Lex narrowed his eyes at River’s declaration, taking it as a challenge. Heedless of the girls cuddled up to him, he rose to his hooves and stepped down from the bench, turning so that he was facing River head-on. “I have nothing to say to you,” he rumbled. “Now leave, before you try my patience further.”
“No, wait!” Rushing to place herself in front of Lex, Sonata frantically tried to calm things down. “River’s cool now! She, like, totes regrets how she acted before, and wants to help out!”
“That’s entirely correct,” added River smoothly. Stepping forward, she moved to within a few paces of Lex, waiting for Sonata to step aside before she continued. “I feel terrible about how I acted the other day,” she began, her smile fading into a look of remorse, “and want to apologize for the things that I said. I never should have insulted you the way that I did, and I shouldn’t have threatened to disrupt the good work you’re doing here.”
She paused then, taking a moment to gauge how Lex was receiving her apology. But the stallion’s face hadn’t changed, regarding her with cold dispassion. Not allowing herself to become discouraged, River continued. “I’m sure you’re still mad at me, and I don’t blame you. Even so, I hope that you’ll give me a chance to make up for things.” She touched a hoof to her chest then, giving him a look of earnest determination. “As of right now, I’m placing everything I have at your disposal. My fortune, my manor, my servants. All of it, yours to use as you see fit for as long as it takes for Vanhoover to recover.”
Despite her impassioned exterior, River couldn’t help but feel nervous. While she hadn’t yet given him Feather Duster to play with – an idea that she felt more certain of now that she’d caught a glimpse of him cuddling with his bevy of beauties – the mouthy little mare was never supposed to be anything more than the icing on the cake. This was her trump card for getting into Lex’s good graces.
But other than a single, slow blink, Lex’s expression didn’t change, and River could feel herself starting to sweat. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? she thought to herself anxiously. It’s what you told me before! She could still hear Lex’s angry shout from when he’s cursed her – “You already had an obligation to lend me your assistance in helping everypony, and you abrogated it!” – and now she was giving him everything she possibly could to fulfill that so-called obligation. She hadn’t expected that it would be enough for him to remove her curse, but with how he’d already been knocking off the banks she owned she’d felt sure that he’d accept her offer, and in so doing let her get at least a little closer to him. But if she was wrong and he didn’t accept-
Her thoughts were interrupted as a sneering voice cut through the silence. “Hang on, what’d this old lady do that she’s trying to buy her way out of the doghouse?” smirked that mare that Lex had transformed less than an hour ago. “I gotta hear this.”
A lifetime of practice allowed River to keep her poise. “We haven’t been introduced,” she noted cordially. The little sexpot was as abrasive as she was attractive, but anything was better than standing there waiting for Lex to react to her offer. “I’m River Bank, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss…?”
The other mare snorted, clearly not liking how River hadn’t risen to her taunting. But her smirk returned a moment later as she climbed down from the bench, sauntering over to Lex and pressing herself against his side, showing off how she, unlike River, had his favor. “Aria Blaze,” she drawled. “And for somepony begging for forgiveness, you’re really going light on the begging, don’t you think?”
“Knock it off, Aria,” frowned the third mare, the one with the glasses and curly blonde mane. Walking over to River, she gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about her, she’s-”
“A huge nag,” interjected Sonata cheerily from her spot on Lex’s other side.
“-been under a lot of stress lately,” finished the blonde mare quickly, her smile turning strained. “I’m Nosey Newsy, by the way.”
“I thought so.” River smiled as though greeting an old friend. “Sonata spoke very highly of you when we were talking to Princess Celestia, so I feel like I know you already. Apparently you’re an ace reporter for the Canterlot Chronicle?” The question came easily, knowing that the more of Lex’s little girlfriends she could butter up, the more likely they’d be to help convince him to forgive her. “You’ll have to tell me all about that sometime, it sounds fascinating!” she lied.
Nosey smile turned more genuine then, apparently taking the compliment at face value. “It can be a real adventure sometimes, especially lately…” For some reason she trailed off at that, her features darkening for a moment as though remembering something unpleasant. Not that River found that surprising; given what she’d learned from Sonata, Nosey had apparently been through quite an awful experience. But the bespectacled mare forced herself to keep talking, glancing over River’s shoulder for a second before looking back at her. “So, who's your friend?”
River couldn’t have asked for a better cue. “Oh, I almost forgot!” Turning, she glanced back at the pony she’d brought with her. “Feather Duster, come here.” She made sure to keep her voice light and casual, but in the instant she turned around to look her servant, her gaze hardened into steel, sending a silent message the other mare’s way: don’t you dare screw this up. Since her big effort to win Lex over wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped, giving him his own pet maid was her last chance to try and win his goodwill.
As it was, River wished she’d been able to doll the little twit up more. If only there’d been enough time to take her back to her manor, she would have been able to have the other maids give Feather Duster some makeup and a fetching dress to wear. Nothing too suggestive, just enough to make sure that her appeal was on display. But making her pitch to Lex tonight meant that was out of the question, leaving River with no choice but to present Feather Duster in her natural state, without clothes or cosmetics to enhance her looks. That, River admitted silently, and I don’t want her anywhere near the princesses, just in case she has another bout of rebelliousness.
Fortunately, Feather Duster didn’t seem to be inclined to do anything stupid now, stepping forward slowly until she was standing next to River, who smiled radiantly as she looked at Lex again. “Allow me to present Feather Duster, a maid from my household staff. I brought her here because I’d like to loan her to you, as a gesture of friendship on my part.”
River shot a glance at Feather as she finished, and the other mare gulped as she took a step forward, giving a halting curtsy. “I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to assist you,” she said, the words coming out just a little too quickly. “If you’ll h-have me, I’ll gladly do…do w-...w-…”
Standing less than a foot from the sputtering pegasus, River could feel her tension returning. She’d told Feather Duster exactly what to say when she introduced her, and the words she was currently tripping over were, “I’ll gladly do whatever you want me to.” It was a perfect line, being suggestive while still plausibly innocent, except now she was messing it up! Get it together! snarled River internally, even as she kept her smile plastered on her face. I won’t have my chance at grasping my dreams be undone by some weak-kneed little girl!
But the words that came out of Feather Duster’s mouth a moment later weren’t the ones that River had told her to say.
“…do windows!” she blurted.
River felt her smile waver, since she was now grinning around a clenched jaw, but she didn’t have a chance to do anything else as Sonata jumped back into the conversation. “Oh wow!” she gasped, eyes widening. “That’s, like, super high-level maid stuff!”
Aria snorted, peering around Lex to give Sonata a scornful look. “How would you know? The only thing you’ve ever cleaned is your plate at dinnertime.”
“For your information,” shot back Sonata, raising her nose in the air as though disdainful of her sister’s ignorance, “whenever they introduce a maid character in cartoons, she always says, ‘I don’t do windows.’ So if Feather Duster here does do windows, then she’d gotta be, like, totes skilled.” She stuck her tongue out at Aria then, before adding, “Duh.”
Nosey, however, seemed more skeptical. “I don’t know.” She paused, looking back and forth between River and Feather as though not sure who to address. She finally settled on River as she continued. “I mean, this is a nice gesture and all, but…” She waved a hoof at the empty lobby. “There’s really not much here for a maid to do. It’s not like we have any furniture that needs polishing or anything.”
Fortunately, Sonata’s outburst had given River time to recover, her features relaxed once more. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. Feather Duster here is a mare of many talents. She can wash your clothes,” she nodded toward Lex’s ratty old cloak as she said that, “carry your things,” this time she sent a pointed look toward his saddlebags, resting next to that bench he’d been laying on, “cut your hair,” her eyes slid up to Lex’s rather unkempt mane then. “Really, she can do…whatever you want her to. Isn’t that right, Feather?”
“…yes. That’s exactly right, Miss.”
“Works for me,” announced Aria. “After everything we’ve done for this place, it’s about time we got someone to dote on us.” The words had barely left her mouth when shot a condescending look at Feather. “Alright, maid-girl, it’s a little hot in here. Start putting those wings to use.”
“Ah, of course.” Stepping to the side so she was clear of River, Feather began to flap her wings gently, sending a soft breeze washing over Aria, as well as Lex and Sonata beside her.
Closing her eyes, Aria let out a pleased groan. “I like her already.” She cracked one eye open, giving Feather an unfriendly grin. “Now, keep doing that all night.”
“Stop teasing her, Aria,” scolded Nosey lightly before giving Feather a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, she’s not being serious.”
“This is kinda nice though,” admitted Sonata, before looking up at her boyfriend. “Whaddaya say, Lex? Can we keep her?”
As all eyes turned toward him, Lex knew that he’d run out of time. Although the girls’ bantering had given him several minutes to think, he still hadn’t been able to reach a decision. Even as everypony waited, he found himself still struggling with the question that he’d had ever since River had made her apology.
Should he remove her curse?
His instinct was to say no. Having punished her barely thirty-six hours ago, he found it hard to believe that her behavior could have changed so much so quickly. Far more likely, to his thinking, that she was being insincere and simply presenting a remorseful appearance in hope of clemency.
Except that was what he’d thought about Fencer at first.
Of course, Fencer had earned her reprieve through exemplary supererogatory actions during a crisis, but the same could conceivably be said for River Bank now. After all, he’d cursed her for making what he’d decided was a credible threat to his recovery operation. For her to place the sum total of her apparently considerable assets at his disposal was something else again. He’d planned on confiscating what he’d needed as circumstances demanded, of course – to be repaid or returned once the recovery was over – but having her cooperation could potentially make resource acquisition much easier, at least in the short-term. And if she really had been rehabilitated, then her contribution in the face of an ongoing crisis might very well warrant a commuted sentence.
Of course, justice demanded more than just her reformation. It also required that her punishment fit the crime (of which duration was a factor), and that it serve to deter further infractions among the public. But the cases for each of those were weak; even if she still had her manor and her staff, the state of Vanhoover was such that River wouldn’t be enjoying the same level of luxury as she would normally, especially with him drawing upon her resources as he saw fit. Likewise, her role as a public deterrent was mitigated by the fact that her crime had been committed in moderate seclusion; even now, it was uncertain how many ponies knew what she had even done.
But more notably, Sonata, Nosey, and even Aria seemed to be responding to River’s entreaty positively. Given how Sonata and Nosey had both tried to tell him that he’d misread the situation with Fencer, whereas they’d responded positively to his cursing Spit Polish, that meant that their reactions here were likely insightful as well. If they were all in agreement that River’s apology was legitimate, then given the comparatively lighter nature of her crime compared to Fencer and Spit Polish, removing her curse wasn’t necessarily inappropriate here.
His mind made up, Lex nodded once before he strode toward River, closing the distance between them. “I accept your apology. And…”
A thought was all it took as Lex reached up and wiped the scythe blood-mark off of River’s cheek. “I absolve you.”