13 - video;

[wannabolt]

[Well, now that the possession insanity is over with, maybe it's time for Dash to address something that's been bothering her for a while. So here, Luceti, have a view of one colorful, cartoony pony chilling in the sky somewhere. Probably one one of those clouds she loves perching on so much.

She takes a quick look around, wipes her forehead with one of her hooves, and lets out a great big sigh.]

Okay, so I know that a lot of you guys are from worlds where fighting's... kinda routine. You might be warriors, heroes, knights, whatever... I guess to you guys, going out and fighting the Third Party's no big deal. Just another war to add to your resume.

Buuuut here's the thing. Equestria's really peaceful for the most part. Sure, I've helped save the world from eternal night, but when I went out to fight in that last draft, things got ugly. Fast.

[She winces, looking the other way.]

How do you guys deal with it? Especially if you've gotta kill to keep moving. My speed kept me in shape for the most part, and I KO'd some cultists, but that's about as far as I could go.

Comments

Video

[elevatoravatar]

Elizabeth pops in smiling and waves.

"So you come from a world where ambition never overwhelms reason or despair never tries to swallow life? Such a utopia. Perhaps if you are to fight in this one you need train yourself to wear a different persona on the battlefield than you wear when at peace?"

Video

[wannabolt]

Yeah, overall Equestria's about as peaceful as it gets. Sometimes we get dragons spewing smoke all over the place or Diamond Dogs kidnapping our pals, but otherwise it's pretty relaxed. I can't even think of the last time there was a serious war.

[But another persona? Huh, that's a new one.]

So, what do you mean by persona, exactly?

[Video]

[ps3pirate]

[Aww look, it's a talking... colorful... monster animal sort of thing!]

Killing never gets easy, ya know. Not for most of us, anyway. It helps to keep in mind that the people you kill here will probably just come back a week later, but that doesn't change that you're ending a life, if only for a little while.

It's just... something you've gotta do, because if you don't, other people might suffer at their hands. It could be strangers, or it could be your friends. It's survival of the fittest out there and I'm fighting to make my companions come out on top, ya know.

But I don't think KOing the cultists is a bad solution! Just keep 'm down until we've conquered the area and then they'll be up the creek without a paddle!

[Video]

[wannabolt]

Well, I know there's those tag things. Don't know exactly how they work, buuut I guess that's one possible loophole if I get thrown out there again.

[She sighs.]

But I guess if it's for a friend, it's a little better. Still kinda hard to grasp, though.

[Video, Private]

[windandrain]

I deal with it by moving forward. People die, and when it's their time it's their time.

[Says the god of storms, who's killed thousands over her centuries of life with just her storms alone.]

Death, though, has little meaning here. With this world's cycle of life askew as it is. Perhaps that shouldn't make it easier on mortals, but Rainbow Dash that doesn't make it less necessary. In a war one does what one must to survive and to let others survive. Were I...mortal...that is how I would see it.

[Video, Private]

[wannabolt]

Well, yeah, I mean, of course nobody lasts forever... well, except Princess Celestia and Luna. Other immortals, too.

It's just that being forced to off 'em yourself is pretty intense for somepony like me.

[Voice] - Mercury

[geniustheveil]

[How had she been able to decide to kill?

In those final moments, there hadn't been a choice: if they hadn't fought, Earth would have been destroyed. It still had been, so maybe the battle was futile, but they couldn't have just let it happen.

And, perhaps more importantly, there had been Usagi, the girl with the most innocent and purest heart who would have preferred death to what she'd been about to do, who had sacrificed herself to put it right once it happened.]

I fight because there's something I want to protect.

[Voice]

[wannabolt]

Hmm... Something like your friends, right?

[That's what she'd wanna protect, anyway.]

video

[heartofthematter]

[The draft... It was a small blip on his radar of things to care about, after Silver'd talked him down into a better understanding and explained, after his friends had left and now this. Diamond'll help the best he can.]

My home's not the kind of fighting like they have here, especially not the killing part. But it's necessary if you want to protect who you care about. [That part seems practiced, too calm. Nala helps.] I KO'd all of the cultists I could during the last, so I'm lucky~. It helps that my team aren't offensive like that.

[He's got walls, basically.]

video

[wannabolt]

Oh yeah, I totally get the protecting bit. Believe me, I'd do anything to keep those creeps from getting their hands on my friends.

And KOing? No problem. I just wonder if we really have to take things to the next level.

[Self defense is something she can handle, but somehow the idea of bloodshed skeeves her.]

[Voice]

[aryaunderfoot]

[It surprises Arya a little bit that she is not too horribly fazed by a talking rainbow pegasus at this point. This place is full of so many weirder things, after all.

Not that she's been on one of the drafts yet, but she still knows how it feels, to hesitate before the killing blow.]

We have a saying back home. Valar morghulis. "All men must die." Sometimes, it just happens that you're the one who has to cause it. [Yes, this is a small girl completely comfortable with the concept of murder. Nothing odd here.] Besides, sometimes it's the only way to save yourself.

[Voice]

[wannabolt]

Dang, that's kinda a harsh saying.

[But then, she assumes this girl's home's a bit more brutal than peaceful Equestria. That seems to be a running theme in Luceti.]

I guess if it's a case of you vs. them there's no other choice, but it's still kinda unnerving. The only things I've really killed are bugs, and those things are tiny.

[voice]

[rashness]

You don't gotta kill people-! ... You really don't. There's no reason that you've gotta kill people.

[Whatever Silver said. He feels bad, a little, as he thinks that. Because he never got a chance to prove Silver wrong]

[voice]

[wannabolt]

At least somebody thinks that.

[Sigh. It's a bit closer to her comfort zone.]

I'd much rather knock 'em out or give 'em a good beating than make 'em croak. It's just not how things work back home.

[video]

[deadalready]

Go for the wings. They're plated but if you can hit where they meet the back they'll hurt enough for you to keep going.

Sometimes it'll knock 'em out if you hit hard enough.

I'm guessin' you don't use a weapon?

[He doesn't seem to equal hooves to holding things like swords.]

[video]

[wannabolt]

I don't usually, but I could. I mean, my hooves are okay at gripping stuff, and I could just use my mouth.

[She shrugs. That's one of the perks of being an Equestrian pony; they're more flexible than standard equines.]

[elongatedsmile]

Killing and being killed is just a part of life. If you do not kill then you become food for the world in some way. It is simply a part of life. Although, of course not all creatures are made or taught the ways of constant fighting. It is simply my will to live that lets me kill and to continue.

[wannabolt]

Dang. That's not even close to how we view things back in Equestria... but we're way more focused on stuff like friendship than eating each other for dinner.

[Voice]

[rather_be_surfing]

There are ways around having to kill, even on the draft. In all honesty, if it's not something you can bring yourself to do, then the healers always need help, and others that stay behind the lines. It's not as exciting, but it's less likely to put you in a situation where you have to take someone elses life.

As for how I deal with it...

Well, I don't like it, but it's a necessity in the job I do back home, both to prevent the spread of a specific type of infection, and because those who have it will go unchecked and spread it, violently, and more often then not, fatally. And unfortunately, it's not a situation that can be talked through by the parties involved.

I'm also one of the comparatively few well trained enough to do the job. So...either I do it, or the likelihood of someone less trained and less prepared then I am will have to...and they'll be more likely to die.

[Voice]

[wannabolt]

Infections? Yeesh, that sounds nasty. Definitely not something we'd deal with back in Ponyville.

[Hm.]

So it's really just a matter of someone having to do it no matter what?

[Video]

[origami_ninja]

For me, it was a matter of survival. I grew up in a war torn country.

[Video]

[wannabolt]

Yeah, I guess if you grow up with war all around you, you kinda have to adapt. It's just tougher for somepony like me, since Equestria's like the polar opposite.

Action

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Wings back to normal, Sona out of her system, Twilight finds Rainbow's cloud and alights on it. ]

You sound like you need some of Applejack's cider. Or maybe just a good book.

Action

[wannabolt]

A book? C'mon, Twilight, you know I don't read.

[She flops on her back, cradling her head with her front legs.]

But cider? Yeah, I could go with that.

[ video ]

[mechanize]

[ Well you're a...different looking creature than Tethelesal is used to. He's not any better thought, being a mechanical dragon and all. ]

It is best to...not linger on such acts during times of war. Sometimes one must do things that they rather not. But in the end if you were not to do so, what would become of those you care about and those you cherish? It is a hard thing, killing, and you should not revel in the act but sometimes there is no other way about things.

[ A silver claw will tap his chin as he thinks. ] Flying and reading would be my preferred methods to take my mind off of things. But it does depend on the person...or beings in question.

[ video ]

[wannabolt]

[Well, at least she can handle the oddities of metal dragons by this point. Luceti's had weirder stuff.]

I'm not too big on reading, but flying? That's like my thing. Heck, that's what I've been doing to clear my head.

[250mhzwabl]

[It's another little pastel horse with wings, which is . . . all right, still strange, but not as much now that Jack's seen a few of them. Strangely enough, the species almost ceases to matter once he's heard the message. It's a familiar situation - the same one he found himself in after the world went pear-shaped, and even more so after coming to Luceti.]

Speaking as someone who- well, was raised in a peaceful world, at least? It is difficult. More than difficult. [He scratches at his temple, frowning in thought as he leans back with his journal.] On the draft, I found other ways to help. Moving supplies, getting the wounded to safety, things of that nature. You said that you're fast?

[wannabolt]

The fastest flier around!

[She smirks, giving a light flap of her wings.]

Don't know how good I'd be at hauling people around, though. Supplies I can handle, but full grown hue-mans? That might be a bit trickier.

[Video]

[knightofratatosk]

I still don't like it, even though I had to do a lot of fighting back in my world. I'd rather I didn't have to fight at all.

[Video]

[wannabolt]

See, fighting's one thing. I'm all for kicking butt and taking names, but taking lives? Yyeeeeah, no.

But I guess it's even worse if you've gotta deal with it only a regular basis. Guess it'd get exhausting after a while.