The training camp of the Equestrian army was busy, just as it always was. Blacksmiths worked hard on their weapons, clashing hot metal against hammer and anvil, producing a variety of sounds that added to the cacophony of noise from all around the establishment. Pegasi could be seen flying overhead, practicing maneuvers and polishing the use of their shoulder-mounted lances. Unicorns trained on dummies, spinning their dual bladed swords in the air and slashing the miserable, Gryphon-like targets as hard as they could. The earth ponies threw buck after buck at metallic plates similar to those worn by Gryphon troops, hard enough to crack a skull open.

Twilight Sparkle could have never imagined herself being in such a place.

She walked amongst the many tents and fireplaces as the night rose up, the sun making way for the moon by hiding behind the horizon. The clouds far above were placed in erratic positions, as Cloudsdale had been ordered to automatically produce clouds that moved on their own so more pegasi could join the army, creating a type of weather similar to the Everfree forest. It was hard to get used to such a thing; more than a few times did a sunny day turn into a thunderstorm without notice.

“Four months,” Twilight muttered, continuing her trot throughout the camp. “Four months since the start of the war, and nothing’s changed.”

It was true, and she had to admit it. Trottingham was unreachable, and with every second that passed, the inhabitants of the city suffered more. The Gryphon army was brutal, managing to repel every attempt to liberate the city so far.

Almost every single pony was taking part in the war, be it due to their own decision or because they were drafted. Friends and siblings had been lost, and sometimes it took days before any news arrived.

“No, he’s not gone,” she said to herself as she walked amongst a set of campfires surrounded by pony recruits talking about their day. “He’s fine... Shiny’s fine...”

She made her way past several armored ponies trotting around the camp and entered her own tent. Inside were the most basic of necessities for the common pony, this being a single bed that made her back ache every time she slept, a hooflocker containing many of her possessions, and a small desk with a lamp on it.

It was almost depressing.

She missed being Twilight Sparkle, not “Head Mage Sparkle”. Her life had taken a sharp turn from learning about friendship to teaching unicorns basic spells to enchant weapons and armor. She missed her home, her cozy bed, her pet owl, her assortment of books, and more importantly; Spike. They both exchanged letters on a daily basis, but nothing could replace waking up to see the dragon’s warm smile while he held a plate with a daisy sandwich on it.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, as there were important matters to attend to. The mare looked at the desk, where a stack of papers and a set of quills sat. But more importantly, the “pad”. Princess Luna had given it to her no more than a few weeks ago, including a set of notes.

Wasting no time, she sat next to the desk and levitated a quill and a piece of paper in front of her.

“Weeks have passed since I was given the pad. I am still amazed by it; such quantities of information, stored in something thinner than a book! I have spent hours upon hours learning about the humans, how they have managed to twist the laws of nature to their own will with nothing but their bare hands!

“But, I have also realized just how small we are. Princess Luna’s notes are incredibly grim. It is hard to believe that a goddess is questioning her own existence. I’m even questioning my own existence now.

“It seems like just yesterday when I truly believed our planet was the only one out there. Just yesterday when I thought Luna controlled the stars. Just yesterday when magic was truly just that: magic. Now I have no idea of how magic works. The archives within the pads have proven almost every single theory on how magic works wrong, and there is much more to it.

“Every answer raises a hundred more questions. There is so much that we don’t know, so much that they know, and so much within the pad. Even after all this time, I have only scratched the surface of the mountain of knowledge within it. And even then, the information within it is purposely limited. My assumption is that the humans knew how much this would affect us, therefore they made a set of boundaries, yet it is still enough for me to go almost crazy.

“The first hours were spent in awe, then came denial. I refused to believe that most of what we knew was a lie, a lie made by ourselves. They don’t believe in gods; such things were abandoned in favour of technological progress. And here we are, looking up to the Princesses, thinking they rule the universe.

“It even sounds childish, compared to what I have uncovered.

“Physics, chemistry, biology. Things that we attributed to mystical gods and magic are just numbers to them. We believe that gods created that, and never question that, while they left behind such thoughts and uncovered the truth behind their creation: nothing but a mere coincidence of the right elements being in the right place for a long period of time, passing through microscopic lifeforms into apes and beyond.

“What I asked myself at first was ‘Well then, who created the universe?’ I was pleased to find that they did not know that yet, but they just keep looking. For them, it all started with an explosion, and for us, there were gods.

“We must look so puny in their eyes, fighting a war within our own home planet, while they conquer star systems and fight wars that consume planets. They look at princesses and diarchy as something that stifles any form of progress. We simply believe that our rulers are gods, and live happily in a sea of ignorance, our own purpose defined only by our cutie marks.

“They don’t have any of those. They choose their own rulers, who must earn their right to be so in return. They choose their purpose in life, unlike us who get it chosen by unknown powers. They are based on science, which I believed to be related to myths and factors such as your soul, magic, and friendship. The only thing I have left to comfort myself is that I still have my friends. Luckily, the war has not been able to separate us yet, but that is not enough to clear my mind from that one thought...

“Is everything I’ve ever known a lie?”