Jadefire

So, yesterday morning I was told that I'm losing my tuition and won't be going back to college, a fun little experience that has left me completely depressed with no idea what I'm going to be doing with my life now among other more personal things I don't want to talk about (not to mention the embarassment of breaking down into tears in front of my own mother). On top of that, earlier this week I learned that my best friend had relapsed hard in his depression and started self-cutting again, which finally culminated in a complete breakdown yesterday afternoon. So, in short, no tuition, unclear future, a possibly suicidal best friend, and several reminders of how truly disabled I am (that's another story I don't want to get into). This is going to be such a fun weekend. Edit: Yeah, this might be a bit of a "first-world-problems" thing, but there's some other more personal issues that occurred that I don't want to get into.

*clicks on this thread* *posts in this thread* Welp, looks like a badass.

"Indigo, did you kill Sule just so you can take over?" the head general accused Indigo Well, that escalated quickly. Indigo had called a meeting of the top generals of the Malumai to brief them on recent events and discuss what to do next. Indigo had described what had happened: Nova's next plan of attack, the Alicorn's troop movements, the defense of Canterlot, the assault on the forest encamptments, the mysterious dome around the Alicorns' encamptment, and the Malumai's next plan of attack. Or rather, Indigo wanted to get through all those parts; the briefing had hit a snag when there was ...concern over the Alicorns' assault in the forest, which result in the reveal of Sule's dissappearence. Indigo had wanted to avoid discussing Sule for a little while longer, and naturally there were some spirited speculations, the majority of whom came from one petulant general. "Now is not the time for another power play." Indigo responded evenly, though clearly irritated. "I am NOT the one playing this time." the general spat back, he himself irritated. "Sule is our Archon! And he's gone now. And that leaves, what? You?" "Your grasp of the obvious is beyond peer." Indigo dryly said. He was in no mood to deal with this idiot again. "Don't mock me, boy." the much older general had said. It also didn't help Indigo's position that this general was also twice his age. "Why should we listen to you? You're Sule's personal whipping boy." "I am the second to the Archon himself, and I-" Indigo began, but got cut off by the general's insolence. "-am also Sule's whipping boy, yes. But that's not my point. You say he was kidnapped, I get that, but you expect us to just sit back while you take all the power for yourself, just because he's out of the picture now? I don't care if you're the archon's little friend, this is not something I'm willing to risk." Insolent son of a- Indigo was enraged by his underling's insolence, but he steeled himself against lashing out: these ponies were looking to him with their actual leader out of the picture, and getting in a foalish shouting match with his underling would undermine his authority in his eyes. "Is that all?" Indigo asked him instead. "No, in fact, it's not." the general stated frankly, "Why the hell are we even out here? This is the Unicorns' problem, not ours! After all the fighting we did, we're just going to get ourselves slaughtered by these super-soldiers just to pussy up to them, just like that?" "They did rescue our city for us, if you haven't noticed." Indigo pointed out. "And for that we're all eternally grateful, yes. But we can't just turn and be their best pony friends foreverist just because of that! We've fought them for generations! We're not going to just give our lives for them like the earth ponies did, all because they saved us from being killed by one of their own!" So it all comes down to racism eventually. This, Indigo knew, was something. "So, in short, you're angry with me because I've taken over and leading us on a suicidal campaign so we can get fucked by our long-time enemies. Is that right?" The general leered at Indigo. "Your grasp of the obvious is to be commended." he echoed. "So what do you have to say for yourself, boy?" Indigo silently thanked the general for giving him an opening. But, Indigo knew, he would have to choose his next words carefully. "Sir...You served in the Ghastly campaign, am I right?" Indigo asked. He did, thankfully, know a little about this general's history. "I did, yes." He answered. "Waves of Pegasai soldiers came pouring into the northeast farmlands, using the steam from the ghast bog as a cloud base to stage." Indigo continued. "And I commanded the troops that defended the area." "Yeah. A bunch of farms burned, but the settlement of Echo was saved thanks to your efforts." The general narrowed his eyes at Indigo. "Where are you going with this?" "And then Tyrannus called you back to the castle, and Echo was burned a few days later, anyway, since that jackass pony who replaced you got his tail caught in a bear trap." "And I lost my wife when Echo burned, is that where you're going with this, boy? Trying to paint me as a psycho out for revenge?" Okay, time for plan B. "Not at all," Indigo lied. "That is the story of war. Every one of us have scars. All of us here have lost loved ones against the unicorns or the pegasai." Indigo said, taking a glance at the officers around him. "Hell, some of us have probably lost a loved one to the Earth ponies. And every time, we all swore revenge. We would destroy those who caused us so much pain and misery." Indigo looked back to the general, who looked unamused. "And I don't blame us. We all have suffered a lot. "But that's just it," Indigo continued when nopony interrupted him, "we all suffered. A lot. We all resigned to this being a natural way of life. But at long last, we have a way out. Nova's army is laying seige to their crown city and their army is broken. We destroy Nova and save their lives, we are no longer the savage brutes of the night, but we have become their saviors. We are a noble race of warriors, and this will give us serious leverage in negotiations." The general spoke up. "Negotiations? Really?" He asked in a dry tone. "My point is," Indigo continued, "we have all suffered a lot. Gentleponies," Indigo said as he directed his attention to the officers and commanders around him, "you have all lost ponies that you hold dear, and felt that horrible pain, am I wrong?" The lack of objections suggested that Indigo was on the mark. "You disrespectful little shit! You can't use our pain for this!" The general suddenly burst out as he came up on Indigo. "I see what you're going to say! 'We will kill these alicorns so we won't have to suffer anymore', is that what you're saying? You're just using their deaths to justify going to war again, and you're going to get many more of our colts killed! At least be a stallion and say your mind up front!" CRACK! The general had stepped inches from Indigo's face, and Indigo responded by slamming his head into the side of the general's skull. The general stumbled back before falling on his haunches and held his hoof against his temple where Indigo's headbutt connected. "How dare you." the general said as he placed his hoof on the ground. "This is exactly what I'm saying!" Indigo said, forcefully. "At long last, we have a way out! We finally have the oppurtunity to finally bring our colts home, so we won't have to put up with this pain anymore. And not just that, either! The lands around Chiroptera are infertile, our infrastructure is shot. With peace, we can expand, plant new farms, bring back the resources that our city has been starved of for so long, all without the threat of attack preventing us from expanding! We will finally have rest that all of us crave. Our young can rest, and we as a whole will regroup and reorganize, use our chance to become strong again." Indigo narrowed his eyes as the general returned to his hooves. "I am the Ancient to our Archon Sule, and I will give my life to find peace again if I have to. If you are not with me, than I will attack the alicorns without you." Indigo finished. The general narrowed his eyes at Indigo before finally acquiescing. "Hmph, fine, I'll play nice for now." he said, and Indigo stood down. The general continued. "But that doesn't solve one problem. Our glorious new age you're promising won't happen if we all get slaughtered by the alicorn super soldiers." he pointed out. Indigo looked at him. "You don't give me enough credit." "Hm?" the general huffed, tilting his head slightly. "The scouts have finished scouting Nova's encamptment. We actually have a shot at winning." Indigo said, as he pulled a scroll out of his saddle bag and placed it on the ground, before it unfurled into a basic map of the area. Indigo went on to explain his plan. The dome around the middle of the encampment, which appeared to hold the majority of the alicorn soldiers, had been completely static: nopony had been spotted coming in or out. There were a sizable force of alicorns outside of the dome, but they have, for all intents and purposes, been cut off from their compatriots inside. What Indigo had proposed, which he decided not to mention that would completely go against what Sule would've wanted, were to strike them now. They were regrouping from their attack on the Malumai, and would not be expecting counter-attack so soon, and wiping out this segment of Nova's army would weaken them significantly. There was one problem with the theory that the insolent general from earlier had pointed out: what if it was a trap? It's possible the small group could be bait, after which the dome could open and release a nasty surprise from inside. But Indigo had something that Nova didn't count on... In time, Indigo ordered the officers to organize the troups and have them be ready to strike in one hour. In the meantime, Indigo stood on a cropping of land on the border of the camp, a couple meters higher than the ground the camp was built on, and watched over the camp. In time, however, one of the officers who had attended Indigo's meeting approached him from the side. "He actually had a bit of a point, sir." "Hm?" "About your taking over." the officer clarified, referring to the general from earlier. Indigo grumbled. He would need to introduce a regulation to train soldiers to ask permission to speak freely... "Have you read the new Constitution, sir?" the young officer asked. ...that wasn't what Indigo was expecting to hear next. The new Constitution, drafted up by Sule and his compatriots shortly after he first took power as Archon, that explained in writing how his new government would be organized and function. Indigo had skimmed over it, of course, but he was intending to read it in more detail. One of these days. "Why?" Indigo asked, now very much wondering where this conversation would lead to. "Well, one of the chapters describes how succession works, you know, how the next Archon will be appointed, and so on?" he continued, "Anyway, there's a part on what happens if something suddenly happens to the Archon. If like if he's killed or captured." "Yes?" Indigo asked, having an idea of what the officer was going to say but not believing it. "Well, if the Archon is killed, captured, incapacitated, or otherwise incapable of performing his duties as Archon where the leadership of Chiroptera is not in attendence of the session of Goverment Rule..." The officer paused, realizing he was reciting the passage wrong. "Anyway, the position and powers of the Archon, and all standards that come with the title, will be immediately transferred to the second-of-command upon the briefing of the high-command as to the Archon's condition." Indigo paused a moment, absorbing this information. "Meaning..." "It means, with Sule gone and presumed prisoner of Nova..." the officer paused a bit, possible for effect. "...you're the new Archon, Archon." the officer told Indigo. The young Maluma officer then bore witness to the rare sight of a bat-winged draft pony falling over backwards.

Right, Mrs. Nightmare. Does it have to do with that Ponyville thing again? Your aunts were pretty clear on how the guard needs to stand on that matter. (Disclaimer: I have no idea how real life military works) We get similar benefits to the regular military, which I 'ear is similar to how Human military benefits work. We get a pretty decent scholarship for our services, for one. Then there's nice retirement benefits, as well as decent quality health and life insurance, and the government covers all health expenses for injuries we sustain in the line of duty. Some of these benifits expand to immediate family, too; for example I think Dark's li'l brother got some welfare support a year or two back for something or another, riding on Dark's benefits somehow. There are, though, lobbying groups who are pushing for better rehabilitation services for us. But since we haven't really been at war in a couple centuries, there hasn't been a helluva lot a progress. As for if we're a corps or a branch, it's, uh ...kinda hard to explain. The Guard has been in place since the founding of Equestria, as we evolved out of a fusion of the Unicornian Crown's bodyguards and the Pegasai's praetorian knights. We were later put under military jurisdiction after the military was established. So to answer your question: we're kinda a bit of both. We operate like a branch; we're our own independent group with our own chain of command; though we're much smaller and much more specialized than the other branches, more akin to a corps.

Obligatory gay pic.

Is it better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all?

*pulls out popcorn* Ooh, Dragon Ball Z in pony form.

Hmm, nah. Things are lively enough. Besides, ma'am, I think "liven"ing things up might put you under scrutiny, and I don't think that's something you particularly want right now, miss "Rarity".

Who keeps letting these supervillians in he- Yeah, things have been a little crazy lately, what between Aevum's injury and all. And between Dark dragging me places against my will. I'm going home. *sound of a door closing* What? Aevum! Hey, wait! *sound of a door closing ... ...and they're gone. Oi... *back to you* Anyway, Aevum and Dark have had a stressful week. As for the guard itself, apart from a stampede we had in the city just a li'l while ago, things have been fairly peaceful here in the capitol. Some of the other guards are itching for something to happen, but I'm just just enjoying the calm here.

Luna was just the vessel you had the most success with?

I never figured Rarity to be that vindictive. How many other ponies have you possessed over the years?

Speaking of which, have you ever considered possessing Fluttershy?