782 - The Doppel Effect
“So...you’re Akna and Solvei now?”
When the adlet-turned-winter-wolf nodded in response to Shadow’s question, a round of blank looks were exchanged between the mares of Fail Forward, trying to digest what they’d been told. Finally, Valor broke the silence. “I guess my first question is...which name should we call you by?”
“That’s your first question?!” interrupted Mystaria, a hysterical undertone in her voice. “Valor, that Lex was able to make a fully-grown winter wolf into his familiar was already in complete defiance of all known magical practices! Now he’s somehow managed to not only put two different souls into one body – and done so in a way that’s apparently blended them together rather than keeping them distinct, which based on the admittedly small amount of necromantic theory I know shouldn’t have happened – but he’s also completely sidestepped the usual methods of resurrecting someone in the process! The wolf in front of us right now is a triple impossibility, and your first question is what should we call her?!”
“You have to admit, Mysty has a point,” chimed in Spinner. “I mean, the name thing’s pretty obvious if you think about it.”
“‘Obvious’?” echoed Shadow, giving the filidh a flat look. “Really? It’s ‘obvious’ what to call someone who’s had another person’s soul merged with their own?”
Refusing the acknowledge her friend’s sarcasm, Spinner nodded. “Of course it is.”
Pointing at where their lupine companion was giving her a curious look, Spinner proceeded to explain. “If they’re two people who’re merged into one, then clearly the thing to do is combine their names. So Solvei and Akna together makes her...Solvakna!”
Silence fell as everyone stared at the bard, who grinned, clearly pleased with herself.
Finally, Shadow spoke up. “When we get back to Viljatown, I’m buying all the tomatoes there and throwing them at you, Spinner. Literally, all the tomatoes.”
“Forget being triply impossible, that was triply pointless,” groaned Valor, shaking her head. “Unfunny, uninspired, and unhelpful.”
“You don’t actually want us to call you that, do you?” asked Mystaria, turning her gaze toward the subject of their conversation.
Shaking her head quickly, the wolf didn’t hesitate to answer. “No, I don’t. Just Akna is fine. Or Solvei. They’re...both my names now, I guess.”
“Everyone’s a critic,” muttered Spinner, sitting down with a huff.
Shadow rolled her eyes at her friend’s indignation. “You don’t-”
But she didn’t have a chance to finish as a low moan came from Thermal Draft, drawing everyone’s attention as the doppelganger’s eyes fluttered open. “Wh-what-”
She didn’t have a chance to finish as a sudden bout of coughing overtook her, causing Mystaria to rush to her side as Drafty doubled over, fighting for breath. It was only after long seconds of deep, hacking coughs rattling her body that she finally managed to draw a breath, flopping back down as she tried to recover. “How long was I out?”
“A little over an hour. Not long enough to get any real rest,” chided Mystaria gently. “You should go back to sleep; you need to keep your strength up.”
But Thermal Draft shook her head, struggling to sit up again. “What about Lex? I heard his voice. Is he back? Is he alright?”
Mystaria opened her mouth, but hesitated, recalling the transformation Lex had gone through, instead busying herself with casting a darkvision spell on the other mare. But even in her enervated state, it was obvious to Thermal Draft that the other mare was dodging her question, making her more nervous as she struggled to get up. “What is it? Did something happen to Lex?!”
“He’s alright.” Padding across the room, one paw was all it took for the larger wolf to push the smaller mare back down, taking care to do so gently. “Master’s alright.”
“Solvei?” Blinking as her eyes took in the mark on the winter wolf’s flank, Drafty’s eyes lingered on it before glancing back at the bundled body at the back of the room. “No, Akna,” she muttered in realization. “I don’t understand, why do you have Lex’s cutie mark now?”
“I was just telling everyone else about that,” she explained. “Master and I both came back...changed, from our excursion into Darkest Night.”
“Changed how?” muttered Thermal Draft, swallowing nervously as she pointed at the wolf. “If you have his mark on you, then-”
Her voice caught in her throat as she got a look at her own hooves, seeing chitin rather than fur. Looking down at herself just long enough to confirm that she was in her insectoid form, she looked around with wide, horrified eyes, realizing that everyone could see her. With a shriek, she changed back into a pegasus, cringing. “I...! That was...!”
“It’s okay.” Holding a hoof up in a calming gesture, Spinner slowly approached the distraught mare, sitting down alongside her. “Drafty, it’s okay. So you’re a doppelganger; that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Spinner’s right,” chimed in Mystaria. “Doppelganger ponies have a rich culture of-”
“Did Lex see me like that?!” blurted Drafty, looking between the other two with a panicked expression. “Does he know that I’m-” She couldn’t finish, wracked by another coughing fit.
“You shouldn’t worry about Lex,” counseled Shadow as Mystaria and Spinner rubbed Drafty’s back, trying to help her clear her lungs. “Trust me, he’s in no position to criticize anyone else about how they look.”
“Says you,” muttered Valor under her breath.
“Does...” croaked Drafty, before having another fit take hold of her, leaving her gasping when it finally ended. “Does he hate me now he’s seen how ugly I really am?”
“Master doesn’t hate you at all!”
Drafty’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she looked up. “Akna?”
The wolf in question gave Drafty a reassuring smile. “It’s true that he was really angry when he saw you, but that was because he thought you were an imposter who’d replaced the real Thermal Draft! Just the thought that someone had stolen you away made him furious!”
“He...he was worried about me?” sniffled Drafty, looking around at the others. “Really?”
“I-, yeah, that’s absolutely right!” added Spinner. “You should have heard him! He was all, ‘this isn’t the real Thermal Draft! We have to make her tell us where she took my girlfriend’ and stuff!”
“It took us a little while to convince him that you were the real deal,” continued Valor. “It was only when we confirmed your brand of destiny to him that he calmed down.”
“Then he did some sort of examination of your magic – I’m honestly not sure about the details – and admitted that it was really you,” finished Mystaria.
“Yeah, at which point he turned around and stalked off,” began Shadow, only to pause as she caught sight of the glare that Valor was giving her from outside Drafty’s field of view. “Probably to go see if the Keeper could find something to help with your curse,” she muttered irritably.
Slowly lying back, Drafty gave a small laugh that ended with a nervous hiccup. “He’s really not upset with me?”
“I think he’s more confused than anything else,” admitted Mystaria. “Drafty, he swore up and down that you were a pegasus, saying that they don’t have doppelgangers where you two come from. Just something called ‘changelings’ that he said aren’t really ponies. Is he right about that, or-”
“He’s right,” sighed Drafty. “He’s right about all of it. Changelings aren’t ponies. There are no doppelgangers back home. And I really was a pegasus, until recently.”
“How did that happen, exactly?” asked Spinner, cocking her head. “I mean, it’s not unknown for some ponies to have attributes from multiple tribes – Queen Iliana being the most famous example – but they’re almost all sorcerers who’re adept at bringing forth dormant aspects of their own mixed heritage. That’s a far cry from changing tribes entirely.”
“Does it have anything to do with the way you cast spells?” asked Mystaria. “I know you said you couldn’t use magic until recently, but-”
“Both of you, stop badgering her,” cut in Valor, walking over to her friends and gently-but-firmly making them step away from Drafty. “She doesn’t need to explain herself to us if she doesn’t want to.”
“It’s alright...” Lying back down, Drafty closed her eyes as she took a slow breath. “I’ve been lying to all of you almost as much as Lex about what I’ve become. If I’m going to ask you to keep secrets for me” – she placed a hoof over her lower belly then – “then I at least owe you some answers. Er...”
She paused then, giving Akna an awkward look. “When I said I asked them to keep secrets for me, that was, um...”
The winter wolf cocked her head to the side. “Are you talking about the baby?”
The ponies in the room all gave a start, with Drafty’s breath catching. “You knew?! Does Lex-”
“No, he doesn’t,” answered the heterochromatic adlet. “I hate keeping secrets from Master like this, but I...well, Solvei...heard what you said about not wanting him to know in case he can’t save you. But he absolutely will! I’m sure of it! He’ll find a way to break your curse, and then you and he and your baby will all be very happy together!”
“...I hope so,” whimpered Drafty, her ears folding back.
“That has something to do with why you did...whatever you did to become a doppelganger, doesn’t it?” guessed Spinner. “Because you wanted to be closer to Lex?”
Closing her eyes, Drafty nodded. “It happened before we came here. I didn’t have magic then, and Lex...he was already with Sonata and Aria. They’re the most beautiful mares you’ve ever seen, plus they had magic, not to mention incredible singing voices. Compared to them, I was just plain old Thermal Draft, one of the many ponies Lex saved and then never looked twice at.”
“You should have more confidence in yourself,” admonished Spinner. “You’re a knockout!”
A small smile crossed Drafty’s face at the compliment. “That was part of what I asked Prevarius for. Beauty, magic, and a mellifluous voice...all things that I knew Lex liked in a mare. But before I had those, I didn’t have any way of making him notice me. So I asked Kara for help...”
Shadow’s eyes narrowed. “And she had you perform a rite to turn yourself into a doppelganger, is that it?”
Mystaria’s eyebrows shot upward as she turned to look at her friend. “Say what?”
“I’m from Blevik, remember?” shot back the masked mare. “The place that’s widely recognized as the spiritual home of Kara’s faith? City run by doppelgangers? Yeah, I’ve heard about that. It was never anything more than a rumor, and a lot of people thought it was just superstitious hokum, or some way to make everyone suspicious of each other, but tales of ponies who’d received ‘Kara’s kiss’ and shed their old tribe in favor of becoming doppelgangers were unusually long-lived.”
“Apparently because they were more than just rumors,” murmured Valor thoughtfully.
“Sonata had a friend whom she confided in, named Nosey,” continued Drafty. “She told her all about how Kara had helped her start a relationship with Lex. I don’t think she realized just how much Nosey enjoyed being a know-it-all; getting her to spill the beans was easy. After that, I started praying, and eventually I got an answer...”
Licking her lips, Mystaria resisted the urge to pull out a paper and quill. “What was it like? Becoming a doppelganger?”
“...it wasn’t pleasant,” admitted Drafty. “But it was worth it. After it was over, I was able to change into Sonata. Lex didn’t realize it was me, and what we shared then...it was wonderful, so much better than a few days ago at that inn, when he knew it was just me...”
The confession made Valor’s eyes widen as Mystaria cringed, Shadow scowling behind her mask as Spinner just stared, completely nonplussed. But before any of them had a chance to say what they thought about what they’d just been told, Akna’s ears perked up. “Master’s coming back.”
“I’d say ‘act natural,’” muttered Shadow, “but things stopped being natural ever since that unicorn walked into our lives.”
“This has been the sort of tale that, if you tried to make it into a ballad, would get you laughed out of bard school for being too unrealistic,” agreed Spinner.
“To say nothing of all the magical traditions that are being casually overturned,” sighed Mystaria.
“All of you, quiet down,” hissed Valor. “If his transformation has made him more like the sun cats, then his hearing has probably improved.”
“Sun cats?” muttered Drafty.
But she didn’t have a chance to ask what Valor meant as Lex strode inside, eliciting a gasp from the pegasus. “L-Lex?! What-”
“I’m certain that my appearance is no less disconcerting for you than yours was for me,” answered Lex flatly. “But right now, there’s no time to trade explanations as to the details of our respective transmogrifications. Not if we’re going to save your life.”
He didn’t wait for the others to react before looking at the rest of Fail Forward. “Help her outside, and then bring Woodheart. I’ve already begun arranging-”
“Hold on! What do you mean ‘bring Woodheart’?” growled Shadow. “What exactly does she have to do with saving Drafty?”
“Everything,” replied Lex. “And not just Thermal Draft. If this works, Woodheart will be restored as well.”
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Merry Christmas, everypony! It's taken me longer than expected to recover (mostly because I caught a bad cold that I'm still only mostly recovered from), but I'm happy to say that Lateral Movement is now officially off hiatus, and ready to resume at its usual schedule! Enjoy!
Felices fiestas amigo y que lo disfruté en familia.
Y feliz año nuevo adelantado por si acaso se me cae el internet dentro de la semana.
Cuídate mucho y buenas noches bye.
Merry Christmas to you too Alzrius hope your recovery has gone well and if you are still sick you should rest but you know your body better so I can't complain not after reading this chapter, health is very important. I am so glad to see this back tho the suspense was killing me but it was worth the wait.
Lex was off dealing with a bit of a snot also?
11459549
first
your health is always #1.
and this chapter is really good.
11459549
Merry Christmas and welcome back. Happy to hear you've recovered(recovering from flu myself :P)
Anyways, I am glad that Lex might have a way to help both Thermal Draft and Woodheart at the same time though I can't help but worry that Lex will be interrupted in some form or another but who knows, Lex might just catch a lucky break and everything will work out as intended.
However, the only issue I can see is what is the ideal outcome in Lex's mind, especially in his current state. Is he still on the whole, 'ponies are best pure and untainted' or has his new form made him reconsider it when it comes to others...
11459560 ¡Muchas gracias! ¡Espero que usted también haya tenido unas vacaciones maravillosas y que su nuevo año sea brillante y alegre!
11459638 Thanks for the kind wishes!
I'm still taking it easy, but after more than three weeks, the urge to write again is something I can no longer ignore. While I suppose there's a slight chance that I have a relapse or something else happens to make me take more time off to recover, I really hope that doesn't happen, since I'm eager to continue Lex's adventures!
11459922 Unlike me, Lex has a spell that can easily clear up an illness. If only that sort of magic was real.
11459974 Thanks; I agree, but there's a certain point where you feel good enough that resting turns into restlessness. I've apparently reached that point, so it's back to writing for me!
11459993 Thanks! I'm glad to (finally) be on the mend! Now if I can just avoid falling ill again once the holidays are over and it's time to return to work.
It's unclear exactly what Lex is going to do that can help fix Drafty and Woodheart at the same time, but he seems confident enough. Ideally, nothing will go wrong, no one will interrupt, and everything will work out exactly as he's predicted. Of course, that's not something which has happened very often, but then again Lex has just gotten a major upgrade in several regards, so perhaps this is where things start to turn around for him? I suppose we'll just have to wait and find out.