Lex watched Sonata leave, silently reassuring himself that letting her go alone was the right decision.
Intellectually, he knew he had. There was compelling evidence to suggest that there were no more ghouls in Vanhoover, and it was highly likely that the boat’s passengers were harmless. In all likelihood, the worst thing that Sonata was in danger of was taking a wrong turn and getting lost on her way to the docks. There was every reason to believe she would be fine.
That’s what you thought about Cloudbank and the ponies she took with her, and look how they ended up. The taunt made Lex clench his jaw, glancing over his shoulder. The sun was still behind the Unicorn Mountains to the east, its light just barely beginning to spill over the distant peaks. But there was just enough illumination to let him see the outline of his shadow, stretching toward the mountains instead of away from them the way it was supposed to. You’re making the same mistake again, and now it’s Sonata’s turn to pay the price for it.
For a moment, Lex felt his resolve waver, looking back in the direction Sonata had gone. She had thought that the ghoul invasion was no big deal until it had actually happened, showing that she had no ability to weigh risk ahead of time; why was he letting her do this alone? At the very least he should have prepared some defensive spells and cast them on her before she left, or insisted harder that she borrow some of his magic items, or-
Lex terminated that line of thought, refusing to get drawn into doubting himself. He hadn’t cast any defensive spells on her because he hadn’t prepared any yesterday, having found the time only to prepare a single spell which had been needed for other purposes. Likewise, Sonata had refused his offer to let her borrow any of his magical gear. He’d tried to insist on that point, but she’d been surprisingly firm about not doing so. The worn items he’d offered her – his cloak and his amulet – would apparently have compromised her appearance to an unacceptable degree (“they’re kinda ratty-looking” had been how she’d described them), and while she’d been interested in taking some of the floating gemstones, she’d reluctantly decided not to. Apparently, that would have made her look “super weird,” which to hear her tell it was even worse than looking bad for a first meeting. It had all struck Lex as incredibly backwards reasoning…but then, Sonata had more social awareness than he did, so he’d been left with little choice but to respect her decisions.
Even so, it had been difficult to see her go; Nosey had been right, he realized, to send him after her. That he’d been able to soothe Sonata’s unhappiness had made it easier – slightly – to watch her leave. Still, he’d have preferred to send someone else.
Except there is no one else, he knew. This mission was one that required diplomacy while still possessing martial capabilities in case things took a turn for the worse, and individuals with both were in very short supply. Severance was wholly unsuited for the former, and Aria wasn’t much better. Nosey had none of the latter, even if she wasn’t still recovering from what happened to her. Garden Gate would have been able to do so, but she and her band were already performing an important task, and Cloudbank and Thermal Draft were gone now…
The thought made Lex glance at his saddlebag holding the gemstone the Night Mare had given him. Once I’m finished changing Aria back, this is the next priority, he decided. Taking care of the living came first, but with Vanhoover finally starting to make progress there was no more reason to delay investigating how to bring back the ponies he’d lost.
And the situation here was making progress. Once everypony had finished gawking at the sight of a second inbound vessel in as many days, they’d returned to work with notable vigor. The mass grave, which had seemed like it wouldn’t be finished in the twelve hours he’d wanted, had been completed after eight. Sonata had insisted that it had been because everypony had started singing while they worked, a theory that had left Lex rolling his eyes.
Just as importantly, groups of survivors had begun to trickle out of the city. Guided overhead by the pegasi that he’d sent into Vanhoover to broadcast the news about what had happened, they’d come in groups of threes and fours, huddled together and looking ready to bolt at any moment. Several had been clutching weapons, brandishing them threateningly at anypony who came too close to them, leading to a few tense standoffs as each group had surveyed the camp uncertainly. Fortunately, the prospect of food had been enough to convince them all to stand down, abandoning their slingshots and rusty pipes in favor of celery stalks and bran muffins. Once they’d eaten, the newcomers had allowed themselves to be examined by the doctors.
When Lex had retired for the evening, they were all still being kept under observation, with none of them displaying anything that Doctor House Call had characterized as “too serious, considering what they went through.” The good news hadn’t stopped there either: the pony that had undergone emergency surgery from the group that Lex had personally brought back had survived the procedure, and was now being monitored during the recovery period. “It’s not an all-clear, but that was the biggest hurdle,” had been how House Call had characterized it. Lex had inquired again if any of the small healing magic he possessed – either to eliminate disease or to repair minor injuries with scar tissue – could be helpful, but the answer had been the same: only if a secondary infection developed. Still, that was far better than having to use preservation magic on another body.
It had been with that thought in mind that Lex had instructed Aria to use her detection spell again, confirming what he’d already suspected: that Cozy and Aisle had fled the camp, likely for good this time. While she’d only used her spell to try and find Cozy, Lex had no doubt that Aisle was right by her side. Aria had cautioned that if they were on the far side of the camp they’d be out the her spell’s range, but given that they’d tried to flee before Lex had no doubt that they’d made the attempt, most likely by sneaking onboard the train at some point. Even so, he’d had Sonata make some inquiries: sure enough, no one had seen a crystal pony recently. “And I for one don’t miss ‘em!” had been Sonata’s take on the situation. Lex had agreed, but he’d still regretted the loss of Cozy’s superior healing abilities. But there was nothing to be done about it now.
Instead, he’d turned to the one remaining thing he was able to accomplish: procuring more rain clouds for the region.
It had taken some time gathering the requisite energy from Severance, but Lex had finally managed to renew his long-distance communication spell. Casting it, he’d directed the spell toward Ribbon Cutter back in Tall Tale, sending her a terse message of twenty-five words telling her what had happened and to have Cloudsdale send rainclouds immediately. Ribbon had been shocked, to say the least, but she’d managed to convey her understanding and acknowledgment before using up her twenty-five word reply. That had taken a weight off of Lex’s mind; Ribbon Cutter was an intelligent and dedicated civil servant. She’d find a way to get a message to Cloudsdale, even if Tall Tale hadn’t restored its rail line or acquired new ships yet.
Calmer now, Lex nodded to himself. Sonata was off doing what she was able to do, which meant that he needed to do the same instead of second-guessing himself. Deciding to oversee how disposing of the ghoul corpses was going, he set off toward the edge of camp, ignoring the protests from his overtaxed muscles. One he was finished with that, there was still a lot more to be done…
“Okay, fine,” huffed Sonata. “Be like that. But now you’re not getting any of my pie.”
She finished her remark by taking a big bite out of the pastry, the sugary treat making her taste buds dance as she gobbled it down. “Mmm!” she proclaimed, a little too loudly. “Delithuth!” Glancing around, she licked her lips as she put the remaining half of the pie down, glancing around. “Like, for realsies. Last chance.”
When no response came, she sighed, frowning. “Okay, more for me then.” She waited several seconds, but when nothing continued to happen she made no move to finish eating. Instead, she sat down on the overturned desk where she’d placed her pie, kicking a rock dejectedly. “C’mon, Kara. Where are you?” When no answer came, she morosely reached over and scooped up the remaining half of her cream pie, taking a bite out of it and chewing slowly.
Kara hadn’t been answering her calls for help lately. Twice in the last two days, Sonata had taken time to call out to the nice alicorn goddess, asking her for advice about what was happening with Aria and Nosey. But for some reason, Kara hadn’t appeared in her dreams the way she always had before. It was starting to become discouraging, and a little worrying. This wasn’t quite as bad as that time when she and Lex had broken up, but Sonata still needed some relationship pointers pretty badly, before things turned into even more of a soapy opera (whatever that was)!
It had gotten to the point where Sonata had tried to offer Kara the dessert Lex had given her if she’d quit ignoring her and help out. But either Kara hadn’t heard her or she wasn’t the pie type. The first one, decided Sonata as she ate the last of it, unable to help but enjoy the succulent flavors on her tongue. Everyone loves pie. Which meant that the goddess, for whatever reason, wasn’t hearing her prayers. Or maybe she heard her, but couldn’t respond? There had been two other alicorns who’d jumped in and interrupted them the last time they’d spoken, after all. Maybe they’d done something? But I thought one of them was the Night Mare. There was no way Lex’s goddess would stand in the way of his relationship with his one true love, right?
Right, she nodded to herself. But her confidence was short-lived, since that still didn’t answer the question of why Kara wasn’t picking up the prayer hotline. Normally Sonata would have asked Lex, since he seemed to know everything, but that wasn’t really an option here. He’d probably flip his lid if he knew I was telling someone else about our love-life, even if Kara is the goddess of that stuff. But it couldn’t be helped; Sonata needed someone to talk to, and both her best friend and her sister weren’t really good choices for this, since they were the problem.
So that means I’ll just have to figure out how to get in touch with Kara myself, decided Sonata as she rubbed her hooves together, brushing the crumbs off of them. How hard could it be? All she had to do was come up with some new magic spell or something that would let her talk to the goddess. Or maybe a song. As a Siren, magic and singing were pretty much the same thing to Sonata. She’d just have to think up a melody about what she wanted and then, if she tried really hard, she’d make it do what she needed it to. That was probably how it worked.
Smiling, Sonata trotted off, very proud of her idea. Totes brilliant, she congratulated herself. I can get a long-distance plan to Kara, welcome whoever’s on the boat, and eat a whole pie with my hooves and not make a mess! I’m a triple threat!
Deciding not to waste any time, Sonata started humming under her breath experimentally as she trotted toward the docks.