Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

35 - Follow-Through

Sonata’s horrified wail seemed to reach into Fireflower’s chest and squeeze his heart, jolting him out of the shock and residual terror caused by the near-death experience that he and everyone else there had just experienced. It was enough to turn all eyes towards her as she renewed her assault against the grass entangling her, and she actually started to make some progress, wrenching a hoof free and stumbling towards the edge of the wall that Lex had conjured.

It was enough to remind Fireflower of what he’d been trying to do moments before, and he turned his gaze back to where his siblings were trapped. “Rockwood! The spell!”

He saw his brother wavering for a moment, and then later his lips moved. Fireflower couldn’t hear it from this distance, but the sudden gasps from behind him told him that the binding enchantment had been lifted.

He turned, intending to tell Sonata that they needed to use the reprieve that Lex had bought them to escape, that it was what he’d want for her, but she was already running by him, galloping for the edge of the wall for all she was worth. Fireflower immediately took off after her, knowing that if she did something foolish in her grief he almost certainly wouldn’t be able to stop the dragon’s retaliation.

He wasn’t so heartless that he didn’t glance back at the rest of the ponies that had been released, however. While several were running for the tree-line for all they were worth, much to his surprise more than a few were following him, apparently intent on seeing what was happening. It was unexpected enough that Fireflower momentarily stumbled. Did they not realize that they were missing their chance to escape, quite possibly the only one they’d get?

Turning his attention back to Sonata, he saw that she’d reached the edge of the wall…and stopped, a look of relief crossing her face. A moment later, Fireflower caught up to her, and saw why.

Lex, now changed into a shadow whose only visible feature was a pair of glowing eyes, hung in the air. A short distance away, the dragon was trying to dodge a trio of electrical orbs, only partially succeeding. The sight of that particular spell, along with Lex’s umbral form, was enough to make Fireflower blanch, remembering when he’d been in the dragon’s place.

Next to him, Sonata bit her lip in worry. She’d thought her heart had stopped when Lex had apparently sacrificed himself to save the rest of them, so seeing that he had survived and was still fighting had been an incredible relief, but at the same time she knew that it was too soon to celebrate. Even as she watched, one of the dragon’s claws clipped him, leaving a visible tear at the edge of his shadow-form.

Determined to do more than just stand there and gawk, Sonata started to step forward, but Fireflower darted forward and raised a foreleg to bar her way. “Don’t.” His voice was equal parts pleading and ordering.

Sonata bristled. “Lex needs our help!”

“The best way we can help him is to not get in his way,” retorted Fireflower, not lowering his foreleg. “If we go out there we’ll just end up making him protect us again rather than attacking.” His kept his eyes firmly locked on hers, willing her to listen to him. “We need to trust that he can win.”

Sonata was about to respond when she heard Lex give a cry of pain. Whipping her head around, she saw that the dragon’s claw had struck him again, this time dead-center. A look of alarm spread across her face, and she started to dash forward when the dragon suddenly arched its back in what was clearly an expression of pain, making Sonata stop in her tracks.

Whatever Lex had done, he took advantage of it a moment later as all three of his electrical orbs moved in, impacting the dragon directly. It gave a loud scream as they made contact, and then collapsed and lay still.

The silence that reigned was deafening.

No one spoke, staring at the sight of the fallen dragon, waiting for a twitch or a shudder or any sign that it was still alive...that the fight wasn’t over yet. Lex apparently felt the same way, because he didn’t move from where he was hanging in the air. Only his lightning globes reacted, slowly moving to circle the dragon warily.

Finally, the dark shadow that was Lex began to descend, letting the balls of lightning fade away as he did so. Several ponies, either braver or more curious than their fellows, took a few hesitant steps forward. It was that, as much as anything, that signaled to Sonata that it was over.

It was finally over.

Pushing past the ponies that had moved ahead of her, Sonata broke into a run again. This time Fireflower didn’t try to stop her, watching with mixed emotions as she ran towards where Lex was descending.

“Lex!” she called, causing him to turn his green-and-purple eyes towards her, making Sonata’s heart leap. He’d done it! He’d slain the dragon and now she could apologize for how she’d acted before and they’d kiss and make up and go to Vanhoover and live happily ever after!

Then Lex reached the ground and turned back into his pony form, and it was all Sonata could do not to scream at the sight, even as he immediately collapsed.

It was no mystery why. He was covered in wounds, hideous and gaping, to such an extent that he looked more dead than alive. His entire right side, from the side of his face down to his flank, from foreleg to hind leg, didn’t have skin anymore, the underlying tissue now completely exposed, red and raw and open. Most of his tail was gone, and Sonata could see what looked like exposed bone along his left hind leg. Four long gouges, already oozing large quantities of blood, stretched from his right flank to his sternum. Worst of all was the puncture mark on the left side of his chest, which could be heard rasping wetly with every breath he took.

Rushing over to him, Sonata was shaking as she cradled him in her hooves, trying to stifle the sobs she could feel washing over her as she called out to him. “Lex! Lex, hey! H-hang in there!” His eyes were still open somehow, and vaguely recalled something she’d heard back on Earth about how you weren’t supposed to let really injured people pass out. “Just…just look at me, okay? Just keep looking at me!”

Although he met her gaze, the look in his eyes was vacant, and that scared her more than anything. Lex had always, in all the time she’d known him, looked at everything around him with eyes that were sharp and considering, as though dissecting everything he saw and judging it. But now he looked like he was barely aware of what was going on, and Sonata could feel herself starting to shake.

A moment later his eyes closed, and her trembling grew worse. “L-Lex? Hey! HEY! Lex?! W-Wake up! You have to wake up! LEX!” She shook him, but there was no response, and she was about to shake him harder when she belatedly realized that that probably wasn’t the best thing to do in his current state.

Choking down a whimper, she noticed that he was still wearing his haversack, somehow miraculously intact and tangled in the remains of what looked like a cloak. Ripping the rags away, she tore his bag open. Thanks to its magic, the first aid kit that she was seeking was right on top, and she snatched it out with such haste that she almost dropped it. She was halfway through awkwardly trying to wrap a bandage around him when it occurred to her to ask for help.

“Somebody help me with this!” She turned back to look at the crowd, who were milling about in what looked like various stages of shock. Several of them were looking at Lex and turning green, while others were pale at the sight of him. “I said help me!” she screamed, and this time several of them jumped, but made no move to approach her, glancing at each other with lost expressions.

Near the back of the crowd, a pegasus mare flapped her wings, gaining enough altitude to fly over the heads of the crowd and land next to Sonata, clearly responding to her call for help.

“Are you a doctor?” asked Sonata, her voice full of desperate hope as she looked the other mare over. She didn’t seem like it, being dressed in flannel and having a cutie mark that showed a young tree and a watering can.

“No, but I’ve had plenty of experience patching up my hubby after some lumber accident or other. I figure that’s gotta make me a halfway-decent nurse or thereabouts,” she said, her rapid speech betraying her nervousness as she settled down beside Sonata and took the first aid kit. She swallowed, wide-eyed at the sight of Lex, but took a tube of ointment, spreading it around Lex’s acid burned right side, opposite the wheezing hole in his chest, before wrapping a bandage around his chest so that the puncture was covered.

“He’s going to be okay, right?” Sonata knew how ridiculous the question was, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking it, almost pleading for the answer she wanted to hear. But all she got in return was an incredulous look, before the pegasus seemed to realize that she was being serious.

“We’ve gotta get him to a hospital, but…I think that moving him like this would only make him worse.” Sonata, knowing what “make him worse” meant, shook her head, denying that this was happening. This wasn’t how things were supposed to end!

“Wh-what about healing magic? You guys have some of that here in Equestria, right?” She looked at the pegasus mare, but she just gave her a questioning look back, still wrapping bandages around Lex, most of which were quickly becoming saturated with blood. Sonata turned her head to the crowd, but nobody seemed to know what she was talking about.

Except one.

Fireflower stepped forward, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “There is. I know where it is.” He could see her starting to ask something else, but turned away, starting to run towards the forest. “I’m going to go get it,” he called back over his shoulder. “Just stay with Lex, and I’ll come back with help!”

Fireflower silently repeated Breezyleaf’s instructions to himself as he ran: Head south-southeast for a mile. Follow the stream. Find the cave. That’s where the dragon’s cave was, and that was where Brightrose should be, according to what the others had told him.

Each of Fireflower’s siblings specialized in a different magical element. His was fire. Rockwood’s was earth. Waterlily’s had been water. Breezyleaf’s was air. Shadowvine’s was negativity, although she preferred to call it “nullification.” And Brightrose’s had always been positivity, which brought forth light, removed maladies…and healed.

Now that the dragon was gone, there was nothing to stop him from getting Brightrose out, bringing him back there, and having him heal Lex. Assuming that Brightrose was still alive, or that Lex didn’t die in the meantime, or that he could find the cave or any of a hundred other things that could go wrong. Shaking his head to try and clear away the worries clouding his thoughts, Fireflower focused on making sure that he didn’t veer off course as he charged through the woods, making sure to keep an eye on the shadows being cast through the trees as he maintained his direction.

This was the only thing he could do for Sonata, he knew. For all of his vowing to protect her, for how closely he’d stuck to her during the fight, there had ultimately been nothing that he could do for her. Except this. He could be the one who saved the life of the stallion she loved...the one pony who was standing between Fireflower and her.

And if he failed, then...

It would be so easy, he realized. After I find Brightrose, I could just say that it took longer than I expected to get back, or that we got lost, or something else, and Lex would be gone.

Despite his thoughts, Fireflower didn’t slow his pace, knowing that he could never do something like that. Partially because such betrayal went against how he had been raised, and also because he knew that he owed Lex for slaying the dragon that had killed Waterlily and caused himself and his other siblings so much pain.

But mostly it was because he couldn’t bear to see Sonata’s heartbreak if that happened. She’d cried too many tears already, and the thought of causing her to shed even more hurt worse than the thought of her never returning his feelings.

He was going to keep his promise. She would smile again, even if the one she smiled at wasn’t him.

Author's Note:

Fireflower realizes how great his love for Sonata is: to want her to be happy, even if that means that he can't be with her.

But will he make it in time?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Let's hope that Fireflower's siblings don't need too much convincing to save Lex or else there might be complications.

p.s: I thought Nosey would be taking photos of the scene or is she too preoccupied with the dead dragon?

[James Fire]

More typos. Have you been letting them in?

That the fight wasn’t over yet. Lex apparently felt the same way, because he didn’t move from where he was hanging in the air.

I think you meant to say "But the fight wasn't over yet".

Hmm, typos are either gone, or they have good cloaking spells.

It was no mystery why. He was covered in wounds, hideous and gaping, to such an extent that he looked more dead than alive. His entire right side, from just the side of his face down to his flank, from foreleg to hind leg, didn’t have skin anymore, the underlying tissue now completely exposed, red and raw and open. Most of his tail was gone, and Sonata could see what looked like exposed bone along his left hind leg. Four long gouges, already oozing large quantities of blood, stretched from his right flank to his sternum. Worst of all was the puncture mark right on the left side of his chest, which could be heard rasping wetly with every breath he took.

Poor Lex. I'm not sure if Aurthur would survive those injuries without at least closing the wounds, without healing the inside.

[Alzrius]

7715001 Don't worry, Nosey will be back next chapter, front-and-center (just the way she likes it).

But yeah, at this point Lex has to rely on the goodwill of others. It's almost like friendship is important or something...

[Alzrius]

7715190

More typos. Have you been letting them in?

Well, there's fewer this time around, at least!

I think you meant to say "But the fight wasn't over yet".

Actually, that was a failure of formatting on my part. That sentence was supposed to be part of the previous sentence, in that it was meant to be a conveyance of what they were looking for a sign of. I'm not sure why I made it separate; I went back and changed the preceding period to an ellipsis.

Poor Lex. I'm not sure if Aurthur would survive those injuries without at least closing the wounds, without healing the inside.

I thought about putting a mention of his internal injuries in that paragraph as well, possibly by having him coughing up blood, but ultimately decided against it, since that paragraph was written from Sonata's point of view, and I doubt she'd have made that connection.