Having been granted rulership over the city of Vanhoover, and confessed their feelings for each other, Lex Legis and Sonata Dusk have started a new life together. But the challenges of rulership, and a relationship, are more than they bargained for.
Cloudbank was silently seething as she moved through the streets of Vanhoover at a trot, staying close to the others.
Nopony was talking, but this time it had nothing to do with stealth. Any hope of remaining unnoticed before they reached their destination was gone, thanks to that self-righteous jerk who’d led them into that trap. Now it was just a question of whether or not those monsters would mount another attack before they reached safety.
But at the moment, Cloudbank wasn’t worried about that. Instead, she could feel herself getting angrier and angrier at the pony who was leading them. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been moving, but Cozy had renewed her ten-minute light spell more than once, and during that time he hadn’t said two words to them, and it was beginning to seriously tick her off. No apology for having almost gotten them killed, no asking if they were alright, no nothing! Not to mention how he’d acted during the fight itself; for all his big talk about protecting them, they’d all – save Cozy – gotten hurt during the fight, whereas he was perfectly fine. And that last spell he’d used, the one to summon reinforcements; why hadn’t he done that first instead of last?!
The more she thought about it, the more upset she got. She could see Drafty shooting her worried looks, either out of concern for her or out of worry that she’d upset their wannabe-protector, but she couldn’t bring herself to calm down. Instead, she opened her mouth, unable to remain silent anymore, only for Aisle to start speaking a moment before she could.
“So…what were those things?” he asked, glancing around as though afraid that talking about them would bring them running.
“They were undead,” answered Lex curtly, not bothering to look at him as he spoke.
“They looked like ponies,” added Drafty. She glanced at Cloudbank again as she spoke, apparently relieved that she’d been preempted.
“They were. They’re not anymore.” Lex’s countenance was even more grim than usual as he spoke. “They were ponies when they were alive, but now their corpses have been animated and turned into monsters.”
Cozy spoke up next. “How? I mean, what did that to them?” The words “could that happen to us?” hung in the air, unspoken but clearly understood by all of them.
Lex was silent for a moment before answering. “…I don’t know.”
“Of course not,” muttered Cloudbank, rolling her eyes. Drafty shot her a look that was both warning and pleading at the same time, making her snort in dissatisfaction.
“But we can talk to them, right?” asked Aisle, and his voice was entirely pleading. “We can make them remember that they used to be ponies? That they used to value friendship and…and harmony? In fact…hang on,” he paused as something occurred to him, and then moved in front of Lex, giving him a hopeful look. “Can you change them back to normal?”
Lex gave the other stallion a withering look, as though he felt disgusted that he’d even asked such a stupid question. “There’s no way to reason with those things,” he said, voice dripping with loathing, though whether it was for Aisle or those monsters was unclear. “Whatever it is that transforms somepony into an undead thing warps their mind in the process. They can’t be reasoned with, let alone trusted, and trying will only get you killed. And as far as changing them back goes, that’s not a practical consideration.”
“What does that mean?” snapped Cloudbank, giving him a hard look. Did he actually just suggest that it wasn’t worthwhile to try and save ponies who’d suffered such a horrible fate?! “I thought your whole thing was to try and rescue everypony, so why isn’t it ‘practical’ to try and save them?!”
Her barb apparently got under Lex’s skin, because he came to an immediate halt, causing the rest of the group to stumble to a stop as well. Turning back, he marched up to her until he was right in her face, his lips pulled back in a snarl. “You just don’t get it, do you?” he hissed. “Being undead means that they’re already dead! Changing them back to normal doesn’t just mean snuffing out their animating force, it also means bringing them back to life!”
“Which is impossible,” murmured Drafty dejectedly.
“No, it’s not,” spoke up Cozy, causing all eyes to turn towards her.
The unexpected revelation was enough to momentarily make Cloudbank forget her anger. “Wait, so you’re saying…Cozy, can you bring dead ponies back?!”
“Huh? No!” Looking surprised at the question, Cozy shook her head. “I couldn’t even heal Drafty’s sickness, remember? No, what I meant is that Princess Cadance told us that it was possible when she introduced Lashtada to the Crystal Empire. She told us that if we had enough love for Lashtada in our hearts that we could overcome anything, even death.”
“Maybe she was just being poetic?” offered Drafty.
“No.” Lex shook his head. “Sacerdotal thaumaturgy is capable of resurrection.”
“Sacer-what now?” frowned Cloudbank.
She grit her teeth as he heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes, obviously trying to tell her how stupid he thought she was that she needed to ask. “Sacerdotal thaumaturgy is what you’d call ‘divine magic,’” he explained. “It’s spells that you receive from a deity, typically in exchange for faithful worship.”
“Well, you were going on about Nightmare M-, er, the Night Mare, right?” added Drafty. “And you were saying how powerful she was. Doesn’t that mean that you have resurrection magic?”
Lex frowned. “The Night Mare recognizes my strength, and has given me numerous powers accordingly, but that isn’t one of them. Yet.” He added that last part almost as an afterthought. Cloudbank was about to speak up again, when Lex continued. “But even if I did, my understanding is that such magic has severe limitations. I couldn’t just cast one spell and change every undead pony in Vanhoover back to how they were.”
“I bet Princess Twilight and her friends could,” said Cloudbank challengingly. “They restored everypony’s magic after Tirek stole it, so I'm sure they could do this too.” She took a step closer to Lex, and the two of them were practically nose-to-nose as a result. “Maybe instead of running around and trying to do everything by yourself, you should call in the ponies who actually have a track record of saving all of Equestria!”
“Cloudy! Stop it!” yelled Drafty.
But Cloudbank wasn’t listening. Instead, she smirked as she saw the outrage blossom on Lex’s face. Serves you right, she thought spitefully.
“Do you know why Princess Twilight or any of the other alicorns aren’t here?” he growled. “Because their irresponsible, hooves-off style of governance is what allowed things to get this bad in the first place! If they had been actively engaged with helping Vanhoover recover from what happened then the situation never would have degenerated to this level! Meanwhile, I’m the one who’s here actually trying to do something about it!” He roared the last several words at her, his patience having reached the breaking point.
It wasn’t just stress that made him lose his temper, however. Cloudbank’s needling had not only reminded him of his earlier ruminations about how the princesses would never have let Vanhoover get this bad if they’d known about it, but also made him question if he could handle a crisis of this magnitude. If Vanhoover had only needed someone to coordinate a large-scale recovery effort, that was one thing. But the current situation was far worse than mere devastation, as there were multiple groups of monsters attacking what remained of the native population.
And it was becoming increasingly clear that he wasn’t going to be able to handle that on his own.
No matter that he had slaughtered his way through those fish-monsters when they had attacked his ship. No matter that he had destroyed or driven off those undead ponies that had attacked the survivors in his care. Without having more information as to their numbers, their lairs, and their capabilities, he was stuck in a defensive position, reacting to threats rather than proactively eliminating them. And for all the magic he’d invented or acquired, he had only limited methods of gaining that information. All of which led to one conclusion: that he needed help.
But as loath as he was to admit such a thing, even to himself, the subsequent conclusion was a far more untenable one: that the ponies whose help he needed were the princesses. Only they had sufficient magic to simultaneously defend themselves and everypony else while also dealing with the monsters that were overrunning the city. There simply wasn’t anypony else available who had enough magic to make a significant difference.
It wouldn’t have been difficult to arrange, Lex knew. He had a scrying spell that would let him remotely view somepony, and while its efficacy had some variations depending on how well he knew the subject, a single previous face-to-face meeting was more than enough to, in all likelihood, establish a connection. Once he’d done that, it wouldn’t have been impossible to open a line of communication through it, and let them know what was going on. At that point, they would certainly descend on Vanhoover in force.
Of course, such a course of action would be a humiliation of irreducible proportions. If he had to ask for help from the very princesses whom he’d criticized for their ineffectiveness in the past, it would not only make him look like a fool, but it would also seriously undercut the legitimacy of his desire to rule. But at the same time, he knew that not doing so would mean not giving potential survivors the best possible chance of rescue purely to protect his pride, and his code of conduct made it clear that such a thing was completely unacceptable.
There has to be a third option, thought Lex as he continued to glare at Cloudbank, who silently returned his hard stare. If neither choice is acceptable, then reject the underlying premise and come up with a new solution. It was a motto that he’d developed in his youth, and it had always filled him with certitude. But now…now it smacked of desperation.
“Listen,” interjected Aisle nervously. “As, um, interesting as it is watching you guys try to figure out who to blame, maybe we could do this back at the shelter? Because I really don’t think that this is a good place to stop and debate the issue.” Cozy and Drafty nodded silently, the latter giving Cloudbank a disappointed look.
She seemed to notice. “Fine,” she muttered, backing off with a bitter look on her face, eyes locked on the ground. Lex, for his part, simply snorted and turned around to lead the way back to the shelter. They were close now, he could tell.
He had until they made it there to figure out what he was going to do.
Lirtkra looked up as the Cripple flew closer to him, wiping the filth from his last kill off of his trident. Normally he’d have licked the gore off, but this was from one of the walking dead, and so was itkul – too filthy to consume. “What?” he sneered.
“I saw something,” rasped the disgusting creature hoarsely. “A light, moving through the streets nearby.”
Lirtkra didn’t know what a “street” was, but the meaning was clear: their prey was nearby. “It’s about time!” he snapped, but couldn’t keep a leer off his face. The air-breathing spell that Sitkra had placed on him had plenty of time left, he was sure, and he was eager to sink his teeth into warm, bloody meat. "Take us there now!”
The Cripple glared at him, obviously upset by his tone, but moved to obey. It paused long enough to cast another spell, causing Lirtkra to clench his teeth. A moment later its form blurred, becoming smudged and indistinct as it led the way, and the sahuagin warrior snorted in amusement at the cowardly defensive measure. At least its hideousness was less obvious that way. Glancing behind him, Lirtkra saw that Monitor was following them dutifully, skating on the natural oils it secreted.
The hunt was almost over, and very soon the slaughter would begin.
Lex realizes that he's in over his head, even as new enemies barrel down on him.
Things are about to get worse. Will he live long enough to see them get better?
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Ice spells might be best, for abuse of and spamming?.. Something about theres a L1 that can be modified to L0. Or have I forgotton Ive tried asking that before because of medication.
Then again, being able to use a D4 spell 6 times a round/action, without limit beats a single 6D4 spell that takes a whol round to cast and you only have 3 a day?
Lex has the power, and the ability. Unfortunately he also has the ego, because this is the pont where in order to be able to survive to have to take the game on its own terms.
Cheat like hell.
So the underlying assumption is that only the princesses have the magic to protect everyone while simultaneously fighting the monsters.
Clearly the solution is for everyone in the rescue mission and everyone they rescue to become adventurers and start levelling up. Preferably as priests and paladins of the Night Mare, of course.
Tension has risen among the survivors and poor Aisle is barely holding them together. At least Cozy isn't screaming bloody murder like the first time they met.
So Lex could have contacted the princesses anytime? Well, if he won't contact the princesses unless he absolutely has to, then how about Tall Tale? Granted, I don't know how they'd be able to help since they're still recovering but as far as I can remember, Talltale is the only place he could contact without having the princesses being informed.
The Monitor moves around by skating on naturally secreted oil so that means he doesn't have legs...so he's a naga?
7953554 Er, what? Six spells a round? That'd require breaking the game system by a truly egregious amount!
That said, you're not wrong that Lex is essentially trying to leverage the rules in his favor as much as he possibly can; he's a solo wizard-type character, after all. "Cheating" means surviving.
7954264 That's Cloudbank's assumption, since as far as she knows that's how it works. Twilight and her friends have saved Equestria numerous times by this point, and from an ordinary pony's standpoint it probably looked effortless. After all, all she'd likely know about the debacle with Tirek was that he went around stealing everypony's magic...and then the Mane Six flew across Equestria on a beautiful rainbow, fixing everything. Contrast that with one surly unicorn having to blast monsters a few at a time, even as some of his companions get bitten and hit.
And I really don't think you can have a paladin of a Lawful Evil deity. I know a (supremely literal) reading of the class doesn't prevent it, but there's really no way to reconcile a paladin's code with the religious tenets of a Lawful Evil deity. Any attempt will see one or the other abrogated in fairly short order, causing a conflict that will result in a loss of either religious standing or paladin abilities.
7954366 Lex has the scrying spell, and we know that he can try and cast message through it, since that's the spell he uses to let Sonata speak for him. Plus we saw him use a self-made scroll (well, gemstone) of sending in The Apple Falls Far From the Tree chapter 44. So long-range communication isn't beyond his abilities. But as this chapter shows, he's loathe to try it, even though he feels he needs to.
As for Monitor, "skating" implies legs, to my mind. A naga (or other serpentine creature) would "slither."
7955444
Very sorry with the numbers, I always get confused between the timings.
Something like Take the option to have a Level 1 wizard spell as a Cantrip, say Ray Of Frost, Then take eschew materials, silent casting, and I thought there was a feat maybe, but only availble well up that means you dont need to move?
Then it depends on if you can class the cantrip as an Instant?
Anything to try and even attempt to level the playing field against the DM knows all enemies.
7955621 Okay, off the top of my head I think you're referring to that trick where you exploit the language in something like Magical Lineage or Wayang Spellhunter/Metamagic Master to use a metamagic feat with a spell level modifier of +0 (or take both, and use metamagic with a total spell level modifier of +1 or less) to lower the spell's actual level below what it originally was. And, of course, since most classes that can cast 0-level spells can do so without limit, that would let you infinitely cast a particular 1st-level spell. (Using this trick with shocking grasp, particularly in conjunction with a magus's spellstrike ability, is fairly popular.)
You'll notice that for both of those traits (since Metamagic Master is Wayang Spellhunter with the Product Identity removed) there's a sourced notation saying that this trick shouldn't be allowed to work, since it's pretty obviously an exploitation of the rules that isn't in line with what's intended. Personally, I wouldn't allow it either; it's one thing to take advantage of good combinations of rules and abilities; it's something else to try and twist the letter of an ability to avoid the spirit. I get that rules lawyers enjoy doing that, and I can understand it, but I personally don't go in for that.
Likewise, even if you remove the material, somatic, and verbal components for a spell (via the Eschew Materials, Still Spell, and Silent Spell feats - the latter of which are metamagic feats that bump up a spell's level by +1 each), it still takes the normal amount of time to cast. To change that, you'd need Quicken Spell, which bumps up the spell's level by a massive +4, and isn't clear as to whether or not that makes the spell lose its casting components or not...and it's still a swift action, which you only get one of in a round (though you could then cast another spell as a normal, typically a standard, action, but that's going to be the limit except in extremely unusual circumstances).
Don't even get me started as to the debate about whether or not a silent, stilled spell with no material components can be detected when it's being cast via a Spellcraft check...
We need Pinkie. You can't spell slaughter without her.
8053532 If that's the case, one can only imagine the trouble she's getting into back on Everglow.
Orbital typo death beam armed and ready for fire. Too much? Fine, I'll get the nukes.
I read this as "seething silently". Also, ponies would not say 'jog', they would say 'trot'.
I read 'the trap'.
That one first instead of last
This sentence seems to start with one item, and end with another. I suggest changing it to
"She could see Drafty shooting her worried looks, but whether that was because she was concerned about her or worried that she’d upset their wannabe-protector, she couldn't tell, but she couldn’t bring herself to calm down. There was too much that he did wrong."
While I do follow what is being said here, I think it would be better as "not bothering to look back as he spoke."
I read 'his patience having reached the breaking point'.
while continuing? Maybe?
Ignorance is bliss, is it not? These are the kind of people (ponies?) that I really just want to smack around for being such an idiot.
Yes, he's smart, we get it. Now please go back to words that are more common than 1/1000000, for your reader's sake. And words that are easier to pronounce.
8112169
It's the only way to be sure.
You read that the way you did because "manner" adverbs typically occupy an end position, relative to the verb that they modify. However, this is a guideline, rather than a hard-and-fast grammatical rule, so either way is acceptable. It's why you can say "happily played together" or "played happily together" or "played together happily" and any of them sounds correct. Given that, I'm going to leave that one as-is.
You're right about "jog" needing to be "trot," though. I've made that change.
In this case, "that" is more correct. That's because it's referring to a specific, singular instance of a category of things, when the instance in question is both not immediately present and being considered in the past tense. If there was a particular wristwatch that you wanted, but were unable to buy, you'd say "I wanted that wristwatch," rather than "I wanted the wristwatch."
With the use of "done," having "one" after "that" would be redundant. Now, if the sentence had been "why hadn't he used that first instead of last?" then there'd be a greater argument as to whether or not "one" should be there. But in the case of the verb "to do," you don't need to count the number of actions being undertaken.
I think what you're referring to here is that "she" changes who it's referring to multiple times over the course of this sentence. That's a fair charge, and though I don't think it's confusing, I've gone back and made some slight tweaks.
I disagree. A generic statement of "look back," wouldn't specifically refer to looking back at the person speaking to him, and so could be inferred as not looking back to check for further enemies. Making it specifically that he's not looking at the one talking to him better connotes Lex's arrogance and antisocial nature being in full display here.
I looked at this a few times, and eventually decided that you're right. I've changed the sentence accordingly.
Given that you were saying I shouldn't be using the present-continuous tense in your previous edit, this seems a bit ironic. For the sake of uniformity (and having no other reason to change it for this sentence), I'm going to leave that one as-is.
The funny thing is, it's unclear if Cloudbank is right or not. The nature of what the Elements of Harmony (let along the Rainbow Powers) can actually do are wildly unclear, and as such very difficult to define. In d20 terms, it seems highly exaggerated to say that they could throw out a mass resurrection over the entire city (to say nothing of fixing the other problems Vanhoover is having), but we'd need to at least examine the possibility due to not having enough information to immediately dismiss it outright.
Of course, that's all a side-issue; what Lex correctly points out is that it doesn't matter if Princess Twilight and her friends could have saved the day, since they haven't.
No, this I cannot do.