//------------------------------// // 217 - Staying Active // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Sonata couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry. “Where does she get off talking all high-and-mighty like that?!” she growled, stamping a hoof in anger as she glared at the door where Cozy and Aisle had left. Too furious to stay still, she paced back and forth restlessly. “Like, seriously! We fight off a whole bunch of monsters together, and then we come here and start trying to fix this place up, and she’s all ‘yeah, but you still suck because you don’t smile at anypony enough’?!” “Sonata-” But Sonata kept going, ignoring Nosey’s interruption. “I mean, yeah, it’s super awful what happened to everypony that went back to Vanhoover, but where does she get off saying whose fault it is?! I didn’t see her jumping at the chance to go with them! And you know why?! ‘Cuz she was too busy wagging her tail for her new boyfriend! Guess she needed to break him in real quick, otherwise he might have realized what a nag she was! Meanwhile, she thinks I’m the one who’s not in a loving relationship! Like that makes any sense at all!” That drew Lex’s attention, giving Sonata a sharp look. “What?” “I know, right?!” She nodded, giving him a look of outraged commiseration. “Just before you guys got here, she and Aisle showed up looking for her friends, and then Cozy was all like ‘oh by the way, your boyfriend is totes playing you for a chump, Sonata. He just wants you for your rockin’ bod.’ And I’m all like, ‘um, nuts to you. You don’t know what we have,’ and she was-” “Enough,” growled Lex. “I don’t care about what Cozy said.” But his statement was belied by the way his ears had folded back. Cozy’s blaming him for what had happened to Cloudbank and the others had been difficult to hear; that she’d apparently thought he didn’t love Sonata was simply adding insult to injury. The worst part was that he couldn’t completely dismiss the crystal mare’s accusations, either. Not of his supposed lack of feelings for Sonata – in that regard Cozy was completely wrong – but about his being responsible for the lives that had been lost. Despite Nosey’s attempt at reciprocating for his having previously assured her that she wasn’t culpable for any of Xiriel’s atrocities, Lex knew that the same could not be said for himself. The fact that he hadn’t known that the devil had even existed, let alone that it was going to murder the ponies he’d sent into Vanhoover, meant that he couldn’t be held indirectly responsible for what it had done. But at the same time, that also served as an indictment of his ability to protect the ponies under his care. As one who would rule, it was his responsibility to foresee potential problems and make the appropriate countermeasures before they caused innocent ponies to be victimized. To claim that this couldn’t be considered a failure on his part because he had been taken completely by surprise would, he knew, have made him no better than the princesses. And it wasn’t as though there were no warning signs, Lex thought to himself darkly. He’d seen the necromantic aura around Block Party almost as soon as he’d arrived, and yet he’d ignored it completely in his haste to start relieving the miserable conditions that the camp ponies were living in. The only precaution he’d taken had been to stick Block Party in the train station and put a guard outside the door, a measure so feeble that even Sonata had questioned if it was sufficient. In hindsight, it was obvious that he should have listened to her. An earth pony with an aura of magic, let alone such a powerful one, should have been immediately investigated as a possible threat; something to be secured before focusing on relief efforts. It would likely have meant forcing a confrontation immediately, but given what a monster Xiriel had turned out to be, that was always going to happen. By avoiding the issue, he’d given the devil time to put a new plan into place, and the result had cost Block Party, Cloudbank, Drafty, and the others their lives, as well as wounding Nosey severely. I would have had Severance with me if I’d confronted the creature immediately, Lex realized with a burst of recrimination. If I’d dispelled the aura around Block Party the way I did for Nosey, Xiriel would have been forced out, and I could have fought it right then. With the scythe at his side, winning wouldn’t have proven to be so daunting a task, and he likely could have stopped whatever the devil had done to banish Severance. All of this could have been avoided…but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Now the only thing he could do was try to avoid compounding his failures even further. Letting out a slow breath as he put his thoughts in order and shoved his emotions down, Lex began to walk toward the door, speaking as he moved. “We need to begin fortifying the camp for when the ghouls launch their assault. I want every able-bodied pony to begin digging trenches along the western perimeter. Those who can’t should focus on making obstacles out of whatever materials they have on hoof. Any sort of makeshift fencing or caltrops will do. We’ll also need to move the campfires to create a ring-” “Wouldn’t it be safer to evacuate?” interjected Nosey. She had kept pace with him the instant he started moving, not letting her side leave his for an instant. “We could have everypony march north to one of the farms and hole up there.” “That won’t work,” responded Lex immediately. “Those farms are no more defensible than this place, and I don’t want to risk an attack during the evacuation process, especially since the ghouls’ lack of biology means that they have inexhaustible stamina-” “Okay, time out!” Sonata stood up on her hind legs as she interposed herself between Lex and the door, crossing her forelegs in a T-shape. “What’s all this about the ghouls assaulting us all of a sudden?!” She frowned as she looked at Nosey, causing the other mare to twitch and look down guiltily, before switching her gaze to Lex. “And when exactly did you two get so close? Last I remember, you were treating her like she was a criminal over what happened with Block Party.” Nosey winced at that, immediately stepping away from Lex. “There was…” But she couldn’t finish, suddenly feeling horribly vulnerable, anxiety washing over her again. For his part, Lex simply answered Sonata’s frown with one of his own. “I’ll explain everything later, Sonata. Right now we need to start trying to make this place as defensible as possible.” Huffing, Sonata fell back to all fours. “Oh come on! I’m not asking for one of your big detailed explanations with, like, graphs or charts or anything. Just tell me what happened!” She looked at Nosey again. “Didn’t you say something about Lex saving you from a monster just now or something?” Nosey felt her throat constrict, breathing suddenly becoming harder. “I…that…” Shudders ran through her, and she felt herself tensing, unable to make it stop. Fighting to retain control of herself, she squeezed her eyes shut. “He killed it,” she muttered, not even realizing she was speaking out loud. “It’s dead, and it’s not coming back. He killed it. It’s dead, and it’s not coming back. He kill-” “Wha-, Nosey? What are you doing?” Her eyes widening at how her best friend was acting, Sonata felt her concern go through the roof. She’d seen her having what looked like some sort of panic attack before, and that cuddling up to Lex had been what stopped it, but this looked ten times worse, and it was really starting to freak her out. What happened with them?! As far as Lex was concerned, however, Nosey’s repeating the mantra he’d taught her meant that she was doing fine. Giving her no further thought, he instead focused on Sonata, holding out a hoof toward her. “Sonata, move-” The sound of his voice was enough to reach Nosey through her barely-restrained terror, and with an anguished cry she flung herself at him, desperate to reestablish contact with the pony that had saved her. Not having expected that, Lex was taken completely unaware as Nosey suddenly lurched into him, and went stumbling in response, unable to keep his hooves under him in his weakened state. The result was that he and Nosey went tumbling to the floor together, her clinging to him as he groaned dizzily, as Sonata watched with wide eyes. “Okay, for realsies, I need an explanation. Like, pronto.” Gritting his teeth at the antics of the two mares, Lex forced himself to keep his temper under control. That he succeeded was more due to his exhaustion than anything else. Slowly climbing to his hooves, a process made more difficult by how Nosey continued to cling to him the entire time, Lex decided to take care of two problems at once, directing his attention toward Sonata. “Do you have any magic that can calm her down?” “Oh! Hey, that’s a good idea!” She thought for a minute, then nodded. “I can sing something that should be able to chill her out. But, um, is that okay…?” She glanced at Nosey again, who had given no indication that she’d heard them, just holding onto Lex and shaking like a leaf. It was pretty obvious, now that Lex had mentioned it, that she needed some serious help, but Sonata had never figured out his rules about when it was okay for her to use her magic on someone and when it wasn’t. Fortunately, Lex didn’t seem to be in the mood to try and make a lesson out of it, simply nodding and waving a hoof at her expectantly. Nodding, Sonata took a breath before singing a slow, peaceful song, swaying as she let the melody flow through her, her magic imbuing the lyrics with a soothing quality beyond what the music itself could have accomplished. When she finished the last note, Nosey hadn’t moved, but had visibly relaxed, the tension draining out of her. Licking her lips, Sonata stepped forward and gently put a hoof on her friend’s side. “Hey…you okay now?” Her cheeks red, Nosey nodded, not looking Sonata in the eye as she slowly let go of Lex and stepped back, keeping her gaze on the ground. “Yeah…sorry about that.” “Do you feel able to recount what happened?” Lex was already eyeing the door. As much as he felt guilty over what had happened to Nosey, securing the safety of everypony here came first. This way, she’d be able to satisfy Sonata’s curiosity while he started implementing plans to try and make the camp more secure. When she nodded in reply, he let out a relieved sigh, turning to Sonata. “Come find me when you’re done here.” He didn’t wait for an answer before turning and heading outside. As the door closed behind him, Sonata helped Nosey over a chair, sitting her down before parking herself right next to her. “Okay, so what happened between you and Lex? And what’s this about a monster? Tell me everything.” Taking a deep breath, Nosey still felt a shudder run through her as she nodded, though she recognized that it was nothing compared to how she’d felt before Sonata had ensorcelled her just now. Searching for where to begin, she bit her lip as she realized that for the first time that she could remember, she didn’t want to report an exclusive bit of news. The knowledge made her shift in her seat uncomfortably, glancing at her magnifying-glass-and-newspaper cutie mark. “I, um…I guess it started here,” she nodded upward, indicating the train station. “That first night, when we left Vanhoover and came here, I snuck in here to try and interview Block Party…”