“Next is the Trottingham residence,” announced Stuffed Shirt, turning the page of the thick tome that he’d produced.
“It’s a relatively recent addition to the royal holdings, having been gifted to Prince Blueblood’s great-great-grandmother, Princess Pureblood. With a ninety-eight hundred square-foot dwelling sitting on a little less than fifteen hundred acres of land, it’s really more of a bungalow than a proper estate,” he continued, shooting Lex an apologetic look. “There’s only a single servant stationed there full-time; an earth mare named Throw Rug. She’s as old as the hills, but she keeps the place tidy and the clocks wound, along with overseeing some local hires who come in once a week to manage the grounds.”
“Wait, so that Blueblood guy has some sweet old lady cleaning one of his big houses all by herself?” Looking up from where she’d been batting at the iridescent spindle floating over her head – Lex having given it to her to play with – Sonata frowned. “That’s awful! Lex, you’ll send her some help, right?”
“And break up her little love nest?” snickered Aria, glancing at Stuffed Shirt with a leer. “It’s your job to know what all the other servants are up to, right? Be honest: those groundskeepers she brings over are all doing her in the master bedroom every week, aren’t they?”
Bristling, Stuffed Shirt gave both mares an indignant look. “I’ll have you know that I asked Throw Rug if she wanted to retire two years ago, when Prince Blueblood last elected to stay in Trottingham. She indicated that she was quite satisfied with her current arrangement, and didn’t want anything to change.”
“Oh, I bet she was ‘satisfied,’ alright,” leered Aria, clearly enjoying having someone new to tease. “She probably-”
“Aria.”
One word from Lex was all it took to bring the Siren up short. Although she knew he wouldn’t do anything as awful as taking away her voice again, the last thing she wanted was to get another curse because she’d pushed him too far, not when she still couldn’t enjoy being touched unless she was within a few feet of him. “I was just having a little fun,” she groused as she laid back down, returning her attention to the magazine she’d gotten from one of the maids.
“Hmph!” Taking a moment to recover his poise, Stuffed Shirt turned to the next page in his book, his face brightening as he did so. “Next we have the Manehattan assets. These include not only real estate, but a magnificent collection of antiques, portraits, and other objets d’art, most of which are on loan to various museums and galleries. Further, you also have permanent memberships in a number very exclusive institutions, as well as reserved seating at several of the city’s most highly-rated theaters and eateries.” Taking a moment to look the listings over with a fond smile, Stuffed Shirt indulged himself for only a moment before turning back to the business at hoof. “Shall we go over them one by one?”
Lex sighed. They’d been reviewing the full scope of what he’d inherited from Blueblood for over an hour now, ever since the meeting regarding his future plans had finished, and judging by how many pages remained unturned in Stuffed Shirt’s catalog of his new royal possessions, they were barely a quarter of the way through. And while Lex was cautiously optimistic by how his new valet had recovered from his shock at hearing how his new employer was already planning to cleave off part of Equestria and make it a country of his own with no apparent dismay or disapproval – or rather, by how Sonata and Aria hadn’t seemed overly concerned by Stuffed Shirt’s reaction, since they were far better judges of someone’s disposition than he was – the overview held little interest for him in the face of more pressing concerns.
As it was, the only practical benefit to going over his new possessions now was knowing what he’d be able to sell if it became necessary to generate some additional income for Vanhoover before finalizing the loan agreement. Or so he’d thought. But when he’d mentioned the idea to Stuffed Shirt, the valet had hesitantly informed him that any such sale would require getting an appraisal – ideally more than one – before hosting an auction (since that was apparently the most reliable way to maximize the proceeds), a process that could take weeks to arrange, since only a select clientele would be able to field the amount of money necessary to make such sales worthwhile in the first place. Which meant that his negotiations with the Las Pegasus ponies would be over, and the first payouts from the loan arriving, before he could divest himself of any of what he’d acquired. Meaning that doing this now was little more than a vanity exercise.
But at the moment, there was nothing else for him to do. At the insistence of River and Stuffed Shirt, he’d postponed his plans to meet with the Las Pegasus delegation until tomorrow. The market was being patrolled by Garden Gate, the unicorn mare having taken it upon herself to act as a troubleshooter for any minor disputes that arose. The Night Mare’s Knights were currently caught up on the lessons he’d been giving them, and he already had a new set devised. Even the religious doctrines he needed to work on for the new devotees among the local populace was being handled by Cloudbank, the pegasus mare promising to have some material for his review soon.
The only extant matter left was Starlight Glimmer, and as much as Lex hated to admit it, there was nothing he could do about her in his current condition.
He was exhausted, injured, and out of magic – again – and while Princess Twilight had clearly been fatigued by teleporting all the way to Ponyville and back, via overcharged Equestrian magic no less, she still had more strength left than he did at the moment. Even if she didn’t have enough power to teleport herself and her friends away at the first sign of trouble, Lex knew that Twilight would still be able to put up a fight if he tried to force her to turn Starlight over. Worse, her friends would no doubt aid her, and while Lex had followers of his own that he could deploy, he wasn’t willing to risk doing so. Not when several other members of Twilight’s group had Everglow-based magic and equipment on top of their history of defeating various threats.
And besides, they’d be gone soon anyway. In the aftermath of the duel, before he’d been practically carried back to River’s manor by a throng of jubilant ponies, Lex had made sure to take note of what his adversaries were doing. Twilight and her friends had hunkered down on the platform of the demolished train station, apparently eager to leave Vanhoover at the first opportunity. The weeping wreck that was Blueblood had been among their number, still bawling like a baby even after Cleansweep had healed him. That Starlight Glimmer was with them also hadn’t escaped his notice either, and-
A knock at the door of the study broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up in time to see Trotsworth enter. “Please forgive my interruption, Prince Legis,” he murmured, bowing. “But there’s a guest to see you.”
Stuffed Shirt clucked his tongue in disapproval. “Do they have an appointment? His Highness’s time is very valuable.”
“They don’t,” admitted Trotsworth. “But I thought that this particular guest might warrant the prince’s prompt notification regardless.”
“Why?” Her interest momentarily piqued, Sonata dragged her eyes away from the gemstone orbiting her head, continuing to avoid her attempts to capture it. “Who’s here?”
“A young lady by the name of Rarity.”
Alright Rarity. Deep breaths. You can do this.
Checking her makeup one final time in the mirror of her compact, Rarity nodded in satisfaction, telekinetically returning it to her travel bag. Said bag was, technically, the reason she was here at all, having “accidentally” left it behind on their previous visit to River Bank’s manor. That was the oldest trick in the book, of course – leaving a personal item at someone’s home so that you’d have an excuse to see them again when you went to pick it up – but it had worked when she’d needed to justify coming back here without her friends.
Even with a reason at the ready, however, she’d had a difficult time convincing the others that she’d be perfectly fine returning to the manor on her own. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had both been certain that Lex would take her hostage and try to trade her safe return in exchange for Starlight Glimmer, a prospect which had clearly frightened the mare in question. Twilight and Applejack had been less convinced of that, but had still felt it was a bad idea. Pinkie and Spike had offered to go with her – the former wanting to see Sonata again, and the latter wanting to be her bodyguard – but she’d talked them down, saying that she was just going to talk to the manor’s staff, which was technically true…she simply hadn’t mentioned what she was going to talk to them about, which was meeting with Lex Legis.
Specifically, meeting with him so that she could beg him to bring her beloved Long Road back to life.
The odds of that happening were miniscule, she knew. Sandbar, the naïve but sweet colt whom she’d shamelessly pumped for information when she’d learned that Lex had resurrected him – and whom she’d run into on her way back here, forcing her to put on an impromptu rhapsody about how they came from two different worlds and it could never work out between them but that she’d always remember him fondly, capping it off with a kiss on the cheek before she’d bid him adieu – had informed her in no uncertain terms that Lex’s ability to revive him and his friends had been due to a magic item gifted to him by his goddess, the Night Mare. A magic item that was expended now, and couldn’t be used again.
But it’s not like he can’t simply ask his goddess for another one now, can’t he? In fact, Rarity had no idea if that was plausible or not – she didn’t know very much about these “gods,” and what little she’d heard about the Night Mare suggested that she wasn’t the generous sort – but even if the chance was infinitesimal, it was one she had to take. Especially since, unlike with Princess Cadance’s method of bringing somepony back, Lex’s single instance of resurrection had been neither time-limited nor required an intact body.
If there was even the slightest hope that Equestria’s newest prince would be given the power to resurrect somepony again, Rarity knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t do everything in her power to convince him to bring the love of her life back to her.
No matter how daunting that task seemed.
And daunting was the word for it. Although she’d never laid eyes on Lex Legis before his duel with Twilight, Rarity had heard enough about him – thanks to the conference with the princesses, before Discord and that metal-and-stone monster had disrupted things – that she felt like she had a good grasp on what sort of pony he was. And what she knew wasn’t encouraging.
For one thing, if Soft Mane’s breaking down into tears yesterday was any indication, he was horribly prejudiced against non-ponies. That meant that if he did obtain another instance of resurrection, he’d be disinclined to use it on a donkey, even one as noble as Long Road. Moreover, Lex seemed like the sort of pony who held grudges, and while the two of them had never actually met, Rarity felt certain that his poor relationship with her friends would color his perception of her. And now that he was a prince, any hope of bribing him was completely gone; Rarity knew full well that wealthy ponies would flock to him now, hoping to ply him with expensive gifts in return for royal consideration. While business at the Carousel Boutique was booming – her plans for opening a second shop, this one in Canterlot, were on the verge of coming together if the location she wanted would just open up! – that sort of money was far beyond what she could afford.
But Rarity felt certain that she still had one thing that could tempt him.
Rainbow Dash might be gifted at fighting with her hooves, and Twilight at fighting with her magic, but there’s no mare in Equestria more skilled at wielding their feminine wiles than me!
That was her best, and only, chance. Lex’s hyperactive libido was, according to what her friends had learned while canvassing the half-built village made up of Vanhoover’s refugees, an open secret among those who knew him. He was apparently having torrid affairs with a number of different mares, including a pair of sisters who were the legendary Sirens! And while Rarity had to admit that Sonata and Aria were in a league of their own where beauty was concerned – having gotten a glimpse of them while they’d argued with her friends during the duel – she knew full well that stallions like Lex were always looking for new territory to conquer.
Touching up her perfume, Rarity couldn’t help but wince at using that particular metaphor.
As confident as she felt about her charms, she had no illusions that Lex would be led on as easily as Sandbar had been. Most likely, he’d want everything she had to offer, and if that was what it took in order to secure a promise from him to bring Long Road back to life if he had the chance – a promise that she felt certain he’d keep; for all of his many vices, Lex came across as somepony who was honorable in his own way – then Rarity was prepared to surrender herself to him. Long Road wouldn’t want her to, she knew, but if that was what it took to get him back…
Really, this is just like those silly novels, she reassured herself as she popped a breath mint in her mouth, thinking back to the books she kept – along with a few other items of a delicate nature – locked in the hope chest in her bedroom (all the better to keep them hidden from Sweetie Belle, especially now that she was old enough to have her first boyfriend; that nice young purrsian named Sunflower). The heartbroken maiden, desperate to rescue her beloved, offers herself to the wicked sorcerer in exchange for his help. He accepts, ravishing her cruelly while she tries not to lose herself to his bestial passions, knowing that she can never tell her lover what she sacrificed in order to save him.
She’d read variations of that scene plenty of times, usually in the evening with a glass of wine and a nibble of chocolate. This was no different, except now she was acting it out instead of reading about it. And if life imitates art, Lex will fulfill his promise to bring Long Road back, at which point we’ll be married and expecting in short order, only for me to realize that the baby isn’t my husband’s, starting a new series of entanglements. The absurd thought made her chuckle, helping to quell the butterflies in her stomach as she ran her brush through her mane one last time.
She’d just put it back in her bag when Trotsworth returned. “Miss Rarity? Prince Legis has agreed to see you.”
Having finished readying herself inwardly as well as outwardly, Rarity nodded, walking out of the room with her head – and her tail – held high.