Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

197 - Maintaining Control

The bloody hoofprints hadn’t left much of a trail.

Despite the sheer number of prints that stained the cobblestone, they hadn’t gone more than twenty or thirty feet before they began to fade out, with the overlapping marks growing thinner and thinner until they ceased to be visible at all. Even before then, the tracks hadn’t remained cohesive in their direction. Quite the contrary, there were more than a few that split off from the main group to wander off in other directions, while the bulk of them continued down the middle of the street before growing too faint to follow.

It was one such offshoot that Lex was looking at now, consisting of what couldn’t have been more than four or five ponies’ worth of hoofprints. Although the bloodstains faded out before reaching the curb their destination was exceedingly clear, pointing directly toward a recessed stairway that hugged a nearby apartment building, leading down toward what had to be the basement. With a disinterested glance at the other trails to confirm that they weren’t as clear about where their makers had intended to go, Lex started made his way toward the stairs.

Outwardly, his face was calm. Almost bored, even, being bereft of his usual scowl in exchange for a neutral expression that he rarely adopted. Inwardly, however, he struggled to keep his thoughts ordered, fighting to keep them focused in the direction he wanted. With every breath, he beat back his emotions, refusing to allow them to prevent him from viewing what he’d just seen dispassionately and analyzing it rationally. That was all he needed to do right now. The only thing he needed to focus on. The evidence simply needed to be looked at for what it was, and considered logically. He had done that his entire life, and he could do it now. He was in control.

You should have been in control when you were boosting your magic yesterday, came the mental whisper from his shadow. If you had been, you wouldn’t have injured yourself so badly that you needed to send other ponies here in your stead. Then they’d still be alive.

For a fraction of an instant, Lex felt a surge of loathing for that tulpa the Night Mare had cursed him with. But he viciously clamped down on the emotion as soon as he registered it, refusing to allow his mantle of calm to be pierced. Letting out a slow breath, he reassured himself that it was too soon to decide that Cloudbank, Thermal Draft, C. Shells, Sandbar, and Turbo were dead. The evidence was inconclusive.

But highly suggestive. Despite having no voice, the sneering tenor of the words came through clearly. Everything you saw back there indicated that they were devoured by ghouls. To deny that based on one dissonant element-

-was the correct tact to take. Severance’s absence was a major discrepancy in presuming what had happened. Although he couldn’t claim to know the living weapon with complete confidence, Lex had wielded it long enough, communicated with it enough, that he felt certain that it would either have stayed where Cloudbank had fallen – cutting down any ghouls that dared to try and touch it – or made its way back to him of its own accord. For it to simply be gone suggested-

-that the entire scene was a work of fiction? You can postulate something that improbable and still have the utter gall to think that you’re looking at the evidence dispassionately? The mocking edge in the words was harsh enough to make Lex’s spine stiffen as he descended the staircase. They’re all dead, and it’s because you sent them here.

“No,” he murmured, his expression deadening further as he carelessly kicked open the basement door, stepping inside the pitch-black room without hesitating. “I will not allow-”

“One little pony came here alone,” came a sing-song voice from deeper inside the basement. “Flesh so sweet with nice crunchy bones.”

Drawn from his internal conversation, Lex snorted in contempt. Without hesitating, he kicked the door shut behind him, his eyes lighting up as he raised a small black crystal in front of it. He had used this particular trick before, when he’d first met Cloudbank and the others to prevent them from fleeing, and for some reason that thought sent a flash of anger through him now. Again he managed to force the emotion down, idly causing more black crystals to grow along his right foreleg, until it was covered in them almost up to his elbow.

“One little pony, eyes so bright,” crooned another voice, off to his left. “Bet their taste will be a delight.”

This time Lex looked up at the voice, silently calling on his dark magic a second time. Instantly, the interior of the room became visible to him, and he spent a moment to take stock of its contents. An old water heater took up the far right corner, across from which were several overturned boxes, piles of old clothes and tattered toys falling out of them. A table sat flush with the wall to his immediate right, while the corner to his left had nothing except a small drain set in the corner. Several folding chairs were scattered about haphazardly. The only other door was on the wall directly opposite him, which received black crystals blocking its use with another moment of concentration.

And then, of course, there were the ghouls.

Numbering four in all, they were slowly creeping toward him from every direction, licking their lips and smiling evilly. One was almost hugging the left wall, moving forward with deliberate slowness, not making a sound. One was headed directly toward him from the other side of the room with equal silence, while behind it another was clearly trying to overtake it without making any noise, apparently worried it was going to lose a meal. And the last one had somehow managed to climb atop the table to the right of him without being heard, having moved almost close enough to reach out and touch. Not turning his head, Lex regarded the hideous monstrosity out of his peripheral vision.

“One little pony, won’t scream or cry,” it snickered from a few feet away, doubtlessly thinking that he’d jump as how near its voice was, not realizing that he could see it perfectly. “Doesn’t seem to know he’s about to d-”

Lex chose that moment to lash out, swinging his crystal-covered hoof with all the force he could muster. Caught completely off-guard, the ghoul didn’t have a chance to defend itself, and his strike caught it cleanly across its brow with a loud crack, knocking it off the table to land at his hooves with a crash. Taken completely by surprise, the other ghouls froze, their grins dashed as they gaped at him in shock. Lex looked at each of them in turn, his expression not having changed the entire time. “Here’s what’s about to happen,” he informed them calmly. “First, you’re going to tell me everything I want to know. Second,” he raised his hoof again, bringing it to a ready position, “I’m going to kill you all.”

For a moment the other ghouls just stared at him, until the closest one – a unicorn stallion whose horn looked like it had been gnawed on – gave a shriek of anger and rushed at him. It was followed by the other two, galvanized at the sight of their companion’s attack. Even the fallen ghoul began to climb to its hooves, snarling in rage as it began to pick itself up.

It never completed the motion, however, as Lex brought his crystal-covered hoof down on its head in a hard stomp. This time, the sound of the impact was less of a crack and more of a wet splattering, the thing’s cranium crumpling as though its skull had been formed of eggshell rather than bone. Its body spasmed for a moment, legs kicking wildly before finally going still.

Then the others were on him.

The lead ghoul threw itself at him, trying to lock its teeth around his neck in hope of ending things quickly. With Lex recovering from the death blow he’d just landed on its companion, he wasn’t able to move out of the way of the lunging bite, and a moment later its jaws closed around his throat…to no avail, his defensive enchantments kicking in and causing the creature’s teeth to chip as it failed to pierce his skin. A moment later one of the other ghouls came alongside him and brought its filthy hoof up to punch the side of Lex’s face, but the strike bounced off as though it had tried to punch a statue. The third ghoul, moving toward his other side, broke off its attack in favor of the now-headless corpse of its companion, grabbing one leg in its jaws and dragging the body away from the fighting.

Giving a contemptuous snort at the undead ponies’ antics, Lex swung his hoof again, the gore-splattered crystal gauntlet coming down hard between the shoulder blades of the ghoul trying to bite him. He felt bones give under the blow, the ghoul almost collapsing before hurriedly stumbling back, its front legs wobbling unsteadily from the damage it had taken. The other ghoul, whether out of bravery, stupidity, or sheer desperation continued its assault, this time throwing itself bodily at Lex in an attempt to knock him over. Its reward for its efforts was a punch directly to the chest that sent it reeling back, howling in anger at the two-inch deep depression that now marred its torso.

Not bothering to press his assault, Lex looked at the ghouls as they slowly backed away from him, the two injured ones baring their teeth and hissing at him impotently as the third tore a length of meat from the haunch of its headless companion’s body. “Pathetic,” he stated matter-of-factly. “None of you have the power to harm me.” It wasn’t that surprising, really. Despite his initial horror at seeing the undead infesting Equestria, and the visceral loathing he felt for such creatures in general, he’d had plenty of time to observe the undead ponies’ combat potential since he’d arrived in Vanhoover, and now he had their measure.

Ghouls were little more than animated corpses; although they had the ability to potentially paralyze anyone they struck – as well as transmit a virulent disease – their combat prowess was no different than it had been in life. After all, the creatures had possessed overwhelming numbers when he’d brought them against Lirtkra and his companions in battle, and the sahuagin had made short work of them with very little effort. Against the layers of defensive spells that Lex had long since wrapped himself in, attacks from these reanimated townsponies had no real chance of reaching him. Indeed, the creatures were weak enough that he couldn’t even bring himself to consider it worthwhile to expend actual spells against them. With no ability to resist him, he could simply bludgeon the creatures to death at his leisure.

The ghouls seemed to realize that as well, because the two injured ones turned and ran toward the door on the far wall. Grabbing at the handle, they tugged on it to no avail, cursing and gnashing their teeth as they found their escape cut off. The third had dragged the body of its companion away, pulling it behind the water heater in the apparent hope that it could hide, and was feasting on the body, tearing large chunks of flesh away from its ribs as it peeked at Lex warily.

“There’s no escape.” Lex punctuated his statement by banging his crystal-covered hoof on the ground, causing the two ghouls at the door to whirl around and bare their teeth at him like animals, growling at him warningly. Utterly unfazed at the display, Lex slowly strode forward. “Now, you will answer my questions…” He knew he shouldn’t have told the creatures that he was going to kill them no matter what they did, that he should have dangled some sort of false hope in front of them to entice them into cooperating. For a moment he wondered if he could walk that back, to offer them just-

“They’re all dead, and it’s because you sent them here.”

“…and then you’re going to die.”

Author's Note:

Lex struggles to control himself even as he tears through a pack of ghouls.

Will he find the answers he's looking for? Or is this an undead end?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Despite his stated intentions, Lex's actions here feel more like him venting out his frustration so as to help him cope with his growing guilt and the tulpa is more than eager to feed it. Then again, Lex has suppressed it in the waking world for quite a while now so him showing weakness sounds like the perfect time to strike.

Also, I love the bit where the ghouls tried to sneak up on Lex, guess they never expected a prey to be able to see in the dark too. While I was a little disappointed the ghouls didn't get to sing/rhyme some more morbid poetry/songs, I did chuckle when Lex slugged the creature. Though I am interested in fact that you pointed out how the ghoul's strengths weren't much different than they were alive. Would that mean that a ghoulified guard(or would a police officer given the location) is more of a threat than the average ghoul given the training and equipment they had prior to death?

[Booster Spice]

I think Lex is going to need a more efficint method of cleansing ghouls than personally giving them mercy, if he wants to regain the city this centuary

[Alzrius]

8676901 Well, remember that this wasn't a ghoul-killing mission per se. It was him trying to get information; that he got to clean up a few more of the monsters infesting Vanhoover wasn't really the point. I doubt he'll be using this particular method to try to get rid of all the ghouls in the city.

[Alzrius]

8676818 It's fairly obvious at this point that - while he hasn't abandoned rationality - Lex is very much acting off of his emotions. That's really not surprising; we've seen him act like this time and again, such as when Sonata left him in chapter fourteen, or when he refused to give up on his friends (unknowingly calling them that out loud) in chapter one hundred five. As Sonata herself noted in chapter fifty-one, and Lex himself admitted in chapter one hundred seventy-four, he's extremely emotional, to the point where he can have trouble not being overwhelmed by his feelings.

While the tulpa in Lex's shadow hasn't been heard from in a while, that has less to do with his suppressing it than it does with him not simply giving it much opportunity to haunt him. It tends to respond to extremes of negative emotions from him, and although he's had some of his usual blow-ups, it hasn't really been an issue of being upset per se. Now, on the other hoof, he's extremely agitated (to say the least) by what might have happened to Cloudbank and the others, which is just leaving himself wide open for it to pick at him. This would, in all likelihood, cease - along with the nightmares - if he could just figure out how to control the thing the way the Night Mare hinted at way back in chapter forty-four, but so far he's made no real progress on that front, though not for lack of trying.

I should note that the ghouls did use some rhymes when Lex first entered their lair. They just didn't have a chance to sing very many before Lex let them know that he wasn't having any of it. He wasn't intimidated by them, and had no interest in their games, which was why he proceeded right to a beat-down. Though I suspect that him simply wanting to vent some of his frustrations by smacking something around might have played a part in it.

As for the relative strength of ghouls...the most technical answer is that Lex was wrong, there. Whereas some other undead creatures, such as vampires or zombies, are built via templates, ghouls use discrete stat blocks. If we interpret this in the most literal sense, this means that - notwithstanding how "humanoids" (which I'm clearly treating Equestrian ponies as) with 4 Hit Dice or more who become ghouls instead become ghasts - any creature that becomes a ghoul loses ALL of their abilities in favor of what's in that stat block. Of course, I've seen ghoul-based templates before, but those were third-party, and so are "iffy" here.

The reason Lex made that mistake is two-fold. He has no ranks in Knowledge (religion), which means he doesn't really have any special knowledge regarding undead creatures, beyond what would be known with a DC of 10 or lower (which is to say, common knowledge). That's still more than you'd find among Equestrian natives, of course, since that world doesn't seem to have any native undead (though season six's 28 Pranks Later seems to hint that the idea isn't unknown), but otherwise not very much. This limits Lex to what he's personally observed, which is why he came to the conclusion that he did. That is to say, he's figured out that the ghouls (which are CR 1 creatures) aren't really that different - in terms of raw power - from your average level 1 adult living pony. Leaving aside the paralyzing power and the risk of disease, most ghouls are only a threat because of their undead traits, psychotic mentality, and tendency to swarm. While they have more hit points, a higher attack bonus, etc. than your average background pony...it's not by very much, to the point where it's fairly easy to presume that they're functionally (near-)identical in sheer combat prowess. So Lex is mostly correct here, even if he's reached that conclusion the wrong way.

Hopefully that makes sense!

[harts fire]

hum Lex is enjoying being to cut lose a bit in a way this is relaxing.

[Alzrius]

8680653 Ha!

It has been a little while since the last time Lex got into a fight, hasn't it?

[James Fire]

consisting of what couldn’t have been more than four or five ponies’ worth of hoofprints.

The ponies is sufficient, as you are not attributing anything to belong to a specific person, so you only need the plural.

while corner to his left had nothing except a small drain set in the corner.

You seem to have accidentally a word there.

The other ghoul, whether out of bravery, stupidity, or sheer desperation continued its assault,

A comma between 'desperation' and 'continued' would flow smoother. And the whole 3 options are an interjection into the rest of the sentence.

Interrogating ghouls doesn't sound like a good tactic. Especially sine he has already told them they will die.

[Alzrius]

9196021

The ponies is sufficient, as you are not attributing anything to belong to a specific person, so you only need the plural.

You mean I don't need the "worth" in that sentence? I'm not convinced; saying "four or five ponies' of hoofprints" sounds rather awkward.

You seem to have accidentally a word there.

Doggone it. Fixed now.

A comma between 'desperation' and 'continued' would flow smoother. And the whole 3 options are an interjection into the rest of the sentence.

Hm, this is slightly different than the usual Oxford comma drama.

Insofar as having a comma set after a list, the closest I can find is this answer on StackExchange, which suggests that there shouldn't be one there. What it basically comes down to is that such a comma would separate the subject of the sentence from the verb, and that the end of the list doesn't need to introduce a greater interruption to the flow of the sentence.