//------------------------------//
// 290 - Long Awaited 
// Story: Lateral Movement 
// by Alzrius 
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For Aria, the next twenty-four hours alternated between passing at lightning speed and painful slowness.

She’d known for a while that the deadline Lex had set for himself to restore her voice was coming up fast, but up until now she hadn’t been able to fully bring herself to believe that he’d actually do it. Anxiety at the possibility of him coming up with some technicality or excuse to push back when he’d fulfill his promise had loomed large in her thoughts over the last few days; maybe there’d be some new disaster that would eat up his time, or another monster would show up that would leave him injured and unable to work his magic. The most terrifying prospect had been that she’d trip over some rule of his and he’d use that as justification for reneging on his word. After all, that had been what Cozy had done, after the little tramp had pretended to care about her.

But now…now she was one day away from having her voice back! The nearness of it, the reality of hearing Lex confirm that he was truly going to do it, had swept away her doubt and left her in a giddy state, unable to focus on anything else. She’d barely been paying attention during the little spellcasting session he’d convened, not realizing it was her turn to cast something until Sonata had kicked her and told her to get her rear in gear. Even then, she hadn’t been able to recall what magic she’d used afterward, too enamored of regaining what had been so cruelly taken from her all those months ago to concentrate very much.

After they’d finished, Lex had announced that he was going to start working on the spell immediately, and Aria would have squealed if she’d been able to. Although all he’d done was go into a corner and stare off into space, Aria had watched him like a hawk, her heart fluttering with excitement that maybe, just maybe, he’d look up and announce that his big, beautiful brain had put all the pieces together and finished the spell early! That hadn’t happened, of course; instead, he’d simply stopped and settled down after what she’d thought was only a few minutes. It had only been when she’d complained about how quickly he’d quit working that Nosey had incredulously informed her that Lex had been quietly concentrating, with the injured Siren staring at him all the while, for almost three hours. 

Sonata had snickered at that, and Aria had felt her cheeks heating up, but for once she’d held back from berating her idiot sister, not want to take even the slightest chance of messing things up this close to her goal.

When they’d all settled down to sleep, snuggling with Lex in what had started to become routine, Aria had been too excited to close her eyes. Instead, she’d just quietly gazed at the stallion that held the key to her future, imagining what was going to happen tomorrow. Not only would she have her voice back, but she’d be a pony, just like him… That thought was still with her when sleep had finally overtaken her.

Lex and the others had been gone by the time she’d woken up, sunlight streaming in through the gaps between the shutters. She’d peeked out the windows, spying Lex – Sonata and Nosey flanking him closely – giving orders to the camp ponies, and hadn’t been able to bring herself to move, just watching him and waiting for the moment when he'd turn to get her, telling her that it was finally time. But unlike the previous night, time had suddenly slowed to an interminable crawl, with every minute creeping by at the pace of a sleepy sea snail (which she’d once watched ooze by while listlessly passing the time in the sahuagins’ realm).

Eventually, Lex had moved out of her line of sight, and there’d been nothing to do but sit back and wait. She’d tried to make herself go back to sleep, knowing it would make the time pass by in a flash, but that had proven impossible; she was completely wired now. Finally, after what had to have been a thousand years, the doors to the station had opened, and Aria had practically thrown herself at the pony walking inside. She’d very nearly screamed in frustration when it turned out to be Nosey, delivering her lunch.

Aria, however, couldn’t have cared less about the food. “What’s Lex doing?!” she’d demanded. “Is he still working on the spell?! Is it almost ready?! When’s he going to fix my voice?!”

But Nosey had only shrugged apologetically. “Sorry. He hasn’t said anything about it.” She must have seen the look on Aria’s face at that, because she’d given her a reassuring smile as she’d placed the simple meal of two oranges, a muffin, and some cheese on a nearby bench. “Don’t worry. He’s Lex. He’ll come through for you. That’s what he does.”

To Aria’s surprise, that had calmed her down somewhat, but only a little. Nosey, apparently realizing there wasn’t anything else she could do to help, had left with a murmured platitude about hanging in there. Aria hadn’t bothered paying attention, knowing that the words were empty and sulking at having to wait even more. Lex said he’d fix her voice today, and Nosey hadn’t been wrong about him being so reliable – in the face of how chaotic and horrible her life had been recently, it was one of Lex’s more attractive qualities – but somehow, not knowing exactly when he was going to fix her voice made the last bit of waiting all the more unbearable.

She had been reaching her breaking point by the time it was sundown. Despite knowing that it was one of the worst things she could possibly do, Aria had found herself seriously contemplating going outside and finding Lex to demand satisfaction. She’d already used her tracking spell multiple times earlier in the day, just to get a fix on his position. Now she didn’t have enough magic left to use it again, and as day slowly turned into night, she could feel her self-control starting to slip. If he doesn’t come here and make good on his promise in the next five minutes, I swear I’ll-

That had been when the door had opened again. Aria’s heart had leapt into her throat as she turned her head so fast that she felt her neck muscles strain. That had to be…!

“Aria,” intoned Lex from where he was standing in the doorway. “It’s time.”





“It’s time,” announced the engineer. “Everypony knows what that means?”

Ticket Stub nodded blearily, seeing several other ponies do the same as wearied voices of affirmation rang out inside the passenger car. But despite the general agreement, the engineer didn’t look satisfied. “Listen, I know you’re all tired and wrung out. We knew that we’d have some trouble getting to Vanhoover, and despite things getting a little rough,” he glanced at Coal Hopper as he said that, and Ticket Stub overheard the mare snort in response. The engineer either missed it, however, or chose to ignore it, continuing. “We figured it out. But none of us was prepared for how bad off Vanhoover itself was.”

The train car had fallen silent by that point, everypony listening to the engineer’s words. “That’s why I want to say just how proud I am of each and every one of you. You all kept it together and performed as admirably as any rail crew I’ve ever served with. Even with all the confusion about what was going on, and that…unusual, pony running things, you kept your heads in the game. Because of that, we not only managed to offload the cargo that desperately needed to be shipped, we also managed to assist several sick ponies who needed a helping hoof. You should all be patting yourselves on the back for handling things so well.”

He smiled at them then, and Ticket Stub felt the corners of his lips turn up in response. Out of his periphery, he could see he wasn’t the only one. Encouraged, he glanced over at Coal Hopper, but her sour expression didn’t change save to roll her eyes. That was enough to put a damper on Ticket Stub’s enthusiasm, but he didn’t have a chance to dwell on it before the engineer kept speaking. “Now, the last couple days have been tough. We’ve all been working double and triple shifts in order to keep the engine fired up so that we can get to Canterlot as fast as possible, and I know you’re all worried about those ponies back in that passenger car. So that’s why I want to make absolutely sure that we’re not going to drop the ball at the eleventh-”

He was cut off as the train’s whistle sounded, shrieking out a particular series of long and short blasts. Despite how loud it was, Ticket Stub perked his ears up, knowing that the pattern wasn’t random; train whistles were always blown in accordance with a series of signals that all rail ponies learned as part of their job, with each combination of long and short blasts indicating something different. It only allowed for simple messages, such as “all is well,” “mechanical trouble,” or “disregard previous message,” but those were enough to get the basics across to any rail ponies within earshot.

Now, as they started to slow down, Ticket knew that the signal they’d just sent had been the one for “emergency.”

“Alright folks, let’s get ready to move!” bellowed the engineer. The brakes were already starting to squeal, and Ticket knew that they’d be at the train station in a few minutes. “Remember the plan! You two,” he pointed at a pair of pegasi, “as soon as we come to a stop take off immediately for the hospital and let the doctors know what’s going on. See if they can get some personnel down here to help with transport. At worst, they’ll meet the doctors on the way. While they’re doing that, I want the rest of you to be ready to help those doctors we’ve got back there.” He pointed to a group in the back of the passenger car. “Remember, they’re probably a lot more tired than we are, and they had to remove those mattresses from their hospital beds, so they won't be able to transport their patients too easily. Just do what they say and get those ponies to the hospital as quick as you can.” 

“And Coal Hopper and I are on troubleshooting,” piped up Ticket Stub, knowing what came next from the last time they’d gone over this. “We’ll handle anything else that might come up.”

“Right,” nodded the engineer. “Good job, kid.”

“Why’s he acting like he came up with everything?” muttered Coal Hopper under her breath, soft enough that only Ticket Stub could hear her…or at least, he hoped so. “We all worked it out on the trip here.”

“He’s the engineer,” replied Ticket Stub in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “With the conductor in the engine at the moment, he’s the ranking pony present.”

“‘Ranking pony’?” scoffed Coal Hopper. “It’s not like we’re in the Royal Guard.”

But any further bickering was cut off as the train finally came to a halt, stopping with one last jolt. “Alright everypony!” bellowed the engineer. “Hop to it!”

He was already moving as he spoke, heading back to the exit at the front side of the passenger car and throwing it open. “Look alive!” he bellowed. “We’ve got sick pon-erk!” His eyes bulged as his jaw suddenly snapped shut, freezing in place. The sight was enough to cause everyone else to stop what they were doing as well, looking at the stupefied engineer in confusion.

“What’s going on here? Is everypony alright?”

“Y-Your Majesty!” croaked the engineer in response to the mellifluous, feminine voice floating into the car from outside. “I, um, er…” For a second his jaw flapped, but nothing came out except more unintelligible grunts. After a moment, he looked around the interior of the passenger car wildly, clearly out of his depth. When he locked eyes with Ticket Stub an instant later, he managed to find his voice.

“Troubleshooting!”