Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

96 - Esprit de Corps

“Sonata, come here.”

Lex’s command – and it was obviously a command – was uttered as soon as he strode back into the shelter, causing everypony to turn and look at him, before glancing back towards her to see what she would do. Not bothering to look at them, Lex moved to the center of the room, his body language radiating authority, as though he expected her to instantly do what he said.

Under different circumstances, she wouldn’t have minded playing along. Heck, she would have found it to be enjoyable, since he was always hottest when doing his whole “take charge” bit. But at the moment she was still sore at him for being stubborn about his injuries, and she wasn’t in the mood to humor him. So instead she just shot him a dirty look, making sure not to move an inch.

Her expression grew even darker a moment later as she saw Aria following him, wriggling in order to squeeze her body through the doorway. What had those two been doing together…? “Sonata!” snapped Lex, drawing her attention back to him. “Come here, now!”

“Why should I?!” She stamped a hoof in agitation.

“Because you’re my spokespony, and we don’t have much time!”

His response set off a wave of murmurs through the assembled ponies, all of whom were now openly watching the exchange…though quite a few gazes had also settled on Aria as she finally entered, pulling herself along until she was behind Lex. Sonata scowled at her sister, absolutely certain that Aria was about to give her a smug look at having had a secret rendezvous with her stallion…but to her surprise, no silent taunt came. In fact, now that she stopped to think about it, Aria looked rather pale, and…hang on, what did he mean that they didn’t have much time?

Slowly realizing that something might have happened, Sonata felt some of her anger dampen, and slowly walked over to him. “What’s going on?”

His answer was to chant the now-familiar words of the spell that would let his whispers reach her ear. “Translate this in whatever manner you think will be most palatable,” he said tersely.

“Hold up, is something happ-”

“Just do what I tell you!” he hissed, and this time Sonata heard the underlying tension in his voice. Although he’d only been gone a couple of minutes to investigate the rain, something had happened out there that had him on edge. Feeling the last of her anger fade as she realized that, Sonata nodded and turned to face the crowd.

---

Cozy bit her lip as she watched the exchange, growing more concerned by the moment. It wasn’t just the utter lack of affection that Lex displayed for Sonata that had her worried, though. Lex was acting exactly the same way that he had when he was leading them to the shelter, barking commands and giving only the most curt explanations, which served to make everypony else more tense. Even now, she could see everyone starting to glance at each other nervously.

“What do you think’s going on?” muttered Aisle, keeping his eyes on the arguing couple even as he asked her.

Cozy shook her head. “I don’t know, but it-”

“Wait, for realsies?!” yelped Sonata suddenly, causing the two – along with everypony else – to fall silent. In the middle of the room, she was giving him a horrified look, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide. Cozy saw her glance back at that Siren thing, which gave her a slow nod, before Sonata turned back to Lex, who whispered something else to her.

Gulping, Sonata visibly fought to regain her poise, turning back to look at the crowd. “So, um…nobody panic, but there’s an army of monsters like, right outside of here.” She paused as Lex whispered again, then continued. “And they’re probably gonna attack in the next few minutes.” Another pause. “Plus, there’s no way to escape before they do.”

A pin dropping could have been heard in the silence that ensued.

It was broken a moment later by Lex’s harsh whisper, which caused Sonata to throw her forelegs into the air as she turned to face him. “Well I’m sorry, but there’s, like, no way to make that not sound like super bad news!”

“Th-this is a joke, right?” Drafty’s voice was a croak as she stepped forward, giving them a pleading look. “The rain falling out of nowhere is one thing, but that…we all thought that was…” She trailed off, completely at a loss.

Sonata glanced back at Lex, then started speaking as he fed her an explanation. “So that’s because the…wait, that’s seriously his name? Okay, whatever. Because the leader of the water-monsters, the ‘Great Lord of the Deep,’ is making it storm somehow.”

“But that-”

“Nopony cares about the rain!” yelled Aisle shrilly, cutting Drafty off. He had no idea if that’s what she was going to ask about, but at the moment he didn’t care. There was only one topic that should be under discussion at that moment! “There’s an army of monsters outside and we can’t escape so what are we gonna do?!”

Lex’s response was to whisper again, and the tension in the room was palpable as everyone waited for Sonata to speak. “He has a plan!” she announced a moment later, sagging with visible relief, which was echoed on the faces of the crowd. “And it’s, like, a totes great one, too!” she added, before turning her attention back to him. “So, what’s the plan?”

He paused for a long moment, turning to sweep his eyes across the ponies assembled around them. The expression on his face made Sonata’s brows rise, not because she recognized it, but because she didn’t. Although she had trouble understanding what he was talking about a lot of the time, his face was totes an open book. Nine times out of ten, she could guess his state of mind just by looking as his expression. But as he looked over everyone, she had no idea what was going through his head.

A moment later he began to whisper again, and his spell delivered his words to her ears, but for a moment she didn’t believe them. Then she realized he was being serious – when was he not serious? – and she couldn’t resist the smile that wormed its way onto her face, grinning at him. Although she’d stopped being mad at him when she’d realized that there was something serious going on, she couldn’t help but give him a warm look now.

Although the two of them hadn’t been together very long, they’d had plenty of fights during that time. Sometimes he’d been right, and other times she had been. But during those times when she’d been the one who was right, Lex had never – with one notable exception – admitted that he was wrong or apologized to her, instead “just so happening” to change his mind in a manner that oh-so-coincidentally matched what she had been saying before. That apparently meant that he wasn’t really wrong, to his thinking.

Sonata didn’t care about that, since she understood what he meant even if he couldn’t say it, and it was exactly the same now as she turned to address the assembled ponies. “Okay, so like, this is a totes bad situation. In fact, it’s more than Lex can handle by himself.” She could see him glaring at her out of the corner of her eye, knowing he disapproved of how much she was changing what he’d said, but she ignored him. Making him sound better was part of being a spokespony, after all. “But that doesn’t mean that it’s hopeless!”

She paused, and took in how everypony was hanging on her every word. Even in such a bad situation, it felt super good to be the object of everyone’s attention. “Ever since we got here, each and every one of you has, like, totes gone above and beyond. You’ve fought off monsters, helped fortify this place, and always been super brave no matter what happened! You’ve risen to the occasion before, and Lex and I both know that you can again now! That’s why, if we all fight together, we can win!”

The crowd didn’t erupt in cheers the way she’d hoped, but they didn’t begin to protest either. Instead, they seemed to have mixed feelings, murmuring amongst themselves with obvious nervousness. “I know how that sounds,” continued Sonata. “After all, if our hero here,” she swept a hoof toward Lex, who still looked put out by her theatricality, “can’t beat these things, then what hope do the rest of us have, right?” Several nods and statements of affirmation were given in response.

“But don’t worry!” she continued. “We’re not just going to rush out there and hope for the best! Lex has thought up a strat-, strateger-, a plan that we’re gonna to use to send those ugly monsters packing! So long as we stick to that, we’re totes gonna kick their butts!” Another rumble ran through the crowd, and this time it sounded more positive, making Sonata grin. She was getting through to them! Giving Lex a pointed smile, she brought it home. “So what do you say? Are you gonna hide in here? Or are you gonna follow Lex and be known as the heroes who saved Vanhoover?!”

An enthusiastic roar was the response, and Sonata waited for it to die down before she began to explain Lex’s plan in detail.

---

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Although it was phrased as a question, Cloudbank knew that Drafty wasn’t asking. She also wasn’t surprised, given what had happened in the last few minutes. Glancing back at Lex, Cloudbank gave him an apologetic look. “I’ll be right back.”

“We don’t have much time,” he shot back disapprovingly.

“This will only take a moment,” interjected Drafty, before turning and walking to the other side of the room, Cloudbank following behind her. They didn’t really have much privacy there, but with the doors still sealed shut thanks to Lex’s warding, there was no other choice. Once she’d reached the opposite wall, Drafty rounded on the other mare. “What do you think you’re doing?!” she hissed softly.

“Drafty-”

“You volunteered for the most dangerous part!”

“Somepony had to,” replied Cloudbank evenly.

“But it didn’t have to be you!” insisted Drafty fiercely. “Any pegasus would do! Why are you so eager to be the one who puts her life on the line?!”

“We’re all going to be putting our lives on the line.” Cloudbank pointed back towards the crowd, which was currently sorting through the large pile of weapons and armor that Lex had created. She had to admit, the way that he’d been able to conjure them out of nowhere was almost as awesome as the fact that they were all made out of black crystals. Only Cozy had been freaked out by it, refusing to make use of any of them. Everypony else was getting suited up and selecting a weapon.

“You know what I mean! You’re going to be the one in the most danger, just like before!” She’d been trying to keep her voice low and her agitation in check, but Drafty could feel her nerves starting to fray. “All those times you went out to get water when I was sick…I felt guilty every time you left, did you know that? And then when we were headed here, you were the one watching out for us when that thing tried to force the doors open. And now you’re doing it again…putting yourself in danger for everyone else.” She blinked, her eyes suddenly watery, and she rubbed a hoof over them. “You shouldn’t have to be the one to keep stepping up.”

“I never felt like I had to, Drafty.” Cloudbank’s response was as soft as it was powerful, stepping closer and putting a hoof on Drafty’s chest. “I want to do this.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Cloudbank faltered for a moment, her courage wavering, not just because of what they were about to do, but also because their conversation had attracted a few stares as well. Biting her lip, she tried to think of what to say, to explain how she felt, but the words wouldn’t come. Nuts to it, she decided. If this doesn’t work, we’re all done for anyway. Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to let her actions be her answer.

Acting before she could chicken out, Cloudbank leaned in and kissed Drafty full on the lips.

Author's Note:

Sonata rallies everypony as Lex begins to reveal his plan, and Cloudbank reveals her feelings for Drafty.

Will they make it through this, or will their corps become a corpse?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Spokespony Sonata did it again though I wonder if she might have used some of her powers to influence them. Either way, everyone's pumped and ready to save the day, and themselves while they're at it.

Considering what the Vanhoover Survivors have been through, that kiss was inevitable, though the timing screams death flag at me. Regardless of Lex's plans or the durability of the armaments he conjured up, there are bound to be casualties. At least, that's how I see it...I really hope I'm wrong.

[Alzrius]

Well, it seems like she was being genuine, rather than using her powers to make everypony optimistic.

But yeah, that kiss does seem like a death flag, doesn't it? Of course, given that Lex wants badly to protect the ponies under his command, he's hopefully putting a premium on their defense. But on the other hoof, they're facing some seriously bad odds. So there's no way to be certain what will happen...save to keep reading.

[terrycloth]

Maybe their corpses will become a copse?

With some tasteful shrubberies, and maybe a marble memorial...

[Booster Spice]

Sonata used a Bardic method? Enthuse or something, gives mild bonuses that can be the difference between getting slaughtered and surviving? I cant remember what level it is or because of being a Siren she gets extra spells as Cantrips, something like Enamor or Charm etc, like a Nymph has Dazzeling Gleam?

[Alzrius]

8108780 The copse would become compost, you say?

[Alzrius]

8109545 Well, bear in mind that her powers are typically utilized when she sings, rather than just tries to give a motivational speech.

[James Fire]

The desolation continues. As I walk through these empty streets, not a single soul is seen, in the once glorious typo empire.