//------------------------------// // 451 - Tryout of Sorts // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “Tryout, what are you doing here?!” Feather Duster knew as soon as the words left her mouth that she’d said the wrong thing. This was her husband, the father of her child, reappearing after she’d been sure that he hadn’t survived the fall of Vanhoover. With him returning, she should have been overjoyed that their family was whole again, particularly in light of how many other ponies had lost loved ones. But even so, all she felt (besides shock) at that moment was a growing sense of apprehension. Tryout had many wonderful qualities, but a sense of restraint wasn’t one of them, which made him…indelicate, in situations where a gentler touch would have worked better. Although he never meant any harm, the result was often still troublesome for everypony involved. Feather Duster could still remember what had happened when Cleansweep, who had only been four years old at the time, had learned about Nightmare Night. She’d been so excited at the idea of the holiday that she’d asked Tryout to tell her a scary story before bed, instead of one of the adventure tales he usually read her. While anypony else would have found an excuse not to do so, or at least told her a story whose frightfulness was diluted down to something appropriate for a foal her age, Tryout had enthusiastically gone along with their daughter’s request, telling her the tale of the Headless Horse. By the time he’d finished, Cleansweep had been too terrified to sleep, bawling her eyes out in fear when he’d tried to leave. It had taken Feather Duster most of the night to calm the poor girl down, and even then Cleansweep had spent the next week sleeping in their bed. Or there had been the time he’d wanted to ‘liven up’ the Winter Wrap Up celebration by taking the collected snow and making it into Equestria’s largest snowmare. The project had actually been popular with everypony, with several pitching in to help, and at first it had seemed like one of his better ideas. But once things had picked up, Tryout had gotten the brilliant idea of using the snow in the clouds that the aerial team was busting. So he’d grabbed a few clouds, brought them over to where the snowmare was being built, and started jumping up and down on them. The localized snow shower he’d caused hadn’t been a big deal…but the lightning bolts that he’d accidentally discharged had been, since the snow had conducted the electricity to everypony nearby. The resulting injuries had led to that year’s Winter Wrap Up being Vanhoover’s being severely behind schedule. Then there had been the time that he’d tried to lead an expedition into the Frozen North to chart a path to Yakyakistan (thankfully, the rest of his team had dragged him back before they’d all died of hypothermia). Or when he’d come up with the idea of digging a tunnel under the swamp between Vanhoover and Tall Tale (he hadn’t gotten close, instead managing to dig a ditch that fed water from the river into their basement, flooding it). Or when he’d wanted to try and be the second pony ever to pull off a Sonic Rainboom (succeeding only in pulling the muscles in both of his wings, sending him into a mid-air collision with a flock of very irate geese). Which wasn’t to say that Tryout hadn’t had his fair share of successes. He’d once managed to fly not only directly from Vanhoover to Tall Tale without stopping – a trip that was long enough that no pegasi would attempt it – but he’d then turned around and flown back to Vanhoover all in the same day (before promptly collapsing, needing a full week of bedrest to recover), winning the coveted Iron Wing award from Vanhoover’s mayor for doing so. Likewise, while his wings were still recovering from that Sonic Rainboom stunt, he’d nevertheless helped to train Vanhoover’s team for the last Equestria Games; the ponies they’d sent had earned two gold, two silver, and three bronze medals between them, and had credited his training for their wins (one of them had even given him their medal in thanks). And he was particularly proud of the time he’d found a lost breezie, trekking across Equestria to help it get home (he had the pictures to prove it, which had made for the best Family Appreciation Day when he’d come in to Cleansweep’s school). Her husband simply had a lust for life, and no real fear of failure when he set his heart on something. It was just that “no fear of failure” became “no appreciation for consequences” too often for Feather Duster’s liking. Particularly when she – or worse, their daughter – was the one who had to pay the price for it. And with their current circumstances being what they were, it was all too easy to imagine what that price could end up being. The threats River Bank had used to cow her into obedience were still very much at the forefront of Feather Duster’s mind. And even those were nothing compared to what she knew Lex Legis could do, even if he hadn’t taken it upon himself to take her daughter as one of his students. Even so, she’d been dealing with it. Each day was a slow-motion heart attack as she did her best to serve Vanhoover’s new overlord without upsetting him, but she’d been learning how to do so. Likewise, the classes that he was giving to those foals were – to Feather Duster’s stark relief – largely benign. Most of what he’d been teaching them had to do with his esoteric philosophy, rather than showing them all dark magic the way she’d feared he would. Even her daughter’s pet snake seemed docile enough. The situation, while still potentially volatile, was stable. Except, of course, that she still hadn’t obeyed Miss Bank’s instructions about offering Master Legis…companionship. That was something she still didn’t want to think about, especially after Miss Blaze had pounced on her the other night. She’d barely touched her before suddenly letting go, cursing and galloping away with a snarl, but the incident had been enough to remind Feather Duster of what depravity was likely to take place when she finally had no choice but to follow that particular command. A command that would be infinitely harder to carry out now that her husband was here, she realized with a sinking feeling. Fortunately, Tryout was used to her fretting, paying little heed to her apparent distress. “Aw, sorry I wasn’t able to come home any sooner, babe, but you wouldn’t believe the adventure I’ve been on trying to make it back here! Listen to this: the boat I was one ended up sailing right past Tall Tale and instead went all the way down to Las Pegasus, okay? And I didn’t have any money to hire a boat to come back, so I figured that since I’m in casino central, I should just gamble to win the bits I needed, but let me tell you: the house really does always win. So next thing I know I’m stuck working off my debt there, and just when I’m thinking that I’m going to be mopping floors for the rest of my life, I meet this buffalo-” “Tryout,” interrupted Feather Duster, “that sounds fascinating, really, but I need to get back to work.” She couldn’t help but glance around nervously as she spoke. She’d come here to run Trotsworth’s errand as a favor to the old stallion, since he’d always been nothing but kind to her. But while Master Legis had granted her permission to do so – or at least, that was how she’d interpreted his noncommittal grunt when she’d begged his leave to go perform a quick task – she’d told him she’d be right back. Already she was growing nervous about how long she’d been gone. “Why don’t you go tell Cleansweep about your adventures in the meantime?” She couldn’t help but stress their daughter’s name a little; it bothered her a little that he was apparently taking it for granted that she was alright. “She’s staying at Miss Bank’s manor. I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed to see that you’re alright. In fact-” “She’s staying at the old Banks place, huh?” interrupted Tryout, his grin widening at that revelation in a manner that made it clear that he’d missed her hint completely. Instead, he gave her a conspiratorial wink, elbowing her lightly. “Looks like that new gig you got has some nice benefits after all. Now you just have to make sure our daughter doesn’t put you out of a job, what with how fast she can clean! I swear, that girl can-” “In fact,” repeated Feather Duster, a little louder this time, “why don’t you take these five ponies there?” She pointed at Granola Bar and her friends, who were watching the two of them with some bemusement, save for the unicorn with the bandage around her horn, who was still glancing around with a mildly concerned look on her face for some reason. “Miss Bank invited them to stay as her guests, and I’m rather busy at the moment, so if you could guide them there that would be very helpful.” “Actually,” interrupted the unicorn mare, “before we head there, I was hoping that you could tell us what happened here.” She pointed at the ruins of what used to be the train station. “There was a fight, right? Between Lex Legis and the princesses? Do you know who won? Is Lex alright?” “Wait wait wait,” cut in Tryout before Feather Duster could open her mouth. “Princesses? In a fight? Here?” He glanced back and forth between the unicorn and Feather Duster. “Oh, somepony has got to fill me in on this! Was there some sort of monster or villain or something here in Vanhoover?” “You don’t know the half of it,” muttered one of the stallions with Granola Bar, the smaller one whose cutie mark was a unrolled length of waterlogged yellow plastic. But despite how quiet he’d been, and the sound of the ponies around them, Tryout apparently overheard the remark. “And I missed it?!” He turned back to Feather Duster then. “Babe, you were here the whole time, right? We’ve got to trade notes! How about you go on your lunch break or something and we go see Cleansweep together? You can fill me in on what I missed on the way there.” Feather Duster grit her teeth, fighting down the urge to get angry. She knew that this was just Tryout being himself; she’d known it when she’d married him. But always having to be the responsible one was hard enough when things were going well. Now that they were in a high-tension situation, his attitude was not only not helpful, it was a burden. I should just go, she decided. I’ve already told him that I need to get back to work, where our daughter is, and what he can do to help out in the meantime. Staying here like this is just distracting him. That was also part of who Tryout was; actions got through to him far more reliably than words- “Whoa,” Tryout suddenly muttered as he looked over her shoulder. “Take a look at that guy! Is the circus in town or something?” The blood draining from her face, Feather Duster spun around, looking back in the direction of the camp. She wasn’t alone in doing so. Around her, all eyes were turning toward the pony that had just arrived. The crowd parted like water in front of him. Conversation died as he passed, with those few ponies who dared to speak quieting down to a whisper. His hooffalls were measured and deliberate, moving with the confidence of someone who knew that whatever the situation was, he had it under control. And no one missed how, despite the sun being at a high angle, his shadow stretched out at length behind him. Lex Legis had arrived.