//------------------------------// // 177 - Time to Go // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Noon had finally arrived. Cloudbank let out a slow breath as she looked up at where the sun was shining directly overhead. That alone should have been enough to eliminate all doubt about the time, but she couldn’t keep herself from glancing down anyway. Sure enough, her shadow was directly beneath her, further confirming that the appointed hour had arrived. If Lex was here his shadow would be stretched out in front of him, Cloudbank couldn’t help but think. Standing in front of the medical tent that was the center of the field hospital, Cloudbank glanced off to the side, thoughts of Lex making her look towards the rows of tents that had been set aside for outpatient care. But there was no sign of him, something she had mixed feelings about. Is he not here because he trusts me to handle everything, or is he just resting? She mulled the question over for a moment before abruptly telling herself that she didn’t care, shaking her head and sighing disgustedly. I’m acting like some ditzy little filly, and over a STALLION for crying out loud! “Hey, Cloudy!” At the sound of Drafty’s voice, Cloudbank whipped her head around, smiling at the sight of her girlfriend as well as the welcome distraction from what she’d been thinking about. “Where have you been?” she called. “Oh, I was wrapping some stuff up,” replied Drafty evasively. Without missing a beat, her eyes turned towards the scythe that was floating of its own accord next to Cloudbank. “Hi, Severance!” Cloudbank gawked as Drafty walked right up to the scythe and raised a hoof, as though about to hoof-bump it. “What are you-, Drafty!” She hurriedly placed herself between the weapon – which hadn’t moved in response to the cordial greeting – and the other mare. “Don’t talk to that thing!” Drafty blinked. “Why not? I thought it might be nice to say hi to him too.” She paused then, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “I mean, if Severance is a ‘him.’ I mean, ‘Severance’ doesn’t really sound like a mare’s name, you know?” “It’s an ‘it,’” scolded Cloudbank, grabbing Severance with her teeth and placing it across her back. She’d taken it off because, as the noon hour approached she’d grown less and less patient with the weapon’s constant proselytizing, to the point where she’d ordered it to follow her around instead of being carried. To her shock, the scythe had obeyed, giving Cloudbank some much needed space. “And have you forgotten that this thing almost killed you?! You shouldn’t be getting chummy with it!” Drafty frowned, and for a moment seemed like she wanted to argue the point. But instead she paused, her expression slowly changing into mild concern as she looked at Cloudbank. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong! I just don’t like the thought of you anywhere near this thing!” snapped Cloudbank, the words coming out more harshly than she’d intended. In her mind, Severance informed her that she was being unreasonable, since she was the one who had driven it through Thermal Draft. Cloudbank’s response was to glance back at the weapon and snarl at it. “Shut up!” But the words had barely left her mouth when she felt hooves gently cup her cheeks and turn her head so that she was facing forward again, where Drafty was giving her a reassuring look. “Cloudy, listen to me. It’s going to be fine.” Cloudbank tensed. “I-” “I know you’re nervous about going back into Vanhoover. I’m nervous too, but this is going to be different from how it was before.” Cloudbank flared her wings, taking a step back to escape Drafty’s grasp. “I’m not nervous!” she protested, and even to her it sounded unconvincing. Taking a moment to calm herself down, she glanced around anxiously. Fortunately, nopony was within earshot, but she could already see several ponies making their way toward them. Letting out a breath, she turned her gaze back to Drafty. “I can’t afford to be nervous,” she said in a softer voice. “If I look like I’m worried, then everypony else will lose confidence.” A surprised look crossed Drafty’s face. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted, the corners of her lips turning upward in a guilty-looking smile. “To me you’re just Cloudy, the mare who kept taking my temperature every half-hour when I was sick. But I guess to everypony else, you’re a spellcasting pegasus who introduced a goddess.” She paused for a moment, then leaned in closer to whisper conspiratorially, “Be honest though, is this really any scarier than having to give a big speech like that?” That was enough to make Cloudbank chuckle, her tension draining away. “Shut up,” she snickered. “I can do those dances again right now if you want.” Cloudbank snorted, rolling her eyes and smiling wider as she mock-shoved Drafty away. But her mirth died a moment later as the first pony walked up to them, causing her to straighten up and give the new arrival a cool look. “I thought you weren’t going to help.” For a moment Turbo didn’t reply, glaring at Cloudbank bitterly. He’d seen the playful interplay between her and that mare next to her – her girlfriend, according to what he’d heard in his short time with Lex’s group – and it struck him as hideously unjust that Cloudbank could be so happy after she’d refused to help Garden. But he forced himself to push the indignity down, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to carry out Garden’s wishes if he focused on it too much. “Garden Gate wants to help,” he corrected. “You heard her say so. I’m here because I want to honor that.” “You know this won’t change anything about her curses,” pressed Cloudbank, wanting to make sure that was absolutely clear. Turbo grit his teeth, and for a moment he didn’t trust himself to speak. “Yeah…” “This is going to go well,” muttered Drafty. But she didn’t have a chance to say anything else as two more ponies approached them. “Is everything okay here?” asked C. Shells, looking between Turbo and Cloudbank suspiciously. Next to her, Sandbar did his best to look tough, a hoof coming up to stroke the scar on his neck in what was clearly meant to be an intimidating gesture, though it ended up looking more like he was scratching an itch. “Everything’s fine,” answered Cloudbank, ignoring the sullen look on Turbo’s face. “Are you two ready?” “Absolutely!” grinned Sandbar. “We’re gonna be the scurviest pirates ever to rob a bank! Arr!” “Pirates?” echoed Drafty, giving C. Shells a confused look. “Just ignore him,” murmured the earth mare, a long-suffering look on her face. “I promise he’ll be able to carry a lot. He’s really strong.” Her tone made it clear that the explanation was her way of apologizing for bringing him along. “Oh, um, okay,” replied Drafty, slightly nonplussed. Shaking her head, she turned back to Cloudbank. “So I guess as soon as everypony else gets here, we’ll just go?” Cloudbank shook her head. “This is everypony. We’re go-” “Wait, hold on,” interrupted Turbo. “This is all you’re bringing? Five ponies?” His bitter expression had been replaced by one of disbelief. “I thought you were going to take in a small army or something.” “I’m a little surprised myself, Cloudy.” Drafty looked hesitant, but kept going. “I thought we were going to do this the same way we fought all those monsters on the docks, you know? A whole bunch of us go out so we can all form up and cover each other.” “That…” For a moment, Cloudbank felt her uncertainty start to return. Although Drafty had been right about her being nervous about going back into Vanhoover, that hadn’t been the sole reason she’d been anxious. The other part of it was the knowledge that this time, she was responsible for everypony. She hadn’t anticipated feeling like this when she’d started asking for volunteers, but as the appointed time had grown closer, she’d found herself more and more worried that she’d make some sort of mistake or do something stupid and cost everypony their lives. What if they’re right? What if we should be taking a larger group in? It’s not too late to change the plan. Lex would know, she was sure. Maybe if she consulted him really quick…? But before she could do anything, Severance’s voice flowed into her mind, reminding her that she was one of the Night Mare’s faithful, and as such needed to know the difference between scrutinizing a course of action and doubting it. That’s right, thought Cloudbank, remembering what the scythe had taught her earlier. Examining a plan for flaws is wisdom, but worrying that it won’t work is weakness. And weakness means death. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about taking a large group of ponies with her, after all. It was just that she’d decided not to. Now she had to stand by her decision. “That was a different situation.” Cloudbank forced herself to sound confident, making her voice contain surety that she didn’t completely feel. “What we want to focus on this time is speed and stealth, not defense.” She pointed upward. “We know that the ghouls don’t like sunlight, so our plan is to get in as quietly as possible, grab as many bits as we can, and get out before the sun goes down. We’ll have an easier time doing that in a smaller group.” “Plus, we had a lot of advantages in that battle that we don’t now,” pointed out C. Shells. Being a ship’s captain, thinking about large projects with multiple components came easily to her. “Lex made all those weapons and armor for us, remember? Not to mention that Sonata was using her magic to help make everypony fight better.” “And whatshername, that big fish-pony who whispers all the time. She was there too,” chimed in Sandbar. “She’s supposed to have some pretty impressive magic, right?” “Great! So let’s have them do that again!” snapped Turbo. He gave everypony a look of frustrated exasperation, as though he couldn’t believe he had to say this. “Even if-, no, especially if we’re going in by ourselves, we should look for every edge we can possibly get! Am I really the only one who’s thought of that?” Sandbar frowned at the other stallion’s tone. “Hey, listen jerk-” “Stop,” ordered Cloudbank, and to her mild surprise Sandbar did. “It’s a legitimate question.” In fact, it was the entire reason she’d wanted someone from Garden’s gang to come with them. Anypony who could survive the fall of Vanhoover the way they had – being out there in the thick of it instead of locking themselves in somewhere and hoping that help would eventually arrive, which was what she and her friends had done – had to have developed a level of cunning and strategic thinking that would be invaluable for what they were about to do. Well, except for Piggy, she thought, suppressing a smirk. “Oh it is, is it?” sneered Turbo, suspicious of how she was suddenly being so magnanimous. Refusing to rise to the barb, Cloudbank nodded patiently. “To answer your question, I spoke to Aria already, and she refused to help.” To put it mildly, she amended silently. She’d spotted the Siren resting behind the train station while coming down from her aerial conversation with Severance, and had gone to talk to her right after she’d spoken with Turbo. Needless to say, the only thing Aria had given her were insults and veiled threats, and Cloudbank – unwilling to threaten her with Severance the way she had during the fight on the pier – had come away with the distinct impression that Lex was the only one who could control her without resorting to violence. Probably because their personalities are so similar. “And Lex?” asked C. Shells. This time Drafty was the one who answered, a look of mild discomfort crossing her face. “It would be better if we didn’t ask him. He really needs to rest.” C. Shells nodded in a way that made it clear she’d expected that answer. Next to her, Sandbar piped up. “What about Sonata?” “What about me?” Everypony turned at the voice, looking to where Sonata was trotting towards them from the outpatient tents. “Hey,” she waved. “This is the meeting about the bank heist, right?” Cloudbank nodded. “That’s ri-” “How’s Lex?” interrupted Drafty. It was obvious that Sonata was coming from having met with him, and so Drafty couldn’t help but ask, both hoping and dreading that he’d said something about sending her to Las Pegasus in Sonata’s place. “Asleep,” answered Sonata, before immediately changing the subject. “So listen, if you guys are going back into Vanhoover, I want to go too.” “That’ll be a huge help,” smiled C. Shells. “Your magic will make a big differe-” “No,” interrupted Cloudbank. Everypony turned to look at her then, and there was confusion written on every face. But Cloudbank didn’t waver, keeping her eyes on Lex’s girlfriend. “You’re staying here, Sonata.”