//------------------------------// // 947 - On a Mission from a Goddess // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “You think you can command me to do anything?” Lex issued his challenge in a quiet voice, staring hard at the cerulean lights that served as Steel Soul’s eyes. The force of his will bore down on the metal skeleton that was the Night Mare’s third champion then, daring him to answer in the affirmative. He didn’t know what the artificial pony meant by “correcting” the Noctem, but he refused to show the slightest amount of weakness in front of someone he already knew was his enemy. Sanguine Disposition had tried to entrap him with guile and allure, as befitting the bearer of the Secreta, offering an escape from the relentless pain and frustration of his life. Steel Soul, by contrast, was the bearer of the Dominata, and while Lex didn’t know precisely how that blessing operated, he could guess that the champion who wielded it would be far less oblique in his attempts to be overbearing. After all, there had been nothing subtle about the attacks which had driven the creatures of Darkest Night berserk while he, Solvei, and Akna had been trying to exit the realm. And while Lex hadn’t known what was causing the mayhem at the time, in hindsight – after he’d become a titan, able to review his own memories with perfect accuracy and an intellect that bordered on quite literally godlike – it had been easy to ascertain who had been behind it. That the chaos had ultimately benefitted him was irrelevant. Steel Soul had made an attempt not just on his own life, but on both of the lives that were now Solvei. No matter what it took, Lex would find a way to make him pay for that. But Steel Soul’s reaction to his defiance was a shrill laugh, the sound harsh and grating. “Of course I can command you,” came his reply a moment later. “I’m smarter than you are. I’m stronger than you are. I have more resources, more followers, and more power than you have. And I possess the Dominata, the greatest of the Night Mare’s blessings.” He lifted one mechanical hoof then, pointing it directly at Lex. “Would you care to see it in action?” “Go right ahead.” Lex didn’t move, issuing instructions to his tulpa as he called a spell to mind, preparing to spring. The Night Mare might have forbidden her champions from fighting, but if Steel Soul wanted to presume that her absence meant that prohibition was suspended, Lex was perfectly happy to oblige him. “My reply will be the last thing you ever see.” The blue glow of Steel Soul’s eyes shone brighter- Just in time for Sanguine Disposition to step in between them, chuckling at the display. “You know, as much as I enjoy seeing a contest of mettle versus metal, I recommend saving your energy. We have a Noctem to correct, after all.” Just so. Out of his peripheral vision, Lex caught a momentary glimpse of the Night Terror peering down at them from an elevated position further back in Mare Occultum, at the very edge of his darkvision. For whatever reason, she couldn’t seem to remain in one place very long, and other than when she’d briefly revealed herself to him, seemed to prefer remaining unseen. She was like a predator who was always on the hunt. Until that sacrilege has been rectified, I will allow for no infighting. Only when this is done will I grant you leave to kill each other. The Night Terror’s words made Lex grimace inwardly. He’d wondered what her reaction would be to violence threatening to erupt between two champions of her parent goddess, and her finding fault with it only because it would have interfered with them carrying out her wishes was another indication of just how different she was from the Night Mare. Lex Legis, continued the avatar. The imbuement that my debased self gave you is an insult to me. That there could be power in “heroic charisma” is a contradiction in terms, and embodies the worst aspects of that flawed Noctem. The threat of violence is far more worthy of esteem... Steel Soul laughed again. ...and secret knowledge has its uses... Sanguine Disposition’s smile grew slightly wider. ...but the power you have been given is fundamentally flawed. It seeks to grant worth to the worthless, power to the powerless, and use to the useless. Such a thing deserves only condemnation, and as the one chosen to bear it, so do you. Lex grit his teeth, forcing himself to remain silent. The Charismata was his proof of the Night Mare’s favor, the power that bound him to Solvei, Nenet, and Mei Li. It had saved his life, and numerous other lives, on multiple occasions. To hear it so openly degraded was blasphemy, and if it had come from anyone other than an aspect of the Night Mare herself, he’d have made his displeasure known. But if the Night Terror was aware of his reaction to her words, she made no mention of it. I was shocked when I felt you reach out to me, as I had heard nothing of that preposterous benediction being given to a new bearer. I even dared to think that perhaps the rest of me had come to her senses, realizing how loathsome a thing her “Charismata” truly was. Instead, she valued it too much, and paid the price for it. “Don’t you dare vituperate the sacrifice the Night Mare made!” hissed Lex, eyes glowing green and purple as he turned to scan the area, furious. “Her actions are worthy of the highest veneration, and I will not allow anyone to criticize them, not even her avatar!” Another telepathic rasping hiss, presumably the closest thing the Night Terror could make to laughter, was her reply. And so you prove me right, spewing such heresy in the defense of such weakness. As I said before, you are no champion of mine. “Is this why you called me here?” snarled Lex, still unable to pinpoint where the Night Terror was. The fact that she’d stopped his fight with Steel Soul before it had begun meant that this likely wasn’t a prelude to an attack, but Lex was growing more and more certain that she hadn’t had Sanguine Disposition bring him to Mare Occultum for anything good. “So that you can demonstrate how different you are from the Night Mare?” I called you here, replied the Night Terror, to give you a chance to earn my favor. Lex’s eyes narrowed, finding no solace in that. “How?” By bringing the goddess that calls herself Lashtada here. Of all the things Lex had expected the Night Terror to say, that hadn’t been anywhere close to one of them. “What?” Bring Lashtada to me, repeated the avatar. Do this, and I will accept you as one of my own, and even allow you to keep that deplorable blessing you’ve been given. Lex barely heard what she was saying, trying to figure out what was going on. He knew that Lashtada was a goddess of love – that misbegotten human-pony hybrid, Soft Mane, had been a worshiper of hers, as had that irritating crystal mare Comfy Cozy and her deceased husband Pillowcase, the latter being subsequently resurrected by Princess Cadance, herself currently the head of Lashtada’s fledgling church in Equestria – but he couldn’t imagine what the Night Terror wanted with her. Or why she wanted him to be the one to retrieve her. His hesitation made Steel Soul snort. “Pathetic. Balking at facing a demigoddess whose only power is in her ability to procreate? I knew that bloodsucker’s tales of your exploits were exaggerated.” Sanguine Disposition clucked his tongue. “Now now. Even if she is a demigoddess, taking someone alive is far more difficult than simply destroying them outright.” “Spoken like the cowardly scavenger you are,” shot back Steel Soul. “Perhaps you should be the one to bring Lashtada here then, if you’re so confident,” interjected Lex, hoping that the Dominata’s bearer would rise to the bait. If he did, maybe he’d let some more information slip. “If you’re truly so much stronger than I am, it should be simple.” Steel Soul rounded on him immediately. “Easily done! And when I succeed, you will be cast out-” No, interrupted the Night Terror. Lex Legis is the one who will carry out this task. The sound of grinding metal could be heard as Steel Soul clenched his mechanical jaw. “You don’t need him! I have already mapped out a strategy to force Lashtada’s compliance! An assault on her realm-” Would immediately alert the rest of the pantheon, finished the Night Terror, still concealing her location. Lex Legis has the Hive Queen’s stink all over him, which will arouse the demigoddess of copulation’s interest enough to invite him in. Lex’s brow furrowed, and not just at the implication that Lashtada was a goddess of sex rather than love. “The Hive Queen?” “Kara,” murmured Sanguine Disposition, his smile fading the same way it had the last time he’d mentioned the goddess of love and shapeshifters. “That was Kara’s name a long time ago.” “And what does any of this have to do with the Noctem?” demanded Lex, filing that new bit of information away as he glanced between the vampire and the mechanized stallion. “How will bringing Lashtada here ‘correct’ the tenets of the Night Mare’s faith?” He half-expected the Night Terror to take offense at that, since she was supposedly offering him a chance to not only prove himself to her, but to participate in an action that she quite clearly considered to be exceptionally holy. Given how upset the avatar had been at Sanguine Disposition’s implying that the Night Mare had been the one to consign her to Mare Occultum, it wouldn’t have surprised Lex if his continued questioning of the Night Terror had resulted in her attacking him in rebuke. But instead, the goddess seemed almost to be amused by his lack of faith in her. Your display of mistrust concerns me not at all, Lex Legis, she murmured. Quite the contrary, I find it heartening to know that you don’t regard my current self with the misguided loyalty that the rest of me engendered in you. I care not whether you fear me or revere me, only that you obey me. And make no mistake, she continued. You WILL obey me. Or I will show you why those feelings of allegiance and devotion that you’ve so foolishly become enamored of are weaknesses. Lex clenched his talons. “What does that mean?” That I will place Steel Soul in charge of growing knowledge of me in that world you call Equestria. The threat brought a sneer to Lex’s lips. “A poor bluff. Even if you can take advantage of the faith the ponies there offer to the Night Mare, that world is still closed off to you. You couldn’t so much as open a portal there, let alone send that misbegotten creature there in my stead.” But the next two words out of Steel Soul’s mouth were enough to send a rush of panic through him. “Harrowing Ordeal.” Immediately, Lex reached for Belligerence, intent on wiping Steel Soul from existence, but the Night Terror was there in an instant, her whiplike tail suddenly coiling around his foreleg as he reached into his pocket dimension, keeping him from pulling the weapon out. I told you, she rasped. You can kill him after you perform my errand. Lex briefly considered fighting back – if Steel Soul knew who Harrowing Ordeal was, then there were any number of ways he could use the disgusting creature’s brief visit to Vanhoover to figure out the Equestria’s planar coordinates, meaning that he’d be able to get there on his own, without needing the Night Terror’s help – but knew that there was no way he’d be able to finish the mechanical stallion off before the Night Terror stopped him. Even if he were to use its vortex, potentially catching the avatar and Sanguine Disposition in it as well, the Night Terror was fast enough that she’d likely be able to not only withstand the pull, but get the other two clear as well. Slowly, Lex eased the tension in his limbs, even as the glow in his eyes grew brighter in fury. Better, grinned the Night Terror, withdrawing her tail and moving back into the darkness surrounding them. Now, as for your question, bringing Lashtada here is essential to correcting the Noctem because her mother – like so many others who have attachment to their spawn – will be easily manipulated into coming here alone once I tell her that her daughter is my captive. Fighting to control the killing frenzy that was attempting to descend upon him, Lex made himself pay attention. Everyone here was complicit in what had just happened – Sanguine Disposition for his treachery, Steel Soul for the danger he posed to Equestria, and the Night Terror for masterminding it all – and since they all had the power and the motivation to follow through on their threat, that meant that they all needed to be neutralized. Permanently. But that couldn’t happen right now. Right now, he needed to gather as much information as he could, so that he could deal with yet another imminent problem threatening extreme consequences before it got worse. And that meant choking down his wrath and getting the Night Terror to tell him as much as he could. “...Lashtada’s mother?” The one you call the “Moon Princess,” answered the avatar. Once I’ve slain her and her useless daughter and absorbed their divinity, then the Noctem will be what it always should have! From somewhere deeper in Mare Occultum, another shriek rang out. But this time the Night Terror’s cry wasn’t one of fury, but victory. It will mark the ascension of the one true goddess who rules the night!