Even before he’d left the extradimensional mansion that he’d created, Lex knew that something was wrong.

He’d been moving toward the exit, Nisha at his side – after discussing the abilities she’d gained as a result of their bond, it hadn’t taken him long to determine the new power he’d received from her, and had been heading outside to test it – when his foresight informed him that even after he’d left the demiplane and returned to Everglow proper, Solvei would still be on a separate plane of existence from him.

That, he knew, should not have been the case.

In the aftermath of their argument, Solvei had left the demiplane. He hadn’t questioned why, already feeling guilty about denying her what she wanted so badly.

That he’d hurt her, and not for the first time, bothered him immensely; all the more so since he’d just reaffirmed his commitment to making her happy. But there’d been no other choice. Giving Kara the opportunity to do whatever she wanted to Solvei, with no way of countering or even monitoring what the treacherous love goddess was doing, was completely unacceptable.

He’d made the right decision. And yet, as it so often did, the right decision caused no small amount of upset to the very people it was meant to benefit.

That had been why Lex had done nothing when Solvei left the demiplane. If she couldn’t stand to be around him after what he’d done – if she wanted to go commiserate with her grandmother or head back to the valley of the winter wolves to see her father or simply be someplace where he wasn’t – then allowing her to do so uninterrupted was the least he could do for her.

But now, with the exit in sight and his trans-temporal sense informing him that Solvei would still be on another plane after he returned to Everglow, Lex found himself wondering if he’d made a grave mistake.

“Master?” murmured Nisha, his connection to her conveying the worry that had suddenly come over her. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer her as he rushed through the egress, emerging into the center of the snow-covered village of the adlets.

Sure enough, their bond informed him that she wasn’t anywhere on Everglow.

Solvei, where are you? he demanded, letting their link carry the telepathic query to her; even across the planes, he knew they were still able to communicate.

But she didn’t answer, and as far as his foresight could tell, she wasn’t going to.

“Master?” repeated Nisha, a doglike whimper escaping her throat.

“Lex?” Adjusting her glasses, Carnelia began walking toward him, curves jiggling. “We might have a problem. Yamini found-”

Ignoring both of them, Lex strode forward, retracing Solvei’s steps.

Although she’d ventured through a part of the village that was heavily-trafficked, causing both her tracks and her scent to be obscured by how many trails they overlapped, Lex had no trouble tracing her movements. Nor did he stop at merely using his terrestrial powers of perception.

Instead, he peered into the past.

It wasn’t often that Lex bothered to use his trans-temporal sense to look backwards in time. Despite the fact that what had been was easier to ascertain than what would be, there was rarely any reason for him to turn his attention to things which had already happened. That was largely because, the same way his foresight was extremely limited when it came to things outside of his physical proximity, his postcognitive powers were sharply curtailed by how close he was to where prior events had occurred. And while his awareness of the past wasn’t limited to a mere six seconds like the future was, it still grew murky and indistinct after a single day.

Nor was that the only way that looking backward in time differed from looking forward.

Whereas the future was always moving toward him, and so could be passively perceived once it was close enough, the past – which was continuously moving further away from him – would reveal itself only if he actively looked for it.

In theory, there were exceptions to that rule. If certain future events were of sufficient magnitude that he could sense them – or at least, sense something about them, such as his sudden awareness that bringing Solvei with him to fight Kryonex would result in disaster – beyond the usual six-second window, then there were presumably past events of such consequence that they could be detected even after an extended period of time whether he was looking for them or not.

Of course, the opposite was also possible, with certain events making it impossible to view even the very recent past, as Lex had learned when he’d scoured Adagio’s hideout to try and find some clue as to why she couldn’t be resurrected.

But that had been a wasted effort, as the forces unleashed by the death of Kryonex had made it impossible to see anything that had happened before the demigod’s emergence.

Fortunately, there were no such obstacles in place now as Lex’s hindsight showed him Solvei – carrying Fenrir’s eye and Gleipnir – walking towards her parents’ house. Resisting the urge to run ahead and check the building, he instead kept pace with the image he had of her, even as his foresight informed him that attempting to summon her or borrow her senses would both fail.

An instant later, it informed him that he was about to lose access to her emotional state.

SOLVEI!!! he roared across their bond, RESPOND IMMEDIATELY!!!

Sorry stud, Solvei’s busy at the moment.

He froze in place. Kara.

You know, I really haven’t been giving the Night Mare enough credit, giggled the goddess. I knew her religion was all about dom-sub stuff, but this connection you have with your girls is really wild! It’s like sweet little Solvei is wearing a harness and collar, except it’s on her soul instead of her body! And you, you naughty boy, are holding her leash.

Had Lex been mortal, his heart would have been pounding and his breath coming in gasps. Kara was communicating with him through his bond with Solvei; that meant that the love goddess had access to her soul. Given what he had just been discussing with his first wife, it was no effort at all for Lex to figure out what had happened, and the knowledge that Solvei had willingly delivered herself to Kara terrified him in a way he hadn’t felt since he’d been mortal.

Return Solvei to me! he demanded, his eyes flaring to life so brightly that they shined like beacons despite it being the middle of the day. Immediately!

Ooh, no can do, lover boy, snickered Kara. Your girl came here of her own free will at my invitation, and I’d hate for her to have anything less than the full five-star luxury experience.

Return Solvei to me, hissed Lex again, or I swear that I will go to your realm and allow Belligerence to run wild!

But if Kara was intimidated by his threat, she didn’t show it, snorting loudly. You do you realize that it’s pointless to try and bluff a goddess of deception, right?

I do, which is why I’m not bluffing.

Oh get over yourself already. My realm is overflowing with the souls of ponies who were faithful to me in life, and we both know that your pwecious widdle mowal code means that you’d never let a monster like that run around and annihilate them. Plus, I saw what happened when you let that thing off its chain to fight that elven avatar with the stick up his ass, and my read is that you’re not sure if you can muzzle that thing again when it gets loose, am I right?

Lex grit his teeth, his claws digging gouging furrows into the dirt that extended far beyond the range of his talons.

But he had no reply to give Kara.

Thought so, continued the goddess in a sing-song tone of voice. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you back your wolf-wife right now if you can honestly answer one question for me, okay?

His panic was already giving way to rage, and Lex slammed his tail into the ground, the impact causing the entire village to shake as black crystal stalagmites dozens of feet tall suddenly thrust upward. But Lex scarcely heard the frightened screams or frantic shouting, instead allowing his fury to envelope him at how Kara was playing games while holding Solvei hostage.

So be it then! Ask your question!

Don’t worry, this should be an easy one. You ready?

She didn’t wait for him to reply before giving voice to her query.

Who do you love more, Solvei or Sonata?

The question struck him with more force than anything Burly Brawl could have mustered, leaving him staggering.

...what?

It’s a simple enough question, replied Kara. Which one of them means more to you?

Despite having perfect control over his physical self, a shudder ran through Lex. Even though he had no need to breathe, nor for his heart to beat, he could hear his blood pounding in his ears as he drew in ragged lungfuls of air. His head sagged as one claw came up to cover his face, wide eyes staring downward from between his splayed talons.

An unnatural silence blanketed the area then, the air growing supernaturally still. Voices were muffled, barely audible to people within arm’s reach even as their owners yelled at the top of their lungs. Anything softer than that was completely suppressed, unable to make itself heard in the slightest.

A matching darkness came with the quiet. Despite the sky still being clear, everything was rapidly growing dimmer, as though light itself was unwilling to approach the distraught titan. In the span of seconds, the noonday radiance had become a gloomy murk akin to a night lit only by a wan crescent moon.

The village was immediately reduced to a state of bedlam, as the adlets – half-blind and unable to call out to each other – were completely overcome with terror. Those few who were in their homes threw themselves down and cowered, hoping that whatever was happening would pass. But the majority had been outside, going about their business. For them, not knowing what was happening or if they were being attacked, the sudden loss of their senses sent them running into a panic, lashing out on instinct whenever anyone got near them.

Only the presence of the emissaries Lex had brought back, already on alert for a disaster, kept the chaos from spreading. Able to see in the dark and communicate telepathically, Carnelia reacted quickly to rally the other five, sending them to break up fights, herd those heading into the wilderness back toward the village, and gather the injured.

In that, however, they were completely alone. Nisha, overwhelmed by how Lex’s emotions were flowing into her across their bond, returned to wolf form as she threw her head back and howled, baying as loudly as she could. Nor was Mei Li – who had run out from the extradimensional mansion, the only place spared the ravages of Lex’s distress, upon feeling that something was wrong with Lex – any better. Collapsing to the ground, her tails thrashed back and forth in a tangled mass as she wailed, completely overwhelmed by what she was feeling.

There was only one person who tried to stop what was happening at the source, as Long Road ducked under a punch from a terrified adlet and threw himself behind a black crystal spire to escape a blast of fire from Yamini, all the while working to get closer to Lex.

He was only a few feet away from him when a mass of black crystals erupted upward beneath the titan, carrying him aloft and beyond the paladin’s reach.

But Lex himself barely noticed his change in elevation, or the havoc caused by his loss of control, still reeling from what Kara’s words had done to him.

And in his thoughts, the love goddess giggled again. So your answer is no answer at all? Sure you don’t just want to flip a coin or something?

Lex didn’t – couldn’t – reply.

Several more seconds went by before Kara sighed. Well, I have to get back to giving your girl her makeover. And don’t worry, she’ll get Fenrir’s power; it’s not like I want to tick off the Aesir. I’m just making sure to give it that personal touch, you know?

The only response she got was an attempt by Lex to stifle the connection from his end, clamping down on his hijacked bond with Solvei in an attempt to shut Kara out.

But just like trying to summon her back, he managed to achieve nothing, save for making Kara tsk at him. Aw, what’s the matter, stud? I thought you were a fan of harsh truths?

Go away, muttered Lex at last. Just...go away.

Kara snickered again. I’ll send Solvei back once everything’s finished. You can thank me then.

A moment later, she was finally gone.

But her absence brought Lex no solace, still struggling under the weight of what Kara’s question had done to him.

Who did he love the most, Solvei or Sonata?

The answer had come to him immediately:

Solvei.

But it wasn’t the fact that he had come to love the winter wolf-turned-adlet more that had shaken him so badly.

It was because he’d known why she’d overtaken the Siren in his heart.

Lex had thought that there was nothing left for him to learn about himself. That after the vision the Night Mare had shown him within the Confluence, he knew who he was. Merging with that beast from Darkest Night had changed his instincts, and becoming a titan had changed his powers, but he’d been certain that he fully understood his nature, the essence of what he wanted and why he wanted it...and indeed he had.

He just hadn’t appreciated it.

His love for Solvei was greater than his love for Sonata for one reason, and one reason alone. One that had nothing to do with who was more devoted to him, or whom he’d shared more hardships with, or who was prettier. One reason that went to the very core of who he was – who he’d always been, before he’d ever gone to Everglow or met the Night Mare – as a person.

He loved Solvei more than Sonata because he could control her more than he’d ever been able to control the Siren.

The fact that he hadn’t known that before now would have been funny if not for how horrifying it was. He had always been obsessed with control; it had defined every aspect of his life. Controlling Equestria’s government. Controlling his incomplete thaumaturgy. Controlling the imperceptible variables of interpersonal communication. Why had he ever thought his romantic inclinations were any different?

If anything, his need to dominate his lovers – not just sexually, but in all aspects of their relationship – was simply an extension of what he’d been trying to do his entire life.

After all, the more you could control someone else, the easier it was to understand them.

It was a damning realization. For all his inability to properly communicate with others, Lex had still been able to observe them, and the universality of the romance-as-partnership dynamic – where two lovers operated as peers – had been impossible to miss. His own parents had been blissfully happy in such an arrangement, and from what Lex had been able to determine, the same had been true for ponies all across Equestria, and even for most other races in the lands beyond.

The sheer ubiquity of that dynamic was testament to its virtue. While Equestria was tolerant of ponies in so-called “non-traditional relationships,” it was statistically startling how few individuals wanted to be in such an arrangement – much like how Nosey hadn’t – instead accepting and agreeing that equality in monogamy was the ideal form of romantic connection. That couldn’t even be attributed to the influence of the princesses, since for all the jokes that were made about their being secretly debauched, Celestia and Luna had both remained steadfast in their celibacy.

The ponies of Equestria had, as a society – the society that Lex wanted to safeguard, uplift, and lead – decided that partnership was the most important aspect of romantic love.

So what did that say about him, who wanted more than anything to control the ones he loved?

By itself, that wasn’t a violation of his moral code. Solvei, like all of his wives, had consented to their current arrangement. That consent hadn’t been made with full knowledge of what she was agreeing to, nor could it be withdrawn, and Kara’s influence made it questionable if she’d done so of her own free will. But she’d still consented to it, which was all Lex needed to declare the arrangement morally permissible.

But just because what he was doing wasn’t reprehensible didn’t mean that it wasn’t grotesque. That his desires were so far removed from the Equestrian standard only made him that much more unsuited to be part of the very society that he wanted to rule, with his desire to dominate others as likely to be repulsive to them as Spice’s fetish for her lovers’ discomfort was to him. It was, he knew now, why he’d so readily accepted the idea that his soul-bound companions were his wives: because to him it had been fitting to assign that most formal of romantic designations to the ones he was best able to dominate.

And that went to the heart of why Solvei’s going to Kara’s realm after he’d explicitly told her not to had frightened him so badly.

It hadn’t been because of what the love goddess would do to her.

Rather, it was because it represented an unprecedented act of defiance on her part, striking at the heart of how much power he’d thought he’d had over her.

All of that, in turn, brought up another question. One that Lex also knew the answer to.

Did a person who needed to control someone else in order to love them deserve to be loved at all?

Author's Note

Confronting Kara over Solvei’s disappearance, the love goddess rebukes Lex, causing the adlet village to erupt into chaos as his heart is thrown into crisis!

How will Lex handle this latest revelation about himself? And what is Kara doing to Solvei?