//------------------------------// // 345 - Hath No Fury // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// I’m going to kill him! Aria swore to herself. No, first I’m going to kill Sonata right in front of him, THEN I’ll kill him! She’d made a dozen such promises to herself over the course of the last few minutes, living out each one in the privacy of her thoughts as she stalked through the camp, too angry to remain still. In one of her rage-fueled fantasies, she’d simply confronted Lex directly and blew him away with her magic. In another, she’d enchanted Sonata – that treacherous nag who again, AGAIN had done nothing while she’d lost her voice! – in order to make her attack Lex, forcing him to strike her down in order to defend himself. Still another had her enchant the camp ponies into turning on Lex en masse, shattering his dreams of being a leader when no one would accept him anymore. But for all the different scenarios she’d envisioned, they all ended the same way: with Lex regretting from the bottom of his heart that he’d betrayed her. Because he had betrayed her. After all of the trust she’d put in him – telling him about all of the shame and degradation she’d gone through when she’d lost her voice back on Everglow – Lex had turned around and used it to hurt her just a few hours later. And for what?! Because I was annoying him a little bit?! Sonata says stuff that’s a thousand times more irritating every single day! He’s never taken HER voice away! But then, Sonata was his special little girlfriend, wasn’t she? Her feelings had to be protected at all costs. And that was the worst part about what had happened. It wasn’t just that Lex had stabbed her in the back; it was that he’d done it because he hadn’t wanted to look bad in front of Sonata. We didn’t even go all the way and he was STILL ashamed of being with me! The thought made Aria’s chest tighten to the point of actual pain, and she felt her eyes growing wet. Shaking her head, she savagely wiped them, furious with herself for being brought to the point of tears by Lex’s selfishness. He’s not worth it, she decided. Besides, with how jealous Sonata had been acting, once she found out what happened – that blonde four-eyes would probably tell her sooner or later, since her cutie stamp (or whatever it was called) apparently meant that she loved to gossip – she’d probably chew Lex out anyway. That thought brought a dark smile to Aria’s lips, imagining Sonata and her little friend walking out on Lex and leaving him completely alone. It’s what he deserves. That and the revenge I’m going to bury him under. And once I do, I’m out of here. There was no reason to stay in this pathetic little backwater anymore now that she had her voice back. Now that she could sing again, and with the new magic she’d learned during her time without her voice, she could go anywhere and do anything. Except that there was no easy way out of here. Calmer now, Aria slowed to a stop as she considered that. Trying to get out of here on hoof was a losing proposition; her little trip with Cozy and her whipped boyfriend – before they’d also betrayed her – had proven that much. Nor were there any plans for boats or trains to start showing up anytime soon that she was aware of. Even swimming along the coast until she came to another city was out of the question now, since her new pony body couldn’t breathe underwater the way her old one had been able to. If only my flight spell lasted longer, I could- “Hey. Aria, right?” Looking up sharply at the male voice calling her name, Aria found herself looking at a smiling pegasus stallion with a grass-green coat. His flank tattoo had a silhouette of a pony catching something round with speed lines behind it. She had a vague sensation that she’d seen him before, but nothing concrete came to mind, and with how she felt right now she wasn’t in the mood to put much thought into it. “Who’re you supposed to be?” she asked bluntly. The stallion’s grin faltered. “I’m, uh, Disc Jockey. We met a few days ago, remember? When Lex conjured all that food?” When Aria simply frowned, he gave an uncomfortable chuckle. “We bumped into each other when you were leaving the banquet, and I wanted you to tell Lex and Sonata that I was sorry for how I acted when they first arrived.” “Right,” drawled Aria unhappily as the memory of who this was came back to her. She’d deliberately not passed along his message due to how insulted she’d been at his assumption that Sonata shared Lex’s authority over her. Just being reminded of it – to say nothing of how she felt toward Lex himself right now – made her glare at the idiot pony in front of her. “I remember you now. What do you want?” Cringing a little at her tone, Disc Jockey’s ears folded back as he took a half-step back away from her. But he seemed to recover a moment later, straightening up as he shuffled one hoof nervously. “I was, you know, just wondering. I mean, I know this isn’t any of my business, but, well, there are a lot of rumors going around and I figured that instead of listening to what everypony else has to say I should just ask you, and then I saw you coming this way and-” “Will you just spit it out already?!” “Sorry! Um, are you Lex’s g-girlfriend?” The question sent a jolt through her, and found herself having to resist the urge to fry the little worm right then and there. “NO! You listen to me!” She darted forward, getting right in Disc Jockey’s face. “I am not Lex’s girl, I am not his friend, and I am definitely not his girlfriend! You got that?!” Disc Jockey nodded frantically. But the look on his face wasn’t one of fear; at least, not completely. Rather, his cheeks were turning red and his eyes were having a hard time maintaining contact with hers, darting down to look her over before coming back up. It was a look she’d gotten thousands of times before, back when she’d been living on Earth with her sisters, and she recognized it instantly. Suddenly Aria knew exactly why the bumbling stallion was talking to her. “Well, in that case,” Disc Jockey gulped. “I was just coming from checking on my mom here.” He waved a hoof toward a small number of tents off to the side, and Aria glanced at them, belatedly realizing that she’d made her way toward the opposite end of the camp in her angry march. “She’s been feeling really run down lately, so I insisted she go here, and the doctors are keeping her for observation right now even though they think it’s just dehydration, but, um…” His nervous grin returned then. “Sorry, I’m rambling. But I was wondering, um…since you’re here and all…d-do you want to go see Princess Celestia with me?” “Hmm?” Still not sure exactly how to make use of the stallion fawning all over her, Aria only half-heard his question. “Which one is she again?” Disc Jockey blinked at that, clearly not having expected that question. “Uh, the big white one? She’s right over there.” He pointed behind her, and Aria turned to follow his hoof. Sure enough, in the distance there was a large, white, winged unicorn, her multi-colored mane and tail waving in a non-existent breeze as she spoke to several ponies gathered around her while a second group – wearing golden armor – hung back and watched the proceedings. “She got here a little while ago, and she’s been talking to everypony about what’s happened. I thought maybe we could go join the crowd? It’s not every day that a princess comes to town.” But Aria was no longer listening, her eyes locked onto the princess as an idea began to form in her mind. This is perfect, she realized. I don’t need to enchant Sonata or the camp ponies in order to get back at Lex. I just need to enchant the princesses! It was absolutely perfect; “I hope those princesses kill you,” had been what she’d told Lex. And now, one of them was right here to help make it happen! “Um, Aria?” Wandering around so he was in her line of sight again, Disc Jockey waved a hoof awkwardly. “Everything okay?” “Oh, everything’s wonderful,” she grinned, pleased with herself. Enchanting Sonata would have been troublesome anyway; her sister was an idiot, but she was still a Siren, and if Lex could hold off an army of ghouls then the camp ponies wouldn’t be much of a challenge. But maybe Big White over there could get the job done? “Hey, is Princess Whatsherface strong? I mean, does she have a lot of magic?” Again, Disc Jockey looked like he wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. “Well…yeah. I mean, I’m no wizard or anything, but Princess Celestia moves the sun all by herself. Plus, she runs a school that teaches magic to the best and brightest unicorns in Equestria. Not to mention that she’s fought off a lot of monsters, like Discord and Nightmare Moon.” “And her sister’s the same?” The other princess wasn’t here, but that wasn’t a big deal. Even if she could only enchant one of them, Aria felt sure that she could get them into a fight with Lex. After all, once the spells started flying it wouldn’t really matter how the battle started; the other princess would see her sister in a fight with Lex and immediately move to help her out. Disc Jockey glanced back at Princess Celestia, as though curious what had prompted these questions. “Princess Luna? I’m pretty she is, yeah.” He looked back at Aria again. “Why?” “Oh, just curious,” mused Aria, the corners of her lips still turned upward as she thought through the logistics of what she was about to do. I’ll need to get close enough for her to hear me singing. That part might be tough; the princesses almost certainly knew she was a Siren, since Sonata had apparently spent most of last night blabbing her head off to her, and so might recognize that her singing was an attack. But if I’m lucky and she doesn’t, or she’s too slow to react, then I’ll be able to get in there and put the thought in her head that she should attack Lex! There was no chance that the princess would be able to resist her enchantment; Aria still remembered how easy it had been to brainwash her human counterpart back on Earth. This big dumb mare could probably be ensorcelled just as easily. That just leaves everyone watching, but they won’t know any better anyway. Even if a lot of people were listening to her song, it was easy to enchant just certain individuals so long as she knew where they were. So no one in the crowd would even know that anything had happened. Oblivious to what Aria was planning, Disc Jockey shifted his weight between his legs. “So, um, do you want to go?” Slowly, Aria turned her head to look at him, and this time the smile on her face was the same sultry look she’d given Lex last night. Her plan to sic the princesses on Lex was perfect, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t get back at Lex in another way too. Besides, she was still feeling unsatisfied after Lex had rejected her last night. Time to fix that. “I do,” she purred. “But first, can I ask you for a favor? I just got this body last night, and I was hoping you could help me…break it in.” Disc Jockey quite clearly picked up on what she was saying, because he was already turning bright red, his eyes widening. “Really?! I mean, s-s-sure!” Moving so she was alongside the little dupe, Aria pressed her side against his, nuzzling him as she gently directed him toward the rows of tents. “There’s probably an empty one over there we can use, right?” she murmured huskily, her lips brushing his ear. “Just don’t be too rough with me, otherwise I won’t be able to keep my voice down.” Almost tripping over his hooves, Disc Jockey was grinning like an idiot. “Whatever you say, milady!” Aria had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes at his ridiculous choice of language, but didn’t let her disdain outwardly show. After all, this guy was just a means to an end. “And then, when we’re done,” she cooed, “you can take me to see the princess.”