510 - Fear and Loving
“I can’t believe you’re actually considering this!”
Wincing at Aria’s angry shout, Sonata nevertheless stood her ground. “But they can help! If we tell Twilight we want Soft Mane to heal Lex-”
“This is why you’re the stupid one!” roared Aria, her features twisted with rage. “Why you’ve always been the stupid one! Because you don’t have a brain in your head! Do you really think we can trust Twilight Sparkle – the girl who’s put the screws to us every time she’s had the chance! – to heal the guy who’s trying to overthrow- Ow! Stop that!” That last part was directed at House Call, who was attempting to telekinetically re-wrap the bandages around her torso.
Nor did her angry command make him cease his efforts. “You need to stop moving around so much,” he explained patiently. “If any of the fractures in your ribs turn into breaks then Lex won’t be the only pony with injuries so severe that magic will be needed to treat them.”
The comment earned him a glare from the furious Siren. “Don’t you dare joke about- OW! You’re doing that on purpose!”
Watching the antics, River sighed. She had just finished explaining to Sonata – who had jumped at the idea that there was a way to potentially help Lex – why it might not be the best idea to trust Princess Twilight and her friends when Aria had barged in. Apparently having woken up a little earlier than House Call had been expecting, she had understandably wanted to know what had happened after she’d lost consciousness, and had flipped out when she’d heard how badly Lex was injured. Things had only gotten worse when Sonata had told her exactly who was offering to help him now, and River knew that would likely continue unless she intervened.
Fortunately, she had a pretty good idea for how to change the topic, at least for a moment. “Has there been any change with Starlight Glimmer?” she asked, looking at House Call
Not looking up from where he was bandaging Aria’s ribs, the doctor shook his head. “I stuck my head in her room a few minutes ago and she still hasn’t woken up, which isn’t surprising based on her preliminary exam. Her injuries might not be as severe as Lex’s, but she’s still in bad shape, mostly because of how much she pushed herself.” He gave a rueful shake of his head then, long years of medical training leaving him unable to help but scowl in disapproval at how anyone could abuse their body so recklessly.
“She deserves it, that miserable nag,” growled Aria.
“I wish I knew how to take her cutie mark away,” muttered Sonata, her ears folding back as she glanced at the equals sign still marring her flank. “That’d show her.”
“And you still feel confident that she won’t be casting spells anytime soon?” continued River, mostly to give Sonata and Aria more time to calm down. They’d need to make a decision about Twilight Sparkle’s offer, and soon, but hopefully they’d be able to do it without going completely overboard.
For his part, House Call simply raised a brow as he looked back at River with an expression of mild disbelief. “I sincerely doubt it. Even if she was willing to strain her body more than she already has, she’ll have a hard time using magic with the hairline fracture she sustained to her horn.”
River nodded. “Good, then we-”
“Though I have to ask,” interrupted House Call, turning to give River his full attention as he finished bandaging Aria. “Given the state Miss Glimmer is in, is it really necessary to restrain her?”
“YES!”
The shout came from Aria and Sonata together, the two mares answering before River could so much as open her mouth and clearly catching House Call by surprise. “But she’s hardly a threat to anypony now,” he protested, “and the ropes are only making it harder to treat her.”
“I’m sure that your competent team of medical practitioners will be able to work around them,” replied River flatly. “But right now we should get back to the topic at hoof.” She paused for a moment, her eyes flickering between Sonata and Aria, hoping that they’d both managed to calm down a little. “What do we do about Princess Twilight’s offer?”
“We have to say yes!” blurted Sonata.
“Over my dead body!” shot back Aria.
Sonata stomped a hoof in agitation. “Look, I know that I’m dumb, but I also know Soft Mane! She’s, like, a really nice girl!”
Aria’s lip curled at that. “I seem to recall you telling me that she and Lex didn’t get along. Now all of a sudden she’s his best friend?”
“It’s not like she’s the only one here! Pinkie is too, and she totes wouldn’t go along with some mean sneak attack!”
“You mean like the one her rainbow-haired buddy pulled that did this to Lex in the first place?!”
“WELL I DON’T HEAR YOU COMING UP WITH ANY BETTER IDEAS!” screamed Sonata, losing what little composure she’d managed to recover. But rather than erupting with rage, she seemed to deflate as soon as the words left her mouth, sinking to the ground as sobs began to spill from her lips and a fresh round of tears trickled down her cheeks. “I know this whole thing with Twilight might be a trap,” she hiccupped, “and it might not even work at all, since Soft Mane worships Lash-whatshername, and Lex flipped out when Cozy tried to heal him back when we were all staying in that warehouse, but what else are we supposed to do?! Lex is hurt really bad and he needs help and I’m afraid of what’ll happen if he doesn’t get any!”
“We have people who can help him!” insisted Aria, her sister’s breakdown softening her attitude only a little.
“Like who?!” moaned Sonata. “Cleansweep lost her magic snake fighting Starlight, and she can’t use her powers without it! It’s not going to be back until the next time she goes to sleep and wakes up, and no,” she added, seeing Aria opening her mouth, “I totes already asked her if I could just use my magic to make her take a quick nap in order to get it back. She said it doesn’t work like that. She has to get, like, an actual good night’s sleep. So she won’t be able to help until tomorrow morning.” She looked at House Call then, her expression stricken. “Is Lex gonna make it that long?”
Although he didn’t flinch at suddenly being put on the spot by a distraught mare, House Call didn’t look happy with the question, and no one missed how he paused before answering. “There’s no way to be certain,” he said at last. “With the equipment we have here, all I can say for sure is that right now he’s doing better than he was when we brought him in, but that could change at any time.”
“No, it won’t!” hissed Aria. “Why is everyone acting like Lex doesn’t have a chance?! He can make it until tomorrow morning!”
“You don’t know that!” sniffled Sonata.
Her sister’s rebuke made Aria grit her teeth. “Yes I do! YES I DO!” She looked around at each of the others, daring them to contradict her. “Lex is going to make it through this! If he needs to survive until tomorrow morning then he’ll survive until tomorrow morning! He promised me!” She looked at the corner of the room then, where Lex was still lying insensate in bed. “He promised me that he’d protect me when Twilight showed up again! He won’t-, he always keeps his promises! Just like when he said he’d make me a pony and fix my v-voice…”
The tremor in her words had been obvious, and Sonata climbed to her hooves, taking a step closer to her sister. “Aria…”
“Get away from me!” Spinning around to face Sonata, Aria savagely swiped at the space between them. “I don’t want sympathy you from you! You don’t believe in him at all, even after everything the two of you have been through together! You’re supposed to be in love with him, but you’re acting like he’s going to die! Like it’s okay for you to just say goodbye to him because you already told him how you feel! Well I haven’t!”
By now her eyes were wet and her lower lip was quivering. Turning her back on the others, Aria shakily moved toward Lex’s bedside. “I haven’t told him how I feel about him yet and that’s how I know he’s going to make it through this! Because he can’t…he can’t die before I do! I can’t have missed my chance! I can’t…I just can’t…”
Hearing Aria’s voice dissolve into choked sobs was all Sonata could take. “Aria!” Rushing over, she threw her forelegs around her sister, who struggled for only a moment before leaning into the embrace, weeping bitterly as Sonata did the same.
Their shared outpouring of grief didn’t last very long, with House Call and River Bank both averting their eyes until the pair were able to begin collecting themselves. But their crying had only just dwindled to shaky breathing and the occasional whimper when there was a knock at the door, causing everyone to look up.
“Sorry,” offered Cloudbank quietly as she slipped into the room, Thermal Draft coming in behind her. “I heard the yelling, and thought maybe I could help.” Other than a few bruises and some oversized band-aids, the two had little to show in the way of injuries, having taken the lightest wounds of everyone the doctors had brought back. As if feeling guilty about that, both winced at the sight of Lex, with Cloudbank biting her lip as Thermal Draft’s eyes widened, her fore-hooves coming up to cover her mouth in horror.
“Help how?” demanded River pointedly, not recognizing the duo.
But Sonata did. “That’s right!” she gasped, looking at Cloudbank. “You have healing magic! I remember now! Lex helped you discover it so you could save your girlfriend!”
Aria’s eyes widened. “I remember that too!” Jumping up, she pointed at Lex. “Well?! What are you waiting for?! Use it on him this instant!”
The demand made Cloudbank wince. “I can’t. Not right now.”
The look in Aria’s eyes made it clear that answer wasn’t acceptable. “What do you mean ‘not right now’?!”
“The Night Mare lets me pray to her for spells,” explained Cloudbank hurriedly. “But I’d already used the healing spell I’d prepared before Lex resurrected me.”
River’s eyes widened at that. “Wait, resurrected-”
“Not now, okay?” interrupted Sonata, her voice tense. Although she’d been surprised to see Cloudbank and Thermal Draft alive again when they’d showed up to help stop Starlight, Sonata had eventually recalled that Aria had been saying something about Lex bringing some ponies back to life right before all the fighting had started. But none of that was important now. “When can you get the Night Mare to give you another healing spell?”
“Midnight.” Cloudbank let out a slow breath as she spoke, knowing that probably wasn’t what they’d wanted to hear. “She grants me new spells when I pray to her at midnight.”
“That’s over nine hours from now,” noted House Call.
“Which is better than the sixteen hours it would take if we waited for tomorrow morning,” added River, looking over at Sonata and Aria. Nor was she the only one, as House Call, Thermal Draft, and Cloudbank all did the same, silently affirming that the choice was theirs to make.
Recognizing that, Sonata looked back at Aria, who met her gaze with a look that was equal parts challenging and – to Sonata’s surprise – pleading. “He’ll last that long,” murmured Aria softly. “I know he will.”
For a moment Sonata wavered. More than anything else she wanted to run to where Soft Mane was and beg her to heal Lex immediately, terrified that he’d slip away at any moment. Even if there was a chance it was a trap, that didn’t frighten her nearly as much as losing the one she loved.
But right now, Aria was even more scared than she was. She was facing the possibility of losing the one she loved without ever having confessed what was in her heart to him. Sonata couldn’t imagine how that must have felt, and yet Aria was somehow still brave enough to want to wait. Seeing that now…
It made Sonata want to be brave as well.
“I know he will too.”
A smile – a real smile – crossed Aria’s lips at that, and Sonata returned it before looking back at River.
“Tell Twilight that the answer’s no.”
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Yo, my mans has me fucked up thinking I’m reading 510 chapters. Imma be a fucking father by the time I finish this shit. Stop the cap bro 😂😂
(No offense, of course. I’m just baffled that this has fucking 1.2 million words. That’s crazy😂)
10408937 It's a lot of chapters, to be sure. But it's not like there aren't longer fics on this site (albeit not very many
).
Besides, clicking on my "Stories" tab on my user page, it says that it only takes three days to read this entire thing! Clearly the algorithm is a speed-reader.
10408945
My nigga, there’s longer ones!??!?!?!?!?1!1?1?1!1?1!
Nah, but in all seriousness, you doing damn good. Though I probably won’t read it today because Black Panther died, I may come round some other time. So keep doing what you’re doing, because people clearly love it.
😎👍🏿
Twilight will undoubtedly be unhappy with the answer she receives as would the rest of her friends though I doubt would accept something as simple as a no and a closed door to the face(I'd hardly expect Trotsworth would slam a door in anyone's face) and leave.
After all, they're literally at the front door of where Lex is and walking away now after coming so far would be highly unlike them. Still, I'm actually glad that the girls came to Vanhoover after the housing units were built instead of when it was a tent town cause if one had seen the ponies of Vanhoover living in such conditions previously while Lex was residing in a mansion, one would easily assume unkind things of him.
Though I doubt this will stop the girls from thinking it anyway, especially if they were asked, even if politely, to leave after offering to help. And while Rainbow Dash has her friends to rein her in, I can't help but worry she'll try something.
My rhyme is late, but it is here
But it seems
There is much to fear.
The Mane 6's reaction
Shan't be good
And there is much suspicion
in this neighbourhood.
Sonata cant get her mark back because its encased back at Our Town?
Its nine hours before Lex even has a chance of recieving first healing non dependant on Mane 6? Theres been multiple events during that time before, what is teh encounter rate, Percentile Per Hour?
Well Twilight, you have no one to blame for this but Rainbow Dash.
Well, ok, there's a lot of reasons these characters don't trust you, but let's face it, Dash is probably the biggest one right now.
10408945
That's 3 days without sleep, eating, or bathroom usages. 24 * 3 hours, nothing but reading.
10408951 I hope that, should you ever feel the urge to do so, you'll give this story a chance.
10408963 How Twilight and the others will react to being turned away is anypony's guess. Given that they came there to try and help, and in doing so spread the magic of friendship, it's not like they can just start kicking doors in and force everyone to stand aside and let Soft Mane use a healing spell on Lex...right? At the very least, that's not exactly the sort of thing that would be likely to earn Lex's consideration after he recovered, which was sort of Twilight's point to begin with.
On the other hoof, it's not in Twilight's nature to just accept defeat and walk away either. I'm reminded of when she wouldn't give up on Moon Dancer in Amending Fences (season five, episode twelve). Maybe she'll fall back for now and try and think of something else? Or will she insist on trying to talk to Sonata and Aria directly in hope of convincing them to change their minds? Although, if they do have to leave the manor, will they just go and sleep in the train? It's hard to see one of the townsponies giving them lodgings.
10408985 Glad to see you're back! I was nervous for a moment there.
That said, I doubt River will tell her staff to be cooperative, since she's seriously wondering if this was all some sort of assassination plot. So whatever else happens, I doubt the Mane Six will be lodging in her manor anytime soon.
10409295
Yep.
That's only for "random" encounters, and so far none of this seems very random.
10409326 Yeah, Rainbow is pretty much the reason why the animosity and distrust for the Mane Six is running high at the moment. Of course, Twilight's plan to try and teach Lex the magic of friendship by having Soft Mane heal him wouldn't be possible if Rainbow hadn't flown off the handle either, but somehow I don't see that little fact helping anypony trust her more.
10409381 So in other words, the "Twilight Sparkle" standard for reading.
10411202
Aight
10411207
Well, I doubt they can count on Tryout helping them out since he's staying there with his wife and daughter for the moment but he might be staying in the metaphorical doghouse should Feather Duster or River know of him bringing the Mane 6 here. Wait, does River know or did Trotsworth omit that part?
Or did Tryout just leave after leading the girls to the front door?
10412153 River knows. It came up during her bout of paranoia in the last chapter: