47 - Rebirth Readjustments
“What…I was…you…” Waterlily didn’t seem to be reassured by what Lex was saying. If anything, his statement had made her shake worse. Gulping, she looked around before returning her gaze to him, trying to get her thoughts in order. “Resurrected?”
Lex nodded, standing there impassively, Severance floating by his side. “Yes. Do you remember what happened before? With the dragon?” He briefly wondered why she seemed so disoriented. Was it the shock of being brought back to life? Or was she still feeling residual fear from what had been an abrupt and terrifying death? Mentally, he shrugged. Either way, she would most likely settle down once he made it clear that she was safe and would be reunited with her family shortly.
“The dragon…” Waterlily trailed off as Lex prompted her, her eyes losing focus as she thought back to the last thing she remembered, but it was a jumbled mixture of fear and confusion. She remembered wanting to show her siblings a new spell she’d learned, gathering them at the lake near their forest. She remembered casting it and then…then it was like they’d been dizzy, and then they’d been at the shore, but not the shore that she knew so well. Worse, they’d found out that their alternate form had become a pony rather than a human.
After that…after that they’d found a cave to hole up in while they’d tried to figure out what had happened and what to do about it. They’d all been talking when suddenly…
Lily felt her breathing get heavier as she remembered what had happened next. Suddenly a large green creature had entered the cave, and just looking at it had scared her worse than anything in her entire life. She remembered trying to run away, her brothers and sisters scattering in a panic, and she’d looked back over her shoulder, sure that it was right behind her…just in time to see a claw coming down…
After that there was nothing.
I died. The thought caused her stomach to twist itself into knots, and she felt the world begin to sway. I died, and…and just now… She looked over at the patch of dirt that she’d been in when she’d sat up, and numbly realized that it was a grave. That it was her grave…
The unicorn across from her was saying something again, but Lily wasn’t listening. All she knew was that she had to get away. She had to get away from here and whoever this stranger was and whatever had happened and everything that could possibly hurt her even more. She had no idea where she could go to be safe but she knew she wasn’t safe here.
Turning, Waterlily ran as fast as she could.
“Your siblings are staying in a nearby town. I’ll take y-, hey! Stop!”
Waterlily’s sudden flight had caught Lex by surprise, but only slightly. Given her fragile state, he’d half-expected her to do something stupid, but he’d thought that it would be an ill-considered attack like Fireflower had done. That would…wait… Even as he started to run after her, Lex frowned as a memory of that first encounter with Fireflower came back to him. Hadn’t he explained why he’d been so aggressive and terrified back then?
“I’m sorry about that,” piped up Fireflower. “Really. I panicked because, when you started chasing me, I thought you might be another aranea whose territory I’d wandered into. I hadn’t eaten or slept in days. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“That’s still kinda weird, isn’t it?” asked Sonata. “I mean, if you ran into others of your own kind, wouldn’t you ask them for help?”
Fireflower shook his head. “Maybe that’s how it is for ponies, but we’re different. We keep to ourselves in small colonies, and only go into another colony’s territory when we’re looking to, you know…” he turned slightly red, “to meet someone else. Even then, there’s supposed to be some formal way of declaring yourself, or so Brightrose told me. Anything else is an attack.”
Cursing himself for overlooking such a salient detail, Lex picked up the pace as he chased Waterlily. No wonder she was panicking! Whatever trauma her death and resurrection entailed was bad enough, but being greeted by an unfamiliar face had most likely exacerbated the situation.
“Stop!” he yelled again, but though she glanced back at him over her shoulder it was clear that she had no intention of obeying his order. If anything it made her run even faster. Lex grit his teeth. Losing her here would be bad. White Tail Woods was the single largest forest on the continent, and while he did have a spell that could be used to scry on a distant individual, that would only show him their immediate surroundings, which would be useless in such a huge forest where everyplace looked like everyplace else. Worse, even with a major artifact to act as a battery, it would take hours to even prepare that spell.
Glancing at Severance, easily keeping pace with him, Lex considered sending it ahead to apprehend the girl. But he was loath to do that, since he doubted that such a powerful weapon could disable her without hurting her, and hurting her was absolutely out of the question; he’d brought her back, which meant that her safety was his responsibility until she was reunited with her family. For that same reason, he couldn’t bring himself to use any of the remaining attack spells that he’d prepared for when he’d fought the dragon.
Lex could feel his frustration burning inside him, along with the pain of his injuries starting to flare up again from the sudden exertion. It was happening again. Once again his good intentions were being warped during their execution! “I…said…STOP!”
This time, his roar carried more than just his voice.
As the word left his mouth, Lex felt the power inside him, the new strength that the Night Mare had imbued him with, move. It was an indescribable sensation. In fact, he wasn’t even sure that it was a sensation; it was as much a state of mind as it was something tactile. Even as he tried to analyze it, Lex felt that power snap outwards and enfold itself around Waterlily, imbuing his order for her to stop with a command that instantly overrode her will and forced her obedience, making her stop so abruptly that she almost fell over.
Lex stopped also, gaping in amazement at what he’d just done…whatever it was.
Taking a moment to collect himself, Lex realized that he could still feel – or was it perceive? – the energy connecting Waterlily to him, forcing her to remain still. No, forcing her to follow his order. She was twitching, whimpering softly as she did, obviously wanting to keep running but unable to do so. He could feel her trying futilely to struggle against the compulsion, unable to fight back against the overwhelming force of it.
“Come here,” said Lex, as much to test what was happening as to bring her back. When she turned around and began approaching him a moment later, he felt a thrill of exultation. This was incredible! He didn’t need to cast a spell or even focus on what he wanted to happen, he just had to impress his will upon her and give an order, and she’d obey! With this kind of power…with this kind of power he could sweep away any kind of opposition, without hurting them! It was exactly the perfect solution-
Then Waterlily reached him, her eyes wide with stark terror and tears running down her face. “Please,” she sobbed, pleading. “Please…just let me go…”
The sight of her instantly snuffed out Lex’s excitement, replacing it with guilt. Even if the circumstances had made it necessary, using this magic – if indeed this was magic – to take control of her when she was already out of her wits with fear was harsher than he’d wanted to be with her. She was already a victim, so using magic on her without her permission was victimizing her further, something which was unbecoming of a pony who would rule over others. The immediate priority, therefore, was to calm her down so that he could release her without her running off again.
Slowly closing the gap between them, Lex stood up on his hind legs, leaning in to take hold of her face with his forehooves. “Waterlily, listen to me,” he said softly, taking great care to make himself sound as unthreatening as he could, keeping eye contact. “You’re not in any danger. The dragon that…” he trailed off, realizing belatedly that talking about her death might make her panic again. “The dragon can’t hurt you anymore. I made sure of that. Now, I’m going to take you to your siblings. Do you understand? I’m going to take you to see Fireflower, and…” he paused, trying to remember the names that Fireflower had told him several days ago, though it felt a lot longer now. “And Rockwood, and Shadowvine, and Breezyleaf, and Brightrose. I’m going to take you to them right now, and until we get there I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re safe now.”
She gulped, tears still trailing down her cheeks, but the sound of her siblings’ names seemed to do the trick, and she nodded slightly. Letting out a sigh of relief, Lex released her face and stepped away from her, falling back onto all fours as he did so. “Now, I’m going to release you. Don’t run off again, alright?”
Another shaky nod was her answer, and Lex concentrated on undoing whatever he’d done. The power he’d used responded to his mental command instantly, withdrawing from Waterlily. She tensed, and for a moment he worried that she was going to try to run again, but she took a deep breath, letting it out shakily as she regarded him with eyes that were still nervous, but no longer terrified, keeping herself under control.
“Wh…” she started to speak, then stopped, clearly not sure if it was a good idea.
“Hm?” Lex made sure not to make any reaction to her aborted question, wanting her to realize that she could speak without anything bad happening.
“Where are they?”
“You mean your brothers and sisters? They’re in Tall Tale, a city near here, at a place called Busy Bee’s Bed ‘n’ Breakfast. I’m going to take you there right now.” Given her state of mind, it seemed appropriate to repeat that so that she'd be reassured of his intentions.
“I, um…” she paused to take another deep breath, and again doing so seemed to calm her. “Okay,” she nodded slightly, seeming to have made up her mind to trust him, at least a little.
“Good, now…” this time it was Lex’s turn to trail off, as he glanced around and realized that he had no idea which way to go get back. Their brief dash through the forest had managed to completely make him lose his orientation. Or rather, he realized, he’d never had it to begin with, since he hadn’t known exactly where Waterlily had been buried. Either way, they were now completely lost.
Cursing softly, Lex glanced upward. The solution to this problem was easy enough to find, but utilizing it would mean leaving her alone for a moment. If she ran off again, he’d be hard pressed to find her.
For a moment, he considered putting her back under his power, but decided against it. Using magic to control others because of what they might do ran counter to his moral code, and that had to be kept inviolate at all costs. Moreover, doing that would likely shatter whatever faith in him he’d managed to convince her to have. He was going to have to risk it.
Lex kept his voice calm and even as he spoke again. “I’m going to go figure out which way will take us to your siblings the fastest. I need you to stay right here while I do, alright?” She looked uncertain, and he continued. “It will just take a minute. In the meantime, I’m going to leave this,” he gestured to Severance, “here to protect you. You don’t need to touch it or do anything. Just stay right here, and I’ll be right back.”
He turned to Severance, and lowered his voice to a quiet hiss. “Keep her safe until I return. Do not hurt her or allow her to come to harm under any circumstances. Is that clear?” He put a hoof on the scythe’s handle, and heard it respond affirmatively. It then drifted over to begin orbiting Waterlily, spinning slowly as it did so, causing her to blink at the sight.
Not wanting her to have any more time to let the weapon unnerve her, Lex turned and headed into the woods. When he’d gone far enough so that the trees obscured the sight of her, he used his horn’s magic to turn into a shadow. Better not to let her see this, considering how fragile she is at the moment, he thought to himself as he rose upward.
It took only a few moments to clear the treetops. He kept rising, until he’d gained enough elevation to see the lights from Tall Tale. Had he been able to breathe in that form, Lex would have let out a breath at the sight of it. It wasn’t far from their present location at all. At a guess, they’d be there in a little over an hour. Returning to the ground, Lex resumed corporeal form and quickly headed back to where he’d left Severance and Waterlily, hoping that both of them would still be there.
He needn’t have worried. She was right where he’d left her, the weapon still revolving around her casually. The sight was enough of a relief that this time Lex did let out a sigh as he went over to her, drawing her eyes back towards him even as Severance drifted back to his side of its own accord.
“I know the way now. Shall we go?” The question was largely rhetorical, but being asked seemed to put her at ease, earning another cautious nod.
Turning, Lex began to lead her back to her family.
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So he can take control of someone now? Well, at least when they're panicking or filled with fear. That might come in handy should the ponies of Vanhoover start panicking though given his reluctance to take away complete control, he'd probably influence their actions towards an outcome that doesn't result in trampled bodies.
Well, that and the political ramifications should he be found out that he could control others with just a spoken word, especially if somepony misinterprets his intentions...but I'm getting too far ahead of myself.
Also, as odd as it may sound I'm highly amused with the thought of a a scythe hovering around a pony protectively.
Nosey could write this up in all sorts of ways.
Lex takes control like a True Master.
I got a rock! A typo smashing rock!
Waterlily's what now?
No idea what to do here, but the double usage of "she" just feels awkward.
I suggest changing the fourth "she" to "it".
I think one of those "everyplace" should be "everywhere". Probably the second one.
I don't think you need the middle two "and"s.
Just a minor point, but I think "just" and "take" should be swapped.
Not scary at all. The absolute picture of what someone wants to see right after they get resurrected.
Resistance is futile!
Lex is part snake!
Lex is nice enough to get Waterlily's back, how sweet. But how will Kara's blessing help him? Ooohhh, he gonna be doggy piled.
7749068
Fixed.
I think it's okay. Either way, I can't think of any changes either.
I thought about this, but changing "she" to "it" changes it from her thinking about her own safety to the safety of that particular location. Her mindset is such that she doesn't feel safe anywhere. It's not that "this place doesn't feel safe" in her mind, but rather "I'm not safe."
The double-usage of the same term was deliberate here. The repetition reinforces the idea that every part of a forest (as a generality) looks like every other part.
Again, that was deliberate. He's going out of his way to emphasize their names in hope of it calming her down, and so is placing emphasis on each one, rather than quickly listing them off.
I've heard both ways used, so no change is needed here, to my mind.
Yeah, I don't think Lex realizes what a severe figure he can be, especially to someone who's already shaky.
I've been resisting the urge to refer that as the "get a harem" blessing.
7748780 Knowing Nosey, she's go for the most sensationalist stance she could. Which would probably be good for nopony except Nosey.
7748693 Lex is just starting to explore and learn the nature of the new powers the Night Mare has given him. He's smart enough to know that he needs to test them out before relying on them too much, so we'll probably see some of that in future chapters.