147 - Secret Weapons
I don’t know what to do.
From his position just over a dozen feet away from Fencer’s cage, Turbo watched the mare behind the bars. She’d laid down a while ago, facing the back of the makeshift prison that they’d stuffed her into, and hadn’t moved, leaving him uncertain if she was asleep or not. He would have approached her, maybe even tried to strike up a conversation, but he wasn’t sure if that curse that Lex had placed on her – the one which weakened her if anypony else came within ten feet – caused her any discomfort or not. So instead, he was standing there, watching over her while the rest of the place went about their business.
He wasn’t the only one, of course. Around him, the rest of their gang was settling down. With the doctors having no end of new patients, and the other ponies that Lex had brought with him working to keep the crowd under control, they had been all but forgotten. Now that they were out of the city, it would have been child’s play for them to slip away under the cover of darkness. Even with Fencer stuck in a cage, it wouldn’t have been impossible to simply lift the entire thing and carry her with them; that was how she’d been transported here, after all. They could just quietly pick up what little they had and go…
And do what? he thought bitterly. He’d been asking himself that for the last few hours, ever since Lex had marched them out of the city. But despite having turned the question over in his mind repeatedly, he was still no closer to finding an answer.
Inside Vanhoover, they’d had only one goal: survive another day. While they’d all dreamed of things getting better – Piggy, in particular, had enjoyed talking about what a bigshot he’d been before the flood, and would be again once his mother came back and fixed everything – all of their efforts had been devoted to finding enough food and shelter to stay alive, all the while avoiding the monsters and other survivors-turned-raiders. Getting out of the city had been a pipe dream at best, since the patrols had made it very clear that any survivors wouldn’t be welcomed if they tried to leave, and so thoughts of what they’d do after the ordeal was over had gradually faded away, until-
“Hey.” A gentle voice drew Turbo out of his gloomy thoughts, and he turned over to look at the tan-coated earth pony mare with the black mane and tail that came up next to him. Despite the dim light from the nearby fires barely illuminating her features, he recognized Granola Bar instantly. “How’s she doing?”
“I think she’s sleeping,” he murmured, turning his gaze back towards Fencer. The words were bitter on his tongue, remembering the last curse that Lex had laid on her.
Granola Bar paused for a long moment before replying. “I spoke to everypony else, just now. They’re all going to make sure to think of Princess Luna when they fall asleep.”
Turbo nodded wordlessly. Although he knew she was telling him that to try and encourage him, all it did was remind him of how pathetic his new “plan” was. The half-baked nature of the course of action he’d proposed to everyone just a few hours ago was enough to send a wave of depression through him now, and he suddenly found himself wanting to say it out loud. I didn’t come up with that because I thought it was a good idea. I came up with it because I didn’t want to admit that there was nothing we could do but watch the mare who got us through Vanhoover be punished for helping us survive. Of course, he suspected that everyone knew that; after all, it wasn’t as though they’d had any shortage of nightmares since the flooding. If Princess Luna hadn’t appeared in anyone’s dreams by now, then she wasn’t going to, regardless of how hard they tried to reach out to her.
When it became clear that Turbo wasn’t going to reply, Granola Bar cleared her throat awkwardly before trying again. “So, I was thinking. My cousin has a rutabaga farm north of here. It’d take us a while to get there on hoof, what with the train not coming here, but it’s probably our best bet.”
That was enough to cause Turbo to stir, glancing at her. “The train isn’t coming here?”
“Yeah.” Granola Bar canted her head towards the long lines of ponies waiting for food and medicine. “I asked some of the ponies that have been here a while. They said that Block Party, the pony who was running things here, shut them down a little while ago. He was worried they’d spread the infection around, so he spoke with one of the train conductors a while back, and after that they stopped showing up here.”
“Wonderful…” sighed Turbo.
“And since we can’t really cross twenty-odd miles of swamp to go to Tall Tale, that leaves going north,” said Granola Bar matter-of-factly. “My cousin’s place isn’t really big enough for all of us, but I bet she’ll let us sleep in her barn, and-”
“You think Lex will ever let us get that far?” interrupted Turbo, his voice dark.
“What?” For a moment, Granola Bar couldn’t understand what he was asking, her face screwing up in confusion. “Why wouldn’t he? We’re not his prisoners.”
Turbo couldn’t help the patronizing look he gave her then. “You wanna tell that to Fencer?”
Granola Bar winced at that. “That isn’t…” She trailed off with a sigh, closing her eyes and turning her head away for a moment, before finally looking back at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean how that came out.” She licked her lips for a moment, putting her thoughts in order before speaking again. “What I meant to say was that he didn’t say anything about her being imprisoned as part of her punishment. It was just those curses.”
“And then he threw her in a cage,” growled Turbo dangerously. “And what do you mean by ‘just’ those curses?”
“Turbo…” The look at Granola Bar gave him right then wasn’t scared, nor was it angry. Rather, it was sympathetic, silently making it clear that she understood how he felt.
It was enough to bleed off his anger, causing him to look away, ashamed that he’d almost lost his temper. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s just…getting out of here isn’t enough. We’ve got to find some way to undo what Lex did to her.”
“I understand,” she replied quietly. The two of them were silent for several minutes after that, until Granola Bar eventually spoke up again. “I thought it might all be gone, you know.”
“Huh?”
“Everything. All of Equestria.” She glanced away from the camp then, and Turbo followed her eyes to see that she was peering back towards Vanhoover, a few lonely lights – dummy lights, no doubt – flickering in a smattering of the buildings. “After the first week or so, when it started to sink in that nopony was coming, I thought maybe it wasn’t just Vanhoover. Maybe something had happened and we were all that was left.”
“I didn’t know.” Something like that had never once occurred to Turbo. He’d been too busy worrying about the here-and-now to even think about what had happened everywhere else. The thought that Granola Bar had been carrying around a worry as big as that one, all the while struggling alongside them to make it through, was simultaneously horrifying and impressive. “I can’t even imagine…thinking that we might be the last ones, that there might not be an end to it all, ever.” He considered that for a moment, before shuddering. “How did you keep going?”
“I had a secret weapon.” The corners of Granola Bar’s lips turned up. “You wanna know what it was?” Finding himself smiling back for some reason, Turbo nodded. In response, Granola Bar pointed behind him.
Turning to follow her hoof, he glanced over his shoulder and saw…a very familiar fat little earth stallion, snoring loudly and drooling onto the backpack that was his pillow. The sight was enough to make Turbo’s eyebrows rise up almost to his hairline as he looked back at Granola Bar. “Piggy?! Are you kidding me?!”
Giggling, she shook her head. “Nope. Whenever it felt like it was all too much, that there was no hope for any of us, I’d go and talk to him. And every single time, he made me feel better.”
“How?” For the life of him, Turbo couldn’t imagine how the pompous little pony could have made anyone feel better. He’d been, at best, an amusing buffoon, but a source of inner strength? He just couldn’t see it. She had to be playing a prank on him.
But as Granola Bar looked over at where Piggy was sleeping, Turbo saw her smile warmly, and he realized she was completely serious. “Because,” she said softly, “he never gave up hope.”
Turbo blinked. “He didn’t?”
“No.” Granola Bar shook her head, still gazing fondly at Piggy. “No matter what happened, or how bad things got, he was always completely convinced that it wouldn’t last. That very soon, his mother would sail back into the harbor and somehow fix everything, and that it would all go right back to how it was. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in his mind. He believed it completely, and because he did, I was able to believe it too.” She tore her eyes away from Piggy then, giving Turbo a grin. “He kept me going, no matter how bad things got.”
“I had no idea.”
“I know,” giggled Granola Bar. “That’s why he was my secret weapon.”
“Yeah,” chuckled Turbo, shaking his head. “I’m a little jealous. I wish I’d had someone like that.”
“Oh, Turbo.” Granola Bar’s grin faded slightly, becoming a pitying smile. “You did.” She turned around, canting her head back toward Fencer’s cage. “She’s right over there.”
Turbo sputtered, his eyes widening at the implication. “Wh-, no, hold on.” He gave an incredulous laugh. “That’s not it at all,” he assured her, not even stopping to think why it was suddenly so important to make her realize that she had the wrong idea.
“Yes, it is,” replied Granola Bar softly. “The same way that Piggy was my strength, Fencer was yours.” Her expression faded as she looked back at where the other mare was lying in her cage. “That’s why you’re having such a hard time with what’s happened to her.”
Turbo’s good humor died then. All of a sudden this wasn’t funny anymore. It was just…awkward and uncomfortable. “Look, I don’t know…” He trailed off, running a hoof over his face as he tried to regain his equilibrium. He suddenly wished she’d go away. “I need to think of what our next move is,” he muttered, hoping she’d take the hint.
She didn’t, instead turning to face him directly. “I’m trying to tell you, that’s not what you should be thinking about right now.”
“What?” He frowned at her, not sure if he should be upset by that or not.
Granola Bar gave him an earnest look. “She got us out, Turbo. She kept us together, kept us safe, and led us to the rescue squad that got us out of Vanhoover.” She gestured to the cage, then. “She paid a high price for doing it, but she did it.”
“I know that!” insisted Turbo. “That’s why I’m trying to figure out how to lift those curses Lex put on her!”
“Those aren’t the price she paid.” Granola Bar’s voice was soft. “You heard what she said, right before Lex sentenced her. About how she felt about the things she did. That’s what it cost her to save us.”
Turbo recoiled, mouth gaping as though he’d just been slapped.
“You can get her out of that cage,” continued Granola Bar. “You can take her far away from Lex. You can even get his curses removed. But if you want to help her, I mean really help her, that’s not enough.” She advanced on him then, putting a hoof on his chest. “While we were in Vanhoover, Fencer was your secret weapon. Now that we’re out, Garden Gate needs you to be hers.”
Wide-eyed, Turbo worked his jaw, wanting to say that Fencer had nothing to be ashamed of, that she hadn’t done anything wrong that she’d needed to apologize for, but nothing came out. Satisfied that he’d gotten the message, Granola Bar nodded to herself before turning and walking away. Turbo watched her go, his mind spinning, before looking back at Fen-…
…at Garden Gate.
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Poor Garden Gate. Hopefully someone is able to convince Lex that she has changed.
to send a wave of depression through him?
Well damn. That certainly hurt (in a good way) to read. You are talented.
Really interesting chapter. If I thought I could make a break for a Rutabaga farm and lie low for a couple of months and avoid getting between Lex and Block Party, I'd do it.
(Just thought of something: If Block Party is a rakshasa, since the only way to tell them apart is their backwards hands, it's pretty hard to spot that on a creature with hooves).
I'm starting to get more and more intrigued about Piggy's Mom. Did she just die, or did something more interesting happen to her?
Now that I think about it, Turbo's plan has quite a number of flaws besides the obvious. Namely, the dreamers themselves. If they dream of Princess Luna, there's a good chance of that Luna being just a product of their subconscious rather than the real one which could lead to false hope followed by depression.
So River Bank was among the ones evacuated from Vanhoover and by sea no less. A part of me wonders if she and the other ships had survived the kraken and its minions or if they had gotten out in time. If it's the latter and she does return, she and the heads of the two other families(should they have survived as well) would be shocked by Lex's takeover.
Someones having to face the Sphinx in the bathroom?
8451652
That'll be quite difficult to pull off, like most things that are worthwhile.
Though, as Granola Bar noted, what Garden Gate really needs isn't to have her curses removed...
Whoops! Fixed now!
Thank you so much for saying so!
Feedback like that is what keeps me going!
8451900 ...I plead ignorance here.
8452061
Guilty!
8451666 Getting away from Vanhoover isn't the worst idea right now. But that brings up a rather awkward question: if there are towns and villages to the north - all of which can be walked to - then why are so many ponies still living in squalor around the danger zone that Vanhoover has become? I mean, sure, Spit Polish mentioned something about Block Party needing them to quarantine the city, but surely that wouldn't be enough to live in such horrible conditions for such a long time...right?
As for Piggy's mom...all we know for sure at this point is that Piggy claims that she got away (apparently by boat), and that he's certain that she'll be back very soon. How true that is remains uncertain, though if she does come back, it's a pretty safe bet that she won't be happy to find that her authority has been usurped in the meantime. There may be a power struggle ahead, if Lex manages to turn Vanhoover's fate around (though I suspect he'd welcome such a challenge).
As for Block Party...I'm going to keep mum about your idea for now.
8451694 As you've noted, Turbo's plan wasn't much more than desperation and the desire to keep everyone (or rather, keep himself) from giving up. It wasn't the result of any logical strategy or tactical analysis, but rather came from him grasping at straws, not wanting to admit that the mare he admired so much was suffering right in front of him, and there was nothing he could do about it. Except, as Granola Bar reminded him, he can do something about it, just not in the concrete "alter the circumstances" sort of way he was thinking.
It's an open question if River Bank made it out, but I seem to recall Ribbon Cutter saying that some ships had sailed into, and passed, Tall Tale, so there's reason to believe that she might have gotten out in time. If so, her return might be a thorn in Lex's future plans...or maybe he'd find a way to put her to use in his new order? It remains to be seen.