566 - Private Scry
The next morning, Lex awoke well before dawn.
Despite having finally secured the loan that Vanhoover needed, his nightmares had been as bad as ever, ending with the abrupt shift to wakefulness that ensured he started his day without the slightest shred of imperturbation. But as unpleasant as it was, Lex had already put it out of his thoughts less than two seconds after returning to consciousness, knowing that he had a great deal of work to do and not much time to do it before they left for Las Pegasus. Besides, if he had to spend the next several weeks engaged in leisure – something that made him profoundly uncomfortable to consider – then it was all the more reason to push himself now.
Though the sleeping mares pressed against him on either side seemed to have other ideas about that.
Not wanting to wake them – a sentiment borne as much from his desire to work undisturbed as it was from tender feelings toward the pair – Lex wasted several seconds trying to gently disentangle himself from Sonata and Aria before realizing that it was futile. Although he’d made it clear last night that there would be no lovemaking until the issue of their room being soundproofed was resolved, the girls hadn’t taken his declaration lying down, becoming quite upset that they were being punished (despite his repeated assurances that they weren’t) after how useful they’d made themselves. It was only after a compromise had been reached, wherein they’d eschew conjugal activities in favor of what Sonata had termed “hardcore cuddling,” that they’d all gone to sleep. As favorable as the arrangement had seemed at the time, result was that he was pinned between the two of them now.
A pang running through him as he recalled when something similar had happened back when they’d all been sleeping on a bench in Vanhoover’s train station – back when Nosey had still been with them – Lex silently called on his dark magic, turning into a shadow and passing soundlessly through the bed and toward the door.
Soft groans of displeasure from both mares made him stop, glancing back at the two of them as they unconsciously adjusted to his leaving. Considering them for a moment, Lex telekinetically lifted two of the larger pillows and placed them between Sonata and Aria. That would stop the latter from accidentally touching the former, triggering the curse he’d placed on her and likely waking her up.
Further thought saw him telekinetically tucking in the blankets around Sonata, since she had a tendency to swish her tail in her sleep and displace them. And Aria’s hair was slightly in her face, requiring it to be moved back before it disturbed her. Both girls also needed to have their sleeping positions adjusted – very carefully so as not to rouse them – so that they weren’t lying the wrong way, potentially cutting off the circulation to a carelessly-placed leg, along with several other minor adjustments that needed to be made in order for them to rest properly.
Finally certain that they were as comfortable as he could make them, Lex turned away, floating through the wall of the bedroom and into the study portion of his suite.
The materials that he’d told Feather Duster to gather were neatly arranged on his desk, but Lex was less concerned with them than he was with the ornate, full-length silver mirror standing in the corner of the room. It was one of several that had been brought into the living area of their suite last night, while Coat Tail had been dressing him, so that he could examine his outfit from every conceivable angle. But while the other mirrors had been removed after the tailoring on his ensemble had been completed, Lex had ordered this one to be placed in his study. Nopony had seemed to give it much thought at the time, being too focused on the imminent dinner meeting, but it was the sole object of Lex’s attention now.
Not bothering with a source of illumination, since he could see in the dark while in shadow-form, Lex approached the reflective surface and began to cast a spell.
The evocation that he’d used to imprison Behemiel – the creature Twilight Sparkle had summoned during their duel – in ice had been the only thaumaturgical spell he’d had left that was combat-oriented. The remaining few contained in his mind, of which there were less than ten now, were entirely utilitarian in nature, focusing on esoteric tasks such as creating a floating disk to carry things, warding an area so that an alarm would go off if someone entered it, or the one he was casting now: a scrying spell, designed to let him clandestinely see and hear someone regardless of the distance between them.
It had been several weeks since he’d last used this particular bit of magic. At the time, he’d tried to contact Twilight (since the channel the spell created between himself and the target could potentially be enhanced, allowing him to use his whisper-spell through it), goaded by Cloudbank into admitting that Vanhoover’s situation was dire enough that it warranted reaching out to the princesses for assistance despite his animosity toward them. The attempt had failed, however, and Lex still wasn’t certain if that was because the spell simply hadn’t been able to properly fixate on Twilight, or if Xiriel had done something to interfere with magical communications into and out of the city.
There was no evidence of the latter, of course, but given the diverse selection of spells on the scroll Lex had taken from the thing, it wasn’t implausible to imagine that one designed to isolate particular areas from what he was doing now had been among them. There was no way to be certain of that, however; utilizing a spell stored in a scroll caused the writing to vanish as part of the activation, much like how the spells he imbued into gemstones caused those gems to crumble to dust when they were released. Still, Lex couldn’t imagine the meticulous creature not having a way to make sure that magical calls for help could be defeated once it had started capitalizing on the city’s downfall.
But it was just as possible that his spell had failed of its own accord. After all, Twilight had been on Everglow at the time, and while this spell was capable of piercing planar boundaries, it lost a certain amount of efficacy in doing so, like an arrow needing to punch through a layer of armor in order to reach its target. Nor was that the only potential problem it faced; this spell’s core function was to create a channel between himself and the target, a task whose difficulty was inversely proportionate to how much data about the target he was able to input during the casting process.
Having something of theirs was the easiest way to do that, since he could simply have the spell itself analyze and look for shared characteristics. A strand of hair, or some similar piece of the target’s body, would have been ideal. A favored garment or possession was almost as good, and even a picture or likeness would have presented something to work with.
Casting the spell without those – as he was now – meant that his only option was to manually direct the spell toward what he knew of the person in question. That would have worked far better if they were someone he knew well, or had at least met them before. But neither of those were the case now, leaving him with nothing but second-hoof information to work from…
Minutes ticked by as Lex chanted, the edges of his umbral form swirling in an approximation of the necessary gesticulations. This particular spell took a full hour to cast, a result of how much data needed to be input as the requisite energies were being shaped and directed toward the person he wanted to locate. Most spells didn’t require anywhere near as long due to most of the salient information already having been entered into them; what few adjustments needed to be made during the casting process, such as targeting coordinates, were minor enough that their impact on the time needed to activate the spell was negligible. Not so with this one.
Still, for all its tediousness – and the ever-present possibility of failure – the advantages of his shadow-form made the spell’s casting slightly easier. While Lex could say without conceit that he had more than enough discipline to perform sixty minutes’ worth of precise chanting while simultaneously making the exacting gesticulations the scrying required (he had done so for far longer when conducting the ritual to change Aria into a pony, after all), being immaterial meant that much of the unpleasantness associated with doing so was mitigated simply because he had no physical form for the activity to tax. There would be no aches from standing still for too long, nor strain on his voice from the constant utterances required of him, nor any similar discomforts.
But that wasn’t why he’d elected to remain in this state before he’d begun casting the spell.
Rather, he had chosen to stay in shadow-form out of an abundance of caution.
Scrying on someone meant creating a channel between himself and the target. But while that channel could be augmented to the point of allowing supplementary magic to flow across it, that was just one way in which it could be potentially manipulated. Theoretically, there were numerous other possibilities, some of which could be used as vectors of attack, and not just by the spell’s caster.
Indeed, the counter-scrying spell Lex had cast on himself back on Everglow – one that he’d labored long and hard to create, unable to abide the mere possibility of being remotely spied upon without his knowledge – was built on that very idea. In the event that it detected a scrying sensor in his vicinity, it would immediately activate, flooding the channel with more energy than it could handle, collapsing it and causing the scrying’s caster to be bombarded with an explosion of electrical feedback on their end. Or at least, that’s what it was supposed to do; to date, the spell had never come across its activating condition, so he wasn’t completely sure it would function the way it was designed to.
Hopefully, this wouldn’t turn out to be its first field test.
It was with that grim thought in mind that Lex finally finished casting the spell, peering intently at the mirror as he waited for the results, or lack thereof, to manifest.
For all the ways this spell could fail, and the potential dangers if it succeeded, the major issue with scrying on someone was ultimately a tactical one. If it worked, it would still only last for a few minutes at most, which meant that it was only as useful as what you could learn about the target during that time. Scrying on Celestia or Luna while they were making plans to undermine him, for instance, would have been eminently valuable…but only if he knew exactly when they were making those plans. Otherwise, he ran the risk of wasting his spell to watch one of them eat a meal, or read a book, or otherwise engage in some pointless activity. The only information that a successful casting was guaranteed to return, countermeasures notwithstanding, was the target’s disposition and immediate surroundings.
But when it came to Long Road, the donkey that Rarity had begged him to bring back, and Adagio Dazzle, whom Sonata and Aria had asked him to find, that was more data than he had at the moment, making the use of this spell warranted.
While he could only use this spell to try and scry on one individual, it had been easy for Lex to decide which of those two he should be the focus of his efforts. Long Road was a donkey for whom there was credible (though not conclusive) reason to believe was dead. Adagio, by contrast, was a pony who – as far as her sisters knew – was alive back on Everglow. To confirm Adagio’s current circumstances now, and potentially make contact with her through the scrying, was by far the more rational decision. If Long Road was still alive months after his disappearance, a few more weeks – which is how long Lex would need to prepare this spell again (the equinox being just over a month away now) and review what Thermal Draft learned in Trottingham – would likely make little difference.
Not that this seems to have made much of a difference either, sighed Lex silently, staring at the unresponsive mirror. Although this was only the second time he’d used this spell – the silver mirror it called for was one that required a high degree of craftsmareship, something that was much rarer on Everglow than Equestria, leading to him only acquiring one shortly before returning home (which had been subsequently lost when he’d been forced to jettison the extradimensional pouch containing it, and most of his other belongings, during his fight with Xiriel) – several seconds had already passed with no effect. If the spell had worked, then surely by now something-
The mirror’s surface rippled.
Like a pond that had a pebble thrown into it, the flat surface pulsated, the reflection of his green-and-purple eyes slowly fading away. The glass’s surface lightened, no longer showing the gloom of the unlit room but instead turning a misty gray color, murky at first but gradually clearing up, revealing a figure…
A moment later Lex beheld Adagio Dazzle.
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Don't even think about shifting POV on us now. This mystery has been a long time coming and three days is already going to be a torture after that cliffhanger
Well, I expect Adagio will probably be scheming as per usual though to someone else's benefit since I doubt she'd be allowed to do much without being monitored especially given how short a time has technically passed. I need to keep reminding myself that despite all the troubles Lex has gone through to reach this point, a lot of it happened within a relatively short period of time.
With that in mind, even if Adagio has performed her duties well, she still won't be trusted so easily given her actions in the past. At least not yet but I'm sure she's earned the 'favor' of more than a few individuals that she likely considers useful to her.
Anyways, I almost forgot that Lex's repertoire of spells from the Everglow can only be prepared at a very specific point in time due to Severance getting the boot. Though if the princesses ever learn about this, they will undoubtedly deny him such an opportunity to do so, especially when Twilight informs them of his lack of magic during the duel and the fact that they have information on him from his days at the school and with Twilight being...well, Twilight.
...in the shower.
Eh, probably not since she was in Siren form last we saw her, but that sounds like Lex's kind of luck.
Lex gets a sucess, so what kind of problems will this unlock, especially if his kickback triggers and its accidental?
10676565
*hastily rewrites Chapter 567 on how Comfy Cozy and her husbands are settling into married life*
10676604 Adagio, alone among the Sirens, is proactive in trying to get what she wants. While Sonata makes no pretense of being driven, and Aria likes to present herself as being leadership material (despite that being only skin-deep), Adagio actually has it in her to identify clear goals and take action necessary to progress toward them. She certainly wants to be adored, but she understands that achieving that will require actual work on her part (to say nothing of having to corral her sisters into following her lead).
Of course, Adagio isn't exactly a big fish in a small pond anymore. Everglow isn't like Earth (which is magic-free) or Equestria (where magic is plentiful, but mostly weak); it's a high-powered world, and while that doesn't mean that earth-shattering magic is around every corner, it's not exactly the province of a tiny cabal of users either. So it'll be interesting to see how well Adagio has - or hasn't - adapted to that. As you noted, it's only been a few months since we last saw her, so she might still be figuring things out.
As for Lex's diminished ability to recover his most powerful magic, he's managed to keep the specifics of that weakness from getting out, but while he might have confounded Twilight somewhat by using that icy prison spell on Behemiel, she still knows that something's wrong with his spellcasting. At this point, it might very well be a matter of time before she puts the pieces together. If she does, and shares it with the other princesses, then Lex will likely find himself on the defensive until he can come up with some way around that particular weakness.
10676662 You jest, but I suspect that for spellcasters able to use that spell with regularity (perhaps by using a crystal ball), quite a few engage in voyeurism.
10676842 It seems to be Lex's lot to always do things the hard way (almost as though, when in Equestria, not achieving things via friendship means that you're swimming upstream), so it seems entirely possible that this will lead to future complications somehow.
A moment later Lex beheld Adagio Dazzle.
and Lex thinks keeping 2 of the 3 sisters in line is hard.
10677802 Yeah. Insofar as "Siren waifu taming" goes, Sonata was Easy difficulty, Aria was Normal, and Adagio is Hard mode.
This story is vile and for your own sake I would advise against starting it.
10677867 I disagree, particularly since that ship has long since sailed.
Aw man I was late for this one, oh well. Good to see that scrying spells are feeble and 90% of the time useless to him as they are to me.
10680041 Scrying spells in general, and the specific spell scrying in particular, aren't so much feeble as they are subject to various limitations, and Lex knew that he was facing a lot of negative modifiers with his casting. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten through anyway. Now it's just a question of what he's about to see...
10680379
OK if the story goes up to mature because of what we will see I'm gonna be proud XD