Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

779 - Au Naturale and Unnatural

“OF COURSE SHE ISN’T! WHAT YOU’RE SUGGESTING IS PREPOSTEROUS!”

“Look, I get that you’re surprised, we were all surprised too! But I’m telling you, it’s the truth, and-, no, wait! Just wait a second!”

“Get out of my way, Spinner!”

“Will you please just listen to me?! I understand that this is probably the last thing you need sprung on you right now, after...whatever happened to you in that Rite-”

“It wasn’t a rite. The Keeper lied to Master and me both.”

“Why are you calling him-, no, you know what? We can talk about that later. Right now, Lex, I’m telling you that you can’t go in there all angry like this!”

“I think otherwise, and you lack the power to stop me!”

“Have you forgotten that she’s dying?! Drafty’s dying and she’s only getting worse, but she’s still trying to put on a brave face because she’s sure you’ll save her, so if you go in there right now and start screaming at her for having deceived you, you’ll crush her! Is that really what you want to do to her right now?”

“...”

“Just take a minute to remember what she means to you, and how much she cares about you, and then go in and see her, okay? And, maybe give me a second to let her and everyone else know that you’ve got a few surprises of your own.”

Taking the menacing growl she received in reply as a good sign, Spinner didn’t push her luck, instead retreating back inside the stone building where she and her friends had now spent the better part of two days. It took only a moment to cross the threshold and brief adjoining entryway, pushing aside the makeshift curtains that they’d put up. “Okay,” she announced, keeping her voice quiet. “So the good news is that Lex and Akna are back...”

Thanks to Mystaria having renewed her darkvision spell on them, Spinner was able to see Shadow, still sitting next to Woodheart and Littleknight, roll her eyes behind her mask. “We’re calling that the good news?”

“It’s better than if they became mindless beasts the way Akna said the Rite of Sublimation sometimes turns ponies into, since I doubt we’d be welcome here much longer without them,” cut in Valor, still keeping watch over the shrouded form that was Solvei’s body. “Except now Akna’s saying something about it not having been a rite?”

Spinner just shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head as she stepped closer to where Mystaria was huddled down next to Thermal Draft, in the process of wiping the latter’s mare’s forehead with a damp cloth. “Is she okay?”

“She settled down right after you left to go investigate that yelling,” replied Mystaria. “With all the worrying she was doing the entire time Lex was gone, I think hearing his voice and knowing that he was okay was enough of a relief that she was finally able to relax.”

Spinner grimaced. “I’m not sure ‘okay’ is the word I’d use.”

“I’m guessing that has to do with the bad news?” snorted Shadow.

“In a word? Yeah.” Rubbing her face with one hoof, Spinner let out a slow breath. “Lex and Akna are back, but they’re...different.”

Valor cocked a brow. “Different how?”

“I’d say I don’t have the words, but I think that’d be an insult to The Author,” admitted Spinner. “Right now, Akna’s got the same brand of destiny that Solvei had, and Lex has become-”

“Stronger.”

The voice was Lex’s, pushing aside the curtain as he strode into the room, Akna following close behind him. The sight of him caused Mystaria to gasp, eyes widening as she stared at what the unicorn had become. Nor was she alone, as Valor’s jaw hit the floor, seemingly forgetting to breathe as she looked the stallion over. But the most pronounced reaction was Shadow’s, who leaped to her hooves and cursed as she drew a dagger, moving to place herself between Woodheart and Littleknight.

Lex ignored them all, instead staring at the unmoving form of Thermal Draft, not that Spinner could blame him.

After all, it wasn’t everyday that you found out that your girlfriend was a doppelganger.

“She changed-, well, I guess I should say ‘changed back,’ about a half-hour ago,” remarked the filidh softly as Lex continued to look the unmoving mare over. “She couldn’t bring herself to sleep because of how worried she was about you, and with what that curse is doing to her health, she just kept getting groggier. After that, she just...became like she is now...”

She trailed off, not sure what else to say, instead glancing to the rest of her friends for help. But Valor was still staring, and Shadow was crouched and ready to spring at the slightest provocation. Fortunately, Mystaria had apparently recovered her wits, swallowing before she started to speak. “Lex...I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now. After everything that’s happened...losing Solvei, the rite – or whatever it was – and now this. But Drafty-”

“That’s not Drafty-, Thermal Draft,” interrupted Lex, his voice clipped. “Thermal Draft is a pegasus, which means that this...thing, is an imposter.”

Spinner winced, glad that the mare in question wasn’t able to hear him. She was already feeling guilty about what she’d said about doppelgangers before, her catty remark about them being “nutty and slutty” making her cringe now. To have Lex say that about someone who was so obviously head-over-hooves in love with him, not to mention carrying his child, was heartbreaking to listen to. “Lex, she’s still the same mare you-”

“You aren’t hearing me,” snapped Lex, glaring at the bard with such intensity that it made Spinner wonder if Shadow had been right to reach for her weapons. “There are no doppelgangers where Thermal Draft and I come from! Ergo, this creature is either a changeling – a parasitic monster from our homeland that can alter its shape in order to feed – or it’s one of this place’s doppelganger creatures, in which case it replaced Thermal Draft after we arrived here!”

He finished his pronouncement by pointing a talon at the unconscious mare. “Wake her-, no, wake it up! If this thing is local, then it needs to be interrogated as to the real Thermal Draft’s location!”

“Lex, this is the real Thermal Draft,” insisted Spinner, making sure to keep her voice low and calm. Between his complete breakdown when Mystaria had confronted him about his magic, and his brief bout of madness when Solvei had died, it had become increasingly clear to her that Lex wasn’t the most stable of ponies. The last thing she wanted was for him to lose control of himself again now that he’d become...whatever he was. “She told me about your past adventures, remember? About some dragon you fought? How you rescued an entire city? She knew all that.”

“Which proves nothing!” shot back Lex. “I’ve had multiple encounters with duplicitous enemies who’ve abducted ponies and forced them to reveal information! Torture, mind-reading magic, scrying...” That last one seemed to hit a nerve with him, his brow furrowing as he stared daggers at Drafty.

“There are any number of ways this creature could have acquired that information,” he repeated after a moment, “assuming it’s not a changeling I unknowingly brought here.”

“Lex...” This time Mystaria was the one to speak up. “Listen, I don’t know about the changeling ponies you have at home-”

“Changelings aren’t ponies!” snarled Lex.

“Well doppelgangers are,” cut in Valor, having found her voice at last, though she was still staring hard at Lex. “So that makes it easy to figure out if she’s one of those ‘changelings’ or not. Just look and see if her brand of destiny is still there.”

To Spinner’s mild surprise, Lex actually paused at that, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. Then he turned back to Drafty, his horn lighting up as a matching aura surrounded the unconscious mare, throwing off the blanket covering her starting to roughly yank her clothes off.

Shadow’s eyes narrowed. “Be gentle with her! Even if she’s not who she said she is, she’s still sick, not to mention pre-”

“Pretty tired!” cut in Spinner anxiously, her voice breaking slightly as sweat ran down the back of her neck. Fortunately, Lex didn’t seem to notice, caught up in telekinetically removing Drafty’s clothes, and Spinner took the opportunity to shoot her friend a glare. Telling him that he’d knocked up a mare that wasn’t who he thought she was would definitely send him over the edge again!

Fortunately, Shadow’s wincing indicated that her almost revealing that particular secret had been an accident rather than deliberate.

But by that time, Lex had found what he’d been looking for.

Spinner watched, biting her lip as the unicorn – or whatever he was now – stared at the outline of a gust of air glowing upward on Thermal Draft’s hip, having turned her on her side and gotten her pants down just enough to reveal her brand.

“I’m sure you’re wondering if that brand is something she made with her shapechanging powers,” offered Mystaria quietly. “But if she was delirious enough to change back accidentally, then I don’t think she’d leave that-”

“Be quiet,” ordered Lex gruffly, eyes narrowing as he reached up to adjust the circlet he always wore. “I’m going to confirm her mark magically-”

He stopped speaking abruptly, a confused look crossing his face. That was unexpected enough that Spinner couldn’t help but share another worried look with the rest of her friends, and it was out of concern for Drafty’s safety that she spoke up again. “Lex...? Is everything okay?”

“My augmentation of this device worked better than expected,” he muttered, more to himself than in response to her as he held up one claw, turning it back and forth as he slowly flexed it. “And with far less strain than before.”

“Oh, well, uh...great, I guess?” chuckled Spinner with false cheer before leaning closer to Mystaria and lowering her voice to a whisper. “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”

The nun-in-training shook her head, still tense as Lex lost interest in his new limb and returned to looking Drafty over. Finally, to everyone’s assembled relief, Lex slowly – and with much more care than before – fixed the doppelganger’s clothes, laying her back down and even pulling the blanket back over her. “It’s the same,” he murmured. “All of her magical channels are identical to when I examined her after rescuing her from Prevarius.”

“Does that mean you’re satisfied?” snapped Shadow when his horn finally went out. “Or do you need to rough her up some more?”

Lex ignored her. “Solvei, I want you confirm Thermal Draft’s scent...”

He trailed off, raising his head in a way that looked to Spinner as though he’d just remembered something he’d forgotten, glancing toward the back of the room.

In all of the commotion, no one had noticed Akna – still in her four-legged form, and still showing the same brand, Lex’s brand, on her flank that Solvei had possessed – slinking around toward the far side of the chamber. Now, she was hunched over the cloth-wrapped bundle that was Solvei’s body, staring intently as she slowly pulled the cloak covering the winter wolf back.

To Spinner, the way the adlet was acting made no sense, gazing at Solvei’s corpse with an expression halfway between reverence and wonder, despite the fact that she’d helped Lex bring her body back not too long ago. Yet now, she was acting like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, one paw gently reaching up to touch the winter wolf’s face.

Even more oddly, Lex – despite the towering rage he’d displayed earlier when Solvei’s body had been taken – seemed disinclined to stop whatever Akna was doing now, instead watching her with an unreadable expression.

And then, a moment later, he turned on his hooves – or rather, his claws – and marched toward the exit.

“Lex?” blurted Mystaria. “Where are you going?”

“To see the Keeper,” he shot back, not so much as bothering to glance over her shoulder. “He has something I want.”

“And Woodheart hasn’t gotten any better, thanks for asking!” called Shadow as Lex disappeared through the doorway, snorting when no response came back. “Bastard. Honestly, I’m not sure we wouldn’t have been better off if some sort of monser hadn’t come back in his place.”

Shaking her head disgustedly, the masked mare turned to where Akna was staring at Solvei’s body. “Akna, I don’t mean to be abrupt, but would you mind filling us in on what happened during the rite?”

“And why you said it wasn’t a rite?” chimed in Spinner.

“And why Lex called you Solvei just now?” added Mystaria.

“And why he’s suddenly so easy on the eyes?” muttered Valor, still staring at where Lex had gone. At least until she realized that she’d said that last part out loud, her face darkening as she saw that her friends were all staring at her. “Ugh, sorry, I know that’s inappropriate while his sick girlfriend is right here-”

“That’s why it’s inappropriate?!” sputtered Shadow, aghast.

Mystaria seemed equally disturbed. “Valor, are you actually saying that you think the way Lex looks now is attractive?”

“Oh gods,” groaned Spinner. “The sun cats!”

“What about the sun cats?”

Shadow’s question made the bard grimace. “Don’t you see? Our principled pugilist here was raised by sun cats, meaning that she spent her formative years surrounded by guys who had sharp teeth, razor claws, and long tails. Now suddenly there’s a stallion with all of those features-”

“Can we please talk about this some other time?” groaned Valor, suddenly finding it hard to make eye contact with anyone.

“Absolutely,” agreed Shadow. “My vote is for ‘never again.’”

“Hey, at least now we know that Valor’s attracted to guys,” noted Spinner. “Mysty, I guess that’s ten gold pieces that I owe you. Wanna go double or nothing about Shadow?”

Ignoring Spinner’s comment, as well as the outraged squawk it earned from the masked mare, Mystaria slowly walked over to where Akna was still staring at Solvei’s body, ignoring their antics. “Akna?” Reaching a hoof out, she gently touched the adlet’s side. “Are you alright?”

The physical contact seemed to do what all of the talking hadn’t, causing the lupine’s ears to flatten as she finally stirred. “Akna,” she muttered, as though needing to confirm her name. “Yeah, I just...this is so weird.”

Behind her, Mystaria heard Shadow say something about that being an understatement, but she steadfastly refused to acknowledge it. “For all of us. Do you think maybe it would help if you talked about what happened to you and Lex?”

Pausing the adlet-turned-wolf glanced back at where the mutated unicorn had left, ears slowly picking up. “I guess...”

Sighing, she spared one last glance at Solvei’s body before turning to the assembled mares. “I guess I should start by talking about what happened to m-, to Solvei, after she died...”

Author's Note:

Lex finds out that Thermal Draft is a doppelganger pony!

What about that has sent him in search of the Keeper? And what does he want from the Shrine's caretaker now?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Lex is getting a lot of plates to keep in the air, but the number of sticks he has available is falling. Looks like he might end up beating a few more out of the Keeper?

[Alzrius]

11433430 You can't get blood from a stone, or a disembodied skull for that matter, but is Lex intent on trying anyway? Clearly he thinks that there's something useful he can get from the Shrine's caretaker, so I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Guess he is looking for the artifact he was promised. I am pretty happy that Slovei is alive but sad that Akna is no more, Guess this is the cycle of life around these parts. Thermal draft true race has been shown So the goddess of love involvement keeps getting revealed. Man... the betrayal he will feel when he discover what she had to do to get transformed into a dopel... . The funny thing about this is that the Temple is serving it's purpose perfectly as a place where people seek clarity, no more secrets all around.

[Not so New Brony]

As dire and awkward the situation may be, I still love Fail Forward's weird brand of quirkiness to remain constant in spite of it. Still, it must be pretty surreal to see one's own corpse while alive again. Though I suppose doing the same while one is an incorporeal spirit is probably just as jarring. Still, a part of me wonders how Akna/Solvei are and how long will it take for them to achieve some form of equilibrium or will it be like Lex's domination of the aurumvorax.

As for Lex, he's already gone through the revelation of his relationships being built on lies, so seeing Thermal Draft not being who or rather what he thought she was is troubling to him. Learning of her pregnancy is going to be a gut punch given his hatred of hybrids though I suppose his current state might abate said hatred should it still persist.

[Alzrius]

11434025 I wouldn't say that Akna is no more; she's clearly still in there, as per what she said before when Lex was calming her down. It's just that right now the two of them are having to learn how to be one person, which I imagine is a hard concept to have to endure. Even Lex only needs to make peace with a creature of animal intelligence in his head; Solvei/Akna has two separate identities that need to be reconciled.

Of course, she at least can focus on that to the exclusion of all else (notwithstanding seeing Solvei's dead body right in front of her), while Lex has numerous other issues to deal with, not the least of which is finding out the mare he slept with is a doppelganger. At least now he seems to be convinced that she is indeed the real Thermal Draft. So I suppose the next questions are what he's going to do with that knowledge, and why does he want to see the Keeper?

[Alzrius]

11434099 You can always count on adventuring parties to be composed of colorful characters, and Fail Forward are no different. Hopefully Valor's approval of Lex's new look won't cause Kara's influence to kick in, though; that's a bit of drama that I suspect none of them want, including Lex. As it is, they'll hopefully be able to help Solvei/Akna get her head together, even if it's only to listen as she tells them what happens. WIth any luck, that will help her figure out how to reconcile having two souls in one body.

As for what Lex is planning on doing now...well, the obvious question is how Thermal Draft became a doppelganger, but at the moment she's not exactly up for answering questions. Presumably Lex is going for something to help her, but what he thinks he can get from the Keeper in that regard has yet to be revealed.