought was enough to make River smile.

The future was looking brighter than ever.

Author's Note:

Lex passes judgment on River for what she did to Feather Duster!

With the manor changing hooves, will it result in any differences for the ponies living there now that River isn't in charge of the place?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Well Feather Duster asking Lex to go easy on River was pretty much a given though the result at the end left me as gobsmacked as Feather Duster and River Bank. Then I started chuckling when I realized that Piggy technically owns nothing now as well so he'll either make a big fuss about it or Feather Duster will ask the others to humor him and let him think his mother is still the big shot around here...for now.

Though I doubt it will matter much in the grand scheme of things since both River and Feather Duster still work for Lex and the former can still afford some minor luxuries as part of his staff. Plus, her life is literally one of going from rags to riches so going without most of her former luxuries is a small price to pay for the potential rewards.

Anyways, I am interested in how Lex decided River's punishment based on her victim's recommendations. Makes me wonder if this will form as a basis of the justice system for his new kingdom. Granted, I doubt punishments will be meted out based solely on victims' words since it is easily open to abuse(at least for those that have no scruples doing so) My best guess is that such a method will only be used if any incidents are brought to Lex's attention(after going through levels of courts to filter out cases)

Granted, I'm not a lawyer so do take my comment about the topic with a grain of salt

[Booster Spice]

Fastest way for Trotsworth to get all the finer details of running the manor,would be to get them from the servants who ran the place beforehand, and anyone who had experience overseeing them?

[harts fire]

this is a small twist of fate and everypony came out good in the end.

[Alzrius]

10706436 It's rather amazing that both the victim and the perpetrator seem satisfied with how this turned out, isn't it? Still, that's a positive indication for Lex, as it's the mark of justice being served. Of course, I doubt Celestia or Luna would approve, but then again I suspect that it's become a personal antipathy as much as a difference of doctrine for them.

[Alzrius]

10705583 Well, Trotsworth has pretty much kept the place running for what's almost certainly been years now anyway (barring having to flee the city with River when the Elemental Bleed happened).

[Alzrius]

10705552 Piggy has been rather forgotten, hasn't he? Of course, River's the sort of mother for whom that's no surprise, although she did say she wanted to sit down with Granola Bar and Piggy at some point, after her son saved her from a ghoul. It's just that things have kept happening; maybe now she'll have to have that conversation, since there's a very real chance that the two of them will be kicked out in the near future? ...although Feather Duster doesn't seem likely to go that far; then again, it would be a nice way of humbling River, so it's not exactly a zero-percent chance.

With regards to dispensing justice, I suspect that Lex is operating on an ad hoc basis simply because he has to. While he'd no doubt prefer to systematize how criminals are treated (albeit most likely in a way that allows for salient details to be taken into account, so that some discretion can be utilized in sentencing), that's simply not something he's been able to devote any time or resources to constructing. Like any major infrastructure project, it requires numerous steps, from a code of laws being published to training a class of ponies to be familiar with them and their implementation and quite a few intermediate processes. Throw in that criminality isn't a major problem in Equestria, meaning that other issues are a priority (such as funding Vanhoover's recovery), and it's no surprise that he's put very little work into this area of his rule.

That'll probably change if he continues to solidify his power base, however, but for the moment it's something he can afford to put on the metaphorical back-burner.

[harts fire]

10707218
i feel Celestia or Luna got what was earned coming in like they did Lex just defended his self. ok and may have dished out a good slice of humble pie.

[Alzrius]

10707949 No doubt Lex would agree with you, though I suspect the Royal Sisters would be far less open to that line of logic.