//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Other Side of the Mirror: Volume I // by FireOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Twilight had already been studying intensively on her own, but now she’d ushered in an even more thorough schedule led by this universe’s version of the Brave Companions. She was constantly worried that her ignorance would drive them away, or worse, expose her as not being of this world. Thankfully, while her ineptitude often surprised her new friends, they didn’t seem to suspect that anything was amiss or judge her for her inadequacies. No time could be wasted in her learning when there were only thirteen weeks left before the end of the term; that was thirteen weeks to go from Clueless Twilight to a leader that her fellow students would choose to follow. Thirteen weeks to master topics she had no background in, in a world she still didn’t fully understand. Thirteen weeks to get the Element of Sorcery back before the portal to her world closed. She thought often about returning to Equus to check on its state of affairs, but there was no telling how time would flow in this world. She might return here only to find that Sunset Shimmer had completed her scheme. It was fortunate that Twilight Sparkle was such a fast learner and so devoted to her studies, whatever or wherever they might be. With Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash tutoring her in her military subjects (and occasionally helping with her research of Illean History), she began to improve. The Clueless Twilight moniker spread by the Canterlot Clarion had stuck and many students regarded her as a disgrace to the academy, but gradually that seemed to be changing. She was receiving fewer glares of mockery or irritation and more looks of respect for how she’d turned things around. Four weeks to the election, Twilight Sparkle was feeling confident in her understanding of Combined Command. After weeks of nonstop study, she had finally reached where she was expected to be as a Second Year Combined Command student. She’d gone from knowing nothing about this world to excelling in her classes, and she owed it all to her new friends. Twilight could never repay the debt she owed to them, and she would likely never have the chance once she returned to her own world. At least she had helped them become friends with each other again; she could be content with that. Though they’d realized their errors and reconciled with each other, however, becoming friends again hadn’t been instantaneous. There were bridges to be rebuilt that they’d unwisely burned in the past, but in the end, it had all worked out. Twilight saw so much of her pony friends in them—sometimes it was difficult to remember that they had a completely different history in this world, not just with each other. They all had their own lives before Twilight had ever come here. Even so, she would still regret leaving them. Her studies had been the first stage of Twilight’s plan. Now, she decided it was time to put the second stage into action. Sunset Shimmer had never won the majority of the votes in any of the previous election; rather, she’d merely earned more than any of the other candidates. Any vote that Twilight aimed to win had to be taken from someone else, and relying on all of Sunset Shimme’s supporters to jump ship wasn’t a sound plan. Instead, Twilight knew that she would need to gather up the votes that weren’t already going to Sunset Shimmer … which meant convincing the different military departments to vote for her instead of their favored alternative to Sunset. That would be a monumental task for which she had neither the time nor the inclination, so Twilight opted for trying to convince the other Combined Command students to throw their support behind her. If they did so, then most of their supporters were sure to follow their lead. “Are you sure you want to go after the Psionics Department first, darling?” Rarity asked as the six of them were seated outside a café across the street from Canterlot Academy, gathered to help Twilight with her plan. “Minuette has the smallest number of supporters, and the first department you manage to convince to come to your side may deter other rival departments from voting for you. Both the Engineering and Cavalry Departments have a grudge against Psionics.” Rarity had a point. In a recent poll[1] done by the Canterlot Clarion, Minuette Precia, the Combined Command student who favored the Psionics Department, had received the lowest number of votes besides Twilight. Twilight had the paper in front of her and knew the results just as well as Rarity. Some might think that she was going after the smallest first as a warm-up, and so the damage wouldn’t be too great if she failed to convince Minuette to come to her side. However, that wasn’t the reason Twilight had chosen to go after Psionics; in fact, she was determinedly pursuing that discipline despite the knowledge that securing Minuette’s support was statistically the least useful. “I am sure,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy was the first to assist me when I arrived at Canterlot Academy, so I decided it would only be fair to go to her department first.” Technically, Fluttershy was part of two departments: Medical and Psionics. She was studying field surgery in the Medical Department and majoring in psionic augmentation (the creation of equipment to assist or magnify psionic abilities) in the Psionics Department. The Medical Department didn’t have any Combined Command student that showed them favoritism to whom Twilight could go, though. She suspected a few of them had already defected from Sunset Shimmer to her, given the recent poll, and hopefully that trend would continue as she interacted with them and Fluttershy talked her up in their classes together. Unfortunately, there was no specific individual she could befriend to gain a large bloc of votes at once, so she had decided to focus on Psionics for Fluttershy. Psionics was a subject that had kept Twilight Sparkle consistently fascinated. At first glance, it seemed like this world’s version of sorcery, but there were significant differences. It was a purely mental ability; and while psionics were rare, just like Sources in Twilight’s own world, it was because of some abnormality in their minds, not because they had the inborn ability to draw from a pool of magical energy within themselves. Their powers were also much more limited than those of sorceresses. There were no magical words, materials, runes, or rituals to follow, though some psionics did find it easier to concentrate when pressing their fingers against their skulls in different configurations. Telekinesis, telepathy, and extrasensory perception were all common psionic abilities. Psychokinesis that allowed the manipulation of existing elements was tricky but could be managed with enough training by powerful psionics. Creating something from nothing was veritably unheard of, with pyrokinesis being a notable, but extraordinarily rare, exception. There would be nothing as flashy as teleportation or portal-opening in this universe. From her extensive historical studies, Twilight had gathered that the academic study of psionics was relatively new to Illea. Only been a few centuries earlier, those with psionic abilities had either been hailed as prophets or reviled as witches. They’d come a remarkably far way in such short a time toward understanding the mechanics of the science, but academics and strategists still had yet to figure out exactly where psionics fit best on the battlefield. All the branches represented by the departments of Canterlot Academy could make use of them in some way—using psionic barriers to ward off damage was desired by the infantry, cavalry, and artillery alike. Additionally, telekinesis was especially coveted by the artillery to load the increasingly large and unwieldy shells into their cannons. Cavalry’s reconnaissance duties could benefit from psionics’ ability to magnify their vision, a skill that was also beneficial to the air reconnaissance duties performed using some of the machines dreamed up in the mechanical branch of the Engineering Department. Engineering also wanted psionic assistance in digging trenches using psychokinesis and psionic barriers over existing fortifications. Some psionic abilities could be used to speed up healing, keep a patient from expiring from blood loss, or expunge infection from the body, so they were coveted by the Medical Department as well. At times, psionics used their abilities directly as combat troops to telekinetically fling things at the enemy, though that was a crude means of warfare in an age where an artillery piece could do the same thing, and more accurately to boot. If someone was a strong enough telepath, they were also often used for the synchronized communication of orders to troops. All these ideas sounded great, but there were only so many psionics, and not nearly enough to fulfill all the duties to which they could possibly contribute. In order to win the support of the Psionics Department, Twilight would need to win the support of Minuette Precia. Having already met her briefly in some of the classes they shared, she already knew that this Minuette was the Illean universe’s version of the sorceress she’d once known in Cant’r Laht. Seeing her jogged Twilight’s memories of the colleagues she’d once studied sorcery with and then subsequently abandoned for Ponieville. She would have to remedy that someday. In this world, however, that relationship had never been severed, or constructed in the first place, so she would have to start from scratch. She’d tried to lay some groundwork in their classes, but Minuette had been dismissive of her in the early stages, likely due to Twilight’s poor performance. Now, though, she was beginning to look at her with a little more respect. The time was right; Twilight just had to go for it. “Minuette?” Twilight greeted her in the library. Twilight Sparkle hadn’t been surprised to find her here; just like her Equestrian counterpart, she was a dedicated scholar, albeit not one as fanatically obsessed as Twilight had been. Minuette was seated at one of the tables set up in the wings for students to read at without removing their books from the library’s premises. Twilight could see at a glance that the books stacked beside Minuette were all on theories for how to integrate psionics into the military hierarchy. “Twilight Sparkle,” Minuette replied, looking up from her book. “I have seen you here many times, but never thought to hold a conversation with you. You always looked so busy and frantic to find your books and go.” “May I sit?” Twilight asked, gesturing to the chair across from Minuette. “It’s a free country, isn’t it?” Minuette asked nonchalantly, but Twilight could see from her eyes that she was intrigued by what Twilight might want to talk to her about. “I wanted to speak to you about the student leader election,” Twilight said, cutting right to the point. “I hope you didn’t come looking for advice on how to win. If so, you chose the wrong person,” Minuette said with a laugh. “I assume you read the Clarion’s poll. The only one faring worse than me is you.” “I did not come looking for advice. Actually, I have a plan of my own to beat Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight said, and Minuette’s intrigued look deepened. Twilight left her waiting for a moment before revealing her plan. “I was hoping you could help by supporting me in the election.” “You want me to … tell the students who are planning to vote for me … to vote for you instead?” Minuette asked incredulously, and Twilight nodded. “Listen, Twilight Sparkle, you’ve certainly impressed me with your progress this term, but why would I throw away my candidacy and the votes of the students who look up to me? Even if I did so, together we might—might—manage to exceed Adamant’s votes only, and he’s only in his second term. Are you simply that desperate not to be last?” “That is not it,” Twilight said with an emphatic shake of her head. “I do not want Sunset Shimmer to remain dominant, and the best way I can tell to unseat her is to bring together the different departments. Sunset Shimmer has never won a majority of the vote, only a plurality, and that is because the rest of the vote is completely fractured among the other Combined Command students. If we all came together, we could beat Sunset Shimmer. The conversation I am having now with you, I also intend to have with the others.” “You are either a madwoman or a visionary,” Minuette said as the gears turned in her head. “Do you really think you can win the support of enough students? You may technically be a second-year student like me, but this is still your first term at the academy. To seriously seek the Acclamation Crown so soon, it’s unheard of. I’ll be the first to admit that you’ve made remarkable progress this term—truly remarkable—but do you truly think you can turn that success into support on election day?” “With your help, I do,” Twilight answered, leaving Minuette thoughtful. “Even if this scheme is a success, why should the rest of us Combined Command students support your candidacy instead of picking someone more veteran? Marcel already has a solid base; we could all assist him in toppling Sunset Shimmer,” Minuette gave an example. “I do not believe that will work,” Twilight replied. “As you said, it is only my first term, so I am not laden down with a history of preferring one department over another. Other than Sunset Shimmer, I am the only one who can be a viable candidate for all departments … for now, at least. I do believe that, in time, the rest of you could do the same—that is the purpose of the Combined Command program, is it not? But for this election, I am your best option.” “Hmm,” Minuette mulled things over. “You are a truly incredible person, Twilight Sparkle. You have made astounding improvement this term, from abject failure to top marks, but is that an indication of the greater heights you can conquer? Can you truly be a candidate for all?” Minuette carefully considered the girl sitting across the table, her nose resting on her fist thoughtfully. Twilight Sparkle remained still and silent, hoping that Minuette would be able to find whatever she was looking for. “I have a question for you,” Minuette finally said. “What should the role of psionics be on the battlefield?” It was a question without an answer, as exemplified by the differing perspectives found in the books stacked next to Minuette. Which theory did Minuette subscribe to, if any? Was she looking for a specific answer or just Twilight’s opinion on the query? She tried to remember what Minuette had said in any of the courses on psionics they’d had together but decided that wasn’t the way to go. She had to give an answer true to her own thoughts. How should psionics be used on the battlefield? The very concept of psionics was still very new to Twilight, but maybe she could draw something from her own world. Battles were quite different in Equus and sorceresses weren’t psionics, but perhaps their practices could be adapted. Sorceresses typically acted on their own initiative on the battlefield, going wherever they thought they would be most useful, but Twilight felt that this probably wouldn’t fly in a strictly regimented military. Someone else always had to be in charge of the decisions. “Psionics should assist wherever they are most needed, but they should also answer directly to a high-ranking officer with the information needed to determine where the need is greatest,” Twilight Sparkle answered. “The current system where psionics serve directly as part of a unit is inefficient because it locks them into a single role when they might better serve elsewhere. Why should psionics be a separate department here but not in the military? However, Blazing Hearth de Boullion’s proposal to create an independent Psionics Corps does not adequately answer the problem; without direction, they may not be in the most effective position. That is the purpose of combined command: to fit all the pieces together and correctly utilize all forces, psionics included.” Minuette continued to stare at Twilight Sparkle once she finished her speech, considering her answer. “You’re an interesting individual, Twilight Sparkle,” Minuette said serenely. “Very well, I’ll help you with your—probably insane—scheme.” Minuette extended her arm to shake, and Twilight reached across the table. “Thank you,” Twilight Sparkle said as she grasped Minuette’s forearm and they shook. “Best of luck with the others,” Minuette said. “I can’t wait to see if you can pull this off.” *** With Minuette and the Psionics Department’s support secured, Twilight Sparkle moved on to the Infantry Department. Émilie Dressum was the Combined Command student who favored that department. Twilight hadn’t had many chances to see her during the term thus far. Émilie was a third-year student and they didn’t share any classes, so as an infantry student, Applejack had agreed to introduce her. They encountered Émilie walking from the armory to the nearby shooting range, rifle slung over one shoulder and a bag of cartridges over the other. A look of curiosity appeared on Émilie’s pearly white face as she spotted them approaching her, and she altered her direction and pace so they would meet on the way to the shooting range. She was dressed in the Combined Command field uniform, identical to Twilight’s: a light blue cap snug over her braided and coiled bright blue hair a green jacket decorated with golden braiding, crimson trousers, and a pair of black boots. “Can I help you?” Émilie asked as they met and continued to the range together. Her question seemed more directed at Applejack, with whom she was more familiar. “Émilie Dressum, Combined Command, this is Twilight Sparkle Haltrotsun, Combined Command,” Applejack introduced them. “Clueless Twilight?” Émilie asked bluntly with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, but I am not so clueless anymore,” Twilight Sparkle said as she walked up alongside her. “I have heard that,” Émilie said as she turned her attention back to the shooting range ahead. “Despite a tumultuous start, you’ve become quite a rising star. Maybe in a year or two you could even be a contender for the Acclamation Crown … if you play your cards right outside of the classroom.” “Actually,” Twilight said, “I plan to win the crown this term.” “Well, you’re bold, aren’t you?” Émilie laughed. “Good for you, but you should know your limits. Unless something changes, Sunset Shimmer is going to rule the roost until she graduates.” “Well, I aim to change things,” Twilight said. “I believe we can unseat Sunset Shimmer.” “We?” Émilie asked suspiciously as they reached the shooting range. “I know my limits, and I know that alone I have little chance of usurping the crown from Sunset Shimmer. But, there are more students who vote against her than for her. If we all united, we could beat her.” “If we all united behind you,” Émilie said as she loaded her rifle. “It’s an interesting proposition, but tell me why students would want to vote for you rather than someone with more seniority, like me or Marcel?” “Well, I believe that if you supported me and told your supporters to vote for me, then they would,” Twilight Sparkle said. “You may be right about that,” Émilie replied. “But why should I do that?” “I am sure you are a fine student and commander, but you have taken to favoring the Infantry Department,” Twilight said. “I can be impartial. I can represent all departments. That is the only way we can defeat Sunset Shimmer.” “Well, you did manage to get the Gang of Five back together, I hear,” Émilie said as she lowered herself into a firing position, then paused and looked at Applejack. “You’ve decided to support her candidacy?” “Yes, ma’am,” Applejack replied. “And Minuette has agreed to as well.” “Huh, that’s a surprise,” Émilie said as she turned back to the line of targets and took aim. “You have the psionics students backing you, and now you’re after the infantry students. You accused me of favoring the Infantry Department, and that is true, but can you tell me why, Twilight Sparkle? Why would I choose the least prestigious combat department when there were flashier options out there?” “They are the core of the military,” Twilight answered, though it seemed fairly obvious knowledge to her. “The other departments may have more pomp, but without the infantry, you cannot take or hold ground or effectively defend a position. They are essential.” “Good answer,” Émilie said with a slight smile, and she fired off a few shots before setting her rifle down and turning back to face Twilight. “You’re only in your first term, but you know what you’re doing, and you want to take Sunset Shimmer down. I like your moxie, Twilight Sparkle. I’ll tell the Infantry Department you have my support.” *** With two departments now locked in, Twilight went after the big fish: the Artillery Department. After Sunset Shimmer, Marcel de Jeanne had the highest number of supporters. If Twilight Sparkle was able to secure his support, then she would receive a boost that would nearly raise her to Sunset Shimmer’s numbers. She’d succeeded thus far at getting the support of other Combined Command students, and she just needed to maintain her momentum. The end of the term was only two weeks away; if she wasn’t able to win the Acclamation Crown, she’d need to formulate another plan to retrieve it and return to Equus. “Oh, Marcel!” Pinkie called as she rapped on the door to the Canterlot Clarion editor’s office. “Someone to see you!” It was the logical choice to have Pinkie Pie introduce Twilight to Marcel, since she’d worked with him on the school paper for some time and was well acquainted with him. She also knew where to reliably find him—in the offices of the Canterlot Clarion. The blinds on Marcel’s office clicked open momentarily as he peeked out to see who Pinkie had brought to him before he opened the door. Marcel de Jeanne was a tall, burly boy with green skin and greener hair. He held the door half open as he observed the two girls standing in front of him. “Twilight Sparkle Haltrotsun,” he said. “Please, come in.” His invitation didn’t seem to extend to Pinkie Pie as he shut the door after allowing Twilight Sparkle into his office. It was a sparse office, with a desk, a smattering of chairs, a single bookshelf, and a safe in a corner providing the only furniture in the room. Atop Marcel’s desk was a typewriter and several shallow boxes holding stacks of papers of various heights. Marcel walked around to sit behind his desk and Twilight took a seat across from him. “I know why you’re here,” Marcel said as he stared her down, hands steepled on the desk in front of him. “You do?” Twilight asked. Granted, her recruitment of other Combined Command students was no longer a secret, so he’d probably guessed her intentions. “Of course. You’ve shaken everything up, Twilight Sparkle,” Marcel said. He grabbed the newspaper on the desk next to him, flipped it open, and folded it over before passing it across the desk to Twilight. “This is the paper that will come out today. Now that Émilie and Minuette have come out in support of you as student leader, take a look at the latest poll[2].” Twilight took the paper and examined the results. With just two of the other Combined Command students on her side, she’d shot up from last place to third. She was nipping at Marcel’s heels, but perhaps that had annoyed him. He certainly didn’t seem pleased with her, though it was a bit hard to tell. Sunset Shimmer’s numbers had also dipped slightly as her supporters continued migrating to support Twilight Sparkle’s candidacy. Seeing this made her feel that her plan truly was achievable, though to make it a reality, she’d need to combine the second- and third-place numbers by persuading Marcel to support her. “It appears that you do know why I am here,” Twilight Sparkle said as she passed the newspaper back to Marcel. “I want you to follow Minuette and Émilie’s examples and support my candidacy so that we can defeat Sunset Shimmer together.” “No,” Marcel said bluntly. “No?” Twilight asked, taken aback by how forceful his rejection had been. “No, I will not support your candidacy for student leader,” Marcel said. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what you’ve done in breaking the status quo. Getting two other Combined Command students to give up their chances of winning to throw their votes behind you? It’s unheard of. Like I said, you’ve shaken everything up … and given me the opportunity I need to win myself.” “It will not work, Marcel,” Twilight protested. “You have the support of the Artillery Department, but after four years of favoring them, I do not think the other departments will be eager to back you.” “Maybe not until now,” Marcel said. “You changed everything, Twilight Sparkle. You convinced psionics and infantry students to work together; in doing so, you’ve started the breakdown of barriers between the departments, at least when it comes to student leader elections, but not just for yourself. You failed to see that others could exploit your plan. I can siphon off Sunset Shimmer’s support from other departments now, and if I get Cavalry and Engineering to support me, I may have enough to win.” “You are just going to divide the vote again,” Twilight said. “Can you not see that this is how Sunset Shimmer continues to win?” “I am the most senior Combined Command student!” Marcel said passionately. “I’ve led longer than any of the rest of you, including Sunset Shimmer, and yet she’s managed to eclipse me. Well, no more. This term is my second-to-last chance to win the Acclamation Crown, and the first feasible time since Sunset Shimmer arrived. I will not throw my chance away so that you, a student who was failing so terribly,can have a moment of glory in your first term. I’ve heard how you’ve improved,” Marcel said as Twilight started to object. “And as I said, I’m grateful for how you’ve shaken things up. But you have not impressed me, Twilight Sparkle. If you thought that I would ever back you, you are sadly mistaken.” “There is nothing that would change your mind, then?” Twilight asked as a tense silence stretched between them. “Nothing,” Marcel said with finality. “Well, then,” Twilight said as she stood. “Thank you for your time, Marcel.” *** Failing to gain Marcel’s support had not only set back Twilight’s plan, it had also shaken her confidence that she’d be able to win back the Element of Sorcery. Even if she managed to sweep up every vote that hadn’t been cast in the last poll for Marcel or Sunset Shimmer, she’d still be eight points short of beating Celestia’s rogue protégé. It was still possible that students could desert the other candidates to vote for her, but it would be a close call. That made it even more important that she keep persevering to secure the support of the remaining Combined Command students. The next department she was going after was Engineering. Adamant Ross was the Combined Command student who’d obtained the Engineering Department’s favor, and he was still in his first year of classes. Twilight Sparkle had only seen him intermittently early on when she was trying to get caught up on the year she had missed. There were two sides to Canterlot Academy’s Engineering Department: fortifications and machinery. Fortifications was the more traditional branch and involved the construction of temporary field defenses and more permanent fortresses, as well as the establishment of supply lines. Machinery was a newer and less well-defined subject that included both things that fell under military engineering—establishing telegram, telephone, and power lines—and things that existed in a gray “engineering-like” space—the upkeep and invention of automobiles, lighter-than-aircraft, and aeroplanes. Adamant’s focus was on the latter of the two engineering disciplines, and Twilight and Rarity found him in one of the machine shops set aside for experimentation in the Supplemental Lecture Hall. “Hello, Adamant,” Rarity greeted him as they made their way through the assorted half-finished projects that other engineering students had begun. “Hello, Rarity,” Adamant said as he looked up from the sketches propped up on the drafting table in front of him. “Oh, and Twilight Sparkle. I know you.” “What are you working on?” Twilight asked, peering at his sketches as they drew closer. “This?” Adamant asked, gesturing to the drafting table. “It’s still in the early stages, but I’m puzzling out how to make a field gun fully self-propelled.” Twilight Sparkle studied the diagrams he’d drawn and frequently modified. An artillery piece was at the center, set on top of an eight-wheeled automobile frame with peculiarly thick wheels. An armored frame surrounded it with firing slots and mounted machine-guns set into it. “That’s how it started, anyway,” Adamant said passionately. “I’ve had to keep making modifications, like shrinking the size of the gun—which I still might have to do some more—spreading out the weight, adding armor and a protective gun crew to make it defensible. Really, it’s turned into more of a mobile fortification. I might have better luck building off that idea than trying to make a field gun mobile.” “A mobile fortification,” Twilight Sparkle said with a mix of wonder and horror as she looked at the diagrams. “Very interesting.” “Thanks, but I know why you’re really here,” Adamant said with a smile. “You do?” Rarity asked. “Of course. You want me to support you for student leader this term,” Adamant said as he pointed at Twilight with a pencil. “Well, say no more, I’ll do it.” “Really?” Twilight asked at the same time Rarity said, “You will?” “Yes, of course,” Adamant replied. “I’ve watched you dash past me this term. You’re much more qualified to be student leader than me, and I’d much rather you get it than one of the other Combined Command students.” “Wow, well ... thank you, Adamant,” Twilight Sparkle said, still taken aback by how quickly he’d agreed to back her. “Don’t mention it,” Adamant said before rethinking it. “Actually, do mention it to get the vote out.” “Of course,” Twilight Sparkle said with a smile. The pair of friends left the shop, Twilight with a new spring in her step. After the way Marcel had forcefully rejected her, she was relieved by how easy this meeting had gone. She just had one more student to go. *** Like Minuette, she knew the Combined Command student favored by the Cavalry Department from her own world. Twilight and Lightning Charge Bersian had crossed paths several times. She’d known him briefly as a foal, and the next time they’d met after both growing up, she’d lost him in the wilderness when he was supposed to accompany her to her meeting with the Griffon Free Companies. He was at the White Tail Tournament before the Los Pegasus invasion, and there was his almost-proposal at his family’s roost when she’d been there to help her father the previous spring. There was a long, if staggered, history between the two in Equestria—but here, she’d barely spoken to him more than a handful of times in classes. Ten days to the election, Twilight Sparkle found him near the cavalry course seated atop a horse, staring out over the fence that divided Canterlot Academy from Wyvern. “Lightning Charge!” she called out, and he turned his horse and dismounted. “Hello there.” “Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Lightning Charge replied as he removed his cap and hung it on his horse’s saddle. “You’ve really stirred things up around here, you know?” “I know,” Twilight said with a nod. “Where did you come from?” he asked. “Sottsland?” Twilight answered tentatively. He doesn’t know I’m from another world, does he? “They must really do things different there,” Lightning Charge pondered. “So, you want me to support your bid for student leader, eh?” “I guess it is not much of a secret anymore, is it?” Twilight said. “Not when you’ve already got three other Combined Command students supporting you. Nor when your friend Rainbow Dash comes to me singing your praises and giving her word that you’re the one to finally knock Sunset Shimmer off her perch.” “I believe it can be done,” Twilight Sparkle asserted. “Hmm, maybe. You’ve certainly done better than anyone else, in any case,” Lightning Charge said, looking distant. “We’ve all been so caught up in the rivalry between departments; it seems we don’t really understand the reason Combined Command was created in the first place. We each want our own department to have primacy. There’s Sunset Shimmer, who only cares about her own position and glory, and then there’s you, bringing departments together—bringing Combined Command students together.” “Do you know why I picked the Cavalry Department?” Lightning Charge asked as he made eye contact with Twilight, and she thought this would be like Émilie’s test, before he continued talking. “It’s a bit of a … family thing. My father, my brothers, all cavalry. Originally, I was going to come to Canterlot Academy to study in the Cavalry Department, to be like them, but I decided to shoot higher, to go for Combined Command instead. I guess I wanted to surprise them for once, make them proud of what I’d accomplished. Yet, I still ended up looking at the cavalry for my future. I’m afraid I may have made a mistake there.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Do you think the cavalry will become obsolete?” Lightning Charge asked. “Well, if I have learned anything this term, it is that all methods of warfare will become obsolete eventually,” Twilight said. For example, everything I knew from my own world has outlived its usefulness here. “Well said,” Lightning Charge said melancholily. “I think that ‘eventually’ may be sooner for the cavalry than anyone hopes. We’re not prepared to change, even if there is a way to adapt without losing what we are.” Lightning Charge had become distant again, and Twilight followed his gaze through the fence to the road that ran by the academy. Horse-drawn carriages clattered along, but they were accompanied by a profuse number of automobiles. The advance of technology had put the future of horses and the cavalry in jeopardy, something Twilight had concluded herself from her research. Even though this foreboding contrast was everywhere, it wasn’t something that seemed to be widely discussed. Maybe Lightning Charge was one of the few who could see the oncoming wave, though his feet remained rooted in position, waiting for it to overtake him and not seeing a way to run. “You’ll have mine and the Cavalry Department’s support, Twilight Sparkle,” Lightning Charge said as he glanced at her. “You go and beat Sunset Shimmer and Marcel.” “Th-thank you,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “No, thank you,” Lightning Charge said thoughtfully, “for showing me the path not taken.” She didn’t really want to leave him, but he didn’t seem interested in talking anymore. Twilight headed back to the central campus, leaving Lightning Charge standing next to his horse, watching the passing automobiles, combustion engines roaring and electric motors whirring, as he pondered the future.