270 - Uncomfortable Questions
“Well, that’s that.”
Lex didn’t reply to Sonata’s statement, watching as the train sped off into the night. It didn’t take long before it had vanished from sight completely, the light from the occupied cars receding into the distance before finally disappearing as the train barreled eastward. Behind him, he could already hear the crowd starting to break up, wandering back toward the camp now that the spectacle had ended.
“C’mon.” Sonata nudged him. “There’s, like, nothing left to do.” She canted her head back toward the camp. “Those guys you told to dig are still at it, and Severance is watching over them. The doctors are taking care of those new ponies you brought back. And the train should be alright, since we’re not on it.” She smirked at that, before giving him a light nuzzle. “Whaddaya say we head back to our tent and settle down for the night?”
Even despite knowing the bad dreams that awaited him, Lex couldn’t help but feel tempted by the offer, both because of how exhausted he felt and because he couldn’t help but relish the thought of lying down next to her. But despite that, he shook his head. “There’s one more thing that needs to be done.”
Sonata’s eyebrows went up. “Are you kidding me? What could possibly be left-”
“Hey…”
Turning at the familiar voice, Lex watched as Nosey stepped onto the platform, an uncomfortable look on her face. “I, um…” Behind her glasses her eyes darted back and forth, going from him to Sonata and back again as though not sure which of them to address. “I was talking to a couple of the camp ponies before, when they were waiting for the train to arrive.” She took a notebook out of her saddlebag, holding it up as though worried she wouldn’t be believed otherwise. “They all had very positive things to say about you…” Her eyes settled on him just for a moment, before she jerked them back toward Sonata. “Both of you, I mean.”
“That’s great!” Sonata couldn’t have looked happier. “I mean, it’s great that everypony thinks that we’re awesome, and that you were able to go around interviewing them! You’re totes back to your old self!”
Lex frowned at that, since the timid demeanor that Nosey was currently expressing seemed to make it self-evident that she wasn’t. Nosey herself seemed to feel the same, giving a smile that even he could tell was uncomfortable. “Yeah…for a little while. But, well, then your spell wore off…” Her ears folded back as she trailed off, looking at the ground.
“Aw, I think you’re doing fine,” scoffed Sonata, before turning to look at Lex. “Right? Doesn’t she look like she’s doing great?”
“I don’t-”
“See? Even Lex thinks you’re rockin’ your recovery. In fact, I bet you could totes sleep on your own tonight!”
Nosey flinched at that, awkwardly putting her notebook away as she looked up. “Actually, that’s why I’m h-”
But Sonata seemed determined not to let anyone else get a word in edgewise. “Of course, I’ll totes use that spell on you again so you can, like, ease into it, ‘kay? In fact, how about I do it right now? A one and a two and a three…”
As Sonata took a deep breath, preparing to start singing, Nosey cut in. “I want to sleep with you guys again!”
Sonata let out a whoosh as she practically deflated in place, her good cheer disappearing. “Of course you do…”
Nosey winced at that, looking as though she’d just been slapped. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being a nuisance, it’s just…the last time I went to sleep by myself I had the worst nightmares, and I can’t…” She suppressed a shudder, swallowing. “I just can’t. Not again.” The words were almost a whimper, a pleading note in her voice.
Lex had heard more than enough. “You can-”
“-totes spend the night with Aria!” Sonata nodded frantically at her own idea. “I mean, it’s perfect, right? She’s all into being a bodyguard and stuff, but we don’t need one anymore since everypony’s all, like, super-supportive of us now. Plus, she’s got some serious mojo, so she can totes make you feel all safe and secure and stuff!” Her grin was slightly wider than normal as she looked back and forth between Nosey and Lex. "See? It’s brilliant, right? Right?!”
Nosey bit her lip, looking less than reassured. “Um…”
“Nosey will stay with us,” declared Lex in a tone of finality. “Aria also.”
Both mares sighed at that, one in relief and the other in visible dejection. Emboldened, Nosey stepped forward, giving Lex a warm smile. It only lasted for a moment, however, fading as she looked at Sonata. “I’m really sorry. I know I’m being a burden to you guys. I promise that this won’t be for…”
She stopped as Sonata held out a hoof, shaking her head. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I know you have it bad right now, and I’m being, like, super selfish.” She smiled again, this time without the mania she’d had previously. “You can totes stay with us for as long as you want.”
Nosey gave her a grateful look. “Thank you.”
Sonata waved a hoof. “Aw, what’re besties for?”
The two hugged each other then, and Lex couldn’t help but roll his eyes, silently noting the irony at how things had changed since they were all staying in Tall Tale. Nosey had stayed with them back then also, only he had been the one fuming over her unwanted presence while Sonata had pressed for her to stay. The difference being that Sonata was acting on a whim then, whereas I’m actually trying to accomplish something now.
With that thought in mind, Lex turned to the last remaining issue that needed to be dealt with in the meantime. Turning to look at the small mountain of provisions that had been unloaded from the train, he started to chant, only to stop with a soft curse as he realized something. “Sonata.”
“Hm?” She looked up as her hug with Nosey came to an end. “What’s up?”
“I need you to go ask the camp ponies if any of them have a bell and a strand of silver wire I can use.”
Both mares shared a look of incomprehension before turning their gazes back to him. “Okaaay…” started Sonata, clearly wanting to know why he’d made such an odd request.
Lex sighed, regretting the loss of his extradimensional pack when he’d fought Xiriel. Most of his spells didn’t require any sort of material focus in order to work, but a few – such as his scrying spell, with its ornate mirror – did, all of which he’d kept in his haversack. Unfortunately, the same was true for this spell. “I’m going to place a ward around the food, one that will sound an alarm if anyone tries to take some. I need those things in order to cast the spell.” He’d had this spell prepared since before he’d fought the belier; indeed, part of the reason he’d been so mortified by how Spit Polish had almost killed him had been that he’d had this ready but hadn’t used it before he’d passed out from his injuries when he’d conjured food for the entire camp. As such, it was beyond frustrating, now that he was ready to put it to use, that he didn’t have the items necessary to do so!
Sonata shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be a lot easier just to have some ponies guard it instead?”
Lex snorted at the suggestion. “Even if we just fed them, having hungry ponies be the ones to guard a cache of food is an ill-considered idea.”
Nosey piped up then. “What about those ponies you conjured up last night? The scary-looking ones that you had help Fencer fight the ghouls?”
Lex blanched at that, but Sonata didn’t notice, her eyes widening in delight. “Hey, that’s a great idea! With ponies as weird as those, no one will try to snatch anything! But maybe just make them not be so mean this time?”
That last comment caught Nosey’s interest, a glimmer of her old self peeking through. “What do you mean ‘not be so mean this time’?”
“What, you didn’t hear them before? They were, like, total jerks! Every time Lex brought one of them out, they were all like ‘you’re a big dumb dummy,’ or ‘you’re gonna lose, loser.’ It was super awful!”
Nosey’s brow furrowed at that, turning back to Lex. “Why would-”
“That’s enough!” hissed Lex, making no effort to moderate his tone. This was exactly what he’d been hoping wouldn’t happen; bad enough those phantoms that his shadow had brought forth from his nightmares made a lasting impression, they’d made enough of one to invite further questions. It had been hard enough to admit to Sonata that he had recurring nightmares. Admitting that they were caused by a rogue portion of his mind that he had virtually no control over was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible. That was especially true with regard to Nosey, whose special talent was unearthing and disseminating information! That, and learning of his condition might clue her in as to how he’d only managed to defeat Xiriel by luck, rather than heroically overcoming the monster the way she thought he had…
“Conjuring a ward is easier than performing a summons,” he announced flatly. It was technically true, since it didn’t involve cajoling his shadow to take action. Hopefully the girls would take the statement at face value.
But those hopes were dashed a moment later as Sonata cocked her head. “Well, yeah, but not when you don’t have the stuff you need to cast the spell, right?” Lex had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at Sonata, cursing that she had chosen right now of all times to start prioritizing practicality. Oblivious to his growing discomfort, she kept speaking. “I mean, it’s kind of a pain to go around asking everyone if they just so happen to have-”
“I’ll do it,” interrupted Nosey.
“Huh?” blinked Sonata, clearly taken by surprise. Lex was as well, though it was mixed with a large degree of relief.
“I’ll go get them,” repeated the newsmare. “A bell and some silver wire, right? I’ll go find some.”
She’d just started to walk to the edge of the platform when Sonata cut her off. “No, it should be me.”
Nosey paused. “You sure? I don’t mind.”
This time Sonata’s smile was slightly sad. “I know, but I still feel kinda bad.” She threw a quick glance at Lex before trotting toward the camp. “You guys hang tight, and I’ll be right back. Don’t go to bed without me!” An instant later she was gone.
Lex did his best not to sigh in relief, thankful that their troublesome line of inquiry had ended. Sitting down, he didn’t protest when Nosey came and pressed herself against his side a moment later, a shudder running through her as she leaned against him. It had been obvious, even to him, that she hadn’t wanted to go looking for the components that he needed.
A few minutes of silence passed before Nosey spoke up. “Lex?”
“Hm?”
“…you know that I’d never betray your trust, right?”
The statement was so unexpected that he couldn’t help but look at her. “What?”
She didn’t meet his gaze, her eyes closed as she spoke. “I mean, if there was something dangerous or important that you didn’t want anyone else to know about, or even just something uncomfortable or embarrassing, I’d never tell.” She opened her eyes then, looking up at him from just a few inches away. “I wouldn’t say a word, or write about it, or anything else. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Lex tensed, uncomfortable with the implication that she knew he was hiding something. But he forced himself to relax a moment later. Nosey was his friend. This was what friends were supposed to do, right? Awkwardly, he nodded. “Alright.”
A wan smile crossed her lips at that, and she closed her eyes again, the two of them waiting silently for Sonata to return.
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noseys whole point of being their is to make sonata heartbroken so she calls on the evil love goddess.
9142163 Somehow I don't see that as being Nosey's motivation.
Secrets always come, out, that's a guaranteed fact (at least in stories). Also it's probably better for Sonata if Nosey is sleeping with them, if Aria is going to be there either way. Can't wait for some more sisterly bickering!
Is Lex becoming a type of spiritualist? I could certainly see him as one with the fractured mind archetype.
9142308 Well, yes and no. Chekhov's Gun guarantees that something foreshadowed will eventually be presented more fully later, but that's only with regard to what the audience/readers know. There's no guarantee that the other characters in the story itself will ever be clued in to what's really happened.
Insofar as Lex goes, he doesn't really fit with any sort of established class, spiritualist included. That was sort of why I went with Eclipse: The Codex Persona to generate his stats; I wanted something that would let me come up with the theme and related abilities first, and then build the mechanics to suit that, rather than the other way around. Thematically, the tulpa he's dealing with was imposed on him by the Night Mare for the purpose of strengthening him; it's why she taunted him about his lack of progress in that regard in chapter forty-four. It's the mental/spiritual equivalent of tying one hand behind someone's back and telling them to scale a climbing wall.
And there'll definitely be some sister-squabbling in the next chapter!
9142330
True, there's no guarantee. I'm just saying that in all the man, many stories I have read, a devastating secret held by the protagonist that is eating away at them has stayed a secret not one time. This story could be the first, if Lex is really good at bluffing...
Makese sense. I think that the phantom class feature of a fractured mind spiritualist is just a good mechanical fit from what we've seen of the tulpa(s) in the story so far. (Any kind of phantom fits with their actions in battle, the fractured mind part is just because of the actions the tulpa takes everywhere else in the story).
I mean, that tent hasn't gotten any bigger, according to Aria there's still only room for her and Lex, right?
At least Sonata hanst proposed trying to use the food as shelter, boxes etc.
Well, that situation was defused rather quickly though I'd be hardpressed to deny Nosey if it was me. Lex was probably going to let Nosey stay too, partially out of sympathy(i think) and guilt over his inability to save her when he could have.
Sounds like Nosey is going to be stuck to Lex like glue for the foreseeable future and with the jealousy issue resolved for the time being, Sonata is fine with her bestie being a 'little' clingy to her boyfriend. Though I can't help but wonder if Aria would stoke the embers a little during their eventual 'talk' in the station. Wonder how Lex will misconstrue the meaning behind it this time or would he even bother listening?
As for Lex's secrets, pretty much everyone in the camp is curious about them too, though mostly of how he became so powerful. However, unlike those who are somewhat satisfied with gossip(wonder what they'll come up with this time), Nosey, despite her current condition, is still an 'ace' reporter so she's bound to want to know more...eventually.
Wow, that was a lot of reading these past few days. I had no idea this sequel even existed until recently, which is pretty awesome since I finished Apple Falls Far from the Tree when it was being written and recently reread it.
And...now I got caught up and I'm like "well shoot 600k words in and it doesn't feel even close to being finished!"
I gotta say though, as enjoyable as this mostly is, I felt that the Tall Tale arc was much stronger than the Vanhoover arc, where it felt like basically everything kept going wrong for Lex and him basically resetting to zero on his social skills after what he learned at Tall Tale. I'm glad he did manage to pull through, but I'm totes sad about Cloud, C. Shells, and Drifty.
9142393
In point of fact, Lex is terrible at bluffing (his Bluff skill modifier is -5). He hates deception as a general rule - clear communication and mutual understanding are hard enough for him even when both parties are being earnest - and so he's poor at it, at least insofar as face-to-face verbal communication is concerned. He's aware that deception has a place (i.e. in adversarial interactions), but outside of that he doesn't care for it. That's why he simply prefers to change the subject when a sensitive area comes up.
I'll take your word for it. I paid very little attention to the Occult classes (save for having a kineticist in my weekly game). The most I've looked into them is writing up an Eclipse "conversion" for psychic spellcasting.
Heh, this is going to come up in today's chapter...
9142848 If Sonata's going to build a fort, it's going to need to have cushions!
9142901 I won't say too much, because it feeds into the chapter you're going to see later tonight, but there's a reason why Lex is so adamant that both Nosey and Aria will be spending the night with him and Sonata. (Though I say that with mild trepidation; there have been plenty of times where a chapter's focus changed as I was writing it, and I can't rule out that happening here...though it doesn't seem too likely at this point.)
Insofar as Sonata's not liking how much Nosey is clinging to Lex...I suspect that she (Sonata) wouldn't be nearly so understanding if this was anypony other than Nosey. The two of them really hit it off during their time together in Tall Tale, and Sonata seems to trust that Nosey isn't out to steal her stallion. This, despite the fact that (since Sonata is socially-aware, unlike Lex) Nosey has been sending out some rather troubling signals... Fortunately, Lex is completely oblivious to those (something else that Sonata knows quite well), but even so, when he wakes up to Nosey being draped over him in an intimate manner, well...he's still chalking this up to her being traumatized, but I have to wonder just how far that'll go.
Besides that, we're definitely seeing everypony appreciate Lex more, though I wonder just how curious they'll be about how he grew so strong. His power is unusual, and that's already been shown to be a point of gossip (albeit abetted by Xiriel), but it's notable that nopony has ever been curious about how Twilight got her wings, or if that feat could be repeated (in fact, prior to season seven's Fame and Misfortune, I wonder if anypony else besides Twilight's friends was even aware of how she acquired them in the first place).
9146956 Thanks for following along on Lex's adventures! I'm glad you found this story, though now I wonder if I should go back to its predecessor and leave another comment or something to let people know that this is here!
Also, you're right: this story is nowhere close to being done! I have so much more that I want to do! Though, to be honest, I had no idea that it would take over six hundred thousand words just to get this far!
You've brought up some good points regarding the differences between what's happened in Vanhoover versus Tall Tale, and believe it or not that has been intentional on my part. There are several reasons for it:
9147401
True, we've never seen evidence of Twilight sharing what actually happened after she cast Starswirl's unfinished spell so it's likely that her friends and ponies in general, accepted the outcome without questioning it. Of course, in the story, the only one who's shown any curiosity was Garden Gate/Fencer when she wanted to take Lex's power for her own.
While I doubt anyone would be successful at another attempt to take Lex's power for their own, it still doesn't remove the possibility of someone foolhardy enough to do so again. Though if Cloudbank was brought back, she could spin it in a way that makes the public believe they can come close to Lex's level if they worship Night Mare, giving the goddess more followers in Equestria. Though that's a given anyways due to the deal Lex struck with the goddess.
9147588 Thinking about what you said some more, I suspect that at least some of this - in terms of why so few ponies seem interested in how Twilight ascended, and by extension where Lex got his power from (besides as a topic of gossip) - is because of how pony society lionizes each individual's destiny. It's fairly strongly ingrained, in pony culture, that each pony be who they want to be, something typically made plain by their cutie mark. When we've seen episodes where someone tries to be like someone else, the lesson invariably turns out to be "you shouldn't try to be them, you should try to be you."
I suspect there's some extension of that going on with regard to those ponies who have gained great power. That is, they're popularly regarded as being so strong because that's who they're supposed to be, and everyone isn't strong because they're not supposed to be. To put it another way, their society has blunted the idea that what one person can achieve, another can replicate. Given that they have a society where everyone is quite clearly not equal (just look at the ageless alicorns ruling over everypony else), this is somewhat understandable, even if it's hard to fully appreciate.
That's not true for everyone, of course; some ponies will refuse to accept that their lot in life is to be weak (that is, to be victims). Fencer certainly did, and even though she did it in a way that brought her to misery, she did grow stronger than your average pony (as her stat block showed). I suspect that there'll be at least some others who want to emulate what Lex has done, and might approach him about that...
He sleeping with two now? At the same time? What a player.
9221725 Wait until you see the next chapter...