Lateral Movement

by Alzrius


401 - Horror Stories

“…and so they were all like ‘no, this is our food!’ But I was like, ‘Nuh-uh! We saw it first, so back off!’ And Turbo was all ‘we should fall back ‘cause it’s gonna be dark soon’ and I was like ‘don’t be such a wimp, we can deal with these guys before the ghouls get here.’ And you could see that he was a big fraidy-cat, which is why I was the leader. So then those other ponies said that we should just split the oats, and Fencer was like, ‘no way!’ Which was because she knew I’d already said no, because I knew we could take those other ponies since even though they outnumbered us, a bunch of them were just a little older than foals, and-”

“You were very brave, sweetheart,” cooed River, fighting the urge to roll her eyes as she marched through Vanhoover’s barren streets. In truth, she found Piggy's stories about that pack of thugs he’d fallen in with after the city had flooded to be abhorrent. But letting him run his mouth about it kept him happy, which made him easy to deal with. This little detour to collect more bits was already putting her further behind schedule; if she reprimanded him he’d likely throw a tantrum about it and slow her down even more. Of course, that will probably happen anyway once I tell him to stay away from that no good Granola Bar nag, River knew. But there was no helping that; he couldn’t be allowed to ruin his future prospects by dallying with some ill-bred doxy.

Not that his ghastly tales helped those prospects either. “I know you’re very proud of how heroic you were, my little pumpkin, but remember that most ponies aren’t as courageous as you, so you shouldn’t tell such scary stories around them.” The words came out syrupy sweet, but her face was twisted in a glare, the expression directed at the pair of servants accompanying them, silently letting them know what would happen if they ran their mouths about Piggy’s antics. Servants lived for gossip, she knew, but when that gossip was about the ponies they worked for they needed to be reminded of what could happen if their lips ever became too loose.

Both stallions – dressed in butler uniforms reminiscent of Trotsworth’s and pulling the cart that River had ordered them to bring in order to transport the bits she’d be withdrawing – clearly received the message, gulping and making sure to keep their eyes straight ahead. The sight made River’s lips curl in a satisfied smile. She felt sure that most of Piggy’s stories were exaggerated, perhaps even made up entirely (though she doubted he had that vivid an imagination), but while she was sure that most ponies who knew her son would be inclined to dismiss his tales as the ravings of a blowhard, it was still better to keep his little anecdotes under wraps in the first place.

Riding in the back of the cart that the butlers were pulling, Piggy grinned, cognizant of nothing but his mother’s compliments. “You’re right, Mama,” he chortled. “It’s not everypony who can overcome so many dangerous things that the princesses start getting worried about them.”

River bit back a snort. Just yesterday her son had been hiding in his room, quaking in terror at the thought of Celestia and Luna punishing him for what he’d gotten up to after Vanhoover had fallen. Now that they’d left, Piggy was wearing that as a badge of honor, praising himself for not only having outfoxed the princesses by avoiding their scrutiny but bragging about what a dangerous pony he’d become that they’d personally come to investigate him. It was hilarious, especially since he apparently had no idea what had happened between Lex and the princesses, his isolation having left him completely ignorant of the fact that Luna had lost her status as an alicorn or even that Celestia had lowered the sun when they’d left the city. The bliss of staying locked in your room with the blinds drawn and hiding under the bedcovers, she thought sarcastically.

“But I can still tell you all my stories, right Mama?” Piggy didn’t wait for an answer before launching into another tale. “Like, there was this one time when we had to go looking for a new place to hole up in, and I was the one who found a great one! See, we were walking through this store, and dumb old Hopscotch walked across some floorboards and nothing happened, but when I walked across them I could tell they were hiding something by the way they broke underneath me…”

He kept going, but River mentally tuned him out, her long years of experience with self-important members of high society letting her react on autopilot, nodding and making approving grunts or short statements of praise without really thinking about it. Instead she turned her thoughts back toward her imminent trip to Las Pegasus, mentally calculating how much money she’d need to borrow from her bank. Idly, she couldn’t help but note how this was the first fiscal investment she’d be making in the nascent regime that Lex was surely forming. It was yet another mark of just how thoroughly she’d entangled herself with his plans, and how much her own fortunes now depended on his success…

Lost in her own thoughts, it was only when one of the butlers gave a loud cough that River looked up. The stallion nodded toward the building in front of them. “We’re here, Madam.”

“Good,” nodded River, walking briskly toward the front entrance. “Now come along, we’re already running late.”

“Wait Mama!” Jumping down from the back of the cart, Piggy trundled out in front of her. “Ghouls can hide in places like that! We should send these two inside to make sure it’s safe first!”

Ignoring the horrified looks on the butlers’ faces, River scoffed. “Sweetheart, Lex disposed of all of those ghoul creatures. You told me the story of how he did it yourself, remember?”

Piggy pouted, both at being contradicted and at his Mama complimenting someone who wasn’t him. “He might not have gotten them all,” he frowned. “Besides, Lex didn’t really do anything in that fight! That big magic can opener of his did most of the work! He just sorta collapsed and let his mares take care of the ones it missed-”

“Piggy!” River’s sharp rebuke silence her son immediately, much to her relief. Although she knew it was unacceptable to show fear in front of her servants, River couldn’t help but glance left and right nervously. To her, Lex’s wrath was far more frightening than some zombies or whatever they were.

Satisfied that Piggy hadn’t brought the unicorn wizard’s wrath down on them, River turned her attention back to her son. His lip was already quivering from being chastised, his eyes filling with tears. Sighing internally, River made herself smile gently at him. “Sweetheart, you shouldn’t say such bad things about Lex. He’s worked very hard for our city, and I’m planning on working with him very closely in the future. He’s Mama’s very important business partner, understand?”

“But-”

River’s smile tightened. “Understand?”

“…yes, Mama.”

“That’s my good little boy. Now, Mama needs to take out enough bits for her business trip, so why don’t you come inside and oversee the butlers while I check the bank ledgers, alright?”

“Okay,” huffed Piggy.

Giving a satisfied nod, River turned and trotted into the bank. Clicking her tongue at how distraught the interior was, with trash and debris strewn about haphazardly, she waited for the servants to unhook themselves from the cart and follow her inside, her son trailing them with a pout. “First I’m going to review the ledgers and account records,” she explained to the butlers, “then you two will begin unloading the vault at my direction.” She narrowed her eyes. “And if I even think that you’re helping yourselves to any of the bits here, then…” She paused for a moment, then smirked. “Then I’ll turn you over to Lex Legis, and let you see how he deals with thieves.”

Both stallions turned pale, quickly shaking their heads and quietly muttering assurances that they wouldn’t take anything. Even Piggy seemed a bit upset, though that might have been because he thought her threat meant that she didn’t trust him to oversee the help. Which I don’t, she thought wryly as she turned and trotted down a hallway.

River had made it her business to visit all of her family’s financial centers at regular periods, and had long since grown familiar with all of them. While the vault ledger would be stored in the vault itself, the account records would be in the bank manager’s office. Electing to start there, she grimaced at the foul odor permeating the hallway, raising a hoof to cover her nose as she found the door in question and indicated for one of the butlers to open it. It took him several tries, the flooding having warped the door in the frame, before he finally got it open.

The smell was worse inside, and River winced as she slowly stepped into the dark room. “Someone open that window,” she croaked.

“But it’s boarded up,” protested one of the butlers, looking like he was having a hard time keeping his lunch down.

“Then un-board it!” snapped River. “You’re a strapping young stallion, aren’t you?” Not waiting for a response, she stepped in, searching for the account records.

“What should I do, Mama?”

“Go find something to keep yourself occupied, Piggy. Mama’s busy right- aha! Here they are!” Finding what she was looking for, River lifted a small book from a pile of debris in one corner, paging through it intently as the butlers began went to work on the window.

Left with nothing to do, Piggy sat down at the desk in the corner. It took barely a minute for him to start becoming bored, and after five minutes – during which time the butlers managed to pry only a single plank from the window – the tedium became unbearable. In desperation, he started rooting through the desk drawers in hope of finding something to play with, or maybe even a snack, but there was no such respite to be found, as they contained only more books.

Fighting back a whimper, Piggy looked at his mother, but she was still engrossed in what she was reading, and he knew that they’d probably be there for a while. For a moment he thought about asking her when she’d be done, but he suspected that’d only make her angry at him. Ears folding back at the situation he was stuck in, Piggy picked up one of the books – a particularly thin folio – from the drawers, flipping through it.

A moment later, his eyes widened. “Hey, Mama,” he called. “Mama, listen to this. ‘June 15th. I don’t think help is coming anytime soon. It’s already more than a week, and even though the water’s gone back down, the city is still a disaster zone. Good Fortune went down to the harbor to see if there were any boats left. There weren’t, but he said he kept hearing small splashes in the water underneath the docks, as if something was swimming right beneath him…and that they followed him while he went up and down the wharf. He got spooked and ran out of there as fast as he could. I think the lack of food is getting to him.’ Ha! I bet that was one of those sea monsters! Did I tell you about them?”

River’s response was a noncommittal grunt, eyes still glued to her ledger. The butlers weren’t much better, focusing on getting the boards loose. Huffing at being ignored, Piggy flipped through the journal. “July 26th. We lost Past Tense today. We thought that those things wouldn’t attack while the sun was up, but two of them got him when he went into an alley to look for food. One minute he was there, looking at an old suitcase someone had dropped, and then suddenly the door in the side of the alley just burst open, those things rushing out and snatching him, carrying him back inside before we could do anything. I can still hear that last scream he made when they took him…”

Gulping a little at the vivid imagery, Piggy regarded the journal warily for a moment, not sure he wanted to keep reading. But a glance around showed that, while his mother was still glued to her accounts, both butlers were looking at him now, looks of fascinated horror on their faces. Not wanting to look like a wimp – he’d lived through this, after all – he flipped a few more pages and kept reading.

“August 6th. Me and Popup are the only ones left now. We’re taking refuge at the bank where I worked. I wanted to hide in the vault, but forgot until after we already got here that we’d be trapping ourselves inside with no air. Popup is angry at me. He’s angry all the time now. I think he blames me for Past Tense, but what could I have done? If I’d tried to save him, I’d have been killed too. It’s not fair. None of this is fair. I wish those ponies at the edge of town would let us leave. Why are they making us stay here like this? Why aren’t they helping us?”

At least that one hadn’t been so creepy. Going a few pages further Piggy tried another entry. “August 8th. My leg hurts so bad. I’m glad I got away from that monster, but I’m really starting to get worried by how deep this bite is. Popup says he can’t find any food, but I think he’s keeping it all for himself. I hate him. I hate this city and everypony in it. I feel sick-”

“These records are incomplete!” announced River suddenly, making Piggy jump. River barely noticed, however, instead giving the stallions an imperious glare. “Look for the rest of them, they should be here somewhere!”

“Um, Madam?” gulped one of the butlers, now thoroughly unnerved. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea? It sounds like-”

“Did I ask you for your opinion?” glowered River dangerously. When the butler gulped again and shook his head, she pointed to the other side of the room. “Search that closet. I’ll go through the rest of the papers in this pile.”

The butlers moved to obey, and Piggy sighed. Watching his mom punishing the help would have been a lot of fun. But since that wasn’t going to happen, he turned back to the journal, deciding to turn to the last entry, which was- “Hey!” he called, eyebrows rising. “This is from yesterday! Listen to this! ‘Popup left. I hope he dies. I hope the monsters get him, and he screams just like Past Tense did when they eat him. I’m getting worse. I feel sick all the time now. Everything hurts. I’m so hungry. I’m sleeping in the closet now in case the monsters break in. I-’ Wait…” Piggy blinked, looking at where the butlers were trying to open the closet door, then back at the journal, his beady eyes furrowing in confusion.

A second later he realized what was about to happen.

But by then it was too late.