“…-ow what happ-…”
Lex felt himself being carried, and tried to thrash reflexively, confused. But he couldn’t seem to move, and the realization frightened him. He had t-
“…-ried a healing sp-…”
The voice was familiar, and he tried to turn his head to see who was there. But for some reason his eyes weren’t working, or…or was it dark outside? But why wa-
“…-ously hurt his cha-…”
An unfamiliar voice this time, one that sounded tense, almost angry. He wanted to know what was going on, and tried to form words, but the attempt made his throat rasp like-
“I’m going to stay with him.”
He felt something – someone – press against him, and for some reason the sensation was soothing. Dimly, he registered that he knew who this was, and that they were safe, but for some reason he couldn’t recall their identity. One of his parents? No…no, that wasn’t right. Someone else. But who…?
Lex slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness hazy in a way that he hadn’t experienced since before his dreams had all turned into nightmares. For a moment he just laid there, unable to help but process the nostalgic sensation of being semi-lucid. Slowly, it occurred to him that he should try to figure out where he was and what was going on, and his thoughts started to organize themselves.
Emotional impressions came back first. He remembered feeling tense about something. Then determined. And then…triumphant. Exultant. More so than he had in a while, but then something had happened, and it had all turned into…
Pain.
Squeezing his eyes shut at the memory, he recalled the incredible agony he’d been in, only to belatedly comprehend that it wasn’t all a memory…that he was still in discomfort even now, a dull ache that spread throughout his entire body, as though every part of him was one giant bruise. It was nowhere near the pain he’d been in before, but it was still enough to make him wonder what was going on, hastening his return to full awareness.
Opening his eyes again, he looked up at a dark ceiling made out of some sort of fabric, and a moment later realized that there was a low level of ambient illumination around him with no apparent source, as though someone had shined a bright light somewhere nearby and then put some sort of barely-translucent covering over it. He felt warm, and it took him a moment to realize that there was a blanket over him, along with something even warmer pressed against his left side. There were voices too, but they were all distant and overlapping, as though there were a crowd gathering somewhere barely within earshot. He could barely hear them at all over the sound of breathing next to him-
Lex’s eyes widened as the realization that someone else was there jolted him to full awareness. He was in a tent right now, one that was dimly lit by the sunlight streaming through the edges of the front flap. The distant voices were almost certainly those of the ponies in the camp, the ponies that he’d been intent on feeding when he’d injured himself. And the person huddled against his side was…
Sonata.
For a moment he couldn’t do anything but look at her, his eyes sweeping over her as she lay there, apparently asleep. For some reason the sight reminded him of their first night together. Not when they’d consummated their love, but the first night they’d ever lay down to sleep next to each other. It was in White Tail Woods, he recalled, just after we’d disembarked from the train taking us to Tall Tale. He ran the dates in his mind, and was shocked to discover that had been well under a month ago. Somehow it seemed like a lot longer.
Pushing the memories aside, he tried to sit up – intent on getting out of the bedroll where they were laying without disturbing her – but he’d barely started to rise when agony exploded through him, causing him to abort the effort immediately. Even then, the pain didn’t dissipate so much as recede back to tolerable levels, causing him to let out a slow breath as he considered what to do. He needed information. More than that, he needed to give orders for what everypony needed to be doing next, and neither of those things would be accomplished by lying there.
He briefly considered changing into shadow-form to move around, certain that becoming incorporeal would minimize – perhaps even negate – the pain he felt, but decided against it. The camp ponies hadn’t seen him in that form yet, and he had no doubt that it would cause a panic if they did now. Instead, he opted for the simpler solution, turning and nuzzling his girlfriend. “Sonata. Wake up.” Even speaking hurt, his throat protesting being put to use, but he ignored it, repeating himself when Sonata didn’t respond.
It took several attempts to rouse her, but finally she began to stir, stretching and rubbing her eyes with one hoof blearily. “Mmm…morning Lex,” she yawned. A moment later she realized what she was saying and sat bolt upright. “Lex! You’re okay!”
“How long have-”
But she wasn’t listening, immediately rolling away from him and making a rush for the tent flap. “Hey!” she yelled. “He’s awake! Lex is awake! Somepony get the doctors back here again!”
Lex frowned, trying to lift his head as she made to leave. “Sonata, wait.” But before he’d finished speaking she was outside, her voice receding as she continued to call for a doctor, leaving him sighing in mild frustration as he laid his head back down. But it doesn’t matter, he realized. She’ll bring a doctor back here and they’ll be able to answer my questions.
But Sonata’s yelling was still faintly audible when the tent flap opened mere seconds after she’d departed. Squinting against the sudden influx of sunlight, he made out the forms of two ponies entering, pegasi by the look of them. As the second one came in, letting the flap fall, he recognized Thermal Draft and Cloudbank. Lex’s eyes lingered on the latter mare, noticing that she was carrying Severance across her back, apparently unconcerned with the weapon’s closeness now.
“Hey Lex,” ventured Drafty softly, giving him a small smile. “How are you feeling?”
“You scared us all pretty badly.” Cloudbank didn’t share Drafty’s smile, her features tense. “The d-”
“How much time has passed?” interrupted Lex, impatient for answers. He could clearly remember casting that last spell now, forcing it to work despite the incredible pain it had put him through, and that was where his memory ended. Now he needed to figure out how much time he’d lost and adjust his plans accordingly.
“It’s been about an hour since you made that last batch of food,” answered Drafty.
“You collapsed right after you finished casting that last spell,” chimed in Cloudbank. “I was right there, and I rushed you to the doctors’ tent immediately. We thought maybe you were just exhausted or something, because you weren’t in there very long before they moved you here, but then we heard what the doctors told Sonata...” She trailed off at that for a moment before continuing. “Lex, what happened to you?”
“I needed to amplify the magic I was using in order to create enough food for everypony,” answered Lex with a sigh. It didn’t even occur to him to wonder why he was explaining himself to them. “The process worked, but when I attempted to increase the power output at the end it went awry.”
“That’s roughly what we figured,” nodded Drafty, making Lex blink in surprise. She clearly noticed, because she started to explain. “I’m no unicorn,” she shrugged, still smiling at him, “but seeing you make that much food out of nowhere, only to collapse right after you did, made it pretty easy to put two and two together. That,” she added, her voice softening, “and doing something as noble as hurting yourself to help everypony else is exactly like you.”
Lex didn’t have time to react to the compliment before Cloudbank spoke up again. “‘Noble’ isn’t the word for it!” The tension in her voice was impossible to miss, but he wasn’t sure if it was from anger or fear or something else altogether. “Lex, the doctors said that you went into some kind of shock! They were talking about possible spontaneous organ failure! You could have died!” She stomped a hoof. “I tried to use a healing spell on you, and it didn’t do a thing! Sonata was beside herself!”
“From what I’ve observed, elementary healing magic doesn’t register even a high degree of physical strain as damage, and so doesn-”
“That’s not the point!” Cloudbank flared her wings then, the ends pressing against each side of the small tent. She looked ready to say more, but Drafty leaned in and whispered in her ear, though not so quietly that Lex couldn’t overhear her telling the other mare that maybe yelling at someone who was injured wasn’t the best idea. Cloudbank apparently agreed, since she folded her wings back in, albeit with a scowl. “Look,” she started again. “I’m going to tell you what the doctors told Sonata. Whatever you did to yourself, you need to make sure you don’t do it again.”
“I don’t intend to,” replied Lex bluntly.
Both mares blinked at that, surprised by his quick acquiescence. “Wait, seriously?” blurted Drafty.
When Lex nodded, the two shared a glance before turning their eyes back to him. “You say that now,” began Cloudbank, “but what happens tomorrow when everypony starts to get hungry again?”
“If it comes to that, then I’ll use that same magic again to create more food for everypony.”
“You just said-”
“Now that I have a better understanding of the threshold to which I can set up a system of reciprocal enhancements, I should be able to avoid the backlash that happened before,” explained Lex. “Hence, I shouldn’t suffer anymore injuries of this magnitude as a result.” Neither mare seemed very pleased with his explanation, however, with Drafty’s smile fading and Cloudbank starting to glower at him balefully, her mouth opening. But before either could get a word out, Lex held up a hoof to forestall them, though doing so was an effort. “However, my creating food with magic isn’t a long-term solution for the situation here. That will require something else.”
His mind was already racing as he spoke. Vanhoover’s current troubles were economic in nature, he knew. With the remaining population rendered destitute by the disasters they’d suffered, they had no way of engaging with the local economy, which in turn had caused the supply of food and other necessities to plummet and, correspondingly, the demand for them to skyrocket. The only way to put the city back on the path to prosperity was to come up with a corresponding economic solution whereby the supply of necessities was restored. But in order to do that, a large influx of capital would be required, allowing the camp ponies to purchase food from nearby farms rather than stealing it.
But Lex was fully aware that he and Sonata had expended what funding they had back in Tall Tale. Without any cash on hoof, a new revenue source would be required, one that could provide a large quantity of bits immediately. And Lex could only think of one possible method by which such a sum could be quickly acquired. But I’m not going to be able to do it myself, he realized bitterly. Even if I changed into a shadow, I can’t use telekinesis effectively when I’m this injured. Whether he was incorporeal or not, that ability was proportional to physical strength, and right now he had almost none. Which meant that, just like when those aquatic monsters attacked, he was going to have to rely on somepony else to get the job done.
Cursing internally as he realized there was no other solution, Lex looked at Cloudbank. “I want you to find a group of ponies who are willing to go back into Vanhoover.”
Both mares’ eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what now?” asked Drafty, looking like she couldn’t believe her ears.
Cloudbank looked no less baffled. “Back into…are you kidding me?! Why?!”
“To acquire the funds we need,” answered Lex. “There should be more than enough in the city’s banks.”