Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
“The guests from Las Pegasus have all been shown to their accommodations, and are ready to meet with you at your convenience, Your Highness,” reported River, grinning widely as she moved to take a seat at the far end of Lex’s study.
From behind the desk that dominated the back corner of the room, Lex didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm. “I would find it convenient to do this now. The sooner I can take out a loan from those ponies, the sooner I’ll be able to start repairing Vanhoover in earnest.”
“If I may be so bold, Your Highness,” chirped Stuffed Shirt, the stallion who had been Blueblood’s – and was now Lex’s – valet. Throwing a suspicious glance at Feather Duster, who was standing behind his new employer in the traditional position of a personal attendant, he stepped forward from his position beside the study’s entrance, smiling deferentially. “I believe it may be helpful to keep the Las Pegasus ponies waiting. Doing so sends the message that they’re the ones here to serve your interests, rather than the other way around. That will help to quash any ideas they may have about taking advantage of your being new to your royal status.”
“Anyone who thinks they can take advantage of Lex is in for a rude awakening,” snickered Aria. Seated on the edge of Lex’s desk, she shot the scrawny stallion a dark smile. “I tried it once, and I got spanked. Hard.” Shifting her weight in a way that was almost a wriggle, she grinned as she watched the scandalized servant’s face turn red.
He wasn’t the only one, Cloudbank needing a moment to collect herself before she glanced at River. “Won’t they be upset if Lex makes them sit around and wait, though?”
“Are you kidding?” Barely able to keep herself from laughing, River shook her head. “They get to be the first ponies to meet the new prince. If we told them to wait a month, they’d do it!”
“Our finances won’t last a month,” rumbled Lex. “Which is why Vanhoover needs an infusion of bits as soon as possible. The time it will take those ponies to travel back to Las Pegasus, round up the first payment, and send it here will already eat into most of our remaining resources. And even if those ponies are as servile toward royalty as you’ve claimed, and agree to all of my terms without protest, securing the loan I want from them will still require hours – more likely days – of meetings.”
“How come?” piped up Sonata. Seated on the other side of his desk, across from Aria, she tilted her head. “I mean, River made it sound like these guys are gonna do whatever you want, right?”
The last word was directed at the mare in question, who nodded. “These ponies were all willing to kiss Blueblood’s flank in hopes of getting in good with him. I really don’t think our new prince will have any trouble keeping them in line.” River’s words came out amid an undercurrent of chuckles, making no attempt to hide how satisfying she found that prospect.
“Right,” nodded Sonata, before turning back to Lex. “So how come this is gonna take so long? Can’t you just say ‘gimme the money’ and have them say ‘okay’ and that’s that?”
“While simplistic, your, ah, paramour is correct, Your Highness,” noted Stuffed Shirt, giving Sonata an uncomfortable look before turning his full attention to Lex. “The traditional relationship between royalty and ponies of means is that the latter give gifts to the former, typically via oral agreement. When documentation is necessary, such as in the bequeathment of property, their respective staffs handle the details that their betters have already agreed upon. To personally haggle with your guests about the specifics, and over a loan, no less…” He let his voice trail away, clearly uncomfortable with the prospect of his new liege going into debt.
“Actually, I’m a little curious about that as well,” added Cloudbank. “Lex, why ask for a loan instead-”
“Your Highness,” cut in Stuffed Shirt, frowning in disapproval. “The proper term of address for a prince is ‘Your Highness.’ Or ‘Your Royal Highness’ if you want to emphasize your obeisance to the crown. ‘Sire’ or ‘Prince Lex’ are also acceptable. The only exceptions are family or those who have an intimate relationship with the sovereign pony in question. Seeing as you do not-”
“That’s enough.”
Lex’s rebuke was quiet, but it was enough to make Stuffed Shirt flinch. “But Sire, protocol-”
“Matters only as much as I want it to, which right now is very little.” Although Lex’s eyes changed color only for a second, that was more than enough to quell Stuffed Shirt’s protests, the valet slinking backward until he was again standing next to the entrance to the study, murmuring apologies the entire way.
As he did, Lex took a moment to calm himself. Stuffed Shirt hadn’t done anything wrong, he knew; as a royal valet, part of his job was to make sure that various conventions and formalities were observed. But seeing him dress down Cloudbank on his behalf like that had made Lex wince internally, still viscerally aware of how badly he’d failed the pegasus mare by not protecting her from being slaughtered by Xiriel. That one of her first acts after being brought back to life had been to assist him in his fight against Starlight Glimmer had only exacerbated his discomfort now. For someone who strove to live their life in an upstanding manner, it was an intolerable feeling.
“To answer your question,” he continued as he turned his attention to Cloudbank, his lingering guilt driving him to indulge her, “there are several reasons I want a loan rather than a gift. First, because I suspect that these ponies will be more inclined to agree to a larger sum if I make it clear that I intend to pay it back, with interest. Second, because successfully paying back the debt will establish that my government’s credit is reliable. And third…”
He glanced at Stuffed Shirt again. Everypony else in the room with him now was someone he trusted, with the stallion being the only one who hadn’t proven himself. But while Lex was tempted the send the gangly unicorn out of the study, he checked that urge. The Night Mare’s lesson about his needing to delegate responsibility among the ponies under his authority was even more fresh in his mind than his guilty conscience toward Cloudbank.
Stuffed Shirt’s position as Blueblood’s valet meant that he doubtlessly had connections to the various retainers surrounding the princesses. It would be a simple matter for him to pass them sensitive information, be it disguised in otherwise-innocuous letters to friends and colleagues, meeting clandestinely with ponies who would run back to Canterlot with what he told them, or simply reporting to Luna in his dreams, something Lex felt certain she’d still be able to do since his curse hadn’t suppressed the magic of her cutie mark. Those risks – which extended, to a lesser degree, to all of the servants that he’d inherited from Blueblood – were all very real.
It was all too easy for Lex to imagine his new retainers celebrating his downfall the way that they had celebrated their previous employer’s.
But at the same time, this particular secret wasn’t really anything that Stuffed Shirt could act on. While what Lex wanted from the Las Pegasus ponies was exceptionally important to his future plans, the deal would be struck before they left Vanhoover, which would give Celestia no real time to react even if Stuffed Shirt told Luna everything in a dream tonight. So if the valet tried to use this information against him, he – or someone else among his group, if he told them what he heard here – would need to do it here, on their own, before the loan agreement was completed. Such subterfuge would be much easier to detect and defeat, thanks to the support of the ponies Lex already trusted, and would serve as a decent barometer of how reliable the newest addition to his inner circle was.
“Third, the loan won’t be made by those ponies directly. Instead, I’m going to have them form a corporate entity, which they’ll finance, whose sole purpose will be to loan money to my administration. Doing so guarantees that Las Pegasus will come under my authority.” He leaned back in his seat then, pushing his suspicions and recriminations away in favor of a moment of self-satisfaction at how elegant his plan was.
At least until Garden Gate, who had been silent up until now, spoke up from where she was sitting at the small writing desk opposite Stuffed Shirt. “…I don’t understand.”
Frowning, his enthusiasm dampened, Lex tried again. “Once they agree to form a corporation for the purpose of loaning my government money, they’ll all be bound to the terms agreed therein, not just individually but as a group. Not only will they have a vested interest in the success of my rule – since that’s the only way they’ll get their money back – but the corporate structure will serve as an entity that polices its aggregate members against financial malfeasance or fiscal irresponsibility, assuring compliance.”
Silence fell for a long moment, before Aria looked at River. “You’re a banker. Translate.”
“This isn’t exactly my area,” mumbled River. “My institutions usually dealt with private accounts, safety deposit boxes, letters of credit, that sort of thing. This is…”
“Let me try this again,” growled Lex after River trailed off. “Rather than having two dozen individual agreements between myself and everypony from Las Pegasus, I'll have one agreement with the group those ponies have formed. So now, instead of it being my problem if one pony can’t live up to their promises, it’s the rest of the group’s problem.”
“Ohhh,” nodded Sonata, a distant look in her eyes. “It’s like how a big music contest judges your entire band, so if the drummer gets sick, you’ll all be disqualified even though everyone else showed up on time, since you still can’t play.”
“So you better make sure the entire band shows up, no matter what,” nodded Aria. “That makes sense.”
“…close enough,” sighed Lex disgustedly.
“And that gives you control of Las Pegasus?” asked Cloudbank, trying not to sound overly skeptical.
By now thoroughly irked that no one could see what was right in front of them, Lex’s response was more sardonic than usual. “This corporation will be composed of the richest and most influential members of the city, all of whom are now operating under a collective obligation that invests heavily in my success. When I declare that Las Pegasus is now part of an independent polity from Equestria – along with Vanhoover, Tall Tale, and the surrounding territories – under my absolute control, do you really think they’ll refuse to recognize my authority?”
Cloudbank’s eyes widened. “Wait…”
But she was beaten to the punch as Stuffed Shirt took a step forward, his jaw hanging open. “Y-Your Highness,” he began, needing a moment to find his voice. “Your Highness, are you saying…?”
“You already saw that I have the support of everypony here in Vanhoover,” replied Lex flatly. “And the situation is similar in Tall Tale. Once this agreement is struck and I have Las Pegasus, every major city on the western coast will answer to me. Since the satellite villages and nearby townships depend on those cities, they’ll follow suit. I’ve repeatedly demonstrated that my administration will work to uplift those ponies it oversees, more so than the princesses have, so there can be no credible claim that I don’t have the requisite moral authority to rule on my own. And I’ve showcased that I can resist any challenges the princesses can throw at me anyway.”
“So…so becoming a prince…?” gulped Stuffed Shirt.
“Wasn’t part of my original plan,” admitted Lex. “I didn’t foresee Blueblood being as monumentally stupid as he was. But now that I’ve seized his title, I suspect that everypony will accept what’s going to happen even easier than they would have otherwise. After all, once it becomes common knowledge that I'm a prince, controlling territory will simply seem like a natural extension of that. Right now it's just a matter of waiting for word to spread that I've become royalty, along with letting the new corporation establish itself in Las Pegasus.” That brought a thin smile to Lex's lips, knowing that for once time was on his side.
“But by this time next year, I won't be a prince anymore. I'll be a king.”
Lex meets with the ponies he relies on most as he outlines the next step in his master plan!
What new challenges will rise up to try and thwart his ambitions before he creates his own country?
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King sounds better than prince am I right?
awesome plan Lex,, but you may want to skip the king part.
10591180 It sounds better because it is better. As a prince, Lex has peers, i.e. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, etc. As a king, he'll have none.
10591190 I doubt he will. After all, that sends the clear message that he stands above the alicorns.
That he'll look even more like Sombra is clearly something he's decided is no big deal.
10591244
Absolute authority is what he need, absolute authority is what he will get. The night mare is most likely very pleased of this development. What worries me is the princesses declaring him a tyrant like sombra and start a war to dethrone him. Once he announce himself as king he will be compared to sombra there is no way around it. That might really start a series of violence around the country.
10591249 That's entirely possible, and perhaps even likely. My suspicion is that Lex is betting on the princesses either A) being too softhearted to go to war if war isn't declared on them first, and/or B) not being willing to face him again now that he's defeated them, though his victory over Twilight being somewhat technical in nature throws a monkey wrench into that. Still, he's been rather open about using Sombra's power so far; being compared to him going forward probably won't be a disincentive.
10591252
True they will most likely learn he can't use his thaumaturgical powers now that severance is gone, poor killing scythe just doing its job.
10591244
Well Cadance is technically an Empress. Between her own patron goddess and Twilight's plan to use the Crystal Heart to restore Luna, assuming it works, this might put Cadance on a perceived position of being Lex's equal in power, since she's now the only Princess he has yet to confront and come out victorious against (even if only indirectly in Twilight's case). Well...until it becomes public knowledge how badly her missionaries sent to Vanhoover failed anyway.
10591259
I mean in a straight fight unless cadence pulls out some big guns we know nothing about she doesn't have the best of chances of winning against Lex
10591257 That's the downside to what happened with Twilight. Not only was it only a win insofar as the structure of the duel is concerned (rather than him defeating her the way he did Celestia and Luna), but she also confirmed some valuable information about him, though fortunately for his sake she doesn't have the whole of it.
10591259 As far as Cadance's royal status goes, remember that one line from The Crystal Empire - Part 2 (season three, episode two), yelled by a background pony after Cadance has grabbed the Crystal Heart and is bringing it to its pedestal?
Insofar as empresses go, the term is only used thrice in the whole of the series:
That's it. Every reference to Cadance, by contrast, is that she's a princess, even after she takes control of the Crystal Empire. And really, the issue is that her area of control shouldn't be called an "empire" at all, since it's basically just a city-state (and the "state" part is uncertain) that must have a few surrounding farms to keep the place fed. Naturally, since Lex is a stickler for specificity and proper definitions, that'll no doubt be something that annoys him greatly.
Having said all that, Starlight noted a few chapters back that Princess Cadance was a "creampuff" where fighting was concerned (remember how it's Spike who saved the Crystal Empire, rather than her?), which sort of indicates that she's seen as being a lover, not a fighter; Lashtada's religion probably helps where that's concerned. While I doubt anypony sees her as being weak, I suspect that they think her strength comes from non-martial areas.
As a Prince,everyone still sees Lex as subservient or rebellious with primary authority, thereby making them support or reject him, but as King, the only comparisons will be King Sombra and Queen Crysalis, which would be used as forcing examples of tyranical action and rejection, or Lex uses the example of King only for Hubris to show action at Prince level should be that of King level and that Celestia even less was doing so?
10591710 Well, there is the historical example of Princess Platinum's father, the unicorn king. That's actually stated in Hearth's Warming Eve (season two, episode eleven):
Since that builds on Lex's new status being derived from Princess Platinum's line, presumably he's thinking that won't be too difficult for most ponies to accept, i.e. that he can be the king of all ponies, not just unicorns. Of course, if he is banking on that, then it's a poor bet. The Sombra comparison is far and away more likely. Maybe he's fine with that?
Welp, missed the update due to work schedule but at least this means I'll get to read the next chapter sooner
Anyways, as much as I despise real life politics(mainly due to the corruption and bribery culture the previous administration ingrained into the populace) I do enjoy the political machinations in works of fiction, especially when it is used to outmanuever the other party, whether they be the antagonists or protagonists of said work of fiction. And this is no different, looking forward to see how the Crown will respond. (I'd be shaking my head if they decide to just ask the populace not to trust Lex and leave it at that while Lex works tirelessly to build up his territory and of course, the general welfare of his people)
Lex has demonstrated that he cares for his little ponies by actually helping them directly and while I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to do micromanage everything himself, something that could have been viable if he only had Vanhoover to govern, but with Tall Tale also under his rule and Las Pegasus being potentially put under his control, it's a good thing he's keeping the Night Mare's words in mind.
And I had to chuckle at the idea of Blueblood's former entourage from Las Pegasus essentially being set up as a Board of Directors. I'd sooner expect them to backstab the other than work together but if they accept Lex's request and solution, they'll be forced to work together to ensure that they get a cut of the proverbial pie...and more if they understand what Lex could potentially do as River has.
Granted, River made quite a number of assumptions but it didn't mean that it won't happen. I mean, eternal youth is something that everybody desires and if it means working for Lex and ensuring his success to get a chance at it then who knows...
10594050 I'm also a fan of political intrigue in stories, which is why I've tried to make sure that's in here along with the battles and character development. The problem is that such intrigue needs competing power groups (ideally more than just two), along with ways in which they can still influence each other even when there's a disparity in strength between them. And, of course, there should be some reason why a stronger group can't simply wipe out a weaker one that opposes it (that can be political also if a process needs to be undertaken in order to do that - "war is politics by other means," and all that - but if they can instantly and immediately annihilate their foes, then there needs to be some reason why they don't).
The problem, of course, is that Equestria doesn't really have multiple power groups. It's ruled by a cadre of princesses who have absolute authority (even if they virtually never exercise it), and no friction or mistrust between them (notwithstanding what happened with Nightmare Moon). The closest we ever see to an actual domestic political squabble is the opposition Twilight gets from Chancellor Neighsay and the E.E.A. in season eight, and that's...not really a conflict. Despite Celestia's now famous line about how "Not even a princess can do whatever she likes when it comes to shaping young pony minds," in the first part of the season premiere, by the very next episode we see Twilight doing exactly that, with Celestia making it clear that she backs her.
The result is that the E.E.A. is immediately downgraded from having the power to regulate any and all educational facilities in Equestria to instead being an endorsement that institutions may or may not have. It's a political power struggle, to be sure, but one that's treated with all the depth of, well...a Saturday morning cartoon. But it highlights the fact that there's exactly one power bloc in Equestria: the princesses. So trying to add some greater nuance to what's happening in this story has been something of a challenge.
For the most part, that's worked because the political challenges Lex has faced have all been with regards to his establishing himself, both in terms of winning the public's acceptance as their ruler, and in resisting the will of the princesses (to the point of open conflict). Now that he's largely succeeded - something I doubt the alicorns will just sit back and accept - they'll need to find another way to deal with him. But beyond their plan to try and break the curse he put on Luna, we have yet to see exactly what they have in mind.
As for the Las Pegasus ponies...well, with how they seem to fall over themselves where royalty is concerned, it's looking good for Lex's chance of success. Hopefully there won't be any sudden snags getting in the way.