116 - Follow the Rail
It wasn't long before the group had mobilized. Sonata felt breathing on her back. She looked over her shoulder at the mare perched there, "Everything OK?"
She smiled a little uncertainly, "I'd rather be walking on my own, but thank you, for carrying me." Her forelegs squeezed lightly, "You've been very kind. What is your relation to the other one?"
"Other one?" asked Sonata, "You mean Lex?"
She nodded, "That one. You seem to like him, but I don't think he likes you back."
Sonata's eyes lowered, "Yeah... I thought he was different, but he's just like my sisters, all angry and hurtful. I don't want that."
"Nor should you," agreed Sonata's passenger. "So, are you related?"
Sonata shook her head, "That'd be silly. He's a unicorn, and I'm a sea pony. Like, does it work that way?"
She shrugged a little, "I've heard of stranger. Are you two dating then?"
Sonata blushed faintly, "As if. I don't even think he knows how to be romantic."
"Then how did you two come to be together?" pressed the mare.
Sonata shook her head a little, "Same place, same time? We were totally hanging out with Twilight and her friends and the train exploded. Here we are. Uh, before you ask, Twilight's a nice unicorn. She's really into magic, but it doesn't look near as painful when she does it. I bet they're coming for us right now!"
An anxious voice asked from the crowd, "Who?"
Sonata smiled brightly, "My friends, of course. They wouldn't leave us hanging."
Twilight and Spike had joined Rainbow in the air, soaring above the rail and leaving Applejack and Soft Mane behind. Applejack had submitted to carrying the satyr along, able to bear her forward much faster than Soft could hope to go in her heavy armor. Soft repaid the kindness with ear scratches and neck rubs that had Applejack shivering softly as she marched. "Where did you learn to do that?" asked Applejack.
Soft smiled gently, "You're hardly the first kind earth-bound pony to give me a ride. My mother has you beat by over a decade. I know where to pet a hard worker to make the day not feel so bad." Her fingers gently worked over Applejack, easing little bits of pressure that Applejack hadn't even realized existed.
"Well, whatever yer doing, ya just keep doing that and you'll get no complaint from me," said Applejack, her eyes half-shut. This was not an order Soft Mane had objection to. Tending to Applejack was, in many ways, like being back home. The feel of her powerful pony body underneath Soft was comforting on many levels, even if she had grown too large to make it look anything but awkward.
A short distance away, Lex stole a glance at Sonata as he led the group forward, quickly returning his eyes to the wilderness ahead of them. He'd lost count of how many times he'd done that in the last few hours, and just like every other time, his quick glimpse of her had offered no new insights into what she was thinking.
Not for the first time, Lex found himself wishing that he knew magic that would allow him to read minds. Doing so would have been an unforgivable invasion of privacy, of course, but at times like these - times when he desperately wanted to understand what somepony else was thinking - he would have been tempted! Because no matter how much he replayed their last few interactions in his mind, no matter what metrics he used to judge her actions and reactions, he simply couldn't understand what she was thinking.
He had been right to chastise her before, of that he was certain. She had been wrong to use her magic on him without asking him first, certainly. Likewise, he couldn't have her thinking that she was anywhere near as intelligent or as competent as he was - that sort of massive overestimation of her own abilities would only undermine the current dynamic, which was all that was keeping the survivors together. He had no doubt that if he wasn't here, most of them would have been dead already.
No, he hadn't been wrong to take her to task. It was for her own good. For everypony's good. Certainly she would come to understand that in time... understand and appreciate it.
Is that why she has been avoiding you? Because she appreciates your belittling her? The words slid through Lex's mind, voiceless and mocking.
His lip curling as he glanced at his shadow, Lex knew better than to answer. Better to ignore its barbs and let it sink back into quiescence. Besides, talking back to it would only have frightened the others. Instead, Lex forced his attention back to the matter at hand, scanning the skyline for that purrsian he'd sent to scout the surrounding area.
Willow didn't keep Lex waiting for long, coming in for a smooth landing on two legs before falling to four gracefully, "It looks clear on all sides, tracks not included." She was quiet a moment before she added, "Clearer than you, at any rate. If you see a jewel you want so badly, take it, buy it, or steal it. Don't stare at it." Classic purrsian advice. "I'd start by saying you thought she was pretty." Willow shrugged and walked off without waiting for a reply, wisdom dispensed.
The phoenix wolf had recovered well, able to trot along with the others as they hiked through the wilderness. "This is not what I imagined when I boarded the train. They promised comfort and speed, and this is neither."
"Tell me about it," replied a mare walking alongside him. "It's not normally like that. I've ridden the train plenty of times. I hope the gnoll responsible is made to suffer. We have no right to complain, at least we're alive enough to be uncomfortable." She threw her head back towards the direction they came, "Others can't say the same."
"How much longer do you think that will be the case with Mr. Creepy in charge?" murmured a stallion, hanging back in hope that Lex wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. "Seriously, am I the only one that doesn't trust him? Everything about him screams 'I'm a bad guy'! For all we know, he's leading us into some sort of trap!"
"I think you're being paranoid," rebuked the mare. "So far, he's-"
"He worships the Night Mare," interjected a new voice. Another mare, a unicorn, moved up from where she'd been trailing behind the others. "I didn't want to say anything before, but I recognized the prayers he was using when he cast those spells. He was intoning her power." She paused for a moment, before pressing on "He also acts like one of her priests. He's protective but domineering and... he has us out here, where we're away from civilization."
A shudder went through the group at that particular revelation. All of them knew about the tyrannical goddess, who claimed dominion over the beasts that dwelled outside of the Empire's protective boundaries. Several of them glanced at Lex, a new fear filling their eyes.
"What should we do?" The stallion was the first to speak up, whispering. "We can't keep following him like this now that we know!"
It was Willow who interceded that time, "Spoken like a bunch of ignorant horses." She snorted loudly, "Don't even know your own gods. If he is worshipping the Night Mare, you couldn't be in a safer place. No hungry monster will make off with us without paying tribute to him first, and probably being whipped into line. Like the wolf last night. The Night Mare's lash sent it packing." She spread her wings, stretching them as she walked, "I'd rather a good old-fashioned Sun worshipper myself, but it's not the day I'm worried about for Sunflower."
Most of this conversation went over Sonata's head. She knew little of gods, be they pony or feline, "We really should relax. He's a big dumb jerk, but he's doing his best. He deserves a wedgie, after we get to town." She frowned a little and looked around, "Where is Sunflower, now that you mentioned him?"
Willow froze, going pale. Sunflower was nowhere in sight. She took to the air instantly, doing lazy circles into the air until she could get a better view of the area, but then came down quickly, "I don't see him!" She looked at Sonata pointedly, "Find him, please. He trusts you."
Sonata had no idea how to track a kitten, but she wasn't about to give up. She nodded at Willow and looked around. The forest to the left seemed like a likely place, so she trotted off in that direction at a vigorous pace.
Lex, who had been ruminating over what Willow had said to him before, hadn't noticed any of this. His attention was grabbed only when he glanced at Sonata again and did a double-take as he saw her trotting off towards the woods. "Sonata! What are you doing!?"
He came to a stop, not noticing as the rest of the group did the same. He started after her, before pausing, giving a frustrated look towards the others. If both of them left, then there'd be nopony to guard the rest of the group. He looked back and forth for a minute as Sonata, either ignoring him or not having heard him, continued into the treeline.
Cursing, he turned back to the group. "Do any of you have any rope?" He doubted it, since rope would have been bulky enough to be obvious, otherwise he'd have asked last night. To his surprise, the stallion from before shuffled forward.
"I have a ball of yarn," he offered, pulling one out of one of his bags. He blinked as everyone stared at him for a moment. "What? I like knitting."
"Cut me off a five-foot length," growled Lex, glancing impatiently towards the trees again. Sonata could no longer be seen. He waited impatiently as the required thread was cut, then grabbed it. Adjusting his circlet, he cast a quick spell, and the thread rose up into the air, hanging from an unseen anchor. "Climb that. You can't see it from here, but there's a safe space at the top of this. Don't try to pull the rope in after you, and don't leave it until I come back."
Not waiting for a reply, Lex turned and galloped off after where Sonata had disappeared.
Spike pointed far ahead, "I think I see something!"
Twilight squinted, but saw little but the ground, the trail, and a scattering of trees, "I don't see anything?"
Spike shrugged, "It isn't much, but it's clear as day to me. Follow me." He dipped down from the sky with Twilight and Rainbow following. As they drew closer it became more clear. There was a rope hanging from... nothing?
"Weird," stated Dash as she did a slow circle around it. "So what do we do with it? A rope's not going to get us any closer to finding them."
Twilight plopped down on her haunches, "Let's give Applejack a moment to catch up."
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When dealing with an unknown number of unknown monsters, its better to have a known number of partially known monster on your side?
I havent seen the hidden space rope trick in years, that a DnD variation?
Im suprised that Dash didnt do her usual, strange rope hanging in mid air, lets give it a good har tug trick yet.
Beware of butterflly kid, for they can turn to dragon fly, then dragon. just better hope the heavy crew get to you in time.
5748614 Rope Trick remains a pretty classic spell.
I like the new cover.
5747671 Rarity might use rouge, but I'm pretty sure Dash would only consider rogue...
5748616 And a useful one!
I kind of feel bad for denigrating him at this point. This is starting to look less like sheer jerkiness and more like some kind of diagnosable disorder. When the shadow whispering in your mind is more socially adept than you are, you have issues.
Still, looks like the party's about to reunite. Though odds are that there's going to be a complication. It all depends on where Sunflower's gotten to and what may have found him.
Also, typo:
Bear. Also, I know Soft Mane counts as a human for effects that care about that kind of thing, but she's a satyr.
5748803 Fixed!
Enema, Sonnie. That's what Lex needs
remove the "her"
Her gender isn't really topical to her role as a scout, and we already know from the previous chapter that Willow is a girl. I think the sentence would flow better if you just called her "that purrsian"
extra comma
"I really like your mane" doesn't work as well on sea ponies.
5748690
I think the new cover is less than half done. I suspect we're going to see color and at least one other character in the frame. I'm excited.
5749037 There was a pause there. Thank you... for carrying me.
5749081 I ordered this picture... back when I started this fic. To say it's a bit behind would be mild understatement.
5749017 Fixed!
5749214
Which means I know who the other character is! Hopefully it'll be around sooner, rather than taking too much longer.
Rope trick spell. Nice. I prefer Mirror Trick myself, since, unless you drag a big mirror around someplace you wouldn't usually find one, it shouldn't be too obvious where you're hiding, but RT is more portable, plus you can use it to anchor a climbing rope.
I remember using an extended Rope Trick to have a safe place to rest while delving the Temple of Elemental Evil. Good times.