Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

604 - We Need to Talk About Kara

Lex spent a long moment drinking in the sight of Sonata before he managed to recover. “What are you doing?”

The question made her giggle. “What? The candles, rose petals, perfume, and super-sexy underwear don’t make it obvious?” Sticking her tongue out, she winked at him. “And here I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one.”

Lex shook his head. “Sonata, you know we can’t do this.”

“Aw, sure we can,” she replied smoothly. “Look, I’ll even get things started.” Bringing one hoof up to her lips, she slowly ran her tongue over it, her eyes never leaving his. It was only after she’d thoroughly wetted the bottom of it, that she slowly traced it down her body. First her chest, then her belly, until finally it came to rest between her back legs, a pleasured grunt escaping her lips as she began to rub herself-

“Stop that!” hissed Lex, his horn lighting up as he telekinetically grabbed her hoof and pinned it against the headboard, his eyes scanning the room. “Someone might be watching!” He could feel his heart pounding, but not from any sort of anxiety over their unknown voyeur. Sonata’s little show had driven home, in the most visceral manner imaginable, that it had been weeks since the last time they’d been intimate…and that it was a state of affairs which would continue until the equinox. But while that was less than a month away, it suddenly seemed unbearably long.

For her part, Sonata’s brows furrowed. “Watching…?” She seemed to chew on that for a moment, glancing around, before shaking her head. “I don’t care.”

“Sonata…”

“I don’t care!” she repeated, a little more forcefully, before her coy smile reasserted itself. “If it means you loving me up, I wouldn’t mind doing it on stage in front of a full audience.” Despite the bold words, her cheeks still colored at what she was saying. “That would actually be pretty hot, don’t you think? I bet I’d be embarrassed at first, feeling all those eyes on me, listening as you made me make all sorts of naughty sounds.”

A shudder ran through her then, causing her to arch her back. “At first it’d just be a gasp, or maybe a whimper, as you got me warmed up. Then you’d touch me where you know I like, and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from moaning.” She put free hoof in front of her mouth, her expression bashful as she flushed more, her tone breathy. “And then, knowing how ashamed I felt” – she gulped then, her hoof dropping just a little as her voice faded to a whisper – “you’d make me do it again.” Biting her lip, she rubbed her legs together again. “And that’s when I’d start to beg.”

Despite the fact that he had no desire to show her off to anyone else, Lex could feel himself heating up. Did she really want him that badly? It wasn’t like her to be this aggressive; she was usually more than content to passively wait for him to make a move. Except for that time in the warehouse, he recalled suddenly. She was like this then, too. Refusing to take no for an answer. Of course, she’d still been concerned about privacy then…but that had been when she’d still been insecure about Aria butting in on their recently-renewed relationship; once she’d made peace with sharing him with her sister, Sonata had possessed no such reservations about the manor staff having been able to hear them before they’d left Vanhoover, so maybe now-

Shaking his head, Lex terminated that line of thinking. It was more difficult than he’d anticipated, and he clung fast to the frustration that made him feel. Sonata in the warehouse, Aria in the train station, the two of them in his office…even Adagio, her human body sprawled out in lingerie; each and every one of the Sirens had been using their charms to beguile him lately, and it was something that had to stop. “Where’s Aria?” he demanded, letting go of Sonata’s foreleg. “I need to talk to you about something, and I don’t want her interrupting.”

Sonata pouted again. “Aw, don’t worry about her. I promise, I’ll be everything-”

“Sonata!” growled Lex, cutting her off. “Where’s your sister?”

“Ugh, fine, I ditched her, okay?” she huffed. “Is it such a big deal that I wanted you all to myself once in a while?” Turning over, she settled onto her belly. “What’s so important that we have to normal-talk about it instead of pillow-talk?”

Taking a moment to calm himself down now that she was no longer trying to seduce him, Lex made himself concentrate on the information he’d recently been made aware of. “I spoke with Nosey. She-”

“What?!” Sonata’s eyes widened as a shudder – one that was nothing like the sexy shiver she’d had a minute ago – ran through her. “Why?”

Lex frowned. “It’s what you said I should do.”

“I…right, yeah, I did.” Scrunching her face up, she let out a breath. “Sorry, I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot. What’d she say?”

Disregarding her odd behavior as they came to the heart of the matter, Lex gave her a cold look. “She told me about Kara.”

Sonata blinked once. Then a second time. Then a third. Her mouth opened, then closed. She swallowed, her lips pursing. Finally, she gave a shrug, her eyes lowering from his to look at a group of candles on a nearby bureau. “What about her?”

“‘What about her’?” echoed Lex, indignant. “How about the fact that you’ve been in contact with her for months?! Or that you’ve been feeding her private details about our relationship?!” He slammed a hoof on the floor, feeling his temper beginning to stir again. “Do you not understand how egregious that is, to say nothing of how dangerous?!”

But Sonata’s response took him completely by surprise.

“I had to…”

“What?”

“I had to!” The words came out in a wail, her tone anguished. “I didn’t know what else to do! I was losing you – no, I’d already lost you – and I couldn’t figure out how to fix things!”

That wasn’t the reaction Lex had been expecting. Although she was even more unpredictable than anypony else he knew, he’d anticipated that she’d either be completely blasé about what she’d done, or she’d be upset at the suggestion that she’d done something wrong. Never had he imagined that she’d break down like this.

But I should have, he realized. This is what Nosey was talking about: Sonata felt bad after she ended things between us, and she needed Kara’s help to fix them. It was enough to make him wish that the bespectacled mare was here now; she’d clearly foreseen this situation, or one like it, occurring; that was why she’d all but begged him not to be angry with Sonata, to listen to her side of the story. Now if only she’d told him what to do next.

Except, he recalled, she had: “Don’t forget how much you love her. Not for a second.”

Letting out a slow breath as he tried to figure out how to put that advice to practical use, Lex searched for the right thing to say. “You could have talked to me,” he muttered at last, his ears folding back. “We could have…figured something out.”

The words sounded hollow even to him. He could still remember how badly he’d reacted when Sonata had told him she’d wanted to get back together, throwing the idea in her face in a fit of rage. It had been nothing short of a miracle – maybe literally so, if Kara had been the architect of it – that she’d been able to get him to look past that and forgive her.

Apparently, Sonata felt the same way. “I was too scared,” she sniffled. “All I could think about was what would happen if I messed things up. The thought of you saying that you didn’t love me…just imagining it hurt so much.”

She gave him a miserable look, her eyes shimmering wetly. “I knew it was wrong. With Kara, I mean. I knew it, but I just…I didn’t care. If there was even the slightest chance that it meant we could be together, then it was worth it. I love you, Lex. I’ve always loved you.” She held out a hoof toward him then, the first tears slowly making their way down her cheeks. “Please…please, don’t hate me for this.”

His heart broke at that. How could it not? It was one thing to turn away from her when he was in the depths of rage, but now? Seeing her weeping and begging him not to throw her away? It was enough to completely banish any shred of his anger, and he found himself approaching her, climbing onto the bed to place his hoof against hers. “I could never hate you,” he murmured softly. “Never. I love you.”

She made a sound that was somewhere between a relieved laugh and a sob then, burying her face in his chest. “Say it again,” she begged.

“I love you.”

“Again. Please.”

“I love you.” Curling his forelegs around her, Lex pulled her closer. “I’ll always love you.”

He felt her shudder as she returned the embrace, and when she looked up, he didn’t have to be prompted, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes fluttered closed, and his own did the same a moment later, forgetting about everything except reassuring her of what she meant to him. It was only when she shifted, laying back on the bed, that he hesitated, breaking the kiss as he glanced around uncomfortably. “Sona-”

Her hoof touched his lips, silencing him. “I need this,” she pleaded. “I need you. I don’t care about the circumstances or the consequences anymore. All I care about is you.”

Taking his hoof in hers, she placed it on her chest, letting him feel her heart beating. “They’re still there, you know. All of those bad feelings. The fear, the longing, the loneliness. I can still feel them in between each beat.”

Reaching up, she caressed his face. “You’re the only one who can make them go away, Lex. Even if it’s just for a little while, I want your love to be the only thing I feel. For it to fill me up inside until there’s no room for anything else. Make me feel how much I mean to you, so that I’ll never worry or wonder ever again, because the memory of it will keep me warm for the rest of my life.”

She might have said more, but her mouth was blocked as Lex kissed her again, moving so that he was on top of her.

He hadn’t seen any sign of the scrying sensor when he’d glanced around just now, but that meant little; it was very difficult to spot with the naked eye, even without being distracted. But that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that the mare he loved was hurting, and was begging him to make it better. How could he say no to that?

His horn glowing as he started to disrobe, Lex began caressing his beloved…

---

I don’t care what Miss Dusk says, sighed Feather Duster to herself as she exited the ice cream shop. There was no reason for me to go pick this up myself.

On paper, running out to get ice cream shouldn’t have been a chore worth mentioning. After all, Las Pegasus was only slightly north of the San Palomino desert, and while it was late in the season, it was still summer. Ice cream shops were a bit a dozen.

But as it turned out, Miss Dusk – having come back early from her shopping trip (and without her sister for some reason) – wanted a very particular flavor, and for some reason only trusted Feather to go out and pick it up. Which, again, shouldn’t have been a big deal…except that, as it turned out, bubblegum-flavored ice cream with almonds was rather unusual combination, one that you couldn’t find in any old parlor.

It had taken forever for her to track down the specialty ice cream store at the edge of town, which specialized in unusual flavor combinations, for her to find what she was looking for. Even then, it had taken the pony behind the counter quite a bit of time to go digging through the back and produce the carton she’d needed. But I finally got it. Now to head-, huh?

Feather Duster’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as she glanced down an alleyway, catching sight of a small crowd of ponies on the street at the other end of it. By itself that was no big deal; most ponies traveled in groups in Las Pegasus, since few people came to a tourist town on their own. But in this case, the crowd had been following a pair of ponies that Feather Duster recognized very well:

Sonata and Aria.

Even as Feather watched, the beauties walked on by, followed by a balding unicorn stallion who could only be Coat Tail, the Royal Clothier, struggling to keep a small mountain of packages and shopping bags aloft as he hurried after them, the crowd of admirers, reporters, and gawkers not far behind. None of them noticed the maid, staring at them from the other end of the alley, and it was only after they’d gone by that Feather Duster shook her head, blinking.

What was Miss Dusk doing out here? When she’d come back to the hotel room, she’d made procuring this ice cream sound like some sort of emergency, one that could only be handled by Feather herself. Of course, there was no way this was actually an important task, but for Miss Dusk to have resumed her shopping trip with her sister was odd, even for the mercurial mare. Did I take too long, and she decided to go back to what she was doing?

Deciding not to worry about it, Feather Duster ducked into the alley, intent on catching up with her prince’s beloved-

When a dark shape swooped down at her from above, muttering something indistinctly as it performed a series of quick gestures. Feather jumped back, alarmed…or at least, that was what she meant to do, but she suddenly found herself overcome with lethargy, her limbs going slack as a powerful sense of fatigue fell over her. Unable to help herself, she felt her frightened yelp turn into a yawn as it left her mouth, and she collapsed to the ground as her eyes began to shut, unable to summon the strength to keep them open.

The last thing she saw was black wings folding closed as someone landed in front on her, tail swishing in a very un-pony-like manner as they stalked closer.

Then Feather knew no more.

Author's Note:

Lex has a heartfelt moment with his lady love, who was apparently out shopping while doing so?

Meanwhile, Feather Duster falls into danger! Will she be alright?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

What a time to be unable to detect shapeshifters and to be surrounded by two of them no less...still, I had to facepalm myself for not realizing Sonata wasn't Sonata after I made a comment about Thermal Draft last chapter. I mean I suspected something but didn't connect the dots.

As for Dark Streak, well, it seems obvious that she'll pose as Feather Duster and infiltrate the hotel, bypassing any manner of security the staff may have implemented in order to get close to Lex though given that she's likely basing her information off of what she could glean from the news and local gossip plus whatever she found out from her observations, she might try to approach Lex in an intimate manner to get his guard down and deal the final blow.

At least, that's how I imagine she'll go about taking Lex out. I mean, she could interrogate Feather Duster for confirmation but that might take time where the rest of Lex's staff might notice and bring up to Lex if only to discredit her a little since I imagine that there is still some competition of sorts about who serves the prince better.

[WARGAMES]

Ohh nooo, lex might do it with another person, what a tragedy

[Booster Spice]

Intresting. Very intresting. Lex has at least two forces working on him now?

Just who is Sonata, if the maid is the assasin?

[Alzrius]

10850474 For what it's worth, the fact that no one (who commented) seemed to catch on to what was going on with Sonata made me smile; I took it as a sign that her presentation, brief though it was, managed to be subtle enough that it didn't set off any alarms. Of course, this chapter made that particular charade almost impossible to continue; while Lex wasn't able to determine that anything's wrong (reading people has always been his weakness, even before taking into account his current troubles), enough clues were dropped that I was sure everyone reading would figure it out.

To that end, I made sure to drop the facade entirely by having Feather Duster notice Sonata while she was out and about. To my mind, once a particular charade is seen through by the audience, the story needs to stop trying to fool them. Individual characters might still be deceived, but once a particular twist has been recognized by the audience, you should acknowledge it (at least on a meta level) and move on, rather than acting like the mystery has been preserved.

That said, the questions now become whether or not something will interrupt Lex and "Sonata" before the latter gets what she wants, and what Dark Streak's going to do now that she's nabbed Lex's maid. I agree that the obvious thing will be to take her place, infiltrate Lex's hotel, and take him out before he knows that anything's wrong. While she might not know about his being unable to perceive magic or magically augment his senses, that makes this an ideal time for her to strike. Of course, she might wait a little while and interrogate Feather Duster first, but if so, she'll have only a limited window before the maid is missed.

[Alzrius]

10850607 Heh, well, he'd probably be quite upset if he found out about the deception. But yeah, compared to having an assassin coming after you, this isn't really a big deal.

[Alzrius]

10850832 Well, it shouldn't be too hard to guess, since we know there's another girl out there who's going to extraordinary lengths to be with him...

Thermal Draft