By noon, Lex’s plans had already gone awry.
His initial outline for what needed to be done had been simple. After ascertaining the camp’s immediate conditions, he would finishing meting out justice to Spit Polish, remove any threat of disease from Garden Gate (or whatever she was calling herself now), and then personally lead a team of ponies into Vanhoover to acquire money and supplies. Carrying out such a simple set of tasks should have presented no problems.
Meting out justice upon Spit Polish had gone well, at least to his thinking. Of course, he’d thought that when he’d cursed Garden Gate a few days prior, but in this case Nosey had signed off on his punishment being socially palatable. Although he still planned on having Sonata provide him with a second opinion later, he was willing to trust the newsmare’s evaluation. With that matter completed, he’d turned his attention to the next task.
Checking on Garden Gate had been a perfunctory affair. Her tent had been several rows behind his own, and had been immediately obvious once he got close to it, as several of her friends were standing vigil near the entrance. One of them, the larger stallion who’d castigated him last night for not immediately procuring medical attention for Garden – “Funshine,” one of his friends had called him – had the temerity to stand in Lex’s way and inquire as to why he was there. He’d given Funshine a cold stare in reply, insulted by the implicit suspicion of the question, and had been contemplating ways to forcibly move the ungrateful stallion when his companions had intervened, apologizing on Funshine’s behalf and moving him out of the way, ignoring the stallion’s protests that he was only doing what Turbo would have wanted.
Once inside Garden’s tent, the exchange with the injured mare had been brief. He’d tersely inquired about her condition, and she had given him equally clipped answers, thankfully not wasting his time by trying to engage in an extended conversation. With that done, he’d used the disease-removal spell on her and departed, pausing only long enough to instruct her to seek him out if she still showed symptoms of illness. He hadn’t bothered to wait for a reply before leaving, and not just because he was eager to move on to other things; while he’d initially held Garden Gate in contempt for her criminal actions, he’d seen fit to pardon her after the valor she’d shown last night, which had left him uncertain as to how to feel about her now. Far better to simply ignore that problem by being in her presence as little as possible.
But it had been when he’d turned his thoughts toward reentering Vanhoover that Lex had realized that he’d miscalculated.
The night’s rest he’d gotten had been enough to fully restore both his dark magic and the trickle of divine spells that the Night Mare had granted him. It had also taken the edge off of his physical condition; although he still felt debilitated, he was at least able to move around under his own power again, albeit with great difficulty. But it had done nothing to restore his thaumaturgic spellcasting. For that, he knew, he’d need to use Severance.
At least in theory, it wasn’t necessary to go that far before making the trip into Vanhoover. The city should be free of monsters now. All he had to do was turn into shadow – handily bypassing the problem of making such an excursion in his injured body – and lead several ponies in so that they could collect and haul the necessary resources to keep the camp habitable. Based on the data he had, there was no reason to anticipate that being difficult; any danger that was still there would likely be little more than environmental, and nothing he wouldn’t be able to handle with the magic currently at his disposal.
But then again, he hadn’t anticipated Xiriel either.
That thought – and the reminder of how the consequences of his oversight had cost several brave ponies their lives – had been enough to make Lex reconsider his course of action. Although the camp was in dire need of resupply, it wasn’t so dire that he couldn’t take a few hours to replenish at least a minimum of his strongest magic…not when the consequences of making another mistake, the way he had with the belier, could potentially mean more deaths. Nor could he simply take Severance into Vanhoover with him in order to have its power make up the difference; the camp needed a defender to remain here in case of another emergency, and although she’d returned on her own he was still reluctant to trust Aria with something that important.
In the end, the only acceptable choice was to devote a few hours to renewing his spells. It wouldn’t be enough to bring him back up to his full potential, but it would be sufficient to restore at least a modicum of it. With his mind made up, he’d recalled Severance and returned to his tent, sending Nosey away. She’d protested that last decision, but he’d told her to keep an eye out for Sonata or anything else she thought needed to be brought to his attention immediately, getting her to reluctantly agree. For that, he was grateful; despite her recent trauma, Nosey was still a gifted investigative journalist, and had seen him renew his spells back in Tall Tale on the day of the solstice. Although the odds of it were miniscule, Lex didn’t want to take a chance that if she stayed with him she’d recognize what he was doing and start to put together that he needed external assistance to renew his primary spellcasting. That truth had to be suppressed at all costs, lest it find its way to someone who’d use it against him.
With the last distraction out of the way, Lex had started to draw upon the incredible amount of ambient energy that Severance radiated, making the proper gestures and chants to direct the energy as he bound it into the structured formulas of his thoughts, preparing the spells he’d decided were most pertinent to the immediate future. That had been four hours ago, by his rough estimation. Although he’d refilled less than half of his full complement of spells, that was probably enough-
“Lex?” Nosey’s voice came from outside the tent. “Something’s going on.”
He hesitated just long enough to return the scythe to his back, pushing the tent flap open. “What is it? Is Sonata back?” The tremor of relief that went through him when Nosey nodded was strong enough that he had to consciously steady himself for a moment before heading outside. “Good, take me to her.”
“Okay.” Nosey moved alongside him as she spoke, pressing up against him in that familiar manner as though it was the most natural thing in the world for her. “But there’s something else you need to be aware of.”
The statement was leading enough to make Lex glance over at her, instantly on the alert. “What?”
Nosey didn’t respond verbally, instead nodding in a northeasterly direction. He followed her gaze, and for a long moment couldn’t see what she was indicating. But after a few seconds, he spotted something on the horizon, near the mountains. Rising up from the ground, it was a pale column that was slowly rising into the air, its edges indistinct as it slowly billowed out. After a moment, he realized what he was looking at.
Smoke. Something was burning.
For a moment Lex slowed down, thoughts of Sonata temporarily driven from his mind as he tried to process what the unexpected sight meant. It was far enough away that it couldn’t possibly have been within a hundred miles of them, and it seemed oddly thin…but to be seen from this distance, it couldn’t just be a campfire. Unfortunately, its distance and close proximity to the mountains meant that its source couldn’t be seen clearly; it was hidden behind the foot of one of the vast peaks, whatever it was.
“We just saw it a little while ago,” offered Nosey. “It’s been swaying a little bit, like there’s some wind near the base of it. Think it’s pegasi trying to put it out?”
Lex didn’t answer, not having enough data to offer an opinion. He knew that the area north of them was littered with small villages and thorps, and it wasn’t implausible that some of them were at the base of the montains. For a moment he considered turning into shadow and ascending into the sky to try and get a better look, or even sending some pegasi of their own to do the same, but decided against it. As far away as it was, a bird’s-eye view wouldn’t provide much help, and whatever new disaster was brewing – Vanhoover had been too consistent for him to think it was anything else – would have to wait. Sending an expedition to confirm what was going on was less urgent that procuring the camp’s immediate well-being. “Take me to Sonata,” he repeated.
Nosey nodded, and very shortly led him to the northern edge of the camp, where a group of ponies could be seen approaching. Three of them were pulling wagons, each of which was piled with cabbages, with the rest carrying bulging saddlebags and overflowing baskets with even more leafy greens in them. Only Sonata was unburdened, carrying nothing more than a bright smile that grew wider as she spotted him, galloping ahead of the others.
“Check it out!” she whooped as she closed the distance between them. Rearing up on her hind legs, she spun in place, pointing to the vegetable-toting ponies behind her. “When times are savage, grab a cabbage!” she announced in a sing-song voice, before turning back around and dropping to all fours, beaming. “I spent the whole trip back thinking of that! Totes cool line, huh?! I was also thinking about ‘please sign for your cabbage,’ but ‘package’ and ‘cabbage’ don’t really rhyme, so-, whoa! Lex?!”
She was caught completely by surprise as Lex crossed the last few feet to her, throwing a foreleg around her shoulders and pulling her close, eyes closing as he embraced her. His actions were enough to make her blink, not sure if she should be touched or concerned, before deciding to go with touched, hugging him back. “Wow, did you miss me that much?” Silently, she cheered at once again receiving proof that he was totes head over hooves for her, and looked behind him for any sign that Cozy was there, wanting to rub this in her face. But although more ponies were coming to see what was going on, the crystal mare and her lame-o boyfriend were nowhere to be found.
Lex held her close for another few seconds before releasing her, his eyes running over her body as he took a step back. “Are you alright? Did anything happen while you were gone?”
Sonata’s grin somehow managed to get wider. “Aww, were you worried about me?” She basked in that for a moment before straightening up, giving her mane a toss over her shoulders as she presented herself in the full glory of her triumph. “I totes had everything under control the whole time! We found a bunch of farmers, and I was all ‘take my money!’ But they were like ‘um, we’re a bunch of jerks who hate money, so scram!’ And I was all, ‘oh no you didn’t!’ And then I did a song and dance routine that turned into a big musical number, which I totes have to sing for you later-”
“How many cabbages did you buy?” interjected Lex, his normal sensibilities reasserting themselves now that he’d confirmed her safety.
“Like, a lot!” She raised a hoof toward them again. “See? I totes had DJ there do the negotiating,” she pointed to a familiar-looking green pegasus stallion loaded down with saddlebags, “and we got a huge load! Everypony says they're super tasty too, but I sorta had to take their word for it since I can’t-”
“You can now,” interrupted Lex hurriedly, rescinding the ageusia curse he’d placed on her. He'd been planning on lifting it anyway, and it was better to do so before she could inadvertently reveal what had happened to make her earn it in the first place.
“Awesome!” she cheered. “Is it okay if I make a taste test real fast?”
The question prompted Lex to glance back at the results of Sonata’s endeavor. Although there were a considerable number of cabbages there, it was obvious at a glance that she hadn’t procured anywhere near enough for the entire camp. By his estimate, if they were rationed properly, there was enough food for a little over a tenth of the population here. That would keep the most at-risk members of the community alright for a day or so, but they were still going to need to go into Vanhoover as quickly as-
“You hear that?” asked Sonata suddenly.
“Hm?” He glanced at her, not sure what she was talking about. “What?”
But she didn’t meet his eyes, ears twitching as she glanced around. “I thought I heard this noise before, but it was, like, super soft, and now I’m-, there! Right there! Did you hear that?!” She paused, looking in the direction of whatever she’d supposedly heard for a second before speaking up again. “Hey, is that smoke?”
Lex frowned, considering the fact that she’d heard something from the direction of whatever was happening. “What does it sound like?”
Sonata waved a hoof at him, still looking northeast. “Just listen!”
Frowning, he nevertheless did exactly that. Several seconds passed, and for a moment he wondered if this was just Sonata being Sonata, but then he heard something, impossibly faint. Straining his ears, he listened again, willing the sound to become more recognizable. Then it came again, and he was almost able to place it…
It was a whistle.
Suddenly it all made sense. The distant plume of smoke hadn’t been swaying as though it were moving; it had actually been moving, its source following the tracks that paralleled the mountain range. It was thin because it was only coming from a single source, but one that was kicking up enough smoke to be visible even at an extended distance. And now there was a whistle accompanying it.
A train was coming.