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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 10:56:33 GMT -5
Hoplite blinked confusedly, taking in what just happened before frowning as he finally realized what that meant. So while his sister had just been discharged, he had *very* suddenly been promoted just because he was social enough amongst his peers? No, this was simply something he could not under any circumstance accept. Ever since they were young and dreamed of fighting for Princess Celestia, they vowed that no matter what, no situation would ever split them for long. Yet here, this promotion would undoubtedly cause a rift to form between him and his sister.
Hoplite held up a hoof haltingly, "Hold up," Hoplite commented, "Watermark, as much of an honour this promotion would be, I'm going to have to respectfully decline. You've only *just* told me my sister was discharged for being herself, and now you would promote me several 'ranks' ahead of her for being *myself*?" Hoplite continued, not insulted or angry, merely confused, "There are dozens more capable and more willing than I to take this post, ones who won't have to go home to a broken sister and explain that their dream of rising together was just horribly altered." Hoplite glared at the zebracorn, "And that you would *order* this rift to be forged, basically saying 'It's either become a lieutenant or be discharged like your sister' to me, is just something I dare not stand for. Thus, *sir*, I respectfully decline this 'promotion'."
"If you won't budge on this, though, at the very least remember that where Phalanx goes: I go, and where she goes: I go. So if you're going to promote me, remember that tether. Last thing you would reasonably want is seeing Phalanx take this position or have somepony else bring her into that position."
"And if it means being discharged for refusing the order of a promotion, then you can consider me off of active duty until the threat subsides and Kuruka resumes her post."
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 11:03:50 GMT -5
Watermark set down the cup of snow cone on his desk. "Your sister was discharged due to her fault. You have been promoted due to your merit. My best friend is of the Razorwing family, you know them? I bet your sister does, trust me, even if you were identical twins, the chances of you rising together are non-existant. There can only be one lieutenant in a militia."
"Now, I'm going to make this very clear - you are a member of the militia, this is not a voluntary situation. Once you join the Equestrian Armed Forces, you can't just quit. If your sister feels she is being treated unfairly, she is more than welcome to work on her problems and return full time to the militia. Your petty desires to 'rise together' are irrelevant because the fate of Equestria and its citizens is on the line. When you signed up for the militia you took an oath of loyalty and that meant that you obey any lawful order given by a superior. Refusing an order of such importance and for selfish reasons non the less... Is that who you are? Really? Because I've been watching ever since I got here and it doesn't sound right to me."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 11:14:35 GMT -5
Hoplite groaned, "You're *really* at it then, huh?" he muttered, "Since I have no choice, then fine. No matter how I feel about this atrocious scenario and how *wrong* your decision feels to me, it's not as if I have a choice in the matter," Hoplite saluted, forcibly wiping away his vehement expression and replacing it with a blank one before resuming an 'at attention' stance.
"What are your orders then, *sir*?" he asked, knowing his frustrations and anger at the zebracorn was clearly seeping into his tone. It seemed that on this most unusual of days, Phalanx and Hoplite's lives had just taken a turn for the worse. Phalanx could no longer work at her post due to her mentality, and now Hoplite was forced into a leadership position *alone*. Watermark changed so much so quickly, Hoplite now knew he and his sister wouldn't be smiling until he finally left. Not at this rate, anyway.
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 11:18:20 GMT -5
"Have a snowcone." Watermark said, hoofing the snow cone cup towards him, grinning despite Hoplite's obvious displeasure. Grinning disturbingly widely. Well, he always grinned that way, but it was always disturbing. In fact, ponies often wondered if that grin was permanent and if any other expression hurt Watermark to pull off.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 11:22:35 GMT -5
What? Hoplite thought confusedly, Excuse me? A 'snowcone'?! Now, of all times?! Hoplite grumbled, knowing that refusing now would just seem like he was being vitriolic just for venom's sake. All the same, while he hadn't explicitly explained that it *was* an order, Hoplite *had* asked what his orders were a few moments ago. All the same he knew it would be all too easy - and likely - for Watermark to twist him into taking the snowcone no matter what retort he came up with. With a grumble, he took the snowcone in hoof, looking down to it idly in disgust. Sure, it was probably well-made, flavoured nicely, and probably very enjoyable, and he was prepared for that, but he knew he would never allow himself to enjoy it if it truly was. The zebracorn that had twisted him and his sister out of their place in a single afternoon had made it and technically ordered him to take it. For a pony in charge, these 'orders' were getting ridiculous...
He looked to the snowcone, then back to Watermark, looking to the zebracorn unblinkingly, waiting for him to 'order' the earth pony to eat the treat in his grasp.
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 11:37:30 GMT -5
"Good, now that you look friendly enough I would like to introduce you to my other lieutenant, the second in command for the Red Mages. She came here just this morning at my request, after the Celestia incident we can't all be too safe." Watermark looked behind him and nodded, "Yes come in please."
As Hoplite turned to look at the mare who had just stepped in he noticed an incredibly beautiful unicorn with silver locks of mane and a pristine white coat. She wasn't wearing the Red Mages' red cloak like the others, he could very well see her cutie mark, a white flame. Her eyes were like pools of sunlight, nearly glowing in powerful gold in bright contrast to her white fur.
"White Fire, a pleasure." She introduced herself with a slight inclination of her head.
"White Fire is a very gifted fire mage. You two will be working together as my lieutenants in the field. Feel free to get to know each other while I go to check up on something." At that, Watermark removed his presence from the room. He did not leave the room, he just became a still ice statue in his own likeness, or perhaps he was one the entire time? But then, how did Hoplite not feel the cold when he was touching him?
"Congratulations on your promotion. I heard there was no lieutenant around, I'm sure with cooperation we won't have to worry about Hoofington's security." White Fire started.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 12:11:48 GMT -5
As the Red Mage walked into the room, Hoplite's jaw once again went slack, his eyes tracking the astounding mare on her way into the room. He could barely hear the rest of what Watermark said besides the bare essentials, that this was White Fire, a lieutenant of the Red Mages, and that they would be working together. His heart picked up it's pace, and he couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at this unicorn. She looked like she had come straight out of Canterlot's cultural districts, and he was going to be working *with* her?! All thoughts of his sister, his hatred of his new position, and his thoughts of going AWOL all left his mind in but a few seconds.
"Congratulations on your promotion. I heard there was no lieutenant around, I'm sure with cooperation we won't have to worry about Hoofington's security..." Even her voice is beautiful, he thought to himself. Realizing he should probably respond, he gathered what few wits he could, "Y-yes ma'am," he finally spluttered.
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 12:33:08 GMT -5
"I'm sorry but I overheard your conversation with Watermark earlier." White Fire admitted. "I wish my sister and I were this close." She said, "But I guess in a family like ours, it's hard to keep in close touch with each other. Ponies who do great things are bound to drift apart from one another." The white unicorn mused, "Well..." She said, looking around shiftily before lifting the Watermark ice statue and tossing it outside the building. "I know you didn't ask for my opinion, but I'm giving it to you anyway, Watermark doesn't do anything without a reason. I'm just saying, try not to be angry with him, there's a lot he doesn't tell ponies."
At that she walked and scooped herself a cup of snowcone, "Share a snow cone with me?" She asked.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 12:50:09 GMT -5
"I wish my sister and I were this close..." For all too brief a moment, Hoplite snapped out of his infatuation with this mare. Right, Phalanx, he thought, letting the thoughts snowball again in his head and reminding himself of the situa-..." "I know you didn't ask for my opinion, but I'm giving it to you anyway, Watermark doesn't do anything without a reason. I'm just saying, try not to be angry with him..." Wait, he was mad? Sheesh, why did he have any reason to feel mad? What had him mad, again? Once again he tried to snowball the thoughts back into a cohesive pattern an-..."Share a snow cone with me?" That was enough for him to banish those acidic thoughts far from his conscious mind, smiling warmly and raising his snowcone up as if in toast.
"Cheers to the new lieutenant," he chuckled softly before biting into the snowcone. A thought passed by his mind all-too-briefly, so quickly in fact he couldn't catch it before it faded away again. As vitriolic as the thought pattern was, it didn't make it worth thinking over. Yet here he was, enjoying a snowcone with a phenomenal-looking mare while that thought pattern faded idly into his subconscious.
Any iota of venom he held a moment ago were even now completely washed away as the burst of flavour from the snowcone rushed to his senses, causing ripples of bliss to rack his body. At this moment, Hoplite could safely say that there wasn't a thing the world could throw at him that would bring him down.
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 13:15:07 GMT -5
White Fire joined his toast and dug in her snow cone. Watermark trotted back in through the door after a moment. "Ah I see you took a snow cone after all, that's great, I hope you like it."
"Now, Hoplite, you've met White Fire, I expect you two to get along so we can start expanding our operations beyond just protecting Hoofington. What I want is to secure the area around Hoofington and perhaps even deal a blow to the Diamond Dog advance. I doubt they would attack us directly again, but we can hold them back from attacking other settlements. Nevertheless I want the militia to drill everyone through evacuation, defense and all emergency related things." Watermark explained, "Once that's done we'll try and get some combined mages/militia groups out for operations and recon beyond enemy lines." Watermark was still grinning, "It'll definitely help you militia ponies in the future and will look good on your resume if you ever want to join the army proper. You and White Fire will need to coordinate this."
"Bpeaking of which, White Fire, how is father doing?"
"He's tired and worried, as usual. With Blackmane's fleet approaching... again... and whatnot. Oh, he gave me another one of these to give you." She said, giving Watermark something Hoplite couldn't see. "I don't think it's necessary now that I'm here."
Watermark grinned at her, "I'm sure it isn't. Between Frostbite and Ashrider we should be solid."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 13:28:36 GMT -5
Hoplite blinked a few times, letting Watermark's words settle in and taking a moment to think them over. Wait a tic, 'operations'? he thought to himself. Watermark had not too long ago gone over that the militia were far from soldiers, and here he was trying to recruit them into military operations?! About 60% of the members of the militia were far from ready for direct attacks and operations against the diamond dogs, nevermind how most of them weren't fond of the prospect of stepping out into the blistering heat after spending so long inside the shield. Hoplite was so lost in his thoughts on the matter that he didn't notice Watermark's exchange with Whitefire.
After a bit of deliberation, Hoplite finally looked over to Watermark, "Uhh, I hope you're thinking sometime in the next week or so, sir, most of the militia are *hardly* ready for these...'operations' you've mentioned. We can start conducting more intensive drills to get them out of the slump they entered after the Red Mages took over their posts right away, and yes we can start conduction practice evacuations among the townsfolk...but we're not ready for excursions just yet..." he finally spoke up, "So any sort of recon or operations that you need done right away will mostly rely on the Red Mages, I'm afraid..." He had a feeling Watermark would want the militia rushed to readied positions, and no doubt there was a way to do so, but Hoplite couldn't help but feel like it would give the militia a case of whiplash by going straight from snowball fights to running reconnaissance on diamond dogs.
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 13:32:33 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear. These operations will be conducted by the Red Mages. The militia ponies however, know the terrain and the area. By distributing them into small teams with the mages we'll be able to move around far more quickly than we could otherwise. Of course during this time we will be raising the bar so to speak with the Militia."
"Like I said earlier, the important thing is to keep everyone happy and cooperative. That'll be your primary concern Hoplite. Of course your sister will be welcome to come back if she manages to get past her bias in the meanwhile. In fact, I would be glad if she did."
"I believe I'll go catch up with the mages then." White Fire said, bidding the two farewell as she left, leaving them both alone again.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 13:39:54 GMT -5
Hoplite's ears drooped, his sister and the troubles of before finally coming back to his mind. Right...Phalanx... he sighed, his ears drooping a bit as he looked over to Watermark. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, sir," he commented, "But I'm afraid that if that's the only circumstance Phalanx could return to active duty, then she's essentially been discharged. She'll never budge on her bias, just make it less vocal..."
Hoplite started pacing, "I always told her growing up to *never* make that opinion known, and today out of nowhere she just goes and lets it out, to an official no less!" he seemed to be talking to himself as much as he was talking to Watermark, "I always said 'You don't have to budge on this, but at the very least pretend it doesn't exist' to her, and I *thought* she listened...yet here we are, she's gone and made an idiot out of herself..." his volume had clearly shifted to hint that he was moreso muttering to himself than Watermark. Finally realizing he had been ranting, he looked over to Watermark with an embarrassed look before composing himself. "Sooo yeah, in short: she's not coming back."
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Post by Red Charge on Jul 26, 2013 13:46:14 GMT -5
Watermark looked at him seriously, "Send her to me tomorrow morning, perhaps if she was educated more about unicorns and magic, spent more time with them, she'd be more comfortable. I'm not going to lie, Hoplite, Equestria needs more. More of what? More ponies who are willing to go out of their way for her. The elements and the Princesses can't do it all on their own. Any pony who proves himself and is willing to rise up to the occasion is a welcome addition. I've had my eyes on you and your sister since I came here. You have potential. It would be a shame for both of you if you ignored it. Report back here with your sister in the morning." He gestured for Hoplite that he was free to leave but as an after thought, he stopped him.
"Hoplite, if you ever have any questions, about anything, or need to talk about something, be it the Diamond Dog invasion or any problems you may have, even with me. I'm here for you."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 13:50:28 GMT -5
Hoplite thought on the matter for a time, Would Phalanx really accept that? he let his mind wander to various scenarios that might've occurred if he did indeed drag her to this 'tolerance training' idea of Watermark's...and with a bit of effort, he shunted it from his mind. Now wasn't the time to think on the negatives, right now he needed to be sure of something before he left for home.
"Well, I do have one question as of right now. I've barely been a 'lieutenant' for a few minutes, and I haven't the foggiest idea of what that entails in terms of duties, chain of command, responsibilities, the works. So, as the pony in charge, I was hoping you could fill me in before my imagination does the same," Hoplite responded after a bit of deliberation.
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