//------------------------------// // 522 - Faulty Logic // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Always concerned with maintaining her poise, Rarity was the first one to recover. “S-Starlight Glimmer, you said? As in, the pony involved in this morning’s…unpleasantness?” Starlight’s friendly smile fell away then, but before she had a chance to say anything, Fluttershy stepped forward, her face set in a rare frown of disapproval. “I know that we’ve all heard a lot of awful things about what Starlight did,” she began. “But I think if you all give her a chance and listen to what she has to say, you’ll agree that she deserves our help!” “Are you kidding me?!” blurted Sandbar, looking at Fluttershy like she’d lost her mind as he pointed at Starlight. “That mare’s insane! She attacked everypony here for no reason!” Starlight’s eyes narrowed dangerously at that, but once again she was saved from answering. “Excuse me for saying so,” shot back Soft Mane, her voice making it clear that she didn’t really care if she was excused or not as she interposed herself between Sandbar and Starlight, “but didn’t I overhear you telling Rarity earlier that you weren’t here when the fighting happened?” Sandbar frowned, his eyes darting to the unicorn in question for a split-second before looking back at Soft Mane. “Well, yeah, but-” “But nothing,” she huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. “Starlight was there. You weren’t. End of story.” “Yeah,” added Spike, planting himself right next to Soft Mane and copying her stance, glaring at Sandbar. “End of story.” “Now hold on just a minute, ya’ll,” protested Applejack, looking at Fluttershy as she spoke. “I ain’t one for gossip, but even if Sandbar didn’t see what happened, a lot of those ponies we talked to before sure did, and they didn’t exactly paint the rosiest picture of your new friend here.” Starlight spoke up at last. “That’s because Lex has brainwashed them!” “Ooh!” Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Is that where you put warm water in both your ears and then plug them up and shake your head really hard so that you can get the inside of it all super fresh and clean?!” Everypony stared as Pinkie acted out the procedure while she described it, somehow producing two bottles of water and emptying them into her ears (a rising waterline being visible in the whites of her eyes) before plugging them and shaking her head so hard it was a blur, only to stop a second later as she tilted her head back, spitting the water straight upward as though she were a living fountain. Finally, when there was no more, she let out a relaxed sigh as she pulled out her earplugs, carelessly tossing them away. “That felt really good!” she declared a moment later, laying back on the couch. “I gotta admit, if somepony brainwashed me like that, I’d probably say whatever they wanted me to!” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Twilight couldn’t help but snicker a tiny bit. “I don’t think that’s exactly what Starlight meant, Pinkie.” “It’s not,” agreed Starlight, taking a breath as she looked around the room. “Listen, I know that most of the ponies here think that Lex is some sort of great leader, but that’s because he’s taking advantage of them! He’s filling their heads with his warped philosophy, and that’s why they’re practically worshiping him even after what he did to Princess Luna!” Rainbow Dash raised a brow. “What philosophy? You mean that crazy government stuff he likes to talk about?” “It’s worse than that,” insisted Starlight. “Harmony, like friendship, is based on what ponies have in common. That’s why cutie marks are a curse, because they make everypony different. I came here to tell everyone that it didn’t have to be that way, that anypony who wanted to experience true friendship was welcome to give up their cutie mark and come live in my village.” “Give up their cutie mark?” Twilight’s eyes widened, amazement and skepticism appearing on her face in equal measure. “How would they do that?” “I can show you if you like,” offered Starlight with a grin, before looking back at Soft Mane. “Or at least, I could if you finished healing my injuries…?” Soft Mane paused for just a moment before answering. “I’m running pretty low on healing spells,” she murmured. “I should save what I’ve got left in case there’s an emergency.” For a moment Starlight stared at her, as though scrutinizing her words, before giving a shrug. “Well, that’s too bad,” she sighed as she turned back to Twilight. “But to get back on topic, everypony here not only rejected my offer, but several of them became violent, and I was forced to defend myself. After I did, that was when Lex personally attacked me, and in the process admitted what he was trying to do.” “This should be good,” snorted Sandbar, earning a gentle elbowing from Rarity. Starlight ignored the heckling, her expression grave as she continued. “Lex isn’t interested in helping ponies overcome their differences. Instead, he thinks that differences are good things! That some ponies are simply better than others, and that makes them more deserving, all so that he can set himself up as being more worthy than anyone else! And he’s got everypony here believing it too! Some of them are already developing magic powers of their own under his tutelage, and they’re using them to defend his regime!” She stomped a hoof then, her expression making it clear that the idea deeply offended her. “He’s already defeated Celestia and Luna! If we don’t join forces and stop him while we still can, Lex will destroy harmony in Equestria!” “Now, hold on just a minute there.” Walking toward Starlight, Applejack frowned. “I’ll be the first to admit that Lex’s ego is bigger than all of Sweet Apple Acres, and he’s definitely done the princesses wrong, especially Luna, but you can’t deny that he saved a lot of ponies here.” “Saved them for what?” countered Starlight. “So he can have ponies who’ll tell him how great he is all the time? In case you haven’t noticed, he’s creating a society where the one who benefits the most is him! That’s why he’s living in a mansion while everyone else is living in those ugly houses! It’s why he’s seizing all of the bits in Vanhoover! Why he can fool around with any mare who catches his eye without anyone thinking that he’s being inappropriate! He’s made a hierarchy so that he can sit at the very top of it!” “Huh.” Pinkie tilted her head, giving Starlight a look of mild surprise. “So does that mean you’re not joining his harem after all?” Twilight winced heavily, seeing the rest of her friends doing the same, save for Spike and Soft Mane, who exchanged confused looks, not having been there when Fluttershy had told them about that particular rumor. It had been outlandish enough that Twilight had dismissed it out of hoof, and she’d assumed that her friends had all done the same. Pinkie, it seemed, hadn’t. Nor was that bit of gossip one that Starlight had apparently heard, as she stared at Pinkie with her wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. “WHAT?!” Oblivious to Starlight’s horrified expression, Pinkie looked upwards in thought. “Well, the way I heard it, Lex has a habit of getting together with mares that he’s beaten in a fight. I mean, he didn’t fight Sonata ‘cuz she’s a big sweetie even if they did have a lover’s spat that destroyed the train station, but I heard that he beat up Aria when she was still a big fish-pony and now she’s his girlfriend too! And then he was in a relationship with some blonde pony after he fought her when she was possessed by a big ugly monster! And that he’s seeing River Bank on the side after she tried to take over here and he cursed her for it! And he did bring Celestia and Luna back here to be treated after he beat them in a fight instead of banishing them or locking them up so everypony thinks that he was gonna try and be all lovey-dovey with them except that they ran away before he could! And now he’s done the same thing with you so-, mmph! MMMPH!” Keeping her hoof firmly planted over Pinkie’s mouth, Rarity gave Starlight – who looked ready to explode – a shaky grin. “You’ll have to forgive our friend,” she laughed nervously. “She listens to the silliest rumors.” Unappeased, Starlight reared up and slammed her hooves down so hard that the floorboards nearly cracked. “I’d throw myself in the ocean before I let that monster touch me!” she snarled, whipping her head around to look at everypony, daring them to suggest otherwise. “Lex destroyed everything I’ve spent my life working toward! He needs to be stopped, by any means necessary, and anypony who doesn’t realize that is PART OF THE PROBLEM!” In the close confines of the parlor, Starlight’s shout was deafening. But that wasn’t the reason everyone winced, as even Fluttershy and Soft Mane backed away from Starlight, who had a wild look in her eyes as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Even then, it took her several seconds to collect herself, gulping as she saw the apprehensive expressions being directed at her. “Wh-why are you all looking at me like that?” she asked, smiling shakily. “Lex is the bad guy, not me!” “Nopony said you were, Starlight.” Twilight made sure to keep her voice calm and conciliatory, plastering a smile on her face as she nodded. “Listen, why don’t you rest for a little bit while I confer with my friends, okay?” “I…sure.” Folding her ears back, Starlight let the other mare lead her to a couch on the far side of the room, unable to help but look bitter as she curled up on it. Silently gesturing for everyone to follow her, Twilight led them to the other end of the room, beckoning them closer before casting a transparent bubble of silence around them. “Okay, so long as we’re inside this we’ll be able to talk without Starlight overhearing us,” she began. But she didn’t have a chance to continue as everyone spoke up all at once. “I told you she was crazy!” Sandbar shuddered as he glanced back at the mare in question. “My advice: put her back where you found her, before she loses it and tries to kill us all!” “She’s not dangerous,” muttered Soft Mane, sounding like she didn’t quite believe what she was saying. “She tried to use her magic when we first found her, and all she did was hurt herself.” “Darling, if you don’t mind my asking, why did you bring her back with you?” Rarity couldn’t help but sound slightly incredulous. “Applejack was right, those ponies we spoke to before were quite insistent that this mare is a very perilous pony!” But it was Fluttershy who answered. “I know they did, but you should have seen her. They had her tied up in a dark room all by herself, it was awful! And when River Bank came in-” “Hang on a second,” interrupted Applejack. “You met with River Bank? The pony we’ve been trying to see for most of the afternoon?” “Did you see Sonata too?” grinned Pinkie. “Is that when she invited you guys to Lex’s get-well party? We heard her yelling something about breaking a piñata!” Soft Mane shook her head. “We didn’t see Sonata, and we heard that yell just now too, but don’t ask me what it was about.” “We didn’t really see River Bank either,” explained Fluttershy. “We were hiding under Starlight’s bed when she came in.” Soft Mane glanced at her then, and Fluttershy knew she was worried that she’d mention Pixie. Before they’d come back, the half-pony had asked her and Starlight not to mention her new friend to anyone, worried that she’d get in trouble if the ponies working for Lex – which included Sandbar, right there in the bubble of silence with them – knew that she’d helped them. As much as Fluttershy hated keeping secrets from her friends, she hated the thought of somepony being cursed because of her even more. “River told Starlight that Lex was going to curse her, Starlight I mean, for what she’d done,” she continued, her eyes watering at the thought. “I just couldn’t leave her there when I heard that, not after seeing what Lex did to Princess Luna. I’m sorry…” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Don’t be! You did the right thing!” She looked at the others. “Look, Starlight might not have sounded like she was all there just now, but don’t forget that Lex just ruined something really important to her!” She held up her left wing then, the one Lex had cursed a few hours prior. “I can kind of relate!” “So, what do we do?” asked Spike, looking at Twilight. “If we give her back to Lex’s ponies, it’ll be our fault if he curses her. But if we don’t, we’ll make everyone here mad at us, and you won’t be able to teach Lex about friendship!” Twilight started to say something, but froze right as she opened her mouth, her eyes widening as a look of startled realization crossed her face. “That’s it!” Applejack blinked. “What’s it, sugarcube?” “This is why we’re here!” Twilight looked at her friends, suddenly excited. “We were sent here to teach Lex about the magic of friendship, but not on our own! We’re supposed to help him become friends with Starlight Glimmer!” Numerous eyebrows went up at that, but Spike was the first one to respond. “Huh. You think they’re here to help with that?” he asked, pointing at the door, where a group of ponies – led by a familiar earth mare in a sea captain’s hat – had just burst in.