//------------------------------// // 342 - Return to Form // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Still wearing a carefree smile, Sonata tilted her head in curiosity. “Sure. What happened last night?” Lex hesitated. Although he knew that this was a conversation he needed to have, he nevertheless found himself suddenly questioning his current course of action. I should postpone this, he decided suddenly. Something this tumultuous shouldn’t be broached right before a major political event. There’d be plenty of time to tell Sonata about what had happened after he’d dealt with Celestia and Luna, when the potential fallout had no chance of affecting- “What he’s trying to say,” announced Aria with a spiteful grin, “is that we-” Her words abruptly cut off, despite her lips continuing to move. For an instant Aria looked confused, and her lips moved again, quicker this time. When nothing happened, her expression changed to one of horror, one hoof flying up to her throat in panic. Terrified, she looked at the others, her eyes pleading for help- Only to stop as she looked at Lex, who was glaring back at her with naked hostility in his gaze, something clearly communicated by the way his eyes glowed green and purple, the latter color sheathing his horn as well. “I have reached my limit for your persistent antagonism, Aria,” he rumbled. “From now on, further attempts by you to cause trouble will not be tolerated.” The colorful aura surrounding his horn suddenly winked out, his eyes returning to normal. “Consider this to be your last warning.” “You can’t do-” Stopping as she realized she could speak again, Aria squeezed her eyes shut, humming to herself as she took several deep breaths. She quieted a moment later, opening her eyes and giving Lex a look of pure malice. “I can’t believe you did that to me,” she hissed softly. When Lex’s only response was a derisive snort, she stalked over to him. “I can’t believe you did that to me!” This time the words were louder, her voice rising into an angry shriek as she raised her forelegs and lashed out with a shove. But Lex turned into shadow a moment before she made contact, sending her stumbling through his incorporeal form. “I did, and I’ll do it again if you can’t control yourself.” In contrast to Aria’s rising anger, Lex’s voice was colder than ice. Shaking with rage, Aria lifted a hoof and began to gesture, her voice rising in a chant. But before she’d gotten two syllables out, black crystals began to sprout around her, the sharp points pressing dangerously close. “If you even think of attacking me magically,” declared Lex softly, “I promise you your voice won’t be the only thing you lose.” For a second it looked like Aria might try it anyway, her foreleg held aloft as she glared at Lex hatefully, still quivering with repressed emotions. But after several seconds she lowered her hoof to the floor, and the black crystals around her receded in response. “You,” she breathed, “are a miserable, heartless, evil piece of…” She couldn’t finish, a choked sob cutting off her string of invectives, and she turned her back to him, taking shuddering breaths. Standing behind Lex, Nosey couldn’t bear to watch what was happening any longer, taking a step forward. “Aria-” “Stay back!” Her voice was a snarl, and her features were twisted with bitterness, but when Aria looked over her shoulder at them there were tears in her eyes. “Don’t any of you come near me!” Biting her lip, Nosey turned to the only person left who had yet to say anything. “Sonata, do something!” But Sonata’s only response was to shrug, a small smile on her face as she watched the exchange unfold. “Why? Lex has her totes under control.” She made no attempt to hide what she was saying, and Aria’s expression turned even uglier in response, teeth bared as she glowered first at Sonata, then at Lex. “I hope those princesses kill you,” she spat, before turning her attention back to her sister. “And I hope you watch it happen, because when it does you’ll both wish I was there to save you, and then YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU TREATED ME LIKE THIS!” She didn’t wait for a reply, stomping over to the door and wrenching it open so hard that the hinges almost tore. Stalking outside, the wordless scream of rage she gave a moment later was clearly audible even inside the station. Unimpressed at her temper tantrum, Lex’s lip curled as he returned to his physical form. “Childish nag,” was all he said as his horn lit up, telekinetically closing the door before returning his attention to the two remaining mares. Nosey could only stare at him, wide-eyed at how callous he’d been. “Lex, you have to go after her and apologize!” “I disagree,” he replied curtly. “What do you mean you disagree?!” Clearly unable to believe what she was hearing, Nosey could only gape. “You know how badly losing her voice hurt her! She told you last night, when she broke down right before you started that ritual! And then you go and do something like that to her just a few hours later…!” But Lex’s expression made it clear that he was unmoved by her pleading, and in desperation Nosey switched tactics, turning to the only other pony still present. “Sonata, tell him!” But Sonata just shrugged, the corners of her mouth still turned upward. “Eh.” Nosey gave her an incredulous look. “Are you serious?! You were in tears when she told you about what she went through!” That was enough to make Sonata’s smile fall away, but the expression that replaced it was one of irritation, rather than kindness. “Yeah, I was. Then she, like, totes threw herself at Lex and started saying that she was dating him too. Well guess what?” Her smile came back then, and this time it was clearly mean-spirited. “She wants to kiss and cuddle with my guy, then she can deal with all the awful parts of him too.” That earned her a sour look from Lex. “I find that line of reasoning difficult to appreciate.” “Aw, you know what I meant!” Giving him an apologetic smile, Sonata moved to nuzzle him. “I’m just saying, we worked really hard to get where we are, you know? We fought and cried and made up, and it was really tough a lot of the time, but it was totes worth it to get where we are now. If Aria thinks that she can just waltz in and make kissy-faces at you and that’s it, then she’s not getting the full Lex Legis experience.” “She was about to have ‘the full Lex Legis experience’ last night!” Nosey stomped a hoof, angry now. “That’s what she was trying to say before!” Lex’s head snapped around to glare at her. “Nosey!” “What?” Disappointment and anger clouded her face as Nosey met his gaze evenly. “Are you going to silence me too now? Maybe something even worse?” She could almost taste bile in her throat now, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. “Go ahead, we both know I can’t stop you, just like I couldn’t stop Xi-” “Whoa, whoa, time out!” Moving to stand between Nosey and Lex, Sonata gave her best friend a shocked look. “That’s going a bit too far, isn’t it?” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning to look at Lex. “Why’s everyone freaking out over last night, anyway? Did something happen?” Lex didn’t respond immediately, giving Nosey a dark look for several seconds before focusing on Sonata. There was no point in postponing this now. “Aria and I had an…a liaison last night.” Sonata’s eyes widened. “Wait, for realsies?” Feeling a shudder running down his spine at her reaction, Lex nodded stiffly. “Yes. But we didn’t finish!” “Only because I walked in on you,” muttered Nosey. “You were there too?!” Sonata twisted her head back and forth, looking at Nosey and Lex in turn. The disbelief in her voice made both of them flinch. When neither of them said anything, Sonata turned to look at Lex, her brow furrowing. “Okay, you’ve got, like, some serious ‘splaining to do!” The words felt like blows from a hammer, and in that moment Lex would have preferred to be facing Xiriel again than having this conversation. “Sonata, listen to me-” “No! You know what? No! I’m super mad now!” Walking up to him, one hoof shot out to jab him lightly in the chest. “You get all up in everyone’s face about eating the food that River brought, and it turns out you and Aria and Nosey all had a lasagna last night! Why didn’t you come and get me?! I love pasta!” Lex just stared at her. In another circumstance, Nosey would have giggled at Sonata’s misunderstanding. But at the moment she was too upset to find the humor in the situation. “No, Sonata. A liaison. It means…it means that they, you know…did it. I mean, they were going to do it, before I…you know…interrupted…” Sonata just tilted her head. “Wait, so you didn’t eat any of the lasagna?” She looked back at Lex, still upset. “You guys didn’t even share it with Nosey?” “It means lovemaking, Sonata.” Lex’s voice was flat, his face having no expression at all. “Last night Aria and I almost had intercourse.” Now it was Sonata’s turn to stare at him, visibly stunned. Then, slowly, she smiled. “No way,” she chuckled. “C’mon, is it August Fool’s Day or something? I mean, maybe if you weren’t, like, the most upright guy ever I’d have fallen for it, but this-” “It’s true, Sonata.” Nosey forced herself to look her friend in the eye as she spoke. “I saw them. They didn’t go all the way, but they probably would have if I hadn’t interrupted.” But Sonata just laughed it off. “For realsies, knock it off you guys. You can’t really think I’ll buy this, right?” She looked back and forth between them, her smile becoming strained at how somber they both were. “Right…?” A pregnant pause followed, and Sonata felt the inside of her mouth turning dry as she looked at Lex. When the silence became unbearable, she spoke up again. “So…okay, so, it was just, like, her being all over you, right? Like after the ritual? She threw herself at you, maybe did a sexy dance or something, and you didn’t have a chance to push her away?” Unlike Nosey, Lex couldn’t look her in the face. “…no.” Sonata’s eyes lit up with hope. “No, you didn’t have a chance to tell her to back off?” Lex sighed. “No, it wasn’t her being forward. She initiated the encounter but I…reciprocated.” He knew she wouldn’t know that word as soon as it left his mouth, trying again. “I kissed her back. I did more than that. Those marks on her neck were from me.” Once again, the words were toneless, delivered without emotion or feeling behind them. Sonata might as well have been a statue for how much she reacted. After what felt like an eternity, she licked her lips, struggling to get her next words out. “Are you in love with her?” Lex didn’t even consider answering her question, instead pivoting to the most closely-related tangent he could think of. “I wanted us all to figure out what our relationship was, to put all of this,” he waved a hoof aimlessly, still not looking at her, “to rest instead of lingering in this uncertainty. That’s what was supposed to happen now.” Sonata slumped in place, looking down. “…that’s what you say? I ask you if you’re in love with Aria, and you say you ‘wanted us to figure out what our relationship was’?” The chill that fell over Lex then was a familiar one, able to pick up her implication that he’d made some sort of misstep. But the answer he’d given her had been the best one he’d had, and if it was indeed insufficient, he had no idea why. He forced himself to look at her, desperately searching for any sort of clue as to what she’d been expecting him to say. “What do you mean?” But Sonata made no attempt to answer, instead starting to fidget. “I, um…I need to go.” Lex’s eyes barely had time to widen before she started walking. “I just need some space right now, okay? I have to...to think or…do whatever…” She stumbled toward the door, and he made no move to stop her. In the few seconds since the words had left her lips he’d parsed them in every manner imaginable, and they suggested that she was only leaving his immediate proximity and not severing their relationship entirely. He didn’t dare do anything that could exacerbate the damage. Sonata was halfway to the door before she called out. “Nosey?” To Lex, the interrogative lilt in her voice had no greater meaning, but Nosey apparently didn’t agree, nodding immediately. “Yeah.” With no further inquiry, she trotted past Lex without so much as a glance in his direction, moving up to Sonata’s side and pressing against her, putting a foreleg around her shoulders and giving her a gentle squeeze as she helped her toward the door. As they walked away from him, Lex thought back to how optimistic he’d felt after he’d spoken to Fruit Crunch last night. How he’d wondered if things might work themselves out the way they had with the colt. But now, as he watched Nosey and Sonata get further and further away from him, he realized just how foolish he’d been. That things had ended so well with Fruit Crunch had been a freak accident, an anomaly that had no greater significance. Thinking that it would happen twice, after the innumerable failures he’d previously experienced, had been hubris of the highest order, bordering on madness. But you still accomplished what you set out to do, came the voiceless words from his shadow. You wanted to clarify your relationship with those three, and now you have. A moment later, Sonata and Nosey reached the door, and left without a backwards glance. None of them want to be around you anymore. Nosey didn’t try to steer Sonata in any particular direction, letting her lead them wherever she felt like. Her earlier indignation at Sonata's blithe reaction to Lex's cruelty toward Aria had dissipated in the wake of how obviously heartbroken she was. The important thing now, Nosey knew, was just to be there for Sonata when she inevitably broke down. Even so, it wasn’t in her nature as a reporter to remain silent. “Sonata?” she spoke tentatively, knowing better than to ask if the other mare was okay. “Is there anything I can do for you?” Letting out a slow breath, Sonata nodded. “Actually, yeah.” Slightly relieved at her answer, Nosey managed a sad smile. “Name it.” But Sonata’s next words wiped the expression from her face. “Help me work on that spell to contact Kara. Right now.”