The Infernal Line, Chapter 5: Scavenger Hunt, Part 4
At 00:05, Zip’s salvage team was very near the armory. They’d slowed their pace a hair due to the extra weight, but relatively good cheer prevailed. Even though they were in the “clean” part of the sewer again, and the stench of downtown was behind, they’d all stopped noticing the terrible smell about the time they closed the vault. There’d been no feeling sick on the way back, either.
The ponies chatted, and their stomachs were relaxed enough to think about the chow of better times.
“You know what I miss the most from the mess?” Spc. Hemp asked the other three. “Those snickerdoodle cookies they made on Thursdays…”
There was a murmur of ascent from the others.
“I miss that broccoli potpie…” Pvt. Mercury Rise said. “The day we began the state-of-emergency… that was the last day they made that pie. Some of us missed that with the special detail.”
Their leader, Sgt. Amethyst Flare, who’d just been dreaming of the waffles they got certain mornings, felt a pang but said nothing as she retreated inward, having heard the last statement. What had happened over lunch that day changed things between her and Zip…
“Other than one of the times Gen. Rocky 'Asshole' Creek had us call in during lunch…" Cpl. Stardust Painter, still on the issue of potpie, reminisced. “He and his staff ate like kings…”
Mercury was actually surly over it, “But we didn’t get it…”
Specialist Hemp, jumping track, wondered, “Did the lieutenant really call the general a motherfucker?”
The corporal laughed, “You keep asking, and I keep telling you the truth. Yes, he called him that… right to his face, so to speak, and then he spat on the crystal ball… at his face!”
Mercury scoffed, pulled away from his pie fantasies, “No… the lieutenant wouldn’t spit…”
Corporal Painter chuckled, “Oh, he did… Isn’t that right, Sergeant?”
Amethyst was lost in thought a few seconds; she blinked, “Oh… Yes, he did, Mercury…”
“See?” Cpl. Painter crowed.
Mercury was aghast, “I guess I believe Sergeant Flare…”
“If Razor hadn’t told me later, I wouldn’t believe it either!” Cpl. Painter swaggered. “He thought SSgt. Petals was going to drop a turd when he did that… He said he came close!”
The stallions were enjoying themselves far more than most would imagine, but the night—besides the mud—had been going smoothly enough.
Amethyst had been laughing it up with the three stallions but was now feeling differently. Just the mention of the day she dragged Zip out to lunch had her insides twisting up.
She felt so stupid! Begging the lieutenant for that dance—all those weeks back after she left the ball—mortified her, no matter how much she’d enjoyed it or how drunk she’d been. It certainly wasn’t a harmless dance—not to either of them—and she knew it; she’d reveled in it. And it meant so much to her…
But besides that, she’d known Jacinta had been slowly falling for the lieutenant, and it hadn’t begun at the drunken kiss she’d planted on him the night of the ball, which had been more playful than anything. Up to that point, it might’ve been more admiration than anything else, but it had changed around that time; it was what gave her the push to flirt with him…
It was the next couple weeks that had driven the matter home. She knew Zip had really started falling for Jacinta by the time they’d begun the evacuation of Port City, though she hadn’t been privy to Zip’s dreams… She was more than privy to Jacinta’s, sleeping in the adjacent room.
Walking in the slop of the sewer, she reprimanded herself for thinking of him by name… He was the lieutenant…! She couldn’t forget that.
Night after night, she had caught Jacinta dreaming of all manner of things involving the lieutenant. They varied in content, but at least five juicy fantasies had resulted in Jacinta startling awake, her and her nightgown wet in a certain spot.
It wasn’t just stallions that had nocturnal emissions… She—Amethyst—figured she’d had maybe two since she was 19 and no more; some mares just grew out of them, as some stallions did. Still, she’d had to deal with half the mares in the barracks having the occasional wet dream—which were plenty vivid for her—and hated having to share laundry. Some of the mares’ fancies were pretty screwy by her standards… Whips and chains and stuff…
Back to the matter at hoof, what was most frustrating was Jacinta didn’t get it, not realizing she’d begun to love him. Jacinta had figured it was a brush with “sexual tension”; she’d heard it sometimes happened between ponies in the workplace. It had the older mare growling, even presently.
But then there was that dream… the dream for which she—Amethyst—just couldn’t fully forgive Jacinta… That dream had knocked her for a loop… and she’d let her guard down.
She’d pulled the lieutenant to the new Tenochtitlan place on the main street, giddy to spend a little time with him without Jacinta around. Hearing the 24-year-old mare decline the invitation for lunch in favor of getting an evening off delighted her. At the restaurant, she’d really let down her guard… spouting that crap—then and the night before—about Jacinta’s dreaming habits. Then without even thinking, she’d let slip that Jacinta liked him.
And then… right there in that little restaurant… she’d realized she’d fallen for a kid. She knew she’d fallen in love again. It had only truly happened once before, but she knew what it was.
Zip—the lieutenant—had been concerned, seeing her so close to tears, and he’d put a kind hoof on hers. It was more than she could take, and she’d bolted from the restaurant.
She festered the rest of that day, stewing bitterly as she went through the motions of directing her squad. Then, feigning sickness, she’d skipped the lieutenant’s reward of a short keg to her squad and went sulking.
She was angry… mainly at herself, but she decided to take it out on her best friend. Jacinta wouldn’t have known about the blackout-drunk kiss she’d given the lieutenant, but she’d just had to tell her. She had to get angry over her friend’s inexperience and things not completely in either of their control. But that one dream she’d seen the night before from Jacinta had hurt.
Her Rhododendron—her little Rho, that beautiful, tiny unicorn—had had an indigo mane… and so happened the filly Jacinta dreamed of… Jacinta’s little Rhododendron… Seeing Jacinta, the lieutenant, and that beautiful little Pegasus filly—happy as was imaginable—had been a gut-punch. In fact, she’d found it almost soul-rending.
So, she’d laid into Jacinta… She’d told her about how stupid and sloppy she’d been and that she’d made a fool of herself… She’d done it because she was upset… because she knew the little mare had a chance at some real happiness. And it took her confronting Jacinta for her little Earth pony pal to realize she’d fallen in love with her direct superior.
She just hated herself… for being such a despicable mare… for being a such a wretched, sorrowful old mare…
And then all that other stuff had happened! Jacinta had sexually assaulted the lieutenant during another blackout… She—Amethyst—had fallen apart in front of the lieutenant when he got angry at her for always showing up when he was “at his worst”… And she’d fallen apart a few more times… And then she’d told him she loved him… on that walk during which she’d asked Jacinta for his time…
She’d caused him so much trouble, it almost beggared the imagination.
And all he’d done was be understanding… and helped her to her hooves again… all the times she’d fallen…
…
Then there was Cpl. Lily Hawk… The young mare knew her secret… She wasn’t sure how much Lily knew, but she knew the one thing of which Amethyst was most ashamed… the thing that broke her…
She was still broken; nothing could or would fix her. And she knew she was teetering… had been for a good year.
She liked Lily… She loved Lily, her friend, but she could never make peace with the fact some little mare—guilty of some disastrously terrible things of her own—even knew about the thing over which she almost constantly considered killing herself.
Lily was too like herself for her to properly trust her… She saw it, and it sickened her. Her young staff sergeant’s naivety wasn’t the only reason she chose to confide in Jacinta over any other mare… or all mares, really… Lily was no psychic, but her power was on par, and she would be able to combat and block such interference with some ease.
Plus, when a psychic pony opens a connection between another mind and theirs, a powerful enough pony can not only fight it but look into the psychic’s soul. Opening one’s soul was risky.
She was scared Lily would be able to see what was really in her heart… the other seemingly minor things she’d even hid from Equestria’s top head-doctors, and she wouldn’t be wrong.
The only things to stop her from turning her own magic inward to her rotten brain and soul, destroying both, weren’t things at all. They were the lieutenant… and Jacinta… and Celestia… and her good friend, the late Cpt. Cross. She loved them, and she knew it would break their hearts if she ended it all for herself.
…
…
Her mother… she had no idea what had happened to her; she’d disappeared when she was a filly. And her father… she hadn’t talked to him since she right after she’d lost Rho… and he’d turned her away at his door when she’d begged his forgiveness and to let her come home… For that, she’d likely never forgive him, but she couldn’t blame him, either. She’d caused him trouble that had to be seen to be believed.
Her little brother had gone off to school in Whinnyapolis, and she hadn’t seen or even talked with him since the time he’d bailed her out of jail for selling sex when she was 19, after being turned away by her dad—but before shacking up with and marrying Lead Brick. She’d like to see him—her brother, not Lead—again, but what the fuck would she say to him…? After 18 or 19 years…?
She’d not seen her brother in literally half her lifetime.
Her thoughts were a jumble, really…
…
…
…
“Are you alright, Sergeant?”
Amethyst juked, nearly bonking her head on the wall; she’d been drifting and not realizing it. She looked to see who spoke. It was—reliably—Mercury, not “minding his business”…
Amethyst said it with minimal lying; she even grinned, “Nothing you need to worry about, Mercury… Just some ‘middle-aged mare’ stuff…”
He looked taken aback and not because she’s rebuffed his question; he was quite serious, “You? C’mon, ma’am, don’t talk about yourself like that… You’re the belle of Port City.”
She was flattered and actually blushed, “You’re too kind, Mercury.”
“Everypony said you were a knockout at the ball, Sergeant…” Spc. Hemp said. “Wish I coulda seen that…”
“Oh, pshaw…” Amethyst was feeling better; she knew she was loved among her ponies.
Corporal Painter joined in, “Remember that time the lieutenant swept Little Song off her hooves at the pub? When that little band played? I had no idea he could cut such a rug! You and him, Sergeant, we all wanted to see that… But they kicked us out before we could get you two together… We coulda had an encore performance of that waltz in the park…”
“How’d he get so good, ma’am?” Mercury was excited to hear. “Do you know?”
In better light, the stallions would’ve seen her cherry-faced, but she managed to sound calm.
“It was a pleasant surprise to find out he could do the Manehatten…” strangely, she wasn’t unhappy to talk about it this way; she felt less pathetic, perhaps. “The lieutenant told me one of his sisters had to practice for her cotillion, and she… sort of forced him; that’s how he got so good.”
“Yeah?” Spc. Hemp raised an eyebrow.
Amethyst smiled, “Funny thing, though… he claims he can’t dance without music…”
The corporal and the specialist scoffed.
Lt. Zip Screamer?! Getting forced by some filly to practice dancing?!
The disbelief fell off… Of course… they could see it… It was the lieutenant they were talking about, and they sniggered.
“Cool…” Mercury beamed, thinking of gentlecoltly things.
“‘Cool’?!” Cpl. Painter gawked.
Spc. Hemp snorted, “That sounds kinda gay…”
Mercury reddened, “No, it’s not!”
Amethyst gave a little smile, listening to the three friends bicker.
The humor buoyed the sergeant. It may have been a shallow relief, but Amethyst had been dwelling on such unpleasant thoughts she’d just been knocked out of for a long time; she was—unfortunately—used to it and was able to bounce back most of the time.
Regardless, it was nearly time for the next—and likely most dangerous—leg of their journey that night.
Amethyst ordered, “Everypony… quiet, now… We’re a few city-blocks away, and we don’t want to chance it… Low voices, please.”
“Yes, ma’am,” all three responded.
They had to get serious, but there was still some explaining to do as they closed in.
Amethyst lectured them, “Centaurs don’t have the hearing or sense of smell you might expect… It is comparable to monkeys, so we have them beaten in that. That said, primates have us beat six ways from Sunday—and twice on it—when it comes to vision… and they have those dexterous hands we so greatly lack. If we cover our tracks, then we’ll probably be fine and never be found out.”
“You have to include the ‘probably’, don’t you, Sarge?” Spc. Hemp grinned.
She shrugged, “Well… what do you think?”
“I think nopony living has tried what we’re about to,” he sounded more worried than he appeared.
“That’s right, and that’s why I’m not entirely sure. We must be cautious…”
That went without saying.
“So, what’s the plan, Sergeant?” Mercury was fully at attention.
She paused and looked upon the assemblage, “I check to see what’s going on—if it’s clear. If and when it is, two of you will come up while one of you remains by that big drainpipe… just in case we need to drop the lead down to the sewer.”
“Who stays behind?” Cpl. Painter asked.
“You, Corporal,” she said at once.
“Me?” he was surprised.
The other two stallions weren’t expecting this. Mercury figured it would be him; he had the least experience.
She had more than one reason but wasn’t about to tell Cpl. Painter she was concerned about his “blood-phobia” popping up, however unlikely,” You’re a unicorn; I want one on the other side in case we need that… I need to be upstairs. Plus, you’re a little older than the other two.”
Corporal Painter couldn’t disagree, despite the mare having a decade on him (she was fitter by a good stretch), “Yeah, I’ve seen better days… I doubt I could hike myself up like you did.”
“That won’t be an issue,” Amethyst revealed. “We have an easier way up than that trick from earlier, but it still won’t be easy.”
“And you said nothing about another path?” Spc. Hemp didn’t understand.
“It didn’t matter at the time, and I didn’t think to tell you,” she muttered.
“I see,” Spc. Hemp nodded.
Amethyst sighed, “We can’t blow this. No mistakes. Our remaining undetected may buy us an extra few days. If they know some ponies are alive, I doubt they’ll sit back; even an army this size could break camp in a couple days if they really had to.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they responded.
They moved the last block in silence. Soon enough, they arrived under the armory.
Amethyst still hiked herself up the way she had; she wanted to listen in.
She came back down, looking a little unsure, “It’s… really quiet up there.”
“Yeah?” Cpl. Painter cocked his head. “Isn’t that good?”
“I hate the cliché ‘too quiet’, but it is…” she put forth. “It’s dark now, too; I can’t see a thing.”
Specialist Hemp scratched his nose on the shoulder of his uniform, “What should we do, ma’am?”
Amethyst blew out a breath, “We go up the easier way I found… and I’ll scope out the situation before we go in.”
Mercury pondered, “What do we do for light? We can’t see in the dark, and do we dare have a light source?”
Amethyst smiled, looking to Cpl. Painter, “Dim your horn; I’ll do the same.”
He did so, and she did.
It was pitch-black.
“Uh, now what…?” Spc. Hemp grumbled.
Amethyst, her smile unseen in the dark, figured, “I have a spell for this… and you don’t wanna see like you’re about to in the light…! It may well blind you. This’ll be a little different, so don’t be shocked.”
They saw a flash around them; it was bright, and they needed to shut their eyes.
Amethyst gave a throaty giggle, “Open your eyes, boys.”
They did. And they saw.
Mercury kept down his voice, but he marveled, “Wow! Everything’s all green!”
And it was; everything had a greenish tint.
“Gentlecolts, I give you night-vision…” Amethyst said proudly.
They could see everything.
“Wow…” Cpl. Painter whistled. “This is something else.”
“Well, it only works in the dark,” Amethyst explained. “And the spell only lasts 20 minutes. They just cooked this up last year in Canterlot, and they haven’t found a way to keep it from harming the eyes when used any longer than 20 minutes…”
“Lovely,” Spc. Hemp waxed.
“Don’t worry,” Amethyst nudged him. “We’ll be able to find what we need quick enough.”
“I hope…” Mercury was concerned. “You saw those things were partying up there, but did you see anything else? We know where the lead is, unless it was moved.”
“That’s why we have 20 minutes,” she replied. “No time to waste, we go now.”
“Without knowing just what’s up there?!” Spc. Hemp hissed.
“Little choice,” Amethyst insisted. “Remember our hoof-signals?”
They all nodded.
“And you’ve all had Equestrian hoof-language?”
Again, they nodded.
“We stay quiet up there…” she declared; she pointed to a seal above them. “That door? It leads to the big pipe under the armory. We need lights off down here because it’s possible it’d be visible from up there.”
They saw it, alright.
“Corporal Painter…” she looked to him. “Undo the bolts. I’ll lower it and watch for water pouring out. I don’t know when they last bled it…”
Specialist Hemp and Mercury stood back as the unicorns worked.
It only took a moment, and the seal was broken. A little stagnant water—but not much—came down; it wasn’t even worth catching. Amethyst had been worried the drain might be full, causing a lot of noise and the visible water-level up top to fall out of sight; that would be bad. For all they knew, the centaurs had been shitting in the drain or tossing garbage down it. Had that been the case, they’d have forgone opening the door and not had the “emergency” drop.
But only a trickle of anything came, and the unicorns lowered the large, steel door. Setting it carefully behind them, “downstream” to their position, Amethyst gave instruction.
She spoke of them, rather than to them, “I’ll go up first… I’ll bring Hemp and Mercury up with me by magic. The corporal waits down here. If we need to chat, it’ll be by telepathy; I can do it, and he’ll be able to connect. We’ll try to bring the lead down by ourselves, but we can put it down the drain if needed. I can snake it down without making any noise, but the corporal will have to catch it; we don’t need any clanking or splashing. We’ll come back down once we have 45 pounds of the stuff.”
They’d already discussed this at length: they needed about 36 pounds of lead, so as with the other supplies, they’d fudged the numbers. Not only did they have the numbers, they’d discussed the plan; it didn’t hurt to go over it once again.
“Good luck, boys,” Amethyst rubbed each of their shoulders, despite the grime.
“And you, ma’am.”
“Let’s do this…”
“I hope this works.”
Exchanging hoof-bumps and kneads on the shoulder, despite the grime, they were ready.
A hatch—nearly out of sight—had to be opened.
Carefully… slowly… Cpl. Painter unscrewed it; they might’ve had the same issue with slop on the other side.
But it was clear, and he swung the hatch gently, allowing it to hang.
With visions of green, they exchanged nods, and Amethyst levitated herself up.
Then came Spc. Hemp and Mercury a moment after.
Corporal Painter had a pocket-watch, “17 minutes…”
They had that much time to obtain 45 pounds of lead. Checking her own watch, Amethyst had the correct time.
Amethyst led the two stallions up the shaft; it was an easy climb. Normally, a special ladder would be hung underneath the hatch to access it, but they had no such thing.
Reaching the top, the route Amethyst took earlier met up at a grate with their current route, but the stallions wouldn’t know that. Peering into the room, it was dark, but the three of them could see everything as clear as daylight, if greener.
The grate swung open, so Amethyst, having taken a careful look through, unfastened the catch and set the small vent’s cover down.
Slowly, she entered the forge of the armory, the stallions creeping in behind her.
The centaurs were everywhere, snoring, their prone bodies taller than any of them at the ear-tips.
After dealing with the filth of the inner-city’s pipes, their senses of smell were dulled. Still, they could faintly smell something they knew to be stronger than perceived: the stink of booze and vomit and piss and shit filled the air.
The centaurs had been using the entire facility as a toilet. It was like walking into the bad part of the sewer all over again.
Had they not been “used” to it, all of them may well have lost their composure and yakked at the odor. The fact it was warm in there—there was a near-dead fire in the forge whose brightness didn’t quite offend their “night-sight”—wouldn’t have helped them a single bit. It was pleasantly warm… something they’d not felt in a few wet, fucking miserable days…
To their relief—and as they’d figured upon realizing there was a party going on—they knew this was no headquarters but just a place these lumbering, drunken beasts had set up camp.
Taking in their surroundings, the ponies breathed a sigh of relief.
Amethyst almost looked elated; she signed to them.
We may be in luck. They’re all passed out… gonzo, fellas…
Yes, they had signals even for slang.
Specialist Hemp was most familiar with the armory; he signaled.
If the lead wasn’t moved, it should be in the next room…
He pointed to the door—untouched, apparently—that was too small for any centaur to go through.
Mercury produced a few small burlap bags they’d brought to carry the lead. This might be easy…
Amethyst was paying better attention than either stallion knew: she was “listening” to the centaurs, and they were all asleep or passed out; their dreams were a mess of things she didn’t particularly enjoy perceiving.
Right next to the door, they came upon a sight to behold.
“Holy shit…” Amethyst mouthed.
A centaur lay in the most awkward position, lying on his back, his legs pointing in every direction. He was dead, having choked on his own puke; he’d struggled, it seemed, too drunk to clear his airway. Having voided his bowels, they saw just how big centaur shit really was, as the rest of the lovely manure was scattered about and trampled upon.
They all grimaced… The shit was about the size of any of them…
But they went on through the doorway.
It was as if the lead was waiting for them: little ingots, weighing a pound apiece, were still neatly stacked up; there was still a literal ton of it waiting to be made into ammunition.
Paydirt… the three ponies thought as one.
Excitedly yet silently hoofing each other’s shoulders, Amethyst bade Mercury watch the outer room.
Taking up his position, Mercury stood at attention, a little nervous.
Amethyst and Spc. Hemp went about counting out 45 ingots and placing them into the bags; they had all they’d ever need at their hooves. Quietly, they worked.
Things were going well; they were only a few minutes into their time “upstairs”, and they had a full 13 minutes of night-vision left.
Amethyst was close to giggling! There didn’t seem to be a shred of trouble nearby!
32… 33… 35… 37… 38… 41…!
Things were going great… too great…
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To quote Dr. Ian Malcolm, "That is one big pile of shit." Damn, I don't even want to imagine the kind of offal that a centaur might make or it's contents. I had just had lunch a half hour ago, too… I wonder how many other of the partiers had died drunk. Probably not too many, but a man can dream.
10048305
Yeah, they threw a pretty good party. Hopefully things stay quiet until they're finished with their mission.
10048817
We all know somepony is either going to drop some lead or one of the higher ups decides to have an surprise inspection on his monkeyhorse underlings....
And I hope there'll be fire, explosions or at least a pony cutting himself and fainting....
Have 4rings of Baumkuchen for this and a good big cup of whatever you want to drink!
Thank you for your hard work and this new chapter!
10049149
Thanks.