Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

948 - Not Losing My Religion

It would have been so easy to say yes.

With the Night Mare having been abducted – or worse – by The Author, Lex knew that the Night Terror had effectively become her successor. For all intents and purposes, she was the Night Mare now, presenting herself as a return to the goddess she’d originally been. In that regard, it made sense that she should inherit everything that had been the Night Mare’s, including her realm, her worshipers, and the loyalty of her champions.

No matter that the Night Terror looked askance on both himself and the blessing that the Night Mare had given him. It was only to be expected that someone coming into their forebearer’s possessions would review them and make changes as they deemed necessary, much like how he himself had done upon determining that Celestia and Luna were unfit to rule. The same way he had given the Royal Sisters a chance to step down so he could give them new roles in his government, the Night Terror was giving him a chance to earn a place in her religion.

But that didn’t mean he could take it.

“I refuse.”

Further back, in the darkness of Mare Occultum, the Night Terror’s red eyes locked onto him. You think you can defy me?

Lex snorted. “I know that I can.”

A low thrumming came from Steel Soul’s body as he began circling Lex, as though weapon systems were powering up. “Such blasphemy deserves the harshest of correction.”

“Lex, don’t be a fool.” Sanguine Disposition spread his batlike wings wide as he moved opposite from Steel Soul, the two of them covering him from either side. “The Night Terror is giving you a holy mission. Accept it, if not for your sake then for your homeland’s.”

Lex gave the vampire the briefest of glances.

Agreeing to do the Night Terror’s bidding simply to extricate himself from Mare Occultum – and Darkest Night altogether – had occurred to him. Once he’d left the realm, he wouldn’t need to head directly to Lashtada’s divine abode; it would be easy to come up with some sort of excuse to buy himself time, time which could then be used to finish his business on Everglow, find a way to get past the angels and return to Equestria, and then prepare his home for whatever Steel Soul was planning. The Night Terror could rage and curse him all she wanted then, but until she was able to fully manifest in that world – something he’d have months to stop, even if that meant dismantling the Night Mare’s worship there – there would be nothing she could do.

But that was also a course of action Lex found completely unacceptable.

For all the power he’d gained since becoming a titan, it had forced him to repeatedly compromise his morals. Killing Adagio. Cutting a deal to legitimize Kara’s worship in Equestria. Unintentionally binding Mei Li to himself. Becoming intimately involved with more than a half-dozen lesser titans and their retinues. Again and again he’d traded integrity for expediency, or simply lost control of himself and done something he’d come to regret.

No more.

It was time to avail himself of the inner strength that his goddess had shown him how to cultivate. The willpower which had allowed him to keep going in the face of loss after loss, setback upon setback. The spiritual fortitude which had allowed him to see the truth about himself in the Confluence and not be broken by it, to face his fears and willingly merge with an otherworldly beast, and to pit his own sense of self against a shard of pure, unfiltered divinity and emerge triumphant.

The Night Terror was demanding that he cast the Night Mare aside in favor of her.

That was a line that Lex Legis would never cross.

And if she thinks she can push me to do so, then I’ll push back! he swore inwardly, readying himself. And I’ll push HARDER!

The Night Terror’s red eyes had vanished in the instant that Lex had glanced at Sanguine Disposition, but he didn’t care, turning to address the darkness where she was lurking. “It occurs to me,” he noted, “that you haven’t said precisely how you plan on killing the Moon Princess once you’ve lured her here. After all, she’s a senior member of the pony pantheon, and you’re just an avatar.”

For a moment she didn’t respond, and Lex briefly wondered if she wouldn’t let herself be goaded. But a second later, her telepathic response came.

I am not just an avatar! she hissed, apparently unable to stand being so openly belittled. I am the one who commands this entire realm! She will appear alone, ordered to come by herself lest her daughter be slain if she arrives with an army, and when she enters this place the denizens-

“-will treat her like an invader, forcing her to fight her way through them to where you’re lurking down here, is that your plan?” finished Lex, his lip curling in disdain. “That between her exhausting herself, and you being stronger in your realm, you’ll have the advantage when she finally reaches you?”

That, and I will kill and consume Lashtada before she can make it this far, replied the Night Terror. Her grief will weaken her further, while the influx of divine essence will make me strong enough to overcome her!

Her exclamation was punctuated by another shrill cry from deeper in the darkness, but it ended abruptly as another sound cut through the still air of the cavern.

Lex’s scornful laughter.

“You know, the Auctoritas Caliginous had a great deal to say about the Noctem,” he noted, his voice filled with condescension. “That it was when the Night Mare became a goddess of ponies instead of monsters. That it marked her gaining dominion over the night and not just darkness. That it demonstrated her power to adapt and grow stronger, rather than remaining a stagnant animal lurking in the wilderness, unable to do anything but hunt and kill.”

Sneering, he made dismissive gesture at the surrounding gloom. “At the time, I thought those were platitudes. Now I can see that they were understatements.”

The thrumming from Steel Soul grew louder as he stopped in place, hunkering down as though bracing himself. “Just say the word, and I’ll put this apostate in his place!” His voice was punctuated by a whirring noise as a pair of cannons deployed from either side of his torso, what had looked like rib structures now jutting outward as their form lengthened to form long barrels, energy gathering within. His tail curled up and over his head, scorpion-like, as the two points of its forked end began to resonate, a crackling spark of green light flowing between them.

Sanguine Disposition, by contrast, was undergoing his own metamorphosis. The flesh tightened over his body, becoming thinner and leaner as his mane and tail lost their luster, looking like a corpse that had begun to desiccate. His fangs grew longer, and the upper joints of his wings sprouted claws, the gnarled digits flexing as he gave them a flap. “Don’t do this. Agree to undertake the Night Terror’s quest, and you can deal with the rest of it later, on your own terms.”

Lex ignored them both.

Harsh truths were another tenet that the Night Mare had gained after the Noctem.

“You really think the denizens of this place will be able to do anything more than slow the Moon Princess down?” he spat, speaking to the avatar despite not knowing precisely where she was. “They were barely a match for me when I was mortal. A goddess like her won’t even notice them. And you know that, don’t you? Which means that it’s not the creatures in the wilderness that you’re counting on; and so I’m left to wonder who else here could possibly give a goddess of the Moon Princess’s stature even a moment’s pause.”

A pregnant pause ensued.

Tread very carefully, Lex Legis, came the avatar’s response at last. If I decide that you have no use to me, then I lose all incentive to let you live.

Lex smirked inwardly. “What was it you said before, when you were listing those examples of how the Noctem supposedly ruined you? That you started using ‘weapons procured from a rival’?” He didn’t know what the rival part meant, but he could guess what the weapons were.

“You were referring to the Umbral Regalia, didn’t you? Severance, Headhunter, Breakdown...they’re what you’re counting on to weaken the Moon Princess. But even though they’re playing such an important part in your plan, they’re not here, are they?”

This time, the Night Terror didn’t say anything.

“In fact,” continued Lex, “it strikes me as significant that you’re hiding down here, instead of claiming Mare Tenebrum – where the Umbral Regalia are – for your own.”

To his mild surprise, it was Steel Soul who spoke up then, the electronic blue of his eyes turning towards the murk of Mare Occultum. “What is he talking about?”

On Lex’s other side, Sanguine Disposition grimaced.

“The Night Terror doesn’t have the support of the Umbral Regalia,” explained Lex, daring the avatar to say that he was wrong. “Her doctrine doesn’t recognize them, and so they don’t recognize her authority in turn. That’s why she needs to use a hostage to lure the Moon Princess here; because that’s the only way they’ll fight the enemy she wants them to.”

Steel Soul’s eyes turned to regard him for several long seconds, then resumed scanning the darkness. “Is that true?”

What’s true, hissed the Night Terror, is that once I’ve absorbed the godly power of the Moon Princess and her daughter, I’ll be more than just an incarnation of my past, created by that warped thing that I became. I’ll be an independent deity in my own right. And I’ll remember everyone who stood with me...and those who stood against me.

But Lex wasn’t willing to let her regain the initiative. “In fact, I’m willing to bet that the Umbral Regalia see you as a threat, either to themselves or to the stability of Darkest Night. That’s another reason you’re down here, isn’t it? It’s not just that you don’t trust them; it’s because if you tried to go anywhere else in the realm, they’d attack you.”

In the distance, the Night Terror’s red eyes lit up again.

“The Night Terror, and the Umbral Regalia,” Lex mused, revealing the full scope of the power vacuum that had formed now that the Night Mare was gone. “Darkest Night is on the verge of civil war.”

Enough! hissed the Night Terror. I tried to give you a chance to prove yourself, to show that your loyalty to that thing I became was more than just a weakness, and you’ve failed! Sanguine Disposition, you will go to Lashtada’s realm in Lex Legis’s stead! Leverage your history with the Hive Queen to earn admittance, and then find a way to bring her to me.

“...as you command,” murmured the vampire, shooting a scowl at Lex.

Steel Soul! Expedite your preparations for expanding my influence on Equestria, immediately!

“...I’ll see to it at once.” Like the vampire, the mechanized stallion’s voice had a catch in it now.

And one of you, fetch the alternate. We’ll conduct the transfer right now.

Sanguine Disposition gave a brief flap of his wings at that, flying off into the darkness. Lex had just enough time to frown inwardly, having expected her to order the other two to attack him, or simply to do it herself. But it sounded like she had something else in mind...

A few seconds later, his foresight informed him that someone – no, two someones – were approaching. One of whom was a stranger.

The other was not.

A moment later Sanguine Disposition returned, giving Lex a baleful look as he landed a short distance away, then turning to where the sound of steps could be heard.

Out of the darkness, two figures came into view.

One of them was a pony, a stallion, who looked like something out of a horror story.

The whites of his eyes were completely yellow, and surrounded by the remnants of surgical incisions. His horn was a transplant, much like Lex’s had once been, the base of it having the same burgundy as the rest of his coat, only to abruptly change to a deep mauve. His hooves had been artificially cleft, sawed in half all the way through to where they transitioned to flesh.

More notable was how his left foreleg was wrapped with barbed wire, the strands of metal nestled amidst inflamed scabs and covered with dried blood in a way that Lex’s never had been. Larger masses of scar tissue could be seen lining his back, surrounding the area where the black, feathery wings he sported had been grafted to his body. Even his tail was a testament to self-mutilation, being long and scaled and ending in a large, gnarled-looking knot the size of a club.

But all of those bothered Lex less than one thing.

The stallion was dressed lightly, wearing what looked like the hook-lined outfit that Lex had found back in the Shrine of the Starless Sky; the kind which were intended to cause the wearer great pain whenever they moved in it. And indeed, the newcomer was bleeding from numerous small cuts across his body. But the suit was light enough that Lex could see the cutie mark on his flank.

Or rather, where the cutie mark should have been.

Instead, all that was there now was a collection of scars, the symbol completely wiped out by the scabrous tissue.

“Lex Legis,” announced Sanguine Disposition, “allow me to introduce Grim Darklight, the head of the Night Mare’s temple in Viljatown. He will be receiving the Charismata in your place.”

His stringy grey mane falling around his face as he gave a polite nod, Grim Darklight smiled. “A pleasure to meet you at last,” he rasped, his voice sounding dry and scratchy, as though he was on the verge of losing it completely. “I’ve heard so much about you from my companion.”

Lex could believe that, as the last person he’d expected to see slowly stepped forward.

A moment later, the black wolf with purple eyes bowed her head.

“ “ “I didn’t expect/anticipate/believe that we would meet again this way,” ” ” chorused Nisha, her tulpas speaking in imperfect unison with her.

“ “ “Greetings to you once again, Lex Legis.” ” ”

Author's Note:

As Lex discerns that the Night Terror’s situation is more precarious than she admitted, and that she’s on the brink of war with the Umbral Regalia, the avatar calls in two unexpected figures!

Is Grim Darklight really going to be given the Charismata? And why is Nisha with him?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Ow, that suit really likes to hang around.

Severance still has a few bones to pick with Lex as well. All of them?

[Alzrius]

11910279 Sometimes I wonder if you're pun-ishing me.

As for Severance, last we heard he's been assigned to help the devils in their eternal war with the demons, as per Chapter 655.

[Not so New Brony]

So Lex will now lose the Charismata? Will he even allow it given his allegiance to the Night Mare? Speaking of which, it is somewhat ironic that two of the Night Mare's supposed champions were so quick to change sides though I suppose their argument about Night Terror and Night Mare being one and the same makes sense by technicality. Though Lex is obviously not swayed by it given Night Terror's attitude towards Night Mare.

Putting that aside, I am somewhat amused that Grim took Nisha in after Lex refused her. Makes me wonder if he also has other exotic companions aside from Burly back in Equestria. And how capable he is if he can come and go into the Darkest Night despite not being an official champion of the Night Mare.

[Alzrius]

11910844 I'll confess that there's a bit of subtext to what's going on with the Night Terror and the other two champions of the Night Mare (i.e. Sanguine Disposition and Steel Soul), which is that this is actually an issue of alignment.

The Night Mare, as she is now, is Lawful Evil in alignment. We're also told, according to the official Ponyfinder lore, that she used to be a goddess of dangerous beasts whom ponies placated more than they worshiped. My interpretation of that is that the Night Mare used to be Neutral Evil; the Noctem is the in-character name given to the event which saw her alignment change, which also saw her portfolio shift.

As a Lawful Evil deity, the Night Mare became a goddess of loyalty (among other things), which immediately hit her with a conundrum: since clerics must have an alignment within one step of their deity's (something I think should be true of all divine spellcasters, and have adopted that as a rule for this story (and should really have included that in my blog post on house rules)), her switching from Neutral Evil to Lawful Evil means that some of her former worshipers (i.e. those who were True Neutral and Chaotic Evil) were now being left out in the proverbial cold through no fault of their own. That wasn't something that a goddess of loyalty could countenance.

Her answer was to make an avatar which recreated her old self, alignment included. Since this avatar was strong enough to be a lesser deity in its own right, it was able to receive the prayers of, and grant spells to, those worshipers whose alignment made them incompatible with the post-Noctem Night Mare.

Now, the same thing is essentially happening in reverse, with the Night Terror saying that Lex (who is Lawful Neutral, albeit with evil tendencies) isn't compatible with her (since she's Neutral Evil). Hence, her quest to Lex is essentially her demanding that he undergo an atonement to prove himself to her, and change his alignment in the process (presumably to Lawful Evil). Since Sanguine Disposition and Steel Soul have alignments that are themselves within one step (or identical to) the Night Terror's alignment, they're not subject to such harsh demands.

As for Grim Darklight...he's an unknown in all of this. Between manipulating Burly and now having Nisha, he's clearly got some sort of stake in what's happening, but the idea of him being given the Charismata now that Lex has refused the Night Terror's quest is...unexpected, to say the least.