Lateral Movement

by Alzrius


372 - Heartfelt Plea

This has been a lousy day, decided Sonata as she trudged toward the river.

Hopefully things would start to turn around once she got all the camp ponies to come back and start eating something, but somehow she doubted it. After all, nothing else had gone right so far. First Lex had yelled at them just for eating breakfast. Then he’d admitted that he’d gotten hot ‘n’ heavy with Aria last night. Then she’d accidentally done the same thing with Nosey. Then Kara had been all “you should totes share your boyfriend with other girls.” Then Lex had gotten into a fight with those princesses and hurt himself badly – again – and left her feeling guilty about not having been there to prevent it.

It’s not like it’s my fault though, she groused to herself sullenly. Severance was the one who started it. That’s why Lex said he was glad that me and Nosey weren’t there, since we might have gotten hurt… But knowing that Lex had been worried about them while she’d been off making a bigger mess of everything only made Sonata feel worse. More than that, it left her wondering if she could have stopped things from turning out like they had. After all, Lex had said that he’d tried to tell Celestia and Luna that Severance had gone berserk, but they hadn’t listened. I could have said it better than however he did. And even if that didn’t work, I could have used my magic to MAKE it work. Then that fight wouldn’t have happened at all. But nooo, I just HAD to go play “Mares Gone Wild” with Nosey so that Kara would get her flank down here. And she didn’t even have any good advice! That was the part that bothered her most; not only had she made things weird with her best friend and not been there for her boyfriend, but she’d done it all for nothing. Kara had always known just what to say to make her feel better before, but her perfect record was definitely over now.

“It was like talking to someone else altogether,” huffed Sonata as she kept walking, wishing that there was something she could kick to make herself feel better. But a casual glance around showed a complete lack of rocks-, no! There was one!

Giggling with wicked glee, Sonata trotted over to the small stone poking up amidst the grass. “Oh, I’m gonna send you flying!” she cackled, winding up for a kick before lashing out hard. “Welcome to the school of hard r-, OW!” But contrary to her declaration, the rock didn’t budge as her hoof made contact with it, leaving Sonata cursing and rubbing her now-bruised leg.

“Aw c’mon!” she shrieked, positively seething now. Glaring at the stone – which continued to sit there smugly – it took Sonata several seconds to recognize that it wasn’t so much lying on the ground as it was jutting up from it, leaving the majority of its mass buried. It was just pretending like it was a kicking-rock! she realized furiously.

A small part of Sonata’s mind knew she was being irrational. That this was all due to the guilt and confusion and frustration she felt over everything that had happened that morning. That small fraction of her brain told her that the best thing to do would be to forget what had just happened and keep heading toward the camp ponies. Moreover, that small part of her brain told her that once she’d gotten something accomplished she’d feel better about herself, and maybe even calm down enough to where she’d be able to have a serious, adult conversation with Lex and Nosey and Aria about everything that had happened and what they needed to do about it.

Then the rest of her mind pointed out that she’d just been outsmarted by a rock.

It took only a few seconds for her to sing the necessary harmony to activate her spell. Then, taking a deep breath, Sonata let out a wordless scream of pure frustration, bending her face down close to the offending stone. Amplified many times over by her magic, her shout – which she’d previously used to pulverize ghouls and fish-monsters – sent cracks spreading through the rock, and a moment later it shattered into pieces, sending shards everywhere.

“HA!” laughed Sonata victoriously. “Betcha wish you’d just let me kick you now, huh rock?!” Seeing no reason not to indulge herself, Sonata didn’t resist the urge to do a little dance to celebrate her victory. “You thought you’d just be tricking ordinary ponies,” she jeered, “but you didn’t realize you’d be up against a Siren! Who’s smarter now?”

Letting out a satisfied breath, Sonata turned her back on her vanquished enemy and started toward the river again. It had been a bad morning, but she felt sure that things were finally starting to turn around. Now, to get all those camp ponies back!


Still reveling in her victory, Sonata was all smiles as she trotted up toward where the camp’s population was spread out along the edge of the river. Her grin grew a little wider as she saw that all eyes were on her as she approached, loving being the center of attention. “Hey everypony!” she announced, waving as she approached them. “I just wanted to let you all know that Lex says that everything’s A-okay now, so let’s all head back and get some lunch-”

“Are the princesses dead?”

The question came from somewhere in the crowd, choked out by a voice that sounded like they’d been sobbing. It was enough to throw Sonata off her game, making her frown in confusion. “What? No! Of course not! Lex would never kill a pony!”

“He killed that one guy,” came another voice. “That stallion with Princess Luna!”

“It’s true! I saw it!”

“Me too! He used that scythe right out of nowhere!”

“Whoa! Whoa!” called Sonata, “everyone calm down, okay?” For a moment it seemed like the assembled ponies were going to ignore her, but slowly they quieted down. “Lex didn’t kill that Silhouette guy,” she continued. “Severance, his flying scythe-thingy did that all on its own. Lex totes didn’t sign off on that. Like, for realsies.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re one of his girls!”

“Excuse me?” Sonata’s eyebrows went up at the plural usage, and it took her a moment to realize that she recognized that voice, looking over at where a green-coated pegasus stallion was trembling. “Wait, DJ? Is that you?”

Gulping nervously, Disc Jockey was shaking all over. “You’re just trying to cover for your boyfriend, aren’t you?” he whimpered. “Lex killed that guy because he ticked him off, didn’t he? And if we go back there now, he’s gonna kill anypony who’s ever made him mad…” He couldn’t finish, somehow managing to turn an even deeper green as he doubled over, looking like he was going to be sick.

“Hey, c’mon,” protested Sonata. “You know that’s not true. You were there when Lex showed up in camp that first night. Block Party got all up in his face and Lex didn’t do a thing to him!”

“Yeah, and then Block Party died the next day!” called another voice, as anonymous and panicked as the others had been.

“Lex didn’t kill Block Party!” shot back Sonata indignantly. “He killed the monster that killed Block Party! He just didn’t say anything about it because…because…” All of a sudden Sonata realized what she’d just done. “Oopsie…”

“Did…did you just say a monster killed Block Party?”

Sonata could feel a cold chill running down her back. Lex had been serious about wanting to keep Xiriel a secret for some reason. He’d been plenty mad when he found out she’d spilled the beans to Princess Celestia, and only the fact that Nosey had told him that Princess Luna had already known about that monster had calmed him down. Even then he’d made sure to tell them not to tell everypony else, worried about how they’d take it. “Okay,” she sputtered, desperately trying to figure out a way to put the genie back in the toothpaste tube. “Okay, listen-”

But it was already too late. “There was a monster here in camp?!” shrieked a mare somewhere. “Since when?!”

“How did it kill Block Party with no one knowing?!”

“Did Lex let it come in on purpose to do his dirty work?!”

“ALL OF YOU, STOP IT!” Even without magic, Sonata’s voice was a shriek. “Just stop it already!” She wanted to be so angry right then. She wanted to be a towering pillar of rage the way Lex so often was. She wanted to scream at them for how unfair they were being. But at that moment she just didn’t have it in her. Knowing that she’d just done something that would make Lex mad at her – on top of everything else – was her last straw, and this time she was the one trying not to sob as she spoke. “Why don’t any of you ever want to give him a chance? After everything Lex has done, after how hard he’s worked and all the times he’s gotten hurt protecting everyone here, why can’t you all just believe in him?”

Her eyes scanned the crowd, and the earnest expression in them made everypony look away, uncomfortable. But a moment later she caught a pair of familiar faces, and she walked toward them. “This guy here,” she continued as she approached Spit Polish, “tried to kill Lex in his sleep. And yes, he was angry about that. Like, super angry. Wouldn’t you be?!” Turning, she looked at Peachy Keen, who was right next to Spit Polish with one foreleg around him. “What would you do if somepony tried to do that to you?”

The orange mare shuffled in place, not able to meet Sonata’s gaze. “I…I don’t…”

But Sonata didn’t wait for her to try and answer. “Because you know what Lex did? He put a curse on him.” She pointed at Spit Polish, looking around with a helpless expression. “He didn’t kill him, he didn’t banish him to Tartar Sauce or whatever that place is called, he just cursed him. And it wasn’t even a curse that made him, like, really ugly or forget the letter ‘E’ or some other awful thing. It was a curse that only made him dumb and clumsy so long as nopony else helped him.” She moved her outstretched foreleg then, pointing at Peachy Keen. “Lex wanted him to pay, and maybe that’s harsh, but he didn’t want him to be miserable forever. This is the guy who kicked the stuffing out of other ponies on Block Party’s orders, and who tried to kill Lex, and Lex still wanted him to have a reason to try and get everypony to forgive him!”

She could feel her eyes starting to water, but she didn’t stop, pouring her heart out. “Lex tries so hard. He just…he tries so hard, and he doesn’t even realize that a lot of the time he’s trying too hard, and he keeps making all these mistakes and he gets frustrated and angry, but he never gives up. He always keeps trying, and you know why? You know why he keeps working so hard and never asking for anything in return?” She looked back and forth, silently inviting anyone to venture a guess. When none did, she kept going. “It’s because he’s lonely. I saw it the very first time I met him. He’s so, so lonely and he just wants to be accepted and he doesn’t know any other way to do it.”

She had to stop then, knowing that if she kept going she’d completely break down. Sniffling, she wiped her eyes, and that gave enough time for Peachy Keen to speak up. “But…if all he wants is to have friends, why doesn’t he act nicer?” Sonata looked up at her, and Peachy flinched but kept going. “I mean, why doesn’t he ever smile or laugh or, or play some games with us once in a while?”

Sonata gave a hopeless laugh, shrugging as all eyes turned back toward her. “I don’t know. He just can’t. It’s like…it’s like how I’m not smart enough to figure out why people always say that an open door somehow becomes a jar. I’m not good at math problems like that, and Lex isn’t good at friendship. I know he wishes he was, but he isn’t. So instead he does what he is good at, which is taking care of other ponies.” She swept her eyes over the crowd again, silently begging them to understand. “He’s not as nice as those princesses, and he probably never will be, but he’s more dedicated than anyone else, and he would never, ever let somepony die – let alone kill them – if he could help it. So please, please…just give him a chance…”

Uncertain looks were exchanged among the crowd, and Sonata knew it was the best she could hope for. Slowly, she turned around and started walking back toward the camp. For the first few steps her heart was beating loudly, and she bit her lip. Then, when she’d gotten a dozen paces away from everyone, she heard it.

The sound of a large number of hoofsteps, all following behind her.