• Published 2nd Nov 2015
  • 4,031 Views, 10,118 Comments

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.

  • ...
36
 10,118
 4,031

PreviousChapters Next
701 - Waking Nightmare

We’re not gonna make it in time!

The thought sent a wave of panic surging through Thermal Draft, almost causing her to lose the spell she was constructing. Not that it mattered; Paska’s hammer had already begun its downward arc toward Lex’s head, and neither Shadow Star’s mad dash toward the human’s unprotected back nor her own frantic spellcasting were fast enough to interrupt it.

The fact that Paska had mentioned taking Lex alive – that this wasn’t a kill squad after all, even though it seemed like Lex was the only one they wanted – did nothing to curb Drafty’s agitation. The human had let it slip that he was in league with Grisela, which meant that if Lex was taken now, he’d almost certainly be tortured or worse. As frightening as it had been to see Lex lose control of himself, injuring the ponies around him and almost certainly killing a member of their group, her heart still quailed at the thought of him going through more pain.

But that didn’t mean she could do anything to save him from it.

Even as she watched – struggling to finish a spell that she knew would be too late, screaming silent prayers to Kara that the goddess was powerless to answer, wishing that Solvei would suddenly arrive despite knowing she likely wouldn’t – Paska’s hammer continued on its downward path…

Only to veer off to the side, harmlessly impacting the ground next to Lex.

The weapon’s sudden miss was no accident, however. Rather, it had been knocked off course, pushed out of the way at the last possible instant.

But the hoof that had diverted it wasn’t Lex’s.

No… Drafty didn’t even notice as her half-completed spell fell apart, too stunned to do anything except stare at the pony standing by Lex now, having appeared out of nowhere. It can’t be!

“This is, like, totes all your fault, Lex.”

Sonata Dusk had arrived.

But the sight of the Siren brought Drafty no relief, instead sending a sudden jolt of horror and revulsion through her. Nor was she alone in her reaction, as a strangled moan escaped Lex then, the stallion squeezing his eyes shut and putting his hooves over his face. Even Paska let out a surprised grunt, lifting his hammer into a ready position as he leapt back, staring at the newcomer with narrowed eyes.

Nor was Shadow able to hide her fright either, skidding to a halt as she pointed her dagger at the new arrival. “What the hell?!” she yelped, her voice rising in alarm. “What’s going on?!”

Drafty had no answer to that question, however, too busy struggling through her own fear and confusion. Sonata’s being there was as inexplicable as it was bizarre. But it wasn’t the Siren’s unexpected entrance that had left her reeling.

It was that Sonata was dead.

There was simply no other way to describe the mare standing in front of her now. The beauty that had bordered on supernatural was gone, replaced with a panoply of horrific burns. Half of her face was missing, melted away to leave nothing but charred bone showing from beneath patches of blackened skin. Her luxurious coat had been seared away, her torso was crisscrossed with singe marks, which in several places had been burned through entirely, showcasing innards that had been cooked. Even her mane and tail, long and lustrous when she was alive, were little more than singed wisps of hair now, their rough and uneven lengths choked with ashes.

A ghoul. Memories of the horrors she’d seen in Vanhoover assaulted Drafty then, and she found herself shaking all over. The way that Sonata had died might have been different, burning rather than wasting away from a disease, but the end result looked close enough that Drafty couldn’t think of it as anything else. She’s become a ghoul!

Belatedly, she realized that she had to get Lex – that she had to get everyone – away from her, before Sonata-, no, before the thing that Sonata had become started paralyzing and devouring them. But before Drafty could turn that thought into action, the burnt corpse that had been the Siren turned and lunged…not at Lex, who was right next to her, but at Paska.

“You ruin the lives of everyone you get involved with!” she shrieked, still speaking to Lex even as she threw a punch at the human, who grimly caught it on the shaft of his hammer. The words made Drafty wince, and not simply because of how harsh they were. Sonata’s voice – that part of her that Drafty knew Lex had appreciated most – was twisted and raspy, making it clear her throat hadn’t been spared the fiery affliction that had ravaged the rest of her body. “And now you’re doing it again!”

“Wasn’t it enough that we died screaming in agony because of you?!”

Drafty gaped as another familiar voice came from behind Paska, the human having no chance to react as a charred hoof struck him in the side of the head, sending him stumbling. Barely managing to keep his feet under him, he turned to face another pony who hadn’t been present a second before…letting Drafty confirm that the burnt corpse of Aria Blaze was there now too, her blackened appearance giving her last name an appalling new appropriateness. “Did you really have to drag more innocent ponies down with you like this?!”

Just like with Sonata, Aria’s hateful accusation was directed at Lex, even as she continued attacking Paska. As she reared up to throw another punch at the human, Paska ducked under it, slamming the butt of his hammer into her midsection. It landed with a sound like paper being crumpled as part of her torso caved inward, but if Aria was hurt by the blow at all, she didn’t show it. Instead, she simply lashed out again, forcing Paska to give ground in order to prevent her from bringing her hooves down on the back of his neck.

“You can’t even claim that this wasn’t your fault, or that you didn’t mean to.”

This time it was Nosey’s ruined body that spat the words, again appearing right where Paska had been moving. Bucking both of her hind legs directly into the human’s back, she drew a grunt of pain from him, knocking him back toward the other two even as she kept taunting Lex. “You’re responsible for the death of that mare just now. You threw the mask that killed her.”

Moving cautiously to Drafty’s side, Shadow didn’t drop her guard for a second, her eyes wide as she watched the undead mares close in on their attacker. “Who are-, were, these ponies?!” she hissed, her voice thick with tension. “Did Lex kill them too?! How do they know about what happened to Woodheart?!”

“I don’t know!” Drafty couldn’t even begin to make a guess as to what was happening. It made no sense for Sonata and the other two to be here. For that matter, Shadow’s last question only made things more confusing; even if Lex had somehow brought them here – and Drafty had a hard time believing he’d ever do that to the mares he loved, even if he’d shown a startling lack of self-control a few minutes ago – how had they known about what had happened before they appeared?

But she didn’t have any time to ponder that as Shadow sucked in a sharp breath. “There’s another one!”

“What happened to all of your morals?!” sneered Feather Duster, her tattered uniform still clinging to her burnt body as she appeared at Paska’s side. He managed to block most of the blows that came his way, apparently having expected a fourth attacker, but one still got through to land just above his hip, causing a grimace of pain to cross his features. “Weren’t you supposed to show my daughter and everypony else how to live an exemplary life?! Instead, you’re a murderer!”

Biting her lip, Drafty managed to tear her eyes away from the mangled corpses of ponies she’d once known, looking around the rest of the battlefield. Everypony else was aware of what was going on, shooting horrified glances in their direction, but they couldn’t break away from their own fights.

Even as she watched, Drafty saw Toklo rush in to jab his spear at Blat’s side, darting backward before the manticore could claw him in response. But the manticore swung his tail in the adlet’s direction a moment later, and to Drafty’s shock several of the spikes at the end of the appendage came loose, flying at Toklo and embedding themselves in his chest and stomach. He went down with a howl of pain, and it was only Valor – now in the form of a bear – charging at Blat that kept the manticore from pouncing on the fallen adlet, Spinner casting a spell that made her ursine friend’s speed increase as she rushed in.

Closer to them, Mystaria’s fight with Vidrig was at a stalemate. The priestess was managing to keep the ugly humanoid at bay, using a rolling sphere of fire to prevent Vidrig from getting too close, following it up with select other spells whenever it looked like the hideous biped – who was nimbler than her twisted form would have suggested – managed to get past the flaming obstacle. But if the earth mare had managed to score any telling hits on Vidrig, Drafty couldn’t see them.

“Now there’s five of them!” muttered Shadow, sounding only marginally less anxious. “Lex is the one doing this, right?”

Again, Drafty had no answer, swaying on her hooves as she caught sight of the newest pony attacking Paska, who was now starting to look concerned by the sheer number of enemies appearing around him.

“I trusted you to protect the pony I loved!” shrieked Cloudbank…or rather, a twisted effigy that looked and sounded like Cloudbank. Unlike the others, she wasn’t burned, but it was impossible to mistake her for the mare Drafty had fallen in love with. Her proportions were off, looking as though she’s stepped out of a funhouse mirror, and her features were asymmetrical and distorted. Nor did she look at anyone except Paska, sparing not even a glance at Thermal Draft as she dove at the human, still spitting invectives at Lex. “But all you’ve done is put her in danger!”

I hope your girlfriend isn’t really that judgmental, murmured Kara inside Drafty’s mind, sounding vaguely bored. Otherwise you’ll never get that threesome you’re hoping for.

“What is this?” Despite the utter insanity of everything going on, Drafty somehow found the presence of mind to keep her response vague enough so that it would sound to Shadow Star as if her question was rhetorical, rather than being directed at the deity speaking to her telepathically.

Isn’t it obvious, sweetheart? These are Lex’s fears, or rather, his nightmares, brought to life. That uptight goddess of his gave them some limited independence. He must be really upset for them to come out now; the last time they appeared like this was when he was fighting that undead army back on your home world and it looked like they were about to be overrun. Sonata saw it happen, though the little airhead didn’t understand what it was.

Drafty felt a chill run down her spine then. These were Lex’s nightmares? She’d known that he suffered from bad dreams; Sonata had let that slip once or twice back on Equestria, and Solvei had confirmed as much in the last few days. But that they had “limited independence,” as Kara called it, was horrifying to consider…especially since that apparently meant that the Night Mare had made it possible for them to come into the real world like this as a result of Lex’s breakdown.

“I risked everything for you!” screamed a twisted copy of River Bank, flinging herself over the other ponies to strike at Paska from above, managing to catch him across the side of his head. “Now who’ll protect me when the princesses come to punish those of us who supported you?!”

Shadow took a step backward, the growing number of monstrous ponies surrounding the human clearly intimidating her. “How many of these things are there going to be?!”

But Drafty wasn’t listening. Instead, she flapped her wings, taking to the air as she looked past where the nightmare ponies were surrounding Paska.

Sure enough, Lex hadn’t moved. Heedless of his wounds, he was still lying in the snow as he kept his face in his hooves, curled up as if trying to block out everything happening around him.

Grimacing at the sight of the strong stallion she’d fallen in love with looking so cowed, it took Drafty only a moment to fly over to him. “Lex…”

He didn’t respond, except to try and curl up even tighter, shudders going through him.

“Lex, please,” begged Drafty, landing next to him. “You have to stop this!” Despite the fact that his nightmares were fighting off the human who’d injured him, she couldn’t help but be worried about his state of mind. After what had just happened with Mystaria and Woodheart, the last thing he needed was to be berated like this.

And the storm of negativity being directed at him was growing worse. More and more warped copies of ponies he knew were appearing, all of them taunting and berating and denouncing him even as they threw themselves as Paska. The human himself was still fighting, his hammer swinging wildly as he knocked the nightmares away, but despite the damage he was doing to them he was faltering beneath the weight of their numbers, the numerous cuts and bruises he’d taken starting to add up.

But at the same time, Lex’s trembling was growing worse as well.

Not knowing what else to do, Drafty reached out, putting a hoof on his shoulder as another platitude came to mind…only for Lex’s body to vanish as soon as she touched him, replaced by a turbid mass of churning shadows. “Lex!”

“DAMN IT!” Thermal Draft didn’t have a chance to finish her plea, Paska’s sudden swearing causing her to jump. Glancing behind her, she saw the human dive out from under a mass of twisted ponies – now more than a dozen in number – and come up in a roll, darting straight toward her. But when she reflexively beat her wings, jumping upward in fright, Paska’s eyes didn’t follow her, and it took her a moment to realize that he hadn’t been looking at her, but at the mass of shadows that Lex had become.

She was proven right a moment later as he swung his hammer at the billowing gloom, which seethed and convulsed faster in response, but otherwise did nothing as the head of his weapon exited the shadows without encountering any resistance. That was enough to make Paska clench his jaw, but he didn’t have a chance to do anything else as the nightmare ponies flung themselves after him, still shouting accusations and wailing invectives at Lex all the while.

This time, Paska didn’t try to fight them off, instead opting for a full retreat. “Vidrig! Blat! We need to go! The plan has failed!”

Grunting as she dodged out of the way of Mystaria’s flaming sphere, Vidrig gave the human a shocked look. “We’re not allowed to fail! You know what Sissel said!”

“Then grab someone else!” yelled Paska, barely keeping ahead of the grotesque pack that was chasing him. “Anyone else, just so long as they’re unconscious!”

“No one-, wait!” In her sockets, the troll’s recessed eyes widened, and she turned toward where the manticore was fighting the others. “Blat! That pony that fell down before, the one who was hit with the mask! Grab her!”

“Does she mean Woodheart?!” Spinner’s eyes widened at that, barely managing to duck under a swipe from the manticore’s claw.

“NOT EAT YET!” roared Blat, advancing on the bard.

“DO IT NOW!” screamed Vidrig, falling in alongside Paska as the human ran past her. “DO IT NOW OR ELSE!”

She apparently didn’t need to say what she’d do, as the threat was enough to make Blat roar in anger as he broke off from the battle, wings flapping as he flew over to where Woodheart had fallen. The sight of him descending on the druid was enough to provoke outraged cries from the rest of Fail Forward, with even Shadow losing interest in the horde of nightmare ponies in favor of running toward the winged monstrosity.

But Valor was closer, having received Spinner’s speed enhancing spell earlier in the fight. Giving a guttural roar as her ursine form sped toward the manticore, she was still hampered by the deep snow, tearing up the white powder in vain as Blat touched down next to Woodheart…only for Littleknight to shoot up from alongside his mistress’s prone form, his horn gleaming as he struck the manticore across its neck.

But just like when he’d tried that against Grisela, the tip of his horn failed to break the beast’s skin.

He didn’t get another chance to try again as Blat swung a claw, the back of it striking the almiraj and flinging him away.

“No no no no no!” swore Mystaria before chanting another spell, unleashing two thin streaks of light that shot forward, piercing the manticore’s hide. But Blat’s growl was irritated more than pained as he picked up Woodheart’s unresponsive form, carelessly clutching her in his claw.

“Lex, listen to me, you need to do something!” begged Thermal Draft, watching helplessly as the three attackers converged on each other. Paska was already withdrawing a scroll from one of his belt pouches, unrolling it even as the deformed ponies Lex had summoned closed in on him. “I know you’re suffering right now, and I know it feels like there’s no point in even trying, but if you let them get away like this, you’ll feel even worse! So please, stop them!”

But the featureless murk that was Lex didn’t respond.

An instant later she heard Paska chanting something, the human putting one hand on Blat even as Vidrig leapt onto the manticore’s back. All around him, Fail Forward and Lex’s nightmares were closing in, but Paska didn’t even look at them, continuing to read.

And then, with no flash of light or parting threats or fanfare of any sort, he, Blat, Vidrig, and Woodheart were all gone.

Author's Note:

Lex's nightmares intrude upon the waking world, turning the tide against his attackers, only for them to take Woodheart with them as they escape!

With the immediate threats gone, how will the ponies react to everything that's just happened?

PreviousChapters Next