//------------------------------// // 112 - Wrong Impressions // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// As they were marched through the warehouse, Turbo found himself thinking back to when everything had started. He hadn’t been very worried when Vanhoover had initially flooded. Sure, it was a disaster, but somepony would definitely come up with a plan and everything would be fixed in a jiff. Maybe, if he was lucky, it would even be one of the princesses; he’d always wanted to meet them! So when a lot of ponies rushed to abandon the city, he’d only chuckled at how panicky they were. But things hadn’t gotten better; quite the opposite, they’d quickly started to get worse. By the fourth day after the disaster, with the floodwaters still choking the city and food running out, it had started to sink in that no help was coming. But by that point it was too late to leave easily, with all of the serviceable ships having fled and the train service having stopped. Even so, Turbo knew he could have taken flight and left Vanhoover behind. Although twenty-odd miles was a long way to fly, especially on an increasingly-empty stomach, Tall Tale was looking better and better. Or he could have headed north towards any of the little farming villages scattered throughout the region. But so many of his friends and neighbors were earth ponies and unicorns who didn’t have those options; just abandoning them was unconscionable. So he kept waiting, even as his food dwindled along with his hopes. It had been at the seven day mark, when he had started getting truly desperate, that the floodwaters had receded. He still remembered the great cheer that had gone up from the remaining ponies as they woke up and realized that the city wasn’t flooded anymore. Despite the fact that everypony was filthy and hungry there’d been nothing but smiles on their faces, sure that they’d gotten through the worst of it. They had quickly learned just how wrong they were… And now it’s happening all over again, he thought with a growing sense of dread. Bad enough that they’d been captured by an evil wizard – being a pegasus, Turbo didn’t know much about spells or spellcasting, but everything about that Lex guy screamed “dark magic” – but in the short time they’d been walking he’d seen some sort of giant fish-pony monster moving through the dimly-lit hallways. Even now, as they approached the interior room that they were apparently being led to, he could see a scary-looking scythe, which was floating in midair, outside the door! Despite everything he’d been through up until now, Turbo couldn’t help but feel terrified, and he wasn’t the only one. Glancing behind him, he could see that Piggy was wide-eyed and sweating profusely, though that wasn’t exactly an unusual sight; their self-styled “leader” had a tendency to go to pieces at the slightest hint of danger. It had gotten to the point where the rest of them had a running joke about how, if worse ever came to worst, they’d see pigs fly because their leader would find a way to turn himself into a pegasus to escape. If not for the fact that he’d made all of them exorbitant promises about what he’d do after Vanhoover was restored, no one would have listened to a word he said. Now, however, Turbo would have thrown away every one of those promises if it meant that he could be anywhere other than here! That trophy mare that had spoken for Lex said they were going to see doctors, and although she’d tried to make it sound benign, Turbo was already imagining cackling ponies in blood-splattered smocks strapping them down to tables and doing Celestia only knew what to them! Or maybe they wouldn’t be ponies at all. Maybe they’d be demons, or those dead things infesting the city, or something even worse! As the stallion leading them went up to the door, Turbo’s courage broke, and he clenched his eyes shut. He would have bolted right there, except that he was sure that scythe or that fish-pony thing roaming the place would get him before he could escape. As he heard the door open, he tensed, sure that this was the end of- “Hi there! I’m Nosey Newsy with the Canterlot Chronicle, would any of you mind giving me an interview?” Freezing in place, Turbo cracked an eye open. Standing in the doorway was a unicorn mare holding a notepad and pencil at the ready. “I’ve been talking to some of the other survivors we’ve gathered so far,” she continued, “but since they were all together they only had one perspective to share, so I’d really like to hear what you’ve been through so that my readers can get a more accurate pict-” “Knock it off, Nosey,” came the voice of that other stallion, the one who had spoken up for them when his friends had protested bringing them in. “These ponies just got here. Let’s let them see the doctors and eat something before any interviews, okay?” Frowning, Nosey flipped her notepad closed. “In a bit of a mood today aren’t you, Aisle?” she noted, but didn’t press the issue as she turned and headed back inside. “Look who’s talking,” he muttered after she left, before turning back to the group. “Come on. The doctors are right inside. By the time they’re done looking you over, Lex should be back. Then we can eat.” Although Aisle had stuck up for them before, Turbo hadn’t been convinced that he still wasn’t about to lead them into some sort of torture or brainwashing or some other horrible fate. But now, after seeing the incredibly normal way that those two had sniped at each other, Turbo was wondering if maybe, just maybe, this might not be some new horror after all. Maybe, despite all of the intimidating weirdness around them, this whole operation really was on the up-and-up. But we should have a plan, just to be safe, he decided. As the rest of their group started to walk through the doors, Turbo hung back until he was alongside Fencer… Standing by himself at the edge of the warehouse, Lex was sulking. Sonata was, in all likelihood, right. After all, that was why he’d agreed to her spokespony idea in the first place; for all her intellectual deficiencies, her social acumen was remarkably puissant, even before her magical abilities were taken into account. If she was that adamant that he needed to personally engage with everypony, then there was little cause to doubt her. Except that should be her job, he groused internally. Her official role in this endeavor is to serve as my interlocutor! But apparently that wouldn’t do, otherwise Sonata wouldn’t have been so emphatic that HE be the one to talk to everyone. Some things, it seemed, could not be delegated. She’d even given him parameters to work with: that he needed to express some mixture of gratitude and admiration to everypony for their conduct in the recent battle. The thought was enough to make Lex fold his ears back, and he glanced at the wall of the warehouse, half-wishing that some other crisis would suddenly appear so as to spare him from this. But after a minute of no new calamity emerging, Lex heaved a resigned sigh, and slowly began walking back towards the shelter. “You’re looking even more depressing than usual.” Glancing over, Lex saw Aria reclining between two empty shelves, her half-lidded eyes directed towards him. “Normally I wouldn’t care, but I’m so bored that even talking to you sounds good, so what’s going on?” Lex was about to tell her to coldly mind her own business, but stopped. Aria had been out there alongside everypony else, and had played a not-insignificant role in their victory. As such, she needed to be included in his attempt to follow Sonata’s advice and foster better interpersonal relationships. Now…how to do that? Aria blinked, then frowned as Lex stopped and stared at her for a long moment. Several seconds ticked by in silence as her confusion mounted. What was he doing? “Hello? Earth or Equestria or wherever to Lex? You reading me?” She briefly thought about teasing him about being smitten with her, but that was only fun when Sonata was around. Otherwise, she didn’t really care- “I think you’re pretty,” blurted Lex. “Wh-what?!” Aria’s train of thought derailed immediately, Lex’s unexpected compliment having taken her completely by surprise. Lex was already regretting his choice of words. He’d been trying to figure out what specific phrasing would be most conducive for the results he was trying to achieve, and had frozen as he realized that he had no idea what to say. But she had already initiated the conversation, and according to the data he’d gathered over the course of his life, there was a limited window in which to respond before he committed a faux paus; a window that she’d already informed him was closing. Realizing that, Lex had blurted out the first thing that came to mind. That particular observation – a statement that he found her appearance aesthetically pleasing – was a line that had been suggested to him back on Everglow by Willow Leaf née Longtail, a purrsian (a winged cat-person that was one of that realm’s myriad native races) and one of the very few non-ponies to have earned Lex’s respect. It had been just one suggestion that she’d given him during the early days of his and Sonata’s burgeoning relationship, and it had been very helpful. As such, he’d fallen back on it during his momentary panic just now…only to realize how much of a mistake he’d just made. I’m supposed to be making reference to her actions during the battle! raged Lex internally. Remarks with regards to her comeliness are completely inapplicable here! That he’d so badly deviated from the parameters Sonata had given him was utterly mortifying. He could already feel himself turning red in embarrassment even as he scrambled for what to say that could return the discussion to the correct topic. In pure desperation he looked around for something, anything, that could possibly rectify the situation. For her part, Aria was completely flummoxed. For a moment she thought he might be setting her up for some sort of put-down or roundabout insult. But an instant later she saw Lex turn red and break eye contact with her, clearly embarrassed by his admission…and suddenly, she was embarrassed too for some reason. Quickly averting her eyes from him, she reached one hoof up reflexively, trying to play with pigtails that she no longer had. “Y-yeah, well…it’s not like you’re ugly or anything either, I guess.” The words were mumbled, and she quickly glanced back at him to see his reaction. Lex bit his lip as he heard her reply. No no no! This wasn’t what they were supposed to be discussing! Finding nothing on his quick scan of the room to return them to the proper metric for their exchange, he realized he had no choice but to operate blindly. “Um…you did a good job. Before. During the fight. The one against the kraken, I mean. Not the one where we fought each other.” He almost said she had done an adequate job, but given how meager Sonata’s intelligence was, he couldn’t take a chance that her sister would have an equally lacking vocabulary. “Good” seemed like a safer choice. “Yeah? I mean, yeah! Of course I did!” Aria nodded, forcing herself to straighten up and nod vigorously. “That’s what you’d expect from me, since I’m, you know…me,” she finished lamely. Lex could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He had no idea what her statement meant, but from what he could tell it wasn’t an expression of anger or discontent, which meant that he had done it! He had successfully completed an instance of social discourse! Sonata’s advice had worked! Now he just needed to disengage without ruining the progress he’d made. “Okay. Well then…” “Yeah…” Aria tried to stop herself from smiling back at him, but for some reason she couldn’t seem to make herself do so. Flustered, she realized she was grinning at him like an idiot as he turned and walked away. It was only after he left that she started to calm down, feeling almost dizzy as she tried to figure out what had just happened. For his part, Lex was almost walking on air, his earlier doldrums having completely vanished. That had gone so well! Eagerly, he headed for the shelter, impatient to try and repeat his success. That, and to tell Sonata what he’d accomplished. He just knew she’d be so happy for him.