115 - Take a Hike
As the sun banished the gloom of the evening, the group began to rouse themselves. Cold wet ground and chilly air had done little to make the arrangement comfortable, sleep spell or not. With tired stretches, they prepared for the day ahead as best they could.
Sonata followed after Lex not unlike a lost puppy, "So what do we do for food? I'm kinda hungry." She glanced towards the others, "I could be wrong but I totally bet they are too. This world may have magic, but the food is like, the worst."
Twilight led the others back down the mountain, following the tracks as they went. "This is going to be slow going," she called out in warning as they marched. "We're not going by train this time. Nopony is going by train this time until that crash is cleared." She levitated out a piece of paper with a bunch of boxes on it, "Applejack, food?"
Applejack shook her saddlebags as she walked, "Food and water, check."
Twilight made two swipes of a quill with a satisfied smile. "Soft, map?"
Soft lifted up the crude map of the area they had purchased, "Check!"
Another swipe. "There's something so satisfying about a checklist... Spike, medical supplies?"
Spike raised a claw, "Folded up stretchers, bandages, and a few healing potions, check!"
Twilight checked off another with a smile before her gaze went to the sky, "Fastest wings on Everglow?"
"Double Rainbow check!" exclaimed Rainbow as she zipped over Twilight's head.
Twilight tapped her chin with the quill, "Now we just need to find them, and anypony else with them."
Rainbow circled around and started to lazily orbit Twilight's head, "This would be faster if you could all fly."
Twilight twirled her quill, "Yes yes, but we can't, so put that thought out of your head. It's your job to scout. If you see lost looking ponies, or Lex and/or Sonata, you let us know."
"Aye aye!" replied Rainbow before she gained altitude, wheeling and diving through the air with unabashed delight at her regained flight.
Lex was silent for a long moment before turning to regard her. "I can create enough food for us all..." he trailed off with a sigh as he glanced around again, as though an alternative solution would suddenly present itself and save him the trouble. When no such solution appeared, he continued. "I want you to check on the pair in the tent. After that, I'll conjure a meal for everypony."
He didn't voice his concerns with this plan - this would seriously push the limits of the small amount of divine magic that he had been given, enough to the point where he wasn't at all certain that he could cast it successfully. But what alternative was there? He had no idea how to forage for food, and if they didn't keep their strength up, he wasn't certain that he'd be able to shepherd the group back to civilization.
Sonata bobbed her head eagerly and trotted off into the tent, "Wakey wakey!" She checked on everyone with her usual chipperness, keeping her pout of hunger to herself. "Feeling better?"
The mare with the non-functioning legs made an attempt to stand, but could only support herself on her front legs. "It's not hurting as much, but..."
Sonata nodded lightly, "Don't stress out about it, K? Uh, Lex said he was getting breakfast together. I'll bring you guys some." Sonata looked over at the still slumbering form of the dog that looked like it was on fire. She stepped over and softly nudged him, "Wakey wakey."
The wolf cracked open an eye, looking up at Sonata before grunting and closing the eye without a word. Sonata tilted her head before she trotted back out of the tent in time to almost trip over a young purrsian.
The kitten was play hunting while shouting, "Mom, I can do it! Please!"
The older purrsian was frowning at the kitten, "No son of mine is going to be hunting anything with his bare claws! We are civilized people. Where did you even learn about that?"
Sunflower stuck his tongue out at his mother in a show of childish defiance. "Aw, c'mon!" His eyes brightened as he looked up at Sonata, leaping onto her back. "We could totally do it! She can sing or whatever to make animals come closer, and then I can be all 'rawr!' and jump on 'em!" He reared up on his hind legs, batting at the air in a manner that was clearly intended to be fearsome, but looked more like he was playing with invisible butterflies.
Huffing, the purrsian female gave Sonata an apologetic look before grabbing her son by the scruff of the neck and lowering him to the ground, putting an end to his antics. "You are not running off into the woods and that's that! I almost lost you once..." her voice wavered for a moment, before she regained control of herself.
Changing the topic, she returned her gaze to Sonata. "I'm sorry. Sunflower tends to get rambunctious when he's hungry. I'm Willow Leaf, by the way." She forced a smile, clearly not sure how to bring up the topic of food again without being impolite.
Sonata raised a hoof, offering it to Willow, "Nice to meetcha. Lex is working on breakfast, so nobody has to go hunting." She glanced where she thought Lex was before looking back at Willow, "But while we're waiting, if you want me to take him, for, you know, a walk or something? He's totally my copilot! I'll be super careful, promise." Sonata seemed a bit too eager to go walking with the kitten, grinning just that bit too wide. If the purrsian didn't have her own meat rending smile, it might look intimidating.
Putting a paw over Sonata's hoof and giving it a light shake, the purrsian paused at Sonata's offer. Her gaze vacillating between worry and exhaustion, she seemed to be considering it when Lex's voice interrupted them.
Letting out a slow breath as he chanted, Lex tried to focus purely on casting his spell. While he knew his own magic well enough that he could recited it in his sleep, this foreign power was far more difficult to control. He had a firm enough grasp on things like that minor healing he'd used last night, creating enough food for everyone here was far more difficult, and the magic kept threatening to surge out of control.
Staring straight ahead as he concentrated on forcing the energies in the direction he wanted them to go. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonata looking at him, a smile on her face as she watched him. For a split second, he wondered why she was grinning like that...and that minor lapse of concentration was all it took.
Suddenly the pattern that he was attempting to force the magic to take was uncertain, and the power raged against the suddenly-loose bonds. Immediately, Lex forced all of his concentration back to what he was doing, but he already knew that regaining full control wasn't going to be possible. Biting back a snarl as he continued intoning the words to direct the magic into the proper form, he struggled to salvage the spell. Now the magic was actively fighting him, lashing out as he pushed it back, and the sensation was physically painful. But the fear of failure, of letting down the ones who were counting on him, was worse, and he made himself push through as he finished the rite.
An instant later, bowls of oats appeared, alongside large containers of water and plates of dried fruits and nuts. There was easily enough for everyone, not just for one meal but for several.
Panting with the effort that had taken, Lex opened his mouth to speak but suddenly found himself choking, the taste of blood filling his mouth as he doubled over, hacking.
Sonata jerked back as Lex practically collapsed. "Rain check on that walk!" she said before she galloped over to Lex's side with a worried expression. She had little idea what to do for Lex, but she wanted to do... something. Her face brightened as an idea came. "You can handle it, Lex. You're not going to let a little, whatever this is, stand in your way! You're too awesome for that! Fight it!" Her magic flowed through Lex, filling him with a furious strength, but also a berserker's stamina, reinforcing his injured body, or trying to. Lex showed little reaction to her hopeful spell. "Look at me, Lex, we're totally OK. Stay focused."
Lex's reply was lost in another round of gut-wrenching hacking. It was like he'd eaten fire, and he coughed up blood twice more before the spasms finally passed and he managed to gasp for breath. Staggering to his feet, Sonata was instantly by his side, supporting him both physically and with further encouragement. As soon as he had his legs under him, however, Lex shoved her away.
"Don't you ever cast a spell on me without my permission!" His face was a mask of tightly-controlled fury as he hissed at her before stalking away. The embarrassment of being distracted by her and of how much of a spectacle he'd made of himself with his miscast spell only fueled his sudden rage. He didn't look at anyone else as he turned away from her, leaving Sonata with a hurt and confused expression on her face. "The rest of you, eat! We leave in one hour!"
Storming to his tent as he tried to bring his feelings under control, he hadn't quite succeeded when he threw the flap open, going inside to check on the wounded pair within.
Sonata gave a soft huff, but went for one of the bowls. "Don't have to be so mean about it," she grumped to herself before she began to chew almost angrily. She soon had company in the form of other ponies and felines fetching a serving for themselves. With the bite of her hunger fading, she looked back at the tent, then fetched two more portions. Balanced precariously on her back, she slowly made her way back to the tent.
"Breakfast time!" she called musically as she set food and water before the injured mare and burning wolf. "Lex came through, even if he is a huge grumpy face." She stuck out her tongue, but didn't stay to watch them eat, instead meandering through camp looking for Lex. "Even if he is being a total jerkface, we're kinda the leaders," she said to herself as she went.
She found him after a few minutes, near the wreckage of the train. He had gotten some food for himself and was eating it sullenly, his back to the rest of the camp. Hearing the clop of her hooves as she approached, he glanced over to ascertain who it was, and then turned back to his food. "That mare in the tent is going to need more healing, but the other one will be well enough to walk," he muttered, not looking at her as he spoke.
"Once everypony is done eating, have that purrsian fly up and look over the surrounding area. I don't want her going too far or doing anything dangerous; just have her get the lay of the land." He paused, swallowing another mouthful of oats before he continued. "We'll follow the train tracks. They're our best chance of finding our way back to civilization."
Sonata raised a hoof in a salute, but didn't move away. "You alright? You have the look of one of my sisters when their plans weren't going exactly right." She sat down lightly, "We can talk, if you want to? We're partners." She glanced off at the others before returning her gaze to Lex, "I don't want us yelling at each other like I did with them. If something's bothering you so much, like, just tell me."
He was silent for a long time, before replying softly. "Is that how you think of me? As a partner?" His voice was flat and cold, showing nothing of his inner thoughts as he finally turned to look at her. His face was similarly expressionless, but here his attempts to hide his emotions were less than perfect, giving a glimpse of the bitterness that was still coursing through him.
Not waiting for a reply, he continued. "I'm glad you brought this up, because I want to make this as clear as I possibly can. We are not partners. We are not equals. I am the leader here - the one in charge, the one keeping everything together. You do what I tell you to do, and otherwise leave the thinking to me. You're not very good at it." He stood up abruptly, "Now, get ready. We're moving out."
Sonata turned away quickly, hiding her scowl as she trotted back towards the group, grumbling under her breath hotly. A few stray tears dotted the ground as she went, "Why do they have to be like that?" She kicked a rock across the field before storming back to the others, sharing Lex's orders in short words. Her will to be pleasant had been drained for the moment.
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Hm, that should probably be "legs under him." That sounds better than "feet," since ponies have hooves anyway.
Whoops, that should be "was eating it sullenly." Also, that last part should be "his back to the rest of the camp."
5745256 You had one job, one! Fixed. :)
Aw, Lex. You're such a jerk, claiming to be in charge when you're probably more obviously a partner...
From bitterness, huh? And now I wonder why...
Good to see Dash up and about in her optimum arena. Spikes going to hang around ground side, or float in the haze in cover above?
Did Lex just roll a 20 on creating food, and a 1 on the reroll or something? that was unplesant.
Given how much attention Rainbow pays to the ground as she flies, and given that the survivors are following the train tracks, they're almost certain to meet the rescue party... the question is whether they, or the rescue party, would be meeting something else first... like some ally of those gem gnolls...
Did we ever cover what classes Lex has happens to be?
And Lex should be nicer to the pony who could turn him into her butt monkey.
5745323 Lex's bitterness wasn't supposed to be mysterious. It's that he was embarrassed about how he handled himself in front of Sonata, and he's bitter over it. Of course, his reaction to this was to lash out at her when she tried to help him, making a minor issue into something much worse.
5745334
5745367 Lex's class isn't built using the standard Ponyfinder (or Pathfinder) rules - the simple answer is that he's a custom class; the complicated answer is...complicated. I've spoken about it before, but it seems a tad gauche to do so again, since this is supposed to be a Ponyfinder fic. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like more details.
5745382
Ooooh. So he's got that virgin nerd thing going on.
Get him Sonnie! He's more afraid of you than you are of him!
Not cool, Lex. That is probably the only thing he could have said that Sonata couldn't just shrug off. She's been putting up with that nonsense for a millennium, and she's getting pretty tired of it.
(Plus it's not really true; he may be giving the orders, but she's the one keeping everyone together)
5745424 You make a good point. Lex effectively just said "Your sisters were right about you" straight to her face. Poor Sonata!
Insofar as who's keeping everyone together, though... Lex is the one who saved the majority of them from the wreck, he's healed their wounds, he's sheltered and fed them, he's helped defend them, and he's organizing the trip back. He's kind of got a legitimate claim to that particular boast...even if he is ignoring issues of morale, which is where Sonata comes in.
5745204 Aw, sea ponies aren't scary monsters. (What are the gills for if they can't breathe water?)
The mysteries surrounding Lex are almost enough to make me actually care about him. Almost. Every time I start to feel slightly interested, he does something else that makes me want to smack him in the head, abandon him in the wilderness, or both. Sigh.
Still, I can't completely blame him this time. The spell is called rage for a reason. It's not going to leave its target in the most reasonable state of mind.
Also, the food spell warped a typo into existence:
Either "could recite" or "could have recited."
5746346 They can take a feat for it.
5746358 Or did her rage spell affect him at all? Notice (emphasis mine):
5745334 At least he didn't fail so badly that space and time warped causing a pirate ship to land on his head (happened to me once, our GM has been using a rather strange critical fail table).
5746970 So your Blackjack from Project Horizon. (The mare has a bad habit of having boats dropped on her)
And Lex loses 2 influence with Sonata for treating her like the other sirens did and implying she's stupid.
6140849 She just wants to be respected and loved.
So far Lex is teetering between ‘me not caring if he dies’ and ‘still having hope he isn’t a villlain’ He got a lot of brownie points for his aid, but he lost most of it after he acted like Adagio.