//------------------------------// // 58 - The End of the Beginning // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// The next few days passed slowly for Lex. Nosey’s being there had proven to be just as much of a bother as he’d expected, and on more than one occasion he’d found himself needing to muster all of his self-control to avoid lashing out at her. Every word out of her mouth seemed to get under his skin, which was no different than how she normally was, but now her intrusiveness extended to her mere presence, since every night Lex would lie next to his girlfriend, unable to consummate their relationship again due to Nosey sleeping merely a few feet away on the room’s couch. Worse, however, was how – for all Sonata’s assurances that she was enjoying their involuntary celibacy as much as he was – her reaction to their new guest was exactly the opposite of his own. To Lex’s muted horror, the two mares were quite clearly forming a fast friendship, often going on at length about the most inane of topics, such as popular music or the latest theater productions. Lex had attempted to intervene, pulling Sonata aside one evening to protest her growing closeness to the annoying reporter. The result had been a brief argument that, to Lex’s supreme dismay, he had lost. “I want to make some new friends,” had been Sonata’s rejoinder. Worse, she had pointed out that being friends with a reporter could be useful in the future, a point so incisive that it had made Lex wonder if Nosey had been coaching her. The only concession he’d managed to extract from Sonata had been not to talk about his powers or his policies to Nosey. But that had done little to reassure him. As much as he loved Sonata, her personality gave him very little confidence in her ability to keep secrets, and her hanging around a skilled reporter was, in Lex’s opinion, simply laying groundwork for future problems. Still, her point about using Nosey to their advantage had served to remind him of his plan to use her to begin disseminating the Night Mare’s creed, or at least what he understood of it. That had been enough to quell his objections to Nosey’s repeated insistences that she be allowed to accompany them to Vanhoover – action spoke louder than words, Lex believed, and so the best way to introduce the Night Mare to Equestria was after he’d made a show of using her power, which he planned to do once he arrived at the beleaguered city – much to her delight, and his irritation. Fortunately, things were going well on that front. Ribbon and her staff had proven as competent as he’d hoped, and were rapidly acquiring the necessary provisions and personnel for the relief operation. The only snag that had subsequently arisen was that it was difficult to figure out an amount to set aside to pay for the doctors and nurses he wanted, since there was no set timetable for how long he’d be making use of them. And that was a detail that couldn’t be overlooked lightly, since buying all of the supplies he’d wanted had cut deep into his operating budget. To that end, Lex had reluctantly cut down on the number of medical practitioners that he planned on taking with him, reasoning that it was better to have plenty of supplies and fewer doctors to make use of them than vice versa. Luckily, several doctors and nurses had volunteered their services, offering to forego payment entirely, and Lex had accepted their offers. Privately, however, he wondered how long their selflessness would last. Personal fulfillment meant little when faced with a stack of bills and no money to pay them. But then, perhaps they knew that, and had savings they could avail themselves of, or were simply planning on staying for a shorter duration? Ultimately it didn’t matter very much; their work would be most valuable at the beginning of the operation. The relief effort should, once it got started, eventually allow Vanhoover to begin restoring its infrastructure. Once that happened, the need for external assistance would dwindle, and the ponies from Tall Tale could return home. Assuming, of course, that everything went according to plan, which was always an uncertain proposition at best. Still, Lex found himself looking forward to getting underway. He put in long hours at city hall, going over various logistics with Ribbon while Lucy did her best to help out, failing as often as she succeeded. He’d repaired the damaged ship with an amplified casting of one of the spells he’d received from the Night Mare, designed to fix significant breaks in inanimate objects. Everything was finally coming together. And then the day of departure arrived… Lex, Sonata, and Nosey arrived at the dockyards just as the last of the provisions were being loaded on the ship. Rounding the last corner, the three of them paused at the sight that greeted them. That Ribbon and Lucy were there, directing a large number of delivery ponies and the small crowd of doctors, was expected. The same couldn’t be said for the larger crowd of bystanders that had gathered nearby. Even as the trio came into view, the gathering of onlookers noticed them and quickly erupted into cheers, causing Lex to share confused glances with the mares on either side of him. “What’s this?” he asked. Despite his question having been rhetorical, Sonata spoke up. “Dunno. Nobody told me anything about them throwing us a going-away party.” “There wasn’t anything about it in the local newspaper either,” added Nosey. “I mean, there were plenty of articles about what you’re gonna do for Vanhoover and all, but nothing about the exact date of departure.” “That’s because we didn’t have the departure date established until near the end of the process,” replied Lex with a frown, eyeing the crowd. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why they were there. Spontaneous celebrations due to a major threat to their city being eliminated was one thing. But standing around just to watch a ship depart? What possible purpose could they have for doing that? His musings were interrupted as Ribbon, hearing the crowd starting to pick up, noticed them and trotted over, Lucy in tow. Noticing where her boss was looking, Ribbon gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Looks like they wanted to watch their new hero set off to do more good deeds.” Sonata elbowed Lex, grinning. “Hear that? You’ve got fans now, Mr. Hero.” “Shut up,” muttered Lex, but there was no heat in his voice. The idea that he was so popular was one that he had very mixed feelings about. On paper, he didn’t want to enjoy the recognition that he was receiving – well-deserved though it was – since that suggested that the motivation for his actions was less than purely altruistic. But in actuality he couldn’t help but acknowledge just how good it felt to be appreciated. The dichotomy was enough to make him vaguely uncomfortable. He was thankful when Nosey spoke up a moment later…the first time he’d ever been pleased to hear her talking. “How did everypony find out when we were leaving?” Raising her eyebrow at Nosey’s use of “we,” Ribbon nevertheless answered. “I don’t know, but word probably got out after we’d nailed down the final time. I mean, we did have a lot of delivery ponies bringing the supplies here, and quite a few doctors too. I’m sure somepony talked to somepony else, and the news just spread. Oh, speaking of doctors…” Ribbon trailed off as she pulled a folded black cloth – the portable hole that Lex had given her – out from a pocket and handed it to him. “The remaining money for paying them is in here.” Lex took it with a nod before passing it to Sonata. “Is there anything else?” Ribbon glanced back at Lucy, who glanced at a clipboard and shook her head. Satisfied, Ribbon turned back to Lex. “No. Everything’s ready for departure. You can leave as soon as you get on board.” “Great!” cheered Nosey. “Vanhoover here we come!” Trotting forward, she ascended the gangplank, moving onto the ship and out of view. “I wonder if she was worried that we’d leave her behind,” mused Sonata as her new friend boarded the ship. “She was right to do so,” muttered Lex under his breath, despite his previous acquiescence to Nosey’s requests to join them. Putting the reporter out of his thoughts, Lex turned back to Ribbon. “You’re in charge here while I’m away. If anything serious happens, send a pegasus messenger to contact me. Otherwise you’ll probably only receive infrequent contact from me until Vanhoover has stabilized.” Ribbon nodded, and Sonata stepped forward to address her. “Thanks for everything. You’re, like, totes cool in my book.” Receiving an amused grin in reply, she turned to Lucy. “And I’m really going to miss your breakfasts!” Lucy blushed, self-conscious at the compliment. Nevertheless, she smiled in response. “I’m glad. I promise I’ll make you more when you get back.” “Awesome!” Sonata smiled widely, holding out a hoof. Lucy looked surprised for a moment before reading out to press her own hoof against it, her own smile broadening as she did so. Seeing her eyes dart over to him a moment later, Lex gave his secretary a cordial nod. “Alright,” stated Ribbon in satisfaction, “with that you’re-, huh?” Cutting herself off as she looked to the side, the rest of the group followed her gaze. Over at the crowd, a group of ponies were pushing their way through the throng. She paused, trying to figure out why they seemed familiar. “Those are…” “The araneas,” answered Lex coldly, eyeing the approaching siblings. The crowd, seeing other ponies approach Lex and the others, apparently took that as a sign that it was okay for them to do so as well. Frowning at the sight, Ribbon glanced at Lex. “We’ll take care of crowd control. Good luck in Vanhoover.” With that, she trotted forward, raising her voice to try and ward off the other ponies before they got too close. Lucy paused just long enough to give the two of them a wave goodbye before going to help Ribbon. A moment later the araneas arrived, stopping a few feet from Lex and Sonata. A second passed, but no one spoke, an awkward silence hanging in the air. Several more seconds went by until Shadowvine leaned over and kicked Fireflower, who was staring at the ground. Yelping at the blow, he glanced at his sister before transferring his gaze to the pair of ponies in front of him. Taking a moment to visibly rally himself, he tried to smile, achieving only limited success as he spoke up. “So, um, I’m glad we caught you before you left…” “Waitingforthreehours,” mock-coughed Brightrose, which caused Breezyleaf to hiss at him to be quiet. “…um, so I just…I wanted to say…” continued Fireflower haltingly. His eyes kept making a circuit from Sonata to Lex to the ground and back again. Finally, he sighed. “I wanted to apologize to both of you for…before. I shouldn’t have said what I did; it was stupid.” He paused at that, and then his eyes widened in alarm. “I mean, not that falling for you is a stupid thing to do, because it’s not! It’s just that I was stupid for doing it. I mean, for saying it. I don’t regret doing it.” He paused, and once again he seemed to realize what he’d said, eyes shifting to Lex in fright. “Not that I’m still trying to, you know, do anything about it! I just, I regret my judgment, and my choice of words-, no, wait, I mean my judgment to say, um, those words at all, and I didn’t want you to hear that-, which isn’t me saying that I wanted to hide it from you! I just should have hidden it from everyone, even though saying it seemed like the right thing to do. At the time.” He punctuated his last statement with a nod, eyes returning back to their usual route of Sonata-Lex-ground. Behind him, Waterlily was sitting up, pressing both forehooves over her mouth, shaking with effort not to let her laughter spill out. The disapproving glare that Rockwood was giving her seemed to be having no effect. The others were grimacing or staring in a mixture of disbelief and mortification. Fireflower seemed to have settled on looking at the ground again, but before he could start examining it in earnest, Sonata stepped forward and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Thanks for that,” she smiled. Looking up at her, Fireflower managed to recover somewhat, giving her a weak smile back. “Y-yeah.” “I didn’t get to answer you before,” continued Sonata. “You asked me why I love him,” she glanced at Lex before looking back at Fireflower, “so much, remember?” He nodded, and she kept going. “The reason why is because…” she paused, trying to figure out how to best phrase it, to say that the intensity of Lex’s feelings for her had completely captured her heart, without making it sound like she was belittling Fireflower’s own feelings in comparison. Next to her, Lex perked up his ears, his attention focused completely on her. Noticing that, Sonata grinned, looking back at him for a long moment with shining eyes before turning back to Fireflower. “Because he’s the one for me,” she said with a helpless shrug, trying to project the message that she didn’t know how else to say it. That wasn’t true, of course, but it was by far the nicer thing to do. “O-oh…” Fireflower’s ears folded down, clearly not sure what to make of her answer. “Don’t worry,” she gave him a friendly pat on the back. “You’re a great guy, and I’m totes sure that someday soon you’ll meet a girl who’ll be, like, super into you.” “Thanks,” he gave her a wan smile back. It was a lame response, but what else could he say? He glanced at Lex again, but other than a very cool look the dour unicorn didn’t seem to have anything to add, and Fireflower stepped back so that he was among his siblings again, receiving several nudges of support from them as he did. Lex, for his part, was simply glad that Fireflower’s apology was over. While he’d enjoyed hearing Sonata reaffirm that she had chosen him, everything else about that little exchange had done nothing but call attention to the memory of what he’d witnessed, of how he’d let the relationship between himself and Sonata deteriorate to the point where someone else would dare try to make a play for her. The memory grated on him, and he was eager to get away from it. Instead, his eyes went over to another member of the group, the white-coated stallion with the pink mane and tail. Another unpleasant memory came to him at the sight, of that particular aranea healing him after his battle with the dragon. But as much as it galled him to recall needing the thing’s assistance, it was relevant now. “You,” he said, pointing. Brightrose looked up, blinking in surprise. “Me?” “You have healing magic.” “Uh, yeah…?” “Tell me how much magic you can use and what kinds of effects you’re able to evoke,” ordered Lex. Looks of confusion passed between the six of them, and Sonata as well, but Lex ignored them. A moment later Brightrose replied. “Well, um, not very much. I guess, like, a dozen spells or so in a day,” he gave a nonchalant grin to try and lighten the mood, but it faded in the face of Lex’s continued stony look. “I can mostly just cure wounds, you know? Cuts and bruises, and worse stuff too if I keep pouring it on. Besides that, I can cure someone who’s paralyzed or terrified, and I can do a thing where you can see how bad someone’s hurt just by looking at them. Oh! And I’ve got this whole ‘nonviolent aura’ spell that stops people from trying to attack whoever I cast it on, which is usually me. I’m a lover, not a fighter, after all.” He grinned at that last part, even as his brothers and sisters collectively rolled their eyes. Lex nodded crisply, considering what he’d just been told. A few seconds later, he fixed Brightrose with an evaluating look. “I could use you in Vanhoover.” From anyone else, that would have been a welcoming statement. From Lex, however, it was quite obviously nothing more than a statement about the allocation of resources. The tension that ran through the araneas at his pronouncement was obvious, and it made Sonata frown. “Lex,” she said softly, her voice carrying reproach. He merely raised a brow at her, silently disagreeing with her implicit disagreement, before turning back to the group of siblings, awaiting their response. A moment later, Breezyleaf spoke up. “We were hoping…we wanted to stay here. All of us, together as a family.” Nods and murmurs of agreement came from the others. Lex silently looked them over, evaluating the proper course of action. He could order Brightrose to join him, he knew. If nothing else, they were living in his city, and the dire circumstances in Vanhoover certainly justified conscripting those with the ability to make a difference. And if his family found being apart from him unpalatable, then they could simply be brought along as well. They’d be a drain on resources, but having a convenient source of healing magic – limited, to be sure, but less so than his own – would more than make up for it. And yet, despite the degree to which Brightrose’s magic could be utilized, Lex couldn’t bring himself to force him to join Vanhoover’s relief effort. Unlike the doctors that he’d drafted into service, Brightrose wasn’t a medical practitioner, and hadn’t chosen to dedicate himself to healing others as a calling. He was just someone who had happened to develop an inherent knack for healing magic, and although that was a minor distinction, it was still a critical one. Moreover, to press him into service now, after he’d just been taken hostage by the dragon, would have been tantamount to cruelty, regardless of the reason for it. Doing so might have been for a good end, but Lex had long since come to the conclusion that righteous was only achieved if you accomplished the correct ends by the correct means. And the araneas, who had been not only terrorized, but had been forced to do terrible things under the threat of losing a loved one after another had been slaughtered, had already suffered enough. Lex could not in good conscience force them to do more if they didn’t want to…not this soon, at least. “Very well then,” he nodded, causing everyone else there to issue a sigh of relief. He looked at them for a moment longer, vaguely wondering if it was alright to let them to stay in Tall Tale…no, in Equestria itself. They were aliens, after all, and strictly speaking didn’t belong here. But that reasoning rang hollow; they had professed themselves to be community-minded, and although they weren’t really ponies, they deserved a chance to demonstrate that they might be able to transcend the racial limitations that not-ponies labored under. Besides, if they stepped out of line he’d be able to stop them easily enough, thanks to the Night Mare’s power. If it had worked on Waterlily, it would work on the rest of them. As though she’d heard his thoughts, Waterlily stepped forward. “I wanted to say something too.” Unlike her brother, she looked at Lex directly as she spoke, and he was struck by how different she seemed from the panicky mare she’d been when he’d met her. Apparently she was recovering from the ordeal she’d been through. She stepped closer to him than was polite, and he was just about to ask her what she thought she was doing when she leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me back to life,” she said softly, smiling as she moved back. She gave Sonata, who was currently looking at her with an uncertain expression, an apologetic look before moving back to her brothers and sisters. Visibly flustered by her actions, Lex wasn’t sure how to react, particularly since he was cognizant that what she’d done had apparently impacted Sonata’s mood. But that didn’t mean that he knew the proper way to acknowledge her gratitude. Finally, he simply decided not to bother, giving her a curt nod before he turned and headed towards the ship without another word. Seeing Lex’s abrupt departure snapped Sonata out of her mixed feelings at seeing another girl express affection towards him – she suddenly felt like she had a greater appreciation for how he’d felt when he’d seen Fireflower confess to her – and she gave them all a quick wave goodbye as she hurried after him. Catching up to him just as he ascended the gangplank, she nuzzled him, feeling just a teeny bit possessive, and smiled when he responded in kind. As they walked onto the ship, the crowd of ponies cheered louder, and Sonata had an idea. Tilting her head slightly, she whispered to Lex. “Say something to them.” He blinked in confusion. “What? To whom?” “The crowd,” she nodded her head back the way they’d come. “They came here to see you. They’ll love it if you give them some sort of payoff for showing up.” His response was a long-suffering look, glancing between her and the ponies crowding the harbor. The idea seemed like a waste of time, and he certainly didn’t feel like he owed the assembled ponies anything; they’d taken it on themselves to show up here uninvited, after all. But he knew that Sonata had social acumen that far exceeded his own, and in that regard he trusted her judgment. She’d given him very similar advice when he’d initially returned from slaying that dragon, after all, and she’d been right then. “Fine,” he sighed, “but I want you to deliver it.” “That’s what I’m here for!” she chirped happily. A single word and a gesture later, he’d cast his spell to deliver his whispers to her ears, and moved to the edge of the ship, Sonata by his side as he looked out over the crowd, who quieted down in expectation of his words. Licking his lips at the sudden silence, he tried to think of exactly what to say. “We are now leaving for Vanhoover,” he whispered softly, knowing that with the ambient noise of the outdoors and his distance from the crowd, only Sonata would hear him. She gave a grunt of mild exasperation at his statement, and looked at him as she whispered back. “Come on, say something more than that. Don’t worry about how pretty it sounds, I’ll take care of that. Just, I don’t know…talk about what you want to do and why.” He pondered that for a moment, looking back over the crowd. As he did, he noticed Ribbon and Lucy near the back of it, both smiling at him. So were the araneas, he realized. So were all of the ponies in the crowd. The sight eased his tension slightly, for reasons that he couldn’t quite understand. “Vanhoover is in trouble,” he began. “Vanhoover is, like, totes in a bad state,” announced Sonata, her voice suddenly projecting powerfully across the harbor. “We’re going there to fix things.” “But right now, help is on the way!” Lex had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, continuing. “As ruler of that city, this is my duty.” “As you might have heard, our super-cool mayor, Lex Legis, is also in charge of Vanhoover! And the same way he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Tall Tale, he’s going to rescue that city too!” Spontaneous cheers erupted from the crowd, and Lex had to contain his surprise. Was Sonata’s interpretation of his words really that impressive? It sounded thoroughly mediocre to him. Mentally shrugging it off, he continued. “I will personally be overseeing the operation. There’s no set timetable for the city’s recovery, but I’ve made arrangements so that Tall Tale will continue to be administrated while I’m occupied.” “No matter how long it takes, he’s going to stay there and do everything he can until Vanhoover is saved! But while he does, Tall Tale and its wonderful ponies will remain in his thoughts! His devotion for this great city, and for all of you, will never fade away!” The crowd was roaring its approval now, and it was all Lex could do to contain his surprise, impressed despite himself. Whatever else could be said about her, Sonata knew how to work a crowd. Not sure what else could be said, he finally settled on the last part of his message. “We’re leaving now.” “We’re off! Thank you all so much for being such a wonderful audience!” Caught up in the crowd’s adulation, Sonata barely noticed Lex turning away and telling the ships’ crew to cast off. Instead, she stood up on her hind legs and waved to the crowd, blowing a few kisses for good measure. Even as the ship began to move, she kept waving, and it was only after it had pulled far enough away that the crowd had grown indistinct that she managed to tear herself away from the railing. She was definitely going to like being a spokespony, she decided. According to the sailors, the trip from Tall Tale to Vanhoover would take eleven or twelve hours, even with the rotating shifts of pegasi making sure to push air into the sails at all times. A little bored, Sonata had gone looking for Lex, finding him at the prow of the ship, looking at the water. If he’d been any other pony, she’d have thought that he was admiring the view, but she suspected that he had simply wanted a place to think about what he’d do once they’d arrived. Coming up next to him, she leaned against him just slightly. “Hey,” she purred, still buzzed off of the crowd’s enthusiasm from an hour ago. “What’cha doin’?” “Planning multiple courses of action for when we arrive in Vanhoover, depending on various local conditions,” came his response, making her chuckle softly to herself. He glanced at her, but didn’t ask about the source of her mirth, and for a few minutes they were silent, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Glancing off to her right, Sonata noted how close the coast seemed. In fact, she could still just barely see Tall Tale in the distance, further inland. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” she murmured softly. “Hm?” This time Lex’s glance was inquisitive. “Everything…all of it.” She waved a hoof at the distance city. “That we went to take charge of one city, and ended up taking over another one altogether.” She was silent for a moment, thinking over everything that had happened in the last several days. “You really showed everyone…everypony, why you should be in charge.” “We,” he corrected her softly. “We really showed everypony.” Sonata smiled, but shook her head. “I didn’t do anything, except maybe make it harder for you. You were the one who figured out that Tall Tale was in danger, and the one who fought so hard to save it. I was just, like, a big drag on the whole thing.” “You’re wrong.” Lex’s voice was firm, and he turned so that he was facing her directly. “Everything that happened, the only reason that I was here to save Tall Tale in the first place, is because of you. You bought our tickets here, remember?” She blinked, and it took her a second to recall that she was the one who’d mistakenly bought train tickets for Tall Tale instead of Vanhoover, back when they’d left Canterlot. “That wasn’t on purpose, though,” she protested. “It was just an accident.” “That ‘accident’ put us on the course for everything that happened. That ‘accident’ is why I was here to save all of those ponies. If it hadn’t been for that, we’d have gone to Vanhoover and everypony in Tall Tale would have died, eaten by that dragon.” He stepped closer to her, and planted a soft kiss on her lips before speaking again, his voice softer. “This is our victory, yours and mine.” She blinked, her eyes suddenly watery, and gave a sniffling laugh. “You, like, always do that…suddenly being totes romantic out of nowhere.” He blinked at that, clearly not understanding what she meant, and the sight made her laugh. That, in turn, caused him to become even more confused, and she laughed even harder as a result, until she could barely stand up. Finally, she regained control of herself, and wiped her eyes before leaning in and kissing him deeply. “I love you,” she whispered softly. “I love you too.” He smiled back at her, and the two of them leaned against each other as they looked back at the open water. He was still thinking about what would happen when they finally reached Vanhoover, but for the moment he wasn’t concerned about courses of action or potential pitfalls. For so much of his life, he’d set lofty goals for himself, and just as often failed to reach them, no matter how hard he’d tried. He would expend so much energy, try so hard, only to end up no closer than when he’d started. Any progress that he’d made would ultimately prove itself futile. It had been like wanting to get somewhere, only to find that no matter how fast he had run, he’d only ended up circling his destination rather than approaching it. That was, he decided, an apt analogy. All of the effort that he’d made before had simply been lateral movement. But it was different now. Ever since the mare beside him had come into his life, he’d finally started to achieve his goals. It had been difficult, and often painful, but little by little he’d found himself accomplishing things that he felt were truly worthwhile. And he had no doubt that it was all thanks to her. She had pointed him in the right direction, and for the first time ever, he felt hopeful about the future. Whatever trials Vanhoover had in store for them, he knew they’d be able to overcome them, so long as they were together. The chief steward at Canterlot Castle stopped just outside the princesses’ private dining area, taking one last chance to inspect that the contents of the cart he was pushing were arranged just so. Ever since Princess Luna had returned, the two sisters had started a tradition where they’d share a meal together each day. Just before Princess Celestia would lower the sun, and just after Princess Luna had awoken to prepare for raising the moon, the two of them would get together and chat as they ate. Although neither had said so, the steward knew that they liked to be left alone during this time, so that they could focus on their bond as sisters. Looking over the plates and dishes with a critical eye, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. The food was of a medley that most ponies would have considered unusual, combining dinner entrees with breakfast courses, but that was normal here. After all, for Princess Celestia this was the last meal of the day, whereas for Princess Luna it was the first. Briefly the steward wondered why the pair had decided to meet during sunset for their daily get-togethers and not sunrise. Probably because more tends to happen during the day, and it’s more convenient for Princess Celestia to inform Princess Luna about the various goings-on and what-to-do’s than the other way around, he decided. Certainly that was why they always wanted the newspapers delivered with their meals. And they’d certainly have a lot to talk about today! Lowering his eyes to the cart’s second tray, piled high with the evening editions of the local papers, the top-most one was leading with an eye-catching story indeed. On the front page of the Canterlot Chronicle, there was a picture of a dour-looking unicorn with a blood-red horn glaring at the camera, right next to a second picture of what looked like that same unicorn inside some sort of giant glassy-looking pony statue, facing off against a dragon, of all things! Even more arresting was the headline: “KING SOMBRA REBORN?! UNICORN HERO SAVES TALL TALE!” The steward had heard that the Chronicle had sold through four print runs of that edition of the paper, and that demand continued to remain extremely high. Personally, he thought it was all rubbish, and was sure that the princesses wouldn’t put any faith in such poppycock. Satisfied that everything was in order, he knocked on the door, waiting just a moment before entering. Bowing to the princesses, he made sure to keep a professional smile on his face as he began serving them.