//------------------------------// // 363 - Window of Vulnerability // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Luna’s battle cry was a powerful roar of fury as she rushed forward, preparing to unleash a punch directly at Lex. But he had already returned to his shadow-form several seconds prior, and didn’t so much as glance at her now. Instead he kept his eyes trained on where Celestia was hovering several dozen feet above him, knowing what was about to happen. That trick won’t work a second time! Sure enough, just as Luna was about to make contact with him, Celestia’s horn lit up with what Lex knew was another attempt to dispel his dark magic and make him substantial again. But this time he was ready for it. In the instant that the elder alicorn’s horn began to glow, Lex rattled off the words to a spell so quickly that it was almost a single long syllable, a shadowy tendril at the edge of his incorporeal body waving with the necessary gesticulations. Immediately, five small points of light – none of them larger than a marble – sprang into existence around him, shooting towards Celestia as though fired out of a high-powered slingshot. Having just enough time to see what was about to happen but not enough to do anything about it, Celestia didn’t have a chance to finish casting her spell as the tiny projectiles slammed into her, the aura around her horn fading out harmlessly. Letting out a grunt of pain, she started to plummet, only to barely catch herself before she’d fallen more than a dozen feet. For her part, Luna was unable to correct her momentum in time, plunging right through the mass of shadows that was Lex’s body. She tried to make the best of it, grunting as she swung her hoof at one of the gemstones orbiting Lex, but wasn’t able to properly coordinate her attack in her unbalanced state, the swirling jewels easily darting out of the way of her wild swing. Gnashing her teeth, Luna flapped her wings as she moved away from him and started to circle around, preparing for another pass. Celestia, however, didn’t seem inclined to wait for her sister, lowering her horn and firing a beam of energy – a smaller, unenhanced one – at Lex. But her eyes widened as the mass of shadows that was her enemy didn’t try to dodge glistening ray, instead flying up toward it! At the last possible instant, just before the beam would have struck him, Lex’s immaterial form contorted in mid-air, bending and twisting in ways his physical body never could have, and the ray of magic passed by him without making contact, missing him by less than an inch. Even the strange gemstones that were circling him adjusted their orbits, not letting themselves be struck by the magical attack, which lanced downward and hit the earth harmlessly. Not letting his opportunity go to waste, Lex was already casting as he moved, bridging the distance between himself and Celestia in less than a second thanks to the speed-enhancing spell he’d used on himself before he’d exited his black crystal dome. Grimacing, she pulled her wings close and fell into a dive, angling her body to try and get away from him, but it was too late. A single wisp of shadow reached out to touch her back as she fell, and that was all it took to unleash the spell that Lex had just cast. The concussive force that struck Celestia then was heavy enough that it drove the air from her lungs, her eyes going wide with shock and pain as she was knocked out of the sky. Your turn, sneered Lex darkly to himself as he watched her plummet, striking the ground not far from where she’d done the same thing to him not even a minute earlier. She landed hard on her back, going limp as her eyes fluttered closed, and Lex felt a surge of triumph rush through him. She was down! Now all he had to was disable her horn before she regained consciousness and the battle was as good as over! Luna seemed to have realized the same thing, because she was already racing back toward her fallen sister. “Celestia! Get up! Get up!” Luna was closer to Celestia’s position than he was, enough so that even with his boosted speed she would have reached the fallen alicorn before Lex did. But I have more than enough magic left to finish this from here! Using his dark magic from this distance was inefficient, but still possible, and Lex narrowed his eyes as he focused on forming black crystals that would strike at the optimum angle to wound Celestia’s horn to sufficiently incapaci- “All of you give up right now or this guy gets it!” Fruit Crunch’s voice made Lex glance over at the foals…and stopped cold at what he saw. Fruit Crunch and his friends were gathered around a fallen member of the Royal Guard, a pegasus stallion who was lying on the ground and twitching uncontrollably. But what was far more noticeable was how the wolf that was Fruit Crunch’s new pet had its jaws locked around the shuddering guard’s throat, making the colt’s threat abundantly clear. The remaining members of the Royal Guard that were still on their hooves, about a dozen stallions, all froze in place, glancing at each other with looks of worry. “Hold on there, son,” started one of the guards with a gulp, “you let him go right this instant, or-” “Or what?” jeered Fruit Crunch. “Or you’ll surrender right now?” Grinning smugly, he hoof-bumped Feathercap. “I gotta say: Best. Plan. Ever. This way, we-” “RELEASE HIM AT ONCE!” screamed Lex, his voice loud enough that had he been corporeal he would have tasted blood. The foals – as well as the Royal Guard – all froze, looking at him with wide eyes. None looked more shocked than Fruit Crunch. “L-Lyden! Let him go!” he squeaked, his face turning pale. When the wolf immediately complied, Fruit Crunch turned back to Lex, cringing. “It was just a bluff,” he whimpered. “We weren’t really going to hurt him.” But Lex was far from mollified, so angry that his vision nearly swam. “You think that’s an excuse?!” he roared. “You think it’s okay to threaten the lives of helpless ponies just because you don’t mean it?!” After what had just happened with Silhouette, the mere thought of seeing the same thing happening again was enough to leave Lex beyond enraged, his shadow-form churning so heavily it looked like black, flickering fire. Beneath him, black crystals erupted from the ground, punching up through the dirt randomly…and none of them hitting Celestia. But Lex was too beside himself to notice. It’s happening again! First Severance and now them! It’s all happening again! The thought was like a knife in his heart, driving all other thoughts from his mind. “PONY LIVES ARE TO BE CHERISHED!” he screamed. “THEY’RE TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS! NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT, AND THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR WILLFULLY THREATENING THEM!” Seeing his most important ideals be so casually violated by his supposed allies for the second time in the last few minutes was maddening enough that Lex found himself calling an attack spell to mind, and it was only because the ponies in question were children that he forced himself to stop, knowing that there was no acceptable reason for harming foals, that they couldn’t possibly appreciate just how egregious their behavior was, even if they desperately needed to be taught a le- A bright flicker of light below him was all the warning Lex had, and it was pure instinct that made him lurch to his left. That, and the magical defenses he’d woven around himself were all that stopped the beam of energy – one of the larger, enhanced ones, fired by a now-recovered Celestia who was climbing to her hooves with her sister’s help – from hitting him. Instead, the beam rocketed upward into the sky, where it hit nothing… Except for the owl circling high above the battlefield. The bird didn’t have a chance to so much as open its beak before the attack hit it, and in an instant it was gone, completely vaporized by the blast. Immediately, a tortured scream rang out, and all eyes went to where Feathercap was doubled over in agony. His friends were looking between him and where the bird had been, horrified looks on each of their faces. And on the ground, Luna’s eyes widened in understanding. “The animals…” “U-Ulespy,” moaned Feathercap. “He’s gone…I can’t feel him anymore…” “Just…just hang in there, buddy,” muttered Fruit Crunch helplessly, not knowing what else to say. “We’ll figure something out.” The words were nothing more than platitudes, as he had no idea what to do. Feathercap’s body language suggested that whatever pain he’d felt when Ulespy had been killed was already fading, but Fruit Crunch knew that was the least of their problems at the moment, since- “ALL ROYAL GUARDS! TARGET THE CHILDREN’S ANIMALS!” came Luna’s sudden yell. “NO!” screamed Fruit Crunch, looking at Luna in horror. How did she know?! Each of the Night Mare’s Knights had gained a small number of magical abilities. But those abilities didn’t come from them; rather, they were made possible by their spirit animals, the physical incarnations of their most notable qualities. So long as their spirit animals were by their side, each of them not only gained a special power of their own, but could also use one kind of magic on their entire group. Fiddlesticks, for example, gained great strength as well as the ability to boost the vitality of all of the Knights, allowing them to withstand damage that would have crippled an adult. Straightlace had gained the ability to deflect magic, and could grant protection from physical damage to everypony on their team. Cleansweep could use a poison touch or a healing one. Feathercap had the ability to see through Ulespy’s eyes, and could turn all of them invisible for a short period of time. And Fruit Crunch himself could summon what Lyden had called “the essence of an alpha wolf” into himself; he wasn’t quite sure what that was, but it made him feel faster, stronger, tougher, and a whole lot fiercer. Not to mention he could do the same thing for the rest of the Knights, although Lyden called those “beta wolves.” But all of those powers were unusable if their spirit animals weren’t there with them. They’d learned that this morning, while discussing what they could do, and none of them had needed to be told that they needed to keep that a secret. But now Princess Luna had somehow figured it out. Nor were the remaining guards waiting to act on her orders, swooping in on them as a single unit! Panicking, Fruit Crunch yelled the first thing he could think of. “Scatter!” He immediately rushed to his left, Lyden following him. We can draw them off, Fruit Crunch told himself. They’ll split up to chase us, and when they do we’ll beat them down, just like before. But the Royal Guard didn’t seem to be inclined to follow that plan. Instead, four of the guards – all unicorns – came to a sudden halt, pointing their horns upward in unison at where Straightlace and Altaer were flying. A second later, they began shooting, filling the air with multicolored lights as they unleashed a fusillade of magic at the eagle. Straightlace immediately moved in, smacking one beam away and almost managing to hit a second, but there was nothing he could do about the remaining shots. One grazed the bird’s wing, and it wobbled in flight…before another shot tore right through the center of it. “Altaer!” yelled Straightlace, his voice hoarse with pain. But the bird didn’t respond, falling limply toward the earth. Its body shimmered as it plummeted, as though it were a painting that had water splashed on it. Just before it would have hit the ground, its body grew so indistinct that it vanished from sight completely, fading away like a patch of mist being burned off by the morning sun. But Fruit Crunch had no time to think about what had just happened, turning to look at Fiddlesticks…only to duck as she hurled a guard through the air. But the remaining earth pony stallions weren’t impressed, crowding around the badger trundling by her legs. Screaming in anger, Fiddlesticks tried to knock them back, but there were too many. A second later Nemel had been tossed upward, and two powerful stallions turned around and bucked their legs at the same time, catching the animal between their hooves. The damage was too much, and the badger turned into nothing instantly, Fiddlesticks slumping over with a pained sob as she did. Cleansweep was next, the pegasus members of the guard surrounding her and tearing her snake away from her as she shrieked and lashed out. She managed to drop two of her attackers with her poison, but not before they’d gotten Venin off of her, throwing the serpent down to the ground and following after it in a crushing stomp. Like Nemel, Venin was defeated instantly, leaving Cleansweep bereft of powers. Skidding to a halt as he saw his friends lose their companions one by one, Fruit Crunch swallowed. The guards weren’t even bothering to try and round up his friends now that their animals were gone, apparently having figured out that they were just a bunch of ordinary kids without them. Instead, the remaining guards – over a half-dozen of them – turned toward Fruit Crunch. They took a moment to reform their ranks, lining up side-by-side as they stood a short distance from him and Lyden. “Just give up, kid,” called one of them, a unicorn. “It’s over.” Fruit Crunch swallowed, and for a moment felt himself waver, realizing that the guard was right. There was no way he could take that many guards by himself, especially now that the magic the other Knights had used to empower him was gone! But Lyden was at his side immediately. Remain steadfast, the wolf urged him softly. To fall in battle alongside your pack is no disgrace. Focus instead on making your enemies pay dearly for their victory. For a moment, Fruit Crunch wanted to run anyway. This wasn’t like when he’d fought Silhouette. Back then he’d had a plan. He’d had a way to win. He’d had friends right there to help him. But now… “He’s right,” came Cleansweep’s voice. Her eyes were watery, but the strength in them was undiminished as she landed next to Fruit Crunch. “Whatever happens, we’re going to face it together.” “Like I said before,” added Straightlace darkly as he touched down on Fruit Crunch’s other side. “The Night Mare’s Knights don’t run, and they don’t give up either.” “I won’t let you!” growled Fiddlesticks fiercely as she moved alongside her friends. “I won’t let you take away anyone else I care about!” “We’re not afraid of you,” came Feathercap’s voice as he joined the rest of them, the little guy holding his binoculars like a weapon. For his part, Fruit Crunch found himself overcome with emotion, filling him with strength that scattered the despair that had threatened to drown him just a moment ago. It was the scared little boy who hadn’t been able to do anything except cry when Spit Polish had beaten him that closed his eyes then. But it was the leader of the Night Mare’s Knights who opened them a second later, and the weight of his gaze was enough to make the guards flinch. “What do you kids think you’re doing?!” yelled one of the guards, his tone making it clear that he was unnerved. “Just make it easy on yourselves!” Quick glances to his left and right were answered with nods from his friends, and Fruit Crunch smirked as he looked back at the guards. “Trust me, there’s not going to anything easy about this.” Then, rearing up on his hind legs, he gave a roar of defiance before rushing forward, leading the Night Mare’s Knights on their last charge.