110 - Poor Judgment
Aisle’s announcement caused a hush to fall over the shelter, but it lasted for only a moment.
“That’s great!” Nosey grinned as she trotted towards Lex, already hefting her notepad and pencil in her telekinetic grip. “I bet they saw us kicking butt and taking names before, and now want to throw in with our group!” She paused as she reached him, an expectant look on her face. She hadn’t wanted to bring up how well she’d done in the battle, knowing it would be crass, but he hadn’t spoken to her – had barely spoken to anypony – since then. Maybe he’d take the hint now…?
The glance that he sent her way contained only disinterest, however. “You will stay here,” he said curtly. Turning away from her, Lex missed the crestfallen look on Nosey’s face. Instead, he looked back towards Aisle. “Did they seem hostile? How many of them were there?”
Aisle’s excited look faded at Lex’s suspicion-filled response. “Three, two stallions and a mare, all earth ponies, but they didn’t look like they meant any harm. They were asking if we had any food we could spare. Scrubby and Band-Aid are out there talking to them now.” As he spoke, he caught sight of Cozy looking at him, her face showing a mixture of hope and worry. “They might know where others are,” he added pointedly, turning back to Lex.
That thought didn’t seem to galvanize him, however. If anything he seemed more apprehensive, narrowing his eyes in consideration. After a moment he seemed to make up his mind, moving past Aisle. “I’ll go and meet them.”
“Um, not alone you won’t,” declared Sonata as she moved to follow him. When Lex shot her a look, she met his gaze firmly. “Spokespony, remember?”
Aisle was also falling him behind them. “I told them I’d be right back. It might make them nervous if I don’t show up again.”
“Fine,” replied Lex brusquely. Giving a cursory glance back, nopony seemed inclined to argue his decision. Instead, he saw several ponies head towards the medical area, already preparing for possible new patients. The sight pleased him; he had been worried that the doctors and nurses would become discouraged by how there were so many ponies that could cure injuries and other ailments instantaneously with magic. But they were behaving like professionals, staying ready just in case. Nodding to himself, he exited the shelter, Sonata and Aisle following him.
He hadn’t gone more than two steps before Sonata spoke up. “It’s not just them, you know.”
“Hm?” Lex glanced back at her inquisitively.
“You were totes glad that they were getting ready in case somepony was hurt or sick, even though you and Cozy and Cloudbank can already take care of that, right?” Sonata’s question caused Lex to blink, surprised at just how accurately she had guessed his thoughts. His expression made her smile, but it was a more strained expression than her usual carefree grin. “Oh don’t look so shocked. You have, like, a super bad poker face.”
Aisle made a sound that was suspiciously like a repressed laugh, but kept his eyes straight ahead, deliberately showing that he was not paying attention to them.
Sonata continued. “But for realsies, it’s not just the doctors that are doing great, it’s everyone.” She stood up and waved a hoof at the shelter. “Nobody who came with us thought that they’d have to fight, but when push came to shove, they totes stood up and did it anyway. They didn’t complain, didn’t run away…heck, they didn’t even ask for a reward! You’ve gotta admit, that’s pretty incredible.”
“No one is disputing that,” shot back Lex, unsure why she was bringing this up.
“But you haven’t actually SAID it to them!” Sonata circled around in front of Lex and stopped. She wasn’t smiling anymore, and the tone in her voice was pleading, desperate for him to understand. “It’s not just Drafty that you haven’t thanked! Nosey never used anything more dangerous than a pencil before she came here, but when you told her to she picked up a weapon and started killing monsters! House Call was so scared that he threw up before we went out there, but not only did he fight, he came right back here and treated you afterwards! C. Shells-”
“Get to the point!” Lex grit his teeth, suddenly feeling defensive. Why was she castigating him all of a sudden? He’d done everything right! He’d come up with a way for everyone to not only survive, but overcome an impossible situation! Now she was telling him that he hadn’t done enough?! It wasn’t like he was expecting any thanks!
But you want it, don’t you? The mocking words slid across his consciousness, as cutting as ever. You wish they were singing your praises and making toasts to you.
The accusation bit deep, and he raged against it. He didn’t WANT to want praise! He wanted to do what he knew was right because that was what moral virtue demanded! Having expectations of accolades served only to undercut the selflessness of serving one’s community, and was too petty for a civic-minded pony such as himself!
Heedless of the inner turmoil she was causing him, Sonata kept speaking. “Look, it wasn’t a big deal the first couple of days. You were worrying about those ponies that hadn’t been cured yet, we got that. But you figured that out three days ago, and since then you’ve barely looked up from those scrolls of yours.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out how to put this city back together!” Lex hissed. “Do you have any idea how much it’s going to cost to put Vanhoover back into any semblance of order?! How much time and effort it will take?!”
“I get that, I do, but this is turning into Tall Tale all over again! You do this incredible thing, and then you lock yourself away instead of letting everyone see what a great guy you are! Lex…” She gave him a helpless look, confused by the pushback she was getting. “Do you not want people to like you?”
“Wanting to be liked is beneath me,” he replied sullenly. “And this conversation is over. Right now there are ponies outside that need our help.” With that he stepped around her and headed towards the warehouse doors, not looking back.
Sonata just stared at him for a long moment, her ears folded back and a sad look on her face as she watched him go. Finally, she glanced at Aisle, who was studying the floor very intently, and muttered “c’mon,” starting after her sourpuss boyfriend. Catching up to Lex, the three of them reached the edge of the warehouse in silence. Without hesitating, Lex telekinetically threw the door open, striding outside…
…and immediately stopping in his tracks as he felt a blade press against his throat.
Piggy Bank laughed to himself as he saw the unicorn stallion freeze in place as he felt the knife press against his neck. He couldn’t believe that there were still ponies in Vanhoover that would fall for the old “we’re scared and hungry” routine. But then, glancing at the other two stallions that the rest of his group were keeping similarly hostage, he couldn’t believe that there were ponies that would just loiter outside, even in the middle of the day.
Glancing upward, he waved at Turbulence. “Anything?”
The pegasus took one last quick swoop over the area, and then quickly landed, knowing not to linger in the air too long. Flying was just asking to be noticed, and while the undead ponies might not like daylight, they weren’t exactly afraid of it either, especially since all of the buildings had shadow-filled interiors with plenty of hiding places. “Nothing,” he reported with a smirk. “Nopony on the roof or around the back or anywhere else. They really weren’t laying a trap at all.”
“Great work, Turbo.” Piggy couldn’t help but chuckle at the news, and his mirth caught on, spreading to the rest of their gang as they looked back at Lex. But unlike the others, Piggy’s voice had an undercurrent of tension in it. Something seemed wrong with this whole setup. After this long, there shouldn’t have been anyone who’d make such elementary mistakes. More than that, the two ponies that they’d already captured were surprisingly calm, despite having sharp kitchen knives pressed up against their necks. If anything, they seemed almost…laid back. It was enough to put him on edge, which was saying something given what he’d had to get used to since his city went to Tartarus.
“Fencer, if he so much as looks at you wrong, go ahead and cut him!” he yelled, causing her to grin and nod as she hefted her own knife menacingly in her telekinesis. Of course, she knew that already; he’d yelled that purely for the benefit of the poor sap that she’d gotten the drop on. Except…he didn’t seem to be afraid either. Quite the contrary, he was glowering at them with an expression that was contemptuous rather than worried. It was enough to set Piggy on edge. They’d run this routine plenty of times before, though not so much recently, and these ponies should have been shaking in their horseshoes!
Shaking off his anxiety, he yelled out again, this time addressing the glowering stallion directly. “Here’s what’s going to happen! You’re going to come out nice and slowly, and those two ponies behind you are going to escort my friends here,” he swept a hoof wide to indicate the rest of his gang, over a dozen strong, “inside your hideout. We’re going to help ourselves to whatever we want, and if anypony gives us any trouble, you three are gonna pay for it.” He drew a hoof across his throat to illustrate his point, grinning to make it clear just who was in charge. “Now, get moving.”
But the stallion in the doorway didn’t move.
Piggy frowned. “Well? Get moving! Or you and your buddies are dead!” He could feel himself starting to sweat, and not just because of the humidity in the air. Every other time they’d done this, the ponies they’d threatened had given up right away. They hadn’t just stood there like that.
“You guys really have no idea what you’re getting into,” chuckled one of the ponies they’d captured, an earth pony stallion with a scrub bucket and mop for a cutie mark. The comment was enough to send a round of nervous looks through Piggy’s subordinates, as well as himself. Only Fencer kept her cool, just like she had ever since he’d met her.
“I’m going to give you to the count of three!” he yelled, trying to make himself sound angry instead of nervous. He wasn’t sure that he succeeded. “After that you’re goners, you hear me?!” He waited, but there was still no reaction. It was then that he realized that the stallion’s shadow was stretching in front of him, despite there being no light source inside the doorway that he could see. Piggy had discounted the weird horn and the barbed wire around his hoof as being affectations designed to make the stallion look tough, but there was no way for a pony to mess with their own shadow like that!
“O-one…!” His voice almost broke, and he caught himself starting to edge backward. The cardinal rule of surviving in what was left of Vanhoover was playing it safe, and everything happening right now told him that this was a bad idea. But there was no other choice, not with their food stores being completely empty. These ponies had to be bluffing! “Two!”
At that moment, the unicorn stallion opened his mouth, and for a split-second Piggy relaxed, thinking that he was about to give up. Then he heard what the other pony said.
“Three.”
They never had a chance.
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saw they saw -- say? they saw
Dear Piggy.
You thought the city was bad.
Welcome to the Nightmare.
Okay, no reunion yet but I guess some of the survivors have resorted to looting and stealing from their fellow ponies just to survive. Well, that or they're criminals that escaped during the chaos of the disaster that befell Vanhoover. Regardless, I'm actually impressed they've survived this long.
Still, I almost wished you had added a line about Piggy Bank 'squealing' in fear at the end but I guess that type of humor would have been too easy and obvious.
p.s: I love how the guards are so relaxed while they were being held at knifepoint. After what they went through, this is foal's play, especially given Lex's presence.
8202893 Whoops. Fixed!
8203326 He's just gotten a harsh lesson: there are worse things than ghouls in Vanhoover.
8203347 You know, I came this close to having a "squeal" line in there for Piggy, but as a general rule I try to avoid "obligatory" humor, since it seems so incredibly obvious that it's almost not worth it. If everyone can see the joke incoming as soon as you set it up, there's not really much point in it, and I like to aim a bit higher than "met expectations."
Given that there's over a dozen members of Piggy's group, and that they knew about how the ghouls operated, I suspect that these are the ponies who've best adapted to the city. One way or another, they're the ones who've found a way to survive an incredibly bad situation. Of course, now they've run up against something a lot tougher than them or the ghouls, as they've just found out.
As for Lex and co., like you said, compared to what they went through a few days ago, these guys are a walk in the park.
Calo Nord would approve!
8203516 Yeah, save that Piggy wasn't smart enough to walk away (though at that point, I doubt Lex would have let him anyway).
A typo! Must have been with that Piggy fella.
an earth pony.
Not to sound smug or anything, but that was partly my fault. And I have no regrets with doing it.
8382727
Fixed!
Thou shalt not horn in on the Great and Prolific Alzrius's bout of self-congratulation!