Striving for Perfection

“Fuck.” I said, trying to bend the fork so as to make at least something like a needle out of it, but I constantly either couldn't bend it, or bent it too much.

I woke up about fifteen minutes ago and have already started working. The main problem, in addition to the inability to regulate strength, is the shaking of the hands caused by yesterday's intense training, also known as beating. Anyway, after countless attempts, I finally managed to bend the fork so that it at least looked like a needle. It remains only to make a hole.

I stretched out my hand with a curved fork in front of me, and in the other hand I started charging a very small rune. When I loaded the rune, a tiny arrow flew out of it, which unfortunately missed its target and crashed into the wall. I quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the wall. Putting my finger through the hole and looking more closely, I breathed a sigh of relief, because the wall was not pierced through.

I need to be careful, otherwise I'm afraid I'll be transferred to a less comfortable ward. I don't think I'll be lucky enough to have a library in my room next time. And then I'll have to fix this hole somehow, and now I need to make a needle.

I went to the table and opened the window. Sitting on a chair with a wet loincloth on it, I put the fork in an upright position, holding it in my hand and charging the tiny rune again with the other, but this time bringing the hand with the rune point-blank to the target. The arrow flew out of the rune again and punched a small hole in the curved fork. The arrow flew some distance before I stopped seeing it. Her further fate is unknown to me. I solemnly held up the newly created needle with a small smile on my face. Getting up from my chair, I decided to leave the window open to ventilate the room. Putting the needle on top of the cabinet, I wondered.

Now the question is where can I find such things as fabric, thread, scissors, accessories for drawing clothes and the like? I can use a blanket as fabric and thread if I tear it apart, but where can I find scissors and drawing supplies? I don't even think about a sewing machine. Damn, this is really difficult. Hmm, I'm afraid the only thing left for me is to ask the princesses for everything I need in return for something for them. I do not understand what I should give them in return and at the same time not too expensive. Phone? There is no better way to die than to put technology in such unreliable hands. Or the hooves, are not the point. Being polite to Celestia? No, definitely not. And I still need to learn about the princesses' fighting skills. It's all such a headache.

Propping my head on my hand, I looked out the window and saw that it was about noon. There are a lot of ponies walking along the street, which merge into a single mass because of their number.

I can't leave the room. I don't have sewing supplies and I don't expect them in the near future. Luna will only come to teach me at night. Given the factor that I cannot leave the room, it can be concluded that the creation of a guide weapon and armor is also impossible. I think I'm going to work out a fighting stance. Yeah, compared to what it was in the first month, it looks a little boring.

I stood in the center of the room and tried to get into a modified fighting stance. If earlier my stance was mostly open, which is why I could conveniently block only side blows and the rest with difficulty. Short for mobility, but not stable. High for even greater mobility, now it has radically changed. The position became much closer, which made my defense impregnable. In theory. The distance of the leading and rear legs increased significantly, which made the rack very stable, but greatly weakened mobility. The rack has become low, which makes strong blows easier to apply, but at the same time worsened my mobility. As a result, the new modified rack significantly weakened my mobility, but at the same time improved protection and overall stability. Whether this change will be positive or negative, I will be able to find out only in the conditions of a real battle.

After spending several attempts to get into a modified stance, I finally achieved this. No matter how to almost completely change the stance that has been used for several years is not the easiest task. In any case, standing in a fighting stance, I began to practice strikes, mainly focusing on the gradual development of actions to automatism. A step forward with the left foot and a sharp ejection with the left hand going with it. A turn of the right heel and hip, weight transfer to the left leg and in the final ejection with the right hand. Turning the body and hip together with a side kick. The transfer of body weight to the right leg and the twisting movement of the leg and body pushes the arm out for impact. Repeat all this until you come to full automatism.

After a while, someone knocked on the door. I, dissatisfied with the fact that my impromptu training was interrupted, came up and opened the door. Opening the door, I saw a lilac unicorn with bags on its sides and a plate of food in a magical grip. And along with the unicorn was an orange earth pony with a cowboy hat. Looking at me, they looked slightly confused, but I didn't pay much attention to it.

Looking at them, I said in an irritated voice "What do you two want from me?"

"I really wanted to get information from you about your species, if you agree, of course. Oh! And I also brought you some food." She said, handing me a plate of food.

"Although the desire to study is very commendable, but why is she here?" I asked, pointing to the orange pony and holding a plate of food in my other hand.

"I invited Applejack here with me so that she could recognize your lies if you lie. And by the way, my name is Twilight," she replied, holding out a hoof to me.

"I won't shake your hand. Just come on in and let's get this over with quickly." I said, walking up to the table and putting a plate of food on it.

Twilight walked over to the bed and sat down on it, starting to unpack her bags. Applejack decided to just stand next to the unicorn and watch me. While everyone was getting settled, I opened the dome that was on the plate to see what I would have to eat today. Looking at the plate, I saw Caesar salad and it would seem that everything is fine, but no ponies can't do something intelligently and instead of chicken they put hay. Okay, maybe now I'm whining, they're still vegetarians.

A little calmed down, I sat down on a chair and looked at Twilight "Come on, ask your questions."

Twilight pulled out her notebook and began to quickly look through it. When she finished, she lifted the scroll and the pen with her magic grip. Having prepared herself, she finally asked, "The Princess said that you mentioned some kind of "Soviet Union". Is this your homeland? "

I giggled at her question and replied, "No, I will say even more, many people in my homeland sincerely hate this country"

"Oh? What kind of somepony can hate the country for? " Twilight asked in a genuinely interested voice.

"Firstly, not somepony, but someone, and secondly, there are many reasons and each individual person makes his own conclusion which is the main reason. If you are ready to find pure information in my words yourself, then so be it, I will tell you. "

Twilight paused for a moment thinking and still replied "Tell me. "

I mentally prepared for my lecture and began: "Of the many reasons, I single out three: propaganda, myths and the ideology of the country itself.

"With propaganda, everything is very convenient because of the radicality of the Soviet Union in different areas and the country's closeness from the outside world, you can talk about it almost anything, and as one famous Austrian artist said "The more monstrous the lie, the more likely it is to be believed. "

"The first reason leads to the second creation of a myth from the category of "Soldiers were not given weapons during the war", "Forced labor camps or gulags at every turn" and my favorite "Stalin killed millions just for fun and generally ate children." In fact, after looking at the statistics and reading a lot of articles, all this will turn out to be a strong hypocrisy or even complete nonsense.

"The latter is quite simple. Communism, and it was precisely this ideology that the government of the Union tried to follow, presupposes the absence of private property and a society based on mutual assistance, which is contrary to what the society of most countries is used to. Yes, the Union had its horrors, but they are far from as terrible as those who have not discovered anything related to history in their entire lives think."

Twilight wrote down everything I said very quickly and when she finished writing it down, she asked apprehensively, "What horrors?"

"Dekulakization, rigid collectivization and scarcity of almost everything. Everything has its reasons, goals and consequences."

"Dekulakization? Collectivization?"

"Dekulakization is the process of forcibly taking away property from peasants who use hired labor, but do not engage in physical labor on their own. Collectivization is the process of combining private farms into collective farms under state control. In the Union, it was carried out forcibly, according to the articles. "

Applejack got into the conversation with extreme discontent in her voice, "I mean, forced unification of farms into collective farms? What kind of hay!?"

"In short, you either add a property to the collective farm by making it common, or, in case of refusal, all your property will be taken away and you yourself will be sent to forced labor somewhere in the ass of the world."

"But it's terrible! What right do these communists have to do what!?" Applejack said, losing her patience.

"I believe that the most important thing is to set and fulfill the set goals, and methods do not matter. The goal of the Communists was to obtain the resources for rapid industrialization. Did they do it? Yes. Could they have achieved this not by such immoral methods? They could, but the main thing is that they achieved the result. "

Applejack snorted and said nothing. Probably afraid of losing in an argument. Twilight wrote something down in her notebook and already opened her mouth to ask, but changed her mind and crossed something out. Gathering her strength, she still asked, "Do people have any technologies, such as trains?"

"Yes, there are trains. I will say more, if we conclude from what I saw, the difference between the technological progress of ponies and humans is several hundred years."

"Several hundred years!? Tell me everything!" Twilight said with great enthusiasm in his voice.

"No, I'm not going to tell you about it."

"Why?" Twilight asked in an offended voice.

"Based on what I've seen about ponies, I can safely say that ponies are clearly not the ones who can be provided by technology. Seriously, I don't understand why ponies exist in nature at all. "

"Do you have any problems with the pony? "

"Yes. In all the time I have been talking to ponies, I have seen only one pony worthy of respect. Besides, the fact that you're willing to submit to a mediocre ruler like Celestia says a lot about you as a species."

"Who, if not Celestia?"

"Anyone who won't sit on their ass and do nothing. The mad chancellor, obsessed with the racial superiority of ponies, will become the best ruler. A mad scientist who approves of experiments on people will become a better ruler. Anyone who is willing to change something will be a better ruler than Celestia!"

"Celestia has ruled Equestria for a thousand years! She never makes mistakes and only she can rule Equestria well."

I was about to start arguing, but when I heard Twilight's answer, I exhaled, calmed down and laughed. When I finished laughing, I said "Celestia is well done. Create an entire religion and put yourself at its center? Yes, it's brilliant! Listen, tell Celestia that I praise her for a good idea and execution."

"But I still have so many questions."

"No, no, telling Celestia is more important right now."

"But. . ." Twilight tried to object, but I quickly interrupted him.

"No "but "get your ass up and do something useful in your life!"

She looked very offended by my attitude, but still listened to me and left the room with Applejack. I sighed happily when these two got out of here and leaned on a chair. Relaxing, I moved closer to the table and started eating Caesar salad, separating pieces of hay from the total mass. Despite my dislike of salads in general, I finished it quickly enough. Looking out the window, I saw that it was already getting dark.

Or I still ate for a long time. Damn, it looks like I've also been crucifying with these two animals for a really long time. Well, let there be nothing to do here anyway, and it was some kind of occupation, but still. Well, I think I can only continue to practice strikes.

I stood in the center of the room again and took a fighting stance.

At some point, I completely immersed myself in the meditative process and lost track of time. Unfortunately, I was knocked out of my condition by the second knock on the door today. Grumbling, I went to the door and opened it to see the Moon with sheets of paper, pencils and a book in a magical grip.

"How do I understand the lessons of military art begin?"

"You really need to learn how to say hello Mr. Ctumer, but answering your question, yes, your lessons begin."

I made way for her and she went into the room. When she came to the table, she pushed the plate aside, put down the pieces of paper and motioned for me to sit on a chair. I sat down on a chair and Luna started explaining to me.

"Now there will be a small task so that I can determine your ability to plan a battle. Understand? "

"What task? Now I see only sheets of paper and pencils in front of me. "

"It's very simple. I will give you different conditions and positions in the drawing and you will perform the task that I will tell you. Understand? "

"Yes."

She nodded at my answer and started sketching something on a piece of paper. When she finished drawing, she got an image with two mountain ranges and a forest between them. There was a blue and a red circle on two different sides of the ridge. Numbers and symbols were written on the red circle, namely five hundred Earth ponies, four hundred Pegasus and one hundred unicorns. On the blue circle there was the same designation, but with different numbers, namely a thousand Earth ponies and five hundred Pegasus.

"Your task is to break up a numerically superior unit of the enemy army and draw an attack plan on the map."

"Am I in charge of the Reds?"

"Yes."

"Got it." I said, starting to get lost in thought.

If the mountains could be bypassed not through the forest, it would be indicated in the figure, so the choice is to go either through the forest or through the mountains. As history shows, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to cross the mountains. Wait, but Pegasus can just fly over. But given the number of ponies in the blue group, these Pegasus will simply be defeated if they come too quickly. So if you go to the mountains, then only with a small squad, for example, a hundred pieces, and send the rest to the forest along with the earth ponies. Unicorns can probably be good at long distances, that is, in the role of support. I think I got it.

I took a pencil and started drawing a plan. As a result, three lines turned out: the first passes through the left mountain to the side of the blue group and consists of fifty Pegasus, the second passes through the center to the forehead of the blue group and consists of five hundred earth ponies, three hundred Pegasus and one hundred unicorns, the third passes through the right mountain to the right side of the blue group and consists of the remaining fifty Pegasus. After looking at my plan, she said.

"Let's say. Now draw the formation of your shock group on another sheet." Luna said, handing me another piece of paper.

I drew a formation of Pegasus on the flanks, unicorns in the rear and earth ponies in the center of the whole group. Looking at this, Luna asked in a non-emotional voice.

"Now explain how this is supposed to work."

"Two groups of Pegasus will strike from both sides to disorient the enemy while the main group approaches. Pegasi from the main group will be able to introduce the enemy into even more turmoil due to speed, and as a result, the earth ponies will smash the enemy while the unicorns are supported at a distance. " I answered, forcing Luna to sigh heavily, resting my muzzle on my hooves. After finishing, Luna still answered.

"No, it doesn't work that way. Firstly, the Pegasus will not be able to fly over the mountain faster than the main group, they will need even more time, and this is not to mention the fact that a horde of Earth ponies will very quickly suppress two small groups of Pegasus. This is the first problem. Your formation can easily be taken in a pincer and simply be broken. This is the second problem. You didn't leave yourself any reserve and just threw all your strength into battle. This is the third problem. In general, your plan is just bad from a tactical point of view, but from a strategic point of view, it is a complete failure because even if successful, your plan will cost a lot of soldiers. "The Moon criticized my plan. I sighed, rubbed my temples with my fingers and answered.

"Yes, it's my mistake, but you're going to teach me, so let's teach."

"Okay, let's give a simpler example." Luna replied before starting to draw a new map. When she finished, she got an image of a hill and a plain. On the hill there was a red group of a thousand Earth ponies and five hundred pegasus, and on the plain there was a blue group of a thousand ponies and eight hundred pegasus . And the blue formation was made in the form of an arrow.

"Your task is to defend everything is quite simple."

She said that the reserve is necessary, but I do not understand why it is needed at all. Probably to support the defense if something goes wrong. I think the reserve should consist of Pegasus and no one else. And the earth ponies will line up in a circle and when they hit, they will move away to surround the enemy. Yes, it should work.

I started drawing my defense plan. As a result, two lines turned out: The retreat of all the Pegasus creating a reserve and the formation of the earth ponies in a circle. I also displayed in the picture how, when hit in front of a group of earth ponies, it moves backwards to create a trap. Luna studied the plan carefully and finally answered.

"Not bad, but there is one important thing that you didn't pay attention to. Soldiers in the heat of battle will think first of all about saving their lives, that is, they will most likely forget about the plan. You need to build a trap in advance"

Luna took everything except the book in her magical grip. Before leaving the room, she turned around and said finally, "In the next lesson, you will study the basic combat formations. Tomorrow you will be learning magic and reading the book is your homework. See you later, Mr. Ctumer. " Luna said before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Looking at the book, I read aloud the title "Sunny Funny the Art of War. " Seriously?

Despite my dissatisfaction with such a silly title, I opened the book and started reading.