Striving for Perfection

Silence. Cold. Pain. Devastation. The wind howling outside the window. The light of the moon illuminating the table on which everything I received is located.

I sighed slowly, leaning back in my chair. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. A maximum of a few minutes long sleep and a sharp awakening. Having accepted this, I put everything I could get out of hell on the table. On the table there are three books and a crystal eye that I took from the skeleton. On the left was a book of iridescent color with the inscription "IL fallimento dell ' realtà". God, I don't even know how to pronounce it. In the center was a book I already knew about blood magic. On the right was a brown book with the inscription "Vita de nulla". And right in my hand was a crystal eye.

After looking closely at the red eye, I began to look for at least something curious. Unusual shine, pulsation, anything at all. At first it seemed to me that there was nothing unusual in the stone, but then I discovered a curious detail. As if the closer the stone is to my body, the brighter it glows. Although even at maximum brightness, the stone is not able to at least illuminate the room. Looking at the crystal, an idea came to my mind.

What if we send magic into it? Can it glow due to this?

I shrugged slightly as I pondered this thought. I still can't sleep properly and I'm still sitting at this table, so why not? With difficulty, I pulled a tiny tentacle of magic from my finger and directed it to the crystal. As soon as the tentacle approached the crystal, instead of the expected stop, it entered it with zero resistance. This only spurred my interest, forcing me to continue stretching the tentacle. To my shock, the tentacle came out from the other side of the crystal with the same simplicity. And with it six more identical tentacles. Three on the left and three on the right. For the sake of experiment, I stretched the tentacles a little further and, as I expected, the other six also became longer. I relaxed, which caused the tentacle to disappear into thin air, as did the copies. Putting the crystal on the table, I began to think about what I could do with it.

In fact, it is an amplifier. That is, if I wish, when I find a way to return to my world, the problem with creating the right amount of energy will be smoothed out or completely solved. And in battle, you can come up with a good application. For example, shoot an arrow at him to create several additional ones. Like a shotgun. But it all comes down to the fact that I just don't have enough accuracy to get into the crystal often. Yes, you can hold it in one hand and shoot with the other. But what kind of opponent will wait while I do all these tricks. That's right, none. But what if. . .

No, crybaby, the transplant won't work. First of all, it's ugly. Even if you transplant it not into the eye but somewhere else, it will remain useless. You have too poor control of magic to create runes inside your body. If at all possible. So you'll have to shoot yourself. In addition, some of the cloned arrows will fall into the muscles, if not into the organs. So it looks like we'll have to slightly change the doctrine to somehow use this crystal. Or you can just forget about the crystal until the time comes. And at the same time not to give up hand-to-hand combat. Because if you give up hand-to-hand combat, it will no longer be an adjustment of the doctrine, but a complete change of it.

Suddenly, an incredible idea struck me. I quickly started going through the cabinets of my desk in search of pencils and paper. The first box. Empty. The second box. Ink and pen. When I saw them, I quickly grabbed a pen and one can of ink and put it on the table. The third drawer and fortunately papers. I put one sheet on the table and began frantically sketching my idea. At first I drew a cube without a top, but realizing a small mistake, I erased the ink in two places. Top and bottom. At the same time, the hole was wider from above. Then, instead of the top of the cube, I drew four fasteners that would, as it were, attach the crystal. Then I drew a flat square of the perfect size to fit into the upper hole. And as the final touch on the first sheet, I drew a simple line and signed it like magic.

Then I pulled the second sheet of paper closer to me and began to describe a flat square on it. From the top, the flat square looked just like an ordinary rune, except for a small passage through which magic would go. When my stream of consciousness ended, I slowly put the pen in the ink jar and began to consider what I had come up with and analyze.

" The square will make it easier for me to create runes if it is made of materials that conduct magic well. Of course you can do without it, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to make a rune almost blindly. We can say that this is a stencil. " I muttered to myself, considering my objectively speaking crooked drawing.

"The upper hole will allow you to insert such squares into the cube and the lower one will help to conduct magic. And how will I pull out these squares?" I asked myself, having understood the error of this construction. Of course, you can just flip the cube and shake until the square comes out. But it would be preferable to be able to change these squares quickly and on the go. Okay, to begin with, it would be nice to figure out how to make one such cube and only then think about modifying.

Sighing, I took a pen and wrote questioningly: "Quick change of squares?"

Then I saw another problem. There is only one hole for the magic wire and, accordingly, it will turn out to use only one rune. But if you make a few holes for the wire, then this problem will be partially solved. However, I will have to remember at the level of which hole which prepared rune is located. Sighing, I drew a few arrows pointing to places where holes can be made and wrote: "Extra holes for magic?"

Taking a breath, I looked through the drawing of my idea once again in the hope of not finding another inaccuracy. But of course it couldn't be that simple. Now the mistake has been noticed in the cornerstone of the idea. In the crystal. As the experiment showed, the crystal creates six copies of everything magical that passes through it. Three copies on the left and three on the right. With an upward slope, ideally to the side and with a downward slope. That is, four out of six cloned spells will be far from hitting the target. Inefficient.

I propped my head on my hand and started thinking about what to do with it. Prototype by prototype, but I don't want to lose sixty-six percent efficiency. What if in some places we add materials that will reflect magic so that the cloned projectiles hit the target? Probably there should be such. I hope.

Sighing, I wrote on top of the entire structure: "2/3 copies go nowhere. Slow change of rune types. It is possible to use only one rune."

I put the pen in the ink jar realizing that I had exhausted the strength for a full analysis. Now two other questions appear. What should I do and will I be able to sort out my doodles in the morning?

The second one will be available only tomorrow. Well, the first one. Well, we can try to sleep. And fail again.

I sighed and slowly got up from my chair. Before I lay down on the bed, I glanced at my wet clothes hanging on a chair. Water dripped on the floor with a barely audible sound from a red coat and green trousers stained with blood. I hope he won't stop me from falling asleep. Sighing, I slowly lay down on the bed trying not to cause pain in my body. After all, the race, some falls and the pressure on that skeleton turned out to be painful. Especially for my back. Putting my head on the pillow, I tried to ignore the fact that my legs were hanging off the bed. Yeah, the bed in the castle and the hotel was better. Taking at least a minimally comfortable pose, I slowly raised my right hand in front of my eyes to examine it in the light of the moon. There was a serious scar on the thumb and the ring finger and little finger were completely blackened.

" At this rate, the right arm will have to be amputated. Thanks for not the left one. " I said, putting my hand on my chest. Slowly, I grabbed a blanket and threw it over myself, getting what no warmth. Alas, the upper part of the chest and the part of the legs below the knees did not receive such luxury. Sighing, I closed my eyes trying to fall asleep. Slowly, my thoughts began to blur and disappear. The desire to open my eyes to every rustle disappeared. There was only darkness and the elusive feeling of a blanket.

Abruptly, a sigh escaped from my lungs and I reflexively sat up in bed. My heart was pounding fast, my lungs were actively taking in air and sweat was dripping from my forehead for an unknown reason. I didn't even dream anything and my body behaves as if I was scared. It was as if something had knocked me out of a dream into reality. Slowly, I calmed down and put my left hand to my forehead, wiping away the sweat and began to think about what this could be caused by. Overstrain? Emptying the magic reserves? Or is it because of what I did with the lines?

The latter is definitely not true. Think for yourself, crybaby, how could something that happened to your fingers affect your ability to sleep?

I nodded to myself, discarding the idea and continued to sit in bed sticking into the wall. Suddenly, I felt one of the Thestrals walking slowly towards my tower. Assuming the worst, I quickly jumped out of bed and went to a chair and started putting on wet clothes. In a hurry, I put on all my clothes and barely managed to fasten the buttons on my coat, I headed for the stairs. Feeling that the thestral had been already very close to the door to the tower, I decided to just sit on one of the steps and look at the door.

In the next moment, I saw a thestral with a gray fur quietly enter the tower and began to look around in search of me. Until he guessed to look higher, I began to look closely trying to remember who it was. Alas, I could not remember the name of each soldier. I would even say that I didn't really remember anyone at all. But looking closely at the thestral, which is lighter than the rest of its fellows, I began to remember something.

While I was thinking, the thestral finally thought of looking higher, and when he saw me sitting on the stairs, he jumped slightly from fright. I grinned slightly when I saw this reaction and asked without much interest: "What do you need?"

The Thestral stood in place and was awkwardly silent, looking at the floor. Then he said, stammering: "W-W-We h-h-have a situation."

Oh, I remembered. This is the stutterer who helped restore the old military base. Good kid. If possible, he is silent, tries to speak briefly and has not once shown disobedience. If it wasn't for the speech defect, he would be just gold.

I propped my head on my fist and asked with a little interest: "What's the situation?"

"You b-b-better see for y-yourself." He replied, slightly averting his gaze to the side.

I frowned slightly displeased with the evasiveness and stood up before starting down the stairs. As I got closer, I began to notice that the stuttering thestral began to get more and more nervous. Almost finished the descent I asked: "Okay, but answer me another question then. Why are you the one reporting this out of all fifty soldiers?"

"I d-decided to report it m-m-myself." He replied almost instantly. Curious.

I took a few more slow steps towards him and asked: "Curious. And why did you make such a decision?"

"I t-thought that you w-w-would h-have instantly g-guessed that the situation h-had occurred and somehow w-would h-have p-p-punished all t-the soldiers for silence." He answered with a slightly averted gaze, as if he was ashamed of it. I don't see anything to be ashamed of.

"But in this case, anyone will be punished, but not me. " I think that's exactly his way of thinking. I thought about myself and my safety first of all. Not bad.

I walked straight up to Thestral and looked down at him for a few moments. To my surprise, he looked confused, as if he just didn't understand what I was doing. But no additional tension or fright was noticed. I nodded slightly and said: "Okay, the answer is accepted. Lead me to this situation. "

He just nodded and turned around on the spot before slowly starting to leave the tower. When he left the room, I followed him and closed the door behind me. While we were walking, he regularly turned around on me and quickly turned back as if he thought I wouldn't notice. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong.

Deciding to calm the soldier down a little, I slightly accelerated so that I could walk side by side with him. While we were walking through the night city, I began to notice that the detachments that I had appointed were not walking around the city. Thank you that at least the guards from the garrison showed a minimum of discipline. Or maximum fear. Turning to the stuttering thestral I asked: "Let me guess, everyone else went to look at the situation you're talking about?"

"Yes." He answered almost instantly. Oh, how good it is when the answer comes instantly and without delay. But the constant stuttering is annoying.

"Are you just nervous or are you having trouble speaking?" I asked directly, turning slightly to Thestral.

He seemed taken aback by my question and didn't answer for a few seconds. When I was about to repeat the question, the thestral still answered: "It's innate. M-M-More precisely f-f-family."

"Did you go to a speech therapist?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To w-w-who?" Thestral asked in a curious voice. As if he wants to fill a gap in knowledge.

"A speech therapist is a specialist in speech disorders. As a child, I went to a speech therapist. I had problems with hissing sounds." I replied, trying to explain as clearly as possible.

Seeing only a surprised look saying that he had never heard of such a doctor, I said: "I really hope that the whole point is simply that the thestrals were not integrated into Equestria. Remind me to find you a speech therapist sometime. I hope there are such somewhere in Equestria."

Seeing his brief nod, I focused all my attention on the road ahead. After a couple of moments, I felt the silhouette of the crowd that lined up around the two thestrals. I started to accelerate the pace and my companion quickly noticed this and accelerated too. After a few dozen steps, in the night darkness I managed to make out a crowd of soldiers that had formed around the City Hall. With each step I was able to hear the conversation between the Thestrals clearer and clearer.

"What should we do?"

"Should I tell the captain? We can hardly hide it anyway. "

" Are you kidding? "

" Well, I certainly don't. " I said, approaching the thestrals point-blank from behind. Everyone in the crowd jumped on the spot and stared at me in shock. And then some looked angrily at the thestral who brought me here.

I took a step to the side so that the thestrals could not look at the stutterer and asked: "Disperse and let me see what's going on. Obviously, you didn't gather around the town hall just to study architecture."

Swallowing, they parted and I could see two thestrals on the ground. One was sitting, and the other was lying on his side. Looking closer, I saw that the seated thestral is a Flying familiar to me. With what without a helmet. Slowly, a frown appeared on my face and I asked harshly: "Flying, explain to me what's going on here."

His eyes widened at the sight of me, and he slightly opened his mouth. After a few moments of silence, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head with a hoof and replied: "Maybe we got bored and decided to have a race around the city. Of course in armor to complicate the task."

"That doesn't explain what's wrong with this guy." I said, pointing my finger at the thestral lying on the ground. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were tightly squeezed shut. Pain.

"Maybe during the race I accidentally pushed him and he crashed into the pillar of the town hall." Flying replied while continuing to scratch the back of his head. Hearing this, I quickly glanced towards the pillars of the town hall and saw that one of them was badly bent and seemed to have almost broken.

Turning my gaze back to Flying, I said: "I'll talk to you later. Now just step aside and let me see what happened."

Flying stood still for a few moments, but still bothered to reluctantly get up and take a couple of steps to the side. I walked up to the thestral sitting on the ground and squatted down in front of him. Despite my presence, he just kept lying on the ground with his teeth clenched and his eyes closed. I turned it over slightly so that the armor wouldn't interfere with my work. It seems that there is a plus in the lack of protection of the belly. Without warning, I stretched out my hand and began to press in various places, waiting for some kind of reaction. After a couple of touches, I pressed my fingers on the area where one of the ribs should have been. But abruptly the thestral hissed in pain in response to which I quickly removed my hand as from a hot stove.

I've heard that horses are killed if they find fractures. Or was it just about leg fractures? Although of course the diagnosis may be incorrect.

I put my hand to my face and asked, restraining the anger that appeared from nowhere: "Explain one thing to me, Flying. How did you manage to push someone in such a way that not only damaged the pillar of the town hall, but also broke a rib?"

"Um." mumbled Flying unable to come up with an answer. How nice when he can't answer.

I carefully removed the armor from the thestral and put it on the ground and wrapped my arms around the thestral from below. Carefully, I got to my feet, holding the thestral in my arms so that it made a minimum of hissing and turned my head to Flying. For some reason unknown to me, I had a slight feeling of anger towards him inside me. Sighing, I said loudly: "You, Flying, will come tomorrow and tell all this to the mayor yourself. I'll take the wounded guy to rest. I have another assignment for the rest of you here. You have to find a hospital in the city and find out if it works. As soon as you find out, report to me. Free."

Having finished giving the order, I silently turned in the direction of the garrison and went to him. Along the way, an idea formed in my head to thank the stuttering thestral. But considering that most of them have already taken to the air and I don't even know his name, so it will be difficult to look for him. I have no particular desire to call him by his nickname stutterer. Sighing, I focused on the road and saw a pastry shop that scared me so much. But for some reason, looking at the pastry shop, I did not feel fear or panic. It was as if my senses were focused on something else.

Stop thinking about useless things and get busy.

Nodding to myself, I continued walking, trying to ignore the periodic painful moaning and hissing of the thestral. The guy does not know how to tolerate pain at all. When I broke my ribs, I just hissed a little. After a while I heard him say with difficulty, "Sir?"

For a moment I looked at the thestral in my hands. His eyes opened slightly and I saw a mixture of pain and surprise in them. My eyes focused on the road again and I answered: "If my guess is correct, you have a broken rib. Try to speak less and breathe briefly. I don't need a rib to pierce your lung."

In response, the Thestral nodded very slowly and carefully. As I walked, my ears picked up that he was breathing in short breaths and exhalations. How quickly people are ready to follow orders when life is at risk. Sighing, I crossed the border of the garrison and noticed out of the corner of my eye that the soldiers were staring curiously at the situation. Without saying anything, I continued to walk forward and when I reached the tower, I opened the door to it with a light kick.

Then I started slowly climbing the stairs trying not to lose my balance. It was clear from the sounds that Thestral obviously did not enjoy such a pastime. After about a minute, my foot was on the second floor, a couple of steps from the bed. I reached the bed almost instantly and carefully laid the wounded Thestral on it. He turned over slightly, taking a more comfortable position. Maybe. Then my hand took a pillow and put it under his head. Slightly pulling away, my eyes noticed that he was shaking slightly. It looks like the bed got wet because I was lying on it.

Although we don't have another normal bed nearby. The beds in the barracks did not go much further than the bench in terms of comfort. So he can be patient.

Sighing, I put my hands on my hips and asked: "Should I cover it with a blanket? Just nod if yes."

The Thestral nodded slowly and I covered him almost instantly. After making sure that the minimum services were provided, I turned around on the spot and started walking down the stairs. Along the way, the ideas of what to do with Flying were spinning in my head. Forcing the town hall to be repaired is certainly a punishment, but something tougher is needed. Maybe make him run around the whole city? A whole day? Or maybe break the same rib for him? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and that's it.

No, no, no. I have a better idea. The punishment for Flying will be chosen by his victim. And I will just make sure that the punishment is executed.

"Sounds great." I said with a little smile and finished descending the stairs. Deciding to get some fresh air, I left the tower in a few long steps, slamming the door behind me. With quick movements, my foot scattered the snow, forming for me what no place to sit. Sighing, I slowly sat down on the cold ground leaning against the wall of the tower and closed my eyes hoping to fall asleep. I am sure when the soldier arrives after completing my task, they will guess to wake me up. All my feelings told me that the soldiers in the garrison periodically look at me. Is it really so surprising that I am fulfilling my duties?

This is a failure to fulfill duties. Your attitude to the whole situation was the worst possible. It was caring and, even worse, mixed with altruism. To a small extent, but mixed. YOU could have just thrown him on the bed in the barracks, YOU could not have brought him here in your arms, YOU are weakening, YOU are losing your grip, YOU are moving away from Perfection and it is YOUR fault. No matter how and by what methods it is VITAL to turn back to at least slow progress towards Perfection. This is already above the obligation. This is a VITAL necessity.

Sighing, I slowly put my forehead to my knee and started trying to find what had changed, what had led me astray and at what point. When I lost at Ponyville and made a deal with the princesses? No, the defeat only strengthened me and built the right way of doing things. Force always persuades a person more effectively than any words. It's strange that I didn't figure it out before. Maybe when I took over as captain? No, I always wanted to and, having every opportunity, commanded. They are just subordinates and nothing more. Their maximum value in my life is slightly useful puppets. No sentimentality, no inhibiting feelings, no weakness. Only the pursuit of Perfection. Right now, I was just doing my duties. Performed very well.

While I was trying to get all these thoughts into my head and didn't pay attention to what around someone was able to sit next to me. Lifting my head from my knee and turning my head to the right, I saw Flying sitting next to me. Sighing, I looked into his eyes and said: "What do you need?"

"As I see and feel, you have washed up after all. Not perfect, but not bad. He replied mockingly with a grin.

" Is that all? " I asked, feigning lack of interest.

" Oh, don't pretend. I can see that I hurt you then. Flying replied by lightly pushing me with his shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and said: "And I noticed that someone managed to break a rib during the race by accidentally pushing one of the participants."

"Hey, I'm not proud of this, okay? Unlike someone else." Said Flying hitting me on the shoulder. I didn't feel any pain from the word at all, but I assumed that he wanted to cause some kind of pain.

"Do you have the facts on which the theory is based? Or do you have a theory that fits the facts?" I asked, raising a bored eyebrow.

"The way you smiled, you know when." Instantly replied Flying with a steely look. For a moment I didn't understand what he was talking about, and then I understood. It's about the torture that I arranged for that mercenary. Was I smiling then? This episode is like a blur. I only remember the acrid smell of blood and strange feelings when it was over. But the process itself? Everything is in a fog.

"Was I smiling then? In any case, I'm not proud of it and I'm not ashamed of it. It's a fact, that's all." I said with a shrug.

Flying stared blankly at me for a few seconds before sighing and saying, "Okay. Maybe you're not completely crazy. Just almost crazy."

As if someone is interested in your opinion.

With difficulty I restrained myself from expressing my thought and just sighed. Then my eyes widened when I realized it. Why am I holding back? I won't lose anything if I tell him the truth, and in general it is always desirable to tell the truth. It has practically no objective value. So why can't I bring myself to just tell him the truth to his face?

"What happened?" Flying asked in a curious tone.

I shook my head, postponing my thoughts until better times and replied, rubbing my eyes with my finger: "Forget it, I thought something strange."

For a moment Flying looked completely neutral, but then he smiled nastily and asked: "What did it seem like? Is the mare in bed?"

What?

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow and asked: "What was it about?"

In response, Flying only chuckled softly covering his mouth with a hoof and said: "It doesn't matter."

I looked at him trying to understand him, but after a few seconds I sighed and wrapped my fingers around the bridge of my nose. Taking a breath, I asked quietly so that only Flying could hear me: "Was that a reference to the fact that I'm a virgin?"

In response, he began to giggle softly and after a few moments switched to loud laughter. I put one hand to my face when I heard this and said: "You can't even imagine how I want to rip out your vocal cords."

Flying's laughter only got louder, causing the rest of the garrison to stare at him. It didn't stop him, but fortunately it didn't spur him on. After what felt like a minute, Flying slowly calmed down and took a breath and nodded.

I took a slow breath and said in a tired voice: "It's not funny. Not a drop. And even as a mockery does not work."

"Well, yes of course." Flying said sarcastically with a dismissive wave of his hoof.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was distracted by the movement of the lines. Looking up, my eyes saw Rising slowly fluttering down to the ground. Without armor. Sinking to the ground, he waved his hoof and asked: "What's funny happened?"

Without even looking at Flying, I plugged his mouth with my palm and said trying to stay conscious: "It doesn't matter. What matters is where your armor is. "

Rising looked nervous for a second, but once on the ground he calmed down and replied calmly: " They're on the roof. On the roof of the tower."

I frowned, wanting to ask what he was doing on the roof. But after a moment I decided that it would be more useful to find out what he was doing while the whole situation was happening. Sighing, I asked: "Were you on the roof while the whole situation was going on?"

"What's the situation?" Rising asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Someone decided to arrange a race all over the city. And pushed one of the participants of the race into the pillar of the town hall. As a result, the guy has a broken rib. And I even know who broke it." I replied by pointing my head at Flying and removing my hand from his muzzle.

"Oh, this is a situation." Said Rising without coming up with anything better to say.

"Yeah. But you still haven't answered the question. Where were you while all this was happening?" I asked, starting to get a little annoyed. I just wanted to sit down and get some sleep if possible. And as always, someone wanted to talk about the useless.

Don't whine.

"I fell asleep. Rising replied with an awkward smile while rubbing the back of his head.

I narrowed my eyes and frowned slightly when I heard this answer. It's night outside, he's thestral. At this time, he should feel like a normal person during the day. It's just that I'm sleepy because I've strained to the limit.

Seeing my frown, Rising became nervous and began to make excuses in a panic: "I woke up very early. And it was also very comfortable on the roof. And in general, when it's cold, I fall asleep quickly!"

I sighed and said stopping frowning: "Don't make excuses. Everything is fine. I'm just a little tired. Especially after what that jerk did."

Flying growled slightly when he heard me call him, but there was nothing meaningful in response. Sighing contentedly, I said: "Okay, Rising, remind me to schedule a new shift as soon as possible. And if someone comes here and tells me where the hospital is and that it's open, then wake me up."

Rising nodded and said: "Roger that, sir."

After these words, silence reigned in the air. Rising looked around expectantly. The Flying one just sat silently next to me. And the rest of the soldiers lost interest and dispersed to their positions.

Suddenly Rising asked a question: "Since you're here, Flying, answer me one question. Why didn't you fly into the air when we were chasing the captain and asked you to do it?"

Flying abruptly changed his behavior, looked away and began to mutter something unintelligible. Seeing his embarrassment, I grinned and slapped him on the shoulder and said: "Okay, you'll answer tomorrow. Right after you finish helping the mayor rebuild the town hall. "

Flying looked at me and opened his mouth to answer, but feeling my grip on his shoulder tightened, he fell silent and nodded. Seeing this, I loosened my grip and said: " Well, now I don't know about you, but I'll try to sleep. "

" Right here? " Flying asked with a slight chuckle.

A note for the future: never give him a reason to insert his word.

"Yes, right here. And no, I'm not interested in how you found out. So if you don't have any important news, then just keep quiet." I said and closed my eyes without waiting for an answer. Feeling a brief nod, I pressed my forehead against my knee and began trying to fall asleep.

Of course, unsuccessful.