//------------------------------// // 683 - Like Oil and Water // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// The mares in the group all yelped as Solvei suddenly appeared in their midst. None of them seemed more surprised than Mystaria, however, her eyes widening as her gaze settled onto the cutie mark on Solvei’s flank. “It’s true!” Thermal Draft, by contrast, recovered quicker, glancing between the wolf and the unicorn before settling on the latter. “What happened?” But Lex had more important concerns than his companion’s curiosity, instead using his circlet to let his vision slip into the magical spectrum as he looked Solvei over. He knew she wasn’t physically injured; their connection let him detect her status, as well as her emotional disposition and relative proximity to himself, and he felt certain that he would have known if she was hurt. But that didn’t mean that whatever it was that she’d encountered hadn’t tried to use some sort of spell on her. Even if she had her own reservoir of dark magic to protect her mind – having defeated Grisela’s attempt to ensorcell her – Lex couldn’t bring himself to calm down until he’d ascertained that nothing had happened to her. “Are you alright?” Solvei didn’t answer immediately, instead turning her head to the side and spitting out a mouthful of gemstones before replying. “Yes, Master!” Off to the side, Shadow Star’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “The talking wolf barfs up gems?!” “That’s even better than a duck that lays golden eggs!” hooted Valor. “It’s a goose,” corrected Spinner, trotting over to examine the gemstones that Solvei had spat into the snow. “Although now I’m curious what comes out of her other-, WHOA! Down girl!” No one needed to ask why the bard was suddenly shouting, Solvei having snapped at Spinner when the earth mare had reached out to collect the gems. “Those aren’t for you!” she growled. “I brought them back for my master!” “We’ll hold onto them for him,” muttered Shadow, creeping closer. But her words were drowned out as Woodheart came bounding over, yowling loudly as she threw her cloak off – Littleknight meeping in alarm as he was tossed off her back as well – and started circling the winter wolf, hackles raised. Solvei, of course, didn’t take that very well, turning in place to keep Woodheart in front of her. “What’s your problem?!” “That opal’s got to be worth at least a couple hundred gold pieces,” whimpered Spinner, not taking her eyes off of the gems. “Same for the aquamarine. The others are smaller, but those two bloodstones look like they’re enough for a pony to stay at a decent in for two months, maybe three, with meals included. Ditto the quartz and the garnet…” Another loud growl issued from Solvei’s throat as she glanced over her shoulder at the two at the two, making them back up. “I told you,” she snarled. “Those are for my mas-, HEY!” She whirled then, glaring at Mystaria, who had been poking at her flank. “What do you think you’re doing?!” “That’s an actual brand of destiny.” Mystaria’s voice was hushed with awe, one hoof coming up to touch her holy symbol. “It’s not just some birthmark or a tattoo; it’s real, just like a pony’s…” Off to the side, Thermal Draft landed next to Lex. “It’s kind of like watching a group of fillies play with a puppy,” she chuckled. “Except I guess this is the Everglow version, huh?” When all she got from the stallion was a noncommittal grunt, her humor died away, and she fixed him with a worried look. “You didn’t bring Solvei back just because you wanted her here with us, did you? Something happened.” Having finished examining Solvei for foreign magic – and thankfully having found none – Lex nodded at last. “She was at the mountain pass, scouting the area when she spotted a group of unknown creatures. They’d moved to surround her just before I summoned her.” Thermal Draft winced at that, looking back at where Littleknight had bitten the tip of Solvei’s tail, inflicting no damage but apparently irritating the winter wolf to no end as she spun in place, trying to catch the almiraj in her jaws before eventually remembering that she had telekinesis now. Her eyes lit up in the same green-and-purple as Lex’s then – causing Mystaria to shriek with excitement at the new discovery – and a moment later the horned rabbit went flying toward Shadow, forcing the masked mare to abandon the gem she’d been reaching for in favor of catching Woodheart’s familiar. Woodheart herself howled at that, rearing up and waving her front legs at Solvei in a display that looked as threatening as a kitten baring its claws at a mastiff. It was only because Valor clamped her teeth around the druid’s tail that Woodheart didn’t launch herself forward a moment later, undaunted despite being clearly outmatched. The whole thing was only made more cacophonous by Spinner having started to strum her lute, singing a jaunty tune to go along with the chaos as she sidled closer to where the gemstones still lay in the snow. “I hope we don’t get into another fight,” Thermal Draft murmured, not taking her eyes off of the spectacle. As much as she didn’t care for the mares of Fail Forward – from attacking her last night to embarrassing her this morning to predicting Lex’s doom before they’d set out, the five of them were definitely not on her Hearth’s Warming card list – watching them fool around so easily made it clear that they weren’t bad ponies. “These mares might be a mixed bag of nuts, but I don’t want them to get hurt.” “We need more information.” Lex’s tone was pensive, not liking that they were already encountering obstacles so early in their trek, but not surprised by it. “If we’re fortunate, one of those idiots will have some idea what Solvei encountered.” Thermal Draft cocked a brow at that. “And if they don’t?” Telekinetically lifting the gemstones before Spinner could grab them, Lex called Solvei back to his side with a thought, causing Fail Forward to cease their foolishness. “Then we’ll have no choice but to go in blind. And if that happens, there’s a high probability that we’ll end up fighting for our lives again…” “Wait, so you were attacked by a bunch of clouds?” Having made their way to one of the more heavily-wooded areas of the wilderness at Lex’s insistence – the trees providing cover from being spotted from the air if the vaporous beings that Solvei had seen came looking for them – Solvei huffed at Valor’s question. “They weren’t clouds, exactly,” she explained, her eyes drifting from the blue-haired mare toward Lex as she spoke. “Clouds don’t twist and swirl as much as those did, and when they surrounded me, it looked like they were twisting into a more solid shape.” Spinner rubbed her chin with one hoof. “What sort of shape?” Solvei’s ears turned down for a moment as she sighed. “I’m not sure. I only saw it for a moment. I think it was like all of us: a head, a tail, and four limbs, but I could be wrong.” Woodheart barked, tapping her hoof on the ground three times in a slow, deliberate succession. “I think she’s asking how many of them there were,” interpreted Shadow, earning a nod from the druid, who was once again wearing her robe, with Littleknight planted firmly on her back (and still glaring at Solvei after what had happened before). “Six, maybe seven. It was hard to tell.” Again, Solvei’s answer was directed at Lex. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find out any more, Master.” “Information retrieval wasn’t your objective,” replied Lex evenly. “It’s more important that you returned unharmed.” “Unharmed and with a whole bunch of jewels,” noted Shadow, eyeing the saddlebag where Lex had secreted the gemstones away. Despite the covetous tone in the masked mare’s voice, Solvei seemed to take that as a compliment. “I knew that Master would want them even before I asked, so I made sure to hold them in my mouth,” she announced proudly. “‘Asked’?” echoed Mystaria, leaning forward. “You asked him about those before he brought you here? Even though you were miles apart?” “My Master is never truly apart from his Solvei,” replied the winter wolf smugly. “We’re connected-” A mental rebuke from Lex cut her off, and she cringed, realizing that she’d said too much. “I’m sorry, Master.” “Telepathy,” breathed Mystaria excitedly as she looked from Solvei to Lex. “That’s like what Luminace allows me to do with my friends, but at a much greater range. And I’m guessing that’s your brand of destiny on her flank, isn’t it? Does that mean she possesses your special talent too? Is that why her eyes were glowing when she used telekin-” “The important thing right now,” interrupted Lex, gritting his teeth at the incessant questioning, “is figuring out what exactly Solvei encountered.” He swept his eyes across the five earth mares then, daring any of them to try and change the subject. When none of them did, he continued. “Do any of you have knowledge of creatures matching the description she gave?” A round of inquisitive glances were exchanged between the members of Fail Forward. “Well…” began Shadow. “I suppose I’ll start off with the obvious: ghosts.” Thermal Draft’s eyebrows went up. “Hang on. Ghosts are real? I mean, I knew there were things like ghouls, but actual evil spirits…?” Woodheart nodded, giving a low growl that made it clear what she thought of such things. “They probably weren’t ghosts,” offered Mystaria. “Ghosts, specters, banshees, and similar incorporeal undead tend to have forms that are at least partially-defined. And wraiths and shadows don’t look like clouds. Instead, they look like inky black spots of darkness…” She gave a gulp as she trailed off, giving Lex an apologetic look, to which he glared at her in response. An awkward silence fell until Valor piped up. “Maybe we’re thinking about it too hard. It was probably just some air elementals or something. Wouldn’t this crazy weather attract them?” “It might, if this turned out to be an elemental bleed,” nodded Spinner. “Classically, cold is a mixture of air and water, so this could attract either. Or…” Her voice dropped an octave then, and a sly grin slid across her face. “It could be something else.” “Such as?” snorted Lex, unimpressed by her theatrics. But Spinner didn’t seem to mind, using her tail to dust off a nearby log before sitting down. “Back when I first set out traveling, I met an old mare on the road. She told me how she used to be an adventurer back in her day, until her entire party was wiped out by…” She looked toward each side of her, as though checking to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, before leaning forward. “The crimson death mists,” she whispered. Thermal Draft felt a shiver run down her spine. “The crimson d-death mists…?” Spinner nodded solemnly. “Supposedly they look like patches of fog at first, exactly like Solvei saw in the pass. But when they move to attack, you can just barely make out limbs and a head, with glowing eyes that stare right through you. That’s the last thing their victims see, before they engulf them whole and draw all the blood out from their body, leaving them a husk while the mist – now as red as its name – floats off to digest its meal.” “Oh come off it, Spinner,” huffed Mystaria, though she pulled her cloak around her tighter as she said it. “The temple of Luminace in Viljatown has extensive records on all sorts of unusual and bizarre creatures, and I’ve never heard of anything in their archives that matches that description.” “And there’s no creature like that in any of the tales my father told me when I was a pup,” added Solvei. “I’m guessing you never even met an old mare who told you about that, did you?” added Valor, fighting down a shiver. “You probably just made it up with some of your bard buddies when you were a filly a something; some contest to see who could come up with the scariest story or something.” Spinner simply shrugged nonchalantly. “If you say so.” “Come on, there’s no way something like that can be true,” insisted Thermal Draft, shifting imperceptibly closer to the stallion on her right. “Right, Lex? Tell them that’s preposterous.” “What’s preposterous is that I thought these imbeciles had anything useful to impart.” From behind his mask, Lex glowered at the five earth mares. “I wanted information, and all you’ve offered is speculation and hearsay, to say nothing of a complete lack of any practical advice for dealing with the theories you put forward.” He stood abruptly, his tone turning contemptuous. “Next time, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, just say so.” Reactions to his denunciation ranged from rolled eyes to upset frowns, but unsurprisingly, Shadow took it the worst, scowling at the unicorn. “Well since you’re such a big genius, why don’t you tell us what you think those things were, then?” “The sparsity of data precludes my developing a working theory,” shot back Lex. “No thanks to any of you.” The answer made Shadow sneer. “Now who can’t say they don’t know?” “Look, maybe we should turn in for today,” interjected Mystaria. “We got a late start this morning, the snow’s starting to come down harder, and thanks to the cloud cover it’s already getting dark. If we get an early start tomorrow and push ourselves, we might be able to hit the pass before the end of the day.” “Works for me.” Shrugging off the heavy backpack she’d been carrying as though it weighed nothing at all, Valor glanced at Lex and Thermal Draft. “We’ve only got enough bedrolls for the five of us…” “Thermal Draft and I have our own,” answered Lex, not noticing the blush that crept over the pegasus’ face at that. She wasn’t the only one, with Spinner coughing awkwardly as her cheeks heated up. “Maybe try to be a little quieter this time?” “I’m more concerned with the temperature,” cut in Mystaria quickly, her face red. “My ‘communal endure elements’ spell lasts for twenty-four hours, but I have to subdivide it between everyone here. I wasn’t prepared for us to turn in quite this early.” She glanced at Solvei then. “I don’t suppose you could cast a spell to keep us all safe from the cold, like how you did when we were fighting that hag?” But the winter wolf wasn’t given a chance to answer as Lex cut in. “I’ll take care of maintaining a comfortable climate.” Disappointment clouded Mystaria’s features, but only for a second. “Okay then. Thank you for that.” Ignoring her gratitude, Lex began casting, using the reservoir of energy in his circlet in order to retain the spell as he made the necessary gestures and vocalizations. Mystaria watched him intently, as did Woodheart and Thermal Draft, but it was Spinner who spoke up a moment later. “I know that one! It’s the ‘tiny hut’ spell!” “He’s making a house?” frowned Valor skeptically. Spinner shook her head. “Not exactly.” She didn’t have a chance to finish as a transparent dome appeared around Lex and the others. It wasn’t very large, extending forty feet from side to side, but the interior temperature immediately began to rise, the snow quickly starting to melt as a result. The persistent breeze also fell away, unable to penetrate past the magical shell that Lex had conjured. There was even a soft glow from the inside, diffuse and lacking in any readily-apparent source. “The hell…?” muttered Shadow, poking the edge of the dome with her hoof. To her surprise, it went right through, and she stepped outside curiously, only to immediately turn around and come back in. “Huh. This thing’s transparent from the inside, but from the outside it’s all white, like an igloo with no entrance.” “The borders of this spell keep out wind, rain, cold; pretty much anything that would ruin a picnic,” confirmed Spinner. “But other than the exterior being colorized, it’s not a defense against being attacked, since anything else can pass through it either way. But The Author knows I’d rather sleep in here than out there; Mysty’s spell might keep us from freezing, but waking up buried in snow is no fun.” The dig was lost on Mystaria as she glanced around their lodging for the night. “This is impressive. How long will it last before expiring?” “Long enough,” answered Lex curtly, retrieving from his saddlebag the bedroll that had been part of the treasures he’d received from Turid. “How come you didn’t ever cast this when we were making our way toward that village?” asked Thermal Draft, using her wings to shovel some of the snow away, not wanting it to melt right there and turn the ground to mud. “It would have been a lot more pleasant.” Cursing inwardly at her asking such a pointed question, Lex didn’t answer, instead glancing at Solvei. “I want you to maintain a vigil around this area. Let me know when you need to rest, and I’ll take over.” “Understood, Master.” The words had barely left the winter wolf’s mouth before she turned and ran off, going to check their surroundings. “The five of us already have a schedule for keeping watch,” noted Shadow, unrolling her bedding. “We’ve done this before, you know.” “As if I’d entrust our safety to the likes of you,” scoffed Lex. Mystaria opened her mouth, but this time it was Spinner who came to the rescue. “You know, since it’s still pretty early, this might be a good time for us to exchange personal histories. Even if we don’t all like each other, knowing more about each other will make it easier for us to fight together.” Thermal Draft nodded. “I think that’s a good idea-” “The only thing any of you need to do in a fight is follow my orders,” cut in Lex. “Otherwise your modicum of competence will quickly reach its limit, and you’ll just need me to save your lives again.” “Makwa help me,” growled Valor between gritted teeth. “Fine. You can sit over there and brood like the miserable bastard you are.” Letting out a slow breath, she looked at Thermal Draft. “What about you? I know we got off to a bad start, and that’s on me, but I think we’d all like to get to know you better now.” But once again, Lex spoke up before the pegasus could get a word in. “No. Thermal Draft is going to be busy assisting me with an experiment.” Momentarily torn, Thermal Draft hesitated before shooting an apologetic look toward Valor, even as she moved closer to Lex. “What experiment?” His horn glowing, Lex held up the gemstones Solvei had given him. “I want to see if it’s possible for you to store applications of your magic in these.”