Ascension To Beyond

“Remember. Move fast, no innocent casualties, and check those damn corners. Alfalfa checking.”

“Bridle checking.”

“Drift squad, checking.”

“Zebra, checking.”

“All teams cleared, weapons hot.”

Several explosions sounded out, as various parts of the building were breached.

“They’re coming for me.” Twilight said, her muzzle bleeding onto her dress as she smiled. “You won’t live through the night.”

“Tell us where she is.” The masked stallion in front of her said, hitting her again.

“She disappeared when the aliens came. I don’t know where she went.” Twilight answered, spitting out a loogie of blood. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell someone who kidnapped me in the middle of the night and tortured me for hours.”

“We’re running out of time, they brought the big guns. We’ve got four teams coming in, all of them heavily loaded. They came prepared for war.” Another masked pony rushed into the room, her voice betraying her gender. “Has she said anything?”

“Still feigning innocence. We’ve watched you disappear monthly along with Luna for the past few years. Where else would you be going?” He asked, his fist clenched and drawn back ready to strike.

“What me and Princess Luna do alone is none of your business.” Twilight said, as the stallion decked her again.

“WHY WON’T YOU TELL US WHERE SHE IS?” He screamed, grabbing her dress and lifting her off the ground chair and all.

“I would tell you if I knew. Heck, I’d probably be leading the charge to bring her back.” Twilight said, spitting into his face. He dropped her, the chair threatening to tip over before she caught her balance.

Several shots sounded in the hallway through the door the mare had come in.

“We’re out of time. I need an answer now.” The mare came up beside Twilight, drawing one of the guns they had recently designed and released, putting it to her temple. “Where is Celestia?”

“I. Don’t. Know.” Twilight said, staring into her eyes defiantly.

The crack of a shot echoed and Twilight flinched, her eyes closing as she tried to curl up into a ball.

A second crack.

“VIP found, moving to secure and extract.”

Twilight cracked an eye open and noticed several heavily armored ponies entering, their weapons scanning the room as they checked for anyone hiding.

“Control, inform them that we have recovered Archmagister Twilight.”

Several of the armored ponies came over, two of them untying her and the others checking the now dead ponies that had kidnapped her.

“We’re going to do a quick field check, is anything broken or any sharp internal pains?” One of them asked, as Twilight was brought to her feet. His hands pressed quickly against parts of her legs and chest.

“No, they wanted information from me I didn’t have. They were just about ready to kill me when you showed up.” She said, rubbing her wrists and stretching.

“Good. Now let’s get you out of here and back to Canterlot. Everyone is waiting.” Twilight was quickly ushered into the middle of the group, as they filed back out into the hall. Nothing short of a rampaging dragon was going to stop them now.

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“Oh sugahcube.” Applejack was the first one to get to the group after they had landed. The soldiers all moved aside, as the other elements came running up. It was a heartwarming picture.

Off to the side, the soldiers had all formed up in their squads in front of their commander.

“Damn good job men. No casualties, and the VIP is relatively uninjured.”

Luna walked up to them, all of them snapping to attention.

“You guys did better than a good job. I expect you to be up early tomorrow for the reward ceremony, in your dress uniforms. You’re all getting the Platinum Star of Harmony.” She said, saluting them. “Now get your rest. It isn’t everyday you save one of the most important ponies on the planet. Dismissed.”

They all returned the salute, before turning and heading off towards the barracks.

“I know you girls were worried. I promise I’m okay.” Twilight said, from within the throng of the group hug.

“But now we get to have a Twilight is safe party. I’m going to invite everyone I can. What kind of cake do you want?” Pinkie asked, pulling out her usual list of party necessities. She sat there, quill to paper and a giant grin on her face.

“Can we hold off on that party until I at least get checked out by a real doctor. The best I’ve had is a field check for broken bones.” Twilight said.

The rest of them quickly backed away, more than a few sheepish looks on their faces.

“I suppose that would be the best idea right now. Let’s go make sure you’re ok, inside and out.” Luna said, winking as she teleported them.

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“While you have proven me wrong, was it necessary to do so in such a shocking manner? Willingly letting yourself get captured, just to test your experiment.” Luna said, handing Twilight a wet rag.

“If I am not willing to go to such lengths to test it, how will I ever convince my friends that it is for the best.” Twilight replied, wiping the blood off her face.

“But honestly, subjecting yourself to torture. Was it at least worth it? Did you discover anything more than what our intel said?” Luna asked, removing the tatters of the dress and throwing it on the floor.

“Hey, be careful with that. I don’t have a lot of pajamas, and that dress is the most comfortable one I’ve gotten. As for information, they didn’t reveal anything that we didn’t already know. Some pony is pulling the strings from the shadows, spreading rumors and recruiting the stallions and mares that would prefer to see Celestia back on the throne.” Twilight said over her shoulder, a frown on her face.

“I’ll have them make you a new one. We’ll look more into where the ponies from your recovery came from, maybe that will give us a lead. How well did it work?” Luna asked, applying pressure to different joints on Twilight’s body.

“Any actual damage was healed almost instantly, leaving just the image that I was horribly injured. The field doctor was pretty surprised, saying something about ‘appearing much worse for wear than I actually was’.” Twilight said, allowing Luna to do her work. "Almost got to test whether or not I could take a bullet to the head."

“Did he just attribute it to your innate magic healing you?” Luna asked, ignoring that end comment.

“He just shrugged it off as ‘Element of Harmony’ magic.”

“And you believe you can convince the rest of the elements to go through the same process?” Luna asked, handing Twilight a loose shirt and pants.

“There is a lot of stuff we still need to perfect with the process, but I hope that we can have it done before they die.” Twilight said, her voice muffled by the clothes as she put them on.

“And how many of them will agree?” Luna asked, her magic straightening out the clothes on Twilight’s form.

“If I approach them all the right way, every single one will. The question is going to be how to do so.”

“So immortality is in your hands now. How does it feel, knowing you’ll live as long as me and Tia?” Luna asked, knowing to avoid the topic they were heading towards.

“It hasn’t actually hit me yet. Right now, I’m just living my normal life. Ask me in a century or two, if everything hasn’t gone to Tartarus by then.” Twilight replied, as her horn glowed. A flash of purple later, and they were in her office in the basement of the Magister’s Tower. Twilight moved over to the wall, her magic lighting up a pattern and opening the hidden door.

“You’ve done pretty well. You’ve somehow convinced the griffins, zebras, and diamond dogs to unite with Equestria. The United Equus Alliance is the most powerful military power on planet, surpassing even the dragons.” Luna said, walking through the hidden tunnel.

“Well, they were threatened with self-destruction before we stepped in. Their governments were in anarchy, everyone with any sort of claim trying to take it all for themselves. It’s rather easy to convince the people that we are their best choice.” Twilight said, walking through after her. The door closed behind them, seamlessly hiding where they went.

From deeper in the tunnel, they could hear the usual sounds of machinery and the hum of the ley lines echoing through the crystal caverns.

“At least you made sure to keep it secret. How many actually know what you did?” Luna asked, as the tunnel started lighting up.

“Other than you, four unicorns. All of which have been sworn to secrecy with magical oaths. If they try spreading the information anywhere, their minds will be wiped irreversibly.” Twilight said, as they walked out into a small lab.

The four unicorns that had been waiting turned to the last of the newcomers.

“Congratulations everyone, the experiment was a success. The first part of Project Alicorn is a complete success.” Twilight said, a cheer going up at the news. “Yes, we can celebrate. You all get the next two weeks off with full pay. When you get back though, we’re going to start adapting the process for a pegasus. I’m quite sure I know exactly who we’ll be changing next.”

The four unicorns turned and walked off through their own hall, chatting as they disappeared into the darkness.

“And if something happens that requires the Elements of Harmony before you can talk with all of them, how are you going to explain that yours no longer exists as it did before.” Luna asked, walking over and sitting atop the small table in the center of the room.

“If I need to, I’ll bring them all here at once and make them the offer.” Twilight said, as she sauntered up to Luna.

“And how much longer are we going to remain a secret?” Luna asked, as Twilight drew closer.

“I said I would leave the choice to you on whether or not we went public.” She replied, leaning forward and kissing Luna on the lips.

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Hermes Drone #11357

Sending high density info-burst

Priority Channel: Omega 0 0

Second Report

Count: 20 years

Discovery.

Realization.

Subterfuge.

Recalculating Odds: 45%

Re-Initializing Hibernation Protocols.