//------------------------------// // 402 - Filial Piety // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Before Piggy had a chance to open his mouth, the butlers wrenched the closet door open…and yelped in shock, stumbling backwards. There was no mistaking that the stallion lying on the floor of the closet was dead. His complexion was sallow. His body was emaciated. His chest was still. His eyes stared upward at nothing…and then snapped over to peer at the ponies that had just freed him. “Hungry…” rasped the dead pony. That was all it took for the butlers’ courage to break, and they both turned and ran for the door, screaming in terror. Piggy would have gladly joined them, but out of his peripheral vision he could see his mother was frozen in place, staring at the animate corpse with a look of uncomprehending horror on her face. Panicking, Piggy rushed over to her, grabbing the hem of her dress and tugging. “Mama!” he pleaded. “We gotta run!” But she didn’t seem to hear him. “It…it’s true…” she croaked, staring at the dead pony – the ghoul – as it rose to its hooves. The sight of the thing getting up prompted a very different reaction in Piggy. “WE GOTTA RUN!” he screamed. Running around to the opposite side of his mother, he shoved her toward the door with his head, sending her stumbling toward the exit as he kept pushing her. Just a few more feet… “Hungry!” howled the ghoul suddenly. “I’m hungry!” Its declaration was followed by a surge of motion, barreling forward with a scream. It raised a hoof as it did so, and Piggy let out a scream of fright. Realizing that they weren’t going to make it in time, he reacted on instinct, grabbing River by the mane and yanking her backward, away from the charging monster and the way out. But the ghoul’s attack hadn’t been aimed at them. As it brought its hoof forward, it struck the open door, slamming it closed and trapping the two of them in the room with it. “Hungry…” it hissed again, turning to face them. River seemed to recover her senses then, turning pale as her eyes darted to the door and then to the monster between her and it. “No,” she muttered, starting to shake. “No no no!” Piggy was already twisting his head around, wheezing as he looked for another way out. A second later, his eyes fell on the boarded-up window that the butlers had been trying to open. They’d only gotten a single plank removed, but there was no other exit, and it was with a frisson of desperation that he launched himself at the opening, grabbing the lowest of the planks covering the window and pulling with all of his might. River, however, couldn’t take her eyes off of the monster barely ten feet in front of her. “Please,” she whimpered, backing up until her bottom hit the wall. “I-I can get you food. Fruits, vegetables, dairy products. Whatever you want…” The ghoul’s smile was fiendish, licking cracked and bloodless lips with its desiccated tongue. “What I want,” hissed the undead pony, “is YOU!” The last word heralded an attack, springing forward and closing the distance between them in an instant. River’s scream barely got out of her mouth when a hoof cuffed her across the face, sending her staggering. Raising her forelegs in a reckless defense, she somehow managed to ward off a second blow, but the ghoul simply moved in closer, shrieking with joy as it sank its teeth into the soft meat of her leg. This time River wasn’t able to scream. Nor was she able to wrench her leg away from the monster, despite the incredible pain as it clenched its jaw tighter. In blind panic, she tried to back further away from the creature, despite knowing that she was cornered, but her hind legs wouldn’t move either. Unable to move a muscle, River couldn’t do anything but watch in silent agony as the ghoul dug its filthy teeth deeper into her leg. Its bloodshot eyes shining with delight, she realized with a jolt of horror that it wasn’t going to kill her quickly. Despite being ravenous, it was clearly intent on savoring its meal, and tears spilled down her cheeks as she realized that it was going to devour her alive. Unable to bear the thought, River silently prayed for someone, anyone, to save her- “MAMA!!! NOOO!!!” Abandoning his attempts to pry the window open, Piggy reacted on instinct to the sight of his mother in trouble. Scooping up the one plank that the butlers had managed to pull loose, he threw himself forward, swinging it as hard as he could at the ghoul’s face. To his surprise, the blow struck home, tearing the monster’s teeth free of River’s leg and sending its head snapping around as it stumbled backward…by one step. Then, regaining its balance, the creature slowly turned to regard him, eyes narrowing as it bared its bloodstained teeth at him in a furious hiss. His ears folding back in fright, Piggy shook all over as he raised his board in front of him. If it had been anypony else, he would have just let the ghoul devour them and used that opportunity to escape. Everypony in his old group would have done the same, he knew; no matter how bad they’d all felt about it afterward, that was just what it took to survive. But this was his mother. The one pony who had always believed in him. Who had always been nice to him. Who had been the first pony to come back to Vanhoover because she was worried about him. He couldn’t abandon her! “G-go away!” he yelled at the ghoul in what he hoped was a threatening voice. “Go away or I’ll…or I’ll clean your clock!” But the ghoul didn’t look intimidated in the slightest. Instead it smacked its lips. “You,” it sneered, slowly stalking toward him, “look delicious.” Piggy barely had time to blanch at that before the undead pony sprang into action, hurling itself at him with a snarl. Almost sobbing with terror, Piggy fell back, clinging tightly to his board as he used it to fend off the ghoul, abandoning all thoughts of attacking in favor of keeping it from getting him. It was more due to luck than skill that he managed to succeed, batting away the first hoof that came toward his face and managing to barely duck under a second, stumbling backward as the thing leaned in to try and bite him. Giving ground, Piggy continued to retreat from the thing’s barrage, knowing that he couldn’t keep this up forever but not having any better plan. All he could do was wait for his mother’s paralysis to wear off – having learned during Vanhoover’s fall that it never lasted for more than a few seconds – and then hopefully they’d be able to run away. It was still daytime, so if they could make it outside the thing probably wouldn’t follow- The ghoul’s next attack sent the board flying from his hooves. Piggy had just enough time to take in the ghoul’s toothy smile, realizing that it had been deliberately aiming for his weapon in order to disarm him, before its other hoof struck him right in the face. For a moment he felt his limbs start to stiffen up, and it was with energy borne of terror that he thrashed, managing to stay in control of his body as he stumbled backward, somehow avoiding a snap of teeth that would have torn his throat out had it connected. Even then, he knew the monster would be on him in a moment. Panicking, Piggy ran for the only cover he could find, scurrying around the large desk in the middle of the room where he’d been seated barely a minute before. Snarling, the ghoul started to follow him, and Piggy hurriedly moved opposite it, keeping the desk between them. Furious at how its meal was eluding it, the ghoul tried to dart the other way, but despite how he had already broken a sweat and was panting in between sobs of terror, Piggy refused to let it close the gap between then. The ghoul came to a halt then, glaring at him, and Piggy belatedly realized that it was on the far side of the room again, near the closet where it had emerged from, leaving him standing almost right in front of his mother and across from the door back out into the hallway. C’mon, Mama! he pleaded silently, not daring to turn his head to see how she was doing. We’re both closer to the exit than the ghoul is! If she regained control of herself, she might be able to yank the door open and let them run before it could get to them! But the only sound from behind him was River’s terrified breathing. Wanting to cry at the unfairness of how long it was taking his mother’s paralysis to wear off, Piggy felt his heart freeze up at the evil grin that suddenly crossed the ghoul’s face. Worried that it was simply going to climb up onto the desk, Piggy’s brows furrowed in confusion as the thing began to leisurely move around it instead. Circling to keep the desk between them, Piggy tried to figure out what it was doing, until the ghoul turned its eyes back toward River’s immobile form. Piggy’s blood ran cold then, realizing that the ghoul knew exactly how to stop making him run away: it just had to go after his mother again! This time, he knew, he wouldn’t be able to stop it. The piece of wood he’d been using as a weapon was on the far side of the room; trying to retrieve it would mean turning his back on the monster, which would either give it more than enough time to finish his mother off, or let it have a golden opportunity to get him from behind. But trying to stop it from hurting his mother bare-hoofed would be suicide. I need a weapon! he screamed silently. Something big! Something heavy! Something like…like… Like a desk. Not giving himself time to think, Piggy surged forward, throwing his weight against the heavy piece of furniture. It was a solid mass of wood, but Piggy was a heavyset stallion, slamming his rotund bulk against it with everything he had. Immediately, a loud scraping sound filled the room as the desk slammed into the ghoul, causing its sneer of triumph to dissolve into a look of shock as it was shoved backward and knocked into the wall, Piggy continuing to press against the desk to keep it pinned there. It worked! But the ghoul was already struggling to free itself, and Piggy felt it push back on the other side of the desk. Gritting his teeth, he dug his hooves into the floor, straining to keep the undead pony contained. C’mon Mama! he thought desperately. I can’t hold this much longer! He could already feel his muscles straining, not used to this much activity. But a glance to the side showed that River was still unmoving. Knowing it couldn’t be more than a few seconds before she was free, Piggy strove to keep the ghoul trapped. But although the creature’s body was gaunt it was still putting up a fierce struggle, and he clenched his teeth as the effort became more and more painful. Just a little longer! He just needed to keep going for a little longer! But it was no use, and the ghoul broke free a second later. Shoving the desk just far enough away to give itself room to maneuver, it clamored up on top of it with a roar of victory, flinging itself toward the fat little earth stallion that had caused it so much trouble. Exhausted and out of options, Piggy could do nothing except stumble backward, trying again to put some room between himself and the enraged monster. But his legs refused to work right after all the work he’d put them through, and he instead lurched to the side, colliding with the desk chair that he’d been sitting in before and knocking it over as the ghoul leapt at him. Barely able to scream, he tried to swing the chair up to hit it in mid-leap, but in his overtaxed state succeeded only in pulling wooden seat on top of himself, the ghoul landing on it a second later. Piggy screamed as he felt the impact, writhing in a desperate effort as he tried to shake the thing off, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good- “Piggy!” “M-MAMA!” he shrieked. He wanted to scream for her to help him, certain that he was about to die, but for some reason that wasn’t what came out when he opened his mouth. “RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY NOW!” “Pig-” “RUN AWAY RIGHT NOW!” “PIGGY! STOP!” It was the first time he’d ever heard his mother raise her voice, and he obeyed the command without thinking. A second later it occurred to him that if he stopped struggling the ghoul would be able to reach around the chair between them and get him! Except…except it hadn’t done so already. Why…? Cracking one eye open, Piggy shrieked as he saw the ghoul’s face mere inches from his own, and heaved the thing away, chair and all. Scrambling backward, it was only when the monster made no move to follow him that he looked at thing, trying to figure out what it was doing. What he saw made his eyes widen, coming to a halt as his jaw fell open in disbelief. The ghoul was dead. Its wild leap had carried it directly onto the chair, causing three of the legs to pierce the thing’s torso. For a moment Piggy couldn’t believe it, certain that at any moment it was going glance at him, say something nightmarish, and start getting up. But as the seconds passed and it didn’t move, it slowly sank in that it was over. “Piggy.” His mother’s voice made him jump, not having seen her move. Cradling her injured leg, she knelt down next to him, smiling shakily. “It’s okay. You got it. You won.” “I…I did?” Dimly, as if through a fog, he tried to process what that meant. But he didn’t have a chance as he felt his mother reach out with her undamaged hoof and draw him into a hug. For some reason, the gesture made his throat close up, his eyes filling with tears. “M-Mama!” he sobbed, hugging her back. Burying his face in her chest, he couldn’t keep himself from crying, and it occurred to him that he couldn’t remember the last time his mother had held him like this. “Mama!” “It’s okay,” soothed River, despite the fact that she was crying too. “It’s okay. You did it. You saved me.” Looking over at the monster her son had killed to protect her – the same son who had been too scared to sleep in his room for a week after he thought he’d seen a mouse under his bed, even after the servants had confirmed that it was just a crumpled wrapper from one of his candy bars – River couldn’t help but suddenly feel ashamed. Piggy had been trapped in a city full of monsters like that for weeks, while she had been relaxing in Las Pegasus the entire time barely giving him a second thought. He wouldn’t have survived without that gang of his, she knew. Whatever sort of ponies they were, they had kept her son alive, the same way he had kept her alive just now. “Piggy?” She called softly when the worst of his sobbing had abated. “Y-yeah, Mama?” he sniffled. “When that mare you told me about, Granola Bar, gets back…I want you to introduce me to her.”