“Halt!” roared Cloudbank as she finished incanting her spell.
The affected pony, a pegasus stallion with an aquamarine mane and tail to go with his butterscotch coat, immediately came to a stop, his limbs locking into place so thoroughly that he almost toppled over. The panicked look on his face was enough to inform the onlookers – of which there were more than a few – that he wasn’t obeying her command of his own free will.
Glowering at her victim, Cloudbank marched up to him and snatched the small sack full of food from his mouth. “I’m going to say this one more time, just in case you didn’t hear me before. We’ve only temporarily run out of food. Lex will make more tomorrow, and you’ll be able to eat your fill when he does. Until then, you do not steal from anypony else!” She gave a quick look around, running her eyes over the crowd to make sure that everypony knew that she was speaking to them as much as to the stupid pony in front of her.
Satisfied, she waved a hoof, and the pegasus pony gasped as his paralysis wore off, stumbling away from her in fear. Inwardly, Cloudbank couldn’t help but smirk. She’d made that gesture to make it look like she’d undone the spell that was keeping him from moving; in fact, it had worn off on its own, not having the power to do more than force a single person to obey one of her commands for more than a few seconds. Moreover, she hadn’t prepared another casting of that particular spell, which meant that she wouldn’t be able to use it again until she’d rested and prayed.
Luckily the ponies around her didn’t know that. “Now get out of here!” she shouted, flaring her wings and pointing at the butterscotch stallion, “before I get really mad!”
The stallion turned and bolted, running as fast as his hooves could carry him. Satisfied that she’d made her point, Cloudbank turned and marched back towards the rest of her group, hearing the hushed voices speaking up behind her, knowing that they were wondering how it was that a pegasus like her had just used what was quite obviously magic. By tomorrow morning everypony in the camp would probably know. It was enough to make her wonder if she’d done the right thing using her newfound magic so openly.
But her doubts faded away as she trotted back to the edge of the field hospital the doctors had set up. Clutching the sack of food – little more than a few hooffulls of nuts, scattered bits of lettuce and sliced carrots, and a few strips of cheese; the sole remains of the food that Lex had conjured for their impromptu party earlier in the day to celebrate the last of their group being cured of the aboleth’s disease – in one wing, she smiled warmly as she offered it to the earth filly holding the crying baby. Fiddlesticks, she’d said her name was. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Sniffling, Fiddlesticks rubbed her eyes with one hoof before setting the foal on the ground, gratefully taking the offered food. She immediately opened it and pulled out some cheese, mashing it until it was almost a paste before reaching down to gently place it in the infant’s mouth. Almost instantly, the baby stopped crying, smacking its lips as it started chewing.
“He-he’s eating it!” Fiddlesticks’ voice came out as a sob, but she was smiling. “He’s really eating it!”
“You should eat something too,” added Cloudbank, watching the pair with a smile of her own. “You need to keep your strength up.”
“I will,” nodded Fiddlesticks earnestly. “Just as soon as Tiddlywinks is full.” She was already grinding a carrot to mush between her hooves, her eyes on her little brother. “The doctors said that he’d be really hungry now, and that he needed to eat, so I’ll do that first and then I’ll have some. I promise.”
“I dunno, you look pretty untrustworthy to me,” replied Cloudbank in a teasing tone. “I think I better stay right here to make sure you keep your promise.” That was enough to earn a giggle from Fiddlesticks, shooting the older mare a grateful look before returning her attention to her brother.
A short while later, the last of the food had been eaten and both foals were yawning. Seeing that, Cloudbank had gathered the two of them up in her wings and carted them over to where several sleeping tents had been set up, signaling a nearby pony to lay a sleeping bag down. Although Fiddlesticks had protested that she wasn’t tired, Cloudbank had barely placed her next to her brother before she had dozed off, Tiddlywinks staying away just long enough to nuzzle his sister before passing out as well.
The sight was so heartwarming that Cloudbank couldn’t help but linger at the entrance to the tent, looking at the adorable pair. She was still standing there when Drafty came up to her. “Cloudy, we-”
“Shhh.” Cloudbank held a hoof up to her mouth in a shushing gesture, not taking her eyes off of the foals, wanting to watch over them for just a little bit longer…
Turning her eyes to see what her girlfriend was looking at, Drafty couldn’t help but coo at the sight. “Awww!” she whispered. “That’s so cute!”
“Yeah…” murmured Cloudbank. A moment later, she reached a wing out and wrapped it around Drafty, pulling her closer. The black-coated pegasus didn’t resist, pressing her side against Cloudbank’s and feeling a shudder go through the other mare as she did. That was enough to make Drafty glance at her, silently asking if she was alright.
For a moment, Cloudbank didn’t respond, but then she looked at Drafty, eyes closing and lips parting just slightly as she leaned towards her. Drafty didn’t pull away, closing her eyes in turn as Cloudbank kissed her. Feeling the other mare’s need to be comforted, Drafty spread a wing over her in return, holding her close. When the kiss ended a moment later, Cloudbank didn’t open her eyes, instead lowering her head to rest it against the other mare’s chest.
“What’s wrong?” whispered Drafty, making no move to dislodge the other pegasus.
Cloudbank let out a shuddering breath. “It’s just…this is what we were afraid of?” She raised her head then, holding a hoof out to indicate the sleeping foals. “We spent all that time being angry at those ponies that wouldn’t let us leave the city, scared of what they’d do if we tried to go and wouldn’t take no for an answer…and this is it? A bunch of sick and starving ponies that needed help as much as we did? They couldn’t have kept us out if they’d tried!” Her voice was still a whisper, but it was no less thick with emotion for it.
“Hey, come on, you know it’s not like that,” murmured Drafty, moving her wing so that she was gently rubbing Cloudbank’s side. “You saw how everypony here almost turned against Sonata, and that was with her saying that we’d brought help. Even if we’d run past those ponies that were throwing things at anyone who tried to leave, we wouldn’t have been welcomed when we got here.”
“I know, but-”
“Hey. Listen to me.” Drafty stepped back and put a hoof under Cloudbank’s chin, lifting it so that she could look her in the eye. “We survived long enough for Lex to save us. Then he helped us save ourselves, and now he’s made it so that we can help save everypony else. If things had gone even a little bit different, then we wouldn’t be here making sure these foals are okay right now.” She gave Cloudbank a warm smile then. “We couldn’t have done any better than we have, and if we’d tried then things would probably have been worse, so don’t beat yourself up over what you think you should have done, okay?”
Cloudbank let out a breath that was almost a resigned laugh. “Yeah.”
“Besides,” added Drafty. “You’ve got your own magic now, since Lex introduced you to his goddess and all.”
That last part was said teasingly, but Cloudbank heard the tiny note of jealousy in there. It was enough to make her shake her head ruefully. Apparently her attempt to repair Drafty’s faith in Lex after what had happened with Fencer had been a success. “You really admire him, huh?”
“Of course!” laughed Drafty, barely managing to keep her voice down. “How could anypony not admire him, after everything he’s done? I mean, yeah, some of it might seem a little fearsome to ponies who don’t know him like we do, but once you get past that…” She looked away from the other mare then, gazing at nothing as she let out a dreamy sigh. “He’s the most incredible pony in all of Equestria.”
Now it was Cloudbank’s turn to feel a twinge of jealousy. But it was only a small one, the closeness they’d just shared blunting the impact of seeing her girlfriend so openly revere somepony else. Sighing, she put it out of her mind as she turned and zipped up the entrance to Fiddlesticks’ tent before extricating herself from Drafty’s embrace. “You’re right. This is the best possible outcome given the circumstances, so there’s no point getting upset over what we should have done.” She canted her head back towards the camp. “So we should get back to it.”
She started walking, and Drafty fell in beside her. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Hm?”
“There isn’t really that much left to do. The doctors have set up shifts so that some of them can sleep now while the rest are still treating patients. And I think we’ve managed to let everypony know that there’s no more food until tomorrow.”
Cloudbank frowned. That did sound rather comprehensive. “I guess we should ask Lex what we should do now. Is he back yet?”
Drafty shook her head. “Not yet. Hopefully he’s really putting the screws to that awful stallion.”
Gritting her teeth at the thought of the stallion who had been coldly smirking while ponies like Fiddlesticks and Tiddlywinks had suffered, Cloudbank silently wished for the same thing. Just the thought of that “Block Party” person was enough to fill her with rage. What could possibly make somepony so uncaring about others?
Nosey trotted through the camp, making sure to pick her way around the edges rather than going through the middle. It was slightly longer, but this way guaranteed that she wouldn’t run into Lex. The last thing she wanted to do was bump into him now and have him ask what she was doing. Knowing him, he’d have forbidden her on some ridiculous principle, and that wouldn’t have done at all.
Although she hadn’t planned on writing any more stories until she got her current queue – all of which consisted of Lex’s adventures – filed, what she’d seen here had changed her thinking. The miserable conditions that the Vanhoover ponies were living in was a pony interest story that needed to be told. Although she would have given almost anything for a roll of film, the written word was still Nosey’s medium of choice, and as she picked her way around the campfires she was already composing an article in her head. Fortunately she still had enough paper in her saddlebags that she’d be able to jot some notes down later on.
Finally coming into sight of the train station, Nosey nodded to herself. All she had to do now was figure out a way to get in there without arousing anypony’s suspicions. Luckily, getting into places that were off-limits was a skill she’d gotten good at over the course of her career. Even now, she had a few ideas about how she’d be able to make her way inside without anypony being the wiser.
After all, she’d met Lex when she’d decided to interview what looked like an obvious bad guy. How could she pass up the chance to do the same with Block Party?