Red Ink, Schulleiter (Backgrounds of Fate)

>you are Red Ink
>you are the head teacher (or schulleiter, as some are now calling you) at the Reich Military Academy
>ever since the war with Equestria started, your job has been a lot tougher
>before, only the best of the best could be admitted into your hallowed halls
>but now government quotas for soldiers has more than quadrupled your admittance rate
>not due to more ponies being skilled
>but due to the standards being lowered
>standards you fought vehemently to keep set
>but alas, Lord Manos needs soldiers, and not even you can fight against such a cause
>what you can do, however, is weed out the weak from within
>at this moment however, you are on a break in one of the Reich's best cafe's
>chatting with a teacher from the Youth School
"Now I'm telling you Cheerilee, if we don't make sure that only the best stock make it to the battlefield, then the enemy will surely best us eventually."
>you take a sip of your coffee as she responds
>"But surely the new weapons will compensate for the lower skill levels?"
>you quickly set your cup down and throw your hooves into the air
"But that's just it! These weapons are NEW; not to be trusted in the hooves of dimwits!"
>she rolls her eyes at you
>"Oh, surely you have more confidence in our ponies than that?"
>you sit back and grimace, remembering the past
"I used to have the highest confidence in our ponies, Cheerilee, but..."
>you remember how you were in Ponyville trying to convince the parents of several star students to have their colts and fillies transferred to the Youth School in the Reich, when IT happened
"You didn't see what I saw when the griffons came..."
>you recall how when you were desperately trying to flee the city, you came across a house you had visited earlier on the same day
>it was aflame, and it's inhabitants....
>well, you couldn't tell which piece belonged to who
>except for the tiny ones which you recognized as being from the colt you had talked to mere hours ago...
>you sigh and look at the mare
"I don't want our ponies to suffer more loss than they already have."
>her eyes soften in understanding
"If our ponies are educated to have the sharpest mind possible, there won't be any unnecessary deaths."
>she nods
>"I understand what you mean, Red; but you must think realistically."
>she continues
>"Equestria is such so vast,"
>she spreads her forelegs to demonstrate
>"We need as many soldiers as possible in order to win this war quickly; otherwise, we'll be fighting for years!"
>you nod
"I suppose you're right; but don't think that I'm going to let my students slack off because of that!"
>she laughs in response
>"Oh, I would never image you would."
>you look over a the clock above the cafe's counter
"Oop, would you look at that?"
>Cheerilee looks at the clock and sighs
>"Break time's over."
>you chuckle
"Cheer up! Remember, when you're done with your students, they come to me."
>with that, you stand from the booth and begin your walk back to the academy
>along the way, you pass by a group of fresh recruits doing a drill parade down the street
>you recognize a few of them as being brand new
>you can also tell from how sloppy their marching is
>you walk into their path
"Halt!"
>the group clumsily stops their 'marching'
"You're doing it all wrong."
>you walk up to one of the ponies
"Step forward."
>she does so
>you press your hooves against her knees, straightening her legs
"The key is to keep the legs STRAIGHT."
>you step back and observe her posture
"Straighten up!"
>she does as instructed
>you look her over once more before nodding in approval
"Mimic her posture from now on. You may continue as you were."
>you resume your walk
>and they resume their marching, much better this time around
"Ugh, can the teachers not even give basic marching instructions anymore?"