190 - Unfair Disadvantage
A tense silence hung in the air as Cloudbank’s question went unanswered.
For a long moment Nosey didn’t move, simply regarding the five ponies in silence. Her expression was stony, with the minute downward turn at the corners of her lips and the slight narrowing of her eyes somehow managing to convey contempt so thick that it was almost palpable. As her gaze slid over each of them in turn they all flinched, tensing up without quite knowing why.
Finally, the silence grew too heavy to bear, and Drafty spoke up. “Nosey, is everything…” She faltered as those eyes locked onto hers, making her shudder. “I mean, whatever’s going on, we should probably get back, you know?” She gave a nervous chuckle. “There are, you know...ghouls all over the place, so we should really, um, get back…” Her words trailed off as Nosey continued to fix her with that cold gaze, unable to speak any further.
“Has something happened back at the camp?” C. Shells took a step forward as she spoke, but froze in place as Nosey looked at her. Forcing herself to keep speaking, she tried again. “Is everypony okay?”
“Everyone at the camp is fine.” Nosey’s words, spoken so calmly that she sounded almost bored, were enough to send a shudder of relief through the others. But then she kept speaking. “That’s the problem.”
“What?” Sandbar frowned in confusion. “Why is that a problem?”
But Turbo had heard enough. “We need to go!” he yelled, backing away from the pony in front of him. He had no idea what had happened to the bubbly reporter that had tried to interview him and his friends when they’d first been brought to Lex’s shelter, but her unnerving demeanor – to say nothing of the fact that she was there all by herself, apparently completely unconcerned with the possibility of being attacked by ghouls – was enough to make it clear that something was very wrong. And Turbo had no intention of finding out what that something was; he’d been in Vanhoover long enough to know that “very wrong” had a way of leading to “dead.” “We need to go now!”
Sandbar, C. Shells, and Drafty all looked at him, uncertainty causing them to hesitate. But an instant later Cloudbank’s voice rang out. “He’s right!” She swung Severance up into a ready position as she backed away from Nosey, not taking her eyes off of the other mare as she spoke. She’d asked the weapon if it knew what was going on, but it had replied only that it saw what she saw: a single pony, and nothing more. Far from reassuring Cloudbank, however, that answer had only made her anxiety rise. “Everypony get out of here! Circle around and get back to the camp!”
She could hear the others moving, the sound of hoofsteps and wagon wheels conveying the others’ retreat, but the sounds receded only slightly before Drafty’s voice rang out. “Cloudy! Come on!”
She waved a wing back at the others, moving backward without taking her eyes off of Nosey, who hadn’t moved. “Keep going! I’ll be right behind you so don’t stop!”
“No one’s going anywhere.”
The matter-of-fact words made Cloudbank tense, holding up Severance in preparation for whatever Nosey was going to do, but the other mare hadn’t moved, making no effort to enforce her statement. It was- “Urrgh!”
Cloudbank couldn’t keep herself from grunting as lethargy washed over her, as sudden as it was profound. In an instant, she felt as though she’d flown across Equestria a dozen times without stopping, her breaths coming in ragged pants while her blood began pounding in her ears. She released Severance, the weapon’s weight seeming to multiply several times over, and it floated beside her as she fought to keep from collapsing. She could hear similar groans from behind her, and risked a look backward. Sure enough, the others were in a similar state, stumbling and wheezing in weariness. “N-no...!” Forcefully pushing through her unnatural exhaustion, Cloudbank grabbed Severance in her jaws, backing away more. “Keep going!” she yelled. Whatever was happening, whatever Nosey – or whatever this was – was doing, they had to get away right now! “Shake it off and keep going!”
“I told you, no one’s going anywhere.”
The soft words sent a shudder down C. Shells’ spine, and she struggled to keep her legs under her as she made for the other side of the street. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she forced herself to put one hoof on front of the other. Ahead of her, she could see Turbo, Drafty, and Sandbar all managing to do the same, the latter valiantly managing to drag his cart behind him as he plodded forward, sweat pouring down his frame. The sight was enough to fill C. Shells with a mixture of admiration and determination for her crewpony, silently swearing that if they got out of this, she’d let him name their new ship, its longboats, and her first-born- “Wh-, NO!” Turbo’s cry of shock and despair caused her to look forward...and her jaw fell open at what she saw.
The side street that they’d been headed toward was no longer there.
A brick wall now connected the two buildings on the other side of the main road, cutting off the entrance to the side street that was opposite the one Nosey was standing in. The sight made C. Shells’ heart sink, and she shook her head in denial. This can’t be happening! There’s no way this could-, oh NO! A fresh spike of panic ran through her as she looked upward, only now catching sight of the iron bars crisscrossing the air over their heads, stretching between the upper portions buildings up and down the block in a lattice pattern.
Fighting down a whimper of fright, she looked left and right, trying to see how far the cage-like bars extended over the main road…only to find that each direction now had brick walls of their own, completely cutting off the street in both directions. She didn’t dare look behind her to see if the side street behind Nosey was still there, not wanting to look at the terrifyingly-calm mare again. “This isn’t fair!” C. Shells muttered, fear and frustration causing her to forget her rule about never letting her crew see her lose her composure in a crisis. “After everything we went through, how hard we all fought…this can’t be real!”
Drafty’s eyes widened at the other mare’s words. “It’s not real!” She looked at the others then, desperate hope written all over her face. “It’s an illusion, like that wall that appeared on the docks when we were fighting those monsters, remember?!”
“Huh?” Turbo’s voice was thick with anxiety, not knowing what she was talking about.
“Just keep going!” groaned Sandbar, the effort of pulling his cart turning his voice into a growl. “If she’s right we’ll be able to pass through it!”
Still facing down Nosey, only Cloudbank saw the mare’s features tighten at that, her eyes narrowing further as her frown deepened. “I’m impressed,” she admitted, though her voice was dark. “I didn’t think you’d be able to see through that.” Slowly, she stepped forward. “I didn’t think you’d be able to make it all the way to the vault without losing anyone. I certainly didn’t think that you’d be able to make it out alive.” She stopped directly in front of where Cloudbank was holding Severance, and her expression darkened further. “I’m tired of being proven wrong by you ponies.”
“Cut without wounding!” yelled Cloudbank as she swung Severance, hoping to catch the thing in front of her off-guard. She had no idea if this was some sort of monster that was disguising itself as Nosey for whatever reason, or if this was the real Nosey and something had happened to her, but either way Severance’s ability to deal powerful damage without causing bodily harm would let her subdue it. Then, after she’d incapacitated it, they could drag her – or it, or whatever – back to Lex and let him figure out what was going on. Just one good hit! thought Cloudbank desperately as she brought the scythe around in an arc, the point aiming at the other mare’s throat. Just one, and that should be enough!
The tip of Severance’s blade was within an inch of Nosey’s neck when the other mare vanished.
The sudden loss of her target caused Cloudbank to stumble, the momentum of her swing almost dragging her off her hooves. “Wh-what?!” For a moment, she could only gape in shock at the empty space where Nosey had been, and for an instant she wondered if she’d somehow obliterated her altogether. Pushing that thought away, she turned to look at her friends, wanting their input about what had just happened. Turning around, she registered two things immediately: the first was that all of them had turned to look at her when she’d yelled at Severance.
The second thing was that Nosey was standing behind them, on the other side of the street from where she’d been. Teleported, Cloudbank realized numbly. She teleported!
Her friends must have seen the look on her face, because in unison they turned around, and frightened cries and shouted curses rang out as they saw who was behind them. Panicking, they tried to put some space between themselves and their adversary, flinging themselves backward as quick as their tired bodies could handle, but it was no use. Almost casually strolling into their midst, Nosey cast a contemptuous look around, her lip curling in disdain. “Your little expedition is ending in failure. Right now.”
What happened next was as brief as it was one-sided.
“You wanted me to give them the what now?”
“The extradimensional repository, Sonata,” replied Lex with a sigh. “The one you’re currently using as an ornament for your mane.”
She blinked for a moment, reaching a hoof up to rub her makeshift scrunchy keeping her hair in a ponytail (and having to suppress a giggle at calling her hairstyle that, what with her being a pony and all), before recognition blossomed on her face. “Oh yeah! The tablecloth-hole thingy!” She nodded for a minute, pleased with herself, before the obvious question occurred to her. “Why’d you want Cloudbank and the others to have it?”
Lex forced himself to repress his irritation at the question, not wanting to get into another fight so soon after they’d put their previous one to rest. “Because large quantities of coins are extremely heavy,” he explained. “By utilizing the receptacle, they would have been able to store and transport an exceptionally large number of them without being encumbered.”
Sonata mulled that over for a moment before her eyes widened. “You know, now that I think about it, that dragon was totes doing the same thing! Remember how this was full of coins when we found it?” She brushed her hair tie again. “Wow, now I feel kinda silly that I didn’t give it to Cloudbank before.”
Lex grit his teeth for a moment before letting out a slow breath. “Just see to it that you rectify that mistake when they return. The more currency they can retrieve the fewer times they’ll need to risk their lives like this.”
“Hmm? So you’re worried about them, huh?” Sonata didn’t try to hide her smirk. “I told you that you called them your friends before.”
Lex shot her a warning look, not wanting to rehash that particular discussion. "Anypony with a conscience would be concerned with sending others into danger, Sonata," he frowned, "and the fact that I needed to send them on my behalf is an indictment of my-"
"Geez, will you relax already?" Sonata rolled her eyes before cuddling up to Lex's side, nuzzling him. Despite his protests, she was sure that he was worried about them. "Cloudbank picked out a bunch of ponies who are all really tough. Plus they've got Severance with them, so they'll be able to handle a few ghouls." She smiled, her face displaying complete confidence.
"I'm sure they're going to be just fine."
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Hopefully whatever possessed Nosey want Draft and company alive...
Nosey
Let's see...mind control, illusions, teleportation. (or perhaps an application of illusion magic?) That's quite the the repertoire of magic under 'Nosey's' command and there's likely more that has yet to be shown if the chapter is anything to go by.
8634295Kiki's(Or is it NoOne now?) comment made me wonder if whatever is possessing Nosey would actually kill off the party as it would sow some fear and uncertainty in the camp though that would only be limited to the ponies within Lex's group, like Aisle, Cozy, Garden and the rest of C.Shell's crew. This fear could be spread to the rest of the camp if someone speaks up and points out how they died because of Lex's decision.
Of course, Block Party, the only one would could have been used for that role dead and Spit Polish's standing with the camp ponies down in the gutter, this plan isn't as viable.
An alternative is to mind control Cloudbank and the others to Nosey's own ends though given how stiff the ponies Ticket Stub met were behaving, I wonder if that can be accomplished given how perceptive Lex is. Not to mention the fact that Severance could relay the events to Lex so the scythe would either need to be locked away somewhere and be claimed to be lost in a fight against the ghouls.
If the Puppetmaster is working so hard to handle Nosey and Cloudys crew, would the ghouls in the bank and city be going nuts, and how is the train on the other side of the range doing with the zombies?
a interesting chapter.
Noseys cover is blown she has to stop all of them from getting back.
and it is time Nosey needs to be dealt with.
8634295 Hopefully, since they seemed to be so heavily outmatched otherwise.
8634856 Let's hope that Cloudbank and co. are up to the task, because right now it doesn't look good...
8634815 Those are all good questions, which hopefully will be answered soon.
Hopefully.
8634547 Whoops! Naming error fixed now!
But yeah, we've seen even deeper into "Nosey's" bag of tricks, and it's not looking good for Cloudbank and co. Exactly what's going to happen to them is yet unclear, but it looks rather grim at this point. Their best hope might very well be that she wants them alive for some purpose, but since we don't know her ultimate agenda that's uncertain. Still, they have Severance, so at the very least that's something that won't be quite so easily dealt with...right?
Nothing.
Hmmm... Block party is a necromancer, and possessed Nosey.
This just got interesting.
9162308
9162906
So I'm not wrong, eh?
9162907 As Rarity would say, no spoilers!