Striving for Perfection

Nothing. Dark. No smell, no sight, no sound. I can't even feel my own body. What was the last one? Games, conversations. Was it all good? Yes, it was good. I was even able to play snowballs and pet the cat. It was even... nice? But this devil ruined everything. And ran away. By killing sixteen of my soldiers. Another defeat.

Slowly, my perception began to awaken. The body is warm, the head is cold. It is almost impossible to breathe through the nose. The body refuses to move. The only movement of my body is a slow heartbeat and breathing accompanied by chest pain. I felt someone breathing next to me. Someone is holding my right hand. Holding a broken arm. Who! In addition, I felt two more looks at me. Very attentive and attentive. And who is this?

My eyes barely half opened and scanned the surroundings. A white ceiling, a window with curtained curtains and two chairs. Two muddy figures are sitting on two chairs. One is white, the other is almost black. No matter how hard I concentrated, the figures did not become clearer. Just muddy spots vaguely resembling something four-legged. Slowly, I shifted my gaze to the side of my hand that someone is touching. At the sight of who is doing this, my eyes widened in surprise.

Right next to the bed, clasping my palm with two hooves, Rising bent down. He lowered his head down as if he was mesmerized by my hand. Slowly, my gaze began to wander over her and over the whole body as a whole. The whole body below the neck was covered with a blanket and the entire right arm, except for the fingers, was in a cast. With difficulty, I raised my healthy left hand and put it right on Rising's mane.

Nothing happened for a moment. Then Rising slowly raised his head and silently looked at me. His eyes were very reddened and bags appeared under them. For a moment he just stared at me speechlessly, as if trying to figure out if all this was real. Then a few tears came out of his eyes and he let out a soft sob. The next moment, Rising stood on his hind hooves and abruptly wrapped his arms around my neck, trying to hug me without causing discomfort. And he almost succeeded.

Between sobs, Rising began to say, "Sir, I was so worried about you! Please, I beg you never do that again, Mr. Sir Boss! I won't survive if something like this happens to you again. I just . . . I just won't survive."

I was surprised by Rising's abrupt movements and his words. For a moment, my gaze was just directed at the blurry figures in the room that were not getting clearer. Slowly, I stroked the back of Rising's head and said, forcing a smile: "I will try not to let this happen again. And you know, don't just focus on me. I need you as much as you need me."

Don't kid yourself. This is a pure lie. You don't need him.

After a few moments during which Rising sobbed, someone cleared his throat slightly. I turned my head towards the sound only to see the black, muddy figure shifts slightly. I squinted and peered carefully trying to distinguish the figure. But I didn't fix anything except the black color and the shape vaguely resembling a pony.

After a few silent seconds there was a sigh and I heard the voice of the Moon who said: "Well, congratulations on your survival. And with the fact that you officially slept longer than you were in Ponyville."

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I heard a familiar voice. The distance between me and the moon is tiny. Counting on the throw a little more than half a yard. And at the same time I don't see anything but a blurry figure. Seeing my confusion Luna said in a surprisingly soft voice: "Let me give you a little insight. You've been asleep for a week. As you can see, your arm is broken. And you have burst several vessels. Your eyes were especially hard hit. So you probably already see the consequences."

I saw Luna's hoof move to the place where the mouth is supposed to be. Is she holding back her laughter? Is she kidding? Shaking my head slightly, I tapped the back of Rising's head telling him to stop hugging me. Reluctantly, he slowly stopped holding my neck and pulled back slightly. After taking a few breaths, I threw off the blanket with difficulty and sat up on the bed. Seeing my movement Luna spoke softly again: "You're surprisingly active for someone who's been sleeping for a week. That's very good."

"What happened to you? Why are you so soft?" I asked, trying to look into the eyes of the moon. Although given the blurriness, most likely unsuccessful.

Luna sighed and started walking slowly towards me. Along with her, a white figure began approaching me. As they approached, both became more and more distinct, and eventually I was able to make out Celestia in the white figure. Slowly, the two Princesses approached and sat down on either side of me. Celestia on the right, Luna on the left.

Having settled down next to me, Luna first looked at me with sad eyes and turned to Rising before saying: "I understand that you want to talk to your commander, but we need to talk to him alone. Please, dear Rising Moon, leave the room. Not for long. We'll call you back soon."

Rising bowed respectfully and quickly left the room. Looking after him, I was able to notice much more clearly the deterioration of my vision. The doors have a handle, right? Well, with my current vision, the whole door is just a square spot. I hope ponies can make glasses.

Suddenly, I felt Celestia and Luna touching each of my shoulders with a hoof. They both sighed and Luna said, "I think you've already remembered what happened."

Sighing, Celestia continued, "And given your guesswork, I think you've already roughly figured out what happened."

For a moment there was complete silence in the room as I looked down with my fists clenched. After taking a breath, they said at the same time, "One third of your subordinates are dead. The bodies have not been found and will not be."

They won't!?

"What do you mean the bodies won't be found!?" I asked in shock, looking at each other between them. It's one thing to say that the bodies will not be found. But the statement that they will never be discovered? It's too much.

Luna took a deep breath and looked at me with sad eyes: "You see, your opponent that you faced a week ago has a number of incredibly deadly abilities. Judging by what the eyewitnesses said, he used one of them. The spell that he used pours huge amounts of magic into the enemy's soul, overloading it, as a result of which the enemy's body is destroyed. Leaving nothing. To an outsider, it looks like a flash of light similar to teleportation."

"So not only did he kill a third of my soldiers, he also destroyed the bodies?" I asked while my hands involuntarily began to shake and clench into fists.

In response to my question, Luna only nodded her head slightly. Then, suddenly, hope flashed in my head. Who says I can trust them, especially in such matters? The shaking in my hands disappeared and a semblance of a grin appeared on my face before I said: "If so, tell me what's the bastard's name? I think if you fought with him, then given his manner of speech, he should have mentioned him."

Ahirata

"My sister and I fought with him. And more than once. But we are.... I don't remember his name." Said Luna, making my smile bigger. What a pathetic lie.

I stretched out my left hand and clenched it into a fist. Taking a deep breath, I said, "In that case, I'm sure you're wrong and don't know anything. There are bodies of soldiers and I will find them. I'll get to this asshole and before I finish him off, I'll find out where he hid them. And the dead soldiers will be buried in the best places in general. Relatives of the dead who are hooked on the needle of love, despite my disgust, should have the right to visit the graves. "

Luna let out a slightly exasperated sigh, but eventually said, " If it makes you feel better, then good. But how are you going to fight an opponent that you couldn't defeat even while he was weakened? With every minute he's hiding, he can gain power."

I spread my fingers so that I could point my little finger at Luna and my thumb at Celestia before saying, "It's very simple. You give me the money, the information I need, and you search for the asshole. I'll handle the rest."

"You do realize that after everything you've done, it's very difficult to trust you?" Celestia and Luna asked at the same time. Hearing this, my smile faded slightly. If I hadn't climbed into Tartarus, no one would have died. It's my fault. And therefore it is my duty to make amends at least with revenge.

"Yes, I understand. Let me explain. I already have a number of ideas what to do. In short, I'm going to find the best magicians, engineers and blacksmiths to create new types of weapons and armor. My primary task is to force myself to become stronger and ensure the maximum safety of my soldiers. If possible, I would use an improved army to fight the enemy. Of course, provided that they can operate from a safe distance. "

"And how are you going to do all this? Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. Her face shows that she is not even impressed with the framework of my idea.

" It shouldn't fuck me. This will be the work of a team of unicorns, engineers and blacksmiths. Your job is to give me information from the archives. The results of any contests, fame or a certificate of who graduated from school and how. I do not care. My job is to get all this information and choose the worthy ones. " I said boldly and firmly. A clear plan, a clear sequence of actions and a clear role for each participant.

The main thing is not to screw up again, crybaby.

Celestia recoiled slightly from my boldness and impudence. In the end, she took a deep breath and said, "Okay. If you confer with us before making each decision, then this can be arranged. But the problem remains. Of a financial nature."

Show me the most important economist. I've had a lot of questions for him for a long time. "I said irritably, propping my head with my only good hand.

" She's right in front of you. Questions? " Asked Celestia, smiling slightly with mischief in her eyes. I stared at her blankly for a few moments. For a moment I wanted to slap her and tell her what I think.

But I took a deep breath, restraining my anger and said, "I have a request. Give the place of the chief in the economy to someone sensible. For me, for example."

Celestia covered her mouth and replied with a little giggle: "I doubt very much that you will be able to surpass me in the field in which I have been spinning for more than a thousand years.

An exasperated sigh escaped my lungs. Luna told me that she and her sister have lived for over a thousand years and control the moon and the sun respectively. Do I have to say how much I believe them?

After another breath, my face broke into an evil grin and I said, "Very good. In that case, can you explain the economics on sandwiches?"

"What?" Celestia asked, confused. Gotcha.

I cleared my throat and started to say, "Oh, I need to teach you everything. Okay, I'll explain. Imagine that you have two sandwiches with which you came to school. I don't care that you probably don't have any education, just imagine."

After my remark about the lack of education, Celestia lightly hit me on the shoulder and said resentfully: "Hey!"

In response to this, I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat before resuming my lecture: "In any case, you came to school with two sandwiches. You ate one and the second one was politely asked by a local bully in exchange for your peace of mind today. Then a guy from a poor family comes up to you and asks for a sandwich. But it's hard for you, as a morally correct person, to refuse him. But I don't want to lie either. So you promise him a sandwich or even two tomorrow. Then a friend comes up to you and reminds you that yesterday he shared a sandwich with you and how to repay the debt. You don't have any sandwiches, so you have to ask him to wait until tomorrow so that you repay him the debt and preferably with interest. As a result, tomorrow you need to feed yourself, bribe a bully, do charity work and repay the debt."

Celestia interrupted me for the second time with a loud mumble and tapping her hoof on her chin. Then she said with a small grin, "It's certainly not bad. But you're not taking into account any very important details. For example, the fact that real friends never demand to return such small things as a sandwich. "

"The sandwich economy doesn't give a damn about such things as what friends do and what they don't. Any more questions or can I finish the lecture? I asked, getting more and more annoyed.

Seeing my mood, Celestia slowly nodded, allowing me to continue. Clearing my throat again, I said, "So that's where I left off? Oh, yeah. As a result, tomorrow you need to feed yourself, bribe a bully, do charity work and repay the debt. In total, you need at best more than four sandwiches. I'm too lazy to consider how high the debt interest is, so let's stop at more than four sandwiches. What does it take to do all this? Increase the production rate of sandwiches or print new ones. Option one assumes that you go to your mother, and since she's a weak-willed bitch, she agrees to make twice as many sandwiches as usual. But suppose the mother refused or you are ashamed to ask her to try twice as hard. Then there's a second option for you. The second option assumes that you split your two standard sandwiches to get four or more. Yes, it will be more than four sandwiches. But the caloric value has dropped. Inflation. "

For a few moments, Celestia just stared at me, thinking about something. On the other hand, Luna was tapping her hoof on her chin as if she was really analyzing my words. In the end, Celestia took a deep breath and replied by placing her wing on my back: "Daniel, I understand that you want to avenge the lives of your soldiers. I really understand. But you're taking on too much. And you overestimate yourself too much. You've already tried hard enough. Let us. . .

I abruptly got out of bed with a slight stagger and turned to Celestia and said, "Listen here, you fool. I'm going to kill that bastard. I will tear his body to pieces while he begs for mercy. I'll break his body into mincemeat with my fists and serve it for lunch. I'll rip out every organ of his and cook dishes out of them. And this Swiss table will be enjoyed by every surviving soldier soldier. And not YOU, not anyone else, dare not interfere with me. I have just ONE question for you. Will you provide me with what I need or not?"

Luna stared at me in amazement while Celestia sighed in disappointment. For a moment, they looked at each other as if they were nonverbally discussing what to do. In the end, Celestia looked at me again and said, "Okay, I'll try to allocate funds from the treasury for your ideas. I warn you in advance that it will be a little money. But all this is only on one more condition besides the fact that you will confer with us. "

Celestia turned her gaze to Luna and told her something with a slight nod. After a second Luna sighed and said: " Provided that the elements of harmony participate in the battle."

These cowards?

"National heroes? You're welcome! In a good way, I would like their reputation in the world to fall to zero. Allow to restore the image? NEVER." I said harshly, waving my left hand.

Luna sighed again and asked sternly: "Believe me, we are also disappointed that they were afraid to engage the enemy. Although what should they have done considering that their elements are stored in Canterlot? "

I rolled my eyes and replied in a mocking tone: " Of course heroes are those who come and win at moments when they have a hundred percent chance of winning. Oh, how stupid I am. I always thought that the task of heroes is to throw their lives into the landfill so that everyone will admire them later for their self-sacrifice. Thank you for enlightening me. Now I know that heroes are not suicides but lucky freeloaders. My picture of the world has radically turned upside down. "

Luna put a hoof to her mouth, stifling a giggle at my introduction, but eventually became serious again and said: "Let me explain one more thing to you. The main ability of your opponent making him so dangerous is under the control of souls. At one time, he absorbed so many other people's souls that his own became heterogeneous. Because of this, the power of the elements of harmony are not able to send it very far or turn it into stone. They just don't understand what to do. All the elements are capable of when interacting with it is to weaken it or almost paralyze it. Therefore, you will be able to satisfy your own . . . desires. The elements of harmony are needed simply so that everything is safe. No one needs extra deaths. "

I took a deep breath trying to contain my irritation and not offend Luna. Remember the contract. You treat her politely, and she doesn't get into your dreams. Don't let her beat you. And what does she know anyway? Most likely, she is just crucifying herself to sound minimally convincing. What for? I shook my head, dismissing the question for later and answered with my palm to my face: "Okay. Let the heroes take up heroism. The main thing for me is to destroy the bastard. I need another reward."

"Thank you for understanding. Now I need to ask you a few questions. Luna said as a frown slowly grew on her face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Celestia got up from her seat and walked out of the room. I didn't look after her because I knew that in a few steps she would turn into a soap figure for me.

As soon as Celestia left the room, Luna let out a sigh and shot me an angry look. After making sure that I noticed that look, she said gritting her teeth: "Let's start with the obvious. Why in God's name did you climb to the lower levels of Tartarus!? And most importantly, how did you manage to open the gate there?"

I sighed and slowly sat down on the bed again, looking down. After a few seconds, I quietly replied: "I was studying a castle in the woods near Ponyville. There, I accidentally managed to find a large key. Soon I found the entrance to Tartarus, defeated Cerberus and found the gate. What was all this for? Well, you know the terms of our deal. "

"We will help you become stronger, but in return you will not touch the pony and will follow your orders. How is this related?" Luna asked, confused.

And really how do you connect it? Are you sure your head isn't damaged?

"I was looking for a way to become stronger. The forbidden fruit is useful, I thought when I climbed there." I said, correcting an unpleasant phrase.

"Are you trying to take all responsibility off yourself again?" Luna asked irritably, forcing me to inhale slowly.

After a few seconds, I exhaled and said, "No. And you know what? Forget everything I said. I'm acting for no reason. I created a danger that killed a third of my soldiers simply because. Just because I'm a fucking loser who compensates for it with nihilism bordering on schizophrenia and psychopathy. Call me whatever you want. A monster? Little bastard? A disappointing piece of shit? Or something completely new? Choose. I don't care. Accusations of me in all mortal sins are already so frequent that they are probably true. "

Luna lightly stroked my back with one of her wings and whispered something softly. Nothing concrete was said, but she seemed to be trying to calm me down. After a few seconds of stroking, she retracted her wing and said in a slightly less stern voice, "Okay. Just calm down. Now I'm going to ask you one more question. Knowing you, you probably didn't do it on purpose. So just answer the question. "

Her horn began to glow slightly and the glow shifted to the bandages on my chest. Slowly they began to untie, exposing the sphere in my chest that once belonged to the alpha wolf. Luna sighed and slowly asked, " How and why did you insert a golem core into yourself?"

I raised an eyebrow in embarrassment and asked with sincere curiosity: "The core of the golem?"

Luna put her hoof in her mouth and just stared at me in silence for a moment. After a few seconds, she slowly began to explain, "Let me explain something to you. Golems used to be very common in Equestria. Unfortunately, the distribution of art turned out to be prohibited. Allegedly, this is a crime against nature. You see, the core of the golem was an experiment to give them a full-fledged mind, or at least the ability to act automatically. And yes it worked. Golems with cores are able to distinguish their owners from enemies and even automatically patrol a certain area. It was a real breakthrough. Alas, the cores tend to break and often. It took a lot of effort and enchantment to make such a strong core that you have in your chest. As a result, the idea was curtailed and the golems were thrown into the forest."

"Wooden wolves?" I asked, wanting to confirm my assumption.

Luna nodded in response and silence reigned in the room as if she was waiting for an answer to the original question. Another question appeared in my head and I quickly asked it: "You said that golems with a core can patrol the area, but how can they do it if I only feel living beings?"

Her eyebrow twitched in embarrassment and she carefully peered into my sphere. After a few moments, she said in a slightly upset voice, "Oh, it looks like the crystal inside is slightly cracked. In a good way, you should feel even the smallest particles of natural magic that are contained in any materials. It looks like the crystal has been damaged and you feel only natural magic floating in the air. And then not all of it. Probably the biggest clusters."

"Not all of it? Can you explain how it all works?" I asked, succumbing to curiosity.

"Do you need an hour-long lecture or is a brief explanation enough? Luna asked with a sigh. I put my good hand to my chin and looked at the blurry wall thinking. On the one hand, it would be nice to learn more about the thing in my chest. Especially to learn how to get rid of a headache. But on the other hand, I don't think I have the strength to listen to the lecture carefully.

"Let's be brief." I said, turning to Luna and propping my head on my fist.

"In short, the core consists of a crystal that can notice natural magic and a shell in which this crystal is stored. In golems with cores, this replaced vision, and gave a kind of semblance of intelligence. But how does it feel for a full-fledged being like you? " Luna asked, looking at me expectantly. As if she needed this information to answer my question.

For a second, I just stared blankly at Luna because I was listening to her too closely. Then realizing that a couple of seconds had already passed, I quickly shook my head and replied: "For me, it feels like invisible lines in the air that encircle all living beings. At the same time, the lines do not react to inanimate objects in any way. "

Hearing this, Luna put her hoof to her chin and mumbled thinking. After a few moments of pleasant silence, she turned to me and said: " This is just a theory. We would even say hypothesis. But we think that the crystal inside the core has been damaged or worn out to such an extent that it is able to fix only the densest accumulations of natural magic. Or you're just very inattentive. But for your own safety, I would like this core to be removed from you. "

No. Who knows what might happen? And why give up the ability to fix promising opponents without looking?

I squinted slightly and said, covering the core with my hand: "No. It stays with me. Period."

Luna sighed in disappointment and shook her head and said: "We will discuss it later. Anyway, you still haven't answered my question."

I was silent for a moment, trying to remember the question. But new information supplanted all that. Sighing, I scratched my head and asked: "Please remind me what the question was."

For a moment, Luna's eye twitched as she stared at me. After a few seconds, she shook her head and repeated as clearly and slowly as possible: "How and why did you insert a golem core into yourself?"

It is itself. In short, I was relatively recently pierced in the chest with a two-handed sword. And my body independently took and inserted this core into the hole. That's it. " I said, starting to awkwardly tap on my knee.

It seemed like forever, Luna looked at me analyzing. In the end, she let out an exasperated sigh and said, raising her voice a lot, "It didn't give me anything. But I think this will also have to be postponed for later. So there is one last question. How did you manage to release such a huge amount of magic in less than a week so that two of your claws were soaked with dark magic to the ground!?"

Not claws, but fingers.

Deciding not to correct Luna, I took a deep breath and answered firmly: "First of all, calm down. Secondly, my little finger turned black even when I got drunk. I'm surprised you didn't notice. Third, I've discovered a way to cast magic along the lines I told you about earlier. And it's expensive for magic, to put it mildly. "

Luna's eyes widened and she looked at me incredulously. After a few seconds, she asked with great skepticism: " Have you learned how to let your magic run through natural clusters?"

"Well, yes," I replied, scratching my head in embarrassment. What are these questions?

"How?" Luna asked instantly, continuing to look at me. Her face looked so serious and focused that it was, to put it mildly, stressful.

In the end, I gathered my strength and answered: "If you concentrate a lot of magic in one small point, the lines will start moving quickly. And as soon as one comes into contact with the other, you can perform your magic. As practice has shown, this is not very effective. The lines always go around all living things. "

Luna stared at me intently for a few seconds, remaining skeptical. In the end she grinned slightly and hit me on the shoulder with her hoof and said: " I have to admit, I'm impressed, Danielle. Natural magic has remained an almost complete mystery for a long time. All that was known was that ordinary magic repels natural magic and that natural magic is too fragile to normally interact with ordinary magic. But apparently your recklessness turned out to be at least interesting."

As soon as at least a semblance of a smile appeared on my face, Luna became serious again and said, "However, never do that again. This is an order. You are forbidden to do this without my personal permission."

A contract is a contract.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly waved my good hand and answered: "Yes, yes. I obey or something like that."

Luna nodded slowly and got out of bed. She took a few steps towards the door and slowly began to get more and more muddy. But then she stopped in place and said with a little amusement in her voice: "By the way, I found your drawings and things taken from Tartarus. The cube you drew is a very interesting idea. And the situation is serious, we are forced to give you limited access to the forbidden books taken from Tartarus. So tomorrow I will make sure that you don't learn something superfluous. Once alive, you can work! Consider that your training starts again! This time with a firm focus on magic!"

After chirping, the last part, Luna giggled slightly and left the room. Outside of it, some discussion began, but I didn't hear anything but inarticulate muttering. Slowly, I leaned back until my back hit the wall, leaving me in a half-sitting, half-lying position. After a few seconds, the mumbling subsided, foreshadowing something. The next moment, the door was slowly opened by the figure of a pony significantly shorter than the Princesses. The figure began to walk cautiously but with a certain optimism towards me. When the figure was almost at point-blank range to me, I saw that it was Rising.

When he saw that I was watching him, he smiled awkwardly and asked: "Can I sit next to you, Mr. Sir Boss?"

I nodded slowly, but at the same time I pretended to frown and said in a fake voice: "I told you not to abuse that phrase, Private."

Rising looked scared for a moment. But when, after a few seconds of silence, a grin appeared on my face, he realized that this was a joke. After that, Rising pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down on it and looked down. I waited a few seconds for any actions or words. But receiving only silence in response, I straightened up and put my hand on Rising's shoulder and asked: "Is there something you want to tell me?"

He looked surprised for a moment, but then he nodded slightly and muttered: "Yeah."

After that, he fell silent again, as if trying to formulate a thought. I took my hand off his shoulder and calmly looked at him waiting for some words. Several times he raised his head, opened his mouth, but said nothing and looked down again. Finally, he took a deep breath and slowly looked at me. His eyes were filled with many feelings. Fear, determination, anger, sadness and more.

Taking another deep breath Rising quickly blurted out: "I'm an orphan."

My eyes opened wide, and for a few seconds I just blinked in shock. Rising, seeing my reaction, began to rapidly lose confidence and slowly lower his gaze down. I put my hand on his shoulder again and cautiously said, "Well done, go on. Tell me more. If you want, of course."

Upon hearing my comment Rising sobbed slightly and continued: "I never knew my parents. As my first educator told me, I was found on the doorstep in a blanket with a pattern in the form of a rising moon. There wasn't even a note with a name on it. No one in the village confirmed the relationship. Most likely, after I was dropped off, my parents ran away without leaving a trace. Or maybe they even came from another village. Am I really that bad?"

Having asked his question, Rising put me in a stupor without even allowing me to analyze the information normally. How to respond to this? Why ask this question? What does he want to hear? With every second of my silent reflection, Rising sobbed harder and his eyes filled with more and more tears.

Tell him to stop crying. It 's annoying .

Taking a deep breath, I removed a couple of tears from his eyes with my thumb and finally answered: "No one has the right to say that you are bad. Even me. If you're interested in my opinion, then so be it. You completely satisfy all my hopes for you. Well done. You're not bad. And you know, somewhere deep down, I really appreciate you. "

I took a breath, taking a breather, and looked away while I tried to collect my thoughts. During a second of silence, Rising wiped away some of his tears with his wing. In the end, I continued: "I have problems with all personal conversations. When I played in the drama club, I always had problems with creating or at least imitating emotions. But just know. Deep down, I can't imagine my day without you anymore."

Hearing this, Rising looked at me for a few moments. Then suddenly he stood on a chair and quickly jumped from it to me. In the next moment, Rising hooked his hooves on me, thus hugging me and catching me in the middle. When he did this, I froze in place, not knowing what to do or say. In the end, my good hand rested on his back and lightly stroked it. After a few seconds of stroking, I gently asked: "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Continuing to hug me, Rising nodded slightly and taking a deep breath began to say: "I was treated badly in the orphanage. The educator are strict and other children humiliated me. They had at least the names written on the note when they were planted. What about me. . . I was named after the pattern on the blanket. As I said earlier. But there was one exception. My first educator. She was like that . . . so kind, gentle. To be honest, I thought for a very long time that she was my real mother. And I still want to believe it even though I know the truth. But one day she just didn't show up. They just disappeared. And in her place came an evil, cruel old woman."

Probably died. And in general, there is a possibility that the child's brain has embellished the image of the first teacher.

I lightly patted his back with my palm telling him to break the embrace and said in his ear, "It's okay. The main thing now is that you are alive and whole."

Hearing this, Rising nodded slightly and reluctantly broke the embrace. When he got off me and stood on all four hooves, I grinned slightly and said: "Okay. Enough sentimentality. Don't think I'll always be so gentle. Got it? "

At first, Rising looked a little offended, but after a few moments he nodded. Seeing this, I sighed, trying to ignore the small but annoying pain in my chest. Slowly I threw my legs back on the bed and put my head on the pillow and said: " Are you able to answer my questions now?"

Hearing the question Rising smiled slightly and answered sitting down on his chair: "Of course, sir. Always ready."

Taking a deep breath, I asked: "What happened to the traitor?"

At the mention of this, his face darkened and he looked down. After a few seconds, Rising replied with anger in his voice: "The Princesses ordered him to be locked up. They said he had committed royal treason. Serves him right."

For a moment I wanted to agree. But then I got to thinking. The bastard was standing in front of a whole line of Thestrals, and they definitely felt the pressure. Both mental and physical. And this is not to mention the fact that there is a possibility that some of the thestrals were killed right in front of the rest. Sooner or later, someone would just crack. And he became a stutterer.

The weak link. Do we need one under command?

Sighing, I said, "Tell Luna to take him to me tomorrow. I want to talk to him face to face. And only then discuss his fate."

"But . . ." Rising tried to object but was abruptly interrupted by me.

"It's not up for discussion. I WANT to talk to him one-on-one. Understand? " I asked, slightly annoyed.

Rising looked scared for a moment and quickly nodded. I sighed and put my hand to my face and said: " I'm sorry for being so rude. It's hard to control yourself when your chest hurts with every breath. Anyway, let's move on. Where is Flying? "

He was silent for a few seconds, tapping his hoof on his chin. In the end Rising answered thoughtfully: "He came in a couple of times while you were sleeping. But the princesses ordered all of us to stay in the castle and leave it only with their personal permission. To be honest, we all periodically came to visit you."

Not happening. Lie. Do not pay attention.

Shaking my head to dismiss unpleasant thoughts, I asked the last question: "Any idea where the bastard who killed my soldiers might be?"

For a few seconds, Rising looked confused and confused. As if something in my words had confused him. In the end, he shook his head and said in frustration, "No, sir. They didn't find him. The princesses said they would find it. "

In response, I looked at the ceiling in disappointment and said: " Okay. I have a request for you, Rising. Go to someone and ask them to give me food. Now I'm ready to eat anything. Except sweet. "

Rising reluctantly nodded and got up from his chair and headed for the door while I continued to stare at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and asked: " Can I please stay with you when the food is brought to you?"

At first, I shifted my gaze to him in embarrassment, hoping to learn something from his facial expression. But he's already gone far enough to turn into a blur for me. Restraining my irritation due to my deteriorating eyesight, I replied: "Okay, stay."

Upon hearing this, Rising quickly left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. Who knows, maybe he smiled before he left.

You'd know that for sure, crybaby, if you weren't distracted from perfection and were strong enough to win a quick victory. Maybe, even no one would have died. But YOUR laziness has ruined everything.

I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to calm down. I was wrong. This is indisputable. I was defeated. But I have a chance to at least report to myself. You just need to... simple.

An exasperated sigh escaped my lips as I tried to find the right word. In the end, before I tried to fall asleep, I quietly said to myself: "You just need to win. Once."