The Kathiawari Mare

by AShadowOfCygnus

KM-12198409-67

Exam Form KM-12198409-67
Results

Examinee: S. S—
School (Year): Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns (Year 8 – early exam)
Exam Date: 18 Hearthfire 988
Examiners Presiding: F. Budget, S. Frisk, Withershins

Reason for Testing: Selected for academic achievement and magical prowess. Moved up in the examination order by Crown request.

Scenario:
(~)

Parameters provided by Crown order. No alteration by examiners.

Account:
Candidate demonstrated a canny awareness of both the situation and the (~) historical period in which she had been asked to operate. She immediately convened a war council to receive reports on the state of the battle and determine ‘how much time she had left.’ This phrasing in particular struck the panel, and provided an early indication that the candidate either held more knowledge of, or a greater sway over the parameters of, the simulacrum than anticipated.

Candidate’s commanders were able to provide her with a wealth of information on enemy presence and materiel, indicating that three nearby townships near the war-capital were currently under attack by allied forces of (~), with support from Griffon irregulars and (~). Most other powers remained nonaligned, either out of fear of reprisal, or as a consequence of existing treaties with one or more of the parties involved. Candidate then began asking probing questions regarding (~), and the disposition of her forces; her commanders, vaguely concerned, commented that their efforts had been focussed elsewhere, and that the Swarm had not been heard from since being driven underground following the original coup attempt in (~). Candidate ordered messengers dispatched to several locations about the westerly Eohipp in short order.

(~)

Candidate consulted with the oracles as to the state of some mystical power source referred to as (~). These artefacts—evidently attuned to the very heart of the Equine being—were a project of (~), and evidently (~), especially when exposed to or harnessed to any great degree by (~). What their relationship is to the latter-day (~) is unknown.

(~)

Having received certain assurances from (~) and bought the support of her forces with the promise of fresh carrion on the field, candidate proceeded with the pre-emptive strike on the three occupied townships initially drawn up as the prospective border she had drawn up at the last summit. The heads of the three warring (~) had moved a significant portion of their respective standing armies into the area in order to better garrison against future aggression by either candidate’s Equestria or opportunistic attacks by erstwhile allies. This provided the necessary pretence for Equine forces to move about the border region unmolested, and thus position themselves for a strike at the appropriate juncture. Candidate correctly asserted to her generals and allies that a concentrated strike of sufficient force, timed appropriately and with overwhelming force, could cripple all three enemy powers and leave them ripe for (~).

Within the space of a month, candidate had orchestrated a dual-pronged march on enemy positions at (~) and (~), with simultaneous strikes to occur in the early hours of the morning, in cooperation with (~)’s forces. These initial skirmishes took the enemy wholly by surprise, and—through a combination of apparent sun-magicks and coordinated assaults by local Swarm boils, two of the three border townships were cleared of enemy soldiers within an hour of initial deployment. A number of prisoners were taken in the raid; some were retained for further questioning; most others were handed over to the Swarm for (~) and breeding, as initially agreed.

Candidate showed an extreme disregard for the prisoners under her jurisdiction, enforcing strict starvation diets and hard labour for the recalcitrant, and consigning those who did cooperate to ‘reintegration camps’, soon to be established around the war-capital, for the purposes of reintroducing the captured as productive members of society, with greater focus on the trades suggested by their cutie marks. One high-ranking officer of the (~) militia was interrogated daily—sometimes by candidate, sometimes those among her Guard—until he relinquished the necessary information on the remaining (~) garrison.

(~)

As before candidate led this final attack from the front, but her opening volley—a light spell of unknown intensity, aided by the artefacts she had taken to wearing—immediately (~). There were almost no survivors among the garrison or the allied Swarm boil, but—despite being demonstrably and wildly outside the candidate’s control—the particular resonance of (~) ensured that no civilians were harmed by the magical energies in play, even where the light struck them. This had the doubtless unintended effect of panicking at least one of her more reticent generals, who moved forward in an attempted coup after the initial firing, only to be struck down by several more loyal counterparts.

Simulacrum was slated to end on capture of the occupied cities. Candidate then (~), wresting control of the simulacrum even as the formal examination wound down. Shouting down—and indeed shutting out—the attending panel of examiners, candidate was able to move the projections forward (~) years to determine her status as (~) in the projected history. This greatly alarmed the panel, and efforts were redoubled to immediately terminate the simulacrum. Candidate was evidently fixated on these details enough so as to be effectively cut off by the panel and restored to reality.

Candidate was heard to say that (~)—that she’d ‘always known’. She maintained the same grim, distant smile for the duration of the post-examination interview, despite answering all questions flawlessly.

Results:
After significant deliberation, the examiners have elected to award Ms. S— a score of 9 for her efforts to resolve the situation presented her. Candidate is obviously a talented magus, with an obvious affinity for magic in the light and war schools, and was able to serve as not only a shrewd strategist and inspiration to both the soldiers and the nation under her command, but a cunning diplomat and highly-capable frontline commander. We can only recommend her skills as necessary and valuable additions to the Throne’s stable of assets.

Neither can we contest her results. While brutal in the extreme, her methods saved not only the troops on the field, but a plurality of lives in the contested townships and—per the unexpected extrapolation the subject was able to derive from the simulated reality—indeed the kingdom. It appears that with the destruction of the (~), the real-world conflict upon which this examination was based was ended a full three years earlier than history records.

However, this panel must make it exceedingly clear that the actions taken at this pivotal moment of (~) were out of step with many of the basic ethical and moral obligations that this government has established as baseline for the treatment of any sentient species, much less our fellow mare. The violence visited on the (~) forces during and after the relevant engagements was—though effective in attaining the understood goals of the exercise—needlessly and excessively brutal. Further, though the panel acknowledges it as a minor point, given the candidate’s effective handling of herself in personal combat, we strongly recommend that the candidate reconsider her willingness to lead from the front in every engagement; such tactics have historically presented informed opposition with an opportunity to target and decapitate Equestrian leadership on the field. This applies doubly in the case of units wielding any form of high magecraft or high-maintenance battlefield spellcraft, as the failure of nearly any Tier 3 or greater effect can drastically and disastrously impact friendly forces on the field.

Addenda (not provided to the candidate):
(~)

It is unclear at this time how the candidate was able to exceed the parameters of the simulacrum to the extent she did, or how she was able to direct its prognosticative element to so effectively determine her own place in the history to follow. However, a formal review of the relevant arcana is to be undertaken to ensure that examiners will always have the ability to cut short an examination, irrespective of subject strength.

In addition, Lady Fuss Budget has requested that her intention to both 1) file a dissenting opinion on this decision, and 2) submit her resignation to the Crown, be noted in all official records pertaining to this examination. This panel likewise submits that the use of historical scenarios for which few—if any—records exist hamstrings the efforts of examiners to compare candidate performance with the objective facts of history.

A copy of this report has been forwarded to the Crown Secretariat, per request.

[Editor’s Note: We are unclear as to the reasons for the use of non-standard redaction notation in this document, particularly where it applies to the candidate’s name. While it is possible that this is simply the product of an unfamiliar hoof, there are striking similarities to the style in use in court documentation of the early Post-Unification. This is presented unedited for the reader’s consideration.]

Comments

[Cerulean Blue]

I'm definitely not getting this one

[Cross Lament]

10624063
Sunset Shimmer, apparently confirming to herself that she deserves leadership as a princess, while flexing her magical talent.

[Lurks-no-More]

10625274
And hacking the scenario, to the great distress of the review panel.

[ponygrad]

Good job flying under the radar mr editors note