With the platoon gearing up to begin surveying the pass the next morning, the ponies not in the know were given a brief, practical education in cartography and just what they’d be doing as they mapped things out.
They also rested, knowing some of them would face the cold, wet misery outside as they attempted to find some way to use the land to their advantage against their enemy.
One pony had a separate goal that night…
The night before the operation began, a certain mare wanted to address certain actions she’d taken pertaining to a certain stallion. It was why she’d asked Zip to send Pvt. Linseed Oil to find her once he’d finished his work with his friend, Pvt. Blood Sapphire. And Linseed had found Amethyst, Zip having left her in that small corner of their hideaway.
“Sergeant Flare? You wanted to see me?”
Amethyst slowly turned, miserably, coming face to face with Linseed. In his hooves were a few things.
He didn’t appear to notice her expression; he entered, showing the items, “Well, first off, I thought you might wind up camping out her tonight, so I brought you a blanket and something to drink. And I snaked the last orange I could grab. We finally finished off the fresh fruit from that crate Gen. ‘Asshole’ Creek sent us. Would’ve eaten it myself, but they give me heartburn… It should taste good, at least, give you a little something on your stomach.”
Amethyst didn’t respond; she hunched up.
Moving about in the nook, he set down the goods, “You’ve been on pins and needles, Sgt. Flare… All this mess … your being sick all day… and you barely had any soup. Take a snack and rest up. We won’t need you until morning, when we sit down with the princess and her command. I’m sure you’ll feel better with a good sleep.”
Amethyst shrunk further, feeling her eyes heat up.
The stallion took a drink off his own canteen; he sighed, “Yeah… Good, clean rainwater… It sure beats the Hell out of the slop out of the spigots back in the city… Now, uh… you wanted to see me?”
Practically huddling into her back legs, she murmured something.
Linseed, about a step down from the level compared to Zip when it came to comprehending the wiles of a mare, moved closer, “Uh, Sergeant? You alright?”
She couldn’t keep up her looking away; she shifted a little, one of her pale blue eyes gazing towards him, “Private… Why?”
“‘Why’ what?” he sat down across from her.
“I don’t understand…” her eyes welled up. “I’ve been terrible to you, so… why?”
It wasn’t the first time he’d shown her kindness; it’s just the way he was with everypony.
Linseed shrugged, knowing full-well what she meant, “You… haven’t, really. That was months ago. Don’t worry about it. I just thought you’d feel better with something light to eat.”
And she hadn’t been terrible to him… at least to his face. He elected to hoof her shoulder, seeking out a connection.
His touch was too much for her; she burbled, “Stop being so nice to me…”
He blinked, “Huh?”
“Don’t be nice to me…”
“What are you…?”
“Linseed, I’m… so very sorry.”
To Linseed’s great discomfort, Amethyst began sobbing.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, Sergeant…” he supported her as she fell to her side.
Amethyst responded in a way impossible to comprehend, her voice too broken up to make sense of. She went on like this for about a minute, Linseed at a bit of a loss.
Linseed fussed, backing off with hooves held away, mind racing, “Sergeant, I… uh…”
She blubbered, “…this is insane… How did this all happen…?!”
“C’mon, Sergeant…”
Her words came clearer, though still muddled, “I feel like… I’m falling apart.”
Linseed realized this wasn’t getting anywhere. Not only was it not getting anywhere, he wasn’t sure how to handle the weeping belle.
Somehow, the private found the confidence to attempt to snap her out of it, “C’mon… you’re tired. Sit up. Eat the orange; it’ll perk you up a bit.”
“It’s all falling apart…” Amethyst whined.
Steeling his resolve, Linseed decided to intervene physically; he hoofed her shoulders and jostled her, “Sergeant Amethyst Flare! Listen to me!”
He at least got her attention; she sniffled, curled up on the floor, “…Wha…?”
Glad he’d decided not to slap her or something more invasive, he’d at least gotten her to respond, “Stop this, now… C’mon…”
Linseed wasn’t exactly a weak pony, nor was he particularly strong, but he had no trouble lifting Amethyst from the floor and setting her on her rump.
Steadying her until he was sure she wouldn’t keel over again, he said, “Try to relax. Try…”
As her breathing evened out, she looked at him with the strangest expression he recalled in some time. She looked like a lost lamb, eyes wide and full of tears as she whimpered, snot running everywhere.
Linseed exhaled, “That’s the way, Sergeant… Just try to calm down.”
Occasionally hiccupping, she did appear to pacify.
He had yet to take his hooves away, “Good… I want you to have a drink of water, okay?”
Nodding dumbly, she averted her eyes.
Comfortable in letting her sit freely, he raised her freshened canteen; he knew her magic might be shaky, “Now, just take a drink.”
She did, not too much and not too little—just a nice wet of the whistle.
It cleared her throat; she gave a tiny cough, “…Thanks…”
“It’s fine,” Linseed set down the canteen.
Amethyst watched as he produced a knife and sliced the orange on a clean, flat rock loose on the floor.
Once he was finished, he hoofed the slab her way, “Think you can use your magic, now?”
She tried. And she was able to select and levitate a section of the orange.
“Good,” Linseed encouraged her. “I want you to eat all of that, nice and slow. Your blood-sugar’s pretty low, I imagine… This’ll help a lot. We sure got a nice batch of oranges… nice and sweet; it should taste good and go down easily enough…”
She nodded and did as she was told. Over the next few minutes, she munched on the orange slices; the orange did taste great.
Linseed, quite astonished he’d accomplished such a thing, bringing the mighty warrant officer back down to Earth, still felt his self-assurance wane as he watched her finish the orange. With her mouth no longer full of juicy sweetness, what could he say to her?
After a moment, Amethyst magicked her canteen up, taking a good, long drink; the sugar in the orange had helped a little, “I… feel a little better…”
Another moment of silence ensued. It was deafening.
Linseed just shook his head, staring at the floor, “I… uh… I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do, here…”
Amethyst was staring into space, trying to figure things out for herself; she sighed, “It’s… it’s alright, Private… I’m at a bit of a loss, myself.”
“You feel better, at least?” he wondered.
“Yes, I do, already… Thanks…” she mumbled.
“You’re welcome…”
Linseed didn’t like this much. He knew he wasn’t much for the mares, but given the remarkable composure he’d been able to show the leaders of Equestria, it was frustrating. Then again, he was intelligent enough to know his lieutenant was the same way. Zip slew a dragon, led 53 ponies through Hell on Earth, and did many other things, but was a greenhorn when it came to the fairer sex.
Deciding there wasn’t any harm in it, Linseed mused on the concept, “Before I met Silver, I… didn’t know all that much about mares, Sergeant. I’ve never known how to handle myself around them…”
Amethyst pondered a few seconds; after a bit, she giggled, “She’s certainly an interesting one.”
Linseed said nervously, “Yeah… Silver’s sometimes pretty hard to figure out. She… likes to keep quiet, most of the time, so that’s easy… and confusing at the same time…”
This exchange was getting them nowhere, it seemed. They could talk and talk, but it wouldn’t solve anything. It only took a couple lines to figure that out.
Amethyst, feeling better but still drained, came out and said it, “I have to know, Private… Why don’t you seem to hold it against me…? What I told the lieutenant…? And your squad and team leaders?”
Linseed knew what was going on, certainly… They just had to get rolling on the topic.
The Earth pony slowly shook his head, “I’ve… been thinking about that myself… and I’m not entirely sure."
Amethyst didn’t want to hide anything; she glowered, hating herself, “I took advantage of the lieutenant’s trust… I lied to him… And he believed me…”
Linseed was quiet, “…”
“I used Lily as an excuse…” Amethyst choked out.
Linseed could answer to this, “I figured it out early on, Sergeant…”
Amethyst winced at the hurt in his voice, “And I used my magic as an excuse, saying I knew your heart and mind… So… why? Please tell me.”
Linseed blew out a breath, “The lieutenant asked me that a couple weeks back… I… I’m used to not being liked.”
“That’s so sad…”
He shrugged, “Meh… It’s why I could… at least understand… why I knew better than to let it get to me.”
Nonplussed, Amethyst wondered, “What do you mean?”
“Well, Sergeant, I… realized we had something in common.”
“…?”
Linseed questioned, “How old are you, Sergeant?”
Amethyst wasn’t offended at his asking; the cliché of never asking a mare’s age wasn’t quite at the top of her list of the worst possible things. She was just surprised… and she knew he knew her age, as well.
“I’m 38-years-old, Private, you know that… What’s that got to do with anything?”
He hummed, “I’m 21-years-old. I’m sure you must know—or can perceive—what kind of life I’ve led… what I’ve been through… The fact of the matter is… I know what the first 21 years of your life were like, too…”
“…” Amethyst hadn’t expected such an answer; it hit her… harder than expected.
She’d never forget it—any of it… That sad, little filly… whoring herself out because nothing else felt good… letting ponies use and abuse her… That miserable, young mare… losing her filly... never lifting a hoof to even save her own hide when her own husband beat her bloody every other day… and nearly beat her to death… And when she’d had enough, she wanted to tear the world apart… and she did a lot of horrible things. It was only the love, support, and guidance of a few ponies that kept her from falling off the edge of the world….
He certainly didn't know the specifics the way some other ponies did... but he knew her life had been unpleasant during a time of joy for most.
“I understand better than most what it feels like… to not be liked,” Linseed felt his throat tighten up; this was hard. “And I know you had more than your fill of it. I wouldn’t call it forgiveness… but I understand. And that’s enough.”
Amethyst felt small; she tried to respond, but not much came out, “I… definitely know what it’s like… It’s all I knew… I didn’t even know anything was wrong… Do you… Did you feel the same way?”
He shook his head grimly, “No, Sergeant… I’ve always known I was a weirdo… that ponies looked at me like I was some kind of wacko…”
“You’re not a wacko…” Amethyst was at least convinced of this.
Snorting, he reflected, “Don’t be so sure…”
“And you still feel like ponies have it out for you?” she stared at the floor.
Linseed shrugged, “Yes, but I don’t feel that way anymore, as much. And I don’t think you do, either. The last couple months have been great. I mean… don’t you agree? That things have been pretty great?”
Amethyst blinked. And she thought. And… yes… things were good, as far as it went, given their platoon’s current situation.
Linseed bubbled, feeling elated, “I feel so very fortunate… to have found a place… to have found ponies that I love—that I want to love me…!”
The unicorn was wowed; she concurred, “I… feel the same way, Private…”
The feeling of not belonging… It was something they had in common… or rather, something they used to have in common. Now, they knew what it was like, but it wasn’t like that anymore… not with their platoon.
Linseed lay back, looking at the ceiling of the cave, “Really, Sergeant… It’s okay. Don’t worry about it, anymore. Things… turned out okay.”
Amethyst wasn’t sure she was worthy of such kindness, “…If you say so…”
“I do,” he assured, rolling onto his belly so he could stand. “Now, it’s late… We’ll need you and Sgt. Trove right away in the morning. I’m… pretty sure Canterlot will see things our way, so Blood has a few things he wants to set up. Get some sleep.”
He patted her shoulder and she nodded, humbled.
Linseed began to paddle out, “I’ll take my leave, now. Goodnight, Sergeant.”
She was seized by a notion, “Private?”
He stopped, a little surprised at the desperation in her voice, “Uh… Yes, Sergeant?”
“Could I… call you by name?” Amethyst forced out.
Linseed was bemused; he eventually chuckled, “You already do, Sergeant… Do feel free to use it to my face.”
She smiled, and he was glad to see it.
“Thanks, Linseed,” she murmured.
“I guess I can’t return the favor, exactly, but how about I call you ‘Sarge’?” he gave a crooked grin.
“I’d like that,” Amethyst admitted.
Linseed turned again to leave, but he hesitated.
Amethyst cocked her head, “What is it?”
He rifled around in his uniform pockets, “Well, I have a little something else to take the edge off…”
She looked on curiously and was rewarded with a smile lighting up his face.
“A little of the hair of the dog that bit you?” he produced a tiny flask, barely enough for a few shots.
“Is that… moonshine?”
Linseed chuckled, “Sure enough.”
“Where’d you get that?
“I distilled it in the back of the mechanical shop…” he hummed.
She was tempted, but shook her head, “I shouldn’t…”
“It’s not to enjoy… It’ll even you out… help you sleep,” he insisted.
She took the flask and took a nip. It burned everything.
Amethyst didn’t gag, but she coughed explosively, “Ho- Holy shit!”
Linseed grimaced, “Yeah… 184 proof… Best batch I cooked up. Take a couple more. Just a little will help, believe me.”
And it did help. It cleared her sinuses and numbed her aching. She felt… relaxed.
Amethyst was warmed, but not overly loopy, “Thanks… Thanks, Linseed. You’re… an impressive fellow… You should’ve seen yourself, dealing with command…! You’re a fine fellow, and you’re… kind. You’re so very kind…”
She trailed off, looking embarrassed as she lowered her eyes.
“Good night, Sarge,” Linseed once again made to leave.
“You’re lucky… you really are…” Amethyst waxed, gazing down. “And… thanks… Thanks so much…”
This caused him to pause.
Still in reach, he patted her shoulder, “It’s fine, Sarge. I said it was and it is. And don’t think I don’t know, but… Silver and I each made out okay, I think, finding each other… me a lot better than her.”
She giggled, too embarrassed to look at him properly, “I guess…”
Insistent on turning in himself, he pressed the blanket he’d brought to her, “Take the blanket. I’ll leave you to rest.”
He finally left before she could stall further. The beautiful mare sat for a time.
Amethyst, never without the knowledge they existed, was always glad to know kind-hearted stallions could occasionally be found. Feeling warm and tingly, she dozed off.
…
Elsewhere, Zip and Jacinta joined and found a quiet corner of the network. Now was no time for carnal enjoyment, but they needed each other and let it happen.
After they’d finished, they lay in the dimness under a nice, warm blanket.
She didn’t want to bring it into their time together, but Jacinta worried, “Do you think Amethyst will be okay?”
Zip wasn’t bothered; the unicorn was their friend, “I left her in good hooves, Jacinta…”
Jacinta groaned as she rolled closer to him, “Oh, I just can’t imagine why she wanted to talk to Linseed of all ponies…”
It wasn’t that she was… doubtful, she just didn’t get it.
Zip muttered recognition of her having spoken.
“Heaven knows…” Jacinta cozied up to him.
Zip wouldn’t look her in the eye, “…”
She noticed and laughed humorlessly, cuffing his shoulder, “Yeah, yeah… You’re just gonna tell me ‘to not worry’… ‘not think about it’…”
Zip contemplated, “Yeah, that’s about the size of it…”
She felt a little sore over it, turning away a bit, “I know it’s nothing for me to worry about… I just feel a little left out, sometimes, like I’m the only pony that doesn’t know… And I’m worried about Amethyst…”
Zip knew Jacinta would be a lot more worried if she’d seen the antics that led up to Amethyst’s horrendous hangover… He himself still cringed, thinking about how close he’d possibly come to dying.
But the lieutenant could say with confidence, pulling her closer, “She’ll be fine, Jacinta. I think… she and Linseed are looking to find some common ground…”
She scoffed, putting her nose in his chest-floof, “Do you have any idea how dirty that makes it sound?”
“Well, it isn’t…”
Jacinta tittered foolishly; she knew nothing untoward was likely going on, but her mind occasionally went for the gutter, “Can you picture it, Zip…?”
With complete honesty, he nodded, “And I wish I couldn’t…”
“I’m just fucking with you, Zip…” she snorfled his neck.
“Yeah, I know…” Zip wasn’t as sure as sure could be.
She snorfled his neck again, eager for the closeness.
The lieutenant stared into the dimness; after a time, he voiced his thoughts, “I’m… feeling a little… strange, Jacinta… I’m… scared… and yet I’m not all that worried.”
“You’re not the only one that feels that way, Mr. Lieutenant…” her voice was muffled, buried in his floof.
He hummed, “How do you feel?”
She changed gears, taking a respite from the cuddling, “I think… I think we’re all pretty fortunate, Zip… We have you… and you have one Helluva platoon behind you.”
“Yeah,” he wrapped his hooves around her, not entirely sold on the prospect. “I just hope we’re up for it.”
She cooed happily, snuggling in, “You’ll do fine… We’ll do fine.”
Zip was content to leave it at that.
They said little else and they didn’t have to. Both felt a little hope in the hopeless situation. At least they’d try. Everypony would try.
Satisfied with that, they slept.
…
...
...
The next morning, with the platoon ready to accept their duty/fate, Celestia brought back her command, counselors, and engineers. Zip elected to keep all his ponies there… He saw no reason to hide their meeting. They were on the same page, striving to be brave, inspired by the sacrifice of a captain of logistics. Hopefully, it would continue to compel them.
Though, as things went on, they weren’t seeing much as far as productivity went.
The general of the 4th Army and a private—far down the ranks in a far-flung place—had been squabbling for a time.
“We need to assess the land before deciding anything,” Blood stated.
“You have mountains… Drop them on the centaurs!” Gen. Fiddler Dream uttered heatedly.
“That’s our best course, General, but it’s not that simple…” Blood answered. “There are a lot of things to think about… Altering the very land? It’s drastic…”
“Of course it’s drastic!” the general huffed. “This is to save our continent! I think our future generations will forgive us for crumbling a few rocks.”
The private lowered his gaze, “Don’t oversimplify this, sir… This line of thought could rearrange this portion of the Unicorn Range; we could bury miles upon miles of land if we’re careless! Or it might not work at all… You speak of this as if simple magic can conjure up some great solution from the very Heavens!”
Civil at first, both stallions were quite tired—even exhausted—and were beginning to take things personally, despite adequate sleep.
This was tense; the platoon murmured in wonder, seeing their strange private exchanging verbal blows with their army’s leader. Linseed had laid down the law, as well, best knowing what the concerns regarding the weather were… and things looked dismal in that area, no surprise…
Despite—or perhaps due to—Zip’s two privates again running circles around command all morning, the Canterlot “experts” still seemed unwilling to open their mouths. It was mainly the two currently bickering… bickering.
Before any feelings could be hurt further, the platoon mother, Amethyst, intervened, “Both of you calm down… Don’t put the cart before the horse. We’ve not begun to evaluate anything…”
It was amazing, her cool injection into the situation. A simple thing, it had everypony breathing a little easier.
The general felt foolish; he nodded and sat.
Blood exhaled, doing the same, “General… please allow me to apologize…”
General Dream replied, “Think nothing of it… I’m sorry… I’m losing focus… Let me collect my thoughts a moment, please.”
The general did just that. Once things were calmed, Amethyst chose to address them.
Amethyst affirmed, “Our best plan of attack… defense… is to use the land to our advantage. We have to assess the feasibility of using the land against them. We need a map of the pass.”
“There is no map complete enough to tell us the best places to drop rocks on an army,” the general almost scoffed. “You’d be hard-pressed to find anything beyond what was needed to lay the railway…”
Nopony could blame the general for ridiculing the notion. Why the fuck would they have mapped out such a thing? Much less for its demolition!
“About that, you’re most correct, General…” Amethyst admitted. “I know of no such record.”
Blood figured the same, “It’s not at all surprising…”
Celestia considered, “Pvt. Sapphire… can it be done? I asked you for an assessment… but can you map it out?”
The private nodded, “When I told you it might take several days… I accounted for our mapping it out if needed. It can be done… and in four or five days if my reckoning is right.”
“That quickly?” Celestia’s eyes widened.
He looked straight at her, no malice in his voice, “I’ve done this before… it’s feasible, I think, even with an extermination-level assessment.”
“Then do it,” Celestia said.
The platoon had their objective.
Zip immediately stood, “Pvt. Sapphire… I put you in charge of this operation. You will have authority on our side of things, only under Canterlot’s final authority; they simply have resources we don’t, and we’ll need to consult them. How should we proceed?”
The private judged, “I’ll need two teams with two crews apiece… and somepony to help me with the meteorological side of things… to help me direct things. For that position I choose Pvt. Oil. I’ll need him…”
Nopony could argue that.
Linseed nodded, “You’ve got it.”
Blood turned his gaze to Cpl. Song, “Cpl. Song… I need your knowledge.”
She looked flabbergasted, “…Me, Private?”
The private was serious, of course, “You’re the best engineer we have. You’ve done surveying before, right?”
“Y-yes, for a house… in college…” Cpl. Song sputtered.
“You’ll do fine,” he said; Blood returned to Zip. “Sir… We’re just about ready; I just need to establish a schedule for those that can be spared for the job.”
“And you’ll need to explain it further, I imagine…?” Zip considered.
“We handled the explanation of the procedure last night. We can do a practical demonstration outside, once we’re done here. Otherwise, we can begin almost immediately.”
Zip nodded, “It’s in your hooves, Private.”
“Yessir.”
Zip looked to the princess, the general, and their advisors, “Are things agreeable?”
The advisors were silent. The general, sitting a moment, nodded. Celestia did as well.
The princess declared to the platoon, “I, Princess Celestia, charge you all with this task. We will set things up at our end and prepare to process the data you send us. I’ll put my best engineers on it. Once surveyance has been established, we can begin the relaying of information back and forth; our maps of the pass and its surroundings are limited, but we will give you all the information available. That’s all I have to say for now.”
Zip stated, “We accept. We should begin sending information in a few hours.”
Celestia sat down upon her throne, “Then we will do what we can…”
And they would. A morning full of arguing saw their plan develop in mere moments.
…
…
…
A week had passed since the prairie fire, and the land-assessment and mapping, if they could hold to their pace, was about a day-and-a-half from completion, somehow far ahead of schedule.
Once they’d figured out a system, it was a cakewalk, even in the elevated areas. Incorporating five miles of the length of the pass, at about a mile across—a half-mile on the level into the mountains on each side—they had over four square-miles mapped and assessed.
Taking a break during a particularly nasty bit of the storm, the platoon sat in the main cave-chamber, its leaders and operation commanders on the crystal ball with Canterlot.
Celestia was currently speaking with Zip.
“Zip… any new information from Port City?”
Zip shook his head. There was no new information to be had, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Amethyst had been assigned the task of looking in on their invaders. She’d carefully chosen a team to scout around up north. With her went some of their best soldiers: Cpl. Stardust Painter, Spc. Hemp, and Pvt. Mercury Rise were up to the task, they all believed. They’d actually been gone since the first night of their surveying efforts.
Zip hadn’t liked the idea, but it was necessary to put eyes on their enemy. A few of his ponies were on good terms with the wildlife, but about all the information that could be pulled from little birds was they were going south like Hell, not only because of the centaurs eating and burning everything they could get their hands on to stay hunger and keep warm, but because it was just about wintertime.
What Zip didn’t like was putting his ponies in danger… but Hell, they weren’t out of it to begin with, any of them.
Zip spoke, “Sergeant Flare and her team are on strict crystal ball-silence… We only communicate on a schedule—every six hours—under every possible security measure. We spoke several hours ago. The Centauri forces have yet to make a move; they’re still sticking to shelter, same as us, and don’t appear to be in any hurry. That, of course, could quickly change, but we’d still pick up on it.
“The Centauri numbers are still estimated to be at least 40,000—perhaps as high as 65,000—a lot higher than our first estimate. We destroyed the city… and a lot of them are staying on the ships for the sake of shelter, so we haven’t been able to make a fresh estimate.
“Sergeant Flare believes they’ve gotten about 50% of their supplies ashore; there simply isn’t room for more. Once they do begin to move inland, their supply-line may stretch for miles… but eventually they’ll have to move—all of them and their supplies. Pvt. Oil figures we’ll see snow in about a week. Once the weather turns, they’ll move regardless, we figure.”
Celestia considered all this, “We know nothing new, then.”
“I’m afraid not, Princess…” Zip permitted.
A Canterlot strategist spoke, “It was foolish to send somepony like Special Agent Peridot Shadow on a mere surveillance assignment! Imagine what she might’ve been able to do with a good crew and equipment.”
Yes, all the ponies knew Amethyst was a walking, talking war-machine, but few had heard her codename. More things had come to light. They knew she'd be able to sink a fleet or poison an army if she just had the resources.
General Dream drummed his hooves, “We’ve discussed this ad nauseum, Colonel… We don’t have the equipment and nopony else could pull it off besides her and a crack-team!”
The general’s words were no put-down of any of the present ponies; they simply couldn’t do it. Plus, as far as they knew, the centaurs had no idea there was anything sentient alive in the vicinity besides them. Any slip-up at all would expose their presence, and it had been decided they were better off remaining unknown, simply watching.
Celestia took back the “podium”, “Thank you, Zip…”
Zip bowed his head slightly in response.
Celestia turned to the two ponies leading the survey, “Pvts. Oil and Sapphire… Your report please.”
Linseed, leaning against the same comfy rock to which he’d taken a liking, looked to his friend, “Blood? You want to go first?”
The unicorn’s eyes, without his shades for the occasion, swiveled over to him, “…”
Linseed knew what he meant, “I see… Mine will take less time anyway.”
The surly-looking Earth pony stood, announcing, “Despite the weather at the moment being the worst we’ve seen all week, the system is only a couple days from passing over us. To sum things up briefly, it’s a swamp out there… and it may remain that way until the ground freezes.”
Celestia, despite wanting to keep up appearances, huffed, “Nothing new there, either…”
Linseed took no offense; they were all tired of the same news as far as the shitty weather went, “Other than we’ve been most fortunate to avoid the three landslides that have occurred within our work-zone, I’m afraid not. But things will clear up in a couple days.”
The princess said, “Very well, Private.”
Linseed bowed out; he prodded his friend, “Blood…”
All eyes were upon the pony leading the operation.
Blood spoke from under his hooves, leaning on the rock “table” in front of him, “I continue to think our survey will amount to little.”
Most everypony had the same response, “…”
“You’ve been saying that for the last 36-hours!” a Canterlot engineer sneered. “Why don’t you explain—again—your reasons?”
Blood had been doubting their undertaking for a while. And when pressed to answer why, he’d been blown off. They still had a lot of land to cover and their endeavor could still bear fruit, so his pessimism was growing old to some of the Canterlot folks.
But Gen. Dream, who’d gained a good deal of respect for Blood’s experience (he’d killed more dragons than anypony in history employing just what they were trying for) wanted to hear his thoughts, “Pvt. Sapphire… You’ve said the same things since yesterday… Perhaps if you could explain in better detail.”
Blood appeared to think, or rather, he brooded.
It… concerned the general, Blood’s disposition. He’d seen enough soldiers in his day to know when one was sitting on something. The private had something to say… but he was hesitant to come out and speak. Gen. Dream wanted to hear this… thing. But something told him it wouldn’t come to light until they’d exhausted the possibility of their current plan.
The general pressed, “We’ve gone through 85% of the land you’d be able to manage working with, and there’s nothing of consequence to be had, yet.”
Zip looked to Blood, “Go on… take your time."
Something told the ponies to let Blood have his say.
And he surely had a lot to say, “We’ve covered all this… I’ve nothing new to say, really… but the passage of time, I think, doesn’t hurt my argument. Even without a finished assessment I can tell we only have a few areas with which to work, and they’re all inconsequential, really… Given the overall structure of the mountains, it seemed feasible—if not quite easy—to blast a few places and drop the face of some mountainside right on top of them as they came through. There simply aren’t any places to do this.
“And we can’t just bring the mountains down on them no matter how much we’d like too by way of sheer force; it would take more explosives than it did to fashion the very quarry whose stones were used to establish Canterlot. We lack both the means and the technology. Had we been able to carry the division’s store of explosives, we still wouldn’t make a dent. I doubt anypony at this point is opposed to rearranging the landscape of the Northwest Pass if it can defeat our enemies, but it’s simply impossible.
“There are only 14 places we could control small-scale rock-falls. There are two suitable spots to create high-volume landslides, but we could only use them once and we’d have to manufacture fresh explosives. We can easily manufacture enough new ones with the resources around us, but it’ll take time. What bothers me—besides only being able to use them once—is their volume wouldn’t make a dimple in such an army… nor would it hinder them for any period of time.”
The same engineer speaking against him had more to say, “Awfully long-winded, aren’t you? Are you suggesting we abandon the plan?”
Blood glared at the engineer, “No, Captain… We should continue the survey; we need to keep the option open and there’s a chance we’ll yet find a way. But based on my experience—which you claimed to trust—we’re not going to find anything bigger than what we have.”
That quelled most the waning hope of just about everypony in the room—and Canterlot. It could be felt.
The engineer spat, “Then why did we spend all this time trying to figure it out?!”
Blood gazed back, unflinching, “Because it was… is… a possibly feasible and proven tactic. And it was the safest option… for us.”
For us…? Everypony wondered just what that meant.
General Dream figured the time had come, “What do you have to say, Private?”
Blood blew out a breath; looking disgusted yet resolved, he sat up straight, “If I may… I have a suggestion…”
“By all means, Private…” the general nodded; he was ready to hear this.
Blood, looking at odds with whatever it was going on inside his mind, scratched himself nervously, “Some unicorns are good at finding gems, some are good with charms, some can manipulate certain materials better than others… There are so many talents unicorns may possess. Me? I can manipulate fluid substances within a given entity.”
Zip was curious, “Explain.”
The general was about to speak, but he decided to let Zip lead things. He had faith the lieutenant would be able to do pull out whatever Blood was hesitant to share, whether he meant to or not.
Blood, aware or unaware anypony was trying to figure him out, continued, “It’s actually the compounds I can move; I can’t do much with pure water and metal’s easiest.”
Zip looked at Blood, the concept beginning to form in his mind, “So you could… move, like… blood to different parts of the body?”
Blood answered plainly, “I could draw a pony’s lifeblood through their pores, given time and concentration; I could just blow it out much more easily, but it still isn’t easy… I could even move them like a puppet. It’s not something I could use in combat or anything, but I learned how to manage my own body.”
“How so?” Zip pushed.
“I’m not much of a runner, but I can keep lactic acid out of my muscles if I want—not that you’d want to… it’s there for a reason—and I can send blood through my body more efficiently or concentrate it where I need it. The only reason I was able to maintain the heat shield and stay conscious through the fire was pumping a little extra blood to the brain. My legs sure suffered, but I’ve figured out my own system pretty good.”
This revelation jarred a few ponies... Those that had stuck with the private as they ran for their lives—Zip included—had been saved by a "parlor trick".
But shaking off the chilling knowledge, Zip wasn’t all that far behind Gen. Dream in realizing something strange and terrible was going on behind Blood’s bizarre eyes, visible in this case. Not only that, he… knew what Blood was beginning to make known to them.
The lieutenant’s materializing idea became clearer; his nostrils flared, his voice deep and visceral, “So, Blood, you could move substances in the ground…? Could you move oil? Shift it closer to the surface? Pool it?”
One thing they had plenty of in the ground was oil. It had been said more than once: if it wasn’t for the rocks forming a firebreak north of them at the pass’s entrance—which also saved all their lives—the fire would’ve followed the shallow pockets of oil south until the storm or some other natural means quelled it.
Blood concurred, deadly serious; he then realized Zip was onto his thinking, “Absolutely, I could.”
Confusion dawned on the group, but a few of them saw where this was going.
The general choked; it was worse than he’d imagined.
Several more gasps were heard.
Jacinta blanched, looking to Zip; she was quite disturbed, “You want to set the pass on fire…! Are you suggesting we… burn them?”
The idea finally clicked, and they all began to understand. Even Celestia, silent since talking with Zip, couldn’t believe it, and she’d been around a while; still, she hadn’t seen everything the world had to offer.
Pvt. Blood lowered his head, looking a little horrified with things, even ashamed.
The lieutenant nodded grimly, “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting… or rather, wondering about.”
The private glowered into his own hooves, “And it’s what I’m considering… I’ve been considering it. It’s possible, sir… and it could be controlled large-scale… like turning a lantern on and off.”
A loud, miserable silence enveloped the room. A little mare broke it.
Besides being dismayed, Little Song didn’t see the feasibility; she stammered, “That’s… insane! It’s not possible! Large-scale? I could understand lighting up a patch of ground, but… how would you manage such a thing large-scale…?”
The platoon’s and command’s attention had been taken by the little mare… Now, their aghast eyes turned back to the pensive private.
But one hadn’t even flinched.
Zip didn’t doubt Blood for a second… not for one Goddamned second. If the private dared put such a thing forward, it had legs to stand on.
Zip simply bade, “Blood?”
“The matter of managing it…?” Blood set down his hooves; he looked like death. “Well… about that…”