//------------------------------// // 431 - Missionary Positioning // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Once again, Applejack was the first to raise her voice in objection to Willow’s call for Lex’s death. “So you’re just a lovin’ mother worried about her boy, is that it?” she snorted, giving the purrsian a disgusted look. “You know, you talk a mighty good game about how Equestria’s such a great place for Sunflower to grow up, but you don’t seem to get that that’s because we don’t go around killin’ folks just because we’re afraid of ‘em.” “Except for King Sombra, the last pony who tried to conquer this world,” noted Willow flatly. “That ain’t the same!” Applejack’s angry shout was punctuated by her pounding a hoof on the table, making it shudder under the force of the blow. “We weren’t sittin’ around talkin’ about ways to ki-, er…” Almost biting her tongue as she saw Rarity gesturing frantically at her from behind Spike, Applejack hurriedly tried to amend her words. “To ‘dispel him into the ether,’ we were just tryin’ to save the Crystal Empire! Everythin’ after that happened on its own!” Zecora rubbed her chin at that, a thoughtful look on her face. “If King Sombra was undone by the Crystal Fair, perhaps the answer for dealing with Lex Legis lies there.” Line Byline raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re suggesting that Lex’s dark magic is so much like King Sombra’s that he might react the same way to the power of the Crystal Heart?” “Or maybe his magic would!” exclaimed Twilight, her eyes widening. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before!” She looked at Celestia and Luna, excited. “If Lex is using the same dark magic as King Sombra, and the Crystal Heart was able to overpower that, then it might be the key to breaking his curse now!” Luna’s breath caught in her throat at that, her eyes widening as though she were afraid to hope. Celestia, by contrast, couldn’t have looked prouder. “That’s brilliant, Twilight!” Sparing a second to give her pupil a radiant smile, the elder princess turned to Cadance. “What do you think? Could it work?” Cadance nodded, a determined expression on her face. “I think so. It’s definitely worth a try. But we’ll need as many of the crystal ponies there as we can. It’s their light and love that gives the Crystal Heart its power. The more of them there are, the better the chance that it’ll be able to undo Lex’s curse.” She glanced at Pillow and Cozy at that last part, smiling as both crystal ponies immediately nodded. “We’ll do everything we can to help,” offered Pillow. “This must be Lashtada’s will!” smiled Cozy, looking almost as relieved as Celestia. “I’m sure that everyone’s love, together, will prove stronger than that pony’s hateful magic!” “Then there’s no reason to delay!” Twilight was already performing calculations for their departure in her head, murmuring to herself. “The Crystal Empire is pretty far. Teleporting myself, Luna, and two more ponies there will be difficult, even using my alicorn magic. Maybe a series of shorter teleports? Except that might still be dangerous if I can’t visualize each destination point. Maybe if I can build in a failsafe for if we accidentally arrive off-target-, ow! Hey, what’s the big idea?” Rubbing her head where the muffin had hit her, Twilight glared at Shining Armor, who offered her an apologetic smile in return. “Sorry, sis, but I needed to get your attention before you went completely Twilynanas.” Twilight sputtered at that, but before she could protest Shining Armor’s expression turned grim again. “If we need as many crystal ponies as we can get for this, then we have a small problem,” he explained, glancing at his wife and then Celestia and Luna in turn. Cadance frowned, only for her eyes to widen a second later. “Oh no! The missionaries!” Applejack tilted her head. “The what now?” “Missionaries. Ponies who go on a journey to tell everyone about their god.” Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who spoke up, cringing as everypony looked at her. “It was in the newspaper a few weeks ago, while you and Twilight were gone. I, um…I saw it while I was using the paper to help some birds build their nests,” she confessed, giving Line Byline a guilty look. “It’s quite alright,” chuckled the newspony. “There’ve been plenty of days when I think that everything we publish should be used that way.” Fluttershy smiled back, clearly grateful that he wasn’t angry, but Princess Celestia was more focused on the issue at hoof. “Cadance, how many missionaries did you dispatch?” “I asked everypony who’d begun receiving spells from Lashtada if they’d go, and almost all of them said yes,” admitted Cadance, her expression telegraphing how much she regretted that decision now. “Including Cozy and Pillow, there were thirty of them altogether. They were sent out in pairs, each to a different city in Equestria to spread word of Lashtada’s teachings.” “Well, that’s not so many, is it?” Rarity’s voice was hopeful as she glanced at Twilight. “Surely thirty ponies out of the entire Empire won’t make that much of a difference.” “I…don’t know,” conceded Twilight. She sent a questioning look at Cadance, but received an equally uncertain look in reply. Trying not to feel discouraged, she glanced at Line. “How long would it take to put a notice in the newspaper asking all of the crystal ponies to return to the Crystal Empire?” “If I sent word to my deputy editor, we could get the message out by today’s evening edition,” replied Line, after glancing at his pocket watch. “But the problem is that it’ll take time to coordinate with other cities’ newspapers so that they’ll reprint the announcement.” Celestia fought back a grimace. “How much time?” Line sighed. “For a high-priority message like this, we send proofing copies out via express courier to every other major city’s local paper. Those won’t take too long to get to nearby cities like Baltimare or Fillydelphia, but for someplace like Las Pegasus, it could take almost a week. And there’s one other problem as well.” “There would be no way to keep what we’re doing a secret.” Luna’s voice was soft, almost as though she were mourning the topic under discussion rather than celebrating it. And her next words made it clear why. “Even if we don’t say why, putting out word all across Equestria that we want the crystal ponies to return to their homeland would alert Lex Legis to what we’re doing.” “How?” Spike scratched his head, giving Luna a puzzled look. “I mean, I thought that you guys said Vanhoover was almost leveled. Are they still printing newspapers?” “Spike’s right, there’s no need to send anything to Vanhoover, especially since the crystal ponies we sent there are already back here with us,” noted Cadance, looking at Cozy and Pillow meaningfully. “And the missionaries we sent to Tall Tale came back a little while after they left because of how that dragon closed the city off. So we wouldn’t have to send word to the newspaper there either.” Soft Mane still looked dubious. “But wouldn’t word still get around?” “It might,” acknowledged Celestia. “Lex seems intent on opening up Vanhoover for trade as soon as he can, and from what little we saw in Tall Tale, it looks like that city is on the verge of restoring its connections to the rest of Equestria. But I don’t believe that word will spread quickly enough for Lex to take action to stop us.” Shining Armor’s features tightened. “We should still put the Empire on alert, just in case he figures things out faster than we’re expecting. If he’s going to try and stop us from curing Luna, he’ll definitely come after the Crystal Heart.” “If he does, I hope it'll do to him what it did to King Sombra,” added Cozy darkly. “Sweetheart, please,” murmured Pillow, stroking her mane gently. Aisle winced at his wife’s statement, but seemed to come to a decision, clearing his throat pointedly. “Maybe there’s another way.” “You think that the possibility of provoking Lex’s wrath makes using the Crystal Heart on Luna too much of a risk?” asked Celestia, making sure to keep her face calm and her voice even. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded at masking her feelings, however, because Aisle’s eyes widened and he immediately shook his head. “No! That’s not what I meant at all!” Grimacing, he took a moment to collect himself. But it was Luna that he looked at a moment later. “Your Highness, I said before that I don’t think that Lex is a monster, and I meant that. But I don’t approve of what he’s done to you. He cursed me and Cozy before we left Vanhoover as well, and I had no problem seeking to have them removed then, nor with helping you remove yours now. I just…I thought there might be an easier way to bring the crystal ponies back without telling everyone what’s happening…” The ghost of a smile crossed Luna’s lips then. “I understand, Produce Aisle.” Her expression dimmed then, changing into one of resignation. “Please, ask your question. I believe I know what it is anyway.” With one last nervous glance at Princess Celestia, Aisle started again. “I just thought that it might be easier if you contacted each of the crystal pony missionaries in their dreams and asked them to come back that way.” Twilight and Cadance winced at that, and Celestia gave Aisle a cross look, but stopped as Luna touched a hoof to her side. “Do not chastise him, my sister. His question is neither prying nor insensitive.” Celestia gave an unhappy sigh, but nodded, closing her eyes and visibly calming herself. For her part, Luna looked around the room, and though her eyes settled back on Aisle she was clearly addressing everyone when she spoke next. “As a result of my…condition, it has become more difficult for me to use my powers within the dream realm. Although I can still touch the minds of sleeping ponies, not being able to call upon my alicorn magic to augment that power has left me struggling to perform feats that I found effortless before. As I am now, I fear that it would take me more time to reach out and touch the dreams of nearly thirty slumbering strangers than it would to alert them through the newspapers. And in truth, I question how much more secure communicating using dreams would be, as I suspect the dark goddess that Lex Legis is beholden to also commands some authority over the dream realm as well.” That sent a visible wave of uncertainty through everypony, none more so than Celestia. “Sister, are you sure about that?” Luna shook her head. “I confess that this is only my suspicion. But as things stand now, I believe that there is little to lose should we alert the crystal ponies through more traditional means. Particularly since…” No one missed Luna’s hesitation, and Twilight stood up. “Er, I don’t know about anypony else, but that fruit punch always goes right through me,” she announced with an uncomfortable laugh. “Maybe this would be a good time to take a bathroom break?” “No.” Her voice firm, Luna visibly gathered her resolve. “I appreciate your concern, Twilight, but please let me do this.” For a moment Twilight hesitated, shooting an uncertain look at Celestia, but when the older princess nodded, Twilight did the same, sitting back down. Giving both of them a brief smile of thanks, Luna took a deep breath before she started speaking again. “There’s another reason why it would take longer for me to contact Cadance’s missionaries in their dreams. It’s because I’m already endeavoring to contact another group of ponies that way, in order to inform them of a decision I’ve made.” Line couldn’t help himself, his reporter’s instincts kicking in. “What decision, Your Highness?” Luna hesitated again, gathering her strength for what she was about to say. “The curse that Lex Legis has placed on me…it’s horrible. Although I’m not in any pain, not physically at least, the way it feels…the knowledge that his magic is within me even now, keeping my powers and my body restricted to suit his will rather than my own…it’s more repulsive than words can describe.” Her voice almost broke at that last part, and she took a moment before continuing. “But if there’s one bright side to what’s happened to me, it’s that I have a better sense of myself now than I did before.” “Luna?” Celestia couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice. “Yes…Luna,” sighed the pony in question, giving her sister a sad smile. “I’ve spent a very long time wishing I could be more than just Luna, princess of Equestria. And each time I’ve tried to act on that wish, it’s left me with less than I had before. First I tried to become the only princess of this land, and for that I spent a thousand years sealed within the moon. Then I endeavored to become a deity, and as a result I’ve lost my status as an alicorn.” She shook her head again, her expression rueful. “I’ve made the same mistake twice now. There will not be a third time. To that end, as of last night I began contacting my worshipers in their dreams, letting them know the same thing that I’m about to tell all of you now.” A pin could have been heard dropping as everyone waited for what Luna to finish speaking. She didn’t keep them in suspense. “I’m renouncing my claims of divinity. From now on, I will neither seek to become, nor present myself as being, a goddess.”