No mare left behind

by Thunder-Dasher

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Tragedy, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Human, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 35705

Join Twilight as she recalls her time as a US Marine during WWII.

It's been a year now since Twilight vanished after attempting a sonic rainboom. She's spent her time fighting in WWII alongside her brothers in arms. Now, after a bad jump, she finds herself back in Equestria. After a well deserved rest, a nice, warm bath, and the most unusual breakfast, she begins to tell her story.

Published 2014-09-08 03:00:07 UTC
Last updated 2016-02-01 05:04:45 UTC

Bad jump

"Alright, men, we're being dropped just outside Nagasaki. If the bombing tomorrow goes wrong, we're to go in and launch an attack, and make way for a small invasion force to come in. I won't lie to you, if this turns into an assault mission, it'll be the most difficult mission you'll ever be a part of. But, if we stick by each other, and follow orders, we'll get through it. Now, we drop in three minutes, so make sure you're geared up and ready," Twilight said as before she turned and headed towards the door.

Twilight had been teleported away from Equestria a year ago. Since then, she's managed to get herself caught up in the Pacific campaign of WWII. She's now a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. She's also been given command over a small squad of marines known as the "Legion of Nightmare". Over the past year, she's obtained many scars, both physical and mental.

A couple of days ago, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hoping to crush any resistance Japan had left. After taking notice of Japan's continued resistance, a second bomb was now being prepared for a date with Nagasaki. Twilight's squad was being dropped outside Nagasaki so they could lead a charge through Japan's barriers and allow a small invasion force to come in and drain Japan of it's life force, in case something happens during the flight of the bomber.

"Alright, come on, let's jump," Twilight said as she opened the door.

A slight breeze was felt as the door was opened. There was nothing but darkness outside. As Twilight's squad leapt out the door, she began to pray to Celestia, whatever good it could possibly do, that the bombing would be a success. As soon as the last Marine was gone, something hit the wing, just in front of Twilight. The sudden impact caused the plane to violently jerk to that side, throwing Twilight out of the plane. Twilight had quickly regained her composure, and straightened herself up, then proceeded to salute the plane, an old habit of hers that she felt gave the pilots good luck somehow.

It didn't take Twilight long to realize that she'd been thrown a little further than she'd have liked. While her squad would land relatively close to one another, Twilight would be landing a good three hundred feet at least from her intended landing spot. With it being so dark, and knowing she had just had to reorient herself so her landing could be as soft as possible, Twilight couldn't tell which way to fly in order to catch up with her squad. Instead of even trying and possibly flying even more off course, Twilight decided to dive bomb herself so she could reach the ground and figure out where she was as quickly as possible. She used what force she could to flip eighty degrees, closed her eyes, and began a rapid decent towards the ground. It took all of five seconds for Twilight to hit something.

When she came to, Twilight noticed she was no longer in the air. Something was off, however. She looked around and saw plenty of marble walls and columns. She pulled the M1A1 Thompson submachine gun off her back with her magic and kept it at the ready as she looked around the room she found herself in. It didn't take long before she got a feeling of deja vu. She soon took notice of a certain stained glass window with what looked like her. It felt like she was staring at some strange mirror.

Footsteps suddenly reached Twilight's ears, causing her to turn around and aim down the sights on her Thompson. She had expected to see a small Jap patrol, even though she knew at that point that she wasn't in Japan anymore. What she saw at the end of her irons sights, however, wasn't a Japanese soldier, but a dark gray stallion in midnight blue bat armor. It took a couple of seconds, but Twilight soon realized she was aiming her gun at one of Luna's night guards. Twilight swiftly put the Thompson on safety, then lowered it to the floor and let it go, showing she didn't mean any harm. She had somehow landed in Canterlot, she was home.

"Who are you, and what is your business here at this late hour?" The night guard asked.

Twilight unfolded her wings to show that she was an alicorn. The display of Twilight's wings caused the night guard to take a couple of steps backward. After taking off her helmet, Twilight slung her mane to one side and said "I am First Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle, one of the four princesses of Equestria, and the star pupil of Princess Celestia herself".

This response caught the guard off guard, to say the least. It was no secret that Twilight had gone missing a year ago. The guard quickly regained his composure, walked over to Twilight, and pulled out a void ring. Upon seeing the ring, Twilight knew what was going on. She figured the princesses had decreed that anypony claiming to be her was to have a void ring placed on their horn before being escorted to the princesses themselves. Twilight bowed her head and allowed the ring to be slid over her horn. The night guard then took out some enchanted bandages and tied Twilight's now retracted wings tightly against her sides. Twilight grunted a little at the discomfort, but quickly ignored it. The night guard then picked up Twilight's Thompson and escorted her to Princess Luna.

"Princess Luna, I have a mare here that claims to be Princess Twilight Sparkle. As per protocol, a void ring lays upon her horn, and her wings have been bound to her body so that she can not escape," The night guard said as he entered Luna's bed chamber.

"Send her in," Luna said.

The night guard then stepped aside to let Twilight into the room. Luna raised her left hoof to let Twilight know to stop. Twilight prepared for the worst. What came was a flash of light from Luna's horn. After the light dissipated, and the moonlight once more became the only light in the room, Luna looked up to notice Twilight standing there in front of her.

"Release her bindings, this Twilight Sparkle is the real one," Luna said.

The night guard then took the bandages off of Twilight, allowing her wing to spread again. He then took the void ring off of her horn and stepped back. Luna motioned with her left hoof to let the night guard know that he should depart, which he did after bowing first. After the night guard had left, Luna nearly ran over to Twilight and embraced her in the most sincere hug Twilight has had in the past year. Twilight couldn't help but return the hug, reinforcing the knowledge that she was indeed home.

"Princess, are you alright?" Twilight asked after she noticed Luna had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm more than alright, Twilight. It's been a whole year since you left us, so please excuse my tears... I'm just glad to see you again," Luna said.

"I'm glad to be home. Though, I must admit, I am a tad worried," Twilight said.

"And why are you worried?" Luna asked.

"I'll explain tomorrow after breakfast. There's nothing I can do about it anyway, much as I wish I didn't have to say so," Twilight said.

"Alright then," Luna said, taking on some of Twilight's worry.

"So, where do guards take things like confiscated weapons?" Twilight asked.

"To the guard vault, whyever do you ask?" Luna asked.

"That guard had a very powerful weapon of mine, and I'd like to keep it by my side," Twilight said.

"Whyever do you have need of a weapon?" Luna asked, obviously shocked.

"I'll explain everything tomorrow, I promise. But right now, I'd like to get my gun back, if you'll allow it," Twilight said.

"Very well, follow me," Luna said after a moment's hesitation, after which, she headed towards the door.

Twilight followed Luna as she walked down the hallway. After a short while, Luna broke the silence with a question.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you wearing? Or do you want to explain that tomorrow as well?" Luna asked.

"I'll explain that tomorrow as well. I'd very much like to repeat as little as possible, if that's alright," Twilight said.

"I can understand that. Having to repeat oneself is frustrating," Luna said.

After the two princesses reached the vault, Luna asked one of the guards to retrieve the weapon that should've been brought to the vault not long ago. After bowing, the guard on the left went into the vault and came back out with Twilight's Thompson a minute later. Twilight took the Thompson and slung it over her back.

"Now, Twilight, follow me. I know one more pony you need to see before the night is over," Luna said, as she turned and started walking again.

"Princess Celestia, right? I can't wait to see her again, that's for sure," Twilight said as she followed.

"She'll be overjoyed when she sees you. She cried for the better part of two and a half hours when she got word that you couldn't be located anywhere in Equestria. Ten bits says she tackles you," Luna said.

"After just waking up? She's a princess, not a Marine, so I doubt she'll have the energy. Still, I can expect a long hug and tears like with you," Twilight said.

"She won't let you go, you know. She'll keep you in a hug for a few hours at the least," Luna said jokingly.

When the duo arrived at Celestia's door, Luna told Twilight to wait outside while she went in and woke her sister up. After about fifteen minutes, Luna called Twilight in, but not by her name so as to keep a surprise for her sister. As soon as Twilight entered the room, her eyes met Celestia's. Twilight felt like she standing in one place for an eternity before Celestia got out of bed and, just like Luna, almost ran over to Twilight to embrace her in a tight hug.

After a few minutes, Celestia broke the silence, still clinging to Twilight as if she could vanish again at any second.

"Where have you been?" Celestia asked, sounding like she was on the very verge of breaking into a crying fit.

"On quite the adventure, though not all that fun of one. I promise though, I'll explain everything tomorrow when everypony is here, my friends included," Twilight said.

"I'll go ahead and send Spike a letter telling him to gather the others and meet us here tomorrow," Celestia said as she broke the embrace.

Celestia then wrote a quick letter and sent it to Spike, who would soon awaken with a loud belch.

"So, what'd you tell him?" Twilight asked.

"I told him that I require an urgent audience with your friends tomorrow. I figured you wouldn't want your name mentioned," Celestia said.

"This'll make for a nice surprise. Unlike with you and Luna, I'll need to expect to be dog piled tomorrow by my friends and Spike," Twilight said, the statement earning a giggle from Celestia and Luna.

"Now, come here and talk to me, Twilight. I've not been able to see you for a year, so surely you can spare me a small conversation," Celestia said.

"I would, but I'm kind of exhausted. I'd actually like to just take a bath and go to bed... if that's alright," Twilight said.

"Only if I can get one more hug," Celestia said.

"I don't see why not," Twilight, walking over to Celestia.

"I've missed you so much, Twilight," Celestia said, pulling Twilight into another tight embrace.

"I've missed you to, Princess. I'm home, though, and I'm not leaving anytime soon," Twilight said.

"I'll hold you to that," Celestia said, releasing her embrace.

"I'll see you in the morning, Princess," Twilight said as she turned and walked out.

Luna followed Twilight so as to escort her to the nearest vacant room. Twilight thanked Luna, and, after bowing, closed the door and started to take her uniform off. She slipped into the bathtub in the adjacent bathroom and moaned as the warm water washed over her coat. After about thirty minutes, Twilight got out of the tub and dried herself off, then proceeded to jump on the bed. After climbing under the covers, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. With Luna on watch, Twilight was sure to have good dreams tonight.

Omnivore

It was early in the morning when Twilight awoke. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but Twilight was wide awake. Unable to fall asleep, Twilight decided to get dressed and go out for a morning run. Before running, however, Twilight took a ration bag out of her pack and used a spell she had developed during her time in WWII to quickly prepare the food and then proceeded to eat it before drinking some water from her canteen. After her short breakfast, Twilight headed outside to do some running. When she got outside, Twilight was surprised to see a familiar stallion standing outside, as if waiting for Twilight to come into view before moving.

"Halt!" The stallion said as he took notice of Twilight.

"You can go ahead and cast that revealing spell on me if you want, you'll get the same result as Princess Luna," Twilight said.

The stallion then cast that very spell. After the light had dissipated, he noticed that the Twilight standing in front of him was not a changeling.

"Twily!" The stallion yelled as he pulled Twilight into an embrace.

"It's good to see you too, Shining," Twilight said.

"Since when do you call me by my name like that anymore?" Shining Armor asked.

"Since now," Twilight said.

"Alright... so, where have you been? And what are you wearing?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'll explain all after breakfast, I promise. I want my friends to be here so I don't to explain myself over and over," Twilight said.

"Ok, then, mind if I ask what you're doing awake so early?" Shining Armor asked.

"My morning run," Twilight said.

"Woah, now, what? Since when does my sister wake up before dawn to run? Hay, since when does my sister run if she doesn't have to?" Shining Armor asked.

"Since I became a United States Marine," Twilight said.

"A what?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'll explain later," Twilight said.

"What're you hiding?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'm not hiding anything, I just don't want to repeat myself later on," Twilight said.

"Ok, whatever," Shining Armor said.

"Say, you up for a race?" Twilight asked.

"A race?" Shining Armor asked, earning a nod from Twilight.

"Yea, one hundred bits says I can run three miles faster than you can," Twilight said.

"You're on," Shining Armor said, "But I'll be one hundred bits richer after this, I hope you know".

"Not a chance," Twilight said as she got into her starting pose.

After a countdown, both Twilight and her brother took off. As the distance passed, the two kept good pace with each other. After the 2 mile count, Twilight broke into a faster sprint, leaving her brother behind to try and catch up, which he actually had trouble doing. It took Shining Armor nearly eight minutes to reach the 3rd mile after Twilight.

"I'd like those bits before I go back to Ponyville," Twilight said.

"How... how did you... manage that?" Shining Armor asked, panting heavily.

"It comes with being a Marine. Death waits for Nopony, so Marines need to be able to outrun him," Twilight said.

"Death? What do you mean, death? What've you gotten yourself into?" Shining Armor asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Twilight said.

"When my sister starts talking about outrunning death, I will worry," Shining Armor said.

"The explanation will scare you more than that, I guarantee it," Twilight said.

"I have plenty of time, so what's going on?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'll explain everything after my friends get here, I promise," Twilight said.

"Ugh, fine, but you better not let me down," Shining Armor said.

Twilight then drank some of the water in her canteen before offering it to her brother who took it and nearly drained it. It didn't take long for the sun to start coming into view. Twilight took that as her cue to head in for breakfast. She motioned for her brother to follow her inside.

"I hope you're hungry, the chef made quite a large breakfast," Celestia said as Twilight and her brother approached.

"I'm starving," Twilight said.

"I could do with some food myself," Shining Armor said.

"Princess, may I make a strange request?" Twilight asked.

"I guess, sure, " Celestia said.

"Do you have any fresh bacon or ham like for when the griffon dignitaries come to visit?" Twilight asked sheepishly.

"Um, why?" Celestia asked, a little concern in her voice.

"I was wondering if maybe I could have some with my breakfast," Twilight said.

"Ok, I know you did not just say that," Shining Armor said.

"Yes, I did. When meat is part of your rations, and sometimes all you get to eat, you learn to adapt to it. It's not that bad once you start to be able to digest it," Twilight said.

"I'm glad I haven't eaten anything yet," Shining Armor said.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that, Twilight," Celestia said.

"It's fine if you want to turn my request down, I was just asking. I kind of expected a no, to be perfectly honest," Twilight said.

"It is a rather strange request, but I can't just say no like that," Celestia said.

"Princess, that's a joke, right?" Shining Armor asked.

"No, it's not. Your sister has been gone for a year, things will have undoubtedly changed," Celestia said.

"I know she's changed in a few ways. Hay, she challenged me to a three mile run before the sunrise this morning. But she's asking for meat, now," Shining Armor said.

"I am aware, Shining Armor. However, if that's what she wants, then so be it. I am unsure of how she came to gain the ability to safely digest meat products, but that does not require an answer in order for me to honor her request," Celestia said.

"If it bothers you that much, I don't have to have any," Twilight said.

"No... it's fine, I guess. I just have to come to terms with the fact that my sister is now a carnivore," Shining Armor said.

"One, I'm an omnivore. I don't eat only meat. Two, I'm glad you can still call me your sister after hearing that," Twilight said.

"You'll always be my sister, Twily, no matter what you eat... well, as long as it's not pony meat," Shining Armor said.

"I'm not a cannibal," Twilight said.

"I know, I just... never mind, let's go eat," Shining Armor said..

"That smells delicious," Twilight said as the smell of the bacon she requested reached her nose.

"Smells disgusting to me," Shining Armor said.

"So, Twilight, how did you come to adapt to meat products?" Celestia asked.

"Like I said earlier, you learn to adapt when it's part of your rations. Sometimes, all we'd get is meat for the day. Not like I could just turn it down. A hungry marine is a dead marine, after all," Twilight said.

"And were you never near grass or flowers?" Shining Armor asked.

"I was almost always near grass, but it would've been ill-advised to try and eat any of it. To do so would distract me and leave me open to possible banzai attacks. Snakes, as we call them, lay still in the grass and it's almost impossible to see them if you're not looking for them. They have blades on the ends of their weapons. Try and guess what would happen if I were eat some grass near a 'snake'," Twilight said.

"Wait a second, what!?" Shining Armor yelled.

"Exactly, so you can see why I had to adapt to meat," Twilight said.

"No no no, first you talk about death following you, now you're talking about enemy attacks. What have you been up to?" Shining armor asked.

"If you want the short end of it, I'm a United States Marine, we are the first the see the battlefield," Twilight said.

"So, you're a warrior now?" Shining Armor asked.

"I prefer the term 'Marine', but yes. I have been fighting in a war for the past year. It's not been pretty, it's not been fun, but that's just how war is. Freedom is not given, it is earned through the blood, sweat, and tears shed by those in the armed forces," Twilight said.

Nothing else was said for the rest of Breakfast as both Shining Armor and Celestia tried to process what Twilight had told them about being involved in a war. It wasn't until Luna had decided to partake in Breakfast that the silence was finally broken.

"I thought you had already finished and gone to wait for Twilight's friends," Luna said.

"No, we're just trying to wrap our brains around my sister just coming back from a war," Shining Armor said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Luna asked.

"It would seem as though Twilight is a trained warrior. Hard for me to take in at first, still hard to accept," Celestia said.

"I... see," Luna said as the smell of fresh bacon reached her, "So... are we planning on having Griffons or Minotaurs visit?"

"No, Twilight's here to visit," Shining Armor said.

"I am aware of this," Luna said.

"It appears as though Twilight is also capable of safely digesting meat products that she eats," Celestia said.

"Is this true, Twilight?" Luna asked.

"Yea, and I gotta say, this is better than field rations," Twilight said as she took a bite of bacon right there in front of Luna, "Much better".

"Well that... is, um... quite a talent," Luna said.

"You'll have to wait for my friends to get here unless either Princess Celestia or my brother want to try and explain it," Twilight said.

"I'm good, thank you," Luna said.

Just then, the doors burst open as Twilight's friends came running into the room.

"We got your letter Princess, what's the matter?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm the matter," Twilight said as she called the attention of her friends.

It took a couple moments before the others were able to process the fact that Twilight was sitting right there in front of them. When they finally processed it all, they yelled Twilight's name and ran over to her to embrace her in the first full group hug they've had in a year.

"Where have you been?" Was a common question all of a sudden.

"Well, sit down, and I'll explain," Twilight said.

"Looks like we get quite a feast as well," Applejack said as she took in all the food in front of her.

As the group grabbed some food and sat down, the chef brought out another plate for Twilight.

"Here you go, Miss Sparkle, some of our finest steak," The chef said, causing table to go quiet and earning Twilight plenty of weird looks.

"Thanks," Twilight said before cutting a small slice off the steak, picking it up, and taking a bite,"This is amazing. What did you say this was?".

"Steak, the finest of it in all of Canterlot" The chef said

"I'll have to take some of this home when I leave, it's good," Twilight said.

"That's not real beef, is it?" Applejack asked.

"Oh yes, it is. One hundred percent genuine Canterlot bovine," The chef said.

"I think I'm actually full now," Rainbow Dash said.

"About the same reaction I had," Shining Armor said.

"Sugarcube, ah hope ya know that we ponies can't eat meat," Applejack said.

"A little magic goes a long way when trying to adapt your body to different foods," Twilight said.

"But... but why?" Applejack asked.

"Meat became an almost daily food for me for the past year. I figured it'd be best to try and see if magic could help me out. I cast a spell just before my third meal and then tried it again. It worked like a charm," Twilight said.

"Were there no plants or anything green where ya were?" Applejack asked.

"Funny, my brother asked kind of the same question. The answer is yes, but the fact that eating even a simple patch of grass could've ended with a bayonet being thrust into my forehead was enough to deter me," Twilight said.

"What the hay is a bayonet?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's a knife that you attach to the end of a rifle for when you run out of ammo and the enemy is just out of reach," Twilight said.

"What the hay is a rifle? And what did you do to make somepony want to put a knife between your eyes?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A rifle is... well, it's... well, shit, how would I describe a rifle?" Twilight said.

"Twilight, do watch your tongue," Celestia said with a stern tone.

"Sorry, Princess, bad habit I picked up," Twilight said.

"Anyway, forget what a rifle is, ah want to know why somepony would want to kill ya," Applejack said.

"I managed to get myself involved in a war within mere moments after my teleportation," Twilight said.

"It's not April foals day, Twilight," Applejack said.

"That's not a joke," Twilight said, "Or have none of you taken notice of my uniform?".

"So, then you're a soldier now?" Applejack asked.

"Well, a little more than that. Soldiers fight in the army, but that's not for me. I am a Marine, best of the best, steps above the army, first into the fight," Twilight said.

"Never would've tagged ya fer a fighter, much less a soldier," Applejack said.

"Enough of this petty talk, I have some stories to tell you," Twilight said.

"I will ask that you do your best to keep the violence and foul language to a minimum, Twilight," Celestia said.

"No promises," Twilight said.

Operation neptune

Author's Note

Before anybody tries to correct me, I am aware that the U.S. Army stormed the beaches, not the U.S. Marines. However, Twilight is a 1st Lieutenant in the USMC, and I wanted her to start out during Operation Neptune (D-day), so I switched the U.S. Army with the USMC.

Operation neptune

Bullets whizzing overhead, explosions going off, and plenty of yelling. The air smelled horrible, blood was everywhere, and dead bodies littered the beach and water. This is not the kind of place you ever want to be, however, this is exactly the place Twilight found herself after something happened during her attempt of a sonic rainboom.

After the freak teleportation, Twilight found herself face to face with the inside of a large, metal box. She didn't have much time to figure out what happened or where she was before a burst of three bullets penetrated the metal wall in front of her, causing her to cower. She couldn't bring herself to move, or even make a sound. She suddenly no longer cared where she was, or how she got there. All she cared about was getting home where it was safe. Her thoughts quickly came back to her situation when an explosion went off next to the box she was in. Her instincts took over, and she got up and ran as fast as she could to get away from the source of the sound of the explosion. Not watching where she was going caused her to face plant the surface of the water, and she soon began to sink.

Fear is a double-edged sword. It lets you know when you're in danger, and to get away as quickly as possible. At the same time, however, fear can also send you to an early grave by making you think you're making the right choice when your best option was to just stay put. Unfortunately for Twilight, she had now fallen victim to the latter. Instead of staying in the water, which would've been much safer, she pushed forward to the shore, towards the gunfire, explosions, and killing. As she made her way onto shore, bullets started flying in her direction, some missing by just mere inches. Finally, her brain clicked on and she summoned a shield just in time to save herself. The first bullet to hit her shield was dead center, and would've been a headshot had she hesitated even a millisecond longer. None of the bullets coming towards her were able to hit, and disintegrated upon impact with the shield. This allowed her to assess her situation.

"Ok, so I'm on a beach, and there's obviously a battle going on," Twilight said to herself, taking in the scene playing out in front of her, "How in Tartarus did I get here? And what are these strange creatures?".

Twilight didn't have much time to think anymore as her shield suddenly vanished. It took a bullet impacting too close for comfort for her to even take notice. Yelping, Twilight quickly ran for the closest piece of cover she could find, which happened to be an abandoned hedgehog. Cowering behind the metal, Twilight tried to calm herself, which was difficult when she knew she could be killed at any second.

When there was a slight break in the gunfire and explosions, Twilight was able to take notice of more boats coming towards her. As soon as one hit the beach, it's front door dropped, allowing whatever was inside to escape. What was inside was more of the strange creatures, and they started running in her direction. Twilight thought they were insane. None of the creatures managed to take notice of Twilight, their focus was stuck on the bunkers at the top of the beach. When the gunfire started again, one of the creatures took cover right beside Twilight, and didn't notice her till he ducked to avoid the gunfire.

"H-hello!? Can you understand me!?" Twilight yelled, barely getting her voice above the sounds the battle surrounding her.

"What the fuck are you!?" The creature yelled back.

"That doesn't really matter! All I want to know is how to get home!" Twilight yelled.

"Can't answer that! Not like I should be trying, anyway!" The creature yelled before attempting to run to the next available hedgehog.

He didn't make it past the current hedgehog before he got turned into Swiss cheese. As his body fell to the ground, Twilight couldn't help but scream. She'd never experienced death before, so she didn't know how to handle the new situation. She felt scared, but also somewhat guilty. Had she not been there, would this creature have lived? Was it her fault that it was now dead? What would happen if the creature's friends thought she caused it to die? Would they kill her in retaliation? These many thoughts flew through Twilight's head as she stared at the dead body. She didn't have to think too much longer. A nearby explosion sent a seashell flying towards Twilight, hitting her in the side of her head with the force of sledgehammer, knocking her out cold.

Twilight awoke a couple hours later to one of the creatures prodding her side. She suddenly went into panic mode upon taking notice of the creature prodding her, and it's friend standing beside it. Her first thought was that they were here to kill her for getting their friend killed.

"I didn't mean to get him killed, honest! I don't even know how I got here, or what's going on! Please, just please don't kill me!" Twilight pleaded.

"Ok, did that thing just talk?" Asked the creature on the left.

"Yea, I think it did," Said the creature on the right.

"Man, this day is just getting fucking weird," Said the creature on the left.

"So, if you can talk, you can answer questions," Said the creature on the right, "First, what the fuck are you? Second, where did you come from? And third? Why are you here?".

"I really don't want to answer questions, I just want to go home," Twilight said, whimpering.

"Well, where did you come from, then?" Asked the creature on the right.

"I'm from Ponyville," Twilight said.

"You deal with this thing, I'm going to get the captain. He's going to want to hear about this," Said the creature on the left as it turned and walked away.

"Yeah, sure thing," Said the creature on the right, not taking his gaze away from Twilight, "Now where the fuck is Ponyville? I never heard of it".

"It's close to Canterlot. Heck, if you can just point me in the direction of Canterlot, I can find my way home," Twilight said.

"Well, not sure where that is either, but whatever I guess," The creature said calmly, making it obvious he meant Twilight no harm.

"We are in Equestria, right?" Twilight asked.

"Nope, we're in France," The creature said.

"I've never heard of a nation called France," Twilight said.

"It's not a nation," The creature said.

"Well, whatever it is, I've never heard of it," Twilight said.

"So, what exactly are you?" The creature asked, "If I'm going to help you, I'm going to need to know more about you".

"You want... to help me?" Twilight asked.

"Well, yea. You're obviously far away from home, and I kind of have a soft spot for animals," The creature said.

"First off, I'm not an animal. I am an alicorn, and my name is Twilight Sparkle. I am one of the four princesses of Equestria," Twilight said, slightly irritated at being called an animal.

"Well to us humans, you're an animal. You're sentient, that much is obvious, but you're still an animal by definition," The creature said.

"I am NOT an animal!" Twilight yelled.

"Ok, ok, geez," The human said.

"Ah don't mean ta interrupt, but didn't it strike ya as odd how trusting these creatures are?" Apple jack asked.

"It actually took them a good while for them to actually trust me," Twilight said.

"That ain't what it sounds like, " Applejack said.

"Humans aren't really the most trusting beings out there. If anything, their the most cynical beings I've ever met," Twilight said.

"Well, alright then," Applejack said, "So, what happened next?".

"Yes, do continue, I am interested in hearing what happened next," Luna said.

"Well, I'll be damned," Came a voice from behind the human that Twilight was talking with.

The human instantly snapped up,stood at attention, and saluted the new human. This simple action told Twilight these humans were part of their military, as she'd seen her brother do the same thing many times when a superior showed up.

"At ease, Corporal. What have you managed to learn?" The new human asked.

"Well, sir, I found out that she's not from this world at all. She's from a place called 'Equestria', and that's nowhere on our planet," Corporal said. Twilight gave him that name, not knowing his real one.

"An alien, huh? I must say, that's quite fascinating," The new human said as he looked over Twilight, "Take her to the command tent, I want to have a little chat with this alien myself".

"Yes, sir!" Corporal said, snapping back to attention and saluting.

Twilight, now afraid again, reluctantly followed Corporal back to the command tent at the top of the beach. When they got inside, it was empty, deepening Twilight's fear. She gulped as she realized there was no way to turn back now. Corporal just gave her a weak, but slightly reassuring, smile to try and help her calm down.

"You may leave, Corporal," The human said.

As Corporal left, Twilight's fear worsened. Now, she was left alone with a new human that she didn't know, who scared her with just his voice alone. She tried to hide her fear, but her trembling legs betrayed her.

"I am Captain Dreadson of the United States Marine Corps. I want you to tell me everything about who you are, where you came from, how you got here, and why you're here. I do not like to resort to violent interrogation, so do not force me to do so," The human said.

There wasn't much for Twilight to say, but she told the captain everything she could.

"Are you sure that's all? Nothing else you want to tell me?" Dreadson asked.

"I'm sure, yea," Twilight said.

"So you tried to perform this sonic boom maneuver and ended up here?" Dreadson asked.

"Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm an Alicorn, and one of the four princesses of Equestria. I got here when I about died trying to perform a sonic rainboom. I had to teleport myself away quickly, but I didn't have a destination in mind, so my destination was randomized. Turns out, I managed to get myself out of one bad situation and right into another," Twilight said.

"Well, excuse my rudeness, your highness, but how about you finish answering my questions, and stop being so long winded," Dreadson said.

"Alright then, so now onto Equestria itself. I really don't know how to describe it, actually," Twilight said.

"Well, maybe I should help you with that," Dreadson said as he pulled out his combat knife.

"No need to be that way. Maybe there's something else I can entertain your mind with," Twilight said in a panicked tone.

Just then, an explosion was heard close by. Gunfire soon followed as another human ran into the command tent to let Dreadson and Twilight know of the counter attack that'd started. Twilight just dove towards the closest piece of cover she could find while Dreadson grabbed an M1 Garand and ran outside to help his men. It didn't take long before the command tent was blown away and Twilight was left with even less cover. She was no fighter, and immediately ran towards the wall of sandbags that was close by to hide.

"Twilight, right?" Some human behind Twilight yelled, causing her to spin around.

"Yea, that's me!" Twilight yelled.

"Think you can use your magic and use this without getting yourself or any of my brothers killed!?" The human yelled as he handed Twilight an M1911.

"I'm not much of a fighter, but I can manipulate it easily if I know how to use it!", Twilight yelled.

"See this trigger!?" The human yelled.

"Yea, what about it!?" Twilight yelled.

"Just pull this, however you can, and make sure the barrel is pointed at the guys shooting in our direction!" The human yelled.

"You mean like this!?" Twilight yelled as she enveloped the pistol in her magic, aimed it away from her, and pulled the trigger.

"Right. Now, just remember, you can only fire that thing six more times before you need to replace it's clip. Stay by me and let me know when you need a reload, I'll handle it for you right now!" The human yelled.

"Do I have a choice in this matter!?" Twilight yelled, "I don't really like to cause pain, and I like killing even less!".

"If you want a better chance at staying alive, then you don't have much of a choice! It's either you or them!" The human yelled.

With that, Twilight popped her head over the top of the sandbag wall with her M1911 aimed at the attacking Germans. She couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger at first, but then she was almost struck by a small burst of bullets. That's when the gravity of the situation hit her, and she realized that what the human beside her, which she was finally to recognize as Corporal, had said was true. If the Germans saw her, they'd more than likely kill her just simply because she was with the United States Marines.

"It's either you, or them, Twilight," Twilight whispered to herself as she took careful aim and then pulled the trigger.

Hard to swallow

"So, what are these humans made of that would require the use of such force?" Luna asked.

"Grenades are used to take out clusters of enemies, or flush them out from behind cover," Twilight said.

"I imagine five seconds isn't enough to get away from such a thing," Luna said.

"You'd be surprised how fast you can run when you know death is heading your way," Twilight said.

"Why were they fighting each other, anyway?" Fluttershy asked, "If you, um, don't mind telling us that is".

"The whole war, from what I've been told, has been fought with Germany as the main enemy for their inhumane acts against innocents. They started up these places called concentration camps, horrible camps filled with slaves who weren't seen as part of the perfect race. If they did anything wrong, they were beat. If their mistake was bad enough, they were sent to these rooms where they were gassed and killed. Not pretty to hear about, even less pretty to witness it firsthoof," Twilight said.

"That has got to be the most horrible thing ah have ever heard," Applejack said, "How can ya be so selfish as to think ya'll are part of a perfect race? Even the unicorns of old weren't that bad... were they?".

"I don't believe so," Twilight said, "But the United States, whom I fought for, didn't enter the war until December 7, 1941. On that day, one of our naval bases was attacked by the Japanese empire. I still don't know why they attacked us first, was never told, but they then became our enemy. I don't remember how many died, but I know that it was the biggest mistake the Japs could've ever made. In fact, it was their homeland that I was dropping into when I somehow got back last night," Twilight said.

"Sounds like you've been busy, what with fighting on two fronts," Luna said.

"And I hope none of you ever have to witness anything like it," Twilight said, "Anyway, shall I continue?".

"Alright, men, listen up! Today, we've gained a new friend," Dreadson said before stepping aside and letting Twilight walk forward, "Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and she's now one of us. I know it'll take some time for you all to trust her one hundred percent, and I do not hold that against you. I do, however, ask that you treat her with respect. She is one of us, now, and she should be treated as such".

"But, sir, she's a horse," One of the many humans said.

"Would you like to explain?" Dreadson asked Twilight.

"Of course," Twilight said, "As the captain has already told you, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I am no horse, but an alicorn pony".

"Holy shit! It can talk!" Called out many of the humans in the crowd.

"How is she supposed to be one of us, sir?" One of the humans asked, "Her hooves might help in close quarters combat, but we don't really get into many of those".

"Show them," Dreadson said as he held out a 1911.

Twilight wrapped the pistol in her magic and aimed it to the side so she wouldn't hit anyone. She took aim and pulled the trigger. As before, the recoil didn't affect her at all as she fired all seven shots in the clip. After she finished, she gave the pistol back to Dreadson.

"She appears to have great control over this magic of hers. She also helped us during that counter attack we just fought off, and she's still very much alive. I'd say she can handle herself quite well in a firefight," Dreadson said.

"And seeing as how I have never seen heard of a gun before I arrived, nor have I ever been in a battle of such magnitude, I'd say the captain's statement holds a little more ground," Twilight said proudly.

"I don't mean any disrespect, but she should go through boot camp before she fights with us, sir," Another human said.

"You honestly think for a second that they'd allow an animal to go through boot camp?" Dreadson asked, "It doesn't matter if she's sentient or not, they'd just laugh and send her away".

"With all due respect, I'm not an animal. I'd prefer to not be called one, it's quite degrading," Twilight said.

"Any more questions!?" Dreadson called out.

When no more questions were asked, Dreadson dismissed the crowd. Twilight took it as her cue to take on a sense of calm again. As she left Dreadson, Corporal approached.

"Are you hungry, by any chance?" Corporal asked.

Twilight's growling belly answered for her. Corporal then motioned for Twilight to follow him, which she did eagerly. The trek was silent, the duo having food on their minds, and nothing else at the time. As they got closer to the crowd, Twilight took notice of a scent she'd not smelled in some time. She froze as she remembered what the smell was, fear rising up in her yet again. Corporal took notice right away and asked what was wrong.

"You... you eat meat?" Twilight asked.

"You're safe, don't worry," Corporal said.

"How can I be sure of that?" Twilight asked.

"You've gotten on the captain's good side. None of us would dare lay a finger on you," Corporal said.

"And if that wasn't the case?" Twilight nervously asked.

"It's nothing to worry about, I promise. Plus, we aren't strict carnivores, we also eat fruit and veggies as well," Corporal said.

"So... you're omnivores?" Twilight asked, "Well, that's a little more comforting".

"Well come on, let's go get you something green to eat," Corporal said.

Twilight was quite disappointed when the chef said they had nothing left but meat rations. She began to look around for anything to eat, but only found dirt, sand, and rocks. She didn't like having an empty stomach, but she was willing to deal with it till they found some grass at the very least. After Corporal got his ration, Twilight followed him to an empty spot on the ground. The lack of anything edible made Twilight's stomach continue to get more and more angry with her. Corporal couldn't help but take notice, and, against his better judgment, cut a small piece of his food and held it out for Twilight to take.

"No thanks," Twilight said.

"I know it might be a little hard to swallow at first, but you need something to eat. You're no good as a Marine if your stomach is empty during a firefight," Corporal said.

"It's not that I wouldn't be able to swallow it, but that my body wouldn't be able to digest it," Twilight said.

"Well, if you can digest dirt and rocks, then there's plenty to go around. Otherwise, this is all you've got to eat," Corporal said.

Twilight just stared at the meat for a brief moment before succumbing.

"My stomach is going to hate me," Twilight said as she took the meat into her mouth and started to chew.

The new taste suddenly filled Twilight's mouth. It was nothing she had ever known, and she wanted to just spit it out at first. The meat was quite hard to swallow, but Twilight still did her best. It didn't seem to have any adverse effects on her yet, but she figured it could only really be just a matter of time. When Corporal offered her another piece, she just waved it away. She didn't really like the taste, and she wasn't too keen on putting another piece of meat in her mouth.

"So, just like that?' Applejack asked.

"Huh?" Twilight asked.

"Were ya really that hungry?" Applejack asked.

"Well, kind of. Not only that, but I didn't know how long it would be before I saw a patch of grass again," Twilight said, "And Corporal was right when he said I'd useless in a firefight with an empty stomach".

"I'd rather starve," Rainbow Dash said.

"I have to agree. I'd rather go with some dignity at least," Rarity said.

"I didn't enjoy it for a good little while, but at least it got my stomach to shut up for a little bit," Twilight said.

"Ah'd like to think ya wouldn't enjoy eating meat for the first time," Applejack said, "Then again, I'd like to think you'd never enjoy it".

"I didn't want to eat it any more than I had to, believe me," Twilight said.

"And yet, here you are, still eating it. Oh, and you seem to enjoy it as well," Shining Armor said.

"You try going almost every single day for a year eating meat and tell me you don't enjoy it," Twilight said.

"Like I said, I'd rather starve," Rainbow Dash said, "I mean, it doesn't even smell good".

"You'd be surprised what your stomach will make you do when it's empty," Twilight said.

"So, is this going to become a common meal for you now that you're home?" Luna asked.

"Well I don't really need meat to survive, I am only able to digest it. However, I would like to have it on the side from time to time," Twilight said.

"And where do ya plan on getting meat in Ponyville?" Applejack asked.

"I won't be a hunter, if that's what you're asking," Twilight said, "I was never shown how to properly prepare the meat for a meal. Instead, I'll just special order some from up here in Canterlot".

"I suppose we could handle that," Celestia said.

"Would it be too much to ask that this be the only time we have to witness this act?" Rarity asked.

"I guess I can't deny you that," Twilight said.

"Good. I mean no offence, but it is rather revolting to witness," Rarity said.

"Would it be alright if we just changed the subject?" Fluttershy asked, "If that's, um, alright with you girls".

"I have to agree. All of this talk about Twilight and her new diet is getting rather old rather fast," Luna said.

"Why don't we take a break from these stories for now, anyway?" Shining Armor asked.

"What did you have in mind?" Celestia asked.

"I actually want to see how well my sister holds up in a fight," Shining Armor said.

"You're on, brother. Though, no magic will be allowed," Twilight said.

"That's fine with me. That will only make it more interesting," Shining Armor said.

Sibling rivalry

As the group headed to the sparring room, Rainbow Dash starts trying to take bets on who will win. Though she's one of Twilight's best friends, she has little faith in Twilight's ability to win in a melee fight. All but one in the group bets against her in favor of Twilight winning: Applejack, Rainbow's rival of sorts.

When the group finally reached the sparring room, Twilight shed her gear and headed to her side of the arena. Shortly after, Luna arrives with a couple of void rings to render magic useless, and wing clamps so Twilight can't fly.

"Hey, shining!?" Twilight called out.

"Yeah?" Shining armor asked.

"Don't go easy on me just because I'm you're little sister. I want you to come at me with everything you've got," Twilight said.

"I wasn't planning on it. If you are willing to take my challenge, you'll be getting hurt," Shining Armor said, "As of right now, you are not my sister, you are my enemy".

"Good, I don't want a boring fight," Twilight said.

"Are you two quite finished?" Celestia asked.

"Should be, yea," Twilight said.

"Good, because I need to explain a couple things before you begin," Celestia said, "First, this is to be a fair and clean fight. Any cheap shots will disqualify you immediately".

"But that just means Twilight won't stand a chance at all!" Rainbow Dash called out, "It won't be entertaining if Twilight can't throw some cheap shots every now and again".

"You better get ready to eat those words, Rainbow!" Twilight called out.

"Yes, anyway... secondly, if you fall out of the arena, get knocked out, or tap out, you will lose," Celestia said, "And if at any time I or Luna feel the fight needs to be stopped for medical reasons, we will step in. None of us will argue on the subject".

"Fair enough, I guess," Twilight said.

"So, are you both ready?" Luna asked.

"Yes!" Both Twilight and her bother call out.

"Then the fight may commence," Celestia said.

Shining Armor was the first to move. As he rushed in to close the distance, Twilight stood her ground. Thinking his sister didn't actually know how to fight, he grinned. All it would take is one blow and he'd win, easiest victory ever. When he got within striking distance, he raised his right hoof and prepared to strike his sister. As his hoof come down for the strike, he was shocked when it didn't collide with his sister's face, but the ground. In the time Shining had raised his hoof and started to bring it down, Twilight had ducked and slid to the side. Before Shining Armor could process anything, he got bucked from his right side, throwing him off balance and sending him skidding across the ground for a few feet. Within mere seconds, a second blow was heading his way. He managed to somehow regain focus and pull his head back just as Twilight's hoof came down, mere inches from his muzzle. He'd started off actually underestimating Twilight, and he was the one to take the first hit, and nearly the second. If Shining stood any chance, he had to take his sister as a more serious threat.

For what felt like hours, Twilight and her brother stood there, staring each other down, planning their next moves carefully. Shining Armor was the first to move, again. This time, Shining Armor came in from below, a move Twilight was not able to prepare for. When his blow connected, Twilight was thrown off balance as her head tilted back. Stunned, Twilight was now vulnerable, and her brother took the opportunity to bring up his hoof and throw another straight punch. Twilight, caught off guard again, took the blow right square in the muzzle, and was sent sliding, on her back, across the ground to the center of the arena. She was down and on her back, now all Shining armor had to do was pin her down and force her to tap out. He ran over so as to not waste this golden opportunity, and leapt into the air towards his sister.

He landed right where he needed, having all of Twilight's legs pinned tightly to the ground. Being that Shining Armor is a stallion, and Twilight a mare, he had a few more pounds on his sister. His weight alone should hold her down. Twilight struggled a little, only to discover that she was pinned quite well. Had she not been trained through war, however, she would've lost then and there. Instead, Twilight just relaxed her legs, and moved all her strength to her neck. While she couldn't use her magic, there wasn't any rule against use of her horn at all. She did the one thing her brother hadn't counted on, and used all the strength needed to throw her head towards her brothers neck. Had her brother been a real hostile, she'd have shoved her horn right through his neck. However, she only looked to get herself unpinned, so she just struck with enough force to make her brother flinch and stagger. When Shining staggered, he fell backwards and landed on Twilight's hind legs, leaving her whole upper body free. Twilight took this opportunity and struck once more, with a hoof this time.

As Twilight's hoof collided with her brother's forehead, there was an audible thump. Seconds later, Shining fell sideways limply. Twilight had landed her last blow just at the base of her brother's horn, one of the most sensitive areas on a unicorn's body. The blow not only caused her to become free from her brother's weight, but also knocked Shining armor out cold. As Twilight stood up, Celestia walked over and checked Shining Armor's pulse. She had seen where the blow landed, and feared that Twilight might have accidently killed her own brother. She was relieved when his pulse still existed, though slightly faint to show that he was fast asleep.

"And I believe we have a victor!" Celestia called out.

"That was amazing!" Rainbow Dash called out as she flew over to Twilight.

"Ah must admit, ah did actually expect the fight to last a little longer, but it was amazing to watch nonetheless," Applejack said as she walked up to Twilight, "And Dash, ah'll be taking those ten bits now".

"You two seriously bet on who would win?" Twilight asked.

"Well, ah bet in ya'lls favor, so don't get fussy at me," Applejack said.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked after Twilight started glaring at her, "I have never seen you lift a hoof in battle, before. What did you expect me to think?".

"I expected you to give me a chance at least, not just make the assumption that I couldn't stand up in a fight simply because you've never seen me fight before," Twilight said.

"Yeah, well... ah buck it!" Rainbow yelled, throwing her forelegs in the air, "You did put up a good fight, though".

"Remember, I was in a war, so I should know how to defend myself, weather at a distance or in my enemy's face," Twilight pointed out.

"So, how long ya think he'll be asleep?" Applejack asked, pointing to Shining Armor.

"He'll be out for a couple of hours at least," Twilight said.

"I do have to ask, are you going to tell Princess Cadence how you beat him?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I might just do that, if only to embarrass him a little," Twilight said.

Twilight then broke off and went to gather her gear. Forgetting the void ring on her horn, Twilight tried to use magic to get back into her uniform. When her horn refused to light up, she finally remembered she was encumbered and asked Luna to take the ring and clamps off. Now able to use her magic again, Twilight quickly got her gear back where it should be, then turned towards the others.

"Say, you've seen me hoof fight my brother, and win," Twilight said, "Any of you interested in finding out how my weapons work?".

"It wouldn't feel right to leave your brother out of that, would it?" Luna asked, "I mean, he's been there for everything else".

"I agree, plus I think we could use a little break for now," Celestia said.

"You girls want a break?" Twilight asked.

Every pony in the room nodded their heads almost in perfect sync.

"Well, alright then. Let's go and hang out for a little bit while my brother sleeps," Twilight said.

"Sounds like a perfect plan," Rarity said.

"Might I suggest you pay your parents a visit?" Celestia asked.

"I think I'll do that," Twilight said, "I haven't seen them in over a year, after all, so it's only fair".

"I know your mother will be very happy to see you, Twilight," Celestia said.

"Oh I'm sure she will," Twilight said before turning to her friends, "So, you girls want to meet my family?".

"Before you go, though, I will need to take your weapons," Celestia said.

"With all due respect, princess, it'd be better if I kept them," Twilight said.

"While I do trust you, Twilight, the law is very clear. Only members of the royal guard are able to openly carry weapons, and only on official business," Celestia said, "And I will not start making exceptions, even for you".

"And what about you two?" Twilight asked.

"That does, in fact, exclude my sister and I as well," Celestia admitted, "So, do not think I am being unfair".

After a short sigh, Twilight levitated her guns, her last grenade, and her magazines and clips towards Celestia one by one. What she did not do was give up her knife. She kept her knife hidden, not wanting to be left with only her hooves and magic for defense. She knew that if Celestia ever found out, she'd be trouble, but she was willing to risk it.

"And this is all you have?" Celestia asked.

"That's every weapon I have and all my ammo," Twilight said.

"Very well, then, you may now go," Celestia said.

With that, Twilight and her friends bowed to the Princesses before turning and heading towards her old home. As soon as they were well away from the Princesses, Applejack stepped over to Twilight.

"So, what did ya manage ta keep?" Applejack asked.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

"Ah may not be a perfect living lie detector, Twilight, but ah know a horrible lie when ah hear it," Applejack said.

Twilight sighed before wrapping something in her magic and pulling it out to plain sight.

"Standard issue combat knife. I don't the idea of having the rely on just my hooves and magic if I can help it, so I did my best to keep this on me," Twilight said.

"Well, can't say ah can blame ya fer feeling that way," Applejack said, "Though, ah can say ah never expected ya to lie right ta Princess Celestia's face".

"I don't like it, either, but I couldn't just give up ALL of my weapons," Twilight said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. If anypony asks, I never saw that thing," Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks, girls," Twilight said, "But don't go getting yourself in trouble just for me if Celestia does somehow find out".

With that, Twilight sheathed her knife and the group resumed their walk.

Family scars

"I wonder who that could be," Said a unicorn stallion as he walked over to the door of his house.

As the stallion opened the door, he noticed a group of six mares, one dressed in what looked like some kind of strange combat outfit, and a small dragon. His first thoughts were that the group were there to bring him and his wife harm. Without saying a word, he lit up his horn, ready to defend himself if need be. The need for defense, however, never came. To keep the stallion from attacking, the strange looking mare removed her helmet, revealing an all too familiar face. While the stallion had met a few purple unicorns in his life, he could remember one with that mane style and color pattern.

"It... it can't be," The stallion said, staring in disbelief at who he saw in front of him.

"It's me, dad. I'm home," Twilight said.

"But... Celestia said you could never be found," Twilight's dad said, "Where in Equestria have you been?".

"Not in Equestria at all," Twilight said, "But that's a story for later".

"And are these mares your friends?" Twilight's dad asked.

"Yes," Twilight said, "Now, may we come in?".

"You really need to ask?" Twilight's dad said as he stepped to the side to let the others in, "Velvet! We have guests!".

Twilight was the last to walk in. As she did, her father pulled her in to a tight embrace.

"I've missed you, Twilight," Twilight's dad said.

"And I've missed you too, dad," Twilight said, "How's mom been?".

"Oh, about as good as you can imagine," Twilight's dad said as he let go of Twilight and started walking towards another room, "When Princess Celestia said you had gone missing, your mother became a nervous wreak. She was finally starting to calm down when we got the news that you could not be found anywhere. It had been almost eight months then. She's never really recovered from that shock".

"Well, just wait till she sees me, then," Twilight said.

"If there was enough time, I might put a big bow in your mane before letting your mother see you," Twilight's dad said.

"Don't you think that'd be a little much?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it'd probably get her to laugh a little... first time she'd do so wince we found out you went missing," Twilight's dad said.

As Twilight and her father rounded the corner leading to the dining room, Twilight's father called to her mother in time to have her look up and see Twilight rounding the corner. Upon seeing her daughter, Twilight's mother froze. Her brain took forever to process what she was seeing. When she finally finished processing what she saw, Twilight's mother ran over and nearly tackled her daughter. As she ran, tears could be seen rolling the mares face. She never thought she'd see her daughter again.

"I can touch you, I can smell you," Twilight's mom said, "You're... you're real, right?".

"This isn't another of those strange visions of yours. Our daughter really is home," Twilight's dad said.

"I... I can't believe it. You're really alive," Twilight's mom said as she wiped away a few tears, "Oh, by Celestia, I thought I'd never see you again".

"I missed you too, mom," Twilight said as she hugged her overjoyed mother.

After Twilight and her friends left, Celestia took Shining Armor to a guest room so he'd have a bed to rest in till he finally woke up. Luna, though growing slightly exhausted from lack of sleep, agreed to watch over the injured guard captain. After about an hour and a half, Shining Armor started to stir in his bed, catching Luna's attention. As Luna moved closer to the bed, Shining Armor began to slowly sit up, groaning from the pain in his side and his massive headache.

"I was starting to think I'd have to enter your dream to wake you up," Luna said as she reached the bed.

"Is it safe to say I lost?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yes, you lost," Luna said, "How's the head?".

"It kills, to be honest," Shining Armor said, "So, uh, where is Twilight?".

"She took her friends and Spike to visit your parents," Luna said.

"Good place for her to be," Shining Armor said.

"If you feel up to it, you may wish to pay them a visit as well," Luna said.

"I will after I get some food," Shining Armor said.

"Then with that, I shall take my leave. I need to get some sleep before night must come," Luna said.

With that, Luna turned and left the room. After Luna left, Shining Armor got himself out of bed. As soon as his hooves hit the floor, however, Shining Armor took quite the tumble. With his adrenaline gone, he could no longer stand with the pain in his side. Lighting up his horn, Shining Armor levitated a chair over and transfigured it into a walker. After many failed attempts, he finally managed to stabilize himself and began to use the walker to move without falling over again. He hated making himself look so weak, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he couldn't stand, let alone walk, without some assistance right now.

After opening the door to his room, Shining Armor started making his way to the royal infirmary. He didn't want to have to use a walker to get home, so he went to get some medical attention.

"So, Honey, where'd you get that outfit?" Twilight's mom asked.

"It's not just some outfit I chose to wear, it's a Marine uniform," Twilight said.

"What in Equestria is a Marine?" Twilight's dad asked.

"We're like soldiers, only better," Twilight said, causing both her parents to freeze.

"I'm sorry, but did you just call yourself a soldier?" Twilight's mom asked after regained her composure.

"Yes and no. Soldiers fight with the army. I'm a Marine, I am a few steps above any soldier, and first into a fight," Twilight explained.

"I hope you're not hinting at what I think you're hinting at," Twilight's mom said, worry rising in her voice.

"Well, I never intended to hide it from you," Twilight said before letting out a long winded sigh, "I just got back from a year of war".

"War? You were fighting in a war?" Twilight's mom asked, her brain now broken.

"Yes, and I actually wish I hadn't come home so soon," Twilight said.

"And why's that?" Twilight's dad asked, "You didn't enjoy fighting in a war, did you?".

"I didn't enjoy the fighting one bit," Twilight said, "But, I had a squad I was in charge of. When I got teleported home, we were being dropped deep in enemy territory as a backup measure," Twilight said.

"And you wanted to see that through to the end, huh?" Twilight's dad asked.

"I only hope the bombing was a success so my men wouldn't have to go into combat without me," Twilight said.

"My daughter... a trained killer... fighting in a war... wanting to go back," Twilight's mom mumbled, finally catching the attention of the others.

"I think you broke her," Rainbow Dash said, waving a hoof in front of Twilight's mom.

"I'll handle her, you girls just help yourself to the food," Twilight's dad said.

"So, how bad is it?" Shining Armor asked.

"Well, your nerves are damaged quite badly. You have some use of your rear left leg, but it's not much," A unicorn nurse said.

"It'll heal, right?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yes, but you'll be bedridden for a week in the least, two at the most," The nurse said.

"Wonderful," Shining Amor said sarcastically.

"Anyway, I need to check on the other patients," The nurse said, "Do you need anything at the moment?".

"My pride," Shining Armor said, causing the nurse to chuckle.

"Well, if you need anything, just call for me and I'll come as soon as I am able," The nurse said, "But if you feel any pain, ring this bell".

With that, the nurse attached a small bell to the side of the bed. Satisfied that it wouldn't come loose, the nurse then turned and left.

"Where did you get that kind of strength, Twily?" Shining Armor asked silently as if Twilight was standing right there.

"Ok, so I finally got your mom back to normal," Twilight's dad said as he re-entered the dining room.

"That's good," Twilight said.

"She'll need a lot of time to get over this, you know," Twilight's dad said.

"I know, but she's just concerned is all. She never expected me to say that I've been fighting in a war for the past year, so it's only natural," Twilight said.

"I suppose it is," Twilight's dad said as he took a seat at the table, "Now, I want to hear all about it. You've given me the story appetizers already, but I'm still hungry, so I want the main course now".

"Well, it all started a year ago" Twilight started off.

As Twilight told her story, she got bombarded with questions. After a little while, her friends finally knew where she got her insatiable thirst for knowledge. When Twilight finally got to where she left off before her fight, she paused, trying to think of a way to ease the blow of the news that she was now an omnivore. Her father soon interrupted her train of thought by urging her to continue.

"Before I go on, dad, just keep an open mind," Twilight said.

"Just continue already," Twilight's dad urged.

"Well, it got time to eat. By this point, I felt like I was starving," Twilight said, "However, the ground was covered in nothing but dirt, sand and rocks".

"I'm not sure I get what you're getting at," Twilight's dad said.

"All I could eat was what my now fellow Marines had to eat," Twilight said, mentally bracing herself for the heart attack she was about to give her father.

"So, they eat dirt?" Twilight's dad asked, "That doesn't sound all that healthy".

"They're omnivores, but they only had meat at the time," Twilight said, "Being that it was all the food available, I ended up trying some when I realized I may not have anything else to eat for a while".

"I'm sorry, did... did you just say you tried eating meat?" Twilight's dad asked, nearly choking on his food.

"Yes, and my stomach hated me for it," Twilight said, "But I had to eventually come to accept that meat may very well be all I get for a long time, so I finally just cast a spell to allow me to digest it".

"There's a spell that does that?" Twilight's dad asked.

"Yes, though I forget what it's called. It's one of those spell you'd miss if you didn't try to find it-" Twilight said before being interrupted.

"Or a total egghead like you," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, I suppose that's true as well," Twilight said before shaking her head to get back on track, "Point is, I decided to cast it on myself so I wouldn't starve to death".

"So, meat is now a part of your diet?" Twilight's dad asked, "That's both interesting and freaky".

"More like just freaky," Applejack said, "No offense".

"None taken," Twilight said, "Though all things considered, I think you took that rather well, dad".

"Well, you did ask me to have an open mind," Twilight's dad said.

"Yes, I guess I did," Twilight said, "Anyway, that's where I left off with my friends before my hoof fight with Shining".

"Oh dear, what did he do?" Twilight's dad asked.

"He lost, that's what he did," Rainbow Dash said, "Twilight knocked him out cold".

"You actually beat him?" Twilight's dad asked, flabbergasted, "I wish I could've seen that".

"You want to see your own son get beat up?" Rarity asked.

"I would like to see Twilight beat up her own brother, yes," Twilight's dad said.

"Well, next time he challenges me, I'll let you watch," Twilight said.

"Please do, cause I really do want to see that," Twilight's dad said.

"Speaking of your brother, Twi, where is he?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Should he be awake and here with us by now?".

"Maybe I clonked him harder than I thought," Twilight said, "I hope I didn't hurt him too badly".

"He's probably busy with guard duties," Twilight's dad said, "Oh, speaking of which, you're not going to be joining the royal guard, are you?".

"Even if I wanted to, I don't think Princess Celestia would like the idea very much," Twilight said, "I mean, I'm a princess myself, so she might not even allow me to sign up".

"Well, that's a relief," Twilight's dad said.

"And even though I would like to go back in case my men got dragged into combat, I've had enough of war," Twilight said.

"That's a bigger relief," Twilight's dad said.

"Anyway, it's starting to get late," Twilight said, "Would it be alright if my friends spent the night here?".

"Well, how can I possibly say no to that?" Twilight's dad asked, "Any friend of yours is welcome to stay here as long as they need".

May I never forget

Author's Note

I'd like to give a shout out to my USMC recruiter, Sgt. Jones, for helping me write this chapter.

May I never forget

"Hold on, men!" Dreadson called out, "We're almost out of this!".

It was near noon, and Dreadson's platoon were engaged in a fierce battle. They were fighting at their best for hours, but the German forces eventually became too much, and captain Dreadson soon ordered a full retreat. This retreat wouldn't come easy, however, as Germans were ruthless, and they weren't going to let their prey get away without a fight. At least six men had fallen already, with another four wounded. The heat of the German pursuit meant that the remaining Marines had to leave their brothers behind, frustrating many of them.

As the torn platoon finally arrived at the planned evacuation point, they were finally reinforced. The German pursuit had been stopped by heavy support fire from the nearby riverbanks, allowing the remaining Marines to survive through the evacuation. As the last of the platoon got on the boat, the back closed, allowing them to finally catch a breath of relief. This relief was quickly turned into sorrow, however, as the Marines were finally able to completely piece together what they just got through. They didn't just leave their dead behind, they were forced to leave behind injured brothers who were no doubt shown no mercy at the hands of the Germans. This sorrow hit them all hard, but it struck Twilight even harder, as she simply was not used to leaving friends behind when they need help. She couldn't quite grasp the fact that there was no other choice but to leave the wounded and defenseless behind to fend for themselves in enemy territory.

"Alright, men, listen up!" Dreadson called out, catching the attention of his Marines, "I know many of you, if not all of you, are angry. I won't hold this against any of you. You all had to leave behind friends, comrades, and family in a way. This is not an easy thing to simply accept. However, I urge you to turn that into a focused shot next time you see a German on the battlefield. They took something away from us today that can never be replaced, and you should make them pay for it. Keep the face of your closest fallen brother fresh in your mind as you pull that trigger next time, and make every shot count so that the memory of that fallen brother does not fade".

This attitude was something Twilight had never encountered before. Dreadson was normally a calm individual, but now he was talking about firing in rage and hatred. This new attitude scared Twilight. Fighting the Germans for their insane crimes against millions of innocents was one thing, but now she was being told to pull the trigger out of pure hate, not concern for the well being of the innocents. She tried hard to convince herself that it was how things would have to happen, but could not provide a convincing enough argument for herself. She could not just kill out of hatred, she could not bring herself to simply excuse violent revenge. When the weight of the new order finally hit her in full, she started to weep. Her tears did not go unnoticed, however, and her fellow Marines did what they could to give her some sort of comfort. No matter what they did, however, it never worked. Soon, Dreadson told the Marines to just give her some space and time to sort through what she had to.

When the boat finally reached another riverbank, all but Twilight departed. She would need some time alone, but she could not get that here. After Dreadson ordered his men to help out with the rest of the evacuation however they could, he climbed in the boat and scooped Twilight up. She either did not take notice, or she did not care. As Dreadson carried Twilight, he could not help but feel sorry for her. Whatever she was going through, he would do his best to help her get through it. Dreadson thought of his Marines as his family, and he acted towards them the same way he would his own child outside the field of battle. When he was finally satisfied that they were far enough away, he set Twilight down on the ground. The sudden feeling of soft grass caused Twilight to stir. As she looked around, Twilight noticed that it was just her and Dreadson.

"Where are we?" Twilight asked.

"I figured you would like some space," Dreadson said.

"I do appreciate that, sir," Twilight said.

"Now, I know you have something bothering you," Dreadson said, "Care to tell me what it is?".

"Your speech on the way over here," Twilight said.

"Well, what about it is bothering you?" Dreadson asked.

"You're asking me to kill out of hate, and I just don't think I can do that," Twilight said.

"Answer me this," Dreadson said, "What did you leave behind before we got to the other riverbank?".

"Friends," Twilight said.

"Not just friends, brothers," Dreadson said, "We're not just comrades, we're a family unit. My men think of each other as literal brothers, and they think you as a sister. What the Germans forced us to leave behind were family members".

"I get that, but how is that an excuse for killing out of blind hatred?" Twilight asked.

"It's not blind hate," Dreadson said, "I said to turn that anger into a focused shot. Take aim and pull that trigger, keeping the face of a fallen in your mind the whole time".

"I still just don't understand," Twilight said.

"I want you to keep that fallen face in your mind to make sure it's the only one that has to be there," Dreadson said.

"So, don't fire out of hate, but out of love for your fellow Marines?" Twilight asked.

"Exactly," Dreadson said, "Never forget the fallen so that you may keep others from joining them".

"I... I see," Twilight said, now staring at the ground, "That makes more sense now, thanks".

"Like I said, we're all family in this platoon. In a way, even though you're not even human, you're like a daughter to me. I'm not about to let you suffer through this moral conflict on your own," Dreadson said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Twilight said, "Now, let's get back. I want to be able to help somehow".

With that, Twilight and Dreadson started heading back to the evacuation site. On the way, Twilight caught sight of something strange close by. The object soon formed into something more familiar. As Twilight got closer, she noticed the form take more and more shape until it eventually became all too clear. What she now saw wasn't something strange, but a very familiar mare. The mare was a darker shade of purple than Twilight, and had a mane that seemed to be made out of the night sky. The mare was none other than Princess Luna. The sight confused Twilight, and she thought she was simply seeing things, but then Luna spoke up.

"Is this the world you spent the past year in?" Luna asked.

Now, Twilight knew she was hallucinating. Not only was Twilight in a whole different world than Luna, but she had definitely not been there a whole year. Her curiosity got the better of her, however, and she broke off from Dreadson to go see Luna. As she looked back, Dreadson was still walking, oblivious to the fact that Twilight was no longer by his side. Instead of going back to her captain's side, Twilight felt it better to keep closer to the Luna that was in front of her.

"If you wonder what I am doing here, then rest assured that none of this is real," Luna said before lighting up her horn, causing the whole scene to disappear.

"What did you just do?" Twilight asked.

"I simply took you out of that horrid nightmare you were having," Luna said.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe this will help," Luna said as she touched Twilights horn with her own.

After a bright flash of light, Luna back away slightly. Twilight stood there, dazed for a few seconds. As she snapped out of her trance, Twilight realized where she really was. She was asleep in her own home, and Luna had entered her dream.

"Why'd you do that?" Twilight asked.

"To help you understand that this is nothing but a dream world," Luna said.

"Why did you intervene in my dream?" Twilight asked.

"It was no dream, Twilight," Luna said, "What I got rid of was a nightmare".

"Whatever... can you just bring it back?" Twilight asked.

"I can," Luna said, "But why would I?".

"Because I asked you to," Twilight said.

"You really want to be put back into that nightmare? To suffer while you sleep?" Luna asked, baffled.

"These nightmares need to stay with me," Twilight said.

"How can you say such a thing?" Luna asked, "Have you really grown that numb to suffering?".

"I have not grown numb to suffering," Twilight said, "But these dreams help me remember. They make it so I don't forget the hardships I went through".

"I still do not understand," Luna said.

"How much did you witness?" Twilight asked.

"Almost the whole thing," Luna said, "Why?".

"Then you'll know what Dreadson said to me about the faces of my brothers in arms," Twilight said.

"Yes, and it was quite touching," Luna said, "But I still do not understand why you want to keep having nightmares like these".

"They remind me of the sacrifices of my brothers," Twilight said, "These nightmares make it impossible for me to forget what they did, how much they gave up. They're not forgotten as long as these nightmares exist".

"So, you see these nightmares as a way to remember those who have fallen at your side?" Luna asked.

"That's right. I do not wish to ever forget them or their sacrifices, so I ask that you not interrupt these nightmares again," Twilight said, "It may sound like a stupid way to remember the fallen, but it's how I choose to remember their finest hours and honor their greatest sacrifices".

"I suppose I can understand that," Luna said.

"So please, just bring it back," Twilight pleaded, "Do not make it possible for me to forget".

"Very well," Luna said as she lit up her horn.

Within seconds, Twilight was back by her captain's side, and Luna was nowhere to be seen.

Unexpected visits

The morning came almost too fast. Twilight felt like she had only just fallen asleep by the time her eyes fluttered open. Walking over to her window, Twilight noticed that Celestia was obviously still asleep. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she knew that once she was awake, it was almost impossible to fall asleep again. Accepting this knowledge, Twilight walked over to her gear and started getting dressed again for a morning run. The noise she was making had not gone unnoticed, however.

"What are you doing up so early?" Asked a voice from behind Twilight.

Not expecting to hear anybody, Twilight quickly grabbed her knife and spun around to strike the possibly assailant. Her strike missed as the target ducked just in time.

"What was THAT for?" The individual asked.

"Sweet Celestia, Spike, don't sneak up on me like that!" Twilight said, "I could've killed you".

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Spike said, "I just don't remember you ever being awake so early".

"It's time for my morning run," Twilight explained, "I'd like to sleep, but old habits are kind of hard to break".

"Would you like some company?" Spike asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but you need to get your own rest," Twilight said, "Plus, I might go flying as well, and you don't have wings yet".

"Well, have fun," Spike said.

"I'll try," Twilight said, "And I'll be back in time for breakfast".

Twilight watched Spike climb into his bed basket before approaching her window again. She didn't want to wake anypony else, so she decided she'd glide from her window. As soon as she jumped, she noticed something was wrong. Before she could figure out what was wrong, Twilight crashed into the ground. After pushing herself up, she looked at her wings. Being distracted by Spike, and wanting to get her run over with, Twilight had forgotten to preen her wings. If she was to fly today, this would have to be fixed. The whole time she was preening her wings, Twilight mentally scolded herself for forgetting such an important task.

After she was finished preening, Twilight decided to take flight first and then run home after a little while. Knowing there wasn't enough room to take off very easily at the moment, Twilight walked to the front gate and entered the street. As soon as she was in a nice open stretch, Twilight spread her wings, focused her energy into her hind legs, then leapt forward to take off. After a few seconds, Twilight tilted her head back and the ground started getting smaller.

The night air was refreshing as Twilight soared like a bird just set free from its cage. The sight of the night sky was something Twilight hadn't really been able to take in for quite some time. The moon was low in the sky, but the stars were still shining as brightly as ever. It was a beautiful work of art that helped Twilight feel a little more at ease as she headed towards the castle.

As Twilight approached the front courtyard of the castle, she noticed Luna preparing the lower the moon so that the day may start. Having never seen this done by Luna herself before, Twilight decided to swoop down and join in by Luna's side. Twilight was completely silent during the whole thing, which only took a few short minutes in reality. The display was amazing and only showed just how much care the princess of the night took with her precious work. Finally, Twilight decided to speak up.

"The was amazing," Twilight said, causing Luna to jump.

"I certainly did not expect an audience," Luna said after regaining her composure, "But thank you, nonetheless".

"You take a lot of pride in your work, and it shows," Twilight said, "That was the most beautiful display I've seen in a while".

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Twilight," Luna said.

"I know it might be a little personal, but I feel like I should ask," Twilight said after a short pause, "Does raising the moon every night bring back painful memories?".

"Sometimes, yes," Luna said, looking away towards the sky, "Ever since that night a thousand years ago, the raising of the moon has become somewhat of a reminder, and not just for me, of my fall".

"Do you ever wish they would just go away?" Twilight asked.

"I do not," Luna said, "If I ever lose those memories, I fear that I may fall once more and allow Nightmare Moon to return".

"Sounds like me, in a way," Twilight said.

"How do you figure that?" Luna asked.

"Remember what I said about remembering my fallen brothers in my dreams?" Twilight asked.

"That is different, Twilight," Luna said, "I suffer so that Nightmare Moon may never threaten Equestria again. You suffer to keep the memories of those who fought and died by your side in battle may never be forgotten".

"But, we both suffer to keep memories from fading when they should not," Twilight said.

"I suppose you have a point there," Luna said.

"And before I forget, how's my brother?" Twilight asked.

"He's sleeping in the royal hospital at the moment," Luna said.

"Say what!?" Twilight yelled, "I didn't really hurt him that bad, did I!?".

"The nerves in his side where you bucked him are slightly damaged, but it's not permanent," Luna said, "He should be on his hooves again after a week".

"At least I didn't cripple him permanently," Twilight said.

"I take it you would like to go see him," Luna said.

"If that's alright, yes," Twilight said.

"Then follow me," Luna said.

"Mr. Armor, you have a early morning visitor," The nurse said as she woke up the sleeping stallion.

"Who? Huh? Wha?" Shining Armor asked, opening his eyes slowly.

"Your sister is here to see you," The nurse said before motioning Twilight over.

"Twily?" Shining Armor asked, "Didn't expect to see you this early".

"You alright?" Twilight asked, "Luna told me what I did to you".

"I'm fine, it's no biggie," Shining Armor, "Though it does surprise me how you have that hard a buck".

"I was in a war, remember?" Twilight pointed out, "Didn't get into much close quarters combat, but I had to be able to handle myself when I did".

"How hard would you need to buck one of those guys to put him down?" Shining Armor asked.

"When you get all your strength back, I'll let you see how hard it is to hurt me when I'm in my combat gear with a simple buck," Twilight said.

"It looks like any other clothing I've seen," Shining Armor said.

"Their world works differently than Equestria," Twilight said.

"I guess so," Shining Armor said.

"So, are you going to tell Cadence how you landed here?" Twilight asked.

"I'd never live it down if I told her, so no," Shining Armor said.

"Trust me, she's not the only one who won't let you live it down," Twilight said.

"Yeah, love you too," Shining Armor said sarcastically.

"Just focus on getting better," Twilight said, "I'll save the teasing till after you get out of here".

"Fine, I guess," Shining Armor said.

"So, you want me to save my story till you get out?" Twilight asked.

"Nah, just catch me up at a later time," Shining Armor said.

"Want me to hold off on showing how my guns work?" Twilight asked.

"Now, that is a yes," Shining Armor said, "I'm very interested in seeing how they work and what they can do".

"How did I see that coming from a mile away?" Twilight asked jokingly.

"Maybe you've developed mind reading powers," Shining Armor said.

"Either way, just focus on getting better, and I'll hold off on my demonstration till you can witness it," Twilight said.

"Any chance of me trying to use those weapons?" Shining Armor asked.

"I don't see the harm in it, so long as you follow my instructions first," Twilight said.

"What do you take me for? A danger to society?" Shining Armor asked, "I wouldn't operate anything without knowing how to safely".

"For now, though, you just focus on getting better," Twilight said.

"Yes, ma'am," Shining Armor said, horribly failing an attempted salute.

"If you were going to salute me, you should have tried it when you first saw me coming over," Twilight said, "Though, you outrank me, so I should be the one saluting you".

"And yet you still haven't even though you've been in uniform every time we've seen each other," Shining Armor said.

"Not used to saluting my actual brother," Twilight said.

"That's not an excuse, you know," Shining Armor said, "I bet you'd still get chewed out for not doing it".

"I suppose so," Twilight said.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," Shining Armor said.

"Anyway, I need to be getting home soon," Twilight said, "Don't want anypony thinking I've gone back to war".

"I guess I'll see you in a week, then," Shining Armor said.

"I'll just see you when you get better," Twilight said.

With that, Twilight turned and walked away, leaving her brother alone to sleep. She needed to get home soon, anyway, and she still had a run to go on as well.

Road to hell part 1

"Hey, wake up," Corporal said as he gently shook Twilight.

Twilight groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and took notice of the darkness, meaning it was still night.

"It's still dark outside," Twilight said groggily.

"I know you're probably not used to beings awake this early, but we're moving out," Corporal said.

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked, still groggy.

"We are going to secure the road to a town known as Carentan," Corporal said, "That's all I know".

"And it can't wait till the sun is shining, can it?" Twilight asked as she sat up.

"Under the cover of darkness, we strike," Corporal said as he laid a comforting hand on Twilight's right shoulder, "And don't worry, you've got an entire platoon to back you up. They may not take you as one of us just yet, but they'll stand by your side as long as you stand by theirs".

"Do I get my own gun this time?" Twilight asked.

"Not sure we've got anything to spare," Corporal said as he stood up, "You'll have to ask the captain".

With that, Twilight finally stood up all the way and began to exit the tent she was sleeping in just moments ago. Once outside, she lit up her horn and the tent started taking itself apart and packing itself up nice and neatly. Corporal could only stand there in amazement. Deciding it for the best, Twilight followed up with the same trick on other tents, easing the workload and decreasing the time taken to do the task by hand. Once everything was packed up, and everybody was loaded up and ready to move out, Twilight found her way over to Dreadson.

"So, you got any free guns I can use?" Twilight asked.

"Sir," Said a voice from behind Twilight.

"Oh, right," Twilight said sheepishly, "Sorry".

"When this is all over, I'll give you some proper training so you'll know how Marines do things," Dreadson said, "For now, don't sweat it".

"Alright, I guess," Twilight said, "But, I still need a weapon... um, sir".

"Right, and you shall get one, but not from me," Dreadson said, "The only weapons I have are what my men have".

"Then, where will I get one for myself?" Twilight asked.

"Off the body of a dead German," Corporal said, causing Twilight to gasp, "He'll not be needing it anymore anyway".

"It's still not right to just take something like that!" Twilight said.

"Remember what I said about it being your or them?" Corporal asked.

"Yea, why?" Twilight asked.

"The Germans would not hesitate to take a gun off your body should they have need of it," Dreadson said, "You need to have that same attitude".

"War isn't nice, and you sometimes have to do things you can't morally agree with in order to help complete the mission," Corporal said, "Plus, if you don't have a gun, how can you expect to protect not just yourself, but your brothers in the heat of combat?".

"Well, I-" Twilight said, trailing off into thought.

"Point is, if you don't take a German weapon, you'll have to try and make do without a weapon at all," Dreadson said, "Now, I'm not going to force you to do it, but I'd hate to see you die without giving yourself a fighting chance".

"Fine, I guess," Twilight said, a little saddened.

"We're not asking you to like it," Corporal said, "But it's really for the best".

Twilight hated the idea of robbing a dead body, but she would just have to set aside her morals for a while to survive. The whole trek to the road that lead to Carentan, Twilight tried to get it out of her head that what she had to do was wrong. She wanted to make herself believe it was the right thing to do, but she couldn't get her mind to agree with her for once.

Under the cover of darkness, the platoon made their way to where the first known German location was. Corporal told Twilight to hold back until the first bit was over, which she was more than willing to do. As the platoon reached their destination, a roar of gunfire sounded. The sudden burst of noise caused Twilight to cower more as she was still not used to the sound of gunfire. The night was lit up as guns were fired on both sides. The platoon was able to get a surprise attack in, which aided in their swift victory. When the gunfire finally died down, Corporal walked over to give Twilight some comfort. When his hand made contact with Twilight's shoulder, Twilight's head lurched up and the tip of her horn grazed Corporals chin.

"Sorry," Twilight said, panicking slightly,

"It's just a scratch, don't worry," Corporal said, "We won, by the way".

"That... that's good," Twilight said, unable to hide her fear.

"And I saved you the trouble of getting this," Corporal said as he held out a German MP40.

"This... this belonged to one of them, didn't it?" Twilight asked, knowing all too well the answer.

"Yes, it did," Corporal said, "But, it's yours now".

"I still don't like this," Twilight said as she wrapped the MP40 and brought it close to herself.

"That's a good thing," Corporal said, "For now, though, try and ignore that feeling".

"I can only get more ammo from their bodies as well, right?" Twilight asked.

"Or, you could check their supply boxes," Corporal said.

"There's that, at least," Twilight said as she stood up, "So, let's go check them".

As she walked, Twilight examined the MP40 so that she could figure out how it works before possibly misusing it in combat and getting herself killed as a result. It seemed to function in a similar fashion to the 1911 she fired before, with a few obvious differences. One thing that bothered her the most was how the magazine well was in front of the trigger. Even after Corporal explained how it could be used to help steady the aim while firing, Twilight still had a hard time understanding how the feed worked. She only knew how the 1911 worked with it's clips being held inside the grip, so the idea of a magazine feeding properly outside the grip baffled the alicorn greatly.

As soon as the duo reached the former enemy emplacement, Twilight started to look through the crates to see if she could find any spare magazines. It doesn't take her long to find the right magazines, but now she is faced with another obstacle. Having not been fitted for a uniform yet, Twilight has nowhere to hold the spare magazines. All it took was one look at one of her brothers in arms to realize what she needed: a uniform. But where would she get a uniform while on a mission? "You sometimes have to do things you can't morally agree with" played over and over in her head until she finally understood what she would have to do. If she was going to be of any use, she'd need more than one magazine. Struggling against her morals, Twilight wrapped one of the bodies in her magic and tried to remove its uniform.

"Good idea," Corporal said, quickly taking notice of Twilights intentions.

"How do you do this, anyway?" Twilight asked.

"I'll handle that for you, don't worry," Corporal said as he approached the body Twilight was holding.

"Thanks," Twilight said as she let go of the body.

"Lets just hope the others don't confuse you with a German while you're wearing this," Corporal said as he began removing the German uniform.

"I uh... I didn't think about that, actually," Twilight said, fear of being shot by her new friends forcing its way into her voice.

"When we get out of this, I'm sure the captain will try to get you fitted for your own Marine uniform," Corporal said, "But, this will have to do till then".

After the German uniform was finally removed, Twilight picked it up in her magic and started trying to climb into it. Being disproportionate to a human in multiple ways made the task embarrassingly difficult, however. Twilight thought over what she could do, then it hit her like a bag of bricks. Back when she was a unicorn, Twilight was smaller than she was now. The sudden change in size made it impossible for Twilight to fit into any of her nicer outfits. However, it just so happened that Twilight has a friend that could aid in her fashion dilemma.

"And that's where I have to thank you, Rarity," Twilight said.

"I'm afraid I fail to understand," Rarity said.

"Being an expert fashion designer, you know spells that can manipulate fabric and allow it to be sized up or down with ease," Twilight said, "You taught me how to perform one of them so I wouldn't have to worry about it again, and that helped with sizing me for the German uniform, and the one I am currently wearing".

"Well, It's good to know you finally had a use for that spell," Rarity said, "I honestly never expected you to have much use for it".

"Though, I do wish there was a spell to patch up bullet holes with ease," Twilight said, "The German uniform only had a couple, but they were irritating nonetheless".

"Well, I don't even know what a bullet is," Rarity said.

"I promised Shining I'd wait till he got released to explain all that stuff, so just wait for it," Twilight said.

"And while we're on the topic, I just have to know why your uniform is all such a horrid shade of green," Rarity said, "It doesn't really suit you at all".

"It's that way to help us tell friend from foe," Twilight said, "The Marine uniform is green, while the German uniform is gray".

"I suppose that does have a good purpose then," Rarity said, "Though, it still doesn't suit you".

"So, Twi, what do human wings look like?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm sorry?" Twilight asked, baffled.

"What do human wings look like?" Rainbow asked again, "Are they more like mine or yours?".

"Humans don't have wings, Rainbow," Twilight said.

"You must have been miserable, then," Rainbow Dash said.

"Nick actually cut some holes for my wings to fit through," Twilight said.

"Who?" Applejack asked.

"That's right, I've been referring him by his rank this whole time," Twilight said, "Corporals name is actually Nicholas Ross".

"That's certain an interestin' name," Applejack said.

"No kidding," Rainbow Dash said, "No offence, but what kind of a name is that anyway?".

"A very human name, Rainbow," Twilight said, slightly irritated.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Rainbow Dash said.

"So, what happened next, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Road to hell part 2

"That's a neat trick," Nick said.

Twilight had just finished resizing the German Uniform to fit her body. As she explained to Nick how she pulled it off, she also went about placing spare MP40 magazines wherever she could fit them. She didn't bother with a sidearm, didn't think she'd need one, despite Nick telling her otherwise. After Twilight had all the magazines she could carry, she did one last check to make sure her MP40 was properly loaded before rejoining the platoon.

"You ready, private?" Dreadson asked as Twilight approached.

"Yes, though I still don't like taking all this stuff," Twilight said.

"You don't have to like it, just don't let your morals hold you back right now," Dreadson said, "If you do, people will die".

The fate of countless lives resting on her actions wasn't new to Twilight. The moral conflicts she was having now, however, were something she's never had to face before, and it was hard on her. She kept pushing her morals back into the deep recesses of her mind, but it did little to help. How long would it be before it became too much? Twilight dared not give it any thought. She just kept her mind as focused as possible on the mission and her goal of eventually returning home.

Home... such a peaceful, comforting place. Her friends will eventually start to worry about where she is, and she had no way of telling them she's ok. It also didn't help that she's an Equestrian princess, so panic was bound to set in with the general populace when she couldn't be found. She had to get home as soon as she could to prevent as much of that as possible, but she not even the slightest idea of how to do so. Until she had enough time to think about it properly, she was stuck here.

Her thoughts popped back to her new friends, her brothers in arms. They were nothing like her friends in Equestria, but they were friends nonetheless... even if they didn't show it yet. She would need their help to stay safe and get home, but she would also have to repay that very favor by keeping them alive.

"Earth to Twilight, you there?" Asked a voice, shaking Twilight from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Twilight blabbered, coming back to reality, "Oh, yea, I'm fine".

"Then let's get going, the others aren't going to wait forever," The voice said.

"Right, sorry," Twilight said as she grabbed her new gun.

The platoon trudged through enemy territory, intent on securing the objective. Twilight was about to get a serious crash course in real war time survival and combat. A very audible bang rang through the night air as the assault on the second enemy emplacement was starting. Twilight was ready, already aiming down the sights on her gun like she was taught during the small counter attack back at the camp the day previous. As soon as she saw a German, she pulled the trigger. As she did, multiple rounds were fired. Twilight knew only about the semi automatic fire of the 1911, so she was unprepared for one trigger pull firing off multiple rounds. Thinking she had done something wrong, she dropped her gun. As it hit the ground, Twilight couldn't help but notice it wasn't firing anymore. Telling herself it was out of ammo, she picked it back up and pulled the magazine out. Upon seeing rounds still in the magazine, Twilight became even more confused.

This confusion distracted Twilight long enough for a German to sneak up behind her. All the German knew as that the alicorn was once shooting a gun in the direction of him and his comrades. He didn't know anything about it, but he didn't care either. He grabbed Twilight's mane and proceeded to pull out his knife so as to end the alicorns life right then and there. Perhaps he would be remembered as a hero for killing this seemingly dangerous creature. He didn't even think about Twilight's reaction timing. As her mane was harshly pulled on, she came back to reality once more. The sudden pain running along the back of her head and neck caused her to rear up and throw her hind legs out, catching the German off guard, and forcing him to let go. Twilight then spun around to face her attacker, who was now kneeling on the ground in pain. Not wanting to take any chances, Twilight pulled her MP40 off the ground and put the magazine back in with enough speed to make Rainbow Dash jealous. Not even bothering to aim at such close range, Twilight just pulled the trigger.

As the ring of rounds firing range through the air, Twilight let go again, feeling it the only way to stop what she thought was a malfunction. No sooner had the gun been released than the rounds had indeed stopped firing. Twilight had little time to think about it further before something wet splashed onto her face. She lifted her right hoof to her face and then lit up her horn to see what the wet substance was. Upon seeing it's red tint, Twilight knew she had just had face covered in blood. Having never had this happen before, Twilight's reaction caused her to simply vomit. She had seen blood before, but never in this manner.

"What a dreadful experience that must have been," Rarity said.

"It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure," Twilight said, "But it wasn't the last time I got covered in the blood of my enemies".

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy said, obviously confused.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I was just wondering why you didn't, um, ask him to leave you alone," Fluttershy said.

"That's not how it works, I'm afraid," Twilight said, "See, in war, it's you against them. Either you take their life, or they take yours. There are no peaceful negotiations on the battlefield".

"But, you didn't even try," Fluttershy said.

"He was going to kill me if I didn't kill him first," Twilight explained, "And he wouldn't have given it a second thought, either".

"But, how do you know that for sure?" Fluttershy asked, "He could have just been scared".

"We were on different teams, Fluttershy," Twilight explained, "He had a job to kill for his country, and that meant he'd have to kill me".

"I... I guess that makes sense," Fluttershy said.

"Trust me, I'd have avoided all the killing if I could," Twilight said.

"I just have to ask, what's it like coming so close to being killed like that?" Twilights dad asked.

"Terrifying," Twilight said, "The thought of losing hold on everything you know, leaving behind everybody you care about... it's the absolute worst feeling in any world".

"But you still kept going?" Twilights dad asked.

"I had to get home somehow, and my best bet was to stay with my brothers in that world. Plus, if it wasn't me coming close to death like that, it'd either be one of them, or an innocent who did nothing to deserve it," Twilight explained, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just stopped right then and there".

"Would you have pushed on if you knew for certain you would never come home?" Twilights dad asked.

"Yes, I would have. There were innocents that needed protecting, and my brothers in arms would need my help to protect those very innocents," Twilight said.

"That's good to know," Twilights dad said.

"Now, on with my story," Twilight said.

"Before ya do, Twi, might ah ask something?" Applejack asked.

"I don't see why not," Twilight said.

"Ya said ya took one of their uniforms, right?" Applejack asked.

Twilight just nodded.

"So, then why would that guy attack ya? Did he not notice the uniform or something?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I was shooting in his direction beforehoof, and I DID shoot one of his friends," Twilight explained, "So even if he did take notice of my uniform, which he probably did when he grabbed my mane, he would have known I'm not on his side".

"Ah guess that would make sense," Applejack said.

"Any more questions? Or do you want me to go on?" Twilight asked.

"Tell us more already!" Rainbow Dash called out.

"Hey, you ok?" Nick asked.

"I'm, uh... I'm fine, yes," Twilight said, "Got anything to clean this blood off me?".

"It looks good on you," Nick said jokingly.

"Oh haha," Twilight said, a little irritated at the jest.

"Alright, here," Nick said as he started to unscrew the cap on his canteen.

"That's cold!" Twilight yelled as the water from the canteen washed over her face.

"Well, I normally drink this water," Nick said as he recapped the canteen, "Would you prefer me drink warm water?".

"Well... I guess not, no," Twilight said.

"There, no more blood," Nick said, "Happy now, princess?".

"Yes, thanks," Twilight said.

"Let's get going, then," Nick said while standing up.

"Can you check my gun first?" Twilight asked.

"What's wrong with it?" Nick asked.

"It keep firing bullets after I press the trigger, and doesn't stop until I let it go," Twilight said.

"That's because it's an automatic weapon like my Thompson," Nick said.

"So, then that's supposed to happen?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, that's how it's supposed to work," Nick said.

With that, Twilight and Nick went to catch up with the rest of the platoon.

"Something getting to you, private?" Dreadson asked as Twilight and Nick approached.

"No, everything's fine," Twilight said, "Um... sir".

"Then can we keep moving without pause from now on?" Dreadson asked.

"Yes... sir," Twilight said nervously.

What that, the platoon started moving forward again. Twilight could feel the air of displeasure around her, and it made her feel like she was letting her new friends down. She hated letting others down, so she didn't like being where she was at the moment.

The rest of the assignment went fairly smoothly up until the end. Twilight managed to keep herself together through the other skirmishes, though it was not easy to do. When the platoon finally got sight of the final enemy emplacement along the road, they were caught off guard by a sudden mortar shell impacting the ground near them. Those close to the explosion got minor burns and a light shrapnel shower, but none took life threatening wounds and all were still willing to fight. The blast also caused the rest of the platoon to split into two groups. The two groups then moved around the enemy flanks as best as they could in a pincer maneuver. The left group got close enough to open fire into the emplacement, while the right group took the brunt of the enemy defensive fire.

Twilight was with the left group, so she was on the side of lady luck. As her group opened fire on the enemy, Twilight lit up her horn and attempted to cast an invisibility spell on herself. After a few short seconds, the spell finished, and Twilight was nowhere to be seen. If her cloak could hold, she'd be able to put a great plan into action perfectly. She moved forward into the enemy emplacement, making sure not to bump into anything. It only took a few seconds for her to reach her goal: the ammo crates. Twilight was aware of how ammo worked by this point, so she lit up her horn again, risking her position as the light could be seen by anyone looking in her direction. After about half a minute of focus, a small ember flew from Twilights horn and hit one of the boxes. Wanting to watch her plan go to work, Twilight decided to take to the air. Concentrating on leaving the ground, combined with being slightly drained by her previous two spells, forced her to drop her cloak, but she didn't seem bothered.

"You guys may want to get down!" Twilight yelled out as she flew over her group.

As Twilight continued to rise up in the air, bullets whizzed around her. She eventually got to a good enough distance and turned around just in time to watch the ammo crates start spewing bullets in every direction possible. Her gambit had paid off as the Germans were now being attacked by their own supply stash. The display took a couple of minutes to finish, but it left Twilight with a sense of pride. She had just taken out an entire emplacement without firing a single shot, and she got a nice mini fireworks show as well.

After the show was over, and she was satisfied that all the ammo was now gone, Twilight descended and called out to let her platoon know it was safe.

"So, anybody want to tell me what the fuck just happened?" Dreadson asked as he approached.

"Thinks to my magic, the Germans just got attacked by their own ammo, sir," Twilight said.

"And how exactly did you manage that?" Dreadson asked.

"I cast a cloak on myself to get in without being seen. I then sent a small ember to the bottom left box and caught it on fire," Twilight explained.

"Impressive," Dreadson said with a hint of praise in his voice, "Though, how did you get out in time?".

"I flew out," Twilight said, "It was an impressive improvised firework show from my point of view".

"You... flew?" Dreadson asked.

"With these," Twilight said as she spread her wings, "Did you not see them before?".

"No, I did not," Dreadson said, "Though they make you even more useful".

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"Most of these Germans won't ever expect one of us to suddenly fly and attack from above without a plane," Dreadson said.

"Plus, think of all the scouting you do without having an engine bringing attention to you," One of the other Marines pointed out.

"Right, and that's just a couple of things you can do now, corporal" Dreadson said.

"Corporal?" Twilight asked, obviously confused.

"Due to your jump in usefulness, and your way of thinking, I think you've just earned yourself a promotion to lance corporal," Dreadson said.

"I... I don't know how to respond to that," Twilight said.

"No need for a thanks or anything," Dreadson said, kneeling down and placing a hand on Twilight's left shoulder, "You did earn it, after all".

"I do believe congratulations are in order," Nick said, "Not even private for a full twenty four hours before being promoted, that's just impressive".

"Well... thanks," Twilight said.

"And it just so happens that I have a couple of old lance corporal ranks here," Dreadson said, holding out a couple of obviously worn lance corporal chevrons, "They might look out of date, but wear them with pride cause you earned them".

"Yes, sir," Twilight said, saluting the captain.

"Ok, I'm not even going to ask how that's even possible," Dreadson said.

Author's Note

And before anybody says anything, I am aware of the PFC rank Twilight skipped over, but this won't be the first time she skips ranks, so... yea, deal with it :p

Purple spy

"Before we head into town, we can do with knowing what to expect," Dreadson said, turning towards Twilight, "And that's where you come in, Corporal".

"Let me guess, my first spy mission... right?" Twilight asked.

"You do catch on nicely," Dreadson said, "Just remember not to get caught".

"I'll do my best," Twilight said.

The platoon was allowed a little rest after their previous victory. Twilight needed the rest more than the others so her magic reserves could regenerate. It was now dawn, and the platoon was getting ready to assault the town of Carentan. During the night, Twilight had revealed that she was able to fly after she caused the enemy ammo crates to handle the conflict for her platoon. Seeing a great deal of potential in the purple alicorn, captain Dreadson proceeded to promote Twilight from private to lance corporal, and even give her a specified job as the platoon scout.

After accepting her first assignment as scout, Twilight spread her wings and prepared to take off. Before leaving the ground, however, Twilight cast her cloak once more to aid in being undetected. When she vanished, the others, not used to the trick, collectively gasped in shock.

"I'm still here, don't worry," Twilight said in an attempt to calm her brothers in arms.

Twilight then took off and headed towards the town. As she flew over the town, Twilight took note of every single enemy she saw. Most Germans were walking out in the open, while some were in buildings behind window mounted machine guns. As she continued to fly, Twilight started to take notice of cannons placed at certain, precise points in the town. She guessed they were there to handle allied armor, given their size. She also took notice of mortar teams that were out of the way of possible areas of conflict. Having encountered a mortar strike during the night, Twilight was well aware of the damage they could cause if left unchecked. She made a mental note to fly in and handle every mortar team she found before they could fire off a single shot, giving her platoon more than a fighting chance. When she finally came to the town center, she took notice of the rather large number of enemies, mounted machines guns, and even the armored vehicle sitting just outside the town center. Twilight knew that vehicle would be trouble, and dared to swoop down and get a closer look so as to help her platoon know about any of its weaknesses.

"Ok, so the front is quite well armored. That would only make sense," Twilight said to herself as she took notice of the thick plating and small, rectangular windows on the front.

As Twilight flew around the side of the vehicle, she took notice of a lack of windows, but she also took notice of what looked like fading armor near the back.

"They probably don't expect anypony to get behind this thing," Twilight said to herself, "Well, they obviously don't know me very well".

Twilight then lifted her up and took notice of the turret on the roof on the vehicle. The base of the turret was a complete, unfaulted circle, giving the gunner a full three-sixty degree horizontal firing angle.

"Probably another way to keep enemies from getting behind this thing," Twilight said to herself.

That's when it happened. Twilight had to use a little more energy and focus to hover during her inspection of the armored vehicle. She was still keeping herself cloaked at the same time, draining her severely. She didn't want to think about what would happen if her cloak or wings gave out on her. She decided to land and focus on her cloak to keep it up as she got out of the town. That plan, however, was short lived. Twilight overestimated her abilities, and was now left exposed as her clock dropped as her hooves reached the ground. Never being in a situation like this, Twilight started to panic. It would be only a matter of seconds before someone saw her and raised the alert.

A German shout from behind her only worsened Twilight's panic, and she darted towards what she thought would be an empty building as bullets flew past her. Once inside, she bucked the door closed, causing it to cave in slightly and becoming wedged in the doorway. This would buy Twilight a little time, but not much. As she started to think about how to get out of her current predicament, a German walked up right behind her. She didn't even take notice until she felt something cold and round press against the back of her head. She knew exactly what was going on now. She had a gun barrel pressed against her head, giving her no room to maneuver safely. If she wasn't so exhausted, she'd have teleported already. She just sat there, knowing that even the slightest muscle spasm would get her killed. Her only hope was outside the town, unaware of her situation.

"Ya had a weapon, right?" Applejack asked.

"I wanted to fly light, so I flew in without anything," Twilight said, "I didn't fly in my confiscated German uniform".

"And you obviously didn't have a plan for that situation, either," Rainbow Dash said, "I didn't expect such a rookie mistake from you".

"I made it, though," Twilight said.

"Yea, but you almost didn't from the sound of it," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, sit your plot down and I'll tell you how I survived," Twilight said.

"Umdrehen," The German said.

"I don't know what-" Twilight said before being cut off.

"Halt die Klappe und drehen sich um!" The German yelled, quickly growing impatient.

"I'd do what you-" Twilight said before being cut out again.

Losing his temper, the German proceeded to grab Twilight's shoulder and violently spin her around. When he saw her face, he was convinced that she was dressed up as an animal so as to draw as little attention as possible. He then proceeded to grab Twilights muzzle and pull upward violently, causing Twilight to scream out in pain. If this was a disguise, it was a damn good one.

"Ruhig und komm mit mir," The German said as he started to turn slowly towards the caved in door.

Twilight could only guess that he wanted her to follow him. Not wanting to risk anything, she did just that. After they reached the door, the German proceeded to kick it down upon seeing the state of it. Now outside with his captive, The German walked proudly towards his commanding officer. Twilight wanted to just leave, get as far away from this place as she could, but she was stuck here until she could replenish enough magic to teleport herself away.

The German officer walked over to Twilight as she shrunk down. She was in the presence of the one who could have her killed or spared, and she dared not make him angry. After inspecting Twilight, the German officer then ordered for her to be brought to his office shortly. As the officer departed, Twilight felt like she could breathe easily again. A gun barrel pressed against her head tore that thought away all too quickly.

"Why didn't they kill ya when they had the perfect chance?" Applejack asked, "Ah mean, ah'm glad they didn't, but it doesn't make no sense".

"They wanted information out of me," Twilight said.

"And did ya tell them anything?" Applejack asked.

"What do you take me for?" Twilight asked, slightly annoyed at Applejacks question.

"Did that officer speak Equestrian?" Twilights dad asked.

"No, but they did have a translator," Twilight said.

"Did they think you were an alien like those other guys?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"No, they thought I was a poorly disguised spy," Twilight said.

"But you were a spy!" Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"I know, but they thought I was a human in a pony outfit," Twilight said, "That's why they kept me alive to question me".

"If you were nothing but a costume, I do have to say you're very well tailored," Rarity said.

"Um... thanks?" Twilight said, unsure of weather or not to take Raritys comment as a compliment or not.

"In any case, I think we should hold the next part till later," Twilights dad said, "I'm enjoying the story so far, but I think we should spend some time together as a normal family for now".

"That's fine, I don't mind holding off for now," Twilight said.

"I'll go find your mother," Twilights dad said.

While Twilights father was alright listening to the story, her mother was not ready to hear about her daughter fighting in a war just yet. As Twilights father left the table, the others set to work cleaning up their food and dishes.

Cutie marked crusaders

"So, Twi, how good are you at flying now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Pretty damn good," Twilight said, "Why?".

"You up for a race?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Only if you're ok with losing," Twilight said.

"HA! As if," Rainbow Dash said.

"Then what's the track?" Twilight asked.

"Here to the castle and back, five laps," Rainbow Dash said.

"You're on," Twilight said, shedding her gear, "Though, I'll need something first".

With that, Twilight went inside to get something. When she came back outside, she had a ring snug against the base of her horn.

"Don't need you accusing me of using magic when you lose," Twilight said.

"Ah thought only the royal guard used those," Applejack said, pointing to the ring.

"Void rings are also used when a young unicorn throws a tantrum," Twilight said, "Just ask my mother what happened when I threw a tantrum back then without one of these on".

With that, Twilight walked up beside Rainbow Dash and spread her wings. As soon as Twilight had her wings spread, Applejack began the countdown. Before the countdown could finish, however, Rainbow Dash decided to just take off and get a head start. Twilight didn't seem to care too much as she took off when the countdown would've finished. She knew that if she really was going to win, however, she'd need her own edge. With the void ring around her horn, she was unable to cast any spells to speed herself up, but that didn't mean anything. All she had to do was convince herself she was chasing an enemy in a dogfight. Something about being in aerial combat made Twilight fly faster, though she never could figure out what it was.

Rainbow Dash wasn't surprised when she passed Twilight halfway back from the castle. She was surprised how fast Twilight managed to catch up. By the end of the fourth lap, Twilight was nose to nose with Rainbow. Now on the final lap, Rainbow gave it her all. With her final sprint, the air around her started to cave in more and more, signaling the start of a sonic rainboom. Twilight had saved up her speed for the final stretch. In combat, you didn't want to go in full speed unless you had no other choice, but you also wanted to be able to keep up with your enemy. When she saw the air around her rainbow maned friend, she knew she'd have to give it her all as well. She put all her focus and strength into her wings, giving her the speed boost equivalent of war emergency power. The short boost in speed was all she needed. As the finish line got closer, Twilight was nose to nose with Rainbow again.

As the final lap was completed, there was a very audible bang as Rainbow crossed over the sound barrier and created a sonic rainboom. She didn't even have her eyes open to see the wall coming closer. It didn't take long before she slammed right into the side of someponys house. The residents either weren't home, or they didn't hear anything. As Rainbow pried herself from the wall, she walked over with confidence to her friends.

"Not sure what ya'll are smiling about, Twilight won after all," Applejack said.

"No she didn't! There's no way she beat me!" Rainbow yelled, "I broke the sound barrier for Celestias sake!".

"She crossed the finish line before that, Rainbow," Applejack said.

"I've got to say though, I've heard of finishing something with a bang, but I've had it taken so literally before," Twilight said.

"You had to used magic, there's no other way you'd have won," Rainbow Dash said.

"All I had to do was convince myself that I was in a dogfight," Twilight said, "I'm not sure why that makes me faster, but it does".

"You didn't kill the dogs, did you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Not that kind of dogfight," Twilight said, "When humans fight each other in the air, it's called a dogfight because of how vicious it can get".

"But ah thought ya said they didn't have wings," Applejack said.

"They don't. They actually fly in these big metal things called planes," Twilight said, "They're just amazing to watch fly when they aren't in combat".

"Uh huh," Applejack said, a tad confused.

"Twilight's back!" Yelled a voice from behind.

By the time the group turned around to see who was there, Twilight was being tackled to the ground by three fillies.

"Ah could swear ah told ya to stay at the farm," Applejack said, obviously not very happy.

"But, Princess Celestia brought us here," Applebloom said.

"And why would she do that?" Applejack asked.

"I figured it would be unfair them to have to wait until you decided to head back to Ponyville," Princess Celestia said as she walked over, "After all, Twilight was their mentor once, so it is only fair".

"Well, ah won't argue with ya, ah was just curious is all," Applejack said, "Didn't even take notice of ya till ya said something".

"I remember those classes," Twilight said, "Have you been practicing since I left?".

"No need anymore, look!" Scootaloo said as she turned to the side, followed seconds later by the other fillies, "We got our cutie marks while you were gone".

"Well, congratulations girls," Twilight said, "So, what are your special talents?".

"Well, ah'm pretty good at building and fixing stuff," Applebloom said, her cutie mark being a hammer and wrench crossed over top one another.

"Rarity kept encouraging me to sing after she heard me singing to myself one day, and I got my cutie mark during the last talent show at school," Sweetie Belle said, her cutie mark being a ribbon of music notes overlaying a pink heart.

"And I may not be able to fly, but I'm pretty good at dancing," Scootaloo said, her cutie mark being a butterfly with rather vibrant colored wings.

"I'm glad you found your special talent, but why can't you fly?" Twilight asked.

"She was born with a rare defect in her wings," Rainbow Dash said, "They'll never be big or strong enough for her to get more than a few inches off the ground".

"That sucks, I know how much learning how to fly meant to you," Twilight said, "Must have been pretty hard hearing it'll never happen".

"Like everything else, I got used to it," Scootaloo said, "It's no fun not being able to fly, but it's just part of who I am, and I'm never going to let it get me down".

"That's some good spirit," Twilight said, "Now tell me, how did you find out dancing was your special talent?".

"During the end of the school year party, one of the colts in my class asked me to dance. I didn't really want to at first, but these two talked me into it," Scootaloo said, aiming a hoof at her friends, "And my cutie mark showed up halfway through the dance".

"And what's the butterfly stand for?" Twilight asked.

"How graceful I am when dancing," Scootaloo said, "Or at least, that's what Cheerilee says".

"Well, I can't even tell you three how proud this makes me," Twilight said, "I may not be your mother or anything, but Princess Celestia was right when she said I was your mentor. Nothing makes a mentor more proud than seeing their students succeed. I only wish I could've been there when you all got your cutie marks".

"So where have ya been, Twilight?" Applebloom asked.

"In another world," Twilight said.

"Seriously?" The three fillies asked, "What was it like?".

"It wouldn't be my first destination for vacation, I'll tell you that much," Twilight said.

"Well, if ya didn't like it, why didn't ya just come back?" Applebloom asked.

"I didn't know which spell to use," Twilight said.

"Well, then what did you do?" Scootaloo asked, "You were gone a long time, and I know you wouldn't have just sat there doing nothing".

"I got involved in a lot of fighting, and it wasn't very fun," Twilight said.

"You and fight don't really belong in the same sentence," Sweetie Belle said.

"Anyway, other than earning your cutie marks, what've you three been up to?", Twilight asked.

"Nothing special really," Sweetie Belle said.

"Ah've just been helping out around the farm as always," Applebloom said, "My special talent has helped us Apples out a lot".

"And I've just been living with Rainbow Dash, the most awesome mom in the whole of Equestria," Scootaloo said.

"Ok, hold on a second," Twilight said, holding her right hoof to her forehead, "Did you just say Rainbow Dash is your mom?".

"A couple of months after you vanished, I took her in," Rainbow Dash said, "She needed a good home, and a mother. I figured I could give her both".

"It's official, I have been gone WAY too long," Twilight said, lifting her hoof from her forehead.

"She was living on her own in a run down shack," Rainbow Dash said, "I couldn't just let her go on like that. Besides, taking care of her helped take my mind off the thought of never seeing my second best friend ever again".

"I still say I've been gone too long," Twilight said.

Home, not so sweet, home

"Man, it feels good to be back here again," Twilight said as she stepped off the training.

After Celestia brought up the crusaders, Twilight felt it was about time to go visit Ponyville. She wanted to see just how much it had changed, if at all. As she stepped onto the platform at the station, nothing came across as different, and this gave her comfort. For once, she could feel like she was back home without having left in the first place. She decided that her first visit in Ponyville would be her own castle. She said good bye to her friends then started off with Spike by her side.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Spike asked.

"Go home," Twilight said.

"But you are home," Spike said.

"To the castle, Spike," Twilight said, "I haven't seen it in a year, and I want to see it before I do anything else right now".

"Not much has changed about it," Spike said, "Other than you not living there, that is".

As they walked, every pony they passed gave them strange looks. It didn't seem to bother Twilight, she was used to it because of all the strange looks she got during the war, but it did seem to bother Spike quite a bit when he started taking notice. They weren't running scared, so that was a good sign... right?

When they finally arrived at the castle, Twilight noticed a couple of guards near the entrance. As she got closer, she could confirm they were the same guard assigned to transfer her weapons to Ponyville. She still wasn't allowed to carry weapons openly, so she had to have guards transfer them instead. She still had her concealed combat knife, but it offered little more than marginal comfort. As soon as she reached the entrance, the guards unlocked the cart and allowed Twilight to take her weapons back. As she grabbed each one, she inspected it closely to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. Satisfied, she put every weapon, magazine, clip, and the sole grenade back where it belonged before dismissing the guards.

As she walked the halls of her castle, Twilight started to finally a little more at home. The comfort of being inside her own home eased her thoughts. For the first time since she got back, Twilight felt like she was truly home and safe.

"Earlier, there were ponies everywhere," Twilight said as she and Spike walked around the seemingly deserted Ponyville.

As they walked, Twilight kept glancing over to make sure Spike was still there. She wanted to be sure this wasn't some kind of dream or something along the lines. Every time she looked at Spike, he reassured that he was, in fact, still all there. If she wasn't in a dream, then was it possible she had actually scared everypony away earlier? If that were the case, she wondered if perhaps Pinkie would have some catchy tune about her like back when they first met Zecora. She couldn't help but giggle at the thought. That thought also directed her towards Sugarcube Corner.

As Twilight and Spike approached the well known sweets shop, they noticed that it was dark inside. Twilight thought nothing of it until she opened the door. As soon as she stepped in, it was like she'd pressed some kind of button. All the lights suddenly turned on and the whole place soon became a multi colored mess as ponies jumped out of nowhere to greet Twilight with one of Pinkies signature surprise welcomes. Twilight's reaction was not what anypony expected. Her mind told her she had just walked right into an enemy ambush.

Without a second thought, Twilight immediately sent out a shockwave of magic and dove behind the closest cover she could find that wouldn't leave her exposed from behind. As the shockwave flew through the room, ponies flew backwards, windows shattered, and the whole room became an instant mess. Twilight, still believing herself in an ambush, tried to grab her weapons. It didn't take long for fear to grip her as she remembered that had nothing with her, not even her knife. All she had was her spells for defense. She lit up her horn, and slowly peered around the overturned table she was hiding behind. She was ready to put somebody in pain.

When something touched her shoulder from behind, Twilight spun around and let go of the magic she had built up. The blast barely missed its target, a small, purple and green dragon. She knew who was in front of her, but her mind told her it was all some trick. She was scared and unarmed, causing common sense to fly away. As she lit her horn again, the dragon dove to the side.

"Twilight, it's me, Spike!" The dragon yelled, failing to convince Twilight yet again.

Another blast flew right past him, grazing his right ear. His scream of pain was all it took. As her mind finally settled down, Twilight began to realize what had just happened. She'd walked right into one of Pinkie Pies parties. Pinkie always started her parties off with a surprise welcome, and this party was obviously no exception. As she looked around, she took in the state of the room, and all the ponies who were now covered in various sweets and punch. If they weren't afraid of Twilight before, they were now.

The now familiar scream of pain brought her attention back to her most recent victim. She quickly rounded the table to find Spike clutching his right ear, his claws covered in blood. The very sight of her number one assistant bleeding like that scared Twilight just that much more. She wasn't afraid of what would happen to her, she was afraid of herself. She had just lost control when one of her friends only wanted to throw her a party, and it ended up getting Spike, and no telling how many ponies, hurt. She finally broke. She spread her wings and flew out of Sugarcube Corner towards the castle as quickly as she possibly could, tears flowing freely.

Back at Sugarcube Corner, the ponies were finally getting free of their shock and fear. Applejack, wanting to get rid of any misunderstandings before they last too long, began to explain everything that Twilight had told her and the others about her time in the war. Fluttershy, being the kind and timid soul that she is, used the first aid kit that Mr. Cake gave her to patch up Spike and anypony who managed to get hurt.

"Twi? Ya in there?" Applejack asked.

"Sorry, Twilight's not home right now, please come back later," Twilight said solemnly.

"Open up already, we just wanna talk," Rainbow Dash said.

When they didn't get a response, Rainbow decided it would be a good idea to just buck the door down. As she reared up, however, Applejack caught her.

"Rainbow, she about sent everypony in Sugarcube Corner to the hospital because we all startled her," Applejack explained, "What do ya think will happen if ya buck the door down?".

"Ugh... you're right," Rainbow Dash said after a brief pause and sigh, "I just don't want her to blame herself for something we caused".

"None of us want that, darling, but you must go about it in a different manner," Rarity said.

"Yea, ah mean... ya don't buck down Scootaloos door when she won't open up, do ya?" Applejack asked.

"Well... no, I kinda removed the lock for her door," Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Well, that's one way to handle the situation," Applejack said.

"Twilight, dear, please just open up," Rarity said, "We really just want to help".

"If I come out, I'll just be putting you all in danger again," Twilight said.

"I do seriously doubt that," Rarity said, "Now, please, open up. Let us help you".

After a short pause, the door clicked and opened slowly, revealing a very sad looking Twilight.

"Say what you want to say, then leave before I-" Twilight said before being cut off.

"First off, you don't need to go blaming yourself for what happened," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yea, it was our fault for startling ya," Applejack said, "We should have known better".

"Doesn't excuse what I did," Twilight said softly.

"Your mind is still in the war," Applejack said, "In fact, ah'll bet every bit ah've got you thought you had just walked right into an ambush".

"I can't deny that," Twilight said.

"Like ah said, that's not your fault, it's ours," Applejack said.

"What about Spike, huh?" Twilight asked, "He had nothing to do with it, but he still got hurt".

"Fluttershy said she'll bring him over once the bleeding stops," Rainbow Dash said, "You clipped his ear pretty good".

"But even he doesn't blame you," Rarity said, "He actually blames himself for getting himself hurt".

"That was all me, though," Twilight said, "He had nothing to do with any of that, he was just an innocent victim".

"Twilight, will ya listen to us fer once!?" Applejack asked, obviously becoming irritated.

"I am listening," Twilight said.

"Obviously not, because ya ain't getting it!" Applejack said, "None of us can find a reason to blame ya fer what happened".

"I can," Twilight said.

"Alright egghead, you've kinda let me down," Rainbow Dash said.

"That's not what-" Applejack said before being cut off.

"What do you think would happen if you let your friends in that other world down?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That wouldn't happen," Twilight said, "If I let them down, they'd die, and so would countless innocents".

"What do you think they'd say if they saw you right now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"To shape up and move on," Twilight said.

"Exactly!" Rainbow Dash said, "So, shape up and move on already! If it helps, think of us like we're those friends of yours from that other world".

"Wow, ah never expected to hear this kind of stuff coming out Rainbows mouth," Applejack said.

"We're on a mission right now, and you being all depressed is holding us back, keeping us from completing the mission," Rainbow Dash said, "Shape up and move already so you're not holding us back and we can move on with and complete the mission".

"What mission are we on again?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"A mission to get Twilight to forgive herself and go back to being happy to be home," Rainbow Dash said.

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," Twilight said, "I guess that first step should be heading back to Sugarcube Corner to help fix the place up again, right?".

"We already cleaned it up, but ya'll are on the right track," Applejack said.

"In that case, I guess maybe some apologies are already long past due," Twilight said.

"We took care of everything already," Rarity said, "All you need to do is forget about what happened and forgive yourself".

"That's going to take a little while," Twilight said.

"Yea, well we'll be right by your side that whole while," Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks, that means a lot right now," Twilight said.

Wild diplomacy

A week had passed since Twilights scene at Sugarcube Corner. While most of Ponyville were able to understand why she did what she did, there were some that still feared her, and even some who felt she was unfit for the title of princess. Though she wouldn't show it, her friends knew she still wasn't at ease about the incident. They did whatever they could to help her get over it, but it did little. Nevertheless, day to day activities went on as usual, and one would never guess something had happened only a week prior if they walked into town.

A couple days past a week ago, Twilight also put her own brother in the hospital with damaged nerves and a hard time walking right. His nerves had healed well enough for him to walk, though he couldn't run for at least another couple days. Regardless, he was discharged from the hospital the night prior, and was now heading to Ponyville to visit his sister so he could receive that demonstration he was promised. Both princesses were also visiting out of shear curiosity. They had already received a completely involuntary, not to mention dangerous, demonstration of how grenades work, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, but they wanted to find out how Twilights other weapons worked.

Upon arrival, Shining Amor, along with the royal sisters, were greeted with the usual greeting of ponies bowing to them in the streets. Though none of the trio ever truly wanted to be greeted in such a manner by regular civilian ponies, they were glad to see that there were ponies out there who had enough humility and respect as to bow as their leaders and a royal guard captain walk by. It did not take long for the trio to reach Twilight and her friends, all of who were sitting outside Sugarcube Corner having milkshakes. None of them even took notice of the royal trio walking over until Spike said something. They immediately bowed themselves as the trio got closer.

"I'm glad to see you walking again," Twilight said.

"Yea, well do remind me never to piss you off," Shining Armor said.

"And if I'd known you were going to visit, Princesses, I'd have made sure to-" Twilight said before being cut off.

"You need not give us any special treatment, and you know this," Celestia said, "You know I only want to be treated as your equal when we meet. I may be Equestrias ruling princess, but that does not mean I can't be treated as a common pony every now and again, does it?".

"I only do it out of respect," Twilight said sheepishly.

"And I do appreciate that, but I do wish you would treat me as you would any other pony sometimes," Celestia admitted, "It would make me feel less like I live on a pedestal, or more like I live as a citizen of Equestria myself. Would be nice to feel that way from time to time".

"Now, what of this demonstration we heard you had promised?" Luna asked.

"I'll get to that eventually," Twilight said, "But why don't you grab a milkshake and join us for a bit first?".

After the royal trio sat down with their cold treats, Twilight began to catch them up on her story. When she got to the part about being caught and taken hostage, her brother started to choke on his milkshake.

"How long did it take before the others finally decided to attack?" Luna asked.

"About an hour, give or take" Twilight said, "It's both amazing and terrifying just how much pain those Germans can put you in within such a short time".

"Please spare us the details," Celestia said, "I do not wish to hear of you suffering".

"I wasn't planning on it anyway," Twilight said, "But now that you're caught up, how about we get to that demonstration?".

"Finally! Been waiting for this," Shining Armor said enthusiastically.

"The first weapon is my primary weapon, a Thompson M1A1 submachine gun," Twilight said as she laid the SMG and its magazines out on the table, "Fully automatic, meaning it spits out bullets until you either let go of the trigger or empty the magazine. Each magazine holds thirty forty-five caliber rounds. It fires at a rate of seven hundred rounds in a minute, so you can empty a magazine in approximately three seconds, give or take, if you hold the trigger down".

"What does a bullet even look like?" Shining Armor asked.

Twilight lit up her horn and grabbed a bullet from one of the magazines to show off. After everypony got in their "oohs" and "ahhs", Twilight slid the bullet back in the magazine before picking up her loaded SMG.

"Now, I suppose it wouldn't do to just tell you about this thing," Twilight said, "So, why don't I show you what it can do?".

"Save it till after you tell us about the other weapons," Shining Armor said, "That way you don't have to break up the action with more talking".

"Alright, then let's move on," Twilight said, laying the SMG down and bringing out her M1911, "This here is my glorious sidearm, the M1911".

"I think I remember you mentioning these before," Shining Armor said.

"I did, it was the first weapon I'd ever held in my life," Twilight said, "Unlike the Thompson, the nineteen eleven is a semi automatic weapon, meaning it only fires one bullet with each pull of the trigger. Each clip holds seven rounds, so it's not ideal for actual combat".

"I have a question," Shining Armor said.

"Ask, and I shall answer," Twilight said.

"Why do you call these magazines?" Shining Armor asked as he pointed his left hoof at the Thompson mags before sliding it to the M1911 clips, "And these clips? I get that they're for different weapons, but don't they serve the exact same purpose?".

"Why do we not call a chest a box?" Twilight asked, "The answer is a little interesting. They are both officially called magazines, while clips are used with weapons that have the magazine built in. However, Nick got me calling pistol magazines clips because they work while concealed within the weapon itself. Anything that holds ammo is called a magazine, but it's how they function that gives them different names".

"That actually makes sense," Shining Armor said.

"You already know about the grenades," Twilight said, lighting up her horn and pulling out her knife, "So that just leaves my standard issue combat knife. Not the most ideal weapon, but it helps in a pinch".

"I do not remember seeing that before," Celestia said, "How long have you had it?".

"Ever since I got back," Twilight admitted sheepishly.

"It seems me and you need to have a little chat," Celestia said, not very amused, "But I'll save that for later".

"You may wish to cover your ears, this is going to be loud," Twilight said as she readied the Thompson.

After making sure the area was still clear, and making sure her friends wouldn't lose their hearing, Twilight pulled the trigger and fired off a short burst of shots. The loud crack of the firing caused the nearby critters to scatter suddenly with the greatest of fear.

"That was... impressive?" Shining Armor said, a little confused, "But where are the bullets?".

"You're not supposed to see them," Twilight said.

"How fast do they move?" Shining Armor asked.

"About the speed of sound if I'm not mistaken," Twilight said, causing everyponys jaws to drop.

"Something hitting you at that speed would hurt," Rainbow Dash said.

"No shit," Twilight said sarcastically.

"I see somepony still has quite the tongue," Celestia said.

"Sorry, I really am trying to stop," Twilight said.

At that moment, a very audible howl could be heard. The group didn't even have enough time to look for the source of the howl before a small pack of timberwolves came barreling out of the trees. As the others dodged out of the way, Fluttershy flew up and got right into the action. Common sense told the yellow pegasus what would happen if the timberwolves didn't get out of there fast enough. However, despite her best efforts, the pack refused to back down. Neither her scolding tone, nor her signature stare had any effect... the pack was just too caught up in their rage. She did everything she possibly could until a loud crack caused her to cover her ears. Being the timid creature she is, Fluttershy also couldn't help but close her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, all three timberwolves were lying on the ground, unmoving. She could only see one of her friends in the clearing as well, and that friend was Twilight. As soon as she took notice of where Twilight was aiming her weapon, Fluttershy started to tear up. She hated nothing more than seeing animals killed, even out of self defense.

"You guys can come out now, it's safe!" Twilight called out.

"That was an impressive display," Shining Armor said.

"Twi, ah believe ya have some explaining to do," Applejack said, pointing a hoof up towards Fluttershy.

"Oh for the love of..." Twilight said before flying up to her crying friend.

As soon as Twilight got close enough, she got the surprise of the day when Fluttershy, normally peaceful, slapped her right across the muzzle harder than she'd ever slapped something else before.

"Why did you do that?" Fluttershy asked between sobs.

"Well, first off, they weren't exactly playing nice," Twilight said, "Believe it or not, I gave them a chance. I tried to let you deal with it cause I didn't want to upset you. When that didn't work, it only left me with one other option. I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I didn't have any other choice".

"But you didn't have to kill them!" Fluttershy yelled before slapping Twilight again.

"You hit pretty damn hard, you know that?" Twilight said, "But anyway, I had to think about all of us. Me, you girls, the princesses... I wasn't about to put the lives of those wolves above the lives of everypony here. I know you don't like that, and I'm sorry, but it had to be done".

"Why didn't you let the princesses deal with them?" Fluttershy asked, "I know they would've let them live".

"Believe it or not, they were hiding as well," Twilight said, "Even the princesses get scared out of their wits from time to time".

Twilight braced herself for another hit as Fluttershy raised her hoof again. After her hoof made contact with Twilights muzzle again, Fluttershy turned and flew off towards her cottage. Twilight started to go after her, but was stopped by Rainbow Dash who said she'd take care of it. Back on the ground, the rest of the group was still a little stunned at what happened. Twilight had already shown her ability to deal damage multiple times since she got back, but now she had shown her ability to kill with ease. This display, needless to say, terrified everypony there. Twilight packed up and started to head home, the rest of the group soon following after they snapped out of their shock.

Author's Note

I never thought I'd be using math for ANYTHING once I graduated high school... damn you Twilight and your academic brain making it almost impossible to make a chapter like this without involving math :twilightangry2:

Spiritual pit stop

Author's Note

If you are easily offended, pissed off, or otherwise have the inability to accept others having different religious views than you, do NOT read this chapter.

Spiritual pit stop

"I have been wondering, is there anything else to these... humans than fighting and killing?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, actually," Twilight said, "In fact, what I find most interesting is something they call religion".

"And what is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A religion is a system of beliefs centered around just one guy who is supposedly the creator of the world," Twilight said, "And there's multiple religions out there, even a few with vastly different beliefs".

"Sounds kinda crazy if ya ask me," Applejack said.

"Let's just say I can understand Pinkie Pie better than how all these different religions work," Twilight said.

"Alright, now ya have my attention," Applejack said.

"You alright?" Nick asked while untying Twilight.

It had been an hour since Twilights capture, and she was tied quite nicely to a chair that had long since toppled. In her drained state, she was unable to free herself, and had to lay on her side the entire time.

"My wings hurt, I came close to losing my horn, and that one officer almost broke my muzzle," Twilight said, "Yea, I'm just peachy".

"No need to be a smart ass," Nick said, "Now... how did this even happen?".

"I guess I overestimated my magic," Twilight said.

"I'd say so," Nick said.

"Thanks for the help, by the way" Twilight.

"What are friends for?" Nick asked.

"I'm probably gonna get chewed out, aren't I?" Twilight asked.

"The captain's as worried about you as I was," Nick said reassuringly.

"Oh, good then," Twilight.

The duo finally exit the town hall and come face to face with their captain. Just as Nick said, he was not angry, but glad that his newest Marine was still very much alive and looking well with all things considered. He, however, said nothing as the two walked past... he was just too busy overseeing the defenses being put up. Nick steered Twilight away, not wanting her to interfere in any way. Dreadson was glad to see her alive, but that doesn't mean he'd want her interfering at the moment in something important like this.

As the pair walked on, a strange building came into view. The rather large cross was the first thing Twilight noticed. It's what set the building apart from any other.

"So, what's this place?" Twilight asked as they got closer.

"It's called a church," Nick said, "Do you not have them back where you're from?".

"No, we don't," Twilight said, "It looks kind of important, though".

"It's sacred ground," Nick said, "A place of worship".

"And, who do you worship?" Twilight asked.

"Our creator and father in Heaven," Nick said.

"I see," Twilight said, "Kind of interesting to find somepony, I mean someone... sorry, like that in a place that looks like Tartarus".

"Tartarus?" Nick asked, "That's Greek for 'Hell', right?".

"Well, I don't know what Greek refers to, or Hell for that matter," Twilight said, "But I do know that Tartarus is a place where any being that has pure evil in their heart goes when they die".

"That's exactly what Hell is for people like me," Nick said, "In any case, I can also say you won't be seeing our actual creator in there".

"But, did you not just say you worship him or her here?" Twilight asked, baffled.

"He doesn't have a physical form, but his spirit is in everything we see," Nick said.

"And how does that work?" Twilight asked, "A spirit can only occupy one entity at a time. Even magic can't split a spiritual body".

"He is omnipresent," Nick said, "He is literally everywhere, even though we don't see him".

"But... that's... that's just not possible!" Twilight yelled.

"He created this world," Nick said, "What force within it could keep him contained in only one place at any given time?".

"I get what you're saying, but that's not how it works," Twilight said, "It's just not possible for one being to occupy everything in the world like that".

"Tell me, do you have a Heavenly figure whom you worship in your world?" Nick asked.

"Well, princess Celestia and her sister, princess Luna, princesses of the sun and moon respectively, and rulers of Equestria," Twilight said, "But, they're not spirits. They're both very much alive".

"So, then you don't worship as we do here," Nick stated, "I guess that's understandable".

"So, has anyone ever seen this 'God'?" Twilight asked.

"Only after we die, will we be able to look upon him," Nick said.

"Then how can you be so sure he even exists at all?" Twilight asked.

"I get that question more often than any other," Nick said, "And the answer is always the same: I have faith that he will be there when I die".

"So, then you just live on whatever faith is?" Twilight asked.

"It's another word for belief," Nick said, "And yes, I do".

"Don't you want to know for sure, though?" Twilight asked.

"If I knew for sure, I'd already be dead," Nick pointed out.

"Well... ok good point," Twilight said.

"Any other questions?" Nick asked.

"Well, yes," Twilight said, "Quite a few, actually".

"Alright, well let me go say my prayers and I'll answer all the questions you have," Nick said.

"I never gave our creator much thought, to be honest," Celestia said.

"Neither did I," Luna said, "Though I assume if he, or she, had wanted us to know about his or her existence, they'd have revealed themselves to us at some point or another".

"That's the crazy part, though," Twilight said, "See, Nick believes that his 'God' sent his only son instead of showing himself long ago".

"And why would this 'God' guy not come say hello himself?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I honestly don't know," Twilight said, "But there are a couple of things that baffle more about that".

"And those being?" Luna asked.

"Is... is that the one you call 'God'?" Twilight asked, walking over.

Nick was on his knees, bowing before a statue of Jesus Christ on a cross. As Twilight spoke, he finished his prayer and then turned to answer.

"That's not God, that's his son," Nick said.

"Um... what?" Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nobody alive has ever laid eyes upon God, but they have laid eyes upon his one and only son, Jesus," Nick explained.

"So, his son has had a physical form at some point, but God himself has not," Twilight said, "How is that of all things possible?".

"I don't know how to explain that exactly," Nick said, "All I know is that Jesus was given a physical form after being born to an Earth bound mother, a virgin whose name was Mary".

"Ok, hold on..." Twilight said, holding her forehead, "Did you just say he was born from a virgin?".

"That's right," Nick said.

"But... how could she have possibly become pregnant and retained her virgin status?" Twilight asked, "Or does virgin have a different meaning in this world?".

"God chose Mary to bear his son, and so he gave her a child," Nick said, "But she never had to get dirty to have that child".

"That's... how... what..." Twilight stammered.

"I won't tell you that I know how it worked exactly, cause I don't," Nick said, "All I know is that it worked, and Jesus was born to his Earth bound mother".

"And one more thing, why did he send his son instead of coming himself?" Twilight asked, "I don't want to sound disrespectful, but this just doesn't make sense".

"He sent his son to die for us and forgive us for our sins," Nick said, "If he were to die instead, he would not be God as God is truly immortal and can't be killed by any means, physical or otherwise".

"Wait, he sent his only son to die?" Twilight asked, "Again, I don't wanna sound disrespectful, but what loving father does that?".

"Jesus took our sins with him to the cross on the day of his crucifixion," Nick said, "When he died, those sins died with him".

"Your world is just so confusing," Twilight said, "How can you take away past actions of others with you at any point? Never mind when you die, just in general".

"So wait, hold on, this God guy really sent his only single son to a world where he knew his son would die?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's what Nick said," Twilight said.

"Ah'm with you, sugarcube," Applejack said, "What loving father would do something like that?".

"Not one that I know of," Twilight said.

"And you said that this son died with the sins of others?" Luna asked.

"That's right," Twilight said.

"While it is possible to forgive others for their past actions, to take those past actions upon yourself and make them yours is impossible... no matter who you are," Celestia said, "Even I do not have such power".

"And you also mentioned something about immortality, correct?" Luna asked.

"Yes," Twilight said, "According to Nick, God can't have a physical body because that would imply that he could be killed".

"Even immortality has its limits," Celestia said, "If one should strike out against me or my sister, and give either of us a mortal wound, it would kill us. While it would take more force than you can possibly imagine, it is not impossible".

"And I can only imagine the same is true in a spiritual realm," Luna said, "If all are made of ethereal energy, as spirits are, then should one strike with enough force, the being receiving the strike would die".

"I don't understand it myself," Twilight said, "But it's what Nick believes is the truth".

"I have a question, Twilight," Rarity said.

"Ask, and I'll try to answer," Twilight said.

"If this 'God' is able to make it so his son can take the past sins of others and make them his own, could he have not just erased sin from the world at the start?" Rarity asked.

"I would imagine so, but I didn't ask," Twilight said.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Applejack said, "Ya weren't kidding when ya said Pinkie is easier ta understand than that religion stuff".

"And what I really don't get is why there's multiple religions," Twilight said, "Some worshiping the same being, but believing worship should happen in different ways, and others worshiping another being entirely".

"I would assume that's because of the differences in cultures," Celestia said.

"Well... that actually makes sense," Twilight said.

Metal birds

"So, Twi, I wanna know something," Rainbow Dash said.

"Just ask," Twilight said.

"You said humans don't have wings, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's right," Twilight said, "Why?".

"But you also said they can fly, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, but not on their own," Twilight explained, "They use these large machines called planes, which are, surprisingly, made entirely out of metal".

"Just how big are they?" Applejack asked, "If they're made out metal, ah can't imagine they'd be too big".

"It all depends on what the plane is designed to do," Twilight explained, "but they can be pretty big, and can easily weigh a few tons".

"How exactly does a few tons of metal fly?" Applejack asked.

"It all comes down to science," Twilight said, "Each plane has two stationary wings, three fins on the tails, and a propeller. The propeller works like a fan. As it spins, it pushes air towards the plane, and allows it to move forward as a result. As the plane moves forward, air is able to move around each wing. Each wing is designed so air pressure is greater on the bottom to provide lift and get the plane into the air when it's moving fast enough".

"So, it's kind of like a big gliding pegasus?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well... I guess you could put it that way, yea," Twilight said.

"And what about those fins on the tail?" Rainbow Dash asked, "What purpose do they serve?".

"Stabilization," Twilight said, "The two on the sides allow for vertical control, while the one on the top allows for horizontal control".

"Ah still just don't understand how ya get something that weighs tons off the ground like that," Applejack said.

"I don't really know about how that really works, but my dad told me once that the faster something flies, the lighter it becomes for a little while," Rainbow Dash said.

"That's not how weight works, Rainbow," Twilight said.

"It kinda makes sense, though," Rainbow Dash said, "Think about it, Twi. The faster one of those planes moves, the easier it is to get further from the ground, right?".

"That's right," Twilight said.

"So the faster you go, the higher you can go because you weigh less," Rainbow Dash said.

"The faster you go, the faster and harder air hits the bottom of the wing, allowing you to get into the air," Twilight said, "You don't lose weight in any kind of way".

"I believe you mentioned there are different planes designed for different tasks," Luna said, "What tasks do they perform?".

"Well, the most common plane is a fighter. They engage other fighters in aerial combat known as a dogfight," Twilight said, "There's also different kinds of bombers as well. Level bombers fly straight and level and are designed for taking out airstrips and taking out building cover in cities. Dive bombers are used to take out single important targets on land, or deal massive damage to a ship at sea. Torpedo bombers drop torpedoes while flying towards enemy ships. Torpedoes are meant to hit below the waters surface, but will explode if dropped from too high, so torpedo bomber pilots have to fly really close to the waters surface, giving them the most dangerous job out of all three bombers in my opinion. Now, one thing bomber have in common is a tail gunner that provides a little protection from fighters behind the bomber".

"Did you get to fly any of them?" Luna asked.

"These things are amazing!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Do you have planes in your world?" Nick asked.

"No, we don't," Twilight said, "So, how do they work exactly?".

"I'm not a pilot, nor do I have any desire to fly, so I don't really know," Nick said.

"Any chance of me getting in one?" Twilight asked.

"We'll have to wait and see," Nick said, rubbing Twilights head.

As the two walked on, Twilight found it increasingly difficult to contain herself. All the technology around her that was just waiting to be explored. After a short while, the roar of engines coming life could be heard. Like filly, Twilight ran towards the source of the sound to find a squadron heading out for some training. You could almost see the stars sparkle in her eyes as the first plane rolled past and started lifting off the ground on its own. After the last plane got into the formation, Twilight spread her wings and got ready to take off herself. It didn't take Nick long to figure out what the purple alicorn was about to do, and he held his left hand firmly on her back to hold her down.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Nick said.

"Why not?" Twilight asked.

"They're supposed to be the only ones in this airspace right now," Nick said, "You go up there, and you'll just get shot".

With that, Twilights wings folded back in and her ears dropped.

"Hey, now don't be that way," Nick said.

"I just wanna get up there and fly with them," Twilight said.

"You might get the chance later," Nick said, "And who knows, maybe the captain can even secure you a chance to fly one of those Spitfires".

"Spitfire huh?" Twilight asked nobody in particular, "I know a pegasus by that same name. She's one of the three captains of Equestrias air force, the Wonderbolts".

"Really now?" Nick asked.

"Yea, though sometimes I question how she became a Wonderbolts captain," Twilight said.

"And why's that?" Nick asked.

"Well, when Rainbow was in the Wonderbolts academy, we decided to visit. When we got there, though, one of the cadets decided to start up a tornado for whatever reason," Twilight said, "Spitfire, decided to commend that cadet on a great performance when that tornado would've put me and my other friends in the hospital, or worse, had Rainbow not been there".

"Well... shit," Nick said, stunned.

"Then, during the last Equestria games, one of her teammates got hurt pretty badly, and decided it'd be best to just simply replace him with a member from another team," Twilight said.

"And she's an officer?" Nick asked.

"Yes, somehow," Twilight said.

"Good evening, sir," Nick said, snapping into a salute as Dreadson walked over.

Twilight tried to salute quickly, but ended up fumbling and tripping over her own hooves, resulting in her faceplanting the ground.

"That didn't look very pleasant," Dreadson said.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Twilight said as she raised herself up.

"Good," Dreadson said.

"Say, uh... would it be possible for me to get permission to fly one of those planes, sir?" Twilight asked.

"With coordination like that?" Dreadson asked jokingly, "I'll see what I can do. You don't need a plane to fly, but it'd be interesting to see how well you can pilot one".

"So, did you get the chance, or not?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I didn't get permission," Twilight said, "But I didn't really let that stop me".

"Wait a second," Rainbow Dash said, holding her right hoof up, "You... doing something you're not supposed to do? I never knew you actually had it in you, Twi".

"That's not going to become common, is it?" Celestia asked sternly.

"I had my reasons," Twilight said.

"And what were they?" Celestia asked.

"Research," Twilight said, "I knew I'd eventually go into a fight with these things, so I needed to know how they worked".

"So, what was it like?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Night soon arrived. As the rest of the pilots and Marines slept, however, Twilight was up and about. She had but one goal on her mind: flight. She had her cloak up, making it impossible for others to find her. When she found the parked spitfires, she walked up to one and looked it over. The plane was huge, and her muzzle just barely cleared the top of the wing. It impressed her just how something this big and heavy could get itself off the ground with static wings. As she got around the left wing, she figured it was time to climb in the cockpit. She placed her front hooves on the wing and lifted herself up. As her back hooves made contact, however, they did so with the left aileron, snapping it down. After the shock of losing her balance so suddenly, Twilight tried to put the aileron back into place. After failing the third attempt, Twilight just ripped the aileron off and set it on the ground... something she'd come to regret.

After climbing in the cockpit, Twilight was suddenly confused. So many buttons, switches, etc. that she had no idea how to use. She was starting to think about turning back, but quickly threw that thought away. After about an hour, Twilight had enough basic knowledge of how to fly the plane. It wouldn't be enough to fly very long, but it'd get her off the ground at least. She used her magic as a key to start the engine and started taxing slowly to the grass strip. After aligning herself with the grass strip, she increased engine power so the plane would move faster. As the planes speed increased, Twilight slid back, holding onto the flight stick. After enough time, Twilights death grip on the flight stick allowed the plane to gain altitude quickly.

After regaining her composure, Twilight pushed forward on the flight stick to level out. Not long after leveling out, Twilight saw light shoot into the air. She didn't pay any attention to the spotlights as she flew. It didn't take much longer for her spitfire to start banking to the right. Without thinking, Twilight jerked the flight stick to the left. Lacking a left aileron, however, the spitfire couldn't correct its bank. Twilight started to panic when it became obvious that she wasn't staying airborne much longer. Her panic making her forget that the cockpit was still wide open. As the spitfire got closer to the ground, Twilights mind clicked on and she put up a shield.

The light from a fire was all that gave away Twilights crash location. As a ground crew, along with captain Dreadson, approached, they saw Twilight slowly climbing out of the burning wreckage. She was covered in a purple aura, giving away that she'd put up a shield just before impact. Before anybody else could do anything, Twilight slumped over and passed out, her limb body sliding off the wing.

Purple Terror

Author's Note

Just a word of warning, this chapter contains scenes inside a concentration camp. If you can't handle graphic scenes, or anything dealing with concentration camps in general, you'll want to skip this chapter.

Purple Terror

The night was quiet. Twilight's platoon slept soundly in their tents just outside a war torn farm. Twilight herself, however, was too restless to get any sleep. Tomorrow she and her platoon would be assaulting a German concentration camp. She'd heard plenty of horror stories about these places, and couldn't wait to burn one to the ground to get rid of it's taint on the world. She had a map sitting in front of her, and was studying it almost too closely. After figuring out her general position, she was able to determine the supposed location of the camp.

After going through a checklist to make sure everything was how it should be, Twilight took to the sky and headed right in the direction of the camp. She just couldn't wait any longer. Every second she spent back with her platoon was a second taken from the life of the slaves in the camp. She was going against orders doing what she was, but she didn't care.

As the camp finally came into view, Twilight set down on the ground and started walking so she wouldn't be so easily spotted. By the time she reached the big main gate, Twilight had her MP40 drawn, loaded, and ready to fire. Two guards stood on either side of the gate, while two more guards stood in the two sniper towers to either side of the guards on the ground.

"Say good night," Twilight said to herself as she pulled the trigger.

As soon as the left guard dropped, the right guard had just enough time to look at his friend before he fell as well. The guards in the towers were dropped shortly after, but not before the alarm could be raised. Instead of doing the sensible thing and falling back for a time, Twilight fired a bolt from her horn to blast a good hole in the gate for her to go through, then followed up by rolling a grenade through said hole to take out any guards on the other side. As soon as she heard the explosion, Twilight ran through the hole, aiming down the sights of her MP40. The dust kicked up from the explosion concealed her temporarily, but still long enough for her to gain some good ground without being spotted.

She made her way, slowly, through the camp, killing every German she saw. While she hated killing normally, she felt it to be way more than justified in this case. What she stumbled upon, er... rather fell into next just further justified it for her. She rounded the corner of a rancid smelling building and face planted into something awful. As she got up, she saw something that made everything in her want to scream out in fear. She had gotten herself into a mass grave. More bodies than she dared think about filled the space around the princess. Flies were buzzing about, most of the bodies had decayed quite a bit, and the smell... the smell was just awful. What really got to her wasn't just the fact that they were dead bodies, but the fact that the one upon which she had face planted was a child. Couldn't have been more than ten or eleven years old. Her skin looked like it had melted off, her forehead had a bullet hole in it, and she wasn't even given the dignity of being thrown away with clothes.

"I'll make sure they all pay for what they did to you," Twilight said to the corpse, "I won't let them get away with this".

With that, Twilight took to the sky and glided out of the mass grave. She already had a severe dislike for the Germans for killing people like they do, but now she knew they even killed children in much the same manner. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, but most of all, she wanted to kill every last German in the camp. They were monsters, and she was going to put them down as such. The first German to see her found this out the hard way as Twilight slung her MP40 across her back and charged. She didn't want to give these guys a quick death if she could help it. In her mind, they didn't deserve it.

As she closed the distance, she spread her wings and leapt at the soldier. Upon landing on him, Twilight proceeded to wail on him with both her front hooves. By the end of her beating, the soldier had blood and deep gashes covering his face. He was unconscious at this point, and Twilight felt she had laid into him enough, so decided to help him sleep a little bit better. She upholstered her 1911, placed it's barrel against the soldiers head, and pulled the trigger without any hesitation. As the blood shot up and got on her face, she smiled slightly. She was satisfied with that kill.

The rest of her trip through the camp went similarly. Almost every German who faced her died a very painful death. As the sun finally crested the horizon, Twilight had cleared the camp of all Germans. She had gathered up all the remaining survivors and started heading back towards her platoon. As they passed the mass grave Twilight fell into earlier, a couple of women broke off and ran over to it. Baffled, Twilight stopped the others and went to see what was going on. She was afraid the women were going to kill themselves, but it was not to be. Instead, they sifted, carefully and slowly, through the bodies, looking for something. Out of curiosity, Twilight used her magic to levitate any bodies the women grabbed onto and started to move. When at last they came to a pair of tiny bodies, the women stopped moving bodies. They each picked up one of the small bodies and held it close, crying the whole time. Twilight looked on with a sad and sympathetic expression. The women were mothers, and those small bodies were their babies.

"How could anybody do such a thing?" Twilight asked herself as tears formed in her eyes.

The women finally walked out of the mass grave, cradling their babies tightly.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Twilight said, trying not to break down.

As soon as the women and Twilight had rejoined the main group, they started out again towards the edge of the camp. It didn't take long, however, before they were met with a platoon of U.S. Marines.

"Well, fancy meeting you here," Nick said.

"No need to look for enemies, I cleared this place out," Twilight said.

"We noticed," Nick said.

"Corporal, get your ass over here immediately!" Dreadson yelled.

"He's pretty pissed, by the way," Nick said.

Twilight said nothing as she walked over to her Captain, head held high.

"Just what the Hell were you thinking, Corporal!?" Dreadson asked.

"I couldn't sleep well last night, sir," Twilight said, "And I knew a little of what went on in these camps, so I decided to occupy my time by clearing out this one for you guys".

"I can see that, Corporal," Dreadson half growled, "However, that was in direct violation of orders".

Twilight said nothing, but stood there with her head still held high.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd have you demoted and under close watch for a good time," Dreadson said, "But, these aren't normal circumstances. I'm still pissed, and you're going to get some killer PT later on, but that's all".

"I can take that, sir," Twilight said.

"I shouldn't do this, but you've done something good here today," Dreadson, reaching into one of his pockets, "Not only did you wipe out every German in here without so much as a scratch, you also saved all these lives. That makes you quite a hero, and you deserve some positive recognition for your actions".

"Sir?" Twilight said questioningly, tilting her head slightly.

"Later on today, you'll be going through your first PT session as a Sergeant," Dreadson said, "Like I said, though, I shouldn't be doing this, so don't you dare make me regret it".

Twilight said nothing, but instead stood there as her Lance Corporal ranks were taken off and replaced with Sergeant ranks.

"I'll let you take some pride in doing what you did," Dreadson said, "Now, get some breakfast and rest for a couple hours. Your PT starts at thirteen hundred".

After Twilight finally ended her story, the room was silent for a long time. It was hard to hear that part, and it showed on everypony's faces.

"That's gotta be the most disturbing story I've heard in my whole life," Applejack said.

"Indeed," Luna said, "To think anybody would commit such heinous acts is... unfathomable".

"And to children no less, babies even," Cadance said, wiping her eyes.

"And that was one of the nicer camps," Twilight said, "There were some that were given the nickname "House of Satan" because of how horrid they were".

"THAT is considered a nice camp?" Rainbow Dash asked, awestruck, "If that was one of the nice camps, I'd hate to see any of the others".

"And even though I hated killing, even then, I was happy to know that I had killed the monsters that lived in that camp," Twilight admitted.

"What happened to the rescued civilians?" Shining Armor asked.

"They were given a free ride to the states," Twilight said, "And every body in that camp was transported back as well and given a proper burial, all two hundred and thirteen of them".

"That's... a lot," Applejack said.

"On a slightly less gloomy and dark note, I managed to earn a nickname among the German ranks after that," Twilight said, "At least one soldier somehow got out alive and spread around the tale of the 'Purple Terror', and it didn't take too long before I became a tale of horror for the German army".

"'Purple Terror' huh?" Shining Armor asked, "Seems fitting".

"It stuck," Twilight said, "And I wear it with pride".

"Well, after such a... unique tale, who's ready for a peaceful trip to Sugarcube corner?" Celestia asked.

"Am I even allowed back there?" Twilight asked.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Pinkie asked, "Yea, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were a little upset at the mess you caused, but they understand what happened, and they don't blame you for it. If anything, they blamed me for such an oversight".

"Do I even want to know?" Celestia asked.

"Long story, perhaps best saved for later," Twilight said, "But anyway, what was about a sweet filled dinner on the royal bill?"

Private sparkle

"It's not easy to take a life. I never enjoyed killing, but I did what I had to in order to protect those who fought by my side," Twilight said.

"It's good that you do not find enjoyment in the act of taking the life of another, even in defense of yourself or those you care for," Celestia said, "I just wish you did not have to experience such an act".

"I know this may be rhetorical, but would you kill again?" Luna asked.

"If my life or the life of somepony I care for was in danger, I would not hesitate for a second to take the life of the aggressor," Twilight said.

"That is both a good and troubling thing," Celestia said.

"Do not think me a simple killer, for I am not. I will not, however, let another of my friends fall because I hesitated while they were in danger," Twilight said.

"I do not think of you as a killer, Twilight. I fear that you may fall victim to the darkness that once took my sister away for a thousand years," Celestia said, "I do not know what I would do if I had to banish you to the moon as I had to do to her".

"I assure you, Princess, that won't happen," Twilight said.

"I hope you are right," Celestia said.

"Ah don't want ta sound uninterested, but do ya mind skipping the details on this battle?" Applejack asked, "I want to get to the real meat of the story".

"I don't really mind. I didn't even move from behind the sandbags, so it's not like I'm skipping out on anything all that interesting," Twilight said.

"Damn it all!" Dreadson yelled as he noticed Twilight was not where he left her.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Corporal asked.

"It seems our purple friend managed to escape during that little skirmish," Dreadson said.

"She didn't escape, sir," Corporal said.

"Then might I ask where it is?" Dreadson asked.

"She's resting by the sandbags, sir," Corporal said, "And she's a pretty good shot, too, sir".

"Good shot? You mean to tell me it has a weapon of its own?" Dreadson asked.

"I gave her my 1911 and told her how to fire it, sir," Corporal said.

"We know next to nothing about that thing, and you gave it a gun?" Dreadson growled.

"I figured it was the right thing to do, sir," Corporal said.

"And what gave you that idea?" Dreadson asked.

"She needed a way to defend herself from the Germans, sir," Corporal said.

"And did it not once occur to you that it could have easily turned your gun on you and us?" Dreadson asked.

"It did not, sir," Corporal said.

"That's what I thought. However, it's going to trust you more so right now than me. I want you to go over there, get your gun back, and bring our purple 'friend' over to me," Dreadson said.

"Yes sir," Corporal said.

Corporal began walking back to Twilight, afraid of what was to come. The captain was not known for being a fan of violence, but he was no stranger to it. Knowing that Twilight knows how to fire a gun might cause him to come down a tad harshly on her, and Corporal was powerless to stop him if it came to that. This was a thought he did not like one bit. However, he intended to remain in the captain's good graces, so he did not dare disobey the order given to him.

"Twilight, you awake?" Corporal asked as he gently shook Twilight.

"Yea, just a little scared," Twilight said.

"And why's that?" Corporal asked.

"It was too easy for me to pull that trigger so much. I knew that each pull of it could kill whoever was in front of me, but I still did it without a second thought," Twilight said.

"You did what you had to. None of us are proud of what we do, but it is something that has to be done. If we don't take their lives, they will take ours. If they take our lives, it won't be long before they take the lives of those we hold closest. I do not fight for myself, but my brothers around me, for my friends and family back home, and for innocents that I do not even know exist," Corporal said.

"Still, why is it so easy?" Twilight asked.

"Motivation to protect those you care about. You consider me your friend, and would not want anything to happen to me. You also want to make sure you stay alive to continue to make sure nothing happens to me. This is why the killing is easy. Do not take pride in killing, do not smile as you pull that trigger, but do not be afraid to kill when those you care for are in danger," Corporal said.

"It still scares me," Twilight said.

"Well, we can't dwell on this right now. The captain wants to see you, though I don't exactly know why," Corporal said.

"Best to not keep him waiting," Twilight said as she got to her hooves.

"And I'll be taking this back," Corporal said as he bent down to grab the pistol.

"Not like I want to keep it on me right now, anyway," Twilight said.

With that, Twilight and Corporal began their walk back to Dreadson. Twilight was already afraid of the captain, now she had to deal with him after a battle. She was afraid he'd try to kill her for sure if he found out she could handle their weapons, so she decided to keep that a secret as long as possible. When the duo arrived at where the command tent used to be, Twilight gulped silently. She had taken notice of the captain, and he did not look too happy. Not wanting to upset him more than he probably is, she walked over and sat down in front of him.

"I hear that you were given one of our weapons and was told to use it. Is this true?" Dreadson asked.

"That's correct," Twilight said, trying not to let fear take hold.

"I want you to follow me, then," Dreadson said.

Twilight gulped then got up and began to follow the captain. She knew she was in for it now. She was pegged as a threat, and she stood no chance of going home now. She summoned up memories of all the good times she'd had back in Equestria to try and distract her from her upcoming execution. However it pained her to remember her friends, family, and the princesses, she wanted thoughts of them to be her last. She saw an end to the terrain closing in, and readied herself. She wanted to flex her wings, but resisted the urge.

When the duo had reached the cliff, Dreadson pulled out his personal 1911. Twilight steadied herself for the shot, and hoped it would be quick. However, the shot never came. Instead of taking aim at Twilight, Dreadson handed her the pistol. Was he going to ask Twilight to take her own life? Twilight refused to move, or grab the gun.

"I am not going to hurt you. I want to see if you really know how to properly use this," Dreadson said.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Twilight asked.

"If it is true that you, a hooved creature, can use this gun properly, then I want to see it for myself," Dreadson said.

"You want to see if I'm a threat, in other words," Twilight pointed out.

"No, actually. I want to see just how well you can use this, more so out of curiosity," Dreadson said.

Twilight gave him an unsure look, and held it for what felt like forever. If she started to take the gun, would he try and turn it on her? Does he have another hidden away in case she takes this one away too quickly? Twilight eventually shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. His tone sounded sincere, and he did not look threatening at the moment. Figuring she was truly safe, Twilight wrapped the pistol in her magic and lifted it out of the captains hand, causing him to step back out of shock. All it took was one simple gesture to tell Twilight where to fire.

Twilight first walked beside the captain so she could keep an eye on him in case she needed to defend herself. Once she was in a favorable position, Twilight aimed the pistol at the cliff and pulled the trigger seven times, pausing after every shot to check her peripherals. After all seven shots were finished, Twilight levitated the pistol back to Dreadson, who was standing in awe at the display. When the trigger was pulled, the slide flew back, but there was no recoil. All seven shots were fired in the exact same direction, from the exact same position, offering the best accuracy anyone could ever display.

Dreadson finally took notice of the pistol hovering in the air after a few moments, and took hold of it. After he ejected the clip, he re-holstered the pistol and walked over to Twilight and bent down and extended his hand. Twilight slowly extended her hoof to return the gesture, still wary of the captain.

"You fire better than any of my men. Hell, you fire better than the entire fucking military. I wouldn't normally do this, but I would like to extend an offer to join the corps. Become a United States Marine, fight by our side," Dreadson said, "Do you accept?".

Twilight was baffled by this sudden offer. She was once being interrogated by the captain, and now he was asking her to join his fighting force. If she said yes, she'd undoubtedly be thrust into more combat situations. The danger of dying in combat weighed heavily on her mind with that thought. However, should she say no, what would happen? It was unlikely she would be given a gun to defend herself, and she still had no idea how to get home. In the end, she chose to take the fighting chance, and accepted the captains offer.

"Normally, you'd have to go through boot camp for this, but I doubt they'd take you. With what I just saw, I can tell you'll be a valuable asset to the corps," Dreadson said, "So, welcome to the United States Marine Corps, private".

"I did tell you name, right?" Twilight asked.

"I do not remember it. I had a counter attack to deal with, after all," Dreadson said.

"Oh yea. Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said.

"Welcome to the corps., private Sparkle," Dreadson said.

Twilight just bowed at this.

"Ah thought you said they were cynical," Applejack said.

"Humans are cynical. But I had handled myself well in combat, and had not turned the pistol I was given on any of the other Marines. I am also able to fire the guns I aim with absolutely zero recoil, so my accuracy is the best in their world," Twilight said, "With that kind of resume, who wouldn't want me to join them?".

"But, Twilight, why exactly did you accept that offer? You knew it would involving more fighting, more killing... so why?" Rarity asked.

"I wanted to have a fighting chance of getting home. If I declined, I'd probably be left without a weapon for defense, and I'd be easy pickings for any Germans who happened across me," Twilight said, "I also wanted the company".

"Twilight, what are these things?" Pinkie asked, holding a grenade.

Twilight quickly took notice of the missing pin, and swiftly bucked the grenade away, then summoned a rather large shield. The explosion that came after a couple of quick seconds caused every pony in the room to cower and cover their ears. After dropping her shield, Twilight glared at Pinkie with a look of annoyance.

"Do NOT touch anything that I have with me unless you ask first!" Twilight yelled, "Anything you can remove will probably kill you if mishandled... they're NOT toys!"

"What was that thing, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That was a Mark two fragmentation hand grenade. They have about a five second fuse, and the explosion sends shrapnel in all directions. If I didn't put that shield up in time, at least one of us would've been sent to the infirmary, if not the morgue," Twilight explained.

The whole room went silent for a little while, trying to take in the fact that they just came so close to fatal injury.

Windows to the past

"I can only imagine they weren't too happy with that," Shining Amor said.

"No, they weren't," Twilight confirmed, "In fact, when I was fit again, I go a taste of the roughest workout I've ever had to participate".

"It couldn't possibly have been too bad," Rainbow Dash said.

"You try doing about a hundred push ups, a three mile run and then twenty five wing ups the day after your get out of the infirmary and tell me it's not difficult," Twilight said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Point taken," Rainbow Dash said.

"And my brothers suffered right there with me," Twilight said, "But they had to keep going until I was able to finish each exercise".

"Makes sense," Shining Armor said, "You all suffer, some more than others, so that you don't do anything you're not supposed to next time".

"Anyway, I wasn't even going to mention that incident yet," Twilight said, "I actually wanted to show you something first".

"That being?" Celestia asked.

"These," Twilight said as she levitated a few pieces of paper onto the table.

"So this is what a human looks like," Luna said as she examined one of the pieces of paper, "Very interesting".

"That's me and Nick just after I was promoted to Sergeant," Twilight said.

"He looks friendly enough," Celestia said.

"When he's not in combat, he's about as threatening as a breezie," Twilight said, "That day was also the first time they saw me transmute something".

"What did you make?" Luna asked.

"Their cameras can only take pictures in black and white, and they weren't very portable," Twilight said, "So I turned one of their cameras into a camera like one you'd see a tourist carrying here in Equestria".

"So you turned a camera into a camera?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A better one at that," Twilight said, "And it wasn't that easy, either. With my weakened magic, I about caused myself to pass out to give them a color film camera".

"I doubt you regret it, though," Luna said before picking up another picture, "And who are all these humans?".

"That's my whole platoon," Twilight said, "The one standing to the right is captain Dreadson".

"Well, he actually looks a little terrifying," Luna said.

"He IS terrifying," Twilight said, "But he's one of the best leaders I know... discounting you two".

"And judging by this picture, I assume these humans are about eye level with my sister," Luna said, "Am I right?".

"There are some like that, and others not," Twilight said, "I do believe I met a human once who was actually eye level with me. Oh, and he was an adult as well".

"What's the point of this moment?" Shining Armor asked, levitating a picture over to Twilight.

"That's me, Nick, and a couple more marines raising an American flag after the struggle to take an island known as Iwo Jima," Twilight explained, "But I'll talk more about that when I get to that point".

"And what's going on in this picture?" Applejack asked, pushing over a picture of Twilight with another human.

"That's my first meeting with the President of the United States," Twilight said, "When he got word of my being in his country's military, he wanted to meet me in person".

"How did he react when he saw you for the first time?" Celestia asked.

"He was very professional," Twilight said, "In fact, he reminded me of you".

"How so?" Celestia asked.

"He's a strong leader. Firm, but fair," Twilight said, "And he didn't try to alienate me in any way. He wanted me to feel welcome, wanted me to feel like I belonged, and to know that I could trust him just like I trust you".

"Well, it certainly makes me happy to know there's someone like that in that world," Celestia said.

"What in Equestria is THAT thing?" Rainbow Dash asked, holding up a picture of a rather large ship.

"That's the USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier," Twilight said, "After I became a lieutenant, and got my own squad, I was stationed on her for the remainder of the war. Took me a little over a week to get used to living on a ship like that, but I eventually came to take pride in it... like the rest of her crew".

"Ship? You trying to tell me that thing is able to float?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I was amazed as well, and I still don't fully understand how she can stay afloat, but she can," Twilight said.

"And ya called it an aircraft carrier... but what does that really mean?" Applejack asked, "Ya make this ship sound too special ta be just a simple transport".

"An aircraft carrier is the most important ship on a fleet," Twilight explained, "Not only do they house a nice, large crew, but they also carry planes towards the enemy. Without them, we'd never get our planes overseas".

"Ok, but can they fight at all?" Applejack asked.

"They do have anti-aircraft guns and the planes they carry to defend from aerial threats," Twilight explained, "But they rely mostly on the cruisers and destroyers to defend them from enemy ships. They do have some specialized planes to help deal with enemy ships, but they carry mostly fighters to deal with aerial threats".

"I just wanna know why you keep calling a ship a 'she'," Rarity said.

"It's how humans talk about stuff like that," Twilight said sheepishly, "I kinda adopted the habit myself".

"Tell me, Twilight, what would you say if I could find a way to allow you to visit this world any time you want?" Celestia asked.

"Well... I would like to go back from time to time, if only to visit my friends there," Twilight said.

"Would we be able to go as well?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't see that as a problem," Celestia stated, "Do you, Twilight?".

"I don't see it causing any issues," Twilight said.

"Well, in that case, I'll take a visit to the royal library when I get back," Celestia said.

"And if it's not too much to ask, would it be ok for me to bring my human friends here?" Twilight asked.

"I don't see why not," Celestia said, "But only a couple at a time".

"Twilight, we got a visitor!" called out a voice from the doorway.

As Twilight turned to see who the visitor was, her eyes fell upon a very familiar form. Standing in the doorway was a pink alicorn with a purple, pink, and tan mane. It took Twilight a few seconds to register who it was, but, when she remembered, she couldn't contain her excitement.

"Cadence!" Twilight called out as she ran over.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!" The two chanted as they went through the motions of their ritual greeting.

"I'm so happy to see you're alright," Cadence said, "Though, if you don't mind me asking, where have you been?".

"Fighting a war in another world," Twilight said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Cadence asked, unsure of what she just heard.

"I'll catch you up in a bit," Twilight said, "For now, why you join the rest of us? I was actually sharing some of my better memories with the others".

"Um... alright," Cadence said.

Author's Note

Hope the lack of action doesn't bother you guys.

Oh, and before anybody asks: yes, I'm going to make a chapter for every picture.