The Northwest Pass, Chapter 1: First-Name Basis
For the first time in five weeks 3rd Platoon saw frost in the morning. The cool damp was increasing. The prairie, north of the foothills in which they’d spent the night, stirred as the morning sun, coming up late in the season, began to warm up the land. The haze, thick as the smoke off a greenwood fire, began to blow off. The ponies had already been awake for a while, up at first light.
“Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?”
Zip stood at the mouth of a network of caves in which his platoon had taken up; he listened to Sgt. Treasure Trove repeat the message, as the sergeant had been attempting much of the night, still taking turns with Sgt. Amethyst Flare. Neither had any luck and had been reluctant to attempt any communication with what might’ve been left of the division. Coded as the transmission was there was still no need to possibly alert the Centauri Army that 54 ponies were alive, opposed to whatever the fuck happened to the rest of the division…
The crystal balls in use encountered wavering, increasingly weak interference and the two unicorns attempting to reach their capitol city could only conclude whatever Maj. Gen. Rocky Creek had ordered to block any signal from 3rd Platoon was finally beginning to fail. The two had spent hours trying to crack the obstruction but had failed to figure it out. But the magic was waning by the moment; it only indicated—if the spells had been enduring rather than actively and consciously maintained—the ponies that concocted the magic thwarting them were probably dying and taking their enchantments along with them.
If Amethyst knew what was going on up at the Galloping Gorge she kept it to herself. Perhaps she was closing off her mind to such things. Regardless it would be a matter of time before something got through.
Zip considered the lands north of them; the haze had begun to blow off and he could just make out the flames some 20 miles north of their current position. Facing east and inland they were unable to see much to the west, but they could hear the thunder building. There was one Helluva storm brewing just on the other side of the mountains as it came off the sea.
The prairie north of them was still smoldering slightly. Pvts. Linseed Oil and Blood Sapphire predicted the rain would raise a steamy haze for a time, but the rain would be enough to pelt it back down and drown out the fire. The prairie would be a mud bowl by the end of the day and neither soldier was certain just how long the storm might last but a week wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Having started cave-hunting as soon as they could see their own hooves in front of their faces, they set about finding something appropriate. The first of their concerns were the inevitable mudslides. A month of unnatural dryness followed by a deluge of precipitation would cause all sorts of mayhem uphill. Away from any channels or chimney-like features they would be safe from mudslides and fire to boot if fire somehow made its way into the lower mountains.
The second concern was a good vantage-point. They’d found one and they had a decent view up north. They were still looking for small outposts to supplement this.
The third concern was staying hidden. Patches of shrubbery littered the lower elevations of the mountains and their caves were concealed well. It would additionally be difficult to recognize ponies had been running for their lives through that damnable fire and would be nearly impossible to do so once the rain turned the land to muck. It was unlikely anypony or anything else knew 54 ponies were skulking in the foothills of the Unicorn Range and the only ones that needed to know—at least for the moment—were the leaders in Canterlot.
The young lieutenant wasn’t sure what to do yet. There were several tens-of-thousands of Centaurs a pleasant day’s walk north of them. What the Hell was he supposed to do? He’d sure never learned much about this as an officer candidate.
His mind was clouded thinking of his company mates, whether he’d liked them or not. He pictured the hapless Lt. Treehorn… and tried hard not to. Cpt. Cross, whom he'd grown to very much admire, was up there too...
“Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?” Amethyst had taken over again.
Feeling a few raindrops, Zip retreated into the caves; they’d be seeing no Centauri Army for a while if the rain was as heavy as anticipated.
Zip heard the thunder booming as the noise of the rain increased. He tapped on Amethyst’s shoulder; she looked up with a defeated expression, seated before a crystal ball.
“Still no dice, Lieutenant…” her strange eyes betrayed exhaustion.
He kneaded her shoulder, “Come get some breakfast, Amethyst… Orders.”
Neither appearing pleased or displeased with this she got to her hooves with some effort; the two walked by the glow of her horn.
“I don’t like rainstorms, sir… a few old aches and pains come out to tease me when the pressure changes…” she sighed. “It’s worse when it gets cold.”
Whether she was really feeling it, alluding to her age, or something else, Zip answered cryptically, “I think it’s affecting us all, Amethyst. When’s the last time we had decent beds to sleep on?”
“Me? More recently than you, sir,” Amethyst smiled. “I stayed at the Willow Arms Hotel near the docks for five days when I was observing the navy landing.”
It was one of the few buildings the division hadn’t wired to go boom.
“That nice place with the feather beds?” Zip was a little envious.
Smirking, the "cougar" giggled, “Surely… When I’m out on assignment I can do pretty much anything I want. It was lovely… Sure the outside water had been turned off, but a little magic makes for a nice, hot bath when there’s still some in the building.”
“I take it you had a less pleasant place to stay after that…” Zip remembered her arriving a couple days earlier; she looked almost as sorry as the night she’d been drilling out in the bay.
Amethyst took on a sour look, “For the second part of the week I was living in the sewer… It was easier to get around… It protected me from the pyrotechnics up top as well. It was… pretty disgusting.”
Zip laughed, “I guess we didn’t have it so bad, out there on the prairie.”
She sighed, “Oh, don’t even joke about it. The shit’s really hit the fan, Lieutenant…”
Regretting his callousness, Zip shut up. He noticed their shadows dancing on the walls of the cave as they paddled along.
Amethyst mused, “Their faces, last night, sir… when I told them?”
“I think they were rather surprised, Amethyst,” Zip exhaled. “What of it?”
She was stung a little by his question, “I’m… I… was afraid Jacinta would turn her back on me when she found out…”
This surprised Zip some. Regarding the squad leader it was obvious she was really wound up on the matter. The sadness mixed with relief in her voice was further evident.
Zip didn’t want her dwelling on it anymore than necessary; he knew his staff sergeant didn't think less of Amethyst, “Don’t think that way; you’re not a monster, Amethyst… You’re the sergeant of 1st Squad first and foremost.”
She nodded weakly, not entirely convinced, “Jacinta may be… a little naïve but she knows what a warrant officer in that position does. I spent so many years-”
Zip decided he’d had enough, “Cut it out… You’re tired…”
The giggle she let escape was unexpected, “I remember… weeks back… you told me about the same thing when I was getting down on myself.”
Doink! Zip had long tried to put that night out of mind. That night, of course, was when Amethyst let the words “I love you, Lieutenant” slip as she fell asleep on the sofa he ordered she rest on. Unsure of whether she remembered it or became aware of it later or what it even meant, much of her manner still a mystery to him, it often preoccupied his thinking.
It didn’t help matters that the 38-year-old vision of a mare was smiling… and blushing. It seemed most inappropriate to Zip she could have such mirthfulness given more than 2,000 ponies were dead or dying north of them. But she was very different from him.
He settled on acknowledging her, “Yes, Amethyst… I remember it very well…”
“I guess I never told you, sir, but I do really have a little brother…” she said coyly.
“Ju- Oh- What?!” Zip blathered.
She also remembered that part of her sleepy admission… and what followed… maybe… Or she’d been playing around in his mind. Perhaps she’d been pulling the wool over his eyes the whole time, fully recalling what she’d said that night. Whatever way, he was stunned.
Giggling in the girlish way she did she quickly stripped away from him and hurried to the makeshift kitchen.
Zip had to stop a moment. Mares were terrifying…
A few unicorns had slapped together some oatmeal; it wasn’t too exciting, but it was hot, and they had fruit to go with it. Zip had Jacinta and 2nd Squad out on the hills watching the north so he arranged chow be sent out to them. Having assessed their food supply, they had about three weeks’ rations for the platoon… if they ate meagerly. Zip tried to put this out of his mind for the moment… among about a hundred other things; there wasn’t much point worrying until they made contact with somepony.
Zip thought of Amethyst’s secret. It was at least still a secret to those outside of leadership positions. Upon discussing the matter, it was decided they’d just announce it later when it came time to “lay all the cards on the table” on the platoon level. Plenty of others had secrets to boot and Zip knew they’d be learning much more soon; they just needed to wait.
Sitting down painfully across from Sgt. Razor Wire and his sister, Spc. Trip Wire, Zip sighed, “Holding up okay, Razor?”
Razor nodded; he was doing remarkably well given everything, “Yessir… 3rd Squad’s still in shock but morale’s okay… I think everypony’s still pretty shaken up, but a good night’s sleep helped. Sounds like the rain finally started.”
Zip could hear it pouring outside their cozy enough cave; Amethyst sat down beside him and said, “Yeah… And what a storm it’s turning out to be. Pvt. Oil thinks it might last a week…!”
Unsurprised everypony had begun to take higher stock in Linseed and Blood’s inklings on the weather, Trip poked at her breakfast, “Blood thinks this shit could wash the railroad tracks away.”
Noting the little specialist’s morose demeanor Zip briefly thought about the now defunct battle plan, that would’ve had them following the tracks all the way to Canterlot as they kept ahead of the Centauri Army. Still, it was pretty far from his mind and he only wondered what they’d find out if and when they were able to get a signal out.
With mid-morning upon them, Jacinta and 2nd Squad came in to warm up. They were most thankful to have ponchos, but the rain still chilled to the bone. Zip wanted to be happy to see his staff sergeant/sweetheart but the last 24-hours had really sucked some of the joy out of living.
Jacinta tiredly hung her poncho over a rock to dry, “No activity evident to the north; we lost sight of the greater prairie when the steam started coming up… Other than that, we found some sheltered cave networks further up behind some pine stands… should keep the rain off and there’s nothing but solid rock above it.”
She sounded tired and the rest looked it; they’d been out since relieving 2nd Squad at 02:00.
Zip nodded to them, “Sounds good… should be safe from whatever the mountains throw our way. It’ll be a while before noontime chow… and it won’t be much anyway. We have biscuits and fruit if you’d like to eat now. Either way you should all get some sleep. 1st Squad goes out next; discuss the location of the caves and we can set up a new vantage-point.”
Nopony had any argument but matters took a fast turn.
As if hit with a jolt, Amethyst startled; her face dawned some horrified realization.
Jacinta looked over, “Amethyst?!”
“…” Amethyst’s eyes cast down and they could see her jaw moving silently.
Specialist Silver Duster hoofed Amethyst’s shoulder, looking scared, “Sarge…?”
Zip knew something was very wrong; he was about to say something when she got to her hooves.
Amethyst stood wracked; she turned her gaze to Zip, “Sir… Cpt. Cross is making contact… He wants to talk to you.”
The little nook in the cave gave a collective gasp.
Zip’s eyes darted around, “Somepony get me a crystal ball!”
“You won’t need one, sir; he’s coming through telepathically. I can perceive him…”
“He can use telepathy?!” Zip was surprised.
Amethyst nodded, her face hard to read, “He’s not just a run-of-the-mill unicorn, Lieutenant…”
“…” Zip knew this.
“And they likely destroyed all their crystal balls, sir, ‘they’ being the division… so there’d be no chance of the enemy capturing one,” Amethyst stated.
“Then how do I talk with him?”
Amethyst then looked quite ill as she sat down, “Just put your hoof on my back, sir… you’ll be able to speak with him.”
Zip did just that; he closed his eyes and thought hard. Rather than speaking aloud, he did think.
‘Doc! Doc! It’s Lt. Screamer! Can you hear me?!’ Zip transferred his anguished question through his sergeant.
After a few seconds Zip was rewarded with a familiar voice.
‘I can hear you… I can’t believe you’re alive, Lieutenant,’ Zip “heard” Cpt. Cross’s voice. ‘Your platoon made it?’
A sick feeling, somewhere between hope and despair flared up within the young officer; the captain sounded weak, ‘We were able to run south under heat shields… It only just saved us… All 54 of us are alive and well.’
Zip felt Amethyst begin to quiver uncomfortably as Cpt. Cross went on.
‘I’ve been calling out for hours… I had no hope you made it out of that Hell they set upon the land; I wasn’t even sure why I was trying. It’s a shock anypony survived that fire. You got lucky, it that’s the right word for it… I’m sure it beats the Hell out of our situation up here. Just a few minutes now…’
Zip became alarmed when Amethyst began to shake, quietly heaving out sobs only he was close enough to notice. It was clear to Zip the sergeant could “see” what was going on, so far away from their cave.
‘Captain… what’s going on?!’ Zip closed his eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of what Amethyst was experiencing.
‘Stop struggling to see; Amethyst is trying very hard not to…You don’t want to know, Zip… Just know there’s nothing you can do so don’t even think about trying to come up here… not that you’re that foolish to begin with. There aren’t too many ponies left…’
Zip’s guts clinched up, ‘I see…’
‘Any luck reaching Canterlot?’ the captain’s voice came.
‘No, sir… We’ve been trying for two days… whatever the general had enacted-’
‘Just keep trying, Zip… it won’t be long, now. I’m sure you’ve surmised it was an enduring spell they used. If a pony’s alive or unless they choose to deactivate the spell it goes on. By noon chow-time… you’ll be able to talk to the princess herself, I imagine.’
Stricken by the statement and further discomfited from Amethyst’s worsening state, Zip swallowed, ‘Sir?’
‘I wish there was something I could tell you, Zip… we’re done for up here. When you get through to Canterlot… let them know we tried. A lot of mistakes were made… and a lot of good advice was thrown aside… but let them know we tried…’
‘Doc!’ Zip’s eyes welled up; he screwed them more tightly shut and felt them leak.
‘Do what you can, Lt. Zip Screamer. I don’t know what you can do but try… It’s my turn… and I don’t want you or Amethyst to go through this…’
‘Cpt. Cross…!’
‘Goodbye, Zip… Amethyst…’
Immediately, Zip felt the connection break and it wasn’t that the captain had signed off. Cpt. Cross had been silenced; the lieutenant knew this in his heart. Zip opened his eyes, feeling the tears fall down his cheeks as his stomach threatened revolt. Amethyst couldn’t stop the gasping sob she let out upon the severing of the connection.
Jacinta approached Amethyst, “Amethyst…”
Zip had forgotten anypony other than Amethyst was with him, he'd been so lost in his communication; looking to his beautiful squad leader, she rounded on Jacinta. He’d never seen such pain in her expression.
Stifling a sob, Amethyst tore past Jacinta and out of the room, “Move!”
Ponies, looking scared and confused, parted like a wedge ran through them as Amethyst made her way out. Jacinta and Silver rushed after her, but Zip grabbed them. They looked to him and found him tight-faced.
“Let her go…” he choked out to their tearful faces.
Ordering his platoon to stay put and see that the lookouts got fed, he went after Amethyst a few minutes later, leaving them perplexed and frightened with little explanation.
He found her, back with a crystal ball, trying to get through, “Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?”
“…” was all the crystal ball gave her.
Zip watched her a moment; whether she knew he was there or not she didn’t give any sign.
“Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?” she continued.
He couldn’t listen to her tear-choked voice any longer, in her fruitless attempt, “Don’t do this to yourself, Amethyst… You… heard what he said… This can wait.”
“Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?” she strained out.
Zip grimaced as he strode up to her; throwing a cloth over the ball, she’d no longer be able to try. She did stop trying but only huddled down, silently weeping.
Zip sat down beside her and Amethyst pulled into herself, hunching her shoulders and burying her face in the crooks of her front legs. He put a hoof over her back and pressed his forehead into hers.
Her voice came out in little more than a whisper, “Cpt. Cross is dead, sir… My… friend…!”
Zip’s jaw clenched, and he managed to hold back the sob threatening to escape his lips. Steeling himself, he hugged Amethyst… and he could feel the grief pouring from her.
They remained this way a moment before Amethyst spoke again. Zip didn’t want to hear what was going on up at the Galloping Gorge, but he wouldn’t stand for Amethyst to suffer in silence. Whether she detected his openness to her anguish or not she told him what had transpired.
“It… didn’t take the centaur forces long to corner the division… Maj. Gen. Creek and his advisors panicked… and they tried to surrender. They were the first to die… They were… blasted to ash… that’s all.”
She spoke tonelessly but her sorrow was plainly felt; he hung his head and forced himself to listen.
“A lot of them fought… but the rest lost it and tried to run. The fire… the centaurs… claimed the ones that ran. Only a couple hundred were captured when they were too tired to fight anymore. The centaurs tortured them… but our division had nothing to tell them; our commanders were already dead and… they knew nothing in the first place…”
Her dulled voice picked up in emotion, “One after another, the centaurs threw them into the gorge… They snapped the unicorns’ horns… broke Pegasus wings… and just threw the Earth ponies. That’s what cut off Cpt. Cross… his horn…”
Zip felt fresh tears squeeze from his eyes as she quaked, racked with sobs; all he felt was helplessness, embracing his friend.
“I could feel them, Lieutenant! One pony after another… screaming in terror… and then nothing.”
“…”
“They’re all gone, Lieutenant…”
All he could do was nod stiffly; the faces of Lt. Treehorn, Cpt. Jalapeño Jelly, and many others moved across his vision for the umpteenth time that day.
She buried her face in his chest, “What are we gonna do, Zip?!”
Zip wished he had an answer… but he had nothing much to say… and he let her go. But he stood up, gulped, and felt a great slab of fear and confusion run over the lump in his throat.
He knew what he had to do… or at least where to start.
Sniffling hard, trying to dry out his airway, he spoke with a new confidence, “Amethyst… take a moment to compose yourself… and go to your squad and the rest. Don’t tell them what’s happened up at the gorge. Them knowing now won’t help anypony for the moment. Tell them… Tell them to wait. That’s all… ‘to wait’. Then come back here… and set a guard at the entrance to the chamber.”
Taken aback by the sureness Zip exuded, Amethyst sniffled deeply herself, and stood, “Yessir…”
Without another word she left the room.
Hating the fact he was hiding anything from his platoon at this point, Zip knew it was the best option for the time being. Amethyst was back alongside him and the two sat before the crystal ball. Pvt. Mercury Rise guarded the entrance dutifully.
“Okay, Amethyst…” Zip uttered. “Put it up.”
For the second time that week she put up a soundproof bubble. Zip leaned forward and tapped on the crystal ball.
Knowing Amethyst was scrambling the signal for unicorn magic, Zip called out, “Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?”
“…Ah…Irr…” came out of the ball a few seconds later; it was the most they’d heard since the last time they’d spoken with their doomed general.
With conviction, Zip called out, “Canterlot… this is Port City… Canterlot… this is Port City… Is anypony receiving?”
It came garbled, “This- … -lot!”
“Focus, Amethyst!” Zip prodded her.
She concentrated, and the signal came clearer; a unicorn stallion appeared within the ball.
“Canterlot receiving! Canterlot receiving! Port City, do you read?”
Zip sighed and felt the smallest amount of relief, “This is Port City… We read you.”
“What’s going on up there?!” the unicorn’s voice wavered. “We haven’t been able to get a transmission through since last night!”
Zip wasn’t even sure where to start; it turns out he didn’t have to.
Amethyst cut in, “Canterlot! This is Special Agent Peridot Shadow! Prepare to receive code!”
Special Agent?! Zip’s jaw dropped a fraction.
Zip could hear the pony on the other end fumbling, “Yes, ma’am! Receiving!”
Speaking very exactly, Amethyst railed off, “Four, seven, 14, ‘U’, 23, ‘B’, zero, zero, ‘R’.”
“Yes, ma’am! Confirmation?”
Amethyst stared into the ball; Zip saw a pain cross her face, “…Rhododendron.”
“Conveying…”
Zip felt his throat tighten up at that… her daughter…
A loud buzz and snap from within the crystal ball pulled Zip from his seconds-long mulling.
Zip was astonished to see the pony that not only appeared but projected from within the orb.
“Amethyst… I cannot believe you’re still alive,” the alicorn uttered, her face shocked.
Zip had only seen Princess Celestia a couple times in his life; now he got to meet her.
Amethyst stifled a cry, “Yes, Celestia… my whole platoon made it… thanks to-”
“Lt. Zip Screamer…” Celestia appeared to move towards him. “I’ve heard many things about you, Zip…”
Zip was flummoxed; he was unsure whether Amethyst being on first-name terms with the princess or the princess recognizing him was more unbelievable, “I, uh…”
“Many good things,” the very faintest trace of a smile could be seen on the princess’s lips. “You are truly a wondrous fellow.”
Amethyst’s cheeks showed the very faintest trace of a blush as she addressed the princess again, “Yes, Celestia… and as of this morning… he’s the acting commander of the 2nd Division of the ‘Clementine’ Corps of the 4th Equestrian Army.”
She’d choked out the last couple words. Celestia looked grim. Zip’s heart rose to his throat.
Celestia hung her head, “So… it’s over.”
“Yes,” Amethyst eked out; she’d been unable to just say outright they’d all been killed. “The division is gone… Former Special Agent in Charge Jolly… Cpt. Cross… is gone.”
“Yes…” Celestia’s eyes watered. “He was my friend as well as yours… and a most faithful student of mine, once upon a time.”
“We need to explain the situation to you… call in your war council,” Amethyst stated.
Within moments a small contingency of ponies, including Gen. Fiddler Dream, the commander of the 4th Army, whom Zip had met already via crystal ball. Three of the five Equestrian Army generals were there as well as the head of the air force. The remaining army generals, the two admirals of the Equestrian Navy, and the general of the Equestrian Marines joined them via crystal ball. Celestia’s advisors stood alongside her.
All eyes were on Amethyst.
“We…” was all she could get out; she was spent and couldn’t say more.
Zip put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. Looking to his eyes, she was reassured. Zip would handle this.
Trying to keep the emotion out of his voice, he addressed the highest echelon of Equestria, “My name is Zip Screamer. I’m the commanding lieutenant of the 3rd Platoon of A Company within the ‘Wild Rice’ Battalion… of the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division… ‘Clementine’ Corps, 4th Equestrian Army…”
As everything leading up to the collapse of the retreat had gone swimmingly (other than Linseed getting beaten up and the platoon getting sent away, the blessing in disguise that turned out to be), he started from the beginning of the things going to Hell on them.
It was difficult to explain the callous nature Maj. Gen. Rocky Creek had toward their concerns and it shocked the leadership. Despite the pleas regarding the division, the topography, and the impending weather, 3rd Platoon had been outcast to observe the southern pass. Zip had trouble keeping the hurt out of his voice when describing his last contact with the major general.
Even more daunting for him was telling of their ordeal in the flame, never being so sure he and his ponies would all perish. And then the gut-wrenching contact made with Cpt. Cross before his horn was snapped and he was thrown to his death, right alongside the other ponies captured. They’d never truly know all that had transpired up there.
But most upsetting of all was the interference that disallowed 3rd Platoon to send or relay any communication until death of the casters relieved them. Maj. Gen. Rocky Creek was so set on seeing Zip die that he unwittingly contributed to the condemnation of many to a horrible fate. His actions had slit the very throat of what they’d meant to accomplish with that and many other actions at his word.
The hard truth was that 3rd Platoon was currently the only thing in between the Centauri Army and the road to Canterlot. And the situation in Canterlot hadn’t changed much: they still needed up to two months to set up the defenses they were already working on. And any support to the northwest… was difficult to commit; without adequate forces on the ground the air force would be unable to get close… and the weather soon overtaking the northwestern corner of the continent likely precluded any air operations to begin with.
Celestia stood at the end of the brief dialog before turning her gaze to the two ponies on the other side of the crystal ball, “Leaders of Equestria… we must discuss this matter at once. Lt. Screamer… Zip… Amethyst… I… wish I could tell you more. But we need to convene; we’ll be in contact again soon.”
Zip couldn’t help himself; the sureness he’d felt only moments before went poof, “But, Princess! What do I do?!”
She looked at him, at such a loss; her voice shook, considering his terrified expression, “I don’t know, Zip.”
Hearing this was about as welcome as a hot poker up the ass; Hell, that would be preferable.
Zip hung his head, feeling defeated.
There was something the princess could say, “Have faith in your ponies, Zip. And have faith in yourself. We must go.”
The crystal ball’s glow died, and Zip watched the lights leave it.
Never had he felt so small.
After a moment he and Amethyst managed to stand and left the cavern.
“I know how upset you still are about Cpt. Basket Weaver and the implements over food situation, sir… I am too. But it was probably for the best you didn’t bring it up. It’s something the princess wouldn’t know about anyway.”
Zip found this hard to believe but was now glad he'd declined on sharing that piece of information, “No?”
“Equestria’s a big place, Lieutenant. She’s not just some figurehead—she’s our princess—but there’s a lot she doesn’t know about because… she doesn’t need to know. If she knew about half of the things I did… things right under her nose… there’s no way she’d call me ‘friend’. Still, in the end, the truth will out… if we all live to see it.”
To Zip’s reluctance, he was once again under a soundproof bubble with Amethyst, off in a corner of the cave. He’d managed to get his wits about him, but he was still scared nearly senseless. Unable to stomach much at chowtime, he’d been wondering how to break some of the crap to his platoon.
“So… You’re on first-name terms with Princess Celestia…” Zip couldn’t think of much else to say.
She twiddled her hooves, “Yes… I… served as a personal bodyguard for her when I was younger… I never made it into her school though. Other than my psychic abilities I was never that good with practical magic when I was young. It was only when I… let go and surrendered myself into becoming… well, a weapon, that I gained a decent grasp. Cross, though… he was good in theory, practice, and he gained a reasonable control over his own psychic powers when he was a foal.”
Zip knew Cpt. Cross was impressive, but this was news, “He was quite a stallion, Amethyst.”
She sniffled, though showing a proud little smile, “Well, they don’t just make anypony the SAIC of Canterlot Intelligence. Had he continued his work… he might’ve made director of Equestrian Central Intelligence… but he didn’t want it. When he quit intel… I told him he was stupid… that his talents were wasted in medicine.”
She smirked a little at that, a dreamy look in her eyes.
Zip just considered her, “…”
“You know what he told me, Lieutenant?”
Her smile was infectious; he couldn’t suppress his own grin, “What?”
“He told me my ‘mare-ness’ was wasted in army intel,” she sighed.
Zip was stunned further, “Amethyst… Did you…? Did he…?”
Amethyst let out a groan, “He… had a thing for me, sir… And he did try to get to know me a little better, if you catch my drift. This was a couple years after I lost my third husband. Maybe if I hadn’t had my head so far up my ass I could’ve given it a chance. We’d been friends for years and we stayed friends, but I never let it get any further.”
“Wow…” Zip murmured.
“Yes, we never know where life might take us… where it could’ve taken us, once upon a time. I can’t say I regret turning him down, but I do envy youth, Lieutenant. Don’t waste it…”
He nodded, in continual awe with her ability to cut him down to size and have him feel like some little colt. Still, he stood.
“I think I know what I want to say to the platoon, now…”
Amethyst nodded, “Yes… You may as well tell them what they need to know. Celestia will want to address us as a whole anyway; best to be on the same page.”
As Amethyst dropped the soundproof bubble, Zip strode out with purpose, “C’mon, Sergeant.”
“Yessir!” she responded, quickly drying her eyes and following him.
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Why do you torment me? Either ship or get off the pot.
Amethyst is really unfortunate in love. Must have been born under a bad star or something.
9099833
"Ship or get off the pot"... Clever.
Hmm, it's a little hard to believe the guy would put orders to block communications, that just seems incredibly stupid. Relatedly, I felt the fact that he had put the blocks was hammered on a bit too much without explaining how everypony knew.
As for Cpt. Cross, it's weird because simultaneously I don't really remember anything about the character previously, and thus don't care much about him, but it's pretty morbid to think about ponies with horns snapped off thrown into a Gorge; it just kind of throws the darkness of this fic way over the top, when it was already pretty far removed from the base setting despite only taking place 400 years prior to the show. It's actually reached a point where I think it's darker than Princess Essenta in tone, despite being chronologically closer.
9101322
Arrogance and cronyism has ruined nations. I'm sure you've seen even "great" men destroy everything over something petty. The general had the troops hero-worshiping Zip while his inner-circle was mocking, punishing, and hating him over something stupid. In his arrogance he gave an ultimatum because he wanted to see him die and expected things to go his way. The scramble on communications was noticed because 3rd Platoon couldn't get anything in or out and the common hoofsoldiers would have little idea of any of this, considering 3rd Platoon was supposed to be keeping a lower profile down south and they were only in contact with command. It just so happened the shit really hit the fan the morning of the day the general planned to send Zip to die. You tell a bunch of soldiers their hero "committed treason" they'll probably turn on said hero.
I know it's farfetched, but meh. Your grievance, however, is much more reasonable than another reader that was upset that a brick latrine saved Zip's life during the dragon attack when he had the squirts. I personally know a marine who avoided getting blown up because he bent over to tie his boot while the rest of his squad rounded a corner where an RPG was waiting. And I probably avoided getting shot by a tweaker during a liquor store robbery because I switched nights with another cashier who wanted to go to a concert; he did get shot but lived. Call it luck, if you like.
And I do appreciate very much you're still reading, believe you me.
Cpt. Cross was the physician on hand when they were trying to figure out why the lieutenant went bonkers in Chapter 4 and he appeared again in Chapter 12 when the lieutenant woke up after dealing harshly with Amethyst's big problem in the forest. He was a longtime friend and colleague of Amethyst. I know I could've done more with other units in the story but the story's always been about a dozen or so of the 50-something ponies in 3rd Platoon.
It's gotten morbid, sure, but I originally wrote the centaurs ate the whole division to save on their stored food supply. And it's a war story; I remember getting complaints from a reader because there was nothing but military drama going on and (he?) was waiting for the actual "war" part of the story.
Hmmm being thrown into the gorge, seems like a nice death. You have so much time while falling to hope to fly! And if you’re one of the last ones, maybe you land luckyly on some dead comrades and don’t impale yourself on bones and survive?(just to die of hunger most likely. Or drown)
I kind of like how the Centaur work. Though I would’ve kept them as food! just make pony jerky... what a waste, a fun one, sure, but a waste!
But Amethyst on first name basis with Tia?Darn, girl sure got around even more than I thought!
Thank you for the new chapter and your hard work!
Now grav your piece of Baumkuchen, some coffee and of course some nice wamr tea for the heat.
9099833
I can answer why he torments you so much: Because its fun! And we know you love it!
9101356
Thanks very much for reading as always. And yes, it's been quite hot in the Central United States with no relief in sight. I'm glad my tractor has air conditioning and I spend some time behind a desk.
Horse isn't the best meat but I've had it plenty of times and just about every other kind of meat that's legal and/or obtainable. Nutria's decent and so is possum. Coyote's awful; it's very oily because it's a carnivorous animal and tastes like garbage because that's what those vermin eat. You name it I've probably tried it. Barn squab's probably the worst.
Zip has a lot to explain to his platoon next time.
9101367
You’re welcome.
we had some nice rain yesterday and at least the little excuse of a city here didn’T have much of the trouble elsewhere seemed to have with storms and such. Now it’s back to okish 17-32C.
Hmm I kind of like horse. It tastes good grilled. Never had nutria because some idiot thought it to be an endagered species around here, haven’t much eaten any exotic stuff, but I most likely would. or let’s quote my great grandfather and later my best friend.:
and yes, that is true... I think. Though I doubt I’ll ever eat humans... mabye. Ok it wasn’t me, my neighbors all moved out ok? It’S not that they all vanished without trace, I left some!
My fav it ate so far is wild boar, it just tastes great. esp as part of salami!
A lot to explain, yes. esp a lot of hard to swallow stuff. I mean, no supplys, most likely no chance of getting any in the foreseeable future, having to hold off a Legion of pony eating and murdering half apes and the weather isn’t completely on their side either.
Just the right recipe for being labeled heroes right?
9101385
In the United States nutria are so numerous in the south people hunt them and present their tails to authorities for money. Those large rodents tear apart riverbanks and cause a lot of erosion. It's hard to believe those giant water rats would be considered endangered in Germany as they're an invasive species. They're invasive in the United States too. In fact their native range is in South America only; they're invasive anywhere outside of there.
Here's a video of a nutria hunt if you want to watch it; Youtube is full of these types of videos. You may have trouble understanding some of the English.
9101392
Well, thats east germany for you. in west germany, esp. here in Lower Saxony the season is officially open to hunt any nutria since april 25th this year...
An well at least around Berlin they finally got it figured out that it may be a good idea to get red of the red swamp crayfish.
But to be honest, how they do it is a joke. you have to have a fishery license to be allowed to hunt them... yeaah... so they paid a company millions to catxch and just shred them, instead of allowing people or locals to catch and eat them... Well finally they’Re thinking of the second option.(and it took them just over a year too! Thats fast.)
Btw it wasn’t that hard to understand most of the video. Far easier than some saxons... then again, I don’t speak babarian, just german and some english.... No really, even bavarians are ok to understand, most of the time at least. But saxons... I really despise that dialect.
Hmm I think I leave some nice german music here, just to give you the most awesome german anthem ever.
And now I’ll have to go out and most likely won’t have any kind of internet until 22:00 I really love when things break here, well, it’ll all be good tomorrow, I hope.(and maybe this time no one is going to find a bomb or something...)
9101443
Thanks for sharing that piece of music. We don't really have historical regions here, being a younger country.
9101354
I think their issue was that the dragon was too narrow in what it burned down, as if the latrine was magically protected rather than reasonably out of the way. Similarly, their issue with the military drama was that it's essentially completely irrelevant to the plot and gets rather grating (at this point it seems everypony not under Zip's command or friends with Amethyst is some corrupt douchebag); you don't need extreme war crimes to get to the point of the story.
9102227
The outhouse was the only structure made of brick in the outpost; you have a decent chance surviving a brief fire in there as opposed to the wood barracks or in the open. Luck. And the division getting eaten wasn't even the worst idea I had but I settled on a mass execution to keep in the unnecessarily low threshold for a "Teen" rating. It has a "Dark" tag because they never included a "War" tag. War sucks. But up to now's been patty-cake... Just wait until the centaurs attempt to cross through the pass, not knowing a bunch of tiny horses are lurking around and watching them. When I was a kid even "PG" meant something; now it means nothing.
Not all the other ponies are a-holes... just a lot of them, kind of like real life. And the story's still about a dozen or so ponies; I had neither the inclination or the time to flesh-out the other platoons despite knowing I'd be sending them to splat at the bottom of the gorge. But 3rd Platoon knew them and they know it very easily could've been them in such a situation... once they find out, of course; Zip has to tell them, still.
And the earlier dramatic part of the story was definitely not a bunch of drivel. The friendship, and yes, monotony and other non-combat things, are very much a part of military life. Too often is it left out of stories. Peacetime/boredom helps create friendship and war tests it. There'll be plenty of testing over the next couple months for them.
9101356
Oh I do not love it!
9103258
Uhhm ok.
Sorry? Then I’m allmost, a little bit, maybe not really sure that you won’t have to suffer that much.
Please have an Apple-caramel cake as an apology. You even get some hot cocoa to it.
Ot would you prefer some fresh made bread?
9103386
If you read Chapter 3 of Larkspur Blossom before I got rid of a few of the spoilers you know what winds up happening. If after the fact you still know 3rd Platoon isn't in for a pleasant fall/winter.
9103403
I do know., wich doens’t prevent me from getting others hopes up.
9103708
I thought as much.
9103708
Do not spoil it.
9104950
Oh don’t worry it isn’T as if Nah you don’T get that cake now. just wait and enjoy the ride.
But then it turns out good. We all know that friendship is firepower right?(or was it salty?Ammonution?Thaumatic energy? Heresy?A cake ingredient?)
Just wait for the next few chapter. It’ll be worth it!
9104512
Your fault for writing great storys and letting me read them.
9103386
I knew you know what happens.
9105256
I try my best.
9101367
What is barn squab?
9118164
It's squab, which is pigeon or dove less than a month old, from a barn or other man-made structure. You clean out birds nesting in a barn or something and it's pretty gross. Birds are what they eat and barn pigeons eat garbage.
9120108
Nasty.
9121180
It's pretty gross; the meat's black, sometimes, depending on the diet. If you ever try squab, get it commercially or traditionally raised. Don't eat stuff you knock out of roosts in your buddy's family's barn. 🤢
9121241
I will take that advice to heart. 😔
9433071
I remember reading about her long after I created the character, when another user mentioned this. Mythology was never my strong point but I have read a lot of the Greek and Roman stuff. I actually opened up one of my old floral design books--I did arrangement for a while before going with sugarbeets--when I was looking for Jacinta's name. It was an alternative name of the flower hyacinth and I just liked the name. I guess I mentioned this in the chapter already, about her name.