//------------------------------// // 485 - Remaining Undaunted // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “And I’m going to need fresh rose petals every day for my bath. Pink roses. Not white or red ones.” “Yes, Your Highness,” replied River automatically as she led the assembled ponies back toward her manor. Prince Blueblood had been listing what he needed for the duration of his stay – the bare essentials, according to him – for a little while now. Apparently, after seeing the state Vanhoover was in, along with the “shabby” conditions of her aerial yacht, he had no confidence in her ability to provide adequate lodgings for a guest of his stature without explicit instructions. For her part, River was only barely paying attention to the lengthy list of creature comforts that the prince apparently couldn’t do without, knowing that it would all be for naught once he and Lex met. “Also, proper serving staff should always wear jasmine scent,” continued Blueblood. “Not too much, you understand. Just enough so that it creates a pleasant background when I’m within, say, three paces of them. Any more than that overwhelms my royal nose. Furthermore-” “What’s that?!” yelped Pixie suddenly. Out of the corner of her eye, River saw Blueblood turn to glower at her friend, clearly displeased about being interrupted, but his expression turned to one of confusion when he looked where Pixie was pointing. Nor was he the only one, as the rest of the Las Pegasus ponies were murmuring amongst themselves, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. But River herself didn’t join them, knowing exactly what she was looking at. Coming from the direction of her manor, a free-floating mass of darkness was headed directly toward them. A mass of darkness with green-and-purple eyes. “Lex.” Realizing that there was nothing else she could do, River bit back a sigh. This was going to be a disaster of epic proportions, but it was out of her hooves now. Along with her hopes of earning even a minor reprieve for when Lex decided how he was going to punish her for what had happened with that uppity maid. The only thing she could do was accept her fate with whatever dignity she could muster. “Your Highness,” began River slowly, her voice raised enough to get everypony’s attention despite their eyes still being glued to the intimidating sight bearing down on them. By now Lex was a little over a stone’s throw away and closing rapidly. “Please allow me to present Lex Legis, the ruler of Vanhoover and-” She was still speaking when Lex sped right past them. It was unexpected enough to leave River completely nonplussed, blinking in confusion as she watched Lex speed off in the direction of where everypony had gathered at the camp-turned-village. He hadn’t so much as glanced at River and her entourage, let alone slowed down. Why…? “What…what was that?” croaked Gladmane, his face pale. “River, did you say that was the ruler of Vanhoover?!” Pretty Penny couldn’t have looked more horrified if she’d tried. “I’ve never seen anything more horrible in my life!” Razzle Dazzle shivered, the sweat beading on her cheeks already starting to make her thick makeup run. “Your Highness, we should get out of here immediately before that…thing comes back!” For a moment Blueblood didn’t answer, blinking as he stared after Lex. “On the contrary,” he announced a moment later, giving a satisfied smirk. “This is perfect!” Nopony knew what to say to that. “River Bank,” demanded the prince suddenly, turning to the mare in question. “Am I correct to presume that was the cad who acted so discourteously toward Celestia and Luna?” “Well, yes, but-” “Ha ha!” Giving his mane a toss as though he’d solved a great mystery, Blueblood’s laugh was one of exultation. “Then this is an excellent opportunity to discipline the miscreant! Then I can be on my way instead of lingering in this squalor! Valet!” “Yes, Your Highness?” answered the svelte stallion. “I trust you remembered to bring my you-know-what?” Giving an obsequious bow, the unicorn nodded. “Of course, Your Highness.” “Excellent!” pronounced Blueblood, turning to regard the rest of the group as he flashed his perfect teeth. “Then let us be off to witness my triumph over the cur!” “Y-Your Highness,” protested Pixie. “You can’t be serious about confronting that…monster!” But rather than dissuade the prince, Pixie’s protest only made him puff his chest out. “My dear, you underestimate the resolve of royalty. I can assure you that little stunt was simply a display meant to intimidate the weak-hearted among us.” He gave a condescending snicker then, making it plain as could be that such a category did not include him. “Clearly this ‘Lex Legis’ has no idea just whom he’ll be facing. After having seen Hoity Toity’s attempt at a ‘blue collar chic’ fashion line last fall, there’s little that I find frightening anymore.” The prince’s announcement made River’s eyebrows rise in disbelief, but not nearly as much as the sudden applause that came from everypony else. Blueblood being even more full of himself than she’d imagined was one thing, but how could everypony else possibly find that to be encouraging?! Were they that eager for a prince’s approval, or were they just desperate to believe that Lex wasn’t as frightening as they thought? If it’s the latter, then I suppose they’re not wrong, thought River, falling in with everypony else as they followed Blueblood – moving at a trot, since royalty, he’d told her earlier, was never so uncouth as to run – toward the camp. Lex isn’t as terrifying as that glimpse of him would suggest. He’s much, much worse. “…up!” The voice was faint, as though calling out to him from a great distance. “…-ease…up!” He could tell the voice wanted him to follow it, but the thought was an unpleasant one. Going back there meant a great deal of effort and pain, he knew. It would be so much easier just to ignore the voice…just for a little while, until he felt more rested… “Please! Wake up” That time he heard it more clearly, and he knew that the voice was pleading with him. The knowledge made him feel guilty, knowing that he was letting it down by not answering. …and not just the voice, he realized a moment later. There were a lot of people who would be disappointed in him if he didn’t go back right away. Cleansweep. Straightlace. Fiddlesticks. Feathercap. His friends. And not just them. Lyden. Venin. Altaer. Nemel. Ulespy. Their mentors. And Lex. His hero. That’s right…would Lex ever let anyone down just because something was hard? That thought gave him new strength, and he started to focus on the voice, struggling with everything he had to follow it, ignoring the slow haze of pain that began to envelope him as he did, until at last… Fruit Crunch opened his eyes. “Crunchy!” sobbed Cleansweep, hugging him. “Thank goodness!” The embrace made him ache all over, but Fruit Crunch managed to smile anyway. “Hey, Dust Bunny…” “I can’t believe you did that!” Her tone suddenly turning angry, Cleansweep released him, sniffling. “What were you thinking?!” The accusation made Fruit Crunch blink, not sure what she was talking about, but only for a second. Then his memory came flooding back. Starlight Glimmer. The force field she’d trapped them all in. Her firing a huge blast of magical energy that had immediately started to bounce around inside it. Cleansweep yelling and struggling underneath him after he’d thrown himself on top of her, right before he felt something large and furry land on top of him in turn. Then it had felt like he was being struck with steel girders from every direction all at once… Fighting down a grimace, Fruit Crunch flashed her a cocky grin. “You’re the healer, dummy. I knew that so long as you were safe, we’d all be okay.” But despite his bravado, he suddenly realized that he hadn’t checked on the others. Ignoring how much it hurt, he turned his head, spotting Straightlace, Fiddlesticks, and Feathercap sprawled out nearby, unmoving. But their spirit animals were nowhere to be seen, save for Venin, whom Fruit Crunch belatedly realized was wrapped around Cleansweep’s middle. “Are-” “They’re okay,” answered Cleansweep before he could finish speaking. “Lyden and Nemel and the rest of the spirit animals followed your lead and jumped on top of them. And on you, too. We all made it through because of that.” She gave him a shaky smile, clearly guilty that she’d had two protectors where the rest of her team had only one. “They’ll be back once you guys all get some rest. And since Venin was with Aria and that other lady, she didn’t get caught in the blast, so I can still use my healing powers.” She reached down and put her forelegs on his chest then. “I’ll fix you up first, and then take care of everypony else.” Fruit Crunch nodded, only to bite his lip at how even that small movement made his head ache. But it didn’t escape his notice that the shield that had kept the blast contained was gone. “What about Starlight?” Cleansweep’s expression immediately turned resentful. “She got what she deserved!” Fruit Crunch’s eyes widened, and not just because he’d never seen her that upset before. “You mean she’s-” “Not dead.” Cleansweep seemed to realize how her earlier statement about Starlight had sounded, her ears flattening as an embarrassed look came over her face. “But I’m not using any of my healing powers on her!” She canted her head to the side on that last word, and Fruit Crunch followed her gaze. Starlight was sprawled out by the ruined wall of the train station, which was now even more ruined than it had been. Nor did Starlight look much better. Covered in the dusty remains of the rocks she’d surrounded herself with, the crazy mare was completely still save for the slow rise and fall of her chest. The sight made Fruit Crunch sigh in relief. We did it. We beat her. He could remember, in those last few moments right before he’d lost consciousness – when he’d realized what Starlight’s plan was – thinking that the older mare’s collection of stones was better cover than anything they’d had. But I guess she was already hurt badly enough that it didn’t matter. She was down for the count now. It was over. You should both be very proud of yourselves, spoke up Venin. You fought brilliantly, and defeated a foe that even the Lord Sovereign’s mates could not overcome. “Only because they softened her up for us,” grinned Fruit Crunch, suddenly feeling magnanimous. Though that didn’t mean he couldn’t show off a little, putting his forelegs behind his head and crossing his back legs as though relaxing. “If she’d been at full strength, then we might have had to actually get serious.” “I’ll get serious if you don’t stop fidgeting and let me heal you,” muttered Cleansweep. “Right, right,” chuckled Fruit Crunch, the pain he was in already starting to recede as the pegasus filly’s healing magic went to work. “You shouldn’t nag so much, Dust Bunny. You’ll turn into your mom.” Cleansweep rolled her eyes at that, but Fruit Crunch saw the way she was biting back a smile. “If you don’t-” Fruit Crunch blinked as Cleansweep suddenly quieted. “…Dust Bunny? You okay?” Cleansweep! Venin’s voice, rather than confused, sounded downright panicked. What’s happened?! But the filly answered neither of them. Instead, she was simply staring off into space, her expression vacant. Alarm bells were going off in Fruit Crunch’s head as he turned to see what she was staring at, but her eyes weren’t focused on anything that he could tell, simply looking into the distance without being trained on- “Heal…me…” Fruit Crunch gasped, and in his mind he heard Venin do the same: that voice was Starlight Glimmer’s! “Get rid…of the snake…and…heal me…” Fruit Crunch had barely had a chance to lift his head, looking at where Starlight – her eyes now open and her horn glowing softly – was looking at them, when Cleansweep abruptly stood up. Venin was already yelling at her to stop, to fight whatever magic Starlight had clearly used on her, but it wasn’t working. In an instant, Cleansweep grabbed Venin, pulling her off of her torso. With a flap of her wings to gain some height, she turned and flung the snake away as hard as she could, before landing and marching over to Starlight, placing her forelegs on the fallen mare’s back. The filly’s expression remained blank the entire time. “No!” Biting his lip, Fruit Crunch struggled to get to his hooves, fighting with everything he had to stand. “Dust Bunny! Don’t!” But she didn’t respond, continuing to stand over Starlight. Healing her, Fruit Crunch knew. The anger at what Starlight had done to his friend, and the dread from knowing that the crazy unicorn was seconds away from recovering, gave him new strength. A second later he surged to his hooves, groaning at the effort it took. But Starlight Glimmer was already standing as well. “That’s it,” she grunted, smiling devilishly. “More! Give me everything you have!” Cleansweep nodded, the motion jerky and unnatural. “As you wish, Starlight Glimmer.” “Leave her alone!” roared Fruit Crunch, trying to charge at Starlight. But all that he accomplished was to stumble, nearly collapsing again. His frustration overflowing at how helpless he felt, Fruit Crunch could only curse softly. He should have seen this coming! Those rocks Starlight had surrounded herself with had provided her with better cover than the rest of them! Because of that, she’d either regained consciousness on her own, or had only been pretending to have been knocked out the whole time! Either way, she’d clearly overheard him and Cleansweep talking about her being a healer, and had somehow found enough strength to enchant his friend and force her to help her instead of the rest of the Knights! And I didn’t realize it until it was too late! Snarling, Fruit Crunch ground his teeth together so hard they ached, staring at the purple mare less than ten yards away from him. “I won’t let you do this!” he seethed. “I’m going to beat you, once and for all!” But Starlight only smirked at him, now recovering with visible speed. “That’s right,” she cooed, her voice mocking. “You said that if I’d been tougher, you were going to get serious, right?” A second later her smirk turned malicious as her horn lit up. “So come on then. Show me what you’ve got.”