Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

761 - Debt to Society

At a casual glance, Eigengrau could have been any mid-sized town back on Everglow.

Lacking the technological development that Equestria had long enjoyed, the roads were cobblestone rather than pavement. Similarly, the buildings – shops and houses alike – were constructed of mortared stonework rather than bricks or cement. Even the wires strung overhead, now that Lex was close enough to see them, were made of metal rather than fishing twine.

The town’s layout was similarly utilitarian in design, with the gate opening onto a broad thoroughfare that extended left and right along the inside of the walls as well as directly forward into the heart of the town, smaller roads branching off from it at regular intervals. Every streetcorner was marked by a lamppost, though instead of a torch or lantern, they were topped with a sphere of magical light similar to those that lined the walls, collectively filling the streets with a soft glow that eliminated the need for darkvision.

And, of course, there were the ponies.

Even as Lex entered the town proper, he could see unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, leather wings, and a few other ponies of tribes he couldn’t immediately recognize all going about their business. Clad in everything from simple homespun shirts and trousers to silken finery, the ponies chatted as they walked the streets, called out and waved to each other, carried parcels and packages, and otherwise behaved exactly as townsponies anywhere would have. And while Lex knew that most, perhaps even all, of those ponies were dead – being the Night Mare’s faithful who had been reborn here in Darkest Night after their mortal lives had come to an end – the way they acted now was indistinguishable from their living counterparts.

Except, Lex realized after a moment’s observation, there were no foals to be found. Nor were there any elderly ponies. No matter where he looked, everyone in Eigengrau was somewhere between young adulthood and late middle age. Apparently the Night Mare had no use for the weak or infirm, though given the importance on mortal souls, Lex strongly suspected that meant that her faithful were reborn into her realm with hale bodies.

Nor was that the only oddity he observed.

There was also how clean the place was. Even back in Equestria, where public wastebaskets were ubiquitous and streetsweepers were common, there had been a certain amount of litter which was unavoidable. Lazy ponies would discard candy wrappers on the street, or a breeze would pull trash from an overstuffed bin. Here, nothing dirtied the boulevard; even dust seemed to be in absence.

That was particularly strange given how Eigengrau seemed to lack any sort of sewer system. No matter where Lex looked, the streets lacked any utility holes, grates, or storm drains. It was as if the entire town had no municipal apparatus for disposing of wastewater.

But that makes sense, decided Lex a moment later, glad to have something to think about besides the increasingly-likely possibility that Kara had been clandestinely interfering with his life for some time now. If the local population are all postmortem, they won’t require food or drink, nor have sanitary issues arising as a consequence of having those needs met. That would certainly explain why there had been no outlying farms growing food for Eigengrau’s population, though Sanguine Disposition’s invitation to dinner suggested that some foodstuffs were still imported, or perhaps magically created-

“What’re you waiting for?” snapped a harsh voice from behind Lex. Stopping in place, he glanced back – Akna and Solvei, who had both been padding quietly behind him, taking in the sight of the town (the first that either had ever seen) with wide eyes, stopping to do the same – and saw a pegasus mare in a guard uniform shoving another pegasus, this one a stallion clad in rags, forward.

“You know what you have to do if you ever want that collar off,” she sneered, gesturing to the black iron band wrapped around the stallion’s neck. “Now get to it!”

“Yes, ma’am!” sputtered the stallion, stepping forward with a gulp. He paused as he glanced at Lex and the others, cringing as he met their eyes before quickly looking down, and it took Lex a second to realize that he wasn’t staring at the ground idly. Rather, the collared stallion was eyeing where he, Solvei, and Akna had all stepped as they’d walked into Eigengrau, grimacing as he took in the mud and dirt left in their wake.

Then, squeezing his eyes shut, he leaned down and began to lick the cobblestones they’d dirtied.

“That’s it,” cooed the guardsmare sadistically. “Make sure to get every speck of grime. Remember, Eigengrau’s cleanliness is the pride of its citizens. If you truly want to atone for your crimes, show how much you want to safeguard your fellows’ dignity.”

“Y-yef!” groaned the stallion, biting his lip as he forced himself to swallow. Gagging, he nevertheless forced his eyes open, stumbling forward as he came to the next mud-splattered pawprint and stuck his tongue out again.

“Quite the inspirational demonstration, isn’t it?” mused Sanguine Disposition, sauntering back from where he’d ranged ahead of Lex and the others. “You’d never guess that a week ago, that stallion got drunk on some wine he’d had imported and attacked a guard. Now look at him, diligently working to improve the public welfare.” Smiling broadly, he paused to take in the sight of the stallion – now teary-eyed – tonguing the ground. “There’s nothing quite like seeing a wayward pony put back onto the proper path.”

“‘Proper path’?” scoffed Solvei. “How? All you’re doing is humiliating that poor pony in front of everyone.”

“Precisely,” smirked the red-eyed stallion. “By having to degrade themselves where everyone can witness their shame, scofflaws and hoodlums are motivated to change their behavior, lest they find themselves disgraced again. And, of course, they beautify our community in the process.”

“I’d never do anything like that,” muttered Akna as she watched the pegasus stallion continue to lick the streets clean. “I’d rather be beaten than be shamed like that.”

“Many would agree,” murmured Sanguine Disposition. “Which is why offenders are given no such alternative. If they won’t comply voluntarily, magic is used to force their obedience. And of course, their sentence is compounded every time they need to be so compelled, ensuring that their resistance only makes their punishment last longer. Eventually, even the most recalcitrant of offenders breaks down and obeys of their own will.”

“Ensuring that they’ll bear resentment toward everypony complicit in their disgrace,” muttered Lex in disgust, passing the minor talisman he wore that kept his person free of filth – one of the least of the magical treasures he’d taken from Solvei’s mother – to Solvei, and then Akna, letting it clean the remaining mud from their paws before retrieving it.

“Just so!” smiled Sanguine Disposition, ignoring Lex’s quick cleaning of the other two. “The memory of their ignominy creates motivation for them to improve themselves, hoping that one day they’ll be able to assert themselves over others the way they themselves once were.”

“Or it erodes their faith in this town’s system of justice,” shot back Lex, “encouraging them to abandon Eigengrau in favor of another locale.”

“They’re free to try,” shrugged Sanguine Disposition with a chuckle. “But journeying to another settlement isn’t something to be undertaken lightly, as I’m sure you’ve seen if you came here through the wilderness. Besides, starting over somewhere else means working your way up from the bottom of that community’s hierarchy. Most ponies aren’t willing to give up everything they’ve earned here just because they were made to endure a little disgrace.”

His gaze turning hooded, the leather wing glanced at Lex. “Of course, a few ponies come to enjoy the shame,” he purred. “In which case, we use...other methods of punishing them. Perhaps I can give you demonstration after we eat?”

“I don’t plan on being here that long,” replied Lex bluntly, pointedly turning away from the pegasus being disciplined.

“A pity,” pouted Sanguine Disposition, before his easy smile returned. “Though I confess that now I’m curious as to what brought you to this little corner of Darkest Night in the first place. Ah!” He held out a hoof as Lex started to speak. “No, no, we don’t need to get into that now. You’re my guest, and it would be the height of rudeness to insist that we talk business before you’ve had a chance to relax. Which reminds me.”

Taking Breakdown off of his back, Sanguine Disposition released the weapon, allowing it to hover in the air. “I appreciate your helping Captain White Wraith put on that little show for me,” he said to the hammer. “Consider the favor repaid in full.”

Breakdown made a bobbing motion in mid-air, almost as if it were nodding, before shooting straight up into the night sky, immediately disappearing from view as it slipped between the wires and vanished into the darkness.

Ignoring the strangled whine that came from Akna, Lex raised a brow. “The weapon owed you a favor?”

Casually waving a hoof as though having a godly artifact in his debt was no big deal, Sanguine Disposition shrugged. “Oh, I simply helped him out with a venture he was undertaking a little while back. Breakdown is actually quite the crafter, you know, always tinkering on various projects. One of them just so happened to call for a few exotic spells, and I was fortunate enough to know the ones he was looking for. Now then.”

Raising a hoof, Sanguine Disposition began to chant, making a series of arcane gestures. Solvei growled at the sight, but a telepathic word from Lex – who could already make out what the leather wing was casting – calmed her. Several seconds later, Sanguine Disposition pronounced the last syllable, and an ornate carriage appeared where none had been before. Its exterior was made of finely-polished black-paneled wood, the door having an emblem of a rose with a large drop of water – or, in all likelihood, some other liquid – hanging from the edge of its petals.

“My personal sigil: the weeping rose,” explained Sanguine Disposition as he opened the door, revealing an interior that was lined with red velvet cushions. “Please, enter and make yourselves comfortable. We’ll be back at my humble abode shortly.”

Pausing for just a moment, Lex glanced at the front of the carriage. Hooked up to its reins were a pair of spectral equinoids, their outlines too faint to show any discernable features. A similar figure sat in the driver’s box up front, and Lex recognized that all three were nothing more than simple undirected masses of force, able to do little more than a few preprogrammed tasks, which in this case doubtlessly constituted pulling and directing the carriage to whatever location the caster specified.

Glancing back at Sanguine Disposition, who offered a slight nod as he gestured to the inside of the carriage, Lex climbed inside, Akna and Solvei following before Sanguine Disposition entered and closed the door behind them. “Home!” he called, sitting down next to Lex – despite the interior having ample space for him to sit elsewhere – and getting comfortable.

A moment later, the wagon lurched forward through the streets, everypony making sure to move out of its way as it took the four of them deeper into Eigengrau.

---

“Captain, there’ve been no further incidents since the...since Sanguine Disposition’s guests entered Eigengrau. Even so, we’ve doubled the outer patrols, and have heightened security at all of the main gates, as per protocol.”

White Wraith nodded curtly at the report from his lieutenant as he sat down at his desk, the motion causing a twinge of discomfort to run down his spine. Although the clerics had been both quick and liberal with their use of healing magic, the lingering pain suggested that they hadn’t repaired all of the damage taken, so great had been his injuries. Of course, he had no intention of saying that fact out loud; death would have been preferable to being further shamed like that.

Not that he hadn’t been completely humiliated already, having lost a fight to some outsider. And I even had one of the Umbral Regalia with me! seethed White Wraith internally, grinding his teeth even as he kept his expression stony. No matter that the weapon had refused to use any of its greater powers; its inherent destructiveness, combined with his own magic and experience, should have been enough to overwhelm anyone who dared to challenge him.

Instead he’d been defeated.

Worse, he’d been defeated in front of his subordinates.

The knowledge that they were all talking about what had happened was a pain far worse than any leftover injuries. While no one would be stupid enough to say anything in front of him, he had no doubt that his loss would be all they’d be talking about for the foreseeable future. Nor would they keep it to themselves; in a matter of hours, the news would sweep through Eigengrau, where it would be the topic of conversation for quite some time to come.

Breaking out of his ruminating as his lieutenant cleared his throat uncomfortably, White Wraith nodded at him. “We also received a message a few minutes ago, sir,” continued the guardpony. “Sanguine Disposition has conjured a carriage to take himself and his, er, guests into the city. We believe they’re headed for his residence...” He trailed off then, and when White Wraith said nothing, swallowed once before speaking again. “Would you like us to place it under watch?”

White Wraith let out a slow breath before shaking his head. Officially, Sanguine Disposition had no place in Eigengrau’s hierarchy. But that façade was paper-thin; most everyone knew that, in actuality, the red-eyed stallion was the town’s ruler in all the ways that mattered, with the Lord Marshall – who on paper was the highest-ranking pony in Eigengrau – serving mostly to handle the night-to-night aspects of running the place. Sending guards to observe Sanguine Disposition’s domicile, or otherwise interfere with whatever that smirking bastard was up to, would doubtlessly prove to be more trouble than it was worth.

But that didn’t mean that White Wraith was ready to just wash his hooves of what had happened.

“Inform all guards that Lex Legis and his wolves are to be treated as envoys,” White Wraith decided. “Let me know if they cause any disturbances, cross any checkpoints, or leave town, but otherwise don’t interfere with whatever business they’re here to conduct.”

Visibly relieved, the lieutenant snapped a salute. “Very good, sir!”

White Wraith nodded. “Dismissed.”

Waiting until his subordinate had left the room, White Wraith counted to twenty before getting up and locking the entrance to his office. Then he cast several spells to make sure no one was eavesdropping, peeking through the walls, or otherwise spying on him, magically or otherwise. He’d had his office built to withstand such intrusions, of course – in addition to lead-lined walls, carpeting thick enough to show the hoofprints of an invisible intruder, and a lock that would trigger a deadfall should someone try to pick it, he’d also commissioned a suite of defensive enchantments to be built into the structure of the room – but it never hurt to be safe.

Especially for what he was about to do.

White Wraith had no interest in politics, but he considered himself a strategically-minded pony. Although he’d put a lot of time and effort into securing his position in Eigengrau, his loss today had been an unwelcome reminder that putting all of his hopes into his current position as captain of the guard was a calculated risk. As such, prudence required that he minimize that risk by making sure he had an alternative at the ready if he ever saw fit to abandon his status here.

Of course, setting up a new venture somewhere else in Darkest Night was extraordinarily difficult. After all, other settlements had their own power-players, none of whom would welcome new competition. But that didn’t mean it was impossible to set up a new life elsewhere in the realm.

It just meant that you needed to make sure you had allies in high places.

Satisfied that he was alone, White Wraith opened the bottom drawer of his desk. Pulling aside the false bottom, he gently dug out the strongbox he kept hidden there. Setting it down – making sure not to jostle it too much, lest he spill the vial of powerful solvent that he’d rigged to rupture if anyone ever tried to force the box open – he undid the lock and opened the top.

Inside sat the bare minimum items he’d require in case he ever needed to abandon Eigengrau in a hurry: a scroll with a teleportation spell scribed into it, a small pouch that contained a half-dozen gemstones and a few healing potions, a small folio where he’d scribed backups of as many spells as he could, and a pair of thin metal spectacles.

Picking that last item up, he sighed as he unfolded the apparatus and put it on. He still had no idea how the glasses functioned – they weren’t magical, lacking any aura that he’d been able to determine – but just like every other time he’d used them, the lenses lit up, shining a small light into his eyes. Supposedly they performing a “retinal scan,” whatever that meant, but he was less concerned with that than with what happened next.

The word “connecting” appeared on the interior of the lenses, looking to him as though the soft-glowing blue letters were hovering in the air. A moment later they disappeared, and the image of a figure – also composed of blue light, though he knew that was an effect of the transmission rather than their actual appearance – took their place.

“What is it?”

The electronic crackle of the voice sent another painful twinge down White Wraith’s back, though this time it was from distaste...and fear. Fighting the emotion down as he stared at the half-flesh, half-metal pony in front of his eyes, he licked his lips before speaking.

“I have a report for Steel Soul,” White Wraith murmured softly. “A pony named Lex Legis, who claims to have the Charismata, has come to Eigengrau. He’s meeting with Sanguine Disposition right now.”

Author's Note:

Lex gets his first good look at how the Night Mare's afterlife functions, as White Wraith secretly reports his presence there!

What consequences will this have for Lex and company?

Comments

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

The nightmare realm might be a realm of order but there is a reason why she is considered to be an evil goddess, Her order is tyranny, her vision of the world submission and strict enforcement of rigid hierarchical boundaries with a suggested meritocratic system giving hope to better the position the person is in. I am sure in the realm of the living her doctrine may look sensible and even make too much sense in a lot of cases but by reaching it's logical conclusion as shown in the city you quickly realize that there is no good thing that will come out from her system.

This show how much Lex was flawed in his line of thinking that the nightmare considered him similar her, A red flag if I saw one. Now having everything breaking around him time and time again there is a chance for introspection once there is downtime.

Edit: Heck as I am reading this chapter a second time I am realizing that the two ponies he interacted with had a very Lex's feel to them. A society made of Lexs with way worse moral framework but still full of Lexs.

[Not so New Brony]

I find it amusing how Lex's first thoughts of the residents of Eigengrau not needing to eat or drink is followed by the news of someone being punished for attacking a guard while drunk by cleaning it with their tongue. I guess that even if sustenance isn't needed, eating and drinking is still something to be enjoyed.

As for White Wraith, I guess so long as society of some form exists, so does political intrigue and the Darkest Night is no different though given the goddess they all worship, the lengths they'll go to reach their goals or protect themselves will probably be pretty extreme, especially when it concerns their very own wellbeing like with White Wraith here.

[Booster Spice]

Uhoh, Lex is coming to the attention and intrest of Spelljammers, and Shadowrunners?

[Firefoxino]

I do love me some pony 1984 :D

[Alzrius]

11382676 In Equestria, it's called Nineteen Neighty-Four.

[Alzrius]

11382407 I confess Shadowrun is an RPG I've never played, nor bought even a single book of. I do know all about classic Spelljammer, though (which is to say, not the butchered version that was recently released).

[Alzrius]

11382269 The implication in this chapter, at least for me, was that the spirits of the dead who populate the Night Mare's realm don't have the same physical needs that they did when they were alive, but can still enjoy them. To that end, things like food and drink are luxuries rather than necessities, which now that I think about it lends an entirely new subtext to Sanguine Disposition asking Lex to dinner; that's not something your average denizen of Eigengrau could do, apparently.

And as for White Wraith...yeah, his actions suggest that there are plenty of internal power struggles going on between the Night Mare's higher-ranking servants. Which is perhaps unsurprising, given what Sanguine Disposition was saying about how criminals and wrongdoers are treated in Eigengrau. While it doesn't seem to ever reach the level of open rebellion, or even necessarily violence (presumably such strife would be too chaotic for the Night Mare), there's not exactly unity either...though I imagine that would change very quickly in the face of an outside threat. After all, you might be competing against your neighbors today, but if some new enemy is threatening to tear down the system you're both working in, it's obvious that you'd work together to protect it.

[Alzrius]

11382223 Your comment put a smile on my face. You've exactly highlighted the darker (metaphorically speaking) aspect of the Night Mare's realm. Her overriding principle of "the strong dominate the weak" makes no allowances for justice or responsibility, save only for the understanding that loyalty should also be taken into account...which even then, serves only to ensure that power structures and hierarchical relationships remain intact, even if the individuals in the various positions change.

That said, there is one key aspect to this which remains undefined, which is whether or not the struggles the Night Mare exalts ultimately have a purpose. One of the best definitions of Lawful Evil that I've seen in D&D is that it represents a meritocratic structure for which there is no actual accomplishment to be had; getting to the top of the proverbial heap is ultimately impossible, making all of that effort futile (and, in that futility, souls lose hope and are ground down to nothing more than slaves who perpetuate their own oppression, as well as that of others).

That, in other words, is how Hell works (at least in the D&D understanding of it). But while the Night Mare and Hell are both Lawful Evil, there's a lot of room for different interpretations of the same alignment. In that regard, we have to wonder exactly what is the end goal of the souls in Darkest Night, in terms of their struggle for power. Is it simply axiomatic that they should try to dominate all those around them? Does that have any purpose when the Night Mare herself is the supreme master of this place? Or is there something other aspect to it all that hasn't been revealed yet?

These are the sorts of questions that Lex should probably be asking, except in his current state it doesn't seem to have occurred to him. That's understandable, considering everything he's just lost, but you have to wonder if at some point he's going to realize that – if Eigengrau is any example – this isn't the sort of afterlife he'll want to funnel ponies toward. Of course, that might not be something he can help, since he's already in quite deep with the Night Mare. Turning against her now would likely result in severe consequences from her, and no other god would step in on his behalf.

But then, that's sort of what you expect when you make deals with evil deities.