//------------------------------// // 424 - Imprecation Anathema // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Everypony watched with baited breath as Cadance touched her hoof to Luna. The effect was immediate. The bruises covering her body disappeared, leaving the skin beneath her coat unblemished. Her horn was once again unmarked, free of the burns that the battle had left it with. Her posture, which had been tense with pain, suddenly relaxed. Nor could Luna hold back a soft grunt of relief as the suffering that she’d been forced to endure over the last few days came to an abrupt end, the sudden lack of agony being an ecstasy all its own. But the pleasure of no longer having to bear the wounds from her battle with Lex Legis lasted but a moment. Even as she opened her eyes, she could see that the faces of everyone around her were grim, and even before she turned to examine herself she knew why. As much as she couldn’t help but enjoy the cessation of pain, she was also acutely aware of what else she couldn’t feel. Her wings. Even so, she had to look anyway. Had to confirm that her hopes were dashed. And indeed they were: her sides were still smooth and lacking in feathered appendages. Her mane and tail remained a dull, lusterless blue. Even her stature, she could tell from looking at her legs, was still shorter than it had been as an alicorn. For a moment no one said anything, unable to speak through the oppressive air of disappointment that hung over them all, until Twilight spoke up. “Alright, based on what Cadance said before, we expected that this might happen.” Giving a nod, as though to convince herself that this wasn’t anything to be upset over, she looked at her former foalsitter. “Cadance, you take care of Princess Celestia and Silhouette. Luna, I’m going to try that anti-curse spell I mentioned. Wait just a moment, okay?” Luna forced herself to smile, fighting down the sense of despair that threatened to overwhelm her. “Of course. Thank you Twilight. And you too, Cadance.” The latter alicorn seemed to sense her distress, reaching out and placing a hoof over hers. “Don’t give up,” she urged, her voice no less strong for how gentle it was. “No matter what happens, we’re all here for you, and we won’t stop trying until you’re whole again.” She paused just long enough for Luna to nod, and then made her way over to Celestia, her lips already moving in another quiet prayer to Lashtada. Twilight was also speaking, voice raised in a chant in an unknown language as her hoof traced arcane patterns in the air. The sight made Luna’s stomach clench, remembering how Lex had done much the same before he’d struck her down… Fortunately, Twilight finished a second later, marching over to her with one foreleg held out. “Okay, spell cast. At this point I just need to make physical contact with the afflicted individual, and it should discharge automatically.” Despite the gravity of the situation, Luna found herself smiling just a little. The procedural nature of Twilight’s narration was absurd enough that she couldn’t help but feel somewhat tickled by it. The sensation was a welcome one, after everything that had happened over the last few days, and it pushed back her malaise enough that a sudden surge of hope ran through her. Her sister’s student had worked wonders all on her own before. If anypony could remove Lex’s dark magic now, it was Twilight Sparkle. Heedless of Luna’s thoughts, Twilight approached her slowly, holding her hoof off the ground but not reaching out just yet. Instead, she took a deep breath. “Now for the tricky part,” she announced. “I’m going to try to use my alicorn magic to enhance the spell.” From the other side of the car, Princess Celestia – now recovered, thanks to Cadance’s prayer – took a step forward, a concerned look on her face. “Twilight, are you sure that’s wise? You’re still learning how to handle that power, and to use it in conjunction with an entirely new type of magic…” “I know,” admitted Twilight. “But I’ve been studying how to combine Equestrian magic with the magic I learned on Everglow. If I can use the alicorn magic inside of me to intensify this spell’s strength and precision, then it’ll have a much better chance of breaking through Lex’s curse.” “It’s alright, sister. I trust Twilight.” Celestia still looked nervous, but Luna felt just the opposite, the hope inside of her growing. This was it. This was the sort of marvel that Twilight had so frequently pulled off before. Combining two different styles of magic was something that Lex Legis could never have anticipated, and Luna felt certain that it would overcome his malevolence now. “Whenever you’re ready.” Twilight needed no further confirmation. Squeezing her eyes shut, her horn immediately lit up, glowing with a brilliant raspberry-colored aura. Gritting her teeth, Twilight gave a strained groan, as though struggling to make the magic do what she wanted it to do. At first her efforts seemed to have no effect, as Twilight continued to grunt and strain, the aura around her horn flaring brighter but otherwise doing nothing. But then Twilight reached up with her outstretched hoof and touched the bottom of it to the shining radiance she was manifesting, making sure not to make contact with the horn itself as she did. Instantly, her aura began to churn violently, thrashing and seething as though struggling to get away from the appendage touching it. It was with another, louder groan of effort that Twilight withdrew her hoof…taking her horn’s aura with it. Luna’s eyes widened at the sight, and she could see that Celestia and Cadance looked the same, watching as Twilight physically held the aura that only a second ago had been around her horn. Still thrashing as though it resented being removed from its proper place, the aura nevertheless remained stable, held on the end of Twilight’s hoof. Letting out a shaky breath, the youngest princess opened her eyes just a sliver. “A-alright,” she grunted. “Here…goes…nothing!” The last word was punctuated by her practically diving forward, lunging and pressing the aura in her hoof – and, Luna realized, the invisible substance of the spell that it was surrounding – directly into the cursed princess’s chest. Luna let out a gasp as the energy of the spell spread through her. The thrashing aura grew in size, engulfing her entire body in an instant and lifting her slowly into the air. Her eyes widening, she nevertheless turned her head so that she could look at her sides, where her wings had once been silently willing the spell to succeed. “I think it’s working!” came Celestia’s voice. “Look!” But no one needed to be told what to look at, least of all Luna herself. Still held within the roiling aura, she watched as her body slowly began to blacken. Or rather, as a black covering appeared around her. Clinging to her like a second skin, the substance was already darker than pitch, the color of a night sky that had never known the moon or stars. It covered every part of her, turning her tail, her coat, and even her cutie mark into a featureless darkness, causing Luna to cry out in alarm as she realized the stuff had engulfed her completely, from head to hooves. And then it began to grow even darker. “I think that’s what you said the guards saw!” came Twilight’s voice, directed at Celestia. “Remember how the ones that were still conscious said they saw Lex’s magic lift Luna up and wrap her in some sort of black aura, and how it seemed to sink into her? I think that’s it! That’s the magic of his curse!” By this point, Luna would have known that even if Twilight hadn’t said anything. The inky substance had grown even darker, and a growing tactile sensation accompanied it as it did. It wasn’t painful, but still evoked an intense sense of distress. It was like she was wearing the most uncomfortable set of clothes she’d ever felt, their sizes and proportions not only wrong but also made out of fabrics that irritated her skin, all while hobbling her movement and leaving her off-balance. But that was just the start of it. Barely a second later the black covering had thickened, growing more substantial around her, and the feeling became more pronounced in turn. Suddenly it was no longer just uncomfortable, but unbearable. The black stuff wasn’t just discomforting her, it was imposing itself on her, forcing her to accommodate it in a way a mere set of clothes never could. Nor, she realized, was it just covering her; it was within her as well, twisting every part of her body to conform to the shape, the abilities, the existence that it – that Lex Legis – wanted her to have, rather than her own. The feeling was revolting in the extreme, and Luna flailed wildly at her torso and her face, trying to scrape the stuff off, ignoring the cries of her sister and her friends as she realized with a growing sense of panic that her efforts weren’t doing anything to dislodge the foul stuff that was the incarnation of Lex’s curse. And then the raspberry aura surrounding her gave a particularly strong pulse, and Luna gasped as the dark substance was suddenly tugged away from her body. It wasn’t enough to separate the black stuff from her, however, only causing it to stretch upward toward the edge of the aura for a moment before snapping back into place around her. It looked for all the world as if a giant, invisible hand had reached down and pulled on part of the black veneer covering her before letting go. In her panic, it took Luna a moment to realize that impression wasn’t far off; the aura surrounding her was Twilight’s enhanced spell, having forced Lex’s curse to manifest so that it could try and tear it off of her. Except it had failed… But the spell didn’t seem content to let things end so easily. Again it gave a strong pulse, and again the black substance was yanked toward the edge of the aura, stretching out like rubber as it stubbornly clung to Luna’s body. For a second it stayed there, the aura surrounding it shaking violently before calming again, the dark material again snapping back to surround Luna in a skintight covering. “It’s not working!” yelled Cadance. Celestia’s voice was no less alarmed. “Twilight, it needs more power!” “I-I can’t!” Twilight’s voice was fearful. “I was barely able to keep the spell intact with the energy I already gave it! If I add any more, it’ll completely break apart!” “Then what if we add our own alicorn magic to it?” came Cadance’s voice again. “Or maybe I could try Lashtada’s power again now?” “That won’t help! This isn’t like our native magic; arcane spells are carefully designed to function in specific ways. Adding more power or some other magical effect to them has to be done with careful precision, or all it does is make them collapse. If we try to do anything to it now, the best thing that will happen is that it’ll have no effect! At worst, it could cause the spell to go haywire!” Celestia’s reply was thick with anguish. “But if we don’t do something…!” But there was no need for her to complete that sentence. In the brief time that the three of them had been conversing, Twilight’s spell had tried another half-dozen times to rip the ebony material of Lex’s curse off of Luna. Each time it had tugged it sharply away from her, and each time it had failed to tear it off, the darkness resisting the pull and snapping back around Luna with suffocating closeness. Having watched it all from within the aura, Luna couldn’t even bring herself to protest as the pinkish nebula surrounding her began to fade. As it did, the black substance began to seep back into her body, and she could only groan in revulsion as it sank into her, the feelings of aversion it had brought with it fading. Except they weren’t fading, she knew now; they were simply sinking so deep into her that they were beyond being consciously registered, like an ache that had grown so familiar that it ceased to be noticeable. Those sensations were still there, making themselves a part of her everyday existence whether she recognized them or not. As the last of Twilight’s spell faded into nothing, Luna landed on the bed, the dark covering having vanished back into her entirely. Just like when Cadance’s attempt to free her had failed, nopony said anything in the wake of what had happened. But although she knew it was her own mind playing tricks on her, Luna felt certain that if she listened carefully enough, she’d have heard the sound of Lex Legis’s mocking laughter.