//------------------------------// // 219 - Heart-to-Heart // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Aisle was in a state of controlled panic by the time he and Cozy reached the field hospital. Okay, calm down, he told himself silently as he followed Cozy around the medical tent, heading toward where Pillow’s body was stored among the boxes of medical supplies. All we have to do is figure out how to make a trek of several hundred miles, with no provisions or equipment, while carrying a dead body. Despite the warm temperature, a shudder rolled down his spine, knowing that their problems didn’t stop there. And we need to get underway as soon as equinely possible, before Lex figures out that Cozy was the one who turned everypony against him. The thought made him glance backward nervously, half-expecting to see Lex advancing on them in a rage. Although the perpetually-dour unicorn had, to Aisle’s considerable relief, allowed them to leave even after Cozy had all but spit in his face, he had no desire to keep pushing the limits of Lex’s forbearance. Unfortunately, he was sure that was what would happen when Lex finished up whatever business he had with Sonata and Nosey and exited the train station. At that point, he’d come into contact with everypony else, and it probably wouldn’t be long before he heard about Cozy’s tirade…and Aisle had no idea what would happen then. Lex clearly had some sort of code of honor, but whatever rhyme or reason it operated on was beyond Aisle’s ability to figure out, and he didn’t want to take the chance that “potentially stirring up an angry mob” was a punishable offense. Which means we have to go right now, but how t- His thoughts were interrupted as he crashed into Cozy, who had suddenly come to a complete halt. “Oof!” he gasped, hearing a similar exclamation from his girlfriend as they nearly collapsed. Barely managing to stay upright, Aisle immediately moved to help Cozy up. “Sorry! You suddenly stop-” He cut himself off in mid-sentence as he glanced ahead, seeing what had made her freeze in place. Lounging amidst the boxes, Aria was looking at them with an expectant smirk on her face. “Hi there,” she whispered, clearly enjoying their shock. “I heard you guys were planning on skipping out on us. Kinda cold, don’t you think?” Aisle felt his blood run cold at the words. He hadn’t personally interacted with Aria since she’d joined them back at the shelter, and everything he’d seen of her – along with what Sonata had told them – suggested that had been a wise decision. That she was here, now, could only be a bad thing. What else can go wrong? His question was answered a moment later as Cozy took a step closer to Aria, her body language radiating malice. “Get away from him,” she growled, her voice threatening. The statement made Aisle blink, since Cozy was between Aria and himself. It was only a moment later that he realized he’d misunderstood, looking back at Aria and seeing what he’d overlooked before: the cloth-wrapped body of Pillowcase lying on the ground right in front of her. She was close enough that she could easily have reached out and touched it, and Aisle knew immediately that her proximity to Cozy’s late husband was no coincidence. “Listen, we don’t want any trouble,” he said lamely, hating the pleading tone in his voice. But he couldn’t help it: he was at his limit for handling disasters. Trying to be a stabilizing influence on Cozy had left him emotionally drained, and being cursed in such a shameful manner hadn’t helped. He’d had no time to process that two of his closest friends were dead, and now he had to figure out a way to manage an utterly impossible journey that Cozy was dead-set on. He couldn’t handle Aria on top of everything else. But the whispering Siren’s only response was to laugh at them both, her mouth falling open as she gave a series of rapid breaths. “You mean besides what you already stirred up back there?” she asked sarcastically, glancing at Aisle. Her eyes turned to Cozy a moment later. “I have to say, I didn’t think you had the guts to try something like that. Getting everyone all riled up so that they’ll keep Lex busy while you two make a break for it? It’s a halfway decent plan. Though you would have been smarter to just take off instead of coming back for this.” She snorted the last word contemptuously, one hoof waving toward Pillow’s bound body. Although her gesture didn’t make contact with the corpse, Cozy nevertheless darted forward with a strangled snarl of outrage. Aisle was about to fling himself after her when the crystal mare came to a stop, aborting her charge as suddenly as she’d started it. “Don’t you touch him!” she shrieked, sounding angrier than Aisle had ever heard her. “I’m taking him back home with me! Princess Cadance is going to bring him back to life!” Aria’s eyebrows rose at that, but it was amusement, rather than amazement, that colored her features. She glanced at Aisle then, as though silently asking if she’d heard right, before looking back at Cozy. “Well that explains it,” she whispered, still smirking. “I thought it was weird that you’d suddenly be brave enough to try something like this. Turns out you’ve just gone completely crazy.” “You’re wrong!” Cozy lifted her holy symbol in one hoof and thrust it as far as she could toward Aria, drawing the necklace taut. “Princess Cadance has more of Lashtada’s greatest blessings than I do! She can perform all sorts of miracles! If there’s anypony who can resurrect Pillow, I know it’s her!” “The dead can’t be brought back to life,” snorted Aria, her look of amusement fading. “Now, I’m taking you two back to Lex. He’s going to-” “Yes they can!” interrupted Aisle as a sudden, desperate idea occurred to him. He just hoped that what he’d heard about Aria had been accurate. “Lex said so!” He tried to think back to the conversation they’d had on their way back to the shelter, when Cloudbank had all but picked a fight with Lex after the incident with the dummy lights. “He said…I heard him say that divine magic is capable of resurrecting the dead.” He took a step forward, forcing himself to sound confident. “I don’t know if Princess Cadance has that power, but there’s a chance that she might.” “Hm.” Aria paused at that, a look of doubt crossing her features. But it passed a moment later, and she waved a hoof in front of her face in a dismissive gesture. “Well, I don’t really care either way,” she whispered with a shrug, glancing at Cozy again. “I mean, I get that you want to have two guys hanging off of you instead of just one, but that’s not my problem. All I care about is getting my voice back, and if I drag you two back to Lex, then he might finally hurry up and give me what I want.” “Or,” countered Aisle, “you could come with us to the Crystal Empire.” For a moment silence reigned, both females staring at him. “What?” scoffed Aria, her face screwed up in skepticism, as though wondering if he’d misspoken. “What?!” gaped Cozy, her features warring between horror and incredulity. “You should come with us to the Crystal Empire,” repeated Aisle, keeping his eyes focused on Aria. “Think about it. If Princess Cadance can raise the dead, then healing the damage to your voice,” he pointed at the scar at the base of her neck, “should be no problem.” Another look of uncertainty flashed across her face then, one hoof moving to touch her scar reflexively, and Aisle knew that she was listening. A sudden surge of hope filled him then, and he shot a glance at Cozy, silently willing her to understand what he was trying to do. He immediately returned his eyes to Aria, though. If she caught him sending knowing glances to Cozy, she’d think they were trying to fool her, and that would be the end of her listening to him. I can do this, he told himself silently, thinking of all the times he’d closed deals with ponies in his family’s grocery store. This is just like talking Grapevine into buying peanut butter and celery to go with her raisins, or convincing Grand Pear that it’s okay to have apples and pears together in a fruit salad. Letting out a slow breath, Aisle steadied himself, knowing that this might be the most important negotiation he ever conducted. Aria was already starting to regroup, frowning as she shook her head. “Uh-uh. No way. She,” she thrust a hoof toward Cozy, “already used her healing magic on me before, after the battle at the docks, and it didn’t do a thing for my voice! You know why?!” She slammed her hoof down in frustration. “Because there’s nothing there to heal! Those butchers didn’t just cut my throat, they cut my voice out of it!” Despite her only being able to whisper, Aisle could hear the undercurrent of anguish beneath her anger. “Can your precious little princess fix that?!” “She might.” Cozy stepped forward, her features softer than they had been a few moments ago, and it was all Aisle could do not to faint in relief. “I don’t know if she can regenerate your vocal chords, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” She smiled slightly as she spoke next. “I was at the hospital once, donating some mattresses, when Princess Cadance was called there. A baby had been born with a defective heart. The doctors said that there wasn’t anything they could do, and they didn’t think he was going to make it. The parents were beside themselves, and begged the princess to fix their son, and you know what she did?” Cozy’s smile widened at the memory. “She took the baby in her forelegs, and sat down with the parents and told them to pray with her. They all sat down together and closed their eyes, and I saw the Princess’s lips moving, and suddenly that little baby – who had been so quiet and still – started crying at the top of his lungs, healthy and loud.” She paused then, wiping a foreleg across her eyes. She’d witnessed the entire thing through a hallway window, not just the miracle but the way Princess Cadance had cried with the parents when their baby was healed, embracing each of them in turn. Seeing that had affected Cozy profoundly – more than getting her cutie mark, more than falling in love, more than anything she’d ever imagined – and she’d gone to the Crystal Palace the very next day and asked to become a priestess of Lashtada. “The doctors checked the baby later, and they said his heart was as strong as any they’d ever seen. So you see, if she can fix a newborn’s broken heart, I bet she can fix your voice as well.” Her eyes fell to the cloth-wrapped body on the ground then, her further hope unspoken but obvious. Aria was silent for a long moment, wearing a pensive look. “…and you really think she’d do something like that for me?” “She will,” nodded Cozy, pausing for just a moment before adding, “if we tell her you helped us.” “Yeah, well…if I stay here, Lex will fix my voice in a couple days anyway, without me having to go wherever it is you’re heading.” “Why a couple days?” This time it was Aisle that spoke up. “If he has that power, why doesn’t he just use it on you right now?” “That…” Aria trailed off, biting her lip as she looked away. “…this is stupid. Even if I said yes, he might be able to track us down with his magic before we ever got away.” “Maybe,” admitted Cozy. “But aren’t you tired of living like this? Of feeling terrible for so long that you can barely remember what it feels like to be happy? Of having your hopes dashed over and over again until you can’t keep bringing yourself to hope for anything at all? Don't you want to at least try for something more?” She walked around Pillow’s body then, until she was right next to the crippled Siren, who tensed but didn’t back away. Raising a hoof toward her, this time without brandishing her holy symbol, Cozy looked her right in the eye. “Please, Aria…come with us.” Both ponies held their breath as they waited for her answer.