Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

225 - Difficult Journey

“I think we’re far enough away. Let’s take a break.”

Aisle nodded at Cozy’s suggestion, doing his best to hide how tired he felt. Judging from the look of mild concern she sent him, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. He was already sweating, and his stomach growled in protest at how long it had been empty. Even keeping his breathing even was a struggle, having to fight to keep himself from gulping down lungfuls of air as he spat the rope out of his mouth, glancing at the grim load he’d been pulling.

Pillowcase’s body was still tied firmly to the makeshift sled they’d cobbled together, which was nothing short of a minor miracle, considering what they’d had to work with. The “sled” was in fact nothing more than the side of a wooden supply box that he’d managed to pry loose with a few lengths of rope tied around it. Several lengths of bandages – all scavenged in haste by Cozy from the medical tent, using that same loose seam that had let her filch a syringe in her aborted attempt to kill herself – lashed Pillowcase’s body to the wooden conveyance. Aisle had drawn the entire rigging behind him ever since they’d left the camp, taking a loop of rope in his mouth and plodding forward, dragging the sled behind him similar to how he’d seen some farm-ponies draw a plough.

Aisle had initially been very pleased with himself: throwing together this sled had been his idea. Although he could have carried Pillow’s weight on his back easy enough, the distribution of that weight was unbalancing enough to make that a complete nonstarter. That, and as much as he’d gotten to like Pillow in the short time that he’d known him, Aisle had no desire to carry a dead body on his person. Pulling it had seemed like a much better option.

But once they’d set out, it had taken less than ten minutes for Aisle to realize just how badly he’d miscalculated.

Dragging the so-called sled behind him had been difficult! While Aisle knew he wasn’t the burliest of earth ponies, he was no weakling either, having carried large amounts of produce and other groceries to stock the shelves in his old job. But that hadn’t prepared him for just how hard it would be to drag a flat piece of wood, with its heavy payload, across the rough ground. With nothing to smooth its passage the friction was considerable, making it a struggle to pull the thing even a few feet. Worse, the effort threatened to make furrows in the dirt, leaving a trail that would have let Lex easily track them down. They had avoided that only by hastily retying the ropes under the wood so that the bulk of the weight rested on them.

That, however, had proven to be a mixed blessing. Although the plains spreading out toward the north were flatland, that didn’t mean the ground was completely even. Quite the contrary, it seemed to Aisle like the sled hit a bump or a rock every foot or so. Doing so had continually nudged the ropes, causing them to shift and come loose from the wooden board more than once, forcing them to come to a complete stop in order to fix them.

The result was that he and Cozy had made nowhere near the progress they’d been hoping to ever since they’d left the camp. By his estimation, they’d been gone for maybe an hour – the sun was nearing the horizon now, and the faintest traces of pink and orange could be seen in the sky, heralding the sunset – but the camp was still visible behind them. They were far enough away that they couldn’t make out the features of the ponies there, but it was still closer than either of them felt comfortable with. Despite that Aisle sank to the ground, rolling on his back as he let his sore muscles relax.

“I really wish you’d let me pull him for a little while,” murmured Cozy, sitting down next to him. “I feel terrible making you do all this.”

“Uh-uh,” panted Aisle, managing to shake his head lightly. His jaw ached from biting down on the rope for so long. “I’m the earth pony here. You’d have a much harder time-”

“You do realize that I’m an earth pony too, right?” interjected Cozy with a wry smile.

Aisle sputtered. “Well, yeah, but…I mean, you’re a crystal pony.” He felt the blood rushing to his face as he spoke. He had been so caught up in Cozy’s being a crystal pony that it hadn’t really occurred to him to think of her as being in the same tribe as him.

“So you think that crystal ponies are weaker than other ponies?” teased Cozy. She could already see Aisle starting to protest, and silenced him with a disarming smile. “I’m just kidding. I know what you were trying to say,” she chuckled, before lying down and looking up at the sky.

Aisle kept his gaze on her, marveling at how much her attitude had improved now that they’d left the camp. She really needed to get out of there, he realized. Either she’d really wanted to get away from Lex, or needed to start making some progress toward home, or both. Either way, it was nice to see her smiling again…now if only he could bring himself to share in her joy. Except we’re on a trip that’s incredibly long and already going slower than expected. And we have no food or water. And I’m pulling a dead body. And even if we get there, if Princess Cadance can’t do what Cozy’s hoping to do… He didn’t want to imagine what his girlfriend’s reaction to that would be. Although Aisle wasn’t exactly eager to have to share Cozy’s love, that was no reason to hope that a good pony remained dead, regardless of what it did to their relationship. Right, because we’re doing so great now, he sighed silently, glancing down at himself. He knew it wasn't the top priority, but the sooner he got rid of this emasculating curse, the better.

“It should be easier once we reach one of the farming villages north of here,” announced Cozy, as though she’d read his mind. “Once we do, we can get some food and maybe even a proper cart, and then this won’t be nearly as hard.”

“You think the ponies we meet will do all that for two broke strangers lugging a dead body around?”

For a moment he wondered if he’d been too callous, but to his relief Cozy simply nodded her head. “I do. We’re not in Vanhoover anymore; I’m sure the ponies around here still cherish harmony, and that includes kindness and generosity.” She let her noble declaration stand for on its own for a moment before letting out a breath. “And if they don’t, I’m willing to use my magic in exchange for their help. I’m sure there must be ponies there who need healing or broken farm tools repaired, stuff like that. Plus, it will give me a chance to introduce Lashtada to them.”

Aisle couldn’t help but smirk at that, hoping that she was right about things getting better once they reached a town. “But in the meantime, we need to press on,” he groaned as he got up, stretching his sore muscles. Now he just had-

“What’s the holdup?”

The rasping whisper caused both of them to jump, and it was only after a second of looking that Aisle thought to call out. “Aria?”

There was no warning, no sound or sudden flash of light; Aria just appeared a few feet ahead of them, causing Aisle to yelp and almost fall over. Cozy wasn’t much better, giving a start before catching herself, letting out a calming breath before speaking. “You were supposed to stay at the city limits sign, not come back here. Is something wrong?”

“Are you kidding me?” snorted Aria, glaring at the two of them. “What’s wrong is that you two were supposed to have been there already!” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion then. “I’m warning you, if you were trying to ditch me-”

“We weren’t,” soothed Aisle. “We’ve just had some trouble making progress. We were still heading right for you.”

“Hmph, sure you were.” Aria crossed her forelegs over her chest petulantly, but didn’t press the issue.

After she’d let these two talk her into going to the Crystal Empire with them, the next problem had been getting out of the camp without Lex noticing. For the ponies that was easy enough; they’d already told Lex to his face that they were going and he’d been fine with it. She, on the other hand (or hoof, or whatever they said here), didn’t have that option. Even if Lex didn’t see her leave, she was conspicuous enough that someone would, and when they told him that she’d quit the camp, all bets would probably be off where Lex was concerned. He’d made it quite clear that he didn’t want to let her loose on his precious country, at least not without his being there to boss her around.

So that meant leaving camp without being seen. Fortunately, she still had enough magic left to use her invisibility spell. It would only last a few minutes, but with a flight spell active – though that only lasted a few minutes as well – she’d be able to put some good distance between herself and that wretched place before she became visible again. At that point, the only issue had been setting up a meeting place, and Aisle had been quick to suggest the sign marking the city’s northern limits.

Aria had done her part to perfection, but her co-conspirators had been late in arriving. Enough so that Aria had cast those spells again to go looking for them; luckily finding the pair from the air hadn’t been especially hard. Now they just needed to get their rears in gear. “Let’s get going then. The sooner we get to your Crystal Kingdom, or whatever it’s called, the sooner I can get my voice back.”

With a groan, Aisle started to fumble with the rope to the sled, making Cozy frown at the Siren. She almost suggested that Aria take a turn pulling the sled, if she was so concerned with their speed, but managed to catch herself just in time. Even if Aria was making the right decision by coming back with them, that didn’t mean that Cozy was ready to let her handle Pillow’s body! Instead, the crystal mare let out a slow breath, forcing herself to remember the tenets of Lashtada’s faith that Princess Cadance had taught her. Love begins with compassion. “Aria, I didn’t get a chance to say this before, but…thank you. I know you’re risking a lot by coming with us like this.”

Giving Cozy a sour look, Aria huffed in response. “You just better hope your princess can deliver. If I go through all this and don’t get my voice back, I promise you: you’ll lose more than just a husband.” Cozy opened her mouth to reply, but Aria pointedly turned away before she could, snubbing her. Sighing, Cozy went to go help Aisle re-tie the ropes around Pillow’s transport, reminding herself that there would be other chances to talk to the Siren before they made it home. The Crystal Empire hadn't been built in a day, after all.

For her part, Aria glanced back at the camp. With any luck, she was done with the place. No more having to navigate the multitude of pathetic nobodies living there. No more having to deal with Lex’s overbearing arrogance. No more having to put up with Sonata’s irritating idiocy. Good riddance, she decided, giving a dismissive flick of her tail. I’m better off without you anyway. From now on, I’m a solo act, and this time it’ll be on my terms!

Even so, her gaze lingered on the place before she turned to leave.

Author's Note:

Aisle, Cozy, and Aria leave the camp!

Is this where they exit the story?

Comments

[howard035]

With Aria along I'm confident they'll make it to the Crystal Empire. I think it's fairly likely Cadance would be capable of restoring her voice, though I don't know if she will. Something like restoration or heal, or regenerate. So yeah, I suspect this is the last we'll see of them, except in the long term. I can't see even Aria not eventually coming back to check on her sister.

[Booster Spice]

I would think Aria should be able to be healed, given various types of ressurection go back and recreate that what used to exist and the healing required is far lesser for a voicec?

Is Lex going to be distracted enough by the Ghoul Swarm that it will be days yet before he can consider doing anything, and is the defended camp close enough to the train station to include it, or is there going to be a major conflict of intrests when the supply train finally arrives right in the middle of the conflict, to the rescue, or to be needing rescuing?

[Not so New Brony]

The first part of their journey was pretty much what I expected. Hopefully the first farming village they arrive at isn't one of those that had been raided by the camp ponies or they're going to get a not so warm welcome by the farmers and their families. Still, Cozy's plan to use her magic to help the village to gain their trust is a sound one though I really wonder if it will pan out the way she thinks it will.

As for whether this will be the last we'll see of them...considering their destination, I wouldn't be surprised if Lex goes to the same village to buy the food he needs to feed the hungry ponies back at the camp. And if that does happen, I can easily imagine the 'runaways' becoming paranoid by his arrival.

[Alzrius]

8859462 Chapter 108 telegraphed pretty hard that it'll take a full-on regenerate spell to fix Aria's throat. Whether or not Cadance is capable of that remains to be seen; after all, I've made it fairly clear where I stand on the overall issue of the princesses' power levels, but on the other hoof it's been amply demonstrated that there are ways for spellcasters (at least, those built under the Eclipse rules) to push past the more strict limits on spell effects than you'd get with character class progressions. Given that Cadance seems like the sort who'd want to specialize in healing/buffing, and the story has nodded in that direction, she might be able to pull it off.

But first, they have to get there...

[Alzrius]

8859660 The d20 System is actually a bit awkward on the issue of regenerating lost body parts. That is, regenerate is a 7th-level spell, which is not only two levels higher than raise dead (even if you compensated for raise dead's expensive material component, it would be equal to it at the absolute most), but of equal level to resurrection (though the fact that resurrection has such an expensive material component shows that it's actually higher level). More than that, the "cost" of requiring such a high spell level is curious when you consider just how rare it is to find game effects that explicitly involve severing limbs; there just aren't that many things that do that to begin with, making this spell a rather expensive solution that's (generally speaking) in search of a problem.

My guess would be, if I had to justify this from an in-character standpoint, that recreating body parts is exponentially more difficult than healing injuries. While healing is already complicated (as the spell needs to be able to basically repair any sort of injury to any sort of biology, eliminating any chance of infection as a consequence while simultaneously expelling any remaining foreign matter, etc.), actually regenerating lost body parts is essentially creating new, permanent matter out of thin air while simultaneously guiding that new growth as per the body's original genetic mapping, properly integrating it so that there's no chance of rejection while simultaneously aging it to the point where it's as the same period of development as the original, etc. It's incredibly complex, which is why spells that do that while also reaching out to find the matching soul and coaxing it back into the reforming body (i.e. resurrection, since raise dead only heals the body without restoring any actual lost parts) is even higher level than that, and so needs to be bought down via an expensive material component.

It's one of those things that seems simple to observation (e.g. "make a lost limb grow back"), but is incredibly complicated when you look under the proverbial hood.

[Alzrius]

8859821 You've noted some very cogent possibilities; after all, the villages that are closest to the camp are the most likely to have suffered from its depredations, and likewise the most likely to be where Lex goes to procure more food. As such, there's some reason to assume that they're not done with Lex and Sonata yet! On the other hoof, that would be a fairly major coincidence, and it's not like we haven't had characters (apparently) leave the story before, such as Fireflower and his siblings. So really, there's cause to assume that either possibility is correct...we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

[Spiritus Arcane]

So anyone want to lay odds that Cadance, who most likely knows about Aria's past history in Equestria, and probably knows about what she and Adagio got up to in CHS and Everglow, will actually agree to undo her punishment by healing her voice?

[Alzrius]

8860094 Hm, that's interesting to consider. Given that only Twilight, among her friends, knew about the Sirens at the beginning of Rainbow Rocks, they're probably a part of ancient history that most ponies don't know off the tops of their heads. On the other hoof, Twilight strikes me as the sort to tell her close friends and family (such as Cadance) about her adventures, so she likely knows all about them from that.

[harts fire]

Aisle, Cozy, and Aria leave the camp!

this is a big mistake Cozy is not thinking straight.

Is this where they exit the story?

if this is ware they leave the story i have a feeling it is not going to be a good ending to the three.

[Alzrius]

8870223 Is she making a mistake in leaving the camp? Or in taking Aria with her?

[James Fire]

Well, it was nice knowing you guys.

[Alzrius]

9219071 Oh, don't count them out quite yet...