//------------------------------// // 283 - Age and Beauty // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “Madam, we’ve arrived at the harbor. You may disembark at your leisure.” “Mm-hmm,” nodded River disinterestedly, waving a hoof to shoo the butler away without looking at him. “That’s wonderful, now do run along. I need everything to be perfect before I’m ready to go.” Not hearing the acknowledgment or the retreating hoofsteps, she continued to stare at her reflection, eyes peering over the rim of her sunglasses as she carefully adjusted the wide brim of her hat. “This much?” she asked herself as she tilted it so that it rested at an angle to the ground. “No, too carefree.” The last thing she wanted to do was look flippant in the face of a disaster, and she moved her brim so that it was closer to being parallel with the ground. “Hm. Too somber,” she decided. She needed to look properly respectful without looking depressed about what had happened. “Begging your pardon, Miss,” piped up one of the maids as she closed another suitcase. “But you look stunning either way.” Behind her sunglasses, River rolled her eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured, somehow managing to make the words sound like a rebuke. Sound too grateful, she knew, and the servants started to get uppity. Without giving it another thought, she went back to arranging her hat. But apparently she’d sounded more appreciative than she’d meant to, because the maid kept talking. “Um, Miss? I’m terribly sorry if this is out of turn, but…after we bring everything back to your manor, would it be alright if I went by my house? I’ve been worried sick about my little girl and my husband, and I just need to know that they’re alright. I promise I’ll come back right away.” She added the last part as an afterthought, clearly noticing how the other maids were edging away from her. River didn’t reply for several moments, making it absolutely clear that replying to the maid wasn’t a priority for her. It was only after a good fifteen seconds that she sighed, tossing her hat on a nearby settee before turning to regard the mouthy mare. “Do remind me, what’s your name again?” She had a vague recollection of hiring this one just before the flooding, which explained why she’d have a house in the city; a new hire wouldn’t have had enough seniority to have family quarters at the mansion. “F-Feather Duster, Miss.” River was silent again, looking the nervous pony over. A pegasus mare, Feather Duster had a coat that was a dull, washed-out yellow, with her mane and tail being a deep brown. Nor were her colors complemented by her frumpy maid outfit, with its shapeless gray dress and tasteless lace headpiece, to say nothing of the absolutely awful bun that she, like all the other maids, had been required to wear her hair in. The overall effect turned what should have been a reasonably pretty twenty-something mare into a drab, homely-looking thing. The sight made River smile, and Feather Duster tentatively smiled back, thinking that everything was going to be okay. “Feather, sweetheart, you should absolutely go and check on your family once you’re done here.” “Really?!” The word came out with an explosive sigh of relief, Feather Duster’s grin widening. “Oh, thank you so much, Miss! I promise that you won’t even know I’m gone! I’ll just stop by to let them know that I’m alright, and then I’ll head right back-” “Oh no, that won’t do at all,” interrupted River. “Surely you’ll want to spend some time with them, won’t you? After all, I can see just how distraught you are from having been separated all this time.” Feather’s smile dimmed, immediately realizing that something was wrong. “I…well, yes, but I…I know how valuable your time is, Miss, and I wouldn’t-” “What’re their names?” interrupted River. “Your husband and daughter?” “Ah, Tryout, Miss. Tryout and Cleansweep. Respectively.” “Well, I think you should definitely spend some more time with Tryout and Cleansweep. That’s why I want you to take the rest of the day off.” “R-Really?” Feather Duster’s grin was shaky, still worried about what was happening. “Thank you, Miss. I don’t know what to s-” “For that matter,” continued River, talking over the other mare, “you should take tomorrow off too.” “B-But-” “In fact, you should take every day off from now on.” River smiled again, but there was nothing even remotely friendly about the expression now. “Do you understand?” Feather Duster looked stricken, her eyes widening as her mouth fell open in horror. “No! Please, Miss, I need this job! Our daughter’s growing like a weed and Tryout-, he’s a wonderful father but he can’t stick with something for more than a month before he gets bored and quits! Please, I take it all back!” But River had already lost interest, turning her attention back to her hat. “Go upstairs and tell Trotsworth that you’re no longer working here. He’ll see that you receive your last payment for your services.” “Please, I beg-” “Go.” Sniffling, Feather Duster turned to look at the other maids, silently pleading for their help, but none of them met her eyes, each of them as quiet as could be while they tended to River’s luggage with exaggerated care. Defeated, Feather slunk toward the door, shuddering breaths coming from her mouth as she fought back tears. She was reaching for the handle when River’s voice spoke up. “Feather.” Looking up, Feather Duster couldn’t help the sudden flame of hope that leapt in her heart. “Yes, Miss?” “If you break anything on your way out, or throw any of my nice things into the water, or do anything else that I don’t like, I’ll make sure that you never work in Vanhoover again.” River paused in her primping to look at Feather Duster in her mirror, her expression cold. “Are we clear?” “…yes, Miss…” Hanging her head, Feather Duster left the room, tears falling from her eyes as she closed the door behind her. For a moment, the sound of her sobbing lingered, until it finally faded away. Sighing, River adjusted her hat again. “Good help really is hard to find these days, isn’t it?” Ten minutes later, her hat was finally at the perfect angle, and River was ready to go. “Trotsworth, what exactly is going on here?” His frown several millimeters deeper than usual, her butler gave her an apologetic bow. “I’m terribly sorry, Madam. She simply invited herself on board and began making a nuisance of herself. I instructed everypony to simply go about their business, but, well…our ‘guest’ is making herself rather difficult to ignore.” “That’s putting it mildly,” frowned River, looking across the deck where her crew was gathered, the suitcases containing her luggage carelessly stacked to one side. Other than Trotsworth, and that empty-headed little nag Feather Duster, all of her servants were there, their backs to River as they listened to the mystery mare who was singing. River couldn’t see her – there were too many ponies in the way – but she was currently performing a rather operatic piece about some wizard who fought a dragon. It had a rather catchy tune, and whoever was singing it was quite clearly talented, enough so that under other circumstances River might have enjoyed listening to her give a performance, but right now it was distracting everypony from what was really important: her. As she stalked closer, the song came to an end, its story concluding with the wizard defeating the dragon and collapsing in his true love’s hooves. Adorable, if rather cliché, decided River. But she was apparently the only one who thought so, as everypony else began to cheer, clapping their hooves and whistling in appreciation. It was enough to make one of her eyes twitch, knowing that the raucous display would have disturbed her if she’d been resting. For a moment she contemplated firing them all the way she had Feather, but decided against it. She’d have to carry her own luggage if that were the case, since Trotsworth was getting on in the years. No, far better to deal with whoever was causing this instead. As soon as the applause began to die down, River cleared her throat loudly. “What does everypony think they're doing?” The servants collectively jumped at her voice, spinning in mid-air to turn and face her, and River fought down the urge to smile at the sight. Instantly, the air was filled with mumbled apologies as the servants returned to their duties, picking up her luggage and heading for the ramp to the dock. River didn’t bother to watch them go, instead looking for the mare whose singing had enthralled them all. As the last of the ponies trotted off in a hurry, River stepped forward- And stopped dead in her tracks, going rigid as she got a good look at the pony in front of her. Instantly, the blood drained from her face while a cold shudder ran down her spine. It was only thanks to years of maintaining a public persona that River was able to keep her honest reaction off of her face. Whoever this other mare was, she was GORGEOUS! Her coat was a blue-tinged white that looked like snowfall viewed through a tastefully-tinted glass, covering a body that looked like it had stepped right out of a teenage boy’s fantasy of what a supermodel looked like. Her mane was long and free-flowing, somehow managing to her look carefree and uninhibited rather than unkempt. And her face…she was smiling with a youthful exuberance that contrasted pleasingly with her captivating figure, making her enticing without being suggestive. All of that wrapped up in a package that couldn’t have been a day over nineteen years old. She’s not even wearing makeup! River screamed internally, suddenly conscious of just how much product she’d applied to her own face, mane, and body. Moreover, this other mare wasn’t even wearing anything, a state that should have marked her as bourgeois and drab, but instead came across as forthright and confident, as though she knew she didn’t need clothes to look better than everypony else. All of a sudden River felt mortified at how long she’d needed to pick out her outfit. Even the mystery girl’s cutie mark was elegantly stylish: a jagged musical note over a heart. River had never in her life been as intimidated as she was at that moment. “Did you like the song?” grinned the girl, apparently not picking up on River’s reaction. “It’s just, like, the first one so far. I wanna cover all the adventures we’ve had together so far before I can perform the whole thing for Lex. I mean, it’s not really for him because he was there when it all happened, but it’s so that everyone else will know what a super awesome guy he is! But I bet he’ll love it too because he’s told me how much he loves hearing me sing and that’s something only I can do for him unless he changes Aria into a pony and fixes her voice which he definitely will because he’s, like, a genius at everything he does and then she’ll be able to sing for him too and what if he likes her voice as much as mine?!” Her smile, somewhere along the way, had turned into a look of worry, biting her lip. River blinked. “I…I’m sorry?” The inane comment was enough to throw her for a loop. She’d been expecting some sort of cutting remark about how she was nowhere near as young or as pretty as her uninvited guest – that was what she’d have done if their positions had been reversed – but instead she was talking about…something? The other mare sighed, shaking her head as though to clear it. “No, I’m sorry, my love goddess hasn’t been picking up lately even though I offered her pie, so I kinda unloaded all over you there.” Taking a step closer, the younger pony regained her easy smile as she held out a hoof. “My name’s Sonata Dusk. Let’s you and me be friends, okay?”