• Published 2nd Nov 2015
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Lateral Movement - Alzrius



Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.

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419 - Mare, Interrupted

Slowly climbing to her hooves from where she’d been reclining beneath the lean-to, Nosey took a moment to brush the dirt from her coat. “That was a really great speech,” she offered, not meeting his eyes as she said it. Instead she moved on to her tail, examining it for a moment before shaking the dust out of it. But she only did so for a moment before giving a resigned sigh, turning to look at him at last, her wan smile still in place. “I didn’t take anyone’s opinion, but I think it went over well.”

The praise made him want to grimace, but he fought the reaction down, instead focusing on her. There was an odd cadence in her voice that he couldn’t decipher, making him pause before replying. Nosey hadn’t been a participant in Sonata and Aria’s foolish attempts to try and save their relationship, which left him wary that she was preparing to enact her own plan. “So it would appear,” he ventured at last.

Nosey nodded at that, and there was a pause that seemed to go on for several seconds too long before she spoke again. “So, you broke up with all of us, huh?”

The question struck him as odd. But then again, all confirmation-seeking statements struck him as odd when they were inquiring as to answers that had already been made plain. “Yes.” He wasn’t planning on adding anything more, before it occurred to him that whatever reason Nosey had for asking that might be require more information. “I’ve foresworn all relationships based on romance so long as I continue working with the Night Mare.”

Nosey nodded slowly, looking past him. Following her gaze, Lex saw that the group surrounding Sonata and Aria had yet to diminish, despite the rest of the crowd having broken up into smaller gatherings of ponies. It took Lex a moment to realize that from Nosey’s current position under the lean-to, she had a direct line of sight to where everypony had been gathering, but not to the actual station platform itself. The realization made Lex acutely uncomfortable, reminding him far too much of when he’d realized that Nosey had been possessed and had searched the camp to find her. Eventually he’d found her – or rather, Xiriel, wearing her body as a disguise – hidden away in a small, one-pony shelter, not dissimilar to this one.

The similarity to now was enough to make Lex silently activate his circlet as he turned his eyes back toward Nosey. Seeking confirmation of something already known might have been a pointless endeavor, but alleviating suspicions was something altogether different. But where a powerful necromantic aura had betrayed Xiriel’s presence then, Nosey had no unusual magical signatures surrounding her now that Lex was able to detect. Even so, the knowledge made him relax only a little, pushing him to wonder why she’d hidden herself out here. “Nosey-”

She jumped in before he could say anything else. “So, did you do it?”

Lex blinked at the abrupt question. “Do what?”

“Enslave the two of them?” She waved a hoof toward Sonata and Aria’s gossip-circle, finally turning her eyes back toward his. “I mean, Aria said you guys were still ‘having fun,’ so I assume their plan worked?”

“I can assure you, it didn’t,” huffed Lex, recovering some of his earlier irritation. “My government does not take slaves, and quite honestly they should have known better. So should you, for that matter.”

But the rebuke seemed to bother her not at all. Instead, her eyebrows went up slightly, curiosity coloring her features. “Really? So, what’d you do, then?”

Noting that her voice had reverted back to her typical lilt, Lex tersely explained how he’d found Sonata and Aria both to lack the mental competence necessary to be allowed their own agency, requiring him to assume authority over them. “Which will include relationship therapy,” he concluded.

That last part made Nosey giggle. “‘Relationship therapy’? Really?”

“The arrangement is completely legitimate,” protested Lex. “As the authority figure in charge of their rehabilitation, instructing them in how to properly integrate into Equestrian society will require that they be taught how to form and maintain close connections to others.”

“Well, I think you’re just the pony to handle that,” snickered Nosey, her voice lilting in a way that he was moderately certain was sarcasm.

That made him frown, but there were more pressing issues than her sense of humor. “They’re not the only ponies who require that degree of assistance,” he murmured softly.

Her laughter died instantly, her gaze falling to the ground as her ears folded back. “Lex…”

“What happened to you was more than you could bear,” he continued. “And while you’re getting better, you’re not anywhere near fully recovered. Which means…” Lex took a step closer to her then, leaving barely an inch of distance between them. Reaching out a hoof, he placed it under her chin, gently but firmly lifting her face upward until she was looking at him again. “You also need me to assume authority over you, to properly guide and care for you, until such a time as I decide that you’re recovered.”

He could feel his mood improving even as the words passed his lips, all of the bitterness and frustration he’d been accumulating evaporating like mist in the morning light. It was the same effect that Nosey’d had on him the first time they’d kissed, creating a feeling of calm, of rightness, that had been soothing in the extreme. Just like Sonata’s wholehearted belief in him, or Aria’s wicked seductiveness, the relief that he felt from Nosey when she basked in the certainty that he’d protect her eased his troubled mind in turn. As he leaned forward to kiss her, he let the feeling wash over him, and knew that so long as she, and Sonata, and Aria, were all with him, then he’d be able to get through-

Nosey turned her head to the side at the last moment, preventing his lips from reaching hers. “Don’t,” she whispered, the words coming out strained. “Please, don’t.”

The next few seconds lasted for an eternity as Lex tried to figure out what was happening. But then the obvious answer came to him, and he let out a sigh of relief, dropping his hoof from her chin before giving her a patronizing look. “Nosey, whatever scheme you’ve concocted…whatever alternative you came up with to Sonata and Aria’s ill-considered ambush, it’s irrelevant now. I’ve already made a determination that allows for us to…”

He trailed off as Nosey shook her head sorrowfully. “It’s not like that, Lex.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, examining a spot on the ground intently. “I knew I couldn’t participate in the plan those two cooked up. I don’t have strong magic like they do. But I didn’t come up with any sort of alternative either.”

“And now you don’t have to!” He almost raised his voice, catching himself at the last moment. Right now everypony was either off entertaining themselves, or was clustered around Sonata and Aria. But the lean-to offered no privacy if anypony decided they wanted to know what he was doing. “Even if we’re technically no longer in a romantic relationship, we can still be together!”

“…I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Lex could only stare at her, trying to comprehend what was happening.

When it became clear he wasn’t going to say anything, she tentatively raised her gaze to his, only to immediately wince and lower it again when she saw the look on his face. “I swear…Lex, I swear I don’t want to hurt you. That’s the last thing I want. I just…I can’t do this…”

His mind churning so furiously he almost felt dizzy, Lex tried to process what she was saying. His brain dissected and cross-indexed the words coming out of her mouth, the expression on her face, her body language, every interaction he’d had with her over the last several days, every interaction he’d witnessed her having with others over that time frame, what he knew of her personal history, the opinions she’d expressed, and several million other potential variables to try and come up with an understanding of how he’d gotten here and how to fix it. But the data refused to organize itself into any recognizable pattern that would explain her behavior now, and no matter how desperately he altered it or what parameters he utilized, he couldn’t make what she was saying make sense.

“I don’t understand.”

He hated admitting it. It went straight to the core of what he knew was the defective part of himself. But he had to know. “Nosey, I don’t understand. I thought…” He couldn’t say anymore, but in his mind the words were loud and clear.

I thought you’d be happy.

I thought you wanted to be with me.

I thought you loved me.

Although it was impossible with the layers of mental defenses that he’d cultivated, she almost seemed to hear what he hadn’t said, giving him a pleading look. “This isn’t because of you. I mean, it sort of is, but it’s not your fault. Everything’s become so big so fast and it’s only getting…I didn’t even know the word for it! But now it’s all just snowballing and I feel like it’s out of control and I don’t know-”

“What are you talking about?!” Lex could feel his shock slowly starting to wear off, anger and frustration creeping back in. She was ending their relationship and she couldn’t even explain why?! “Nosey, why are you-”

“This isn’t my life!”

The words seemed to tear themselves from her throat, uttered in a strangled pitch that made it sound like she was struggling with everything she had to keep from screaming them. Nor was she finished. “Less than a month ago all I cared about was finding an interesting story to write about for my paper! Now I’m living my own version of ‘Love-Slave of the Shadow King’ and it’s all too much! In just over a week, I’ve fought sea monsters, been possessed by a devil, and had an orgy with a pair of thousand-year old witch sisters and the dark wizard who defeated the Celestia and Luna! And now you’re telling me that you want to make me into your slave, or something that’s pretty much the same as a slave even if you call it something different, like it’s no big deal?!”

She seemed to calm down then, but only to the point where she was no longer shaking as she spoke. Her face was still twisted in desperation as she kept going. “How do I keep working my job if you’ve declared me too crazy to be allowed to make decisions on my own, huh? How am I supposed to look my parents in the face when they find out that, instead of a boyfriend, I have a guy who’s keeping me and a couple other mares as his own personal sex kittens?”

Nosey slumped in place then, her nervous energy suddenly gone. “I want to go home. I’ve wanted to go home since before we left that warehouse. I want to struggle with that window in the back of my apartment that always sticks. I want to listen to my dad talk about how a high-citrus diet will cure anything, and my mom complain that Vanity Mare is a rag even though she reads it cover-to-cover every month. I want to argue with my boss at work about the way he edits the pieces that I write.”

She gave him a helpless look then. “I love you, Lex. I swear I do. But I’m not like Sonata and Aria. They’re happy to share your life because they don’t have ones of their own to go back to, but I do…and I want it back. I’m sorry.”

For a brief moment she lingered there, waiting to see if he had anything to say. But Lex couldn’t even begin to compose his thoughts in the wake of Nosey’s outburst. All he could do was sit there and watch, a horrible sense of déjà vu creeping over him as Nosey slowly turned around…

And left him.

Author's Note:

Realizing how much she's been completely swept up in his adventures, Nosey ends her relationship with Lex!

What repercussions will this have on everypony going forward?

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