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Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest

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I feel that Garrick should step down or retire soon. He is getting older and his heir has better stats then him in many areas at this point.
 
fictionfan said:
I feel that Garrick should step down or retire soon. He is getting older and his heir has better stats then him in many areas at this point.
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I respectfully disagree, griffins can live up to 150 years old from what I know, so physically he is still at the peak of his age, and even though Gawain has better stats than him, he still needs much more experience before ruling, and stats doesn't mean everything.
 
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We really should let Garrick retire and enjoy some less stressful years instead of just waiting for him to die so that we have to forcefully pass down the crown.

Plus, passing it down gives both parties time to get their affairs in order. Not to mention the lovely ceremony.

Perhaps sometime within the next decade?
 
I mean it in the best way possible:

FINALLY! :lol:

Questor said:
It was the least she could do, really. Certainly, there were few causes as worthy as this one. The plight of the Maretonian people, particularly those that had fled their war-torn homeland, was something that nearly every Crystal Pony alive could empathize with. Time and the Empire had done much to heal the scars of Sombra's reign, but Gleaming and all those who had been born into slavery under the Shadow King would never be able to forget the horrors that they had witnessed and endured during their time as his slaves.
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and that, hopefully, will be enough to push the referendum through once we ask for it.

At this point I can't imagine there are that many crystal ponies against formally joining the empire.

On a secondary note: Damn, Gleaming grew up fine. I'm proud of her :)

And this could also be used as a way to get good PR with both the maretonians, and, later on, with Equestria.

Questor said:
It came as no surprise then, that the inhabitants of the Crystal City had opened up their doors and their coffers to the huddled masses of war refugees displaced by Pegicles' latest offensive. When the refugee camps outside the City limits had reached full capacity, the Crystal Assembly had leased an entire block of residential housing to handle the overflow, and when even those buildings had been filled, dozens of families and private citizens had come forward to offer up spare rooms in their own homes, seeking to pay forward the generosity that the Griffons and Diamond Dogs had shown them. Yes, there had been those who had urged caution, even some who had expressed doubts in the moral character of some of the Maretonians that were being taken in, but they were firmly in the minority, outnumbered ten to one by those whose generosity and empathy outweighed any fears or concerns they might have held.
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..anti-racists. Our Crystal ponies have grown up to become the Anti-racists.

...so proud :cry:

Truly, even canon future equestrians aren't as good as them!

Or, well, at least not until Twilight becomes the ruling princess.

Questor said:
Gleaming made her way over towards one of the exhibits, one of the many pieces put up by independent artists from throughout the Empire: in this instance, an oil painting depicting the Battle of Wingbardy. Such martially-oriented art appeared to be a theme at this auction; she estimated that roughly a third of the pieces on display had some manner of military bent to them. Paintings of battle scenes, sculptures of knights, busts of Imperial heroes, swords of stained glass, even a gilded breastplate donated by a blacksmith who specialized in "luxury armor" for nobles and high-ranking army officers. Another symptom of Griffon culture being adopted by the inhabitants of the Crystal City, and their idolization of the soldiers that had risked and even sacrificed their lives to free them from the clutches of Sombra. With how little they remembered of their past before the rise of the dread king, she supposed it only made sense that they would seek to emulate the trappings and behaviors of their saviors.
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..Do you remember when we actually feared that killing Sombra might result in the death of all the Crystal Ponies, and we tried to save as many as possible to at least save their species?

and then we recovered the Crystal Heart, and everything turned out wonderful

Questor said:
Of course, Gleaming wasn't stupid. She knew that the Mare was almost certainly taking on extra responsibilities in hopes of drawing attention to herself, perhaps hoping that her contribution in the here and now would guarantee her a position somewhere in the ever-expanding bureaucratic machine that was the Imperial Government once she graduated. That didn't mean she shouldn't be acknowledged for her efforts or afforded such an opportunity. She was a hard worker, clearly intelligent, and seemed to have a genuine interest in the work she was performing.

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enlightened self-interest. Just because one is doing nice things, doesn't mean they have to be STUPID about it!

..I don't like this picture much, by the way. Too thin, and the white/silvery hairs make her look old for some reason.

Questor said:
Honestly, if Clear Quartz didn't wind up seeking out a specific position, Pearl might be tempted to hire the filly herself. The Princess was planning on becoming more involved in politics in the future, and if she was going to have a hope of getting anything done she'd need a competent staff of her own...something to keep in mind going forward.
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Please do, we could always use more elite units, or advisors.

Questor said:
"Normally I would ask for proof of credit on a bid of that sum."

Gleaming smirked.

"Perhaps my word will be good enough?"

Quartz chuckled.

"I think that we can make an exception this time."
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he, she even has a sense of humor!

Questor said:
Of course, that wasn't to say that she wasn't going to help in getting as much money out of this auction as she could. A few artificial bids here and there to drive up prices and spur interest and excitement was all it would take. Her father's advice, borne of his own past life as a merchant long before Pearl had been born, was proving invaluable to the Princess in her self-appointed task. Speaking of whom...
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It's not even cheating. She CAN and more than likely WOULD pay for them, if she truly had to.

Questor said:
Truthfully, Gleaming hadn't been sure whether to ask her father to attend this event. His duties as ruler of the nation kept him busy at even the best of times, but these past few months had been exceptionally burdensome to him. He had tried to hide it, to shoulder the burden as he had every other that he had been made to bear over the years, but she could see the stress and the tension in him even now. Between Maretonia, the Equestrians and the massive military buildup that she suspected had much to do with the rapidly worsening situation south of the border, she thought that her father had enough on his plate. It wouldn't have been right for her to try and guilt-trip him into flying halfway across the Empire to attend exactly the sort of social event that her parents and brother loved to complain about.

And so she had been quite surprised when he had come to her to ask, in the most casual of manners, if it would be ok for him and her mother to attend.

The only reason he'd asked was because he didn't want to risk "upstaging" her. It was, after all, her event, not his, and he didn't want his presence to distract anyone from the work he knew she had put into the auction.
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of course, Gleamy. After all, this is YOUR social event.

It's for a good cause, and we admittedly couldn't spare that much attention to you recently, for obvious reasons.

ah, Garrick's children are all growing up... Who knows, maybe after the referendum we can make her the duchess/archduchess of the Crystal...

Crystal region? It's NOT an Empire, nor it would be a protectorate any longer...

Maybe Crystal lands?

Questor said:
she would admit to feeling the slightest pang of disappointment that the entirety of her family could be present tonight
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could NOT

Questor said:
Gilda was performing her own princesssly duties, inspecting the newly formed military units and "showing the flag", whatever that meant
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oh, so she's starting to do her own things? That's nice. She's kinda been overshadowed by Pearl and, OBVIOUSLY, Gawain.

Gwindlyin is still not doing that much, but then again she IS a baby dragon. Give her time and she'll achieve great things, like (and even BETTER than) canon Spike and/or Smolder


Questor said:
And Gwyndlyn had stated (reluctantly and with no small amount of shame and embarrassment on her part) that she didn't trust herself not to nibble on some of the mineral-based sculptures on display. Gleaming had understood...perhaps she'd use her magic to craft a crystalline cake for her draconic sister's birthday next year?
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aw, that's adorable.

Questor said:
"Tonight's centerpiece is an item that I have crafted personally, something that I believe truly embodies the Imperial Spirit."
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I'll try to call it now. It's either Garrick, The Imperial Family, or Hardbeak. Possibly defeating Sombra.

Alternatively, something less military-like, like a crystal pony helping a maretonian refugee. That would actually make more sense for her, now that I think about it.

Questor said:
Atop a wide squat pedestal, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, were a trio of life-sized crystalline figures: a Griffon, a Diamond Dog and a Pony.
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ah. Of course. The Imperial Spirit.

I JUST said we have the anti-racists as our people!

I should have seen it coming :oops:

Questor said:
The Griffon stood in the center staring straight out over the audience with piercing eyes carved of amber, it's wings mantled around the other two figures, as if seeking to shield them or to draw them closer to itself. The Dog and Pony, for their part, stood facing each other, though the subtle tilt of their heads gave the impression that they were splitting their vision and attention between their two counterparts. The Griffon's left talon held an olive branch of peridot, the right a bundle of arrows with heads of hematite. The Diamond Dog hefted a pickaxe, the mining tool clutched between it's paws carved of solid jet. The Crystal Pony held a miniature Crystal Heart of aquamarine, a rune matrix in it's hoof causing the mock relic to slowly spin in a circle, an imitation of the real heart's behavior. Affixed to the base of the dias was a bronze plaque engraved with the title of the piece: Strength in Unity.
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That's REALLY heartwarming.

Truly!

I'm just sad we can't buy it ourselves, as that would likely defeat the point of the auction.. we don't even need to make bids to raise its price!
 
fictionfan said:
I feel that Garrick should step down or retire soon. He is getting older and his heir has better stats then him in many areas at this point.
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Eh, it will happen relatively soon.

First, we need to complete Maretonia. after that.. well, maybe one more crisis, so that Gawain can get more experience... and maybe get closer to the Equestrian princesses?

Especially Luna, we REALLY want to avoid the Nightmare problem, and a ruler penpal could help her with that. Some kind of magic to allow for quick communication is also not that farfetched

It will probably happen in a decade at most, I think. Maybe after the changeling thing has been dealt with?


ultratiga said:
I respectfully disagree, griffins can live up to 150 years old from what I know, so physically he is still at the peak of his age, and even though Gawain has better stats than him, he still needs much more experience before ruling, and stats doesn't mean everything.
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who ever said 150?

Griffins here supposedly live more or less as long as humans. QILIN can live up to about 130-150, possibly due to dragon magic/heritage.
 
Pittauro said:
Crystal region? It's NOT an Empire, nor it would be a protectorate any longer...

Maybe Crystal lands?
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Considering the Griffonian Empire seems vaguely inspired by the Holy Roman Empire, the former Crystal Empire would probably be called either the Crystal Kingdom (similar to the Kingdom of Bohemia) or the Crystal Archduchy (similar to Austria). The land is far to large to have a lesser title.
 
ultratiga said:
Oh, I just googled griffin life span and it said 150 so i assumed it's the same in this world. If that's not the case, then i am sorry for being wrong.
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eh, no problem. It was mentioned at some point that in this world, most species have the same average lifespans as humans, except Dragons (1000+ years at the very least, probably thousands of years, not sure), probably Alicorn, and Qilins (they get some longevity from their dragon heritage (though technically we don't KNOW if they're actually DESCENDENTS of dragons, or created by them through magic, or anything else).

I'm not even sure it was in a threadmarked post, so if you weren't here at the time you might not have noticed it
 
As always our glorious QM writes something amazing making it worth the wait.

So cute, heartwarming, and great to read.
 
Questor said:
trying to get in as much time together as they could before he departed the Empire on another diplomatic mission.
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...Say, would it be socio-politically acceptable for Gawain to *take his fiancé along* on his diplomatic mission to Equestria? After all, at some point Gawain will succeed his father on the throne of Gryphus, meaning that Isabella will be Empress by way of marriage as well...best familiarize herself withthat grade of politics ASAP - also it wouldn´t be bad if the Sister-Diarchs knew both future Gryphonian regents ahead.

Shadow-86 said:
What do we have in mind for her again, cause I would like to see how she'll do as a merchant now. :D
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Actually, we don´t really have any plans for our kids aside from Gawain (Heir apparent and until then Chief Diplomat) and Gwyn (Regent-In-Waiting)...but out of our four kids, Gilda remains the most blank state unfortunately

fictionfan said:
I feel that Garrick should step down or retire soon. He is getting older and his heir has better stats then him in many areas at this point.
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Let´s solve the Maretonian Problem and prevent NMM first, then when everythign is comparetively calm, we can maybe *think* about it.

Pittauro said:
Crystal region? It's NOT an Empire, nor it would be a protectorate any longer...

Maybe Crystal lands?
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Crystal Provinces?
 
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