//------------------------------//
// 437 - It is Inevitable 
// Story: Lateral Movement 
// by Alzrius 
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“Nonvolatile planar aperture located. Commencing immediate deactivation.”

The voice, and its owner, came from out of nowhere. One second everyone in the conference room was gathering around the portal Discord had created, peering in wonder at the doorway to another world. The next, there was an unknown creature in their midst, causing everyone to freeze in shock and confusion.

The conference room the princesses had chosen was an ornate chamber, with a vaulted ceiling over twenty feet high. But the thing that suddenly appeared was only barely able to fit inside of the place, its head brushing the top of the room despite it hovering just a few inches off the ground. Its size, however, was the least bizarre aspect of its appearance.

Its abdomen and head were humanoid, similar to Soft Mane’s, but rather than being made of flesh it was formed out of slate-gray stone, sculpted to display an impressive set of muscles below an impassive face. From its back sprouted wings made of metal, socketed joints moving soundlessly as keen, glittering feathers spread to catch the air. Six powerful arms jutted from its shoulders, each one of them thicker than an ordinary pony’s torso. The topmost pair wielded a sword in its left hand, the blade more than ten feet from hilt to point, whereas the right held a long metal shaft that terminated in a spiked ball that was almost the size of Princess Celestia. The middle set of arms both gripped a spear so heavy that a log looked like a toothpick by comparison. But most intimidating were the thing’s lower arms; rather than wielding any weapons, its hands gripped – or rather, were attached to – metal spheres. The sphere in its left hand radiated flames so intense that it was like it held a small sun, whereas the right one crackled with enough electricity that filled the entire room with a low, droning buzz.

Most unusual of all, however, was the creature’s lower body. Below the waist, it had no legs or tail or anything that even remotely resembled a normal creature. Instead, its lower half consisted of a series of large metal rings, easily half-a-dozen or more, all of them eight feet in diameter, whirling rapidly in different configurations, somehow managing to avoid striking each other despite moving through the same orbit. Just as baffling was how a dim blue glow radiated out from the creature, tinting the entire area a gentle azure despite the light having no obvious source.

Then, while everyone tried to figure out what was happening, the thing raised the sword it was carrying and pointed it menacingly at the double doors where Discord had created the portal to Everglow. Instantly, an emerald field sprang into existence, spreading out to cover the far end of the conference room. As soon as the green emanation reached the open doorway, the sunny field that lay on the other side of it was gone, instantly replaced by the castle hallway once again. 

Just like that, the portal to Everglow had been closed…with Twilight, her friends, and the ponies they’d been trying to rescue still on the other side of it.

“Twilight!” yelled Princess Celestia, eyes widening in horror.

“Spike!” Soft Mane’s voice was no less shocked, her clouded eyes staring at where the portal had been.

“Whatever you are, bring them back this instant!” Shining Armor’s threat was accompanied by his pointing his horn at the unknown creature, a brilliant rose-colored aura appearing around it.

“Now really, this is the absolute height of rudeness.” As he said the word “height,” Discord’s size increased until he was just as tall as the metal-and-stone monstrosity, floating over so that he was right in the thing’s expressionless face. “I don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to be, but first you show up trying to look even weirder than I am, and then you close the gateway that I made?! You’re lucky I’m such a good sport,” he huffed, suddenly clad in a hoofball uniform, “or I’d take it personally. Besides, it’s not like I can’t just make another one.”

That last part was accompanied by another snap of his fingers, and this time the door at the other end of the room – the smaller, single door that Princesses Celestia and Luna had entered from – suddenly flew open. Once again, the sunny pastoral scene was visible, as were the collection of ponies (and two reptiles) looking around wildly, their eyes widening as they saw the way home suddenly reappear. For his part, Discord sneered at the statue-like newcomer. “How do you like them apples?” he snickered, snapping his fingers again…but this time, nothing happened, making his smug look turn into one of confused annoyance. “Strange, that should have turned your weapons into apples. Is everyone around here chaos-proof all of a sudden?”

The creature’s stone eyes turned to examine Discord. “Originator of nonvolatile planar aperture located. Running multi-spectrum analysis. Analysis complete. Entity class: five. Meta-type: para-mortal. Numinous mode confirmed: anarchic gradient. Magnitude: category four. Classification: not found.” Its posture shifted then, bringing its weapons into ready positions. “Conclusion: terminate with extreme prejudice.”

It gave no further warning before it attacked.

Instantly, the arm holding the spiked mace lashed out with an overhead swing, the weapon punching through the ceiling with no more resistance than if the stone had been made out of paper. Ignoring the debris raining down on its head, it brought the mace down on Discord before the surprised draconequus had time to react, smashing him down onto the conference table. The wood splintered instantly, the ends of the table jackknifing into the air as Discord was driven down through the table and into the floor, the stonework on the ground faring no better against the force of the blow than the ceiling had, instantly cratering as a torrent of dust exploded throughout the room.

Pandemonium immediately descended, screams of fright filling the room as everyone started acting at once. Shining Armor grabbed his wife in both hooves and literally flung her toward the far side of the room, away from the thing. Aisle immediately turned and knocked Cozy and Pillow to the ground, throwing himself over both of them as chunks of wood and stone came raining down. Zecora grabbed the insensate form of Line Byline, knocked senseless by the end of the table catching him across the head, and began dragging him toward the exit. A second later she was joined by Grass Patch and Soft Mane, the latter murmuring a healing spell before reaching out to touch the dazed stallion.

Shielding herself and her sister with one wing, Celestia hurriedly issued instructions. “Luna, have the castle evacuated! Make sure the guards get everyone outside!”

“But what about you?!” Even as the words left her lips, Luna knew what Celestia’s answer would be.

She was proven right a moment later. “I’ll make a stand here and buy you some time to escape. If we can’t stop this thing and Canterlot falls, then head south, beyond the Badlands, and get help from the queen of the hippo-”

“No! Don’t try and fight it!”

The voice made both sisters jump, gasping as Willow – the purrsian who had abruptly vanished when Discord had initially appeared – suddenly reappared right in front of them. The unexpected sight was enough to bring both of them up short, with Celestia recovering first. “What do you mean?! That thing’s attacking us!”

Willow shook her head. “That ‘thing’ is a lhaksharut!”

Luna's brows rose, uncomprehending. “A what?”

“A lhaksharut!” repeated Willow. “It’s one of the inevitables, the beings who enforce the natural order! I studied them before I left home! It came here because it picked up on the permanent gateway that Discord creature made between this world and Everglow! Since he practically spit in its face by opening another one, it’s only focused on him! If we don’t interfere, then after it kills him and closes that second portal, it should leave!”

“‘Should’?!” repeated Luna incredulously, looking past Celestia. The lhaksharut hadn’t ceased its attacks. Although the debris had completely hidden Discord from view, the inevitable was continuing to attack where he had fallen, bringing its sword down in a slice that not only took out more of the ceiling, but landed so hard that the impact could be felt through the ground. Nor did it stop there, stabbing downward with its spear in a brutal strike that buried more than half of the massive weapon in the smoke-hidden ground.

“If you go to his aid,” stressed Willow, “you’ll only be making yourselves targets as well! These things are incredibly powerful! If you couldn’t even defeat one dark wizard then you have no chance against this! Just let it kill him and-”

“Leave him alone!”

Twilight’s voice rang out as a lightning bolt shot from her horn, lancing across the conference room and striking the creature dead-center as she and her friends rushed back through the portal, joining the battle.





“Let me go! We have to help them!”

Blue struggled to make her way toward the freestanding door in front of her, digging her hooves into the ground as she tried to follow Twilight Sparkle and the others. “Gneech, let me go!”

But the kobold refused to relinquish his grip on her tail, yanking on it with all of his strength as he tried to keep her from her destination. “Blue horse no go there! Big stone monster is big and stone! Blue horse be killed!”

“So what should we do, just stand here and watch?!” She kept trying to make her way forward, but despite Gneech’s thin frame, his persistent tugging was – in conjunction with her gravid state – enough to stop her from making any forward motion. “Diamond Tiara, tell him to let me go!”

“Why?” snorted the other filly, making no move to follow the adults into the fray. “He’s got the right idea.”

Diamond Tiara's answer was enough to shock Blue into stillness, slumping backward as her lack of resistance allowed Gneech to pull her back into a sitting position (and sending the kobold stumbling). “You can’t mean that!” Searching for allies, her eyes fell on the last member of their group. “Silver Spoon, tell her she can’t possibly mean that!”

Staring at the battle raging in the conference room, Silver Spoon gulped before turning her attention to the other two fillies. “I…I think we should go help them! Princess Twilight and her friends came here to rescue us, so we should-”

“Are you kidding me?!” Diamond Tiara’s snarl was punctuated by her slamming her axe into the ground in frustration. “It was her friend Applejack’s fault that we got into this mess in the first place, remember?! Now they’re getting us into an even bigger one, and you want to go charging right in?!”

“Alpha horse smart,” chimed in Gneech, dusting himself off as he stood up. “Know not dying is better than big reward. That why alpha.”

“Darn right I-, wait…big reward?” Diamond Tiara cocked her head, giving Gneech a suspicious look. “What big reward?”

Gneech blinked, cocking his head as though unsure why it needed to be explained. “Well, alpha horse say winged horse is princess, yes? Save princess, shower with treasure and magic. But only if survive. Much better not die and get treasure and magic somewhere else later.”

Diamond Tiara didn’t say anything to that, and Silver Spoon shared a bemused look with Blue, the two of them almost able to see the gears in their leader’s head turning. Sure enough, a second later Diamond Tiara grabbed her axe and pointed it dramatically at the portal. “Alright everypony, change of plans! We’re going to charge in there and turn that big statue into a heap of rubble! Then Princess Twilight and the others will owe us big!”

“Eh?!” Gneech’s eyes opened wide with horror. “Alpha horse go crazier than crazy horse! Gneech not go! Just say is better survive than die trying!”

“Gneech,” growled Diamond Tiara, “I want you to ask yourself right now, who are you more scared of: that monster,” she stalked toward the kobold then, giving him her darkest glare, “or ME?!”

Withering under the threat of the filly’s wrath, Gneech’s defiance crumbled faster than a sand castle at high tide, and he prostrated himself in front of her, shaking like a leaf. “Gneech follow alpha horse!”

“Darn right!” snapped Diamond Tiara, before giving the other two a look. “Anyone else got a problem with my plan?” When Blue and Silver Spoon shook their heads, she hoisted her axe again, turning back toward the portal. “Then ch-, WHOA!”

Diamond Tiara’s shock robbed her of her momentum, making her stop before she’d moved more than five feet toward the doorway back to the conference room. Behind her, Silver Spoon, Blue, and Gneech were much the same, wide-eyed at what had happened during their brief delay…