Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

849 - Running in Place

“Okay, let’s go around the room.”

Cloudbank had said those words often enough over the last few weeks that nopony needed to ask what she meant. Instead, Garden Gate – seated directly to her left – stood up and cleared her throat.

“Enough pegasi have volunteered for lookout duty that we can now keep eyes in the sky at all times,” she announced. “In theory, we’ll see another invasion coming. The problem is that we don’t have the cloud reserves necessary to support that kind of aerial recon for any significant length of time.”

Near the far end of the table, Fruit Crunch cocked his head. “Why do we need clouds for that?”

A few seats down, Straightlace gave his leader a pained look, while Cleansweep clucked her tongue.

Neither went unnoticed by Fruit Crunch, who gave his pegasi teammates a confused look. “What?”

“I’m guessing that lookout duty means staying in the air for several hours at a time, right?” When Straightlace’s questioning glance toward Garden Gate received a nod, he looked back toward Fruit Crunch. “That means they’ll need clouds to land on, so they can rest their wings without having to come back down. Otherwise you’re asking those pegasi to fly for hours without stopping, which is like the wing-version of asking an earth pony or a unicorn to run a marathon.”

“Well, okay, but we don’t need to keep that many pegasi in the air at one time, do we?” This time Fruit Crunch was the one to throw an inquisitive gaze toward Garden. “I mean, we just need to keep watch to the north and east, right? Aren’t we talking about, like, five or six clouds at most?”

Having been a cloud architect and weather pony before Vanhoover had fallen apart, Cloudbank jumped in. “If we were talking about just keeping watch for a week or so, then that’s right. But we don’t have that luxury; there’s no telling when Shining Armor or Celestia or the Night Mare only knows who else – Starlight Glimmer maybe – will mount another attack. So for now, we need to keep lookouts at the ready at all times.”

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair, noticing that – like so many other times since they’d started holding these meetings – everypony’s eyes were on her. Once, addressing a group like this would have made her self-conscious. Now she just felt tired.

“But clouds are fragile by nature,” she explained. “The wear and tear of ponies using them as semi-permanent relay points will make them break down over time, which means we’ll need to use more clouds to reinforce them. And we still have to keep doling our reserves out to the farmers north of here so they can keep growing their crops.”

She paused to rub her eyes, suddenly remembering that the last time she’d made a speech this long in front of so many ponies had been when Lex had ordered her to give a sermon about the Night Mare to Vanhoover’s survivors. She’d frozen up at the sight of so many eyes trained on her, only for Drafty to fly up behind everyone and start performing a horribly uncoordinated air-dance. It had been so ridiculous that it had snapped Cloudbank out of her nervousness, and the two of them had shared a great laugh about it afterwards.

It was strange. After so many close calls – struggling for survival when Vanhoover had fallen apart, watching Drafty grow progressively sicker after a ghoul had infected her, the battle on the docks, actually dying when raiding that bank, and then fighting Starlight Glimmer – Cloudbank had thought that she’d prepared herself for the worst. She’d struggled and raged against each new calamity, of course, but she’d truly believed that she’d known what it would feel like if she lost the love of her life.

Now she knew better.

Taking a moment to swallow the lump in her throat, she looked back at Garden Gate. “Let’s talk to the ponies in Las Pegasus and see if they’ll let us use one of their industrial compressors. If we can make a few ultra-dense clouds – the kind that they put paved roads and concrete buildings on – we should be able to make some lookout posts that will stand up to repeated use.”

Garden Gate nodded crisply, then sat back down.

Next to her, River stood up, a smirk crossing her features. “I just got this from Whinnyapolis,” she announced, tossing a newspaper onto the table.

She waited long enough for everyone to see the headline, with its dramatic title and the picture of the recent fight between Vanhoover and the Crystal Empire. “It looks like the VIPs I invited to Piggy’s wedding aren’t going to just forgive and forget how Shining Armor treated them.”

Despite herself, Cloudbank couldn’t help but feel impressed. River Bank had no magic of her own, and no combat experience whatsoever, but when it came to political maneuvering it was clear that she was a force to be reckoned with. Certainly, no one else could have turned what should have been two major disasters – Lex’s disappearance and Shining Armor’s invasion – into advantages the way she had.

The invitations for Lex’s coronation had already gone out when he’d headed to Las Pegasus...except the notices she’d sent hadn’t been for his coronation at all, River having anticipated that the very important ponies she wanted to show up might be hesitant to honor the stallion who’d cursed Princess Luna.

Instead, she’d had the nonexistent “Sister Cities Revival Project” send out invitations to celebrate the renewal of Tall Tale and Vanhoover. More importantly, she’d made the invitations look as though the S.C.R.P. was scouting ponies for appointments to its board of directors, knowing that rich ponies loved to collect titles and honors so that they could lord them over each other. The idea of being part of the leadership of such a prestigious-sounding group, working for such a noble cause, would be irresistible to them...so much that she’d been certain they’d never notice how the last item on the itinerary she’d included was “a celebration for our sponsor.”

Of course, that sponsor was Prince Legis, and the celebration would be his coronation, and by the time those rich attendees realized that, they’d be roped in by propriety and Lex’s own overwhelming presence, at which point a few photographs would be all it took to capture evidence that they were “supporters” of the new regime.

It had been a diabolical plan, one that had honestly unnerved Cloudbank a little at how fiendish it was.

And then Lex had disappeared, causing the entire thing to implode.

The fact that River had managed to salvage things as well as she had was a testament to the years she’d spent fighting for control of Vanhoover. Despite Sonata and Aria running off on their own to get the pony responsible for the debacle in Las Pegasus, and despite Cloudbank, Garden Gate, Stuffed Shirt, and several other ponies insisting that she call the event off despite the invitations having gone out, River had pressed ahead. To do otherwise, she’d argued, would only make the situation worse; an abrupt cancellation mere days before the coronation would only serve to embarrass them all, making it harder to establish social, economic, and political ties with the elite of Equestria’s other major cities...and which would only set back Lex’s plans when he inevitably returned.

Of course, back then they’d all been convinced that he’d make a sudden reappearance in a matter of days...

Even so, River had quickly changed the nature of the event. Now, the “sponsor” of the S.C.R.P. was her son, Piggy Bank, and the “celebration” was his wedding to Granola Bar.

For the life of her, Cloudbank couldn’t imagine why anypony would want to marry the fat, spoiled little pervert who’d leered at her and Drafty both, but apparently that was what Granola Bar got off on, because she’d happily gone along with the whole thing. Nor had the guests, once they’d started arriving, batted an eye at having been tricked into attending the marriage of River’s son. Apparently, lavish celebrations to confer prominence on their heirs was common for upper-class ponies.

But despite having saved Lex’s administration the embarrassment of throwing a coronation without any prince to coronate, not even River had been able to anticipate the Crystal Empire attacking mere moments after the groom had kissed the bride.

Later, of course, they’d all found out that Sonata and Aria had apparently tracked Blueblood – who according to Feather Duster was the mastermind behind what had happened in Las Pegasus – to the home of the crystal ponies, where he’d been in the company of Princess Cadance when the Sirens had found him. In the altercation, Shining Armor had gotten involved, and had subsequently seen fit to mobilize the Crystal Empire’s entire military and bring it down on Vanhoover.

Needless to say, the snobbish and self-important ponies from across Equestria hadn’t taken it very well when ponies in guard uniforms had started rounding them up like common criminals.

And when the battle had ended, River hadn’t hesitated to play to their indignation and wounded pride.

Judging from the newspaper in front of her now, Cloudbank would say that it had worked masterfully.

“And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” announced River smugly. “I’ve been getting letters of support from notable ponies in Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, and even Trottingham! Those stuck-ups are all livid about how they were treated, and quite impressed with how we kicked those crystal ponies’ faceted flanks out of our city. Naturally, I recommend that we start exploiting their goodwill as soon as possible.”

Despite herself, Cloudbank couldn’t help but smirk at the other mare’s naked opportunism. “I trust you have some thoughts on how to start doing that?”

River’s grin went from smug to wolfish. “Several.”

But before she could expound on that, a knock came from the door, which opened without a response as Feather Duster came in, followed by one of the new maids that she’d hired. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she apologized with a demure smile. “I just thought everyone might like some snacks.”

“No apologies are necessary, madam,” Stuffed Shirt assured her. “His Highness granted you this estate; there’s no breach of decorum if you exercise your right to be present at a conference held within your own home.”

That earned him a sour look from River, but Feather Duster waved the words away with one wing. “Oh, I’m not trying to butt in. I just wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable.”

As she spoke, the new maid – a rather pretty earth mare with a light greenish-gray coat and a mane that was cobalt blue with light fuchsia stripes – walked around the table, passing out small dishes of pralines.

She had just finished putting one in front of Cloudbank when Feather Duster spoke up again. “But I was wondering if there had been any word about...?”

She didn’t finish, but she didn’t need to, as uncomfortable looks spread across the faces of everypony present. Cloudbank knew she was wearing one as well, choking down a sigh as she looked back at the stallion who’d spoken before. “Stuffed Shirt?”

He was shaking his head before she’d finished saying his name. “I’m afraid that Coat Tail and Tranquila still haven’t had anymore, uh...messages, from His Highness...”

The answer wasn’t unexpected, but it was disappointing all the same. Lex’s absence had already reached the point where everyone was beginning to fear the worst when the Royal Clothier and the Royal Leisuremeister had let it slip that they’d received a verbal message from their prince, claiming to be on Everglow – that other world that he and the Sirens sisters had often referenced – with Thermal Draft.

Cloudbank had almost fainted when she’d gotten news of that, and she hadn’t been the only one. More than a few ponies had been on the verge of despair at the possibility that their savior – for that was how Lex was widely held in Vanhoover, Tall Tale, and even a growing number of ponies in Las Pegasus now – might actually be dead.

But the news of his sending a message of survival had transformed that dejection into a fervor.

The sheer intensity of it had taken Cloudbank by surprise, and she knew she hadn’t been the only one. Seemingly overnight, the rumor that Lex had sent a message of his survival had swept along the coast, and a shockingly large number of ponies had embraced it. More than that, they’d come to eagerly anticipate his return to Equestria, to the point where every day there seemed to be some new demonstration of devotion going on.

In Las Pegasus, a citizens’ committee had been formed to look into raising a monument in Lex’s honor commemorating all the ponies in the undercity that he’d helped return home. The last Cloudbank had heard, it was weighing a proposal to build it over the ruined factory where he’d disappeared.

In Tall Tale, a group of ponies had privately started an “Everglow Outreach Program,” apparently to explore ways of potentially contacting that world to find Lex and help bring him home. Ribbon Cutter was keeping an eye on it, and had reported that so far it was little more than a few ponies kicking around ideas that they had no way to actualize. But it was apparently growing more popular by the day.

And in Vanhoover, Cloudbank was leading services to the Night Mare every single night. Now that there was a small contingent of ponies receiving spells from Lex’s goddess – courtesy of him anointing them as being among her faithful before his ill-fated Las Pegasus trip – they were eager to demonstrate their faith by praying nightly for their prince’s return. In that regard, Cloudbank was right there with them, though she found herself praying that he wouldn’t be the only one to come back...

But for all her prayers, her worries refused to be soothed. There were simply too many unanswered questions about Lex’s single, brief message to wipe away her fears. Why had he sent it to two minor members of his royal retinue? Why hadn’t he contacted anyone else since? And why was it taking him so long to come home? Hadn’t be been to that world several times already?

Every night she’d prayed to the Night Mare, not for a sign – she knew enough of the goddess’s dogma to know better than to ask her to relieve her own hardship – but that she’d keep finding the strength to believe that Lex, the stallion she’d once been bitterly jealous of but now fiercely respected, would come back to them...and bring Drafty back as well, safe and sound.

But every night, that strength seemed slightly harder to muster.

Still, having so many ponies looking to her for religious guidance had turned out to have a practical side to it as well. The newly-ordained clerics of the Night Mare were all eager to work the goddess’s will – which to them was the effectively the same as Lex’s will – into practice, and Cloudbank had quickly found herself directing their efforts to aid and protect the ponies of Vanhoover.

After everything their city had been through, and everything that Lex had done to save it, that was the very least she could do.

It had also been foresighted, since when the Crystal Empire had attacked, the clerical corps had been instrumental in turning them back.

Nor had they been the only ones to prove decisive in that battle.

“Constance?” ventured Cloudbank, knowing that they needed to push on. “Where are we with the spellbooks?”

But unlike everyone else present, Lex’s Royal Magician didn’t respond, still staring raptly at the folio she was levitating in front of her the same way she’d been since the meeting had started.

“Constance?” Clearing his throat pointedly, Stuffed Shirt gave his colleague an embarrassed glance. “Lady Cloudbank is addressing you.”

A half-hearted grunt was the bespectacled mare’s only response, causing Stuffed Shirt to grimace.

“Constance!”

“Huh?!” Dropping her book, Constance looked around, startled. “What’s happening?!”

Stuffed Shirt heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Lady Cloudbank was asking about the spellbooks.”

“Oh! Yes, about those.” Pushing her glasses further up her muzzle, Constance cleared her throat. “I’ve received the shipments of specially-prepared paper and binding materials that I ordered from Tall Tale, but our local supplies of the ink I’ve been using are running low. I did some checking, and we can get some more from Somnambula – it’s a little town southeast of here, near the San Palomino desert – but it’s probably going to take a while-”

“I’ll see about speeding things up,” interjected River.

Giving an owlish blink, Constance nodded awkwardly at the other mare before turning back to Cloudbank. “Well, once I have those, I can start preparing more spellbooks, but I’m afraid even then it’s going to be slow-going in how many I can produce.”

At the far end of the table, Feathercap piped up. “I can help too!”

Garden Gate frowned. “Do you really have to do that yourselves? The ponies who’ve started studying magic with you were a huge help in driving off the Crystal Empire. The faster we can turn out more of those spellbooks-”

“It doesn’t work like that,” interjected Constance, apparently having already forgotten how flustered she’d been when someone else had interrupted her a few moments ago. “You don’t just read the spells in these tomes; they’re actually devices for compressing the necessary energy down into a form that can cogitated. That means that they can’t be made except by someone who already knows how to imbue them with the necessary reactive capabilities to function as a tool for shaping-”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Holding up a hoof, Garden Gate made a placating gesture. “But how long is it going to take you to get more spellcasters trained?”

“Oh, that depends,” replied Constance without a second thought. “Personal capability factors a great deal into it; not everyone thinks that embedding conceptual diagrams into their thoughts is fun, weirdly enough. And just because some people want to doesn’t mean they’re good at it! Feathercap is a natural” – she gestured at the colt in question, who squeaked and hid behind his binoculars at the unexpected praise – “but the next pony who comes knocking might be completely hopeless! It’s really fascinating to study! While in theory the simplest spells require the least effort, they-”

“So making more spellbooks and training more casters is going to take a while,” announced Cloudbank, a little more loudly than necessary. “Thank you, Constance.”

The mare in question pouted for a moment, before telekinetically raising her folio again and staring at it.

Cloudbank rolled her eyes, though the corner of her lip turned upward, though only for a moment. “House Call, how are we-”

“Um, excuse me?” Frowning, Fruit Crunch stood up. “You skipped right over me!”

“Which means she obviously did it on purpose,” sighed Fiddlesticks, holding Tiddlywinks in her lap as the baby chewed on a plush butterfly. “Probably so she can call on you later. Read the room.”

“No, he’s right.” Sighing inwardly, Cloudbank decided it was better to get this over with now, certain that the colt was going to bring up the same issue he had for the last several days now. “Go ahead, Fruit Crunch.”

“We need to put together a plan to rescue Sonata and Aria!”

Knew it, groaned Cloudbank quietly. “We’ve been over this. We don’t know where they are-”

“Are you still saying that?!” Sitting up, Fruit Crunch pointed at River’s newspaper. “They were last seen in the Crystal Empire! That’s why Shining Armor attacked us! How is it not obvious that he captured them and threw them in, I don’t know, some crystal dungeon or something?!”

“He might have,” admitted Cloudbank, keeping her voice level. “Or maybe he’s transferred them to Canterlot, so that Celestia can deal with them. Or maybe Ponyville, since they have a history with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Or possibly had them thrown into Tartarus. At this point, we have no idea-”

“Which is all the more reason we should go there make him tell us!”

Trying not to be irritated at having been interrupted twice in a row, Cloudbank sent an inquisitive glance toward Garden. Catching her hint, the unicorn mare looked at the unruly colt. “Fruit Crunch, even if we took all the combat-ready ponies we could spare, I don’t think we’d be able to force Shining Armor to tell us what happened to Sonata and Aria.”

“Why is everypony acting like we don’t have a chance against the guy?!” With an expression that said he clearly thought he was surrounded by a roomful of crazy ponies, Fruit Crunch pointed at the newspaper again. “We just got through kicking his butt! Now’s the time to hit him hard and make him talk!”

“If I might interject,” chimed in Stuffed Shirt, to Cloudbank’s mild surprise. “I’m not a military pony, but a perusal of world history suggests that repelling an invasion and conducting one are very different endeavors.”

“...so that’s it?” Red-faced with anger, Fruit Crunch looked around the room. “Lex’s two most important ponies confront the guy who tried to kill him, vanish, and we’re all just supposed to sit back and do nothing because going after them is too hard?” He let that sit for a moment before turning back to Cloudbank. “Is that what Lex would do?”

“You don’t need to remind me that I’m not Lex,” replied Cloudbank coldly. “I can assure you, I’ve always been very aware of that fact.”

Leaning across the table, Fruit Crunch glared daggers at her. “So have I. The difference is, I want to be more like him, where you just want to sit back and cry about your missing girlfriend instead of rescuing his.”

“CRUNCHY!” gasped Cleansweep, looking horrified.

But he had already turned around and barged toward the door, not looking back as he threw it open and stomped away.

Wincing, the other members of the Night Mare’s Knights murmured their apologies – some blushing in embarrassment at their leader’s outburst, others looking like they were infuriated by the colt’s tirade – as they followed him out.

Nevertheless, Cloudbank found herself taking a cue from their leaving, suddenly not wanting to continue. “Let’s adjourn for today.”

River frowned. “We still need to go over using the political capital we’ve gained-”

“And we will,” broke in Cloudbank. “Just...not right now, okay?”

Pursing her lips, River nodded, and the meeting broke up as ponies slowly filed out, until Cloudbank was the last one in the room.

Or rather, almost the last one, as the maid who’d been serving pralines stayed behind. “I hope I’m not being out of line,” she murmured after a few moments of silence, “but...are you alright?”

The question made Cloudbank chuckle darkly. “I have to be alright,” she muttered. “Who else is going to hold things together until Lex comes back?”

She refused to utter the words “if he comes back,” despite how heavily they hung in the air.

Managing a pained smile, the maid pushed the pralines forward. “Try one of these,” she urged. “I promise, you’ll feel better when you’ve eaten it.”

This time Cloudbank’s smile was genuine, though much smaller. “Maybe in a bit.”

“...alright,” nodded the maid. “Just let me know if there’s anything else you’d prefer instead. I actually ran a candy shop before I worked here, so if there’s something you’d like instead, just let me know.”

The offer was so small, compared to the numerous huge problems that she had to deal with, that Cloudbank couldn’t help but chuckle, touched. “You know what?”

Not waiting for an answer, she popped a praline in her mouth, closing her eyes as she let the chocolatey goodness melt in her mouth. Funny, she actually did feel a little bit better. “I think I actually prefer these.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” promised the maid, throwing her a wink as she started collecting empty plates.

Leaving her to it, Cloudbank stood up and started for the door, only to turn around as she reached the threshold. “I’m sorry,” she called back. “I just realized I never asked you your name.”

Looking up, the maid gave her a winning smile.

“I’m Bon Bon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Author's Note:

In Lex's absence, his closest advisors struggle to keep everything together as the public anticipates his return!

Is their wish soon to be granted? Or will Lex not be returning to Equestria in the near future?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

And so S.M.I.L.E comes into the picture though aside from information gathering, I do wonder what other tasks Celestia might have assigned to the agent. I doubt assassination is on the table given the disaster the last one was and it would be disastrous if it's botched too, especially if it's linked directly to the Crown. Though I suppose planting seeds of doubt in Lex's followers is rather viable.

If everyone believes that Lex is truly gone then Lex's fledgling Kingdom would fall apart and be taken back into the fold once more. At least that would be the case on paper but in practice, Celestia might be underestimating how much the people of Vanhoover and Tall Tale trust in Lex.

[Alzrius]

11639143 While it might be a technicality, I'll note that S.M.I.L.E. is a product of the comics, which I'm not taking into consideration for this story (particularly given their having recently declared themselves non-canon anyway, which I'm thankful for; between the TV show, the various Ponyfinder sourcebooks, and this story's own massive background, there's already a lot that I need to keep track of!). So as far as this story is concerned, "Bon Bon's" history of clandestine service to Equestria relies upon what she said in Slice of Life (season five, episode nine), and while that largely dealt with her having belonged to an "anti-monster agency" in Canterlot, well...I suspect that's the best Celestia has on hoof for this sort of thing (and that she regards Lex as being monstrous anyway).

As for what she's actually doing there, right now it seems to just be serving as a spy...but who can say for sure? Celestia is doubtlessly trying to find a way to defuse the situation now that Lex is "dead," but things seem to be winding up rather than calming down. Her sending an assassin after Lex was something she clearly hated doing, even if she judged it necessary (in that regard, I suspect that seeing Luna suffering from Lex's curse made it easier for Celestia to justify that), so it's questionable if she'd resort to that again (and if Sweetie Drops would do it), but at this point, who can say for sure?

[Booster Spice]

Oh thank goodenss.

Given the mane colurs and how bad I am at rememebring, its better to have one of Celestias most competant spies in the room, than Starlight Glimmer?

[Alzrius]

11639325 Sending Starlight would have been less "let's have a spy infiltrate the place" than "let's get ready to rummmmmmblllllllle!"

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Of course it’s agent Sweety Drops I should have guessed it. And now that I remember It was Aria that used the spell to make Celestia hate Lex and later regretted it. Everything is coming back to me now. I am guessing the Everglow arc is coming to an end. Lex now just need to travel to the city he sent Thermal Draft and the adventuring party fail forward.

[Alzrius]

11639343 Well, there's clearly still at least a bit more to deal with on Everglow, since the showdown match between Lex and Adagio is coming up. But the fact that we're getting glimpses of what's happening back on Equestria might be spotlights for where things are going...or is it just a few vignettes to break things up before we go back to following Lex's adventures?

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

[nos2342]

Piggy Bank killed Granola Bar?!? WTF!?!

Or is this a typo? Or innuendo?

"Crystal Empire attacking mere moments after the groom had killed the bride."

[Alzrius]

11650455 You've caught what has to be the single most embarrassing typo I've ever made. That was supposed to be "kissed the bride."

Needless to say, it's fixed now, and my editor is going to be severely dressed down for that oversight. Which is really going to be something, since I'm my own editor.