//------------------------------// // 330 - Sprinkle Toss // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “And here you go,” smiled the waitress as she put the bowl down. “One scoop of plain vanilla, and five spoons to go with it.” “Thank you very much,” smiled Granola Bar, hoping that the waitress would take the hint and leave. But she didn’t. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything else? For just a few bits more, we can add sprinkles on top.” Granola Bar kept her smile in place, shaking her head politely. “No, no, this is fine.” Out of her peripheral vision, she could see her friends shifting in their seats, trying to look casual and relaxed despite being neither of those things. She noticed Funshine picking up his spoon, and the sight made her strain to hold her smile. If he ate the ice cream – which wouldn’t be hard, since a single scoop was barely a mouthful – then they’d have no reason to keep hanging out here… Fortunately, he seemed to know that, instead holding it up and peering at the back of it, as though trying to use it as a mirror. Resisting the urge to sigh in relief, Granola Bar returned to trying to shoo the waitress away. “We’re just, you know, going to savor this.” The waitress cocked an eyebrow, her smile turning playful, and Granola Bar realized with a sinking feeling that she’d apparently taken her brush-off as a challenge. “Don’t say that before you know about all the choices we have in our sprinkle selection,” she teased. “Most places only offer chocolate or rainbow, but we have an entire line-up of colors and flavors! Bubblegum sprinkles can make even the plainest ice cream into a party for your palate, while cream-filled sprinkles give you all of the benefits of whipped cream with none of the mess! And then there’s our ‘sprinkle surprise,’ where every sprinkle has a different flavor!” She leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “I got the recipe for that one from a pony in Ponyville. There’s this place there, Sugarcube Corner, and the mare who works-” But that was all Slip ‘n’ Slide could take. “Oh for Celestia’s sake, will you just take a hike already! Nopony wants your stinkin’ sprinkles!” The waitress gaped, stunned by the outburst, and Granola Bar hurried to salvage the situation, already seeing other ponies turning to look at them. “Uh, you’ll have to forgive him,” she soothed, leaning over so she was blocking Slip’s line of sight to the waitress. “He’s been, um…” “Worried about me,” spoke up Fencer, pointing to her bandaged horn. “I was in an accident earlier, and my friends have all been really stressed out over it.” “Y-yeah,” piped up Hopscotch. “That’s why we’re all eating this ice cream together.” Funshine nodded, his lack of acting skills somehow managing to make even that seem wooden. Fortunately, the waitress didn’t seem to notice, giving Fencer a sympathetic look. “Oh, I understand. You all enjoy your ice cream.” Giving them a friendly wave, she turned around and trotted off. The others waved back until she’d gone back inside, before collectively sighing in relief. With no need to further the deception, Funshine found his voice, shooting his brother a glare. “Real smooth, Slip. What happened to ‘just lay low and be as forgettable as possible’?” “Oh shut up,” groused Slip ‘n’ Slide. “She would have gone on for ten minutes if somepony hadn’t stopped her. Besides, after the way you handled things with that guard back at the castle-” “Please don’t fight,” cut in Hopscotch, pouting. “We just had a beautiful moment with Cozy and everypony else. Let’s not ruin it.” The mention of what had happened with the crystal mare was enough to calm everyone’s nerves, causing them all to fall silent in remembrance. But it only lasted for a few seconds before Fencer looked up. “I want to say this again-” Granola Bar was already shaking her head. “We’re not splitting up, Garden.” “You guys don’t need to run anymore,” insisted Fencer. “With Pillow being brought back, and Cozy having forgiven us, I’m sure that Princess Cadance wouldn’t want to punish any of you.” “Cozy forgave you, Garden,” corrected Funshine gently. “I’m sure she meant it for the rest of us too, but it was you she said it to. If you’re right about Princess Cadance not wanting to pass judgment on us, then I’m sure that’d go double for you.” Fencer shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking down at the untouched bowl of ice cream sitting in the middle of the table. “I know. I know you’re right, but I just…” She bit her lip, trying to put her feelings into words, but it was impossible to explain. Being forgiven by Cozy and Pillowcase – the crystal stallion having offered his own forgiveness after his wife – had been a wonderful feeling, but one whose intensity had left her reeling. Having her guilt and her shame unexpectedly uprooted in an instant had left Fencer grappling for something to hold onto, and the loss of her emotional equilibrium had been so dizzying that she’d almost found herself wishing she still had those negative emotions to provide her with some stability, which had thrown a whole new level of confusion into the mix. Even her name had become a source of renewed uncertainty for her, once again unsure whether she should call herself Fencer or Garden Gate. The thought of going through anything like that again was simply too much. Even if she didn’t have any sort of personal connection with Princess Cadance, the mere possibility that the alicorn princess – who in the few moments Fencer had known her had demonstrated incredible acumen where feelings were concerned, immediately realizing how their confessions were upsetting Cozy – might be able to further upend her already-turbulent sense of self was something Fencer found herself instinctively shying away from. It had only been a few days since Lex had forced her to realize what a monster she’d become, and now her victims had forgiven her. She simply couldn’t take any more shocks to her system. Instead, she found herself craving familiarity, and right now familiarity was Vanhoover, making it easy for her to stick to her original decision to return to the ruined city. And although she’d tried to talk her friends out of it, she couldn’t deny that she was happy that they’d refused. Being apart from them was the last thing she wanted right now. “Can I just say that I think Garden’s making the right decision?” chimed in Slip ‘n’ Slide, bringing Fencer out of her attempt to sort out her jumbled emotions. He glanced around the table, as if inviting anyone to challenge his statement. “Seriously, I don’t think the princess is in a forgiving mood.” “She might be,” argued Hopscotch. “She seemed really nice when we saw her earlier.” “Yeah, well, I’m looking at nearly a half-dozen guards watching the entrance to the train station,” retorted Slip ‘n’ Slide, peering over the edge of the patio. “And I still don’t see the others that went to inspect the interior of the trains that’re there.” “Maybe she sent them out to tell us that all’s forgiven?” offered Hopscotch. “I wouldn’t count on it,” sighed Granola Bar. “You don’t use that many guards for something like that.” “At least I don’t have to pretend to be one of them anymore,” joked Funshine. Slip ‘n’ Slide frowned at that. “I still think we should have kept that armor, instead of ditching it.” This time it was Fencer who answered. “No, getting rid of it was the right decision. By now the Royal Guard probably all know that we took a suit of their armor. If they’re looking for that, then not having it is smarter. Besides, outside of the castle the guards are too noticeable anyway.” Hopscotch smiled. “It was nice that we could drop it off at that all-night cleaners. That kind of makes up for how we made that poor guy bump his head, don’t you think?” “Only until he gets the bill for that wax-polish Funshine ordered,” muttered Slip ‘n’ Slide under his breath. Funshine snorted. “Trust me, after how badly I was sweating while I was talking to that guard, it needed it.” “So.” Granola Bar’s voice was just a little louder than it needed to be. “What’s our next move?” “Right now, it’s to stay here as long as we can without eating this ice cream.” Fencer didn’t need to explain her answer. “If we’re lucky, the guards will leave the station after a little while. If not, then we’ll think of something else.” Even in her distraught state, Fencer had known better than to rush straight for the train station after they’d left the castle. Once they’d dropped off Funshine’s ill-gotten armor, they’d instead looked for a place to hole up, preferably one that offered a good view of the city while they made plans. The bad news was that all the best locales for that were eateries, and they were all flat broke. The good news had been that after the five of them had scoured the sidewalks, sewer grates, and alleyways for loose change, they’d managed to come up with enough bits for a small ice cream at The Delectable Dessert Den, which featured patio dining that offered an excellent view of the train station. Now they just had to make sure they made their time there last as long as possible… Funshine idly played with his spoon. “I still think we should try slipping onto an airship. If we sneak onto one of the ones that makes deliveries, we could board ourselves up in a big box-” “We are not flying!” Granola Bar made sure to keep her voice down, but the way she turned pale made it clear that this wasn’t negotiable. “Whatever we do, we’re keeping our hooves on the ground.” “They can’t keep guarding the trains forever, right?” Hopscotch twisted around in her seat to look down at where the guards were still checking everypony that wanted to enter the station. “At some point they’ll have to stop.” Slip ‘n’ Slide shrugged. “Somehow I doubt that they’ll leave before we run out of excuses and have to eat this ice cream.” “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have ordered the fudge swirl,” grumbled Funshine. The complaint brought a smile to Fencer’s lips. “I like strawberry, but only when it comes from neopolitan ice cream.” It had always tasted better to her, despite everypony else swearing it was exactly the same. The thought reminded her of when they had sat down to that sumptuous feast that Lex had created a few days ago. She had barely been able to get excited, still laboring under her confession and Lex’s curses, and her friends had started talking about their favorite foods to cheer her up. Funshine wanted pie, she remembered fondly. Granola Bar hoped there was some salad. Hopscotch was looking forward to having a hayburger. Slip wanted a peanut butter sandwich without the crusts, and Turbo… She stared into space for a moment, remembering the pony who wasn't with them anymore. His favorite food was macaroni… Staring at the small bowl of ice cream, Fencer found herself wondering how that could only have been a few days ago. It feels like a year, at least. To think that so much had happened in such a short amount- “WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR LOUSY SPRINKLES ALREADY?!” Fencer jumped at the angry roar, and she wasn’t the only one. “The heck was that?!” sputtered Slip ‘n’ Slide, twisting in his seat to look back at the interior dining area. Sitting in a booth, the waitress they’d had earlier was slowly backing away from an irate unicorn mare, an earth stallion doing his best to soothe the latter pony as she glared balefully at the waitress. “Sorry!” murmured the stallion. “It’s been a stressful night and neither of us have gotten much sleep. Can you just bring her a bowl of plain vanilla? No sprinkles,” he added quickly. “Darn right no sprinkles!” growled the mare, somehow making the words sound like a declaration of war. Slowly, Fencer and her friends exchanged looks. They didn’t say anything about what they’d just witnessed. They didn’t need to, all of them thinking the same thing. Both of those ponies were wearing railway uniforms.