Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

72 - Dummy Lights

The group walked through the dark streets of Vanhoover in silence, eyes focused on what little could be seen through the oppressive gloom.

Lex led the way, with the other four following so closely behind him that they could have reached a hoof out and touched him. Normally their proximity would have made him uncomfortable; now, while still unpleasant, he accepted it as a sound tactical move. He had to be in front of them so as to lead them back to the shelter, which meant that they needed to stay as close to him as possible so as to minimize the risk of being accosted while he wasn’t looking.

The other four were clearly aware of that, and their heads kept twisting and turning, ears perked and alert, trying to perceive their surroundings as best they could. It was a futile effort, Lex knew. Produce Aisle’s lantern had been wrapped with cloth so as to dampen the amount of light it put out, a compromise between their needing to see and not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Now, however, it seemed to do little more than make feeble light that spread heavy shadows all around them, as though the darkness had drawn back with only the greatest reluctance and was eagerly waiting to reclaim them.

They were trying to be quiet as well, but there was little that could be done in that regard. Although they had refrained from speaking, Lex could clearly hear their breathing, and the sound of their hooves – as well as his own – striking the cobblestones seemed unnaturally loud. Although he had magic that could have disguised their presence, it was either of a notably short duration or was immobile in nature, neither of which were helpful now. As it stood, Lex felt that there was little chance of them avoiding anything inclined to hunt at night.

But maybe good fortune was with him, for once. By his reckoning, they had been walking for almost an hour, and nothing had-

Three blocks in front of them, a light flickered on inside a building.

Lex halted immediately, only to almost be bowled over as the ponies behind him failed to stop in time. “What are you idiots doing?” he whispered as he recovered his balance, giving them a harsh look.

“What are we doing?” answered Cloudbank in an angry whisper. “You’re the one who suddenly-, wait, is that a light?”

“It just came on,” murmured Lex in reply, eyeing the building suspiciously. It was further away than he could see with his darkvision, but the faint light was – in conjunction with the glow from the crescent moon and the stars – just barely enough to let him make out what looked like a storefront of some sort. But why would somepony turn a light on in the first place? If there were dangerous monsters around, that was effectively announcing your presence to them.

As though hearing Lex’s thoughts, Produce Aisle whispered nervously. “It’s probably a dummy light.”

“A what?” asked Lex, glancing at the other stallion.

“You know, something to draw attention to a particular place so that another place is left alone.”

Lex’s brow furrowed at that, remembering the lights he’d seen yesterday when their boat had arrived at Vanhoover. If those were meant to act as decoys to draw monsters to them while ponies cowered elsewhere, then maybe the city wasn’t as desolate as it seemed. But that was small comfort, since it also meant that whatever was plaguing it was city-wide. Or worse…

That thought was enough to make Lex frown. None of this made sense; if the city was this bad off, it should have been more than enough to bring the princesses running. Celestia and Luna were fools who had no idea what real leadership entailed, but they weren’t heartless. Far from it; Lex was positive that if they knew that something was preying on the ponies of Vanhoover, they would have immediately taken action. But from what he’d been told when they’d ceded this city to his authority, they had no idea that things had reached this point.

But how could that be? Even if Vanhoover’s maritime activity hadn’t resumed, the city was also a major railway destination, and the trains ran on a much more regular schedule than nautical activity did. Somepony should have seen how bad off this city was – or worse, whatever was plaguing it should have tried to spread beyond the city limits – and spread the word. A crisis of this magnitude should have been virtually impossible to keep hidden…and yet it had been.

“We should just go around it,” whispered Drafty, drawing Lex out of his reverie.

“No,” he replied softly. “Even if it is a ‘dummy light,’ somepony had to have lit it. Whoever it is needs to know that help has arrived.”

“That’s a bad idea!” interjected Cloudbank, her whispering filled with anxiety. “Those things are probably headed this way right now! And whoever lit that probably left as soon as they did!”

“Then we should make haste,” said Lex, and began walking towards the building.

“You can’t be seriou-”

“No, he’s right,” interrupted Cozy. “If somepony’s still in there, they might know something about Pillow.” She turned to regard the others. “And even if they don’t, we should let them know that there’s a shelter with food and medicine.” She didn’t wait for any replies, trotting forward to catch up to Lex.

“When did she become that guy’s biggest fan?” grumbled Cloudbank sourly.

“Nevermind that, let’s go before we’re left out here by ourselves!” hissed Aisle, drawing a nod from Drafty. The three quickly moved forward to join Lex and Cozy as they approached the store.

Lex glanced behind him as he approached the shop, stopping once he was a few feet from the entrance to allow them to catch up to him. It only took them a few seconds to do so, but that was all the time he needed to formulate a plan of action. “You four remain here. I’m going to slip inside-”

“You can’t be serious!” whispered Aisle in protest, his eyes widening with incredulity. “You’re going to leave us out here alone?!”

Lex glared at him, making the other stallion flinch. “If you had let me finish, I was going to say that I’m going to slip inside the door to make sure that it’s not trapped, and then open it for you. It shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.”

“Oh. Sorry,” muttered Aisle, ears lowering in embarrassment. Lex resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead turning his attention back to the shop. It took only a moment to turn into shadow and flow through the front door, stopping as soon as he was inside the building.

Scanning the interior revealed numerous shelves, most of which were still standing, though their wares had been scattered about. A quick glance showed a variety of things, ranging from clay pots to book bags to shampoo bottles. Probably some sort of general store, Lex decided, directing his attention to the door he’d just passed through. He looked at it closely, but there were no traps or rigged mechanisms that he could see. Telekinetically turning the lock, he pushed it open. “Inside, all of you.”

The other four were quick to obey, rushing in. Cloudbank was the last one, and she quickly turned to push the door shut, clicking the lock into place before letting out a breath. “That had to have been the longest six seconds of my life,” she muttered in relief.

Drafty and Aisle were looking around, but Cozy looked at Lex’s insubstantial form and grimaced. “Could you please turn back to normal?” she asked, tension audible in her voice. “You look even more like King S-Sombra when you’re like that than you do normally.”

Lex paused for a moment, considering, and then returned to his material body. “Satisfied?” he sneered, before walking past her without waiting for an answer. He would have preferred to stay in his shadow-form, since it was far less vulnerable than his physical self and therefore the smarter choice for engaging with any sort of dangerous situation. But given how stressful their current situation was, pushing Cozy wasn’t a wise decision; although he doubted that she’d snap and start screaming again, he wasn’t willing to take that chance. Besides, he hadn’t expended very much of his horn’s dark magic so far that day, meaning that it wouldn’t be a problem to change back if necessary. Instead, he looked toward the back of the shop, where the light was coming from. “Follow me,” he ordered them as he started towards it.

They moved slowly, Lex glancing between the rows of shelves as he passed them, checking for any sign of movement, of traps, of anything at all. But there was nothing, and the group finally reached the back of the shop, passing the last of the shelves to find the source of the light.

Perched on a countertop was a fancy-looking candelabra, with a candle burning brightly on its central stand and on each of its four arms. Behind it, the back door of the shop hung open.

“They’re already gone,” cursed Lex softly, gritting his teeth. He’d waited too long, dallying with assuaging the fears of the rest of the group, and now whoever had been here had left without being informed that help had arrived.

“Then we should leave too,” insisted Aisle. “It won’t be long before those monsters see the lights, and we don’t want to be here when they arrive!”

“No kidding!” nodded Cloudbank, giving the open door a worried look. “Let’s get out of here while we still-”

“Five little ponies, looking for the light,” came a sing-song voice. “Didn’t realize bad things lurked in the night.” The words, sung like a foal’s rhyme, came from somewhere outside, floating in through the open door, causing the entire group to stiffen in alarm.

“Five little ponies, lost their way,” sang a different voice. “Maybe they’d like to come out and play?”

Lex didn’t wait for any further rhymes, his horn glowing as he slammed the backdoor shut. Turning, he focused on one of the nearby shelves and, grunting and straining, dragged it in front of the door, blockading it. “Get the front door!” he snapped. Cozy and Aisle nodded, their faces pale as they immediately ran to go push a shelf in front of the other entrance.

“Five little ponies, locked inside,” came a third voice, giggling with undisguised glee, apparently undisturbed by the entrances being sealed. “Poor little things really think they can hide.”

Lex looked around as the voices continued to sing, trying to place their locations, but the voices were coming from different areas outside, the walls serving to make it impossible to get anything more than a general sense of which direction they were coming from. Worse, he realized, was that several of the store windows were broken, and the others didn’t have any shutters or other barriers. Whatever those things were, they weren’t going to have a hard time breaking in.

Signalling to Cloudbank and Drafty to assist him, Lex started to push the remaining shelves over the windows. They wouldn’t hold for very long, but they were better than nothing. He briefly considered conjuring black crystals to cover the windows, but knew that would only buy them a little time. Such materials never lasted more than an hour, and there were enough windows there that trying to cover them all again and again would leave him depleted of dark magic long before the sun rose.

The singing continued. “Their blood quickly pumping, their hearts really beating. Their bodies gonna be so good for eating.”

“Their brains like candies, their eyes like jellies. Taste so yummy when they’re in our bellies.”

“Their muscles so tender, their skin so sweet. Just can’t wait ‘til we get to MAKE YOU SCREAM AND SCREAM AND SCREAM AS WE RIP THE MEAT FROM YOUR BONES AND DEVOUR YOU ALIVE!”

The last line, shifting from an eerie rhyme to a deranged shriek with no warning, was punctuated by the back door suddenly giving a heavy thump, as though something had just crashed into it. Drafty screamed at the sound, and Cloudbank hugged her, despite looking terrified herself. Aisle and Cozy scrambled back, both pale and shaking.

Another thump came, this one from one of the shelves that was covering a window. A third sounded from the front entrance. Then another of the shelves in front of a window. And another. And another. There were more than three of those things out there.

As he looked around, trying to figure out what to do next, Lex realized that Aisle had been right. What they’d seen had been dummy lights. And they were the dummies.

Author's Note:

The monsters are at the door! But what are they?

Let's hope Lex and company live long enough to find out!

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Now all Lex has to find is something he can use related to Honey Pot.

Come to the flensing machine , we have crystals.

[Not so New Brony]

These creatures seem to have adapted to the tactics the remaining residents of Vanhoover used for survival and turned it to their own advantage. This also brings up the question: How many of the dummy lights Lex saw were set up by the ponies or these creatures. Either way these creatures certainly know how to up the scare factor with their little song. I actually felt a chill down my spine as I read their lines. Bravo.

Also, Lex brings up a good point, there's no way the severity of Vanhoover's plight could have gone ignored by Equestria as a whole for two whole months. I mean, surely the lack of communication, especially between Cadence and the emissaries she sent to Vanhoover would have caused some worry.

Makes me think that these creatures and the sahuagin aren't the only things in Vanhoover. Lex has his work cut out for him.

[Alzrius]

7931322 As you noted, the creatures have turned the tables on the group by co-opting the tactics used by Vanhoover's surviving ponies and using it against them. At this point, it's obvious that whatever these things are, they're highly intelligent. Worse, like you said, that makes it questionable how many of the lights Lex saw were made by survivors, as opposed to these creatures.

That said, I was quite pleased to hear that you found their song disturbing! Creating things that can be legitimately scary in a textual format can be tricky, and this was my first time attempting to pull that off, so I wasn't sure how well I did.

As for why Vanhoover's plight hasn't drawn more outside notice...that is indeed a mystery, one which suggests that things might actually be even worse than they already seem.

[RandomName1]

That had to have been the longest six seconds of my life

Damnit, now I spilled my ice tea XD

As for what the three are... Maybe Sonata and Nosey recruted some poor sob to help them play a prank? :P

[David Silver]

Nice touch with the singing.

[Alzrius]

8051365 Thanks! Enemies that do things like that really ratchet up the fear factor, to my mind.

[James Fire]

I see typos, I see France, I really hope they don't put us into a trance.

Lex led the way, with the other four following so closely behind him that they could have reached a hoof out and touched him.

I read this as 'they could have reached out a hoof and touched him'.

The other four were quite clearly aware of that,

The 'quite' is not needed.

dragged it over in front of the door.

I think this sounds better as 'dragged it over to the door, blockading it.'

The group walked through the dark streets of Vanhoover in silence, eyes focused on what little could be seen through the oppressive gloom.

Sound of silence
I really wish someone would tell me how to put videos and pictures here, rather than links.

Now, however, it seemed to do little more than make feeble light that spread heavy shadows all around them, as though the darkness had drawn back with only the greatest reluctance and was eagerly waiting to reclaim them.

That's not creepy, not creepy at all.

Alright, I think you did well with the scary text. I was actually frightened. Might have made me miss a typo or two, but that's your fault.

[Alzrius]

8080093

I see typos, I see France, I really hope they don't put us into a trance.

If the French are involved, then I'm blaming them. They should just stick to Fluttershy's coveted haute couture.

I read this as 'they could have reached out a hoof and touched him'.

That's more of a stylistic thing, isn't it? It seems fine either way.

The 'quite' is not needed.

In this case, I agree. Change made.

I think this sounds better as 'dragged it over to the door, blockading it.'

I agree, though I made a small change ("dragged it in front of the door, blockading it").

I really wish someone would tell me how to put videos and pictures here, rather than links.

For what it's worth, I prefer links, since directly embedding media can sometimes become intrusive.

That's not creepy, not creepy at all.

Alright, I think you did well with the scary text. I was actually frightened. Might have made me miss a typo or two, but that's your fault.

I'm so glad you were scared! No, wait, that came out wrong...