//------------------------------// // 539 - Friends and Followers // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Twilight had just finished donning the magical equipment she’d picked up back on Everglow when Lex called her out. The majority were various defensive items, several of which were identical to the ones she knew Lex was wearing. Around her neck was an amulet that was designed to toughen the dermal layer of her skin, giving her body a modest degree of natural armor. Her left foreleg had a ring around it – though it was more like an anklet now since, like all of the magic rings from that world, it magically resized itself to fit the wearer – that created a minor deflection field around herself, one which would passively try to redirect anything that attempted to make contact with her. The cloak she’d slung around herself had a more general enchantment, one that would better allow the magical channels in her body to better shrug off hostile magic, something she knew she’d need when facing someone who used curses as much as Lex. It, like the rest of her gear, had been contained in a bag that was ensorcelled to store more on the inside than its external appearance would otherwise indicate. Although currently loaded down with a few hundred pounds’ worth of books – including the spellbook she used to prepare the arcane spells she’d learned on that world, something she’d put aside for a time since coming home, only to diligently resume doing ever since the lhaksharut had attacked Canterlot – it barely weighed a fraction of that, tied around her middle. But it had been her headband that Twilight had donned last, biting her lip and examining it critically before doing so. Delicately woven with threads of what looked like pure gold, it was adorned with gemstones of blue and purple, the latter a perfect match for her mane. But as impressive as it looked – Rarity would have fawned over it, had she ever laid eyes on it before now – Twilight knew that the real value of the thin strip of cloth wasn’t in its construction, but in its magic. Specifically, in its ability to increase the wearer’s intelligence by a vast extent. The exact amount was difficult to measure, but the first time Twilight had put it on had been dizzying. Without it, she was able to memorize pi to just over a thousand places; wearing the headband had let her sail past twelve hundred easily. On her own, she could come up with the root of any number up to a degree of five without having to think about it; with the headband on, that increased to a degree of six. Most astoundingly, the headband had allowed her to solve the Camtois Conjecture, proving that there were certain functions of N where a real number could not be reduced to 1. Had Twilight been wearing socks when she’d realized that, they would have been knocked right off. As amazing as that discovery had been, however, it had also been the event that had put her off of using the headband. The joy of achieving such a notable breakthrough had been tainted by the fact that she hadn’t gotten there on her own. The accomplishment had only been possible because she’d used a magic item to increase her brainpower, giving her an unfair advantage. It had made her feel like a fraud, and she’d torn the headband off in a fit of disgust, letting it languish at the bottom of her extra-dimensional bag…until now. Now, she needed it to solve a different problem: that of Lex Legis. Or rather, the problem of winning this duel and teaching him about the magic of friendship. Twilight knew that the headband would give her a tactical edge in their fight. From memory recall to predictive capacity to critical reasoning, the headband stimulated all manner of cognitive functionality. But there was another benefit to its ability to enhance its wearer’s thoughts. That benefit being how the thaumaturgical spellcasting she’d learned on Everglow, which relied on storing energy in mental structures, was entirely based on thoughts. So long as she wore it, therefore, the spells she cast at Lex would be more difficult for him to resist. If he really was suffering from some sort of magical backlash, then using this would give her a huge advantage right out of the gate once their duel started. Maybe even enough to overwhelm him right from the outset, ending the fight as soon as it began. Twilight knew this wasn’t like the situation with the Camtois Conjecture. There was no reason for her to feel guilty about using a magic item to give herself an edge. After all, Lex had a collection of magic items of his own; even peeking through the crowd, she could see that he’d already deployed the floating gemstones that Starlight had told her about last night. And while Under Score – her magic teacher back on Everglow – had briefly referenced that type of magic item (“ioun stones,” he’d called them), he’d covered them only briefly, as part of a general overview of that world’s expansive array of enchanted items. Which meant that apart from what Starlight had told her about one of them – the orange prism – suppressing her magic (which made it suspicious that Lex had it around himself now), there was no way to know what the others did. So if Lex had those, wasn’t it fine for her to have a surprise of her own? It’s not like I’m cheating on a test! Twilight reassured herself silently. Besides, this is for a good cause! If I win, Lex will have to change Luna back! She focused on that thought, closing her eyes as she made herself remember her failed attempt to break Lex’s curse on the younger of the Royal Sisters. How stricken Luna had looked. The heartbroken look on Celestia’s face. The sense of crushing disappointment she’d felt at her inability to help. I owe it to both of them to win now! And not just them! I know Lex wants to do good, but he thinks that he needs to make everypony submit to his demands in order to do it! That’s why the map sent us here, to teach him that there’s another way: the magic of friendship! And I can’t do that if I lose! Letting out a slow breath as she pushed her doubts away, Twilight slowly reached up and put the headband on. A second later, she heard a familiar voice call her name. “…or send in Twilight Sparkle to do your fighting for you.” She should have been surprised. But with her enhanced intelligence already kicking in, it was easy for Twilight to see how Lex could have predicted her role in what was about to happen. In fact, she suddenly found it hard to believe that she hadn’t anticipated his knowing that she’d step in. Which means he’s committed to this. She’d had some hope that Lex would back down when he saw who he’d be fighting, not wanting to press a conflict in his current state. But she could see how unrealistic that hope had been now. Lex was intent on winning the duel and becoming a prince. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying to reach out to him, just in case, decided Twilight, stepping out of the crowd…and deciding what spell she’d cast first when the fighting began. Lex resisted the urge to swear under his breath as Twilight approached him. He’d already engaged his circlet before he’d called her out, letting his vision slip into the magical spectrum even as Equestria’s youngest princess entered his field of view. Although he’d briefly considered enhancing his circlet by forcing additional magic into it, he’d reluctantly abandoned that course of action, judging it not worth the strain it would put on him. Besides, the level of information that he was receiving, basic though it was, matched his expectations. But that didn’t mean the news was good. Although he’d briefly hoped that Twilight wouldn’t have thought to bring whatever magical equipment she’d acquired on Everglow with her now – after all, Rainbow Dash had also visited that world, and she hadn’t warn any when she’d ambushed him yesterday – Lex had known the chances of that were remote. Although her morals had been corrupted by Celestia’s teachings, Twilight wasn’t naïve. After hearing about how he’d dealt with Celestia and Luna, there was little chance that she’d head into a potentially hostile situation without protection. And just like he’d predicted, she hadn’t. Twilight was wearing almost a half-dozen magic items now, all of which radiated auras consistent with enchanted gear of Everglow make. In fact, most of them looked like near-exact copies of the defensive items he was wearing, as well as the extra-dimensional pack he’d lost fighting Xiriel. That wasn’t surprising, considering how much more advanced Everglow’s magical practices were than Equestria’s. The only outlier was that headband of hers… “It doesn’t have to be like this, Lex.” Snorting at Twilight’s statement, he ceased concentrating on his circlet, letting his vision return to normal. “A hypocritical sentiment, coming from somepony who deliberately inserted herself into a duel that doesn’t concern her.” The crowd, which had been watching with rapt attention, began to whisper furiously amongst themselves at that. But both of them ignored it, staring each other down. “It does concern me!” insisted Twilight. “Not just as a princess, but as the Princess of Friendship! Lex, you can’t just install yourself as ruler of Equestria and overthrow anyone who objects! That won’t-” “That,” he cut in sharply, “is a gross mischaracterization of what I’m doing, and I suspect a deliberate one. Anypony is free to voice their objections to my actions, but they are not free to interfere with them! Not when doing so adversely impacts the ponies whose welfare I’m attempting to safeguard!” “And who’s safeguarding Luna’s welfare?” pressed Twilight. “Or Starlight Glimmer’s? Or anypony else that you’ve cursed?” His reaction to that clearly showed on his face, because she rushed to continue, not letting him interrupt. “Even if what they did was wrong, how does making them suffer help them realize that?” She took a step closer to him then, holding out a hoof with a pleading look on her face. “You’ve done so much good here. Everypony we’ve talked to says so. If you were just willing to compromise a little bit, to let ponies work with you instead of demanding that they work for you, and let friendship-” “Shut up!” The angry yell came from the last pony Lex had expected it to. Out of his peripheral vision, he’d seen various members of his entourage watching the exchange with wide eyes, obviously surprised to find Twilight Sparkle facing him instead of Blueblood. But the one who’d spoken up so suddenly hadn’t been Fruit Crunch or Garden Gate or Thermal Draft. It had been Feather Duster. “Just…shut up!” she yelled again. Although she was shaking, cradling Tiddlywinks tightly to her chest, the angry look on her face was one that Lex had never seen before. “You might be a princess, but you have no right to talk down to Master Legis about friendship! You all came to Vanhoover because you were worried about the other princesses, but Master Legis came here because he was worried about all of us! You talk about the good he’s done here, but you’re about to fight him because you don’t like that he wants to punish the mare who hurt my daughter?! The mare you’re protecting?!” She pointed at where Starlight was standing, causing the unicorn to cringe as she pulled her hood lower. Feather Duster kept going. “Master Legis didn’t demand that I work for him, either! He gave me a choice! And I’d rather choose to serve him than be friends with you!” Her final shout set off a chain reaction of raised voices, the crowd growing agitated as they followed her example and turned their anger toward Twilight and her friends. “Go back to solving friendship problems so Lex can solve real ones!” “Being a criminal is all it takes to become a princess’s best friend now, huh?!” “It's because of Lex that I can feed my children now! How’s that for friendship?!” “Why’d you even come here if you don’t want to help?!” “Lex is the Night Mare’s champion! She won’t let him lose to the likes of you!” The outpouring of vitriol caused Twilight to gape, wearing her surprise openly. Nor was she the only one, Blueblood staring openmouthed as everypony blatantly showed their disrespect for Equestria’s Princess of Friendship, the Las Pegasus ponies matching him in their stupefaction. And not just her, as more than a few ponies turned toward where Twilight’s companions were gathered, marching toward them with angry looks on their faces as their yelling swelled into a crescendo of outrage- “YOU WILL ALL FALL SILENT!” roared Lex. Despite a lack of surfaces to echo off of, his voice seemed to hang in the air, the weight of it quieting the crowd in an instant. Rearing up on his hind legs, he stared out over the assembled ponies, black crystals sprouting from around him as his eyes flared brighter, his voice icy. “Any of you who wish to air your grievances with how Equestria’s royalty have mismanaged this country will do so in a calm and orderly manner! And you will do so after this duel has concluded!” He didn’t wait for the crowd to acknowledge his demand before turning back to Twilight, falling back down onto all fours. “And as for you, the duel negotiations have already concluded. Your role here is simply to serve as Blueblood’s substitute. Now either forfeit…” His horn began to glow then, sheathed in a churning aura of deep purple. “Or take your position.”